Theos-Talk Archives (December 2005 Message tt00284)

Hi Paul,

The photos are really charming. 

> "Assumption" is not quite the word; it's a conclusion based on 
> evidence, not an a priori assumption.

Darwinian evidence or DNA evidence? Or something else? Forgive me, I 
am no scientist, just trying to understand your orientation to this 
material. 
> > 
> No, I mean the source texts. Theos-talk is a good example. Some
> participants continually frame discussions of HPB and Theosophy as
> being unique, special, superior, above reproach, yada yada compared to
> everything else. "Mine's better than yours" is inherently dogmatic
> and aggressive. You can find lines like "our doctrine being the only
> true one" and many others like it in the literature. You can also
> find "no religion higher than truth." Which gets noticed depends on
> who does the noticing.

Oh dear, Paul; you expect a lot of us poor old theosophists. After 
all, we're only human (haha) I live in a little theosophical 
community (which I believe you visited once upon a time) and believe 
me, people who come here (including myself) expecting angels instead 
of down and dirty human beings get disappointed real fast. What I 
think is that we (humans) are pretty much all in the same boat. 
Ultimately none of us is any better than the rest. It's one thing to 
seem to understand a principle and to "preach" it, or even just tell 
others about it. But living it? That's entirely something else. In a 
small community it seems we take turns being the "teacher," euphemism 
for the bad actor, and everyone else gets to practice (or not) 
tolerance and forgiveness. The same could be said for life in 
general, I suppose, except that it's not as obvious outside of a 
crucible. 
>
> Sure, but some settings are more conflict-ridden than others and give
> more opportunity for mischief. Cyberspace, as you suggested, is a
> "place" with abundant opporunities for showing the less noble human
> traits. Yet there are also fora online that are very bonobo-like,
> supportive, respectful. It takes moderation though!

Doesn't everything?

Happy Holidays to you,

Adelasie