Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00322)

Hi

It was an eyeopener for me when recently I found out that Iceland has over
300 members in a population of 270,000. I live in a city in the US with over
a million population. In our local TS lodge, the membership appears to be
around 20 with just a handful of active ones.

I am excerpting a msg I recently received from Iceland which I hope many
will find very interesting. All lodges all over the world can learn some
very valuable lessons from the successes of Icelandic Section.

Two things stand out in the message. One is the range of activities and the
other is the principle of not charging for their programs. I was a member of
lodges in India for several years and situation there is quite the same. No
one even inquires if you are a member. They are glad that you have shown up
and hope you will pick up some ideas and use it in your life, thus improving
those with whom one comes into contact.

Hear is the excerpted msg:

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Yes we have a lively theosophical work here in ICELAND, but like in other
places it all depends on few ardent members. According to what I have
encountered in other sections we probably are more open and unconventional
in our presentation of Theosophy than almost anywhere else. We don't have
the SD in our language, and very few of the theosophical classics, except
The Light on the Path, and The Voice of the Silence. 

On the other hand we have had many exceptional lecturers and writers, that
were very well versed in theosophy, and that expounded on it in their own
way, bringing it up to date and relevant to average modern people in need
for a meaning to their life. 
For many decades almost all activities have been totally open to whoever
wanted to come and share some time with us. There is principally no fee to
pay for the teaching, and we never pay fee for a talk or even series of
talks. All work is on voluntary basis.

One important factor is our magazine, Gangleri, which is highly revered
among non-members as well as members and has over thousand subscribers.

We also try to keep the teachings "down to life" and practical, rather than
theoretical. This does not mean that it gets shallow or simple, on the
contrary we try to go as deep as possible into the esoteric and mystical
common ground of spirituality. 

Thus meditation and Self-culture is the "line of the day" in our work. 

To give you some idea of what we have been engaged in, I can mention in
addition to the Light and the Voice, Krishnamurti has been a central theme
for decades, so has Mahayana Buddhism, especially Maha-Mudra, also Chan and
Zen Buddhism and Taoism. 
Of the Hindu line I am especially found of Kashmir Shivaism, and the
mystics, like Ramana Maharsi. We have also had visits from Buddhists, Swamis
from the Ramakrishna order, and others. 

Yoga has also been a prominent subject and there we have had a broad line of
study, from the psychological and philosophical end, to the mystical and
esoteric practice, and even on to the study and practice of some mantric
laya yoga (Shiva Shakti - but this is all on a strictly individual level). 

All the studies are considered "High Quality" spiritual studies, no
charlatans admitted. 

Although strictly independent, we try to be on good terms with the vast
flora of spiritual groups, (almost "Californian" variety here), but I think
we can consider us to be the "mother lode", - the respected "grandma", of
the spiritual movement in Iceland.

If you would to get some idea of our studies, you can log in on an article
by my late mentor and former GS, Sigvaldi Hjalmarsson, at: 
http://www.silcom.com/~origin/ucs/rainbow.htm

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