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RE: Theos-World Re Stemming the Tide of Materialism

May 08, 2001 06:27 PM
by dalval14


Tuesday, May 08, 2001

 

Dear Jerry:

 

Best wishes for WHITE LOTUS DAY.

 

 

Preaching to the “choir”  -- seems to be universal.  Even if we echo certain ideas to each other there is at least the benefit that if we go wrong in our thinking, some friendly hand or voice will help set us straight again. I believe that this was the original intention for the T.S. Lodges (Branches) -- to assist as a forum for students to check and verify their study results.  To some extent this INTERNET phenomenon has served this purpose.  I see that Reed reports over 2,200 members for BLAVATSKY NET.  Quite impressive.  That is an indication of growth.  Also, probably, of independence -- as the “Censor” is not “looking.”

 

You have studied our recent Theos. History and know that the past (from the time of H.P.B.) shows that only a very few responded to, and understoodthe inclusive nature of Theosophy -- not as a series of dogmas or revelations,  but rather, as a description of the facts of Universal Law  (Karma) in action.  Are not all of us, just as H.P.B. was, independently dependent?  (A Paradox).

 

Since these statements concerning  scientific matters, laws of Nature, etc. (in the S.D. andin Her articles) have not had the seal of approval from our present Academies,but have been disputed,  most students have become uncertain, and their time given to research and proof has seen attrition.  What they do not realize is the effect of ISIS UNVEILED on the INTELLIGENTSIA of her time.  They (the professors and religious leaders)  recognized the genius there -- the wide historical and factual embrace presented as proof of the invisible astral Nature that underlies the physical was important to them.  Look at the mass of proofs advanced and scattered through the S.D. -- in all departments of learning and ask yourself if anyone today could begin to equal such a cohesive and comprehensive sweep.  It is not no wonder that people feel overwhelmed when they encounter the S.D.  Few have the Academic education to appreciate it.

 

No one will accept or use the statements in Theosophy unless they prove to themselves their value, accuracy and practicality in habitual daily use

 

I do not care much about “organizations,” and have used,or associated myself with those which seem to more carefully adopt and embody the ORIGINAL THEOSOPHY that H.P.B. and Masters taught.  So much for my views and independence.  Why should I pledge allegiance to any society or group which has great ideals and then fails to practice them -- yet, demands that I do or not do this or that ?  I have always felt it worthwhile to stand on my own intellectual feet, and the study of Theosophy, which I started when I was around 18, (60 years or so, ago)  has enlarged my understanding and knowledge enormously.  I very humbly, believe me, give tribute to THEOSOPHY and to H.P.B. and the Masters for anything that I may be today.  And for this reason when I “speculate” I am very careful to give notice.  Other statements, when used, I quote the source so others may also verify my accuracy or conclusions.  We are all students in this together and brotherhood dictates that we assist, and do not mislead anyone.

 

Let me add some notes below.

 

Let me also ask how is the family -- your wife and children -- I do recall our talking when you came to one of Caroline’s “get-togethers” years back.  My health is deteriorating, so I cannot travel -- and I recall your kind invitation extended several years ago -- to visit you --- to or from the meetings at Brookings in Oregon -- but I have not been able to go since the 2nd.

 

Thanks and best wishes,

 

Dal

 

=============================

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Hejka-Ekins [mailto:jjhe@netfeed.com]
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 5:49 PM
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Theos-World Re Stemming the Tide of Materialism

 

Dallas, I think you are preaching to the choir on this point, and I appreciate your idealism.  However, as one who has worked with three different Theosophical Organizations over the last forty years, I have observed that there is a great deal of difference between the ideals they preach and their practices. 

 

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            DTB      INEVITABLE as the INDIVIDUALS have to be independently devotes to their study.  The ”societies,” “lodges,” etc… are just forums for mutual discussion and conferencing -- the presentation of ideas -- and they ought to serve no other purpose.  But attendance ought to fire up those who come so that their individual study widens and deepens.

