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Title: The Path, Vol. I.—1886-'7.

Subtitle: A Magazine Devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, Theosophy in America, and the Study of Occult Science, Philosophy, and Aryan Literature.

Author: Various and William Quan Judge

Release Date: March 8, 2019 [EBook #59038]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ***

Transcriber’s Notes

The cover was produced by the transcriber and is placed within the public domain.

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation and ligatures have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. In particular * are used frequently throughout in various quantities and spacings. These have been reproduced as nearly as possible.

Rythm is spelled thus throughout and has not been corrected

The table of contents was added by the transcriber.

THE PATH.

A MAGAZINE DEVOTED

TO

THE BROTHERHOOD OF HUMANITY, THEOSOPHY IN

AMERICA, AND THE STUDY OF OCCULT

SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND

ARYAN LITERATURE.

VOL. I.—1886-’7.

PUBLISHED AND EDITED AT NEW YORK

BY WILLIAM Q. JUDGE.

1887.

Copyright 1887, by

WILLIAM Q. JUDGE.

THE PATH.

VOL. I, 1886-1887.

Table of Contents

- No. 1 April 1886

- No. 2 May

- No. 3 June

- No. 4 July

- No. 5 August

- No. 6 September

- No. 7 October

- No. 8 November

- No. 9 December

- No. 10 January 1887

- No. 11 February

- No. 12 March

INDEX.

A

PAGE

A Year on the Path

353

Activities in Theosophy

30, 32, 62, 64, 95, 96, 127, 158, 191, 223

Animal Magnetism and Star Colors

129

Announcement

288

Apollonius and Mahatmas

197, 274

AUM

4

B

Biogen Series

124

Body, Polarity of

84

Boehme, Jacob, on Soul of Man

149

Buddha’s Religion, Nature and Office of

24

C

Caballah of Old Testament

8, 103, 134

Chela’s Diary, Hindu

65, 97, 131, 169

Christianity, What is True

355

Common Sense of Theosophy

225

Corner Stone, The

215

Correspondence

59, 93, 95, 124, 188, 320

D

Diary of Hindu Chela

65, 97, 131, 169

E

Effects of Thought

341

Elementals and Elementary Spirits

289, 321

Environment

346

Evolution of Individual and Reticence of Mahatmas

184

Evolution and Rotation

304

G

Gates of Gold, Through the

372

H

Heralds from the Unseen

361

Hermes Trismegistus

167

Hermetic Philosophy

87, 112, 281

Higher Life, Living the

114, 152

Hindu Chela’s Diary

65, 97, 131, 169

Hindu Symbolism

220, 251, 334, 371

Human Body, Polarity of

84

I

Individual Evolution

184, 304

Inworld and Outworld

56

K

Kaballah

8, 103, 134

Karma

175

L

Light on the Path

335

Lines from Lower Levels

263

Literary Notes

28, 55, 89, 92, 124, 156, 189, 222, 287, 319

Living the Higher Life

114, 152

M

Magic, Considerations on

377

Mahatmas and Apollonius

197, 274

„      Reticence of

184

„      Theosophical

257

Man, Soul of

149

Master, Teachings of, The

253, 278

Mohammedanism or Sufism

41, 68, 108, 139, 180, 199

Morals, Theosophic

161, 165

Musings on True Theosophist’s Path

155, 208, 339

Mystery of Numbers 37

N

Nature and Office of Buddha’s Religion 24

Numbers, Mystery of

37

O

Occultism, Poetical

211, 245, 270, 331, 383

Old Testament Caballah

8, 103, 134

P

Papyrus

359

Path, A Year on the

353

„      Light on the

335

„      The

188, 189

Plato

102

Poetry

56, 384

Poetical Occultism

211, 245, 270, 331, 383

Polarity of Human Body

84

Prophecy, Theosophical

27, 57

R

Reincarnation and Spirits

232, 320

Religion of Buddha

24

Reticence of Mahatmas

184

Reviews

28, 55, 89, 92, 124, 156, 189, 222, 287, 319

Rosicrucians, Society of

217

Rotation and Individual Evolution

304

S

Salutatory

1

Sanscrit Pronunciation

95

Seership

14

Singing Silences

144

Society of the Rosicrucians

217

Solitude, Thoughts in

308

Soul of Man

149

Spirits and Reincarnation, Theories About

232, 320

Studies in the Upanishads

33, 121

Sufism

41, 68, 108, 139, 180, 199

Symbolism, Hindu

220, 251, 334, 370

Symbolism, Theosophical

51

T

Tea Table Talk

284, 314, 348, 380

Teachings of The Master

253, 278

Theories About Reincarnation and Spirits

232, 320

Theosophic Morals

161, 165

Theosophical Activities

30, 32, 62, 64, 95, 96, 127, 158, 191, 222, 317

Theosophical Mahatmas

257

Theosophical Society, What is the

193, 300

Theosophical Symbolism

51

Theosophist’s Path, Musings on the True

155, 208, 339

Theosophy, Common Sense of

225

Thought Effects

341

Thoughts in Solitude

308, 367

Through the Gates of Gold

372

True Christianity, What is

355

U

Udgitha, What is the

61

Universal Unity

384

Unwritten Message Becomes Visible

93

Upanishads, Studies in the

33, 121

W

What is the Theosophical Society?

193, 300

What is True Christianity?

355

Unveil, O Thou who givest sustenance to the world, that face of the true sun, which is now hidden by a vase of golden light! so that we may see the truth, and know our whole duty.

In him who knows that all spiritual beings are the same in kind with the Supreme Spirit, what room can there be for delusion of mind, and what room for sorrow, when he reflects on the identity of spirit.—Yajur Veda.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         APRIL, 1886.                         NO. 1.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

This magazine is not intended either to replace or to rival in America The Theosophist, nor any other journal now published in the interest of Theosophy.

Whether we are right in starting it the future alone will determine. To us it appears that there is a field and a need for it in this country. No cultivating of this field is necessary, for it is already ripe.

The Theosophist is the organ of the Theosophical Society, now spread all over the civilized world, its readers and subscribers are everywhere, and yet there are many persons who will not subscribe for it although they are aware of its existence; and furthermore, being an Indian publication, it necessarily follows, because of certain peculiar circumstances, that it cannot be brought to the attention of a large class of persons whom this journal will endeavor to reach.

But while the founders of THE PATH are Theosophists, they do not speak authoritatively for the Theosophical Society. It is true that had they never heard of Theosophy, or were they not members of the Society, they would not have thought of bringing out this magazine, the impulse for which arose directly from Theosophical teachings and literature.

It is because they are men, and therefore interested in anything concerning the human race, that they have resolved to try on the one hand to point out to their fellows a Path in which they have found hope for man, and on the other to investigate all systems of ethics and philosophy claiming to lead directly to such a path, regardless of the possibility that the highway may, after all, be in another direction from the one in which they are looking. From their present standpoint it appears to them that the true path lies in the way pointed out by our Aryan forefathers, philosophers and sages, whose light is still shining brightly, albeit that this is now Kali Yuga, or the age of darkness.

The solution of the problem, “What and Where is the Path to Happiness,” has been discovered by those of old time. They thought it was in the pursuit of Raja Yoga, which is the highest science and the highest religion—a union of both. In elaborating this, they wrote much more than we can hope to master in the lifetime of this journal, and they have had many kinds of followers, many devotees, who, while earnestly desiring to arrive at truth, have erred in favor of the letter of the teachings. Such are some of the mendicants of Hindoostan who insist upon the verbal repetition of OM for thousands of times, or upon the practice of postures and breathing alone, forgetting that over all stands the real man, at once the spectator of and sufferer by these mistakes. This is not the path.

At the same time we do not intend to slight the results arrived at by others who lived within our own era. They shall receive attention, for it may be that the mind of the race has changed so as to make it necessary now to present truths in a garb which in former times was of no utility. Whatever the outer veil, the truth remains ever the same.

The study of what is now called “practical occultism” has some interest for us, and will receive the attention it may merit, but is not the object of this journal. We regard it as incidental to the journey along the path. The traveller, in going from one city to another, has, perhaps, to cross several rivers; may be his conveyance fails him and he is obliged to swim, or he must, in order to pass a great mountain, know engineering in order to tunnel through it, or is compelled to exercise the art of locating his exact position by observation of the sun; but all that is only incidental to his main object of reaching his destination. We admit the existence of hidden, powerful forces in nature, and believe that every day greater progress is made toward an understanding of them. Astral body formation, clairvoyance, looking into the astral light, and controlling elementals, is all possible, but not all profitable. The electrical current, which when resisted in the carbon, produces intense light, may be brought into existence by any ignoramus, who has the key to the engine room and can turn the crank that starts the dynamo, but is unable to prevent his fellow man or himself from being instantly killed, should that current accidentally be diverted through his body. The control of these hidden forces is not easily obtained, nor can phenomena be produced without danger, and in our view the attainment of true wisdom is not by means of phenomena, but through the development which begins within. Besides that, mankind in the mass are not able to reach to phenomena, while every one can understand right thought, right speech, and right action.

True occultism is clearly set forth in the Bhagavat-Gita, and Light on the Path, where sufficient stress is laid upon practical occultism, but after all, Krishna says, the kingly science and the kingly mystery is devotion to and study of the light which comes from within. The very first step in true mysticism and true occultism is to try to apprehend the meaning of Universal Brotherhood, without which the very highest progress in the practice of magic turns to ashes in the mouth.

We appeal, therefore, to all who wish to raise themselves and their fellow creatures—man and beast—out of the thoughtless jog trot of selfish every-day life. It is not thought that Utopia can be established in a day; but through the spreading of the idea of Universal Brotherhood, the truth in all things may be discovered. Certainly, if we all say that it is useless, that such highly strung, sentimental notions cannot obtain currency, nothing will ever be done. A beginning must be made, and has been by the Theosophical Society. Although philanthropic institutions and schemes are constantly being brought forward by good and noble men and women, vice, selfishness, brutality and the resulting misery, seem to grow no less. Riches are accumulating in the hands of the few, while the poor are ground harder every day as they increase in number. Prisons, asylums for the outcast and the magdalen, can be filled much faster than it is possible to erect them. All this points unerringly to the existence of a vital error somewhere. It shows that merely healing the outside by hanging a murderer or providing asylums and prisons, will never reduce the number of criminals nor the hordes of children born and growing up in hot-beds of vice. What is wanted is true knowledge of the spiritual condition of man, his aim and destiny. This is offered to a reasonable certainty in the Aryan literature, and those who must begin the reform, are those who are so fortunate as to be placed in the world where they can see and think out the problems all are endeavoring to solve, even if they know that the great day may not come until after their death. Such a study leads us to accept the utterance of Prajapati to his sons: “Be restrained, be liberal, be merciful;” it is the death of selfishness.

AUM!

The most sacred mystic syllable of the Vedas, is Aum. It is the first letter of the Sanscrit alphabet, and by some it is thought to be the sound made by a new born child when the breath is first drawn into the lungs. The daily prayers of the Hindu Brahmin are begun and ended with it, and the ancient sacred books say that with that syllable the gods themselves address the most Holy One.

In the Chandogya Upanishad its praises are sung in these words:[1]

Let a man meditate on the syllable OM called the udgitha,[2] * * it is the best of all essences, the highest, deserving the highest place, the eighth.

It is then commanded to meditate on this syllable as the breath, of two kinds, in the body—the vital breath and the mere breath in the mouth or lungs, for by this meditation come knowledge and proper performance of sacrifice. In verse 10 is found: “Now, therefore, it would seem to follow that both he who knows the true meaning of OM, and he who does not, perform the same sacrifice. But this is not so, for knowledge and ignorance are different. The sacrifice which a man performs with knowledge, faith and the Upanishad is more powerful.”

Outwardly the same sacrifice is performed by both, but that performed by him who has knowledge, and has meditated on the secret meaning of OM partakes of the qualities inhering in OM, which need just that knowledge and faith as the medium through which they may become visible and active. If a jeweler and a mere ploughman sell a precious stone, the knowledge of the former bears better fruit than the ignorance of the latter.

Shankaracharya in his Sharir Bhashya, dwells largely on OM, and in the Vayu Purana, a whole chapter is devoted to it. Now as Vayu is air, we can see in what direction the minds of those who were concerned with that purana were tending. They were analyzing sound, which will lead to discoveries of interest regarding the human spiritual and physical constitution. In sound is tone, and tone is one of the most important and deep reaching of all natural things. By tone, the natural man, and the child, express the feelings, just as animals in their tones make known their nature. The tone of the voice of the tiger is quite different from that of the dove, as different as their natures are from each other, and if the sights, sounds and objects in the natural world mean anything, or point the way to any laws underlying these differences, then there is nothing puerile in considering the meaning of tone.

The Padma Purana says that: “The syllable OM is the leader of all prayers; let it therefore be employed in the beginning of all prayers,” and Manu, in his laws, ordains: “A Brahmin, at the beginning and end of a lesson on the Vedas, must always pronounce the syllable OM, for unless OM precede, his learning will slip away from him, and unless it follows, nothing will be long retained.”

The celebrated Hindoo Raja, Ramohun Roy, in a treatise on this letter, says:

“OM, when considered as one letter, uttered by the help of one articulation, is the symbol of the Supreme Spirit. ‘One letter (OM) is the emblem of the Most High, Manu II, 83.’ But when considered as a triliteral word consisting of अ (a), उ (u), म (m), it implies the three Vedas, the three states of human nature, the three divisions of the universe, and the three deities—Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, agents in the creation, preservation and destruction of this world; or, properly speaking, the three principal attributes of the Supreme Being personified in those three deities. In this sense it implies in fact the universe controlled by the Supreme Spirit.”

Now we may consider that there is pervading the whole universe a single homogeneous resonance, sound, or tone, which acts, so to speak, as the awakener or vivifying power, stirring all the molecules into action. This is what is represented in all languages by the vowel a, which takes precedence of all others. This is the word, the verbum, the Logos of St. John of the Christians, who says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.”[3] This is creation, for without this resonance or motion among the quiescent particles, there would be no visible universe. That is to say, upon sound, or as the Aryans called it, Nada Brahma (divine resonance), depends the evolution of the visible from the invisible.

But this sound a, being produced, at once alters itself into au, so that the second sound u, is that one made by the first in continuing its existence. The vowel u, which in itself is a compound one, therefore represents preservation. And the idea of preservation is contained also in creation, or evolution, for there could not be anything to preserve, unless it had first come into existence.

If these two sounds, so compounded into one, were to proceed indefinitely, there would be of course no destruction of them. But it is not possible to continue the utterance further than the breath, and whether the lips are compressed, or the tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth, or the organs behind that used, there will be in the finishing of the utterance the closure or m sound, which among the Aryans had the meaning of stoppage. In this last letter there is found the destruction of the whole word or letter. To reproduce it a slight experiment will show that by no possibility can it be begun with m, but that au invariably commences even the utterance of m itself. Without fear of successful contradiction, it can be asserted that all speech begins with au, and the ending, or destruction of speech, is in m.

The word “tone” is derived from the Latin and Greek words meaning sound and tone. In the Greek the word “tonos” means a “stretching” or “straining.” As to the character of the sound, the word “tone” is used to express all varieties, such as high, low, grave, acute, sweet and harsh sounds. In music it gives the peculiar quality of the sound produced, and also distinguishes one instrument from another; as rich tone, reedy tone, and so on. In medicine, it designates the state of the body, but is there used more in the signification of strength, and refers to strength or tension. It is not difficult to connect the use of the word in medicine with the divine resonance of which we spoke, because we may consider tension to be the vibration, or quantity of vibration, by which sound is apprehended by the ear, and if the whole system gradually goes down so that its tone is lowered without stoppage, the result will at last be dissolution for that collection of molecules. In painting, the tone also shows the general drift of the picture, just as it indicates the same thing in morals and manners. We say, “a low tone of morals, an elevated tone of sentiment, a courtly tone of manners,” so that tone has a signification which is applied universally to either good or bad, high or low. And the only letter which we can use to express it, or symbolize it, is the a sound, in its various changes, long, short and medium. And just as the tone of manners, of morals, of painting, of music, means the real character of each, in the same way the tones of the various creatures, including man himself, mean or express the real character; and all together joined in the deep murmur of nature, go to swell the Nada Brahma, or Divine resonance, which at last is heard as the music of the spheres.

Meditation on tone, as expressed in this Sanscrit word OM, will lead us to a knowledge of the secret Doctrine. We find expressed in the merely mortal music the seven divisions of the divine essence, for as the microcosm is the little copy of the macrocosm, even the halting measures of man contain the little copy of the whole, in the seven tones of the octave. From that we are led to the seven colors, and so forward and upward to the Divine radiance which is the Aum. For the Divine Resonance, spoken of above, is not the Divine Light itself. The Resonance is only the outbreathing of the first sound of the entire Aum. This goes on during what the Hindoos call a Day of Brahma, which, according to them, lasts a thousand ages.[4] It manifests itself not only as the power which stirs up and animates the particles of the Universe, but also in the evolution and dissolution of man, of the animal and mineral kingdom, and of solar systems. Among the Aryans it was represented in the planetary system by Mercury, who has always been said to govern the intellectual faculties, and to be the universal stimulator. Some old writers have said that it is shown through Mercury, amongst mankind, by the universal talking of women.

And wherever this Divine Resonance is closed or stopped by death or other change, the Aum has been uttered there. These utterances of Aum are only the numerous microcosmic enunciations of the Word, which is uttered or completely ended, to use the Hermetic or mystical style of language, only when the great Brahm stops the outbreathing, closes the vocalization, by the m sound, and thus causes the universal dissolution. This universal dissolution is known in the Sanscrit and in the secret Doctrine, as the Maha Pralaya; Maha being “the great,” and Pralaya “dissolution.” And so, after thus arguing, the ancient Rishees of India said: “Nothing is begun or ended; everything is changed, and that which we call death is only a transformation.” In thus speaking they wished to be understood as referring to the manifested universe, the so-called death of a sentient creature being only a transformation of energy, or a change of the mode and place of manifestation of the Divine Resonance. Thus early in the history of the race the doctrine of conservation of energy was known and applied. The Divine Resonance, or the au sound, is the universal energy, which is conserved during each Day of Brahma, and at the coming on of the great Night is absorbed again into the whole. Continually appearing and disappearing it transforms itself again and again, covered from time to time by a veil of matter called its visible manifestation, and never lost, but always changing itself from one form to another. And herein can be seen the use and beauty of the Sanscrit. Nada Brahma is Divine Resonance; that is, after saying Nada, if we stopped with Brahm, logically we must infer that the m sound at the end of Brahm signified the Pralaya, thus confuting the position that the Divine Resonance existed, for if it had stopped it could not be resounding. So they added an a at the end of the Brahm, making it possible to understand that as Brahma the sound was still manifesting itself. But time would not suffice to go into this subject as it deserves, and these remarks are only intended as a feeble attempt to point out the real meaning and purpose of Aum.

For the above reasons, and out of the great respect we entertain for the wisdom of the Aryans, was the symbol adopted and placed upon the cover of this magazine and at the head of the text. With us OM has a signification. It represents the constant undercurrent of meditation, which ought to be carried on by every man, even while engaged in the necessary duties of this life. There is for every conditioned being a target at which the aim is constantly directed. Even the very animal kingdom we do not except, for it, below us, awaits its evolution into a higher state; it unconsciously perhaps, but nevertheless actually, aims at the same target.

“Having taken the bow, the great weapon, let him place on it the arrow, sharpened by devotion. Then, having drawn it with a thought directed to that which is, hit the mark, O friend—the Indestructible. OM is the bow, the Self is the arrow, Brahman is called its aim. It is to be hit by a man who is not thoughtless; and then as the arrow becomes one with the target, he will become one with Brahman. Know him alone as the Self, and leave off other words. He is the bridge of the Immortal. Meditate on the Self as OM. Hail to you that you may cross beyond the sea of darkness.”[5]

HADJI-ERINN.

AUM!

KABBALAH.

The Kabbalah was formerly a tradition, as the word implies, and is generally supposed to have originated with the Jewish Rabbins. The word is of Hebrew origin, but the esoteric science it represents did not originate with the Jews; they merely recorded what had previously been traditional.

The Kabbalah is a system of philosophy and theosophy, that was obtained at a very remote period of time by the wise men of the east, through the unfoldment of the intuitive perceptions.

Self consciousness forms the basis of mind, and knowledge is acquired through the reception of activities from without, which are recorded in consciousness; there are two sources through which knowledge is received—one subjective, the other objective. The former gives us a knowledge of the causal side of the cosmos, and the latter, the objective or material side, which is the world of effects, on account of being evolved from the former.

“The outward doth from the inward roll,

And the inward dwells in the inmost soul.”

If this be true, the great first cause—God, has evolved out of Himself the esoteric or subjective world, in which He is to be found manifested. Out of the subjective, by change of energy and substance through law, He evolved the objective world. Therefore, the antecedents of the objective are to be found in the unseen or invisible portion of the universe. In a work we are preparing for the press, which has been a study for over thirty years, we will show what spirit is, that it is self-generating and self-sustaining, and from it, through volition, the cosmos was evolved.

Do not understand by the above remark that spirit becomes matter, through evolution, and that the universe is a huge Divine Personality. We have too high a conception and reverence for Deity, to suppose for an instant, that He became a material being through the evolution of the universe. He is not in any manner personally associated with either the esoteric or exoteric cosmos. Spirit is distinct from matter but not from energy; energy is the source of matter. It is therefore through energy and law that God is associated with the universe. The law is His Providence, and His will the executive. A miracle is an impossibility, for it requires a suspension of the law upon which the universe is reared. To suspend this law for one moment, would disarrange the harmony of the entire universe. Therefore, the suspension of this unique law, which controls energy in the production of substance and matter, would immediately suspend evolution, and the entire universe and all that is associated with it, would at once become disintegrated.

The Providential law, being one of harmony, applies to everything outside of the spirit of God, and therefore cannot be violated with impunity. The beauties of nature result from its harmony, and when it is violated, discord ensues. We see this in nationalities, society, individuals, and in fact in all departments of nature. If the violation goes beyond certain limits, revolution is the result, and if it is not corrected, destruction naturally follows. The greater the violation the more difficult it is to overcome the discordancy. Dissipation is sure to be rewarded with sickness, and if carried too far, with death. Luxury and licentiousness, if persisted in, will destroy society as well as nationalities. History affords us ample proof of this. This law, no matter how slightly violated, brings its comparative punishment, and when obeyed, its corresponding reward.

After these preliminary remarks, we turn to our subject, the Kabbalah, and show how it has been preserved and transmitted or handed down from one generation to another. The study of external nature alone affords us no evidence of a future life—on the contrary, it tends to disprove it, which accounts for the agnostic belief, which has become so prevalent of late years. In the investigation of external phenomena, we recognize matter, energy and life; the latter we are told is the result of protoplasmic cell action—the same of mind. The continuity observed through all the departments of nature, implies that there is a law controlling energy in the production of forms. If energy had nothing to guide it, its movements would be erratic, and nature would become a conglomerate discordant mass. Now, the existence of a law implies a law giver, for it is not self-creating or self-sustaining, therefore we logically conclude that there is something back of material nature that is not recognized by the external senses. What proof have we of the existence of an external world, except through consciousness? An unborn child, if it possessed reasoning faculties, would deny the existence of its own mother. A person born blind can have no conception of the beauties of nature, and if the sense of touch be suspended with that of sight, we could form no conception of solidity. If born deaf, of the harmony and discord of sound or of music. We therefore perceive that we can have no conception of the existence of an external world, except through neural activities recorded in consciousness, and without the unfoldment of the inner consciousness, we can form no opinion of a future life. In fact, logically speaking, we have the same grounds for denying its existence as we would have of the external world, providing objective consciousness was closed.

This accounts for the doubt, uncertainty, and fear respecting the future, which is intensified by the present system of religious teachings. The spiritual world is as much a reality as this, in fact more so, for it undergoes no change, as this one does.

The study of Theosophy has demonstrated to the writer that there is another source of knowledge which can only be acquired through the cultivation of a plane of consciousness, which is not reached by objective neural activities, but can be by unfoldment of inner consciousness.

It is the development of this state of consciousness that brings us en rapport with the esoteric world. The question now arises, how are we to develop this much desired condition? It can only be accomplished through the harmony of the moral attributes of the spirit. Harmony is the only passport to Heaven, and the absence of harmony, which is discord, is the only passport to what christianity terms Hell. Therefore, heaven and hell are only conditions of the spirit, which are beautifully illustrated in the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse, where it describes the angel descending from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a chain. With the key he unlocked hell, and with the chain he bound the devil for a thousand years. The angel is the representative of holiness and purity, which is only attained through the harmony of the spirit; the key is a symbol of light, and the chain that of truth; hell is supposed to be the abode of darkness, and the devil a spirit of falsehood and error. We will now ask the question, is there anything to banish darkness, but light? Anything to disperse falsehood and error, but truth?

Christ was an Essene, and this secret order was a branch of the Kabbalah. St. John was his favorite disciple, whom he fully initiated into the mysteries. During this disciple’s exile on the Isle of Patmos or Patmo, he wrote the Apocalypse, which is a profound Kabbalistic production, describing the unity, duality, ternary and septenary of the Kabbalah. The ancient adepts found from experience, that in order to develop the interior or subjective consciousness, it was necessary (allegorically speaking) to “wear the cloak of Apollonius;” that is, to withdraw from the outer world, practice to the fullest extent, self-denial, and spend their wakeful moments in esoteric meditation. In order to isolate themselves from society, they established secret sanctuaries, in which they met for mutual communion and religious exercises.

As they advanced in spiritual knowledge they found that there were various grades of harmony in the subjective or spiritual world, and each individual on leaving this life gravitated, as it were, to the sphere with which he was in harmony. They divided their sanctuaries into seven degrees to correspond with the harmonies in esoteric nature, and to each degree there were three years of spiritual probation. As harmony results from the analogy of contraries, there were as many degrees of discord as there were of harmonies. The former they designated hell. The material cosmos, that is what we call the external world, was, as it were, middle ground between the two, which they called Hades, into which the soul passed at death, and the spirit was made cognizant of its record while on earth. Physical death, they claimed was merely a change from a physical to a spiritual condition; the soul or spiritual body being formed at the same time that the physical was, but in a very different manner. After death, the soul either ascended or descended, depending not upon gravity, but upon harmony.

It will thus be perceived that each degree in the sanctuary required a separate or distinct initiation for each one, which was intended to represent a higher state of moral and intellectual advancement. The last or seventh degree was the one of perfection which brought about illumination, when the subjective world was as much a reality to the inward or subjective consciousness as the outward world is to the objective. When this condition of moral and intellectual unfoldment was obtained, all interest in this life was gone and the spirit longed for separation from its physical casket. The neophyte seeking spiritual knowledge could only attain to the wisdom of the different degrees by advancing morally, so as to be in harmony with the degrees. The knowledge thus obtained was never recorded, but communicated verbally in symbolic language. By this means it was kept a profound secret, and handed down traditionally. The first record we have of the Kabbalah was made by Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Simeon Ben Jochai; the former compiled The Sepher Jetzirah, “Book of Creation,” and the latter, The Sepherhaz Sohar, “Book of Light.” The first is regarded by the Kabbalist at the key of the second. The Sohar has never been translated, and as a late Bishop of the Church of England justly states, never will be by a Christian. This is owing to its symbolic character, which can only be interpreted by a Kabbalist. It is in three volumes, in unpointed Hebrew, and consists of a mixture of Armenic and Semetic languages. The Sepher Jetzirah may be procured in three languages, the Hebrew, Latin and German.

We now come to the most interesting part of our subject. The key to the Kabbalah is the “Word,” consisting of four Hebrew letters, which may be arranged in a cross inclosed in a circle, Fig. A. The Christian Kabbalist inserted the Hebrew letter Sin, as a representative of Christ in the ineffable name, Fig. B. The four-lettered name was the one given to Moses on the Mount, with the understanding that it represented his (Jehovah) verbalization in the universe. The Word was held in profound reverence by all, Kabbalists as well as the Jews, and all ancient secret orders, and was never spoken audibly, in fact never mentioned, except in the last initiation, when it was whispered in the initiate’s ear by the Grand Master of Ceremonies. The knowledge and power the Word confers upon the recipient of its meaning is given in a fragment of a clavicle of Solomon: “I, Solomon, King of Israel and Palmyra, have sought and obtained in part, the Holy Chocmah, which is the wisdom of Adonai. I have become King of the spirit of heaven and of earth, master of the inhabitants of the air, and the souls of the sea, because I procured the key of the occult gate of light. I have accomplished great things by the virtue of Schema Hamphorasch, and by the thirty-two paths of the Sepher Jetzirah. Number, weight and measure determine the form of all things, substance is one, and God created it eternally. Happy is he who knows the letters and numbers; numbers are ideas, and ideas are forces, and forces Elohim. The synthesis of Elohim is Schema. Schema is one, and its pillars are two, its power is three, its form four. Its reflection gives eight, and eight multiplied by three, gives the twenty-four thrones of wisdom. On each throne rests a crown of three jewels, each jewel bears a name, each name an absolute idea. There are seventy-two names on the twenty-four crowns of Schema. Thou shalt write these names on thirty-six talismans, two on each talisman—one on each side. Thou shalt divide these talismans into four series of nine each, according to the number of the letters of the Schema. On the first series engrave the letter Jod, figure of the blooming rod of Aaron; on the second series the letter He, figure of the cup of Joseph; on the third series the letter Vau, the figure of the source of David, my Father; on the fourth series the letter He, the figure of the Jewish shekel. The thirty-six talismans will be a book that will contain all the secrets of nature, and by their divers combinations, thou wilt make the Genii and Angels speak.”

The Schema represents the four-lettered name; when mathematically constructed into seventy-two different forms, it is called Schema-hamphorasch, and represents seventy-two paths of wisdom, which constitute the keys of universal science.

The history of the Kabbalah is yet to be written, which can only be accomplished by one versed in its secrets. Historians have not done it justice, they have debased it by associating it with necromancy or the black art, which is to the Kabbalah what false religion is to pure Christianity. The kernel lies hidden in the rubbish of the past, where it has been preserved for future generations. When it is disrobed of its vile and obnoxious covering it will be found to have lost none of its beauty and brilliancy. The light of the Orient has been preserved by the wise men of the east, in symbols and allegorical language, and when the time arrives, which is not far distant, someone possessing the key, which is the Word, will unlock its mysteries and bring it forth in its divine purity, to enlighten the present and future generations.

The cycle of Tritheme, which commenced in 1878, will prepare someone to bring it forth from its oblivion, and through its teachings a new train of thought will be instituted and an impetus given to the moral and emotional development which will be the harbinger of a bright future. Science will take new strides, religion will throw aside her thread-bare garment and assume a new dress, which will accord with the teachings and example of Christ. When this occurs, the conflict between religion and science will cease and harmony be established. The two then will be like brother and sister, aiding each other in the development of the intellectual and moral attributes of the spirit. It is no fault of science that a difference between them has occurred, it has advanced while religion has been carrying on a warfare about creeds and dogmas, which has retarded her progress.

Christianity of to-day is as different from what it was in the first and second centuries of the Christian era, as modern masonry is different from what it was in ancient times. Religion has attempted to control humanity through fear, having created a devil to keep man in subjection, and force the belief that God, who is the quintessence of purity and holiness, is a vindictive and angry being, who takes delight in chastising those who through ignorance violate the Divine Law. While this religious conflict has been progressing, christianity has gradually lost its hold on the public mind. At the same time humanity longs to know something of the future which science cannot give.

How is this emotional or moral want to be supplied? for humanity cannot progress intellectually beyond objective knowledge, without the development of the moral attributes. We venture the assertion that if the same advancement had been made in the development of the emotional attributes of the spirit, as has been in the intellectual, there would have been no agnosticism, and science would be far in advance of what it is. Science has about reached the limit of objective knowledge and cannot advance until it acquires a knowledge of this world’s antecedents, which will enable it to correct numerous errors and give an impetus to further development. This cannot be done so long as they ignore the existence of a subjective consciousness.

The Kabbalah embodies both philosophy and theosophy. The former gives us a knowledge of the universe, and the latter teaches man how to know himself and his God. It will also elevate masonry and all secret organizations having their rise from it, by showing that ancient masonry was not merely a social and beneficial order like modern masonry, but an organization for the unfolding of the moral and intellectual attributes.

The Kabbalah has shown its fruits in philosophy through such minds as Thales, Solon, Plato, Pythagoras, Göethe, and many others. In religion through Zoroaster, Confucius, Christ, Old and New Testament, and the Early Christians, and later through the United Brethren, to which Jacob Behmen belonged, and other theosophic sects. If the views we have advanced be correct, that it is through the development of the inner consciousness that man attains to a knowledge of the subjective or causal world, and that the knowledge of the Kabbalah will enable us to unfold these faculties, how urgent we all should be to have its secrets revealed.

SETH PANCOAST.

SEERSHIP.

The following remarks are not intended to be a critique upon the literary merits or demerits of the poem which is taken as the subject of criticism. In 1882, The Theosophist[6] published a review of “The Seer, a Prophetic Poem,” by Mr. H. G. Hellon, and as clairvoyance is much talked of in the West, it seemed advisable to use the verses of this poet for the purpose of inquiring, to some extent, into the western views of Seership, and of laying before my fellow seekers the views of one brought up in a totally different school.

I have not yet been able to understand with the slightest degree of distinctness, what state is known as “Seership” in the language of western mysticism. After trying to analyze the states of many a “seer,” I am as far as ever from any probability of becoming wiser on the subject, as understood here, because it appears to me that no classification whatever exists of the different states as exhibited on this side of the globe, but all the different states are heterogeneously mixed. We see the state of merely catching glimpses in the astral light, denominated seership, at the same time that the very highest illustrations of that state are called trances.

As far as I have yet been able to discover, “Seership,” as thus understood here, does not come up to the level of Sushupti, which is the dreamless state in which the mystic’s highest consciousness—composed of his highest intellectual and ethical faculties—hunts for and seizes any knowledge he may be in need of. In this state the mystic’s lower nature is at rest (paralyzed): only his highest nature roams into the ideal world in quest of food. By lower nature, I mean his physical, astral or psychic, lower emotional and intellectual principles, including the lower fifth.[7] Yet even the knowledge obtained during the Sushupti state must be regarded, from this plane, as theoretical and liable to be mixed upon resuming the application of the body, with falsehood and with the preconception of the mystic’s ordinary waking state, as compared with the true knowledge acquired during the several initiations. There is no guarantee held out for any mystic that any experience, researches or knowledge that may come within his reach in any other state whatever, is accurate, except in the mysteries of initiation.

But all these different states are necessary to growth. Yagrata—our waking state, in which all our physical and vital organs, senses and faculties find their necessary exercise and development, is needed to prevent the physical organization from collapsing. Swapna—dream state, in which are included all the various states of consciousness between Yagrata and Sushupti, such as somnambulism, trance, dreams, visions, &c.—is necessary for the physical faculties to enjoy rest, and for the lower emotional and astral faculties to live, become active, and develop; and Sushupti state, comes about in order that the consciousnesses of both Yagrata and Swapna states may enjoy rest, and for the fifth principle, which is the one active in Sushupti, to develop itself by appropriate exercise. In the equilibrium of these three states lies true progress.

The knowledge acquired during Sushupti state, might or might not be brought back to one’s physical consciousness; all depends upon his desires, and according as his lower consciousnesses are or are not prepared to receive and retain that knowledge.

The avenues of the ideal world are carefully guarded by elementals from the trespass of the profane.

Lytton makes Mejnour say:[8] “We place our tests in ordeals that purify the passions and elevate the desires. And nature in this controls and assists us, for it places awful guardians and unsurmountable barriers between the ambitions of vice and the heaven of loftier science.”

The desire for physical enjoyment, if rightly directed, becomes elevated, as a desire for something higher, gradually becoming converted into a desire to do good to others, and thus ascending, ceases to be a desire, and is transformed into an element of the sixth principle.

The control by nature to which Mejnour refers, in found in the natural maximum and minimum limits; there cannot be too much ascension, nor can the descent be too quick or too low. The assistance of nature is found in the Turya state, in which the adept takes one step and nature helps for another.

In the Sushupti state, one might or might not find the object of his earnest search, and as soon as it is found, the moment the desire to bring it back to normal consciousness arises; that moment Sushupti state is at an end for the time being. But one might often find himself in an awkward position, when he has left that state. The doors for the descent of the truth into the lower nature are closed. Then his position is beautifully described in an Indian proverb: “The bran in the mouth and the fire are both lost.” This is an allusion to a poor girl who is eating bran, and at the same time wants to kindle the fire just going out before her. She blows it with the bran in her mouth; the bran falls on the dying ashes, extinguishing them completely; she is thus a double loser. In the Sushupti state, the anxiety which is felt to bring back the experience to consciousness, acts as the bran with the fire. Anxiety to have or to do, instead of being a help as some imagine, is a direct injury, and if permitted to grow in our waking moments, will act with all the greater force on the plane of Sushupti. The result of these failures is clearly set forth by Patanjali.[9]

Even where the doors to the lower consciousness are open, the knowledge brought back from Sushupti state, might, owing to the distractions and difficulties of the direct and indirect routes of ascent and descent, be lost on the way either partially or wholly, or become mixed up with misconceptions and falsehood.

But in this search for knowledge in Sushupti, there must not remain a spark of indifference or idle inquisitiveness in the higher consciousness. Not even a jot of lurking hesitation about entering into the state, nor doubt about its desirability, nor about the usefulness or accuracy of the knowledge gleaned on former occasions, or to be presently gleaned. If there is any such doubt or hesitancy, his progress is retarded. Nor can there be any cheating or hypocrisy, nor any laughing in the sleeve. In our normal wakeful state it always happens that when we believe we are earnestly aspiring, some one or more of the elements of one or more of our lower consciousnesses belie us, make us feel deluded and laugh at us, for such is the self-inconsistent nature of desire.

In this state, which we are considering there are subjective and objective states, or classes of knowledge and experience, even as there are the same in Yagrata. So, therefore, great care should be taken to make your aims and aspirations as high as possible while in your normal condition. Woe to him who would dare to trifle with the means placed at his disposal in the shape of Sushupti. One of the most effectual ways in which western mystics could trifle with this, is to seek for the missing links of evolution, so as to bring that knowledge to the normal consciousness, and then with it to extend the domain of “scientific” knowledge. Of course, from the moment such a desire is entertained, the one who has it is shut out from Sushupti.[10]

The mystic might be interested in analyzing the real nature of the objective world, or in soaring up to the feet of Manus,[11] to the spheres where Manava intellect is busy shaping the mould for a future religion, or had been shaping that of a past religion. But here the maximum and minimum limits by which nature controls, are again to be taken account of. One essential feature of Sushupti is, as far as can now be understood, that the mystic must get at all truths through but one source, or path, viz: through the divine world pertaining to his own lodge (or teacher), and through this path he might soar as high as he can, though how much knowledge he can get is an open question.

Let us now inquire what state is the seership of the author of our poem “The Seer,” and try to discover the “hare’s horns” in it. Later on we may try to peep into the states of Swedenborg, P. B. Randolph, and a few of the “trained, untrained, natural born, self-taught, crystal, and magic mirror seers.”

I look at this poem solely to point out mistakes so as to obtain materials for our study. There are beauties and truths in it which all can enjoy.

In ancient days it was all very well for mystics to write figuratively so as to keep sacred things from the profane. Then symbolism was rife in the air with mysticism, and all the allegories were understood at once by those for whom they were intended. But times have changed. In this materialistic age it is known that the wildest misconceptions exist in the minds of many who are mystically and spiritually inclined. The generality of mystics and their followers are not free from the superstitions and prejudices which have in church and science their counterpart. Therefore in my humble opinion there can be no justification for writing allegorically on mysticism, and by publication, placing such writings within reach of all. To do so is positively mischievous. If allegorical writings, and misleading novels are intended to popularize mysticism by removing existing prejudices, then the writers ought to express their motives. It is an open question whether the benefit resulting from such popularization is not more than counterbalanced by the injury worked to helpless votaries of mysticism, who are misled. And there is less justification for our present allegorical writers than there was for those of Lytton’s time. Moreover, in the present quarter of our century, veils are thrown by symbolical or misleading utterances, over much that can be safely given out in plain words. With these general remarks let us turn to “The Seer.”

In the Invocation, addressed evidently to the Seer’s guru,[12] we find these words:

“When in delicious dreams I leave this life,

And in sweet trance unveil its mysteries;

Give me thy light, thy love, thy truth divine!”

Trance here means only one of the various states known as cataleptic or somnambulic, but certainly neither Turya nor Sushupti. In such a trance state very few of the mysteries of “this life,” or even of the state of trance itself, could be unveiled. The so-called Seer can “enjoy” as harmlessly and as uselessly as a boy who idly swims in the lagoon, where he gains no knowledge and may end his sport in death. Even so is the one who swims, cuts capers, in the astral light, and becomes lost in something strange which surpasses all his comprehension. The difference between such a Seer and the ordinary sensualist, is, that the first indulges both his astral and physical senses to excess, while the latter his physical senses only. These occultists fancy that they have removed their interest from self, when in reality they have only enlarged the limits of experience and desire, and transferred their interest to the things which concern their larger span of life.[13]

Invoking a Guru’s blessings on your own higher nature for the purpose of sustaining you in this trance state, is as blasphemous and reprehensible an act of assisting descent, and conversion of higher into lower energies, as to invoke your Guru to help you in excessive wine drinking; for the astral world is also material. To be able to solve the mysteries of any consciousness whatever, even of the lowest physical, while in trance, is as vain a boast of the hunters for such a state, as that of physiologists or mesmerists. While you are in trance state, if you are not ethical enough in your nature, you will be tempted and forced, by your powerful lower elements, to pry into the secrets of your neighbors, and then, on returning to your normal state, to slander them. The surest way to draw down your higher nature into the miry abyss of your physical and astral world, and thus to animalize yourself, is to go into trance or to aspire for clairvoyance.

“And thou, (Guru) left me looking upward through the veil,

To gaze into thy goal and follow thee!”

These lines are highly presumptuous. It is impossible, even for a very high Hierophant, in any of his states whatever, to gaze into his Guru’s goal;[14] his subjective consciousness can but barely come up to the level of the normal or objective consciousness of his Guru. It is only during the initiation that the initiated sees not only his own immediate goal, but also Nirvana, which of course includes his Guru’s goal also; but after the ceremony is over he recollects only his own immediate goal for his next “class,” but nothing beyond that.[15] This is what is meant by the God Jehovah saying to Moses: “And I will take away mine hand and Thou shalt see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” And in the Rig Veda it is said:[16] “Dark is the path of Thee, who art bright; the light is before Thee.”

Mr. Hellon opens his poem with a quotation from Zanoni: “Man’s first initiation is in trance; in dreams commence all human knowledge, in dreams he hovers over measureless space, the first faint bridge between spirit and spirit—this world and the world beyond.”

As this is a passage often quoted approvingly, and recognized as containing no misconceptions, I may be permitted to pass a few remarks, first, upon its intrinsic merits, and secondly, on Lytton himself and his Zanoni. I shall not speak of the rage which prevails among mystical writers, for quoting without understanding what they quote.

In Swapna state man gets human, unreliable knowledge, while divine knowledge begins to come in Sushupti state. Lytton has here thrown a gilded globule of erroneous ideas to mislead the unworthy and inquisitive mysticism hunters, who unconsciously price the globule. It is not too much to say that such statements in these days, instead of aiding us to discover the true path, but give rise to numberless patent remedies for the evils of life, remedies which can never accomplish a cure. Man-made edifices called true Raja Yoga,[17] evolved in trance, arise confronting each other, conflicting with each other, and out of harmony in themselves. Then not only endless disputation arises, but also bigotry, while the devoted and innocent seekers after truth are misled, and scientific, intelligent, competent men, are scared away from any attempt to examine the claims of the true science. As soon as some one sided objective truth is discovered by a Mesmer, a defender of ancient Yoga Vidya,[18] blows a trumpet crying out, “Yoga is self mesmerization, mesmerism is the key to it, and animal magnetism develops spirituality and is itself spirit, God, Atman,” deluding himself with the idea that he is assisting humanity and the cause of truth, unconscious of the fact that he is thus only degrading Yoga Vidya. The ignorant medium contends that her “control” is divine. There seems to be little difference between the claims of these two classes of dupes, and the materialist who sets up a protoplasm in the place of God. Among the innumerable hosts of desecrated terms are Trance, Yoga, Turya, initiation, &c. It is therefore no wonder that Lytton, in a novel, has desecrated it and misapplied it to a mere semi-cataleptic state. I, for one prefer, always to limit the term Initiation to its true sense, viz., those sacred ceremonies in which alone “Isis is unveiled.”

Man’s first initiation is not in trance, as Lytton means. Trance is an artificial, waking, somnambulistic state, in which one can learn nothing at all about the real nature of the elements of our physical consciousness, and much less any of any other. None of Lytton’s admirers seems to have thought that he was chaffing at occultism, although he believed in it, and was not anxious to throw pearls before swine. Such a hierophant as Mejnour—not Lytton himself—could not have mistaken the tomfoolery of somnambulism for even the first steps in Raja Yoga. This can be seen from the way in which Lytton gives out absolutely erroneous ideas about occultism, while at the same time he shows a knowledge which he could not have, did he believe himself in his own chaffing. It is pretty well recognized that he at last failed, after some progress in occultism as a high accepted disciple. His Glyndon might be Lytton, and Glyndon’s sister Lady Lytton. The hieroglyphics of a book given him to decipher, and which he brought out as Zanoni, must be allegorical. The book is really the master’s ideas which the pupil’s highest consciousness endeavors to read. But they were only the mere commonplaces of the master’s mind. The profane and the cowardly always say that the master descends to the plane of the pupil. Such can never happen. And precipitation of messages from the master is only possible when the pupil’s highest ethical and intuitive faculties reach the level of the master’s normal and objective state. In Zanoni, this is veiled by the assertion that he had to read the hieroglyphics—they did not speak to him. And he confesses in the preface that he is by no means sure that he has correctly deciphered them. “Enthusiasm,” he says, “is when that part of the soul which is above intellect, soars up to the Gods, and there derives the inspiration.” Errors will therefore be due to wilful misstatements or to his difficulty in reading the cipher.

“In dreams I see a world so fair,

That life would love to linger there;

And pass from this to that bright sphere.

In dreams ecstatic, pure and free,

Strange forms my inward senses see,

While hands mysterious welcome me.”

Such indefinite descriptions are worse than useless. The inward senses are psychic senses, and their perceiving strange forms and mere appearances in the astral world is not useful or instructive. Forms and appearances in the astral light are legion, and take their shape not only from the seer’s mind unknown to himself, but are also in many cases, reflections for other people’s minds.

“Oh, why should mine be ever less

And light ineffable bless

Thee, in thy starry loneliness,”

seems to be utterly unethical. Here the seer is in the first place jealous of the light possessed by his guru, or he is grasping in the dark, ignorant even of the rationale of himself being in lower states than his guru. However, Mr. Hellon has not erred about the existence of such a feeling. It does and should exist in the trance and dreaming state. In our ordinary waking state, attachments, desires, &c., are the very life of our physical senses, and in the same way the emotional energies manifest themselves on the astral plane in order to feed and fatten the seer’s astral senses, sustaining them during his trance state. Unless thus animated, his astral nature would come to rest.

No proof is therefore needed for the proposition that any state which is sustained by desires and passions cannot be regarded as anything more than as a means for developing one part of the animal nature. Van Helmont is of the same opinion as Mr. Hellon.[19] We cannot, therefore, for a moment believe that in such a state the “I” of that state is Atman.[20] It is only the false “I”; the vehicle for the real one. It is Ahankára—lower self, or individuality of the waking state, for even in trance state, the lower sixth principle plays no greater part and develops no more than in the wakeful state. The change is only in the field of action: from the waking one to the astral plane, the physical one remaining more or less at rest. Were it otherwise, we would find somnambules day by day exhibiting increase of intellect, whereas this does not occur.

Suppose that we induce the trance state in an illiterate man. He can then read from the astral counterpart of Herbert Spencer or Patanjali’s books as many pages as we desire, or even the unpublished ideas of Spencer; but he can never make a comparison between the two systems, unless that has already been done by some other mind in no matter what language. Nor can any somnambule analyze and describe the complicated machinery of the astral faculties, much less of the emotional ones, or of the fifth principle. For in order to be analyzed they must be at rest so that the higher self may carry on the analysis. So when Mr. Hellon says:

“A trance steals o’er my spirit now,”

he is undoubtedly wrong, as Atman, or spirit, cannot go into a trance. When a lower plane energy ascends to a higher plane it becomes silent there for a while until by contact with the denizens of its new home its powers are animated. The somnambulic state has two conditions, (a) waking, which is psycho-physiological or astro-physical; (b) sleeping, which is psychical. In these two the trance steals partly or completely only over the physical consciousness and senses.

“And from my forehead peers the sight,” etc.

This, with much that follows, is pure imagination or misconception. As for instance, “floating from sphere to sphere.” In this state the seer is confined to but one sphere—the astral or psycho-physiological—no higher one can he even comprehend.

Speaking of the period when the sixth sense shall be developed, he says:

“No mystery then her sons shall find,

Within the compass of mankind;

The one shall read the other’s mind.”

In this the seer shows even a want of theoretical knowledge of the period spoken of. He has madly rushed into the astral world without a knowledge of the philosophy of the mystics. Even though the twelfth sense were developed—let alone the physical sixth—it shall ever remain as difficult as it is now, for people to read one another’s mind. Such is the mystery of Manas.[21] He is evidently deluded by seeing the apparent triumphs during a transitional period of a race’s mental development, of those minds abnormally developed which are able to look into the minds of others; and yet they do that only partially. If one with a highly developed sixth principle were to indulge for only six times in reading other’s minds, he would surely drain that development down to fatten the mind and desires. Moreover, Mr. Hellon’s seer seems to be totally unaware of the fact that the object of developing higher faculties is not to peer into the minds of others, and that the economy of the occult world gives an important privilege to the mystic, in that the pages of his life and manas shall be carefully locked up against inquisitive prowlers, the key safely deposited with his guru, who never lends it to any one else. If with the occult world the laws of nature are so strict, how much more should they be with people in general. Otherwise, nothing would be safe. The sixth sense would then be as delusive and a curse to the ignorant as sight and learning are now. Nor shall this sixth sense man be “perfect.” Truth for him shall be as difficult to attain through his “sense,” as it is now. The horizon shall have only widened, and what we are now acquiring as truth will have passed into history, into literature, into axiom. “Sense” is always nothing else than a channel for desire to flow through and torment ourselves and others.

The whole poem is misleading, especially such expressions as: “His spirit views the world’s turmoil; behold his body feed the soil.—A sixth sense race borne ages since, to God’s own zone.” Our higher self—Atman—can never “view the world’s turmoil,” nor behold the body. For supposing that it did view the body or the world’s turmoil, it would be attracted to them, descending to the physical plane, where it would be converted more or less into physical nature. And the elevation of a sixth sense race unphilosophically supposes the raising up of that sense, which certainly has only to do with our physical nature, at most our astro-physical nature, to the sphere of God or Atman.

By merely training the psychical powers true progress is not gained, but only the enjoyment of those powers; a sort of alcohol on the astral plane, which results in unfavorable Karma. The true path to divine wisdom is in performing our duty unselfishly in the station in which we are placed, for thereby we convert lower nature into higher, following Dharma—our whole duty.

MURDHNA JOTI.

THE NATURE AND OFFICE OF BUDDHA’S RELIGION.

From a dissertation by the Rt. Rev. H. Sumangala, High Priest of Adam’s Peak, Ceylon.[22]

What must a religion chiefly reveal? A religion, as such, must for the most part propound what is not generally seen and felt in the nature of sentient beings. It must also proclaim “the ways and means” by which the good of the world is attained. These teachings are essential to a religion or it would, at best, become only a system of philosophy or a science of nature. We find these two essentials fully treated in the religion of Buddha.

Buddha says:[23] “The world has mounted on the passions and is suspended therefrom—that is, the thoughts of men are hanging down from the lusts and other evils. The whole world is encompassed by decay; and Death overwhelms us all, (consumption and decay ever slowly but steadily creep in and eat into each and everything in existence, and it is here likened to something like land encircled by sea). Nature has subjected us to birth, decay and death, and the deeds of our past lives are covered by the terrors of death from our view, although the time of their action is not very far removed from our present state of existence. Hence it is that we do not view the scenes of our past births. Human life before it arrives at its final destiny, is ever inseparable from Jâti, Jarâ, Marana, etc., (birth, infirmities, death, etc.). As we are at present we are in sorrow and pain, and we have not yet obtained the highest object of our being. It behooves us, therefore, to exert ourselves everytime and by all means to attain to our summum ultimum, and we have to use and practice ‘the ways and means’ shown in religion in earnestness and integrity.”

Now what are they as set forth in Buddhism? “The man who is ever fully in the observance of the precepts of morality; who sees and understands things well and truly; who has perfect and serene command over his thoughts; and who has his mind fixed well in proper contemplation. I say, that such a man alone will safely pass over the dreadful torrent of metempsychosis, which is indeed hard to be gone over safely and without meeting with great obstacles and difficulties.”

The way to holiness of being, to destruction of sorrows, pain and sufferings, and to the path to Nirvana and to its attainment, is, the starting of memory, on the body, on sensation, on mind and on the true doctrines, largely discoursed on by the Lord Gautama Buddha. “Men are sanctified by their deeds, their learning, their religious behavior, their morals, and by leading a holy life; they do not become holy by race or wealth.”[24]

Buddha has opened up to us a supreme path for sanctification; described in detail in many verses of His Dharmá.[25] He says: “Oh Bhikkus! what is the holy path which ought to be walked over to destroy pain and sorrows? It is the ariya path, consisting of eight members or component parts, which are: Right Seeing or correct belief; right Thinking; right Words; right Actions; right Living; right Exertions; right Recollecting; and right Composing of Mind—the practice of Yoga.”

Of all the paths this, the eight membered one, is the Supremest; of the Truths, the fourfold one is the highest; of all classes of knowledge, that of Nirvana is the most excellent, and of all bipeds Buddha is the highest and most supremely exalted and enlightened.

I. Right seeing is the correct and full comprehension of the four facts or divisions, which are: Sorrows, the origin of sorrows, the destruction of sorrows, and the ways and means to be used for that destruction. Now this Right seeing may be viewed in two ways, (1) worldly, (2) over-worldly, or above the worldly way. The first is understanding, while still we have not overcome our lusts, passions and desires, the effects of good and bad actions, and that such acts alone brought about the effects; the second is brought about by destroying lust, anger, &c., and rightly comprehending what are known as the “four supreme verities.”

II. Right Thinking includes, pondering on the abandoning of all merely worldly happiness, bad desires, anger, &c., and the cherishing of thoughts to live separated from them all; loathing to take life, and the continued mental exercise of the determination not to hurt a sentient being.

III. Right Speech avoids lying, slandering, uttering rough or vulgar words, and vain babbling or empty talk.

IV. Right Actions is, sanctifying the body by refraining from killing, stealing, enjoying unlawful sexual intercourse, &c.

V. Right Living is, obtaining a livelihood by being worthily employed, supporting one’s self.

VI. Right Exertion is, to labor willingly and earnestly to prevent evil thoughts from arising in the mind, nipping even the buds of such thoughts already sprung, and by nourishing good thoughts and by creating morally virtuous ideas when heart and mind are vacant and empty of them.

VII. The seventh is the four above mentioned—in possession.

VIII. The last member includes the four dhyánas. Sammá Samádhi, or Right Meditation, is the last member of the Supreme Path. In religion Samádhis are of various natures, but now we will confine ourselves to one particular Samádhi.

It is that state of mind in which dispersed thoughts are brought together and concentrated on one particular object. The chief feature is composure of the mind, and its essential characteristic is the restriction of thoughts from dispersion. Stability aids its sustentation and undisturbed happiness is its natural result.

The primary stage of this state of mind is known as Upachára Samádhi,[26] the second, or advanced stage, as Uppaná Samádhi.[27]

It is also divided into two classes. Lokiya[28] which any one may enter into; and Lokuttara,[29] which can be entered into only by those who are free from worldly desires. The first is a preliminary step to the attainment of the second. For the first, the devotee must give himself up to devotion in the manner prescribed in 3d, 4th and 5th angas of the Arya astangikamarga chatuparisuddhi silas, and then free himself from the ten worldly troubles, which arise: from building houses; connections with family; excessive gains; the duties of a teacher; from manual work; journeys for another or for one’s own gain; sickness of teacher, pupils and parents; bodily sufferings; constant study, and worldly power and its loss. Being free from these he must then be acquainted with the systematic process of meditation, instructed by a friend or an eminent preceptor.

Meditation is of two classes. First, that wherein the devotee exercises universal love of mankind, reflects that death is close at hand, and that the human body being liable to decay is not to be regarded with consideration. The second is that which applies to a man according to his moral nature.[30] These are forty in number. Taking one let us see how meditation should be practised.

Man’s moral nature is divided into six classes: Sensuous, irascible, ignorant, faithful, discreet, reflective. The first three are evil, and the last three good qualities. If in any man’s nature an evil and virtue combine, that which predominates will influence his moral character. The process of meditation, then, is to be decided by the preceptor according to the tendency of the moral character as thus influenced.[31] The devotee then seeks retirement resigned to Buddha.

A PROPHECY ABOUT THEOSOPHY.

There are alleged to exist in India certain Sibylline books called Nadigrandhams. As the name indicates, they are compilations of astrological statements or predictions, and are supposed to contain actual prophecies fitting into the lives of inquirers as well as into the history of a village. They resemble the Sibylline books of Rome, which prophesied, it is said, for over two hundred years, all the important events in the affairs of the Eternal City.

In May, 1885, Col. H. S. Olcott, President of the Theosophical Society, hearing of some of these books in Madras, had an interview at the headquarters with the astrologer who possessed them, in the presence of two witnesses.

In reporting the predictions in the May article[32] he left certain blanks saying that he would speak regarding it in twelve months, and that the unpublished portion concerned the welfare of the society. The prophecy was:

“The society is now, April 3, 1885, passing through a dark cycle, which began August 24, 1884; it will last nine months and sixteen days more, making seventeen months for the whole period. By the end of fourteen months next following the seventeen dark months, the society will have increased threefold in power and strength, and some who have joined it and worked for its advancement, shall attain gnyanam.[33] The society will live and survive its founders for many years, becoming a lasting power for good; it will survive the fall of governments. And you (H. S. O.) will live from this hour, twenty-eight years, five months, six days, fourteen hours, and on your death the society will have 156 principal branches, not counting minor ones, with 50,000 enrolled members; before that, many branches will rise and expire, and many members come and go.”

At the time the society was founded in 1875, the editor of this journal was present in New York when the proposed name was discussed, and it was prophesied after the selection had been made, that the organization was destined to accomplish a great work, far beyond the ideas of those present. Since then many members have followed the example of Buddha’s proud disciples and deserted the cause—others have remained.

In Paris, in 1884, the Coulomb scandal had not exploded, but warnings of it were heard. One night in the Rue Notre Dame des Champs, an astrologer consulted a nadigrandham for a reply to queries as to what was brewing. The reply was:[34] “A conspiracy; but all will be suddenly discovered, and will come to nothing.” Such was the result as to the discovery and for the balance of the later prophecy let time disclose.

“The desire of the pious shall be accomplished.”

REVIEWS AND NOTES.

APOLLONIUS OF TYANA.[35]—This volume is the result of a gage thrown down by a well known Brooklyn clergyman, who some few years ago said that he “challenged any one to produce anything which rises to the sublimity of the miracles of ‘the Blessed Redeemer,’ or the simplicity of his life, or to produce from the dust of eighteen centuries, a record of the life, sayings and doings of any personage so well attested, and by so many reputable witnesses, as is that of our Savior in the account of Matthew.” When we reflect upon the well known fact that the writings of the alleged time of Jesus, contain no reference to him, and that every precept of morality ascribed to him, can be found abundantly through the well attested and written sayings of his predecessors, and upon the grave doubts clustering about the same Matthew gospel, we are not surprised to find that Mr. Tredwell has succeeded in fully meeting the challenge. But no one ever suspected the “Brooklyn clergyman” of being in earnest or of expecting any reply. The book before us is replete with information, and especially in its bibliographical references. Our only regret is that the author has altogether put aside the so-called miracles of Apollonius. We would like to see, in treating the subject, those occurrences taken account of, not as miracles, but as actual incidents, the result of natural forces, and not subject to chance, nor being a proof of claims to divinity. In the preface he well says, that error courts investigation and is nearly always the prelude to the discovery of truth, but, “Falsehood seeks exemption from every scientific régime, and recoils from the light and scrutiny of investigation, and postulates its own canon, setting up a claim to miraculous interposition; such is revelation.” And further on he quotes the celebrated Moody, who said: “It is not only every man’s privilege, but every man’s duty to make honest inquiry into the truth of the gospel; but should we conclude that it is not true, then we will surely be damned.” This book, and that of John Henry Newman, D. D., on the same subject, with Rev. Edward Berwick’s translation of the great philosopher’s life by Philostrates, should be in the library of every student, for comparison, if for nothing else.[36] A great deal of time and careful study have been devoted to the preparation of this book, from a love of the subject, which increased so fast as the author proceeded, and grew so strong, that he says he entirely forgot the clergyman who stirred him up to the task. We are sorry that lack of space prevents us from going further into this valuable work.

THE SECRET DOCTRINE.—Madame H. P. Blavatsky is now engaged upon this work, in Germany, where she went last year for her health. The subject is interesting, and the result of the author’s endeavors will mark an era. It will not only be an amplification and explanation of Isis Unveiled, but will contain mines of further information. There will be in it verbatim passages from the Book of Dgyan and Limri of Tsong-ka-po, and old commentaries, to which hitherto, access has not been possible, and great attention will be paid to the doctrine of Human Evolution, to Divine or White Magic, and Human or Black Magic. The portion in which the subject of the Divine Hermaphrodite is considered, should be of absorbing interest. It will be divided in four parts: Archaic, Ancient, Mediæval and Modern, presenting the complete sequences of the development of Occultism and Magic in their religious and anti-religious aspects.

BIBLE MYTHS, AND THEIR PARALLELS IN OTHER RELIGIONS.—J. W. Bouton, New York; Royal 8vo., 600 pages.—This book should be in the hands of all students. It is clearly the result of years of patient and plodding research made over a vast field of reading. By an overwhelming amount of evidence, the author proves that that which is miraculous, found in the New Testament, cannot be of Christian origin, nor can anything of the same kind found in the Old Testament be of Hebrew origin, the conclusion being irresistible, that if the Christian Bibles are of Divine origin, so must also be all the other and older books which contain these parallels. Orthodoxy has passed this work over in silence, leaving the people still in their ignorance. One clerical paper said that those whose theological opinions or faith was not settled should avoid the book. Truth-seekers, however, cannot afford to avoid it.

WHAT IS THEOSOPHY?—By a fellow of the Theosophical Society. Cupples, Upham & Co., Boston, 1886.—This little book has just come out of the press, and is very attractively dressed. The sheets, all loose, have been merely placed between covers, which are tightly bound with cords of the same color as the covers. It is dedicated by the author to a son whose inquiring mind daily asked his father and mother, “What is Theosophy?” The result is good, and we are sure that this unpretentious little waif will do much toward aiding the cause; for when mothers and fathers all over the land see that there are families in which Theosophy is preached and practised, as this book evidences, they will feel attracted to it. The author rightly says, that “Theosophy means God’s wisdom.” The principal Aryan doctrines of use to the west, are adverted to, such as Karma, Reincarnation, Devachan, and Nirvana. One of the exalted beings referred to by the author has said, “that it is quite probable that the sons of Theosophists will become Theosophists.” Such is undoubtedly the case, and if the parents of other children will follow the example to be found in the family of our author, by inquiring into and trying to practise real Theosophy, teaching it to their children, instead of sneering at phenomena which never were claimed to be Theosophy, the great Day will soon dawn when our race may prepare to take a higher place. This book is written in an easy, pleasant style. On page 17 we find: “In a small apple seed there lies the harvest of many summers, and in the human soul there lie the possibilities of hundreds of lives.” True, and more true, that there may be tens of thousands of lives in the human soul. Natural arguments thus addressed to children produce great effects in their minds and life, and as from children grow the men, we ought to see to it that our own theories are right before we permit the youthful ones to drift with a prevailing current, and when we are really convinced of our own it should be inculcated.

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

THE ROCHESTER BRANCH.—This is the elder brother in America. It was formed in 1882, by Mr. W. B. Shelley and Mrs. J. W. Cables, who had been engaged with several friends, before that, in studying the problems presented to thinking minds in life and death. The coincidence is rather curious between the first Theosophical Branch starting in Rochester and the first sounding there so many years ago of the spiritualistic rappings.

A great deal has been done by this Branch. They have constantly studied The Theosophist, and many people have, so to say, made pilgrimages there to become members of the Society.

Here was started the first distinctively American Theosophical paper. It is called The Occult Word, and appears monthly.

We believe the Branch meets in Mrs. Cables’ house, at 40 Ambrose street, where inquirers in that section should address her, as she is willing to answer all. We would also suggest that correspondents enclose return postage, which is in the majority of cases ignored or forgotten.

THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.—This Branch was formed with the idea of cementing together the New York members taken into the Parent Society while Col. Olcott and Madame Blavatsky were here, but it was found that a good many had merely joined under the impression that it was a new kind of spiritualism, and then had retired. But some staunch ones remaining, the Branch has grown gradually. Every now and then it holds meetings, to which a great many are admitted who are not members.

Bro. Gopal Vinayak Joshee, of Bombay, now travelling here, delivered an address on Theosophy in India and America, and on the same evening Bro. Judge explained the object, drift and method of Theosophy, and also read a paper on Jacob Böhme.

In March, Bro. A. Gebhard delivered a short lecture on “The Ideals of Richard Wagner, as they bear on Theosophy.” Several visitors from Boston attended, and a general discussion on ancient myths in the light of Theosophical ideas was held.

On March 25th, Mr. C. H. A. Bjerregaard, of the Astor Library, gave an address on Historic Cycles, but we then were so near going to press that we cannot give its substance.

The Branch is actively engaged in spreading Theosophical literature, and now has requests for books from all parts of the U. S. It has reprinted Mrs. Sinnett’s “Purpose of Theosophy” very cheap in form, but well done, and has other reprints in mind. At present, meetings are held in a private house of a member, but other permanent quarters will soon be obtained. All inquiries should be addressed to the Secretary, box 2,659, New York City.

THE PIONEER THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS, was formed in 1884, by the efforts of Brother Elliott B. Page, who is also Secretary of the American Board of Control. It is pursuing its way quietly and surely, and has sent out some members to other parts of the United States, whose influence will further spread the cause of Universal Brotherhood. Brother Page’s address is 301 South Main Street, St. Louis, Mo.

CINCINNATI.—A branch is ready here, and no doubt will be very active.

THE CHICAGO BRANCH was founded the 27th of November, 1885, Stanley B. Sexton, President, No. 2 Park Row, Dr. W. Phelon, Corresponding Secretary, 629 W. Fulton.

Meetings are held every Sunday at 2 P. M. All the fellows except the President are a little over a year old in Theosophy. The President became an F. T. S. in 1879. One of the members is Rev. Mr. Hoisington, the blind lecturer on Egypt, who is one of our most earnest workers, and has been a Theosophist for many years.

We are all working with heart and soul for the spread of Theosophy.

THE BRANCH IN MALDEN, Massachusetts, originated in the spring of 1885, with a few persons who casually discovered that they had mutually had an interest in Theosophy. Informal meetings were held to discuss Theosophical subjects, and were conducted in this way without organization until December 27, when a formal organization was affected under the customary provisional charter from the American Board of Control. The name chosen was the Malden Branch, Theosophical Society. At the organization valuable assistance was rendered by Brothers Arthur H. Gebhard of New York, and Hollis B. Page and Charles R. Kendall of Boston. Two open meetings were held the past winter, at which addresses were made by Brothers William Q. Judge and Arthur H. Gebhard, respectively, and considerable outside interest was awakened. The members have devoted themselves chiefly to the spiritual, moral and philosophical aspects of the subject, and have laid little stress upon the phenomenal, and have discouraged marvel-seekers from membership. The President is Sylvester Baxter, and Frank S. Collins is Secretary.

THE SOCIETY’S EXTENT may be understood by the number and ramification of its branches, of which in India there are 106; in Europe, 7; in the United States, 9; in Australia, 1; and the West Indies, 1.

BOSTON has a Branch of the Society also. In various intellectual circles in the city there is much discussion of Theosophical literature, and in general, of the subject. Notwithstanding recent malicious attacks on our harmless and studious Brotherhood, the current of truth flowing through the Society’s channels makes itself felt in Boston.

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF CONTROL.—The general and routine work of the Society in America, is under the jurisdiction of the Board of Control, of which the President is Prof. Elliott Coues, Washington, D. C., and the Secretary, Elliott B. Page, 301 South Main Street, St. Louis, Mo.

A resolution has been passed by this Board, which is binding on all members, that no publication shall be issued as a Theosophical one, without previous consent obtained from the officers of the Board. This is wise, as it will tend to prevent unauthorized declarations of so-called Theosophical doctrine from being laid at the door of the Society. All members, therefore, intending to make publication, should address the Secretary of the Board.

The Word and the verses at the head of this text, contain the verbal exposition of the symbol on the cover, which is, in one aspect, the radiating of the Great All. He who knows this is fortunate and will learn to pronounce the syllable

AUM!

The departure of the soul atom from the bosom of Divinity, is a radiation from the life of the great All, who expends his strength in order that he may grow again and live by its return. God thereby acquires a new vital force provided by all the transformations that the soul atom has undergone. Its return is the final reward. Such is the secret of the evolution of the great Being and of the Supreme Soul.—Book of Pitris.

The soul is the assemblage of the Gods. The universe rests in the Supreme Soul. It is the soul that accomplishes the series of acts emanating from animate beings. So the man who recognizes the Supreme Soul as present in his own soul, understands that it is his duty to be kind and true to all, and the most fortunate destiny that he could have desired is that of being finally absorbed in Brahma.—Manu., V. 12.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         MAY, 1886.                         NO. 2.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

STUDIES IN THE UPANISHADS.

[BY A STUDENT.]

Many American theosophists are asking, “What are the Upanishads?” They are a portion of the ancient Aryan literature which this journal has set itself to help lay before theosophists of America, to the end that whatever in them is good and true may be brought out. As Max Muller says, hitherto the Upanishads have not received at the hands of Sanskrit and oriental scholars, that treatment which in the eyes of philosophers and theologians they seem so fully to deserve. He also calls them “ancient theosophic treatises” and declares that his real love for Sanskrit literature was first kindled by them.[37] They have received no treatment at all in the United States, because they are almost absolutely unknown in the original tongue in this country, and in translations, have been but little studied here. Europe and America differ in this, that while in England and Germany nearly all such study is confined to the book-worm or the theologian, here there is such a general diffusion of pretty fair education in the people, that the study of these books, as translated, may be made popular, a thing which in Europe is perhaps impossible.

Muller returned to the study of the Upanishads after a period of thirty years, during which he had devoted himself to the hymns and Brahmanas of the Vedas, and found his interest in them undiminished. As for the period of these treatises, he says that has been fixed provisionally, at about 800 B. C.

The word means “secret charm,” “philosophical doctrine;” and more strictly, “to sit down near.” Hindu theologians say the Upanishads belong to revealed religion in opposition to that which is traditional. In the opinion of our friend Muller, to whom all western students must ever remain grateful no matter how much they may disagree with his views as to the Vedas being the lispings of baby man, “the earliest of these philosophical treatises will always maintain a place in the literature of the world, among the most astounding productions of the human mind in any age and in any country.”[38]

Professor Weber placed the number of Upanishads at 235[39]; in 1865 Muller put them at 149, and others added to that number, so that even to-day the actual figures are not known. Indeed it is held by several Orientalists, that before they assumed their present form, a large mass of traditional Upanishads must have existed.

The meaning of the word which ought to be borne most in mind is, “secret knowledge, or true knowledge” although there may be a Upanishad or secret knowledge, which is false.

In the Chandogya Upanishad (I, 1,) after describing the deeper meaning of OM, it is said that the sacrifice which a man performs with knowledge, with faith, and with the Upanishad, i. e. with an understanding of the secret charm, or underlying principles and effects, is more powerful than when with faith, the only knowledge possessed is of the rites themselves, their origin and regularity. The sacrifice referred to is, not alone the one offered on the altar in the temple, but that daily sacrifice which every breath and every thought, brings about in ourselves.

THE MUNDAKA UPANISHAD.

This is in the Atharva Veda. Although it has the form of a mantra, it is not to be used in the sacrifices, as its sole object is to teach the highest knowledge, the knowledge of Brahman, which cannot be obtained by either worship or sacrifices. Offerings to the Gods, in no matter what mode or church, restraining of the breath, penances, or cultivation of the psychic senses, will not lead to the true knowledge. Yet some works have to be performed, and many persons require works, sacrifices and penances as stepping stones to a higher life. In the progress of these works and sacrificial performances, errors are gradually discovered by the individual himself. He can then remove them. So the Hindu commentators have explained the title of this Upanishad as the “shaving” one. That is, it cuts off the errors of the mind like a razor. It is said by European scholars that the title has not yet been explained. This may be quite correct for them, but it is very certain the Hindu explanation appears to the Hindu mind to be a very good one. Let us proceed.

FIRST MUNDAKA.

This means, first shaving, or beginning of the process for removing error. It may be considered as a division equivalent to “first title,” after which follow the lesser divisions, as: First Khanda.

“1. Brahma was the first of the Devas, the maker of the universe, the preserver of the world. He told the knowledge of Brahman, the foundation of all knowledge, to his eldest son Atharva.”

Here at once should be noted, that although in Hindu theology we find Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, as the creator, preserver and destroyer, forming the Trinity, the Upanishad now before us—for cutting away error—has not such a division. It says Brahma is first, also the maker and the preserver. Even knowledge that is true for certain stages of development becomes error when we rise up into the higher planes and desire to know the true. Similarly we find Buddha in his congregation teaching his disciples by means of the “three vehicles,” but when he had raised them to the higher plane, he informed them that these vehicles might be discarded and sat or truth be approached through one vehicle.

The knowledge here spoken of is Brahman knowledge which is the supreme vehicle.

“2. Whatever Brahma told Atharvan that knowledge Atharvan told to Angir, he told it to Satyavaha Bharadvaga, and he in succession told it to Angiras.

“3. Saunaka, the great householder, approached Angiras respectfully and asked ‘Sir, what is that through which if it is known, everything else becomes known?’

“4. He said to him: ‘Two kinds of knowledge must be known, this is what all who know Brahman tell us, the higher and the lower knowledge.

“5. ‘The lower knowledge is the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda, Atharva-Veda Phonetics, Ceremonial, Grammar, Etymology, Metre and Astronomy; but the higher knowledge is that by which the Indestructible (Brahma) is apprehended.

“6. ‘That which cannot be seen nor seized, which has no origin and is without qualities, no eyes nor ears, no hands nor feet, the eternal, the all pervading, infinitesimal, that which is imperishable, that is what is regarded by the wise as the source of all beings.

“7. ‘As the spider sends forth and draws in its thread, as plants grow on the earth, as from every man hairs spring forth on the head and the body, thus does everything arise here from the Indestructible.

“8. ‘The Brahman swells by means of meditation; hence is produced matter; from matter mind, breath and intellect, the seven worlds, and from the works performed by men in the worlds, the eternal effects, rewards and punishment of works.

“9. ‘From Him who perceives all and who knows all, whose meditation consists of knowledge, from that highest Brahman is born that other Hiranyagarbha—name, form, and matter.’”

This Khanda unfolds broadly the whole philosophy. The following ones go into particulars. It is very easy here to see that the imperishable doctrine could not be communicated directly by the Great Brahma to man, but it has to be filtered down through various channels. The communicator of it to mortals, however, would be regarded by his finite auditors as a god. The same method is observable in the Bagavad-Gita (ch. IV) where Krishna says to Arjuna that “this never failing doctrine I formerly taught unto Vivaswat and he to Manu, who told it to Ikswaku, succeeding whom came the Rajarshis who studied it.” Manu is regarded as of a wholly Divine nature although not the Great Brahm.

Now, when Angiras, as detailed in the Upanishad, had received this higher knowledge, he was approached by a great householder, by name Saunaka. This has reference to an ancient mode of life in India when Saunaka would be called a grihastha, or one who was performing all his duties to his family, his tribe, and his nation while still in the world. All the while, however, he studied the knowledge of Brahman, so that when the proper time came for him to give up those duties of life, he could either die or retire to solitude. It was not considered then to be a virtue for one to violently sever all ties and assume the garb and life of a mendicant devoted to religious contemplation, but the better way was thought to be that one which resulted in our, so to speak, consuming all the Karma of our family in ourselves. Otherwise it would inevitably result that if he retired with many duties unfulfilled, they waited, figuratively speaking, for him, sure to attach to him in a succeeding incarnation and to work him either injury or obstruction. So it was thought better to work out all such results in the present life as far as possible.

We find here also a foreshadowing of some ideas held by the Greek philosophers. In the third verse, the question is asked: “What is that through which when it is known, the knower thereof knows everything else.” Some of the Greeks said that we must first ascend to the general, from which descent to the particular is easy. Such, however, is directly opposite to the modern method, which delights in going from particulars to generals, from effects to causes. The true knowledge proceeds as shown in the Upanishad. By endeavoring to attain to the Universal Soul of all, the knowledge of the particular parts may be gained. This is not easy, but it is easy to try. At the same time do not forsake modern methods altogether, which correspond to the lower knowledge spoken of in Verse 5. Therefore Angiras says: Two kinds of knowledge, the lower and the higher, must be known.

Here and there are persons who seem not to need the lower knowledge, who pay no attention to it, and who apprehend the higher flights impossible for others. This is what is known as the result of past births. In previous incarnations these persons studied upon all the lower planes so that their spiritual perceptions do not now need that help and training which the lower knowledge gives to others. They are approaching that state which is beautifully described by Longfellow in his “Rain in Summer,” in these words:—

“Thus the seer,

With vision clear,

Sees forms appear and disappear,

In the perpetual round of strange,

Mysterious change

From birth to death, from death to birth;

From earth to heaven, from heaven to earth;

’Till glimpses more sublime,

Of things unseen before,

Unto his wondering eyes reveal

The Universe, as an immeasurable wheel

Turning forevermore

In the rapid and rushing river of Time.”

(To be continued.)

THE MYSTERY OF NUMBERS.

In a previous article on the Kabbalah, we spoke of it as being a tradition embodying a noble philosophy, which is but slightly understood, owing to its symbolical representations.

There were three forms of symbols introduced by the Ancient Theosophists to express their thoughts and convey their ideas from one to another. The object of the symbolic language was for the purpose of preventing their esoteric knowledge from becoming public property and to obviate persecution from those who were in authority and held different views. These three forms were: hieroglyphics, numbers and allegories.

It is the Kabbalistic science of numbers of which we purpose to speak. Deity in constructing the universe, employed but few means to accomplish a great purpose. They consisted of energy and law. The former is under control of the latter. The first act was the positing of energy, which formed substance. In this manner He converted chaos, which was a motionless, dark abyss, into activity and light. Light is not energy, but primarily resulted from the activity of atomic substance.

God creates all things by number, weight and measure, and with an arithmetical and geometrical precision. The universal continuity observed in nature is owing to the law that controls energy. Any interference with this law throws energy out of harmony, producing discord, and consequently a varying of continuity.

Every seed has within it an individual life energy which gives to it when developed into a plant or tree its type and form. Any external interference induces a struggle for life in the forces in maintaining their ancestral types and forms. Heredity may produce the same by interfering with the law controlling development.

The Kabbalists never intended to convey the idea that numbers possessed special virtues. They merely represent them; for example 3 represents a life entity; without this ternary combination it would be impossible for life to exist. The self-existing Deity is a Triune Entity; so is every individual life form. Whether it be a Monera, the lowest structureless life organism, or Man, the highest in the scale of living beings. Number three is therefore called the generating number.

Again, 7 is the harmonic numeral, there being seven primary grades of harmony, and in order to extend it, the scale of seven must be repeated, and every repetition lessens the harmony and tends to discord.

The Sepher Jetzirah, which is recognized by the Kabbalist as the key of the Sohar, is a wonderful and obscure work. Its wisdom is represented in ten numbers and twenty-two letters. From the numbers “are drawn or cut” the twenty-two letters which are divided into three mothers, seven double and twelve single letters. According to the Sepher there were three acts of creation; 1st, Conception or Idea; 2nd, The Word; 3rd, The Writings. For example, first, God conceived in His own mind, the archetype of the universe which constituted the design; second, the Word represents the law and the energy it controls and directs in carrying out the design; third, the product arising from the second constitute the writings.

The Sepher Jetzirah teaches that the hidden ways of wisdom are in the ten sephiroth, which are usually termed spheres. The Hebrews use the word “ways,” which with us mean degrees, forms or species. These hidden ways are the workings of the forces producing differentiation of forms, which represents the twenty-two letters, which are expressed as one in three, and three in seven, and seven in twelve, making twenty-two.

The ten sephiroth interest us the most for they represent the unity and synthesis of numbers and the manifestations of Deity in nature. The first sefir is called the Crown on account of its being the abode of the En Soph[40] the unmanifested infinite Being; but the first form by which he became known was the Memra or “word,” which is represented by the first three sephiroth, namely, Kether, “the Crown,” Chochma, “wisdom,” Binah, “understanding.”[41] To express it more clearly, the first three sephiroth comprise a Triune Entity, the verbalized spirit of God consisting of self-consciousness, wisdom and love which embodied the Word, “the heavenly man,” “the man on high,” (Ezekiel I, 26), the Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalist, the Paradisical Adam of Genesis, the Christ of the Christians and the Buddha of the Buddhists.

In order to be understood, we will state that the Triune spirit of the world contains the word, and is therefore the source of energy and life in both the subjective and objective worlds, and in fact is the source of all that exists outside of spirit. It is under the direction of spirit in developing forms and giving them activity and life. We thus perceive how a knowledge of the word gives us an insight into the work of God in creation.

Jacob Behmen was a mystic, and acquainted with the meaning of the word which he obtained through illumination or the unfolding of inner consciousness. What he called the Signatura Rerum—the signature of all things—is the word. He describes it as coming from a triune entity, which he locates in the super-celestial world. It is first manifested in the subjective or esoteric world, and afterwards in the objective. He also alludes to the septenary which he applies to the external world; he could not have understood the laws of harmony or he would not have made this application, for it applies to both the subjective and objective worlds.

We will now explain the Tetractys of Pythagoras; before doing so, however, we have a few remarks to make regarding his Kabbalistic knowledge. He is said to have been initiated into the secrets of nature by Daniel and Ezekiel, and subsequently admitted into the Egyptian Sanctuaries upon a personal recommendation by King Amosis. His tetractys proves that he was thoroughly familiar with theosophical science, which enabled him to study nature and arrive at correct conclusions. It is a noted fact that he was familiar with the movements of the heavenly bodies; which science did not reveal until centuries after his death. If he mistook some of its details, his substantial correctness was none the less wonderful. He was the founder of the renowned school of Crotona, about five hundred years before Christ. He maintained that the Sun is the centre of a system around which all the planets revolve, and that the fixed stars were each the centre of a system. He also believed that the planets were inhabited and that they and our earth are ever revolving in harmonious order—“keeping up a grand celestial concert, inaudible to man, but as a music of the spheres audible to God.” He was not permitted to declare publicly all that he knew, but taught it privately to a few chosen friends. He was also familiar with the laws of attraction and repulsion, which constituted one of the most important duties of the sanctuaries. Newton was led to the discovery of these forces through the study of the Kabbalah.

Speaking of Pythagoras calls to mind the Kabbalistic enigma written by Plato and sent to Dionysius: “all things surround our King, (God) He is the cause of all things: seconds for seconds and thirds for thirds.” This expresses the division of the Sephiroth. Plato was an earnest and most intelligent Kabbalist.

We will now explain for the first time the Tetractys of Pythagoras, which reveals the numerical meaning of the word. We remark, however, before doing so, that there is a greater enigma attached to it than is expressed by the numbers, which we cannot give for several reasons. One is, the name has never been imparted; when obtained, it was through self illumination; another is, it would open the doors of masonry, and reveal the secrets of the order. It is the key to mysticism—to religion and universal science.

In the Tetractys the four letters composing the name, are arranged in a triangular form, enclosed with a double circle.[42] The numerical division he has made applies to the super-celestial, celestial and material worlds:

The Tetractys of Pythagoras.

Super Celestial.—The first series of numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 of the tetractys refers to the super-celestial world.

1 is the unity of God represented thus: ① God in nothing.

2 is the duality of God.

3 is the spirit of a triune entity.

4 is Divine volition, capable of determining choice and forming a purpose, and manifesting activity.

Celestial.—The above numerals are combined in the following order:—1+2=3—the manifestation of the word, in the celestial world.

2+3=5—substance or quintescent matter, produced by the activity of the word.

3+4=7—the law of harmony—the providence of God in Nature. The celestial world is called by the Kabbalist the world of harmony, which none can occupy save the pure in spirit. Harmony is the only passport to Heaven.

Material.—The numeral 1, which represents the unity of God, is not represented in this world—we only have the following numerals:

2+3+4=9—humanity with the word unmanifested in the spirit. Yet it exists and can be made manifest through harmony of the spirit. It not being manifested debars humanity from the pleasure of enjoying the light of the celestial world. It is for this reason the Kabbalist called it the world of darkness or Hades. It is also called the world of discord. There are as many grades of discord here as there are harmonies in the world above. When man throws off the material covering of his soul, his consciousness reveals to him his moral standard and he gravitates to the sphere with which he is in accord. If harmonious he ascends, if discordant he descends.

10 is the synthesis of numbers. In the beginning before Deity manifested himself, it stood thus ①; in the consummation of creation it became reversed, thus 10.

SETH PANCOAST.

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in Mysticism.

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, Stud. Theos.

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi:

“Last night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress, when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the garden, soft as the dews of heaven.”

INTRODUCTION.

Sufism has not yet received fair treatment in any publication that has appeared in Western literature.

The reason is that no Western writer upon the subject has endeavored to understand it, either because of an intellectual bias or from willful perversion. Most treatises are written under strong dogmatic prejudices, or by persons intellectually and morally incapable of rising to the A B C of a spiritual philosophy.

The present attempt to represent the doctrines and practices of Sufism has been made in the hope of overcoming the effect of these evils. We have studied patiently Sufism from Sufi works and claim to be in full sympathy with our subject.

That which we here present to the judgment of the candid reader is a part of a larger work we have been engaged on for many years; a work designed as a text book for students in Mysticism. This fact, the intention of making a text book for reference on all mystic questions, will account for the unusual method adopted in this series of articles.

In the first part we shall give a resumé of Sufi doctrine with copious quotations from Sufi works. In the second we shall give a full exposition of Sufi practices and symbols.

The following is a partial list of works consulted and quoted without further reference:

Tholuck, Sufismus, sive theosophia persarum—Tholuck, Blüthensammlung der morgenl. Mystik—Malcolm, Hist. of Persia—Trans. of the lit. soc. of Bombay, vol. I, art. by Capt. Graham—J. von Hammer, Geschichte der Schönen Redekünste Persiens, mit einer Blüthenlese—Garcin de Tassy, la poesie phil. et rel. chez les Persans, in Rev. cont. 1856—Fleischer, uber die farbigen Lichterscheinungen der Sufis, in Zeitsh. f. morgl. Geselsch. vol. 16—G. P. Brown, The Dervishes, or Oriental Spiritualism—Journal of Am. Orient. Soc., vol. 8—The Dabistan, or school of sects—E. H. Palmer, Oriental Mysticism—Persian Poetry by S. Robinson—Th. P. Hughes, Dict. of Islam—Ousely, Biographical notices of Persian poets—Omar Khayyam, see ed. illust. by Vedder—Al Gazzali, la perle precieuse, par L. Gautier—Allegories recits poetiques traduit de l’arabe, du persan &c., par Garcin de Tassy—Al Gazzali, Alchemy of Happiness tr. by H. A. Homes—Hammer-Purgstall, Literatur-Geschichte der Araber—The works of Nizami, Saadi, Attar, Jellalladin Rumi, Hafiz, Jami, Hatifi, &c., in English, French, German and Latin translations—Lane’s transl. of the Quran—&c., &c.

PART I.—TEXTS.

ORIGIN OF SUFISM.

It is generally conceded among the Sufis that one of the great founders of their system, as found in Islam, was the adopted son and son-in-law of the Prophet, Ali-ibn-Abi-Talib. But it is also admitted that their religious system has always existed in the world, prior to Mohammed. It is known that a tribe, Sufah, from whom possibly the name is derived, in “the time of ignorance” separated themselves from the world and devoted themselves to spiritual exercises like those of the present Sufis.

Sufism in its best known forms must thus be considered to be the philosophy of Mohammedanism and to represent the protest of the human soul against the formalism and barrenness of the letter of the Quran. Still there is much in favor of Schmölder’s assertion (Essai sur les ecoles philos. chez les Arabes) that Sufism is neither a philosophical system nor the creed of a religious sect, but simply a way of living.

Perhaps the simplest statement is this: Sufism is theosophy from the standpoint of Mohammedanism.

Said-Abul-Chair (about A. D. 820) is often called the author of Sufism. Abu Hashem (A. D. 767) has been called the first Sufi.

The Dabistan maintains the identity of the pure Sufis and that of Platonism and it has popularly been supposed that Sufism has borrowed very much from the Vedanta and from Plato and Aristotle; it has even been confidently asserted that the similarity is so striking to the student, that it is a most easy matter to find identical statements in either of them. We must confess that our study does not prove the assertion. The similarity is to be accounted for by the universality of truth.

ETYMOLOGY.

The root of the word implies wisdom, the Greek Sophia, purity, spirituality, etc. Some have connected it with sûf, wool, on account of the woolen garment worn by the devotees.

Graham[43] maintains that “any person or a person of any religion or sect, may be a Sûfi. The mystery lies in this: a total disengagement of the mind from all temporal concerns and worldly pursuits; an entire throwing off not only of every superstition, doubt, or the like, but of the practical mode of worship, ceremonies, etc., laid down in every religion, which the Mohammedans term Sheriat, being the law, or canonical law; and entertaining solely mental abstraction, and contemplation of the soul and Deity, their affinity, etc.” In short, Sufism may be termed the religion of the heart, as opposed to formalism and ritualism.

“Traces of the Sufi doctrine exist in some shape or other in every region of the world. It is to be found in the most splendid theogonies of the ancient school of Greece and of the modern philosophers of Europe. It is the dream of the most ignorant and the most learned, and is seen at one time indulging in the shade of ease, at another traversing the pathless desert.” (Malcolm Hist. of Persia.)

Abu-Said-Abul-Chair, the accredited founder of Sufism, when asked what Sufism was, answered: “What you have in the head, give it up; what you have in the hand, throw it away; whatever may meet you, depart not from it.”

Dschuneid, a Sufi Shaikh, thus defined Sufism: “To liberate the mind from the violence of the passions, to put off nature’s claims, to extirpate human nature, to repress the sensual instinct, to acquire spiritual qualities, to be elevated through an understanding of wisdom, and to practice that which is good—that is the aim of Sufism.”

Abul Hussein Nuri thus expressed himself: “Sufism is neither precept nor doctrine, but something inborn. If it were a precept, it could be followed; if it were a doctrine, it could be learned; it is rather something inborn—and as the Quran says: ‘Ye are created in the image of God.’ Evidently no one can, either by application or by teaching, possess himself of the likeness of God.”

SUFI DOCTRINES.

DEITY.

The Deity alone IS and permeates all things. All visible and invisible things are an emanation from Deity, and are not absolutely distinct from it.

One sect “the Unionists,” believe that God is as one with every enlightened being. They compare the Almighty to a flame, and their souls to charcoal; and say, that in the same manner that charcoal when it meets flame, becomes flame, the immortal part, from its union with God becomes God.

According to the Dabistan, the presence of the universal Deity is fivefold. The first is the presence of “the absolute mystery.” The absolute mystery is one with “the invariable prototypes” (or realities of things). The second is the presence of “the relative mystery,” and this belongs to pure intellects and spirits. The third is the presence of “the mysterious relation,” which is nearest to the absolute evidence; this is the world of similitude or dream. The fourth is the presence of the “absolute evidence” which reaches from the centre of the earth to the middle of the ninth empyrean heaven. The fifth is “the presence of the rest,” and this is the universe in an extensive, and mankind in a restricted acceptation.

Silvestre de Sacy gives the following explanation to the above from Jorjani. The five divine presences are (1) the presence of the absolute absence (or mystery); its world is the world of the fixed substances in the scientific presence. To the presence of the absolute mystery is opposed: (2) the presence of the absolute assistance; it is the world of the throne or seat of God, of the four elemental natures. (3) The presence of the relative absence; this is divided into two parts: The one nearer the presence of the absolute mystery; the world of which is that of spirits, which belong to what is called intelligences and bare souls; the other: (4) Nearer the presence of the absolute assistance; the world of which is that of models (images). (5) The presence which comprises the four preceding ones, and its world is the world of mankind, a world which reunites all the worlds, and all they contain.

GOOD AND EVIL: ETHICS.

There is no absolute difference between Good and Evil; all that exists, exists in unity and God is the real author of all the acts of mankind.

The Sufi says that evil only came into the world through ignorance, and that ignorance is the cause of error and disunion among men. The following tale answers to the point: “Four travelers—a Turk, an Arab, a Persian, and a Greek, having met together, decided to take their meal in common, and as each one had but ten paras, they consulted together as to what should be purchased with the money. The first said Uzum, the second Ineb, the third decided in favor of Inghur, and the fourth insisted upon Stafilion. On this a dispute arose between them and they were about to come to blows, when a peasant passing by happened to know all four of their tongues, and brought them a basket of grapes. They now found out, greatly to their astonishment, that each one had what he desired.”

They believe the emanating principle, proceeding from God, can do nothing without His will and can refrain from nothing that He wills. Some of them deny the existence of evil on the ground that nothing but good can come from God.

The Dabistan: One sect, “the Eternals,” conceive that man is taught his duty by a mysterious order of priesthood,[44] whose number and ranks are fixed, and who rise in gradation from the lowest paths to the sublimest height of divine knowledge.

Another sect, “the Enlightened,” teach that men’s actions should neither proceed from fear of punishment nor the hope of reward, but from innate love of virtue, and detestation of vice.

THE SOUL, ITS LIFE AND CONDITIONS.

The soul existed before the body and is confined in it like in a cage. To the Sufi, death is liberation and return to the Deity.

The soul is confined in a body (metempsychosis) to be purified, to fulfill its destination, the union with Deity.

Without the grace of God (Fazlu allah) no soul can attain this union, but God’s grace can be obtained by fervently asking for it.

The soul of man is of God, not from God, an exile from Him; it lives in the body as in a prison and banishment from God. Before its exile the soul saw Truth, but here it only has glimpses “to awaken the slumbering memory of the past.” The object of all Sufi teaching is to lead the soul onward by degrees to reach that stage again.

“You say ‘the sea and the waves,’ but in that remark you do not believe that you signify distinct objects, for the sea when it heaves produces waves, and the waves when they settle down again become sea; in the same manner men are the waves of God, and after death return to His bosom. Or, you trace with ink upon paper the letters of the alphabet, a, b, c; but these letters are not distinct from the ink which enabled you to write them; in the same manner the creation is the alphabet of God, and is lost in Him.”

RELIGIONS

are matters of indifference; still they serve as stepping-stones to realities. Some are more useful than others, among which is al-Islam, of which Sufism is the true philosophy.

THE WORLD, &c.

The world is life and intellect, as far as the mineral kingdom; but the manifestation of intellect in everybody is determined by the temperature of the human constitution. Sometimes beauty attains an excellence which is uttered with ecstacy, and becomes a modulation more powerful than that which strikes the ear; and this is the work of the prophet.

THE TARIGAH OR “JOURNEY OF LIFE” AND ITS STATES.

The main duty of this life is Meditation on the Unity of Deity (wahdaniyah), the Remembrance of God’s Name (Zikr), and Progression in the Tarigah (the Path, the Journey of Life).

Human life is a journey (safar) and the seekers after God are travellers (salik). Perfect knowledge (marifah) of Deity as diffused throughout creation is the purpose of the journey. Sufism is the guide, and the end of the journey, is Union with God.

The natural state of every human being is nasut. In this state the disciple can not yet observe the Law (shariat). This is the lowest form of spiritual existence.

The states in the Tarigah are the following:

The first state is called Shariat—the state of law or method. The student’s passions are in this degree checked by a rigid observance of ritual, &c., whereby he learns human nature and to respect order and finds out for himself the rudiments of a knowledge of God.

The second state is Tureequt or the way, or road. This state implies mental or spiritual worship, abstracted totally from the above. The student learns to see the propædeutic nature of ceremonies and devotes himself to realities. At this stage the ascetic exercises begin and he holds communion with Melkut or the angelic world.

The third state, Huqeequt, or the state of truth is the state of inspiration or greater natural knowledge. The Sufi now lives no more in faith but in subjective truth and spiritual power; he has seen the similarity of God’s nature and his own; all antinomies are destroyed, even sin disappears from his reflections.

The fourth and last state is Marifut or union of spirit and soul with God. “Union (with God) is reality, or the state, truth and perception of things, when there is neither lord nor servant.” Still “the man of God is not God; but he is not separate from God.” At this stage man’s “corporeal veil will be removed, and his emancipated soul will mix again with the glorious essence, from which it had been separated, though not divided.”[45]

Aziz ibn Muhammad Nafasi in a book called al-Maqsadu ‘l-Aqsa or the “Remotest Aim,” (trans. in E. H. Palmer’s Oriental Mysticism) marks out the journey a little differently from that already described.

When a man possessing the necessary requirements of fully developed reasoning powers turns to them for a resolution of his doubts and uncertainties concerning the real nature of the Godhead, he is called a talib “a searcher after God.”

If he has further desire for progress he is called a “murid” or “one who inclines,” and he places himself under the instruction and guidance of a teacher and becomes a “traveller.”

The first stage of his journey is called “ubudiyah” or “service” and is as described above.

The second stage is ishq or “love.” He loves God. The divine love filling his heart, it expels all other loves and brings him to the third stage, Zuhd or “seclusion.” He occupies himself exclusively with contemplation of God and his attributes, and comes to the fourth state, Marifah or “knowledge.”

When settled he is come to the fifth stage, wajd or “ecstasy.” He now receives revelations and soon reaches the sixth stage, that of hagigah or “truth,” and proceeds to the final state, that of “wasl,” or “union with God.”

He has now finished the journey and remains in the state he has come to, still going on, however, progressing in depth of understanding. Finally he comes to “the total absorption into Deity.”

The Zikr, or ecstatic exercises belonging to the training on this journey, will be explained in our second part: Symbols.

THE SEVEN WAY-STATIONS OF PILGRIMAGE are these:[46]

The first degree consists of penitence, obedience, and meditation, and in this degree the light is, as it were, green.

The second degree is the purity of the Spirit from satanic qualities, violence, and brutality, because as long as the spirit is the slave of satanic qualities, it is subject to concupiscence, and this is the quality of fire. In this state Iblis evinces his strength, and when the spirit is liberated from this, it is distressed with the quality of fierceness, which may be said to be flashing and this is conformable to the property of wind. Then it becomes insatiable (lit. eager after anything to excess), and this is similar to water. After this it obtains quietness, and this quality resembles earth (i. e. apathy or cessation from all action). In the degree of repose, the light is as it were, blue, and the utmost reach of one’s progress is the earthly dominion.

The third degree is the manifestation of the heart, by laudable qualities, which is similar to red light, and the utmost reach of its progress is the middle of the upper dominion; and in this station the heart praises God, and sees the light of worship and spiritual qualities.

The fourth degree is the applying of the constitution to nothing else but to God, and this is similar to yellow light, and the utmost reach of its progress is the midst of the heavenly Malkat “dominion.”

The fifth degree of the soul is that which resembles white light, and the utmost aim of its progress is the extreme heavenly dominion.

The sixth degree is the hidden, which is like a black light, and the utmost reach of its progress is “the world of power.”

The seventh degree is “the evanescence of evanescence,” which is “annihilation” and “eternal life,” and is colorless. It is absorption in God, non-existence and effacement of the imaginary in the true being, like the loss of a drop of water in the ocean. It is eternal life as the union of the drop with the sea. “Annihilation” is not to be taken in the common acceptation, but in a higher sense, “annihilation in God.”

SUFI SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE.

The Sufis inculcate the doctrine, “Adore the Deity in his creatures.” It is said in a verse of the Quran—“It is not given to man that the Deity should speak to him: if it does so it is by inspirations, or through a veil.” Thus all the efforts of man should tend to raise the veil of divine love and to the annihilation of the individuality which separates him from the Divine essence; and this expression “raise up the veil,” has remained in the language of the East as expressive of great intimacy.

One of the most violent and able of the enemies of the Sufis, says that they deem everything in the world a type of the beauty and power of the Deity and adds that it appears from both their actions and writings, that it is in the red cheeks of beautiful damsels that they contemplate its beauty; and in the “impious” daring of Nimrod and of Pharaoh, that they see and admire the omnipotence of its power.[47]

The Persian commentator Suruni says in regard to sexual love: “the beauty of the wife is a ray from God and not from the beloved herself. The Mystic recognizes the fact of the divine beauty everywhere in creation, and loves because he in beauty sees a revelation of the blessings of the divine name. It is therefore the prophet says he prefers these three things to all others: women, incense, and enjoyments.”

Jellaladdin Rumi said: “They (the Sufis) profess eager desire, but with no carnal affection, and circulate the cup, but no material goblet; since all things are spiritual, all is mystery within mystery.”

Jami exclaims, addressing the Deity:

Sometimes the wine, sometimes the cup we call Thee!

Sometimes the lure, sometimes the net we call Thee!

Except Thy name, there is not a letter on the tablet of the universe:

Say, by what name shall we call Thee?

Nizami explains himself:

Think not that when I praise wine I mean the juice of the grape;

I mean that wine which raiseth me above self.

“My cup-bearer” is to perform my vow to God;

“My morning draught from the tavern” is the wine of self oblivion.

By heaven so long as I have enjoyed existence,

Never hath the tip of my lip been stained with wine!

