of the Râja Yoga College here and of the way in which the young
people are protected from evil influences, are much impressed with
these educational conditions, as desirable as they are unique.
Compared with the average youth's environment, which modern life
keys to an ever-increasing pitch of excitement, self-indulgence, and
artificiality, the serene, disciplined, natural life of the Point Loma
young folk makes an atmosphere of quite another world. Even the keenest
critics admit this.
The judgment, however, becomes so colored by the prevailing customs and
ideas and the critical minds are so skeptical from previous failures
in fulfilment, that even friendly visitors are prepared to find a flaw
somewhere. So it is not surprising to hear them say: "Well, there is
something wonderful here and it is the right way to live; but how will
it be with these young people when they leave the school and go out to
meet the unknown temptations of ordinary life? How will they stand the
test?"
That question touches the point wherein the Râja Yoga method differs
from prevailing educational systems, in training the pupil, not for
examination day, but for _practical life_.
In analysing temptations of any kind they may be traced to a common
root: the promise of giving the tempted more power--the power to feel
more, to think more, to do more. This proffered power is the naturally
alluring counterfeit of that conscious inner sense which longs _to be_
more.
First take the physical appetites which so often develop a mastery of
the thoughtless or deliberately indulgent. The normal sense of taste
enlarges the feeling of pleasure, and agreeable food stimulates the
body's latent nutritive forces to an output of strength and action.
Usually the desire of the alcoholic and drug habitués is not primarily
for the _taste_ of the drink or the drug but for the coveted feeling
of attainment that they (apparently) give, the temporary, apparent
return of waning poise and power. Even when unable to stand steadily,
the inebriate is convinced of his own strength and importance by the
feeling of energy and largeness he has recklessly lashed into an
outgoing, aimless tide of exhausting sensation. The maudlin type finds
himself the central figure of a fictitious emotional sphere, while the
ambitious but incompetent man basks in the pleasing delusion of his own
wealth and dignity. The craving for stimulants and sedatives grows with
the indulgence which weakens the will, shatters the nerves, dulls the
mind, and debases the spirit. The wretched habitué feels a vital lack
of selfhood and clutches at even a passing furlough for his mutilated
and chaotic sense of identity.
The sense of smell is not only intensified by favorite odors, but
these recall and vivify other scenes and sensations. A fragrant flower
may suggest a realm of beauty and poetry and sweetness. Savory odors
appeal to the sense of taste and the appetite becomes the means of
still further arousing one through the memory and imagination. The
degenerate nature enjoys even offensive odors as the means of making
him more alive to the possibilities of his degenerate world. A dog's
markedly developed olfactory sense is not attracted by aesthetic odors
as he smells impartially at everything, and follows up--tempted, if you
will--those odors that make him more aware of his canine capacity for
sensation and action: that, in short, make him more of a dog.
The auditory sense is also the gateway to a larger range of feeling
and power. The savage responds to his own defiant war-cry, and the
small boy dilates with his noisy activities, as the refined expand
under nature's finished rhythm of sound and the tones of inspiring
music.
The eye also lights up old and new scenes of thought and feeling and
the characteristic sensations are reflexly stimulated whether one seeks
an exciting round of changing pictures or chooses more beautiful and
useful things, whether the higher or the lower nature is appealed to,
it is the larger sense of power to feel or to think or to know that is
the attraction of vision.
The sensual appetites are impelling because the creative quality
upon the physical plane counterfeits the unity of masculine and
feminine principles in the final perfection of human consciousness.
The attraction of the sexes depends upon an awakening not only to the
qualities of the opposite, but also to an exaltation of the lover's
sense of his or her own manhood or womanhood. Exercised merely for
gratification the lower appetites fill the indulger's world with
insistent desires, capable of leading to degrading depths. But when the
creative energy is consciously expended along the uplifting lines of
noble and altruistic endeavor it arouses in all the auto-creative sense
of power, which, reproductive in its own right, has the satisfying
sense of attainment. Unselfish love so far awakens the higher nature
to its own richness and strength and beauty that its royal impulse to
give would sacrifice the personal self in protecting and idealizing the
beloved.
