Theos-Talk Archives (March 2004 Message tt00615)

One of the puzzles in theosophical history and
literature is that HPB's Teachers, the Mahatmas,
declared themselves to be Buddhists, as in this
well-known passage from the Mahatma Letters:

"Therefore, we deny God both as philosophers and as
Buddhists." (ML 88, chronological)

And yet, the system they taught, sometimes called
"Aryan-Arhat Esoteric Doctrine", includes as one of
its pivotal points Atma, or the seventh principle, the
One Self, as well as Soul.

Apparently, there are no known school in Buddhism that
accepts Atma as a fundamental reality. The denial of
Atma is one of the cardinal principles in Buddhist
philosophy. Two well-known scholars explain why:

"Buddhism stands unique in the history of human
thought in denying the existence of such a Soul , Self
or Atman. According to the teaching of the Buddha, 
the idea of self is an imaginary, false belief which
has no corresponding reality." (Walpola Rahula, "What
the Buddha Taught")

"Sakkayaditthi (Substance-view) is avidya (ignorance)
par excellence, and from it proceed all passions.
Denial of Satkaya (atman or Substance) is the very
pivot of the Buddhist metaphysics and doctrine of
salvation." (T.R.V. Murti, "The Central Philosophy of
Buddhism - A Study of the Madhyamika System") 

Can someone explain which Buddhism the Mahatmas
subscribed to?

Pedro


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