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Part 1 and Part 2.


ENCOUNTERS WITH MASTER KUTHUMI AT JAMMU “THE CITY OF TEMPLES”


One of the most famous temples of that region is the Vaishno Devi Temple that is dedicated to the goddess Mata Adi, and although it is at more than 1’500 meters high on the Trikuta Mountain, it is an important pilgrimage center for Hindus.





At the end of 1883, there was a very remarkable event in the Theosophical realm, which is that Master Kuthumi physically appeared before three members of the Theosophical Society (which were Colonel Olcott, Damodar Mavalankar and William Tournay Brown) while they were on a Theosophical tour in Northwest India.

These meetings took place in the cities of Lahore and Jammu.


The stories that were given about the meeting that took place at Lahore, I have transcribed here, and I recommend you read them first, so you have a better chronological understanding of how these events happened.

And the stories about the meeting that took place at Jammu (which was the next city where they went after leaving Lahore) I transcribe them below:




TESTIMONY OF DAMODAR MAVALANKAR


Damodar Mavalankar was a disciple of Master Kuthumi and later when he returned to the General Headquarters in Adyar (Madras or Chennai), he wrote about the meeting he had with his Master, and his article was published in a special edition of The Theosophist magazine with the title:

A GREAT RIDDLE SOLVED

« On my return to the Head-quarters from the North, where I had accompanied Colonel Olcott on his Presidential Tour, I learnt with regret and sorrow of further and still more malignant strictures by certain Spiritists on the claims of the Founders of the Theosophical Society to be in personal relations with the Mahatmas of the sacred Himavat.

For me, personally, the problem is of course now solved. It being impossible, I shall not even undertake to prove my case to those who, owing to prejudice and misconception, have determined to shut their eyes before the most glaring facts, for “none are so blind as those who will not see,” as the saying has it.

But I should at the same time [be] considered to have ill performed my duty were I not to put my facts before those earnest seekers after truth, who by sincere aspiration and devoted study, have been bringing themselves closer and closer to the Occult World.

The best way, I believe, to carry conviction to an intelligent mind is to narrate the facts in as plain and simple a way as possible, leaving speculations entirely out of consideration.

At the outset I must state what is known to many of my friends and brothers of the Theosophical Society, viz., that for the last four years I have been a disciple of Mr. Sinnett’s correspondent. Now and then I have had occasion to refer publicly to this fact, and to the other one of my having seen some of the other Venerated Mahatmas of the Himalayas, both in their astral and physical bodies.

However all that I could urge in favor of my point, viz., that these Great Masters are not disembodied spirits but living men — would fail to carry conviction to a Spiritistic mind blinded by its prejudices and preconceptions. It has been suggested that either or both of the Founders may be mediums in whose presence forms could be seen, which are by them mistaken for real living entities.

And when I asserted that I had these appearances even when alone, it was argued that I too was developing into a medium.

In this connection a certain remark by Mr. C.C. Massey in a letter to Light magazine of November 17, is very suggestive, inasmuch as that gentleman is not only far from being inimical to us but is a Theosophist of long standing, bent solely on discovering truth.

The following extract from the said letter will show how great are the misconceptions even of some of our own fellow-members:

« Nevertheless, were it an open question, free from authoritative statement, so that such a suggestion could be made without offence by one who would, if possible, avoid offence, I should avow the opinion that these letters, whether they are or are not the ipsissima verba of any adept, were at all events penned by Madame Blavatsky, or by other accepted disciples. At least I should think that she was a medium for their production, and not merely for their transmission.

The fact that through the kindness of Mr. Sinnett I have been made familiar with the handwriting of the letters, and that it bears not the remotest resemblance to Madame Blavatsky’s, would not influence me against that opinion, for reasons which every one acquainted with the phenomena of writing under psychical conditions will appreciate.

But I am bound to admit that there are circumstances connected with the receipt by Mr. Sinnett of other letters signed, “K.H.” which are as regards those, apparently inconsistent with any instrumentality of Madame Blavatsky herself, whether as medium or otherwise and the handwriting is in both cases the same. »


Bearing well in mind the last paragraph in the above quotation, I would respectfully invite the Spiritists to explain the fact of not only myself, but Colonel Olcott, Mr. Brown, and other gentlemen having on this tour received severally and on various occasions letters in reply to conversations and questions on the same day or the same hour, sometimes when alone and sometimes in company with others, when Mme. Blavatsky was thousands of miles away; the handwriting in all cases being the same and identical with that of the communications in Mr. Sinnett’s possession.

