Theos-Talk Archives (April 1995 Message tl00089)

Hi all,

     After a week out of town I come back to find people talking
     about grokking.  I didn't see the original message (I think
     my net-link was down for two or three days while I was out)
     but Alan wrote that Liesel wrote:

> But I'll use any avenue I find useful to acquire Theosophia.  It
> inlcudes such things as what Serge King calls grokking, which I
> can' t do nearly well enough, because I haven't been practicing,
> but what you do is you think/imagine yourself into something else
> with Love (be it flower or thunderstorm) & try to find out what
> makes it tick, & what qualitites it has that could come in handy
> to copy.
>
> Liesel

     Since the concept of grokking is something that I truly be-
     lieve in and I try to incorporate in my daily life, I had to
     put my $0.02 in.  I don't know who Serge King is (although
     I've seen him quoted here several times before) but the
     original word "grok" is the creation of the very popular
     science fiction writer Robert A Heinlein.  Robert used the
     word in what is often described as the most famous science
     fiction book of all time called
     _Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land_.

     In this book (which has a *very* theosophical feel to it in
     many places) the main character is Valentine Michael Smith
     -- the only survivor from the first expedition to Mars.
     Many years later Michael is "rescued" and brought back to
     Earth where he tries to teach the Martian philosophy and way
     of life to several other willing humans.  One of the things
     that everybody learning the Martian way must learn to do is
     to grok.

     After the -- oh, I don't know -- forty-second or so reading
     over the years, this word became so important to me that I
     came up with this little dictionary-like definition:

             grok (grak) vi., vt. [< Martian,  to  drink]
             1.  a)  to  merge,  blend,  intermarry, lose
             identity in group experience  b)  to  become
             one  with  c)  being identically equal 2. to
             understand something so thoroughly that  you
             merge  with it and it merges with you 3. the
             observer becomes part of the observed

     This definition is derived from a conversation between
     several of Michael's friends in the book as they are trying
     to understand more about who Michael is, his Martian-based
     philosophy, and the Martian way of life.  They theorize that
     you can't truly hate something until you grok it; then once
     you understand it at the grokking level, the hate is so
     "black" that, well ..., I guess you get the idea.  The same
     for love; what we humans call love is nothing until you grok
     and once you understand it at the grokking level, well ...,
     there's nothing as beautiful that compares in the typical
     human existence.

     Actually, if there could be such a thing a theosophical fic-
     tion I think that this excellent book would come close.  As
     a matter of fact, I think I'm about due to read it again!
     (Another greeting that Martians use -- since water is so
     scarce on Mars -- is "never thirst.") Well I'm off to teach
     a 3-day class.  Be back on Thursday.  So to all my fellow
     theosophists on the list: never thirst and may you *always*
     grok in fullness ...

Bill--
    ...who, if at first he doesn't succeed, redefines success.

William A. (Bill) Parrette|4000 Executive Pk. Dr., #310
bill@[Zeus.]itdc.edu      |Cincinnati, OH 45241-4007
** I do not speak for ITDC--all opinions are my own **
513-733-4747