Theosophical Messenger V19 N11 Nov 1931

C3 ce - O U l l x . • 0 0 » • I ♦ • w > w THE THEOSOPH1CAL r « t c i- o •-J o . œ c» ro z: to 2 _j • »** t-- "> ^ £T CC r*) o MESSEAJGEI X r». c*. r Vol. XIX N ovember, 1931 No. 11 Messages From the Unseen B y the R t . R e v . C. W. L eadbeater HAVE mentioned various ways in nett and Hume. By slow degrees the I which messages are received from outlines of that doctrine began to the unseen world, but there is still an emerge from this rather chaotic mass other type of communication which is of revelation, and Mr. Sinnett tried to perhaps of more immediate interest to reduce it to some sort of order in his some of our students, and that is the Esoteric Buddhism. message or instruction occasionally Each of his chapters is an able state given by a Master of the Wisdom to ment of the information received on His pupils. Such messages have been one branch of the subject, but naturally sent at intervals all through the history there are many links missing. Madame of our Society. They have, however, Blavatsky herself essayed the same gi been of many different kinds, and have gantic task in her monumental work come in diverse ways. Some have been The Secret Doctrine; but, wonderful as public— addressed, that is to say, to all was the erudition she displayed, the ar enquirers; others have been intended rangement was still imperfect, and she for certain groups of students only ; yet so overweighted her volumes with quo others have been strictly private, con tations from scientific (perhaps some taining advice or instruction to a single times only quasi-scientific) writers, and pupil. A vast amount of what, now with more or less corroborative testi that it is systematized, we usually call mony from all kinds of out-of-the-way Theosophical teaching, came to us ir sources, that it was still almost impos the shape of phenomenally-produced sible for the average man to grasp the letters, written (or rather precipitated) scheme as a coherent whole. We owe by order of one or other of the Brother an immense debt of gratitude to Messrs. hood to which our Masters belong. B. Keightley, A. Keightley, G. R. S. Students should, however, bear in Mead and, above all, to our President, mind that those early letters were for their long and arduous labor of never intended as a complete statement systematization and re-arrangement; of the ancient doctrine; they were the indeed, it was not until the last-men answers to a number of heterogeneous tioned author published The Ancient questions propounded by Messrs. Sin- Wisdom that we had before us a clearly 530 THE THEOSOPHICAL MESSENGER comprehensible statement of Theosophy as we the reasons for such errors are precisely those now understand it. which Madame Blavatsky gives us. It was not the intention of our Masters that That, then, was the earliest form in which those original letters should be published ¡ in messages from our Masters came to us in this deed, in one of them the Chohan Kuthumi Theosophical work; but sometimes they were quite clearly stated: “ My letters must not be given even more directly. When I first came published” ; and later in the same epistle: out to Adyar in 1884, our Masters not in “ The letters were not written for publication frequently materialized Themselves for a few or public comment upon them, but for pi'ivate minutes, so that all who were present could use, and neither M. nor I would ever give our see Them; They spoke with an ordinary aud consent to see them thus handled.” Mr. Sin- ible voice, and various questions were ans nett promised that at his death he would leave wered in that way. Naturally They could these letters to our President for preservation never stay long with us; for we must always in the Society’s archives; but most unfortu remember that the Adepts are the busiest nately he either changed his mind or forgot people in the world, and that They have other to do this, and so they fell into the hands of and infinitely more important work to do than one who thought himself wiser in this matter communicating with us. They still look in than the Masters, and therefore did just what upon us where They wish to do so, but now They had forbidden, though They had given They no longer need to waste force in mate clear warning that to do so “ would only be rializing, for there are many among us who making confusion worse confounded . would can feel Their presence and receive an im place you in a still moi'e difficult position, pression from Them, though there are still but bring criticism upon the heads of the Masters, few who can actually see and hear. That and thus have a retarding influence on human method of “personal apparition” was neces progress and the Theosophical Society.” This sary at that time, because there was no one is very readily comprehensible to an ordinary but Madame Blavatsky who could use the intellect when we see how much of purely per higher vehicles, and she could not be both sonal matter and of advice on questions of here and in Europe at the same time. I have merely temporary interest those early letters mentioned several instances of these appear contain; still more so when we remember that ances in my booklet How Theosophy Came To Madame Blavatsky said of them: Me “ It is hardly one out of a hundred occult let In these modern days messages are still ters that is ever written by the hand of the sometimes sent, though more often to groups Master in whose name and on whose behalf or to students in general than to individuals. they are sent, as the Masters have neither It is well known that there are certain great need nor leisure to write them; and when a occasions in each year on which the Members Master says ‘I wrote that letter,’ it means of the Great White Brotherhood come together only that every word in it was dictated by to join in the celebration of some important Him and impressed under His direct super annivex-sary, to consult as to methods of pro vision. Generally They make Their Chela, gress, and to shed a collective blessing upon whether near or far away, write (or precipi the world. Such gatherings are always open tate) them, by impressing upon his mind the to any of Their pupils who can attend in their ideas They wish expressed, and, if necessary, astral bodies, and it not infrequently happens aiding him in the picture-printing process of that after the special ceremony of the day is precipitation. It depends entirely upon the over, They are gracious enough to move for Chela’s state of development how accurately a few minutes among those pupils, to utter the ideas may be transmitted and the writing- perhaps to one here and another there a few model imitated.”1 friendly words of advice or encouragement, Furthermore, in order to enable him to esti and sometimes to deliver a short address to mate aright the value in detail of these letters, be i-epeated to others of Their pupils or Their I most strongly recommend the student to re school who have not the good fortune to be read carefully another of Madame Blavatsky’s present. That happened, for example, only a definite statements on this subject, printed on few weeks ago, at the Festival of the Full page 617 et seq. of last month’s Centenary Moon of Asadh or Asala, to the very gi’eat number of T h e T h e o s o p h is t , in which she upliftment and enheartening of those who clearly explains that the “ direct supervision” were privileged to hear. mentioned above was not always exercised, but Students sometimes ask how such messages that a chela was ordered to satisfy' corre ai’e actually communicated, and how they can spondents to the best of his or her ability. I be l-eproduced upon the physical plane, seeing am not for a moment maintaining that the that they are of necessity delivered on an al information given in some of those letters was together higher level. I think it should be not of the very greatest value and importance clearly understood that they can never be to us; on the contrary, it was the beginning of fully x-eproduced—that even the most ex the whole Theosophical revelation; but I do quisite diction, the most marvellous eloquence say', having seen the originals, that there are of this lower world can never convey a hun some unquestionably obvious mistakes in de dredth part of the wealth of meaning, of the tail, and some statements that no Master, glowing poetx-y, of the indescribable light and with His almost omniscient knowledge, could splendour which such an address contains. possibly have made; and I have no doubt that Even to explain the method of its reception is barely possible except to one who has expe 1Lucifer, vol. i!i, p. 93 rienced it. THE THEOSOPHICAL MESSENGER 531 Here in this physical world one man speaks in another direction to bring out the tremend and another hears; but we all know how words ous force of the Master’s speech, but no fail us when we try to body forth the highest method can ever be fully successful.

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