When people today become dissatisfied with the religious fundamentalism of their various churches, they may seek

for ancient sources of transcendent knowledge and spiritual guidance; but they often labor under one of two basic illusionsand perhaps both of them. The belief most frequently held, especially by the anti-establishment youth, is that all spirituality comes from the Asiatic lands, particularly India, hina and !apan. The other misconception is that there is actually a basic difference between "estern and #astern esoteric traditions, as these geographic terms are usually understood. $ne of the fundamental purposes of the message brought forth by %. &. 'la(atsky a century ago was to dispel the last of these illusions. %owe(er, in her day )and e(en now to a large e*tent+ the dichotomy of #ast and "est was so strongly anchored within the emotional and religious subconscious of #uropeans and Americansand ,ust as strongly among the Indian and hinese peoplethat it could not be transcended. The di(ision remains, although it often takes the opposite form of glorifying Asiatic spirituality (ersus "estern rationalism and materialism. The belief in the apparent irreconcilable dualism remains strong. -ince the whole problem is not clearly stated, most solutions proffered lack philosophical as well as concrete, unemotional foundations. The actual historic as well as esoteric situation can be truly understood, I belie(e, only if seen from a .planetary. (iewpoint. $ne should reali/e that the #arth as a whole is an organism, within which acti(ities operate simultaneously at se(eral le(els0 spiritual, archetypal, mental-cultural, bio-energetic and telluric )or physical+. "hat we rather confusedly call .esoteric traditions. are manifestations of acti(ity at all these levels, which operate in wa(es. These wa(es underlie what we narrowly define as .intellectual history,. which refers mainly to acti(ities at the mental-cultural and political le(els. These acti(ities are in close interaction with those of the physical le(el, in consequence of which the #arth1s resources of land, sea and climate e*ists as potential for human well-being and e*pansion. "hen we speak of "estern and #astern esoteric traditions, we should ask where we want to establish the line of demarcation. Asia 2inor, &alestine, 2esopotamia and Arabia are usually considered parts of the Asiatic continent. 3rom a creed or racial point of (iew were !esus and &aul, 4oroaster, 2ani and 2uhammed "estern or #astern persons5 6oes #gypt belong to the "estern world5 "hen we speak of our "estern )by which we usually mean hristian+ tradition, we usually gi(e it two sources0 %ebrew and 7reek. -ome people will include #gyptian and haldean traditions at least as a background, and -ufism as an important spiritual-cultural stream adding its power to the de(elopment of the medie(al #uropean consciousness. 'ut e(en the 7reek tradition, from which our #uro-American rationalism and intellectual empiricism may be said to stem, was deeply influenced by the mysticism and8or occultism per(ading the whole of Asia 2inor, -yria and 2esopotamia; furthermore, we still do not know the e*tent to which the #gyptian and retan cultures and religions affected the deeper and subrationalistic aspects of 7reek mentality. It is probable that the ma,ority of the inhabitants of 7reece were more concerned about the #leusinian and $rphic 2ysteries, or the 6elphic $racle, than about the -ocratic method and the Aristotelian approach to knowledge. Another important fact is too often ignored0 %ow many Americans are really aware of the basic influence of the eltic culture upon early 2edie(al #urope from A.6. 9:: until the rusades5 %ow many reali/e that if we want to speak of a strictly "estern tradition, we would first of all ha(e to speak of it in eltic terms5 "e certainly cannot claim that the eltic and 6ruidic traditions ha(e their roots in Aisa or Asia 2inor. "here did they come from5 It seems that we ha(e to postulate an Atlantean origin, and the moment we do this, the whole easytoo easysolution of the westward march of ci(ili/ation from a postulated cradle in entral Asia begins to look suspicious. #(en in %&'1s The Secret Doctrine apparent contradictions can be detected. The possibility that the polar a*is of the earth may perform a periodical dance does not help to clarify the issues, not does what is said of the .;ndying <and. at the supposed =orth &ole illuminate-north in relation to what5

