Theos-Talk Archives (December 2004 Message tt00175)

Hi, Khristar.

 

Thanks for the reply.

 

I might have been a little abrupt in my initial response to your post. AndI must apologize if it sounded that way.

 

However, my reply was meant to simply to point out that one must be carefulin “labeling” people without any solid proof and simply basing one’sstrong statement simply based on feelings or initial impressions.

 

I would like to say that I have had my doubts about John Edward and his show when I first saw it. However, after watching more than a few shows and also doing my own investigation, I have come to my own personal conclusion that there might be something to it that “may be worth considering”.  

 

Having had my own psychic experiences and a visit or two from my mother a few days before she died and one day quite a few months after, one cannot totally dismiss this kind of ‘claims” (of contact from the other side) byothers.

 

To my mind, a true skeptic may not totally dismiss something, and label it as fake, simply because the event (too "showy" and smack of a staged show")and the associated concepts, ideas, and experiences does not fall within one’s realm of current understanding and personal experience – whether it is in a laboratory or in personal life. Of course, the issue is always the repeatability of the experience.

 

I am a new theosophist and have only read excerpts of HPB’s writings. (Tomy mind, being able to read and understand HPB’s and other’s writings will require more than one lifetime of experience.). And even then, I don’t fully believe all of HPB’s concepts and ideas but am simply open tothe possibility that HPB’s “descriptions of her approximations of ‘reality’ “ may be true.

 

That is to say, that I do not totally accept the writings of HPB’s, CWL, Ramacharaka, etc, “as gospel truths or the complete and total descriptionof the ultimate reality” by which each and everyone’s experiences and claims must be measured against. I see these writings as “their view of things according to their experience that is worth looking into.”

 

I suggest that one look at these claims and events of the paranormal not with “indifference” (as you have mentioned on your email) but with an “open and truly critical mind”.

 

I am also aware of the criticisms, especially of CSICOP (http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/i-files.html.) I simply did not add it to my list of links in my response to you, since I had the thinking that you are much too much aware of all the negativc criticisms and you might not be aware of the other side of it. To my mind, CSICOP’s point of view (which, of course is always worth looking into) is rather on the negative extreme.

 

And "that" in a nutshell why I replied to your post. I also appreciate your reply and explaining your point of view on the matter.

 

That’s all for now and this will be my last post on the topic.

 

 

Loreto



krishtar <krishtar_a@brturbo.com> wrote: 


Hi Loreto

Well, after reading not so many theosophical books, from CWL to HPB and always trying to put into practise what they claim and experienced, visiting psychic men and women and challenging my natural tendency for a healthy skeptcism, watching the programs of John Edwards ( I thought he was English, sorry for the mistake) it became clear to me that he is kinda trickster.( TO ME )
What he does is a show, because a true psychic doesn´t expose himself as he does and would not even charge about U$500 for a private séance...
If he is a serious person, I don´t know yet, I am still making my researches, so my opinion is not conclusive.
If we pay more atention to the explanations on the after-death states in books from HPB, Yogi Ramacháraka, CWL, Mahatma Letters to AP Sinnet and others, what I conclude is, if he were really contacting the "souls in heaven " as he claims, most of them would be a great amount of Kamarupas and Elementals.
The description he gives alive is too elementary, looks like the first books on spiritualism at the times of Colonel Olcott.
But if you watch the programs with indifference, you can see clearly that something not genuine happens...
Although I believe in the communication between different planes of existence, what Edwards is showing is just his show
Watch out for Cold Reading/John Edwards in the net and you´ll see what I am talking about. 
The link http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-11/i-files.html that Bart sent is also interesting...
Well they´re just my views...

Regards

Krishtar


>>krishtar wrote:


>>Friends

>>I got astonished by the TV show in which the english pseudo-psychic John Edwards
>> claims and ( broadcasts ) his " contacts" with the Dead relatives form his audience... 

>Pseudo-psychic? How do you know? Any proof?

>Besides, John Edwards is not English, he is an American from LonggEyeland (that's 
>the usual local pronunciation of Long Island by the locals. Tell them that, and they will 
>respond with, "Really? Nooo. I don't say it that way. I say 'Long Island' ")



>>The men are promulgating the same teachings and POV´s from the kardecist 
>>spiritists...but using trickery to atract the attention.


>Trickery? Again, how do you know? Any proof?

>The reason I am asking this is not to attack you. But simply asking for proof. 

>For a University of Arizona study by Dr. Gary Schwartz on the so-called psychics,
>Including John Edwards, please see http://www.openmindsciences.com/. John 
>Edwards had one of the highest hit percentage among those tested. 


>Some links that has reviews on the book and John Edwards are the ff: 
>http://www.johnedwardfriends.org/links/links-schwartz.shtml

>http://www.openmindsciences.com/hbo-exp.htm


>Loreto




 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]