fall, bring forth the embryo in animals, shape their forms, cause seeds
to sprout in the earth and plants to grow, many legions of angels being
appointed to this service. The heart of man, being created with angelic
properties must also have influence and power over the material world;
* * * and if the animal and ferocious qualities should not be dominant,
if it should look upon a lion or tiger with “majesty” they would become
weak and submissive. If it should look with kindness upon one who is
sick, his infirmity might be changed to health. If it should look upon
the vigorous with majesty, they might become infirm. The reality of the
existence of these influences is known both by reason and experience.
—In whomsoever these influences are shown to have power, if he
occasions misery in the exercise of this power, he is designated a
sorcerer.
—The heart has dominion and control through three channels. One is
through visions;—the second is through the dominion which the heart
exercises over its own body;—the third source of dominion of the heart
is through knowledge.—Some persons have all things opened up to them
by the will of God. This kind of knowledge is called “infused and
illuminated” as God says in his Word: “we have illuminated him with our
knowledge.” These three specialities are all of them found in certain
measure in some men, in others two of them are found, and in others,
only one is found: but whenever the three are found in the same person,
he belongs to the rank of prophets or of the greatest of the saints.
Man cannot comprehend states of being which transcend his own nature.
No person can understand any individual who belongs to a scale of rank
above him.
—The path of mysticism is sought for by all men, and longed for by all
classes of society, yet those who attain to the end are exceedingly
rare.
—The body is but an animal to be ridden by the heart, which is its
rider, while the heart’s chief end is to acquire a knowledge of God.
CHAP. II. On the knowledge of God.
—In the books of former prophets it is written, “Know thine own soul,
and thou shalt know thy Lord,” and we have received it in a tradition,
that “He who knows himself, already knows his Lord.”
—Everyone in the sphere to which he attains, is still veiled with a
veil. The light of some is as of a twinkling star. Others see as by the
light of the moon. Others are illuminated as if by the world-effulgent
sun. To some the invisible world is even perfectly revealed, as we hear
in the holy word of God: “And thus we caused Abraham to see the heaven
and the earth.” And hence it is that the prophet says: “There are
before God seventy veils of light; if he should unveil them, the light
of His countenance would burn everything that came into His presence.”
CHAP. III. On the knowledge of the world.
—Know, that this world is one stage of our life for eternity. For those
who are journeying in the right way, it is the road of religion. It is
a market opened in the wilderness, where those who are travelling on
their way to God, may collect and prepare provisions for their journey,
and depart thence to God, without sorrow or despondency.
—The world is delusive, enchanting and treacherous.
—The world will be brought to the great assembly at the last day,
in the form of a woman with livid eyes, pendent lips, and deformed
shape, and all the people will look upon her, and will exclaim,
“what deformed and horrible person is that, whose aspect alone is
severe torture to the soul.” And they will be answered, “It was on her
account that you were envying and hating one another, and were ready
to slay one another. It was on her account that you rebelled against
God, and debased yourselves to every sort of corruption.” And then God
will order her to be driven off to hell with her followers and her
lovers.[60]
The Lord Jesus (upon whom be peace!) declares that the world is like
the man who drinks sea water. The more he drinks, the more his internal
heat increases, and unless he stops, he will destroy himself by
drinking.
CHAP. IV. On the knowledge of the future world.
—Know, beloved, that we cannot understand the future world, until we
know what death is: and we cannot know what death is, until we know
what life is: nor can we understand what life is, until we know what
spirit is.
—The following is an illustration of the duration of eternity, so far
as the human mind can comprehend it. If the space between the empyreal
heaven to the regions below the earth, embracing the whole universe,
should be filled up with grains of mustard seed, and if a crow should
make use of them as food and come but once in a thousand years and take
but a single grain away, so that with the lapse of time there should
not remain a single grain, still at the end of that time not the amount
of a grain of mustard seed would have been diminished from the duration
of eternity.—
AL GAZZALI ON PRAYER.
—Prayers are of three degrees, of which the first are those that are
simply spoken with the lips. Prayers are of the second kind, when
with difficulty, and only by a most resolute effort, the soul is able
to fix its thoughts on Divine things without being disturbed by evil
imaginations; of the third kind, when one finds it difficult to _turn
away_ the mind from dwelling on Divine things. But it is the very
marrow of prayer, when He who is invoked takes possession of the soul
of the suppliant, and the soul of him who prays is absorbed into God
to whom he prays, and his prayer ceasing, all consciousness of self
has departed, and to such a degree, that all thought whatsoever of
the praying is felt as a veil betwixt the soul and God. This state is
called by the Mystics “absorption,” for the reason that the man is so
absorbed, that he takes no thought of his body, or of anything that
happens externally, none of what occurs in his own soul, but, absent
as it were from all such matter whatsoever, is first engaged in going
_towards_ his Lord, and finally is wholly _in_ his Lord. If only the
thought occurs that he is absorbed into the Absolute, it is a blemish;
for that absorption only is worthy of the name which is unconscious
of itself. And these words of mine, although they will be called, as
I well know, but foolish babbling by raw theologians, are yet by
no means without significance. For consider, the condition of which
I speak, resembles that of a person who loves any other object, as
wealth, honor, or pleasure. We see such persons so carried away with
their love, and others with anger, that they do not hear one who speaks
to them, nor see those passing before their eyes; nay, so absorbed are
they in their passion, that they do not perceive their absorption. Just
so far as you turn your mind upon your absorption, you necessarily turn
it away from that which is the object of it.”
Again he says: “The commencement of this is the going to God, then
follows the finding Him, when the “absorption” takes place. This is,
at first, momentary, as the lightening swiftly glancing upon the eye.
But afterwards confirmed by use, it introduces the soul into a higher
world, where the most pure, essential essence meeting it, fills the
soul with the image of the spiritual world, while the majesty of deity
evolves and discovers itself.”
_Omar Khayyam_ (Ghias uddin Abul Fath Omar ibn Ibrahim Al Khayyam) was
born in Khorassan “the focus of Persian culture” and is supposed to
have died A. D. 1123.
He was not affiliated with any Sufi order, but large parts of his works
are full of true Sufi philosophy and are recognized as such.
The first part of the following quotations are taken from the
translation by E. H. Whinfield in Trübner’s Oriental Series. The second
part is extracted from B. Quarritch’s ed. 1879.
Motto: There is a mystery I know full well,
Which to all, good and bad, I cannot tell;
My works are dark, but I cannot unfold
The secrets of the “station” where I dwell.
(66)—to attain unconsciousness of self
Is the sole cause I drink me drunk with wine.—
(108) They preach how sweet those Houri brides will be,
But I say wine is sweeter—taste and see!—
(120) Ten powers, and nine spheres, eight heavens made He,
And planets seven, of six sides, as we see,
Five senses, and four elements, three souls,
Two worlds, but only one, O man, like thee.—
(124) What lord is fit to rule but “Truth?” not one.
What beings disobey His rule? not one.—
(131) Thy being is the being of Another,
Thy passion is the passion of Another.
Cover thy head, and think, and then wilt see,
Thy hand is but the cover of Another.—
(148) Allah hath promised wine in Paradise,
Why then should wine on earth be deemed a vice?—
(225) When the fair soul this mansion doth vacate,
Each element assumes its principal state,—
(266) They go away, and none is seen returning,
To teach that other world’s recondite learning;
’Twill not be shown for dull mechanic prayers,
For prayer is naught without true heartfelt yearning.—
(285) Life’s fount is wine, Khizer[61] its guardian
I, like Elias,[62] find it where I can;
’Tis sustenance for heart and spirit too,
Allah himself calls wine “a boon to man.”—
(340) Man is the whole creation’s summary,
The precious apple of great wisdom’s eye;
The circle of existence is a ring,
Whereof the signet is humanity.—
(351) The more I die to self, I live the more,
The more abase myself, the higher soar;
And, strange! the more I drink of Being’s wine,
More sane I grow, and sober than before!—
(369) This world a body is, and God its soul,
And angels are its senses, who control
Its limbs—the creatures, elements, and spheres;
_The One_ is the sole basis of the whole.—
(376) Some look for truth in creeds, and forms, and rules;
Some grope for doubts or dogmas in the schools;
But from behind the veil a voice proclaims,
“Your road lies neither here nor there, O fools.”—
(400) My body’s life and strength proceed from Thee!
My soul within and spirit are of Thee!
My being is of Thee, and Thou art mine,
And I am Thine, since I am lost in Thee!—
* * * * *
(31) Up from Earth’s Centre through the Seventh Gate
I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn[63] sate,
And many a Knot unravel’d by the Road;
But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.—
(32) There was the Door to which I found no Key;
There was the Veil through which I might not see:
Some little talk awhile of _Me_ and _Thee_
There was—and then no more of _Thee_ and _Me_.[64]—
(33) Earth could not answer; nor the Seas that mourn
In flowing Purple, of their Lord forlorn;
Nor rolling Heaven, with all his Signs reveal’d
And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Morn.
(34) Then of the _Thee in Me_ who works behind
The Veil, I lifted up my hands to find
A Lamp amid the Darkness; and I heard,
As from Without—“_The Me Within Thee Blind!_”—
(35) Then to the Lip of this poor earthern Urn
I lean’d, the Secret of my Life to learn:
And Lip to Lip it murmur’d—“While you live,
Drink!—for once dead, you never shall return.”—
(36) I think the Vessel, that with fugitive
Articulation answer’d, once did live,
And drink; and Ah! the passive lip I kiss’d.
