Re: Theos-World Re: COSMIC DOWNSIZING - Aryel Sanat
Oct 28, 2008 06:05 AM
by Erica Letzerich
Dear Martin,
You wrote:
<Ps. welke plek zit jij ergens in Nederland; ben je, behalve e-mailerig
(schriftelijk) eigenlijk nog nergens tegengekomen...maar dat is
misschien ook wel de bedoeling, hahaha.>
What I have to say is:
Çèéêü äßäáãìá: ¸íá óáëéãêÜñé åßíáé ðáíôñåíÝíï ìå Ýíáí
êýêëùðá. Ðåèáßíåé ï êýêëùðáò êáé ôï óáëéãêÜñé óôåíï÷ùñÞèçêå ðïëý, áëëÜ
ôåëéêÜ ôï îåðÝñáóå êáé ðáíôñåýôçêå êáé Üëëïí êýêëùðá.
Ðïéï åßíáé ôï çèéêü äßäáãìá;
Ôï êáëü ôï óáëéãêÜñé îÝñåé êé Üëëï ìïíïìÜôç. hahahahahaha
Erica
________________________________
From: Martin <Mvandertak@yahoo.com>
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 12:35:42 PM
Subject: Re: Theos-World Re: COSMIC DOWNSIZING - Aryel Sanat
Yow Katinka, trying or actually doing so? I mean a 100 years since it's founding should have been enough for 'trying'?
I"ll see if I can sense some change by visiting Naarden and Amsterdam library ( as you may know I am from Amsterdam) and then I'll report my findings here.
However, my findings are also still 'try outs', for the beast of vanity is still active in me...it may take a 100 lives to exhaust my trying :-), but I am asured it will be a white horse one of these days (probably when I have reached the state of St. Nicolas).
Ps. welke plek zit jij ergens in Nederland; ben je, behalve e-mailerig (schriftelijk) eigenlijk nog nergens tegengekomen...maar dat is misschien ook wel de bedoeling, hahaha.
--- On Tue, 10/28/08, Katinka Hesselink <mail@katinkahesselink.net> wrote:
From: Katinka Hesselink <mail@katinkahesselink.net>
Subject: Theos-World Re: COSMIC DOWNSIZING - Aryel Sanat
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 10:57 AM
It has come to my attention yesterday that the Dutch TS is actually
trying to reform. Several committee's have been set up and the preview
of the proposals I heard were interesting.
So aside from trying to change the way the international president is
elected, they are also attempting a more positive change.
Katinka
--- In theos-talk@yahoogro ups.com, MKR <mkr777@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks, Anton for your msg.
>
> The root causes of the current situation, in my opinion, are:
>
> 1. Attempt to defeat Radha Burnier by feeding inaccurate and possibly
> deliberate misinformation to members.
>
> 2. Immediately following the election, the Ultra Secret plan to
> disenfranchise members with speedy radical changes to the rules.
>
> These are very serious and fundamental issues affecting every
members and
> goes to the root issue of the trust one can place on the GC
members/leaders
> who are behind them. So, under the current climate, it is not going
to be
> simple to fix any real or imagined problems.
>
> Also none of the GC members seem to recognise the most serious problem
> facing TS - precipitous decline in membership outside India.
>
> All the tweaking of the rules will do nothing to fix this problem
since all
> sections are autonomous and do their own thing so long they do not
violate
> the three objects.
>
> These are very simple issues that everyone can see and understand.
>
> mkr
> On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 7:32 AM, Anton Rozman <anton_rozman@ ...>wrote:
>
> > Dear friends,
> >
> > I would like to make some comments because it seems that it is now
> > premuned that the Theosophical Society is and has been till now true
> > democracy, now endangered by group of people lead by John Algeo, what
> > is, from my point of view, completely twisted perspective of the
> > actual situation.
