ADULTERATING THEOSOPHICAL LITERATURE

In 1966, The Leaders of the Adyar Society

Discuss Their Tampering With Their Own Books 

Carlos Cardoso Aveline

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The following article was first published

at “Fohat” magazine, Canada, Fall 2006

edition, at pp. 64, 65, 66 and 71. Original

title: “In 1966,  Adyar  Leaders Openly

Discuss Tampering With Their Own Literature”.

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 Ms. Radha Burnier (right) talks to Ms. Clara

Codd (left) during the 1966 World Congress of the

Adyar Society in Salzburg. Photo reproduced from

“The Theosophist”, Adyar, October 1976 edition, p. 16

Ethical problems involving  the Adyar Theosophical Society and its editorial strategies started in the 1890s, when Annie Besant published her own version of  “The Secret Doctrine”.  Having a historical view of such events helps us put in a wider perspective facts as the recent attempt, made by the TPH-USA,  to include shameful libels against H. P. Blavatsky as part of  the theosophical literature - and to consider them as part of the very writings of H.P.B. 

Editorial mistakes were not always about the founder of the theosophical movement. 

Decades ago,  in a Conference in Austria, leaders from the different national sections of  the Adyar Society openly discussed the editorial policy of changing  the originals of  theosophical books. This time, it was in order to avoid embarrassment and to “adapt”  the books  to the  wishes of changing public opinion.   

As a result of such an editorial strategy, Charles Leadbeater’s astral visits to his imaginary physical plane civilizations in Mars and Mercury disappeared from his books, and many other “updating changes” occurred, some of which were, as we will see, candidly discussed by the Adyar leaders in the 1960s.   

The closed meeting occurred during the  World Congress of the Theosophical Society held in Salzburg, in the summer of 1966 . In July 19 and 20,  General Secretaries (national presidents)  from all over the world and a few invited persons held a conference on “Presentation of Theosophy”.  International  president  N. Sri Ram chaired the meeting. Extracts of the proceedings were published in “The Theosophist” one year later.  Its publication can be interpreted as an act of resistance, if not moderate denunciation.  From reading the published  text, one observes some central facts:

1) There is a general assumption among those present that in the 1960s no one is able to write significant books on Theosophy. 

2) Since no one can write, some members of  the Conference  take for granted that they have the right to tamper with older texts as they please, as long as it is done “for the  good of the cause”. 

3) The main “problem” was that  the books by C.W.L. and A. Besant were getting embarrassingly outdated,  as many statements in them were  already clearly false.

4) The proposition of such an “editing” policy came from members of the Adyar TS in the U.S.A.  

5) From India,  N. Sri Ram and his daughter Radha Burnier  (then India’s Secretary General) clearly  resist the idea.  A fact illustrates this deep difference of views. During the conversation,  N. Sri Ram  ironically asks whether the “text  reformers” intend to  re-write “The Voice of the Silence”, too.  That   absurd suggestion was a joke - yet it was not taken as such, and Sri Ram had to calmly explain to people  that it was “not meant seriously”.

6) The very  publication of the proceedings in “The Theosophist” seems to show that  Mr. Sri Ram,  the international president and editor of the magazine, was not happy with the idea of tampering with the texts. 

Let’s see now a few excerpts  from the proceedings.  By the end of  each quotation, I give the page of the Adyar magazine which is my source. [1]  

N. Sri Ram opens the meeting and makes some general remarks. After that, Mr. Felix Layton (USA) takes the floor.  Among other propositions, Mr. Layton says: “(...) Then there is the question of  improving the appearance of our books and up-dating them, eliminating references to a World-Teacher, etc.”  (p. 214)

Mr. Leslie-Smith, from England, says he generally agrees with Mr. Layton.  But Geoffrey Farthing, from England, points to a fundamental problem in  the theosophical literature:

“Then as regards the particular truths we claim to have, there are some ideas in our literature which present grave contradictions. I do not propose there should be crystallized dogmas.  But as regards the marginal truths,  apart from truths  like Reincarnation and Karma, e.g., the nature of life after death, what was said in the middle period literature contradicts ‘The Mahatma Letters’.”  (p. 215)

“Middle period literature” is, of course,  the literature of Leabeater/Besant.  To that, Mr. Sri Ram reacts with his usual relativism,  and says:

“As for Reincarnation, it may also be considered marginal by some people. Whether it is marginal or central depends on one’s understanding of himself. (…..) Some think Reincarnation and Karma are on the circumference,  some think in the centre. Perhaps they are somewhere in between”. (pp. 215-216) 

A few commentaries.

