Theos-Talk Archives (October 2006 Message tt00258)

Nice guys who really aren't


    A problem with all of us in our lower 
nature is that we are easily fooled.  We 
want to have friendly relations with 
other people if given the chance.  This 
is good in one way, and not in another.  
We get our emotions appealed to and go 
belly-up with our discrimination, we 
get fooled.  Apealing to the emotions 
is an Ability.  Someone can appeal to 
one's friendly emotions on purpose, with 
the object of getting some money (the 
proverbial used-car salesman), or our 
good opinion or vote (the politician with 
self-seeking motivations.)  A good "smoozer" 
can make you believe almost anything.  Its 
a certain type of mesmeric ability.  Maybe 
the person really believes his line of BS, 
but there is still the ability to paralyze 
the discrimination of someone else by 
using the emotions.  There's an account 
of one such type in the MLs:


     "...As to teaching the 'highest morality,' 
we have a Dugpa-Shammar not far from where 
I am residing.  Quite a remarkable man.  
Not very powerful as a sorcerer but excessively 
so, as a drunkard, a thief, a liar, and 
- an orator.  In the latter _role_ he could 
give points to and beat Messrs. Gladstone, 
Bradlaugh, and even the Rev. H.W. Beacher 
- than whom, there is no more eloquent 
preacher of morality, and no greater breaker 
of his Lord's Commandments in the U.S.A.  
This Shapa-tung Lama, when thirsty, can 
make an enormous audience of 'yellow-cap' 
laymen [[gelugpa buddhists]] weep all their 
yearly supply of tears, with the narrative 
of his repentance and suffering in the 
morning, and then get drunk in the evening 
and rob the whole village by mesmerising 
them into a dead sleep."  (MLs, p 133, TUP)

                - jake j.
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