In regard to Hafis it is maintained that by wine he invariably means devotion; and his admirers have gone so far as to compose a dictionary of words of the language, as they call it, of the Sufis. In that vocabulary sleep is explained by meditation on the divine perfections, and perfume by hope of divine favor; gales (i. e. Zephyrs) are illapses of grace; kisses and embraces, the raptures of piety; idolators, infidels, and libertines are men of the purest religion, and their idol is the creator himself; the tavern is the cell where the searcher after truth becomes intoxicated with the wine of divine love. Read with this key to the esoteric meaning, Mr. Clouston says, the gazelles of Hafis are no longer anacreontic and bacchanalian effusions, but ecstatic lucubrations on the love of man to his creator. The keeper, or wine seller, the spiritual instructor; beauty denotes the perfection of the supreme being; tresses and curls are the expansion and infiniteness of his glory; lips, the hidden and inscrutable mysteries of his essence; down on the cheek, the world of spirits, who encircle the creator’s throne; and a black mole is the point of indivisible unity; lastly, wantonness, mirth and ebriety, mean religious ardor, ecstasy and abstraction from all terrestrial thoughts and contempt for all worldly things.

Mohemmed Missiree: On the Tesavuf, or spiritual life of the Sufis. Translated from the Turkish by John P. Brown, Esq., of the American embassy at Constantinople. (In Journ. of Am. Orient. Soc. vol. viii.):

What is the beginning of at-Tesavuf? Faith, which has six pillars, namely: (1) Belief in God, (2) in His Angels, (3) in His Books, (4) in His Prophets, (5) and in the Last Day, and (6) in His decree of Good and Evil. What is the result of the Tesavuf? It is not only the reciting with the tongue of these pillars of faith but also establishing them in the heart. What is the distinction between a Sufi and an ordinary person? The knowledge of an ordinary person is a “counterfeit faith” whereas that of the Sufi is “true faith.” What do you mean by “counterfeit faith?” It is that which an ordinary person has derived from his forefathers, or from the teachers and preachers of his own day, without knowing why it is essential that a man should believe in these six articles for his soul’s salvation. What is the proof of faith? The proof of faith consists in a search being made for the true origin of each of these six pillars of faith, until the enquirer arrives at “the Truth.” The Sufis regard certain things as lawful which are forbidden. For instance, they enjoin the use of wine, wine-shops, the wine-cup, sweethearts; they speak of the curls of their mistresses, and the moles on their faces, cheeks, &c., and compare the furrows on their brows to verses of the Quran. What does this mean? The Sufis often exchange the external features of all things for the internal, the corporeal for the spiritual, and thus give an imaginary signification to outward forms. They behold objects of a precious nature in their natural character and for this reason the greater part of their words have a spiritual and figurative meaning. For instance, when, like Hafis, they mention wine, they mean a knowledge of God, which, figuratively considered, is the love of God. Wine, viewed figuratively, is also love; love and affection are here the same thing. The wine-shop, with them, means “spiritual director,” for his heart is said to be the depository of the love of God. The sweetheart means the excellent preceptor, because, when anyone sees his beloved, he admires her perfect proportions, with a heart full of love. As the lover delights in the presence of his sweetheart, so the Salik rejoices in the company of his beloved preceptor. The sweetheart is the object of a worldly affection, but the preceptor of a spiritual attachment. The curls or ringlets of the beloved are the grateful praises of the preceptor, tending to bind the affections of the disciple; the moles on her face signify that when the pupil, at times, beholds the total absence of all worldly wants on the part of the preceptor, he also abandons all the desires of both worlds—he perhaps even goes so far as to desire nothing else in life than his preceptor; the furrows on the brow of the beloved one, which they compare to verses of the Quran, mean the light of the heart of the preceptor; they are compared to verses of the Quran, because the attributes of God, in accordance with the injunction of the Prophet, “Be ye endued with divine qualities,” are possessed by the preceptor.

(To be continued.)

THEOSOPHICAL SYMBOLISM.

The number 7 has, ever since the Theosophical Society was founded November 17th, 1875, played a prominent part in all its affairs, and, as usual, the symbols which particularly relate or pertain to the Society are in number, seven. They are: first the seal of the Society; second, the serpent biting his tail; third, the gnostic cross near the serpent’s head; fourth, the interlaced triangles; fifth, the cruxansata in the centre; sixth, the pin of the Society, composed of a cruxansata entwined by a serpent, forming together T. S.; and seventh, OM the sacred Vedic word.

The seal of the Society contains all of the symbols enumerated, excepting aum, and is the synthesis of them. It, in fact, expresses what the Society is itself, and contains, or ought to, in symbolic form, the doctrines which many of its members adhere to.

A symbol to be properly so called, must be contained in the idea or ideas which it is intended to represent. As a symbol of a house could never be the prow of a boat, or the wing of a bird, but must be contained somewhere in the form of the house itself; that is, it must be an actual part chosen to represent or stand for the whole. It need not be the whole, but may be a lower form or species used as the representative of a higher of the same kind. The word is derived from the Greek words meaning to throw with, that is to throw together. To be a just and correct symbol, it should be such as that the moment it is seen by one versed in symbolism, its meaning and application become easily apparent. The Egyptians adopted to represent the soul passing back to its source, after the trial in the Hall of Two Truths, a winged globe, for a globe is a symbol of either the Supreme Soul or a portion of it, and the wings were added to represent its life and flight to the upper spheres. In another branch of their symbology they represented justice by a scale which gives a just balance; while even there in the Hall of Two Truths, they reverted again to the other mode and symbolized the man being weighed by justice, in the form of his heart over against the feather of truth in the opposite pan of the scales.

There is one very curious hieroglyph of the Egyptians which deserves some study by those of curious mind. Here we will merely point it out, remarking that there is a mine of great value in the Egyptian method of picturing their ideas of the macrocosm. In one of the numerous papyri now in the British Museum, there is a picture of a globe being held up by a beetle by means of his head and two fore legs, while he is standing upon a sort of pedestal which has certain divisions, looking on the whole, like a section of an hour glass crossed by horizontal lines that project from each side. This pedestal represents stability; but what does the whole mean or shadow forth? Those who can follow up suggestions should direct their thoughts to the relation which the Sun bears to the earth in its orbital revolution.

To proceed with our analysis: The second symbol is the serpent biting his tail. This is wisdom, and eternity. It is eternity, because that has neither beginning nor end and therefore the ring is formed by serpent swallowing his tail. There is an old hermetic symbol similar to this, in which the circle is formed by two serpents interlaced and each swallowing the tail of the other one. No doubt the symbolism in that is, in respect to the duality of the manifested All, and hence, two serpents inextricably entwined.

Furthermore, the scales of the reptiles form the figures of facettes or diamonds, which shadow forth the illimitable diversity of the aspects of wisdom or truth. This is not due to any want of coherence or congruity in truth itself, but solely to the diverse views which each individual takes of the one Truth. These reflecting facettes are the beings composing the macrocosm: each one has developed himself only to a certain degree, and therefore can only appreciate and reflect that amount of wisdom which has fallen to his lot. As he passes again and again through the form of man, he slowly develops other various powers of appreciating more truth, and so at the last may become one with the whole—the perfect man, able to know and to feel completely his union with all. This is when he has acquired the highest Yoga. So in our experience and in history and ethnology we find individuals, nations and races, whose want of responsiveness to certain ideas, and others whose power to grasp them, can only be explained by the doctrines of Reincarnation and Karma. If those doctrines are not accepted, there is no escape from a blank negation.

It is not necessary to express the duality of the Supreme Soul by two serpents, because in the third component part of the Seal, elsewhere, that is symbolized by the interlaced triangles. One of these is white, that one with the point uppermost, and the other is black with its apex directed downward. They are intertwined because the dual nature of the Supreme, while in manifestation, is not separate in its parts. Each atom of matter, so called, has also its atom of spirit This is what the Bagavad-Gita[48] denominates Purusha and Prakriti, and Krishna there says that he is at once Purusha and Prakriti, he is alike the very best and the very worst of men. These triangles also mean, “the manifested universe.” It is one of the oldest and most beautiful of symbols, and can be discovered among all nations, not only those now inhabiting the earth, but also in the monuments, carvings and other remains of the great races who have left us the gigantic structures now silent as far as the voice of man is concerned, but resounding with speech for those who care to listen. They seem to be full of ideas turned into stone.

The triangles thus combined form in the interior space, a six sided plane figure. This is the manifested world. Six is the number of the world, and 666 is the great mystery which is related to the symbol. St. John talks of this number. Around the six sided centre are the six triangles projecting into the spiritual world, and touching the enclosed serpent of wisdom. In an old book, this is made by the great head of the Lord rising above the horizon of the ocean of matter, with the arms just raised so that they make the upper half of the triangle. This is the “long face,” or macrocoscopos, as it is called. As it rises slowly and majestically, the placid water below reflects it in reverse, and thus makes the whole double triangle. The lower one is dark and forbidding in its aspect, but at the same time the upper part of the darker one is itself light, for it is formed by the majestic head of this Adam Kadmon. Thus they shade into one another. And this is a perfect symbolism, for it clearly figures the way in which day shades into night, and evil into good. In ourselves we find both, or as the Christian St. Paul says, the natural and spiritual man are always together warring against each other, so that what we would do we cannot, and what we desire not to be guilty of, the darker half of man compels us to do. But ink and paper fails us in the task of trying to elucidate this great symbol. Go to Hermes, to St. John, the Caballah, the Hindu books, wherever you please, and there will you find the seven times seven meanings of the interlaced triangles.

OM is the Sacred Vedic syllable: let us repeat it with a thought directed to its true meaning.[49]

Within the small circle, placed upon the serpent, is a cross with its ends turned back. This is called the Gnostic Cross. It signifies evolution, among other ideas, for the turning back of its ends is caused by the revolving of the two diameters of the circle. The vertical diameter is the spirit moving down and bisecting the horizontal. This completed, the revolution round the great circle commences, and that motion is represented in the symbol by the ends turned back. In Chapter III. of Bagavad-Gita, Krishna says: “He who in this life does not cause this cycle, thus already revolved, to continue revolving lives to no purpose, a life of sin, indulging his senses.” That is, we must assist the great wheel of evolution and not oppose it; we must try to help in the great work of returning to the source from whence we came, and constantly endeavor to convert lower nature into higher, not only that of ourselves, but also of our fellow men and of the whole animated world.

This cross is also the symbol of the Hindu Chakkra, or discus, of Vishnu. In the Mahabharata is described the conflict between the Asuras and Devas, for the possession of the vase of Amreeta which had been churned with infinite trouble, from the ocean, and which the Asuras desired to take for themselves. The conflict began when Rahu, an Asura, assuming the form of a Deva, began drinking the ambrosia. In this case the Amreeta was spiritual wisdom, material existence, immortality, and also magic power. The deceit of Rahu was discovered before he had swallowed, and then the battle began.

“In the midst of this dreadful hurry and confusion of the fight, Nar and Narayan entered the field together. Narayan beholding a celestial bow in the hands of Nar, it reminded him of his Chakkra, the destroyer of the Asuras. The faithful weapon, ready at the mind’s call, flew down from heaven with direct and refulgent speed, beautiful, yet terrible to behold. And being arrived, glowing like the sacrificial flame, and spreading terror around, Narayan with his right arm formed like the elephantine trunk, hurled forth the ponderous orb, the speedy messenger, and glorious ruin of hostile towns, who raging like the final all destroying fire, shot bounding with desolating force, killing thousands of the Asuras in his rapid flight, burning and involving, like the lambent flame, and cutting down all that would oppose him. Anon he climbeth the heavens from whence he came.” (Mahabharata, Book I, Chap 15.)

Ezekiel, of the Jews, saw this wheel, when he was among the captives by the river Chebar in Chaldea. In a vision he saw the four beasts and the man of the Apocalypse, and with them “for each of the four faces,” was a wheel, of the colour of a beryl; it was “as a wheel within a wheel,” and they went wherever the living creatures went, “for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.” All of this appeared terrible to him, for he says: “And when they went I heard a noise like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of a host.”

There are many other meanings concealed in this symbol, as in all the others.

In the center of the interlaced triangles is placed the Cruxansata. This is also extremely ancient. In the old Egyptian papyri it is frequently found. It signifies life. As Isis stands before the candidate, or the soul, upon his entry, she holds in one hand this cross, while he holds up his hand that he may not look upon her face. In another there is a winged figure, whose wings are attached to the arms, and in each hand is held the same cross. Among other things we find here the horizontal and vertical diameters once more, but conjoined with the circle placed on top. This is the same as the old astrological sign for Venus. But in the seal, its chief and most important meaning is the regenerated man. Here in the centre, after passing the different degrees and cycles, both spirit and matter are united in the intelligent regenerated man, who stands in the middle knowing all things in the manifested universe. He has triumphed over death and holds the cross of life.

The last theosophical symbol is, the pin of the Society, adopted early in its history but not used much. It is the cross we have just been considering, entwined in such a way by a serpent, that the combination makes T S as a monogram.

The foregoing is not exhaustive. Every symbol should have seven meanings of principal value, and out of every one of those we have been considering can be drawn that number of significations. Intelligent study of them will be beneficial, for when a consistent symbol, embodying many ideas is found and meditated upon, the thought or view of the symbol brings up each idea at once before the mind.

NILAKANT.

REVIEWS.

THE SECRET DOCTRINE OF THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES.—An essay by J. D. Buck, (Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, O.). This little pamphlet of 32 pages, is an essay read by Dr. Buck before the Liberal Club of Cincinnati. The author tries to show that one truth has run all through the Ancient Mysteries, and later, is even to be found in the Christian Church. His hint on p. 22, that “the Apostolic Catholic Church possessed the Secret Doctrine, that some of its clergy apprehended the great truths, but that there was wisdom for the priests and command for the people,” is full of truth. At the present day the great Jesuit College possesses much knowledge of the theurgy which is a part of the practice of the Secret Doctrine, and if all the magical practices of the disciples of Loyola were known, the Christian world would be startled. They know enough of forecasting the future to fear all such movements as the Theosophical Society, and have tried, as they still try, to undermine it within its own borders.

Anyone who reads Dr. Buck’s essay with a candid spirit, will agree with him that one core of truth underlies all religions, and will feel the refreshing influence of the author’s clear mind and solid sense.

INWORLD.

[A poem taken from the January number of “The Dial,” 1842, the organ of the Transcendentalists, edited by RALPH WALDO EMERSON.]

Amid the watches of the windy night

A poet sat, and listened to the flow

Of his own changeful thoughts, until there passed

A vision by him, murmuring as it moved,

A wild and mystic lay—to which his thoughts

And pen kept time—and thus the measure ran:

All is but as it seems,

The round, green earth,

With river and glen;

The din and the mirth

Of the busy, busy men;

The world’s great fever

Throbbing forever;

The creed of the sage,

The hope of the age,

All things we cherish,

All that live and all that perish,

These are but inner dreams.

The great world goeth on

To thy dreaming;

To thee alone

Hearts are making their moan,

Eyes are streaming.

Thine is the white moon turning night to day,

Thine is the dark wood sleeping in her ray.

Thee the winter chills,

Thee the spring time thrills;

All things nod to thee—

All things come to see

If thou art dreaming on.

If thy dream should break,

And thou should’st awake,

All things would be gone.

Nothing is, if thou art not,

From thee as from a root

The blossoming stars upshoot,

The flower cups drink the rain.

Joy and grief and weary pain

Spring aloft from thee,

And toss their branches free.

Thou are under, over all;

Thou dost hold and cover all;

Thou art Atlas—thou art Jove:—

The mightiest truth

Hath all its youth

From thy enveloping thought.

Thy thought itself lay in thy earliest love.

Nature keeps time to thee

With voice unbroken:

Still doth she rhyme to thee

When thou hast spoken.

When the sun shines to thee,

’Tis thy own joy,

Opening mines to thee

Nought can destroy.

When the blast moans to thee

Still doth the wind

Echo the tones to thee

Of thy own mind.

Laughter but saddens thee

When thou art sad,

Life is not life to thee,

But as thou livest,

Labor is strife to thee

When thou least strivest:—

More did the spirit sing, and made the night,

Most musical with inward melodies,

But vanished soon, and left the listening bard

Wrapt in unearthly silence—till the morn

Reared up the screen that shuts the spirit world

From loftiest poet and from wisest sage.

OUTWORLD.

The sun was shining on the busy earth.

All men and things were moving on their way—

The old, old way which we call life. The soul

Shrank from the giant grasp of Space and Time,

Yet, for it was, her dreamy hour half yielded

To the omnipotent delusion—and looked out

On the broad glare of things, and felt itself

Dwindling before the universe: Then came unto the bard

Another spirit with another voice,

And sang:—

Said he, that all but seems?

Said he, the world is void and lonely,

A strange vast crowd of dreams

Coming to thee only?

And that thy feeble soul

Hath such a strong control

O’er sovereign Space and sovereign Time

And all their train sublime?

Said he, thou art the eye

Reflecting all that is—

The ear that hears, while it creates

All sounds and harmonies—

The central sense that bides amid

All shows and tunes and realities?

Listen mortal while the sound

Of this life intense is flowing!

Dost thou find all things around

Go as thou art going?

Dost thou dream that thou art free,

Making, destroying all that thou dost see

In the unfettered might of thy soul’s liberty?

Lo, an atom troubles thee.

One bodily fibre crushes thee,

One nerve tortures and maddens thee,

One drop of blood is death to thee.

Art thou but a withering leaf,

For a summer season brief

Clinging to the tree,

’Till the winds of circumstance,

Whirling in their hourly dance,

Prove too much for thee?

Art thou but a speck, a mote

In the system universal?

Art thou but a passing note

Woven in the great rehearsal?

Canst thou roll back the tide of Thought

And unmake the creed of the age,

And unteach the wisdom taught

By the prophet and the sage?

Art thou but a shadow

Chasing o’er a meadow?

The great world goes on

Spite of thy dreaming;

Not to be alone

Hearts are making their moan

And tear-drops streaming,

And the mighty voice of Nature

Is thy parent, not thy creature,

Is no pupil but thy teacher:

And the world would still move on

Were thy soul forever flown.

For while thou dreamest on enfolded

In nature’s wide embrace,

All thy life is daily moulded

By her informing grace.

And Time and Space must reign

And rule o’er thee forever,

And the Outworld lifts its chain

From off thy spirit never;

But in the dream of thy half-waking fever

Thou shalt be mocked with gleam and show

Of truths thou pinest for, and yet canst never know.

And then the Spirit fled and left the bard

Still wondering—for he felt that voices twain

Had come from different spheres with different truths

That seemed at war and yet agreed in one.

C.

ANOTHER THEOSOPHICAL PROPHECY.

In the first number of THE PATH was inserted a prophecy made from certain books in India called Nadigrandhams, respecting the Society.

This called forth from the N. Y. Sun, that model of journalism, a long tirade about the superficial knowledge which it claims pervades the Society on the subject of oriental philosophy. Unfortunately for the learned editorial writer in that paper, he never before heard of Nadigrandhams, which are almost as common in India as the Sun is here, nor does he appear to know what a Nadi may be, nor a Grandham, either.

But without trying to drag the daily press of this country into the path of oriental knowledge, we will proceed to record another prophecy or two.

The first will seem rather bold, but is placed far enough in the future to give it some value as a test. It is this:—The Sanscrit language will one day be again the language used by man upon this earth, first in science and in metaphysics, and later on in common life. Even in the lifetime of the Sun’s witty writer, he will see the terms now preserved in that noblest of languages creeping into the literature and the press of the day, cropping up in reviews, appearing in various books and treatises, until even such men as he will begin perhaps to feel that they all along had been ignorantly talking of “thought” when they meant “cerebration,” and of “philosophy” when they meant “philology,” and that they had been airing a superficial knowledge gained from cyclopœdias of the mere lower powers of intellect, when in fact they were totally ignorant of what is really elementary knowledge. So this new language cannot be English, not even the English acquired by the reporter of daily papers who ascends fortuitously to the editorial rooms—but will be one which is scientific in all that makes a language, and has been enriched by ages of study of metaphysics and the true science.

The second prophecy is nearer our day, and may be interesting.—It is based upon cyclic changes. This is a period of such a change, and we refer to the columns of the N. Y. Sun of the time when the famous brilliant sunsets were chronicled and discussed not long ago for the same prognostication. No matter about dates; they are not to be given; but facts may be. This glorious country, free as it is, will not long be calm: Unrest is the word for this cycle. The people will rise. For what, who can tell? The statesman who can see for what the uprising will be might take measures to counteract. But all your measures can not turn back the iron will of fate. And even the City of New York will not be able to point its finger at Cincinnati and St. Louis. Let those whose ears can hear the whispers, and the noise of the gathering clouds, of the future, take notice; let them read, if they know how, the physiognomy of the United States, whereon the mighty hand of nature has traced the furrows to indicate the character of the moral storms that will pursue their course no matter what the legislation may be. But enough. Theosophists can go on unmoved, for they know that as Krishna said to Arjuna, these bodies are not the real man, and that “no one has ever been non-existent nor shall any of us ever cease to exist.”

CORRESPONDENCE.

THEOSOPHY.

[A LETTER FROM A FRIEND.]

DEAR BROTHER:

“It rejoices us all here more than I can tell you, to know that you have made such a start in America with Theosophy. We have had so many things to pull us back, that it has been quite as much as we could manage to keep our heads above water, and this not so much from the action of our enemies as from the apathy of our friends. It is strange to me to see how little faith there is in the power of truth, even among those who ought to realize this most strongly. Why should we fear and fold our hands when men speak evil of us or of the cause, why should we imagine that any attack on individual members can effect the position we take as a group or that theosophy can be endangered thereby? How few understand what theosophy is; they look upon it as solely an intellectual movement that can be damned by the folly of its adherents; they little dream of the strength that underlies the apparently inconsistent workings of this manifestation of truth which we call the Theosophical Society. And there is one thing which I believe establishes more than any other, the fact that the Society as a whole has true vitality within it, and that is the visible action of Karma in its developments.

“See how the mistaken value given to phenomena in the early history of the Society, brought immediately its Karmic development in the troubles then, and whenever any undue importance has been given either to individualities or any particular line of practice, it is always on that particular point that the next attack comes. So that while fully realizing that as an organization, the T. S. is defective in some things, I yet believe that there is a power within it that will purge it from its defects and carry it on in spite of the attacks of its enemies and what is worse still, the follies of its friends. What I do feel more and more is the necessity that we should remember and constantly keep before us what it is we are working for and not think we accomplish our end when we number our converts in the world of fashion, and gather around us men and women who vainly hope for psychic powers and the arts of fortune telling and reading the future. I do not fear black magic in our midst, but I do feel very strongly that there are many who will sink to the level of mere wonder-seekers and that they will become the prey of elemental influences.

“What can be done to make men realize, as you say, a sense of universal brotherhood and the true meaning of Theosophy. Well, let us join you in America and the few here who do realize that psychism is not spirituality, and let us try to stir the hearts of men with the living truths of Theosophy.

“I am most anxious, and have been for a long time, that we should address ourselves to another stratum of society than that (the intellectual and the fashionable) which we have sought. It is not that I would depreciate intellect; if I err in that matter it is in putting too much stress on intellectual development. But I am beginning to realize that the lower intellect can only deal with physical facts and that it can never develop ideas; these can only be apprehended by the higher intellectual faculties, and the ethical and emotional nature of man has also its higher and lower aspects.

“I wish very much that we had a literature calculated to appeal to the general masses, and I think that we should resolutely turn our attention to this object. I think the little book that Dr. Buck has just published very useful and I should be glad to see many more such little works treating of the various points of doctrine such as Reincarnation, Karma, &c. It is also encouraging to see such efforts as that contained in the small book lately out—What is Theosophy? Doubtless, in connection with that, for it seems to have been written for the author’s children, you will call to mind what was written by one of the adepts, not so long ago: ‘there is a great likelihood that the sons of theosophists will become theosophists,’ and will quite agree with me in the idea that we need a literature, not solely for highly intellectual persons, but of a more simple character, which attempts to appeal to ordinary common sense minds, who are really fainting for such mental and moral assistance, which is not reached by the more pretentious works. Indeed, we all need this. It is fortunate that we have been able to live through the tide of mere psychism and bare intellectuality which threatened nearly to swamp us. And you know to whom we owe our escape, and now, that there are ten or twelve members left who are prepared to work on independently of perturbation, I think it a clear gain. What does it matter to us whether H. P. Blavatsky has or has not fulfilled all of her duties, or whether investigation has cast doubt into the minds of some. In so far as she has done her duty, her work will remain, and if perchance she has come to the end of her capabilities—which I do not admit—it is for us to carry on what she has thus far done.

“In America I hope you will not fall into running after wonders and psychic gifts to the detriment of true philosophical and moral progress.

“Believe me to be, fraternally yours, A.”

NOTE.—The whole of this letter should be carefully studied, and in particular the point that Karma brings its attacks just on the point or persons where or by whom stress has been laid on phenomena. It may be accepted as almost axiomatic by our members, that if any group or single person has paid too undue attention to phenomena, to astralism, psychism, or whatever it is called, there will develop the next trouble or attack upon the Society. It has been authoritatively stated by one of the great Beings who are behind this movement, that it must prosper by moral worth and philosophy, and not by phenomena. Let us well beware then. Phenomena, powers—or siddhis as the Hindu say—are only incidental. Our real object is to spread Universal Brotherhood, in which task we necessarily explain phenomena, but the Society is not a Hall for Occultism, and that has also been asserted by an adept in India in reply to letters written him by certain well-known Englishmen who desired to establish a Branch then which should control all literature and phenomena. There are no secrets to be given out to any select persons, for no one receives a secret inaccessible to the rest, until he has acquired the right to it, and the proper sense to know when and to whom it is to be given out.—[ED.]

WHAT IS THE UDGITHA?

JAMESTOWN, April 16th, 1886.

DEAR BROTHER:—Will you kindly explain, through THE PATH, what is to be understood by the Udgitha, or hymn of praise to Brahm? With best wishes for the success of your enterprise, I remain,

Fraternally yours, L. J.

This is a vital question. It may have arisen from the peculiarity of the word inquired about, or it may be that our brother really knows the importance of the point. We refer him to the article upon OM in the April number. Om is the Udgitha, and OM has been explained in that article. Read between the lines; and read also the “Upanishad Notes” in this month’s PATH.

In the Maitrayana-Brahmana-Upanishad, (Pr. VI), it is said: “The Udgitha, called Pranava, the leader, the bright, the sleepless, free from old age and death, three footed, (waking, dream, and deep sleep), consisting of three letters and likewise to be known as fivefold, is placed in the cave of the heart.”

This is the Self. Not the mere body or the faculties of the brain, but the Highest Self. And that must be meditated on, or worshipped, with a constant meditation. Hymn of praise, then, means that we accept the existence of that Self and aspire to or adore Him. Therefore, it is said again, in the same Upanishad:

“In the beginning Brahman was all this. He was one, and infinite. * * * The Highest Self is not to be fixed, he is unlimited, unborn, not to be reasoned about, not to be conceived. He is, like the ether, everywhere, and at the destruction of the Universe, he alone is awake. Thus from that ether he wakes all this world, which consists of (his) thought only, and by him alone is all this meditated on, and in him it is dissolved. His is that luminous form which shines in the sun, and the manifold light in the smokeless fire. He who is in the fire, and he who is in the heart, and he who is in the sun, they are one and the same. He who knows this becomes one with the One.”

Now “to know” this, does not mean to merely apprehend the statement, but actually become personally acquainted with it by interior experience. And this is difficult. But it is to be sought after. And the first step to it is the attempt to realize universal brotherhood, for when one becomes identified with the One, who is all, he “participates in the souls of all creatures;” surely then the first step in the path is universal brotherhood.

The hymn of praise to Brahm (which is Brahman) is the real object of this magazine, and of our existence. The hymn is used, in the sacrifice, when verbally expressed, and we can offer it in our daily existence, in each act, whether eating, sleeping, waking, or in any state. A man can hardly incorporate this idea in his being and not be spiritually and morally benefited.

But we cannot fully explain here, as it is to be constantly referred to in this magazine.—[ED.]

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.—This branch has established the nucleus of a library to consist of Theosophical, Metaphysical, Occult, Aryan, and other literature. It already numbers about fifty volumes, some of which are loaned pending further accumulations and the acquirement of a proper place to keep them. It is hoped that this will grow to be of great value. A fund for the purpose has also been started. During April the contributions have been: A Friend, $5; Mr. B. X., $3: C., nine books: Hist. of Witchcraft in Salem; Zend Avesta; What is Theosophy?; Mother Clothed with the Sun; Footfalls on the Boundaries of Another World, &c.; from Dr. Seth Pancoast, Red and Blue Light.

The books will be loaned to resident members upon giving receipt for a definite period. Donations of books or money towards the fund, can be sent to THE PATH, or the Pres’t of the A. T. S., box 2659, New York City.

Several other books are promised and will be in hand before next month.

The Branch is actively engaged in spreading Theosophical literature, and now has requests for books from all parts of the U. S. It has reprinted Mrs. Sinnett’s “Purpose of Theosophy” very cheap in form, but well done, and has other reprints in mind. Since last month, permanent quarters have been obtained, where the library will be established. Private meetings are also held from time to time among the members, for study and discussion.

Mr. C. H. A. Bjerregaard finished his course of lectures on “Historic and Individual Cycles.”

All inquiries should be addressed to the Secretary, Box 2659, New York City.

CINCINNATI.—Since our April issue the members here have been steadily at work, and among other things accomplished, is the printing of Dr. Buck’s essay upon the “Secret Doctrine of the Ancient Mysteries.”

BOSTON.—Interest in Boston continues unabated. A member of the Aryan Branch of New York has been spending a month in Boston, discussing the philosophy and ethics to be found in theosophical literature, and it is to be hoped that the work done will be permanent, founded as it is in ethics and not upon phenomena.

BULLEL.—Brother Krishnarao B. Bullel, a Bombay member, who has been studying medicine in New York, and who constantly attended the meetings of the Aryan Branch, graduated from the Homœopathic Medical College, of New York, with honors. He sailed for home on April 14th, on the steamer America, intending to stop in London. He carries back with him the best wishes of his American brothers, and a good report of the progress of the Cause here.

OLCOTT.—Col. H. S. Olcott has lately been in Ceylon looking after the work there. Rev. Mr. Leadbeater was with him, and will remain on the Island, where Theosophy is very strong, to work for the Society. A theosophical paper, in Singhalese, was started there some years ago, and still flourishes. The Colonel has just recovered from a slight attack of fever contracted in his journeys, but his vigor remains unabated.

EXPOSURES.—In reply to several inquiries made here, and also sent to London from the U. S., we beg to say that it is true that the Society for Psychical Research sent a prejudiced expert to India, who exposed nothing except his own bias. Among other things, he thought he had proved that the writing of alleged adepts was only Mme. Blavatsky’s disguised hand. But since then, a well-known German member has submitted specimens of adept writing, together with Mme. Blavatsky’s, to one of the best calligraphic experts in Germany, who certifies that the messages which have been impugned were not written by her.

Mme. Blavatsky is now in Europe, for her health, but she may be expected to return very soon to India, spy-theory and missionaries, to the contrary notwithstanding.

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF CONTROL.—The general and routine work of the Society in America, is under the jurisdiction of the Board of Control, of which the Secretary is Elliott B. Page, 301 South Main Street, St. Louis, Mo.

A resolution has been passed by this Board, which is binding on all members, that no publication shall be issued as a Theosophical one, without previous consent obtained from the officers of the Board. This is wise, as it will tend to prevent unauthorized declarations of so-called Theosophical doctrine from being laid at the door of the Society. All members, therefore, intending to make publication, should address the Secretary of the Board.

YOGA VIDYA or the Knowledge of Yoga, is the name by which in India psychic practices, or astralism, or seeking after astral-body formation, or inducing clairvoyance and the like, is most commonly known. At the same time, True Yoga, called Raja Yoga, is a different thing. In the March Theosophist a member writes giving the name of one who will instruct in these practices, and the Editor replied:

“We cannot endorse the writer’s opinion as to the benefits of Yoga Vidya. For one or two who succeed in it, hundreds fail and wreck both body and mind, through its dangerous practices, and even if physical results are obtained they are not invariably followed by spiritual illumination.”

It certainly thus appears that our Society is not in favor of such practices, no matter if some of its members indulge in them.

ADMISSION TO THE SOCIETY is open to any person of full age, who is in sympathy with its objects, willing to abide by its rules; and is obtained by signing an application which sets forth the above in a form which is provided. This must be countersigned by any two active members in good standing. The entrance fee is $5 and one belonging to a Branch should also pay the annual dues thereof. Applications can be made to Presidents of Branches or other officers. Persons may become members of Branches or unattached members of the General Society.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought pain follows him as the wheel follows the foot of him who draws the carriage.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.—Dhammapada.

Receive this law, young men; keep, read, fathom, teach, promulgate and preach it to all beings. I am not avaricious nor narrow minded; I am confident and willing to impart Buddha knowledge, or knowledge of the self-born. I am a bountiful giver, young men, and ye should follow my example; imitate me in liberality, showing this knowledge, and preaching this code of laws and conduct to those who shall successively gather round you, and rouse unbelieving persons to accept this law. By so doing ye will acquit your debt to the Tathagatas.—Saddharma Pundarika.

OM

The great All, which is constantly in motion, and is constantly undergoing change in the visible and invisible universe, is like the tree which perpetuates itself by the seed and is incessantly creating the same identical types.—Book of Pitris.

Nothing is commenced or ended. Everything is transformed. Life and death are only modes of transformation which rule the vital molecule from plant up to Brahma himself.-Atharva Veda.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         JUNE, 1886.                         NO. 3.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the authors name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

A HINDU CHELA’S DIARY.[50]

In the month of December he arrived at Benares, on what he hoped would be his last pilgrimage. As much as I am able to decipher of this curious manuscript, written in a mixture of Tamil—the South Indian language—with Mahratta, which, as you know, is entirely dissimilar, shows that he had made many pilgrimages to India’s sacred places, whether by mere impulse or upon actual direction, I know not. If he had been only any ordinary religiously disposed Hindu we might be able to come to some judgment hereupon, for the pilgrimages might have been made in order to gain merit, but as he must long ago have risen above the flowery chains of even the Vedas, we cannot really tell for what reason these journeys were made. Although, as you know, I have long had possession of these papers, the time had not until now seemed ripe to give them out. He had, when I received them, already long passed away from these busy scenes to those far busier, and now I give you liberty to print the fragmentary tale without description of his person. These people are, you know, not disposed to have accurate descriptions of themselves floating about. They being real disciples, never like to say that they are, a manner quite contrary to that of those famed professors of occult science who opportunely or inopportunely declare their supposed chelaship from the house top.

* * * “Twice before have I seen these silent temples standing by the rolling flood of sacred Ganges. They have not changed, but in me what changes have occurred! And yet that cannot be, for the I changeth not, but only the veil wrapped about, is either torn away or more closely and thickly folded round to the disguising of the reality. * * * It is now seven months since I began to use the privilege of listening to Kunâla. Each time before, that I came to see him, implacable fate drove me back. It was Karma, the just law, which compels when we would not, that prevented me. Had I faltered then and returned to the life then even so far in the past, my fate in this incarnation would have been sealed—and he would have said nothing. Why? Happy was I that I knew the silence would have not indicated in him any loss of interest in my welfare, but only that the same Karma prevented interference. Very soon after first seeing him I felt that he was not what he appeared exteriorly to be. Then the feeling grew into a belief within a short time so strong that four or five times I thought of throwing myself at his feet and begging him to reveal himself to me. But I thought that was useless, as I knew that I was quite impure and could not be trusted with that secret. If I remained silent I thought that he would confide to me whenever he found me worthy of it. I thought he must be some great Hindu Adept who had assumed that illusionary form. But there this difficulty arose, for I knew that he received letters from various relatives in different parts, and this would compel him to practice the illusion all over the globe, for some of those relatives were in other countries, where he had been too. Various explanations suggested themselves to me. * * * I was right in my original conception of Kunâla that he is some great Indian Adept. Of this subject I constantly talked with him since—— although I fear I am not, and perhaps shall not be in this life worthy of their company. My inclination has always been in this direction. I always thought of retiring from this world and giving myself up to devotion. To Kunâla I often expressed this intention, so that I might study this philosophy, which alone can make man happy in this world. But then he usually asked me what I would do there alone? He said that instead of gaining my object I might perhaps become insane by being left alone in the jungles with no one to guide me; that I was foolish enough to think that by going into the jungles I could fall in with an adept; and that if I really wanted to gain my object I should have to work in the reform in and through which I had met so many good men and himself also, and when the Higher Ones, whom I dare not mention by any other names, were satisfied with me they themselves would call me away from the busy world and teach me in private. And when I foolishly asked him many times to give me the names and addresses of some of those Higher Ones he said once to me: ‘One of our Brothers has told me that as you are so much after me I had better tell you once for all that I have no right to give you any information about them, but if you go on asking Hindus you meet what they know about the matter you might hear of them, and one of those Higher Ones may perhaps throw himself in your way without your knowing him, and will tell you what you should do.’ These were orders, and I knew I must wait, and still I knew that through Kunâla only would I have my object fulfilled. * * *

“I then asked one or two of my own countrymen, and one of them said he had seen two or three such men, but that they were not quite what he thought to be ‘Raj Yogs’ He also said he had heard of a man who had appeared several times in Benares, but that nobody knew where he lived. My disappointment grew more bitter, but I never lost the firm confidence that Adepts do live in India and can still be found among us. No doubt too there are a few in other countries, else why had Kunâla been to them. * * * In consequence of a letter from Vishnurama, who said that a certain X[51] lived in Benares, and that Swamiji K knew him. However, for certain reasons I could not address Swamiji K directly, and when I asked him if he knew X he replied: “If there be such a man here at all he is not known.” Thus evasively on many occasions he answered me, and I saw that all my expectations in going to Benares were only airy castles. I thought I had gained only the consolation that I was doing a part of my duty. So I wrote again to Nilakant: “As directed by you I have neither let him know what I know of him nor what my own intentions are. He seems to think that in this I am working to make money, and as yet I have kept him in the dark as regards myself, and am myself groping in the dark. Expecting enlightenment from you, etc.” * * * The other day Nilakant came suddenly here and I met Sw. K. and him together, when to my surprise K at once mentioned X, saying he knew him well and that he often came to see him, and then he offered to take us there. But just as we were going, arrived at the place an English officer who had done Kunâla a service in some past time. He had in some way heard of X and was permitted to come. Such are the complications of Karma. It was absolutely necessary that he should go too, although no doubt his European education would never permit him to more than half accept the doctrine of Karma, so interwoven backward and forwards in our lives, both those now, that past and that to come. At the interview with X, I could gain nothing, and so we came away. The next day came X to see us. He never speaks of himself, but as ‘this body.’ He told me that he had first been in the body of a Fakir, who, upon having his hand disabled by a shot he received while he passed the fortress of Bhurtpore, had to change his body and choose another, the one he was now in. A child of about seven years of age was dying at that time, and so, before the complete physical death, this Fakir had entered the body and afterwards used it as his own. He is, therefore, doubly not what he seems to be. As a Fakir he had studied Yoga science for 65 years, but that study having been arrested at the time he was disabled, leaving him unequal to the task he had to perform, he had to choose this other one. In his present body he is 53 years, and consequently the inner X is 118 years old. * * * In the night I heard him talking with Kunâla, and found that each had the same Guru, who himself is a very great Adept, whose age is 300 years, although in appearance he seems to be only 40[52]. He will in a few centuries enter the body of a Kshatriya[53], and do some great deeds for India, but the time had not yet come.”

[To be continued.]

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in Mysticism.

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, Stud. Theos.

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katobi:

“Last night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress, when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the garden, soft as the dews of heaven.”

(CONTINUED.)

SUFI ECSTASY.

MOTTO: “Highest nature wills the capture; “Light to light!” the instinct cries;

And in agonizing rapture falls the moth, and bravely dies.

Think not what thou art, Believer; think but what thou mayest become

For the World is thy deceiver, and the Light thy only home.” (Palm Leaves.)

ABULFAZL (A.D. 1595):

O Lord, whose secrets are for ever veiled,

And whose perfection knows not a beginning!

End and beginning both are lost in thee;

No trace of them is found in thy eternal realm.

My words are lame; my tongue, a stony tract;

Slow wings my foot, and wide is the expanse.

Confused are my thoughts; but this is thy best praise—

In ecstacy alone I see thee face to face!

SHEMS TEBREEZ:

What advice, O Musselmans? I don’t know myself; I[54] am neither Christian nor Jew, nor am I a fire-worshipper nor Musselman.

I am not from the East or West, nor am I of land or fire.

I am not from the country of Iran, nor am I from the land of Khoorassan.

I am neither of water nor air, nor am I of fire or earth.

I am not of Adam or Eve, nor am I of the inhabitants of paradise.

My place is no place, my sign is without sign:

I have neither body nor soul,—what is there then? I am the soul of my Beloved.[55]

When I took out my heart, the two worlds I saw as one. He is the first, He is the last, He is the manifest. He is the secret.

Except Him, and that I am Him, I do not know anything else.

O thou, Shems Tebreez, why this rapture in this world?

Except with rapture and enthusiastic ardour, this work cannot be effected.

ECSTASY: THE HEART AS MEDIUM.

All the earth I’d wandered over, seeking still the beacon light,

Never tarried in the day time, never sought repose at night;

Till I heard a reverend preacher all the mystery declare,

Then I looked within my bosom, and ‘twas shining brightly there.

(E. H. Palmer, Orient. Myst.)

Who so knoweth himself, knoweth the Godhead.—Thy soul is the sufficient proof of the existence of the Godhead: When by reflection thou hast penetrated to that deep within, thou shalt discover there the Universal Worker of his work.

(D’Herbelot—Persian Paraphrases.)

Wouldst know where I found the Supreme? One step beyond self.—Behind the veil of self shines unseen the beauty of the Beloved.—(Aphorisms.)

Soul of the soul! Neither thought nor reason comprehend thy essence, and no one knows thy attributes. Souls have no idea of thy being. The prophets themselves sink into the dust before thee. Although intellect exists by thee, has it ever found the path of thy existence? Thou art the interior and the exterior of the soul.—(Attar.)

They who see God are ever rapt in ecstacy. * * * (The Mesnevi.)

ECSTASY: NATURE AS MEDIUM.

The varied pictures I have drawn on space,

Behold what fair and goodly sights they seem;

One glimpse I gave them of my glorious face,

And lo! ‘tis now the universal theme.

(E. H. Palmer, Orient. Myst.).

Recognise the mark of Deity in every place, and never place the foot without its own limit. The world is the image of the Godhead.—(Buslami.)

RABIA LEGENDS.

—The widow Rabia[56] is reported having said “an interior wound consumes my heart; it can only be cured by communion with a friend.[57] I shall remain sick till the day of judgment when I shall reach my end.”—

—It is told of Rabia, that once when requested to marry, she answered: My being has for a long time been in marital communion; hence I say that my ego is long ago lost in itself and arisen again in Him (in God); since then I am entirely in His power, yea, I am He. He, who would ask me for a bride, would ask me, not from myself, but from Him (God). Hassan Basri (a famous Mohamedan Theologian) asked her how she had reached this state. She answered: In this way, everything which I had found I lost again in Him (God). When questioned as to by which mode she knew Him, she made answer: O, Hassan, you know Him by certain methods and means, I know Him without modes and means.—

—Ibn Chali Kan tells about Rabia that she often in the middle of the night went up upon the roof and in her loneness cried out: O, my God! Now is silenced the noise of the day, and the lover enjoys the night with the beloved, but I enjoy myself in my loneness with Thee; Thou art my true lover.—

—It is told of her that once while journeying to Mecca on seeing the Kaaba she exclaimed: What is the Kaaba to me? I need the Lord of the Kaaba! I am so near God that I apply to myself his words: He who approaches me by an inch, him I approach by a yard. What is the Kaaba to me?—

—Feri’d Eddin Attar tells about her, that she, once while crossing the fields, cried out: Deep longing after God has taken possession of me! True, Thou art both earth and stone, but I yearn to behold Thee, Thyself. The high God spoke to her in her heart, without a medium: O, Rabia! Do you not know that once when Moses requested to see God, only a grain fell from the sun and he collapsed: Be satisfied with my name!—

—Once asked if she beheld God while worshipping Him, “Assuredly,” said she, “I behold Him, for Whom I cannot see, I cannot worship.”—

—Once when Rabia was sick three famous Theologians called upon her, namely Hassan Basri, Malik Dinar, and Schakik Balchi. Hassan said: The prayers of that man are not sincere who refuses to bear the Lord’s chastisements. Schakik added to that: He is not sincere who does not rejoice in the Lord’s chastisements. But Rabia, who detected selfish joy even in those words, replied: He is not sincere in his prayers, who does not, when he beholds his Lord, forget entirely that he is being chastised.—

—On one occasion Rabia was questioned concerning the cause of an illness and replied: I allowed myself to think on the delights of paradise, therefore my Lord has punished me.—

ACTS OF ADEPTS.[58]

Munsoor Halaj attained victory of the body, by incessant prayer and contemplation. He used to say “I am the Truth.”

The following story is told of him. He observed his sister go out frequently at night, and wondering what it meant, he resolved to watch her and see where she went. He did so and found that she went to a company of celestial spirits, who gave her of their nectar or immortal beverage. Thinking that a drop might be left in the cup after his sister had drank from it, he took hold of it and did, much against her warning, get a drop of the divine fluid. Ever afterwards he went about exclaiming “I am the Truth!” This was too much for the observers of the canonical law and they sentenced him to be impaled alive. When they came to take him, he told them, that he did not fear them, they could do him no harm, and when they were putting him on the stake, he disappeared from them and appeared in a sitting posture in the air at a small distance over the stake. This was repeated several times. His spirit ascended to heaven and asked the Prophet if it be right that he should suffer. The Prophet advised him to suffer, otherwise there would be an end to formal religion. On this Munsoor Halaj’s spirit descended and permitted the body to take the course of nature. When about to be impaled, he called a disciple of his, told him the secret and that his voice, “I am the Truth” would be heard, when they after burning him, should throw his ashes into the sea; and that the sea would rise and overflow all the land, if they did not take his godhra[59] and place it on the rising waves. It so all happened.—

A Sufi poet has explained the cause of Munsoor’s death, to lie in the fact, that he revealed a mystery.

Of Shems Tebreez the following story is told. He raised a King’s only son from death by throwing his mantle over him and ordering him “Rise by my order.” For this he was summoned before the ecclesiastical court and sentenced to be flayed alive. When the sentence came to be executed, no knives could cut him, his body was invulnerable. It is related, that he ascended in spirit to heaven and the Prophet directed him to undergo his punishment, which he subsequently did. He directed the doctors of Law, himself, how to begin to cut the skin from his feet, or rather made the incision himself. When they had thus flayed him, he requested his own skin, be given to him as the letter of the law was fulfilled, and they gave it to him. Of this he made his Khirqeh or derwish’s habit, threw it over his shoulders, and went away.

After that the doctors of law ordered everybody to give him nothing to eat, drink, &c. He thus remained for some days without food, &c. At last he found a dead ox and cut out a piece, but as no one dared give him fire, he ordered the sun to descend from the firmament and come nearer to broil his meat. The sun obeyed—but the prince and people fearing the consequences implored him to relieve their sufferings by ordering the sun to return to its station. He granted their request.

TEXTS FROM REPRESENTATIVE SUFIS.

Al-Ghazzali (Abu Hamid Muhammed ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Ghazzali,) surnamed Hujjatu ‘l-Islam (“the proof of Islam”). He was born at Tus A. D. 1058 and died A. D. 1111.—

The following are his own words: “I said to myself: the aim of my life is simply to know the truth of things; therefore I must ascertain what knowledge is. * * I then said to myself ‘the only hope of acquiring incontestable convictions is by the perceptions of the senses and by necessary truths.’ Their evidence seemed to me to be indubitable. I soon began to examine the objects of sensation and speculation to see if they were beyond doubt and doubts crowded in upon me, that my incertitude became complete. * * I abandoned the senses, therefore, having seen all my confidence in their truth shaken. * * * Perhaps, said I, there is no assurance but in the notions of reason, viz., in first principles. * * * Upon this the senses replied: ‘What assurance have you that your confidence in reason is not of the same nature as your confidence in us? May there not be some other judge superior to reason? The non-appearance of such a judge is no proof of his non-existence.’ * * * I came to reflect on sleep, how during sleep we give to visions, reality and consistence, and have no suspicion of their untruth. On awaking we see they were nothing but visions. What assurance have we that all we feel and see and know when we are awake does actually exist?”

Al Gazzali had now come to disbelief and distrust of the world of sense. He gave his wealth away, left Bagdad and retired into Syria, to the desert, where he spent two years in solitary struggle, combating his passions, purified his heart and prepared for another world. He attained freedom. Afterwards he said: “The life of man passes through three degrees. The first or infantile state is that of pure sensation; the second is that of understanding, and the third that of reason, where the intellect perceives the necessary truths, &c. But there is a fourth state, beyond these three, in which man perceives the hidden things, that have been, and that will be and the things that escape both the senses and reason. This state is Freedom.”

AL GAZZALI: ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS.

CHAP. I. On the knowledge of the soul, and how knowledge of the soul is the key to the knowledge of God.

O seeker after the divine mysteries! Know thou that the door to the knowledge of God will be opened to a man first of all, when he knows his own soul, and understands the truth about his own spirit, according as it has been revealed, “he who knows himself knows his Lord also.”

If you wish, O seeker of the way! to know your own soul, know that the blessed and glorious God created you of two things: the one is a visible body, and the other is a something internal, that is called spirit and heart, which can only be perceived by the mind. But when we speak of the heart, we do not mean the piece of flesh which is in the left side of the breast of man, for that is found in a dead body and in animals: it may be seen with the eyes, and belongs to the visible world. That heart, which is emphatically called spirit, does not belong to this world, and although it has come to this world, it has only come to leave it. It is the sovereign of the body, which is its vehicle, and all the external and internal organs of the body are its subjects. Its special attribute is to know God and to enjoy the vision of the Beauty of the Lord God.—They will ask you about the spirit. Answer, “The spirit is a creation by decree of the Lord. The spirit belongs to the world of decrees. All existence is of two kinds, one is of the world of decrees, and the other is of the world of creation. To Him belong creation and decree.”

—That spirit, which has the property of knowing God is called the heart; it is not found in beasts, nor is it matter or an accident. The heart has been created with angelic qualities. It is a substance of which it is difficult to apprehend the essence. The law does not permit it to be explained, but there is no occasion for the student being acquainted with it at the outset of his journey.

—Know, O seeker after the divine mysteries! that the body is the kingdom of the heart, and that in the body there are many forces in contrariety with the heart, as God speaks in his Holy Word.

—Know, O student of wisdom! that the body, which is the kingdom of the heart, resembles a great city. The hand, the foot, the mouth and the other members resemble the people of the various trades. Desire is a standard bearer; anger is a superintendent of the city, the heart is its sovereign, and reason is the vizier. The sovereign needs the service of all the inhabitants. But desire, the standard bearer, is a liar, vain and ambitious. He is always ready to do the contrary of what reason, the vizier, commands. He strives to appropriate to himself whatever he sees in the city, which is the body. Anger, the superintendent, is rebellious and corrupt, quick and passionate. He is always ready to be enraged, to spill blood, and to blast one’s reputation. If the sovereign, the heart, should invariably consult with reason, his vizier, and, when desire was transgressing, should give to wrath to have power over him (yet, without giving him full liberty, should make him angry in subjection to reason, the vizier, so that passing all bounds he should not stretch out his hand upon the kingdom), there would then be an equilibrium in the condition of the kingdom, and all the members would perform the functions for which they were created, their service would be accepted at the mercy seat, and they would obtain eternal felicity.

The dignity of the heart is of two kinds; one is by means of knowledge, and the other through the exertion of divine power. Its dignity by means of knowledge is also of two kinds. The first is external knowledge, which everyone understands: the second kind is veiled and cannot be understood by all, and is extremely precious.

—In the second, by the power of thought, the soul passes from the abyss to the highest heaven, and from the East to the West.

The most wonderful thing of all is, that there is a window in the heart from whence it surveys the world. This is called the invisible world, the world of intelligence, or the spiritual world.

—The heart resembles a pure mirror, you must know, in this particular, that when a man falls asleep, when his senses are closed, and when the heart, free and pure from blamable affections, is confronted with the preserved tablet, then the tablet reflects upon the heart the real states and hidden forms inscribed upon it. In that state the heart sees most wonderful forms and combinations. But when the heart is not free from impurity, or when, on waking, it busies itself with things of sense, the side towards the tablet will be obscured, and it can view nothing. For, although in sleep the senses are blunted, the image-making faculty is not, but preserves the forms reflected upon the mirror of the heart.

—In death, the senses are completely separated and the veil of the body is removed, the heart can contemplate the invisible world and its hidden mysteries, without a veil, just as lightning or the celestial rays impress the external eye.

—If a person calls into exercise, in perfection, holy zeal and austerities, and purifies his heart from the defilement of blamable affections, and then sits down in a retired spot, abandons the use of his external senses, and occupies himself with calling out “O God! O God!” his heart will come into harmony with the visible world, he will no longer receive notices from the material world, and nothing will be present in his heart but the exalted God. In this revelation of the invisible world, the windows of the heart are opened, and what others may have seen in a dream, he in this state sees in reality. The spirits of angels and prophets are manifested to him and he holds intercourse with them. The hidden things of the earth and heaven are uncovered to him. * * * Probably the knowledge of all the prophets was obtained in this way, for it was not obtained by learning.

—When the heart is free from worldly lusts, from the animosities of society and from distractions by the senses, the vision of God is possible. And this course is adopted by the Mystics. It is also the path followed by the prophets.

—The heart of man while in the spiritual world knows its Maker and Creator: it had mingled with the angels and knows for what service it was created.

—To whomsoever this revelation has been vouchsafed, if it directs him to reform the world, to invite the nations to turn to God, and to a peculiar way of life, that person is called a prophet, and his way of life is called a law; and that influence which proceeds from him, which transcends what is ordinary, is called a miracle. If he has not been appointed to invite nations, but worships in accordance with the law of another, he is called a saint, and that which proceeds from him, which transcends what is ordinary, is called a manifestation of grace.

—The knowledge of God, which is the occasion of the revelation of truth, cannot be acquired without self-denial and effort. Unless a man has reached perfection and the rank of a Superior, nothing will be revealed to him, except in cases of special divine grace and merciful providence, and this occurs very rarely.

—You have now learned, O student of the divine mysteries, the dignity of the heart through knowledge.

—Now listen to the heart’s dignity through divine power and the greatness of which it is capable.

—When God wills it, the angels send forth the winds, cause the rain to fall, bring forth the embryo in animals, shape their forms, cause seeds to sprout in the earth and plants to grow, many legions of angels being appointed to this service. The heart of man, being created with angelic properties must also have influence and power over the material world; * * * and if the animal and ferocious qualities should not be dominant, if it should look upon a lion or tiger with “majesty” they would become weak and submissive. If it should look with kindness upon one who is sick, his infirmity might be changed to health. If it should look upon the vigorous with majesty, they might become infirm. The reality of the existence of these influences is known both by reason and experience.

—In whomsoever these influences are shown to have power, if he occasions misery in the exercise of this power, he is designated a sorcerer.

—The heart has dominion and control through three channels. One is through visions;—the second is through the dominion which the heart exercises over its own body;—the third source of dominion of the heart is through knowledge.—Some persons have all things opened up to them by the will of God. This kind of knowledge is called “infused and illuminated” as God says in his Word: “we have illuminated him with our knowledge.” These three specialities are all of them found in certain measure in some men, in others two of them are found, and in others, only one is found: but whenever the three are found in the same person, he belongs to the rank of prophets or of the greatest of the saints. Man cannot comprehend states of being which transcend his own nature. No person can understand any individual who belongs to a scale of rank above him.

—The path of mysticism is sought for by all men, and longed for by all classes of society, yet those who attain to the end are exceedingly rare.

—The body is but an animal to be ridden by the heart, which is its rider, while the heart’s chief end is to acquire a knowledge of God.

CHAP. II. On the knowledge of God.

—In the books of former prophets it is written, “Know thine own soul, and thou shalt know thy Lord,” and we have received it in a tradition, that “He who knows himself, already knows his Lord.”

—Everyone in the sphere to which he attains, is still veiled with a veil. The light of some is as of a twinkling star. Others see as by the light of the moon. Others are illuminated as if by the world-effulgent sun. To some the invisible world is even perfectly revealed, as we hear in the holy word of God: “And thus we caused Abraham to see the heaven and the earth.” And hence it is that the prophet says: “There are before God seventy veils of light; if he should unveil them, the light of His countenance would burn everything that came into His presence.”

CHAP. III. On the knowledge of the world.

—Know, that this world is one stage of our life for eternity. For those who are journeying in the right way, it is the road of religion. It is a market opened in the wilderness, where those who are travelling on their way to God, may collect and prepare provisions for their journey, and depart thence to God, without sorrow or despondency.

—The world is delusive, enchanting and treacherous.

—The world will be brought to the great assembly at the last day, in the form of a woman with livid eyes, pendent lips, and deformed shape, and all the people will look upon her, and will exclaim, “what deformed and horrible person is that, whose aspect alone is severe torture to the soul.” And they will be answered, “It was on her account that you were envying and hating one another, and were ready to slay one another. It was on her account that you rebelled against God, and debased yourselves to every sort of corruption.” And then God will order her to be driven off to hell with her followers and her lovers.[60]

The Lord Jesus (upon whom be peace!) declares that the world is like the man who drinks sea water. The more he drinks, the more his internal heat increases, and unless he stops, he will destroy himself by drinking.

CHAP. IV. On the knowledge of the future world.

—Know, beloved, that we cannot understand the future world, until we know what death is: and we cannot know what death is, until we know what life is: nor can we understand what life is, until we know what spirit is.

—The following is an illustration of the duration of eternity, so far as the human mind can comprehend it. If the space between the empyreal heaven to the regions below the earth, embracing the whole universe, should be filled up with grains of mustard seed, and if a crow should make use of them as food and come but once in a thousand years and take but a single grain away, so that with the lapse of time there should not remain a single grain, still at the end of that time not the amount of a grain of mustard seed would have been diminished from the duration of eternity.—

AL GAZZALI ON PRAYER.

—Prayers are of three degrees, of which the first are those that are simply spoken with the lips. Prayers are of the second kind, when with difficulty, and only by a most resolute effort, the soul is able to fix its thoughts on Divine things without being disturbed by evil imaginations; of the third kind, when one finds it difficult to turn away the mind from dwelling on Divine things. But it is the very marrow of prayer, when He who is invoked takes possession of the soul of the suppliant, and the soul of him who prays is absorbed into God to whom he prays, and his prayer ceasing, all consciousness of self has departed, and to such a degree, that all thought whatsoever of the praying is felt as a veil betwixt the soul and God. This state is called by the Mystics “absorption,” for the reason that the man is so absorbed, that he takes no thought of his body, or of anything that happens externally, none of what occurs in his own soul, but, absent as it were from all such matter whatsoever, is first engaged in going towards his Lord, and finally is wholly in his Lord. If only the thought occurs that he is absorbed into the Absolute, it is a blemish; for that absorption only is worthy of the name which is unconscious of itself. And these words of mine, although they will be called, as I well know, but foolish babbling by raw theologians, are yet by no means without significance. For consider, the condition of which I speak, resembles that of a person who loves any other object, as wealth, honor, or pleasure. We see such persons so carried away with their love, and others with anger, that they do not hear one who speaks to them, nor see those passing before their eyes; nay, so absorbed are they in their passion, that they do not perceive their absorption. Just so far as you turn your mind upon your absorption, you necessarily turn it away from that which is the object of it.”

Again he says: “The commencement of this is the going to God, then follows the finding Him, when the “absorption” takes place. This is, at first, momentary, as the lightening swiftly glancing upon the eye. But afterwards confirmed by use, it introduces the soul into a higher world, where the most pure, essential essence meeting it, fills the soul with the image of the spiritual world, while the majesty of deity evolves and discovers itself.”

Omar Khayyam (Ghias uddin Abul Fath Omar ibn Ibrahim Al Khayyam) was born in Khorassan “the focus of Persian culture” and is supposed to have died A. D. 1123.

He was not affiliated with any Sufi order, but large parts of his works are full of true Sufi philosophy and are recognized as such.

The first part of the following quotations are taken from the translation by E. H. Whinfield in Trübner’s Oriental Series. The second part is extracted from B. Quarritch’s ed. 1879.

Motto: There is a mystery I know full well,

Which to all, good and bad, I cannot tell;

My works are dark, but I cannot unfold

The secrets of the “station” where I dwell.

(66)—to attain unconsciousness of self

Is the sole cause I drink me drunk with wine.—

(108) They preach how sweet those Houri brides will be,

But I say wine is sweeter—taste and see!—

(120) Ten powers, and nine spheres, eight heavens made He,

And planets seven, of six sides, as we see,

Five senses, and four elements, three souls,

Two worlds, but only one, O man, like thee.—

(124) What lord is fit to rule but “Truth?” not one.

What beings disobey His rule? not one.—

(131) Thy being is the being of Another,

Thy passion is the passion of Another.

Cover thy head, and think, and then wilt see,

Thy hand is but the cover of Another.—

(148) Allah hath promised wine in Paradise,

Why then should wine on earth be deemed a vice?—

(225) When the fair soul this mansion doth vacate,

Each element assumes its principal state,—

(266) They go away, and none is seen returning,

To teach that other world’s recondite learning;

’Twill not be shown for dull mechanic prayers,

For prayer is naught without true heartfelt yearning.—

(285) Life’s fount is wine, Khizer[61] its guardian

I, like Elias,[62] find it where I can;

’Tis sustenance for heart and spirit too,

Allah himself calls wine “a boon to man.”—

(340) Man is the whole creation’s summary,

The precious apple of great wisdom’s eye;

The circle of existence is a ring,

Whereof the signet is humanity.—

(351) The more I die to self, I live the more,

The more abase myself, the higher soar;

And, strange! the more I drink of Being’s wine,

More sane I grow, and sober than before!—

(369) This world a body is, and God its soul,

And angels are its senses, who control

Its limbs—the creatures, elements, and spheres;

The One is the sole basis of the whole.—

(376) Some look for truth in creeds, and forms, and rules;

Some grope for doubts or dogmas in the schools;

But from behind the veil a voice proclaims,

“Your road lies neither here nor there, O fools.”—

(400) My body’s life and strength proceed from Thee!

My soul within and spirit are of Thee!

My being is of Thee, and Thou art mine,

And I am Thine, since I am lost in Thee!—

(31) Up from Earth’s Centre through the Seventh Gate

I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn[63] sate,

And many a Knot unravel’d by the Road;

But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.—

(32) There was the Door to which I found no Key;

There was the Veil through which I might not see:

Some little talk awhile of Me and Thee

There was—and then no more of Thee and Me.[64]—

(33) Earth could not answer; nor the Seas that mourn

In flowing Purple, of their Lord forlorn;

Nor rolling Heaven, with all his Signs reveal’d

And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Morn.

(34) Then of the Thee in Me who works behind

The Veil, I lifted up my hands to find

A Lamp amid the Darkness; and I heard,

As from Without—“The Me Within Thee Blind!”—

(35) Then to the Lip of this poor earthern Urn

I lean’d, the Secret of my Life to learn:

And Lip to Lip it murmur’d—“While you live,

Drink!—for once dead, you never shall return.”—

(36) I think the Vessel, that with fugitive

Articulation answer’d, once did live,

And drink; and Ah! the passive lip I kiss’d.

How many kisses might it take—and give![65]—

(44) Why, if the Soul can fling the dust aside,

And naked on the Air of Heaven ride,

Wer’t not a Shame—wer’t not a Shame for him

In this clay carcase crippled to abide?—

(50-52) A Hair perhaps divides the False and True;

Yes; and a single Alif were the clue—

Could you but find it—to the Treasure-house,

And peradventure to The Master too.

Whose secret Presence * * *

* * * * eludes your pains;

Taking all shapes * * *; and

They change and perish all—but He remains.

A moment guess’d—then back behind the Fold

Immerst of darkness * * *

(55-56) You know, my Friends, * * *

I made a Second Marriage in my house;

Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,

And took the Daughter of the Vine to spouse.—

For “Is” and “Is-not” though with Rule and line,

And “Up-and-Down” by Logic I define,

Of all that one should care to fathom, I

Was never deep in anything but Wine.—

(66-67) I sent my Soul through the Invisible,

Some letter of that After-life to spell:

And by and by my Soul returned to me,

And answer’d: “I myself am Heav’n and Hell:”

Heav’n but the Vision of fulfill’d Desire

And Hell the shadow from a Soul on fire

Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves,

So late emerg’d from, shall so soon expire.

* * * the Banquet is ended!

FARIDU’D-DIN SHAKRGUNJ (about A. D. 1200).

Man, what thou art is hidden from thyself,

Know’st not that morning, mid-day, and the eve

Are all within Thee? The ninth heaven art Thou,

And from the sphere into the roar of time

Didst fall ere-while, Thou art the brush that painted

The hues of all the world—the light of life

That ranged its glory in the nothingness.

Joy! Joy! I triumph now; no more I know

Myself as simply me. I burn with love.

The centre is within me, and its wonder

Lies as a circle everywhere about me.

Joy! Joy! No mortal thought can fathom me.

I am the merchant and the pearl at once.

Lo! time and space lay crouching at my feet.

Joy! Joy! When I would revel in a rapture,

I plunge into myself, and all things know.

Saadi (Shaikh-Muslah-ud-Din Saadi) was born at Shiraz, the capital of Persia, A.D. 1176.

He thus characterizes his life and his studies: “I have wandered to various regions of the world, and everywhere have I mixed freely with the inhabitants; I have gathered something in each corner; I have gleaned an ear from every harvest.” The divan of Saadi is by his countrymen reckoned to be the true Salt mine of poets. Jami calls him “the nightingale of the groves of Shiraz.”

We would call him the moral philosopher of Sufism. His writings do not contain much metaphysics.

SAADIS’ GULISTAN (or ROSE GARDEN):

MOTTO: The Rose may continue to bloom five or six days;

But my Rose garden is fragrant for ever.

—Shame on the man * *

Who, when the drum soundeth for departure, hath not made up his burden

Who, on the morning of his journey, is still indulging in sweet sleep.

—They asked Lockman, the wise, from whence he learnt wisdom. He answered: “From the blind; for till they have tried the ground, they plant not the foot.”

—The world, O my brother, abideth with no one.

—Ask the inhabitants of Hell, they will tell you it is Paradise.

—The sons of Adam are limbs of one another, for in their creation they are formed of one substance.

When Fortune bringeth affliction to a single member, not one of the rest remaineth without disturbance.

—Know that from God is the difference of enemy and friend, for the hearts of both are alike in His keeping.

—So long as thou art able, crush not a single heart, for a sigh has power to overturn a world.

—Not a word can be said, even in child’s play, from which an intelligent person may not gather instruction; but if a hundred chapters of wisdom were read in the hearing of a fool, to his ears it would sound as nothing but child’s play.

—Yesternight, towards morning, a warbling bird stole away my reason, my patience, my strength, and my understanding. My exclamations, by chance, reached the ear of a most intimate friend. “Never,” he said “could I believe that the voice of a bird should have such a power to disturb thy intellect!”—“It is not,” I replied, “befitting the condition of man, that a bird should be reciting its hymn of praise, and that I should be silent.”

—One day the Prophet said to Abu Huraizah: “Do not come every day, that our friendship may increase.”

A holy man has said: “With all the beauty which attends the sun, I have never heard that anyone has taken him for a friend, except in winter, when he is veiled, and therefore is loved.”

—The treasure chosen by Lokman was patience: without patience there is no such thing as wisdom.

—Were every night a night of power, the Night of Power, would lose its worth. Were every pebble a ruby, the ruby and the pebble would be of equal value.

[Quran, Chap, xcvii: Verily we sent down the Quran in the night of al Kadr.—Therein do the angels descend, and the spirit of Gabriel also, by the permission of their Lord with his decrees concerning every matter. It is peace until morning. Comp. footnote to Lane’s transl. of the Quran and our Part II: Symbols].

—How should the multitude find its way to their secret chambers, for, like the waters of life, they are hidden in darkness?

They kindle themselves the flame, which, as a moth, consumeth them; not wrapping themselves up like the silk-worm in its own web.

Seeking for the Soul’s repose on the bosom which only can give repose, their lips are still dry with thirst on the very margin of the stream:

Not that they have no power to drink the water, but that their thirst could not be quenched, even on the banks of the Nile.

“The bird of the morning only knoweth the worth of the book of the rose; for not every one who readeth the page understandeth the meaning.” (Hafiz.)

SAADIS’ BOOSTAN (FRUIT GARDEN OR GARDEN OF PLEASURE).

His nature’s true state all are helpless to read.

The extent of His glory, no mortal has found;

His exquisite beauty, no vision can bound.

To the skirt of His praise Reason’s hand comes not nigh.

The mind can’t this world by reflection embrace.

But the Lord of the sky and the earth’s rugged skin,

On none shuts the door of subsistence for sin.

Like a drop in the ocean of knowledge are seen

Both His worlds, and the faults, He sees, kindly, He’ll screen.

The Creator is mercy-diffusing and kind,

For He helps all His creatures and knows ev’ry mind.

In Him, self-reliance and grandeur you see,

For His kingdom is old and His nature is free.—

He is tardy in seizing on those who rebel,

And does not excuse—bringers rudely repel.

When you’ve penitent turned “It is past,” He will write.

The extent of God’s mercies, no mortal can guess;

The need of His praises, what tongue can express?

Who knows that communion with God you don’t share,

When without an absolution you stand to say pray’r?

That pray’r is the key of the portal of hell,

Over which in men’s presence a long time you dwell.

If your path does not lead to the Maker alone,

Your carpet for pray’r into Hell will be thrown!

He ordered, and something from nothing arose;

Who something from nothing but He could disclose?

Again to nonentity’s hiding He flings us.—

And thence to the plain of the judgment He brings us.

Let the robes of deceit, name and fame be dispersed!

For a man becomes weak if in garments immersed.

Worldly love is a veil by which nothing is gained;

When you snap the attachments the Lord is obtained.

Know, that the people in ecstacy drown’d,

In the eyes of the Lord special favour have found!

He watches the “friend,” in the fierce burning pile?

You’ve no road in yourself while to self you are wed;

The enraptured alone are informed on this head.—

Some one said to a Moth “Oh, contemptible mite!

Go! love one who will your affection requite.”

Between you and the candle no friendship can be!

No one tells you your conduct is perfectly right

In destroying your life for the love of the light!

Observe what the moth, full of hot anguish, said:

“If I burn, oh astonishing! What is the dread?”

*  * I fancy the flame is a beautiful rose!

Won’t you helplessly, one day, your life give away?

For the sake of space and death, better give it to day!

A wild beast is not likely to change into man;

Instruction is lost on it, strive as you can.

Effort makes not a rose from a willow to grow;

A warm bath will not whiten a negro like snow.

Since naught can the arrow of destiny brave.

Resignation’s the shield that is left to God’s slave.

POLARITY OF THE HUMAN BODY.

Mr. H. Durville, Director of the “Journal du Magnétisme,” published in Paris, France, has made some very interesting experiments which have led him to fix the exact Polarity of the Human Body. To understand well what I am going to state, it is necessary to know first that the French call the South pole of the Earth, Austral, and the North pole, Boreal, and that they call the end of the compass needle or of a Magnet which is attracted to the North of the Earth, Austral, and the end which is attracted to the South, Boreal.

Mr. Durville has replaced the denominations Austral and Boreal by the terms positive and negative, based on the following Electro-Chemical law. If a Saline solution be submitted to the action of a Voltaic current, the acids go to the pole +, or positive and the alkalis to the pole-, or negative.

Also if we put in the water contained in two different glasses, the two electrodes of a pile, uniting the two glasses by a wet woolen or cotton thread, the water in the glass exposed to the electrode +, will take a fresh and acidulated taste, and the water in the other glass exposed to the electrode-, will take an alkaline, tepid and unsavoury taste. Now, if we submit two glasses filled with water to the poles of a Magnet, the water exposed to the Austral pole will take an acidulated taste, and the water exposed to the Boreal pole will take an alkaline taste.

There is, then, a concordance of nature between the positive or + pole of the pile, and the Austral or positive pole of the Magnet, both being fresh and acids; and between the negative or-pole of the pile, and the Boreal or negative pole of the Magnet, both being tepid, nauseous and alkaline. Consequently we can call +, or positive, the Austral pole of the Magnet and-, or negative, the Boreal pole. Furthermore, if we magnetize two glasses of water, one with the right hand, and the other with the left hand, the first will become acidulated and fresh, and the second, tepid, nauseous and alkaline.

Then, there is again concordance of nature between the positive or + pole of the pile, the positive or Austral pole of the Magnet, and the right hand, which are fresh and acidulated; and between the negative or-pole of the pile, the negative or Boreal pole of the Magnet, and the left hand which are tepids, nauseous and alkalines.

Consequently we can call positive or +, the right hand and the Austral pole of the Magnet, as well as the positive pole of the pile; and negative or -, the left hand and the Boreal pole of the Magnet, as well as the negative pole of the pile.

We know that the Earth is a Magnet and that it acts like one.

We also know that when Magnets act freely one upon another, the poles of the same name are repulsed and the poles of contrary names are attracted.

Now, Mr. Durville found by repeated experiments that all the right side of a sensitive subject is strongly influenced by the positive pole of the Magnet which produces contraction, repulsion and excitation; while, on the contrary, the other pole relaxes, attracts and calms the same side. The Austral pole of the Magnet presented within about 4-inches of the forehead of the subject, repulses him and puts him to sleep; while the left hand attracts and awakens him. It is evident, then, that the positive pole of the Magnet and the right hand are poles of the same name; and, if the Austral pole of the Magnet is positive, then the Boreal or Northern pole of the Earth must be negative. The physical laws of the Human Magnetism are consequently identical with those governing the actions of the Magnets.

The Human body represents three horse-shoe Magnets, two of them having the neutral point at the summit of the head and the third in an inverted position to that of the two first ones. The axis the most important divides us laterally from right to left, the other from the forepart to the back part of the body. The first horse-shoe Magnet has its neutral point at the summit of the head, and its extremities or poles at the right hand and the left hand, the right hand being the positive, and the left hand the negative pole.

The second horse-shoe Magnet has also its neutral point at the summit of the head, and the extremities or poles of its two branches are the right and the left foot, the right foot being positive and the left foot negative.

The third horse-shoe Magnet, the one in an inverted position, has its neutral point at the perineum and the extremities of its branches are the forehead and the occiput. The forehead being positive and the occiput negative.

From this it follows that in the human body, from the extremities of the feet to the summit of the head, all the right side is positive and the left side negative, and from the forehead to the perineum all the forepart of the body is positive, while the opposite or back part, from the occiput to the perineum is negative. The Human body possesses other polary axes of less importance.

Reichenbach has found, through experiments made with many sensitives, that the end of the Magnet which seeks the North pole of the Earth, the end we call positive, sends to the left hand of a sensitive a fresh breeze, while the other end emits a tepid one. He also found that the positive end emits in the dark a blue light, while the negative one emits a yellow red light. His sensitives found that in the dark, the right side of the human body emits a blue light, while the left side emits a yellow red one. Then the right side of the body has the same quality of Magnetism as the positive, or North seeking, or Austral pole of the Magnet, and the left side has the same quality of Magnetism as the negative, or South seeking, or Boreal pole of the Magnet. Those experiments of Reichenbach agree thus entirely with those made by Mr. Durville. His polarity of the Human body is also the same as given by Andrew Jackson Davis, page 91 of his work “The Harbinger of Health.” There are consequently very strong reasons for believing that the theory of Mr. Durville is the right one, since it has been confirmed by practical experiments made by himself, Reichenbach and Davis.

Mr. Durville concludes his article in the “Journal du Magnétisme,” January number of 1886, with some interesting points in Therapeutics. Diseases can be classed as of two kinds, those due to atony or paralysis of the organs, and those due to excitation or inflammation.

The object of Medicine is to excite the functions of the atonic organs and to calm or moderate those which are too active. Magnetizers knew that the ends of the fingers presented within a few inches of the diseased part, will produce excitation, while the palm of the hand applied on produces calm; but they could not always obtain the desired effect for want of the knowledge of the true polarity of the Human body.

The right hand will produce attraction, calm and easiness on the left and back side of the body; and repulsion, excitation and uneasiness on the right and forepart of the body; and the left hand will produce the same corresponding effects on the right and forepart of the body, and on the left and backpart. The right-hand, a positive pole, will act with more energy than the left-hand, a negative one.

He found by experiments that the most certain and active results are produced by presenting the palm of the hand within about two inches from the diseased part, the attractions and repulsions being in inverse ratio of the square of the distances. Every time we want to take off a pain, or calm an excitation, we will succeed by presenting the palm of the right hand to the diseased part, if that part is on the left side or the back of the body, or by presenting the palm of the left hand, if it is on the right side or the forepart of the body. For example, a heaviness in the head, a neuralgia and in general, all kinds of headaches, will cease more or less rapidly under the influence of the palm of the hand presented with the fingers upright at about two inches from the forehead. To calm the nervous system, place yourself on the left of the patient and apply the left hand on the epigastrium, and the right hand on the vertebral column, on the corresponding part. If we were to use the other hand on the same part, we should increase for a while the intensity of the pain. To obtain the desired result, the time necessarily varies according to the nature of the disease and sensibility of the patient.

With a knowledge of the laws regulating the human polarity, Magnetism becomes an exact science, a positive one. But the application of it is also an art which constant practice may improve considerably.

CH. J. QUETIL, F. T. S.

THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.

Fragments of the Ancient Wisdom Religion have come down to us from the remotest past, through many channels, and in various forms.

The study of philology alone will be inadequate to discover the true meaning of ancient sacred writings, though it may very greatly assist the labors of those who have already gained a clue to the Secret Doctrine. The Theosophist and the Antiquarian differ very widely, and though the former has sometimes been accused of searching out obsolete doctrines and magnifying the achievements of the past, but little observation will be required to reveal the fact, that that for which they search may be very old because it is valuable, but never valuable merely because it is old. In short that of which they are in search may truly be said to never fade, and ne’er grow old, though it is often lost sight of. Occultism is not a new craze as some suppose, it is not simply a line of the marvelous, it is rather the profoundest of all sciences, conforming in its methods of research and the character of its results to those of all sciences. The naturalist does not hesitate to construct from a single tooth or a few fragments of bone, the entire animal and assign to it its proper place, declare its habits, modes of life, size, &c., &c., even though he fixed its era centuries ago, and no one nowadays questions the general correctness of the result; the study of comparative anatomy and the science of biology testify all this. In like manner and by similar methods may one familiar with the science of occultism, which deals with the operation of uniform laws in the higher realms of nature, arrive at exact data from very small beginnings, and with this advantage, viz., that he has the means at hand to verify his conclusions, which the naturalist has not, for in this realm there are no extinct species, the elements of human nature, and the laws which underlie their unfoldment and manifestation are the same now, as thousands of years ago.

It is the custom of many who are entirely ignorant of this higher science, to deny its existence and ridicule its cultivators. Just as an uneducated and conceited boor would ridicule an Agassiz for attempting to reconstruct an animal from its thigh bone. When, therefore, one entirely ignorant not only of the principles but of the existence of such a thing as occult science, examines ancient records in which it is concealed, he will arise from his task possibly better satisfied with his own possessions as contrasted with the “ignorance” of past ages, but seldom wiser for his endeavor. Few persons nowadays are ignorant of the form of most ancient hierarchic writings, as consisting of, or containing a double meaning under the garb of allegory or parable. It is moreover becoming quite generally known that many of these ancient records are of vital importance to us of the present day, as containing the very knowledge of which we stand most in need, and the amount of attention they are receiving may be determined by observing the interest in, and almost unprecedented sales of, such works as Arnold’s Light of Asia, while the labors of men like Max Muller in rendering the ancient scriptures into English have made it possible for everyone to gain some familiarity with the religious casts of antiquity. Bearing in mind these general observations, let us briefly examine one of the most ancient, most famous, and yet least comprehended sources of ancient wisdom. As to the questions who was Hermes? which Hermes? when did he write? we have these points for the philologists and historians, quoting here the remark of Iamblichus in his treatise on the Mysteries: “Hermes, the God who presides over language, was formerly very properly considered as common to all priests; and the power who presides over the true science concerning the Gods is one and the same in the whole of things. Hence our ancestors dedicated the inventions of their wisdom to this deity, inscribing all their own writings with the name of Hermes,” and “the late learned Divine Doctor Everard” in the preface to his translation of the Divine Pymander 1650, contends that Hermes Trismegistus lived a long time before Moses, that he had “perfect and exact knowledge of all things contained in the world,” * * “that he was the first that invented the art of communicating knowledge to the world by writing, that he was King of Egypt, that he styled himself the son of Saturn, and that he was believed to have come from heaven, and not to have been born on earth.”[66]

The above writer goes on to say that Hermes did excel in the right understanding of, because he attained to, the knowledge of the quintessence of the whole universe, otherwise called the Elixir of the philosophers, which secret many ignorantly deny, many have sought after, and some have found. A description of this great Treasure is said to have been found engraved upon a Smaragdine Tablet in the valley of Hebron after the flood.[67]

To the modern reader, all this sounds very queer, a bundle of contradictions and vagaries, taxing reason and even credulity. But suppose we are told, that it was designed for exactly that purpose, that only they who were determined to find the truth, and who therefore had faith that it existed somewhere, were expected to walk around or dig under this stumbling-block. If we turn now to Isis Unveiled p. 507, Vol. I, we shall find the inscription said to have been found on the tablet.

B.

[To be continued.]

REVIEWS.

PANTANJALI’S RAJ YOGA PHILOSOPHY.—(Reprinted by the Bombay Branch of the Theosophical Society.) We will give in subsequent numbers of this magazine, remarks and explanations by a Hindu brother member. In this reprint are some things which do not improve the book. They are selections from such men as P. B. Randolph and others. We do not think Pantanjali needs confirmation from such a source as Randolph’s. No doubt many Theosophists will be disappointed in this great Hindu, in consequence of their own expectations of finding explicit directions as to developing and projecting the double and other like tricks, and because of erroneous suppositions as to what Raj Yoga is. It is the highest philosophy, but the work needs just the explanations which we propose to furnish, in part at least. Pantanjali is immensely interesting to ordinary Theosophists from an intellectual standpoint, and to those who are somewhat advanced its instruction is very great. At present all the Raj Yoga which the western body of Theosophists can assimilate, is found in Light on the Path and Bagavad-Gita.

JOURNAL OF SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY.—We have received from Wm. T. Harris, (No. 3, Vol. XIX) for which we offer our thanks. Our small space will not permit extended notice. It is full of splendid matter.

IMMORTALITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL.—(W. T. Harris, D. Appleton & Co., New York.) On p. 5 is the basis of a great argument, that “the interaction between soul and body can never be explained, except by a combination of introspection with observation of physiologic facts.” The grossest scientist exercises both and yet denies the value of introspection.

PHILOSOPHY IN OUTLINE.—(Wm. T. Harris, D. Appleton & Co., New York.) A brief exposition of the method of Philosophy and its results in obtaining a view of nature, man and God.

NOTES AND QUERIES.—A monthly magazine full of curious information in art, science, mathematics, folk-lore, mysticism, etc., comes to The Path as an exchange and the back volumes have been received for our Theosophical library. It is published by S. C. & L. M. Gould, Manchester, N. H., at $1.00 a year. Among its articles are many on subjects allied with Eastern wisdom, ancient philosophy, masonry, bibliography, etc. Write to them for a sample copy.

LIGHT ON THE HIDDEN WAY.—Anon. (Boston.) This book has excited a great deal of comment in Boston.

The similarity of titles might lead one to expect something like “Light on the Path,” but the reader would soon find that the book, whose non-commital introduction by a distinguished Unitarian Minister has brought it considerable earnest consideration, has nothing in common with that priceless volume. It is the account of the experiences of the author, a sensitive and seer from childhood, and, in some respects, it reminds us strikingly of what Kerner tells us about the Seherin von Prevorst. While we cannot commend untrained seership, or its results, we can commend the earnestness and sincerity of the author and at least say for her work that it ought to do good in turning Spiritistic readers away from the materialistic aspects which their belief most commonly presents, and in teaching them that immortality is only to be obtained through “slaying the dragon Self.” For the rest, we will submit the following comments on the work from a source which we feel to be competent to judge:—

“I feel as if my father’s eyes were always upon me. p. 21. In this and following instances, the evidences are, that the writer is looking into the Astral world, or, in other words, is seeing the impressions that have been made upon her personal aura. Not having been effaced, they are readily mistaken for the personalities who made the impressions. Was it her father, the individual, he would be engaged in more important matters than watching for dust in unswept corners. So far, all is sentimental, or in the sphere of earthly impressions, beliefs and feelings—naturally to a great extent illusory and unsatisfactory. A chorus of heavenly voices swelling a hymn, may fulfill the requirements for some individuals, but we can hardly see or feel that any chorus, no matter how earthly, much more heavenly, can sing a song of rejoicing because a man has laid aside his robe, and in the doing it, causing a woman, perhaps, to pass through Gethsemane. The sorrows and demands of others are entirely lost to sight in the fancied importance of one being passing through the change of abode called Death. We do not think any man ever saw any being with wings in the spheres above the Astral. In the Astral they do exist, for they are creatures of the imagination. In truth, therefore, they are elementals, clothed in this form. Imagination, properly guided, does not create these beings, but unguided, or badly guided, it does, the result being that it is quite possible not only to see them with wings, but with a thousand of them, or, like a centipede, with a hundred legs.

“Similar visionaries, and this one also, have to a great extent unconsciously permitted their thoughts to be influenced by Biblical writers who express their visions in symbolical language. But the Prophets say: “And I saw one like unto an angel having four wings,” etc. They do not claim to have seen this, but that which they did see could only be expressed in this manner. They could convey their meaning only in this form.

“The ineffable Light is not to be beheld so easily, or with so little effort as a prayer. And earthly eyes do not behold it. In prayer the will is at work in desire. This produces a more active condition, or rousing of the material, causing a greater amount of motion or vibration, thereby increasing the brilliancy of the Astral, or Aura, of the personality, and the seer being within it and producing it, mistakes it for the Ineffable. After all, the seer is only looking at her physical self and calling it God.

“In regard to the higher precepts that are brought forth, we do not find her father connected with them in any way. But we do find some of the higher principles endeavoring to assert themselves. The words are those of the Inner Consciousness. It is herself that is trying to teach. It is that which is the first to assert itself when one begins to desire wisdom, and occurs long before the advent of a teacher, or any other individual. The teachings are good, and come to all who find the unimportance of self. But our work is not for the spirits in the astral, but for those who are in reality earth-bound, those in the body. Our teachings are for man. Our workings are for him. It is quite all we can do to instruct ourselves and fellow men, without attempting to teach him when out of a body. We can violate no law. One law is, that if a spirit needs instruction then he must be in possession of a body, and striving for knowledge in that manner. We cannot, in or out of a body, attach ourselves to any other individual and expect him to save us from the results of our own ignorance, selfishness, or bad Karma in general.

“The most peculiar of all the ideas suggested, as one reads farther, is this: That these spirits, after making such sad mistakes as they said they did in life, should come back to be saved by the reading, in some cases, of one book. If they had discovered enough, through the mere fact of death, to find that they were all wrong, why did they seek at the source of all their errors for more? Why not seek at the source that taught them that they were wrong? The fact is, Death has not the mighty power ascribed to it. If I move from one house to another, the mere act of going out of one does not solve the why that I lived in one, or will in another. I may perceive that one is better adapted to my wants, but the moving into it does not tell me ‘why?’ I, as the tenant, know already the why, and perhaps if I open the windows of my house, the house itself may become pervaded with the knowledge. But it is ‘I’ who do the act, not Death. Death closes my windows and opens the door. I close my door to Death and open my window to Wisdom—perhaps in a new house, quite likely in one which has had another occupant.

“If the ‘evil-minded, malicious, and undeveloped souls’ would only unfold their pin-feathers and fly off into the ‘Beyond,’ they would be a source of little sorrow to earth. But they do not. Undeveloped, they cannot fly; malicious, they remain in their proper degree; evil-minded, they are not souls, but elementaries.

“The book is the property of Death.”             “AMERICAN F. T. S.”

MEN, WOMEN AND GODS, AND OTHER LECTURES.—By Helen H. Gardener. Introduction by Robt. G. Ingersoll, (Truth Seeker Co., 33 Clinton Place, N. Y.) pp. 174, with a portrait of Miss Gardener; Cloth $1.00, paper .50. This is a valuable contribution, being compact, fervid in its reasonings yet not at all heavy. Its statements are unanswerable. Evidently the author read widely, thought deeply, observed keenly, and added to all that, a native genius. On page 53 she has put 12 articles of positive belief, and as the famous Colonel says in the introduction, “there is no misunderstanding between her head and her heart. She says what she thinks and feels what she says.”

The design of the book is the emancipation of woman, but in carrying that out she does not abuse men for the position of women. She calls upon the women to dare to think and act for themselves and to gain the place which rightfully, in the author’s estimation, belongs to them.

THE ORDER OF CREATION.—(Truth Seeker Co., New York.) This contains the controversy between Gladstone, Huxley, Muller, Reville and Linton, as to the order in which creation proceeded; p. p. 178, cloth .75 paper .50. Those who followed this interesting dispute will find this a valuable book, as it brings together the arguments of these masters of rhetoric, science and philosophy into one compact volume, and enables all who care for different kinds of authority upon vexed questions, to see what these modern lights each have to say as to the evident conflict which exists between Genesis and Geology.

CORRESPONDENCE.

AN UNWRITTEN MESSAGE BECOMES VISIBLE.

NEW YORK, May 16, 1886.

EDITOR OF THE PATH,

DEAR SIR:—Could you explain the following?

A friend of mine, a physician, who is a rational agnostic and scoffer at all so called supernatural things, relates the following curious mystery, which happened to him the other day.

He was sitting in his office holding in his hand a letter from one of his regular patients, which asked him to come as soon as he could. It being then towards 5 p. m., when his office hours are over, he was thinking whether he could go that day or not as he has an extensive practice. While thinking he found that the letter was gone. He searched for it on his table, but in vain. A strange feeling came over him as he could not even remember when he had received the letter, nor when he had opened it. A feeling that the letter had after all been a physical delusion he dismissed with scorn; he was sure it would by and by easily explain itself. However the servant was sure that no letter had since 2 p. m. been delivered, as she never leaves the door during that time.

The next morning he called on his patient, who was very glad to see him, though being a little astonished that her daughter had been very sick the preceding day for an hour or two. It had soon passed over. “I am glad to hear that it is nothing serious,” the doctor said, “I wanted to excuse myself for not coming yesterday. I received your letter only at 5 p. m.” “My letter?” the lady answered, “I never wrote to you; it is impossible, for about that time I was with my sick daughter, and thought very intensely to write, but as I had but one servant in the house I concluded to wait till my son came in. By the time he came, my daughter felt better, and so we concluded not to trouble you.”

My friend went home, perfectly sure that in spite of all appearance, though no letter could be found after repeated searching—— the lady had written but forgotten it. I can vouch for the truth of the story.

Remain yours fraternally, H. P. L.

[The explanation by those who adhere to mediumship would be, that this was what they call, “a spirit letter.” But at this time we cannot accept that proposition; it seems rather a degradation of what we call “spirit,” and many alleged “controls” of mediums have deprecated the constant referring of everything to spirit agency, when in perhaps the majority of cases, “spirits” have nothing to do in the matter. Many so called extraordinary things occur every day which are attributed to spirits, or classed as hallucination, which really are due to the powers of the living man, their laws of operation being almost unknown to western people.

The true student of Raj Yoga knows that everything has its origin in the mind; that even this universe is the passing before the Divine Mind of the images he desires to appear.

Now in the case before us, the doctor must be a sensitive man who has the power, unknown to himself, of seeing very clearly the mental images passing in the minds of those with whom he is in sympathy. These impressions are quite common, but they are not usually seen as apparently visible things. Some receive them as images, others as thoughts and ideas. We are all constantly affecting each other in this way every day of our lives, but not everyone receives the impression in the same way. The variations of the operations of manas, which may be properly called “mind,” are infinite.

The lady whose daughter was sick, desired very intently to see the doctor, and the message was probably formulated in her mind at once. This is evident, for she awaited the arrival of the son to whom she would at once have given it. That message thus formed was impressed in the astral light, and because of the sympathy existing between patient and doctor it immediately rushed into the sphere of the doctor, registering itself in his mind. He then saw in his hand a letter, which apparently he could feel and read. This was either, (a) the reflection from his mind, or (b) an actual momentary appearance in his hand of the astral message. It was never found again because it had no corporeal existence.

It would be easy to cry “spirits,” but it would not be common sense. We might also say elementals did it, but that would infer that either the doctor or the patient has elementals devoted to them. Elementals do perform such things but the cases are not common, and therefore we are not justified in taking that explanation when neither party knows of elementals.

If the doctor had not been a sensitive man, he would merely have received the message and repeated it to himself as a sudden thought of that particular patient.

We know several persons of our acquaintance who habitually obey sudden impressions, causing them to write to absent friends, &c., always finding that they answer the other person’s thought or written letter then on the way and undelivered until after the reply had been sent.

Let us then pay attention to these things in this light and not allow ourselves, except in known cases, to fly into the arms of alleged spirits or elementals.—ED.]

DEAR PATH:—Is not it an error on p. 28 of April No. in review of Apollonius of Tyana, where it says:

“Error courts investigation”; was not “truth” meant.

Yours, F. E. B.

[There was not a mistake. The author was trying to show how error preludes truth, but falsehood never does; that error courts investigation, falsehood never. Falsehood is altogether untrue and therefore without any knowledge; and being thus false it hides itself from investigation. But error is merely that which has not true knowledge, and does not imply falsity. Science is full of error, but constantly corrects itself. The process of acquiring true knowledge is in fact the cutting away of errors.—ED.]

PRONUNCIATION OF SANSCRIT.

DEAR BROTHER:—Is there any dictionary or book giving the correct pronunciation of the Oriental words so current in theosophical literature.

Yours ——

[In Sanscrit dictionaries the true pronunciation is found. But if our correspondent will, in these words, always read a as ah, e as eh, i as ee, u as oo, and o as oh, she will be right. Arjuna is sounded as Arjoona, Veda as Vaydah, Brahma as Brähmā, Prakriti as Präkreetee, Mulaprakriti as Moolahprakreetee, and so on.—ED.]

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

IRELAND.—A charter for a Branch of the Society in Dublin, was issued in April. This is the first Irish charter, and it marks an era in the history of the Society as well as of Ireland. The month of April is an important one for the green Isle in several ways, and this charter must bear a date of some significance.

Furthermore, Ireland’s real name signifies, “the Isle of Destiny,” and, as if she really had some great destiny, she has long been a thorn in England’s side, and has furnished great men, poets, and warriors, to all western peoples.

Perhaps now some great exponent of Theosophy will arise in that island, and the new Branch become a power for good amongst us. The name selected is, The Dublin Lodge of the Theosophical Society.

NEW YORK: THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.—Meetings are now held on the 2d and 4th Tuesdays in each month, attended by members and inquirers. At each meeting a paper is read or address delivered followed by discussion and questions.

The Branch does not yet devote itself to psychical experiments, but to an inquiry into all the doctrines which have been put forth in Theosophical literature, and to inquiring into Aryan philosophy.

Beside these open meetings, they also hold private meetings, where further and more familiar discussions and conversations are carried on.

A series of notes of all the discussions has been started in the form of a printed leaflet, to be distributed each month among all the members to be found in the United States, with the object of solidifying them in their struggle to find the truth, and if possible to procure an interchange of questions and replies in the whole body of American Theosophists. It is believed that this will do much toward helping all, for there is no better way of getting new ideas and of spreading knowledge, than by rubbing minds together, so to say, and thus eliciting the doubts, the questions, and the views of all.

As we are a universal Brotherhood, we are each bound to help the rest, and to do as much as we can toward communicating with each other upon the subject of our studies. This does not mean that any one is to give to the world any rare knowledge which ought to be hidden. It is supposed that up to this time the whole body of American Theosophists is upon one plane. At any rate, those who possess occult knowledge, or think they do, ought to know where and when to keep silent. Long before we are ready for occult knowledge, we have to study that which is the common property of all, but which hitherto has been neglected and allowed to lie hidden, not only in Eastern literature, but also in much that has been produced among Christian people.

The donations of books for the Library of the Branch, during the last month, have been as follows:

By S. C. & L. M. Gould: Vol. I. and II. Notes and Queries; by Bro. R. Hart, 10 books: Mary Jane (spiritist inquiry), Suicide, 2 vols., Lights and Shades of Spiritualism, Psychography (Oxon), Animal Magnetism, &c., England and Islam, Vocal Culture, Civil Polity of the U. S.; by Bro. W. H. Dannat, London Lodge, 20 books: Modern Magic, Book of Mediums, Infinite and Finite, Idyll of White Lotos, Possibility of not Dying, Col. Olcott’s Lectures, Palmistry, Essence of Christianity, Mysteries of Astrology, Zoroaster, Rosicrucians (Jennings), Chaldean Magic, Circle of Light, Gould’s Myths, Unseen Universe, Moore’s Epicurean, Oriental Interpreter, Theosophy and the Higher Life, Pagan and Christian Symbolism (Inman), Man-Fragments, &c., and 28 Miscellaneous Theosophical pamphlets.

CINCINNATI.—The new Branch here has been organized since our last issue, with about twenty members. Some meetings have been held at which great interest was manifested. At the next meeting an essay upon some theosophical subject will be read. The members are all engaged in serious study of such subjects as: the laws of Karma, Reincarnation, &c.

“As the great universe has no boundary, and the eight quarters of heaven no gateway, so Supreme Reason has no limits.”—Buddha.

“Look up at it; it is higher than you can see! Bore into it; it is deeper than you can penetrate! Look at it as it stands before you; suddenly it is behind you!”—Confucius.

“Looking up, you cannot see the summit of its head; go behind it, you cannot see its back.”—Lau-tze.

“A man who foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my ungrudging love; the more evil comes from him, the more good shall go from me; the fragrance of these good actions always rebounding to me, the harm of the slanderer’s words returning to him. For as sound belongs to the drum, and shadow to the substance, so in the end, misery will certainly overtake the evil doer.”—Buddha Sutra of 42 sections.

OM

This is the Truth. As from a blazing fire sparks, being like unto fire, fly forth a thousandfold, thus are various beings brought forth from the Imperishable, and return thither also.

That heavenly Person is without body; he is both without and within, not produced, without breath and without mind, pure, higher than the high Imperishable. The sky in his head, his eyes the sun and the moon, the quarters his ears, his speech the Vedas disclosed, the wind his breath, his heart the universe; from his feet came the earth; he is indeed the inner self of all things. Mundaka Upanishad. II, Mun., I. Kh.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         JULY, 1886.                         NO. 4.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

A HINDU CHELA’S DIARY.

(Continued from June Number.)

“Yesterday I went with Kunâla to look at the vast and curious temples left here by our forefathers. Some are in ruins, and others only showing the waste of time. What a difference between my appreciation of these buildings now, with Kunâla to point out meanings I never saw, and that which I had when I saw them upon my first pilgrimage, made so many years ago with my father.” * * * * * * *

A large portion of the MS. here, although written in the same characters as the rest, has evidently been altered in some way by the writer, so as to furnish clues meant for himself. It might be deciphered by a little effort, but I must respect his desire to keep those parts of it which are thus changed, inviolate. It seems that some matters are here jotted down relating to secret things, or at least, to things that he desired should not be understood at a glance. So I will write out what small portion of it as might be easily told without breaking any confidences.

It is apparent that he had often been before to the holy city of Benares, and had merely seen it as a place of pilgrimage for the religious. Then, in his sight, those famous temples were only temples. But now he found, under the instruction of Kunâla, that every really ancient building in the whole collection had been constructed with the view to putting into imperishable stone, the symbols of a very ancient religion. Kunâla, he says, told him, that although the temples were made when no supposition of the ordinary people of those eras leaned toward the idea that nations could ever arise who would be ignorant of the truths then universally known, or that darkness would envelop the intellect of men, there were many Adepts then well known to the rulers and to the people. They were not yet driven by inexorable fate to places remote from civilization, but lived in the temples, and while not holding temporal power, they exercised a moral sway which was far greater than any sovereignty of earth.[68] And they knew that the time would come when the heavy influence of the dark age would make men to have long forgotten even that such beings had existed, or that any doctrines other than the doctrine based on the material rights of mine and thine, had ever been held. If the teachings were left simply to either paper or papyrus or parchment, they would be easily lost, because of that decay which is natural to vegetable or animal membrane. But stone lasts, in an easy climate, for ages. So these Adepts, some of them here and there being really themselves Maha Rajahs,[69] caused the temples to be built in forms, and with such symbolic ornaments, that future races might decipher doctrines from them. In this, great wisdom, he says, is apparent, for to have carved them with sentences in the prevailing language would have defeated the object, since languages also change, and as great a muddle would have resulted as in the case of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, unless a key stone had also been prepared; but that itself might be lost, or in its own turn be unintelligible. The ideas underneath symbols do not alter, no matter what might be the language, and symbols are clear immortally, because they are founded in nature itself. In respect to this part of the matter, he writes down that Kunâla informed him that the language used then was not Sanscrit, but a far older one now altogether unknown in the world.

From a detached sentence in the MS., it is shadowed out that Kunâla referred to a curious building put up many years ago in another part of India and now visible, by which he illustrated the difference between an intelligent construction and unintelligent one. This building was the product of the brain of a Chandala,[70] who had been enriched through a curious freak. The Rajah had been told upon some event occurring, by his astrologers, that he must give an immense sum of money to the first person he saw next day, they intending to present themselves at an early hour. Next day, at an usually early season, the Rajah arose, looked out of the window, and beheld this Chandala. Calling his astrologers and council together and the poor sweeper into his presence, he presented him with lacs upon lacs of rupees, and with the money the Chandala built a granite building having immense monolithic chains hanging down from its four corners. Its only symbology was, the change of the chains of fate; from poor low caste to high rich low caste. Without the story the building tells us nothing.

