Theos-Talk Archives (April 2000 Message tt00165)

In a message dated 4/29/00 10:28:06 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
mas.jag@iprolink.co.nz writes:

<< Aryel,
 
 I am another New Zealander in the TS who would be delighted to meet you if
 you ever came to New Zealand. I live in Auckland and know John V. well.
 
 I was interested in many of the things in your message, including your
 interest in bridging science and the humanities, but more still for the
 window on the qualities of a soul alight that your researches have provided.
 
 >ALL of these groups [ULT, Pasadena, Adyar] have something important to 
offer.
 
 I very much agree.
 
 >Why not take what is valuable in each, & feel immensely grateful one has
 encountered such gems -- in the mud?
 
 Ah, indeed. Who would say that only one petal of a flower was "right"? I
 guess humanity lacks the vision, or the capacity to reach the vision for
 the time being, to see the bigger picture.
 
 Will you be able to publish more of your books etc before a lot of time
 goes by? They sound as if they contain a lot of value for those intent on
 seeing the picture in more depth and fulness.
 
 Transformation - yes, that is the name of the game.
 
 With best wishes,
 
 Murray >>

Dear Murray,

Thanks indeed for your comments, & for participating in this wonderful, 
ongoing conversation made possible by the internet.  Isn't it extraordinary 
that we can thus communicate so easily, even though we are "literally" at the 
antipodes?  I can't get over it.  {Incidentally, the rumors you must have 
heard, to the effect that at this end of the antipodes folks are upside down, 
is absolutely unfounded -- although, come to think of it, sometimes I wonder.)
About other publications.  I have written about a dozen books, none of them 
published, so far.  I'll be working on that, probably beginning later this 
year.  At this point, the most likely first candidate for "the next book":

THE STANZAS OF ZEN:  Here I provide what I think is incontrovertible evidence 
for the fact that THE SECRET DOCTRINE has been grossly misunderstood by its 
friends & foes alike.  The assumption has been made, thus far, that the SD is 
strictly a work of metaphysics in the manner of 19th Century IDEALISM 
(hailing back to Hegel, if the alliteration be permitted).  I show that 
genuine Masters of the perennial philosophy, by their very nature, would not 
be likely to engage in Victorian metaphysics, except insofar as the 
necessities of the moment dictated making use of that terminology FOR 
PEDAGOGIC REASONS, having largely to do with the fact that, if they had not 
expressed themselves in that bombastic, conceptual style, hardly anybody 
would have paid much attention to what they were saying.  Besides, there ARE 
connections between such idealistic systems & the true esoteric approach:  
For one thing, idealistic philosophers were invariably deeply concerned with 
"spiritual" matters, & many of them became interested in "Oriental" thought, 
such as it was (mis)understood then by Europeans.  Schelling even used the 
word "THEOSOPHY" in his work.  Others made the (mistaken, I believe) 
assumption that enlightened states of awareness actually referred to 
metaphysical "realities," not to psychological states of being.  HPB 
discusses this very question, & points out how deeply mistaken such idealists 
were.  Yet, when the time came for giving The Secret Doctrine to the world, 
that very terminology that had been criticized was employed.  That is the 
terminology that students of the SD have been using, with all the idealistic 
connotations.
I show how the SD -- & even more so, the Stanzas of Dzyan -- was really a 
work of TRANSFORMATION, INITIATION, not a work of mere concepts & 
intellectual systems, as most people have believed, up to now (see, for 
instance, the comments made by LeonMaurer in an e-mail I just responded to).
HPB & her teachers said in innumerable ways that there must be first 
TRANSFORMATION, before even an intelligent READING of theosophy can BEGIN.  
Yet every Tom, Dick, & Jane (not to mention Harry!) has been making what 
amounts to the ludicrous assumption that he/she is READY NOW, not only to 
read, but to write, lecture, & expound on these subjects, without undergoing 
the rigors of TRANSFORMATION.  THAT SEVERELY MISTAKEN ASSUMPTION has led to 
great confusions, & to unnecessary divisions & bickering throughout the 
so-called esoteric world ("so-called," because the genuinely esoteric begins 
with TRANSFORMATION; all else is pure, unadulterated TALK).
In THE STANZAS OF ZEN I make specific connections between The Secret Doctrine 
& Nagarjuna, his teacher Maitreya, & his disciple Aryasanga, who were 
responsible for the Prajnaparamita literature that initiated Mahayana 
Buddhism (the two main schools of which are Zen & the Vajrayana, better known 
as Tibetan Buddhism).  I also show a seamless line of continuity between all 
of the above & Krishnamurti.
You may get a taste of this in a small pamphlet I published in 1993 (based on 
an article of the same name that appeared in the last special issue of the 
American Theosophist, published in May 1998 in commemoration of the SD's 
centennial).  The pamphlet (like the article) is called THE SECRET DOCTRINE, 
KRISHNAMURTI, AND TRANSFORMATION.
More recently, my paper TRANSFORMATION:  VITAL ESSENCE OF THE SECRET DOCTRINE 
was read at the Third Symposium on The Secret Doctrine, held in Oklahoma City 
in May, 1998.
The first of the above papers is available online, thanks to my friend 
Rodolfo Don.  He sent his website address to the list, but I don't have it 
handy at the moment, so I can't share it with you just now.  Rudy is working, 
as we speak, on also posting the second paper.  He told me he expects to have 
that available in a few days.  Either he or I will make the announcement to 
you all, when he does post it.  This second paper provides specific 
references that show -- beyond any reasonable doubt -- that TRANSFORMATION is 
indeed the central, vital essence of the Secret Doctrine (meaning here not 
just HPB's work, but also the ancient wisdom as a whole, throughout the ages, 
& in every single expression of it we know of).
I have had a number of requests similar to yours (about my other work), so 
I'm going to do my very best to get this work published much sooner than I 
had thought.  Apparently, there is a readiness to accept & understand these 
things right now, & I was, to be honest, considering it would be many years 
before that would be the case.  So my plan had been to get as much written as 
possible, rather than focus on publication.  I had even thought it would be 
only after I died that some of this would be published, if then, given the 
immense amount of prejudice, innuendo, rumors, gossip, & generally 
unsupported assertions that go around as "ancient wisdom."  But the time has 
obviously come.  So I'll get to it as soon as possible.  I'll keep you posted.
I look forward to meeting you personally, & hope that'll happen sooner than 
we might think!
Thanks again.
With affection,
Aryel

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