Alice Cleather was one of the
closest disciples of Helena Blavatsky and later she went to live for many years
in Orient where she studied with great Lamas, and therefore she is a very
capable person to talk about the teachings that the Trans-Himâlayan Masters transmitted to Occident.
And when Alice Cleather read the
aberrations that Mrs. Bailey wrote (who pretended to be the new messenger of
the Masters), outraged by such much falsehood, she wrote a long article with
the collaboration of her friend Basil Crump (who was also a great connoisseur
of Esotericism and Buddhism), detailing the lies
that Mrs. Bailey wrote in her books.
And below I transcribe this article for those who want to analyze its
content, originally published in pamphlet form in 1929 under the title:
* * * * * * * * * *
THE PSEUDO-OCCULTISM OF ALICE BAILEY
Table of Contents:
1. Introductory Note by
J.C.Miller
2. Preface
3. Notes on "A Treatise on
Cosmic Fire" by Basil Crump
4. Additional Notes "A
Treatise on Cosmic Fire" by Alice Cleather
5. Notes on "Initiation,
Human and Solar" by Alice Cleather
"In the labyrinth of words the mind is lost
like a man in a thick forest."
Sri Sankaracharya
(The Crest Jewel of Wisdom)
1. 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 think veil of delusive luster and
expose its inherent ugliness to the light of hitherto concealed facts.
"The best defense 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 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 Blavatsky is further recognition
of her preeminence 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
2. 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 Defense 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 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 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 and Leadbeater’s
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 A Treatise on Cosmic Fire an astute
endeavor is made, by copious references to and quotations from 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, 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 marvelous work, as admirers of
book A Treatise on 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" the
books 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 Blavatsky and a Bible out
of the Secret Doctrine."
The first part of this extract applies
much more to the Besant and Leadbeater doctrines and to Mrs. Bailey's own books
(which fairly bristle with implied, if not expressed, "authority")
than to the Secret Doctrine.
Blavatsky'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 Blavatsky
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. »
(Mme 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 Kuthumi and Morya
assisted her disciple Blavatsky 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 the book A Treatise on 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 Master Kuthumi 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
And Basil Crump
Peking, February, 1929
3. 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 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 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 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 the book A Treatise on 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 Docrine 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
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 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 S.D. 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*),
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
S.D. I, 167, but we there find in a footnote that what she calls "God"
is "absolute Be-Ness, “SAT".
(*Foot note: As in the oldest
Grecian Cosmogony, differing widely from the later mythology, Eros is the third
person in the primeval trinity: Chaos, Gaea, Eros. - S.D. I, 109)
And if we turn to p. 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 Kuthumi 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 p. 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 (I, p.456-7) there are
seven Kumaras, who are the Solar angels that endowed man with his immortal Ego.
Sanat Kumara (see Theosophical Glossary,
p.289) is the most prominent of these, and therefore it is misleading to apply
the name to the Logos. (See also below in this article)
Observe particularly that the
Bailey scheme entirely ignores the Buddha Hierarchy emanating from Adi-Buddha
(S.D. I, 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
Blavatsky, 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
Blavatsky 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 pages 1238-1239.
"THE MASTER JESUS"
The book A Treatise on Cosmic Fire 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-spiritualization 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, pp. 43, 47. See also p. 344
concerning "real Christ of every Christian" and "the man
Jeshu." Neither the Masters nor 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. But 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 Blavatsky's definition from 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, I, 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. S.D.
I, pp. 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 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.... Mecurian 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 p. 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." »
This a term coined by the Besant
and 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 page 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 (pages 907-908)
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 Blavatsky
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 Blavatsky really was occurs at p. 1037:
« Newton, Copernicus,
Galileo, Harvey, and the Curies are, on their own line of force, lightbringers
of equal rank with Blavatsky. »
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 pages 747-748, 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 greets the oncoming
One, and deters 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 color 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 S.D., e.g. I, 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 page 749 that
Blavatsky 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 page 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 Blavatsky 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
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.
