Theos-Talk Archives (June 1996 Message tl00871)

Jerry S:

[writing to Dan]

>>Has Eldon defined what the core teaching on psychism is?
>	Yes.  It is wrong, evil, dangerous, and not to be used.

Huh? That's not what I've been saying. The psychic is neutral,
not evil. Psychical abilities are neither a milestone indicating
spiritual progress, nor are they a sign of degeneracy. They
are neutral, only becoming bad if their importance is over
dramatized and they unbalance one's life, when they become
"psychic intoxication".

They are unnecessary for spiritual progress, although they
will arise on their own as one gets sufficiently advanced.
They are not bad per se, but the most direct, in my opinion,
approaches to the Path involve down playing, if not shutting
them down. This does not apply to people in general, people
not approaching the Path, nor to people involved in some
spiritual discipline that makes controlled or judicious use
of the siddhis (psychic powers) -- so it is not a general
rule.

>>What writers has he based this definition on?
>	Judge and G de P.  HPB practiced it herself.  She
>wanted it out of the TS's, but otherwise had little against it.

She speaks of dangers of psychism in many places, and there's
also mention of it in "The Mahatma Letters". Her concern, I
think, was regarding the craving for phenomena and powers by
people without the slightest notion of what the spiritual and
the Path were about. This was in a time of a rising interest
in Spiritualism. She may have wanted to get people more
concerned with their inner development.

There's nothing wrong with the scientific investigation of
the paranormal. We have organizations dedicated to it, like
the Society for Psychical Research. It's just that with
Theosophy we have something more. We have a connection,
albeit tenuous, with the living Wisdom Tradition, and have
the opportunity to participate in something special, something
not available everywhere, to everyone. Like any
opportunity in life, we can seize it when it aries, or let
it pass, and lose our chance to make real progress. Who
can say when again we'll have the same opportunity to be
exposed to fragments of the actual Mysteries, outside the
closed Temple doors?

-- Eldon