Theos-Talk Archives (October 2002 Message tt00097)

In a message dated 10/10/02 1:59:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
brianmuehlbach@yahoo.com writes:

> Subj: Theos-World Basic position/overview.
> Date: 10/10/02 1:59:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time
> From: brianmuehlbach@yahoo.com (brianmuehlbach)
> Reply-to: <A HREF="mailto:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com";>
theos-talk@yahoogroups.com</A>
> To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
> 
> Therapies and do-it-yourself projects display one of the key 
> characteristics of a discourse in the Foucaultean sense of the word: to 
> protect the boundaries of a given set of doctrines and, by defining who 
> has acceptable opinions, to limit the authority to speak to those who 
> accept the fundamental tenets of the discourse. Past life therapy is one 
> of a set of similar, non-mainstream methods aimed at enhancing faded 
> memories. 
> 
> However, a considerable body of scholarship has demonstrated the 
> fundamental flaw of these methods. Contrary to a widespread 
> contemporary legend, hypnotic techniques do not enhance memory. 
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
> Their main effect is to increase the hypnotic subjects' 
propensity to 
> confabulate, their willingness to accept the hypnotist's 
suggestions, and 
> their conviction that the essentially spurious memories created 
in the 
> therapeutic setting are real. 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dissenting voices that present such 
> experimental research are for obvious reasons are not allowed to speak 
> out in the Esoteric texts. 
====================================
Without going further into the rest of the poster's post. The above 
"separated" paragraph seems to tell us that propensities viz-a viz Desires 
will become "over-extended" (my words) by contact with an element(in this 
case, hypnotism) but, could we very well take the underlying truth and apply 
its implications to our own nature's?
Glibness portrays a facile and deceptive smoothness which can beguile the 
reader with its steady "humm" , perhaps, implying , that , "Gee" it must be 
so, without even so much "the bat of an eye" , so to speak.

Desires. Hmmmph, can't live with them, can't live without'em. However , 
Theosophy says we must "sublimate" these , propensities-desires. Hmmph, 
again, how'll we do dat?

Go to a hypnotist? Eat more veggies?
Write more tracts? Drive faster?
Make more cell phone calls? Jump in a hole? 
Climb a tree? Send more e-mails?

The problem , as by the above, is a very profound and intractable one for 
this current race. What is our real motive? Who is the "evil genius"? or the 
"angelic" host?

Glad Theosophy was around to give us , humans ,some tips.