Theos-Talk Archives (February 2002 Message tt00420)

<<<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. >>>

Well, yeah, we all claim that, I think.


<<< I am trying to ascertain whether I do in fact have an open mind to new ideas and concepts. How shall I know? >>>

When someone posts a message to you that your initial gut reaction to is something like "Damn, thats the stupidest thing I ever heard, and how can that so-and-so think such a dumb thing in this day and age?" then you can rest assured that your mind is not all that open. If your initial reaction is something like "My goodness, that poor person is wandering about in total ignorance, maybe I should enlighten him/her" then your mind is probably somewhat open. :-)


<<<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? >>>

No, I hear all kinds of crap, and I used to respond with "bullshit" and other not-nice terminology. I try not to do that any more. I may not have a more open mind, but at least I am more civil.


<<< 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?>>>

Yes it would. Has anyone on this list changed their worldview from a post? Probably not. Has anyone learned something? Well, I have. And Daniel and others have corrected me on occassion - I freely admit that I am not yet infallible, for which I am grateful. 


<<<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)? >>>

Yeah, I think that this would be fair - unless the author publically dis-acknowledges his own work. This happens sometimes.


<<<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. >>>

Well, had I to do my own books over again, I would certainly make some changes. I agree with my critics on some things, and wish I could write them over again. Also, we have to remember that English was not Blavatsky's best language.


<<<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>>>

Good idea.

Jerry S.


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