How many kisses might it take—and give![65]—
(44) Why, if the Soul can fling the dust aside,
And naked on the Air of Heaven ride,
Wer’t not a Shame—wer’t not a Shame for him
In this clay carcase crippled to abide?—
(50-52) A Hair perhaps divides the False and True;
Yes; and a single Alif were the clue—
Could you but find it—to the Treasure-house,
And peradventure to _The Master_ too.
Whose secret Presence * * *
* * * * eludes your pains;
Taking all shapes * * *; and
They change and perish all—but He remains.
A moment guess’d—then back behind the Fold
Immerst of darkness * * *
(55-56) You know, my Friends, * * *
I made a Second Marriage in my house;
Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,
And took the Daughter of the Vine to spouse.—
For “Is” and “Is-not” though with Rule and line,
And “Up-and-Down” by Logic I define,
Of all that one should care to fathom, I
Was never deep in anything but Wine.—
(66-67) I sent my Soul through the Invisible,
Some letter of that After-life to spell:
And by and by my Soul returned to me,
And answer’d: “I myself am Heav’n and Hell:”
Heav’n but the Vision of fulfill’d Desire
And Hell the shadow from a Soul on fire
Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves,
So late emerg’d from, shall so soon expire.
* * * * *
* * * the Banquet is ended!
FARIDU’D-DIN SHAKRGUNJ (about A. D. 1200).
Man, what thou art is hidden from thyself,
Know’st not that morning, mid-day, and the eve
Are all within Thee? The ninth heaven art Thou,
And from the sphere into the roar of time
Didst fall ere-while, Thou art the brush that painted
The hues of all the world—the light of life
That ranged its glory in the nothingness.
Joy! Joy! I triumph now; no more I know
Myself as simply me. I burn with love.
The centre is within me, and its wonder
Lies as a circle everywhere about me.
Joy! Joy! No mortal thought can fathom me.
I am the merchant and the pearl at once.
Lo! time and space lay crouching at my feet.
Joy! Joy! When I would revel in a rapture,
I plunge into myself, and all things know.
_Saadi_ (Shaikh-Muslah-ud-Din Saadi) was born at Shiraz, the capital of
Persia, A.D. 1176.
He thus characterizes his life and his studies: “I have wandered to
various regions of the world, and everywhere have I mixed freely with
the inhabitants; I have gathered something in each corner; I have
gleaned an ear from every harvest.” The divan of Saadi is by his
countrymen reckoned to be the true Salt mine of poets. Jami calls him
“the nightingale of the groves of Shiraz.”
We would call him the moral philosopher of Sufism. His writings do not
contain much metaphysics.
SAADIS’ GULISTAN (or ROSE GARDEN):
MOTTO: The Rose may continue to bloom five or six days;
But my _Rose garden_ is fragrant for ever.
—Shame on the man * *
Who, when the drum soundeth for departure, hath not made up his burden
Who, on the morning of his journey, is still indulging in sweet sleep.
—They asked Lockman, the wise, from whence he learnt wisdom. He
answered: “From the blind; for till they have tried the ground, they
plant not the foot.”
—The world, O my brother, abideth with no one.
—Ask the inhabitants of Hell, they will tell you it is Paradise.
—The sons of Adam are limbs of one another, for in their creation they
are formed of one substance.
When Fortune bringeth affliction to a single member, not one of the
rest remaineth without disturbance.
—Know that from God is the difference of enemy and friend, for the
hearts of both are alike in His keeping.
—So long as thou art able, crush not a single heart, for a sigh has
power to overturn a world.
—Not a word can be said, even in child’s play, from which an
intelligent person may not gather instruction; but if a hundred
chapters of wisdom were read in the hearing of a fool, to his ears it
would sound as nothing but child’s play.
—Yesternight, towards morning, a warbling bird stole away my reason,
my patience, my strength, and my understanding. My exclamations, by
chance, reached the ear of a most intimate friend. “Never,” he said
“could I believe that the voice of a bird should have such a power
to disturb thy intellect!”—“It is not,” I replied, “befitting the
condition of man, that a bird should be reciting its hymn of praise,
and that I should be silent.”
—One day the Prophet said to Abu Huraizah: “Do not come _every_ day,
that our friendship may increase.”
A holy man has said: “With all the beauty which attends the sun, I
have never heard that anyone has taken him for a friend, except in
winter, when he is veiled, and _therefore_ is loved.”
—The treasure chosen by Lokman was patience: without patience there is
no such thing as wisdom.
—Were every night a night of power, _the Night of Power_, would lose
its worth. Were every pebble a ruby, the ruby and the pebble would be
of equal value.
[Quran, Chap, xcvii: Verily we sent down the Quran in the night of al
Kadr.—Therein do the angels descend, and the spirit of _Gabriel_ also,
by the permission of their Lord _with his decrees_ concerning every
matter. It is peace until morning. Comp. footnote to Lane’s transl. of
the Quran and our Part II: Symbols].
—How should the multitude find its way to their secret chambers, for,
like the waters of life, they are hidden in darkness?
They kindle themselves the flame, which, as a moth, consumeth them;
not wrapping themselves up like the silk-worm in its own web.
Seeking for the Soul’s repose on the bosom which only can give repose,
their lips are still dry with thirst on the very margin of the stream:
Not that they have no power to drink the water, but that their thirst
could not be quenched, even on the banks of the Nile.
* * * * *
“The bird of the morning only knoweth the worth of the book of the
rose; for not every one who readeth the page understandeth the
meaning.” (_Hafiz._)
SAADIS’ BOOSTAN (FRUIT GARDEN OR GARDEN OF PLEASURE).
_His_ nature’s true state all are helpless to read.
The extent of _His_ glory, no mortal has found;
_His_ exquisite beauty, no vision can bound.
* * * * *
To the skirt of _His_ praise Reason’s hand comes not nigh.
* * * * *
The mind can’t _this_ world by reflection embrace.
* * * * *
But the Lord of the sky and the earth’s rugged skin,
On none shuts the door of subsistence for sin.
Like a drop in the ocean of knowledge are seen
Both His worlds, and the faults, He sees, kindly, He’ll screen.
* * * * *
The Creator is mercy-diffusing and kind,
For He helps all His creatures and knows ev’ry mind.
In Him, self-reliance and grandeur you see,
For His kingdom is old and His nature is free.—
* * * * *
He is tardy in seizing on those who rebel,
And does not excuse—bringers rudely repel.
* * * * *
When you’ve penitent turned “_It is past_,” He will write.
* * * * *
The extent of God’s mercies, no mortal can guess;
The need of His praises, what tongue can express?
* * * * *
Who knows that communion with God you don’t share,
When without an absolution you stand to say pray’r?
* * * * *
That pray’r is the key of the portal of hell,
Over which in men’s presence a long time you dwell.
If your path does not lead to the Maker alone,
Your carpet for pray’r into Hell will be thrown!
He ordered, and something from nothing arose;
Who something from nothing but He could disclose?
Again to nonentity’s hiding He flings us.—
* * * * *
And thence to the plain of the judgment He brings us.
Let the robes of deceit, name and fame be dispersed!
For a man becomes weak if in garments immersed.
Worldly love is a veil by which nothing is gained;
When you snap the attachments the Lord is obtained.
* * * * *
Know, that the people in ecstacy drown’d,
In the eyes of the Lord special favour have found!
He watches the “friend,” in the fierce burning pile?
* * * * *
You’ve no road in yourself while to self you are wed;
The enraptured alone are informed on this head.—
Some one said to a Moth “Oh, contemptible mite!
Go! love one who will your affection requite.”
* * * * *
Between you and the candle no friendship can be!
* * * * *
No one tells you your conduct is perfectly right
In destroying your life for the love of the light!
Observe what the moth, full of hot anguish, said:
“If I burn, oh astonishing! What is the dread?”
* * * * *
* * I fancy the flame is a beautiful rose!
* * * * *
Won’t you helplessly, one day, your life give away?
For the sake of space and death, better give it to day!
* * * * *
A wild beast is not likely to change into man;
Instruction is lost on it, strive as you can.
* * * * *
Effort makes not a rose from a willow to grow;
A warm bath will not whiten a negro like snow.
Since naught can the arrow of destiny brave.
_Resignation’s_ the shield that is left to God’s slave.
POLARITY OF THE HUMAN BODY.
Mr. H. Durville, Director of the “Journal du Magnétisme,” published in
Paris, France, has made some very interesting experiments which have
led him to fix the exact Polarity of the Human Body. To understand well
what I am going to state, it is necessary to know first that the French
call the South pole of the Earth, Austral, and the North pole, Boreal,
and that they call the end of the compass needle or of a Magnet which
is attracted to the North of the Earth, Austral, and the end which is
attracted to the South, Boreal.
Mr. Durville has replaced the denominations Austral and Boreal by the
terms positive and negative, based on the following Electro-Chemical
law. If a Saline solution be submitted to the action of a Voltaic
current, the acids go to the pole +, or positive and the alkalis to the
pole-, or negative.
Also if we put in the water contained in two different glasses, the two
electrodes of a pile, uniting the two glasses by a wet woolen or cotton
thread, the water in the glass exposed to the electrode +, will take a
fresh and acidulated taste, and the water in the other glass exposed to
the electrode-, will take an alkaline, tepid and unsavoury taste. Now,
if we submit two glasses filled with water to the poles of a Magnet,
the water exposed to the Austral pole will take an acidulated taste,
and the water exposed to the Boreal pole will take an alkaline taste.
