Theos-Talk Archives (May 2011 Message tt00064)

Recently it is learnt that in January this year, the group of theosophists
who are members of âPartners in Theosophyâ had a week-long gathering in
Krotona. This is funded by Kern Foundation and even the bank officer
representing the Foundation was attending it. It is unclear if the bank
officer is a theosophist and what was he doing there. Hopefully he was not
on a paid vacation in Krotona.

We have not so far heard of this group. It is reported that the participants
are persons preparing for Theosophical leadership. Some of the elected
leaders of TS in America also attended the gathering.

While programs such as this is good, still they miss the big elephant in the
room. The trend of membership in the Section is on a slippery slope and
shrinking each year. This is a hot cake that you will never see any elected
leader talk about and what they are doing to fix it. While we see elected
leaders visit places such as Krotona, many large cities are rarely visited
by them nor any visiting lecturers visit lodges. Even in my home town, I
have not seen any elected official for the past several years.

Looking back to the early years, one significant factor stands out. Leaders
constantly traveled and lectured in lodges at a time travel was not that
easy and the Section had very little money. The membership was steadily
growing and there were 8,000 in 1920s. Today, the membership is around 3,500
and going south. The situation is complicated by attempted shutdown of
lodges and the accompanying bad PR. The classic example is the Orlando lodge
affair and members are yet to hear about the specific violations that led to
the attempt to shut down the lodge.

Partnersâ Week sounds nice. We all want to hear about specific steps being
taken to rejuvenate the activities of lodges. TS was meant to expand and not
contract.

Lastly, members wonder why not much publicity is given to the program. Was
it to be kept secret from ordinary members?

MKR


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