Theos-Talk Archives (March 2004 Message tt00633)

Dear Pedro

Let me throw some comments if you donīt mind.
Your message ends up with a pertinent question:"Can someone explain which Buddhism the Mahatmas subscribed to?" 
The first thing that appears in mind is the expression: " Thereīs no religion higher than truth"
This may be one answer, they did not follow a particular branch.
Every level of Theosophy study leads us to a certain interpretation, the catch of a fragment of the truth.
It depends of how much consideration and seriousness you carry along with your study.
Itīs a funny subject because the letters from these Mahatmas also includeother passages that specifically identify them as Buddhists, as for instance taken from The Mahatma Letters:
(...) our lamas to honour the fraternity of the Bhikkhus [Buddhist monks] established by our blessed master himself.(...)
(...)he who reads our Buddhist scriptures(...)
(...)Therefore, we deny God both as philosophers and as Buddhists(...)
See that in a letter to Patience Sinnett, HPB refers to other masters or mahatmas of this school:  
(...) " who are pure blooded Mongolian Buddhists" (...)
Then, to merely say that the Mahatmas are esoteric Buddhists does not entirely answer the question. It does not explain the Buddhist part....
And we cannot forget that Buddhism is the most direct descendant of the Wisdom-Religion now in existence.
Both Dallas TenBreoeck and Kosheck gave a fantastic explanation of the essence of it and I am forced to agree with them.

Krishtar

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Pedro Oliveira 
To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 9:24 AM
Subject: Theos-World Were the Mahatmas Buddhists?


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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