Good News

Piet Mondrian's art (1872-1944) always was intimately related to his spiritual and philosophical studies. In 1908 he became interested in the Theosophical movement launched by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky in the late 19th century, and he joined the Dutch branch of the Theosophical Society in 1909. The work of Blavatsky and a parallel spiritual movement, Rudolf Steiner's Anthroposophy, significantly affected the further development of his aesthetic. Blavatsky believed that it was possible to attain a more profound knowledge of nature than that provided by empirical means, and much of Mondrian's work for the rest of his life was inspired by his search for that spiritual knowledge.

Piet Mondrian

The new website www.theartarchives.org * contains the first online archive on Piet Mondrian.

There are only a few extensive archives on Mondrian in the world. Both are situated in The Hague (NL): the Gemeentemuseum, owner of the largest collection of Mondrian paintings, and the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD). The last recently acquired the archives of Mondrian specialists Robert Welsh and Herbert Henkels. These locations need to be visited in person.

Great developments on the Internet. In this issue of Theosophy Forward, Dan Noga, currently living in Norway and responsible for The Theosophical Community, wants to share to following with you:

. . . .The Theosophical Community was set up in 2008 as one of many projects that have come out of the Theosophical Society in America's Internet Creative Community. At that time, I was the Member Services Coordinator for the TSA and I thought that a social network would be a good way for members of the TS to connect with each other. However, it didn't seem sensible to restrict the site's activity to members of any particular Theosophical organization, since Brotherhood is a core value of the TS. Anyone interested in joining is welcome to do so.

Transformation of Consciousness

The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali with Ravi Ravindra, from 17 – 22 June 2011
Organized by the Theosophical Society in The Netherlands

Ravi Ravindra

Location: International Theosophical Center (ITC)
Meentweg 9, 1411 GR Naarden, The Netherlands

The ITC has superb facilities: Crystal Hall, where vegan and vegetarian meals are served


Inside Crystal Hall

For information contact:
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Site: www.theosofie.nl

THE EUROPEAN SCHOOL OF THEOSOPHY
6-12 OCTOBER 2011 – ST. ALBANS, LONDON
Convenient train connections from Airports and Central London

A MASTER KEY TO THE ESOTERIC TRADITION

Studies in the ‘Mahatma Letters’



The Messenger by Nicholas Roerich (1931)
‘When the pupil is ready the Master appears’


Speakers
Dr. David Roef, Dr. Pablo Sender, John Gordon M.A., Harold Tarn, Colin Price, Eric McGough, Christian Bodhi and Dr. John Algeo on PowerPoint

INFORMATION & REGISTRATION
Linda Seale
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: +44 (0)208670 7342
3 Sydcote, Rosendale Road, Dulwich
LONDON SE218LH
and
Ingrid Eberhard-Evans
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel/Fax: + 44 (0) 1974 202958
Benglog, Llanddeiniol A
BERYSTWYTH SY23 SAW Wales UK
or book on line at
www.europeantheosophyschool.org

Julian, breathtaking surroundings

Update on Julian International Theosophy Conference - August 11 – 14

As officers of ITC we have “good news” to share with you. The international flavor of our conference increases. We are delighted that more than 20 Theosophists from Holland have already registered for the conference.  In total, we have over 70 people registered at this time. 

We have a wonderful roster of speakers. We will start with speakers from four different Theosophical traditions to highlight our unity at the beginning of the conference. This includes Myrra Lee from ULT, Tim Boyd from TS in A, Herman Vermeulen from TS Point Loma, and two representing Independent Theosophists, Joe Fulton and Jerry Hejka-Ekins. The next morning we highlight Theosophical publications from around the world. The rest of the program will focus on our theme, “The Heart of Wisdom: A Confluence of Science and Spirituality.”  We will have presentations by well-known Theosophists, as well as some new voices.

