Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00533)

Friday, December 28, 200

Re BUDDHISM and THEOSOPHY

Dear Friends:

In the past few months some opinions have been posed concerning
the relations of BUDDHISM and THEOSOPHY

When H P B was writing, these are some of the definitions that
were offered concerning their reciprocal status and work.

Best wishes,

Dallas

[This may have to be divided into 2 parts later]

========================================



HPB on BUDDHISM and BRAHMANISM

==========


"Buddha Siddhartha	(Sk.)	Gautama, prince of Kapilavastu [ a
kingdom in the sub-Himalayan region north of Gaya, Behar ]
Gautama: "on earth (gau) the most victorious (tama)" An
abbreviation of Sarvartha-siddha: "the realization of all
desires." Sakya-muni: Sakya is the name of the dynasty, and
Muni: "one mighty in charity, isolation and silence."

There is an esoteric meaning to his prenatal biography, the 500
Jataka stories. They illustrate the universal process "a stone
becomes a plant, a plant an animal, and an animal a man." The
hidden symbolism in the sequence of these rebirths contains a
perfect history of the evolution on this earth, pre and post
human, and is a scientific exposition of natural facts. As soon
as Gautama had reached the human form he began exhibiting in
every personality the utmost unselfishness, self-sacrifice and
charity.

Buddha Gautama, the 4th of the Sapta (7) Buddhas and Sapta
Tathagatas [ he who follows in the footsteps of his glorious
predecessors ] was born on the 8th day of the 4th moon (Vaishak -
Wessak) in the year 621 BC. He left his father's palace on the
8th day of the second month in 597 BC (24 years old), and after 6
years of asceticism and meditation he reached the state of Bodhi
[wisdom]. He became a full Buddha on the night of the 8th day of
the 12th moon in the same year 592 BC (age 29), and finally his
body died [ on the 8th day of Vaishak month] in the year 543
according to the Singhalese, Southern church (age 78). He is
said to have attained the state of Bodhisattva on earth in the
personality named Prabhapala.

"The Bodhisattva is one whose "essence (sattva) has become
intelligence (bodhi);" those who need but one more incarnation to
become perfect Buddhas, i.e., to be entitled to Nirvana. This,
is applied to Manushi (terrestrial) Buddhas. In the metaphysical
sense, Bodhisattva is a title given to the sons of the celestial
Dhyani Buddhas." T. Glos., 59 ]

The events of his noble life are given in occult numbers, and
every so-called miraculous event is simply the allegorical
veiling of the truth. Every detail of the narrative after his
death and before cremation is a chapter of facts written in a
language which must be studied before it is understood, otherwise
its dead letter will lead one into absurd contradictions...having
reminded his disciples of the immortality of Dharmakaya, Buddha
is said to have passed into Samadhi, and lost himself in
Nirvana--from which none can return. And yet...the Buddha is
shown bursting open the lid of the coffin...As Buddha was a
Chakravarti (one who turns the wheel of the Law) his body could
not be consumed by common fire...Suddenly a jet of flame burst
out of the Swastika on his breast, and reduced his body to
ashes...



Without any claim to divinity, allowing his followers to fall
into atheism, rather than into the degrading superstition of deva
or idol-worship, his walk in life is from beginning to end, holy
and divine. During the 45 years of his mission it is blameless
and pure as that of a god--or the latter should be. He is a
perfect example of a divine, godly man. He reached
Buddhaship--i.e., complete enlightenment--entirely by his own
merit and owing to his own individual exertions...

Esoteric teachings claim that he renounced Nirvana and gave up
the Dharmakaya vesture to remain a "Buddha of Compassion" within
the reach of the miseries of this world. And the religious
philosophy he left to it has produced for over 2,000 years
generations of good and unselfish men.

His is the only absolutely bloodless religion among all the
existing religions: tolerant and liberal, teaching universal
compassion and charity, love and self-sacrifice, poverty and
contentment with one's lot, whatever it may be. No persecutions,
and enforcement of faith by fire and sword, have ever disgraced
it. No thunder-and-lightning god has interfered with its chaste
commandments; and if the simple, humane and philosophical code
of daily life left to us by the greatest Man-Reformer ever known,
should ever come to be adopted by mankind at large, then indeed
an era of bliss and peace would dawn on Humanity."	T. Glos.
pp. 65-67



"Buddhism, today, has two distinct Churches: Southern (Ceylon,
Siam, Burma, etc...--the public or exoteric teachings) and
Northern (Tibet, China, Nepal--the esoteric teachings which he
confined to his Bhikshus and Arhats)...Real Buddhism can only be
appreciated by blending the philosophy of [both Schools] ...Both
err by an excess of zeal and erroneous interpretations, though
neither...have ever departed from the truth consciously, still
less have they acted under the dictates of priestocracy,
ambition, or with an eye to personal gain and power..."	T. Glos.
pp. 67-8.



Mystery of the Buddha	(hinted at)	HPB TO APS p. 242
Mahat. Let. 43-4 96,

[ Note: Annie Besant found among HPB's papers or in Adyar, where
earlier, HPB had sent a copy of the first draft of the SD for
Subba Row to review and edit (and, which he refused to do as he
claimed it revealed secrets that should not be put in the hands
of the unpledged ). One of these dealt with the "Mystery of the
Buddha."

After substantial "editing" she reprinted it in the "Third Vol.
of the S D," (pp. 376-395) published in 1897 in London. On
careful reading it will be found to be almost incomprehensible
because of the changes introduced there by the lack of knowledge
of the self-constituted "editor." One has to thoroughly grasp
the explanations offered in the VOICE OF THE SILENCE, (pp.
77-8fn) and the T. Glossary (p. 338-90) of the Buddhic "vestures"
[Trikaya] to make sense of what HPB was trying to convey. --
DTB ]

"Our Lord Buddha--a 6th r. [round] man--would not have appeared
in our epoch, great as were his accumulated merits in previous
rebirths but for a mystery...Individuals cannot outstrip the
humanity of their round any further than by one remove, for it is
mathematically impossible--you say (in effect): if the fountain
of life flows ceaselessly there should be men of all rounds on
the earth at all times, etc. The hint about planetary rest may
dispel the misconception on the head...And Buddha only forms an
exception by virtue of the mystery. We have fifth round men
among us because we are in the latter half of our septenary earth
ring. In the first half this could not have happened...We
represent the first three [ rounds ] and the sixth can only come
at rare intervals and prematurely like Buddhas (only under
prepared conditions) and that last-named the seventh are not yet
evolved..."	M L 96	[see also ML 84]


