Theos-Talk Archives (January 1996 Message tl00063)

>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
>
Doss
JRC was talking about something entirely different. You can't know because
you've only recently joined theos-l & we talked about it before.

I hate to tell ya but the staff in Wheaton works darn hard & long hours.
That's been my observation whenever I've been there. That includes John
Algeo. I don't think he has any ambitions other than try his best to be an
effective President of the TS of A. He's a person who does well but is not
"ambitious" in the sense you put it. He took early retirment meaning a cut
in his pension to become our President & for a while was doing both his
old job & his new job.

Liesel

> 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