Theos-Talk Archives (December 2005 Message tt00208)

Dear Anand,

Anand Gholap wrote:

> To me this does not appear right way of doing Theosophical work. 
> There are many other organizations already doing work of spreading 
> Feng Shui etc. TS had many good occultists like AB, CWL and others 
> in that tradition. TSA and TS should focus on spreading writing done 
> by these authors because this knowledge is not available at other 
> places. Also TS has some special philosophy to offer and that 
> writing is available because of clairvoyant investigations done by 
> occultists in TS. Quality of that is much better than writing 
> outside, in my opinion. 
Like it or not, this is the policy of TSA. To understand it, you need 
to go back to the administration of George Arundale (1934-1945). By the 
time of his presidency, Besant had passed away, and Leadbeater, six 
months after. Krishnamurti has already resigned from the TS and closed 
the Order of the Star in the East. To use an American expression, 
Arundale had a hard act to follow. He had to find a new strategy. He 
pushed very hard to increase membership by publishing many pamphlets and 
magazines that were designed to appeal to the wider public and did not 
directly address Theosophy (i.e. Advance Australia, The New Citizen, 
Conscience etc.). He tried to make Theosophy as a mirror--that is, to 
be anything anyone wanted it to be. It was not until one joined the ES, 
that they were shown Theosophy to be a very precise thing. Arundale's 
plan did not achieve his objective. Rather, membership fell to the 
lowest levels than it has ever been since. In TSA, the late Emily 
Sellon is often quoted as saying "Theosophy is everything, but 
everything is not Theosophy." I don't know the context in which she 
made that statement, so I am not certain of her precise meaning. 
However, now it seems to be taken and quoted as a reflection of the 
present policy of publishing on any subject that seems to be germane to 
Theosophy. The decisions as to which titles are published is done by a 
committee. The membership has no input into this process. So, it 
appears that TSA has taken on a modification of Arundale's plan: 
Publish books on many different popular subjects (that appear to be 
germane to Theosophy) and try to pull in new members in through them. 

> This situation would make sick any honest member of TS. 
> Unfortunately decline of Theosophy has happened not only in America, 
> but also in Europe and many other countries. Indeed situation is 
> very bad. Membership is very low, those who are members have 
> negligible knowledge of Theosophy and have become fanatic. This 
> fundamentalism is driving away people from TS and Theosophy. This 
> failure of TS in last two decades is effect and every effect has 
> some cause behind it. So it is important to know causes of this 
> failure of TS.
Perhaps the effects are from causes that were put into motion by the 
past leaders. 
I would not make the broad statement that members have a negligible 
knowledge of Theosophy. I know of may very knowledgeable members from 
all of the different Theosophical organizations. They may be in the 
minority in TSA, however. My guess is, less than 10% of TSA membership 
has made a serious study of Theosophy (By serious, I mean a committed 
study of five years or more of the major writers--including 
Blavatsky). In the other organizations, I would say, 90% or better are 
knowledgeable of the Theosophical teachings as taught in their 
respective organizations. 
I would also be careful about using the word "fanatic." It is a 
pejorative that brings only negative reactions. I personally know many 
of the Theosophists you consider fanatic. A better, and more accurate 
description of them would be that they are people who are very 
knowledgeable of the teachings in their traditions and have a point of 
view which differs from yours. 
Best Wishes,
Jerry






> Dear Jerry,
> While 
>
> > it is not about Besant and Leadbeater, it is also not about 
> Blavatsky. 
>
> > While TSA does publish books by Blavatsky, Besant and Leadbeater, 
> most 
>
> > of their books are by more current authors on other subjects--such 
> as 
>
> > Buddhism, mysticism, mythology, Feng Shui etc. What I am saying 
> is that 
>
> > TSA does not promote Blavatsky any more than Besant and 
> Leadbeater. And 
>
> > they promote books on many other subjects besides. 
> To me this does not appear right way of doing Theosophical work. 
> There are many other organizations already doing work of spreading 
> Feng Shui etc. TS had many good occultists like AB, CWL and others 
> in that tradition. TSA and TS should focus on spreading writing done 
> by these authors because this knowledge is not available at other 
> places. Also TS has some special philosophy to offer and that 
> writing is available because of clairvoyant investigations done by 
> occultists in TS. Quality of that is much better than writing 
> outside, in my opinion. 
>
>
>
> > They achieved their objectives. That is, to centralize power and 
> > minimize autonomy. Traditionally, Theosophy was promulgated 
> through 
>
> > independent lodges where members gathered and studied, and 
> discussed the 
>
> > teachings in Theosophical books. Through restructuring, most of 
> the 
>
> > Lodges have disappeared and members have to rely upon their own 
> > resources, or join the "National Lodge" which becomes the sole 
> voice.
>
> This situation would make sick any honest member of TS. 
> Unfortunately decline of Theosophy has happened not only in America, 
> but also in Europe and many other countries. Indeed situation is 
> very bad. Membership is very low, those who are members have 
> negligible knowledge of Theosophy and have become fanatic. This 
> fundamentalism is driving away people from TS and Theosophy. This 
> failure of TS in last two decades is effect and every effect has 
> some cause behind it. So it is important to know causes of this 
> failure of TS.
>
> Anand Gholap
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