Sri Ram’s relativism in the above quotation, as he says that Karma Law “may be” unimportant,  is rather far-fetched. In  the opening of the Letter 10, in the Mahatma Letters [2], the Master defines Occultism as the knowledge of the causes by their effects, and of the effects by the study of their causes.  Occultism is therefore the study and knowledge of Karma Law,  as it works in Nature and in Man. 

One reason for such a strained intellectual relativism in Adyar was that Sri Ram was fond of Krishnamurti, and Krishnamurti openly ignored the theosophical teachings on Karma and  Reincarnation, besides rejecting central concepts like Adepthood or Discipleship.  By means of his radical ambiguity, Sri Ram was in fact trying to keep a sort of political harmony. He just wanted to reconcile different views about Theosophy. 

Although such a policy dates to Annie Besant, it was somewhat perfected  in the 1930s  by C. Jinarajadasa, who in 1934 had taken responsibility for the  “inner” or esoteric section of the Adyar Society.  The matter of the  fact is that truthfulness is the only lasting foundation for brotherhood. All  attempts to keep harmony through the use of ethical and political ambiguity must end in hypocrisy,  as History has shown.  

Since the 1930s, there have been three main currents in the Adyar Society:

1) The students  of HPB and the Masters, whose inspiration is in the “classical” period (1875-1891) ;

2) The CWL/Besant ritualistic devotees, who are mainly inspired by the “middle period” (1892-1929) ; and 

3) The followers of Krishnamurti, who gradually gain strength in the later period (from 1929).

Jinarajadasa’s strategy consisted in having respect for these  three currents of thought,  while preserving  the centralized power-structure created by Leadbeater.  That was based in  Leadbeater’s various “clairvoyant” ritualisms - namely Christian messianism, Masonry and pseudo-theurgy,  alongside with his own adapted version of the Esoteric Section created by HPB.

It is in this context that, during the  1966 Salzburg meeting, Geoffrey  Farthing (clearly an HPB student) mentioned the deep contradiction existing  between Leadbeater/Besant literature and the HPB/Masters teachings. 

Not only there was a great difference between the two teachings; but it was Besant/Leadbeater literature which needed urgent changes. HPB students could easily see how deep and lasting was their “classical” literature. Krishnamurti followers in India - the most recent of the three currents of thought -  also  were not worried about changes in literature.  But North-Americans cared much more about Leadbeater and Besant,  and they were in a hurry to have changes in their texts.   

Thinking of the wider public,  Miss Helen Zahara (USA) candidly says: 

“People are going less and less to lectures. Our greatest contact is probably through literature. We should make a concerted effort in relation to having books written in  a contemporary style.  Even while the literature of the past is represented, it could be revised and the dogmatic statements eliminated. Could we have a concerted effort between the Sections to tap writing talent for editing work and improving our literature?  The sales of books are increasing and there is less attendance at meetings.” (p. 216) 

Ms. Zahara seemed to have forgotten a few  facts. Tampering with originals is intellectually dishonest. Each new generation has the right to write its own books,  but it has also the duty to preserve the best books of older generations, and to accept  that bad books deserve oblivion. 

