Theos-Talk Archives (February 2002 Message tt00375)

Dear Jerry,
I'm glad to see you respond as you have below. I have been thinking about
the positions of Bruce and Brigitte and Dallas and Paul amongst the many
others here. It seems that we all have one thing in common. We all claim
that an open mind is important when receiving someone elses viewpoint. I am
trying to ascertain whether I do in fact have an open mind to new ideas and
concepts. How shall I know? It seems that we are often inclined to hear
only that which supports our position and to dismiss the rest. Is this an
open mind? I have been wondering lately who on these lists has changed
their mind recently or modified their position somewhat based on what they
have read here? Would changing one's mind or position indicate the presence
of an open mind?


Finally, with respect to a published book written several years earlier,
would it be fair to the author to quote from the book and assume that that
which one quotes accurately reflects the current thinking of the author
(assuming the author has an open mind)? I ask because there has been some
speculation that HPB might have re-written some of her works had she more
time. Also because Paul Johnson might today even make some changes to what
he wrote giving his open mind. Perhaps if we truly wanted to be impersonal
in our judgements, rather than say "HPB says in the SD" or "Paul Johnson
says in ....." we would simply say that the 'SD' or 'The Masters Revealed'
say such and such. After all those books do not have an open mind.

regards,
Bill

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerald Schueler" <gschueler@earthlink.net>
To: <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: <theos-l@list.vnet.net>
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2002 9:41 AM
Subject: Theos-World Re to Andra - Laziness


> <<<Dear Jerry,
> What kind of laziness are you speaking about that holds us back from
enlightenment?
> In God's Love,
> Andra>>>
>
> Andra, we are all a bit lazy. The Path to enlightenment is difficult, and
requires a great deal of effort to be expended. We must sit and meditate, we
must watch/guard our every thought and word, we must develop compassion, we
must downplay our own ego while emphasizing the egos of others. In short, we
have to change our lifestyle and we have to change our worldview, and even
our personality. All of this takes countless lifetimes. But, and here is the
thing, there is no way to know if we have already done most of this work in
past lives or not, until we start here and now in this life. Probably the
best example of what I am saying is the Tibetan yogic saint and poet,
Milarepa. Milarepa was a black magician who used magic to kill a person in
revenge. He then went on a spiritual quest, encountered a guru, and expended
a huge amount of effort in purification and in changing his entire
personality (developing humility was especially hard for him), etc, until he
reached full enlightenment in a single lifetime (reaching enlightenment in
a single lifetime simply means that most of the work was done in past
lives). Tibetans use him and his life as a good example of what can be done
if one works hard enough and is willing to change. They teach that anyone
who has access to a guru (ie the core teachings) can reach enlightenment is
they are willing to expend the required amount of effort. Any psychologist
or therapist will tell you that changing one's personality or even one's
mental outlook is extremely difficult, but possible.
>
> Jerry S.
> --
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