Theos-Talk Archives (February 2010 Message tt00269)

New Information re: Radha Burnierâs health in Dec 2007

Finally hold hold of the minutes of the GC meetings in 2005 to 2007 to
inform myself of the decisions taken. As I expected, I was in for a great
surprise, because the GC members are keeping their mouths shut and also the
minutes are not easy to find. I do not know how many of the members have
seen any of the minutes.

One of the interesting statements in the minutes of meeting held on December
25, 2007 was:

âMiss Elvira Carbonell, who works in the Secretaryâs Office, had sent a
letter to some members of the General Council on behalf of âseveral of us at
Adyar who feel the need to write to members of the General Council.â She
states that it would be preferable if the President, due to her state of
health, did not stand for election again, and that they are in favor of the
Vice President.â

This is the first overt inkling of using Presidentâs health as the key
reason for dissuading her from standing for election and an attempt to
influence the GC council members from not nominating her, even before she
had indicated whether she is going be a candidate or not. Without sufficient
nominations, one cannot be candidate, and that would end the matter.

As far as I know, Elvira is a not a high level employee or officer in the
Secretaryâs office. Due to her working in the International Secretaryâs
office, she must have been privy to a lot of highly confidential and
sensitive information because all official correspondence passes through the
office of the Secretary.

Since the letter was sent even before the nominations were called for, it
points to (1) she was most likely being used by others, even possibly by
some of the International Officers and others in key positions in Adyar who
did not want Radha Burnier to be reelected, and (2) the distinct possibility
of a well orchestrated effort by some of the leaders and elected Officers to
induce members to believe Radha Burnier to be sick and hence should not be
elected.

It is also likely that the planning for the electioneering may have been
going on for some time and possibly starting with the changes made in the
2006 GC meeting where the rules were changed to add nominators names to the
ballots (to influence the uninformed rookie members.)

The minutes of the 2006 meeting does not disclose the reasons why after more
than a century, suddenly the GC found it necessary to make the change and
who was the real force behind the change. Adding nominators to ballot is a
well proven trick found effective in the USA, the past leaders and elders
trying to influence the rookie members in a subtle manner.

The above also raises the possibility, even as early as 2006, some of the
Officers and staff making use of the official resources of the offices in
canvassing the support of GC members not to nominate and reelect Radha
Burnier.

Furthermore, we also do not know whether any of the Officers traveled to
various sections in the World for canvassing purposes using TS funds under
the guise they are visiting for lecturing purposes.

The minutes of 2007 meeting also states:

âThe President (Radha Burnier) stated that she intended to stand for
re-election, as she is now in good health. Dr. Dusan Zagar, who was present,
when asked what he thought, declared that the President was now in good
health.â

The above declaration of Dr. Zagar (a Physician) in December 2007 is a new
piece of information that most members were not aware of. The significance
of the above is discussed below.

The theosophists in the USA and some of the other parts of the world were
told of the alleged poor health of Radha Burnier, when they received letters
from their General Secretaries of Sections urging members not to vote for
Radha Burnier due to her poor health. The initial reaction of most ordinary
members was sadness and surprise. The allegation of the General Secretaries
was based simply on lay men/womenâs opinions on the health of Radha Burnier.
Some time later, two additional independent Physicians certified her fit and
even Dr. Zagar issued a certificate to this effect.

The first object of TS is Brotherhood. Members expect to be treated a
brothers and sisters in all matters especially in very important matters
such as election. The motto of TS is - There is no Religion higher than
Truth. Members also expect to be truthful to each other.

When someone is a theosophical leader, who has been a long time member of
TS, perhaps reached highest levels in the ES/ER  etc. and holding the
highest degrees in Co-Masonry, and who has been lecturing for years on the
theosophical classics, members have high expectations.

The 2007 GC meeting was attended, among others, by John Algeo (who was the
opposing candidate in 2008 election), Nano Leguay, Betty Bland, and Kim
Dieu.

In the communication to members from Bland trying to get Algeo elected,
while emphasizing the poor health of Radha Burnier, did not disclose to the
members Dr. Zagar's statement that the President was now in good health.
Bland was present at the GC meeting and was a witness to Dr. Zagarâs
statement and withholding this information from the members cannot be
justified under any circumstances. Nor we have heard any comment from the
opposing candidate to set facts right when incomplete and incorrect
information was being fed to the members just to influence their votes.

What is more shocking for ordinary members is that even after three well
known physicians independently certifying to the good health of President,
none of the GC members who told their members that she is sick did not take
trouble to inform their members about the physiciansâ certification.
Theosophists expect their brothers and sisters to be even handed and fair
when dealing with important matters. Which was not done in this case.

Members world-wide still do not know all the facts that went on behind the
scenes in the nomination and electioneering. When future historians write
about them. I will not be surprised if they will be better than a mystery
novel.

MKR

There is no religion higher than truth


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