International Theosophy Conferences
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Responses to Questions -

QUESTIONS IMPORTANT FOR ALL THEOSOPHISTS

 

RESEARCH RESULTS TO OUR EMAIL INQUIRY:"FELLOW THEOSOPHICAL STUDENTS:
Children and Theosophy are Important.  We would like to know if you or your Theosophical Center has a program for Children.  We would like to know of the program. Please reply as to the person(s) we may contact who would know if there is a Theosophy School or any other program for children at your center.  If you would like to know of our findings in this important subject, let us know of this as well.

 

ULT, San Diego.
info@theosophysandiego.org
"

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STILL TO BE RESEARCHED:

Finding out what theosophical resources are referred to for those who experience loss

Finding out what interest there is in greater unity among theosophical divisions

Finding out if there is interest in representatives from all theosophical divisions participating in an annual theosophical conference

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BELOW, ARE THE RESPONSES TO THEOSOPHY AND CHILDREN:

We are not in operation at the moment...I am working on getting more members.

I agree that a children's program is the most positive thing we can do with Theosophy.    It might be easiest to develop some children's version of the most important Theosophical literature. Then we could offer a class for children on that particular piece of literature.  Theosophy itself, may be suspect to parents who don't understand it, and I think all children should be given the opportunity to know "the truth, that is higher than all religion".. I would be glad to help write it for children.  I have 7 children and 6 grandchildren, and I have a knack for explaining things to them so they can understand. 

Hi There,
No, the Oakland Lodge has no accomodations for children or programs per se.  It is an important offering to the community,
however, we really have no physical location which is a hardship in general where meetings are concerned.  It's nice to hear
from the ULT, hope all is going well for you and your branch of the theosophical work.
Sincerely,

We are a small Lodge (Adyar) in Houston and have no children attending at present but it would be helpful and useful to our members to know what your findings are on the subject of children and Theosophy.Also what books you recommend for our members to read, to help them to better inter-act with their children and grandchildren.I am grateful for your efforts to inform and educate TS Centers about the importance of theosophy for children.

Thank you for you offer, but we have no children or group of children in our Lodge, but thanks for your offer. We will keep it in mind for the future.
Best regards
M-D Blavatsky Lodge
Miami, FL

   I'm sorry I've taken so long to respond to your inquiry, however, I do
not know off hand of any other Lodges with programs for children. I do
believe, if I remember correctly, Santa Barbara might have Theosophy School,
again not sure. Just to let you know, I (personally) had held classes for
the kids here during the holidays. The numbers went up and down, not very
consistent. From my experience with working with Theosophy School, as long
as you are consistent and available and have someone that has the time to
commit, you'll be fine. When I did it, I had to learn not to be attatched to
the numbers! This does make it difficult to plan activities. The best of
luck to all of you!

                                                            Sincerely,
                                                           
                                                            U.L.T.
                                                            Los Angeles

Thank you for your inquiry. Pumpkin Hollow has day programs in place for disabled and disadvantaged children in our area. We do not have a Theosophical Children’s Program in place, however we do have interest in a weekend program and if you have resources that you would like to share . . . they would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you and Blessings,

...PUMPKIN HOLLOW

I am so glad to know someone else is bent in this direction.  We just got our TS group going again here in Louisana so no children's group yet. I was hoping to start one based on the two books:

"Because-" for the Children Who Ask Why

Teacher's manual and uide to The Eternal Verities.

neither of which have an author and they are both our of print.  You can find them at  Abe books on line if you are interested.  Please let me know if you begin one, the process and how you make you.

...LOUISIANA

 

No, the Minneapolis lodge does not have any sort of program for children. It is hard enough attracting college students, it seems. They will come for a couple of meetings and then drop out of sight.

But we would be very interested to hear about your findings and know of any children's program that we could study here for possible replication in Minneapolis.

Bright Blessings,

We are a very new study center so we are beginning to develop study programs for interested adults in the Salt Lake City area. 

However, the theosophical headquarters, i.e., The Theosophical Society in America, Wheaton, Ill., is reviving their RoundTable program for children.  You can contact them through their website--I don't have a name reference at the moment, however, the national secretary, Jeffrey Forth, should be able to direct you to someone involved in the program.

It would be so nice to have youth in our group but we do not have that good fortune. We are a very small group just trying to get started. Good luck. We would like to know of your findings.

...SANTA FE, N.M.

 

We do not currently have any program for children.

I would be very interested to learn of any such programs that we may be able to model for our community. I have a copy of the book "Theosophy for Young Children" (or maybe it's Little Children) that is long since out of print. I have used this book with my own grandchildren but the terminology is quite out of date. Let me know what your query uncovers.

