Theosophy - The Pseudo-Occultism of Mrs. Alice Bailey - by Alice Leighton
Cleather and Basil Crump
THE
PSEUDO-OCCULTISM OF MRS. ALICE BAILEY
by
Alice Leighton Cleather and
Basil Crump
Republished under the Auspices of
The H.P.B.Lending Library
March 1980
"In
the labyrinth of words the mind is lost like a man in a thick forest."
-
Sri Sankarâchârya
The
Crest Jewel of Wisdom
INTRODUCTORY
NOTE
It has been said
in the Vedic literature that truth shines in its own glory - true, and that
is why it sometimes happens to be the fond pleasure of a great deal of sham
to pass for truth and delude people with its magic spells. But it does not
take a long time for discerning minds to peer through the thin veil of delusive
luster and expose its inherent ugliness to the light of hitherto concealed
facts.
"The best defence
is an attack" is an old military maxim, and such is this publication. But it is a reasonable
and reasoned attack, appealing to the reader's logical faculties and treating
the subject on the high plane that is in keeping with its really vital importance.
The authors, however,
need no introduction in literary circles where their collaboration in four
volumes on Wagner's Symbolic Music-Dramas, interpreted according to his Prose
Works, established their reputations over a quarter of a century ago.
Mrs. Cleather
was one of the first members of the Branch of the Trans-Himâlayan Esoteric School established in England by Madame H.P. Blavatsky In 1888,
and later she was chosen as one of the twelve members of the Inner Group presided
over by that faithful Agent of the Masters.
With her son,
Mr. Gordon Cleather, and Mr. Basil Crump, she went to India in 1918, and there
the three were initiated into the Tibetan Gelugpa (Yellow Cap) Order, at Buddha
Gaya, in 1920. In 1926 they were received, and their membership ratified, at
Peking, China, by His Serene Holiness The Tashi Lama of Tashi-Lhumpo, Tibet,
who is the Head of the Gelugpa Order throughout Asia. Mr. Gordon Cleather has
since studied Tibetan with his secretary and has also learned Chinese. Thus
it will be seen that they possess exceptional qualifications for judging anything
purporting to emanate from Tibetan sources.
Mr. Crump is a
Cambridge University man, a Barrister of the Middle Temple, and for twelve
years was editor of the Law Times and a departmental editor of The Field and
The Queen.
This latest attempt
to obtain credence for another system of allegedly Oriental learning by presenting
it as an amplification of the doctrines expounded by "H.P.B." is further recognition of her pre-eminence in that field, and more of the imitation
that is such sincere flattery. May it not be, however, that in seeking guidance
concerning the profoundest questions in life, it is wisdom to accept NO SUBSTITUTE?
J.C.
Miller - Manila,
March, 1929
PREFACE
The following
notes and comments on two of Mrs. Bailey's principal works, A Treatise on Cosmic
Fire, and Initiation, Human and Solar, were undertaken at the suggestion of
Mr. J.C. Miller, of Manila, a member of the Blavatsky Association, as part
of the work assigned to its Defence Committee. That work, as we understand
it, includes such as was done in H.P. Blavatsky: A Great Betrayal; and it will
be seen that the present notes are directed against another aspect of the same
movement. They do not profess to be in any way complete, but merely aim at
drawing attention to a few salient points which will at once strike students
familiar with H.P. Blavatsky's works.
We particularly
wish to emphasize that we have undertaken this extremely distasteful task only
from a strong sense of our duty to the cause of H. P. Blavatsky and her work.
We have never met Mrs. Bailey, and not having previously read any of her books,
we were unaware how closely their general scheme and phraseology resemble that
of the Besant-Leadbeater "Neo-Theosophy, which includes the Liberal Catholic Church and World-Teacher propaganda.
Both the latter are more or less veiled attempts to divert the pure stream
of Oriental Esoteric Philosophy, introduced to the West by H.P. Blavatsky,
into a definitely Christian channel. This is done partly by the substitution
of such terms as "God", "The Logos" (as a He), "The Trinity", "The Master Jesus," etc., etc. At the same time, in Cosmic Fire an astute endeavor is made, by copious
references to and quotations from H.P. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine, to convey
the impression that the former is a continuation of the latter in fact, a "fragment of the Secret Doctrine" (Foreword, page x).
Even such a cursory
examination as we have had time to give, however, has convinced us that there
is little or nothing in common between them. The impression left on the mind
is that of a subtle attempt to substitute a specifically Christian system for
the universal one of the Secret Doctrine, rather than "confirming and amplifying" that marvellous work, as admirers of Cosmic Fire have stated.
In a letter to
the Occult Review, July, 1928, Mrs. Bailey denies that she ever claimed that
her alleged inspirer "The Tibetan" with whom she has "co-operated in producing" Cosmic Fire, Initiation, etc., is one of the Masters of the Trans-Himalayan
Group. "It is the express wish of the Tibetan," she declares, "that his real name be withheld; it is his desire that the books be studied and
valued on the basis of their own intrinsic worth and by their appeal or non-appeal
to the intuition, and not because any person presumes to claim authority for
them."
We have kept this
injunction carefully in mind, and have judged the statements of the "Tibetan" strictly on their face value. Further, Mrs. Bailey quotes what she said so far
back as February, 1923, in her magazine The Beacon, about "the blind credulity of a certain group who accept any statement provided it is
backed by an Hierarchical claim of some kind, and the narrow sectarianism which
would make a prophet out of H.P.B. and a Bible out of the Secret Doctrine."
The first part
of this extract applies much more to the Besant-Leadbeater doctrines and to
Mrs. Bailey's own books (which fairly bristle with implied, if not expressed, "authority") than to the Secret Doctrine. H.P.B.'s claim for that work is couched in the
words of Montaigne: "I have here made only a nosegay of culled flowers, and have brought nothing of
my own but the string that ties them" (S. D. I., xivi.).