The temptations of ambition spring from a love of power--the power of
knowledge, of courage, of beauty, of strength, of influence--those
things which arouse the possessor to an enlarged or intensified sense
of himself. That the ruling personal ambition too often sacrifices the
greatest elements of the nature to obtain the gratification of seeming
greatness does not discount the fact of the Real Self which sacrifices
its lesser desires to be great.
Back of all counterfeits must be the genuine coin to give the false
its spurious value. So beyond the many byways of sense and sensation
wherein humanity seeks to feel and to think and to do more there is
the sunlit highway of the natural soul-life wherein one grows more
conscious of his divine power and possibilities. Normal growth during
incarnation is not found in a repeated round of sensational climaxes,
but in a progressive journey with an ever-expanding horizon where the
soul dominates the nature forces within and without the body. The child
who learns to know the divine reality of his dual nature inevitably
comes to find that "pleasure within himself" that is satisfying in its
expansive sense of power and beauty and largeness.
That the child is incapable of realizing so profound a truth as that of
his divine origin is questioned by a world psychologized with centuries
of false teachings of natural depravity, etc. But in the teaching of
the dual nature in the Râja Yoga training that calls upon the higher
side to master and utilize the force of the lower impulses, the reality
of innate power becomes the satisfying keynote of daily life. In the
plastic period of child growth, he should be spared the usual external
distractions while acquiring the habit of looking within to "find
himself." Protection from the taint of artificial life is no more
enervating than the suitable care the gardener gives to seedlings while
they take firm root for future growth and resistance.
Temptation can only tempt where there is lack and longing. One who
has learned how to live in the fulness and richness of the reality
can easily estimate the worth of any imitation, familiar or unknown.
Theosophy does not haggle over theological minutiae. It broadly asserts
that the divine man incarnating becomes dual in nature. Râja Yoga
training confidently challenges the indwelling soul to come forth and
declare itself.
LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF PYTHAGORAS: by F. S. Darrow, A. M., Ph. D. (Harv.)
III. THE TEACHINGS
As Pythagoras met with the immemorial fate of the world's great
teachers, many fantastic distortions of his teachings were published;
some of them, in his name by his enemies, for the express purpose of
bringing his teachings into disrepute; and many things were imputed
to him which he certainly never said or did. Probably he did not
commit any of his teachings to writing, but it is certain that his
disciples memorized his sayings and treasured them as the oracles of
the Deity. He had two forms of teaching: one public or exoteric, and
one private or esoteric. It is noteworthy that wherever his teachings
prevailed, sobriety and temperance displaced licentiousness and luxury,
for the distinguished Pythagoreans were men of great uprightness,
conscientiousness, and self-control, capable of devoted and enduring
friendships.
(a) EXOTERIC TEACHINGS
The public teachings of Pythagoras consisted principally of practical
morals of the purest and most spiritual type and emphasized the virtues
of self-restraint, reverence, patriotism, sincerity, conscientiousness,
uprightness, truth, justice, and purity of heart. He insisted upon
the highest ideals of marriage and of parental duties, and always
exerted his influence to suppress wars and dissensions. He was the
first to apply the term philosopher or lover of wisdom to himself, as a
substitute for the earlier term sage, for he said: "The Deity only is
wise; men at their best are merely lovers of wisdom." He was also the
first to use the word _kosmos_ or "order," as applied to the universe.
He used to say:
Drunkenness is synonymous with ruin.
No one ought to exceed the proper quantity of meat and drink.
Strength of mind depends upon sobriety, for this keeps the reason
undiverted by passion.
In answer to the question, "When may I indulge in the pleasures of
passion?" he replied: "Whenever you wish to be weaker than your _Self_."
Never say or do anything in anger.
Virtue is harmony; health, the Universal Good.
He urged his disciples not to kill animals, because he declared that
they have a right to live, as well as men.
It is the part of a fool to attend to every opinion of all men, above
all to that of the mob.
