Alice Bailey

Alice Bailey
File:Alice Bailey.jpg Alice A. Bailey Shown here on the cover of a Danish translation of her autobiography; her work has been translated into nine languages.
Born	Alice LaTrobe Bateman June 16, 1880 Manchester , England
Died	December 15, 1949), New York

Alice Ann Bailey (June 16, 1880 – December 15, 1949), known as Alice A. Bailey or AAB, was born as Alice LaTrobe Bateman, in Manchester, UK, but moved to the U.S. in 1907, where she spent most of her life as a writer and teacher. Bailey's twenty-five books are published worldwide, and some have been translated into nine languages, with three more in progress. Writing on spiritual, occult, esoteric and religious themes, Bailey was among the earliest authors to popularize the terms New Age and Age of Aquarius. Her humanitarian philosophy is still influential and there are many groups, schools and organizations that study and implement her ideas worldwide.

She stated that most of her books were telepathically dictated to her by a "Master of the Wisdom" she referred to as "The Tibetan." Her writings range from the microcosm to the macrocosm, and expound a system of esoteric thought that includes subjects such as meditation, healing, spiritual psychology, the destiny of nations, and prescriptions for society in general.

Her writings have much in common with those of Madame Blavatsky, yet they differ from Theosophy in many respects. She wrote about religious themes, especially Christianity, but her writings are fundamentally contrary to many aspects of orthodox Christianity and to orthodox religions in general. Her vision of a unified society includes a global "spirit of religion" different from traditional religious forms (which she regarded as largely divisive, human creations).

Bailey's writings stirred controversy because she spoke against orthodox Christianity, American isolationism, nationalism, Soviet totalitarianism, fascism, and Nazism. She also criticized Zionism and the Jewish religion and history. Some have seen her writings on this as racist, and anti-Semitic.

Life

Childhood

Alice Bailey was born to a wealthy aristocratic British family, and as a member of the Anglican Church, received a thorough Christian education. She describes a lonely and "over-sheltered" childhood and was unhappy despite the luxury of her physical circumstances. (Bailey, 9. 12). Of this early life she wrote:

"Looking back, I can imagine nothing more appalling than the perpetuation of the Victorian era, for instance, with its ugliness, its smugness, and the excessive comfort of the upper classes (so-called) and the frightful condition under which the laboring classes struggled. It was in that well-padded, sleek and comfortable world I lived when a girl. I can imagine nothing more blighting to the human spirit than the theology of the past with the emphasis upon a God who saves a smug few and condemns the majority to perdition. I can imagine nothing more conducive to unrest, class war, hate and degradation than the economic situation of the world, then and for many decades—a situation largely responsible for the present world war (1914-1945)."

In her autobiography she relates three suicide attempts. These occurred in childhood, the first when, at the age of five, she decided life was not worth living:

""The experience of my five years made me feel that things were futile so I decided that if I bumped down the stone kitchen steps from top to bottom … I would probably be dead at the end. I did not succeed … As I went on in life, I made two other efforts to put an end to things, only to discover it is a very difficult thing to commit suicide.… I tried to smother myself with sand when I was around eleven years old, but sand in one's mouth, nose and eyes is not comfortable and I decided to postpone the happy day." (Bailey, pp 20-21)

At age 15, Bailey was visited by a stranger, "...a tall man, dressed in European clothes and wearing a turban." She supposed this individual was Jesus, but later she identified him as Master Koot Hoomi. In her autobiography she identified the date of the visit as June 30th, 1895, and wrote:

"He told me there was some work that it was planned that I could do in the world but that it would entail my changing my disposition very considerably; I would have to give up being such an unpleasant little girl and must try and get some measure of self-control." (Bailey, pp 35)

Adult life

At age 22 Bailey did evangelical work in connection with the YMCA and the British Army. This took her to India where, in 1907, she met her future husband, Walter Evans. Together they moved to America where Evans became an Episcopalian priest. However, this marriage did not last. She stated that her husband mistreated her and in one of his fits of temper, threw her down the stairs. Bailey pushed for and received a divorce. (Bailey, p. 121–122) She left with their three children; after formal separation in 1915. Then followed a difficult period in which she had to work as a factory hand to support herself and the children. (Bailey, p. 121–122)

Bailey's break was not only with her Christian husband, but with Orthodox Christianity in general. In her autobiography she wrote that “a rabid, orthodox Christian worker [had] become a well-known occult teacher.”(Bailey, p. 1 & p. 47).

In the United States, in 1915, Bailey discovered the Theosophical Society and the work of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Bailey, pp 134–136). In 1918 she became a member of the Esoteric section of the this society. She claimed to recognize Koot Hoomi, the master that had visited her in her childhood, from a portrait she saw in the Shrine Room of the Theosophical Society. (Bailey, pp 156) . Bailey wrote much about those she called the “Masters of the Wisdom,” which she believed to be a brotherhood of enlightened sages working under the guidance of "the Christ." In part, she stated her writings were an effort to clarify the nature of these Masters, and their work.

