The Secret Doctrine Commentaries Reviewed

Katinka Hesselink reviews The Secret Doctrine Commentaries:

Blavatsky had her own Secret Doctrine study-group in London in 1889. They discussed her Magnum Opus pretty much as we do today. With tangents, questions, and lots of discussion of terminology. This book is the best record we have of that and it is simply fun to read. For me it brings back the fascination I had with theosophy 15 years ago when I first picked up The Secret Doctrine.

From the perspective of theosophical history this is an important work as well. It shows the limitations of the previously published “Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge.” That book was much more edited than this one is. In this one we get a feel for Blavatsky the human being: funny, not all-knowing, yet deeply profound. Like one would expect from Michael Gomes, this book has a good historical introduction, footnotes to clarify the conversation and a copious index.

The rest of her review can be read here. As usual there are a few theosophists, self-appointed nags, who gripe that the book was not published according to their liking or wishes, that it should have been done this way or that way, not dealing with the reality of what is. Greeted in this way it is no wonder that they have not received any new material over the years.