Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00968)

On Mon, 25 Sep 1995 Richtay@aol.com wrote:

> JRC wrote:
> > I personally don't believe in the law of karma, as articulated in spiritual
> > literature,
>
> Well, that sheds a lot of light on your problems with HPB's view, now,
> doesn't it?
 Yes. To the extent that one sentence, picked out of a long post and
quoted out of context, and without the second, qualifying clause of the
sentence (in which I believe I said I was attempting to work out the
articulation of a larger principle that might well produce, as aftereffects,
many of the phenomena associated with karma).

> The heart of the matter seems to be that you really don't accept
> a lot of Theosophy's teachings, and so it is no surprise that you struggle
> against HPB's presentation of the occult view on abortion.
> Rich

Don't "accept a lot of Theosophy's teachings" ... well, I don't
know about either the "a lot" or the "accept" parts. If you mean I don't
simply *believe* everything HPB and other Theosophists wrote, why no I
don't, as I don't simply *believe* in *anything* another person writes. I
have read HPB extensively, but also literature from other large occult
systems, as well as from a dozen or so modern sciences ... and have
reached the point of *believing* that the world and its
multidimensional reality is just out and out too vast for any particular
point of view to anything other than one angle of vision on that
immensity. And I fear I have a difficult time telling the difference
between being considered "wrong" about an issue because I don't believe
HPB's ideas and opinions are absolute, being considered wrong beecause I
don't believe "Jesus's" ideas are absolute, and being considered wrong
because I don't accept the assumptions current in the sciences I study.

You seem to ground your opinion in HPB's, and claim it to have
some sort of additional authority because you do so. You imply that your
opinion is identified with the (alledgedly "correct") Theosophical
"teachings". All of which is certainly fine so long as you don't expect
everyone to accept that authority as absolute in some way.

That said, I still stay around Theosophy because 1) I greatly
admire HPB, (who I actually believe would be somewhat appalled to be used
as an absolute authority of any sort), 2) "There is no religion higher
than truth" is a positively smashing attitude, as I *am* seeking *truth*,
and will seek it through every avenue available - including many that
have nothing to do with the Theosophical canon, 3) I have met some
absolutely splendid people in the Theosophical current, people who are
very intense, sincere seekers of truth who have also thoroughly
integrated a profound service ethic in their lives, and 4) one of the
main currents of "angels" with whom I serve in the innerland, and who
have taken the time to teach me much about the nuances of using energy in
service, has indicated that while the original generating current that
began this current century's notions of what "Theosophy" is has mostly
expended itself, it still contains at least a possibility to be of some
partial service for another century (despite its currently severely
introverted and self-involved state) if it can open itself far enough to
entertain another burst of energy and thought suitable for the *next*
century.

The ideas articulated by HPB are in some places completely
unverifiable one way or another, in others very interesting premises, in
others the glimpse of a paradigm that is useful, and in others a good
contribution to the body of spiritual and religious thought of our
species. But articulations of the "ancient wisdom" are all over the
place, and there is no way of knowing, for instance, that the intense
mathematics of chaos and complexity theorists (which is where I'm drawing
the concepts required to try to find a principle far more expanded than
the current "law of karma") are not *this century's* articulations of
part of the "ancient wisdom", being released now because our science and
math have reached a point of development that allows a fuller
articulation of the "ancient wisdom".

Current Theosophy is not a truth, but one of many rooms - and
while it may be used for guidance, should not be used in attempts to
dominate: It is a foundation, not a shackle.

 In the quest, -JRC