Account of expulsion of two TS Dutch members

[Nick the Pilot]

Go to

http://members.lycos.nl/adyarman/Engels/indexeng.htm

and click on the link Expulsion in Holland on the left side of the screen.

"A conflict arose between the council of the Dutch section and a committee which was appointed by the general assembly of may 12th 2007 for the purpose of assessing the possibilities for reviving the Dutch section of the TS. This assessment would include affiliated foundations and organizations and it would also include an investigation into the members’ views on the ‘theosophical landscape’ and the way the participating organizations serve the theosophical cause. After four months, on September 8th 2007, there was a meeting of this committee and several members of the council, which was called for by the president of the Dutch section, in order to abolish the committee. I understand that harsh words were spoken and angry emotions erupted. The next day the council decided unanimously that two members of this committee, Mr. LS and Mr. ND, behaved in such a way that they should be expulsed from the Theosophical Society and acted accordingly.

"Of course some individual members and several lodges demanded an explanation from the council and called for a meeting of the general assembly in order to consider the expulsions. This meeting took place November 10th 2007. Mr. LS and Mr. ND were present and were able to give their views, but were denied an opportunity to react to other participants.

"I never witnessed (in more than 20 years) a meeting of the general assembly which after hours of deliberation came no further than the second item on the agenda (the agenda had 8 items).

"I was astonished to see how the council provided a list of incidents to show the unacceptability of the behavior of LS and ND, without being able to link any incident to any rule concerning reasons that may lead to their expulsion.

"I witnessed how, three hours into the meeting, at least five of those present voiced their opinion that the council could not explain how the rules and regulations of my section justify expulsion in the case of the behaviors brought forward by it. None of the prerequisites which are mentioned in the rules that may lead to expulsion, apply.

"I was astonished to witness that upon finding that the council had expelled members of the Theosophical Society, using arguments that find no justification in the rules, in the aftermath of a conflict that the council itself had caused, the general assembly voted not to vote on a motion that called for its resignation. This procedure of voting on voting on this type of motion, is unruly.

"Both expelled members have appealed to Ms. Burnier, the international president. After a long silence (not even a confirmation that the appeal of LS or ND was received) she issued a brief statement that she investigated the cases en therefore decided not to reinstate the membership.

"In a continuation of the meeting the president of the Dutch section stated that she had prepared the expulsion well in advance and that this was not an emotional ill advised step following the September 8th meeting. This shed an even more peculiar light on the events. A motion that called for disapproval also was voted down in the same unruly way."

[Katinka Hesselink]

Oh goodness.

The issue had much to do with the two expelled members just not being able to work with the people in charge. The Dutch section is, like the whole TS worldwide, going through transition. People who can't accept that such change takes time should leave or something. The members who were banned were acting as though they had the right to dictate change on their own terms, and their own time schedule. Yet they were not members of the council, or anything like that.

Really - people in charge have to have tools to expel members. This may not be a nice fact, but it's still necessary. Usually before someone is expelled a LOT has happened. I'm not going to go into further detail on this, but there really WAS sufficient cause to expel them. I would like to add that going into detail would further harm the individuals who were expelled because it's their privacy at stake, ultimately.

[Nick the Pilot]

Hi Katinka,

Thank you for sharing your information on the case. I know that there are always two sides to a story, and it is good to hear a little from you about the other side of the story.

The two expelled members are of course welcome to express their side of their story on this Forum. (That would relieve you of the need to decide what to say and what not to say.)

It is unfortunate that these kinds of things happen, but Theosophy ensures us the right to disagree with other people in a free and open manner. Yes, there are rank-and-file members (and leaders too) who will overstep the rules of decency and make demands that are unreasonable. Unfortunately, we do not have clear rules on how to handle the situation. Hopefully, as times goes by, such problems will occur less often.

Theosophy gives us freedom. We have to learn to take the responsibility that comes with that freedom.

[Katinka Hesselink]

Rules aren't going to change anything like this.

Part of the problem is that members who are only asking for change, and aren't looking at what's already done, are ignoring a major part of the organization. The board has to make sure not just that the TS moves forward and gains members, but also that what's there is continued. Things like: printing books, having a bookshop, keeping the administration going, supporting lodges, translating articles for the magazine and organizing activities.

All that needs to be done. There's a lot of itty gritty work there that is simply day to day drudgery. But the TS would fall apart at the seams if it were ignored. One of the reasons I supported our board on this one was that while I had serious issues with them about all kinds of things, they WERE and ARE keeping things afloat. Two years and another crisis passed it seems that the organization IS learning, which is really all we can ask.

