Theos-Talk Archives (November 2004 Message tt00082)

M. Sufilight, 

You wrote:

"I sometimes think that clinging way too 
much to old scriptures written before 
1950 creates such a tendency."

"What do all of you readers think? 
Is such an attitude theosophical?"

"I personally think, that it can 
only reach the level of being
pseudo-theosophical."

Why is 1950 the cut-off date????

Why not 1975 or 2000? or.... 

So should one ignore the Bhagavad Gita or
the Upanishads or the YogaSutras or
the Dhammapada or the Zohar or the Old
Testament or the Koran or the Tibetan Book
of the Dead? They are certainly
older than 1950!

My goodness, the Secret Doctrine by
HPB is very new in comparison to those
"relics" from centuries ago!

There may be a forward march
and progression of ideas. But in "spiritual" ideas
can we somehow say that is too "old" or "too
ancient"?

At the same time I'm not saying you shouldn't 
read new material.

I am looking at my bookshelves where
I have a good number of volumes dated
since 1950!

Books on reincarnation by Ian Stevenson,
books by Mircea Eliade, books like
UP FROM EDEN by Ken Wilbur, books
on parapsychology like the one
by Michael Schmicker, books by
George Feurstein, ROOTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
by Jeffrey Mishlove, book by Rossner
IN SEARCH OF THE PRIMORDIAL TRADITION,
THE IMPRISONED SPLENDOUR by Raynor Johnson,
THE SUPREME ADVENTURE by Robert Crookall,
THE BUDDHA FROM DOLPO by Stearns,
THE BUDDHA WITHIN by Hookham,
THE BELIEF IN A LIFE AFTER DEATH by
C.J. Ducasse, THE WISDOM OF THE ZOHAR,
3 volumes, books by Joseph Campbell
to name but a few, very few books that
have helped me better understand Theosophy.
I think all of these have been written since
1950.

Daniel
http://hpb.cc