After
all, what is there of "blind credulity" and "narrow sectarianism" in regarding H.P.B. as a "prophet: and the Secret Doctrine as a "Bible" in the best sense of those terms? Was she not a true prophet and one who brought
a wonderful message entirely new to the modern world? Where else is to be found
the gigantic and all-embracing threefold system of evolution so clearly and
convincingly expounded in the Secret Doctrine, supported by a wealth of evidence from
every imaginable source? The work stands absolutely alone, unapproached and
unapproachable in our times; a monument so great that it is even yet too near
us to be adequately appreciated. Its appeal throughout is entirely to reason
and never to credulity. As Mr. Baseden Butt says in the finest estimate yet
written: "If these, and her other writings, were all produced by Madame Blavatsky's unaided
talent, she must have possessed the intellectual resources of at least three
ordinary geniuses . . . This amazing woman has handled with the authentic tones
of Authority the profoundest, most vital and abstruse subjects known to mankind" (Madame Blavatsky. By G.Baseden Butt. London: Rider and Co., 1926, p. 216)
Mrs. Bailey evidently
considers that her own works are to be judged on the same level, for she continues: "It is high time, therefore, that occult books should be put forth and judged
because of their contents and not because this, that and the other Master is
supposed to be responsible for them or because they agree or disagree with
the Secret Doctrine." Mrs. Bailey's evident implication that the Secret Doctrine was "put forth and judged" in the latter sense is entirely false, as any student with an intelligent understanding
of its contents will agree. That the Masters M. and K.H. assisted H.P.B. to
write it, as stated both by them and by her (see Mahatma Letters, and her own
to Sinnett), makes no difference to one's judgment of its value and immensity.
Unfortunately
for Mrs. Bailey's disclaimer, her "Tibetan-Brother" is undoubtedly believed by most of her followers to be a member of the Trans-Himalayan
Brotherhood, as two of the most prominent in America have themselves told us.
The name Tibetan, coupled with the assumption of practically unlimited knowledge,
inevitably suggest it. Her books are full of pure assertions concerning the
Universe and it most advanced beings which only a high Adept could possess
- if true, which in most instances seems more than doubtful.
Finally, a most
important claim made by Mrs. Bailey in her Foreword to Cosmic Fire, must not
be overlooked. She says (p. x): "It aims to provide a reasonably logical plan of systemic evolution and to indicate
to man the part he must play as an atomic unit in a great and corporate whole."
Evidently, then,
Mrs. Bailey and the "Tibetan" consider the scheme of evolution offered in the Secret Doctrine as inadequate,
and offer their own in its place. Apart from the difficulty of discovering
anything "systemic" at all in Cosmic Fire, it is quite clear that the "Tibetan" (if he is really one) is not in agreement with the Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood.
In that case one would infer from what is said in the Mahatma Letters that
he may belong to the "Red Capped Brothers of the
Shadow" (see Index under Dugpas). As K.H. says (p. 322): "the opposition represents enormous vested interests, and they have enthusiastic
help from the Dugpas - in Bhutan and the Vatican!" Hence the Christian terminology that characterizes some of their efforts in
the realm of Occultism.
-
Alice Leighton Cleather
-
Basil Crump
Peking,
February, 1929
NOTES
ON "A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE
by
Basil Crump
INTRODUCTORY POSTULATES
These
are stated to be "extensions of the three fundamentals to be found in the Proem in the first volume
of The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky." But in reality Mrs. Bailey develops a whole cosmic scheme of her own, which
includes a new set of so-called Stanzas of Dzyan, a Solar Logos also called "God," a Triple Solar System consisting of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a Triple Human
Being, and a triple Atom. Also Seven centers of Logoic Force, and Seven Rays
which include those of "Love -Wisdom", "Harmony, Beauty and Art," and "Devotion and Abstract", "Idealism". The reader is constantly referred to passages in the Secret Doctrine, but very few of the terms used, e. g. , "Love-Wisdom", "Abstract", "Idealism", "Logoic", etc.,- etc., will be found there. My impression is that this is done to mislead
the student into thinking that this work is on H.P. Blavatsky's lines, whereas
even a cursory examination shows that it is entirely different and is really
designed very cleverly to lead the student away from the real teaching and
confuse his mind with an imposing mass of apparently very learned information
which really means little or nothing and leads nowhere. The method is somewhat
similar to, but less obvious and more clever than, that of C. W. Leadbeater, but
I think that the power behind is the same, working with the same object on
a different line for a more intellectual type of mind. It is of considerable
significance that Leadbeater and Mrs. Besant are frequently quoted, and their
Christ and World Teacher doctrines taken for granted.
MRS.
BAILEY'S "TIBETAN TEACHER"
With regard to
the source of Mrs. Bailey's information, it has long been understood that she
receives it in a psychic, telepathic, or inspirational form from a "Tibetan Teacher." Referring to Cosmic Fire, a writer in the Canadian Theosophist for December,
1926, says: "This
material also has been received from the Tibetan Teacher not by any automatic
process but apparently in much the same way as The Secret Doctrine was written.
. . . It is not a fanciful or arbitrary revelation, but rather a turning of
what H.P. Blavatsky called the analogical key in the Secret Doctrine lock.
The result is startling, almost as startling as the Secret Doctrine itself." He goes on to describe and praise Mrs. Bailey's Arcane School, which is evidently
intended as a successor to H.P. Blavatsky's Esoteric School, with of course
Mrs. Bailey as its "Outer Head" or mouthpiece for the "Tibetan Teacher." The
scheme for what one may call a new and improved(?) edition of H.P. Blavatsky's
work is therefore complete, and comment thereon is scarcely necessary. Conclusions
may be drawn for the moment from the following notes:
GOD,
THE LOGOS AND THE HIERARCHY
The word "God" is
constantly used, and great stress is laid on the "Love Aspect of the Logos"; but the references given to the Secret Doctrine contain no such term. This
sort of trick is found throughout the
book; for in nearly every instance, on looking it up, the reference given uses
different phraseology or has no application at all. Thus,
on p. 66, Fohat is stated to be "Love-Wisdom," and a footnote refers to Secret Doctrine I, 100, 144,155, (Besant Edition), but on looking
them up one finds: p. 100 "Blazing Dragon of wisdom"; p. 144, "Fohat, in his capacity of DIVINE LOVE (Eros) [As in the oldest Grecian Cosmogony, differing widely from the later mythology,
Eros is the third person in the primeval trinity: Chaos, Gaea, Eros. - Secret Doctrine, Volume 1,Page 109 ] , the electric Power of affinity and sympathy"; p. 155, no mention of Fohat, Love, or Wisdom. Next
Mrs. Bailey says Fohat is "god" and refers to Secret Doctrine, Volume 1, page 167, but we there find in a footnote that
what she calls "God" is "absolute Be-Ness, 'SAT'." And if we turn to page 376 (352 Old Edition) we read: "When the Theosophists and Occultists say that God is no BEING, for
IT is nothing, No-Thing, they are more reverential and religiously respectful
to the Deity than those who call God a HE, and thus make of HIM a gigantic
MALE."
