To the Members of the Executive Board of the German Section of the Theosophical Society

Dear friends!

As you know from the letters I have written to the individual members and to the chairmen of the branches, we will soon be obliged to elect the successor to our dear deceased president-founder. The circumstances of this election in general have also been discussed in these letters. I am now addressing the matter to the dear friends of the board in these lines. I emphasize once again that in formal terms there is no ambiguity at first. This ambiguity could only arise later from an imperfection of the statutes, which I will discuss below.

I first quote the relevant passages of the statutes, in the version in which they have been established since April 1905.

They read:

§.9. The President-Founder H.S. Olcott holds the office of President for life and has the right to nominate his successor. This nomination is subject to confirmation by the Society. The vote shall be cast in the manner prescribed for the election of the President.

§.10. Six months before the expiration of the President's term of office, the General Council shall, at a meeting convened for that purpose, nominate his successor, and the nomination shall be communicated to the Secretaries-General and the Archivist. Each Secretary-General shall collect the votes according to the rules of his Section, and the Archivist shall collect the votes of the other members of the Society. A majority of two-thirds of the votes cast shall be necessary for election. Now I would also like to add the names of the members of the General Council:

Ex officio: A. P. Sinnett, Hon. Sir S. Subramaniam Iyer, W. A. English, Alexander Fullerton, Upendra Nath B su, Bertram Keightley, W. G. John, Arvid Knös, C. W. Sanders, W. B. Fricke, Dr. Theodor Pascal, Decio Calvari, Dr. Rudolf Steiner, Jose M. Massö. In addition, the following assessors: Annie Besant, G. R.S. Mead, Khan Bahadur Kaoroji Khandalwala, Dinshaw Jivaji Edal Behram, Francesca Arundale, Tumachendra Row, Charles Blech.

Now it is quite clear that these provisions contain regrettable ambiguities, and that if the current election does not produce a positive result on the first ballot, we have no provision at all for this eventuality, unless, as some seem to be doing, we assume that the General Council can then make a second nomination. But such a thing is not mentioned in the above passages, in any case. Furthermore, it should be considered that if the statutes are interpreted literally – and we must undoubtedly adhere to such an interpretation – the member can do nothing but either elect the person designated by the president-founder or express on the ballot that he does not want the latter. It would therefore serve no purpose at all to write any other name on the ballot paper. Whether what is supposed to happen here can still be called an election seems at the very least questionable. After all, you can only say yes or no. But of course we can do nothing other than adhere to the statutes in the present case.

In January, the president-founder sent me a circular in which he announced that the Masters had appeared to him at his sickbed and had caused him to appoint Mrs. Besant as his successor. Nothing more was stated in this and similar letters than that the president-founder was nominating Mrs. Besant as his successor. Officially, no consideration could be given to the fact that the President stated that he had received the advice of the Masters to do so. For by such consideration we would have conjured up esoteric questions, such as those concerning the Masters and the truth of their appearance at Olcott's sickbed while dealing with a purely administrative matter, such as the election of the President. And we have had painful enough experience of where that leads. In other sections, they did not do what seemed to me to be the only right thing, to simply remain silent about the master apparitions, how esoteric questions are to be treated in mere business, but they spoke about them. And that has also generated a flood of writings and counter-writings, a regrettable discussion in which things are discussed that can only be discussed in quiet esoteric work and certainly not during a presidential election. Officially, nothing could be considered other than the nomination of Mrs. Besant by the president-founder. Officially, nothing else concerned us, because it was Olcott's business to decide whether he sought advice from an ordinary mortal or from a master. The members had to consider nothing else but the nomination, and then decide whether they considered Mrs. Besant to be the appropriate person or not. This is not to say, of course, that unofficially the appearances of the Masters could not have been announced so that the Council, which for Olcott was one, could also have become one for those who believe in the Masters, and who can also believe that the appearances in Adyar were really the Masters. So it was quite clear what I had to do as Secretary-General. First officially announce that it is Olcott's wish that Mrs. Besant be elected. Then, after Olcott's death, carry out the election. And at the same time, unofficially, as a friend, let the confidential information about the Master's appearances reach the members. To initiate the election before Olcott's death would have seemed absurd to me. For if one could have spoken of Olcott's imminent death as an esoteric, it would never have occurred to me to base an administrative act on it. After all, in theory, Olcott could have lived for another ten years. Since the term of office for the new president is only for seven years according to the statutes, we would have had two presidents if Olcott had lived for another ten years, the second of whom would never have been able to take office. Now I must confess that it is completely beyond me how some sections can initiate the election while Olcott is still alive. Now, immediately after the passing of our dear President-Founder, I received an official letter dated February 28 from Vice President Mr. Sinnett, which stated that the election should take place in the month of May and that only those ballots sent to the General Secretaries between the first and last of May would be valid. This gave me a definite and indisputable directive. I had to carry out the election in May. Mr. Sinnett is rightly in charge after the President's death. It is therefore also up to him to conduct the election.

The German section will now also proceed in line with Mr. Sinnett's letter.

Each member will receive their ballot paper with the necessary information at the appropriate time.

If nothing else had happened, I would not have needed to write to our dear Theosophical friends. After all, everything is actually clear.

