Recommendation for all students of Bardon
I have been working for many years with the original books of Bardon in German language. Due to research for articles in English about Bardon´s teachings, I have discovered the first bad translation errors in KTQ about the colors of the letters. In fact I was really surprised to find such errors.
Meanwhile I have also checked parts of IIH and I have discovered that also here the translation is not in all cases good.
To make a translation is not an easy task and for most translations it is okay to do it not 1:1 but to change it to some degree for a better reading or comprehension or to ease the whole process.
But this does not fit to Bardon´s teachings as they are in main technical instructions where every single term and every single detail count much. Misunderstandings or wrong qualities, wrong colors, etc. can destroy success and progress, also the correct application directly. And this is something which cannot be tolerated at all.
If you want to understand Bardon´s teachings to the deepest degree, to 100% then you need an authentic translation including commentaries about the original meaning of certain hard to comprehend sentences and terms. For “normal” studies the existing translations might be okay enough but if you want to receive the crown then you have to go deeper.
Translations are very expensive and the translator has to cooperate with an adept for the best possible results. So if it ever happens that new translations will be realized then if probably takes much time or some wonders.
As we need an authentic, useful translation of IIH for the spiritual education at SURA-ITF, I am working on this but it probably will take many months.
For these reasons I want to give a recommendation to all true followers of Bardon:
If you work with the normal English books of Bardon and if you think that something is strange or if an exercise is really hard to comprehend or if the exercise is really important in all details then do something useful – look for the original German text and check the translation of it with google or bing or linguee, etc. Or if possible discuss the real meaning/translation of the text with a German student of Bardon.
This is indeed the best you can do to support your own spiritual training, real success and a true comprehension.
One example: Bardon is talking about vital energy and that one should accumulate great amounts with the result that his radiation increases. He compares this with the radiation of heat of a heating. But unfortunately this text is translated in a way that students misunderstand it, so that they think that vital energy is warm like a heating. This is nonsense but has long-term consequences.
Then several colors of KTQ are wrong and I guess that also several qualities and functions in PME are not correctly translated. If you study these things then you will benefit if you check the translation first.
At last and in conclusion – only if you wish for 100% true understanding of Bardon´s teachings then check the translation for important chapters, exercises, etc. If you do normal studies then you will probably survive the translation errors.
Just a well-meant suggestion.
Dear Ray del Sole,
While I agree with your concerns about the translation one must also consider that Franz Bardon dictated his book to his secretary Frau Votova, probably in point form. The manuscript was then smuggled to Austria and from there to Germany to the Hermann Bauer Verlag. Bauer Verlag had a good edititor by the name of Hermann Geisler. Herr Geisler actually edited and fleshed out the books as they are known in German today.
Apparently the original type-written manuscript of “Der Weg zum wahren Adepten” is preserved in a library in the canton of Appenzell in Switzerland I was told.
Dear Richard,
thank you for sharing this information with us! From my point of view Mr Geisler has not changed much or anything for preparing the books from the manuscript as Bardon´s style of writing is still difficult to read and so it obviously wasn´t simplified by the editor. I can also only say that I perceive Bardon´s books as “instruction manuals” which need to be taken in detail for the right understanding. I am truly grateful that I am able to read them in German. I hope to be able to publish in the coming years a new, very close translation of IIH together with a commentary. Half of the work is done.
Yours, Ray
Hi Ray,
Just wanted to check the status of your translation of IIH? I’m sure it would be an important gift of divine providence to make such a contribution!
Thank you, David. I have sent you an email.
Dear Ray,
I am also interested in the translation. Is it available already?
Thanks a lot!
I am waiting for the licence in 2017. I have sent you an email.