Theos-Talk Archives (October 1999 Message tl00173)

Hi Christine,

You wanted to know why so many of us have something against
the ES, so I will give you my reasons for having trouble
with it. I agree mostly with Kym:

First, let me quote you part of the Preliminary Memorandum,
that HPB wrote and can be found in the Collected Writings
volume XII, p 488 et seq. HPB in this article explains her
goals for the ES, also in relation to the TS. I think
(hope) it speaks for itself:

> It is only by a select group of brave souls, a handful of
determined men and women hungry for genuine spiritual
development and the acquirement of soul-wisdom, that the
Theosophical Society at large can be brought back to its
original lines. It is through an Esoteric Section alone -
i.e., a group in which all the members, even if
unacquainted with one another, work for each other, and by
working for all work for themselves - that the great
Exoteric Society may be redeemed and made to realize that
in union and harmony alone lie its future growth and power.
The object of this section, then, is to help the future
growth of the THeosophical Society as a whole in the true
direction, by promoting brotherly union at least among the
few. >

Now, believing as I do, that individuals in a group can
change a group, not only by their actions (though action
at the proper time is neccessary), but also by their
*aura's* or *atmosphere* or *thought-forms*, I see nothing
wrong with HPB's objective. THe problem comes in when
people today seem to think that not only was the ES created
to save the TS, but that today it is still the lifeline of
the TS. So that, no TS-member is taken seriously by some,
untill they have become not only active, but also
ES-members. In fact, some seem to think that one cannot be
devoted to *The Life* without being an ES-member.

THis prejudice is so strong that one cannot understand
TS-politics, without understanding the place of the ES.
Almost all national presidents (also called general
secretary's) are ES-members.

My original approach to the ES was much different. I had
read about it in the Key to THeosophy, and wanted to join,
vowing myself (inwardly) to the service of humanity, I was
determined that this was a place to meet soul's who were
similarly inclined. But then I found I could not join,
because I was too young and had not been a member long
enough. I started thinking out the posibilities.
If the ES had all the knowledge and insight to offer me and
others that is implicite in all the talk about it, then I
was being refused entrance and refused bread on very
superficial reasons. That could not be right. How can one
refuse spiritual knowledge to someone merely because they
are only 20 years old? I could not reconcile that with Love
and Wisdom. Because, most of us believing in reincarnation,
physical age should not be such an issue. This started me
off, then I found out about all the other rules that are
strictly enforced, and now I have stopped taking the ES
seriously as an esoteric school. I have decided it is not
for me, and the whole mystiek around it, appals me.

My dislike for the ES is therefore in direct proportion to
the pretentions at wisdom, and the lack of flexibility in
the way the rules are applied.
In HPB's days the rules were meant as advice. When one
broke a rule, one was responsible to one's own
consciousness. All this is gone. Recently in Brasil a man
was expelled from the ES because of his sexual orientation.

I wish for an ES with more flexibility and less pretention,
and then it might even be a blessing to the TS. As it is,
it drags the TS down, as far as I'm concerned. Is it karma
that it was meant to save the TS (and perhaps did?) and now
it is a milestone around the TS's neck?

Katinka

----------------------
NHL Leeuwarden
hesse600@tem.nhl.nl