Theos-Talk Archives (September 1997 Message tl00461)

>Opinion: This world (Earth) is a school. A prep school.  Here we learn
>things we shall need for the next life, which is not necessarily on this
>Earth at all, as there is little evidence to support this notion.  The
>whole theory {note *theory*} or reincarnation and karma is still based
>(in most TS circles) upon the flawed CWL/Besant model.
>
>My two-penn'orth.
>
>Alan

Alan, I am glad you added the "in most TS circles" caveat.
I first came across the teaching in HPB, and then G de P,
who goes into a lot of fine detail with both inner and outer
rounds. I systematically compared G de P with the Tibetan
Book of the Dead and found them to be pretty close. His
model is a bit more esoteric than AB/CWLs (which still, I
think, has some good points).

The only thing I really disagree with is the notion that we are
here to learn something. Now, in a short-term view this
could be true in that the Ego may decide to focus on some
particular aspect of life in any one incarnation. But looking
at a broader picture (i.e., over manvantaras) I prefer to think
we do it out of an inherent desire to self-express rather than
learning anything. I still see manifestation as a huge circle,
with lots of inner circles and spirals, but an overall circle all
the same. The problem of evolution or progression or "learning"
is that the process is linear and implies a beginning point.
I just don't think that we have any beginning point, nor an
end point for that matter. How about this?--we go through the
Arc of Descent into matter forgetting stuff, and then go
through the Arc of Ascent learning it again. You may ask
why bother? And again I am faced with the desire for 
self-expression as the only real possible answer.

But I love to see all the many views and interpretation within 
the theosophical tent. This is probably the main reason I
like theos-l so much. If we all thought the same things, we'd get 
bored.

Jerry S.