Theos-Talk Archives (May 1998 Message tt00362)

Pam, I liked your post and wish I could cut and paste without
having to delete 500 lines of other stuff.  But working from
memory: you wonder if the TS is or can still be a vital
expression of the ideals that were behind its founding.  That
question has perplexed and bedevilled me for some years now, and
the best answer I can come up with is maybe.  In some locations,
theosophical branches and study centers really do seem to have an
inspired feeling and a real devotion to the core principles of
the TS founders.  But the national and international societies
have a flat, stale quality in my perception, and are devoted to a
lot of extraneous stuff while having lost the inner kernel of
original purpose.  It's turned from being a society of seekers to
one of "knowers" and therefore lost its original vitality.  But
individual members and groups don't all fit that pattern.

As to whether we can agree about HPB being initiated and the
existence of a Great Lodge-- all might agree to those words but
would mean different things by them.  And traditionally many
Theosophists would much rather bludgeon other Theosophists who
don't define these things the same way, than act
constructively as a united front trying to seed the world around
them with the essential ideals.

Which doesn't mean that theos-talk can't be an exception.

Cheers,
Paul