Theos-Talk Archives (August 2006 Message tt00654)

Re:  Jesuit "philosophers"


Carlos writes:


<Anthony de Mello was a GOOD example of a Jesuit 
priest.  Rather a <theosophist, and openly criticized 
by the Vatican through J. Ratzinger, now 
<the Pope. 


      There may be a few on that side of things that
come
out allright, but one really wonders if they have any
honesty and insight, how in the world they get caught
up in a Personal God scheme.   If they are bright
enough
to see through it, they have to be phonies to stay in
the
organization.  There's quite a few of "the others" of
this
type that know all the right words to mouth on
"brotherhood"
and esoteric philosophy, but something just doesn't
ring
true about what they are saying - they are good
imitators.
I watched part of a catholic service on TV this
morning, 
and find it really amazing at all the hypnosis and
self-hypnosis 
going on to keep reinforcing the external god idea. 
The priest, 
however, seemed sincere, and probably really believes
what
he's saying himself.    As I think (?) it says in the
Maha-cohan
Mahatma Letter, they permanently (?) warp their minds
by forcing themselves to believe something their own
mind
rebels against instinctively, or rationally, and damn
their own
souls to that extent.  There's many that do honest
good work
regardless, separate from the dogma.


Below is an article from Blavatsky Net (there's a
second part)
on the real attitude of official Catholicism to
Blavatsky.

           - jake j.


POPE TO CONDEMN BLAVATSKY? (1998)

An article entitled "ENCYCLICAL ON THE NEW AGE MIGHT 
BE COMING SOON" by Farley Clinton, was published in
the 
May 21, 1998 issue of THE WANDERER (Vol. 131, No.21).
It's 
author, Rev. Farley Clinton, is the Vatican
correspondent to 
THE WANDERER. His article is based on another one
which 
appeared in L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO, the official Vatican

City State newspaper.

Some background: the encyclical by Pope John Paul II
on 
the New Age, Madame Blavatsky, the Masters, etc. has
not 
been issued yet but is imminent. Before an encyclical
is 
issued, L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO usually "preps" the 
faithful by having introductory articles appear in its
pages first.


What is significant about this encyclical is that it
will be the 
first time a Pope has spoken officially about
occultism and 
its various ramifications. We can already get the
general gist 
of what the Pope will say from the article in THE
WANDERER. 
It will be interesting to finally read the Papal
document itself.


So here is the article:



ENCYCLICAL ON THE NEW AGE MIGHT BE COMING SOON 
          by Farley Clinton


Vatican City. The long-expected encyclical from Pope
John 
Paul II about the problem of the New Age movement
today 
may appear fairly soon, as a serious article in 
L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO on May 7th reflects a desire to 
instruct the faithful clearly regarding this subject.


It points out five central Christian beliefs that are
strongly 
denied and attacked in the propaganda of the
fashionable 
books inspired by this movement:


1) The existence of a Creator
2) The reality of prayer to God, a meeting of two
persons, 
which should have the character of adoration, of
petition, of 
thanksgiving offered by the creature to the Creator,
and is 
certainly not mere self-discovery.
3) The reality of human sin and the need of a
Redeemer.
4) The significance of suffering and of death
5) The necessity of love and of work, not mere
thought, to 
change the world.


Contradicting Christian belief, the New Age literature
tends 
more or less to identify God with the world, or to
make the 
world a necessary emanation from God, not His free
creation. 
It knows nothing of the prayer of a creature and a
sinner. It 
proposes "meditation" that is a totally alien kind,
not 
reconcilable with Christian faith.


Christians believe in original sin and in the
sinfulness of all 
of us, consequently they cannot share in the New Age
hope 
that some sort of technique, or concentration, or
union of 
millions of consciousnesses, can save man. They
believe 
in the one Way of salvation, Christ the Son of God
made 
man and introduced into history in order to save man.


The followers of the New Age are led not to accept 
suffering and death but to place their hopes in
expanding 
consciousness, in rebirth, and in techniques believed
to 
achieve these goals, while Christians believe in the
power 
of suffering in union with Jesus Christ crucified. For

Christians, death is a unique event, not an entry to
one of 
a series of reincarnations or spiritual
journeys but the necessary step to enter eternal life.


The article in L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO, written by 
Teresa Osorio Goncalves, traces the origins of this 
popularization of old Oriental religions to the work
of 
occultists in Europe and America in the last century. 
Madame Blavatsky and her Theosophical Society, founded

in New York with the aid of a spiritualist in 1875,
have 
had great influence in leading persons from Christian 
countries to reject the Gospels entirely in favor of
some 
approach to Hinduism, Buddhism, or another heathen
religion.


The rejection of God is central to the movement. 
Madame Blavatsky especially rejected God whom she 
called the "masculine" God, of Israel, of
Christianity, 
and of the Muslims.

"She proposed a return to Hinduism with its cult of a 
mother goddess and its practice of feminine virtues. 
Feminists action was to be continued in the
Theosophical 
Society under the guidance of Annie Besant, a figure
in 
the forefront of the feminist movement."


This modern occultism is difficult to pin down to
definite 
beliefs since it expresses itself in many different
movements. 
But according to Goncalves, there are six teachings 
encountered constantly, as they are the central belief

of the movement.


1) The world is seen as one organic whole.
2) But it is animated by an Energy which is more or 
less like God.
3) There are spiritual entities acting as mediators 
to man.
4) Man by spiritual exercises can control his life
beyond 
death.
5) There is a "perennial wisdom" which precedes every 
religion and every culture and is superior to every
religion.
6) There are "enlightened" spiritual masters one
should follow.

The encyclical in preparation will probably be the
first, 
certainly the most thorough, major document from the 
Church to address the thirst, or the craze, for
Eastern 
spirituality, although the phenomenon is almost 125 
years old in New York.


But false spiritualities linked to the heresies of
Quietism 
and Jansenism flourished a century or more before
being 
censured in Rome, as was the case with other errors.
-----------------------


<Gary,

<An excellent quote of yours, thanks. 

<Anthony de Mello was a GOOD example of a Jesuit
priest.  Rather a 
<theosophist, and openly criticized by the Vatican
through J. Ratzinger, now 
<the Pope. 
<He lived in India. 
<I suggest you go on with the quote for some time
more.  Why not? 
<Regards,   Carlos. 


<De:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
<Para:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
<Data:Fri, 25 Aug 2006 08:59:44 -0500
<Assunto:Theos-World Aug. 25, Todays Quote

> Said the Master to the businessman: "As the fish
perishes on dry 
<land, so you perish when you get entangled in the
world. The fish must 
<return to the water--you must return to solitude."
> 
> The businessman was stunned. "Must I give up my
business and go into 
a monestery?"
> 
> "No,no. Hold on to your business and go into your
heart."
---------------------------------

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