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Re: Theos-World Standard of Truth?

Jan 14, 2003 08:24 AM
by adelasie


Thanks, Zack,

Anytime we can successfully concentrate on what unites us instead of 
what separates us, we are making some progress.

Adelasie

On 14 Jan 2003 at 6:47, Zack Lansdowne wrote:

> There has been much debate in recent days about whose doctrine is
> true: HPB versus AAB; ancient Hindu scriptures versus HPB; HPB versus
> Besant and Leadbeater. Members on this list have pointed out that
> there are clear differences between the writings or doctrines of these
> various authorities.
> 
> Here, I would like to emphasize an area of AGREEMENT among different
> writers.
> 
> In "The Key to Theosophy", published in 1889, H. P. Blavatsky saw two
> possible futures for the TS. On the one hand, she described its
> possible failure: "Every such attempt as the Theosophical Society has
> hitherto ended in failure, because, sooner or later, it has
> degenerated into a sect, set up hard-and-fast dogmas of its own, and
> so lost by imperceptible degrees that vitality which living truth
> alone can impart. You must remember that all our members have been
> bred and born in some creed or religion, that all are more or less of
> their generation both physically and mentally, and consequently that
> their judgment is but too likely to be warped and unconsciously
> biassed by some or all of these influences. If, then, they cannot be
> freed from such inherent bias, or at least taught to recognise it
> instantly and so avoid being led away by it, the result can only be
> that the Society will drift off on to some sandbank of thought or
> another, and there remain a stranded carcass to moulder and die."
> 
> That is a very vivid image: "a stranded carcass to moulder and die." 
> But what if the aforementioned danger can be averted? In this case,
> HPB predicted: "Then the Society will live on into and through the
> twentieth century. It will gradually leaven and permeate the great
> mass of thinking and intelligent people with its large-minded and
> noble ideas of Religion, Duty, and Philanthropy. Slowly but surely it
> will burst asunder the iron fetters of creeds and dogmas, of social
> and caste prejudices; it will break down racial and national
> antipathies and barriers, and will open the way to the practical
> realisation of the Brotherhood of all men."
> 
> So, Blavatsky, in 1889, made two quite different predictions for the
> Theosophical Society in the 20th Century: she says that it might set
> up "hard-and-fast dogmas of its own" and then become "a stranded
> carcass to moulder and die"; or it might "burst asunder iron fetters
> of creeds and dogmas" leading to "the practical realisation of the
> Brotherhood of all men." Which outcome has occurred?
> 
> Next, let us turn to Alice A. Bailey. In "A Treatise on White Magic",
> first published in 1934, AAB wrote:
> 
> "All that is possible for me is to grope for those feeble words which
> will somewhat clothe the thought. As they clothe it they limit it and
> I am guilty of creating new prisoners who must ultimately be released.
> All books are prison houses of ideas."
> 
> Here AAB is pointing out that even her own books are "prison houses of
> ideas." The purpose of her books was to free her readers from past
> dogmas that had become barriers to their spiritual progress. But if
> her readers turn her own books into hard-and-fast dogmas, as many of
> her readers have done, then they have become prisoners of those books
> who must be freed by future writers.
> 
> One of the most popular contemporary teachings on spirituality is A
> Course in Miracles (ACIM). As many of you might know, ACIM was
> channelled allegedly from the Master Jesus, was first published in
> 1975, and has sold several million copies. Today, more students are
> probably studying ACIM than the books of HPB and AAB combined. I,
> myself, led a ACIM study group for many years at the Theosophical
> Society in Boston. Here, is what ACIM says: "Words are but symbols
> of symbols. They are thus twice removed from reality." And yet
> several ACIM organizations are now fighting each other over the proper
> interpretation of the ACIM words, with bitter lawsuits and legal
> attempts to destroy or prevent opposing interpretations from even
> being published.
> 
> I think that HPB, AAB, and ACIM are telling us the same thing: 
> namely, it is a mistake to turn any written doctrine into a
> hard-and-fast dogma, or standard of truth. This message was
> especially emphasized by Krishnamurti who wrote in "Krishnamurti's
> Journal": "One has to be a light to oneself ... To be a light to
> oneself is not to follow the light of another, however reasonable,
> logical, historical, and however convincing."
> 
> Zack Lansdowne
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
> 





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