Theos-Talk Archives (January 1995 Message tl00145)

Eldon.  I enjoyed your comments on words and terminology and
agree with you for the most part.  There has been a new trend
toward modernizing the tantric terminology lately, which I am not
at all happy with, for example.  Bindu is now "drop" while prana
is "wind" so we now talk about the winds moving the drops up the
spinal column.  While technically correct, one now has a very
hard time understanding what they are talking about.  One quick
example: the Tibetan teacher, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso writes "To
attain the isolated mind of ultimate example clear light we must
have completed the power of our meditation on the channels,
winds, and drops.  Furthermore, to attain the isolated mind of
ultimate example clear light before the clear light of death, it
is necessary to accept a qualified action mudra." (CLEAR LIGHT OF
BLISS, p 105).  Lucky for me, I already had studied this stuff
earlier, back when these gurus retained the Sanscrit terms.  For
most students, this kind of stuff, while proper English, is
impossible to understand.  What he is saying is really quite
profound, though few theosophists would subscribe to it,
including HPB even though she was taught by Tibetans (let me say
only that "action mudra" is karmamudra and refers to a member of
the opposite sex who has been trained in sex magic, while the
rest refers to the nadis and chakras of Kundalini Yoga).

Eldon.  <(3) I recall from reading CWL years ago that the Adyar
anti-sex rationale was based upon wanting to develop
"clairvoyance", which required "sublimination of the sexual
energies" to "arouse kundalini and open the various chakras.">

You are probably correct here.  However, I find it fascinating
that theosophists (or anyone else) think they need to sublimate
the sexual energies to induce Kundalini, because that is exactly
the opposite of what Kundalini Yoga teaches.  Kundalini (a
feminine creative current found inside the aura of all living
beings) is aroused best by inducing sexual energy and then
consciously directing it, not by its sublimation (sexual activity
acts as a powerful source of energy, and without it the chances
of success are low).  Thus the need for an action mudra as
indicated in the note above.

John Mead.  As usual, I agree.

Paul.  Thanks for the help.  Your stats help prove my point.

Flames: I have counted at least four hot topic on theos-l, which
invoke powerful emotions and inflammatory rhetoric:

1.  CWL.  I have heard Jerry H-E's insinuations and innuendos
about CWL every since I came to theos-l, and still don't know
what the heck CWL is supposed to have done.  Apparently it is too
nasty to describe.

2.  Abortion.  I think that we will all have to agree to disagree
here.  It is obvious that theosophists have mixed opinions on
this one.

3.  Psychism.  This too is a mixed bag, and probably will never
be resolved.  This is probably the biggest stumbling block
between Adyar and the other TSs.

4.  Ethics.  We all agree that this is important, but we seem to
disagree with how to go about it.  Heck, we even disagree on its
definition.  Eldon put it right when he said that life is various
shades of grey.  I still maintain that ethical development
constitutes but the first step along the Path, and if we are to
get further down the road, so to speak, we must advance to the
next step, which is compassion (which, if sincere, will allow our
ethics to take care of itself).

          Jerry S.