Theos-Talk Archives (October 2008 Message tt00056)

Dear Katinka

Firstly, may I thank you publicly for your committed 
efforts to our Theosophical cause. Your website alone 
is a highly valuable resource.

In your recent posting:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theos-talk/message/45936 
you quote Madame Blavatsky, "Theosophists have 
no dogmas, exact no blind faith. Theosophists are
ever ready to abandon every idea that is proved 
erroneous upon strictly logical deductions. 
http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v1/y1878_007.htm 

Then you write, "She repeated that point during her 
whole life. Of course she also continued to teach her own 
position during her whole life. However she never claimed 
the TS was made merely to spread her own ideas. In fact
she constantly warned against 'dogmatism'."

And further you reinforce this by adding, "If you 
look at old issues of the Theosophist, made when 
Blavatsky was editor, you will see much that isn't 
'theosophy' by any of our current definitions (except 
the widest). In fact you will see that her contemporaries 
told her: make the magazine more theosophical. Print only 
that which you agree with. She never caved."

And, "And one of Blavatsky's fears for the TS
was that it would become too dogmatic: too much 
attached to the dead letter of her teachings."

These to me are such enormously significant points 
to make. 

Moreover, they can be largely misunderstood by those 
who perceive all students of Madame Blavatsky's 
teachings to be dogmatic "Blavatskyites" and those 
who challenge later commentators' writings as somehow 
denying a person's freedom of speech or belief. 
For some of us, nothing could be further from the 
truth.

Quite apart from some of Madame Blavatsky's 
extraordinary teachings, many validated by later 
scientific discoveries, your abovementioned quote 
demonstrates that her, to me, all important mindset 
encouraged the fundamental right and necessity for 
each to think for themselves and to discard any 
teachings, including her own, where found to be 
inaccurate or no longer relevant according to 
contemporary knowledge. 

This is in stark contrast to the dogma and mindset 
inflicted upon Theosophy by certain later commentators.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theos-talk/message/46129 
 
You then write, "This is hard. I've tried following 
that procedure for my own website, but I'm not sure 
I succeeded. It is however one of the reasons why I 
have Buddhist material as well as Sufi material. It's 
also the reason why I haven't deleted the material on 
Jiddu Krishnamurti after I became somewhat 
disillusioned with his teachings."

If I may ask, what is the nature/cause of your 
disillusionment with Jiddu Krishnamurti's teachings?

Thank you again.

Regards
Nigel