not required to unfold the mystery, but only to indicate
what is sufficient for those who are partakers in knowledge
to bring it to mind."
We have quoted freely from St. Clement, for the purpose of showing
that he, a man in a very exalted position in the Early Christian
Church, recognized, and actually taught, the Inner Teachings, or
Secret Doctrine of Mystic Christianity--that the Early Christian
Church was an organization having a Mystic Centre for the few, and
Common Outer for the multitude. Can there be any doubt of this after
reading the above words from his pen?
But not only St. Clement so wrote and taught, but many others in
authority in the Early Christian Church likewise voiced their
knowledge of, and approval in, the Inner Teachings. For example,
Origen, the pupil of St. Clement, a man whose influence was felt on
all sides in the early days of the Church. Origen defended
Christianity from the attacks of Celsus, who charged the Church with
being a secret organization which taught the Truth only to a few,
while it satisfied the multitude with popular teachings and
half-truths. Origen replied that, while it was true that there were
Inner Teachings in the Church which were not revealed to the general
public, still the Church, in that respect, was but following the
example of all teachers of Truth, who always maintained an esoteric
side of their teachings for those fitted to participate in them, while
giving the exoteric side to the general body of followers. He writes:
"And yet the Mystery of the Resurrection, not being
understood, is made a subject of ridicule among unbelievers.
In these circumstances, to speak of the Christian doctrine
as a _secret system_ is altogether absurd. But that there
should be certain doctrines, not made known to the
multitude, which are divulged after the exoteric ones have
been taught, is not a peculiarity of Christianity alone, but
also of philosophic systems in which certain truths are
exoteric and others esoteric. Some of the hearers of
Pythagoras were content with his _ipse dixit;_ while others
were taught in secret those doctrines which were not deemed
fit to be communicated to profane and insufficiently
prepared ears. Moreover, all the Mysteries that are
celebrated everywhere throughout Greece and barbarous
countries, although held in secret, have no discredit thrown
upon them, so that it is in vain he endeavors to calumniate
the secret doctrines of Christianity, seeing that he does
not correctly understand its nature."
"I have not yet spoken of the observance of all that is
written in the Gospels, each one of which contains much
doctrine difficult to be understood, not merely by the
multitude, but even by certain of the more intelligent,
including a very profound explanation of the parables, which
Jesus delivered to 'those without' while reserving the
exhibition of their full meaning for those who had passed
beyond the stage of exoteric teaching, and who came to Him
privately in the house. And when he comes to understand it,
he will admire the reason why some are said to be 'without'
and others 'in the house.'" (_Origen against Celsus_.)
In the same work Origen considers the story of the Syria-Phoenician
woman (_Matt. Chap. 15_) and says concerning it:
"And perhaps, also, of the words of Jesus there are some
loaves which it is possible to give to the more rational, as
to the children, only; and others as it were crumbs from the
great house and table of the well-born, which may be used by
some souls like dogs."
And, again,
"He whose soul has, for a long time, been conscious of no
evil, especially since he yielded himself to the healing of
the Word, let such a one hear _the doctrines which were
spoken in private by Jesus to His genuine disciples_."
And, again,
"But on these subjects much, and that of a mystical kind,
might be said: in keeping with which is the following: 'It
is good to keep close to the secret of a king,' in order
that _the doctrine of the entrance of souls into bodies_ may
not be thrown before the common understanding, nor what is
holy given to the dogs, nor pearls be cast before swine. For
such a procedure would be impious, being equivalent to a
betrayal of the mysterious declaration of God's wisdom. It
is sufficient, however, to represent in the style of a
historic narrative what is intended to convey a secret
meaning in the garb of history, that those who have the
capacity may work out for themselves all that relates to the
subject."
He also says, in the same work:
"If you come to the books written after the time of Jesus,
you will find that those multitudes of believers who hear
the parables are, as it were, 'without,' and worthy only of
exoteric doctrines, while the disciples learn in private the
explanation of the parables. _For, privately, to His own
disciples did Jesus open up all things, esteeming above the
multitudes those who desired to know His wisdom._ And He
promises to those who believe on Him to send them wise men
and scribes."
