Hi, I'm Steven. I'm a 20 year-old college student living in Georgia, in the United States. I just started reading about Theosophy and I'm looking forward to interesting discussions. :D

Hi, Steven, and welcome to the Forum.

You will find a number of different discussions on Theosophy on this Forum. Feel free to join in any of the discussions.

What was it that first attracted you to Theosophy?

Thanks Nick the Pilot.

I was browsing in the New Age / Esoteric section of my public library one day and I came across a book called The Ancient Wisdom by Annie Besant, and I checked it out and read it. Later I found more Theosophical books in my university library, one of which was Esoteric Christianity by Annie Besant, which I liked a lot. It was also from my university library that I checked A Textbook of Theosophy by C. W. Leadbeater which was what I'm finishing now.

I just checked out a book from my public library called The Chakras also by CWL. Do you know if that one is good?

Anyway I found out about Theosophy by reading those books, and researched a little bit online. I found out that there is another Theosophical Society based in Pasadena in addition to the first one founded by HPB. Which one do most of the people here belong to? There is a Lodge of the Theosophical Society in America less than an hour from where I live, but I don't think the other society has any lodges or local groups near me.

Is there a forum for just general questions? I have a few general questions but I don't know which forum wold be appropriate for them. :P

Steven,

You asked,

"I just checked out a book from my public library called The Chakras also by CWL. Do you know if that one is good?"

--> I read that book many years ago. I think I remember it as being an OK book.

"I found out that there is another Theosophical Society based in Pasadena in addition to the first one founded by HPB."

--> HPB founded a single Theosophical Society. After she died, it split into two sections, TS-Adyar and TS-Pasadena.

"Which one do most of the people here belong to?"

--> The distribution here is pretty much even between the two groups.

"There is a Lodge of the Theosophical Society in America less than an hour from where I live, but I don't think the other society has any lodges or local groups near me."

--> The TSA is the organization (TS-Adyar) that Besant and Leadbeater were members of. Since you have already read several of Besant and Leadbeater's books, I think you will fit in well there.

I think it would be good to talk about the story of the break-up of the Theosophical Society into three main groups. Madame Blavatsky died in 1891. Afterwards, a power struggle developed among the leaders of the Society. On one side was Annie Besant. On the other side was William Q. Judge. The two groups went their separate ways.

Annie Besant's organization was in India. The headquarters of that organization is still there, in Adyar, India, called the Theosophical Society (Adyar). The office of the American Section (sometimes called the Theosophical Society in America or TSA) is located in Wheaton, Illinois. Here are the Adyar and Wheaton web sites:

Theosophical Society, Adyar, India
http://www.ts-adyar.org

This group’s American section in Wheaton, Illinois, USA
http://www.theosophical.org

William Judge stayed in America. Today, the headquarters of that organization is in Pasadena, California, called the Theosophical Society (Pasadena). Here is the Pasadena web site:

Theosophical Society, Pasadena, California USA
http://www.theosociety.org

Mr. Robert Crosbie (who was a member of William Judge’s organization) was among a group of people that broke away and started their own organization, the United Lodge of Theosophists, in 1909. The headquarters of that organization is in Los Angeles, California. Here is the U.L.T. web site:

United Lodge of Theosophists
Los Angeles, California, USA
http://www.ult.org

Over the years, other organizations have appeared, for example, the Point Loma Theosophical Society, the Temple of the People, etc. Also, two philosophers of note who branched off on their own were Alice Bailey and Rudolph Steiner. But the main Theosophical organizations are the three mentioned above.

"Is there a forum for just general questions? I have a few general questions but I don't know which forum wold be appropriate for them."

--> You can ask them in the Concepts Area. Do not worry, you can ask any question in any Area — nobody minds which question is in which area.