THE Oxford Dictionary, in defining Theosophy, tells us 'it is sometimes called Esoteric Buddhism'; and this, indeed, was the teaching received by Madame Blavatsky from her Masters. In the 'Introductory' Section of The Secret Doctrine, Mme Blavatsky very clearly points out that esoteric Buddhism must not be confused with the religious system of ethics preached by the Lord Gautama (The Secret Doctrine, vol. 1, Introductory, p. xviii, 1978 edn.). She was concerned only with inner teachings.

In esoteric Buddhism, the essence of Buddha, sometimes called the Adi-Buddha, or the Dhyan-Chohan, is the essence which lies behind the whole universe. There is a constant, inherent wish to develop an evolution, a greater and wider consciousness. Occasionally during the long millennia a great soul, a mahatma, is born who is a tangible embodiment of this aim. In our era it was Prince Gautama, born 2,500 years ago. His teaching will continue to help us during this present age, and, in as far as we can develop greater consciousness, we ourselves can help in the great work.
So - what is a Buddhist?

A Buddhist takes three Refuges and five Precepts (otherwise known as Pancha Sila or Pansil) and as long as a person takes the three Refuges and-the five Precepts, then he is a Buddhist. He may belong to any other religion as well, that does not matter, but he must take the three Refuges, and he must try to keep the Precepts.

Colonel Olcott wrote on the wall of a Buddhist temple in Ceylon, now Sri Lanka:

To take Pancha Sila (or the five Precepts) means that they took part in a public ceremony and chanted three times in the Pali language:

I take refuge in the Buddha
I take refuge in the Dharma
I take refuge in the Sangha.
I undertake the rule of training of harmlessness.
I undertake the rule of training of not taking what is not given.
I undertake the rule of training of purity of body,
I undertake the rule of training of purity of speech.
I undertake the rule of training of purity of mind.

Refuge, in this instance, means a place of safety or security in your heart. The names of the three Refuges are: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

I take refuge in the Buddha
Buddha is a title meaning the Fully Awakened One, or the Fully Enlightened One. But when we take the first Refuge, Buddha means not only Gautama the historic Buddha, but the whole process of enlightenment, and the fact that there is Buddha-Nature in every living being.

I take refuge in the Dharma
Dharma is both the totality of the natural Law of the Universe, and the individual Law governing every living being within it. The Buddha's teaching helps us to understand it.

I take refuge in the Sangha
Sangha has two meanings. To exoteric schools it is the family of monks who spend their whole lives practising and teaching the Dharma; but to followers of esoteric schools it is the nucleus or family of committed ones following in the Way of Enlightenment. It includes all who follow the Path: archetypal and human, monk and lay.

Buddha, Dharma and Sangha are often referred to as the Three Jewels, and there is a special symbol standing for this - three Jewels surrounded by the flames of enlightenment:

We find that these three Refuges, or Jewels, are remarkably similar to the three Objects of the Theosophical Society - but in reverse order.

The 'nucleus of Universal Brotherhood of Humanity' is similar to the Sangha - the nucleus or family of committed ones following in the way of enlightenment.

'Study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science' is in fact the study of Dharma.

'Investigating the powers latent in man' is the same as looking inside oneself to find the power of the true Self and its enlightenment.

In this way the three Refuges of a Buddhist are like the three Objects of a theosophist.

If you do your wholehearted best to carry out the three Objects, you are in fact a theosophist whether you join a Society or not. If you do your wholehearted best to follow the three Refuges, you are in fact a Buddhist whether you officially belong to that religion or not. In both Buddhism and Theosophy there is no dogma whatever. We can be Buddhist and Christian at the same time, or any other combination.

Let us think about the five Precepts, Pancha Sila, or Pansil, which our founders took. These are precepts, not commandments - one trains oneself.

First: I Undertake The Rule of Training of Harmlessness.

Originally, one simply accepts this as not killing. This of course rules out any possibility of a crusade or a jihad. Wars are not carried out in the name of the Buddha.

But as we continue to train ourselves, and think harmlessness ... harmlessness ... it begins to cover quite small actions - like closing a door quietly. Naturally, it includes harmlessness to the planet. It also includes harmlessness to oneself: I am neither more nor less important than anyone else, and must be treated precisely equally.

The next Precept is: I Undertake The Rule of Training Not to Take What is Not Given.
This is NOT the equivalent of'thou shalt not steal'. Think about it for a minute.

The other three Precepts concern purification of body, speech, and mind.