The meeting was getting to the crux of the matter, and N. Sri Ram answers to Helen Zahara:  

“The Theosophical Publishing House in England has just brought out a summary of  The Secret Doctrine. This is along the lines suggested. However, we must take care, in our editing and revising, not to destroy the meaning and beauty of the original. If  The Secret Doctrine were re-written in modern language, the depths would have gone.” (p.216)

A little later, Mr. Felix Layton takes the floor again:

“I agree with Sri Ram about the danger of changing any of our literature.  But I hope this Conference will come to  an agreement or form a competent committee to get something started. There must be something  concrete as a result of this Conference.” (p. 217)

To  this, Sri Ram  firmly  replies: 

“This Conference is not meant to come to any particular agreement to be implemented by all Sections, but to discuss and produce more enlightenment in the minds of those present. It will depend on the Sections what they would implement. We must be clear what kind of revision or ‘up-dating’ we want, so that it does not destroy the spirit of the original  work.” (pp. 217-218)

John Coats, from the European  Federation [3] , says:

“Is it possible for Mr. Layton to suggest some book  on which a person or persons  might start work and produce the sort of result they have in mind? Then that could be submitted to the President and others. We will always have our old books for reference.” (p. 218)

To which Sri Ram  adds a question:  

“The Voice of the Silence ?”   (p. 218)

Mr. Coats takes it seriously and explains:

“No, I mean certain valuable books written fifty years ago, which mention the World Teacher’s coming  and that is not of interest today.” (p. 218)

Sri Ram has to clarify:  

“My suggestion regarding  The Voice of the Silence  was not meant seriously.” (p. 218)

Mrs. Radha Burnier raises an ethical question [4]:

“What is implied by this revising and re-editing? For instance, a book of Dr. Annie Besant revised and printed IN HER NAME  would not be fair to her.” (p. 218)

And Miss Joy Mills  [5]  tries to explain the “practical need” for tampering with the texts:

“ (...) In the United States we use shorter sentences nowadays. Dr. Besant uses long ones. And many references in the old books are no longer applicable.  We could perhaps form an editing Committee to give such books more ‘punch’ in  the modern world.  We must present the eternal in a contemporary setting. It is not intended to change what is magnificent and beautiful, but only to take out contemporary  references of  fifty years ago  [6]  and put in contemporary references of today.” (p. 218)

Mr. Leslie-Smith, from England, then  poses an embarrassing  question:

“Surely if Theosophy is alive in us we should be able to produce our own literature. Could we not,  in groups, produce up-to-date literature suitable for the modern generation, until a great writer appears?” (pp.  218-219)

Mrs. Nairn is now led to a logic conclusion:

“If we begin to tamper with the writings of Dr. Besant and others, we might run the risk of losing valuable literature. We should be able to distill our own wisdom out of these books and re-present it.” ( p. 219)

And Mr. Leslie-Smith adds more fuel to the contradictory dialogue:

“To give a bit of history: About fifteen or twenty years ago a group asked me to take two books of Annie Besant and edit them. I tried to do it. What I did was to leave her words, but perhaps only half of them, just as in An Abridgement of The Secret Doctrine.  I presented it, and later was told that if we do this, we take away the real spirit that Dr. Besant put into this. I am in full sympathy  with Mr. Layton  about new literature, and  group work might be able to produce it.  If so, ONE person must be  responsible  for the final editing. However, one must be careful. A modern version of  ‘Hamlet’ would not be very valuable.” (p. 219)

Professor J. Meyer-Dohm (Germany):

“I feel re-writing old authors is not the right thing, but could we not add an introduction to the works of classical authors, with explanatory remarks?” (pp. 219-220)

Against any obstacles, Mr. Geoffrey Hodson (New Zealand), supports the  North-Americans proposition:

“Our members apparently are in favor of a modernization of such Theosophical literature as needs it. Statements in earlier books which no longer apply or are false should no longer be presented from our book-stalls [7].” (p. 221)  

Mr. James Perkins (international vice-president) tries to come back to reality. He says:

“Re-writing classical works is not necessarily the thing to do. Every student must have the source-material untouched. It would be an error of ignorance to  re-write under the same title and  with  the same name the material originally put there.  If Dr. Besant spoke of a World Teacher, we should keep this in the context of the time when it  was said, the audience  addressed, and the inner urge playing through  her, what it revealed. We should not touch any of this. We can re-write in the sense that we can WRITE books based on original works. This demands creative writing, devotion  to the cause, delicacy, perceptivity, and reference to the source.” (pp. 221-222)

Yet Mr. Geoffrey Hodson insists in the need for taking out any “embarrassing portions”:

“I think what is needed is less re-writing of our valuable earlier literature  than perhaps elision, taking out that which  does not apply.” (p. 222) 

The word  “elision” was certainly an extreme  understatement made by Hodson.  The term  means only  “the omission of a vowel,  a consonant or syllable in pronunciation”, while  Mr. Hodson meant much more than that.  He wanted the omission of all absurds which were already obvious in the Leadbeater/Besant literature,  while preserving all absurds which were still not obvious to the public. 

