ENCOUNTERS OF BHAVANI SHANKAR WITH THE MASTERS

Bhavani Shankar Ganesh Mullapoorkar was one of the early Indian members of the Theosophical Society when it headquarter was in Bombay.

In 1881, when the journalist Alfred Sinnett published his book "The Occult World" in which he mentioned to the Western public the existence of the Transhimalayan Masters, some spiritualists claimed that these beings were disembodied spirits.

And to testify that this affirmation was not true, Bhavani Shankar and Babaji Nagnath (another member of the Theosophical Society), wrote an answer to the London spiritist magazine "Spiritualist" saying:

« In common with some other Theosophists of Bombay, we have had, on several occasions, the honor to see these “Brothers” of our Society’s First Section. We have thus been led to know that they represent a class of living, not “disembodied” men or ghosts — as the Spiritualists would insist upon; that they are in possession of the highest virtues and psychic capabilities, and have, as we are assured from the opportunities we have been permitted to enjoy, ever exerted such powers for beneficent purposes, regarding the whole humanity as a Universal Brotherhood, but keeping aloof from the world for reasons best known to themselves. »

(This answer was published in "Theosophist", August, 1881, p.230)

And later when he was questioned about those encounters with the Masters, Bhavani Shankar mentioned the following:

« The recent attack made by the Christian Missionaries connected with the "Christian College Magazine," to prove the falsity of occult phenomena by imputing them to the fraudulent tricks of Madame Blavatsky, forces upon me the duty of relating some of my experiences, so that the educated public may have a fair opportunity to draw their own conclusions concerning these phenomena after weighing all the evidences for and against their genuineness. My experience of these phenomena commenced so early as 1881, when the Head-quarters of the Theosophical Society were not removed from Bombay to Adyar, Madras. While I was at Bombay, I have had several occasions to visit its Head-quarters at Breach Candy.

First experience

In a bright moonlight, on the night of the 13th July 1881, we were engaged in a talk with Madame Blavatsky as usual in the same verandah. Monsieur Coulomb and Madame Coulomb were present on the spot as also all the persons of the house and Madame Blavatsky's servant.

While we were conversing with Madame B., the Mahatma, known as Mr. Sinnett's Correspondent and the Author of the letters published in "The Occult World," made his appearance in his "Mayavi Rupa" or "Double," for a few minutes.

He was clad in the white dress of a "Punjabee" and wore a white turban. All of those, who were present at that time, saw his handsome features clearly and distinctly, as it was a bright moonlight night.

On the same night, a letter was drafted to the "London Spiritualist" about our having seen the Mahatmas. As we were reading the letter in question, the same Mahatma showed himself again.

The second time when he made his appearance, he was very near us, say at the distance of a yard or two. At that time, Monsieur and Madame Coulomb said, "Here is our Brother," meaning the Mahatma. He then came into Madame Blavatsky's room and was heard talking with her and then disappeared.

Mr. Coulomb and Mrs. Coulomb signed the letter drafted to the London "Spiritualist," testifying to the fact of their having seen the "Mahatma." Since Madame Coulomb now says that the Mahatmas are but "crafty arrangements of muslin and bladders" and her husband represented the Mahatmas.

How are we to reconcile this statement with the fact that in the London "Spiritualist" of the 19th August 1881, appeared a letter signed by five witnesses, including myself, testifying to the fact of their having seen a Mahatma, while they were writing that letter; and that this document is signed by both the Coulombs?

There is, therefore, no doubt that they were with the company who signed the paper. Who was it then that appeared on that occasion as a Mahatma? Surely neither Mr. nor Mrs. Coulomb with their "muslin and bladders" nor Madame Blavatsky's servant who was also present, but the "double" of a person living on the other side of the Himalayas.

The figure in coming up to Madame Blavatsky's room was seen by us "to float through the air," and we also distinctly heard it talking to her, while all of us, including her servant and the Coulombs, were at the time, together, in each other's presence.

Second experience

One night while I was sitting with some of my friends near Madame Blavatsky in the open verandah close to her writing room, a Mahatma, who was then near Bombay, came walking through the garden attached to Colonel Olcott's bungalow and stood silent near a tree the distance of some eight or ten yards away from us.

Madame Blavatsky then went down the wooden staircase leading into the garden, approached the Mahatma and saluted him by touching the back of his hands with both of her open palms. He delivered a packet to her and then disappeared.

Madame Blavatsky came up afterwards and opened the packet and in it there was a letter from Allahabad. The envelope in question was quite unaddressed, but it bore the official stamp of the Allahabad Post Office of December the 3rd, 1881, and the official stamp of the Bombay Post Office of the same date, viz., 3rd December. The two places are 1,000 miles apart!

