Theos-Talk Archives (October 1997 Message tl00227)

Following Bart's metaphor about the role of the TS in relation
to "seeds" of future adeptship: I think there's vastly more
centrifugal than centripetal force in the Theosophical
Movement.  Which means many more ex-members than members, and
many members focusing their energies more outside the
organizations than in them.  HPB was such a dharma-hopper
herself (legends notwithstanding) that she left that imprint on
the movement.  It has attracted a truly impressive group of
adherents, but the really good ones, e.g. Ouspensky, Steiner,
David-Neel, Yeats, Dharmapala, Subba Row, Mohini Chatterji,
Krishnamurti, tend to move on after a while.  Their lives are
enriched by their time with Theosophy, but the movement seems
unable to accept enrichment from them.

The TS natal chart, which we've discussed before, indicates a
meeting of irresistible forces and immovable objects, with all
but one planet in fixed signs and every one of them in either a
Grand Cross or T-square.  Great energy to attract seekers in,
but very little ability to hold on to them or provide a
comfortable and secure place in which to unfold their
potential.  Instead, it spews them out because those in power
are the least adventuresome of the lot who have passed through.
Most people who come into Theosophy aren't looking for an
orthodoxy, but they find that the longtimers who run the shows
are looking for nothing else.  So the paths diverge.

Which suggests to me that the movement in its early days was
like a seed pod that exploded, sending a certain kind of
seeker/discoverer to all corners of the earth and impregnating
many religions and cultures with its energies.  The TS is more
notable for those who have left it than for those who have
stayed.