Theos-Talk Archives (January 2005 Message tt00076)

"Ultimately, it is the individual who changes on account of the
exposure to
various ideas and I doubt organizations can do the job"
.........

I tend to agree with you that we need to be able to stand as an
individual without needing to wear an organisational badge.
But the other side is that group development is also a very important one.

The problem I think happens when individual expression is suppressed
by a groups hierarchy, especially if the individual is acting within
the groups mandate.

If we really believe in the principle of freedom and truth we need to
be vigilant in the pursuit of it.
Even if that means we are feeling uncomfortable and upset by the
experience.

The new age and pop psychology puts the focus on feeling good and
happy about ourselves.
Perhaps genuine spiritual growth is not so much about feeling happy as
the focus becomes less self centred and more centred on the totality
and the suffering of others.

Our western mindset has become so obsessed with the need for
entertainment and the pursuit of pleasure that we very quickly pick up
our bat and ball and go home when things don't go our way.

There is nothing wrong with pleasure of course but we need to able to
see the educational opportunity conflict can bring.

Don't get me wrong I am not suggesting that we need to become
pathological or masochistic but perhaps there is another way of seeing
pain and conflict.

Genuine Shanti or Peace is something that shakes us to the core of our
being this may not necessarily be a pleasant experience for the
personality and we are only beginning the experience.



Perry

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, MKR<ramadoss@g...> wrote:
> When the TS was started in 1875, with physical branches around the
world, 
> that was the *only* effective was of organizing to spread the
message of 
> theosophy.
> 
> In today's world, with the changes that have taken place in
communication 
> and transportation, one questions as to how relevant the physical 
> organization to spread messages and motivate people to study,
contemplate 
> and change. (The copyrights of all the theosophical classics have
expired 
> and are reproducible in electronic and other media without the
interference 
> of copyright holders and most of them are available on line.)
> 
> Ultimately, it is the individual who changes on account of the
exposure to 
> various ideas and I doubt organizations can do the job. It looks
like most 
> organizations in the spiritual related matters would just take over the 
> mechanical job of publishing material in cyberspace and print media.
It is 
> upto the organizations to meet the changing demands of the day or
they will 
> be left by the wayside and disappear when they run out of money.
> 
> While the above organizational task is important, it is the
transformation 
> of the individual is critical. So it may not be necessary to look to
any 
> organization for our personal growth and transformation in today's
world.
> 
> My 0.02
> 
> mkr
> 
> At 02:52 PM 01/04/05 +0000, Perry Coles wrote:
> >It may be that it will take some time to see really positive change in
> >the actual organizations as power structures are not easily shaken.
> 
> 
> 
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