Theos-Talk Archives (July 2002 Message tt00265)

July 30 2002

Dear Ian:

Re: SECRET DOCTRINE Vol. THREE

This was not edited by H P B before printing.

Read what she writes about the intention of the 3rd and 4th
volumes, then compare the matter included in this "3rd
Volume" (issued under the editorship of Annie Besant in
1897) with what H P B says it will contain.

That's the only way to go.


Here is what I was able to find out:

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Re: 3rd VOLUME of the book The SECRET DOCTRINE (1888)
First issued in 1897 under the editorship of Annie Besant

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To secure a view of what H P B's intent is we ought to go
directly to what she wrote concerning the nature and scope
of the 3rd and 4th Volumes of The SECRET DOCTRINE"


FROM The SECRET DOCTRINE (published in 1888, we quote):--


S D I xxix-xl	"The writer will have to give historical and
trustworthy names...as also to name some of the famous
proficients in the secret arts and science, along with the
mysteries of the latter, as they are divulged, or rather,
partially presented before the public in their strange
archaic form...Such a point of preliminary observation, for
those who would like to get a more correct understanding of
the mysteries of the pre-archaic periods given in the texts,
cannot be offered to them in these two volumes. But if the
reader has patience, and would glance at the present state
of beliefs and creeds in Europe, compare and check it with
what is known of the history of the ages directly preceding
and following the Christian era, then he will find all this
in Volume III, of this work.

In that volume a brief recapitulation will be made of all
the principal adepts known to history, and the downfall of
the mysteries will be described; after which the
disappearance and final and systematic elimination from the
memory of men of the real nature of initiation and the
Sacred Science. From that time its teachings became Occult,
and Magic sailed but too often under the venerable but
frequently misleading name of Hermetic philosophy...."


S D I vii	"Even the two volumes now issued do not complete
the scheme, and these do not treat exhaustively of the
subjects dealt with in them. A large quantity of material
has already been prepared, dealing with the history of
occultism as contained in the lives of the great Adepts of
the Aryan race, and showing the bearing of the occult
philosophy upon the conduct of life, as it is and as it
ought to be. Should the present volumes meet with a
favourable reception, no efforts will be spared to carry out
the scheme of the work in its entirety. The third volume is
entirely ready; the fourth almost so."


S D II p. 106	"There is no space to describe these "fires"
and their real meaning here, though we may attempt to do so
if the third and fourth volumes of this work are ever
published..."


S D II p. 437	"In Volume III, of this work (the said
volume and the IV th being almost ready) a brief history of
all the great adepts known to the ancients and the moderns
in their chronological order will be given, as also a
bird's eye view of the Mysteries, their birth, growth,
decay, and final death--in Europe. This could not find room
in the present work. Volume IV will be almost entirely
devoted to Occult teachings."


S D II p. 798	"Thus far have proceeded the rough outlines
of the beliefs and tenets of the archaic, earliest
Races...But our explanations are by no means complete...Our
main concern was simply to prepare the soil. This, we trust
we have done. These two volumes only constitute the work of
a pioneer who has forced his way into the well-nigh
impenetrable jungle of the virgin forests of the Land of the
Occult. A commencement has been made to fell and uproot the
deadly upas trees of superstition, prejudice, and conceited
ignorance, so that these two volumes should form for the
student a fitting prelude for Volumes III, and IV. Until
the rubbish of the ages is cleared away from the minds of
the Theosophists to whom these volumes are dedicated, it is
impossible that the more practical teachings contained in
the third Volume should be understood. Consequently it
depends upon the reception with which Volumes I and II will
meet at the hands of Theosophists and Mystics, whether these
last two volumes will ever be published, though they are
almost completed."


In addition, in 1891 let us look at H. P. Blavatsky's
article: THE NEGATORS OF SCIENCE -- Lucifer, April 1891,
reprinted in U L T edition -- H P B Articles, Vol. 2, pp
80-1.

