(II) Nor has wealth nor poverty, high or low birth any influence upon it, for this is all a result of their Karma. Neither has — what you call — civilization much to do with the progress. It is the inner man, the spirituality, the illumination of the physical brain by the light of the spiritual or divine intelligence that is the test. The Australian, the Esquimaux, the Bushmen, the Veddahs, etc., are all side-shooting branchlets of that Branch which you call "cave-men" — the third race (according to your Science — the second) that evoluted on the globe. They are the remnants of the seventh ring cave-men, remnants "that have ceased to grow and are the arrested forms of life doomed to eventual decay in the struggle of existence" in the words of your correspondent?
See "Isis" Chapter I, — ". . . . . the Divine Essence (Purusha) like a luminous arc" proceeds to form a circle — the mahamanvantaric chain; and having attained the highest (or its first starting point) bends back again and returns to earth (the first globe bringing a higher type of humanity in its vortex — "thus seven times. Approaching our earth it grows more and more shadowy until upon touching ground it becomes as black as night — " i.e. it is matter outwardly, the Spirit or Purusha being concealed under a quintuple armour of the first five principles. Now see underlined three lines on page 5; for the word "mankind" read human races, and for that of "civilization" read Spiritual evolution of that particular race and you have the truth which had to be concealed at that incipient tentative stage of the Theosophical Society.
See again pp. 13 last paragraph and 14 first paragraph, and note the underlined lines about Plato. Then see p. 32, remembering the difference between the Manvantaras as therein calculated and the MAHAMANVANTARAS (complete seven rounds between two Pralayas, — the four Yugas returning seven times, once for each race. Having done so far take your pen and calculate. This will make you swear — but this will not hurt your Karma much: lip-profanity finds it deaf. Read attentively in this connection (not with the swearing process but with that of evolution) pp. 301 last line "and now comes a mystery. . ." and continue on to p. 304. "Isis" was not unveiled but rents sufficiently large were made to afford flitting glances to be completed by the student's own intuition. In this curry of quotations from various philosophic and esoteric truths purposely veiled, behold our doctrine, which is now being partially taught to Europeans for the first time.
(III) As said in my answer on your notes, most of the peoples of India — with the exception of the Semitic (?) Moguls — belong to the oldest branchlet of the present fifth Human race, which was evoluted in Central Asia more than one million of years ago. Western Science finding good reasons for the theory of human beings having inhabited Europe 400,000 years before your era — this cannot so shock you as to prevent your drinking wine to-night at your dinner. Yet Asia has, as well as Australia, Africa, America and the most northward regions, its remnants — of the fourth — even of the third race (cave-men and Iberians). At the same time, we have more of the seventh ring men of the fourth race than Europe and more of the first ring of the fifth round, as, older than the European branchlets, our men have naturally come in earlier. Their being "less advanced" in civilization and refinement trouble their spirituality but very little, Karma being an animal which remains indifferent to pumps and white kid gloves. Neither your knives nor forks, operas and drawing-rooms will any more follow you in your onward progress than will the dead-leaf coloured robes of the British Esthetics prevent the proprietors thereof and wearers from having been born among the ranks of those, who will be regarded — do what they may — by the forthcoming sixth and seventh round men as flesh-eating and liquor-drinking "savages" of the "Royal Society Period." It depends on you, to so immortalize your name as to force the future higher races to divide our age and call the sub-division — the "Pleisto-Sinnettic Period" but this can never be so long as you labour under the impression that "the purposes we have now in view would be met by reasonable temperance and self-restraint." Occult Science is a jealous mistress and allows not a shadow of self-indulgence; and it is "fatal" not only to the ordinary course of married life but even to flesh and wine drinking. I am afraid that the archæologists of the seventh round, when digging out and unearthing the future Pompeii of Punjab — Simla, one day, instead of finding the precious relics of the Theosophical "Eclectic," will fish out but some petrified or vitreous remains of the "Sumptuary allowance." Such is the latest prophecy current at Shigatse.136
And now to the last question. Well, as I say, the "guides" are both elementals and elementaries and not even a decent "half and half" but the very froth in the mug of the mediumistic beer. The several "privations" of such sheets of notepaper were evoluted during E's stay in Calcutta in Mrs. G.'s atmosphere — since she frequently received letters from you. It was then an easy matter for the creatures in following E.'s unconscious desire to attract other disintegrated particles from your box, so as to form a double. He is a strong medium, and were it not for an inherent good nature and other good qualities, strongly counteracted by vanity, sloth, selfishness, greediness for money and with other qualities of modern civilization a total absence of will, he would make a superb Dugpa, yet, as I said, he is "a good fellow" every inch of him; naturally truthful, under control — the reverse. I would if I could save him from. . . .
NOTE. — In the First and Second Editions appears an Editorial Note to the effect that the rest of this Letter is missing. A student has now pointed out the missing portion is clearly [Letter No. 63 (ML-95)]. — EDS.
Letter No. 63137 (ML-95) Dated June 1882
See Notes to Letter No. 61.
This letter is on two sheets of dissimilar paper, in dull blue ink. The first sheet is heavy folded note paper bearing the letterhead "Government, N.W. Provinces and Oudh." (Mr. Hume had previously been District Officer of Northwest Provinces.) The second sheet is a thin one bearing the letterhead "The Pioneer, Allahabad." Since the question of transporting writing paper by occult means was raised by Sinnett in his question following Question and Answer 5, one is tempted to surmise that K.H. had abstracted a sheet of paper from both Sinnett and Hume on which to write this piece of Appendix, perhaps just by way of illustrating how easy it was to do.
such a life of infamy. I will try my best to make of him a vegetarian and a teetotaller. Total abstinence from flesh and liquor are very wisely prescribed by Mr. Hume, if he would have good results. In good hands E. will do an immense good to the T.S. in India, but for this he has [to go] through a training of purification. M. had to prepare him for six weeks before his departure; otherwise it would have been impossible for me to project into his atmosphere even the reflection of my "double." I told you already, my kind friend, that what he saw was not me. Nor will I be able to project that reflection for you — unless he is thoroughly purified. Therefore, as the matter now stands I have not a word to say against Mr. Hume's conditions as expressed in his last "official" letter, except in congratulating him with all my heart. For the same reason it is impossible for me to answer him and his questions just now. Let him have patience, pray, in the E. matter. There are dirty conspiracies set on foot, germinating in London, among the spiritualists; and I am not at all sure that E. will resist the tide that threatens to submerge him unless they obtain from him at least a partial recantation.We departed from our policy and the experiment was made with him on the "Vega" solely for the benefit of some Anglo-Indian theosophists. Mr. Hume had expressed his surprise that even E.'s "spirits" should know nothing of us, and that despite the interests of the cause we did not show ourselves even to him. On the other hand, the Calcutta spiritualists and Mrs. Gordon with them were triumphant, and Colonel G. followed suit. The "dear departed ones" were for the short period of his stay at Calcutta in odour of sanctity, and the "Brothers" rather low in public estimation. Many of you thought that our appearing to E. would "save the situation" and force Spiritualism to recognise the claims of Theosophy. Well, we complied with your wishes. M. and I were determined to show to you that there was no ground for such hopes. The Bigotry and Blindness of the Spiritualists fed by the selfish motives of professional mediums are rampant and the opponents are now desperate. We must allow the natural course of events to develop, and can only help on the coming crisis by having a hand in the increasing frequency of exposures. It would never do for us to force events, as it would be only making "martyrs" and allowing these the pretext for a new craze.