Theos-Talk Archives (August 1998 Message tt00051)

There is a difference between disrespect and giving an honest opinion.

There is a tendency these day's to tread the road of least resistance, along
with fluffy-bunny political correctness where, it appears, one should avoid
"upsetting" anyone at all costs.  Fortunately, this is not a trend HPB had
the slightest inclination for.

A theosophist (or non theosophist, for that matter) should speak freely and
fearlessly with little or no personal regard for being liked/disliked;
agreed-with/disagreed-with etc.  How another acts - or *re*acts - to this is
largely a matter for themselves . . . and karma.

By all means let us respect the views and opinions of other's, but let us
not deter either ourselves or others from giving an honest opinion in plain
honest language.  On which basis: all this "El Morya", self-ascending (or is
it *descending* now that Vaivasvatta Manu appears to have reincarnated)
saviour gubbins is derived, most likely, from an intoxication of the (lower)
astral light, i.e. "FLAPDOODLE".

"That which is uncreate abides in thee, Disciple, as it abides in that Hall.
If thou woulds't reach it and blend the two, thou must divest thyself of thy
dark garments of illusion.  Stifle the voice of flesh, allow no image of the
senses to get between its light and thine that thus the twain may blend in
one.  And having learnt thine own *Agnyana* (21), flee from the Hall of
Learning.  This Hall is dangerous in its perfidious beauty, is needed but
for thy probation.  Beware, Lanoo, lest dazzled by illusive radiance thy
Soul should linger and be caught in its deceptive light.

This light shines from the jewel of the Great Ensnarer, (Mara) (22).  The
senses it bewitches, blinds the mind, and leaves the unwary an abandoned
wreck".

("The Voice of the Silence", pg 7/8).

Best wishes,
Paul (Bazzer)


> It's hard not to notice, upon returning to this list after being
> away for a time, that there's a continuing presence, in
> Theosophical discourse, of expressions of emphatic disrespect for
> others with different views.  It's taken considerable work on my
> part not to take that personally, since I've been so publicly and
> voluminously disrespected by various people.  (And no, disputing
> one's books is not in itself disrespect.)  For example, in the
> last couple days, David Green has "dissed" me as a disputable
> author, Govert as irrational and uninformed, and implicitly all
> Theosophists and others who don't buy into his particular
> interpretation of HPB and Theosophy.  In Jake's review, he is
> very emphatic in expressing disrespect for EC Prophet, channelers
> in general, and their followers.  Not to mention the many others
> who have in times past dissed various people on and off this list.
>
> Meanwhile, the ratio of dissing to normal respectful conversation
> on netsfg, the Cayce online community, is 1/100 at worst.  And
> being in such an environment on a daily basis makes it that much
> more evident that something is rotten in Theosophical discourse
> generally, in the way people think it is OK to talk to and about
> others.  This presumably goes back to the model of some of
> HPB's articles and letters, and some Mahatma letters, which have a
> very large element of dissing.  By comparison, the Cayce readings
> are consistently and profoundly respectful of everyone, including
> some people with bizarre beliefs.  These tones of discourse
> become models of how later followers communicate, IMO.
>
> I'd like, therefore, to ask David and Jake, Dallas if he's still
> reading, and anyone else who might recognize himself as a
> consistent disser, some questions.  How does it feel when you are
> in the mode of emphatic disrespect for others' views?  How does
> it feel to express this?  How does that state of mind relate to
> what you experience in meditation or other spiritual practice?
> How do the writings you regard as sacred orient you to the
> legitimacy of dissing people with differing views?
>
> As Cayce said, "That one cannot endure within itself it finds as
> a fault in others."  This suggests that those Theosophists who
> devote a large share of attention to dissing others for being
> irrational, for believing in unsupportable and "crazy" things,
> for being "crackpots" (a word Jake once applied to me in a
> review), are in fact filled with fear that they themselves are
> doing the same thing.  There's some kind of internal division
> going on here and the shadow gets projected onto others.  Which
> suggests that a means to healing the split will be to own just
> how much irrationality and craziness and unsupportability might
> be present in one's own belief system, in all belief systems; to
> accept one's own fallibility and that of others, and to abandon
> one's focus on Perfected Beings and Authoritative Scriptures.
>
> This advice from one who's been there, done that, and feels
> ashamed of the way I would in the past have talked to a follower
> of ECP.  Hope that Govert understands that while I haven't a
> grain of faith in any of the alleged Masters of ECP and their
> agents in the Ballard/Prophet lineage, I do respect him and his
> belief.
>
> Namaste.
> Paul
>
>
>