Theos-Talk Archives (April 1996 Message tl00010)

	Thought I'd try to generate a bit of enthusiasm for TI ... by
writing a bunch of stuff that's been rumblin' around in my little brain.
Again, its a long, 2 part sucker (sorry, I just get in these damn
*moods*) but hopefully worth the bandwidth. First part today, second part
coming in a day or two ...
							-JRC

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Greetings ...
     Since the inception of Theosophy International, at various
times, under the influence of diverse moods, with several
different modes of ideation, and from numerous different angles
of vision, I've contemplated the meaning of its creation: Not
just the fact of its existence, but its means of emergence; not
simply the first tentative shoots it has extended into the soil,
but the totality of the majestic tree that may well be encoded
into its spiritual DNA: In the Beginning of anything is always a
Word - and in that Word is contained the entirety of what that
thing might ultimately become. The fact that the initial
formation of TI, the act that launched it, the first substantive
discussion within it, the *Word* of its creation, was a powerful
re-affirmation of the Three Objects ... refined to more perfectly
express their underlying intentions ... is a scintillating
metaphor. That it was born in cyberspace - the first space
created by the human kingdom that is truly as universal as the
philosophy embedded in those Three Objects - is drenched with a
meaning that branches outward into an endless fractal tree. That
its membership, after but a short period of time, is composed of
virtually every type and affiliation of Theosophist, and already
spans continents, is almost breathtaking in its ramifications.
     I was, some years ago now, made a Theosophist by man who is
still one of my closest spiritual brothers, who was himself
persuaded into Theosophy at Adyar, by John Coats. The thing that
seized me was the stunning nature of the ideals that shine like
some great light out of the Objects. I had grown up with the
great philosophers (my father gave me Plato when I was 12), but
had slowly learned - or rather, against my will had been
persuaded to believe - that great ideas mean little, that
idealism was foolish, that the perfectibility of humans was an
Enlightenment illusion, that cynicism was the reality that anyone
with intelligence would naturally adopt ... and so the best and
highest whisperings of my soul had hidden themselves away.
     And then came Theosophy: With Objects and writings
fearlessly and openly declaring that those whisperings were not
only not childish dreams, but were in fact the first and simplest
statements of the greatest and most profound truths that lie
dormant in every human; that not only should they not be ignored,
but should be taken as *personal standards for the conduct of
one's life*; that there were people in every age that had
achieved the almost inconceivable feat of not only fully
understanding them as ideals, but of so fully integrating and
living them at the most mundane levels of existence that they had
become something scarcely even resembling humans any longer - had
managed to, viewing human life as a *seed* instead of as an end
in itself, conceive of and give birth to their existence as
spiritual entities with access to spiritual worlds. Theosophy
rescued a heart that the voices of the world had almost convinced
not to beat.
     But there was something much grander than this to Theosophy.
The notion that not only such a *personal* possibility existed,
but that an organization had been started with the premise that
the entire human race is a physical manifestation of millions of
souls resident on this planet for the purpose of bringing
*themselves, by means of their own self-generated efforts* to a
state of spiritual fruition - a picture of souls *using* an
almost unthinkably diverse variety of bodies, races, intellectual
and emotional beliefs, religious and spiritual practices,
spanning aeons of time, in their efforts towards that fruition -
and that organization, begun on that premise, was to be genuinely
universal. That is, it was an attempt to *incarnate the nucleus
of the re-birth of a truth*: Spiritually considered, we already
*are* a "Universal Family" ... but in the density of day to day
human civilization, that commonality of both source and purpose
has been long lost.
     The Three Objects are positively *stunning* - as much for
what they *lack* as what they contain. Every other spiritual,
national, philosophical, religious, political or social
organization present in our race articulates and defines some set
of "truths" (which can at best be partial), and hence cannot
help, by that very act, but draw a circle in which some are
included and others are not. Three Objects, however, recognize
that there is something universal *behind* all those partial
presentations - a common source to our strivings, no matter how
deeply buried, a common end towards which we progress, however
varied and vastly different our means of moving towards it seem.
The only possibility for the *incarnation* of an organization
*founded* on the premise of that commonality is if *process*
rather than *truth* is emphasized: Neither HPB nor the Masters
*ever* told anyone what to think.
     The First Object declares the intention to *form* a
Universal Family, but does *not* specify what it will *look
like*. The Second Object declares that the Society will *study*
comparative religion, philosophy and science, but does *not*
define how the study will proceed, *what* will be studied, *nor
what conclusions will be reached*. The Third Object declares the
intention to *investigate* unknown laws of nature and powers
latent in humans, but does *not* define how that investigation
will be pursued, and does *not* declare some of those laws and
powers *off limits to investigation*.
     In short, the TS may be the first attempt to form a public
organization for *adults* - for souls that have understood that
it is their right and responsibility to follow their own internal
promptings to accomplish their own growth, for souls that have no
wish to be *told* what to do by people who believe they already
*have* the "truth" - an organization that does not *define* a
path (and neither HPB nor the Masters *ever defined* a
"Theosophical path" - it was other writers that tried to
formalize Theosophy in such a way) but rather recognizes *all*
paths as being driven by a common and inborn urge-to-grow.
     The immensity and grandeur of this vision is something that
takes real effort to grasp, as it is *so* different than anything
else at currently at work on the planet. It requires *no*
allegiance to anything other than *truth* - no leader or
personality must be believed in, no philosophy is required to be
accepted, no pre-defined set of truths must be adopted. The
Masters apparently had significant doubts as to whether it was
too soon to even attempt to give birth to such an organization.
The danger was that instead of rising to understand totally new
ideas, the original ideals would instead be seized by people with
low intentions, and crystallized into the same structured
patterns common to every other religion and ideology currently on
the planet (as has virtually inevitably happened in the past).
That it would (yawn) form itself into yet another
spiritual/religious organization with its own hierarchy of power,
complete with an "inner circle" (and *every* religious, political
and social organization has the equivalent of an "ES"); would
condense a set of "teachings" whose study is required; would then
carefully define who is "one of us" and who is "not one of us",
what subjects are "approved" and which are not, etc., etc.
     And this it has become. But this crystallization is
*diametrically opposed to its originating intention*, so instead
of it resulting in great *growth* (as crystallization *has* in
most other religions), in the case of Theosophy it is leading to
its *death*.
     The world's religions and philosophies are all *partial*,
and *can accomplish their ends by being so* -but the true value,
the only *use* for Theosophy is in its *Universality* ... if it
*cannot be universal, it has no purpose*.

