Theos-Talk Archives (October 1995 Message tl00440)

Rich:<So when we teach Theosophy, as Eldon keeps suggesting, I agree
that it is so important to say "this is what the TEACHINGS say, and this is
 what I personally think.">

Unless we present direct quotes (and even then, we may be taking
things out of context), it would be better to say "this is what I think the
TEACHINGS say, and this is what I personally think." Several of
us have made presentations on this list of the TEACHINGS, and
have had others come down on us, or take acception. It appears
that we can't agree on what the source teachings are, let alone
what they mean. In short, today's theosophists are in the same
boat as Christians, Buddhists, and all other groups. We can each
state what we personally think the TEACHINGS are, but not a
single one of us is qualifed to state categorically what the
theosophical TEACHINGS are. You may, in fact, think that
you are able to teach the TEACHINGS as they were given,
but you are really only teaching your interpretation of them
exactly like Chrisitan theologians can only teach us their
own interpretations of the Bible. And quite frankly Rich,
I interpret some of the original TEACHINGS differently
than you do, and differently than Eldon, and so on.

Jerry S.