There is, then, a concordance of nature between the positive or + pole
of the pile, and the Austral or positive pole of the Magnet, both being
fresh and acids; and between the negative or-pole of the pile, and the
Boreal or negative pole of the Magnet, both being tepid, nauseous and
alkaline. Consequently we can call +, or positive, the Austral pole
of the Magnet and-, or negative, the Boreal pole. Furthermore, if we
magnetize two glasses of water, one with the right hand, and the other
with the left hand, the first will become acidulated and fresh, and the
second, tepid, nauseous and alkaline.
Then, there is again concordance of nature between the positive or +
pole of the pile, the positive or Austral pole of the Magnet, and the
right hand, which are fresh and acidulated; and between the negative
or-pole of the pile, the negative or Boreal pole of the Magnet, and the
left hand which are tepids, nauseous and alkalines.
Consequently we can call positive or +, the right hand and the Austral
pole of the Magnet, as well as the positive pole of the pile; and
negative or -, the left hand and the Boreal pole of the Magnet, as well
as the negative pole of the pile.
We know that the Earth is a Magnet and that it acts like one.
We also know that when Magnets act freely one upon another, the poles
of the same name are repulsed and the poles of contrary names are
attracted.
Now, Mr. Durville found by repeated experiments that all the right side
of a sensitive subject is strongly influenced by the positive pole of
the Magnet which produces contraction, repulsion and excitation; while,
on the contrary, the other pole relaxes, attracts and calms the same
side. The Austral pole of the Magnet presented within about 4-inches of
the forehead of the subject, repulses him and puts him to sleep; while
the left hand attracts and awakens him. It is evident, then, that the
positive pole of the Magnet and the right hand are poles of the same
name; and, if the Austral pole of the Magnet is positive, then the
Boreal or Northern pole of the Earth must be negative. The physical
laws of the Human Magnetism are consequently identical with those
governing the actions of the Magnets.
The Human body represents three horse-shoe Magnets, two of them
having the neutral point at the summit of the head and the third in
an inverted position to that of the two first ones. The axis the most
important divides us laterally from right to left, the other from the
forepart to the back part of the body. The first horse-shoe Magnet has
its neutral point at the summit of the head, and its extremities or
poles at the right hand and the left hand, the right hand being the
positive, and the left hand the negative pole.
The second horse-shoe Magnet has also its neutral point at the summit
of the head, and the extremities or poles of its two branches are the
right and the left foot, the right foot being positive and the left
foot negative.
The third horse-shoe Magnet, the one in an inverted position, has its
neutral point at the perineum and the extremities of its branches are
the forehead and the occiput. The forehead being positive and the
occiput negative.
From this it follows that in the human body, from the extremities of
the feet to the summit of the head, all the right side is positive and
the left side negative, and from the forehead to the perineum all the
forepart of the body is positive, while the opposite or back part, from
the occiput to the perineum is negative. The Human body possesses other
polary axes of less importance.
Reichenbach has found, through experiments made with many sensitives,
that the end of the Magnet which seeks the North pole of the Earth, the
end we call positive, sends to the left hand of a sensitive a fresh
breeze, while the other end emits a tepid one. He also found that the
positive end emits in the dark a blue light, while the negative one
emits a yellow red light. His sensitives found that in the dark, the
right side of the human body emits a blue light, while the left side
emits a yellow red one. Then the right side of the body has the same
quality of Magnetism as the positive, or North seeking, or Austral pole
of the Magnet, and the left side has the same quality of Magnetism as
the negative, or South seeking, or Boreal pole of the Magnet. Those
experiments of Reichenbach agree thus entirely with those made by Mr.
Durville. His polarity of the Human body is also the same as given by
Andrew Jackson Davis, page 91 of his work “The Harbinger of Health.”
There are consequently very strong reasons for believing that the
theory of Mr. Durville is the right one, since it has been confirmed by
practical experiments made by himself, Reichenbach and Davis.
Mr. Durville concludes his article in the “Journal du Magnétisme,”
January number of 1886, with some interesting points in Therapeutics.
Diseases can be classed as of two kinds, those due to atony or
paralysis of the organs, and those due to excitation or inflammation.
The object of Medicine is to excite the functions of the atonic organs
and to calm or moderate those which are too active. Magnetizers knew
that the ends of the fingers presented within a few inches of the
diseased part, will produce excitation, while the palm of the hand
applied on produces calm; but they could not always obtain the desired
effect for want of the knowledge of the true polarity of the Human body.
The right hand will produce attraction, calm and easiness on the left
and back side of the body; and repulsion, excitation and uneasiness on
the right and forepart of the body; and the left hand will produce the
same corresponding effects on the right and forepart of the body, and
on the left and backpart. The right-hand, a positive pole, will act
with more energy than the left-hand, a negative one.
He found by experiments that the most certain and active results are
produced by presenting the palm of the hand within about two inches
from the diseased part, the attractions and repulsions being in inverse
ratio of the square of the distances. Every time we want to take off
a pain, or calm an excitation, we will succeed by presenting the palm
of the right hand to the diseased part, if that part is on the left
side or the back of the body, or by presenting the palm of the left
hand, if it is on the right side or the forepart of the body. For
example, a heaviness in the head, a neuralgia and in general, all kinds
of headaches, will cease more or less rapidly under the influence of
the palm of the hand presented with the fingers upright at about two
inches from the forehead. To calm the nervous system, place yourself
on the left of the patient and apply the left hand on the epigastrium,
and the right hand on the vertebral column, on the corresponding part.
If we were to use the other hand on the same part, we should increase
for a while the intensity of the pain. To obtain the desired result,
the time necessarily varies according to the nature of the disease and
sensibility of the patient.
With a knowledge of the laws regulating the human polarity, Magnetism
becomes an exact science, a positive one. But the application of it is
also an art which constant practice may improve considerably.
CH. J. QUETIL, F. T. S.
THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.
Fragments of the Ancient Wisdom Religion have come down to us from the
remotest past, through many channels, and in various forms.
The study of philology alone will be inadequate to discover the true
meaning of ancient sacred writings, though it may very greatly assist
the labors of those who have already gained a clue to the Secret
Doctrine. The Theosophist and the Antiquarian differ very widely, and
though the former has sometimes been accused of searching out obsolete
doctrines and magnifying the achievements of the past, but little
observation will be required to reveal the fact, that that for which
they search may be very old because it is valuable, but never valuable
merely because it is old. In short that of which they are in search may
truly be said to never fade, and ne’er grow old, though it is often
lost sight of. Occultism is not a new craze as some suppose, it is not
simply a line of the marvelous, it is rather the profoundest of all
sciences, conforming in its methods of research and the character of
its results to those of all sciences. The naturalist does not hesitate
to construct from a single tooth or a few fragments of bone, the entire
animal and assign to it its proper place, declare its habits, modes of
life, size, &c., &c., even though he fixed its era centuries ago, and
no one nowadays questions the general correctness of the result; the
study of comparative anatomy and the science of biology testify all
this. In like manner and by similar methods may one familiar with the
science of occultism, which deals with the operation of uniform laws
in the higher realms of nature, arrive at exact data from very small
beginnings, and with this advantage, viz., that he has the means at
hand to verify his conclusions, which the naturalist has not, for in
this realm there are no extinct species, the elements of human nature,
and the laws which underlie their unfoldment and manifestation are the
same now, as thousands of years ago.
It is the custom of many who are entirely ignorant of this higher
science, to deny its existence and ridicule its cultivators. Just as an
uneducated and conceited boor would ridicule an Agassiz for attempting
to reconstruct an animal from its thigh bone. When, therefore, one
entirely ignorant not only of the principles but of the existence of
such a thing as occult science, examines ancient records in which it is
concealed, he will arise from his task possibly better satisfied with
his own possessions as contrasted with the “ignorance” of past ages,
but seldom wiser for his endeavor. Few persons nowadays are ignorant
of the form of most ancient hierarchic writings, as consisting of, or
containing a double meaning under the garb of allegory or parable. It
is moreover becoming quite generally known that many of these ancient
records are of vital importance to us of the present day, as containing
the very knowledge of which we stand most in need, and the amount
of attention they are receiving may be determined by observing the
interest in, and almost unprecedented sales of, such works as Arnold’s
Light of Asia, while the labors of men like Max Muller in rendering the
ancient scriptures into English have made it possible for everyone to
gain some familiarity with the religious casts of antiquity. Bearing
in mind these general observations, let us briefly examine one of
the most ancient, most famous, and yet least comprehended sources of
ancient wisdom. As to the questions who was Hermes? which Hermes? when
did he write? we have these points for the philologists and historians,
quoting here the remark of Iamblichus in his treatise on the Mysteries:
“Hermes, the God who presides over language, was formerly very properly
considered as common to all priests; and the power who presides over
the true science concerning the Gods is one and the same in the whole
of things. Hence our ancestors dedicated the inventions of their wisdom
to this deity, inscribing all their own writings with the name of
Hermes,” and “the late learned Divine Doctor Everard” in the preface
to his translation of the Divine Pymander 1650, contends that Hermes
Trismegistus lived a long time before Moses, that he had “perfect and
exact knowledge of all things contained in the world,” * * “that he was
the first that invented the art of communicating knowledge to the world
by writing, that he was King of Egypt, that he styled himself the son
of Saturn, and that he was believed to have come from heaven, and not
to have been born on earth.”[66]
The above writer goes on to say that Hermes did excel in the right
understanding of, because he attained to, the knowledge of the
quintessence of the whole universe, otherwise called the _Elixir_ of
the philosophers, which secret many ignorantly deny, many have sought
after, and some have found. A description of this great Treasure is
said to have been found engraved upon a Smaragdine Tablet in the valley
of Hebron after the flood.[67]
To the modern reader, all this sounds very queer, a bundle of
contradictions and vagaries, taxing reason and even credulity. But
suppose we are told, that it was designed for exactly that purpose,
that only they who were _determined_ to find the truth, and who
therefore had faith that it existed somewhere, were expected to walk
around or dig under this stumbling-block. If we turn now to _Isis
Unveiled_ p. 507, Vol. I, we shall find the inscription said to have
been found on the tablet.