But the symbols of the temple, not only those carved on them, but also their conjuncture, need no story nor knowledge of any historical events. Such is the substance of what he writes down as told him by Kunâla. He says also that this symbology extends not only to doctrines and cosmology, but also to laws of the human constitution spiritual and material. The explanation of this portion, is contained in the altered and cryptic parts of the MS. He then goes on:

* * * “Yesterday, just after sunset, while Kunâla and X were talking, Kunâla suddenly seemed to go into an unusual condition, and about ten minutes afterwards a large quantity of malwa flowers fell upon us from the ceiling.

“I must now go to—— and do that piece of business which he ordered done. My duty is clear enough, but how am I to know if I shall perform it properly. * * * When I was there and after I had finished my work and was preparing to return here, a wandering fakir met me and asked if he could find from me the proper road to Karli. I directed him, and he then put to me some questions that looked as if he knew what had been my business; he also had a very significant look upon his face, and several of his questions were apparently directed to getting me to tell him a few things Kunâla had told me just before leaving Benares with an injunction of secrecy. The questions did not on the face show that, but were in the nature of inquiries regarding such matters, that if I had not been careful, I would have violated the injunction. He then left me saying: ‘you do not know me but we may see each other.’ * * * I got back last night and saw only X, to whom I related the incident with the fakir, and he said that, ‘it was none other than Kunâla himself using that fakir’s body who had said those things, and if you were to see that fakir again he would not remember you and would not be able to repeat his questions, as he was for the time being taken possession of for the purpose, by Kunâla, who often performs such things.’ I then asked him if in that case Kunâla had really entered the fakir’s body, as I have a strange reluctance toward asking Kunâla such questions, and X replied that if I meant to ask if he had really and in fact entered the fakir’s person, the answer was no, but that if I meant to ask if Kunâla had overcome that fakir’s senses, substituting his own, the answer was, yes; leaving me to make my own conclusions. * * * I was fortunate enough yesterday to be shown the process pursued in either entering an empty body, or in using one which has its own occupant. I found that in both cases it was the same, and the information was also conveyed that a Bhut[71] goes through just the same road in taking command of the body or senses of those unfortunate women of my country who sometimes are possessed by them. And the Bhut also sometimes gets into possession of a part only of the obsessed person’s body, such as an arm or a hand, and this they do by influencing that part of the brain that has relation with that arm or hand; in the same way with the tongue and other organs of speech. With any person but Kunâla I would not have allowed my own body to be made use of for the experiment. But I felt perfectly safe, that he would not only let me in again, but also that he would not permit any stranger, man or gandharba,[72] to come in after him. We went to—— and he * * The feeling was that I had suddenly stepped out into freedom. He was beside me and at first I thought he had but begun. But he directed me to look, and there on the mat I saw my body, apparently unconscious. As I looked * * * the body of myself, opened its eyes and arose. It was then superior to me, for Kunâla’s informing power moved and directed it. It seemed to even speak to me. Around it, attracted to it by those magnetic influences, wavered and moved astral shapes, that vainly tried to whisper in the ear or to enter by the same road. In vain! They seemed to be pressed away by the air or surroundings of Kunâla. Turning to look at him, and expecting to see him in a state of samadhi, he was smiling as if nothing, or at the very most, but a part, of his power had been taken away * * * another instant and I was again myself, the mat felt cool to my touch, the bhuts were gone, and Kunâla bade me rise.”

He has told me to go to the mountains of—— where—— and —— usually live, and that even if I were not to see any body the first time, the magnetized air in which they live would do me much good. They do not generally stop in one place, but always shift from one place to another. They, however, all meet together on certain days of the year in a certain place near Bhadrinath, in the northern part of India. He reminded me that as India’s sons are becoming more and more wicked, those adepts have gradually been retiring more and more toward the north, to the Himálaya mountains. * * * Of what a great consequence is it for me to be always with Kunâla. And now X tells me this same thing that I have always felt. All along I have felt and do still feel strongly that I have been once his most obedient and humble disciple in a former existence. All my hopes and future plans are therefore centred in him. My journey therefore to up country has done me one good, that of strengthening my belief, which is the chief foundation on which the grand structure is to be built. * * * As I was walking past the end of Ramalinga’s compound holding a small lamp of European make, and while there was no wind, the light there several times fell low. I could not account for it. Both Kunâla and X were far away. But in another moment, the light suddenly went out altogether, and as I stopped, the voice of revered Kunâla, who I supposed was many miles away, spoke to me, and I found him standing there. For one hour we talked; and he gave me good advice, although I had not asked it—thus it is always that when I go fearlessly forward and ask for nothing I get help at an actual critical moment—he then blessed me and went away. Nor could I dare to look in what direction. In that conversation, I spoke of the light going down and wanted an explanation, but he said I had nothing to do with it. I then said I wanted to know, as I could explain it in two ways, viz: 1st, that he did it himself, or 2d, that some one else did it for him. He replied, that even if it were done by somebody else, no Yogee will do a thing unless he sees the desire in another Yogee’s mind.[73] The significance of this drove out of my mind all wish to know who did it, whether himself, or an elemental or another person, for it is of more importance for me to know even a part of the laws governing such a thing, than it is to know who puts those laws into operation. Even some blind concatenation of nature might put such natural forces in effect in accordance with the same laws, so that a knowledge that nature did it would be no knowledge of any consequence.

[To be continued.]

PLATO

PORTRAIT OF PLATO IN CARNELIAN STONE

BY FULVIUS URSINUS.

This portrait was taken from an old work by John Moretus, published in 1606 at Antwerp, containing 167 other portraits of ancient Greek and Latin philosophers, poets, orators, and scholars of renown. Accompanying each is a description in old Latin, and a literal translation of that which is given of the head of Plato is as follows:

“This likeness of Plato is represented on some precious stone, perhaps a Carnelian, very beautiful, of oval shape, and in the highest style of art, which one hundred years before, a Cardinal under Julius Cæsar a Pontifican legate in the Florentine Council had brought from Greece. But it is long haired and bearded, as are the other likenesses of Plato, as the son of Ailius writes, that the first debate between Plato and Aristotle was about the hair and beard, because Aristotle, contrary to the fixed habit and style of Plato, was accustomed to have his hair cut and his face shaved.

“Very like to this portrait is that which is seen cut very artistically in Carnelian stone, and which was once in the possession of the first Cardinal of the Holy Cross, which in addition to the likeness of Plato, has also a likeness of the great teacher himself, Socrates.

“On the pillar of Hermes, which has the head broken off, these words are inscribed in Greek: ‘Plato was a son of Ariston, an Athenian.’

“This also Laertius himself confirms, since he writes that he was born at Athens of his father Ariston, in the village Collyteum, eighteen years after the second year of the Olympiad, Aminia being chief ruler.

“Moreover there is extant in marble, by Fulvius, a portrait of this same Plato of the very highest artistic skill: and there is another very like to this by the same artist cut in a most beautiful Carnelian stone which represents Plato at that time an old man, as it would appear, about eighty-one years old, at which time, engaged in writing extensively he died, one hundred and eight years after the first year of the Olympiad. In the same Carnelian portrait not only is the forehead of Plato represented very broad on account of which he was called by the name of Plato, prior to which he had been called Aristocles; but also his shoulders are very broad on which account some wished him to select a name from the Greek language.

“A statue of this same Plato was dedicated in the Academy, the work of a Silanian sculptor of the highest rank; and Cicero reminds us in his Brutus, of a statue which he had, in these words: ‘Then we erected a statue of Plato on the public square, etc., etc.’”

NOTES ON THE CABBALAH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

BY PERMISSION OF BRO. J. RALSTON SKINNER (McMillan Lodge, No. 141).

I.

I said in my article on Hebrew Metrology,[74] that the system embracing it was a language, veiled under the Hebrew text of Scripture, and that “to the extent to which the language was known among the Jews, the learning and teaching thereof was called ‘CABBALAH.’”

It is a fact that so little is known of Cabbalah that its existence has been denied. It has seemed to possess a like property with that of Prester John, namely, the more and further he was searched for the less he could be found and the more fabulous he became. After the same fashion, as very much was related of wonders connected with Prester John, so the most marvelous things are claimed for Cabbalah. The Cabbalistic field is that in which astrologers, necromancers, black and white magicians, fortune tellers, chiromancers, and all the like, revel and make claims to supernaturalism ad nauseam. Claim is also made that it conceals a sublime divine philosophy, which has been attempted to be set forth in a most confused and not understandable way. The Christian quarrying into its mass of mysticism, claims for it support and authority for that most perplexing of all problems the Holy Trinity, and the betrayed character of Christ. The good, pious, ignorant man picks up Cabbalah at will as a cheap, easy and veritable production, and at once, with the poorest smattering of starved ideas, gives forth to the world, as by authority, a devout jumble of stuff and nonsense. With equal assurance, but more effrontery the knave, in the name of Cabbalah, will sell amulets and charms, tell fortunes, draw horoscopes, and just as readily give specific rules, as in the case of that worthy, Dr. Dee, for raising the dead, and actually—the devil.

No wonder then that the whole affair has been discredited and condemned by the rational and the wise.

Discovery has yet to be made of what Cabbalah really consists before any weight or authority can be given to the name. On that discovery will rest the question whether the name should be received as related to matters worthy of rational acknowledgment.

The writer claims that such a discovery has been made, and that the same embraces rational science of sober and great worth. He claims that it will serve to clear up and take away very much of the mysticism which up to this time has been an unexplainable part of religious systems,—especially the Hebrew or Jewish, and the Christian, so much so that the supernatural in those systems will have to give place to the rational, to a very great extent. He claims that that sublime science upon which Masonry is based, is in fact, the substance of Cabbalah,—which last is the rational basis of the Hebrew text of Holy writ.

Cabbalah is inseparably connected with the text of the Scriptures, and an exposition of the inner sense of the same is as John Reuchlin claimed necessary to a right and full understanding of the Sacred Text. But he saw vaguely, being taught only in a mystic phraseology which was really a blind, and he did not come into possession of the solid, rational grounds of it which he could formulate and impart. For this reason, though he was right in his general assertion, his scheme failed, and his works in this regard, passed away from the common sense world, and have ever since lived only among the mystics and dreamers.

Like all other human productions of the kind, the Hebrew text of the Bible was in characters which could serve as sound signs for syllabic utterance, or for this purpose what are called letters. Now in the first place, these original character signs were also pictures, each one of them; and these pictures of themselves stood for ideas which could be communicated,—much like the original Chinese letters. Gustav Seyffarth shows that the Egyptian hieroglyphics numbered over six hundred picture characters, which embraced the modified use, syllabically, of the original number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The characters of the Hebrew text of the Sacred Scroll were divided into classes, in which the characters of each class were interchangeable; whereby one form might be exchanged for another to carry a modified signification, both by letter, and picture and number. Seyffarth shows the modified form of the very ancient Hebrew alphabet in the old Coptic by this law of interchange of characters. This law of permitted interchange of letters is to be found quite fully set forth in the Hebrew dictionaries, such as Fuerst’s and others. Though recognized and largely set forth it is very perplexing and hard to understand, because we have lost the specific use and power of such interchange. In the second place, these characters stood for numbers—to be used for numbers as we use specific number signs,—though, also, there is very much to prove that the old Hebrews were in possession of the so-called Arabic numerals, as we have them, from the straight line 1 to the zero character, together making 1 + 9 = 10. The order of these number letters run from 1 to 9, then 10 to 90, then 100 upward. In the third place it is said, and it seems to be proven, that these characters stood for musical notes; so that for instance, the arrangement of the letters in the first chapter of Genesis, can be rendered musically, or by song. Another law of the Hebrew characters was that only the consonantal signs were characterized,—the vowels were not characterized, but were supplied. If one will try he will find that a consonant of itself cannot be made vocal without the help of a vowel; therefore it was said that the consonants made the frame work of a word, but to give it life or utterance into the air, so as to impart the thought of the mind, and the feeling of the heart, the vowels had to be supplied. Thus the dead word of consonants became quickened into life by the Holy Spirit, or the vowels.

This being said then:—

First: The Holy or Sacred Text was given in consonants only, without any voweling, or signs of vowels.

Second: The letters were written one after the other at equal distances, without any separation whatever of distinct words, and without any punctuations whatever, such as commas, semi-colons, colons or periods.

It will be seen at once that a various reading of the text might be had in many places, both by differing arrangements of letters, and by a differing supplying of vowels. A very important difference of reading may be instanced in the first line of Genesis. It is made to be read “B’rashith bârâ Elohim,” etc., “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”; wherein Elohim is a plural nominative to a verb in the third person singular. Nachminedes called attention to the fact that the text might suffer the reading, “Brash ithbârâ Elohim,” etc. “In the head (source or beginning) created itself (or developed) Gods, the heavens and the earth,”—really a more grammatical rendering.

What the originally and intended right reading was who can tell? It may be surmised, however, that it was made to subserve a co-ordinating, symmetrical and harmonious working of the characters to unfold and develop their various uses;—as sound signs to frame a narrative,—as numbers to develop geometrical shapes and the numerical enunciations of their elements, comparisons and applications,—as pictures to show forth ideas in some accordance with the story told, and finally,—as musical sounds to give an appropriate song to embrace the whole. The whole compass was to embrace rational proof, through operations in nature, of the existence of that Divine Contriving Willing Cause which we call God. But be this as it may there was no end of effort for thousands of years, by the best trained and most learned men of the Hebrews and Jews, to give and preserve what had to be decided upon by them as the right reading of the Sacred Text. This reading was certainly perfected as we have it, as early as the time of Ezra; and as to the various readings which offered, the present was perfected as the orthodox one,—or that one to be received by the profound vulgar.

It must be known that it is claimed for the Sacred Scroll by the Hebrew, that no letter in it has ever been changed, and that even the marginal readings were part of the original text for a varied use thereof, in perfect accord with the object of its writing. Unlike the Christian Gospels, with the Hebrews and Jews, alike, the original text was sacredly precious as to its every and very letter, and had to be thus preserved. To the contrary of this, the Gospels can be changed in their reading to suit the currently changing ideas of what the same should be. The marks to indicate “right reading” were after the time of Ezra gradually made public, were called Massorah, and finally, edited by Ben Chajim, were published by Bomberg, in Venice, in the fifteenth century.

After this fashion and mode the books of the Old Testament were prepared and read by the Jews long before the time of the Christian Era. They were thus accepted at that time; and afterwards by the Christian World:—so that, to day, we accept the record, as thus prepared by the ancient orthodox Jewish and Hebrew Church.

Whatever may have been the Jewish mode of complete interpretation of these books, the Christian Church had taken them for what they show on their first face,—and that only. As they may be read orally, so is their fullest meaning to be gathered from the oral reading; and by means of what the sound of the words may convey to the ear the full and complete intendment of meaning is to be had. The Christian Church has never attributed to these books any property beyond this; and herein has existed its great error.

Now, as said, the substance of the Cabbalah is a rendering of the secret doctrine of the Old Testament, and this is not only asserted, but an argument is raised about the matter in the following set terms: “If the Law simply consisted of ordinary expressions and narratives, ex. gr. the words of Esau, Hagar, Laban, the ass of Balaam, or of Balaam himself, why should it be called the Law of Truth, the perfect law, the true witness of God? Each word contains a sublime source, each narrative points not only to the single instance in question, but also to generals.” (Sohar iii, 149 b). “Woe be to the son of man who says that the Tora (Pentateuch) contains common sayings and ordinary narratives. * * There is the garment that every one can see, but those who have more understanding do not look at the garment but at the body beneath it; while the wisest, the servants of the Heavenly King, those who dwell at Mount Sinai, look at nothing else but the soul (i.e., the secret doctrine), which is the root of all the real Law.” (Sohar, iii, 152 a).

Now it is a strange thing, that in the quotations made by Dr. Ginsburg in his Essay,[75] can be gleaned a series of data wherewith to arrange a philosophy of Cabbalistic teaching, covered by the names and remarks on the Ten Sephiroth. The “trick of the thing” lays plainly before the eyes in its development, and yet is perfectly concealed from unintelligent observation. In other words, the very text is laughing at the worthy doctor, while he is criticising it with an apparent aspect of superiority and authority. The same thing is to be found in the text of Plutarch’s Morals, by C. W. King, and in many other texts where the like phenomenal mode is practiced. It in fact is said that the Cabbalah is evolved by “hints scarcely perceptible,” and the cunning of the concealment is something to admire and laugh at. The description in Sohar of the mode of communication tends to explain what has been said:

“The opinion that the mysteries of the Cabbalah are to be found in the garment of the Pentateuch is still more systematically propounded in the following parable: ‘Like a beautiful woman, concealed in the interior of her palace, who when her friend and beloved passes by, opens for a moment a secret window and is seen by him alone, and then withdraws herself immediately and disappears for a long time, so the doctrine only shows herself to the chosen (i. e., to him who is devoted to her with body and soul); and even to him not always in the same manner. At first she simply beckons at the passer by with her hand, and it generally depends upon his understanding this gentle hint. This is the interpretation known by the name of râmäz. Afterwards she approaches him a little closer, lisps him a few words, but her form is still covered with a thick veil, which his looks cannot penetrate. This is the so-called dārausch. She then converses with him with her face covered by a thin veil; this is the enigmatic language of the hāgadah. After having thus become accustomed to her society, she at last shows herself face to face and entrusts him with the innermost secrets of her heart. This is the secret of the Law, sod. He who is thus far initiated in the mysteries of the Tora will understand that all these profound secrets are based upon the simple literal sense, and are in harmony with it, and from this literal sense not a single iota is to be taken and nothing is to be added to it.” (Sohar, ii, 99.)

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in Mysticism.

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, Stud. Theos.

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi:

“Last night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress, when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the garden, soft as the dews of heaven.”

(CONTINUED.)

SAADIS’ BOOSTAN (FRUIT GARDEN OR GARDEN OF PLEASURE) Continued:

CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE CANDLE AND THE MOTH:

I remember one night lying sleepless in bed,

That I heard what the moth to the fair candle said:

“A lover am I, if I burn it is well!

Why you should be weeping and burning, do tell.”

“Oh my poor humble lover!” the candle replied,

“My friend, the sweet honey away from we hied.

When sweetness away from my body departs,

A fire-like Farhads[76] to my summit then starts.”

Thus she spoke, and each movement a torrent of pain

Adown her pale cheeks trickled freely like rain.

“Oh, suitor! with love you have nothing to do,

Since nor patience, nor power of standing have you.

Oh, crude one! a flame makes you hasten away;

But I, till completely consumed, have to stay.

If the burning of love makes your wings feel this heat,

See how I am consumed, from the head to the feet!”

But a very small portion had passed of the night

When a fairy-fated maiden extinguished her[77] light.

She was saying while smoke from her head curled above,

“Thus ends, oh my boy, the existence of love!”

If the love-making science you wish to acquire,

You’re more happy extinguished than being on fire.

Do not weep o’er the grave of the slain for the friend!

Be glad! for to him He will mercy extend.

If a lover, don’t wash the complaint from your head!

I have told you: don’t enter this ocean at all!

If you do; yield your life to the hurricane squall!

The above translation is from the hand of G. S. Davie but since this story is representative of Sufi love, I add another made by S. Robinson.

I remember that one night, when I could not close my eyes in sleep, I heard the moth say to the taper.

“I am a lover, therefore it is right that I should be burnt, but wherefore shouldst thou be lamenting and shedding tears?”

It replied: “O my poor airy friend, my honey-sweet Shirin is going away;

“And since my Shirin hath left me, like Ferhad’s,[78] my head is all on fire.”

So spoke the taper, and each moment a flood of sorrow flowed down over its pale cheek.

Then it continued: “O pretender, love is no affair of thine; for thou hast neither patience nor persistency.

“Thou takest to flight before a slight flame; I stand firm till I am totally consumed.

“Thou mayest just singe a wing at the fire of love; look at me, who burn from head to foot.”

A part of the night was not yet gone, when suddenly a Peri-faced damsel extinguished the light.

Then said the taper: “My breath is departed, the smoke is over my head;—such my son, is the ending of love!”

If thou wouldst learn the moral of the story, it is this: Only will the pangs of burning affection cease, when life’s taper is extinct.

Weep not over this monument of thy perished friend—rather praise Allah, that he is accepted by Him.

If thou art indeed a lover, wash not the pains of love from thy head; wash rather, like Saadi, thy hand from all malevolence.

The man who volunteereth a service of peril will not withdraw his grasp from his purpose, though stones and arrows rain down upon his head.

I have said to thee: “Take heed how thou goest to the sea; but if thou wilt go, resign thyself to its billows.”

Jelaluddin Rumi (Mevlana—Our Lord—Jelalu-’d-din, Muhammed, Er Rumi of Qonya) usually called Jelal or Mulla.[79] Born A. D. 1195, he died 1273.

Jelal is the greatest poet among the Sufis and is their Grand Master of spiritual knowledge. His name means “Majesty of Faith.” He instituted the order of the Mevlevi, the “dancing or whirling dervishes,” of which we shall speak more later on. This order is a realization of Jelal’s father’s prophecy about his son: “The day shall come, when this child will kindle the fire of divine enthusiasm throughout the world.”

Jelal is truly the greatest Sufi saint, for marvelous were his powers. In the Menaqibu’l Afifin (the Acts of the Adepts) by Shemsu-’d-din Ahmed, el Eflaki the following acts are recorded against his name. “When five years old, he used at times to become extremely uneasy and restless, so much so that his attendants used to take him into the midst of themselves. The cause of these perturbations was that spiritual forms and shapes of the absent (invisible world) would arise before his sight, that is, angelic messengers, righteous Genii, and saintly men—the concealed ones of the bowers of the True One (spiritual spouses of God), used to appear to him in bodily shapes: * * * His father used on these occasions to coax and soothe him by saying: “These are the Occult Existences. They come to present themselves before you, to offer unto you gifts and presents from the invisible world.” These ecstasies and transports of his began to be publicly known and talked about The honorific title of Khudavendgar[80] was conferred upon him at this time by his father, who used to address him as “My Lord.”—“It is related that when Jelal was six years old, he one Friday afternoon was taking the air on the terraced roof of the house, and reciting the Quran, when some other children of good families came in and joined him there. After a time, one of these children proposed that they should try and jump from thence on to a neighbouring terrace, and should lay wagers on the result. Jelal smiled at this childish proposal, and remarked: “My brethren, to jump from terrace to terrace is an act well adapted for cats, dogs, and the like, to perform; but is it not degrading to man, whose station is so superior. Come now, if you feel disposed, let us spring up to the firmament, and visit the regions of God’s realm.” As he yet spake, he vanished from their sight. Frightened at Jelal’s sudden disappearance, the other children raised a shout of dismay, that some one should come to their assistance, when lo, in an instant, there he was again in their midst; but with an altered expression of countenance and blanched cheeks. They all uncovered before him, fell to the earth in humility, and all declared themselves his disciples. He now told them that, as he was yet speaking to them, a company of visible forms, clad in green raiment, had led him away from them, and had conducted him about the various concentric orbs of the spheres, and through the signs of the Zodiac, showing him the wonders of the world of spirits, and bringing him back to them so soon as their cries had reached his ears.

At that age, he was used not to break his fast more often than once in three or four, and sometimes even seven, days.

When Jelal went to Damascus to study, he passed by Sis in Upper Cilicia. There, in a cave, dwelt forty Christian monks, who had a great reputation for sanctity, but in reality were mere jugglers. On the approach of Jelal’s caravan to the cave, the monks caused a little boy to ascend into the air, and there remain standing between heaven and earth. Jelal noticed this exhibition, and fell into a reverie. Hereupon, the child began to weep and wail, saying that the man in the reverie was frightening him. The monks told him not to be afraid, but to come down. “Oh!” cried the child, “I am as though nailed here, unable to move hand or foot.” The monks became alarmed. They flocked around Jelal, and begged him to release the child. After a time, he seemed to hear and understand them. His answer was: “Only through the acceptance of Islam[81] by yourselves, all of you, as well as by the child, can he be saved.” In the end they all embraced Islam, and wished to follow Jelal as his disciples, but he recommended them to remain in their cave, as before, to cease from practising jugglery, and to serve God in the spirit and in truth. So he proceeded on his journey.

To prove that man lives through God’s will alone, and not by blood, Jelal one day, in the presence of a crowd of physicians and philosophers, had the veins of both his arms opened and allowed them to bleed until they ceased to flow. He then ordered incisions to be made in various parts of his body; but not one drop of moisture was anywhere obtainable. He now went to a hot bath, washed, performed an ablution, and then commenced the exercise of the sacred dance.

(To be continued.)

THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.

[Continued from June Number.]

The inscription said to have been found on the Smaragdine Tablet and to which reference was made in a former article, and which Dr. Everard refers to as containing the “Elixir of the philosophers,” is further explained by the author of Isis, where it is also said “It is for the Hermetic student to watch its motions, to catch its subtile currents, to guide and direct them with the help of the Athanor, the Archimedean lever of the Alchemist.”[82] It is further stated in plain words that this mysterious agent “is the universal magical agent, the astral light, which in the correlation of its forces furnishes the Alkahest, the philosophers’ stone, and the elixir of life.”[83] Now one great advantage to the student who follows carefully these hints is, that he soon discovers certain basic principles which reach far and wide, and in Hermetic language enable him to ascend from Earth to Heaven, and descend from Heaven to Earth, not in a vague, fanciful way, but as applicable to physical phenomena as to philosophical synthesis. These basic principles are not hypothesis, they are the first principles of Nature, as manifested in the phenomenal universe, a thread or clue to the labyrinth of phenomena.

There is a vast difference between modern and ancient science in regard to the Ether: The former hypothecates it to bridge a gap in phenomena and at once, as if ashamed of its weakness, turns its back upon it. Not so our ancient Hermetic brethren. Modern speculation regarding a fourth dimension of space apprehends the necessity for something beyond the old conception, as does physical science. And yet the latter reaches no solid ground, though the problem lies in the rubbish derived from analytical science, and the necessity which has compelled it to pay tribute. There is a logical, uniform, invariable antithesis in all manifested nature, which at once suggests the unmanifested. Sometimes the change of a letter or an accent in a word or its division into syllables produces wonderful results, e. g., atonement, at-one-ment. So here in the phenomenal universe, nothing and no-thing are not synonymous. To say that the ether fills all space, penetrates the densest matter, and gives rise by emanation to the whole phenomenal universe, and yet that it is nothing is nonsense, but that it is no-thing is perfectly true. The ether is to the phenomenal universe what the 0 is to the mathematician, nothing in itself and yet from association, implication or involution, it enters into every form and quantity. Oken has shown[84] that there are really two zeros, or that zero exists as 0+ and 0-, and even here begins the science of symbolism in the ancient Mathesis. It is in this shoreless ocean of ether that suns and solar systems are suspended. It is the alkahest or universal solvent from which all forms and qualities of matter and life proceeds, and into which they return. It is luminous, and yet the abode of darkness, the Unmoved Mover of Plato.

Take now the three dimensions of space, and we find the idea of length, breadth and thickness are associated with objects. Where there is no object upon which the eye can rest, we have then no length, no breadth, no thickness, i. e., Ether, the antithesis of objective forms in which occur all phenomena. This ether is called the Mirror of Isis, because in it are impressed or mirrored all forms. When these forms are clothed upon then occurs, first, a positing; second, motion; third, the “picture” in the ether is involved and the outer material shape evolved. Nay, there is no first, second, third about it, for all occurs coincidently. The last analysis of physics is matter, force and motion; and these three, inseparable on the physical visual plane, resolve back into the ocean of ether, which contains them all potentially, and which sends them out as an indissoluble trinity. Compared with matter then, the ether is transcendental, and yet we cannot say it is nothing, as has already been pointed out. Now all life, all matter, all forms, are in their essence cyclic. This is readily seen in the colloidal forms incident to organic life, but even in crystalline forms, though often overlooked, it is none the less apparent.

In relation to objective manifestation, preserving the idea of cyclic form, the ether is spoken of as the center which is everywhere, and the circumference which is nowhere.

Proceeding now with the idea of center and circumference (as yet only an idea) let us imagine a globule of protoplasm to spring instantly into visual existence. The act of positing was geometrical, i. e., “position without extension.” Let this positing represent force, and extension represent matter, typically, (in all directions) but this tension and extension begets motion, all together; creation, from the hitherto “without form and void” i. e., the ether.

What was the immediate coefficient of the positing? a picture, a Divine idea, an essential form, projected in the ether. This idea is now being clothed upon, or involved in matter, and coincidently the outer material shape and structure is being evolved. Here is an equation being solved, and from this on, it is easy to trace what occurs even under a good microscope. We are, however, interested in principles rather than processes, therefore we will preserve our typical sphere with its center and circumference.

We shall presently come back to the Smaragdine inscription, and then be able to see what a revelation it contains, and what a magical key it affords to unlock the doors of knowledge.

B.

[To be continued.]

LIVING THE HIGHER LIFE.

“I have no desire for any other line of life; but by the time I had awakened to a knowledge of this life, I found myself involved by circumstances against which I do not rebel, but out of and through which, I am determined to work, neglecting no known duty to others.”—Letter from a Friend.

The “Dweller of the Threshold” which stares even advanced occultists in the face and often threatens to overwhelm them, and the ordeals of Chelaship or of probation for Chelaship, differ from each other only in degree. It may not be unprofitable to analyze this Dweller and those ordeals. For our present purpose, it is enough to state, that they are of a triune nature and depend upon these three relations: (1) To our nationality; (2) to our family; and (3) to ourselves. And every one of these three relations is due to the assertion of a portion of our own past Karma, that is to say, to its effects.

Why should we be born in a particular nation and in a particular family? Because of the effect of a particular set of our Karmic attractions, which assert themselves in that manner. I mean that one set of our past Karmas exhaust themselves in throwing us in our present incarnation amidst a particular nation, another set introducing us into a particular family; and a third set serving to differentiate or individualize us from all the other members of the nation or of the family. One of our Eastern proverbs says: “the five children of a family differ like the five fingers of a hand.” Unless we look at this difference from this standpoint, it must always appear to us a riddle, a problem too difficult to solve, a mystery, in short, why children born of one family, while they have some traits common to all, should still appear to differ vastly from one another. What applies to the family applies also to the nation, of which families are but units; and also to mankind as a whole, of whom nations are but families or units. The only way to decide the great question of the age, whether the laws of nature are blind and material, or spiritual, intelligent and divine, is, it seems to me, to point out in connection with every subject, the absolutely intelligent and divine manner in which these laws act, and how they force us to realize the economy of nature. This is the only way by which we could become spiritual; and I would, once for all, call upon my co-workers for the cause, to realize at every step of their study, as far as possible, the Divine Intelligence thus manifesting itself. Otherwise, how much soever you might believe or take it for granted, that the forces that govern the universe are spiritual, the belief, however deep rooted it might appear, would be of little use to you when you have to pass through the ordeals of Chelaship; and then you are sure to succumb and exclaim that the “Law is blind, unjust and cruel,” especially when your selfishness and personality overwhelm you. When once a practical occultist and a learned philosopher met with, what seemed to him a “serious calamity and trial,” in spite of himself he exclaimed to me frankly; “the law of Karma is surely blind, there is no God; what better proofs are needed?” So deep-rooted in human nature is infidelity and selfishness; no one need therefore to be sure of his own spiritual nature. No amount of lip learning will avail us in the hour of need. We have to study the law in all its aspects and assimilate to our highest consciousness,—that which is called by Du Prel super sensuous consciousness—all the data which go to prove and convince us that the Power is spiritual. Look around and see whether any two persons are absolutely identical, even for a time. How intelligent must be the power that ever strives to keep each and every one of us totally different on the whole, while, if analyzed, we possess some traits in common, even with the Negro, with whom we are remotely allied.

In this connection I shall refer you to a passage in the article on “Chelas and Lay Chelas” (vide column 1, page 11 of “Supplement to the Theosophist” for July, 1883);—“The Chela is not only called to face all latent evil propensities of his nature, but in addition, the whole volume of maleficent power accumulated by the community and nation to which he belongs * * until the result is known.” I shall only ask you to apply the same principle to your family relations affecting your present incarnation. Thus seven things are found to secure us a victory, or a sad, inglorious defeat in the mighty struggle known as the Dweller of the threshold and the ordeals of Chelaship:—(1) The evil propensities common to ourselves and to our family; (2) those common to ourself and our nation; (3) those common to ourself and to mankind in general, or better known as the weakness of human nature, the fruits of Adam’s first transgression; (4 to 6) the noble qualities common to us and to these three; (7) the peculiar way in which the 6 sets of our past Karmas choose or are allowed to influence us now, or their effects in producing in us the present tendency. The adept alone can take the seventh or last mentioned item completely into his own hands; and every mortal who would, as I have since recently begun to reiterate, direct all his energies to the highest plane possible for him (“Desire always to attain the unattainable”—says the author of “Light on the Path”),—such a mortal too could more or less do the same thing as the adept, in so far as he acts up to the rule. Every Chela, and also those who have a desire to be Chelas even, as they suppose secretly, have to do with the first six propensities or influences.

The world is inclined—at least in this Kali Yuga (the Dark Age)—always to begin at the wrong end of anything and direct all its faculties to the perception of effects and not of their causes. So the ideas of “renunciation,” “asceticism” and of the “true feeling of universal Brotherhood” (or “mercy,” as I call it, in accordance with South Indian Ethics), all of which are compatible with Gnanis, or the most exalted of Mahatmas, all these have come to be recognized by all our Theosophists, in general, as the means of progress for a beginner; while the real means of progress for us mortals—duties to our own families and to our own nation, or “kindness” and “patriotism” in the highest and ethical sense of the terms—are discarded. True, from the standpoint of a Jivanmukta, a true friend of humanity, these two Sadhanas are really “selfishness”; still, until we attain that exalted state, these two feelings should be made the ladders for raising ourselves, the means of not only getting ourselves rid of our family defects and natural idiosyncrasies, but also of strengthening in ourselves the noble qualities of our families and of our nation. Until we reach that ideal slate where the blessed soul has to make neither good nor bad Karma, we must strive to be constantly doing “good” Karma, in order that we might become Karma-less (nish Karmis).

Let it not be understood at all, that I mean by “family duties” and “national duties,” false attachments to the family or to the nation. Family duty consists not in sensuality or pleasure-hunting, but in cultivating and in elevating the emotional nature (the fourth principle), of ourselves and of our family; in being equally “kind”, not only to the members of the family, but also to all creatures, and in enjoying all such pleasures of the family life as are consistent with the acquirement of “wealth” (all the means necessary for the performance of Dharma or whole duty) according to the teachings of Valluvar, and in utilizing such pleasures and means for the performance of our duty to our nation. Patriotism consists similarly in theosophising our own nation, in not only getting ourselves rid of our national defects, as well as other members of the nation rid of the same, but also in strengthening in ourselves and in our nation as a whole, all the noble qualities which belong to our nation; in the enjoyment of the privileges[85] of the nation and using them as a means for the performance of Dharma. If family duties are taken due care of, our duties to the nation and to humanity would, to a great extent, take care of themselves unimpeded. Our national duties, if strictly performed, serve to purify our fifth lower principle of its dross and to establish and develop the better part of it, while the performance of our duty to Humanity or the realization of universal tolerance and mercy, purifies the lower (human) stuff in the fifth higher principle and makes it divine, thus enabling us to free ourselves gradually from the bonds of ignorance common to all human beings.

The above assertions, might, at first sight, seem rather bold and untheosophical. But I should venture to state my conviction that the whole edifice of Aryan religions and Aryan philosophy is based upon these principles, and that, on a careful consideration of the subject, the great importance attached to household life (Grihasta ashrama) in that philosophy, would be fully borne out. To my mind no ascetics, no teachers of mankind, however eminent and full of the highest knowledge, are really such good and practical benefactors of humanity as Valluvar, of ancient times, who incarnated on earth for the express purpose, among others, of setting an example of an ideal household life to mortals who were prematurely and madly rushing against the rocks of renunciation, and of proving the possibility of leading such a life in any age however degenerated; or as Ráma, who, even after having become an avatar-purusha, came down amidst mortals and lead a household life.

It has often been contended that the world has not progressed on the path, because gnanis, or Mahatmas, have dwindled in their number and greatness, and because it is Kali-Yuga, or the dark age, now. Such arguments are due to our mistaking the effects for their causes. The only way to prepare the way for the advent of a favorable Yuga and for the increase of the number and greatness of Mahatmas, is to establish gradually the conditions for the leading of a true household life. I should unhesitatingly state, that that is the duty of earnest Theosophists and real philanthropists.

Is it not conceded by all philanthropists that unselfish labors for humanity can alone relieve us from the ocean of Sainsara (Rebirth), develop our highest potentialities and help us to alchemise our human weakness? Applying the same principle to unselfish discharge of our family and national duties, my position becomes tenable. A Mahatma has, it appears, declared that He has still “patriotism.” But He has not said nor would say, that He has still family “attachments.” This proves that He has got out of the defects of the family to which He belongs, while He is only striving to get out of national defects, some of which at any rate cling to Him. A Buddha would say, that He has “mercy,” but no “patriotism.”

The only effectual way to get out of family defects is to discharge all our duty to our family before leaving it, as ascetics, or before we die. Blessed is he[86] who, in each of his incarnations, then and there, gets rid of the defects of the family into which he is ushered, thereby converts those defects in his parents, brothers and sisters, into noble qualities, thus strengthening and developing the good qualities both of himself and of his family, then strives to be born in the same family again and again, until he himself becomes a Buddha and assists his family to become a family fit for a Buddha to be born into, while he becomes the cream of all the noble qualities of the family without being tainted with its idiosyncrasies. A Dugpa (Black Magician) is frequently born in the same family and becomes the cream of all its evil propensities. Here again is the operation of the sublime and divinely intelligent law of universal and natural economy asserting itself. This is beautifully allegorized in the story of a Jivanmukta churning out of the ocean, the elixir of life and leaving the visha (the poison, all the evil propensities) for the Dugpas. This is one of the meanings of the allegory. Avoiding all personalities and questionable facts, I shall rely solely upon our Puranas and scriptures to prove that in every family where Adepts and Gnanis are (or choose to be) frequently born, often Dugpas are also born, as a matter of course. Krishna was the greatest of Gnanis and his uncle Kausa (for our present purpose) was a terrible Dugpa. The five Pandavas had a hundred wicked cousins, the Kauravas. Devas and the whole brood of wicked Asuras were born of the same parent. Vibhishana had for his brother, Ravana the prince of Dugpas; so had the good Sugriva a brother like Vali. Prahlada had a monster for his father.

Take the case of one who has not done all his duty to his family, before he dies, or before he takes the vows of renunciation and becomes an ascetic. Such ascetics find themselves attracted by the family defects and selfishness of themselves (which hitherto perhaps lay more or less dormant and now become kindled and awakened by the selfishness of the relatives) and are disturbed in the performance of the duties of their new order or Ashrama, however unselfish their relatives might have been “unconsciously” or unintentionally. In spite of themselves these relatives arrest the progress of the ascetics in whom the family defects become thus strengthened and developed. Such is the mysterious law of attraction. This man must be born again (1) either in the same family, with the family defects strengthened, both in himself and in his family; (2) or in another family. In the first case, the noble qualities of the family are not strengthened and therefore gradually disappear both from him and from the family. In the second case, he becomes an undutiful son, brother or husband, in his new family, firstly because of the natural law of repetition, which, with the terrible Karmic interest, strengthens the tendency in him to disregard duty; secondly because of the “counter family attractions” (or repulsions). Let not this unfortunate wanderer from the post of his family duty console himself with the foolish idea that this tendency would confine its havoc to family traits (good and evil) and to family duties alone. It would extend itself in all directions, wherever it can; it would make him disregard his duties to his nation and to himself (or in other words, to humanity). He would suddenly be surprised to find himself apathetic to his nation and to his highest nature, or to mankind. Such are the mazes and unknown ramifications of our evil or good propensities. Any evil or noble element of human nature converts itself, under “favorable” conditions into any other element however apparently remote. The conditions are there ready wherever the element is strong; where there is a will there is a way. Performance of family duties therefore develops patriotism and mercy.

I do not at all mean to say that the effects of Karma always assert themselves in the same shape or form; but they often might and do. Nor do I mean that the affinities above stated, blossom and ripen in the incarnation immediately succeeding; they might develop ten or even one hundred incarnations after; but in such a case, the Karma only accumulates enormous interest. The affinities might not develop at the same time in both him and her, who was once his wife; if they did at the same time, the account could be easily settled,—otherwise, woe to him and to her! Supposing that the attractions for him are developed in her, while the attachments for her are not developed in him at the same time; the result might be, that she pines and languishes for him, sends her poisonous darts consciously or “unconsciously” against him; if these arrows do not kindle the corresponding nature in him, for the time being they frustrate his achievements in other directions. Supposing by the time the affinities in him are developed, he becomes an initiate and she becomes, (let us suppose) his pupil (male or female). If at the time the pupil’s affinities have become converted into devotion for the initiate, the latter becomes blinded in his philanthropic work and noble duties of a sage, and commits, through the infatuation of a love for the pupil, serious blunders, which result in a catastrophe to both of them and to humanity: and both the pupil and initiate fall down and have to mount their rugged pathway again with increased difficulties in their way.

Once, in an age and in a country, when and where household life continues to be ideal, one single wretch commits the first act of transgression by impetuously rushing into the circle of ascetics, or by dying before wholly discharging his duty to his family, the natural result is that both himself, his family, and his nation, become thereby seriously affected. The Akasa[87] becomes affected by the impulse to transgress in this direction; this impulse forces itself gradually (with accumulated interest, redoubled force) upon others; the ignoble example becomes a precedent; other cases of a like nature follow in quick succession. In course of time, (just when a sad descending cycle begins, such is the divine intelligence of the law that economizes energies and makes things fit it) the leading of the ideal family life becomes almost impossible and very rare; the whole community is thus ruined. Learned and great adepts retire to other spheres (where there then is an ascending cycle) and leave the nation to be swallowed by a cataclysm after ages of degradation and vice.

Let us now reverse this case, and suppose that in the most degenerate nation, in the darkest of cycles, one philanthropist becomes unselfish and intelligent enough to set a noble and intelligent example by fulfilling all family duties; then, as naturally as in the preceding case, the precedent gradually gains acceptance; the way is paved for the advent of an ascending cycle; Gnanis bless the noble man and come down from other unfavorable spheres, where descending cycles begin to dawn.

Now it may be easy to understand why Chelas and lay Chelas (who have not yet thrown off their family defects and thus become the cream of their family’s good qualities) are told to be careful lest they become Dugpas (Black Magicians).

I will ask you to apply the same kinds of arguments to the necessity for performing (and the failure to perform) our duties to our nation and to mankind. You can see that the phenomena of heresy, downfall of religions, rise of new religions, the birth in Europe of a Max Müller, who expatiates upon the greatness of the Vedic philosophy, and of Bradlaughs and other infidel sons of Christian parents—all these are due to the fact (and also to other causes), that the individuals concerned had not in some one or other of their past incarnations, done their duty to the nations (or religions), to which they respectively belonged. A study of the times when and in the manner in which the traits of these men are brought into play should be profitable in several ways. Extending the analogy, it may be said that heartlessness, murder, cannibalism, etc., are due to failure to discharge, in past incarnations, one’s duty to humanity (that is to one’s self).

In conclusion it might be added that the most important element in the “Dweller of the Threshold,” and in the ordeals of Chelaship, is family defects, which ought to be first “conquered;” then in order come national defects and the “diseases of the flesh” in general. Though all these three have to be got rid of simultaneously as far as possible, and all the three kinds of duties performed, still beginners should pay more attention to the first than to the second, and more to the second than to the third, and none of these neglected.

In those happy Aryan ages, when Dharma was known and performed fully, those men and women who did not marry, remained in the family for performing their family duties and led a strictly ascetical and Vedantic life as Brahmacharis and Kannikas (or virgins). Those alone married, who were in every way qualified for leading a grihasta (household) life. Marriage was in those days a sacred and religious contract, and not at all a means of gratifying selfish desires and animal passions. These marriages were of two kinds: (1) Those who married for the express purpose of assisting each other (husband and wife) in their determination to lead a higher life, in fulfilling their family duties, in enjoying all pleasures enjoined for such a life and thereby acquiring the means for attaining the qualifications for higher ashrama of renunciation (Sannyása), and, above all, for giving the world the benefit of children, who would become gnanis and work for humanity. Such a husband and wife might be regarded as not having in their previous incarnations been able enough to become ripe for Chelaship. (2) Those who had, in their past incarnations already fitted themselves completely for entering the sanctuary of Occultism and gnana marga (path of wisdom). One of them, the Pati (the master or “husband”) was the Guru who had advanced far higher than his Patni (co-worker or pupil or “wife”). As soon as the alliance between them was made, these retired into the forest to lead the life of celibacy and practical Occultism. But, before so retiring, they had invariably promised to their parents and other members of their family to assist and elevate them even from a distance and offered to periodically adjust[88] the inner life of all the relatives. I quote the language generally used in making such promises:—“Whenever mother, father, sister and brothers, any of you think of me in your hour of need, wherever or whatever I may be, I solemnly promise to lend you a helping hand.”

MURDHNA JOTI.

[To be continued.]

STUDIES IN THE UPANISHADS.

[BY A STUDENT.]

[Continued from May number.]

Longfellow, in the lines last quoted, symbolized the Universe by an immeasurable wheel forever turning in the stream of time. Allowing for the western habit of studying effects and not causes, this is a fair simile. Yet it is faulty in that it presupposes two co-existing eternities; the wheel of the Universe, and the stream in which it turns. There can be but one eternity.

Saunaka asks in this Upanishad a natural question, propounded by nearly every thinking man, especially by students of occultism who are continually seeking a royal road to the accomplishment of their objects. He wishes to be told what may be the great solvent of all knowledge. The reply of Angiras points out two great roads, which include all the others. The lower road is the one of hard work for countless births, during which we acquire knowledge slowly in all directions, and, of course, when that is possessed, one rises to the higher road.

This is the true initiation, nature, so to speak, acting as the initiator. In replying to Saunaka, Angiras did not mean to be understood, that a man could in one birth pass over the lower road, but that the progress of a human monad toward perfection proceeded in a certain fixed manner which included all experiences. Of course if we say that we appear on the earth once only, and then disappear from it, to the place called by the spiritualists of America, “the summer land,” and by the christian, “heaven,” there is no need for one to acquire the lower knowledge, for that might be obtained in the life after death. But we regard it as true that the spirit, in order to acquire complete knowledge, must inhabit a human form, and one term of tenancy in such a form will not be enough for the testing of the countless varieties of life, of temptation, of triumph, failure and success.

The sage Angiras in this Upanishad looks at man from the standpoint of one who can see the great stream of life which flows through the eternal plain, and therefore he could not have meant to apply his words to one incarnation, but to the whole series through which man has to pass until he reaches “immortal, blest nirvana.”

In the journey along this road we will encounter great differences in the powers of our fellow travellers. Some go haltingly and others quickly; some with eyes bent on the ground, a few with gaze fixed on the great goal. Those who halt or look down will not reach the end, because they refuse to take the assistance to be found in the constant aspiration to the light. But we are not to blame them: they have not yet been often enough initiated to understand their error. Nature is kind and will wait for them much longer than their human fellows would if they were permitted to be their judges. This ought to give us a lesson in charity, in universal brotherhood. Very often we meet those who show an utter inability to appreciate some spiritual ideas which we quite understand. It is because they have not, so far, been able to transmute into a part of themselves, that which we have been so fortunate as to become possessed of, and so they seem devoted to things that to us appear to be of small value.

The Bagavad-Gita says that there is no detriment or loss to one’s efforts in any direction, be it good or bad; that is, in going through these countless incarnations, all inquiry, every sort of investigation, no matter even if it seems at the close of any one life that the life was wasted, is so much energy and experience stored up. For although, in the course of one existence, physical energy is expended, there is, all the while, a storing up of spiritual energy which is again a power in the next succeeding life.

In consequence of the modern, western system of education, we are apt constantly to forget the existence of the great force and value belonging to our super-sensuous consciousness. That consciousness is the great register where we record the real results of our various earthly experiences; in it we store up the spiritual energy, and once stored there, it becomes immortal, our own eternal possession. The question then will be asked: “How is one to store up such spiritual energy: do we do it unconsciously, and how are we to know that any has been stored up?” It is to be done by trying to know and to act truth; by “living in the eternal,” as Light on the Path directs. To live thus in the eternal, does not mean that we shall abandon the cares and struggles of life, for so surely as we do we must suffer, but that we should try to make the real self direct its aspirations ever to the eternal truth.

This series of births is absolutely necessary, so that the “lower knowledge” can be acquired; and just so long as we do not acquire that, we must be reborn. Here and there will occur exceptions to this rule, in those great souls who, with “an astonishing violence,” leap beyond and over all barriers, and by getting the higher knowledge, become at the same time, possessors of the lower knowledge also.

In the Chaldean Oracles such souls are thus described: “More robust souls perceive truth through themselves, and are of a more inventive nature,” and by Proklus in I Alkibiad: “such a soul being saved, according to the oracle, through its own strength.” But even this rapid progress must be regarded as comparative, for even these “robust souls,” had to go through certain incarnations in which they were accumulating to themselves that very strength and ability to outstrip their fellows which, later on, placed them in the front rank.

In consequence of our ignorance of what we really are, not knowing at the time we begin the struggle in this present life whether the real man inside has passed through incarnations full of this necessary experience or not, we must not, because of the fancied importance we give ourselves, neglect the lower knowledge. There are many pitfalls besetting the road. Perchance we feel a certain degree of illumination, or we are able to see or hear in the astral world, and at once the temptation presents itself to claim to ourselves a spiritual greatness not our own. The possession of such astral acuteness is not high spirituality per se, for one might be able, as Buddha declares in the Saddharma-Pundarika, to smell the extraordinary odors arising in ten points of space which are not perceived by ordinary people, or to hear the innumerable and strange voices, sounds, bells, discords and harmonies produced by the whole host of unknown and unseen spirits of the earth, air, water and fire, and still be altogether devoid of spirituality. If we let ourselves then, be carried away by this, it is only a form of pride that precedes a severe fall. Being carried away with it, is at once a proof that we are not master, but are mastered by what is merely a novel experience.

But if we wisely and carefully test all experience, being willing to descend low enough to learn and study so that the instrument may be tuned and perfected, we may avoid the pitfalls, or be able to cross them should they be inevitable, whereas if we are deluded by supposed self-illumination, and run after that to the exclusion of all study, we will perhaps, enjoy a period of excitement and of self-satisfaction, but it will end, and the end will be bitter. As Buddha says: “He who ignores the rotation of mundane existences, has no perception of blessed rest.”

The very fact that a man is in the world and has a continual fight with his passions and inclinations, proves that he is not yet in any condition to leave it. And of even the very far advanced, it was said by those who were near the time of the Upanishads:

“The disciple who by his discrimination has escaped from the triple world, thinks he has reached pure, blessed nirvana; but it is only by knowing all the laws of the lower world, and the universal laws as well, that the immortal, pure, blest nirvana is reached. There is no real nirvana without all-knowingness; try to reach this.”

CORRESPONDENCE.

LONDON, June 17, 1886.

As No. 5 of “The Biogen Series,” Professor Coues has reprinted Robert Dodsley’s “Œconomy of Human Life,” which he considers is based on Theosophical Ethics. The history of this little treatise is rather curious. It was originally published in 1750 and purported to be by a Brahmin, but the authorship was generally ascribed to Lord Chesterfield. The great celebrity which the book at one time attained, was mainly due to this mistaken opinion. Dodsley, however, did not long persist in his disguise. It went through numerous editions, found many imitators, and has been translated into French, Italian, German and Bengali. The moral maxims contained in this little volume are of a character to admit of their attribution to Lord Chesterfield. Their claim to an especial Eastern origin receives a striking comment from the way in which the law of retribution, the nature of the soul, the eternal paradise of God, and other similar topics are regarded. In the treatment of these subjects, the author follows the theology of the Christian church rather than Brahmanical philosophy. The association of the name Kuthumi with the book, so perplexing to understand, is not a biographical fact, as Prof. Coues explains in his “fore-word” (p. 10). It only remains to state clearly what is implied in the fore-word that the Theosophical Society has no special code of morals, ready made and rigorously defined, for the acceptance of its members on admission. Prof. Coues is deserving of praise for rescuing from oblivion a book, in many ways calculated to do good.

Fraternally,

MOHINI M. CHATTERJI.

REVIEWS AND NOTES.

THE BIOGEN SERIES (Estes & Lauriat, Boston, Mass.). This series of publications is under the editorial management of Prof. Coues, the well known Scientist and Theosophist. The series has just reached its fifth number “Kuthumi, or the Economy of Human Life.” This is a reprint of a little volume, originally issued in 1770, but under the classical pen of Prof. Coues who has added an introduction, and the faultless typography of Estes & Lauriat, the little book is a very different affair from the earlier edition. Number four of the series which is also only just out of press, bears the significant title, “Can Matter Think,” and is reprint of an article which was written in India and published some years ago in The Theosophist. By no means the least important part of these publications are the notes and editorial comments of Prof Coues. Number four of the series has both an introduction and an appendix from the Professor’s pen. To give these publications such extended notice as they deserve would occupy more space and time than is at our command, while the exceedingly readable form and low price at which they are issued, renders such review unnecessary, as they are within reach of all.

These little books are in short, classics, and as such, substantial additions to the literature of the age, while their bearing on the great problems of Theosophy, can hardly be over estimated. Prof. Coues’ familiarity with the whole field of modern research, his exactness, which comes from scientific training, his remarkable command of first-class English, and his insight into the complex problems of psychology, place these books in the forefront of Theosophic literature, and we cordially commend them to our readers.

J.D. BUCK.

THE SANSCRIT LANGUAGE.

Several letters have been written and inquiries propounded to the Editor regarding Sanscrit, and in one or two instances the assertion has been made that we were incorrect in saying that Sanscrit is not really a dead language. In reply to those asking about the language, we refer them to Perry’s Sanscrit Primer (Ginn & Co., Boston), Lanman’s Sanscrit Reader and Whitney’s Sanscrit Grammar.

To the others, we quote from Perry’s Primer, § 21, p. 7: “The Sanscrit is used in India to this day very much as Latin was used in Europe in the previous century; it is a common medium of communication between the learned, be their native tongues what they may, and it is not the vernacular of any district whatever.” And in India, the Editor was told by many Brahmins that it is in constant use in all religious convocations and assemblies convened among people of learning who come from widely separated parts of Hindustan.

THOUGHTS.—By Ivan Panin, (Cupples, Upham & Co., Boston.) The author says that he does not know why he writes, but the thoughts jotted down are put forth as his own. Many of them are good and worth remembering. The book is of size convenient for the pocket, and well bound; the thoughts are topically arranged and numbered consecutively from 1 to 435; the first is, that to be never unhappy is the greatest misfortune; and the last, that next to the pleasure of seeing beautiful things, is to describe them. The best one is No. 205, that nature preaches many a fine sermon on silence, as: the loud thunder hurts not, but the silent lightning; silent gravity binds all worlds together; silent snow covers the ground, but noisy rain makes puddles and then runs away. Another good one is No. 188: “Always indeed, tell the truth, but do not always speak it;” also No. 80: “Abhor his vice, but not the man; for he is like thee a son of God.”

THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.—By a woman. (Rockwell & Churchill, Boston, 1885.) We are informed that the author is a Theosophist and wrote this before joining the Society. It is divided into 3 parts. I, Relates to Jesus; II, The Warfare of the Truth; III, The Letters and Evidences. She adheres to the idea of the immaculate conception, while not advocating the theological dogma of the Divinity; this seems to us not to follow. We cannot help pointing out that Jesus, the subject of this book, apparently violated filial duty when he refused to recognize his mother at the time he was told that she waited without. Also on page 10, the author surmizes that “probably not more than a score of children perished” by the order of King Herod. There is no historical record of the “slaughter of the Innocents,” but it is important and ought not to be lightly passed over. A similar legend is told regarding Krishna, the Hindu incarnation, thousands of years before Jesus, for King Kausa his uncle, ordered the slaughter of all the male infants in his kingdom, but Krishna escaped to another city under the protection of the great God, (see the Mahabarata). Again Gaffarel and others say, that really it referred to the persecution of the Kabalists and wise men of Herod’s day, for they were called “innocents” and “babes.” Now this tale has an occult signification, in common with the incident of Jesus refusing to recognize his mother.

The book is an excellent one, and if christendom held the same views, the millenium would advance. The author thinks that the spirit of the work and words of Jesus, if lived up to by his followers, would raise the western world to a higher plane, and in that we agree with her. But we cannot agree that Jesus came to the whole world, or that St. John’s revelation is for humanity. Both of them were only speaking to the races they were born in, revealing again a part of the knowledge and doctrine which anciently prevailed among all peoples, and which, even in their own day, were fully known in the farther East. Each time and people has its own prophet and sacred book, but it does not follow, if the last be the best for the people to whom it is revealed, that therefore it is the best of all.

At the beginning of each Manvantara (the remanifestation of a world and man upon it), a planetary spirit appears among men, and implants the great ideas afterwards held intuitionally. They are projected with a spiritual force and power that carries them through all the ages of that manvantara, now appearing and again apparently lost to sight. The original impulse every now and then, receives additions, through beings of a lower illumination than those who started them, as: Jesus, Buddha, Confucius and others, who appear in intermediate periods.

Similarly, great events, such as the occurrences related as anterior to Krishna’s, Buddha’s and Jesus’ birth, as well as the slaughter of the innocents and the death of Osiris, have an inherent spiritual force, wherever they really took place, that carries them down the stream of time and causes them to reappear among all peoples as a part of the biographies of different sacred personages.

This author has our approval, though worth but little, for she shows a keen insight. Witness on p. 517: “Believe not those who exalt woman above man, for they are equal powers. The use of the feminine pronoun in describing the soul, the earth, the moon * * has no profound scientific or philosophical foundation.

“Believe not those who claim to give final wisdom to the world; for there must be many instruments of truth.”

And on p. 519: “Sufficient guides are in that development of seership which is the necessary and natural sequence of the ripening of the intellect and moral sense, and which must and will grow. To man’s own conscience] and judgment is left the supreme utilization of these first universal efforts at intercommunion between the material and spiritual planes of existence.”

We regret that our limited space prohibits a more extended notice.

SINNETT.—Mr. A. P. Sinnett of London, author of Esoteric Buddhism, has just brought out a new novel of a theosophical cast. We have not received a copy as there has not been time, but hope to notice it in the August number. Its title is “Union” .

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF CONTROL—will meet in Rochester July 4th. This will be an important meeting, being the first one since the new era of American Theosophical Activity. It is hoped that each year hereafter will see conventions of the Society when each Branch will be represented by a delegate.

JOSHEE.—Bro. Gopal Vinayak Joshee was in Boston May 28th, at the annual meeting of the Free Religion Association, and delivered an address before them upon “What is lacking in Christianity,” which was reported in The Index, of June 10th, ult. It deserves perusal, and must have seemed to its hearers like plain speaking.

ALABAMA.—A new Branch of the society is being organized here, the provisional charter having been issued. We hope also soon to hear of another in Texas, where a good Theosophist has settled.

MALDEN.—The theosophists here are in earnest and active. They have heartily adopted the suggestion of the New York Branch about discussions in condensed form being printed for circulation among members.

CINCINNATI.—This Branch has been hard at work, and has had the benefit of several addresses and thorough explanations of hermetic doctrines from a well known and well versed theosophist.

ABRIDGEMENTS OF DISCUSSIONS.—The discussions and study of every member of the Society and of each Branch should not be kept exclusively to themselves, except when they may relate to necessarily secret matter, but ought to be made known in some way to all other members. To that end, the N. Y. Branch has issued the first of a series of leaflets for private circulation, containing abstracts of these discussions. They contain the ideas of many different people upon the subjects of Karma, Reincarnation, and other doctrines of Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity.

All branches ought to contribute notes to this work, so that the leaflets may appeal to as many minds in the society as possible. If a central editor could be hit upon that would also be a good idea.

THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.—Regular meetings have been held each week, since our last issue, two during this month being open ones, at which addresses were delivered and discussions had. On the 8th ult., the subject was that of evolution as laid down in theosophical literature, and at one meeting, the lecture was illustrated by reference to a famous carved temple roof in India, the blackboard being used for rough outlines of the design.

During the last month, the following books have been donated to the library of the Branch, by Bro. Edson D. Hammond: Ancient Mysteries Described (Hone, 1823); The Obelisk and Freemasonry (Weisse, 1880); Psychological Review (London), 12 Nos. 1882; 2 of 1883, when Review stopped. The library has now increased to over 125 vols. and has been considerably used by the members.

That subtle self is to be known by thought alone; for every thought of men is interwoven with the senses, and when thought is purified, then the self arises.—Mundaka Upanishad.

OM

In the beginning this was Self alone—undeveloped. It became developed by form and name. The Self entered thither to the very tips of the finger nails, as the fire in the fireplace. He cannot be seen: for, in part only, when breathing, he is breath by name; when seeing, eye by name; when hearing, ear; when thinking, mind, by name. All these are but the names of his acts. And he who regards him as the one or the other, does not know him, for he is apart from them. Let men worship him as the Self, for in the Self, all these are one. This Self is the footstep of everything, for through it one knows everything, and as one can find again by footsteps what was lost, thus he who knows this may find the Self.—Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad, 1 Adh., 4 Brah., 7 v.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         AUGUST, 1886.                         NO. 5.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

STAR COLORS AND ANIMAL MAGNETISM.

It is well known that yellow is the complementary of blue, and red of green, color, and it struck me that, relating to this subject, the remarks of Mr. Isaac Sharpless, who is an undoubted authority in astronomical matters, are of some importance. Writing from Haverford College Observatory, June 3d, instant, he says:

“The question of star colors has been receiving attention from the hand of an English gentleman, W. S. Franks. He has examined carefully the colors of a list of 1893 of the brightest stars, with especial reference to the distribution in the heavens of the different colors. He finds 962 white stars, 614 yellow, 168 orange, 10 red, 15 green, 59 blue, 58 purple and 7, for some reason, have no colors given. He finds that the constellations which contain a large percentage of white stars are in or near the Milky Way, and wherever stars are closely associated together; while the yellow and orange stars are most plentiful in large straggling constellations.

“It is well known that a certain kind of spectrum is connected with certain star colors. The yellow stars belong to the class of our sun and include such bright stars as Capella. The white stars, like Vega, have a spectrum of a great number of fine lines, and the red gives a banded spectrum. It has been a favorite theory that the colors indicate the age of the stars, if not in years, at least in development. That the white are the youngest: as they cool they become yellow, then red, and, finally invisible, just as a piece of iron would in cooling down from a white heat. There is much to commend this idea, though, of course, as to the relative ages of the stars we know very little, and some changes appear to be in the opposite direction. Perhaps there are people to whom the idea of different colors in stars is a novelty. They have a general idea that there are bright points of light overhead, at night, and probably they have observed, in a general way, that some are brighter than others. It will not require a very close watch, however, to add to the knowledge of the sky the additional fact that they are differently colored. Castor and Pollux which now shine in the west in the evening, are very evidently diverse, and a careful amateur can go over the heavens and notice among the brighter stars quite a variety.

“But a telescope increases the capacities for this work immensely. Nearly all the very red stars are too faint to be seen by the naked eye, and many which show the strongest contrasts of color are double stars, which require considerable magnifying power to separate them. Blue and green stars are never solitary, but associated with a red or a yellow star, which is nearly always brighter, so that color has something to do with association. There are also sometimes clusters of stars which show great variety of color. Sir John Herschel describes one in the Southern Hemisphere which resembled a mass of colored gems. There is probably a prolific field of discovery yet undeveloped in connection with star colors.”

The experiments of Reichenbach and others have shown that from crystals and human bodies emanate not only influences of a positive and negative character—which are also referred to in the PATH at p. 86—but also that certain colors are seen by sensitives to arise from the human head, eyes, and hands. Now, as animal magnetism is slowly forcing recognition from the scientific world, why are we not justified in giving some credence to the views held by the old Hermetic philosophers, that the human being derives its magnetism and vitality from the stars: that is, that these colors seen by sensitives, are to be directly traced to the sidereal influences and atmospheres. They gave to each color an appropriate star, and we find curiously enough, that although it is claimed against them that they were ignorant and had no appliances, they, without apparatus, knew that the stars had colors, while to the sun they ascribed life. Now in this century our astronomers tell us, as above, of star colors of great variety and peculiar combination. These are mere hints, however, which I would like more competent men to enlarge upon.

ISAAC MYER.

[NOTE.—We are personally acquainted with several persons who can see these magnetic colors, and they all agree in the main as to the conditions of health or of temper which accompany them. Mere quick thoughts they see as bright sparks; sensuality seems pink or reddish; while life and wisdom, appear as blue. It is interesting to note also, that in the Hindu system, when Krishna is represented as the life giver, or as the principle of life, he is painted blue, which color Reichenbach found proceeded from the positive pole; while the passive mendicant or ascetic of Hindustan, has to wear the yellow robe, which stands for the negative pole that emits the yellow ray. It is also rather curious that the ancient Egyptians in their papyri painted wisdom, which is cold, of a yellow color, and the son of life appears in blue.—ED.]

A HINDU CHELA’S DIARY.[89]

(Continued from July Number.)

“I have always felt and still feel strongly that I have already once studied this sacred philosophy with Kunâla, and that I must have been, in a previous life, his most obedient and humble disciple. This must have been a fact, or else how to account for the feelings created in me when I first met him, although no special or remarkable circumstances were connected with that event. All my hopes and plans are centred in him, and nothing in the world can shake my confidence in him especially when several of my Brahmin acquaintances tell me the same things without previous consultation. * * *

“I went to the great festival of Durga yesterday, and spent nearly the whole day looking in the vast crowd of men, women, children and mendicants for some of Kunâla’s friends, for he once told me to never be sure that they were not near me, but I found none who seemed to answer my ideas. As I stood by the ghaut at the river side thinking that perhaps I was left alone to try my patience, an old and apparently very decrepit Bairagee plucked my sleeve and said: ‘Never expect to see any one, but always be ready to answer if they speak to you; it is not wise to peer outside of yourself for the great followers of Vasudeva: look rather within.’

“This amazed me, as I was expecting him to beg or to ask me for information. Before my wits returned, he had with a few steps mingled with a group of people, and in vain searched I for him: he had disappeared. But the lesson is not lost.

“To-morrow I return to I——.

“Very wearying indeed in a bodily sense was the work of last week and especially of last evening, and upon laying down on my mat last night after continuing work far into the night I fell quickly sound asleep. I had been sleeping some hour or two when with a start I awoke to find myself in perfect solitude and only the horrid howling of the jackals in the jungle to disturb me. The moon was brightly shining and I walked over to the window of this European modeled house threw it open and looked out. Finding that sleep had departed, I began again on those palm leaves. Just after I had begun, a tap arrested my attention and I opened the door. Overjoyed was I then to see Kunâla standing there, once more unexpected.

“‘Put on your turban and come with me,’ he said and turned away.

“Thrusting my feet into my sandals, and catching up my turban, I hurried after him, afraid that the master would get beyond me, and I remain unfortunate at losing some golden opportunity.

“He walked out into the jungle and turned into an unfrequented path. The jackals seemed to recede into the distance; now and then in the mango trees overhead, the flying foxes rustled here and there, while I could distinctly hear the singular creeping noise made by a startled snake as it drew itself hurriedly away over the leaves. Fear was not in my breast for master was in front. He at last came to a spot that seemed bare of trees, and bending down, seemed to press his hand into the grass. I then saw that a trap door or entrance to a stairway very curiously contrived, was there. Stairs went down into the earth. He went down and I could but follow. The door closed behind me, yet it was not dark. Plenty of light was there, but where it came from I cared not then nor can I now, tell. It reminded me of our old weird tales told us in youth of pilgrims going down to the land of the Devas where, although no sun was seen, there was plenty of light.

“At the bottom of the stairs was a passage. Here I saw people but they did not speak to me and appeared not to even see me although their eyes were directed at me. Kunâla said nothing but walked on to the end, where there was a room in which were many men looking as grand as he does but two more awful, one of whom sat at the extreme end.”

[Here there is a confused mass of symbols and ciphers which I confess I cannot decipher, and even if I had the ability to do so, I would check myself, because I surmise that it is his own way of jotting down for his own remembrance, what occurred in that room. Nor do I think that even a plain reading of it would give the sense to any one but the writer himself, for this reason, that it is quite evidently fragmentary. For instance, I find among the rest, a sort of notation of a division of states or planes: whether of consciousness, of animated, or of elemental life, I cannot tell; and in each division are hieroglyphs that might stand for animals, or denizens of the astral world, or for anything else—even for ideas only, so I will proceed at the place of his returning.]

“Once more I got out into the passage, but never to my knowledge went up those steps, and in a moment more was I again at my door. It was as I left it, and on the table I found the palm leaves as I dropped them, except that beside them was a note in Kunâla’s hand, which read:

“‘Nilakant—strive not yet to think too deeply on those things you have just seen. Let the lessons sink deep into your heart, and they will have their own fruition. To-morrow I will see you.’ * * * *

“What a very great blessing is mine to have had Kunâla’s company for so many days even as we went to——. Very rarely however he said a few words of encouragement and good advice as to how I should go on. He seems to leave me as to that to pick my own way. This is right, I think, because otherwise one would never get any individual strength or power of discrimination. Happy were those moments, when alone at midnight, we then had conversation. How true I then found the words of the Agroushada Parakshai to be:

“‘Listen while the Sudra sleeps like the dog under his hut, while the Vaysa dreams of the treasures that he is hoarding up, while the Rajah sleeps among his women. This is the moment when just men, who are not under the dominion of their flesh, commence the study of the sciences.’[90]

“The midnight hour must have powers of a peculiar nature. And I learned yesterday from glancing into an Englishman’s book, that even those semi barbarians speak of that time as ‘the witching hour,’ and it is told me that among them ‘witching’ means to have magic power. * * * *

“We stopped at the Rest House in B—— yesterday evening, but found it occupied and so we remained in the porch for the night. But once more I was to be blessed by another visit with Kunâla to some of his friends whom I revere and who will I hope bless me too.

“When every one had quieted down he told me to go with him to the sea which was not far away. We walked for about three quarters of an hour by the seashore, and then entered as if into the sea. At first a slight fear came into me, but I saw that a path seemed to be there, although water was all around us. He in front and I following, we went for about seven minutes, when we came to a small island; on it was a building and on top of that a triangular light. From the sea shore, the island would seem like an isolated spot covered all over by green bushes. There is only one entrance to go inside. And no one can find it out unless the occupant wishes the seeker to find the way. On the island we had to go round about for some space before we came in front of the actual building. There is a little garden in front and there was sitting another friend of Kunâla with the same expression of the eyes as he has. I also recognized him as one of those who was in the room underground. Kunâla seated himself and I stood before them. We stayed an hour and saw a portion of the place. How very pleasant it is! And inside he has a small room where he leaves his body when he himself moves about in other places. What a charming spot, and what a delightful smell of roses and various sorts of flowers! How I should wish to visit that place often. But I cannot indulge in such idle dreams, nor in that sort of covetousness. The master of the place put his blessing hand upon my head, and we went away back to the Rest House and to the morrow full of struggles and of encounters with men who do not see the light, nor hear the great voice of the future; who are bound up in sorrow because they are firmly attached to objects of sense. But all are my brothers and I must go on trying to do the master’s work which is only in fact the work of the Real Self which is All and in All.”

NOTES ON THE CABBALAH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

BY PERMISSION OF BRO. J. RALSTON SKINNER (McMillan Lodge, No. 141).

II.

Ginsburg and others tell us that Raymond Lully and John Picus de Mirandola had acquired knowledge of the Hebrew and the Caballah. Mirandola studied Hebrew and Cabbalistic theology under Jochanan Aleman, who came to Italy from Constantinople, and—“found that there is more Christianity in the Cabbalah than Judaism; he discovered in it proof for the doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Divinity of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem, the fall of the angels, the order of the angels,” and so on, and so on. “In 1486, when only 24 years old, he published 900 theses, which were placarded in Rome, and which he undertook to defend in the presence of all European scholars, whom he invited to the Eternal City, promising to defray their traveling expenses. Among the theses was the following: ‘No science yields greater proof of the Divinity of Christ than magic and the Cabbalah.’”

Through Picus de Mirandola, Reuchlin became aware of this phase of Hebrew philosophy or theosophy, as, by a school of the rabbins, a recognized appurtenant to the Hebrew Scriptures. He not only examined into the Cabbalah to satisfy his thirst for facts of literature, but, on investigation, became a convert to the system,—“within two years of beginning to learn the language, published (1494) his De Verbo Mirifico, and afterwards (1516) with more matured learning, his De Arte Cabbalistica.” And thus the joint efforts of Mirandola and Reuchlin established a field of literature, of the Cabbalah, which has always flourished, and will continue to flourish so long as our civilization shall last.

It is interesting and useful to place this great fact, but it is a matter of especially great weight and value that the knowledge of the Cabbalah was sprung upon the world of letters, with, and as an essential part of the Reformation itself. Not that the philosophy of the Cabbalah became engrafted into the study and development of Hebrew (and consequently Christian) theosophy:—for, because of lack of knowledge of what the Cabbalah really was, such could not be the case,—but it was entitled so to be, and the assertion of its existence as a real element of Scripture was, even then, so strongly and enduringly made, that, though an unknown quantity except by name, it has ever since stood firmly, and ready to have such claim made good:—with a vitality that has outworn four hundred years of patient waiting.

Of course there was a field of Jewish Cabbalistic literature,—not open, but confined, for the most part, as a kind of sacred mystery, within narrow and restricted limits, even among the Jews themselves. It was of the same nature with what is called, to-day, The Speculative Philosophy of Free Masonry, an ever seemingly substantive embodiment out of surrounding shadowy mists and mental fogs, wherein a doubt always exists whether after all there is in the nebulous matter of the mist itself anything from whence substance may congeal; or, it may, for illustration, be compared to the city of King Arthur, before whose gate Gareth, standing, says: “But these my men—(your city moves so weirdly in the mist),—doubt if the King be King at all, or come from Fairy land: and whether this be built by magic, and by fairy kings and queens, or whether there be any city at all, or all a vision.” It is necessary to make a brief mention of this literature with its sources; both that these may be known, and that a foundation may be laid for what is stated as to the reality of Cabbalah, and its significance.

There is almost no teaching of the Cabbalah in the English language except the Essay by Christian D. Ginsburg, LL. D., to which we have referred. Dr. Ginsburg says: “It is a system of religious philosophy, or more properly, of theosophy, which has not only exercised for hundreds of years an extraordinary influence on the mental development of so shrewd a people as the Jews, but has captivated the minds of some of the greatest thinkers of Christendom in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and which claims the greatest attention of both the philosopher and theologian.”

It is faintly claimed that some statements applying to Cabbalah are to be found in the Talmud; but apart from this we have:—(1) The Commentary on the Ten Sephiroth, by R. Azariel ben Manachem (1160-1238), who was a pupil of Isaac the Blind, and master of the celebrated R. Moses Nachmanides, (2) The Book Sohar (Light), or Midrash, Let there be Light, claimed to have been a revelation from God, communicated through R. Simon ben Jochai, A. D. 70-110, to his select disciples. This book has been pronounced by the ablest critics to have been a pseudograph of the thirteenth century,—the composition of Moses de Leon, who lived in Spain; who, by the admission of his wife and daughter after his death, first published and sold it as the production of R. Simon ben Jochai, and (3) The Book Jetzirah or Book of Creation,—of unknown age and authorship, but mentioned as early as the eleventh century in the Book Chazari, by R. Jehudah Ha Levi,—as the literary sources for the entire system and scope thereof, so far as disclosed. It is from these sources that the entire volume of Cabbalistic literature has had rise and development.

From these sources, and the numberless treatises and expositions thereon, the history of the subject matter and containment of Cabbalah is laid down as follows: It was first taught by God himself to a select company of angels. After the fall the angels taught it to Adam. From Adam it passed to Noah, thence to Abram, the friend of God who carried it to Egypt. Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, was initiated into it from the land of his birth. He covertly laid down the principles of its doctrines in the first four books of the Pentateuch, but withheld them from Deuteronomy (“this constitutes the former the ‘man’ and the latter the ‘woman’”). Moses initiated the seventy elders, and they again passed the sacred and secret doctrine down to the heads (continually imparting the same) of the Church of Israel. David and Solomon were adepts in it. No one dared to write it down till the supposititious Simon ben Jochai, who really lived and taught, as one of the most celebrated doctors, at the time of the destruction of the second temple; and his teachings are claimed to constitute the Book of Sohar, published, as already said, by Moses de Leon of Valladolid, in Spain. But Ben Jochai, or whoever worked under his name, though he wrote and published, as said, covered the true doctrine by veils, so that no one but an initiate, or, as the saying runs, “by the gift of God,” could penetrate behind them;—though the veils of the words still plainly held the secret doctrine, to those who could see. The Cabbalah, as an exposition to the Sacred Text of Holy Writ, was claimed to contain the Wisdom of God in every branch and department of His working,—and all terms and descriptions were exhausted to express the ineffable reward to him who might be permitted to penetrate behind the veil, either by initiation or “by the gift of God;” satiating every function of enjoyment, and affording an indescribable bliss, in the ultimate possessions of the Divine conceptions.

More definitely:—The exposition of the system treats of the impersonal First Cause manifesting within the limits of the finite. “Before he gave any shape to this world, before he produced any form, he was alone, without a form and resemblance to anything else.[91] Who, then, can comprehend him, how he was before the creation, since he was formless? Hence, it is forbidden to represent him by any form, similitude, or even by his sacred name, by a single letter or a single point; and to this, the words, ‘Ye saw no manner of similitude on the day the Lord spake unto you’ (Deut. iv. 15)—i. e., ye have nor seen anything which you could represent by any form or likeness,—refer” (Sohar 42 b, 43 a, Sec. AB):—And this shows clearly enough that the supposed sacred names of Scripture do not have reference to the Impersonal First Cause, as its essential designations, but rather to its creations. * * Then—“The creation, or the universe, is simply the garment of God woven from the Deity’s own substance (The Impersonal manifesting in the cosmos, in modes to be expressed by the sacred names and otherwise). For although, to reveal himself to us, the Concealed of all the Concealed, sent forth the Ten Emanations (the Ten Sephiroth) called the Form of God, Form of the Heavenly-Man, yet since even this luminous form was too dazzling for our vision, it had to assume another form, or had to put on another garment which consists of the universe. The universe, therefore, or the visible world, is a further expansion of the Divine Substance, and is called in the Cabbalah, ‘the Garment of God.’” (Sohar i, 2 a)—“The whole universe, however, was incomplete, and did not receive its finishing stroke till man was formed, who is the acme of the creation, and the macrocosm uniting in himself the totality of beings,—‘the heavenly Adam,’ i. e., the Ten Sephiroth, who emanated from the highest primordial obscurity (The Impersonal First Cause), created the earthly Adam.” (Sohar ii, 70 b). This is more definitely expressed in another place, where it says:—“Jehovah (for which stands the letter jod, or j or i) descended on Sinai in fire,” the word for which is a-sh fire. Let the j, or i, the signature for Jehovah, descend in the midst of this word, and one will have a i sh, which is the Hebrew word for man man; thus man became out of the Divine fire——“Man is both the import and the highest degree of creation, for which reason he was formed on the sixth day. As soon as man was created every thing was complete, including the upper and nether world, for every thing is comprised in man. He unites in himself all forms.” (Sohar iii, 48 a)—“But after he created the form of the Heavenly Man, he used it as a chariot (Mercabah) (wheels, circles) wherein to descend, and wishes to be called by this form, which is the sacred name Jehovah.” (Sohar i, 42 b, 43 a, section AB.)

It is to be observed especially, as to the ground work of the Cabbalah, that the first manifestation was in the “Ten Sephiroth,” or Emanations, so called, out of which came the “Heavenly Man”; and the human or earth man represented these Ten Sephiroth in himself. “The lower world is made after the pattern of the upper world; everything which exists in the upper world is to be found as it were in a copy on earth; still the whole is one.” (Sohar i, 20 a.)

Thus it is that the compass of the Cabbalah, by Sohar, is idealized in the form of a man. This man represented the combination of the Ten Sephiroth, or, as systematically called, Emanations, in which as a unity the whole cosmos existed in its segregated detail; and through which all knowledge thereof, physically, psychically and spiritually, was to be had, in passiveness and in activities;—and through which these activities, as of all potencies—as of angels and powers,—had their special existences. These Emanations had names of qualities, as Beauty, Strength, Wisdom, etc., etc., each name being located upon one of nine parts marked out on the form of the man; each of which was called a Sephira. The totality of the man being taken as one, this added to the nine made ten; and as a number this was the letter jod, already spoken of. The locations of these Sephiroth (shown as circles) are united one with another, so that one Emanation may flow into another; one into all, and all into one;—and the 22 letters of the alphabet with the 10 vowel sounds, are found therein, or thereby; and these are called the “thirty-two ways or canals of Wisdom”; and as these letters stood also for numbers, there is in this containment every possible mode of expression by word and number. The exposition of the Old Testament, especially the Thora, in the secret or esoteric way, is claimed under this statement;—that is, by numbering the letters of words, and by their permutations and changes of positions; so that this is one of the functions of the Emanations or Sephiroth; and a mighty one for disclosing the Wisdom of God.

The Book Jetzirah deals especially with these letters and numbers: “By thirty-two paths of secret wisdom, the Eternal, the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, the living God, the King of the Universe, the Merciful and Gracious, the High and Exalted God, He who inhabiteth eternity, Glorious and Holy is His name, hath created the world by means of numbers, phonetic language and writing.”

The Commentary on the Ten Sephiroth, by R. Azariel Ben Menachem, as its name implies, is directly in consonance with the Sohar.

As to the Book Jetzirah, Dr. Ginsburg says: “The Book Jetzirah, which the Cabbalists claim is their oldest document, has really nothing in common with the cardinal doctrines of the Cabbalah. There is not a word in it bearing on the En Soph (Impersonal First Cause), the Archetypal Man,” and so on, and so on. But here the doctor is at fault for this reason:—The word “Sephiroth” means “Numbers,” and the Ten Sephiroth means the Ten Numbers; and in the Cabbalistic way these are composed out of a geometrical shape. The circle is the first naught, but out of this naught develops a straight vertical line, viz: the diameter of this circle. This is the first One; and having a first one, from it comes 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 and 9,—the circle or naught and its diameter one, the embracement of all together, forming the comprehensive Ten, or Ten Numbers, Ten Sephiroth, Ten Emanations, the Heavenly Man, the great Jah, of the ineffable name. Hence the contents of the book Jetzirah are of the very essence of the other two, and all are one.

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in Mysticism.

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, Stud. Theos.

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi:

“Last night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress, when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the garden, soft as the dews of heaven.”

(CONTINUED.)

NOTES ON JELALUDDIN RUMI—Continued:

—Space forbids us to dwell any longer upon the miracles of this wonderful man of whom Shems Tebreez once asserted, in Jelal’s College, that “whosoever wished to see again the prophets, had only to look on Jelal, who possessed all their qualifications; more especially of those to whom revelations were made, whether by angelic communications, or whether in visions; the chief of such qualities being serenity of mind with perfect inward confidence and consciousness of being one of God’s elect. Go and look upon Jelal, if thou wish to comprehend the signification of that saying ‘the learned are the heirs of the prophets,’ together with something beyond that, which I will not here specify.”

We must add a few passages from Jelal’s lectures, &c. These were his last instructions, “the best of mankind is he who benefiteth men” and, “the best of speech is that which is short and to the purpose.” Jelal once at a funeral spoke thus: “The ordinary reciters, by their services, bear witness that the deceased lived a Muslim. My singers, however, testify that he was a Muslim, a believer, and a lover of God.” He added: “Besides that; when the human spirit, after years of imprisonment in the cage and dungeon of the body, is at length set free, and wings its flight to the source whence it came, is not this an occasion for rejoicings, thanks, and dancings? The soul in ecstacy, soars to the presence of the Eternal; and stirs up others to make proof of courage and self sacrifice. If a prisoner be released from a dungeon and be clothed with honour, who would doubt that rejoicings are proper? So, too, the death of a saint is an exactly parallel case.” Once, when requested to give a lecture to men of science, he answered: “A tree laden with fruit, had its branches bowed down to the earth therewith. At the time, doubts and gainsayings prevented the gardeners from gathering and enjoying the fruit. The tree has now raised its head to the skies, and beyond. Can they hope, then, to pluck and eat of its fruit?”—

Jelal’s chief work, and the reference-book of Sufism, is the Mesnevi (Mathnawi) usually known as the Mesneviyi Sherif, or Holy Mesnevi. It is truly one of the most famous books of the East, studied and commented upon wherever dogmatic religion has been abandoned for esoteric truth.

From the preface we quote the following:

“This is the book of the Rhymed Couplets (Mathnawi, Mesnevi). It contains the roots of the roots of the roots of the one (one true) Religion (of Islam); and treats of the discovery of the mysteries of reunion and sure knowledge. It is the Grand Jurisprudence of God, the most glorious Law of the Deity, the most manifest Evidence of the Divine Being. The refulgence thereof “is like that of a lantern in which is a lamp”[92] that scatters beams more bright than the morn. It is the paradise of the heart, with springs and foliage. One of these springs is “the fount named Salsabil”[93] by the brethren of this religious order;[94] but, by saints and those miraculously endowed, it is called “the Good Station,”[95] and “the Best Resting place.”[96] The just shall eat and drink therein, and the righteous shall rejoice and be glad thereof. Like the Egyptian Nile, it is a beverage for the patient, but a delusion to the people of Pharaoh and to blasphemers; even as God, whose name be glorified, hath said: “He misleads therewith many, and He guides therewith many; but He misleads not therewith (any), save the wicked.”[97]

“It is a comfort to man’s breast, an expeller of cares. It is an exposition of the Quran, an amplification of spiritual aliments, and a dulcifier of the disposition; written “by the hands of honorable scribes”[98] who inscribed theron the prohibition: “Let none touch it save the purified.”[99] It is (a revelation) “sent down (from on high) by the Lord of (all) the worlds,[100] which vanity approacheth not from before, nor from behind,”[101] which God watches over and observes, He being “the best of a Preserver,”[102] and “The Most Compassionate of the merciful ones,”[103] unto whom pertain (many) titles, his utmost title being God, whose name be exalted.”

Further on he says: “I have exerted myself to enlarge this book of poetry in rhyming couplets, which contains strange and rare narratives, beautiful sayings, and recondite indications, a path for the devout, and a garden for the pious, short in its expressions, numerous in their applications.”—

The Mesnevi is said to contain twenty-six thousand six hundred and sixty couplets and a large part of them ought to be cited here, but space forbids. We offer a few selections entirely at random.

The strength of strongest man can merely split a stone;

The Power that informs man’s soul can cleave the moon.

If man’s heart but untie the mouth of mystery’s sack,

His soul soon soars aloft beyond the starry track.

If heaven’s mystery divulged should, ‘haps become,

The whole world ‘twould burn up, as fire doth wood consume.—

Saints’ ecstacy springs from a glimpse of God, his pride.

His station’s that of intimate. He’s bridegroom; God is bride.

A bride’s veiled graces are not seen by groom alone;

Her unveiled charms solely to him in private shown.

In state she first appears before the people all;

Her veil removed, the groom alone is at her call.—

Who’s not received the gift of knowledge from above,

Will ne’er believe a stock could sigh and moan for love.

He may pretend to acquiesce; not from belief;

He says: “Tis so,” to scape a name much worse than thief.

All they who’re not convinced that God’s “Be” is enough,

Will turn away their face; this tale they’ll treat as “stuff.”

If he (man) from esse, reach not posse’s state, he’s nil.—

(God) Himself He’s veiled in man, as sun behind a cloud.

This seek to comprehend. God knows what mysteries shroud.

The sun He is;—the sun of spirit, not of sky;

By light from Him man lives;—and angels eke, forby.—

The soul it is originates all vital force.—

The Prophet hath assureth us God’s the soul of all.—

The world’s renewed each moment, though we still remain

In ignorance that permanence can change sustain.

Life, like a river, ceaselessly, is still renewed.—

Each night Thou settest free the soul from trap of flesh,

To scan and learn the hidden records of Thy wish.

Each night the soul is like a bird from cage set free,

To wander. Judge and judgment, then, it does not see.

By night the pris’ner loses sense of bars, of chains;

By night the monarch knows no state, no pomp retains;

The merchant counts no more, in sleep, his gains and loss;

The prince and peasant, equal, on their couches toss.

The Gnostic is so e’en by day, when wide awake;

For God hath said: “Let quietude care of him take.”

Asleep to all the things of earth by night, by day,

As pen in writer’s hand he doth his guide obey.—

Of this, the Gnostic’s privilege, a trace’d suffice

To rob of sleep and reason vulgar souls of ice.

His spirit wanders in the groves of th’ absolute.

His soul is easy; body, still, calm, quiet, mute.—

In sleep thou bearest no burden; borne thou art, instead.

Know then, thy sleep’s a foretaste of what is to come,

From the rapt state of saints arriving at their home.

The saints were well prefigured by the “Sleeper’s Seven,”

“Their sleep,” “their stretchings,” “their awaking” lead to heaven.—

Each night, in profound sleep our consciousness sinks,

Becomes non-existent;—waves on seashore’s brinks.—

The body’s a cage and a thorn to the soul.

Hence, seldom are body and soul wholly whole.—

Both men and fairies pris’ners are in earthly cage.—

If lifted could be from our souls the dark veil,

Each word of each soul would with miracles trail.—

The soul unto the flesh is joined, by God’s decree,

That it may be afflicted,—trials made to see.—

Th’ Infinites’ lovers finite’s worshippers are not

Who seek the finite lose th’ Infinite, as we wot,

When finite with the finite falls in love, perforce,

His loved one soon returns to her infinite source.—

In non-existence mirrored, being we may see;—

Annihilate thy darksome self,—thy being’s pall.

Let thy existence in God’s essence be enrolled,

As copper in alchemists’ bath is turned to gold.

Quit “I” and “We,” which o’er thy heart exert control.

’Tis egotism, estranged from God, that clogs thy soul.—

Discharge thyself of every particle of self;

So shalt thou see thyself pure, free from soil of pelf.

Within thy heart thou’lt see the wisdom of the saints,

Without a book, a teacher, or professor’s plaints.—

Thyself * * purge of self. Abstraction thou shalt gain.—

Both love and soul are occult, hidden and concealed.—

A lover’s whole life is but self-sacrifice;

He wins not a heart, save his own heart’s the price.—

When love for God is lighted in the human heart,

It fiercely burns; it suffers not effects’ dull smart;

—— love is love’s own sign, giv’n from the highest sphere.—

The heart’s with God,—the heart is God,—boundless, immense!

From all eternity, the figures of all things,

Unnumbered, multitudinous, gleam in hearts’ wings.

To all eternity each new-created form

In heart of saint reflected is, most multiform.—

Have patience, thou too, brother, with thy needle’s smart.

So shalt thou, ‘scape the sting of conscience in thy heart.

They who have conquered,—freed themselves from body’s thrall,

Are worshipped in the spheres, the sun, the moon, stars, all.

Whoever’s killed pride’s demon in his earthly frame,

The sun and clouds are slaves, to do his bidding, tame.

His heart can lessons give of flaming to the lamp;

The very sun not equals him in ardent vamp.—

The inward hymn that’s sung by all the hearts of saints

Commences: “O component parts of that thing Not.”

Now since they take their rise in this Not, negative,

They put aside the hollow phantom where we live.

Ideas and essences become “things” at His word.—

This world’s a negative; the positive seek thou.

All outward forms are cyphers; search, the sense to know.—

Mankind the songs of fairies never hear at all,

They are not versed in fairies’ ways, their voices small.—

“Allah, Allah!”[104] cried the sick man, racked with pain the long night through;

Till with prayer his heart grew tender, till his lips like honey grew.

But at morning came the Tempter; said “Call louder, child of Pain!

See if Allah ever hear or answers ‘Here am I,’ again.”

Like a stab, the cruel cavil through his brain and pulses went;

To his heart an icy coldness, to his brain a darkness sent.

Then before him stands Elias; says, “My child, why thus dismayed?

Dost repent thy former fervor? Is thy soul of prayer afraid?”

“Ah!” he cried, “I’ve called so often; never heard the ‘Here am I;’

And I thought, God will not pity; will not turn on me his eye.”

Then the grave Elias answered, “God said, Rise, Elias, go

Speak to him, the sorely tempted; lift him from his gulf of woe.

Tell him that his very longing is itself an answering cry;

That his prayer, ‘Come, gracious Allah!’ is my answer ‘Here am I.’”

..When thy mind is dazed by colour’s magic round,

All colour’s lost in one bright light diffused around.

Those colours, too, all vanish from our view by night.

We learn from this, that colour’s only seen through light.

The sense of colour-seeing’s not from light distinct.

So, too, the sudden rainbow of our mind’s instinct.

From sunlight, and the like, all outer colours rise;

The inward tints that mark our minds, from God’s sunrise.

The light that lights the eye’s the light that’s in the heart.

Eye’s light is but derived from what illumes that part.

The light that lights the heart’s the light that comes of God,

Which lies beyond the reach of sense and reason, clod!

By night we have no light; no colour can we see.

Thus, light we learn by darkness, its converse. Agree!

A seeing of the light, perception is of tints;

And these distinguished are through darkness gloomy hints.

Our griefs and sorrows were by God first introduced,

That joy to sense apparent thence should be reduced

Occult things, thus, by converse, grow apparent, all.

Since God has no converse, apparent He can’t fall.

Sight first saw light, and then the colours saw,

From converse converse stands forth, as Frank from Negro.

By converse of the light, distinguish we the light;

A converse ‘tis that converse shows unto our sight.

The light of God no converse has in being’s bound;

By converse, then, man has not its distinction found.

Our eyes cannot distinguish God, decidedly;

Though He distinguish Moses and the Mount from thee.—

The doctrine, which Jelal was most emphatic about was the extinguishment of Self, and his teachings are quite characteristic for him, though the general doctrine is a common one among the Sufis. He argues for simplicity. He tells us a story about a dispute between Chinamen and Greeks before the Sultan, as to who is the more skilful of the two nations, in the art of decoration. The Chinese ask for and get thousands of colours and work hard, while the Greeks ask for no color; they only polish their front,

“Effacing every hue with nicest care,”

and when the Sultan came to examine the relative merit of Chinese gorgeousness and Greek simplicity,

“Down glides a sunbeam through the rifted clouds,

And, lo the colours of that rainbow house

Shine, all reflected on those glassy walls

That face them, rivalling: The sun hath painted

With lovelier blending, on that stony mirror

The colours spread by man so artfully.—

Know them, O friend! such Greeks the Sufis are,

Having one sole and simple task,—to make

Their hearts a stainless mirror for their God.—”

(To be continued.)

THE SINGING SILENCES.

Theosophists may be interested in an experience which I have named as above; “Singing”—because of a peculiar resonance which I then hear; “Silences”—because this resonance only reaches me in moments of retirement and silence.

Occurring throughout a lifetime, at infrequent and remote intervals, they have, since I became a Theosophist, increased until they embrace all isolated moments. They consist of a resonance difficult to describe, but resembling the vibrant note of a distant locomotive, resounding in the night atmosphere of a mountain gorge, and partaking somewhat of that melodious wail caused by running the moistened finger around the rim of a glass. Sometimes, though rarely, a low orchestral harmony unites briefly with this monotone. Unable to find any word which conveyed this cadence, I now discover that the word “Aum,” (hitherto unknown to me,) does so exactly, the A sound being the opening note, which prolongs itself into the M, or closing sound, when the keynote is then struck over again. Thus the “Singing Silences” mainly consist of innumerable repetitions of the word “Aum,” distinctly and musically uttered, having a resonant or vibrant quality, and a measured rise and fall, such as all sound assumes if one alternately closes and uncloses the ear. If the analyst will alternately inhale air with the mouth and expel it with the nostrils, he will gain a fair idea of this sound minus its musical vibration.

It is, moreover, invariably accompanied by a sensation of physical repose, even peace, and a perfect mental quiescence which falls about me like an enfolding mantle. The frequency of these moments has greatly increased since my attention has been specifically turned to them. Hitherto, beyond a momentary curiosity as to their nature, I attached no importance to their occurrence; the very rarity caused them to be easily forgotten in the whirl of every day life; I admitted to myself with surprise, however, that my innumerable pleasures, my keen enjoyments, shrank to nothing before the deep delight of these brief but peculiar moments, and I applied to them the opening lines of Faber’s hymn to music.

Reading the article on “Aum” in the April “PATH,” I was startled by such passages as this: “There is, pervading the whole universe, a homogeneous resonance, sound, or tone, which acts, so to speak, as the awakener or vivifying power, stirring all the molecules into action.” I then called to mind various facts connected with Sound, as for instance, that a regiment marching over a bridge is ordered to “break step,” lest the regular footfall strike the “coefficient of vibration,” which would destroy the bridge: also that the measured trot of the smallest dog will cause a perceptible vibration in a wire bridge, no matter what its size. Moreover, the monotonous sound of the railroad, in time changes the texture of the car wheels and axles from fibrous into crystalline, with consequent fracture.

In Reichenbach’s “Researches on Magnetism,” we find this statement. * * * “The following laws prevail in nature. A. There resides in matter a peculiar force, hitherto overlooked, which, when the crystalline form has been assumed, is found acting in the line of the axes.”

Since then, the homogeneous tone acts upon all the molecules of creation, may not this singing resonance cause such a transformation of brain energy as to vivify or awaken it, in time, to the True, or Central Idea? We have seen that Sound, so to speak, polarises certain particles of matter attracting them to the earth, the great magnet, from which they came; it confers upon other particles this same magnetic power, as in the case of crystallisation; it awakens similar tones, as when several untouched harps vibrate in harmony when the musical key note is struck upon one alone. Why then may not the thought awakened by a fixed musical sound be in time attracted to the real source of that sound, of all sound? And as thought causes a disturbance among the molecules of the brain, some sound, however aerial, must accompany this vibration; does not my brain then answer this singing resonance with the note homogeneous to all the ethereal space?

In the article from “THE PATH” before quoted, I find the following lines. “Having taken the Bow, the great weapon (Om), let him place on it the arrow (the Self), sharpened by devotion; * * * Brahman is called the aim. It is to be hit by a man who is not thoughtless.” The “Singing Silences” are superinduced by meditation, thought, devotion: the closest imitation of them possible to the human voice consists in chanting, half aloud, the word “Aum,” over and over, as heretofore described. Do those Yogees who repeat “Aum” thousands of times daily, follow this practice in order to produce the resonance, or homogeneous tone, and to calm the mind, (as they claim to do,) by means of the harmonious monotony thus engendered? True, it fails to lead them to the higher knowledge, but is this not because the mental condition is self induced, like the delusive trances of self mesmerization? On the other hand, if (as they claim again,) it throws them into a trance like state or crystallisation of thought, is not this because it is after all, in some measure, akin to the natural resonance? The idea herein advanced would thus seem to be further supported, since this mechanical repetition of “Aum,” and its sedative power, is as the power of the microcosm, faintly outlining that of the macrocosm, (or real resonance,) to lead towards the calm which incubates the dawning thought and leads towards the true Illuminated State. “THE PATH” goes on to state that we are “led by the resonance, which is not the Divine Light itself, towards that Radiance which is Divine; the resonance is only the outbreathing of the first sound of the entire Aum.”

This constant and peculiar singing, provocative as it is of a peaceful abstraction so great as to exclude all outer things and thoughts, seems to induce a state which draws the hearer into the border lands of Spirit. Works on eastern travel and foreign witnesses, alike affirm that many faquirs repeat “Aum,” and also “Rama,” thousands of times, merely because they are told that such a thing is useful, while others do it with the mind fixed on realizing the True. Studious investigation always reveals a deep philosophy underlying religious forms, from which there is no reason to suppose this one to be exempt.

Listening attentively to the “Singing Silence,” I fall, after a brief space, into an unbroken and dreamless sleep which lasts for hours; hearing, without listening, I experience a sensation of physical refreshment and mental placidity. It came to me uncalled for, unnoticed, unrecognized; when finally a sense of pleasure fastened upon my mind, I idly accepted it, but without questioning, as a curious personal peculiarity. It was only when, giving myself up to thoughts of higher things, I met it upon the threshold of meditation, found it daily recurring, daily growing in distinctness and power, that I recognized it as a possible psychical experience. As I never strove to produce it at the outset, so I never attempt to increase or evoke it now; I should not know how to set about doing so. It influenced me; I have no control whatever over it. It comes as it wills, and is not subject to my command.

Is this then one of the practical significances or uses of “the word Om, as expressed in tone?” Does this bell-like resonance have such an effect upon the molecules of the human body, (including those of the brain,) as to polarize them in time to The Spirit? If there are those who doubt the existence of a great undercurrent of universal tone, described by “THE PATH” as Nada Brahma,—“the divine resonance upon which depends the evolution of the visible from the invisible,”—they will at least grant its probability when they consider that this has been admitted by some of the greatest intellects of the world, many of whom firmly believed in the “music of the spheres.” Plato taught it. Maximus Tyrius says that “the mere proper motion of the planets must create sounds, and as the planets move at regular intervals, these sounds must be harmonious.” The Cyclopœdia Britanica says, “the origin of musical sounds consists in the regular, periodic vibration of some surface in contact with the air, whereby motion is imparted to the air. The loudness or intensity of the note depends on the magnitude of the motion or pitch.” The regular motions of the planets of our system, as well as those of known moving stars, such as Sirius, may well be accompanied by a rythmical sound arising from the ether waves thus set in motion. That we do not hear it, may be due to the density of our atmosphere, yet it may be none the less transmitted along the ether waves and heard by the inner ear of those whose sense is developed. Pythagoras was the first philosopher to suggest this idea, which is mentioned by Shakespear:

“There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st

But his motion like an angel sings,

Still quiring to the young eyed cherubims:

Such harmony is in immortal souls;

But while this muddy vesture of decay

Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.”

He also speaks of it again in Pericles.

“Keppler’s idea of the universe was essentially Pythagorean and Platonic. He thought that the planetary movements were related to musical intervals.” (Cyclo. Brit.) Montaigne, Milton, Donne, Pope, Newton, Tycho-Brahe and others believed in the “music of the spheres.” Faber beautifully attributed it to the vibration caused by the shooting rays of light on their journey earthward:

“Thou art fugitive splendors made vocal

As they glanced from that shining sea.”

