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Theosophy House
Five Years Of
Theosophy,
by
Various Theosophical
Authors
Mystical, Philosophical,
Theosophical, Historical
and
Scientific Essays Selected from "The Theosophist"
Edited by
George Robert Stow Mead
The Secret Doctrine by H P Blavatsky
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FIVE YEARS OF THEOSOPHY
Mystical, Philosophical,
Theosophical, Historical and Scientific Essays
Selected from "The
Theosophist"
Edited by George Robert Stow Mead
CONTENTS
Mystical
The "Elixir of Life"
Is the Desire to "Live"
Selfish?
Contemplation
Chelas and Lay Chelas
Ancient Opinions upon Psychic Bodies
The Nilgiri Sannyasis
Witchcraft on the Nilgiris
Shamanism and Witchcraft Amongst the
Kolarian Tribes
Mahatmas and Chelas
The Brahmanical Thread
Reading in a Sealed Envelope
The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac
The Sishal and Bhukailas Yogis
Philosophical
True and False Personality
Chastity
Zorastrianism on the Septenary
Constitution of Man
Brahmanism on the Sevenfold Principle
in Man
The Septenary Principle in
Esotericism
Personal and Impersonal God
Prakriti and Parusha
Morality and Pantheism
Occult Study
Some Inquiries Suggested by Mr.
Sinnett's "Esoteric Buddhism"
Sakya Muni's Place in History
Inscriptions Discovered by General A.
Cunningham
Discrimination of Spirit and
Not-Spirit
Was Writing Known Before Panini?
Theosophical
What is Theosophy?
How a "Chela" Found His
"Guru"
The Sages of the Himavat
The Himalayan Brothers--Do They
Exist?
Interview With a Mahatma
The Secret Doctrine
Historical
The Puranas on the Dynasty of the
Moryas and on Koothoomi
The Theory of Cycles
Scientific
Odorigen and Jiva
Introversion of Mental Vision
"Precipitation"
"How Shall We Sleep?"
Transmigration of the Life Atoms
"OM" and its Practical
Significance
FIVE YEARS OF THEOSOPHY
Mystical
The "Elixir of Life"
From a Chela's* Diary. By
G---M---, F.T.S.
"And Enoch walked with the
Elohim, and the Elohim took him."
--Genesis
Introduction
[The curious information-for
whatsoever else the world may think of it,
it will doubtless be acknowledged to
be that--contained in the article
that follows, merits a few words of
introduction. The details given in
it on the subject of what has always
been considered as one of the
darkest and most strictly guarded of
the mysteries of the initiation
into occultism--from the days of the
Rishis until those of the
Theosophical Society--came to the
knowledge of the author in a way that
would seem to the ordinary run of
Europeans strange and supernatural.
He himself, however, we may assure
the reader, is a most thorough
disbeliever in the Supernatural, though
he has learned too much to limit
the capabilities of the natural as
some do. Further, he has to make the
following confession of his own
belief. It will be apparent, from a
careful perusal of the facts, that if
the matter be really as stated
therein, the author cannot himself be
an adept of high grade, as the
article in such a case would never
have been written. Nor does he
pretend to be one. He is, or rather was, for a few years an
humble
Chela. Hence, the converse must
consequently be also true, that as
regards the higher stages of the
mystery he can have no personal
experience, but speaks of it only as
a close observer left to his own
surmises--and no more. He may, therefore, boldly state that during,
and
notwithstanding, his unfortunately
rather too short stay with some
adepts, he has by actual experiment
and observation verified some of the
less transcendental or incipient
parts of the "Course." And,
though it
will be impossible for him to give
positive testimony as to what lies
beyond, he may yet mention that all
his own course of study, training
and experience, long, severe and
dangerous as it has often been, leads
him to the conviction that everything
is really as stated, save some
details purposely veiled. For causes which cannot be explained to the
public, he himself may he unable or
unwilling to use the secret he has
gained access to. Still he is permitted by one to whom all his
reverential affection and gratitude
are due--his last guru--to divulge
for the benefit of Science and Man, and
specially for the good of those
who are courageous enough to
personally make the experiment, the
following astounding particulars of
the occult methods for prolonging
life to a period far beyond the
common.--G.M.]
---------
* A. Chela is the pupil and disciple
of an initiated Guru or
Master.--Ed.
---------
Probably one of the first
considerations which move the worldly-minded
at present to solicit initiation into
Theosophy is the belief, or hope,
that, immediately on joining, some extraordinary
advantage over the rest
of mankind will be conferred upon the
candidate. Some even think that
the ultimate result of their
initiation will perhaps be exemption from
that dissolution which is called the
common lot of mankind. The
traditions of the "Elixir of
Life," said to be in the possession of
Kabalists and Alchemists, are still
cherished by students of Medieval
Occultism--in Europe. The allegory of the Ab-e Hyat or Water of
Life,
is still credited as a fact by the
degraded remnants of the Asiatic
esoteric sects ignorant of the real
GREAT SECRET. The "pungent and fiery
Essence," by which Zanoni
renewed his existence, still fires the
imagination of modern visionaries as
a possible scientific discovery of
the future.
Theosophically, though the fact is
distinctly declared to be true, the
above-named conceptions of the mode
of procedure leading to the
realization of the fact, are known to
be false. The reader may or may
not believe it; but as a matter of fact, Theosophical
Occultists claim
to have communication with (living)
Intelligences possessing an
infinitely wider range of observation
than is contemplated even by the
loftiest aspirations of modern
science, all the present "Adepts" of
Europe and America--dabblers in the
Kabala--notwithstanding. But far
even as those superior Intelligences
have investigated (or, if
preferred, are alleged to have
investigated), and remotely as they may
have searched by the help of
inference and analogy, even They have
failed to discover in the Infinity anything
permanent but--SPACE. ALL
IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Reflection, therefore, will easily suggest to
the
reader the further logical inference
that in a Universe which is
essentially impermanent in its
conditions, nothing can confer
permanency. Therefore, no possible substance, even if
drawn from the
depths of Infinity; no imaginable combination of drugs, whether
of our
earth or any other, though compounded
by even the Highest Intelligence;
no system of life or discipline
though directed by the sternest
determination and skill, could
possibly produce Immutability. For in
the universe of solar systems,
wherever and however investigated,
Immutability necessitates
"Non-Being" in the physical sense given it by
the Theists-Non-Being which is
nothing in the narrow conceptions of
Western Religionists--a reductio ad
absurdum. This is a gratuitous
insult even when applied to the
pseudo-Christian or ecclesiastical
Jehovite idea of God.
Consequently, it will be seen that
the common ideal conception of
"Immortality" is not only
essentially wrong, but a physical and
metaphysical impossibility. The idea,
whether cherished by Theosophists
or non-Theosophists, by Christians or
Spiritualists, by Materialists or
Idealists, is a chimerical
illusion. But the actual prolongation of
human life is possible for a time so
long as to appear miraculous and
incredible to those who regard our
span of existence as necessarily
limited to at most a couple of
hundred years. We may break, as it were,
the shock of Death, and instead of
dying, change a sudden plunge into
darkness to a transition into a
brighter light. And this may be made so
gradual that the passage from one
state of existence to another shall
have its friction minimized, so as to
be practically imperceptible.
This is a very different matter, and
quite within the reach of Occult
Science. In this, as in all other cases, means
properly directed will
gain their ends, and causes produce
effects. Of course, the only
question is, what are these causes,
and how, in their turn, are they to
be produced. To lift, as far as may be allowed, the veil
from this
aspect of Occultism, is the object of
the present paper.
We must premise by reminding the
reader of two Theosophic doctrines,
constantly inculcated in
"Isis" and in other mystic works--namely, (a)
that ultimately the Kosmos is
One--one under infinite variations and
manifestations, and (b) that the
so-called man is a "compound being"--
composite not only in the exoteric
scientific sense of being a congeries
of living so-called material Units,
but also in the esoteric sense of
being a succession of seven forms or
parts of itself, interblended with
each other. To put it more clearly we might say that the
more ethereal
forms are but duplicates of the same
aspect,--each finer one lying
within the inter-atomic spaces of the
next grosser. We would have the
reader understand that these are no
subtleties, no "spiritualities" at
all in the Christo-Spiritualistic
sense. In the actual man reflected in
your mirror are really several men,
or several parts of one composite
man;
each the exact counterpart of the other, but the "atomic
conditions" (for want of a
better word) of each of which are so arranged
that its atoms interpenetrate those
of the next "grosser" form. It
does
not, for our present purpose, matter
how the Theosophists,
Spiritualists, Buddhists, Kabalists,
or Vedantists, count, separate,
classify, arrange or name these, as
that war of terms may be postponed
to another occasion. Neither does it matter what relation each of
these
men has to the various
"elements" of the Kosmos of which he forms a
part. This knowledge, though of vital
importance in other respects, need
not be explained or discussed
now. Nor does it much more concern us
that the Scientists deny the existence
of such an arrangement, because
their instruments are inadequate to
make their senses perceive it. We
will simply reply--"get better
instruments and keener senses, and
eventually you will."
All we have to say is that if you are
anxious to drink of the "Elixir of
Life," and live a thousand years
or so, you must take our word for the
matter at present, and proceed on the
assumption. For esoteric science
does not give the faintest possible
hope that the desired end will ever
be attained by any other way; while modern, or so-called exact
science--laughs at it.
So, then, we have arrived at the
point where we have determined--
literally, not metaphorically--to
crack the outer shell known as the
mortal coil or body, and hatch out of
it, clothed in our next. This
"next" is not spiritual,
but only a more ethereal form. Having by
a
long training and preparation adapted
it for a life in this atmosphere,
during which time we have gradually
made the outward shell to die off
through a certain process (hints of
which will be found further on) we
have to prepare for this
physiological transformation.
How are we to do it? In the first place we have the actual,
visible,
material body--Man, so called; though, in fact, but his outer shell--to
deal with. Let us bear in mind that
science teaches us that in about
every seven years we change skin as
effectually as any serpent; and
this so gradually and imperceptibly
that, had not science after years of
unremitting study and observation
assured us of it, no one would have
had the slightest suspicion of the
fact.
We see, moreover, that in process of
time any cut or lesion upon the
body, however deep, has a tendency to
repair the loss and reunite; a
piece of lost skin is very soon replaced
by another. Hence, if a man,
partially flayed alive, may sometimes
survive and be covered with a new
skin, so our astral, vital body--the
fourth of the seven (having
attracted and assimilated to itself
the second) and which is so much
more ethereal than the physical
one--may be made to harden its particles
to the atmospheric changes. The whole secret is to succeed in evolving
it out, and separating it from the
visible; and while its generally
invisible atoms proceed to concrete
themselves into a compact mass, to
gradually get rid of the old
particles of our visible frame so as to
make them die and disappear before
the new set has had time to evolve
and replace them. We can say no more. The Magdalene is not the only
one who could be accused of having
"seven spirits" in her, though men
who have a lesser number of spirits
(what a misnomer that word!) in
them, are not few or
exceptional; they are the frequent
failures of
nature--the incomplete men and
women.*
-----------
* This is not to be taken as meaning
that such persons are thoroughly
destitute of some one or several of
the seven principles--a man born
without an arm has still its ethereal
counterpart; but that they are so
latent that they cannot be developed,
and consequently are to be
considered as non-existing.--Ed.
