Theos-Talk Archives (November 1997 Message tt00003)

Nov 1st '97

Dallas TenBroeck writes:

Dear Bee:

 We all suffer from inability to recall precisely what we have studied.

 Perhaps a record, notes, reference pages jotted in the margin, etc... will
assist our future desire to remember, while we are actively reading
something now. If we think of it as something we are accumulating to
assist another eventually. It is a discipline. If we undertake it for
ourselves it seems to droop. If we have others in view, it acquires
continuing life. But, our books get marked up !

 Notes (by subject) on loose-leafs to be filed in note books are also
valuable. At least in my experience.

 If we take Theosophy seiously, then we need to verify.

 As you note, our effort changes us -- and that is one of the great
educative values of Theosophy -- or so I have found. Do you have a copy of
EPITOME OF THEOSOPHY by W.Q.Judge. TPH, Adyar issued it some years past
while Mr. Coates was President. Pp. 24-26 give a good synopsis of
"spiritual cultivation."

 The EPITOME was issued originally as a free tract in 1886-7 in America by
the T S Section and had a very wide circulation as part of the "Tract
Mailing Scheme" in which many FTS participated ( in 10 years over 800,000
free tracts were mailed -- not just the EPITOME, but others were made up
and also sent on various Theosophical subjects).

 A free magazine was started around 1889 and named THE THEOSOPHICAL FORUM.
It printed qustions (and answers) that students of Theosophy brought up and
went free to all Lodges and to all "detached members." Many of these
answers have been gathered and reprinted for student access in book form.

 Another work of assistance to Lodges, students and lecturers was a series
printed in THEOSOPHICAL FORUM titled "Subjects for Discussion." In those
brief paragraphs many subjects of interest to theosophists were summarized,
and this too is available as a reprint for current use. If you should be
interested I will be glad to send you copies.

 Best wishes fellow traveller ! Dallas

> Date Sunday, November 02, 1997 2:22 AM
> From Bee Brown <dewberry@poboxes.com>
> Subject Re:Quite happily a student of Alice's!
>
> On Wed, 29 Oct 1997 14:46:52 -0600, you wrote:
>
> >Thanks for using NetForward!
> >http://www.netforward.com
> >v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
> >mkr
> That is what I find now. I have been getting annoyed with myself
> because I cannot remember things from all the heaps of books I have
> read over the past 25 or so years and when I want to reply to
> something here I get frustrated as I cannot find the place where I
> read about it. On pondering this, I realised that the reading bypassed
> the memory and seems to go to the understanding as when I look back, I
> am a diffeent person than I was even 10 years ago. I feel that the
> knowledge I have gained from my study has caused this change so I
> guess I won't moan if my memory fails me, as long as the bit that
> matters keeps growing for the better.
> Bee