Roundtable Discussion
With John Greisen and Justin Tanksley
1st Sunday of the month, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. CT
Join at any time!
If you are seeking deeper understanding, meaningful dialogue, and spiritual community, join our Roundtable Discussion—a welcoming, interactive forum where seekers of all backgrounds come together to explore timeless themes from a theosophical perspective. Each month thought-provoking topics will be discussed in an atmosphere of respect and open-minded inquiry. Your voice and curiosity are welcome.
September 7, 2025 — The Conception of the Theosophical Society
October 5, 2025 — The Masters
"The Masters of Wisdom, or simply 'The Masters' are initiates in the occult science and esoteric philosophy, who take disciples or chelas. H. P. Blavatsky, in the glossary of her book The Key to Theosophy defined the Theosophical concept of 'Master' as follows: Master. A translation from the Sanskrit Guru, 'Spiritual teacher,' and adopted by the Theosophists to designate the Adepts, from whom they hold their teachings. The Masters of Wisdom are sometimes referred to indistinctly as 'Brothers,' 'Adepts,' or 'Mahatmas.'" —Theosophy Wiki
November 2, 2025 — Discernment and the Search for Truth
“The great Shankaracharya teaches in his Tattwa Bodha that the first requisite for obtaining real knowledge is the discernment between the ‘lasting and not lasting,’—between the high and the low, the real and unreal, the true and the false—to distinguish between one's own permanent Self and the evanescent personality to which that higher Self is bound during its terrestrial and astral life.” —Franz Hartmann, ‘The Dangers of Occultism’
“You must distinguish between truth and falsehood; you must learn to be true all through, in thought and word and deed. In thought first; and that is not easy, for there are in the world many untrue thoughts, many foolish superstitions, and no one who is enslaved by them can make progress. Therefore you must not hold a thought just because many other people hold it, nor because it has been believed for centuries, nor because it is written in some book which men think sacred; you must think of the matter for yourself, and judge for yourself whether it is reasonable. Remember that though a thousand men agree upon a subject, if they know nothing about that subject their opinion is of no value. He who would walk upon the Path must learn to think for himself, for superstition is one of the greatest evils in the world, one of the fetters from which you must utterly free yourself.” —J. Krishnamurti, At the Feet of the Master
“‘There is no religion higher than truth,’ the inspiring motto of the Theosophical Society, means that at all times, no matter how wonderfully coherent our theories are, the flexibility to accommodate new understandings is a necessary component of spiritual growth. —Betty Bland, ‘What Is Truth?’ Quest magazine, September-October 2005
December 7, 2025 — Living an Ethical Life
“Happiness cannot exist where Truth is absent. Erected upon the shifting sands of human fiction and hypotheses, happiness is merely a house of cards tumbling down at the first whiff; it cannot exist in reality as long as egotism reigns supreme in civilized societies. As long as intellectual progress will refuse to accept a subordinate position to ethical progress, and egotism will not give way to the Altruism preached by Gautama and the true historical Jesus (the Jesus of the pagan sanctuary, not the Christ of the Churches), happiness for all the members of humanity will remain a Utopia. … It follows, therefore, that no spiritual progress at all is possible except by and through the bulk of Humanity. It is only when the whole of Humanity has attained happiness that the individual can hope to become permanently happy—for the individual is an inseparable part of the Whole.” —Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings, vol. XI
January 4, 2026 — Thought-Forms and Freedom of Thought
“Every thought of man upon being evolved passes into the inner world and becomes an active entity by associating itself — coalescing, we might term it — with an elemental; that is to say with one of the semi-intelligent forces of the kingdoms. It survives as an active intelligence, a creature of the mind's begetting, for a longer or shorter period proportionate with the original intensity of the cerebral action which generated it. Thus, a good thought is perpetuated as an active beneficent power; an evil one as a maleficent demon. And so man is continually peopling his current in space with a world of his own, crowded with the offsprings of his fancies, desires, impulses, and passions, a current which reacts upon any sensitive or and nervous organisation which comes in contact with it in proportion to its dynamic intensity.” —The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett
February 1, 2026 — Study, Meditation, and Service
“In Theosophy more than anywhere else is it necessary that we should clearly distinguish between the higher mind and the intellect, and never attempt to use the intellect as a way to knowledge about things which belong to the higher mind. If we, as is sometimes done, drag the things of the higher mind down to the level of the intellect, we get a distortion of truth, even though it may present itself as a beautiful logical system fitting perfectly.”—J.J. Van Der Leeuw, The Fire of Creation
“Meditation is not like any ordinary occupation. ‘If there is no meditation, then you are like a blind man in a world of great beauty, light and colour.’ (Krishnamurti). It is as necessary for the unfoldment of the spiritual nature as food is for the growth of the body. But meditation does not fill the consciousness or mark the brain with more impressions and memories. It empties it of its contents. Much of what we have considered till now prepares the mind for this inner freedom.” —Radha Burnier, The Universal Yoga
March 1, 2026 — Identity
"The key to all our successes is in our recognition of the fact of the Higher Self—colourless, cosmopolitan, unsectarian, sexless, unworldly, altruistic—and the doing of our work on that basis." —H.P. Blavatsky, "Our Three Objects" Lucifer (September, 1889)
April 5, 2026 — Group Karma
"It is but a truism, yet I say it, that in adversity alone can we discover the real man. It is a true manhood when one boldly accepts one's share of the collective Karma of the group one works with, and does not permit oneself to be embittered, and to see others in blacker colours than reality, or to throw all blame upon some one "black sheep", a victim, specially selected. Such a true man as that we will ever protect and despite his shortcomings, assist to develop the good he has in him." —The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett
May 3, 2026 — Love and Compassion
"Compassion is not the doing of charitable acts or social reform; it is free from sentiment, romanticism, and emotional enthusiasm. It is as strong as death. It is like a great rock, immovable in the midst of confusion, misery and anxiety. Without this compassion no new culture or society can come into being. Compassion and intelligence walk together; they are not separate. Compassion acts through intelligence. It can never act through the intellect. Compassion is the essence of the wholeness of life." —J. Krishnamurti’s Letters to His Schools
Facilitators
Justin Tanksley is member of the staff at the National Center of the Theosophical Society in America (TSA). He is a board member of the Theosophical Order of Service and an organizer for the Young Adult Theosophists in America. He leads an in-person Roundtable Discussion for TSA, and participates in several theosophical groups in the US and the world.
John Greisen is a member of the Portland Oregon Lodge. He is a deep student of theosophy and has participated in the Theosophical Society in England and Wales diploma program. He is the creator of the Instagram page @theosophy_station, where he chronicles his own journey in theosophy and shares insights and reflections.
Program Format
This is a live, interactive online program. This program will not be recorded.
Join online via a Zoom link that will be emailed upon your registration. Please download Zoom for free at zoom.us/download and test your connection at zoom.us/test. For further information, check out www.theosophical.org/FAQ or email webinars@theosophical.org.