 

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 To my mind, personal responsibility is the key here, as you suggest.  This is why I'm interested in learning about different Theosophist's views concerning what they believe their responsibilities are.  I’m frankly not interested in being told what "theosophy teaches."  I have all of the books, and like you, have read them over and over and discussed them alone and in study groups for years.  I'm primarily interested is in the many different ways that people have come to understand these teachings and how they apply them.  

 

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            DTB      I do not think the “Theosophical Bodies” are able to enforce anything  -- so whatever the “membership” may be, the individual action and decision-making will be final so far as individual Karma is concerned.  If one finds ones’ self amid “sheep” then the position of leader fallsto the “Goats” which the careful shepherd always puts in a flock -- they are independent and make good decisions -- which the sheep follow.  But that is the flock situation and mankind ought to have transcended it, or will have to during the remaining part of the cycle.  { see MOMENT OF CHOICE  S.D. I 247, 265, 639,    S.D. II 149. 240, 261, 300-1;  ML 47;  H.P.B. Articles (ULT) Vol. III 272, 289. }

 

The only reason I say “theosophy teaches” is because it takes me, as a person, out of the equation as far as possible.  I try to let H.P.B. and the Masters speak to the correspondent and therefore let him draw his own conclusions, without interference from my personal “filter.”

 

-------------------------------------------

 

Ramadoss recently quoted Radha as saying that "we have as a TS such a low level because we have not better members."  In light of your point about personal responsibilities and individual karma, she is right.  On the other hand, there is also group karma, which begs the question whether sixty years of leadership by the same family and a political system that keeps potential leaders who are outside of the click from running, might have something to do with the TS's low level.  But thisis not just the Adyar TS, I have made the same general kinds of observations (though the details differ of course) in ULT and Pasadena, which are, I believe, also at a low level.

 

=======================

 

            DTB      Numerically correct. -- But that does not mean Theosophy is wrong.  Nor does it mean that the impact of Theosophy is not potent.  If Einstein could profit from the S.D., there are others who are using right now and profiting (even if they do not acknowledge it),

 

I think there are cycles when more Egos responsive to Theosophy seem to incarnate in the race / races.  For instance we have in the past 3 or 4 years witnessed a large increment in interest arise in the Spanish speaking group of people who live around the Lodge -- and thanks to several able bi-lingual students, their needs and their studies have been assisted.  I believe at least one of our students is assisting the Pasadena T.S. in a similar program in that area.

 

Looking back historically from whatever fragmentsare still available concerning early Christianity and the Gnostics, one wondersif there is not a parallel going on here and now?  You may be able to see a broader horizon than I do.

 

But, I would observe that wherever a, or several, students, bestir themselves to provide a center of study the accretions begin.  Brookings in Oregon is the most recent example.  Yet nowthat Willie Dade died, I do not notice the vitality continuing there as before.

 

We asked Willie about that beginning,  and all she said was, she put an ad in the local paper in the classifieds, and had responses --  and from that the activity grew.  She was excellent at “follow-up” and from that interest arose.  She was also a very good student and could explain.

 

I suppose that is the way in which Judge initiated and supported the growth of the T.S. from 1896 to 1891 after he had been through lean times after the departure of H.P.B. and Olcott for England and India in 1879 -- it is reported that he was the only one at some of the meetings of the early T.S. called in New York.  So I suppose we can emulate that -- one has to view these things as tests of our own enthusiasm, persistence and creative ability.

 

Anyway, if 2,000 or so years ago we may have met in Plato’s Academy or been a friend and pupil of Ammonias Saccus in the Library at Alexandria, or part of the Ebionite,  Essenian, or Nabathean groups in and around Palestine, or learned from Buddha, Lao-Tze or Pythagoras -- what may we expect to meet in another cycle, when we reincarnate again, and our present work may have been supported to maturation.  Not every “spiritual” effort has succeeded or been supported -- and so many failures are noticed.  Also we can see howthe potency was diverted -- and the recent 125 years show this again and again.

