Theos-Talk Archives (June 1999 Message tl00044)

> I'm sincerely interested in more details on "the enormity of evidence to
the
> contrary."  Turning to chapters on "Tibetan Sojourn" in S Cranston's HPB
> biography p 80-101 & re-reading these pages----I don't find answers to Mr
> Gilbert's level-headed criticisms. Can some theosophist point out this
> "enormity of evidence"?

Have you, BTW, read the Secret Doctrine? Isis Unveiled? The Mahatma Letters?
How many times? How thoroughly?

Before any Theosophist needs to *defend* Theosophy against you, *establish
your credibility*. At what university are you studying? What field of
research is your "dissertation" being written for? Are you now, or have you
ever been, a member of any Theosophical organization? What are your
*motives* for continuing your posts, your website ... since they clearly
have nothing to do with gathering information for a dissertation.

These are all questions that any Theosophist has a *right* to know before
they lift even a finger to answer you.

You, who by your own statements have all of a year or two familiarity with
Theosophy, come on a list filled with people, many of whom have been
studying Theosophical history *and* ideas literally for decades, refuse to
give any details that could be *verified* about yourself, your affiliations,
or your motives, and start stamping your feet like some arrogant, petulant
child demanding Theosophists take the time to defend Theosophy against the
"shocking" insights and evidence you've discovered in one critic's book.

*You* have the balls to demand evidence, but when *asked* for evidence of
your scholarly credentials, that you are what you say you are, doing only
what you claim to be doing (which as the days pass makes less and less sense
in the light of what is now clearly a campaign) you avoid, ignore, and
attmept completely "sidestep" the issue, and try to claim that it makes no
difference.

Your lot has been around since the beginning. At first, Theosophists took
the time to defend Theosophy - but came to realize what a waste of time that
is. At this point, they are just ignored, humored, or fiddled with.

In short, why *should* anyone waste a moment taking you seriously? You have
yet to even vaugely qualify yourself as an actual credible student honestly
seeking answers, in fact with almost every post you further show your true
colors - and move farther and farther away from deserving the time or
attention of the people on this list (and there are a number of them) that
*could* and in the past *have* helped genuine students honestly seeking
objective knowledge of Theosophy. Most of them are polite - when faced with
those such as yourself (and we'll see one once every few months on this
list) they usually just, as in this case, remain silent. A few of us (like
myself) enjoy a bit of light rhetorical jousting - good exercise now and
then to keep the mind sharp - but the fact is bucko that you are so similar
to the many that have come and gone over the last few years on this list,
and over the last century or so in Theosophy, that you're (without even
realizing it) merely a sad, pathetic parody.

Theosophists, as a whole, do not proselytize. They actually *assume* that
many who hear of it will simply adopt your attitude. They welcome you to it,
and will not try to convince you to change your mind. They *do*, on the
whole, believe they are custodians of some remarkable and thought-provoking
philosophical ideas, and for people that seem genuinely interested in trying
to study and understand these ideas, they will gladly take time out from
their own studies to suggest books, and work through some of the
complexities of the thought. But most learned long ago not to waste their
time on the likes of you. Sooner or later you, like all others, will just go
away. Convinced you are right, and absolutely no wiser.

Why should anyone pay any attention to you at all? Other than to have a wee
bit of fun with you? -JRC