Theos-Talk Archives (May 2000 Message tt00262)

Michele,

Thanks for confirming with your "intuitive insight" that the story about 
Albert Einstein and the SD might be quite true.

Along with that, I have other, more direct reasons for my own belief, 
however... 

Back in the early eighties, while my science mentor and close friend, Dr. 
Sebastian Perchion, former atomic scientist and biophysicist, a theosophist, 
and an initiated Lama of the Tibetan Ningmapa sect (and also one of Sylvia 
Cranston's science consultants, b.t.w.) and I were culling the SD for 
references to modern physics --  Dr. Perchion showed the Secret Doctrine 
(during that time of "detente") to several Russian Scientists (including 
Sakarov and Z'eldovitch, if I recall correctly) attending a scientific 
conference at the New York Academy of Science.  He described the SD to them 
as a textbook of modern physics -- which they first thought incredulous -- 
although they respected the fact that the book was written by a Russian.:-)  
But, after he showed them some of its references to the "unity between energy 
and matter," as well as to the connections between light quanta, electricity 
and matter -- they agreed that Einstein, if he read the book prior to 1905, 
certainly could have intuited his theories from it... Since, they also 
confirmed that it was almost impossible that AE would have intuited them 
based on the state of knowledge of physics he had studied and been teaching 
(as was earlier confirmed by Dr. Feynman's comments in Time magazine during 
the 1975 celebration of the 20th anniversary of Einstein's death -- as quoted 
on my AE-SD web page). It's interesting that relativity was still 
controversial even up to the time Einstein got his Nobel Prize for his other 
work in theoretical physics.

Incidentally, the Russians took back to the USSR the copy of the SD Perchion 
showed them.  Many years later, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, I heard 
from another scientist friend, who had visited Russia, that the SD was listed 
as a physics reference book in several Russian Universities. This was very 
interesting to me at the time, since Z'eldovitch had come up with some 
controversial theories of proton decay, and Sakharov had some ideas about 
universal brotherhood and human rights, that smacked of a considerable 
theosophical knowledge. 

In addition, Sylvia Cranston, in her HPB biography made some reference in her 
notes that Einstein was given his copy of the SD by Robert Millikan, 1923 
Nobel Prize winner (for his work on the photoelectric effect, which Einstein 
originally theorized and received his Nobel Prize for in 1921).  
Coincidentally (or karmacally:-) I also heard that Millikan was a personal 
friend of Einstein's... Since, my employer during the late forties, a wealthy 
Russo-German immegrant and international industrialist, Lawrence Lesavoy, 
Chairman of Lesavoy Industries -- who was a personal friend and business 
associate of my father, as well as a fellow "alchemist" and "Mason" (and 
judging from his sagacious knowledge of cycles and other esoterica, could 
very well have been a theosophist) -- was the major "sponsor" of Einstein 
when he emigrated to America to teach at the Instiute of Advanced Studies at 
Princeton University.  Mr. Lesavoy, who had known Einstein since he was a 
teenager, told us that he also knew Millikan, who, it is reported, had 
corresponded with Einstein since some years before the turn of the century. 
Millikan, incidentally, was also said to be a student of alchemy and a Mason, 
which is probably what originally led him to the SD, which Miilikan, as one 
of Einstein's mentors, probably discussed with him prior to 1895 (when 
Einstein wrote his first essay at age 16 implying relativity ). 

To cap all this off, I saw an original photograph of Einstein that Mr. 
Lesavoy always had on his desk that was Inscribed "Thank you, Larry, for 
everything," signed "Albert." Incidentally, both Lesavoy and Millikan were 
about ten years older than Einstein. It's also interesting that many of 
Einstein's ideas of a spiritual as well as humanistic nature are also quite 
consistent with the principles and ethics of theosophy.

Naturally, all this is quite anecdotal and strangely coincidental, and 
certainly could not be valid as evidence in any court of law... But, 
nevertheless, I have no doubts whatsoever, confirmed by my own studies of the 
scientific correlations in the SD, that it had agreat deal to do with 
sparking Einstein's insights into most, if not all, of the pioneering 
breakthrough he introduced with his special theory of relativity in 1905 
simultaneously with his theories of photoelectricity and quantum physics -- 
some of which he had been considering and questioning older scientists about 
since he was a young boy, according to his biographers. 