All are agreed that the idea has come down to us from the earliest times.

Finally, if this resonance exists as the great undertone of nature, it is probable, natural and consistent that it should be a stepping stone towards reaching Spirit, since harmony and accord are vitally necessary to our progress in either the physical or the psychical world. The effect of harmonious sound on the moral nature of man has received much scientific attention in relation to its influence over the insane. The Rev. R. H. Haweis speaks of it in “Music and Morals,” as “the much neglected study of Musical Psychology.” His remarks are greatly to our present point. “What has Nature done for the musician? She has given him sound. * * Thoughts are but wandering spirits that depend for their vitality upon the magnetic current of feeling. * * * Emotion is often weakened by association with thought, whereas thoughts are always strengthened by emotion. I have endeavored to * * * to show that there is a region of abstract emotion in human nature; * * * * that, this region of emotion consisted of infinite varieties of mental temperature that upon these temperatures or atmospheres of the soul depended the degree, and often the kind of actions of which at different times we were capable. * * Who will deny that the experience of such soul-atmospheres must leave a definite impress upon the character? * * * But if, as we have maintained, music has the power of actually creating and manipulating these mental atmospheres, what vast capacities, for good or evil must music possess!” * * * The Bible itself pays a tribute to the emotional effect and power of changing the soul’s atmosphere possessed by even such a primitive instrument as David’s Harp. “When the evil Spirit from God was upon Saul, then David took an harp, and played with his hand. So Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil Spirit departed from him.” (1 Sam. xvi, 23.) I have no doubt whatever that the acknowledged influence of music over the insane might be far more extensively used; indeed if applied judiciously to a disorganized mind, it might be as powerful an agent as galvanism in restoring healthy and pleasurable activity to the emotional regions. Who can deny then, if such a mysterious command as this is possessed by music over the realm of abstract emotion, that music itself must be held responsible for the manner in which it deals with that realm, and the kind of succession, proportion and degrees of the various emotional atmospheres it has the power of generating.

Testimony upon these various points might be multiplied, but is not the above sufficient to indicate a possibility at least that these “Singing Silences” are closely allied to “Nada Brahma,” the omnipresent sound, the vibration caused perhaps by the speeding of Light, (which is the first Divine Thought,) from the Central Sun, and in the mighty harmony of its coming, awakening and vivifying all things?

“I guess, by the stir of this music

What raptures in heaven can be,

Where the sound is Thy marvellous stillness,

And the music is light out of Thee.”

JULIUS.

ON THE SOUL OF MAN.

BEING THE REPLIES TO TWO OUT OF FORTY QUESTIONS, BY Jacob Behmen, IN THE YEAR 1620. FROM THE TRANSLATION MADE IN 1647.

TO THE EIGHTH QUESTION:

After what manner doth the soule come into the Body of Man?

MY BELOVED FRIEND: I understand this question to be meant concerning its propagation; for Moses telleth you how it came into Adam, and we have declared that before; but if you ask concerning its propagation, how it cometh into a childe in the mother’s wombe, we must put on another habit.

2. You know what is written in our third booke very punctually and at large, with many circumstances concerning its propagation; how Adam was created one Image, he was both man and woman before Eve; he had (within him) both Tincture of the Fire, and of the Water; that is soule and spirit; he should have brought his similitude out of himself, an image of himself, out of himself by his imagination and his owne Love, and that he was able to do without rending of the body.

3. For, as we have mentioned before, the soule had power to change the body into another forme, and so also it had power to bring forth a twig out of itself, according to its property, if Adam had stood out in the Triall.

4. But when he imagined according to the Omnipotence, and let in the spirit of this world into the soule, and the serpent into the Tincture, and tooke a longing in himself after the earthly fruite, to eate of evill and good, then also his Tincture conceived such an image as was half earthly; viz: a monster, into which also the Turba (the gross lower elements), then instantly insinuated itself and sought the limit (that is, filled it as far as possible).

5. And so the noble image was found in the earthly, and then destruction and death began, and Adam could not bring forth, for his omnipotence was lost.

6. And should indeed have ever been lost, if the heart of God had not instantly turned itself with the word of promise, into Adam’s soule; which did so preserve it, that its image must perish and the soule must sinke downe with the heavenly body through death into the new life, where its spirit will be renewed againe.

7. And thus Adam in impotence fell asleep; and then the second creation began, for God tooke the Tincture of the Water, as a twig out of Adam’s soule, and a rib out of Adam, and halfe of the crosse that was in Adam, and made a woman of them.

8. As you know that the woman hath the one halfe crosse in her head, and the man the other, for the spirit of the soule dwelleth in the head, in the braine, out of which spirit God hath taken a twig (viz: a childe out of the spirit of the soule of Adam) and hath given it to the woman.

9. And hath given the tincture of the water to her, that she should not bring forth Devills, and the man hath the tincture of fire, viz: the true Originall of Life.

10. And therefore the woman hath gotten the matrix, viz: the tincture of Venus, and the man hath the tincture of fire: understand, the woman hath the tincture of Light, which cannot awaken Life—the Life ariseth in the tincture of fire.

11. And so it cannot be otherwise now, but that they must propagate as beasts doe, in two seeds: the man soweth soule, and the woman soweth spirit; and being sowne in an earthly field, it is also brought forth after the manner of all beasts.

12. Yet nevertheless all the three principles are in the seed, but the inward cannot be knowne by the outward, for in the seed the soule is not living: but when the two tinctures are brought together, then it is a whole essence; for the soule is essentiall in the seed, and in the conception becometh substantiall.

13. For so soon as the fire is struck upon by Vulcan, the soule is wholly perfect in the essence and the spirit goeth instantly out of the soule into the tincture, and attracteth the outward dominion to itself, viz: the Starres together with the Aire.

14. And then it is an eternall childe, and hath the corruptible spirit also with the Turba cleaving to it, which Adam tooke in by his imagination.

15. Then instantly the Turba seeketh the limit in the spirit of this world, and will enter into the limit, and so soone as the soule hath its life, the body is old enough to die: and thus, many a soule perisheth in the Essence,[105] while it is in the sulphur in the seed.

16. But that you may perceive that the man hath the tincture of the fire, and the woman the tincture of the light in the water, viz: the tincture of Venus; you must observe the eager imagination of both towards one another: for the seed in the essence eagerly seeketh the life, the masculine in the woman in Venus, and the feminine in the fire, in the originall of life in the man: as we have very cleerly demonstrated in the third Booke, and therefore we refer the reader thither.

17. And we answer here, that soule cometh not at all into the body, or is breathed into it from without, but the three principles have each of them its own artificer: one worketh with fire in the centre, and the other maketh tincture and water, and the third maketh the earthly Mysterium Magnum.[106]

18. And yet it (soule) is not any new thing, but the seed of man and woman, and is onely conceived in the mixture, and so onely a twig groweth out of the tree.[107]

TO THE ELEVENTH QUESTION:

How and where is it seated in Man?

A thing which is unsearchable, and yet seeketh and maketh a ground in itself; that hath its originall, and seat in its first conception, where it conceiveth itself in itself: therein is its limit, viz: in the most innermost, and it goeth forth out of itself, and seeketh forward, where then it always maketh one glasse according to the other, untill it finds the first again, viz: the unsearchable limit.

2. Thus also is the soule, it is in God conceived in the heart, and the word which conceived it was in the heart, viz: in the centre; and so it continueth in the figure and in the seat, as it was comprehended by the fiat; and so it is still at this day.

3. It dwelleth in three principles: but the heart is its originall; it is the inward fire in the heart, in the inward blood of the heart; and the spirit of it which hath a glance from the fire is in the tincture: for it is cloathed with the tincture, and burneth in the heart.

4. And the spirit moveth upon the heart in the bosom of the heart, where both principles part themselves, and it burneth in the tincture in a brimstony light: and diffuseth itself abroad into all the members of the whole body: for the tincture goeth through all the members.

5. But the true Firesmith in the centre—master workman—sitteth in the heart, and governeth with the spirit in the head where it hath its counsell house, viz: the mind and senses, also the five chief counsellors, viz: the five senses, which arise from the five spirits of understanding, as we have declared in our third booke; and in our second, and in our first.[108]

6. The soule is indeed seated in the inward principle, but it moveth even in the outward, viz: in the starres and elements, and if it be not an ape, and suffer itself to be captivated, it hath power enough to rule them, and if the soule plungeth itself into God, the outward must be obedient to it.

7. And if it cometh againe into the outward, riding upon the chariot of the bride, and so have the Holy Ghost for an assistant, no assault of the Devill is of any consequence, it destroyeth his nest, and driveth him out, and he must stand in scorne and shame.

8. And this is our answer to this question; but it must not be so understood as that if a man be beheaded, and so his blood gush out and the outward life perishes, this reacheth the soule and killeth that; no, it loseth one principle indeed thereby, but not even the essence of that principle, for that essence followeth it in the tincture, in the spirit, as a shadow.

9. For the outward essence reacheth not the inward in the soule, but onely by the imagination; there is nothing else in this world, no fire, nor sword, that can touch the soule, or put it to death,[109] but onely the imagination; that is its poyson.

10. For it originally proceeded from the imagination, and remaineth in it eternally.

LIVING THE HIGHER LIFE.

[Concluded from July Number.]

Needless to say, that such vows were conscientiously kept, and that those who were not really able to do so never made such promises nor retired from the side of their family, but chose to belong to the first class of married people. This second class of persons who thus retired into the forest and became hermits, were called Vanaprasthas. They always obtained the full consent[110] of their near relatives and renounced “pleasures” and material prosperity (money making, etc.).

The fourth highest order of life was complete renunciation (Sannyasis). These were the blessed few who had, then and there, in each incarnation, got out of family defects. Only those were admitted into this order whom the defects of no family could affect. Long before their admission into this order, they had, by fulfilling family duties, successively, incarnation after incarnation gone far beyond the reach of family defects. Brahmacharis and Kannikas could, after they had discharged family duties, become Sannyasis. All except those belonging to the second order of life, were called upon and did take a vow to give up one or more of their dearest and strongest defects.

Such, my friends, were the Laws of Manu. If any of you could establish a community on a better foundation, I should be happy to give up my allegiance to the great Sage, Saviour, and Legislator. As every Manu establishes the same Manava Dharma again and again, and as the Manus are higher than Buddha and other founders of religions, I should call upon you to pay all possible attention to this subject. Manu is higher, because he overshadows a Buddha.

I must request the readers, to study every word and the whole of this paper (if it deserves to be so called) and not tear it piece-meal or interpret passages and phrases in it, as they please. I must add, that by “family duties” I do not at all mean sacrificing your duty or conviction and Truth, to gratify the whims or selfish nature or sectarian views of any of your “relatives.” But I use the expression “family duties” in a peculiar sense, namely “that course and only that course of action, speech and thoughts by which you can not only get rid of your family defects in this very incarnation, but also strengthen in yourself all the noble qualities of your family, and which will at the same time enable your relatives (parents, brothers, sisters, wife, children, etc.,) also to get rid of the same defects and strengthen in themselves the same good qualities—so that you might be born again and again in the same family.” “Patriotism” is used in a similar manner; and the article “Elixir of Life” (see Theosophist) should be read in the light of this paper.

The question is asked, “Has the dweller of the threshold an objective form; upon what does its objective form depend; does it always appear to every one in the same form as it did to Glyndon in Bulwer’s story?”

It is objective to those who have gone very far.

It depends upon (1) a certain thing I shall not here name; (2) the stage of development to which the chela or occultist has attained or is near attaining; (3) the mode of regarding elementals and the Dweller, peculiar to the chela or occultist, to his family and to his nation, or rather to the national and family legends or religion; (4) which form, more or less monstrous or incongruous, would be most frightful and overpowering to him at the critical period. Subject to the above four conditions, the Dweller assumes a form according to the manner in which the chela or occultist has or has not fulfilled his threefold duties, and according to the manner in which the sevenfold elements of the Dweller assert themselves upon him. The better he has fulfilled the threefold duties, the less does the Dweller affect him. Of course the form is not necessarily the same for every one.

Why did the Dweller appear to Glyndon’s sister, who was not undergoing probation, and why in the same form?

Because she was sympathetic and sensitive enough. The principle involved in this case is the same as in obsession.

The Dweller might either be but one elemental, or a group or several groups of elementals assuming one collective form. It is one elemental, when the crisis comes at the very commencement of the chela’s or occultist’s attempt to elevate his lower nature. This is the case when he has the least (Karmic) stamina for the “uphill path.” The later on his path is waylaid the more numerous are the elementals of which the Dweller is composed.

It need not be imagined that this appearance or influence confronts the chela only once until he reaches the first initiation, and an initiate only once during the interval between two initiations. It appears as often as the stock of his Karmic stamina falls below the minimum limit.

By Karmic stamina is meant the phala (effect or fruit) of past unselfish, good Karma that has become ripened. Though the occultist might have an immense quantity of past unselfish good Karma stored up, still, if during his crisis there be not a sufficient number of present unselfish good thoughts to ripen a sufficient portion of that quantity, he finds himself destitute of the necessary stock of stamina. Few are they who have already laid up a good quantity of unselfish good Karma; and fewer still are they who have the requisite degree of unselfish and spiritual nature during the period of trial; and there are still fewer who would not rush for further Yoga development, without having all the requisite means.

When not qualified fully for it, we ought to and could go on developing ourselves in the ordinary way, and try to secure the necessary means by leading an unselfish life and setting an example to others, and this is the stage of nearly all ordinary Theosophists. They, in common with all their fellows, are influenced by a “Dweller,” which is the effect upon them of their own, their family, and national defects; and although they may never, in this life, see objectively any such form, the influence is still there, and is commonly recognized as “bad inclinations and discouraging thoughts.”

Seek then, to live the Higher life by beginning now to purify your thoughts by good deeds, and by right speech.

MURDHNA JOTI.

MUSINGS ON THE TRUE THEOSOPHIST’S PATH.

“The way of inward peace is in all things to conform to the pleasure and disposition of the Divine Will. Such as would have all things succeed and come to pass according to their own fancy, are not come to know this way; and therefore lead a harsh and bitter life; always restless and out of humor, without treading the way of peace.”

Know then Oh Man, that he who seeks the hidden way, can only find it through the door of life. In the hearts of all, at some time, there arises the desire for knowledge. He who thinks his desire will be fulfilled, as the little bird in the nest, who has only to open his mouth to be fed; will very truly be disappointed.

In all nature we can find no instance where effort of some kind is not required. We find there is a natural result from such effort. He who would live the life or find wisdom can only do so by continued effort. If one becomes a student, and learns to look partially within the veil, or has found within his own being something that is greater than his outer self, it gives no authority for one to sit down in idleness or fence himself in from contact with the world. Because one sees the gleam of the light ahead he cannot say to his fellow “I am holier than thee” or draw the mantle of seclusion around himself.

The soul develops like the flower, in God’s sunlight, and unconsciously to the soil in which it grows. Shut out the light and the soil grows damp and sterile, the flower withers or grows pale and sickly. Each and every one is here for a good and wise reason. If we find partially the why we are here, then is there the more reason that we should by intelligent contact with life, seek in it the farther elucidation of the problem. It is not the study of ourselves so much, as the thought for others that opens this door. The events of life and their causes lead to knowledge. They must be studied when they are manifested in daily life.

There is no idleness for the Mystic. He finds his daily life among the roughest and hardest of the labors and trials of the world perhaps, but goes his way with smiling face and joyful heart, nor grows too sensitive for association with his fellows, nor so extremely spiritual as to forget that some other body is perhaps hungering for food.

It was said by one who pretended to teach the mysteries “It is needful that I have a pleasant location and beautiful surroundings.” He who is a true Theosoph will wait for nothing of the sort, either before teaching: or what is first needful, learning. It would perhaps, be agreeable, but if the Divine Inspiration comes only under those conditions, then indeed is the Divine afar from the most of us. He only can be a factor for good or teach how to approach the way, who forgetting his own surroundings, strives to beautify and illumine those of others. The effort must be for the good of others, not the gratifying of our own senses, or love for the agreeable or pleasant.

Giving thought to self will most truly prevent and overthrow your aims and objects, particularly when directed toward the occult.

Again there arises the thought “I am a student, a holder of a portion of the mystic lore.” Insidiously there steals in the thought “Behold I am a little more than other men, who have not penetrated so far.” Know then oh, man, that you are not as great even as they. He who thinks he is wise is the most ignorant of men, and he who begins to believe he is wise is in greater danger than any other man who lives.

You think, oh, man, that because you have obtained a portion of occult knowledge, that it entitles you to withdraw from contact with the rest of mankind. It is not so. If you have obtained true knowledge it forces you to meet all men not only half way, but more than that to seek them. It urges you not to retire but, seeking contact, to plunge into the misery and sorrow of the world, and with your cheering word, if you have no more (the Mystic has little else) strive to lighten the burden for some struggling soul.

You dream of fame. We know no such thing as fame. He who seeks the upward path finds that all is truth; that evil is the good gone astray. Why should we ask for fame? It is only the commendation of those we strive to help.

Desire neither notice, fame or wealth. Unknown you are in retirement. Being fameless you are undisturbed in your seclusion, and can walk the broad face of the earth fulfilling your duty, as commanded, unrecognized.

If the duty grows hard, or you faint by the way, be not discouraged, fearful or weary of the world. Remember that “Thou may’st look for silence in tumult, solitude in company, light in darkness, forgetfulness in pressures, vigor in despondency, courage in fear, resistance in temptation, peace in war, and quiet in tribulation.”

AMERICAN MYSTIC.

REVIEWS AND NOTES.

THEOSOPHY IN THE PRESS.—A great many articles, both editorial and otherwise, have within the past few months appeared in the daily papers, the most of them full of misstatements mixed with ignorance of not only Theosophy, but also of many things well known in literature. One paper devoted two columns to the subject, and the editor called them thorough and accurate, yet we find in it the mind cure treated as Theosophy, and then all the cranky notions the writer could rake up in New York and Boston are called “Buddhist bosh.”

But some Theosophists have been guilty of ventilating in the papers the statement that Theosophy is astralism, that is to say, that the object of the Society is to induce people to go into the study and practice of spirit raising, cultivating the abnormal faculties, of clairvoyance and the like, ignoring entirely the prime object, real end, aim and raison d’etre of the movement—universal brotherhood and ethical teaching. In fact, we make bold to assert, from our own knowledge and from written documents, that the Mahatmas, who started the Society, and stand behind it now, are distinctly opposed to making prominent these phenomenal leanings, this hunting after clairvoyance and astral bodies, and that they have so declared most unmistakeably, stating their wish and advice to be, that “the Society should prosper on its ethical, philosophical and moral worth alone.”

Theosophists should haste to see that this false impression created at large, that it is a dangerous study, or that it is in any way dangerous, or that we conceal our reasons for what we are doing, is done away with. There is proof enough to their hand. India has nearly 120 branches, all studying freely and openly how best to purify their own lives, while they bring to others a knowledge of right doctrine. America has a dozen branches, nearly all of which know that the impressions referred to are ridiculous. If one or two persons in the Society imagine that the pursuit of psychical phenomena is its real end and aim and so declare, that weighs nothing against the immense body of the membership or against its widespread literature; it is merely their individual bias.

But at the same time, this imagination and misstatement are dangerous, and insidiously so. It is just the impression which the Jesuit college desires to be spread abroad concerning us, so that in one place ridicule may follow, and in another a superstitious dread of the thing; which ever of those may happen to obtain, they would be equally well pleased.

Let Theosophists attend to this, and let them not forget, that the only authoritative statement of what are the ends and objects of the Society, is contained in those printed in its by-laws. No amount of assertion to the contrary by any officer or member can change that declaration.

“LAST WORDS” OF MONCURE D. CONWAY.—We do not refer to a book, but to an article written by Mr. Conway in the Forum upon the subject of Theosophy. He declares to those who are honored by his personal acquaintance, that that article is really “the last word to be said on the subject,” and he desires all people to read it, so that their delusions may be dispelled. In this he is wise, because certain delusions held by some people would be at once dispelled upon reading his lucubrations.

Mr. Conway has been excessively bitter against Theosophy ever since he went to the headquarters in Madras, and was well treated and entertained by the unsuspecting Theosophists there. Almost in the same hour that he was being housed and fed there, he was writing to the Glasgow Herald—he had not yet got into the Forum—an article abusing those who extended to him their hospitality. He had been there but a few hours, and so great was his penetration, that in that short time, he had succeeded, as he said, in unravelling the whole mystery, in pricking the bubble. But how he grew so wise in such short space, we do not know. His solution was and is, that Madame Blavatsky produced Mahatmas, Aryan literature, Sanscrit language, Astral bodies and all the rest, by means of a curious thing called “glamour,” which is vulgarly called “pulling the wool.” But Conway gives a little more power to this glamour than the vulgar phrase, for he ascribes to it some power over the imagination. He does not say how we are to know whether or not his own perceptions were “glamoured”; for he has the hardihood to assert that Madame Blavatsky, the arch conspirator, was fool enough to unburden her heart to him, a decaying English divine, and to weakly confess upon a mere plain interrogation put by him, that “it is all glamours.” For our part, we are led to believe, from certain information and after having, subsequent to Mr. Conway’s return to London, conversed with him, that the “glamour” used on the occasion, was so powerful as to affect Mr. Conway’s perception to such an extent, that he is willing to accuse himself of such a foolish thing as trying to make us believe that Blavatsky made a full confession to him. It is really “all glamours”; but after all, the Forum is not a bad sort of a magazine for Theosophy to get into, even through the instrumentality of this “glamoured” clergyman.

However, as Theosophy sometimes has prophets, we hope and trust, that his own entitlement of his thoughts on the subject may not be fateful, and not be his “last words.”

SINNETT.—In our July issue a printer’s error gave the wrong title to Mr. Sinnett’s new book. It is called “United” and not Union, as was printed in July.

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

NEW YORK: THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY continues to publish its short Abridgement of Discussions, which are circulated to all Branches, and have met with commendation.

At a recent meeting Mr. C. H. A. Bjerregaard lectured on mysticism, showing how much the world is indebted to its mystics. Mr. Bjerregaard promises the Society further lectures in the Fall.

THE ROCHESTER CONVENTION was held July 4th, 1886, at Mrs. Cable’s house in Rochester. Delegates attended from fourteen Branches, and enthusiastic meetings were held July 4th and 5th. The report of the Secretary showed a gain in Branches, of over 100 per cent. since July, 1885.

Important orders were received from India, being the resolutions of a council meeting held in Adyar, at which it was resolved that American Theosophical Branches shall form into a general American Council, similar and subject to the parent body, and thus being democratic and more like a brotherhood. Arrangements were made for carrying these orders into full effect, and soon, perhaps, we will have another convention.

ROCHESTER BRANCH.—This Branch held a public meeting near the end of July, which was duly advertised, and well attended by intelligent people. Mr. E. Sasseville, of that Branch, read a paper on Reincarnation, and Mrs. Cables addressed the meeting on the Inner Life of Man. This is really the first public Theosophical meeting we have had in America, and marks an era. Strangely too, it occurred in Rochester, where the spiritual rappings first were heard. The members who got it up and carried it out are not those who have become the most famous, but are a band of devoted souls who believe in the cause and are willing to let it be known. It is through such people always that the most work is accomplished for the progression of any cause.

THE PSYCHICAL RESEARCH SOCIETIES OF LONDON AND AMERICA.—The London society some time ago had a long report made by one of its members, a Mr. Hodgson, in which the Theosophical Society is attacked, and Mme. Blavatsky is branded as the greatest impostor of modern times. By many weak people who swear by authority, and who do not rely upon their own judgment, this report has been accepted as final, and has prevented them from giving any further attention to the study of either Theosophy or Aryan literature. We are not sorry for the Society, but commiserate those who, thus deluded, have lost a golden opportunity. The cause of theosophy does not depend, however, upon them, and still flourishes in every land.

In the Religio Philosophical Journal a long letter is printed, signed “F. T. S.” in which the Psychical Research Society of America is given a warning. The writer specifies his charges in the name of theosophists, to be as follows:

“Preferring the general charge that you are not what you pretend to be, we specify:

1. That you know nothing of psychic science.

2. That you do not know how to conduct psychic research.

3. That you do not know what it is that you are in search of.

4. That you would not know a psychic result to be such if you reached it.

5. That you do not know how to judge the evidence upon which psychic phenomena rests.

6. That you do not know of anything really worth investigating in psychic science.

7. That you do not know how to learn and do not really want to be taught.

And yet you are pleased to style yourselves ‘The American Society for Psychical Research.’ We say to you, gentlemen, that being what you are, your very name is an insult to psychic science, and would be, were it known, a just cause of offense to hundreds of thousands who have reached that goal toward which you have resolutely turned your backs. In discussing the charges which we bring against you, we shall take occasion to show you that you are not in the line of psychic evolution, but surely tending in the opposite direction. If you do not heed our warning, if you do not desist and turn to the rightabout before it is too late, every hope that you entertain will be frustrated, your every endeavor will yield you shame and confusion, your goal will prove to be the pillory of public opinion, and your first real lesson in psychic science will have been learned when psychic research into your own souls shows you what it is to be made a laughing-stock.”

He then goes on to catechise the Society with a long list of questions directed to showing that they never studied psychical science, that they do not know even the rudiments of the simplest phenomenon, to all of which questions the answer must be “No.”

As this letter applies just as well to the London Society, we hope it will be read by those who are interested. The London gentlemen went so far as to accept the conclusions of an investigator who got all his facts second-handed, and who could not possibly have had the real evidence. Among other things he says that the editor of this Magazine went to India to investigate “but was not allowed to see the (famous) shrine.” This statement was false, and merely the result of the ignorance of Mr. Hodgson, for we not only saw the shrine, but after seeing everything, ordered it closed up from the prejudiced prying eyes and steel jimmies of Englishmen who came afterwards, and the very drawing of the premises used by Mr. Hodgson in his report, after being falsified, was made by the editor of this Magazine.

From study let a man proceed to meditation, and from meditation to study; by perfection in both, the supreme spirit becomes manifest. Study is one eye to behold it, and meditation is the other.—Vishnu Purana.

Neither by the eyes, nor by spirit, nor by the sensuous organ, by austerity, nor by sacrifices, can we see God. Only the pure, by the light of wisdom and by deep meditation can see the pure God.—Upanishads. Only the pure in heart shall see God.—Jesus.

“Lead me from the unreal to the real! Lead me from darkness to light! Lead me from death to immortality!”—Saman and Yagur Vedas, and Brih. Upan.

The small, old path stretching far away, has been found by me. On it sages who know Brahman move on to the heavenly place, and thence higher on, entirely free.—Yajnavalkya.

OM

The Supreme Universal Spirit is One, simple and indivisible; being all, pervading all, sustaining all, the good, the bad and the ignorant alike.

I am the origin of all. From me all proceeds. For those who are constantly devoted, dead in me, do I, on account of my compassion, destroy the darkness which springs from ignorance, by the brilliant lamp of spiritual knowledge.—Bagavad-Gita.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         SEPTEMBER, 1886.                         NO. 6.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

THEOSOPHIC MORALS.

Some remarks professedly concerned with “The Higher Life,” appearing in “THE PATH” for July, over the nom de plume of Murdhna Joti, strike me as presenting the readers with so narrow and unwholesome a view of Theosophic principles, that I find myself impelled to point out some of the misconceptions from which they seem to arise. That hard-worked phrase the “Dweller on the Threshold” has been interpreted in many fantastic senses, but surely it has never before been saddled with so ludicrously inappropriate a meaning as in this essay where it is made to stand for love of kindred and love of country. That these ennobling sentiments are what the writer means by “family defects” and “national defects” is apparent from the passage that would be little less than blasphemous in the ears of any real oriental Chela with whom I have ever been acquainted,—in which:—“A Mahatma has, it appears, declared that he has still patriotism. But he has not said nor would say that he has still family attachment. This proves that he has got out of the defects of the family to which he belongs, while he is only striving to get out of national defects, some of which at any rate cling to him.” The reference here is of course to one of the letters quoted by me in the Occult World, in which the writer so beautifully shows that the exalted rank in nature to which he has attained, leaves him as free as ever to entertain generous emotions of sympathy with the race to which his latest personality belongs. If he had been dealing with the subject from another point of view he would have equally shown himself to be,—as I have good reason to believe that he is,—animated by still more specific attachments to certain persons of his physical kindred. “Defects” of family and defects of nationality may undoubtedly be reflected in given individuals, and like any other personal failings may in such cases stand in the way of devotion to the Higher Life; but such defects are not those which are convertible terms, according to the extraordinary essay before me, with healthy patriotism and domestic affection. And I can hardly imagine a more grotesquely misleading account of occult progress than that which represents the “beginner” as employed upon first extinguishing his regard for his relations, and going on to teach himself indifference to the land of his birth. If the extravagance of such a doctrine could be enhanced in an essay addressed to Western readers, it would be thus intensified by its author’s reference to the “family duties” which must be duly accomplished first before the promising neophyte in the training subsequently prescribed for him is at liberty to enter the “circle of ascetics.” A certain haziness clings round his theory as to the nature of these duties, but enough is said to show any reader familiar with India, that the writer’s mind is running on the exoteric customs of the Hindu which constitute the local superstitions of the common people,—a designation which applies equally to one caste as to another, for modern Brahmins may be as thoroughly dissociated from the spirit of the esoteric doctrine and as hopelessly saturated with corrupt conventionalities as British churchwardens or the corresponding functionaries in America. Some such fancies derived from exoteric Hindu thinking have clearly inspired the article under notice. In India even exoteric thinking recognizes the existence of Mahatmas and theories concerning the methods by which their condition may be approached, but Theosophic students in Europe and America should be on their guard against supposing that every thing which emanates from an Indian source, must on that account be true occult philosophy.

Especially in India, but in other parts of the world too, in various disguises we continually encounter the fundamental blunder of the mere fakir that progress in occult development is to be acquired by simulating some of the external characteristics of a development that has been accomplished. No doubt there are states of immaterial existence to which human beings may ultimately climb,—at distances of time as immeasureable as those heights themselves, where such relative attributes as those which invest embodied human beings with specific attachments, will be merged in the higher mysteries of nature, which we can talk about already, perhaps, and assign names to, but assuredly cannot yet realize, or even effectually comprehend. But it may be, there is hardly any level even in Adeptship, at which still embodied humanity is ripe to shed such attachments, and the notion of talking about attempting this from the point of view of incipient chelaship is as ludicrous as it would be to talk about pruning a seedling which had just protruded its first green shoot above the ground; and suggests, in regard to human illustrations, the notion of a beardless youngster, who presents himself to a barber to be shaved. We Theosophists are engaged in an undertaking which makes it very desirable that we should not render ourselves ridiculous; and though there is no endeavor possible for us which is better entitled to respect than an honest attempt to lead “the Higher Life,” we may perhaps more easily bring discredit on our movement by talking nonsense about that grand ideal, than in any other way. We may go further, indeed, than the mere recognition of nobility attaching to the pursuit of the Higher Life. We may grant that no one can truly be said to have assimilated the principles of esoteric teaching unless these have made a sensible impression on his conduct and on the practical attitude he assumes in relation to others and the world at large. But it will be a matter to be determined by each man’s temperament, how far he keeps his own personal dealings, so to speak, with the great principles of Theosophy a private transaction between himself and his conscience, or how far he ventures to bring them into relief by devoting himself especially as a Theosophist to the task of preaching exalted morality. I am now of course passing out, on my own account, into the ocean of Theosophic discussion in general, and the sentence just penned has no reference to the article I began by reviewing,—which appears to me to be very far from promulgating any morality or even coherent sense, exalted or otherwise. But on the subject at large a few general remarks at this juncture may perhaps not be inappropriate.

The most exalted morality imaginable is inevitably deduced from the principles of occult science, for by explaining to mankind how it is that they really evolve through successive lives, each depending on the last and on all its predecessors as summed up in the last, the basic motives for good conduct are set out with far greater precision than they can be suggested by the bribes or threats of conventional religion. Such temptations and warnings, as experience has shown, come to be distrusted or no longer feared as the manifestly erroneous conceptions with which they are entangled, become apparent to advancing intelligence. Then, loving the right still, under the influence of an inner intuition they have not learned to interpret properly, people attempt sometimes to supply the vacant places of their vanished faith, with painful abstract theories of a barren duty, which take their rise in no intelligible sanction and tend to no specific result. For mere morality divorced from religion and justified by no prospects of future existence, it is impossible that the human mind could permanently furnish a nourishing soil. To provide for the gathering emergency the esoteric doctrine is now beginning to shine on the world. In the longer freedom with which it will shine hereafter, no doubt it will do much more even than explain to men the scientific and satisfactory reasons why, right is right, why the pursuit of good conduces to happiness and vice versa. Already indeed, it is made apparent that the highest degrees of exaltation possible for human beings, can only be attained in connection with a pursuit of good which has a still more subtle motive than the thirst for spiritual happiness—which is animated by that unsurpassably sublime intention (often talked about so glibly, but surely realized so seldom) unselfishness and disinterested zeal for the welfare of others. But even if we do not handle that exalted topic—which sits ill upon the lips of any preachers who do not at all events outshine the average achievements of ordinary good men in the exercise of unselfishness, is there not in what is put forward above in the first purpose of Theosophy a sufficiently exhilarating task to absorb our best energies? To be laying the foundations of the future system of thought which must in due time replace—as the guiding rule of men’s lives—the earlier and cruder prescriptions of a priestcraft that their widening comprehension of Nature is fast outgrowing,—is not that a sufficiently magnificent task for the Theosophical Society?

Certainly esoteric teaching opens up possibilities before the sight of ardent spiritual aspirants that suggest to some eager hearts the pursuit of an object—which if rightly understood may be more magnificent still, but which, as contemplated in the beginning may often be prompted by a relatively selfish motive,—the personal pursuit of Adeptship. But in its original purpose the welfare of mankind at large and not the enlistment of new recruits in the army of chelaship was as I read its design, the idea of the Theosophical Society. And how was that design to be carried out? This question seems to me to touch a point which it is highly important to keep in view at the present moment. The Theosophical movement did not begin by preaching de haut en bas an all but impossible code of ethics. It began by the highly practical course of linking its operations with one of the most growing impulses in the most spiritually minded sections of the Western community. These were not the merely good and pious representatives of still surviving, though decaying religious systems; they were not the hopeless however unselfish exponents of a barren philosophy that threw forward no light on the future; they were found mainly among people who in one way or another, and following various false beacons, perhaps, were realizing that discoveries were possible beyond the barriers that had formerly seemed to set a limit to the range of the human senses. The bold though bewildered pioneers of psychic inquiry were naturally marked out, indeed, to be appealed to first by the esoteric teachers. For them above all was the rudderless condition of modern religions thought a dark and threatening danger. Along the road they had set out to travel they would certainly not stop short. But readers of Theosophic literature will not require to be reminded where the study of occult phenomena un-illuminated by occult morality must ultimately conduct its enthusiasts. The classes referred to were best qualified to receive the new dispensation: and most urgently in need of it. To them therefore the Theosophical propaganda in the beginning was directed, and this is the consideration which will be seen to explain the mystery that has so frequently been discussed in more recent years—the free and so to speak the extravagant display of occult wonders and marvellous phenomena with which the advent of the Theosophical movement was heralded. Its directors as it were, had to put themselves at the head of the psychic movement generally, in order to direct its future course aright, and they could not do this without commanding the attention of persons already largely experienced in psychic investigation.

No doubt the time has now gone by when the policy that thus inaugurated the Theosophical movement is either practicable or desirable. “The age of miracles is past,” for us as for mankind at large,—always making allowance for the familiar correction required by the saying that the age for helping on the more general comprehension of those resources of nature with which the “miracles” had to do has not passed, by any means. The interpretation of Nature—the promulgation of truth concerning the “powers latent in Man”—to the end that the world at large may the better understand its own destinies and promote its own healthier development through an immediate future, is still the ample task that lies before the working members of our organization. Again let us say that no one proposes to divorce this from recognition with which it is so intimately blended, of the sublime morality expressed in the phrase—the Brotherhood of Man. But in our zeal for the starry goal in the far distance, it will be discreet, on our part, to avoid the mistake of the Greek philosopher and not to forget the ground at our feet.

A. P. SINNETT.

NOTE.—The admirable letter which we have printed above from the able pen of the author of Esoteric Buddhism is a good instance of the truth that there are many ways of arriving at the same goal, and incidentally it also illustrates how difficult it is for those who look at any subject by the light of their own “ray” to appreciate the view taken of it by one whose mental constitution is different. Both Murdhna Joti and Mr. Sinnett are right from their own points of view, and as they understand themselves. Both seem to us to be wrong as they probably understand each other. Patriotism and family attachments as understood by Mr. Sinnett are good things, for he characterises them by the adjectives “healthy” “ennobling” “generous.” It cannot be supposed from either a critical or casual reading of “The Higher Life” that Murdhna Joti advocates the elimination of any statement to which these terms would apply. But patriotism and family attachments may be narrow, bigoted, and founded upon an ignorance of other countries and other families, and upon an inability to perceive in other nations and persons the very qualities that make us feel warmly toward those we are acquainted with, intensified by a corresponding blindness to faults we have become habituated to and perhaps partake of ourselves. It is the “provincialism” of patriotism which breeds the prejudice in favor of things which are a part of our “larger selves,” and which is bad; and this narrowness in the case of family attachment (a different thing from personal affection), makes us fancy that our family geese are more beautiful than our neighbor’s swans. It is in this sense, it seems to us, that the family defects in question are held by Murdhna Joti as things to get rid of, and may be said to enter into that practical conception “the Dweller on the Threshold;” and it is in this sense that a Mahatma may be supposed to lose them. As we rise to a higher level we perceive in clearer distinction the lights and shades in our own country and family, and we see also that much the same lights and shades exist elsewhere and everywhere; we lose at the same time the personal prejudice which made lights and shades of a particular tint more agreeable to us than others; and thus we are brought to view all countries and families in their true light and in their real proportions. But the process by which this is accomplished is more of the nature of a levelling up than of a levelling down. The attachment of a villager is at first confined to his village; as his mind expands, his interests extend themselves progressively to the country, the state, and the nation. This last entails an expenditure of “generous feeling” which is exhaustive for most men; but a Mahatma has enough left to stretch out over the whole of humanity. Anything smaller would not be “ennobling” or “generous” in his case.

We cannot agree, however, with Mr. Sinnett, in his criticism of Murdhna Joti’s article, as to its presenting a false view of “Theosophic morals.” The fact, at which the learned author of the Occult World hints, that a certain Mahatma has “specific attachments” to relatives, does not prove that He still has “family defects.” Perhaps the writer of “Living the Higher Life” might have been better understood by Mr. Sinnett if he had in his first paper, intimated that while family defects were to be got rid of, the noble qualities of the family, were to be strengthened; but this seems to be plainly inferred, and is actually to be found in the paper, (p. 153, 3d paragraph); and all through the first paper, it is strenuously insisted, that the only theosophic morality, is that one which compels us to unselfishly perform our duty in our family where we are placed by inevitable Karma.

Not only has a Mahatma said He “still had patriotism,” but He has also stated more emphatically, that “in external Buddhism is the road to truth.” He cannot therefore agree with Mr. Sinnett in the objection that exoteric Indian thought and religion led to error. In complete knowledge of this second declaration of the Mahatma, we read and printed Murdhna Joti’s paper, as we have “Theosophic Morals.” We see in the paper criticised high aspiration and excellent precepts.

There are many modes of life; there are lower and higher planes. No man in one short article can write away all possible future misconceptions; both sides must be presented, and they shall be in this Magazine. We need therefore here warn readers, that Mr. Sinnett does not by any means desire them to understand that in saying that the Mahatma quoted has “certain specific attachments,” he would convey the impression that such a great Being has to struggle with the limitations of a family, or that he has given up one legitimate set of ties only to assume others similar. Far from that. The nature of the attachment referred to, is quite as undefinable at Mr. Sinnett’s hands as it is at those of the readers, and we think it would be wise for the critic to state with clearness what the attachment is, in order that all readers may for themselves be able to judge of the full meaning, extent and connection of Mr. Sinnett’s reference, and what use can properly be made of it for comparison or analysis.

The Mahatma studies the Bagavad-Gita in its higher sense, and all through that book the “passionless ascetic” is lauded. What does it mean? Neglect of life and family? Never! But sometimes one gets out of family defects quite naturally. Yet the world says that Bagavad-Gita inculcates stony hearted selfishness, even as they carp at Light on the Path when it says “the eyes must be incapable of tears; ambition and desires must be killed out.” These are hard sayings. Theosophy is full of difficult sayings, just as Jesus of the Christians said his parables were. But Bagavad-Gita is the divine colloquy; and it is asserted that a Mahatma dictated Light on the Path.—[ED.]

HERMES TRISMEGISTUS.

THE FOURTH STATE OF MATTER DESCRIBED IN THE SMARAGDINE TABLET.

That a tablet, now called the SMARAGDINE, was found there is no doubt. Its discovery is attributed by tradition to an isarim or initiate, who it is said, took it from the dead body of Hermes—this could not have been the Egyptian god Thoth—which was buried at Hebron, in an obscure ditch. The tablet was held between the hands of the corpse. Some authors say that it was of emerald, which I do not believe; it probably was of green strass or paste, an imitation of emerald, in the manufacture of which the Egyptians excelled. Be it as it may, the contents evidently refer to that subtile body, called by the great scientist Sir William Thompson, “the luminiferous æther,”—to that mysterious, invisible to us, something, in which the matter-atoms float, the azoth of the Hermetic philosophers, the astral light of the occultists, the akasa of the Hindus; which physical science attempts to grasp, comprehend and sometimes use, under the name of electricity, magnetism, heat, light, etc; which is experimentally made visible, in one of its forms, by means of Professor Crookes “radiant matter” and which he terms the fourth state of matter. It permeates all things, going through flesh and blood, and steel and glass, the diamond and sapphire, with the facility of water through a net. A translation of this tablet is:[111]

“It is true without falsehood, certain and very veritable, that that which is below, is as that which is above, and that that which is on high, is as that which is below, so as to perpetuate the miracles of all things.

“And as all things have been and come from One, by the mental desire of One, so all things have been produced from that One only by adaptation.

“The Sun (Osiris) is thence the father, and the Moon (Isis) the mother. The Air, its womb, carries it thence, and the Earth is its nurse.

“Here is the producer of all, the talisman of all the world.

“Its force (or potentiality) is entire, if it is changed into the Earth, you separate the Earth from the Fire, the subtile from the gross. Sweetly, but with great energy, it mounts from the Earth to the Heaven, and again descends to the Earth with powerful energy, and receives the potentiality of the superior and inferior things.

“You have, by this means, the light (or fire) of the whole universe. And upon account of this, all obscurity itself, with that, will fly entirely thence.

“In this is the energy the strongest of all energy, for it vanquishes all subtile things and penetrates all the solid things.

“Thus the world was created. From this will be and will go out admirable adaptations, of which the medium is here.

“And because of these reasons I am called Hermes Trismegistus, possessing the three divisions of the philosophy of the universe.

“It is complete, this that I have said of the operation of the Sun.”

The reader must take note, that the fire referred to here, is not the perceptible fire, but the hidden occult fire, which is concealed in all things, and only becomes evident through a tearing asunder of the atoms. The fire, which we see, is the black fire, the other the unseen, is the white fire. So the ancient Hebrew philosophy says, the Tablets of the Law given to Moses, were written by the Deity with black fire on white fire. It is referred to but concealed in the Maasey B’reshith, the great occult book of which is the Book of Genesis.

ISAAC MYER.

A HINDU CHELA’S DIARY.

[This was begun in the June number.]

“I have been going over that message I received just after returning from the underground room, about not thinking yet too deeply upon what I saw there, but to let the lessons sink deep into my heart. Can it be true—must it not indeed be true—that we have periods in our development when rest must be taken for the physical brain in order to give it time as a much less comprehensive machine than these English college professors say it is, to assimilate what it has received, while at the same time the real brain—as we might say, the spiritual brain—is carrying on as busily as ever all the trains of thought cut off from the head. Of course this is contrary to this modern science we hear so much about now as about to be introduced into all Asia, but it is perfectly consistent for me.

“To reconsider the situation: I went with Kunâla to this underground place, and there saw and heard most instructive and solemn things. I return to my room, and begin to puzzle over them all, to revolve and re-revolve them in my mind, with a view to clearing all up and finding out what all may mean. But I am interrupted by a note from Kunâla directing me to stop this puzzling, and to let all I saw sink deep into my heart. Every word of his I regard with respect, and consider to hold a meaning, being never used by him with carelessness. So when he says, to let it sink into my ‘heart,’ in the very same sentence where he refers to my thinking part—the mind—why he must mean to separate my heart from my mind and to give to the heart a larger and greater power.

“Well, I obeyed the injunction, made myself, as far as I could, forget what I saw and what puzzled me and thought of other things. Presently, after a few days while one afternoon thinking over an episode related in the Vishnu Purana,[112] I happened to look up at an old house I was passing and stopped to examine a curious device on the porch; as I did this, it seemed as if either the device, or the house, or the circumstance itself, small as it was, opened up at once several avenues of thought about the underground room, made them all clear, showed me the conclusion as vividly as a well demonstrated and fully illustrated proposition, to my intense delight. Now could I perceive with plainness, that those few days which seemed perhaps wasted because withdrawn from contemplation of that scene and its lessons, had been with great advantage used by the spiritual man in unraveling the tangled skein, while the much praised brain had remained in idleness. All at once the flash came and with it knowledge.[113] But I must not depend upon these flashes, I must give the brain and its governor, the material to work with. * * * * * * * *

“Last night just as I was about to go to rest, the voice of Kunâla called me from outside and there I went at once. Looking steadily at me he said: ‘we want to see you,’ and as he spoke he gradually changed, or disappeared, or was absorbed, into the form of another man with awe-inspiring face and eyes, whose form apparently rose up from the material of Kunâla’s body. At the same moment two others stood there also, dressed in the Tibetan costume; and one of them went into my room from which I had emerged. After saluting them reverently, and not knowing their object, I said to the greatest,

“‘Have you any orders to give?’

“‘If there are any they will be told to you without being asked,’ he replied, ‘stand still where you are.’

“Then he began to look at me fixedly. I felt a very pleasant sensation as if I was getting out of my body. I cannot tell now what time passed between that and what I am now to put down here. But I saw I was in a peculiar place. It was the upper end of—— at the foot of the—— range. Here was a place where there were only two houses just opposite to each other, and no other sign of habitation; from one of these came out the old faquir I saw at the Durga festival, but how changed, and yet the same: then so old, so repulsive; now so young, so glorious, so beautiful. He smiled upon me benignly and said:

“‘Never expect to see any one, but always be ready to answer if they speak to you; it is not wise to peer outside of yourself for the great followers of Vasudeva: look rather within.’

“The very words of the poor faquir!

“He then directed me to follow him.

“After going a short distance, of about half a mile or so, we came to a natural subterranean passage which is under the—— range. The path is very dangerous; the River—— flows underneath in all the fury of pent up waters, and a natural causeway exists upon which you may pass; only one person at a time can go there and one false step seals the fate of the traveller. Besides this causeway, there are several valleys to be crossed. After walking a considerable distance through this subterranean passage we came into an open plain in L—— K. There stands a large massive building thousands of years old. In front of it is a huge Egyptian Tau. The building rests on seven big pillars each in the form of a pyramid. The entrance gate has a large triangular arch, and inside are various apartments. The building is so large that I think it can easily contain twenty thousand people. Some of the rooms were shown to me.

“This must be the central place for all those belonging to the—— class, to go for initiation and stay the requisite period.

“Then we entered the great hall with my guide in front. He was youthful in form but in his eyes was the glance of ages. * * The grandeur and serenity of this place strikes the heart with awe. In the centre was what we would call an altar, but it must only be the place where focuses all the power, the intention, the knowledge and the influence of the assembly. For the seat, or place, or throne, occupied by the chief—— the highest—— has around it an indescribable glory, consisting of an effulgence which seemed to radiate from the one who occupied it. The surroundings of the throne were not gorgeous, nor was the spot itself in any way decorated—all the added magnificence was due altogether to the aura which emanated from Him sitting there. And over his head I thought I saw as I stood there, three golden triangles in the air above—Yes, they were there and seemed to glow with an unearthly brilliance that betokened their inspired origin. But neither they nor the light pervading the place, were produced by any mechanical means. As I looked about me I saw that others had a triangle, some two, and all with that peculiar brilliant light.”

[Here again occurs a mass of symbols. It is apparent that just at this spot he desires to jot down the points of the initiation which he wished to remember. And I have to admit that I am not competent to elucidate their meaning. That must be left to our intuitions and possibly future experience in our own case.]

“14th day of the new moon. The events of the night in the hall of initiation gave me much concern. Was it a dream? Am I self deluded? Can it be that I imagined all this? Such were the unworthy questions which flew behind each other across my mind for days after. Kunâla does not refer to the subject and I cannot put the question. Nor will I. I am determined, that, come what will, the solution must be reached by me, or given me voluntarily.

“Of what use to me will all the teachings and all the symbols be, if I cannot rise to that plane of penetrating knowledge, by which I shall myself, by myself, be able to solve this riddle, and know to discriminate the true from the false and the illusory? If I am unable to cut asunder these questioning doubts, these bonds of ignorance, it is proof that not yet have I risen to the plane situated above these doubts. * * * Last night after all day chasing through my mental sky, these swift destroyers of stability—mental birds of passage—I lay down upon the bed, and as I did so, into my hearing fell these words:

“‘Anxiety is the foe of knowledge; like unto a veil it falls down before the soul’s eye; entertain it, and the veil only thicker grows; cast it out, and the sun of truth may dissipate the cloudy veil.’

“Admitting that truth; I determined to prohibit all anxiety. Well I knew that the prohibition issued from the depths of my heart, for that was master’s voice, and confidence in his wisdom, the self commanding nature of the words themselves, compelled me to complete reliance on the instruction. No sooner was the resolution formed, than down upon my face fell something which I seized at once in my hand. Lighting a lamp, before me was a note in the well known writing. Opening it, I read:

“‘Nilakant. It was no dream. All was real, and more, that by your waking consciousness could not be retained, happened there. Reflect upon it all as reality, and from the slightest circumstance draw whatever lesson, whatever amount of knowledge you can. Never forget that your spiritual progress goes on quite often to yourself unknown. Two out of many hindrances to memory are anxiety and selfishness. Anxiety is a barrier constructed out of harsh and bitter materials. Selfishness is a fiery darkness that will burn up the memory’s matrix. Bring then, to bear upon this other memory of yours, the peaceful stillness of contentment and the vivifying rain of benevolence.’”[114] * * * * *

[I leave out here, as well as in other places, mere notes of journeys and various small matters, very probably of no interest.]

“In last month’s passage across the hills near V——, I was irresistibly drawn to examine a deserted building, which I at first took for a grain holder, or something like that. It was of stone, square, with no openings, no windows, no door. From what could be seen outside, it might have been the ruins of a strong, stone foundation for some old building, gateway or tower. Kunâla stood not far off and looked over it, and later on he asked me for my ideas about the place. All I could say, was, that although it seemed to be solid, I was thinking that perhaps it might be hollow.

“‘Yes,’ said he, ‘it is hollow. It is one of the places once made by Yogees to go into deep trance in. If used by a chela (a disciple) his teacher kept watch over it so that no one might intrude. But when an adept wants to use it for laying his body away in while he travels about in his real, though perhaps to some unseen, form, other means of protection were often taken which were just as secure as the presence of the teacher of the disciple.’ ‘Well,’ I said, ‘it must be that just now no one’s body is inside there.’

“‘Do not reach that conclusion nor the other either. It may be occupied and it may not.’

“Then we journeyed on, while he told me of the benevolence of not only Brahmin Yogees, but also of Buddhist. No differences can be observed by the true disciple in any other disciple who is perhaps of a different faith. All pursue truth. Roads differ but the goal of all remains alike.”

* * * “Repeated three times: ‘Time ripens and dissolves all beings in the great self, but he who knows into what time itself is dissolved, he is the knower of the Veda.’

“What is to be understood, not only by this, but also by its being three times repeated?

“There were three shrines there. Over the door was a picture which I saw a moment, and which for a moment seemed to blaze out with light like fire. Fixed upon my mind its outlines grew, then disappeared, when I had passed the threshold. Inside, again its image came before my eyes. Seeming to allure me, it faded out, and then again returned. It remained impressed upon me, seemed imbued with life and intention to present itself for my own criticism. When I began to analyze it, it would fade, and then when I was fearful of not doing my duty or of being disrespectful to those beings, it returned as if to demand attention. Its description:

“A human heart that has at its centre a small spark—the spark expands and the heart disappears—while a deep pulsation seems to pass through me. At once identity is confused, I grasp at myself; and again the heart reappears with the spark increased to a large fiery space. Once more that deep movement; then sounds (7); they fade. All this in a picture? Yes! for in that picture there is life; there might be intelligence. It is similar to that picture I saw in Tibet on my first journey, where the living moon rises and passes across the view. Where was I? No, not afterwards! It was in the hall. Again that all pervading sound. It seems to bear me like a river. Then it ceased,—a soundless sound. Then once more the picture; here is Pranava.[115] But between the heart and the Pranava is a mighty bow with arrows ready, and tightly strung for use. Next is a shrine, with the Pranava over it, shut fast, no key and no keyhole. On its sides emblems of human passions. The door of the shrine opens and I think within I will see the truth. No! another door? a shrine again. It opens too and then another, brightly flashing is seen there. Like the heart, it makes itself one with me. Irresistible desire to approach it comes within me, and it absorbs the whole picture.

“‘Break through the shrine of Brahman; use the doctrine of the teacher.’”[116]

[There is no connection here of this exhortation with any person, and very probably it is something that was said either by himself, in soliloquy, or by some voice or person to him.

I must end here, as I find great rents and spaces in the notes. He must have ceased to put down further things he saw or did in his real inner life, and you will very surely agree, that if he had progressed by that time to what the last portions would indicate, he could not set down his reflections thereon, or any memorandum of facts. We, however, can never tell what was his reason. He might have been told not to do so, or might have lacked the opportunity.

There was much all through these pages that related to his daily family life, not interesting to you; records of conversations; worldly affairs; items of money and regarding appointments, journeys and meetings with friends. But they show of course that he was all this time living through his set work with men, and often harassed by care as well as comforted by his family and regardful of them. All of that I left out, because I supposed that while it would probably interest you, yet I was left with discretion to give only what seemed to relate to the period marked at its beginning, by his meetings with M——, and at the end by this last remarkable scene, the details of which we can only imagine. And likewise were of necessity omitted very much that is sufficiently unintelligible in its symbolism to be secure from revelation. Honestly have I tried to unlock the doors of the ciphers, for no prohibition came with their possession, but all that I could refine from its enfolding obscurity is given to you.

As he would say, let us salute each other and the last shrine of Brahman; Om, hari, Om!

TRANS.]

KARMA.

The child is the father of the man, and none the less true is it:

“My brothers! each man’s life

The outcome of his former living is;

The bygone wrmongs brings forth sorrows and woes

The bygone right breeds bliss.”

“This is the doctrine of Karma.”

But in what way does this bygone wrong and right affect the present life? Is the stern nemesis ever following the weary traveler, with a calm, passionless, remorseless step? Is there no escape from its relentless hand? Does the eternal law of cause and effect, unmoved by sorrow and regret, ever deal out its measure of weal and woe as the consequence of past action? The shadow of the yesterday of sin,—must it darken the life of to-day? Is Karma but another name for fate? Does the child unfold the page of the already written book of life in which each event is recorded without the possibility of escape? What is the relation of Karma to the life of the individual? Is there nothing for man to do but to weave the chequered warp and woof of each earthly existence with the stained and discolored threads of past actions? Good resolves and evil tendencies sweep with resistless tide over the nature of man and we are told:

“Whatever action he performs, whether good or bad, every thing done in a former body must necessarily be enjoyed or suffered.” Anugita, cp III.

There is good Karma, there is bad Karma, and as the wheel of life moves on, old Karma is exhausted and again fresh Karma is accumulated.

Although at first it may appear that nothing can be more fatalistic than this doctrine, yet a little consideration will show that in reality this is not the case. Karma is twofold, hidden and manifest, Karma is the man that is, Karma is his action. True that each action is a cause from which evolves the countless ramifications of effect in time and space.

“That which ye sow ye reap.” In some sphere of action the harvest will be gathered. It is necessary that the man of action should realize this truth. It is equally necessary that the manifestations of this law in the operations of Karma should be clearly apprehended.

Karma, broadly speaking may be said to be the continuance of the nature of the act, and each act contains within itself the past and future. Every defect which can be realized from an act must be implicit in the act itself or it could never come into existence. Effect is but the nature of the act and cannot exist distinct from its cause. Karma only produces the manifestation of that which already exists; being action it has its operation in time, and Karma may therefore be said to be the same action from another point of time. It must, moreover, be evident that not only is there a relation between the cause and the effect, but there must also be a relation between the cause and the individual who experiences the effect. If it were otherwise, any man would reap the effect of the actions of any other man. We may sometimes appear to reap the effects of the action of others, but this is only apparent. In point of fact it is our own action

“* * None else compels

None other holds you that ye live and die.”

It is therefore necessary in order to understand the nature of Karma and its relation to the individual to consider action in all its aspects. Every act proceeds from the mind. Beyond the mind there is no action and therefore no Karma. The basis of every act is desire. The plane of desire or egotism is itself action and the matrix of every act. This plane may be considered as non-manifest, yet having a dual manifestation in what we call cause and effect, that is the act and its consequences. In reality, both the act and its consequences are the effect, the cause being on the plane of desire. Desire is therefore the basis of action in its first manifestation on the physical plane, and desire determines the continuation of the act in its karmic relation to the individual. For a man to be free from the effects of the Karma of any act he must have passed to a state no longer yielding a basis in which that act can inhere. The ripples in the water caused by the action of the stone will extend to the furthest limit of its expanse, but no further, they are bounded by the shore. Their course is ended when there is no longer a basis or suitable medium in which they can inhere; they expend their force and are not. Karma is, therefore, as dependent upon the present personality for its fulfillment, as it was upon the former for the first initial act. An illustration may be given which will help to explain this.

A seed, say for instance mustard, will produce a mustard tree and nothing else; but in order that it should be produced, it is necessary that the co-operation of soil and culture should be equally present. Without the seed, however much the ground may be tilled and watered, it will not bring forth the plant, but the seed is equally inoperative without the joint action of the soil and culture.

The first great result of Karmic action is the incarnation in physical life. The birth seeking entity consisting of desires and tendencies, presses forward towards incarnation. It is governed in the selection of its scene of manifestation by the law of economy. Whatever is the ruling tendency, that is to say, whatever group of affinities is strongest, those affinities will lead it to the point of manifestation at which there is the least opposition. It incarnates in those surroundings most in harmony with its Karmic tendencies and all the effects of actions contained in the Karma so manifesting will be experienced by the individual. This governs the station of life, the sex, the conditions of the irresponsible years of childhood, the constitution with the various diseases inherent in it, and in fact all those determining forces of physical existence which are ordinarily classed under the terms, “heredity,” and “national characteristics.”

It is really the law of economy which is the truth underlying these terms and which explains them. Take for instance a nation with certain special characteristics. These are the plane of expansion for any entity whose greatest number of affinities are in harmony with those characteristics. The incoming entity following the law of least resistance becomes incarnated in that nation, and all Karmic effects following such characteristics will accrue to the individual. This will explain what is the meaning of such expressions as the “Karma of nations,” and what is true of the nation will also apply to family and caste.

It must, however, be remembered that there are many tendencies which are not exhausted in the act of incarnation. It may happen that the Karma which caused an entity to incarnate in any particular surrounding, was only strong enough to carry it into physical existence. Being exhausted in that direction, freedom is obtained for the manifestation of other tendencies and their Karmic effects. For instance, Karmic force may cause an entity to incarnate in a humble sphere of life. He may be born as the child of poor parents. The Karma follows the entity, endures for a longer or shorter time, and becomes exhausted. From that point, the child takes a line of life totally different from his surroundings. Other affinities engendered by former action express themselves in their Karmic results. The lingering effects of the past Karma may still manifest itself in the way of obstacles and obstructions which are surmounted with varying degrees of success according to their intensity.

From the standpoint of a special creation for each entity entering the world, there is vast and unaccountable injustice. From the standpoint of Karma, the strange vicissitudes and apparent chances of life can be considered in a different light as the unerring manifestation of cause and sequence. In a family under the same conditions of poverty and ignorance, one child will be separated from the others and thrown into surroundings very dissimilar. He may be adopted by a rich man, or through some freak of fortune receive an education giving him at once a different position. The Karma of incarnation being exhausted, other Karma asserts itself.

A very important question is here presented: Can an individual affect his own Karma, and if so to what degree and in what manner?

It has been said that Karma is the continuance of the act, and for any particular line of Karma to exert itself it is necessary that there should be the basis of the act engendering that Karma in which it can inhere and operate. But action has many planes in which it can inhere. There is the physical plane, the body with its senses and organs; then there is the intellectual plane, memory, which binds the impressions of the senses into a consecutive whole and reason puts in orderly arrangement its storehouse of facts. Beyond the plane of intellect there is the plane of emotion, the plane of preference for one object rather than another:—the fourth principle of the man. These three, physical, intellectual, and emotional, deal entirely with objects of sense perception and may be called the great battlefield of Karma.[117] There is also the plane of ethics, the plane of discrimination of the “I ought to do this, I ought not to do that.” This plane harmonizes the intellect and the emotions. All these are the planes of Karma or action what to do, and what not to do. It is the mind as the basis of desire that initiates action on the various planes, and it is only through the mind that the effects of rest and action can be received.

An entity enters incarnation with Karmic energy from past existences, that is to say the action of past lives is awaiting its development as effect. This Karmic energy presses into manifestation in harmony with the basic nature of the act. Physical Karma will manifest in the physical tendencies bringing enjoyment and suffering. The intellectual and the ethical planes are also in the same manner the result of the past Karmic tendencies and the man as he is, with his moral and intellectual faculties, is in unbroken continuity with the past.

The entity at birth has therefore a definite amount of Karmic energy. After incarnation this awaits the period in life at which fresh Karma begins. Up to the time of responsibility it is as we have seen the initial Karma only that manifests. From that time the fresh personality becomes the ruler of his own destiny. It is a great mistake to suppose that an individual is the mere puppet of the past, the helpless victim of fate. The law of Karma is not fatalism, and a little consideration will show that it is possible for an individual to affect his own Karma. If a greater amount of energy be taken up on one plane than on another this will cause the past Karma to unfold itself on that plane. For instance, one who lives entirely on the plane of sense gratification will from the plane beyond draw the energy required for the fulfillment of his desires. Let us illustrate by dividing man into upper and lower nature. By directing the mind and aspirations to the lower plane, a “fire” or centre of attraction, is set up there, and in order to feed and fatten it, the energies of the whole upper plane are drawn down and exhausted in supplying the need of energy which exists below due to the indulgence of sense gratification. On the other hand, the centre of attraction may be fixed in the upper portion, and then all the needed energy goes there to result in increase of spirituality. It must be remembered that Nature is all bountiful and withholds not her hand. The demand is made, and the supply will come. But at what cost? That energy which should have strengthened the moral nature and fulfilled the aspirations after good, is drawn to the lower desires. By degrees the higher planes are exhausted of vitality and the good and bad Karma of an entity will be absorbed on the physical plane. If on the other hand the interest is detached from the plane of sense gratification, if there is a constant effort to fix the mind on the attainment of the highest ideal, the result will be that the past Karma will find no basis in which to inhere on the physical plane. Karma will therefore be manifested only in harmony with the plane of desire. The sense energy of the physical plane will exhaust itself on a higher plane and thus become transmuted in its effects.

What are the means through which the effects of Karma can be thus changed is also clear. A person can have no attachment for a thing he does not think about, therefore the first step must be to fix the thought on the highest ideal. In this connection one remark may be made on the subject of repentance. Repentance is a form of thought in which the mind is constantly recurring to a sin. It has therefore to be avoided if one would set the mind free from sin and its Karmic results. All sin has its origin in the mind. The more the mind dwells on any course of conduct, whether with pleasure or pain, the less chance is there for it to become detached from such action. The manas (mind) is the knot of the heart, when that is untied from any object, in other words when the mind loses its interest in any object, there will no longer be a link between the Karma connected with that object and the individual.

It is the attitude of the mind which draws the Karmic cords tightly round the soul. It imprisons the aspirations and binds them with chains of difficulty and obstruction. It is desire that causes the past Karma to take form and shape and build the house of clay. It must be through non-attachment that the soul will burst through the walls of pain, it will be only through a change of mind that the Karmic burden will be lifted.

It will appear, therefore, that although absolutely true that action brings its own result, “there is no destruction here of actions good or not good. Coming to one body after another they become ripened in their respective ways.”—Yet this ripening is the act of the individual. Free will of man asserts itself and he becomes his own saviour. To the worldly man Karma is a stern Nemesis, to the spiritual man Karma unfolds itself in harmony with his highest aspirations. He will look with tranquility alike on past and future, neither dwelling with remorse on past sin nor living in expectation of reward for present action.

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text-book for Students in Mysticism

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, Stud. Theos.

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

(CONTINUED.)

PART II.—SYMBOLS.

The practical expounders and preachers of Sufism are the Dervishes, the monks of Islam.

It must have become clear to our readers, that the sweet and peaceful sentiments of the couplet of Katebi, placed as motto over our first part, are the expressions of at least one side of the inner life of Sufism. But, if we listen more closely, we shall hear the plaintive note of the nightingale more distinct and perceive more readily the gloom of the cypress; both of them, like the soul of man, bewail in melancholy our disunion from Deity. That, too, is another side of Sufism, which now has been illustrated, and we have given enough quotations to show, that the highest aim of the Sufi is to attain self-annihilation by losing his humanity in Deity.

So far the direct teachings as they lie on the surface of our quotations. The grand undercurrents are the relations of The Universal Self and The Individual Self. The expression “Self” has not been used, but “God” and “Soul” because of the peculiarity of the exoteric forms of current Mohammedan Theology, which the Sufi-Doctors find themselves bound to observe.

We have yet to quote the Sufi poets Hafiz, Jami, Nizami, Attar and others, but as their teachings are veiled under symbols, they naturally find their place in this our second part, and shall be treated fully toward the end. We will begin with the more ecstatic features of practical Sufism, with the Dervishes, the Moslem saints, and thus develop the subjective forms of Sufism. We shall come to appreciate the use of a ritualistic service and ascetic practices, when we see these framed in close harmony with the laws of Nature and conductive to Union with Self.

Where we use the phrase The Personal, our readers will understand it as the subjective equivalent for the objective “Self.”—

An historic study of the rise of Sufism out of original asceticism, will afford us an excellent view of the evolution of Sufism itself as well as of all other forms of Mysticism. Hence we must devote some space to it.

It must undoubtedly be maintained that asceticism and monastic life are entirely inconsistent with Mohammedanism, and in fact Mohammed himself was far from anything like it, and constantly preached against it, advocating an active life and an aggressive religion.

But neither Mohammed nor his followers could stem the tide of ascetic influences from the East, from Buddhism; nor from the West, from Christianity. These two religious systems had existed for centuries and were both characterized by monastic institutions, and missionary spirit. But, much deeper than these individual influences lies the power of a new historic cycle beginning about a century after Mohammed, just at the time we find the greatest number of Islam saints, with a distinctive monastic cast. The era is characterized by a new civilization in the West, and a consolidation of the Eastern conquests. The Mohammedan power encircles Christendom and threatens to destroy both Church and Christianity. In the East itself a terror of existence befell the minds of men and has left the strongest impressions in the writings of such men as Ata Salami and Hasan, &c.

Even in Mohammed’s lifetime an attempt was made to engraft the elements of the contemplative life upon his doctrine. The facts are well known. One evening, after some more vigorous declamations than usual on the prophet’s part—he had taken for his theme the flames and tortures of hell—several of his most zealous companions, among whom the names of Omar, Ali, Abou-Dharr, and Abou-Horeirah are conspicuous, retired to pass the night together in a neighbouring dwelling. Here they fell into deep discourses on the terrors of divine justice, and the means to appease or prevent its course. The conclusion they came to was nowise unnatural. They agreed that to this end the surest way was to abandon their wives, to pass their lives in continued fast and abstinence, to wear hair-cloth, and practice other similar austerities: in a word, they laid down for themselves a line of conduct truly ascetic, and leading to whatever can follow in such a course. But they desired first to secure the approbation of Mohammed. Accordingly, at break of day, they presented themselves before him, to acquaint him with the resolution of the night, as well as its motives and purport; but they had reckoned without their host. The prophet rejected their proposition with a sharp rebuke, and declared marriage and war to be far more agreeable to the Divinity than any austereness of life or mortification of the senses whatever, and the well known passage of the Quran: “O true believers, do not abstain from the good things of the earth which God permits you to enjoy,” revealed on this very occasion, remains a lasting monument of Mohammed’s disgust at this premature outbreak of ascetic feeling. This lesson and many others of a similar character, for the time being, checked any and all appearance of declared forms of asceticism, but could not prevent the ultimate triumph of the truer and better parts of human nature. “Fate” would have it, that within his own family, lie hidden the germs, destined in after ages, down to the present day, and probably as long as Islam shall exist, to exert the mightiest influence in the Mohammedan world.

Ali, Mohammed’s cousin, and Ali’s son Hasan, his grandson Zein el Abidin, and after them Djaufar es Sadik, Mousa el Kadhim, Ali er Ridha, and others of their race, were members of a family which became the very backbone of asceticism. They were successively looked up to by individual ascetics as the guides and instructors in word and deed of self-denial and abnegation.

In the Menaqibu l Arafin (the Acts of the Adepts) it is related that the Prophet one day recited to Ali in private the secrets and mysteries of the “Brethren of Sincerity” enjoining him not to divulge them to any of the uninitiated, so that they should not be betrayed; also, to yield obedience to the rule of implicit submission. For forty days, Ali kept the secret in his own sole breast, and bore therewith until he was sick at heart. As his burden oppressed him and he could no more breathe freely, he fled to the open wilderness, and there chanced upon a well. He stooped, reached his head as far down into the well as he was able; and then, one by one, he confided those mysteries to the bowels of the earth. From the excess of his excitement, his mouth filled with froth and foam. There he spat out into the water of the well, until he had freed himself of the whole, and he felt relieved. After a certain number of days, a single seed was observed to be growing in that well. It waxed and shut up, until at length a youth, whose heart was miraculously enlightened on the point, became aware of this growing plant, cut it down, drilled holes in it, and began to play upon it airs, similar to those now performed by the dervish lovers of God, as he pastured his sheep in the neighbourhood. By degrees, the various tribes of Arabs of the desert heard of this flute-playing of the shepherd, and its fame spread abroad. The camels and the sheep of the whole region would gather around him as he piped, ceasing to pasture that they might listen. From all directions, the nomads flocked to hear his strains, going into ecstasies with delight, weeping for joy and pleasure, breaking forth in transports of gratification. The rumor at length reached the ears of the Prophet, who gave orders for the piper to be brought before him. When he began to play in the sacred presence, all the holy disciples of God’s messenger were moved to tears and transports, bursting forth with shouts and exclamations of pure bliss, and losing all consciousness. The Prophet declared that the notes of the shepherd’s flute were the inspiration of the holy mysteries he had confided in private to Ali’s charge.

Thus it is that, until a man acquires the sincere devotion of the linnet-voiced flute-reed, he cannot hear the mysteries of “The Brethren of Sincerity” in its dulcet notes, or realize the delights thereof; for “faith is altogether a yearning of the heart, and a gratification of the spiritual sense.”

In regard to “The Brethren of Sincerity” mentioned above it can be said that the Mohammedans in the East know perfectly well that there exists on earth, among the initiated, a secret hierarchy which governs the whole human race, infidels as well as believers, but that their power is often exercised in such a manner that the subjects influenced by it know not from what person or persons its effects proceed.

In this hierarchy the supreme dignity is vested in the Khidr. This is a man indeed, but one far elevated above ordinary human nature by his transcendent privileges. Admitted to the Divine Vision, and possessed in consequence of a relative omnipotence and omniscience on earth; visible and invisible at pleasure; freed from the bonds of space and time; by his ubiquitous and immortal powers appearing in various forms on earth to uphold the cause of truth; then concealed awhile from men; known in various ages as Seth, as Enoch, as Elias, and yet to come at the end of time as the Mahdi; this wonderful being is the centre, the prop, the ruler, the mediator of men of ascetic habits and retirement, and as such he is honoured with the name of Kothb, or axis, as being the spiritual pole round which and on which all move or are upheld. Under him are the Aulia, or intimate friends of God, seventy-two in number (some say twenty-four), holy men living on earth, who are admitted by the Kothb to his intimate familiarity, and who are to the rest the sources of all doctrine, authority, and sanctity. Among these again one, pre-eminent above the rest, is qualified by the vicarious title of Kothb-ez-zaman, or axis of his age, and is regarded as the visible depositary of the knowledge and power of the supreme Kothb—who is often named, for distinction’s sake, Kothb el-Akthab, or axis of the axes—and his constant representative amongst men. But as this important election and consequent delegation of power is invisible and hidden from the greater number even of the devotees themselves, and neither the Kothb-ez-zaman nor the Aulia carry any outward or distinctive sign of dignity and authority, it can only be manifested by its effects, and thus known by degrees to the outer world, and even then rather as a conjecture than as a positive certainty.

On the authority of the famous saint of Bagdad, Aboo-Bekr el Kettanée, E. W. Lane[118] states that the orders under the rule of this chief are called Omud (or Owtad), Akhyar, Abdal, Nujaba, and Nukaba, naming them according to their precedence, and remarks that perhaps to these should be added an inferior order called Ashab ed-Darak, that is “Watchmen” or “Overseers.” The Nukaba are three hundred and reside in El-Gharb (Northern Africa to the West of Egypt); the Nujaba are seventy and reside in Egypt; the Abdal are forty and are found in Syria; the Akhyar are seven and travel about the earth; the Omud are four and stand in the corners of the earth. The members are not known as such to their inferior unenlightened fellow-creatures, and are often invisible to them. This is most frequently the case with the Kothb, who, though generally stationed at Mekka, on the roof of the Kaaba, is never visible there, nor at any of his other favorite stations, yet his voice is often heard at these places.

Let us add that their great power is supposed to be obtained by self-denial, implicit reliance upon God, from good genii and by the knowledge and utterance of “the most great name.”

Eflaki, the historian, has given us the links of a spiritual series, through whom the mysteries of the dervish doctrines were handed down to and in the line of Jelaludin er Rumi.

Ali communicated the mysteries to the Imam Hasan of Bara, who died A. D. 728. Hasan taught them to Habib, the Persian († A. D. 724) who confided them to Dawud of the tribe Tayyi († A. D. 781) who transmitted them to Maruf of Kerkh († A. D. 818); he to Sirri († A. D. 867) and he to the great Juneyd († A. D. 909). Juneyd’s spiritual pupil Shibli († A. D. 945) taught Abu-Amr Muhammed, son of Ilahim Zajjaj († A. D. 959) and his pupil was Abu-Bekr, son of Abdu-llah of Tus, who taught Abu-Ahmed Muhammed, son of Muhammed Al-Gazzali († A.D. 1111), and he committed those mysteries to Ahmed el-Khatibi, Jelal’s great-grandfather, who consigned them to the Imam Sarakhsi († A. D. 1175). Sarakhsi was the spiritual teacher of Jelal’s father Baha Veled, who taught the Sayyid Burhanu-d-Diu Termizi, the instructor of Jelal.—We shall now proceed with the history.

(To be continued.)

Please note the following correction of previous article: Footnote, page 143, August No. of the PATH, should read “Free translation by J. Freeman Clarke.”

RETICENCE OF MAHATMAS AND EVOLUTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL.

Members of the Theosophical Society and the general public have alike manifested a wide divergence of opinion both as regards the fundamental aim of the Society, and its adaptation to individual cases. To get a right view of these points, it is first absolutely necessary that the Society should be considered as a whole, and to remember that like every movement in the physical or spiritual world, it must be governed by the great law of Evolution. This is its primal Cause, and the evolution of the individual its primary work. It is not, as its history shows, an ephemeral institution, to last for a given period, like a hospital, or a society to benefit animals, or poor children, or fallen women. It is a spoke of the universal wheel of Evolution. When the world contained a body of persons sufficiently developed on the spiritual plane, they naturally formed a nucleus, from which rays presently diverged to various parts of the globe. Stimulating centres of energy which are constantly expanding through the individual efforts of their members. What is true of the whole body is true also of its component parts, and each individual, in mental capacity and psychical conditions is precisely what his previous experience, or his evolutionary ratio entitles him to be. Only by means of ever increasing effort on his own part, can he invigorate these powers.

In founding the Theosophical Society, it was hoped that the united labors of all for each and of each for all, might result in so much enlightenment and expansion of individuals as the friction of many minds, all directed to one issue, should through the correlation of moral forces afford. Hence the Society was based upon the idea of Universal Brotherhood.

There are at present two classes of persons who misinterpret this aim of the Society. The first class is variously composed of,—(A) those persons who suppose the Society to be solely devoted to a large phase of the subject, such as the progressive development of the entire body of the present race, or to the united interests of great masses of people, leaving the individual altogether alone in the uphill path of his own spiritual development. (B) Various persons in different parts of the world who have seen fit, coincidently with giving in their adherence to the idea of Universal Brotherhood, to ridicule it as “a mere sham” or “a pure formula” or “an utopian impossibility:” the wavering incredulity of every such person arises no doubt from individual or constitutional peculiarity. (C) Such as suppose this basic idea to be an elastic declaration which may always be used as a shield to ward off the unpopular or chaffing accusation of an interest in Mysticism. (D) Those who base their denial of universal brotherhood upon the very sensible rule requiring applicants for initiation to have endorsement from active fellows of the Society. “If you make distinctions you are not universal,” is the cry of these last.

All the above persons will sooner or later discover that the Society as a whole progresses through the spiritual advancement of individual members. If the individual retrogrades, the common welfare is minus so much; if he progresses, it is plus so much, and when many rise all are presently lifted as by specific gravity, into a higher plane. For this reason not only the exoteric and much slandered founders of the Society, but also the hidden and real founders have always given much of their time and thought to individuals. At the same time they have unceasingly insisted upon the necessity for individual efforts, that each member might develop himself. This is the true meaning of Evolution. It is not the expansion of the man by means of an external force acting upon inert tissue, but an impulse from within outward and upward, enhanced by the cumulative effect of previous impulses, and further assisted by such favoring environment as his condition may permit him to assimilate.

It is in this final respect that the second class under consideration have erred. They demand greater extraneous aid for the individual. Such persons, having joined the Society and asserted their belief in the existence of Mahatmas, or Adepts, or highly advanced human beings, have after a time uttered complaints because they had no personal communications from these Great Beings, while they feel such attentions to be their due. These persons have said,—“We have declared our belief in these wise and holy Men; we have joined the Society, but we have not been favored with any proofs directly from them.” Such persons require a letter under seal, projected in a phenomenal manner through the air or otherwise. Nothing short of this will satisfy them, and if they do not get it, they are likely to leave the fold of the Society, as they themselves intimate. Their complaint, in general terms, is that the Mahatmas are reticent, altogether too reticent to suit their requirements. They say that it is declared that certain other persons have received such evidence in the shape of letters, and they cite Messrs. Sinnett, Olcott, Damodar, Hume, Madame Blavatsky and several Hindus as the favored recipients. The complainants then state that their aspirations, their need, their merit, equal that of these persons, that they are, to put it roughly, “every bit as good.” Some who do not say as much, think it, and a general outcry arises of,—“Why do we not get such letters as proofs? Are we not justified in ascribing undue reticence to the Mahatmas?” When in addition it is said that some others have seen the Mahatmas, or heard their voices and received gifts from them, the injured ones reiterate the complaint,—“Why are the Mahatmas so reticent?” This attitude has finally become that of the press and the public at large, so that the question presents itself,—“Are the Mahatmas unduly reticent?”

The solution of this question is bound up in the subject of the “Evolution of the Individual.” As regards the general evolution, the Mahatmas cannot be thus accused, for had we their knowledge of the whole, so as to be able to feel and know what all minerals, plants, animals and men feel collectively, we should see that in this department Mahatmas are never accused even in thought of withholding either knowledge, favor or blessing. The whole moves by law (which law includes the Mahatmas themselves), and as a whole recognises this law and knows no possible departure from it.

As heretofore stated, the work of the Theosophical Society lies within the department of individual evolution, and just as its sphere may only be enlarged through the constant labors of its members, so every individual follows the same law, will he, nil he. The Mahatmas are not reticent. They can justly be no more than the favoring environment to the individual soul. They give to each human well just the water it can hold; to overflow it would be waste. It has been well said that the human mind, like the atmosphere, has its saturation point. To realise when we have reached this point is the first step on the path of self-knowledge: to strive to expand our boundaries by incessant study and observation, carries us leagues further on our way. Those who journey thus have neither time nor desire for complaint. We enter into this life through our parents, subject to law. From one mystery we pass, ignorant of the future, into another mystery: lessons are learned in each. So is the soul born into the higher life and becomes by degrees acquainted with its mysteries. Through each order of life runs the law of natural selection. “A man is a method, a progressive arrangement, a selecting principle,” says Emerson. As the man chooses the friends and the pursuits best adapted to him, so by the law of spiritual dynamics is the soul attracted to just such food as it can assimilate, to the influences necessary to its present development. If the individual mind fails to grasp this idea and to see that we ourselves, (and not the Mahatmas,) create our own possibilities, how far less fitted is it to profit usefully by the very opportunities it demands. The gratification of curiosity, the quickening of interest in personalities or phenomena as such, are not growths of the soul, nor can they advance the evolution of the individual. The Mahatmas do not withhold us from Truth, but we ourselves. When we come to be a part of it, we shall know it: when we come to live in its laws, who can shut us away from it? The upright heart cries,—“Mine is mine, if the universe deny me, and not all the Mahatmas combined can convey to me one truth in which I am not ready to dwell. The Spirit communicates itself; the Masters but interpret the vision, as soothsayers the dreams of Kings. I am a king when the Spirit exalts me, made so by the super-royal act. I will not covet borrowed robes, nor whine as a beggar for charities, but wait until I am come into mine own estate. Then the Wise Ones will teach me how to rule it.” The heart that chooses in truth this noble part, has felt already the quickening touch of the Divine. Like Jove of old, it bids the earth-bound waggoner abate his cries, and put first his own shoulder to the wheel.

Let complainants therefore reflect how ignorant they are of their own capacity to understand psychological data, and how necessary it is that they should first develop themselves in that direction. A ray of light may shoot by us unseen and unknown, to be lost in the further space, for want of the timely interposition of a reflective surface. Or it may stream directly into the eye, and even so may still be lost, should the eye lack the power to receive the impression. Thus an attempt at direct communication or illumination may be and often is frustrated for lack of the perceptive eye and soul. Shall we expect to receive these at other hands, as by a miracle, when we know well that we never fully profit by any experience which we have not lived out for ourselves. Who amongst us has not seen a child reject with impatience the teachings of his elders, and presently return home brimful of wonder and dogmatism over the very same fact which some companion had knocked into him? The strong soul must be self delivered. Amongst our number there are indeed those who have the spiritual eye in part, and the Mahatmas, desirous to arouse it more fully, now and then project a beam of wisdom which the eye fails to receive and it passes on to those who are better fitted to absorb it. “No man can learn what he has not preparation for learning, however near to his eye is the object. A chemist may tell his most precious secrets to a carpenter, and he shall never be the wiser,—the secret he would not utter to a chemist for an estate. God screens us evermore from premature ideas. Our eyes are holden that we cannot see things that stare us in the face, until the hour arrives when the mind is ripened; then we behold them, and the time when we saw them not is like a dream.”[119]

Let us then press forward to this harvest time, neither asking for help, nor doubting that it is at hand though unseen, and remembering above all that what we consider reticence, or silence on the part of the Mahatmas, is often but a higher order of speech which we do not as yet understand, and to whose golden accents untiring endeavor alone can give the key.

JULIUS.

CORRESPONDENCE.

HARTFORD, Aug., 1886.

TO THE PATH,

DEAR FRIEND:—I like the PATH much. I have noted many articles that I am anxious to get time to read at my leisure. They are full of the meat that satisfieth the soul. How this on-coming wave from esoteric and mystic sources has rushed upon us within the past few years! ‘Tis a veritable ground-swell, and it seems to stretch out to all shores, and its sources are from Infinity itself. Surely, that that we need, does come to us at the right time. The demands of the soul imply that the requisite supply is somewhere in existence. The glass of sparkling cold water tendered by Emerson to Frederika Bremer at the crystal spring at which they halted by the road-side, is symbolic of the wants of the spiritual nature. Her comments upon it, are in the line of thought I have touched upon:

“A glass of water! How much may be comprised in this gift! Why this should become significant to me on this occasion, I cannot say; but so it was. I have silently within myself combated with Emerson from the first time that I became acquainted with him. I have questioned in what consisted this power of the spirit over me, while I so much disapproved of his mode of thinking. In what consisted his mysterious, magical power,—that invigorating, refreshing influence which I always experience in his writings, or in intercourse with him? This cordial draught of clear water from the spring, given by his hand, I understood it. It is precisely this crystal, pure, fresh cold water in his individual character, in his writings, which has refreshed, and will again and yet again refresh me. I have opposed Emerson in thought with myself. * * * But in long years to come, and when I am far from here in my own native land, and when I am old and gray,—yes, always, always will moments recur when I shall yearn toward Waldo Emerson, and long to receive from his hand that draught of fresh water.”

Emerson drew from invisible sources, and Miss Bremer’s fine tribute is all the stronger because it comes in spite of orthodox prejudice. But I have turned off into an unexpected “path,” and my time is up, and I must end abruptly, as usual.

Yours fraternally,

F. E.

MARSEILLES, Aug., 1886.

EDITOR OF THE PATH,

DEAR SIR AND BROTHER:—It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your valuable magazine.

I cannot but admire the great abilities and learning of its contributors, and I trust and hope that a complete success will repay you for your endeavors after the improvement of our poor and misguided humanity, and the glorification of the Truth.

Yours fraternally,

BARON J. SPEDALIERI, F. T. S.

REVIEWS AND NOTES.

THE OPTIMISM OF EMERSON.—By Wm. F. Dana. (Cupples, Upham & Co., Boston, 1886.) Price 50 c. cloth. For sale by Brentano, Union Square, New York.

The author seeks to account for the optimism of Emerson by his “cheerful disposition,” and for his influence in literature by the action of that cheerfulness upon “an age of intellectual gloom” due to “England, France, Germany and Italy, having taken a despairing view of life.” The cause of nineteenth century pessimism Mr. Dana sums up thus: “The root of our difficulties is the fact that we have lost faith in a revealed religion. We do not believe the Bible to be an inspired book, hence, we have to form a religion by ourselves out of the material within us and about us. It has seemed impossible to us, unless we abandoned our reason, to believe, that what appear to us good and evil could be all good.” Mr. Dana, though evidently a sincere admirer of Emerson, confesses that he gave the world no new revelation, either in religion or philosophy, and he compares his influence to the moonlight, rather than the sunlight. But if Emerson left the mystery of life unsolved, he influenced men’s emotional nature for good by reason of the cheerful, hopeful tone of his own mind, which, by setting up sympathetic vibrations in the hearts of others, gave them a renewed assurance that “the sun is shining behind the clouds,” and that apparent evil is but real good in disguise.

PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.—A series of articles on the “Philosophy of Religion from the Standpoint of the Mystics,” prepared by C. H. A. Bjerregaard of the Astor Library, will be published forthwith, in the Religio Philosophical Journal.

THE SONG CELESTIAL OR BAGAVAD-GITA, tr. from the Sanscrit by Edwin Arnold, M. A. (Roberts Brothers, Boston.) Cloth $1.00. This is a poetical rendering by a master hand, of the greatest of books, and by many will be more easily understood than the present extant prose editions of Wilkins, Thomson, and others. But its power and beauty depend upon the inherent qualities of the poem, and an indifferent hand at the work could not spoil it: how much more it will be for its readers, under the touch of Mr. Arnold, is easy to see, for he is a scholar, a philosopher, and a true singer. So much exoterically.

But this is in every sense an esoteric poem, and as usual, an interpreter who knows nothing of the secret doctrine, has not succeeded in opening the lock of this great treasure box. Following all his predecessors, Mr. Arnold opens with the old old error of ranging the people of King Dhritirashtra upon the plain of Kurukshetra in battle with the Pandavas, and utterly fails to translate this name of a plain. Here is the key. This plain is the human body and is not a field in the centre of India; and the king himself is material existence possessing a thirst for life. Proceeding with the details of the generals and chiefs engaged, our poet simply gives their names untranslated, whereas each name is a power, quality or manifestation of the mental or spiritual man. Bhishma and Bhima of all, are untouched.

Ignorance as to the use and intention of these names is due very much to the indifference of the Hindus who, while knowing well the errors committed, have not raised a finger.

Mr. Arnold’s translation is very beautiful and inspiring, and is to our knowledge, in the hands of many Theosophists.

THE SECRET OF DEATH, from the Sanscrit, and other poems, by Edwin Arnold, M. A. (Roberts Brothers, Boston.) Cloth $1.00. 45 pages are taken up by the “Secret of Death,” and scattered through the 252 pages are, here and there, other short pieces from Sanscrit. The first poem is a practical rendering of the episode in the Katha Upanishad where Nachiketas is devoted to Yama, the god of death, and learns high knowledge from him. The other Indian songs are: Rajah’s Ride, Bihari Mill song, Funeral song, Serpent Charmer’s song, Flour Mill song and a short discourse of Buddha held at Rajagriha, cast in the same mould as “The Light of Asia.”

INDIA REVISITED.—By Edwin Arnold, M. A. C. S. I. (Roberts Brothers, Boston, 1886.) Cloth $2.00, illustrated. This is Mr. Arnold’s account of his revisiting India after the lapse of some years. In prose he is as clear as he is enchanting in poetry. The illustrations are from photographs and lend a charm to the book. The reader’s interest is held to the last chapter; and fair justice is done to “his India,” which is not generally the method pursued by Englishmen who detail their travels in the mysterious land. On returning, his adieu declares that lakhs of true friends are left there among Hindus, and his heart roves from hut to hut, whispering “he knows and loves.”

DOGMA AND RITUAL OF HIGH MAGISM.—By Eliphas Lévi, translated by a fellow of the Theosophical Society, is now in hand for publication as soon as may be convenient. It will be issued in two volumes, about 600 pages, and put at as low a price as possible, $5.00. THE PATH has taken charge of the issuing of the book, and will receive subscriptions for it. All the illustrations in the French edition will be reproduced.

A FALLEN IDOL.—By F. Anstey. This is a novel devoted to a plot in which Theosophy, Chelas, astral bodies, currents, and what not, figure on every page. It tells of the power and wanderings, the evil deeds and influence of a strong bad man’s shell, attached to an eastern idol. There is a German Chela included, and also a fraudulent message.

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

THE AMERICAN THEOSOPHICAL COUNCIL.—In the July Theosophist, it was announced that the General Council had resolved to organize the American Branches upon a better and more permanent basis, than previously existed, and that instructions to postpone the Board of Control meeting had been sent.

The formal orders have arrived, and are in brief, that all the Branches here are to be formed into the American Council, which is to be the Western Section of the General Council, but subordinate to it, whereupon the Board of Control goes out of existence; all Branch presidents and the present members of the Board of Control are to be ex-officio members of this Council which the orders direct to be formed on call of the Board of Control as soon as possible after receipt of advices. Other members of the Council, to be selected from the whole body of American Theosophists, may be elected, and the Council is to meet in time to forward reports to the regular Council at Adyar in December.

This action is eminently wise, as the term Board of Control was misleading, inasmuch as the very foundation of the Society is democratic in its nature, and control savored to much of form, ceremonies, discipline, officers, secret reports and all the paraphernalia of an established church.

In all other respects the routine is unchanged by the orders. With 14 Branches and others contemplated, these great United States ought to stand in fair way of being soon theosophized.

MALDEN.—Members are working and studying. They enjoy advantages in having a few who thoroughly understand the subject.

NEW YORK.—The ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY meets regularly. Not many open meetings have occurred in August or July, but frequent private ones have been held, and the members are deeply in earnest. The library has received several additions, and the books are regularly used by members.

RUMORS—are afloat that some very learned and distinguished theosophists from abroad will be here in the fall. If so—and we think our information is reliable—the whole host of newspapers, critics, and Conways, may expect to hear a few more final “last words on Theosophy.” Gentlemen of the opposition! the cycle runs its course, the terrible wheel of Karma turns round resistlessly, and you cannot stop it, astonishing as may seem to you to be the senility of people in running after Theosophy.

ROSICRUCIANS.—The Society of the R. C. is being revived in Germany it is said, and theosophists are in it. Next month we will give a resumé of some of their ideas.

“A knot of ignorance binds all men’s hearts; this, action looses and God’s grace imparts.”—Hindi verse.

“Study all Scriptures written, near or far;

Worship all images and saints of earth; But if you do not study who you are, All your best actions are nothing worth.”—Sanscrit verse. OM!

Every period of soul is measured by time. The period of other souls indeed is measured by a certain time; but that of the first soul, since it is measured by time, is measured by the whole of time.—Proklos’ Elements of Theology.

Time, like a seven-wheeled, seven-naved car, moves on; His rolling wheels are all the worlds. His axle is immortality.—Atharva Veda.

The moving finger writes, and having writ,

Moves on, nor all your piety and wit

Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,

Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.—The Rubaiyat.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         OCTOBER, 1886.                         NO. 7.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

WHAT IS THE “THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY”?

AN OPINION IN REGARD TO WHAT IT OUGHT TO BE.

[BY A MEMBER.]

I am often asked by strangers who have heard some accounts of the doings of the Theosophists: What is the Theosophical Society, and what is its purpose? Some believe it to be a sect, in which no opinion is suffered to exist unless it is first sanctioned by certain “Headquarters” or “Boards of Control”; others believe it to be a school for occultism and witchcraft; others think that it is a new form of Buddhism, coming under some disguise to overthrow Christianity, while some of those who do not belong to the Christian church suspect it of being an effort to spread Christian doctrines among them by clothing them in some new and more acceptable form. Nearly everyone of such inquirers sees in the T. S. only a bug-bear, and there are all sorts of opinions except the right one prevailing about it.

To all such objections I can only answer by showing to them the printed “Rules of the Theosophical Society,” where under the head “Objects of the Society,” it says: “The Society represents no particular religious creed, interferes with no man’s caste, is entirely unsectarian and includes professors of all faiths.” This sounds so beautifully, that people who have been accustomed all their life to cling to creeds and dogmas and “recognized authorities” are unable to believe that it can be true. Moreover the objectors have heard of “Boards of Control,” of “Presidential Orders,” of “Official Organs,” etc., and all these things have such an air of sectarianism, that they seem to be hardly compatible with the spirit of freedom, so loudly proclaimed by the T. S. It is asked: What has a “Board of Control” to control? Who enforces obedience to presidential orders? Does the official organ promulgate the dogmas of the sect; and if not, what then is the use of these things? It seems therefore time that we should once more consider what the T. S. is, or what it ought to be.

It must be plain to every lover of truth, that, however great the progress may be, which modern civilization has made in regard to the material and temporal welfare of man, the world is still far from having attained physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual perfection. Disease and crime, suffering and death, poverty, tyranny and ignorance are still in existence, and although there are many organized bodies, whose purpose it is to do good and to cure the ills of humanity, still the majority of such bodies are hampered to a certain extent by old beliefs, usages, creeds and superstitions, their activity is not sufficiently free, because their opinions are not free; they may benefit a certain class of humanity, but not all mankind; they know perhaps a part of the truth, but not all of it; their charity extends over a small circle, but not over the whole world. The root of all evil is ignorance, with its children, superstition, fear, crime and disease; the only remedy against ignorance is to spread the knowledge of truth.

There have been at all times men and societies, willing to spread that which they believe to be the truth, by all means which were at their command, whether fair or foul; there have been people ready to force their opinions in regard to the truth upon others, by the power of the sword, the faggot, the rack and the fire; but the truth cannot be spread in this manner. Real knowledge of the good, the beautiful and the true can only be attained by obtaining the knowledge of self, and the knowledge of self must grow in every individual in the course of his development. It can no more be implanted by others or be forced upon another, than a tree be made to grow by pulling its trunk. The object of the true Theosophist is therefore to attain self-knowledge, and to employ the knowledge which he possesses, for the purpose of accomplishing the greatest good.

There is perhaps not a single country upon the face of the earth, in which may not be found a number of persons, who desire to obtain self-knowledge, to find the truth by means of a free and unrestricted investigation, and to employ their knowledge for the benefit of humanity. There are persons who desire to see true progress in the place of stagnation, knowledge in the place of accepted but still dubious opinions, wisdom in the place of sophistry, universal love and benevolence in the place of selfishness. Such men and women may be found here and there, and each one acts in the way he considers the best. Some work by means of the school, others by means of the pulpit; some teach science, others influence the sense of the beautiful and true by their works of art, others speak the powerful language of music; but the most advanced of these give an example to others by their own Christlike conduct in the affairs of every-day life.

The great majority of such persons, interested in the welfare of humanity, live isolated although they may be residing in crowded cities; for they find few who share their mode of feeling and thought and who have identical objects in view. They are often living in communities where little more but selfishness, the greed for money-making or perhaps bigotry and superstition are found. They are isolated and without the support of those who sympathize with their ideas; for although one universal principle unites all those who have the same object in view; still their persons are unknown to each other and they seldom find means for mutual intercourse and exchange of thought.

Now let us suppose that in each country a centre of communication were to be established, by means of which such persons could come into contact with each other, and that at each such centre a journal or newspaper were to be established, by means of which such persons could exchange their thoughts;—not a centre from which supreme wisdom was to be dispensed and from whence dogmas were to be doled out for the unthinking believers; but a centre through which the thought of the members of the society could freely flow; and we could then have an ideal “Theosophical Society.” Such a centre would resemble a central telephone station to which all the different wires extend, and it would require a trustworthy servant at the office to connect the wires and to attend to the external affairs connected with the affairs of the office; but if such a “telephone operator” would attempt to interfere with the messages running over the wires, and to assume an authority to say what kinds of opinions should be wired and what messages should be suppressed; if he were to assume the role of a dictator and permit only such messages to pass over the wires as would be in harmony with his own ideas; then the object of the centre of communication would come to nought; we would again have papal dictates and presidential orders in the place of liberty of thought and speech, and there would be an end of the object and purpose of the society.

But on the other hand, if every unripe mind were to be permitted to have his effusions printed at the expense of the society, and to teach things, which perhaps a few months afterwards, having learned to know better, he would be sorry to think that they had ever seen the light, such a proceeding would throw discredit upon the society and be moreover altogether impracticable.

Our “telephone operator” should therefore be a man possessed of the greatest circumspection and discrimination, and while he should never interfere with the expression of any opinion, no matter how much opposed the latter may be to his own opinion, he should at the same time be permitted to cut down the messages sent over his wires to certain limits and to present them, if necessary, in a more suitable form.

As regards the liberty of speech, it would be an absurdity if such a society were to attempt to prescribe to any of its members what kind of opinions or dogmas he should express; because whatever opinions he may pronounce, they could never be regarded as being the opinions of the society as a whole; for the society as such “represents no particular creed” and “is entirely unsectarian.” If in spite of this solemn assertion anyone chooses to believe that the opinions publicly expressed by a member of the society represent the creed of the society, such an unfortunate circumstance can only be deplored, but will do no serious harm. On the other hand if a “president” or “board of control” should attempt to preside over more important things than merely over the meetings of the members, and if a “board of control” would attempt to control the conscience and the opinions of the members, instead of merely exercising its control over the external affairs of the society; and if an “official organ” would attempt to postulate what ought and what ought not to be believed by the members of the society, such a proceeding would be in direct opposition to the spirit, the object and the purpose of that society, and in contradiction to the principles upon which it was founded; and while it should be the object of every lover of truth to assist the growth of a true “Theosophical Society,” and to maintain its purity of principle, it should also be his aim to suffocate in the germ everything that is opposed to liberty and freedom of speech.

I beg every member of the Theosophical Society to well consider these points, for upon their consideration and decision, depends the solution of the question, whether the Theosophical Society shall end in a farce, or whether it shall be the great movement which it was intended to be.

F. HARTMANN.

Kemplen (Bavaria), Aug. 23, 1886.

APOLLONIUS AND THE MAHATMAS.

[READ BEFORE THE MALDEN BRANCH, T. S.]

The journey to India made by the great adept, Apollonius of Tyana, has a special interest for us modern students of occultism. The story of this journey, related in the life of Apollonius by Philostratus, has been held by many to be a fable, and Mr. Tredwell, in his laudable work, omits any account of it. To an earnest Theosophist, however, the internal evidence of the narration is too strong to be resisted, although it is told at third hand probably with the adornments which an accomplished Greek author thought needful for the requisite grace of style.

Apollonius may perhaps be said to have been the Master whose mission was to set the temples in order for the departure of the glorious classic era. Born in the same century as Jesus of Nazareth, nowhere did the teachings of the two, so far as it appears, come into open contact, although the fame of the former spread far and wide in Europe, Asia and Africa during his lifetime. It is said, however, that although no creed bears his name, his work in the world was nevertheless immense and his teachings have, in many unperceived ways, influenced millions of human beings down to the present day.

Apollonius was still a young man when he went to India, but even then he was famous for his wisdom. He had been sent, as a boy of fourteen years, to school in Tarsus by his wealthy father, but he did not like the ways of that city and he was allowed to remove to Aegæ, also in Sicily, where he studied the great philosophers and was specially drawn to the teachings of Pythagoras. At the age of sixteen he fully adopted the Pythagorean life and held firmly to it ever after, letting his hair grow long, eating no flesh, and drinking no wine, and wearing no clothing made of animal products. He took up his abode in the temple of Asclepius, and thousands were attracted thither by the wisdom of the wonderfully beautiful youth. Grown to manhood, he made a vow of silence and spoke not a word for five years. Then for a time he taught in Antioch. When asked how the wise man should treat questions of learning, he replied: “Like the law-giver. For the law-giver must make that, of whose truth he has convinced himself, into commandments for the multitude.”

