union, known as Dhyana. Crowley’s aim in pursuing yoga was not the same as Bennett’s. He did not seek withdrawal from the world but the ability to “produce genius at will”—part of what Crowley called “Scientific Illuminism”—genius being in this sense the liberation of consciousness from mundane cares and a broadening and expansion of its power, an idea he discovered in William James’s classic
The Varieties of Religious Experience
. He recognized that in this sense yoga and magic have a common aim, the attainment of Samadhi, the highest level of Dhyana, being practically identical with the magical “assumption of the god form.”
After a time the two realized they had to part. Bennett haddecided to take the last step in becoming a monk; Crowley went big-game hunting in India. The idea was to eventually meet up with Eckenstein for their ascent of Chogo Ri. Once more Abramelin had faded into the background in the face of Crowley’s wanderlust
.
At one point Crowley again tried his hand at entering a monastery, and this time he had better luck than in Japan. Outside the great temple at Madura, Crowley sat in a loincloth with a begging bowl in hand. His hero Robert Burton had entered Mecca disguised as a Muslim, and Crowley wanted to follow suit. The natives saw through his disguise—Crowley was about as good a faux Hindu as he was a fake Russian—but his sincerity was evident and they allowed him into a secret shrine where he sacrificed a goat to Bhavani, the fearsome destructive face of the goddess Parvarti. When a desire to see Bennett once more took hold, Crowley decided to make the dangerous journey across the Arakan hills to the monastery in south Burma where Bennett was living. En route with a companion in a dugout canoe on the Irrawaddy, Crowley came down with fever and hallucinated that the jungle was speaking to him and that he could feel the elemental spirits of nature. He then passed the time blasting away at everything he could with his rifle. One duck persisted in avoiding his barrage and so infuriated the master of Dhyana that he went ashore after it. The duck finally made the fatal mistake of flying overhead and Crowley potted it. Regardie surmises that for all his yogic training, a “fundamental hostility” remained in Crowley, as was evident in this rampant killing. 11
On February 14, 1902, Crowley reached Akyab, where he found Bennett in the monastery of Lamma Sayadaw Kyoung. Bennett was tall and stood out amid the shorter Burmese. But he was Frater Iehi Aour
no longer. Bennett had joined the
sangha
, the community ofmonks, and was now the Bhikkhu Ananda Metteya, “Bliss of Loving Kindness.” 12 Magic was behind him, as was much else. Crowley tells the story of how Bennett, coming across a poisonous snake in the road, preached the four noble truths to it and exhorted it to banish its anger. 13 The snake bit his umbrella and then passed on. Bennett had become something of a guru and many visitors came to see the European
bhikkhu
, or monk. While they were together, Bennett and Crowley discussed plans for the spread of Buddhism to the West, but Crowley was often on his own and found time to work on his poem “Ahab”
and to study Hindustani in preparation for K2. He also took to smoking opium, which he had already experimented with back in Chancery Lane. Crowley tells how, after several days in which the food and water brought to Bennett’s hut remained untouched, concerned monks came to him, worried about the white
bhikkhu
. Crowley went to investigate and found his guru levitating, his motionless body rocking gently in the breeze.
On March 23, Crowley met Eckenstein in Delhi. Two days earlier he had written “Berashith,” an “Essay in Ontology,” his first attempt at metaphysics of magic.
Berashith
is a Hebrew word meaning “in the beginning.” It is the first word of Genesis and according to Kabbalah contains the secret of existence. Crowley claims to have “re-discovered
The Varieties of Religious Experience
. He recognized that in this sense yoga and magic have a common aim, the attainment of Samadhi, the highest level of Dhyana, being practically identical with the magical “assumption of the god form.”
After a time the two realized they had to part. Bennett haddecided to take the last step in becoming a monk; Crowley went big-game hunting in India. The idea was to eventually meet up with Eckenstein for their ascent of Chogo Ri. Once more Abramelin had faded into the background in the face of Crowley’s wanderlust
.
At one point Crowley again tried his hand at entering a monastery, and this time he had better luck than in Japan. Outside the great temple at Madura, Crowley sat in a loincloth with a begging bowl in hand. His hero Robert Burton had entered Mecca disguised as a Muslim, and Crowley wanted to follow suit. The natives saw through his disguise—Crowley was about as good a faux Hindu as he was a fake Russian—but his sincerity was evident and they allowed him into a secret shrine where he sacrificed a goat to Bhavani, the fearsome destructive face of the goddess Parvarti. When a desire to see Bennett once more took hold, Crowley decided to make the dangerous journey across the Arakan hills to the monastery in south Burma where Bennett was living. En route with a companion in a dugout canoe on the Irrawaddy, Crowley came down with fever and hallucinated that the jungle was speaking to him and that he could feel the elemental spirits of nature. He then passed the time blasting away at everything he could with his rifle. One duck persisted in avoiding his barrage and so infuriated the master of Dhyana that he went ashore after it. The duck finally made the fatal mistake of flying overhead and Crowley potted it. Regardie surmises that for all his yogic training, a “fundamental hostility” remained in Crowley, as was evident in this rampant killing. 11
On February 14, 1902, Crowley reached Akyab, where he found Bennett in the monastery of Lamma Sayadaw Kyoung. Bennett was tall and stood out amid the shorter Burmese. But he was Frater Iehi Aour
no longer. Bennett had joined the
sangha
, the community ofmonks, and was now the Bhikkhu Ananda Metteya, “Bliss of Loving Kindness.” 12 Magic was behind him, as was much else. Crowley tells the story of how Bennett, coming across a poisonous snake in the road, preached the four noble truths to it and exhorted it to banish its anger. 13 The snake bit his umbrella and then passed on. Bennett had become something of a guru and many visitors came to see the European
bhikkhu
, or monk. While they were together, Bennett and Crowley discussed plans for the spread of Buddhism to the West, but Crowley was often on his own and found time to work on his poem “Ahab”
and to study Hindustani in preparation for K2. He also took to smoking opium, which he had already experimented with back in Chancery Lane. Crowley tells how, after several days in which the food and water brought to Bennett’s hut remained untouched, concerned monks came to him, worried about the white
bhikkhu
. Crowley went to investigate and found his guru levitating, his motionless body rocking gently in the breeze.
On March 23, Crowley met Eckenstein in Delhi. Two days earlier he had written “Berashith,” an “Essay in Ontology,” his first attempt at metaphysics of magic.
Berashith
is a Hebrew word meaning “in the beginning.” It is the first word of Genesis and according to Kabbalah contains the secret of existence. Crowley claims to have “re-discovered
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