Theos-Talk Archives (March 2007 Message tt00127)

Hello Adelaise,

You wrote :

"If you wish to point to one or another individual and make them 
wrong or to blame for what you
perceive is wrong, I submit that you are moving in the direction that 
eventually produced the Inquisition in the Christian church."
------------------------------------------------------

I would ask you then how can someone interested in taking an 
objective approach to theosophical history and teachings proceed?

It's my understanding that what the church tried to do during the 
inquisition was to stifle any descent within the ranks and society at 
large.

That meant saying nothing critical about the church, its teachings or 
the Pope's and Bishops pronouncements in other words they wanted 
submission, conformity and obedience.

This is not so much the case now in academic circles within the 
Church where there is a high level of academic standards and very 
diverse opinions.

Scholarly criticism is necessary both for teachings and history if an 
institution is to have any real credibility; this by default means 
that critique is a necessary part of that process.

Diversity does not mean conformity it means allowing very different 
and diverse opinions and points of view to be tolerated not 
necessarily believed or liked but rather respecting the right for 
each individual to have their own unique point of view without any 
coercion or a feeling of the need to conform in order to avoid being 
ostracised.

I hope I haven't misunderstood your point !
If I have perhaps you can clarify.

Regards

Perry

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "adelasie" <adelasie@...> wrote:
>
> Altruism means putting the welfare of others above your own 
personal 
> welfare and benefit. Karma is the law of balance, adjusting 
> constantly the imbalances caused by humanity choosing to ignore the 
> law of nature that determines everything. If you wish to point to 
one 
> or another individual and make them wrong or to blame for what you 
> perceive is wrong, I submit that you are moving in the direction 
that 
> eventually produced the Inquisition in the Christian church. This 
is 
> not what theosophy is about. Quite the opposite. We need not 
concern 
> ourselves with the iniquities of others. We have quite enough 
> learning to control our own iniquitous behavior. HPB was a high 
> adept, under the direct guidance of the Masters. Comparing our 
> behavior to hers, or  justifying ours by saying that this is what 
she 
> did, shows a lack of understanding of the message she was trying to 
> get across. What would she say about one of her students saying 
that 
> it's ok to trash one of the early theosophists because that is what 
> HPB would have done? Ridiculous. Theosophical history is full of 
her 
> turning the other cheek in her personal life. She had work to do 
and 
> we may as well try to follow what she taught. It would save a lot 
of 
> time and energy.
> 
> Adelasie
> 
> On 6 Mar 2007 at 14:57, Cass Silva wrote:
> 
> > Good point Adelasie, and one which I believe should have been 
directed at Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater.
> > Altruism is selfless concern for the welfare of others.
> >   Isn't Karma itself living life in ignorance, repeating or 
repairing past judgements? 
> >   HPB had no concern for the welfare of the Roman Catholic Papacy 
and others she considered to be a blight on human development.
> >   I believe that before we can be altruistic to others we need to 
understand what true altruism is.  Besant created far more karma for 
the theosophical society by introducing an altruistic approach to 
christianity.  No?
> >   Cass
> >    
> >    
> >   adelasie <adelasie@...> wrote:
> >           Where I live we say "Creeds disappear, Hearts remain." 
This or that 
> > creed is only the limited attempt to materialize the eternally 
> > immaterial, which always results in some sort of distortion. But 
it 
> > would seem that karma decrees that humanity continue to make 
creeds 
> > out of eternal truth until we learn that spirituality cannot be 
> > reduced to cant. Or, until we realize that our work in the world 
is 
> > altruism, rather than self-aggrandizement.
> > 
> > Adelasie
> >
>