Theos-Talk Archives (May 2001 Message tt00177)

Dear Eldon...forgive my but in, your idea is great...the problem this study
group has is in interpetation..and understanding...most have not completed
highschool..but eagerly grasp the freedom of Theosophy and desire to learn
more...we have the books but one hour a week study makes it very
diffucult...you have no idea how eagerly we study your groups debates it
makes everying clearer and very much alive...for this we are very
thankful...thank you. george.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Eldon B Tucker" <eldon@theosophy.com>
To: <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 7:01 AM
Subject: Theos-World different editions of THE SECRET DOCTRINE


> Dallas, Peter, and Tony:
>
> It seems clear from the lines that the discussions have gone
> that we are taking different positions on how to put the
> theosophical literature to best use.
>
> Should a theosophical FAQ be put together at some point,
> a description of the different editions of THE SECRET
> DOCTRINE, and the reasons for each edition, might be included.
>
> The emphasis of the newer edition is, as I see it, on
> improved accuracy, readability, and access to the materials.
> The value of the facsimile edition would be to assure the
> reader that no additional errors had been introduced in the
> process of editing the book, although existing errors and
> limitations would also remain.
>
> A balanced comparison of the editions would impartially
> weigh the good with the bad, considering improved readability
> and accuracy with possible error. It is not made by picking
> a few editorial changes that seem the most objectionable
> and arguing over them. If a change is clearly in error,
> it should be passed on, so that it can be corrected in a
> future printing of the book.
>
> I think that we've all become somewhat conditioned by the
> various theosophical groups that we've been trained in, and
> have a tendency to mirror the official positions of those
> groups without really thinking about what we might be saying.
>
> In the future, an html edition of the book might be useful.
> This would go beyond just having the materials on web pages,
> like Theosophical University Press has. It would include
> extensive crosslinks and ties to supplemental materials.
>
> Setting up such a text also would involve editorial
> manipulation of the raw text of the book, perhaps the dropping
> of accent marks, and the standardization of spellings. (This
> would be to facilitate searching by keyword, etc.) With
> this edition, as well as Boris's edition, the work would be
> done with the best interest of the readers in mind.
>
> Perhaps at some point in the future, we might have a
> combination of the two approaches. There might be a
> computerized, edited, readable, hyperlinked version of
> each book or article, combined with a scanned image of
> the original page of print that the text came from.
>
> This would be useful for such books as THE MAHATMA LETTERS,
> for HPB's magazine articles (showing a scan of the original
> pages from the magazines that the originally appeared in),
> and for books like THE SECRET DOCTRINE, showing original
> handwritten manuscript whenever possible, or including
> links to more than one draft of the materials, where
> such exists.
>
> Theosophy is a living tradition. It's kept alive by
> people whom learn it and pass on their interest and
> enthusiasm to future generations. The printed word is
> a tool to assist with the process, as a study aid, but
> is not the Wisdom itself.
>
> -- Eldon
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>