President of Nothing

The Future? of the Adyar Theosophical Society

President of Nothing

Membership Decline:- The Elephant in the Room

Dave Marsland

There are some national secretaries/presidents who will be relieved if there is no open election for the next Adyar Theosophical Society International President as they would not then have to reveal how few paid up members they actually have. A straight appointment of the new president by the Theosophical Society ruling elite would conceal the level of worldwide and individual national memberships and thus avoid revealing how many Presidents of Nothing are out there. The Indian membership still holds up but it may be that the International President is virtually President of Nothing outside India.

National and international leadership have never seriously tackled the membership issue as an influx of large numbers of new members would usher in new ideas and challenges to the ancient ways of doing things. A small membership given little or no information has been much less of a threat but now information that would normally have been kept from the wider membership often leaks out via the internet along with discussion and voices of dissent. Ever greater secrecy and exclusion appears to be the management response.

This failure of the Adyar leadership and General Council to communicate with the membership stands in stark contrast to the Theosophical Order of Service who issue regular bulletins and comprehensive newsletters to Theosophists throughout the world. The Theosophical Order of Service organisers also make themselves known to members and can be contacted directly. The identity of General Council members, on the other hand, is not generally known outside the General Council. A future Theosophical movement based on the remnants of the Adyar Theosophical Society may look to the Theosophical Order of Service as an organisational and administrative model.

A lack of an election would allow the Theosophical Society aristocracy to continue for a while, as they have done for decades, in their niches as international spiritually sophisticated gentry. The subscription paying members aren't in the game and are really just fodder to support the outdated hierarchical structure. The attempt to disenfranchise the members in 2008 clearly shows the contempt some elements of the Theosophical Society elite have for the grass roots and there is no guarantee that this stunt will not be tried again. It must be obvious to many that the attitude of an elite inner circle has driven membership down and is keeping it down. I believe this has been the situation since the 1930s.

What is the current level of international membership? How long will it be before it falls below the level required to support the Society structure at international level and the Society then reforms itself by default? Some comfortable grandees may feel threatened here but it is likely that most national societies could continue without an international hierarchy or any central authority in Adyar. Liberated from the burden of supporting a hierarchy that is mostly out of touch with membership and an overseas centre that gives nothing in return, many societies or groups would be able to flourish to the benefit of their members.

Sadly, it is unlikely that even with reform, the Adyar Theosophical Society can remain a unified body and it will probably break up into smaller groups at both national and international level. Theosophy will however find a new energy and dynamic and will move forward in the form of independent bodies who run their own show with just a few groups harking back to the increasingly remote days of Adyar.