The annual United Lodge of Theosophists conference will be held in Julian, California (in the mountains just above San Diego) at the Whispering Winds campgrounds.

The dates of the conference are the 11th, 12th, and 13th (Friday – Sunday) of August. Check in time will be at 3:00 p.m. on Friday and checkout time will be at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

All information regarding lodging, dinning, activities and transportation can be found on the San Diego United Lodge of Theosophists website: www.theosophysandiego.org. There will be a meeting and program Friday evening. However, the full program for this weekend is being developed.

We do wish to allow ample time for friendship, sharing together with fellow Theosophists, and enjoying the opportunity of being close to nature. The San Diego United Lodge of Theosophists is sponsoring the conference but there is a full reaching out to all Theosophical groups so that we can gain strength from unity.

For those with additional questions please send e-mail to info@theosophysandiego.org or call Sally and James Colbert at (760)765-1090.

Please note that the above post has been edited. The e-mail address has been corrected, and a contact phone number & contact names have been added.

Here is a webpage with more information:

http://www.theosophysandiego.org/conference_program1.htm

Please note that these posts concerning the 2006 Conference have been copied here, from elsewhere on this Forum:


~~~


jon_k

Mar 9 2006

Good evening all.
I received an email yesterday announcing the 2006 conference. It will be hosted by the San Diego ULT group and held at a campground in the hills above the city (near Julian).

Here is the link:

Theosophical Gathering

Hope to see some of you there!

Namaste, Jon


~~~


waveformula

Mar 9 2006

Quick follow up - Theosophy.us has been updated with a link to the site mentioned above. There's also a note there about a conference that may happen in Phoenix, and the 2005 conference info has been archived.


~~~


Nick

Mar 9 2006

I also received the e-mail. Who will be staying in one of the teepees, sleeping on a cot...?


~~~


jon_k

Mar 9 2006

Might be hot in SD in August - would the AC be a must??

I'd also like to know if there is a program - at least a theme, maybe an idea of who might be doing presentations.


~~~


Nicholas

Mar 9 2006

Julian is high in the mountains, so it should be tolerable.

I am wondering if the teepee might be fun.... (And I might just go for the privacy of a nearby motel....) Has anyone else been giving thought to the choices for lodging?

It is important to note that, although the conference is sponsored by the ULT, all traditions within Theosophy are welcome, both as presenters and attendees. Last year, one of the keynote speakers was from the Adyar/Wheaton tradition, and I was very happy to see such a reaching out to the different traditions.

I received an e-mail from the organizers of the conference. They need to have an idea of how many people will be coming to the conference. If you think you might be attending, please send an e-mail with one of the following:

I am definitely planning to come to the Conference in Julian, California, August 11th, 12th, and 13th (Friday - Sunday).

I am probably planning to come to the Conference in Julian, California, August 11th, 12th, and 13th (Friday - Sunday).

Other.

Please send an e-mail to:

info@theosophysandiego.org

Annual Theosophical Conference 2006 Program
All are welcome - theosophists, students, inquirers, friends!

This year's Theosophical Conference will be in Julian, (San Diego County) California on Friday the 11th, Saturday the 12th, and Sunday the 13th of August, 2006. The theme will be Theosophy in Today's World.


The conference will be held at the Whispering Winds Conference Center, near Julian, CA. This is a beautiful site, with many outdoor activities for children and adults. Please visit www.theosophysandiego.org to see pictures of the camp and links to all important information.

Friday: Check in time 3:00 p.m. The site has a very nice cafeteria. Dinner will be served from 4:45 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. All will then go to the Conference Room. There will be an open discussion on "Why Theosophy is Needed in Today's World." It will be co-chaired by Myrra Lee, Sally Colbert and James Colbert. The meeting is scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Saturday: A presentation will be given by Gene Jennings, M.D., on "Meditation and the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali." This presentation starts at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 11:45 a.m., with a break at 10:15 a.m. Lunch will be served in the cafeteria between 12:00 and 1:30. We will reassemble in the Conference Room and Children and Teachers from Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego Lodges will show DVDs of their activities at each site. This will conclude at 2:30. At 2:45 p.m. David Roef, Ph.D., will give a presentation on "Intelligent Design." This presentation will conclude at 4:30 p.m. From 4:45 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. dinner will be served in the cafeteria. Following this, all are invited to take a short trip to the home and property of James and Sally Colbert, where there will be an opportunity for the renewal of old friendships and the starting of new friendships. After all, we have known each other for many lifetimes. This gathering will conclude by 10:00 p.m.
Sunday: There are two group activities. The first is for those who would like to stay at the Conference Center and participate in a presentation by Garrett Riegg. Open discussion will be held on the "DaVinci Code Controversies" and how Isis Unveiled was both a preview and an answer to many of the issues raised. Group II will participate in a hike in the Cuyamaca Mountains overlooking the Anza Borrego Desert. Both Group I and Group II should be finished by 11:45 a.m. Lunch will be served in the cafeteria from 11:45 to 1:00 p.m. Checkout time is 1:00 p.m. Remember, all details of this conference are shown on the website, www.theosophysandiego.org.

NOTE: Most all presentations should be available throughout the world in real time through the internet. They will also be available as recordings on our website.

I received this Conference schedule in an e-mail.

