What does it mean to be an active member?

[Lenny]

I'm not in any sort of lodge yet, but plan on it once I move to Cali. If I think it's worthwhile enough I'll go to the one in Illinois where I live and take the hour drive, but although I've read about some of theosophy and its spiritual teachings what is it we do? I still don't know...

Does it mean getting organized to talk about all the things needed to be done in the world? Is it just a brotherhood for like minded people on some other-than-mainstream knowledge to talk with one another? Do we do charitable work? Do we have a headquarters with leaders and lots of money--I ask that because that implies power (if so what do they do)? Are any of our members famous and/or successful?

Basically, why become a member?

[Dan Noga]

As the Member Services Coordinator for the American Section, I guess I'm qualified to answer this. :)

(For clarity's sake, I should describe the abbreviations I'll be using: "TS" will refer to the Theosophical Society as a whole--the entire international organization. "TSA" will refer solely to the American Section.)

It sounds like you have a pretty good understanding of what TS membership entails. The TS basically arose in 1875 out of a group just as you describe--a regular gathering of like-minded individuals who came together to discuss spiritual, esoteric and philosophical matters. However, you have arrived at an interesting point in the Society's history.

From what I've been told, the vast majority of the TSA's members were also members of local groups throughout most of the TSA's history. More recently, we've seen a shift in this trend. Over half of the TSA's members are now "members at large," or people who are not members of local groups. There are thought to be several reasons for this, including, but not limited to:

-Lifestyles have changed. In short, people are more busy these days. People spend more time working and commuting, and with the economy in its present state, this has only gotten worse--some people have gone back to school and now do both work and school. Others hold down more than one job at a time. There is less time for other activities. What little time many people have left is spent in ways other than attending local group discussions or lodge meetings.

People are more mobile. It used to be that people had more of a tendency to "stay put," and this lent itself to the formation of tighter community bonds, which contributed to the thriving of local groups. Nowadays, this seems to be reversing--people relocate more often than they used to, and this is thought to have affected lodge participation adversely.

These are just two reasons, and they are both very general--but the bottom line is, we have seen a shift from an emphasis on local group meetings to an emphasis on personal study. In many cases, people would love to attend a local lodge meeting, but there is no group nearby. That is one of the reasons this Community was formed, in fact--in the hopes that people interested in forming new groups might locate each other more easily.

Some groups focus more on studying together, while other groups also include lectures/presentations, classes and other such programs.

The TS does not emphasize charitable work. There is a separate, but closely-linked sister organization called the Theosophical Order of Service that focuses on service-oriented work. You can check out their website at: http://www.theoservice.org/

Are any of our members famous and/or successful? One of the most well-known TSA members that I know of is Ravi Ravindra, a quantum physicist who appeared in "What the Bleep! Do We Know!" Our membership roles are confidential, but I think that fact is already out in the open.

All of the faces you see on the banner at the top of this website were chosen because they are the faces of people who were known to have been influenced by Theosophy. Aside from HPB (in purple at the right), Henry Olcott (In red at the left) and William Quan Judge (In green in the middle), who were the co-founders, the following people are shown:

In orange is Gandhi. In yellow is Jane Goodall, a scientist who studied chimpanzees. The woman in blue is Maria Montessori, who once lived and taught at the Society's headquarters in India, and who pioneered Montessori education. In indigo is author T.S. Eliot. I don't know if any of these people were actually members, but they knew of Theosophy.

Artist Wassily Kandinsky, who is considered to be the father of abstract art, was very heavily influenced in his work and art theory by the writings of HPB.

Before he became Vice President of the United States, Henry Wallace was a member of the TSA, belonging for a time to a lodge in Des Moines, IA. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were influenced by Theosophy, too. Albert Einstein was said to have a copy of The Secret Doctrine on his desk (or bookshelf, I can't remember which--oh, details...)

We offer membership benefits to all who join, and clearly, many people find membership worthwhile even though they do not or cannot participate in local groups. Members get a subscription to our quarterly magazine, The Quest. If you're interested in seeing what that's like, you can read articles from back issues online here.

Members also get borrowing privileges from our library, which is full of books on Eastern and Western spirituality, philosophy, science and occultism. Even if you live far away, we'll mail the books to you. You can check out our online card catalog here.

Members also get discounts on lectures, classes and events held at the National Center, as well as a 10% on all purchases from a Quest Bookshop or online at http://www.questbooks.net .

Last but not least, members get a series of 12 monthly letters that outline basic Theosophical principles. This will soon be expanded to 24.

In your new member packet, you'll also get a DVD, "The History of the Theosophical Society in America," and a nice certificate commemorating your joining the Society.

You're not too far away--it is definitely worth a visit some day when you have the time. The grounds are beautiful, the building is too. It's all been there since 1926 and there is a lot of history there.

[Dan Noga]

Sorry Martin, you have to reside in the United States in order to join the American Section.

[Lenny]

thanks for the answer(s) dan. they gave me more questions though. like how come our membership roles are supposed to be confidential? i dont agree with that, we should be in the mainstream, open to criticism from anyone looking to take a swipe at us. all publicitys good publicity.

i wish we were a much more influential power in the world. i mean come on, scientology is more famous than we are. i think by the way they were created to make us look bad and to make alternative spirituality seem ridiculous and to ward off the norm from it. although the cause is building plenty of momentum regardless of those who conspire to keep such things in the dark.

hey ill ask u another question here since it didnt get answered in the forums...how good are the odds of the theosophical community giving out scholarships? i could use the money lol

and speaking of that is the organization itself in the money?pretty curious about that

[Dan Noga]

Lenny,

The confidentiality of our membership roles is a matter of protecting the privacy of our members. We are not a "secret society," and individual members can be as open as they want to about their membership--shout it from the hilltops if you have pride! However, we at the National Center have no right to make that decision for somebody else. It's a matter of respecting the rights of our members--it's not that we want to hide our light.

I would argue that the Theosophical Society is and has been an influential power in the world, even if it is not so obvious on the surface. Today, information about chakras, karma, reincarnation etc. is commonplace, and the Theosophical Society played a tremendous role in bringing that about. The New Age movement can be seen as an ideological descendant of Theosophy. Henry Olcott also brought buddhism to the Western world, and look how popular it is today.

If HPB and Henry Olcott had not existed and done the work that they did, we might very will live in a totally different world.

"Influential" and "visible" are two very different things. Some of the strongest influences are those most hidden. That is a Theosophical fact if you think about it...the most powerful of humanity's principles, Atma, the Higher Self, is the least visible as well...just food for thought. :)


I don't know much about the Society's financial holdings, but I know it is not rich. If we had the publicity budget available to Scientology, we might very well be more visible!! But on that subject, once again, I refer back to my previous comment: Visibility and prestige are not the most important things in the world, and the pursuit of the Society's objects does not depend on them. It is something that we can do just as effectively in a quiet way, in our own lives.

[Lenny]

Well put as usual. Maybe one day some of our members will become rich and famous and donate all the funds the TS could desire. hmmm...i wonder :)

oh but hey wut kind of jobs does the TS offer? don't you work with/for them? or is that strictly volunteer stuff?

[Konstantin Zaitzev]

> Is it just a brotherhood for like minded people on some other-than-mainstream knowledge to talk with one another?

Not only; it's also for mutual help, firstly, the spiritual help. In this respect we are much alike freemasons; being a member means to have friends all around the world. Though we have to confess that the freemasons practice it more actively and they have mutual help mandatory.

>> protecting the privacy of our members.

I would add that it's needed both in non-democratic countries where theosophists can be persecuted for their views and in democratic countries, as in the latters there are many people who want to obtain memberlists in order to sell something.

Yet I think that all members who want to be active are already in this network, so you can appeal to them right here.

As for the money, TS is able to raise money and sometimes has it, but in my opinion it lacks efficient managers to make the best use of money it has. Often the individual members with their very small income do more than entire national sections.

[Dan Noga]

The TSA has many different kinds of jobs. I started out here as a volunteer, but now hold a full-time paid position. I should add, though, that the American Section has greater need right now for volunteers than for workers. We are currently in a financial position where we have actually had to cut some of the positions we had filled. Basically, we would not mind having more workers but cannot afford to pay more people right now.

Konstantin brings up a very good point: There have been individuals who have done tremendous amounts of work on their own, without large sources of funding or staff members to aid them. One reason for this is that individuals working toward one specific goal are able to concentrate all of their energy and resources towards that one goal. National Sections often need to diffuse their available energy into various different things at the same time. A good amount of money and energy goes into simply maintaining the headquarters of a National Center, as well.

All of this goes to highlight once again that while lots of money would certainly help a National Section, the potential of pure, dedicated service should not be overlooked. It can move mountains.

[Lenny]

Alright, so how would I volunteer?What can I do?Where do I go to do it etc.? I'm getting kind of bored lately...

[Janeth]

Hey Lenny-:), just a thought for you to ponder over it. Wherever you go, wherever you are, keeping in mind the following will help you a lot in the spiritual Path you have courageously chosen to walk. No TS member is better than another; TS-ES members constantly deal with more and stronger challenges/energies than non-ES members; regardless of how long a TS member might have been studying Theosophy, and regardless of the position he/she may have in the Society, he/she is not better than you, nor less. Regardless of how many degrees or ‘apparent’ esoteric knowledge (let’s keep in mind that knowledge is one thing and wisdom is another) you think a TS member has, he/she is not a better person or better student of Theosophy than you are. We (students of Theosophy) all have a responsibility to do the right thing at all costs, regardless. We who have had the courage to open our mind and heart to divine wisdom such as Theosophy, and may have a bit more knowledge, than others who have not found Theosophy, or are not ready for it, yet, are not better than the latter. An illiterate person can be more of a Theosophist than those who claim to be one and have forgotten what Theosophy is all about: unselfish, compassionate, and unconditional loving service to others...Be well and take excellent care of yourself!! With loving thoughts, your sister in Theosophy, and friend, -J.