Theos-Talk Archives (May 2008 Message tt00354)

Pedro wrote:
"Radha, as a legitimate successor of Col. Olcott in the office of 
President, deserves much more respect and courtesy than your 
supporters have dispensed to her in this election. The Theosophical 
Society is now poorer because of their actions which have desecrated 
the institution of the Presidency and what it stands for. "

M. Sufilight ask:

Permit me to ask a few questions, which the above quote clearly provokes.

I wonder, and others might do the same, whether TS have adopted the doctrine of Apostolic Succesion from somewhere?


H.P. Blavatsky said:
 "The present volumes have been written to small purpose if they have not shown, 1, that Jesus, the Christ-God, is a myth concocted two centuries after the real Hebrew Jesus died; 2, that, therefore, he never had any authority to give Peter, or any one else, plenary power; 3, that even if he had given such authority, the word Petra (rock) referred to the revealed truths of the Petroma, not to him who thrice denied him; and that besides, the apostolic successon is a gross and palpable fraud; 4, that the Gospel according to Matthew is a fabrication based upon a wholly different manuscript. The whole thing, therefore, is an imposition alike upon priest and penitent. " (H.P. Blavatsky: Isis Unveiled, Vol II, p.544).


The question is whether anyone (Master and ParaBrahman) allowed such a kind of succesion to be recognised in TS in the manner adopted - OR - whether the succesion would happen like it had done several times previously through the centuries, where the Masters and Chelas adapted their teachings to time place, people and circumstances - and not to a dogmatic angle on organisational work?

I am here particulary referring to Annie Besant's change of the role of E.S. in connection with TS.





M. Sufilight


H. P. Blavatsky said:
"The Society founded to remedy the glaring evils of Christianity, to shun bigotry and intolerance, cant and superstition and to cultivate real universal love extending even to the dumb brute".
(The Collected Writings of H. P. Blavatsky, vol. 7, p.246)

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: prmoliveira 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 10:43 PM
  Subject: Theos-World Letter to John Algeo


  Dear John,

  Is well known that Radha Burnier nominated you for the position of 
  Vice-President of the TS three times: in 2001, 2004 and 2007. 
  Nominating the same person three times for such an important position 
  implies a great deal of trust in the person thus nominated. Even 
  after suffering a stroke in November 2006, and having recovered from 
  it, she still chose to nominate you as the Vice-President of the 
  Society.

  I was very relieved, and reassured, when I received the MESSAGE FROM 
  THE VICE-PRESIDENT, which you kindly sent, electronically, on 24 
  February 2007, to all General Secretaries, Presidential 
  Representatives, Organising Secretaries plus a number of individual 
  members around the world. This information was important not only 
  because it came from our Vice-President but also because you had met 
  with and talked to Radha at Adyar a little more than a month after 
  her stroke. I reproduce the relevant part of your message:

  "As you have doubtless heard, the President had a light stroke in 
  November. It did not affect her body or her mind except for a slight 
  and temporary memory loss with respect to names. Her doctor predicts 
  a full recovery, which will take several months. At present she is 
  progressing nicely and doing very well. She attended all the major 
  meetings during Convention, although she let others do some of the 
  speaking and presiding that she normally does. She has taken a short 
  time off (which she well deserves) to recuperate, free from the 
  demands on her at headquarters, but she is now back at Adyar and 
  attending to business. While I was at Adyar in December and January, 
  I had extensive discussions with her about Theosophical business 
  around the world, and she is on top of all the facts and her judgment 
  is as sharp as ever. The outlook is very favorable for a full 
  recovery. The Adyar staff responded in exemplary fashion during 
  convention, and all went very well indeed."

  When I arrived at Adyar, last December, something had changed for I 
  soon became aware that some workers there were preparing to send out 
  a letter to the members of the General Council, both about Radha's 
  health as well as informing them that you had agreed to accept 
  nominations for the office of President. Later on I was able to 
  obtain a copy of Elvira Carbonell's letter to a General Council 
  member. The letter, dated 19 December 2007, clearly indicates that 
  you had accepted to be a candidate even before the official 
  nomination papers had reached the great majority of General Council 
  members residing overseas. As you know, I did protest at Elvira's 
  letter in my own letter to the General Council, saying that it "is a 
  clear attempt to interfere with the constitutional election for 
  President of the TS." 

  After the nomination phase was over, signs of a wider and active 
  campaign in your favour started to appear. On 29 March 2008, Mme. 
  Maxence Ondet, Secretary to the French TS Board, sent out a letter to 
  all TS members in France. She says, among other things, that Radha, 
  after the stroke, was "unable to speak for at least a month and [it] 
  deprived her of a large part of her memory. Her recovery was slow 
  and incomplete, especially as far as short term memory and recall of 
  names are concerned. In conversation, she no longer understands 
  anything but short and simple sentences." If we compare Mme. Ondet's 
  statements to your abovementioned report about Radha's condition the 
  discrepancies in the French letter become self-evident. 

