Theos-Talk Archives (August 1994 Message tl00030)

Hi all,

        It really was just an example for the point I was trying to
     make in my original post, but, WOW! ...

>               The Theosophical First Cause
>
>     When we speak of a "first cause," we are usually think-
> ing of an idea out of western philosophy. The idea is that
> everything is started or caused by something else, but that
> there was some first impulse, some first cause which origin-
> ated all that followed ...

        This was excellent!  I am still trying to grok it in fullness
     (and lest I be accused of doing the same thing I was complaining
     about in my post, let me define the word that I use *frequently*
     which is borrowed from a work of fiction by Robert A. Heinlein
     called _Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_:

               grok (grak) vi., vt. [< Martian,  to  drink]
               1.  a)  to  merge,  blend,  intermarry, lose
               identity in group experience  b)  to  become
               one  with  c)  being identically equal 2. to
               understand something so thoroughly that  you
               merge  with it and it merges with you 3. the
               observer becomes part of the observed

        Eldon, you did an admirable job of defining this concept for
     me and I really appreciate it.  Although there were still a few
     words that you used that I was unfamiliar with (don't know the
     definition of), I was impressed how well you were able to keep
     the article relatively self-contained.  That is to say that many
     of the unfamiliar words were self defined in the article itself.
     Thank you, very, very much.

        Now, for the ultimate suggestion.  There are a couple of post-
     ers to this list that I have read saying that they are "theosoph-
     ically published."  If they believe they can write as clearly and
     eloquently as Eldon did on this topic, why don't you all combine
     your efforts and come up with a "theosophical encyclopedia" of
     some sort.  There is *nothing* like this published anywhere that
     I am aware of.  With no competition, I can't see how Quest books
     could possibly turn such a project down.  I am currently involved
     with a non-fiction, technical writing project myself, but I would
     be willing to help in any way that I can with editing, proof-
     reading, and so on.  What does everyone think about this idea?
     ... Any takers? ...  A group effort from this list?

        I am really glad that nobody took my original post as a flame
     -- as a general rule, I don't like to do that.  I am really glad
     that everyone (seemed) to take it in the spirit it was intended
     -- just an observation on my part as to one of the reasons *I*
     see that the membership of the TS hasn't been expanding.  (Does
     John Algeo read this list?)  I really appreciate the ability this
     list has given me (at least nobody told me I couldn't) to pick up
     my theosophical education without getting flamed for asking "sim-
     ple" questions.

        Thank you all.  May you always grok in fullness.

Bill--
|William A. (Bill) Parrette|4000 Executive Pk. Dr., #310
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