Who was H.P.B.? – “known otherwise to us,” said a Master. What kind of a divine incarnation was hers? Some spoke of her as even less than a chela. Like the housemaids in Kipling’s poem, “They talk a lot of loving, but what do they understand?” Her recorded Message radiates its knowledge to our lower mind, can radiate it to our Higher Mind, can further make our Buddhi active, and so forth. The more I learn the greater is my amazement at what she knew. And think who or what keeps us going when we know our foibles and frailties, our errors of omission and commission! When assailed one’s whole temptation is to give up. What keeps us going? I, for one, am convinced it is her compassion. H.P.B.’s knowledge, its memory, its depth and her magnanimity and love protect and guide us in the darkest hour. Consider this viewpoint calmly and dispassionately. But for her record of the Teachings and the Masters, I would feel lonely.

 To understand the real H.P.B. is difficult and it does take time. Her avatara, appearance or personality was and is apt to mislead. The Masters Themselves wrote of her and Her and it requires some viveka to evaluate Their words and accord them the right place. What was hidden behind the “peculiar mannerisms” of her personality? She had a purpose every time – to help, to instruct, to guide, to protect; always an unselfish purpose founded upon Compassion Absolute (see the clauses in the Voice on pp. 75-76). The testing of people’s fidelity was rare. She wanted them to be faithful to the Teachings and to the Real Pitris and Masters. My own view is that as an Occultist she was deliberate and purposeful every hour and in every event. She was Dharma-pravin, knew not only what to say but also how to act. Her deeds were small and great yagnas, sacrifices. Holiness was in her heart. To my way of thinking she made no mistakes. The safe way to proceed is from the Teachings to the Teacher. No doubt H.P.B. baffles, but every time calm consideration reveals her as a Being of Light and Sacrifice, the Justice which is Mercy and Mercy ever just.

 She did not belong to our Kali Yuga or even to our Fifth-Race evolution, though she was affected by both. An incarnation like hers cannot be evaluated by our rules, our cycles, etc. Herein is a clue to understand her. Her motives and methods were hers, deliberate in wisdom and in compassion.

 H.P.B. is our anchor when we are in harbour; our compass when we are travelling abroad, to high heaven or to dark hell. We have to find our Dharma as an inner force to shape our outer Karma. You are wise in determining that every day and in whatever way you can you will strengthen your perception about H.P.B. The more you study the more you will find what a Personage she is.

 Devotion to H.P.B., if it is of the right type, and so enduring and lasting, must be rooted in her recorded message. It is as we assimilate her writings that we see the breadth and depth of her mind and the magic power of her heart.

 Among us who look upon H.P.B. as our Guru there ought to be a bond of love and devotion. It seems to me that among our students, if they in their own consciousness truly regard H.P.B. as Teacher, there ought to be the sign or omen of mutual affection and trust. Where this is absent, real attachment to H.P.B. remains to be born.

 About devotion to H.P.B.: you are bound to develop this virtue as you study and serve. She did not love Humanity because she taught the race; she loved all mankind and therefore she came to teach, for ignorance is the great foe. You will have slowly to deepen as well as widen your sphere of service. That also will come.

 As to an intermediary on the Way to Chelaship, even Lay Chelaship, for this cycle it is H.P.B. and remains so. She is akin to our Higher Manas joined to Atma-Buddhi. She is alive in her instructions. Then, she has said that Judge is the Antahkarana, the Bridge, and the implication is that our own Antahkarana is the principle of right personal action.

 Chelaship in this cycle, especially the beginning of such a life, is different, thanks to the sacrifices of H.P.B. She has done a tremendous beneficence to all devotees and aspirants by opening a regular door to the Masters. The knock at the door becomes necessary.

 That H.P.B. is the Guru is not a truth to be spoken from the platform as is so often done. What I mean is that so often students speak without any real feeling or true understanding. Reread Judge’s article “Blavatskianism In and Out of Season.” That H.P.B. was an Adept-Soul who can doubt if he is a student of the S.D.? But how many of those who repeat “our Guru H.P.B.” from the platform are real, intelligent devotees?

 As to the biographies of H.P.B., there are several attacks written by or under the inspiration of the Roman Catholic Church. There is not a biography of hers which is, from my point of view, very reliable; even those which are favourable and are written by her friends naturally are partial and do not do justice to her colossal mind and her lion heart. These will have to be read for what they are worth, for it is one thing to know about the events and incidents in the life of a person and altogether another thing to understand their real significance and interpret them accurately. I am saying this because my approach to H.P. Blavatsky has been through her works. Her Secret Doctrine has been a constant companion for over half a century; and, knowing her mind, not only versatile but profound, I have come to the conclusion that her personality was but a mask and that a really powerful intelligence worked within it.

 Of course all students want to know about the real H.P.B., but there is hardly anything that is printed which would give you an absolutely clear picture. You can read several books, but between the facts and the interpretation there is a hiatus, and we shall have to bridge that gulf. It seems to me that the very best we at the present hour have to do is to study her writings, because invariably the law of the spiritual life is: From the teachings to the teacher. It is only by an elevated mind that we can understand the great mind of H.P.B. So the study of The Secret Doctrine and the promulgation of its doctrines is very necessary for the purpose of reading the books on H.P.B. to determine what is what.

 In the case of the martyrdom of a great soul like Jesus or Gandhiji, however, or the sorrows and persecutions visited upon our H.P.B., another aspect of Karma has to be taken into account: the Karma of the group, nation or race which they are trying to help and for which they become, as it were, a focus, drawing upon themselves the opposition of all reactionary forces. Is there a Prophet anywhere who does not have the priests of all creeds in league against him? It was Jewish orthodoxy that martyred Jesus as aggressive Hindu orthodoxy martyred Gandhiji. Gandhiji’s martyrdom, like the crucifixion of Jesus, was his own deliberate action. Both clearly foresaw what was ahead; both acted in the knowledge of the forces they were challenging and both were therefore willing martyrs. Suffering may be voluntarily undergone, not only for self-purification and self-development, but also for the sake of others – in the case of H.P.B. and Gandhiji, for the sake of the world.

B.P. Wadia
Extracts from Unpublished Letters