B.
[_To be continued._]
REVIEWS.
PANTANJALI’S RAJ YOGA PHILOSOPHY.—(Reprinted by the Bombay Branch
of the Theosophical Society.) We will give in subsequent numbers of
this magazine, remarks and explanations by a Hindu brother member. In
this reprint are some things which do not improve the book. They are
selections from such men as P. B. Randolph and others. We do not think
Pantanjali needs confirmation from such a source as Randolph’s. No
doubt many Theosophists will be disappointed in this great Hindu, in
consequence of their own expectations of finding explicit directions
as to developing and projecting the double and other like tricks, and
because of erroneous suppositions as to what Raj Yoga is. It is the
highest philosophy, but the work needs just the explanations which
we propose to furnish, in part at least. Pantanjali is immensely
interesting to ordinary Theosophists from an intellectual standpoint,
and to those who are somewhat advanced its instruction is very great.
At present all the Raj Yoga which the western body of Theosophists can
assimilate, is found in _Light on the Path_ and _Bagavad-Gita_.
JOURNAL OF SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY.—We have received from Wm. T. Harris,
(No. 3, Vol. XIX) for which we offer our thanks. Our small space will
not permit extended notice. It is full of splendid matter.
IMMORTALITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL.—(W. T. Harris, D. Appleton & Co., New
York.) On p. 5 is the basis of a great argument, that “the interaction
between soul and body can never be explained, except by a combination
of introspection with observation of physiologic facts.” The grossest
scientist exercises both and yet denies the value of introspection.
PHILOSOPHY IN OUTLINE.—(Wm. T. Harris, D. Appleton & Co., New York.)
A brief exposition of the method of Philosophy and its results in
obtaining a view of nature, man and God.
NOTES AND QUERIES.—A monthly magazine full of curious information
in art, science, mathematics, folk-lore, mysticism, etc., comes to
The Path as an exchange and the back volumes have been received for
our Theosophical library. It is published by S. C. & L. M. Gould,
Manchester, N. H., at $1.00 a year. Among its articles are many on
subjects allied with Eastern wisdom, ancient philosophy, masonry,
bibliography, etc. Write to them for a sample copy.
LIGHT ON THE HIDDEN WAY.—_Anon._ (Boston.) This book has excited a
great deal of comment in Boston.
The similarity of titles might lead one to expect something like “Light
on the Path,” but the reader would soon find that the book, whose
non-commital introduction by a distinguished Unitarian Minister has
brought it considerable earnest consideration, has nothing in common
with that priceless volume. It is the account of the experiences of the
author, a sensitive and seer from childhood, and, in some respects, it
reminds us strikingly of what Kerner tells us about the Seherin von
Prevorst. While we cannot commend untrained seership, or its results,
we can commend the earnestness and sincerity of the author and at
least say for her work that it ought to do good in turning Spiritistic
readers away from the materialistic aspects which their belief most
commonly presents, and in teaching them that immortality is only to
be obtained through “slaying the dragon Self.” For the rest, we will
submit the following comments on the work from a source which we feel
to be competent to judge:—
“I feel as if my father’s eyes were always upon me. p. 21. In this
and following instances, the evidences are, that the writer is
looking into the Astral world, or, in other words, is seeing the
impressions that have been made upon her personal aura. Not having
been effaced, they are readily mistaken for the personalities who
made the impressions. Was it her father, the individual, he would be
engaged in more important matters than watching for dust in unswept
corners. So far, all is sentimental, or in the sphere of earthly
impressions, beliefs and feelings—naturally to a great extent illusory
and unsatisfactory. A chorus of heavenly voices swelling a hymn, may
fulfill the requirements for some individuals, but we can hardly see or
feel that any chorus, no matter how earthly, much more heavenly, can
sing a song of rejoicing because a man has laid aside his robe, and in
the doing it, causing a woman, perhaps, to pass through Gethsemane. The
sorrows and demands of others are entirely lost to sight in the fancied
importance of one being passing through the change of abode called
_Death_. We do not think any man ever saw any being with wings in the
spheres above the Astral. In the Astral they do exist, for they are
creatures of the imagination. In truth, therefore, they are elementals,
clothed in this form. Imagination, properly guided, does not create
these beings, but unguided, or badly guided, it does, the result being
that it is quite possible not only to see them with wings, but with a
thousand of them, or, like a centipede, with a hundred legs.
“Similar visionaries, and this one also, have to a great extent
unconsciously permitted their thoughts to be influenced by Biblical
writers who express their visions in symbolical language. But the
Prophets say: “And I saw one _like unto_ an angel having four wings,”
etc. They do not claim to have seen this, but that which they did see
could only be expressed in this manner. They could convey their meaning
only in this form.
“The ineffable Light is not to be beheld so easily, or with so little
effort as a prayer. And _earthly eyes do not behold it_. In prayer the
will is at work in _desire_. This produces a more active condition,
or rousing of the material, causing a greater amount of motion or
vibration, thereby increasing the brilliancy of the Astral, or Aura,
of the personality, and the seer being within it and producing it,
mistakes it for the Ineffable. After all, the seer is only looking at
her physical self and calling it God.
“In regard to the higher precepts that are brought forth, we do not
find her father connected with them in any way. But we do find some
of the higher principles endeavoring to assert themselves. The words
are those of the Inner Consciousness. It is herself that is trying to
teach. It is that which is the first to assert itself when one begins
to desire wisdom, and occurs long before the advent of a teacher, or
any other individual. The teachings are good, and come to all who find
the unimportance of self. But our work is not for the spirits in the
astral, but for those who are in reality earth-bound, those in the
body. Our teachings are for man. Our workings are for him. It is quite
all we can do to instruct ourselves and fellow men, without attempting
to teach him when out of a body. We can violate no law. One law is,
that if a spirit needs instruction then he must be in possession of a
body, and striving for knowledge in that manner. We cannot, in or out
of a body, attach ourselves to any other individual and expect him to
save us from the results of our own ignorance, selfishness, or bad
Karma in general.
“The most peculiar of all the ideas suggested, as one reads farther, is
this: That these spirits, after making such sad mistakes as they said
they did in life, should come back to be saved by the reading, in some
cases, of one book. If they had discovered enough, through the mere
fact of death, to find that they were all wrong, why did they seek at
the source of all their errors for more? Why not seek at the source
that taught them that they were wrong? The fact is, Death has not the
mighty power ascribed to it. If I move from one house to another, the
mere act of going out of one does not solve the _why_ that I lived in
one, or _will_ in another. I may perceive that one is better adapted
to my wants, but the moving into it does not tell me ‘why?’ I, as the
tenant, know already the why, and perhaps if I open the windows of my
house, the house itself may become pervaded with the knowledge. But it
is ‘I’ who do the act, not Death. Death closes my windows and opens the
door. I close my door to Death and open my window to Wisdom—perhaps in
a new house, quite likely in one which has had another occupant.
“If the ‘evil-minded, malicious, and undeveloped souls’ would only
unfold their pin-feathers and fly off into the ‘Beyond,’ they would be
a source of little sorrow to earth. But they do not. Undeveloped, they
cannot fly; malicious, they remain in their proper degree; evil-minded,
they are not souls, but elementaries.
“The book is the property of Death.” “AMERICAN F. T. S.”
MEN, WOMEN AND GODS, AND OTHER LECTURES.—By Helen H. Gardener.
Introduction by Robt. G. Ingersoll, (_Truth Seeker Co., 33 Clinton
Place, N. Y._) pp. 174, with a portrait of Miss Gardener; Cloth $1.00,
paper .50. This is a valuable contribution, being compact, fervid in
its reasonings yet not at all heavy. Its statements are unanswerable.
Evidently the author read widely, thought deeply, observed keenly, and
added to all that, a native genius. On page 53 she has put 12 articles
of positive belief, and as the famous Colonel says in the introduction,
“there is no misunderstanding between her head and her heart. She says
what she thinks and feels what she says.”
The design of the book is the emancipation of woman, but in carrying
that out she does not abuse men for the position of women. She calls
upon the women to dare to think and act for themselves and to gain the
place which rightfully, in the author’s estimation, belongs to them.
THE ORDER OF CREATION.—(_Truth Seeker Co., New York._) This contains
the controversy between Gladstone, Huxley, Muller, Reville and Linton,
as to the order in which creation proceeded; p. p. 178, cloth .75 paper
.50. Those who followed this interesting dispute will find this a
valuable book, as it brings together the arguments of these masters of
rhetoric, science and philosophy into one compact volume, and enables
all who care for different kinds of authority upon vexed questions,
to see what these modern lights each have to say as to the evident
conflict which exists between Genesis and Geology.