~~~

ANNUAL THEOSOPHICAL CONFERENCE 2006

August 11, 12, 13, 2006

Held at Whispering Winds Conference Center, Harrison Park, California
(760) 765-1600


17606 Harrison Park Rd.
Harrison Park, CA 92036

E-mail: info@theosophysandiego.com

FRIDAY PROGRAM

1:00 - 5:00 p.m. Check in at Registration - Explore Conference Center (161 acres).

5:00 - 6 p.m. Dinner in Dining Room.

6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Conference Room. Theosophy and the Internet. Perseus B. Munshi (Professor, Arizona State University), Sally Colbert (Web Designer) and James Colbert (Clinical Psychologist). How to participate in online “Real Time” Theosophical Classes with full audio and video presentations. These classes can be important in areas where there are no Theosophical meetings available. Websites from around the world, Theosophical magazines, publications and the networks of e-theosophical communication will be highlighted. All presentations will be web broadcast in Real Time (PST) and placed on the www.theosophysandiego.org website for anytime viewing.

7:45 - 9 p.m. Why Theosophy is Needed In the World Today. Myrra Lee, 1977 National Teacher of the Year, now President of the American Association of University Women (La Mesa/El Cajon Branch). Full audience participation on this important subject.

SATURDAY PROGRAM
7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Breakfast in Dining Room.

9 a.m. - 12 Noon. Patanjali Yoga Aphorisms. Gene Jennings, M.D. This presentation will review portions of the great work by Patanjali which explains the visible and invisible path towards liberation. Focus will be given to the modifications and afflictions of the mind, the planes and states of meditation, yogic perception, the system of chakras and winds, mastery of the self, and that path of transcendence which allows one to understand how the Buddhi (the Anandamaya sheath) is but a mirror which reflects absolute bliss. The goal of Patanjali is instructing the aspirant in the path of excellence towards Divine and Eternal living in the service of others.

12: 15 - 1:15 p.m. Lunch in the Dining Room.

1:30 - 2:15 p.m. 3 Twenty minute Video Presentations by Children from Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego Theosophical Centers.

2:30 - 5:00 p.m. The ID of the Gods: The Missing Link Between Creation & Evolution. David Roef, Ph.D., Prof. Criminal Law, U. Maastricht. H.P.Blavatsky, founder of the theosophical movement, one of the first to use (in 1888) the phrase “intelligent design” to convey esoteric perspective on evolution. More than 100 years later, the growing ID controversy has resulted in a cynical battle between exoteric religion and orthodox science, raising more questions than it can answer. Is our universe ruled by chance or design? Is the evolution of the species guided by a divine purposeful intelligence? How to reconcile intelligent design with the existence of evil? Is the idea of a personal God the best explanation, or are there other possibilities? Are there many creators? architects and builders, who are themselves the result of evolution?

5:30 - 6: 30 p.m. Dinner in the Dining Room.

7:00 - 9 pm. Social Interaction and Friendship at the Julian home of James and Sally Colbert while exploring the Paramita Path.

SUNDAY PROGRAM

7:30 - 8:45 a.m. Breakfast in the Dining Room.

9:00 - 10:15 a.m. Modern Science Meets the Secret Doctrine. Odin Townley (Science Editor of Blavatsky Net). Every day the old boundaries between Theosophy and Science are dissolving due to the new way of thinking of bold, unprejudiced scientists. The frontiers of Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Biology, Astronomy, Psychology, Physiology, Philosophy, etc., will be explored. Remarkable new discoveries and experimental evidence will be reviewed, contrasted and compared with matter and energy, an interconnected universe, global consciousness, mind-matter interactions (psi), and an underlying intelligence and "coherence" in nature, and the connection between fundamental physics and human consciousness. A summary of the work of the "new Einstein's" Dean Radin, Ervin Laszlo, Amit Goswami, Roger Penrose, Stuart Hameroff, Fred Alan Wolf, Henry P. Stapp, Brian Josephson, Cleve Backster, Michael Behe, and others will be explored.

