Silent Retreat with Tran-Thi-Kim Dieu
Participants
The first Italian edition of the “Silent Retreat”, dedicated to meditation, masterfully conducted by Sister Tran-Thi-Kim Dieu - and excellently translated from English by Daniele Urlotti - took place from 27 to 29 September 2019.
About twenty members - coming from Milan, Vicenza, Turin, Mondovì, Aosta, Reggio Emilia and Feltre - participated in the event.
Impressions of ITC 2019 at Olcott in Wheaton
Jonathan Colbert – USA
Participants ITC 2019
In the final summing up session of the ITC Event this summer at Wheaton—Ann, a woman with a wonderful Texas accent, said she, “was impressed that people can express ideas intelligently without hubris, in a heartfelt way, with a thread of justice for all humanity—all willing to sacrifice in order to bring the vision of HPB into being—and that no one here will rest until that vision is accomplished.” I think she summarized the totality of the conference and what the living, Integral Wisdom of Theosophy is.
Centre for Transformative Education
The Adyar Theosophical Academy (ATA) is being established by The Theosophical Society, Chennai, in its tranquil campus of Besant Gardens. Surrounded by lush green foliage and innumerable trees, including a large banyan tree, the large indoor and outdoor classrooms provide space for creativity and exploration for children.
Front of the building (formerly TPH)renovation work is being done
ATA aims to prepare students for life in all its dimensions, imparting wholesome education in its true sense. Whilst striving for academic excellence, ATA intends to promote an enlightened educational system that will incorporate the art and science of living wisely. ATA strongly believes that it is of central importance for students to learn to embrace their common humanity and their place in the web of life in our increasingly divisive world.
Artist’s impression of the Academy’s entrance after the work is done
ATA’s vision is to educate and raise children to become competent, well-balanced, emotionally mature, socially responsible, morally upright, and spiritually sensitive individuals.
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The next session of the School will be held in beautiful Greece from 13 – 18 October, 2019.
Theme of this year’s edition is:
REINCARNATION – Science and the Ancient Wisdom Tradition
Sculpture by Matteo Pugliese
Svitlana Gavrylenko – Ukraine
The author
[Talk given during the 143rd International Convention of the TS – TOS Session]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, it is a great privilege and honor for me to have this opportunity to address you at the TOS Session of the 143rd annual convention.
First, I would like to point out that TOS efforts reflect the Theosophical Society's world-wide spiritual maturity and altruistic devotion, just like selfless devotion and service for the sake of common good is a measure of the spiritual maturity and disciple qualification or efficacy of each individual aspirant, including each of the TS members.
Certainly, we perform our service not only as a part of ТОS activities, and this, by the way, should not be ignored. For example, currently, in our country, Ukraine, the voluntary movement associated with the long military and humanitarian crisis has widely spread. However, there is a tendency not to present such TS voluntary service activities as TOS.
Message (unabridged) received from Arni Narendran.
This year’s Budha Purnima celebrations which falls in the holy month of Vaisakh was celebrated with great veneration and participation of both members and non members of the Blavatsky lodge. The programme started with Universal Prayer in the Green Room of the Blavatsky Lodge which has echoed the wisdom of Theosophy for over ninety years. The evening started with Lighting of Lamps by the Lodge President Sr. Kashmira Khambatta and Vice President Bro Navin Kumar.Sr.Jasmine Cawasji recited the Buddhist Prayer and this was followed by a talk by Brother Arni Narendran on the “Esoteric significance of Buddha Purnima” A fervent appeal to develop a quality of ‘Compassion’, a fundamental trait in Buddhism was made by the speaker.
Message received from Theosophy Forward’s contributor Paulo Baptista
Madeira, The Pearl of the Atlantic
On White Lotus Day, May 8th, a lecture on Theosophy was given by Paulo Baptista on the island of Madeira, which is part of Portugal.
Message received from Theosophy Forward’s contributor Paulo Baptista
On the May 18 and 19, the Faculty of Letters of the University of Lisbon, Portugal, hosted a conference about Consciousness. Organized by the Centro Lusitano de Unificação Cultural, this important event which attracted more than 250 people, consisted of 15 lectures dealing with the different perspectives of the problem of consciousness.
Wonderful overview of the auditorium
Barend Voorham, an active member of TS-Point Loma, Blavatskyhouse in the Netherlands, at the invitation of Marcos de Resende and the TS-Adyar in Brazil, conducted an outstanding course at the Theosophical Institute near Brasilia in June 2016. Contacts and open dialogues among Theosophists are tremendously important and fruitful nowadays. Freed from worn out prejudices, exchanging views while deepening the understanding of the teachings, all this accelerated through the good work of International Theosophy Conferences, have luckily become a custom.
When Theosophists around the world from different Theosophical organizations meet each other more often, a cohesive network is created, which ultimately will encompass our entire planet.
In May 2018, Barend met Bruno Carlucci during an event about HPB in Lisbon, Portugal. Bruno is a member of Brasília Lodge in the capital of Brazil. Because Barend had come to Brazil for a family visit, the chairwoman of that Lodge, Maria Alice Fonseca, invited Barend to deliver a lecture on the 16th of January. The title of his talk was Karma and Ahimsa, the Power of Nonviolence.
At the Brasilia Lodge in Brasilia: From the left to the right, Maria Alice Fonseca, Barend and Valeria Marques de Oliveira, who is a co-worker for Theosophy Forward
The Blavatsky Bungalow was recently renovated and officially reopened by International President Tim Boyd during the last held International Convention. Theosophy Forward, with kind permission of the Officer in Charge of the Adyar Archives, Jaishree Kannan, proudly publishes some historical back and white photos of the Blavatsky Bungalow which, according to Jaishree, were taken between 1908 and 1915. Enjoy!
The next session of the School will be held in beautiful Greece from 13 – 18 October, 2019.
Theme of this year’s edition is:
REINCARNATION – Science and the Ancient Wisdom Tradition
Sculpture by Matteo Pugliese
The organizers are glad to inform you that the venue for the EuST 2019 will be at the 'Green' Hotel Negroponte in Eretria, a small coastal town on the Evia Island in Greece. Negroponte is a beachfront hotel overlooking the Gulf of Evia with breathtaking views of the surrounding sea, the mountains, and pine forest.
Message (unedited) received from Arni Narendran.
While Theosophists from all over the world were gathered on the banks of the Adyar River in Chennai for the 143rd International convention, probably the longest continuing and sustained spiritual conference in the world, Theosophists from Mumbai gathered at the Blavatsky Lodge by the French Bridge, in proximity to the Arabian Sea. Extending between 1st to 5th of January 2019, the “ MUMBAI SUPPORT CONVENTION” was organized, convened by the Blavatsky Lodge and Bombay Theosophical Federation, a tradition echoing the spirit of Adyar and for those metropolitan busy bees who are unable to travel to Chennai for whatsoever the reason.
Members, participants Blavatsky Lodge, Arni Narendran in the middle with hat and blue shirt
At one point of history there used to be an entourage of Mumbai and Gujarat Theosophists numbering as much as fifty attending the Adyar convention by railroad with a spirit of camaraderie and fun, they were all housed in the Blavatsky Bungalow, which is now in the limelight with its new innovated and refurbished Avatar-by the visionary insight of President Tim Boyd and Mr. Michiel Haas, an award winning Architect from Holland, on a journey that took as much as 24 hours. Ironically with as many as ten flights to Chennai from Mumbai, every day and the travel time cut to one hour and fifty minutes, the numbers have trickled down to a few. It was with this in mind the support convention concept was born and remains popular in our calendar of activities at the Blavatsky Lodge.
On December 15, 2018 the TOS Adyar helped to sponsor an annual event to support mentally retarded persons. TOS International Secretary, Nancy Secrest, gave the keynote address at the event, which was attended by about 100 people. She found it educational and great fun.
The event began with the arrival of the children and a flag raising. We all stood at attention for the raising of the Indian flag, after which, Marja Artamaa, International Secretary of the Theosophical Society, and Nancy shook hands with about twenty children from the Vishwas Special School. Everyone followed, as the children led the way with their banner into the meeting room, where the event was held. Talks followed, given by several sponsors of the event. Various aspects about mental retardation and the care and education of mentally challenged individuals were also relayed to those present from the perspectives of medical professionals, educators, social workers and government representatives.
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