Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00538)

Dear Paul,

I am so sorry to hear about your difficulties. I have a friend 
(different country) with a similar problem, and it is very unsettling 
indeed. Just thinking of some unknown person invading one's 
personal space, let alone taking one's things, is disturbing. I don't 
know if you would classify me as a "fundie," but I would like to say 
that no serious student of theosophy would presume to make any 
judgement about the particular cause and effect configuration of 
another's karma. After all, karma, the law of balance, determines 
everything that happens in our lives, and none of us is perfect, or 
has been perfect, so we all have challenges to endure as well as 
blessings to be grateful for. This is the basis of the injunction 
against judging each other at all. We simply do not know enough 
about others, or about life in general, to know what we are talking 
about. But your insight about balance in your own life is a good one, 
as far as it serves you in helping you understand your own self, and 
the patterns of cause and effect that make up your own life. That is 
our most important task, to begin to take conscious responsibility 
for the downs as well as the ups in our lives.

I would like to clear the record somewhat. As much as I would feel 
honored if it were the case, Dallas is no more personally known to 
me than you are. I know him online only, and would feel it quite 
presumptuous to claim him as a personal friend. 

Best wishes,
Adelasie

On 29 Dec 01, at 14:02, kpauljohnson wrote:

> Hey folks,
> 
> This month has brought a striking juxtaposition of very good and very
> bad karma, which has some parallels with matters discussed recently
> here. Adelasie, meaning well, has several times suggested strongly
> that the hostile Theosophical reactions to my books be interpreted
> *only* as a cosmic judgment on me and my motives, etc., and not at all
> as a reflection of the current situation of the Theosophical movement
> vis-a-vis its history. (Or the level of fanaticism of specific
> individuals.) One can interpret things at many different levels; it's
> ideologically convenient for a friend of Dallas to say "This
> unpleasantness has nothing to do with my friend, and everything to do
> with the disrespect Paul has shown HPB and the inevitable karmic
> consequences." Well, one can't argue with this kind of
> non-falsifiable perspective, but one can show alternatives.
> 
> Early this month I closed on the purchase of a second home, a 
> modified A-frame in the woods overlooking Lake Gaston. For a 
> fanatical kayaker and canoeist, a lover of hiking and bicycling, this
> new place is heaven on earth-- beautiful, close to many appealing
> spots, just what I would have imagined as a second home, and a great
> bargain. Best of all, it came completely furnished, not just with
> nicer furniture than any I had at my main house, but better dishes,
> better cookware, etc. etc. And the neighbors are very friendly; both
> have brought me pies to welcome me to the area. So it's been a
> delightful month getting situated in this new place that so perfectly
> corresponds to my desires. BUT...
> 
> After I started spending occasional nights at the lake house, my other
> house was burglarized twice. The second burglary was very extensive;
> I lost a TV, VCR, stereo, computer, clock-radio, a lifetime's
> accumulation of tools, and perhaps other things not even noticed yet. 
> Losing a computer with a lot of material on it was especially galling.
> And in the wake of the burglaries I learned from my neighbor, and the
> two deputies who investigated, that there is a crack dealer just
> across the road, leader of some sort of gang, and these people regard
> the whole area as theirs for the taking and have been constantly
> breaking into nearby houses and stealing stuff. So now I feel that I
> can't own a damn thing electronic, not even a $15 clock-radio, or
> these rednecks will come and take it. Thus-- ecstasy of a perfect new
> second home comes right along with agony at what has happened and is
> happening around the first one-- where it's very hard to feel
> comfortable until the local crime wave subsides.
> 
> Now, a fundie Theosophist would perhaps say that getting all my stuff
> stolen from that house was karma for disrespecting HPB, and more of
> the same will keep occurring until I admit that their dogmas are
> unchallengeably and completely correct. (Which hardly accounts for
> all the good karma associated with the lake house.) 
> 
> The parallel I see with the two houses and the bad 
> Dallas/Pratt/Caldwell/Algeo etc. reaction to my books is this: 
> nothing awful happened in the context I was leaving behind until
> something wonderful happened in the new context into which I was
> moving. That is, my hypotheses about HPB and the Masters had been in
> print for a full *five years* before any ugly public reaction happened
> with Theosophists. My self-published book had been widely publicized
> and no significant abuse, insults, etc. had resulted *in years*. But
> almost *the moment* that I got published by a university press, and
> more specifically *got a rave in the New York Times Book Review*-- the
> Theosophical shit started to hit the fan. And it didn't subside
> during the whole period that the books were topping Amazon.com's sales
> for Blavatsky-related titles.
> 
> This looks very much like a cause/effect relationship to me. The
> phrase "don't let the screen door hit your butt on the way out" comes
> to mind. Perhaps the *moment* I started to get recognition from the
> scholarly and literary worlds, I should have washed my hands of
> Theosophical associations which so immediately became painful. 
> Perhaps the universe was saying "Here's the reward for all your years
> of hard work and devotion to study of HPB-- respect and recognition of
> a sort you never dreamed of." Perhaps the nasty Theosophical
> reactions weren't *punishments* for anything I had done but rather
> promptings to move forward into something new. Surely a fair amount
> of the energy that went into the Cayce book came from the abrupt way I
> became a nonperson Theosophically speaking, and the much more
> welcoming attitude of the ARE. 
> 
> So the bottom line for me is that you can't have everything. I can't
> have a new house with piles of new stuff without some of my old stuff
> being taken away. I couldn't have appreciation and recognition as an
> academic writer on HPB without losing all the respect I'd gained as a
> Theosophical writer/speaker. The universe has a way of opening one
> door, and then slamming another to show you very clearly the direction
> you are destined/intended to go.
> 
> My $.02 worth,
> 
> PJ
> 
> 
> 
>