Theos-Talk Archives (March 2006 Message tt00057)

Erica Letzerich wrote:
> How many Sufi's does it take to change a light bulb?
> Sorry, we were dancing.  What was the question? :)
Time for a reprint:

Lightbulb on the Path
	By Bart Lidofsky

There was a general Theosophical Conference last month. All groups 
calling themselves Theosophical were invited (as the organizers felt 
that they could not claim a definition of “true” Theosophy). The 
conference started out with surprisingly little fighting. That is, until 
a lightbulb burned out. At that point, the various groups started an 
argument as to the proper way to change the lightbulb.

“You cannot force evolution”, said the traditionalists. “It should be 
allowed to express its current level of development, and change itself, 
over time!”

The followers of Annie Besant did not agree. “Sometimes, one must force 
a lightbulb to change so that it can continue its evolution.”

“If we allowed ourselves to become sufficiently evolved”, replied the 
followers of Leadbeater, “we would all shed our own light (in the color 
of our own ray, of course), and would have no need of lightbulbs”.

The  Alice Bailey group said, “It doesn't matter that the lightbulb 
burned out. We have a much more advanced lightbulb with which to replace 
it, anyway!”

The Esoteric Section appeared with a lightbulb which they tried to keep 
hidden, although everybody was sure that they had already seen it.

The representative from the Krishnamurti non-group said, “We cannot, of 
course, tell you the proper way to change a lightbulb. But we do have 
some suggestions that you might want to try out.”

The Pasadena group said that the lighting was much better in the western 
end of the room, and everybody should simply move over there. Point 
Loma, on the other hand, didn't really care much how the light bulb was 
changed, as long as they got the publishing rights.

A man representing the Church Universal and Triumphant, said, “We have 
the One True Light Bulb, but we can only use it if it is properly 
protected against the coming of the Armageddon.”

A member of the Thule Society stated that any lightbulb could be used, 
provided that it was of European origin. The Cult of Annoyed 
Theosophists agreed that any lightbulb would do, provided that it was 
not the same brand as the previous one. The ULT members, in the 
meantime, also agreed that any lightbulb would be OK, as long as the 
person who changed it remained anonymous.

The followers of Benjamin Crème declared, “With our light bulb, you will 
never need another light bulb again. It will reveal itself when you are 
all ready for it; as a matter of fact, it appeared in Istanbul last May!”

The followers of Sai Baba were silently attempting to materialize a 
light bulb out of thin air. The Therapeutic Touch group, in the meantime 
attempted to meditate until they could find an answer.

The proceedings grew hotter and hotter, until they were about to reach a 
decidedly untheosophical pitch when a member of the Theosophical Order 
of Service caused an abrupt halt in the arguing by pointing out that the 
Henry S. Olcott Fan Club had just gone ahead and replaced the lightbulb.