Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00414)

Jerry S;

>Anyone who CLAIMS to write for the Mahatmas will likely be
>laughed out of town by the theosophists themselves. HPB's reincarnation will
>have a hard go of it, I am sure.

Sometimes, depending upon if the person is an independent or has
political control of the theosophical group. There are many groups
within and outside of the theosophical mainstream that proclaim
their direct inspiriation, if not continued direction, from the
Masters.

>Like Jesus says, everyone wants signs and wonders or "proofs."

I cannot help feeilng concerned that when we talk about our psychic
experiences, that we're both offering people "wonders" and implicitly
setting ourselves up as authorities on matters spiritual. People tend
to be more impressed with what someone says if they can recount stories
of their visions and out-of-the-body experiences, than if they simply
talk philosophy.

>As I have said many times, truth and falsehood are both
>within yourself - we must each look within ourselves to see the truth or
>falsity of any teaching, regardless of source.

Quite true. And this is one of the points that I've tried to make with Daniel.

>For this very reason, every
>Messenger will have some followers and some detractors. This is an occult
>law, and each Messenger accepts it as a given. They may not like it, but
>they accept it. HPB clearly did.

I'd agree, but also say that any "false messanger" will also have detractors:
people like us, students of Theosophy, speaking out for what we consider
as right in the face of error and falsehood. We just need some practice
among ourselves in being more agreeable. I've noticed perhaps a dozen sources
of conflict and disagreement between individuals on 'theos-l', including
the two of us, at times, and we need to talk about the relative merits of
our respective ideas without losing patience and getting into fighting words.
With time, we've all seemed to improve, but we're not perfect, and always
have room for improvement.

-- Eldon