Franz
Hartmann was a famous esoteric writer who was closely related to the
Theosophical Movement.
During the
14 months he stayed at the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Adyar
(India), he received at least ten letters from Masters Kuthumi and Morya, and
although unfortunately not all of them were preserved, the content of some of
those letters have been recovered.
THE FIRST LETTER KNOWN
FROM MASTER MORYA
Franz
Hartmann reported that a week after his arrival in Adyar (December 4, 1883),
seeing that people were sending letters to the Masters; he decided to do the
same and gave to Colonel Olcott a brief note so that he put in the “Shrine.”
The note
said the following:
-
"Revered
Master! The undersigned offers you his services. He
desires that you would kindly examine his mental capacity and if desirable give
him further instructions. Respectfully
yours."
And two
weeks later, on December 25, 1883, Hartmann received an answer from Master
Morya.
And Master
Morya's reply was the following:
« My
blessings! If we had to employ a man
without intelligence in our service, we would have to point out to him as you
say in the West: “the chapter and the verse,” i.e. we would have to give him
very detailed commissions and orders well defined. But a mind like yours, with
a history of so many experiences, can easily find its way when it receives a
suggestion regarding the direction that leads to the goal.
Therefore, make
a clear image of what a human being is. In what relationship he is in this
particular life with respect to the sum total of his previous existences, and
considers that his future is entirely in his own hands, and you will no longer
have doubts about what you should do.
. . .
You
committed an act of great imprudence while you were in San Francisco. (Here
Master Morya gave details about a private and delicate matter that Franz Hartmann
did not want to reveal to the public).
I put into the
Henry Olcott´s head the idea of suggesting you to come here. So stay in Asia
for a while. Participate in the work of the Theosophical Society. Let the
principles of the theosophical philosophy be known without reserves, let it
speak louder in your heart. Help others, so that you can be helped yourself. ...
Live according to the Highest Ideals of Humanity. Think and work. And these are the conditions of satisfaction
for you and for others. ... M. »
Hartmann
mentioned that he was very perplexed that Master Morya knew what he had done in
San Francisco because it was something very personal that he had not told to anyone,
and there was not also one who could have told to the Master, since in San
Francisco, Hartmann he was even more unknown than he was at Adyar.
And below is
a facsimile of a portion of that letter:
The text and
the facsimile were reproduced by
Boris de Zirkoff in the biography he wrote about Franz Hartmann and which was
published in the Collected Writings, vol. 8, p.449
THE SECOND LETTER KNOWN
FROM MASTER MORYA
Franz
Hartmann reported that on the morning of February 5, 1884, he went upstairs to
Madame Blavatsky's room to have a conversation with her in regard to Theosophical
Society’s matters, and he wanted to ask her opinion about a certain subject of which I had been thinking.
She advised
him to mentally ask this question to the Master himself, and the Master would
surely answer him. A few minutes later the domestic worker came because her
wish to have a pair of pincers, which she needed for some purpose, and Franz
Hartmann remembered that he had such a pair of pincers in his desk drawer, so he
went down to his room to get them.
Hartmann
took the pincers and was about to close the drawer, when he saw in the drawer a
large envelope with the well-known Master's handwriting and sealed with a stamp
bearing his initials in Tibetan characters.
The letter
gave him a detailed answer to the question he had formulated mentally, and what
surprised him most was that this letter must have been written, sealed and put
in the drawer in less than four minutes, while he It took forty minutes to copy
it the next day!
And below I
present an extract of this letter:
« Friend! You seem to me the only fully rational being
among the Pelengs [Europeans] now
left at headquarters. Therefore with an
eye to a variety of unexpected emergencies in future which I foresee, I must
ask you to show practically your devotion to the cause of truth by accepting
the rudder of the theosophical course.
If I know
anything, I know you to be entirely free from those prejudices and
predilections that are generally in the way of a calm and dispassionate pursuit
of the chief aim of the Society, full equality among men as brothers and an
entire unconcern with the childish fairy tales they call their religion,
whether exoteric or esoteric.
If you
kindly consent to take care of theosophical interests during the absence of
Henry Olcott and Upasika (Blavatsky), I will cause him to write you an official
letter, investing you with more official power than any other “assistant,” so
as to give you a firmer hold of the rod of authority than you would otherwise
have with an informal title shared by so many others.
. . .
Your pucca authority I ask you to make the
best of it in the interests of Truth, Justice and Charity. … M. »
(This
portion was published in the Occult
Review, January 1908, p.24)
THE THIRD LETTER KNOWN
FROM MASTER MORYA
Madame
Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott publicly took “Panchashila”
at Ceylon, on May 25, 1880, and with that ritual they formally become
Buddhists, and they were the first known Westerners to do that.
