Theos-Talk Archives (November 1995 Message tl00511)

Not having saved Eldon's reply to my post about JRC and having
trouble retrieving it I'll comment anyway-- hoping to have
remembered accurately the point ET was making.

Eldon said in reference to JRC that he seemed to want others
to accept his reports of inner experiences without question.
Thus when the climate was not receptive to this expectation
JRC was disappointed. In reference to me Eldon commented that
my personal attachment to the contents of my books were at the
root of my disappointment with Theosophists' reactions. This
seems to put the burden of responsibility entirely on those who are
disappointed rather than acknowledging that some responsibility
rests elsewhere.

It's risky speaking for someone else but I feel sure that JRC
would agree with what I say: it's not that we want or feel
entitled to *acceptance* by virtue of Theosophical membership.
No one is obliged to accept any doctrine or point of view
neither the "orthodox" views of Eldon nor the "heretical" views
of JRC or myself. I was never foolish enough to think that
Theosophists would *accept* my work in the sense of saying
"let's all agree that this is true"-- and I doubt that JRC ever
expected anything like that for his ideas.

But does one have a right to expect Theosophists not to
practice a particular kind of *resistance* to new or
"heretical" ideas? Resistance that says "this can't possibly
be true because it conflicts with books I consider
authoritative." Or "your contribution to the discussion can't
weigh very much because you're mired in `lower psychism'." In
essence resistance that is fundamentally lacking in respect
for alternative points of view? That seeks to "put them in
their place" with chapter and verse?

There's a kind of *non-acceptance* that is not resistant
either; that simply says "I'll put that on hold for the time
being." But when the non-acceptance comes across as resistant
and more emphatically after years of feeling resistance to
one's contributions the natural reaction is to say "enough
already I'll waste no more time here" which is what JRC seems
to have done.