> >
> > In first place let me overview once again some basic statistics of
> > past TS President election results. Votes were received from 12,993
> > members out of 20,879 members of the Society eligible to vote and
> > this number represents 62, 2 % of members eligible to vote and 44, 8
> > % of all members of the Theosophical Society. John Algeo received
> > 4,323 votes or 20, 7 % and Radha Burnier 8,560 votes or 41% of all
> > members eligible to vote. Therefore none of the candidates received
> > majority support of the TS members eligible to vote, still less of
> > all members of the Society. The fact that the elected President does
> > not enjoy the majority support should represent a warning that in the
> > Society some necessary changes are eminent and that there is an
> > urgency to find such solutions which will find consensus of majority
> > of the Society's members.
> >
> > The proposal of the Amendments to the TS Rules and Regulations
> > certainly didn't lead to the consensus solution and only deepened the
> > polarization in the Society. More over, none of the poles or TS
> > officers have till now presented any concrete proposal or visible
> > sign of willingness to find some consensus solutions and foster the
> > democratization and transparency in the Society.
> >
> > Next, there seems that it is absent transparent fundamental direction
> > of the Society for the next years as it seems that the General
> > Council, as the Governing Body of the TS, will not discuss any
> > proposal and accept any policy and plan of work. At least we didn't
> > see any such proposal except that in John Algeo's election campaign
> > material.
> >
> > Further on, although it was clearly established that during the
> > election process several TS officers have behaved immorally,
> > violating TS Rules and Regulations and unethically conducted the
> > election campaign, what certainly damaged the Society, we didn't see
> > any statement of regret or apology to the membership, still less any
> > sign of willingness to offer a resignation.
> >
> > And finally, it is hoped that continuation of this unconstructive,
> > war-like situation will soon wake up those uniting forces and
> > numerous towards brotherhood oriented members to step forward and
> > launch the revitalization of the Society on the principle of
> > brotherhood and cooperation and transcend the quarrels which from
> > broader perspective of the needs of the Society and humanity at large
> > would look really silly if they were not sad.
> >
> > Warmest regards,
> > Anton
> >
> > p.s. I am adding excerpts from David R. Loy's "Perspectives on Evil
> > and Human Wickedness", Vol. 1 No. 2 Page 123, The Non-duality of Good
> > and Evil: Buddhist Reflections on the New Holy War (Copyright (c)
> > Wickedness Net 2003, http://www.wickedne ss.net.)
> >
> > If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people
> > somewhere, insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary
> > only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the
> > line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human
> > being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? -
> > Alexander Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago.
> >
> > In his autobiography Gandhi writes that "those who say that religion
> > has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means" ?
> > religion is about how we should live, and politics is about deciding
> > together how we want to live. The main reason it has not been obvious
> > is because most modern societies have been careful to distinguish the
> > secular public sphere from the personal, private world of religious
> > belief. This has been essential for creating a multicultural climate
> > of religious tolerance, but at a price: such tolerance
> > effectively "displaces morality" by "asking you to inhabit your own
> > moral convictions loosely and be ready to withdraw from them whenever
> > pursuing them would impinge on the activities and choices of others."
> >
> > Our understanding of good and evil cannot be simply identified with
> > any religious worldview, but the two are intimately related.
> >
> > In other words, one of the main causes of evil in this world has been
> > human attempts to eradicate evil, or what has been viewed as evil. In
> > more Buddhist terms, much of the world's suffering has been a result
> > of our way of thinking about good and evil.
> >
> > You're either with us or against us.
> >
> > From a Buddhist perspective, there is something delusive about both
> > sides of this mirror image, and it is important to understand how
> > this black-and-white way of thinking brings more suffering, more
> > evil, into the world.
> >
> > This dualism of good-versus- evil is attractive because it is a simple
> > way of looking at the World.
> >
> > If the world is a battleground of good and evil forces, the evil that
> > is in the world must be fought and defeated by any means necessary.
> >
> > Nevertheless, it is a tragic fact that many religious people - or
> > many people who believe themselves to be religious - have objectified
> > and projected this struggle as a struggle in the external world
> > between the good (most of all, their own religion) and evil (other
> > religions).