10:30 - 11:45 a.m. Blavatsky’s Key to The Da Vinci Code. Garrett Riegg, Attorney at Law. Almost 130 years ago Madame Blavatsky’s first great book, Isis Unveiled, electrified the intellectual world with its thesis that much of Christianity was a mutilated copy of the Ancient Mystery Religions. Dan Brown used that same thesis and reiterated many of Blavatsky’s points in his international bestseller, The Da Vinci Code. Brown’s book has re-ignited many controversies concerning the life of Jesus, the place of women in religion and society, the use of symbols and codes by secret societies like the Templars and Freemasons, and the interplay of religion and politics. In this seminar, we will explore how recent scholarship and archaeology such as the Lost Gnostic Gospels now vindicate a major part of Blavatsky’s landmark opus. Powerpoint slides may be used to illustrate Gnostic art, architecture and history.

12:00 Noon 1:00 p.m. Lunch in the Dining Room.

1:00 p.m. Checkout.

Hey! Whispering Winds Conference Center has a ping-pong table! (I am bringing my ping-pong paddle. Maybe I can trick Nicholas and Dara into playing me two-on-one...)

http://www.whisperingwinds.org/new/activities.html

Nick,

It looks like Dara & I will not be able to attend the Julian gathering.

Nicholas,

Sorry to hear that we will miss you at the conference.

I received this via e-mail today.

~~~

FOR THOSE COMING TO THE THEOSOPHICAL
CONFERENCE 2006 IN JULIAN (HARRISON PARK) CALIFORNIA


1. Those coming from the San Diego Airport or from San Diego proper. It is about a one hour and 20 minute drive. Come out Interstate 8 and turn left on Highway 79 going through the mountains to just 4 miles before you come to Julian. There will be signs of “Harrison Park,” “Whispering Winds,” and we will also have “Theosophical Conference” signs pointing the way.

2. Those coming from Los Angeles or near the Los Angeles Lodge. It is about a 3 hour and 15 minute drive. Take Interstate 5 – merge into CA 91 towards Riverside – merge into Interstate 15 towards San Diego, left on Highway 79 towards Indio and stay on 79 until Santa Ysabel and go left 7 miles to Julian. Go just past Julian and turn right on Highway 79 going 4 miles to Harrison Park or follow signs as listed above.

3. Those coming from Santa Barbara. It is about a 4 hour and 45 minute drive. The freeways would be US 101 – CA 134 – merge into 210 East – merge into CA 57 South – merge into 71 S – merge into 91 E towards Riverside – merge into Interstate 15 towards San Diego and follow the rest of the directions as shown in (2) above.

4. Those coming from El Paso or States next to California. Take Interstate 8 and turn right at Highway 79 and follow the rest of the directions as shown in (1) above.

Note: Most of the driving once you get “out of the cities” is fairly scenic. Once you are in the area of Julian you will fully enjoy the mountains. Whispering Winds Conference Center is 161 acres and there are hiking trails in and around the camp as well as in the adjacent state parks. Try to arrive at the center just after 1 pm so that you will have time to acclimatize and explore. It is about 4200 feet in elevation. Whispering Winds is a property belonging to the Catholic Church and there are some religious icons in different parts of the property. It is, however, open to other spiritual or secular groups who wish to use the property.

Final Note: For those who have not sent in their checks and/or Registration for the conference, please do so as soon as possible. If you have any trouble navigating our web site, www.theosophysandiego.org, please call Sally or James Colbert (760)***-****. (Editor's note; Ask for the phone number.)

The organizing committee for the conference will meet this Saturday, July 8, 2006. I will be there, and I will post here any important things that are discussed.

I visited the conference site today, and took a tour of the facilities. The main thing is that it is a camp facillity, not a hotel with all of the amenities we might want or expect.

People do not have to "camp out," as rooms with bunk-beds are available. However, the tee-pees are quite "rustic," providing only cots to sleep on.

Anyway, if anyone has any questions about the Whispering Winds campsite, please feel free to ask.

(And, yes, Nicholas, we will have to build some kind of altar out of stones to appease the ping-pong diety because of your absence. Feel free to send suggestions in blueprint form....)

I would like to clear up a little confusion about the rooms. The main package is $295 for a private room and all meals. Each room has four bunks, but if you pay that amount, you get a room all by yourself.

Other (cheaper) options are available. There are teepees, and one large room with over 20 bunkbeds.

The 2006 conference in Julian, California, has ended. It was a smashing success. I just got home, so I will need a day or so to collect my thoughts and post my impressions of the presentations. In the meantime, I will be interested in hearing other people's impressions to the ideas in the presentations.

Nick, I hope you are still planning to give a summary of your impressions of the gathering?

Nicholas,

Please excuse my tardiness. (My notes from the conference are piled up, waiting to be consulted....) Here is one thing.

Right off the bat, something happened to inspire me. The conference organizer, Jim Colbert, in his Opening Welcome, said something very deep. He said that many Theosophists have always professed unlimited brotherhood to every other person in the world -- except members of other traditions within Theosophy.

That knocked my socks off! It is true that there has been a great deal of derision between the different traditions within Theosophy, which would seem to be against the very ideals that Blavatsky stood for. Nice job, Jim, in pointing that out.

That is why this Forum is dedicated not so much to Theosophy and brotherhood, as to brotherhood between the different traditions within Theosohy.

Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali

