The Esoteric School Lobby

[Anand Gholap]

(Annie Besant was the head of the Esoteric School and Colonel Olcott was the President of TS.)
Mrs. Annie Besant wrote:
“In the T.S. we have a curious mixture. The Exoteric Society is purely democratic - it is only fair to admit this fully. On the other side we have an Esoteric body which is practically autocratic in its constitution ... The existence of a secret body to rule the outer Society made the constitution of the T.S. a mere farce, for it was at the mercy of the inner … All the differences that arose between the Colonel and myself were on this point; he could not believe that I was serious in saying that I would not use the E.S. against him, but slowly he came to understand it ... The greatest power will always be in the hands of the E.S., and not in the head of the Society ... I know that I exercise a quite unwarrantable power. This is what makes some people say there should not be an E.S.T. … We must recognize the danger and try to neutralize it. At any time during the last fifteen years I could have checkmated the Colonel on any point if I had chosen ...”

I could see frustration of some officers in TS regarding the results in Presidential elections. They were wondering how one person can get elected unopposed for around 30 years. It happened again and again in TS history. Different theories were offered to explain this phenomenon. I think all that mystery is solved by above passages of Annie Besant.
Best
Anand Gholap

[Janeth]

Re: Reply by Anand Gholap 10 hours ago - ►"..What right does TS have to preach morality before the world, when it's own structure has big problem which is described by Annie Besant in these words "The existence of a secret body (ES) to rule the outer Society.."<---The TS is not a school, nor a religion, it does not preach "morality before the world".

As Mr. Morrow intelligently and wisely put it, "...The TS does not proport to "represent" the general membership. It does proport to provide for the dissemination and distribution of Theosophical materials. The governance structure would seem to be a result of whatever governance laws and regulations might be required and the musings of an administration with too much time on its hands."...His complete comment could be found on page 7 of forum "The Esoteric School LobbyPosted by Anand Gholap on June 18, 2009 at 7:17am in Organizational Discussion--Reply by Janeth on June 26, 2009 at 2:18pm."

Human beings, as such imperfect, are free to infer and believe whatever their mental, emotional and spiritual level of evolution they presently have. That is the beauty of Theosophy and its physical vehicle, the TS, freedom!! Freedom to choose to belong to the Society! Freedom to accept what feels right to them and ignore the rest! Freedom to study at their own pace! Freedom to leave the Society at any time and have their dues returned to them! Freedom to eliminate bad habits and improve ones personal circumstances or freedom to remain ignorant and obtuse! It is a personal decision! It is each individual's personal prerrogative.

Those human beings who are open minded and generous, intelligent and wise, kind and altruistic will remain loyal to the Society and will try to help it transcend any and all challenges with compassion/divine love, patience, tolerance, will and determination to do the right thing, the right way!!☺ Others may get bitter and remain with the Society and alledgedly pretend to want to help it transcend any challenges but expressing their sentiments in a negative way, forgetting the first and main "Object", brotherhood. What hurts one, hurts everyone. All organizations face challenges at one point or another, after all they are run by imperfect human beings. The way those challenges are handle by those in charge and its active members will determine the ever lasting existence and success of the organization.

Those who are ready to receive Theosophy will intelligently and altruistically appreciate the good things TS offers, and generously and with the magnanimity belonging to great minds and souls, will ignore/forgive other people's flaws and if/when possible try to enlighten their minds and heart in hopes of helping them.