Theos-Talk Archives (August 1995 Message tl00328)

Hi Jerry,

I have been following the discussions with great interest and my ears picked
up when you mentioned Swedenborg. I cut my philosophical teeth on him in
1977 when I read 20 odd volumes of his works. I nearly fused my neural
pathways trying to see the huge picture he was describing. Not being church
inclined, I found his constant references to the Bible a bit hard but he was
a man of his times and the station in life he found himself in really
precluded him doing it any other way. I did expand my mental horizons
enormously and began to play with re-incarnation as an alternative
explanation. He was the catalyst that eventually ended in theosophy.
I have studied the Cosmology of SD and feel able to see an even larger
picture, thanks to him. Sadly I find myself unable to cope with the biblical
quotes, trying to read him again. Also read the Urantia Book, all 1200 pages
of it.
It seems to me that all these systems are drawing a picture of an exquisite
and detailed mural covering a large area. We cannot take it all in and some
of us are not up on artistic appreciation so we turn to some who are and
their descriptions can vary according to their knowledge of the content,
meaning and style in which it is painted.
HPB noticed the content and meaning while Swedenborg and his like noticed
the style the contents were depicted in. Maybe he had a thing for angels and
noticed the Christian context only. So I have had a good explanation of the
contents and meaning and also the pleasure of a particular artistic
impression. The bits that fit into my present understanding I keep and the
rest go in the too-hard basket or gets left behind somewhere. When life gets
petty, I just tune into the concepts of creation and switch into abstract
mode and it pales in significance. Now adays life is a breeze and I enjoy
living in the moment most of the time
In the end HPB is a staple diet and she can be read many times as the
descriptive ones are oncers in many cases. Maybe I get a bit fanciful in my
approaching mature years.
Greetings from NZ.
Bee