Theos-Talk Archives (March 2002 Message tt00272)

For the record, I will say again what has been said many times 
already, in the hope that it may be of interest to some people on 
this list:

On 12 Mar 2002 at 15:15, bri_mue wrote:

> Dallas: "the Mahatma, in one of the letters
> published in the Occult World, says that matter is
> indestructible "
> 
> Brig.: I showed clearly in my postings the previous 4 days that this
> is dualism and spiritual materialism at best, including that it defies
> all common sense. Dallas on the other hand still has not provided any
> proof reg, anything of what he posted the last 4 days, just over and
> over the same copied quotes that have been appearing on this list many
> times over. List members have to take it solely on faith and belief.

Faith and belief are very fine qualities, but it is not recommended 
or required that theosophical students accept anything on such 
authority alone. It is recommended over and over that such students 
study, live, apply the lessons they learn to their own lives, apply 
their consciousness to understanding themselves and the world in the 
light of these teachings, and arrive at their own knowledge by this 
process. 

It is not possible to prove anything to someone who will not accept 
at least the possibility that it may have merit. You, for instance, 
have not proven any of your theories to me, no matter how many words 
you spend in the attempt, since they are theories I have already 
considered and rejected. They do not interest me, not because I have 
closed my mind to them before considering them, but because I have 
already found them useless in my quest for understanding.

However, this does not mean that I think your theories have no merit 
for yourself or others. I do not find it necessary to tell you that 
you are wrong, nor to try to convince you that you should think like 
I do, nor do I find it necessary to say that my way of understanding 
is better than yours. It is just different.

Dallas and others reliably provide material on this list that is 
meaningful and enlightening to me. It may not be so to you, but that 
makes sense,. since your approach to the study of theosophy is quite 
different from that of others, mine, for instance. But if you are 
hoping to be convinced by some incontrovertable proof that something 
you believe to be nonsense is actually true, you are doomed to 
disappointment. I just doesn't work that way. 

If, on the other hand, you are trying to prove to people like me, who 
value the postings of Dallas and other serious theosophical students, 
that their offerings are nonsense (defy common sense, as you put it), 
you are wasting your time. I do not find such postings to lack common 
sense at all. Quite the opposite. They contain common and 
transcendent sense to a degree that I find very helpful. 

Adelasie