Based on the feedback received so far, the World Congress seems to be a great success.
Attendance: The congress was well attended by members from various sections and it is a good sign that many have taken the trouble to spend the money and travel to Rome. I was heartened to hear a large contingent of members traveled from Brazil and it only shows that the Brazil Section took the trouble to organize the trip in an efficient manner.… Continue
Added by M K Ramadoss on July 16, 2010 at 12:30am —
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I came to the World Congress mainly for the people - as I do for any theosophical meeting. And the people were great. I met inspiring and hard working people from all over the world, and have learned about theosophical issues and activities all over the world. I do think in general the atmosphere of this congress was great: relaxed, friendly, cheerful even.
In planning such a congress I do think there are two possible roads to take:
- Going for a theosophical theme…
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Added by Katinka Hesselink on July 15, 2010 at 1:11am —
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Finally, Internet is coming into play in the National President election in New Zealand. In the past, you get voting papers along with a brief ‘official’ summary about the candidates and members have to decide based on scant information. Members get no advance notice about the candidates, their expertise, experience, future goals. This helps the inner circle of current and former elected officials keep their influence on whom they want to be elected.… Continue
Added by M K Ramadoss on July 14, 2010 at 8:44pm —
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Katinka’s blog about who paid Brazilian delegates/attendees expenses to the World Congress is untrue.
Here is the information verified with the Brazil delegates/attendees.
1. Brazilian Section did not pay expenses to any Brazilian delegates at all, not even for Marcos Resende, the National President.… Continue
Added by M K Ramadoss on July 14, 2010 at 10:24am —
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- When the word 'selfish' is used, it usually means there is a moral judgement of someone else involved.
- As the Americans say 'walk the talk'... I think the amount of talk is inversely proportional to the mileage of the walk. -Edi Bilimoria
- The easiest question to ask is the hardest to answer.
- Because the real issues in the TS are not discussed openly resort to gossip as are only source of information.
Added by Katinka Hesselink on July 14, 2010 at 9:53am —
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I have never been to a theosophical meeting with so much technology: everybody is taking pictures with their own digital cameras. Live streaming and tv's at the back of the hall so everybody can see the speakers properly.
But the one feature of this congress that I think people most enjoy is the pool. It is large enough to take laps in and when it is hot - and it is hot - it is a relief to sit in the brieze by the water.
And sometimes conversations take place…
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Added by Katinka Hesselink on July 14, 2010 at 2:43am —
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While we're listening to lectures on brotherhood, some people had some poignant remarks.
For instance, various suggestions were made to replace 'Dear Brothers and Sisters' with
- Dear friends, monads, and countrymen, lend me your ears
- Dear permanent atoms ...
Someone else thought that 'dear sister Jane' had a Catholic sound.
Then the insight that 'The last thing a theosophist needs is…
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Added by Katinka Hesselink on July 13, 2010 at 5:37am —
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Thanks for Katinka’s detailed report on Dieu’s lecture at the World Congress now in progress in Rome.
Dieu may be highly regarded in European circles, but world-wide, a thick cloud is hanging over her for two of her actions in the past which do not show wise judgment.
Firstly, she is one of the Quartet behind the ill-fated ultra secret plan to the General Council to disenfranchise all members in the election of International President and GC members seize the… Continue
Added by M K Ramadoss on July 12, 2010 at 3:32pm —
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In the blog posted by Katinka, there was a mention about the travel expenses for many attendees from Brazil being paid by the Section or one of the wealthy members. It is very good that Brazil is doing it. I wish more sections would do the same so that poor members can participate in World Congress. And many sections can afford to do it.
For example, American Section has perhaps most money in their treasury and soon the British Section would be very wealthy once they… Continue
Added by M K Ramadoss on July 12, 2010 at 10:20am —
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See also the final version of my review of
Kim Dieu's talk.
The introductions to this morning's symposium lectures was a white delegate from Central Africa. The delegates from Africa are, from what I've seen so far, a good mix of black, white and Indian. I met the delegates from Ghana personally and they followed the world cup (won by Spain yesterday) as fervently as people in Europe have. About the world cup final: About…
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Added by Katinka Hesselink on July 12, 2010 at 9:00am —
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Internet live streaming of the proceedings of the World Congress is a very welcome first step for TS trying to use Internet to reach the members and others interested in TS and theosophy. Let us hope the summary of the lectures are also posted on Internet soon without waiting for them to be published in print media which is going to take time.
