Theos-Talk Archives (June 1996 Message tt00039)

Bjorn writes:

>Mother Theresa is an example of a Chela who is living the path.
>There are many shining examples, and they all became what they
>are by unselfish service.

Yes. I suspect that HPB if she were alive, would have called
Mother Theresa a true and a great Theosophist--as she did the
Priest Damien who served the lepers on Molikai.

Jerry HE

Richard Taylor writes:

>The very idea that such a position has to be REINTRODUCED speaks
>volumes about the (public) state of Theosophy today.

Yes, the divergence of opinion even on this item amazes me. Some
have responded to my mentioning of ethics, see it as an obvious
part of Theosophy. Others have made comments such as ethics
being a waste of time, or that there is no place for ethics in
Theosophy. I have become curious as to how people who purport to
be students of Theosophy had missed the ethical elements in it.
I would like to hear from those who believe that ethics has no
part in Theosophy. I would be interested in knowing specifically
what they have read in the Theosophical literature that led them
to this conclusion.

>When most people today hear the word Theosophy they think Annie
>Besant, Leadbeater and Krishnamurti, auras and chakras and out
>of body journeys. Shirley Maclaine and the "Shirley Maclaine
>Theosophical Society" haven't done much to firm up the public
>image.

There is an interesting irony here. Like HPB, Besant was also
very interested in ethics and service. We can credit Besant with
the founding of the TOS, for instance. Both HPB/Olcott and
Besant were involved in establishing free schools, and Hindu
ethics was one of the subjects in the Central Hindu College. But
as time went on, the type of service and the values behind it
changed. For instance, HPB was into giving direct assistance to
those in need. If a famine occurred in a nearby village, HPB was
there to make sure they had food. She was also interested in
ethics as part of spiritual development. For instance, the book
of rules for the ES instructions stressed rules of social
behavior. For instance, no gossiping or passive aggressive
behavior against your neighbor. There were originally no rules
concerning smoking or meat eating. When Besant became the head
of the ES, she began to change the rules so that the stress was
not on social behavior, but on personal habits. For instance, to
be a member of the ES, one had to be a vegetarian for at least
six months, and smoking was not permitted. I think these changes
in stress made a major difference in the ES and the kind of
people it produces. Also, Besant began to move from social
service to political involvement. This is something that HPB
managed to keep the TS free from.

Jerry HE