Mahatma Letter No. 9

Quick Facts
People involved
Written by:	Koot Hoomi
Received by:	A. P. Sinnett
Sent via:	unknown
Dates
Written on:	unknown See below.
Received on:	December 1, 1880 or later. See below.
Other dates:	unknown
Places
Sent from:	unknown
Received at:	Allahabad, India
Via:	unknown

This is Letter No. 98 in Barker numbering. Koot Hoomi offers comments on a letter of A. O. Hume's. See below for Context and background.

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Envelope

[No text on back of envelope. Front of envelope is not available.]

NOTES:

Page 1 transcription, image, and notes

* I realized it perfectly. But however sincere, these feelings are too deeply covered by a thick crust of self sufficiency and egoistical stubbornness to awaken in me anything like sympathy.

(1) For centuries we have had in Thibet a moral, pure hearted, simple people, unblest with civilization, hence — untainted by its vices. For ages has been Thibet the last corner of the globe not so entirely corrupted as to preclude the mingling together of the two atmospheres — the physical and the spiritual. And he would have us exchange this for his ideal of civilization and Govt.! This is pure self peroration, an intense passion for hearing himself discuss, and for imposing his ideas upon every one.

(2) Now really, Mr. H. ought to be sent by an international Committee of Philanthropists, as a Friend of Perishing Humanity to teach our Dalai Lamas — wisdom. Why he does not straight-way sit down and frame a plan for something like Plato's Ideal Republic with a new scheme for everything under the Sun and moon — passes my poor comprehension!

(3) This is indeed benevolent in him to go so far out of his way to teach us. Of course,

NOTES:

• The asterisk and numbers refer to Letter 99 from A. O. Hume on which K.H. comments in this letter. Per Barker 2nd edition.

Page 2

this is pure kindness, and not a desire to over-top the rest of humanity. It is his latest acquisition of mental evolution, which, let us hope, will not turn in — dissolution.

(4) AMEN! My dear friend, you ought to be held responsible for not starting in his head the glorious idea to offer his services as a General School Master for Thibet, Reformer of ancient superstitions and Saviour of future generations. Of course, were he to read this, he would show immediately that I argue like an "educated monkey."

(5) Now just listen to the man jabbering about what he knows nothing. No men living are freer than we when we have once passed out of the stage of pupilage. Docile and obedient but never slaves during that time we must be; otherwise, and if we passed our time in arguing we never would learn anything at all.

(6) And whoever thought of proposing him as such? My dear fellow can you really blame me for shrinking from closer relations with a man whose whole life seems to

NOTES:

Page 3

hang upon incessant argumentation and philipics? He says that he is no doctrinaire when he is the very essence of one! He is worthy of all the respect and even affection of those who know him well. But my stars! in less than 24 hours he would paralyse any one of us, who might be unfortunate enough to come within a mile of him, merely by his monotonous piping about his own views. No; a thousand times no: such men as he make able statesmen, orators anything you like but — never Adepts. We have not one of that sort among us. And that is perhaps why we never felt the necessity for a house of lunatics. In less than three months he would have driven half of our Thibetan population mad!

I mailed a letter for you the other day at Umballa. I see you did not receive it yet.

Yours ever affectionately,

Koot Hoomi.

NOTES:

Physical description of letter

The original is in the British Library, Folio 3. According to George Linton and Virginia Hanson,

ML-98 by KH is on both sides of two sheets of standard size white paper, unfolded, in blue ink, with well-formed fine lettering. The signature is in a script different from the text and similar to that in ML-1 to ML-4. The signature has a line extending from the final "h" clockwise entirely around the name. The envelope is attached with comment thereon in pale blue pencil in KH sript: "Read and returned with thanks and a few commentaries K. H."

Commentary about this letter

Regarding the satirical tone of the letter Joy Mills suggests:

It has even been suggested that one of KH's chelas or even HPB may have written it on behalf of the Mahatma. Another student of the letters have proposed the Letter 9 could have been a test.