CORRESPONDENCE.
AN UNWRITTEN MESSAGE BECOMES VISIBLE.
NEW YORK, May 16, 1886.
EDITOR OF THE PATH,
DEAR SIR:—Could you explain the following?
A friend of mine, a physician, who is a rational agnostic and scoffer
at all so called supernatural things, relates the following curious
mystery, which happened to him the other day.
He was sitting in his office holding in his hand a letter from one of
his regular patients, which asked him to come as soon as he could. It
being then towards 5 p. m., when his office hours are over, he was
thinking whether he could go that day or not as he has an extensive
practice. While thinking he found that the letter was gone. He
searched for it on his table, but in vain. A strange feeling came over
him as he could not even remember when he had received the letter, nor
when he had opened it. A feeling that the letter had after all been a
physical delusion he dismissed with scorn; he was sure it would by and
by easily explain itself. However the servant was sure that no letter
had since 2 p. m. been delivered, as she never leaves the door during
that time.
The next morning he called on his patient, who was very glad to see
him, though being a little astonished that her daughter had been very
sick the preceding day for an hour or two. It had soon passed over.
“I am glad to hear that it is nothing serious,” the doctor said, “I
wanted to excuse myself for not coming yesterday. I received your
letter only at 5 p. m.” “My letter?” the lady answered, “I never
wrote to you; it is impossible, for about that time I was with my
sick daughter, and thought very intensely to write, but as I had but
one servant in the house I concluded to wait till my son came in. By
the time he came, my daughter felt better, and so we concluded not to
trouble you.”
My friend went home, perfectly sure that in spite of all appearance,
though no letter could be found after repeated searching—— the lady
had written but forgotten it. I can vouch for the truth of the story.
Remain yours fraternally, H. P. L.
[The explanation by those who adhere to mediumship would be, that this
was what they call, “a spirit letter.” But at this time we cannot
accept that proposition; it seems rather a degradation of what we call
“spirit,” and many alleged “controls” of mediums have deprecated the
constant referring of everything to spirit agency, when in perhaps the
majority of cases, “spirits” have nothing to do in the matter. Many
so called extraordinary things occur every day which are attributed
to spirits, or classed as hallucination, which really are due to the
powers of the living man, their laws of operation being almost unknown
to western people.
The true student of Raj Yoga knows that everything has its origin in
the mind; that even this universe is the passing before the Divine Mind
of the images he desires to appear.
Now in the case before us, the doctor must be a sensitive man who
has the power, unknown to himself, of seeing very clearly the mental
images passing in the minds of those with whom he is in sympathy.
These impressions are quite common, but they are not usually seen as
apparently visible things. Some receive them as images, others as
thoughts and ideas. We are all constantly affecting each other in this
way every day of our lives, but not everyone receives the impression in
the same way. The variations of the operations of _manas_, which may be
properly called “mind,” are infinite.
The lady whose daughter was sick, desired very intently to see the
doctor, and the message was probably formulated in her mind at once.
This is evident, for she awaited the arrival of the son to whom she
would at once have given it. That message thus formed was impressed
in the astral light, and because of the sympathy existing between
patient and doctor it immediately rushed into the sphere of the doctor,
registering itself in his mind. He then saw in his hand a letter,
which apparently he could feel and read. This was either, (_a_) the
reflection from his mind, or (_b_) an actual momentary appearance in
his hand of the astral message. It was never found again because it had
no corporeal existence.
It would be easy to cry “spirits,” but it would not be common sense.
We might also say elementals did it, but that would infer that either
the doctor or the patient has elementals devoted to them. Elementals do
perform such things but the cases are not common, and therefore we are
not justified in taking that explanation when neither party knows of
elementals.
If the doctor had not been a sensitive man, he would merely have
received the message and repeated it to himself as a sudden thought of
that particular patient.
We know several persons of our acquaintance who habitually obey sudden
impressions, causing them to write to absent friends, &c., always
finding that they answer the other person’s thought or written letter
then on the way and undelivered until after the reply had been sent.
Let us then pay attention to these things in this light and not allow
ourselves, except in known cases, to fly into the arms of alleged
spirits or elementals.—ED.]
* * * * *
DEAR PATH:—Is not it an error on p. 28 of April No. in review of
_Apollonius of Tyana_, where it says:
“_Error_ courts investigation”; was not “truth” meant.
Yours, F. E. B.
[There was not a mistake. The author was trying to show how error
preludes truth, but falsehood never does; that error courts
investigation, falsehood never. Falsehood is altogether untrue and
therefore without any knowledge; and being thus false it hides itself
from investigation. But error is merely that which has not true
knowledge, and does not imply falsity. Science is full of error, but
constantly corrects itself. The process of acquiring true knowledge is
in fact the cutting away of errors.—ED.]
* * * * *
PRONUNCIATION OF SANSCRIT.
DEAR BROTHER:—Is there any dictionary or book giving the correct
pronunciation of the Oriental words so current in theosophical
literature.
Yours ——
[In Sanscrit dictionaries the true pronunciation is found. But if
our correspondent will, in these words, always read _a_ as _ah_,
_e_ as _eh_, _i_ as _ee_, _u_ as _oo_, and _o_ as _oh_, she will
be right. _Arjuna_ is sounded as _Arjoona_, _Veda_ as _Vaydah_,
_Brahma_ as _Brähmā_, _Prakriti_ as _Präkreetee_, _Mulaprakriti_ as
_Moolahprakreetee_, and so on.—ED.]
THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.
IRELAND.—A charter for a Branch of the Society in Dublin, was issued
in April. This is the first Irish charter, and it marks an era in the
history of the Society as well as of Ireland. The month of April is an
important one for the green Isle in several ways, and this charter must
bear a date of some significance.
Furthermore, Ireland’s real name signifies, “the Isle of Destiny,” and,
as if she really had some great destiny, she has long been a thorn in
England’s side, and has furnished great men, poets, and warriors, to
all western peoples.
Perhaps now some great exponent of Theosophy will arise in that island,
and the new Branch become a power for good amongst us. The name
selected is, _The Dublin Lodge of the Theosophical Society_.
* * * * *
NEW YORK: THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.—Meetings are now held on the
2d and 4th Tuesdays in each month, attended by members and inquirers.
At each meeting a paper is read or address delivered followed by
discussion and questions.
The Branch does not yet devote itself to psychical experiments, but
to an inquiry into all the doctrines which have been put forth in
Theosophical literature, and to inquiring into Aryan philosophy.
Beside these open meetings, they also hold private meetings, where
further and more familiar discussions and conversations are carried on.
A series of notes of all the discussions has been started in the
form of a printed leaflet, to be distributed each month among all
the members to be found in the United States, with the object of
solidifying them in their struggle to find the truth, and if possible
to procure an interchange of questions and replies in the whole body
of American Theosophists. It is believed that this will do much toward
helping all, for there is no better way of getting new ideas and of
spreading knowledge, than by rubbing minds together, so to say, and
thus eliciting the doubts, the questions, and the views of all.
As we are a universal Brotherhood, we are each bound to help the rest,
and to do as much as we can toward communicating with each other upon
the subject of our studies. This does not mean that any one is to
give to the world any rare knowledge which ought to be hidden. It is
supposed that up to this time the whole body of American Theosophists
is upon one plane. At any rate, those who possess occult knowledge, or
think they do, ought to know where and when to keep silent. Long before
we are ready for occult knowledge, we have to study that which is the
common property of all, but which hitherto has been neglected and
allowed to lie hidden, not only in Eastern literature, but also in much
that has been produced among Christian people.
The donations of books for the Library of the Branch, during the last
month, have been as follows:
By S. C. & L. M. Gould: _Vol._ I. _and_ II. _Notes and Queries_; by
Bro. R. Hart, 10 books: _Mary Jane (spiritist inquiry)_, _Suicide, 2
vols._, _Lights and Shades of Spiritualism_, _Psychography (Oxon)_,
_Animal Magnetism_, _&c._, _England and Islam_, _Vocal Culture_, _Civil
Polity of the U. S._; by Bro. W. H. Dannat, London Lodge, 20 books:
_Modern Magic_, _Book of Mediums_, _Infinite and Finite_, _Idyll of
White Lotos_, _Possibility of not Dying_, _Col. Olcott’s Lectures_,
_Palmistry_, _Essence of Christianity_, _Mysteries of Astrology_,
_Zoroaster_, _Rosicrucians (Jennings)_, _Chaldean Magic_, _Circle
of Light_, _Gould’s Myths_, _Unseen Universe_, _Moore’s Epicurean_,
_Oriental Interpreter_, _Theosophy and the Higher Life_, _Pagan
and Christian Symbolism (Inman)_, _Man-Fragments_, _&c._, and _28
Miscellaneous Theosophical pamphlets_.
* * * * *
CINCINNATI.—The new Branch here has been organized since our last
issue, with about twenty members. Some meetings have been held at
which great interest was manifested. At the next meeting an essay upon
some theosophical subject will be read. The members are all engaged in
serious study of such subjects as: the laws of Karma, Reincarnation, &c.
“As the great universe has no boundary, and the eight quarters of
heaven no gateway, so Supreme Reason has no limits.”—_Buddha._
“Look up at it; it is higher than you can see! Bore into it; it is
deeper than you can penetrate! Look at it as it stands before you;
suddenly it is behind you!”—_Confucius._
“Looking up, you cannot see the summit of its head; go behind it, you
cannot see its back.”—_Lau-tze._
“A man who foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the
protection of my ungrudging love; the more evil comes from him, the
more good shall go from me; the fragrance of these good actions always
rebounding to me, the harm of the slanderer’s words returning to him.