In another work, Origen states that:
"The Scriptures have a meaning, not only such as is apparent
at first sight, but also another, which escapes the notice
of most men. For such is written in the forms of certain
Mysteries, and the image of divine things. Respecting which
there is one opinion throughout the whole Church, that the
whole law is indeed spiritual; _but that the spiritual
meaning which the law conveys is not known to all_, but to
those only on whom the grace of the Holy Spirit is bestowed
in the word of wisdom and knowledge." (_De Principiis_.)
We could fill page after page with live quotations from the writings
of the Early Christian Fathers, and their successors, showing the
existence of the Inner Teachings. But we must rest content with those
which we have given you, which are clear and to the point, and which
_come from undoubted authority_.
The departure of the Church from these Inner Teachings was a great
calamity, from which the Church is still suffering. As that well-known
occultist, Eliphias Levi, has said:
"A great misfortune befell Christianity. The betrayal of the
Mysteries by the false Gnostics--for the Gnostics, that is,
_those who know_, were the Initiates of primitive
Christianity--caused the Gnosis to be rejected, and
alienated the Church from the supreme truths of the Kabbala,
which contains all the secrets of transcendental
theology.... Let the most absolute science, let the highest
reason become once more the patrimony of the leaders of the
people; let the sarcerdotal art and the royal art take the
double sceptre of antique initiations and the social world
will once more issue from its chaos. Burn the holy images no
longer; demolish the temples no more; temples and images are
necessary for men; but drive the hirelings from the house of
prayer; let the blind be no longer leaders of the blind;
reconstruct the hierarchy of intelligence and holiness, and
recognize only _those who know_ as the teachers of _those
who believe_." (_The Mysteries of Magic, Waite
translation_.)
And now, you ask, what were taught in these Christian Mysteries--what
is the Inner Teaching--what the Secret Doctrine? Simply this, good
students--the Occult Philosophy and Mystic Lore which has been taught
to the Elect in all times and ages, and which is embodied in our
several series of lessons on THE YOGI PHILOSOPHY AND ORIENTAL
OCCULTISM, _plus the special teaching regarding the nature, mission,
and sacrifice of Jesus the Christ, as we have tried to explain in the
present series of lessons_. The Truth is the same no matter under what
name it is taught, or who teaches it. Strip it of the personal
coloring of the teacher and it is seen to be the same--THE TRUTH.
In these lessons we have tried to give you the Key to the Mysteries,
but unless you have studied the other lessons in which the Occult
Teachings have been set forth, you will not be able to see their
application in Mystic Christianity. You must bring Knowledge to these
lessons, in order to take away knowledge.
THE ELEVENTH LESSON
THE ANCIENT WISDOM.
The doctrine of Metempsychosis or Re-incarnation has its roots deeply
imbedded in the soil of all religions--that is, in the Inner Teachings
or Esoteric phase of all religious systems. And this is true of the
Inner Teachings of the Christian Church as well as of the other
systems. The Christian Mysteries comprised this as well as the other
fundamental occult doctrines, and the Early Church held such teachings
in its Inner Circle.
And, in its essence, the doctrine of Re-birth is the only one that is
in full accord with the Christian conception of ultimate justice and
"fairness." As a well known writer has said concerning this subject:
"It relieves us of many and great difficulties. It is
impossible for any one who looks around him and sees the
sorrow and suffering in the world, and the horrible
inequality in the lives of men--not inequality in wealth
merely, but inequality in opportunity of progress--to
harmonize these facts with the love and justice of God,
unless he is willing to accept this theory that this one
life is not all, but that it is only a day in the real life
of the soul, and that each soul therefore has made its place
for itself, and is receiving just such training as is best
for its evolution. Surely the only theory which enables a
man rationally to believe in Divine justice, without
shutting his eyes to obvious facts, is a theory worthy of
study.
