Theos-Talk Archives (April 2009 Message tt00219)

Here are some more points related to Presidential election. 
Indian population is rapidly increasing and western population might stagnate. It means membership in India will increase giving more power to Indians in electing the President of TS. 
Another thing is there can arise many good leaders from among the Indian TS membership. And any foreign aspirant will be competing with Indian leaders in Presidential election. Unless foreign leader is much superior to Indian leaders, he/she won't get votes from Indian members. Because of these factors and those mentioned in earlier message, chances for a foreign leader to get elected as President of TS are very slim in TRULY democratic election and in situation where nobody enjoys unfair advantage due to other reasons.
In case of Sonia Gandhi, she had great advantage because she was already married in ruling Gandhi dynasty. So, in a sense, she inherited political power.

Best
Anand Gholap

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Anand" <AnandGholap@...> wrote:
>
> India has largest membership because it is a country with 1.1 billion population. India has second largest population in the world. You need to consider percentage of members (number of members divided by population of the country multiplied by 100) Percentage membership in India is not very different from other countries.
> But vast population in India means largest TS membership in India. That means any person who wants to become President of TS must be able to win substantial votes from Indian members. As foreigners (non-Indians) are not going to live in India for decades, it will be difficult for them to become popular among Indian members. It means maximum chances for becoming President are for a person who lives in India and gains popularity in India. Indians respect western people and are not against giving post to them. Most powerful political leader in India for last many years is Sonia Gandhi. She is Italian and yet Indians accept her as leader. Indians also accepted foreigners like Olcott, Annie Besant, G.S. Arundale etc. Important thing to be remember is these leaders lived in India and could earn respect from Indian members.  I think if any foreign leader has to earn respect and votes among Indian members, he will have to live in India and work for Theosophy. If foreign leaders are not willing to live in India for decades, then Indian member who lives in India has maximum chances of becoming a President. 
> Also a foreigner who wants to earn respect among Indians must be outstanding in his inner development. Olcott, AB, Arundale had exceptional inner development and so they were elected by Indians. Indians are not going to support foreigners just because he or she is foreigner. They will see inner development. 
> That means a foreigner must have exceptional inner development and he must live in India for many decades. Then he might gain votes from Indian members and become President of TS. 
> Are there any people outside India who are exceptionally brilliant and are willing to live in India for decades?
> The above analysis explains dynamics of Presidential elections. Things will work as explained above IF TS remains democratic in true sense. 
> Best
> Anand Gholap
> 
> 
> --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, MKR <mkr777@> wrote:
> >
> > HPB was sent to the USA to find HSO and launch the TS in New York. HPB
> > clearly stated that she was following the orders from the Lodge and the two
> > Brothers from Tibet. Both were then ordered to go to India. India was
> > unknown to HSO and the future prospects were totally unknown. They left for
> > India because of their total trust and confidence in the wisdom of the
> > Brothers. The life and travel in India was very difficult for someone who
> > grew up in the West.
> > 
> > HPB knew USA was the cradle of the next Root Race and was aware of the great
> > future progress of the Humanity lies in the USA. But, anyone who did not
> > have an inkling of the wisdom of the Brothers would have thought that HPB
> > and HSO were foolish to go India with unknown future.
> > 
> > After transplanting TS in India and establishing the world headquarters in
> > Adyar, TS grew world-wide. The growth was rapid during the years when Annie
> > Besant was the President and the World Teacher project was progressing.
> > 
> > After the Jiddu Krishnamurtiâ??s announcement of his Truth is a Pathless Land
> > message, the membership world-wide took a hit. But the basic foundation that
> > developed till then, continued to remain strong as ever even thought the
> > membership numbers did not reflect the inherent strength. Many may dispute
> > this. There is no objective way to measure the strength. One indication that
> > is worth noting is that even today, world-wide, there are numerous TS
> > members who study Krishnajiâ??s lectures and watch the videos.
> > 
> > The issue of relevance of India to TS relative to the rest of the world has
> > come into sharp focus in the recent election. Membership in India has shown
> > steady growth from year to year during the last several decades. On the
> > other hand, in most of the countries outside India, it has been stagnant or
> > on a downward slide. Of course those who find excuses for everything will
> > argue the issue of quantity vs quality. There is no proof to substantiate
> > this.
> > 
> > Currently the membership in India is the largest. I think this fact is a
> > significant evidence of the wisdom of the Brothers in their decision to move
> > the TS to India. A significant result of this fact is that anyone who
> > aspires to lead the TS in the future has to have substantial support from
> > the members in India. Without substantial support from members in India, no
> > candidate can get elected. The numerical strength of members in India is
> > also a bulwark against any future administrationâ??s attempt to belittle Adyar
> > as a token site of TS.
> > 
> > It is pitiful to watch the events since the start of the election last year.
> > Presenting untruthful health information about Radha Burnier to members
> > outside India with the simple objective of defeating the sitting president
> > is unprecedented in the TS history. Also the unsubstantiated attempt to
> > allege procedural errors in voting in India enraged most membership in
> > India, which will make the motivation of any candidate from outside India
> > highly suspect in the minds of members for a long time to come. Compounding
> > all of the above was the attempted coup to seize the presidency by
> > disenfranchising membership world-wide and control appointment of future
> > presidents by a handful of GC members.
> > 
> > The overwhelming membership in India and the role played by Internet in
> > demolishing the untruthful information and the distribution of the coup
> > discovery prevented a fatal blow to the TS.
> > 
> > I think that all of the above are an indication of the foresight of the
> > Brothers and some may poo-poo the whole idea.
> > 
> > MKR
> > 
> > There is no religion higher than truth
> > 
> > 
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>