While on my tour with Colonel Olcott, several phenomena occurred (in his presence as well as in his absence) such as immediate answers to questions in my Master’s handwriting and over his signature, put by a number of our Fellows, and some of which are referred to in the last number of the Theosophist, while others need not be mentioned in a document going into the hands of the profane reader.

These occurrences took place before we reached Lahore, where we expected to meet in body my much doubted Master. There I visited by him in body, for three nights consecutively for about three hours every time while I myself retained full consciousness, and in one case, even went to meet him outside the house.

To my knowledge there is no case on the Spiritualistic records of a medium remaining perfectly conscious, and meeting, by previous arrangement, his Spirit-visitor in the compound, re-entering the house with him, offering him a seat and then holding a long converse with the “disembodied spirit” in a way to give him the impression that he is in personal contact with an embodied entity!

Moreover Him whom I saw in person at Lahore was the same I had seen in astral form at the Headquarters of the Theosophical Society, and the same again whom I, in my visions and trances, had seen at His house, thousands of miles off, to reach which in my astral Ego I was permitted, owing, of course, to His direct help and protection.

In those instances with my psychic powers hardly developed yet, I had always seen Him as a rather hazy form, although His features were perfectly distinct and their remembrance was profoundly graven on my soul’s eye and memory; while now at Lahore, Jammu, and elsewhere, the impression was utterly different.

In former cases, when making Pranam (salutation) my hands passed through his form, while on the latter occasions they met solid garments and flesh.

Here I saw a living man before me, the same in features, though far more imposing in His general appearance and bearing than Him I had so often looked upon in the portrait in Mme. Blavatsky’s possession and in the one with Mr. Sinnett.

I shall not here dwell upon the fact of His having been corporeally seen by both Colonel Olcott and Mr. Brown separately, for two nights at Lahore, as they can do so better, each for himself, if they so choose.

At Jammu again, where we proceeded from Lahore, Mr. Brown saw Him on the evening of the third day of our arrival there, and from Him received a letter in His familiar handwriting, not to speak of His visits to me almost every day.

And what happened the next morning almost every one in Jammu is aware of the fact is, that I had the good fortune of being sent for, and permitted to visit a Sacred Ashram where I remained for a few days in the blessed company of several of the much doubted Masters of Himavat and Their disciples.

There I met not only my beloved Master [Kuthumi] and Colonel Olcott’s Master [Morya], but several others of the Fraternity, including One of the Highest [maybe Serapis].

I regret the extremely personal nature of my visit to those thrice blessed regions prevents my saying more of it. Suffice it that the place I was permitted to visit is in the Himalayas, not in any fanciful Summer Land and that I saw Him in my own physical body and found my Master identical with the form I had seen in the earlier days of my Chelaship.

Thus, I saw my beloved Guru not only as a living man, but actually as a young one in comparison with some other Sadhus [Holly Men] of the blessed company, only far kinder, and not above a merry remark and conversation at times.

Thus on the second day of my arrival, after the meal hour I was permitted to hold an intercourse for over an hour with my Master. Asked by Him smilingly, what it was that made me look at Him so perplexed, I asked in my turn:

-       "How is it Master that some of the members of our Society have taken into their heads a notion that you were an elderly man, and that they have even seen you clairvoyantly looking an old man passed sixty?"

To which he pleasantly smiled and said, that this latest misconception was due to the reports of a certain Brahmachari, a pupil of a Vedantic Swami in the N.W.P. — who had met last year in Tibet the chief of a spiritual group, an elderly Lama, who was his (my Master’s) travelling companion at that time.

The said Brahmachari having spoken of the encounter in India had led several persons to mistake the Lama for himself. As to his being perceived clairvoyantly as an “elderly man,” that could never be, he added, as real clairvoyance could lead no one into such mistaken notions; and then he kindly reprimanded me for giving any importance to the age of a Master, adding that appearances were often false, &c. and explaining other points.

(The story gave by this Brahmachari you can read it here)

~ * ~

These are all stern facts and no third course is open to the reader. What I assert is either true or false. In the former case, no Spiritualistic hypothesis can hold good, and it will have to be admitted that the Himalayan Brothers are living men and neither disembodied spirits nor the creatures of the over-heated imagination of fanatics.

