Theos-Talk Archives (May 2000 Message tt00145)

    Gene, please stay on this list and try to endure the howling dervishes
you unknowingly aroused by mentioning Mrs. Bailey. The 3 "critical essays"
mentioned, are not worth bothering with, not so much due to their unpleasant
spirit pervading them, as to the absence of analytic capacity demonstrated
by the authors. The criticism amounts apparently to finding words in the
works of AAB, which are uncommon in HPB's works.

    One example: Mr. Weeks, who was a fan of AAB for 10 or more years as I
recall, but nowadays has turned upon his former "religion"with great zeal,
has a problem with the term "Maitreya", so well-known from buddhism. He also
have a problem with the Maitreya invocation found in AAB, even though the
tibetan canon has at least half a dozen such invocations. Along with the
fact that a work like "Cosmic Fire" is characteristicly tibetan in
structure, with its 3 main divisions, and sub-divisions denoted by letters,
it merely suggests that the author may have been a tibetan and a buddhist.

    Furthermore, a work like the Samdhinirmocanasutra (the Yogacara "Bible")
clearly shows what Maitreya means. The last three chapters concern the three
bodhisattvas Manjushri ("Lord Manu"), Maitreya (Love) and Avalokiteshvara
(Seen, or manifested Lord), corresponding to three manifestations of the
three logoic aspects. Maitreya is the second aspect personified , referred
also to as "karuna and prajna", or "love and wisdom", in the abstract, again
by the buddhists.

    The whole issue brings to my mind the statement by Leadbeater, in his
foreword to "Light on the Path",  that D. K. was an incarnation of Asanga.
Asanga lived in the early centuries A.D., and according to Bu-ston, was an
initiate of the third degree. According to the writings of AAB, D.K became
an adept of the fifth degree. Among the peculiar traits of Asanga was his
devotion to "Maitreya", his preference for Yoga philosophy, etc. If accepted
as a hypothesis, there is a long list of similarities between Asanga and
AAB's master.

    But enough of this. The situation on the theosophical discussion list
has reached a point, where the very mentioning of the name "Alice Bailey"
brings out a reaction, ranging from violent attacks to polite suggestions
that one should read certain essays. If I ever would use the word
"pseudo-theosophy", it would be to describe that religious zeal, the arising
of which has destroyed every religion. And furthermore completely alien the
freedom of spirit and freedom of investigation which is the very essence of
theosophy.

    Now, to speak of a far more pleasant subject (on this Wesak night), I
would like you to know I enjoyed your postings immensely. Your philosophy
reminds me so much of Leibnitz and Nagarjuna, they too loved the Philosophy
of the Void. Did you know that Leibnitz used a numerical, esoteric system as
basis for his philosophy? He probably evolved it while working on the binary
system. It becomes very clear from the rear side of a coin or medal he had
made for his benefactor, a german prince. The Universe evolves from
combinations of  0 and 1, etc. His way of thinking is very close to the
ancient indian philosophers (and the Pythagoreans), even though his basics
may differ. The Philosophy of Nothingness and Unity is the somewhat rare
mark of the "Lineage of the Great Mystery (mahamudra)", as Taranatha calls
it, or a "1st ray philosophy", as Bailey puts it.
    Did it ever occur to you that Nirvana and the pralayic state of a world,
both counted in graduations up to "Absolute Spirit" and "Absolute Matter",
both are (must be) co-existing rest-states (during pralaya) ? That is, since
it is clear that Nirvana is something difficult to achieve and hence not an
automatic occuring event, not all will reach that state. So, as in
Abhidharmakosha 1, we must calculate with three states during pralaya:
1. All-pervading and infinite Space
2. Cessation (or rest) caused by spiritual knowledge or wisdom, that is
Nirvana.
3  Cessation not caused by spritual knowledge. This somewhat cryptic term
covers several grades of beings, including "failures" and "sorcerers".

   To bring myself back to the my point (I almost got carried away by
ancient metaphysics here): I loved your writings, the way the shunya-vada
(normally so icy-cold), arouses in you excited feelings. Please stay on this
list,

in friendship,

Kim Poulsen

Gene:
> It is great to have all sorts of opinions.  I have studied Bailey for
thirty
> years as well as all of Blavatsky(at least all her texts)  I like and love
> both and if my life could in anyway preserve these texts in the face of
some Nazi like
> book burning rampage I would give my life gladly.   If you do not want a
scholar that
> loves both to be on this list, please
> tell me, and I will leave .....



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