According to the theosophical tradition the Great Pyramid was originally used as a temple of initiation. This idea was researched by Marsham Adams, who in 1895, wrote the book 'The Book of the Master' (...of the Hidden House), in which he showed that 'The soul of the departed is pictured as following the passages and chambers of the great pyramid. In this version the pyramid itself is seen as an allegory in stone of the ways and trials of the future life'. To quote Adam's himself, he said that the Egyptian Book of the Dead refers to an "ideal structure and to the passages and chambers therein, and that these passages and chambers followed precisely the order and description of those of the Great Pyramid ". The sacred procession of the Egyptian dead moves silently along as they pass to the tribunal of Osiris. They enter into the Hidden Places and penetrate the secret of the House of Light (compare the ancient Egyptian name for the Great Pyramid - "Khut," or "Light").
Sir Gaston Maspero endorsed this thesis and added: "The Pyramids and the Book of the Dead reproduce the same original, the one in words, the other in stone." Maspero supported the contention that 'The Secret House was the scene where the neophyte was initiated into the mysteries of Egypt'.
What is the Egyptian "Book of the Dead"? It was believed by the ancient Egyptians that the "Book of the Dead" was written by Thoth. He was the scribe to the gods and was the one responsible for speaking the words of creation and putting it into effect. Its name is not a correct description of it. It should be named the "Chapters of the Coming Forth by Day". It is mainly concerned with the state of the departed soul and its trials and existences in the afterlife. According to one of the world's experts on the 'Book of the Dead', Sir Wallis Budge, it was not of Egyptian origin but its ideas were brought to Egypt by a different culture and people.
Ivimy, points out the similarities between the 'Bardo Thodol' or 'Tibetan Book of the Dead', from the Buddhist philosophy. He says 'It bears such a remarkable resemblance to the Egyptian Book of the Dead as to suggest that there was some ultimate connection between the two The similarities between the two books is particularly noticeable in regard to the doctrines of the judgment and in the funeral rites they prescribe for the purpose of assisting the deceased to pass successfully through his ordeal. Both treaties are, in effect, "nothing more than guide-books for the traveler in the realm beyond death".
The visual similarities of the Am-duat are clear. The 12-hours of the 'Duat' may represent the journey taken by the sun on the equinox.
Courtesy: ancient-wisdom.co.uk
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