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Re: To Eldon vis a vis CWL

Apr 30, 1996 08:21 PM
by m.k. ramadoss


I did not know that TPH even had an idea of publishing Tillett's book on
CWL. The original  publication was by Routledge, Kegan and Paul and large
number of copies were langushing in half price books stores due to lack
of demand. It would have been a business disaster for TPH to have
considered publishing a book which they may not be able to sell.

	....doss


On Tue, 30 Apr 1996, Eldon B. Tucker wrote:

> Alexis:
>
> >It is clearly impossible to study or
> >discuss theosophy, from any point of view without mentioning certain people.
> >They are part and parcel of the History and as such cannot be ignored. ...
> >it is also impossible to ignore a discussion of CWL
> >(leaving all references to his personal life out) because the history of the
> >Adyar Society post 1895 is inextricably tied up with him His work, and his
> >writings must be open to comparative analysis and commentary. To make him
> >and his work "tabu" because one person is emotionally blocked on the subject
> >makes rational discussion impossible.
>
> I think that Liesel's concern is not that Leadbeater's ideas about Theosophy
> be discussed and reviewed, along with the ideas of other theosophical
> writers and students. Her concern, if I correctly understand it, is that
> however mistaken he may have been at times, he did spend his life in
> service to the theosophical movement, and deserves some respect in that
> regard, even if we might dispute some of his ideas about Theosophy.
>
> People that are happy to read, study, and benefit in some way from his
> writings should be allowed to do so, until they are ready for something
> more. That was my personal experience, having initially read most of his
> books as a teenager, until at an older age, I was introduced to Purucker.
>
> A positive way to encourage people to broaden their reading is to continue
> to offer useful insights and ideas from the books and sources that we
> admire. People that come to appreciate what we say will be attracted to
> read and study them. Those not interested, happy with what they've got,
> should be allowed to remain just that: happy with that they've got.
>
> >As Jerry Hejka-Ekins commented
> >recently:"Gregory Tillett's book, "Elder Brother"  has completely
> >discredited CWL and as a result the theosophical Publishing House is
> >"drawing back from re-publishing his work"
>
> I was on the Board of Point Loma Publications when the book was remaindered.
> We picked up the remaining stock and became its publisher. The remaining
> inventory is likely in the garage at the home of the Small's in San Diego.
> (It was picked up, by the way, to keep it in print and accessible to scholars,
> and not because Point Loma Publications wanted to get into the business of
> historic works.)
>
> >The Supreme Court of the United
> >States has ruled (quite some time ago) that people in the public eye are
> >"fair game" and no one I can think of was more gladly "in the public eye"
> >than CWL.
>
> Because some people were sensitive to historic discussions, there was a
> thread on theos-l that concluded that they move to theos-roots, where people
> not wishing to read them could simply "unsubscribe", still remaining active
> participants on theos-l.
>
> >It is really impossible to have reasonable discussions if one
> >person out of some 85 gets personally emotional over any negative references
> >to a person who is a vital ingredient in why the T.S. is where it is today.
>
> This should be possible in the right context. In a list where history
> was discussed, history could be discussed. Where comparative Theosophy is
> studied, his version could be contrasted with the other versions.
>
> We should remember, though, that he still has a following, and those
> people are sincere, good people, that won't be led to better things simply
> by having CWL discredited in their eyes. And who he was does not really
> matter for living people, since we no longer either need to refer people
> to him nor warn people to stay away.
>
> TPH is trying, I assume, to continue to make the best of his books by
> purging the most unscientific materials, like the stuff about people living
> on Mars, with canals, etc. The books get a bit smaller with later reprints.
> They apparently still find value in the remaining content, and the books
> remain in print.
>
> >Now, in my own discussions regarding theosophical history, I really need to
> >refer occasionally to the information in "Elder brother", what do you
> >suggest that we do?
>
> The earlier idea was to keep the historic discussions on theos-roots and
> people not wanting to read it could avoid that particular list.
>
> >I avoided mentioning him for the longest time, to avoid
> >irritating Liesel but then I realized that it was stupid on my part to do
> >so. How can we talk at all if certain topics are verboten?
>
> You may know two people. With one person, you can talk about certain things.
> With another, there are entirely different things you can talk about. With
> each person, you know from personal experience that certain topics are not
> productive, that they only elicit anger and should be avoided.
>
> The same is true of meetings, groups, and various mailing lists. There are
> places where certain topics are eagerly engaged in and appreciated. There
> are other places where the same topics are considered awful and enrage everyone!
>
> On 'theos-l' everything has been fair game, meaning that there will always
> be some people happy to read someone's words, and others that are outraged.
> It cannot be avoided. In the case of theosophical history, though, the amount
> of sensitivity seemed to be greater than in other topics, so people were
> going to voluntarily move the threads to 'theos-roots'.
>
> I can appreciate Liesel's reaction to negative comments about Leadbeater,
> since at one point in my life I would have had the same reaction. I had
> and read all of his books, and considered him my best and favorite theosophical
> writer. But then I had gone through his books and was left with the big
> question: "and now what?" And I feel fortunate to have found something to
> fill my need to learn something more.
>
> -- Eldon
>

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