African Art

Mr. Navin Shah, the General Secretary of The Theosophical Society in East & Central Africa writes the following:
Greetings to you from Nairobi and East & Central Africa.
We are pleased to inform you that 45th Convention of the East & Central African Section of the Theosophical Society and 3rd Conference of the Pan African Theosophical Federation (PATF) will be held at Kitwe, Zambia over the Easter weekend – Friday 22nd April 2011 to Sunday 24th April 2011.

Mary Anderson (r) and Terezinha Kind (l)Terezinha lectured in Africa in 2000, Mary will travel and lecture there next April and May

The Guest Speaker is Mary Anderson, former International Secretary and Vice President.  The Theme of the Convention is: ‘Oneness as a Natural Law’.  Mary Anderson’s tour will cover visits to all our lodges in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, in addition to the Convention in Zambia – from 8th April to 9th May 2011.
For additional information please contact:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Theosophical Society in Ukraine has the pleasure to announce the H. P. Blavatsky Anniversary Forum, to be held from June 23 till 26, 2011 in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine.

Dnipropetrovsk SKY LINE

You are cordially invited to participate in the Forum that commemorates the 180th birth anniversary of Helena Blavatsky and the 120th year since her leave.

HPB, as a young woman

The year of 2011 is jubilee and commemorative of HPB’s service and her notable contribution still deepening the gem of human wisdom and encouraging spiritual development of humanity.
HPB’s work inspired a new scientific world outlook to arise opening a contemporary stage of the evolution of humanity. This encompassed all spheres of culture – religion, science and arts. She laid the corner stone of a new way of human relationships – the Universal Brotherhood.
Please contact the organizers:
Tel.:   +38 044 287 20 71; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Svitlana Gavrylenko  
Tel.:   +38 0562 463 239;  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tatyana Golovchenko

His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

We are thrilled to announce that The Theosophical Society in America will be hosting an event with His Holiness The Dalai Lama on July 17 & 18, 2011.

For more information go to:
http://www.theosophical.org/

Joe Fulton

The compilers of Theosophy Forward have recently noticed that excellent things are happening on the Internet. In this issue they want to highlight a site that has developed remarkably. The Theosophical Network has improved its lay out, accessibility and contents. Joe Fulton, one of the enthusiastic persons, actively involved with this site says:

. . . . We are continuing the research on the Stanzas, by David Reigle, Jacques Mahnich and a cast of others.  David Reigle is steadily producing documents for the Sanskrit Text Archives and Nancy Reigle is conducting Sanksrit classes.  Paul Johnson is contributing regular articles on items of historical interest and an entirely new group of scholars, from Alan Kazlev, considered by many to be the leading authority on Max Theon and Marc Demarest, likewise the authority on Emma Hardinge Britten contribute regularly.  Lastly we are embarking on a major effort, which may be considered by some to be heresy within the movement, but we are engaging in efforts to completely redefine theosophies for the 21st century.  The participants are non-theosophists, in the sense that they do not buy into the Adyar/PL/ULT traditions…however, something quite interesting is happening…the results remain to be seen.

Check out for yourself:

http://www.theosophy.net/

INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHY CONFERENCES, INC.
FOR JULIAN 2011 AUGUST 11, 12, 13, 14

Science and Spirituality

(ITC) INTERNATIONAL THEOSOPHY CONFERENCES IS DEDICATED TO THE PRINCIPLE OF THEOSOPHICAL UNITY.

MANY THEOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS WILL BE PRESENTING AT THE JULIAN CONFERENCE.
For more information click here: http://www.theosconf.org/
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The General Secretary of the Belgium Section, Mr. Jan Jelle Keppler, wishes to share the following with you:

CENTENARY CELEBRATION OF THE BELGIAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

The Centenary Celebration of the Belgian Section of the Theosophical Society will be held at Hotel “De Linde”, adjacent to the manorial domain of Retie, which location is situated not very far to the east of Antwerp, from 3 to 6 June 2011.