He now conceived the idea of a journey to India to meet the wise men known as Brahmins and Hyrkanians. He afterwards told the Egyptian Gymnosophists that his thoughts were directed to them in his youth, but his teacher pointed out to him that in India lived the men who stood nearest the source of wisdom, and from whom the Egyptians themselves derived their light.

His seven disciples in Antioch had not the courage to undertake the journey with him, and he departed with two of his family servants, “one for writing rapidly and the other finely,” according to Philostratus. At Ninus he was joined by Damis the Ninivite. This young Assyrian was thenceforth his devoted disciple, accompanying him on all his many journeys throughout his long career. It is to Damis that we chiefly owe the detailed accounts of the doings of the Master thenceforward. We are thereby enabled to see Apollonius in his daily life; in his various deeds and actions, his familiar sayings recorded as he talks with his faithful companion about the common sights and occurrences around them. The picture is therefore exceptionally intimate, and the man himself is brought near to us as well as his divine teachings. When Damis was reproached for writing down such trifles about his master, and compared with a dog devouring the crumbs from a table, he replied: “When the gods are feasting they doubtless have servants who take care that no crumbs of ambrosia are lost.”

A year and eight months were spent in Babylon, where King Bardanus, who was a friend of wisdom, received Apollonius with great honors. Considerable intercourse was had with the Magi; he learnt something of them and also taught them something. Damis was forbidden to accompany him in his visits to them, but he said that Apollonius visited them at noon and at midnight. Once Damis asked “What are the Magi?” and was answered, “They are indeed wise, but not in everything.” The King became ill, and Apollonius spoke so much and so divinely about the soul that the monarch said to those around: “Apollonius not only relieves me of concern for the Kingdom, but also for Death.”

Apollonius, in departing, refused all gifts, but the King provided him with camels and all things needful for the journey. When the King asked what he would bring him from India he replied. “A joyful gift, O King! For if intercourse with the men there makes me wiser, I shall come back to thee better than I now am.”

Upon this the King embraced him and said: “May’st thou but come; for this gift is great.”

They crossed what they called the Caucasus mountains, separating India and Medea. May it not be that from this ancient designation we get the name of the Caucasian race, rather than from what is now known as the Caucasus? This would make the place of origin identical with that commonly ascribed to the Aryans.

Crossing the Indus they soon came to Taxila, which they called the capital of India. It is difficult to trace out their exact course, the present names of most geographical features being quite different from the designations given by Damis. It would probably require a thorough Occultist to tell just what places they did visit. King Phraotes was the ruler at Taxila, and in him Apollonius found an initiate. The latter was struck with the modest simplicity of the monarch’s surroundings on entering the palace, and inferred that he must be a philosopher. The King told Apollonius the course which a youth took who proposed to dedicate himself to the pursuit of Wisdom. When he had reached his 18th year he had to cross the Hyphasis river to those men who had attracted Apollonius to India. Beforehand, however, he had to make his intention publicly known, in order that he might be restrained in case he was not pure. To be pure one had to be without blemish in respect to father and mother, and moreover with an upright ancestry for three generations. If without fault in this respect the youth himself was then examined as to whether he had a good memory, whether he was naturally inclined to uprightness or would only have it appear so, whether given to drink or gluttony, of boastful habits, evil or foolish ways, whether obedient to father, mother and instructors, and finally if he had made no evil use of the bloom of his youth. “Since wisdom stands in great esteem here,” said the King, “and is honored by the Indians, it is of great moment that those who seek to devote themselves unto it should be carefully examined and made to undergo thousandfold tests.”

B.

(Concluded in November.)

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in Mysticism.

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, Stud. Theos.

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

(CONTINUED.)

PART II.—SYMBOLS.

The practical expounder and preachers of Sufism are the Dervishes, the monks of Islam.

Zaous Abou Add er-Rahman, of Persian origin, but born in Yemen, led the way. He had passed his early youth in the society of Zein el Abidin, the son of Hasan, and grandson of Ali, and the first of that family who in life and writing professed the mystical ideas and austere practices, which ever afterwards distinguished the race. Abou-Horeirah, the devoutest of Mohammed’s own companions, and Ebn Abbas were also his masters. He took up his abode at Mecca, the centre of religious feeling, and soon Zaous’ influence began to appear among the crowd of pilgrims from all parts of the Mohammedan empire; they began to imitate his long prayers, his fasts, and extreme poverty, and above all his open contempt for all worldly dignity and rank, and many adopted the peculiarity of his dress, the long and patched garment and the high woollen cap, both of which later became so characteristic of the Sufi.

One of his most distinguished followers was Hasan Yesar, like Zaous, of Persian origin, but born in Arabia, in Medinah. Having received his liberty (he was born after his mother had become a slave of Omm Salma, one of the numerous wives of the Prophet), he retired to Basra, on the Persian Gulf, a town known for its attachment to the family of Ali and their doctrines, and henceforth a stronghold of the ascetic sect. His life proved the truth and strength of his doctrines, and Basra was now their headquarters.

Malik Ebn Dinar, a Persian, and a slave by birth, known for his love of manual labor, poverty and humility, next appears as chief among the ascetics of his age.

Omar Abou Othman, was a disciple of Hasan Yesar and also an inhabitant of Basra. Hasan Yesar described him as one worthy of angels and prophets for preceptors and guides, one who never exhorted save to what he had first put in practice, nor deterred from anything except what he himself inviolably abstained from. He was a vigorous asserter of man’s free-will.

About the same time Omar Abou Durr at Coufa and Sofein Abou Abd Allah displayed similar examples of austerity and virtue, and so did Hammad Abou Ismail, son of the celebrated Abou Hanifah, Abd Allah Meroujï, and Mohammed Ebn es Semmak.

But whether at Mecca or at Basra, the various ascetics already mentioned, and the many not mentioned; whatever personal influence they exercised, and virtues they possessed, they did not form a particular and distinct association or brotherhood. No common rule united them, nor did they group themselves around any superior or chief, as yet.

But the next prominent man among them was not only a remarkable man as an ascetic, but also the father and founder of all the numerous Dervish family. His name was Fodheil Abou Ali Zalikani. He was born of Persian parents and spent his youth as a highway robber. One night he had scaled the walls of a house where the girl of whom he was enamored dwelt, and concealed on the roof, awaited the moment to descend and gratify his passion. But while thus occupied he heard a voice repeating the well-known verse of the Quran: “Is it not high time for those who believe to open their hearts to compunction?” “Lord, it is high time indeed,” replied Fodheil; and leaving the house, as well as his evil design, he retired to a half-ruined caravansarai not far off, there to pass the rest of the night. Several travellers were at the moment lodged in the caravansarai, and, concealed by the darkness, he overheard their conversation: “Let us start on our journey,” said one; and the others answered: “Let us wait till morning, for the robber Fodheil is out on the roads.” This completed the conversion of the already repentant highwayman. He advanced towards the travellers, and, discovering himself to them, assured them that henceforth neither they nor any others should have aught to fear from him. He then stripped himself of his weapons and worldly gear, put on a patched and tattered garment, and passed the rest of his life in wandering from place to place, in the severest penitence and in extreme poverty, sometimes alone, sometimes with numerous disciples, whom he took under his direction, and formed into a strict and organized brotherhood. But with all his austerity of life, his prolonged fasts and watchings, his ragged dress and wearisome pilgrimages, he preferred the practice of interior virtue and purity of intention to all outward observances, and used often to say that “he who is modest and compliant to others, and lives in meekness and patience, gains a higher reward by so doing than if he fasted all his days, and watched in prayer all his nights.” At so high a price did he place obedience to a spiritual guide, and so necessary did he deem it, that he declared: “Had I a promise of whatever I should ask in prayer, yet would I not offer that prayer save in union with a superior.” But his favorite virtue was the love of God in perfect conformity to his will, above all hope and fear. Thus when his only son—whose virtues resembled his father’s—died in early age, Fodheil was seen with a countenance of unusual cheerfulness; and being asked by his intimate disciple Ragi Abou Ali, afterwards Kadhi of the town of Rei, the reason therefor, he answered: “It was God’s good pleasure, and it is therefore my good pleasure also.” We must notice one more of his famous sentences: “Much is he beguiled who serves God from fear or hope, for this true service is for mere love;” and, speaking of himself: “I serve God because I cannot help serving Him for very love’s sake.”

Fodheil died in the year 187 of the Hegira. His disciple was Ibrahim Ebn Adhem, son of noble parents and also a Persian by birth, and he is an example upon the forbearance under injury and reluctance to have their right manifested, so prominent amongst the disciples of Fodheil.

After the death of Fodheil the supreme direction of the brotherhood was vested in Bishar el Hafi, a native of Meron and inhabitant of Bagdad. When young he had, like Fodheil, led a reckless life, till one day walking in the streets he saw written on a piece of paper, torn and trampled on by the feet of the passers-by, the name of God. He picked it up and, having cleaned it to the best of his ability, took it home and placed it out of the reach of further profanation. The same night he heard a voice saying to him; “Bishar, thou has honoured my name. I will accordingly render thy name honourable in this world and in that to come.” He awoke from sleep a changed man, and began a new life of penance and virtue. The name Hafi signifies barefoot. He walked barefooted. His greatest trial was from the veneration of man: “O God,” he used to say, “save me from this honour, the requital of which may perchance be confusion in another life.”

Our space forbids us to dwell upon the Egyptian ascetics who helped to lay the foundation for the future Sufism. We pass by them and dwell mainly with the Persian representatives.

About this time—the beginning of the fourth century—two events occurred of greatest importance in the history we are narrating. The Samanide princes had gained ascendency in the empire over the Abbaside Caliphs. All the princes of the Samanide race were remarkable for their piety and patronage of learning. Nasser Ebn Ahmed, signalized himself by his love of retirement and religious meditation. He founded an oratory at Bokhara which soon became the resort of the now numerous ascetics, and soon other similar institutions arose throughout the country and the dervishes of the East now took on them their permanent name and manner of life.

The other event which characterized this era was the outbreak of open heterodoxy among the ascetics. Hitherto they had concealed their tenets and practices, opposed as they were to the prevailing system, much after the fashion of Ali Zein el Abidin, grandson of the famous Ali, grand-master of the secret order:

“Above all things I conceal the precious jewel of my knowledge,

Lest the uninitiated should behold it, and be bewildered;

Ah, how many a rare jewel of this kind, should I openly display it,

Men would say to me: ‘Thou art one of the worshippers of idols;’

And Zealous Muslims would set my blood at price,

Deeming the worst of crimes an acceptable and virtuous action.”

After these ascetics had learned their strength from their union they began to take part in politics and worked zealously with that party that wished to overthrow the family and religion of Mohammed and place Ali and mysticism in their stead. They accordingly soon had martyrs in their ranks. Thus died at Bagdad the famous Hosain Abou Meghith el Halladj. To his school belonged the three giants of learning and piety: Abd-el-Kadir el Ghilani, Mohi ed Din Ebn-Aarabi el Moghrebi, and Omar Ebn el Faridh. We pen a few of his words:

“I am He whom I love, and He whom I love is I;

We are two spirits, inhabiting one outward frame:

And when you behold me, you behold Him,

And when you behold Him, you behold us twain.”

He taught the freedom of the human will and wrote the following satire on the predestinarian system of Islam:

“What can man do, if the decrees of predestination surround him,

Binding him in his every state? answer me, O learned professor.

He (i. e., as if He, that is God) cast him into the ocean, bound hand and foot, and then said to him,

Woe to you, woe to you, should you get wet with the water.”

He it is who thus in his verse addresses God:

“I love Thee with a twofold love, the love of friendship,

And the love grounded on this alone, that Thou art worthy of it.

But as to that my love which is the love of friendship,

It is a love which leaves me no thought for any save Thee;

And as to the love of Thee according to Thy worthiness,

O raise from betwixt us the vail, that I may behold Thee.

Nor is any praise due to me either for this or for that (love),

But to Thee alone the praise both for this and that.”

Halladj’s three famous disciples gave their names to the three principal brotherhoods among the Mohammedans, and their work remains to this day.

Abd-el-Kadir el Ghilani was a Persian by birth and resided at Bagdad. Nobody doubted that he was the Kothb of his time, and as such he announced himself in his ecstatic state, though ordinarily he strove to conceal himself under the veil of a mean and despicable appearance. He founded the order of the Qadiriyah which association counted in its ranks some of the greatest names among Eastern mystics and poets. The doctrine of the order was that of Hosein el Halladj, whom he taught the order to look upon as their master, though their doctrine was commonly veiled under a seemingly orthodox terminology. They subsist to this day and are counted among the most prominent.

M. D’hosson in his celebrated work on the Ottoman empire traces the origin of the Faquirs to the time of Mohammed in the following manner: In the first year of the Hegira, forty-five citizens of Mecca joined themselves to many others from Medina. They took an oath of fidelity to the doctrines of their Prophet, and formed a sect or fraternity, the object of which was to establish among themselves a community of property, and to perform every day certain religious practices in a spirit of penitence and mortification. To distinguish themselves from other Mohammedans, they took the name of Sufis. This name, which later was attributed to the most zealous partizans of Islam, is the same still in use to indicate any Muselman who retires from the world to study, to lead a life of pious contemplation, and to follow the most painful exercises of an exaggerated devotion. To the name of Sufi they added also that of Faquir, because their maxim was to renounce the goods of the earth, and to live in an entire abnegation of all worldly enjoyments, following thereby the words of the Prophet: “Poverty is my pride.” Following their example, Abu Bakr and Ali established, even during the lifetime of the Prophet and under his own eyes, religious orders, over which each presided, with Zikrs or peculiar religious exercises, established by them separately, and a vow taken by each of the voluntary disciples forming them. On his decease, Abu Bakr made over his office of president to one Salmann l-Farisi, and Ali to al-Hasann l-Basri, and each of these charges were consecrated under the title of Khalifah, or successor. The two first successors followed the example of the Khalifahs of Islam, and transmitted it to their successors, and these in turn to others, the most aged and venerable of their fraternity. Some among them, led by the delirium of the imagination, wandered away from the primitive rules of their society, and converted, from time to time, these fraternities into a multitude of religious orders. * * * It was about A. H. 49 (A. D. 766) that the Shaikh Alwan, a mystic renowned for his religious fervor, founded the first regular order of the Faquirs, now known as the Alwaniyah.

The Bastamiyah, the Nagshbandiyah, and the Bakhtashiyah descend from the original order established by Abu Bakr. All the others come from Ali.

THE FAQUIRS OR DERVISHES.

The Arabic word Faqir signifies poor, poor in the sense of being in need of mercy, poor in the sight of God. The Persian equivalent Darvish is derived from dar “a door”—those who “beg from door to door.”

The dervishes are, as stated before, the practical expounders of Mohammedanism. They are divided into two great classes, the ba Shara (with the law), or those who govern their conduct according to the principles of Islam: and the be Shara (without the law), or those who do not rule their lives according to the formal principles of any religious creed, although they call themselves Muslims. To the latter, the Sufis principally belong. These Faquirs are called either Azad, the free, or Majnub, the absorbed. The former shave their beards, whiskers, eyebrows, etc., and live a life of celibacy.

Every school and every brotherhood has its own distinctive teachings and technicalities, and its peculiar practices and observances, its saints and doctors, great men and founders.

A student will also readily discover a different character in Arabic and Persian Sufism. The Arabic being nearer to Christianity takes up much from it, but moulds it in its peculiar way; the Persian being nearer the traditions of Zoroaster and in immediate contact with Manechaism, naturally borrows from thence. Thus the “pantheistic” tendencies, such as Divine absorption, universal manifestation of the Deity under the seeming appearances of limited forms, the final return of all things to the unity of God, a tendency to regard matter as evil, the reprobation of marriage, etc.—these were ideas that rose from Persian soil, while the ideas of a radiant Divinity mediating between the supreme fountain-head of Being and the created world; of an all-prevading Spirit of love; of detachment from the world; of poverty, humility, etc., were more akin to Christian belief.

Still Saadis’ description applies to all: “The outward tokens of a dervish are a patched garment and a shaven head; and the inward signs, those of being alive in the spirit, and dead in the flesh:—‘not he who will sit apart from his fellow-creatures at the door of supplication with God; and, if he shall reject his prayer, will stand up in disobedience; or if a millstone come rolling down a mountain, he is not intelligent in the ways of providence, that would rise to avoid it.’

“The ritual of the Dervishes is gratitude and praise, worship and obedience, contentment and charity, and a belief in the unity and providence of God, having a reliance on and being resigned to his will, confident of his favour, and forbearant of all: whosoever is endowed with these qualifications is in truth a dervish, notwithstanding he be arrayed in gorgeous apparel: whereas, the irreligious and hypocritical vainboaster, sensualist, and whoremonger, who turn days into nights in his slavish indulgences, and converts nights into days in his dreams of forgetfulness; who eats whatever falls in his way, and speaks whatever comes uppermost, is a profligate, though clothed in the sackcloth of a saint.——”

The dervishes differ, says A. Vambery,[120] from each other only by the manner in which they demonstrate their enthusiasm; still the more we penetrate towards the East, the greater is the purity with which they have been preserved. In Persia the dervishes play a much more important part than in Turkey, and in Central Asia, isolated as it has been from the rest of the world for centuries, this fraternity is still in full vigor, and exercises a great influence upon society.

According to A. Vambery, the Bektashi, Mevlevi, and Rufai orders are principally found in Turkey; the Kadrie and Djelali in Arabia; the Oveisi and the Nurbakhchi Nimetullahi in Persia; the Khilali and Zahibi in India, and the Nakishbendi and Sofi (a recent order) in Central Asia.

According to Th. P. Hughes[121] the following are the chief orders of Faqirs met with in North India: (1) The Naqshbandia, the followers of Khwajah Pir Mohammed Naqshband, and are a very numerous sect; they usually perform the Zikr-i-Khafi[122] or the silent devotion. (2) The Qadiria sprung from the celebrated Sayyid Abdul Qadir, surnamed Pir Dustagir, whose shrine is at Bagdad. They practice both forms of the Zikr. Most of the Sunni Moulavis of the north-west frontier of India are members of this order. In Egypt it is most popular among the fisherman. (3) The Chishtia are followers of Banda Nawaz, whose shrine is at Calburgah; they are partial to vocal music, for the founder of the order remarked, that singing was the food and support of the soul. They perform the Zikr-i-Jali. (4) The Jalalia founded by Sayyid Jalal-ud-din of Bokhara; they are met with in Central Asia. Religious mendicants are often of this order. (5) The Sarwardia are popular in Afganistan and comprise many learned men. They are the followers of Hasan Bisri of Basra, near Bagdad. These five are all ba-Shara Faqirs.

The be-Shara Faqirs are very numerous. The most popular order is that of the Mudaria, founded by Zinda Shah Murdar of Syria, whose shrine is at Mukanpur, in Oudh. From these have sprung the Malang Faqirs who crowd the bazaars of India. They wear their hair matted or tied in a knot. The Rafia order is also a numerous one in some parts of India. They practice the most severe discipline and mortify themselves by scourging.

The secrets of the dervish orders cannot be learned. An initiation is described in Lane’s Society is the Middle Ages and the following is another.

The following is the account of the admission of Tewekkul Bêg into the order of the Qadiriyahfaqirs, one of the four most prominent ones, by Moolla Shah, a Saint and poet of some celebrity, who died in the year of the Hegira 1072 (1661-62 of our era), at Lahore, where his shrine was reared by the Princess Fatima, daughter of Shah-Jihan. Tewekkul is himself the narrator:

“Having been introduced, by means of Akhônd Mollâ Mohammed Say’d into the intimate circle of Mollâ Shah, my heart through frequent intercourse with the Sheikh was filled with a burning desire of reaching the sublime goal [of the mystical science], and I no longer found sleep by night nor rest by day * * I passed the whole of that night without being able to shut my eyes, and betook myself to reciting a hundred thousand times the one hundred and twelfth chapter of the Qoran. I accomplished this in several days. It is well known that in this chapter of the Qoran the great Name of God is contained, and that through the power of that Name, whoever recites it a hundred thousand times may obtain all that he desires. I conceived then the wish that the Master should bestow his affection upon me. And, in fact, I convinced myself of the efficacy of this means, for hardly had I finished the hundred thousandth recitation of this chapter of the book of God, when the heart of the Master was filled with sympathy for me, and he gave order to Senghin Mohammed, his vicar, to conduct me on the following night to his presence. During that whole night he concentrated his mind upon me, while I directed my meditation upon my own heart; but the knot of my heart was not unloosed. So passed three nights, during which he made me the object of his spiritual attention, without any result being manifested. On the fourth night Mollâ Shâh said, ‘This night Mollâ Senghin and Sâlih Bêg, who are both very susceptible to ecstatic emotions, will direct their whole mind upon the neophyte.’ They obeyed this order, while I remained seated the whole night, my face turned towards Mecca, at the same time concentrating all my mental faculties upon my own heart. Towards daybreak, a little light and brightness came into my heart, but I could distinguish neither form nor color. After morning prayer I presented myself, and the two persons I have just mentioned, before the Master who saluted me and asked them what they had done to me. They replied: ‘Ask him, himself.’ Then, addressing me, he told me to relate to him my impressions. I said that I had seen a brightness in my heart; whereupon the Sheikh became animated, and said to me: ‘Thy heart contains an infinity of colors, but it is become so dark that the looks of these two crocodiles of the infinite ocean [the mystic science] have not availed to bestow upon it either brightness or clearness; the moment is come when I myself will show thee how it is enlightened.’ With these words he made me sit in front of him, while my senses were, so to speak, inebriated, and ordered me to reproduce within me his appearance. Then, having blindfolded me, he bade me concentrate all my mental faculties upon my heart. I obeyed, and in an instant, by the divine favor and the spiritual assistance of the Sheikh, my heart was opened. I saw then within me something like a cup, turned upside down; and this object having been turned up again, a feeling of illimitable happiness filled my whole being. I said to the Master, ‘This cell, where I am sitting before you—I see a faithful reproduction of it within me, and it seems as if another Téwekkul Bêg were seated before another Mollâ Shâh.‘ He answered, ‘It is well; the first vision which presents itself to thy view is the figure of the Master.’ * * * He next bade me uncover my eyes, which I did, and I then saw him, by the material organ of vision, seated in front of me. Again he made me bandage them, and I perceived him by my spiritual vision, seated in front of me just the same. Full of wonder I cried out, ‘O my Master, whether I look with my bodily eyes or my spiritual vision, it is always you that I see.’ Meanwhile I saw advance towards me a dazzling figure, and upon my telling the Master of it, he bade me ask the apparition its name. In my spirit I put to it that question, and the figure answered me by the voice of the heart, ‘My name is Abd Alkâdir Glilâny.’ I heard this answer by my spiritual ear. The Master then advised me to pray the Saint to give me his spiritual help and succor. I made this petition; and the apparition said to me, ‘I had already granted to thee my spiritual assistance; hence it is that the knots of thy heart have been loosed.’ Full of deep gratitude, I imposed on myself the obligation of reciting every Friday night the whole Qoran in honor of this great Saint, and for two whole years I never neglected this practice. Mollâ Shâh then said, ‘The spiritual world has been shown to thee in all its beauty: remain there seated, effacing thyself completely in the marvels of this unknown world.’

“I obeyed strictly the directions of my Master, and, day by day, the spiritual world became more and more unveiled before me. The next day I saw the figures of the Prophet and his chief Companions, and legions of Saints and Angels passed before my inner vision. Three months passed in this manner, after which the sphere where all color is effaced opened before me, and then all the figures disappeared. During all this time the Master ceased not to explain to me the doctrine of the union with God and of mystical intuition. But, nevertheless, the Absolute Reality would not show itself to me. It was not until after a year that the knowledge of the Absolute Reality, in its relation with the conception of my own existence came to me. The following verses revealed themselves at that moment to my heart, whence they passed unbidden to my lips:—

‘That this corruptible frame was other than water and dust

I knew not: the powers of the heart and the soul and the body I knew not,

Woe is me! that so much of my life without Thee has for ever fled from me.

Thou wert I; but dark was my heart: I knew not the secret transcendent.’

“I submitted to Mollâ Shâh this poetical inspiration, and he rejoiced that the idea of the union with God was at last manifested to my heart; and addressing his disciples, he said: ‘Tèwekkul Bêg has heard from my mouth the words of the doctrine of the union with God, and he will never betray the mystery. His inner eye is opened; the sphere of color and images is shown to him, and at last the sphere where all color is effaced has been revealed to him. Whoever after having passed through these phases of the union with God, has obtained the Absolute Reality, shall no more be led astray, whether by his own doubts or by those which sceptics may suggest to him.”

(To be continued.)

MUSINGS ON THE TRUE THEOSOPHIST’S PATH.

II.

“Work as those work who are ambitious.—Respect life as those do who desire it.—Be happy as those are who live for happiness.”—Light on the Path.

We are tried in wondrous ways, and in the seemingly unimportant affairs of life, there often lie the most dangerous of the temptations.

Labor, at best, is frequently disagreeable owing either to mental or physical repugnance. When he who seeks the upward path, begins to find it, labor grows more burdensome, while at the time, he is, owing to his physical condition, not so well fitted to struggle with it. This is all true, but there must be no giving in to it. It must be forgotten. He must work, and if he cannot have the sort he desires or deems best suited to him, then must he take and perform that which presents itself. It is that which he most needs. It is not intended either, that he do it to have it done. It is intended that he work as if it was the object of his life, as if his whole heart was in it. Perhaps he may be wise enough to know that there is something else, or that the future holds better gifts for him, still this also must to all intents be forgotten, while he takes up his labor, as if there were no to-morrow.

Remember that life is the outcome of the Ever-Living. If you have come to comprehend a little of the mystery of life, and can value its attractions according to their worth; these are no reasons why you should walk forth with solemn countenance to blight the enjoyments of other men. Life to them is as real, as the mystery is to you. Their time will come as yours has, so hasten it for them, if you can, by making life brighter, more joyous, better.

If it be your time to fast, put on the best raiment you have, and go forth, not as one who fasts, but as one who lives for life.

Do your sighing and crying within you. If you can not receive the small events of life and their meanings without crying them out to all the world, think you that you are fitted to be trusted with the mysteries?

The doing away with one or certain articles of diet, in itself, will not open the sealed portals. If this contained the key, what wise beings must the beasts of the field be, and what a profound Mystic must Nebuchadnezar have been, after he was “turned out to grass!”

There are some adherents of a faith, which has arisen in the land, who deem it wise to cast away all things that are distasteful to them; to cut asunder the ties of marriage because they deem it will interfere with their spiritual development, or because the other pilgrim is not progressed enough. Brothers, there lives not the man who is wise enough to sit as a judge upon the spiritual development of any living being. He is not only unwise but blasphemous who says to another: “Depart! you impede my exalted spiritual development.”

The greatest of all truths lies frequently in plain sight, or veiled in contraries. The impression has gone abroad that the Adept or the Mystic of high degree, has only attained his station by forsaking the association of his fellow creatures or refusing the marriage tie. It is the belief of very wise Teachers that all men who had risen to the highest degrees of Initiation, have at some time passed through the married state. Many men, failing in the trials, have ascribed their failure to being wedded, precisely as that other coward, Adam, after being the first transgressor cried out “It was Eve.”

One of the most exalted of the Divine Mysteries lies hidden here—therefore, Oh Man, it is wise to cherish that which holds so much of God and seek to know its meaning; not by dissolution and cutting asunder, but by binding and strengthening the ties. Our most Ancient Masters knew of this and Paul also speaks of it. (Ephesians v. 32.)

Be patient, kindly and wise, for perhaps in the next moment of life, the light will shine out upon thy companion, and you discover that you are but a blind man, claiming to see. Remember this, that you own not one thing in this world. Your wife is but a gift, your children are but loaned to you. All else you possess is given to you only while you use it wisely. Your body is not yours, for Nature claims it as her property. Do you not think, Oh Man, that it is the height of arrogance for you to sit in judgment upon any other created thing, while you, a beggar, are going about in a borrowed robe?

If misery, want and sorrow are thy portion for a time, be happy that it is not death. If it is death be happy there is no more of life.

You would have wealth, and tell of the good you would do with it. Truly will you lose your way under these conditions. It is quite probable, that you are as rich as you ever will be, therefore, desire to do good with what you have—and do it. If you have nothing, know that it is best and wisest for you. Just so surely as you murmur and complain just so surely will you find that “from him that hath not, shall be taken even that which he hath.” This sounds contradictory, but in reality is in most harmonious agreement. Work in life and the Occult are similar; all is the result of your own effort and will. You are not rash enough to believe that you will be lifted up into Heaven like the Prophet of old—but you really hope some one will come along and give you a good shove toward it.

Know then, Disciples, that you only can lift yourselves by your own efforts. When this is done, you may have the knowledge that you will find many to accompany you on your heretofore lonely journey; but neither they or your Teacher will be permitted to push or pull you one step onward.

This is all a very essential part of your preparation and trial for Initiation.

You look and wait for some great and astounding occurrence, to show you that you are going to be permitted to enter behind the veil; that you are to be Initiated. It will never come. He only who studies all things and learns from them, as he finds them, will be permitted to enter, and for him there are no flashing lightnings or rolling thunder. He who enters the door, does so as gently and imperceptibly, as the tide rises in the night-time.

Live well your life. Seek to realize the meaning of every event. Strive to find the Ever Living and wait for more light. The True Initiate does not fully realize what he is passing through, until his degree is received. If you are striving for light and Initiation, remember this, that your cares will increase, your trials thicken, your family make new demands upon you. He who can understand and pass through these patiently, wisely, placidly—may hope.

AMERICAN MYSTIC.

POETICAL OCCULTISM.

SOME ROUGH STUDIES OF THE OCCULT LEANINGS OF THE POETS.

I.

In the Bagavad-Gita and the Upanishads it is held that:

Ishwara, the Lord of all things, dwells in the heart of every mortal being, and from that place causes the illusions of the world to appear to man as reality.

Light on the Path dwells upon the necessity of understanding your own heart: It tells us to seek for the source of evil there, where it lives, as fruitfully in the heart of the devoted disciple as in that of the man of desire, and that your heart is the profoundest mystery of all the great obscurities.

Longfellow felt this when, in The Beleaguered City, he sang:—

I have read, in the marvelous heart of man,

That strange and mystic scroll,

That an army of phantoms vast and wan

Beleaguer the human soul.

This verse occurs to him in connection with the old story that the City of Prague was once beleaguered by a vast phantom army, which camped down on the opposite bank of the river, and he likens the human heart to Prague. Here, in the city dwells Ishwara, who, while thus imprisoned, is beleaguered by the vast army—the phantoms of all the acts and thoughts of the person in this and other lives. Occultism declares with the poet, that the heart is a mystic scroll; it is a veritable field also, in which are sown many seeds that may lie unnoticed, not only during one life, but often for many many incarnations, but sure to blossom forth one day under favoring circumstances. And as they begin to grow, they evoke the phantoms of the deeds that sowed them, and those ghostly hosts sweep round the soul in its prison house.

In Resignation, Longfellow wrote: “There is no death! What seems so is transition.”

This is one of the propositions of Occultism. The poet was writing upon the death of the physical body of a girl much beloved, and was considering the change which in common life is known as “death.” But the followers of the Wisdom Religion know that this terrible change is not really death, is not in any sense the moment of decease of even the physical man. The visible being is a congeries of energies or elements which are by no means all dead when the person breathes his last, nor when the body is consigned to the grave. It is only the transition, as Longfellow says, of the informing spirit, to another sphere of action.

The same view is taken in the Atharva Veda, where it says, “Everything is transformed. Life and death are only modes of transformation, which rule the vital molecule from plant up to Brahma himself.”

The occult philosophy considers as death, only that process, and period, of separation between all the various elements of one’s lower human and animal nature; so that, in the case of suicides and other sudden and premature deaths, what occultists know as “death,” extends over a long period of time. The moment called death by the world, is only the time of separation between the body and the life principle, which the Hindus call jiva; this is the moment when the transition begins.

Goethe was a profound student of occultism. Its influence is to be traced throughout his works, and a leading motive in many of his dramas is the dominance over the lives of men of that power which we call Karma. His masterpiece, Faust, upon which a library of commentaries has been written, can only be truly read in the light of Occultism. Faust comes to an end with the following “Mystic Chorus” sung by the assembled Hosts of Heaven:

All that’s impermanent

Is but a likeness.

The Unattainable

Here findeth witness;

The Indescribable,

Here is it done;

The Ever-womanly

Leadeth us on.

A wealth of occult meaning is packed into these eight closing lines of the grand drama, which is designed to depict the course of the soul from Heaven, through earth, back to Heaven. All that is impermanent, or of the earth, belonging to the realm of matter, is but a likeness, or symbol, designed for the instruction of man, who must learn to read the lesson if he is to progress. The Unattainable in the desires of those on and of the earth finds witness, or comes to pass, in the realization of all aspirations in the life beyond. The indescribable is done there, because man in the flesh has no senses adequate to comprehend those things pertaining to a higher plane of existence. The Ever-womanly is that which makes progress of the soul possible—the feminine principle which attracts the masculine, or pure spirit, to its opposite pole and thereby causes it to manifest itself. It is by these successive manifestations that the individual is carried forward, enriched by the experience which only thus, through the attraction of the Ever-womanly, or eternal feminine principle, is attained. So the Ever-womanly, or that whereby God the spirit is made manifest in matter, is the means to lead the soul of man on its course through the grandest possibilities of the Universe to the most exalted heights of the Indescribable.

Wordsworth, in his Ode on Immortality, says:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The soul that rises with us, our life’s star,

Had had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar.

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory, do we come

From God, who is our home.

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!

Shades of the prison-house begin to close

Upon the growing boy;

But he beholds the light, and whence it flows—

He sees it in his joy.

The youth, who daily farther from the east

Must travel, still is nature’s priest.

And by the vision splendid

Is on his way attended;

At length the man perceives it die away,

And fade into the light of common day.

It is very clear here that Wordsworth is setting down the theory of “Reincarnation.” For he says the soul had elsewhere its setting; in order to set elsewhere, it must have had elsewhere an existence. He also refers, quite as curiously as do Whitman and Whittier, to a coming from the east, as if he had memories of a previous life in some oriental land where such ideas prevailed.

Shelley in Prometheus Unbound, sings:

Man, O not men! a chain of linked thought,

Of love and might to be divided not,

Compelling the elements with adamantine stress;

As the sun rules, even with a tyrant’s gaze,

The unquiet republic of the maze

Of Planets, struggling fierce towards heaven’s free wilderness.

Man, one harmonious soul of many a soul,

Whose nature is its own divine control,

Where all things flow to all, as rivers to the sea;

Familiar acts are beautiful through love;

Labor and pain and grief, in life’s green grove,

Sport like tame beasts,—none knew how gentle they could be!

In the foregoing verses, the doctrine of Brotherhood is enunciated. Shelly refers to humanity as one, composed of its many units,—the one-life running through all; and also, in the first two lines, to the fact admitted by occultism, but sneered at by science, and dogmatic theology, that this “chain of linked thought,” compels the elements, and actually affects the course and destiny of the world. That is, that the Karma of the physical world, indissolubly bound up in that of the individuals upon it, is moulded and concentrated by the force of men’s thoughts and lives. To carry this out in one direction, we say that esoteric theosophy teaches that the inclination of the earth’s axis is made greater or less by the influence of the wickedness or goodness of the people upon the earth, thus bringing down what the people call evils, such as glacial disturbances, cyclones, earthquakes and other vicissitudes of earthly life. However fanciful this theory may appear, it remains for us quite true; and as the scientific world has no reason to give for the inclination of the axis, or for the precession of the equinoxes, we are entitled to hold an opinion where they have none. For the devout Christian this theory ought to have merits, if he chooses to remember that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their wickedness. They grew so horribly bad that fire was brought upon them either from heaven or beneath. If it ever happened, it must have been a cyclic disturbance. Science pooh-poohs it. Did it take place, then it was the culminating point for the dynamic power of the evil deeds and thoughts of the inhabitants.

In many places in the Christian bible, reference is made to the crying out to the Lord of the blood of the slain. Now as blood has no power to cry out, we must try in some way to make sense of these expressions, and the only way is by giving to the thoughts which produce deeds of violence, a dynamic power. It would then be easy to attribute to the blood the ability to cry out for justice, instead of saying that the deeds of blood require compensation.

But when blood is shed, elemental spirits pour in to the spot, drawn there by the emanations arising from it, and they become important factors in this supposed “calling out of the blood from the ground.” Being strengthened by the human exhalations, they are a new force composed not only of the thoughts of the murdered, but also of the despair, hate and revenge of the slain. Science of course of this knows nothing, and cares less. She cannot tell how long this new force, thus compounded of elementals, blood, and the thought of slayer and his victim, will last. But the God of the Christians knew all about this. In Genesis, Ch. iv, Verse 10, He says to Cain:

“What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand.”

The blood furnishes the occasion, the thoughts of each give it force, and the elementals give it a voice to call on God.

S. B. J.

THE CORNER STONE.

Tradition relates that in the building of King Solomon’s temple there was a stone of such peculiar shape that the workmen could find no place for it, though it was regularly cut and with great care, and contained the sign of the Master. When the temple was near completion a place was found for the stone which the builders had through ignorance rejected. It was the Keystone of the Royal Arch.

Those who have opened the halls of learning to this generation have given a foundation stone, and repeatedly declared that no other foundation can endure, that the floods of time and the storms of passion will surely sweep with the besom of destruction every superstructure not founded on this rock. And yet there are those who wear the garb of fellow-crafts, and claim the wages of workmen, who not only reject this stone but ridicule it, and laugh it to scorn. The result is manifest in the confusion of the workmen, and it will presently become manifest that those who thus reject the corner-stone of Theosophy are brothers of the shadow literally, rather than Sons of Light; they will find no designs on the tracing-board, and they will be accused of murdering the “widow’s son.”

The time for wages will surely come, and even they who have come in at the ninth hour and labored faithfully in the vineyard will receive due wages.

The corner stone of Theosophy is distinctly stated to be Universal Brotherhood. A firm belief in this principle is required of every candidate for membership in the Theosophical Society. This is the sole requirement for affiliation, it is made plain, and no one can plead ignorance of this one requirement. To claim fellowship in the society, and ignore or repudiate its cardinal doctrine is not only the most pronounced hypocrisy, but works in every way to the injury of the individual and the society. Those therefore who are not ashamed to repudiate this cardinal principle ought in all fairness to retire from the society, and direct their energies into more congenial channels.

But aside from explicit repudiation of this principle of Brotherhood there is too often a tacit disregard of its requirements. It has been charged against the Society, that in the enunciation of this simple doctrine, they have announced nothing new, and it may at once be answered that it is not claimed as a novelty, but an actuality. And yet it is too often the case, that the application of this principle of universal brotherhood reaches no further than to the admission to membership in the T. S. of persons of either sex, and of every creed, color, and nationality, while in the relations of members and the necessary work of the society, the principle of brotherhood is too often practically ignored. It may therefore be profitable to inquire into the reasons assigned by the Masters for giving out to the world at this time their priceless treasures, and the purpose for which the Theosophical Society was instituted, though these purposes have been time and again stated, in plain English, and are printed in the rules and by-laws of the society, as well as in every application for membership. The misinterpretation of these plain declarations leads to constant disappointment, and hinders the legitimate work of the Society.

We have been repeatedly told that the Masters are no respecters of persons. They have on every occasion persistently and consistently refused to teach occultism to individuals. They have stated over and over again the terms on which anyone can gain their notice, or hope to advance in spiritual knowledge or power, viz: by working unselfishly and unceasingly for the advancement of the Brotherhood of man. This is the plan on which the masters work. Whatsoever they have given out has been designed for the elevation and well-being of the whole human race.

They have chosen such agents or assistants as were available for the promulgation of their doctrines, and they have distinctly stated, that not for this generation alone, but more especially for the coming Yuga, do they labor, like wise husbandmen, sowing now the seed for future harvests.

The meaning of Universal Brotherhood, and the mission of the Theosophical Society become thus perfectly plain, and we can misinterpret only at our peril. The masters have said, work with us, and become a part of us, and share with us.

Creeds and sects are innately selfish, dividing mankind into selfish circles of conceited and selfish men. Creeds are crumbling; replace them with universal benevolence, toleration, charity, justice—in one word, BROTHERHOOD. He, therefore, who repudiates brotherhood, denies all. He who forgets charity, kindness, forbearance, forgiveness, has no right to call himself a Theosophist. We should have charity for everything but for uncharitableness. Let those who will in the face of all this, strive for occult power. Let them in spite of constant warning force, if they can, themselves into the astral plane, to be driven back in ever lasting terror by the “Demon of the Threshold,” or end their days in an Asylum for the Insane, but let them look for no assistance or protection from the Masters.

Pure and undefiled Theosophy leads man only to higher planes of thought and life. It puts him in possession of the true philosopher’s stone, by enabling him to convert the energies of life, into higher uses, for the welfare and elevation of his race. It teaches him neglect of no common duty or obligation, and it nowhere holds out the inducement that a Mahatma can be evolved by some secret hocus-pocus out of a mountebank. The mountebanks will presently denounce Mahatmas and repudiate theosophy, but they will prove as powerless to stay the tide of truth as to achieve mahatmahood. They may deceive the foolish and unwary, and console themselves with the company of Coloumb, Hodgson & Co., but those who have accepted in deed and in truth the simple doctrine of universal brotherhood with all that it implies, will possess their souls in patience and perfect trust, for they have heard the music of BATH COL.

J. D. BUCK.

THE SOCIETY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS.

A ROUGH SKETCH OF THEIR FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES.

(Communicated.)

The following are in outline the fundamental doctrines of the Brothers of the Rosy Cross. He who fulfills the required conditions, may find all necessary information in the “Book of Initiation,” and they say that when he is ready he finds with ease, a guide who, through his higher self instructs and directs him infallibly.

It is understood that the Society desires to be truly spiritual and asks no fees, but it seeks as members only those who are practical workers in the cause of humanity. But it is a secret body, not from fear of enemies, but in order to spread the truth, unimpeded by the war of opinions. The truth being eternal, is not subject to opinion, but to those who are able to see, it stands revealed in its own light.

1. The Universe as a whole is a Unity, having only one, eternal, universal and fundamental cause for its existence. All the multifarious forms, essences, powers or principles, are not originally self-existent, but are merely various manifestations of that one and universal cause. They are various modes of one original activity, and their shapes or organisms are the products of that activity, working upon different planes of existence and in various stages of evolution.

2. This cause, being eternal, unlimited and infinite, is beyond the power of the intellectual comprehension of any mortal and limited being. Its presence may be perceived everywhere, but in its highest aspect it can fully be known only to itself. Beings lower than itself, may intuitively feel its presence, but cannot intellectually know it, until they have risen up to its own level on the plane of existence. To avoid circumlocution, we call that eternal (spiritual) principle in its highest aspect “God” or “Brahm”; both words signifying originally “Good.”[123]

3. In this eternal and universal cause, the centre or fountain of All, is contained potentially everything existing in the Universe. It is itself, germinally or in a more or less developed state contained in everything that exists. It forms the (spiritual) centre of every living organism, and life itself is only a mode of manifestation of its own power. It is the cause and the architect of every form; it builds the form which it inhabits, from that centre, by the power of its own (consciously or unconsciously active) will and thought, and by the means offered by eternal nature, the latter being itself a product of previous states of its own existence and eternal action.

4. The highest form of activity of this principle requires for its perfect expression, perfect means. The perfect cannot manifest its perfection in an imperfect organism. The place which a being occupies on the ladder of evolution, depends on the progress which that divine principle, acting in the centre of each being, has made in evolving an organism, adapted to its manifestation.

5. The most perfect organism for the manifestation of the divine and universal principle in its highest aspect, of which we know, is the (spiritual) organism of Man. In this organism, this divine principle, after having attained sensation and consciousness in the lower forms of nature, may acquire (spiritual) self-consciousness and self-knowledge, evolving what is called the individual mind, with all its powers and faculties, for (spiritual) perception and real knowledge or wisdom.

6. The (ordinarily) visible so called physical-body of man is not the real Man, but merely a more or less imperfect representation of the real, or “inner man,” whose sphere of activity may extend as far as the sphere of his mind; in other words—as far as the power of his (spiritual) perception. The “inner man” is a reality, which after having attained—by the power of self differentiation—an individual existence, will retain its individuality, after the physical forms, which it has occupied for the purposes of evolution during its life upon a planet, have been disintegrated and changed into other forms.

7. Every being continues to exist in its essence after the (physical) form which expressed its essential character, has dissolved and disappeared; but as long as it has not acquired (spiritual) self-consciousness and self-knowledge, it is forced, after a time of rest, to reappear in a new form (mask or personality), to resume the process of its further development.[124] After the divine principle in man has attained individual (spiritual) self-consciousness and self-knowledge, it requires no more embodiments in (physical) forms, and may, harmoniously united with the All, continue to exist as a self-conscious intelligence.

8. The attainment of spiritual self-consciousness and self-knowledge and the necessarily resulting perfection, therefore involves the attainment of immortality, and the latter can only be acquired by acquiring the former. Only that which is perfect remains; the imperfect is continually subject to change.

9. Although the individual human monad, without (spiritual) self-consciousness and knowledge, may arrive at that state of perfection in the slow course of its evolution, extending perhaps over many millions of years, nevertheless there is no necessity to wait until nature may, perhaps slowly and unaided, accomplish her object, but she may be assisted by the individual will and effort of those who know how to proceed.

10. The first necessary requirement for all who desire perfection, is therefore to know the laws that rule in the visible and invisible universe, and the attainment of the knowledge involves a study of the constitution of the Universe and of the constitution of (the soul of) Man.

11. From knowledge springs power, but those who possess knowledge, will be in the possession of something that will not benefit them, unless they desire to put it to some practical use. The second requirement is therefore to will, and as an individual will, deviating from the direction of the will of universal good, or acting in opposition to the latter, is evil, and can only bring final destruction upon him that exercises it, consequently the will of the individual must act in accordance with the universal will of God.

12. To act evil is for the majority of men far easier than to do good. Good will and desires to become useful must be made to accomplish some work. To overcome the resistance of evil and to put good into practice requires energy, courage and effort, and the third necessary requirement is therefore to dare to practice the good which we know and desire.

13. But as a power, after it has once been obtained, may be employed for good or for evil purposes, and as it is not desirable that persons with evil inclinations and tendencies, should be taught the way to prolong their personal existence after the dissolution of their physical form, because their existence would cause the infliction of injury upon others, and expose themselves to a long, slow and painful final disintegration; therefore, the deepest secrets of the Rosicrucians, and the way to the practical application of the secret knowledge, should be taught only to those who are good and pure to a degree sufficient to warrant that the mysteries communicated and revealed to them, may not be misapplied. The fourth necessary requirement for the Rosicrucian is, therefore, to be silent, in regard to that which it is not expedient to speak.

HINDU SYMBOLISM.

I.

The student of Hindu metaphysical religious philosophy, will find most of its important formulations, veiled under a mystical symbolism; to understand which, is a key to the hints in the Upanishads and other esoteric writings.

We propose to give those interested, a series of illustrations from Hindu drawings with descriptions; in the latter, our study of the Kabbalah has been of great assistance.

The figure is a symbolical representation of Brahman (neuter) intwined in Itself.[125] It is the highest deity of the Hindus, the principle of the universe; the representation is, of It, at the immediate instant of Its revealing Itself in the emanation of the universe, and before Its entrance into any kind of matter and before Its self renunciation. It symbolises the God-dawn between the pauses of emanative creation, its preservation, and the dissolution of created forms. Wrapped in Its cloak-sphere, Brahman conducts Its toe into Its mouth, perhaps to make, an eternal circle of Itself, perhaps to signify the union of the linga and yoni, perhaps to indicate the retrogression of Itself into Itself, or may be the eternity and unfathomableness of Its nature, plunged in the contemplation of Its own essence. Compare with this the great figure of Néith or Typhé, the Heaven goddess of the Egyptian Zodiac of Dendera. Brahman (neuter) or Para-brahma, i. e., the Great Brahma, as an unrevealed deity, has neither temple or image in India. It is in effect considered in Itself without form or figure, but exteriorly It manifests Itself in many figures and symbols. It is the unit and the multiplied in all, at the same instant, smaller than an atom, it is greater than the whole universe, which cannot contain It, and is ineffable and inexpressible in Its essence. The ancient Hindus say of it in the Vedas:—“Brahman is eternal, the being above all others, revealing Itself in felicity and joy. The universe is Its name, Its image, but that first existence, which contains all in Itself, is the soul really existing. All the phenomena have their cause in Brahman, It is not limited by time or space, is imperishable, is the soul of the world and of each particular existence.” * * * “That universe is Brahman, it comes from Brahman, exists in Brahman, and it will return to Brahman.”

“Brahman, the Being existing in Itself, is the form of all wisdom and of all the worlds without end. All the worlds are made only one with It, because they are through Its Will. That eternal Will is innate in all things. It reveals Itself in the emanation (or creation), in the preservation, and in the destruction (which is also a re-creation), and in the movements and forms, of Time and Space.” The Atharva-Veda says:—“All the gods are in (Brahman) as cows in a cow-house. In the beginning Brahman was this (universe). It created gods. Having created gods, It placed them in these worlds, viz: Agni in this world, Vāyu in the atmosphere, and Surya in the sky.[126] And in the worlds which are yet higher, It placed the gods which are still higher. Then Brahman proceeded to the higher sphere.” This is explained by a commentator to be Satyaloka,[127] the most excellent limit of all the worlds. In the “Taitteriya Brāhmana” it is; “Brahman generated the gods, Brahman (generated or emanated) this entire world. Within It are all these worlds. Within It is the entire universe. It is Brahman who is the greatest of beings. Who can vie with It.” Brahman (neuter) is the only real eternal true essence; when It passes in to actual manifested existence It is called Brahma; when It develops Itself in the universe It is called Vishnu, and when It again dissolves Itself into simple being, It is called Siva; all the other deities are only symbols or manifestations of the eternal neuter Brahman.[128]

The Vishnu Purana says: “Glory to Brahman, who is addressed by that mystic word AUM,[129] who is associated eternally with the triple universe (heaven, sky, earth), and who is one with the four Vedas. Glory to Brahman, who both in the destruction and renovation of the universe is called the great and mysterious cause of the intellectual principle, who is without limit in time or space, and exempt from diminution and decay, etc. To that supreme Brahman be for ever adoration.”

In its highest development, the doctrine of the Vedas is a rational and philosophical pantheism, combined with the most ideal, pure, and absolute monotheism, that the mind can conceive. The doctrines as to Brahman (neuter) in their higher conceptions, are similar in many respects to the exalted ideas as to the Ain Soph or Non Ego, of the Kabbalah.

Brahman, the Eternal, in Itself, Being, goes out of Its profundity in Its eternity, to emanate the universe of all the things, and undeniably establishes that great law of production, through the opposition and yet a harmonious blending, as to which, all nature offers everywhere a similitude, evidence, and image. Its first emanation is the creating energy, force or potentiality, which manifests Itself in Time, the mother and the matrix of the existences, that is the Sakti, Para Sakti or Maya, the first virgin and first female or plasticity, containing all in germ, symbolized by the Yoni. Its spouse, the spiritualizing, the man-type, is symbolized by the Lingam.

ISAAC MEYER.

LITERARY NOTES.

BETTY’S VISIONS.—By Rhoda Broughton. (Geo. Routledge & Sons, London.) The prominence which occultism is acquiring, despite the attacks of so called scientific bodies and the constant sneers of savants and their parrot-like followers, is shown in the fact that such a book as this is published by a firm like Routledge and written by Rhoda Broughton. It is one of the one and sixpenny English books, in cloth. The visions are five—through a long life—each preceding a death in the family.

ESOTERIC CHRISTIANITY, OR MENTAL THERAPEUTICS.—By Dr. W. F. Evans. (Carter & Karrick, Boston.) Extra cloth, $1.00. This is designed to complete a series of books on the subject of the Mind Cure, commenced some fifteen years ago. It contains twelve lectures intended to instruct in the philosophy of the subject. “To aid the student of Christian Theosophy to explore the inner realm of truth into which his spirit opens is the object of this volume,” and he believes that the principles are “identical with the philosophy of the New Testament and with primitive Christianity.” The book is well written, and is full of excellent arguments, but it covers so much ground that it would be impossible to properly review it in the limits allowable here.

We must disagree with him, however, in his statement: “That this system must ever be kept within the domain of a genuine Christianity,” to be successful. It is well known that hundreds of persons are practising mind cure, are helping many people, and none of these either believe in or talk of Christianity, genuine or otherwise. If mind cure have a real basis, no monopoly of it can be had by either Christian or dissenter.

BUDDHIST DIET BOOK.—A New York publishing house announces this book, prepared by Laura C. Holloway. It is a compilation of dishes used by Buddhists in Europe and the East, interspersed with explanations of the religious convictions of this great Sect regarding foods. The work will be of value to vegetarians—of whom there are many in this country. Mrs. Holloway writes with authority on this subject, having enjoyed in Europe and Prussia the advantages of an unmixed vegetarian diet in the homes of those who eat no meat. The book is a quaint brown-and-white conceit in parchment covers. Price 50 cents. Theosophists who desire to have this vegetarian cook book, can order it through THE PATH.

CAN MATTER THINK.—This number of Prof. Coues’ Biogen Series was noticed in the July PATH, and through a mistaken assumption of the proof reader it was stated that it was a reprint of an article which previously appeared in The Theosophist. Prof. Coues assures us that “Can Matter Think,” is a thoroughly original composition and has never been within 10,000 miles of India. The proof reader was thinking of the reprint of an English book under the title “Kuthumi,” in the same series, and also of the fact that the same subject was treated of in The Theosophist some years ago. We hasten, therefore, to correct the statement made in July.

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

JOSHEE.—Bro. Gopal Vinayak Joshee and his wife Anandabai, who graduated in Medicine at Philadelphia, return to India in October.

RAMABAI.—Pandita Ramabai, who has been some time in America, accompanies Bro. Joshee and his wife to India.

PHILADELPHIA.—The charter for a new Branch here has been received and probably soon the organization will be complete.

SECRECY IN THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.—The question is frequently asked: “Is the Society a secret body; and how can a person enter it?” The reply can be found in the proceedings of the general Council last year, when it was resolved, that from thenceforth any person of good moral character, upon being recommended by two active members, and paying the usual fee, could become a member upon signing the application in which the declaration is made that the signer is in sympathy with the objects of the Society.

The old obligation is retained merely for those Branches desiring to use it in giving the signs and passwords of the Society, which are the only points about which the new member is pledged to secrecy, it being left to his own discretion and sense of propriety, not to make public matters which do not concern the public. For that matter, however, there is nothing in the teachings or practices of the lower section of the Society requiring secrecy.

NEW YORK.—The New York Branch has issued its third number of the Abridgements of Discussions on Theosophical subjects. The object of these leaflets is to increase interest among all Theosophists, and to strengthen the feeling of union. Col. H. S. Olcott, the President in India, has written to say, that he thinks the idea of the Abridgements is excellent. All Branches ought to co-operate in this movement, either by contributing questions and answers to New York, or by starting leaflets of their own and exchanging and distributing them.

CINCINNATI.—The Branch here has held its first fall meeting, and has arranged for a series of essays of an interesting character, and also for meetings, to which strangers are to be invited by members.

OLCOTT.—It may be interesting to Theosophists to know that a statue was offered to Col. Olcott in Ceylon some months ago, but was refused by him on the ground that his work was not yet done, and no one could say whether he would deserve a statue until his death.

There is a limit beyond which the sun, moon and the planets cannot rise, and when they reach their point of climax, they come down again. But the souls that have attained to perfection never come down again.—Jain Precept.

OM!

Sri Krishna is the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings; his unthinkable glory irradiates all that is manifest and all that is unmanifest. This infinite universe, its life and its beauty, and its joy, rest but on his foot, from which flows the sacred stream of the Ganges, whose mortal aspect alone is known on this earth. Krishna reveals his infinity of attributes to his beloved worshipper, and yet he is devoid of attributes.

It is the crown of devotion to have these mysteries revealed to the inner gaze. May all his lovers reach that goal.—Vaishnara Scriptures.

Inquire about him by prostration, by question, and by service, and the wise men who know the truth, will give you the knowledge.—Bagavad-Gita.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         NOVEMBER, 1886.                         NO. 8.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

THE COMMON SENSE OF THEOSOPHY.

[REPRINTED FROM THE Dublin University Review, MAY, 1886, BY PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.]

It is difficult to break down the Chinese wall of misconceptions with which all new movements of thought become more or less completely surrounded. The assimilation by the public mind of ideas which lie outside its mechanically-regulated every-day life is a slow process, which the vigour of the constitution does not justify. For all movements, which possess any vitality at all, always provoke to an unusual degree of activity the imaginative faculties of their opponents. More or less fantastic caricatures of the aims and methods of a struggling movement are generated by an unconscious process of invention, fathered upon the movement, and then knocked down with solemn pomposity. At the end of the achievement, when the invader of orthodox indolence and respectable indifference is found to gain ground in the midst of the dust-storm of misrepresentations, a wondering sneer is directed against personalities who have not had the decency and good sense to die at the command of their antagonists. The Theosophical movement has proved no exception to this general rule. Oppositions against it are generally but attempts to remove this disturber of established ease by finding some excuse for ignoring its existence. False issues are raised in every direction, and a candid examination of the truths that Theosophy embodies is evaded in the confusion. It is a profitless task to hunt the brood of Error which, like the giants of Norse folk-lore, sally forth at night to slay and devour, but melt into thin air when surprised by a ray of sunlight. Kicking at nothing is an exhausting process. Unmindful of this, many, in the words of the author of Religio Medici, have “rashly charged the troops of Error, and remained as trophies unto the enemies.” It is therefore proposed to set forth a “plain, unvarnished” statement of what Theosophy really is, and of the work in which the Theosophical Society is engaged, and leave the decision to the common sense of the reader. The transcendental metaphysics of Theosophy will be but slightly touched upon here. For fuller information the inquirer is referred to sources indicated by the publications of the Theosophical Society and the writings of the Theosophists of the day.

What, then, is Theosophy? Numberless are the misconceptions to which the word has given rise. Etymology does not throw any great light on it. The interpretation of “God-wisdom” can be spread over a very large area. Without following the history of the word, it may be stated that the chief exponents of the present revival of Theosophy take it to mean Wisdom-religion. Their interpretation, while open to no great philological objection, is sufficiently precise for all literary purposes. Theosophy from this standpoint is synonymous with Truth—the Truth that has been clothed in various garbs of religion; it also implies that this Truth is attainable by a natural development of wisdom, without the intervention of supernatural means. Thus it will be seen that Theosophy does not attach infallibility to any particular system of revelation, but maintains that under suitable conditions Truth reveals itself to every individual. The sun shines equally on all; the crystal reflects it; the clod of earth does not. Yet Theosophy sets great value on all systems of revelation, looking upon them as finger-posts which indicate the direction in which Truth is to be sought, although it declines to accept them as invitations to surrender personal inquiry. This tenet of Theosophy is founded upon the consideration that Truth is the result of real experience, and does not consist in the transfer of intellectual symbols from one person to another. To speak about Truth is one thing, and to perceive it is quite another. It is a fact of common experience that the most accurate and elaborate description of, say, a flower is by no means an efficient substitute for a visual contact with it, although the description has an abundant value of its own. Hence individual consciousness is consistently upheld as the only criterion of Truth, but this consciousness derives material help in its development and expansion by the study of the experiences of others. Thus Theosophy teaches that personal exertion is the only means by which progress can be achieved. But in the effort for growth the ultimate unity of consciousness must not be ignored. Individuals are not distinct crystals, placed side by side, but the varied manifestations of one unchanging universal consciousness. As light from one single source produces the appearance of different lights by reflection from a number of surfaces, so this universal consciousness, remaining itself unchanged, produces endless individualities, which in the course of their evolution reach perfection by recognising this essential unity. According to Theosophical thinkers this doctrine forms the fundamental truth upon which all religions are based; it is the final consummation of all philosophical thought and the crowning experience of all practical mysticism.

The search for this truth, and the practical realization of it are not considered as mere gratification of intellectual curiosity, but as the very summum bonum of evolutionary progress. It is the Nirvâna of the Buddhists, the Moksha of the Brahmins, and not very different from the Beatific Vision of the Christians. When this condition, or rather want of condition, is realized in consciousness, pain is for ever extinguished. Nirvâna is by no means the annihilation of consciousness, but its rest in the infinite plenitude of being. Needless to discuss the Nihilist view of Buddhism which some scholars of ability have brought forward; suffice it to say, that the Theosophists on this point share the responsibility of their opinion with many names of great eminence. Nirvâna is the extinction of all pain because, being the ultimate unity of all being, it cannot be the playground of those contending forces which alone produce pain.

Proceeding upon this basis, the essential features of Theosophy can be thrown into relief by determining its relations to Religion and Science. As the Science of Religion, it looks upon the different systems of faith as so many languages seeking to express the truth about man, his origin, nature, and destiny, as well as his relations to the surrounding world of objects. But, as a word or phrase is nothing but a sound in the absence of experience of the object connoted, so the proper comprehension of religious symbology can be acquired only by realizing the truths that underlie it. From the Theosophic standpoint the different systems of religion appear as the various forms evolved by the peculiarities of time, place, and other special causes, to embody the bodiless truth.

It is necessary to guard against a misconception which may arise here. Theosophy is not eclecticism, which is a mosaic, while Wisdom-Religion is an organic whole. Theosophy is like an abstract mathematical formula of which each religion is a particular application. It does not select bits from all religions and piece them together according to some fanciful standard of symmetry. But being the inner truth itself, Theosophy regards religions as various descriptions of that truth. It will no more recognise antagonism between religions than the linguist will condemn the description of the same thing in different languages because of peculiarities of idiom and grammar. Theosophy is not hostile to any religion, but is bound, in the interest of truth, to oppose the tyranny of ecclesiastical forms on individuals. Humanity, in the course of its evolution, produces individuals who outstrip the generality in the realization of truth, and are thus enabled to perceive the capabilities of the truth to be manifested within a certain period of time. To help the masses struggling blindly for the light of truth, these teachers of mankind construct a symbology of words and emblems to represent the truth. But, as acquisition of wisdom is a change in the quality of the consciousness of the acquirer, and not merely a surface expansion of it, the symbology, though eminently useful, is not in itself spiritual knowledge, and can never be converted into it except when “inwardly digested.” The physical process of digestion supplies a striking analogy in this matter. Food, assimilated by different organisms, follows their original differences. Spiritual food, on assimilation, partakes of the peculiarities of the individual, and two individuals cannot be exactly identical, whether physically or otherwise. A contrary supposition would violate the lex parsimoniæ in nature. Consequently, Theosophy is the uncompromising supporter of the freedom of individual conscience. On the other hand, it condemns a selfish desire for self-development as wrong, on account of its violation of the essential unity of being. One of the greatest Theosophists of the world, Gautama Buddha, declared, “Let the sins of the Kali Yuga[130] fall upon me, and let the world be redeemed.” This noble saying found an echo in the Christian Apostle, who would be anathema from Christ if he could save the world thereby.

Nor has Theosophy any antagonism to the scientific spirit. Claiming to be the religion of Truth, it must show itself to be the most exact of all exact sciences. According to it truth cannot be dissociated from real experience; the mere intellectual form of it can never be the truth any more than the word man can be the human being. It opposes the dogmatisms of science which deny independent reality to facts of mental experience because of their eminently unscientific character. If there be no operation of thought matter itself will disappear. The contrary of this—existence of matter without relation to a conscious knower—has never been experienced. Therefore matter and consciousness are both eternal or neither. Further, it rejects the mechanical theory of the universe on account of its unreasonableness. If consciousness is derivable from unconsciousness, a fundamental law of reason becomes stultified. Unconsciousness is the negation of consciousness, and therefore an affirmation of the absence of all relations to consciousness is its essential property. How, then, can it be related to consciousness so as to produce it? If the atoms themselves are considered conscious the difficulty is not removed. For consciousness must be associated with the notion of I, and if this egoism is to be postulated for each atom it is inexplicable how a man, composed of myriads of atoms, possesses yet a single indivisible notion of I. It is clear therefore that there is in nature a principle of consciousness whose units are not atoms but individualities, and as the principle is eternal its units must also be so. For the ocean cannot be salt unless the quality of saltness inhered in every one of its drops. Theosophy for these, among other reasons, holds against materialism that the individuality in man is immortal. In this, however, it does not maintain that the present body, emotion or thought of a man will as such abide for ever, but that the unit of consciousness which is now manifested as the man, will never undergo any change in essence. For change, independent of consciousness, is unthinkable. It is in fact the unchangeableness of consciousness that by comparison renders the conception of change a reality. In ordinary language no doubt such phrases as the “growth and development of consciousness” are in use, but strictly speaking it is the basis in which the consciousness inheres that changes, the phrases in question being of the same character as those which ascribe motion to the sun in relation to the earth. Moreover, if one unit of consciousness were to change in essence, that is, become annihilated, the same liability must attach to all other units, and we shall be driven to hold that the principle of consciousness in nature is destructible, while matter which cannot exist in its absence is indestructible. From the indestructibility of individual consciousness, and its relations to matter, two important deductions follow. First, that this relation, which is perpetually changing, changes according to a definite law. The products of the change are bound each to each in a definite way. What is now is not wholly unrelated to what was before. This is a matter of experience, and in fact experience is based upon it. Without the law of causation experience would be impossible, on whatever plane we take experience—mental or physical. Thus by the application of the law of causation to our being, it follows that the experience of pleasure and pain in the present must be the necessary consequence of causes generated in the past. A contention may here be raised that it is a fact of experience that many sufferings and enjoyments come to us of which we are not conscious of having generated the causes. But it is without any real force. What connection is there between our consciousness of a cause and its power to produce effect? If we receive in the system malarious germs, the disease is not prevented because we were unconscious of the reception. Whatever you sow the same you reap, whether you are conscious of the sowing or not. The law of causation, thus applied to personal experience of suffering and enjoyment, is called by the Brahmins and Buddhists the Law of Karma.

The second deduction hinges on to the first and forms with it a harmonious whole. If the individual consciousness is immortal, and its experiences are governed by the Law of Karma, then it follows that so long as all causes, capable of producing effects on the present plane of life, are not exhausted, and the generation of similar causes is not stopped, the individual consciousness will remain connected with the experience of earthly existence. Thus the ego successively incarnates itself on this earth until it has collected all experiences that life on this planet can offer. The doctrine of reincarnation is taught by all religions of the world, Christianity not excepted. In the Gospel of St Matthew it is declared in no uncertain tone that John the Baptist was the incarnation of Elias (chap. xvii. 12, 13). It is not intended fully to discuss the scientific and metaphysical bases of the doctrine of reincarnation, as the subject has been adequately dealt with in a recent Theosophical publication.[131] But it will not be out of place to consider the ethical objection which is so frequently brought forward against the doctrine. Is it just that a person should experience pleasure or pain for acts done in a previous life of which no recollection is preserved? The argument thus implied is based upon the confusion of the two different meanings of the word justice as applied to the regulation of human affairs, and to the operation of natural laws. Human beings are admittedly imperfect in knowledge, and it is required for the well-being of society that all its members should feel confident that they are not liable to arbitrary punishment. For this reason it is necessary that before inflicting punishment the grounds for it should be disclosed. But justice, as affecting the operation of natural laws, is a totally different thing. The workings of nature being invariably governed by the law of Causation are not amenable to conditions which depend upon admitted inability to apply that law without failure. The moral amelioration, which it is fancied that a knowledge of the precise cause of our sufferings would produce, is more than compensated for by the numberless incentives to good, which gratitude and other similar motives supply.

The teachings of Theosophy from the standpoint of common sense can be briefly summed up thus:—

1. That there is a principle of consciousness in man which is immortal.

2. That this principle is manifested in successive incarnations on earth.

3. That the experiences of the different incarnations are strictly governed by the law of causation.

4. That as each individual man is the result of a distinct causal necessity in nature, it is not wise for one man to dominate the life and action of another, no matter what their relative development may be. On the other hand it is of paramount importance that each individual should ceaselessly work for the attainment of the highest ideal that he is capable of conceiving. Otherwise, pain will arise from the opposition of the real and the ideal. Be as perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.

5. That for the above reasons it is wise and just to practise the most ungrudging toleration towards all our fellow-creatures.

6. That as absolute unity of all nature subsists for ever, all self-centred actions are bound to end in pain to the actor on account of their opposition to this fact. The foundation of morals must therefore lie in the feeling of Universal Brotherhood of Man.

7. That the harmony of the unit with the whole is the only condition which can remove all pain, and as each individual represents a distinct causal operation of nature, this harmony is attainable only through the individual’s own exertions.

The Theosophical Society is an organization having for its object the study of truth upon the most unsectarian basis, and as a result of such study it believes that the truths enumerated above are, if generally accepted, calculated greatly to benefit the age. It is necessary, however, to add that there are many members in the Society, earnest in the pursuit of truth, who are not prepared to subscribe to all these doctrines without further thought and study; but all are agreed as to the ethical principles involved therein. The chief aim of the Theosophical Society is “to form the nucleus of a universal Brotherhood of mankind without distinction of race, color or creed.” The basis of brotherhood, which the Theosophical Society considers scientific has already been adverted to. The Theosophic brotherhood does not limit the freedom of individual development. It requires nothing from its members but a desire to recognise the unity of the human family as a natural fact which cannot be ignored with impunity, and a living conscious feeling of which is sure to lead to the highest development of the individual.

The Theosophical Society is convinced that the most efficacious means for the study of truth is furnished by the ancient religious and philosophical systems of the world, as they are free from the disturbing influences by which contemporary forms are surrounded. The Society therefore earnestly labours to promote an appreciative study of Eastern philosophy, built up by generations of Theosophists, as affording easy access to the Wisdom-Religion of the world.

Further, the Society seeks to combat materialism by the investigation of abnormal phenomena which afford a practical demonstration of the existence of a Psyche in man and to lead to a proper comprehension of the laws which underlie those phenomena. Theosophists do not believe in supernaturalism, and discard the notion of miracles as involving an unreasonable limitation of the possibilities of nature. The views of the leading Theosophists with regard to this subject are to be found very ably expounded in Madame Blavatsky’s Isis Unveiled, and Mr. Sinnett’s Esoteric Buddhism. All Theosophists, whether in perfect agreement with these views or not, look upon them as opening immense vistas of thought on subjects which are as important as they are neglected.

In conclusion, it is to be clearly stated that the Theosophical Society is composed of a body of earnest students and inquirers, and not of dogmatic teachers. But naturally a large number of members hold convictions in common on many points. Yet in each case the final authority comes from no external source but from within.

“There is no religion higher than Truth,” is the motto of the Society.

MOHINI M. CHATTERJI.

THEORIES: ABOUT REINCARNATION AND SPIRITS.

BY H. P. BLAVATSKY.

Over and over again the abstruse and mooted question of Rebirth or Reincarnation has crept out during the first ten years of the Theosophical Society’s existence. It has been alleged on prima facie evidence, that a notable discrepancy was found between statements made in “Isis Unveiled” Vol. I, 351-2, and later teachings from the same pen and under the inspiration of the same master.[132]

In Isis, it was held,—reincarnation is denied. An occasional return, only of “depraved spirits” is allowed. “Exclusive of that rare and doubtful possibility, ‘Isis’ allows only three cases—abortion, very early death, and idiocy—in which reincarnation on this earth occurs.” (“C. C. M.” in Light, 1882.)

The charge was answered then and there as every one who will turn to the Theosophist of August, 1882, can see for himself. Nevertheless, the answer either failed to satisfy some readers or passed unnoticed. Leaving aside the strangeness of the assertion that reincarnation—i. e., the serial and periodical rebirth of every individual monad from pralaya to pralaya[133] is denied in the face of the fact that the doctrine is part and parcel and one of the fundamental features of Hinduism and Buddhism, the charge amounted virtually to this: the writer of the present, a professed admirer and student of Hindu philosophy, and as professed a follower of Buddhism years before Isis was written, by rejecting reincarnation must necessarily reject KARMA likewise! For the latter is the very corner-stone of Esoteric philosophy and Eastern religions; it is the grand and one pillar on which hangs the whole philosophy of rebirths, and once the latter is denied, the whole doctrine of Karma falls into meaningless verbiage.

Nevertheless, the opponents without stopping to think of the evident “discrepancy” between charge and fact, accused a Buddhist by profession of faith of denying reincarnation hence also by implication—Karma. Adverse to wrangling with one who was a friend and undesirous at the time, to enter upon a defence of details and internal evidence—a loss of time indeed,—the writer answered merely with a few sentences. But it now becomes necessary to well define the doctrine. Other critics have taken the same line, and by misunderstanding the passages to that effect in Isis they have reached the same rather extraordinary conclusions.

To put an end to such useless controversies, it is proposed to explain the doctrine more clearly.

Although, in view of the later more minute renderings of the esoteric doctrines, it is quite immaterial what may have been written in “Isis”—an encyclopedia of occult subjects in which each of these is hardly sketched—let it be known at once, that the writer maintains the correctness of every word given out upon the subject in my earlier volumes. What was said in the Theosophist of August, 1882, may now be repeated here. The passage quoted from it may be, and is, most likely “incomplete, chaotic, vague, perhaps clumsy, as are many more passages in that work the first literary production of a foreigner who even now can hardly boast of her knowledge of the English language.” Nevertheless it is quite correct so far as that collateral feature of reincarnation is therein concerned.

I will now give extracts from Isis and proceed to explain every passage criticised, wherein it was said that “a few fragments of this mysterious doctrine of reincarnation as distinct from metempsychosis”—would be then presented. Sentences now explained are in italics.

“Reincarnation i. e. the appearance of the same individual, or rather of his astral monad, twice on the same planet is not a rule in nature, it is an exception, like the teratological phenomenon of a two-headed infant. It is preceded by a violation of the laws of harmony of nature, and happens only when the latter seeking to restore its disturbed equilibrium, violently throws back into earth-life the astral monad which had been tossed out of the circle of necessity by crime or accident. Thus in cases of abortion, of infants dying before a certain age, and of congenital and incurable idiocy, nature’s original design to produce a perfect human being, has been interrupted. Therefore, while the gross matter of each of these several entities is suffered to disperse itself at death, through the vast realm of being, the immortal spirit and astral monad of the individual—the latter having been set apart to animate a frame and the former to shed its divine light on the corporeal organization—must try a second time to carry out the purpose of the creative intelligence.” (Vol. 1. p. 351.)

Here the “astral monad” or body of the deceased personality—say of John or Thomas—is meant. It is that which, in the teachings of the Esoteric philosophy of Hinduism, is known under its name of bhoot; in the Greek philosophy is called the simulacrum or umbra, and in all other philosophies worthy of the name is said, as taught in the former, to disappear after a certain period more or less prolonged in Kama-loka—the Limbus of the Roman Catholics, or Hades of the the Greeks.[134] It is “a violation of the laws of harmony of nature,” though it be so decreed by those of Karma—every time that the astral monad, or the simulacrum of the personality—of John or Thomas—instead of running down to the end of its natural period of time in a body—finds itself (a) violently thrown out of it by whether early death or accident; or (b) is compelled in consequence of its unfinished task to reappear, (i. e. the same astral body wedded to the same immortal monad) on earth again, in order to complete the unfinished task. Thus “it must try a second time to carry out the purpose of creative intelligence” or law.

If reason has been so far developed as to become active and discriminative there is no[135] (immediate) reincarnation on this earth, for the three parts of the triune man have been united together, and he is capable of running the race. But when the new being has not passed beyond the condition of Monad, or when, as in the idiot, the trinity has not been completed on earth and therefore cannot be so after death, the immortal spark which illuminates it, has to re-enter on the earthly plane as it was frustrated in its first attempt. Otherwise, the mortal or astral, and the immortal or divine souls, could not progress in unison and pass onward to the sphere above[136] (Devachan). Spirit follows a line parallel with that of matter; and the spiritual evolution goes hand in hand with the physical.

The Occult Doctrine teaches that:—

(1) There is no immediate reincarnation on Earth for the Monad, as falsely taught by the Reincarnationists Spiritists; nor is there any second incarnation at all for the “personal” or false Ego—the perisprit—save the exceptional cases mentioned. But that (a) there are rebirths, or periodical reincarnations for the immortal Ego—(“Ego” during the cycle of rebirths, and non-Ego, in Nirvana or Moksha when it becomes impersonal and absolute); for that Ego is the root of every new incarnation, the string on which are threaded, one after the other, the false personalities or illusive bodies called men, in which the Monad-Ego incarnates itself during the cycle of births; and (b) that such reincarnations take place not before 1,500, 2,000, and even 3,000 years of Devachanic life.

(2) That Manas—the seat of Jiv, that spark which runs the round of the cycle of birth and rebirths with the Monad, from the beginning to the end of a Manvantara,—is the real Ego. That (a) the Jiv follows the divine monad that gives it spiritual life and immortality into Devachan,—that therefore, it can neither be reborn before its appointed period, nor reappear on Earth visibly or invisibly in the interim; and (b) that, unless the fruition, the spiritual aroma of the Manas—or all these highest aspirations and spiritual qualities and attributes that constitute the higher SELF of man become united to its monad, the latter becomes as Non existent; since it is in esse “impersonal” and per se Ego-less, so to say, and gets its spiritual colouring or flavour of Egotism only from each Manas during incarnation and after it is disembodied, and separated from all its lower principles.

(3) That the remaining four principles, or rather the—2-1/2—as they are composed of the terrestrial portion of Manas of its Vehicle Kama~Rupa and Lingha Sarira,—the body dissolving immediately, and prana or the life principle along with it,—that these principles having belonged to the false personality are unfit for Devachan. The latter is the state of Bliss, the reward for all the undeserved miseries of life,[137] and that which prompted man to sin, namely his terrestrial passionate nature can have no room in it.

Therefore the reincarnating principles are left behind in Kama-loka, firstly as a material residue, then later on as a reflection on the mirror of Astral light. Endowed with illusive action, to the day when having gradually faded out they disappear, what is it but the Greek Eidolon and the simulacrum of the Greek and Latin poets and classics?

“What reward or punishment can there be in that sphere of disembodied human entities for a fœtus or a human embryo which had not even time to breathe on this earth, still less an opportunity to exercise the divine faculties of its spirit? Or, for an irresponsible infant, whose senseless monad remaining dormant within the astral and physical casket, could as little prevent him from burning himself as any other person to death? Or again for one idiotic from birth, the number of whose cerebral circumvolutions is only from twenty to thirty per cent. of those of sane persons, and who therefore is irresponsible for either his disposition, acts, or for the imperfections of his vagrant, half-developed intellect.” (Isis, vol. 1, p. 352.)

These are then, the “exceptions” spoken of in Isis, and the doctrine is maintained now as it was then. Moreover, there is no “discrepancy” but only incompleteness—hence, misconceptions arising from later teachings. Then again, there are several important mistakes in Isis which, as the plates of the work had been stereotyped were not corrected in subsequent editions.

One of such is on page 346, and another in connection with it and as a sequence on page 347.

The discrepancy between the first portion of the statement and the last, ought to have suggested the idea of an evident mistake. It is addressed to the spiritists, reincarnationists who take the more than ambiguous words of Apuleius as a passage that corroborates their claims for their “spirits” and reincarnation. Let the reader judge[138] whether Apuleius does not justify rather our assertions. We are charged with denying reincarnation and this is what we said there and then in Isis!

“The philosophy teaches that nature never leaves her work unfinished; if baffled at the first attempt, she tries again. When she evolves a human embryo, the intention is that a man shall be perfected—physically, intellectually, and spiritually. His body is to grow, mature, wear out, and die; his mind unfold, ripen, and be harmoniously balanced; his divine spirit illuminate and blend easily with the inner man. No human being completes its grand cycle, or the “circle of necessity,” until all these are accomplished. As the laggards in a race struggle and plod in their first quarter while the victor darts past the goal, so, in the race of immortality, some souls outspeed all the rest and reach the end, while their myriad competitors are toiling under the load of matter, close to the starting point. Some unfortunates fall out entirely and lose all chance of the prize; some retrace their steps and begin again.“

Clear enough this, one should say. Nature baffled tries again. No one can pass out of this world, (our earth) without becoming perfected ”physically, morally and spiritually.” How can this be done, unless there is a series of rebirths required for the necessary perfection in each department—to evolute in the “circle of necessity,” can surely never be found in one human life? and yet this sentence is followed without any break by the following parenthetical statement: “This is what the Hindu dreads above all things—transmigration and reincarnation; only on other and inferior planets, never on this one!!!”

The last “sentence” is a fatal mistake and one to which the writer pleads “not guilty.” It is evidently the blunder of some “reader” who had no idea of Hindu philosophy and who was led into a subsequent mistake on the next page, wherein the unfortunate word “planet” is put for cycle. “Isis” was hardly, if ever, looked into after its publication by its writer, who had other work to do; otherwise there would have been an apology and a page pointing to the errata and the sentence made to run: “The Hindu dreads transmigration in other inferior forms, on this planet.”

This would have dove-tailed with the preceding sentence, and would show a fact, as the Hindu exoteric views allow him to believe and fear the possibility of reincarnation—human and animal in turn by jumps, from man to beast and even a plant—and vice versa; whereas esoteric philosophy teaches that nature never proceeding backward in her evolutionary progress, once that man has evoluted from every kind of lower forms—the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms—into the human form, he can never become an animal except morally, hence—metaphorically. Human incarnation is a cyclic necessity, and law; and no Hindu dreads it—however much he may deplore the necessity. And this law and the periodical recurrence of man’s rebirth is shown on the same page (346) and in the same unbroken paragraph, where it is closed by saying that:

“But there is a way to avoid it. Buddha taught it in his doctrine of poverty, restriction of the senses, perfect indifference to the objects of this earthly vale of tears, freedom from passion, and frequent intercommunication with the Atma—soul-contemplation. The cause of reincarnation is ignorance[139] of our senses, and the idea that there is any reality in the world, anything except abstract existence. From the organs of sense comes the “hallucination” we call contact; “from contact, desire; from desire, sensation (which also is a deception of our body,) from sensation, the cleaving to existing bodies; from this cleaving, reproduction; and from reproduction, disease, decay, and death.”

This ought to settle the question and show there must have been some carelessly unnoticed mistake and if this is not sufficient, there is something else to demonstrate it, for it is further on:

“Thus, like the revolutions of a wheel, there is a regular succession of death and birth, the moral cause of which is the cleaving to existing objects, while the instrumental cause is Karma (the power which controls the universe, prompting it to activity,) merit and demerit. It is therefore, the great desire of all beings who would be released from the sorrows of successive birth, to seek the destruction of the moral cause the cleaving to existing objects, or evil desire.”

“They in whom evil desire is entirely destroyed are called Arhats. Freedom from evil desire insures the possession of a miraculous power. At his death, the Arhat is never reincarnated; he invariably attains nirvana—a word, by the by, falsely interpreted by the Christian scholar and skeptical commentators. Nirvana is the world of cause, in which all deceptive effects or delusions of our senses disappear. Nirvana is the highest attainable sphere. The pitris (the pre-Adamic spirits) are considered as reincarnated by the Buddhistic philosopher, though in a degree far superior to that of the man of earth. Do they not die in their turn? Do not their astral bodies suffer and rejoice, and feel the same curse of illusionary feelings as when embodied?”

And just after this we are again made to say of Buddha and his Doctrine of “Merit and Demerit,” or Karma:

“But this former life believed in by the Buddhists, is not a life on this planet for, more than any other people, the Buddhistical philosopher appreciated the great doctrine of cycles.”

Correct “life on this planet” by “life in the same cycle,” and you will have the correct reading: for what would have appreciation of “the great doctrine of cycles” to do with Buddha’s philosophy, had the great sage believed but in one short life on this Earth and in the same cycle. But to return to the real theory of reincarnation as in the esoteric teaching and its unlucky rendering in Isis.

Thus, what was really meant therein, was that, the principle which does not reincarnate—save the exceptions pointed out—is the false personality, the illusive human Entity defined and individualized during this short life of ours, under some specific form and name; but that which does and has to reincarnate nolens volens under the unflinching, stern rule of Karmic law—is the real EGO. This confusing of the real immortal Ego in man, with the false and ephemeral personalities it inhabits during its Manvantaric progress, lies at the root of every such misunderstanding. Now what is the one, and what is the other? The first group is—

1. The immortal Spirit—sexless, formless (arupa) an emanation from the One universal BREATH.

2. Its Vehicle—the divine Soul—called the “Immortal Ego,” the “Divine monad,” etc. etc., which by accretions from Manas in which burns the ever existing Jiv—the undying spark—adds to itself at the close of each incarnation the essence of that individuality that was, the aroma of the culled flower that is no more.

What is the false personality? It is that bundle of desires, aspirations, affection and hatred, in short of action, manifested by a human being on this earth during one incarnation and under the form of one personality.[140] Certainly it is not all this, which as a fact for us, the deluded, material, and and materially thinking lot—is Mr. So and So, or Mrs. somebody else—that remains immortal, or is ever reborn.

All that bundle of Egotism that apparent and evanescent “I” disappears after death, as the costume of the part he played disappears from the actor’s body, after he leaves the theatre and goes to bed. That actor re-becomes at once the same “John Smith” or Gray, he was from his birth and is no longer the Othello or Hamlet that he had represented for a few hours. Nothing remains now of that “bundle” to go to the next incarnation, except the seed for future Karma that Manas may have united to its immortal group, to form with it—the disembodied Higher Self in “Devachan.” As to the four lower principles, that which becomes of them is found in most classics, from which we mean to quote at length for our defence. The doctrine of the perisprit the “false personality,” or the remains of the deceased under their astral form—fading out to disappear in time, is terribly distasteful to the spiritualists, who insist upon confusing the temporary with the immortal EGO.

Unfortunately for them and happily for us, it is not the modern Occultists who have invented the doctrine. They are on their defense. And they prove what they say, i.e., that no “personality” has ever yet been “reincarnated” “on the same planet” (our earth, this once there is no mistake) save in the three exceptional cases above cited. Adding to these a fourth case, which is the deliberate, conscious act of adeptship; and that such an astral body belongs neither to the body nor the soul still less to the immortal spirit of man, the following is brought forward and proofs cited.

Before one brings out on the strength of undeniable manifestations, theories as to what produces them and claims at once on prima facie evidence that it is the spirits of the departed mortals that re-visit us, it behooves one to first study what antiquity has declared upon the subject. Ghosts and apparitions, materialized and semi-material “SPIRITS” have not originated with Allan Kardec, nor at Rochester. If those beings whose invariable habit it is to give themselves out for souls and the phantoms of the dead, choose to do so and succeed, it is only because the cautious philosophy of old is now replaced by an a priori conceit, and unproven assumptions. The first question is to be settled—“Have spirits any kind of substance to cloth themselves with?” Answer: That which is now called perisprit in France, and a “materialized Form” in England and America, was called in days of old peri-psyche, and peri-nous, hence was well known to the old Greeks. Have they a body whether gaseous, fluidic, etherial, material or semi-material? No; we say this on the authority of the occult teachings the world over. For with the Hindus atma or spirit is Arupa (bodiless,) and with the Greeks also. Even in the Roman Catholic Church the angels of Light as those of Darkness are absolutely incorporeal: “meri spiritus, omnes corporis expertes,” and in the words of the “SECRET DOCTRINE,” primordial. Emanations of the undifferentiated Principle, the Dhyan Chohans of the ONE (First) category or pure Spiritual Essence, are formed of the Spirit of the one Element; the second category of the second Emanation of the Soul of the Elements; the third have a “mind body” to which they are not subject, but that they can assume and govern as a body, subject to them, pliant to their will in form and substance. Parting from this (third) category, they (the spirits, angels, Devas or Dhyan Chohans) have BODIES the first rupa group of which is composed of one element Ether; the second, of two—ether and fire; the third, of three—Ether, fire and water; the fourth of four—Ether, air, fire and water. Then comes man, who, besides the four elements, has the fifth that predominates in him—Earth: therefore he suffers. Of the Angels, as said by St. Augustine and Peter Lombard, their bodies are made to act not to suffer. It is earth and water, humor et humus, that gives an aptitude for suffering and passivity, ad patientiam, and Ether and Fire for action. The spirits or human monads, belonging to the first, or indifferentiated essence are thus incorporeal; but their third principle (or the human Fifth—Manas) can in conjunction with its vehicle become Kama rupa and Mayavi rupa—body of desire or “illusion body.” After death, the best, noblest, purest qualities of Manas or the human soul ascending along with the divine Monad into Devachan whence no one emerges from or returns, except at the time of reincarnation—what is that then which appears under the double mask of the spiritual Ego or soul of the departed individual? The Kama rupa element with the help of elementals. For we are taught that those spiritual beings that can assume a form at will and appear, i.e., make themselves objective and even tangible—are the angels alone (the Dhyan Chohans) and the nirmanakaya[141] of the adepts, whose spirits are clothed in sublime matter. The astral bodies—the remnants and dregs of a mortal being which has been disembodied, when they do appear, are not the individuals they claim to be, but only their simulachres. And such was the belief of the whole of antiquity, from Homer to Swedenborg; from the third race down to our own day.

More than one devoted spiritualist has hitherto quoted Paul as corroborating his claim that spirits do and can appear. “There is a natural and there is a spiritual body,” etc., etc., (1 Cor. xv, 44); but one has only to study closer the verses preceding and following the one quoted, to perceive that what St. Paul meant was quite different from the sense claimed for it. Surely there is a spiritual body, but it is not identical with the astral form contained in the “natural” man. The “spiritual” is formed only by our individuality unclothed and transformed after death; for the apostle takes care to explain in Verses 51 and 52, “Immut abimur sed non omnes.” Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed. This corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.

But this is no proof except for the Christians. Let us see what the old Egyptians and the Neo-Platonists—both “theurgists” par excellence, thought on the subject: They divided man into three principal groups subdivided into principles as we do: pure immortal spirit; the “Spectral Soul” (a luminous phantom) and the gross material body. Apart from the latter which was considered as the terrestrial shell, these groups were divided into six principles; (1) Kha “vital body”; (2) Khaba “astral form,” or shadow, (3) Khou “animal soul” (4) Akh “terrestrial intelligence;” (5) Sa “the divine soul” (or Buddhi;) and (6) Sah or mummy, the functions of which began after death. Osiris was the highest uncreated spirit, for it was, in one sense a generic name, every man becoming after his translation Osirified, i. e., absorbed into Osiris—Sun or into the glorious divine state. It was Khou, with the lower portions of Akh or Kama rupa with the addition of the dregs of Manas remaining all behind in the astral light of our atmosphere—that formed the counterparts of the terrible and so much dreaded bhoots of the Hindus (our “elementaries.”) This is seen in the rendering made of the so-called “Harris. Papyrus on magic.” (papyrus magique, translated by Chabas) who calls them Kouey or Khou, and explains that according to the hieroglyphics they were called Khou or the “revivified dead,” the “resurrected shadows.”

When it was said of a person that he “had a Khou” it meant that he was possessed by a “Spirit.” There were two kinds of Khous—the justified ones,—who after living for a short time a second life (nam onh) faded out, disappeared; and those Khous who were condemned to wandering without rest in darkness after dying for a second time—mut, em, nam—and who were called the H’ou-mêtr (“second time dead”) which did not prevent them from clinging to a vicarious life after the manner of Vampires. How dreaded they were is explained in our Appendices on Egyptian Magic and “Chinese Spirits” (Secret Doctrine.) They were exorcised by Egyptian priests as the evil spirit is exorcised by the Roman Catholic curé; or again the Chinese houen, identical with the Khou and the “Elementary,” as also with the lares or larvæ—a word derived from the former by Festus, the grammarian; who explains that they were “the shadows of the dead who gave no rest in the house they were in either to the Masters or the servants.” These creatures when evoked during theurgic, and especially necromantic rites, were regarded, and are so regarded still, in China—as neither the Spirit, Soul nor any thing belonging to the deceased personality they represented, but simply, as his reflection—simmulacrum.

“The human soul,” says Apuleius, “is an immortal God” (Buddhi) which nevertheless has his beginning. When death rids it (the Soul), from its earthly corporeal organism, it is called lemure. There are among the latter not a few which are beneficent, and which become the gods or demons of the family, i. e., its domestic gods: in which case they are called lares. But they are vilified and spoken of as larvae when sentenced by fate to wander about, they spread around them evil and plagues. (Inane terriculamentum, celerum noxium malis;) or if their real nature is doubtful they are referred to as simply manes (Apuleius. see—Du Dieu de Socrate, pp. 143-145. Edit. Niz.) Listen to Yamblichus, Proclus, Porphyry, Psellus and to dozens of other writers on these mystic subjects.

The Magi of Chaldea believed and taught that the celestial or divine soul would participate in the bliss of eternal light, while the animal or sensuous soul would, if good, rapidly dissolve, and if wicked, go on wandering about in the Earth’s sphere. In this case, “it (the soul) assumes at times the forms of various human phantoms and even those of animals.” The same was said of the Eidôlon of the Greeks, and of their Nephesh by the Rabbins: (See Sciences Occultes, Count de Resie. V. II) All the Illuminati of the middle ages tell us of our astral Soul, the reflection of the dead or his spectre. At Natal death (birth) the pure spirit remains attached to the intermediate and luminous body but as soon as its lower form (the physical body) is dead, the former ascends heavenward, and the latter descends into the nether worlds, or the Kama loka.

Homer shows us the body of Patroclus—the true image of the terrestrial body lying killed by Hector—rising in its spiritual form, and Lucretius shows old Ennius representing Homer himself, shedding bitter tears, amidst the shadows and the human simulachres on the shores of Acherusia “where live neither our bodies nor our souls, but only our images.”

“* * * Esse Acherusia templa,

* * * Quo neque permanent animæ, neque corpora nostra,

Sed quædam simulacra * *”

Virgil called it imago “image” and in the Odyssey (I. XI) the author refers to it as the type, the model, and at the same time the copy of the body; since Telemachus will not recognize Ulyssus and seeks to drive him off by saying—“No thou are not my father; thou art a demon,—— trying to seduce me!” (Odys. I. XVI. v. 194.) “Latins do not lack significant proper names to designate the varieties of their demons; and thus they called them in turn, lares, lemures, geni and manes.” Cicero, in translating Plato’s Timaeus translates the word daimones by lares; and Festus the grammarian, explains that the inferior or lower gods were the souls of men, making a difference between the two as Homer did, and between anima bruta and anima divina (animal and divine souls). Plutarch (in proble. Rom.) makes the lares preside and inhabit the (haunted) houses, and calls them, cruel, exacting, inquisitive, etc., etc. Festus thinks that there are good and bad ones among the lares. For he calls them at one time præstites as they gave occasionally and watched over things carefully (direct apports,) and at another—hostileos.[142] “However it may be” says in his queer old French, Leloyer, “they are no better than our devils, who, if they do appear helping sometimes men, and presenting them with property, it is only to hurt them the better and the more later on. Lemures are also devils and larvæ for they appear at night in various human and animal forms, but still more frequently with features that THEY borrow from dead men.” (Livre des Spectres. V. IV p. 15 and 16).

After this little honour rendered to his Christian preconceptions, that see Satan everywhere, Leloyer speaks like an Occultist, and a very erudite one too.

“It is quite certain that the genii and none other had mission to watch over every newly born man, and that they were called genii, as says Censorius, because they had in their charge our race, and not only they presided over every mortal being but over whole generations and tribes, being the genii of the people.”

The idea of guardian angels of men, races, localities, cities, and nations, was taken by the Roman Catholics from the prechristian occultists and pagans. Symmachus (Epistol, I. X) writes: “As souls are given to those who are born, so genii are distributed to the nations. Every city had its protecting genius, to whom the people sacrificed.” There is more than one inscription found that reads: Genio civitates—“to the genius of the city.”

Only the ancient profane, never seemed sure any more than the modern whether an apparition was the eidolon of a relative or the genius of the locality. Enneus while celebrating the anniversary of the name of his father Anchises, seeing a serpent crawling on his tomb knew not whether that was the genius of his father or the genius of the place (Virgil). “The manes[143] were numbered and divided between good and bad; those that were sinister, and that Virgil calls numina larva, were appeased by sacrifices that they should commit no mischief, such as sending bad dreams to those who despised them, etc:”

Tibullus shows by his line:—

Ne tibi neglecti mittant insomnia manes. (Eleg., 1. II.)

“Pagans thought that the lower Souls were transformed after death into diabolical aerial spirits.” (Leloyer p. 22.)

The term Eteroprosopos when divided into its several compound words will yield a whole sentence, “an other than I under the features of my person.”

It is to this terrestrial principle, the eidolon, the larva, the bhoot—call it by whatever name—that reincarnation was refused in Isis.[144]

The doctrines of Theosophy are simply the faithful echoes of Antiquity. Man is a Unity only at his origin and at his end. All the Spirits, all the Souls, gods and demons emanate from and have for their root-principle the SOUL OF THE UNIVERSE—says Porphyry (De Sacrifice). Not a philosopher of any notoriety who did not believe (1) in reincarnation (metempsychosis), (2) in the plurality of principles in man, or that man had two Souls of separate and quite different natures; one perishable, the Astral Soul, the other incorruptible and immortal; and (3) that the former was not the man whom it represented—“neither his spirit nor his body, but his reflection, at best.” This was taught by Brahmins, Buddhists, Hebrews, Greeks, Egyptians, and Chaldeans; by the post-diluvian heirs of the prediluvian Wisdom, by Pythagoras and Socrates, Clemens Alexandrinus, Synesius, and Origen. the oldest Greek poets as much as the Gnostics, whom Gibbon shows as the most refined, learned and enlightened men of all ages (“See Decline and Fall,” etc.). But the rabble was the same in every age: superstitious, self-opinionated, materializing every most spiritual and noble idealistic conception and dragging it down to its own low level, and—ever adverse to philosophy.

But all this does not interfere with that fact, that our “fifth Race” man, analyzed esoterically as a septenary creature, was ever exoterically recognized as mundane, sub-mundane, terrestrial and supra mundane, Ovid graphically describing him as—

“Bis duo sunt hominis; manes, caro, spiritus, umbra

Quatuor ista loca bis duo suscipiunt.

Terra tegit carnem, tumulum circumvolat umbra,

Orcus habet manes, spiritus astra petit.”

OSTENDE, Oct., 1886.

POETICAL OCCULTISM.

SOME ROUGH STUDIES OF THE OCCULT LEANINGS OF THE POETS.

II.

Perhaps no passage in Light on the Path is more forcible than that which warns the disciple against allowing the idea of separateness from any evil thing or person to grow up within him. He is bidden to, “be wary, lest too soon you fancy yourself a thing apart from the mass.” The Bagavad-Gita utters the same truth in other words by picturing man as led astray by the pride of self-sufficiency and the great danger underlying the desires and passions of the individual soul. Throughout life the student of occultism daily renews the struggle of soul against flesh, of faith against desire. This combat is finely pictured in Tennyson’s Palace of Art. It is truly an occult palace. Four courts are made, east, west, south and north, with a squared lawn in each, and four great fountains “stream in misty folds.” Here we are reminded of the Garden of Eden with its four rivers, of which Eliphas Levi says: “this description of the terrestrial paradise is resumed in the figure of a perfect pentacle. It is circular or square, since it is equally watered by four rivers disposed in a cross.” The square, answering to the number four was indeed the great kabbalistic figure, representing the Trinity in Unity. Nor is the mystic circle wanting in our occult palace, for there are “cool rows of circling cloisters” about the squares, and a gilded gallery that “lent broad verge to distant lands,” and “incense streaming from a golden cup,” another mystic symbol, representing the passive or negative side of nature. Full of sumptuousness was this palace, built for the soul that she might dwell in sensuous luxury, remote from the struggling world. Then the poet shows us further into the recesses of his sweet thought, and we see in the pictures with which the palace was hung, a portrayal of the various life experiences of the soul as it passes from phase to phase, from room to room of this great palace which is human life.

“Full of great rooms and small the palace stood,

All various, each a perfect whole

From living nature, fit for every mood

And change of my still soul.”

From high estate to low the soul thus passes, from a “glimmering land” to “iron coast and angry wave;” from uplands of toil and harvest, to the “high bleak crags of sorrow,” from Greece and Sicily to India or the North, until “every landscape, as fit for every mood was there, not less than truth designed,” a rich panorama of reincarnations. Amongst all these the soul moves joyful and feasting, “Lord of the senses five,” communing with herself that all these are her own in the “God-like isolation which is hers.”

“Then of the moral instinct would she prate,

And of the rising from the dead,

As hers by right of full-accomplished Fate,

And at the last she said:

I take possession of man’s mind and deed.

I care not what the sects may brawl.

I sit as God, holding no form of creed

But contemplating all.”

So three years she throve and prospered, but in the fourth year, (mark again the occult number of perfection,) a great dread came upon her, she was plagued in “the abyssmal deeps of personality” with a sore despair. The moment of choice, the turning point had come, that period of which Esoteric Buddhism speaks as occurring for the race in the fifth round but to which some exceptional personalities have forced themselves in this our fourth round. Many occultists will see their own experience mirrored in that of this tormented and lonely soul, contemplating her “palace of strength whereof the foundation stones were laid since her first memory,” only to see in its dark corners, “uncertain shapes, horrible nightmares, white-eyed phantasms and hollow shades enclosing hearts of flame.” Do we not seem to see all the elemental world, led on by the dread Dweller of the Threshold here confronting us? The struggle is even more powerfully depicted but the lesson is learned; the soul may retrieve herself by a lowly life; she throws aside her royal robes, and recognizing the need of mixing with her kind, begs for a “cottage in the vale.”

The poet reserves for his last verse the final lesson that only when we lead others to the heights and share these with our kind, can we ourselves stand steadfast there:

“Yet pull not down my palace towers, that are

So lightly, beautifully built;

Perchance I may return with others there

When I have purged my guilt.”

A footnote in the September PATH states:—“After all, the whole process of development is the process of getting back the memory of the past. And that too is the teaching found in pure Buddhism, etc.” Sometimes we are conscious of vague callings to do a certain thing, and critically regarding ourselves, we cannot see in this life any cause. It seems the bugle note of a past life blown almost in our face: it startles us; sometimes we are overthrown. These memories affect us like the shadows of passing clouds across our path, now tangible; then fading, only a cloud. Now they start before us like phantoms, or like a person behind you as you look at a mirror, it looks over the shoulder. If they are indeed reminiscences of other lives, although dead and past, they yet have a power. Hear what Lowell whispers in “The Twilight” of these mysterious moments:

“Sometimes a breath floats by me,

An odor from Dreamland sent,

Which makes the ghost seem nigh me

Of a something that came and went,

Of a life lived somewhere, I know not

In what diviner sphere:

Of mem’ries that come not and go not;

Like music once heard by an ear

That cannot forget or reclaim it;

A something so shy, it would shame it

To make it a show.

