Theos-Talk Archives (October 1993 Message tl00110)

     Interesting point you brought up.  It appears that we do
have some kind of mechanism within our constitution that is
trying to bring material into conscious awareness.  Freud argues
for inhibitions created by his super-ego.  Whatever the
mechanism, it is accepted that people suppress material.  I
believe that part of the meaning of enlightenment is being free
from the need to suppress anything.  I have a theory that
mythologies have encoded within them everything we need to know
to become enlightened, and they are meaningful to us precisely
because we unconsciously recognize that information.
     I'm not a fan of hypnotism.  In modern practice (which is
very different from H.P.B.'s day) the word means little more than
guided imagery. At least that is what I have been able to gather
from the professionals.  But the idea of guiding our own
imagination may have some potential merit as a practice to access
unconscious material.  So does keeping dream journals--a fad of
the 70's. The most profound and useful practice of releasing and
coming to terms with unconscious material that I know of is
H.P.B.'s recommendation for the practice of altruism and self
honesty.
     Sorry we missed you two last week.  Part of the discussion
centered on personal paths we are taking.  You would have loved
it.
     I feel for your psychically sensitive prisoners.  Some of
them are living in hell, and are in need of professional help
that their circumstances may never allow them to find. Anything
you can do to help them strengthen their ego boundaries will
help.  Have you ever read Dostoyevsky's THE DOUBLE? It is a short
work; about 150 pages. It is about a man named Golyadkin who is
crippled by guilt and shame and becomes psychologically
splintered.  The book may offer some insights into some of your
prisioners.

Re. family and the spiritual path:
     This reminds me of an oft made remark by the late Manley
Hall, that family is the spiritual path for most people. I can
identify with Jerry Schuler about feeling conflicted between
theosophy and family.  Though it has always been clear to me that
family must always come first, putting this into practice was
sometimes very difficult.  Poor W.Q. Judge. He had it worst than
most of us. With his consuming love for theosophy, his wife and
her relatives were absolutely hostile to The subject.  Judge was
unable to even mention the theosophy without raising a lot of
negativity.  Ironically, Mrs. Judge joined the U.L.T. some years
after her husband died.