Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl00390)

Liesel

> [Writing to Rich:]

>To me, "tradition" is synymous with "fossil". Let me name a few
>traditions: a man doffs his hat when he goes to church, a woman
>leaves hers on; Islamic women cover themselves from head to toe
>except for their eyes; very Orthodox Jewish men don't shave, &
>the women wear whigs; anyone who isn't baptized goes to hell;
>widows jump on the husband's funeral pyre; the practice of Hari
>Kiri. If you want to believe in tradition, that's ok with me,
>but leave me out of it, & since I'm also a Theosophist, please
>be so kind as to leave space for me & my kind in your narrow
>traditionalist outlook.

The type of tradition that you are writing about here is the
silly and sometimes harmful customs of various cultures of the
past. The Mahatmas have a "tradition" in a sense, a living
understanding of a Treasury of Wisdom that they pass on, from
one generation to the next. And they have time-proven techniques
for the development of the spiritual. This knowledge and these
practices are also "tradition," but are not harmful or useless
as are the examples of tradition that you've given.

>I don't know how it is in the Absolute, but I've been taught, &
>I believe, because it makes sense to me that, in manifestation,
>both nature & truth evolve.

Agreed. What we understand about the workings of life has to
change, because life itself, including its laws and rules,
are in a state of constant change. Any understanding that we
have, if it becomes fixed and static, will get stagnant and die.
We need to freshly rethink that we belief, to continually review
what we consider true, if we are to stay alive in our minds
and hearts.

>To me, It's again like the story of
>the blind men who each is touching a different part of an
>elephant & each one is getting a different impression of what
>an elephant is like. The whole elephant is the absolute, of
>which human beings can only see part. I don't think I can see
>the whole, the absolute Truth.

An analogy can only go so far in conveying truth. Because of being
blind, the men have to rely on the sense of touch, and have a
limited and inaccurate picture of the elephant. When they are able
to use their eyesight and gaze upon the complete elephant, then they
see the bigger truth that was always there. We too have higher
senses of comprehension that will allow for us to someday see the bigger
picture. And after that bigger picture, there will eventually come
yet another bigger picture, and yet again. There's always yet a
higher way of knowing things!

-- Eldon