Letters to and from Wolff
In this letter, Wolff admonishes the head of the Chicago chapter of the Rama Sangha group against making statements or taking actions that have not been approved by him or his wife:
In this letter, which is signed “Yogagñani,” Wolff advises Mr. Clayberg on the role of group and the behavior of individuals within such work; he also warns Mr. Clayberg of some the dangers of occult work, and explains how individual effort and group work may shelter one from such perils. (2 pages)
Wolff encourages a student and stresses that it is important to creatively express ideas in one’s own words in order to make given knowledge one’s own. (1 page)
Given the date and content of this letter, it is clear that Wolff is responding to an article that Einstein published in the November 9, 1930 issue of the New York Times Magazine (which can be accessed here).
In this letter, Wolff addresses a complaint by Mr. Gatchell that he has been treated unfairly. Wolff tries to impress upon Mr. Gatchell that the rule in such a case is that “when one student feels himself unjustly treated or wounded in any way by another, and especially in the case of, those who have official responsibility, go directly to the person involved and speak frankly but keeping silent before all third parties.” Wolff also addresses his reasons for dealing with this student as he did. (2 pages)
In this letter Wolff welcomes Mr. Clayberg into their spiritual community (known at the time as the “Rama Sangha”). Wolff then references an article written by Mr. Clayberg and notes that he is in agreement with the assessment that humankind is in the midst of a very serious crisis. He disagrees, however, with Mr.
Wolff begins this letter by noting that Mr. Gatchell’s circumstances give him a real advantage amongst those interested in “the philosophy and life of the Path.” Wolff then references some experiences that Mr. Gatchell had in Des Moines (we do not know what this episode was, as we do not have Mr. Gatchell’s letters to Wolff) and explains that the importance of the work in which Mr. Gatchell is involved (that is, the spiritualization of consciousness) is bound to attract an enemy of such work.
Mr. Felver writes thanking Wolff for the two books sent and notes that Re-embodiment is the best work that he has read on the subject of reincarnation. He states, however, that he has a hard time grasping the meaning of terms such as ‘The Absolute’ as well as overcoming the inertia that he often encounters in his metaphysical studies.
At the time he wrote this letter, Wolff was lecturing on behalf of the Benares League under the pseudonym “Yogagñani.” (For more on this period of Wolff’s life—as well an explanation of the reference to “keys” in the last question below—see the Benares League tab under “Organizations and Group Work” in the Wolff Archive.)
The letter contains Wolff’s responses to the following eight questions, which had been posed by Laura Felver, one of Wolff’s students in Chicago:
