Theos-Talk Archives (April 2004 Message tt00629)

krishtar wrote:

> Bart
>
> Why donīt Hare Krishna and other similar hindu movements agree and belive not in the TS masters and their teachings and also in the truth of their letters?
Without wanting to be deprecatory, I have friends who have been both 
ISCKON devotees (living on one of their Ashrams) and theosophists, and 
in their view the two are not incompatible -- however, the basis of the 
Hare Krishna movement seems to be the Yogic path of the Bakhta, which 
means achieving bliss consciousness through chanting and surrender of 
the personal ego, partly through the suppression of rational or at least 
negatively critical thought (remember the dictum that the Mind is the 
Slayer of the Real), while the Theosophical approach may perhaps be 
described more as Jnana Yoga, the path of the knower or occultist.

In the latter, the danger of the Ego is no less real, and any hint of 
selfhood can taint the occult path and lead down ways that can only 
result in highly educative karma. The only true touchstone is a 
constant recognition of the unreality of the personal self.

So, chant and be happy, or study and learn to apply your knowledge in a 
way that dissolves the ego.

cheers
Paul