Theos-Talk Archives (February 1998 Message tt00288)

At 10:58 AM 2/21/1998 -0800, you wrote:
>Doss:
><snip>
>>The fundamental question is how do we restore the trust and credibility.
>>Usually restoration is a long drawn out process and I hope we can all put
>>our heads together and see what can be done.  Any ideas from anyone is
>>welcome. Please provide feed back here!
>>
>>mkr
>
>Sometimes the "rock is bigger than both of us", Doss.  When I piped in with
>the idea of increasing communication, I received expressions of irritation
>from various people.  After reviewing various posts, I came to the
>conclusion that one side would settle for no less than the fall of the
>people in power, and that the other side either would not negotiate with
>hostility or could not be bothered.  The only two affirmation I received
>was Doss' contribution to the idea and Bart's willingness to suggest
>contacts.  The result of their affirmation was ridicule to them.  Thus is
>the dynamics of the total body.

There are always a wide spectrum of reaction. The issues we are trying to
address/solve are matters of policy and principles. So long as we address
them at that level, there is always a possibility for change. The change
may not be what anyone expects or likes and may or may not take time. At
the same time, I am personally convinced that no one should under estimate
(or over estimate) what can be accomplished by a handful of individuals. If
the time is ripe, just the interest of a few could bring about great
results. It is this confidence that makes me an optimist and lose interest
in the matter.

I would like to share how I approach these matters of great importance --
more imporant than any of us and any of the present leadership. Recently
when one of the top elected officials was visiting here on a lecture tour,
I volunteered to host the official and we had a very good time even though
we did not discuss any of the policy matters during the stay at my home. My
home is always open to *anyone* no matter what our personal opinions or
disagreements are. This has been our long held family tradition for three
generations and we always enjoyed hosting visitors.
>
>Two bases of eastern teaching are to be in the present moment and to
>develop compassion.  Meditation was designed to promote that present
>moment, and hence increase compassion.  For all of the theosophical
>inclusion of eastern teaching, some recent communication contained lots of
>past hurt and suspicion, far more than the post that s/he was responding to
>warranted.  The anger was so great that compassion for the "adversary" was
>not followed.
>
In many cases, based on past experience one becomes a little bit skeptical
and looks closer at people and their actions. Such skepticism is very
healthy and as actions speak louder than words, actions which pass muster
can only build better credibility and trust.

>But, hey, let's not worry about this.  Let's sit and meditate that the war
>with Iraq will not happen.  Let's use that mysterious mind power to
>influence the prevention of WWIII.  It's a whole lot easier to do that.
>
>Thoa :o)

The hawkish approach to Iraq is senseless. I felt very happy when I saw the
heckling at OSU as well as the heckling that Richardson faced yesterday.
How much killing and maiming are we willing to take responsibility for
cheap oil? I hope there is no attack on Iraq.

mkr