Theos-Talk Archives (February 2005 Message tt00201)

Before the advent of Internet mail lists, it was very difficult for those 
interested in theosophy and belonging to any organization or no 
organization to "meet" and discuss issues of interest. It all changed with 
the advent of Internet.

The first e-mail list theos-l was launched by a member of TSA and was quite 
active ( and still active even though not as much as theos-world) and 
provided a forum for everyone across the world to talk about issues of 
common *theosophical* interest. By the way I learnt about theos-l not from 
any organization (those days there were few search engines) - I don't think 
organizations looked favorably on the list because no one could control 
them -- organizational leaders are used to be in control of flow of 
information to its members (and they saw it as their duty, perhaps) and 
this medium is so foreign that while I suspect they were reading the msgs 
(perhaps even today) but none of them participated in any discussions -- It 
was a casual teleconversation that led me to the theos-l.

Even today we have rarely seen any of the organizational leadership elected 
or appointed -- participating in any of the un-moderated (uncensored) 
lists. This makes one wonder whether any of them even today understand the 
potential power of Internet and what it can do to further theosophy, even 
though I have seen some of the organizational leaders talk a lot about 
Internet. It is quite understandable since much of the top leadership are 
old and grew up in pre-Internet era.

As I see it, with the coming generation growing up in Internet "culture", 
it is very likely that maillists such as this supplanting the traditional 
organizations for furthering theosophy, and traditional organizations being 
relegated to the role of publishing and holding copyrights and other 
property and assets.

Personally speaking, I interact with the "theosophists" on a daily basis 
here and much more than what I do with local branch members and am very 
happy with the situation.

One of the problems that all organizations face with Internet is that there 
are facts and rumors - past and present - that organizational leaders do 
not want to come out or discussed. Internet, being an uncensored medium 
allows this to happen and there is nothing anyone can do about it, other 
than face the reality and put up with it. This is an issue that 
organizational leadership needs to address sooner or later head-on for the 
best interests of the organization and theosophy.

Ramadoss

At 06:17 AM 02/09/05 +0000, you wrote:
> I don't think that effort was in vain, and this list shows that
> inter-personal dialogue between members of different organisations
> can be a reality. When I first saw a copy of the newsletter/journal
> called "Theosophical Networking", back in the 1980s, I noticed a
> proposal for something like a "World Federation of Theosophical
> Societies". And I thought: "It won't work". The organisational
> differences are just too many and too complex to be completely
> reconciled. But I still believe that individuals can keep the
> dialogue alive, as is done, for example, on this list.


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