Theos-Talk Archives (May 2002 Message tt00105)

Compiler wrote:
> 
> Based on some of the conversation currently going on between Lenny,
> Bill, and others, this article from THEOSOPHY magazine, which is the
> 15th one of the 166 that make up the "Introductory", "Setting the Stage"
> book on the WisdomWorld.org web site, may be somewhat useful and helpful
> to the reader:
> 
> IS THEOSOPHY "LOGICAL"?
> http://www.wisdomworld.org/setting/logic.html

Having read the article, I would first like to point out that Nero's
only "fault" was his persecution of a terrorist cult in Rome called
"Christians", who were responsible, among other things, for the burning
of Rome. Since they ended up victorious in the long run, they spread
around the story that Nero himself was responsible for the burning. 

Secondly, I would like to tell a story, which I have told before. In
the early 20th century, news reached New York City that there was a man
living in the Himalayas who could teach the secrets of ultimate truth.
Three men declared that they would seek out this teacher. A wealthy man
offered to give a ship to each of the three men.

The first man said, "You can't get to the top of a Himalaya with a
ship!", refused the offer, and proceeded to try to get to the teacher by
foot. He drowned.

The second man took the ship, used it to get to India, and said, "This
ship has been truly useful. I cannot abandon it. I will take it with
me." He got a large number of bearers to carry the ship, but was unable
to reach the Himalayas. 

The third man saw the ship was useful, used it to get to India, and
said, "This ship has served me well, but it can take me no farther. I
will leave it behind and proceed to the Himalayas by foot." 

We do not know if the third man made it, but he was the only one who
even stood a chance of doing so.

The ship, of course, is the rational mind. The first man was the
postmodernist, the pre-rationalist, the one who feels that the world
itself is purely an illusion propped up by our own beliefs, and that
logic is useless.

The second man was the rationalist, the skeptic, who will not let go of
facts and logic, even when confronted by a situation where logic could
not take him any farther. 

The third man was one who realized that one must transcend logic to
reach truth, but cannot abandon it entirely until it has fulfilled its
usefulness. And this is the direction that the Theosophist should take.
Use logic to take you as far as you can go, and only then can you leave
it behind.

Bart Lidofsky