Myron Henry Phelps


Myron Henry Phelps was a New York lawyer and religious writer. He was known for his interest in Buddhism, and studied and wrote about the Baháʼí Faith and the Radha Soami 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, 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 Radha Soami.

Visit to ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

Phelps and Sanghamitta visited ʻAbdu'l-Bahá 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. 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, ', 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......
  • ', revised and annotated by Marzieh Gail, Los Angeles: Kalimát, 1985...', Soami Bagh, Agra: Radhasoami Satsang.
  • ', Kangri, 1917. '.
  • '. Die wirkliche Natur der Baháʼí-Religion, Stuttgart: Weltunion fuer universale Religion und universalen Frieden, 1961.