Outside Hotel De Linde

Hotel “De Linde”, Kasteelstraat , 67, B 2470 RETIE, Belgium.
Tel.: +32 (0) 14 38 99 80, Fax.: +32 (0) 14 39 02 60
Website : www.de-linde.be
E-mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

INTER-AMERICAN CONGRESS OF THEOSOPHY
September 22-25, 2011, San José, Costa Rica.
THEME: LIVING TO SERVE MANKIND

For more information contact: Ana Lorena Howell: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

San José, capital of beautiful Costa Rica

Good News from Israel

Lord Buddha said: Hatred will never cease by hatred; only love can transform hatred—this is an eternal law.

The Theosophical Society in Israel invites everyone to participate in a convention to be held in Neve Shalom village (near Jerusalem) on May 12-14, 2011. The convention theme is “The Spiritual Quest and Interreligious Brotherhood,” and the convention will accommodate speakers, mentors, and religious scholars from Israel and abroad. The focus will be on connecting people and creating bridges between philosophical and spiritual principles of different religions and traditions.

Preliminary plans for the convention include talks on “Many Shades, One Truth,” “Divine Wisdom and Human Brotherhood,” “Theosophy and the Comparative Study of World Religions,” “The Thirst for God in the Book of Psalms,” “The Way to the Beloved in the Sufi Tradition,” “The Mystical Experience in Christianity,” and “Making the Buds of Compassion Blossom.” Panels will be devoted to religious leaders discovering points of contact between their religions and sowing seeds of Brotherhood in community service.

Other subjects to be addressed include “Can we contain the anger and fear in ourselves and others?” “How can we transform anger to forgiveness?” and “How long shall we let fear separate us?” Other activities will be singing in prayer and praying in songs, circles of interreligious spontaneous prayer, circles of motion and meditation in nature, and other music and singing events.

For details concerning accommodation and tours contact us by email at

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

GOOD NEWS FROM SLOVENIA
CHAIRMAN OF THE EUROPEAN FEDERATION (EFTS) VISITS SLOVENIA

From October 31st till November 7th 2010, the EFTS Chairman, Ms. Tran-Thi-Kim-Dieu, visited Slovenia. Ms Dieu’s visit was organized jointly by the EFTS and the private Institute Rman in Koper.

The event was initiated with a meeting of TS members with the aim of stimulating cooperation between Theosophical workers, after which the guest lectured on the theme: “Steps of Spiritual Realization”. This was followed by a series of public lectures at the three main Universities in Slovenia - Ljubljana, Koper and Maribor – at the public library in Ljubljana and at the Creative Center Abram in Pedrovo, a private artistic center in Primorska region.

The lecture at the Faculty for Humanities of the University of Primorska

The TOS is happy to announce the free distribution of a 40-page booklet, Helping the Dying, by Nelda Samarel.  Dying often requires assistance, not only for those in transition but also for their families and loved ones.  This Guide is intended for those who are helping.  It discusses how to meet the dying person's physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs through all phases of the dying process, offering not only an understanding of the experiences of the dying, but also practical suggestions to assist them through their final transition.  The booklet contains a list of useful resources for further reading, including ones with theosophical perspectives on death and after.

You may order a copy by writing to the TOS in the Philippines at 1 Iba St, Quezon City, 1114 Metro Manila, Philippines or to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  A donation will be requested to assist with postage if multiple copies are wanted.

The booklet can also be downloaded as an Acrobat PDF file and it is available in an e-Book version for which you will need to install a special (free) program.   Pease follow this link for further instructions.

http://international.theoservice.org/news/201010-helpingthedying.html

Version in Spanish

Maria Rosa Martinez of the TOS in Argentina has kindly translated the booklet into Spanish. Maria Ester Larraza checked the translation. The Spanish edition will be available soon in an electronic form that makes it easier to print out and photocopy. Details will be posted soon on the TOS website.

Participants gather

Here in Stockholm we are enthusiastic about a series of workshops initiated by one of our members.

We started in the spring with Discipleship, partly inspired by Annie Besant. Then followed Self-knowledge. In September we have had Integration, Wholeness and Balance, inspired by Taoism and Ken Wilber. We will continue in November with Esoteric Christianity .”Love your neighbor” comparing with other religions, especially Taoism.