1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?
My name is Antonio Girardi, I am Italian, and I have been a member of the T.S. since 1979.
2. How long have you been a member of your Section’s Board?
I have been member of the Executive Committee of the Italian Section since 1990.
3. How did you first learn about Theosophy or come in contact with the Society?
My high school philosophy teacher, prof. Giuseppe Faggin (one of the greatest scholars of Plotinus and father of the scientist Federico Faggin), spoke to me about Theosophy and Neoplatonism. After a few years I rediscovered Theosophy by reading the book “La Dimensione Umana” (Human Dimension) by the anthropologist (and theosophist) prof. Bernardino del Boca, who put me in contact with the T.S.
4. What does Theosophy mean to you?
Theosophy is both a body of knowledge and a practice of life. For this reason, we can speak of “Theosophy of experience”. What holds grammar and practice together is the concept of Unity of Life, a bright beacon inspired by the Beautiful, the Good and the True, which finds expression in the Three Aims of the T.S. and especially in the first, Universal Brotherhood without distinctions.
5. This year, 2025, the Theosophical Society celebrates its 150th anniversary. What in your opinion is the biggest challenge the TS is facing and what is to be done in order to maintain the Society’s relevance in the years to come?
The main focus of the S.T. must remain that which was assigned to it by the Masters of the Wisdom: to make an experimentation on Universal Brotherhood without distinctions.To give strength to all this, it is important that the T.S. and its Members use a method based on study, observation (in the Krishnamurtian sense), maieutic sharing (in a Socratic logic), meditation (not to be confused with identification with a mere technique) and service (which keeps us far from identification with the small self of the personality).
From the editor:
Opinions and ideas expressed in the mini-interviews are exclusively of those who are being interviewed. They don’t necessarily represent the ideas and opinions of the compilers of Theosophy Forward. The responses of the interviewees are not edited for content. Some contributors give short answers to the questions while others touch upon the subject more elaborately.