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Reminiscences of H. P. Blavatsky and "The Secret Doctrine"

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Reminiscences of H. P. Blavatsky and REMINISCENCES OF H. P. BLAVATSKY AND "THE SECRET DOCTRINE" BY THE COUNTESS CONSTANCE W ACHTMEISTER, F. T.S . AND OTHERS EDITED BY A FELLOW OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY LONDON: THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY, 7, 'DuKE STREET, ADELPHI, LoNDON, W.C. N:s:w YoRK: The Path, 144, Madison Avenue. MADRAS: Theosophical Society, Adyar. 1893 (All ri-:hts reserved.) ,......--------- ----~ ----~-- •PREFACE. This book has been written by several persons who had the advantage of being the most closely connected with Madame Blavatsky during her residence in Europe, while she was engaged in the great work of her life-" The Sec·nt Doctrine." It would be a difficult task to give full, detailed accounts of all the circumstances which occurred during the preparation of this remarkable work, because it must never be forgotten that H.P.B. was, as she often herself expressed it, only the compiler of the work. Behind her stood #he real teachers, the guardians of the Secret Wisdom of the Ages, who taught her a!l the occult lore that she tr .msmitted in writing. Her. merit consisted partly in being able to assimilate the transcendental knowledge which was given out, in being a worthy messenger of her Masters, partly in her marvellous capability of rendering abstruse Eastern metaphysical thought in a form intelligible to Weste1n minds, verifying and comparing Eastern Wisdom with Western Science. Much credit, also, is due to her for her great moral courage in representing to the world thoughts and theori~s wholly at variance with the materialistic Science of the present day. It will be understood with difficulty by many, that the much abused "phenomena·· played an important pari in the compilation of" The Secret Doctrine;" that H.P.B. very often received so-called precipitated messages, containing matter which later on became part of the book. As the world gains better comprehension of occult laws, many strange events will be understood, and the history of the Theosophi­ cal Society will be viewed in another light than that in which hitherto it has been seen. During the last ten years, since the "Memoirs of H.P.B.," by Mr. Sinnett, were published, a remarkable change has been growing in the leading minds of the West in their attitude towards occultism. Theories and facts which before were held up to scorn, are now considered worthy of investigation-such as transference of thought, consciousness after death, etc.-and therefore it may be hoped that the facts related in this book will meet with the fairness of judgment that any bonA fide account has the right to demand. Very cordial thanks are due to the friend-who wishes his name to remain unknown-who undertook the labour of editing the various accounts, and of arranging the, at first, somewhat chaotic material. The book would have gained in symmetry had all these accounts been thrown into a single consecutive story, but it has been tluJught better to leave each its own individual form, so as to retain the vivid impress of the conviction of each separate witness. CONSTANCE WACHTMEISTER. - , H. P. BLAVATSKY AND "THE SECRET DOCTRINE." CHAPTER I. ~ ~"EN giving an account of the manner in which The J!t Secret Doctrine was written by H. P. Blavatsky, while yet the circumstances are fresh in my memory, With memoranda and letters still available for reference, I shall not shrink from dwelling at some length on my own rela­ tions with my dear friend and teacher, and on many attendant circumstances which, while not directly con­ nected With the actual writing of the book, will contribute. I feel sure, to an intelligent comprehension of both the author and her work. - For me nothing is trivial, nothing meaningless, in the personality, in the habits, and in the environments t ( H.P.B., and I desire to convey to the reader, if possible, as • full a knowledge as I myself possess of the difficulties and distractions that beset her during the progress of her work. The ill-health, the wandering life, the unpropitious sur­ roundings, the ·lack of materials, the defection. of false friends, the attacks of enemies, were obstacles that impeded her labour ; but the co·operation of willing hands, the love ' 8 and care of devoted adherents, and, above all, the support and direction of her beloved and revered Masters, rendered its completion possible. It was in the year 1884 that, having occasion to visit London, I first made acquaintance with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, at Mr. and Mrs. Sinnett's house. I well remember the feeling of pleasurable excitement