Mohini Mohun Chatterji was a member of the Theosophical Society, and he
claimed to have had several encounters with the Masters:
« Since an attempt is now being made by the
opponents of the Theosophical Society to discredit the whole movement by
circulating the report that the "Mahatmas," or Eastern Adepts, are
but "crafty arrangements of muslin and bladders," I ask permission to
say a word.
I have sacrificed all my worldly prospects, as is well known in my
native city of Calcutta, to devote myself to the propagation of the esoteric
philosophy of my race, in connection with the Society so unjustly slandered.
Needless to say I should not have taken this step, with many others of
my countrymen, if the Theosophical Society were but a sham, and the Mahatmas
vulgar "concoctions of muslin and bladders."
To a Brahman, like myself, it is repugnant to speak of the sacredly
confidential relationship existing between a spiritual teacher and his pupil
yet duty compels me in this instance to say that I have personal and absolute
knowledge of the existence of the Mahatma who has corresponded with Mr.
Sinnett, and is known to the Western world as "Koot-Hoomi."
I had knowledge of the Mahatma in question before I knew Madame
Blavatsky, and I met him in person when he passed through the Madras Presidency
to China last year (1883).
I have also seen apparitions of Mahatmas on several occasions — five or
six, I should think.
1) It was in the month of December, 1882 at Bombay, that I saw the
apparition of one of the Mahatmas for the first time. I do not remember the
precise date, but it can be easily ascertained. It was a few days after the
anniversary of the Theosophical Society was celebrated in that year.
One evening, eight or 10 of us were sitting on the balcony at the
headquarters of the Society. I was leaning over the railings, when at a
distance I caught a glimpse of some shining substance, which after a short time
took the form of a human being.
This human form several times passed and re-passed the place where we
were. I should think the apparition was visible for four or five minutes at a
distance from me of about 20 or 30 yards.
It appeared at a place where there was a declivity in the hill, the
house being at the top of the hill. There was also a bend at the spot, so that
if an ordinary human being had been walking there it would have been impossible
for him to have been seen. I saw the whole figure, however, so that it must
have been floating in mid-air.
Other persons besides me also saw the figure. One was Novin
Grishna Bannerji, who is deputy collector at Berhampore, Moorshedabad, Bengal.
Another was S. Ramaswamier, who is district registrar at Madura, Madras. A
third was Pundit Chandra Sikir, who lives at Bareilly, N.W.P.
It was first observed by Ramaswamier and myself. It seemed to us to be
the apparition of the original of the portrait in Colonel Olcott's room, and
which is associated with one of the Mahatmas.
This occurred about half-past nine or 10 o'clock on a bright moonlight
night. The figure walked up and down and then disappeared. It seemed to melt
away.
2) The second time I saw an astral appearance was two or three days
after that. We were sitting on the ground — on the rock, outside the house in
Bombay, when a figure appeared a short distance away. It was not the same figure
as on the first occasion.
This astral figure was the same shining colour as before. It seemed to
float. There was no sound accompanying it. It seemed like phosphorus in the
dark. The hair was dark, and could be distinguished from the face.
Colonel Olcott was present on the first occasion, and, as I have already
stated, the apparition that appeared was that of his Master Morya.
3) The third instance which I will describe was the last that occurred
in early 1884 just before my leaving India for Europe. We were sitting in the
drawing-room on the first-floor of the house at the Theosophical Society
Headquarters, Adyar, Madras. It was about 11 o'clock at night. The window looks
over a terrace or balcony.
In one corner of the room there appeared a thin vapoury substance of a
shining white colour. Gradually it took shape, and a few dark spots became
visible, and after a short time it was the fully-formed body of a man,
apparently as solid as an ordinary human body.
This figure passed and re-passed us several times, approaching to within
a distance of a yard or two from where we were standing near the window. It
approached so near that I think that if I had put out my hand I might have
touched it. This figure was Mr. Sinnett's correspondent, Koot Hoomi.
After a while I said to Master Koot Hoomi that as I should not see him
for a long time, on account of my going to Europe, I begged he would leave some
tangible mark of his visit.
The figure then raised his hands and seemed to throw something at us.
The next moment we found a shower of roses falling over us in the room — roses
of a kind that could not have been procured on the premises.
We requested the figure to disappear from that side of the balcony where
there was no exit. There was a tree on the other side, and it was in order to
prevent all suspicion that it might be something that had got down the tree, or
anything of that kind, that we requested him to disappear from the side where
there was no exit.
The figure went over to that spot and then disappeared. It passed us slowly
until it came to the edge of the balcony, and then it was not to be seen any
more. The disappearance was sudden.
The height of the balcony was 15 or 20 feet, and moreover, there were
people downstairs and all over the house, so that it would have been impossible
for a person to have jumped down without being noticed. Just below the balcony
there is an open lawn.
There were several persons looking at the moment, and my own idea is
that it would have been perfectly impossible for a person to have jumped down.
There is a small flight of steps just below the balcony, and if a man had
jumped from the balcony he must have fallen upon the steps and broken his legs.
When the figure passed and re-passed us we heard nothing of any
footsteps. Besides myself, Damodar and Madame Blavatsky were in the room at the
time.
On the balcony there was the moonlight, and the figure came to within so
short a distance that the light, which was streaming out of the window, fell
upon it. »
Note: This document has been collated from two sources: The first part
is a letter that Mohini sent to the editor of the London newspaper The Pall Mall Gazette, and which
appeared in the publication, October 2, 1884, p.2 (see
link).
And the second part is a summary of the interrogation that the Society
for Psychic Research did to Mohini (June 1884), and whose original text can be
read in this other (link).
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