Gordan Djurdjevic: Crowley and Buddhism

Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) was exposed to the theory and practice of Theravada Buddhism during the early phase of his spiritual career. His principal influence during this period came through the mentorship of his former Golden Dawn teacher and colleague, Allan Bennett (1872-1923), who became an early British convert to Buddhism. Crowley devoted several of his early writings to the subject, but his ideological orientation changed subsequent to his reception of the prophetic text, The Book of the Law (1904) and his engagement with the emerging philosophy and religion of Thelema, based on the book. This talk focuses on Crowley’s early writings on the subject and further suggests the lasting relevance of certain Buddhist ideas and practices in the doctrine of Thelema.

Presentet by: Gordan Djurdjevic is a contributor to the anthology Aleister Crowley and Western Esotericism (Oxford University Press, 2012); co-editor, with Henrik Bogdan, of the collection of essays Occultism in a Global Perspective (Acumen, 2013; Routledge, 2015); and the author of Masters of Magical Powers: The Nath Yogis in the Light of Esoteric Notions (VDM, 2008); India and the Occult: The Influence of South Asian Spirituality on Modern Western Occultism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014); and, with Shukdev Singh, Sayings of Gorakhnāth: Annotated Translation of the Gorakh Bānī (Oxford University Press, 2019).