Do what you believe to be right, whatever people think of you. Despise
alike their censure and their praise.
Add not unto your grief by discontent.
Do not speak few things in many words, but many things in a few words.
Either be silent, or speak words better than silence.
It is hard to take many paths in life at the same time.
Youth should be accustomed to obedience, for it will thus find it easy
to obey the authority of reason.
Men should associate with one another in such a way as not to make
their friends enemies, but to make their enemies friends.
We ought to wage war only against the ignorance of the mind, the
passions of the heart, the distempers of the body, sedition in cities,
and ill-will in families.
No man should deem anything _exclusively_ his own.
Every man ought so to train himself as to be worthy of belief without
an oath.
He used to call admonishing, "feeding storks."
Philosophers are seekers after truth.
The discourse of a philosopher is vain, if no passion of man is healed
thereby.
Choose the best life; use will make it pleasant.
Man is at his best when he visits the temples of the gods.
A man should never pray for anything for himself, because he is
ignorant of what is really good for him.
Do not the least thing unadvisedly.
Advise before you act, and never let your eyes
The sweet refreshings of soft slumber taste,
Till you have thence severe reflections passed
On th' actions of the day from first to last.
Wherein have I transgressed? What done have I?
What duty unperformed have I passed by?
And if your actions ill on search you find,
Let grief, if good, let joy, possess your mind.
This do, this think, to this your heart incline,
This way will lead you to the Life Divine.
* * * * *
This course, if you observe, you shall know then
The constitution both of gods and men.
And now from ill, Great Father, set us free,
Or teach us all to know ourselves in Thee.
The noblest gifts of heaven to man are to speak the truth and to do
good. These two things resemble the works of the Deity.
Place intuition as the best charioteer or guide for thy acts.
Possess not treasures except those things which no one can take from
you.
Be sleepless in the things of the Spirit, for sleep in them is akin to
death.
Each of us is a soul, not a body, which is only a possession of the
soul.
The tyrant death securely shalt thou brave,
And scorn the dark dominion of the grave.
The greatest honor which can be paid to the Deity is to know and
imitate Its perfection.
The wise men say that one community embraces heaven and earth,
and gods and men and friendship and order and temperance and
righteousness; for which reason they call this whole a kosmos or
orderly universe.
Of all things learn to revere your _Self_.
Likeness to the Deity should be the aim of all our endeavors. The
nobler, the better the man, the more godlike he becomes, for the gods
are the guardians and guides of men.
There is a relationship between men and gods, because men partake of
the Divine Principle.
You have in yourself something similar to God; therefore use yourself
as the Temple of God.
Be bold, O man! Divine thou art.
Truth is to be sought with a mind purified from the passions of the
body. Having overcome evil things, thou shalt experience the union of
the immortal God with the mortal man.
(b) THE ESOTERIC TEACHINGS
(1) Symbols
The esoteric teachings of Pythagoras, which he called "the Gnosis of
Things that Are," or "the Knowledge of the Reality," so far as they
can be gathered from the extant fragments, dealt with (1) Symbols,
(2) Number, that is, the inner meaning of arithmetic and geometry,
(3) Music, (4) Man, and (5) the Earth and the Universe. In his
esoteric teachings Pythagoras gave out the keys to the system of
practical ethics outlined in his exoteric sayings. Such of his public
utterances as were called Symbols were mere blinds, capable of several
interpretations with several distinct and highly important meanings
attached to them. H. P. Blavatsky, speaking of these, says:
Every sentence of Pythagoras, like most of the ancient maxims, had
(at least) a dual signification; and while it had an occult physical
meaning expressed in its words, it embodied a moral precept.
It is no mere coincidence that many of the maxims were and still are
current among widely separated nations. The following are examples of
some Pythagorean Symbols together with their possible meanings as moral
precepts:
"Do not devour your heart": that is, do not consume your vitality in
futile grief.
"Do not devour your brain": that is, do not waste your time in idle
thoughts.
