Theos-Talk Archives (November 2006 Message tt00659)

Daniel,

Thanks.  

I finaly took a few minutes to read some of your allegations about volumes published by "The Theosophy Company". 

An interesting viewpoint, no doubt. 

It seems you failed to detect content changes, though.  

You write, or you quote: 

"There are 665 points of differences, of one sort  or another, viz. (...) "These. . . . consist of changes in punctuation, italics,  quotation marks, capitals, spelling of Sanskrit words,  omission of the important diacritical marks over the vowels,  and OTHERS. This averages one change to every three or
four lines." 

As you know, editorial mistakes are common. If you work with volunteer, untrained people, risks rise.  I have NOT checked this critical examination of this "Theosophy Co."  edition,  and it may be WRONG. 

Yet, I remind you of the fact that in the very first paragraph of "Isis Unveiled" there is a gross proofreading mistake.

Such an important editorial mistake was publiclly identified in a prestigious place of our literature, and explained.  So far, I see no corrections about that. 
This is but a example.  While preparing the Brazilian of the "Mahatma Letters", I identified some 50 editorial  mistakes, some of them serious, in the 
Chronological Edition of the ML (Philippines TPH).  There might be more than those I saw. None of them made on purpose, and Vic Hao Shin's work is just excellent anyway. I am in favour of the Chronological Edition.

Examples could go on for ever, but these are all involuntary mistakes.

Tampering is something different, and tampering I was talking about.

Tampering is changing thing on purpose to suit one's own interests, often unconfessed. 

Nearly all supposed editorial mistakes you talk about referring to Theosophy Company are not tampering.  If they really occurred, they are unvoluntary mistakes, not conscious changes. 

Except, of course, differences in transliteration and the like, of which, by the way, Boris de Zirkoff is also accused in his "Collected Writings",  etc.

I am not questioning the TPH for its editorial mistakes in profreading, wording or transliteration.  I am questioning its tampering with the meaning of the texts. 

Such a tampering was openly discussed by Adyar leaders from all over the world, in the 1960s.  A transcription of such a meeting was published in "The THeosophist" by that time and I wrote about that here in Theos-talk.  My text contains most significant evidences of conscious Tampering in Adyar TS, and FOHAT magazine has just published it.  

N. Sri Ram and Radha Burnier (his daughter) were openly AGAINST such tampering, which was fervently defended by... the Adyar TS in the USA. (Nothing new under the sun.)  Take a look at FOHAT. 

I hope you can see the wide difference between tampering, on one hand,  and making mistakes in proofreading,  or having editorial decisions on transliteration that someone else classifies as "alterations" and "mistakes", 
on the other hand.  


Regards,  Carlos. 


  





De:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com

Para:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com

Cópia:

Data:Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:35:22 -0000

Assunto:Theos-World TAMPERING WITH HPB'S "THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE"??

