Theos-Talk Archives (November 1995 Message tl00233)

KPJ writes: Don't have the sources in front of me but HSO called him "one
of our Masters" as I recall.

JHE: Where?

KPJ replies: ODL somewhere; can't find the passage offhand. But he speaks
of the Master of Ceremonies of the Panchen Lama being "one of
our Mahatmas"--but does so after the death of the Sengchen in question
so may be talking about his successor.

I will supply the exact source for this and then ask a question or two.

In ODL Fourth Series 1975 printing p. 06 Olcott writes:

"Leaving his home at Darjeeling Nov 7th 1881 he [Sarat Chandra Das]
..reached Tashi-Lhunpo the capital of the Tashi Lama whose Master of
Ceremonies one of our own revered Mahatmas is.

To rearrange the words: The Tashi Lama's Master of Ceremonies is one of our
own revered Mahatmas.

I would have thought Johnson would have regarded this piece of information
as DISINFORMATION. We'll see the future brings.

In TMR in the chapter entitled "Senghcen Tulku" Johnson writes in two places:

"It seems likely that her [HPB's] claim of a connection to the court of the
Paanchen Lama also called the Tashi or Trashi Lama is based on reality.
This is supported by Olcott who writes in Old Diary Leaves of `the Tashi
Lama whose Master of Ceremonies one of our own revered Mahatmas is....."
p. 198

"Olcott's allusion to the master of ceremonies in Tashilhunpo was made
several years later. This may be a posthumous reference to Sengchen but
it might also imply that at least ONE FRIEND of the T.S. escaped the
purge which cost Sengchen his life."

Who might this ONE FRIEND be?

We see that Johnson in TMR says that this "Master of Ceremonies" might be
Sengchen or might be "at least one friend of the T.S. [who] escaped."

In his theos-l posting on TMR Johnson also says it might be a reference
to Sengchen's successor.

Actually I like the one possibility: a "friend of the T.S.". Who could
that be?

Is Johnson saying that he is open to the possibility that the "Master of
Ceremonies" was a "friend of the T.S." who escaped from the Tibetan "authori-
ties"? That is that Olcott's reference to the "Master of Ceremonies" does
NOT necessarily refer to Sengchen or to Sengchen's successor?

Could Sengchen's position be truly described as the Tashi Lama's "Master of
Ceremonies" or could someone else have had that "job"?

I would have thought that Blavatsky and Olcott's references to Tibet Tashi
Lama and his "Master of Ceremonies" would have been interpreted by Johnson
as only "sand in their eyes" that is DISINFORMATION put out by Blavatsky
and Olcott ODL first appeared in "The Theosophist" a *public* journal to
obscure the true real origins of HPB's Teachers and Teachings. Distract
from India to mysterious Tibet seems to be the theme of Johnson's latest
two books.

This also brings up another of my pestering questions?

Johnson suggests in TMR p. 193 and elsewhere that Sarat Chandra Das
brought from Tibet from The Tashi Lama's own collections the manuscripts
of the Stanzas of Dzyan and The Book of the Golden Precepts and HPB was
secretly given these MSS which she finally published in THE SECRET DOCTRINE
1888 and THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE 1889.

WHEN did Das bring these MSS back to India? Date? And when did HPB possibly
get her hands on these manuscripts? Does any one have any thoughts
suggestions or dates on these.

David Reigle described in TMR by Johnson as "a student of Tibetan has
kindly given me his insights on Johnson's speculation that HPB got these
MSS from Das.

I am throughly enjoying this dialgoue between PJ and JHE and apoligize
for the interruption.

Daniel Caldwell