Theosophical Society,
THE
LIFE OF
H P Blavatsky
"Why I Do Not Return to
By
H P Blavatsky
To MY BROTHERS OF ARYAVARTA,
In
April, 1890, five years elapsed since I left
Great
kindness has been shown to me by many of my Hindu brethren at various
times
since I left; especially this year (1890), when, ill almost to death, I
have
received from several Indian Branches letters of sympathy, and assurances
that
they had not forgotten her to whom
her
life far dearer than her own Country.
It
is, therefore, my duty to explain why I do not return to
In
men
and women who have the courage to avow their conviction of the real
existence
of the Masters, and who are working for Theosophy on Their lines and under
Their guidance, given through my humble self.
In
devotion
to the Masters and the courage to avow it has steadily dwindled away.
At
Adyar itself, increasing strife and conflict has raged between personalities;
uncalled
for and utterly undeserved animosity--almost hatred--has been shown
towards
me by several members of the staff. There seems to have been something strange
and uncanny going on at Adyar, during these last years. No sooner does a European,
most Theosophically inclined, most devoted to the Cause, and the personal friend
of myself or the President, set his foot in Headquarters, than he becomes
forthwith a personal enemy to one or other of us, and what is worse, ends by
injuring and deserting the Cause.
Let
it be understood at once that I accuse no one. Knowing what I do of the
activity
of the forces of Kali Yuga, at work to impede and ruin the Theosophical
Movement,
I do not regard those who have become, one after the other, my
enemies--and
that without any fault of my own--as I might regard them, were it
otherwise.
One
of the chief factors in the reawakening of Aryavarta which has been part of
the
work of the Theosophical Society, was the ideal of the Masters. But owing to want
of judgment, discretion, and discrimination, and the liberties taken with
Their
names and Personalities, great misconception arose concerning Them. I was under
the most solemn oath and pledge never to reveal the whole truth to anyone, excepting
to those who, like Damodar, had been finally selected and called by Them.
All
that I was then permitted to reveal was, that there existed somewhere
such
great men; that some of Them were Hindus; that They were learned as none others
in all the ancient wisdom of Gupta Vidya, and had acquired all the
Siddhis;
not as these are represented in tradition and the "blinds" of ancient
writings,
but as they are in fact and nature; and also that I was a Chela of one
of
Them. However, in the fancy of some Hindus, the most wild and ridiculous
fancies
soon grew up concerning Them. They were referred to as "Mahatmas" and
still some too enthusiastic friends belittled Them with their strange
fancy-pictures;
our opponents, describing a Mahatma as a full Jivanmukta, urged
that,
as such, He was debarred from holding any communication whatsoever with persons
living in the world. They also maintained that as this is the Kali Yuga, it was
impossible that there could be any Mahatmas at all in our age.
These
early misconceptions notwithstanding, the idea of the Masters, and belief
in
Them, has already brought its good fruit in
preserve
the true religious and philosophical spirit of ancient
the
Ancient Wisdom contained in its Darshanas and Upanishads against the
systematic
assaults of the missionaries; and finally to reawaken the dormant
ethical
and patriotic spirit in those youths in whom it had almost disappeared
owing
to college education. Much of this has been achieved by and through the
Theosophical
Society, in spite of all its mistakes and imperfections.
Had
it not been for Theosophy, would
Aye,
my good and never-to-be-forgotten Hindu Brothers, the name alone of the
holy
Masters, which was at one time invoked with prayers for Their blessings,
from
one end of
Thus
it was that, so long as I remained at Adyar, things went on smoothly
enough,
because one or other of the Masters was almost constantly present among us, and
their spirit ever protected the Theosophical Society from real harm. But in
1884, Colonel Olcott and myself left for a visit to
What
with the Patterson-Coulomb-Hodgson conspiracy, and the faint-heartedness of the
chief Theosophists, that the Society did not then and there collapse should be
sufficient proof of how it was protected. Shaken in their belief, the faint-hearted
began to ask: "Why, if the Masters are genuine Mahatmas, have They allowed
such things to take place, or why have They not used Their powers to destroy
this plot or that conspiracy, or even this or that man and woman?" Yet it
had been explained numberless times that no Adept of the Right Path will interfere
with the just workings of Karma. Not even the greatest of Yogis can divert the
progress of Karma, or arrest the natural results of actions for more than a
short period, and even in that case, these results will only reassert themselves
later with even tenfold force, for such is the occult law of Karma and the
Nidanas.
Nor
again will even the greatest of phenomena aid real spiritual progress. We
have
each of us to win our Moksha or Nirvana by our own merit, not because a
Guru
or Deva will help to conceal our shortcomings. There is no merit in having
been
created an immaculate Deva or in being God; but there is the eternal bliss
of
Moksha looming forth for the man who becomes as a God and Deity by his own personal
exertions. It is the mission of Karma to punish the guilty and not the duty of
any Master. But those who act up to Their teaching and live the life of which
They are the best exemplars, will never be abandoned by Them, and will always
find Their beneficent help whenever needed, whether obviously or
invisibly.