But now, as a result of the unusual communications mentioned, extensive discussions have taken place. Outside the German Section, people have spoken out against the authenticity of the Master's apparitions. Even the oldest members of the Theosophical Society have done so. Some have turned against Mrs. Besant quite fiercely. It was said that Mrs. Besant already has too many offices. She cannot have other ones as well, etc. Finally, fierce attacks on Mrs. Besant have appeared because of an article she wrote in the [March] issue of the “Theosophical Review”. Of course, it is not possible here to reproduce the content of this article in detail, and a brief summary could all too easily be accused of subjective interpretation. I would therefore like to quote here, not in my capacity as General Secretary, but as a friend of the members, what I said about it in the 33rd issue of the magazine “Luzifer - Gnosis”:

“This article could be understood as containing nothing more than the following." The Theosophical Society demands that its members recognize a universal brotherhood of humanity. Anyone who recognizes that the Society has such work to do that is suitable for bringing about such a brotherhood can be a member of the Society. And one should not say that a member can be expelled for actions that cause offence here and there, provided that he recognizes the above rule of the society. For the Theosophical Society has no moral code, and one finds actions among the greatest minds of humanity that might offend someone depending on the circumstances of his time and country. I must confess that I regarded this essay as a correct and even self-evident consequence of an occultist attitude, and that I assumed that other Theosophists also think this way, until I came across the April issue of the

From all this and many other things, it has become clear that there has been opposition to Mrs. Besant within society for a long time. This fact has been known for a long time to those who have had the opportunity to observe certain events. It has now only come to the surface, with Olcott's unexpected nomination of Mrs. Besant for the position of president. It will also be strange to many, however, that even old friends of Mrs. Besant have now fallen away from her or taken sides against her.

Now, I would like to distance myself as much as possible from influencing anyone in this case. However, I do feel obliged to say a few words that may be useful in forming one's own opinion.

It has been said that Mrs. Besant acts on the advice of the masters or even on their orders. It is certainly a confusing fact. Some individuals have pointed out with all their might that the existence of the Masters is not a dogma for the Society, that one can be a perfectly good member of the Society without believing in the Masters. It was further said that one could generally be convinced that there are Masters, but that one could therefore still consider the revelations at Olcott's sickbed to be deceptions or the like. It was further emphasized that if something like orders given with master authority were issued in a matter that, like an election, must be left entirely to the discretion of each member, it would inevitably lead to psychological tyranny.

These are the things that the opponents have put forward. Now let us see what they themselves say on this main point. Her own words in a document dated Benares, March 24, are: “In regard to the statements made by Colonel Olcott in his letter of information” – referring to the above-mentioned letter of January about the master's appearances – “that his master had appointed him to make me his successor, I declare with all certainty – in view of letters received from some dear friends, who for this reason alone intend to cast their vote against me, that the Colonel made these communications truthfully and in full possession of his senses, and that I myself received the order to take them over, especially in my own behalf as well as in his presence. I would rather be rejected on the strength of my Master's word than succeed through denial of what, in my opinion, leads to higher honors than any election by the applause of the crowd. While many members do not believe in the Masters, and others deny this particular revelation, the Theosophical Society draws its essence, its life, its strength from the Masters, and like H.P.B. and Colonel Olcott, I too am their servant, and only as their servant do I carry out my work in the Society. I do not ask anyone to believe, but I must assert my own faith. Separate the Society from the Masters, and it is dead. Those who do not wish the second President to have this faith should vote against me.

Two things are clearly expressed in these sentences. Firstly, that Mrs. Besant wants to do everything she does in the sense of the Masters, and that she only believes in the Society to the extent that the work of the Masters is expressed in it. Secondly, however, that she considers the revelations of the Masters to be absolutely authoritative.

One can now fully agree with the first point, but not with the second.

I can only give assurance here that I myself am not yet allowed to say what I know about the phenomena in Adyar. But the time will surely come when I will be able to speak openly to Theosophical friends about the matter. So the choice will not depend on this knowledge of mine.

Now I must say openly that I foresee many difficulties that could arise for our work in the German section because of Mrs. Besant, precisely because of her occult position and many other things. I am not hiding the fact that I also have serious concerns. And few suspect how difficult it is for me to say such things here.

I would just like to say something that could be useful to some people. One can want to be a servant of the Masters, one can firmly believe that the Society only makes sense if it does the work of the Masters, and yet one does not need to take the revelations that are now being proclaimed from Adyar as one's guiding principle. It is not true, as many seem to believe, that these revelations either come from the masters, according to whom one has to act, or that they are illusions. As every true occultist should actually know, there is a third possibility. But since, as I said, I cannot talk about the revelations themselves, these hints will have to suffice for the time being. In any case, however, it is the case that one did not need to agree with Mrs. Besant's particular spiritual direction and yet could admit that under the current circumstances she is the only candidate for the presidency who can be considered. For one must bear in mind that the opposition to Mrs. Besant is not based on her personality, but that those who are now turning against her are turning against spiritual life itself. They will certainly not admit this so readily, but it is so. There is a current in society that, if it were to prevail, would gradually extinguish spiritual life. As a result, society would perhaps become an association for the comparison of religions, for philosophical considerations, for ethical culture or the like, but would not remain a spiritual brotherhood. One can also take the position that one cannot go along with Mrs. Besant's spiritual direction, but one wants the spirituality of the Society to be preserved at all costs, and therefore, under the present circumstances, one must elect Mrs. Besant, even if it might later lead to conflicts over her spiritual direction. We must accept this fact as being determined by the circumstances of the Society.

In the near future, I will send each member a ballot paper with information, and thus initiate the election in the appropriate manner.

If you would like to write to me about my remarks, I would be very grateful if you could do so as soon as possible so that it reaches me before the election.

With warm theosophical greetings
and best wishes,
Dr. Rudolf Steiner
General Secretary of the German Section of the Theosophical Society.
Berlin, April 28, 1907.