"...persons, who, like Confucius and Plato, belonged psychically,
mentally and spiritually to the higher planes of evolution, were
in our Fourth Round as the average man will be in the Fifth
Round, where mankind is destined to find itself, on this scale of
Evolution, immensely higher than is our present humanity.
Similarly Gautama Buddha--Wisdom incarnate--was still higher and
greater than all the men we have mentioned, who are called Fifth
Rounders, while Buddha and Sankaracharya are termed Sixth
Rounders, allegorically. Thence again the concealed wisdom on the
remark..."a few drops of rain do not make a Monsoon, though they
presage it."	SD I 162


"When our great Buddha--the patron of all the adepts, the
reformer and codifier of the occult system, reached first Nirvana
on earth, he became a Planetary Spirit; i.e.,--his spirit could
at one and the same time rove the interstellar spaces in full
consciousness, and continue at will on Earth in his original
individual body. For the divine Self had so completely disfranch
ised itself from matter that it could create at will an inner
substitute for itself, and leaving it in the human form for days,
weeks, sometimes years, affect in no wise by the change either
the vital principle or the physical mind of its body.

By the way, this is the highest form of adeptship man can hope
for on our planet. But it is as rare as the Buddhas themselves,
the last Khobilghan who reached it being Sang-Ko-Pa of Kokonor
(XIV Century), the reformer of esoteric as well as of vulgar
Lamaism.

Many are those who "break through the egg-shell," few who, once
out are able to exercise their Nirira namastaka fully, when
completely out of the body. Conscious life in Spirit is as
difficult for some natures as swimming, is for some bodies...

The planetary Spirit of that kind (the Buddha like) can pass at
will into other bodies--of more or less etherealized matter,
inhabiting other regions of the Universe. There are many other
grades and orders, but there is no separate and eternally
constituted order of Planetary Spirits...."	M L 43-4


"The possibility of the "Soul" (.e., the eternal Spiritual Ego
dwelling in the unseen worlds, while its body goes on living on
Earth, is a pre-eminently occult doctrine, especially in Chinese
and Buddhist philosophy [see Isis Unveiled I 602, II 369 ] Many
are the Soulless men among us, for the occurrence is found to
take place in wicked materialists as well as in persons "who
advance in holiness and never turn back."	S D I 235 fn


"...as to the winner of that race throughout the worlds--the
Spiritual Ego, he will ascend from star to star, from one world
to another, circling onward to rebecome the once pure planetary
Spirit, then higher still, to finally reach its first starting
point, and from thence--to merge into Mystery. No adept has ever
penetrated beyond the veil of primitive Kosmic matter. The
highest, the most perfect vision is limited to the universe of
Form and Matter." M L 47


"...Buddha--a sixth round being as he had run so successfully the
race in his previous incarnations as to outrun even his
predecessors. But then such a man is to be found in a billion of
human creatures. He differed from other men as much in physical
appearance as in spirituality and knowledge. Yet even he escaped
further reincarnations but on this earth; and, when the last of
the sixth round men of the third ring is gone out of this earth,
the Great Teacher will have to get reincarnated on the next
("globe"). Only, and since He sacrificed Nirvanic bliss and Rest
for the salvation of his fellow creatures He will be re-born in
the highest--the seventh ring [round] of the upper planet. Till
then He will overshadow every decimillenium [ every hundred years
? ] (let us rather say and add "has overshadowed already" a
chosen individual who generally overturned the destiny of
nations. See Isis, Vol. I, pp 34 and 35 last and first para. on
the pages)."	M L 117


"Thus, all those great characters who tower like giants in the
history of mankind, like Buddha Siddartha, and Jesus, in the
realm of spiritual...conquests, were but reflected images of
human beings, types which had existed ten thousand years before,
in the preceding decimillenium, reproduced by the mysterious
powers controlling the destinies of our world. There is no
prominent character in all the annals of sacred or profane
history whose prototype we cannot find in the half-fictitious and
half-real traditions of bygone religions and mythologies. As the
star, glimmering at an immeasurable distance above our heads, in
the boundless immensity of the sky, reflects itself in the smooth
waters of a lake, so does the imagery of men of the antediluvian
ages reflect itself in the periods we can embrace in an
historical retrospect."	Isis I 34-5









Death of the Buddha


Another "mystery":

Explanation of the death of the Buddha by eating tsale rice made
of rice and "boar's" flesh -- indicating Brahmanism, Tantrikaism
[ Left-hand Brahmanism ]	HPB to APS Letters 241, SD I 368-9fn


The Lesson of Buddha's Death ( V. Imp.)	Thy. v. 22- p. 444


"...All compounds are perishable," were the last words uttered by
the lips of the dying Gautama..."Spirit is the sole, elementary,
and primordial unity, and each of its rays is immortal, infinite,
and indestructible. Beware of the illusions of matter." IS II
607



Exoteric and Esoteric Doctrines


Eye and Heart doctrine	HPB TO APS p. 241-2

Illustrated in the case of Orientalists T. Glos 66

Buddhism, Christianity and Phallicism	HPB Art III p. 29



Reincarnations of the Buddha


"...for many years the assertion has been made in India and other
Oriental countries that Buddha reincarnated in Sankaracharya for
the purpose of making a reform in Hindu philosophy...The same may
be said as to Tsong-ka-pa. The doctrine of reincarnations of an
Avatar is clearly put forward in the Bhagavad Gita in the 4th
chapter...As Buddha came to those who were outside the Vedic law.
so it was natural at that time, a little later, he or someone
else should come to make a reform in Hindu Vedic philosophy.
Whether both were the same souls is not very important, but it is
quite evident that the soul of each was in every sense a
"maha-atma," for the influence of Sankara is as much felt to this
day in the Vedic philosophical schools as is that of Buddha
outside of them. The coming and going of such highly advanced
egos is always "by a secret path," as is the phrase, and
generally curiosity brings out references on the point of
identification, for did we know who any particular person was in
another birth nothing much of value would be gained...much that
one said will not harmonize on the surface with that said by the
other, inasmuch as we know nothing of their secret reasons, and
the systems given by each have many radical differences."	WQJ
Forum Answers p. 92-3



