Theos-Talk Archives (January 1996 Message tl00058)

At 011500 PM 1/1/96 -0500 JRC wrote:
>On 01 199601 liesel f. deutsch wrote:
>> >Doss
>> I don't know any more about Sri Ram being clairvoyant only that he was. You
>> know more about him than I do. You've seen him I've only read some of his
>> writings. That he was very quiet about his extra talent figures. It seems
>> all the really proficient people don't vaunt it. It wasn't too long ago...
>> not more than 10-15 years ago ... that they had to hide it anyway because
>> it wasn't accepted. They were looked upon like freaks charlatans
>> chiselers... you name it.
> Whew! Good thing things have changed so dramatically! -:
-JRC

John if you are referring to what had happened in Canada Denmark
and other places and the current by-laws implementation I would still hold
my judgement as to what extent there is any change in any fundamental policy
at Adyar until I have access to full facts publically and not privately.

One of the handicaps we the members here as well as around the
world have to make the judgement on the events with scant background
information. We cannot deny that there could be real policy problems such as
disloyalty to the Parent Society.

As one observes there is very little dissemination of information
from the National Presidents and from International thru National Presidents
to the ordinary membership. As we all have seen in TSA even specific
requests have been met with silence consistently. Even when responses were
available it was to confuse the issue by stating that they are complex
issues and as if you and me lowly members cannot understand complex issues.

It cannot be ruled out that some of the debacles could be due to
well intentioned but misguided ideas and mistaken enthusism of the National
Presidents in implementing policies and also the feeling that since they are
elected by the members like what our congressmen and women think they
know what is best for the ordinary members. This is compounded by the fact
that International may not be getting a total and full picture of the
situations. Anyone who had anything to do with formal organizations can
easily understand this filtration of information that takes place at each
level of organizational level. I also do not know how much of these ill
conceived misguided actions have a personal component in the long-term
ambitions of National Presidents to show off how capable they can be in
getting things done. After all in the next ten to twenty years we may be
looking for a new International President and one cannot rule out the
personal ambitions of some of the National President to aspire to the top job.

IMHO which many here will concur there is a serious credibility
gap and the only way to fix it is to make full and complete disclosure of
the facts and respond to membership inquiries candidly and prompltly. We
have the tools such as FAX E-mail to accomplish it at very little time and
cost. It is in this context I mentioned to International that they should
try to have e-mail access so that there could be efficient and effective
communication without the intermediary of the National Sections and its
bureaucracy.

Old ways of hiding behind the official publications may be
comforting and may be ok in the past. With the changes in technology with
instant communication thru Internet a method has to be found to effectively
use it as a tool for communication with the members. Have not we noticed
that we have not seen messages here from the elected officials of TSA in
Wheaton in spite of the fact they have access to e-mail paid for by the
funds from the membership ie. you and me and everybody else.

On a related issue how many of you have carefully read the
financial numbers published in the recent issue of AT? Have you noticed
that during the period 4/94 to 3/95 Theosophical Investment Trust has
*lost* close to $1.0 0ne million due to *market fluctuations*. This loss
is loss of *real* money even though attributable to *market fluctuations*.
This *loss* represents a substantial percentage percentage of the assets of
TIT. In it are included a substantial loss of TSA's equity in TIT. These
losses are 17% and 24% of the respective entities' investment. I have sent
in a e-mail request to Wheaton and am waiting to get more information and
any explanation that may explain the *loss*. Information such as these
should be highlighted and explained to the membership especially when
members hear about the tight financial situation at Wheaton and get
solicitations of donations and bequests. In the absence of full and
forthright information some of the donors would wonder about the investment
management abilities of people handling TIT/TSA's funds.

On a more practical matter when I look at the exchange of messages
for example on a question raised by Ann on building a shell we see theos-l
working full time round the clock and working around the world. Contrast
this with the hours that the Wheaton 800 number is attended. I think the
hours are M-F 9AM-12NOON 01:30PM to 5:00PM. Some time ago I mentioned to an
Official at Wheaton that if I as a self employed person had kept these
hours I would have been out of business long time ago. In my office we
answer phones 8AM-5PM M-F and I am accessible at *all* other hours at my
home by anybody for any reason.
This brings to my mind the long hours HPB & Olcott used to put in
every day of the year and their accessibility at late hours. If they had
kept the present businss hours of Wheaton I am confident that we would not
have had Theosophy and Theosophical Society today and the benefit we are
indebted to. It is the dedication of many many individuals such as HPB and
Olcott that built Theosophy and TS.

Let us all hope that 1996 will be a turning point to TS and TSA and
hope we will be able to bring Theosophy to the masses around the world and
thus help better the conditions of Humanity.

Peace to all beings.

...Doss