Theos-Talk Archives (June 2003 Message tt00024)

Wednesday, June 04, 2003

Dear Munise and Friends:

You ask :

"What has to be studied how many times, quality of the interest,
personal
characteristics of the person who studies the contents. Would
that be
defined as "authoritative teaching" ?"


Let us look at something we are all familiar with.

Our home, our body, our mind, memory and thoughts, and our
feelings about things. Then there are: family, our town or
village, the country-side, our nation the world; and finally,
the great space in which all planets, suns and other astronomical
units move and float under laws we have still to discover and
define. All sciences, religions, and philosophies can be
included in this survey -- but we had better focus on the
question at hand.

Does it not require a study of the nature of "belief," and
"faith?"

You might call these the visual, the objective, the tangible --
and to describe them we might use the "scientific way of
analysis." These are said to be "real." We share and exchange
them and our descriptions are found to be pretty much identical.

They all rely on "touchy, feely, see" (sense perception), and on
memory; and records made by ourselves or others. Perhaps we
give great trust to our own memories of what we have seen or
studied. The question of possible variances arises when we look
at what others have done, seen, described or derived by
thought -- such as theory or hypotheses.

Next. So we ask to what extent is it fair and just to rely on
the trustworthiness and accuracy of those records (or
statements) made by others? Once we say "trust ", an element of
doubt (and possibly "skepticism") arises:

Were there any errors in recording?

Was our memory sharp and accurate?

Could any changes have been introduced in those records?

Does trust include the mysterious aspect we call "faith?"

This approach covers most if not all aspects of learning . [
Even dreams, visions and fantasies are reduced to memories as
"pictures" in "tangible" terms. ]

So what is any kind of "authority?"

Is it fact, or is it trust, or is it surrendering one's ability
to be critical to another?

Is it a statement of one who says they are wiser, or who may
actually be WISE ?

Credulity is an accusation usually leveled at those who accept
without adequate scrutiny or study. The average man in a dull
job, or in a hurry, may often accept statements as true because
they trust the "source". Thus our media, the news,, magazines,
books, TV, etc. and politicians, and framers of opinion use this
momentary inattention of individuals to impress them with some
"message." True -- or false.

Sometimes in this category of offering vague and unproven
theories are those classified as those who deal with myths,
legends, and those who cross question religion (heretics) and
science in their pronouncements.

The student of Theosophy is an independent mind who deems it his
right to inquire -- so that any statement may be found (by him or
her) to be logical, common-sense and accurate. His particular
"genius" is to bring together all known factors so that there is
a synthesis of harmony visible in any statement. This gives him
a basis for rating the "truth-accuracy" of any statement.

Fundamental basics, and later developments are thus brought
together for the consideration of present matters. Nothing is
"taken for granted" by such a student. Yes, it requires deep
study and also meditation -- that is, the assembly of all
relevant factors. [If one is new at this, it seem tedious and
time-consuming. But if it has been used for a along time, the
actual work of assembly and comparison is almost instantaneous as
though accomplished in a flash.] Have you ever read PATANJALI'S
YOGA SUTRAS YOGA SUTRAS ? He gives a survey of the powers of
the Mind. Very valuable. [ Available through Blavatsky.net ]

Study and scrutiny are the basis for verification of claims made
by "authority." One is less concerned with the proven accuracy
of facts found and declared. The main problem comes with accepta
nce or inquiry into theories and hypothesis extended to account
for separate but related facts.

You may say we have learned since childhood to trust our teachers
and our textbooks. We trust our priests and our religion to be
"true." So much is built in our lives from our earliest days on
trusting others. We do it automatically. We trust each others'
words and letters. We trust the laws of science. We trust
politicians, etc...We trust news-papers and books, and the radio
and the TV... They all offer "authoritative facts." Do they ?
How many times have things been altered? But also, who among us
recalls the errors made; and who among us has developed a
healthy skepticism for present claims and "promises?"

Where can we find proofs? Where is truth practised and offered
for examination ?

Are we encouraged to think independently? Are we taught the
first elements of thinking as a free independent process? Are we
taught to be critical and demand proof?

