Service Projects for all Humanity

An International Online Service Community, by TOS-USA

(St. Petersburg : LITA Publishing, 2009, 254pp.)
book review by Rene Wadlow

Harmony is a recurrent theme in Russian thought. Harmony is seen as the essence of the world of both nature and humans. Harmony is understandable through higher consciousness but is often overshadowed by temporary but strong disharmonies. Thus there is a necessity for the conscious restoration of harmony or to use a Taoist term, the cultivation of harmony.  read more »

 Pisces is the sign of the savior.  The 2nd ray is that of Love and Wisdom and is ruled by the Christ Consciousness, or "World Teacher".

A perfect example of this combination of Piscean energy and the 2nd Ray in action was the life of the Master Jesus, who is believed by some to have been the physical vehicle for the Christ.  All social service projects fit in here.

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Storm Takes Steep Toll on Destitute Tribe

Thousands of Downed Power Poles Leave South Dakota Sioux Reservation Without Heat, Water;
Melting Snow to Use in Toilets
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704094304575029450101290726.html
 
Pine Ridge Relief Project
http://www.simplebrilliance.com/pineridge.htm
 
Pine Ridge Statistics
http://4aihf.org/id40.html

If you would like to make a donation in this effort, there are opportunities on the cited websites.

I'd like to tell you about my service project. I'm Lloyd Standish, your TOS-USA webmaster.
PS This is an update of an article originally published Jan. 15, 2008.

My family has a small business in Costa Rica producing pure carao fruit extract. Carao is a wild tropical fruit that has shown amazing properties as a natural remedy for anemia in both humans and animals, with no side effects.

In 2005, through donations of carao fruit to Dr. Attahiru Sokoto (a Nigerian pediatrician), we discovered that carao fruit is extremely effective at eliminating the symptoms of Sickle Cell anemia in both children and adults.  Sickle Cell Disease is very common in Africa and India, and the symptoms are both painful and debilitating.  read more »

by Hazel M. Denning.
St. Paul, MN: Liewellyn Publications, 1998, 196pp.

As we move into the Age of Aquarius, there are still those with very deep karmic ties to the Piscean past. These Piscean wounds must be healed in order to permit the individual to advance into the new age.  read more »

Meet the TOS Action Group –Wheaton, IL

The TOS Action group was formed in September 2008 by a group of individuals who share a desire to get actively involved in service work. Meetings are held the fourth Monday of each month to discuss ideas; plan how we can increase and participate in service opportunities and take the necessary action to complete the project. All meetings and activities are open to TS/TOS members, nonmembers, families with young adults, and retirees who just want to help. Participants are encouraged to get involved at their own pace in whichever project appeals to them most.

Left to Right: Jon Knebel, Joe Maiello, Jade Maestras, Paula Finnegan, Pam King, Jon Johansen
Kneeling in Front: Lois Tomaskovic  Photographer: Jeanne Proulx
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The financial meltdown of the past year or so in the United States has been devastating to millions of Americans, and even more so to First Americans on the many Indian reservations. Of course, the whole world is suffering because of this, but my present appeal is for temporary help in South Dakota.

A little over a year ago I tried to help in a way that I think gets “the most bang for the buck,” that is, to rescue the Sicangu Sun Times newspaper, which is a voice of and for the Rosebud Indian Reservation Sioux people (see http://www.theoservice.org/node/241).  read more »

by Cherry Gilchrist
Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 2009, 188pp.
book review by Rene Wadlow

Russia cannot be understood with the mind alone,
No ordinary yardstick can measure her greatness:
She stands alone, unique —
In Russia one can only believe Fedor Tiutchev

Cherrry Gilchrist has written a useful book on the structure of Russian folklore, its main characters such as the Firebird and the Snowmaiden, and its impact on folk crafts, mainly rural house building, painted lacquer boxes and Matrioshka dolls. There are hints of broader issues such as the use of folklore in high culture, by composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinski and writers like Pushkin. She mentions some seminars in which she participated comparing Russian and Celtic folklore but does not develop the theme.  read more »

At the TS summer school of 1934 Robert Logan, the newly appointed head of the TOS in America, mentioned that “for those of us who cannot lecture or write articles, there is no way of spreading the truths which have helped us except to express them in action.  read more »

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by Robin Robertson (Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 2009, 182pp.)
A book review by Rene Wadlow

The most important lesson
but one that’s seldom adequately learned
is that, like sub-atomic particles,
everything with life exists
within a field of force
in which all affect and are affected
by each one of the others;
and that we, the individuals,
and all other individuals like
a blade of grass, whale or bacterium,
are not self-existent, but the products
of this unceasing reciprocity.

Adam Curle “The First Lesson”

There is a spiritual alchemy, by means of which adversity, resulting from attitudes and actions motivated by fear, ignorance and selfishness can be transformed by the deliberate exertion of energies and the enactment of deeds motivated by knowledge and love. This process of transformation of the imperfections of existence into a higher state of being is the theme of Robin Robertson’s useful book.  read more »

Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 2009
book review by Rene Wadlow

Homer’s Odyssey is a journey through personal transformation to wholeness. During this journey, there is an interplay between the masculine and feminine principles. Masculine and feminine principles are part of the psyche shared by both sexes. In fact, as the masculine principle dominates in many societies, the masculine dominates in many women as well as men, and our understanding of the feminine is still very limited.

The masculine and feminine energies are the two creative forces in the world, which when working together create wholeness. If we take the yin/yang symbol of the masculine and feminine principles operating within our individual and collective psyches, they give us a deeper understanding of the evolution of consciousness and our potential for synthesising these two principles in a consciousness that is neither masculine nor feminine but embraces and transcends both.  read more »

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Today, many of the members of the TOS in the U. S. are not necessarily connected with the Theosophical Society. However, it can easily be said that the TOS would not have survived during its early inception without the support of the Theosophical Society in America (TSA) and a number of theosophists through the years.  read more »

Susan Elizabeth Hale
Sacred Space, Sacred Sound
(Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 2007, 298pp.)

Now I have you
Now in a moment I know what I am for. I awake
And already a thousand singers, a thousand songs,
A thousand warbling echoes have started
to life within me, never to die.
Walt Whitman

Susan Hale has written an impressive book dealing with the setting, the sounds and the sense of sites considered sacred or holy. As she writes “a sacred space is a natural or created place where spiritual experiences are enhanced and ritual acts of worship are performed…A sacred space is a temenos, a Greek word meaning an enclosure that makes it possible to enter into a relationship with a greater reality.”  read more »