Gilson Moraes Lara – Brazil

Hi there, my name is Gilson and I’m a military officer in the Brazilian army. I am not a member of the Theosophical Society but due to the fact that I need to read a lot of the material published on Theosophy Forward I have become very interested in what Theosophy has to offer.

I work in an IT unit, developing WebPages. Some years ago colleague of mine told me that I should participate in a project concerning the development of the on-line magazine Theosophy Forward. This would offer me a unique opportunity to help with the set-up of the first version of this independent magazine in 2009, thus increasing the magazine’s outreach on the worldwide internet.

Gilson at the control panel of Theosophy Forward

Theosophy Forward first went on the air in 2009 and it makes use of an open software source (OSS) applying “content management system” (CMS) Joomla, where one has the freedom to easily change the contents at any moment without having to depend on a technical or specialized administrator.

Theosophy Forward, for its development uses all the facilities Joomla offers and it has become my main venture over the past three years. The idea of using open or free software is fully in accordance with the main philosophy behind the magazine, which is fully dedicated to freedom of thought. The software gives readers worldwide access to all on-line articles which are collected by the magazine’s compilers from all corners of the globe.

Open source software in general offers many possibilities and these are expanding and improving steadily. The magazine Theosophy Forward follows this trend and this is translated into an always contemporary and accessible language, pleasing many around the world.

I work closely with the magazine’s editor Jan Nicolaas Kind, a Dutchman who lives in Brasilia, and I must admit that he is quite inspirational when it comes to Theosophy. According to him we all are interconnected on this planet of ours and I believe he’s right. He has told me also that he will ultimately convince me to become a vegetarian but to be honest I don’t think he will succeed.

Working for Theosophy Forward is quite a challenge, consuming much of my free time, but when I see the results and statistics I realize that this magazine is trying hard and succeeding bringing people together.