Theos-Talk Archives (January 1998 Message tt00171)

David Green wrote:

> Jerry,
>
> I am somewhat confused.
>
> Why is Dr Gomes against discussing
> with theosophical students the Judge
> letters?  You said he discussed them
> with you.
>

David,

Between you, Bart and Ramadoss, I'm beginning to feel a lot of regret for
ever mentioning Mr. Gomes name in the first place.  I never said that Mr.
Gomes is for or against discussing the Judge letters.  But I did write that
it would be inappropriate to ask someone who has done years of research at
his personal expense to summarize his findings to another researcher, let
alone over the public airways, such as the internet.  Mr. Gomes has already
published a series of previously unpublished Judge letters over the last two
years in the journal THEOSOPHICAL HISTORY.  If you want to know something
about what Mr. Gomes has to say about Judge letters, then I suggest that you
go and read the back issues of that journal.

Let's put it in another way:  Let's say that you do go ahead and start
researching  that thesis on Judge you were talking about.  Let's say that
you spend thousands of dollars of your personal money traveling around the
country and around the world visiting libraries with special collections in
your search for Judge material for your thesis.  Let's say that you have
spend thousands of hours combing though this material and have now come up
with a very interesting, informational and new point of view concerning
Judge.  You are now ready to begin writing your thesis.  Now let's say
someone comes along you don't know and asks you to summarize all that you
had learned about Judge as a result of your years of research.  You tell
him.  Then let's say that two months later you read an article about Judge
written by that same person that covers everything you told him, but he gave
you no credit whatsoever for his information.  Now Let's say that you go
ahead and write your thesis and submit it to your committee.  Your committee
reads it and tells you that it has nothing new, but rather is just a
restatement of  the findings in another work published earlier.  You realize
that the other work your committee is referring to is the one written by
that inquirer who asked you to summarize to him everything you discovered.
How would you feel?


> In your Nov email you wrote that
> Dr Gomes had read the Judge letters
> & had told you certain things.
> What does one have to do to get a
> audience with him?  It sounds to me
> like the Theo societies & theosophical
> scholars are a somewhat uncommunicative,
> unfriendly bunch.
>

Let's try this again.  I wrote (among many other things) that I had
discussed the Judge letters with Mr. Gomes, and had come to certain
conclusions, based upon those discussions.  I did not say what Mr. Gomes
said to me, and I did not mention anything one way or another about Mr.
Gomes own conclusions.  I only shared my own conclusions.  My only purpose
for mentioning Mr. Gomes in the first place was to show that in coming to my
conclusions, I did not neglect discussing my ideas with others who are also
knowledgeable about Judge.  As for communicating with Mr. Gomes, I already
responded to your original request.  I wrote that if you wanted to introduce
yourself to him,  you could e-mail me a letter and I would pass it on to
him.  Personally, I thought that was a very friendly offer to make to
someone I don't even know.  Out of respect for Mr. Gomes privacy, it would
not have been appropriate for me to broadcast his address over the internet,
nor would it have been appropriate for me to sent it to you privately.  I
don't know you.  For all I know you could be a mad man obsessed by Mr. Gomes
and is trying to kill him.  Do you understand my position?  I also strongly
suggested that you first do your own research before you tried to contact
him.  Do you understand why I suggested this?   Apparently you don't, so I
will spell it out again:  It is not appropriate to ask someone engaged in
research to make public his findings until after he is ready to publish it.
If you want to write him, you have every right to do so.  But don't expect
him to do your research for you, and don't expect him to write your thesis
for you.  Frankly, if you were to write me with such expectations, I would
be very inclined to not even give you the courtesy of an answer.  Not
because I'm unfriendly, but because I am simply not willing to do your
research for you, and it is inappropriate for you to ask me or anyone else
to do so.   Have I made myself clear enough this time?

> So if we email Dr Gomes, I take it from
> what you have written, that he will not
> reply?
>

I'm not Mr. Gomes and I don't do his thinking for him.  I refuse to be
manipulated into the position of predicting what someone else will do.  All
I have been trying to get across is that the question you  indicated that
you intend to ask Mr. Gomes is not appropriate.  Since you are apparently in
graduate school, and ready to write a thesis, I would think that none of
this should need be said.

I'm sorry if this reply appears to be unfriendly.  It is not intended to
be.  Rather, I'm just finding it  very frustrating that I'm not being
understood.  I assure you that Theosophical historians are not unfriendly
and uncommunicative people.  On the contrary, they are generally very
appreciative to meet others who share a *genuine* interest in their area of
research.  However,  most people are made uncomfortable by inappropriate
behavior and inappropriate questions.   Historians are no different in this
manner.

I hope that this clarifies and ends the matter.


JJHE





> >> >Jerry Hejka-Ekins wrote:
> >
> >>  I'm certain that Mr. Gomes would much prefer to be
> >> left to
> >> >> do his research and writing in peace.  In the mean time,  I feel
> that the
> >> >> more important and appropriate question to ask is why the Adyar TS
> is
> >> >> unwilling to publish these letters.
> >>
>
> >What ever happened to courtesy and appropriate behavior among
> Theosophists?  Why
> >do you want to bother someone who does not want to be bothered?
>
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