Theos-Talk Archives (October 2008 Message tt00932)

MEMBERSHIP COUNT IS CRITICAL

Recently a GC member quoted the famous comment that TS will survive so long
as there are three members. I think 3 member lower limit should not be taken
literally. When TS was launched, if "three members" was the target, there
were more members in NY. HPB & Olcott would not have traveled to India and
worked hard to establish new lodges at a time when travel was very difficult
and had to put up with food native Indians eat. (Anyone who complain about
current conditions at Adyar may well read ODL to get some idea of the
conditions 100 years ago, when HPB&HSO toiled in India.)


So in any organization or any movement, social, religious or spiritual, the
basic question that comes up is the number of people or members involved.
So, numbers are important. Sometimes one hears the question of quality vs
quantity. Since we do not have an objective way to measure quality, we have
to live with quantity.


The membership trend in countries outside India is very sad. It is skidding
downward with no end in sight. So the top priority issue for all of us,
especially the elected leaders of sections is membership decline.


TS is organized with total autonomy at Lodge and Section levels. So it is
Sections' elected leaders' responsibility to address this issue urgently and
find solutions to stop the bleeding. Any amount of fiddling with the
International Rules cannot fix this problem, because it can only be solved
at the grass-roots level.


ARE THE MEMBERS BEING HOOD-WINKED?


Let us look at the current climate within TS.

Firstly - a coordinated attempt to defeat Radha Burnier was made by some of
the GC members by feeding inaccurate and possibly deliberate misinformation
to members. Feeding inaccurate or misinformation is not a brotherly action.

Secondly - immediately following the election, the same GC members involved
in the above attempt, proposed an Ultra Secret plan to disenfranchise
members along with other radical changes was sent to the GC with the intent
of quick approval and implementation before general membership woke up. It
was so secret that no one either at Wheaton or Adyar (except GC members and
International Secretary) was aware of it and the members and workers at the
two Centers, to their surprise and dismay, had to find out about them from
Internet. TS Members also do not have any idea as to what else is being
cooked in secrecy by the GC members.

The above changes were proposed under the ruse of organizational changes
needed at International level. This is simply an attempt to hood-wink
members and divert their attention from the serious single real issue facing
TS i.e. declining membership.


All that has happened since December 2007, has shattered the trust members
had in their leaders who are behind the above events. So, under the current
climate, members are going to be highly skeptical of the leaders.


MKR


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