Third experience

In the month of March 1882, while I was stopping at Mr. Sinnett's house at Allahabad, some occult phenomena occurred independent of Madame Blavatsky, who was then at Bombay.

One evening, Mr. Sinnett gave me a note addressed to my Master, "K.H." I took it to my room and kept it near my pillow. Every care was taken in bolting and fastening all the glass doors of the room where my bed was. I placed a lamp by my bed and began to read the article "Elixir of Life." But I was not able to devote my attention to the study of the article in question as it became wholly directed to the letter addressed to the Mahatma.

It was between 10 and 11 P.M. that this letter disappeared and I saw my Master while he was leaving the room with the letter which was placed near my pillow. The doors of the room were well closed, and a light was burning by my bedside and there was no one else in the room. When I got up the morning next day, I found a reply from my Master to the address of Mr. Sinnett under my pillow and gave it to him.

During my short stay at Allahabad with Mr. Sinnett, I had had independent communication with my Master while Madame Blavatsky was in another part of India.

From Allahabad I returned to Bombay. After stopping at the Bombay Head-quarters for a week or so, I left the place for the north in April 1882. Since then, I have been working in the north. As a pilgrim, I had to travel from one place to another. Purposely I did not keep Madame Blavatsky or Colonel Olcott informed of my movements on account of some private reasons. During my travels in the north, I have received communications from my Master direct, independent of anybody else and have seen the Mahatmas in their "double".

Fourth experience

On the 8th November, 1883, I was at Bans Bareilly in N.W.P. and was engaged in a private talk with a European friend of mine on some theosophical subjects. At that time, I had a courier bag with me suspended across my shoulder, which I did not allow any one to touch as there was some private correspondence in it. I took particular care to lock it up in a carpet bag of mine whenever I removed it from my shoulder.

While I was conversing with that friend, I received a direct communication from my Master in a Chinese envelope which I found in that courier bag which was always with me. It related to some subject of which I was thinking that day, and contained some instructions to me how I should work, etc.

I showed it to some of my friends who were then present. The contents of that letter were in his well-known blue pencil handwriting. All the communications whether received by me direct or through anybody else from him, bear the same handwriting.

Fifth experience

In the month of January 1884, I was at Jubbulpore and putting up with Brother Nivaran Chandra Mookerjee, who was then the Secretary of the Bhrigu Kshetra Theosophical Society. One night, while I was with him, I was explaining to some twenty-seven members of that Branch, the article "Elixir of Life" and they were listening to me with great attention.

On a sudden, there was death-like silence for some time. I then felt the influence of Madame Blavatsky's Venerated Master, and it was so strong that I could not bear it. The current of electricity generated by an electro-magnetic battery is nothing when compared with that current generated by the trained Will of an Adept. When a Mahatma means to show himself to a Chela, he sends off a current of electricity to the Chela indicating his approach. It was this influence which I felt at that time.

A few minutes after, the Master Morya (Madame Blavatsky's Master) was actually present in the room where the meeting of the members was held and was seen by me and Brother Nivaran while some of the members only felt the influence. All the members would have seen him much more vividly, had it not been for the fact that he did not materialize himself much more objectively.

I have seen the same Mahatma, viz., Madame Blavatsky's Master, several times in his double during my travels in the North. Not only have I seen Madame B's Master in his double but also my Venerated Guru Deva "K.H." I have also seen the latter, viz., my Master in his physical body and recognized him.

~ * ~

All the above experiences which I had gained in the North, independent of Madame Blavatsky or Col. Olcott, who knew nothing about my movements, are sufficient to show to the impartial and educated public that these occult phenomena are genuine. It is immaterial to me whether the statement of these bare facts will carry conviction to those who, instead of being inquirers after the truth, are ready to suppress it and persecute those who give it to the world. »

(This statement was first published in Report of the Result of an Investigation into the Charges against Madame Blavatsky Brought by the Missionaries of the Scottish Free Church of Madras, and Examined by a Committee Appointed for That Purpose by the General Council of the Theosophical Society. Madras, India: Theosophical Society, 1885, p.75-80.)

(Note: Several of these events were also witnessed by Pandit Babaji Nagnath whose narration can be read in the article before this one.)

Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society in Adyar in December 1883. Standing to the right is Colonel Olcott, under him are Blavatsky and Doctor Franz Hartmann and in the first row on the left is Bhavani Shankar.

