Theos-Talk Archives (November 1993 Message tl00033)

This message is in response to Jerry Hejka-Ekin's recent message to me
and deals with the work of Alice Bailey (AAB), the objectives of the
Lucis Trust that she founded and why I think her work is similar to
that of HPB and in fact only a continuation of the periodic
Hierarchial efforts at enlightenment/ guidance of the Humanity.
Comments from all are welcome!


Jerry,

Thanks for the background on SD, it helps me a lot. A quick response
to your question about my belief as to whether the Bailey teachings
are based upon Besant and/or Leadbeater: No, I donot believe that. AAB
has stated at several places that much of what has been believed
and/or published by 'theosophists' is wrong or misleading; in fact AAB
herself belonged to the ES until she was 'driven out' due to the many
'personality conflicts' or should I say, 'an undue emphasis on the
personality aspects' by the theosophists of that day. I do believe
that the AAB teachings build upon whatever had been given out along
'theosophical' lines by the Hierarchy till 1920, so to that extent
there is value in reading all 'generally accepted' theosophical
literature upto 1920 (to get familiar with terminology and basic
concepts perhaps). But within the AAB teachings themselves, nowhere is
it said that they build upon the writings of Leadbeater or anyone else
(except that the 'Treatise on Cosmic Fire' expands on SD). There is
neither a condemnation in the Bailey teachings of any other authors
nor a recommendation to read anything other than the Bailey material
itself, as far as I can tell. Having said that I should add that in
the AS (Arcane School) they recommend reading of SD and there are a
few references to the works of Besant but I did not see any reference
to Leadbeater during the approx. 4 year period of my association with
AS.

AAB as you probably know has at several places in her books spoken of
HPB, "...that great initiate', and in fact even to this day, Lucis
Trust materials refer to HPB in glowing terms; you may be interested
to know that I bought my copy of the HPB biography by Sylvia Cranston
thru Lucis Trust, after reading a review of it in their bimonthly
magazine "Beacon'. By the way, for those who may not be aware of it,
Lucis is a Latin word meaning Light; Lucis Trust was set up by AAB to
carry out the work that she had started i.e.

1. the work of preparation for the Re-aapearance of the Christ (by
distributing the Great Invocation on as large a scale as possible)

2. World Goodwill network (to promote Unity and Right Human
Relations - individual, communal, national and international)

3. World Triangles network (to transform the planetary etheric vehicle
to receive and circulate the energies of the Soul and the Triad i.e
Atma, Buddhi, Manas)

4. Publication of books and the furtherence of the Hierarchical
teaching, publication of Beacon, establishing of the Arcane School for
the training of would-be disciples

5. Discovering the members of the New Group of World Servers and
strengthening their hands

6. Letting known the fact of the twelve spiritual Festivals (twelve
periods of the Full Moon, which permit a closer contact between the
Hierarchy and the Humanity as permitted by the universal law of cyclic
manifestation)

If you read the above list of what AAB left for 'posterity', you will
see, I hope, why I think that she (AAB) was only continuing the work
of Serving Humanity that HPB started. All organizations manned by
mere human beings tend to mature and 'crystallize' and die (it seems)
and whereas I only have the best wishes for all the theosophical
organizations myself (having only recently sent in my Lifetime
subscription or membership dues to the TSA), I cannot help but wonder
what may have happened had the 'theosophists' of the day let AAB work
within the boudaries of the theosophical organization to which she
belonged.

I am now also trying to hit (hard) carriage returns at the end of
every line, so to all those who were having problems reading my
messages, I hope this one has been easier to read than my messages of
the past. If it has not been, please let me know and I'll try to
figure out something else!

Love and Best Wishes/Arvind