How, in the 1890s, the Adyar
Society
Adopted an Illegitimate Editorial
Policy
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
.BMP)
Part of the authentic SD
Manuscript, with HPB's handwriting.
[Source: Pasadena Theosophical Society.]
“Theosophy
has to fight intolerance, prejudice,
ignorance,
and selfishness, hidden under the mantle
of
hypocrisy. (.....) Theosophy (.....) has
to tell the
TRUTH
to the very face of LIE; to beard the tiger in
its
den, without thought or fear of evil consequences,
and
to set at defiance calumny and threats.”
(A
Master of Wisdom) [1]
Taking
into consideration all literature now available which has been produced in the
last two or three thousand years, “The Secret Doctrine” stands as a true
masterpiece of esoteric philosophy.
It was in London
“The third volume is entirely ready; the fourth almost so.” [2]
In a later part of the book, H.P.B. added strength to this announcement. She said:
“In Volume III of this work (the said volume and the IVth being almost
ready) a brief history of all the great adepts known to the ancients and the
moderns in their chronological order will be given (.....). This could not find room in the present work.
Volume IV will be almost entirely devoted to Occult teachings.” (Vol. II, p. 437)
Dr. Archibald Keightley - who helped H.P.B. finish the originals of the first two volumes - had this to say in 1889:
“The third volume of ‘The Secret Doctrine’ is in manuscript ready to be
given to the printers. It will consist mainly of a series of sketches of the
great occultists of all ages, and is a most wonderful and fascinating work. The
fourth volume, which is to be largely hints on the subject of practical
occultism, has been outlined, but not yet written. It will demonstrate what
occultism really is ...” [3]
Based on this safe information, many students thought at the time that the
publication of a four-volume “The Secret Doctrine” (SD) would be certainly completed
in the near future. Few among them paid real
attention to the closing lines of the second volume. In that final paragraph the
“Old Lady” announced that the actual publication of volumes III and IV
would “entirely depend” on the reception given to volume I and volume II by
Theosophists and Mystics. She closed the
SD with a rather mysterious statement:
“These two volumes only constitute the work of a pioneer who has forced
his way into the well-nigh impenetrable jungle of the virgin forests of the
Land of the Occult. A commencement has been made to fell and uproot the deadly
upas tree of superstition, prejudice, and conceited ignorance, so that these
two volumes should form for the student a fitting prelude for Volumes III and
IV.”
At this point we see the final warning:
“Until the rubbish of the ages is cleared away from the minds of the
Theosophists to whom these volumes are dedicated, it is impossible that the
more practical teaching contained in the Third Volume should be understood.
Consequently, it entirely depends upon the reception with which Volumes I and
II will meet at the hands of Theosophists and Mystics, whether these last two volumes will ever be published, though
they are almost completed. Satyât
Nâsti paro dharmah. THERE IS NO
RELIGION HIGHER THAN TRUTH.” [4]
Such a warning was already present, though almost imperceptible, in H.P.B.’s Preface to the first volume, where
she had written:
“Should the present volumes meet with a favourable reception, no effort
will be spared to carry out the scheme of the work in its entirety.” (Vol. I, p. VII)
It seems the reception of the SD was not favourable
enough, for volumes III and IV never appeared. Unfortunately, this was not
all. A few years after H.P.B.’s death, two facts took place which were far worse
than the disappearance of volumes III
and IV. First, the existing work was
adulterated. After that, a third volume was illegitimately published by Adyar
leaders.
Referring to the editorial policy followed by the Adyar Society, the Publishers’ Preface to the SD 1947 facsimile
edition - published by the Theosophy Co.-
makes the following description of the
whole process in subsequent decades:
“Besides the original edition of 1888 - the only one authorized by
Madame Blavatsky - several other editions of this work have appeared. One of
these, the so-called ‘Third and Revised Edition’ of 1893, is marred by many
thousands of alterations, some of them trivial, some actual mutilations of the
original text. Included in later printings of this so-called ‘Revised Edition’
is a spurious ‘Third Volume’ of THE SECRET DOCTRINE, issued in 1897, six years
after the death of H.P. Blavatsky. Compiled from miscellaneous papers found
among her effects, this volume forms no part of the original SECRET DOCTRINE
written by H.P.B.”
And the Preface goes on:
“The ‘Third and Revised Edition’ was followed by another in 1938, this
time in six volumes, called the
‘Adyar Edition’. Except for additional indexes, a biographical sketch of the
author, various typographical changes, and the inclusion of material attempting
to justify publication of the spurious ‘third volume’, this Adyar edition is
substantially the same as the earlier ‘revised’ version.” [5]
As time passed, such a view of Annie Besant’s version of the SD has been
almost unanimously accepted in the theosophical movement as a whole.
Mrs. Alice Cleather, a member of the “Inner Group” of esoteric students
in London during the last years of H.P.B.’s life, wrote a first-hand
testimony. After mentioning that Annie
Besant claimed to have been in charge of “safeguarding” H.P.B’s texts for the
third volume, Alice Cleather added:
“Those who were responsible for the so-called Volume III, had a strange
and unusual conception of the meaning of the word ‘safeguarding’. It so happens
that while it was being set up I was able actually to peruse one or two of the familiar long foolscap sheets which
H.P.B. always covered with her small fine handwriting. They were mutilated almost beyond recognition, few of her sentences remaining
intact ; and there were ‘corrections’
not only in the handwritings of the editors, Mrs. Besant and Mr. [G.R.S.] Mead,
but also in that of others which I was able to identify. More than this I
cannot say without abusing confidence; but the wrong done to my Teacher compels me to say this
much.” [6]
Acknowledging the illegitimacy of Besant’s SD has become a matter of
common sense for nearly everyone in the esoteric movement. Boris de Zirkoff, the compiler of H. P. Blavatsky’s “Collected
Writings” - which were published by Adyar T.P.H. itself - , wrote this, referring
to H.P.B.:
“The real Volume III having
vanished without a trace, her
explanations of such methods [of
ancient divination] have never appeared in print.” [7]
The “volume III” unwisely published
by Annie Besant is examined in a thorough way by Boris de Zirkoff in his
introduction to the Volume XIV of HPB’s “Collected Writings”.
