The SFTS Lodge Journal provides information and inspiration from the Theosophical Society Lodge of San Francisco, which has been in existence since 1901. From time to time, in this space, we will post the minutes of selected Friday night talks (both from the current era and from a hundred years ago), as well as poems and essays by SFTS members.
Please visit the Theosophical Society in America, and the International Theosophical Society for more information.
Solomon Kahn on Joe Miller's Walk (Golden Gate Park, circa early 1990s)
“Never the Spirit is Born, the Spirit Shall Cease to Be Never.
Never is Time, It is Not. End and Beginning are Dream.
Birthless, Deathless and Changeless Remaineth the Spirit Forever;
Nothing has Touched It At All, Dead Though the House of It Seems.”
These sacred words of power from Song Celestial, the Edwin Arnold rendition of the Bhagavad Gita, were set to music by Guin Miller and sang with great passion by Joe Miller. They performed “Never the Spirit” whenever someone who had touched their lives passed on from this plane of physical existence.
We have kept the practice alive in the ongoing circle of the SFTS Lodge, and we will be singing it at our Friday Night program on 2/3/12, as we have for some days now, and will for many nights more; because we have heard the news that Solomon Kahn has died a sudden death, and at the tragically young age of thirty-four. Solomon was one of those precious children who led the Thursday Morning Walk with Joe, for so many years, in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
We remember you, Solomon, and we hold you and your father and mother, and your brother, and all your relations, in the brilliant light of love, as we have from before the beginning and will do far beyond the end. World without end, grace without end.
Here is an excerpt from a beautiful tribute to Solomon by Derek Opperman of the S.F. Weekly, R.I.P. Solomon Kahn, DJ for the Golden State Warriors, 1977-2012, followed by a link to the full text:
Solomon Kahn, a beloved local DJ who performed at such diverse venues as Oracle Arena, AT&T Park, and every major club in San Francisco, was tragically killed Tuesday, Jan. 31, in Bangkok, Thailand, in a car accident. He was 34.
Kahn, known to clubgoers as DJ Solomon, was in Thailand as a part of a four-date tour, his first performances in the country. According to a family friend, he was with his fiancée, Nicole Cronin, in a taxi when the vehicle stalled on a highway and was rear-ended. Kahn was fatally wounded. Cronin sustained several fractures, but is not in critical condition.
Kahn was born July 11, 1977, and raised in the Marin suburb of San Rafael. He attended the Marin Academy for high school and exhibited a remarkable proficiency in music from a young age, with a talent for bass, according to his former music teacher, Bob Schleeter. Inspired by the then-new sound of golden-era hip-hop, Kahn made the transition to turntables with a gig in 1989, according to his online biography. This set him on a path to become one of the Bay Area’s most respected DJs.
R.I.P. Solomon Kahn, DJ for the Golden State Warriors, 1977-2012, S.F. Weekly, 2-1-12
Friday Evening Program for February 2012
2-03-2012 The Celtic Four Cross-Quarter Days & the Four Noble Truths — Richard Power
2-10-2012 Quantum Dissipative Structures & You — Jeff Curtis
2-17-2012 100+ Years Ago (Writings of SFTS Lodge Members) — David Thompson
2-24-2012 The Great Liberation — Joe Miller (Video Presentation)
LENTEN READINGS: This year, in celebration of TWENTY YEARS of continuity in the life of the Lodge (including sustaining the Lenten Readings every year) since the passing of Joe and Guin Miller in 1992, we will do Lent Lite! The Great Liberation will be read at 6:30 a.m. on Ash Wednesday (2/22) and Good Friday (4/6) ONLY. Every Friday evening at 6:30 p.m., starting on Friday, 2/24 and ending on Friday, 4/6, we will alternate readings of the Great Liberation and Diamond Sutra. Please join us for this profound meditation practice.
STAY TUNED FOR PROGRAM UPDATES!
Dr. Jeff Curtis, SFTS Lodge, 1-13-12
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)
Three Fundamental Propositions of the Secret Doctrine (H.P. Blavatsky)
The Secret Doctrine establishes three fundamental propositions: —
(a) An Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless, and Immutable Principle on which all speculation is impossible, since it transcends the power of human conception and could only be dwarfed by any human expression or similitude. It is beyond the range and reach of thought — in the words of Mandukya, “unthinkable and unspeakable.” …
(b.) The Eternity of the Universe in toto as a boundless plane; periodically “the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing,” called “the manifesting stars,” and the “sparks of Eternity.” “The Eternity of the Pilgrim”† is like a wink of the Eye of Self-Existence (Book of Dzyan.) “The appearance and disappearance of Worlds is like a regular tidal ebb of flux and reflux.” (See Part II., “Days and Nights of Brahma.”)