     But something remarkable has recently happened: The
Internet. A space were no one is *able* to exert control. And on
this list we have perhaps seen, curiously enough, a *standard*
for an entirely new kind of *Leadership* - a leadership so
different as to not even seem to like leadership - a form of
leadership that is the only *possible* form for a Theosophical
Society that *does* remain true to its originating intentions:
JOHN MEAD. He now and then enters discussions, but does not
consider his opinions any more or less valid than anyone else's
*even though he runs the list*. Theosophists do not need
"leaders" to tell them what to think, to define for them what to
study or how to study it ... what is clear is that they only need
to be provided a *forum in which to communicate* ... and by the
simple existence of that forum ... a forum in which no one can
*define* what is "truth" and what is not, in which no one can
formalize discussion and keep it within parameters - look, LOOK
what has happened! IT HAS BECOME THEOSOPHY.
     On this list is actually *forming* a "Universal Family" - a
*real* one ... not simply a Headquarters in Adyar that
Theosophists in various countries sort of are dimly aware of, but
actual *deep and daily personal interaction* between people
pursuing a whole variety of different paths on several continents
-immensely enriching one another.
     On this list there has actually been more *study* of
comparative religion, philosophy and science than there has been
in *any* Lodge I've ever seen. We have religious scholars from
most of the world's major religions, exoteric and esoteric;
people who have studied philosophy at great depth; scientists
from both the "hard" and "social" sciences - and each has
contributed to discussions, so that together we are producing far
more than any of us possesses individually.
     On this list we have "investigated" the powers latent in
humans in a fashion almost unheard of in Theosophical circles -
in fact even the usual paranoid and fear-drenched, even the
condescending, who come screaming out of the woodwork whenever
any ability at all is mentioned in Theosophical circles have not
only not been able to dominate, they are increasingly being
giggled at.
     In putting the tremendous effort into the practical work of
running the list, of providing a *place* for the Universal Family
to *interact*, while at the same time not attempting to place
*any* parameters or preconditions on the scope or nature of that
interaction, John has permitted the beauty that was always hidden
in the Theosophical Objects to be unleashed - and it turns out to
be one of the most positively exhilarating spiritual communities
imaginable.
     *Imagine if *that* was the leadership resident in Wheaton,
in Adyar*! Look, for a moment, not at how our leaderships act,
but at how Theosophists *themselves* act when left to their own
promptings: We hear that Russian Theosophists, people who have
actually had to *hide* their study of such things for fear of
tremendous punishment, have now been freed to pursue Theosophy
somewhat more openly, and conveyed that interest to Adyar. The
*leadership* there responded by *requiring specified studies*, by
*telling* them what "Theosophy" is, and actually insisting that
they meet ideological standards as a *condition* of membership.
     The *membership on this list* reacted by almost
spontaneously wanting simply to *aid* Russian Theosophists *in
their own endeavors*: There has been *no* discussion of what the
Russian Theosophists *should learn*, rather, only a pure and
virtually spontaneous impulse to discover the means of contacting
them with the intention of asking them *what they need, and how
we might be able to provide it*. Several posts speak not of
trying to *define* Theosophy *for* them, but of wanting them
online here because we want to hear what *they* have to say, want
to welcome them into our Family, want to hear tales of their
attempts to pursue such studies against such tremendous odds.
     Our membership, in short, when left to its own devices,
quite naturally and without even noticing how remarkable a thing
it is in the history of the world, does not see the addition of
whole new perspectives, from new nations, by people with new
cultural, religious and personality traits as a *threat to be
contained*, but as a *further source of enrichment*.
     On this list, perhaps for the first time, we are able to
catch a glimpse of the real magnificence that has been latent in
the Three Objects since the genesis of the TS: And the fact that
an organization has recently emerged, this Theosophy
International, and that another *facilitator*, Alan Bain, chose
to be the focal point of its emergence, is a fact whose
significance is (IMO) well worth exploring ... (in Part 2).
                                             Ta ta for now, -JRC