Theos-Talk Archives (July 2002 Message tt00143)

July 14 2002


Dear Bart:

I know nothing of Yoruba. Buddha argued against animal
sacrifices and shamed Brahmins *( who had become perverted
from continuing them overtly). Theosophy does likewise, and
adds that the attempt to fasten, by the misuse of will-power
the "sins" of any one on an animal or a person, etc// is
sorcery. The motive is wrong.

Just applying what we are taught about Karma, brotherhood
and the e=immortality of all Monads and Skandhas ought to
tell us that the concept is wrong and anti-life.

At least that's my reasoning.

The secondary consideration is the power placed on a Lodge
by a "contributor." I say in such a case GOOD BYE
CONTRIBUTOR.. Theosophy does not need such support.
Theosophy cannot be bought nor can any special place be
reserved for its promulgation.

I expect this is not quite in tune with this age, but I
think it is in tune with the history of spiritual work.

Dal

======================
-----Original Message-----
From: Bart Lidofsky [mailto:bartl@sprynet.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2002 8:12 AM
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Theos-World RE: Re: U L T practises and rumors

dalval14@earthlink.net wrote:
> DUES VS. CONTRIBUTIONS
>
> In U L T all contributions are anonymous and carry no
> special weight.
>
> But Bart, do you have any actual reference where H P B
said
> she preferred "dues" to "contributions ?"

It is in the Collected Writings, an article
explaining why the TS
started charging dues (I believe it was 1 pound a year). I
came across
this article about 8 years ago; the New York Lodge was
charging
ridiculously low prices for classes, so low that, based on
contemporary
American standards, people thought the classes were garbage,
and the
only people showing up were those for whom money was the
primary
consideration. So I researched the Collected Writings, the
Secret
Doctrine, the Mahatma Letters, to demonstrate that there was
no problem
with using programs to raise money, and that we need to run
the Lodge to
conform with the society around it, not some society which
existed on
another continent a century ago.

I don't have a copy of the Collected Writings handy
at the moment, but
I do remember I was looking up in the index things like
money, fees, and
Lodges.

> My recollection of the By Laws and Rules of the T S does
in
> now way make it appear that "contributors" would have any
> particular force or power when compared with "members."
Do
> you have any direct references ?

Consider: A lodge has a bookstore. It carries books
on Yoruba. A major
contributor to the Lodge says that, as Yoruba involves
animal sacrifice,
books on the subject should not be in the bookshop, and s/he
will stop
the contributions if the book remains in the bookshop. What
do YOU think
will happen?

Bart Lidofsky