Theos-Talk Archives (March 2006 Message tt00604)

Bart -- My own "take" on the condition of the theosophical movement 
does not embrace arbitrary evil as a fundamental premise.  You're 
safe on that point.  My perception is that many problems stem from 
mundane human conditions, of which evil is not fundamental.  
Ignorance, jealousy, greed, and fear are more explanatory of 
behavior within the theosophical movement, in my view, than 
arbitrary evil.

My guess is that Tacoma will accomplish getting the TSA out of their 
face, up close and personal.  John Scott has repeatedly told the TSA 
he will work with the organization, as the Lodge has worked with 
several Theosophical organizations over the decades.  

The Lodge will not work under the TSA, as Tacoma has long protected 
its autonomy.  This is why the bylaws have a clause requiring the 
Lodge vote on new members.  John has stated this to me on several 
occasions and we spent hours reading letters and minutes from the 
1940's and 1930's regarding the Lodge's historical position.

I hope this is helpful.  

Best regards,
Krsanna


--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, Bart Lidofsky <bartl@...> wrote:
>
> 	Let's assume for the moment that those who run the TSA are 
not 
> arbitrarily evil. What, in your opinion, will they achieve if they 
win 
> the lawsuit which they would not have been able to achieve without 
it? 
> By the way, I am telling your in advance that I will ask for more 
detail 
> if I believe your answer translates to "they are abirtrarily 
evil." In 
> other words, please don't interpret it as trying to browbeat you 
down.
> 
> 	You see, I understand (but do not have enough evidence to 
accept) the 
> TSA's explanation about the reason for the lawsuit. I don't 
understand 
> Tacoma's.
> 
> 	Bart
> 
> Steven Levey wrote:
> 
> > Bart
> >    
> >        The problem, as I see it, re: Tacoma and the TSA, is that 
the TSA has become so politcally motivated that this is what 
determines their action regarding the existence of other Lodges. 
This really corporate behavior on the part of TSA, to me, is the 
problem. Theosophy as a philosophy and movement, standing for 
Brotherhood as it was intended by definition, is therefore being 
tarnished in this kind of trial. In other words, if Tacoma, as an 
entity in itself wants to do and be what they are, this should have 
nothing to do with TSA. Even if the Tacoma Lodge became a foolish 
and non-theosophically  oriented group of anti-HPB folks, they still 
have the right afforded to all human beings to be that. Yes, the TSA 
can write them off as no longer under the TSA umbrella, so to speak. 
But so what and how hypocrital. The TSA has shown itself to be run 
by particularly non-theosophically minded folks, and in that sense 
no longer represent theosophical thought in their own actions. 
> Yes, this
> >  is the thought of one student, but it is how I feel, after 
following this from the beginning.
> >    
> >   Steve
> > 
> > Bart Lidofsky <bartl@...> wrote:
> >   krsanna wrote:
> > 
> >>If you are interested in more information about this case, I 
suggest 
> >>you do what the "Aquarian Theosophist" did. Make written 
> >>inquirities. It saves much speculation.
> > 
> > 
> > Except that I am very much aware of the history that Rodolpho 
Don has 
> > with the Theosophical Society in America. He published an early 
web page 
> > (which, by the way, I frequently used as an example of an 
excellent web 
> > site). John Algeo had two major problems with it, however. The 
first was 
> > that it represented itself as the official website of the 
Theosophical 
> > Society in America. The second was that it revealed rather 
publicly 
> > certain information about the TSA which could be used to help in 
a 
> > hostile takeover. He requested that Rodolpho put in a statement 
that his 
> > site was not the official site of the TSA, and also pointed out 
that 
> > posting the fiscal information was probably a bad idea, but did 
not go 
> > as far as requesting its removal. Rodolpho was furious, and 
contended 
> > that any member of the TSA was entitled to speak for the entire 
> > organization, and posted John's rather polite letter in lieu of 
putting 
> > in the simple disclaimer that John asked for. As such, I find 
Rodolpho 
> > to be a highly prejudiced source.
> > 
> > According to Wheaton, the lawsuit has to do with financial 
> > improprieties, and violation of the organization's publicly 
filed bylaws 
> > on the part of its officers.
> > 
> > One thing that I find interesting is Rodolpho's accusation that 
Wheaton 
> > intends to keep the resources for itself. I recall a time when 
Wheaton 
> > had published a new version of the bylaws which would have 
property of a 
> > dissolved lodge revert to Wheaton. It was pointed out that the 
key 
> > language that required that the resources stay in the area of 
the Lodge, 
> > and not be moved, was no longer there. All sorts of conspiracies 
were 
> > imagined. As then chairman of the bylaws committee of the New 
York 
> > Theosophical Society I gave John Algeo a call. According to him, 
this 
> > was the first he had heard of this, that it was entirely 
unintentional, 
> > and that had I called 48 hours later, there would not have been 
enough 
> > time to fix the wording. As it was, there was enough time, and 
the 
> > wording was changed. But what impressed me was that, for all the 
> > complaining, there was so much faith that the leadership of the 
TSA was 
> > the embodiment of evil that nobody thought to actually try to 
fix the 
> > problem.
> > 
> > This is not to say that the TSA board has not taken numerous 
actions 
> > over the years to keep its oligarchical status (notably taking 
the 6 
> > regional districts and combining them into 3, as well as de-
emphasizing 
> > individual lodge membership in favor of member-at-large 
membership, as 
> > well as setting up a pseudo "National Lodge"). But it is to say 
that I 
> > will take any representation of them as the embodiment of evil 
with a 
> > grain of salt.
> > 
> > Bart
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 		
> > ---------------------------------
> > Yahoo! Mail
> > Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail  makes sharing a breeze. 
> > 
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> >
>