greece, the final frontier? 153
(dunamis). It seems rather far-fetched to compare these, as Arthur Lillie
does,^106 with the ve Dhyn Buddhas, each characterised by one of
the skandhas or constituent elements of being, namely consciousness,
mental con rmation, perception, sensation, and bodily form. In fact,
the latter are more akin to the ve spheres of Basilides, the highest
being the region of the “not-being God” or the supramundane realm
(cf. nirva), followed by the Firmament, the Ogdoad or Aether, the
Hebdomad or Air, and nally, the lowest sphere of Earth, the place
of Formlessness and Matter, a place of suffering. Each region is lled
with innumerable beings with natures corresponding to their respective
spheres. Some are destined to a further process of re nement and these
ascend to a higher sphere, others are not able to ascend any further,
but none descends.
The actual world was preceded by an ideal world beyond knowl-
edge, a chaotic, conglomerated seed-mass deposited by an ideal God,
in which all entities were stored up in a confused state. These entities
evolve spontaneously according to their own nature, through a pro-
cess of differentiation and combination. This process involves three
fundamental qualities, the light or subtle, the passions, and the gross
or dense, corresponding to the guas of the S khya system, namely
sattva “purity”, rajas “passion”, and tamas “(mental) darkness”. In this
connection, Basilides does not even consider the soul as a permanent
unit, but as composed of various entities with different characters, the
highest being the subtle, rational part, the lowest the gross material
body. The passions are appendages, parasitical spirits with a substan-
tial existence appended to the rational faculty in a constant struggle,
creating illusions and irrational desires in men. This is reminiscent of
Manichaean ideas, but also recalls the ve skandhas, of which reason is
the highest and material form the lowest.
In Basilides’ system, all existences are classi ed into either mundane
or supramundane, the latter recalling the lokottara “world-transcending”,
spiritual nature of the Buddhas, a concept furthest developed within
the Mahs ghika school. The Sons of God, of whom Jesus is the
rst, are consubstantial with God, just like in the dharmakya theory of
Mahyna the Buddha- gure incarnates the dhama or absolute being
and truth.^107 These Sons are by their nature ensured of the ultimate
(^106) Lillie 1893, p. 173.
(^107) On the dharmakya concept, see La Vallée Poussin 1906; 1913.