Theos-Talk Archives (October 1999 Message tl00024)

Mkr wrote:
> I spend half of my life in India and in every branch I visited, there were
no admission or other fees or suggested donation for one
cause or the other
 or even passing of a plate for collection. No effort was
made to collect.
 Usually a couple of well to do members took care of the
needs. There were
 not any place even to leave a donation if you wanted to.
Also I have
 listened many many lectures from well known members and
lesser known
 members without paying a single penny or rupee. Many
branches would not
 even inquire if you are a formal member or not. They are
just happy that
 you took the time to visit and participate. BTW, at one
time there was a
 move at Adyar to feed every attendee free during the
annual convention.
>
In Holland most lodges ask for a small sum, for people who
are not TS members. It is almost symbolical, in fact, in my
lodge. But I know what you mean. I picked up a flyer from a
'Raja yoga' group lately, they hold meetings free of
charge. That gave me two thoughts, first: who pays for this
and second: at least it is certain they not do it for the
money. We had a lot of discussion when we installed the fee
(it is a recent development for us), because we wanted to
be accessible to anybody. On the other hand people pay for
all kinds of things and our lodge is small, the rental of
the hall where the meetings are held, is expensive, even if
cheap in its kind.
It is a difficult subject.

Katinka
----------------------
NHL Leeuwarden
hesse600@tem.nhl.nl