Theos-Talk Archives (April 2011 Message tt00134)

Hi John

I still remember those early days when you launched theos-l and thru
grapevine I got wind of it. Those were the pre Google days and when I
inquired of Wheaton if there was a mailing list sponsored by TSA, I was told
simple "NO" and no further info - an answer a lawyer will give you, but not
a helpful one since you did not ask the right question.

Then by accident I contacted a member who had been to Wheaton for the annual
meeting and he was kind enough to fax me info about theos-l and how to sign
up. Rest is history -- I have been active since then.

Some time later, Eldon starter theos-talk and both were operational and
later discussions moved to theos-talk and now we have this forum to discuss
any and all matters of interest.

No one could see in the early days, the critical role that maillists will
play in the life of TS(Adyar). Traditionally, members world-wide are used to
be fed with unimportant stale crumbs by the elected leaders and most members
did not much care about it.

In pre-Internet days, since the organizations controlled the medium of
communication with members, leaders exploited it, all in the belief that
they are doing it in the interests of theosophy and TS.

Even after the Internet maillists became active and of course it does not
cost anything to use them, the mindset of organizational leaders and their
followers avoided interacting with theosophists using the free and powerful
tool that does not cost anything. However, everyone knows that the leaders
monitor what goes on here.

It was in 2008, that the greatest opportunity fell on theos-talk when a well
coordinated and planned international effort was made by many elected
leaders outside India, to prevent Radha Burnier from getting reelected.

An allegation was presented to members that she is sick both physically and
mentally and hence not fit for being reelected. Most members found out about
this allegation just before ballots were to be received by them. Some of the
leaders even contacted their members with this allegation and tried to
influence the decision of voters.

When this unfounded allegation was made by many elected leaders -
allegations about health condition by lay men and women - Theos-talk became
the only and critical tool to disseminate true information to members
world-wide.

An unusual step was taken to get two independent physicians to certify the
physical and mental fitness of Radha Burnier debunking the allegation.
Further in order to bolster the validity of the certification, a third
physician from another continent issued a concurring certification. Their
opinions are validated by the fact that she has been effectively functioning
as the International President and even participated in the World Congress
in Rome last year and visited Krotona on her way back to India.

This critical health information could not have been broadcast to membership
world-wide without theos-talk. This obviously led to the election of Radha
Burnier for another term of office with substantial margin.

In the opinion of many members world-wide, the crisis faced by TS in 2008
was the most serious one since the last CWL crisis and if the election had
gone the way the allegers expected, you can use your imagination what would
have happened to TS.

Those who tried to defeat Radha did not accept the verdict of voting members
and tried a more shocking move, which was ultra-secret.

It was a ultra secret move to disenfranchise all members in the election of
International President and members of the GC seizing the power, thus making
the President a puppet of the GC members.

To the good fortune of TS and its members, this ultra secret ill fated plan
was discovered in time and broadcast on theos-talk to the disbelief of
shocked members world-wide. Again but for theos-talk, this
disenfranchisement would have been a fait accompli and none of the members
could do anything about it.

So we are here as one of the lone independent Internet forums (in addition
to theosnet ning site) where we are able to help distribute information as
well as discuss matters that are important to theosophy and TS
organizations.

Many of us are thrilled to have John back on the maillist and I am sure
there may be many more opportunities in the future for the list to play a
role to help theosophy and its organizations.

MKR




On Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 10:34 PM, John E. Mead <jemead@pebQqtyobkR_Oi89Rz99JLFw4_dPj6hjkp5NLM8xM60eDL042-hJUwN5cieaWIi23tn5PzzsTvpD9EAOImo.yahoo.invalid> wrote:

>
>
> Hi -
> I'm fortunate, and humbled, to be of service to everyone on Theos-talk.
> Thank you Ramadass, for the reminder of how old I am. Theos-l was
> 1993.... I thought I was supposed to be 'wiser' by now?? All I got was
> ... "Age"?
>
> Actually, Theos-l opened a window for communication when none existed.
> There was an explosion of ideas and feelings about many things. People
> freely confronted everything and anything, and we all had a rather grand
> time discovering that Theosophists often/usually disagree about most
> everything as well as using very non-theosophical mannerisms. Bits and
> Bytes flew, Modems burned-out .... I gained tremendous insight into
> the arcane and ancient terminology used by Madame Blavatsky. e.g.
> flapdoodle.
>
> I think it was John(?) who posted today about Mead (G.R.S.) as a
> historical name in Theosophy. I did see in Wiki:
>
> "In March 1909 Mead founded the Quest Society, composed of 150 defectors
> of the Theosophical Society and 100 other new members. Very
> intentionally this new society was planned to be an undogmatic approach
> to the comparative study and investigation of religion, philosophy, and
> science. The Quest Society had lectures at Kensington Town Hall in
> central London but its most focused effort was in its publishing of /The
> Quest: A Quarterly Review/ which ran from 1909-1931 with many contributors"
>
> Only when I saw the excerpt... "Very intentionally ... planned to be an
> undogmatic ..." only then did I really wonder if some old theoso-geezer
> came back to haunt me. There is no known genetic relationship to the
> great G.R.S.Mead to my knowledge.
>
> In any case, MKR and I caught up with each other (again) on theosnet.
> So, here I am.
>
> I am currently living in Southwestern PA. I am doing some adjunct
> teaching and tutoring for our local Community College. This is mostly in
> Physics, Math, Chemistry and about anything else....
>
> So, I look forward to being here.
>
> Peace
> John
>
> p.s. Eldon Tucker started this discussion list. I am sure he is still
> out there. Everyone should thank him for his excellent work.
> Hi Eldon!!
> I'll look you up on Theosnet..... or somewhere.
>
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>
>  
>


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