The Dhyana Centre is a self-governing branch of the Theosophical Society in England and Wales (registered charity number no. 1167737) and operates in accordance with the latter’s general rules and principles. As such it is essentially a Members-only group: however individual TSEW Membership is not obligatory for any of the Centre’s sessions.
For those wishing to involve themselves in Centre activities beyond the introductory public sessions, registration is required and there are two distinct levels: Associate and Member. Associate status is open to anyone who has attended the Centre and is effectively a trial membership; it is free and involves joining the email circulation list as well as giving access to certain restricted-entry sessions. Full Member status is by invitation and is only open to those who have been through an induction or one of the Centre’s foundation courses; it requires fellowship of the Theosophical Society for which a fee of £20 per year is payable. (Please read the notes at the bottom of this page if you wish to know more about the TS/DC relationship).
Associate: click here to download the registration form; please complete and return to Alan Perry. Alternatively you can more simply register as an Associate by just emailing the same information. Once registered, there is no need to renew: those who continue to attend the Centre will in due course be invited to upgrade to Membership. Those who stop attending are automatically weeded from the register after a few months of inactivity.
Member: DC Membership is by invitation only but fellowship of the TSEW is required first and this can be obtained online. Please visit the Theosophical Society website and complete and pay for your application online as a ‘full TS member UK’. Once you have joined the Society, arrangements will then be made for your transfer into the Dhyana Centre; this is a purely administrative matter arranged between the Centre and TSHQ on your behalf.
If you are unable to join the TSEW using the online system as above, please speak to Alan Perry as the traditional paper application form is still in existence for those that need it (as an editable Word document, otherwise print out as a PDF).
PLEASE NOTE
- Both Associate and Member status are at the absolute discretion of the Centre and do not give a guaranteed right of access to any Centre functions.
- Although registration as an Associate is necessary for regular attendees, Membership of the Centre is optional (ie. joining the Theosophical Society is entirely voluntary and not a requirement in order to be active within the Centre. It is perfectly acceptable to remain long-term as an Associate).
- In certain circumstances, conditional Membership may be granted to those who have yet to complete an induction.
- An inability to pay the Theosophical Society fee is not a bar to Membership of the Centre; those in financial hardship should mention that fact privately to Alan Perry as there is a simple procedure within the Centre to assist those in difficulties.
- The TS/DC membership year starts on 1st October every year; there is a 50% reduction in the subscription if one joins on or after 1st April. Those joining on or after 1st July and opting to pay the full fee will also get membership of the following year ie. up to 15 months rather than just 3 months. Two members of a family joining can reclaim 50% off the second membership ie. pay £30 per annum for the two.
Existing TS members
Those who are already members of the Theosophical Society in England can choose to transfer their membership in to the Dhyana Centre, which then gives them membership of the Centre as well as the TS. However, individuals can only be members of one TS branch at a time so if you are a member of another Lodge, this transfer-in would necessitate leaving that other branch. There is no such issue with independent or national members. This is a simple administrative matter, can easily be arranged and costs nothing; please contact Alan Perry if you wish to discuss this.
Re-instatement of past membership
If you have previously been a member of the DC/TS and would like to re-join, this is easy to do but please email Alan Perry in the first instance. You will need to pay the appropriate TS fee and to complete a fresh online application. (A new application is usually required because the TS does not retain old membership records for Data Protection reasons).
Subscribe to the monthly programme
The Centre sends out a monthly programme by email to all its registered Members and Associates. If you are not registered but would like to be added temporarily to this mailing list, please email to that effect; you will then receive the Visitors & Enquirers programme for three or four months (after which you will automatically be removed from the list unless you have requested otherwise).
Internal messaging app for Centre regulars
The Centre uses an app called Discord for internal messaging amongst its members and regular attendees. The principal purpose of this is to enable a direct interflow without email addresses or telephone numbers between members who have come to know each other through the meditation or Zoom sessions. All Centre members are welcome to join the Discord group; in the first instance they should send a blank email to discord.app@dhyanacentre.org, to which they will receive an acknowledgement. This will subsequently be followed by download instructions from the app administrator.
Notes about DC & TS membership
“As a self-governing branch of the Theosophical Society, the DC is essentially a members-only group but it has regular public sessions when new people can join. Once someone starts coming on a regular basis, I usually ask them to register as an Associate; this is a temporary/trial membership which is free and allows newcomers to assess the DC as well as putting them on the email distribution list.
Anyone who has been to the DC can become an Associate but normally only those who have attended an induction or one of the beginners’ courses can become a Member. If an Associate starts coming on a regular basis to any group, then after a while I will usually invite them to upgrade to full Membership. This involves fellowship of the TS itself for which an annual subscription is payable (£20 per calendar year expiring on 30th September) and gives the member the full range of TS benefits including discounts on lectures, online access to study materials, biannual magazine ‘Esoterica’, etc.
You should be aware that there are two ways of becoming a fellow of the TS: ‘attached’ or ‘unattached’. Most people join a local TS branch to which they become attached eg. Eastbourne Centre or Bristol Lodge; they then get membership of both the branch and the TS itself. Others who prefer to remain as floaters become ‘unattached’ or National members. Either way, TS fellowship is exactly the same but the difference lies in the branch you are attached to. When someone joins the DC as a Member, they become a member of both the DC and the TS, their subscription being the levy that the TS raises for each ‘attached’ member.
Some DC Members find value in what the TS has to offer but others do not: it’s all a matter of personal taste. However, because the DC is an integral part of the TS, fellowship of the TS is automatic when you become a DC Member and this supports both the DC and the TS in very tangible ways.
However, can I emphasise that fellowship of the TS is not essential in order to take part in DC activities. Although I openly encourage DC regulars to become full Members, it is perfectly possible simply to remain as an Associate. And even as a TS member, it is not necessary to get involved in TS activities if you do not want to.”
Please email me if you would like to discuss further…
Alan Perry