Theos-Talk Archives (June 2000 Message tt00199)

To focus on the differences of skin color, or heredity, is not to
follow the path of the SOUL.

At best it is adopting some partial view of brotherhood -- and if
adopted will produce proportionate partial results.  Universal is
UNIVERSAL.

The Whole of THEOSOPHICAL teaching aims at eliminating any
pre-conceived or any prejudiced views.  Unfortunately our
education, and cultural environment tend to emphasize these all
the time.

No excuses are of any assistance.  Nor is Theosophy something
that can be patched or tailored to fit our present prejudices.  I
note a tendency to try to materialize the SD statements and to
cause them to resemble the materialism of present day scientific
theories.  Consider that Theosophy is a way of presenting to us
the FACTS of our evolutionary path as IMMORTAL MONADS, and not as
PERSONAL MIND-BEINGS with SELFISHNESS as a base.

Rounds, Globes, Races, Sub-races, Family-races are not only
divisions in evolutionary time, but indicate the complexity of 7
great divisions of the UNIVERSAL MIND working though the vehicles
of form and consciousness that have to be learned and then
understood, and applied practically.

All learning is INTELLECTUAL -- it is not a barrier, but it
encourages freedom of thought along PRINCIPLES that are in
themselves UNIVERSAL and IMPERSONAL.

The mind is our tool.  We have to become masters of it.


D. T. B.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bart Lidofsky [mailto:bartl@sprynet.com]
Sent: Sunday, June 25, 2000 10:08 AM
To: Thoesophy Activists List
Subject: Re: ethnic diversity?

M K Ramadoss wrote:

> In the USA, in the lodges I have visited, mainly in Texas, the
> afro-american and hispanic membership is extremely light.

        In New York, we have a Spanish Lodge (with meetings
taking place in the
Spanish language) who uses the facilities of the New York Lodge.
While
we do have a number of black members, it is not in proportion
with the
black population of the city (or even black usage of our library
and
bookshops).

> At the national
> level, all the national secretaries/presidents there have been
none of the
> afro-american or hispanic origin -- as far I am aware of.

        I have known you to be generally honest in the past, but,
by leaving
out "vice presidents" from your list, you seem to be purposefully
ignoring our 2nd Vice President, Timothy Boyd.

> Recently, when I
> visited the national website, I noticed that the photos of the
National
> Officers. An afro-american or hispanic person is likely to take
notice of
> this and make their own conclusion about the organization.

        Tim is up there.

> Also I do not
> know if any effort is being spear headed to bring theosophy to
these ethnic
> minorities, many of whom are less literate and less affluent.

        Note that Theosophy tends to be the academic arm of the
"New Age" (the
real thing, not the stuff that rhymes with "sewage"), so tends to
appeal
to those more interested in academia. Yet, as I said, the
customer base
of the Quest Bookshop in New York and the patrons of the Emily
Sellon
Memorial Library are largely Americans of African descent.

> As for fitting into the lodges, I have not seen any problem.
However when
> the question of being elected to  official positions, it could
be a
> different. It depends on the membership majority.

        We have a black member of our Board of Directors; she
also hosts the
video showings and has brought in a number of new members through
them.

        Bart Lidofsky

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