Alice Bailey
claimed that most of the books she published were telepathically dictated to
her by a high Tibetan master, and in her Autobiography
she detailed this collaboration:
I now come to a happening in my
life about which I hesitate to speak. It concerns the work which I have done
for the past twenty-seven years. This work has received world-wide recognition
and has evoked world-wide curiosity. It has also brought me some ridicule and suspicion,
but surprisingly little, and I have been quite able to understand it because I
started by being very suspicious myself. I ask myself why I attempt to deal
with the matter at all and why I simply do not continue my hitherto fixed
policy of letting my work and the books speak for themselves and prove their
own best defense. I think my reasons are twofold.
I want first of all to point out
the closeness of the link which the inner Hierarchy of Masters is establishing
with men and I want to make it easier for other people to do the same kind of
work, provided it is the same kind of work. There are so many aspects of
so-called psychic writings. People are apt not to differentiate between that which
is the expression of wishful thinking or the emergence of a very nice, sweet,
well-intentioned, Christian, subconscious, or again automatic writing, the
tapping of thought currents (which everybody is doing all the time) or straight
fraud; or on the other hand, those writings which are a result of a strong
subjective telepathic rapport and a response to impression coming from certain
high Spiritual Sources. Again and again in the Bible the words come "And
the Lord said," whereupon some prophet or seer wrote down what was said. Much
of it is beautiful and of spiritual import. Much of it, however, bears the
signature of frail humanity expressing their ideas of God, His jealousy, His
spirit of revenge and a great deal of bloodthirstiness. We are told that great musicians
hear their symphonies and chorales with an inner ear and then transfer it into
musical notation. From whence do our greatest poets and artists down the ages
get their inspiration? All from some inner source of beauty.
This whole subject has been made
difficult because of the many metaphysical and spiritualistic writings which
are of so low an order of intelligence and so ordinary and mediocre in their
content that educated people laugh at them and cannot be bothered to read them.
I want to show, therefore, that there is another kind of impression and
inspiration which can result in writings far above the average and which convey
teaching needed by coming generations. I say this in all humility for I am only
a pen or pencil, a stenographer and a transmitter of teaching from one whom I
revere and honor and have been happy to serve.
It was in November 1919 that I
made my first contact with The Tibetan. I had sent the children off to school
and thought I would snatch a few minutes to myself and went out on to the hill
close to the house. I sat down and began thinking and then suddenly I sat
startled and attentive. I heard what I thought was a clear note of music which
sounded from the sky, through the hill and in me. Then I heard a voice which
said, "There are some books which it is desired should be written for the
public. You can write them. Will you do so?"
Without a moment's notice I said,
"Certainly not. I'm not a darned psychic and I don't want to be drawn into
anything like that." I was startled to hear myself speaking out loud.
The voice went on to say that wise
people did not make snap judgments, that I had a peculiar gift for the higher
telepathy and that what I was being asked to do embodied no aspect of the lower
psychism. I replied that I didn't care, that I wasn't interested in any work of
a psychic nature at all. The unseen person who was speaking so clearly and
directly to me then said that he would give me time for consideration; that he
would not take my answer then and that he would come back in three weeks' time exactly,
to find out what I intended to do.
I then shook myself as if I was
awakening from a dream and went home and entirely forgot all about the matter. I
never gave it another thought and did not even tell Foster about it. During the
interval I never remembered it but, sure enough, at the end of three weeks I
was spoken to again one evening as I sat in my sitting-room after the children had
gone to bed. Again I refused, but the speaker begged me to reconsider and for a
couple of weeks, at least, see what I could do. By this time I was getting curious
but not in the least convinced. I would try for a couple of weeks or a month
and then decide what I felt about it. It was during these few weeks that I got
the first chapters of "Initiation, Human and Solar."
I would like to make it quite
clear that the work I do is in no way related to automatic writing. Automatic writing,
except in the rarest cases (and, unfortunately, most people think their case is
the rare exception) is very dangerous. The aspirant or disciple is never supposed
to be an automaton. He is never supposed to let any part of his equipment out of
his conscious control. When he does, he enters into a state of dangerous
negativity. The material normally then received is mediocre. There is nothing
new in it, and it frequently deteriorates as time goes on. Many a time, the
subject's negativity permits the entrance of a second force which, for some
peculiar reason, is never of as high a standard as the first. Then there comes danger
of obsession. We have had to handle many cases of obsession as the result of automatic
writing.
