Theos-Talk Archives (December 2008 Message tt00105)

That is well said!!!
Spiritual regeneration, all over this world from the heart and head 
of Adyar.
Christina


-- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Pedro Oliveira" <prmoliveira@...> 
wrote:
>
> [Below is the text of an article written by me and published in The 
> Theosophist, May 2004]
> 
> 
> Why Adyar Was Chosen
> 
> The Founders of the Theosophical Society did not have a personal 
> agenda. Their critics kept (and still keep) saying that they were 
> either spies, cultural saboteurs, frauds and even agents of the 
> devil! But the lives of Col. Olcott and Madame Blavatsky, their 
> legacy and the uplifting influence they had on many who met them, 
> speak for themselves.
> 
> Although the TS was founded in New York in 1875, HSO and HPB sailed 
> to India on 17 December 1878, arriving in Bombay on 16 February 
> 1879, where they eventually established their headquarters at 
`Crows 
> Nest', in Breach Candy. Neither Olcott nor Blavatsky made a secret 
> of being both dedicated to serve those great souls who are referred 
> to as Mahatmas in the East. There is ample independent evidence 
from 
> that time that at least two Mahatmas occasionally visited and had 
> conversations with both of the Founders during their life of work 
> for the Society. Sometimes such visits would come at crucial 
> moments, either when HPB was at death's door or when the pressure 
on 
> Col. Olcott was at breaking point. In such visits the Mahatmas 
> offered healing, guidance and reassurance to the Founders about 
> their work for the TS, without taking upon themselves the heavy 
> responsibilities the Founders had voluntarily accepted to undertake.
> 
> Writing in The Theosophist, July1882, in an editorial comment 
> entitled "Coming Events Foretold", which preceded a statement by a 
> chela of Ramalinga Pillay who, much before the Founders had arrived 
> in India, had preached the principle of Universal Brotherhood and 
> the existence of the Mahatmas, HPB remarked:
> 
> "When, in answer to a direct challenge, the author of The Occult 
> World wrote to the Bombay Gazette (April 4, 1882), he began his 
> letter with the following profession of faith: "I was already sure, 
> when I wrote The Occult World, that the Theosophical Society was 
> connected, through Madame Blavatsky, with the great Brotherhood of 
> Adepts I described. I now know this to be the case, which much 
> greater amplitude of knowledge." Little did our loyal friend fancy, 
> when he was penning these lines, that his assertion would one day 
be 
> capable of corroboration by the testimony of thousands. But such is 
> now the state of the case. Skeptics and prejudiced or interested 
> witnesses in general may scoff as they like, the fact cannot be 
> gainsaid. ...
> 
> While at Madras [May,1882], we were told that a well-known Tamil 
> scholar, a Pandit in the Presidency College, desired to have a 
> private conversation with us. The interview occurred in the 
presence 
> of Mr Singaravelu, President of the Krishna Theosophical Society, 
> and another trustworthy Theosophist, Mr C. Aravamudu Ayangar, a 
> Sanskritist, of Nellore. We are no more at liberty to repeat here 
> all the questions put to us by the interviewer than we are to 
> divulge certain other facts, which would still more strongly 
> corroborate our repeated assertions that (1) our Society was 
founded 
> at the direct suggestion of Indian and Tibetan Adepts; and (2) that 
> in coming to this country we but obeyed their wishes. But we shall 
> leave our friends to draw their own inferences from all the 
facts."  
> 
> Although the Society quickly expanded with the arrival of the 
> Founders in India, they were searching for a suitable Headquarters. 
> In Old Diary Leaves (Second Series), Col. Olcott explains:
> 
> "In my travels over India and Ceylon I had been observing places, 
> people, and climates, with a view to selecting the best place for a 
> permanent Headquarters for the Society. Liberal offers of houses, 
> free of rent, had been made us in Ceylon, and, certainly, the 
Island 
> presented a most charming appearance to one seeking an Asian home; 
> but several considerations, such as its isolation from India, the 
> cost of postage ... overweighted its loveliness and led us to 
choose 
> India in preference. Up to the present time, however, no good 
> property had been offered us, and we had made no definite plans. On 
> 31st May [1882], however, we two were begged by Judge Muttuswamy's 
> sons to go and look at a property that was to be had cheap. We were 
> driven to Adyar, and at the first glance knew that our future home 
> was found. 
> 
> People glibly speak of Madras as "the Benighted Presidency" and as 
> being insufferably hot. The fact is, however, that as regards 
> climate I prefer it above the others, and as to Sanskrit Literature 
> and Aryan Philosophy, it is the most enlightened of the Indian 
> Presidencies; there are more learned Pandits in the villages, and 
> the educated class, as a whole, have been less spoilt by Western 
> education. In Bengal and Bombay there are more litterateurs of the 
> class of Telang and Bhandarkar, but I cannot recall one equal to T. 
> Subba Row, of Madras, in bright genius for grasping the spirit of 
> the Ancient Wisdom. And his being at Madras was one of the causes 
of 
> our fixing upon that Presidency town for our official residence. 
> Although he is dead and gone, yet we have never regretted our 
> choice, for Adyar is a sort of paradise."
> 
> To fully appreciate Col. Olcott's reference to Subba Row it may be 
> helpful to mention the  following passages from The Mahatma Letters 
> to A. P. Sinnett: 
> 
> "This Subba Row will help you [Sinnett] to learn, though his terms 
? 