A something too vague, could I name it,

For others to know:

As though I had lived it and dreamed it,

As though I had acted and schemed it

Long ago.

And yet, could I live it over,

This Life which stirs in my brain;

Could I be both maiden and lover,

Moon and tide, bee and clover,

As I seem to have been, once again.

Could I but speak and show it.

This pleasure more sharp than pain.

Which baffles and lures me so!

The world would not lack a poet,

Such as it had

In the ages glad,

Long Ago.”

Emerson, who saw further into the world of nature than any poet of our race, gives us this:

“And as through dreams in watches of the night,

So through all creatures in their form and ways,

Some mystic hint accosts the vigilant,

Not clearly voiced, but waking a new sense,

Inviting to new knowledge, one with old.”

The hermetic maxim, “As above so below,” sends us indeed to nature for initiation, and the Gita follows up this nail with a hammer by saying: “The man, O Arjoona, who, from what passeth in his own breast, whether it be pain or pleasure, beholdeth the same in others, is esteemed a supreme Yogi.” Analogy, Harmony, Unity, these are the words traced over and over for us, the shining rays of the one Law. These are the thoughts in which the poets delight. Emerson speaks again with still clearer voice:

“Brother, sweeter is the Law

Than all the grace Love ever saw,

If the Law should thee forget.

More enamored serve it yet.

* * I found this;

That of goods I could not miss

If I fell within the line;

Once a member, all was mine:

Houses, banquets, gardens, fountains,

Fortune’s delectable mountains.

But if I would walk alone

Was neither cloak nor crumb my own.”

The Biblical verse:—“It is more blessed to give than to receive,” is a great occult teaching. As we strengthen the muscles by exercise, so we enlarge the intelligence and the heart by constantly dispensing our means, whether these be golden thoughts, or time, or affections, all along the line of Brotherhood. Not because of a sentiment, but because Life is made up of vibrations which our scientists, cautious as they are, admit may affect the farthest stars.

“Like warp and woof, all destinies

Are woven fast,

Linked in sympathy, like the keys

Of an organ vast.

Pluck but one thread, and the web ye mar;

Break but one of a thousand keys, and the paining jar

Through all will run.”

This from Whittier reminds us of the lines on Karma in Light on the Path. “Remember that the threads are living,—are like electric wires, more, are like quivering nerves. How far, then, must the stain, the drag awry, be communicated.” Yes, the communion of saints is a living fact. We all commune, not alone with one another; with those above us and with those below, but essentially with our time. Not one of us can escape its influence: we oppose its conclusions, deny its powers, and meanwhile it speaks through us, without our knowledge, the passwords we do not yet understand. This “dark age” is still the birth-place of spiritual development, of an awakening belief in the supernatural, or that which overshadows nature. We have had no more safe, practical sober poet than Whittier, who sweetly sings the life of every day, when he is not stirred by the fret of the times, to Freedoms larger issues. Yet hear him describing the power of a “wizard:”

“All the subtle spirits hiding

Under earth or wave; abiding

In the caverned rock, or riding

Misty clouds, or morning breeze.

Every dark intelligence,

Secret soul, and influence

Of all things, which outward sense

Feels, or hears, or sees,—

These the wizard’s skill confessed.—”

Is not here an “outward sense” of Professor Denton’s discoveries of the “soul of things?” But hear further the poet’s confession of faith in the occult power of will:

“Not untrue that tale of old!

Now as then, the wise and bold

All the powers of nature hold,

Subject to their kingly will.

Still to such, life’s elements,

With their sterner laws dispense,

And the chain of consequence

Broken in their pathway lies.

To his aid the strong reverses,

Hidden powers and giant forces,

And the high stars in their courses,

Mingle in his strife.”

The italicized lines are almost an echo of the words of an Adept when speaking of the possibility for the disciple, of an ultimate escape from the laws of Karma, which give him the right to demand the secrets of nature. “He obtains this right by having escaped from the limits of nature, and by having freed himself from the rules which govern human life.” So does Whittier’s initiate. For every one of us there looms a danger in our being prone to mistake desire for will. The paradox of Levi is sound and true: “The will obtains all that it does not desire.” Meditation in this direction will reveal some deep and useful truths to the practical occultist.

But to return to our poets. There are many butterfly hints to be found fluttering through their lines. Time has spared us this one from Marvel:

“At some fruit-tree’s mossy root,

Casting the body’s vest aside

My soul into the bows does glide;

There, like a bird, it sits and sings.”

And Matthew Arnold, turned dreamer for the nonce, has netted us one, more meaty than diaphanous, in which we find hints of periodic Devachanic sleep, between every period of earth struggle, of man’s threefold nature which serves to hide the memory of his other lives, and a touch of Karma as well:

“The Guide of our dark steps a triple veil

Betwixt our senses and our sorrow keeps;

Hath sown with cloudless passages the tale

Of grief, and eased us with a thousand sleeps.”

It would sometimes seem, as in the above quotation, that the poet himself was scarcely conscious of the full bearing of what he wrote, as if that dim something from another life of which Lowell spoke, had brushed him with its wing unawares. Often the higher Self speaks out from a man’s work, to other men whose consciousness has a higher development than his own, while it has not as yet revealed itself to him. How many men tremble thus on the borders of the unseen. Let us beware whom we set down as remote from our communion, “for in an instant a veil may fall down from his spirit, and he will be far ahead of us all.” There is an occult verse from Goethe which has been quoted by Tyndall in one of those sad and baffled paragraphs which darkle through the works of our scientists, shadowy witnesses that these distinguished materialists and physicists are often nearer our path than they or we suspect. Through such they seem to call for deliverance. We give the verse in its setting, leaving Tyndall’s prose to point its poetic meaning.

“As regards knowledge, physical science is polar. In one sense it knows, or is destined to know everything. In another sense it knows nothing. Science understands much of this intermediate phase of things that we call nature, of which it is the product; but science knows nothing of the origin or destiny of nature. Who or what made the sun, and gave his rays their alleged power? Who or what made and bestowed upon the ultimate particles of matter their wondrous power of varied interaction? Science does not know: the mystery, though pushed back, remains unaltered. To many of us who feel that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in the present philosophy of science, but who have been also taught by baffled efforts, how vain is the attempt to grapple with the Inscrutable, the ultimate frame of mind is that of Goethe:”

“Who dares to name His name,

Or belief in him proclaim,

Veiled in mystery as He is, the All-enfolder?

Gleams across the mind His light,

Feels the lifted soul His might;

Dare it then deny His reign, the All-upholder?”

JULIUS.

HINDU SYMBOLISM.

II.

This figure represents Brahma-Maya or Mahat-Maya, Brahma Viraj, or the great Illusion.

The androgene or male-female, the Great Appearance, the first revelation of the Being or Brahman (neuter), under the form of the double-sexed first emanation. The neuter, became male and female, by separation into the male, positive, forming the spiritual—the entities or the noumena, and his sakti or female, the negative, or plastic, matter, the illusionary or phenomenal existence. The sakti, is his developing energy, force or potentiality. This symbol, the divine type of the first male and female, which can be compared with the terrestrial Adam before the final separation of Eve, is really in consonance with this Adam’s perfect ideal, the Adam Kadmon or Heavenly Adam of the Kabbalah. The Brahma-half is on the right side, the good side, man’s, the Maya-half is on the left, the evil side, the woman’s. So according to the Hebrew sacred writings, through Eve the woman, evil was brought into the world. Compare with this the Greek myth of Pandora. Issuing from the linga-yoni is the pearl chain, or connected circle of the existences, looked upon as united atoms, and the symbol of all the existing. It is held up by the hand on the male side.

Brahman (neuter), appears here as manifested in the male in union with the female sakti, of the preformatory imagination, as the ante creative monarch and Pearl King, richly decorated with the circles of the soul-monads and atoms. On his head is the world egg cap. The veil of the existences, upon which are woven the ideas or models of the to-be-emanated existences, flows from the linga-yoni to the highest part of the head and thence down the right side. He as the male, has a tendency to twist himself upon himself and his face bears the stamp of deep meditation. The aureole of fire is on the male side and from it scintillate sparks upon the veil of Maya. On the Maya side, the attitude is that of joy or dancing; the hand raised as if in play, holds up the veil, bells are hanging on her robe and singularly the Egyptian hieroglyphic for the water of life is shown; while the bust is developed. Portrayed upon the veil are the prototypes of the creatures. Compare the symbolism of the girdle of Aphrodite and that of Venus.

As the double spouse of Brahman (neuter) considered apart and in opposition to It. The Brahma-Maya is the life in nature, of which, Brahman (neuter) is the soul. The Brahma-Maya is that blind energy and force, potential and powerful, and eternally fecund, which is incessantly producing under forms which are without cessation renewed; and which is adored in India to-day, as the Great Mother, the Universal Mother, in other words all nature deified. Maya is the mother of Love or Desire, the first principle or affinity of all affection, creation, matter. She is even matter itself, but the primitive subtile matter co-existing with God (Brahman, neuter) from all eternity, contained in It, and symbolized by the three colors, red, white, black; the three qualities or powers of creation, preservation and destruction, consequently the Trimurti, and also the three gunas (qualities), Truth, Action, and Indifference, of the Bhagavadgitâ.[145] It is Maya, who through the attraction of her beauty, causes the Most High, from the bosom of Its ineffable profoundity, forgetting Itself, to unite Itself, in the intoxication of desire with that divine enchantress.

The mysterious veil, which she had woven with her hands, received entirely from both, and the thought of the Eternal Almighty became fecundated, and fell into Time. The innumerable forms of the creatures, represent the perfect ideals woven upon the magic tissue, the woven warp and woof of all existence, with which veil Maya[146] envelops her spouse and causes the recurrence of the gift of life.

ISAAC MYER.

TEACHINGS OF THE MASTER.

RECORDED BY ONE OF THE AUTHORS OF “MAN: FRAGMENTS OF FORGOTTEN HISTORY.”

(Copyrighted.)

THE JOURNEY.

The Master stood on a great ledge of rock extending far out over a precipice that seemed miles below. With his face lighted by the first rays of the coming day that shot across the peaks above him and with his hands clasped behind him he waited in silence for the coming of the pupil to whom he had signalled. A Brother lying on the grass not far removed from the natural platform upon which he stood, questioned kindly the possibility of so long a journey by so feeble a student—but the Master waited looking piercingly across the distance. His eyes gazed intently before him turning neither to the right nor to the left, and when in the far azure of the clouds he saw approaching the soul that had projected itself at his bidding, he impelled his thought to his Brother who instantly recognized the approaching visitant. The Soul gaining in velocity every moment was in the presence of the Master before the twinkling of an eye could be noted—and prostrate before him could only articulate: “Master! Master!”

A touch of the purified hand pacified the terrible emotions of the new comer, who in suppliant attitude awaited the command of the Beloved Guru. “Rise my child,” came from the lips of the Teacher; who, when he was obeyed continued:

“Your progress is clogged by your indifference to duty. There can be no relations between us unless you disembody your desires and spiritualize every thought. Imprison the latter when they wander, and live to teach the lessons so often inculcated in your higher mind. Help your fellow-beings to better comprehend the capabilities of the inner, living Self.

“By the known laws of attraction and repulsion illustrate to them the impossibility of a higher life on earth for any but clean souls. There can be no mutuality of thought between clean and unclean natures—and the only hope of advancement is by casting off the latter and enveloping the real self in the shelter of noble thoughts. Teach that it is matter that is illusionary—life that is a transitory vision—earthly vanities that blind the eyes of the world.

“Try to speak of these secret things to the lowly and the burdened who are often endowed with a wisdom not to be found among the other and opposite classes. Tell them that the Spirit does have a real existence here in matter—does exercise absolute philanthropy, divine goodness—supreme self sacrifice; does know the power it possesses. Return to your duty refreshed. Let the sunlight now breaking over the hills and the mountains of Himavat radiate through your transparent spirit. Drink of the dew of the morning and feed upon the honey of wisdom that flows in upon your hungry Soul. Thus will you be strengthened to meet the conflict in the plain of action wherein you are constrained by your weakness to work. Thus will you escape from it and find in the mountain the repose and intuition for which you are yearning.”

The Brother whose form had lain in repose on the grass now approached and looking intently at the disciple entranced with delight and gratitude—said in stronger tones than the Beloved Master:

“In the land where your body lies secure from an intrusion that would result in your absolute separation from it—the great conflict is about to be fought. All the preliminary preparations have been made. A people freed from many chains—fast sinking into a materialism only recognized absolutely when some momentary impulse to generosity moves them—is to rise or fall with this closing cycle. To such a Babe as you is revealed a fact not perceived by the best minds among them. Go back there to work! Obey the impulse to throw aside every barrier—to do away with subterfuges deemed best for the personality, and go the rugged way lone and alone. In the time of greatest need we will comfort you and send the comforter to those whose Karma leads them to do battle in the same field. To you the sustaining force of our Fraternity will be contributed so long as the battle is waged for the race: the conquered rescued from their low estate and the Light of the Logos offered to every one who walks in the night of earth-life without guide and compass.”—Then there was silence.

The Beloved Master touching the speaker’s uplifted head said in softest accents: “Go now. If ye love me keep these commands.”

THE LESSONS.

The path of Wisdom is the path of duty. They are not separate roads as many erroneously conclude. Men fail to associate wisdom with duty—they consider them as apart. The disciple performs the action (duty), and in so doing finds wisdom.

There is, in each incarnation, but one birth, one life, one death. It is folly to duplicate these by persistent regrets for the past—by present cowardice or fear of the future. There is no time—it is eternity’s Now that man mistakes for past, present and future.

The forging of earthly chains is the occupation of the indifferent, the awful duty of unloosing them through the sorrows of the heart is also their occupation. Both are foolish sacrifices.

As mortal conscience is within, so also is the evidence of the spirit’s omnipotence. The soul of man is a tangible proof to his bodily senses that he is immortal. The existence of soul is not susceptible of proof on any but its own plane.

Compromise in the service of the weak. The starving must have food suited to the limitations of the irritated system—but be thou firm in thine own place of duty.

Liberate thyself from evil actions by good actions. The man accustomed to actions cannot at once become a Muni; he must work out his action-impelling qualities, and thus he transforms them into higher energies.

Meditation is but a name to the bewildered; the word is not understood until it is translated by the hungry spirit.

Fight the unknown force within you—it is evil. The good that is in you is written without, and is apparent.

Inquire of the stranger the earthly road you seek, but ask your higher self for the torch that will light you on your way. In the silence of one’s own being, is lighted the candle of will and aspiration. No wind can put it out, no heat can melt it. The flame is of the spirit’s quality—pure and of even temperature.

There is no vacillation in the mind of the initiated. Half-knowledge is the pitfall of the student.

Do not run aimlessly about saying lo, here is the light—lo, there is the truth. The light that illuminates the Atma is kindled in the mountain heights. It is the symbol of divine truth.

Wait in the morning for inspiration, at noon for guidance, and in the evening for a full understanding of the road thou hast travelled.

Man’s higher nature is invisible or rather the Divine Principle is. The individual human soul is universal: a right comprehension of where there is difference and where identity between the 6th and 7th Principles in man will free the subject of much confusion and misapprehension.

There is real affiliation as well as an occult connection existing between the seven principles in man and the seven classes of minerals under the earth. There are truths connected with the properties of the latter which man may find out by learning the constitution of his own sevenfold nature.

The law of embodied principles is to follow magnets. Is this not also true of the higher nature? We draw to us the attention of the Mahatma by a purified heart and a right development of will. From his heights he sees the valleys below and reaches out to give to him who is straining every faculty to receive.

Agitation that comes from mortal qualities affects the physical body alone: this deep unrest is not felt by the Atma, for the Atma is Spirit or pure bliss. But the ocean of matter, which includes the Soul, feels these waves of trouble and thus is the soul bewildered, ignorantly imagining that the spirit is affected. Learn to know the distinction and to realize that the spirit is eternally unaffected.

Life is a compromise—hasten to acquit yourself of the debt contracted in a former life, and remove its oppressing influence in this sphere.

When you re-enter the world of mortals again, let it be without the three disqualifications for enlightenment, fear, passion and selfishness: the sea of rebirths is half crossed already by the man who has overcome these three drawbacks.

Meat for the thoughtless, wine for the weak, but devotion for him who has overcome the appetites.

To be lord of self is to be selfless, a condition of perfect tranquility.

Forget not this lesson—that every one is so placed in this world as to exhibit his worst qualities. The purpose of this life is to strengthen the weak places of the spiritual man. His external life is for this only, therefore, all are seen at a disadvantage.

A lesson in meekness may be learned of the little child. It has come so recently from its previous field of life that it walks with the air of a stranger in a strange country and as one who must be led.

The divine quality is charity. Whenever it has been attained, the remainder of the spirit’s work with the lower nature, is to acquire a contrite heart.

(To be continued.)

“Alas we reap what seed we sow; the hands that smite us are our own.”

OM

When there was neither day nor night, neither earth or sky, neither light nor darkness: when there was nothing that could be seen or felt by the physical senses or the faculties of the mind, there existed the One Great Being—God.—Vishnu Purana.

Resignation: the action of rendering good for evil; temperance; probity; purity; repression of the senses; knowledge of holy books, and of the Supreme Soul; truthfulness, and abstaining from anger: such are the ten virtues in which consists duty. * * Those who study these ten precepts of duty, and after having studied them conform their lives thereto, will reach to the Supreme Condition.—Manu, Book vi, sloka 92.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         DECEMBER, 1886.                         NO. 9.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

“THE THEOSOPHICAL MAHATMAS.”

It is with sincere and profound regret—though with no surprise, prepared as I am for years for such declarations—that I have read in the Rochester Occult Word, edited by Mrs. J. Cables, the devoted president of the T. S. of that place, her joint editorial with Mr. W. T. Brown. This sudden revulsion of feeling is perhaps quite natural in the lady, for she has never had the opportunities given her as Mr. Brown has; and her feeling when she writes that after “a great desire * * to be put into communication with the Theosophical Mahatmas we (they) have come to the conclusion that it is useless to strain the psychical eyes toward the Himalayas * *” is undeniably shared by many theosophists. Whether the complaints are justified, and also whether it is the “Mahatmas” or theosophists themselves who are to blame for it is a question that remains to be settled. It has been a pending case for several years and will have to be now decided, as the two complainants declare over their signatures that “we (they) need not run after Oriental Mystics, who deny their ability to help us.” The last sentence, in italics, has to be seriously examined. I ask the privilege to make a few remarks thereon.

To begin with, the tone of the whole article is that of a true manifesto. Condensed and weeded of its exuberance of Biblical expressions it comes to this paraphrastical declaration: “We have knocked at their door, and they have not answered us; we have prayed for bread, they have denied us even a stone.” The charge is quite serious; nevertheless, that it is neither just nor fair—is what I propose to show.

As I was the first in the United States to bring the existence of our Masters into publicity; and, having exposed the holy names of two members of a Brotherhood hitherto unknown to Europe and America, (save to a few mystics and Initiates of every age) yet sacred and revered throughout the East, and especially India, causing vulgar speculation and curiosity to grow around those blessed names, and finally leading to a public rebuke, I believe it my duty to contradict the fitness of the latter by explaining the whole situation, as I feel myself the chief culprit. It may do good to some, perchance, and will interest some others.

Let no one think withal, that I come out as a champion or a defender of those who most assuredly need no defense. What I intend, is to present simple facts, and let after this the situation be judged on its own merits. To the plain statement of our brothers and sisters that they have been “living on husks,” “hunting after strange gods” without receiving admittance, I would ask in my turn, as plainly: “Are you sure of having knocked at the right door? Do you feel certain that you have not lost your way by stopping so often on your journey at strange doors, behind which lie in wait the fiercest enemies of those you were searching for?” Our MASTERS are not “a jealous god;” they are simply holy mortals, nevertheless, however, higher than any in this world, morally, intellectually and spiritually. However holy and advanced in the science of the Mysteries—they are still men, members of a Brotherhood, who are the first in it to show themselves subservient to its time-honored laws and rules. And one of the first rules in it demands that those who start on their journey Eastward, as candidates to the notice and favors of those who are the custodians of those Mysteries, should proceed by the straight road, without stopping on every sideway and path, seeking to join other “Masters” and professors often of the Left-Hand Science, that they should have confidence and show trust and patience, besides several other conditions to fulfill. Failing in all of this from first to last, what right has any man or woman to complain of the liability of the Masters to help them?

Truly “‘The Dwellers of the threshold’ are within!”

Once that a theosophist would become a candidate for either chelaship or favours, he must be aware of the mutual pledge, tacitly, if not formally offered and accepted between the two parties, and, that such a pledge is sacred. It is a bond of seven years of probation. If during that time, notwithstanding the many human shortcomings and mistakes of the candidate (save two which it is needless to specify in print) he remains throughout every temptation true to the chosen Master, or Masters, (in the case of lay candidates), and as faithful to the Society founded at their wish and under their orders, then the theosophist will be initiated into—— thenceforward allowed to communicate with his guru unreservedly, all his failings, save this one, as specified, may be overlooked: they belong to his future Karma, but are left for the present, to the discretion and judgment of the Master. He alone has the power of judging whether even during those long seven years the chela will be favoured regardless of his mistakes and sins, with occasional communications with, and from the guru. The latter thoroughly posted as to the causes and motives that led the candidate into sins of omission and commission is the only one to judge of the advisability or inadvisability of bestowing encouragement; as he alone is entitled to it, seeing that he is himself under the inexorable law of Karma, which no one from the Zulu savage up to the highest archangel can avoid—and that he has to assume the great responsibility of the causes created by himself.

Thus, the chief and the only indispensable condition required in the candidate or chela on probation, is simply unswerving fidelity to the chosen Master and his purposes. This is a condition sine qua non; not as I have said, on account of any jealous feeling, but simply because the magnetic rapport between the two once broken, it becomes at each time doubly difficult to re-establish it again; and that it is neither just nor fair, that the Masters should strain their powers for those whose future course and final desertion they very often can plainly foresee. Yet, how many of those, who, expecting as I would call it “favours by anticipation,” and being disappointed, instead of humbly repeating mea culpa, tax the Masters with selfishness and injustice. They will deliberately break the thread of connection ten times in one year, and yet expect each time to be taken back on the old lines! I know of one theosophist—let him be nameless though it is hoped he will recognize himself—a quiet, intelligent young gentleman, a mystic by nature, who, in his ill advised enthusiasm and impatience, changed Masters and his ideas about half a dozen times in less than three years. First he offered himself, was accepted on probation and took the vow of chelaship; about a year later, he suddenly got the idea of getting married, though he had several proofs of the corporeal presence of his Master, and had several favours bestowed upon him. Projects of marriage failing, he sought “Masters” under other climes, and became an enthusiastic Rosicrucian; then he returned to theosophy as a Christian mystic; then again sought to enliven his austerities with a wife; then gave up the idea and turned a spiritualist. And now having applied once more “to be taken back as a chela” (I have his letter) and his Master remaining silent—he renounced him altogether, to seek in the words of the above manifesto—his old “Essenian Master and to test the spirits in his name.”

The able and respected editor of the “Occult Word” and her Secretary are right, and have chosen the only true path in which with a very small dose of blind faith, they are sure to encounter no deceptions or disappointments. “It is pleasant for some of us,” they say, “to obey the call of the ‘Man of Sorrows’ who will not turn any away, because they are unworthy or have not scored up a certain percentage of personal merit.” How do they know? unless they accept the cynically awful and pernicious dogma of the Protestant Church, that teaches the forgiveness of the blackest crime, provided the murderer believes sincerely that the blood of his “Redeemer” has saved him at the last hour—what is it but blind unphilosophical faith? Emotionalism is not philosophy; and Buddha devoted his long self sacrificing life to tear people away precisely from that evil breeding superstition. Why speak of Buddha then, in the same breath? The doctrine of salvation by personal merit, and self forgetfulness is the corner-stone of the teaching of the Lord Buddha. Both the writers may have and very likely they did—“hunt after strange gods;” but these were not our MASTERS. They have “denied Him thrice” and now propose “with bleeding feet and prostrate spirit” to “pray that He (Jesus) may take us (them) once more under his wing,” etc. The “Nazarene Master” is sure to oblige them so far. Still they will be “living on husks” plus “blind faith.” But in this they are the best judges, and no one has a right to meddle with their private beliefs in our Society; and heaven grant that they should not in their fresh disappointment turn our bitterest enemies one day.

Yet, to those Theosophists, who are displeased with the Society in general, no one has ever made to you any rash promises; least of all, has either the Society or its founders ever offered their “Masters” as a chromopremium to the best behaved. For years every new member has been told that he was promised nothing, but had everything to expect only from his own personal merit. The theosophist is left free and untrammeled in his actions. Whenever displeased—alia tentanda via est—no harm in trying elsewhere; unless, indeed one has offered himself and is decided to win the Masters’ favors. To such especially, I now address myself and ask: Have you fulfilled your obligations and pledges? Have you, who would fain lay all the blame on the Society and the Masters—the latter the embodiment of charity, tolerance, justice and universal love—have you led the life requisite, and the conditions required from one who becomes a candidate? Let him who feels in his heart and conscience that he has,—that he has never once failed seriously, never doubted his Master’s wisdom, never sought other Master or Masters in his impatience to become an Occultist with powers; and that he has never betrayed his theosophical duty in thought or deed,—let him, I say, rise and protest. He can do so fearlessly; there is no penalty attached to it, and he will not even receive a reproach, let alone be excluded from the Society—the broadest and most liberal in its views, the most Catholic of all the Societies known or unknown. I am afraid my invitation will remain unanswered. During the eleven years of the existence of the Theosiphical Society I have known, out of the seventy-two regularly accepted chelas on probation and the hundreds of lay candidates—only three who have not hitherto failed, and one only who had a full success. No one forces anyone into chelaship; no promises are uttered, none except the mutual pledge between Master and the would-be-chela. Verily, Verily, many are the called but few are chosen—or rather few who have the patience of going to the bitter end, if bitter we can call simple perseverance and singleness of purpose. And what about the Society, in general, outside of India. Who among the many thousands of members does lead the life? shall any one say because he is a strict vegetarian—elephants and cows are that—or happens to lead a celibate life, after a stormy youth in the opposite direction; or because he studies the Bhagavat-Gita or the “Yoga philosophy” upside down, that he is a theosophist according to the Master’s hearts? As it is not the cowl that makes the monk, so, no long hair with a poetical vacancy on the brow are sufficient to make of one a faithful follower of divine Wisdom. Look around you, and behold our UNIVERSAL Brotherhood so called! The Society founded to remedy the glaring evils of christianity, to shun bigotry and intolerance, cant and superstition and to cultivate real universal love extending even to the dumb brute, what has it become in Europe and America in these eleven years of trial? In one thing only we have succeeded to be considered higher than our Christian Brothers, who, according to Lawrence Oliphant’s graphic expression “Kill one another for Brotherhood’s sake and fight as devils for the love of God”—and this is that we have made away with every dogma and are now justly and wisely trying to make away with the last vestige of even nominal authority. But in every other respect we are as bad as they are: backbiting, slander, uncharitableness, criticism, incessant war-cry and ding of mutual rebukes that Christian Hell itself might be proud of! And all this, I suppose is the Masters’ fault: THEY will not help those who help others on the way of salvation and liberation from selfishness—with kicks and scandals? Truly we are an example to the world, and fit companions for the holy ascetics of the snowy Range!

And now a few words more before I close. I will be asked: “And who are you to find fault with us? Are you, who claim nevertheless, communion with the Masters and receive daily favors from Them; Are you so holy, faultless, and so worthy?” To this I answer: I AM NOT. Imperfect and faulty is my nature; many and glaring are my shortcomings—and for this my Karma is heavier than that of any other Theosophist. It is—and must be so—since for so many years I stand set in the pillory, a target for my enemies and some friends also. Yet I accept the trial cheerfully. Why? Because I know that I have, all my faults nothwithstanding, Master’s protection extended over me. And if I have it, the reason for it is simply this: for thirty-five years and more, ever since 1851 that I saw any Master bodily and personally for the first time, I have never once denied or even doubted Him, not even in thought. Never a reproach or a murmur against Him has escaped my lips, or entered even my brain for one instant under the heaviest trials. From the first I knew what I had to expect, for I was told that, which I have never ceased repeating to others: as soon as one steps on the Path leading to the Ashrum of the blessed Masters—the last and only custodians of primitive Wisdom and Truth—his Karma, instead of having to be distributed throughout his long life, falls upon him in a block and crushes him with its whole weight. He who believes in what he professes and in his Master, will stand it and come out of the trial victorious; he who doubts, the coward who fears to receive his just dues and tries to avoid justice being done—FAILS. He will not escape Karma just the same, but he will only lose that for which he has risked its untimely visits. This is why having been so constantly, so mercilessly slashed by my Karma using my enemies as unconscious weapons, that I have stood it all. I felt sure that Master would not permit that I should perish; that he would always appear at the eleventh hour—and so he did. Three times I was saved from death by Him, the last time almost against my will; when I went again into the cold, wicked world out of love for Him, who has taught me what I know and made me what I am. Therefore, I do His work and bidding, and this is what has given me the lion’s strength to support shocks—physical and mental, one of which would have killed any theosophist who would go on doubting of the mighty protection. Unswerving devotion to Him who embodies the duty traced for me, and belief in the Wisdom—collectively, of that grand, mysterious, yet actual Brotherhood of holy men—is my only merit, and the cause of my success in Occult philosophy. And now repeating after the Paraguru—my Master’s MASTER—the words He had sent as a message to those who wanted to make of the Society a “miracle club” instead of a Brotherhood of Peace, Love and mutual assistance—“Perish rather, the Theosophical Society and its hapless Founders,” I say perish their twelve years’ labour and their very lives rather than that I should see what I do to-day: theosophists, outvying political “rings” in their search for personal power and authority; theosophists slandering and criticizing each other as two rival Christian sects might do; finally theosophists refusing to lead the life and then criticizing and throwing slurs on the grandest and noblest of men, because tied by their wise laws—hoary with age and based on an experience of human nature milleniums old—those Masters refuse to interfere with Karma and to play second fiddle to every theosophist who calls upon Them and whether he deserves it or not.

Unless radical reforms in our American and European Societies are speedily resorted to—I fear that before long there will remain but one centre of Theosophical Societies and Theosophy in the whole world—namely, in India; on that country I call all the blessings of my heart. All my love and aspirations belong to my beloved brothers, the Sons of old Aryavarta—the Motherland of my MASTER.

H. P. BLAVATSKY.

LINES FROM LOWER LEVELS.

Many will turn from this heading. Whether they really live upon the upper levels or only imagine such to be their dwellings, these words are probably mute to them. A laggard in the great race, one who has only just rounded the starting buoy in stress of weather, here signals to his unseen companions amid heavy seas. If a score of blind men, turned loose to beat the city’s by-ways, should meet and compare mischances, some light would presently dawn among them. We are not isolated in spiritual experience. Though Falsehood wears myriad masks, when Truth looks in, she turns the same face on all.

It is of the beginning of the Way that I speak. Confusions and perplexities beset us. Most of these are of our own conjuring. The insidious canker of Doubt is first, is worst of all. Better stop right where you are for a lifetime than advance with this moral leprosy unexterminated. It will spread through future existences until it has eaten the heart to the core. Now it is in our power. Wrestle boldly with every doubt until you have converted it to a certainty; thus you force it to bless you in departing, as Jacob did the Angel. Why should we doubt? The day on which I first heard of the Wisdom-Religion is for me set apart like a potent jewel in the crest of Time. My thought salutes its messengers with the grand old words,—“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth Peace.” The Peace of this religion is the proof absolute of its Wisdom. Our vitality is exhausted with the life struggle; it seems a dead pull against the current. Reason tells us we ought to be able to move with the stream. Man has a false idea of his own requirements; this is why possession satiates all. We are ignorant that the desire for Unity lies hidden in the deeps of every human heart. This is the Truth at the bottom of the well; it is the basic need of all mankind. Recognise it, and you may sweep unwearied along the resistless current of evolutionary progress. We begin to realize the inability of existing creeds to sound and explain our Being. Every one of us craves a belief which shall not be a formula, but Life itself, which shall develop and complete the constituency of lives.

Our religions violate the golden rule of Architecture,—“Ornament construction; do not construct ornamentation.” Their slight framework is florid with theological detail, garlanded with the varying ideals of centuries. Not so does the Master Builder plan. Yet the keystone of each arch is the Truth manifest in the Past, that Truth which still bears witness to Divinity to the new Age.

When men meet their belief in every department of life, when it assists them on every plane, so that they eat better, sleep better, love better, create better and die better by it, then will it be a vital law to them, not a garment to be laid aside on work days. Theosophy does all this. It informs every deed, makes of each fact a new revelation, and testifies to more religion in one chapter of Natural Philosophy, than in all the sermons of next Sunday. Study these grand similitudes and we find how single is Truth, so that the three great laws of Motion are also those of Emotion, and Newton spoke for my heart, as well as for the universe. All life is thus related; if you doubt the validity of theory or action, test them by this law of correspondence.

Do I revolt from the rule of gentle procedure in the teeth of wrath or abuse. I recall the axiom of mechanics,—“Motion seeks the line of least resistance,”—and my moral force proves itself perpetual motion by its avoidances of friction. Truth is the same in every part. You shall pass every beam of thought through this prism; if it is a pure ray each component will have its distinct value on its own plane, and all will blend again to Light.

Sometimes we are chilled as by a sense of isolation from the main body of our kind. This is imaginary; you shall not think we are few, or stand alone. Even now the thoughtful listener hears the soughing of the rising flood of Public Opinion. This was the mainstay of Science in her late tilt with the Church. The People, weary of barren Theology demanded in facts, in laws, the manifestation of the Divine. Now it begins to call Science to account for her limitations. Do we doubt the bubbling interest in Psychology? We should scan our newspapers, novels, magazines, boudoir gossip even, to feel the pulse of the general tide. Science yields so far to the pressure as to explain why she cannot or does not make thorough and sustained psychical investigations, and with a blunt,— “so much the worse for you,” the public turns expectantly to the broader or younger men who better gauge the tendency of our time.

This tendency is to coöperation, to unification. Science and Religion are one, are Truth, and blindness is the portion of those who dismember her kingdom. A pertinent case is that of a physician well known to New York clinics who used his mesmeric power in putting patients to sleep in the presence of his students and maintaining their complete unconsciousness during painful operations, thus carried to successful conclusions without the dangerous drawback of anesthetics. Less gifted confreres frowned down the “irregularity.” This is a thinking Age, and men are losing confidence in the judgment of scientists whose biased attitude would bar them from jury service in the pettiest court of the land.

Again there are those who are tried by the mistakes, the treachery, or the public misunderstanding of other adherents of Theosophy. What does it matter? The world swung on while Galileo recanted, and though a disciple betrayed his Master, the Christian world still kneels. Our noblest opponents are often unconscious Theosophists, judging them by their fervid search for Truth. When their hour strikes, they will find her; meanwhile Wisdom needs no converts. Man passes; Truth is, and needs no concern of ours. Do nut think either that the Wisdom-Religion is only for the strong or the intellectual; it is for all. Food is meant to sustain life, and Love to develop it, but excess in either may kill. So those whose nature is morbid, exaggerate the aspect of Truth and go mad of their own phantasms. Every Science, every Art, every Religion has its list of these moral suicides and those who confront you with it are like the old nurses who scare children from the jam closet with “bogies.”

I said that we breed our own perplexities. Take the first day of the new life, when with fledgling resolves aflutter we come glowing and resolute down the stairs. We had ordered a spartan meal which Love has spared us. Frowning, we order the dainties away and sit reflecting on the encumbrances of earthly affection; wounded, it leaves our side. Our plain food comes; it is ill cooked and the retarded servant has a scowl which we resent: the household jangles and jars. The meal has not refreshed us, and the lack of the soothing but condemned cigar brings our irritability to a head. We hasten to lock ourselves into the study for meditation; but a bird sings in at the window, and Love’s voice pleads at the door. We shut out the song and chide the syren. Why is our heart so heavy now when bent on eternal things? Knocking! We open with a martyr face. A friend is there, a dogged churchman; his salvation is in our hands! He chats of the weather, our club, state politics. We broach a higher theme, we denounce, cut and thrust, argue. Surprised he listens in courteous silence, and as he leaves us we remember too late that he too cherishes his religion, we curse the follies of the wretched day and call Theosophy for the nonce “impracticable.” Brothers! the man of creeds who can hear our dogmatism with self control is perhaps nearer the Essential than we are. He who plunges into restraints which unhinge and irritate him is no better than the man who loses his reason through drink. Both lack moderation, the result is the same, and we have only to do with results. Devote your thoughts to ascetic meals, and no Lucullus of the town is more prostrate before his viands than yourself. Moderation declares the sage. Accept all that comes with equal content, the thought held high above all. When the daily functions are fulfilled I have done nothing; the soul is no participant in these. Advance towards the Eternal and the Transient will imperceptibly drop away from you. No shirking of the duties of our position avails. Comrades! The battle field is there where the long roll finds you standing. Your past acts enlisted you under just that flag; fight it out there! The universal charge is carried through the vigor of individuals, each acting from his own headcentre and not from that of another. “The duties of a man’s own particular calling, although not free from faults, is far preferable to the duty of another, let it be ever so well pursued.”[147] On this plane we are a body militant; on the next plane we shall transform this activity, but as long as individuality exists, it would seem that each must move in an orbit of his own. There is as much egotism in snatching at the burden not meant for us, as in refusing that which is. Do all necessary acts promptly and with your best ability, abandoning at once all care for the result. Do you say this is not Theosophy? You mistake. True Theosophy is everything that elevates or aids mankind, were it but the singing of a ballad to lighten another’s toil. “It is not that you must rush madly or boldly out to do, to do. Do what you find to do. Desire ardently to do it, and even when you shall not have succeeded in carrying out anything but some small duties, some words of warning, your strong desire will strike like Vulcan upon other hearts in the world, and suddenly you will find that done which you had longed to be the doer of. Then rejoice, that another had been so fortunate as to make such a meritorious Karma. Thus like the rivers running into the unswelling passive ocean, will your desires enter into your heart.” Drop this concern for ephemera and forms; heed essentials only. Get to the centre of every vital fact and live there as at the heart of an opal, darting forth prismatic rays of Love and Faith upon all created things.

If we set out upon a journey to lands unknown, we should observe the inhabitants, gathering the spirit of their laws from their manners, ourselves courteous yet cautious with all. So in this passage to the unseen, that which is essential is the spirit of things. What affair is it of mine if this man glows with gratified desire, or that woman shines in undue laces and coquetries? Do I know the principles of their constitution? Can I vouch that these errors are not the mere husk of habit, which dropping off may reveal a larger kernel of Virtue than I possess? Nor will I hastily become the spiritual bondsman of him who stands above me. He has not exhausted the sum of Truth; to-morrow I shall find a fraction of my own. All these finical distinctions are not of the Eternal. The substratum of all things is Wisdom. The twist of Failure has its strands of silver. The pratings of the fool dissuade men from folly. I have never done anything of myself: a clarion impulse commands my best deeds; high thoughts radiate to me from I know not what sphere. Ask yourself before friend or foe,—“How does the spirit manifest in him?” For above and below it manifests equally. The undeviating brute, true to its every principle, has a volume of teaching for us. We cannot read until we know the alphabet and Nature holds our primer daily before us. Do not hawk Truth about to the careless crowd. Not because you belittle it, (that is impossible,) nor yet yourself, (that is immaterial,) but because you must hold fast in silence to all that you possess to support you in the tests of the future. Nor is Truth a nostrum to be forced down the unready throat. Thereby you disgust a man with Truth; who covets that responsibility? Ah, gentle hearts and virile minds! Are you wounded by the wantonness of those you long to save? These errors are perhaps their appointed teachers in your stead. Error is not exempt from the law! Can Love check a cyclone in mid career, or does Reason outrun the whirlwind? Desire has a lustier voice than yours. Let these errant ones wisely alone. Presently when success is at an ebb, or the complacent Ego is stung by pride or pain, they will hear the low plaint of the soul. Then, their state related to yours, they will turn to you as the heliotrope to the sun. Trust to the law of spiritual affinity. He for whom you have a thought will be attracted to you for it; he will in some way ask it of you. Distrust the intellect in these replies. Only the dwellers of the upper levels draw their thought crystal pure from the Fountain-head of Mind. Below, sympathy is the universal solvent; its ardent fusion welds mankind. Speak to me in our common language; it is that of the heart. You cannot so much as tie up a straying rosetree without sympathy. Try it, and the tender shoots are nipped as by a frost. Do you say that it is hard that you should not help others? Perhaps you only want to help them in your own way. The difference between loving a man for himself, and loving him for myself, is the difference between “heaven” and “hell.” There is no hell but that which we create in our hearts, and selfishness is its yawning portal. Effort for Wisdom is help for all; he who thinks wisely does a deed of beneficence. Beneath generous yearnings lurks sometimes the wish that this “I,” shall become influential or admired, have clients and suitors in the anteroom. Lest I deceive myself I will mutely speed my good wishes to all. Only when we have learned how to preserve a wise silence, will the first stammerings of speech come to us. Speak then from your own knowledge, simply, without trying to adorn Truth. Many of our most valued writers are at times too transcendent, too erudite for us of the lower level. As the great orator or actor sees one face grow towards his from out the vast field of faces, and concentrating his burning purpose into that focus, sees streaming thence the homogeneous force which electrifies the throng,—so I would have each writer among you address his thought to some especial comrade within his mind, that you may drop this mantle of remoteness, and let us feel you tense and vibrant with helpfulness, pressing close to our side. The West needs a more ringing note than the mystic Orient mind. Let the spirit of your nation speak through your work and to your fellows every word will be an occult charm.

Why are we so impatient that we do not receive the accolade of accepted duty from those Royal Souls who procede us on the Way? “They also serve who only stand and wait.”[148] He who cannot wait contentedly may be sure he cannot serve. We must master the diurnal before we can overcome the spiritual. Some say that a heroic deed is easier than submission to pinpricks. We may survive Niagara when a drop of water per second on the brain is madness. Friends; the struggle for the Eternal is not one daring deed nor yet hundreds of them. It is a calm unbroken forgetfulness of the lower self for all time. Begin it on your present plane. You have within you the same guide that the Masters possess. By obeying It, they have become what they are. Hark! A voice resounds within. “Know thy true Self; it is thy guide.” If the voice seems silent, it is perhaps because you ask with the mind only, which is a higher kind of curiosity. When a spiritual need cries out within you, the answer will come with a flash to the reverent listener. But in all the three worlds there is no power to save you but your own. When we have exhausted the possibilities of growth on our present plane, we rise naturally to a higher level. If here we find a Master, it is because we have come into the region where he dwells. Better than desiring to deserve is deserving to desire. Of this be sure. All that is rightfully yours will come to you. So reads the Law.

As a mountain climber leans forward, treads zig-zag, counteracting gravity and the air’s resistance, so shall you walk with care. We do not know what moral resistance we arouse, what unseen evil lurks near, what stone our passage may loosen to fall on those below. We do not know the delicate adjustment of this aerial world. Keep eyes and mind fixed on the heights above, lest the yawning abyss from which you rose, attract you. Distrust your emotions, your thoughts above all. An insidious thought, like a traitor in the fortress, tends outward to the legions of evil and would deliver you up to them. Who knows where the ripples of a hasty thought may end? We are pledged by our theosophic vow to do naught that can dishonor our Society. What more dishonoring than unjust, angered or vagrant fancies which corrupt the atmosphere of others and may breed a moral pestilence. “He that hateth his brother is a murderer.”[149] Perhaps there are times when this is literally true. “If he does not love his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, Whom he hath not seen?” Pass this word along the line;—“Eternal vigilance is the price of safety.”

You who are inclined to dispute these thoughts, do better; ignore them. They are a life experience, not meant for you who have it not, nor are you once named herein. They are true from one standpoint and for those upon the same plane. Hereafter all must alchemize virtues and vices alike. Be not discouraged at these necessary transitions; they do not convict you of radical error. Give me an unknown seed; its potentiality is a secret from me, but in faith I plant and tend it. As it waxes to the budding glories of branch and flower, and thrills with the fecund boon of fruitage, I am no whit the loser, and hidden at the root of this larger heritage, the same seed remains life bestowing and true. Thus Knowledge is not final; it must expand and germinate or it is but a dead thing. “Veil upon veil shall lift, but there shall be veil upon veil behind.”[150]

Does he who writes thus always follow his own teachings? No! A hundred, a thousand times, no! Deluded, he climbs by devious paths and from the very brink of attainment, falls!

“Jove strikes the Titans down. Not when they set about their mountain piling, but when one stone more would complete the work.”[151]

Then with toil and pain he rises and cons the chart once more. Beloved Brothers!—and there is nowhere one so lost, so estranged, so low or so great whom this name does not call—he will have received these blows to a benign purpose, if their teachings shall roll away a single stone from your upward path.

J——.

POETICAL OCCULTISM.

SOME ROUGH STUDIES OF THE OCCULT LEANINGS OF THE POETS.

III.

Many will find in Whitman, the fullest measure of mystic truths, plainly and significantly stated, to be met with in any modern poet. For instance, a recognition of the reality of Reincarnation, and of its necessity, constantly recurs in his poems. Passages like these attest it: “Believing I shall come again upon the earth after five thousand years.” Births have brought us richness and variety, and other births have brought us richness and variety. “And as to you Life, I reckon you are the leavings of many deaths, (no doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before.)” In contemplating an idiot he muses:

“And I knew for my consolation what they knew not,

I knew of the agents that emptied and broke my brother,

The same wait to clear the rubbish from the fallen tenement,

And I shall look again in a score or two of ages,

And I shall meet the real landlord, perfect and unharmed, every inch as good as myself.”

Are not the “agents,” mentioned above, the operations of Karmic law? Among the last lines of the closing poem of his volume are the following:

“I receive now again of my many translations, from my avatars ascending, while others doubtless await me,

An unknown sphere more real than I dream’d, more direct, darts awakening rays about me, So long!

Remember my words, I may again return.”

Neither rhyme nor verse are essential to true poetry. Even words are but its vehicle, and not the poetry itself. Poetry is that manifestation of the mind which excites the imagination and arouses in responsive minds a sense of beauty. All that which does this is poetic in quality: that which does not, which awakens no response, leaving one cold and unimpressed, is prosaic. Poetry, therefore, possesses the rythmic quality, for beauty appeals to no sense, except through its power of producing rythmic action upon the brain through the nerves of sight, hearing, etc. Rythm is a product of harmonious vibration and produces the sensation of beauty by its play upon the nerves in a succession of reiterated, regular groups of impressions. All sensations of ugliness, etc., which are the causes of pain and disease, are due to the discordant impressions made by irregularity in the series of vibrations. Thus does strict mathematical law underlie all effects of beauty. All poetry is in some way rythmic, and arouses rythmic action.

The highest poetry is truth made manifest in the guise of beauty. Poets have often expressed in verse their feeling of the total inadequacy of words to present to others the sublimity and beauty of the thoughts which at moments occur to them. The poetic temperament is one which enables an approach to that state which some exalted men attain in perfection, and which is the ultimate destiny of the entire human race. The poet perceives fragments of the Divine thought as embodied in natural materials; he reads pages of the great book of Creation and interprets more or less clearly the significance of the symbols that exist on every hand in growing things, in things inanimate, in the waters and the heavens, and in the thoughts, sentiments, passions and emotions of men. In assuming the mental state which may be called the poetic attitude, he throws himself into rapport with his Higher self, his atma, and thus obtains a glimpse of the eternal truth, so much of which his memory retains as accords with his personality and with the nature of his mood; of this he incorporates in poetic form that which his power of expression enables him to give. Walt Whitman characterizes this state in his lines:

“I lie abstracted and hear beautiful tales of things and the reasons of things,

They are so beautiful I nudge myself to listen,

I cannot say to any person what I hear—I cannot say it to myself—it is very wonderful!”

The more unconscious one becomes of physical surroundings the more clearly does his mind act; its operations are attended with less friction. By withdrawing his attention from bodily environment he enters upon the plane of the higher consciousness. This accounts for the greater ease with which mental work proceeds after one has been engaged in it for some little time; it absorbs his attention so that the surrounding objects and circumstances no longer distract it. In other words, the mental machinery settles down to smooth running, after overcoming the various hitches and obstructions attending the starting of the train of thought. Everyone knows how earnest devotion to any object makes him oblivious to all else. Under such conditions one, in reality, loses consciousness and is merged in the object. Self, the illusory Self, simply consists in a sense of the existence of the body and the relations borne to it by surrounding objects.

Therefore, in concentration of the mind upon the object lies the true secret of power, and the man who best knows how to do this is the most powerful among his fellows. The best work is that done when one is least conscious of material environment. This accounts for remarkable examples of work done in a somnambulistic state when all consciousness of physical surroundings is lost, and the Self becomes so absorbed in the object that on returning to ordinary consciousness it cannot remember the process of its most perfect activity of thought. And yet people refuse to accept the truth of Reincarnation because they cannot remember, in this gross physical state, their former existences through the intervening Devachanic periods when their consciousness was lifted to a plane above the thralldom of matter!

Whoever knows anything of ceremonial magic, whether practically or theoretically, recognizes the necessity of rythmic action, or the institutions of a regularly recurring set of vibrations. Many will testify to the marvels wrought by the earnest repetitions of a rythmic formula. It seems likely that the transfer of consciousness and the performance of phenomenal feats by Adepts are wrought by their command of some formula or method which enables them instantly and perfectly to achieve the harmonious condition of mental vibration crudely acquired by novices only by elaborate processes. The logical inference may be drawn that the purpose of the rythmic form of poetry is not only to arouse harmonious thoughts in the minds of hearers or readers, but is due to the fact that the poet, by subjecting his mind to a rythmic flow of thought, opens it to the reception of impressions from the highest source of thought. In the words “I nudge myself to listen” the poet strikingly and graphically depicts the effort to maintain his concentration of mind as he lies abstracted when he feels his attention slipping away from the sublime mysteries which, in the greatness of their wonder, are beyond his power to realize in any thoughts he may frame. Poets are often unconscious of the full greatness of the truths they reveal after the moment of their receptive state has passed, but they, perhaps, awake to a sense of the true significance of their words years after.

This concentration of mind is insisted on in the Hindu systems in many different ways. It is called by them Ekkragrata or one-pointedness. In the dialogues the expression is constantly used, and Krishna is said to say to Arjuna (in Bagavad-Gita). “Has thou listened to me with thy mind fixed on one point?” It is to bring about such a condition that practitioners of Hatha Yoga—which in English simply means any practice tending to develop psychical powers, such as mediumship and the like—prescribe that the Yogee shall sit with his sight concentrated upon the tip of his nose. And this practice, although scarcely commendable, has a scientific basis which shows that the much belittled Aryans had a wonderful fund of knowledge. The fixing of the eyes upon the tip of the nose puts the focus about three inches from the eyeball, and that produces first, concentration, because of the effort to remain fixed, and secondly, a hypnotic state in which trance results with psychic vision and the like. They prescribed it for another reason not likely to be admitted by our science; three inches from the eyes was said by them to be the clairvoyant point.

Our poet Whitman, whether he was aware of it or not, constantly enunciated the doctrine of Karma. In “Assurances,” to be found in Leaves of Grass, he says:

I need no assurances. I am a man who is pre-occupied of his own soul;

I do not doubt that from under the feet and beside the hands and face I am cognizant of, are now looking faces I am not cognizant of, calm and actual faces.

I do not doubt but the majesty and beauty of the world are latent in any iota of the world.

I do not doubt I am limitless, and that the universes are limitless; in vain I try to think how limitless.

I do not doubt that the orbs and the systems of orbs play their swift sports through the air on purpose, and that I shall one day be eligible to do as much as they, and more than they.

I do not doubt that temporary affairs keep on and on millions of years.

I do not doubt interiors have their interiors, and exteriors have their exteriors, and that the eyesight has another eyesight, and the hearing another hearing, and the voice another voice.

I do not doubt that the passionately-wept deaths of young men are provided for, and that the deaths of young women and the deaths of little children are provided for.

(Did you think life was so well provided for, and Death, the purport of all life, not well provided for?)

I do not doubt that wrecks at sea, no matter what the horror of them, no matter whose wife, child, husband, father, lover, has gone down, are provided for to the minutest points.

I do not doubt that whatever can possibly happen anywhere at any time, is provided for in the inherences of things.

I do not think Life provides for all and for Time and Space, but I believe Heavenly Death provides for all.

Here he dwells upon the belief that all things are provided for. It would be error to say that he was a fatalist, just as it is a mistake to hold that the Mohammedan doctrine of “Kismet” is pure fatalism. Edwin Arnold in “Pearls of the Faith,” enlarges on that pearl called Al-Kadar, in these words:

“When ye say Kismet, say it wittingly, O, true believers! under Allah’s throne place is not left for those accursed three, ‘Destiny,’ ‘Fortune,‘ ‘Chance.’ Allah alone ruleth his children: Kismet ye shall deem each man’s alloted portion * * *”

And Whitman plainly states that the provision which is made for all the happenings is a provision existing “in the inherences of things,” and not a fatalistic decree by an irresponsible Almighty.

He also says that he is limitless. This is the doctrine of the Upanishads. Everyone is limitless, for Ishwara, the Lord, dwells in the heart of every mortal being. Jesus also, said; “the kingdom of heaven is within you.” Now the kingdom of heaven cannot be apart from God, so that the Nazarene herein says the same thing as the Upanishads.

Again, in the lines, “I do not doubt that interiors have their interiors, and exteriors have their exteriors, and that the eyesight has another eyesight, and the hearing another hearing, and the voice another voice,” Whitman might be said to be taking the words from the mouths of those sages who in ancient India penned the Upanishads. In those it is incessantly insisted that these interiors really are the Universal Self which is “the eye of the eye and the hearing of the ear.” And a knowledge of that is the key to unlock the doors of glory and praise. As it is beautifully said in Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad:[152]

“This Self is the footstep of everything, for through it one knows everything. And as one can find again by footsteps what was lost, thus he who knows this finds glory and praise.”

And further, “Therefore, now, also, he who thus knows that he is Brahman (the Self) becomes all this, and even the Devas cannot prevent it, for he himself is their Self.”

S. B. J.

APOLLONIUS AND THE MAHATMAS.

[READ BEFORE THE MALDEN BRANCH, T. S.]

(Concluded.)

When Apollonius asked about the wise men whom Alexander the Great was said to have conquered and then held converse with, Phraotes said that they were the Oxydraks, a warlike people who claimed Wisdom though they knew nothing of consequence; the truly wise men dwelt between the Hyphasis and Ganges. Had Alexander gone thither he could not have conquered them, even with ten thousand Achilles and thirty thousand Ajaxes. “For they fight not in battle against advancing enemies, but being holy men, beloved by God, they repulse them through aerial apparitions and lightning flashes.”

When Apollonius took his departure Phraotes gave him the following significant letter to the Brahmins:

“The King Phraotes greets his teacher Iarchas and the Wise men with him. Apollonius, the wisest of men, regards you as wiser than himself, and comes to learn from you. Let him not depart without knowledge of all which you yourselves know. For thus nothing of your wisdom will be lost; since no one speaks better than he, or has a truer memory. Let him also behold the throne whereon I sat when thou, Father Iarchas, gavest me my kingdom. His attendants also deserve praise for their attachment to such a man. Be thou happy. Be happy all of you.”

When they came near the hill where the wise men dwelt their guide was filled with fear, for the Indians stood more in awe of these men than of their own King, and the King who ruled the land where they lived was accustomed to consult them about everything he said or did.

When near a village not a stadium from the hill, a youth approached them, blacker than any Indian, with a gleaming, moon-shaped mark between his eyebrows. He bore a golden anchor, which in India took the place of the Herald’s staff. He addressed Apollonius in Greek, which did not astonish him, since all the dwellers in the village [a lamasary?] spoke that tongue, but it did astonish the others to hear their master called by name; Apollonius, however, it filled with confidence as he remembered the purpose of his journey. “We have come to men truly wise,” he said to Damis, “for they have a fore-knowledge of things.” Asking the youth what was to be done, he was told: “Those with you remain here; thou, however, shalt come just as thou art, for so They command.” In this They Apollonius recognized Pythagorean language and he followed with joy.

In one of his conversations with the Egyptian Gymnosophists, years afterwards, Apollonius thus characterized the wise men of India: “I saw the Indian Brahmins who dwell upon the earth and not upon the earth; in a strong fortress though unfortified; and, without possessions, possessing everything.” The deep, interior significance of this is evident to a Theosophist. Damis, in the matter-of-fact way often customary with him, also gives these words a literal interpretation, saying that they had their bed upon the earth and strewed the ground with herbs selected by themselves; he himself had seen them floating in the air two ells above the earth; not for hocus pocus—for they despised vain striving—but in order, by thus floating with the sun, to be near and pleasing unto the god. This was what was meant by “upon the earth and not upon the earth.” The strong fortress, unfortified, meant the air in which they dwelt, for although they appeared to live under the open heaven, they spread a shadow over themselves, were not wet by the rain, and were in the sunshine whenever they wished. And since they obtained everything the moment they wished it, Apollonius rightly said that they possessed what they did not possess. “They wear their hair long, they bind a white mitra around their heads, their feet are bare. The form of their clothing resembles that of a sleeveless under-garment; the material is a wool produced by the earth of itself, white like the Pamphylian, but softer, and so fat that oil flows from it. Of this they make their sacred garments, and when another than these men seeks to gather this wool the earth will not release it. By the power of the ring and the staff which they bear every thing can be done, but both are kept as a secret.” This personal description by Damis corresponds in certain particulars with what we are told of the Masters to-day. The account of the wool leads some commentators to believe that asbestos is meant.

Iarchas welcomed Apollonius in Greek and asked him for the letter from Phraotes; when Apollonius wondered at his gift of prescience he remarked that a delta was lacking in the letter, left out by mistake, and so it proved. After reading the letter Iarchas asked: “What dost thou think of us?”

And Apollonius replied: “As no other person in the land whence I came, as my journey hither shows.”

“What makest thou think that we know more than thou dost?”

“I believe,” answered Apollonius, “that your knowledge is deeper and much more divine.”

Iarchas hereupon said: “Others are accustomed to ask the new comer whence he comes and for what purpose; the first sign of our wisdom shall be this: that the stranger is not unknown to us. So then, test this:”

Hereupon he told Apollonius his history from father and mother down, what he had done in Aegæ, how Damis had come to him, what things of importance had happened on the way, etc. As Apollonius asked in surprise whence came that knowledge, Iarchas answered: “Thou also camest gifted with this wisdom, but not yet with all of it.”

“And wilt thou teach me all thy wisdom?” asked Apollonius.

“By all means, and in ungrudging abundance, for this is wiser than miserly to conceal that which is worthy of knowing. Besides, Apollonius, I see thou hast been richly gifted by Mnemosyne, and she is the one among the gods whom we most love.”

“Dost thou also behold,” asked Apollonius, “of what manner my nature is?”

“We see all peculiarities of the soul, for we know them by thousandfold indications,” replied Iarchas.

When mid-day came they rose in the air and did homage to the sun. The youth who bore the anchor was then told to go and provide for the companions of Apollonius. Swifter than the swiftest of birds he went and returned, saying: “I have provided for them.” He was then commanded to bring the throne of Phraotes, and when Apollonius had seated himself thereon they continued their conversation. Iarchas told him to ask what he wished, for he had come to men who knew all things. Apollonius asked if they knew themselves, for he believed that they, like the Greeks, held knowledge of self to be difficult. But Iarchus answered with an unexpected turning: “We know all things, because first of all we know ourselves; for no one of us can approach this wisdom without first attaining knowledge of self.”

Apollonius asked further, what they held themselves to be?

“Gods,” answered Iarchas.

“And wherefore?”

“Because we are good men.”

Apollonius found so much wisdom in this saying that he made use of it in his speech of defence before the Emperor Domitian.

They talked about the soul and reincarnation, and Iarchas told him that the truth was “as Pythagoras taught you, and as we taught the Egyptians.” They spoke about the previous incarnation of Apollonius as steersman of an Egyptian ship, in which capacity he had refrained from following the inducements held out by pirates to let his vessel come into their hands.

Concerning this Iarchas said that refraining from unrighteousness did not constitute righteousness.

The King came to visit the Brahmins and a wonderful feast was prepared for him; everything came of itself: Pythian tripods, and automatic attendants of black bronze, the earth spread out herbs softer than beds to recline on, delicate viands appeared in orderly succession, etc. The accounts of these phenomena occasioned great remark during the subsequent career of Apollonius, and people would persist in mixing them up with the teachings of the master just as to-day they inextricably confound Madame Blavatsky’s famous cup and saucer with Theosophy. But we are told that Apollonius did not concern himself with phenomena; when he saw these wonderful things he did not ask how they were done, nor to be taught to do them, but he contented himself with admiring them. And we are also told that the marvelous things he did were not accomplished through ceremonial magic, but through the perfection of his wisdom.

Damis was subsequently allowed to come to the Brahmins and when he asked about the composition of the world and the four elements they replied that there were five—the fifth being ether, which was to be regarded as the primal source of the gods.

“For everything that breathes the air is mortal; that which drinks the ether is immortal and divine,” said Iarchas. He also said that the world was to be regarded as a living being of both sexes, having a more ardent love for itself than that of one person to another, being united and bound to itself. Damis learnt much from his intercourse with the Brahmins, but he wrote that at the secret discourses Apollonius was alone with Iarchas, and from there originated the four books written by the former. Iarchas, said Damis, gave Apollonius seven rings bearing the names of the seven planets, and Apollonius wore them one after the other according to the name of the day of the week.

The foregoing is an incomplete account of the remarkable journey and experience of Apollonius, as is necessitated by the limits of a brief article. Many passages of deep wisdom have had to be passed over, and many remarkable things are told, hard to understand, but which, there is reason to believe, have an occult significance.

S. B.

TEACHINGS OF THE MASTER.

RECORDED BY ONE OF THE AUTHORS OF “MAN: FRAGMENTS OF FORGOTTEN HISTORY.”

(Copyrighted.)

The master walked beside the river at evening-time. In the instant that his signal was recognized he walked no longer alone. By his side appeared one—as a little child clinging close to his garments. The master said—“When you have obtained mastery over the senses then you will no longer totter in your step or falter in your flight. Realize the divine atma within you. Realize it!” he repeated, and then raising his hand slowly upward the stature of the child lengthened until a man’s proportions were outlined. Only this form could hold the expanded soul. Disenthralled the soul perceived a world with every pulsation and in every faculty there was absolute harmony. This was divine. This is man’s rightful condition into which only the Mahatmas have fully come; but to which every one is heir. The Mahatma teaches with the thought unexpressed, but formulated in his own mind and sent with sudden power, into yours. It strikes with resounding force against the spirit’s prison house. In great agony the pupil cried out: “Master! Master! redeem me from this state with your great power.” The Master answering said: “Burst by concentration of spiritual energy the bonds that bind you.” No pen can describe the force of the Master’s thought. For the instant it seemed possible; a moment’s hesitation to make the effort through mortal fear, and the supreme moment was passed. The Master looked sadly upon his suffering disciple and then was alone again.

The latter had gone back to try again through duty—if need be through death.

THE LESSON.

The pupil goes to the Master without conditions. He goes, but not to return. The illusions of matter are dispelled for him and thenceforth he is a stranger in the world of actions, even though he should be in it again.

Fiery is the furnace of probation, and great is the danger when the neophyte has reached the “states of exaltation.” About each advance step wait the enemies of the spirit—to overthrow its sovereignty and hurl it back to the plane of matter. These enemies live in matter and are persuaded that their existence is confined to it—hence their determination to keep matter from a knowledge of spirit. In darkness and sin is their safety, for they are children of these conditions and will cease to exist when the lamp that is lighted from within is turned upon the world.

Temptations are in the way of those who would demand much without deserving even a little. So soon as the student comes in contact with the occult he encounters on the threshold the demons who loiter by—the demons of worldliness, inconstancy, suspicion and faint-heartedness.

The student should find in his own intuitions all the proof needed of the existence on this earth of the Wisdom teachers. Behind the screen of the senses reposes the soul of man—an unfathomable factor in the Universe—as unknown to its possessor as to its observers. Intuition is its only avenue of communication, and the language it speaks is known only to him who understands arcane knowledge or occultism.

When the Master has initiated his pupil he puts the seal of the mysteries upon his lips and locks them even against the chance of weakness or indiscretion.

It is the sense of personal isolation that brings on death; genuine philanthropy puts the individual en rapport with the Divine Spirit and thus gives him the eternal life. The Divine Spirit being all-pervading, those who put themselves en rapport with it, necessarily put themselves en rapport with all other entities in the same rapport. Hence, the Mahatmas are necessarily in constant magnetic relation with those who succeed in extricating themselves from the lower animal nature. It is by this means that the Mahatmas must first be known.

Until the Master chooses you to come to Him be with humanity, and unselfishly work for its progress and advancement. This alone can bring true satisfaction.

What is a Mahatma? Is it His physical body? No; for that must perish sooner or later—though it can be preserved through what is to us an endless age. A Mahatma is one who lives in His higher individuality, and to know Him truly, He must be known through the individuality in which He is centered.

Knowledge increases in proportion to its use—that is, the more we teach the more we learn. Therefore, seeker after Truth, with the faith of a little child and the will of a Initiate give of your store to him who hath not wherewithal to comfort him on his journey. A whisper of the divine mystery into the ear of a weary wayfarer frees you from the stain of many evil deeds done in your migrations through matter. Philosophy can never be learned through phenomena. Try to break through the desire for it. Occult students the world over have been warned by their teachers that it is a habit which grows with gratification. It is better to abandon the study than to risk the dangers of black magic.

What is Self? Only a passing guest, whose concerns are all like a mirage of the great desert. Man is the victim of his surroundings while he lives in the atmosphere of society. The Mahatma may be willing to befriend such as he has an interest in, and yet be helpless to do so. The will of the neophyte, also, must be the magnet which alone can compel a Mahatma’s notice. He follows his attractions as the needle does the poles. Will and Purity—these are the qualities which open the arcane to the presence of an adept—mere enthusiastic regard has no effect.

Feeble souls content themselves with wishes; great ones have wills.

In every man lie concealed the germs of faculties that are never unfolded on earth, and which have no reference to this state of knowledge.

No man can judge another, save by the measure of his own understanding: do not injure your own chance for growth by condemning in others the possession of faculties not known to yourself.

Thought runs swifter than the electric fluid; every bright aspiration sparkles and attracts the attention of the distant, but ever-watchful Master.

“Lay your burden upon the Lord”—that is, put your reliance in the Higher Self. Use the body as a means of strengthening the connection with the spirit and opening the road for its descents.

Slay Ambition: it is a deadly and cowardly foe, whose power over you is augmented by the approbation of others.

It is Karma that sends you into this world—to which you come alone—that leaves you alone in it and which takes you out of it alone. The law of Karma is the law of the conservation of energy on the moral and spiritual planes of nature.

The body is the mind’s portrait. The artist seeing its inharmonies regrets his failure, but knows not how to improve upon it. This is the spirit’s work, which, accomplished, leaves the outward a reflection of the indwelling Soul.

The manna that feeds the spirit is hidden from sight. The universal spirit supplies it.

Duty is the River that flows through life. Its tide is silvery to those who are on it, but threatening to those who approach it seldom.

Seek to recover your soul. It is the hidden treasure lost in the caverns of sense. Its recovery is redemption from many rebirths.

The vain and the arrogant demand our pity—the weak and erring our forbearance—the indifferent our sympathy—and the wise, alone, our admiration.

You have learned of Krishna that death is better than the performance of another’s duty. In persevering in the erroneous idea that we were put here to do the duties of others, woes have resulted that follow one through many lives.

Your perception of the inner self is clearer than the vision of the natural eye.

Earnestly regard the plane upon which you seek truth, do not expect to secure soul knowledge through the avenues of the senses.

Karma is like the vine that gathers strength through uninterrupted years, and which fastens its tendrils so closely that it is as strong as the structure to which it adheres. There is no way to destroy its power except by the separation of the parts, these parts renew themselves in other forms of life, but the structure is freed when its root is destroyed.

Evil thoughts corrode the character. Only the spirit has power over character to purify it.

We carry the accumulated results of many lives from one to another. This is the clue to the perfect fairness of nature. The apparent injustice of all differences of well-being are explained by the fact that we have known former states of existence. Every spiritual effort now made will tell not only now, but in the next incarnation as well.

The clue to many of the great mysteries of life is to be found in reincarnation; it is the only possible solution of the enigmas of existence.

The rule of the Mahatma is to approach every one where there exists even only the slightest glimmer of the true Light within him. None are left to perish who desire to be succored.

We write in every aspiration for truth, in thought and deed by day, and in soul-struggles by night, the story of our desire for spiritual development. Upon the pages of the Book of Karma are written the minutest particulars of individual efforts: when the feeble will is strong enough to prevent further births in this world, which is the spirit’s dream life, we shall find in Real existence all the chapters that we have written in all our transitions. Only then will we be able to read the whole book through and know the nature of the long journey out of spirit through matter and back again to the All.

The conflict of intuition against intellect has covered mankind in the crumbling ruin of despair. Man will never surrender himself to be the permanent vehicle of any set of ideas unless it completely satisfies the whole of his nature; the union of intellect and intuition only will end the conflict.

Take what you can of the teachings, and in developing devotion keep before you your example—THE TEACHER.

THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.

[Concluded from the July Number.]

“The music of the spheres” is not a mere figure of speech, but an actuality.

The Soul of the World has its central Sun whose life throbs pulsate throughout immensity. If we study the phenomena and conditions of either crystallization or organization we shall find that every atom in the vast universe is set to music. There is the pean of life, and the dirge of death, the major and the minor key. The rythm is the same whether in the ebb or flow of life, but the serried columns march in opposite directions. The Unity lies back of all phenomena in the infinite ocean, the universal solvent, as the crystal lies latent, potential, unmanifested, in the solution of salt. So all things exist potentially in the ether. The real form of everything is perfect, essential, divine. Only the effigy appears with ebb and flow; with swell and cadence like martial music. Only in the Garden of the Gods can the perfect flower and fruit appear. There is but one approximation to perfect form to be apprehended by mortals—the Sphere—and even this is ideal or geometrical, not actual. The dimensions of space pertain to objects: objects exist in time, and the essence of time is motion.[153] Imagine the intelligence of man posited in an ocean of Ether, a thinking principle, without form or extension, and the fallacy of space as generally conceived becomes manifest, and disappears. Matter, space, time, and motion, these pertain to outwardly manifested existence. Read backward the genesis of crystal, plant, animal or man, and one plan, one basis is discovered in all.

“Out from the shore of the great unknown” come trooping these effigies of diviner being, these shapes of diviner forms. In the beginning was the Word, the Fiat has gone forth. Listen O! man to the music of Bath Col the voice of thine own soul. Adonai speaks. If thou art conscious, His voice is conscience. It is the memory of the voice of God in fields elysian, thy former divine abode. Thou mayest involve in thy life on earth thine Augoeides, “being of light,” a “gleaming brightness.” This is thy holy mission, the meaning of thy human shape, thy manly powers, thy subtle intellect, thy holy intuitions. These are but the seed of larger life, the bird of promise. The unfolded flower shall be thy highest aspiration, thy holiest wish, and its ripened fruit shall bear thee to the garden of the gods, with knowledge and power as thy servants. Ask but thine own soul, counsel with thy better self, and if thou findest not within the silence the answering voice, then return to thy wallowing in the mire, and the husks which the swine do eat, rather than to thy father’s house which thou hast made, and will henceforth continue to make a den of thieves, at best, a whited sepulchre.

Now let us read the Tablet of Hermes, bearing in mind the fact that man is an epitome of the universe, thus actually or potentially containing all that is, and if he knows how to read and to unfold his own nature, powers and possibilities, he may read thereby the universe, unfold its laws, comprehend its plan, and if he be master of himself, thus revealed to his understanding, his powers shall be co-extensive with knowledge. He shall possess the MASTERS’ WORD.

This tablet is printed in full in September Path at p. 167.

The reader is referred to Isis Unveiled for explanation of the Azoth to which, on the physical plane, the tablet refers,[154] and I might say in passing, that those who complain that the Brothers closely guard occult secrets, will do well, even at this late day, to read Isis Unveiled. There are several matters contained in those two volumes which the careless reader, and complaining “theosophist” has possibly overlooked. In fact there is less concealment in all occult matters than the ignorant and time-serving suppose. There can be no better safe-guards to Royal Secrets, than ignorance and defective vision, for which defects there is no surgery or remedy outside ourselves.

“God saith, Let the man endued with a mind, mark, consider, and know himself well. * * And before they give up their bodies to the death of them, they hate their senses, knowing their works and operations.

“Rather I, that am the mind itself, will not suffer the operations or works, which belong to the body, to be finished and brought to perfection in them, but being the Porter and Doorkeeper I will shut up the entrances of evil, and cut off the thoughtful desires of filthy works.

“But to the foolish, and evil, and wicked, and envious, and covetous, and profane, I am far off, giving place to the revenging demon * *

“For the sleep of the body is the sober watchfulness of the mind, and the shutting of my eyes, the true sight, and my silence great with child; and full of good, and the pronouncing of my words the blossoms and fruits of good things.[155]

“Wherefore we must be bold to say that an earthly man is a mortal god, and that the heavenly God is an immortal Man[156].”

Compare with this the following from the writings of Plato:

“He who has not even a knowledge of common things, is a brute among men; he who has an accurate knowledge of human concerns alone, is a man among brutes; but he who knows all that can be known by intelligent inquiry is a god among men.”

In these brief and imperfect outlines enough has been given to show the thoughtful student, the agreement of the Hermetic doctrines with the teachings of Theosophy, indeed, any real progress in the comprehension of the one, may be taken as a key to the other. These, together with the teachings of the Kabala, are but different forms of the Secret Doctrine; none of them are to be fully apprehended by the intellect alone; but only when the mind is illuminated by the light of understanding, and the process by which this illumination is to be achieved, through diligent inquiry, unselfish work, and repression of the senses, appetites and passion, has been often pointed out, and is found repeated and reiterated in all these writings. If any, therefore, are disposed to complain that they are left to grope in darkness, they have no one to blame but themselves. To the conscientious student, the constant wonder is at the richness of the feast spread out on every hand.

Like a beautiful landscape to the blind, or music to the deaf, are the pages of wisdom to the ignorant and selfish. Eyes have they but they see not, ears have they but they hear not, and so long as they are joined to their idols they may as well be let alone. But to the earnest disciple, to the true seeker of The Path these are the everlasting verities: let them run and not be weary, walk and not faint, seek, and they shall surely find, desire, and they shall attain, knock, and the door of knowledge shall open, obey, and they shall in turn command, labor, and they shall obtain rest.

“Rest is not quitting

The busy career,

Rest is the fitting

Of self to one’s sphere.

’Tis the brook’s motion,

Clear, without strife,

Fleeting to ocean

After this life.

’Tis living and serving

The highest and best,

’Tis onward unswerving,

And this is true rest.”

B.

TEA TABLE TALK.

THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE AND DREAMS.

Have you ever noticed the swiftness of thought transference in cases where the thinker is not consciously projecting his thought to another mind? The writer had lately a notable instance of this. I was seated at the breakfast table, thinking over an order from THE PATH which had come the night before. It was an order for “1000 words on dreams, etc.” and not being such stuff as dreams are made of, I pondered intently albeit silently:—“Where the deuce am I to get any authentic dreams?”

“Mr. Julius, do you like dreams?”

So spoke a clear young voice at my elbow. It was the voice of Sue. I am not qualified to judge whether Sue is a child or a girl. She is, however, an embodiment of that young America who rules these United States from Atlantic coast to Pacific wave, and although a bachelor, I respect her accordingly. Sue represents my possible fate.

“Dreams!” I stammered. “What do you know about dreams?”

“Me? Why I have ‘em. Lots! But only the horrid kind, you know.”

I venture to ask, most respectfully, what she calls “the horrid kind.”

“The kind you can’t remember, so’s to tell ‘em and scare the girls. All mixed up, you see.” Here Sue snaps down the lid of the maple syrup cruet with an air which indicates that the subject is closed. But I venture on. I fear Sue a trifle less than I do my Editor and his demand for contracted copy.

“What made you think of dreams just now, Sue. if you please?”

“Oh! I don’t know. They just came spang into my head. Perhaps you were thinking about them.”

“Why, my child! You do not mean to say that you believe in thought transference!”

“What’s that? Some nonsense! What I mean is that when I’m thinkin’ ‘bout somethin’, an ‘I don’t want the other girls to talk about it, I put it out of my head, quick,—(another hot cake, please,) so they won’t get it into their heads too. They always do, unless. Understand?”

I did indeed. “Verily out of the mouths of babes and sucklings proceed the words of wisdom.”

This to myself of course. What I said aloud was merely, “I should like to hear a real good dream this minute, a true one.”

Sue gives her head that capable toss. “Why didn’t you ask me? You people always think children don’t know anything. Guess you’ve changed your mind since you were a child. Anyhow, Mrs. D. was tellin’ it t’ Sister an’ some ladies, and it gives your blood a lovely curdle.”

Here Sue settled herself in her chair and gave herself up with gusto to the joy of curdling my blood. Making careful inquiry afterward, I found true, in all its details, the dream which I now give to my readers.

Mrs. D. was at her country place. She dreamed one night that she rose, and walking to her window looked out upon the familiar scene just then lit by the moon. To her surprise she noticed persons walking two by two across the lawn towards her; then more people, many of whom she knew. As she watched this procession, there came finally a hearse driven by a boy. He stopped the ghastly vehicle under her window, and raising a scarred face on which the moonbeams played, he called out; “Are you ready?” Mrs. D. shrieked and awoke, to find herself in bed and the sport of a dream, but telling it afterwards to her family she remarked; “If ever I were to see that boy, I should know him by the awful scars on his face.”

Some time afterward this lady was standing in a hotel corridor, waiting for the lift. As it rose slowly into view, she was attracted by the head of the boy running it: “Where have I seen that head?” was her thought, and so puzzling, she delayed to step into the waiting lift. Just as she moved forward and entered, the boy turned his face towards her saying: “Are you ready?” and she saw again those great scars, and across her inner vision moved that slow funereal scene. Sickened, startled, she felt an impulse of escape, and profited by the stoppage of the lift at the next floor to get off, instead of continuing to a higher floor, as she had proposed. She paused a few moments to recover herself, and to reason with herself as well, when suddenly a horrible crash was heard; then a dead silence; afterward the murmur of excited voices. The machinery had broken, the lift had fallen to the ground floor, and every person in it had been killed. As I thought over this strange story, the decided young voice streamed on: “Do you know, Mr. Julius, they were discussing it at dinner, and I heard some quite stylish people say they believed it was God Himself warning her. Fancy! They weren’t church people of course.”

Humanity is divided by Sue into two classes. Class 1. Members of The Protestant Episcopal Church. Class 2. Heathen. She finds this very convenient. So, I doubt not, do many older persons.

“And what do you think it was, my child?”

“Me? Oh, well! I just think it was her soul, somehow, Mr. Julius! Why do you stare at me like that? I do believe you know something about it! Nobody will ever tell me. Put down your coffee cup, its spilling all over your beard, and tell me straight off all you know about our souls.”

But here the Skye terrier comes bouncing in, and offers himself for dissection instead. Nevertheless, I know a few people, (and I fancy THE PATH knows scores more) who expect you to tell between the roast and the relevé, all that is known about the soul. Go instead to the children, question their fresh instincts, their curious methods, their habitual impulses and freaks, above all, their esprit de corps, and what you learn about occultism from these still plastic minds will surprise you. It has me!

JULIUS.

A REMARKABLE OCCURRENCE.

This story was told me by my step-father about an uncle of his.

The uncle was large, broad-shouldered, loved fun, and yet had strange pre-occupied ways. He was fond of playing strange tricks upon the little ones, and was known by them all as: “the—queer uncle.”

Indeed he did not confine his experiments wholly to the small folks.

One evening he came into the sitting-room where his sister was, his face pale, with great drops of perspiration upon it, and his whole body shaking as with ague. She asked him what the matter was, and then said she was glad if he who had been frightening other people all his life, was really frightened himself. It was sometime before he could speak. At last he said he would tell her what had happened as well as he could.

He went into the woods and found a large tree (Beech, I think) standing alone.

Having tied his handkerchief around it, he placed his back against the tree and took so many paces in a straight line away from it. Then without looking towards the tree he walked three times around it—keeping the circle as nearly as possible. The night was very calm with a beautiful full moon.

After he had been round it once, there appeared to be no change. The second time the wind began to blow, and before he had completed the third circuit, the moon was overcast and the wind blew a gale. When he had reached the point, for the third time, from which he first started, he turned and faced the tree. Soon the wind ceased to blow, and the moon shone clear. Then, coming in an opposite direction, he saw a young lady approaching the tree.

She walked directly to it, untied the handkerchief and brought it to him and then disappeared on the spot. Upon concluding his narrative he said if ever he should meet that girl he should know her. The moonlight fell upon her face so that each feature was distinctly visible.

Six months later business called him to another town. While waiting in the parlor of the Hotel, before being called to dinner, the lady he had seen in the forest walked into the room.

Sometime after he obtained an introduction, and eventually became engaged. One day while discussing different matters, he told her of his singular experience in the woods.

“Why” said she “at that very time I had a most singular feeling, and fainted.” Her mother was appealed to and corroborated the fact. She said she was unconscious for such a length of time they thought her dead.

The day of the month and the hour corresponded exactly with the time the lady untied the handkerchief and brought it to him in the forest.

F. C.

REVIEWS AND NOTES.

THE THEOSOPHIST for October is a notably good number of that admirable magazine. Madame Blavatsky contributes the leading article, “Ancient Magic in Modern Science,” the reading of which makes us eager for the publication of her “Secret Doctrine,” the first volume of which, we learn, will soon be ready for publication.

Mohini M. Chatterji contributes a short article on “Mother Ganga,” and his strong tale, “Sowing and Reaping,” is concluded.

Maurice Fredal writes of Apollonius of Tyana, anent Mr. Tredwell’s valuable book on the Master. It is a “coincidence” that the October numbers of both The Theosophist and THE PATH should contain articles on Apollonius, the two complementing each other. It has been said that the teachings of Apollonius will have much to do in the new religion which is destined to become the leading faith of the world.

Col. Olcott has a highly interesting article on “Phantom Pictures in the Astral Light,” in which the various traditions of “The Flying Dutchman” are given prominence, and mention is made of a phantom ship seen from the man-of war which carried the two sons of the Prince of Wales on their voyage around the world.

Two articles of this issue are contributed from Chicago—a thoughtful essay on “Theosophy and Theosophists” by M. M. Phelon, and “A World-Old Story Still Unlearned,” by M. L. Brainard, the Secretary of the Chicago Branch; an allegory that will take, and repay, much pains to discover its true significance. “Some Hypnotic Experiments” is a valuable scientific article, and Miss L. S. Cook’s ideas “On Prayer” will probably meet approval among all Theosophists, who object only to the common forms of prayer, such as those designed to be “heard of men” like the prayers offered up in churches, and also the requests of people for divine favors which they have done nothing to merit.

The Unpublished Writings of Eliphas Levy, a mine of occult information, are continued, and an article on Raj Yoga will be appreciated by students of Indian philosophy.

MADAME BLAVATSKY: INCIDENTS IN HER LIFE. Edited by A. P. Sinnett. (London, 1886.) Price, $3.00. These memoirs are of absorbing interest, containing as they do authentic narratives written by the relatives and friends of Madame Blavatsky. They are divided into ten chapters, beginning with her childhood and ending with the present time when she rests in sickness in Germany, and bristle with stories of the most extraordinary character. Read in connection with the first article in the present number of this magazine, they become of greater interest. At page 257 Mr. Sinnett says she was not able to foresee the annoyances in the future. But we think she could see those quite clearly, and therein lay one of her constant trials: that she might see those troubles to come and yet refrain from trying to avert them. Inquirers can purchase the book through THE PATH.

ANNOUNCEMENT.

We beg to announce that with this date we sever our partnership. THE PATH henceforth will be the exclusive property and under the sole management of Mr. William Q. Judge.

WILLIAM Q. JUDGE,

ARTHUR H. GEBHARD.

New York, Dec. 1, 1886.

“There is a living creature in heaven which by day has “Truth” upon its forehead, by which the angels know it is day; but in the evening it has “Faith” on its forehead, whereby the angels know that night is near.”—From the Kabbalistic book, Kitzur-Sh’lh, fol. 42, col. 2.

OM!

But there is another invisible eternal existence, higher, deeper, innermost; not like this life of sense, escaping sight, unchanging. This endures when all created things have passed away. This is the highest walk and very supreme abode.—Bagavad-Gita, ch. 8.

Hear the secret of the wise. Be not anxious for subsistence; it is provided by the maker. When the child is born the mother’s breasts flow with milk. He who hath clothed the birds with their bright plumage will also feed thee.—Hitapodesa.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         JANUARY, 1887.                         NO. 10.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

THE ELEMENTALS, THE ELEMENTARY SPIRITS,

AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM AND HUMAN BEINGS.

A paper read before the Aryan Theosophical Society of New York, December 14th, 1886.

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD.

The subject of my paper is “The Elementals, the Elementary Spirits, and the relation between them and human beings.”

I will endeavor to give an outline of some of the teachings of the occult science relative to these beings, their relationship to the universal powers and to us, and our power over them.

In the general statement I shall probably not be able to say anything new to students of the occult forces of nature, except it be in the illustrations I shall bring forth from what I consider new sources, from Leibnitz’s Monadology, namely:

In Leibnitz’s Monads, I think we may see the very substance of the astral sphere, in which the elementary spirits “wrap themselves,” according to a statement in the Kabbala. We may even see more, we may even look upon them as the Elementals themselves.

If Leibnitz’s Monads may be considered not only as Elementals, but also the very substance of the astral sphere, and if it be so, that according to the Zohar, “the spirits, when they come down clothe themselves with air, or wrap themselves in elements,” then it becomes a subject of the greatest importance to us how or by what means we may influence the astral sphere, or in other words, it becomes very important by what kind of Monads we are surrounded.

As a help to the proper consideration of this momentous question, I shall offer some information regarding the natural auras or objective spheres, that surround us, and also some historic facts regarding the use of aromatic vapors, odors, &c.

Having come so far with my paper, I shall say a few words about our power over the elementals “clothed with air and wrapped in elements,” by defining the power of Mind and by describing those—almost unknown—small nerve centres of the human hand, called the Pacinian corpuscles.

I shall only stop to define these two tools, the head and the hand, and leave out, for the present, the third of the human trinity, the heart.

Having defined the power of mind and the hand, I shall come to a close with a few suggestions as to the use of these powers regarding the subject under consideration.

Elementary Spirits are defined in “Isis Unveiled” to be “the disembodied souls. The depraved souls have at some time prior to death separated from themselves their divine spirits, and so lost their chance for immortality. Eliphas Levi and some other Kabbalists make little distinction between elementary spirits who have been men, and those beings which people the elements, and are the blind forces of nature.”

The points to mark in this definition are these: (1) Elementary Spirits are disembodied souls; (2) they are disembodied souls of the good, and (3) of the depraved, i. e., of those, in whom the higher principles have never been developed, nor even born into light. They are the shades of those who, by their sins and moral misery, have closed the most interior principles of the constitution of man, and having closed the door against them, have no part in life, but sooner or later become dissolved and disintegrated in the surrounding elements.

In the manifestations common among Spiritualists, these Elementary Spirits play the most prominent parts. The Elementals do not. We shall concern ourselves mainly with the Elementals.

Elementals are defined in “Isis Unveiled” as “the creatures evolved in the four kingdoms of earth, air, fire, and water, and called by the Kabbalists gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and undines. They may be termed the forces of nature, and will either operate effects as the servile agents of general law, or may be employed by the disembodied spirits—whether pure or impure—and by living adepts of magic and sorcery, to produce desired phenomenal results. Such beings never become men.”

They are in popular mythology and folktales called by a great many names, peris, fauns, elves, brownies, nixies, &c., &c.

They are not disembodied human spirits, but distinct Creations. They have their homes in the astral sphere but are found commonly on earth.

The definition already given from “Isis Unveiled” I will amplify by a few lines I have extracted and translated from the various works of Paracelsus:

“All elements have a soul and are living. The inhabitants of the elements are named Saganes (Saganae), i. e., elements. They are not inferior to men; they differ from men by having no immortal soul. They are the powers of Nature, i. e., they are the ones who do that which is usually ascribed to Nature. We may call them beings, but they are not of Adam’s kin. They eat and drink such substances as in their element serve for eating and drinking. They are clothed, they marry and multiply themselves. They can not be incarcerated, and die like the animals, having no soul.”

“They know all that is going on, and do often reveal it to men, who are able to converse with them. But they are very unreliable, and some are very treacherous. They like children and simple minded persons the best. They avoid drunken and beastly men. They reveal more of their nature to the simple minded and innocent ones than to the learned and arrogant ones. They are rather simple minded themselves.”

“There are more women among them than men, and a congregation of women is called a Venus-mount. The fable told about Tannhauser is no mere tale, it is true.”

Thus far, we have, perhaps, no difficulty in following Paracelsus, but when we read further into his revelations, our common sense fails to comprehend the mysteries laid open. Yet, I will say for myself, that though I can not comprehend it, I can readily apprehend such a state of things as that described in the following words:

“They can come to us and mix with our society. They can bear us children; but such children do not belong to them, they belong to us. We may bring these elemental wives to us by faith, pure thinking and our image-making powers. When they enter our sphere of existence and copulate with us, they appear, on account of their strange manners, like gods.”

“Those that live in the water are called Nymphs or Undines, those in the air Sylphs, those of the earth Pygmies or Gnomes, those of the fire Salamanders. Nymphs or Undines look much like human beings, the others differ more or less.”

“It is particularly the Undines or Nymphs that unite with men. When an Undine marries a man, both she and her child become souls.”

From the Kabbala we can draw many statements corroborating the testimony of Paracelsus. In fact all the most valuable teachings we possess, relative to Elementals, as far as they are printed and given to the public, are derived from the Kabbala. According to it all activity, all events, in History and in Nature, are in the hands of spirits, either Elementals or Elementary. We find them as ministering everywhere, from the Zodiac down to the smallest worm. We find them mentioned by name, those of the sphere of the Shechina as well as those presiding over the four elements.

In Jalkut Chadash it is stated: “There is not a thing in the world, not the least herb, over which is not set a spirit.”

The Kabbalistic work Berith Menucha (by Abraham, a son of Isaac, a Jew from Granada), their names are given:

The spirit that presides over fire is named Jehuel, and under him range seven other spirits. Prince Michael is set over water, and under him rule seven other spirits. Jechiel rules over the wild animals and these rule under him. Anpiel rules over the birds and two princes rule beside him. Hariel controls the cattle and besides him three spirits. Samniel rules the creatures of earth and water and Mesannahel the worms. Deliel together with three princes command the fishes; Ruchiel and three others, the winds; Gabriel, the thunder; Nariel, the hailstorm; Maktuniel, the rocks and Alpiel the fruitful trees, while Saroel, the unfruitful. Sandolfon governs men.

These names are important, as you know, for they are the key to the respective powers of each of these spirits.

As stated in “Isis Unveiled,” Eliphas Levi and other Kabbalists make no or very little distinction between Elementals and Elementary Spirits. This cannot be right by Levi to do. There are essential differences. The Elementals never become men, nor were they ever men. The Elementary spirits as defined by Levi resemble very much such spirits as those we are familiar with in ordinary spiritism. I shall in this paper only give them a passing notice and speak about the Elementals mainly.

From the definition already given, it is evident that the Elementals exist in a great variety of forms, some are mere forces of nature, pure abstract beings; others have some kind of body, at least, when we speak of gnomes, sylphs, undines, &c., we represent them in figures more or less human.

In the Kabbala and other Jewish secret books and traditions, the Elementals are represented as a middle race of beings, which, by a general name, the Jews called Schedim (the male Ruchin and the female Lilin). They are really the lowest and the dregs of the spiritual orders. They are divided into four classes: (1) Those of Fire; these cannot be seen with the eye; they mean to do good, and often help men. They understand the Thora and have communion with the angelic world. They are masters of many of nature’s secrets.

It was these beings which Solomon employed, according to Mohammedan traditions, in erecting the temple. We are told,[157] that “he obliged the male genii to erect various public buildings, among others also, the temple. The female genii he obliged to cook, to bake, to wash, to weave, to spin, to carry water, and to perform other domestic labors. The stuffs they produced Solomon distributed among the poor.”

Much curious information can be had from these Mohammedan traditions. Solomon, we are told, once asked an Elemental, who appeared to him in the form of a fish, as to how many there were of that kind, and received the following reply: “There are of my species alone, seventy thousand kinds, the least of which is so large that thou would appear in its body like a grain of sand in the wilderness.”

We are further told, that Solomon, by means of a certain stone, “had dominion over the kingdom of spirits, which is much greater than that of man and beasts, and fills up the whole space between the earth and heaven.” Part of these spirits believe in the only God, but others are unbelieving. Some adore the fire; others the sun; others, again, the different stars; and many of them even water. The first continually hover round the pious, to preserve them from evil and sin; but the latter seek in every possible manner to torment and to seduce them, which they do the more easily, since they render themselves invisible, or assume any form they please. Solomon desired to see the genii in their original form. An angel rushed like a column of fire through the air, and soon returned with a host of demons and genii, whose appalling appearance filled Solomon, spite of his dominion over them, with horror. He had no idea that there were such misshapen and frightful beings in the world. He saw human heads on the necks of horses, with asses’ feet; the wings of eagles on the dromedary’s back; and the horns of the gazelle on the head of the peacock. Astonished at this singular union, he prayed the angel to explain it to him: “This is the consequence,” replied the angel, “of their wicked lives and their shameless intercourse with men, beasts and birds; for their desires know no bounds; and the more they multiply, the more they degenerate.”

(2) The second group consists of those of Fire and Air; they are lower in order than the former, those of Fire, but they are good and wise. They are also invisible. They inhabit, like the former, the upper regions.

(3) The third group consists of those of Fire, Air and Water, they are sometimes visible to our senses.

(4) The fourth class is also made of Fire, Air and Water, but have besides an element of Earth in their constitution. They may be fully seen by human eyes.

This class and those of the third are of a wicked disposition and deceive men, and are glad to do us harm. They have no moral sense at all. Some of them live in the waters, some in the mountains and deserts, and some in filthy places. Some of them are hideous to look upon, and are said to be met with even in open daylight.

The two first classes mentioned stand bodily next to men and are very dangerous. They possess extraordinary powers, standing, as they do, between the visible and the invisible worlds. They have some knowledge of the future and are particularly wise in regard to natural things. Some of these have in the time past been worshipped as gods and national deities. The Kabbala is quite emphatic in warnings against them, saying that they are untrustworthy because “their natural affinities are towards the lower realms of existence, rather than the higher.”

All these elementals, whatever class they belong to are subject to dissolution. Their lives are not centred on an eternal principle. They die—and that is the end of them.

It is also worthy of notice that there is a close parallel between the teachings of the Kabbala on this point with that of the Vishnu Purana regarding the composition of the descending order of emanations. According to the Kabbala, as we have just heard, the Elementals of the first order were pure Fire, those of the next were Fire plus Air, those of the next Fire, Air, and Water, while those of the lowest order consisted of Fire, Air, Water plus Earth. Each of them as they live on a lower plane add a new element to their constitution. The same law is found in the groupings of the elements according to the Vishnu Purana. The purest one is Ether and has only one property, sound. The next is Air which to sound adds touch; the next is Fire, which to sound and touch adds colour; the next is Water, which to the three former adds a fourth, taste; the last is Earth, which to all the former adds smell, thus possessing five properties.

The harmony in the teachings of these two authorities, resting as they do on so different a basis is an additional argument for the truths of their teachings on the main subject.

Thus far I have been speaking of Elementals in the commonly accepted sense. But, it appears to me that there is another order of beings which also may be called Elementals, though perhaps in another sense.

I mean the ten Sephiroth.

The Kabbala teaches that the En-Soph (the One without end, the Boundless) is present in the Sephiroth or “intelligences,” by means of which creation is effected.

These Sephiroth, these “intelligences” or spheres, as they also have been called, these spiritual substances are emanations from the En-Soph in which they existed from all eternity. They are emanations, not creations. A creation implies diminution of strength, but an emanation does not, hence the ten Sephiroth form among themselves, and with the En-Soph, a strict unity. They are in fact only differing from the En-Soph in the same way as light differs from its source, the fire. They are boundless on one side of their being, but finite manifestations on the other. They are both infinite and finite.

It has been stated that the whole world is like a gigantic tree full of branches and leaves, the root of which is the spiritual world of the Sephiroth; or it is like an immense sea, which is constantly filled by a spring everlastingly gushing forth its streams. That which thus has been said about the world applies equally to the Sephiroth. They are like trees rooted in the En-Soph, but blossoming and bearing fruit in the world. They are open within but closed without. Though they partake of the divine nature, they are on the outer side the garments of the Most High. This their outer side is their bodily form, and it is with this we may come in contact.

It is almost blasphemy to call the outer side of the Sephiroth bodily—for body is to us something very low. Let us, therefore, beware of attaching anything low or mean to Body, when we speak of the Sephiroth. Let us bow down and revere, for we are in the presence of the Holy, even when we in thought rise to the bodily form of the Sephiroth.

The Sephiroth, through the divine power immanent in them, uphold the World. They are the Elemental Forces of the World. Through them flows all Power and all Mercy. Yea, the En-Soph is revealed through the Sephiroth, and becomes incarnate in them. It is stated in the Kabbala that the En-Soph, through various Sephiroth, became incarnate in Abraham as love, in Isaac as power, in Jacob as beauty, in Moses as firmness, in Aaron as splendor, in Joseph as foundation, etc.

The soul, notwithstanding its connection with the body, if it remain uncontaminated and pure, is able to ascend to the Kingdom of the Sephiroth and to “command them”. But great mysteries surround the secrets connected with this power, and but few have they been who have been pious enough and strong enough to be admitted.

That the Sephiroth are powers, “Elementals,” and not individual beings is evident from their division into three groups, intelligence, animation and matter.

Each of the three groups is again subdivided, the first into (1) the Crown or the inscrutable Height, (2) the creative Wisdom, (3) the conceiving Intellect. The result of the combination of the latter two: the creative Wisdom and the conceiving Intellect, is in the Kabbala called knowledge (= Logos), which certainly shows these three Sephiroph to be spiritual substances, rather than individualities according to the common acceptation of the term. But it is not enough that we escape the mistakes which we would fall into if we regarded the Sephiroth as individualities, we must also beware of regarding them as mere abstractions, which the terms wisdom and intellect might lead us into. We shall never arrive at the truth, much less the power of associating with these celestials, until we return to the simplicity and fearlessness of the primitive ages, when men mixed freely with the gods, and the gods descended among men and guided them in truth and holiness.

The first group of the Sephiroth rests in so sublime an atmosphere and so near the Deity, that we can know nothing of their nature or activity.

The second group of the Sephiroth exercises its power over the moral world, and consists of (1) infinite Grace, (2) divine Justice, and (3) Beauty, which is the connecting link between Grace and Justice.

Here again we have to do neither with mere moral states nor with abstractions, but with embodiments of living and moving realities. Human eyes can, however, neither see them, nor can human hands touch them, for they are far removed from them, existing as they do on another plane of existence. Yet, he who keeps his virtue, and who knows the key to the chain of existences, can bring them out from their own realm and into his own and cause them to act.

The third group of the Sephiroth stands in relation to Matter in the same way as the other two stand to the Mind and the Heart, and may be called Elementals par excellence. They are called Firmness, Splendor, primary Foundation and Kingdom.—

I now wish to engage your attention by describing to you Leibnitz’s Monads. His monads have all the characteristics of Elementals, at the same time, that they seem to be purely physical molecules. But this very duplicity is an argument for my theory, that Leibnitz’s monad is a faithful definition of an Elemental. If it should be proved that they are not Elementals, and I doubt that that can be proved, they will at least serve as illustrations as to what an Elemental is.

Leibnitz[158] formulates his conception of substance in direct opposition to Spinozism. To Spinoza substance is dead and inactive, but to Leibnitz’s penetrating powers of mind everything is living activity and active energy. In holding this view he comes infinitely nearer the Orient than any other thinker of his day or after him. His discovery that an active energy forms the essence of substance is a principle that places him in direct relationship to the seers of the East.

This fact, that the chief points of Leibnitz’s philosophy are derived from this conception of an active energy forming the essence of substance, places it at once in our confidence.

From Leibnitz’s Monadology I translate the following paragraphs:

§1. “The Monad is a simple substance, entering into those which are compound; simple, that is to say, without parts.”

§2. “Monads are the veritable Atoms of Nature, in one word, the elements of things.”

When Leibnitz speaks of atoms it must not be understood that he is a materialist. He is far from it. Indeed, his system has been called a spiritualistic atomistic. Atoms and Elements to him are SUBSTANCE not Matter. They are centres of force or better “spiritual beings, whose very nature it is to act.” These elementary particles are vital forces, not acting mechanically, but from an internal principle. They are incorporeal or spiritual units, inaccessible to all change from without, but only subject to internal movement. They are indestructible by any external force. Leibnitz’s monads differ from atoms in the following particulars, which are very important for us to remember, otherwise we shall not be able to see the difference between Elementals and mere matter.

Atoms are not distinguished from each other, they are qualitatively alike, but one monad differs from every other monad, qualitatively; and every one is a peculiar world to itself. Not so with the atoms; they are absolutely alike quantitatively and qualitatively and possess no individuality of their own. Again, the atoms of materialistic philosophy can be considered as extended and divisible, while the monads are mere “metaphysical points” and indivisible. Finally, and this is a point where these monads of Leibnitz closely resemble the Elementals of mystic philosophy, these monads are representative beings. Every monad reflects every other. Every monad is a living mirror of the universe, within its own sphere. And mark this, for upon it depends the power possessed by these monads, and upon it depends the work they can do for us: in mirroring the world, the monads are not mere passive reflective agents, but spontaneously self-active; they produce the images spontaneously, as the soul does a dream. In every monad, therefore, the adept may read everything, even the future. Every monad—or elemental—is a looking-glass that can speak.

