Gautama, Fifth Teacher of the Current Planetary Round

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky · Buddhas and Initiates Series · 11 pages

A question and an answer, both from The Theosophist of August 1884 and reprinted in Blavatsky Collected Writings VI under the heading The Future Buddhas. The reader had noticed an apparent inconsistency in Sinnett's Esoteric Buddhism: page 144 makes Gautama the fourth of the series of seven, with Maitreya fifth, while page 146 calls him the fourth incarnation of enlightenment by exoteric reckoning but really the fifth of the true series, and thus belonging properly to our fifth race.

Blavatsky's editorial response distinguishes the two counts — Gautama as fourth Buddha and fifth spiritual teacher of this round on earth — and the file includes a drawing of the planetary chain of seven rounds to make the framework visible. A second piece follows: her book review of a work by a man claiming to be a reincarnation of Gautama Buddha. Suggested further reading closes the file.

Read the full text (PDF, 1.1 MB, 11 pages)