Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00378)

I'm just now getting around to reading my AT, & particularly
John Algeo's lead article. Since John's article discusses the
matter of "source material", & since what he says makes a lot
of sense to me, I'm taking the liberty of quoting parts of the
article for those of you who don't get the AT:
"It is a noteworhty fact that Theosophy is nowhere mentioned in
the Objects of the Theosophical Society" ... this "was not. I
believe, an oversight. The early Theosophists, and Blavatsky in
particular, were worried about the danger of dogmatism.... So
they framed the Objects in such a way that there's no crack for
dogmatism to seep through....
"Theosophy clearly exists as a fairly well-defined tradition of
ideas & practices. Theosophy is broad enough to have something
to say on almost every issue, but that does not make Theosophy
out of everything that can be said on the issue.
"Theosophy is certainly not limited to 1 statement of it, not
Annie Besant's, not Helena Blavatsky's, not even Brother KH's.
Certain statements are especially valuable because they are
wellsprings: Blavatsky's writings & the Mahatma Letter are the
most notable of those. They are the seeds from which all else
has come....
"Every generation has to find its own voice. Every generation
has to articulate the Ageless Wisdom in its own tones. The
Teaching is timeless, but the teaching is temporal. if
Theosophy is not to be a fossil in a musem, its expression must
change and adapt to the times. To live is to change. The Buddha
& other wise teachers have pointed that out.....
"We can't put Theosophy into a creed, & we mustn't try to do
so.... But a Theosophical concensus exists, grounded in the
works of HPB and the Mahatma Letters and elaborated by
interpretations of those sources... The hallowed 3 Objects
encourage the study of whatever we like.... To do so as
Theosophists, however, implies that we will study and
investigate from a Theosophical foundation, that we will loook
at things from a Theosophical perspective. that we will see how
the Ancient Wisdom applies to everything.....
"ATheosophical group is one that does Theosophy, both directly
by studying and teaching the tradition and indirectly in
everything else it practices."