THEOSOPHY and BUDDHISM
Jul 30, 2006 06:00 PM
by W.Dallas TenBroeck
7/30/2006 4:55 PM
Re: THEOSOPHY and BUDDHISM
Dear Friends:
While correct, such elaboration reflects (to me ) that which the Master
wrote on:
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 (1918 Edn.) (Vol. I)
pp. 6 - 8
"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
disfranchised 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
"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]
"...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
And we may add:
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
"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 ]
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
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 view 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
"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
Also note THEOSOPHY says: A BASIC PRINCIPLE UNDERLIES ALL "EVOLUTION"
MAN'S EVOLUTION -- AS A 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 (Barker) pp. 45-46
[ more on this, go to M L pp. 47, 76-7, 157 ]
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
GOAL: SUPREME PERFECTION
"...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 fact 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
PERFECTION [ HOW TO BE ACHIEVED ? ]
"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)
"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." HPB Lucifer
1887 # 3
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,]
"...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]
"...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
"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...
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, 1918, Vol,. 1, pp. 6-8
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 p.. 39
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
----------------------------------------------
I hope some of these will prove useful.
Dallas
=======================================
7/30/2006 5:14 PM
RE THEOSOPHY AND BUDDHISM
HPB TOOK PANSIL WHY ?
Dear Friends:
This may be found relevant as well as of interest -- here are some
definitions / opinions
the actual "position" of the BUDDHA among his peers, and their respect for
HIM.
Best wishes,
Dallas
===============
-----Original Message-----
From: On Behalf Of Bill Meredith
Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2006 1:41 PM
Subject: Re: THEOSOPHY AND BUDDHISM
Eldon, thank you for this input. I hope everyone interested in really
understanding a subject for themselves gets a chance to check out this
discussion. I am quoting a small excerpt from Taylor's presentation
below in hopes of sparking some further interest.
--bill
----------------------------------------------
Taylor said:
"I do not want to get my facts wrong. If wrong, let me know. It
is a fact that on May 17, 1880, HPB and Colonel Olcott took
pansil, a form of Buddhist vows. They took refuge in the Triple
Jewel (Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha) before a large audience at the
Buddhist temple in Galle.
They took shelter under the Buddha. It is actually a formal
ritual where you repeat three times:
BUDDHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
(I go to the Buddha for refuge),
DHAMMAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
(I go to the Dharma, the Dhamma, the Buddhist teaching), and
SANGHAM SARANAM GACCHAMI
(I go to the Buddhist community).
These are technical terms.
Blavatsky was not saying that she is going to take directions
from her friends and her loved ones. She is taking direction and
placing herself under the shelter or triple umbrella of the
Buddha, his teaching, and his Buddhist community. She did not
embrace the Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Jewish, or Spiritualists.
She gave herself to BUDDHISM."
-------------------------------------------------------
Eldon B Tucker wrote:
For an interesting talk on Theosophy and Buddhism (including a
discussion of "tantra"), see the talk by Richard Taylor that was
given at the Long Beach Theosophical Conference in 2002.
http://theosophy.com/longbeach/archives/show.php?NAME=20020810-lb-02-tab
&PATH=txt&DESC=1:06:24&BACK=index&BDESC=CONFERENCE
Eldon
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