Theos-Talk Archives (December 1998 Message tt00030)

"D.Caldwell/M.Graye" wrote:

>I close this email with these words of HPB:
>
>"Time and human imagination made short work of the purity and philosophy
>of these teachings [of Gautama the Buddha], once that they were
>transplanted from the secret and sacred circle of the Arhats, during the
>course of their work of proselytism, into a soil less prepared for
>metaphysical conceptions than India; i.e., once they were transferred
>into China, Japan, Siam, and Burmah. How the pristine purity of these
>grand revelations was dealt with may be seen in studying some of the
>so-called "esoteric" Buddhist schools of antiquity in their modern garb,
>not only in China and other Buddhist countries in general, but even in
>not a few schools in Thibet, left to the care of uninitiated Lamas and
>Mongolian innovators." SD, I, pp. xx-xxi.
>
India here well represents higher Manas.
As you are writing about symbolism, "China, Japan, Siam and Burmah" likely
represent the 4 lower principles, and it is only too evident how the
pristine purity is dealt with by lower manas.
Also which of those schools came to the West from Thibet?  Are we to really
think they are the ones not left to the care of the uninitiated Lamas and
Mongolian innovators, followed by a further good going over in some cases by
Western scholars.
Thanks for using the original SD Dan, before that lost its "pristine purity"
too.

Tony