Circular Letter To The Members Of The Esoteric School

Confidential.
The upcoming election of the President of the Theosophical Society.

To all those members of the German Section who are seeking an esoteric training from me.

In these days, when the vote of the German Section on the future president of the Theosophical Society is to take place, it is my duty to say a few words to those who belong to the esoteric current. The esotericist has a different relationship to spiritual life than that which requires membership of the exoteric society. The members of the exoteric Theosophical Society have nothing to do with but the statutes. And according to the statutes, Colonel Olcott's nomination of Mrs. Besant as future president is on hand. The member will therefore only have to ask himself whether he considers Mrs. Besant to be a suitable president or not, and cast his vote accordingly. Exoterically, everything that comes into consideration is exhausted.

The case looks different when viewed from the esoteric standpoint. There we have the fact that it was proclaimed from Adyar that Colonel Olcott had made the nomination at the behest of his Masters, who appeared at his sickbed shortly before his departure from the physical plane. And Mrs. Besant has emphasized with all possible clarity that she accepts the election because her Master told her to do so.

I am now speaking in this letter only to those who have confidence in me. For only such have approached me for esoteric advice. If they had not had this confidence, they would not have approached me. And I expressly request here again that only those who have this trust may hear these words of mine. The others may simply disregard them.

Occult connections are complicated. And therefore no one should believe that it is easy to talk about them. The time will come when I will be allowed to speak more clearly than today about the phenomena in Adyar.

It has been my principle so far not to advance anything within the theosophical movement that I cannot vouch for with my own knowledge. This must remain my principle. This is not to say that others should not teach what they accept on trust. I expressly emphasize that they are right to do so. Only my principle must be the above. It is only on the basis of this principle that I feel justified in esoterically relating to Theosophists and to people in general as I do.

With these qualifications in mind, I now say what I have to say about Mrs. Besant's nomination.

From all the discussions that have taken place about the Master's appearances in Adyar, one thing is clear: either they are true, in which case it would be a rebellion against the Masters not to follow them; or they are false, in which case there can be no question of taking them into account, and then everything connected with Mrs. Besant's leadership is called into question. But there is no such opposition. Within real occultism, there should be no talk of the possible inauthenticity of the phenomena in Adyar. It would never occur to a true occultist to question their authenticity.

Nevertheless, I myself must have a different view of these phenomena than Mrs. Besant. But that does not change the following facts.

Mrs. Besant is part of the spiritual life. She is inhabited by the spiritual life that emanates from the spiritual powers. And anyone within the Theosophical Society who wants this spiritual life will see Mrs. Besant as the appropriate person to hold the presidency at the present time.

I have different experiences in relation to many things that are difficult to consider, as Mrs. Besant does. I have to assume that there may be some difficulties in conducting Central European esoteric matters through her. And I will never relate to those who have trust in me differently than in a way that I can answer for it with my own knowledge, that I can answer for it myself before the individuals that we call the Masters. Once again I emphasize: Whoever does not have this kind of trust in me, should not listen to me. I want to give everyone the message that I am able to give, but I want no one to accept it other than through the completely free decision of his or her heart.

Precisely because I feel so completely independent from any sense of authority towards Mrs. Besant, precisely because I must find other paths mapped out in many ways by the exalted individuals we call the Masters, precisely for that reason I may also say: I am completely of one mind with Mrs. Besant in that the Theosophical Society has its strength, power, and indeed its content from the Masters, and that it must die if it were to deny the Masters and thus spiritual life.

Even if I had to go in a different direction from Mrs. Besant in some respects during her presidency, I would still have to say: she seems to me to be the right president. And even if I have said that I have different experiences of the Adyar apparitions than Mrs. Besant, I must still say: esoterically Mrs. Besant is right in her appeal to the Masters.

All this is decisive for me alone, when I express just as clearly as openly to those esoterically striving that for me Mrs. Besant is the suitable personality for the presidency, as on the other hand, that for all those who have confidence in me, no “psychic tyranny” will ever be exercised by any personality.

The occultist, however, can only regard the discussion as to whether the Adyar phenomena are genuine or not as unesoteric, and must refrain from entering into it.

In view of the responsibility I am assuming in this letter towards the wise men of humanity, I greet you

Rudolf Steiner
Munich, May 4, 1907.