| Blavatsky and the Mythology of Atlantis and Lemuria There is a sacred mountain in Tibet, Mount Kailash, and is said to be the sacred mountain of Shiva and his sons. (23) The mountain is sacred to the people of four religions, Bon, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. The word “kelasa” in Sanskrit means “crystal.” Its elevation at 21,000 feet leaves it under ice and gives it a “frosty” glow. The mountain is close to some of the longest rivers in Asia. According to Wiki: “The Tibetan name for the mountain is Gangs Rin-po-che. Gangs or Kang is the Tibetan word for snow peak analogous to alp or hima; rinpoche is an honorific meaning “precious one,” so the combined term can be translated ‘precious jewel of snows’.” (24) Another local name for the mountain is Tisé Mountain, meaning “water peak” or “river peak.” This mountain supplies the local rivers with water. Mount Kailash is known by the Buddhists as Mount Meru and is commonly known as a pilgrimage site for Buddhists. (25) We just read about how the Buddhists, concerned about the halahala poison met on Mount Meru. From Khandro.net we read: “In Vajrayana Buddhism it is believed that Mount Kailash is the home of the buddha Cakrasaṃvara (also known as Demchok), who represents supreme bliss.” (26) Mount Meru was considered the mountain at the center of the world continent. I suspect that the Mountain called Meru by the Buddhists is the source of folklore concerning Atlantis and Lemuria. Lemuria was often referred to as Mu and also Meru, by some authors. In a book by Mark and Elizabeth Clare Prophet, titled, The Masters and Their Retreats, Prophet specifically mentions Mount Meru. Elizabeth Clare Wulf (“Prophet” was added later) founded the Summit Lighthouse in 1958. In 1975, Wulf founded the “Church Universal and Triumphant” which spread across the country preaching apocalyptic “end days” rhetoric. Her mother's interests in Theosophy, the “I AM Activity,” and Christian Science, had the most influence on her. In Theosophy and the “I AM Activity,” she heard about the Ascended Masters, Karma, and Reincarnation. (27) The following excerpt is from The Masters and their Retreats and oddly enough, quoted by Frawley, in Gods, Sages and Kings: “The God and Goddess Meru and Manus of the sixth root race (the sixth of seven primary groups of souls destined to embody on earth). They are the lawgivers and they embody the Christic image for all the members of this root race. These masters are also the sponsors of education, advanced learning, the acceleration of the mind …. The terms god and goddess denote that they are cosmic beings who ensoul the god consciousness of their office. God Meru has explained that the names god and goddess Meru have come down from ancient Lemuria, where their twin flames guarded the light of the Motherland. The physical focus of the Mother flame was lost when Lemuria sank beneath the Pacific. … At their retreat, the god and goddess Meru focus the feminine ray of the godhead for the planet, just as Himalaya and his twin flame, the manus the fourth root race focus the masculine ray in their etheric retreat in the Himalayas.” (28) |
This appears to me to be the creation of New Age belief in the supernatural, based not on the tangible, but the intangible. The mythology of Atlantis and Lemuria have their roots in early American esoteric literature introduced mainly by Blavatsky, though likely borrowed from Jules Verne, who first mentioned Atlantis in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in 1871. The majority of the world first heard of Atlantis from the teachings of the Theosophical Society and Madam Blavatsky, writing in her Secret Doctrine in 1888. Blavatsky supposedly traveled to Tibet, to learn this. In this preceding passage, “Himalaya and his twin flame,” I suspect are both Atlantis, and Lemuria. Since the Buddhists call Mount Kailash by the name Meru, and Prophet uses this reference in her book, describing Lemuria then it stands to reason that references where we find “twin snow peaks” which are sacred mountains including Kailash, we should also expect to see references to a twin mountain which would represent Atlantis, which we do find, though it’s not actually called Atlantis, its name is Mount Himalaya. Another clue that reveals that both Prophet and Frawley borrowed from Blavatsky, is the use of the term “root races,” prevalent throughout The Secret Doctrine. Atlantis and Lemuria were also titled the “White Island.” In the Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky writes about the “White Island”: “The sacred bull Nandi was brought from Bharata to Sancha to meet Rishabha (Taurus) every Kalpa. But when those of the White Island (who descended originally from Sveta dvipa), who had mixed with the Daityas (giants) of the land of iniquity, had become Black with Sin, then Nandi remained forever in the ‘White Island’.” (29) The Kassite record of 1750 shows a goddess named “Himalaya,” (30) in the form of Šimalia or Šumalia, whose epithet was “Lady of the bright mountains” which could also be read as “lady of the snow peaks.” (31) Šimalia was one of two deities connected with the investiture of kings. (32) (23) Gods, Sages, Kings, p. 92 (24) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Kailash (25) Robert E. Buswell (2004). Encyclopedia of Buddhism: A-L. Macmillan Reference. pp. 407–408 (26) "Heruka Chakrasamvara". Khandro.net. Retrieved 2012-03-02 (27) Prophet, Elizabeth Clare (2009). In My Own Words. Gardiner, Montana: Summit University Press (28) Gods, Sages, Kings, p. 222 (29) Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky, 408 (30) Gods, Sages, Kings, p. 270; T. Burrow. "The Proto-Indo-Aryans," op. cite p. 123 (31) L. Sassmannshausen (2000). "The Adaptation of the Kassites to the Babylonian Civilization". In Karel van Lerberghe, Gabriela Voet. Languages and Cultures in Contact at the Crossroads of Civilizations in the Syro-Mesopotamia Realm (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta). Peeters Publishers. pp. 409–419 (32) Friedrich Delitzsch (Jan 1885). "The Religion of the Kassites". Hebraica. 1 (3): 189–191; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kassite_deities |