with which I made that memorable call. I had previously read Isis Unveiled with wonder and admiration for the vast stores of strange knowledge contained in that remarkable work, therefore I was prepared to regard with feelings little short of reverence one who not only had founded a Society which promised to form the nucleus of a universal Brotherhood of Humanity, but who was also declared to be the messenger of men who had advanced beyond average mankind in mental and spiritual attainments, and thus could, in the truest sense, be called the Pioneers of our Race. -- My reception by my hostess was cordial, and I was at once introduced to Madame Blavatsky. Her features were instinct with power, and expressed an innate nobility of character that more than fulfilled the anticipations I had formed; but what chiefly arrested my attention was the steady gaze of her wonderful grey eyes, piercing yet calm and inscrutable : they shone with a serene light which seemed to penetrate and unveil the secrets of the heart. When, however, I turned to look upon those who sur­ rounded her, I experienced a revulsion of feeling that for a time left an uneasy impression on my mind. It was a strange scene that met my view. On the floor, at the foot of the low ottoman on which Madame Blavatsky was I 9 seated, several visitors were grouped who gazed up at her with an expression of homage and adoration, others hung upon her words with a studied show of rapt attention, and all seemed to me more or less affec,ted by a prevailing tone of flattery. As I sat apart and looked ~n at what was passing before me, I permitted suspicions, which I have since learned to be perfectly groundless and gratuitous, to rest in my mind. I trembled lest I should find that a character of which I had formed such elevated expectations should prove to be a slave of flattery and greedy of the adulation of her followers. I could not know at that time the aloofness, the indifference to praise or blame, the high sense of duty, not to be shaken by any selfish considerations, of the woman before me. I could not then tell that her nature was inherently incapable of degrading its powers and its great mission to the purchase of a cheap popularity. Though too proud to justify herself to those who were incapable of appreciating the lofty standard of conduct which she followed herself and ever held up to the world in her ethical and mystic writings, she would occasionally open out her inner mind to those few earnest pupils who were pledged to tread the path she indicated. I have in recollection an explanation she gave, on this very point, when the crowd of scoffers ~e~_~nd in drawing.- --, rooms asked one another.: \' How is it that this pupil of semi-omniscient Mahatmas, this natural clairvoyant and trained reader of the minds of men, cannot even tell her friends from her foes ? " "Who am I," she said, answering one question with another, "who am I that I should deny a chance to one in whom I see a spatk still glimmering of recognition of ' 10 the Cause I serve that might yet be fanned into a flame of devotion ? What matter the consequences that fall on me personally when such an one fails, succumbing to the forces of evil within him-deception, ingratitude, revenge, what not-forces that I saw as clearly as I saw the hopeful spark: though in his fall he cover me with misrepresentation, obloquy and scorn? What right have I to refuse to any one the chance of profiting by the truths I can teach him, and thereby entering upon the Path ? I tell you that I have no choice. I am pledged by the strictest rules and laws of occultism to a renunciation of selfish considerations, and how can I dare to assume the existence of faults in a candidate and act upon my assumption even though a --cloudy forbidding aura may fill me with misgivings?" II CIJAPTER II. HERE I may perhaps allude briefly to the circumstances which led up to the visit to Madame Blavatsky that I have· described. For two years, from 1879 to 1881, I had been investigating Spiritualism, with the result that, while I was forced into acceptance of the facts observed, I was wholly unable to accept the current Spiritualistic inter­ pretation of those facts. Towards the end of this time I met with Isis Unveiled, Esoteric Buddhism, and other Theosophical books, and finding the theories that I had formed independently in regard to the nature and cause of SJ?iritualistic phe­ nomena corroborated and expanded in these works, I very naturally felt attracted towards Theosophy. In 1881 I joined the ranks of the Theosophical Society and became affiliated to a Lodge. The result of my studies here was, from various causes, unsatisfactory, and I returned to a course 'of private reading and research.
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