The Great Return

There are strange things lost and forgotten in obscure corners of the newspaper. I often think that the most extraordinary item of intelligence that I have read in print appeared a few years ago in the London Press. It came from a well-known and most respected news agency; I imagine it was in all the papers. It was astounding. The circumstances necessary-not to the understanding of this paragraph, for that is out of the question-but, we will say, to the understanding of the events which made it possible, are these. We had invaded Tibet and there had been trouble in the hierarchy of that country and a personage known as the Tashai Lama had taken refuge with us in India. He went on pilgrimage from one Buddhist shrine to another and came at last to a holy mountain of Buddhism, the name of which I have forgotten. And thus the morning paper:

His Holiness the Tashai Lama then ascended the Mountain and was transfigured.-Reuters.

That was all. And from that day to this I have never heard a word of explanation or comment on this amazing statement.

Arthur Machen (1863 - 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890; 1894) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror (Stephen King has called it "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language"). He is also well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons.