Theos-Talk Archives (March 2010 Message tt00060)

I am not sure about the bookstore. I know of many lodges which do not have a
book store.

Usually, if there is real estate property, there is incentive to withdraw
the charter and take over the property. A pauper lodge has no incentive for
any action regarding charter. Also, from the statement from TSA National
Secretary, it is clear that money is being spent on lawyers, and possibly
both sides are represented. Without money or property who will litigate? In
the past all the details such as the Boston lodge is shrouded in great
secrecy and members do rarely know about what are the real issues behind the
dispute.

It would be real interesting to see how the Orlando issues play out to be
since we are now in a totally new information environment where independent
Internet forums such as this plays an important part in keeping members and
others interested informed. During Boston lodge litigation, there was no
Internet.

I would also remind about the Yugoslavia section (?) losing its charters
years ago and even the theosophists in neighboring countries did not find
out until quite some later since there was no way for anyone to find out
what is going on in other countries.

Internet has drastically changed the information distribution and
communication environment and it is helping us to keep us informed about the
happenings anywhere in the world. I find that still the aging and  very old
theosophical leadership around the world has not yet really understood the
fundamental nature of Internet environment.

And if the new environment was understood, they would quickly adapt their
decisions and actions fully cognizant of the issues that would arise from
members and the need for quick  respond to issues raised.

I believe that the Internet forums are monitored by leaders and/or their
surrogates and my hope is sooner rather than later, the reality of the need
for transparency would dawn on the leaders. This essential need is not going
to disappear by avoiding Internet forums as it has been happening for the
past decade.

Internet is here to stay and its use expanding exponentially and any smart
mind can easily recognize it.

MKR


On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 8:20 PM, <Augoeides-222@comcast.net> wrote:

>
>
> MKR,
> One thing I am wondering about in regard to Orlando Lodge is what was the
> context of it's Book Store if they had one? Did they have most of the books
> on the shelves come from Wheaton's Catalog or were there many more from
> other publishing vendors? Are Books Sales a criteria in the evaluation of a
> lodge?
>
> John
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "MKR" <mkr777@gmail.com <mkr777%40gmail.com>>
> To: "theos-talk" <theos-talk@yahoogroups.com<theos-talk%40yahoogroups.com>>
>
> Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2010 2:01:05 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
> Subject: Theos-World Orlando Issue
>
> The Orlando issue following the election events and its aftermath in recent
>
> years, brings into focus the issue of lack of transparency. When important
> issues such as withdrawal of charter are concerned, usually we may see a
> one-liner in the list of decisions taken in the Board Meeting.
>
> As I recall, when the Boston litigation took place, no meaningful details
> or
> information was shared with members either before, during or after the
> litigation. Due to general indifference of membership for the
> organizational
> matters, it looks like the administration takes membership for granted and
> keeping them in the dark goes unquestioned.
>
> At a time when membership is nearly half of what used to be couple of
> decades ago, withdrawing charters of long standing active lodges such as
> Orlando Lodge does not make sense. It is the responsibility of TSA to make
> theosophy more popular and one would expect it to make every effort to help
>
> lodges expand their activities and thus membership.
>
> In the recent âofficialâ statement from the TSA National Secretary,
> litigation was cited for not commenting on Orlando issue. Is it also
> possible that actions are under way to cancel charters of other lodges with
>
> valuable real estate is the real reason for the silence taking cover under
> litigation?
>
> On the one hand, you receive solicitations for donations as well as
> inclusion of TSA in the will bequests, it does not make sense in not
> providing transparency which prevents members to see for themselves that
> the
> actions of the Board are justified and support the Board in their
> decisions.
>
> It is time for the administration to wake up to the reality of Internet age
>
> and prevent further erosion of confidence in the minds of many members.
>
> MKR
>
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>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>  
>


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