This is of course addressed to those who have not yet quite lost
their
faith in Masters; those who have never believed, or have ceased to believe
in
Them, are welcome to their own opinions. No one, except themselves perhaps some
day, will be the losers thereby.
As
for myself, who can charge me with having acted like an imposter? with
having,
for instance, taken one single pie* from any living soul? with having
ever
asked for money, or with having accepted it, notwithstanding that I was
repeatedly
offered large sums? Those who, in spite of this, have chosen to think
otherwise,
will have to explain what even my traducers of the Padri class and
Psychical
Research Society have been unable to explain to this day, viz., the
motive
for such fraud. They will have to explain why, instead of taking and
making
money, I gave away to the Society every penny I earned by writing for the papers;
why at the same time I nearly killed myself with overwork and incessant labour
year after year, until my health gave way, so that but for my Master's repeated
help, I should have died long ago from the effects of such voluntary hard
labour.
For
the absurd Russian spy theory, if it still finds credit in some idiotic
heads,
has long ago disappeared, at any rate from the official brains of the
Anglo-Indians.
If,
I say, at that critical moment, the members of the Society, and especially
its
leaders at Adyar, Hindu and European, had stood together as one man, firm in their
conviction of the reality and power of the Masters, Theosophy would have come
out more triumphantly than ever, and none of their fears would have ever been
realized, however cunning the legal traps set for me, and whatever mistakes and
errors of judgment I, their humble representative, might have made in the executive
conduct of the matter.
But
the loyalty and courage of the Adyar Authorities, and of the few Europeans
who
had trusted in the Masters, were not equal to the trial when it came. In
spite
of my protests, I was hurried away from Headquarters. Ill as I was, almost
dying
in truth, as the physicians said, yet I protested, and would have battled
for
Theosophy in India to my last breath, had I found loyal support. But some
feared
legal entanglements, some the Government, while my best friends believed in the
doctors' threats that I must die if I remained in
Well,
I left, and immediately intrigues and rumours began. Even at Naples
already,
I learnt that I was reported to be meditating to start in Europe "a
rival
Society" and "burst up Adyar" (!!) . At this I laughed. Then it
was
rumoured
that I had been abandoned by the Masters, been disloyal to Them, done this or
the other. None of it had the slightest truth or foundation in fact.
Then
I was accused of being, at best, a hallucinated medium, who had mistaken
"spooks"
for living Masters; while others declared that the real H. P. Blavatsky
was
dead--had died through the injudicious use of Kundalini--and that the form
had
been forthwith seized upon by a Dugpa Chela, who was the present H.P.B. Some again
held me to be a witch, a sorceress, who for purposes of her own played the part
of a philanthropist and lover of India, while in reality bent upon the destruction
of all those who had the misfortune to be psychologised by me.
In
fact, the powers of psychology attributed to me by my enemies, whenever a fact or
a "phenomenon" could not be explained away, are so great that they
alone would have made of me a most remarkable Adept--independently of any
Masters or Mahatmas. In short, up to 1886, when the S.P.R. Report was published
and this soap-bubble burst over our heads, it was one long series of false
charges, every mail bringing something new. I will name no one; or does it
matter who said a thing and who repeated it. One thing is certain; with the
exception of Colonel Olcott, everyone seemed to banish the Masters from their
thoughts and Their spirit from Adyar. Every imaginable incongruity was
connected with these holy names, and I alone was held responsible for every
disagreeable event that took place, every mistake made. In a letter received
from Damodar in 1886, he notified me that the Masters' influence was becoming
with every day weaker at Adyar; that They were daily represented as less than
"second-rate Yogis," totally denied by some, while even those who
believed in, and had remained loyal to Them, feared even to pronounce Their
names.
Finally,
he urged me very strongly to return, saying that of course the Masters would
see that my health should not suffer from it. I wrote to that effect to Colonel
Olcott, imploring him to let me return, and promising that I would live at
to
the Headquarters or even to live there without the Council's permission.
This,
although I had spent several thousand rupees of my own private money, and had
devoted my share of the profits of The Theosophist to the purchase of the house
and its furniture. Nevertheless I signed the renunciation without one word of
protest. I saw I was not wanted, and remained in
labours
had been rewarded with ingratitude, when my most urgent wishes to return were
met with flimsy excuses and answers inspired by those who were hostile to me?