Theos.
----------
Each of these has in turn to survive
the preceding and more dense one,
and then die. The exception is the sixth when absorbed into
and blended
with the seventh. The "Phatu" * of the old Hindu physiologist
had a
dual meaning, the esoteric side of
which corresponds with the Tibetan
"Zung" (seven principles of
the body).
We Asiatics, have a proverb, probably
handed down to us, and by the
Hindus repeated ignorantly as to its
esoteric meaning. It has been
known ever since the old Rishis
mingled familiarly with the simple and
noble people they taught and led
on. The Devas had whispered into every
man's ear--Thou only--if thou
wilt--art "immortal." Combine
with this
the saying of a Western author that
if any man could just realize for an
instant, that he had to die some day,
he would die that instant. The
Illuminated will perceive that
between these two sayings, rightly
understood, stands revealed the whole
secret of Longevity. We only die
when our will ceases to be strong
enough to make us live. In the
majority of cases, death comes when
the torture and vital exhaustion
accompanying a rapid change in our
physical conditions becomes so
intense as to weaken, for one single
instant, our "clutch on life," or
the tenacity of the will to
exist. Till then, however severe may be
the
disease, however sharp the pang, we
are only sick or wounded, as the
case may be.
-----------
* Dhatu--the seven principal
substances of the human body--chyle, flesh,
blood, fat, bones, marrow, semen.
-----------
This explains the cases of sudden
deaths from joy, fright, pain, grief
or such other causes. The sense of a life-task consummated, of the
worthlessness of one's existence, if
strongly realized, produced death
as surely as poison or a
rifle-bullet. On the other hand, a stern
determination to continue to live,
has, in fact, carried many through
the crises of the most severe
diseases, in perfect safety.
First, then, must be the
determination--the Will--the conviction of
certainty, to survive and
continue.* Without that, all else is
useless.
And to be efficient for the purpose,
it must be, not only a passing
resolution of the moment, a single
fierce desire of short duration, but
a settled and continued strain, as nearly
as can be continued and
concentrated without one single
moment's relaxation. In a word, the
would-be "Immortal" must be
on his watch night and day, guarding self
against-himself. To live--to live--to live--must be his
unswerving
resolve. He must as little as possible allow himself
to be turned aside
from it. It may be said that this is the most
concentrated form of
selfishness,--that it is utterly
opposed to our Theosophic professions
of benevolence, and
disinterestedness, and regard for the good of
humanity. Well, viewed in a short-sighted way, it is
so. But to do
good, as in everything else, a man
must have time and materials to work
with, and this is a necessary means
to the acquirement of powers by
which infinitely more good can be
done than without them.
----------
* Col. Olcott has epigrammatically
explained the creative or rather the
re-creative power of the Will, in his
"Buddhist Catechism." He there
shows--of course, speaking on behalf
of the Southern Buddhists--that
this Will to live, if not
extinguished in the present life, leaps over
the chasm of bodily death, and
recombines the Skandhas, or groups of
qualities that made up the individual
into a new personality. Man is,
therefore, reborn as the result of
his own unsatisfied yearning for
objective existence. Col. Olcott puts it in this way:
Q.
123. What is that, in man, which
gives him the impression of
having a permanent individuality?
A.
Tanha, or the unsatisfied desire for existence. The being having
done that for which he must be
rewarded or punished in future, and
having Tanha, will have a rebirth
through the influence of Karma.
Q.
124. ....What is it that is
reborn?
A.
A new aggregation of Skandhas, or individuality, caused by the last
yearning of the dying person.
Q.
128. To what cause must we attribute the differences in the
combination of the Five Skandhas has
which makes every individual
different from every other
individual?
A.
To the Karma of the individual in the next preceding birth.
Q.
129. What is the force or energy
that is at work, under the
guidance of Karma, to produce the new
being?
A.
Tanha--the "Will to Live."
----------
When these are once mastered, the
opportunities to use them will arrive,
for there comes a moment when further
watch and exertion are no longer
needed:--the moment when the
turning-point is safely passed. For the
present as we deal with aspirants and
not with advanced chelas, in the
first stage a determined, dogged
resolution, and an enlightened
concentration of self on self, are
all that is absolutely necessary. It
must not, however, be considered that
the candidate is required to be
unhuman or brutal in his negligence
of others. Such a recklessly
selfish course would be as injurious
to him as the contrary one of
expending his vital energy on the
gratification of his physical desires.
All that is required from him is a
purely negative attitude. Until the
turning-point is reached, he must not
"lay out" his energy in lavish or
fiery devotion to any cause, however
noble, however "good," however
elevated.* Such, we can solemnly assure the reader,
would bring its
reward in many ways--perhaps in
another life, perhaps in this world, but
it would tend to shorten the
existence it is desired to preserve, as
surely as self-indulgence and
profligacy. That is why very few of the
truly great men of the world (of
course, the unprincipled adventurers
who have applied great powers to bad
uses are out of the question)--the
martyrs, the heroes, the founders of
religions, the liberators of
nations, the leaders of reforms--ever
became members of the long-lived
"Brotherhood of Adepts" who
were by some and for long years accused of
selfishness. (And that is also why the Yogis, and the
Fakirs of modern
India--most of whom are acting now
but on the dead-letter tradition, are
required if they would be considered
living up to the principles of
their profession--to appear entirely
dead to every inward feeling or
emotion.) Notwithstanding the purity
of their hearts, the greatness of
their aspirations, the
disinterestedness of their self-sacrifice, they
could not live for they had missed
the hour.
--------
* On page 151 of Mr. Sinnett's
"Occult World," the author's much abused,
and still more doubted correspondent assures
him that none yet of his
"degree are like the stern hero
of Bulwer's" Zanoni.... "the heartless
morally dried up mummies some would
fancy us to be" and adds that few of
them "would care to play the
part in life of a desiccated pansy between
the leaves of a volume of solemn
poetry." But our adept omits saying
that one or two degrees higher, and
he will have to submit for a period
of years to such a mummifying process
unless, indeed, he would
voluntarily give up a life-long
labour and--Die.--Ed.
----------
They may at times have exercised
powers which the world called
miraculous; they may have electrified man and subdued
Nature by fiery
and self-devoted Will; they may have been possessed of a so-called
superhuman intelligence; they may have even had knowledge of, and
communion with, members of our own
occult Brotherhood; but, having
deliberately resolved to devote their
vital energy to the welfare of
others, rather than to themselves,
they have surrendered life; and,
when perishing on the cross or the
scaffold, or falling, sword in hand,
upon the battle-field, or sinking
exhausted after a successful
consummation of the life-object, on
death-beds in their chambers, they
have all alike had to cry out at
last: "Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani!"
So far so good. But, given the will to live, however
powerful, we have
seen that, in the ordinary course of
mundane life, the throes of
dissolution cannot be checked. The desperate, and again and again
renewed struggle of the Kosmic
elements to proceed with a career of
change despite the will that is
checking them, like a pair of runaway
horses struggling against the
determined driver holding them in, are so
cumulatively powerful, that the
utmost efforts of the untrained human
will acting within an unprepared body
become ultimately useless. The
highest intrepidity of the bravest
soldier; the interest desire of the
yearning lover; the hungry greed of the unsatisfied
miser; the most
undoubting faith of the sternest
fanatic; the practiced insensibility
to pain of the hardiest red Indian
brave or half-trained Hindu Yogi;
the most deliberate philosophy of the
calmest thinker--all alike fail at
last.
Indeed, sceptics will allege in opposition to the verities of
this article that, as a matter of
experience, it is often observed that
the mildest and most irresolute of
minds and the weakest of physical
frames are often seen to resist
"Death" longer than the powerful will of
the high-spirited and
obstinately-egotistic man, and the iron frame of
the labourer, the warrior and the
athlete. In reality, however, the key
to the secret of these apparently
contradictory phenomena is the true
conception of the very thing we have
already said. If the physical
development of the gross "outer
shell" proceeds on parallel lines and at
an equal rate with that of the will,
it stands to reason that no
advantage for the purpose of
overcoming it, is attained by the latter.
The acquisition of improved
breechloaders by one modern army confers no
absolute superiority if the enemy
also becomes possessed of them.
Consequently it will be at once
apparent, to those who think on the
subject, that much of the training by
which what is known as "a powerful
and determined nature," perfects
itself for its own purpose on the stage
of the visible world, necessitating
and being useless without a parallel
development of the "gross"
and so-called animal frame, is, in short,
neutralized, for the purpose at
present treated of, by the fact that its
own action has armed the enemy with
weapons equal to its own. The force
of the impulse to dissolution is
rendered equal to the will to oppose
it;
and being cumulative, subdues the will-power and triumphs at last.
On the other hand, it may happen that
an apparently weak and vacillating
will-power residing in a weak and
undeveloped physical frame, may be so
reinforced by some unsatisfied
desire--the Ichcha (wish)--as it is
called by the Indian Occultists (for
instance, a mother's heart-yearning
to remain and support her fatherless
children)--as to keep down and
vanquish, for a short time, the
physical throes of a body to which it
has become temporarily superior.
The whole rationale then, of the
first condition of continued existence
in this world, is (a) the development
of a Will so powerful as to
overcome the hereditary (in a
Darwinian sense) tendencies of the atoms
composing the "gross" and
palpable animal frame, to hurry on at a
particular period in a certain course
of Kosmic change; and (b) to so
weaken the concrete action of that
animal frame as to make it more
amenable to the power of the
Will. To defeat an army, you must
demoralize and throw it into
disorder.
To do this then, is the real object
of all the rites, ceremonies, fasts,
"prayers," meditations,
initiations and procedures of self-discipline
enjoined by various esoteric Eastern
sects, from that course of pure and
elevated aspiration which leads to
the higher phases of Adeptism Real,
down to the fearful and disgusting
ordeals which the adherent of the
"Left-hand-Road" has to
pass through, all the time maintaining his
equilibrium. The procedures have their merits and their
demerits, their
separate uses and abuses, their
essential and non-essential parts, their
various veils, mummeries, and labyrinths. But in all, the result aimed
at is reached, if by different
processes. The Will is strengthened,
encouraged and directed, and the
elements opposing its action are
demoralized. Now, to any one who has thought out and
connected the
various evolution theories, as taken,
not from any occult source, but
from the ordinary scientific manual
accessible to all--from the
hypothesis of the latest variation in
the habits of species--say, the
acquisition of carnivorous habits by
the New Zealand parrot, for
instance--to the farthest glimpses
backwards into Space and Eternity
afforded by the "Fire Mist"
doctrine, it will be apparent that they all
rest on one basis. That basis is,
that the impulse once given to a
hypothetical Unit has a tendency to
continue; and consequently, that
anything "done" by
something at a certain time and certain place tends
to repeat itself at other times and
places.
