Theos-Talk Archives (April 1996 Message tl01277)

Alexis writes,

> Daniel: That line of so-called reasoning is entirely non-sequitous and you
> surely know that! And I think you've managed to paraphrase this as
> maliciously as is humanly possible. But it is a terrible distortion of what
> I've been saying. And I will not permit it to pass unchallenged.


Why is everything uncomfortable necessarily "malicious"?  Is Daniel being
malicious, or merely applying logic which is good for the goose, now to the
gander?

I can think of far more malicious things than showing someone the flaw in
their reasoning ...

Again,

> >Well, remember HPB was
> >fallible and was (let's face it) simply wrong.  And she could have made
> >"intentional" errors?
> >Right?
>
> Daniel: That's really kind of juvenile sarcasm. She WAS fallible. and
> sometimes she could easily have been wrong.

Oh, how truly bitter is our own sweet medicine.  Alexis once wrote that
"irritation" was his central goal...

I guess it's important to take it if we plan to dish it out.

******************************

What's really at issue in this discussion, sarcasm and personal jibes aside
(sorry Alexis, though I know you're not reading this) is, WHAT CONSTITUTES
PROOF?

For all the scads of psychics/shamans/tulkus/gurus on theos-l, their own
personal experience is proof.  Great.

For those of us who believe in Adepts, and believe HPB to have been working
directly with Adepts, their statements, are, until good proof is brought
against them, usually regarded as at least possible, if not probable.

It really depends upon what one chooses to accept as a valuable source, and
what can disrupt how one sees this source.

After so many years in the movement, I have come to trust HPB and her
writings a very great deal.  (This does NOT imply infallibility).  I did not
come to feel such trust all at once, but over the years, as more and more of
the teachings made sense to me, and I saw their value in practical
application.  Now I tend to accept what she says on face value, unless I come
across compelling reasons to doubt it.

The same goes in almost any field of human endeavor.  After how many years of
witnessing the sun rise each day in the East, we come to depend upon it,
though it is theoretically possible it won't rise one day.

We tend to trust those we love most deeply, even though it is possible they
will betray us.

We trust our eyes and ears, though they may deceive us.

I don't think it is so outrageous to trust HPB, particularly if one is
willing to go OUT INTO THE WORLD and experiment and APPLY the teachings and
learn from the results.

*****************************

Hats off to Daniel, his post was a hoot !  But I guess not everyone finds the
same things funny.

Boy, it gets nasty, though, when the "fundamentalists" start to write in the
same ad hominem terms as the "anarchists" ...

Oooops -- time for my out-of-body appointment.  Where's that helmet?  Gotta
run.
                                    <grin>