Theos-Talk Archives (September 1999 Message tt00079)

Dear Art,

I also attended theosophical meetings were as you wrote "prompting yawns from
me
personally ..." I think all can relate to it.

I formed, a little more than a year ago, a study group in West Los Angeles
that meets at my home.  But I also noted that the group dynamics depend much
on the facilitator or group leader who set the keynote. If the facilitator is
a "couch theosophist" who takes a book and reads and talks without any
mystical experience, or any practicality but from the point of view of
explaining for the explanation sake, constantly comparing and quoting.
Meetings like that will bore to death any true searcher. The ones attending
enjoy the inertia (tamas) and will sleep well that night.

But my friend, the challenge is with the group leaders, and facilitators, etc.
It is up to us  to find all the spiritual  resources, based in experiences, as
a result of spiritual practices like meditation, austerities, etc,  to spark
in, soul to soul, heart to heart, the eternal Divine-Wisdom as found in HPB
books, in Annie Besant,
Sankaracharya, Plato, Plotinus and many more.

I found out that it is very exiting to study the Key to  Theosophy, Secret
Doctrine, In the Outer Court of A. Besant, etc. The beauty with this
illuminating approach, without philosophical restrictions,
is that everyone participates, everyone shares their personal experience,
knowledge and wisdom. It does not matter if  the background is a fellow
mystic, a member of the LCC, co-mason, a Leadbetterian, or vegetarian,
Buddhist or Vedantin or ULT. The important thing is to have an open meeting
without the fatal criticism and final judgment based on matching word by word
to the works of HPB.  For instance, there many differences in what is found in
Plato and Plotinus and the Secret Doctrine, but most of us are tolerant of
them and have great defensive explanations for it. Example, Plato talks about
re-encarnating in animals but our explanation is  that he uses it as a symbol.

But when is between Besant and HPB, god forbids, there is no mercy.

Again the challenge is in us. In this we, theosophist, are not the enemy. The
enemy is inertia.   Inertia to have the vision of times, of what individuals
needed in the moments.
A good role model of this going against inertia is Steve Jobs with his motto
'Think Differently.'

Art, I love your ending "But the thrust of the organization would be
vegetarian, non-violent, and
experimenting with new social forms to present an alternative to the
current mass society, an experiment that would foster deeper study of the
Ancient Wisdom as well as a nonviolent and more cooperative, and ecological
model of society."

Art if you ever come to Los Angeles, please visit us.
Love you all…

Martin Leiderman




-- 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.