~~~

One of the presentations was on this book that W.Q. Judge interpreted.

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/patanjal/patan-hp.htm

I must admit that I was completely unfamiliar with the book and the concepts that were presented. (That is why we have conferences, isn't it...?)

The book deals with some of the concepts presented on SD vol I p. 157.

VEDANTIC CLASSIFICATION.
1. Annamaya kosa.
2., 3. Pranamaya kosa.
4. Manomaya kosa.
5. Vignanamaya kosa.
6. Anandamaya kosa.
7. Atma.

~~~

As I said, I am unfamiliar with all of this. I would love to hear from people who are familiar with the book, and the ideas that were presented at the conference.

Hi eveybody!

Here is a webpage on patanjali that Nicholas has shared:

http://swamij.com/yoga-sutras.htm

Setting up online classes

~~~

One of the presentations was on setting up online classes. ULT SanDiego now has a fully-functioning program of online classes. Greece also has one. ULT Phoenix has live meetings online every Sunday night.

Information was distributed on how to set up your own online class. Yahoo provides an entire set-up. (The drawback with the Yahoo set-up is that the students must be invited to class.)

One of the presentations was actually a chance to do group-work. Each group was given several topics to discuss. Our group chose the topic: If your young child was told by a classmate that they were going to Hell because they didn't believe in Jesus, how would you have them respond?

It was quite a thought-provoking discussion. Myrra Lee, the Discussion Facilitator, told our group of a child who had identified herself as a Theosophist in her elementary-school class, while engaging in some Christmas activity. The poor child was dragged from classroom to classroom to determine if she was Christian, and it was a totally humiliating experience.

Different aspects of how to respond to the question of how to respond to Hell-threats were discussed, and the topic is a lot more complicated than I had first thought.

Intelligent Design vs. Creationism

~~~

Dr. David Roef gave a great presentation on the topic. Here are some of my rambling notes on Dr. Roef's comments:

Muslims are the only people in Europe bringing up the issue of Creationism.

If something looks designed, it must have been designed (and there was a designer...?)

Materialistic society is the logical result of dogmatic religion.

We are looking at fossilized religion vs. fossilized science in the world today.

Is there goal-oriented natural selection? No. When an animal develops thicker fur, that particular animal had no say in the matter. Natural selection has nothing to do with the choices of one particular animal. Survival of the fittest = survival of the luckiest.

The Wedge Document was discussed, which was written by Creationists to try to create a "wedge" into materialistic science.

"Irreduceable Complexity" was defined -- a feature that cannot be explained by natural selection. (A bacterium flagellum cannot come from anything else less complex. What did it evolve from...?)

The court case, where Intelligent Design cannot be considered science, was discussed. The point was made by the judge that the absense of evidence is not evidence of absence. (The lack of proof of the soul is not proof that there is no soul.)

Science is based on the Scientific Method. That which does not relie on re-creatable, empirical evidence is not science.

(The phrase "Institutionalized Religion" was used, which I find fascinating....)

We gain new information via three modes:

flash -- vision -- science
brain -- logic -- philosophy
contemplation - spiritual insight -- religion

When one of these three starts claiming things that it can "see" what one of the other two can see, we get into trouble.

Dr. Roef's summary -- Intelligent Design can only explain what natural selection cannot explain.

~~~ The Theosophical View of the Topic ~~~

The universe is ruled by intelligence.

The issue is intelligent selection vs. natural design.

Theosophy says that even the smallest irreduceable thing in the universe is reduceable. Only the Boundless Principle is irreduceable. (Boundless" is called "empty" because it cannot be descibed.)

When you call the Absolute by the name God, you limit it.