Such is the admitted rationale of
heredity and atavism. That the same
things apply to our ordinary conduct
is apparent from the notorious ease
with which "habits,"--bad
or good, as the case may be--are acquired, and
it will not be questioned that this
applies, as a rule, as much to the
moral and intellectual, as to the
physical world.
Furthermore, History and Science
teach us plainly that certain physical
habits conduce to certain moral and
intellectual results. There never
yet was a conquering nation of
vegetarians. Even in the old Aryan times,
we do not learn that the very Rishis,
from whose lore and practice we
gain the knowledge of Occultism, ever
interdicted the Kshetriya
(military) caste from hunting or a
carnivorous diet. Filling, as they
did, a certain place in the body
politic in the actual condition of the
world, the Rishis as little thought
of interfering with them, as of
restraining the tigers of the jungle
from their habits. That did not
affect what the Rishis did
themselves.
The aspirant to longevity then must
be on his guard against two dangers.
He must beware especially of impure and
animal* thoughts. For Science
shows that thought is dynamic, and
the thought-force evolved by nervous
action expanding outwardly, must
affect the molecular relations of the
physical man. The inner men,** however sublimated their
organism may
be, are still composed of actual, not
hypothetical, particles, and are
still subject to the law that an
"action" has a tendency to repeat
itself; a tendency to set up analogous action in the
grosser "shell"
they are in contact with, and
concealed within.
----------
* In other words, the thought tends
to provoke the deed.--G.M.
** We use the word in the plural,
reminding the reader that, according
to our doctrine, man is
septenary.--G.M.
----------
And, on the other hand, certain
actions have a tendency to produce
actual physical conditions
unfavourable to pure thoughts, hence to the
state required for developing the
supremacy of the inner man.
To return to the practical
process. A normally healthy mind, in a
normally healthy body, is a good
starting-point. Though exceptionally
powerful and self-devoted natures may
sometimes recover the ground lost
by mental degradation or physical
misuse, by employing proper means,
under the direction of unswerving
resolution, yet often things may have
gone so far that there is no longer
stamina enough to sustain the
conflict sufficiently long to
perpetuate this life; though what in
Eastern parlance is called the
"merit" of the effort will help to
ameliorate conditions and improve
matters in another.
However this may be, the prescribed
course of self-discipline commences
here.
It may be stated briefly that its essence is a course of moral,
mental, and physical development,
carried on in parallel lines--one
being useless without the other. The physical man must be rendered more
ethereal and sensitive; the mental man more penetrating and profound;
the moral man more self-denying and
philosophical. And it may be
mentioned that all sense of
restraint--even if self-imposed--is useless.
Not only is all "goodness"
that results from the compulsion of physical
force, threats, or bribes (whether of
a physical or so-called
"spiritual" nature)
absolutely useless to the person who exhibits it,
its hypocrisy tending to poison the
moral atmosphere of the world, but
the desire to be "good" or
"pure," to be efficacious must be
spontaneous. It must be a self-impulse from within, a real
preference
for something higher, not an
abstention from vice because of fear of the
law:
not a chastity enforced by the dread of Public Opinion; not a
benevolence exercised through love of
praise or dread of consequences in
a hypothetical Future Life.*
----------
* Col. Olcott clearly and succinctly
explains the Buddhist doctrine of
Merit or Karma, in his "Buddhist
Catechism."
(Question 83).--G.M.
----------
It will be seen now in connection
with the doctrine of the tendency
to the renewal of action, before
discussed, that the course of
self-discipline recommended as the
only road to Longevity by Occultism
is not a "visionary" theory
dealing with vague "ideas," but actually a
scientifically devised system of
drill. It is a system by which each
particle of the several men composing
the septenary individual receives
an impulse, and a habit of doing what
is necessary for certain purposes
of its own free-will and with
"pleasure." Every one must be
practiced
and perfect in a thing to do it with
pleasure. This rule especially
applies to the case of the
development of Man. "Virtue"
may be very
good in its way--it may lead to the
grandest results. But to become
efficacious it has to be practiced
cheerfully not with reluctance or
pain.
As a consequence of the above consideration the candidate for
Longevity at the commencement of his
career must begin to eschew his
physical desires, not from any
sentimental theory of right or wrong, but
for the following good reason. As, according to a well-known and now
established scientific theory, his
visible material frame is always
renewing its particles; he will, while abstaining from the
gratification of his desires, reach
the end of a certain period during
which those particles which composed
the man of vice, and which were
given a bad predisposition, will have
departed. At the same time, the
disuse of such functions will tend to
obstruct the entry, in place of
the old particles, of new particles
having a tendency to repeat the said
acts.
And while this is the particular result as regards certain
"vices," the general result
of an abstention from "gross" acts will be
(by a modification of the well-known
Darwinian law of atrophy by
non-usage) to diminish what we may
call the "relative" density and
coherence of the outer shell (as a
result of its less-used molecules);
while the diminution in the quantity
of its actual constituents will he
"made up" (if tried by
scales and weights) by the increased admission of
more ethereal particles.
What physical desires are to be
abandoned and in what order? First and
foremost, he must give up alcohol in
all forms; for while it supplies
no nourishment, nor any direct
pleasure (beyond such sweetness or
fragrance as may be gained in the
taste of wine, &c., to which alcohol,
in itself, is non-essential) to even
the grossest elements of the
"physical" frame, it
induces a violence of action, a rush so to speak,
of life, the stress of which can only
be sustained by very dull, gross,
and dense elements, and which, by the
operation of the well-known law of
Re-action (in commercial phrase,
"supply and demand") tends to summon
them from the surrounding universe,
and therefore directly counteracts
the object we have in view.
Next comes meat-eating, and for the
very same reason, in a minor degree.
It increases the rapidity of life,
the energy of action, the violence of
passions. It may be good for a hero who has to fight
and die, but not
for a would-be sage who has to exist
and....
Next in order come the sexual
desires; for these, in addition to the
great diversion of energy (vital
force) into other channels, in many
different ways, beyond the primary
one (as, for instance, the waste of
energy in expectation, jealousy,
&c.), are direct attractions to a
certain gross quality of the original
matter of the Universe, simply
because the most pleasurable physical
sensations are only possible at
that stage of density. Alongside with and extending beyond all these
and other gratifications of the
senses (which include not only those
things usually known as
"vicious," but all those which, though
ordinarily regarded as
"innocent," have yet the disqualification of
ministering to the pleasures of the
body--the most harmless to others
and the least "gross" being
the criterion for those to be last abandoned
in each case)--must be carried on the
moral purification.
Nor must it be imagined that
"austerities" as commonly understood can,
in the majority of cases, avail much
to hasten the "etherealizing"
process. That is the rock on which many of the Eastern
esoteric sects
have foundered, and the reason why
they have degenerated into degrading
superstitions. The Western monks and the Eastern Yogees, who
think they
will reach the apex of powers by
concentrating their thought on their
navel, or by standing on one leg, are
practicing exercises which serve
no other purpose than to strengthen
the willpower, which is sometimes
applied to the basest purposes. These are examples of this one-sided
and dwarf development. It is no use to fast as long as you require
food.
The ceasing of desire for food without impairment of health is
the sign which indicates that it
should be taken in lesser and ever
decreasing quantities until the
extreme limit compatible with life is
reached. A stage will be finally attained where only
water will be
required.
Nor is it of any use for this
particular purpose of longevity to abstain
from immorality so long as you are
craving for it in your heart; and so
on with all other unsatisfied inward
cravings. To get rid of the inward
desire is the essential thing, and to
mimic the real thing without it is
barefaced hypocrisy and useless
slavery.
So it must be with the moral
purification of the heart. The
"basest"
inclinations must go first--then the
others. First avarice, then fear,
then envy, worldly pride,
uncharitableness, hatred; last of all
ambition and curiosity must be
abandoned successively. The
strengthening of the more ethereal
and so-called "spiritual" parts of
the man must go on at the same time.
Reasoning from the known to the
unknown, meditation must be practiced
and encouraged. Meditation is the
inexpressible yearning of the inner
Man to "go out towards the
infinite," which in the olden
time was the real meaning of adoration,
but which has now no synonym in the
European languages, because the
thing no longer exists in the West,
and its name has been vulgarized to
the make-believe shams known as
prayer, glorification, and repentance.
Through all stages of training the
equilibrium of the consciousness--the
assurance that all must be right in
the Kosmos, and therefore with you a
portion of it--must be retained. The
process of life must not be hurried
but retarded, if possible; to do otherwise may do good to others--
perhaps even to yourself in other
spheres, but it will hasten your
dissolution in this.
Nor must the externals be neglected
in this first stage. Remember that
an adept, though "existing"
so as to convey to ordinary minds the idea
of his being immortal, is not also
invulnerable to agencies from
without. The training to prolong life does not, in
itself, secure one
from accidents. As far as any physical preparation goes, the
sword may
still cut, the disease enter, the
poison disarrange. This case is very
clearly and beautifully put in
"Zanoni," and it is correctly put and
must be so, unless all
"adeptism" is a baseless lie.
The adept may be
more secure from ordinary dangers
than the common mortal, but he is so
by virtue of the superior knowledge,
calmness, coolness and penetration
which his lengthened existence and
its necessary concomitants have
enabled him to acquire; not by virtue of any preservative power in
the
process itself. He is secure as a man armed with a rifle is
more secure
than a naked baboon; not secure in the sense in which the deva
(god)
was supposed to be securer than a
man.
If this is so in the case of the high
adept, how much more necessary is
it that the neophyte should be not
only protected but that he himself
should use all possible means to
ensure for himself the necessary
duration of life to complete the
process of mastering the phenomena we
call death! It may be said, why do not the higher adepts
protect him?
Perhaps they do to some extent, but
the child must learn to walk alone;
to make him independent of his own
efforts in respect to safety, would
be destroying one element necessary
to his development--the sense of
responsibility. What courage or conduct would be called for
in a man
sent to fight when armed with
irresistible weapons and clothed in
impenetrable armour? Hence the neophyte should endeavour, as far
as
possible, to fulfill every true canon
of sanitary law as laid down by
modern scientists. Pure air, pure water, pure food, gentle
exercise,
regular hours, pleasant occupations
and surroundings, are all, if not
indispensable, at least serviceable
to his progress. It is to secure
these, at least as much as silence
and solitude, that the Gods, Sages,
Occultists of all ages have retired
as much as possible to the quiet of
the country, the cool cave, the
depths of the forest, the expanse of the
desert, or the heights of the
mountains. Is it not suggestive that the
Gods have always loved the "high
places"; and that in the present
day
the highest section of the Occult
Brotherhood on earth inhabits the
highest mountain plateaux of the
earth?*
---------
* The stern prohibition to the Jews
to serve "their gods upon the high
mountains and upon the hills" is
traced back to the unwillingness of
their ancient elders to allow people
in most cases unfit for adeptship
to choose a life of celibacy and
asceticism, or in other words, to
pursue adeptship. This prohibition had an esoteric meaning
before it
became the prohibition,
incomprehensible in its dead-letter sense:
for
it is not India alone whose sons
accorded divine honours to the Wise
Ones, but all nations regarded their
adepts and initiates as divine.--
G.M.
