Theos-Talk Archives (September 2006 Message tt00357)

"Key" quote by HPB and 
HPB giving Master portraits to esoteric students

Carlos,

You write:

============================================
H.P.B. did make a valiant self-criticism about giving
out "personal" information about the Masters.

Please take a look at what she had to say in "The Key":

" I say again, every earnest Teosophist regrets to-day, from the 
bottom of his heart, that these sacred names and things have ever 
been mentioned before the public, and fervently wishes that they had 
been kept secret within a small circle of trusted and devoted 
friends. (......) Had we acted on the wise principle of silence, 
instead of rushing into notoriety and publishing all we knew and 
heard, such desecration would never have occurred." ( see note 1, 
below)

Not being a hypocrite, H.P.B. honestly and publically admited her 
mistakes. 

Isn't that a beautiful example for us? Would you follow her steps, 
brother Daniel? Will you help preserve respect for the Masters and 
avoid slanders about them, or their 19 th century main Helper?
===========================================================

Carlos, please remember that the main topic of our thread has been 
the portraits of the Masters.  And of focusing on the portraits and 
letting people see them and all of that causing people, students, 
theosophists to focus on the Masters at "the personalistic level".

Therefore, your quote from HPB is helpful in some respects but 
please remember that HPB published the KEY in 1889.  So her words 
above are dated 1889.

Yet it was one year later in 1890 that she decided to allow her 
esoteric students to have copies of the portraits of the Masters 
for their personal use.

In 1890-91 there were approximately 1000 students in H.P.B.'s 
Esoteric School.

So the question and issue revolving around the portraits of the 
Masters is not solved by referring to her words in the KEY.

Why was she allowing in 1890 this number of students to have access 
and copies of the portraits of the Masters if all you have said 
about this subject is true?

I refresh your memory of what you wrote:

===========================================================
Presenting Adeptship not as a fact which occurs at the higher levels 
of consciousness, but downgrading it as something related 
to "personal names", physical personalities and portraits – such an 
action closes the door to a higher perception of things, for 
thousands of ill-advised people.

If the first idea of the Masters, in the mind of a neophyte, is 
drawn at the personalistic level, the whole learning process starts 
from illusion and from a narrow view of life.
==========================================================

By allowing her esoteric students to have portraits of the Masters - 
certainly these portraits conjure up physical personalities and 
personal names! - isn't she doing what you say should not be done, 
i.e., allowing the idea of the Masters to be drawn down to the 
personalistic level?

Daniel
http://hpb.cc