Theos-Talk Archives (April 2001 Message tt00073)

Jerry:

Before we can decide for ourselves if she's been doing good
things these past 20 years, we might consider in what context
we'd ask the question.

There are several branches of theosophical thought, several
variants of Theosophy that are centered around certain key
theosophical figures. One is the Blavatsky/Judge/Mahatma-Letter
version. Another is the Besant/Leadbeater one. A third is
the Blavatsky/Judge/Crosbie. A fourth is
Blavatsky/Judge/Tingley/Purucker. And there are many more.

Say that Radha is working according to the Besant/Leadbeater
approach to Theosophy. In terms of that outlook, is she doing
a good job? Is is possible that you are taking things from
the standpoint of the Blavatsky/Judge/Mahatma-Letter approach
and judging her according to it? I'd say that it's best to
consider the belief system that someone is operating under
and evaluate them according to it.

Apart from the question of Radha's past performance, and
her qualifications to run for President of the Adyar T.S.,
there's the general question of what constitutes successful
theosophical work.

My general idea is that it is measured in terms of the
spiritual progress of the individuals we are evaluating.
If someone is progressing, they are doing good work. It
may not be tangibly visible in their personalities or the
people they meet and their external environment. But it
is still real and in due time results will show themselves.

That progress includes a cultivation of the important
Virtues, so that they become a living power in someone's
life. They are felt, become apart of the awareness of
the individual, and affect that person's actions and the
lives of all about them.

The Virtues, I think, include compassion (the favorite of
theosophical literature), wisdom, beauty, love, and peace.
The first step in cultivating them is to know that they
exist, which starts with the attempt to formulate a list
of them. Then comes an ongoing cultivation of them, making
them part of one's life, in both a conscious, self-directed
way, and in a spontaneous, unthinking, zen-like manner.

One person may do successful theosophical work as an
artist, doing great paintings. Another may work in a
child-care facility, and do good work by influencing
the lives of the children, and indirectly the lives of
their families as well. A third person may do good work
writing theosophical articles, or building a library of
rare books.

In judging the success of a Adyar T.S. President, we'd
need to decide first according to which variant of
Theosophy we'd judge the success. Then we'd need to
see if the work was faithful to that view of the world.
Then we could say if things were done for the best.
Of course, we're operating at an advantage, looking back
over the past 20 years, with our hindsight of what
actually happened in the world.

My only disappointment with the election is that
there weren't at least two candidates. I'd like the
opportunity to think that I had some choice in the
process, between more that one person with more than
one approach to running things. As long as there's
only one candidate each time, why bother to have an
election? The President could simply be President for
life, like in the Pasadena T.S.

-- Eldon

At 10:01 AM 4/13/01 -0700, you wrote:
> Well, it is an impressive description of the positions of power she has held
> and who she is related to. More impressive to me would be a description of
> what she has done for the Theosophical Movement in the last twenty years.
> --jhe
>
> From: <ramadoss@infohwy.com>
> To: <Ramadoss@infohwy.com>
> Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2001 8:08 PM
> Subject: Theos-World TS(Adyar) - Election of President
>
> > Today I received the ballot for the International President of TS(Adyar).
> > Along with the ballot was a slip of paper with the bio of the only
> > candidate, Mrs. Radha Burnier. It states...