In this last article she wrote, in part:


"...this third volume (now almost ready) treats of the
ancient
Mysteries of Initiation, gives sketches--from the esoteric
stand-point--of many of the most famous and historically
known
philosophers and hierophants...from the archaic down to the
Christian era, and traces the teachings of all these sages
to one
and the same source of all knowledge and science--the
esoteric
doctrine of WISDOM-RELIGION....Now the main point of Volume
III
of The SECRET DOCTRINE is to prove, by tracing and
explaining the
blinds in the works of ancient Indian, Greek, and other
philosophers of note, and also in the ancient
Scriptures--the
presence of an uninterrupted esoteric allegorical method
and
symbolism; to show, as far as lawful, that with the keys
of
interpretation as taught in the Eastern Hindo-Buddhistic
Cannon
of Occultism, the Upanishads, the Puranas, the Sutras, the
epic
poems of India and Greece, the Egyptian Book of the Dead,
the
Scandinavian Eddas, as well as the Hebrew Bible, and even
the
classical writings of Initiates (such as Plato, among
others)--all from first to last, yield a meaning quite
different
from their dead letter texts. "
[ H P B Articles Vol. II, pp. 80-1, U L T Edition ]



The one aspect that is unclear and, important, is:

In regard to the matter issued by Mrs. Annie Besant as the
THIRD VOLUME OF The SECRET DOCTRINE -- How much did Mrs.
Besant (whom Mr. Mead says was solely responsible for its
editing) change and edit it from what H.P.Blavatsky wrote ?
As the MSS were destroyed we will never know.

Let us use an example:

The 3rd and Revised EDITION of the S D Vols. I and II, in
re-set type in 1893 (not Volume III of 1897) is shown to
contain about 40,000 alterations from the 1888 edition (the
original) as first published. Some of these are minor, and
others appear to be major.

It should be noted that before this 3rd and revised Edition
of Vols. 2 and 3 students were asked to send in any errata,
typos, etc, they may have found in the original edition.
Some of the alterations may be due to those responses. They
have never been separated or exhaustively identified to my
knowledge.

Mr. Judge made no written protest that is known concerning
the changes in the "3rd and Revised EDITION of The SECRET
DOCTRINE (1888) " published in 1893, and using new types."
He was still alive when this was issued.

A number of students are of the opinion that the "ORIGINAL
EDITION OF 1888" contains certain codes, and some of those
are dependent on the phrasing and the capitalization and the
actual words that HPB and the Masters used in that book.

If that concept is thrown aside, then the "3rd VOLUME"
(1897) can be considered as possibly authentic in INTENT,
but not as to CONTENT. In other words it may not be
consistent with the ORIGINAL MSS that HPB had left. Also,
on reviewing the Contents, it shows that the full scheme
envisaged by H P B (as advertised in Vols. I and II) was
not to be found there.

Older students state that it is based on unedited and
unprinted MSS that HPB had in her possession. They were in
her desk drawers at the time of her death. But if those
have been changed and altered, by Mrs. Besant's editing,
and then published as the "Third VOLUME of The SECRET
DOCTRINE of 1897," how can we depend absolutely on them ?
This "THIRD VOLUME of the S D" was issued in 1897, or 2
years after Mr. Judge's death.

Some of those MSS were published posthumously, almost
immediately in LUCIFER. And they have been accepted as
"original HPB."

The content and statements made in some of the articles
published by Mrs. Besant as part of the "THIRD VOLUME OF THE
S D " do not closely dovetail (in the esteem of several
students) with statements made, the style, and orthography
used in the ORIGINAL 1888 S D, and in several of her
articles published after that date. It is therefore
difficult to agree to use those as a basis for presenting
original Theosophy and its doctrines.

In other words they show a peculiar lack of cohesiveness and
continuity with those statements and teachings H P B made in
the writings she actually EDITED HERSELF. Now it may be
argued that these are minor and perhaps they are also
insignificant. However they do represent a DIFFERENCE. So
it may be wise to set them aside as having been tampered
with.

It is also significant that after HPB's death Mrs. Besant
arrogated to herself the right and "duty ?" of editing HPB
as she thought HPB would like it. This manifests as early
as 1893 -- two years after HPB's death. Mrs. Besant's
subsequent writings show this tendency to divergence and
ultimately this has brought an important change in the
presentation of THEOSOPHY when the THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
fell under her Presidency after Col. Olcott's death (1907).

