Theos-Talk Archives (September 1994 Message tl00026)

I've got an itchy trigger finger.  It gets itchy when most other
people use terms like *kama-manas,* *manas,* and *Buddhi-manas.*
Like every theosophist worth his or her salt, I naturally feel
that the true and exact proprietary interest in their meanings
lies with me.  The finger, therefore, itches to
shoot-and-correct, shoot-and-correct, shoot-and-correct.

I don't shoot-and-correct much anymore, however.  Most of my
ammunition, alas, has had to be used up in the attempt to
semi-dispatch my own earlier writings--in trying to
shoot-and-correct my former shootings-and-correctings, so to
speak.

Indeed, though, I still have a definite amount of bad conscience
about the facile flock of clay pigeons I have sent flying around
to land, unbroken, who-knows-where.  I worry that some new
aspirant will actually believe everything I have said--not only
long ago, but even the uncorrected five minutes previous.  I have
personally wasted way-too much time in my life by taking
pseudo-theosophists seriously; I don't want to be even a
triffling time-waster for the sincere searchers who come after
me.

Thus, I decided many years ago that I would try to put
theosophical insights into plain English as best I could.  For
example, instead of *kama-manas,* I just say "desire-mental" and
then go on to try to explain myself with additional post-sanskrit
language.  This has at least three advantages: 1)
non-Theosophical students have a better chance of understanding
what I am driving at, 2) I, myself, have a better chance of
knowing what I am talking about, since I have to put it in my own
words, and 3) if it later turns out I am in serious need of
correction, I can dump everything and not have my mistakes lying
around to further corrupt the existing Theosophical terminology
as used by HPB and a few others.

[I just now read Eldon's fine last post; I think I will have to
include him in the "few others" since my finger didn't get itchy
at all.]

Not that *kama-manas* etc.  were left in all-that-good-a-shape by
the Lead Mare to begin with, of course.  Perhaps in the end, that
will prove to be HPB's inimitable genius: that she left behind a
divine jumble which certain individuals, generation after
generation, are able to intuit the Truth somewhere within, but
that no one has a prayer of really understanding merely by
approaching it as a scholar.

Meditation: Insofar as your Ancient terminology is Wisdom, it
will drop you off at the starting place for actual apprehension.
.  .  .

Warm regards,

Richard Ihle