Recently I discovered the website of Tau Malachi and the Sophia Fellowship, a Gnostic Christian tradition with a long and secret lineage (according to the website). Now Mr Malachi has been a busy chap, ever since being made lineage-holder of his tradition at the tender age of sixteen. Recently I read one of Tau Malachi’s books, the Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ: a Gnostic Christian Kabbalah, which was quite good, so I went looking for more, and stumbled across their practices pages, including this one: Giving and Receiving.
As I read through it, I was mightily struck by its similarity to the Tibetan Buddhist Tonglen practice. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised since the Tibetan word literally means, “giving and receiving”. 
However, the description, format and structure of the practice almost directly matches the Tonglen practices given in Sogyal Rinpoche’s Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (published before Tau Malachi’s website).
Now, call me cynical, but the implied (though never directly stated) influence on the Sophian tradition by Vajrayana Buddhism is one thing, but this similarity seems a little too pat. The Sophian version has four steps to precede the full practice:
- Giving & Receiving in the Environment
- Giving & Receiving with Oneself
- Giving & Receiving in an Actual Life Situation
- Giving & Receiving for Others.
Lo and behold, the four stages before the main Tonglen practice, as given by Sogyal Rinpoche are:
- Environmental Tonglen
- Self Tonglen
- Tonglen in a Living Situation
- Tonglen for Others.
From the Sophian Giving & Receiving in an Actual Life Situation:
“In this method bring to mind a situation in which you have behaved poorly and that is a cause of grief to you – one that merely thinking about might make you feel quite badly.”
From the (original?) Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, Tonglen in a Living Situation:
“Imagine vividly a situation where you have acted badly, one about which you feel guilty, and which you wince to even think about.”
From the Sophian Complete Giving & Receiving Meditation:
“Then bring to mind a person you know who is suffering and imagine that person magically appearing in the space before you. Let your heart and mind open to this person, and imagine this person’s sorrow and suffering as fully as you can in complete detail. Envision that the person’s suffering and pain gathers together as a great mass of reddish brown or black smoke-like substance at his or her Heart Center, or, in the case of physical disease, at the place of the disease in the body. Now, when you breathe into the Spiritual Sun in your heart, envision the mass of smoke-like substance dissolves, seeing the negativity and darkness liberated and transformed into Fiery-Light. As you breathe out, envision Light pouring out to the person from the Spiritual Sun in your heart. When you breathe in and take the person’s negativity and darkness into your heart, it is as though any remaining self-grasping in you is dissolved, along with the person’s negative karma…”
From the Main Tonglen Practice in the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying:
“2. Imagine in front of you, as vividly and poignantly as possible, someone you care for who is suffering. Try and imagine every aspect of the person’s pain and distress. Then, as you feel your heart opening in compassion toward the person, imagine that all of his or her sufferings manifest together and gather into a great mass of hot, black, grimy smoke.
3. Now, as you breathe in, visualize that this mass of black smoke dissolves, with your in-breath, into the very core of your self-grasping at your heart. There it destroys completely all traces of self-cherishing, thereby purifying all your negative karma.”
We could go on. I would like to think this is just a case of missing references, or an amazing case of inspiration producing the same results in Tibetan Buddhism and a secret (and therefore uncheckable) Gnostic tradition. However, I would expect the wording, form and structure to be different; after all the various English versions of Tonglen as composed different Tibetan teachers are different to each other.
So, if it is a case of plagiarism, it is very sad. As I mentioned previously there are authentic Christian mystical and esoteric traditions that work in the same way as the very compassionate Mahayana Buddhist traditions. There really is no need to look to the east, when the heart of compassion, the heart of Christ is right here in our culture and traditions.
"We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the way God’s universe is made; this is the way it is structured." ~
“A religion without a goddess is halfway to atheism” ~
How does my spiritual practice and daily life serve the earth?
How does my spiritual practice and daily life affect the poorest third of humanity?
How will my spiritual practice and daily life affect the generations to come in the future?
"It is through your body that you realize you are a spark of divinity."
“For most of us, however, we only think seriously of food or sex or money when it becomes a problem, which is to say when we feel we are not getting our share. When we find ourselves in that situation then I regret to say that meditational visualisations are really not the best way to remedy the lack. … We are here in a physical condition in a physical world and while in that state we have to abide by the laws appropriate to it.”
"The biblical texts have been strained out through a Greek/Latin mindset, which is very surface and static. I sometimes think it would have actually have been better if Western culture had based so called "Western religion" on Greek philosophy, rather than middle-eastern, because then at least you'd have all one thing. It would be eternally consistent. But what we have now is sort of half of each. And you're left with a basically schizophrenic tradition." 
I would not jump to judgement. I have seen similar practises around over the years. And practises I have been putting together for myself recently, assuming that I was designing something specific and persnal have quite startling similarities to the first two. I cannot tell you how many times when I was creating pottery I thought I had come up with a new design, idea or glaze only to see it a magazine or exibition a few months after I had “discovered” it. Stuff is out there in the ether and various people just hook into it from time to time, or to use your words experience “amazing case(s) of inspiration.” Owernership of ideas is yet another illusion.
Morgana
I suppose you could say several things:
(1) A good idea/s, especially spiritual ideas, are not anyone’s property, and a truly motivated teacher would not mind anyone using it, even in the same language, as long as it is ‘out there’
(2) I think there is reason to believe that the Sophian traditions are probably linked historically, or at least kin to, the Buddhist traditions. I see it as probable that a universal teaching is being touched upon, a wonderful thing in itself.
(3) In typical Gnostic fashion, synthesis, borrowing, integrating, syncretism all come into their own. Isn’t this typical of today’s WMT, and possibly vital to its continued existence?
Of course, given the fact that he is claiming to represent an authentic lineage (let us pray they exist!) then well, who knows? “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a darn!”
Peregrin, I have four of his books if you are interested in having a read:
-Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ
-Living Gnosis
-Mary Magdalene (tradition of the Holy Bride)
-The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas (meditations on)
Asher!
I’ve seen many a person on the internet claiming to have some amazing lineage to some secret tradition. Its to easy to deceive people without verbal and visual means of communication.
However whether this is the case or not is beyond me, though wouldn’t it be prude to judge a system of living by the lives the people following it live?
Personally, if your gonna have a go at anyone take a pick at these guys http://www.gnosticweb.com. I know many people who have had huge problems with this group and they’re self proclaimed reincarnated and repented master Beelzebub(yeah the demon dude)……
Hi there,
thanks for all these comments.
I guess as a librarian i just like references
Asher, will be in touch re your kind offer.
peregrin
Naught a problem!