The question is
dealt with at considerable length by The Master K.H. in Letter X, Mahatma Letters,
p. 52, where he says "we deny God both as philosophers and as Buddhists. We know there are planetary
and other spiritual lives, and we know there is in our system no such thing
as God, either personal or impersonal."
One may search
in vain for Mrs. Bailey's "Ray of Love-Wisdom" in the Secret Doctrine, and the references (p. 74) given to it concerning the "Love aspect of the Logos" contain nothing of the kind. These are only a few out of dozens of such examples
in the two volumes.
At page 91 the "Fourth
Creative Hierarchy" is "male", but surely creative power is male in any case. The word "Love" is used ad nauseam throughout the work and even the Ego is called the "Love Aspect" (147).
ASSERTION
AND PROPHECY
Confident assertions
are made as to what exactly will take place in future Rounds, e.g. "The Logos of our scheme, Sanat Kumara, will take a major initiation
in the middle of the Fifth Round, but is preparing for a minor one at this
time"(p.374). According to the Secret Doctrine, Volume 1, Pages 456-7 there are seven Kumaras, who are the Solar
angels that endowed man with his immortal Ego. Sanat Kumara (see Theosophical.
Glossary, age 289) is the most prominent of these, and therefore it is misleading
to apply
the name to the Logos. See also post page 34
Observe
particularly that the Bailey scheme entirely ignores the Buddha Hierarchy emanating
from Adi-Buddha (Secret Doctrine, Volume 1, page 570) substituting the Solar Logos, the Trinity, and
Seven Rays, one of which
("Love-Wisdom") includes "The Christ, the World Teacher." It is obvious-therefore that, like Leadbeater, Mrs. Bailey is really working
in the interests of the Christian system by introducing its terminology and
concepts into works that are ostensibly expositions of the Esoteric Philosophy
of the Masters and H.P.B., but are really cleverly masked Christian propaganda.
For instance,
the Seven Dhyani Buddhas here become Seven Rays, under three of which (those
of "Aspect") are grouped various Masters, including those mentioned by H.P.B. and several
others. The Christ comes first under the "Love-Wisdom Aspect" and "the Master Jesus" under the "Intelligence Aspect." See elaborate Chart of "Solar and Planetary Hierarchies" with key on pp. 1238-9.
"THE
MASTER JESUS"
Cosmic
Fire positively bristles with pronouncements concerning the "Master Jesus", e.g. p. 757 et seq.
"the coming of
Him for whom all nations wait."
The Son of Man
will again tread the highways of man and His physical incarnation will be fact."
"The Master Jesus
will take a physical vehicle and effect ....... a re-spirtualization of the
Catholic Churches about 1980". (Here we have the sure sign of a certain influence which is also evident in
the Besant-Leadbeater Liberal Catholic Church scheme.)
"Christ occupied
the body of Jesus.... Few are as Christ is, and have the power to make a dual
appearance. This type of monad is only found on Rays two, four, six."
Compare this with
what is said on the Buddha's powers in the Mahatma Letters, pages 43, 47. See
also p. 344 concerning "real Christ of every Christian" and "the man Jeshu".
Neither the Masters nor H.P.Blavatsky ever write of the Christ as an individual
Being, but always as a principle in man.
THE
LOGOS IN FACT AND FICTION
The "Logos" is
a very Prominent feature of this book, in various forms, such as "Cosmic, "Solar," "Planetary," about all of which we are given intimate personal details, as to their "initiations", "incarnations", etc.
Nothing of this kind is ever assumed in the Secret Doctrine.
As most people,
outside this branch of study, do not know what a Logos is, and as Mrs. Bailey
prefers assertion to exposition, I will give H.P.Blavatsky's definition from
her her Theosophical Glossary:
"Logos (Gr.)
- The manifested deity with every nation and people: the
outward expression, or the effect of the cause which is ever concealed. Thus,
speech is the Logos of thought; hence it is aptly translated by the 'Verbum'
or 'Word', in its metaphysical sense."
In the Secret
Doctrine, Volume 1, Page 573 (1st Ed.) we are told that "The Logos is the Iswara of the Hindus which the Vedantins say is the highest
consciousness in nature - 'the sum total of Dhyan-Chohanic consciousness'
according to the Occultists." It will at once be seen how greatly these differ from Mrs. Bailey's limited
and personal conception. Secret Doctrine, Volume 1, Pages 571-2 should also be studied
in this connection. Needless to say, no such idea as the "Initiation” of a Logos is to be found in the Secret Doctrine
There is an immense
amount of this sort of thing, very much on the Leadbeater lines of pure assertion
with implied authority in the background. How different from H.P. Blavatsky,
of whom the Masters say in the Mahatma Letters, p.289: "She had to bring the whole arsenal of proofs with her, quotations from Paul and
Plato, from Plutarch
and James, etc., before the Spiritualists admitted that the Theosophists were
right." Mrs. Bailey scorns such a method - she is content to assert, or her "Tibetan" is.
Prophecies and
bold statements concerning evolution on the Earth abound in the book: e.g.
p. 390: "An entirely new group of human beings will sweep into incarnation in our Earth
scheme ... Entities will come in from Mars ........ Mercurian life will begin
to synthesize", etc., in regular Leadbeater style. Presumably we are to regard these as examples
of "turning the analogical key in the Secret Doctrine lock," although nothing of the sort is to be found in that work.
Notwithstanding
the unsparing condemnation of Spiritualism in the Mahatma Letters, we read
at page 456 (footnote) that "Master Hilarian (sic), a Cretan Master, is interested in the Spiritualistic movement". Also that a "Hungarian Master, Rakoczi, is the Regent of Europe and America under the 'Great
White Brotherhood,"' - a term coined by the Besant-Leadbeater doctrine and never used by H.P. Blavatsky.