Sankaracharya and the Buddha


Sankaracharya	Glos 307, 289, 21, SD I xliv 86 271 457fn
[ quotes from HPB: T.M. v. 8, p. 104 ] SD II 637,
TM 15-105, 37-385, 4-140 (born 509 BC), CWB 12-346fn,
Thy 36-318-9, 6-490, 5 Yrs Thy. 191, 195, 177, 278,
Thst. I-71, 89 (bio), 10-p.7, Lucif 4-387,

[Close connection between Buddha and Sankaracharya -- Brahmins
fear the Advaita philosophy which is close to the Mahayana --
esotericism is the same
SD II 637, also T. Glos. 307-8 ]



Tsong-Kha-Pa


"The regular system of the Lamaic incarnations of "Sang-gyas" (or
Buddha) began with Tsung-kha-pa. This reformer is not the
incarnation of one of the five celestial Dhyanis, or heavenly
Buddhas...but that of "Amita," one of the Chinese names for
Buddha. The records kept in the Gon-pa (lamasery) of...Teshu
Lumbo) show that Sang-gyas incarnated himself in Tsong-kha-pa in
consequence of the great degradation his doctrines had fallen
into..."	HPB Art. III 358


Son-Kha-Pa - an "avatar" of Buddha, died 1419 AD.	IS II 609

Tsong-Kha-Pa	5 Yrs of Thy 113, Thy v. 48-p 151, 43-126;
Is I 440, 616, II 609, 616, Glos. 305,
SD I 108, 635, Thy. 16-179, 26-118, 43-126,
Mod Pan 388fn, TM 7-25, 8-141, 18-145, 25-200,
TM 15-105, 4-140, HPB III 331, 357-8, AP Mar '45,
Thy 48-151,



On the Buddha


"True, "K...H..." mentions Buddha. But it is not because the
brothers hold him in the light of God or even of "a God," but
simply because he is the Patron of the Tibetan Occultists, the
greatest of the Illuminati and adepts, self-initiated by his own
Divine Spirit or "God-self" unto all the mysteries of the
invisible universe."	HPB Art I 319


"The Lord Gautama was never a hermit save during the first six
years of his ascetic life, the time it took him to enter fully
"on the Path."...it is stated that in the seventh year of his
exercises of abstinence and solitary mediation, Buddha thought,
"I had better eat, lest the heretics should say that Nirvana is
attained in famishing the body." Then he ate, sat for his
transformation for six more days and on the seventh day of the
second month obtained his first Samadhi. Then, having "attained
the perfect vies of the highest truth," he arose and went to
Benares where he delivered his first discourses. From that time
forward for nearly half a century, he remained in the world,
teaching the world salvation. His first disciples were nearly
all Upasakas (lay brothers), the neophytes being permitted to
continue in their positions in social life and not even required
to join the monastic community. And those who did, were
generally sent by the Master, to travel and proseletyze,
instructing in the doctrine of the four miseries all those whom
they met."	HPB Art. I 450-1fn


"There is no merit in having been created an immaculate Deva or
in being God; but there is the eternal bliss of Moksha looming
forth for the man who becomes as a God and Deity by his own
exertion. It is the mission of Karma to punish the guilty and
not the duty of any Master. But those who act up to Their
teaching and live the life of which They are the best exemplars,
will never be abandoned by Them, and will always find Their
beneficent help whenever needed, whether obviously or invisibly."
HPB Art I 109


On the Buddha	Mahatma Letters: 43, 58, 75, 84, 96, 117,
157, 196, 281-2, 387, 455, SD II 652

Work of Buddha compared to Jesus	Key pp 65-80; Is II 537-9

Why Buddhism succeeded in contrast to Jesus' mission.	Is II 319



Pre-Vedic Lemuro-Atlantean Wisdom


"Buddhism is but the primitive source of Brahmanism. It is not
against the primitive Vedas that Gautama protests." Is II 169,
123-4, 143,


"Buddhism and Hinduism have one mother: Lemuro-Atlantean
Wisdom."	SD I 668


"Pre-Vedic Buddhism"	Isis II 123-4, 142-3, 169


Buddhas -- a long line of. Came at specific periods
HPB TO APS p. 242-4, 194, ML 343-4, SD II 309
Isis II 156-7, 322, SD II 423fn, I 108-9, 267,
Trans 50, 98 top, Glos. 101


A hierarchy of Primeval Buddhas	SD I 571-2


"Esoterically, however, the Dhyani Buddhas are seven, of whom
five only have hitherto manifested, and two are to come in the
sixth and seventh Root-races. They are, so to speak, the eternal
prototypes of the Buddhas who appear on this earth, each of whom
has his particular divine prototype. So, for instance, Amitabha
is the Dhyani-Buddha of Gautama Sakyamuni, manifesting through
him whenever this great Soul incarnates on earth as He did in
Tsong-Kha-Pa. As the synthesis of the seven Dhyani-Buddhas,
Avalokitesvara was the first Buddha (the Logos) so Amitabha is
the inner "God" of Gautama, who, in China is called
Amita(-Buddha). They are...the liberated Manushi-Buddhas
appointed to govern the Earth in this Round. They are the
"Buddhas of Contemplation," and are all Anupadaka (parentless),
i.e., self-born of divine essence... every Dhyani-Buddhas has the
faculty of creating from himself, an equally celestial son--a
Dhyani-Bodhisattva--who, after the decease of the Manushi (human)
Buddha, has to carry out the work of the latter, rests on the
fact that owing to the highest initiation performed by one
overshadowed by the "Spirit of Buddha"...a candidate becomes
virtually a Bodhisattva, created such by the High Initiator."
SD I 108-9
[ also see Glos. p. 101, 64-7 ]



On Brotherhood	Isis II 319


"...his caution led the Buddha to conceal too much..."	Key, 81


Buddha-chayya (The Shadow of the Buddha, periodically seen )
Glos 67, Is I 599-600 II 616,


WQJ on Buddhism	WQJ Art. II 499-502



Buddhism and Theosophy


>From the "Great Master's Letter"

"...Buddhism stripped of its superstition, is eternal truth...For
our doctrines to practically react on the so-called moral code,
or the ideas of truthfulness, purity, self-denial, charity, etc.,
we have to preach and popularize a knowledge of Theosophy. It
is...but the self-sacrificing pursuit of the best means to lead
on the right path our neighbour, to cause to benefit by it as
many of our fellow-creatures as we possibly can, which
constitutes the true Theosophist...

