Decision from the Round Table - July 2015
 

Using a Cherokee Story in a Feast of Tabernacles
Lecture on the 33 Virtues

For the 2015 Feast of Tabernacles, the Divine Sisters are preparing a lecture on the 33 Virtues. To explain/exhibit the 22nd Virtue, "Freedom from envy," one of the Sisters suggested using this Cherokee story. Another Sister, however, questioned the use of non-Mission teachings in the context of a lecture for the Feast of Tabernacles explaining a Mission idea (the 33 Virtues), even though the Cherokee story is beautiful, has Truth, and is found on our website (although not as part of the teachings, but in the supplemental By Disciples section).

The Sisters submitted the question to the Round Table, which resulted in the following written decision:

The Round Table has discussed the question of using the Cherokee story, found in our "By Disciples" section on the website, in the Divine Sisters lecture. Our conclusion is that it would not be ideal to do this, and we recommend using only 100% Mission materials in this situation (although the Cherokee story is on our website, it is not by Maitreya, but rather in the section that presents information by others). Our reasoning is as follows:

Overall, the goal is to find the "sweet spot" where we use only 100% Mission materials as much as possible without that becoming rigid or dogmatic, stifling creativity or expansion of the mind to other useful ideas that fall under the Mission's umbrella, etc. Each situation is different. Here, we felt the following considerations were important:

  1. Each Virtue in the Divine Sisters lecture only has a few minutes of time dedicated to it. Considering this very short time period, it is best to stay with 100% Mission materials (which should be readily available to cover such a short time). If there was a 2 hour lecture on the same topic (each individual Virtue in this case), branching out to some non-Mission materials as part of it would be fine and probably necessary.

  2. The lecture will be presented at an official Mission event (the Feast of Tabernacles). Considering this, it is best to keep it as Mission-oriented and focused as possible.

  3. The lecture is on an official Mission topic. The 33 Virtues is a new, unique Mission idea, first presented in THOTH. Considering this, we expect it is best explained by Mission materials themselves, and there should be ample material about it on the website, etc. The situation would be different if the topic was something more general, for example genetics or farming, where there is Mission material about it but it is not a uniquely Mission idea and bringing in other information would probably be very useful, even in a short presentation.

  4. Even considering the above, a non-Mission material could be considered the best option if it truly does something unique or exceptional - makes the point in a way nothing else could, or has special significance considering the circumstances, etc. Considering how short this presentation of the Virtue will be, this sort of "exception" would be very, very rare, and we do not see such an exception here. Although the Cherokee story is beautiful, there is Mission material that can make the same point just as well, and we see no other reason why Mission-only material should not be used here.

The reason we are going so in-depth and detail in this recommendation is to hopefully begin providing some guidelines or principles others can use to help them make these decisions in the future. This issue (where the "sweet spot" is in terms of using Mission and non-Mission information) will come up again and again. Each situation is different, and these are not the only important considerations, but these are some of them. In general, a useful question to ask is: Why am I using a non-Mission idea/topic/quote/etc. here? Is it for a good reason (from knowledge) that helps spread the Mission and get the Mission done? Or is it for another reason (from passion or ignorance) that is not ideal? This serves as a good starting point in deciding how to approach these kinds of situations.

The Round Table (RT) of the Mission of Maitreya

Note: If you do not understand the reasoning behind the decision above, or would like more clarification, etc., you can contact the Round Table about it at: RT@maitreya.org.