Theos-Talk Archives (June 1996 Message tl00232)

Martin Liederman writes:

>On the CWL subject, my experience is that many new people come
>to our Lodge (Spanish speaking) because they read first CWL, and
>they are fascinated by it.
>If CWL's effect on people is one of mystery and wonder, and push
>them to cross tamas or inertia to get involve in spirituality .
>. . I think is great.
>
>In my case, I was a teenager when I read The Third Eye, by L.
>Rampa. I care less if he did what he said . . . the point is he
>brought me to the New Acropolis and then to the Theosophical
>Society and I am still searching.  Books and influence  like
>that is better that a bad TV program, IMHO.

My experience was much like yours.  But as a teenager it was
CWL's MAN VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE that totally fascinated me.  It
was the first time I had ever seen a book that discussed
clairvoyance.  When I was a child, my older sister used to mock
me when I spoke of my own experiences, so I quickly learned to
keep these things to myself.  But here was a book on the
subject...and everything was so familiar....  Further study
brought me to other subjects.  I became serious about astrology
(a subject that CWL did not believe in) which led me to an
interest in astronomy.  But astronomy confused me at first
because it was so different from Jinarajadasa's astronomy in
FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THEOSOPHY.  Soon I figured out that CJ and
CWL's science was simply out of date.  Astronomy was a very
different science after 1925 when we figured out that some of
those nebulas were really galaxies like the one we live in.
Astronomy led me to a fascination with other sciences.  By 1970 I
began to seriously study THE SECRET DOCTRINE.  I had the book for
years but it was too dense for me to read, and my readings of CWL
did not help me to understand it any better.  In the 60's
Geoffrey Barborka helped when he convinced me to regard CWL's
theosophy and HPB's as two different systems.  I finally applied
that lesson and went further.  I began to regard every
theosophical book as an individual understanding of the subject
that may or may not agree with any other book.  Then Theosophy
became a philosophical system and a world view rather than a
progressive revelation of some ultimate Truth.  One theosophical
writer no longer had to agree with another.  Theosophical books
did not have to be expressions of theosophical truths--they could
also be misunderstandings of them.  And that was OK too.

Spiritual journeys seem to begin with some spiritual insight--
something that awakens an awareness that we have always had.  CWL
has an uncanny ability to do this to people.  Alan, Eldon and
Alexis also mentioned starting out with CWL.  For beginning this
journey, I think we, and many others owe a debt of gratitude to
CWL.  But a spiritual journey does not end after the first step.
We have far to go and part of that journey requires us to learn
to discern the true from the false.

JHE
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   |Jerry Hejka-Ekins,                      |
      |Member TI, TSA, TSP, ULT                |
         |Please reply to: jhe@toto.csustan.edu   |
            |and CC to jhejkaekins@igc.apc.org       |
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