Myron Henry Phelps (Lewiston,

Fulton County, Illinois Fulton County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 37,069. Its county seat is Lewistown, and the largest city is Canton. Fulton County comprises the Canton, IL Micropolitan Statisti ...

, 2 April 1856 -

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

, 29 December 1916) was a New York lawyer and religious writer. He was known for his interest in Buddhism, and studied and wrote about the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

and the

Radha Soami Radha Soami is a spiritual tradition founded by Shiv Dayal Singh in 1861 on Basant Panchami Day in Agra, India. p. 90 note 5, Quote: "The date of Seth Shiv Dayal's first public discourse is Basant Panchami Day, February 15, 1861"., Quote: ...

movement. He traveled to eastern Asia and supported the India House in Manhattan.

Interest in Buddhism

Phelps was interested in Buddhism. He had a secret "spiritual marriage" to

Miranda de Souza Canavarro Miranda de Souza Canavarro (1849-1933) was a wealthy American theosophist notable as the first woman to convert to Buddhism in the United States, in 1897. She later moved to Ceylon and became a Buddhist nun. She became known as Sister Sanghamitta, w ...

(Sister Sanghamitta) (1849-1933), a wealthy American socialite married to the Portuguese ambassador to the Sandwich Islands. She was the first woman to convert to Buddhism in the US in 1897.

Indian Independence

Phelps began to sympathize with the Indian position and helped organize support for Indian rule as well as for Indian students in the US. He organized the Indo-American National Association in Maine and another Society for the Advancement of India in New York in 1907 with branches in Detroit and Chicago opened in 1908. In 1909 he travelled to England where he was expelled from the Waldorf Hotel for being a political agitator. He reached India in 1910 and met many Indian leaders. In 1912 he met Rabindranath Tagore. He attempted a translation of the Bhagwad Gita and was impressed by the Arya Samaj, the Ramakrishna Mission and particularly the Radhasoami cult.

Visit to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

Phelps and Sanghamitta visited

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: ‎, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás ( fa, عباس), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh and served as head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 until 1921. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá was later canonized as the la ...

in ‘Akkā and stayed with "the Master" for over a month, questioning him extensively about the Baha'i faith. The visit was largely cordial and fruitful. Phelps wrote and published a biography of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (dedicated to M.A. de S. Canavarro, or Sister Sanghamitta). The work has been well-known among Baháʼís for nearly a century, and is especially popular for its documentation of recollections by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's sister.

Works

* 1903, 1912,
Life and Teachings of Abbas Effendi
', New York & London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1903, 1904, 1912; University of California Libraries, 1912; McMaster, 2007; Kessinger, 2007, 2008, 2010; BiblioBazaar, 2009; Nabu, 2011; HardPress, 2012; Forgotten, 2012. . . . . . *
Master in ‘Akká, including the recollections of the Greatest Holy Leaf
', revised and annotated by

Marzieh Gail Marzieh Gail (1 April 1908 – 16 October 1993), born Marzieh Nabil Khan, was a Persian-American Bahá'i writer and translator. Early life Marzieh Khan was one of the three children of Mirza Ali Kuli Khan and Florence Breed Khan. Her father ...

, Los Angeles: Kalimát, 1985. . . *
Phelps’ Notes of discourses on Radhasoami Faith delivered by Babuji Maharaj in 1913-14

(alternate link)
Soami Bagh, Agra: Radhasoami Satsang. *
The Gurukula Through European Eyes
', Kangri, 1917. *
Hindu Ideals and Their Preservation
'

*
The Value of Hinduism for Hindus
'. * ''Die wirkliche Natur der Baháʼí-Religion'', Stuttgart: Weltunion fuer universale Religion und universalen Frieden, 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phelps, Myron Henry 1856 births 1916 deaths American Buddhists