Theos-Talk Archives (February 2001 Message tt00226)

Tuesday, February 27, 2001

Re: influence of assistants on H.P.B.'s writing.

Dear Jim:

You are quite right. From the first H.P.B. (who did not know
English well) took help from those who knew how to write it. She
always acknowledged this assistance ( see her article MY BOOKS on
BLAVATSKY.NET or, ULT: H.P.B. ARTICLES. Vol. I, p.475...Olcott,
Westcott, Carter, Judge, and others helped her in New York with
ISIS. In India, Europe and England she was helped by many, such
as the Keightleys, Damodar, Wachmeister, Mead, Besant, Collins,
etc... -- in fact by anyone who offered their help. She
acknowledged that many assisted, and even wrote portions of the
text for her (which she passed on, used or discarded, in final
edit), but in no way have I seen her say that they contributed to
the original material of the SECRET DOCTRINE. For that, she, and
the MASTERS (who sent Dr. Hubbe-Schleiden a certificate of
co-authorship -- PATH Magazine, Vol. 8, p. 1-3) said that they
were alone responsible. Assistance is always a matter of give
and take in editing and publishing. But I do not think it is
proper to speculate at this stage about the nature of the
influence assistance had upon the AUTHOR. Such a speculation
would have to be done documents in hand, and not vaguely.

This does not mean H.P.B. allowed her ideas and words to be
entirely altered, mangled and changed. She did read proofs and
altered them very substantially, as some of her assistants
complained.

For example: The THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY was under preparation
when she died. She actually read 32 pages of the final proofs,
and Mr. Mead acknowledges that he completed the work for her.
Personally I have been over almost all of the entries made there
and have found that most were corroborated by entries and (some
actually copied) from definitions she made in THE SECRET
DOCTRINE, ISIS UNVEILED, her many ARTICLES and the KEY TO
THEOSOPHY and the VOICE OF THE SILENCE. Anyone can do that work
if they are persistent. I also agree that there are some obvious
errors in those later. I am not sure whose they were. Whether
H.P.B. would have corrected them or not, we also do not know.

There is no question but she took full responsibility for what
she wrote. And in this it is also quite evident that the MASTERS
gave her a great deal of assistance. I am pretty sure that hat
we have of the ORIGINAL EDITIONS has been duly guarded from great
blunders, errors or misleading statements. But that is something
that each one of us needs to check out for himself by studying
what H.P.B. has written and what Theosophy has to offer. Is it
coherent? Is it useful? Does it serve to link and adjust
various speculations of current scholarship? Does it provide
information which in the last century has been corroborated? Are
the metaphysics and logic of these writings consistent -- as of
one grand whole? I think one has to really know what H.P.B.
wrote before those questions can be answered.

If some serious error is found then that ought to be exposed for
others to comment on after due study. H.P.B. did not write so as
to create some vigilante band that would spring forth in blind
defence. H.P.B. wanted her work to be studied carefully and
critically; and, she desired comment and use of the Wisdom of
the Ages.

She said squarely that it was not the product of speculation or
of one authors wild ideas. She claimed that it was the product
of many millennia of research in all departments of Nature. Then
the ancient lore was tested and proved valid. ( S.D. I 272.... )
She invites all of us to share in this work -- which is not
always an easy task.

Theosophy is a record of the HISTORY of events and discovery.
Those who have worked on that are undoubtedly ourselves have done
so in earlier incarnations, and of course many others known and
unknown to us. The Lodge of the Great Adepts exists, and it from
them that THEOSOPHY comes. H.P.B. was their "Messenger" (her
claim) for that. And she invited all and sundry to be critical,
certainly, but also to read, study, verify and discover
independently and by themselves.

NATURE contains all things and it works by LAW. What Theosophy
does is to open our eyes and minds to some of those things so
that we may use them, check them, and proceed further according
to what we decide to so.

If THEOSOPHY is designed to be the basis for the future of
humanity, the power of the ORIGINAL TEACHINGS will alone make
that possible.

Best wishes as always,

Dallas

============================



-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Rodak [mailto:rodakjl@pcola.gulf.net]
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2001 3:43 PM
To: Theosophy Study List
Subject: Re: Blavatsky, Theosophy, and Pseudo-Theosophy: Some
Reflections


> On 2/26/01, Daniel wrote in part:

> Whether one is inclined to believe her
> claims or not, whether one ultimately comes to accept
> or reject what she wrote about, we do have available
> HPB's major books, more than 1000 of her articles, hundreds of
> her personal letters to correspondents, more than a hundred
> Mahatma letters received during HPB's lifetime,
> and voluminous historical accounts of people who meet and knew
> HPB and her Teachers. Some of these latter accounts I
> have compiled in my book ESOTERIC WORLD OF MADAME BLAVATSKY.

Jim Rodak comments:

I concur in principle with your statement above. However, the
historical
record is quite clear that HPB was assisted in writing and
editing her
published writings by several people within her "inner
circle" --- which,
for reasons unbeknownst to me, is rarely, if ever, mentioned or
alluded to
by those who champion her cause. This is especially true in her
major
works, "Isis Unveiled" and "The Secret Doctrine." I am not
suggesting that
her "fundamental ideas", per se, aren't somehow preserved in
"her" writings,
but there sure were a lot of folks involved in ensuring that
those
"fundamental ideas" were presented in such a way that they
conveyed what HPB
(perhaps) had in mind. To what extent their own ideas were
incorporated in
and to what degree influenced the finished product is open to
speculation.
It's just unfortunate that those involved weren't given - and
aren't given
to this day - the credit they so rightly deserve in the writings
attributed
to HPB. Fraternally, JLR



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