“This I will enlarge upon later and show how I personally came to know of Their existence. In everyone's life there are certain convincing factors which make living possible. Nothing can alter one's inner conviction. To me, the Masters are such a factor and this knowledge has formed a stabilizing point in my life.” (Bailey, p. 4)

In 1917, Bailey became involved in the Theosophical Society. "She quickly rose to a position of influence in the American Section of the Adyar society, moving to its headquarters at Krotona in Hollywood. She became editor of its magazine, "The Messenger, and member of the committee responsible for Krotona."

Bailey wrote that, in 1919, she was contacted by a Master known as The Tibetan (later associated with the initials D.K., and eventually the name Djwhal Khul):

“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.'" Bailey, pp. 162–163)

Bailey states that she was eventually persuaded to write down the communications from this source. She wrote for 30 years, from 1919 to 1949.. The result was 24 published books on ancient wisdom, philosophy, religion, contemporary events, science, psychology, nations, astrology, and healing. Also in 1919, 32nd degree Freemason Foster Bailey (1888-1977), who was to be her second husband, became National Secretary of the Theosophical Society; (Bailey, p. 157) they married in 1921.

"The Theosophist published the first few chapters of her first work, Initiation, Human and Solar, but then stopped for reasons Bailey called 'theosophical jealousy and reactionary attitude.' Bailey, "objected to the neo-Theosophy of Annie Besant" and worked with Foster Bailey to gain more power in the American Section" She became part of a progressive, " 'Back to Blavatsky movement, led mainly by Mr. and Mrs Foster Bailey," She outlined her vision for the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society and by annuciating ideals of tolerance and brotherhood. However, her efforts to influence the society failed, and she and her husband were dismissed from their positions.

According to author Olav Hammer, Bailey's early writings of communications with the Tibetan were well received within the society, but society president Annie Besant questioned Bailey's claims of communications with "the Tibetan" and expelled the Baileys from the organization. According to Bailey, she had come to see the society as authoritarian and involved with "lower psychic phenomena.". In her writings, however, she continued to acknowledge the importance of Madame Blavatsky's works, and saw her own task as the continuation and further development of Blavatsky’s teachings. (Bailey, pp. 168–177)

In 1923, with the help of Foster Bailey, Alice Bailey founded the Arcane School, which gave (and still gives) a correspondence course based on her books (Bailey, pp. 192–193). The Arcane School is part of the Lucis Trust, a not-for-profit foundation that also publishes Bailey's works. Together with Foster Bailey, she organized an International Goodwill Movement About 100 of Alice Bailey's public talks and private talks to her more advanced Arcane School students are available online. Bailey continued to work right up to the time of her death in 1949 .

Teachings

Comparison with Theosophy

Campbell writes that Bailey's books are a reworking of major Theosophical themes, with some distinctive emphasies, and that they present a comprehensive system of esoteric science and occult philosophy, cognizant of contemporary social and political developments. Sutcliffe points out that both Bailey and Blavatsky's work evoke a picture of Tibet as the spiritual home of the Masters and that Bailey claimed a more-or-less direct lineage to Blavatsky. Sutcliffe writes:

"What of the content and style of Bailey's texts? Despite incorporating elements of debates in psychology, social planning and international relations, these are indebted to Theosophical cosmology and indeed Bailey can only be described as a 'post-Theosophical' theorist. For example, by her own account she received instruction from former personal pupils of Blavatsky at the start of the 'new spiritual era' in her life, and she later admitted that 'none of my books would have been possible had I not made a very close study of The Secret Doctrine. ' Her third book, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire (1925), is not only dedicated to Blavatsky but even reproduces the apocryphal 'Stanzas of Dzyan' upon which Blavatsky's own text had supposedly been based, while as late as 1936 the frontispiece of Esoteric Psychology carried a Blavatsky epigraph."

Dr. Jon Klimo, in Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal Sources, writes, "As with Blavatsky/Theosophical material, and more recent contemporary channeled material from other sources, we find in the Bailey work the same occult cosmological hierarchy: physical, etheric, astral, mental, causal, and higher inhabited levels of existence." Hammer, in the book Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of epistemology from theosophy to the new age, highlights Bailey's Theosophical similarities as well as noting what he thinks are some differences between them:

"To a large extent, Bailey's teachings are a restatement and amplification of theosophy of the Secret Doctrine. Bailey inherited from Blavatsky and Leadbeater a predilection for profuse details and complex classificatory schemes. Thus Bailey's cosmology rests on the belief in mult-level hierarchy of spiritual masters and in a classifiction of the entire cosmos according to a sevenfold scheme. Her books have also introduces shifts in emphasis as well as new doctrinal elements. Her interests in esoteric astrology, her doctrine of the seven rays (i.e. seven spiritual principles that underlie manifest reality) and her messianic belief in the imminent arrival of New Age are original contributions to theosophical doctrine."

