Mahatma Letter No. 96

Quick Facts
People involved
Written by:	Koot Hoomi
Received by:	A. P. Sinnett
Sent via:	unknown
Dates
Written on:	unknown
Received on:	November 1882
Other dates:	unknown
Places
Sent from:	unknown
Received at:	Allahabad, India
Via:	unknown

This is Letter No. 96 in The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett, 4th chronological edition. It corresponds to Letter No. 92 in Barker numbering. See below for Context and background.

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Envelope

KH's three words

NOTES:

Page 1 transcription, image, and notes

23-11-82.

P.S.— It may so happen that for purposes of our own, mediums and their spooks will be left undisturbed and free not only to personate the "Brothers" but even to forge our handwriting. Bear this in mind and be prepared for it in London. Unless the message or communication or whatever it may be is preceded by the triple words: "Kiu-t-an, Na-lan-da, Dha-ra-ni." Know it is not me, nor from me.

K.H.

NOTES:

• Kiu-t-an. Kiu-t'an is the Chinese transcription of the Sanskrit name Gautama.
• Na-lan-da. Nālandā is the name of a place, made famous by the extensive Buddhist monastic university that was built there.
• Dha-ra-ni. Dhāraṇī is a Sanskrit word with similar meaning to "mantra".

Context and background

In letter 83, Djual Khool--a disciple of Master KH--referred to the claim by English Spiritualist, William Oxley, that Master KH had astrally visited him three times and held a conversation on astral bodies and the Mayavi-Rupa. Then, he adds:

"Therefore my Master declares that: 1. Whomsoever Mr. Oxley may have seen and conversed with at the time described, it was not with Koot Hoomi. . . . 2. he has never approached him whether astrally or otherwise: Nor has he ever had any conversation with Mr. Oxley. . ."

To prevent this kind of claims that could mislead Theosophists, Djual Khool said that whenever a medium claimed to have communicated with the Masters, they would "have to substantiate the claim by prefixing his or her statement with THREE SECRET WORDS, which he, my Teacher, will divulge to and leave in the safe keeping of Mr. A. O. Hume and Mr. A. P. Sinnett."

Physical description of letter

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

On a single folded sheet of 5" x 7" [12.7 x 17.8 cm] canary yellow notepaper in KH script, in bright red ink.