Theos-Talk Archives (March 1999 Message tt00093)

Hi Frank,

You wrote:

> If this is true, then we have to stop printing and spreading the works of
> H.P. Blavatsky...

Yes, indeed.  I was just thinking this very thing.  But I like what Jerry
posted.  I think it makes for a lot of food for thought.  Very sobering, in
fact.

> No, I am in the contrary of the opinion that it is not only the right, but
> it is the duty for every true Theosophits, for every student of the pukka
> Theosophy of which HPB was the direct agent, to speak out - the more when
> there are sideways and traps or even lies which are smuggled into the
> Theosophical Movement to destroy the work of HPB and her
> teachers.

I heartily agree.

> No one is
> free of the risk to get critisized, if it seems he/she is wrong doing, no
> matter if he/she is alive or dead, except he/she is claims to be an
> incarnated god beyond any critisism. And of course not even a person, who
> describes himself a "leader" can be protected from this occult rule.


Here are a few thoughts below - for all of us to reflect on - from HPB,
taken from The Key to Theosophy: Section 12.

Best wishes:  Peter


ENQUIRER. May I be told what are these perilous reefs in the open sea of
Theosophy?

THEOSOPHIST. Well may you call them reefs, as more than one otherwise
sincere and well-meaning F.T.S. has had his Theosophical canoe shattered
into splinters on them! And yet to avoid certain things seems the easiest
thing in the world to do. For instance, here is a series of such negatives,
screening positive Theosophical duties: --
No Theosophist should be silent when he hears evil reports or slanders
spread about the Society, or innocent persons, whether they be his
colleagues or outsiders.

ENQUIRER. But suppose what one hears is the truth, or may be true without
one knowing it?

THEOSOPHIST. Then you must demand good proofs of the assertion, and hear
both sides impartially before you permit the accusation to go
uncontradicted. You have no right to believe in evil, until you get
undeniable proof of the correctness of the statement.

ENQUIRER. And what should you do then?

THEOSOPHIST. Pity and forbearance, charity and long-suffering, ought to be
always there to prompt us to excuse our sinning brethren, and to pass the
gentlest sentence possible upon those who err. A Theosophist ought never to
forget what is due to the shortcomings and infirmities of human nature.

ENQUIRER. Ought he to forgive entirely in such cases?

THEOSOPHIST. In every case, especially he who is sinned against.

ENQUIRER. But if by so doing, he risks to injure, or allow others to be
injured? What ought he to do then?

THEOSOPHIST. His duty; that which his conscience and higher nature suggests
to him; but only after mature deliberation. Justice consists in doing no
injury to any living being; but justice commands us also never to allow
injury to be done to the many, or even to one innocent person, by allowing
the guilty one to go unchecked.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

ENQUIRER. And what may be the duty of a Theosophist to himself?

THEOSOPHIST. To control and conquer, through the Higher, the lower self. To
purify himself inwardly and morally; to fear no one, and nought, save the
tribunal of his own conscience. Never to do a thing by halves; i. e., if he
thinks it the right thing to do, let him do it openly and boldly, and if
wrong, never touch it at all. It is the duty of a Theosophist to lighten his
burden by thinking of the wise aphorism of Epictetus, who says: "Be not
diverted from your duty by any idle reflection the silly world may make upon
you, for their censures are not in your power, and consequently should not
be any part of your concern."


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