Geoffrey Barborka, another
significant researcher and author of the 20th century, wrote this in a book
also published by Adyar Society:
“Along with a revision of The Secret Doctrine (which became known
as the Third and Revised Edition), was added an additional volume which was
entitled Volume III of The Secret
Doctrine. This was published posthumously in London in 1897 with a preface
written by Annie Besant. It should be understood, however, that this volume is
not the third volume contemplated by
H.P.B.” [8]
Not all of the movement adhered to Annie Besant’s pattern of editorial
procedures. But it took some time for the truth to be better known. The first
facsimile edition of “The Secret
Doctrine” was published in 1925 by associates of the United Lodge of Theosophists
(U.L.T.). It started the general trend to restore respect for the authentic 1888 edition. Later on, a
similar edition was published by the Point Loma / Pasadena Theosophical
Society.
The Publishers’
Preface in the 1947 Theosophy Co. (U.L.T.) edition said:
“The genuine SECRET DOCTRINE has only two volumes. While, as originally written, THE SECRET
DOCTRINE was to be published in four volumes, only two volumes were given to
the printer by H.P.B. The remaining two
volumes, although complete, or nearly complete, were withheld by her for
reasons indicated at the close of the second volume of the original edition (II,
p.798).” [9]
Those reasons are expressed in the fact that the “reception” of the
first two volumes was not good enough. Time showed the evaluation was correct, for
now the two volumes were even being tampered with. Yet - sooner or later -
truth always prevails, and in the late 1970s, the very Adyar Society
finally decided to abandon Besant’s edition of the SD.
It adopted then a legitimate edition of the work, prepared by Boris de
Zirkoff and published by the T.P.H. in
1979. It was, at last, an implicit yet clear
confession that Annie Besant had tampered with the main written work of H.P.
Blavatsky, and that the Besant edition
of “The Secret Doctrine” was worse than useless.
The view expressed by Theosophy
Company with regard to Annie Besant’s so-called “third volume” of the SD is essentially the same as the view of
every HPB student. Since the 1970s, as long as we know, no Theosophical group
and no Publishing House re-edits or works with the third volume of Annie Besant
in English language. [10]
The Pasadena Theosophical
Society, the Point Loma Societies, the United Lodge of Theosophists, the Edmonton
Theosophical Society and more recently even the Adyar Theosophical Society - all
use and promote but the original text of the SD. This is, no doubt, a step
forward on the part of Adyar, which is
still the biggest theosophical organization in the world. It is also a success story. Yet the same
disastrous editorial policy created by Annie Besant has gone on, in a way, and has
been emerging again and again in different occasions, under one form or
another.
During the 21st century, it is the duty
of earnest theosophists to TRY and help face the problem in a more effective
way.
Karma Law has not been
cancelled. It
is still operating, and as long as Adyar uses the name “Theosophy” and keeps
portraits of H.P.B. in its walls, it must show respect for truth - and for the
founder of the movement.
NOTES:
[1] “Some Words on
Daily Life”, by a Master of Wisdom. The text was first published by H.P.
Blavatsky in her “Lucifer” magazine, London, volume I, January 1888, pp.
344-346. See p. 345. The term “Lucifer” is an ancient, pre-Christian word
meaning “Light-Bearer”. It designates the Star of the Morning, planet Venus.
The word was distorted by Christian medieval theologians.
[2] “The Secret
Doctrine”, Helena P. Blavatsky, Theosophy Co., Los Angeles, 1982, volume I,
Preface, p. VII.
[3] Archibald
Keightley’s statements are in an interview given to the New York “Times” and
reproduced by “The Theosophist”, Adyar, India, in July 1889, almost two years
before H.P.B.’s death. It was later published by THEOSOPHY magazine, Los
Angeles, August 1950, pp. 436-444. It is
from THEOSOPHY magazine that I quote these words. See especially p. 439.
[4] “The Secret
Doctrine”, Theosophy Co., volume II, pp. 797-798.
[5] “The Secret
Doctrine”, Theosophy Co., volume I, first page of the Publishers’ Preface.
[6] “H.P. Blavatsky, a
Great Betrayal”, by Alice Leighton Cleather, Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1922, republished under the auspices of the H.P.B. Lending
Library, c/o M. Freeman, Canada, 96 pp., see p. 75.
[7] “The Collected
Writings of H.P. Blavatsky”, T.P.H., volume VII, p. 226, footnote.
[8] “H.P.B., Tibet and
Tulku”, Geoffrey A. Barborka, T.P.H.,
Adyar, first edition, 1966, third reprint, 1986, 476 pp., see p. 159.
[9] “The Secret
Doctrine”, Helena P. Blavatsky, Theosophy Co., volume I, second page of
Publishers’ Preface.
[10] As the present text
is revised in March 2013, the complete original edition of the SD is still not
available in Spanish or Portuguese languages; yet an ongoing translation into
Portuguese can be found already at www.FilosofiaEsoterica.com
.
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