Theos-Talk Archives (June 1996 Message tt00013)

Nicholas Weeks:
>Before promoting & serving the TM, I would like to read what
>Jerry & the rest of list think are the keynotes of the TM today.
>How different are they from a century ago? What does the
>Brotherhood wish we aspiring helpers would do to foster the
>Theosophical Movement?

JHE
 From my view, I see the TM as timeless, it is the changing
cultures that make for opportunities, or lack of them, for the TM
to manifest. HPB mentioned in IU classical Athens and nineteenth
century American and Europe to be rare times when the TM was able
to find expression. In the intro. to the SD, she gives a grand
tour of instances where the AW teachings were withdrawn from the
public.

Today, we are living in very insidious times. The trend is to no
longer view ethics as a standard connected to spiritual roots.
When standards are established, they are more often than not
based upon the expediency of the situation. I raise ethics here,
because in spite of repeated objections from others on theos-l, I
still believe that ethics are at the very heart of the TM and
sounds the unchanging and undying keynote.

Therefore, I think today, as in the past, any activity that
inspires people to act unselfishly for the betterment of humanity
serves the TM. But since we live in a postmodern world that
denies authority; the notion of an absolute truth; and a code of
ethics based in the spiritual, we have to find new ways of doing
this.

Bjorn
>The organizations seem to be rather fossilized, although not
>without value for many of their members. The future is "up for
>grabs" and there is MUCH we can do, individually and in groups,
>based on the teachings and inspiration coming through
>Theosophical books, as well as many other sources. We need an
>"up and do it" approach. We are individually accountable and
>can't wait for this or that organization to come to life.

JHE
Yes. Without the organizations to organize us, we have to
organize ourselves.

Jerry HE