> he being an initiated Brahmin and holding to the Brahmanical 
> esoteric teaching ? will be different from those of the "Arhat 
> Buddhist" terminology". (Letter 60, chronological.) 
> 
> "Upasika (Madam B.) and Subba Row, though pupils of the same 
Master, 
> have not followed the same philosophy ? the one is Buddhist and the 
> other an Adwaitee." (Letter 120, chronological.) 
> 
> The presence of this initiated Chela in Madras was therefore of 
> paramount importance in the Founders' decision to establish the TS 
> Headquarters there. And it also made clear the character of Adyar 
as 
> a centre for the Masters' work.  
> 
> HPB, in a letter to her aunt Nadyezhda A. de Fadeyev (published in 
> The Path, September 1895), described the beautiful quiet that is 
one 
> of the enduring aspects of Adyar as a spiritual centre:
> 
> "It is simply delightful. What air we have here; what nights! And 
> what marvellous quiet! No more city noises and street yells. I am 
> sitting quietly writing, and now and then gaze over the ocean 
> sparkling all over as if a living thing ? really. I am often under 
> the impression that the sea breathes, or that it is angry, roaring 
> and hurling itself about in wrath... But when it is quiet and 
> caressing, there can be nothing in the world as fascinating as its 
> beauty, especially on a moonlight night. The moon here against the 
> deep dark-blue sky seems twice as big and ten times brighter than 
> your European little mother-of-pearl ball."
> 
> Such were the momentous beginnings of Adyar as the home of the 
> Theosophical Society. It was not only the home of the Founders; it 
> was and it remains the heart of the worldwide theosophical work 
> which was spearheaded by them. During Annie Besant's presidency the 
> state was expanded into the beautiful campus it is today. Many 
> generations of devoted workers have served there and their 
> dedication, devotion and profound altruistic commitment to 
Theosophy 
> has definitely contributed in making Adyar the `Flaming Centre' it 
> is. 
> 
> The beauty of Adyar is indeed incomparable and it exerts a profound 
> influence on the consciousness of those who visit or stay there, 
> sometimes even of those who just visit for a very short while. 
While 
> working there the writer had the occasion of meeting rather briefly 
> an overseas businessman on a short visit to Madras. He came to 
Adyar 
> and his experience there led him to say: "It is a pity I that I 
have 
> to go away so soon. This is a remarkable place. There is something 
> sacred here." This was, of course, the experience of many, many 
> others. Perhaps it is not difficult to understand that 121 years of 
> continuous theosophical work for the spiritual regeneration of 
> humanity have created at Adyar a very special and profound 
> atmosphere. Annie Besant expressed this realization beautifully 
when 
> she wrote: "Work for Adyar, the Masters' Home". In this way Adyar 
is 
> the very heart of the Theosophical Society, radiating those 
powerful 
> and uplifting influences to every theosophical centre in the world 
> as well as to the entire planet.
> 
> Therefore those who, from time to time, say or imply that the 
> International Headquarters of the TS should be elsewhere do not 
> have, obviously, an informed opinion about the subject. Sometimes 
> one of the reasons given for such a change is the perceived lack of 
> security and efficiency in India. Let us examine this point. The 
> attacks on New York on 11 September 2001 have made clear that 
> absolute security is a myth, for if terrorists could strike at the 
> heart of the nation with the mightiest military power on earth, as 
> they did, they could do so anywhere else in the world. Also, the 
> Theosophical Society is not a business corporation seeking to 
> dominate any given market. It is not, and it has never been, guided 
> by worldly values or sagacity. The peace, quiet, harmony and 
> indescribable beauty of Adyar are, in themselves, an enormous 
> contribution to the world, for through them the Great Ones pour out 
> constantly their regenerating blessings. As for efficiency, the 
> example at Adyar is given by our International President herself, 
> for she works seven days a week, travels incessantly to visit and 
> speak to centres of the TS worldwide, deals with an inhumane amount 
> of correspondence and is responsible for the overall activities at 
> that Centre. Also, Adyar has kept apace with the new technologies 
> and all the major offices are provided with electronic 
> communications, the Centre has an informative web site and the 
> Theosophical Publishing House has an online catalogue and its books 
> are in constant demand.
> 
> For the individual member who has the unique privilege of working 
> and serving at Adyar, there is a very special opportunity. Unlike 
> many in the world today believe, a real spiritual centre is not 
> meant for people to have `a good time', receive `messages from 
> gurus', develop `powers', nor any of the like. The power of a true 
> spiritual centre, when one is sincere, helps to accelerate in the 
> individual the process of self-confrontation, bringing to the 
> surface of the conscious mind every hitherto hidden content, 
> tendencies, deceptions and vices, as well as  spiritual aspiration, 
> goodness and any other moral quality which were laying dormant 
> within him or her.  This results in a very efficient and lasting 
> educational process, helping the person to lay strong foundations 
on 
> the path of self-knowledge, for unless one is self-aware one cannot 
> really help the forces of wisdom and compassion in their work to 
> liberate human consciousness from the illusion of separateness. 
> 
> It is a very great privilege and honour to have Adyar has the head 
> and the heart of the Theosophical Society. And the fact that many, 
> many members, all over the world, remember Adyar and support it in 
> every way they can is an eloquent testimony of Adyar's living and 
> strong spiritual heritage. May Adyar grow always stronger and may 
> those TS members who are ready offer themselves to go there and 
> devote the best years of their lives to what Adyar stands for: the 
> spiritual regeneration of humanity.
>