Theos-Talk Archives (March 2005 Message tt00072)

March 4 2005

Dear Alaya:

I think this will also be of interest you -- some views taken from
theosophical writings on the subject of :

	

AUTHORITY and AUTONOMY 

===========
		

"The Authority which we recognize is not what men term authority, which
comes from outside and which demands obedience, but an internal recognition
of the value of that which flows through any given point, focus, or
individual. This is the authority of one's Self-discrimination, intuition,
the highest intellection. If we follow what we recognize in that way, and
still find it good, we naturally keep our faces in that direction. This
means no slavish following of any person--a distinction which some are
unable to grasp.  


H.P.B. wrote: "Do not follow me or my path. Follow the path I show, the
Masters who are behind"...the most and best anyone can do is to follow the
lines laid down by H.P.B. regardless of any others." F. P. p. 372-3
[ REMINISCENCES - C. Wachtmeister, p. 122 ]


"There is a very great difference between the Theosophical Movement and any
Theosophical Society. The Movement is moral, ethical, spiritual, universal,
invisible save in effect, and continuous. A Society formed for theosophical
work is a visible organization, an effect, a machine for conserving energy
and putting it to use; It is not nor can it be universal, nor is it
continuous...

The Theosophical Movement being continuous, it is to be found at all times
and in all nations. Wherever thought has struggled to be free, wherever
spiritual ideas, as opposed to forms and dogmatism, have been promulgated,
there the great movement is to be discerned."		
"THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT"	WQJ Articles, II, p. 124


"But let no man set up a popery instead of Theosophy, as this would be
suicidal and has ever ended most fatally. We are all fellow-students, more
or less advanced; but no one belonging to the T.S. ought to count himself
as more than that, at best, a pupil-teacher--one who has no right to
dogmatize."  
--HPB "FIVE MESSAGES to American Theosophists -- 1888," p. 4


"It is above everything important to keep in mind that no theosophical book
acquires the least additional value from pretended authority."	S D I p. xix


"It is just because we have devoted our whole life to the research of
truth...that we never accept on faith any authority upon any question
whatsoever; nor, pursuing, as we do, Truth and progress through a full and
fearless enquiry, untrammeled by any consideration, would we advise any of
our friends to do otherwise."
--HPB "Notes on 'A LAND OF MYSTERY'" HPB Articles III,
pp. 342-3 
Theosophist, Vol. 1, p. 278-9


"Be what he may, once that a student abandons the old and trodden highway
of routine, and enters upon the solitary path of independent
thought--Godward--he is a Theosophist; an original thinker, a seeker after
the eternal truth with "an inspiration of his own" to solve the universal
problems." 
-- HPB " WHAT ARE THE THEOSOPHISTS ?"  
Theosophist, Oct. 1879. HPB Art. I p. 52


"Its [Theosophical] doctrines, if seriously studied, call forth, by
stimulating one's reasoning powers and awakening the inner in the animal
man, every hitherto dormant power for good in us, and also the perception of
the true and the real, as opposed to the false and the unreal.  

"The Society, as such, has no authorities. It was founded with the object
of breaking down that reliance upon "authority" which has been the bane of
man for ages, and it would be strange now in we could admit authority for
theosophists...WE are engaged in trying to develop a truer appreciation of
the Light of Life which is hidden in every man, and so the "final authority"
is the man himself."	
"AUTHORITY," The Path, Nov. 1887, WQJ Art. II 543, 575 


"Experience has at last prompted the adoption of a better working system,
one embodying the true spirit of equality and parliamentary justice more
than the one in vogue. As an autonomous American section had been in
existence and successfully working for two years, and a British section had
just been formed in London, the fair thing was evidently to extend the
sectional scheme to all countries, keeping the Head-quarters as the hub, and
the President Founder as the axle, of this wheel of many spokes under the
car of Progress. [ Follows a synopsis of the new and revised Rules for this.
]  

...At the same time, these and all future sections are or will be
inseparably united with the central point where the President Founder
represents the executive authority of the entire undivided body known as the
Theosophical Society." 
[ From "General Report, 13th Convention and Report of the T.S. at
the H.Q., 
Adyar, Madras, December 27th - 29th 1888. ] Lucifer Vol III, pp.
495-6



"It has always been held that a true Theosophist must have no personal ends
to serve, no favourite hobby to propagate, no special doctrine to enforce or
to defend. For, to merit the honorable title of Theosophist one must be an
altruist, above all; one ever ready to help equally foe or friend; to act,
rather than to speak; and urge others to action, while never losing an
opportunity to work himself. But if no true Theosophist will ever dictate
to his fellow, brother or neighbor, what this one should believe or
disbelieve in, nor force him to act on lines which may be distasteful to
him, however proper they may appear to himself, there are other duties which
he has to attend to:

a) to warn his brother of any danger the latter may fail to see; and 

b) to share his knowledge--if he has acquired such--with those who have been
less fortunate than himself in opportunities for acquiring it...

