Theos-Talk Archives (September 1995 Message tl01007)

>>Liesel and/or Paul:

[I'm not sure whom I'm quoting because of the way
that the ">" are used.]

>> 1. Should it be permissible for the President of the TS to also
>> be leader of any other organization, secret or not? John Coats
>> felt obliged to give up his LCC status, but Radha Burnier
>> serves as Outer Head of the ES and President of the TS. Does
>> this not blur the lines of the two, and raise questions about
>> the status of non-ES members in the TS?

It could *if you question the esoteric authority of the person
wearning both hats*. This was true of the Point Loma T.S. (and
may be true of the ULT but since their E.S. and rulership is
underground we may never know for sure). It's fine if the person
is accepted as a qualified representative of the Masters. It's
terrible if not.

>> 2. In any group, is it a good thing to have a secret
>> organization-within-an-organization with an agenda unknown to
>> those who don't belong?

The secret nature of the other organizations may not be good.
That would be unfair to people joining and participating in the
T.S. that may not agree with or be aware of the underground politics.

>> 3. Is there any way of knowing the truth about ES participation
>> in TS politics?

We would have to ask an E.S. member and believe that they gave us
the full answer. I'd suspect not, that they do not participate as
a group, but rather act as individuals.

>> 4. How is the Outer Head selected?

Good question. In the Pasadena T.S. someone steps forth and
proclaims himself, and if accepted, becomes the new head of the
Society. In the ULT, it's underground, and we may never know.
In the Adyar T.S., there's probably politics involved, but again
we'd be guessing.

>> 5. What can we know about the motives of TS leaders in general
>> if their behavior may be determined by ES
>> loyalties?

I don't think that the E.S. sends out instructions regarding the
operation of the T.S., how to vote, or how to conduct affairs --
at least in the Adyar T.S.

>>For example, if no TS member has to obey the TS
>>President, but every ES member has to obey the OH and only ES
>>members become national officers... the implication is that our
>>democracy is a sham.

Obey? We don't have to obey the T.S. President either. The job of
the President is to maintain the organization of the Society, and
to actively promote Theosophy in the world. This does not include
giving orders to members.

>> 6. To what extent is TS opposition to historical research a
>> manifestation of its domination by a secret inner group? Many
>> have been turned away from the Adyar archives, and one wonders
>> why there is such a secretive atmosphere.

There's no conspiracy here. The reason for the opposition is simple,
I'd think. People don't want to have their basic beliefs questioned.
Say someone were to say to you that your ideas about the Masters
were totally wrong, and they had proof. How would you feel? It's
natural for people to deny things they don't like to hear, and to
get angry if those ideas are too forcefully presented to them. This
is without regard to how much truth there is in the challenging ideas.
We don't want to be told that we're wrong, to be prematurely forced
into paradigm shifts as our current worldviews are shattered and we're
forced to change.

>> 7. Is the progressive loss of significance of our TS
>> democratic procedures due to the power of the ES?

There's always been politics in all the groups. It's quite independent
of the E.S. as an organization.

>> (For example, the current international president will likely never
>> be opposed after it was decreed that 12 national secretaries must
>> nominate any opponent-- as I understand it. And the pool of candidates
>> for national president was recently shrunk drastically by
>> limiting it to former board members).

The circle of people in charge of an organization wants to retain
control, including control over their succession. They want to insure
that their sucessors hold similar beliefs. This is true of spiritual
organizations in general.

>> 8. How would the TS be changed by the abolition of the ES?

No real change.

>> These are questions I ask myself about this vexing question.

It's not a problem. The problem is with the stubborn resistance to
change that is found in human nature, including in Theosophists, where
the status quo is perferred over change as a general policy.

-- Eldon