For as sound belongs to the drum, and shadow to the substance, so in
the end, misery will certainly overtake the evil doer.”—_Buddha Sutra
of 42 sections._
OM.
FOOTNOTES:
[50] The original MS. of this Diary as far as it goes is in our
possession. The few introductory lines are by the friend who
communicated the matter to us.—[ED.]
[51] I find it impossible to decipher this name.
[52] There is a peculiarity in this, that all accounts of Cagliostro,
St. Germain and other Adepts, give the apparent age as forty only.—[ED.]
[53] The warrior caste of India.—[ED.]
[54] The soul soliloquizing.
[55] The Deity.
[56] Second century.
[57] The Deity.
[58] The Work entitled “_The Acts of the Adepts_,” by Shemsu-D-Din
Ahmed, El EFlaki has been reserved for our second part: Symbols.
[59] _A Godhra_ is the counterpane of shreds the Fakirs use to lie down
upon, and throw over their shoulders.
[60] Comp. the mediæval conception “Lady World.”
[61] Khizer, the “Green Old Man” is the guardian of “the fountain of
life” and the type of the self sustaining power of Deity.
[62] Quran II. 216, Elias discovered the water of life.
[63] Saturn is lord of the seventh heaven.
[64] No more individual existence.
[65] The following is told, and attributed to Attar; A thirsty
traveller dips his hand into a spring of water to drink from. Another
comes likewise to drink and leaves his earthen bowl behind him. The
first traveller takes it up for another draught and is surprised to
find the same water bitter when drank from the earthen cup. But a voice
from heaven tells him the clay from which the bowl is made was once
_Man_; and into whatever shape renewed, _can never lose the bitter
flavour of mortality_.
[66] See Introduction to The Divine Pymander p. VI-et. seq. edition
1650.
[67] Ibid.
AUM
This is the Truth. As from a blazing fire sparks, being like unto
fire, fly forth a thousandfold, thus are various beings brought forth
from the Imperishable, and return thither also.
That heavenly Person is without body; he is both without and within,
not produced, without breath and without mind, pure, higher than the
high Imperishable. The sky in his head, his eyes the sun and the moon,
the quarters his ears, his speech the Vedas disclosed, the wind his
breath, his heart the universe; from his feet came the earth; he is
indeed the inner self of all things. _Mundaka Upanishad._ II, Mun., I.
Kh.
THE PATH.
VOL. I. JULY, 1886. NO. 4.
_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion
or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless
contained in an official document._
Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he
alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will
be accountable.
A HINDU CHELA’S DIARY.
(_Continued from June Number._)
“Yesterday I went with Kunâla to look at the vast and curious temples
left here by our forefathers. Some are in ruins, and others only
showing the waste of time. What a difference between my appreciation of
these buildings now, with Kunâla to point out meanings I never saw, and
that which I had when I saw them upon my first pilgrimage, made so many
years ago with my father.” * * * * * * *
A large portion of the MS. here, although written in the same
characters as the rest, has evidently been altered in some way by
the writer, so as to furnish clues meant for himself. It might be
deciphered by a little effort, but I must respect his desire to keep
those parts of it which are thus changed, inviolate. It seems that some
matters are here jotted down relating to secret things, or at least,
to things that he desired should not be understood at a glance. So I
will write out what small portion of it as might be easily told without
breaking any confidences.
It is apparent that he had often been before to the holy city of
Benares, and had merely seen it as a place of pilgrimage for the
religious. Then, in his sight, those famous temples were only temples.
But now he found, under the instruction of Kunâla, that every really
ancient building in the whole collection had been constructed with the
view to putting into imperishable stone, the symbols of a very ancient
religion. Kunâla, he says, told him, that although the temples were
made when no supposition of the ordinary people of those eras leaned
toward the idea that nations could ever arise who would be ignorant
of the truths then universally known, or that darkness would envelop
the intellect of men, there were many Adepts then well known to the
rulers and to the people. They were not yet driven by inexorable fate
to places remote from civilization, but lived in the temples, and
while not holding temporal power, they exercised a moral sway which
was far greater than any sovereignty of earth.[68] And they knew that
the time would come when the heavy influence of the dark age would
make men to have long forgotten even that such beings had existed,
or that any doctrines other than the doctrine based on the material
rights of _mine_ and _thine_, had ever been held. If the teachings
were left simply to either paper or papyrus or parchment, they would
be easily lost, because of that decay which is natural to vegetable
or animal membrane. But stone lasts, in an easy climate, for ages. So
these Adepts, some of them here and there being really themselves Maha
Rajahs,[69] caused the temples to be built in forms, and with such
symbolic ornaments, that future races might decipher doctrines from
them. In this, great wisdom, he says, is apparent, for to have carved
them with sentences in the prevailing language would have defeated the
object, since languages also change, and as great a muddle would have
resulted as in the case of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, unless a key
stone had also been prepared; but that itself might be lost, or in its
own turn be unintelligible. The ideas underneath symbols do not alter,
no matter what might be the language, and symbols are clear immortally,
because they are founded in nature itself. In respect to this part of
the matter, he writes down that Kunâla informed him that the language
used then was not Sanscrit, but a far older one now altogether unknown
in the world.
From a detached sentence in the MS., it is shadowed out that Kunâla
referred to a curious building put up many years ago in another part
of India and now visible, by which he illustrated the difference
between an intelligent construction and unintelligent one. This
building was the product of the brain of a Chandala,[70] who had been
enriched through a curious freak. The Rajah had been told upon some
event occurring, by his astrologers, that he must give an immense
sum of money to the first person he saw next day, they intending to
present themselves at an early hour. Next day, at an usually early
season, the Rajah arose, looked out of the window, and beheld this
Chandala. Calling his astrologers and council together and the poor
sweeper into his presence, he presented him with lacs upon lacs of
rupees, and with the money the Chandala built a granite building having
immense monolithic chains hanging down from its four corners. Its only
symbology was, the change of the chains of fate; from poor low caste to
high rich low caste. Without the story the building tells us nothing.
But the symbols of the temple, not only those carved on them, but
also their conjuncture, need no story nor knowledge of any historical
events. Such is the substance of what he writes down as told him by
Kunâla. He says also that this symbology extends not only to doctrines
and cosmology, but also to laws of the human constitution spiritual and
material. The explanation of this portion, is contained in the altered
and cryptic parts of the MS. He then goes on:
* * * “Yesterday, just after sunset, while Kunâla and X were talking,
Kunâla suddenly seemed to go into an unusual condition, and about ten
minutes afterwards a large quantity of malwa flowers fell upon us from
the ceiling.
“I must now go to—— and do that piece of business which he ordered
done. My duty is clear enough, but how am I to know if I shall perform
it properly. * * * When I was there and after I had finished my work
and was preparing to return here, a wandering fakir met me and asked if
he could find from me the proper road to Karli. I directed him, and he
then put to me some questions that looked as if he knew what had been
my business; he also had a very significant look upon his face, and
several of his questions were apparently directed to getting me to tell
him a few things Kunâla had told me just before leaving Benares with
an injunction of secrecy. The questions did not on the face show that,
but were in the nature of inquiries regarding such matters, that if I
had not been careful, I would have violated the injunction. He then
left me saying: ‘you do not know me but we may see each other.’ * * * I
got back last night and saw only X, to whom I related the incident with
the fakir, and he said that, ‘it was none other than Kunâla himself
using that fakir’s body who had said those things, and if you were to
see that fakir again he would not remember you and would not be able
to repeat his questions, as he was for the time being taken possession
of for the purpose, by Kunâla, who often performs such things.’ I then
asked him if in that case Kunâla had really entered the fakir’s body,
as I have a strange reluctance toward asking Kunâla such questions, and
X replied that if I meant to ask if he had really and in fact entered
the fakir’s person, the answer was no, but that if I meant to ask if
Kunâla had overcome that fakir’s senses, substituting his own, the
answer was, yes; leaving me to make my own conclusions. * * * I was
fortunate enough yesterday to be shown the process pursued in either
entering an empty body, or in using one which has its own occupant. I
found that in both cases it was the same, and the information was also
conveyed that a Bhut[71] goes through just the same road in taking
command of the body or senses of those unfortunate women of my country
who sometimes are possessed by them. And the Bhut also sometimes gets
into possession of a part only of the obsessed person’s body, such as
an arm or a hand, and this they do by influencing that part of the
brain that has relation with that arm or hand; in the same way with the
tongue and other organs of speech. With any person but Kunâla I would
not have allowed my own body to be made use of for the experiment. But
I felt perfectly safe, that he would not only let me in again, but also
that he would not permit any stranger, man or gandharba,[72] to come in
after him. We went to—— and he * * The feeling was that I had suddenly
stepped out into freedom. He was beside me and at first I thought he
had but begun. But he directed me to look, and there on the mat I saw
my body, apparently unconscious. As I looked * * * the body of myself,
opened its eyes and arose. It was then superior to me, for Kunâla’s
informing power moved and directed it. It seemed to even speak to me.
Around it, attracted to it by those magnetic influences, wavered and
moved astral shapes, that vainly tried to whisper in the ear or to
enter by the same road. In vain! They seemed to be pressed away by the
air or surroundings of Kunâla. Turning to look at him, and expecting to
see him in a state of samadhi, he was smiling as if nothing, or at the
very most, but a part, of his power had been taken away * * * another
instant and I was again myself, the mat felt cool to my touch, the
bhuts were gone, and Kunâla bade me rise.”
