Theos-Talk Archives (June 1996 Message tl00118)

>Jerry,
>Where have you been.  Alex and I have been worried.
>You're right, psionics can be used both ways.  It's supposed to be.  That's
>why I wrote the books in the first place.
>In my experience I have seen a number the Joe Sixpacks of the world come into
>the TS and stay and have a wonderful experience.  It is only hard if you take
>the books literally.
Chuck,
	I just finished my dissertation, and at long last, have my PhD.
Among other goodies, this will doubtless sell several more copies of
my books (I am retired and need the money folks) all by itself.
	The fact that magic is also a two-edged sword is exactly
why I started writing my books, Chuck.  I watched too many people
burning their fingers through ignorance.
	There may be a few Joe Sixpacks who stay with Theosophy,
but I still don't think that the membership will ever be up there where
it was before the infamous K incident.  I hope that I am wrong.
	When I came into Theosophy, I too tried to take the
literature literally, and very seriously.  But by that time, I had
already been initiated into Kundalini Yoga, and had a few
mystical experiences to hand, so I was able to sift a lot of
chaff from wheat right off the bat.  Thus I was unable to ever
be a real sheep.  Maybe a wolfish-sheep, or a sheepish-wolf?
	The root problem here is that our worldview has to
address, and assimilate, our experiences.  If we have certain
experiences that are simply not covered in the TS literature,
then we must expand our concept of Theosophy to address
that.  If we have experiences that conflict with TS literature or
Core Teachings, then our worldview must also address
that--because we must always tweak our worldview to account
for our experiences.  The only alternative is to ignore those
experiences and such repression always leads to pathological
conditions downstream.
	I have been successful with this for the most part,
by employing the terms exoteric and esoteric to ideas or
teachings.  Now I know that both you and Alexis don't care for
those terms, but they really have been a big help to me.  Karma
and reincarnation, for example, as taught by Judge and G de P
are very acceptable to me as long as I consider them to be
exoteric teachings.  In other words, the way they are taught in
the TS literature is simply not the way I experience or
intuitively see them.  So, I call my own view esoteric, and thus
can assimilated both the literature and my experiences into my
worldview very nicely.  Otherwise, I probably would have left
Theosophy a long time ago.   Eldon is right when he says
that the words of the Core Teachings point to a body of esoteric
(wordless) teachings that have to be experienced.
	So, after we bring in a bizzillion Joe Sixpacks and
their families, how do we get them away from a literal interpretation?

	Jerry S.
	Member, TI