PREFACE.

The task of preparing this volume for the press has been difficult and anxious, and it is necessary to state clearly what has been done. The papers given to me by H. P. B. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophy. were completely unarranged and had no obvious order. I have, therefore, taken each paper as a separate section and have arranged them as sequentially as possible. With the exception of correcting grammatical errors and removing expressions that were not natural to the English language, the papers remain as H. P. B. left them, unless otherwise noted. In a few cases, I have filled in a gap, but any such addition is enclosed within square brackets to distinguish it from the original text.

In "The Mystery of Buddha," a further difficulty arose; some of the sections had been written four or five times, with each version containing sentences absent from the others. I have pieced these versions together, taking the most complete one as a basis and inserting everything added in the other versions. It is, however, with some hesitation that I have included these sections in the Secret Doctrine. Along with some highly suggestive thoughts, they contain numerous factual errors and many statements based on exoteric exoteric Public or popular, as opposed to secret or hidden. writings rather than esoteric esoteric Hidden, inner, or secret knowledge. knowledge. They were given into my hands to publish as part of the third volume of the Secret Doctrine, and I therefore do not feel justified in coming between the author and the public—either by altering the statements to make them consistent with fact or by suppressing the sections entirely. She indicates that she is acting entirely on her own authority, and it will be...