San Francisco Theosophical Society

Members of the S.F. Bahá’í community sharing their rich spiritual tradition with the SFTS Lodge, May 2012

On May 4th, 2012, we were honored to welcome three representatives of the Bahá’í Center of San Francisco.

In their presentation, Charlene and Steve Magzhi, together with Anthony Hogan, not only eloquently articulated the principles of the Bahá’í, they beautiful manifested its heartfelt essence.

In the course of this poignant conversation, we celebrated both a mutual dedication to the universal power of love and a shared history of synergy stretching back over a century.

Charlene, Steve and Anthony brought with them several treasures from the San Francisco Bahá’í Center’s archives, including the W.J. Walters’ introductory remarks to a talk given by ‘Abdu’l-Baha at the San Francisco Lodge (October 1912), a letter from ‘Abdu’l-Baha to the Secretary of the Theosophical Society and the Editor of Scotland Theosophy, the text of a tablet praising Theosophical Society president Annie Besant, and the text of a discourse “upon the distinctive notes of Bahá’í teaching” that ‘Abdu’l-Baha delivered at Theosophical Headquarters (September 30th, 1911).

Here are a few brief excerpts from just two of the powerful documents.

From the text of a tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Baha praising Theosophical Society president Annie Besant:

“The ideal of Mrs. Besant, I say truly is very lofty. She is working and laboring most valiantly, and her utmost hope is to render a service to the world of humanity, and to be the means of the establishment of good-fellowship and love between all of the communities of the earth. At all times I am praying in her behalf … Consider how many important women have come into this world! How many queens have lied upon this earth! How many distinguished ladies have become the presidents of societies! But neither have their names nor any great account of their deeds been left behind! Yet Mary Magdalene, who was only a peasant woman — because she became inspired to serve the Kingdom of Christ and to scatter his seeds in productive ground — what a great crop she gathered!”

From the text of a discourse “upon the distinctive notes of Bahá’í teaching” that ‘Abdu’l-Baha delivered at Theosophical Headquarters (September 30th, 1911):

“Firstly: [Baha'u'llah] lays stress on the search for the Truth. This is most important, because the people are too easily led by tradition. It is because of this that they are often antagonistic toward each other, and dispute with one another. But the manifesting of Truth discovers the darkness and becomes the cause of Oneness of faith and belief: because Truth cannotbe two! That is not possible. Secondly: Baha’u'llah taught the Oneness of humanity; that is to say, all the children of men are under the mercy of the Great God. They are the sons of one God; they are trained by God … Therefore all nations and peoples must consider themselves brethren. They are all descendants from adam. They are branches, leaves, flowers and fruits on One Tree. They are pearls from one shell … Seventhly: The arrangements of the circumstances of the people must be such that poverty will disappear, and that every one as far as possible, according to his position and rank, shall be comfortable. Whilst the nobles and others in high rank are in easy circumstances, the poor also should be able to get their daily food and not be brought to the extremities of hunger. Eightly: Baha’u'llah declared the coming of the Most Great Peace. All the nations and peoples will come under the shadow of the Tent of the Great Peace and Harmony — that is to say, by general election a Great Board of Arbitration shall be established, to settle all differences and quarrels between the Powers; so that dispute shall not end in war.”

SFTS Lodge fellow (and University of San Francisco Professor) Jeff Curtis represents us at the annual Toward A Science of Consciousness conference (Phoenix, Az) and then reports back on the latest developments.

Indeed, the Third Avowed Object, “To explore the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in …” is alive and well in City of the Golden Gate.

Here is an audio recording of Jeff’s report on this year’s event.

And here’s link to his 2011 report.

Celebrating the Third Avowed Object – Jeff Curtis Reports on Tuscon 2010 Consciousness Conference

Mary Kamadulski, SFTS fellow, opened up the conversation by acknowledging the enery it takes for each of us, all of us, to come together, and expressed gratitude. Mary remarked that we are all polishing each other’s understanding by participating (or not), and explained than any topic (other than politics) is welcome … She passed out printed copies of powerful sacred images, from nature, from architecture, from science and from art, ranging from Georgia O’Keefe painting to a Hubble telescope photograph, and from the various versions of OM to the structures of the Anasazi. She also passed a book of Ancient Egyptian Art around the circle … Mary quoted Chuang-Tzu in asking the open question, “What is meant by the harmonizing of conflicting views in the invisible operation of Heaven?” (Adapted from the Lodge Secretary’s Minutes)

Here is an audio recording of this inspiring conversation –

Chris Black, SFTS fellow (and long-time Zen practitioner) led a conversation centered on two texts, the Autobiography of Hui-Neng, the Sixth Patriarch, and the Hsing Hsing Ming. Chris led off by telling the remarkable story of how Hui-Neng came to be the Sixth Patriarch. Chris spoke about Samadhi and Prajna, using an analogy from Hui-Neng, saying that the two were like the light and the latern, but he didn’t know which was which. He also spoke about the so-called Sudden and Gradual Schools. Meaning some people get “there” faster than others, but when “it” finally happens, “it” is all called grace. If enlightenment is an accident, you can practice to become accident-prone. Chris then passed out copies of the Hsing Hsing Ming, and each person in the circle took turns reading a few lines from the short masterpiece, with discussion of the meaning of the text interspersed. (Adapted from the Lodge Secretary’s Minutes)

Here is an audio recording of this delightful hour -

As noted previously, the SFTS Lodge has been fortunate over the last two decades to be graced with a genuine opportunity to celebrate and engage the Third Avowed Object of the Theosophical Society, i.e., “To investigate the laws of nature and the powers latent” in all sentient life.

Dr. Jeff Curtis, one of our long-time SFTS members, is a Professor of Chemistry at University of San Francisco (USF); and he has been leading us on a journey through the meme-shattering, mind-blowing universe of quantum physics, astronomy and related mysteries. Jeff’s insightful perspective reflects both his professional training and his personal spiritual journey.

His Friday the 13th talk was a further exploration along the line established in Measurement, Meaning and Mind (11-11-11)

Listen to this recording of “Quantum Measurement and Ego Meat,” and join our caravan into the unknown:

Here are some links to the papers Jeff references in this fascinating presentation:

Xiaolei Zhang, On the Nature of Quantum Phenomena

Xiaolei Zhang, Emergence of Consciousness in the Quantum Universe

Henry P. Stapp, Philosophy of Mind and the Problem of Free Will in the Light of Quantum Mechanics

Henry P. Stapp, Casually Effective Free Will

Henry P. Stapp, My Talk at the Chopra 2011 Symposium “Sages and Scientists”

Some Related Posts:

Dr. Jeff Curtis: Measurement, Meaning and Mind (11-11-11)

Jack Sarfatti on Our Once and Future Holographic Universe (SFTS Lodge, 7/30/10)

Celebrating the Third Avowed Object – Jeff Curtis Reports on Tuscon 2010 Consiousness Conference

Dr. Jeff Curtis: More Developments in Quantum Theory & the Nature of Consciousness (1-29-10)