Theos-Talk Archives (April 2009 Message tt00442)

Mr. RAMADOSS!  I'm shocked!
 
And laughing my head off.
 
No, I don't know anyone that can teach them harakiri, for which fact we  
must all be grateful or I might be tempted...
 
I think all this is an interesting lesson in what happens to people when  
they want to be important.
 
Chuck the Heretic
 
 
In a message dated 4/28/2009 5:59:43 P.M. Central Daylight Time,  
mkr777@gmail.com writes:

 
 


Hi All
Thanks for the response, Katinka.

As for theos-talk, all I  have been doing is posting messages to the best of
my ability. (Some may  call it monologue; so be it!!!) Theos-talk is the 
only
forum that we have  to deal with the administrative issues. There is no 
other
way to distribute  information and opinions and objections on issues and
developments, since  from time to time there is a conflict of interests
between the leadership  and the members and the organization and the Cause.
Other than our time, it  is free to post msgs here.

As I had already mentioned earlier, Katinka  has done a wonderful job in the
cyberspace at this young age. We all should  be thankful to her for what she
has done. We can expect much more in the  future, since the future medium of
action is cyberspace. (Are leaders  listening?)

Only few of us, by Karma, are positioned to take up  theosophical work
full-time. I am recalling the incident regarding Helen  Zahara, years ago.
She was trained as Chartered Accountant and was keen on  working full-time
for TS. CJ who was President at that time, told her that  TS does not have
funds to pay her compensation she can command in business.  Hence, he told
her to go out and work in the business and after having  saved enough, come
back to TS and work full-time. She followed his advise.  As her Karma
decided, she died couple of years after she started working  full time for 
TS
and she was still young and was in prime of her life. I  expect that in
Katinkaâs future, there would come a time when she is  financially
self-sufficient that she can work full time for  TS.

Coming to TS events since early last year. Many leaders around the  world
have taken some missteps. We all make mistakes. What is more  important is t
o
quickly recognize the mistakes early and acknowledge the  mistakes and move
to fix them quickly. It needs a lot of wisdom and courage  to identify the
mistakes and own them and apologize for the mistakes. We  can take a lesson
from the Japanese. We have seen many leaders, publicly  acknowledge mistakes
and even kill themselves (Harakiri! We can find some  swords if needed from
our Japanese friends!). Chuck, do you know some  sources? (Just kidding) I
am not suggesting our leaders should kill  themselves for their mistakes.

Once the errors and mistakes are  recognized and aggressive steps taken to
fix them, membership is usually  generous and forgiving. When this is not
done, the average member sees the  hypocrisy and the reputation of leader 
and
membersâ trust in the leaders  take a downfall drip drip and drip.

One of the most unique things about  TS is the total autonomy of the lodges
and the sections in their  activities. For example, when I lived in India, 
if
you ask the lodge  members who the National Secretary is, 9 out of 10 would
not know. This is  because there is practically no interference from the 
top.

This  autonomous setup allows each lodge and section to come up with their
own  activities using the local ingenuity to fit into local culture and
societal  needs. While much noise was created last year about the rules  and
regulations and hair splitting went on, rules and regulations have no  
effect
on how dynamic a lodge or a section is. Rules do not bring in  members or
retain them. It is the activities, that does.

Again, I  think at our lodge and section levels, we need to brainstorm and
come up  with some creative activities which would draw the attention of the
world  around them. If anyone thinks I am wrong, I want to hear from  them.

MKR

THERE IS NO RELIGION HIGHER THAN TRUTH

On Tue,  Apr 28, 2009 at 2:29 PM, Katinka Hesselink <
_mail@katinkahesselimail@k_ (mailto:mail@katinkahesselink.net) >  wrote:

>
>
> Hi all,
>
> MKR - did you miss  the wink I'd put in there ;) ? But seriously, I do 
think
> you have  place of informal leadership here on theos-talk at least. And 
I've
>  personally learned a lot from you.
>
> My name does seem to be  mentioned a lot in regard to leadership roles - 
but
> there is a very  good practical reason why it's not my time: I can't 
afford
> to put my  life on hold for full time volunteer work right now, nor in the
>  foreseeable future. There is a very practical reason why our leaders  are
> mostly retired: how else can they do the work? Unless there's a  working
> partner of course with a very good income.
>
> As  for Betty - I think it's pretty clear to most observers that she's  
made
> some serious mistakes.
>
> I don't think though that  a formal investigation would help. Individual
> sections just need to  get on with the work of getting in touch with the
> world of  spirituality & responding to the main challenges of our time. 
And
>  to some extent they are doing so. The TSA has founded an active online  
forum
> & had great brainstorm sessions apparently at Krotona. The  next step of
> course is to put all that into action locally as well as  online.
>
> Activities have to be rethought very seriously - how  can a balance be 
found
> between serious theosophical lectures and  programs that fit the general
> spiritually interested public we'd also  like to attract? What themes are 
we
> not addressing at all, despite the  fact that they belong to the central
> topics theosophists study and  think about? And so on.
>
> En Martin: dat liedje hoor ik al mijn  hele leven :)
>
> Katinka
> _http://www.allconsihttp://www._ (http://www.allconsidering.com/) 
>  _http://www.katinkahhttp://wwhttp_ (http://www.katinkahesselink.net/) 
>  _http://www.overpeinhttp://ww_ (http://www.overpeinzende.nl/) 
>
>  --- In _theos-talk@yahoogrotheos-t_ (mailto:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com)  
 <theos-talk%theos-talk%<WBthe>, Martin
>  <Mvandertak@Mva> wrote:
> >
> > I agree, Katinka  for president!
> >
> > ( Kleine kokette Katinka
> >  Kijk nou eens een keertje om
> > Stiekempjes over je schouder
>  > Je ma ziet het toch niet dus kom
> > Kleine kokette  Katinka
> > Ben je verlegen misschien
> > We willen zo graag  nog heel even
> > Een glimp van je wipneusje zien )
>  >
> > --- On Mon, 4/27/09, MKR <mkr777@...> wrote:
>  > From: MKR <mkr777@...>
> > Subject: Re: Theos-World Re:  ??? MORAL LEADERSHIP ??? online
> communication
> > To: _theos-talk@yahoogrotheos-t_ (mailto:theos-talk@yahoogroups.com)   
<theos-talk%theos-talk%<WBthe>
> > Date: Monday,  April 27, 2009, 2:53 PM
> >
> >
> >
>  >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>  >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>  >
> >
> > I have to strongly disagree, being mentioned  along with Joy and John. I
> am
> >
> > too far away  from that high level.
> >
> > I am simply a messenger and an  ordinary member. (Never held any 
position
> in
> >
> >  TS admin and nor planning to.) My only contribution is to post some
>  messages
> >
> > on theos-talk. I would say Katinka should  be included in the list since
> she
> >
> > has  contributed a lot in cyberspace over the years giving a good 
feedback
>  on
> >
> > the various issues and providing valuable  reference material.
> >
> > MKR
> >
>  >
> >
> > On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 7:10 AM, Katinka  Hesselink <
> >
> > mail@katinkahesseli nk.net>  wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > > There's formal  leadership (Radha, Betty, Kim Dieu) and informal
> leadership
>  >
> > > (Joy Mills, John Algeo, MKR ;) ). When leadership fails  people look 
to
> the
> >
> > > informal leaders. If  they don't choose to step in, that's their
> prerogative.
>  >
> >
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>

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