Theos-Talk Archives (December 1995 Message tl00334)

Some responses and thoughts to RI:
:
>Yes Jerry but even I get nervous when I start using terms like *metaphors*
>or *analogs* with regard to certain esoteric ideas.

Me too. For one thing esoteric ideas can't be put into words very well

while metaphors and analogs can.

> Take reincarnation for example.

Yes. The metaphor is very simple and probably is expressed
best in the Gita where the analogy is to putting on a new coat. However
all serious practitioners who ask "Who is it that reincarnates?" knows
that the metaphor is too simplistic and that a lot more is really going on
here. Alan for example doesn't believe in reincarnation. In a way he is
correct--i.e. in the Buddhist sense of reincarnation there is no-thing
really to incarnate or re-incarnate. A. David-Neel for example says
that the highest Lamas do not believe in reincarnation in the popular
sense.

>No theosophical "metaphors" seem to have a way of slowly and I think
>*validly* hypostatizing themselves despite how much one fights against them.

Which is exactly why I used the term "archetypal" which I use
in the Jungian sense.

> Accepting these
>colossal theosophical systems in one big fast gulp may be the formula for
>passionate desire-mental belief but it is not the recipe for Inner Certainty
>about them

Right. I discovered this personally when I learned first-hand
that a mystical experience is but a first step on the path and not the
end at all. The problem is that our experience always tends to validate
our beliefs. So our experiences are always somewhat suspect. The
Buddha cautioned us to *doubt* and it is by holding a healthy doubt
about our experiences that we can slowly develop the inner Certainty
that you mentioned.

> Something like true conviction about reincarnation does not
>arrive fully clothed in glorious raiment and with the fanfare of a royal
>parade; rather it is at first dressed in rags and "lurks" quietly but
>persistently around the psyche.

True. In fact I don't think that we can ever reach inner
Certainty about reincarnation until we actually enter the 4th cosmic
plane shift identity to the Reincarnating Ego and see our past
lives directly i.e. gain magical memory. But even this has problems
as I pointed out above--our experiences are always suspect and
demand a fair amount of doubt. Not only that but our magical
memory is esoteric and the memory of the event after we return to
our mundane world is exoteric and already distorted.

> Since it will not go away no matter how much
>common experience and strict logic is used against it it slowly but
>inexorably establishes itself as a theosophical "fact" against which no
>argument can henceforth prevail.

Because there is a kernel of truth in it--an archetype Jung
calls this the archetype of rebirth that breaks into consciousness
in all ages and in all countries and peoples.

>Yes Jerry there may be many who say they "believe" in more theosophical
>ideas than I do but perhaps not so many who are held so fast by a few. . . .

Belief is a reflection of worldview and changes accordingly.
But when an archetypal idea such as rebirth or the Path becomes
constellated breaks out into consciousness in some form it demands
to be heard and assimilated. When such constellations occur that are
in opposition to our worldview or that challenge our worldview then we
are in serious psychological trouble. Jung took the view that this was
a major cause of mental illness. The answer is to always remain mentally
flexible like a child. Mental inflexibility is a pending death sentence.
Actually until we experience these archetypes directly e.g. they are
often expressed in our dreams but also in meditation they will remain
mere beliefs where we may or may not have an intuitive "feel" for them.
Their constellation is usually brought about because of specific
imbalances within the psyche such as experience that conflicts
with belief. The Self totally integrated psyche and ego form a
symbiotic relationship in which the Self sacrifices itself to ego
development during the first half of life and then the ego is supposed
to sacrifice itself via assimilation with the Self during the second
half of life. This is Jung's individuation process and the psyche is
seriously handicapped until this assimilation process occurs. This
is one of the many advantages of meditation. And we should all
watch our dreams closely because dreams are the primary feedback
mechanism of the psyche in which the Self feeds back information to
the ego to let it know how well it is doing.

Thanks for the stimulating conversation
Jerry S.