(See post p. 33)
IGNORANCE
CONCERNING THE BUDDHA
Considering that
these teachings are supposed to come from a "Tibetan", a remarkable ignorance is shown about the Buddha and his real standing in
the Occult Hierarchy. For instance, we are told, at p. 210: "The Buddha held office prior to the present World Teacher and upon his Illumination
His place was taken by Lord Maitreya whom the Occidentals call Christ". (p. 211, note). This World Teacher, who is also called here "the Great Lord, the Christ," is a specifically Leadbeater invention; so is the identification of Maitreya
(the next Buddha) with the Christ, the object from the Christian propaganda
standpoint being evident. But the whole scheme is entirely foreign to the Oriental
teaching of the Secret Doctrine.
One has only to
turn to the Mahatma Letters and look up the references to the Buddha to see
what a supreme position is given to him by the Trans-Himalayan brotherhood.
I have collected and commented on these passages under the title "Tibetan Initiates on the Buddha" in Part III of our new book Buddhism the Science of Life (Peking, 1928), pointing
out their significance in connection with present developments in Asia.
"THE
PHENOMENON CALLED SEX ACTIVITY"
Mrs. Bailey even
associates the Logos with Sex! Thus (p. 721): "The Law of Attraction .... deals with the ability of the Logos to 'love wisely;'
in the occult sense of the term. It has relation to the polarization of the
Logos in His astral body, and produces the phenomenon called 'sex activity'...." Is this another specimen of "turning the analogical key in the Secret Doctrine lock"? If so, the result is scarcely encouraging; and when we read (p. 905) of "the throat center of a planetary Logos and of a Solar Logos" we realize that sheer anthropomorphism can go no further.
Moreover, the "Mahachohan" (as
Mrs. Bailey writes the name) is stated (pp. 907-8) to be directly connected
with "the effect that the devas of the kundalini fire are producing upon man" in the direction of sex activity. The passage is too long and unintelligible
to quote here; the point to note for anyone who has learnt from H.P. B. and
the Masters something of the nature of the Maha Chohan, is the desecration
involved in even mentioning his name in such a connection.
Another example
of Mrs. Bailey's ignorance of what H.P.B. really was occurs at page 1037: "Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, Harvey, and the Curies are, on their own line of
force, light bringers of equal rank with H.P.B." Confucius, we are told, is to reincarnate and superintend the work of "rendering radioactive some of the foremost thinkers. ...." Our Chinese friends will appreciate this piece of information.
"Cosmic
rapture and rhythmic bliss (sic) are the attributes of the Fourth Path. It
is a form of identification which is divorced from consciousness altogether." Those who follow this Fourth Way are called "the blissful dancing points of fanatical devotion." which suggests nothing so much as dancing dervishes!
IMITATION
STANZAS OF DZYAN
An alleged extract
in "Stanzas of Dzyan" style "From the Archives of the Lodge" is given at pp. 747-8, headed "The Coming Avatar." The following is a specimen of the flamboyant language: "Greater the chaos becometh; the major center with all the seven circulating spheres
rock with the echoes of disintegration. The fumes of utter blackness mount
upwards in dissipation. The noise discordant of the warring elements greet
the oncoming One, and deter Him not."
Again, at page 1267,
we find a set of "Seven Esoteric Stanzas from Archaic Formulas." A note informs us that they "form only one true stanza out of the oldest book in the world, and one which
the eye of
the average man
has never contacted" (sic). The last of them is headed, as one might expect, with "The Path of Absolute Sonship", and ends suggestively with "To Him be glory of the Mother, Father, Son, as the One Who hath existed in the
past, the now and That which is to come". The "Finale" begins with "The morning stars sang in their courses" and ends with" the marriage song of the Heavenly Man."
A
specimen of the alleged "Stanzas of Dzyan" may also be given: "Riseth the cave of beauty rare, of colour iridescent. Shineth (sic) the walls
with azure tint, bathed in the light of rose. The blending shade of blue irradiates
the whole and all is merged in gleaming". Stanza VII, p. 22.
What a contrast
to the genuine Stanzas in the Secret Doctrine, e.g. Volume 1, Page 35:
1.
The Eternal Parent (Space), wrapped in her ever invisible robes,had
slumbered once again for seven eternities.
2.
Time was not, for it lay in the infinite bosom of Duration.
The statement
at p. 749 that H.P.B. was "overshadowed" by "One greater than an Adept" scarcely agrees with what we glean about her occult status in the Mahatma Letters and elsewhere. However, at p. 757 she is described as "a true psychic and conscious medium," which is the spiritualistic
theory above which A.P. Sinnett likewise was never able to rise, especially
after her death.
At the close of
this century, we are told, the "Avatar ....... will come as the Teacher of Love and Unity, and the Keynote He
will strike will be regeneration through love poured forth on all." Imagine H.P.B. or the Masters writing this kind of sentimental stuff, such as
one reads in Christian tracts or the "Order of the Star" literature.
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR WOULD-BE MAGICIANS
Pages 996-1026
contain "Fifteen Rules for Magic" in the section "Thought and Fire Elementals." They are in Mrs. Bailey's usual verbose and pseudo-Apocalyptic style, and are
led up to by a clever touch concerning "an old book of magic, hidden in the caves of learning, guarded by the Masters"! from which some "appropriate words" are quoted:
"The Brothers
of the Sun, through the force of solar fire, fanned to a flame in the blazing
vault of the second Heaven, put out the lower lunar fires, and render naught
the lower 'fire by friction'."
"The Brother
of the Moon ignores the sun and solar heat; borrows his fire from all that
triply is, and pursues his cycle. The fires of hell await, and lunar fire dies
out. Then neither sun nor moon avails him, only the highest heaven awaits the
spark electric, seeking vibration synchronous from that which lies beneath.
And yet it cometh not."
In case the reader
should fail to make any sense of this gem of "magic," he is told that "the terminology is in the nature of a blind, which ever carries revelation to
those who have the clue, but tends to perplex
and to bewilder the student who as yet is unready for the truth." It need hardly be added that nowhere in this entire "labyrinth of words," running to a total of 1282 pages, is the exact nature of the 'clue' more than
darkly hinted at, as in the present instance. An old and common trick, usually
employed to conceal the complete absence of either clue or meaning.
