Theos-Talk Archives (August 2006 Message tt00156)

Dear Adelasie,

Thank you for your comments. I fully agree with you. There is so 
much freedom in Theosophy as a teaching for us to explore, come to 
our own understanding and live a life that is free from separateness 
and its progeny of conflict, fear and isolation. And if it is true 
that there is Theosophy within every religious tradition, if we 
could articulate that in a proper language, we could perhaps help 
many more people to breath the same vast air of freedom and 
discovery that we have in Theosophy. Both in Malaysia and Indonesia, 
which are Muslim countries, people responded to theosophical 
teachings with great interest and appreciation. Is it so because the 
teachings resonate with their own intrinsic understanding of what 
life is?

Best wishes,
Pedro


--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "adelasie" <adelasie@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Pedro,
> 
> If I may jump in...perhaps we could see fundamentalism, of 
whatever 
> religion, as an attempt to get back to the basics. Spiritual 
teaching 
> has a rough time surviving intact in a materialistic culture, such 
as 
> pervades human civilization during this Kali Yuga. Inside every 
human 
> being is that spark of divinity, that inner consciousness of truth 
> and wisdom. We even have a name for it, our "conscience." We can 
all 
> too easily see that simple human values, such as life, liberty and 
> equality, are very effectively perverted and ignored by the 
current 
> trend of materialism, and the inner knower rebels. But we are 
lacking 
> the total teaching, and the average man or woman hasn't got enough 
> information to form adequate understanding. So we are prey to 
those 
> who tell us (perhaps to serve their own agenda) that the answer 
lies 
> in the fundamental approach of this or that religion. This is, 
imho, 
> the intrinsic value of theosophy. It is still quite pure. We have 
> access to the original teaching. We have that needed information, 
> helping us to understand what is true, how things work, why things 
> happen that other wise seem random cruelty.  We have the 
information 
> that allows us to think for ourselves, make up our own minds, 
pursue 
> the course that can really make a difference. 
> 
> Adelasie
> 
> On 3 Aug 2006 at 0:40, pedro oliveira wrote:
> 
> > Bill, greetings from Dreamtime.
> > 
> > As I see the world engulfed once more in the nightmare of war 
and its 
> > ensuing atrocities and unceasing suffering, I feel theos-talk 
can 
> > contribute to a saner perspective about it all by, for example, 
> > inquiring into the following questions:
> > 
> > What is fundamentalism? Where is its source? What nourishes it? 
How 
> > does it maintain its grip on the human mind and heart? Can it 
ever end?
> > 
> > I am not referring here specifically to 'theosophical' 
fundamentalism 
> > only, but fundametalism in itself. In a very enlightening 
interview 
> > in 'Parabola' (Winter 2005), Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one 
of the 
> > most distinguished Islamic scholars in the world today, suggests 
that 
> > the phenomeon of fundamentalism is basically a reaction to 
modernism 
> > as an ideology. In other words, the modern mind with its 
emphasis on 
> > intellect and reason, has tended to treat religion as a 'has 
been', as 
> > a mere romantic-emotional exercise. Therefore, those belonging 
to 
> > traditional religious environments reacted, sometimes violently, 
to 
> > this perceived 'attack' of modernism on their religious 
traditions. 
> > Professor Nasr also points out that the fundamentalistic 
response to  
> > modernism did not come from the mystical dimension of those 
> > traditions, but from the more theologically regimented of its 
members.
> > 
> > May we have your views on the above?
> > 
> > Warm regards,
> > 
> > Pedro
>