The monads may from one point of view be called force, from another matter. To occult science force and matter are only two sides of the same substance.

Such a doctrine is of course much objected to by people of the modern age, who pretend to possess very fine analytical powers, and yet are unable to conceive of matter under any other conditions than those cognizable by our coarse senses.

Those who have intellectual difficulties in seeing that Brahm is everything and everything is Brahm must take this doctrine on faith for awhile. A little earnest practice will lead them to see that truth is not attained through reflection, but through immediate intuition.

If we should desire to look upon these monads as matter, I know of no better comparison than with that which has been called Matter in a Fourth state or condition, a condition as far removed from the state of gas as a gas is from a liquid.

If we should desire to look upon these monads as force, I know of no better comparison than with that which Faraday called “Radiant Matter” and which by Crooke’s experiments has been shown to be so much like mere force, or matter completely divested of all the characteristics of bodies that its physical properties have been so modified that it has changed nature and appears under the form of force.

In §8 of the Monadology Leibnitz declares that “The Monads have qualities—otherwise they would not even be entities.” The qualities attributed to them make them appear very much like living rational beings. I am disposed to look upon them as upon those little beings represented by Raphael, as heads resting upon a pair of wings: pure intelligence, or spirits who have not yet attained to bodily life. If they have not a thinking soul, they are at least forces that resemble life. Continuing, Leibnitz (§11) says: “We might give the name of Perfection (Entelechies) to all monads inasmuch as there is in them a certain Completeness or Perfection. There is a sufficiency which makes them the sources of their own internal actions, and, as it were, incorporeal automata.” Says Leibnitz: (§19) “If we choose to give the name of soul to all that has perceptions and desires, in the general sense which I have just indicated, all simple substances or monads may be called souls.”

You see these infinitesimal beings are regarded by the great philosopher very much like intelligent existences; and yet they are very far removed from our conceptions of soul-life and existence. They are like the Elementals of the Kabbala: they never become men.

Continuing his definitions, he says (§60): “The monads are limited, not in the object, but in the mode of their knowledge of the object.” That is, the objective would have no power over them, but they themselves have only a limited knowledge of the objectivity, hence also a limited power. But that does not preclude the possibility of their being the means of the greatest influence upon the objective world—in the hands, namely, of an intelligent human being or spirit. “They all”, says Leibnitz, “tend (confusedly) to the infinite, to the whole; but they are limited and distinguished by the degrees of distinctness in their perception.”

Now I quote (§62) a sentence that reëchoes the most beautiful philosophy of the Orient. Leibnitz has seen as distinctly as the old nature worshippers of the early Aryans, that “every monad represents the entire universe.” This short sentence is the key to all mystical philosophy and to all magic; it is only second to such sentences as these: “God dwells in all things in His fullness,” (Vemana verse), and “The world is the image of God,” (Sufi philosophy).

It is a common mistake in the world to believe that God and his truth is only to be found in the Grand, in the Large, in the infinitely large.

In opposition to this, much of our mystical and esoteric philosophy points to the infinitely Small, declaring, that if we can become humble enough to descend to nature’s workshop, we shall learn more from the “atoms in space” upon which God let fall a “beam of his glory,” than from all the magnificent systems of the learned. Hear what Leibnitz himself says, though he is not a mystic. He ought to have been, for his insight was truly remarkable. He declares: (§66) “There is a world of creatures, of living things, of animals, of Perfection of souls, in the minutest portion of matter.” (§67) “Every particle of matter may be conceived as a garden of plants, or as a pond full of fishes—all swarming with life!“

Keep this in mind, that I am not talking about atoms of MATTER, but of atoms of substance, real unities, the first principles in the composition of things. Leibnitz himself, besides calling these corpuscular units Monads, has also called them Metaphysical points, and Scaliger called them seeds of eternity, and a Persian poet has put it very clearly before us, that an atom is not a unit, by saying, ”Cleave an atom, and you will find in it a Sun.” Here is the kernel of our subject, the substance of an atom in space is the storehouse of the immanent forces to which elementals, and elementary spirits to some extent, have access, and by means of which they work.

This view is fully corroborated by a representative of modern science, Sir John F. W. Herschel, who has approached very near to the teachings of occult science by declaring the presence of mind in atoms. In the Fortnightly Review of 1865, Sir John Herschel stated as follows: “All that has been predicated of Atoms, ‘the dear little creatures,’ as Hermione said, all their hates and loves, their attractions and repulsions, according to the primary laws of their being, only becomes intelligible when we assume the presence of MIND.”

These various definitions of the Monads as given by Leibnitz, answer in many important points exactly to what we find in occult teachings about the Elementals, and I can see no good reason why we should not look upon Leibnitz’s Monadology as a work on Elementals.

We are really done with him as far as our subject is concerned, but before dismissing him to turn to other wisdom, permit me to quote a few more passages, though they do not bear directly upon the subjects of monads. He says (§83-86): “Among other differences which distinguish spirits from ordinary souls, there is also this: ‘That souls in general are living mirrors, or images of the universe of creatures, but spirits are, furthermore, images of Divinity itself, or of the Author of Nature, capable of cognizing the system of the universe, and of imitating something of it by architectonic experiments, each spirit being, as it were, a little divinity in its own department.’—Hence spirits are able to enter into a kind of fellowship with God.—All spirits constitute the City of God—that is to say, the most perfect state possible under the most perfect of monarchs.—The City of God, this truly universal monarchy, is a moral world within the natural; and it is the most exalted and the most divine among the works of God.”

(To be continued.)

WHAT IS THE “THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY”?

The subjoined extracts from the writings and public utterances of some of the leading members of the Theosophical Society will it is believed throw considerable light on the issues raised in Dr. Hartmann’s article in the number for October entitled “What is the Theosophical Society”; not so much perhaps as testing the validity of his observations as expanding their scope, and throwing into relief the true character of the Theosophical Society. Anything done or said by anybody without exception, not in harmony with the spirit of these extracts is entirely without binding power on the Theosophical Society or any of its members.

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD THE MAIN OBJECT OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

In support of this assertion it may be noticed that in the April number of the Theosophist for the year 1880 in the extract of the rules of the Society as given in 1879, it is alternatively described as the Theosophical Society or Universal Brotherhood, and further stated that “The Theosophical Society is formed upon a basis of a Universal Brotherhood.”

In March, 1880, in a speech by Ráo Báhádur Gopálráo Hurry Deshmuk, the Society is described in the following words: “This Society was established in America four years ago (i.e. in 1875) and its object is to inquire into the philosophies of the East, to announce the brotherhood of man, and to create the bonds of fellowship among nations and sects of different denominations.”

In the June number of the Theosophist for 1881, the name of the Society is again put forward as, “Universal Brotherhood” and its first object is stated to be—To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity.

The same sentiment is to be found enunciated by Mr. Sinnett in a speech made on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the Society. He says: “But even this philosophical search for truth is hardly the primary object of the Society. That object is promoted by the philosophical search for truth, as I hope directly to show, that object itself is that pressed in the foremost watchword of the Society, Universal Brotherhood.” (Supplement Theosophist, January, 1883.)

In the last edition of his lectures, published in 1885, Col. Olcott quotes a passage from Lange’s “History of Materialism” p. 361, in which it is stated:—“That the new epoch will not conquer unless it be under the banner of a great idea which sweeps away egoism, and sets human perfection in human fellowship as a new aim in the place of reckless toil, which looks only to personal gain.” Col. Olcott then proceeds: “It is to such an idea as this that the Theosophical Society seeks to give a formal if not already a quite practical expression,” p. 30. Further on in the same book, p. 117, he states “Our Society might have added to the name ‘Theosophical’ that of ‘Philadelphian’ as it was always meant to be a Society of Universal Brotherhood and for promoting brotherly love among all races.”

In No. 8, Transactions of the London Lodge Theosophical Society, Mr. Mohini M. Chatterji, in a paper “On the Theosophical Society and its Work,” after enumerating the three objects of the Society, makes the following observation:—“Of these three the first (i.e. Universal Brotherhood) is to be looked upon as the crown and end, the other two are merely accessories and means. Every member of the Theosophical Society must be inspired by that end, but may or may not be interested in the other two objects.”

A letter from Dewan Bahadoor Ragoonath Row published in the Theosophist for March, 1884, and quoted in the same “Transaction,” still further accentuates this position. He says:—“Theosophy, as understood by me, is made up of three elements, viz, universal brotherhood, knowledge of truths discovered by science generally known to the ordinary scientist, and knowledge of truths still in store for them. It may be described in another way, viz, ‘universal religion and science reconciled.’ To be a Theosophist he must acknowledge and practice universal brotherhood. If he is not prepared to admit the principle, he cannot be a Theosophist. In addition to this, he should be a student of truths generally known, of course to the extent of his capacity. He should, besides, be a searcher of truths hitherto unknown. If he be all these three, he is undoubtedly a Theosophist. It is, however, possible that one may not be capable of knowing scientific truths, extant or prospective, and yet may be able to recognize and practice universal brotherhood; he is still a Theosophist. No one who does not admit and practice universal brotherhood, though he be a scientist of the first degree, can ever be a Theosophist.”

In the last published report (1886) of the Rules of the Theosophical Society it will also be seen that the first object of the Society is again stated as the promotion of a “Universal Brotherhood of Humanity.”

It is evident from these extracts, dating from the first formation of the Society to the present year, that Universal Brotherhood has been the one and only constant object of the Theosophical Society. The other objects which have at different times been added to this can only be looked upon as additions forming no part of the basic nature of the original, admissible only on the principle of toleration but in no sense binding on the Society. Whatever may be the statement put forward by individuals, from the President to the youngest member of the Society, or by any groups of individuals, such statements ought to be considered as representing individual opinion only and as having no authoritative legislation over the members of the Society.

THE UNSECTARIAN CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY.

This point which is the logical outcome of the former position, is likewise as clearly enunciated in Theosophical literature.

In October, 1879, in an article entitled “What are Theosophists,” which has since been acknowledged by Madame Blavatsky, it is stated:

“With how much, then, of this nature-searching, God-seeking science of the ancient Aryan and Greek mystics, and of the powers of modern spiritual mediumship, does the Society agree? Our answer is:—with it all. But if asked what it believes in, the reply will be:—‘as a body—Nothing.’ The Society, as a body, has no creed, as creeds are but the shells around spiritual knowledge; and Theosophy in its fruition is spiritual knowledge itself—the very essence of philosophical and theistic enquiry. Visible representative of Universal Theosophy, it can be no more sectarian than a Geographical Society, which represents universal geographical exploration without caring whether the explorers be of one creed or another. The religion of the Society is an algebraical equation, in which so long as the sign = of equality is not omitted, each member is allowed to substitute quantities of his own, which better accord with climatic and other exigencies of his native land, with the idiosyncracies of his people, or even with his own. Having no accepted creed, our Society is very ready to give and take, to learn and teach, by practical experimentation, as opposed to mere passive and credulous acceptance of enforced dogma. It is willing to accept every result claimed by any of the foregoing schools or systems, that can be logically and experimentally demonstrated. Conversely it can take nothing on mere faith, no matter by whom the demand may be made. * *

“Born in the United States of America, the Society was constituted on the model of its Mother Land. The latter, omitting the name of God from its constitution lest it should afford a pretext one day to make a state religion, gives absolute equality to all religions in its laws. All support and each is in turn protected by the state. The Society, modelled upon this constitution, may fairly be termed a ‘Republic of Conscience.’

“We have now, we think, made clear why our members, as individuals, are free to stay outside or inside any creed they please, provided they do not pretend that none but themselves shall enjoy the privilege of conscience, and try to force their opinions upon the others. In this respect the Rules of the Society are very strict. It tries to act upon the wisdom of the old Buddhistic axiom: ‘Honor thine own faith, and do not slander that of others;’ echoed back in our present century, in the ‘Declaration of Principles’ of the Brahmo Samaj, which so nobly states that: ‘no sect shall be vilified, ridiculed, or hated.’” * * * * *

“In conclusion, we may state that, broader and far more universal in its views than any existing mere scientific Society, it has plus science its belief in every possibility, and determined will to penetrate into those unknown spiritual regions which exact science pretends that its votaries have no business to explore. And, it has one quality more than any religion in that it makes no difference between Gentile, Jew or Christian. It is in this spirit that the Society has been established upon the footing of a Universal Brotherhood.”

In the supplement of the Theosophist, January, 1886, in the Preamble or Statement of Principles, first put forth in 1875 are these words: “Whatever may be the private opinions of its members, the Society has no dogmas to enforce, no creed to disseminate. It is formed neither as a Spiritualistic schism, nor to serve as the foe or friend of any sectarian or philosophical body. Its only axiom is the omnipotence of truth, its only creed a profession of unqualified devotion to its discovery and propagation. In considering the qualification of applicants for membership, it knows neither race, sex, color, nor creed.

In the rules of the Theosophical Society, published in 1886, it is also stated “That the Society represents no particular religious creed, is entirely unsectarian, and includes professors of all faiths.”

In the paper before alluded to No. 8, Transactions of the London Lodge—Mr. Mohini M. Chatterji makes the following remark:—“All attempts to fasten the authority of the Society to any creed, philosophical or otherwise, which is not covered by these rules (viz, the printed objects of the Society) are void ab initio; not because of the merits of such creed or doctrine, or of their exponents, but simply for the reason that the Theosophical Society, by its constitution, is not capable of holding any creed or doctrine in its corporate character.”

It is important that each individual member should clearly realize what the Theosophical Society is, what its fundamental principles and what is required of its members. It has been with the thought of giving further emphasis to the idea set forth by Dr. Hartmann in his concluding paragraph that these few extracts have been put together. A little attention to these statements will it is believed show the true character and purpose of the Theosophical Society and aid people to discern what is and what is not consistent with that character and purpose.

F. A.

ROTATION-INDIVIDUAL EVOLUTION.

[BY THE AUTHOR OF “LINES FROM LOWER LEVELS.”]

The paper on “The Higher Life,”[159] and the remarks which it has called forth, have led me to further reflections upon the subject. That subject is in fact, Individual Evolution, and the warning expressed by Murdhna Joti, in that article about “impetuously rushing into the circle of ascetics,” opens up an important phase of the topic most vital to humanity. For this sentence is not a mere advisory caution; it points out the only available procedure, the one course conducive to successful evolution, or final perfection. This course may be briefly summed up in one word,—Rotation. Upon examination we shall find this fact proved by the laws governing Universal Brotherhood.

To begin with, when we take into consideration the personalities of the real Founders of the Theosophical Society, we find ourselves safely concluding that the institution of this principle of Brotherhood as the basis of that Society, did not occur from any arbitrary selection, nor yet from ethical or even humanitarian considerations merely. We may say that it was not chosen; it presented itself as a central fact, one which correlates with all things, and is itself one of the aspects of the Great, the Mysterious Law. It must be moreover that level of the Law most nearly related to the human being, and by which alone he can raise himself from this “Slough of Despond” called matter. Upon no lesser precedent than this would the Masters, those supreme exponents of the Law, proceed. The outcome and teaching of that Law is Unity; the power of Unity is its exoteric expression. (Its hidden expression, Great Spirits alone can declare.) This power is conferred by the economic tendency of Nature, which uniformly moves along the line of least resistance and of larger currents of energy, which draw in turn all minor streams of being into their resistless tide. In order to bring home to all mankind the primary fact that only as a united body, only by living in and working with and for all, can unbroken advance to the Perfect Goal be achieved, this unitarian necessity had to be conveyed by a term which would appeal to the untrained, as well as to the cultured mind. No man or woman so grossly ignorant but can sense the advantages of “Universal Brotherhood,” while the more profound the thinker, the more he warms to the sublime comprehensiveness of this idea.

Many readers will doubtless recall an italicised sentence in the “Diary of a Hindu,” also published in THE PATH. It ran as follows:—“No Yogee will do a thing unless he sees the desire in another Yogee’s mind.” These were the words of a teacher, and those who may require it have here an authoritative recognition of the need of humanitarian unity. For man’s strength lies in his perfect equilibrium, and by man I now mean the whole, triune man. That this fact is also true on the physical plane alone, is evidenced by medical testimony to the effect that while perfect health is perfect balance, the more complete this balance, the more readily is it disturbed. Thus trained athletes are compelled to take dietetic and other precautions, which men of minor strength disregard with apparent impunity. I say “apparent,” because the result is of course visible in their inferior physical powers. Only when the triune man has attained equilibrium is he a moral force; then alone is he in complete harmony. Harmony with what? With the Law that works for perfection or reunion, faith in which and accordance with which, is the sum of the highest consciousness of the human being. Now remember that there is at all times a body, (be it numerically large or small,) of individuals cognizing and waiting upon this Law. They perceive its tendency, they only act with and through it, and the cumulative energy of this compact body, plus certain impersonal forces, is in itself a tremendous power, so vast in fact, that plus the energizing spirit again, it may be said to form the exoteric expression of the Law itself. Imagine some one member of this body attempting to act from his separate impulse, and not from the general instinct. By disengaging his unit of force from the sum total, he at once neutralizes its effect and limits its expansive ratio; hence it is that action from self, however disinterested, is enfeebling in its tendency. This man may join himself to the powers of evil and act in opposition to the Law: he has then the accruing benefit of that energetic total, but this must fail in the long run, because it is minus the creative spirit, which works for eventual harmony. So true is it that a given cause produces similar results on all the planes alike, that in the spiritual as in the physical world, there must be united action to produce large results. The inutility of weak, single effort was acknowledged by St. Paul when he said—“Because thou art neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth.” Unless the Yogee therefore, perceives an idea in other related minds, as the reflection of the Universal mind, he does not act. When the individual mind has freed itself from all desire for personal action and resting in the Universal Mind, acts passively with it alone, saying: “I rise with thy rising, with thee subside,”—then the individual has attained Nirvana. So that our present unit of power depends upon our greater or lesser assimilation with the highest aggregate of mind, and its continuance, upon our adherence to that manifested body of the Universal Mind which works for Good, with faith into the Perfect Law. This body in turn depends upon the individual efforts of its members, for the continuous elevation and expansion of its highest Ideal. Being thus interdependent, I think we may easily recognize that Universal Brotherhood is the starting point towards final success, and that its complete realization is the goal itself. Each may attain Omniscience, but only as one of a body, not as a separate part. “You shall enter the light, but you shall never touch the flame.”[160] So we may be part of the universal spirit, yet never that spirit itself.

This Brotherhood then, in its harmonious equilibrium, implies subservience to the Law of Evolution. The course marked out by this Law is one of gradual progression through a series of interlinked processes, not one of which can be intermitted or dropped, any more than we can omit a link from a chain without break of continuity, which would in this case imply a break of individuality, either as applied to a member or to the whole body. We find this course substantiated by Nature, who is our great initiator. Murdhna Joti’s phrase about not rushing “into the circle of ascetics,” refers to the rotation prevalent in Nature, and may be used in a large general sense, and not merely applied to any especial circle, such as the Hindu, Mahomedan, Christian or other group of ascetics. He refers to the disadvantages consequent upon any violation of this rotatory course; these apply quite as much to the farmer who fails to rotate his crops, as to any thing or person rushing into any plane, before being in all respects fitted to go there. Each plane in itself constitutes a “circle of ascetics,” and must be entered in the proper manner. In every department of Life we meet with an acceptance of this fact. No man is admitted to the privileges of naturalization until he has resided in a country, and has had time to accustom himself to its manners and laws. It is ever held necessary to serve a certain apprenticeship before entering any profession or trade. The social usages even make “circles of ascetics” in this sense. A boor, a ploughman, or even unsuitably attired persons, are not desired or admitted in a parlor full of people in splendid array, and a natural instinct makes them shrink from entering there. When exceptions occur, there is an undercurrent of discord perceptible; all are alike ill at ease. So in Nature, minerals, plants and animals are limited to their proper sphere. Birds cannot swim nor fishes fly. I would say, as birds or as fish per se they cannot do so, nor can the boor, as a boor, be at ease with elevated minds. But advancement is the common lot of all, provided it be made step by step in the natural series of succession.

What then is this process in practical Life? It is, firstly, the identification of yourself with the highest consciousness accessible on your present plane, the engrafting upon your entire life of the best ideal attainable, so that you may act upon it in every thought and word. If you can do no more, select in your own mind the most unselfish and pure-hearted person in your horizon, and study the workings of such gracious aspirations and deeds. Noble ideals will soon spring up within you, and by this lodestone similar minds will swiftly be attracted, until you shall collectively form a nucleus of persons identical in aim and influence. If one receives a ray of Truth, he will speedily reflect it to all, and thus our attainment is largely regulated by that of our compeers. Largely, but not entirely. There are exceptional souls who progress with amazing velocity, far outstripping the comrades of their starting-level. But even these hearts of power reach up to the more perfect spirits above them, and to feel this attraction they must have prepared themselves for it, in the uniform, if rapid, rotation of previous existences. Each must trace out the prescribed circuit, but he may travel fast or slow. Let him not rashly conceive himself to be endowed with unusual spiritual momentum: time is better spent in caution than in failure.

Murdhna Joti gives valid warning not to rush in until all is ready. The circle is prepared, but you may not be so. Again, your fitness may be assured and the circle for the moment closed. The course of physical nature will exemplify my meaning. The blood leaves the heart by the arteries and goes on to the capillary interchange with the venous system, even as man descends from Spirit into matter, and at the point of choice, turns, and reascends towards Spirit. The veins take up the function of returning the blood to the heart; in these are valves; they receive, hold and transmit the impulse from the central heart. All the blood between any two valves has to stay there until the next impulse comes from the heart; when this arrives, it passes on. The valves close behind each quantum of blood thus ejected through: it is not possible for the blood to recede; retrogression is impeded by the closed valve. Nor can it remain; progress is imperative when the next impulse drives it forward, and so it goes on to the heart In the same manner each person should stay in his appropriate place, not only until he is ready, but also until the great Heart of all is ready to give the next impulse. Then he will inevitably go on to the next place.

Masters have said that for “chelas and adepts alike there is an abyss behind each step; a door closed. To stop or to go back is impossible.” That which is true for the Adept is true for the humblest disciple, each in his own manner and degree. It behooves us then to concentrate our attention upon the natural and fitting method of progression, and to assist those about us in maintaining a high average of ideality, that the entire body may progress evenly, steadily, and that nowhere may ignorance or undue haste clot or clog the way. In the end, the reward of patience is holy. In every effort you make to lighten the mind of another and open it to Truth, you help yourself. “Those pearls you find for another and give to him, you really retain for yourself in the act of benevolence. Never lose, then, that altitude of mind. Never, never desire to get knowledge or power for any other purpose than to give it on the altar, for thus alone can it be saved to you. When you open any door, beyond it you find others standing there who had passed you long ago, but now, unable to proceed, they are there waiting; others are there waiting for you! Then you come, and opening a door, those waiting disciples perhaps may pass on; thus on and on. What a privilege this, to reflect that we may perhaps be able to help those who seemed greater than ourselves.”[161]

The consent of the Spirit has hallowed those thoughts. Another Messenger of Truth once said:—“The first shall be last and the last first; contain yourselves, therefore, in Peace.”

JASPER NIEMAND, F. T. S.

THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE.

I.

Within the symbols and doctrines of the Christian Church may indeed lie hidden all the truths of the Occult Philosophy, and another and abler pen has already traced the correspondences, but it is necessary to realize differences as well as likenesses, and while Christianity, as a definite system, has embodied for the world many noble ideas, it seems to the writer to have been able to display only one fact of the divine jewel of Truth—to have been able to trace only a short line of the celestial circle of Wisdom.

Putting aside all such unphilosophical dogmas, as a personal anthropomorphic God—atonement by the vicarious sacrifice of another—eternal damnation and such like, which may be regarded as the outworks of the Creed, and which indeed many of its own professors deny or minimize, and coming to the essential kernel of the system—the inner stronghold of the faith—that which would be regarded as such by all its truest sons throughout these nearly nineteen centuries of its existence, it would yet seem to be but a one-sided statement—a partial view—compared with the all-embracing Catholicity of the Occult Wisdom.

Unfortunately the outworks and excrescences above referred to, have, during these many centuries, so warped the thoughts and feelings of the populations professing this religion that it is no longer the pure and exalted doctrine as preached by its founder, but something very different. There are, no doubt, here and there good and noble souls, who practice the higher virtues of Christianity, but they are in such a minority that they are quite unable to affect the popular standard.

When one begins to analyse the stupendous outgrowth called Western Civilization, of which steam and electricity, in their practical uses, may be regarded as the types, and to ask how and by what means this vast fabric has arisen, we are informed by those who are able to see below the mere surface of things that the setting of men’s minds in a certain direction must have been the factor, and it is only logical that if a man’s highest religious duty is put before him as the saving of his own soul from perdition, a tendency of mind which may be characterized as the supremely selfish must naturally be set in motion. When the converging lines of heredity through many generations have so strengthened this tendency that it has become a potent factor, the development “in excelsis” of the purely intellectual faculties as dissociated from the moral will be seen to be the inevitable result, and from this has naturally evolved the Western Civilization which is spoken of with so much pride. But are not nations like trees to be known by their fruits? “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”

What sins are dwelt on with more emphatic reprobation throughout the whole teachings of Christ than those of hypocrisy and cupidity? And where is hypocrisy deeper than within the Christian fold? So deep indeed, that it has become an integral part of the nature, and is no more recognized as a vice than it was by the Pharisees of old. And where is the worship of mammon more rampant than throughout the length and breadth of Christendom? The preachers of the Churches may utter faint-hearted protests, but the nations nevertheless remain prostrate before their idol, and as steam and electricity extend their sway, and new countries are laid open to modern progress, the more primitive races, to avoid extinction, join in the mad competition for wealth. But whether conspicuously shown in the acts of States lustful to conquer fresh territory, or hidden in the individual character, where it displays itself in the haste to grow rich by fair means or foul, it remains none the less a gnawing canker at the heart of Christendom.

What a gulf there lies between the practice of modern Europe and the divine teachings of the Master.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon Earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

And again: “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.”

There is probably no teaching more thoroughly altruistic in its character, and which, if it could be literally applied, would exercise so direct and beneficial an influence on the human race as the teaching of Christ, but to the impartial student there seems to be none, the spirit of whose revelation has been more perverted and degraded by his followers of all denominations, and following the spiritual law whose complement on the physical plane may be recognized in the axiom that action and reaction are equal, the moral light to which Christ’s teachings soared is the measure which decides the depth to which such teaching, when perverted, must inevitably fall, and Christendom may veritably be said to have become Anti-Christian.[162] All the religions of the world have more or less lost the divine afflatus by which they were originally vivified, but it has been reserved for Christianity to mould the life of the nations from the very blackness of the shadows cast by the “Light of the World.”

When we ask to what goal or catastrophe this Western Civilization is hurrying, it is still more necessary to have the eyes of those who are able to read the signs of the times. The following is an extract from a letter to which many of the above ideas may be traced which was signed “a Turkish Effendi” (in the absence of any right to suggest the real and more authoritative name), and was published by his correspondent in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine of January, 1880:

“The persistent violation for centuries of the great altruistic laws propounded and enjoined by the great founder of the Christian religion, must inevitably produce a corresponding catastrophe; and the day is not far distant when modern civilization will find, that in its great scientific discoveries and inventions, devised for the purpose of ministering to its own extravagant necessities, it has forged the weapons by which it will itself be destroyed. No better evidence of the truth of this can be found than in the fact that Anti-Christendom alone is menaced with the danger of a great class revolution: already in every so-called Christian country we hear the mutterings of the coming storm, when labor and capital will find themselves arrayed against each other—when rich and poor will meet in deadly antagonism, and the spoilers and the spoiled solve, by means of the most recently invented artillery, the economic problems of modern ‘progress.’ It is surely a remarkable fact that this struggle between rich and poor is specially reserved for those whose religion inculcates upon them as the highest law—the love of their neighbor—and most strongly denounces the love of money. No country which does not bear the name of Christian is thus threatened.”

But to return from this long digression, take Christianity, I say, in its loftiest ideal, as taught and practiced by its founder—and it certainly is a very lofty one—altruism in its most sublimated form—self-sacrifice incarnate upon Earth—giving of its life-blood to raise the sons of men, and drawing all to Him by the sheer force of divine love, until the believer’s heart is set on flame, and nothing seems worthy in his eyes short of absolute union with this divine personality who is at once his Saviour, his brother and his God.

Yet were you to analyse the thoughts and feelings of the most ecstatic saint, would they display more than an ardent soul, a devout mind and a holy life?

Those of the Dualist Philosophy might indeed argue that such an one had his feet well planted on the narrow way—but the students of the wider Philosophy of Nature know well that everything on Earth—religion included—is under the governance of natural law. The attainment of perfection is not to be achieved by sentiment alone—it is a scientific process, and knowledge is the supreme enlightener.

The devotion of Bhakti is indeed a necessary prelude to progress in the religious life, under the guidance of whichever special cult the neophyte may aspire, but it is as it were the outer court of the Temple, and the Holy of Holies cannot be reached by any save those who have attained knowledge.

Without some previous study of occult writings, this word knowledge will entirely fail to carry home the idea which it is intended to express, and let alone the liability to misinterpretation from this cause, how can anyone pretend to describe it who has himself none of this knowledge, who has not yet trodden one step of the path that leads there, and who can only strain with vague imagination towards the sublime conception of the inmost workings of Nature through her manifold diversity laid bare before the intuitive vision? However, although it is an act of temerity on the writer’s part, these few words may convey some idea to those who are no further on the path than himself.

When the lower states of consciousness have been so welded in the fire of supreme emotion that duty, though involving the most appalling sacrifice, is no longer a thing to strive after with pain and struggle, but is a natural outcome of the life—the absolute expression of unity with nature—when the higher faculties, emotional, ethical and intellectual, whose respective functions may be said to be the perceiving of the Beautiful, the Good, and the True, have been so merged in one that the Buddhi or divine spark which hitherto flickered, becomes a bright, steady, luminous flame—when the “Explosion,” as St. Martin called it, has taken place, “by which our natural will is forever dispersed and annihilated by contact with the divine,”—then and then only is one fit to begin to tread the path of knowledge.

That it leads altogether beyond human experience, and entirely transcends what we can conceive is but too apparent.

The 15th and 16th Rules in the second part of “Light on the Path” may help towards a vague apprehension of what this knowledge means.

15th. Inquire of the earth, the air and the water of the secrets they hold for you. The development of your inner senses will enable you to do this.

16th. Inquire of the holy ones of the earth of the secrets they hold for you. The conquering of the desires of the outer senses will give you the right to do this.

And the final secret of all may be said to be wrapped up in the mystery of “self.” When the knowledge of the individualization of Being is reached, man has learned all that this world can teach him, and in the words “Know thyself” lie folded the ultimate possibilities of Humanity. Knowledge is indeed the supreme enlightener.

“There is no purifier like thereto

In all this world, and he who seeketh it

Shall find it—being grown perfect—in himself.”

Whether any intelligible idea as to the knowledge itself can be evolved from what is here written—it will at least be apparent that a goodness so exalted as to be scarcely imaginable as a human attribute is required as the necessary qualification for the commencement of the search.

Well did Shelley write in his Prometheus:

“The good want power but to weep barren tears

The powerful goodness want—worse need for them.

The wise want love; and those who love want wisdom.

And all best things are thus confused to ill.

Many are strong and rich, and would be just

But live among their suffering fellow-men

As if none felt: they know not what to do.”

and the current Theologies of the world have not been able to remove the reproach. In the case of Christianity the failure may, to a great extent, be owing to its sentimentality and its failure to realize that to be supremely good it is necessary to be wise—though wise with a higher wisdom than that referred to in the above lines.

But Christianity’s greatest fall has probably been its disregard of the facts of Reincarnation. Whatever interpretation may be put on the great Master’s utterance on this subject, and however the early church may have regarded it, it is notorious that Christianity, as interpreted by its mediæval and modern professors alike, has entirely ignored the evolution of the soul progressing through innumerable earthly existences, and has instead adopted the illogical and unphilosophic dogma of a human soul born into the world from nothingness and meriting by its 70 or 80 years of earth-life an Eternity of bliss or an Eternity of misery.

But one does not expect of the child the reason-guided actions of mature manhood—its teachings must be given in the form of dogma, to which it must yield implicit obedience. Nor do we expect the infant school to provide the same training that the University does for the cultured intellect. Similarly the various Religions of the world have been the infant schools for growing Humanity until the complete stature of manhood should be reached.

It has been remarked by some Christians who are much enamored of the self-devoted love exhibited by the Founder of their faith, and the strong feeling of personal love and attachment thereby called forth from them, that Theosophy is cold because it does not dwell exclusively on that side of the nature, but while each separate Religion that has existed in the world may be regarded as the analysis of one special characteristic of the mind, the occult philosophy gathers into one synthetical whole all its varied characteristics. The different religions accentuating as they do different truths may be regarded at the same time—according as one looks at them from the scientific or religious standpoint—and both views are equally tenable and mutually comprehensive—as natural evolutions of the peoples among whom they arose, and as revelations from the unseen universe of partial truths which have to be received and assimilated before mankind can be fitted to comprehend the Supreme Truth in its abstract purity.

It will be seen from the foregoing that what we call Theosophy is the supreme expression of all Religion, as it is the final synthesis of all Science—for it is faith merged in Knowledge.

When one looks abroad on the world and sees how few even among the Religious, the Cultured and the Intellectual are able to grasp the Truth by intuitive vision—while the masses of mankind are sunk in degradation and semi-barbarity, the mind is lost in the vistas of the future, during which the present Religions or those which may have taken their place will have to continue their work of teaching.

Education is slow and Evolution is tardy, and the whole circle of wisdom is slow to trace; but the march of Nature has been as it was bound to be—for the best—and the line of Pope

“One truth is clear, whatever is is right.”

seems more and more to be borne in upon the mind as an Eternal verity.

Destiny has guided us till now, and has made us what we are, but we who now realize the omnipotence of the divinely guided Will, have become potentially the makers—let us take it in our hands and shape our own career, for the sooner we rise to the heights of our Being, the sooner shall we be able to stretch down helping hands to the suffering Humanity of To-day.

PILGRIM.

TEA TABLE TALK.

THE TENDENCY OF THE PRESENT CIVILIZATION.—AN ANCIENT HINDU STORY.

Pretty much every subject comes up for discussion at our afternoon tea-table. Hence I was not surprised lately, walking in upon our five-o’clock callers, to find an argument on crime going the rounds with the bread and butter.

“What is the worst thing you have seen in the papers lately?” This question imparted the flavor of caviare to the mild refreshment of the ladies. The Club Bachelor held a certain divorce case to be——; the mother drowned the rest in the peremptory rattle of her tea-cups and instanced cruelty to the child slave of an Italian padrone. Sue let off a pyrotechnic series of wrath-compelling wrongs to animals, whom she considers “miles above horrid humans.” The widow pilloried that brutal subject of recent press dispatches “who murdered his fifth wife at her tea-table. Fancy! What an invasion of the Sanctuary.” Pretty Polly was also heard battling vi et armis with the Medical Student over a breach of promise case, and all were moderately heated over these comparative claims to condemnation when the professor entered. Tumultuously appealed to, he replied in his serious way that if he must discriminate between evils, he should give precedence to the matter of the Chicago Anarchists. First, because of the blood-shed and riot; second, because of recent manifestations of incipient public sympathy with the criminals. “For,” said he, “considering the infectious nature of the evil, a crime which strikes at principles as well as at humanity is a thousandfold crime.”

A murmur of approbation showed that as usual, he had conveyed the ultimate sense of the tea-table,—minus a paltry minority. For the widow fixing her eyes on me where I had edged between Polly and the Student, remarked that Mr. Julius looked “as if he sympathised with incitors of riots rather than with their victims.”

The prompt horror visible on Polly’s face nettled me into this reply. “Madam, your discrimination merits my homage, I am not totally devoid of all sympathy with the incitors of riots,” (gutturals of dismay from every throat,) “for those incitors,” here I bowed in a semi circle, “are yourselves.”

The silent indignation of my peers was brought presently home to my recreant soul by the mother’s gentle—“Really, Mr. Julius, you will excuse me if I regret what you have just said.”

“Excuse me, you who are Charity itself, and read my clumsy speech in the light of a declaration made by a Hindu theosophist—Mr. Mohini: “Whence springs the great diversity of conditions, the contemplation of which breeds Socialism? Is it not the direct outgrowth of the passion of acquisitiveness? The more a Western man gets, the more he wants, and while your world holds to this principle you can never be free from the danger and fear of socialism. The Brotherhood of Man which Jesus Christ believed in has become unthinkable to you, with your millionaires at one end of the scale and your tramps at the other.”[163]

“Do I understand you to conclude that Society, being responsible for crime, should permit criminals to go unpunished?”

“By no means, Professor, but if you will excuse another quotation,—‘Give moral restraint to moral maladies, and not impious chastisements. Do not travel in a bloody circle in punishing murder by murder, for so you sanction assassination in one sense and you perpetuate a war of cannibals.’ * * Remember the condemned man who said: ‘In assassinating I risked my head. You gain; I pay; we are quits.’ And in his heart he added: ‘we are equals.’”

“Who said that?” queried the widow.

“Eliphas Levi, at your service.”

“Thanks. I’ve no use for French morals!” Under cover of this dart she retired. What I love most in woman is her way of retreating from the field of defeat with all the honors of war!

“Seems to me,” said Sue, emerging from a monopoly of tea bun, “that things are just perfectly awful anyhow.”

“My Dear! What can you know about it?” remonstrated the mother. Sue silently pointed a sticky and accusing finger towards those philanthropic journals which cheerfully fulfil their mission of household enlightenment] ad nauseam.

“Things are as they always were,” said the Professor smoothing his philosophic beard.

The old Lady ruffled up in her shady corner. “By no means. When I was young—”

The mother looked deprecatingly at me. “Mr. Julius, have you never wondered why Life should be so dark? And yet there was once a Golden Age!”

“The occultists say that every age has its own characteristics. This is Kali Yuga, the dark age. In the Satwa Yuga, cycle of causes or truth, the highest of the three conditions or states, known as Satwa Guna, prevailed.[164] Consequently in that age, men lived longer, happier and more spiritual lives. In Treta, the second age, prevailed Raja Guna the second condition, and the life period and happiness of men decreased. In the Dwarapa, (third age) there was less of Raja Guna. In the present Kali Yuga, there is more of Tamo Guna, and this is the worst of the cycles.

“The characteristics of these grand cycles and the different minor cycles are elaborately described in the sacred literature of the Hindus. If it would not weary you I could tell a story which gives some idea of the nature of cyclic influence and how coming events cast their shadows before.”

Popular opinion, led by Sue, clamored for the story.

“This story is taken from a secret sanscrit book, called the Diary of the Pandavas. It gives a diurnal account of the 18 years forest life of five exiled princely brothers immediately previous to our dark age. This book contains 18 x 360 stories describing the cumulative tendency of sin, and it is said was used in the last yugas as the first book of morals for boys;[165] every story has its moral; the series reveals the genealogy of evil, or of the descent of spirit into matter.

“The volume is secretly preserved for the training of occultists, and the entire order in which the stories are arranged is only revealed during initiations. An initiate who has passed three initiations and is preparing for the fourth, is only shown that series treating of such especial elements of his evil nature as he is then preparing to convert into higher energies. In this story, the five brothers are ideal kings. The eldest is regarded as an embodiment of Dharma, (the Law itself,) an incarnation of the God of Justice, yet so strong was the influence of the coming dark cycle, that one Adharma, (transgression of law, injustice) occurred daily within the palace. Late one evening the Maharaja, (elder brother) had retired and was chatting with his wife. The four younger brothers were as usual respectively guarding the four palace gates. Bhima, (the terrible) wisest of the younger brothers was invariably at the chief gate during the first three hours. To him comes a poor injured Brahmin who asks to see the Maharaja immediately and knocks the “Bell of Complaint.” The Maharaja sends a servant to say that he is in bed and will hear the complaint next morning. The Brahmin saw that the shadow of Kali Yuga had come and smiling, turned away.[166] But Bhima would not let him go without knowing whether justice had been done him. The Brahmin refused to reply; he would not sit in judgment nor reveal the king’s faults. Bhima knew from the petitioner’s silence that no attention had been paid to his case, and ordered that a trumpet be sounded and a proclamation be thus issued: “Strange that our just brother the Monarch has relied upon to-morrow and sacrificed duty to pleasure.” The king heard the cry of the trumpeter and coming hastily on foot, he overtook the Brahmin, fell at his feet, heard and redressed his complaint, then walked sullenly back. Kali’s influence was thus doubly seen. First in the Monarch’s conduct and secondly, in that the younger brother should presume to judge and to teach the elder. If even in the palace of the five most law abiding persons, Kali played so powerful a part, we may imagine her influence in other circles of life, amongst the ignorant, or amongst us later mortals now when her momentum has full swing.”

There was a brief silence. Then a shooting fire ray revealed a divine gem in the Mother’s eye and her soft voice said lowly; “After all, it seems that we are our brother’s keeper.” And no one gainsayed her.

JULIUS.

NOTE.—Any one desirous of having queries answered, or of relating authentic dreams, experiences, etc., is invited to communicate with “Julius, Care THE PATH, P. O. Box 2659.” No attention will be paid to anonymous letters.

THEOSOPHICAL WORK IN AMERICA.

BOSTON.—The Boston T. S. meets every Friday evening. Mr. Mohini M. Chatterji is stopping quietly with friends in Boston. He is not here on a public mission, feeling that a different instrument is needed for arousing general interest in Theosophy. He is always glad to see Theosophists, however, and has set apart Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons to receive them and other earnest inquirers. He has a small class in the Bhagavat-Gita Tuesdays and Thursdays. Interest in occult subjects is largely increasing this winter. Some experiments by Mr. W. I. Bishop in “Thought Transference” have done their share in directing public interest that way. It is amusing to observe the crude theories to account for the phenomenon put forward by some of the members of the American Society for Psychical Research, which seems to have been organized for the special purpose of not finding out anything. One of the members, Rev. Minot J. Savage, however, comes out with the declaration that three things are proven beyond doubt; Thought Transference, Hypnotism, and Clairvoyance. There are rumors of a notable book by a strictly anonymous author, and of special interest to Theosophists, soon to be issued by a Boston publisher.

On Tuesday evening, December 21, by invitation of a well known theosophist, the Boston and Malden Societies held a largely attended joint meeting, to listen to Mr. Mohini Chatterji, who spoke on various phases of Theosophy, and with his spiritual insight, eloquence and learning, afforded questioners much light in the course of the discussion that followed.

In the field of psychical research much interest has been aroused by an able article by Mr. Charles Howard Montague, city editor of THE GLOBE, describing the results and nature of experiments by which, after a few days’ trial, he was enabled to accomplish all that was done by Mr. W. I. Bishop, in his so-called feats of mind-reading. Mr. Montague says that it is not “muscle-reading,” but “impulse reading,” or close attention to unconscious impulses given by the subject. As it is absurd to seek a psychical explanation for what proves to be physical phenomena, it is well for the public to know the truth and not be deluded by the claims of Mr. Bishop and other public performers. Mr. Montague does not pretend to account, by his solutions, for the well-known cases of genuine thought transference.

MALDEN.—A largely attended open meeting of the Malden Branch, T. S., held Monday evening, December 6, was addressed by Mohini M. Chatterji on the Theosophical Aspects of the Christian Religion, based on a study of the New Testament. The broad and tolerant attitude of the speaker made a deep impression. At one of the recent previous meetings a record of some religious conversations held by the three Zuñi Indians who have been spending the summer on the neighboring coast with Mr. Frank Hamilton Cushing, the Ethnologist, was read and discussed, with one of their beautiful folktales, both showing deep veins of pure Theosophy.

NEW YORK.—The Aryan Theosophical Society continues to hold bi-monthly meetings, which have been well attended. In November, Brother Mohini M. Chatterji and Col. Aymé addressed meetings. Col. Aymé gave an address on Theosophy and Mathematics, with illustrations on the blackboard. On the first meeting in December, Bro. C. H. A. Bjerregaard read a paper upon the Elementals, which was of great value and interest; the first part of it is printed in this number and will be finished in February.

CALIFORNIA.—The work here is being carried on by the Branches in Los Angeles and Oakland, and some new members are reported.

THE AMERICAN THEOSOPHICAL COUNCIL.—In October, a Convention was held at Cincinnati, O., at which all the active Branches were represented. The American section of the General Theosophical Council was then formed, to take the place of the Board of Control, which went out of existence. Dr. Buck acted as Chairman, and a General Secretary who is to act as the means of communication between Branches and Headquarters was elected. The choice fell upon Mr. William Q. Judge, of New York, to whom hereafter all application and official communications should be sent. Since this convention, new applications have been coming in and the work shows no signs of abatement.

It is expected that another meeting of the Council will be held very soon for the purpose of carrying out some proposals for slight changes in the management of formal matters. The Council assumes no control of Branches who are left perfectly free so long as they act within the general rules of the Society.

CHICAGO.—At the annual election of this Branch, held December 4th, 1886, the following officers were elected: President, Stanley B. Sexton; Vice-President, Annie G. Ordway; Recording Secretary, Ursula N. Gestefeld; Corresponding Secretary, M. L. Brainard; Treasurer and Librarian, Mrs. A. V. Wakeman. Address all official correspondence to the Corresponding Secretary, 376 W. Adams St.

REVIEWS AND NOTES.

THE THEOSOPHIST.—The leading article in The Theosophist for November is again by Madame Blavatsky—a notable contribution on animated images, in the course of which it is shown that some of the circumstances in that amusing travesty of Occultism, Anstey’s “Fallen Idol,” are based on true occult principles. By the way, every Theosophist should read Mr. Sinnett’s “Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky,” for thereby a clearer conception of the character of that illustrious and heroic woman will be gained, with a better understanding of her nature and mission. Col. Olcott’s second and concluding article on “The Seeress of Prevorst,” is a careful and scholarly piece of work, throwing some light from Eastern sources on that remarkable case of occult development in an obscure German village. Dr. Hartman has a paper on “Occultism in Germany,” in which he gives an important hint concerning one of the methods of practically developing one’s higher nature. Srinivas Rao’s new story opens interestingly. The Eliphas Levy series continue, and a second article on Hypnotic Experiments is given. Several other interesting contributions must remain unnoticed. It is a valuable number. The Theosophist deserves to increase its circulation with the increasing interest in Theosophy.

NOTES AND QUERIES.—Brother Gould continues this useful and interesting publication. We are indebted to him for November and December numbers. Many of the replies are by our old friend, Prof. Alex. Wilder, who is learned in all that is curious in history, archæology and philology. The December number has 40 pages of extremely valuable matter. Address S. C. & L. M. Gould, Manchester, N. H.; price $1 a year.

PSYCHOMETRY AND THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE, by N. C. F. T. S., with an introduction by H. S. Olcott, is one of the Adyar series. It has been compiled with a view of putting in a small compass the main facts available relating to these two subjects, with an outline of the occult explanation of the same.

ESOTERIC BUDDHISM.—A new American edition of this book has been brought out by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., containing all the new matter and notes of the latest English edition, besides a special introduction; it is sold at a less price. Inquirers can order through THE PATH.

THE PLATONIST is to be revived, and will shortly appear in a new shape—octavo, 56 pp.; $3 per year. Thos. M. Johnson, Osceola, St. Clair Co., Mo.

CORRESPONDENCE.

AN IMPORTANT CORRECTION.

TO ALL THE READERS OF THE PATH.

In the November number of Path in my article “Theories about Reincarnation and Spirits,” the entire batch of elaborate arguments is upset and made to fall flat owing to the mistake of either copyist or printer. On page 235, the last paragraph is made to begin with these words: “Therefore the reincarnating principles are left behind in Kama-loka, etc.,” whereas it ought to read “Therefore the NON-reincarnating principles (the false personality) are left behind in Kama-loka, etc.,” a statement fully corroborated by what follows, since it is stated that those principles fade out and disappear.

There seems to be some fatality attending this question. The spiritualists will not fail to see in it the guiding hand of their dear departed ones from “Summerland;” and I am inclined to share that belief with them in so far that there must be some mischievous spook between me and the printing of my articles. Unless immediately corrected and attention drawn to it, this error is one which is sure to be quoted some day against me and called a contradiction.

Yours truly,

H. P. BLAVATSKY.

November 20th, 1886.

NOTE.—The MS. for the article referred to was written out by some one for Mme. Blavatsky and forwarded to us as it was printed, and it is quite evident that the error was the copyist’s, and not ours nor Madame’s; besides that, the remainder of the paragraph clearly shows a mistake. We did not feel justified in making such an important change on our own responsibility, but are now glad to have the author do it herself. Other minor errors probably also can be found in consequence of the peculiar writing of the amanuensis, but they are very trivial in their nature.—[ED.]

For thoughts alone cause the round of rebirths in this world; let a man strive to purify his thoughts. What a man thinks, that he is: this is the old secret.—Maitrayana Brahmana Upanishad, vi Prap., 34.

OM

There is not anything amongst the hosts of heaven which is free from the influence of the three qualities which arise from the first principles of nature.—Bagavad-Gita, ch. xviii.

Know that there is no enlightenment from without; the secret of things is revealed from within. From without cometh no Divine Revelation, but the spirit heareth within. Do not think I tell you that which you know not; for except you know it, it cannot be given you. To him that hath it is given, and he bath the more abundantly.—Hermetic Philosophy.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         FEBRUARY, 1887.                         NO. 11.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

THE ELEMENTALS, THE ELEMENTARY SPIRITS,

AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM AND HUMAN BEINGS.

A paper read before the Aryan Theosophical Society of New York, December 14th, 1886.

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD.

(Continued.)

There are several designations for “angels” in the Bible, which clearly show that beings like the elementals of the Kabbala and the monads of Leibnitz, must be understood by that term rather than that which is commonly understood. They are called “morning stars,” (Job 38, 7); “flaming fires,” (Ps. 104, 4.); “the mighty ones,” (Ps. 103, 20) and St. Paul sees them in his cosmogonic vision (1 Col. 1, 16) as “principalities and powers.” Such names as these preclude the idea of personality, and we find ourselves compelled to think of them as impersonal existences, in the same way as we conceive the angel that troubled the waters of the pool of Bethesda, as an influence, a spiritual substance or conscious force.

I stated above that the Kabbala taught that all events in Nature and History were under the immediate superintendence of spirits, elementals and elementary. It was in harmony with such teachings, that the translators of the Septuagint translated Deuteronomy 32, 8-9, thus: “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, he set the bounds of the Heathen according to the number of the spirits, but He Himself took His abode in Israel.”

According to this translation, which differs radically[167] from the orthodox, spirits i.e. Elementals and Elementary Spirits, are the rulers, the principalities and powers, among the heathen, i. e. all people outside of Israel. Whatever we may think of the exclusiveness of this passage, and the work given the “chosen people” to perform, we can verify this passage historically.

All people of the earth—so far as we know their religious and philosophical ideas—have drawn their spiritual life from sources very different from those whence the leaders of Israel derived their inspiration. I say the leaders of Israel, for the Israelites as a people, never comprehended the mission imposed upon them, they constantly fell back into what has been called the “idolatry” of the nations around. The people, as a people, were true to their natural instincts, which led them to follow the guiding influence of natural ideas, (i. e. Elementals and Elementary Spirits).

I need not tell you that the Ideas now spoken of are not merely Conceptions, such as we, according to common usage, are wont to believe. Ideas to the antique world, were exactly the same thing as Leibnitz called monads, and the Kabbala Elements and Elementary Spirits. Plato, for instance, attributes to ideas an independent, singular existence and hypostative power. He calls them Gods (in the Timœus), and asserts that movement, life, animation, and reason belong to them, (in the Sophistes).

The nations of the earth, all those not belonging to the chosen few, have indeed been—for good and for evil—guided by the Spirits, now called Elementals, now Ideas and now Gods. Therefore, if any one will study the history of mankind, he must begin with a knowledge of these occult powers. If any one will guide mankind’s history, he must follow the laws of these occult forces.

If we recognize the translation of the Septuagint as given above, and find ourselves outside the pale of the chosen people, whose work is in “the plan of salvation,” we know where to look for the intermediate powers between ourselves and the Deity, we know that they are the Elementals, the powers of Nature, the silent, but invincible giants of the Elements.

The importance to Theosophists of the modern school of clear conceptions on these points are evident. I need not point out to you why and wherefore.

In the Zohar it is stated that, “when spirits come down, they clothe themselves with air or wrap themselves in Elements.” It is also stated that, “some spirits have a natural affinity for the air-(elements), others for fire-(elements), and when they come down to the earth, they envelop themselves either in air-(elements) or fire-(elements), according to their nature.”

These statements, which can easily be supplemented with many more like them, are of the greatest importance, when the question is of spirit manifestations, for it becomes a matter of grave consequence by what kind of monads we are surrounded.

But, before speaking of the atmosphere of monads that surround us, I must define the auras or emanations that proceed from all objects in nature.

As an aromatic scent emanates from a flower, so all other bodies emit either colors or rays of “imponderable” matter. Copper and Arsenic send out auras of red matter; Lead and Sulphur emit a blue colored substance; Gold, Silver Antimony green, etc. In short, Science teaches that all matter is luminous, i. e. shines by its own light.

Human beings, be they spiritual-minded or not, are also surrounded by their spheres. We all know this. We have all felt these sphere influences, and some of you have perhaps seen them. It it said that persons of a high and spiritual character have beautiful auras of white and blue, gold and green, in various tints; while low natures emit principally dark red emanations, which in brutal and vulgar persons darken almost to black.

The impulse or motive power, the cause, if you choose, of these emanations is the soul of man, of course. According to the condition of the soul, these emanations are more or less powerful, more or less extensive, more or less clear. The stuff they are made of, what is it? It is of course physical, though they may not be measured and weighed by any scientific instrument known at this day.

These emanations are soul-rays and they become reflected upon those small MONADIC bodies already described. I can not prove this to you experimentally, but I can see these reflections as clearly as a physical experiment can demonstrate to you the light-reflection of the sun’s rays upon a raindrop.

Swedenborg claimed to have smelled the inner nature of certain spirits he met with in the spiritual world, and to have determined their moral value by these rays. In his work “Heaven and Hell,” he has recorded several such experiences.

It is an innate power of the soul, that enables it to throw off these rays and it does it by necessity, for without going beyond itself, to express itself, the soul would never realize itself.

The soul can, however, also be trained to emit these rays or auras, consciously.

If we will believe the famous Norse traveller and explorer of Spiritland, already referred to, Em. Swedenborg, we may learn from his Arcana Celestia, that “the particular quality of a spirit is perceived immediately on his entrance into the other life, from his sphere,” that “the sphere is the image of the spirit extended beyond him;” “indeed, it is the image of all that is in him.” The cause of the spheres around spirits, the same author states to be from “the activity of things in the interior memory,” from “the ruling love.”

Swedenborg further states, that “by the sphere which exhales from the spirit of man, even while he lives in the body, every deed, however secret, becomes manifest in clear light,” and that good or evil spirits recognize him by his sphere; and that good spirits can not be present with those who are in worldly and corporeal loves, however pious exteriorly, because they instantly perceive their sphere of evil as something filthy; and, on the other hand, that good spirits readily associate with those surrounded by pure and heavenly spheres. But it is not necessary to have recourse to the seers and those spiritually illuminated, most of us have some knowledge of these facts from daily life. Who has not perceived the low and filthy sphere that surrounds the sensual, or the intolerable atmosphere of a proud and haughty spirit, or been depressed in the surroundings of a melancholy and passionate man or woman? Indeed, we all have perceptions as to these things; some stronger, some less developed.

It is, as I said, the very life of the soul to diffuse itself through all its surroundings. Without such an activity it would not be soul. An inactive, an inert soul has no existence.

Next, the soul, while thus actualizing itself, takes its material from the monads, just described, and moulds them into such shapes and forms as are requisite for its own life and the influence it endeavors to exert. The Soul has the power to mould and shape them into any possible condition. (More about this later on.) This faculty is its image-making power or the form-making power of the soul.

In order to understand this image-making power, let it first be remembered, that it is an axiom in all mystical and spiritual philosophy, that the spiritual degree in man (Atman) contains in its unity with the Universal soul, the patterns of all things and that these are reflected through the soul (Buddhi and Manas).

This being so, the soul (Buddhi and Manas) to understand the principle of creation has only to descend to its own deep, the spirit (Atman), there to find it reflected. Having found and realized the idea of creation, the soul may take material from the ethereal world, called by the Orientals Akasa, and out of it build any form—image, I call it—it likes.

Unless the soul gives such form and shape to the ideas and life, that dwells in its own inner deep, these will remain uncreated and the soul uneducated by not approving of its opportunities.

This is what I call the image-making power of the soul. Upon it depends all Kardialogy or the science of the heart, and all Rationality. Upon it depends our attainment of psychic powers.

It is not only an innate and natural tendency of the soul (Manas) to go beyond its body to find material with which to clothe the life that it wants to give expression to. The soul (Manas) can and must be trained to do this CONSCIOUSLY.

You can easily see that this power possessed consciously will give its possessor the power to work magic.

And this leads me directly to the subject of the use of aromas, odors, etc., wherewith to create a suitable atmosphere around us; an atmosphere congenial to the nature of spirits.

You all remember the splendid scene in Bulwer’s Zanoni where Glyndon meets the Dweller of the Threshold. In that scene is described all the mystery of aromatic vapors, their effect upon the human mind, and the assistance they offer to spirit manifestations.

In short, it is of the greatest importance that we produce the right environment by the right kind of emanations or auras, and atmospheres: “As we give, so we shall receive!”

It would require a volume to relate the religious, political, economic, and gallant history of odors and perfumes. I shall mention a few instances only.

From the highest antiquity we find that priests have employed odoriferous substances. The worshippers of light, the Zoroastrians, laid perfumes five times a day upon the sacred flame, that symbolized light and life. The Greeks were very profuse in the use of ambrosia, and believed that the gods always appeared in fragrant clouds. You all know the importance of smoke and perfumes in the rituals used at the Mysteries and around the sacred tripod on which rested the prophetesses at Delphi. The Romans almost carried the use of incense and odoriferous substances too far. From the classic people the custom was borrowed by the Christian Church. There was even a time, when the Romish Church owned large estates in the East, devoted exclusively to the cultivation of balms and essences to be used in the rites of worship.

But it was not only in religious practices that these delicate media were used to facilitate the descent of spiritual beings. All through the Orient, even to this day, they are employed in the private life for the same purpose; not for mere luxury, as some people will have us believe. It was very appropriate indeed, that the Greeks should burn aromatic substances during their banquets, and who can estimate the soothing influence upon the wild and warlike Romans of their beautiful custom of perfuming their baths, their sleeping rooms and beds, and their drinks. It is not at all likely that the Romans should have been ignorant of the high spiritual significance of these practices. Why should they before battle anoint the Roman eagles with the richest perfumes, if they did not think it pleasing to the god of war and his followers, if they did not thereby expect to prepare a suitable atmosphere for their descent.

I pass by the modern use of these things. Among the many abuses with which we are familiar, the strong human instinct asserts itself everywhere. We expect, for instance, that Youth and Beauty shall be surrounded by a sphere, sweet-smelling and elevating; and our instincts are true in this, for there is a close parallel between purity and aromatic odors.

It is a truth well understood that Spirit does not act immediately upon Matter. There always is a medium between them. It seems rational that it should be so. Spirit and Matter being the two poles of one and the same substance need the intermediate middle as a point of conjunction and exchange of energy.

Applying this general law to the particulars before us, it seems most natural to conclude that the Elementals are the media by means of which all our spiritual efforts are exerted upon Nature, and that nothing can be done without their intervention.

But the question also arises: how do we make the Elementals perform this work for us? By what means do we influence them?

Occult Science teaches that “the pure of heart,” those that, having travelled over “the Path,” have come to “freedom,” can, by a mere mental effort or by stretching out the hand, “do these things.”

In view of this teaching, I shall state a few facts relative to the power of the Mind and the Hand.

(1) The Word spoken consists of the thought or idea we want to convey to the person spoken to, and (2) this thought clothed in a form, a kind of vessel, by means of which we send the thought flying through space. These two elements are the main factors of the Word.

Let us now look a little closer upon each of these two factors.

When an animal in distress calls for another, we, human beings, understand that it throws its desire or animal life into the sounds which proceed from that throat, and the other animal answers instinctively, we say quite correctly, for we do not think that the animals reason about their doings.

This kind of “language,” if it can be so called, is not much different from the language of mankind at large. All language as used in ordinary daily life is but slightly higher in character, but not different in degree.

Language—the Word—is spoken when an Idea or Spiritual Life is communicated. In the true sense, we only speak or pronounce the Word when the Highest finds a channel into the actual world by means of our vocal organs.

That is the Word! Now, about its Form. Whence comes its material? For form is something substantial. It is not enough that an architect has a design to a building in his mind, he needs actual material with which to erect the house if it is to be realized on the actual side of existence. As surely as he procures stones and wood, etc., so do we also need material substances with which to construct our mental edifices. From what world do we draw these substances? From the astral or ethereal molecules! From the Monads!

By a pre-established harmony, the suitable monads glomerate around the heavenly idea that proceeds to reveal itself upon our tongue when we speak the Word. Thus the thought gets its Form.

Thus far I have spoken of the thought or idea descending to utter itself upon our tongue, we being the mere tools of the idea. And such is almost always the case. We neither originate thought nor its form. Thought or Spirit speaks through us as the passive agents. Yet we all know how we boast of our oracles, of our prophets and our seers, even because they act as passive agents.

But there is a language still higher. It is possible for man to originate thought and to control the form to such thought. The adepts know this secret and they have arrived at that power by getting beyond the “ordinary” laws of life. They are not mere channels for the flux and reflux of thought; they originate and control thought.

Heaven’s first law is order. As we know some of the laws according to which we formulate speech in a logical way, so that other sphere outside (or inside, if you like), which is full of the germs of life, has its laws. Hence the adepts, too, follow certain rules or laws, when they want to originate or control thought and its form. Vulgarly, the laws or methods are called spells or incantations.

Before we consciously can work spells or control spirits and their energies, we must arrive at the state of the adept, where he is beyond the laws that govern, so to say, the surface of things. But we cannot come there on any highroads nor by any short cuts. We must travel the road of self-denial and that of illusion.

As it is possible to enter into the sanctuary of a temple by sheer brutal force, so it is possible to get into possession of formulas and spells which work wonders, though we be neither pure of mind nor strong of heart.

Would formulas and spells under such conditions be useful to us? They may! They may not! They may also work our destruction. We have been taught that they are more dangerous to us than a naked sword in the hands of a child. The child may accidentally do some useful work with its sharp instrument, but it may also destroy itself.

From this we should learn that the true course to pursue in regard to the performing of wonders by means of Elementals or Elementary Spirits is to first to attain to the state of an adept: to learn to control life and thought.

If we should happen to come in possession of spells or incantations without knowing the proper use of them—better not use them!

But how do we attain to that state just described?

I can not define the way nor teach anybody how to do so, but I think that the way must be very much like that travelled by the Lord Buddha and now followed by “the Adepts.”

But, as it is not our immediate duty to prepare for the performance of miracles, we have been warned to abstain from such vain pursuits.

Far better is it for us to follow the directions given for moral life:

“Try to get as near to wisdom and goodness as you can in this life. Trouble not yourself about the gods. Disturb yourself not by curiosities or desires about any future existence. Seek only after the fruit of the noble path of self-culture and of self-control.” These are words from Buddhist Scriptures.

It is not only by mind that we may control the Elementals and the Elementary spirits. The hand forms a most important element among the tools used in occult science.

I shall not define the science of chiromancy, but describe the magnetic points of the fingers.

Have you given any thought and attention to the hand? Generally we consider the head of a man and put our estimate upon him according to the size of his brain. But we neglect the hand. And yet the hand is as important a factor in the execution of spiritual acts as is the brain.

The hand is the executive organ of the dynamico-mysterious actions of the Spirit of man. Through the hand its psychico-somatic operations take place, through it its whole spiritual-psychical energy flows out, when laid upon the sick, for instance.

It may be readily enough understood that the spiritual activity of the spirit of man ultimates itself in acts, and that almost all of these are executed by the hand, but it is probably but little known that in healing, for instance, there is a peculiar physical basis in the hand, upon which the healing power is dependent, the Pacinian corpuscles, namely.

It is now many years ago (it was in 1830 and 1840) that Pacini, a physician of Pistola, made his discovery; but with the exception of the literature to which it gave rise, and which is known only to a few learned men and a few librarians of larger libraries, little or nothing is known of his discovery.

Pacini found in all the sensible nerves of the fingers many small elliptical, whitish corpuscles. He compared them to the electrical organs of the torpedo and described them as animal magneto-motors, as organs of animal magnetism. And so did Henle and Kólliker, two German anatomists, who have studied and described these corpuscles very minutely.

In the human body they are found in great numbers in connection with the nerves of the hand, also in those of the foot. Why should they not be in the feet? Let us remember the rythmical structure of the human body, particularly the feet, and it becomes clear why they are there; the ecstatic dances of the enthusiasts and the not-sinking of somnambulists in water or their ability to use the soles of their feet as organs of perception and the ancient art of healing by the soles of the feet—all these facts explain the mystery.

They are found sparingly on the spinal nerves, and on the plexuses of the sympathetic, but never on the nerves of motion.

They are most numerous on the small twigs of nerves and generally placed parallel to them, though often at an acute angle. They are more or less oval, sometimes elongated and bent. They are nearly transparent, with a whitish line traversing their axis. The corpuscles of the human subject are from one-twentieth to one-tenth of an inch in length.

They consist of a series of membranous capsules, from thirty to sixty or more in number, enclosed one within the other. Inside of these capsules there is a single nervous fibre of a tubular kind enclosed in the stalk, and advancing to the central capsule, which it traverses from end to end. Sometimes the capsules are connected by transverse bands.

Anatomists are interested in these Pacinian corpuscles because of the novel aspect in which they present the constituent parts of the nerve-tube, placed in the heart of a system of concentric membranous capsules with intervening fluid, and divested of that layer which they (the anatomists) regard as an isolator and protector of the more potential central axis within.

This apparatus—almost formed like a voltaic pile, is the instrument for that peculiar vital energy, known more or less to all students as Animal Magnetism.

Since the cat is somewhat famous in all witchcraft, let me state, that in the mesentary of the cat, they can be seen in large numbers with the naked eye, as small oval shaped grains a little smaller than hempseeds. A few have been found in the ox (the symbol of the priestly office); but they are wanting in all birds, amphibia and fishes.

Though his discovery was disputed it has since been verified and the theory strongly supported. These organs are the beneficent media through which the Spirit operates.

From time immemorial the human hand has been regarded as the life-point of a mysterious magical power, but not until Pacini’s discovery do we know its seat. These corpuscles are its seat. Are they perhaps agglomerations of such monads as I have described and thus the media by means of which the highest spiritual powers perform their work?

We find the Elementals under all forms of existence, as mere natural forces, totally, to our perceptions, destitute of any self-conscious life; we find them also attaining a form very near the human. There is no valid reason against supposing them to be the stuff out of which we form thoughts, much less against considering them to be the life-giving elements in the Pacinian corpuscles.

Let us maintain the theory that there is no such thing as a dead or inanimate force in the universe. Every atom, itself a form of power, is alive with force. Every atom in space reflects the Universal Self, who is:

The Soul of Things.

I shall now come to the end of my paper by a few words which contain the practical purpose of my lecture.

(1) The monads, just described, whether they reflect the auras, that surround us consciously or unconsciously, whether they are used as mind-stuff or be located in the Pacinian corpuscles of the hand, are physical media of intercourse between the Elementaries and the adepts.

Why not! If Eastern adepts and Western mediums are in possession of power to atomize “the body,” to make it become the smallest of the smallest, to enter into a diamond, for instance, if they have power to magnify “the body” to any dimensions; to change the polarity of the body, to make it become the lightest of the lightest as in the well known phenomena of levitation, why should the Elementaries, existing, as they do, under much more favorable circumstances, not be able to enter into matter, to enter into atoms which “contain a Sun” and there, for the time being direct its vital principle and its universal orbs, to such purposes as they choose, to make it serve the adept’s or magician’s will, who seeks aid or enlightenment?

(2) I contend that they do! And I argue for the necessity of producing such surroundings of auras of monads as will facilitate and raise the standard of what is commonly called “Mediumship.”

(3) I argue for a cultivation of the image-making power of the soul, that we may be able to direct and utilize consciously the intercourse with the Elementaries.

(4) I wish to have a knowledge spread abroad about the Pacinian corpuscles, that we may lay our hands upon mankind and cure its ills.

I feel personally convinced that there is both “Light and Life” to be found upon these lines of study and conduct.

POETICAL OCCULTISM.

SOME ROUGH STUDIES OF THE OCCULT LEANINGS OF THE POETS.

IV.

Whitman, in his short and remarkable poem, “To him that was Crucified,” perceives very clearly the verity of Mahatmahood; the existence of men who live upon a higher plane than that of ordinary mortals, and who are united in an order of spiritual brotherhood. The poem runs:[168]

My spirit to yours, dear brother,

Do not mind because many sounding your name do not understand you,

I do not sound your name, but I understand you,

I specify you with joy, O my comrade, to salute you, and to salute those who are with you, before and since, and those to come also,

That we all labor together transmitting the same charge and succession,

We few equals indifferent of lands, indifferent of times,

We, enclosers of all continents, all castes, allowers of all theologies,

Compassionaters, perceivers, rapport of men,

We walk silent among disputes and assertions, but reject not the disputers nor anything that is asserted,

We hear the bawling and din, we are reached at by divisions, jealousies, recriminations on every side,

They close peremptorily upon us to surround us, my comrade,

Yet we walk unheld, free, the whole earth over, journeying up and down till we make our ineffaceable mark upon time and the diverse eras,

Till we saturate time and eras, that the men and woman of races, ages to come, may prove brethren and lovers as we are.

These lines, sublime as they are, will probably be regarded as little short of blasphemous by many of our good friends who, sounding his name, do not understand him; who, worshipping him as the only Man-God, have lost sight of the God in man, the Christ, the potential development of which in all men was the great lesson which the Nazarene sought to convey. They little think that he whose name they sound may perhaps be walking the earth to-day, striving to bring men to the light, but despised and rejected by themselves because in an unrecognized and strange guise, while the same old truths are again trampled upon, since they lack the endorsement of established authority.

The poet, however, shows that he, too broad to be limited by one name, truly understands the mission of Jesus; he, with his own grand teachings of universal brotherhood despised and misunderstood because of their unfamiliar form, is elevated by the sublimity of the truths that inspire himself to the level which gives him the right to address the founder of Christianity as a comrade. He sees, too, with a directness that probably has come to no other modern poet, that there is a band of “Equals” working for the same end, “transmitting the same charge and succession,” through all races, through all ages, and giving vitality to all religions. The free, uninfluenced attitude which he who would grow towards the light must maintain is expressed here with most effective simplicity, as is the end for which THEY are striving—so to saturate the world and all eras with their precepts as finally to lift all mankind into the unity of perfect Brotherhood.

The true mental abnegation is here referred to, just as Krishna in the Bagavad-Gita tries to teach Arjuna. In speaking of the necessity for retiring to the forest so as to attain perfection untroubled by man, he says to Arjuna that the true philosopher will look with equal mind upon all classes of men, upon all systems of thought and all objects of sense, esteeming all alike, inasmuch as they are all one in the Supreme Spirit, and that spirit found in each, so that to retire to the forest is not a necessity. Thus Whitman says that he and all others of the same mind, are indifferent of lands, times, disputes or disputers, allowers of all theologies, because they well know—as occultism teaches—that each theology and each assertion is one facet of the great Truth.

The result of this state of mind is beautifully set forth in the lines which say that amid the bawling and din, reached at by divisions and jealousies on every side that close peremptorily upon us to surround and fetter us, we walk free, unheld by all, because we are fixed upon the immutable rock of the True. This is the imperturbability sought by the ancient Chinese philosophers, who, themselves students of occultism, esteemed that equanimity above all else.

There are various passages throughout Whitman’s poems that intimate a perception, perhaps intuitive, of the existences of the Masters. For instance, he says, “I see the serene company of philosophers,” and in “A Song of the Rolling Earth” are the lines:

“The workmanship of souls is by those inaudible words of the earth,

The masters know the earth’s words and use them more than audible words.”

And again, towards the end of the same poem:

“When the materials are all prepared and ready, the architects shall appear.”

The thought here is identical with that in “Light on the Path” (note to Rule 21, First Section):

“Therefore in the Hall of Learning, when he is capable of entering there, the disciple will always find his master.”

And in the following note:

“When the disciple is ready to learn, then he is accepted, acknowledged, recognized. It must be so; for he has lit his lamp, and it cannot be hidden.”

The poem in question concludes with the following exalted lines which contain a significant statement of one of the great truths of Occultism:

“I swear to you the architects shall appear without fail,

I swear to you they will understand you and justify you,

The greatest among them shall be he who best knows you, and encloses all and is faithful to all.

He and the rest shall not forget you, they shall perceive that you are not an iota less than they,

You shall be fully glorified in them.”

It is hardly possible to say whether or not the poet means that these architects are in one sense the various, changeful mortal costumes the human monad had here and there, in many races and places, assumed while passing through the wheel of rebirths. When he says that the architects “will understand you and justify you,” we may easily picture the time when the regenerated man, now able to see all his illusionary entrances upon the stage of life under the costume of varied personalities, can understand that all these different incarnations were fully justified by the need for the particular experience found in each new life, and thus he himself is glorified and justified by these architects, who were really himself.

Complete proof of Whitman’s belief in reincarnation is to be found in the following lines from “Facing West from California’s Shores:”

Facing west from California’s shores,

Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,

I a child, very old, over waves, towards the house of maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,

Look off the shores of my Western sea, the circle almost circled;

For starting westward from Hindustan, from the vales of Kashmere,

From Asia, from the north, from the God, the sage, and the hero,

From the south, from the flowery peninsulas and the spice islands,

Long having wander’d since, round the earth having wander’d.

Now I face home again, very pleas’d and joyous.

(But where is what I started for so long ago?

And why is it yet unfound?)

This last query is answered in Light on the Path (rule 12, § I.): “You will enter the light, but you will never touch the flame.” The Self is what we seek. It resides in the heart of every mortal creature “smaller than a grain of mustard seed;” the heart is in the Sun—and now we speak of the real heart and the real spiritual sun which is “now hidden by a vase of golden light”—(as the Upanishads say)—the Sun in the mouth of Brahman and Brahman is the All.

S. B. J.

HINDU SYMBOLISM.

III.

This figure represents the Mystic Brahma espousals with Parasakti. The latter is the divine principle of intellectual emanative potentiality or energy, and the ideal of archi-typal womanhood. The Sakti is conceived of as the female part of the energy of Brahma’s intellectual, creative power and creative wisdom. Brahma is here the true Para-Brahma, and Para-Sakti a true Para-sarasvadi. The sexless in Brahman (neuter) is here transmuted into the male or energizing power, as the principal symbolic type of the divine emanative, yet immanent, creative power, as the masculine principle of the ideal or Great Androgynic Man or the Makrokosm; and the flaming Sun is here depicted as the flaming sun-face, representative of the male-active deity, also called Purusha. The Sakti or Para-Sakti, the fructifying energy and potentiality of Brahman’s wisdom, wears upon her head a bright fire-flaming crown or nimbus.

The veil surrounding them, is the mystic veil produced by the ideation of the eternal thought of the eternal Mind. In the left hand of the sun-figure on the first finger, is carried a bird or perhaps a dove, which is intended to symbolize the flight of the ideal creation from the eternal Mind before the appearance of that which appears to us to be the real world. In the right hand he holds the end of the mystic veil. On the head of Maya—the woman—is the world-egg cap. Below, in the shadow of the spherical cloak of the God-dawn, is seen the world-egg surrounded by the spiritualizing Ananda the snake of eternity, which as if asleep and inactive, is suspended around the egg.

In India the principal general symbols are fire and water, sun and moon, man and woman, bull and cow, the linga and yoni, the lotus and the sacred fig (ficus indica). The lotus is formed of red, white and blue colors; blue is considered the same as black.

ISAAC MYER.

“LIGHT ON THE PATH.”

“The Soul of man is immortal and its future is the future of a thing whose growth and splendour has no limit.”

It is with extreme diffidence that I venture to undertake a short commentary or analysis of the book whose title heads this article; not only because of the nature of the work itself, but also because it has already been twice commented upon, once by the author, and once by a very learned student of Eastern Literature. The author’s notes, however, were rather an extension of the original text than a commentary in the strict sense of the word; while the object of the second annotator was more an attempt to show the identity of the doctrines contained in Light on the Path with those of ancient Brahamanical Philosophy, than to give the nature of those doctrines in themselves.

The object of this paper on the contrary, is to attempt to analyze the scheme of Philosophy in accordance with which this little book has been written; in other words, to attempt to set forth the intellectual counterpart of the spiritual doctrines of Light on the Path. It is inevitable that, in thus changing the doctrine from the Spiritual to the intellectual plane, so to speak, the intellectual counterpart should be inferior to the Spiritual original. To counterbalance this loss, however, it is true on the other hand that the intellectual counterpart may render the spiritual original accessible to some, the conformation of whose minds renders them unable to appreciate it directly. It is in the hope that this may be so that the present paper has been attempted.

To begin with, then, the work we are considering indicates a possible enlightenment of the Soul, and development of the higher part of our nature; and further states that these results cannot take place before a certain battle has been fought and won: we have, therefore, to discover what the soul is; what is the nature of the battle; what are the opposing forces; and what are the results of the struggle.

The combatants are the higher nature, or Soul on the one side; and the lower nature or egotism on the other. The higher nature includes the intellectual, Spiritual, and æsthetical powers: that is to say, the powers which deal with the perception of truth, goodness, and beauty.

The sense of truth is characteristically manifested in the conquest of some intricate mathematical problem, or in following successfully some difficult chain of reasoning.

The sense of beauty is manifested in the joy with which we behold the splendor of a glorious sunset.

The sense of goodness is manifested in the voice of an approving conscience, or in the reverence and admiration we feel for some godlike and noble character.

It is undeniable that the intellect can discriminate between what is, and what is not, true, within its own domain, the æsthetical faculty also can pronounce with certainty as to the presence or absence of that quality which we call beauty.

So can the moral nature decide without hesitation as to what is or what is not in accordance with Righteousness. These three powers of the higher nature are subject to development, that is to say, at different periods they will perceive the qualities of beauty, truth, and goodness in different objects, and in different degrees; but as to the reality of the three qualities their voice is ever the same.

The three powers perceive three harmonies, each in its own domain; when the three are harmoniously developed the three harmonies are perceived to be one, and to this one great harmony are given the names of the Eternal and the Law of God. The seer of old feeling the sense of Rightousness’ within him exclaimed: “I will rejoice in the Eternal, and in him will I put my trust.” When the powers of the higher nature are developed, under all temporary disharmony and chaotic disturbance, are perceived a deeper order and more enduring harmony ever at work. Marcus Aurelius had perception of a deep Spiritual truth, when he wrote the concluding sentences of the following utterance.

“Figs, when they are quite ripe, gape open: and in the ripe olives, the very circumstance of their being near to rottenness, adds a peculiar beauty to the fruit, and ears of corn bending down, and foam which flows from the mouth of wild boars, and many other things,—though they are far from being beautiful, in a certain sense,—still, because they come in the course of nature, have a beauty in them, and they please the mind; so that if a man should have a feeling and a deeper insight with respect to the things which are produced in the universe, there is hardly anything which comes in the course of nature, which will not seem to him to be, in a manner, disposed so as to give pleasure.” That is,—in all things, could we but perceive it, is the harmony of the Eternal.

The first harmony, the harmony of truth, is perceived by the scientific materialist; that is to say, he is capable of perceiving the reign of Law in the physical universe.

The artistic nature can perceive the harmony of beauty in nature and art.

By the spiritually-minded is perceived the moral harmony.

It is the distinctive mark of modern Civilization that the harmonies of truth and beauty, of Science and Art are perceived and openly recognized by all, while the harmony of Holiness is passed over, in silence and oblivion. It is the object of Theosophy, rightly understood, to arouse the world to a renewed sense of the harmony of Righteousness.

So much for the higher nature. Confronting it stands the Egotism. For where the moral sense dictates peace and goodwill to all men, the Egotism raises a selfish claim for a monopoly of all good things, all pleasures, all enjoyments. The first enjoyment the Egotism demands is to surpass and dominate all other Egotisms which it seems to see pursuing the same pleasures as itself. Hence the command: “Kill out ambition.” Having once gained this domination the self cries out for enjoyments both sensual and sensuous, for all the pleasures of life. Hence the need for the command “Kill out the desire of life;” the self is also deterred by indolence from carrying out any good inspirations that may descend through the thick mist which surrounds it, from the higher nature: against indolence it is written “Kill out the desire of comfort.”

But the moral sense condemns the existence of this self, this centre of force, which is not in accordance with its perception of Harmony. When once the moral nature comes to perceive the evil of egotism, the question inevitably arises for solution, “Shall this cause of disharmony cease or continue?” If the decision is for its continuance one of two things will happen. Either, before the moral nature has been completely paralysed and atrophied by neglect,—before the seared conscience is completely silenced,—the fact will be recognised, in the midst of pain and sorrow unspeakable, that “to work for self is to work for disappointment;” and in that case the moral nature may at last meet with its development and all may be well; “the weak must wait for its growth, its fruition, its death, and it is a plant that lives and increases through the ages.” It has been said also “the forging of earthly chains is the occupation of the indifferent, the awful duty of unloosing them through the sorrows of the heart is also their occupation” and truly “both are foolish sacrifices.” Either this takes place, or,—the moral nature at last becomes completely deadened, all the force and vital power which has been drawn away from it goes to strengthen the Egotism which becomes from henceforth a centre of evil, of destruction; an enemy of the eternal.

It seems that individual existence means a certain amount of force, which may vitalise either the powers of the higher nature or those of the egotism; or those of both, in part. It seems also that the egotism is a group of centres, so to speak, from some or all of which the energic force of the individual may work; so that, for example, when this force works from one centre in the egotism sensuality arises; when from another centre, hate; from another, evil ambition, and so on. When the energic force is raised to the higher nature it may act from various centres; from one, as charity; from another, as holiness, and so on. Hence, “any good quality may become any other good quality”—if the conditions are favorable. It seems also that the Will can degrade the energic force from the soul to the egotism; or, conversely, can raise it from the egotism to the soul; so that, by the alchemical power of the will, so to speak, the baser metal becomes converted and, rising to the top of the still, becomes pure gold. Besides the higher and lower natures we have been considering there resides also, in the complete being, consciousness or sense of existence and will. When all the portions of energic force,—or the Satwaic sparks, as they are elsewhere called,—rise to the higher nature, the individual becomes one with the Eternal, and a part of the United Spirit of Life, and individual existence ceases, in a sense. When the question is asked “Shall the self cease or continue?” the moral nature answers decisively “It ought to cease.” If the truth of this mandate is recognised, at once a terrible struggle arises; self opposed rises with tenfold force and violence; again and again it craftily casts doubt on the truth of the moral nature; raises obstacles, temptations and hindrances; all the pleasures it has enjoyed are to be swept away forever; all the momentum and power that the egotism has gained, through long continued indulgence and unhindered growth, are brought to bear at once on the struggle; the whole nature is torn by the conflict, the will is tried to the uttermost; but under all this turmoil and strife lies the assured consciousness of final victory; it is felt that sooner or later the self must be destroyed, that it is built for time and not for eternity, that its days are numbered.

During the struggle intervals of peace occur, and grow greater and longer as the end approaches; till at last, when the final victory is won this peace becomes habitual.

But as the conflict goes on, the will at last gains strength to say, once for all “Henceforth, forever, will I serve self no more.” And immediately the first struggle is ended. The dominance of self is forever destroyed. In reply to the command “Seek in the heart the source of evil, and expunge it” the soul can say “this also have I done,” then comes “peace to the troubled spirit” peace deep and pure. The soul recognises that the self has been the cause of individual existence; when the self is removed the soul tends to harmonise itself with the great harmony, to become one with the eternal; but all the evil tendencies to selfishness and sin, must be gradually overcome, for though their cause and source has been destroyed, yet they still maintain a certain momentum. Not yet can it be said that the soul is perfectly at one with the United Spirit of Life. Much remains to be done, yet much has been done already, for during the struggle the energic force has become loosened from the centres of self, and has ascended to strengthen and vivify the soul, which becomes strong, fully awakened, and in harmony with the eternal; the flower of the soul is opening, the first step on the Path is taken. In the Idyll of the White Lotus the same author has given the same history in another form. The New-Testament story is the same, and so is the scheme of Christian Theology for those who have eyes to see it; for that story is “the tragedy of the soul, it has been told in all ages and among every people.”

“Enter the Path! there spring the healing streams

Quenching all thirst! there bloom the immortal flowers

Carpeting all the way with joy! there throng

Swiftest and sweetest hours.”

CHARLES JOHNSTON.

Dublin, Ireland.

MUSINGS ON THE TRUE THEOSOPHIST’S PATH.

If you desire to labor for the good of the world, it will be unwise for you to strive to include it all at once in your efforts. If you can help elevate or teach but one soul—that is a good beginning, and more than is given to many.

Fear nothing that is in Nature and visible. Dread no influence exerted by sect, faith, or society. Each and every one of them originated upon the same basis—Truth, or a portion of it at least. You may not assume that you have a greater share than they, it being needful only, that you find all the truth each one possesses. You are at war with none. It is peace you are seeking, therefore it is best that the good in everything is found. For this brings peace.

It has been written that he who lives the Life shall know the doctrine. Few there be who realize the significance of The Life.

It is not by intellectually philosophizing upon it, until reason ceases to solve the problem, nor by listening in ecstatic delight to the ravings of an Elemental clothed—whose hallucinations are but the offspring of the Astral—that the life is realized. Nor will it be realized by the accounts of the experiences of other students. For there be some who will not realize Divine Truth itself, when written, unless it be properly punctuated or expressed in flowery flowing words.

Remember this: that as you live your life each day with an uplifted purpose and unselfish desire, each and every event will bear for you a deep significance—an occult meaning—and as you learn their import, so do you fit yourself for higher work.

There are no rose-gardens upon the way in which to loiter about, nor fawning slaves to fan one with golden rods of Ostrich plumes. The Ineffable Light will not stream out upon you every time you may think you have turned up the wick, nor will you find yourself sailing about in an astral body, to the delight of yourself and the astonishment of the rest of the world, simply because you are making the effort to find wisdom.

He who is bound in any way—he who is narrow in his thoughts—finds it doubly difficult to pass onward. You may equally as well gain wisdom and light in a church as by sitting upon a post while your nails grow through your hands. It is not by going to extremes or growing fanatical in any direction that the life will be realized.

Be temperate in all things, most of all in the condemnation of other men. It is unwise to be intemperate or drunken with wine. It is equally unwise to be drunken with temperance. Men would gain the powers; or the way of working wonders. Do you know, O man, what the powers of the Mystic are? Do you know that for each gift of this kind he gives a part of himself? That it is only with mental anguish, earthly sorrow, and almost his heart’s blood, these gifts are gained? Is it true, think you, my brother, that he who truly possesses them desires to sell them at a dollar a peep, or any other price? He who would trade upon these things finds himself farther from his goal than when he was born.

There are gifts and powers. Not just such as you have created in your imagination, perhaps. Harken to one of these powers: He who has passed onward to a certain point, finds that the hearts of men lie spread before him as an open book, and from there onward the motives of men are clear. In other words he can read the hearts of men. But not selfishly; should he but once use this knowledge selfishly, the book is closed—and he reads no more. Think you, my brothers, he would permit himself to sell a page out of this book?

Time—that which does not exist outside the inner circle of this little world—seems of vast importance to the physical man. There comes to him at times, the thought that he is not making any progress, and that he is receiving nothing from some Mystic source. From the fact that he has the thought that no progress is being made the evidence is gained that he is working onward. Only the dead in living bodies need fear. That which men would receive from Mystic sources is frequently often repeated, and in such a quiet, unobtrusive voice, that he who is waiting to hear it shouted in his ear, is apt to pass on unheeding.

Urge no man to see as yourself, as it is quite possible you may see differently when you awake in the morning. It is wiser to let the matter rest without argument. No man is absolutely convinced by that. It is but blowing your breath against the whirlwind.

It was at one time written over the door: “Abandon Hope, all ye who enter here.” It has taken hundreds of years for a few to come to the realization that the wise men had not the slightest desire for the company of a lot of hopeless incurables in the mysteries. There is to be abandoned hope for the gratification of our passions, our curiosities, our ambition or desire for gain. There is also another Hope—the true; and he is a wise man who comes to the knowledge of it. Sister to Patience, they together are the Godmothers of Right Living, and two of the Ten who assist the Teacher.

AMERICAN MYSTIC.

THOUGHT EFFECTS.

Some thirty years ago, I began a five years’ residence in a foreign land. Whilst there, I was conscious of a stern conflict going on within me to keep myself from falling into some of the ways and beliefs of the people of that land. So strong was the assault in one direction upon the Idol of Right which had been set up within me by a New England training, that for fear it should topple and fall, I was constrained to withdraw myself little by little from social relations, until finally I came to be pretty much alone, living on the pampas with flocks, herds, nature generally, and a few books for company. Even after this change the fight went on, though in a less active form and on a more desultory scale.

After I went from there, reflection upon the subject brought me to this conclusion among others, viz.: that one of the most powerful forces emanating from distinct societies of mankind works by mental action upon man from the unseen atmosphere surrounding him.

It is said advisingly, “When in Rome do as the Romans do.” It may be said, warningly: “When one enters upon living in Rome, he can scarce help but do as the Romans do.”

In these later days, investigation of Theosophy has shown me of what nature was the obstacle against which I had been contending so stoutly.

It was of the Karma of that nation. It has shown me also the method of that unseen, unheard influence which “is in the air,” ever about us, ever ready to move us, to govern us. And this method of influence, unseen and unheard, is the action upon us of forces existing on the Astral Plane. Among these forces are the thoughts of men living upon the objective plane of Earth.

After so much of preface, I come to a more particular consideration of some of the effects of those thoughts of man, which are unexpressed by speech or action, upon others and upon himself:

1st. How may we effectually resist the force of bad influence of locality operating on us from the Astral Plane?

2nd. How may we do something, otherwise than by precept and example, towards overcoming the evil Karma of Locality which may be affecting others?

3rd. How may we in individual cases help some unfortunates with whose needs we are acquainted?

An answer is—by Thoughts.

In man’s advancement from darkness into light, in the “Human Soul’s” departure from lower materiality to entrance into right Spiritual living, among other means to be used to attain that end are right thought, right action, right speech and right meditation. Of these, right thought, is of primary importance, for it is the foundation from which only the others can spring into life. Actions in objectivity are illusions; they are shadows of our personality created by thoughts. Thoughts are nearer, more akin to our personality than actions are, for they are primary expressions from personality, always preceding conscious speech and action. Of all the indices to our personality of which we have knowledge thoughts are the clearest; we are as our thoughts are. In compliance with that grand mandate, “Know Thyself,” why scan life’s page of speech and actions—shadows—when a vast volume of thoughts—realities—expressions of our personality, lies open to us for finding knowledge of self?

Though independent of speech and action, thoughts are realities. They are real, living, active forces, until their force is expended,—but the effects of right thoughts last forever. Space does not necessarily limit their reach. They are in the air, so to speak, everywhere, and can move with a rapidity that is instantaneous. They may not only be sent, but are received. It takes but the veriest morsel of time to send a thought to the Sun; at the Sun it takes as little time to receive a thought from the Earth.

To the first question—“how may we effectually resist the force of bad influence of Locality operating on us from the Astral Plane?”—one way is to search for Spiritual Truth. That truth is “in the air.” It is conveyed to us by Thoughts. But a thought “from the air” is as a seed. A mustard seed planted in ice will not fructify; a spiritual thought-seed falling upon a “Human Soul” which is bound and tied to Earth by its “Animal Soul” will not fructify. The mustard seed must fall into ground properly prepared for its reception, ere by culture it can sprout, grow, and bear fruit. And so, too, must the soil of the “Human Soul,” be made ready in order that it shall afford an appropriate bed upon which the ever-present Spiritual thought-seed shall alight. On such a prepared soil it will surely fall; as surely as the magnetic needle points to its pole, and once there, by our own culture it may grow into “an everlasting tree of Holiness.”

How is that bed prepared? How is it that we become ready to receive Spiritual Truth? By right thought, right action, right speech and right meditation. It lies within our inner selves whether we shall advance in Spiritual knowledge and life, and nowhere else; it must be our purpose, our business. No dictum of the Schools can bring it about. No printed book on esoteric wisdom or on ethics, or on the multitudinous religions of man can give it to us;—belonging to the Theosophical Society does not necessarily lead us into Spiritual life. These, to the hungry “Human Soul,” may be of immense importance, but if the “Human Soul”—principle 5, be not first prepared, if we do not look upward and build upward, all these means,—Spiritual thoughts that are “in the air,” wise books, this society of yours—they are all to such a spiritually-desert soul, but as of old—“pearls before swine”—hidden light—a force shut out by ourselves from acting within us.

When we are engaged in right searching for Spiritual Truth, bad forces from the Astral Plane are inoperative upon us: Thus may we effectually resist the force of bad influence of Locality operating on ourselves from the Astral Plane.

The second question we are considering is, “How may we do something, otherwise than by precept and example, towards overcoming the evil Karma which may be affecting others?”

Surely, again, it is by right thought, and right action, speech and meditation. For, not only do they prepare the way for the reception of Spiritual Truths, but the ego, so thinking, acting, speaking and meditating, is, while so employed, disseminating Spiritual light on all sides through the Astral Plane. He is throwing out Spiritual truth-seed which is reaching far and near. Wherever a “Human Soul” is in need of it, and hungering for it, it will surely fall; for there the soil is ready for its reception. These right thoughts have gone into “the air,” and are certain to strike in somewhere for good.

Thus by right thought we may do something otherwise than by precept and example, towards obliterating the evil Karma of locality which is affecting others.

Regarding the third question; it seems to me that we all know some particular individuals to whose high needs we can minister by direct intention through the power of thought.

Who, that observes and reflects, cannot gather from his own experience the fact that thought can fly to a person at a distance? How common to say “I was thinking of one and he appeared.” It is not an uncommon experience for one to unexpectedly entertain serious, at any rate marked thoughts about another, and subsequently to find that the other was similarly occupied in mind with him at the same time. It is odd if there be not some among you who know that thought messages have been sent, received and acted on by the object-person when the receiver was in an abnormal condition to the sender. By these and other illustrations which doubtless will occur to you, we know that it is within the province of cause and effect that thought has power to operate on others at a distance by direct intention of the sender, by mental action alone.

Believing in the reality of thought—knowing the reality of thought—in its power to shield us from evil; in its power to affect others unknown to us; in our power to project it to special individuals, what opportunities it affords us for conferring high good.

But in order to do positive good to another by this direct thought unexpressed by speech or action, some certain conditions are necessary, which we may consider as milestones that shall indicate the progress of our own ascending path from materiality to spirituality. To be a power by thought influence,—(I do not refer now to thought sent by will power to a particular “sensitive” who is in subjective state to the sender—which condition is on a lower plane than that which we are now considering,) presupposes intensity of love born of and nurtured by Spirituality for those whose high good we thus seek to establish. There must first be born in us an enthusiasm for giving high and positive good to another unconciously enthusiasm, as is our enthusiasm, shall be the energy of our missive-thought; and according to the energy of that thought will be its effect upon the object to which it is sent,—the more powerfully intense the thought the deeper it will penetrate;—the longer its effects will endure.

Right meditation will be required of us to determine what we really desired to effect. If we arrive at the position within ourselves necessary for obtaining power for affecting another for good by thought message, there will be engendered within us a portion of that grand principle on which this Society is founded, viz: Universal Brotherhood—unselfish love for others.

In making thought message to others, on the basis of lifting them to a higher plane of action, a part of our daily life, by its reaction upon ourselves we shall surely be “laying up treasures in Heaven”—and full will be our material for Devachanic life.

As in Devachan one shall live in the good he has done while in objective earth life—shall live in the true beauty he has learned to perceive—shall live in the effects of his good-life, his thoughts while here on earth can be made for the Devachanic period of his existence a vast storehouse of “good-life” of purest water. But it must be of thoughts untinged by selfish considerations. It must be of thoughts evolved through love of others for their good.

Right thought being the grand power it is:

1st. To resist within ourselves the bad Karma of Locality.

2nd. By which to weaken and destroy the bad Karma of Locality, which is disastrously affecting others.

3rd. By which from a basis of spiritual love we may send light to a groping soul,—what heavy responsibility is ever over us that it shall be our purpose, our study to “think aright.”—To live much in thus right thinking—we shall ever be lifting some of the heavy Karma from off the world. It is thus, that we can “live in the Eternal, for right thought is of the Universal Mind, and Universal Mind is of the Eternal.”

Reflect that persistent right thinking affects humanity constantly in the right direction, ever from the gross and material to the refined and Spiritual. It will ever be a constant force so long as evil exists. Let this idea sink into our consciousness. Let right thought be to us as the strong arm with which to do good to others. One need not long for wealth, for position or power that he may do good to others; the poorest in material wealth, the humblest in station, the most insignificant among men has within himself this ever open storehouse of power for conferring good on which he can draw without limit; a wealth he can scatter broadcast, or can give by direct selection of object with the surety that he is bestowing benefits broadly,—knowing that he is successfully contending against Spiritual poverty—which is the sum of evil.

He who uses this wealth, can do so—must do so only by sacrifice of thought of self. He must be interested only in combating evil by helping humanity at large; of offering special help to those whom he knows are desirous of help. As his life-love for the objects in view is the only foundation upon which he can do these works,—love of self can not be a power within him.

To put it the other way. Begin the work of thought for the good of others by first forgetting self; as fast as possible get away from the dominion of materiality. Live in the love of doing enduring good to others—these conditions are the true and upward advancement of ourselves. The doing of these things is the reward;—it is the advancing into God-life. It is part of our real Eternal selves. It is living in the Eternal—the everlasting good; for the God-life—the good-life is the only eternally active one. By living thus, the gross and material now enchaining our entities will be broken down and will die and leave us—and die they must sooner or later or the “I am I” shall perish.

H. N. H., F.T.S.

Brooklyn, Oct 15, 1886.

ENVIRONMENT.

To the Western mind the doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation contain difficulties which while they seem imaginary to the Eastern student, are nevertheless for the Western man as real as any of the other numerous obstructions in the path of salvation. All difficulties are more or less imaginary, for the whole world and all its entanglements are said to be an illusion resulting from the notion of a separate I. But while we exist here in matter, and so long as there is a manifested universe, these illusions are real to that man who has not risen above them to the knowledge that they are but the masks behind which the reality is hidden.

For nearly twenty centuries the Western nations have been building up the notion of a separate I—of meum and tuum—and it is hard for them to accept any system which goes against those notions.

As they progress in what is called material civilization with all its dazzling allurements and aids to luxury, their delusion is further increased because they appraise the value of their doctrine by the results which seem to flow from it, until at last they push so far what they call the reign of law, that it becomes a reign of terror. All duty to their fellows is excluded from it in practice, although the beautiful doctrines of Jesus are preached to the people daily by preachers who are paid to preach but not to enforce, and who cannot insist upon the practice which should logically follow the theory because the consequences would be a loss of position and livelihood.

So when out of such a nation rises a mind that asks for help to find again the path that was lost, he is unconsciously much affected by the education not only of himself but also of his nation through all these centuries. He has inherited tendencies that are hard to be overcome. He battles with phantasms, real for him but mere dreams for the student who has been brought up under other influences.

When, therefore, he is told to rise above the body, to conquer it, to subdue his passions, his vanity, anger and ambition, he asks, “what if borne down by this environment, which I was involuntarily born into, I shall fail.” Then when told that he must fight or die in the struggle, he may reply that the doctrine of Karma is cold and cruel because it holds him responsible for the consequences which appear to be the result of that unsought environment. It then becomes with him a question whether to fight and die, or to swim on with the current careless as to its conclusion but happy if perhaps it shall carry him into smooth water whose shores are elysian.

Or perhaps he is a student of occultism whose ambition has been fired by the prospect of adeptship, of attaining powers over nature, or what not.

Beginning the struggle he presently finds himself beset with difficulties which, not long after, he is convinced are solely the result of his environment. In his heart he says that Karma has unkindly put him where he must constantly work for a living for himself and a family: or he has a life long partner whose attitude is such that he is sure were he away from her he could progress: until at last he calls upon heaven to interpose and change the surroundings so opposed to his perfecting himself.

This man has indeed erred worse than the first. He has wrongly supposed that his environment was a thing to be hated and spurned away. Without distinctly so saying to himself, he has nursed within the recesses of his being the idea that he like Buddha could in this one life triumph over all the implacable forces and powers that bar the way to Nirvana. We should remember that the Buddha does not come every day but is the efflorescence of ages, who when the time is ripe surely appears in one place and in one body, not to work for his own advancement but for the salvation of the world.

What then of environment and what of its power over us?

Is environment Karma or is it Reincarnation? THE LAW is Karma, reincarnation is only an incident. It is one of the means which The Law uses to bring us at last to the true light. The wheel of rebirths is turned over and over again by us in obedience to this law, so that we may at last come to place our entire reliance upon Karma. Nor is our environment Karma itself, for Karma is the subtle power which works in that environment.

There is nothing but the SELF—using the word as Max Müller does to designate the Supreme Soul—and its environment. The Aryans for the latter use the word Kosams or sheaths. So that there is only this Self and the various sheaths by which it is clothed, beginning with the most intangible and coming down to the body, while outside of that and common to all is what is commonly known as environment, whereas the word should be held to include all that is not The Self.

How unphilosophical therefore it is to quarrel with our surroundings, and to desire to escape them? We only escape one kind to immediately fall into another. And even did we come into the society of the wisest devotees we would still carry the environment of the Self in our own bodies, which will always be our enemy so long as we do not know what it is in all its smallest details. Coming down then to the particular person, it is plain that that part of the environment which consists in the circumstances of life and personal surroundings is only an incident, and that the real environment to be understood and cared about is that in which Karma itself inheres in us.