---------
Nor must the beginner disdain the
assistance of medicine and good
medical regimen. He is still an ordinary mortal, and he
requires the
aid of an ordinary mortal.
"Suppose, however, all the
conditions required, or which will be
understood as required (for the
details and varieties of treatment
requisite, are too numerous to be
detailed here), are fulfilled, what is
the next step?" the reader will
ask. Well if there have been no
backslidings or remissness in the
procedure indicated, the following
physical results will follow:--
First the neophyte will take more
pleasure in things spiritual and pure.
Gradually gross and material
occupations will become not only uncraved
for or forbidden, but simply and
literally repulsive to him. He will
take more pleasure in the simple
sensations of Nature--the sort of
feeling one can remember to have
experienced as a child. He will feel
more light-hearted, confident,
happy. Let him take care the sensation
of renewed youth does not mislead, or
he will yet risk a fall into his
old baser life and even lower
depths. "Action and Re-action are
equal."
Now the desire for food will begin to
cease. Let it be left off
gradually--no fasting is
required. Take what you feel you
require. The
food craved for will be the most
innocent and simple. Fruit and milk
will usually be the best. Then as till now, you have been simplifying
the quality of your food,
gradually--very gradually--as you feel capable
of it diminish the quantity. You will ask:
"Can a man exist without
food?" No, but before you mock, consider the
character of the process
alluded to. It is a notorious fact that many of the
lowest and simplest
organisms have no excretions. The common guinea-worm is a very good
instance. It has rather a complicated organism, but it
has no
ejaculatory duct. All it consumes--the poorest essences of the
human
body--is applied to its growth and
propagation. Living as it does in
human tissue, it passes no digested
food away. The human neophyte, at a
certain stage of his development, is
in a somewhat analogous condition,
with this difference or differences,
that he does excrete, but it is
through the pores of his skin, and by
those too enter other etherealized
particles of matter to contribute towards
his support.* Otherwise, all
the food and drink is sufficient only
to keep in equilibrium those
"gross" parts of his
physical body which still remain to repair their
cuticle-waste through the medium of
the blood. Later on, the process of
cell-development in his frame will
undergo a change; a change for the
better, the opposite of that in
disease for the worse--he will become
all living and sensitive, and will
derive nourishment from the Ether
(Akas). But that epoch for our neophyte is yet far
distant.
---------
* He is in a state similar to the
physical state of a fetus
before birth into the world.--G.M.
---------
Probably, long before that period has
arrived, other results, no less
surprising than incredible to the uninitiated
will have ensued to give
our neophyte courage and consolation
in his difficult task. It would be
but a truism to repeat what has been
again alleged (in ignorance of its
real rationale) by hundreds and
hundreds of writers as to the happiness
and content conferred by a life of
innocence and purity. But often at
the very commencement of the process
some real physical result,
unexpected and unthought of by the
neophyte, occurs. Some lingering
disease, hitherto deemed hopeless,
may take a favourable turn; or he may
develop healing mesmeric powers
himself; or some hitherto unknown
sharpening of his senses may delight
him. The rationale of these things
is, as we have said, neither
miraculous nor difficult of comprehension.
In the first place, the sudden change
in the direction of the vital
energy (which, whatever view we take
of it and its origin, is
acknowledged by all schools of
philosophy as most recondite, and as the
motive power) must produce results of
some kind. In the second,
Theosophy shows, as we said before,
that a man consists of several men
pervading each other, and on this
view (although it is very difficult to
express the idea in language) it is
but natural that the progressive
etherealization of the densest and
most gross of all should leave the
others literally more at
liberty. A troop of horses may be
blocked by a
mob and have much difficulty in
fighting its way through; but if every
one of the mob could be changed
suddenly into a ghost, there would be
little to retard it. And as each interior entity is more rare,
active,
and volatile than the outer and as
each has relation with different
elements, spaces, and properties of
the Kosmos which are treated of in
other articles on Occultism, the mind
of the reader may conceive--though
the pen of the writer could not
express it in a dozen volumes--the
magnificent possibilities gradually
unfolded to the neophyte.
Many of the opportunities thus
suggested may be taken advantage of by
the neophyte for his own safety, amusement,
and the good of those around
him;
but the way in which he does this is one adapted to his fitness--a
part of the ordeal he has to pass
through, and misuse of these powers
will certainly entail the loss of
them as a natural result. The Itchcha
(or desire) evoked anew by the vistas
they open up will retard or throw
back his progress.
But there is another portion of the
Great Secret to which we must
allude, and which is now, for the
first, in a long series of ages,
allowed to be given out to the world,
as the hour for it is come.
The educated reader need not be
reminded again that one of the great
discoveries which has immortalized
the name of Darwin is the law that an
organism has always a tendency to
repeat, at an analogous period in its
life, the action of its progenitors,
the more surely and completely in
proportion to their proximity in the
scale of life. One result of this
is, that, in general, organized
beings usually die at a period (on an
average) the same as that of their
progenitors. It is true that there
is a great difference between the
actual ages at which individuals of
any species die. Disease, accidents and famine are the main
agents in
causing this. But there is, in each species, a well-known
limit within
which the Race-life lies, and none
are known to survive beyond it. This
applies to the human species as well
as any other. Now, supposing that
every possible sanitary condition had
been complied with, and every
accident and disease avoided by a man
of ordinary frame, in some
particular case there would still, as
is known to medical men, come a
time when the particles of the body
would feel the hereditary tendency
to do that which leads inevitably to
dissolution, and would obey it. It
must be obvious to any reflecting man
that, if by any procedure this
critical climacteric could be once
thoroughly passed over, the
subsequent danger of
"Death" would be proportionally less as the years
progressed. Now this, which no ordinary and unprepared
mind and body
can do, is possible sometimes for the
will and the frame of one who has
been specially prepared. There are fewer of the grosser particles
present to feel the hereditary
bias--there is the assistance of the
reinforced "interior men"
(whose normal duration is always greater even
in natural death) to the visible
outer shell, and there is the drilled
and indomitable Will to direct and
wield the whole.*
-----------
* In this connection we may as well
show what modern science, and
especially physiology has to say as
to the power of the human will.
"The force of will is a potent
element in determining longevity. This
single point must be granted without
argument, that of two men every way
alike and similarly circumstanced,
the one who has the greater courage
and grit will be longer-lived. One
does not need to practice medicine
long to learn that men die who might
just as well live if they resolved
to live, and that myriads who are
invalids could become strong if they
had the native or acquired will to
vow they would do so. Those who have
no other quality favourable to life,
whose bodily organs are nearly
all diseased, to whom each day is a
day of pain, who are beset by
life-shortening influences, yet do
live by will alone."
--Dr. George M. Beard.
-------------
From that time forward the course of
the aspirant is clearer. He has
conquered "the Dweller of the
Threshold"--the hereditary enemy of his
race, and, though still exposed to
ever-new dangers in his progress
towards Nirvana, he is flushed with
victory, and with new confidence and
new powers to second it, can press
onwards to perfection.
For, it must be remembered, that
nature everywhere acts by Law, and that
the process of purification we have
been describing in the visible
material body, also takes place in
those which are interior, and not
visible to the scientist by
modifications of the same process. All
is
on the change, and the metamorphoses
of the more ethereal bodies
imitate, though in successively
multiplied duration, the career of the
grosser, gaining an increasing wider
range of relations with the
surrounding kosmos, till in Nirvana
the most rarefied Individuality is
merged at last into the INFINITE
TOTALITY.
From the above description of the
process, it will be inferred why it is
that "Adepts" are so seldom
seen in ordinary life; for, pari passu, with
the etherealization of their bodies
and the development of their power,
grows an increasing distaste, and a
so-to-speak, "contempt" for the
things of our ordinary mundane
existence. Like the fugitive who
successively casts away in his flight
those articles which incommode his
progress, beginning with the
heaviest, so the aspirant eluding "Death"
abandons all on which the latter can
take hold. In the progress of
Negation everything got rid of is a help. As we said before, the adept
does not become "immortal"
as the word is ordinarily understood. By or
about the time when the Death-limit
of his race is passed he is actually
dead, in the ordinary sense, that is
to say, he has relieved himself of
all or nearly all such material
particles as would have necessitated in
disruption the agony of dying. He has been dying gradually during the
whole period of his Initiation. The catastrophe cannot happen twice
over.
He has only spread over a number of years the mild process of
dissolution which others endure from
a brief moment to a few hours. The
highest Adept is, in fact, dead to,
and absolutely unconscious of, the
world; he is oblivious of its pleasures, careless of
its miseries, in
so far as sentimentalism goes, for
the stern sense of DUTY never leaves
him blind to its very existence. For the new ethereal senses opening to
wider spheres are to ours much in the
relation of ours to the Infinitely
Little. New desires and enjoyments, new dangers and
new hindrances
arise, with new sensations and new
perceptions; and far away down in
the mist--both literally and
metaphorically--is our dirty little earth
left below by those who have
virtually "gone to join the gods."
And from this account too, it will be
perceptible how foolish it is for
people to ask the Theosophist to
"procure for them communication with
the highest Adepts." It is with the utmost difficulty that one or
two
can be induced, even by the throes of
a world, to injure their own
progress by meddling with mundane
affairs. The ordinary reader will
say:
"This is not god-like. This is the acme of selfishness." ....
But
let him realize that a very high
Adept, undertaking to reform the world,
would necessarily have to once more
submit to Incarnation. And is the
result of all that have gone before
in that line sufficiently
encouraging to prompt a renewal of
the attempt?
A deep consideration of all that we
have written, will also give the
Theosophists an idea of what they
demand when they ask to be put in the
way of gaining practically
"higher powers." Well, there,
as plainly as
words can put it, is the PATH ....
can they tread it?
Nor must it be disguised that what to
the ordinary mortal are unexpected
dangers, temptations and enemies also
beset the way of the neophyte.
And that for no fanciful cause, but
the simple reason that he is, in
fact, acquiring new senses, has yet
no practice in their use, and has
never before seen the things he
sees. A man born blind suddenly endowed
with vision would not at once master
the meaning of perspective, but
would, like a baby, imagine in one
case, the moon to be within his
reach, and, in the other, grasp a
live coal with the most reckless
confidence.