No messenger of truth, no prophet, has ever achieved during his
life-time a complete triumph--not even Buddha...how is the
combative natural instinct of man to be restrained from
inflicting hitherto unheard-of cruelty and enormous tyranny,
injustice, etc., if not through the soothing influence of
brotherhood, and of the practical application of Buddha's
esoteric doctrines?...

All of us must get rid of our own Ego, the illusory, apparent
self, to recognize our true Self, in a transcendental divine
life. But if we would not be selfish, we must strive to make
other people see that truth, and recognize the reality of the
transcendental Self, the Buddha, the Christ, or God of every
preacher. This is why even esoteric Buddhism is the surest path
to lead men towards the one esoteric truth....no religion , with
the exception of Buddhism, has taught a practical contempt for
this earthly life; while each of them [has]...inculcated the
greatest dread of death...Teach the people to see that life on
this earth, even the happiest, is but a burden and an illusion;
that it is our own Karma [the cause producing the effect] that is
our judge--our Saviour in future lives--and the great struggle
for life will soon lose its intensity..."	Theos. Art. & Notes,
pp. 189...
LETTERS from the MASTERS OF WISDOM (I) 6-8



On the Evolution of the Man--as Planetary Spirit.


"Evolving from cosmic matter--which is akasa, the primeval not
the secondary plastic medium, or Ether of Science instinctively
suspected, unproven as the rest--man first evolutes from this
matter in its most sublimated state, appearing at the threshold
of Eternity as a perfectly Ethereal--not Spiritual Entity, say--a
Planetary Spirit. He is but one remove from the universal and
Spiritual World Essence--the Anima Mundi of the Greeks, or that
which humanity in its spiritual decadence has degraded into a
mythical personal God. Hence, at that stage, the Spirit-man is
at best an active Power, an immutable, therefore an unthinking
Principle (the term "immutable" being again used here but to
denote that state for the time being, the immutability applying
here but to the inner principle which will vanish and disappear
as soon as the spark of the material in him will start on its
cyclic work of Evolution and transformation). In his subsequent
descent, and in proportion of the increase of matter he will
assert more and more his activity. Now, the congeries of the
star-worlds (including our own planet) inhabited by intelligent
beings may be likened to an orb or rather an epicycloid formed of
rings like a chain--worlds inter-linked together, the totality
representing an imaginary endless ring, or circle...whose head is
lost in a crown of absolute Spirit, and its lowest point of
circumference in absolute matter--to viz. the point of cessation
of action of the active principle...

Propelled by the irresistible cyclic impulse the Planetary Spirit
has to descend before he can reascend. On his way he has to pass
through the whole ladder of Evolution, missing no rung, to halt
at every star-world as he would at a station; and...to perform
in its own "life-cycle" to, viz.: returning and reincarnating as
many times as he fails to complete his round of life in it, as he
dies on it before reaching the age of reason as correctly stated
in Isis..." M L 45-46
[ more on this to p. 47, 76-7, 157 ]



Nirvana


Nirvani	(Sk.)	"...an emancipated soul...It is "escape from
misery" but only from that of matter, freedom from Klesha, or
Kama, and the complete extinction of animal desires...matter...is
maya (illusion). Sakyamuni Buddha said in the last moments of
his life that "the spiritual body is immortal."...the
Bodhisattvas who prefer the Nirmanakaya to the Dharmakaya
vesture, stand higher in the popular estimation than the
Nirvanis..."	T. Glos. 232


"...there are two methods of attaining Nirvana, one selfish and
the other unselfish, but the word selfish here would designate
really unselfishness among us. It refers to the refinement of
selfishness in that a person is working by unselfish acts to
obtain that which, in the end of all analysis, is selfish,
because it is for the benefit of the person involved. But it was
never taught that a man could attain Nirvana by working for his
own selfish advantage as his motive, and he does not gain it at
the expense of anyone; therefore his selfishness in obtaining
Nirvana, being at no one's expense, is of a very different
quality from what we ordinarily call selfishness. As a matter of
fat it is stated that at a certain point of development the
highly spiritualized person may in a moment pass into Nirvana
through an instantaneous personal desire to gain that state."
WQJ --Forum Ans. p. 73-4


[ HPB calls it ]: "the lowest" of the three paths to
Nirvana...in which a Yogi--'without teacher and without saving
others'--by the mere force of will and technical observance
attains to a kind of nominal Buddhaship, doing no good to anyone
but working selfishly for his own salvation. [see Pratyekha
Buddha] Theos. Glos. 261


"Bad karma is that act and thought which displeases the Higher
Self. Hence all self-seeking acts and thoughts no matter how
high and outwardly virtuous they are, are bad karma, since the
Higher Self desires no such acts for its sake.

Nirvana comes to those who have risen over the delusions and have
realized the supreme unity of all; then it may be taken; but if
it is taken for oneself, leaving others in the mire of life
unhelped, it becomes an enormous selfishness which later on must
result in the being having to do penance in some other
manvantara."	W Q J Forum Ans p. 97



Causes for Evolution


"...that which propels towards, and forces evolution, i.e.,
compels the growth and development of Man towards perfection, is
(a) the monad, or that which acts in it unconsciously through a
force inherent in itself; and (b) the lower astral body or the
personal self. The former...that force [which]...owing to its
identity with the all-force...inherent in the Monad, it is
all-potent on the Arupa or formless plane...So with the Atman:
unless the higher Self or ego gravitates towards its Sun--the
Monad--the lower Ego, or personal Self, will have the upper hand
in every case. For it is this Ego, with its fierce Selfishness
and animal desire to live a Senseless life (Tanha), which is "the
maker of the tabernacle,"...In short, Spirituality is on its
ascending arc, and the animal or physical impedes it from
steadily progressing on the path of its evolution only when the
selfishness of the personality has so strongly infected the real
inner man with its lethal virus, that the upward attraction has
lost all its power on the thinking reasonable man."	SD II 109-110



Returning Nirvanees


[See Damodar, p.70-72, by S. Eek DKM on this ]


In The Secret Doctrine, II pp. 79-80 "returning Nirvanees" are
spoken of. This is an important quotation.