"Rule I" runs
thus: "The Solar Angel collects himself, scatters not his force, but in meditation deep
communicates with his reflection". Why this is termed a "Rule" is not quite clear.
The other fourteen
Rules are of course equally meaningless and obscure - without the "clue." These Rules are given with over thirty pages of copious comments which make
confusion worse confounded, containing such terms as "the magician" (for whose use they are formulated), "Solar Angel", "Egoic Lotus", "the Illuminator", "the eye of the Magician", "the Agnichaitans", "the Agnisuryans". etc.
ESOTERIC
INTERPRETATION OF COLOR
"The 'Eye of
Shiva,' when perfected, is blue in color" (R. VI, p. 1011), "and as our solar Logos is the 'Blue Logos,' so do His children occultly resemble
Him; but this color must be interpreted
esoterically."
This last is a
specimen of the sort of weird jumble which constitutes the major part of this
book, in which H.P. Blavatsky and her Secret Doctrine are much quoted and referred
to in footnotes, more as a blind to the reader than as bearing any real relation
to Mrs. Bailey's own scheme. Familiar words and phrases are twisted from their
proper and original setting and use, in an effort to compile an imposing work
which may appear on the surface to continue the same line of teaching, but
is really quite different.
The language is
certainly not such as any "Tibetan," or indeed any Oriental, would use. In fact, as I have shown, it is distinctively
Christian; and Mrs. Bailey's inspirer, if a separate entity at all, is much
more likely to be an ecclesiastic of that faith who (like many of them nowadays)
has familiarized himself with the literature of Occultism and is trying to
make it fit the Christian scheme. It has even been suggested, not without some
justification, that the "Tibetan" is merely a misleading generic term for a council of astute theologians for
whom Mrs. Bailey is the mouthpiece and scribe.
ADDITIONAL
NOTES
by A.L. Cleather
SUBTLE
DEPRECIATION OF H.P. BLAVATSKY
Observe
how cleverly H.P.B. is gradually pushed into the background; little
hints and remarks, "damning with faint praise," being thrown out
now and again - a well-known form of "suggestion."
We
have no "evidence" for the existence of this "Tibetan Brother"; simply
Mrs. Bailey's word, her own ipse dixit for everything. I am inclined
to believe that if her "teacher" is not actually AB-CWL, it is
someone behind all three, with a pseudonym cleverly adapted to conceal
his identity with a certain Christian hierarchy, and by
repeated "suggestion" plant
in the minds of Mrs. Bailey's readers the
concept of a TIBETAN origin for the "teachings."
The
complete omission by this supposed member of the Lodge (!) of all
reference to the true status and nature of the Buddha and his place
in Evolution, as given by the Masters and H.P. Blavatsky, tends
to bear out my theory.
Whether
Mrs. Bailey believes whole-heartedly in her "mission" is not clear.
She is evidently a psychic. Whatever may be the truth of the matter,
the whole "plot" is most cleverly contrived , and she must surely
be a willing "tool," if not a fully conscious agent.
Observe
in this "new cycle teaching" there is no place for or mention
of the necessity for the twin laws of Karma and Reincarnation,
although they are often mentioned incidentally; nor of
the great sweep of Cyclic Law through which they work. Nothing really
definite, reasonable or rational; and, as a matter of fact, but
little relation to the teachings of H.P.B. despite the constant references
thereto.
THE
SO-CALLED "NEW CYCLE OF TEACHING"
To
such proportions has this new cult already grown that the following
astounding assertions are boldly made in the May Occult Review
(1928, p. 305) by H. Adams, in an article on Mrs. Bailey's latest
book on Patanjali [ The light of the soul: its Science and Effect ]: "the Tibetan Brother who is responsible for
the impartation of Mrs. Bailey's previous works. . . ."
Mr.
Adams then gives a few supposed facts culled from the book, and continues: "This
authoritative statement. . . ." (The "authority" is Mrs.
Bailey's invisible teacher, and for him we have only her own word) "emanates
from the Brotherhood (!!), in that it has been produced
by the express authority and under the personal supervision of
the Brother specially appointed to communicate the new cycle teaching
necessary at this point of evolution in connection with the second
Ray impulse." The last few words are typical of her Cosmic Fire "teaching."
Note
the piling up of assumption after assumption. First, he is "a Tibetan
brother," then his pronouncements are forthwith identified with "the
Brotherhood"! There is talk of their "express authority" and
so on.
Boiled
down, what does it all amount to? Simply Mrs. Bailey's calm, unchecked
(and uncheckable) assertions, for the validity of which she
claims the equally unchecked (and uncheckable) "authority" of her "Tibetan." The
concluding sentences actually go the length of placing
her on a level with H.P. Blavatsky.
ALLEGED
INSPIRATION OF TIBETAN MASTERS
Mr.
Adams further says: "In the midst of religious controversies on every
hand emptying the churches and filling sincere and seeking souls
with disquiet and eager (1) questioning, and our friends the Theosophists
divided into half a dozen societies and pathetically asking
one another 'What is Truth?' surely it is a great solace and matter
for thankfulness that the ever watchful (2) Brotherhood of Masters,
ignoring all the petty issues, or, rather, (3) answering them
most effectively by the voice of an accredited messenger, declares
once again in clear solid English (!) the Science of the Spirit
hidden in the Sutras." (Italics mine. - A.L.C.) Here we may note:
(1) A clever touch, giving the idea that this new scheme has nothing
to do with Theosophy or its societies; leading to the unblushing
assertion (2) that this new teaching actually emanates from
the Masters. Further (3) that the "accredited messenger", whether
Mrs. Bailey or her supposed teacher, has been inspired by Them!
At
the beginning of Mr. Adam's article H.P. Blavatsky is referred to only
as the translator of The Voice of the Silence; his idea evidently
being to blot out from the reader's mind the existence of her
magnum opus, the Secret Doctrine, the teachings of which are in flat
contradiction to some of the bewildering material we have found in
Cosmic Fire.