And what, it may be asked, is to
recompense this abnegation of all the
pleasures of life, this cold
surrender of all mundane interests, this
stretching forward to an unknown goal
which seems ever more
unattainable? For, unlike some of the anthropomorphic
creeds, Occultism
offers to its votaries no eternally
permanent heaven of material
pleasure, to be gained at once by one
quick dash through the grave. As
has, in fact, often been the case
many would be prepared willingly to
die now for the sake of the paradise
hereafter. But Occultism gives no
such prospect of cheaply and
immediately gained infinitude of pleasure,
wisdom and existence. It only promises extensions of these,
stretching
in successive arches obscured by
successive veils, in an unbroken series
up the long vista which leads to
NIRVANA. And this too, qualified by
the necessity that new powers entail
new responsibilities, and that the
capacity of increased pleasure
entails the capacity of increased
sensibility to pain. To this, the only answer that can be given is
two-fold: (1st) the consciousness of Power is itself
the most exquisite
of pleasures, and is unceasingly
gratified in the progress onwards with
new means for its exercise and
(2ndly) as has been already said--THIS is
the only road by which there is the
faintest scientific likelihood that
"Death" can be avoided,
perpetual memory secured, infinite wisdom
attained, and hence an immense
helping of mankind made possible, once
that the adept has safely crossed the
turning-point. Physical as well
as metaphysical logic requires and
endorses the fact that only by
gradual absorption into infinity can
the Part become acquainted with the
Whole, and that that which is now
something can only feel, know, and
enjoy EVERYTHING when lost in
Absolute Totality in the vortex of that
Unalterable Circle wherein our
Knowledge becomes Ignorance, and the
Everything itself is identified with
the NOTHING.
Is the Desire to "Live"
Selfish?
The passage "to live, to live,
to live must be the unswerving resolve,"
occurring in the article on the
Elixir of Life, is often quoted by
superficial and unsympathetic readers
as an argument that the teachings
of occultism are the most
concentrated form of selfishness. In
order to
determine whether the critics are
right or wrong, the meaning of the
word "selfishness" must
first be ascertained.
According to an established
authority, selfishness is that "exclusive
regard to one's own interest or
happiness; that supreme self-love or
self-preference which leads a person
to direct his purposes to the
advancement of his own interest,
power, or happiness, without regarding
those of others."
In short, an absolutely selfish
individual is one who cares for himself
and none else, or, in other words, one
who is so strongly imbued with a
sense of the importance of his own
personality that to him it is the
crown of all thoughts, desires, and
aspirations, and beyond which lies
the perfect blank. Now, can an occultist be then said to be
"selfish"
when he desires to live in the sense
in which that word is used by the
writer of the article on the Elixir
of Life? It has been said over and
over again that the ultimate end of
every aspirant after occult
knowledge is Nirvana or Mukti, when
the individual, freed from all
Mayavic Upadhi, becomes one with
Paramatma, or the Son identifies
himself with the Father in Christian
phraseology. For that purpose,
every veil of illusion which creates
a sense of personal isolation, a
feeling of separateness from THE ALL,
must be torn asunder, or, in other
words, the aspirant must gradually
discard all sense of selfishness with
which we are all more or less
affected. A study of the Law of Kosmic
Evolution teaches us that the higher
the evolution, the more does it
tend towards Unity. In fact, Unity is the ultimate possibility of
Nature, and those who through vanity
and selfishness go against her
purposes, cannot but incur the
punishment of annihilation. The
occultist thus recognizes that
unselfishness and a feeling of universal
philanthropy are the inherent laws of
our being, and all he does is to
attempt to destroy the chains of
selfishness forged upon us all by Maya.
The struggle then between Good and
Evil, God and Satan, Suras and
Asuras, Devas and Daityas, which is
mentioned in the sacred books of all
the nations and races, symbolizes the
battle between unselfish and
selfish impulses, which takes place
in a man, who tries to follow the
higher purposes of Nature, until the
lower animal tendencies, created by
selfishness, are completely
conquered, and the enemy thoroughly routed
and annihilated. It has also been often put forth in various
Theosophical and other occult
writings that the only difference between
an ordinary man who works along with
Nature during the course of Kosmic
evolution and an occultist, is that
the latter, by his superior
knowledge, adopts such methods of
training and discipline as will hurry
on that process of evolution, and he
thus reaches in a comparatively
short time the apex which the ordinary
individual will take perhaps
billions of years to reach. In short, in a few thousand years he
approaches that type of evolution
which ordinary humanity attains in the
sixth or seventh Round of the
Manvantara, i.e., cyclic progression. It
is evident that an average man cannot
become a MAHATMA in one life, or
rather in one incarnation. Now those, who have studied the occult
teachings concerning Devachan and our
after-states, will remember that
between two incarnations there is a
considerable period of subjective
existence. The greater the number of such Devachanic
periods, the
greater is the number of years over
which this evolution is extended.
The chief aim of the occultist is
therefore to so control himself as to
be able to regulate his future states,
and thereby gradually shorten the
duration of his Devachanic existence
between two incarnations. In the
course of his progress, there comes a
time when, between one physical
death and his next rebirth, there is
no Devachan but a kind of spiritual
sleep, the shock of death, having, so
to say, stunned him into a state
of unconsciousness from which he
gradually recovers to find himself
reborn, to continue his purpose. The period of this sleep may vary from
twenty-five to two hundred years,
depending upon the degree of his
advancement. But even this period may be said to be a
waste of time,
and hence all his exertions are
directed to shorten its duration so as
to gradually come to a point when the
passage from one state of
existence into another is almost
imperceptible. This is his last
incarnation, as it were, for the
shock of death no more stuns him. This
is the idea the writer of the article
on the Elixir of Life means to
convey when he says:
By or about the time when the
Death-limit of his race is passed he is
actually dead, in the ordinary sense,
that is to say, he has relieved
himself of all or nearly all such
material particles as would have
necessitated in disruption the agony
of dying. He has been dying
gradually during the whole period of
his Initiation. The catastrophe
cannot happen twice over, he has only
spread over a number of years the
mild process of dissolution which
others endure from a brief moment to a
few hours. The highest Adept is, in fact, dead to, and
absolutely
unconscious of, the World; he is oblivious of its pleasures, careless
of its miseries, in so far as
sentimentalism goes, for the stern sense
of Duty never leaves him blind to its
very existence....
The process of the emission and
attraction of atoms, which the occultist
controls, has been discussed at
length in that article and in other
writings. It is by these means that he gets rid
gradually of all the
old gross particles of his body,
substituting for them finer and more
ethereal ones, till at last the
former sthula sarira is completely dead
and disintegrated, and he lives in a
body entirely of his own creation,
suited to his work. That body is essential to his purposes; as the
Elixir of Life says:--
To do good, as in every thing else, a
man most have time and materials
to Work with, and this is a necessary
means to the acquirement of powers
by which infinitely more good can be
done than without them. When these
are once mastered, the opportunities
to use them will arrive....
Giving the practical instructions for
that purpose, the same paper
continues:--
The physical man must be rendered
more ethereal and sensitive; the
mental man more penetrating and
profound; the moral man more
self-denying and philosophical.
Losing sight of the above important
considerations, the following
passage is entirely misunderstood:--
And from this account too, it will be
perceptible how foolish it is for
people to ask the Theosophist
"to procure for them communication with
the highest Adepts." It is with the utmost difficulty that one or
two
can be induced, even by the throes of
a world, to injure their own
progress by meddling with mundane
affairs. The ordinary reader will
say:
"This is not god-like. This is the acme of selfishness."
....But
let him realize that a very high
Adept, undertaking to reform the world,
would necessarily have to once more
submit to Incarnation. And is the
result of all that have gone before
in that line sufficiently
encouraging to prompt a renewal of
the attempt?
Now, in condemning the above passage
as inculcating selfishness,
superficial critics neglect many
profound truths. In the first place,
they forget the other extracts
already quoted which impose self-denial
as a necessary condition of success,
and which say that, with progress,
new senses and new powers are
acquired with which infinitely more good
can be done than without them. The more spiritual the Adept becomes the
less can he meddle with mundane gross
affairs and the more he has to
confine himself to spiritual
work. It has been repeated, times out of
number, that the work on the
spiritual plane is as superior to the work
on the intellectual plane as the
latter is superior to that on the
physical plane. The very high Adepts, therefore, do help
humanity, but
only spiritually: they are constitutionally incapable of
meddling with
worldly affairs. But this applies only to very high
Adepts. There are
various degrees of Adept-ship, and
those of each degree work for
humanity on the planes to which they
may have risen. It is only the
chelas that can live in the world,
until they rise to a certain degree.
And it is because the Adepts do care
for the world that they make their
chelas live in and work for it, as
many of those who study the subject
are aware. Each cycle produces its own occultists
capable of working
for the humanity of the time on all
the different planes; but when the
Adepts foresee that at a particular
period humanity will he incapable of
producing occultists for work on particular
planes, for such occasions
they do provide by either voluntarily
giving up their further progress
and waiting until humanity reaches
that period, or by refusing to enter
into Nirvana and submitting to
re-incarnation so as to be ready for work
when the time comes. And although the world may not be aware of
the
fact, yet there are even now certain
Adepts who have preferred to remain
in statu quo and refuse to take the
higher degrees, for the benefit of
the future generations of
humanity. In short, as the Adepts work
harmoniously, since unity is the
fundamental law of their being, they
have, as it were, made a division of
labour, according to which each
works on the plane appropriate to
himself for the spiritual elevation of
us all--and the process of longevity
mentioned in the Elixir of Life is
only the means to the end which, far
from being selfish, is the most
unselfish purpose for which a human
being can labour.
(--H.P. Blavatsky)
Contemplation
A general misconception on this subject
seems to prevail. One confines
oneself for some time in a room, and
passively gazes at one's nose, a
spot on the wall, or, perhaps, a
crystal, under the impression that such
is the true form of contemplation
enjoined by Raj Yoga. Many fail to
realize that true occultism requires
a physical, mental, moral and
spiritual development to run on
parallel lines, and injure themselves,
physically and spiritually, by
practice of what they falsely believe to
be Dhyan. A few instances may be mentioned here with
advantage, as a
warning to over-zealous students.
At Bareilly the writer met a member
of the Theosophical Society from
Farrukhabad, who narrated his
experiences and shed bitter tears of
repentance for his past follies--as
he termed them. It appears from his
account that fifteen or twenty years
ago having read about contemplation
in the Bhagavad Gita, he undertook
the practice of it, without a proper
comprehension of its esoteric meaning
and carried it on for several
years. At first he experienced a sense of pleasure,
but simultaneously
he found he was gradually losing
self-control; until after a few years
he discovered, to his great
bewilderment and sorrow, that he was no
longer his own master. He felt his heart actually growing heavy, as
though a load had been placed on
it. He had no control over his
sensations the communication between
the brain and the heart had become
as though interrupted. As matters grew worse, in disgust he
discontinued his
"contemplation." This happened
as long as seven years
ago;
and, although since then he has not felt worse, yet he could never
regain his original healthy state of
mind and body.
Another case came under the writer's
observation at Jubbulpore. The
gentleman concerned, after reading
Patanjali and such other works, began
to sit for
"contemplation." After a short
time he commenced seeing
abnormal sights and hearing musical
bells, but neither over these
phenomena nor over his own sensations
could he exercise any control. He
could not produce these results at
will, nor could he stop them when
they were occurring. Numerous such examples may be cited. While
penning these lines, the writer has
on his table two letters upon this
subject, one from Moradabad and the
other from Trichinopoly. In short,
all this mischief is due to a
misunderstanding of the significance of
contemplation as enjoined upon
students by all the schools of Occult
Philosophy. With a view to afford a glimpse of the
Reality through the
dense veil that enshrouds the
mysteries of this Science of Sciences, an
article, the Elixir of Life, was
written. Unfortunately, in too many
instances, the seed seems to have
fallen upon barren ground. Some of
its readers pin their faith to the
following clause in that paper:--
Reasoning from the known to the
unknown meditation must be practiced and
encouraged.