> >
> > Perhaps the basic problem with this simplistic good-versus- evil way
> > of understanding conflict is that, because it tends to preclude
> > further thought, it keeps us from looking deeper, from trying to
> > discover causes. Once something has been identified as evil, there is
> > no more need to explain it; it is time to focus on fighting against
> > it.
> >
> > For Buddhism, evil, like everything else, has no essence or substance
> > of its own; it is a product of impermanent causes and conditions.
> > Buddhism emphasizes the concept of evil less than what it calls the
> > three roots of evil, or the three causes of evil, also known as the
> > three poisons: greed, ill will and delusion.
> >
> > Buddhism emphasizes ignorance and enlightenment because the basic
> > issue depends on our self-knowledge: do we really understand what
> > motivates us?
> >
> > One way to summarize the basic Buddhist teaching is that we suffer,
> > and cause others to suffer, because of greed, ill will and delusion.
> > Karma implies that when our actions are motivated by these roots of
> > evil, their negative consequences tend to rebound back upon us. That
> > is true for everyone. However, the Buddhist solution to suffering
> > does not involve requiting violence with violence, any more than it
> > involves responding to greed with greed, or responding to delusion
> > with delusion. ? the Buddhist solution involves breaking that cycle
> > by transforming greed into generosity, ill will into loving kindness,
> > and delusions into wisdom.
> >
> > Realizing our interdependence and mutual responsibility for each
> > other implies something more than just an insight or intellectual
> > awareness. When we try to live the way this interdependence implies,
> > it is called love. Such love is much more than a feeling; perhaps it
> > is best understood as a mode of being in the world. Buddhist texts
> > emphasize compassion, generosity, and loving-kindness, and they all
> > reflect this mode, being different aspects of love. Such love is
> > sometimes mocked as weak and ineffectual, yet it can be very
> > powerful, as Gandhi showed. It embodies a deep wisdom about how the
> > cycle of hatred and violence works, and about how that cycle can be
> > ended. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, but there is an
> > alternative. Twenty-five hundred years ago Shakyamuni Buddha said:
> > "He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me" - for those
> > who harbor such thoughts ill-will will never cease. "He abused me, he
> > beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me" - for those who do not harbor
> > such thoughts ill-will will cease.
> >
> > Because Buddhist enlightenment or "awakening" requires mindfulness of
> > our ways of thinking, Buddhism encourages us to be wary of
> > antithetical concepts ?
> >
> > Perhaps the most important way the interdependence of good and evil
> > shows itself is that we don't know what is good until we know what is
> > evil, and we don't feel we are good unless we are fighting against
> > that evil. We can feel comfortable and secure in our own goodness
> > only by attacking and destroying the evil outside us.
> >
> > Because the villains like to hurt people, it's okay to hurt them. ?
> > After all, they are evil and evil must be destroyed. What is this
> > kind of story really teaching us? That if you want to hurt someone,
> > it is important to demonize them first: in other words, to fit them
> > into your good-versus- evil script.
> >
> > When I manipulate the world to get what I want from it, the more
> > separate and alienated I feel from it, and the more separate others
> > feel from me, of course, when they have been manipulated; this mutual
> > distrust encourages both sides to manipulate more. On the other side,
> > the more I can relax and open up to the world, trusting it and
> > accepting the responsibility that involves responding to its needs -
> > which is what loving it means - the more I feel a part of it, at one
> > with other people; and the more others become inclined to trust and
> > open up to me.
> >
> > --- In theos-talk@yahoogro ups.com <theos-talk% 40yahoogroups. com>,
Erica
> > Letzerich <eletzerich@ >
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > COSMIC DOWNSIZING
> > > AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE
> > THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
> > >
> > > To read the lettter of Aryel Sanat click the link below:
> > > <http://eletzerich. wordpress. com/2008/ 10/27/cosmic- downsizing- aryel-
> > sanat/>
> > >
> > > Erica
> > >
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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