Theos-Talk Archives (June 2003 Message tt00243)

Morten Nymann Olesen wrote:
> 1.
> > Bart wrote:
> > "The following will almost only interest the more earnest students of
> >Theosophy."
> > 
> > That doesn't sound the least bit haughty or pretentious to you?
> My Sufilight answer and views:
> No ! You can ASSUME that I have some haughty or pretentious motives. 
> But is
> this
> a theosophical behavior to CLAIM, that I have such motives?
> Is it Bart ? (Please answer.)
I never claimed you had such motives. I said that your messages give the 
APPEARANCE that you have such motives, and, as such, overpower whatever 
else you're saying.

A prominent Theosophical speaker once pointed out to me that there are 
terms which he calls "red flags", because using those terms is like the 
proverbial waving a red flag in front of a bull; once those terms are 
used, they create such a strong negative emotional reaction that 
anything else in the message is lost.

For example, I once reported at a TS meeting that, in scientific 
experiments, those who claimed to be able to travel astrally were not 
able to accurately describe the places where they visited, at least when 
the descriptions could be confirmed. Now, I pointed out, this either 
means that astral travel does not exist, or that the sense being 
interpreted as sight is an entirely difference sense being interpreted 
as sight, and therefore much gets misinterpreted. Therefore, clairvoyant 
visions may be real and highly inaccurate at the same time, due to the 
level of interpretation the viewer puts into it.

What happened was that several members didn't listen to a word I said 
past "does not exist", and started yelling at me as if I had said that 
it doesn't exist, talking about all their favorite holy people who 
claimed to travel astrally. The phrase "astral travel does not exist" 
was a red flag to them; after they heard that, the rest was ignored, 
even though the rest was an attempt to reconcile their points of view 
with the results of experiments.

In your case, the terminology you are using, regardless of your real 
opinions, makes you appear haughty and egotistical. Yes, H. P. Blavatsky 
used similar language sometimes, but the occasions were few and far 
between, and, to a certain extent, she had the right to say them, 
because she was starting the movement. And, to a certain extent, she 
turned off a lot of potential students by using them, as well.

Bart