But, alas! their preconceptions have
prevented them from comprehending
what is meant by meditation. They forget that the meditation spoken of
"is the inexpressible yearning of
the inner Man to 'go out towards the
infinite,' which in the olden time
was the real meaning of adoration"--
as the next sentence shows. A good deal of light would be thrown upon
this subject if the reader were to
turn to an earlier part of the same
paper, and peruse attentively the
following paragraphs:--
So, then, we have arrived at the
point where we have determined--
literally, not metaphorically--to
crack the outer shell known as the
mortal coil or body, and hatch out of
it, clothed in our next. This
'next' is not a spiritual, but only a
more ethereal form. Having by a
long training and preparation adapted
it for a life in the atmosphere,
during which time we have gradually
made the outward shell to die off
through a certain process .... we
have to prepare for this physiological
transformation.
How are we to do it? In the first place we have the actual,
visible,
material body--Man, so called,
though, in fact, but his outer shell--to
deal with. Let us bear in mind that Science teaches us
that in about
every seven years we change skin as
effectually as any serpent; and
this so gradually and imperceptibly
that, had not science after years of
unremitting study and observation
assured us of it, no one would have
had the slightest suspicion of the fact....
Hence, if a man, partially
flayed alive, may sometimes survive
and be covered with a new skin, so
our astral, vital body .... may be
made to harden its particles to the
atmospheric changes. The whole secret is to succeed in evolving it
out,
and separating it from the visible;
and while its generally invisible
atoms proceed to concrete themselves
into a compact mass, to gradually
get rid of the old particles of our
visible frame so as to make them die
and disappear before the new set has
had time to evolve and replace
them.... We can say no more.
A correct comprehension of the above
scientific process will give a clue
to the esoteric meaning of meditation
or contemplation. Science teaches
us that man changes his physical body
continually, and this change is so
gradual that it is almost
imperceptible. Why then should the case
be
otherwise with the inner man? The latter too is developing and changing
atoms at every moment. And the attraction of these new sets of atoms
depends upon the Law of Affinity--the
desires of the man drawing to his
bodily tenement only such particles
as are necessary to give them
expression.
For Science shows that thought is
dynamic, and the thought-force evolved
by nervous action expanding itself
outwardly, must affect the molecular
relations of the physical man. The inner men, however sublimated their
organism may be, are still composed
of actual, not hypothetical,
particles, and are still subject to
the law that an "action" has a
tendency to repeat itself; a tendency to set up analogous action in the
grosser "shell" they are in
contact with, and concealed within.--"The
Elixir of Life"
What is it the aspirant of Yog Vidya
strives after if not to gain Mukti
by transferring himself gradually
from the grosser to the next less
gross body, until all the veils of
Maya being successively removed his
Atma becomes one with Paramatma? Does he suppose that this grand result
can be achieved by a two or four
hours' contemplation? For the
remaining twenty or twenty-two hours
that the devotee does not shut
himself up in his room for meditation
is the process of the emission of
atoms and their replacement by others
stopped? If not, then how does he
mean to attract all this time only those
suited to his end? From the
above remarks it is evident that just
as the physical body requires
incessant attention to prevent the
entrance of a disease, so also the
inner man requires an unremitting
watch, so that no conscious or
unconscious thought may attract atoms
unsuited to its progress. This is
the real meaning of
contemplation. The prime factor in the
guidance of
the thought is Will.
Without that, all else is
useless. And, to be efficient for the
purpose, it must be, not only a
passing resolution of the moment, a
single fierce desire of short
duration, but a settled and continued
strain, as nearly as can be continued
and concentrated without one
single moment's remission.
The student would do well to take
note of the italicized clause in the
above quotation. He should also have it indelibly impressed
upon his
mind that:
It is no use to fast as long as one
requires food.... To get rid of the
inward desire is the essential thing,
and to mimic the real thing
without it is barefaced hypocrisy and
useless slavery.
Without realizing the significance of
this most important fact, any one
who for a moment finds cause of
disagreement with any one of his family,
or has his vanity wounded, or for a
sentimental flash of the moment, or
for a selfish desire to utilize the Divine power for gross purposes--at
once rushes into contemplation and
dashes himself to pieces on the rock
dividing the known from the
unknown. Wallowing in the mire of
exotericism, he knows not what it is to
live in the world and yet be not
of the world; in other words, to guard self against self is
an almost
incomprehensible axiom for the
profane. The Hindu ought to know better
from the life of Janaka, who,
although a reigning monarch, was yet
styled Rajarshi and is said to have
attained Nirvana. Hearing of his
widespread fame, a few sectarian
bigots went to his court to test his
Yoga-power. As soon as they entered the court-room, the
king having
read their thoughts--a power which
every chela attains at a certain
stage--gave secret instructions to
his officials to have a particular
street in the city lined on both
sides by dancing girls singing the must
voluptuous songs. He then had some gharas (pots) filled with
water up
to the brim so that the least shake
would be likely to spill their
contents. The wiseacres, each with a full ghara (pot)
on his head, were
ordered to pass along the street,
surrounded by soldiers with drawn
swords to be used against them if
even so much as a drop of water were
allowed to run over. The poor fellows having returned to the
palace
after successfully passing the test,
were asked by the King-Adept what
they had met with in the street they
were made to go through. With
great indignation they replied that
the threat of being cut to pieces
had so much worked upon their minds
that they thought of nothing but the
water on their heads, and the
intensity of their attention did not
permit them to take cognizance of
what was going on around them. Then
Janaka told them that on the same
principle they could easily understand
that, although being outwardly
engaged in managing the affairs of his
State, he could, at the same time, be
an Occultist. He too, while in
the world, was not of the world. In other words, his inward aspirations
had been leading him on continually
to the goal in which his whole inner
self was concentrated.
Raj Yoga encourages no sham, requires
no physical postures. It has to
deal with the inner man whose sphere
lies in the world of thought. To
have the highest ideal placed before
oneself and strive incessantly to
rise up to it, is the only true
concentration recognized by Esoteric
Philosophy which deals with the inner
world of noumena, not the outer
shell of phenomena.
The first requisite for it is
thorough purity of heart. Well might the
student of Occultism say with
Zoroaster, that purity of thought, purity
of word, and purity of deed,--these
are the essentials of one who would
rise above the ordinary level and
join the "gods." A cultivation
of the
feeling of unselfish philanthropy is
the path which has to be traversed
for that purpose. For it is that alone which will lead to
Universal
Love, the realization of which
constitutes the progress towards
deliverance from the chains forged by
Maya (illusion) around the Ego.
No student will attain this at once,
but as our Venerated Mahatma says
in the "Occult World":--
The greater the progress towards
deliverance, the less this will be the
case, until, to crown all, human and
purely individual personal
feelings, blood-ties and friendship,
patriotism and race predilection,
will all give way to become blended
into one universal feeling, the only
true and holy, the only unselfish and
eternal one, Love, an Immense Love
for Humanity as a whole.
In short, the individual is blended
with the ALL.
Of course, contemplation, as usually
understood, is not without its
minor advantages. It develops one set of physical faculties as
gymnastics does the muscles. For the purposes of physical mesmerism it
is good enough; but it can in no way help the development of
the
psychological faculties, as the
thoughtful reader will perceive. At the
same time, even for ordinary
purposes, the practice can never be too
well guarded. If, as some suppose, they have to be entirely
passive and
lose themselves in the object before
them, they should remember that, by
thus encouraging passivity, they, in
fact, allow the development of
mediumistic faculties in
themselves. As was repeatedly
stated--the
Adept and the Medium are the two
Poles: while the former is intensely
active and thus able to control the
elemental forces, the latter is
intensely passive and thus incurs the
risk of falling a prey to the
caprice and malice of mischievous
embryos of human beings, and the
elementaries.
It will be evident from the above
that true meditation consists in the
"reasoning from the known to the
unknown." The "known" is
the
phenomenal world, cognizable by our
five senses. And all that we see in
this manifested world are the
effects, the causes of which are to be
sought after in the noumenal, the
unmanifested, the "unknown world:"
this is to be accomplished by
meditation, i.e., continued attention to
the subject. Occultism does not depend upon one method,
but employs
both the deductive and the
inductive. The student must first learn
the
general axioms, which have
sufficiently been laid down in the Elixir of
Life and other occult writings. What the student has first to do is to
comprehend these axioms and, by
employing the deductive method, to
proceed from universals to
particulars. He has then to reason from
the
"known to the unknown," and
see if the inductive method of proceeding
from particulars to universals
supports those axioms. This process
forms the primary stage of true contemplation. The student must first
grasp the subject intellectually
before he can hope to realize his
aspirations. When this is
accomplished, then comes the next stage of
meditation, which is "the
inexpressible yearning of the inner man to 'go
out towards the infinite.'" Before any such yearning can be properly
directed, the goal must first be
determined. The higher stage, in fact,
consists in practically realizing
what the first steps have placed
within one's comprehension. In short, contemplation, in its true sense,
is to recognize the truth of Eliphas
Levi's saying:--
To believe without knowing is
weakness; to believe, because one knows,
is power.
The Elixir of Life not only gives the
preliminary steps in the ladder of
contemplation but also tells the
reader how to realize the higher
stages. It traces, by the process of contemplation as
it were, the
relation of man, "the
known," the manifested, the phenomenon, to "the
unknown," the unmanifested, the
noumenon. It shows the student what
ideal to contemplate and how to rise
up to it. It places before him the
nature of the inner capacities of man
and how to develop them. To a
superficial reader, this may,
perhaps, appear as the acme of
selfishness. Reflection will, however, show the contrary
to be the
case.
For it teaches the student that to comprehend the noumenal, he
must identify himself with
Nature. Instead of looking upon himself
as
an isolated being, he must learn to
look upon himself as a part of the
Integral Whole. For, in the unmanifested world, it can be
clearly
perceived that all is controlled by
the "Law of Affinity," the
attraction of the one for the
other. There, all is Infinite Love,
understood in its true sense.
It may now not be out of place to
recapitulate what has already been
said.
The first thing to be done is to study the axioms of Occultism
and work upon them by the deductive
and the inductive methods, which is
real contemplation. To turn this to a useful purpose, what is
theoretically comprehended must be
practically realized.
