Theos-Talk Archives (October 1995 Message tl00106)

> On 25 Sep 95 at 12:02, Lewis Lucas wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> > Lewis: This reminds me of a statement in one of the Mahatma letters
> > which advises we judge an organization by its *motives* and not by
> > what it manages to accomplish. In another place they say we should
> > not be attached to results. I think they even go so far as to
> > suggest that if one looks for results it is (to use a British
> > witicism) rather bad form, because it shows a lack of understanding
> > of the natural laws. Ever cause MUST have its effect.
>
> David wrote:(De-lurking, just for the heck of it.)
>
> Yeah. But the effect needn't have very much to do with the intent
> behind it... looking for the actual results of one's actions helps
> one gauge how intelligently one has *applied* one's intent. I don't
> know about you, but I've done lots of things which have had results
> I neither expected nor wanted. Maybe I'm locked in some kind of
> perceptual trap, but I have the feeling that if I don't keep looking
> out for the reality of what things I do actually accomplish then I'll
> never gain that understanding of natural laws to begin with. I'm not
> (I hope) going to pretend I have understanding of them when I don't
> yet. Why do people like to try to appear perfect beforehand (other
> than as a tantric practice)? Seems quite stupid to me. They'll just
> be caught out eventually and maybe lose the opportunity to learn in
> the meantime.

Lewis: I agree we need to learn from our mistakes. I didn't mean to
suggest in my comments that one should "try to appear perfect
beforehand", as I agree that would be pretty stupid. Your points seem
to be more related to "self discovery", while I was thinking more
about judging "others" and organizations.
 Nice to hear from you. Good point.

llucas@mercury.gc.peachnet.edu