The
result of this is too apparent. You know too well the state of affairs in
India
for me to dwell longer upon details. In a word, since my departure, not
only
has the activity of the movement there gradually slackened, but those for
whom
I had the deepest affections, regarding them as a mother would her own
sons,
have turned against me. While in the West, no sooner had I accepted the
invitation
to come to London, than I found people--the S.P.R. Report and wild
suspicions
and hypotheses rampant in every direction notwithstanding--to believe in the
truth of the great Cause I have struggled for, and in my own bona fides.
Acting
under the Master's orders I began a new movement in the West on the
original
lines; I founded Lucifer, and the Lodge which bears my name.
Recognizing
the splendid work done at Adyar by Colonel Olcott and others to
carry
out the second of the three objects of the T.S., viz., to promote the
study
of Oriental Literature, I was determined to carry out here the two others.
All
know with what success this had been attended. Twice Colonel Olcott was
asked
to come over, and then I learned that I was once more wanted in
any
rate by some. But the invitation came too late; neither would my doctor
permit
it, nor can I, if I would be true to my life-pledge and vows, now live at
the
Headquarters from which the Masters and Their spirit are virtually banished.
The
presence of Their portraits will not help; They are a dead letter. The truth
is
that I can never return to India in any other capacity than as Their faithful
agent.
And as, unless They appear among the Council in propria persona (which
They
will certainly never do now), no advice of mine on occult lines seems
likely
to be accepted, as the fact of my relations with the Masters is doubted,
even
totally denied by some; and I myself having no right to the Headquarters,
what
reason is there, therefore, for me to live at Adyar?
The
fact is this: In my position, half-measures are worse than none. People have
either
to believe entirely in me, or to honestly disbelieve. No one, no
Theosophist,
is compelled to believe, but it is worse than useless for people to
ask
me to help them, if they do not believe in me. Here in Europe and America
are
many who have never flinched in their devotion to Theosophy; consequently
the
spread of Theosophy and of the T.S., in the West, during the last three
years,
has been extraordinary. The chief reason for this is that I was enabled
and
encouraged by the devotion of an ever-increasing number of members to the
Cause
and to Those who guide it, to establish an Esoteric Section, in which I
can
teach something of what I have learned to those who have confidence in me,
and
who prove this confidence by their disinterested work for Theosophy and the T.S.
For the future, then, it is my intention to devote my life and energy to
the
E.S., and to the teaching of those whose confidence I retain. It is useless
that
I should use the little time I have before me to justify myself before
those
who do not feel sure about the real existence of the Masters, only
because,
misunderstanding me, it therefore suits them to suspect me.
And
let me say at once, to avoid misconception, that my only reason for
accepting
the exoteric direction of European affairs, was to save those who
really
have Theosophy at heart and work for it and the Society, from being
hampered
by those who not only do not care for Theosophy, as laid out by the
Masters,
but are entirely working against both, endeavouring to undermine and
counteract
the influence of the good work done, both by open denial of the
existence
of the Masters, by declared and bitter hostility to myself, and also
by
joining forces with the most desperate enemies of our Society.
Half-measures,
I repeat, are no longer possible. Either I have stated the truth
as
I know it about the Masters, and teach what I have been taught by them, or I
have
invented both Them and the Esoteric Philosophy. There are those among the Esotericists
of the inner group who say that if I have done the latter, then I
must
myself be a "Master." However it may be, there is no alternative to
this
dilemma.
The
only claim, therefore, which
only
in proportion to the activity of the Fellows there for Theosophy and their
loyalty
to the Masters. You should not need my presence among you to convince you of
the truth of Theosophy, any more than your American brothers need it. A conviction
that wanes when any particular personality is absent is no conviction at all.
Know, moreover, that any further proof and teaching I can give only to the
Esoteric Section, and this for the following reason: its members are the only
ones whom I have the right to expel for open disloyalty to their pledge
(not
to me, H.P.B., but to their Higher Self and the Mahatmic aspect of the
Masters),
a privilege 1 cannot exercise with F.T.S.'s at large, yet one which is
the
only means of cutting off a diseased limb from the healthy body of the Tree,
and
thus save it from infection. I can care only for those who cannot be swayed
by
every breath of calumny, and every sneer, suspicion, or criticism, whoever it
may
emanate from.
Thenceforth
let it be clearly understood that the rest of my life is devoted
only
to those who believe in the Masters, and are willing to work for Theosophy
as
They understand it, and for the T.S. on the lines upon which They originally
established
it.
If,
then, my Hindu brothers really and earnestly desire to bring about the
regeneration
of
Masters,
in the ages of
and
teaching the people; then let them cast aside all fear and hesitation, and
turn
a new leaf in the history of the Theosophical Movement. Let them bravely
rally
around the President-Founder, whether I am in
those
few true Theosophists who have remained loyal throughout, and bid defiance to
all calumniators and ambitious malcontents--both without and within the Theosophical
Society.
Written
April, 1890
Theosophical Society,