Added by M K Ramadoss on July 12, 2010 at 8:42am —
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Live streaming of the proceedings of the World Congress now in progress in Rome has helped many around the world to watch them online. Yesterday I watched the short presentations of Colin Price and Pedro Oliveira.
While all the lectures by various lecturers have so far dealt with usual intellectual topics theosophists discuss, so far only Pedro… Continue
Added by M K Ramadoss on July 12, 2010 at 8:38am —
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Honestly - I had hoped Dara would go into how biology and psychology have shown that compassion is as much built into us as competition is. She didn't. Her talk was based on a definition of science which covered mostly physics and parapsychology.
It was very interesting, however it was impossible to take notes on. Dara uses very long sentences and lots of quotes. This did not make a boring talk though: She talk slowly and clearly and really did very well on a topic that the TS…
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Added by Katinka Hesselink on July 12, 2010 at 4:24am —
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This morning we had the lecture by Professor P. Krishna. His talk was inspiring. He talked about a lot that most of us have heard before: the interconnectedness of everything, ecology and how those isses are caused by people not realizing deeply enough that it's all us. This post is a combination of my notes from Krishna's talk and my own thoughts about the issues the TS is dealing with. It's loosely based also on my talks with individual theosophists at this congress.
What…
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Added by Katinka Hesselink on July 11, 2010 at 1:08pm —
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It was a great pleasure to watch the opening of the 10th World Congress in Rome even though my local time was 3.00am. It took a long time.
Starting with Prayers of All Religions, opening/ welcoming talk by the GS of Italy followed by reading of greeting messages received from individuals from around the world, then followed by personal greetings from General Secretaries or their representatives and finally we had the Opening talk by… Continue
Added by M K Ramadoss on July 10, 2010 at 9:44pm —
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I was foolish enough not to take my laptop to the International Theosophical World Congress, so instead of posting this on my blog (of which I don't know the password), I'll post it here.
I thought Linda Oliveira's talk was, in the main, insightful. The title was - ominously - 'why do we belong to the Theosophical Society?'
She started out saying that the question was perhaps surprising, but added that it was a necessary question and a deep…
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Added by Katinka Hesselink on July 10, 2010 at 11:44am —
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Here is an announcement of the live streaming of the Congress. Now all of us world-wide can watch the proceedings live on Internet. The organizers should be thanks for arranging the streaming.
MKR
"Dear Sister/ Dear Brother,
The opening of the 10th World Congress of the Theosophical Society focusing
on the subject "Universal Brotherhood without any distinctions: a road to
awareness" and taking place in Rome at the Summit Hotel Convention…
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Added by M K Ramadoss on July 6, 2010 at 12:58pm —
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Unique Opportunity in the 10th World Congress - A view In ten days, the 10th World Congress is scheduled at Rome. Many leaders
from the West will be attending it. In the aftermath of the
International Election and the follow-up cleavage displayed by the
theosophical leaders, the future growth of TS in the West is going to
depend on the level of reconciliation that takes place among the
leaders.…
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Added by M K Ramadoss on June 30, 2010 at 2:37am —
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First, one seeks to become an artist by training the hand. Then one
finds it is the eye that needs improving. Later one learns it is the
mind that wants developing, only to find that the ultimate quest of the
artist is in the spirit. (Larry Brullo)
Being an artist myself I can relate to this comment. In everyone of my paintings I am searching for something that is beyond description, beyond preconceived ideas and happens in uncontrived naturalness. …
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Added by Sharon Ormerod on June 17, 2010 at 10:00pm —
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Paul asked:
How does the Theosophical Society's organizational structure work, does it have a degree system like the Knightsof Columbus and the Masons do, or is it organized more like Toastmasters without any initiations or
levels?
Sorry Paul, that question wasn't appropriate to the post where you asked it, so I have deleted it there.
There are…
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Added by Katinka Hesselink on June 13, 2010 at 9:30am —
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