In the remarkable book A Collection of Esoteric Writings by T. -ubba >ow,* we find se(eral long .=otes. from %&' appended to a letter addressed to her from -ubba >ow under undisclosed circumstances and only part of which is published. "hat %&' stated in the first =ote is of the greatest rele(ance to the topic with which this article deals, and I shall quote the most important sentences0 .The country called 1-i-d/ang1 by the hinese and Tibet by the "estern geographers is mentioned in the oldest books preser(ed in the pro(ince of 3o?ien )the chief headquarters of the aborigines of hinaas the great seat of $ccult learning in the archaic ages . . . it was inhibited by the 1Teachers of <ight,1 the 1-ons of "isdom1 and the 1'rothers of the -un1.. %&' speaks guardedly of the .aborigines of Tibet. as being .greatly degenerated descendants of mighty and wise forefathers . . . their @'homA rites remind one . . . of the popular rites of the 'abylonians . . . @they areA connected with one of the three great races which superseded each other in 'abylonia . . . There is reason to call the trans-%imalayan esoteric doctrine haldeo-Tibetan.. -he continues in =ote II0 The Bedas, 'rahmanism, and along with these, -anskrit, were importations into what we now regard as India. They were ne(er indigenous to its soil. There was a time when the ancient nations of the "est included under the generic name of India, many of the counties of Asia now classified under other names . . . &ersia )Iran+ is called "estern India in some ancient classics. The counties now named Tibet, 2ongolia and 7reat Tartary were considered by them as forming part of India. "hen we say, therefore, that India has ci(ili/ed the world and was the Alma 2ater of the ci(ili/ations, arts and sciences of all other nations )'abylonia and perhaps e(en #gypt, included+ we mean archaic, prehistoric India, India of the time when the 7reat 7obi was a sea, and lost .Atlantis. formed part of an unbroken continent which began at the %imalayas and ran o(er southern India, eylon, !a(a, to far away Tasmania. %&' further speaks of the once sacred island Scham-bha-la .now an oasis of incomparable beauty, the place of meeting @e(ery se(enth yearA of the inheritors of the esoteric wisdom of the god-like inhabitants of the legendary island.. In a letter sent by 2aster ?.%. to A. &. -innett, which I quoted in my book ccult !reparations for a "ew Age, it is also stated that0 The #gyptian %ierophant, the haldean 2age, the Arhat and the >ishi were bound in days of yore on the same (oyage of disco(ery and ultimately arri(ed at the same goal, though by different track . . . @and thatA there are e(en at the present moment @CDDEA three centers of the occult 'rotherhood in e*istence, widely separated geographically, and as widely e#otericallythe true esoteric doctrine being identical in substance, though differing in terms; all arri(ing at the same grand ob,ect, but no two agreeing seemingly in the details of procedure . . . The only ob,ect to be stri(en for is the amelioration of the condition of 2A= by the spread of truth suited to the (arious stages of his de(elopment and that of the country he inhabits and belongs to. If we carefully consider all these statements, we should reali/e that there can be only one esoteric doctrine. Any person or group of persons, of whate(er culture or nationality has to approach it according to what best fits their particular stage of e(olution, their fundamental needs )which may differ widely from superficial, personal, or collective wants+, and their capacity to respond to what is gi(en. An immediate response may be neither e*pectable nor possible. 'ecause of this, it should be clear that any traditionbe it occult, religious or socio-culturalcan only be e*oteric. Any method or technique of assumedly spiritual de(elopment or self-reali/ation is e*oteric, because any technique can be taught. If it is taught, it requires teachers and pupils. There are human beings, and especially todaythe pupils are often strong and proud egos. In the great ma,ority of cases, the teachers are bound intellectually and (ery often emotionally to a particular way of life

and8or traditional doctrine, e(en if this attachment may be called .impersonal.. Although the teaching many be conducted in the secrecy of a mountain sanctuary it still follows a particular approach; and if this approach is to be truly effecti(e, it has to meet personal needs and capacities for response and assimilation. -trictly speaking, the only esoteric tradition is one that cannot be taught and which does not imply a particular technique or approach. It simply presents facts and induces or guides whate(er response the indi(idual to whom it is presented is able, ready and willing to make. Therefore, those who speak of a .tradition. are decei(ing themsel(es and others. In pre(ious times when two Tibetans met for the first time, they would ask of each other0 .To what sublime tradition do you belong5. To belong to a tradition, as well as to belong to a nation, is to accept subser(ience to a set of particularities. This is a perfectly (alid situation, but )spiritually speaking+ only if one reali/esand one ne(er ceases to reali/e that such a belongingness has a functional character. "here human beings are concerned, this belongingness acquires a functional character when it operates on the background of a (i(id reali/ation that whate(er is done is performed in terms of a world encompassing a whole. This greater whole includes not only mankindas-a-whole, but the entire planet #arth. This means not only the physical planet and its biosphere, but also the subtler globes composing our entire chain @in the theosophical sense of the word .chain.A. %ere we would include what has recently been spoken of as the noosphere, which could be related to the lower aspect of the planetary mind of humanity. )A higher aspect, corresponding to the higher mental le(el, might be called the archeosphere. Today, many Americans or #uropean young people find themsel(es drawn toward contacts and e*periences that present fascinating alternati(es to the increasingly unattracti(e and empty associations and doctrines of our hristian or atheisticmaterialistic "estern traditions. They often rush emotionallye(en when mo(ed by a much deeper surge-toward Indian gurus, yoga, 4en or -ufi practices, and Tibetan meditation and prostrations. "hen caught in this whirlpool of tense search and unfamiliar e*periences, they should reali/e that they are e*changing one particular mode of subser(ient discipline for another which, at times, is unconscious bondage to e*ternal forms and collecti(e rhythms. -uch cases are frequent today and one wonders whether it would not be more producti(e for the =ew Age enthusiast to try to pierce through the crust of fro/en "estern traditions and church dogma to redisco(erand gi(e more power tothe small esoteric groups which, though often persecuted and misunderstood, ne(ertheless somehow maintained precarious and marginal e*istence in our "estern society. 'ut where can such groups be found5 And if found, in what state ha(e they been preser(ed, and how pure ha(e their accumulated magnetic and spiritual emanations )or the astral-mental conditions surrounding them+ remained through two and a half millennia of "estern ci(ili/ation, particularly in #urope5 Anyone earnestly participating in the acti(ities of any more or less psychic group automatically allows himself to be psychically penetrated by the collecti(e field of energy ha(ing been built through the centuries by those actually making use of the specific techniques. "hile this penetration may make great power a(ailable to the participant, it may also ha(e a binding character depending upon whether in the past the group-energy has been used constructi(ely or destructi(ely, or, what is more frequent, for a mi*ture of moti(es. #uropean occultism, especially where ceremonial magic or ?abbalistic procedures are concerned, has a (ery dubious record. "hether it has a record or not, the basic point is that what passes for "estern esotericism is actually not esoteric, if this qualification has any meaning at all. 'ut neither are %indu yoga, Tantric ceremonies, 'uddhistic techniques of meditation nor self-reali/ation esoteric. They are particular ways of reaching particular aims. If these aims are (i(idly understood to be functional within the harmony of the organic wholeness of humanity and of the #arth which includes superhuman and para-human le(els of consciousness and acti(ity, as well as subhuman and elemental onesthen all is well. The indi(idual or group fulfills his, her or its

