Theosophy Adyar Election 2014:- Does the Secrecy have a Purpose?

The Future? of the Adyar Theosophical Society

The Secrecy

The secrecy with which the Adyar Theosophical Society

leadership conducts the Society’s affairs is legendary.

Is this secrecy for its own sake or are some serious

issues being suppressed and kept beyond discussion?

Here are some pointers as to the sort of things that

General Council don’t want to discuss with the paying

members but I am probably only scratching the surface.

Dave Marsland

The General Council has always had a reputation for extreme secrecy, and in the days prior to the internet any Society news that was officially released by the Council was filtered through many levels of management before it reached the general membership. The leadership didn't say much and the members heard even less. I'm sure the current leadership look back on those days with nostalgia.

The internet age has made secrecy more obvious and more difficult, but rather than adapt to the new environment with a more open approach to their workings, the General Council have become more obsessive in their drive to maintain secrecy. Is the pursuit of secrecy just an end in itself stemming from either paranoia about the perceived power of members which threatens their control, or a belief that leadership of the Society gives them a spiritual authority which is above question? The first of these speculations probably has some substance but the second is unlikely although one national president has proclaimed himself "Spiritual Head" of his section. It is also unclear to non initiates as to how members of the Esoteric Section regard themselves and their group in relation to the general membership.

There must be more to all this secrecy than underlying policy or custom and practice. One major cause may be that there is an inherent lack of representation in the system. Many national groups fall below the criteria for General Council representation and have no vote at either regional or full international level. Further lack of representation occurs with national sections who do not send representation to Adyar, either because they don't have the resources or because they believe that the money is better spent elsewhere. Only 20 out of 60 national groups were represented at the 2013 Adyar Convention indicating a massive chunk of the general membership outside India unrepresented at General Council meetings.

At present, a proportion of each member's subscription goes to Adyar and there is a case to be made for no Adyar levy to be taken from members who are in groups with no vote at international level. Those in national sections who choose not to be represented at the Adyar Conventions may have something to discuss internally on this matter. As they are not fully representative, it is questionable as to whether the General Council has any mandate to be the governing body of the Adyar Theosophical Society.

Another suppressed issue is the hereditary family control of the Adyar Estate. This has been an issue for decades but the General Council never discuss it publicly and has simply allowed it to continue without addressing it. The level of control has led to a situation in which neither the General Council nor any serving International President can make a decision concerning the Adyar Estate without family approval. This limitation impairs Adyar’s capability to function as an effective international headquarters and any future international president to do the job.

Full transparency under these conditions is not possible for the General Council as it would reveal their weakness and the true state of the Society, leading to members demanding reform or separation. Demands for moving the headquarters to another location would also grow louder although there are probably already contingency plans to facilitate this. Family control of Adyar is therefore definitely a subject that the General Council don’t want on the 2014 election agenda and probably a major reason why the presidential candidates are asked not to respond to questions.

The General Council may be nervous about other issues surfacing but a pressing one at the moment is the level of membership. At the 2013 Adyar Convention, International Vice-President Mr M P Singhal was prepared to reveal a drop of around 5000 members worldwide since 2007 but this was only presented as an estimate and not an official figure. The fact that membership was mentioned in an official and reported speech suggests that a shock may be on the way regarding the issue and perhaps some National Sections no longer warrant being National Sections under the current rules. Some of the smaller groups may now be dormant or defunct and may not be in the reckoning when it comes to the election. There is no doubt that the attempt by some in the leadership to cheat the members out of the right to vote for the International President damaged the relationship between the members and leadership, and caused some to leave. The extent of the exodus may be greater than the General Council want to reveal, and there may be some attempt to conceal the figures at the conclusion of the 2014 presidential election.

Whatever the reasons for the secrecy, maintaining silence and telling presidential candidates not to respond to questions sends out a clear message that something is seriously wrong. There is now considerable tension between the leadership and the members, and this can only be resolved if the General Council comes clean on the issues and communicates directly with the members.