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{{Style P-No indent|title, though it meant no more than does the title of this work, the “ {{Style S-Small capitals|Secret Doctrine}}.” It proved unfortunate, because people are always in the habit of judging things by their appearance, rather than their meaning ; and because the error has now become so universal, that even most of the Fellows of the Theosophical Society have fallen victims to the same misconception. From the first, however, protests were raised by Brahmins and others against the title; and, in justice to myself, I must add that “ Esoteric Buddhism ” was presented to me as a completed volume, and that I was entirely unaware of the manner in which the author intended to spell the word “ Budh-ism.”}} | {{Style P-No indent|title, though it meant no more than does the title of this work, the “ {{Style S-Small capitals|Secret Doctrine}}.” It proved unfortunate, because people are always in the habit of judging things by their appearance, rather than their meaning ; and because the error has now become so universal, that even most of the Fellows of the Theosophical Society have fallen victims to the same misconception. From the first, however, protests were raised by Brahmins and others against the title; and, in justice to myself, I must add that “ Esoteric Buddhism ” was presented to me as a completed volume, and that I was entirely unaware of the manner in which the author intended to spell the word “ Budh-ism.”}} | ||
This has to be laid directly at the door of those who, having been the first to bring the subject under public notice, neglected to point out the difference between “ Buddhism ” — the religious system of ethics preached by the Lord Gautama, and named after his title of Buddha, “ the Enlightened ” — and ''Budha,'' “ Wisdom,” or knowledge (''Vidya''), the faculty of cognizing, from the Sanskrit root “ Budh,” ''to know.'' We theosophists of India are ourselves the real culprits, although, at the time, we did our best to correct the mistake. (See ''Theosophist, ''June, 1883.) To avoid this deplorable misnomer was easy; the spelling of the word had only to be altered, and by common consent both pronounced and written “ Budhism,” instead of “ Buddhism.” Nor is the latter term correctly spelt and pronounced, as it ought to be called, in English, | This has to be laid directly at the door of those who, having been the first to bring the subject under public notice, neglected to point out the difference between “ Buddhism ” — the religious system of ethics preached by the Lord Gautama, and named after his title of Buddha, “ the Enlightened ” — and ''Budha,'' “ Wisdom,” or knowledge (''Vidya''), the faculty of cognizing, from the Sanskrit root “ Budh,” ''to know.'' We theosophists of India are ourselves the real culprits, although, at the time, we did our best to correct the mistake. (See ''Theosophist, ''June, 1883.) To avoid this deplorable misnomer was easy; the spelling of the word had only to be altered, and by common consent both pronounced and written “ Budhism,” instead of “ Buddhism.” Nor is the latter term correctly spelt and pronounced, as it ought to be called, in English, Buddhaïsm, and its votaries “ Buddhaïsts.” | ||
This explanation is absolutely necessary at the beginning of a work like this one. The “ Wisdom Religion ” is the inheritance of all the nations, the world over, though the statement was made in “ Esoteric Buddhism ” (''Preface'' to the original Edition) that “ two years ago (''i.e. ''1883), neither I ''nor any other European living,'' knew the alphabet of the Science, here for the first time put into a scientific shape,” etc. This error must have crept in through inadvertence. For the present writer knew all that which is “ divulged ” in “ Esoteric Buddhism ” — and much more — ''many years'' before it became her duty (in 1880) to impart a small portion of the Secret Doctrine to two ''European ''gentlemen, one of whom was the author of “ Esoteric Buddhism ” ; and surely the present writer has the undoubted, though to her, rather equivocal, privilege of being a European, by birth and education. Moreover, a considerable part of the philosophy | This explanation is absolutely necessary at the beginning of a work like this one. The “ Wisdom Religion ” is the inheritance of all the nations, the world over, though the statement was made in “ Esoteric Buddhism ” (''Preface'' to the original Edition) that “ two years ago (''i.e. ''1883), neither I ''nor any other European living,'' knew the alphabet of the Science, here for the first time put into a scientific shape,” etc. This error must have crept in through inadvertence. For the present writer knew all that which is “ divulged ” in “ Esoteric Buddhism ” — and much more — ''many years'' before it became her duty (in 1880) to impart a small portion of the Secret Doctrine to two ''European ''gentlemen, one of whom was the author of “ Esoteric Buddhism ” ; and surely the present writer has the undoubted, though to her, rather equivocal, privilege of being a European, by birth and education. Moreover, a considerable part of the philosophy | ||
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{{Page|xx|introductory.}} | {{Page|xx|introductory.}} | ||