Therefore, we say to-day to all: "If you would really help the noble
cause--you must do so now; for a few years more and your, as well as our
efforts, will be in vain."...

Unless we succeed in placing the T.S...on the safe side of the spiritual
current, it will be swept away irretrievably into the Deep called "Failure."
...Thus will have ingloriously perished the only association whose aims,
rules and original purposes answer in every particular and detail--if
strictly carried out--to the innermost, fundamental thought of every great
Adept Reformer, the beautiful dream of a Universal Brotherhood Of Man."
HPB "WHY THE VAHAN ?" Dec. 1890	HPB Art. I 284-5


"Look around you, and behold our Universal Brotherhood so called ! The
Society founded to remedy the glaring evils of Christianity, to shun bigotry
and intolerance, cant, and superstition and to cultivate real universal love
extending even to the dumb brute, what has it become in Europe and America
in these 11 years of trial [1886] ? In one thing only we have succeeded
...we have made away with every dogma and are now justly and wisely trying
to make away with the last vestige of even nominal authority..."
-- HPB "THE THEOSOPHICAL MAHATMAS"	
The Path, Dec. 1886.	HPB Articles I 305



"...the undersigned [ HPB ] accepts for her views and walk in life no
authority dead or living, no system of philosophy or religion but
one--namely, the esoteric teachings of ethics and philosophy of those she
calls Masters--answers have to be given strictly in accordance with these
teachings...his first duty is to be ever ready to help if he can, without
stopping to philosophize...there may be those who are starving for truth, in
every department of the science of nature, and who consequently are yearning
to learn the esoteric views about "cosmology, the evolution of man and of
the Universe." ...

"...what I do believe in is: 

1) the unbroken oral teachings revealed by living divine men during
the infancy of mankind to the elect among men;

2) that it has reached us unaltered; and

3) that the Masters are thoroughly versed in the science based on
such uninterrupted teaching."	-- HPB	[HPB Articles, I
pp. 459-61]


"The tree is known by its fruits; and as all Theosophists have to be judged
by their deeds and not by what they write or say, so all Theosophical books
must be accepted on their merits, and not according to any claim to
authority which they may put forward."
-- HPB KEY TO THEOSOPHY, p. 300



AUTONOMY AND INTERDEPENDENCE
[ see Addendum ]



"...Master said to me. He [Olcott]...the Society has outgrown him. Let him
remain a nominal President--but let us active Presidents--one in India, the
other in Europe--the third in America, begin working with that object. You
alone ought to become the President in chief of all the European Societies,
and for life--who ever else may be the year President of the L.L., or the
Paris, or German Th. Societies. Such is the desire of my Master--I know it.
For myself--I am resolved to remain sub rosa. I can do far more by
remaining in the shadow than by becoming prominent once more in the
movement."	HPB to A.P.SINNETT, p. 111-12


"We have a reform in hand...what do you think of the idea of placing the
Branches on quite a different footing ?...What I want is simply a paper on
the advisability of remodeling the present formation of branches and their
privileges. Let them be all chartered and initiated as heretofore by the
Parent Society, and depend of it nominally. At the same time, let every
Branch before it is chartered, choose some one object to work for, an
object, naturally in sympathy with the general principles of the T.S.--yet a
distinct and definite object of its own, whether in the religious,
educational or philosophical line. This would allow the Society a broader
margin for its general operations; more real, useful work would be done;
and, as every Branch would be so to say, independent in its modus operandus,
there would remain less room for complaint and par consequence--for
interference. At any rate this hazy sketch, I hope, will find an excellent
soil to germinate and thrive in..."	M L
pp 317-8