Of course I am fully aware that many will discredit my account, but I write only for the benefit of those few who know me well enough to see in me neither a hallucinated medium nor attribute to me any bad motive, and who have ever been true and loyal to their convictions and to the cause they have so nobly espoused.

As for the majority who laugh at, and ridicule, what they have neither the inclination nor the capacity to understand. I hold them in very small account. If these few lines will help to stimulate even one of my brother-Fellows in the Society or one right thinking man outside of it to promote the cause the Great Masters have imposed upon the devoted heads of the Founders of the Theosophical Society, I shall consider that I have properly performed my duty.

Adyar (Madras)
7th December, 1883»
(The Theosophist, December-January, 1883-1884, p.61-62)






WILLIAM TOURNAY BROWN’s TESTIMONY

In his article, Damodar mentions that "At Jammu again, Mr. Brown saw Master Kuthumi on the evening of the third day of our arrival there," and about this event, William Tournay Brown himself mentioned it in a pamphlet entitled “Some experiences in India,” where he wrote:

« On leaving Lahore the next place visited was Jammu, the winter residence of His Highness the Maharajah of Cashmere. Ana at Jammu I had another opportunity of seeing Mahatma Kuthumi in propria persona. One evening I went to the end of the "compound" (private enclosure), and there I found the Master awaiting my approach. I saluted in European fashion, and came, hat in hand, to within a few yards of the place on which he was standing. After a minute or so he marched away, the noise of his footsteps on the gravel being markedly audible. »
(Some Experiences in India. London Lodge of the Theosophical Society)

(Observation: the original of this Tournay Brown’s pamphlet is extremely rare. It was published by Dr. Franz Hartmann and Richard Harte, London, under authority of the London Lodge, T. S. It has, however, been reprinted in The Canadian Theosophist, Toronto, Vol. XXVIII, No. 4, June 15, 1947, pp. 117-125.)


And it's funny what Blavatsky wrote to Mr. Sinnett about this double meeting:

« I can not understand why Brown has been so favored.
What the heck he will have done so holy and good!
All I know is that this seems to be Kuthumi's second visit personally to him. »
(Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A.P. Sinnett, p.105)

And surely this privilege was due to the fact that Mr. Brown had a very good karma in his favor, probably generated in his past lives. Unfortunately, Mr. Brown did not know take advantage of the opportunity given to him, because in order to advance along the initiatory path it is not enough to be a good person, but also is necessary to develop a certain temperament, character, discernment and great tenacity.

And the proof is that although he was fully warned of the difficulties of the path he wished to undertake, in January 1884, Brown hastily took the decision to stand for probation to become a disciple, and like many other postulants, failure.

And on this matter, Colonel Olcott commented that:

« He was an emotional sentimentalist, quite unfit for practical life in the world. He had chopped and changed before coming to us, and has been doing it pretty much ever since; the latest news being that he has turned Catholic, taken the soutane, kept it on only a few days, became again a laic. »
(Old Diary Leaves III, chapter 23)

Instead, Damodar, he succeeds in his initiatory tests.






COLONEL OLCOTT’s TESTIMONY


Colonel Olcott did not have another encounter with Master Kuthumi in the city of Jammu, but in his bookOld Diary Leaves,” he testified of Damodar's disappearance for a few days:

« Damodar had disappeared, and left no trace behind him as a clue to show me whither he had gone or when he would return, if ever. I hastily went through the four communicating rooms, but they were empty; my other companions having gone to the river for a bath.

From Damodar's window I called to a servant, and learned from him that Damodar had left the bungalow, alone, at daybreak, but left no message. Not knowing exactly what to make of it, I returned to my room, and found lying on the table a note from a Master, bidding me not to worry about the lad as he was under his protection, but giving me no hint as to his return.

It had taken but a minute or so to make the circuit of the four inter-communicating open-doored rooms, and I had heard no messenger's footstep in the gravelly compound; a person could hardly have entered my room between my leaving and re-entering it, yet here was the mysterious letter, in the "K.H." writing and familiar Chinese envelope, lying on my table.

My first instinct was to take Damodar's luggage—his trunk and bedding—and pack it away under my own cot. I then dispatched a telegram to Blavatsky, telling her of his disappearance and of my having no idea as to his return.

When the bathers got back from the river, they were naturally as excited as myself over the incident, and we wasted much time in speculations and surmises as to its possible sequel.