{{Style P-No indent|suggests what to them, as Monotheists, are noxious doctrines. ''Unwise ''is the correct term to use in their case. For the Esoteric philosophy is alone calculated to withstand, in this age of crass and illogical materialism, the repeated attacks on all and everything man holds most dear and sacred, in his inner spiritual life. The true philosopher, the student of the Esoteric Wisdom, entirely loses sight of personalities, dogmatic beliefs and special religions. Moreover, Esoteric philosophy reconciles all religions, strips every one of its outward, human garments, and shows the root of each to be identical with that of every other great religion. It proves the necessity of an absolute Divine Principle in nature. It denies Deity no more than it does the Sun. Esoteric philosophy has never rejected God in Nature, nor Deity as the absolute and abstract ''Ens.'' It only refuses to accept any of the gods of the so-called monotheistic religions, gods created by man in his own image and likeness, a blasphemous and sorry caricature of the Ever Unknowable. Furthermore, the records we mean to place before the reader embrace the esoteric tenets of the whole world since the beginning of our humanity, and Buddhistic occultism occupies therein only its legitimate place, and no more. Indeed, the secret portions of the “''Dan'' ” ''or'' “ ''Jan-na'' ”* (“''Dhyan'' ”) of Gautama’s metaphysics — grand as they appear to one unacquainted with the tenets of the Wisdom Religion of antiquity — are but a very small portion of the whole. The Hindu Reformer limited his public teachings to the purely moral and physiological aspect of the Wisdom-Religion, to Ethics and {{Style S-Small capitals|man}} alone. Things “ unseen and incorporeal,” the mystery of Being outside our terrestrial sphere, the great Teacher left entirely untouched in his public lectures, reserving the hidden Truths for a select circle of his Arhats. The latter received their Initiation at the famous Saptaparna cave (the ''Sattapanni'' of Mahavansa) near Mount Baibhâr (the Webhâra of the Pali MSS.). This cave was in | {{Style P-No indent|suggests what to them, as Monotheists, are noxious doctrines. ''Unwise ''is the correct term to use in their case. For the Esoteric philosophy is alone calculated to withstand, in this age of crass and illogical materialism, the repeated attacks on all and everything man holds most dear and sacred, in his inner spiritual life. The true philosopher, the student of the Esoteric Wisdom, entirely loses sight of personalities, dogmatic beliefs and special religions. Moreover, Esoteric philosophy reconciles all religions, strips every one of its outward, human garments, and shows the root of each to be identical with that of every other great religion. It proves the necessity of an absolute Divine Principle in nature. It denies Deity no more than it does the Sun. Esoteric philosophy has never rejected God in Nature, nor Deity as the absolute and abstract ''Ens.'' It only refuses to accept any of the gods of the so-called monotheistic religions, gods created by man in his own image and likeness, a blasphemous and sorry caricature of the Ever Unknowable. Furthermore, the records we mean to place before the reader embrace the esoteric tenets of the whole world since the beginning of our humanity, and Buddhistic occultism occupies therein only its legitimate place, and no more. Indeed, the secret portions of the “''Dan'' ” ''or'' “ ''Jan-na'' ”* (“''Dhyan'' ”) of Gautama’s metaphysics — grand as they appear to one unacquainted with the tenets of the Wisdom Religion of antiquity — are but a very small portion of the whole. The Hindu Reformer limited his public teachings to the purely moral and physiological aspect of the Wisdom-Religion, to Ethics and {{Style S-Small capitals|man}} alone. Things “ unseen and incorporeal,” the mystery of Being outside our terrestrial sphere, the great Teacher left entirely untouched in his public lectures, reserving the hidden Truths for a select circle of his Arhats. The latter received their Initiation at the famous Saptaparna cave (the ''Sattapanni'' of Mahavansa) near Mount Baibhâr (the Webhâra of the Pali MSS.). This cave was in Rajagriha, the ancient capital of Mogadha, and was the ''Cheta'' cave of Fa-hian, as rightly suspected by some archæologists.†}} | ||
Time and human imagination made short work of the purity and philo- | Time and human imagination made short work of the purity and philo- | ||
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In that volume a brief recapitulation will be made of all the principal adepts known to history, and the downfall of the mysteries will be described ; after which began the disappearance and final and systematic elimination from the memory of men of the real nature of initiation and the Sacred Science. From that time its teachings became Occult, and Magic sailed but too often under the venerable but frequently misleading name of Hermetic philosophy. As real Occultism had been prevalent among the Mystics during the centuries that preceded our era, so Magic, or rather Sorcery, with its Occult Arts, followed the beginning of Christianity. | In that volume a brief recapitulation will be made of all the principal adepts known to history, and the downfall of the mysteries will be described ; after which began the disappearance and final and systematic elimination from the memory of men of the real nature of initiation and the Sacred Science. From that time its teachings became Occult, and Magic sailed but too often under the venerable but frequently misleading name of Hermetic philosophy. As real Occultism had been prevalent among the Mystics during the centuries that preceded our era, so Magic, or rather Sorcery, with its Occult Arts, followed the beginning of Christianity. | ||