"...many are the things we shall have to talk over and foremost of all the
Mahatma's desire that the Branches of the T.S. especially the L.L. [London
Lodge] and the European should be made all autonomous under one President.
A sudden and efficient stop must be made to "President's Camps," Poona, and
"President's Camp, Lahore" and "Special orders" and all that sort of thing.
Ah well, who loves the Cause--has to sacrifice himself, and I am ever ready.
Au revoir. HPB letter to APS p. 129


"Explain to Olcott matters and claim from him and Council, that which you of
the L.L. virtually have: complete autonomy for the European Branches, as
many as there are groups of the same way of thinking. Theosophy was founded
as a nucleus for Univ. Brotherhood. So was Christ. The latter was a
complete failure and is a sham, only because the R. Latin Church claims
infallibility, absolute authority...Our Society was established to bring
together people as searchers after truth, independent thinkers, one having
no right to force his opinion on the other: or meddle in his religious
views."	HPB Let to APS, p. 221
[ Lucifer Vol 7, 1890, pp 77-8 -- HPB is officially declared the
president 
for the British and European Sections T S. ]


"I must ask you to remember that the new Society shall not be allowed to
disconnect itself with the parent Body, though you are at liberty to manage
your affairs in your own way and without fearing the slightest interference
from its President so long as you do not violate the general Rules."
M L , p. 16


"...you will have--in case you organize--to put up with Olcott at the head
of the Parent Society, hence--nominally the president of all the existing
Branches. But he will be no more your "leader" than he is the leader of the
British Theos. Society, which has its own President, its own Rules and
Bye-laws. You will be chartered by him, and that's all...yet he has no
right to interfere either with your administration or modes of action, so
long as these do not clash with the general Rules, and he certainly has
neither the ability nor the desire of being your leader."	M L
, pp. 20-1


"When the ancient founders of your philosophical schools came East, to
acquire the lore of our predecessors, they filed no claims, except the
single one of a sincere and unselfish hunger for the truth. If any now
aspire to found new schools of science and philosophy the same plan will
win--if the searchers have in them the elements of success...H.S.Olcott has
been trying to convert each of the Indian Branches into such a school of
research, but the capacity for sustained independent study for knowledge's
sake is lacking, and must be developed..."	M L, p. 342



"Solidarity of thought and action within the broad outline of the chief and
general principles of the Society there must always be between the parent
and Branch bodies; yet the latter must be allowed each their own
independent action in everything that does not clash with those principles."
M L , p. 318-9



"The Theosophical Society was constituted on the model of its mother
country...they wanted to grant absolute equality in its laws to all
religions so that all would support the State and all in their turn would be
protected...each branch as well as each member, having the right to profess
the religion and to study the sciences or philosophies it or he prefers,
provided that the whole remains united by bonds of solidarity and
fraternity--our Society may be truly called the "Republic of Conscience."...

All of us must work for the liberation of human thought, for the elimination
of selfish and sectarian superstitions, and for the discovery of all the
truths that are within the reach of the human mind. This goal cannot be
attained with greater certainty than through the culture of solidarity on
the plane of mental work. No honest worker, no serious seeker, has ever
returned therefrom empty-handed..."	-- HPB "THE NEW CYCLE"
La Revue Theosophique, March 21, 1889. HPB Articles I 402



"No true Theosophist...would consent to become the fetish of a fashionable
doctrine, any more than he would make himself the slave of a decaying
dead-letter system, the spirit from which has disappeared forever. Neither
would he pander to anyone or anything, and therefore would always decline to
show belief in that in which he does not, nor can he believe, which is lying
to his own soul...we will keep to that pure ray "that comes from above,"
from the light of the "Ancient."	-- HPB "THE DUAL ASPECT OF WISDOM"
Lucifer, Sept. 1890	HPB Articles I 36-7



"If one criticism is hurtful, so is another; so also is every innovation,
or even the presentation of some old thing under a new aspect, as both have
necessarily to clash with the views of this, or another
"authority."...criticism is the great benefactor of thought in general; and
still more so of those men who never think for themselves but rely in
everything upon acknowledged "authorities" and social routine.