[Janeth]

>"Theosophy gives us freedom. We have to learn to take the responsibility that comes with that freedom."<---

"To Be Is To Be Responsible"

FREEDOM, RESPONSIBILITY, NEW FROTIERS: Three ideas that call for considered thought and contemplative exploration. What is it to be free? Is freedom really possible, and if so, what constrains us? To what extent are we responsible? For what or for whom are we responsible? What of new frontiers? Are there really new frontiers, not geographically, but spiritual frontiers of consciousness? And if so, how do we move from the old toward the new: the unexplored?
.....
Let us begin with responsibility; not an easy idea to examine, for generally we do not like the word or its connotation. And to suggest that simply to be, is to be responsible seems to imply a greater burden than we may care to shoulder. Looking out upon the world and the crises facing humanity today, surely we are not responsible for the conditions we see all about us. War, poverty, ecological disasters, hatred, fear, greed: the litany of woes seems endless and has been recited so often that we have become nearly inured to its message. And the thought that you and I might be personally responsible for even a fraction, let alone all of the problems confronting the world today may seem beyond the limits of reason.
Before proceeding further, let us consider a number of words and ideas related to the notion of responsibility. For example, rather than accepting or denying responsibility for any of the problems just enumerated, I might ask instead: How do I respond to these woes? What is my response and at what level of my being am I responding; from the heart, from the head, or from some deeper part of my being? What is it to be responsive? And what is my ability to respond?
These are not simple questions, particularly if I view the universe as an interdependent whole and see all humankind as truly interrelated, and an integral part of the web of life. From such a perspective, pulling on any strand of that vast web will cause the entire web to vibrate, to respond. In this sense, responsiveness is an inherent characteristic of existence. To respond is to acknowledge responsibility. The degree or extent of that response will determine the degree of responsibility.
.....
True, as one individual I did not cause the earthquake, but the question remains to what extent do I, as an integral part of life everywhere, contribute--through my thoughts or feelings--to disturbances on the planet?
.....
At the time, there was less evidence for, or at least less discussion of, the interconnectedness of all things than there is today. however, one of the most exciting books to appear recently is by the philosopher scientist Ervin Laszlo, who was a member of the Editorial Board of the journal, Main Currents in Modern Thought, the publication initiated by Fritz Kunz and edited at one point by Emily Sellon. In Science and the Akashic Field. Laszlo begins with a definition of Akasha as "the womb from which everything we perceive with our senses has emerged and into which everything will ultimately redescend," and examines in detail what he terms "the puzzle-filled world of the mainstream sciences, and then proposes that the "established concept" can only be "transcended" by "a new/old concept: the informed universe, rooted in the rediscovery of ancient tradition's Akashic Field as the vacuum-based holofield. "To quote Laszlo further:
The informed universe is a universe where the A-field [his term for the Akashic field] is a real and significant element....All that happens in one place happens also in other places; all that happened at one time happens also at all times after that....All things are global, indeed cosmic, for the memory of all things extends to all places and all times....the truly remarkable feature of the informed universe....is that everything that happens in it affects--"informs"--everything else....(p.116)
Students of Theosophy may be reminded of a statement in the first letter of one of HPB's teachers, the Mahatma K. H., to A. P. Sinnett in which the Englishman is told that "without a through knowledge of Akas, its combinations and properties, how can Science hope to account for" the many phenomena that caused Sinnett to inquire about their source. How many of us have sought to understand the full meaning of akasha, even to the extent that HPB discusses it in The Secret Doctrine? If the age-old concept of akasha is being invoked today by so well-known and respected a scholar as Dr. Ervin Laszlo as a possible explanation for many if not all, of the so-called anomalies in the field of science, then it certainly behooves us to recognize that such a universal field exists as the basis for the interconnectedness of all things. Akasha is not only the very fabric of the universe, but it is also a living, dynamic information or informed fabric to which we apply the term consciousness.
.....
Between being and responsibility is a link which we may call becoming, the process that involves us and all life in growth. As The Secret Doctrine postulates, the very process of manifestation comes about through an interior polarization within the One and such a polarization, giving rise to the poles we call Spirit and Matter, brings into play that which links them, the dynamic or dynamism which makes possible growth, development, and the continual process of becoming. This, in brief, recapitulates the Three Fundamental Propositions on which The Secret Doctrine is based. Sated in terms of our human experience: we are, which is Be-ness and our undivided and essentially inexpressible be-ing; we are always in process, Be-coming; and linking our Be-ness and our Be-coming is the journey, which HPB calls “the obligatory pilgrimage through the cycle of incarnation or necessity.” And that journey, says HPB, is dependent upon "self-induced and self-devised effort," with no special privileges or gifts save those we win for ourselves. It is a journey in becoming ever more responsive to all of life, awakening at every step a greater sensitivity to respond. As our ability to respond deepens and widens, so our awareness of our respons-ability toward all that exists grows ever stronger.
Though I may not have caused an earthquake or a tsunami, my thoughts and feelings of anger, greed, prejudice, and self-concern must contribute in some way to son in-forming the universe as to have their effect in some measure across time and space. So also my thoughts and feelings of goodwill, love, compassion, and understanding must contribute to this informed universe of which I am an integral part.
To be is to be responsive; to be is to be responsible. Here is an undeniable truth for the earnest Theosophist. Consider, for example the words of HPB in her Introduction to The Secret Doctrine, words written well over a century ago, but applicable to today's world:
The world of today, in its mad career towards the unknown--which it is too ready to confound with the unknowable--is rapidly progressing...on the material plane of spirituality. It has now become a vast arena--a true valley of discord and of eternal strife--a necropolis, wherein lie buried the highest and the most holy aspirations of our Spirit-Soul. (xxii)
.....
"Knowing who and what we are, and with our destiny in our own hands, we are at peace within and have the courage to face the challenges before us". -Ms. Joy Mills in "To Be Is To Be Responsible" - Source: "the Quest" Pages 87-91 - Members of the Theosophical Society in America receive the Quest magazine as part of their annual dues. Nonmember subscriptions are available. Two-year subscriptions are eligible for a discount. Back issues are also available.

