Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tt00198)

April 9th 1998

Dear A. M. Bain:

Your comments on Mead's participation are welcome. I know he was
one of HPB's secretaries and helped, as you and Mr. Gilbert say,
in verifying, etc... If he assisted Mrs. Besant later in
producing the revised SD of 1893, I do not know to what extent
that participation went.

As to ISIS -- it was my first introduction to Theosophy in depth,
and I was very impressed with its eclecticism. That knowledge
and wisdom was world-wide, and also that there were so many
similarities between the various faiths, once that one could
trace back to origins, was impressive. To me it seemed to give
corroboration to the concept that all Wisdom derives from a
single source and that the various creeds, etc... grew as reforms
out of each other when it became essential to institute a reform
and a redirection to the "basics."

This drew me to the THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY, as many words had to
be verified, and their links to others in a system, ascertained.
In that book Mead also participated, and perhaps he was
responsible for its issuing and completing the editing that HPB
was in process of doing when she died.

In studying theosophical literature over many years I came to the
conclusion that the T. Glos. deserved interleaving, as so many
more "foreign" or "antique" words and phrases are used -- thus I
interleaved mine, and have run out of space in using that !

 Best wishes, Dallas

>From: "Dr A M Bain" <guru@nellie2.demon.co.uk>
>Date: Wednesday, April 08, 1998 6:33 PM
>Subject: Re:mediums and ascended?
>
>W. Dallas TenBroeck <dalval@nwc.net> writes
>>1n 1893 under the editorship of Annie Besant and G.R.S.Mead a
>>"third and Revised edition of the SD was issued with over
40,000
>>alterations made by them which HPB never saw or authorized.
The
>>type was at that time entirely reset.
>
>I am told by a reliable source (Mr. R.A.Gilbert, Bristol, UK)
that
>Mead's contribution to this edition was mainly by way of the
verification
>and - where necessary - corrections of HPB's very many notes and
>footnotes, a task for which he was particularly qualified as
having been
>HPB's secretary. Other variations in the text and the order of
the text
>may be due to Annie Besant's influence - perhaps someone has
>documentation originating from the period(s) in question which
can
>throw light on this matter?
>
>On a personal note, I found that Isis Unveiled was a far more
useful and
>informative source of theosophical ideas, with the exception of
the
>Stanzas of Dzyan, which have been published on their own, and
are
>well worth contemplating in that form if one has already some
concept
>of what the "ancient wisdom" is attempting to convey.
>
>-------------
>A.M.Bain, D.D.
>
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