"Modern theology concerns itself principally with a plan for
evading divine justice, which it elects to call 'Salvation,'
and it makes this plan depend entirely upon what a man
believes, or rather upon what he says that he believes. This
whole theory of 'salvation,' and indeed the theory that
there is anything to be 'saved' from, seems to be based upon
a misunderstanding of a few texts of scripture. We do not
believe in this idea of a so-called divine wrath; we think
that to attribute to God our own vices of anger and cruelty
is a terrible blasphemy. We hold to the theory of steady
evolution and final attainment for all; and we think that
the man's progress depends not upon what he believes, but
upon what he does. And there is surely very much in the
bible to support this idea. Do you remember St. Paul's
remark, 'Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap'? And again, Christ said
that 'They that _have done good_ shall go unto the
resurrection of life'--not they that have believed some
particular doctrine. And when He describes the day of
judgment, you will notice that no question is raised as to
what anybody has believed, but only as to the works which he
has done."
In this connection, we think that it is advisable to quote from the
address of a well known English churchman upon this important subject.
The gentleman in question is The Ven. Archdeacon Colley, Rector of
Stockton, Warwickshire, England, who said:
"In the realm of the occult and transcendental, moved to its
exploration from the Sadducean bias of my early days, I have
for the best part of half a century had experiences rarely
equaled by any, and I am sure, surpassed by none; yet have
they led me up till now, I admit, to no very definite
conclusions. With suspension of judgment, therefore, not
being given to dogmatize on anything, and with open mind I
trust, in equipoise of thought desiring to hold an even
balance of opinion 'twixt this and that, I am studious still
of being receptive of light from every source--rejecting
nothing that in the least degree makes for righteousness,
hence my taking the chair here tonight, hoping to learn what
may help to resolve a few of the many perplexities of life,
to wit: Why some live to the ripe old age of my dear father
while others live but for a moment, to be born, gasp and
die. Why some are born rich and others poor; some having
wealth only to corrupt, defile, deprave others therewith,
while meritorious poverty struggles and toils for human
betterment all unaided. Some gifted with mentality; others
pitiably lacking capacity. Some royal-souled from the first
naturally, others with brutal, criminal propensities from
beginning to end.
"The sins of the fathers visited upon the children unto the
third and fourth generation may in heredity account for
much, but I want to see through the mystery of a good father
at times having a bad son, as also of one showing genius and
splendid faculties--the offspring of parentage the reverse
of anything suggesting qualities contributive thereto. Then
as a clergyman, I have in my reading noted texts of Holy
Scripture, and come across passages in the writings of the
Fathers of the Early Church which seem to be root-thoughts,
or survivals of the old classic idea of re-incarnation.
"The prophet Jeremiah (1:5) writes, 'The word of the Lord
came unto me saying, before I formed thee, I knew thee, and
before thou wast born I sanctified thee and ordained thee a
prophet.'
"Does this mean that the Eternal-Uncreate chose, from foreknowledge of
what Jeremiah would be, the created Ego of His immaterialized servant
in heaven ere he clothed his soul with the mortal integument of flesh
in human birth--schooling him above for the part he had to play here
below as a prophet to dramatize in his life and teaching the will of
the Unseen? To the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda, whose
infirmity was the cruel experience of eight and thirty years, the
Founder of our religion said (_John 5:14._), 'Behold, thou art made
whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.' Was it
(fitting the punishment to the crime proportionately) some outrageous
sin as a boy, in the spring of years and days of his inexperienced
youth of bodily life, that brought on him such physical sorrow, which
youthful sin in its repetition would necessitate an even worse ill
than this nearly forty years of sore affliction? 'Who did sin, this
man or his parents, that he was born blind?' (_John 9:2._), was the
question of the disciples to Jesus. And our query is--Sinned _before_
he was born to deserve the penalty of being born blind?
"Then of John the Baptist--was he a reincarnation of Elijah, the
prophet, who was to come again? (_Malachi 4:5._). Jesus said he _was_
Elijah, who indeed had come, and the evil-minded Jews had done unto
him whatsoever they listed. Herod had beheaded him (_Matt. 11:14_ and
_17:12._).