Also see:
M L 114, SD I 371 329-30; II 79-80 109-10 233fn; KEY 113-4;
Forum Answers, pp. 73-4, 97-8, 120; Epitome, p. 28;
Glossary 261. 345, 231, 232; Aryan Path, Vol. I, p. 656;



Perfection


"Perfection is an ever-receding goal; "we can always approach
the light, but we may never touch the flame," because it is our
very Self, the Perceiver and Knower within. The Self is neither
perfect nor imperfect for it includes all perceptions; there
could be no knowledge of any degree of perfection or
imperfections unless the perceiver could see both an distinguish
between them."	A to Q, 14


"In those bodies all the forces belonging to man, and these mean
the very highest expression of the great forces of nature,
constantly play, and must have corresponding effect upon anyone
who may come in Their direct range. With such a conception of
the nature of Their bodies, we may be able to dimly perceive to
what a pitch of power and glory Their inner natures have been
raised. If we thus dimly grasp the nature of Masters we may be
able to reverence Them in our hearts, and to endeavor to draw
near to Them in our innermost being...Masters are facts in
Nature, facts however which our highest ideals will not fully
encompass...Let us therefore endow Them with the highest we can
conceive of, try to assimilate that "highest" within ourselves,
endeavor to draw near to Them in our hearts, and thus form for
ourselves that line of communication which They have said They
are always ready to help establish; and let us keep that ideal
as a sacred thing in the repository of our hearts..."	A to Q, p.
27-8


"Now bend thy head and listen well, O Bodhisattva--Compassion
speaks and saith: "Can there be bliss when all that lives must
suffer? Shalt thou be saved and hear the whole world cry ?

Now thou hast heard that which was said.

Thou shalt attain the seventh step and cross the gate of final
knowledge, but only to wed woe--if thou would'st be Tathagata,
follow upon thy predecessor's steps, remain unselfish till the
endless end.

Thou art enlightened--choose thy way..."	Voice, p. 78

"...The stream is cross'd. 'Tis true thou hast a right to
Dharmakaya vesture; but Sambhogakaya is greater than a Nirvanee,
and greater still is a Nirmanakaya--the Buddha of Compassion."
Voice, p.77

"Yea, he is mighty. The living power made free in him, that
power which is Himself, can raise the tabernacle of illusion high
above the Gods, above great Brahm and Indra. Now he shall surely
reach his great reward !"	Voice, p. 71


And a further question is asked:


"Shall he not use the gifts which it confers for his own rest and
bliss, his well-earn'd weal and glory--he, the subduer of the
Great Delusion ?" Voice, p.71


[ The Bodhisattva, who perceives this, but has adopted the ideal
of service as his method, resolves to remain in the Nirmanakaya
vesture and retains the full knowledge of that state in which he
could have donned the Sambhogakaya sheath.
(see HPB Art. I, p. 452 fn., T. Glos. p. 343)


The Dharmakaya, the third vesture, represents the final stage of
the Trikaya [Glos. p. 338-9] and the Trisharna [Glos. p.343]. It
is "essential Bodhi"--wisdom, and excludes the entity, if
accepted and donned, from further relations with the present
stream of evolving mankind. It is said that a "mere wish"
achieves this. ]


"...it will be sufficient to point to the following:--(1) the
Nirmanakaya vesture is preferred by the "Buddhas of Compassion"
to that of the Dharmakaya state, precisely because the latter
precludes him who attains it from any communication or relation
with the finite, i.e., with humanity; (2) it is not Buddha
(Gautama, the mortal man...) who lives ubiquitously in "three
different spheres, at the same time," but Bodhi, the universal
and abstract principle of divine wisdom, symbolized in philosophy
by Adi-Buddha. It is the latter that is ubiquitous because it is
the universal essence or principle. It is Bodhi, or the spirit
of Buddhaship, which having resolved itself into its primordial
homogeneous essence and merged into it, as Brahma (the universe)
merges into Parabrahm, the Absoluteness is meant under the name
of "essential Bodhi." For the Nirvanee, or Dhyani-Buddha, must
be supposed--to be that "essential Bodhi" itself. It is the
Dhyani Bodhisattvas, the primordial rays of the universal Bodhi,
who live in "reflected Bodhi" in Rupadathu, or the world of
subjective "forms;" and it is the Nirmanakayas (plural) who upon
casting their lives of "practical Bodhi," in the "enlightened" or
Buddha forms, remain voluntarily in the Kamadathu (the world of
desire), whether in objective forms on earth or in subjective
states in its sphere (the 2nd Buddhakshetra). This they do in
order to watch over, protect and help mankind." [Glos 129 -
Guardian Wall; Voice 74, L on P 19,	M L 57, Q & A 160, Key
212-3, F P 75,]


From:: HPB - The T S -- Its Mission & Future,
[ Lucifer, Aug. 1888 ] HPB Articles, I pp. 245-259


[ Note: There is a close resemblance between this article and
HPB's article in French titled: Theosophy & Buddhism,
published in Le Lotus, Sept. 1888, Paris. CWB X-110,
a month later.]

===============================================================
Page	Key Word	Summary	References
===============================================================

246	THEOSOPHY, BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY compared by Burnouf

Dogma	Theosophy does not promulgate HPB ART I 260...

Rocca, Abbe	HPB answers critique	THY MAG Vol. 83, pp. 18-21
[From; Le Lotus, April 1888, CWB Vol. 9] HPB ART I 173

Catholic Church	loathed by HPB the most

HPB and Olcott are Buddhists	follow His esoteric School
ISIS I 346 II 191 319 339 607 KEY 13 HPB Art I 250-9 448-9

T S	is not attached to ecclesiastical Buddhism

246	Brotherhood of Humanity T S founded to become a
LET From the Masters of W p. 5, HPB ART I 223 238 243 257,
HPB ART II 37 WQJ ART I 381 5 Mess 24 ML 5-8, 20, 252 318-9

246	T S	a center common to all to discuss philosophical and
religious matters - not restricted to Buddhism

246-7	T S	open to all without distinction of origin, caste,
nation, color sex, creed

347	Religions	have a common basis and root	Is II 537

347-8	Manischeism	[ GLOS 204: 3rd Cent. Sect. Founder: Mani,
a mystic in Rome called himself the Messiah ]
ISIS II 32 88 286 629-30, SD II 238, THY 26-p. 53

Sramanas	Buddhist ascetics ( 248 ) in Rome 3rd. Cent.
opposed by the R C Church which claimed exclusive
possession of the Truth. Opposed them.

