Theos-Talk Archives (March 2011 Message tt00193)

Dear MKR and friends

My views are:


MKR wrote:
"Even in the recent GC meeting, no body
seems to have raised the issue of current passivity and ideas about stirring
up activity."

M. Sufilight asks:
Does that imply that you are disappointed, that nobody seeks to make the TS more politically entangled?



MKR wrote:
"Initially orthodox in his religious beliefs, he was drawn â like many
Indians later active in the national liberation movement â into the fringe
milieu of Theosophy, a creed whose blend of Hinduism and Western
Spiritualism made it a magnet for holders of unconventional ideas."

M. Sufilight says:
Maybe I misunderstand you, but I have never considered Theosophy to be a creed.
And I do not believe the co-founders Blavatsky and Olcott did that either.

In 1879 theosophy was called:  "the exact science on psychology" 
(See "The Theosophist", vol. I, no. 1, 1879)
I wonder why you seem to consider it to be a creed? Maybe its definition was turned into a creed by somebody later on?




M. Sufilight

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: MKR 
  To: theos-talk 
  Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 5:58 AM
  Subject: theos-talk An article about Mahatma Gandhi and theosophy


    
  In the Indian political scene, in the late 1800s, theosophy and Theosophical
  society affected many of the leaders in the struggle for Indian
  Independence. When you read some of the accounts, one can see how theosophy
  and TS were pioneers of the time. Below is an extract of an article in NY
  Times on Mahatma Gandhi.

  Looking at the past and comparing the current situation concerning theosophy
  and TS and their interaction with the society in various countries, one
  wonders why it is not a pioneer today. The leaders of theosophical sections
  world-wide are rarely seen with their activism on any issue affecting our
  brothers and sisters, except many of the theosophical meetings and
  conventions start with meditation. Even in the recent GC meeting, no body
  seems to have raised the issue of current passivity and ideas about stirring
  up activity.

  Here is the quote:

  In Gandhiâs early years in South Africa we see an ambitious lawyer, an
  immigrant almost by chance, brought over in 1893 to assist in a civil suit
  between rival Indian-owned trading companies with roots in his hometown.
  Initially orthodox in his religious beliefs, he was drawn â like many
  Indians later active in the national liberation movement â into the fringe
  milieu of Theosophy, a creed whose blend of Hinduism and Western
  Spiritualism made it a magnet for holders of unconventional ideas.
  Theosophical meetings were one of the few places where Indians and Europeans
  could meet socially on equal terms.

  In 1894 Gandhi would go so far as to identify himself in a newspaper
  advertisement for a series of self-published tracts as âAgent for the
  Esoteric Christian Union and the London Vegetarian Society,â and it was
  through a Theosophist friend that he discovered Tolstoy, whose creed of
  universal brotherhood and radical nonviolence affected him profoundly.

  <
  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/books/in-great-soul-joseph-lelyveld-re-examines-gandhi.html?_r=1
  >

  MKR

  [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



  

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]