One need only look at the contents of LUCIFER, the VAHAN,
and the THEOSOPHIST, comparing them with the contents of The
PATH and the THEOSOPHICAL FORUM during the years 1894 to
1896 (during the attacks on Mr. W.Q.Judge's character and
standing in the T S) to realize how this divergence was
magnified as the FIRST OBJECT of the T S ( Brotherhood )
was abrogated.

In addition if one desires to catalog the divergence one
need only consult Margaret Thomas' book THEOSOPHY or
NEO-THEOSOPHY to notice that changes in Theosophical
presentation that had become prevalent between 1891 and
1923. And these are still in use and most members of the T
S are unaware of the importance of Mr. Judge's writings, as
they have been neglected. Even HPB's writings in their
original form have been neglected. Apparently only those
who are scholarly delve into and resurrect for their own
study and work those neglected writings - and profit
therefrom.

A copy of the "third Vol. S D " as originally issued by the
Theosophical Publishing House is available in most good
Lodge or Branch libraries..

If one has a copy of the HISTORY OF THE THEOSOPHICAL
MOVEMENT (1875-1925) - That is the first one issued in 1925
by Dutton, New York. One ought to look at the following
pages to get an idea of the value of the "3rd Vol. SECRET
DOCTRINE pp. 569-571; On A. Besant and her default, see
pp. 563, 685

H.P.Blavatsky sent the original draft to Subba Row in Madras
to review. He found that too many of the Brahmanical
esoteric secrets were to be revealed. He could not stand
that, and that is what set him against H.P.Blavatsky see
The THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT (1875-1925) pp. 51, 137, 150, 235,
570. That draft has been retained in the Adyar library. H
P B then rewrote those pages and we have that version in the
"original 1888 Edition" of the S D.

There is a great deal of the early history of the
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY that is not made plain and few students
know much about it after all these years.

There is a parallel to this and that is the reform of
Hinduism that The Buddha instituted --- and it took about
300 years for the Brahmins to drive the Buddhists out of
India.

Here in the West, there is a great deal of debate among
orientalists and the older students of the THEOSOPHICAL
SOCIETY as whether Theosophy endorses Buddhism or
Brahmanism. It endorses neither, but culls the best from
each. The orthodox on both sides still fight each other.
And in doing so they fail to see that they at times are
saying the same thing in their own way.

In any case Theosophy is the source from which both are
derived. (And that is also denied.) A more ancient group
called the Jains ante-date the Buddha. They are tolerated
by the Brahmins because they appear superficially to follow
the same religious patterns. But interiorly they are far
closer to Mahayana Buddhism and Theosophy. Buddha's Guru was
a Jain Tirthankara.

Mr. Daniel Caldwell is of the opinion that the "3rd. Volume
as issued i1897 is in fact the 3rd Volume that H P B had
written. Years ago I heard the following story, but could
not authenticate it: An old student contemporary with H P B
and her secretaries recalls hearing from Mr. A.. Keightley
that very shortly before her death, H P B walked into the
room where he worked, and asked where the MSS for the 3rd
and 4th volumes was. The pile was pointed out to her. She
then said: "I have just received instructions to destroy
that." They there and then set to work and with the help of
others, they tore up all that pile of MSS.

Mr. Bart Lidofsky writes that The SECRET DOCTRINE may have
been originally issued in 4 or 5 volumes. I have seen no
record of that. As far as I know The SECRET DOCTRINE was
issued in 2 volumes (of which I have copies). Much later
(1938) the 4 volume edition was issued by Adyar T P H. and
volumes 1 and 2 were split into two smaller volumes

Best wishes

Dallas TenBroeck

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Best wishes,

Dallas

=========
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian McRae [mailto:ian.mcrae@rahoosie.fsnet.co.uk]
Sent:	Tuesday, July 30, 2002 5:57 AM
To:	Theostalk
Subject:	Theos-World Secret Doctrine

Having just re-read the first page of the Secret Doctrine, I
see that H.P.
Blavatsky, at the beginning of the Preface, end of the first
paragraph,
that, "The third volume is entirely ready; the fourth almost
so". These
other two volumes cannot refer to "Isis Unveiled", as it was
published well
in advance of "The Secret Doctrine". What are these other
two volumes she
talks of ?

Orra Best,
Ian