Theos-Talk Archives (April 2005 Message tt00770)

C.W. Leadbeater wrote the following about
HPB's VOICE OF THE SILENCE:

"Even from the superficial and wholly physical 
point of view, The Voice of the Silence is one 
of the most remarkable books in our Theosophical 
literature, whether we consider its contents, 
its style, or the manner of its production; and 
when we look a little deeper and call to our 
aid the power of clairvoyant investigation, our 
admiration is by no means diminished. Not that 
we should make the mistake of regarding it as a 
sacred-scripture, every word of which must 
be accepted without question. It is by no means 
that, for, as we shall presently see, various 
minor errors and misunderstandings have crept 
into it; but anyone who on that account regards 
it as unreliable or carelessly put together will 
be making an even less excusable mistake in the 
opposite direction."

"Madame Blavatsky was always very ready to admit, and even to 
emphasize, the fact that inaccuracies were to be found in all her 
works; and in the early days, when we came across some especially 
improbable statement of hers we not unnaturally laid it reverently 
aside as perhaps one of those inaccuracies. It was surprising in 
what a number of such cases further study showed us that Madame 
Blavatsky was after all correct, so that presently, taught by 
experience, we grew much more wary in this matter, and learnt to 
trust her extraordinarily wide and minute knowledge upon all sorts 
of out-of-the-way subjects. Still there is no reason to suspect a 
hidden meaning in an obvious misprint, as some too credulous 
students have done; and we need not hesitate to admit that our great 
Founder's profound knowledge in occult matters did not prevent her 
from sometimes misspelling a Tibetan word, or even misusing an 
English one."

And yet we find Anand writing:

"H.P. Blavatsky made many mistakes. These mistakes
were made not just in writing on ordinary matters
but also in most important philosophic writings. . . .
sticking to HPB's vague and inaccurate writing will
be great hindrance in understanding Theosophy. . . .
it is NOT possible to recommend for reading EVEN A SINGLE
BOOK by her." caps added.



















--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel H. Caldwell" 
<danielhcaldwell@y...> wrote:
> 
> Leadbeater wrote the following about Madame
> Blavatsky's THE SECRET DOCTRINE:
> 
> "....that great book The Secret Doctrine....there it 
> remains, as a monument which will stand all through 
> the ages. She [Blavatsky]can never, I think, be forgotten while 
> that and her other books remain to speak of her and 
> for her."
> 
> Compare with Anand's comments:
> 
> "H.P. Blavatsky made many mistakes. These mistakes
> were made not just in writing on ordinary matters
> but also in most important philosophic writings. . . .
> sticking to HPB's vague and inaccurate writing will
> be great hindrance in understanding Theosophy. . . .
> it is NOT possible to recommend for reading EVEN A SINGLE
> BOOK by her." caps added.