The Society

Jan Nicolaas Kind – Brazil

If H. P. Blavatsky were with us today I am confident that she would have loved to make use of all the good things the Internet has to offer. Yes, she would have had her own Web site and blog. She would have been busy maintaining her social network: Orkut, Twitter and Facebook, you name it. It would have been a blessing for her, and for us, if she could have communicated her important message through the channels that are now at our disposal.

If used properly, the Internet can bring people together, build bridges, and diminish obvious differences. It can create platforms for dialogues or, if the common rules of decency are obeyed, even debates. It can be an enormous source of information, a guide for independent study, and an invaluable eye opener and pointer.

Vicente Hao Chin, Jr. – the Philippines

Vicente is the President of the Theosophical Society in the Philippines and lives in Manila.  He compiled and edited the chronological edition of the Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, and is the Associate Editor of the Theosophical Encyclopedia. He has lectured on many subjects.

The first century of the Theosophical Society has been devoted to sowing the seeds of the Ageless Wisdom in the public mind. While this work is not yet completed and is still going on, we must move on to the second phase of the work: the incorporation of Theosophical principles into the mainstream of social practices and dynamics through the Theosophical Society and allied movements.

Roger Price - Belgium

That the first and foremost objective “To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour” is seen as the basis of the working of the Theosophical Society is never in my experience disputed. However, despite that, do we truly aspire to it?

In the Mahatma Letters No 5 in chronological sequence page 20 speaking about Universal Brotherhood we find:

“It is the only secure foundation for universal morality. If it be a dream, it is at least a noble one for mankind: and it is the aspiration of the true adept.”

Jan Nicolaas Kind – Brazil

The core of Theosophy is to think for oneself, and in order to learn how to do this, one sets out to collect information and instructions, so that the process may begin.

It’s like learning to play a musical instrument.  For many this doesn’t come on a silver platter; it takes years of profound and dedicated study.  Sitting behind a piano, no one but the student can play ‘the instrument of instruments’.  Are we studying the Esoteric Philosophy at all, and, if so, do we study it, for example, as if we were learning to play the piano?

Theo Curans

The Planetary Union (PU) or União Planetária is a Brazilian organization that is being confused with the Theosophical Society. That confusion is not adequately recognized in the following statement from the minutes of the recent General Council meeting at Adyar:

Planetary Union, an organization created by members of the Brazilian Section, which broadcasts theosophical lectures to 66 cities in Brazil by cable TV, to all Central and South America by satellite, and globally on the Internet, was explained in detail.  The organization is a non-profit entity and managed independently of the TS so as to place no financial burden or risk on the assets of the TS in Brazil.  The directors are all TS members who receive no remuneration.  The President noted that this is a new idea and each Section needed to be free to develop its own way of promoting Theosophy.