Theos-Talk Archives (September 1999 Message tt00004)

Dallas, Thanks for your response... I agree with all that you have stated
as to principles such as the Monad - Jiva; The laws of Karma and
Reincarnation; the Spiritual source and reality of existence...; the goal
of progressive evolution. that's why I suppose I'm a theosophist... What is
called Sanatana Dharma the Eternal Religion, the Perrenial Philosophy, etc.
I find it in the writings of Sankaracharya... Tsong Kappa and others...
What HPB did for her time was to synthesize Mahayana Buddhist philosophy
and Sankhya and share it with the West...  one of the things the
Theosophical Society did quite nicely a hundred years ago.

We can now of course go directly to these sources and speak with actual
spokesmen ... the manner in  which you can study Sanskrit directly from
Sanskrit scholars is much easier today than it was at the time of HPB.

THE MASTERS:

The role of these Masters needs to be looked at very closely. I believed
they did serve a function at the time, however as you no doubt recall there
were controversies regarding their existence and their message within the
TS itself. The messages Judge received after HPB's passing were viewed at
the time as controversial. The concept of the Masters was later used by
succeeding receptors such as the Baileys and further revelations proceeded.
The modern day channelling material is a further exension I think of the
role the Masters had in the early TS. But what is the true utility of all
this material, especially since we have real Tibetans in our midst, and
real Advaitins... Very little mention is made of the very legitimate saints
and sages that mother India has produced in the past hundred years... the
Masters on the other hand still receive their due...

My feeling is that what the TS did fairly well years ago has now been taken
over by many very legitimate organizations directly representing the
philosophies people used to regard as remote and obscure. As the world is
shrinking I think we need to see the new world as it is and find our way in
it, that may mean making painful decisions and changing the way things have
been done for a long time. Change is usually painful or at least
uncomfortable for us. Here's hoping the TS has many fruitful years ahead in
the next millenium!

- Art Gregory


lgregory@discover.net




















-- THEOSOPHY WORLD -- Theosophical Talk -- theos-talk@theosophy.com

Letters to the Editor, and discussion of theosophical ideas and
teachings. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message consisting of
"subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to theos-talk-request@theosophy.com.