I went twice to the Palace that day and found myself increasingly welcome to His Highness. He showed me every courtesy, discussed the Vedanta philosophy with evidently deep interest, and gave me a pressing invitation to accompany him the next time he should go to his Kashmirian capital, Srinagar.

Just as evening was closing in, and I was sitting alone, writing, in our bungalow, the others having gone for a ride on horseback, I heard a step on the gravel outside, and, looking around, saw a tall Kashmiri-costumed telegraph peon (messenger) bring me a message. On opening it, I found it to be from Blavatsky, in answer to mine.

She said that a Master had told her that Damodar would return, and that I must not let his luggage, especially his bedding, be touched by any third party. That was strange, was it not, that she, at Madras—i.e., some 2’000 miles away—should tell me to do the very thing it had been my first impulse to do on finding out the lad's departure?

Was it long-distance telepathy, or what?

There was something stranger yet to come. To open and read the dispatch had not taken me a minute; the peon had not had more than time enough to get across the verandah into the compound when, like a flash, it came to me that the form of the peon was not real but a Maya, and that he belonged to the Brotherhood.

I knew it, I could swear to it, because of a certain psychic disturbance caused in me by the approach of one of those personages; in fact, I could presently identify the peculiar vibration set up by the mesmeric current of my own Teacher [Morya], who was also Blavatsky's Teacher.

I ran to the door and looked across the bare compound, in which were no trees or bushes to serve as hiding-places, but nothing was in sight: the peon had disappeared as if into the ground.

I have been asked, when telling this story, how the transfer of the dispatch from the keeping of the real peon to the simulated one, and the return of my signed receipt to the telegraph office, could be accounted for unless the messenger had been a consenting party.

The thing is very simple, provided the reality of hypnotic power be conceded. The perfected hypnotism of the Orient I mean: not the rudimentary stage of it to which the Occidental schools of Nancy and La Salpètriere have hitherto attained; the secret of Mâya, in short.

The adept meets the peon; by will-power prevents his seeing him; causes him to become unconscious; leads him to any convenient place of hiding; leaves him there asleep; puts the illusive appearance of the man over his own features and person; brings me the telegram, takes my receipt, salutes, and retires.

The next moment, the nervous thrill caused in me by his sympathetic magnetism reacting in himself, warns him that I am on the alert and will naturally come to the door, so he inhibits my sight to prevent my seeing him, returns to the sleeping peon, puts the receipt in his hand, wills that he shall recollect, as if it had happened to himself, the brief episode of our meeting, awakens him, inhibits his sight, and send him back to the telegraph office.

A very simple sequence of events, easily comprehensible for every advanced mesmerist.
_ _ _

It was on 25th November, at daylight, that Damodar left us: he returned in the evening of the 27th—after an absence of some sixty hours, but how changed!

He left, a delicate-framed pale student-like young man, frail, timid, deferential; he returned with his olive face bronzed several shades darker, seemingly robust, tough, and wiry, bold and energetic in manner: we could scarcely realize that he was the same person.

He had been at the Master's retreat (ashram), undergoing certain training. He brought me a message from another Master, well known to me, and, to prove its genuineness, whispered in my ear a certain agreed password by which Lodge messages were authenticated to me, and which is still valid. »
(Old Diary Leaves III, chapter 5)






MADAME BLAVATSKY’s TESTIMONY


And this whole thing, Blavatsky told to Mr. Sinnett in a letter she wrote to him, and below, I transcribed you the part where she talks about this theme:

« Adyar, November 26, 1883.

Well there's news again. Day before yesterday I received telegram from Jammu from Olcott: "Damodar taken away by the Masters."

Disappeared!!!

I thought and feared as much though it is strange for it is hardly four years he is disciple. I send you both telegrams from Olcott and Mr. Brown's second one. Why should Brown be so favored — is what I cannot understand. He may be a good man, but what the devil has he done of so holy and good!

That's all I know about him that it seems to be Kuthumi's second visit personally to him. He is expected here or in the neighborhood by two chelas who have come from Mysore to meet Him. He is going somewhere to the Buddhists of the Southern Church. Shall we see him? I do not know. But there's a commotion here among the chelas.

Well strange things are taking place. Earthquakes, and blue and green sun; Damodar spirited away and Mahatma coming. And now what shall we do in the office without Damodar!

Ye gods and powers of Heaven and Hell we didn't have work and trouble enough! Well, well Their Master’s will be done not mine. »
(The Letters of H.P. Blavatsky to A.P. Sinnett, Letter N°30)




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