An account by our International Secretary, Nancy Secrest, about her visit to Adyar for the December 2014 International Convention and her pleasure in meeting many TOS members there

TOS International Secretary, Nancy Secrest, wearing a sari
at the Adyar Theatre during her first visit to Adyar

This was my first visit to Adyar and, of course, my first International Convention. Diana Dunningham Chapotin, former International Secretary of the TOS, and I had both arrived the day before.  Diana came, in part, to “shepherd” and introduce me to TOS members attending the convention. This proved a good plan as I probably met more people and learned more about TOS work in their Sections through Diana than I would have on my own. We stayed in Leadbeater Chambers (LBC), a three story building containing thirty guestrooms that caters to theosophists mostly from western countries. The rooms are quite large and high-ceilinged as are many rooms in India because heat rises. Usually four people share a dual room, separated by a curtain, and a bathroom. Despite extremely thin mattresses and cold showers the rooms were pleasant. In years past, non-Indian visitors needed to stock up on bottled water while at Adyar to avoid digestive issues, but no longer. Now, thanks to the TOS in Chennai, LBC and the kitchen and dining room across the road from LBC are equipped with a water system that provides filtered water to residents and guests. The LBC dining room serves a more western diet, and not so spicy Indian food, than the catered restaurant provided at Adyar for the Indian palate. Of course delegates may eat at either place. The LBC dining room is open to the air and quite pleasant with placemats and flowers or growing plants on the tables. The kitchen staff prepares and serves food that is quite tasty and attractively presented – the salad tray was a work of art each day.

Leadbeater Chambers houses Theosophical Society members from Western countries when they visit Adyar.

I arrived at Adyar Christmas morning, stowed my luggage and wandered over to the dining room wondering if I would find anyone I knew. There sat three people whom I recognised: Mr. Michael Gomes, a fellow American, Ms. Maryse DeCoste, from Canada and Mr. Jacques Mahnich of France. Two new friends were introduced: Jacques' wife, Anne-Marie and Mr. Robert Béland of Canada. After a bit of catching up and pleasant conversation with everyone, Michael offered to show me around the Adyar estate. He had lived there for several years and knew Adyar quite well. What a gift!  

The Adyar estate covers approximately 250 acres, contains about 80 buildings of various sizes and has a staff of 92. We’ve all seen pictures of the Headquarters Building with its outer wall of elephant heads. And we’ve seen pictures of the places of worship and contemplation dotted round the compound representing the world’s religions. It was quite another thing to see in person places that theosophists regard as historic and perhaps even revered. There is an awe, a sense of peace, maybe even a measure of pride, in knowing that, in some small way, we are all part of the theosophical movement, a part of the nucleus. Much of the Adyar estate is forested with both palms and deciduous trees as well as bushes of many varieties, some of them flowering. One interesting bush reminded me of a many armed dancer holding fans. Of course, we all know of the great banyan tree under which talks, some of them legendary, were once given. The main trunk of the great tree is no more, having succumbed to disease or decay, but its countless aerial prop roots remain, spreading over a large area and there are banyans all over the property.
The talks during convention were held at the Adyar Theatre. The theatre is basically a stage open to the air and sky. For the convention a temporary roof is constructed each year, of what looks like reed mats covered by corrugated iron, in case of rain. And rain we had, at least two days of it, one of which was the day of our TOS Session. Near the end of convention the President, Tim Boyd, announced that by next year the Adyar Theatre would have a permanent roof.

The convention opened with greetings from their Sections being given by the General Secretaries. For the first time, the International Secretary of the TOS was included in this ritual, and I joyfully brought greetings from the Theosophical Order of Service. The prayers of the world religions followed, of course. Then the President’s annual report, which included a summary of TOS activities, concluded the opening session.

The president giving his annual address to the 139th Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society held at Adyar in December of 2014

There was a reception this first day of convention. Little samosas and desserts were served along with the most wonderful Masala tea. Delegates mingled, found old friends and met new people. I was no exception and met many TOS members from around the world. Stray dogs, looking for dropped scraps, wove in and out of the groups of people. They ignored the people and the people ignored them. There was no petting, no wagging tails. It was as if they were ghost dogs whom no one admitted seeing. I found it strange, but followed suit being unfamiliar with these particular animals. Diana told me that she thought they might be strays that had been picked up, immunized, spayed or neutered by the Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary and released to live on the estate where they were fed vegan meals by a man who tended to them, a worthy service. 

Front row: Vicente Hao Chin Jr, President of Golden Link College, Mrs. Usha Shah, Convenor of the TOS in Kenya, Mrs. Nancy Secrest, International Secretary of the TOS,
Dr T.K. Nair, National Secretary TOS India, Richard Sell, President of the HPB Branch of the TS in Auckland, New Zealand
Second Row: Sabine Van Osta, General Secretary TS Belgium, Name unknown, the President Tim Boyd, Diana Dunningham Chapotin, former International Secretary
of the TOS, John Vorstermans, President TS New Zealand

Mrs. Diana Dunningham Chapotin, former International Secretary of the TOS, spoke at the 139th TS Annual Convention. Her talk was entitled
“Tuning in to Our World”.