However great and zealous the fanatical efforts, during those early centuries, to obliterate every trace of the mental and intellectual labour of the Pagans, it was a failure; but the same spirit of the dark demon of bigotry and intolerance has perverted systematically and ever since, every bright page written in the pre-Christian periods. Even in her uncertain records, history has preserved enough of that which has survived to throw an impartial light upon the whole. Let, then, the reader tarry a little while with the writer, on the spot of observation selected. He is asked to give all his attention to that millennium which divided the | However great and zealous the fanatical efforts, during those early centuries, to obliterate every trace of the mental and intellectual labour of the Pagans, it was a failure; but the same spirit of the dark demon of bigotry and intolerance has perverted systematically and ever since, every bright page written in the pre-Christian periods. Even in her uncertain records, history has preserved enough of that which has survived to throw an impartial light upon the whole. Let, then, the reader tarry a little while with the writer, on the spot of observation selected. He is asked to give all his attention to that millennium which divided the pre-Christian and the ''post''-Christian periods, by the year {{Style S-Small capitals|One}} of the Nativity. This event—whether historically correct or not—has nevertheless been made to serve as a first signal for the erection of manifold bulwarks against any possible return of, or even a glimpse into, the hated religions of the Past; hated and ''dreaded'' — because throwing such a vivid light on the new and intentionally veiled interpretation of what is now known as the “ New Dispensation.” | ||
However superhuman the efforts of the early Christian fathers to obliterate the Secret Doctrine from the very memory of man, they all failed. Truth can never be killed ; hence the failure to sweep away entirely from the face of the earth every vestige of that ancient Wisdom, and to shackle and gag every witness who testified to it. Let one only think of the thousands, and perhaps millions, of MSS. burnt; of monuments, with their too indiscreet inscriptions and pictorial symbols, pulverised to dust ; of the bands of early hermits and ascetics roaming about among the ruined cities of Upper and Lower Egypt, in desert and | However superhuman the efforts of the early Christian fathers to obliterate the Secret Doctrine from the very memory of man, they all failed. Truth can never be killed ; hence the failure to sweep away entirely from the face of the earth every vestige of that ancient Wisdom, and to shackle and gag every witness who testified to it. Let one only think of the thousands, and perhaps millions, of MSS. burnt; of monuments, with their too indiscreet inscriptions and pictorial symbols, pulverised to dust ; of the bands of early hermits and ascetics roaming about among the ruined cities of Upper and Lower Egypt, in desert and | ||
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{{Page|xliii|introductory.}} | {{Page|xliii|introductory.}} | ||
The “ very old Book ” is the original work from which the many volumes of ''Kiu-ti'' were compiled. Not only this latter and the ''Siphrah Dzeniouta'' but even the ''Sepher Jezirah'', * the work attributed by the Hebrew Kabalists to their Patriarch Abraham (!), the book of ''Shu-king, ''China’s primitive Bible, the sacred volumes of the Egyptian Thoth-Hermes, the Purânas in India, and the Chaldean ''Book of Numbers'' and the ''Pentateuch'' itself, are all derived from that one small parent volume. Tradition says, that it was taken down in ''Senzar,'' the secret sacerdotal tongue, from the words of the Divine Beings, who dictated it to the sons of Light, in Central Asia, at the very beginning of the | The “ very old Book ” is the original work from which the many volumes of ''Kiu-ti'' were compiled. Not only this latter and the ''Siphrah Dzeniouta'' but even the ''Sepher Jezirah'', * the work attributed by the Hebrew Kabalists to their Patriarch Abraham (!), the book of ''Shu-king, ''China’s primitive Bible, the sacred volumes of the Egyptian Thoth-Hermes, the Purânas in India, and the Chaldean ''Book of Numbers'' and the ''Pentateuch'' itself, are all derived from that one small parent volume. Tradition says, that it was taken down in ''Senzar,'' the secret sacerdotal tongue, from the words of the Divine Beings, who dictated it to the sons of Light, in Central Asia, at the very beginning of the 5th (our) race; for there was a time when its language (the ''Sen-zar'') was known to the Initiates of every nation, when the forefathers of the Toltec understood it as easily as the inhabitants of the lost Atlantis, who inherited it, in their turn, from the sages of the 3rd Race, the ''Manushis,'' who learnt it direct from the ''Devas'' of the 2nd and 1st Races. The “ illustration ” spoken of in “ Isis ” relates to the evolution of these Races and of our 4th and 5th Race Humanity in the Vaivasvata Manvantara or “ Round ; ” each Round being composed of the Yugas of the seven periods of Humanity; four of which are now passed in ''our'' life cycle, the middle point of the 5th being nearly reached. The illustration is symbolical, as every one can well understand, and covers the ground from the beginning. The old book, having described Cosmic Evolution and explained the origin of everything on earth, including physical man, after giving the true history of the races from the ''First'' down to the Fifth (our) race, goes no further. It stops short at the beginning of the ''Kali Yuga ''just 4989 years ago at the death of Krishna, the bright “ Sun-god,” the once living hero and reformer. | ||