Theos-Talk Archives (December 2002 Message tt00196)

This post brought a smile to my face because as much as I love 
Theosophy and its universal code, I have to accept that large parts of 
it still require a leap of faith. We hope . . . but we can't say for 
sure. It's theory. Cool thing, though, is that Theosophy's moral code 
can stand alone, without all the esoteric philosophy that accompanies 
it. Hope this makes sense . . .

I think this quote from Annie puts things in perspective a bit, at 
least it does for me:

"Our sense of reality is an entire delusion; we know nothing of 
things, of people, as they are; all that we know of them are the 
impressions they make on our senses, and the conclusions, often 
erroneous, which our reason deduces from the aggregate of these 
impressions."

"We live in the midst of illusions, but have the feeling of reality, 
and this yields us content."

"One thing which produces the feeling of reality in earth-life is that
we look at it from within, under the full sway of its illusions."
-- Annie Besant, from The Ancient Wisdom

Normally don't have a lot of time to be answering posts, but have been 
off for a few days and the temperature is hitting -2F in these parts. 
This is the warmest spot in the house.

Cheers
oldescott


--- In theos-talk@y..., "kpauljohnson" <kpauljohnson@y...> wrote:
> --- In theos-talk@y..., "Bill Meredith" <bill_meredith@e...> wrote:
> > 
> > He knows everything! You don't even have to ask him. He'll tell 
> you. He is the one who is "qualified or capable of helping others or 
> of deciding who is or is not capable of doing so."
> > 
> Not to pick on Wry particularly, I find a certain kind of ideological 
> self-confidence fascinating. It abounds on this list. Dallas has 
> it, Leon has it, Daniel has it, Brigitte has it, but other people 
> here I find much more sympatico like Steve and Bart have some too. 
> Can't honestly say it's enviable, other than with a big, 
> counterfactual if. That is, I only wish I had such self-confidence 
> if it might be picked up and put down at will, as needed. But people 
> who have such confidence in whatever they believe -- and therefore in 
> themselves as arbiters of truth-- generally seem more burdened by it 
> than liberated. Which makes me wonder if the bluster and 
> intimidation of "I've got the answers and you better be prepared to 
> defend yourself if you try to contradict them" masks an insecurity 
> deeper than my own. Maybe it takes a certain existential security to 
> be willing to adopt the stance "how much does anyone really know 
> about anything anyhow?" That is, if you're secure in other 
> dimensions, maybe you don't need as much the security of having all 
> the answers.
> 
> Paul, doubting the wisdom of posting this