Theos-Talk Archives (February 2009 Message tt00182)

Dear Pedro and all,

Find below my next installment with my comments on your article on Krishnamurti and Theosophy:

PO: In spite of the abovementioned differences, there are profound similarities between some aspects of HPB's and Krishnaji's teachings on self-knowledge, the nature of the mind, newness, the self, understanding, true seeing and the timeless experience, among others. This article, however, is not an attempt to reconcile the views of such profoundly different individuals nor to justify why they differed. It is based on the premise that those who found wisdom share a perception of life which is fundamentally similar in its essential aspects for, as it was said of wisdom, `being but one, she can do all things: and remaining in herself, she maketh all things new'.(1) 

[GS: As I shall point out below, even the perceived 'profound similarities' are problematic when thought through in a reasonable manner, even to the extent that the idea that both K and HPB share the essentials of wisdom will find some big challenges. Even if there are some deep and not so deep similarities between K and HPB, a more comprehensive and non-biased study will have to be undertaken that takes into account all the differences between their teachings. Just to see some congruencies and declare them essential and and brush off the differences as non-essential will not do.]

PO: Perhaps students of both HPB's and Krishnaji's teachings may find this present attempt pointless. Some students of HPB's works seem to see Krishnamurti as a messianic invention by both Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater. On the other hand, some Krishnamurti students tend to look at the Theosophical Society as if it was `frozen' in the 1920s while apparently ignoring the fact that it emerged from that turbulent period reinvigorated by its refusal to ascribe authority to any person or any teaching, and by insisting that its members are free to explore the significance of life through their own enquiry. It is possible that wisdom-teachings from different epochs and cultures are indeed in dialogue with each other for they embody aspects of a perennial insight into life's unfathomable depths. The words of the wise may differ but their language is one.

[GS: It's highly debatable if the TS came out of the K-crisis more invigorated. How can you measure that in the face of the fact that membership had gone down because of K (and also because of the depression). My proposed hypothesis is that because of the Krishnamurti-debacle the TS got into, and still is, in a state of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the sub-variant of Battered Wife Syndrome with the TS in the role of the wife who gets (verbally) beaten up by the husband (K) and keeps coming back, even though the verbal abuse continues. For more on that see: "The State of the TS (Adyar) in 2008: A Psycho-esoteric Interpretation" at http://theosophicalsociety.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/the-state-of-the-ts-adyar-in-2008-a-psycho-esoteric-interpretation-draft/]

Stay tuned....


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]