As I’ve reached the end of my third term as president of the TOS, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the kindness, generosity, compassion, and all-around support that you have provided to this dear organization. In my first year as president, I had to send out our annual appeal. Asking for money was never something I liked to do, but you always made it easy. And you always recognized that we were volunteers. We do this work because we love. It was as simple as that. Read more about Hello, I Must Be Going

Did you know that according to visionofhumanity.org, violence costs the world $14 trillion dollars annually? It is difficult to comprehend such a sum of money except to know that it is large and that such a sum could benefit a number of poor people around the world.  Such funds could create schools, build sustainable infrastructure, enhance healthcare, and provide countries with the wealth needed for disaster relief.

In reality, when looking at the world’s problems with regard to violence, it isn’t the world that is the problem. It’s the people. Among the population of people, there is not one population that is the culprit, it’s all of us. Violence lives in every one of us. Even Gandhi admitted that he had little patience for his illiterate wife whom it has been said he abused. Being aware that we are violent, truly aware, can create a change in us, as Krishnamurti states. The question is, can we accept that we are violent? Read more about Speaking of Peace

by Ananya Sri Ram Rajan

The recent shootings in Atlanta, Georgia and Boulder, Colorado bring us back to the conversation about gun legislation and why assault weapons are so easily accessible to anyone over eighteen years of age. In this year alone, there have been thirty-five mass shootings in January and forty-one in February. While not all of these mass shootings were carried out with an assault weapon, the fact is that the ability to obtain a gun and the use of it is a much easier way to kill someone than with any other weapon. Read more about Sticking to Our Guns Is Not the Answer

In his book On the Watchtower, N. Sri Ram writes about the struggle for freedom. As an Indian, he was very aware of India’s fight for independence from Britain because he lived through it while working for the Theosophical Society. And, early in his career as Mrs. Besant’s personal secretary, he had a front row seat to her activism. Mrs. Besant, as well as many Indians who were also Theosophists, did not hesitate to speak against the discrimination and violence of the British. Read more about A Force of Beneficence