347	Nirvana	is not annihilation	GLOS 232 ISIS I 290 346 VOICE 47
ISIS II 116-7 286, 320 566, SD I xix, 266, II 79
HPB ART II 118 (refusing), THST 5-246 (col. 2 top)

347	Personal God described	HPB III 207 ISIS II 318 512 SD I 347
675
[ Polytheism / monotheism HPB II 174-5 527 III 33-4 ] 347

Priest	intermediary between man and god
[ origins of: Sorcery SD II 503 SD I 264fn ]

248	Buddha	No "God" but a perfected Man, perfected in wisdom
and virtue.

God	Theosophy does not separate it from the Universe

Equality of all men taught in Theosophy

Messiah Jews got idea from the Buddhists	FP 151-2
HPB ART II 514 III 169 fn 190-2 SD I 653-4
IS II 201-2 245 440-1

248	Essenes, Therapeuts, Gnostics	fusion of Buddhist and Semitic
thought	ISIS II 335-6 GLOS 115, 129, 329

Jesus and Buddha's lives compared	ISIS II 330-80
actual and legendary to be separated

Visvakarma	Legend, tool-smith of the "Gods"	GLOS 366

Self-sacrifice of the Wise TRANS 68 SD II 559

Council of Nicea [ 325 AD ] Christianity broke with Buddhism
THY 20-200, IS I 436 II 20 251-2 337

248	RC Church claimed to possess the sole Truth - fight with
Manicheans	- exclusiveness

[ Theosophy always invites enquiry, scrutiny and proof. ]

249	Albigences and Pauline School	survivors of the Manicheans
[ Albigences: IS II 74 502 THY 26-p. 52 T, MVT 21-166 ]
[ Pauline School: SD II 268 515 704 I 327 IS II 277 ]

Burnouf	Surveys objects and practices of T S Virtues and
freedoms

Theosophy: ancient and world literature freely done

250	Altruism	and compassionate activities expected of members

"He who does not practice altruism; he who is not prepared to
share his last
morsel with a weaker or a poorer than himself; he who neglects
to help his brother
man, of whatever race, nation, or creed, whenever and wherever
he meets suffering,
and who turns a deaf ear to the cry of human misery; he who
hears an innocent person slandered, whether a brother Theosophist
or not, and does not undertake his defense
as he would undertake his own--is no Theosophist." Lucifer #
3

250	Buddhism	True and original is not a sect, is rather a
moral and intellectual reform HPB Art I 58

Truth The Secret wisdom	- primitive Buddhism	(p. 8)
- no veils - clear ideas

Modern Buddhism split into many sects

251	Source and foundations of pure and true Buddhism to be found

T S	desires to maintain its independent integrity
in search of that unadulterated light

Hermeticism	Esoteric Teachings for the educated and the
the initiates	HPB ART I 438-9 445 III 137-142

251	Buddhism	There is an esoteric, soul-ennobling philosophy in
it.

Saptaparna Cave	Initiatory cave [ Sattapani, Mt. Baibar ]
GLOS 291 SD I xx 200 236 558-9 590 ISIS I 599-600
Is II 317-8 5 YRS OF THY. 234fn GN 48-9 52-3

252	Fa-Hien	[ not "Ta-Hien" ]
GLOS 118 291, SD I 236 THS'T 5-p.39 T. MVT. 37-520
5 YRS THY 234fn HPB ART I 252 CWB 5-374 BIO

252 Dhyana	Mystic Meditation abstraction contemplation far
above
our plane of sensuous perception Paramita
GLOS 101 337 VOICE 21 50 PAT 37 ISIS 2-287 320
LETTERS 29 SD I 572 II 116 FP 93 T MVT 47-211
THY 51-315

Cave used for the initiation of Arhats GLOS 201 274
Saptaparna, Mt. Webara

carried secret learning beyond the Himalayas

252	Buddhist Ollas	- destroyed in Ceylon by So. Indian invaders,
so also those of the Gnostics and Initiates.
5 YRS THY 170 SD I xxiii-iv SD I xxviii
ISIS I 24-5 403-6 503 511 II 27-9 57 430
SD II xxiii 529 763fn THY 14-420

252	Public Indifference	- obstacle to T S not interested
in philosophy

253	Truth	- common to all religions

Absolute Deity	- no personal God impersonal:
Alexandrian Neo-Platonists

Moral Stamina	- of modern man is very feeble

253	"Struggle for Life"	- everywhere a pretended law (see 258)

- Theosophy will assign it its proper place

254	Self-preservation	- a slow suicide and mutual homicide
(see HPB Art I 500)
- applies only to the physical

254 Self preservation	- reinvolution into the animal impossible

254	Altruism	- the surest policy of salvation	universal charity

"Social Hurricane to come" - due to feeling of separateness

Inner Enlightenment is needed	- not violence

Brotherly union of men's inner Selves - soul-solidarity
(see HPB I 331)

254	1st Object of the T S	- Brotherhood

255	Personal Selfishness	- root of all ills	egoism	vanity

Priests	- parasites on their flocks

256	Tolerance of Buddhism	- excites the jealousy of none

T S Motto	- "There is no Religion Higher than Truth."

False Theosophists: Selfishness - no sharing or charity with
others

- gossip and slander	HPB Art I 200, 226 243 250

- fierce love of self and vanity, discontent and love of
power	ostentation

256-7 Original Rules and Aims formulated by members of the
First Section. 2nd and 3rd Sections merged into one in T S

257	Original Lines of the T. Movement quoted from "Occult World"

"...the chief object of the T S is not so much to gratify
individual aspirations as to serve our fellow men...and in our
view the highest aspirations for the welfare of humanity become
tainted with selfishness, if, in the mind of the philanthropist
there lurks the shadow of a desire for self-benefit, or a
tendency to do injustice even where these exist unconsciously
to himself..." -- Master [see WQJ Art II 44-47]

257-8	Brotherhood

"...ever-increasing triumph and, at the same time,
misuse of free thought and liberty, how is the combative natural
instinct of man to be restrained from inflicting hitherto
unheard-of cruelties, enormities, tyranny, injustice, if not
through the soothing influence of a Brotherhood, and of the
practical applications of Buddha's esoteric doctrines ?...
Buddhism is the surest path to lead men towards th one esoteric
truth [Brotherhood]." --Great Master's Letter
Theosophical Articles and Notes, p. 190-3
HPB Art I 58 112 137 200 246