DOCTRINE
OF "RAY IMPULSES"
With
reference to H.P. Blavatsky it should al so be noted that Mr. Adams
says on page 306:
"An
interesting point is made by Mrs. Bailey in her introduction to the
effect that the coming spiritual impulse is a second Ray impulse and
will reach its zenith towards the close of the present century, but
it has no relation to the first Ray impulse which produced the work
of H.P. B." This is, of course, one of Mrs. Bailey's usual
arbitrary
statements, not in the least what H.P.B. herself told us, but
evidently made as part of the whole scheme to subordinate her and
her work to the "new dispensation" of the Besant Leadbeater-Bailey
cult.
THE "WORLD-TEACHER" IMPOSTURE
It
is clear that the efforts now being made by the enemies of the Masters
is to focus the attention of the whole thinking world of the West
on the "Christ-World-Teacher" idea originated by the Besant-Leadbeater
cult, and here shown to be a leading feature in Mrs.
Bailey's scheme, vide the specimens cited by Mr. Crump. Nor is
it
any less dangerous to the progress of humanity, al though the intellectual
form in which it is so ably presented tends to disarm criticism
and conceal the cloven hoof.
The
warnings of the Masters on the dangers of psychic communications and
the work of the Dugpas - "the infamous Shammars" - the "Red-capped
Brothers of the Shadow . . . whose pernicious work is everywhere
in our way" (Mahatma Letters, 272, 284) must be applied to
such cases as this. Also the extremely important letter in H.P.Blavatsky's
Letters to Sinnett p. 230 re the work of the Jesuits, (which
was evidently written by one of the Masters), especially the concluding
paragraph on p. 233.
CLAIMS OF HIGH INSPIRATION BY PSYCHIC
In
the same number of the Occult Review, at page 354, is an advertisement
of a book called Living Secrets by Luma Valdry.
It
is described as follows: "Produced by automatic
writing under the
direct
inspiration of a Master of the Wisdom, the authoress during
its
composition being in a dual consciousness. it is a prose poem of
transcendental
esoteric import. This book may well become the type of
a new mode of communion ..."
Here
we have a precisely similar claim to that of Mrs. Bailey, and
this
sort of thing is quite common in spiritualistic and
psychological
literature. Mediums generally have a list of eminent
"controls," and
therefore it is quite natural for psychics who wish
to
appeal to those seeking new "occult teaching" should
claim to get
it
in the same manner and from the same source as H.P. Blavatsky.
Psychism
is so little understood as yet that few realize how,
especially
in female psychics, the line is very difficult to draw
between
conscious and unconscious deception (which includes
self-deception).
Paracelsus is very illuminating on the power of the
female
imagination, and such imposing works as Mrs. Bailey's may
quite
well be the product of her own imagination, using occult ideas
and
terminology, and filtering into her brain as definite
"teaching," spoken
or inspired by an entity that calls itself "the Tibetan."
NOTES
ON "INITIATION, HUMAN
AND SOLAR
by
A.L. Cleather
Since
the foregoing notes on Cosmic
Fire were written, this earlier
work
has been sent to me for comment. I note that it was first published
in 1922, a year earlier than the publication of the
Mahatma
Letters, from which Mrs. Bailey makes several quotations in
Cosmic
Fire, published in 1925. She has dedicated it "With
Reverence
and
Gratitude to the Master K.H.," the
idea obviously being to
suggest
that the contents were obtained, if not direct from the
Master,
at least gleaned from his teachings. That this was most
certainly
not the source of the ideas of Mrs. Bailey, or the"Tibetan," must
be evident from the following parallels:
From
Initiation, Human and Solar published
in . 1922, Chapter 1, Page 9: "Initiation
Defined. - The question anent initiation is one that is
coming
more and more before the public. Before many centuries pass
the
old mysteries will be restored, and in inner body will exist in
the
Church - the Church of the period, of which the nucleus is
already
forming - wherein the first initiation will become exoteric
in
this sense only, that the taking of the first initiation will before
so very long, be the most sacred ceremony of the Church,
performed
exoterically as one of the mysteries given at stated
periods,
attended by those concerned. It will also hold a similar
place
in the ritual of the Masons. At this ceremony those ready for
initiation
will be publicly admitted to the Lodge by one of its members,
authorized to do so by the great Hierophant himself."
(Italics
mine. - A.L.C.)
From
a letter to A.P. Sinnett by Master K.H. about 1881-2, in The
Mahatma Letters, 1923, pp. 57-8"
I
will point out the greatest, the chief cause of nearly two-thirds
of
the evils that pursue humanity, ever since that cause became a
power.
It is religion under whatever form and in whatsoever nation.
It
is the sacerdotal caste, the priesthood and
the churches. It is
in
those illusions that man looks upon as sacred, that he has to
search
out the source of that multitude of evils which is the great curse
of humanity and that almost overwhelms mankind. Ignorance created
Gods and cunning took advantage of the opportunity . . . It is
priestly imposture that rendered these Gods so terrible to man...It
is belief in God and Gods that makes two-thirds of humanity the slaves
of a handful of those who deceive them under the false pretense
of saving them. (Italics mine. - A.L.C.)
It
would appear that Mrs. Bailey too hastily took in vain the name of
the Master, and must have felt somewhat disconcerted (as did Mrs. Besant
and Mr. Leadbeater) on the appearance in print of the Master's
real views about "God" and "the
Church," etc. Nothing daunted,
however, and hearing in mind the sage advice to diplomats: "L'audace,
l'audace, et toujours l'audace," she published Cosmic Fire in 1925, freely quoting from the Mahatma Letters, and peppering her
pages with footnotes containing copious references to the Secret
Doctrine which in most cases do not confirm her assertions, as anyone
can see by looking them up.
Who
is this "great Hierophant" of whom she speaks? Can he perchance bear
any relation to Mr. Leadbeater's "Supreme Director of Evolution on
this globe"?
The
book abounds (like Cosmic Fire) with the usual unsupported assertions
- typical of and common to the Besant-Leadbeater-Bailey cult
- as to initiations, their number (1st to 6th, etc.) the "Planetary
Logos," with a full description of his work; "The KING, the
Lord of the World"; the "Master Jesus," who, it is stated (p. 56), "is
the focal point of the energy that flows through the various
Christian Churches," and who is "at present living in a Syrian
body . . . is rather a martial figure, a disciplinarian, and a
man of iron rule and will. He is tall and spare with rather a long thin
face, black hair, pale complexion and piercing blue eyes".
