Theos-Talk Archives (July 1997 Message tt00041)

Excerpts from WHO PLAYED THAT TRICK ON H.P.B.? THE PUZZLE OF "THE
THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY" by Boris de Zirkoff

> Sometime in the Spring of 1892, the Theosophical Publishing
> Society in London issued a work entitled THE THEOSOPHICAL
> GLOSSARY under the name of H.  P.  Blavatsky, bearing also the
> imprint of THE PATH Office in New York, and THE THEOSOPHIST at
> Adyar, Madras.
>
> This work contains 389 pages and embodies 2,767 distinct terms
> with their appropriate definitions, alphabetically arranged.
>
> The Preface informs us that this work is "almost entirely
> posthumous" and the H.P.B.  "only saw the first thirty pages in
> proof".
>
> (G.R.S.  Meade) lets us know in his Preface to this work, that
> H.P.B.  desired to express her indebtedness "as far as the
> tabulation of facts is concerned," to four works, name, the
> SANSKRIT-CHINESE DICTIONARY by Etiel, the HINDU CLASSICAL
> DICTIONARY of Dawson, Wilson's VISHNU-PURANA, and the ROYAL
> MASONIC CYCLOPEDIA of Kenneth R.H.  MacKensie.  He also points
> out the definitions signed by W.W.W.  are by W.W.  Wescott.
>
> From such a statement it would appear that THE THEOSOPHICAL
> GLOSSARY is a work mainly by H.  P.  Blavatsky, with a certain
> number of quotations from a fairly small number of works.  This
> impression has become pretty well established in the Theosophical
> Movement, and several editions of this work have been published
> by various Theosophical organizations.

The facts, however, differ considerably.

A careful analysis...has disclosed that out of 2,767 definitions,
a minimum of 2,212 have been taken from the works of a large
number of scholars, either verbatim or with very minor
alterations, and with no acknowledgments whatsoever; in a few
cases a line or two has been added, giving an occult
interpretation probably by H.P.B.  herself.

(De Zirkoff then spends several pages pointing out some of the
innumerable glaring errors in the Glossary made by early scholars
who had little grasp of "the subtle meaning of Oriental and other
ancient terms.")

(He continues by saying)...to publish THE THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY
as it now stands simply means to perpetuate willingly and
deliberately hundreds of errors; it also means to ascribe them,
at least partially so, to H.P.B., imagining that the definitions
are hers, as no source of reference is given...

To correct the hundreds of wrong definitions would be a task of
uncertain value, because no matter how well done, it would still
contain errors, some perhaps unsuspected by the Editor....To
correct as much as can be corrected...would mean practically
rewriting it.

When the nature of the material in THE THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY is
considered without bias or preconceived ideas, and the facts
outlined above are kept clearly in mind, it is difficult to
believe that the publication of this work in 1892 was done in
good faith.  Its continued publication is a disservice to the
Cause, and most certainly an utterly unwarranted reflection upon
the memory of H.P.B., whose name is made to appear in bold
letters upon the title page of a work full of misinformation, and
with the production of which she had very little to do.  It is
high time that these facts be stated without ambiguity for the
information of serious students.

THE DREAM THAT NEVER DIES by Boris de Zirkoff (pp.81-85) Point
Loma Publications, San Diego, CA (1983) ISBN 0-913004-45-6

Does anyone have a scanner? Perhaps someone could scan the
article in this book and print out the full text for us on this
site.