The Society

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

Michele Sender, I am from the Chicago area and have been a member of the TS since 2006. Soon after that, with my 3 children, I moved to the grounds of the National Headquarters of the TS in America, Wheaton, Illinois, and began volunteer work at the Front Desk. Over the next 7 years, I worked in the Information and Volunteer Department; part-time in the Library, Membership and Book Shop; and my favorite part – cooking up love from the Olcott Kitchen.

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

My name is Katherine (Kate) Lucille Blalack . I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the U.S.A. I am originally from the Chicago area, in Illinois. I became a member of the Theosophical Society, originally, about 6 years ago. Due to some life circumstances I had to temporarily stop my formal studies, but I rejoined this past spring. At this point in my life I am fully committed to Theosophy and have found a home in the way of life.

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

My name is Lorraine Christensen. I live in the beautiful foothills city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada – a gateway to the Rocky Mountains. For 43 years I have been a member of the TS, having joined in 1973.

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

My name is Kristinn Agust Fridfinnsson. I was born in Reykjavik and began attending meetings in the TS in 1971, and as far as I remember I formally became a member that same year.

Jan Nicolaas Kind – Brazil

About hope

Hope

The collapse of the new roof of the Adyar Theatre in the very early morning hours of May 17 was a big disappointment, a blow in the face and a setback. We need to keep in mind though, that a roof is a roof and therefore really only a “thing.” Obviously one can be happy with its design, beauty or practicality, but as such it has nothing to do with Theosophy. Luckily no one was hurt and it is certain that the cause for the breakdown of the roof will be found and that something else will replace it. It was a good move that less than 24 hours after the collapse, Tim Boyd issued an official statement informing all involved.

A few exploited the sad news, by reporting triumphantly about this incident. It was disgusting to note how this unfortunate event was, and still is used to diminish and belittle the hard work undertaken by the current International President of the TS-Adyar and his team. The sarcastic tenor of the despicable postings on a website, to which no ending seems to come, demonstrates per definition any lack of even the faintest understanding of what brotherhood is all about. In this day and age where all are connected through the internet: Facebook, Twitter, email and many other apps, it won’t do any good to simply ignore the negative forces. Rebuking them also is not the solution, since that would give them the attention they so desperately are in search of; internet trolls will always remain nasty reeking, creepy little dwarfs.

Weird as it may sound but these trolls have created an imaginary darkish world where they are the prosecutor, judge and executioner. Frustrated, unfulfilled, small-minded as they must be they won’t stop angrily throwing mud around, because that is the only thing they know how to do. In their ignorant troll-heads the whole world revolves entirely around them and through the facilities the internet offers they found their shady way of letting the world know that they exist.

Setting out to new frontiers, instigating new initiatives, breaking down worn out and old walls, heading into a new direction isn’t always safe; risks need to be taken and at times obstacles or letdowns look as if they are too big to overcome. Still we would need to take on the challenges, and accept the perils that come our way.

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

My name is Bas Harpe, I’m from Amsterdam and I’ve been a member of the TS for about three years now.

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

Manoj Thangavelu from Chennai. I have been a member of TS unofficially for over three decades or more but an active member the past five years.

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

My name is Laura Rodriguez, I am from Argentina and I am a member of the TS since 1992.

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

Divya Sornaraja, Chennai, India. Member of the TS Adyar lodge since October, 2015.

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

My name is Krista Umbjärv. I was born in Estonia and joined the H.P.B. Lodge (TS Adyar) in Tallinn, Estonia, in 2005, at the age of 18.

1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?

My name is José Manuel Anacleto, I am from Lisbon Portugal, although I rather consider myself a citizen of the world. I began to study Theosophy in 1979 and I did it with a group of friends, so I didn’t feel the call to join a Theosophical organisation, even at the time when we visited the Theosophical Society in Portugal (Adyar). Later (in 1988) I was one of the founders of an institution, the Centro Lusitano de Unificação Cultural-CLUC (Lusitanian Centre of Cultural Unification), (which is still active today, and is managed by myself), and although it is not strictly a Theosophical organisation, Theosophy is its key reference. At the CLUC, we publish several books and the Biosofia magazine ( www.biosofia.net  ). I give conferences and courses and organise other activities (e.g. meditation practices) which are mostly Theosophical or generally connected to Esoteric Philosophy. In 2001, I became a member of the Portuguese Section of the Adyar Theosophical Society, basically to give my contribution. There, I was active for about 2 or 3 years, but stopped for several reasons. A little later (in 2006) I joined the United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT).

Message received from Leslie Price – England  

Recently there has been renewed scholarly interest in the life and work of C.W. Leadbeater. In 2011, Richard Smoley edited for Quest Books a new edition of a work by Leadbeater now called A Christian Gnosis. In 2013, Quest produced a new edition of Leadbeater’s The Chakras edited by Kurt Leland.  Leland has also written a valuable editorial report in the journal Theosophical History July 2014 on the problems in reconstructing the text and original illustrations for the book The Chakras.

CWL, photo taken in 1930 in Madras (now Chennai)