Purification of the Body
Remember there is no list of 'thou shalt nots'. There is no God looking over my shoulder. I must accept my own karmic responsibility for all actions of my body, sexual or otherwise, and train myself in its purification.

Purification of Speech
This is very revealing. Here is a personal example: I voluntarily set myself a period during which I would work on this Precept. I would try watching myself when talking (and I talk rather a lot!). I would try to say only things which were TRUE, KIND, and USEFUL; otherwise keep quiet. Believe me, I was extremely quiet by the end of the first week. Most of the things I said were true (at least I thought so). Some of them were useful, and quite a lot were kind (even if only a friendly contact like 'Good Morning'). But when I honestly looked - very few things were really worth saying: TRUE and KIND and USEFUL. By the end of the second week I retired from being a Borough Councillor, and left politics. Practising is not like attending lectures or reading books; it changes your life.

Then, Purification of the Mind
Obviously I must be abstemious in any use of drink or drugs. But how much deeper must it go? Is it permissible to read a detective story to relax at bedtime, or am I really drugging my mind with unnecessary thoughts? There is no set rule - I must guard my own precepts.

We must always remember Madame Blavatsky and Col. Olcott accepted these five Precepts so they must be good ones for all of us.

Do you know that theosophists i an trace a direct line of their spiritual teachers right back to the Buddha?
Some people spend much time researching their ancestors, and draw up a family tree. They wish to know about their own flesh and blood, and where their genes come from. It is more important for us to know about our spiritual ancestors, and where our flashes of insight come from.

The Ageless Wisdom, from which all religions stem, was passed on to us by the Masters. However, no truth can be transmitted in absolute form, it must be clothed in a manner fitting to the understanding of the people of the particular time and place. There have been esoteric schools throughout the ages, in every area of the world. Unfortunately, many of them have died out - presumably those unfit to survive - because, however helpful in their own context, they were too limited for their specific time and culture. The modern versions of these (Druids, Wicca, Rosicrucians, etc.) have been fabricated and lack a living relationship with the source. We theosophists are very fortunate in having direct living Dharma relationships which go back for more than 2,500 years.

The Buddha lived for eighty years, which was long enough to train many disciples. Naturally, while the teachings were spreading to many different peoples, each of them found some parts of the dharma more helpful than others, and by 250 years after the Buddha, there were eighteen different Schools. Some of these were Hinayana, or Early Buddhism. One of these - the Theravada, or Way of the Elders - is still flourishing in South-East Asia, and has monasteries in many parts of Europe and America. During twenty-five centuries, millions of people have relied on this teaching as a basis for everyday living. This is the Wisdom Tradition. The Way of the Arhat - He who finds peace through Wisdom.

Please look at the Family Tree chart below. The left-hand column, ending with the exoteric school of Theravada, is where our Founders accepted the Refuges.

So far we have dealt with the basic Buddhist teachings which are true in all Schools; however, THE ESOTERIC TEACHING does not follow these exoteric Buddhist schools, in which advanced training is given only to monks. As an example, consider a picture like this:

During the Buddha's lifetime, the monks had specialized in different aspects of the teaching. Two of them were Ananda and Mahakasyapa. Ananda was the chief attendant of the Buddha, therefore he was present at all times. He heard every public sermon, and all of the advice given to individual people. He listened with such reverence that he remembered every single word of all the many teachings given. So well could he recall them, that after the Buddha's death his words could be passed on until they were written down about 400 years later. These Scriptures arethe basic reference of all the Theravada teaching. 'THE TEACHING OF THE ELDERS', whose followers sincerely follow the teachings of the Scriptures. The other monk, Mahakasyapa, was entirely different. He, of course, also heard many of the Buddha's teachings; but one day, the Buddha, instead of giving a sermon in words, simply held up a lotus flower. As the puzzled monks sat in silence, Mahakasyapa smiled. The Buddha said, 'Ah, you have understood.'

This was the beginning of the Esoteric Schools, in which the teachings passed without words, direct from heart to heart. For this you must look at the Right-hand side of the chart. Here are the Esoteric Schools - those of the Heart. You can follow where the bold line goes - right from the Buddha, through Mahayana, Esoteric, then the Tibetan Schools, Nyingmapa (with a sideways pointer to the 'dreaded Dugpas'), then Gelugpa. The head of this School is always the Dalai Lama. It continues right down to the Masters who interested themselves in our Society and Madame Blavatsky. And here we are today; heirs to the Esoteric Buddhist Schools. (To be continued)

Miss Muriel Daw, former Editor of the Buddhist journal The Middle Way, has studied Buddhist teachings for many years.
Vol. 124. 3