"Elijah and John the Baptist appear from our reference Bibles and
Cruden's Concordance to concur and commingle in one. The eighth verse
of the first chapter of the second Book of Kings and the fourth verse
of the third chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel note similarities in them
and peculiarities of dress. Elijah, as we read, was a 'hairy man and
girt a leathern girdle about his loins,' while John the Baptist had
'his raiment of camel's hair and a leathern girdle about his loins.'
Their home was the solitude of the desert. Elijah journeyed forty days
and forty nights unto Horeb, the mount of God in the Wilderness of
Sinai. John the Baptist was in the wilderness of Judea beyond Jordan
baptizing. And their life in exile--a self-renunciating and voluntary
withdrawal from the haunts of men--was sustained in a parallel
remarkable way by food (bird--brought on wing--borne). 'I have
commanded the ravens to feed thee,' said the voice of Divinity to the
prophet; while locusts and wild honey were the food of the Baptist.
"'And above all,' said our Lord of John the Baptist to the disciples,
'if ye _will_ receive it, this is Elias which was for to come.'
"Origen, in the second century, one of the most learned of the Fathers
of the early Church, says that this declares the pre-existence of John
the Baptist as Elijah before his decreed later existence as Christ's
forerunner.
"Origen also says on the text, 'Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have
hated,' that if our course be not marked out according to our works
before this present life that now is, how would it not be untrue and
unjust in God that the elder brother should serve the younger and be
hated by God (though blessed of righteous Abraham's son, of Isaac)
before Esau had done anything deserving of servitude or given any
occasion for the merciful Almighty's hatred?
"Further, on the text (_Ephesians 1:4._), 'God who hath chosen us
before the foundation of the world,' Origen says that this suggests
our pre-existence ere the world was.
"While Jerome, agreeing with Origen, speaks of our rest above, where
rational creatures dwell before their descent to this lower world, and
prior to their removal from the invisible life of the spiritual sphere
to the visible life here on earth, teaching, as he says, the necessity
of their again having material bodies ere, as saints and men made
'perfect as our Father which is in heaven is perfect,' they once more
enjoy in the angel-world their _former_ blessedness.
"Justin Martyr also speaks of the soul inhabiting the human body more
than once, but thinks as a rule (instanced in the case of John the
Baptist forgetting that he had been Elijah) it is not permitted us to
remember our former experiences of this life while yet again we are in
exile here as strangers and pilgrims in an uncongenial clime away from
our heavenly home.
"Clemens Alexandrinus, and others of the Fathers, refer to
re-incarnation (or transmigration or metempsychosis, as it is called
in the years that are passed of classic times and later now as
_re-birth_) to remind us of the vital truth taught by our Lord in the
words, '_Ye must be born again_.'"
These words, falling from the lips of a man so eminent in the staid
conservative ranks of the Church of England, must attract the
attention of every earnest seeker after the Truth of Christian
Doctrine. If such a man, reared in such an environment, could find
himself able to bear such eloquent testimony to the truth of a
philosophy usually deemed foreign to his accepted creed, what might we
not expect from a Church liberated from the narrow formal bounds of
orthodoxy, and once more free to consider, learn and teach those noble
doctrines originally held and taught by the Early Fathers of the
Church of Christ?
While the majority of modern Christians bitterly oppose the idea that
the doctrine of Metempsychosis ever formed any part of the Christian
Doctrine, and prefer to regard it as a "heathenish" teaching, still
the fact remains that the careful and unprejudiced student will find
indisputable evidence in the writings of the Early Christian Fathers
pointing surely to the conclusion that the doctrine of Metempsychosis
was believed and taught in the Inner Circle of the Early Church.
The doctrine unquestionably formed a part of the Christian Mysteries,
and has faded into comparative obscurity with the decay of
spirituality in the Church, until now the average churchman no longer
holds to it, and in fact regards as barbarous and heathenish that part
of the teachings originally imparted and taught by the Early Fathers
of the Church--the Saints and Leaders.