(c) The fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Over-Soul, the latter being itself an aspect of the Unknown Root; and the obligatory pilgrimage for every Soul — a spark of the former — through the Cycle of Incarnation (or “Necessity”) in accordance with Cyclic and Karmic law, during the whole term. H.P. Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine, Vol. I
Friday Evening Program for January 2012
1-06-2012 Time — Mary Kamadulski
1-13-2012 Quantum Measurement and Ego Meat — Jeff Curtis
1-20-2012 Songs to Live By — Joe and Guin Miller [NOTE: 2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the passing of Joe and Guin Miller; and consequently the twentieth year of the SFTS Lodge's ongoing commitment TRUTH and LOVE since their departure. This hour celebrating the Millers' music will be the first of numerous observances throughout the year. Join us.]
1-27-2012 TSA Video Presentation: Obligatory Pilgrimage — C.V. Maitreya [NOTE: The "obligatory pilgrimage" was a term used by H.P.B. in the S.D. proem. The speaker explores its meaning and implications.]
STAY TUNED FOR PROGRAM UPDATES!
Friday Evening Program for December 2011
12-02-2011 More Terma of You Tube: Carl Jung, Pema Chodon, Jane Goodall, the Original Gurdjieff Movements presented by Jeanne de Salzmann and more! (Richard Power) NOTE: “Terma” is a Tibetan word, signifying a “hidden treasure.” For example, a sutra or a statue or other relic or artifact “hidden away” to be found by future generations in a time of need, or ripeness.]
12-09-2011 Secret of Sion — J.R. Collier
12-16-2011 Lodge Holiday Celebration — Join us for the merriment!
12-23-2011 NO MEETING – CLOSED FOR HOLIDAYS – JOYOUS SOLSTICE, CHRISTMAS, KWANZA, HANUKKAH!
12-30-2011 NO MEETING – CLOSED FOR HOLIDAYS – JOYOUS GREGORIAN CALENDAR NEW YEAR’S!
STAY TUNED FOR PROGRAM UPDATES!
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).
Jeff has been leading us on a journey through the meme-shattering, mind-blowing universe of quantum physics, astronomy and related mysteries. His insightful perspective reflects both his professional training and his personal spiritual journey.
Join our caravan into the unknown. Listen to this recording of his 11-11-11 talk on Measurement, Meaning and Mind.
Some Related Posts:
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
More Developments in Quantum Theory & the Nature of Consciousness (1-29-10)
Frontispiece, Diamond Sutra from Cave 17, Dunhuang, ink on paper.
Joe and Guin Miller had an annual spiritual exercise that they shared with us from the 1970s on until their deaths in 1992. Each year, during the Lenten season, they would read their favorite sutras aloud to each other.
Monday through Friday, commencing on Ash Wednesday and culminating on Good Friday, Joe would read the Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation at every morning at 6:30 a.m. and Guin would read the Diamond Sutra at 6:30 p.m. in the evening.
Some of us have kept this concentration going over the two decades since the Millers’ departure. Consequently, for the SFTS Lodge, quite a culture of study and insight have evolved around these two sacred texts.
In this Friday evening meeting from February 2011, Richard Power led an exploration into some of the Diamond Sutra’s subtleties. We hope you enjoy the discourse, and that it leads you to your own study of this powerful work.
Each Friday night, year in and year out, the SFTS Lodge has served as a venue for the celebration of the diverse paths and the articulation of personal quests by countless beings from all walks of life. Taken as a whole, these individual testaments comprise a beautiful mandala of human aspiration and realization.
Consider, for example, the testament of Jay Dizon.
Jay has a background in sports medicine which led him to becoming a registered nurse. A recent graduated from California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) with a Masters degree in Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness from the department of Philosophy and Comparative Religion. His martial arts experience includes Aikido, on and off in his early twenties, until he encountered Grand Master Robert Castro, who has promoted Dizon to the rank of Professor or 7th degree in Eskaboo Daan.
Here is an audio recording of Jay’s compelling talk.
In the Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu offered some remarkable (and very theosophical) insight on leadership; when a good leader’s work is done, the ancient sage said, the people will say, “We did this ourselves.” (Chapter 17, Tao Te Ching, Witter Bynner translation)
The Theosophical Society in America was fortunate to have the enlightened leadership of Betty Bland in the office of national president from 2002 to 2011, and now our good fortune has been extended, with Tim Boyd taking over as national president for the next nine years. Betty and Tim exemplify the HEART of Theosophy.
In October 2010, they visited the SFTS Lodge for a memorable weekend of fellowship.
Here is a humble audio recording of Tim’s brief but powerful talk at the SFTS on 10-15-10 (what it lacks in recording quality, it more than makes up for in content).