He has told me to go to the mountains of—— where—— and —— usually
live, and that even if I were not to see any body the first time,
the magnetized air in which they live would do me much good. They do
not generally stop in one place, but always shift from one place to
another. They, however, all meet together on certain days of the year
in a certain place near Bhadrinath, in the northern part of India. He
reminded me that as India’s sons are becoming more and more wicked,
those adepts have gradually been retiring more and more toward the
north, to the Himálaya mountains. * * * Of what a great consequence
is it for me to be always with Kunâla. And now X tells me this same
thing that I have always felt. All along I have felt and do still feel
strongly that I have been once his most obedient and humble disciple in
a former existence. All my hopes and future plans are therefore centred
in him. My journey therefore to up country has done me one good, that
of strengthening my belief, which is the chief foundation on which the
grand structure is to be built. * * * As I was walking past the end of
Ramalinga’s compound holding a small lamp of European make, and while
there was no wind, the light there several times fell low. I could not
account for it. Both Kunâla and X were far away. But in another moment,
the light suddenly went out altogether, and as I stopped, the voice of
revered Kunâla, who I supposed was many miles away, spoke to me, and I
found him standing there. For one hour we talked; and he gave me good
advice, although I had not asked it—thus it is always that when I go
fearlessly forward and ask for nothing I get help at an actual critical
moment—he then blessed me and went away. Nor could I dare to look in
what direction. In that conversation, I spoke of the light going down
and wanted an explanation, but he said I had nothing to do with it. I
then said I wanted to know, as I could explain it in two ways, viz:
1st, that he did it himself, or 2d, that some one else did it for him.
He replied, that even if it were done by somebody else, _no Yogee will
do a thing unless he sees the desire in another Yogee’s mind_.[73] The
significance of this drove out of my mind all wish to know _who_ did
it, whether himself, or an elemental or another person, for it is of
more importance for me to know even a part of the laws governing such a
thing, than it is to know who puts those laws into operation. Even some
blind concatenation of nature might put such natural forces in effect
in accordance with the same laws, so that a knowledge that nature did
it would be no knowledge of any consequence.
[_To be continued._]
[Illustration: PLATO
_Apud Fulvium Vrsinum in gemma._]
PORTRAIT OF PLATO IN CARNELIAN STONE
BY FULVIUS URSINUS.
This portrait was taken from an old work by John Moretus, published
in 1606 at Antwerp, containing 167 other portraits of ancient Greek
and Latin philosophers, poets, orators, and scholars of renown.
Accompanying each is a description in old Latin, and a literal
translation of that which is given of the head of Plato is as follows:
“This likeness of Plato is represented on some precious stone, perhaps
a Carnelian, very beautiful, of oval shape, and in the highest style
of art, which one hundred years before, a Cardinal under Julius Cæsar
a Pontifican legate in the Florentine Council had brought from Greece.
But it is long haired and bearded, as are the other likenesses of
Plato, as the son of Ailius writes, that the first debate between Plato
and Aristotle was about the hair and beard, because Aristotle, contrary
to the fixed habit and style of Plato, was accustomed to have his hair
cut and his face shaved.
“Very like to this portrait is that which is seen cut very artistically
in Carnelian stone, and which was once in the possession of the first
Cardinal of the Holy Cross, which in addition to the likeness of Plato,
has also a likeness of the great teacher himself, Socrates.
“On the pillar of Hermes, which has the head broken off, these words
are inscribed in Greek: ‘_Plato was a son of Ariston, an Athenian._’
“This also Laertius himself confirms, since he writes that he was born
at Athens of his father Ariston, in the village Collyteum, eighteen
years after the second year of the Olympiad, Aminia being chief ruler.
“Moreover there is extant in marble, by Fulvius, a portrait of this
same Plato of the very highest artistic skill: and there is another
very like to this by the same artist cut in a most beautiful Carnelian
stone which represents Plato at that time an old man, as it would
appear, about eighty-one years old, at which time, engaged in writing
extensively he died, one hundred and eight years after the first
year of the Olympiad. In the same Carnelian portrait not only is
the forehead of Plato represented very broad on account of which he
was called by the name of Plato, prior to which he had been called
Aristocles; but also his shoulders are very broad on which account some
wished him to select a name from the Greek language.
“A statue of this same Plato was dedicated in the Academy, the work of
a Silanian sculptor of the highest rank; and Cicero reminds us in his
Brutus, of a statue which he had, in these words: ‘Then we erected a
statue of Plato on the public square, etc., etc.’”
NOTES ON THE CABBALAH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
BY PERMISSION OF BRO. J. RALSTON SKINNER (McMillan Lodge, No. 141).
I.
I said in my article on Hebrew Metrology,[74] that the system embracing
it was a language, veiled under the Hebrew text of Scripture, and that
“to the extent to which the language was known among the Jews, the
learning and teaching thereof was called ‘CABBALAH.’”
It is a fact that so little is known of Cabbalah that its existence
has been denied. It has seemed to possess a like property with that
of Prester John, namely, the more and further he was searched for
the less he could be found and the more fabulous he became. After
the same fashion, as very much was related of wonders connected with
Prester John, so the most marvelous things are claimed for Cabbalah.
The Cabbalistic field is that in which astrologers, necromancers,
black and white magicians, fortune tellers, chiromancers, and all the
like, revel and make claims to supernaturalism _ad nauseam_. Claim is
also made that it conceals a sublime divine philosophy, which has been
attempted to be set forth in a most confused and not understandable
way. The Christian quarrying into its mass of mysticism, claims for
it support and authority for that most perplexing of all problems the
Holy Trinity, and the betrayed character of Christ. The good, pious,
ignorant man picks up Cabbalah at will as a cheap, easy and veritable
production, and at once, with the poorest smattering of starved ideas,
gives forth to the world, as by authority, a devout jumble of stuff and
nonsense. With equal assurance, but more effrontery the knave, in the
name of Cabbalah, will sell amulets and charms, tell fortunes, draw
horoscopes, and just as readily give specific rules, as in the case of
that worthy, Dr. Dee, for raising the dead, and actually—the devil.
No wonder then that the whole affair has been discredited and condemned
by the rational and the wise.
Discovery has yet to be made of what Cabbalah really consists before
any weight or authority can be given to the name. On that discovery
will rest the question whether the name should be received as related
to matters worthy of rational acknowledgment.
The writer claims that such a discovery has been made, and that the
same embraces rational science of sober and great worth. He claims that
it will serve to clear up and take away very much of the mysticism
which up to this time has been an unexplainable part of religious
systems,—especially the Hebrew or Jewish, and the Christian, so much
so that the supernatural in those systems will have to give place to
the rational, to a very great extent. He claims that that sublime
science upon which Masonry is based, is in fact, the substance of
Cabbalah,—which last is the rational basis of the Hebrew text of Holy
writ.
Cabbalah is inseparably connected with the text of the Scriptures,
and an exposition of the inner sense of the same is as John Reuchlin
claimed necessary to a right and full understanding of the Sacred
Text. But he saw vaguely, being taught only in a mystic phraseology
which was really a blind, and he did not come into possession of the
solid, rational grounds of it which he could formulate and impart. For
this reason, though he was right in his general assertion, his scheme
failed, and his works in this regard, passed away from the common sense
world, and have ever since lived only among the mystics and dreamers.
Like all other human productions of the kind, the Hebrew text of
the Bible was in characters which could serve as sound signs for
syllabic utterance, or for this purpose what are called letters. Now
in the first place, these original character signs were also pictures,
each one of them; and these pictures of themselves stood for ideas
which could be communicated,—much like the original Chinese letters.
Gustav Seyffarth shows that the Egyptian hieroglyphics numbered
over six hundred picture characters, which embraced the modified
use, syllabically, of the original number of letters of the Hebrew
alphabet. The characters of the Hebrew text of the Sacred Scroll were
divided into classes, in which the characters of each class were
interchangeable; whereby one form might be exchanged for another
to carry a modified signification, both by letter, and picture and
number. Seyffarth shows the modified form of the very ancient Hebrew
alphabet in the old Coptic by this law of interchange of characters.
This law of permitted interchange of letters is to be found quite
fully set forth in the Hebrew dictionaries, such as Fuerst’s and
others. Though recognized and largely set forth it is very perplexing
and hard to understand, because we have lost the specific use and
power of such interchange. In the second place, these characters
stood for _numbers_—to be used for numbers as we use specific number
signs,—though, also, there is very much to prove that the old Hebrews
were in possession of the so-called Arabic numerals, as we have them,
from the straight line 1 to the _zero_ character, together making 1
+ 9 = 10. The order of these number letters run from 1 to 9, then
10 to 90, then 100 upward. In the third place it is said, and it
seems to be proven, that these characters stood for musical notes;
so that for instance, the arrangement of the letters in the first
chapter of Genesis, can be rendered musically, or by song. Another
law of the Hebrew characters was that only the consonantal signs were
characterized,—the vowels were not characterized, but were supplied.
If one will try he will find that a consonant of itself cannot be
made vocal without the help of a vowel; therefore it was said that
the consonants made the frame work of a word, but to give it life or
utterance into the air, so as to impart the thought of the mind, and
the feeling of the heart, the vowels had to be supplied. Thus the dead
word of consonants became quickened into life by the Holy Spirit, or
the vowels.
