Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00652)

Liesel, John & others,

I would like to comment a little on the various issues
that have arisen lately.

Firstly, regarding the research of powers latent in man:
I think that the research of psychic powers _is_ in agreement
with the third object of the TS, though one can ask oneself
what would be the proper setting/condition for this to be
fruitfully done. At least a careful comparison with the clairvoyant
findngs of others would be necessary & the proper atmosphere,i.e.
an understanding and acceptance by other fellow-theosophists
why this research is valuable and in which context it has its place.

Not so much is taught about the astral realms in core theosophy.
Probably, the old mode of teaching intended to focus people upon
the spiritual realms first and give the necessary ethics first.
Nowadays, this approach seems still valid to me, although there
seems to be a need for theosophists who are able to guide young
people with psychic experiences. My guess is, that there is certainly
room for people like JRC who can guide these yougsters by his
own experience. These youngstes should be taught how to integrate
their faculties with the spiritual ones. In principle, this is not
that difficult, when the service ethic becomes integrated within
their minds. [JRC- now I am speaking out of my own humble experience]
Of course, it is repulsive when other theosophists are denigratory
about clairvoyant abilities- a funny note: HPB invited Massey into
the TS & got into trouble with this guy (a passive medium)-
although they certainly have a right to warn for passive mediumship
(which is not the same as people whose astral senses occasionally &
naturally (spontaneously) give them some glimpses into some layer
of the inner worlds).
Maybe some *reliable* info about the astral senses & the control of them
can be developed by cooperative effort of clairvoyant theosophists,
supported with written material from the core teachings about these matters,
including the spiritual senses and service ethic.
This might be a controversial project, though..
BTW, I remember HPB (?) spoke of the rise of the psychic abilities
in America this century, and she was concerned how theosophy could guide
people in the process of how to deal with these abilities. So, here we
have CORE theosophy asking the same questions as JRC is..
Any ideas?

As to *chela's*, this is quite another thing according to Point Loma,
Pasadena & ULT tradition (and I may have to include Adyar too nowadays)
They are not permitted to pay much attention to these faculties, unless
they have a fair amount of control of them, through the development
of the spiritual faculties. Whether there is a *real* esoteric section
today in any of the TSs I don't know, I doubt it (at least as regards
my own country). There's an additional problem nowadays of people
looking upon such a section as 'elitist', possibly shutting out people who
want to be a member of it; so, I don't know if this kind of sections
are alive or not (or are a viable thing nowadays) within the ranks of the TSs.

Regarding JHE's 'nasty postings' on CWL, I think we all agreed to restrict
such material to theos-roots, isn't it? I might add that I expect little
to come out of it- mostly dissension - if continued on this board.
It would probably best if we restricted the use of the term core-theosophy
to the MLs & HPB's writings & Judge and see all the other writers as
possible extensions of the teachings- subject to our own discrimination.
BTW, there are so many controversial figures in the theosophical history
including many of the leaders of most TSs, that it seems totally useless
to me to discuss any of them. Rather, I would like us to concentrate
on our understanding of core theosophy and it's extensions in the light
of contemporary needs. Some ideas: what about a laboratory for doing
scientific experiments (in the early days of the TS some were doing
experiments with self-devised machinery); trying to develop some useful
terminology in the interfacing of theosophy and science; studying the old
manuscripts of religions (is this being done nowadays?);
developing courses on ahimsa (non-violence) based on theosophical ethics;
writing letters to scientists & science-popularizing journalists, in a
Socratic way, challenging their opinions & beliefs;
What about social action? One important trend today is the emergence
of a new type of banks: banks that only invest in environmentally
friendly projects and lend money (on a very low or zero interest rate)
to poor people in order to facilitate them to start their own small
business or farming. Theosophists could support such an effort of
changing the flows of money. Etc. Etc. Very practical!

Martin

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