In contrast to the above, some Theosophical critics of Bailey contend that there are major differences between the Theosopy of H. P. One key differences relates to Bailey's embrace of some mystical Christian terms and concepts.

Bailey asserted that her teachings are grounded in and do not oppose in any fundamental way Theosophy as lived and taught by HPB and her Gurus. This assertion is false. Her books are rooted in the pseudo-theosophy pioneered by CW Leadbeater. For example, one of CWL's favorite revelations was the return to earth of "Maitreya" the Christ. Bailey accepted this fantasy. She placed an immense spiritual value on the Great Invocation (2) which is supposed to induce Christ and his Masters to leave their hidden ashrams, enter into major cities and begin to dictate the redemption of Aquarian society. Contrariwise, the Theosophy of HPB and her Gurus emphasizes reliance on the Christos principle within each person. As Blavatsky thought: "[Christian theology] enforces belief in the Descent of the Spiritual Ego into the Lower Self; [Theosophy] inculcates the necessity of endeavouring to elevate oneself to the Christos … state." (3) The discovery and altruistic expression of our innate divinity uplifts each individual and thus, very slowly, all of humanity.[2]

Theosophists are divided on their assessment of Alice Bailey's writings. For instance, the noted contemporary Theosophical writer Geoffrey Hodson wrote a highly favorable review of one her books, saying, "Once more Alice Bailey has placed occult students in her debt." And Gallagher writes, "Her first book, Initiation Human and Solar, was at first favorably received by her fellow theosophists. Soon, however, her claims to be recipient of ageless wisdom from the Masters met with opposition." The conflict is understandable since her works contain some criticisms of Theosophy, and at the time of the break she voiced her criticism of what she saw as dogmatic structures within the society, while questioning the pledges of loyalty to Theosophical leaders that were required. "During the annual convention of 1920 in Chicago, there was a power struggle between forces loyal to Besant and the Esoteric Section and others who believed that the ES had become too powerful. Below the surface was a hidden controversy regarding Alice's work with the Tibetan." For a more recent example of Bailey/Theosophy division, see the Theosophy in Scandinavia

With regard to terminology, Reigle points out Blavatsky's aversion to the word "God," then in a critique of Bailey's acceptance and use of the term he writes:

"Some have regarded this utilization of the term 'God' in the Djwhal Khul/Alice Bailey writings as 'skillful means'; that is, the use of teachings that are not ultimately true in order to benefit a spiritually immature audience, one that is presently incapable of assimilating the actual truth. To move a largely Christian audience from an anthropomorphic conception of God to a much more abstract conception of God as the Solar Logo, rather han causing them to reject the Ageless Wisdom teachings altogether as being Godless, would be considered in Buddhism as skillful means."

With respect to the similarities of the two schools, in her book The Key to Theosophy, in a subsection titled "The Unity of All in All," H. P. Blavatsky writes:

"In their origin and in eternity the three, like the universe and all therein, are one with the absolute Unity, the unknowable deific essence I spoke about some time back. We believe in no creation, but in the periodical and consecutive appearances of the universe from the subjective onto the objective plane of being, at regular intervals of time, covering periods of immense duration."

Like Theosophy, Alice Bailey’s writings repeatedly emphasize unity. A representative example is:

" I will endeavor, above all else, to demonstrate to you that all-pervading unity and that underlying synthesis which is the basis of all religions and of all the many transmitted forces; I will seek to remove you, as individuals, from out of the center of your own stage and consciousness and—without depriving you of individuality and of self-identity—yet show you how you are part of a greater whole of which you can become consciously aware when you can function as souls, but of which you are today unconscious, or at least only registering and sensing the inner reality in which you live and move and have your being."

She believed her works were part of an unfolding revelation of ageless wisdom to humanity, of which Theosophical teachings were the predecessor and preparation. Her writings have much in common with Theosophy, and both contain these ideas. [3] [4] [5]

• Unity is the fundamental fact of spiritual life and realization
• The entire universe is alive—all is energy and energy expresses life
• Divinity is both transcendent and immanent
• Man lives within a hierarchy of spiritual lives
• Divinity unfolds through spiritual evolution
• All life is cyclic
• Man is a soul (consciousness) and reincarnates many times to gain experience
• Life is governed by the interplay of karma and free will
• Will, love, and intelligence are the essential attributes of the evolving soul
• Seven fundamental energies underlie all things—seven centers, seven planes, etc.

