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Transcriber’s Notes
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
Italics are represented thus _italic_.
Footnotes are presented at the end of each volume.
[Illustration]
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.
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
„ 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
AUM
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.
[Illustration: FIG. A. and FIG. B.]
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!
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).
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:
[Illustration: _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.
FOOTNOTES:
[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.
AUM
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.