Theos-Talk Archives (October 1997 Message tt00093)

K. Paul Johnson wrote:

> experience has been quite different.  To rewrite your passage so
> that it coincides with my observations:
>
> An alleged cornerstone of the Theosophical Movement is freedom of
> belief.  But anyone who publicly questions certain common beliefs
> (which vary in the different groups) will soon enough find that
> Theosophists can be extremely dogmatic and hostile to those who
> disagree.  Interestingly, in theory, Theosophia would break down
> and dissolve dogmatism.  Perhaps for many individuals it does so.
> But the control, in all the Theosophical organizations, is
> clearly in the hands of various orthodoxies, each dogmatic in its
> own way and each absolutely resistant to questioning its own
> assumptions.

Hi K. Paul:

I am not a Theosophist but I do read all the chatlines and am
currently married to a man who belongs to a Theosophy Group, and
I think you may be correct.  My vicarious experience with the
movement has been that it has a tendency to attract people who
are seeking to find the "truth" and live it and provides a mass
of literature as guidance, proposing that the individual is free
to find his own truth without dogma.  But what seems to happen is
that once these writings have been digested (and this takes a lot
of time and effort as they are verbose and often appear
contradictory in places) and the person regularly attends
"meetings", he then takes everything experienced in life and
tries to explain it in terms of what he has read, forgetting to
use that "instinct/spirituality/gut-feelings" that it seems we
all have and will guide us if we open up and learn to listen.
The end result is no different than that of the more traditional
organized religions, being - "this is the truth, you must believe
it to reach enlightenment, and if you don't believe it and do it
as it is written you are lost/not on the correct path".  Hence no
different than most Movements, with leaders setting the rules and
protecting their turf to resist change and others allowing or
supporting that process, until the process fails and the Movement
changes, at which time most rationlize that the Movement could
not have been based "in truth".

I do find though that most of those people who are/were involved
with Theosophy, at least what I have read on the Internet, are
working diligently on what may be called "enlightenment" and so I
keep coming back for more and find them refreshing and
instructive.  As for "Movements", I think they are a great thing
at the onset of one's quest, to feel less alone and to receive
support in the early years when one is trying to make a change in
one's self and lifestyle, rather like the family for the child.
However, eventually one has to "write one's own script" and then
the movement tends to become restrictive and frustrating.  Much
as I would like the warm feeling of being part of a group of like
souls, I "know" I can only succeed if I stand alone, knowing and
accepting in love not only myself but also all others.  And all
others are atheists, christians, buddhists, theosophists, wicca,
druids, feminists etc etc.  Each at a different stage, using a
different language to support an identical quest.  It's a tough
calling and the hardest thing is letting go of people one has
grown to love, when one fails to achieve it along the way.

Thanks for your comment.

Annette.