Based on: Old T.S. post from January 3rd, 2004
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Doug Marman
1/3/2004
Response to Usually Skeptical: More Questions to Doug Marman
USUALLY SKEPTIKAL WROTE:
> Dear Doug,
>
> I found your response and Ford's interesting. However, could you answer me
> about your connections to Paul Twitchell, Darwin Gross, Harold Klemp and
> Eckankar? Are you a member of Eckankar now or have you ever been?
>
> Could you also fill me in on how Lane misinterpretated Harold's Astral
> Library story? I don't recall Twitchell ever mentioning an Astral Library.
>
> Thank You,
> Usually Skeptical
I worked at the ECK Office first when it was located in Las Vegas. I started there about one year after Darwin became the Master. He was one of the most humble people back then.
I worked on a number of projects with him and got to know him personally.
I talk about this in my Internet book. One of the projects I took on was to organize Paul's orginal taped talks, which had been abandoned in a loft there. It was a mess. I listened to everyone of Paul's talks at least a dozen times, as I tried to sort out when and where it took place, and to splice them back together into their original form.
I met Harold there in 1973. He left for a year before coming back to work at the ECK Office. He and I became close friends. Neither of us were much interested in the office politics, but loved talking about the spiritual teachings.
I just happened to be there at the office when David Lane was first writing his book, so I could comment firsthand on many things. I also kept a complete set of the ECK publications from the start of ECKANKAR, which I got when I was there, so I could get actual quotes and the facts of the early days.
I have been a member since then, however, I currently hold no position in the organization and wrote my book completely on my own and not trying to represent anyone else but myself and my own understanding.
Years later, when Harold became the Master, he gave me a chance to go through Paul's library and files, after they have been retrieved from Darwin's home. I learned a lot more about Paul there.
Since I joined ECKANKAR, I've had a recurring dream about looking for old writings of Paul, back before ECKANKAR. I talk about the search this led me on in the last chapter of my book.
As for the Astral library dream, this is unfortunate that it has become misunderstood in this way. I cover this in my book as well. I know that some could say that I am just offering another interpretation, but how do I know my interpretation is the correct one? The reason I feel confident is because Harold talked with me about the whole issue of Paul's plagiarism shortly before he had that dream and gave those talks or started writing about it. He was quite straightforward and told me that even though it might be hard to swallow he was discovering a growing list. I know Harold was not happy with what he had learned and felt that Paul had left him a mess to clean up. This is exactly what he says at the end of his Astral Library dream as well.
If you read Harold's actual words, you will see that David Lane is wrong. Harold does not anywhere in his talk say that Paul got his information from the Astral Library, therefore it was not plagiarism. Harold never says that. What Harold does say is that the Astral Library is a source of great wisdom that some of the greatest writers have access to it. It is an inner source of truth about the path. Also, from the information there, Harold could see the sources of all of Paul's books, since it was all in the records there.
The point of this is that you can't fool the records in the Astral Library. It was clear there that Paul had borrowed from other writers. That's the point of Harold's story. That's why he was talking about Paul as a Compiler at the beginning of the talk, and that we need to take him down off the pedestal as a god and see that he was a man. Harold called this the death of an ideal. Harold talks about the stages that people go through in accepting a death in the family - rejecting the idea, then anger, then confusion and doubt, then disillusionment, then acceptance - or something like that. All this was because plagiarism is not the way we want to see Paul. That was all in the same talk, concluding with Harold talking about his dream in the Astral Library where he finally saw Paul.
Here's how Harold ends his talk:
"I'm doing all this research in a soundproof booth so it doesn't disturb the other people who are doing research. As I look over at a table, I see Paul--busy as usual, researching and writing. He looks at me and says, kind of gruffly, "What's that?"
" 'Source manuscripts, ' I say.
" 'For what? ' he asks.
" 'To show where a lot of the ECK writings on earth came from, ' I reply.
" 'Oh, ' he says. 'Well, we'll have to do something about that someday. '
"Then he picks up his notebook and leaves, heading out into the stacks.
"Yeah, I thought to myself, and I know who is going to have to do something about that someday! "
Here is what David Lane said in his book:
Simply put, Klemp has invented a story to cover-up Twitchell's plagiarism so that Eckankar can still get away with publishing "stolen" materials.
In fact, the point Harold was making was the exact opposite. Harold was breaking the news to ECKists that Paul borrowed and copied. That was the very thing he was studying in his dream.
David Lane challenged me on my interpretation, and we had some long dialogues about it. The whole of Harold's talk makes sense if you see it as I'm explaining. It doesn't make sense if Harold is trying to explain that it wasn't plagiarism after all because Paul got it all from the Astral. Then why would Harold need to clean up a mess?
But the real problem here is simply that Harold never said what David accused him of saying. Harold never even suggests it. It was simply a mistaken interpretation.
David wasn't the only one to make this mistake. I can see why some might draw the wrong conclusion, but since I had firsthand experience with it, I know that the last thing Harold was trying to do was cover something up. Quite the opposite.
I hope this helps.
Thanks.
Doug Marman.
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http://www.thetruth-seeker.com/dispBB.aspx?st=152&page=179#m144