4. ADDITIONAL NOTES ON "A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE"
By Alice Cleather
SUBTLE DEPRECIATION OF H.P. BLAVATSKY
Observe how cleverly Blavatsky 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 Alice Besant-Leadbeater, 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 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 Blavatsky 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 Tibetan Brother who is
responsible for the impartation of Mrs. Bailey's previous works. . . »
(*Foot note: The Light of the
Soul: Its Science and Effect.)
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 "ex press authority" and so on.
Boiled down, what does it all amounts 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 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 so lace 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. »
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, 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 the book A
Treatise on Cosmic Fire.
DOCTRINE OF "RAY IMPULSES"
With reference to Blavatsky it
should also 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 Blavatsky. »
This is, of course, one of Mrs.
Bailey's usual arbitrary statements, not in the least what Blavatsky 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, although 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, p. 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 page 233.
CLAIMS OF HIGH INSPIRATION BY PSYCHICS
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 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."
5. NOTES ON "INITIATION, HUMAN AND SOLAR"
By Alice Cleather
Since the foregoing notes on A Treatise 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 Kuthumi," 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 pub. 1922, Ch. I, p.9
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From a letter to Sinnett by
Master K.H., about 1881, in The Mahatma Letters, 1923, p.57
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"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."
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"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."
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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 her book A Treatise on 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 Kuthumi and Morya, 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 the book A Treatise on Cosmic Fire) with the
Besant-Leadbeater perversions and delusions.
Mrs. Bailey says:
« Everywhere, 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. »
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 Chap. 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. »
It will be remembered that in my
Great Betrayal I dealt with Mrs. Besant's false statement correcting Blavatsky's
definition of the Pratyeka Buddha in The
Voice of the Silence, page 109, note 25, in our reprint (and the Theos
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.
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 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 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 counseled 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 her book A Treatise on
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 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 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 (204-206) 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 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,
Chap. XIX, p.204-206. Referring to the above quotation from p.204.
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From "The qualifications
expected in a Chela" (Theosophist, Vol. IV, Supplement, July, 1883, p.10)
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"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 pulse. 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...."
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"2. Absolute mental and
physical purity."
"Remember, he who is not
as pure as a young child (had) better leave chelaship alone."
(Master Kuthumi)
"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."
(Master Morya to the esoteric
students)
"Guard thou the lower lest
it soil the Higher."
(The 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 exceptions, they are all on the highway to Sorcery."
(Blavatsky in her article: Occultism
vs The Occult Arts.)
"No Adept ever
marries."
(Blavatsky)
"It is true that the married
man cannot be an Adept."
(Master Kuthumi in The Mahatma
Letters, p.17)
"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."
(Master Morya in The Mahatma
Letters, p. 272)
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Not only did 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
(Theos. Gloss. 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. »
(Cf. "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 Blavatsky and the Masters
stand for.
In Blavatsky's article Occultism vs 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 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 Blavatsky says in "Lodges of Magic" (Lucifer, 1888):
« The personage known to the
public under the pseudonym of “Kuthumi” 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, p.58, and A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, p. 455)
According to Mrs. Besant, he was
previously incarnated as Rosenkreuz, Bacon, St. Germain, and others, only
achieving adeptship as "Rakoczi" (The
Masters, p.75-76. Krotona, 1918).
H.P. Blavatsky, on the other
hand, calls St. Getmain "the greatest Oriental Adept Europe has seen
during the last centuries" (Theos. Glossary, p. 309, also p. 214 under
"Mesmer")
(For more information, see:
"Influence of Occultism on
Revolutions" in our Buddhism the Science of Life, 2nd ed., p.110)
Finally, with reference to Mr.
Crump's remarks (ante, p.10) on the application of the name Sanat Kumara to the
Logos, it may be added here that four of the seven Rumaras are exoteric and
three are esoteric. (Secret Doctrine,
I, 457 old ed.)
Sanat Kumara is one of the
former. One of the esoteric Rumaras is Sanat Sujata, after whom the Sanat
Sujatiyan of the Mahabharata is named. (See The Crest Jewel of Wisdom:
Translated by Mohini Chatterji, verse 324 and footnote, p.80)
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