For what is an "authority" upon any question...No more...than a light
streaming upon a certain object through one single, more or less wide,
chink, and illuminating it from one side only. Such light, besides being
the faithful reflector of the personal views of but one man--very often
merely that of his special hobby--can never help in the examination of a
question or a subject from all its aspects and sides...Criticism is the sole
salvation from intellectual stagnation...To reject the infallibility of a
man of Science is not quite the same as to repudiate his learning. A
specialist is one, precisely because he has some one specialty, and is
therefore less reliable in other branches of Science, and even in the
general appreciation of his own subject. Official school Science is based
upon temporary foundations, so far...Truth belongs to all...excepting always
those few special branches of knowledge which should be preserved ever
secret, like those two-edged weapons that both kill and 
save..."	- HPB Literary Jottings by "Unpopular Philosopher
Lucifer, Sept. 1892 (posthumous) HPB Art. II 389-391


"It is our duty, as it is that of physical Science...to throw light on facts
in Nature hitherto surrounded by the darkness of ignorance...But natural
Sciences are only one aspect of Science and Truth. Psychological and moral
Science, or Theosophy, the knowledge of divine truth, wherever found, are
still more important in human affairs, and real Science should not be
limited simply to the physical aspect of life and nature. Science is an
abstract of every fact, a comprehension of every truth within the scope of
human research and intelligence.."
-- HPB "WHAT'S IN A NAME ?" Lucifer, Sept. 1887	HPB Art III
374-5



[ HPB on criticism of ISIS and the SECRET DOCTRINE ]

"We are quite ready to admit the faults charged...that it is badly arranged,
discursive, over-burdened with digressions into by-ways of mythology, etc.,
But then it is neither a philosophical system nor the Doctrine, called
secret or esoteric, but only a record of a few of its facts and a witness to
it.  

It has never claimed to be the full exposition of the system...in its
totality;  

a) because the writer does not boast of being a great Initiate...  

b) because had she been one, she would have divulged still less.  

It has never been contemplated to make of the sacred truths an integral
system for the ribaldry and sneers of the profane and iconoclastic
public...the Secret Doctrine merely asserts that a system, known as the
Wisdom Religion, the work of generations of adepts and seers, the sacred
heirloom of pre-historic times--actually exists, though hitherto preserved
in the greatest secrecy by the present Initiates...

Giving a few fragments only, it there shows how these explain the religious
dogmas of the present day, and how they might serve Western religions,
philosophies and science, as sign-posts along the untrodden paths of
discovery...  

No new philosophy is set up in the Secret Doctrine, only the hidden meaning
of some of the religious allegories of antiquity is given...and the common
source is pointed out...however divergent...the agreement between all
becomes perfect, so soon as the esoteric or inner side of these beliefs and
their symbology is examined ...

It is also maintained that its doctrines and sciences, which form an
integral cycle of universal cosmic facts and metaphysical axioms and truths,
represent a complete and unbroken system; and that he who is brave and
persevering enough, ready to crush the animal in himself, and forgetting the
human self, sacrifices it to his Higher Ego, can always find his way to
become initiated into these mysteries. This is all the Secret Doctrine
claims."	
--HPB "THE BABEL OF MODERN THOUGHT"
Lucifer, Jan., Feb. 1891, HPB Articles III 43-44


"If any authority pertains to the Secret Doctrine, it must be sought inside,
not outside. It must rest on its comprehensiveness, its completeness, its
continuity and reasonableness; in other words, on its philosophical
synthesis, a thing missed alike by the superficial and the contentious, by
the indolent, the superstitious, and the dogmatic."  
-- WQJ	"The Synthesis of Occult Science" WQJ Art I 36


[ Dr. Fisher quoted by HPB in Isis:

"One of the most formidable obstacles to the advancement of science...has
ever been a blind submission to authority...To untrammel the mind from the
influence of mere authority, that it may have free scope in its
investigation of facts and laws which exist and are established in nature,
is the grand antecedent necessary to scientific discovery and permanent
progress."
Dr. Fisher: "Trans. of Medical Science" ISIS UNVEILED I
396



UNITY AND THE T.S. AND THEOSOPHY THE BOND


"There is no longer a 'Parent Society;' it is abolished and replaced by an
aggregate body of Theosophical Societies, all autonomous...such is the real
state of things." 
- HPB	] Lucifer, Vol. 4, p. 508 ]	THEOSOPHY . Mag., Vol 6, p.
477


"We are now to be like the Freemasons, who are one and all, in every part of
the world, Freemasons. Yet each Grand Lodge is independent,
autonomous...and yet every member a Freemason and traveling into every Lodge
if he follows the rule.

