"He who deprives any of his fellows of the light, the good, the help, the assistance he can wisely give them, and lives for the accumulation of material things, for his own personal gratification, is the real robber; and he who steals from his fellows the precious possession of character by slander, and any sort of misrepresentation, is no less a thief, and one of the most guilty kind."
from Practical Occultism
How do you interpret this quote in the context of the Theosophical Society in America today?
Is this the path upon which the Theosophical Society in America presently finds itself?
What do you think?
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3 comments:
In response to this compelling quotation, I will not speak about the TS as a whole and the current issues that it is facing, it seems that the TS in general is at a treacherous crossroads. But instead I will speak from a local perspective-that of the TS in Buffalo. As a member of this lodge, I feel that we were unjustly punished in that our information was taken off of the National Directory without any sort of prior communication between National Headquarters and the Buffalo Lodge. Instead, the word of embittered ex-lodge members that for some reason or another have a bit of pull on the national level, was taken as truth. This type of punitive action reeks of authoritarian tendencies on the part of National Headquarters towards the autonomous lodges and undermines the brotherly spirit inherent in the foundational principles of the TS as an organization of higher learning. This treatment of the Buffalo Lodge as a dispensable and disposable entity within the National body is a reflection of the lack of wisdom on the part of those at National Headquarters. The body must be kept intact, with all of its disparate parts forming a unified whole, communication and open contact forming and solidifying the bond. To risk the loss of some of the oldest lodges, such as the Buffalo Lodge is, to continue with the metaphor, to risk the loss of vital organs within the body of the organization. This is not wise, especially at a moment when the organization itself is in distress, needing to keep all of its elements intact to survive. The Buffalo Lodge is a long-standing center of esoteric study, a branch of theosophy that should be safe guarded and nurtured by National Headquarters, not shunned and neglected as is being done. To alienate this lodge is not only to displace many theosophists in the Western New York area, but also those seeking out the ancient wisdom, those wishing to study esoteric theosophy. This brings up more questions about the preference for a mainstream and watered down version of Christianity put forth as theosophy, one that appeals to the masses, in place of serious esoteric study and what the political and economic reasoning behind this type of shift would be. But, this is a topic for a separate discussion.
your words are bold as well true.That may have something to do with the night(Tuesday)Mars's day,when we meet as Theosophists and Courage,Loyalty and Passion is infused within our meeting hall.The Buffalo Lodge is the only physical presence in the western N.Y. area.The Study Center which was formed out of a violent,revolution within and without the Lodge and was sanctioned by President Bland doesn't meet or, at least have been nowhere to be found(they probably took the entire winter off and blamed it on bad weather)and they only exist in the electronic world of the National Directory,which we have been de-listed from,because these malicious,in name only theosophists managed by slander to convince Headquarters of their plight.Students looking for a Theosophical meeting hall to meet flesh and blood Theosophists, that are visiting or new to the area get ,instead of the warmth and brotherly reception they deserve,an e-mail address.Our Lodge is tried and tested. we've been here for more than 100 years,we have a drum roll of past Presidents,some who have made substantial contributions to the Art and Philosophy of the Society.We have finally reached a Statesman level of respect in the community.Someone at Headquarters (and i think we know who you are) is giving and has gave the President bad advice and this ,"throw the Buffalo Lodge under the bus" mentality, because you think you can do it,was fiendish,at a catastrophic level.Reverberations such as these don't go unnoticed by the Masters.
Sad? Yes very sad Jeff,but the sadness is with Headquarters,you have fumbled again.
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