Theos-Talk Archives (July 2008 Message tt00173)

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, Drpsionic@... wrote:
>
> Now I will admit that this has me puzzled.? I have never found 
either of them particularly frightening, in fact I think I scared 
them.?

Hi Chuck,

You were never fool enough to think that any Theosophical 
organization might publish you.  Of course the only reason I ever 
thought so myself was that three Theosophical publishers strung me 
along for years, all without a trace of sincerity as far as I can 
tell. I went halfway around the world to Adyar, having written 
appropriately to my national section in advance, only to be greeted 
with lies/evasion about archives access.  That in itself 
wasn't "scary" of course, but the look Radha gave me was.

You wrote:

 Seriously, Radha always impressed me as being afraid of people, not 
quite knowing what to say and thus keeping a safe distance to protect 
herself.? John, on the other hand, is extremely friendly and 
outgoing, not a difficult person to deal with at all but given to 
academic politics.? 

KPJ: Which means an extremely difficult person to deal with if the 
subject involves "academic politics," i.e. history.  The most 
difficult, in fact, it was ever my misfortune to approach.

Let's face the reality.? Organizational politics can be very nasty 
and to survive it you need a very thick hide, like unto a 
rhinoceros.? The Theosophical Society is no different in that regard 
from any other organization and things will get nasty and messy.? The 
people who thrive in such environments are not going to be saints.? 

KPJ: All I expect is that they not be devils.

If you expect them to be you are going to be disappointed.? Olcott 
can be pure Byzantium and Adyar even worse, everyone maneuvering for 
position and trying to maintain hold on their particular satrapy.? It 
can be great fun if you like to watch the game, but it can be damned 
frustrating if you don't.
> 
KPJ: I don't.  Organizational politics are weird enough in any 
context, but when you introduce religious beliefs (acknowledged or 
not) into the equation the weirdness gets way beyond acceptable 
levels.

Paul