 

Peace and light,

...SUSQUEHANNA STUDY CENTER

We do not have a program for children.  Our lodge is fairly small and we are doing all we can right now just to keep the public program for adults going.

Thanks,

...D.C. LODGE

 

Greetings,

 

At present, our group does not have a program for children; but I would definitely be interested in knowing about resources for presenting theosophy to young people and children.  Please do keep me posted as to your findings, as this is an issue I'm concerned about, but I don't know of many resources to teach theosophy to children.  I'm glad to know that you're looking into this. 

 

Does your group publish books for teaching theosophy to children; and if so, do they tend to sell well?

 

Fraternally,
Denver Theosophical Society

 My sincere apologies for the long delay in responding to your email.

 

Unfortunately the Theosophical Society does not have a school for children

anywhere.  The only other suggestion I can make is to advise you to go on

the website (www.theosophy-nw.org/theosnw/booklist/bklst-hp.htm) where you

will find a comprehensive list of books with a theosophical perspective.

This list has been compiled by The Children's Committee of the Theosophical

Society, Pasadena, California.

Not yet It's a topic of great interest to our Lodge because,children are our future and the sooner we educate them,the better prepared,to fulfill their "fourth kingdom"obligational responsibilities to themselves and our "Humanity" they will become. We are still preparing a "on the street'" bookshop coffee house,information center,next to our Lodge,that is the key to attract young mothers and fathers with their children to join with the "Society."Any info that can help is greatly appreciated          -- T.S. Buffalo
Greetings again,
 
I'm enclosing a pdf version of the book, "Life-Spark Stories," an exquisite story written for children about how life moves from kingdom to kingdom, learning lessons and evolving.
 
I've edited the book significantly and hope to have a new version of it published with colorful illustrations for today's children.  But in the meantime, perhaps you would enjoy using the original.

Denver Theosophical Society
From: Beacon Lodge Theosophy <tsa.sandiego@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Theosophy and Children
To: San Diego Theosophists <info@theosophysandiego.org>


Hello,
 
We are a small theosophical study group that meets only once a month.  Sorry that we do not have a program for children. None of our current active members have young children either.
 
Thanks.
Beacon Study Group.

Sally and James,
Thank you for the info. I read all the responses and it seems there is great interest in establishing children's programs but also a lack of material, methodology and know-how for doing so. I will give this some thought and perhaps pilot a program here for a small group of children/grandchildren of our members. One of the comments is true that it is very difficult if not impossible to engage children without the parents already being into theosophy. In today's world of paranoia and the number of child predators we must be very cautious how we approach this subject lest we be labeled cultists.
 
Can you please sent me the pdf file of "Life Spark Stories" that was submitted by the Denver branch.
Much thanks.
 
Peace and light,
Susquehanna Study Center - upstate NY
Hello brother San Diego Theosophists,
 
I am so glad to hear from you.  I am a past secretary of the study center in Northwest Arkansas and can answer your question, I believe.  Unfortunately we do not have a program for children.  More unfortunately we are such a small group and most of the people who attend are not young enough to have young children.  And the grand children or great grand children are far off.  We would like to know what you find out about your survey. 
 
I lament that we are so few and so far apart.  We have had as many as twelve attend and as few as three, even though we have a considerably larger mailing list.  I don't understand why more people aren't interested in the ancient wisdom of Theosophy. 
 
Sincerely and with brotherly love,  

Thank you for your email about the replies to the two questions you posed. Regarding "Theosophy and Children," we would like to ask for ideas and suggestions from you and your correspondents.

The TS in the Philippines runs several regular schools from nursery to high school.

In high school (about 13-17 years old), we discuss with the students about theosophical subjects, such as human constitution, the ageless wisdom, the unity of religions, karma,  rebirth, formation of destiny, selflessness, service, comparative religion, etc. The faculty itself has a monthly study group on theosophy. These are in addition to the character building program that pervades the entire curriculum, co-curricular activities, teaching methodology, teacher-student relationship, school rules and regulation, sessions for parents, etc.

For younger children (4-12 years old), the character building program is the one that is mainly stressed, with not much discussion about the teachings of the ageless wisdom.

I would like to solicit your suggestions about how to introduce the wisdom teachings to the elementary students (4-12 years old), taking note that the presentation must be such that they are teachings about life, rather than another set of religious or semi-religious doctrine. I guess many of you have rich experiences along these lines and we will be grateful to learn from your suggestions. If you have suggestions even for the high school age students, we will be grateful.

With warm fraternal regards,
Vic Hao Chin, Jr.,
TS in the Philippines