Theos-Talk Archives (November 1995 Message tl00529)

Alan:

>My understanding of the Teaching is that if say you tell me
>that you have this or that inner experience then I should repect
>your identity and dignity by accepting it as genuine even if I
>personally cannot understand it.

That part is fine. The subjective nature of personal experiences
is not in question. An experience is real to the experiencer.
If Danial H. would say that he talks to God in his prayers and
that experience is a living reality to him we cannot question
the experience to him. But if he started to say that because he
talks to God and we don't that his Bible-based philosophy is
true and our theosophical ideas are false being based on mere
intellectual speculation I'd have to disagree with him.

>If perhaps I thought you might be misinterpreting that experience
>then I can if I am willing to take the responsibility talk to you
>privately about it. End of story.

This is correct as regards a simple description of an experience.
But it also depends upon the nature of the experience. If someone
says that they see auras sometimes I don't think that the seeing
of auras is a deeply-felt from-the-heart inner experience. Not
any more than if someone talks about how they go jogging.

JRC's ideas about channelling other-plane influences karma yoga
the value of the theosophical teachings and a future oracle-based
western religion do not constitute an inner experience.

Perhaps the problem might be that he doesn't make a clear distinction
between his ideas or theories and his visions and experiences of
other-plane beings. Or perhaps he feels that the ideas he presents are
a revelation from those other-plane beings where the ideas themselves
are an inseparable part of the inner experience and not open for
discussion?

The suggestion to only talk privately about inner experiences is
fine. But that only applies to the experiences themselves and not
to the ideas and theories. I can tell Daniel H. for instance that
his experience of the spiritual is real and true but is the same
experience that is had by many of different faiths. One person thinks
they are talking to Jesus another to an Angel a third to a Spirit.
This sort of discussion is not disrespectful.

What would be bad would be if Danial H. were to tell me that I
cannot say anything about the Bible and his Fundamentalist beliefs
because they are real and because he talks about them while giving
examples of where Jesus or God would work wonders in his life.

-- Eldon