--Damodar K. Mavalaukar
Chelas and Lay Chelas
A "chela" is a person who
has offered himself to a master as a pupil to
learn practically the "hidden
mysteries of Nature and the psychical
powers latent in man." The master who accepts him is called in India
a
Guru;
and the real Guru is always an adept in the Occult Science. A
man of profound knowledge, exoteric
and esoteric, especially the latter;
and one who has brought his carnal
nature under the subjection of the
WILL;
who has developed in himself both the power (Siddhi) to control
the forces of Nature, and the
capacity to probe her secrets by the help
of the formerly latent but now active
powers of his being--this is the
real Guru. To offer oneself as a candidate for Chelaship
is easy
enough, to develop into an adept the
most difficult task any man could
possibly undertake. There are scores of "natural-born"
poets,
mathematicians, mechanics, statesmen,
&c. But a natural-born adept is
something practically
impossible. For, though we do hear at
very rare
intervals of one who has an
extraordinary innate capacity for the
acquisition of occult knowledge and
power, yet even he has to pass the
self-same tests and probations, and
go through the self-same training as
any less endowed fellow
aspirant. In this matter it is most true
that
there is no royal road by which
favourites may travel.
For centuries the selection of
Chelas--outside the hereditary group
within the gon-pa (temple)--has been
made by the Himalayan Mahatmas
themselves from among the class--in
Tibet, a considerable one as to
number--of natural mystics. The only exceptions have been in the cases
of Western men like Fludd, Thomas
Vaughan, Paracelsus, Pico di
Mirandolo, Count St. Germain,
&c., whose temperament affinity to this
celestial science, more or less
forced the distant Adepts to come into
personal relations with them, and
enabled them to get such small (or
large) proportion of the whole truth
as was possible under their social
surroundings. From Book IV. of Kui-te, Chapter on "The
Laws of
Upasanas," we learn that the
qualifications expected in a Chela were:--
1. Perfect physical health;
2. Absolute mental and physical
purity;
3. Unselfishness of purpose; universal charity; pity for all
animate beings;
4. Truthfulness and unswerving faith
in the law of Karma, independent of
the intervention of any power in
Nature: a law whose course is not to
be obstructed by any agency, not to
be caused to deviate by prayer or
propitiatory exoteric ceremonies;
5. A courage undaunted in every
emergency, even by peril to life;
6. An intuitional perception of one's
being the vehicle of the
manifested Avalokiteswara or Divine
Atma (Spirit);
7. Calm indifference for, but a just
appreciation of, everything that
constitutes the objective and
transitory world, in its relation with,
and to, the invisible regions.
Such, at the least, must have been
the recommendations of one aspiring
to perfect Chelaship. With the sole exception of the first, which
in
rare and exceptional cases might have
been modified, each one of these
points has been invariably insisted
upon, and all must have been more or
less developed in the inner nature by
the Chela's unhelped exertions,
before he could be actually "put
to the test."
When the self-evolving
ascetic--whether in, or outside the active
world--has placed himself, according
to his natural capacity, above,
hence made himself master of his (1)
Sarira--body; (2) Indriya--senses;
(3) Dosha--faults; (4) Dukkha--pain; and is ready to become one with
his Manas--mind; Buddhi--intellection, or spiritual
intelligence; and
Atma--highest soul, i.e., spirit;
when he is ready for this, and,
further, to recognize in Atma the
highest ruler in the world of
perceptions, and in the will, the
highest executive energy (power), then
may he, under the time-honoured
rules, be taken in hand by one of the
Initiates. He may then be shown the mysterious path at
whose farther
end is obtained the unerring
discernment of Phala, or the fruits of
causes produced, and given the means
of reaching Apavarga--emancipation
from the misery of repeated births,
pretya-bhava, in whose determination
the ignorant has no hand.
But since the advent of the
Theosophical Society, one of whose arduous
tasks it is to re-awaken in the Aryan
mind the dormant memory of the
existence of this science and of
those transcendent human capabilities,
the rules of Chela selection have
become slightly relaxed in one
respect. Many members of the Society who would not
have been otherwise
called to Chelaship became convinced
by practical proof of the above
points, and rightly enough thinking
that if other men had hitherto
reached the goal, they too, if
inherently fitted, might reach it by
following the same path,
importunately pressed to be taken as
candidates. And as it would be an interference with Karma
to deny them
the chance of at least beginning,
they were given it. The results have
been far from encouraging so far, and
it is to show them the cause of
their failure as much as to warn
others against rushing heedlessly upon
a similar fate, that the writing of
the present article has been
ordered. The candidates in question, though plainly
warned against it
in advance, began wrong by selfishly
looking to the future and losing
sight of the past. They forgot that they had done nothing to
deserve
the rare honour of selection, nothing
which warranted their expecting
such a privilege; that they could boast of none of the above
enumerated
merits. As men of the selfish, sensual world, whether
married or
single, merchants, civilian or
military employees, or members of the
learned professions, they had been to
a school most calculated to
assimilate them to the animal nature,
least so to develop their
spiritual potentialities. Yet each and all had vanity enough to suppose
that their case would be made an
exception to the law of countless
centuries, as though, indeed, in
their person had been born to the world
a new Avatar! All expected to have hidden things taught,
extraordinary
powers given them, because--well,
because they had joined the
Theosophical Society. Some had sincerely resolved to amend their
lives,
and give up their evil courses: we must do them that justice, at all
events.
All were refused at first, Col.
Olcott the President himself, to begin
with:
and he was not formally accepted as a Chela until he had proved
by more than a year's devoted labours
and by a determination which
brooked no denial, that he might
safely be tested. Then from all sides
came complaints--from Hindus, who
ought to have known better, as well as
from Europeans who, of course, were
not in a condition to know anything
at all about the rules. The cry was that unless at least a few
Theosophists were given the chance to
try, the Society could not endure.
Every other noble and unselfish
feature of our programme was ignored--a
man's duty to his neighbour, to his
country, his duty to help,
enlighten, encourage and elevate
those weaker and less favoured than he;
all were trampled out of sight in the
insane rush for adeptship. The
call for phenomena, phenomena,
phenomena, resounded in every quarter,
and the Founders were impeded in
their real work and teased
importunately to intercede with the
Mahatmas, against whom the real
grievance lay, though their poor
agents had to take all the buffets. At
last, the word came from the higher
authorities that a few of the most
urgent candidates should be taken at
their word. The result of the
experiment would perhaps show better
than any amount of preaching what
Chelaship meant, and what are the
consequences of selfishness and
temerity. Each candidate was warned that be must wait
for year in any
event, before his fitness could be
established, and that he must pass
through a series of tests that would bring
out all there was in him,
whether bad or good. They were nearly all married men, and hence
were
designated "Lay Chelas"--a
term new in English, but having long had its
equivalent in Asiatic tongues. A Lay Chela is but a man of the world
who affirms his desire to become wise
in spiritual things. Virtually,
every member of the Theosophical
Society who subscribes to the second of
our three "Declared
Objects" is such; for though not of
the number of
true Chelas, he has yet the
possibility of becoming one, for he has
stepped across the boundary-line
which separated him from the Mahatmas,
and has brought himself, as it were,
under their notice. In joining the
Society and binding himself to help
along its work, he has pledged
himself to act in some degree in
concert with those Mahatmas, at whose
behest the Society was organized, and
under whose conditional protection
it remains. The joining is then, the
introduction; all the rest depends
entirely upon the member himself, and
he need never expect the most
distant approach to the
"favour" of one of our Mahatmas or any other
Mahatmas in the world--should the
latter consent to become known--that
has not been fully earned by personal
merit. The Mahatmas are the
servants, not the arbiters of the Law
of Karma.
Lay-Chelaship confers no privilege
upon any one except that of working
for merit under the observation of a
Master. And whether that Master be
or be not seen by the Chela makes no
difference whatever as to the
result: his good thought, words and deeds will bear
their fruits, his
evil ones, theirs. To boast of Lay Chelaship or make a parade of
it, is
the surest way to reduce the
relationship with the Guru to a mere empty
name, for it would be prima facie
evidence of vanity and unfitness for
farther progress. And for years we have been teaching
everywhere the
maxim "First deserve, then
desire" intimacy with the Mahatmas.
Now there is a terrible law operative
in Nature, one which cannot be
altered, and whose operation clears
up the apparent mystery of the
selection of certain
"Chelas" who have turned out sorry specimens of
morality, these few years past. Does the reader recall the old proverb,
"Let sleeping dogs
lie?" There is a world of occult
meaning in it. No
man or woman knows his or her moral
strength until it is tried.
Thousands go through life very
respectably, because they were never put
to the test. This is a truism doubtless, but it is most
pertinent to
the present case. One who undertakes
to try for Chelaship by that very
act rouses and lashes to desperation
every sleeping passion of his
animal nature. For this is the commencement of a struggle
for mastery
in which quarter is neither to be
given nor taken. It is, once for all,
"To be, or Not to be;" to conquer, means Adept-ship: to fail, an
ignoble Martyrdom; for to fall victim to lust, pride, avarice,
vanity,
selfishness, cowardice, or any other
of the lower propensities, is
indeed ignoble, if measured by the
standard of true manhood. The Chela
is not only called to face all the
latent evil propensities of his
nature, but, in addition, the
momentum of maleficent forces accumulated
by the community and nation to which
he belongs. For he is an integral
part of those aggregates, and what
affects either the individual man or
the group (town or nation), reacts
the one upon the other. And in this
instance his struggle for goodness
jars upon the whole body of badness
in his environment, and draws its
fury upon him. If he is content to go
along with his neighbours and be
almost as they are--perhaps a little
better or somewhat worse than the
average--no one may give him a
thought. But let it be known that he has been able to
detect the hollow
mockery of social life, its
hypocrisy, selfishness, sensuality, cupidity
and other bad features, and has
determined to lift himself up to a
higher level, at once he is hated,
and every bad, bigotted, or malicious
nature sends at him a current of
opposing will-power. If he is innately
strong he shakes it off, as the
powerful swimmer dashes through the
current that would bear a weaker one
away. But in this moral battle, if
the Chela has one single hidden
blemish--do what he may, it shall and
will be brought to light. The varnish of conventionalities which
"civilization" overlays us
all with must come off to the last coat, and
the inner self, naked and without the
slightest veil to conceal its
reality, is exposed. The habits of
society which hold men to a certain
degree under moral restraint, and
compel them to pay tribute to virtue
by seeming to be good whether they
are so or not--these habits are apt
to be all forgotten, these restraints
to be all broken through under the
strain of Chelaship. He is now in an atmosphere of
illusions--Maya.
Vice puts on its most alluring face,
and the tempting passions attract
the inexperienced aspirant to the
depths of psychic debasement. This is
not a case like that depicted by a
great artist, where Satan is seen
playing a game of chess with a man
upon the stake of his soul, while the
latter's good angel stands beside him
to counsel and assist. For the
strife is in this instance between
the Chela's will and his carnal
nature, and Karma forbids that any
angel or Guru should interfere until
the result is known. With the vividness of poetic fancy Bulwer
Lytton
has idealized it for us in his
"Zanoni," a work which will ever be
prized by the occultist while in his
"Strange Story" he has with equal
power shown the black side of occult
research and its deadly perils.