When Dr.
Franz Hartmann questioned about it, Master Morya explained him that becoming Buddhist
would serve to have an easier access to the path of knowledge, and that is why
Dr. Hartmann followed suit and became a Buddhist on December 26, 1883.
And two
weeks later (on February 25, 1884) Master Morya sent a letter to Franz Hartmann
where he wrote the following:
« Let me give you an advice. Never
offer yourself as a chela, but wait until chelaship descends by itself upon
you. Above all, try to find yourself, and the path of knowledge will open
itself before you, and this so much the easier as you have made a contact with
the Light-ray of the Blessed one, whose name you have now taken as your
spiritual lode-star. Receive in advance my blessings and my thanks. M. »
(This
text was published in the Collected
Writings, vol. 8, p.446)
THE FOURTH LETTER KNOWN
FROM MASTER MORYA
In his
autobiography, Dr. Hartmann mentions a letter he received on April 27, 1884 in
which Master Morya warned him of the conspiracy being carried out by Mrs.
Coulomb and Mr. Coulomb to overthrow the Theosophical Society.
And below I put an extract of that letter:
« For some time, Mrs. Coulomb has opened a
communication with the enemies of the cause. Hence hints as to trapdoors and
tricks. Moreover when needed trapdoors will be found, as they have been forthcoming
for some time. They (the Coulombs) have full entrance to and control of the
premises. Mr. Coulomb is clever and cunning at every handicraft, a good
mechanic and carpenter and good at walls likewise. ... M. »
(This
extract was published in the Occult
Review, January 1908, p.27)
THE FIRST LETTER KNOWN
FROM THE MASTER KUTHUMI
And although
the situation deteriorated, at the beginning Master Kuthumi tried to be very
compassionate to Mrs. Coulomb as was indicated by the letter he wrote to Franz
Hartmann.
And on this
letter, Hartmann mentioned that:
« I received a letter from Master
Kuthumi on March 22, 1884. The letter was inside an envelope with Tibetan
characters, and the letter handed to me by Damodar, who received it in my
presence from the hands of the astral form of a Chela. »
(Note
published in the Theosophist magazine,
Supplement, July 1884, p.99)
And later,
in the report that Franz Hartmann wrote, he gave more details about that event:
« Affidavits sent in by several
members went to show, that the Coulombs were guilty of gross misconduct, of
lying about the Society, slandering its officers, wasting the funds of the Society,
etc.
We therefore
concluded to impeach them in a formal manner, and were engaged in drawing up
the charges in my room when the astral body of a Chela appeared, and handed the
following letter to Damodar.
. .
This was
rather like throwing cold water on the fire we had kindled to purify the
Society. ... The letter was in the well-known hand writing of K.H. It was enclosed in a Chinese envelope,
addressed to me, and the Chela who handed it to Damodar was recognized by him.
There could
be no longer any doubt as to its being genuine, and there was nothing to be
done, but to obey. I therefore rather
reluctantly obeyed, and an armistice was concluded with the Coulombs by treating
them with greater consideration.
Madame
Coulomb had some of her glory and power restored to her, and we all attempted
to get rid of her by persuasion and kindness. »
(Extracts
from the report of observations made by Franz Hartmann during his nine month
stay at the Headquarters of the Theosophical Society at Adyar, Madras, India.
Printed at the Scottish Press by Graves, Cookson, and Co., 1884, p.33)
And below I
transcribe the content of that letter:
« So long as one has not
developed a perfect sense of justice he should prefer to err rather on the side
of mercy than commit the slightest act of injustice.
Mad. Coulomb
is a medium and as such irresponsible for many things she may say or do. At the same time she is kind and charitable. One must know how to act towards her to make
of her a very good friend.
She has her
own weaknesses but their bad effects can be minimized by exercising on her mind
a moral influence by a friendly and kindly feeling. Her mediumistic nature is a
help in this direction, if proper advantage be taken of the same.
It is my
wish therefore that she shall continue in charge of the household business, the
Board of Control of course exercising a proper supervisory control & seeing
in consultation with her, that no unnecessary expenditure is incurred.
A good deal
of reform is necessary and can be made rather with the help than the antagonism
of Mme. Coulomb. Damodar would have told
you this but his mind was purposely obscured, without his knowledge, to test
your intuitions.
Show this to
Mad. Coulomb so that she may co-operate with you. K.H. »
And below I
show you a facsimile of that letter:
The text was
first published in the book "The
Letters of the Masters of Wisdom," second series, (letter No. 73),
published in 1926 by The Theosophical Press, Chicago.
And the
facsimile was first published in the book "Who wrote the Mahatma Letters?" by William Loftus Hare and
Harold Edward Hare, published in 1936 by Williams & Norgate, London.
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