Diana went on to say, “I had always thought that we were a pretty intellectual bunch, cloistered away in the libraries, offices and lecture rooms of our TS branches and headquarters buildings, priding ourselves on doing superior ‘spiritual’ work.  I discovered that most members were in fact actually engaged in all kinds of service in the community as part of their spiritual practice. I learned that the TS has not just a distinguished past in terms of service work but a distinguished present. There are members out there injecting theosophical ideas into children’s education, into civic decision-making, into conflict resolution sessions in war torn areas and so on. Our new International Secretary, Nancy Secrest, will be telling us about such work in her talk here tomorrow afternoon. Her fellow speakers, Dr Deepa Padhi of Odisha State, India, and Mrs. Usha Shah from Nairobi, Kenya, are two of our most dynamic TOS workers worldwide.

“Vic Hao Chin’s advice to ‘just listen’ taught me that instead of telling the members what they should be doing, the TOS simply needed to listen to their concerns about the planet and help them transform these ideas into practical projects and campaigns in areas they felt passionate about. In recognizing and nurturing their service work instead of telling them what to do, things became less stressful for me, more joyful for them, and more productive in getting Theosophy out into our changing world”.

Dr Deepa Padhi, Vice President of the TOS in the Odisha Region, India and President of the TOS Mahabharat Group, Mrs. Nancy Secrest, International Secretary of the TOS and Mrs. Usha Shah, Convenor of the TOS in Kenya, ready to begin the TOS Session at the 139th Annual Convention at Adyar in December 2014

 Mrs. Usha Shah, a former teacher, seen here with a Kenyan child. Usha promotes TOS initiatives that “will help produce honest and caring human beings who, on becoming leaders, will make their countries peaceful, prosperous
and less materialistic”.

The convention offered other activities in the early afternoons. Diana and I did a little shopping at the stalls that offered products made by the Olcott Education Society’s Social Welfare Centre, the Vocational Training Centre and the Olcott Memorial Higher Secondary School. We purchased shoulder bags, woven mats and dish towels from the women and some beautiful cards made by the school children. A cultural activities program was given at the Social Welfare Centre one afternoon. Diana, who had been invited as the special guest, gave a short talk and handed out diplomas to the graduates of the Vocational Training Centre. The children of the Day Care Centre and the women presented a delightful program of song and dance. Wearing brightly coloured costumes, these small children performed several different dances ending with a display of their version of rock & roll. The afternoon ended with an exhibition of the sewing, weaving and beautiful embroidery produced by the women of the Centre.

Mrs. Diana Dunningham Chapotin, former International Secretary of the TOS and Special Guest, presented graduates of the Vocational Centre with their diplomas.

Still basking in the afternoon’s festivities, we hurried to a meeting of the Executive Committee of the TOS India to which we had been invited. Dr. T. K. Nair, Secretary of the TOS India, ably conducted the meeting in the absence of the group’s President, Sri. B. L. Bhattacharyya, who had met with travel difficulties. I greatly appreciated being able to meet and speak with the members of the Executive Committee of our largest TOS group and to learn a bit about their structure and many service activities.
The following afternoon, Diana and I attended the general body meeting of the Theosophical Order of Service in India. Over seventy members attended. The highlight of the meeting was going outside to pose for a group photo.

The next day, Diana went off to the Olcott Memorial School, again as the special guest. She enjoyed their cultural activities programme while I finalised preparations for the TOS Session. The pictures Deepa Padhi’s little granddaughter took are of beautiful children magnificently costumed. I hope that I am able to return to Adyar again this year if only to see the dances they performed that day. The programme must have been wonderful.

Meal times offered the best environment for meeting and getting to know TOS members. There we spoke at leisure with Mrs. Svitlana Garylenko and Ms. Raisa Kalashkova of Ukraine, Mr. Richard Sell of New Zealand, Mrs. Maryse DeCoste and Mr. Robert Béland of Canada, Mr. George Wester and Ms. Kari Torgersen of Australia and many others. Being at Adyar for convention also lent itself to opportunities to initiate working relationships with several TS General Secretaries one of whom, John Boakye, General Secretary of West Africa, has already helped the TOS-USA with a decision to award a service grant to a project called “Mushrooms for Ghana”. You’ll be reading about that in our June e-newsletter.

My stay at Adyar naturally permitted opportunities to see our TOS President, Tim Boyd, in action, to hear of his extensive travels within India – often to visit TOS groups – and to talk with him about immediate projects of the TOS. His commitment to service as a core element of the spiritual life and his active support for the TOS as an integral part of the TS are heart-warming and encouraging, to say the least.
The days at Adyar were long, hot, and highly enjoyable. I fell into bed each night tired but happy. The yips and howls of the jackals in the night reminded me of the coyotes at the Krotona Institute of Theosophy in Ojai, CA where I lived for a year. As odd as it might sound, I found their lament comforting, and it lulled me to sleep.