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There has been, and still remains, a great deal of controversy surrounding Theosophy and H.P. Blavatsky. There are both general problems associated with Theosophy, and the problems of fraud nd plagiarism connected to Blavatsky herself.
Lets begin with the general problems. Like any other religion, the beliefs and teachings of Theosophy cannot be proven (or disproven.) Just as a person must have complete faith in the God of a Christian religion, one must believe in the planes of existence, the karma and justice of the universe to experience the value of Theosophy. Unfortunately, one cannot simply convert to Theosophy in a day. It takes a lifetime of study, and most people are not willing to spend a lifetime pursuing something that they only half believe in. The benefits which Theosophy speaks of do not come quickly: maybe not even in this lifetime. So, even after devoting a great deal of time to the study, there may be little to show. This creates a great deal of skepticism.
There is no concrete proof of the existence of the Masters. Although Blavatsky claims to have seen and communicated with them, she had no evidence. In more ways than one, she has implied that she was a "student" of the Masters. In her writings, however, she stated that the adepts would only make themselves known to people of absolute purity and innocence (Campbell, Pp. 54-58). Many people question the purity and innocence of Blavatsky's life, especially with the large part of her life which is unknown (the Veiled years.) Regardless of her claim to be in contact with the masters, the fact that she cannot produce any solid evidence gives the skeptic a pretty strong argument.
While she was living in India, a shrine was built to allow people to communicate with the Masters. By leaving a question or note inside a cabinet of the shrine, and waiting for some time, one could return to find an answer or response. These letters, known as the Mahatma Letters, became a topic of huge controversy. Blavatsky claimed that she had no part in the shrine, and that the letters were answered by the Mahatmas with out her knowing. However, her bedroom was conveniently located next to the shrine, and she had access to the cabinet through a secret panel in the wall, and the letters revealed a similar writing style to that of her other writings. Claims of fraud seemed undeniable, yet the Mahatma letters continued to be viewed as genuine. Even after the shrine was destroyed, Mahatma Letters continued to show up around Blavatsky.
Claims of plagiarism followed on the heels of virtually every significant piece of writing produced by Blavatsky. Investigations of the Society of Psychial research, conducted by Richard Hodgson, concluded that HPB did indeed write the Mahatma Letters, as well as plagiarize in Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine. She took whole lines of text from older occult books and current articles, and virtually pasted the words in her writings, with out giving credit to the original authors. Because no credit was given, she implied that everything she wrote was inspired by the Masters themselves, which was proven false. Also, there seems to be small inconsistencies between her two major works. In Isis Unveiled there is no mention of reincarnation (Campbell, Pp. 60). This seems a bit odd, since so much of Theosophy is based around the concept of karma and starting over in a new life. It isn't until The Secret Doctrine that reincarnation is addressed. Surely, if the books were div