In the work that I do there is no
negativity but I assume an attitude of intense, positive attention. I remain in
full control of all my senses of perception and there is nothing automatic in
what I do. I simply listen and take down the words that I hear and register the
thoughts which are dropped one by one into my brain. I make no changes in what
I give out to the public from that which has been given to me except that I
will smooth the English or replace an unusual word with one that is clearer,
taking care, always, to preserve the sense as given. I have never changed
anything that the Tibetan has ever given me. If I once did so He would never
dictate to me again. I want to make that entirely clear. I do not always
understand what is given. I do not always agree. But I record it all honestly
and then discover it does make sense and evokes intuitive response.
This work of the Tibetan has
greatly intrigued people and psychologists everywhere. They dispute as to what
is the cause of the phenomenon, and argue that what I write probably comes from
my subconscious. I have been told that Jung takes the position that the Tibetan
is my personified higher self and Alice A. Bailey is the lower self. Some of
these days (if I ever have the pleasure of meeting him) I will ask him how my
personified higher self can send me parcels all the way from India, for that is
what He has done.
A few years ago a very dear
friend and a man who had stood very closely with Foster and me since the inception
of our work—Mr. Henry Carpenter—went out to India to try and reach the Masters
at Shigatze, a small, native town in the Himalayas, just over the Tibetan
frontier. He made this effort three times in spite of my telling him that he
could find the Master right here in New York if he took the proper steps and
the time was ripe. He felt he would like to tell the Masters, much to my amusement,
that I was having too tough a time and that They had better do something about
it. As he was a personal friend of Lord Reading, once Viceroy of India, he was
given every facility to reach his destination but the Dalai Lama refused
permission for him to cross the frontier. During his second trip to India when
at Gyantse (the furthest point he could reach near the frontier) he heard a
great hubbub in the compound of the dak bungalow. He went to find out what it
was and found a lama, seated on a donkey, just entering the compound. He was
attended by four lamas and all the natives in the compound were surrounding
them and bowing. Through his interpreter, Mr. Carpenter made inquiries and was
told that the lama was the abbot of a monastery across the Tibetan frontier and
that he had come down especially to speak to Mr. Carpenter.
The abbot told him that he was
interested in the work that we were doing and asked after me. He inquired about
the Arcane School and gave him two large bundles of incense for me. Later, Mr. Carpenter
saw General Laden Lha at Darjeeling. The General is a Tibetan, educated in
Great Britain at public school and university and was in charge of the secret
service on the Tibetan frontier. He is now dead but was a great and good man. Mr.
Carpenter told him of his experience with this lama and told him that he was
the abbot of a certain lamaserie. The General flatly denied the possibility of
this. He said the abbot was a very great and holy man and that he had never
been known to come down across the frontier or visit an Occidental. When, however,
Mr. Carpenter returned the following year, General Laden Lha admitted that he had
made a mistake; that the abbot had been down to see him.
After writing for the Tibetan for
nearly a month I got completely scared and absolutely refused to do any more
work. I told the Tibetan that the three little girls had only me to look to,
that if I were ill or went crazy (as so many psychics seemed to do) they would
be all alone and that I did not dare take the chance. He accepted my decision
but told me to try and get in touch with my Master, K. H., and talk the matter
over with Him. After thinking it over for a week or so I decided to get in
touch with K. H. and proceeded to do so, following the very definite technique
He had taught me. When I got my opportunity for an interview with K. H. we talked
the whole thing through. He assured me that I was·in no danger, either
physically or mentally, and that I had the opportunity of doing a really
valuable piece of work. He told me that it was He, Himself, Who had suggested
that I help the Tibetan; that He was not transferring me into the Tibetan's
ashram (or spiritual group) but that He wished me still to work in His. I
therefore complied with the wish of K. H. and told the Tibetan that I would
work with Him. I have been strictly his amanuensis and secretary and am not a
member of His group. He has never interfered with my personal work or training.
In the spring of 1920 I entered into a very happy time of collaboration with Him,
while working as a senior disciple in the ashram of my own Master.
I've written many books since then
for the Tibetan. Shortly after finishing the first few chapters of "Initiation,
Human and Solar" I showed the manuscript to B. P. Wadia. He got very
excited and told me that he would publish anything that "came from that
source" and printed the first few chapters in "The Theosophist,"
published in Adyar, India. Then the usual theosophical jealousy and reactionary
attitude appeared and no more was printed.
The Tibetan's style has improved
over the years. He dictated a cumbersome, poor English in the beginning, but between
us we have managed to work out a style and presentation which is suited to the great
truths which it is His function to reveal, and mine and my husband's to bring
to the attention of the public.
