Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-09-16
POWER OF THEOSOPHY.
Mrs. Annie Besant Explains Some OF
Its Apparent Mysteries.
NATURE OF THE OCCULT FORCES.
The Mahatmas Are Not Spirits, but Highly
Developed Types of Men.
NOTHING OF THE MIRACULOUS CLAIMED


Annie Besant writes as follows concerning
theosophy:
"H. P. Blavatsky did not claim to have
received any letters or messages from the
spirit world, nor did I say on Sunday
that received such since her death. Our
position is this: There exists brotherhood
OF h1ghly-evolved men-men, not spirits,
in the sense of 'disembodied spirits'-who
have developed their nature in such fashion
that they can communicate with others
across any distance practically instanta-
neously. The communication may be by
voice or by writing
There is nothing more miraculous in such
communications than there Is anything
miraculous In speaking by telephone from
London to Paris, or by telegraph writing
across hundreds Of miles; only, these men
can speak and write by using currents with
out wires, instead of currents sent along
wires. The letters received from these
men-whom we speak of as Mahatmas or
Masters-during H. P. Blavatsky's life
were said by her enemies to be fabricated
by her; the point Of my statement was that
letters in the same handwriting had been
received by me (and others) since her
departure, thus clearing her from the charge
of fraud on his head. Apart from this vim
dication of her memory, the Importance of
the matter lies in the existence OF men of
our race who have evolved faculties and
powers far beyond any yet normally en-
joye0.
THE SPIRIT TEACHERS.
'It is from these men that the teachings
of Theosophy have been received, and q
large number of men and women in the
Western world were the pupils of H. P.
Blavatsky, and were being trained by her
under the direct sanction Of these masters.
Briefly, our contention is that man is an
embodied spirit or mind, and can by proper
training, conjoined with pure and unself-
ish life, make his body the effective instru-
ment of the spiritual intelligence which
dwells in it, and that in the course of this
development he obtains knowledge of
nature which places under his control all
natural forces, giving him powers that seem
miraculous because they are rare and are
not understood.
'But this evolution Is an evolution that
takes place here on earth, and the masters
are living men. They are spirits, as you
and I, Mr.. Editor, are spirits, In the sense
that every human being is q spirit, but they
are not disembodied ghosts. The difference
between them and average humanity is that
they live In all the power Of their essential
spiritual nature, using matter as an instru-
ment instead of allowing it to clog their
action aud blind their intelligence
NATURE OF THE MASTERS.
In the course of an interview, Mrs Besant
said, with reference to the Mahatmas. or
Masters:
"They are men who have reached a point
of evolution which the race itself won't
reach for thousands Of years, and this they
have done by special training, prolonged
through many incarnations Chat is, the
spirit entering one body after another).
Still, the fact remains that they are living
men, and that they can be seen and talked
with like other men. But In addition to
being able to talk In the general way, they
have evolved the power of communicating
instantaneously with persons in any part Of
the world, either by speech or writing, and
OF appearing to persons In what we call the
thought body-that Is, the intelligence
separated from the physical body, which,
under those conditions, Is left unconscious,
in the place where the person Is living"
$50 1t is those masters with whom
Madame Blavatsky was in communication
from whom you also have heard. What are
we to call this?''
NO MIRACLE IN IT,
"There Is nothing in what T have been
describing that Is miraculous; it Is simply
the knowledge of laws of nature not COM
monty known. There is nothing more
miraculous in one of the Mahatmas convey
ing speech or writing across hundreds of
miles than In man in London speaking
through a telephone to another man in
De- Ttad s, rIa4k ~. ri
are able to use those currents without wires,
while Western science is only able to use
them with wires To speak of those men
as spirits, in the ordinary sense Of the word,
Is q mistake. They are spirits as every
human being is spirit, but in no other
sense. The interest of the existence of
those men lies in the view that they are
what we can be, and what the whole race
will be IN the course of evolution. They
have simply quickened their development.
'sAnd now for the connection between
these Mahatmas and those letters-again. if
you will pardon me, those mysterious let
ters?"
"Just So 1t was from those men that
Madame Blavatsky came as a messenger,
and under their direction that she founded
the Theosophical Society. She received
from them large number of letters, and
she was in continual communication with
them 1t was alleged against her that the
letters she said were from the Mahatmas
were forged by herself. 1t is interesting in
this connection to say-as I said at the Hall
of Science last night-that letters in the
same handwriting have been received by
myself and others since Madame Blavatsky
left"
THOSE OCCULT LETTERS.
'aThis brings us to the grand point which
has induced me to come troubling you.
What can you tell me about the letters you
have received? What was the means of
their communication, how were they writ
ten, and upon what kind of paper?"
'T cannot answer you there so fully as
you might wish, because Imust not There
is always this one difficulty in dealing with
these matters to the public, that the modus
operandi is not explained. am pledged to
secrecy, but apart from that it would be as
difficult to explain the transmission of such
messages as to explain the working of the
telephone to person who knows nothing
of electricity. There is further difficulty;
the forces with which the transmission of
such messages is closely connected may be
used for very mischievious ends The
of those forces is only taught |
to those who are pledged deciples OF the
Mahatmas. |
"Where are your Mahatmas principally |
located--in what part of uhe world?"