Theos-Talk Archives (December 2006 Message tt00089)

Tillett:  "...too threatening....
would have undermined the public claims...."

Gregory Tillett on the Secrecy of the Dzyan Esoteric School [of the 
ULT]
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


On May 20, 2003, I posted on Theos-Talk the following text concerning 
the secrecy of the Dzyan Esoteric School [of the ULT].  The posting 
was addressed to the historian Gregory Tillett:

=================================================
Gregory, you wrote:

"The DES . . . remains ONE OF THE GREAT SECRETS of Theosophical
history. . . . I hope that its history and teachings will be made
accessible to students of Theosophical history when I complete the
history of secret societies in the Theosophical movement. . . . But
the role of the DES has been even greater than that of the Adyar and
Pt Loma ES groups because it has remained largely 'INVISIBLE'."
caps added.

Several students and I have been engaging in several discussions on
the DES and one question we have is:

WHY has the DES remained such a GREAT SECRET and so INVISIBLE?
What has motivated ULT/DES members to be so secretive and guarded
about even the existence of DES?

In contrast, HPB publicly announced the formation of the E.S.T.S. in
the pages of LUCIFER and LUCIFER, THE PATH and THE THEOSOPHIST in the
late 1880s and 1890s had information from time to time concerning the
E.S.T.S.
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Quoted from: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theos-talk/message/12046

Dr. Tillett replied as follows:

==============================================================
Good question! I can only assume that (i) the ULT placed such
emphasis on there being no organization, no leadership and no
authority within the ULT (not, of course, the case in fact) that the
acknowledgement of an inner group would have been too threatening and
would have undermined the public claims, and (ii) the existence of a
secret group that really was kept secret provided greater status for
the members of it....

...It would be good if all the DES documents could be published
together with a history of this important branch (if we can call it
that) of the ES tradition within the TS. I have had some interesting
conversations with ULT "important people" about the DES ....
no-one has ever denied its existence, but nor have they admitted it.
Rather like talking with Adyar people about the Egyptian Rite, the
details and rituals of which should also be published.
===========================================================
Quoted from: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theos-talk/message/12057

Notice Tillett's significant words:

"...acknowledgement of an inner group would have been TOO THREATENING 
and would have UNDERMINED THE PUBLIC CLAIMS...."  caps added.

Maybe now in 2006 Gregory could give us more of his thinking about 
this significant statement that he made in 2003.

Daniel
http://hpb.cc