Theos-Talk Archives (October 2008 Message tt00204)

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