 

I ask you, unless (in the 1910-30s) the ULT associates had not published H.P.B.’s books, articles and Judge’s would they not by now, be almost totally unknown?  As I look over the scene I see the effect has been to force the various TPHs and TUPs to reprint those original texts so as to appear not too out-of-line.  This means thattheir current membership have profited from this fact and this has partially set the MOVEMENT back on track.

 

You speak of the “follow-the-leader” effect.  One of its faults, as I see it, is that it tends to cause irresponsibility among the “members.”  They “rely” on othersto do the work and let their efforts dry up, or slip and disappear.  I believe our responsibility to H.P.B. and Masters -- at least to respect their work and forward their purposes --  is very important.  But it has to be self-generated.

 

Sympathy is fine.  Self-study is fine.  But it isolates the student from his contemporaries.  It ends isolating Theosophy from those who need it, and may have been waiting for it -- and for whom it is important and an “awakener.”  Promulgation is the only way -- and we ought not be “seeking for immediate or visibleresults.” 

 

Throw out the seed.  Some will root and the response from the INNER MAN the spiritual INDIVIDUAL will occur sooner or later.  An old friend of mine, when years ago I said something like that -- about results being slow in appearing -- said I was forgetting the power of Devachanic meditation.  What was “heard, or read” in this life could cause a germination that would manifest in succeeding life or lives. 

 

Thanks for your comments -- see what they have evoked?  Hope we will continue this dialog.

 

If all the TSes and ULTs drop their parochialisms then we will have THEOSOPHY triumphant and set forward (not as someone’s interpretation, but in the ORIGINAL for it was delivered -- this is important) -- as it ought to be.  But wehave to do the work. We ought not to wait for someone else to do it. 

 

And as for interpreters (myself included, please) they ought to be set aside once that the window or doorway to original THEOSOPHY is accessed.  The problem with all interpreters is that they looked (or look) at Theosophy with the filters of their own minds and experience.  To that extent, as they may express it, THEOSOPHY then becomes colored.  This does not mean they ought to be abandoned as many among us have profited from their work -- but we ought to start evaluating it (I mean their writings and thoughts)and checking it / them for accuracy with the ORIGINAL TEACHINGS (there I go again).  I don’t mean the writing soof HPB and the Masters ought to be set up as a kind of “Biblical” limit.  But their ideas and principles ought to be so studied that each one of us, individually, knows from personal testing whether they are worth relying on. We ought to be living in this world withour eyes and ears wide opened so that we may draw in the information that science and philosophy are daily advancing.  Treat THEOSOPHY as a touchstone, if possible, and if we have verified its logic and principles for reasonable accuracy..

 

Only those who become true students and enthusiasts will succeed in this long incarnation-after-incarnation battle.  We ought to cross check the ETHICS and MORALS that Theosophy elevates with those of Jesus in THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT, with Krishna’s BHAGAVAD GITA and with Buddha’s DHAMMAPADA ( Footfalls of the Law).  And with Plato’sDIALOGS.  How else can we VERIFY   Is there a common thread?  On what kind of logic are they set out ?of the Law).nd MORALS Theosophy elevates with those of Jesus in THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT, with Krishna'

 

It is good that we have incarnated now when the Philosophy was so recently made available, and we can still contact and usethe ORIGINALS  ( Sorry if I keep emphasizing this.)

 

jhe

 

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           DTB      Theosophy, if anything teaches the individual to be responsible only to the PRINCIPLES and not to any “authorities.” 

 

The sole authority for each is his own HIGHER SELF.  The T.S. is  a body dedicated originally to study and promulgate the Natural Truths that anyone could discover and prove for themselves. 

 

The value of an organization was / is that individuals could mutually consult and arrive at some joint ideas, which were then to be used (or not) by the INDIVIDUALS. 

 

Our KARMA is always INDIVIDUAL. 

 

By joining a TS we surrender nothing of our personal responsibilities.

 

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