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

[Anand Gholap]

Two subjects, 'The Esoteric Shool Lobby' and Disenfranchisement proposal (also known as an 'ultra secrete attempt to disenfranchise members') are intimately connected. From the information given by an officer at Adyar, disenfranchisement proposal was drafted and supported by four GC members Mr. John Algeo, Ms. Betty Bland, Mr. Warwick and Mr. Wies (the quartet).
It was a natural question what prompted creation of such a proposal. It appears that the quartet was embarrassed by the situation that TS members elect the same person (the current President of TS) for thirty years or more, and as long as ordinary members keep electing, the same thing will continue. So they perhaps thought it is not good for TS that ordinary members should elect the President. And so they proposed that only General Council members should elect the President.
Although I can understand the embarrassment caused to the quartet because of the election of same person for thirty years as TS president, I think that the quartet did not know the true cause of this situation. The true cause was tendency among ES members to elect their Outer Head. There are reports that ES members were asked to either support current ES head or leave the ES.
If disenfranchisement proposal was passed by the General Council, would it have changed the situation? I think, even then the situation won't change. It is because many GC members follow the Outer Head of ES. So even after disenfranchising members, GC members will have the same attitude of electing the ES Outer Head as TS President.

[Anand Gholap]

Good constitution is one of the most important factor that protects interests of members. But there is another very important thing that protects interest of people in any country, society or organization. This factor is STRONG MEDIA. When media, like internet, newspapers, TV, become strong it protects interests of members because media provide information and insights which are very useful in right decision making. Media also expose injustices done by elected and other members. That makes officers avoid violation of constitution and principles of fairness. So, in future, media will be most important for serving the Theosophical cause. Theosophical.ning.com and many other internet sites are very important to defend and promote Theosophical cause as they make important information available to members.
One can now understand why media was being suppressed by some groups in TS.

[Janeth]

>"Theosophical.ning.com and many other internet sites are very important to defend and promote Theosophical cause as they make important information available to members."<---The operative word here is "important".
Who gets to decide what is important and what is not?
Do TS members providing so-called "important" information have the right mental, emotional and spiritual energy and equilibrium to really make public real "important" information?
Are those providing such information TS members to begin with?
Or do they just want to attract attention and get their 15 minutes fame, so to speak?
This is not as simple as it may seem.
When TS members lend their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual vehicles to convey information in an unethical manner as was the unauthorized public distribution of the "Draft" --any decent human being with average intelligence would have been able to deduce the draft was that a "Draft" and that it had been inappropriately and unethically leaked to the public; it was a dirty trick that did the damage it was intended by those who leaked it and those who lent themselves to proport such anti-Theosophical behavior, to say the least--courageous GC members naively sent the administration in Adyar for their consideration and study, get input from the other GC members, get themselves to agree in what was in the best interest of the Society, and then present a proposal approved for publication by majority consensus, I would say those so-called ES members, who should have more integrity and should know better than to fall into the trap set by others with hidden personal agendas, are committing the grave sin Alcione talks about in ATFOTM, intentional cruelty; God help them!
The Karma they incurr in I do not wish on anyone..., in other words, they are being vehicles of FOE (Forces Of Evil), and knowingly so, which makes it even a greater sin, instead of doing the right thing and behave with the decorum sincere and true Theosophists should automatically developed when their interest in Theosophy and its vehicle, the TS, is genuine.

[Anand Gholap]

The officer had told that the draft was not sent for discussion. A formal request TO PASS the proposal was made by the quartet.
It is not important in what stage of development the draft was. The motives behind the draft can be known by members who read the draft. You know how they have interpreted the draft.
Irrespective of the stage of the draft, members had right to know the draft. The quartet should have invited opinions of members on internet. Unfortunately they did it only after many members around the world ridiculed them.

[Janeth]

>"The officer had told that the draft was not sent for discussion"<---That officer lied to you!! Whether you want or have the inner valor to accept that, it is up to you.

[Janeth]

>"It is not important in what stage of development the draft was."---This is where you are completely wrong!!