Let me include here a few notes of importance:

"The Authority which we recognize is not what men term authority,
which comes from outside and which demands obedience, but an
internal recognition of the value of that which flows through any
given point, focus, or individual. This is the authority of
one's Self-discrimination, intuition, the highest intellection.
If we follow what we recognize in that way, and still find it
good, we naturally keep our faces in that direction. This means
no slavish following of any person--a distinction which some are
unable to grasp. H.P.B. wrote: "Do not follow me or my path.
Follow the path I show, the Masters who are behind"...the most
and best anyone can do is to follow the lines laid down by H.P.B.
regardless of any others." F. P. p. 372-3 ==
[REMINISCENCES - C. Wachtmeister p. 122 ]


"There is a very great difference between the Theosophical
Movement and any Theosophical Society. The Movement is moral,
ethical, spiritual, universal, invisible save in effect, and
continuous. A Society formed for theosophical work is a visible
organization, an effect, a machine for conserving energy and
putting it to use; It is not nor can it be universal, nor is it
continuous...

The Theosophical Movement being continuous, it is to be found at
all times and in all nations. Wherever thought has struggled to
be free, wherever spiritual ideas, as opposed to forms and
dogmatism, have been promulgated, there the great movement is to
be discerned."
WQJ - "THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT"	WQJ Articles, II, p. 124


"But let no man set up a popery instead of Theosophy, as this
would be suicidal and has ever ended most fatally. We are all
fellow-students, more or less advanced; but no one belonging
to the T.S. ought to count himself as more than that, at best, a
pupil-teacher--one who has no right to dogmatize." --
1888 --	--HPB "Five Messages to the Amer. Theosophists," p. 4


"It is above everything important to keep in mind that no
theosophical book acquires the least additional value from
pretended authority."	S D I p. xix


"It is just because we have devoted our whole life to the
research of truth...that we never accept on faith any authority
upon any question whatsoever; nor, pursuing, as we do, Truth and
progress through a full and fearless enquiry, untrammeled by any
consideration, would we advise any of our friends to do
otherwise." --HPB "Notes on 'A Land of Mystery'" HPB Art III
342-3; Theosophist, Vol. 1, p. 278-9


"Be what he may, once that a student abandons the old and
trodden highway of routine, and enters upon the solitary path of
independent thought--Godward--he is a Theosophist; an original
thinker, a seeker after the eternal truth with "an inspiration of
his own" to solve the universal problems."
-- HPB " What are the Theosophists ?" Theosophist, Oct. 1879.
HPB Art. I p. 52


"Its [Theosophical] doctrines, if seriously studied, call forth,
by stimulating one's reasoning powers and awakening the inner in
the animal man, every hitherto dormant power for good in us, and
also the perception of the true and the real, as opposed to the
false and the unreal.

"The Society, as such, has no authorities. It was founded with
the object of breaking down that reliance upon "authority" which
has been the bane of man for ages, and it would be strange now in
we could admit authority for theosophists...We are engaged in
trying to develop a truer appreciation of the Light of Life which
is hidden in every man, and so the "final authority" is the man
himself."	-- WQJ "Authority," The Path, Nov. 1887, WQJ Art.
II 543, 575

-----------------------

Best wishes,

Dallas

============================

-----Original Message-----
From: Munise
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 1:39 AM
To:
Subject: What is authoritative teaching?

Dear All,

Through my learning/expressing process of the topics that are
discussed
here, I had met people that has defined rules for the
learning/expressing
process. Like making comments on

What has to be studied how many times, quality of the interest,
personal
characteristics of the person who studies the contents. Would
that be
defined as "authoritative teaching" ?

(I need to confess that I love my
freedom, so I won't make any comments from myself.)

Best regards

Munise

From: 1st. series SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION

"Some members have taken the statements of these syllabuses as
being didactic and authoritative teachings. They should not be
so taken as they are merely analyses of theosophical subjects
made
by different persons and are intended simply as suggesting
certain lines of thought, study, and work.

They are an attempt to fill a long-felt need among the Branches
and to give each center a good outline for discussion at its
meetings; but nothing more is intended, and they should not be
taken as authoritative." --	W Q J