You are quite right that Autonomy was agreed on as the method. There would
be very great clumsiness and friction in being part of the American T.S.
Each great territory, like an individual, stands on its own feet, while all
are united in aim...keep in mind that what we ought to work for is to bring
the truths of Theosophy before the greatest number of persons and not that
we seek office or honour, then our best efforts must have good results."
-- WQJ "Letters That Have Helped Me," p. 171



"The period which we have now reached in this cycle that will close between
1897-98 is, and will continue to be, one of great conflict and continued
strain...No opportunity will be lost of sowing dissension, of taking
advantage of mistaken and false moves, of instilling doubt, of augmenting
difficulties, of breathing suspicions, so that by any and every means the
unity of the Society may be broken and the ranks of our Fellows thinned and
thrown into disarray.  

Never has it been more necessary for the members of the T.S. to lay to heart
the old parable of the bundle of sticks than it is at the present time:
divided, they will inevitably be broken, one by one; united, there is no
force on earth able to destroy our Brotherhood ...

Self-watchfulness is never more necessary than when a personal wish to lead,
and wounded vanity, dress themselves in the peacock's feathers of devotion
and altruistic work; but at the present crisis of the Society a lack of
self-control and watchfulness may become fatal in every case...

If every fellow in the Society were content to be an impersonal force for
good, careless of praise or blame so long as he subserved the purposes of
the Brotherhood, the progress made would astonish the World and place the
Ark of the T.S. out of danger. Take for your motto in conduct...
"Peace with all who love Truth in sincerity."     
-- HPB FIVE MESSAGES, (1891) p. 29



In 1885 when HPB was exiled from Adyar, the Master wrote:


"The Society has liberated itself from our grasp and influence, and we have
let it go...

It is now a soulless corpse, a machine run so far well enough, but which
will fall to pieces when...Out of the three objects, the second alone is
attended to; it is no longer a Brotherhood, nor a body over the face of
which broods the Spirit beyond the Great Range."   

-- Master [ Theosophist, October 1907 ] THEOSOPHY Mag. Vol. 6,
p. 477


"Let us then press forward together in the great work of the real
Theosophical Movement, which is aided by working organizations, but is above
them all...We will then each and all be members of that Universal Lodge of
Free and Independent Theosophists which embrace every friend of the human
race." -- WQJ
Letter to European Convention 1895 from the 
Theosophical Society in America --	PATH, Vol. 10, p. 136


=======================================================


ADDENDUM


On Autonomy


The following quotations deserve their place in history and are here placed
in view of the assertion still made in the T S, Adyar that "The American
Theosophists and Mr. W.Q.Judge" "seceded" from the T.S. --DTB ]


A 1893 Letter from Col. Olcott:

Mr. A.E.S. Smythe, President T S in Canada, wrote the Editors of THEOSOPHY
[ reported on p. 11 of the March 15th issue of CANADIAN THEOSOPHIST, for
1923, Vol. 4, # 1 ] quoting a letter addressed in 1893 by Col. Olcott,
P.T.S. to Mr. Judge in which he read the following :

"If you want separate Theosophical Societies made out of the 	
Sections, have them by all means. I offered this years ago 	
to H.P.B. and even to A.P.S."


In the CANADIAN THEOSOPHIST, Vol. X, July 1929, pp 156-7  

Mr. A. E. S. Smythe, President wrote:

"The splitting of the Society was the act of Colonel Olcott who hated Judge.
Judge had expected that the Colonel would recognize the autonomous T.S. in
America and affiliate it with Adyar, but Olcott changed his mind and refused
to do this, and Judge...was much disappointed with the Colonel's refusal.  

I was in the office at 144 Madison Avenue when Judge received a letter from
Olcott postmarked and stamped from Spain, and Judge remarked 'Now everything
will be all right.' But the letter was not what Judge expected and his
disappointment was very obvious.  

This phase of the situation has never been explained, and I have never been
able to learn whether Judge counted with warrant on Olcott's support, or
whether it was really a right-about-face on Olcott's part, for Judge
certainly expected Olcott to support him.  

