Theos-Talk Archives (May 2005 Message tt00697)

Hello All,
As it seems to be perceived by some that those who try and support 
integrity in presenting the teachings of Blavatsky and her teachers 
as being "fundamentalists" or somehow against freedom of thought.

Does the following passage therefore imply the same of Blavatsky 
herself?

Or is this simply Blavatsky stating the same principle of maintaining 
integrity and honesty in the way the information is presented.

". . . A close examination will assuredly reveal. . . materials 
largely stolen . . . from Theosophical writings. . . [and] distorted 
and falsified so as to be palmed off on the unwary as revelations of 
new and undreamed of truths. But many will neither have the time nor 
the opportunity for such a thorough investigation; and before they 
become aware of the imposture they may be led far from the 
Truth. . . . Nothing is more dangerous to Esoteric Truth than the 
garbled and distorted versions disfigured to suit the prejudices and 
tastes of men in general." 

H. P. Blavatsky, E.S. Instruction No. I., 1889.

Does not the above statement therefore give an onus and 
responsibility to those who present theosophical information to 
present the information as accurately as we can.
Doing this also means constantly maintaining that the information is 
not to be believed but rather examined and critiqued through the use 
of ones own intuition and intellectual processes.

As Blavatsky says in the Key to theosophy:

"To the mentally lazy or obtuse, Theosophy must remain a riddle; for 
in the world mental as in the world spiritual each man must progress 
by his own efforts. The writer cannot do the reader's thinking for 
him, nor would the latter be any the better off if such vicarious 
thought were possible."
(The Key to Theosophy, Preface.)

Regards

Perry