mentioned that the statement of the Brahmachari
was not the result of a series of leading questions, but formed part of
the account he voluntarily gave of his travels during the year, and that
he is almost entirely ignorant of the English language, and had, to the
best of my knowledge, information and belief, never even so much as
heard of the name of Theosophy. Now, if any one refuses to accept the
mutually corroborative but independent testimonies of the Tibetan pedlar
of Darjiling and the Brahmachari of Dehradun on the ground that they
support the genuineness of facts not ordinarily falling within the
domain of one's experience, all I can say is that it is the very miracle
of folly. It is, on the other hand, most unshakably established upon
the evidence of several of his Chelas, that the Mahatma Koothoomi is a
living person like any of us, and that moreover he was seen by two
persons on two different occasions. This will, it is to be hoped,
settle for ever the doubts of those who believe in the genuineness of
occult phenomena, but put them down to the agency of "spirits." Mark
one circumstance. It may be argued that during the pedlar's stay at
Darjiling, Madame Blavatsky was also there, and, who knows, she might
have bribed him (!!) into saying what he said. But no such thing can be
urged in the case of the Dehradun Brahmachari. He knew neither the
pedlar nor Madame Blavatsky, had never heard of Colonel Olcott, having
just returned from his prolonged journey, and had no idea that I was a
Fellow of the Society. His testimony was entirely voluntary. Some
others, who admit that Mahatmas exist, but that there is no proof of
their connection with the Theosophical Society, will be pleased to see
that there is no a priori impossibility in those great souls taking an
interest in such a benevolent Society as ours. Consequently it is a
gratuitous insult to a number of self-sacrificing men and women to
reject their testimony without a fair hearing.

I purposely leave aside all proofs which are already before the public.
Each set of proofs is conclusive in itself, and the cumulative effect of
all is simply irresistible.

--Mohini M. Chatterji

Interview with a Mahatma

At the time I left home for the Himalayas in search of the Supreme
Being, having adopted Brahmacharyashrama (religious mendicancy), I was
quite ignorant of the fact that there was any such philosophical sect as
the Theosophists existing in In