Theos-Talk Archives (July 2008 Message tt00175)

...and to live a saint in the Middle
ain't that show you a challenging riddle?

--- On Tue, 7/15/08, Drpsionic@aol.com <Drpsionic@aol.com> wrote:

From: Drpsionic@aol.com <Drpsionic@aol.com>
Subject: Re: Theos-World Dynasty subverting Democracy (through FEAR)
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 11:35 PM






True, if I had expected my first book to be published by Quest I would have written a completely different book.

Actually I do sort of expect them to be devils, but then let's be honest, I like devils.? Being the Agent of the Antichrist I had better, ha ha.? And of course you are right.? For an organization that claims not to be a religion it often does a very good imitation of the Vatican and if I remember correctly there was one convention where a few of us were running around ala Monty Python saying "No one expects the Theosophical Inquisition! ".?? But then neither did you and then you ran into it.

It all has to do with the nature of the TS itself.? There is a core of True Believers, but they are not the people who actually do the day to day work at Olcott.? That can be a pretty cynical bunch at times.? It is the people in the branches who come to Convention every summer to sit and listen in rapt attention to things that the rest of us either would be bored to tears with (how many seminars on the Mahatma Letters can one stand before one jumps on the carpet and flies away?) or just laugh at.? And so when your book came out it was greeted with great joy by those of us not invested in the mythology, but the others--well it was a real shock to them.

That is the sort of thing that can create some real problems in an organization but they don't know that because they are too invested in the mythology.? Radha seems to be a true believer in spite of her position while those immediately around her are probably a bit less so.? But she is also an autocrat and that is a bad combination. ? John is much more cynical and once told?a visiting fundamentalist Christian who asked him about something weird in the Secret Doctrine, "Oh, we don't take that seriously any more."? But John is a politician and does what is politically expedient.

You my friend had the misfortune to get caught between the hammer and the anvil.? And thus when dealing with the powers that be I often am reminded of the old Christian ditty:

"To live above
With the saints I love,
Oh, that will be glory.

To live below
With the saints I know,
Well, that's another story."

Chuck the Heretic

http://www.geocitie s.com/c_cosimano 

-----Original Message-----
From: kpauljohnson <kpauljohnson@ yahoo.com>
To: theos-talk@yahoogro ups.com
Sent: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 2:02 pm
Subject: Re: Theos-World Dynasty subverting Democracy (through FEAR)

--- In theos-talk@yahoogro ups.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

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