Theos-Talk Archives (November 2010 Message tt00026)

In a recent comment on the review of 'The Secret Doctrine Commentaries' by
Katinka, a writer in the Blavatsky News Blog states:

âAs usual there are a few theosophists, self-appointed nags, who gripe that
the book was not published according to their liking or wishes, that it
should have been done this way or that way, not dealing with the reality of
what is. Greeted in this way it is no wonder that they have not received any
new material over the years.â

It is very interesting to read the above viewpoint. But facts are facts. You
decide.

1. The book is very pricey for most theosophists who tend to be not rich to
afford to purchase the book. This is especially so with many who are outside
the US and Europe. So putting ourselves in their shoes, the reaction cannot
be anything less critical.

2. Several years ago the originals were discovered. (Several years ago, I
heard through grapevine some grumbling about some theosophical material, but
never for a moment imagined it was HPB material.)  It took years for the
public to see them published. Technology was there, even at the time of
discovery,  to make the documents quickly available as-is to theosophists
around the world. We cannot find any theosophist to have benifitted from the
inordinate delay in making the material public.

Many leaders in decision making positions in theosophical organizations are
quite very old and consequently do not seem to understand modern
digitization technology nor the role Internet plays in speedy and
inexpensive dissemination of information. This may be one of the key reasons
why it took so long for the world to see the material.

3. At the current pricey level, the market for the book is very limited. It
may be years before it breaks even. No one who has the custody of the
originals seems to have any plans to quickly make them available as-is on
the Internet.

Many poor theosophists - there are many around the world - especially
outside the West - would love to access the originals and understand them;
and many do not need any intermediary to help them understand what HPB was
trying to explain.

It is time for those organizational leaders to wake up to the reality of
todayâs world where Internet is a key foundation for quick and inexpensive
dissemination of information. Theosophists should be in the business of
dissemination of information rather than concentrating on print publishing
of books and making the books pricey to purchase by ordinary folks.

If HPB was watching all this, she would be turning in her grave.

MKR

There is no religion higher than Truth


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