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Re: What is the Purpose of Theosophy???

Oct 09, 1997 08:31 PM
by Bart Lidofsky


Jerry Schueler wrote:
> 
> >> "Talk as much philosphy as you please, worship as many gods
> >> as you like, observe all ceremonies, sing devoted praises
> >> to any number of divine beings - liberation never comes,
> >> even at the end of a hundred aeons, without the
> >> realization of the Oneness of Self."
> >
> >       What makes you think that the purpose of the Theosophical Society has
> >anything to do with spiritual advancement of any of the individual
> >members?
> >
> >       Bart Lidofsky
> 
> First of all, the quote is exactly what I have been saying on theos-l
> for years, and receiving lots of guff for. Bart, if you think for one
> moment that people don't join up in order to develop spiritually, then
> you are beyond me giving any advise to. So, just what is the
> "purpose" then? The spiritual advancement of the masses? And
> just how do we do that unless we are already there first?  Is it
> reading and study, which Sankara suggests gets us nowhere?

	Actually, I believe that the purpose of the Theosophical Society is, in
fact, to speed the evolution of humanity, and to create an atmosphere
conducive to the creation of seed groups that, in a millenium or two,
will become Adepts. If the individual members achieve spiritual
advancement, so much the better.

> To what purpose do we read and ponder HPBs heavy books if
> not to spiritual advance? And if helping others is our only motive,
> then I would suggest we fold up our tents and let the Salvation
> Army and the zillion other charities today do it for us. Our
> purpose is not to preserve the basic Theosophical texts, which
> any library could do as well as the TSs. Its to prepare the way
> for the 6th Race, at least according to HPB. And what does
> that mean, if not spiritual advancement?

	In the 19th Century, there was a worldwide atmosphere which inhibited
spiritual experimentation, and therefore spiritual advancement. The
Theosophical Society, in my opinion, was the nucleus of a move to break
that logjam.

	Bart Lidofsky


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