Theos-Talk Archives (April 2006 Message tt00336)

Hi there, I'm Vince and I am new to the group.  I have recently been
attending the Theosophical Society of Wheaton, Illinois for the past
few months, and have been  enjoying the various teachings and 
discussions at that facility.

My life has been rich with metaphysical experiences, but the
Christian Fundamentalist churches that I had previously attended for
twenty years got very judgmental towards me when I might venture to
reference anything supernatural.  I also began finding many 
inconsistencies with the way that many Christians were representing 
the Bible, and my questions about Christianity were often deemed 
dangerous to people's religious faith.

I am looking for a place in the Theosophical Society wherein I may
potentially freely discuss metaphysical issues as they directly
pertain to my life, with people who are more open to such
discussions.  I am very well read with the Bible, although my
interpretations of it are more metaphysical versus orthodox.

I look forward to constuctive discussion with the people here, and
would like to learn more about the Theosophical Society and it's
perspectives, insofar as many of them are brand new to me.

----

WHY I ATTEND THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WHEATON, ILLINOIS

Actually, my primary intent for recently getting involved with the
Theosophical Society of Wheaton, Illinois has mostly to do with 
having a place wherein I may freely believe what I already do, and 
learn new things of a metaphysical content as well.

When I was formerly involved with Christian fundamentalist churches,
I found myself judged and restricted whenever attempting to bring up
metaphysical concepts in open discussion format.  I was told that I
was not being 'doctrinal', and that my metaphysical experiences
were 'demonic', insofar as they were not strictly aligned with
Christian doctrine.

However, my initial impression of the Theosophical Society is that
it is accepting of a variety of religious traditions, and not solely
specific to HPB's writings.  It is more wholistic.  Please correct
me if I am wrong on this.

----

I'M WRITING ABOUT MY METAPHYSICAL EXPERIENCES

I've already poured many thousands of hours into various 
metaphysical texts over the last twenty years, and have therefore 
arrived at a very complex and advanced metaphysical belief system as 
a result.  At this time, I am undertaking the attempt to write a 
volume as large as HPB's, and therefore cannot dedicate fully 
researching a brand new text.

I suggest that there exist the roles of teachers whose specific task
is to dispense information to others, if they do not have the
immediate time and energy to gather it for themselves.  I'm not
saying that direct readings of HPB lack value in any way.  That's
just not where I'm at right now.

Currently, I engage in trance conditioning through natural
physiological disciplines, without the use of chemical modifiers.
This means that I interact directly with spirit entities, seeing
them and hearing them when I enter into trance.  And this is the
level from whence my writings will manifest inspiration.  I am just
curious to see what degree of alignment exists between HPB's
writings and my own belief system at this time, so I'd like to learn
more through those gifted teachers and students of HPB.

----

ABSOLUTE TRUTH VERSUS OCCULT MYSTERY

I'm just trying to understand what I can about Theosophy, insofar as
it is new to me.  HPB's writings are so extensive in such large
volumes that I'm honestly a little bit daunted as to where to begin,
so I'm likely going to be relying on secondary abridgments for
awhile.  In other words, someone's probably going to have to teach
it to me in the form of abridged quotes, before I get into extensive
reading of the core volumes.

Christians claim that the Bible contains 'absolute truth', both
inerrant and infallible.  But this then leaves those portions of
universal truth concerning which we lack a firm and total grasp.
Namely 'occult' truth, or anything which has not been declared to
be 'absolute truth' by the Christian community.  Hence universal
truth may potentially be subdivided into categories of 'absolute
truth' and 'occult truth'.  Of course, I don't believe that any of
us really has a firm grasp on 'absolute truth' in the first place,
insofar as our minds are mortal, and we commonly have errors
somewhere in every belief that we hold, whether small or great.
Hence so many different biblical interpretations among Christians.

Blessings

Vince