Even stones are defined as alive in Theosophy. Each atom is not life, it is a center of life. The fact that a stone can respond to heat and cold proves it is alive -- a stone can respond to stimulus. A stone is conscious, but not self-conscious. An atom can interact with another stom, and cfreate a molucule, because of consciousness.

The universe is not ruled (the creation of natural law) from without but from within.

God = Personal God, Theistic God, Abrahamic God. Being a being implies finiteness, change, limitation.

~~~ Impersonal Love vs. Personal Love ~~~

THere must be beings lower than the mineral kingdom and higher than the human kingdom. This is a basic Theosophical teaching.

Every kingdom evolves from a different kingdom.

"Angels are men of a superior kind."

The universe is not the result of one designer, but of many designers -- hierarchies within hierarchies.

We do not have a problem with God, we have a problem with the limitations on God.

A forest is a single thing, yet it is a collection of thousands of trees, animals, etc. God is a term of a collection of Beings. But they are a plural, working as one.

"The Gods comtemplated the universe in existence."

Why meditate? Because the universe was created via meditation.

There is not one class of gods, men, animals, etc.

~~~ Types of Gods ~~~

Dhyani-Buddhas -- upper -- architects -- Arupa -- Supermundane -- Super-Cosmic

Dhyani-Chohans -- lower -- builders -- Rupa -- Mundane -- Intra-Cosmic

Architects are the designers, Builders are the doers.

The Architects, Builders, and Elementals created the designed universe.

"All of nature grows for salvation," said St. Paul.

If the universe is guided by wisdom, how can there be imperfection? (SD ii 731-732)

The Absolute (first fundamantal) expresses itself through Periodicity (second fundmental).

The Kabbalah is a Jewish Theosophy.

Matter is an emantion of consciousness.

Ants have collective consciousness but not self-consciousness. Applying the philosophy of a beehive to humans is Fascism.

~~~

So ends the presentation by Dr. Roef. I would add that Theosophists are not Creationists nor Darwinians. We are Emanationists -- a third category that needs to be added to the first two categories.

Science and the Secret Doctrine

~~~

Odin Townley, the Science Editor of Blavatsky Net gave a talk on the Science vs. the Secret Doctrine. Here are the highlights of my notes.

Every good or evil act on Earth effects all of us.

The movie "What the Bleep...." has Theosophical ideas. (a recommendation to watch it...?)

Using lie-detectors with plants has shown consciousness in plants (and telepathy?). In one example, a plant was hooked up to a lie-detector. Just thinking about burning a leaf of the plant sent the needle off the scale.

We do not need to make the Theosophical teachings available. That has already been done. We need to show how they are relevant.

Theosophy is always relevant, but is modern thinking relevant? We need to show how modern thinking is relevant to Theosophy.

We are swimming in a vast ocean of Dhyani consciousness.

Quantum consciousness is quantum entanglement between people.

~~~

A video was also shown that showed a women having a brain operation, having an out-of-body experience, and watching the operation from just above the surgeon's shoulder. She also experienced seeing light at the end of a tunnel, knowing that entering the tunnel meant she would not return to her body, and her already-deceased uncle forcing her to go back into her body. The whole video was used as an argument that consciousness does exist separate to the brain and the body.

Garrett Riegg gave a talk on Blavatsky's Key to The Da Vinci Code. Here are the highlights of my notes.

~~~

The Gnostic Gospels are now being released. There are many Theosophical concepts in the books.

In 325 A.D., the Council of Nicea and Constantine decided that Jesus was God. At that point, Christianity became the authoritarian, centralized religion of the Roman Empire.

The Templars were a secret society which was the forerunner of the Crusades. They traveled back and forth from the Holy Lands, became bankers, and became wealthy. They financed many of the cathedrals of Europe. They wore white with a red cross, the cross of St. Gregory.

Many Templar knights were arrested on Frdiay 13th, which gives meaning to the connotations of that day.

The Templars were very popular, but the leaders were killed, and the knights escaped to the only non-Catholic countries: Scotland, Greenland, etc. These were our present-day Masons. The most popular Masons were the Scottish Rite Masons.

The Mandians (the "most realistic and original" Christians) were discussed.

~~~ Gnosis ~~~

Inner Knowledge, from meditation, not from book-learning.

The symbols of the Masons as architects, comes from their building of the cathedrals.

The Temple of Solomon = The Monad

Mary Magdelene was discussed.

-----

Thus ended Mr. Riegg's talk. I did want to share one insight about Mary Magdelene. I enjoyed the portrayal of Mary Magdelene as perhaps being a prostitute to the material world, one who gave that up, and re-dedicated herself to the spiritual (married Jesus), which is the Path that all of us must go through.