Theos-Talk Archives (September 2003 Message tt00218)

BTW, with regard to this anonymity discussion and that about Mr. Wadia, the 
following may be of interest. 

Some 30 years ago in the NY Lodge of ULT, I remember hearing a lecture on 
reincarnation by Mrs. Wadia -- who was introduced by Joe Pope to all the 
associates by name before she went on the platform. 

Also, everyone knew the real names of the "elders" (we called them "old 
timers") who were lecturing at that time, and we even introduced newcomers to them 
before and after the lectures. Or, Joe Pope, Boris Kinsburg and other 
lecturers sometimes greeted them and gave out their personal names when newcomers 
came in accompanied by an associate. Naturally, some who weren't so introduced, 
didn't know the names of the lecturers -- since it was never announced in the 
monthly bulletin's program list or in the newspaper advertisements, or when 
they wrote articles for Theosophy Magazine. 

The only other time I remember Joe Pope and Anita Atkins practicing anonymity 
by using pseudonyms was when they edited or wrote their books under the names 
Joseph Head and Sylvia Cranston. Years later when another, much younger 
theosophist wrote a book on reincarnation with Cranston, she also used a 
pseudonym. Actually, I don't think that mattered much, since no one knew who she was 
anyway. But, maybe, since she had a worldly career, it might not have been 
wise to spread around to her clients, some of whom might have prejudices, that 
she was a theosophist. :-) 

At another time, I arranged a lecture entitled "Reincarnation in the Kabbala" 
by one of the ULT old timers at my partner's synagogue's special 
congregational meeting in Long Island... Where the lecturer was introduced by name and as 
a Theosophist and Buddhist before being called to the lectern. He was also 
listed by name in the invitational program, which my partner and I prepared at 
our design studio. Anonymity was no problem since none of the audience knew 
anything about the background of the Lecturer, other than his affiliation with 
theosophy and Buddhism. BTW, the lecture was a great success and all questions 
were answered to everyone's satisfaction. My partner, who was a skeptic 
before that, eventually began to study theosophy, as did some of the other members 
of that congregation. 

Does this say something about how rigid ULT is in enforcing the idea of 
anonymity -- that, in essence, was only a suggestion by Mr. Crosby? And, I'm sure 
he understood that applying it by free and independent associates working 
under no rules or regulations, and guided by the Declaration, would certainly 
depend upon both time and circumstances, as well as the nature of the audience 
they were speaking or writing to. Didn't Mr. Judge sometimes use pseudonyms in 
his writings that subtly projected the inference that the writer was a wise 
Irishman, or an ancient sage? Perhaps, the whole idea of anonymity spoken of by 
Mr. Crosby is something that was intended to be left solely to the discretion 
of the individual teacher or promulgator of theosophy, and not to be thought 
of as a cut in stone rule of the ULT. In any event, that's the way I see it.

Lenny (a.k.a. LHM or Leon - which is an abbreviation of Leonardo)