I hope this is enough to set the record straight about AE and the SD, and 
help reinforce your apparently correct "intuition and insight." 

Best regards,

Leon Maurer

In a message dated 05/22/00 4:14:32 PM, officerjenny@mindspring.com writes:

>Well, Leon - 
>
>I checked out the web page you suggested and while the narrative
>provided is an interesting enhancement of 'the niece's story', it STILL
>is only anecdotal evidence, nothing that would stand up in court... 
>When you replied that you had worked with Sylvia Cranston on the
>scientific references for her HPB bio and had first hand information, I
>got very excited, but there was still a tinge of skepticism about it
>because after all, if there WAS a body of solid evidence for the AE-SD
>theory, all of us in the TS (and, maybe more importantly, the rest of
>the world) would have heard of it by now.  The unfortunate complication
>of the missing book only serves to make the whole thing sound even MORE
>like an Urban Legend to any materialistic sleuths familiar with these
>tales.
>
>Having said this, let me hasten to add that my personal beliefs lean
>very heavily toward yours, in favor of the testimonies.  But, for me,
>there is no question that my opinion arises from intuition and insight,
>not empiricism.  And since HPB herself remarked that "Knowledge comes in
>visions", I am perfectly satisfied with that. 
>
>Thanks again - am enjoying your web page, too.
>
>Michele Lidofsky
>
> Maurer@aol.com wrote:
>> 
>> Hi Michele,
>> 
>> Thank you for your response to my recent posts referring to science and
>> theosophy:
>> 
>> I have good reason to believe that Einstein got his insights for 
practically
>> all of his scientific breakthroughs from deep study of the Secret Doctrine.
>> Besides having worked with Sylvia Cranston on her Biography of HPB, with
>> respect to some of the science references therein, I have first hand
>> information that Einstein actually had a copy of the SD for most of his
>> working life.  I have also studied the SD as a scientific textbook and
>found
>> that if I were alive at the time of Einstein and was of his age and had
>his
>> same training in and knowledge of then current physics and mathematics
>as
>> taught in Germany -- and if I also studied the SD and packed it with
>notes as
>> deeply as I have already done -- I have no doubt that I would have come
>up
>> with E-mc^2, photoelectricity, relativity, and quantum theory.
>> 
>> Check out the following website and find out why I am so certain of this.
>> http://users.aol.com/unIwldarts/uniworld.artisans.guild/einstein.html
>> 
>> In addition, you might check out my ABC web site and find out what I
>intuited
>> scientifically from the SD - with very little training in and knowledge
>of
>> current postmodern physics and mathematics (although I was trained as
>a
>> Chemical Engineer many years ago).
>> http://www.tellworld.com/Astro.Biological.Coenergetics/
>> 
>> Best regards,
>> 
>> Leon Maurer
>> 
>> In a message dated 05/21/00 3:38:37 PM, officerjenny@mindspring.com writes:
>> 
>> >LeonMaurer@aol.com wrote:
>> >>
>> >> information intuited directly from teachings in the SD that gave 
Einstein
>> his
>> >> insights into the equivalency of matter, energy, light and electricity
>> >-- and
>> >
>> >Hi, Leon -
>> >
>> >  An interruption here for a side issue, if you will...
>> >
>> >  Are you saying here that you believe that Einstein got his insights
>> >regarding the equivalency of matter, energy, light and electricity
>> >through intuition received by his reading the SD?  I have heard so much,
>> >pro and con, about this question of whether AE actually did keep the
>SD
>> >on his desk, or that this assertion has virtually no supporting
>> >evidence, there being only one witness' casual reference, which was
>> >considered by many theosophical historians to be unreliable.
>> >
>> >  I would appreciate hearing your opinion on this matter.  I also
>> >appreciate your scientifically oriented approach to supporting
>> >theosophical truths, which the adepts said must eventually happen. 
>I am
>> >trying to make the same kind of effort in my area of study, and am
>> >currently working on reconciling the evolution of the layers of the
>> >physical brain through the kingdoms as a vehicle for the awakening of
>> >language/self consciousness /spirit.
>> >
>> >  Thanks,
>> >  Michele Lidofsky
>

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