Nor
is this the only detailed description, for the Masters M. and K.H.,
and many others, are also dealt with and the character of their
work fully described. Part of the Masters work, we are informed,
is "to prepare the world on a large scale for the coming of
the World Teacher".
This,
of course, at once identifies the Bailey school (as we have already
seen in Cosmic Fire) with the Besant-Leadbeater perversions and
delusions. "Everywhere," says Mrs. Bailey, "They (the Masters collectively)
are gathering in those who may in any way show a tendency
to respond to high vibration, seeking to force their vibration
and to fit them so that they may be of use at the time of the
coming of the Christ .... " (Italics mine. - A.L.C.) Mrs. Bailey's
idea of response to "high vibration" would presumably be identical
with a "response" to her own "message," as she terms it in her
opening chapter.
Another
similarity with the Besant-Leadbeater school occurs in Chapter V,
which contains the following: "At the head of affairs . . .stands
the KING, the Lord of the World. . . . Co-operating with Him as
His advisers are three Personalities called the Pratyeka Buddhas, or
Buddhas of Activity. These four are the embodiment of active intelligent
loving will. . . ." (Italics mine. - A.L.C.)
It
will be remembered that in my Great Betrayal I dealt with Mrs. Besant's
false statement correcting H.P.B.'s definition of the Pratyeka
Buddha in the Voice of the Silence p. 109, note 25, in our reprint
(and the Theosophical Glossary) which we find accepted all over the East
as correct, i.e. that purely intellectual, selfish, solitary saint.
There is here, too, no word of the Nirmanakayas, none of the "Masters
of Compassion," or the "Great Renunciation" and above all of
the "Two Paths."
Clearly,
the Besant-Leadbeater teachings have largely inspired this later "false
guide" - one more "blind leader of the blind." These people,
in fact - especially Mrs. Bailey - possess some of the requisites
of a writer of fiction. But, "Oh, the pity of it," that it
should need but barefaced and entirely unsupported assertions, coupled
with the detailed descriptions so greedily absorbed by the novel
reading public, to completely impose upon the foolish multitude.
It
is quite impossible to deal at any length with a work in which truth
and error are so ingeniously mingled that to separate the chaff
from the grain would need another volume of the same length. The
very titles of the nineteen chapters show the nature of the subject-matter.
And
for all the supposed "knowledge," or "teaching," contained in these
nineteen chapters nothing is offered in confirmation, testimony,
or excuse, save in the "Introductory Remarks," where the writer
declares that she does not arrogate to herself "any credit or personal
authority for the knowledge implied," and emphatically disavows
all such claims or representations. She cannot do otherwise than
present these statements as matters of fact." [Italics mine. - A.L.C.)
The unsophisticated enquirer might not unreasonably ask, Why?
The "claim," here so jesuiticaliy disavowed, is really there, though
cleverly camouflaged. If these things are "matters of fact", why
is no evidence whatever adduced?
Considered
as an ingenious and highly imaginative work of occult fiction,
the book possesses definite attractions. Other writers in the
same field have produced actual novels dealing with the occult, e.g.
A Brother of the Third Degree, Three Sevens, and many tales by later
writers, all of which have won recognition from the fiction-reading
public. But, with the exception of C.W. Leadbeater, Mrs.
Bailey is the first writer on occult subjects who has had the wit
to present Fiction as Fact, thus winning at one stroke and with the
greatest ease a certain following among the credulous, and presumably
the financial backing so necessary for advertising purposes
these days. Her books, however, cannot be taken seriously by
followers of H.P. Blavatsky's teachings, or as being any sort of contribution
to genuine occult "knowledge."
TEACHING
ON SEX OPPOSED TO H.P. BLAVATSKY'S
Moreover,
Mrs. Bailey's presumably "inspired" views (one must not forget
her alleged "Tibetan" teacher) on sex relations in their application
to those who have entered, or are entering, on the serious
study of practical Occultism, are in direct conflict with the
teachings of H.P. Blavatsky and her Teachers on the subject.
In
the last chapter, "Rules for Applicants," she is far more definite
on this point than in her later Cosmic Fire. Possibly the publication
of the Mahatma Letters may have counselled more prudence on
that head, if - as seems probable - she is anxious that the public
should believe that the contents of her books are drawn from the
same source as H.P. Blavatsky's, as shown by the constant references
to the Secret Doctrine in Cosmic Fire. Like the followers of
the Leadbeater dispensation, there are some who regard her works as
an extension and expansion of the Secret Doctrine, which is of course
almost grotesque.
Rule 11,
Page 204, runs thus: "Let the disciple transfer the fire from the
lower triangle to the higher, and preserve that which is created through
the fire of the midway point".
Mrs.
Bailey explains this as follows: "This means, literally, the control
by the initiate of the sex impulse, as usually understood, and
the transference of the fire which normally vitalises the generative
organs to the throat center, thus leading to creation upon
the mental plane through the agency of mind. That which is to be
created must then be nourished and sustained by the love energy issuing
from the heart center."
No
words of mine could be half strong enough to condemn the advice here
given to all and sundry in a printed book. The "transference" advised
is probably the most dangerous in the process of Black Magic,
which is distinguished from White by its use of the sex forces.
It is found in such Tantrik works as The Serpent Power, by "Arthur
Avalon" (the late Sir John Woodroffe an Indian Judge), against
the terrible dangers of which H.P. Blavatsky so constantly warns
her readers and pupils. In most cases she says that such an attempt
as above described would have a fatal result. For this one passage
alone Mrs. Bailey deserves the severest condemnation. She is
indeed playing with fire - the Fire of Kundalini, which, as H.P.Blavatsky
says, "can as easily kill as it can create."
The
following is the "lower triangle referred to:
1.
The Solar Plexus.
2.
The Base of the Spine.
3.
The Generative Organs.
The "higher" is
thus given:
1.
The Head.
2.
The Throat.
3.
The Heart.