There are several themes that, in some degree, distinguish her writings from Theosophy and related traditions. These include:[6]

• A marked emphasis on the importance of service to humanity
• Emphasis on the importance of group consciousness and group service
• A shift away from personal devotion to spiritual teachers or masters
• A lengthy treatment of the seven rays as expressions of evolving life
• An elaboration of the glamours or illusions of the spiritual path
• Teachings on the return of the Christ or Christ consciousness
• Teachings on the importance of full moon cycles in relation to meditation

The Seven Rays of energy

Underlying her writings is the idea that all is energy and that spirit, matter, and the psychic forces intermediate between them are forms of energy. This energy is life itself. From one essential energy, divinity, procedes seven rays that underly and shape the evolution of human life and the entire phenomenal world. On a cosmic level these seven rays of energy are the creative forces of planets and stars. On a microcosmic level they are the creative forces conditioning the physical, psychic, and spiritual constitution of man. (Jurriaance, p. 73-152)

In Bailey's concept the rays and all things manifest in centers of energy and their relationships. All rays and centers are focuses of some type of evolving life or consciousness. (Jurriaance, p. 35-52) This includes everything from atoms to centers or chakars in the human consitution, and upwards through the human aura to groups of humans as centers, and cities and nations as centers. (Jurriaance, p. 79- 90 ) Humanity as a whole is conceived as a center of energy as are the masters of wisdom of which she writes. Likewise, planet Earth as a whole, with all its subsidary centers of life, is viewed as a center of life within the large life or divinity of our solar system.

The concept of the rays can also be found in Theosophical works. Campbell writes that Bailey, "...was the first to develop the idea of the seven rays, although it can be found in germ in earlier Theosophical writings."

The constitution of man

In line with previous Theosophical teachings, Bailey taught that man is a soul working through a personality. The soul constitutes the love aspect, and the personality consists of the mind, emotions, and physical body. Mind and emotions are not conceived to be simply ephemeral brain effects, but as "psychical" energies that are part of the inner constitution of individuals, and which create the aura. She uses traditional terms for these lower three "vehicles" or "sheaths": etheric body, astral body and mental body. These auric aspects of the human being are defined as partial emanations or expressions of the soul, which is itself synonymous with the evolving human consciousness.

In Bailey's writings, evolution is defined as a process of integration and alignment of man's "lower sheaths" with the will of the soul — the "at-one-ment" of the personality. It is this transformation that leads to "right human relations" and spiritual revelation or awakening. Discrete steps on the spiritual path are called initiations, which is to say that the evolving consciousness is entering into new and wider fields of awareness, relationships, responsibilites, and power. In terms of her ray concept, the note of the soul is "imposed" (or "superimposed") on the note of the personality.

The spiritual hierarchy

She wrote that, behind all human evolution stands a brotherhood of enlightened souls who have guided and aided humanity throughout history. For Bailey, the evolution of humanity is intimately bound up with its relationship to this spiritual hierarchy. The stimulating and uplifting influences of religions, philosophies, sciences, educational movements, and human culture in general are the result of this relationship. Though in time humanity debases all these developments, they are all in their original impetus, conceived as the result of spiritual hierarchy working in concert with evolving human potentials.

Discipleship

Bailey elaborates the relation of humanity to the Hierarchy in her teaching on "Discipleship in the New Age." A disciple is an accepted student, or chela, in the spiritual ashram of a Master. In this scheme, all awakening souls stand in some relationship—for a long time unconsciously, but eventually in full conscious awareness—to some particular Master. The integrated personality, coming under the influence of the soul, is simultaneously coming under the influence of this Master. This relationship is determined by karma, by evolutionary status, and (most importantly) by the aspirant's capacity for work to be done on behalf of humanity. This service aspect is strongly emphasized throughout Bailey's writings. In her concept, the greatly increased ("stepped-up") evolution of consciousness that results from this Master–pupil relationship is made possible only in and through service to humanity. Bailey's writing downplays the traditional devotional and aspirational aspects of the spiritual life, in favor of service — work on behalf of humanity. According to her, this is primary, and everything hinges upon it. For Bailey, discipleship means work—service—and the evolution of those sensitivites and powers that enhance that labor. Disciples will never gain such powers or awareness unless and until they will be used solely for unselfish service. (Bailey, p. 38)

Unity and divinity of nations and groups

Douglas Russell, who cites Alice Bailey, writes of the "one humanity" concept as as belonging to Psychosynthesis:

"The Universal Self is experienced as complete transcendence of separate individual or group identity. Its awareness is planetary consciousness and its will is the unfolding evolutionary pattern of humanity and all life on earth-the Universal Will. It has been described as union with cosmic forces, at-one-ment with a Divine Being, or as identification with the one Humanity as an organism within a living planetary entity." [7]

This philosophy derives from the influence of Alice Bailey as Dr. Roberto Assagioli, founder of Psychosynthesis, was closely associated with her:

"It should be noted that Assagioli was closely associated with Alice Bailey in the 1930s. He published early work in her magazine "The Beacon" and was for a time a trustee of the Lucis Trust, Bailey's umbrella organization after World War II."