Thus we see that it is a mistake to say—as we often hear it said—“If he only had a fair chance; if his surroundings were more favorable he would do better,” since he really could not be in any other circumstances at that time, for if he were it would not be he but some one else. It must be necessary for him to pass through those identical trials and disadvantages to perfect the Self; and it is only because we see but an infinitesimal part of the long series that any apparent confusion or difficulty arises. So our strife will be, not to escape from anything, but to realize that these Kosams, or sheaths, are an integral portion of ourselves, which we must fully understand before we can change the abhorred surroundings. This is done by acknowledging the unity of spirit, by knowing that everything, good and bad alike, is the Supreme. We then come into harmony with the Supreme Soul, with the whole universe, and no environment is detrimental.

The very first step is to rise from considering the mere outside delusive environment, knowing it to be the result of past lives, the fruition of Karma done, and say with Uddalaka in speaking to his son:

“All this Universe has the Deity for its life. That Deity is the Truth. He is the Universal soul. He Thou art, O Svetaketu!”[169]

HADJII ERINN.

TEA TABLE TALK.

Recently the tea-table was chatting about the Widow’s escape from the Romish fold. She was nearly converted by the urbane Monsignor Capel, but escaped at the critical moment, she said, “by reason of a sudden preoccupation.” This turned out to be the death of her worthy husband. The Widow is a pretty and amiable creature, approved even by the ladies who say “she is a good little soul and mourns most expensively.” Hence she never appears at the tea-table without an escort, and the most frequent of these is one Didymus, lawyer by profession, good humored, sceptic by nature, whose careless, semi-flippant manner makes it difficult to know him, though he and I frequent the same clubs and make our bows in the same drawing rooms. On the day in question the lady said that she brought him often because she “wanted him converted to Theosophy.”

“But, my dear Madam,” said I, “you know we don’t believe in converts. Theosophy is simply an extension of previous beliefs and like Victor Hugo it says, ‘in the name of Religion, I protest against religions.’ People have to grow into it. When they are ready for it a crisis of some kind, now moral, now physical, seems to occur just before they accept the Light from the East as a man receives back something he has lost. It seems as if those elemental creatures, who attend man, foresaw his determination and strove to frighten him away from the initial moment of choice. Great momentum, even of misapplied energies, often indicates the nearness of radical change.”

“Yes,” broke in Didymus quietly, “I believe that of the Elemental and the astral world. I’ve been there myself, don’t you know!”

Imagine the feelings of Balaam upon a noted occasion! Unlike the excellent but misunderstood animal of scripture, Didymus was urged to continue.

“No,” said he, “I can’t profess to explain my experiences, but I’ll tell them by way of illustrating Mr. Julius’ remark, as I find most people do go through a climax of some kind before they round the turning point of the Age.” The tea-table settled itself comfortably and Didymus proceeded.

“I was in a good deal of trouble last winter, trouble of various kinds, and needless to specify, and I had foolishly taken to a pretty lively life. I don’t mind saying that one of the chief causes of my trouble was the fact that I couldn’t believe in anything that made life worth living; all my ideals were pretty well played out. One Sunday I awoke with an overwhelming sense of terrible calamity, I recalled the events of the previous day, but all was in due order from the matutinal cocktail to the vesper toddy, so I finally concluded that my depression was a hint that I had been living too hard and I resolved to stop it. This resolve, by the way, I carried out from that hour, nor have I ever touched liquor since. I passed the day otherwise as usual with various friends and dined out with a glorious appetite. Returning to my hotel, I was engaged in making notes of one of Herbert Spencer’s works, when my attention was attracted by voices in the adjoining room, and I was astounded to find that they were detailing with startling accuracy, certain of my affairs which I not unnaturally supposed were hidden from the world at large. Conquering my blank amazement I sprang into the corridor, when the voices as suddenly ceased and I found my neighbor’s door ajar and the room entirely empty. This rather took me down, and I concluded to turn in, and was just falling asleep, when I seemed to see two fellows in evening dress whom I somehow knew to be jugglers. They advanced, bowed, and thereupon began a series of the most fascinating and laughable tricks I ever saw. I looked on with interest for what appeared to me a long time but at last the rapidity and variety of the illusions produced a feeling of intense weariness, and I said, ‘Gentlemen, thanks for your interesting performance, but you will pardon my remarking that it is late, and I am very tired.’ They bowed, said nothing, and continued their performance which became even more ludicrous. I repeated my request; again the bows and tricks of increasing absurdity. Worn out I exclaimed angrily, ‘I consider this a beastly imposition, you know, and if you persist I shall be obliged—’ but I never finished the sentence, for the two distorted their faces into masks of indescribable comicality and were off while I laughed—and awoke. As I did so, I was amazed to see a broad patch of vivid scarlet light slide down the wall from ceiling to floor and before I could give a second thought to this phenomenon, a big white cat sprang from the foot of my bed and vanished in the darkness.

“This aroused me thoroughly, for though I had never experienced the like before, I said to myself ‘Old Boy, you must have a touch of D. T. though why the devil you should have with your seasoned head, I can’t say.’ I got up and lit my gas; it was after midnight but I concluded to go out and get some medicine. The halls were quite dark save for a light in the front vestibule and I felt my way down by the balustrade. Turning the corner of the staircase I became aware of a shape—I cannot call it a form—which was distinguishable from the surrounding darkness only by being more intensely black. It seemed about seven feet high, the body was indistinct but in the sharply defined head two fiery eyes glowed with a malice and menace that were truly appalling. The shape stood directly before me and barred my way. I felt an icy chill down my back, and I’d wager that my hair stood up, but summoning all my courage I said,—‘Well; what do you want?’ The silent shape bowed mockingly and the eyes became more malignant and threatening. My temper, which is really hasty,” (cries of “Oh! no!” from the ladies,) “got the better of my fears, and advancing in furious anger I cried; ‘Stand aside and let me pass.’ The shape vanished and I reached the front door without further incident.

“The cold night somewhat calmed me, but as I crossed Madison Square I imagined that some one was following me. I turned sharply about; the square was deserted. I resumed my walk; again the swift footsteps ever coming closer: again I turned; nothing! By this time I began to be alarmed. For visible foes a man cares little, but those ghastly footsteps,—they curdled my very blood, by Jove! I walked on and reaching Broadway, I was struck with the tumult of voices that filled the air though there were but few people about. The street cars seemed crowded with noisy men, laughing, swearing, telling more or less questionable stories, and from every cab and wagon came similar sounds: it was like the rumpus on the Stock Exchange on a field day. The invisible footsteps, at first drowned in the noise recommenced, and constantly turning, I found myself ever duped. By this time I began to think the whole thing an illusion, but presently I saw a man just ahead of me look out from a doorway. As I approached, he apparently drew back, but getting opposite the door I found it closed by barred iron shutters: this occurred over and over. Then as I would approach anyone, pedestrian or driver, he would shout at me, mockingly, jovially, profanely or inconsequently, yet I could see that his lips were closed and that he was only mechanically aware of my presence.

“I now began to feel that there were two of me, so to speak. One recognized that this was all a delusion; the other self was alarmed and unstrung. I walked quietly but rapidly, attracting no attention. Looking at myself in a chance mirror I saw that in outward appearance I was the same as ever. Reaching the drug store by the Herald Office, I sat down completely unstrung, but my voice was steady as I asked for some Bromide of Potash, and the attendant gave me a dose in a glass of soda water at my request without remark. Having no excuse for remaining I reluctantly turned homeward, hoping that fatigue and the drug would dissipate my delusions. In vain! I no longer heard the dogging steps or saw the peeping men, but the voices were louder and more confusing in a perfect chorus of commonplace talk, intensified in volume. Arrived home, I took another dose of Bromide and threw myself on the bed. Instantly it seemed to sink under me and then rose violently. I rose, lit the gas and my cigar, but the voices began again in the next room. Though tired out, I sought the street again. By this time the sense of being ‘double’ was intensified, and I recognized with anger that my higher self was under the control of a lower portion which it ridiculed and reprobated. I walked up Broadway this time, and as I passed the hotels from doors and windows came invitations to drink, to dine, to play billiards and less innocent suggestions. A man and woman came towards me, and I was amazed at the breadth, or depth of their conversation, ranging over topics not whispered in general, much less proclaimed on the highway, yet as I met them I saw that their lips moved not; with heads bent slightly against the keen air of the winter morning they sped silently on their way. Jeers and mockeries saluted me from the cab stands, yet the cabbies dozed on their boxes. Hour after hour I walked thus, ready to drop with hunger and fatigue but unable to stop. At last in the cold grey of the morning I returned home, took a tub and a meal, and went to my Doctor, having heard the irrational tumult of voices all the while. The Doctor was vastly amused at some points of my narration; he thought my cat might be D. T. but could make nothing out of all the rest except a threatening of insanity, and giving me some beastly powders, advised me to live quietly, and keep out of doors as much as possible. I attended to my routine business, all the time hearing the voices, except when someone addressed me. Getting restless as the day wore on I walked down along the East River piers, went on board vessels, into holds and engine rooms, climbed over cargo and chatted with stevedores. No one saw anything unusual about me; friends asked me to wine and dine, yet still the hateful voices mingled with the real ones till I hardly knew them apart and feared I should commit some noticeable indiscretion. The day passed in misery; as I got to my bed at last, a red setter appeared by my side. An inmate owned a dog of this species, and at first I thought this was he, but my door was locked and as I turned to him he vanished, which upset my nerves again. Again I sought my Doctor’s aid, and taking a second worse prescription, passed another hideous night in desperate wandering, ever with the voices at my ear. It was useless to try to sleep or even to lie down; my bed heaved like a ship in a tempest. The next day I passed at my office again or with any acquaintances I could muster, talking as much as possible in the hope of a brief respite from the maddening sounds. At last the medicines did their work; the next day found me clear headed, the sights and sounds of the astral plane had vanished; I don’t want to experience them again, but I believe in them, you bet! Later I found out what they really were when my life had wholly changed, and I had joined the Theosophical Society.”

The ladies turned on him with one voice. “You! A Theosophist! and you never told us!”

“Well,” said he humbly, “I tried hard, but—you never gave me a chance.”

Pretty Polly says that under cover of the laughter the Widow whispered to Didymus that she had thought he was trying to tell her something else. But I don’t believe it, for Didymus is still a bachelor; some say he is a chela.

In answer to queries, I would say that all occurrences related in this department are strictly true, as is the above experience of an F. T. S. communicated since the published invitation to correspondents in our last number. All such will be hospitably received by the Tea-Table. I may add further that “Julius” is now the name of a department merely; though it has at times sheltered groups of personalities of both sexes, there has always been one fixed quantity directing these, and that’s he who now signs

JULIUS.

“These sons belong to me; this wealth belongs to me:” with such thoughts is a fool tormented. He himself does not belong to himself, much less sons and wealth.—Buddhaghosha Parables.

OM

Let us adore the supremacy of that divine Sun, the Godhead who illuminates who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke: may he direct our understanding aright in our progress toward his holy seat.—The Gayatri.

The spiritual mind which by study hath forsaken the fruit of works, and which by wisdom hath cut asunder the bond of doubt, cannot be brought back to mortal birth by reason of any human action.—Bagavad-Gita, ch. iv.

THE PATH.

VOL. I.                         MARCH, 1887.                         NO. 12.

The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document.

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

A YEAR ON THE PATH.

The present issue of this Magazine closes the first year of its publication. It was not started because its projectors thought that they alone knew the true Path, but solely out of an intense longing to direct inquiring minds towards a way which had seemed to many persons who had tried it, to hold out the possibility of finding an answer to the burning questions that vex the human heart.

The question is always naturally asked “What is the Path?” or “What is the Philosophy?” which is the same thing, for of course the following of any path whatever will depend upon the particular philosophy or doctrines believed in. The path we had in view is held by us to be the same one which in all ages has been sought by Heathen, Jew and Christian alike. By some called the path to Heaven, by others the path to Jesus, the path to Nirvana, and by the Theosophists the path to Truth. Jesus has defined it as a narrow, difficult and straight path. By the ancient Brahmins it has been called, “the small old path leading far away on which those sages walk who reach salvation;” and Buddha thought it was a noble fourfold path by which alone the miseries of existence can be truly surmounted.

But of course mental diversities inevitably cause diversity in the understanding of any proposition. Thus it happens that Theosophists have many different views of how the path should be followed, but none of them disagree with the statement that there must be one Truth, and that no religion can be called higher than Truth. We therefore have pursued, as far as possible, a course which is the result of the belief that the prevalence of similar doctrines in the writings and traditions of all peoples points to the fact that the true religion is that one which will find the basic ideas common to all philosophies and religions.

We turned most readily and frequently to the simple declarations found in the ancient books of India, esteeming most highly that wonderful epic poem—the Bagavad-Gita. And in that is found a verse that seems to truly express in powerful words what philosophers have been blindly grasping after in many directions.

“It is even a portion of myself (the Supreme) that in this material world is the universal spirit of all things. It draweth together the five organs and the mind, which is the sixth, in order that it may obtain a body, and that it may leave it again; and that portion of myself (Ishwar) having taken them under his charge, accompanieth them from his own abode as the breeze the fragrance from the flower.”[170]

To catch the light which gleams through this verse, is not for mortal minds an easy task, and thus it becomes necessary to present as many views from all minds as can be obtained. But it seems plain that in every religion is found the belief that that part of man which is immortal must be a part of the Supreme Being, for there cannot be two immortalities at once, since that would give to each a beginning, and therefore the immortal portion of man must be derived from the true and only immortality.

This immortal spark has manifested itself in many different classes of men, giving rise to all the varied religions, many of which have forever disappeared from view. Not any one of them could have been the whole Truth, but each must have presented one of the facettes of the great gem, and thus through the whole surely run ideas shared by all. These common ideas point to truth. They grow out of man’s inner nature and are not the result of revealed books. But some one people or another must have paid more attention to the deep things of life than another. The “Christian” nations have dazzled themselves with the baneful glitter of material progress. They are not the peoples who will furnish the clearest clues to the Path. A few short years and they will have abandoned the systems now held so dear, because their mad rush to the perfection of their civilization will give them control over now undreamed of forces. Then will come the moment when they must choose which of two kind of fruit they will take. In the meantime it is well to try and show a relation between their present system and the old, or at least to pick out what grains of truth are in the mass.

In the year just passing we have been cheered by much encouragement from without and within. Theosophy has grown not only in ten years, but during the year past. A new age is not far away. The huge, unwieldy flower of the 19th century civilization, has almost fully bloomed, and preparation must be made for the wonderful new flower which is to rise from the old. We have not pinned our faith on Vedas nor Christian scriptures, nor desired any others to do so. All our devotion to Aryan literature and philosophy arises from a belief that the millions of minds who have trodden weary steps before ours, left a path which might be followed with profit, yet with discrimination. For we implicitly believe that in this curve of the cycle, the final authority is the man himself. In former times the disclosed Vedas, and later, the teachings of the great Buddha, were the right authority, in whose authoritative teachings and enjoined practices were found the necessary steps to raise Man to an upright position. But the grand clock of the Universe points to another hour, and now Man must seize the key in his hands and himself—as a whole—open the gate. Hitherto he has depended upon the great souls whose hands have stayed impending doom. Let us then together enter upon another year, fearing nothing, assured of strength in the Union of Brotherhood. For how can we fear death, or life, or any horror or evil, at any place or time, when we well know that even death itself is a part of the dream which we are weaving before our eyes.

Our belief may be summed up in the motto of the Theosophical Society “There is no religion higher than Truth,” and our practice consists in a disregard of any authority in matters of religion and philosophy except such propositions as from their innate quality we feel to be true.

WHAT IS TRUE “CHRISTIANITY”?

“Christianity” is a religion; but the word “religion” has evidently three distinct meanings:

1. In the first place it signifies the practice of a certain kind of spiritual training, by which the higher principles in the constitution of man are developed and reunited (bound back) to the divine source to which they belong. In this sense it is the same as yogism (from yog, to bind).

2. In the second aspect it implies the knowledge of the true relation existing between microcosmic man as a part of the All and the macrocosm of the spiritual and material universe. In this sense it is a science.

3. In the third and common acceptation of the term, “religion” means a certain system of forms, ceremonies and usages, by which some supposed eternal deity is worshipped or propitiated and his favor obtained, so that the sinner may escape the deserved punishment and evade the law. In this sense it is a superstition.

To become a “Christian” of the third order, it is merely necessary to submit to a certain ceremony called baptism, whose mode of administration varies in the different sects; but it seems that to become a real Christian some other baptism is necessary, namely, the baptism of the water of Truth, the baptism of Blood, and the baptism of the living Fire of the Spirit.

The first baptism, with the water of Truth, means the attainment of spiritual knowledge, and corresponds to the first of the four noble truths taught by Buddha: “right doctrine.”

The second, or the baptism of Blood, is commonly supposed to mean a shedding of blood by martyrdom, in the defense of a belief in a historical Christ. But such a process would be a loss of blood and not a reception of it, and could not properly be called a “baptism.” The best way to obtain information in regard to this “baptism of blood,” will be to ask those who have received it or who are receiving it at present.

There is a certain class of “practical occultists,” whose inner senses are opened to a great extent, and who have been taught by no one but the spirit within themselves and their own experience. They say that the “baptism of blood” means a penetration of the growing spiritual germ in man, through the flesh and blood and bones of the physical body, by which even the gross elements of the physical form are attenuated and purified,[171] and that this process produces pains and sufferings, typically represented by the suffering, crucifixion and death of the man Jesus of Nazareth. They say that no one can be a true follower of Christ, or a “real Christian,” who has not undergone this baptism of blood, and experienced the pains of crucifixion,[172] but that man having passed through that occult process becomes an Adept, when only the highest baptism (or the last initiation)—the baptism of Fire—will be necessary to enter the highest attainable state (Spiritual Power), and to become a Son of Light.

But, it is asked, what has Jesus of Nazareth to do with that process? How does the latter come to be typified by his suffering, and what is the rationale of it?

It is claimed that at the beginning of certain historical periods, when old religious truths are about to be forgotten, and the idolatry of form assumes the place of true religion, some great spirit (planetary) appears upon the Earth, incarnated into a human form, and by his word and example impresses the old truths forcibly upon a number of receptive minds, to communicate them to others, and thus lay the foundation of a new religious system, embodying old truths in a new form.

It is believed that the man Jesus of Nazareth was the mortal form in which such a Spirit was embodied; the latter being no less than what I believe every planetary spirit to be—an emanation of the Universal Logos or the Word.[173]

But what is the Logos? or, to express it better, how can we form a conception of it? We can conceive of no other God (or Supreme Good) but the one which lives within ourselves, and which is said to be the image of the Universal God reflected in the purified human soul, where it (He) may attain self-consciousness and the knowledge of self. The Universal God may be described as the incomprehensible centre from which proceed the elements of Love, Life and Light in the various modes of manifestation on the different planes. The whole of Nature is a product of the Spirit of God, being poured out throughout the All by the power of The Word, which is the Life—or thought rendered active by will.

The same process which took place in the eternal Macrocosm of the Universe, takes place in the inner world belonging to the microcosm of man. “No one can come to the Father, but through the Son;” that is to say: No God will take his seat in the interior temple of Man, except through the power of the Word—in other words; by the concentration of thought and good will upon the divine germ which rests in the innermost centre of every human being. If we concentrate our Love upon that centre of Good, the divine germ will begin its active Life, and the interior world will gradually become illuminated by the Light of the spirit. As this principle grows, it will penetrate the soul and through the soul all the lower principles, even the physical body, throwing off the impurities of soul and body, and the more such impurities are present, the greater will be the suffering, typically represented by Jesus, until finally the baptism of blood is completed, the soul purified, the animal ego dead and the man has become a “Christ” or an Adept,—that is to say one in whom the (6th) Christ principle has taken form.

It will readily be seen that this process is much more difficult to accomplish, than merely to go to church, pay the dues to the priests, attend to prayer-meetings and perform the prescribed ceremonies. To accomplish this process requires a constant meditation of the highest kind, and a continual employment of will power to keep away the disturbing elements of evil, which in a person who strives for light are still more boisterous than in one who is indifferent, for as soon as the spiritual light kindled in the centre begins to radiate its life-giving rays throughout our interior world, the “dwellers of the threshold”—the evil egos, created by evil thoughts and selfish desires, floating at the periphery of the soul-sphere like clouds sailing through the atmosphere of our earth, begin to feel the destroying influence of the central sun and battle for their existence. Still this atmosphere of evil must be penetrated before we can reach the luminous centre and the tranquil heaven within, and this is done by clinging to the principle of Good and virtue whose rays radiate from the centre. This principle will at first only be felt intuitionally but as we feed it with good thoughts, it grows and the interior spiritual senses become opened, so that we may see and hear its voice distinctly and without any fear of misunderstanding its meaning.

The “below” is always in exact correspondence to and related with the “above.” We are immersed in an all surrounding but invisible ocean of life, whose waves pervade our psychic organization, in the same sense as volumes of air enter our lungs, and as the latter stimulates the life of the body, likewise the former stimulates the growth of the elements of the spirit; which draw their substance from the lower-animal-principles. In the same way the caloric rays of the sun enter the bodies of plants and stimulate the assimilation of the elements which are drawn from earth, water and air.

Those who have gone through that occult process, will require no proof of the truth of these assertions: because they know it to be true by experience; but the “exoteric Christian” and sceptic, having no such experience to assist his faith, may arrive at a certain degree of conviction by using his reasoning powers and logic in conjunction with the teachings of the Bible. Christ is reported in the New Testament to have said: “Except Ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no life in You” (John vi, 53); and again: “I am the living bread, which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever” (John vi, 51.) Now this seems plain enough to every student of occultism, and if translated into the scientific language of modern occultists, it would mean: “Unless you absorb and assimilate within your psychic organization the sixth principle (The Christ), which is the only permanent and immortal principle in the constitution of Man, you will have no sixth principle developed within you, and consequently possess no immortal life—at least as far as Your personality is concerned (for the divine and now unconscious germ within you cannot die, but will reincarnate again). But if you absorb the principle or spiritual life and develop the spirit within you, so that it grows through your flesh and blood, then will you have drunk from the Elixir of Life and received the Baptism of Blood and become a Christian, an Adept; for ‘Christ’ will have taken form in your body, and being himself immortal you will be immortal through him.”

These views are corroborated by the great Christian mystic Jacob Boehme, by Jane Leade, Paracelsus, the Rosicrucians, and I can find nothing in them which would in any way conflict with the Esoteric Doctrine, as taught by the Eastern Adepts. If any difference in opinion could arise, it could be only, in regard to the person of Jesus of Nazareth or Jehoshua, and whether he lived exactly at the time claimed by modern Christians. This question I must leave to some one wiser than myself to settle; but it seems of no great importance to me; for the existence of the Christ-principle is disputed by none, and the man, Jesus—having died—can only be a Savior to us at present, if we study his character and imitate his example.

F. HARTMANN, M. D.

PAPYRUS—THE GEM.

The roads were thronged with the people moving toward the great square, for it was a feast of the Goddess. The temples were crowded, while long lines of men and maidens in the robes of “The Sacred” wound in and out toward the river.

Music and song rose and fell upon the evening breeze, like the pulse of a throbbing heart. Here and there could be seen the Scribes, and seated in an open space, the Tale-tellers. One of these, as I rested near him, told the tale of

ONE WHO FOUND THE GEM.

“In the land of the Wise-men, there dwelt a young man. Many years had he labored in a strange mine; the ‘Mine of the Priceless Gems;’—hopefully, bravely, but fruitlessly. He had long known that he who should find the Master Stone, would be free, be full of peace and dig no more, for nothing better could be found. He also knew that he who found the stone should seek to share it with all men.

“Many small stones had he found, but they were laid aside to be used when the great stone was reached.

“Silently and steadily he worked on, until one gloomy day when he had grown so weak that he could make but one more effort, that effort was rewarded, and before him lay the great gem. Weary, weak, but joyful, he gathered it into his bosom, and went forth to share it with others; for he who told not of his gem, or shared it not with all men, must lose the stone.

“Far he wandered, telling his wonderful story, the finding of the Priceless Stone—the stone that made men greater, wiser, more loving than all things living; the stone that no man could keep unless he gave it away.

“Far he wandered in his own country, seeking to tell his story and give of the Stone to each one he met. Silently they listened—gravely they meditated and gently they said to him: ‘This is Kali-yuga, the dark age. Come to us a hundred thousand years from now. Until then—the stone is not for us. It is Karma.’

“Far into another land he wandered, ever trying for the same end. Gravely they listened, quietly they spoke: ‘Peace be with you. When the Lotus ceases to bloom and our Sacred River runs dry, come to us. Until then we need not the stone.’

“Over the seas unto another land he went, for fully he believed that there they would hear and share with him. The many days of wandering and the long journey across the sea had made him thin and ragged. He had not thought of this, but as he told his story he was reminded of it and many other things, for here the people answered in many ways, and not always gently.

“Some listened, for his story was new to them, but the gem was uncut, and they wished it polished.

“Others paused and desired him to tell his story in their tents, for that would make them exalted and famous, but they wanted not the gem. As he did not belong to their tribe, it would bring discredit upon them to receive anything from him.

“One paused to listen and desired some of the stone, but he desired to use it to elevate his own position and assist him in overreaching his fellows in bartering and bargaining. The Wanderer was unable to give any of the stone to such as this one.

“Another listened, but inasmuch as the Wanderer refused to make the gem float in the air, he would none if it.

“Another heard, but he already knew of a better stone, and was sure he would find it, because he ate nothing but star-light and moonbeams.

“Another could not receive any of the stone or listen to the story, for the Wanderer was poor and ragged. Unless he was dressed in purple and fine linen and told his story in words of oil and honey, he could not be the possessor of the gem.

“Still another heard, but he knew it was not the gem. As the Wanderer had been unsuccessful before, surely he could not have found the stone. Even had he found it, he could not have the proper judgment to divide it. So he wanted none of the stone.

“Near and far went the Wanderer. Still ever the same. Some wanted it, but the stone was too hard, or not bright enough. He was not of their people, or was ignorant. He was too ragged and worn to suit their ideas, so they wanted none of the stone.

“Saddened, aged and heart-sore, he wandered back to the land of the Wise men. To one of these he went, telling of his journeyings and that no man would share with him the magnificent stone, and also of his sorrow that he too must lose it.

“‘Be not troubled, my son,’ said the Wise One, ‘the stone is for you, nor can you lose it. He who makes the effort to help his fellow man is the rightful owner and still possesses the entire stone, although he has shared it with all the world. To each and every one to whom you have spoken, although they knew it not, you have given one of the smaller stones which you first found. It is enough. When the Master Stone is cut and polished, then is the labor of the fortunate possessor ended. The long journeying and weary wandering, the sorrow-laden heart and tear-dimmed eyes, have cut and polished your gem. Behold, it is a white and a fair stone!’

“Drawing it from his bosom, the Wanderer gazed into the wonderful light of the stone while an expression of great peace stole over his face. Folding the gem close to his bosom his eyelids closed, and he fell asleep, a wanderer no more.”

RAMESES.

HERALDS FROM THE UNSEEN.

“Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.”—I Cor. xv, 51. “I have found the small old path leading far away.”—UPANISHAD.

To him who without murmuring, confident in the perfect justice of the law, waits and watches, there comes a herald from heights unseen. The just man follows him and attains; the unwise may surprise him and follow also. But when the fool has rushed unbidden in where angels fear to tread, he meets a mailed Truth with a drawn sword, on whose point he dies. Now there are two deaths. From the one he may rise, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, * * * for the dead shall be raised,”[174] and this by the vivifying power of truth, if so be he have one identical incorruptible atom in his spiritual make up, or else that rash being is dead forever, and the spirit monad creates another in the dream of three thousand years.

The indivisible Truth in its entirety is incommunicable in the words of our plane. A clue may indeed be given; it is the herald to those who await him. It is useless to turn the page to see who this is that offers the clue. Of myself I know nothing, yet through me may much be made known. I am the trumpet; through it the herald may proclaim a mystery.

It was in a night of silence that a Power bade me waken, and drew me to a dark cave wherein It passed. Not so I, for the entrance was narrow and I had encumbrances about me. Only many nights later, when I had parted with effort, hope and fear, did I stand within. All of me that was essential had entered; this was enough. Then a musical chord breathed low, the darkness dispersed, and I saw the Unknown Land.

It was a circling land of streams, Light everywhere, flowing, flowing, flowing. The flow was cadenced and welled from a mysterious Centre of blackness at the edges of which spouted cataracts of flame. My thought shrank with awe of the Darkness, but an unknown grasp of Might expanded within me and drew me to that flaming verge. On the knees of the soul I fall and am not. I become one with the All, and consciously resting in Omniscience I know the whole. Yet what forever dwells, wakeful and brooding with that dark pavillion, nor man nor angel may discover. Profounder than all Being, It is, girt about by unfathomed fires. “Ye shall enter the light, but ye shall never touch the flame.”[175]

A stir was over that central Dark, a titanic breath, like the sighing of myriad seas, measured, omnipotent. Where its harmonious friction fretted the verges of space, the flames burst forth, and with fecund pulsations gave birth to heat, light, motion and sound. The Centre felt a boundless attraction for the circumference, pouring toward it with inexhaustible energy, for “the heart of it is Love.” This was the force centrifugal, which in a dazzle of starry scintillations thrusts the universal glooms apart with a song. Were this all, Discord and Division were the end. But the circumference trembled also with a vast yearning toward the Centre, so that it ever tended to return there, as the prodigal, enriched in experience, returns to the mystic house of the Father. This was the centripetal force, and these two caused the double vibration of the Astral Light, and they are all you shall know though you blend with the infinite forever. “Whatever there is, the whole world when gone forth trembles in His breath: that Brahman is a great terror, like a drawn sword. They who know it become immortal.”[176]

Then a voice said—“The Absolute evolves thought from Himself, and the vibration of this thought in the passive wells of space generates Light and its correlated forces. The Thought is,—‘Creation!’ The singing breath is the Word; the Light is the Absolute made manifest, and the Universe begins.” At once I saw divergent lances of light pour their serried splendors into the void, and the point of each spear displaced the mist which curling backward from the centre of energy thus formed, communicated the movement to sister vapors in turn. Activities shoot, play back and forth, elongate, crystalize, and so great planets spring into the arena, feel the first instinct of separate Being, struggle to depart,—an estranged Self—in meteoric desolation, when the magnetic impulse of the Centre streams along the creative ray, meets the responsive principle, and lo! each chafing Orb, held in leash by Love, wheels into the circle of attraction and obeys the Law. The astral world has begun!

Thence presently the Light spreads afresh, reflected and repeated from every facet of every star, till arrowy glories, vibrant with each vibration sped forth by the primary pencils of light, in turn create dull planetary masses in the luminous abyss; then ever renewed coruscations quicken their dust with whose initial tremor shining crystals sparkle out and glide together about a glistering ring whose centre is ever a darkness ruffled by the outreaching current from that first tinted Gloom. So new spheres form, these, repeating the parent movement, with wide spreading auras touch and arouse their neighbors, and interpenetrating, revolving, throwing off, taking on, converging, diverging, modifying and modified, a world of forms is evolved whose final expression of Being is Man. Thus further departing, the infinite variations end in individuality and the greater the individuality, the more it leans to the centrifugal force, and the lack of equilibrium in the forces draws man further from the Eternal and he forgets the Law. His aura, his rays are nerve currents centred in the personality, but linked by star-beam and moon-ray to the quivering Source of all light, so that each man vibrating, imparts to the Akasa about him his own specific rate of vibration, and all men, all things, suspended as it were in this fine ether which fills the universe, act and react each on each, every one striving to modify the others to his own vibratory ratio, while the Light in the same way attacks all, and the battle of the giants is here. So the final expression of “evil” is inertia, and the highest attribute of Spirit is the Thought which is Life.

Once again the Voice spoke then saying: “What gives Life?” Someone answered: “Vibration.” And when It said, “Look back to the earth world,” I obeyed. I saw the modern sage reducing all the great forces, all the intoxicating play of colors and the bewildering tangle of harmonies to this one source,—Vibration. I saw wondering students bending over sensitive flames that danced or died at the mandate of sound. I saw a child playing with iron filings on glass, and as he drew a bow athwart the pane they marshalled into tiny mimicries of the primitive crystalline creation. I saw the Frost spirit, tracing his white wonders of tropical forests on vibrant surfaces, blazoning symbols of summer on the grim escutcheon of the snow. I saw Sound disintegrating granite and iron, taming wild beasts with a lure, transforming brothers into demons at the sibilant hiss of a scathing word.[177] I saw Light fecundating the soil, and the teeming battalions of the underworld issuing from the palpitating spark in their germs; the selective art of the flower, choosing the kindred color of her tribe from all the flashing scale, gave up to me its secret of the synchronous vibration of that hue with the astral soul within her fragrant form. Passion I saw also, flaming in two breasts that for one tumultuous moment became one, and knew it for an instant of similar vibration. Aye, and saw that Love was a steadfast quality of motion between loyal hearts, saw too that Anger and Hatred had their rise in the same source, and mounting upward I saw that Faith was a similitude of vibration with Truth itself. Again the Voice spoke; “Dost thou see aught but Vibration anywhere?” I answered: “Such all life is, and from such all proceeds. He who cons its secret laws and can institute its musical numbers at will, is a God! He can create and destroy.” “Go then, and by analogy learn what thou art,” said the Voice, and like the rebel fraction of a star I fell from Glory, and found myself alone in the Maya world again, with these words thrilling my brain. “But He, that Highest Person, who wakes in us while we sleep, shaping one lovely sight after another, He indeed is called the Light, He is called Brahman, He alone is called The Immortal. All worlds are founded on It and no one goes beyond. This is that.”[178]

It is rarely that a man gets the whole of his thought; often others supply it. Analogy is the power of following a thought into all its correlations, and I shall ask you to do this in a measure with mine. These puny pages cannot contain the theme of cycles, and falling short, it scarce matters by how many pen strokes I fail. Consider this first; what are we? Look abroad over our Society, largely; we see each member working on his own particular line. So it must be with man for ages. When you shall have exhausted your special hobby, when through astral perception, or mesmeric control or mental acumen, you shall have attained high powers, the hour of your limitation will strike, as its awful knell can strike, even from the towers of Futurity, and you will know that you have not found that corner-stone on which alone the Eternal rests,—your indivisible Self. “Great ones fall back, even from the threshold, unable to sustain the weight of responsibility; unable to pass on.”[179] Follow from the start that solitary beacon which informs the ultimate goal: Unity. Make it your touchstone and your guide; other stars are reflected lights only. The doctrine of unselfishness is no sentiment, but of logical, practical utility. The individual way lies from limited Being, through Becoming, to unlimited Being, precisely as the universal way lies from sterile Unity, through Division to fecund Unity, or from the one Life through Death to the Life of the All. He who in final choice elects the path of Division, chooses Death eternal. You may indeed wend homeward through the devious tangle of reflected rays, but how long, how hard are such paths! I would see your souls with eagle swoop make straight for the Central Sun. Look then within you. Man! Woman! Are you what you seem? Till this thought daily; it will bear the harvest of Life.

With analogy for our guide we observe that the first forms of life are crystalline and have two poles. You man, are also a magnetic sphere with physical and spiritual poles. On the physical side of the subject we find modern scientists telling us that man is matter in a state of low vibration, and thought, matter in a state of high vibration.[180] In this ascertained view, Spirit is a higher state of vibration than we at present cognize. “Does the fact look crass and material, threatening to degrade thy theory of Spirit? Resist it not; it goes to refine and raise thy theory of matter just as much.”[181] Nor do I say this is all. Trust your highest ideal to the unconditioned causation lying back of that primal vibration—Absolute Thought.

The vibrant tension of fixed thought must in time heighten the vibratory ratio of the man, for tension excites increased pulsation. This rarefies the density of all bodies, and the friction of intensified chemical action establishes light, heat and odic force. The increased porosity of the physical body tends to disengage the atoms of the astral body, and the generation of a strong odic current forces it out to the astral world, (always attracting it) all the sooner because the intensified pulsation of thought-tension sends the auric emanations further into space, thus draughting a larger portion of the world-soul to the entity. All vibration being attended with sound (which may or may not escape the ear) we proceed to examine tones and find them varying from the lowest of eight vibrations per second, to the highest known to western science of 24,000 per second. Remember that the tones of anger, hatred, scorn are all deep notes, those of cheerfulness, love, hope are treble. Here we discover the apparently inexplicable effect of spoken words which raise or depress our vibrations to their own by means of the etheric medium. To resist the wildfire spread of passion or anger we have but to check the vibration by holding steadily to our own; this maintained, may raise that of others, precisely as the high musical note constantly sounded, raises all lower ones at all related, to its own pitch. Tyndall says: “Scientific education ought to teach us to see the invisible as well as the visible in nature; to picture with the vision of the mind those operations which entirely elude bodily vision; to look at the very atoms of matter in motion and at rest, and to follow them forth without once losing sight of them * * to see them integrating themselves in natural phenomena.” So I shall ask you to imagine a tone at a high rate of vibration, to see it striking the hearer’s brain at a certain focus, creating there a centre of energy, which tending to crystallization, fixes the thought in the mind. And the more permanent duration of pleasant (which are high) thoughts and tones is evident if we glance back over a long period of time and note how the joys stand out and the griefs disappear; so we always forget physical suffering. Moreover we may see this tone raising his vibratory ratio and glancing off at an angle of reflection equal to that of incidence, reacting upon the surrounding ether and upon all hearers. The magical success of eastern mantras depends upon the exact intonation, which governs the vibratory result, and the proper intonation of the sacred books, learned from the priests, doubtless increased their effect. Turning to colors, we find them varying in vibration from violet 1/60000 inch to red 1/38000 inch, and the violet has greater actinism; so it would seem to follow that the more extended the undulation the greater the chemical action and resultant odic force. Hence the tone of animals or man is not such a poor test of their nature as we might suppose, and a certain clue to character is given in a preferred color. The higher sounds thus create greater akasic disturbance through increased undulation. Deleuze in his work on magnetism says: “The word which indicates our will can often exert an action. * * The very tones of the magnetizer, being produced by the vital energy, act upon the organs of the patients.” Reichenbach proved that all chemical action is a source of odic force, and the transmertion of air being nothing less, additional witness is born to the occult power of a word. All mesmerizers are now agreed that motions and words are unnecessary; the will suffices; what is this but the tension of fixed thought. Everything in Nature has its own specific rate of vibration; if we know and can reproduce and heighten it we can call the thing into existence or pass ourselves within its consciousness. Hence the old saying that numbers are the names of things. The “lost word” itself is, doubt it not, a sound of the highest possible vibration, represented by the Aum, or sound of the eternal outpour of Light, the Logos of the Christians. The ordinary ear may not grasp this sound, but Tyndall tells us such are not dead because they have passed from our ken.[182] When we remember that this astral vibration can in time elevate that of all matter, we glimpse alike the great factor of Evolution and of the use of Aum. The thought being spiritually fixed, an unbroken vital current sets in between the man and the “One eternal Thinker, thinking non-eternal thoughts. He though one, fulfils the desire of many. The wise, who perceive Him within their Self, to them belong eternal joy, eternal peace!”[183] Here we perceive the force of the repeated injunction to be calm; how else can the harmonious medium act upon us? “The man who is not calm and subdued, or whose mind is not at rest, he can never obtain the Self, even by knowledge.”[184]

Follow me now to the plane of soul. As all things from planet to molecule have their mystic centre, that of man is found in the heart, whose systole and diastole are regulated by the double movement of the Astral Light. There, hemmed about by the light of the semi-material soul, is the dusky centre, where the spirit may awaken and breathe. “The self is smaller than small, greater than great, hidden in the heart of the creature.” Air is breathed by the lungs; the soul breathes the astral light. As that spiritual monad who is your own Augoides, breathed first upon the plastic Akasa and drew together the principles of a man, so It must again breathe upon this silent centre to create the spiritual man. It does not inhabit him, It overshadows him. It is his “Father in Heaven” to whom Jesus bade him pray; his Creator. In each heart stands this shrouded altar to an unknown God. “Whom ye therefore ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.” He has created the physical man hundreds of times, for His mission is unfulfilled until through Evolution, He shall have made “one higher than the angels.” In that illimitable future which evades the mind, my soul sees ultimate beings in their glory, raise the swelling tide of Being higher still. So Divinity raises Itself by Itself and man expands God. Here is the adhesion of Jesus to the destiny latent in Humanity. “Be ye perfect as your Father in Heaven is also perfect.”

JASPER NIEMAND, F. T. S.

(Concluded in April.)

THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE.

II.

The votaries of Religions that preach salvation only through the acceptance of their dogmas must inevitably be more or less animated by the proselytising spirit, and the more pretentious the claims of power to save by the inculcation of orthodox opinion, the more urgent must appear the necessity to spread those opinions as widely as possible. Indeed it seems imperative on one who holds such a faith in his heart of hearts, that he should spend his life in trying to spread it.

But when the true philosophic thought is attained and the law of Karma with its infinite ramifications realized as the all pervading power, how vain will seem all attempts to control or even deeply affect the destiny of others. Truly Occultism teaches the widest tolerance, and though its student will doubtless as formerly try to influence all who are brought into contact with him in his journey through life, and if possible instil into them the thoughts that actuate him and give his life a definite purpose, yet will he realize that over his own life alone has he paramount power. He may exercise his worldly wisdom as the sower of seed, may avoid what is most patently the rocky or the thorny ground, but he will gradually learn to cease to look for results from even the most promising, and will rise more and more on the wings of devotion to the true giver of the increase.

While therefore it is a subject for satisfaction if the Theosophical Society should indeed prove to be the dawn of that better hope for mankind the nucleus of that Universal Brotherhood which shall overspread all lands, and which shall plant in the hearts of men the Science-Religion along whose lines will move the spiritual progress of all future Humanity, yet as a Society it can scarcely be expected to be free from the imperfections inherent in all organization, which being of the earth is necessarily earthly—and after all it is a matter of very small moment in what form truth is given to the world. This only is certain that truth must advance that no man can stay the wheel of evolution—that the Divine Wisdom which we believe animates us will one day be recognized by all mankind as the only solution of the problem of the Universe, and as the guide to Life Eternal.

And Destiny will not be hurried—spite of our impatience—any more than she can be retarded. The evil Karma of the World must work itself out. The unclean man let him be unclean still, let him measure every depth of vice and taste of every spring of passion till the hour strikes for him also and his painful upward progress has to begin. So have the Rishis done who went before us, so have we done in past existences, indeed we may have but extricated ourselves from the slough, and the mire may still be clinging to our feet. For no man can transcend experience, and all earthly places, foul and clean alike, must be trodden by him. Nor when the words or acts of others come into direct antagonism with our own personality, any more than when the cruelty and injustice in the world at large are brought painfully before us, shall we continue to blame the actors, or allow the old prejudices “with their lurid colourings of passion” to dominate us any longer, for the true philosophic thought will have taught us to recognize that all acts are but the result of the “Three Qualities” blended in infinite combination—the great Karma of the World working itself out.

The deeper one looks into this Western Civilization of ours, and the more one realizes in what degrading depths its masses are sunk, in what heartless frivolity so many of the more opulent spend their lives, and in what superstitious intolerance its so-called Religious World moves, it seems indeed a forlorn hope to attempt to carry conviction of the Occult Truth or expect a widespread acceptance of it. But though this age of Darkness may exhibit an appalling depth of materiality, yet in all ages of the world, the blind multitude are many and the lovers of Wisdom few. And indeed this love of Wisdom is no light attainment, but one for which the soul has been educated through life times of experience and paroxysms of pain, for while the gratification of any of the senses still continues to give supreme satisfaction, there is no room in the soul for Theosophic thought. Not until by the slow education of repeated experience it is realized that the senses can no longer satisfy, that even the higher joys of communion with ones kind—though culminating in the ideal union of two souls—are but steps in the ladder to the Supreme Thought, can any true idea of the Divine Wisdom have been formed. Indeed a time will come for the student when the gratification of the senses will actually cause pain. It may be ushered in for one through the sense of sight, when the most beautiful scenery of earth, and the most perfect combinations of mountain wood and water only accentuate by their faint reflex the passionate desire for that land which no eye hath seen, that land which no eye can see. Or the symphonies of earthly music which once enthralled the soul may raise the longing for the song of the celestial choir to that ecstatic point where it becomes unrecognisable from pain. And so the student is driven inward to find at last his refuge in pure Thought, and he begins to perceive that the Eternal World of ideas is the only real World, the only one in which pure Being is to be found, and that this phenomenal existence is indeed but the circling of the nets of delusion, the restless tossing of the false salt waves of sense which reward “with droughts that double thirst” the deluded souls that float on them.

The more the student lives in this ideal world, the more will he find that the association with those whose interests are exclusively centred on earthly things becomes repugnant to him, and that even the calls of duty to descend from the tranquil heights of Thought, to the jarring discord of action in the world, are responded to with increasing pain, though duty in such cases is likely to be in process of changing her sphere of action. When the inner struggles of one still bound by ties of earth suggest such thoughts as these, surely the isolation from contact with the rude world of the most spiritual men, those who have achieved the sublime heights of Mahatmaship, is no longer a thing to wonder at, but becomes apparent as an absolute necessity.

The desires above referred to of seeing the invisible, and realizing the divine, will probably if practised continuously enough, and with sufficient intensity, be the prelude to some partial lifting of the veil, when the ecstatic may reap in a moment of beatific vision more than he ever dreamed of, and receive accretion of strength for the coming years, though this is more likely to be the immediate reward of some supreme self-devotion whether in act or thought, and when the words of Krishna, “near to renunciation—very near—dwelleth eternal peace” will flash upon the soul as truth that requires no word of mortal man to give it authority.

But woe to the man who unduly cultivates his spiritual faculties without being a complete master of his lower nature—the beast below will turn and rend him some day—the little bit of lust unconquered may be the means of his complete undoing. For as his astral consciousness develops his whole being intensifies, including the small unconquered part of his physical nature, which he will then have to fight upon the Astral plane, in far more terrible struggle than had he conquered on the physical. It becomes in fact what is symbolically known as the “Dweller on the threshold” that has to be fought and conquered before the neophyte can aspire to gain the first glimmering of vision on the true spiritual plane. For it must always be remembered that our nature is threefold, “body, soul and spirit” as the initiate St. Paul expressed it, and until the personality has transferred all its forces unto the soul plane, it cannot expect to attain to that of spirit. From this it will be evident how necessary it is to live more and more continuously in the Eternal Thought until all fleshly appetites and desires of sense die off by sheer inanition.

The vague dreams with which life began, and which the child with memories fresh from “that imperial palace whence he came” pictured in a material way of a golden city with walls of jasper and with gates of pearl, and into which no unclean thing was permitted to enter, are lost for a while in the frenzied rush of youth and early manhood, but maturer years bring them back with an added pathos and a more spiritualized meaning. It is indeed the Golden city we all seek for—“the city that hath foundations whose builder and whose maker is God.”

PILGRIM.

HINDU SYMBOLISM.

IV.

AUM symbolized as in unison with the attributes of the Trimurti, as the symbolic foundation of the elementary universe. This has a certain connection with figures Nos. 1 and 2 and 3.

The idea is to represent the mystic body of Brahman (neuter) and the ideal type of the Trimurti. The representation is of a four-handed cloud picture. A wreath of clouds forms the outline of the head which is without any tiara. Two suns indicate the eyes without lids, always open. This symbolism is also found in the Hebrew books, e. g. the Zohar. The nose and eyebrows are formed by a palm tree divided on the top, in the centre. This tree was considered as androgynous. The mouth is merely an opening in the clouds; from it emanate, four principal rays, the four-worlds of the Kabbalah. AUM is winged, Brahman (neuter) is not, for the latter is also AUM—Prana, the breath of the highest life and mystic carrier of the Will of Brahman (neuter). AUM is the bird of the Brahman Desire or Wish.

The four hands of AUM are holding the architypes of the four elements, fire, water, air, earth, in their height and depth. The lower are supporting the Himalayah Mountains, the mountains of the gods. From which comes the German Himmel i. e. Heaven. The linga yoni is shown as the symbol of all the creative and emanative powers which lie in the mystic cloud garment of AUM. In this figure are nearly all the principal symbols of the Brahmanical religious metaphysics.

The bond which unites Prakriti to Brahman (neuter) is Prana, the subtile body of Brahman, the form of the Being, the divine breath, the principle of the organism, the respiration so to say, of the Deity; in Sanscrit it also means “breath of man,” more correctly it is AUM, the first form of the creator, the Sun engendered before Time, the first Word (the Logos) which went from Its mouth, the ‘Hokhmah or Wisdom of the Kabbalah, when It prepared Its work, the creative Word. Prana and AUM are confounded in Maya, and as it, they have formed the Cow. AUM is the son of Maya as he is the son of Brahman (neuter), because Maya is Brahman. AUM is the first born Word or Logos of the Deity, the Memrah of the Jews, the Honover of the Persians, the origin of the Vedas. It has revealed and manifested all the emanated things, the so-called creation. It appeared before all things, and contains all qualities, all the elements, and is the name and body of Brahman (neuter), and consequently as infinite as It. The Will, Desire, Word is the master architect and creator of all the things. Brahma meditating upon the divine Word, therein found the primitive water, the common bond of all the creatures, the primitive fire, and the Trimurti of the Vedas, also the worlds and universal harmony of all the things. The image of AUM is the Cow, which is also a symbol of the universe. The universe was concealed and at first was hidden under the waters, and the waters were in Atma. These waters are those without any shores, all that which exists is water, and the water and AUM make but one; these primitive waters are the sea of Maya, the celestial ocean of all existence.

There are to be found further in this symbolical picture many other suggestions flowing from the Ancient Aryan or Hindu system. That system is believed to contain in germ all the others which have since arisen, as: the Hermetic, the Jewish, the Christian and others. Space, however, forbids a more extended explanation at present, and the student is recommended to study the four which have appeared in this magazine.

ISAAC MYER.

THROUGH THE GATES OF GOLD.

The most notable book for guidance in Mysticism which has appeared since Light on the Path was written has just been published under the significant title of “Through the Gates of Gold.”[185] Though the author’s name is withheld, the occult student will quickly discern that it must proceed from a very high source. In certain respects the book may be regarded as a commentary on Light on the Path. The reader would do well to bear this in mind. Many things in that book will be made clear by the reading of this one, and one will be constantly reminded of that work, which has already become a classic in our literature. Through the Gates of Gold is a work to be kept constantly at hand for reference and study. It will surely take rank as one of the standard books of Theosophy.

The “Gates of Gold” represent the entrance to that realm of the soul unknowable through the physical perceptions, and the purpose of this work is to indicate some of the steps necessary to reach their threshold. Through its extraordinary beauty of style and the clearness of its statement it will appeal to a wider portion of the public than most works of a Theosophical character. It speaks to the Western World in its own language, and in this fact lies much of its value.

Those of us who have been longing for some thing “practical” will find it here, while it will probably come into the hands of thousands who know little or nothing of Theosophy, and thus meet wants deeply felt though unexpressed. There are also doubtless many, we fancy, who will be carried far along in its pages by its resistless logic until they encounter something which will give a rude shock to some of their old conceptions, which they have imagined as firmly based as upon a rock—a shock which may cause them to draw back in alarm, but from which they will not find it so easy to recover, and which will be likely to set them thinking seriously.

The titles of the five chapters of the book are, respectively, “The Search for Pleasure,” “The Mystery of Threshold,” “The Initial Effort,” “The Meaning of Pain,” and “The Secret of Strength.” Instead of speculating upon mysteries that lie at the very end of man’s destiny, and which cannot be approached by any manner of conjecture, the work very sensibly takes up that which lies next at hand, that which constitutes the first step to be taken if we are ever to take a second one, and teaches us its significance. At the outset we must cope with sensation and learn its nature and meaning. An important teaching of Light on the Path has been misread by many. We are not enjoined to kill out sensation, but to “kill out desire for sensation,” which is something quite different “Sensation, as we obtain it through the physical body, affords us all that induces us to live in that shape,” says this work. The problem is, to extract the meaning which it holds for us. That is what existence is for. “If men will but pause and consider what lessons they have learned from pleasure and pain, much might be guessed of that strange thing which causes these effects.”

“The question concerning results seemingly unknowable, that concerning the life beyond the Gates,” is presented as one that has been asked throughout the ages, coming at the hour “when the flower of civilization had blown to its full, and when its petals are but slackly held together,” the period when man reaches the greatest physical development of his cycle. It is then that in the distance a great glittering is seen, before which many drop their eyes bewildered and dazzled, though now and then one is found brave enough to gaze fixedly on this glittering, and to decipher something of the shape within it. “Poets and philosophers, thinkers and teachers, all those who are the ‘elder brothers of the race’—have beheld this sight from time to time, and some among them have recognized in the bewildering glitter the outlines of the Gates of Gold.”

Those Gates admit us to the sanctuary of man’s own nature, to the place whence his life-power comes, and where he is priest of the shrine of life. It needs but a strong hand to push them open, we are told. “The courage to enter them is the courage to search the recesses of one’s own nature without fear and without shame. In the fine part, the essence, the flavor of the man, is found the key which unlocks those great Gates.”

The necessity of killing out the sense of separateness is profoundly emphasized as one of the most important factors in this process. We must divest ourselves of the illusions of the material life. “When we desire to speak with those who have tried the Golden Gates and pushed them open, then it is very necessary—in fact it is essential—to discriminate, and not bring into our life the confusions of our sleep. If we do, we are reckoned as madmen, and fall back into the darkness where there is no friend but chaos. This chaos has followed every effort of man that is written in history; after civilization has flowered, the flower falls and dies, and winter and darkness destroy it.” In this last sentence is indicated the purpose of civilization. It is the blossoming of a race, with the purpose of producing a certain spiritual fruit; this fruit having ripened, then the degeneration of the great residuum begins, to be worked over and over again in the grand fermenting processes of reincarnation. Our great civilization is now flowering and in this fact we may read the reason for the extraordinary efforts to sow the seed of the Mystic Teachings wherever the mind of man may be ready to receive it.

In the “Mystery of Threshold,” we are told that “only a man who has the potentialities in him both of the voluptuary and the stoic has any chance of entering the Golden Gates. He must be capable of testing and valuing to its most delicate fraction every joy existence has to give; and he must be capable of denying himself all pleasure, and that without suffering from the denial.”

The fact that the way is different for each individual is finely set forth in “The Initial Effort,” in the words that man “may burst the shell that holds him in darkness, tear the veil that hides him from the eternal, at any moment where it is easiest for him to do so; and most often this point will be where he least expects to find it.” By this we may see the uselessness of laying down arbitrary laws in the matter.

The meaning of those important words, “All steps are necessary to make up the ladder,” finds a wealth of illustration here. These sentences are particularly pregnant: “Spirit is not a gas created by matter, and we cannot create our future by forcibly using one material agent and leaving out the rest. Spirit is the great life on which matter rests, as does the rocky world on the free and fluid ether; whenever we can break our limitations we find ourselves on that marvellous shore where Wordsworth once saw the gleam of the gold.” Virtue, being of the material life, man has not the power to carry it with him, “yet the aroma of his good deeds is a far sweeter sacrifice than the odor of crime and cruelty.”

“To the one who has lifted the golden latch the spring of sweet waters, the fountain itself whence all softness arises, is opened and becomes part of his heritage. But before this can be reached a heavy weight has to be lifted from the heart, an iron bar which holds it down and prevents it from arising in its strength.”

The author here wishes to show that there is sweetness and light in occultism, and not merely a wide dry level of dreadful Karma, such as some Theosophists are prone to dwell on. And this sweetness and light may be reached when we discover the iron bar and raising it shall permit the heart to be free. This iron bar is what the Hindus call “the knot of the heart!” In their scriptures they talk of unloosing this knot, and say that when that is accomplished freedom is near. But what is the iron bar and the knot? is the question we must answer. It is the astringent power of self—of egotism—of the idea of separateness. This idea has many strongholds. It hold its most secret court and deepest counsels near the far removed depths and centre of the heart. But it manifests itself first, in that place which is nearest to our ignorant preceptions, where we see it first after beginning the search. When we assault and conquer it there it disappears. It has only retreated to the next row of outworks where for a time it appears not to our sight, and we imagine it killed, while it is laughing at our imaginary conquests and security. Soon again we find it and conquer again, only to have it again retreat. So we must follow it up if we wish to grasp it at last in its final stand just near the “kernel of the heart”. There it has become an “iron bar that holds down the heart”, and there only can the fight be really won. That disciple is fortunate who is able to sink past all the pretended outer citadels and seize at once this personal devil who holds the bar of iron, and there wage the battle. If won there, it is easy to return to the outermost places and take them by capitulation. This is very difficult, for many reasons. It is not a mere juggle of words to speak of this trial. It is a living tangible thing that can be met by any real student. The great difficulty of rushing at once to the centre lies in the unimaginable terrors which assault the soul on its short journey there. This being so it is better to begin the battle on the outside in just the way pointed out in this book and Light on the Path, by testing experience and learning from it.

In the lines quoted the author attempts to direct the eyes of a very materialistic age to the fact which is an accepted one by all true students of occultism, that the true heart of a man-which is visibly represented by the muscular heart—is the focus point for spirit, for knowledge, for power; and that from that point the converged rays begin to spread out fan-like, until they embrace the Universe. So it is the Gate. And it is just at that neutral spot of concentration that the pillars and the doors are fixed. It is beyond it that the glorious golden light burns, and throws up a “burnished glow.” We find in this the same teachings as in the Upanishads. The latter speaks of “the ether which is within the heart,” and also says that we must pass across that ether.

“The Meaning of Pain” is considered in a way which throws a great light on the existence of that which for ages has puzzled many learned men. “Pain arouses, softens, breaks, and destroys. Regarded from a sufficiently removed standpoint, it appears as a medicine, as a knife, as a weapon, as a poison, in turn. It is an implement, a thing which is used, evidently. What we desire to discover is, who is the user; what part of ourselves is it that demands the presence of this thing so hateful to the rest?”

The task is, to rise above both pain and pleasure and unite them to our service. “Pain and pleasure stand apart and separate, as do the two sexes; and it is in the merging, the making the two into one, that joy and deep sensation and profound peace are obtained. Where there is neither male nor female, neither pain nor pleasure, there is the god in man dominant; and then is life real.”

The following passage can hardly fail to startle many good people: “Destiny, the inevitable, does indeed exist for the race and for the individual; but who can ordain this save the man himself? There is no clew in heaven or earth to the existence of any ordainer other than the man who suffers or enjoys that which is ordained.” But can any earnest student of Theosophy deny, or object to this? Is it not a pure statement of the law of Karma? Does it not agree perfectly with the teaching of the Bhagavat-Gita? There is surely no power which sits apart like a judge in court, and fines us or rewards us for this misstep or that merit; it is we who shape, or ordain, our own future.

God is not denied. The seeming paradox that a God exists within each man is made clear when we perceive that our separate existence is an illusion; the physical, which makes us separate individuals, must eventually fall away, leaving each man one with all men, and with God, who is the Infinite.

And the passage which will surely be widely misunderstood is that in “The secret of strength.” “Religion holds a man back from the path, prevents his stepping forward, for various very plain reasons. First, it makes the vital mistake of distinguishing between good and evil. Nature knows no such distinctions.” Religion is always man-made. It cannot therefore be the whole truth. It is a good thing for the ordinary and outside man, but surely it will never bring him to the Gates of Gold. If religion be of God how is it that we find that same God in his own works and acts violating the precepts of religion? He kills each man once in life; every day the fierce elements and strange circumstances which he is said to be the author of, bring on famine, cold and innumerable untimely deaths; where then, in The True, can there be any room for such distinctions as right and wrong? The disciple, must as he walks on the path, abide by law and order, but if he pins his faith on any religion whatever he will stop at once, and it makes no matter whether he sets up Mahatmas, Gods, Krishna, Vedas or mysterious acts of grace, each of these will stop him and throw him into a rut from which even heavenly death will not release him. Religion can only teach morals and ethics. It cannot answer the question “what am I?” The Buddhist ascetic holds a fan before his eyes to keep away the sight of objects condemned by his religion. But he thereby gains no knowledge, for that part of him which is affected by the improper sights has to be known by the man himself, and it is by experience alone that the knowledge can be possessed and assimilated.

The book closes gloriously, with some hints that have been much needed. Too many, even of the sincerest students of occultism, have sought to ignore that one-half of their nature, which is here taught to be necessary. Instead of crushing out the animal nature, we have here the high and wise teaching that we must learn to fully understand the animal and subordinate it to the spiritual. “The god in man, degraded, is a thing unspeakable in its infamous power of production. The animal in man, elevated, is a thing unimaginable in its great powers of service and of strength,” and we are told that our animal self is a great force, the secret of the old-world magicians, and of the coming race which Lord Lytton foreshadowed. “But this power can only be attained by giving the god the sovereignty. Make your animal ruler over your self, and he will never rule others.”

This teaching will be seen to be identical with that of the closing words of “The Idyll of the White Lotus”: “He will learn how to expound spiritual truths, and to enter into the life of his highest self, and he can learn also to hold within him the glory of that higher self, and yet to retain life upon this planet so long as it shall last, if need be; to retain life in the vigor of manhood, till his entire work is completed, and he has taught the three truths to all who look for light.”

There are three sentences in the book which ought to be imprinted in the reader’s mind, and we present them inversely:

“Secreted and hidden in the heart of the world and the heart of man is the light which can illumine all life, the future and the past.”

“On the mental steps of a million men Buddha passed through the Gates of Gold; and because a great crowd pressed about the threshold he was able to leave behind him words which prove that those gates will open.”

“This is one of the most important factors in the development of man, the recognition—profound and complete recognition—of the law of universal unity and coherence.”

CONSIDERATIONS ON MAGIC.

We hear a good deal nowadays and are likely to hear still more of occult science. In this regard we may as well accept the inevitable. All things have their day, and all things revolve in cycles; they come and go, and come again, though never twice the same. Even our very thoughts conform to this universal law. The life, the teachings, and the fate of Pythagoras are involved in mystery, but the fate of the schools which he established and of the followers who succeeded him are matters of history. The slaughter of the Magi stands over against the abuses and abominations which were perpetrated in their name, and doubtless by many styling themselves Magicians.

It is not the object of this brief paper to attempt to define magic, or elucidate occult Science as such, but rather to suggest a few considerations which are of vital import at the present time, equally important to those who utterly deny to magic any more than an imaginative basis, as to those who convinced of its existence as a science, are, or are to become investigators. In both the publications and conversations of the day, frequently occur the expressions “black magic,” and “white magic” and those who follow these studies are designated as followers of the “left hand path,” or the “right hand path“. It ought to be understood that up to a certain point all students of magic, or occultism, journey together. By and by is reached a place where two roads meet, or where the common path divides, and the awful voice from the silence, heard only in the recesses of the individual soul utters the stern command: ”Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” Instead of black and white magic, read, black and white motive.

The student of occultism is rushing on his destiny, but up to a certain point that destiny is in his own hands, though he is constantly shaping his course, freeing his soul from the trammels of sense and self, or becoming entangled in the web, which, with warp and woof will presently clothe him as with a garment without a seam.

If early in the race he finds it difficult to shake off his chains, let him remember that at every step they grow more and more tyrannical, and often before the goal is reached where the ways divide, the battle is lost or won, and the decision there is only a matter of form. That decision once made is irrevocable, or so nearly so that no exception need be made. Man lives at once in two worlds: the natural and the spiritual, and as in the natural plane he influences his associates, and is in turn influenced by them, so let him not imagine that in the spiritual plane he is alone. This will be a fatal mistake for the dabbler in magic, or the student in occultism. Throughout this vast universe, the good will seek the good, and the evil the evil, each will be unconsciously drawn to its own kind.

But when man faces his destiny in full consciousness of the issues involved, as he must before the final decision is reached, he will be no longer unconscious of these influences, but will recognize his companions: companions, alas! no longer, Masters now, inhuman, pitiless; and the same law of attraction which has led him along the tortuous path, unveils its face, and by affinity of evil, the slave stands in the presence of his master, and the fiends that have all along incited him to laugh at the miseries of his fellow men, and trample under his feet every kindly impulse, every tender sympathy, now make the measureless hells within his own soul resound with their laughter at him, the poor deluded fool whose selfish pride and ambition have stifled and at last obliterated his humanity.

Blind indeed is he who cannot see why those who are in possession of arcane wisdom, hesitate in giving it out to the world, and when in the cycles of time its day has come, they put forth the only doctrine which has power to save and bless, UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD, with all that the term implies.

There may be those who have already in this new era, entered the left-hand road. But now as of old, “by their works ye shall know them”. To labor with them is in vain. Selfishness, pride and lust for power are the signs by which we may know them. They may not at once cast off disguise, and they will never deceive the true Theosophist. They can nevertheless deceive to their ruin the ignorant, the curious, the unwary, and it is for such as these that these lines are penned, and the worst of it is, that these poor deluded souls, are led to believe that no such danger exists, and this belief is fortified by the so-called scientists, who are quoted as authority, and who ridicule everything but rank materialism. Yet notwithstanding all this, these simple souls flutter like moths around the flame till they are drawn within the vortex. It is better a million times, that the proud, the selfish and time-serving should eat, drink and be merry, and let occultism alone, for these propensities unless speedily eradicated, will bear fruit and ripen into quick harvests, and the wages thereof is death, literally the “second death”.

The purpose of Theosophy is to eradicate these evil tendencies of man, so that whether on the ordinary planes of daily life, or in the higher occult realms, the Christ shall be lifted up, and draw all men unto him.

“Man’s inhumanity to man

Makes countless thousands mourn.”

The Christs of all the ages have preached this one doctrine: Charity and Brotherhood of Man. To deny the law of charity is to deny the Christ. The Theosophical Society is not responsible for unveiling to the present generation the occult nature of man. Modern Spiritualism had already done this; nor is the responsibility to be charged to the Spiritualists, for these unseen forces had revealed themselves in the fullness of time, and many millions had become convinced, many against their wills, of the reality of the unseen universe. These things are here, and neither crimination, or recrimination is of any use. The responsibility therefore, rests entirely with the individual, as to what use he makes of his opportunities, as to his purposes and aims, and as he advances in his course, involved in the circle of necessity, he influences whether he will or no, those whose spheres of life touch at any point his own. As ye sow, so shall ye also reap. By and by the cycle will close and both the evil and the good will return like bread cast upon the waters. This is a law of all life.

Imagine not that they are weak and vacillating souls who enter the left-hand road: Lucifer was once a prince of light, admitted to the councils of the Most High. He fell through pride, and dragged downward in his fall all who worshiped the demon pride. This is no foolish fable, but a terrible tragedy, enacted at the gates of paradise, in the face of the assembled universe, and reënacted in the heart of man, the epitome of all. Only Infinite pity can measure the downfall of such an one, only Infinite love disarm by annihilation, and so put an end to unendurable woe, and that only when the cycle is complete, the measure of iniquity balanced by its measure of pain. Occultism and magic are not child’s-play, as many may learn to their sorrow, as many visitants of dark circles have already and long ago discovered. Better give dynamite to our children as a plaything, than Magic to the unprincipled, the thoughtless, the selfish and ignorant. Let all who have joined the Theosophical Society remember this, and search their hearts before taking the first step in any magical formulary. The motive determines all. Occult power brings with it unknown and unmeasured responsibility.

If in the secret councils of the soul, where no eye can see, and no thought deceive that divine spark conscience, we are ready to forget self, to forego pride, and labor for the well-being of man, then may the upright man face his destiny, follow this guide and fear no evil. Otherwise it were far better that a millstone were hung about his neck, and he were cast into the depths of the sea.

PYTHAGORAS.

TEA TABLE TALK.

The Tea Table has had a sensation!

Do you remember the case of “Chalanka”? He was the “Fallen Idol,” in Anstey’s book of that name, and played the very deuce with people and bric-a-brac alike. There’s a deal of truth in that clever little satire, and the author shows up the elementals quite correctly without in the least suspecting it.

The Chalanka of the Tea Table arrived very demurely one winter afternoon, per Adams Express, in a promising box which bore the mark of a great china firm and contained as well, securely moored in its harbor of cotton wool, a tea-pot which the Tea Table pronounced “Adorable” were it not smashed. Nothing else was near this brittle loveliness save and except Chalanka. To all appearances he was a pencil sketch of the head of a young Brahmin of high caste, folded in the typical turban. The drawing is powerful and the subtle sidelong glance of the eyes to the extreme left has one peculiarity, viz: if you come round from behind the picture on the extreme right, the eyes meet you equally, and so from any position. I cannot escape that dark and searching gaze. Still, one would say there was nothing dynamic about a sketch, and yet the tea-pot arrived literally crushed to pieces within its perfect casing, and the indignant ladies, with the acumen of their sex, soon spotted Chalanka and held him responsible. Presently I noticed that everyone had a more or less sidelong glance in return for his, towards where he glowered from an étagère on which we had put him, and in the course of the social hour I collected these remarks upon him.

The Professor, sauntering up.—“H-m. Who have we here? The fellow has a beautiful face and—the devil’s in it!”

Sue. “Goodness! who’s that? Makes me feel like when I step down in the dark.”

The Mother. “That man’s face is not human.”

The Widow. “I have it! I wondered what Chalanka made me think of. Don’t you know that thing in the Bible about ‘the serpent that listeneth not to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely?’” (The Widow was wiser than she knew.)

The Student. “You ladies always go in for poetry. Now he looks to me as if he said,—‘Get me if you can, my boy; if you don’t, I’ll get you!’” Great sensation and nervous shivers from the ladies, followed by instant demands for the lamp. The maid who brings it being observed to fix a fascinated gaze on Chalanka, is asked what she thinks of him. After a little urgency she replies. “That gentlemaen’s so sad, ain’t he? I do’n’ know, he’s unnatr’al like. Seems like there’s somethin’ he can’t get over.” Flings her apron over her head suddenly, and breaks from the room. Apologizes later and says “nerves is in her family” but always thereafter calls Chalanka “that gentleman,” as for instance; “I couldn’t bring meself to dust that gentleman.” Or, “I knocked that gentleman down but he ain’t hurt.”

Now the curious fact about the above remarks is this: A fellow F. T. S. felt impelled to draw one night. As he did so, a mist gathered near him, and gradually this Brahmin stood plainly before him, just as the sketch shows him, with his magnetic gaze which affects everyone who sees him. Many callers come into the room where the 5 by 8 drawing stands inconspicuously, surrounded by all the Heaven-only-knows-what, of modern decoration, but the Tea Table has yet to see the person who does not comment upon Chalanka with a baffled sense of mystery. The artist, a student well up in such matters and a man of unimpeachable veracity, knew his strange visitor for an elemental who assumed that shape to attract attention, the artist knowing many Hindus and thinking often of them.

What do you suppose it is that tells the story of this silent, watchful face, even to the incurious? Does some odic fluid inhere in it, or does the clue rest with the akasic vibrations from it? In consequence of its arrival, conversation has turned to coincidences, and from this I have collected the following items of interest:

A. “I dreamed the other night that I had a talk with a fellow student; next day he told me he dreamed same night—that I came and said: ‘I’m tired of your nonsense; you must get serious.’ That was just what I dreamed I had said to him myself. So when Father died; four times my Brother and I dreamed on the same night that we saw Father and talked with him on the same subject.”

C. “Three times I dreamed of getting a letter in a blue envelope, each time I received one such next day. Dreamed one night of reading Sun paragraph that a new gun shield had come out to shield artillery men. Next morning’s Sun had the exact paragraph. I had never previously thought of gun shields. Another night I dreamed I was in a town all on fire. Next morning’s Sun had an account of the burning of Little Rock, Ark.”

W. had some second sight in his family. One night when twelve years old, in Roumania, as he lay down in his bed, on looking towards the foot of the bed saw in the bright gaslight the head and shoulders of a beautiful child. He was very much frightened: his brother, who was with him saw nothing. A few years later W. emigrated to the U. S., married later in life, and his first child, a boy, grew up to be the exact image of the vision which had gone out of his mind until the developed features of the child reproduced it. The same lad when 11, desired a dictionary, but could not find it after much search. The same night he dreamed that he got up and took it from a certain other shelf: looked the next morning and there it was.

Several curious instances of thought sent ahead have also been sent in to the Tea Table, where persons seemed to see some one they knew and in a few moments met a member of that family.

Some one suggested that the sketch might represent a black magician, (Dugpa) and the mother asks me what such a man really was. I had just been reading a Hindu MSS on this subject and I was able to explain, vide its able pages, as follows: As the Yogi is a person busied in converting his lower nature into higher, so the Dugpa endeavors to sink all his higher elements and changes them gradually into lower ones. He might remain in our earth life until the last spark of ethical nature or kindly emotion had been transmitted into love of evil for its own sake. He would then presumably go to any of the lower states from the eighth to the thirteenth. We know well, as Sinnett has put it for us, that “nature sets no trap for any of her creatures,” and so it happens that having been long immersed in the lower spheres, our Dugpa might once more ascend into the realms of light and begin to develop his higher nature. Many will ask whence the impulse is derived, if the ethical nature was completely destroyed. From the great law-giver; from Karma! In such a case, if there remained but a small balance of good Karma in his favor, even though it were at the very moment of his descent, he could necessarily rise again, (sooner or later,) until he had exhausted it, for the lex parsimonae of nature gives every possible chance for the recovery of lost ground. These opportunities are said to occur whenever one or more items of the balance of good Karma have ripened, and often when the momentum of the lower nature was for the time exhausted, and he could no longer descend. In this view it will be seen that we only receive from time to time a part of our deserts. The whole bulk of our Karma does not fall at once, but is distributed throughout the series of lives. When a man goes into the extreme of occultism unadvisedly however, the resistance he encounters is apt to draw down the whole weight of Karma at once. If the balance is in his favor then great is the power for his benefit, otherwise he is crushed and fails. He has then an additional opportunity of choice along with his race, when the race period of choice occurs, as it will in the next round, we are told. In the fourth chapter of the Koran occurs a confirmation of the occult teaching as regards this distribution of deserts. “Covet not that which God hath bestowed on some of you preferably to others. Unto the men shall be given a portion of what they shall have gained, and unto the women shall be given a portion of what they shall have gained.”

“Well, Sir,” said the professor, “I should like to know the exact rationale of this Karmic process. Why does a student professing chelaship draw down the bulk of his Karma?”

“There are many who want to know quite as much as you do,” I replied. “All they have to do is to study the operations of cyclic law for themselves. And mind, if you dig for ore, you bring down other things in the debris, while if a miner hands you a lump, you’re not much more of a miner than you were at the start. You will find these laws represent perfect, equilibrated Justice.”

“Humph! I’m rather like the man in a recent novel, who said: ‘who am I that should yearn to deal out strict Justice? I never got it, thank God!’”

The fact is, Justice is a gun too heavily loaded for the use of man; its backward kick is more than I like to think of.

JULIUS.

POETICAL OCCULTISM.

DEAR EDITOR: The following Poetical Occultism may be of interest.

FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE “BANQUET” OF DANTE.

“As the Philosopher (Aristotle) has said at the beginning of “Metaphysics,” all men naturally desire to know. The reason of this may be, that everything by an impulse of its own nature, tends towards perfection; therefore, since knowledge is the ultimate perfecting of our soul, in the which consists our ultimate felicity, we are all by nature filled with this desire. None the less are many deprived of this most noble perfection, by divers causes, which, acting upon man from within and from without, remove him from the estate of knowledge * * * Manifest is it, therefore, to him who considereth well, that there are but few who can attain to that estate desired of all, and that almost innumerable are they who are forever famishing for this food. Oh! blessed are those few that are seated at the table where the bread of the angels is eaten, and miserable are they who feed in common with the sheep! But because every man is by nature a friend to every other man, and because every friend is grieved by the necessities of him he loves; so they who are fed at so lofty a table, are not without compassion toward them whom they see wandering in the pastures of the brutes, and feeding upon acorns. And because compassion is the mother of benevolence, therefore always liberally do they who know, share of their great riches with the truly poor, and are like a living fountain, whose waters slack the thirst of nature before named, (for knowledge). And I, therefore, who do not sit at the blessed table, but have fled from the pasture of the herd, and at the feet of those who are seated there, gather up what they let fall, and who know the miserable life of those whom I have left behind me, moved to mercy by the sweetness of that which I have gained little by little, and not forgetting myself, have reserved something for these wretched ones, which I have already, and for some time, held before their eyes, making them thereby all the more desirous of it.”

Yours,

K. H.

ROME, ITALY, Nov., 1886.

UNIVERSAL UNITY.

[READ AT A MEETING OF THE FIRST THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI, O.]

’Tis said they who the starry heavens watch

Spending their time in silent contemplation

And view the worlds and systems moving round

Become so filled with peace and perfect trust

That unto them life, death, grief, care and fear

Are almost naught. So, I, a long time past

Having passed my time in watching night by night

The stare move in their orbits; and my days

In making out their past and future course

One August night, while that the quiet moon

Flooded tree and bush, and vale and hill-top

Stream, and bank and spire and roof with light

And whistling and rustling leaves added

Their voices to the myriad sounds

Of insect life, fell fast asleep. And then

I saw the moon swinging slowly to and fro,

And round our Sun the earth and other satellites

Revolving ceaselessly. And as they moved

I heard a sweet melodious sound

And felt a soft and mellow light

And still I saw our Sun with other suns

All circling round one common central point

All these centres round some other centre circling.

The sound increased till all things seemed but sound

The light increased till all things seemed but light

The heat increased till all things seemed but heat

And then I felt my soul beat rapturously

Against the throbbing pulsing central life.

From thence I felt the light, the heat, the sound,

The life, the love, the peace pass out unceasingly.

From thence I knew all life to flow. And passing out

I knew all life was part of it, and it of life;

I knew that I was it, and it was I;

That sound and light, and life, and I and it were one

That life and death and tree and bush and stream

And bank and flower and seed and it are one

Then there passed into my soul, a perfect,

Great content. And rising from my sleep,

I passed into my life a happy man.

HENRY TURNER PATTERSON.

Copyright, 1887.]

A delicious fragrance spreads from the Leaders of the World over all quarters, a fragrance by which, when the wind is blowing, all these creatures are intoxicated.—Saddharma-Pundarika.

OM.

FOOTNOTES:

1 Khandogya Upanishad, 1st Khanda. See Vol. 1, Sacred Books of the East. Müller.

2 Hymn of Praise to Brahm.

3 St. John. C. I, v. 1.

4 See Bagavad-Gita.

5 Mundaka Upanishad, II, Kh. 2. (Müller’s Tr.)

6 See Theosophist, Vol. III, p. 177.

7 See Esoteric Buddhism for the sevenfold classification adopted by many Theosophists.

8 Zanoni, Book IV, Chapter 2.

9 Patanjali’s Yoga Aphorisms, 30 & 31, Part I.

10 The following from the Kaushitaki Upanishad, (see Max Muller’s translation, and also that published in the Bibliotheka Indica, with Sankaracharya’s commentary—Cowell’s tran.) may be of interest to students. “Agatasatru to him: Bàlàki, where did this person here sleep? Where was he? Whence did he come back? Bàlàki did not know. And Agatasatru said to him: ‘Where this person here slept, where he was, whence he thus came back, is this: The arteries of the heart called Hita extend from the heart of the person towards the surrounding body. Small as a hair divided a thousand times, they stand, full of a thin fluid of various colors, white, black, yellow, red. In these the person is when sleeping, he sees no dream (Sushupti). Then he becomes one with that prâna (breath) alone.’” (Elsewhere the number of these arteries is said to be 101.) “And as a razor might be fitted in a razor case, or as fire in the fire place, even thus this conscious self enters into the self of the body, to the very hair and nails; he is the master of all, and eats with and enjoys with them. So long as Indra did not understand that self, the Asuras (lower principles in man) conquered him. When he understood it, he conquered the Asuras, and obtained the pre-eminence among all gods. And thus also he who knows this obtains pre-eminence, sovereignty, supremacy.” And in the Khandogya Upanishad, VI Prap. 8, Kh. 1: “When the man sleeps here, my dear son, he becomes united with the True—in Sushupti sleep—he is gone to his own self. Therefore they say, he sleeps (Swapita), because he is gone (apita) to his own (sva).” And in Prasna Up II, 1, “There are 101 arteries from the heart; one of them penetrates the crown of the head; moving upwards by it man reaches the immortal; the others serve for departing in different directions.” [ED.]

11 This opens up an intensely interesting and highly important subject, which cannot be here treated of, but which will be in future papers. Meanwhile, Theosophists can exercise their intuition in respect to it. |ED.

12 Guru, a spiritual teacher.

13 Vide Light on the Path, Rule 1, note, part 1.

14 There is one exceptional case where the Guru’s goal is seen, and then the Guru has to die, for there can be no two equals.

15 There is no contradiction between this and the preceding paragraph where it is said “To see the Guru’s goal is impossible.” During the initiation ceremony, there is no separateness between those engaged in it. They all become one whole, and therefore, even the High Hierophant, while engaged in an initiation, is no more his separate self, but is only a part of the whole, of which the candidate is also a part, and then, for the time being, having as much power and knowledge as the very highest present. [ED.]

16 Rig Veda, IV, VII, 9.

17 Divine science.

18 “The knowledge of Yoga, which is, joining with your higher self.”

19 See Zanoni, Book IV, c. iii.

20 Highest soul.

21 Fifth principle.

22 See Vol. 1, Theosophist.

23 Taubaya uddito lókó; jaráya pari vârato: Maccuna pihito loko; Dukkhe Loko patitthito.

24 Kammam vijjà dhammóca; Silam jivita muttamam; Etena maccá sujjhanti: Na-gottêna dhanenavá.

25 Code of laws.

26 Restraining thoughts from being dispersed.

27 Effecting complete reconciliation and composure of mind.

28 Worldly.

29 Superhuman.

30 This means the particular kind which each man, because of heredity, education and class, exercises. It is also known as using the path pertaining to the Lodge or Ray, to which the one meditating, belongs.—[ED.]

31 See Bagavad-Gita, c. 14.—[ED.]

32 See No. 68 (May, 1886) Theosophist.

33 Gnyanam is translated “higher knowledge,” which does not merely mean acquirement of greater so-called mortal or ordinary knowledge, but that kind of knowledge which is only attained by rising to higher spiritual planes, and which transcends the highest of ordinary knowledge of the greatest literati or scientist.

34 This was written then to various persons in Paris, London, New York, and India.

35 By D. M. Tredwell. Published by Fred Tredwell, 78 Nassau St., New York, 1886.

36 The Life of Apollonius, &c., Hist. of Chr. Church, Vol. I, p. 348. The Life of Apollonius, of Tyana, by Philostrates, tr. by Rev. Edward Berwick, Ireland (1809).

37 Sacred Books of the East, Vol. I, lxv.

38 Sacred Books, &c., Vol. I, lxvii.

39 Hist. of Sans. Lit., p. 155, note.

40 From the negatives en and am, and the noun Soph “end or terminus.”

41 See Kabbalah, published by R. Worthington, 770 Broadway, N. Y.

42 See Kabbalah, Page 47.

43 Trans. Bomb. lit. Soc. Comp. the Dabistan.

44 The Dabistan: The prophet is a person who is sent to the people as their guide to the perfection which is fixed for them in the presence of God, according to the exigency of the dispositions determined by the fixed substances, whether it be the perfection of faith, or another.

45 It is to this state the Sufis refer Mohammed’s words: “I have moments when neither prophet nor angel can comprehend me.”

46 From the Dabistan. Comp. Zeitschrift d. morgl. Gesellsch. 16 art. by Fleischer Ueber die farbigen lichterscheinungen der Sufis.

47 J. P. Brown, Dervishes pp. 333.

48 Bagavad-Gita, ch. 13; id. ch. 10.

49 Path, No. 1. p. 24.

50 The original MS. of this Diary as far as it goes is in our possession. The few introductory lines are by the friend who communicated the matter to us.—[ED.]

51 I find it impossible to decipher this name.

52 There is a peculiarity in this, that all accounts of Cagliostro, St. Germain and other Adepts, give the apparent age as forty only.—[ED.]

53 The warrior caste of India.—[ED.]

54 The soul soliloquizing.

55 The Deity.

56 Second century.

57 The Deity.

58 The Work entitled “The Acts of the Adepts,” by Shemsu-D-Din Ahmed, El EFlaki has been reserved for our second part: Symbols.

59 A Godhra is the counterpane of shreds the Fakirs use to lie down upon, and throw over their shoulders.

60 Comp. the mediæval conception “Lady World.”

61 Khizer, the “Green Old Man” is the guardian of “the fountain of life” and the type of the self sustaining power of Deity.

62 Quran II. 216, Elias discovered the water of life.

63 Saturn is lord of the seventh heaven.

64 No more individual existence.

65 The following is told, and attributed to Attar; A thirsty traveller dips his hand into a spring of water to drink from. Another comes likewise to drink and leaves his earthen bowl behind him. The first traveller takes it up for another draught and is surprised to find the same water bitter when drank from the earthen cup. But a voice from heaven tells him the clay from which the bowl is made was once Man; and into whatever shape renewed, can never lose the bitter flavour of mortality.

66 See Introduction to The Divine Pymander p. VI-et. seq. edition 1650.

67 Ibid.

68 In the ancient Aztec civilization in Mexico, the Sacerdotal order was very numerous. At the head of the whole establishment were two high priests, elected from the order, solely for their qualifications, as shown by their previous conduct in a subordinate station. They were equal in dignity and inferior only to the sovereign, who rarely acted without their advice in weighty matters of private concern. (Sahagun Hist. de Nueva España, lib. 2; lib. 3 cap. 9—Torq. Mon. Ind. lib. 8 cap. 20; lib. 9, cap. 3, 56; cited by Prescott in vol. 1, Conq. Mex. p. 66).—[ED.]

69 King or Ruler.

70 A low caste man, e. g., a sweeper. Such a building can now be seen at Bijapur, India.—[ED.]

71 An obsessing astral shell. The Hindus consider them to be the reliquæ of deceased persons.—[ED.]

72 Nature spirit or elemental.—[ED.]

73 This sentence is of great importance. The Occidental mind delights much more in effects, personalities and authority, than in seeking for causes, just as many Theosophists have with persistency sought to know when and where Madame Blavatsky did some feat in magic, rather than in looking for causes or laws governing the production of phenomena. In this italicized sentence is the clue to many things, for those who can see.—[ED.]

74 Masonic Review, July, 1885.

75 The Cabbalah, its Doctrine, Development and Literature.

76 Farhad was the youthful lover of Shirin.

77 Her refers to the candle. The moth is the lover and the candle the beloved.

78 See note above.

79 Mulla is the Persian form of the Arabic Maulawi, “a learned man,” “a scholar.”

80 Khudawand is a Persian word signifying “lord,” “prince,” “master.” A professor: a man of authority. It is used as a title of the Deity and by Christian missionaries in India it is generally employed as a translation of the Greek Kyrios, “Lord.” (Hughes’ Dic.)

81 Islam means the resigning or devoting one’s self entirely to God, and his service.

82 Isis Unveiled, p. 507, vol I.

83 Ibid.

84 Physio-philosophy.

85 I use this word “privilege” in its ethical sense; privileges are to the patriot what the “pleasures” are to the family life.

86 This is the man to be in the family and not of the family like the water on the lotus leaf, making only the good traits of the family the seat of his higher self.

87 The Ether, the Astral Light.—[ED.]

88 I use the word in the peculiar sense which I have already attached to it.

89 In reply to several inquiries as to the meaning of Chela, we answer that it here means an accepted disciple of an Adept. The word, in general, means, Disciple.

90 See Agroushada Parakshai, 2d book, 23d dialogue.—[ED.]

91 It is interesting to compare the Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad, 4th Brah., with this: “In the beginning this was Self alone, in the shape of a spirit. He looking round, saw nothing but his Self.”—[ED.]

92 Quran xxiv, 35.

93 ibid. lxxvi, 18.

94 The Mevlevi or dancing devishes.

95 Quran xix, 74.

96 ibid. xxv, 26.

97 ibid. ii,

98 ibid. lxxx, 15.

99 ibid. lvi, 78.

100 ibid. lvi, 79.

101 ibid. xli, 42.

102 ibid. xii, 64.

103 ibid. vii, 150.

104 True transl. by J. Freeman Clark.

105 This is also an ancient Hindu doctrine laid down in secret books.—[ED.]

106 See his Clavix, written in 1624.—[ED.]

107 It is important to remember that Behmen gave the name spirit to the lower soul and soul with him meant what we call spirit.—[ED.]

108 Threefold life; Three principles; and Aurora.

109 See Bagavad-Gita.—[ED.]

110 “Full consent” including the consent of all their various consciousnesses. If the Patin or Pati saw, and they ought to be able to see, that even in one of the consciousnesses of any of their near relatives there lurked a latent spark of hesitation to consent or of unwillingness, then the pair unselfishly gave up their determination to become Vanaprasthas and remained with the family until the proper time came.

111 The emerald table is from the collection commencing with Le Miroirs d’ Alquimie de Jean de Mehun, philosophe, tres—excellent. Traduict de Latin on François, A Paris, 1613, pp. 36-39, to which is also attached, the Petit Commentaire de L’Hortulain, philosophe, dict des Jardins maritimes, sur la Table d’ Esmerande d’ Hermes Trismegiste pp. 42-64.

112 An ancient Hindu book full of tales as well as doctrines.—[ED.]

113 These flashes of thought are not unknown even in the scientific world, as, where in such a moment of lunacy, it was revealed to an English scientist, that there must be iron in the sun; and Edison gets his ideas thus.—[ED.]

114 The careful student will remember that Jacob Bœhme speaks of the “harsh and bitter anguish of nature which is the principle that produces bones and all corporification.” So here the master, it appears, tells the fortunate chela, that in the spiritual and mental world, anxiety, harsh and bitter, raises a veil before us and prevents us from using our memory. He refers, it would seem, to the other memory above the ordinary. The correctness and value of what was said in this, must be admitted when we reflect that, after all, the whole process of development is the process of getting back the memory of the past. And that too is the teaching found in pure Buddhism as well also as in its corrupted form.—[ED.]

115 The mystic syllable OM.—[ED.]

116 There is some reference here apparently to the Upanishad, for they contain a teacher’s directions to break through all shrines until the last one is reached.—[ED.]

117 See Bagavad-Gita where the whole poem turns upon the conflict in this battle field, which is called the “sacred plain of Kurukshetra” meaning, the “body which is acquired by Karma.”—[ED.]

118 Arabian Soc. in the Middle Age.—D’Ohsson describing the Turkish Dervishes gives another account.

119 Emerson.

120 Intell. Obs. Vol. 7.

121 Notes on Mohammedanism.

122 The Zikrs will be described in next number of THE PATH.

123 Those words are continually giving rise to misunderstandings and misinterpretations, because nearly every one has a different opinion of what is “Good.”

124 See Bagavad-Gita, c. 6.

125 Taken from the Glauben, Wissen und Kunst der alten Hindus, etc., von Niklas Müller. Erster Band, Mainz, 1822.

126 Fire, Æther, Light.

127 Satya-Loka, the place, world, or region of Truth.—[ED.]

128 See Indian Wisdom by Monier Williams, p. 12.

129 This occurs at the beginning of prayers, etc., as our word AMeN occurs at the end. It is so sacred that none must hear it pronounced. Originally its three letters typified the three Vedas, afterwards it became a mystical symbol of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva in unity; see further as to AUM supra.

130 I. e., the present age of spiritual blindness.

131 See “Transactions of the London Lodge of the Theosophical Society,” No. 5.

132 See charge and answer, in Theosophist, August, 1882.

133 The cycle of existence during the manvantara—period before and after the beginning and completion of which every such “monad” is absorbed and reabsorbed in the ONE soul, anima mundi.

134 Hades has surely never been meant for Hell. It was always the abode of the sorrowing shadows of astral bodies of the dead personalities. Western readers should remember Kama-loka is not Karma-loka, for Kama means desire, and Karma does not.

135 Had this word “immediate” been put at the time of publishing Isis between the two words “no” and “reincarnation” there would have been less room for dispute and controversy.

136 By “sphere above,” of course “Devachan” was meant.

137 The reader must bear in mind that the esoteric teaching maintains that save in cases of wickedness when man’s nature attains the acme of Evil, and human terrestrial sin reaches Satanic universal character, so to say as some Sorcerers do—there is no punishment for the majority of mankind after death. The law of retribution as Karma, waits man at the threshold of his new incarnation. Man is at best a wretched tool of evil, unceasingly forming new causes and circumstances. He is not always (if ever) responsible. Hence a period of rest and bliss in Devachan, with an utter temporary oblivion of all the miseries and sorrows of life. Avitchi is a spiritual state of the greatest misery and is only in store for those who have devoted consciously their lives to doing injury to others and have thus reached its highest spirituality of EVIL.

138 Says Apuleius: “The soul is born in this world upon leaving the soul of the world (anima mundi) in which her existence precedes the one we all know (on earth). Thus, the Gods who consider her proceedings in all the phases of various existences and as a whole, punish her sometimes for sins committed during an anterior life. She dies when she separates herself from a body in which she crossed this life as in a frail bark. And this is, if I mistake not, the secret meaning of the tumulary inscription, so simple for the initiate: ”To the Gods manes who lived.“ But this kind of death does not annihilate the soul, it only transforms (one portion of it) it into a lemure. ”Lemures“ are the manes, or ghosts, which we know under the name tares. When they keep away and show us a beneficent protection, we honour in them the protecting divinities of the family hearth; but if their crimes sentence them to err, we call them larvæ. They become a plague for the wicked, and the vain terror of the good.” (“Du Dieu de Socrate” Apul. class, pp., 143-145.)

139 “The cause of reincarnation is ignorance”—therefore there is “reincarnation” once the writer explained the causes of it.

140 A proof how our theosophical teachings have taken root in every class of Society and even in English literature may be seen by reading Mr. Norman Pearson’s article “Before Birth” in the “Nineteenth Century” for August, 1886. Therein, theosophical ideas and teachings are speculated upon without acknowledgment or the smallest reference to theosophy, and among others, we see with regard to the author’s theories on the Ego, the following: “How much of the individual personality is supposed to go to heaven or hell? Does the whole of the mental equipment, good and bad, noble qualities and unholy passions, follow the soul to its hereafter? Surely not. But if not, and something has to be stripped off, how and when are we to draw the line? If, on the other hand, the Soul is something distinct from all our mental equipment, except the sense of self, are we not confronted by the incomprehensible notion of a personality without any attributes.”

To this query the author answers as any true theosophist would: “The difficulties of the question really spring from a misconception of the true nature of these attributes. The components of our mental equipment—appetites, aversions, feelings, tastes and qualities generally—are not absolute but relative existences. Hunger and thirst for instance are states of consciousness which arise in response to the stimuli of physical necessities. They are not inherent elements of the soul and will disappear or become modified, etc.,” (pp. 356 and 357). In other words the theosophical doctrine is adopted, Atma and Buddhi having culled off the Manas the aroma of the personality or human soul—go into Devachan: while the lower principles the astral simulacrum or false personality void of its Divine monad or spirit will remain in the Kama-loka—the “Summerland.”

141 Nirmanakaya is the name given to the astral forms (in their completeness) of adepts, who have progressed too high on the path of knowledge and absolute truth, to go into the state of Devachan; and have on the other hand, deliberately refused the bliss of nirvana, in order to help Humanity by invisibly guiding and helping on the same path of progress elect men. But these astrals are not empty shells, but complete monads made up of the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th principles. There is another order of nirmanakaya, however, of which much will be said in the Secret Doctrine.—H. P. B.

Placing these parallel with the division in esoteric teaching we see that (1) Osiris is Atma; (2) Sa is Buddhi; (3) Akh is Manas; (4) Khou is Kama-rupa, the seat of terrestrial desires. (5) Khaba is Lingha Sarira; (6) Kha is Pranatma (vital principle) (7) Sah, is mummy or body.

142 Because they drove the enemies away.

143 From manus—“good,” an antiphraris, as Festus explains.

144 Page 12. Vol I. of “Isis Unveiled” belief in reincarnation is asserted from the very beginning, as forming part and parcel of universal beliefs. “Metempsychosis” (or transmigration of souls) and reincarnation being after all the same thing.

145 These three qualities are explained by Krishna in the Bhagavadgitâ, as Satwa good or inactive being purely spiritual; Rajas bad and active; and Tamas inactive or indifferent and bad. They exist in every human mind and are mingled in greater or less proportions at all times, according to the individual and also according to his varying circumstances. His teaching in regard to the Tamo guna is the same as that taught in the Christian Bible, for he says that for the indifferent man there is no salvation—he is as it were “ejected like a broken cloud;” and in I James v, 6, 7, the doubting man is declared incapable of obtaining anything, while in Rev. iii, 16, the Laodiceans are accused of being neither cold nor hot, that is of being indifferent, and they are condemned to be “spewed out of the mouth,” which is the same as the fate described as awaiting those in whom indifference predominates, Krishna declaring that they become more and more deluded at each succeeding generation until at last they reach the lowest round of the ladder in the shape of primordial matter. The difference between the two schools is, that Krishna’s allows the doctrines of Reincarnation and Karma, while the modern Christians, blind to their own Bible, reject these supremely important laws, or rather ignore them as yet. [ED.]

146 Maya is the sanscrit for illusion. [ED.]

147 Bagavad-Gita.

148 Milton.

149 Bible.

150 Light of Asia.

151 Browning.

152 Bri-Up. 1. Adh., 4 Brah., 7.

153 ‘We take no notice of time save by its loss’, i. e. its passage or motion.

154 Isis Unveiled, vol. I. p. 507, et seq.

155 Pymander, p. 33, et seq., edition of 1650.

156 IV Book, p. 60.

157 Dr. G. Weil: The Bible, the Koran, and the Talmud.

158 Leibnitz was born 1646 at Leipzig, and died 1716. According to Schwegler’s Hist. of Phil. he was, next to Aristotle, the most highly gifted scholar that ever lived, and according to F. Papillon (“Nature and Life”) modern students in various departments of science and philosophy have verified his ideas and endorsed then to a large extent.

159 See July and August PATH.

160 Light on the Path.

161 Letter from a friend.

162 It is an old declaration of the esoteric doctrine that “the counterfeit religion will last as long as the true one.”—[ED.]

163 See N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 28. 1886.

164 See Bag.-Gita, Ch. 14.

165 The numbers used here are significant. In Bagavad-Gita are 18 chapters, and Krishna as there revealed has a special meaning under the No. 18. The five Pandavas are the same as those who are concerned in the Gita story. If the product of 18 x 360 be added, the sum is 18. The correspondences in all the Hindu stories will repay study.—[ED.]

166 This injured Brahmin was a sage who assuming that disguise desired to make a test.—[ED.]

167 The orthodox translation is “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.”

168 From Leaves of Grass.

169 Chandogya-Upanishad, vi.

170 Bagavad-Gita, ch. 15.

171 Compare the “Elixir of Life” in The Theosophist.

172 This has nothing whatever to do with so-called “stigmatization”: the latter being merely the result of a strong imagination upon a weak body.

173 “That which was from the beginning.” etc.—John. Epistle I, i.

174 I Cor. xv.

175 Light on the Path.

176 Vedanta.

177 It is known that in Ireland and other places, many peasants possess words whose sound can thrill a man and make a horse unmanageable. [ED.]

178 Vedanta.

179 Light on the Path.

180 See Fiske, Stuart, et al.

181 Emerson.

182 On sound, P. 54.

183 Vedanta.

184 Idem.

185 Through the Gates of Gold: a Fragment of Thought. Boston: Roberts Brothers. 1887. Price, 50 cents.

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Table of Contents

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Path, Vol. I.—1886-'7., by Various and William Quan Judge

Transcriber’s Notes

THE PATH.

Table of Contents

INDEX.

No. 1.

AUM!

KABBALAH.

SEERSHIP.

THE NATURE AND OFFICE OF BUDDHA’S RELIGION.

A PROPHECY ABOUT THEOSOPHY.

REVIEWS AND NOTES.

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

No. 2.

Studies in the Upanishads.

The Mystery of Numbers.

Sufism,

Theosophical Symbolism.

Reviews.

Another Theosophical Prophecy.

Correspondence.

Theosophical Activities.

No. 3.

A Hindu Chela’s Diary.50

Sufism,

Polarity of the Human Body.

The Hermetic Philosophy.

Reviews.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Theosophical Activities.

No. 4.

A Hindu Chela’s Diary.

PLATO

Notes on the Cabbalah of the Old Testament.

Sufism,

The Hermetic Philosophy.

Living the Higher Life.

Studies in the Upanishads.

Correspondence.

Reviews and Notes.

Theosophical Activities.

No. 5.

Star Colors and Animal Magnetism.

A Hindu Chela’s Diary.89

Notes on the Cabbalah of the Old Testament.

Sufism,

The Singing Silences.

On the Soul of Man.

Living the Higher Life.

Musings on the True Theosophist’s Path.

Reviews and Notes.

Theosophical Activities.

No. 6.

Theosophic Morals.

Hermes Trismegistus.

A Hindu Chela’s Diary.

Karma.

Sufism,

Reticence of Mahatmas and Evolution of the Individual.

Correspondence.

Reviews and Notes.

Theosophical Activities.

No. 7.

Apollonius and the Mahatmas.

Sufism,

Musings on the True Theosophist’s Path.

Poetical Occultism.

The Corner Stone.

The Society of the Rosicrucians.

Hindu Symbolism.

Literary Notes.

Theosophical Activities.

No. 8.

The Common Sense of Theosophy.

Theories: About Reincarnation and Spirits.

Poetical Occultism.

Hindu Symbolism.

Teachings of the Master.

No. 9.

“The Theosophical Mahatmas.”

Lines from Lower Levels.

Poetical Occultism.

Apollonius and the Mahatmas.

Teachings of the Master.

The Hermetic Philosophy.

Tea Table Talk.

Reviews and Notes.

No. 10.

The Elementals, the Elementary Spirits,

What is the “Theosophical Society”?

Rotation-Individual Evolution.

Thoughts in Solitude.

Tea Table Talk.

Theosophical Work in America.

Reviews and Notes.

Correspondence.

No. 11.

The Elementals, the Elementary Spirits,

Poetical Occultism.

Hindu Symbolism.

“Light on the Path.”

Musings On the True Theosophist’s Path.

Thought Effects.

Environment.

Tea Table Talk.

No. 12.

A Year on The Path.

What is True “Christianity”?

Papyrus—The Gem.

Heralds from the Unseen.

Thoughts in Solitude.

Hindu Symbolism.

Through the Gates of Gold.

Considerations on Magic.

Tea Table Talk.

Poetical Occultism.

Universal Unity.

FOOTNOTES:

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE