Theos-Talk Archives (May 2006 Message tt00730)

Ken,

In your posting which I quote BELOW, you bring up a number of
good points that I want to comment on.  Therefore as time permits,
I will give some of my thoughts to what you have written.

Either later today or tomorrow I will post my first batch of 
reflections.

Daniel

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Carlos, Daniel et al –

Various comments:

As I am sure you both know, but others may wish to read that much of 
your
`debate' is carefully covered in Boris' intro. to  BCW 14 pp.xxvii –
xliv.
He methodically describes how and why each part of this volume was 
put
together. Boris notes also p. xliii "…the sections entitled "The 
Mystery of
the Buddha" contain some of the most recondite teachings of the 
Esoteric
Philosophy, including certain tenets merely hinted at and which do 
not
occur anywhere else in the entire literary output of HPB…"etc. While 
I can
see how R. Robb may describe some of the material in this volume as 
from
the `Isis era' and agree to some degree, other parts on the Buddha, 
the
very significant "unpublished Discourse of the Buddha', Secret Books 
of Lam
Rim, Nirvana Moksha, Tsong Khapa, Doctrine of the Eye and Heart and 
as well
the several chapters on  various Adepts, Emperor Julian which fit 
into the
described `Adept Biography' theme of the 3rd volume, really do not 
appear
to be part of the `Isis era'. So it looks to me – going over it 
rather
quickly – that it is about 50/50, but all valid HPB material. It 
almost
looks as if material in preparation for vol.3 of the SD and material 
never
published from the earlier
Isis era' were put together to create the `Besant 3rd volume SD', 
but I am
only speculating at this point.  Your `discussion' of this subject 
did have
one benefit regarding a point I wanted to get clear – how many mss.  
of the
SD were there ?  So checking all the refs in the HPB Letters to 
Sinnett it
is clear that there were at least 3 complete. One in HPB's 
handwriting, the
Wurzburg mss of 1886 in someone elses handwriting AND a typescript 
which
HPB paid for and was sent to Olcott to give to Subba Rao (ODL 4th 
series
p.22) Why is this important ? Well, I do think it possible that 
there was a
yet more complete 3rd volume than in the 1886 copy we have, either in
HPB's original handwritten one or the typescript she had done. In the
letter LXXX to Sinnett she states :  every section beginning with a 
page of
translation from the Book of Dzyan and the Secret Book of `Maitreya 
Buddha'
Champai chhos Nga (in prose, not the five books in verse known, 
which are a
blind) are no fiction."  Well, neither the 1886 mss nor the printed 
SD
include anything like the `Secret Book of Maitreya'. So, what 
happened to
this important material ? (for more on this subject see Blavatsky's 
Secret
Books by David Reigle  p. 85 re Jonangpa school etc.) Well, forgive 
me for
wandering far afield from the (to me )  narrow scope of your 
discussion,
but I do appreciate a lot of the data churned up and always hopeful 
that
such may lead to more clarity – if even only of an historical type.

Ken

PS – Cass/Carlos and Socrates `inquiry' – There are some references 
in the
Mahatma Letters regarding Socrates: letter 117, p. 400,  letter 31, 
p.98,
letter 12, p. 36 in the chronological edition. In what direction do 
M and
KH's view take this debate ?