Human equality and religion

Bailey emphasized the equality of all men everywhere, and believed that national and religious affiliations are merely matters of birth, and they should see their group identifications as something enabling them to contribute to humanity as a whole:

"World democracy will take form when men everywhere are regarded in reality as equal; when boys and girls are taught that it does not matter whether a man is an Asiatic, an American, a European, British, a Jew or a Gentile but only that each has an historical background which enables him to contribute something to the good of the whole, that the major requirement is an attitude of goodwill and a constant effort to foster right human relations. World Unity will be a fact when the children of the world are taught that religious differences are largely a matter of birth; that if a man is born in Italy, the probability is that he will be a Roman Catholic; if he is born a Jew, he will follow the Jewish teaching; if born in Asia, he may be a Mohammedan, a Buddhist, or belong to one of the Hindu sects; if born in other countries, he may be a Protestant and so on."

Ross describes her writiings as emphasizing the "underlying unity of all forms of life," and the "essential onensss of all religions, of all departments of science, and of all the philosophies"

She believed that all religions originate from the same spiritual source, and that humanity will eventually come to realize this. As they do so, she claimed that it will result in the emergence of a universal world religion.

Then there will be neither Christian nor heathen, neither Jew nor Gentile, but simply one great body of believers, gathered out of all the current religions. They will accept the same truths, not as theological concepts but as essential to spiritual living; they will stand together on the same platform of brotherhood and of human relations; they will recognize divine sonship and will seek unitedly to cooperate with the divine Plan, as it is revealed to them by the spiritual leaders of the race, and as it indicates to them the next step to be taken on the Path of Approach to God. Such a world religion is no idle dream but something which is definitely forming today." (Bailey, p 140)

"World Goodwill has also promoted the idea of a 'new group of world servers': that is, a group of all races, classes and creeds who 'serve the Plan, humanity, the Hierarchy and the Christ'"

Campbell notes that the New Group of World Servers, was established for "...promotion of international understanding, economic sharing, and religious unity."

On orthodox Christianity

Bailey wrote of "the return of the Christ", but her concept had little in common with that of the orthodox Christian churches. Bailey almost always uses the phrase "the Christ" when not referring specifically to the Christian idea. For her, the leadership of the Hierarchy is an "office" (so to speak), to be occupied by various Masters, including the Master Jesus, in the course of Their unfolding evolution. She saw the Christ as a great "Person", embodying the energy of love, and His return as the awakening of that energy in human consciousness. She also introduces the radical idea that the new Christ might be "of no particular faith at all":

"The development of spiritual recognition is the great need today in preparation for His reappearance; no one knows in what nation He will come; He may appear as an Englishman, a Russian, a Negro, a Latin, a Turk, a Hindu, or any other nationality. Who can say which? He may be a Christian or a Hindu by faith, a Buddhist or of no particular faith at all; He will not come as the restorer of any of the ancient religions, including Christianity, but He will come to restore man's faith in the Father's love, in the fact of the livingness of the Christ and in the close, subjective and unbreakable relationship of all men everywhere."

In Bailey's thought, no one particular group can claim Him — the New Age Christ belongs to whole world, and not to Christians alone, or to any nation or group. (Bailey, p 109) Bailey was highly critical of orthodox Christianity — according to her, much of the Church's teaching about Christ's return is directly opposed to His own intentions:

"He will not come to convert the 'heathen' world for, in the eyes of the Christ and of His true disciples, no such world exists and the so-called heathen have demonstrated historically less of the evil of vicious conflict than has the militant Christian world. The history of the Christian nations and of the Christian church has been one of an aggressive militancy - the last thing desired by the Christ when He sought to establish the church on earth." (Bailey, p 110)

The divorce between orthodox Christianity and Bailey's thought is further indicated by the fact that the book Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern World contains seven references to Alice Bailey. ; the affinity of some of Bailey's concepts with paganism is also cited by Kemp in New Age: A Guide.