Again, I think this is about the fifth or tenth time I say this, the "Draft" was sent to the administration in Adyar for them to view it, study it, analyze it, digest it, allow every other GC member the opportunity to do the same; get every GC member's input, get the proposal ready and then, I repeat, and then formally present it to TS members.

This is the ethical and moral way of handling sensitive matters. That it fits your own personal ego and interests to believe the "Draft" was released to you to publish it the way you did, that is another different matter.

To acknowledge and recognized one has committed such an error as to publish a document without proper authorization, to cause the furor and inharmony it cause among TS members, which was part of the plan the "Draft" was leaked to the public, requires uncommon valor and humility!!

In due time, each individual will not only have a better picture of this, but also experience the pain cause to others once one faces one's own particular Kama-loka!!

[Janeth]

>"The motives behind the draft can be known by members who read the draft."<---To those individuals with the right mental, emotional, spiritual equilibrium/energy and proper knowledge and wisdom the motive was very clear; courageous GC members saw the need for change and acted upon that need!! Simple as that. That deviousness had tried to make a mockery of it, that, that is another matter..

The only mistake those courageous GC members made was trusting so-called administrators in Adyar, who should have known better than to use individuals such as yourself to leak it to the public to advance their positions inside the Society.

Any Theosophists with high standards, proper personal ethics and moral, once being asked to publish the document, seeing that it was a draft, would have first and foremost made sure it was being given to him with the proper authorization of TS president.

Did you contact TS president, Dr. Radha Burnier, Mr. Gholap?

Where is the authorization from her giving you permission to publish the "Draft"?

Do you know what a draft is?

A draft is a document where a person or several persons express their ideas on something they think can be done better!!

That was the purpose of the "Draft"; not some evil intention as some poor souls have tried others to believe. Thank God there is more goodness in TS members than evilness.

As it happens, TRUTH and GOODNESS always triumph!!

Want proof of that? This so-called forum of yours regarding, as you sarcastily put it, "The Esoteric School Lobby", was just another attempt to attract attention. The attention you did not get when you posted another forum regarding TS elections. A forum that generated a brilliant comment from one of the great minds we are fortunate to have in this Community, on April 23, 2009 we were able to see the following comment—

Reply by Will Morrow 1 hour ago
Dear Anand,
I'm not sure what prompted this discussion of representative democratic process, but there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of the TS organizational structure. 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.
Vincent's comment below is excellent. Janeth poses a question that would appear to be in contradistinction to your fundamental point that membership head count is what counts. And Jim's comment appears to be more of a statement of adulation and adoration than an actual comment regarding organizational due process.
Your statement suggests that head count is what matters. Vincent's comment suggests there is an actual electoral process in the TS governance. Janeth suggests there is an individual ethical and moral character that should be evaluated and considered as a prerequisite to the position of President of the TS. Jim suggests that his love and adoration for the Indian culture and vocabulary is what matters. (BTW - the Eskimo culture may have several words for the color of snow and several hundred words for snow with different qualities. But without any words for "snow removal", I probably wouldn't recommend they make policy regarding transportation in winter in any urban area or airport where snow removal is key to the functioning of local society.)
I suggest this: a number of people feel the call to serve Theosophy by joining with the TS in some administrative or authoritative position. Those people must work together and, as such, must have some sort of guidlines or rules to follow. (Even Maslow's "self actualizing" idea required some commonly understood order of things in order to function effectively and efficiently - as in other than a rabble.) When the immature nature of certain people's personalities takes over and they don't seem to be getting their way, they tend to take their whine to the other parent. This element of human character doesn't seem to be determined by age, nationality, sex, religion, vocabulary or anything else outside of themselves.
My study and practice of Theosophy would probably not be interrupted or enhanced if a "foreigner" was elected as president of the TS. It certainly has not been hindered or enhanced by having a "local" in the position. The TS has a history of people starting their own TS movements because they were not satisfied with whichever TS they were not satisfied with. Many who were not satisfied went with the new TS and then found they weren't satisfied with the new one either and moved on to another or started their own. After all of this, I do not see that the general study and practice of Theosophy been helped or impaired.
In closing, I would like to elevate this topic. The continual highlighting and emphasizing the non-essential, mundane seperatist aspects of the membership within the global TS is a continuing reinforcement that the members of the TS themselves (- ourselves-) are propagating the "Great Heresey" which HPB said we Theosophists will find to be our greatest hurdle to overcome. It is made worse when we Theosophists try to make something born of our own individual ignorance sound intelligent and legitimate. This whole organiziational issue surrounding the offices of the TS is not only not a matter of Theosophy, it isn't really a matter to most Theosophists. Govert Shuller posted an item that is so much more representative of Theosophical work than the immature inner workings of any TS.

