Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00096)

Paul:

>> [JRC]:
>> respectfully, suggest to those that do not operate with those senses opened
>> that they perhaps consider more deeply the attitudes and words they
convey with
>> their philosophical ideas ... simply because Theosophy *could* become a place
>> where, in the future, people with abilities that are no longer "latent" might
>> come to learn how to turn what is very often considered a *curse* into
>> something that is not only validated, but refined into a tool for service.

>John, you should write a book! All these things need to be
>said, because people who approach the TS with these concerns
>often get stones rather than bread.

We've been told that the T.S. was not intended as a training ground for
occultists. While it is true that it might be possible to offer some form
of training to new people regarding the cultivation of their psychical
abilities, is this a good thing? Are there really people qualified to give
this training? The emphasis of theosophical groups has been to offer a
different kind of training, related to the spiritual.

Are these abilities a useful tool for service? Take psychometry, where
someone is able to sense what has happened in the past by touching an
object that was at the sceen. Would these people make better policemen?
Should some be expert witnesses at O.J. Simpson's trial?

Because of the unreliable nature of clarivoyance for investigating
invisible worlds, we would likely not be inclined to take at face
value the visions of new investigators.

The whole approach of clarivoyance is to "go there and see it", which
still involves the senses, of this or some other plane. It is entirely
a different faculty of knowing than is available to us, that of
direct insight, a spiritual-intellectual faculty (of buddhi-manas, as
contrasted with prana-linga-sharira).

>One theory I can't help considering is that the ES has a lot to
>do with ambivalence in the Adyar society toward the paranormal
>and the devotional, for that matter. If there is a secret
>inner group where the life of discipleship is pursued, this
>sets up a "sheep vs. goats" mindset in which some things have
>to kept out of the hands of those who have not entered the
>sanctuary.

I've observed or felt this attitude in some people I've met at Krotona,
since they know I'm not a member of their "special" groups. It's a
common failing of human nature that is not particular to Theosophists.
How many of us, regardless of organizational membership, talk of ourselves
and our peers as those that know, and talk about hose we disagree with as
the unenlightened, foolish, mislead people. Is there a flavor of this,
perhaps unintended, in your depiction of Theosophists here?

-- Eldon