On fanaticism and intolerance

Alice Bailey spoke out strongly against all forms of fanaticism and intolerance." She saw this fanaticism in churches, in nationalism, and in competing esoteric schools. (Bailey pp. 15 & 453) She associated this fanaticism with unintelligent devotion:

"Those who look back to the past, who hang on to the old ways, the ancient theologies.… These are the followers of a Church and a government, who are distinguished by a pure devotion and love, but refuse recognition to the divine intelligence with which they are gifted. Their devotion, their love of God, their strict but misguided conscience, their intolerance mark them out as devotees, but they are blinded by their own devotion and their growth is limited by their fanaticism. They belong mostly to the older generation and the hope for them lies in their devotion and the fact that evolution itself will carry them forward …"

Races

For Bailey, the matter of prime importance was not race or religion but the evolution of consciousness that transcends these:

"… there is no new race in process of appearing, from the territorial angle; there is only a general distribution of those persons who have what have been called the sixth root race characteristics. This state of consciousness will find its expression in people as far apart racially as the Japanese and the American or the Negro and the Russian."

Bailey criticized many nations, groups and religions based on what she believed were violations of the spirit of unity and brotherhood. For example, while praising them in some respects, in the United States and France she saw political corruption. She regarded the talk about a free press as largely an illusory ideal and stated, "… particularly is it absent in the United States, where parties and publishers dictate newspaper policies."

Bailey wrote regarding intermarriage between races that "the best and soundest thinkers in both the white and black races at this time deplore mixed marriages. They mean no happiness for either party." She also advised against intermarriage between caucasians and oriental races and wrote that children of interracial unions would be unavoidable following World War II due to the actions of what she called the "inevitable promiscuity" of the armies during that period. She wrote that "children of mixed race, as well as the half-castes and the Eurasians may be the answer to a large part of the problem. There will be hundreds of thousands of these children of mixed parentage, forming part of the world population in the next generation and immediate cycle and they are a group with which we will have to reckon."

While she believed that intermarriage would not solve "the Negro problem" , she implied this might change and on this issue, "I make no prophecy about the future." Her comments on the topic are a little obscure: on the one hand she suggests that mixed marriages have unhappy effects, presumably because of the sociolgy of prejudice. On the other hand she seems to view them as positive and conributing to the solution of racial tensions. And elsewhere she writes that marriages are rooted in soul relationships, and that intermarriage in general is not a solution, but that the solution is in appreciation of the good qualites in groups other than one's own and the killing out of the sense of racial superiority.

In general with regards to the races, Bailey believed in the humanitarian importance of unity, and that the source of human problems is the spirit of separation that causes individuals and groups to set themselves apart from the rest of humanity:

"We could take the nations, one by one, and observe how this nationalistic, separative or isolationist spirit, emerging out of an historical past, out of racial complexes, out of territorial position, out of revolt and out of possession of material resources, has brought about the present world crisis and cleavage and this global clash of interests and ideals." (Bailey, p. 375)

On the Jewish people

Bailey wrote much about the Jewish people, referring to them collectively as a race, with group karma, characteristics, and behaviors, rather than as individuals:

"Symbolically, the Jews represent (from the point of view of the Hierarchy) that from which all Masters of the Wisdom and Lords of Compassion emerge: materialism, cruelty and a spiritual conservatism, so that today they live in Old Testament times and are under the domination of the separative, selfish, lower concrete mind."

She explained what she called the "Jewish problem" as resulting from negative karma accumulated by the Jews due to "acts and deeds there claimed by him as his racial acts and deeds (conquest, terrorism and cruelty)..." and wrote that the solution will come "...when the races regard the Jewish problem as a humanitarian problem but also when the Jew does his share of understanding, love and right action. This he does not yet do, speaking racially."

Bailey described Jews as " the most reactionary and conservative race in the world", explaining this as a result of the Jews' need to preserve their cultural identity, as a wandering people under persecution. She wrote that Jews "take what they want, to see to it that their children get the best of everything available, no matter what the cost to others"; they "blame the non-Jewish nations for their miseries"; and, "The Jew needs to recognize his share in bringing about the dislike which hounds him everywhere" She stated that even though the Jews are "posessed of great wealth and influence", they create "dissension among the nations" and "almost abusive, demands for the Gentile to shoulder the entire blame and end the difficulty."

Before World War II, she wrote: "The major racial problem has, for many centuries, been the Jewish, which has been brought to a critical point by Germany..."; that the Jews "constitute an international minority of great aggressiveness, exceedingly vocal"; and that while they are an ancient, civilized and cultured people, their problems as a "struggling minority" are the result of "certain inherent characteristics", and the "untidy effect they have on any community".

In 1939 as World War II approached, Bailey wrote:

"the fourth energy, focused in the Jewish problem, is definitely producing cleavage as a part of the divine plan. The Jews are instruments in the working out of the Plan for the production of certain syntheses and to bring humanity to certain realizations and decisions."

After the war, she criticized the Jews and spoke against Zionism, stating it to be, "… contrary to the lasting good of mankind" and "The Jews, by their illegal and terrorist activities, have laid a foundation of great difficulty for those who are seeking to promote world peace."

