Theos-Talk Archives (August 1998 Message tt00351)

Dan,

I wasn't thinking at all of the *paranormal* aspects of the issue
when saying that HPB's claims about a single occult tradition
would be overwhelmingly rejected by scholars.  Yes, you are right
that the scholarly world has accomplished very little in this
domain that would command respect from Theosophists or anyone
else.

What I was referring to was the scholarship in history of
religions that has unfolded in the last century, and the
understanding of the development of various traditions.  While
HPB's claims in the SD about Senzar, and all esotericism being
historically rooted in a single body of knowledge, etc., have a
certain appeal to them, that appeal is to the mythopoetic
imagination.

What I would predict, for example, is that if the Mahatma Letters
were presented to an assortment of religious historians and only
a single question was asked-- "Is this system of teaching something that
could have been preserved in India or Tibet for centuries,
or is it the product of a synthesizing Westerner of the 19th
century?"-- the answer of a panel of say 100
experts would be 100-0 in favor of the latter.  That is leaving
aside all questions of the paranormal faculties of HPB, the
status of Masters, etc., the handwriting of the letters, and is
simply an issue of the history of ideas.

Cheers,
Paul