Theos-Talk Archives (April 2006 Message tt00666)

Carlos wrote:

"....using private texts privately is one thing. 
Using private texts publically (which Besant did), is another thing"

Now let us try to think through part of what Carlos is
telling us.

Let us start by looking at the pledge HPB sent
to all individuals who wanted to join her esoteric school.

See:

http://blavatskyarchives.com/espage3.htm

Notice #7:

"I pledge myself to preserve inviolable secresy as regards the signs
and pass-words of the Section and all confidential documents.

"So help me, my Higher Self."

And focusing in:

"I pledge myself to preserve INVIOLABLE SECRESY as regards . . . all
confidential documents." caps added

And on page 2 of the same document, it reads in part about
preserving:

"The Secrecy of the documents of the Section . . . unless absolved
from such secrecy by the Head of the Section."

So now let us take this argument by Carlos about, well, about
circulating privately [to new people] the esoteric documents of HPB.

Let's say Carlos had lived back in 1888 and had taken this pledge
and joined HPB's esoteric school.

And then let us suppose that Carlos gets the idea that he wants to
share the E.S. documents with a few close friends.  Mind you, Carlos
isn't going to publish them publicly, that is, print copies and sell
them through, let us say, a public bookstore, he is just going to
circulate them privately to a few friends.  He may only let them
borrow his copy and read the instructions or he may write out
portions of the whole instruction or even let the friend borrow it
who then writes out either portions of or the whole instruction.

But the question is:  Is Carlos actually preserving "inviolable
secresy" regarding these documents when he does these things?
Notice in the example I gave Carlos is NOT publicly circulating
copies, but only privately circulating his copy or extracts or maybe
even a complete handwritten copy of his printed copy to chosen
individuals.  But again is he actually preserving "inviolable
secresy" by doing such things and furthermore was he "absolved from
such secrecy by the Head of the Section"?

And in this example what if later HPB discovered that Carlos was
doing the above, what would she say and do?

I give the above example because there are similar cases and
historical material from 1888-1891 relating to this very issue.

As I read the pledge and related material, the pledge is binding for
life. Even HPB says this in several documents.

See also the document titled "Book of Rules", reprinted on pp. 285-
286 of THE ESOTERIC PAPERS OF MADAME BLAVATSKY. See:
http://esotericpapers.net/

Here we find that esoteric students were NOT to COMMUNICATE them
[certain documents] to anyone not already in the esoteric school.

Furthermore, no member was to DISCUSS the teachings given in the
E.S. or DISCUSS any of its confidential documents with outsiders.

So would Carlos have being abiding by his pledge [see above] by
PRIVATELY circulating copies of these E.S. documents to NEW people
who were not already members of the E.S.?

Daniel
htpp://hpb.cc