Theos-Talk Archives (May 1997 Message tl00408)

At 02:56 AM 5/26/97 -0400, JRC wrote:
>Just an opinion ... but ...
>	The picture I get from the ML and SD, confirmed by whatever
>miniscule personal experiences I've had, is of the existance of a
>spiritual kingdom composed of beings of several different kingdoms, whose
>entire existances are composed of perceptions of the underlying patterns
>of growth that are templates for current human existance, knowledge of the
>trials and tribulations, struggles and sometimes intense pain that
>accompanies that growth, and hearts that have reached a stature such that
>virtually the totality of their energies are expended in attempts to
>facilitate human growth, and mitigate the suffering surrounding it.
>	They seem partially willing to share some of the knowledge they
>possess, but the price of that wisdom is *its use*. From the hints in the
>ML, the SD, it seems that there *is* a kind of spiritual economics - a
>value system among the kingdom of servents: And the currency is composed
>of *the opportunity to serve*. HPB understood this. So did HSO, and CWL.
>Whatever their faults, whatever their failings ... they all understood it
>to be an honor almost beyond belief to be chosen to ... do what? ... to
>expend the totality of their life's energies on behalf of "poor orphan
>humanity" ... taking in return barely enough money to even stay warm and
>fed, and often recieving little but condemnation from the humanity they
>pledged to help. They seemed to understand themselves to be something like
>transformers in a power grid - receiving energy and knowledge from their
>sources ... and stepping them down into a form presentable to the humanity
>of the time. Were their personality levels to have begun believing that
>*they* possessed or generated that wisdom or energy, and begun believing
>that they should *use* their connection to that wisdom as a means of
>gaining whatever sticks or rocks or baubles pass for money at the time for
>their personal selves - or that (even more strange) that somehow the
>amount of sticks and rocks a personal self had accumulated was a measure
>of a person's spiritual stature, or worth to society, or fitness or
>qualifications to receive that wisdom - well anyone who believes that can
>come on over to Montana ... Elizabeth Clair Prophet is here - and she's
>got all the TS Masters plus a bunch more - and your "value" to society as
>measured by the coin of the realm is definately important to her.
>	The Adepts chose a few people - we know that from the ML - did
>they believe material wealth was any measure of value whatsoever? Did
>*they* ever ask for payment? Well yes ... but it wasn't money - the
>payment they asked (or rather .. that was freely given) was that the
>wisdom and energy they gave be used in a life utterly devoted to the
>selfless service to humanity.
>	We are living in the midst of an extremely materialistic age just
>now - even those things that were called "esoteric" a century ago are
>being bastardized and sold in the marketplace today - but maybe what we
>really need to do is maintain a vision of that genuine spiritual kingdom
>.. to model it to the best of our ability ...
>	For myself ... my heart leaps at the ideal of the Buddha, the
>Christ, and the thousands of men and women that toil today on behalf of
>the poor, of those searching desperately for peace, or truth, or just
>plain food, people who thankfully believe that the clarity of their
>thought and size of their heart is a much more accurate measure of their
>worth to society than the thickness of their wallet.
>	I've already received immensely more from the labours of HPB and
>others than I'd ever be able to pay for - I still feel a huge debt - but I
>also believe the method of their teaching was part of the lessons. HPB
>created a current of wisdom ... I was required to pay no coin to get it
>.. and hence could not even imagine charging a nickel to introduce anyone
>else to that chain. Whatever small use I've been able to figure out how to
>make of that stream of wisdom - either with philosophy or work with angels
>.. I'll give it free ... now and for the rest of my life - and silently
>bow deeply to the great ones ... for the immense honor of being able to do
>so. And I hope that sometime in the distant future whatever use I've
>managed to make of what I've recieved will earn me the right to serve in
>some slightly larger way.
>	Are you being foolish Doss? I think not - I think you are prompted
>by a spirit ... a tradition ... that was literally around long before
>humanity had even conceived of the *concept* of money, and will be around
>long after that concept has been exposed as little other than a training
>tool for children still struggling to learn unselfishness.
>	IMO - we should charge *NOTHING* for any lecture, any talk, any
>presentation, in any Theosophical group or lodge. Ever. We are recipients
>of a fragment of wisdom so far beyond such considerations that to charge
>for it is little other than a sign that we do not truly understand its
>value - or the value system from whence it came.
>							-JRC

A wonderful post. It may be worthwhile to stop and ponder over what you have
said. Some of us may be able to get a glimpse of how we can prevent
ourselves heading the wrong way.

         ..........doss