dharma, as cells of the heart or the li(er do within the human body. An esoteric character begins to appear only when the technique has become totally subser(ient to the holistic reali/ation of the meaning of its results in the economy of the planetary whole; that is when life is li(edat whate(er le(el of acti(ityin terms of actual facts endowed with incontrovertible meaning$ In this sense, esotericism may indeed deal with the facts of an e(eryday life, if it is li(ed consciously and meaningfully as a significant performance of transpersonal acts. The acts are transpersonal when they are outer manifestations of total dedication to a function of destinyan ineluctable acceptance )or dharma+ performed solely for the sake of the greater "hole. "hen this is truly understood and li(ed, there can be no (alid distinction between #astern and "estern esotericism. There are, ne(ertheless, two great tidal mo(ements of planetary scopeor perhaps a double heli* allow the polarities of outwardness and inwardness to pulsate in antiphonic interplay. The %indu youth of 'rahmin ancestry might yearn for American .mechanistry. while the American son of a suburban e*ecuti(e longs for the .spirituality. of saffron-robed %oly 2en in near-%imalayan ca(es. A 3rench boy, tired of the -eine and the rationalistic outlines of the hamps #lysees might dream of the 7anges, while the (eiled daughter of an oil-rich Arabian sheik might elope to the beaches of nudity on the >i(iera with a 3rench engineer. The play of opposites is the eternal way. Fet we lo(e to fi* boundaries, whether it is the ;ral or the 'osphorous that separates #urope from Asia, or some fleeting partition of consciousness fore(er oscillating between what our pundits solemnly call the conscious and the unconscious. There is no end to traditions. There will always be gurus to promise satori while &h.6.1s promise a well-paying ,ob to the respecti(ely young in spirit or body. "hat matters most is what a particular indi(idual needs at any gi(en time in his or her de(elopment. "e need not concern oursel(es whether the eastward wa(e of Atlantean pioneers, or wise men influenced haldea through #gypt, or whether the haldeans )whoe(er they wereG+ recei(ed their doctrines from the -ons of <ights, or the -acred Island in the Asiatic %eartland. "a(es of ci(ili/ation interpenetrate as they mo(e through the one ocean of planetary mind. "e gi(e many names to this mind from the point of (iew of our local shore line. To our consciousness, such shore lines are the great super-egos we call traditions. "hen they ser(e the one purpose of humanity, these traditions ha(e an aura of sublimity. "hen they mainly ser(e the purpose of those who hold them as pri/ed possessions, they are best means to an end, ,ust as scaffolds are a means to an end in the raising of a temple. $nly the temples are esoteric. All scaffolds are e*oteric, which does not mean that they are unnecessary. 'ut it is best for us to know that they are scaffolds, e(en if we are told they are the walls of the temples.

* This book, now out of print, @-ubba >ow1s Esoteric Writings is now in printA was first published in CDHI in India with an introductory sketch of -ubba >ow1s brief life. %e was born on J !uly CDIJ in -outhern India on the oromandal oast, in a high le(el 'rahmin family and died ,ust after his KLth birthday. -ome of -ubba >ow1s writings are of the greatest importance and the book ought to be reprinted; particularly the article on the true date of -ankaracharya1s birth0 IC: '. ., IC years and E months after the date of 'uddha1s nir(ana )cf. &. CJE+ and not one thousand years later, as $rientalists mistakenly claim, thus gi(ing an erroneous (iew of the de(elopment of -outh India1s occultism. This is more important because of -ankaracharya1s stature and the influence of his Ad(aita mo(ement.