Meditation Group

Monday Nights 7.00pm

Healing Circle 

First Monday of the month at 6.00pm

Speaker

Wednesday Night  7.00pm

Committee Meeting

3rd Thursday of the month

(Members welcome)

Yoga

Friday Night   5.00pm

Library

Friday 1pm -5pm

President’s Report 2009

 
This past year has been a year of change for us in the Dunedin branch. Phil Philpot ably led the society for eight years, before I was elected to the position. There was much to learn and the new committee needed to settle in.  We have a vibrant local theosophical community that is steadily growing is size and in strength that needs to be well nurtured so we can grow and prosper.

I have been travelling to Auckland for National Council meetings, getting to know everyone and gaining a perspective on the national and international situation. We were concerned locally at the level of conflict at those levels and spent much time discussing the national situation in particular. James attended one council meeting and we are looking at how we can best play our part nationally.  

We have also been active in speaking tours to other branches around the country. Phil Philpot undertook a South Island speaking tour and I completed a two week tour of the North Island and a one week tour of the South Island. I was also asked to present a six hour workshop on Complexity Theory at the School of Theosophy in Taupo.

Tracey and I went to Wellington for the 2009 national convention and linked in with the people and the network. We will be sending three people to the national convention in Napier next January. This is particularly important since we will be hosting the 2011 convention in Dunedin.  We have had several articles written by Dunedin members appearing in the national magazine, Theosophia, including the recent article by Alistair McMurran about the history of our lodge.

The most significant event of the year was shifting into new premises. When Margaret and Bill Van der Vis were no longer able to stay in Moray Place and the building was sold, we needed to find new home.  After looking at a number of sites, we settled on the rooms we now have. The shift was a momentous task, but everyone rallied around painting, carrying, driving, packing, providing food or whatever was needed. The shift occurred very smoothly and are beginning to feel settled in our new space. I am personally overwhelmed by the magnificent look and the feel of these rooms in the short time that we have been here. We also took the opportunity to declare Margaret van der Vis a life member. Sadly we have attended Bill van der Vis’s funeral over the last few days.

We maintained our weekly Monday night mediation group, Wednesday talks, Friday Yoga and cinema. During the year we initiated a monthly healing circle. I think these meetings in themselves are a remarkable achievement, but we look forward to a study group starting next week on Wednesdays at 6pm and possibly a channelling group. Now that we are settled in our new rooms, I would like to look at how we might use our rooms on the weekends. We can offer workshops ourselves or make our rooms available to other like minded groups, who need a venue.

The remarkable achievements we have attained in this year has only been possible because of the tireless efforts of so many people. It is easy to stand here as the figurehead, but that would be meaningless if it were not for all the dedicated work by so many people. There has been  an enormous number of tasks that have been necessary for us to be here as we are tonight, such as cleaning, facilitating all our  activates and rituals, planning and organising ourselves, playing music, cooking, making signs, encouraging our web presence,  and so much more. I would encourage all members of our community to think about what you may be able to offer us, because we will then have so much more to offer you and the other citizens of Dunedin.

Warwick Keys, National President came and talked to us and Murray Stentiford, National vice-president also visited and is actually also talking tonight and tomorrow night.

We were fortunate to have a visit by Vic Hao Chin, who told us of the work being done by the Theosophical Society in the Philippines. He presented us with an inspiring vision of how we can grow. He stressed two sides to the growth of a Theosophical Society. First is gaining a committed core of people well versed in Theosophy. They need to be skilled in working effectively as a committee, developing plans and putting them into action. Our focus needs to be on what will create the best outcome for us all. The second part is making a contribution to our wider community. This is important because it is where we find new people for our Theosophical community and because we have something to offer the people of Dunedin. There are many avenues to grow. There is a growing number of people who identify strongly and gain much support from our theosophical community that is building up amongst those who come to our various groups. It is vital to support this because our strength comes from being together and sharing with like minded people.

 We can form strategic alliances with groups. The university has many people exploring areas of knowledge that link to us, such as the new Peace Studies centre. Other alternative spirituality groups and environmental groups, such as the Evolve Trust, Anthroposophical Society, Spirit Greens, meditation groups etc. offer links that could be beneficial for us both. We can also link to our community through schools and other similar places I would like to see us take this model and use it as a guideline for our future development. Vic made it clear that the very survival of Theosophy depends on branches growing and developing. Continuing as we have in the past  will result in the gradual decline and demise of Theosophy. We must grow and develop in ways that are relevant to the people of Dunedin in this 21^st century.

If theosophy is to be relevant to the times we live in and the future we must structure ourselves in ways that fit. To this end we are looking at developing a consensus model of working and introducing elders as a committee resource to help us work through any challenging issues. Co-leadership is another idea we are looking to develop as the Green Party has successfully done. A consensus model is not a cure-all. There are just as many ways for a consensus model to be dysfunctional as there are for a hierarchy. So, it will be a journey of exploration to find the style of consensus that works for us.

An area that we have not developed that might be possible is greater regional co-operation. There are groups in Invercargill, Gore, Oamaru and Christchurch. While we have made contact, especially through speaking tours, it would be good to start working together more.

So, I am very optimistic about the future of Theosophy in Dunedin. We have all we need to become a significant part of the local social environment offering support and a spiritual home for many local people as well as playing a fuller role at the national level. If we work together there are no limits to what we can achieve.