The Lost Continent 遗失的大陆-13

With her air of cultivated mystery, her almost incomprehensible Russian accent, and her outlandish behavior, Madam Blavatsky soon became one of the stars of the New York seance scene, revealing to her guests through a series of bizarre spiritual contacts that she was in communication with mysterious forces--mysterious forces from Atlantis. Although exposed as a trickster on numerous occasions, somehow Madam Blavatsky's appeal just kept on increasing. Before long, Madam Blavatsky attracted the attention of Colonel Henry Olcott, a former member of the committee that had investigated President Lincoln’s assassination¹. The two soon moved in together.

They called each other Jack² and Melanie which doesn’t suggest a sexual relationship. But they did live together, they lived together perhaps as pals³, chums, friends. Mysterious letters soon began appearing all over the apartment. Written in her own handwriting, Brobasky claimed these materialized letters had been dictated⁴ to her by cosmic masters who were eager to inform Olcott of their shared mission. The messages told them he had been admitted into the secret order of these cosmic masters whose ranks included such great spiritual teachers as Christ, Buddha⁵, Confucius, Solomon, and Plato.

Very few people are admitted to this wisdom and the knowledge of Atlantis is part of that wisdom, because of course the continent of Atlantis was the original settlement of these arriving cosmic masters coming from a different part of the universe to set up, as it were, human life or what was to become human life. After Atlantis’ destruction, the cosmic masters had retreated to hidden valleys in the Himalayan Mountains, venturing out only rarely to monitor the progress of the human race. Blavatsky claimed she had first encountered these cosmic masters when she herself had been traveling in Tibet many years before. Now after an apprenticeship⁶ of 20 years, the cosmic masters wanted her to bring about a new age of spiritual enlightenment with Olcott's help.

In1875 the two companions set up an organization dedicated⁷ to universal brotherhood⁸, investigation⁹ of man’s latent psychic¹⁰ powers and spreading the wisdom of the east to the west. They called it the Theosophical Society. Incredibly within a decade, they had branches all over the world including India where Mahatma Gandhi would become a member.

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outlandish: adj. 奇异的，外国气派的
seance: n. 降神会
trickster: n. 骗子
chum: n. 密友
Theosophical: adj. 通晓神学的，神智学的

1 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 pals   

n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙

参考例句：

• We've been pals for years. 我们是多年的哥们儿了。
• CD 8 positive cells remarkably increased in PALS and RP(P CD8+细胞在再生脾PALS和RP内均明显增加(P 来自互联网

4 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

6 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

7 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

8 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

9 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

10 psychic   

n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的

参考例句：

• Some people are said to have psychic powers.据说有些人有通灵的能力。
• She claims to be psychic and to be able to foretell the future.她自称有特异功能，能预知未来。