Theos-Talk Archives (November 1999 Message tl00120)

Rich Taylor writes in the rough draft of his dissertation on Blavatsky an=
d
Buddhism:

"I merely state here the objective fact that Blavatsky's writings contain
the words and ideas of other Western writers, unacknowledged, and that th=
ese
appropriations sometimes are made to appear as emanating from a hidden or
occult source like Tibetan Buddhist Tantras."   See
http://www.blavatsky.net/forum/taylor/tibetanSources10.htm

One should be aware that Rich's contention of "appropriation" is in GLARI=
NG
contrast to what Anita Atkins (Sylvia Cranston) and Michael Gomes have
publicly stated in their biographical writings on Blavatsky.  See Rich's
dissertation for his detailed documentation.

Earlier in the same section, Rich gives more details:

"HPB has altered Schlagintweit's text [in his THE BUDDHISM OF TIBET]
especially the correspondences in the three realms-but there is no questi=
on
that overall she has lifted this passage from his book originally. Nota b=
ene
Blavatsky's footnote, where she claims to be giving out statements from t=
he
secret portions of the K=E5lachakra Tantra. However, HPB's statements are
merely rephrasings of Schlagintweit, taken from his chapter on K=E5lachak=
ra,
where he gives the Tibetan translation Dus Kyi Khorlo-a technically corre=
ct
and not a phonetic spelling, which as we have seen (at length above) was =
the
habit of HPB. In HPB's ten-page chapter entitled "The Mystery of Buddhism=
,"
which this passage is taken from, Blavatsky does not mention even once
Schlagintweit, his book, or any contemporary Western author except A.P.
Sinnett, her student. For all HPB's unique knowledge of K=E5lachakra Tant=
ra,
as described in the previous section, this appropriation of published wor=
k
(and many others like it) would appear to be quite damaging to her claims=
."

If the unacknoweledged appropriations appear damaging, what appears even
worse is that "these appropriations sometimes are MADE TO APPEAR as
emanating from a hidden or occult source like Tibetan Buddhist Tantras."

Why would Blavatsky attribute appropriated material from Schlagintweit's
book  to a hidden or occult source?

And I believe there is at least one example of this in HPB's translation =
of
the VOICE where she appropriates text from Schlagintweit and makes it app=
ear
to be from a "hidden or occult source"!

How many more examples are there of this kind of which we are absolutely
ignorant????!!!

I'm curious Rich:  Has anyone written to you about any of this after read=
ing
your dissertation on Blavatsky Net?

Daniel