Theos-Talk Archives (February 2002 Message tt00401)

Dear Paul,
Since I am fairly new to Theosophy, I have not been privy to your "take"
on Cayce. Is it possible to access some of the previous posts where I can
tune in to your thoughts? Which Cayce are you referring to? I was thinking
about Edgar Cayce.
Andra

-----Original Message-----
From: kpauljohnson <kpauljohnson@yahoo.com>
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, February 11, 2002 10:03 AM
Subject: Theos-World Mind-changing


>--- In theos-talk@y..., "Bill Meredith" <bilmer@s...> wrote:
>
>> 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?
>
>All the time in small ways; recently in a very large one.
>
> Would changing one's mind or position indicate the presence
>> of an open mind?
>>
>Hope so.
>
>A small sense: Steve's ideas about the Liatto story intrigue me and
>while I read it and wrote about it without seeing what he sees in
>Olcott's account, now that he points it out it seems worth pursuing.
>Plenty of times on this list, someone will come up with something
>(like Alexis's theory about the Maharaja of Varanasi being one of the
>Masters) that makes me think, "Gee, that makes sense; wish I'd a
>thought of that."
>
>A big sense: Adelasie pretty much stopped my current writing project
>in its tracks. I intended to be working very hard, cranking out lots
>of pages of family/regional history this winter and having a finished
>manuscript with a couple to three years. But all that reproach about
>being an insensitive debunker with a low level of spiritual awareness
>reawakened basic feelings of being scared at how people would react
>to anything I write. The positive upshot of that is the realization
>that if I spend 6-8 years doing research and getting a deep grounding
>in the region and the family's history, the book will be much more
>worthwhile than if I hurry with a much more superficial and "more
>objective" account.
>
>In other words, I won't write any more in the genre in which my
>previous books were written, because a more emic approach seems more
>appropriate this time around, and getting repeatedly bashed for
>writing etically was what stopped me in my tracks.
>
>>
>> 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)?
>
>Absolutely not in my case!
>
> 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.
>>
>Good thought!
>
>My last book would come closer to a revelation of how I think, and
>what I consider important, than any of the ones on HPB. No
>Theosophist appears to have incorporated it into their sense of
>what "Johnson" is about. And yet my take on Cayce has evolved since
>1998, too.
>
>Paul
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>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Gerald Schueler" <gschueler@e...>
>> To: <theos-talk@y...>
>> Cc: <theos-l@l...>
>> 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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>> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
>http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>> >
>> >
>> >
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>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>