"This material was reproduced by permission of Quest Books, the imprint of The Theosophical Publishing House (www.questbooks.net)."

[Janeth]

Errata: >"..my thoughts and feelings of anger, greed, prejudice, and self-concern must contribute in some way to son in-forming.."<---son should be so.

[Janeth]

Thank you so very much for helping us understand, Katinka!!

You are so right when you say, "going into detail would further harm the individuals who were expelled because it's their privacy at stake"...I would just add, this goes for any unpleasant issue we might come across.
We must try to practice Theosophy. As Mrs. Bland says in her NDE CD, the key word of TS is "altruism"; I believe that exercising compassion and protecting the privacy and well being of other human beings by not publicizing their flaws is part of being altruistic and compassionate.
To do so to satisfy the lower ego is sort of the evilness ATFOTM talks about. We never know what goes on in other people's mind and heart; only his Master knows!!
We, students of Theosophy, must always try our best not to hurt others. Every time human beings destructively criticize other human beings, and publicize their flaws, we harm them; as such we harm ourselves and consequently we hinder our own spiritual growth.

Again, thanks much, Katinka!!☺

[Nick the Pilot]

Janet,

Didn't you have a previous post in this thread? Was that post removed?

[Nick the Pilot]

Janet,

It seems that all of Martin's posts have disappeared from this Forum. That would explain why your response to his post has disappeared.

[Luc Sala]

I am one of the people concerned and what Katinka Hesselink writes here, borders on slander, is not only untrue, but clearly a personal opinion put forward as if it were a fact. Mrs Hesselink knows very well that all the proposals, all the letters, all the discussions were communicated all the time, in fact I had a website with them, which I just reopened at www.net.info.nl/theosophy/index.htm. On that website (initially only for memebers) and in my writings on internet etc. anybody can read what we (the committee) proposed and wanted to do and anybody who cares to look at the mindlift channel at youtube or at www.myster.nl can see that I have a lifelong commitment to the spiritual cause. And yes, i think the TS needs some rejuvenation, too few people having too much power and preventing change or even self reflection. I have written, in english and dutch, many articles about TS, one article even appeared in the US TS publication. Mrs Wesseling is clearly trying to protect the existing incrowd, for whatever reason, but forgets to mention that at least 15-20% of the members of the Dutch TS have left the society because of this incident (and those were the active ones, what is left is an ageing membership, and the situation in India kind of illustrates how tight and defensieve the whole TS has become). And in the meantime the people in charge have pushed through their plans to turn Naarden into a private retirement home. The handling of the Naarden Centre by the board, ms Burnier and their supporters and the possible exposure of the mismanagement and financial manipulations there was actually the underlying motive for getting rid of the committee. We were asking the wrong questions and finding our the wromng things, like how it is possible that very substantial tax-exempt gifts are used to create private dwellings for the giver?
Ms Hesseling should know better, and let it be clear that whatever I did, is open to public scrutiny and I still feel, that I have not broken any TS rules.

[Katinka Hesselink]

You're putting words in my mouth. I have no reason to think that 20% of the members or even 15% left because of this. But then, with only about 400 members, 15% is about 50.

Since I kept things anonymous, I did not slander anyone. I was very glad you originally kept all that material private, keeping the work itself going. Putting it up publicly is not to the advantage of the theosophical work.

This isn't about breaking rules, it's about knowing HOW to work within an existing organization without offending the existing (and hardest working) workers. You and your colleges did not know how to do that and ended up expelled. I support that, though I would have preferred a more peaceful solution. Many of your proposals had my support, but the WAY you went about getting them to the public was another matter. Also, I had (and have) no reason to suppose you were willing to put in the work to get them implemented. If you hadn't been expelled, you made it very clear to me personally, that you would have left anyhow.

As for money being a motive here - I have no reason to believe that to be true.

I do know that as a result of the whole debacle the Dutch TS is now going through a reevaluation of all its work - and I mean that to include the International Theosophical Center. They too are changing things around.

As for that tax exempt building something - that building fell to the ITC after that person died, so the ITC got themselves an extra building with no cost to themselves. I don't see how that's anything other than smart management to the mutual advantage of all those involved.

[William Vollrath]

As in all mattters, freedom requires responsibility. However, I personally would feel much better about the current state of the TS if someone in a position of authority (International prefered)would provide an intelligent response to all the complaints about political heavy handedness that have appeared on this site, and also give us some insights into steps being taken to improve the situation.

[Konstantin Zaitzev]

If the identities of the said members are unknown, and they are not willing to disclose it, then there's nothing to discuss. The author of the information on the site seems to be also anonymous.