Theos-Talk Archives (March 2010 Message tt00055)

Dear friends

My views are:

Yes, I agree.

A book was quoted about H. P. Blavatsky...
A book by Mark Sedgwick published 2004
"and in the case of The Secret Doctrine by two english brothers who took over after Blavatsky original choice of editor had refused the task in dismay on reading her disorganized firt draft."


M. Sufilight says:
I would like to add, to the above that H. P. Blavatsky was to the last involved with going through the Secret Doctrine before it was published. She made great many alterations before it was published. And I still wonder if not the Master also were present nearby. - One should suggest some to reviewers that they only can be recommended to understand the importance of comparative studying between ideologies, religions, mythologies, psychology + allegories and science etc. etc.


>Bertram Keightley, Reminiscences  of H.P.B<
"Then followed a time of still more arduous work. The editing of 
Lucifer, the work on the Secret Doctrine, of which I copied the entire 
first volume and part of the second on a typewriter (only to find it 
useless), the coming of interested callers in numbers and from all parts 
of England and the continent, with the formation of the Blavatsky 
Lodge and its meetings, made a very busy winter. The Secret Doctrine 
began to be printed and in this and in Lucifer Mme. Blavatsky's idiosyn- 
crasy of regarding page-proof as being equivalent to manuscript, led to 
much argument and expense. It was not merely that she would divide 
a page after the type was all locked in the forms and insert a quantity 
of fresh matter, but she would with much care and precision of scissors 
cut out and then paste in a single sentence in an entirely different place. 

page 116

Woe betide the zealous sub-editor who protested on behalf of the printers 
and the provision of funds. "Off with his head" or his metaphysical 
scalp were the orders of the Queen of our wonderland. Nevertheless 
the account for corrections of the Secret Doctrine came to more than the 
original cost of setting up! "
http://www.archive.org/stream/theosophicalquar08theouoft#page/114/mode/2up


A few more words:
A great change has taken place in the later years. Seventy years ago there were two kinds of articles: very, very good and terribly bad. There seemed nothing in-between. Now everything is slapdash and mediocre. Why are so many famous persons in hallowed institutions now so mediocre?

Of course, I'm not hostile to all academics. There are some great thinkers. But I do not believe that it is necessary for us to have 80% blithering idiots in order to get 20% marvelous academics. This ratio depresses me a bit. I think that the good people are unbelievably noble in denying that the rest of them are such hopeless idiots. Privately they agree with you, but they won't rock the boat. For the sake of humanity, somebody has got to rock the boat.

And on top of that we have a number of would-be theosophists of various off-shoot branches, who claim that they so to speak have seen THE Light - and who has turned themselves into selfproclaimed Know-It-All initiates, chelas and what not. 

All of it has of course a lot to do with ordinary ignorance, assumptions, prejudices, beliefs - and sadly also greed, envy, arrogance, pride and even hatred.

Yet, there is also a growing tendency to openness of the Heart and a willingness to listen to others and correct ones silly mistakes.

- - -
I will keep recommending the following book to all beginners at this forum and at other places.
It is an excellent book to start with perhaps together with a few wellwritten biographies of H. P. Blavatsky and the TS.

The Key to Theosophy by H. P. Blavatsky
Dedicated by "H. P. B."
To all her Pupils that They may Learn and Teach
in their turn. "
http://www.phx-ult-lodge.org/aKEY.htm (2nd ed. 1890)
http://www.archive.org/details/totheosophybe00blavkeyrich (1st ed. 1889)




M. Sufilight


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Noel vasco 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 5:02 PM
  Subject: Theos-World Against the modern world: Traditionalism and the secret intellectual history


    
  A book by Mark Sedgwick published 2004

  On page 44: "The spread of Theosophy owed much to the extraordinary success of two books, Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine, (1888). Autorship of both books was attibuted to etereal sources, but both were in fact drafted by Blavatsky and then turned into publishable form by human "ghost" writers -by Olcott in the case of Isis Unveiled, and in the case of The Secret Doctrine by two english brothers who took over after Blavatsky original choice of editor had refused the task in dismay on reading her disorganized firt draft. Both books did in a sense reflect the Theosophical Society´s original intention to search "the books of Hermes and the Vedas", but not in any scientific spirit. Isis Unveiled was extensively plagiarized from a variety of standard works on occultism and hermeticism (143 pages from Samuel Dunlap´s Sod, the son of man, 107 pages from Joseph Ennemoser´s History of Magic, and so on), While The Secret Doctrine drew heavely on
  John Dowson´s Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mithology and Religion and Horace Wilson´s annotated translation of the Vishnu Purana, and other such works. This plagiarism was of a piece with Tuitit Bey Letters to Olcott, as well as with Blavatsky,s claimed association with fictional Tibetan Mahatmas (initiated adepts) of a "Great White Brotherhood" evidently inspired by the novels of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton (...), and with Blavatsky compulsive manufacturing of paranormal fenomena during seances. This fraudulent activities were exposed in 1884...."

  While some of this yahoo group direct intentional attacks on specific targets, forget what they say to defend. Defend theosophy, defend Blavatsky of this un-inform statements...

  Best regards

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