Theos-Talk Archives (June 2011 Message tt00055)

John Ross, who has written several books on the history of Krotona has a
website at <krotonaarchives.com>.

He has also released Vol V in the Krotona Series titled - Krotona, Theosophy
and Krishnamurti and is listed for $30.00. The site says the following about
the book:

The period of 1927-1931 was a significant time for Theosophy; through the
lens of rare source material, author Joseph Ross takes us back to Krotona in
Ojai, a Theosophical center during a time of change and disruption as the
figure, J. Krishnamurti, heralded as the World-Teacher by theosophists
breaks away from the organization. We see theosophical thinkers working to
reconcile (or not) this change, while we also read about the daily life,
efforts, building and conflicts around a counter-cultural spiritual movement
that found a home in California.

The site also has the following interesting observation:

"The Ross Collection spans decades of letters and images and other archival
source materials related to the interesting history of the Theosophical
Society. Because some of this material has been treated as secret by the
Theosophical Society itself, the author's works are not provided by official
outlets. Thus the need for KrotonaArchives.com and for the publishing of the
works by Joseph Ross.

Selected documents from the Ross Collection will be available for purchase
by collectors and other Theosophy scholars."

It would be interesting to see a list of documents and other items of
historical value which can be purchased by collectors.

There have been talk that sometimes important historical material when it
gets into the hands of some leaders, they tend to become treated as secret
and disappears & thus no one will have access to them in the future.

Years ago, there was a msg in one of the theosophical discussion lists an
episode of how someone ran into a document relating to some rite and when
the document was mentioned to the visiting speaker who happened to be a well
known lecturer, this lecturer showed immense interest on it and took it over
from the hands of the person who had it and no one has seen it since.

Ross, in launching the archives site is doing a valuable service to
theosophists and those interested in Krishnamurti, in preserving the access
to the priceless historical documents and other materials.

As for the book, I would like to see a pdf file available and could be
bundled with the print copy as some publishers are doing now. A pdf file is
independent of the reading devices - computer, notebook, netbook, high end
phone, iPad, etc etc and not tied to proprietary ebook device. When any
publication is tied to a proprietary device, the price to consumer goes up
and most potential readers of the theosophical material especially outside
the West tend to be no affluent enough to buy them.

Keep tuned in for further info.

MKR


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