Theos-Talk Archives (May 2009 Message tt00458)

Dear Daniel,

Thanks for the quote.

Jerry Hejka-Ekins wrote:

"So I agree with you that the three theosophical organizations have no dogmas, but
only the Adyar Theosophical Society has no teachings...."

My experience is that the TS Adyar does have teachings to divulge and it's a complex mix of HPB, CWL, AB and K and in many variations. And this is done in a non-dogmatic, mostly non-critical, mostly non-consensual way, though many in the leadership have a preference for K's relative accesible wisdom over HPB's abstruse occultism. 

Govert


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: danielhcaldwell 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 7:28 PM
  Subject: Theos-World Theosophy is undefinable and there are no doctrines??





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

  ---------------------------------------------------------
  ....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....
  ----------------------------------------------------------

  Excerpted from:
  http://theos-l.com/archives/199309/tl00048.html

  Daniel
  http://hpb.cc



  

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]