Theos-Talk Archives (December 2008 Message tt00045)

For some reason a scorpion hiding in the midst of Adyar is an interesting  
metaphor, considering some of the stuff going on lately.
 
And yet, how wonderful it would have been if, while the Mahachohan   had been 
filling the skies of the ashram with hot air, a large, cream pie had  
miraculously appeared and hit him in the face.  I have a feeling that that  one thing 
would have been the most salutary and instructive incident that could  have 
happened in Theosophy.
 
And it would have been very funny to see as well.
 
Chuck the Heretic
 
 
In a message dated 12/4/2008 5:57:22 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
prmoliveira@yahoo.com writes:

 
 
 
When the plane landed at Chennai last Friday, Mumbai was still under 
a  terrorist siege. The terrorists struck at the very touristic heart 
of that  city, near the famous Gateway of India. On Saturday morning, 
when  commandos of the National Security Guard finally cleared the 
last hotel in  which hostages were being kept, the total death toll 
was over 170, with  more than 300 people injured. There was widespread 
shock and disbelief in  India. But India always recovers from such 
events. 

Students from  Slovenia, Finland, Canada, Australia, Hungary and India 
are attending  classes at the School of the Wisdom. The theme is "The 
Mahatmas on  Theosophy and the TS". There is half an hour of silent 
meditation before  the morning talk begins.

The different departments at Adyar are gearing  up for the Convention 
at the end of the month. There were strong rains and  winds in the 
last fortnight and some trees were uprooted. 

I met  the President briefly the day after my arrival. She was 
preparing to go to  a meeting at the Government House (Rashtrapati 
Bhavan). She was invited by  the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh to give 
a speech during a book launch.  She goes to the office both in the 
mornings and afternoons. 

The  quiet and natural beauty at Adyar are refreshing. In one evening 
I decided  to go for a walk after dinner and took with me a small 
torch. Near the  coconut grove I met one of the many natural residents 
at Adyar: a black  scorpion. He (or she) was the sort of creature that 
makes you pay careful  attention. We had this silent meeting and I 
then decided to part company  with the illustrious resident when I 
finally realized he was not going  anywhere!

Some of the workers I had met in 1992 are still here and they  
apparently remember me. The TS at Adyar has given employment to  
generations of workers coming from the impoverished surroundings. 
Many  of their children have studied in the Olcott Memorial High  
School.

One of the passages we examined recently at the School of  the Wisdom 
was:

"Shall we devote our selves to teaching a few  Europeans fed on the 
fat of the land, many of them loaded with the gifts  of blind fortune, 
the rationale of bell ringing, cup growing, of the  spiritual 
telephone and astral body formation, and leave the teeming  millions 
of the ignorant, of the poor and despised, the lowly and the  
oppressed, to take care of themselves and of their hereafter the best  
they know how. Never. Rather perish the Theosophical Society with 
both  its hapless founders than that we should permit it to become no 
better  than an academy of magic and a hall of occultism. That we, the 
devoted  followers of that spirit incarnate of absolute self 
sacrifice, of  philanthropy, divine kindness, as of all the highest 
virtues attainable on  this earth of sorrow, the man of men, Gautama 
Buddha, should ever allow  the Theosophical Society to represent the 
embodiment of selfishness, the  refuge of the few with no thought in 
them for the many, is a strange idea,  my brothers." (The Mahachohan's 
Letter)

Walking around Adyar and  its encircling neighbourhood helps us to 
understand the words of that  great Adept. There cannot be Theosophy 
without a genuine sense of  compassion towards those who are poor and 
despised.

The rains have  stopped, the work continues, the crows are everywhere 
and Adyar continues  to be pervaded by a sense of uncreated vastness 
and peace. I miss my  litlle black scorpion friend. Perhaps we shall 
meet again. He has taught  me to remain mindful. And he also goes to 
sleep in the magic quiet of  Adyar nights.

Pedro 


 



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