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Coordinates: 13°00′37″N 80°16′13″E / 13.01016°N 80.27028°E
The Theosophy Society - Adyar is the original Theosophical Society founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. Its headquarters moved with Blavatsky and president Henry Steel Olcott to Adyar, an area of Chennai in 1883. The designation 'Adyar' is added to clarify that this is the Theosophical Society with headquarters there, after the American faction led by William Quan Judge left to form its own organization. That other organization today titles itself simply the Theosophical Society, though often with the clarifying statement, "International Headquarters, Pasadena, California".
The presidents of the Theosophical Society - Adyar have included Annie Besant, George Arundale, C. Jinarajadasa, Nilakanta Sri Ram, John Coats and Radha Burnier.
This organization also has a North American National Section called the Theosophical Society in America located at the Olcott Estate in Wheaton, Illinois. The Wheaton location also houses a division that publishes Quest magazine.
Founders
H.P. Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge and others founded the Theosophical Society. The American Section split off with William Quan Judge as its leader. Henry Steel Olcott remained president of the Theosophical Society. After his death in 1907 Annie Besant succeeded him.
Year & place of founding
- 17 November, 1875 in New York City
Aims & ideals
- To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color.
- To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science.
- To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.
Monastic / Non-monastic
The Theosophical Society is open to anybody who supports its three objects, regardless of belief, social custom or marriage status. Celibacy is neither encouraged nor discouraged, each member being free to decide his/her own way of life.
General philosophical outlook
- There exists a Consciousness (Logos), Universal and Individual
- Immortality of Man
- Belief in Reincarnation
- Belief in theory of Karma
- Universal Brotherhood
- Evolution is God's plan and every individual ascends to Divinity
Spiritual disciplines generally advocated
The main spiritual discipline expected of members is the practice of brotherhood (or universal kindness) regardless of race, creed, sex, color, gender or any other difference between people. Members are free to have any or no spiritual practice at all. It is thought that the practice of universal kindness is difficult enough and any other practice can't be mandatory because the Theosophical Society is open to people from all religious backgrounds. On theosophical compounds there is usually the rule that people abstain from meat, alcohol and smoking. The Theosophical path is proposed to embrace three practices--meditation, study and service. Members are free to decide the way and extent they practice them.
Administrative set-up
The organization has a highly autonomous setup in that lodges and sections are fully autonomous. The President gets involved in National Section matters only when there is some dispute between them. Otherwise the President does not interfere in the matters of the sections or lodges. The President is nominated by the members of the General Council and then elected by members all over the world. President holds office for seven year period. The Vice-President acts on behalf of the President as necessary and assists him or her in various ways. The Secretary handles worldwide correspondence, maintains records including statistics of the worldwide membership of the Society, its Lodges and Sections, and is responsible for producing an annual report. He/she is also the Secretary of the General Council and the Executive Committee of the Society. This Committee, which meets a number of times each year, implements the decisions of the General Council, and makes financial and administrative decisions relating to the Society's Headquarters. The Treasurer is responsible for the finances of the Society, and prepares an annual financial report.
Locally members are organised in lodges. When a country has at least seven lodges, these can be gathered in a national section. Lodges and sections have a democratic organisation in which chairperson, secretary, treasurer and optional other officers are elected. Similarly officers of the national sections are directly elected by the members of that section in a business meeting.
Recent election of President
The International President is elected by members world wide and holds office for a period of seven years. The most recent election which took place in 2008 was remarkable for the unusual events surrounding it. There was an attempt by a handful of General Council members to defeat the sitting President Radha Burnier by alleging that she is sick both mentally and physically. In many countries, especially outside India, the members were told by their leaders of this allegation. However, soon thereafter, three physicians from two continents who examined her found her fully fit both mentally and physically, thus putting this allegation to rest. However, those who tried to defeat the sitting president did not take trouble to inform their members of this incontrovertible fact. Thanks to Internet, many members world-wide found out the truth and Radha Burnier was re-elected with a substantial majority of the votes.
Members thought that the controversy was over with the election. But it was not to be. Soon, an ultra secret plan to quickly disenfranchise members and the General Council to seize the election (which is really appointment) of President was developed by a handful of GC members who opposed the election of the sitting president and was planned to be adopted in December 2008 and take members by surprise. It was timely discovered and broadcast world-wide on Internet and a disaster was averted. You can read all about it at theos-talk group at groups.yahoo.com.
The result of the above events is that many members now have a very low trust in their National Leaders. What else one can expect when leaders try to disenfranchise in great secrecy. Under this condition, future recruitment and retention of members is going to be very difficult and it is going to take a long time before the credibility of the National Leaders is restored.
