Theos-Talk Archives (August 2004 Message tt00425)

At 01:32 AM 08/23/04 +0000, Perry Coles wrote:
>....I have no problem with people studying neo-theosophy or any other
>particular philosophy, the main point being its not done in a dogmatic
>and closed fashion as you say the writings of HPB are simply giving us
>some clues and I tend to think the nature of her writing style leads
>you away from belief and following much the way Krishnamurti's
>teachings do.....
>So for me the issue of leaving the society was based not on having the
>society become a HPB only society but rather a society that allowed
>free and open debate and philosophical enquiry not only in the
>lectures or study groups but also in its PUBLICATIONS this being the
>main objection I have with the Adyar TS.
>If the principal of freedom of opinion is one that is not only a
>platitude in the society then why are articles critical of CWL and
>neo-theosophy `not allowed' in its publications and yet it's perfectly
>fine to criticise HPB in them?

Eldon Wrote:

|And with the advent of the Internet, we can
|explore our ideas, have our groups, network with others, and work for
|whatever creative projects we like, without needing anyone's permission.

MKR reponds:

We may want to consider the conditions that existed when the TS was 
launched in 1875. At that time, having lodges in cities was the best means 
of getting interested individuals together for discussion and interchange 
of ideas and also use the lodges as the base for giving publicity about 
Theosophy. Also oral and print medium were the only means of disseminating 
Theosophical ideas and doctrines to the public as well as those interested 
in it. Under these conditions, a hierarchical setup was necessary to 
coordinate the activities. The belief in the need for an "non-adept" 
intermediary for one's spiritual enlightenment added another layer to the 
organizational setup. So when people and organization interact, there are 
so many non spiritual issues that come to the surface and do affect 
individuals in various ways.

Looking at the current situation - Internet communication has changed all 
that. Today any set of individuals interested in any particular activity 
can setup a maillist or chat rooms and discuss, publish and interact 
without any geographical or boundary limitation or any centralized control 
or censorship.

Is it possible that the old model setup in 1875 is now obsolete and no 
longer relevant today even though some cling to it for various reasons. 
This new setup indeed has created a lot of problems to a lot of 
organizations many of which do not know how to deal with it. This is 
exemplified by the fact that many of the leadership belong to past 
generations who do not seem to fully understand the Internet phenomenon and 
its wide ramifications and consequently end up ignoring it rather than make 
full use of it to further the objectives of the organizations. Once the 
leadership does this, most followers of the leaders imitate the leadership 
and thus miss the opportunity provided by the new medium of communication. 
As I see it, the current generation which is growing up in the Internet 
environment is likely to act in the future and when such pro-Internet 
attitude becomes dominant way of thinking we can see very many creative 
developments take place to further the ideals and objectives of Theosophy.

My 0.02

mkr



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