Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00909)

Dear JRC,

You sound like the disillusioned young person I once was.
I miss one description in your post, which maybe isn't that
much a quality of religious organizations as of individuals,
and perhaps groups within the organizations. I'm not sure I can
describe what I mean, but I'm gonna try.

There are people, and probably groups, who out of the wide
stream of ideas which compose a religion like Christianity or
Buddhism, or Theosophy (which calls itself a religious
philosophy) can find & absorb a dynamic strength which makes
that religion come very much alive for them. Their beliefs,
derived from a variety of sources, or perhaps only from 1 or 2
sources within that stream, somehow give them the strength &
courage to carry them through life. They live their beliefs, &
find it's a process of continual spiritual growth, continual
reaching out, continual adjusting to new circumstance. Since
everyone is different, the source of their personal belief
system might be different, even within the same stream. What is
alike is that it makes the spirit soar, & the heart sing, and
the person a wiser, better, more caring human being, also one
who can better cope. And if it can accomplish that, let the
organization be a bit cockeyed. Let it go where it will, as
long as it somehow manages to nourish the stream in which the
seekers can explore & find, and having found, perhaps add
their own imprint to it. The vision is that we'll find unity in
our diversity. That each person and/or group (including other
forms of life besides human) will add their distinctive note to
the universal symphony. The thing is we all need to come more
out of Maya and learn to discard the dross. But I think we're
doing that, over the thousands of years. Here we are discussing
types of organizations. Well, maybe we're learning. No, not
"maybe", we *are* learning how better to work together. (isn't
that one of the things we're perhaps learning via computer as
well?) And I think the Ancient Wisdom is a good guide, if one
can understand & utilize it, in one of its many forms.

I hope that what I wrote here is somehow meaningful to some of
you, other than myself.
Shalom,
Liesel