Theos-Talk Archives (April 2011 Message tt00027)

I personally feel that making Pelletier's book as a pdf file free on the
Internet will go a long way to help those interested to understand the
various details of the case. Always reading the material first hand is very
useful and helpful. Converting it to a pdf file is easy.I can do it if a
complimentary copy is provided. All that needs to be done is the cut off the
binding and feed it to a fast scanner and you get a searchable pdf file. The
book is too pricey for most theosophists.

In the current situation, I think everyone writing to Pelletier will help
him to decide about a free pdf file. Of course anyone  who can afford to buy
hard copy and adorn their book shelves will do it any way.

Any one wants to join on this project to get a pdf file published?????

MKR


On Sat, Apr 2, 2011 at 1:54 PM, Govert Schuller <schuller@OCo7rKeCiLFWL3RWnnhAGhFAkiW_-RhcZJrkJz8oGNArh7gceG3lxIrI5v_zcWAhkXzA0iJv9Y_3l74.yahoo.invalid>wrote:

>
>
> Dear all,
>
> Leslie Price should be commended for laying out the issue in a clear and
> even-handed manner in his article "Call to Reopen Judge Case".
>
> What caught my eye is the following, imo, very important paragraph:
>
>
> "However, I would not want to single out Adyar in this situation. It is but
> one of a number of relevant Theosophical archives. In the pro-Judge TS
> Pasadena may be found letters of Olcott and Besant to Judge, the diaries of
> Judge, and the letters of the Mahatmas to Judge which featured in the Case.
> Someone might suggest the TS Pasadena was suppressing evidence of Judge's
> guilt."
>
> Probably most Theosophists either don't know about the Judge Case or are
> indifferent about it, or leave it alone because it is so complex, but for
> some it's a very important issue. Personnally I'm interested, but not to the
> extent to purchase the $95 book The Judge Case - A Conspiracy Which Ruined
> the Theosophical Cause by Pelletier and go through its 984 pages. Katinka
> Hesselink did and came to the following conclusions in her review of the
> book:
>
> "Was W.Q. Judge conspired against? Did Annie Besant become magnetized to
> trust in Brahmin-hinduism too much? Did Olcott lose touch with the Mahatmas?
> I don't know. Unfortunately The Judge Case ignores much of the material that
> has been gathered in the magazine Theosophical History over the years,
> making it necessary for the present reviewer to look them up personally. The
> letter by Blavatsky, the article by Spierenburg and the testimony of
> Wachtmeister taken together pull the rug under most of Pelletier's thesis
> and minor points. I have only gone into the main issues here. The result of
> the Judge case was in all events the split up of the Theosophical Society
> and with that starting point, the movement shattered ultimately into far
> more fragments. Whatever his mistakes, the literature Judge produced stands
> as a monument to his theosophical insight even now. As this case is still a
> dividing point between the various theosophical groups, it is unfortunate
> that a more impartial hearing wasn't produced. Still, TJC pulls together
> pieces of evidence and details from Judge's life that have been hard to find
> otherwise. The serious student of theosophical history can't do without this
> book."
> http://blavatskyarchives.com/judgecasereviewbykatinka.htm
>
> Given all of the above and Price's observation that both Ernest Pelletier,
> who compiled The Judge Case, and Carlos Aveline, who wrote the open letter
> "A Call to Action" to Adyar, could be considered "hostile" critics of Adyar,
> I think the move towards resolution and reconciliation of and around the
> Judge Case might be helped by the following actions:
>
> 1) A new, truly neutral letter with the request to open any and all
> relevant archives should be composed. Mr. Aveline's letter already takes the
> position that Judge was innocent and Besant guilty and basically demands
> Adyar to admit that.
>  http://www.theosophycanada.com/fohat_justice.htm
>
> 2) The letter should be addressed to all the relevant archives and
> organizations.
>
> 3) The "Justice for Judge" initiative at the Edmonton Theosophical Society
> could be structured as a committee with representatives of the different
> organizations, preferrably scholars, and chaired by a neutral scholar like
> James Santucci, the editor of Theosophical History, in which findings and
> documents could be published.
>
> Don't know if this helps, but it makes sense to me.
>
> Govert Schuller
>
> cc: carlosaveline@-BW_e-DXL0HcKH6KMUpt2jiHm4mm8WUstBgIdisU-3KdnYKW9ekZ_zzieCfyNTs0sWnTVAilJDnsu-j1dPzYZB9t.yahoo.invalid
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: jdmsoares
> To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 9:17 AM
> Subject: theos-talk Re: Justice to Judge in 2011
>
> Dear Erica, MKR, friends,
>
> Thanks Erica. You are right.
>
> For those who haven't read yet I will take the liberty to share here
> an important text by Leslie Price, entitled "Call to Reopen Judge
> Case".
>
> Best regards,
>
> Joaquim
>
> 0000000000000000000000000
> Call To Reopen Judge Case
>
> Notes by the Way
>
> Leslie Price
>
