Theos-Talk Archives (January 2003 Message tt00459)

Thank you Zack and James,

Your words are very calm and comforting... the midway point, a 
magical place in deed.

In my own experiences in life I have proved that the quality of 
meekness does grow out of fierceness ... however meager it, my 
meekness, seems to be at times. And, I wonder, when will this 
meekish quality ever inherit the earth? It seems not likely for a 
while <she muses>. But, someday, inch by inch, I believe this 
meekish quality will gain on fiercenss and supersede it.... there is 
no other way. Truly the quality of meekness belongs to an immortal 
being.

And so.... as a lover of beautiful words and thoughts (of Divine 
ideas)... the verbiage and thoughts here, at times, seem intensely 
severe and abrasive. And I deeply regret my sympathy and 
participation with them. And, so, to all of you in whom I wrongly 
effected in anyway with my words, I offer my deepest apology <she sez 
with great sincerity>. 

And, too, I offer this reminder, any great Master or Adept is always 
uneffected by their environment, is this not also a requirement of 
every disciple? Else, how will a disciple ever be in rapport with a 
Mahatma? 

Most sincerely,
Suzanne

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Zack Lansdowne" <zackl@s...> 
wrote:
> 
> James,
> 
> I like what you have written in your various recent messages, 
including the
> following:
> 
> 
> >At the root of it, I think, is the love of form at the expense of
> >essence.
> 
> >"Men are idolaters, and want something to look at and kiss and 
hug, or
> >throw themselves down before; they always did, they always will, 
and
> >if you don't make it of wood, you must make it of words."
> >(Oliver Wendell Holmes)
> 
> >"We cannot let our angels go. We do not see that they only go out
> >that archangels may come in. We are idolaters of the old."
> >(Emerson)
> 
> 
> My sense is that progress on the spiritual journey occurs as we
> progressively relinquish what we had once relied on. So, for 
instance, if
> we are relying on a spiritual teacher to tell us what to do, sooner 
or later
> we will have to leave that teacher; if we are relying on a set of 
books
> (whether the Bible, HPB's books, or AAB's books) to tell us what to 
think,
> sooner or later we will have to find our answers through our own 
inquiry
> rather than simply quote what someone else has written.
> 
> Krishnamurti (in "Freedom from the Known") points out that we will 
even have
> to give up the authority of our own past experiences: "Having 
realised that
> we can depend on no outside authority in bringing about a total 
revolution
> within the structure of our own psyche, there is the immensely 
greater
> difficulty of rejecting our own inward authority, the authority of 
our own
> particular little experiences and accumulated opinions, knowledge, 
ideas and
> ideals."
> 
> What I do not understand in this ongoing verbal war between some 
followers
> of HPB and some followers of AAB is why there is a war at all. In 
both
> HPB's and AAB's writings, I have personally found some words to be
> inspiring, other words that I have disagreed with, other words that 
I have
> not understood, and still other words that I have found, for me, 
to be
> unimportant and a waste of my time. I am sure that there are areas 
of
> disagreement between HPB and AAB, but I have found many areas of 
agreement.
> I am grateful that I have had access to both sets of writings. I 
agree with
> both HPB and AAB when they say that truth (or Theosophy) is 
ineffable, that
> all words are at best symbols of truth, but not the truth itself. 
So, why
> are we so fanatical about sets of words that, sooner or later, we 
will
> outgrow and relinquish?
> 
> 
> Zack Lansdowne