Theos-Talk Archives (March 2004 Message tt00760)

Hello Pedro,

Thanks for the reminiscence. You are right. My last walk through 
Krotona was in January 2001, I believe. As I recall, Shirley was 
already here in California, and I did hear that she was going to head 
the Krotona school. 
My first stay at Krotona was in 1963, about twenty years before yours. 
It was then a far more active and vibrant place then what it became in 
1983, let alone 2001. I was there on the occasion of a Young 
Theosophist meeting. Most memorable to me were Anita and Dougless 
Wilde. As the Krotona population was even then beginning to age, they 
were very interested in getting "new blood" into the TS, as they put it. 
I was particularly impressed by their openness to discussion on 
Theosophical subjects that would not have been allowed by many of the 
others living on the hill. I also vividly remember Laurence and Phoebe 
Bendit. Mrs. Bendit approach me and, unsolicited, made some predication 
about my future. At first, I didn't know who she was. Dr. Bendit was 
particularly interesting, and we managed to get together for a long 
private talk. He was a Jungian Psychiatrist who personally knew Carl 
Jung. He was interested in my studies in astrology, and we, among other 
things, talked quite a lot about Dr. Jung's interest in astrology. Dr. 
Bendit was there that weekend because he had been asked to be the head 
of Krotona school. Some of the people at Krotona institute objected to 
him, so he returned to England that monday. He returned to the US about 
ten years later and we resumed our friendship. 
--j 


prmoliveira wrote:

> Thanks for the clarification, Jerry. Your last visit to Krotona 
> probably was before 2002, as at that time many of the houses which 
> had been vacant were occupied and many of them were renovated. A 
> beautiful meditation garden was built at the top of the hill and was 
> dedicated by Shirley Nicholson.
>
> Your posting threw me into a reverie. I first visited Krotona as a 
> scholarship student from Brazil in 1983. In those days the 
> student/faculty units didn't exist, and I and an Uruguayan student 
> were accommodated in Taormina, the adjoining community, next to the 
> house of Jim Perkins. It was two and half months of intense 
> theosophical study and I still remember the many hours I spent with 
> vol. X of HPB Collected Writings, particularly the article "Is 
> Theosophy a Religion?"
>
> To have had the opportunity to meet and share the company of people 
> like Virginia Hanson, Felix Layton, Hector Bejarano, Jim Perkins, 
> Oliver Green, and many others now gone to their rest, was the 
> experience of a lifetime. 
> I was told that in the early 1990s more than ten residents passed 
> away within one year. It became known as the biggest collective 
> excursion to devachan ever in Krotona!
>
> Pedro