  Mme. Ondet went on to say that those present "at the Convention at 
  Adyar in December 2007 noticed with sadness and embarrassment the 
  great difficulty with which she delivered her principal Convention 
  address, an address that was wandering and repetitive, and showed a 
  weakened mind or brain damage." The same letter states that "she no 
  longer writes speeches; someone does them for her. Since the stroke, 
  the editorials of the international magazine 'The Adyar Theosophist' 
  are no longer written by her."

  While at Adyar, last December, I visited Radha almost everyday for a 
  period of almost eighteen days and can therefore attest that the 
  above description of her condition is utterly false. I also saw 
  proofs of an upcoming issue of The Theosophist on the coffee table in 
  her living room. She reads every article that is submitted for 
  publication. As a matter of fact, the table was full of theosophical 
  magazines and books, the same way it was when I used to visit her 
  when I worked at Adyar more than twelve years ago. Although you, Mary 
  Anderson and Surendra Narayan wrote the "On the Watch-Tower" notes in 
  The Theosophist for the first few months last year, Radha resumed 
  writing them in May and we can again see her own style in the 
  magazine which she edits.

  The closing paragraph of Mme. Ondet's letter is even more revealing 
  (italics mine):

  "For sure, we loved Radha. We probably still do. And this has 
  perhaps nothing to do with her mental state. Even so, we think that 
  the destiny of the Theosophical Society would be even more shaken if 
  Radha were to take on a fifth term of office. We therefore invite 
  you to reflect seriously before the forthcoming election which will 
  be crucial for the future direction of the Theosophical Society.

  Most fraternally,"

  What is there of fraternal in this most unkind, biased and untruthful 
  communication? 

  What has shocked, and continues to shock, many of us is that the 
  President of the Theosophical Society is the subject of an immoral 
  and utterly unbrotherly attack by the executive body of a National 
  Society, and yet members world wide have not heard a word from their 
  Vice-President about it. Your continued silence raises many 
  questions: do you object to the immoral attacks at the President 
  which distort, disfigure and blatantly lie about her real condition 
  which you saw at Adyar soon after the stroke and which now has been 
  confirmed by her doctors? Do you consider appropriate, as our Vice-
  President, for the executive body of a National Society to issue such 
  a letter as Mme. Ondet's to all its members on the eve of their 
  voting in the international election? 

  Then we saw Betty Bland's letter of 11 April 2008 sent to thousands 
  of members of the American Section. In it she says: 

  "Radha seems to be recovering physically from the stroke she suffered 
  over a year ago, but, given her age, she stills has periods of low 
  energy and her memory is inconsistent. While I have a deep respect 
  for the wonderful service she has given to the Society and feel that 
  she can continue to be useful as a wise elder, it is for the good of 
  the whole that the leadership pass smoothly to John Algeo, who 
  currently serves as the international Vice-president." 

  She concludes her letter by encouraging members to see your personal 
  website, which since 23 April 2008 has a Hindi webpage in 
  its "Theosophical" page, and adds: "I hope you seriously consider 
  this information when casting your vote."

  In an election with only two candidates, does not Betty's letter come 
  across as visible electioneering in your favour? Has she the right to 
  condition or influence the choice of the American members in an 
  election? When some of your supporters say that you are not 
  campaigning, is not Betty's letter an active and widespread campaign 
  on your behalf that hurts the freedom and fairness of the most 
  important election in the TS? I am aware of Radha's letter to the 
  General Secretaries, which was sent by ordinary mail. She had the 
  right of reply after being misrepresented and placed into 
  disadvantage by Elvira's letter which was sent a day after the 
  official nomination papers were issued by the International Secretary 
  at Adyar.

  Given your continued silence I have no reasons to believe that you 
  will address the questions I have asked you in this letter. But as a 
  member I needed to tell you, personally, that the actions of your 
  supporters have cast a thick cloud over the electoral process as they 
  have violated cherished and time-honoured principles of our Society. 
  And your continued silence is disappointing and disturbing.

  Those of us who have followed your serialized studies on The Voice of 
  the Silence, which are being published by Radha in The Theosophist, 
  cannot help but remember one of the poignant verses in that great 
  book: "Sow kindly acts and thou shalt reap their fruition. Inaction 
  in a deed of mercy becomes action in a deadly sin. Thus saith the 
  Sage." (II, 135)

  Radha, as a legitimate successor of Col. Olcott in the office of 
  President, deserves much more respect and courtesy than your 
  supporters have dispensed to her in this election. The Theosophical 
  Society is now poorer because of their actions which have desecrated 
  the institution of the Presidency and what it stands for. 

  I just could not remain silent.

  With sincere sadness,

  Pedro 



   

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]