Theos-Talk Archives (January 2002 Message tt00518)

Yes, I see what you are saying Adelasie. You are definately right.
Sometimes I still shift back to "Mormonthink" when discussing numbers and
growth, as missionary work is such a large part of that faith and I was
always right in the middle of it. Then after I reflect more, I come to my
senses and realize that the kinds of thing you write about are true. More
lasting also I would hope. thanks as usual.

Larry

On Wed, 30 Jan 2002 09:18:04 -0800 "adelasie" <adelasie@surfari.net>
writes:
> Dear Larry,
> 
> Isn't it indeed? Impossible, even. The numbers are useful for one 
> kind of analysis, and give us a certain perspective. Theosophy 
> doesn't proseletyze, so the familiar missionary tacticts don't 
> function among theosophical ranks. So we are left wondering, how 
> do we attract members? From the esoteric point of view, we may 
> be sure that those who have the karmic right to approach the path 
> of study of occultism will be shown the way. Karma is not subject 
> to our efforts to encourage or discourage. But, say a person has the 
> 
> karmic opportunity, and approaches theosophy via a list such as 
> this one. Perhaps this person has some awareness of the 
> teachings. He reads the posts here and what is his impression? If 
> we members demonstrate our seriousness by our behavior, i.e. are 
> courteous to each other, work for mutual understanding, offer 
> assistance to seekers, avoid personal comments, particularly 
> negative ones, and consistently seek to investigate the principles 
> of the occult teaching, in order to illuminate them for ourselves 
> and 
> others, what might be his response? On the other hand, if he 
> encounters bickering, name-calling, and worse, what might be his 
> response? Isn't it possible that we function best by our example to 
> encourage others to proceed to discover if thesosophy has 
> something to offer to them? It seems at least likely that people who 
> 
> are attracted to esoteric study might be people who already in past 
> incarnations had had some exposure. They might already 
> understand the importance of the ethical side of occultism, and be 
> discouraged by evidence that those who study theosophy do not 
> seem to attempt to follow the teachings in this regard. Of course, 
> no one is perfect. No one is going to reflect the higher all the 
> time. 
> But we learn from our failures, and have only to continue to try. 
> Given postings on this list in the last few weeks, it seems pretty 
> evident that we all have things to learn. Perhaps it would be 
> beneficial for all, list members and potential students, if we 
> agreed 
> to disagree about that which we see differently, and put some effort 
> 
> into concentrating on the principles, not the personalities. 
> 
> Adelasie
> 
> On 30 Jan 02, at 5:32, Larry F Kolts wrote:
> 
> > Thanks, Adelasie. Yes, I suppose the big picture is best. It's 
> just
> > harder to do the tally that way.
> > 
> > Larry
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to 
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 
> 
> 

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