> 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Reproduced from PSYPIONEER
> bulletin,Volume 2, No 4; April 2006, pp. 91-92. Mr.Leslie Price is a
> well-known British historianof the Theosophical Movement. In the
> 1980s, hefounded the magazine "Theosophical History".
> 00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
> Let's summarise, and then comment on a recent Theosophical development.
>
> A Brazilian Theosophist has called on the Adyar-based Theosophical
> Society to reopen the case of one of its founders, later its American
> leader, William Quan Judge (1851-1896). In 1894, Judge was accused of
> misusing the name of and handwriting of the Mahatmas, the advanced men
> believed to have inspired the formation of the Society. This led to a
> schism among Theosophists which persists to this day. The United Lodge
> of Theosophists, the T.S. Pasadena, and the independent Edmonton
> Theosophical Society (Alberta, Canada) are among groups supporting
> Judge.
> In a letter published in the Edmonton journal Fohat (Spring 2006) Carlos
> Cardoso Aveline suggests that "independent students could write
> annual, open letters to the Adyar Theosophical Society asking it to
> re-examine its 'process' moved against William Q. Judge in 1894-5 and
> suggesting that its leaders should either show proofs of his guilt or
> declare him innocent of any charges whatsoever." This letter also
> appears on the Edmonton web site
> http://www.theosophycanada.com/fohat_justice.htm
> <http://www.theosophycanada.com/fohat_justice.htm> In June 2004 the
> Edmonton Society published a 1000 page book "The Judge Case: a
> conspiracy which ruined the Theosophical Cause" by Ernest Pelletier
> which printed much relevant documentation. However in an Addendum to the
> "Supplement" to this book, Pelletier charged that the Adyar
> Society was withholding relevant documentation, in order to preserve the
> impression that Judge was guilty.In his letter, Aveline draws attention
> to the 1885 case of H.P.Blavatsky who was also accused as a fraud - in
> this case by the SPR. In April 1986, however, the SPR (which has no
> collective views) published in its Journal a paper by a senior member,
> Dr Vernon Harrison, which was highly critical of the previous findings.
> An SPR press release made Dr Harrison's new investigation widely known.
> 0000000 Now, does the Blavatsky /SPR case offer lessons for the Judge
> Case? I believe it does. The SPR had been asked to make available its
> surviving documentation about the Blavatsky investigation by Walter
> Carrithers ( pseudonym Adlai Waterman ) and it did so about 1960.
> Carrithers could be regarded as a hostile critic, in much the same way
> as Aveline or Pelletier could be regarded as hostile, but the material
> was made available anyway, and it circulated in photocopied or microfilm
> form among theosophical historians, before bearing fruit. (It revealed,
> incidentally, that Blavatsky had produced bell phenomena in the presence
> of members of the investigating committee, but this had been deleted at
> proof stage of a report. The written decision to delete had survived.)
> 91 Later the SPR, after putting Dr Harrison's paper through its normal
> review procedure, published it and publicised it. Not all members of the
> SPR agreed with Dr Harrison, just as not all agreed with the original
> Blavatsky report. But the sting of the mutual antipathy which had
> sometimes characterised SPR/TS relations since 1885 was drawn. Does the
> TS Adyar have any documents which would assist the defenders, or for
> that matter, the critics, of Judge? In the same issue of Fohat,
> Pelletier points to at least one relevant letter (Judge to Khandalavala
> Sept. 17 1884) of which he has a photocopy, but which he suspects may
> have been tampered with in the original. And he has been told by Adyar
> people of other relevant material at Adyar. Any new material could be
> published in a suitable place, like the quarterly journal
> "Theosophical History." In due course, "The Theosophist"
> (Adyar's main journal) could carry one of more articles by senior
> Theosophists of various views and organisations, drawing lessons from
> the case, in the light of what we now know. This might go some way to
> healing the wounds of the schism. However, I would not want to single
> out Adyar in this situation. It is but one of a number of relevant
> Theosophical archives. In the pro-Judge TS Pasadena may be found letters
> of Olcott and Besant to Judge, the diaries of Judge, and the letters of
> the Mahatmas to Judge which featured in the Case. Someone might suggest
> the TS Pasadena was suppressing evidence of Judge's guilt. In fact all
> archives, by preserving documentation, are performing a vital service.
> It would be useful now to move beyond charges and for all parties to
> work together to get all relevant documentation into the scholarly
> domain. Beyond this Case, Judge was not only a profound Theosophical
> thinker, whose writings merit study, but also a witness to a variety of
> HPB phenomena - and a severe critic of the American psychic scene of his
> time. LESLIE PRICE
>
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>
>  
>


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