Judge had collected $ 17,000.00 in America and sent it to Olcott when the
Adyar treasurer embezzled that amount...Judge and Besant were all right till
H.P.B. died and we can honour and depend upon them up till that point.
After May 8, 1891 we have had to depend upon ourselves and should be
charitable to our neighbours."
-- A. E. S.
Smythe. "



[ From HPB: "Why I do not Return to India" -- letter 

April, 1890

"...the name alone of the holy Masters...has wrought a mighty change for the
better in your land [India]...so long as I remained at Adyar, things went on
smoothly enough, because one or other of the Masters was almost constantly
present among us, and their spirit ever protected the T.S. from real
harm...[1884] It was during that time and Colonel Olcott's absence in Burma,
that the seeds of all future strifes, and...disintegration of the T.S., were
planned by our enemies...(110) I say, at that critical moment, if the
members of the Society, and especially its leaders at Adyar, Hindu and
European, had stood together as one man, firm in their conviction of the
reality and power of the Masters, Theosophy would have come out more
triumphantly than ever, and none of their fears would have ever been
realized...In spite of my protests, I was hurried away from
Headquarters...and immediately intrigues and rumors began...it was rumored
that I had been abandoned by the Masters, been disloyal to Them...I was
accused of being, at best, a hallucinated medium, who had mistaken "spooks"
for living Masters...others declared that the real H.P.Blavatsky was
dead...and that the form had been forthwith seized upon by a Dugpa Chela...I
was a witch, a sorceress...In fact the powers of psychology attributed to me
by my enemies...are so great that they alone would have made of me a most
remarkable Adept--independently of any Masters or Mahatmas. with the
exception of Colonel Olcott, everyone seemed to banish the Masters from
their thoughts and Their spirit from Adyar...since my departure...the
activity of the movement there gradually slackened...

Acting under Master's orders I began a new movement in the West on the
original lines; I founded Lucifer, and the Lodge which bears my name...I
learned that I was once more wanted in India--at any rate by some. But the
invitation came too late; neither would my doctor permit it, nor can I, if
I would remain true to my life-pledge and vows, now live at the Headquarters
from which the Masters and Their spirit are virtually banished. The
presence of Their portraits will not help; They are a dead letter...no
advice of mine on occult lines seems likely to be accepted, as the fact of
my relations with the Masters is doubted, even totally denied by some...the
spread of Theosophy and of the T.S. in the West, during the last three
years, has been extraordinary...I was enabled and encouraged by the devotion
of an ever increasing number of members to the Cause and to Those who guide
it, to establish an Esoteric Section, in which I can teach something of what
I have learned to those who have confidence in me, and who prove this by
their disinterested work for Theosophy and the T.S. The only claim,
therefore, which India could ever have upon me would be strong only in
proportion to the activity of the Fellows there for Theosophy and their
loyalty to the Masters.

Thenceforth let it be clearly understood that the rest of my life is devoted
only to those who believe in the Masters, and are willing to work for
Theosophy as They understand it, and for the T.S. on the lines upon which
They originally established it."
-- HPB "WHY I DO NOT RETURN TO INDIA,"
[ letter from HPB was sent with B. Keightley, April 1890.  
Published in Theosophist, January 1922.		
HPB Articles I pp 108 - 114 ]


"There is no longer a "Parent Society;" it is abolished and replaced by an
aggregate body of Theosophical societies, all autonomous, as are the States
of America, and all under one Head President, who, together with
H.P.Blavatsky, will champion the Cause against the whole world. Such is the
real state of things...

a Council which is liable at any moment to issue silly and untheosophical
ukases...in a Society which owes its life to them [she and Col. Olcott], and
for which they are both karmically responsible...she will ever protest
against the decision of the General Council... if their decisions seem to
her unjust or untheosophical, or fails to meet with the approval of the
majority of the Fellows...It is the two Founders and especially the
President, who have virtually sworn allegiance to the Fellows, whom they
have to protect, and teach those who want to be taught, and not to tyrannize
and rule over them."
-- H P B "A PUZZLE FROM ADYAR" Lucif, Aug. 1889
HPB Articles I 219-220


-------------------------

Best wishes,

Dallas

============
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Alaya 
Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 9:39 AM
To: 
Subject: is every one a member?



Dear Dallas

I totally agree with you
I am not trying to defend affiliations, quite the contrary

I believe, like you, that the individual should make his own efforts
and quite often, organizations, societies and stuff mislead the 
individual, get him struck on the ideals this society gives, and 
only... 

CUT