Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00396)

Dear JRC,

Thank you for a very thoughtful & thought provoking post.

I think you're right. Aside from trying to convince or ignore
Daniel,
it would be enlightening, if each of us examined their own
attitude towards him. For instance, i realized that my attitude
towards fanatics is influenced by the fact that I was involved,
even if from afar, with the Nazi fanatics in Germany. Other
Theosophists must have other motives for their attitudes
towards Daniel, other ways of grappling with their shadow, or
our Theosophical shadow. But, just as, from a distance of
continents & years, I can sometimes be compassionate &
understand that Nazis suffered as well as Jews , Gypsies &
homosexuals, so can I sometimes feel compassionate towards
Daniel. I can see that he also hurts, with his hell fire & brim
stone, with his insulting attitude, & in that vision of him
dimly see ways to try to get him to become more reasonable &
less hurting. I think Art's spiritual/religious approach may be
one way to help him grow up & come to. Maybe one can also look
at him with some psychological healing in mind, wherever his
abrasiveness & his straight as a ramrod beliefs which won't
bend no way come from; but search me as to how you would do
that with a group of fanatics - with group therapy? (I'm
dreaming, of course, because it would have to be presented
under a different name to be accepted.) I'm thinking of Serge
King, who's also a clinical psychologist. He comes dressed in a
beautifully flowered Hawaiian shirt, a straw hat, & a ukelele,
and then you watch him stand there, with a grin on his face, &
sing a corny tune he's made up himself "Be aware of what you
are, & what you want to be, You can turn your life around from
A to Z."

You're right, very few people are up to the task. I hadn't
really thought about that fundamentalism "is a profound
spiritual problem of our time". Maybe we can bat around this
post a little ideas as to how we as Theosophists can tackle the
problem.

Lastly, I got a good giggle out of the picture of the Masters
that emerged from what you wrote. Of course we're more obtuse.
We also came from an entirely different culture than theirs. I
can just visualize them silently tearing their hair out, trying
to get us to understand.

Liesel