This being said then:—
First: The Holy or Sacred Text was given in consonants only, without
any voweling, or signs of vowels.
Second: The letters were written one after the other at equal
distances, without any separation whatever of distinct words, and
without any punctuations whatever, such as commas, semi-colons, colons
or periods.
It will be seen at once that a various reading of the text might be had
in many places, both by differing arrangements of letters, and by a
differing supplying of vowels. A very important difference of reading
may be instanced in the first line of Genesis. It is made to be read
“B’rashith bârâ Elohim,” etc., “In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth”; wherein Elohim is a plural nominative to a verb
in the third person singular. Nachminedes called attention to the fact
that the text might suffer the reading, “Brash ithbârâ Elohim,” etc.
“In the head (source or beginning) created itself (or developed) Gods,
the heavens and the earth,”—really a more grammatical rendering.
What the originally and intended right reading was who can tell? It may
be surmised, however, that it was made to subserve a co-ordinating,
symmetrical and harmonious working of the characters to unfold and
develop their various uses;—as sound signs to frame a narrative,—as
numbers to develop geometrical shapes and the numerical enunciations of
their elements, comparisons and applications,—as pictures to show forth
ideas in some accordance with the story told, and finally,—as musical
sounds to give an appropriate song to embrace the whole. The whole
compass was to embrace rational proof, through operations in nature,
of the existence of that Divine Contriving Willing Cause which we call
God. But be this as it may there was no end of effort for thousands
of years, by the best trained and most learned men of the Hebrews and
Jews, to give and preserve what had to be decided upon by them as the
right reading of the Sacred Text. This reading was certainly perfected
as we have it, as early as the time of Ezra; and as to the various
readings which offered, the present was perfected as the orthodox
one,—or that one to be received by the profound vulgar.
It must be known that it is claimed for the Sacred Scroll by the
Hebrew, that no letter in it has ever been changed, and that even the
marginal readings were part of the original text for a varied use
thereof, in perfect accord with the object of its writing. Unlike the
Christian Gospels, with the Hebrews and Jews, alike, the original text
was sacredly precious as to its every and very letter, and had to be
thus preserved. To the contrary of this, the Gospels can be changed in
their reading to suit the currently changing ideas of what the same
should be. The marks to indicate “_right reading_” were after the time
of Ezra gradually made public, were called _Massorah_, and finally,
edited by Ben Chajim, were published by Bomberg, in Venice, in the
fifteenth century.
After this fashion and mode the books of the Old Testament were
prepared and read by the Jews long before the time of the Christian
Era. They were thus accepted at that time; and afterwards by the
Christian World:—so that, to day, we accept the record, as thus
prepared by the ancient orthodox Jewish and Hebrew Church.
Whatever may have been the Jewish mode of complete interpretation of
these books, the Christian Church had taken them _for what they show
on their first face_,—and that only. As they may be read orally, so is
their fullest meaning to be gathered from the oral reading; and by
means of what the sound of the words may convey to the ear the full and
complete intendment of meaning is to be had. The Christian Church has
never attributed to these books any property beyond this; and herein
has existed its great error.
Now, as said, the substance of the Cabbalah is a rendering of the
secret doctrine of the Old Testament, and this is not only asserted,
but an argument is raised about the matter in the following set terms:
“If the Law simply consisted of ordinary expressions and narratives,
ex. gr. the words of Esau, Hagar, Laban, the ass of Balaam, or of
Balaam himself, why should it be called the Law of Truth, the perfect
law, the true witness of God? Each word contains a sublime source,
each narrative points not only to the single instance in question, but
also to generals.” (Sohar iii, 149 b). “Woe be to the son of man who
says that the Tora (Pentateuch) contains common sayings and ordinary
narratives. * * There is the garment that every one can see, but those
who have more understanding do not look at the garment but at the body
beneath it; while the wisest, the servants of the Heavenly King, those
who dwell at Mount Sinai, look at nothing else but the soul (i.e., the
secret doctrine), which is the root of all the real Law.” (Sohar, iii,
152 a).
Now it is a strange thing, that in the quotations made by Dr. Ginsburg
in his Essay,[75] can be gleaned a series of data wherewith to arrange
a philosophy of Cabbalistic teaching, covered by the names and remarks
on the Ten Sephiroth. The “_trick of the thing_” lays plainly before
the eyes in its development, and yet is perfectly concealed from
unintelligent observation. In other words, the very text is laughing at
the worthy doctor, while he is criticising it with an apparent aspect
of superiority and authority. The same thing is to be found in the text
of Plutarch’s Morals, by C. W. King, and in many other texts where the
like phenomenal mode is practiced. It in fact is said that the Cabbalah
is evolved by “_hints scarcely perceptible_,” and the cunning of the
concealment is something to admire and laugh at. The description in
Sohar of the mode of communication tends to explain what has been said:
“The opinion that the mysteries of the Cabbalah are to be found in
the garment of the Pentateuch is still more systematically propounded
in the following parable: ‘Like a beautiful woman, concealed in the
interior of her palace, who when her friend and beloved passes by,
opens for a moment a secret window and is seen by him alone, and then
withdraws herself immediately and disappears for a long time, so the
doctrine only shows herself to the chosen (i. e., to him who is devoted
to her with body and soul); and even to him not always in the same
manner. At first she simply beckons at the passer by with her hand,
and it generally depends upon his understanding this gentle hint. This
is the interpretation known by the name of _râmäz_. Afterwards she
approaches him a little closer, lisps him a few words, but her form
is still covered with a thick veil, which his looks cannot penetrate.
This is the so-called _dārausch_. She then converses with him with her
face covered by a thin veil; this is the enigmatic language of the
_hāgadah_. After having thus become accustomed to her society, she at
last shows herself face to face and entrusts him with the innermost
secrets of her heart. This is the secret of the Law, _sod_. He who is
thus far initiated in the mysteries of the _Tora_ will understand that
all these profound secrets are based upon the simple literal sense, and
are in harmony with it, and from this literal sense not a single iota
is to be taken and nothing is to be added to it.” (Sohar, ii, 99.)
SUFISM,
OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.
_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in
Mysticism._
BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._
In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.
The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi:
“Last night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress,
when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the
garden, soft as the dews of heaven.”
(CONTINUED.)
SAADIS’ BOOSTAN (FRUIT GARDEN OR GARDEN OF PLEASURE) Continued:
CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE CANDLE AND THE MOTH:
I remember one night lying sleepless in bed,
That I heard what the moth to the fair candle said:
“A lover am I, if I burn it is well!
Why you should be weeping and burning, do tell.”
“Oh my poor humble lover!” the candle replied,
“My friend, the sweet honey away from we hied.
When sweetness away from my body departs,
A fire-like _Farhads_[76] to my summit then starts.”
Thus she spoke, and each movement a torrent of pain
Adown her pale cheeks trickled freely like rain.
“Oh, suitor! with love you have nothing to do,
Since nor patience, nor power of standing have you.
Oh, crude one! a flame makes you hasten away;
But I, till completely consumed, have to stay.
If the burning of love makes your wings feel this heat,
See how I am consumed, from the head to the feet!”
But a very small portion had passed of the night
When a fairy-fated maiden extinguished her[77] light.
She was saying while smoke from her head curled above,
“Thus ends, oh my boy, the existence of love!”
If the love-making science you wish to acquire,
You’re more happy extinguished than being on fire.
Do not weep o’er the grave of the slain for the friend!
Be glad! for to him He will mercy extend.
If a lover, don’t wash the complaint from your head!
* * * * *
I have told you: don’t enter this ocean at all!
If you do; yield your life to the hurricane squall!
The above translation is from the hand of G. S. Davie but since this
story is representative of Sufi love, I add another made by S. Robinson.
I remember that one night, when I could not close my eyes in sleep, I
heard the moth say to the taper.
“I am a lover, therefore it is right that I should be burnt, but
wherefore shouldst thou be lamenting and shedding tears?”
It replied: “O my poor airy friend, my honey-sweet Shirin is going away;
“And since my Shirin hath left me, like Ferhad’s,[78] my head is all on
fire.”
So spoke the taper, and each moment a flood of sorrow flowed down over
its pale cheek.
Then it continued: “O pretender, love is no affair of thine; for thou
hast neither patience nor persistency.
“Thou takest to flight before a slight flame; I stand firm till I am
totally consumed.
“Thou mayest just singe a wing at the fire of love; look at me, who
burn from head to foot.”
A part of the night was not yet gone, when suddenly a Peri-faced damsel
extinguished the light.
Then said the taper: “My breath is departed, the smoke is over my
head;—such my son, is the ending of love!”
If thou wouldst learn the moral of the story, it is this: Only will the
pangs of burning affection cease, when life’s taper is extinct.
Weep not over this monument of thy perished friend—rather praise Allah,
that he is accepted by Him.
If thou art indeed a lover, wash not the pains of love from thy head;
wash rather, like Saadi, thy hand from all malevolence.
The man who volunteereth a service of peril will not withdraw his grasp
from his purpose, though stones and arrows rain down upon his head.
I have said to thee: “Take heed how thou goest to the sea; but if thou
wilt go, resign thyself to its billows.”
_Jelaluddin Rumi_ (Mevlana—Our Lord—Jelalu-’d-din, Muhammed, Er Rumi of
Qonya) usually called _Jelal or Mulla_.[79] Born A. D. 1195, he died
1273.