Herman C. Vermeulen – The Netherlands
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
The power of working together
Theosophy teaches us the essential unity of all that lives. Everything is connected with everything else and all beings work together for the common goal of Spiritual Growth. This principle is so simple and logical, that in fact it is hard to understand why there are people who believe they can do better on their own. We need each other to grow and everyone knows synergy through working together produces better results than can obtained individually.
Consequently Universal Brotherhood is a fact of Nature and it is the duty of all Theosophists not only to promote this fact by sharing knowledge with the public but perhaps more important than that by example. That is the reason why members of the Theosophical Society Point Loma – Blavatskyhouse put so much emphasis on working together when preparing public lectures, conducting courses, writing articles for the Lucifer Magazine, publishing books, etc.
A perfect example of the teamwork within the TS is the annual Symposium organized in May each year. Since 2011 this is an international two-day event where Theosophical ideas are shared with the public through lectures and workshops, with an English – Dutch translation service available. All lectures are recorded and a number of them are posted online for free watching. (See website www.blavatskyhouse.org)
The Symposium is a joint effort from a large number of TS volunteers / members.
They work together intensively all year around spending many hours in selecting the themes, preparing lectures, arranging accommodation, meals & drinks, designing and printing PR materials, website, audio & video and much more.
All lectures and workshops are prepared by a different team of TS members every year. The team includes fresh members as well as members with many years of experience in studying Theosophy. They form together a cohesive discussion group which weekly meet, for the first time some six months prior to the event.
For preparing and structuring the program of lectures and workshops the esoteric approach is adopted. At first the team builds up together a global vision on the theme selected for the event and what message it wishes to get across to the public. Next, via a meticulous process of studying and sharing views and opinions the team breaks down that picture in main subjects and subsequently into details per subject. Eventually the entire program for the symposium emerges in a natural sequence of lectures and workshops. Only at the final moment it is decided who will deliver which speech!
This unique approach The Theosophical Society Point Loma – Blavatskyhouse has adopted for the organization of its annual symposium proofs the power of working together to be superior to working independently. Because as the ancients Greeks already taught us: “ The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.
