Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00729)

VDL - Man sought for guidance of his own life by the
revelations coming to him through the appointed oracle. The
priesthood thus gained power over men's souls and were able to
enforce their own will by clothing it in the garment of
revelation from above.

LFD - Agreed + 1/2

VDL - lateron when letters (from the Masters) were no longer
forthcoming, messages came directly through certain recognized
theosophical authorities. In these messages, the Masters would
express their desires as to what should be done or not done,
what activities undertaken or opposed, & give hints guiding the
lives of prospective pupils. Here we find real revelation:
messages from an unseen authority, inaccessible to others.

LFD - If you got a message from a Master to go jump off the
Empire State Building, would you do it? I realize that it would
be difficult to question a message from our revered Masters,
but I still think one should examine whether the message made
sense, & whether one would like to do what it said to do, & go
by that.
I also think that at the time VDL wrote this letter, people
were going a bit half cocked with the revelations they believed
hook, line & sinker, including some who were higher ups, & whom
I otherwise love dearly.

LFD now we get down to Krishnamurti. I think we can look at him
from a bit more distance than did Van der Lieew, who wrote
right in the middle of all that brouhaha. I think that
Kirshnamurti was an offspring of theosophy just as was Alice
Bailey & Rudolph Steiner. All 3 of them explained their
missions in life in their own way, & their followers believed
they were, whatever they wanted to believe they were. Whether
Kirshnamurti was the World Teacher remains to be seen.
Christianity developed several hundred years after Jesus
walked the earth. I happen to be eclectic. I put together my
belief system a little bit from all over. My Lodge did K's "The
Flight of The Eagle" at 1 time, & we all got a lot out of it.
Just quickly something Krishna J. taught me, that I failed to
understand from others, including Freud. "What was your face
before you were born?" Much later, I found part of that face
when I took a course in 'American Women's History". Some of the
qualities I had before I was born, & carried over into my earth
life, were passed on to me by women who lived in the centuries
before me.

I don't consider the occult path & initiations as
"unessentials". If the Ancient Wisdom is what was practiced in
Egypt, Greece, Atlantis, Tibet, the Gnostics, the Kabbalists &
etc., then it must also be relevant to our life today. Of
course, if someone's going to sit there & practice
channeling...

I don't think that theosophists today doubt theosophy. I don't
think anyone on this list does. We differ about its components
but not about that it's a belief system we want to live by.

VDL - I maintain that the evil effects of revelation are caused
by the fact that revelation can only be accepted or denied, but
never criticized in the light of reason.

LFD - That's true, if you don't expose revelation to the light
of reason. Something non hysterical needs to tell you that the
revelation is true for you.

VDL - Where simultaneously discipleship and a drawing nearer to
the Master are held up as the goal of life, it is clear that
the theoretical freedom of critcism means the giving up all
that is held dearest & highest in the life of theosophists.

LFD - I once was drawing nearer to the Master, & I criticised.
At the time it felt like "the freedom of criticism meant giving
up all that is held dearest & highest in the life of
theosophists." It wasn't easy, but I still, to this day, think
that my criticsm was right. I can tell you that my path since
then may not have been the conventional one to draw nearer to
the Masters, but I have gained a lot in esoteric knowledge
going my own way. Sometimes certain books came my way. Some of
it was transmitted orally, some of it I learned from watching a
role model. I'm not saying that I've gotten past the foothills,
but I've grown spiritually of that there is no doubt. And
sometimes I feel that something I cannot see is guiding me.
Having said that I need also to say that if ever it doesn't
feel right & not make sense I'll discard it.

Liesel