The History of the Esoteric School 1904–1914, Volume One

GA 264 — Berlin

Circular letter, presumably to the chairpersons of the branches of the German section

Regarding the election of Annie Besant, head of the Esoteric School, as president of the Theosophical Society, which led to the separation of the Esoteric School.

Typewritten text, page 1 and signature missing.

End of February 1907

The President-Founder has been granted the right to make a proposal regarding his successor based on his personal preference. In the meantime, the Vice President is taking over the business and initiating the election process. Everyone can vote for whomever they choose. The President's suggestion is not binding. The election will not begin before May 1. No ballot submitted before May 1 will be valid. During the month of May, all members will elect the new President of the Theosophical Society. Sinnett is the acting Vice President until the election.

I will not make use of what I now want to say, so I will not say anything about it, although it has been mentioned in other sections.

If we had been informed by Olcott that he was proposing Annie Besant, we would all have elected Annie Besant. But Colonel Olcott's proposal arises in connection with psychic phenomena. It has been communicated in a communiqué sent to all the General Secretaries that on the last day of Olcott's life the two Masters appeared to him on his deathbed and expressed their wish that Mrs. Besant should succeed Colonel Olcott.

They would probably excuse me from discussing this matter precisely because I believe I know something about these things. However, I am in the special position of not being able to express myself further on all these matters. We would be in a difficult position if we were to refer to this communiqué. We must therefore treat it as if it did not exist. We must regard it as if it were only Colonel Olcott's personal wish. We will ignore the content of the matter and discuss only the formalities.

We must not care whether Olcott was advised by a Schulze or a Müller or by a Mahatma. It may well be that he was given the advice by a Mahatma. This is an administrative act, and it is true that the Masters do not concern themselves with administrative matters on the physical plane. On the other hand, we would be in a strange position if we opposed the decision of the Masters. So we simply have to write the name we want on the ballot paper. For those who live in the occult life, the Master's word would be absolutely binding. Olcott may have taken advice. That is his business as an esotericist, but not the business of the Society. If we were to regard it as the wish of the Master, we Theosophists would be in a very difficult position. If the Adyar Communiqué were correct, the President would be appointed and we would not need to elect him.

I would like to ask you urgently to do what you can to ensure that this matter is discussed as little as possible or not at all. However, it should be recognized that the German section at least understands that these things do not belong in public, and that if they must be discussed, they are treated like an intimate family matter in society. We can only serve the true, great cause if we not only try to remain silent about this matter, but also if we try to maintain this silence in such a way that the matter does not become public, so that it can never appear in our newspapers. Just think what a shock could be caused to our society if it became known in the world that the Theosophical Society has the President appointed by extrasensory means. This appointment is to be considered as non-existent. This is difficult, because it can be read everywhere and because there is discussion about whether it should be considered valuable or not. The only thing to do is to pay no attention to it. The high teachings of wisdom have nothing to do with the administrative affairs of society. The content is provided by wisdom, the framework for it is to be provided and formed by people.

Not only out of my conscience, but also out of my knowledge, I had to give you this advice: to ignore the communiqué.