Tim Boyd – USA, India
Tim Boyd, International President of the Theosophical Society
AS international President of the Theosophical Society (TS) I had a special interest in the Young Theosophists (YT) gathering in June of this year at the International Theosophical Centre in Naarden, the Netherlands. Having witnessed the recent resurgence of the YT movement, I looked forward to meeting and sharing with this group. Of the 31 who attended I had met a few over my years of TS travels. Coming from 16 different countries they were a diverse group with a variety of interests and experiences. It was fascinating to watch this group come together, each with their own unique background, with the Ageless Wisdom and its application as the binding factor.
Prior to June 3 almost everyone was new and unknown to each other. By the time they were leaving, five days later, tears were shed on parting from their new sisters and brothers. A great deal of energy and focus was placed on Theosophy and the role of the TS, but the real benefit of the gathering was the friendships that formed among young people searching for ways to grow and to serve. For some those bonds may be fleeting, but others have met brothers and sisters on the path with whom they will be working for years to come. I came away filled with great hope for the YTs and for the TS.
Whether young or not so young, we are creatures of habit and find ourselves repeating things: waking up in the morning, everyone has their process. Probably the regimen we did today is the one we did yesterday, and the day before. Every day most of us take at least a brief moment to look at ourselves in the mirror, and the face we see today we believe is the face we saw yesterday, and the day before. Our patterns during the course of a normal day repeat themselves. So time after time we find certain expectations arising in our minds, of what this day is, of who we are, of what our capacities are, based on what they have been yesterday. Then we come to the School of the Wisdom in Adyar, Chennai, India
Frequently we come with at least the background hope that something we find will be different, that there is something about the teacher, or the place, or the information that will alter something fundamental within us and open up new horizons. Whether or not it is openly voiced, it is on our mind. Then we find ourselves here with the facilitator, always one that is capable in the area that they present. We sit and we listen.
The theosophical work comes under the heading of the Ageless Wisdom tradition. The “ageless” part of it should not be forgotten. It is as fresh as this new day, every day. It is ever-renewed and ever-present. There is only one thing that is required of us. When we hear “only one thing” it always points to something that sounds as if it is simple; and perhaps that is because it is, in fact, simple; but “simple” does not mean “easy”. The only thing that is required of us to experience the newness, the freshness we desire, is even a momentary lapse in the barriers of habitual expectation that we erect around ourselves. The only thing that prevents a light from shining into a room is that the door or the window is closed. The opportunity for them to open is ever-present.
In these moments when we are here together, we have a very special opportunity. Where are we? We are seated at Adyar, and what is that? In many ways it is just another point on the map, a spot of earth that if you look at a map could be identified. Lines could be drawn around it defining where it is and how we can find it, as with every spot of earth on the planet. This one has a very particular nature, as does every spot on the planet. But this one also has a particular history that has been embedded in the land on which we stand in many ways. It has been called “The Masters’ Home”.
Adyar is a place where great people have had profound experiences of connection to this Ageless Wisdom, and have then been able to communicate their experience to the world in their behaviors, writings, speech, art, in all the ways that they express across the spectrum of their relationships. Wisdom has Adyar is a place where great people have had profound experiences of connection to this Ageless Wisdom, and have then been able to communicate their experience to the world in their behaviors, writings, speech, art, in all the ways that they express across the spectrum of their relationships. Wisdom has been able to pervade their being. So when we come here to a School of the Wisdom, this is the wisdom that we seek, the wisdom that is ever-present if allowed to be unobstructed. The words that we will hear will have great meaning if we allow for the capacity to hear.
In various scriptural texts it is said that stones can preach sermons to those who have the ears to hear. Do we have those ears? Is our hearing sufficiently unobstructed? In every moment, wherever we are, it is true that the place where we stand, the ground on which our feet are planted is holy ground. Here it is especially clear because we do not have the sounds of honking horns, or the constant movement of crowds that we encounter in cities, so it is a little bit more obvious. The place where we stand at any moment, any place in the world, is holy ground if we can realize it. Here more so, because in this particular moment that we call the School of the Wisdom, the intention is to become present in this way. There are many of us, so we magnify that intention, and we create a possibility. It is up to us what we do with it, how we treat it.
So, again, I would encourage each and every one of you, and especially young Theosophists, to make the most of this opportunity. This moment does not repeat itself — none do. So while we have it, let us appreciate it. Then we will be able to carry it on and pass on our exposure to wisdom — a wisdom that exceeds the words we will hear and the concepts we will come to understand.
This article was also published in The Theosophist VOL. 143 NO. 12 SEPTEMBER 2022
The Theosophist is the official organ of the International President, founded by H. P. Blavatsky on 1 Oct. 1879.
To read the SEPTEMBER, 2022 issue click HERE