Theos-Talk Archives (August 1997 Message tt00052)

Re: Dallas's remarks,

> ...TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE ? After HPB published the
> Secret Doctrine in 1888, a number of students around her,
> including professors like Crooks, etc., desired more details, and
> accordingly they met week after week (and they had a court
> stenographer to record the actual proceedings... It is now put
> up in book form by several publishers, including the THEOSOPHY
> COMPMANY, Los Angeles (the version I use)...

Yes, and it is also been published in Collected Writings Volume
10, on pages 298-406. There is much in this material that can be
easily overlooked, and that is unavailable from any other source.
An interesting point is that while T.B.Harbottle was in the chair
(president of the lodge?) there was an extreme amount of detail
being provided, while when William Kingsland took the chair the
progress was faster but less detailed.

> ....."theosophical Organizations" as HPB put it succinctly, are
> forms or bodies where individualstudents can come together to
> enlage their views of what Theosophical principles are, and how
> they may be applied. No T.Organization, according to her had any
> right to try to mold the thinking, or direct the study of any of
> its "members." Therefore the "Leaders" of such T. Organizations
> had only one duty: to serve as colorless sustainers and
> maintainers of a free forum at which all could be invited to come
> and share in a common feast: the earch for knowledge and
> wisdom...

Oh, the odes of a bygone era. "They that hear the do not
understand, they that see but do not comprehend" would be a
better description of the T.S. today. This situation has been
argued in too many forums by too many people, all with no
success. If only our leadership in Wheaton, Los Angeles,
Pasadena, and ADAYR could return to these PRINCIPLES of
theosophy. Perhaps "Is Theosophy a Religion" would be another
title to add to the reading list.

> Having been educated some 60 years ago, my link to the 19th
> century may be closer than most who have been educated
> recently--and I have noticed that for them it is a distinct
> effort to force their minds and understanding to go back and
> meticulously examine the maning of what was said 50, 100 or 150
> years ago...

Little do people understand the importance of this in their study
of Theosophical writings. Since many of the original authors
wrote from this mindset the original articles of theosophy yeald
a great deal more when studied under this shadow. A more ancient
version of this is the study of the New Testament Christian
writings. Many of the terms and allegories have specific meaning
tried directly to eastern belief and practice at that time. One
of the few texts to provide a key to this is the "New Testament
Commentary" by Lamsa.

Any additional comments?