Deconstructing the Dichotomy between the Esoteric and Buddhism in the West: the case study of Ananda Metteyya

Through the life of Allan Bennett/Ananda Metteyya, this paper argues that the transmission of Buddhism to the West cannot be understood without examining Western esotericism and New Religious Movements such as Theosophy. In other words, to draw a line between Buddhism and the esoteric in a Western context is a false dichotomy. It plays into the reductionism of narratives that focus entirely on Orientalist scholars and the Western textualization of Buddhism.

Charles Henry Allan Bennett (1872-1923) was born in London. Having rejected the Roman Catholicism of his mother, he turned towards Theosophy and the occult, initiatory organization, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Within the latter, he gained renown as a magician and became the teacher of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947). At the end of 1899 or the beginning of 1900, Bennett travelled to colonial Ceylon. Before he embarked, he gave most of his magical notebooks to Crowley, in an apparent rejection of the esoteric. In Ceylon, he studied Pali, learnt yogic practices under a Śaivite politician and spiritual teacher, Ponnambalam Ramanathan (1851-1930), and decided to gain ordination as a Buddhist monk. Travelling to colonial Burma, he gained higher ordination in Akyab (now Sittwe) in May 1902, taking the name Ananda Maitriya, later changed to Metteyya. Apart from a mission to Britain in 1908, he remained in Burma until 1914, when declining health forced him to disrobe and return home. Between 1914 and 1923, he continued to advocate Buddhism, particularly within the Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland, which had been founded in preparation for his 1908 mission.

After higher ordination, Ananda Metteyya’s writings insisted that there was nothing esoteric about Buddhism. Its message was available to all. He was convinced, for instance, that Buddhism could save the West from its individualism and consumerism, through its message of self-renunciation and compassion. For this, no hidden, esoteric message was necessary; more important was the rule of law, seen in the principle of kamma (action). Although his early writings covered meditation, including methods from the Visuddhimagga to recover former births, after his 1908 mission, he became less willing to teach meditation to Westerners, fearing it would alienate people, through its link in the public imagination with the esoteric or ‘mystery-making’.[i] This can be seen in the 1910 article he wrote for Twentieth Century Impressions of Burma,[ii] within which he used verse 183 of the Dhammapada to illustrate the Buddha’s teachings, but without describing in detail ‘purification of the mind’.[iii] He largely focused on the rationality of Buddhism and its ethics, particularly compassionate action and non-violence. Then, one of his last articles, published in 1921, examined miracles, arguing that miraculous powers proved nothing at all ‘save a certain mastery over one’s own mind and over the forces of nature’;[iv] they had nothing to do with truth. After Ananda Metteyya’s death in 1923, pupils of his such as Francis Payne, who sought to keep the Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland alive, refused to align himself with the initiatives of Christmas Humphreys, who linked Buddhism with the more esoteric message of Theosophy.

This narrative, however, is only one side of Ananda Metteyya’s role in the transmission of Buddhism to the West. Metteyya’s path diverged from that of Aleister Crowley, although Crowley continued to refer to him as his teacher. Throughout his life, however, he remained in contact with Theosophists. From colonial Burma, he sent his publications to the headquarters of the Theosophical Society. He met Annie Besant on her visit to Burma in 1911, during which she agreed to publish ‘The Religion of Burma’ in The Theosophist and to fund a local Rangoon edition. Although theosophical reviews of Metteyya’s work were critical of his representation of anattā (non-self) and his insistence that there was nothing esoteric in Buddhism, the relationship was constructive and amicable. When writing an obituary of Henry Steel Olcott, the co-founder of Theosophy, Metteyya was able to praise his contribution to the spread of Buddhism and Theosophy, as an essential forerunner of Buddhism in the West.[v] Moreover, in a series of lectures he gave in London after his return to Britain, he sought to communicate positively with the Theosophists present. 

In addition, there is evidence not only that Metteyya continued to practise the esoteric methods of yogic meditation that he learnt from Ponnambalam Ramanathan but also that some Westerners recognised his attainments in this area. Intriguing data comes from the writings of Raphael Hurst (1898-1981), who later took the name, Paul Brunton, and promoted neo-Vedanta in the West. He called Metteyya, the ‘white yogi’, judging him to be far above the yogis he had met in India.[vi] He, nevertheless, added that Metteyya was not willing to talk about these achievements.

Ananda Metteyya, therefore, made a conscious judgement that Buddhism would be received most positively by the West if it was not linked with the esoteric or ‘mystery-making’. However, his own appreciation of Buddhism had been conditioned by his links with esoteric New Religious Movements, such as Theosophy, with which he remained in contact throughout his life. The paper examines the dialectical relationship that existed between the esoteric and Buddhism, within Metteyya’s life and within the Buddhism that he communicated to the West. 

[i] See Ananda Metteyya, 1931. ‘Extracts from Letters to a Friend in England by Ananda Metteyya’. The Buddhist Annual of Ceylon 1931: 59-65.

[ii] Bhikkhu Ananda M., 1910. ‘The Religion of Burma’. In Arnold Wright (ed.), Twentieth Century Impressions of Burma: its history, people, commerce, industries and resources. London: Lloyds Great Britain Publishing Company, pp. 102-116.

[iii] Dhammapada v. 183: Not to do evil; To undertake what is good; To purify your own mind: This is the teaching of the Buddha. Transl. Valerie Roebuck.

[iv] Ananda M., 1921. ‘The Miraculous Element in Buddhism’. The Buddhist Review: 127-136.

[v] Ananda Metteyya, 1908. ‘Obituary’. Buddhism 2.2: 338-342.

[vi] Paul Brunton, 1941. ‘A Pioneer Western Buddhist’. Ceylon Daily News Vesak Number, May. Accessed through www.paulbrunton.org/bhikkhu-ananda-metteyya.php