Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tt00245)

April 11th 1998

Dear Bjorn:

Pain and Pleasure taken in the abstract, seem to represent
opposite sides of a pair.

Besides those there are many other 'pairs.'

Presumably the "experience" of the pain is separate from either,
although, alternately perhaps plunged in one or the other, as a
fly might be battered by the alternating vibrations of a string
in a harp. [ The analogy is not a very good one. ]

AS far as I know there are a number of schools of Buddhistic
philosophy, and if one desires to assimilate the wisdom that
flowed from the Buddha, one has to refer to as many of them as
one can, since a) they are handed down from the original oral
writings and sayings that certain of the Buddha's followers
remembered, and b) most of us here in the West do not know
Pali -- the 'common language of the people' in which the Buddha
taught and spoke.

There is a tradition that he had a deeper doctrine that he taught
and illustrated to "his own," they of the "deeper thought," as
they were called. From this are derived several Schools of
"Mahayana" (the Great path), originated and drawn together in the
2nd Century BC by Nagarjuna, one of which is a portion of what we
call today Theosophy.
[ But the Theosophy of the SECRET DOCTRINE, the RELIGION WISDOM,
is far more ancient than even the Buddha, who knew and employed
its wisdom in his teachings, as it antedates even Hinduism -- if
what is taught in the SD is correct.

If one compares Buddha's teachings with those of Hinduism,
especially the Upanishads (in which Gautama Buddha was well
versed) we find that they are echoes of each other. The Buddha
taught nothing different from the great ancient philosophies.
His mission was to popularize them so that everyone would know
what they were and how they worked.

One might legitimately say that Buddhism is a reform of Hinduism
and a popularization of the ancient Laws of life and communal
relations which had become, over time, obscured. This exposure
placed the "position" of those who had abused their deeper or
special knowledge, and used it to subjugate the common people to
their yoke, in jeopardy. The result is that it took only about 5
or 6 centuries for Buddhism to be banished from India by their
concerted efforts.

He did put it in a language that the people of his time
understood better than the little which the Brahmins of his time
permitted to trickle out from their reserved Sanskrit texts and
private family traditions (which are still handed down, father to
son, today in many families of that caste).

The popular Buddhism that was and is taught even today to the
people are the ethics based on karma and reincarnation, although
the Buddha did not answer directly inquiries related to the
possible immortality of the "mind-soul" (Ego). [ In a footnote
to p. 82 of THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY, HPB shows this . She also
devotes many pages to demonstrating the logic of the immortality
of the mind-soul of humankind.]

For this 'popularizing,' or 'vulgarizing' of their wisdom and
ethics he was heartily disliked by the learned academicians
(Brahmins) of his time. Eventually the reform to Hinduism by
Buddhism which his followers taught after his death was
persecuted and eventually banished from India, and, it took root
elsewhere: Ceylon, Tibet, Turkestan, Mongolia, Burma, Thailand,
Indo-china and then, China and Japan -- but this aspect of
history is well-known. The Trans-Himalayan School from which we
derive (through HPB) our knowledge of Theosophy is one of the
continuing "branches" which Buddhism nourished by his "secret
teachings." (Or, so we are told.)

The many "Bhikkus -- monks" constituting the great body of the
"Sangha" met a year after the death of the Buddha and it was
decided then that each would record what he had actually heard
the Buddha say. From the various statements so made the
"Dhammapada" was compiled, those 423 verses being those which
every one of the Bhikkus stated that they had heard him say. The
rest constituted the body of the teachings to which one or
several attested.

The "ollas" [ books, collections of inscribed pal leaf
manuscripts, ] which are physical records of what the Buddha
taught, written down by some of this original disciples, were
then re-copied and were dispersed, copied and recopied in their
original Pali, and then translated into many tongues, and those
who did this work tried to keep their writing true to the
originals. The general burden of Buddhistic teaching was and is:
inoffensiveness, cooperation, and assistance to others -- -- in
general "non-violence."

But one cannot espouse any one of the present schools: Mahayana,
Hinayana, or Theravada, Zen, or any others, and, in my esteem,
neglect what is taught in the others.

Perhaps the essential key to Buddha's outlook can be summarized
as follows:

"To speak to those whose trouble arises from failing to "discern
evil" where there is evil -- this is also the language of church
or temple.

To speak of those whose trouble arises from "discerning evil"
WHERE THERE IS NO EVIL, or who feel shame where there is no cause
for shame -- that is the language of psychotherapy.

Buddha's point/counterpoint method of instruction, in perfect
balance itself, encouraged balance in those who listened. "Evil"
is not to be feared, in other words, but UNDERSTOOD, which can in
turn be accomplished by penetrating beyond the traditional
categories of Right and Wrong. (Verses 311, 316, 317 318).

Do we, today, need anything more desperately than to find a way
of retaining ethical awareness, while rejecting categorical
morality--and its accompanying self-righteousness ?"

A student under Freud's personal tutelage reported that the
"father of psychoanalysis" named Buddha as the greatest
psychologist of all time.

The "Dhammapada" ranks with all the great books of the world,
such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Teh king, and the Verba
christie of the New Testament. It bestows inspiration,
enlightenment and energizes the heart showing the mind that there
is a better way of living. It offers elf-examination,
nourishment for reflection, mediation, and is a stimulant for
self-discipline. It raises the focus of our consciousness from
the sentient state of the body and our fears and hopes to the
plane of the Soul where there is a peace born of insight into the
vast inter-commingling of all the currents of nature, of which
each one of us is one and is therefore essential to the working
of the whole. This leads to contentment, not strife, to
community of understanding and not to argument based on
self-assertiveness that is individual and divisive. This is a
preview of that peace of mind and serenity of soul which the
followers of the foot-falls of the Master Teacher, the Buddha,
offers.

>From: "Bjorn Roxendal" <roxendal@usa.net>
>Date: Saturday, April 11, 1998 11:37 AM
>Subject: Re:Krishnamurti and nihilism

>Thoa Tran wrote:
>
>Bjorn:
>>>In theory he would transcend the
>> >intellect and its attachments, < SNIP
>