International By-Laws
The International Rules and Regulations can be found at <http://teozofija.info/Teozofsko_gibanje/Rules_TS_E.htm> [Full text which was here before has been replaced with a link to save space]
Each Section has its own bylaws in compliance with the local laws of the country. However, the Sections bylaws cannot be in conflict with those of the International Rules.
Membership Growth/Decline
India has the largest membership of all countries. During the last several decades, membership in India has shown a steady growth while in other countries, a steep decline. For example, when India has shown about 65% growth, in the USA, it is stated that it declined about 50% and in Netherlands, no new lodge has been chartered in the last 50 years. No one has investigated the reason for this unusual trend. If the current trend continues, soon the society may disappear from several Western and European countries in the next couple of decades.
Recent Developments regarding GC Meeting
There has been a lot of allegations/speculation about what happened in the recent GC meeting. Fortunately, the International Secretary who was present at the meeting has now clarified some of the details, since he is now an ordinary member and is no longer holding the office. The detailed messages are in the archives of theos-talk at groups.yahoo.com so that the reader can come to their own conclusions.
Provision for joining
Anyone who is in sympathy with the three objects of the Theosophical Society can become a member.
Present chief of the movement
Radha Burnier is the President.
Activities
Religion & spirituality
The Theosophical Society is organised in lodges and national sections. These organise meetings for religious study and lectures. Members individually practice any kind of meditation or other spiritual practice they choose.
Social field
- The Olcott Education Society
- The Olcott Memorial School
- The Olcott Memorial High School
- The Theosophical Order of Service
Olcott Memorial High School provides free education, uniforms, books, and two daily meals to impoverished rural children in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. [2]
Cultural field
- Theosophical Publishing House
Relief activities
When the Tsunami hit South India and many of the people living near the Adyar-compound were affected, the Theosophical Society, through the Theosophical Order of Service, helped them survive and later helped (and is still helping) to reclaim their lives. Similar activities were undertaken after the Hurricane that destroyed much of New Orleans in 2005.
Province of its influence
The influence of the Theosophical Society has been major, especially considering its small size. The new age movement involves many of its main characteristics especially holism and eclecticism. In Modern Art Kandinsky and Mondriaan are both famous and both were influenced by theosophy.
Theosophical Society and Jiddu Krishnamurti
Theosophical Society is also responsible for the discovery of the world-famous philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. While the leaders of the Theosophical Society helped him in his early years, he came up with his own philosophy - Truth is a Pathless Land - and severed connections with all organizations, including the Theosophical Society. It is remarkable that many members of the Theosophical Society are ardent students of his philosophy.
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Publications
- Magazines
- Brahmavidya — Adyar Library Bulletin
- The Theosophist - English monthly
- Adyar Newsletter - quarterly journal
- Wake Up India - quarterly journal
- The Theosophical Digest - quarterly journal
- Books
- The Key to Theosophy - H. P. Blavatsky
- An Outline of Theosophy - C.W. Leadbeater
- The Ancient Wisdom - Annie Besant
- At the Feet of the Master - Alcyone
- First Principles of Theosophy - C. Jinarajadasa
- Light on the Path - Mabel Collins
- Seven Great Religions - Annie Besant
- Quest Books is the imprint of the Theosophical Publishing House, the publishing arm of the Theosophical Society in America (Wheaton, IL) branch of the International Theosophical Society Adyar.
- Internet maillist -- theos-talk at www.groups.yahoo.com. A very active and independent maillist which has no official connection with any organization is a valuable source for uptodate information on all matters relating to theosophy and TS Adyar and others. The archives are also Public.
- Internet Community - www.theosophy.net - An new public community website setup by a few interested theosophists. It is totally independent and is not funded or directly or indirectly controlled or moderated by any theosophy organization.
See also
- Survey of Hindu organisations
- Anthroposophy (Rudolf Steiner)
- J. Krishnamurti
- Theosophy
- Adyar Library
References
- Washington, Peter (1995) Madame Blavatsky's Baboon: A History of the Mystics, Mediums, and Misfits Who Brought Spiritualism to America., Schocken; 1st American ed edition. ISBN 0-8052-4125-6
- Theosophical chronology
- Influence of the Theosophical Society and Theosophists
- Ransom, Josephine (1938) A Short History of the Theosophical Society, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1938, ISBN 81-7059-122-8
External links
- Theosophical Society - Adyar
- Theosophical Society in America
- Aikya - Theosophical Society in Greece - Good Discussions on current events in TS
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