Theos-Talk Archives (September 1999 Message tt00083)

    Hi Maxwell,
    (Maxwell)
    I am however receiving extremely hostile and negative feedback. I have
been
    called a Pagan/Satanist/Heathen/Atheist etc etc. I was wondering if
anybody
    has any suggestions on how to present a few theosophical items to
Christians
    so that they understand the roots of their own religion without getting
    upset by it.

    HPB speaks harshly and critically of the 'Doctrine of Atonement', yet
this
    is the cornerstone to Christian faith - how can one show a dedicated
    Christian the error of his/her ways without them completely closing off
to
    other possibilities?


    (AMT)  I know very little, and very often my opinions differ from
orthodox ones. Like in this case. I have always thought there is no point
really in trying to convince anyone of anything. Only if somebody is
interested in what you may tell him/her that person can hear what you have
to say. Otherwise, it is difficult to hear when you have no ears to do so.
There comes a moment and a time when one starts to awaken and one is ready
and wants to know, and then one finds and then one hears and understands.
But not before. I even think the effect is rather the opposite, when or if
we try to "make others understand".
    In real life that's what I usually do. I don't try to convince anyone of
my philosophies, but I talk willingly about them if they ask. I've been
going out for three years with the most sceptical of the persons I have ever
known. All this time I refused consistently to discuss each other's
philosophies, because he only wanted to "make his point" and I didn't. He
was not really interested in knowing about mine, but just wanted to find
flaws in it and show me how wrong I was. After a time, he stopped insisting.
Well, last week, after these three years, I talked to him about Theosophy
for nearly two hours non stop, but only because he did not laugh or got
angry a single minute. He simply was ready for it and could hear what I was
saying.
    Radha, and forgive me for quoting her again, talked about some kind of
"feeling" one should have about when, how and what to tell and to whom. That
made me think... How does one acquire this feeling? In another occasion, she
said "Evolved people are intelligent". Well, food for thought... :-)
    A big hug,
    Ana Maria.







-- 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.