258	Justice, Honor, Mercy	disregarded in all Nations and
Religions

Struggle for Life - a curse

258	- parent of crime, woe and sorrow

258	A Practical Contempt for Earthly Life - taught only by
Buddhism
ML 190

Death	- dreaded	- an error in Christianity

Earth Life - even the happiest is an illusory burden

258	- it is our own Karma, our judge and our savior
in future lives

258-9 "Perish rather the Theosophical Society...than that we
should
permit it to become no better than an academy of magic and a
hall of Occultism. That we the devoted followers of the
spirit incarnate of absolute self-sacrifice, of philanthropy
and divine kindness as of all the highest virtues attainable
on this earth of sorrow, the man of men, Gautama Buddha,
should ever allow the T S to represent the embodiment of
selfishness, to become a refuge of the few with no thought
in them for the many, is a strange idea...permit the T S to
drop its noblest title, that of the Brotherhood of Humanity,
to become a simple school of Psychology...No! No! my
brothers you have been laboring under the mistake too long
already...

259	To be true, religion and philosophy must offer the
solution of every problem...there must be somewhere a
consistent solution...which gives truth and nothing but the
Truth ...esoteric Buddhism." -- Great Master
Letters from the Masters of Wisdom pp. 6-8

[ see Theosophy Mag. Vol. 12 - 204 267 146-7 539 ]

==============================


From: H.P.B. -- WHAT IS THEOSOPHY ? Part I
HPB ARTICLES I pp. 39 - 47

(Published in 1st issue of The Theosophist, Oct. 1879)

[ This is included because it gives the principles of the
work and assistance of the Great Masters in the world.]

Summary:
===============================================================
Page	Key word	Notes	References
===============================================================

39	Theosophia	Greek:	theos	=	god
sophos	=	wise

39	Exponents	Ammonius Saccas	GLOS 20 252 227 ISIS I 44
KEY 2-9 T. MVT 18-151 56-5 HPB I 426
THY 2-369 ARYAN PATH 2-353


Plotinus	GLOS 256 ISIS I xii 487-8
KEY 3fn HPB I 426 THY 25-101 T. MVT 18-147


Jamblichus	GLOS 149 329 227 KEY 2fn HPB I 426
ISIS I 333 345 487-9 T MVT 56-p.45 18-151


Porphyry	GLOS 257 KEY 3fn ISIS I 214 344 487
HPB I 426 THY 25-102, 142


Proclus	GLOS 263 227 ISIS I 489 II 101


Neo-Platonists	GLOS 227 16 109 THY 25-57
THY 51-83 ISIS I 436 430 II 34 82top

39	Neo-Platonists	Ammonius Saccas	HPB I 18
Alexandrian School	I
Plotinus
I
Porphyry - Iamblichus - Longinus - Origen
[Origen - GLOS 141 IS I 12
Lucif 19-296 Thy Mag 43-511, 546 51-271
I
Clement of Alexandria
GLOS 85 SD II 280 KEY 6 37fn
HPB III 137-140 Lucif 16-449 19-295
I
Zenobia
KEY 7 GLOS 227 bot
I
Theon	HPB I 18 ISIS II 101
I
Hypatia	GLOS 17 146 ISIS II 28 52-3
HPB II 324 III 212
I
39	Synesius	GLOS 146 CWB 14-571

I
Proclus	GLOS 263


39	Thomas Vaughn (Eugenius Philalethes)	GLOS 252 360 KEY 1-7
ISIS I x 431 MOD PAN 42 44 5 YRS THY 163fn
ISIS I 51 167 308-9 504 CWB I 51 THST I 109

Theosophist	"is one who gives you a theory of God or the works
of God, which has not a revelation, but an inspiration
of his own for its basis"...every great
thinker and philosopher...founder of a new religion,
school of philosophy, or sect, is necessarily a
Theosophist..."	HPB ART I 39

39-40 Theosophy and Theosophists have existed ever since the
first
glimmering of nascent thought made man seek independently
for the means of expressing his own independent opinions.

40	Eclectic Theosophical System	- 3rd Cent Neo-Platonists of the
Alexandrian School, Philalethians (see above)

- teachings of Buddha, Vedanta, Magians, Zoroastrians,
Greece all taught

Diogenes Laertius	ISIS I 33fn 259 KEY 2fn T. MVT 18-147
traced Theosophy to Pot-Amun	GLOS 259 19 HPB III 13
a priest consecrated to Amun...God of Wisdom GLOS 19

40	"God"	- Supreme, Eternal, Unknown, Unconditioned,
Unnamed POWER

- Governing the Universe by immutable, eternal laws

40	Theosophy	- Primitive: - essentially same in all countries

Brotherhood	- brotherhood, quarrels abandoned
Compassion	brotherly affection, compassion
extended to animals

Unity	- unite in common purpose

Respect for Elders	- reverence for elders
Morality	- moral discipline established for use

Absolute Truth	- to be sought for and contemplated

40	Religions	- to be purified of corruption
by pure philosophic principles

- to extract a harmonious melody from
them

41	Secular and Popular	- concealed the secret, occult esoteric
and divine

41	Wisdom Religion of antiquity	- known in every country

Esoteric Doctrine	- emanating from the Divine Principle

- all things occult and divine

Bodh	- Buddhi	- Nebo	- Thoth of Memphis - Hermes of Greece
- Metis - Neitha - Athena - Sophia - Vedas to know
SD I xix-xx 453 539fn, Gl. 64,

Heirophants	- Rishis	- Theodidaktoi

Initiation and Teaching	- in caves, secret lodges of
Bactria, Egypt, Greece

Apporrheta	- secret discourses during which the Mysta
became an Epopta - a Seer

41	Eclectic Theosophy	- taught: Single Supreme Essence
Unknown and Unknowable

- "How could one know the Knower ?"
41	GOD ?
- 3 features:

1 - on "God" (as above)