In the early days of writing for
the Tibetan, I had to write at regular hours and it was clear, concise, definite
dictation. It was given word for word, in such a manner that I might claim that
I definitely heard a voice. Therefore, it might be said that I started with a
clairaudient technique, but I very soon found, as our minds got attuned, that
this was unnecessary and that if I concentrated enough and my attention was
adequately focussed I could register and write down the thoughts of the Tibetan
(His carefully formulated and expressed ideas) as He dropped them into my mind.
This involves the attaining and preservation of an intense, focussed point of
attention. It is almost like the ability which the advanced student of meditation
can demonstrate to hold one's achieved point of spiritual attention at the very
highest possible point. This can be fatiguing in the earlier stages, when one
is probably trying too hard to make good, but later, it is effortless and the
results are clarity of thought and a stimulation which has a definitely good physical
effect.
Today, as the result of
twenty-seven years work with the Tibetan I can snap into telepathic relation
with Him without the slightest trouble. I can and do preserve my own mental
integrity all the time and I can always argue with Him if it seems to me, at times,
that —as an Occidental— I may know better than He does as regards points of
presentation. When we have an argument along any line I invariably write as He
wants the text written, though He is apt to modify His presentation after
discussion with me. If He does not change His wording and point of view, I do not
change what He had said in any way.
After all, the books are His, not
mine, and basically the responsibility is His. He does not permit me to make
mistakes and watches over the final draft with great care. It is not just a
question of taking His dictation and then submitting it, after I have typed it
out, to Him. It is a question of His careful supervision of the final draft. I
am mentioning this quite deliberately as quite a few people, when the Tibetan
says something with which they do not personally agree, are apt to regard the
point of disagreement as having been interpolated by me. This has never
happened, even if I do not always agree or understand and I want to
re-iterate—I have published exactly what the Tibetan has said. On that one point
I emphatically take my stand.
Some students, also, when they
personally do not understand what the Tibetan means say that His ambiguities,
so called, are due to my having wrongly brought through what He was saying. Where
there are ambiguities, and there are quite a number in His books, they are due
to the fact that He is quite unable to be clearer, owing to the limitations of
his readers, and the difficulty of finding words which can express newer truths
and those intuitive perceptions which are still only hovering on the borders of
man's developing consciousness.
The books that the Tibetan has
written are regarded of importance by the Teachers responsible for the giving
out of the new truths which humanity needs. New teaching, along the line of
spiritual training and the preparation of aspirants for discipleship has also
been given. Great changes are being made in methods and techniques and because of
this the Tibetan has been peculiarly careful to see that I do not make
mistakes.
At the time of the second phase
of the World War, which started in 1939, many pacifists and well meaning,
though unthinking, people among the students of the Arcane School and the
general public, which we could succeed in reaching, took the position that I
had written the pamphlets and papers endorsing the United Nations and the need
to defeat the Axis Powers, and that the Tibetan was not responsible for the
anti-Nazi point of view of these articles. This, again, was not true. The
pacifists took the orthodox and idealistic point of view that because God is love
it would be impossible for Him to be anti-German or anti-Japanese. Because God
is love, He had no alternative, or the Hierarchy either, working under the
Christ, to do anything else but stand firmly on the side of those who were seeking
to free humanity from slavery, evil, aggression and corruption. The words of
the Christ have never been more true, "He that is not with Me is against
Me." The Tibetan in His writings at that time took a firm and unshakable
stand, and today (1945) in view of the unspeakable atrocities, cruelties and enslavement
policies of the Axis nations, His position has been justified.
(Chapter 4)
OBSERVATIONS
Alice
Bailey claims that the books she published are her best defense to demonstrate
that she was indeed in telepathic contact with a high Tibetan master. But in
reality her books are the greatest proof that she lied, because in these books
there is a huge amount of falsehoods invented by the liar Charles Leadbeater,
and it does not make any sense that a high Tibetan master who was living in
Tibet began to plagiarize the lies that had just been invented by a former Anglican
priest who was on the other side of the world.
However, it
makes much more sense to consider that since Alice Bailey did not know that
Leadbeater was a charlatan, she relied on what this individual said, and to
impress the public she assured people that his books had been telepathically
dictated to her by a high Tibetan master.
And it is also
false that Alice Bailey was a disciple of Master Kuthumi, because she told so
many lies about this master, that this discredits the fact that she lived with
this master.
No comments:
Post a Comment