Theos-Talk Archives (January 2011 Message tt00150)

Dear MKR and friends

My views are:

MKR wrote:
"Spreading theosophical information should be the top
priority and the publishers should put on theosophical hat when decisions
are made to publish any theosophical book."

M. Sufilight says:
Yes, let us however have the hope that it is not ending with a spread of theosophical dis-information instead of theosophical information!
What do you think?

Blavatsky kept a sharp eye on such a thing. The garbled truth from the Esoteric College in Boston given by Hiram Butler & Co. was rejected on the spot - just like the lack of contrast to Christianity and Christian Churches etc.

Blavatsky wrote:
"Stealing from us our esoteric Sanskrit terms, our facts --- which he disfigures --- and even our motto, âThere is No Religion Higher than Truth,â this self-styled illuminator is sure to prepare thousands of enemies to Theosophy, when those âawakenedâ by him will awaken to the sad truth of having been swindled by this âBrahminâ & Co.  Let all Theosophists be warned in time by the Esotericists.

True knowledge comes slowly and is not easily acquired.  In this attempt the students will be at first confronted by the great difficulties of the discipleâs first steps upon the path of true Occultism.  Even members of the E. S., especially those who crave for magic powers, are not unlikely to grow impatient and to rebel against the apparently slow progress made at first and at the amount of metaphysical and theoretic study required of them.  To such the deceptive promises of quick results and grand achievements, of growth and progress, that are promised by the âEsoteric Collegeâ from day to day (??) will appear most attractive.  But let all such take warning in time and avoid a snare in which they will at least leave the contents of their purses, even if they save their reputations."
.......
"Under these circumstances, it is the duty of all members of the E. S. in America to do their utmost to unmask such movements, for nothing is more dangerous to Esoteric Truth than the garbled and distorted versions disfigured to suit the prejudices and tastes of men in general."
http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/hpbes1extract.htm


Looking back at the theosophical history since 1875 will easily tell the interested Seeker who was the ones among the theosophists to unmodestly claim for themselves to advance fastest into Arhatship or even claiming to have become a Master or a Messiah among known theosophists. And who forgot to mention that they might be very much in error because they were still not all-knowing.




M. Sufilight



  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: MKR 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 5:19 PM
  Subject: Re: theos-talk Re: Comments on reviews of theosophical books


    
  Thanks

  When theosophical books are published in the traditional hard copy print, no
  one should expect it to even breakeven for a long time. In addition to the
  cost of printing the books, there is the continuing cost of keeping up an
  inventory. When you add all this up, it is a losing proposition for a long
  time. So the publishers should realize that the typical book publishing
  business model does not fit into publishing theosophical books.

  The main purpose for which theosophical publishers were established was to
  print books and to provide them to theosophists, and not to make money as a
  business proposition. Spreading theosophical information should be the top
  priority and the publishers should put on theosophical hat when decisions
  are made to publish any theosophical book.

  Current technological trends such as print on demand, ebooks, scanning
  capabilities play a major part in how successful a publishing venture is.
  Looks like the publishers and reviewers are yet to wake up to realities of
  today and unless done quickly, theosophical publishing enterprises may soon
  become so unprofitable that they may shut down at least some parts of the
  enterprise. Wisdom lies is seeing the big writing on the wall and not wait
  like a sitting duck.

  On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 10:05 AM, M. Sufilight <global-theosophy@stofanet.dk
  > wrote:

  >
  >
  > My views are:
  > Copyright violations should of course not be supported.
  > But the attempt to help others by scanned PDF's or similar are important
  > and not all authors need the money they get from their books when they are
  > sold.
  >
  > M. Sufilight
  >
  >
  > ----- Original Message -----
  > From: email2cal
  > To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com <theos-talk%40yahoogroups.com>
  > Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 11:03 AM
  > Subject: theos-talk Re: Comments on reviews of theosophical books
  >
  > Dear Ramadoss,
  >
  > I don't quite understand what feasible alternatives to profit-based
  > book publishing you have in mind. What I understood suggests that
  > your proposal is not a sustainable business model (scanning
  > copyrighted books to PDF files is good for personal use only). And
  > let's not forget that many good spiritual books would not written in
  > the first place if their authors did not hope to make money and make
  > a living.
  >
  > Max
  >
  > --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com <theos-talk%40yahoogroups.com>, MKR
  > <mkr777@...> wrote:
  > >
  > > When browsing the reviews of some of the recent well known theosophical
  > > books like the SD Commentary and Reflections on an Ageless Wisdom (ML to
  > > APS), most of the reviewers have done an excellent job. As we all know
  > these
  > > recent books are pricey for the average ÃâËpoorÃââ theosophist especially
  > in non
  > > Western Countries.
  > >
  > > None of the reviews I have come across about the above books have brought
  > > out the critical issue of making them widely accessible to theosophists
  > > around the world. Today, any book can be instantaneously distributed at
  > no
  > > cost around the world using Internet and it costs nothing to create a pdf
  > > file.
  > >
  > > One wonders if there is no mention about the cost of these books in the
  > > reviews, is it likely that the reviewers are not sensitized to the price
  > and
  > > distribution issues since they do not pay for it and do receive a free
  > > copies.
  > >
  > > Books like the above are almost exclusively read by theosophists and
  > hence
  > > the logic that applies to other books published for general audience is
  > not
  > > at all relevant. Unless the cost issue is addressed quickly, we will see
  > the
  > > same fate as pricy utility software faced in the past as cheap high speed
  > > scanners have changed the technological landscape in the world.
  > >
  > > Godspeed for making books available in pdf files.
  > >
  > > MKR
  > >
  > >
  > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
  > >
  >
  > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
  >
  > 
  >

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