"When you are traveling abroad, turn not back, for the furies will go
with you": that is, do not dally or cry over spilt milk but hasten
to accomplish whatever you have begun; otherwise you will fail, and
remorse and sorrow will thereafter attend you.
"Do not indulge in immoderate laughter": that is, restrain the unstable
parts of your nature.
"Do not stir fire with a sword": that is, do not return angry words to
an angry man, for "hatred ceaseth not by hatred but by love--this is an
everlasting truth."
"Turn away from yourself every sharp edge": that is, control your
passions.
"Nourish nothing which has crooked talons or nails": that is, cultivate
only kindliness of disposition.
"Help a man to take up a burden but not to lay it down": that is, by
toils and sorrows men are strengthened.
"Do not step above the beam of the balance": that is, live a life of
perfect justice.
"Spit not upon the cuttings of your hair or the parings of your nails":
that is, even trifles are important.
"Destroy the print of the pot in the ashes": that is, correct all
mistakes.
"Put the shoe on the right foot first but put the left foot first into
the bath-tub": that is, act uprightly and honestly, washing away all
impurities.
"Look not in a mirror by lamplight": that is, do not be misled by the
phantasies of the senses, but be guided by the pure, bright light of
spiritual knowledge.
"Transplant mallows in your garden but eat them not": that is,
cultivate spirituality and destroy it not.
"Do not wear a ring": that is, philosophize truly, and separate your
soul from the bonds of the body.
"When the winds blow, give heed unto the sound": that is, when the
Deity speaks, attend closely.
"When you rise from bed, disorder the covering, and efface the
impression of the body": that is, when you have attained unto wisdom,
obliterate all traces of your former ignorance.
"Leaving the public ways, walk in unfrequented paths": that is, lead a
spiritual, not a worldly, life.
"Do not offer your right hand lightly": that is, do not make pledges
which you cannot or will not keep, and do not divulge the Mysteries to
those who are unfit and uninitiated.
"Do not receive a swallow into your house": that is, do not disclose
the Mysteries to one who is flighty and unstable.
"Speak not about Pythagorean concerns without light": that is, do not
assume to be a teacher until you have become a student.
"When treading the Path divide not": that is, truth is one but
falsehood is multifarious; choose that philosophy in which there is no
inconsistency or contradiction.
"Above all things learn to govern your tongue when you follow the
gods": that is, learn the power of silence.
"Disbelieve nothing admirable concerning the gods or the divine
teachings": that is, the Deity is perfect justice and perfect love;
"the Divine wisdom is the science of life, the art of living."
"Do not cut your nails while sacrificing": that is, in praying,
remember even those who are most distant.
"Sacrifice and worship unshod": that is, approach the Mysteries with a
reverent heart.
"Entering a temple, neither say nor do anything which pertains to
ordinary life": that is, preserve the Divine, pure and undefiled; the
divine science cannot be judged by the ordinary standards of human
opinion.
"Enter not into a temple negligently nor worship carelessly, not
even though you stand only at the doors": that is, seek the Divine
wholeheartedly without reference to personal advantage, no matter
however humble your position.
"Approach not gold in order to gain children": that is, beware of all
teachers who barter the things of the Spirit; "by their fruits ye shall
know them."
"Inscribe not the image of the Deity on a ring": that is, do not think
of the Supreme as either finite or personal.
(2) Number
The esoteric teachings of Pythagoras in regard to number dealt
principally with the significance of arithmetic and geometry, and
emphasized the importance of the application of number to weights and
measures. He was the first to explain the multiplication table to
the Greeks. The leading idea of his system was that of the Unity in
Multiplicity. Therefore the Pythagorean concept of harmony was based
upon the relationship of the One and the Many, the idea of the One in
Many and the Many in One--"as above, so below." By number Pythagoras
meant not merely figures, but regulated motion or vibration, rhythm,
law, and order; for he made number equivalent to intelligence. He said:
Number is that which brings what is obscure within the range of our
knowledge, rules all true order in the universe and allows of no
errors.
