Everything about The Book Of Dzyan totally explained
The
Book of Dzyan (comprising the
Stanzas of Dzyan) is a reputedly ancient text of
Tibetan origin. The
Stanzas formed the basis for
The Secret Doctrine, one of the foundational works of the
theosophical movement, by Helena Petrovna
Blavatsky in 1875.
Madame Blavatsky's claims regarding the Book of Dzyan
Madame Blavatsky claimed to have seen a manuscript of the
Book of Dzyan while studying
esoteric lore in Tibet. She claimed this and other ancient manuscripts were safeguarded from profane eyes by the initiates of the
Great White Brotherhood. The work had originally, according to Blavatsky, been written in the sacred language of
Senzar. She wrote
» This first instalment of the esoteric doctrines is based upon Stanzas, which are the records of a people unknown to ethnology; it's claimed that they're written in a tongue absent from the nomenclature of languages and dialects with which philology is acquainted; they're said to emanate from a source (Occultism) repudiated by science; and, finally, they're offered through an agency, incessantly discredited before the world by all those who hate unwelcome truths, or have some special hobby of their own to defend. Therefore, the rejection of these teachings may be expected, and must be accepted beforehand. No one styling himself a "scholar," in whatever department of exact science, will be permitted to regard these teachings seriously.
It should therefore come as no surprise that
Max Müller and others have been skeptical. Max Müller is reported to have said that in this matter she was either a remarkable forger or that she's made the most valuable gift to archeological research in the Orient.
The Book of Dzyan and the Kalachakra Tantra
In other references Blavatsky claimed the
Book of Dzyan belonged to a group of Tibetan esoteric writings known as the
Books of Kiu-Te. Blavatsky wrote before a standard transcription of Tibetan into the Latin alphabet had been agreed upon; it took some time to establish that she was referring to what modern scholars write as
rGyud-sde, parts of a voluminous Buddhist corpus commonly referred to as the
Kalachakra Tantra. Other researchers have suggested a source in Chinese
taoism or Jewish
kabbala.
The Stanzas of Dzyan in the works of Alice A. Bailey
Further verses from "The Stanzas of Dzyan" were published by
Alice Bailey in "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire" in 1925. Bailey claimed these verses had been dictated to her telepathically by the Tibetan Master
Djwal Kul.
Criticism regarding the sources of the Stanzas of Dzyan
In her biography
H.P.B.: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky,
Sylvia Cranston tackles the claim of plagiarism that was leveled by
William Edward Coleman (discussed in the paragraph below) . Her view, like Coleman's, is that HPB's "plagiarism" appears to consist mainly of quoting primary sources without acknowledging the secondary sources from which they came.
When
The Secret Doctrine appeared, William Edward Coleman of
San Francisco “outraged by Madame Blavatksy’s pretensions of
Oriental learning, undertook a complete exegesis of her works. He showed that her main sources were H.H. Wilson’s translations of the
Vishnu Purana;
Alexander Winchell’s
World Life: or, Contemporary Geology;
Ignatius Donnely’s
Atlantis; and other contemporary scientific and occult works, plagiarized without credit and used in a blundering manner that showed but skin-deep acquaintance with the subjects under discussion. She cribbed at least part of her Stanzas of Dzyan from the
Hymn of Creation in the old Sanskrit
Rig-Veda, as a comparison of the two compositions will readily show. Coleman promised a book that would expose all of H.P.B.’s sources including that of the word
Dzyan.”
Cranston states that a research assistant of hers took on the task of finding Coleman's alleged 70 passages that HPB plagiarized from
World-Life, and could only find 6. Coleman himself, far from being an authority on
occult material, was a clerk in the
Quartermaster Department of the
US Army. He was likely not an impartial judge, having written to Coues on July 8, 1890, "I emphatically denounced and ridiculed the theory of occultism, of elementary spirits, etc., before the Theosophical Society was organized [in1875], and from that time to this I've strenuously opposed Theosophy all the time." Coleman promised to publish a book that would "prove" his charges against Blavatsky regarding the
Book of Dzyan; this book and its proof never appeared. The reason Coleman's book never appeared is that “Coleman lost his library and his notes in the
1906 San Francisco earthquake and died three years later, his book unwritten”.
Seminal
Ufologist
Desmond Leslie theorized the
Book of Dzyan had originally been produced on the lost continent of
Atlantis. Swiss author
Erich von Däniken claimed to have explored some of the book's content and its alleged history, reporting unsourced rumours that the first version of the book predates
Earth, and that chosen people who simply touch the book will receive visions of what it describes. .
Stanzas of Dzyan in popular culture
Further Information
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