There
is not the smallest recognition throughout this book of the tremendous
gulf which yawns between "White" and "Black" Magic in Practical
Occultism. And in these three pages (204-5-6) she unconsciously
lays bare the real evil at the root of her teachings which,
where Sex is concerned, are in direct opposition to those of H.P.
Blavatsky and her Teachers.
For
Mrs. Bailey's further detailed explanations as to the sex relationships
of "Initiated Masters" parallel columns will again supply
the necessary contrast:
Initiation,
Human and Solar, Chapter XIX, pages. 204-206. Referring to the
above quotation from page 204.
Mrs.
Bailey continues:
"This
might be interpreted by the superficial reader as an injunction
to the celibate life, and the pledging of the applicant to
abstain from all physical manifestation of the sex impulse. This is not
so. Many initiates have attained their objective when duly and wisely
participating in the marriage relation ...."The physical plane
is as much a form of divine expression as any of the higher planes ...
that it may be advisable at certain stages for a man to perfect
control along any particular line through a temporary abstention is not to be denied, but that . . . will be succeeded by stages
when - the control having been gained - the man demonstrates perfectly
through the medium of the physical body, the attributes of divinity,
and every center will be normally and wisely used, and thus
race purposes furthered."
"Initiates
and Masters, in many cases, marry, and normally perform their
duties as husbands, wives, and householders, but all is controlled
and regulated by purpose and intention, and none is carried
away by passion or desire. In the perfect man upon the physical
plane, all the centers are under complete control. . . the spiritual
will of the divine inner God is the main factor .... The true
initiate would be known by his wise and sanctified normality ....
by the example he sets to his environing associates of spiritual
living and moral rectitude, coupled with the discipline of his
own life ..." (Italics mine. - A.L.C.)
From "The
qualifications expected in a Chela" (The Theosophist, Volume IV,
Supplement, July, 1883, page 10)
"2.
Absolute mental and physical purity."
"Remember,
he who is not as pure as a young child (had) better leave chelaship
alone." (The Master K.H.)
The
Master M. to the Esoteric Students: "Bodily purity every Adept takes
precautions to keep."
"The
Self of matter and the SELF of Spirit can never meet. One of the
twain must disappear; there is no place for both."
"Guard
thou the lower lest it soil the Higher." Voice of the Silence.
There
are not in the West half a-dozen among the fervent hundreds who
call themselves 'Occultists' who have even an approximately correct
idea of the nature of the Science they seek to master. With a
few exception, they are all on the highway to Sorcery." (H.P.Blavatsky
in Occultism versus The Occult Arts.)
"No
Adept ever marries." - H.P. Blavatsky.
"It
is true that the married man cannot be an Adept." (The master K.H.
in The Mahatma Letters, p. 17.
Ibid.
(page 272 by Master M): - "The Dugpas and the Gelugpas are not fighting
in Tibet alone: see their vile work in England among the 'Occultists'
and 'Seers'! Hear your acquaintance - preaching, like a true
'Hierophant of the left-hand,' the marriage of the 'soul with the
spirit' and getting the true definitions topsy-turvy, seek to prove
that every practicing Hierophant must at least be spiritually married
- if for some reason he cannot do so physically, there being otherwise
a great danger of Adulteration of God and Devil! I tell you
the Shammars (Dugpas, Or Black Magicians) are there already, and their
pernicious work is everywhere in our way."
Not
only did H.P. Blavatsky tell us that true Adepts of the Right-Hand
Path never marry or enter into any sort of sex relation, but
she also said that certain Black Magicians well-known in occult annals
were the offspring of high occultists who broke their vow of celibacy.
Thus of Cagliostro she wrote (Theosophical Glossary, page 72): "Yet his end
was not utterly undeserved, as he had been untrue to his vows in some
respects, had fallen from his state of chastity and yielded to ambition
and selfishness" (c.f.."Great ones fall back, even from the Threshold").
The
evil is a great one, for in this particular instance, teaching on
one of the greatest dangers in Occultism - SEX - is given out which
is subversive of all that H.P. Blavatsky and the Masters stand for.
In H.P. Blavatsky's Occultism versus The Occult Arts from which I quote
above (and at greater length in my Great Betrayal) the true occult
teaching on this subject is clearly and unequivocally set forth.
It forms a complete refutation of the false and dangerous ideas
put forward with such a show of authority by Mrs. Bailey, which
are common to all the charlatans of Occultism, whether conscious
or unconscious. Many other examples, besides C.W.Leadbeater,
might be given of this.
A
point of interest in connection with the large number of Adepts mentioned
by name in Mrs. Bailey's books is that H.P. Blavatsky says in "Lodges
of Magic" (Lucifer, 1888): - "The personage known to the public
under the pseudonym of 'Koot Hoomi' is called by a totally different
name among his acquaintances. . . . The real names of Master
Adepts and Occult Schools are never, under any circumstances, revealed
to the profane."
Among
the Besant-Leadbeater "Masters" adopted by Mrs. Bailey, but nowhere
to be found in the Blavatsky literature so far as I am aware,
is "Rakoczi," referred to ante page 12 (See Initiation, Human and
Solar, page 58, and Cosmic Fire, page 455). According to Mrs .Besant,
he was previously incarnated as Rosenkreuz, Bacon, St. Germain,
and others, only achieving adeptship as "Rakoczi" (The Masters,
pages 75-76. Krotona,1918).
H.P. Blavatsky, on the other hand, calls St. Germain"the greatest
Oriental Adept Europe has seen during the last centuries" (Theosophical
Glossary, page 309, also page 214 under "Mesmer") See "Influence of
Occultism on evolutions" in our Buddhism the Science of Life, 2nd
edition, page 110)
Finally,
with reference to Mr. Crump's remarks (ante, page 10) on the application
of the name Sanat Kumara to the Logos, it may be added here
that four of the seven Kumaras are exoteric and three are esoteric.
(Secret Doctrine, Volume 1, Page 457 old edition) Sanat Kumara is one of the
former. One of the esoteric Kumaras is Sanat Sujata, after whom the
Sanat Sujatiyam of the Mahabharata is named (See The Crest Jewel of
Wisdom: Translated by Mohini Chatterji, verse 324 and footnote, page
80).
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