He assumed, as first principles, the numbers and the symmetries
existing in them, which he called harmonies. He taught:
Virtue is a proportion or harmony. Happiness consists in the
perfection of the virtues of the soul, the perfect science of numbers.
Nature is an imitation of number.
Pythagorean arithmetic was concerned especially with the first ten
digits, which were "hieroglyphic symbols, by means of which Pythagoras
explained his ideas about the nature of things." He taught that unity,
the monad or one, is no true numeral, for one multiplied any number
of times by itself always equals one; that is, unity unlike the true
numerals, has not an infinite series of varying powers, for its square,
cube, and other powers, are one and all equal to one, the first term of
the series. Another peculiarity, which proves unity not to be a true
numeral, is its indivisibility into whole numbers.
The monad is God and the good, which is the origin of the one and is
itself Intelligence. The monad is the beginning of everything. Unity
is the principle of all things and from Unity went forth an infinite
or indeterminate duality, the duad, which is subordinate to the monad
as its cause.
Pythagoras taught that the duad, the first concept of addition, was the
first true figure and regarded the one as a symbol for the Primitive
Unity or the Deity, the Absolute, behind and above the indeterminate
or infinite duad, which symbolized chaos or spirit-matter. The triad
or the three, the monad plus the duad, symbolized the Divine, the
Heavenly, as opposed to the Earthly.
The Pythagoreans say that the All and all things are defined by
threes; for beginning, middle, and end constitute the number of all
and also the number of the triad.
The tetrad or the four exists in two forms, its actual form the
quaternary or the four, the symbol of Earth as opposed to Heaven, and
its potential form, the tetraktys, which contains in germ the sum total
of the universe, manifested and unmanifested, the Pythagorean dekad or
ten, thus, 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10. The tetraktys, therefore, was regarded
as a very sacred symbol. The pentad or number five, symbolized man. The
senary or number six, is, of course, composed of two threes, and was
regarded as an abbreviation for the alpha and omega of evolutionary
growth. The hebdomad or number seven, is the perfect number, par
excellence, symbolizing both heaven and earth. In the words of H. P.
Blavatsky
The ogdoad or 8 symbolizes the eternal and spiral motion of the
cycles, and is symbolized in its turn by the Caduceus (or herald's
staff of Hermes). The nine is the triple ternary, reproducing itself
incessantly under all shapes and figures in every multiplication.
The ten or dekad brings all these digits back to unity and ends the
Pythagorean table.
"It is," Pythagoras says, "the starting point of number."
Passing from the arithmetic to the geometry of Pythagoras, Plato's
statement that "God geometrizes" is undoubtedly Pythagorean in origin,
for it is said that Pythagoras perfected geometry among the Greeks,
and the two well-known theorems that the triangle inscribed in a
semi-circle is right-angled, and that the square of the hypothenuse
of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the
sides, are still associated with his name. Pythagoras taught:
From the monad and the duad proceed numbers; from numbers signs; from
signs lines, of which plane figures consist; from plane figures solid
bodies. The Kosmos is endued with life and intellect and is of a
spherical figure.
From one point of view, One corresponds to the dot or point, Two to the
line, Three to the plane, and Four to the concrete solid. The dekad
was represented geometrically in the form of a tetradic equilateral
triangle of ten dots, with one dot at the apex, and four along the base
line, thus [10-dot triangle]. This shows graphically how the tetraktys
as 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10, contains potentially the dekad. This ten-dot
triangle filled out by lines becomes an equilateral triangle, with the
dot at the apex and at the center remaining as generating-points for
adjacent figures, and especially as the centers of circles, inscribed
in and circumscribed about the original triangle.
The principal plane geometrical figures known to have been explained
by Pythagoras are the circle in its three forms: one with the
center unmarked, the second with a dot at the center, and the third
with the diameter drawn: [plain circle] [circle with dot] [circle
with diameter]; the triangle: [triangle] the square: [square]; the
pentagram, or five-pointed star: [pentagram]; and the hexagram, the
six-pointed star or so-called Pythagorean Pentacle: [6-pointed star].