This is an exchange of letters between Wolff and Harry Murphy from 1948 and 1949. Mr. Murphy would become a close acquaintance of both Wolff and his wife, Sherifa.
In the first letter in this file, Mr. Murphy introduces himself to Wolff, noting that “it was my friend Professor Chas J. Ryan at the Theosophical headquarters, Covina, who first introduced to me your book, Pathways Through to Space.” He states that he has been a member of the Theosophical Society since 1936 and that he and his wife lived at the Covina headquarters as staff members, where among other things, he taught a course in Western philosophy. He goes on to explain that he has become disillusioned with Theosophy, and divides his objections into four categories: (1) Historical, (2) Oriental philosophy and other points of scholarship, (3) Scientific and (4) Religious.
Wolff takes over four months to respond to Mr. Murphy’s letter, which he finds “most interesting.” Wolff explains that there were two reasons for this delay: “First, at the time of receiving the letter, the writer was extremely busy with the work of establishing a retreat some distance north of here and, second, the problems raised by the letter were of such a nature and importance that they could not be handled reasonably without extended discussion.” Wolff notes that since others around him have also expressed similar doubts about Theosophy, he has written a “thesis” on the matter, which he is enclosing with the letter (this fifty-seven page document is titled, “Is Theosophy Authentic?,” and may be accessed here). In the remainder of the letter, Wolff goes on to addresses some of Mr. Murphy’s personal doubts that were not addressed in the essay. He also invites Mr. Murphy for a visit, providing both his telephone number and address.
The next letter in this exchange makes it clear that Mr. Murphy has begun to visit the Wolffs, and in fact, he begins by apologizing for his behavior at his last visit, when he left the women out of the conversation (and for which he was chastised by his wife). The letter also makes it clear that he has met Prof. Melvin and his wife, and he notes that Prof. Melvin “not only has a brilliant mind, but human understanding, and a real orientation to spiritual things.” Among other things mentioned in this letter is the fact that his thesis project (at Claremont Graduate University), which is titled “Two Religious Developments of Late Nineteenth Century India Considered in Their Relation to Traditional Indian Thought: Theosophy and Ramakrishna Vedanta,” is delayed because the school will not allow him to use Swami Prabhavananda as an advisor.
In the last letter in this file, Wolff responds to a number of points in Mr. Murphy’s previous communication, including a paragraph on the issue of whether Enlightenment is “simply a matter of return to the Root, as seems to be the view of Aesthetic Mysticism, or is it this plus advance to the Fruit, as seems to fit the demands of the more Rational Mysticism.” (9 pages)
