Theos-Talk Archives (May 1998 Message tt00459)

Daniel Caldwell wrote:

> >Concerning the term "devachan", you say that this word
> >doesn't exist?  What do you mean?  In THE RELIGIONS
> >OF TIBET by Giuseppe Tucci, p. 291, the glossary gives
> >a word:  bDe ba can   It is Tibetan and the
> >pronunciation of the word is given as:  Dewachen
> >It is defined as the "name of a heavenly world" and is
> >the equivalent of the Sanskrit word:  Sukhavati (name
> >of a paradise).
> >
> >"Dewachen" is the phonetic spelling.  A careful reader
> >of THE MAHATMA LETTERS will notice that the writers
> >usually give the phonetic spelling of Sanskrit and
> >Tibetan terms.

Jerry Schueler replied:

> I have great respect for Tucci. But outside of a few scholarly
> works (and for all I know they could be using HPB as a source)
> I have never come across this word in any of the many books
> that I have read. Furthermore, its use as a "name of a
> heavenly world" is NOT how it is used in Theosophy as you
> well know. In fact, de Purucker defines it as a non-localized
> mental after-death state rather in the same sense of the
> Tibetan Bardo.


Daniel Caldwell comments:

Jerry, once again I ask what are the "few scholarly works"
that mention Devachan?  We already know Tucci writes about
the term.  I have asked David Reigle (who is very knowledgable
on Sanskrit and Tibetan) about the word "Devachan".  He
says it IS a Tibetan word.  That Tucci is, of course,
correct.  And no, Tucci did NOT get the word from HPB!
So are you ready to amend your statement about HPB &
the term "devachan"?  I repeat to you what you yourself
wrote to Dallas:

>BUt when you post what I feel is an error,
>regardless of its source, then I feel compelled to point it out
>to the others on this list who will get a distorted view. If
>nothing else, I feel I have to try to vindicate what I feel are
>unjust accusations that you or anyone else on this list makes.