Alice Bailey Books
QUESTION: Masters, thank you for working to spread light and loving wisdom to humanity. I wish to know the true origins of the Alice A. Bailey books, particularly those purported to be dictated by a ‘master of the spiritual hierarchy’, D.K. Much in the books resonates with me, but I find contradictions with other resonating teachings that leads me to question the authenticity of the source. Were they really written by a high initiate (termed ‘master’ in the books)? Was his understanding based upon a limited access to truth and/or influenced by his desires and beliefs? I have already formed a general intuitive opinion, but there seems to be a multitude of possible explanations from which I have difficulty choosing. ~Terrence, USA
ANSWER: Alice Bailey was recognized in the 1930s as a master of the occult, or hidden. She was a channel who was more or less possessed by D.K. or Djwhal Khul, known as the Tibetan. Bailey’s husband even acknowledged, toward the end, that he was uncertain who the person in his wife’s body actually was—there seemed to be such a merging. Bailey, through the insistence of D.K., compiled books of his pronouncements and created an arcane school and organization to enlighten people. She coined the term “new age,” implying the world was changing.
To answer your question about authenticity, the Tibetan himself was known to say his books were “sent to the world with no claim for acceptance, they may or may not be correct, true, or useful. It is for you to ascertain their truth by right practice and by the exercise of the intuition.” D.K. had an acknowledged agenda for the world changes to come, so his writings were definitely influenced by his own desires and beliefs.
Were D.K.’s ideas for human behavior right or wrong? That is for you to decide. Since judgment only occurs on planet Earth, that does say something about the hierarchy of this material not being from the higher dimensions where judgment does not exist. Evaluation of the lessons that could be learned is the only important thing.
There are two hurdles to authenticity or acceptance, if the material is channeled. How has the channeler done? Has the communication been influenced by the channeler’s own thoughts, or is it clear and unhindered? Secondly, has the message come at a time when the listener is ready to hear and use the information, or is it too basic or too complex? Does it even fit into the listener’s reality and journey? As we say of our own material, “Don’t accept blindly what we say, but take it in and see if it resonates with you. If it does, then accept it. If it does not resonate, either discard it or put it on the shelf and come back and visit it at another time.”