The Early Christians were somewhat divided in their beliefs concerning
the details of Re-birth. One sect or body held to the idea that the
soul of man was eternal, coming from the Father. Also that there were
many degrees and kinds of souls, some of which have never incarnated
in human bodies but which are living on many planes of life unknown to
us, passing from plane to plane, world to world. This sect held that
some of these souls had chosen to experiment with life on the physical
plane, and were now passing through the various stages of the
physical-plane life, with all of its pains and sorrows, being held by
the Law of Re-birth until a full experience had been gained, when they
would pass out of the circle of influence of the physical plane, and
return to their original freedom.
Another sect held to the more scientific occult form of the gradual
evolution of the soul, by repeated rebirth, on the physical plane,
from Lower to Higher, as we have set forth in our lessons on "Gnani
Yoga." The difference in the teachings arose from the different
conceptions of the great leaders, some being influenced by the Jewish
Occult Teachings which held to the first above mentioned doctrine,
while the second school held to the doctrine taught by the Greek
Mystics and the Hindu Occultists. And each interpreted the Inner
Teachings by the light of his previous affiliations.
And so, some of the early writings speak of "pre-existence," while
others speak of repeated "rebirth." But the underlying principle is
the same, and in a sense they were both right, as the advanced
occultists know full well. The fundamental principle of both
conceptions is that the soul comes forth as an emanation from the
Father in the shape of Spirit; that the Spirit becomes plunged in the
confining sheaths of Matter, and is then known as "a soul," losing for
a time its pristine purity; that the soul passes on through rebirth,
from lower to higher, gaining fresh experiences at each incarnation;
that the advancing soul passes from world to world, returning at last
to its home laden with the varied experiences of life and becomes once
more pure Spirit.
The early Christian Fathers became involved in a bitter controversy
with the Greek and Roman philosophers, over the conception held by
some of the latter concerning the absurd doctrine of the
transmigration of the human soul into the body of an animal. The
Fathers of the Church fought this erroneous teaching with great
energy, their arguments bringing out forcibly the distinction between
the true occult teachings and this erroneous and degenerate perversion
in the doctrines of transmigration into animal bodies. This conflict
caused a vigorous denunciation of the teachings of the Pythagorean and
Platonic schools, which held to the perverted doctrine that a human
soul could degenerate into the state of the animal.
Among other passages quoted by Origen and Jerome to prove the
pre-existence of the soul was that from Jeremiah (1:5): "Before thou
comest from the womb I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet."
The early writers held that this passage confirmed their particular
views regarding the pre-existence of the soul and the possession of
certain characteristics and qualities acquired during previous birth,
for, they argued, it would be injustice that a man, before birth, be
endowed with uncarnal qualities; and that such qualities and ability
could justly be the result only of best work and action. They also
dwelt upon the prophecy of the return of Elijah, in Malachi 4:5. And
also upon the (uncanonical) book "The Wisdom of Solomon," in which
Solomon says: "I was a witty child, and had a good Spirit. Yea,
rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled."
They also quoted from Josephus, in his book styled "De Bello Judico,"
in which the eminent Jewish writer says: "They say that all souls are
incorruptible; but that the souls of good men are only removed into
other bodies--but that the souls of bad men are subject to eternal
punishment." They also quoted from Josephus, regarding the Jewish
belief in Rebirth as evidenced by the recital of the instance in
which, at the siege of the fortress of Jotapota, he sought the shelter
of a cave in which were a number of soldiers, who discussed the
advisability of committing suicide for the purpose of avoiding being
taken prisoners by the Romans. Josephus remonstrated with them as
follows:
"Do ye not remember that all pure spirits who are in
conformity with the divine dispensation live on in the
loveliest of heavenly places, and in the course of time they
are sent down to inhabit sinless bodies; but the souls of
those who have committed self-destruction are doomed to a
region in the darkness of the underworld?"
Recent writers hold that this shows that he accepted the doctrine of
Re-birth himself, and also as showing that it must have been familiar
to the Jewish soldiery.
There seems to be no doubt regarding the familiarity of the Jewish
people of that time with the general teachings regarding
Metempsychosis. Philo positively states the doctrine as forming part
of the teachings of the Jewish Alexandrian school. And again the
question asked Jesus regarding the "sin of the man born blind" shows
how familiar the people were with the general doctrine.