1. What’s your name, where are you from and how long have you been a member of the TS?
My name is Lola Rumi, I was raised in the South of Spain, in Seville, but I currently live and work in Madrid.
In respect of the Theosophical Society I became a member of the Madrid lodge (Spanish Section) in September 2013.
2. Are you active in your Lodge/Section and if so, what do you do?
Actually, I am also a member of the Spanish executive TS board and I have started to give lectures in my lodge. Besides, it is my passion and pleasure to study Theosophical literature and to try to share these treasures with the people around me.
3. How did you first learn about Theosophy or come in contact with the Society?
Since I can remember, I have always been interested in philosophy, history, science, nature and any subject related to the understanding of what we perceive as “reality” and the human mind interacting with such reality. I was also fascinated with histories about ancient civilizations and the idea of reincarnation made sense to me.
For many years I had periods of research by reading many books and I even bought The Secret Doctrine, volume I, when I was around 15 years old, but at that time there was no branch of the TS in my city, nor did internet exist, so I did not go any further and continued so for many years, centered in my “current life”, my studies at University and the “crazy busy” work as a lawyer in a big law firm.
I learned about the Theosophical Society and the Theosophical literature, in a large sense, by doing research on the internet about the “spiritual” history of the nineteen century. During the former years, I was immersed in a very hard period of my life and my spiritual search became really deep and active. I read a lot and went to visit all the groups around dealing with meditation, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, gnosis and so on, but I thought and “felt” that something very important was missing. Besides I was also quite disappointed and sad about the materialism and “foolishness” arising from the new age business that I found along the way.
Due to my disappointing former experience about the new age, when I found Theosophy my first step was to make a deep research on the life and biography of the founders and leaders of the Theosophical movement, as I learned not to waste my time reading about someone’s book or work whose life was not a living example. So I did my research by reading many documented references about the leaders and founders of the TS. The conclusions of such research were perfectly clear to me. Since then, I dived into Theosophy and I also find a great source of inspiration, as a woman, on HPB or Annie Besant’s life.
4. What does Theosophy mean to you?
I remember that the first book I read was The Secret of Self- Realization by I.K Taimni and suddenly I knew that I had before me something of a completely different level, the key to a path that made sense to me, with no request of blind faith or fantasies and different to any other literature that I read before. Since that moment, I never stopped being amazed and grateful to Theosophy, the Theosophical movement and all the people who had contributed to this immense gift to humanity. Furthermore, I thought that the organization of the Theosophical Society was really suitable for its objectives, with a democratic structure allowing us to cooperate with the management or do any other necessary work, as far as you feel like doing it.
I deeply realize that Theosophy is serious commitment. We shall be aware of this unique opportunity which has been given to us to transform ourselves into better human beings and to become a living example of Theosophy in every sense.
5. What is your favorite Theosophical book and why?
I found great teachings and inputs in every classical author and works of the Theosophical movement. But if I have to choose, I would say that The Secret Doctrine would be at the top and also Voice of the Silence of HPB and Light on the Path of M. Collins.
Nevertheless, I am also quite a fan of the books of Annie Besant and I.K Tamni and some of the works of Leadbeater which I found quite instructive at the beginning of my research and studies.
6. What in your opinion is the biggest challenge the TS is facing at the moment?
There are many challenges, but I would underline a few ones. I think it is of high importance to maintain Unity and Fraternity within the Society, as well as to encourage members or followers to be active and work enthusiastically, in a world where everything is designed to make us focus on entertainment and selfishness, making us indolent and passive.
7. Is there anything you would wish for the future of the Theosophical Movement?
The future of the Theosophical Society is a shared responsibility for all the members. It is important to keep readjusting to new social and technical issues but not by dropping quality and the high standard of the Theosophical movement. It is always a challenge to find balance in every aspect of our work.
From my point of view it is our goal to keep working on the objectives described by the founders, as those purposes are timeless. As I pointed out before, it is very important not to lose quality and the unique excellence of the Theosophical teachings in order to satisfy the “market of apparent demand” which will always go towards what we may call “spiritual entertainment” to gratify human selfishness, the path which does not require any personal change or commitment.
As a Society and as individual members we do our best, we make mistakes but we should keep trying by observing and trying not to be discouraged by those moments where everything seems to fall down around us.
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.