By now it was about time to end the meeting, and N. Sri Ram tried to get to some conclusions: 

“ (...) There can be no objection to a summary or abridgement of an old work which does not change the language of the  writer  and is not summarized in such a  way as to leave  out material  portions and   give a wrong idea. We can say in the preface that this is an abridgement. That will not be  tampering. What we object to is anything that would change the thought of the writer. There may be in just a few words  a very deep meaning.” (p. 223)    

In the proceedings of the  conversation, one can see the clear difference in editorial views between USA leaders (with some support from England and New Zealand) and  India-based leaders (Sri Ram,  Radha Burnier and  the vice-president James Perkins). 

The same difference materialized again some forty years later with the publication of “The Letters  of H.P. Blavatsky, volume I”  by the USA TPH (2003).  Mr. John Algeo included numerous forged and libellous letters in the volume,  calling them only “doubtful”. Soon after that, Mrs. Radha Burnier  wrote in 2004 a letter to me from India, saying that those  texts are “obviously spurious”. She added that all responsibility over their publication belongs to the USA TPH, as she had not been consulted over the issue.  

Some of the Adyar TS leaders in the USA seem to have a decades-old  historical tendency to act as Sophists, by allowing themselves to  adapt to their own short-term interests whatever they say or publish, and even what others wrote long time before. 

Perhaps they ignore that there is a huge difference between Sophists and Theosophists. Students of the Divine Wisdom are “Philosophers” in the classical sense of the term.  Both theosophists and philosophers  are “Friends of  Truth and Wisdom”. As they challenge Sophistry, they must pay the price for their truthfulness. This is  called “probation path”.   

Paradoxically, the oceanic difference between Sophists and Theosophists is rather difficult to discern, because Sophists act in a disguised way, often combining unconscious self-delusion with the conscious use of intellectual ambiguity.   

In his Dialogues “Protagoras” and “Sophist”,  Plato describes in the most eloquent terms the challenging contrast between Wisdom and Sophistry. These two Dialogues help explain much of the ethical problems the theosophical movement  must face  and solve in the 21st century. 

In “Sophist”,  for instance, Theaetetus says:

“Yet the Sophist has a certain likeness to our minister of purification [id est, the philosopher].”

And a Stranger answers:

“Yes, the same sort of likeness which a wolf, who is the fiercest of animals, has to a dog, who is the gentlest.” [8]            

NOTES:

[1] “The  Theosophist”, Adyar, Madras (Chennai), India, Vol. 88, July  1967, pp. 211-225. The text was published under the title  “The Presentation of Theosophy”.

[2] Letter number 10 in the T.U.P. Edition (Pasadena) and the T.P.H. Adyar edition  of “The Mahatma Letters”. It is  Letter 88 in the Chronological Edition (TPH-Philippines).

[3] John Coats was later to be the international president of the Adyar Society, from 1973 through 1980.

[4] N. Sri Ram’s daughter, Ms. Radha Burnier was elected as the Adyar international president in 1980.

[5] Joy Mills was the international vice-president during John Coats’ term in the presidency (1973-1980).

[6] “Fifty years ago” - that confirms they are talking about Besant and Leadbeater books, not HPB literature. 

[7] Mr. Hodson himself wrote about  human civilizations on the physical plane in Mercury and Mars. In this  he followed the lines of C. W. Leadbeater’s imaginary clairvoyance. G. Hodson also considered himself a clairvoyant.

[8] “Sophist” [231],  in “The Dialogues of Plato”,  Great Books of the Western World,  Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chicago/London/Toronto, 1952,   814 pp., see p. 559.

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