2 - the doctrine of the human soul

3 - [not defined here ] see p. 43 top
anastasis - evolution

41-2 DIVINE ESSENCE	Diu of ancient Aryans
Iao of Chaldeans	GLOS 148 IS II 298
Jupiter	of Romans	GLOS 113 SD I 463-4
Jave of the Samaritans SD I 485 WQJ I 485
Tiu, Tiusco the Northmen
42	Duw	of the Britains
Zeus	of the Thracians SD II 294fn

42	PRIMEVAL MONAD -	GLOS 216 SD I 69 623 174fn ISIS II 116-7

- retires into darkness and is itself Darkness
as regards the human intellect
[see Leibnitz and Spinoza]

42	En-Soph of the Kabala	GLOS 114 ISIS II 37
- formless, non-existent
Brahma	of the Vedas

"Who knows from whence this great creation springs?
Whether his will created or was mute.
He knows it--or perchance even He knows not.
Rig Veda Book 10, v. 129, SD I 26,

42	Svabhavat	- exists by Itself	GLOS 314
[ Swabhavikas - a Nepalese sect ]

42	DIVINE ALL	- proceeding from the Divine Wisdom
- incomprehensible, unknown, unnamed
(except by Xtianity and Islam)

- cannot be known

- Universe alone revealing It

- source of all existence

42 SPIRIT	- the spirit of the deity neither wills nor
creates - retires within itself

42 Infinite Effulgency	- produces all, visible and invisible

- a Ray containing in itself the generative
and conceptive Power...which produces

Macrocosm	- Tikkum or Adam Kadmon - GLOS 195

Purusha	- the manifested Brahm, or the Divine Male

42	Reincarnation:	[ see p. 41 ]

Anastasis	- continued existence (reincarnation)
- transmigration (evolution)
- metempsychosis, reincarnation
GLOS 21 ISIS II 281 489

Paramatma	- transcendental supreme soul - distinct from:
GLOS 249 GN 205 WQJ I 202 ISIS I xvi II 108
( The Central Spiritual Sun )

Jivatma	- animal or conscious soul
HPB III 334-5 (7th Principle) SD I 50

43	Higher Intuition - acquired from Theosophia - God-knowledge

Samadhi	which carries the mind from the world of
Daimonion-photi form to that of formless spirit
GLOS 101 286

Higher Self	- inner, searched for by mystics of all ages

Vidya	- of Yogi and Kshatriya	GLOS 364 HPB II 102
S D I xviii

Epopteia	- "Noetic work"	GLOS 112 115 HPB I 18
ISIS II 90 113 146 THY 27-147

- "To unite one's soul to the Universal Soul

43, 46	Purity	"requires but a perfectly pure mind." - Porphyry

- self-contemplation, perfect chastity, purity of body
HPB I 46

43-4	Diksh [it]	- follow the ascetic rules	GLOS 102 99 156
(Dikshita	ISIS I xxxix T MVT. 18-150 ML 218

44	- also: power of seeing and hearing at great
distances

44	Rare Individuals - A. R. Wallace on Mayavi Rupa cases

44	Gymnosophists	[Yogis and Rishis of ancient India]
- powers affirmed by travelers of past:
Strabo, Lucan, Plutarch, Cicero, Pliny

Atman / Atmu	- Self or Soul of Hindu and ancient Greeks
Hidden or God-Soul of man
GLOS 43 SD I 471 570-1 573 II 109-110

UNIVERSAL SOUL	- not separated from lower or higher Manas

- separation is not of space but of quality

Universal Space	- offers no obstacle or limits to Spirit


45	Ecstasy	- of Neo-Platonists
- union with "God" claimed by many philosophers; cannot
be neglected as evidence
GLOS 109 KEY 3 10fn SD II 558 IS I 315 358 486 122
ML 219 KEY 70 THY. ART & NOTES 120

Kapila	- stern logic denied confabulation with
Ishwara by Yogis GLOS 173 SD I 207
SD II 483 570-1 T. MVT 18-150 IS I 580fn II 158

Visionaries:	- Boehme	Swedenborg	- claimed seen

45	Alexandrian Theosophists	4 grades:
Grades:
1.	neophytes
2.	initiates
3.	masters
4.	hierophants

- Rules: from Mysteries of Orpheus [Arjuna] from India
GLOS 242 219 ISIS I 600 II 35 129-130
SD I 359 II 756 T. MVT 18-151

Gnosis	1.	opinion	by perception
2.	science	by dialectics
3.	illumination by intuition absolute
knowledge founded by the
identification of the mind
with the object known.
GLOS 153 HPB III 146 II 286 ISIS II 391


46	Psychology	- Theosophy is the exact knowledge of
GLOS 24 264 IS I xxvii

- It develops in man a direct beholding --
a realizations of the subject and the object
in the individual

Psychology	- perfectly known and practiced by Theosophists
GLOS 24 264 IS I xxvii 88 482
HPB II 1-6 268 427-8 471

Hyponia	- man thinks divine thoughts and views things as
they really are

- "I the imperfect, adore my own perfect."
-- Emerson [Essay on the Oversoul]

Theurgy	- added by Iamblichus GLOS 149 329 KEY 3, IS I 487
ISIS I xlii 281 66 T. MVT 18-148 SD I 338 344 II 35

46	Danger of BLACK MAGIC	- "When ignorant of the true meaning of
the esoteric divine symbols of nature, man is apt
to miscalculate the powers of his soul, and, in-
stead of communing spiritually with the higher
celestial beings...he will unconsciously call
forth the evil, dark powers which lurk around
humanity--the undying, grim creations of human
crimes and vices--and thus fall from theurgia
(white magic) into goetia (or black magic, sorcery).	GLOS
149 197; ISIS I xliii; HPB II 100; SD II 748


46	Alchemy	- also from Theosophy	GLOS 14 IS I xxv 158 503
SD I 409-10 417 II 105 763 LUCIF 5-288 WQJ I 399

46	Writing	- No direct written evidence of teachings of the
Great Teachers - nothing written by them:

Buddha, Orpheus, Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Confucius,
Socrates, Ammonius Saccas...

Ignorant and Selfish	are unfit for Theosophy

Great Lodge of true Theosophists - small in number

- wields an unseen but powerful influence on
philosophy and explains much to those who
are patient with it


47	History of the past Theosophists	- hunted like wild beasts by
religion and organized theology up to 200 years ago
-- Kenneth McKenzie in R. M. Cyclopedia

Universal Brotherhood the purpose of the T S	HPB I 59


==================================================