Bailey also spoke out strongly against hatred of the Jews and believed in a future in which they would "fuse and blend with the rest of mankind."

In her autobiography Bailey stated that she was on Hitler's "blacklist", and she believed it was because of her defense of the Jews during her lectures throughout Europe. Bailey also criticized the cruelty of the Gentile for his treatment of the Jews:

"God has made all men equal; the Jew is a man and a brother, and every right that the Gentile owns is his also, inalienably and intrinsically his. This the Gentile has forgotten and great is his responsibility for wrong doing and cruel action." (Bailey, p. 401)

In contrast, Bailey further stated that the Jews are themselves responsible for the bad treatment they received, writing: "Changed inner attitudes are needed on both sides, but very largely on the side of the Jews".

She was aware of and accepted the controversial nature of her comments in this regard; in her words:

Such is the problem of the Jewish minority, given with a frankness which will evoke much criticism, but given in this way in the hope that because it is prompted by love, the Jews will shoulder their own responsibilities, will cease crying aloud to the Gentiles to solve the problem alone, and will begin to cooperate with a full sense of spiritual understanding and so aid the thousands of Gentiles who earnestly want to help.

Influence

Sir John Sinclair, Bt., gives a commentary on the seminal influence of Alice Bailey, which he says underlies the consciousness growth movement in the 20th century. In Perspectives on the New Age we find, "The most important—though certainly not the only—source of this transformative metaphor, as well as the term "New Age," was Theosophy, particularly as the Theosophical perspective was mediated to the movement by the works of Alice Bailey."

In a book on history of the Bollingen Foundation and its pervasive influence on American intellectual life, William McGuire wrote:

"In 1928 Olga[8] built a lecture hall on her grounds, overlooking the lake, for a purpose not yet revealed to her, and a guest house which she named Casa Shanti in a Hindu ceremony. A year or two later, she went to the United States and sought out Alice A. Bailey, in Stamford, Connecticut, a former Theosophists who led a movement called the Arcane School. Mrs Bailey, whom Nancy Wilson Ross[9] has described as a woman of great dignity, kindness, and integrity, aimed like Olga Froebe at the raising of consciousness and the bridging of the East and West. She lived with a mystic presence, ‘the Tibetan,’ presumably one of the Theosophical Masters, who used her as an instrument to write a number of books devoted to Higher Truth…”

Bailey has been cited in numerous professional journals, and Wessinger says Bailey was a liberated woman "… sixty years before it became popular." She writes:

"The books produced in this manner express a millennial view similar to that of Besant, including the expectation of the World-Teacher or Christ. The Bailey works and their focus on the 'New Age' or 'Age of Aquarius' are an important source of the contemporary New Age movement." (Wessinger, p. 80)

Bailey's thought has had an influence in the field of Psychotherapy and Healing. "In Tansley as in Brennan you will find descriptions of a hierarchy of subtle bodies called the etheric, emotional, mental and spiritual that surround the physical body. (Interestingly Tansley attributed the source of his model to Alice Bailey’s theosophical commentary on The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the locus classicus of Hindu teaching.)"Pdf

Dr G. D. Chryssides of the University of Wolverhampton, cites Bailey's influence on the ideas of the Order of the Solar Temple and related organisations.

An article in Encyclopedia Britannica describes Alice Bailey founding the Arcane School to disseminate spiritual teachings, and organizing a world-wide 'Triangles' program to bring people together in groups of three, for daily meditation. Their belief was that they received divine energy through meditation; this energy is transmitted to humanity, so raising spiritual awareness.

"After Bailey's death, former members of the Arcane School created a host of new independent theosophical groups within which hopes of a New Age flourished. These groups claimed the ability to transmit spiritual energy to the world and allegedly received channeled messages from various preternatural beings …"

Alice Bailey's influence can be found in the many groups currently disseminating her teachings and practicing her meditation methods, some of which have an active presence on the internet.

Numerous sources shown that Dr. Roberto Assagioli, founder of Psychosynthesis, had a close association with her, and that his philosophy as embodied in Psychosynthesis derives from the influence of Alice Bailey:

"It should be noted that Assagioli was closely associated with Alice Bailey in the 1930s. He published early work in her magazine "The Beacon" and was for a time a trustee of the Lucis Trust, Bailey's umbrella organization after World War II."

"Assagioli worked in close collaboration with the theosophists Alice Bailey. Her ideas are clearly recognizable in the system of psychosynthesis."

