Theos-Talk Archives (March 2007 Message tt00264)

Below is an excerpt from what Jerry Hejka-Ekins wrote
in 1993 on Theos-L:

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....Concerning your statement: "There can be *no* "Doctrine",
since to create a "Doctrine" is to form a Dogma, doomed to
inaccuracies and the ultimate transgression of Truth."  --There are
many relevant quotes showing Blavatsky to say that the Theosophical
Society has no dogmas (save the first object).  An example will be
found in THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY, p. 60, where she writes: "What is
meant by the Society having no tenets or doctrines of its own is,
that no special doctrines or beliefs are OBLIGATORY to its
members..."  But I doubt that you will find a quote by her saying
that there are no doctrines.  In fact, on p. 218 of the same book,
in response to the question of what is the purpose of joining the
Theosophical Society, she answers: "Many are interested in our
doctrines and feel instinctively that they are truer than those of
any dogmatic religion."  So you see, the Theosophical Society of
H.P.S.'s day had doctrines but no dogmas.
     The best treatment of this subject that I have seen was
published in a short editorial by Boris de Zirkoff in THEOSOPHIA,
Spring 1976.  Boris spent fifty years collecting and editing
H.P.B.'s collected writings into the 15 volumes published by T.P.H.
This gave him a unique opportunity to have a much deeper knowledge
of H.P.B.'s writings and the Theosophical Society of her day than
most.  I will be happy to make this article available to anyone
interested.
     I'm well aware of a commonly held position in the Adyar
Theosophical Society (I have been a member of this organization for
30 years) that Theosophy is undefinable and there are no doctrines.
But since H.P.B. expounded on doctrines in her five books and
almost 1000 articles, and identified them as such--a fact easily
confirmable by even a casual reading of her writings, I find that
this position inevitably creates confusion among its membership.
The Pasadena Theosophical Society and U.L.T. (I also hold
membership in these organizations) hold the idea that H.P.B. had
doctrines as a given; and the acceptance of H.P.B.'s doctrines not
being a condition of membership is also a given.  So I agree with
you that the three theosophical organizations have no dogmas, but
only the Adyar Theosophical Society has no teachings....
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Excerpted from:  
http://theos-l.com/archives/199309/tl00048.html

Daniel
http://hpb.cc