Mahatma Letter to H. S. Olcott - LMW 2 No. 36
| Quick Facts | |
|---|---|
| People involved | |
| Written by: | Morya and Serapis Bey |
| Received by: | Henry Steel Olcott |
| Sent via: | unknown |
| Dates | |
| Written on: | unknown |
| Received on: | unknown |
| Other dates: | unknown |
| Places | |
| Sent from: | unknown |
| Received at: | unknown |
| Via: | unknown |
This is Letter No. 36 in Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom, Second Series. Mahatma Morya conveys a message from Master Serapis Bey ordering Henry Steel Olcott not to deliver extemporaneous lectures.[1]
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Page 1 transcription, image, and notes
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[folded triangularly,and addressed:] H. S. Olcott,
[Inside:] H. S. Olcott, President of the Theosophical Society is henceforth forbidden to deliver extemporaneous lectures.
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NOTES: |
Context and background
Mr. Jinarājadāsa commented:
It appears that in the beginning Colonel Olcott was sometimes in the habit of appearing before an audience and saying: "What subject would you like me to talk about?" If the topic suggested was mesmerism or some similar subject on which he was an expert, all went well. But on other unprepared subjects, he was apt to be diffuse. Evidently his conception of building up a lecture was different from that of most Theosophical lecturers, as is shown by the following entry in his Diary, August 31, 1883: "Gave my second lecture to-day to about the same audience. Had a good deal of applause and they made me speak an hour and a half though I offered to stop at the end of an hour."[2]
Physical description of letter
The original of this letter is preserved at the Theosophical Society, Adyar, Chennai, India.
Publication history
Commentary about this letter
Mr. Jinarājadāsa provided this foreword on the series of letters numbered 28-45:
I have arranged the letters which follow, so far as possible, in the order in which they were received. On some, Colonel Olcott has made a memorandum of the date. For others, I have been able to get the date from his Diaries. There are a few, however, of which I am fairly certain as to the year, because of the first script of Master M. referred to already [see Morya:Writing style], but there is no indication anywhere as to the month. Some of the letters bear no signature.[3]