Modern Theosophy

A typical (Adyar) theosophist…

juni 2, 2010

As an exercise in PR, I’d like to profile a typical theosophist. Having such a profile might help us in attracting a few of those theosophists outside the TS that Blavatsky mentioned. That is: we should see this person in our minds when we: Create local and national programs (and avoid boring ones like this), [...]

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The 10th World Congress of the Theosophical Society, Rome, 2010

mei 18, 2010
Thumbnail image for The 10th World Congress of the Theosophical Society, Rome, 2010

Not only am I going to the World Congress, but I was planning to live-blog it. But now that I’ve seen the proposed program, I’m no longer so sure. In fact, I’m wondering why I’m going in the first place. For entertainment purposes I have put up the program as it was published at the [...]

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Theosophy as a spiritual path – consequences for the work

april 12, 2010

I’ve heard people say that the Theosophical Society should become more like the Esoteric School: a place where spiritual growth comes first, and every (other) object of the TS second. Reading The Masters Speak: An American Businessman Encounters Ashish and Gurdjieff by Sy Ginsburg this weekend I started to get the why and the how [...]

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W.Q. Judge and Annie Besant – an uncomfortable heritage

april 8, 2010

I only just discovered that the Aquarian Theosophist has switched their magazine to a blog format. I congratulate them on a wise decision and I of course subscribed. Though I have to say, it is with a sad heart that I do so, because their latest article shows just how far the various theosophical organizations [...]

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The story of a revitalized theosophical lodge

maart 25, 2010

As any group therapist can tell you, group work is complicated. The history of the churches too can be read as a continuing story of growing and shrinking congregations. One of the reasons new congregations often grow is not just that they offer an approach that works for the time, but also that they’re simply, [...]

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TS Adyar membership in various sections & TS regulations

maart 1, 2010

Purely from a legal standpoint sections are independent from Adyar: Each section of the Theosophical Society Adyar has it’s own local legal format, and the only thing Adyar can do when sections don’t adapt their rules and regulations enough to the international ones is to oust the whole section from the TS. This has happened [...]

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Can someone be active in several theosophical organisations?

februari 23, 2010

In other words: How should we deal with members of the Theosophical Society Pasadena or the ULT in the TS Adyar? We had this come up in our local lodge the other day. We were talking about the program for next year, and the topic of who should go in the board of the lodge [...]

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Topics theosophists should address

januari 23, 2010

In order for the Theosophical Society to be relevant to this world today, it needs to be relevant to what people care about. Blavatsky latched onto the big spiritual hype of her day: the spiritualist movement. First she looked like their main defender. Then she turned on them to say: hey, all this may be [...]

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How about Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater?

januari 23, 2010

I could leave this one at: I have not studied their work enough to say anything substantial about them. Which is true. I’ve read most of Blavatsky and lots of Jiddu Krishnamurti, but very little Besant or Leadbeater. Annie Besant I think it’s clear that Annie Besant was a unique and wonderful person. She stood [...]

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How about Blavatsky and Krishnamurti?

januari 23, 2010

Oh boy. Seriously. I love H.P. Blavatsky’s work. I think she was a marvelous person and had a lot to say. The very fact that discussing ‘Theosophy’ implies discussing the old lady says something about her stature. But I do think it says something about the dogmatic nature of our movement that the first question [...]

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