You were asked a specific question; you never posted a reply, instead you deleted the forum.

Then a couple of months went by and you came up with the idea a posting another forum with the purpose of planting in other peoples mind the idea of getting rid of the Esoteric School, the back-bone of TS. Now your forum has turned into an election debate, and of course, instead of creating another forum as the one you posted in April and then deleted, you are allowing this forum to become a debate on elections because it fits your personal motives/intentions/agenda.

I honestly thought you had posted this forum because you did not understand the important role the TS-ES plays in the Society; how naïve of me, and others who believed the same thing.

Again, TRUTH and GOODNESS always triumph!! Your forum gave the opportunity to explain what the TS-ES is all about. Those with the right mental, emotional, spiritual and physical energy/equilibrium got the message. The others, well, eventually they will get to understand, hopefully!!

The question is…, will it happen in this incarnation or having the intelligence to recognize that now they, for one reason or another, cannot exercise the will to allow their higher-Self to guide them??

[Anand Gholap]

What are you talking, Janeth? Where did I publish the draft?
Anand Gholap

[Anand Gholap]

Theosophical Society is going through an important phase. There are all kinds of changes unfolding. Reforms in constitution, leadership changes due to old age of leaders, and many new things are happening and TS should adapt itself to new situations. This all requires discussion, thinking and research. It is a bad idea to suppress discussion on important matters by calling it unbrotherly etc. About exposing dirty secretes, there are many online groups already doing that. So there does not remain anything secrete about TS.
Let us think, discuss and make corrections in TS, wherever required, so that there won't remain anything that needs to be hidden.
Best
Anand Gholap

[Anton Rozman]

Dear Anand,

Labeling members of the General Council who made a proposal of the Amendments to the Rules and Regulations of the Theosophical Society as a “quartet” can serve only one purpose. Such degrading behavior against co-members of the Theosophical Society along with oversimplification of complex issues of the management of the Theosophical Society on the level of “members’ disenfranchisement” and then using these “slogans” for continuous repetition is simple propaganda. Please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda

Therefore this word ever reminds me about the campaign and propaganda against “Gang of Four” which served for the consolidation of ranks of Chinese Communist Party in the period of Cultural Revolution.

Best regards,
Anton

[Anand Gholap]

Dear Anton,
As proposal was supported by four GC members, there is nothing wrong in using the word quartet. Below I am giving all three meanings as given in Microsoft Encarta.

quartet [kwawr tét]
(plural quartets) or quartette [kwawr tét] (plural quartettes)
noun
1. musical group: a group of four singers or musicians (takes a singular or plural verb)
2. piece of music: a piece of music written for four voices or instruments
3. group of four: a group or set of four people, organizations, or things (takes a singular or plural verb)


[Late 18th century. Via French quartette < Italian quartetto < quarto 'fourth' < Latin quartus ]
Microsoft Encarta 2006.
Best
Anand Gholap

[Janeth]

>"it is actually such degradation which is bringing harm and alienating interested public from the Theosophical Society."<---The degradation is actually created by individuals destructively criticizing a system they know nothing about since they are not part of it; they have not been accepted into the school system they want to get rid of.

After many sincere efforts, by different people, trying to explain the system to these individuals, they refuse to even consider there is another way besides their own personal perception and way of thinking.

These individuals destructively criticizing the system are not members of the system they want to get rid of; therefore, they do not have real facts of what the system is about. Their criticism/assumptions/statements are based on hearsay.