Theos-Talk Archives (February 1994 Message tl00056)

Brenda

>p.130 Vol II "Well acquainted as may be a scholar with the
>hieratic writing and hieroglyphical system of the Egyptians, he
>must first of all learn to sift their records.  He has to assure
>himself, compasses and rule in hand, that the picture writing he
>is examining fits, to a line, certain fixed geometrical figures
>which are the hidden keys to such records, before he ventures on
>an interpretation." (If these keys were in use, I would think
>they would have been found ready-made, instead of requiring a
>compasses and ruler.)

     H.P.B. is suggesting here that there are certain geometrical
figures in the hieroglyphics that are keys to the method for
interpreting the writing.  She is not referring to the seven keys
presented in TSD, but to indicators of esoteric interpretation of
the writing.  You will find elsewhere in TSD a discussion
concerning the removal of the keys from the Vedas.  It is the
same kind of thing.  Ask Eldon about the "key words" removed from
Purucker's E.S. writings before there publication.  This may be a
more modern example of the same thing again.  I would be
interested in hearing from anyone who has made a study in the
interpretation of hieroglyphics if they have noted the use of
such "keys."

>There were many thousands of students of theosophy by the time
>the Alice Bailey books began to circulate (60s right?).  Many
>students like Arvind may have sought to attempt HPB's magnum
>opus as a result of reading of it here.  Why take it out?
>1.  AAB talked in riddles.
>2.  The seven keys may change.
>3.  AAB's work is profound.  Could the key be tested by
>examining whether her proposed key serves the function of a key?
>Does it unlock the secrets in THE SECRET DOCTRINE?
>4.  We all live with misprints and misinterpretations.
>5.  p.  517 Vol II "Therefore, we can give it only from its
>philosophical and intellectual planes, unlocked with three keys
>respectively for the last four keys of the seven that throw wide
>open the portals to the mysteries of Nature are in the hands of
>the highest Initiates, and cannot be divulged to the masses at
>large not in this, our century, at any rate." (I believe she's
>talking about the mystery of creation here.)

>Jerry, what does this quote mean? I thought we had all the keys.
>Now it looks like we can only know the key through initiation.

     Regarding "5": She uses the phrase "last four of the seven"
so she is still talking about the same seven keys that she
presents in TSD.  But H.P.B. never claimed to give the last word
on any of the keys, even for the physical.  Certainly the four
higher keys that she mentions here are even a greater mystery.
As for the "mysteries of nature," these mysteries are to be
unlocked using all seven of the keys, not just one or even four.
Same for the mysteries of creation.  Therefore, we have all seven
keys as H.P.B. presents them in TSD, but she doesn't tell us
everything about them.  She leaves much for us to discover for
ourselves.

     Regarding "3": Whether or not AAB's "psychological key"
"serves the function of a key," is one of the things I hope we
will discover.

Jerry Hejka-Ekins