Controversy

Racism and antisemitism

In 1998, Dr. Victor Shnirelman, a cultural anthropologist and ethnographer, surveyed modern Neopaganism in Russia, drawing particular attention to "… groups [that] take an extremely negative view of multi-culturalism, object to the 'mixture' of kinds, [and] support isolationism and the prohibition of immigration." He noted that a number of Bailey's books, as well as those of her contemporary Julius Evola, had been recently translated into Russian, and said that "… racist and antisemitic trends are explicit, for example, in the occult teachings of Alice Bailey (founder of the New Age movement) and her followers, who wish to cleanse Christianity of its 'Jewish inheritance' and reject the 'Jewish Bible' as a prerequisite for entering the Age of Aquarius."

Monica Sjöö, a Swedish-born British artist, radical feminist, and advocate of the Goddess movement, wrote in her book, New Age Channelings - Who or What is being Channeled?, of Bailey's "reactionary and racist influence on the whole New Age movement."

The American Chassidic author Rabbi Yonassan Gershom in his article "Antisemitic Stereotypes in Alice Bailey's Writings," replied to Bailey's plan for a New World Order by saying that her call for "the gradual dissolution—again if in any way possible—of the Orthodox Jewish faith" revealed that "her goal is nothing less than the destruction of Judaism itself." This, however, ignores her doctrine of the underlying unity, gradual co-operation and eventual synthesis of all faiths.

Prophecies and obscurity

Stephenson analyzed the prophecies contained in the Alice Bailey works, breaking them down into dated and undated prophecies, prophecies confirmed, and non-determinable. While some some her prophecies appear to have been accurate, others do not. For instance, Bailey states, "From the chair of the Pope of Rome, the Master Jesus will attempt to swing that great branch of the religious beliefs of the world again into a position of spiritual power and away from its present authoritative and temporary political potency."

Roberts criticizes Bailey's writings as not empirical, naturalistic or humanistic but rather romantic and symbolical with a bewildering variety of terms. Yet while largely concurring, Henry Laurency strives in the bulk of his voluminous works to present the symbolic content of Bailey's writings in a form readily accessible to the analytically trained mind.

Conflicts with competing schools of thought

Writing from a Christian church perspective,Bromley says:

"After World War II, Eastern thought was filtered through (and more or less distored by) the likes of Manley Palmer Hall, Alice Bailey, Baird T. Spaulding, and Edwin Dingle. Possibly more important than their individual teachings, however, occultists as a group hammered home the central idea, 'The East is the true home of spiritual knowledge and occult wisdom.'

Bailey has been criticized by some religious writers because she wrote of Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, and Theosophical beliefs with authority while expressing non-conformity to the orthodox belief systems of these varied religious traditions.

Bailey's books have also been criticized as a form of Neo-Theosophy by mainstream Theosophists who say that a great many of her ideas were borrowed from Theosophy while also including perspectives that were not part of the original Theosophical teachings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.

Bibliography

The Lucis Trust is the official publisher of Alice Bailey's books. A few books of Alice Bailey that are no longer under copyright are also available online at independent web sites.

Credited to Alice Bailey (works containing the prefatory Extract from a Statement by the Tibetan, generally taken to indicate the book was a "received" work):

• Initiation, Human and Solar — 1922
• Letters on Occult Meditation — 1922
• A Treatise on Cosmic Fire — 1925
• Light of the Soul: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali — 1927 (commentary by Alice Bailey)
• A Treatise on White Magic — 1934
• Discipleship in the New Age — Volume I - 1944
• Discipleship in the New Age — Volume II - 1955
• Problems of Humanity — 1947
• The Reappearance of the Christ — 1948
• The Destiny of the Nations — 1949
• Glamor - A World Problem — 1950
• Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle — 1950
• Education in the New Age — 1954
• The Externalization of the Hierarchy — 1957

• A Treatise on the Seven Rays:
  • Volume 1: Esoteric Psychology I — 1936
  • Volume 2: Esoteric Psychology II — 1942
  • Volume 3: Esoteric Astrology — 1951
  • Volume 4: Esoteric Healing — 1953
  • Volume 5: The Rays and the Initiations — 1960

Credited to Alice A. Bailey alone (works in which Bailey claims sole authorship of the material):

• The Consciousness of the Atom — 1922
• The Soul and its Mechanism — 1930
• From Intellect to Intuition — 1932
• From Bethlehem to Calvary — 1937
• The Unfinished Autobiography — 1951
• The Labors of Hercules — 1974
• The Labours of Hercules: An Astrological Interpretation — first published 1982

See also

• A Treatise on White Magic
• Initiation (Theosophy)
• New Age
• Seven Rays
• Roberto Assagioli

External links

• Lucis Trust
• Alice Bailey lectures
• Complete Works of Alice Bailey that can be downloaded
• Dissertation from the U of W. Sydney, The texts of Alice A. Bailey: An inquiry into the role of esotericism in transforming consciousness.