Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00060)

>It may sound repressive. While I've heard it taught as a general rule, though,
>the application has to be decided on an individual basis. The emergence of
>psychic abilities is not necessarily a sign of spiritual unfoldment; sometimes
>it may rather be a sign of regression. I would not consider them a severe
>danger, where I'd strongly advocate people avoiding them. On the other hand,
>they can be sufficient a distraction from the cultivation of the spiritual
>that warnings are given. And with some approaches to the spiritual, like
>Purucker has written, students are taught to deemphasize and turn away from
>them. Granted, there are other approaches that may use the psychic in their
>training. I'm speaking, though, from the particular theosophical school where
>I find my home.
>
>-- Eldon

Many people, particularly those interested in 'spiritualism' spend a
considerable period of time in attempting to develop or improve their
psychic powers. This is especially true in the discipline of 'sitting for
development'. While this may be successful to some extent, it is surely a
powerful distraction away from more productive lines of investigation and
study. However in one lifetime or another we may all experience this
interest. This increase in pyschic powers does not appear to lead to any
great teaching or experience although the books of White Eagle are, I think,
worth looking at.
A rather crude quote from Stuart Wilde is:"If you are as thick as a brick
when you are alive, you are as thick as a brick when you are 'dead'." So
what is the point of trying to contact beings who are not very far removed
from ourselves, or even not as knowledgable as ourselves. Death does not
impart great knowledge.

David