2001-7-19 05:18:00
Larry writes:
"I would make one observation about the teachings here of late in that it has been covering a lot of 'facts' (Re: Masters, etc.) that have as their source (as far as I can see so far) only the writings of AAB. I find that less attractive than discussion of principles. Whether or not all these supposed 'facts' (e.g., names of Masters) is true I do not know, but I do not accept it as true simply because AAB or some wrote them down."
JJ:
Nor are you expected to accept the writings of Alice A. Bailey (AAB), myself, or anyone else as being true unless you discover
the truth for yourself and run it by your soul.
As you are aware, this is one of my core teachings.
As we are in the midst of discussing one of the Bailey books, we will of course be quoting her material more than any other.
I have verified enough of the writings of Djwahl Khul (DK) to myself that he has become an earned authority with me. I will therefore give his words reasonable
weight even if there is a possible flaw in them -- just as I would an Algebra teacher who knows more of the subject than I do.
No matter which direction we pick, some will wish we were moving a little differently, but if you are after
principles, DK is your man; as he teaches many of them and we shall be expanding on
some of them.
We'll do what we can to keep enough variety going here to have something of interest for all.
I'm short on time tonight so I will just make a few comments.
One of the reasons my time is spent is that I have been doing a little research into Pope John Paul I. This is a very interesting drama that has passed by the
eyes of the world and the monumental fullness of it has indeed not been seen.
I'll write Part II of this series after I assimilate the materials I have gathered.
[Compiler's Note: While JJ Dewey did subsequently discuss the topic of Pope John Paul I, to the best of our knowldge he never wrote a post entitled "Part Two."]
The question before us is:
"A lot of people think that the Freemasons are an evil organization. What do you think? Even if it is corrupt now -- does this mean it was not inspired in the beginning or that it may not be reformed in the future?"
You gave some interesting comments on this -- some indicating corruption and others indicating overall positivity.
Again, there is a principle involved here and that is this:
Every organization, no mater how good and pure its origins, will experience cycles of corruption and could justly be called
evil if only a snapshot in time were observed.
Let us pick something we know to be good and see if this applies. Probably the most universally accepted "good" man was Jesus Christ who initiated the Christian
Church. Yet even though this organization was begun through the influence of an acknowledged holy man with a core group of quality individuals with enlightened
teachings, it still broke into many fractions and the Mother church and its branches have a long history of atrocities.
If we were to take a snapshot of the church during the worst of the Crusades or the Inquisition and judge the church as a whole on this we would have to conclude
the church is indeed evil.
If we were to make such a judgment, we would indeed be wrong for overall the
Church and its teachings, despite the problems have done much to aid humanity in the manifestation of freedom,
love and good will it now possesses, however lacking it may be.
Unfortunately many Christian fundamentalists ignore these snapshots in their own religion but do not hesitate to use them to condemn in totality many other
organizations that rub them the wrong way.
Fundamentalists and other groups will often condemn the Masons as being a creation and agent of the devil himself while justifiably citing certain atrocities,
but as with most long lasting organizations they had an inspired beginning, but have gone through cycles of corruption.
Assassins seeking to overthrow governments for selfish ends have been members of this organization, but so was George Washington and many of the Founding
Fathers who used the Masonic order in a positive way to secure greater freedom for mankind.
These cycles of good and evil effects runs through all organizations such as the Knights Templars, The Jesuits, labor unions, governments, The UN, big business,
and even the Red Cross.
I have often had some judge all my teachings and works as evil because I have found something positive to say about an organization on someone's hit list.
Instead of pointing a finger at a certain organization or group and saying: "You are in league with the devil because you befriend XYZ group," what should
we do?
What we should do is examine their individual works or teachings and philosophy and judge then by what they do and say in the present.
If there is some evidence of rottenness to the core one, must always be on guard but we often wind up misjudging good and evil if we do not make an honest
examination of the wholeness of an organization.
Overall, most organizations of brotherhood have improved over the last hundred years and group life has been in a state of evolution even though most
associations have their problems to work out in the present.
The next great leap in evolution will be the creation of the Molecular Relationship
which will have self-correcting mechanisms in it so such organizations can heal themselves, just as our bodies do.
-- End Of Lesson Two, Part 17 --
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