Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl00979)

Alexis> I am afraid Eldon that this particular concept is a very negative
one and
        may, indeed, have borne deadly fruit. While I do not believe it to be
        accurate, there are many authors (Lewis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier
being
        only a pair out of many) who believe that Hitler got his racial theories
        from the secret Doctrine. I believe otherwise, and feel that his sources
        were Friedrich Nietzsche and a man named Guido von Liszt who was
probably
        the major philosopher in the German Nationalist Movement. But, were
it so,
        and was it true that it was the Secret Doctrine that influenced at
least von
        Liszt, then the society which claims to use that book as the basis
for its
        "Core Doctrines" bears some Karmic Responsibility for the results of
that
        influence.

There are other guys, like Hans Liebenfels, if I recall his name correctly
who probably *did* misuse the SD and perverted the theory of races.
One who knows more on this subject is Paul K. Johnson, who was (is?) a
subscriber
to this list. He sometimes referred to Goodrick-Clarke's book: 'The occult
roots
of nazism', a book which I still have to buy and read.
Otherwise, I have to agree with your last sentence that the TS's bear some
Karmic
responsibility for the results of this doctrine of races. It might interest you
that HPB realised herself very well that teaching esoteric doctrines is loaded
with karmic responsibilities. She mentions this explicitly somewhere (I think
in her esoteric instructions).
I myself belief that Atlanteans, etc. have existed. Plato mentions briefly
the existence of some island in this respect (in some myth narrated in his
writings).
Yet I don't regard this theory of races as very useful in our current epoch-
too many problems are concerned with it. It may be best to see it as speculation
and maybe take it out of theosophical courses until science (biology,
paleontology, etc.) finds irrefutable evidence to support the idea of
Atlanteans, etc.

On the other hand, the existence of giants once in history *is* mentioned
in many old myths and I have not too great a confidence in the objectivity
of (current) scientists - too many have discarded evidence against so many
theories
especially in the biological/paleontological realm. Discoveries were quickly
destroyed or reburied under the ground in order not to demolish their own
established reputation.
Science is *also* a belief system, not too different from religion.


Martin