Theos-Talk Archives (June 2011 Message tt00062)

It is always good to go back to the early days of TS and look for the
fundamental thrust behind the launching of TS. While all the allure of the
details of the constitution of man and his bodies etc etc and all about
explanations about psychic phenomenon, what stands out is Universal
Brotherhood. While it is a concept easily explained to anyone without
reference to any religious terminology, not concentrating on it seems to be
hurting the work of TS and popularizing the tenets of theosophy.

The author, in the early pages of the book, writes:

"The author feels that it may be important to examine what
is meant by the word religion in the statement, "the Theosophical
Society is to be a cornerstone of a new religion." Is religion a matter
of churches, temples, rituals and beliefs? Or is it the moment-to moment
discovery of Life's movement? A movement which may
have any name, or no name at all.

As the author understands it, the great purpose of the
Theosophical Society, as originated by H.P. Blavatsky, is to exemplify
and foster Brotherhood. She brought from the storehouse of the past
the great teachings of the Wisdom-Religion, Theosophy, that man
is divine in essence. Life is that which binds not only all men, but
all beings, all things in the entire Universe into one great whole, an
essential divine wholeness, differing in form as expressed in plants,
animals, human beings, planets and stars.

So, is a religious life one that is lived fragmented by organizations
and beliefs, or a life, a movement, that is integral, not fragmented
and so whole, holy, sacred? What does Theosophy foster?"

Something to think about.

MKR

On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 4:22 AM, John W <JohnWW@esnJEvAsWNUJpzKjDFCNSKERD44RdUDLm6ZQxLilW-A1c1pAvTGfigHBtgszm0GWX9918ex-CoLU6DXu.yahoo.invalid> wrote:

>
>
> Can you email me the PDF of the first chapter, please? Thanks in advance.
>
> Your comments support the  "Back To Blavatsky" movement in Theosophy.
>
> John W.
>
> --- On Sun, 12/6/11, MKR <mkr777@DbuhZYWixgzKmkfh3Sl_rW79FmrrLRz8Hrrl2_Dt4jNekEEqHQcz-zT7W4YZpkW8qPpLXbEmZsECToI.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
> From: MKR <mkr777@DbuhZYWixgzKmkfh3Sl_rW79FmrrLRz8Hrrl2_Dt4jNekEEqHQcz-zT7W4YZpkW8qPpLXbEmZsECToI.yahoo.invalid>
> Subject: theos-talk Krotona, Theosophy & Krishnamurti by Joseph Ross - A
> brief review
> To: "theos-talk" <Theos-talk@yahoogroups.com>
> Date: Sunday, 12, June, 2011, 5:09 PM
>
>
>
>
> I was able to access the first chapter of the book and found the material
> in
>
> it very valuable and interesting. The author should be congratulated in
>
> coming out with a book which is well put together and excellent editing. It
>
> is a very valuable addition that any historian of Theosophical Society
>
> should read. Here are some of my observations.
>
> The book has been organized by years 1927 to 1931. First chapter deals with
>
> the events in 1927 even though there are references to materials of later
>
> years.
>
> In the introduction, the author says âThis book us written in chronological
>
> order in the format of a diary, using rare archival documents describing
>
> entirely authentic and factual events taking place in Krotona, giving
>
> insight behind the scenes that have never been made public.â
>
> The archival material that the author has used is priceless and should be
>
> congratulated for his efforts in securing them and presenting them in his
>
> books.
>
> We need to remind ourselves that After Annie Besant took over from Olcott,
>
> one notices a gradual lack of transparency in TS which continues even
> today.
>
> Also, there is a tendency to unnecessarily keep original material secret
>
> even though of great importance to the TS and its members.
>
> The classic example is the famous 1900 letter from Mahatma KH where he
>
> warned Besant about âMisleading secrecy has given the death blow to
> numerous
>
> organizations.â and this warning was among the material redacted in the
>
> original publication and the full letter was only published in 1987 in the
>
> Eclectic Theosophist which is outside the control of Adyar TS.
>
> The first chapter has a lot of material on the happenings behind the scenes
>
> which led to the purchase of land in Ojai and establishment of Krotona ES
>
> Center.
>
> One of the important accounts contained in the book was George Arundaleâs
>
> conversation with Besant concerning the predictions of the World-Teacherâs
>
> coming. I think this is important and valuable information since there has
>
> been arguments by some theosophists claiming that the World-Teacher project
>
> centered around Krishnamurti had failed because He did not repeat the
>
> sequence of events that took place when Lord Christ made His appearance
> 2000
>
> years ago. Here is an excerpt:
>
> âIn August 1927 I stayed at Eerde Castle for a month before the Ommen Camp.
>
> It was the first year during which difficulties became serious, or took a
>
> serious tum between
>
> Krishnamurti's teaching and the predictions made for 15 years previously by
>
> the leaders of the T.S. and particularly Dr. Besant and C.W.L. According to
>
> these predictions, a
>
> recurrence was to take place of what had been before, the Lord Christ was
> to
>
> "occupy" Krishnamurti's body and give out the new message through his lips.
>
> Indeed, some corroboration of these predictions had already taken place at
>
> Benares in 1911, at Adyar in 1925, at Ommen in 1926. For a short time while
>
> Krishnaji was speaking he seemed to lose consciousness, a mighty voice
>
> seemed to speak through his lips and a tremendously powerful influence was
>
> felt by all those who listened, yet in 1927 all was changed. We knew that
> in
>
> January 1927 important occult events had taken place in Ojai when changes
>
> had been brought about in Krishnaji's physical and inner being, we knew
> that
>
> he
>
> had reached union with the lord and we could see, and he told us that no
>
> occupation of his body was taking place, nor would take place any more,
> that
>
> whenever he spoke it was
>
> he, Krishnaji, and no other who experienced the thought and thought out the
>
> words. The turmoil and confusion during that month were great. There were
>
> those who, knowing of the change, resented the faulty description given by
>
> our leaders and expressed their resentment bitterly; there were those who
>
> not perceiving the difference, or uninformed as to changes, spoke high in
>
> their loyalty to the leaders. Endless discussions took place between them
>
> and Krishnaji finally asked me to go to Dr. Besant and tell her definitely
>
> all the truth, such as it was, and therefore of the error made until then.â
>
> In the archival documents, there are discussions about some well known
>
> theosophists put on Probation by the Masters. All them are from the United
>
> States. This raises the question are not theosophists in other parts of the
>
> world put on Probation by the Masters. Logic tells us that many from
> various
>
> parts of the world would have been put on probation. If any information is
>
> currently available in Adyar archives, disclosure will be of interest to
>
> theosophists.
>
> The market for the book is going to be small, mainly consisting of
>
> theosophists and a few historians. The book is priced at US$30 and this is
>
> very pricey for most theosophists outside the West. There is no easy way to
>
> break even on publishing the book unless it is going to be made available
> as
>
> print on demand book. The only way to quickly ensure very wide distribution
>
> is to make a pdf file available for download for $1.99 so that even casual
>
> reader would be inclined to download it and by the volume one can make a
>
> profit. This has been demonstrated by the download of songs and Android
>
> programs. Another practical fact of life is that in a short time after
>
> publication, books are scanned and exchanged under the radar.
>
> As the author is a long time theosophist, I am sure he is very much
>
> motivated in getting widest possible distribution around the world.
>
> Hopefully, we will hear from him on this topic.
>
> MKR
>
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>
>  
>


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