Theos-Talk Archives (January 1999 Message tt00119)

Rich:

> <<> Pratyekabuddhas are considered higher than Arhats,

Paul:

> Or, by reverse logic, Arhats are considered lower than Pratyeka Buddhas.
> Yes?  Well, no.  This is complete nonsense.
>
> From "The Voice of the Silence".
>
> Concerning Pratyeka-Buddha (Glossary to Part II):
>
> "Caring nothing for the woes of mankind or to help it, but only for their
> own *bliss*, they enter Nirvana and  - disappear from the sight and hearts
> of men. In Northern Buddhism a 'Pratyeka Buddha' is a synonym of spiritual
> Selfishness" (Glossary to Part II).
> Further, (Glossary to Part III):
>
> "(32).  In the Northern Buddhist phraseology all the great Arhats, Adepts
> and Saints are called Buddhas.
>
> (33). A *Bodhisattva* is, in the hierarchy, less than a "perfect Buddha."
> In the exoteric parlance these two are very much confused.  Yet the innate
> and right popular perception, owing to that self-sacrifice, has placed a
> Bodhisattva higher in its reverence than a Buddha."
>
> (34).  This same popular reverence calls "Buddhas of Compassion" those
> *Bodhisattvas* who, having reached the rank of an Arhat (i.e., have
> completed the *fourth* or *seventh* Path), refuse to pass into
> the Nirvanic
> state or 'don the *Dharmakaya* robe and cross to the other shore,' as it
> would then become beyond their power to assist men even so little as Karma
> permits. . . . . .>>
>
> Paul!  You can quote well, but you have really confused all the
> above terms.
> And your quotes, out of context, actually confuse matters more,
> because you
> haven't read any Buddhism, you only have HPB's scattered
> definitions.  You are
> content to parrot HPB word-for-word, and then throw down the
> gauntlet as if
> you've proven your point.  Quotes from HPB, however, really only
> prove that
> you own her books and can read them.


More parrot quotes. . . . .

Mahatma Letter XVI:

"(1)  The *Paccika Yana* - (in Sanskrit "Pratyeka") means literally - the
"personal vehicle" or personal *Ego*, a combination of the five lower
principles."

Theosophical Glossary (published after HPB was withdrawn):

"Pratyeka Buddha (Sk.)  The same as "*Pasi*-Buddha".  The Pratyeka Buddha is
a degree which belongs exclusively to the Yoga-charya school, yet it is one
of a high intellectual development with no true spirituality.  It is the
*dead-letter* of the Yoga laws, in which intellect and comprehension play
the greatest part, added to the strict carrying out of the rules of the
inner development.  It is one of the three paths to Nirvana, and the lowest,
in which a Yogi - "without teacher and without saving others"  - by the mere
force of will and technical observances, attains to a kind of nominal
Buddhaship individually; doing no good to anyone, but working selfishly for
his own salvation and himself alone.  The Pratyekas are respected outwardly
but are despised inwardly by those of keen or spiritual appreciation.  A
Pratyeka is generally compared to a "Khadga" or solitary rhinoceros and
called *Ekashringa Rishi*, a selfish solitary Rishi (or saint).  "As
crossing Sansara ('the ocean of birth and death' or the series of
incarnations), suppressing errors, and yet not attaining to absolute
perfection, the Pratyeka Buddha is compared with a horse which crosses a
river swimming, without touching the ground."  (*Sanskrit-Chinese Dict.*)
He is far below a true "Buddha of Compassion."  He strives only for the
reaching of Nirvana."

To repeat (parrot fashion): "The Pratyekas are respected outwardly but are
despised inwardly by those of keen or spiritual appreciation".

Best wishes,
Paul