> Earlier this year, Mr. Carlos Aveline wrote to Betty Bland about
> Adyar's "tampering" with HPB's THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
> 
> Students of HPB's writings interested in the above subject may also
> be interested in the following.
> 
> ---------------------------------------------
> 
> TAMPERING WITH HPB'S "THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE"??
> 
> by Daniel H. Caldwell
> 
> I would like to start this article by quoting
> two excerpts from what the late Dallas TenBroeck wrote several years 
> ago on Theos-Talk about HPB's writings:
> 
> "If accuracy is desired the best way to secure this is to go
> direct to the ORIGINAL (un-edited) text of HPB's
> books and articles."
> 
> "After HPB died several of her students, in time, claimed to be
> able to 'correct' her writings, and proceeded to do this. Also,
> most of her writings . . . were amended and edited without any
> notes to advise readers of the changes made. . . ."
> 
> In 1928, The Theosophy Company of Los Angeles
> issued the following edition of the Voice:
> 
> Author: Blavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna)
> Title: The voice of the silence. . . /
> translated and annotated by H.P.B.
> Published: Los Angeles : Theosophy Co., 1928.
> Description: iv, 110 p. : port. ; 15 cm.
> 
> Unfortunately, there are numerous changes
> between the original 1889 edition of HPB's THE
> VOICE and the Theosophy Company's edition.
> 
> In 1928 in the O.E. LIBRARY CRITIC,
> Dr. H.N. Stokes commented on these changes
> in the Theosophy Company's edition of the VOICE.
> He wrote:
> 
> "There are 665 points of differences, of one sort
> or another, viz.
> 
> In the preface. . . . . . . . 34
> In the text. . . . . . . . . 274
> In the notes. . . . . . . . .357
> 
> "These. . . consist of changes in punctuation, italics,
> quotation marks, capitals, spelling of Sanskrit words,
> omission of the important diacritical marks over the vowels,
> and OTHERS. This averages one change to every three or
> four lines." Caps added.
> 
> When compared to the original 1889 edition, one also finds
> that many of HPB's words have been deleted or modified and
> even new words have been added in this edition published by
> the Theosophy Company.
> 
> Below are examples of some of these changes. Asterisks
> indicate italics.
> 
> On page vii of the original Preface, HPB wrote:
> 
> "The original *Precepts* are engraved on thin
> oblong squares; copies very often on discs."
> 
> The Theosophy Company's edition reads (p. ii):
> 
> "The original *Precepts* are engraved on thin
> oblongs; copies very often on discs."
> 
> Notice the deletion of the word "squares." Also the
> editorial change of "oblong" into "oblongs."
> 
> On p. 73 of the original VOICE, HPB wrote:
> 
> > The "great Master" is the term used by *lanoos* or
> > chelas to indicate one's "Higher Self."
> 
> The Theosophy Company's edition reads (p. 3):
> 
> > The "great Master" is the term used by
> > Lanoos or Chelas to indicate the HIGHER SELF.
> 
> As one can see, there are several changes in this one sentence
> including deleting a word and adding another.
> 
> 
> Again, HPB in the original wrote on pp. 74-75:
> 
> > It stands generally for the 100 years or "age" of Brahma, the
> > duration of a Kalpa or a period of 4,320,000,000 years.
> 
> The Theosophy Company's edition reads (p. 5):
> 
> > It stands generally for the 100 years or "age" of Brahma, the
> > duration of a Maha-Kalpa or a period of
> > 311,040,000,000,000 years.
> 
> The Theosophy Company's edition has apparently "corrected"
> and "improved" HPB's original.
> 
> 
> Again, the 1889 edition, p. 78:
> 
> > These mystic sounds or the melody heard by the ascetic . . . .
> 
> The TC edition changes this to (p. 19):
> 
> > The mystic sounds, or the melody, heard by the ascetic . . . .
> 
> "These" has been changed to "The"
> 
> Is this an "improvement"? Is this a "correction"?
> 
> 
> Again, the original VOICE, p. 87:
> 
> > *Upadya* is a spiritual perceptor, a Guru.
> 
> The TC editions reads (p. 49):
> 
> > *Upadhyaya* is a spiritual preceptor, a Guru.
> 
> Is this another "correction" of HPB's Sanskrit scholarship?
> 
> 
> Once, again, the original VOICE reads on p. 82:
> 
> > Bodhidharma called them in China---from whence
> > the names reached Tibet---the *Tsung-men* (esoteric)
> > and *Kiau-men* (exoteric school).
> 
> The TC edition changes this passage to read: (p. 25)
> 
> > The *Bodhidharma*, Wisdom Religion in China---
> > whence the names reached Tibet---called them the
> > *Tsung-men* (Esoteric) and *Kiau-men* (Exoteric
> > school).
> 
> 
> On pp. x-xi of the original, one finds the following:
> 
> > . . . (*Bhagavatgita II*. 70). . . .
> 
> > . . . (*Bhagavatgita II*. 27). . . .
> 
> The TC edition (p. iv) changes the spelling of this Hindu text and
> deletes the numbers "70" and "27".
> 
> Are these more editorial "corrections"?
> 
> The above examples document that some of HPB's own words
> have been changed as well as deleted. Are these "improvements"
> and/or "corrections"? 
> 
> These changes certainly indicate that the TC version has 
> been "edited."
> 
> Also the spelling of many Sanskrit words has been
> changed in the TC edition when compared with
> the original 1889 edition of the VOICE.
> 
> HPB took great pains to put certain words and phrases in
> italics or caps in the original edition of the VOICE.
> In the 1928 edition of the VOICE, scores of
> changes in italics and caps can be observed.
> Therefore, many serious students of HPB's writings
> have reasonably concluded that these changes marr
> what HPB intentionally and consciously wanted to
> emphasize or convey to readers of that work.
> 
> Furthermore, for some unknown reason the Theosophy Company NEVER
> indicated in the 1928 edition or in any subsequent
> reprints that there were numerous changes and corrections
> made in this edition that were NOT in Madame Blavatsky's
> original. Hence, whole generations of ULT students and other
> readers of this edition were totally unaware that said
> edition was not verbatim with HPB's first edition of 1889.
> 
> See related articles at:
> 
> http://theos-talk.com/archives/200005/tt00022.html
> 
> http://theos-talk.com/archives/200005/tt00024.html
> 
> http://theos-talk.com/archives/200005/tt00075.html
> 
> 
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> 
> Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
> 
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