LAURA FINCH'S TESTIMONY

In a letter she wrote to the editor of the magazine "The Occult Review," she detailed more about the experiences that Bhavani Shankar had:

« Sir,

With reference to the correspondence concerning Madame Blavatsky appearing in the Occult Review, the following information may interest some of your readers:

I have received, from first-hand, several instances of the receipt of Mahatma Letters by others than Madame Blavatsky, under conditions which preclude the possibility of fraud or of the intervention, either psychic or otherwise, of Blavatsky.

The phenomena which accompanied the foundation of the Theosophical Society ceased, after a time, the Masters themselves explaining that the phenomena they had permitted had been but a means to an end, which had been attained.

Among the original and close workers with Mme. Blavatsky in India was Pandit Bhavani Shankar. It is my privilege to know Panditji, and I have shown him some of this correspondence.

He tells me that not only was that period, 1884-1887, extremely rich in phenomena, and the Masters frequently visible, but that some of those in closest contact with Madame Blavatsky were themselves the centres of psychic manifestations. I select the following four facts which possess a certain importance in view of recent assertions concerning the non-existence of the Masters.

Statement by Bhavani Shankar

1.  "I was staying with Sinnett at Allahabad. Madame Blavatsky was at Bombay. One night, Sinnett asked me to try and get a letter through to ‘Master K.H.’ He gave me the sealed letter. I went to bed, putting the letter under my pillow. I was trying to read, but my curiosity made me look under my pillow once — the letter was still there — twice — the letter was still there — but the third time I looked it had gone, and I distinctly saw the shadowy outlines of the ‘Master K.H.’

"The next morning, Mr. Sinnett received the answer under my pillow, from ‘K.H.’ (This phenomenon is recorded in The Occult World.)

2. "I was alone in Berabanki, near Lucknow, Oudh. Madame Blavatsky was in Bombay, when I received a letter from the ‘Master K.H.’ bidding me go and see him in Kashmir. I recognized the Master’s writing. . . . I went to Kashmir, and I saw the Master in his physical body.

3.  "Madame Blavatsky again absent. I was in the train with Colonel Olcott and Damodar. A letter from Master K.H. was — by no normal means — put inside my leather satchel-purse, the strap of which was around my neck, the bag itself being in a deep pocket of my costume. The letter was not there when we started. The letter was addressed to me.

4.  "Madame Blavatsky in Bombay. I was in Bankipur (Behar) with Colonel Olcott. He received a letter, posted in America, which when opened was found to contain a letter from Master M. written in Telugu, a South-Indian language which Colonel Olcott did not know. I translated the letter to him: it contained advice and directions for the work."

"A grand woman she was . . ." says Pandit Bhavani Shankar.

~ * ~

Many Indian scholars, who had gathered around Madame Blavatsky and who left the Theosophical Society after Colonel Olcott’s death, are still with us. I would like to suggest that Mr. Loftus Hare should visit India and seek first-hand information from these learned men.

I am, yours faithfully,
LAURA I. FINCH.

What is stated in this letter is correct. — BHAWANI SHANKAR, Benares. »

(This letter was published in "The Occult Review", June, 1927, p.404-405)

CONFIRMATION OF THE MASTER KUTHUMI

On December 15, 1883, Bhavani Shankar wrote a letter to Damodar from Moradabad informing him that he had met Master Kuthumi in his physically body (and when I find this letter, I will transcribe it). But the interesting thing is that Master Kuthumi himself confirmed that meeting in a letter he wrote to Pandit Pran Nath:

« To yours questions:

Do I tread the right path?  Is my present way of life conducive to spiritual advancement?  Am I capable of greatly influencing my next birth by good karmas in this life by strenuously following the bent of my heart as it is at present?

My answer is that the process of self-purification is not the work of a moment, nor of a few months, but of years — nay extending over a series of lives. The later a human begins the living of a higher life, the longer must be his period of probation, for he has to undo the effects of a long number of years spend in objects diametrically opposed to the real goal. The more strenuous one’s efforts and the brighter the result of his work, the nearer he comes to the threshold.

If his aspiration is genuine — a settle conviction and not a sentimental flash of the moment — he transfers from one body to another the determination, which finally leads him to the attainment of his desires. Bh. Sh. [Bhavani Shankar] has seen me in my own physical body and he can point out the way to others. He has been working unselfishly for his fellowmen thro’ the Theosophical Cause and his is having his reward thro’ he may not always notice it.

K.H. »

(This letter was received by Pandit Pran Nath of Gwalior in January, 1884, and published in the book “Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom”, 1st Serie, letter N°6)