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''The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett'' is a book published in 1923 by A. Trevor Barker. (ISBN 1-55700-086-7) According to Theosophical teachings, the letters were written between 1880 and 1884 by Koot Hoomi and Morya to A. P. Sinnett.〔The Letters have been received through Madame Blavatsky. ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' wrote, "In 1875 she The book was both praised and criticized by theosophists. Dr H. N. Stokes called the book "the most authoritative work of a theosophical nature ever made accessible to the public. It is simply transcendent in its importance." ==Criticism== Max Müller (Indologist and philologist) wrote that if "Mrs. Blavatsky would have tried to confess openly her small faults and indiscretions, instead sending letters through the air from Tibet to Calcutta, and from Calcutta to London, she might still do much good".〔Müller (1893).〕 Patterson wrote about theosophical occult phenomena, "What if these signs and wonders are proofs of something very different?... Instead of a message from beings of supernal wisdom and power, we shall have only the private thoughts of a clever but not over scrupulous woman.〔i.e. Blavatsky.〕"〔Patterson (1884), p. 200.〕 A member of the SPR and a research worker of paranormal phenomena Richard Hodgson wrote in ''The Age'': "I was enabled while in India to secure various Mahatma documents for my own examination, and after a minute and prolonged comparison of these with Madame Blavatsky's handwriting, I have not the slightest doubt that all the documents which I thus had the opportunity of examining were, with the exception of one, written by Madame Blavatsky. The one exception, in my opinion, was unquestionably written by Mr. Damodar, one of her confederates; it is a document which Madame Coulomb asserts she saw being prepared by Mr. Damodar when she peeped through a hole — apparently made for spying purposes — in the wooden partition separating Mr. Damodar's room from the staircase. Further inquiries concerning the 'Mahatma' writing remain to be made from professional calligraphic experts in London. I may allude, however, to some specimens of the K.H. writing furnished by Mr. Sinnett for examination; the K.H. writing possessed by Mr. Sinnett is particularly important, because it is upon this that ''Esoteric Buddhism'', with its large claims, is confessedly founded; and Mr. Netherclift, the calligraphic expert, has confidently expressed his opinion that the K.H. documents thus coming from Mr. Sinnett were undoubtedly written by Madame Blavatsky.〔But then Kuhn wrote, "A distinguished German handwriting expert later declared there was no similarity between H.P.B.'s chirography and those of the Master M. and K.H." // Kuhn (1930), p. 179.〕 How far the K.H. letters received by Mr. Sinnett emanated from the brain of Madame Blavatsky, how far she was assisted in their production by confederates, how much of their substance was plagiarized from other writers, are questions which closely concern the intellectual ability of Madame Blavatsky, and which lie somewhat outside the present brief sketch."〔Hodgson (1885); see also Hodgson Report.〕 Of course it should also be added that the SPR later rejected Hodgson's findings. In 1986, Vernon Harrison, a research worker of disputed documents and member of the SPR, did a research on the Hodgson report. According to Harrison's examination, the Hodgson Report is not a scientific study, it "is flawed and untrustworthy" and "should be read with great caution, if not disregarded."〔Harrison (1997).〕 Harrison stated: "I cannot exonerate the SPR committee from blame for publishing this thoroughly bad report. They seem to have done little more than rubber-stamp Hodgson's opinions; and no serious attempt was made to check his findings or even to read his report critically. If they had done so (...) the case would have been referred back for further study. Madame H.P. Blavatsky was the most important occultist ever to appear before the SPR for investigation; and never was opportunity so wasted."〔 Harrison says about the Hodgson Report that "whereas Hodgson was prepared to use any evidence, however trivial or questionable, to implicate HPB, he ignored all evidence that could be used in her favor. His report is riddled with slanted statements, conjecture advanced as fact or probable fact, uncorroborated testimony of unnamed witnesses, selection of evidence and downright falsity."〔 He concluded that Hodgson's case against Blavatsky is not proven, and that there is no evidence that the ''Mahatma Letters'' were written by her.〔Kalnitsky wrote, "Despite the cynicism of critics, Blavatsky continually insisted that her motives were altruistic and intended to benefit humankind." // Kalnitsky (2003), p. 384.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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