Chelaship was defined, the other day,
by a Mahatma as a "psychic
resolvent, which eats away all dross
and leaves only the pure gold
behind." If the candidate has
the latent lust for money, or political
chicanery, or materialistic
scepticism, or vain display, or false
speaking, or cruelty, or sensual
gratification of any kind the germ is
almost sure to sprout; and so, on the other hand, as regards the
noble
qualities of human nature. The real man comes out. Is it not the
height of folly, then, for any one to
leave the smooth path of
commonplace life to scale the crags
of Chelaship without some reasonable
feeling of certainty that he has the
right stuff in him? Well says the
Bible: "Let him that standeth take heed lest he
fall"--a text that
would-be Chelas should consider well
before they rush headlong into the
fray!
It would have been well for some of our Lay Chelas if they had
thought twice before defying the
tests. We call to mind several sad
failures within a twelve-month. One went wrong in the head, recanted
noble sentiments uttered but a few
weeks previously, and became a member
of a religion he had just scornfully
and unanswerably proven false. A
second became a defaulter and
absconded with his employer's money--the
latter also a Theosophist. A third gave himself up to gross debauchery,
and confessed it, with ineffectual
sobs and tears, to his chosen Guru.
A fourth got entangled with a person
of the other sex and fell out with
his dearest and truest friends. A fifth showed signs of mental
aberration and was brought into Court
upon charges of discreditable
conduct. A sixth shot himself to escape the
consequences of
criminality, on the verge of
detection! And so we might go on and on.
All these were apparently sincere
searchers after truth, and passed in
the world for respectable
persons. Externally, they were fairly
eligible as candidates for Chelaship,
as appearances go; but "within
all was rottenness and dead men's
bones." The world's varnish was so
thick as to hide the absence of the
true gold underneath; and the
"resolvent" doing its work,
the candidate proved in each instance but a
gilded figure of moral dross, from
circumference to core.
In what precedes we have, of course,
dealt but with the failures among
Lay Chelas; there have been partial successes too, and
these are
passing gradually through the first
stages of their probation. Some are
making themselves useful to the
Society and to the world in general by
good example and precept. If they persist, well for them, well for us
all:
the odds are fearfully against them, but still "there is no
impossibility to him who
Wills." The difficulties in
Chelaship will
never be less until human nature
changes and a new order is evolved.
St. Paul (Rom. vii. 18,19) might have
had a Chela in mind when he said
"to will is present with
me; but how to perform that which is
good I
find not. For the good I would I do not; but the evil which I would
not, that I do." And in the wise Kiratarjuniyam of Bharavi it
is
written:--
The enemies which rise within the body,
Hard to be overcome--the evil passions--
Should manfully be fought; who conquers these
Is equal to the conqueror of worlds. (XI. 32.)
(--H.P. Blavatsky)
Ancient Opinions Upon Psychic Bodies
It must be confessed that modern
Spiritualism falls very short of the
ideas formerly suggested by the
sublime designation which it has
assumed. Chiefly intent upon recognizing and putting
forward the
phenomenal proofs of a future existence,
it concerns itself little with
speculations on the distinction
between matter and spirit, and rather
prides itself on having demolished
Materialism without the aid of
metaphysics. Perhaps a Platonist might say that the
recognition of a
future existence is consistent with a
very practical and even dogmatic
materialism, but it is rather to be
feared that such a materialism as
this would not greatly disturb the
spiritual or intellectual repose of
our modern phenomenalists.* Given the consciousness with its
sensibilities safely housed in the
psychic body which demonstrably
survives the physical carcase, and we
are like men saved from shipwreck,
who are for the moment thankful and
content, not giving thought whether
they are landed on a hospitable shore,
or on a barren rock, or on an
island of cannibals. It is not of course intended that this
"hand to
mouth" immortality is sufficient
for the many thoughtful minds whose
activity gives life and progress to
the movement, but that it affords
the relief which most people feel
when in an age of doubt they make the
discovery that they are undoubtedly
to live again. To the question "how
are the dead raised up, and with what
body do they come?" modern
Spiritualism, with its empirical
methods, is not adequate to reply. Yet
long before Paul suggested it, it had
the attention of the most
celebrated schools of philosophy,
whose speculations on the subject,
however little they may seem to be
verified, ought not to be without
interest to us, who, after all, are
still in the infancy of a
spiritualist revival.
---------
* "I am afraid," says
Thomas Taylor in his Introduction to the Phaedo,
"there are scarcely any at the
present day who know that it is one thing
for the soul to be separated from the
body, and another for the body to
be separated from the soul, and that
the former is by no means a
necessary consequence of the
latter."
-----------
It would not be necessary to premise,
but for the frequency with which
the phrase occurs, that the
"spiritual body" is a contradiction in
terms. The office of body is to relate spirit to an
objective world.
By Platonic writers it is usually
termed okhema--"vehicle." It
is the
medium of action, and also of
sensibility. In this philosophy the
conception of Soul was not simply, as
with us, the immaterial subject of
consciousness. How warily the interpreter has to tread here,
every one
knows who has dipped, even
superficially, into the controversies among
Platonists themselves. All admit the distinction between the
rational
and the irrational part or principle,
the latter including, first, the
sensibility, and secondly, the
Plastic, or that lower which in obedience
to its sympathies enables the soul to
attach itself to, and to organize
into a suitable body those substances
of the universe to which it is
most congruous. It is more difficult to determine whether
Plato or his
principal followers, recognized in
the rational soul or nous a distinct
and separable entity, that which is
sometimes discriminated as "the
Spirit." Dr. Henry More, no mean authority, repudiates
this
interpretation. "There can be nothing more
monstrous," he says, "than
to make two souls in man, the one
sensitive, the other rational, really
distinct from one another, and to
give the name of Astral spirit to the
former, when there is in man no
Astral spirit beside the Plastic of the
soul itself, which is always
inseparable from that which is rational.
Nor upon any other account can it be
called Astral, but as it is liable
to that corporeal temperament which
proceeds from the stars, or rather
from any material causes in general,
as not being yet sufficiently
united with the divine body--that
vehicle of divine virtue or power."
So he maintains that the Kabalistic
three souls--Nephesh, Ruach,
Neschamah--originate in a
misunderstanding of the true Platonic
doctrine, which is that of a
threefold "vital congruity."
These
correspond to the three degrees of
bodily existence, or to the three
"vehicles," the
terrestrial, the aerial, and the ethereal.
The latter
is the augoeides--the luciform
vehicle of the purified soul whose
irrational part has been brought
under complete subjection to the
rational. The aerial is that in which the great
majority of mankind
find themselves at the dissolution of
the terrestrial body, and in which
the incomplete process of
purification has to be undergone during long
ages of preparation for the soul's
return to its primitive, ethereal
state. For it must be remembered that the
preexistence of souls is a
distinguishing tenet of this
philosophy as of the Kabala. The soul
has
"sunk into matter." From
its highest original state the revolt of its
irrational nature has awakened and
developed successively its "vital
congruities" with the regions
below, passing, by means of its "Plastic,"
first into the aerial and afterwards
into the terrestrial condition.
Each of these regions teems also with
an appropriate population which
never passes, like the human soul,
from one to the other--"gods,"
"demons," and animals.* As to duration, "the shortest of all is
that of
the terrestrial vehicle. In the aerial, the soul may inhabit, as they
define, many ages, and in the
ethereal, for ever."
---------
* The allusion here is to those
beings of the several kingdoms of the
elements which we Theosophists,
following after the Kabalists, have
called the
"Elementals." They never
become men.
--Ed. Theos.
---------
Speaking of the second body, Henry
More says "the soul's astral vehicle
is of that tenuity that itself can as
easily pass the smallest pores of
the body as the light does glass, or
the lightning the scabbard of a
sword without tearing or scorching of
it." And again, "I shall make
bold to assert that the soul may live
in an aerial vehicle as well as in
the ethereal, and that there are very
few that arrive to that high
happiness as to acquire a celestial
vehicle immediately upon their
quitting the terrestrial one; that heavenly chariot necessarily
carrying us in triumph to the
greatest happiness the soul of man is
capable of, which would arrive to all
men indifferently, good or bad, if
the parting with this earthly body
would suddenly mount us into the
heavenly. When by a just Nemesis the souls of men that
are not
heroically virtuous will find
themselves restrained within the compass
of this caliginous air, as both
Reason itself suggests, and the
Platonists have unanimously
determined." Thus also the most
thorough-going, and probably the most
deeply versed in the doctrines of
the master among modern Platonists,
Thomas Taylor (Introduction.
Phaedo):--"After this our divine
philosopher informs that the pure soul
will after death return to pure and
eternal natures; but that the
impure soul, in consequence of being
imbued with terrene affections,
will be drawn down to a kindred
nature, and be invested with a gross
vehicle capable of being seen by the
corporeal eye.* For while a
propensity to body remains in the
soul, it causes her to attract a
certain vehicle to herself; either of an aerial nature, or composed
from the spirit and vapours of her
terrestrial body, or which is
recently collected from surrounding
air; for according to the arcana of
the Platonic philosophy, between an
ethereal body, which is simple and
immaterial and is the eternal connate
vehicle of the soul, and a terrene
body, which is material and
composite, and of short duration, there is
an aerial body, which is material
indeed, but simple and of a more
extended duration; and in this body
the unpurified soul dwells for a
long time after its exit from hence,
till this pneumatic vehicle being
dissolved, it is again invested with
a composite body; while on the
contrary the purified soul
immediately ascends into the celestial
regions with its ethereal vehicle
alone."
----------
* This is the Hindu theory of nearly
every one of the Aryan
philosophies.--Ed. Theos.
----------
Always it is the disposition of the
soul that determines the quality of
its body. "However the soul be in itself
affected," says Porphyry
(translated by Cudworth), "so
does it always find a body suitable and
agreeable to its present disposition,
and therefore to the purged soul
does naturally accrue a body that
comes next to immateriality, that is,
an ethereal one." And the same author, "The soul is never
quite naked
of all body, but hath always some
body or other joined with it, suitable
and agreeable to its present
disposition (either a purer or impurer
one).
But that at its first quitting this gross earthly body, the
spirituous body which accompanieth it
(as its vehicle) must needs go
away fouled and incrassated with the
vapours and steams thereof, till
the soul afterwards by degrees
purging itself, this becometh at length a
dry splendour, which hath no misty
obscurity nor casteth any shadow."
Here it will be seen, we lose sight
of the specific difference of the
two future vehicles--the ethereal is
regarded as a sublimation of the
aerial. This, however, is opposed to the general
consensus of Plato's
commentators. Sometimes the ethereal
body, or augoeides, is appropriated
to the rational soul, or spirit,
which must then be considered as a
distinct entity, separable from the
lower soul. Philoponus, a Christian
writer, says, "that the Rational
Soul, as to its energie, is separable
from all body, but the irrational
part or life thereof is separable only
from this gross body, and not from
all body whatsoever, but hath after
death a spirituous or airy body, in
which it acteth--this I say is a
true opinion which shall afterwards
be proved by us.... The irrational
life of the soul hath not all its
being in this gross earthly body, but
remaineth after the soul's departure
out of it, having for its vehicle
and subject the spirituous body,
which itself is also compounded out of
the four elements, but receiveth its
denomination from the predominant
part, to wit, Air, as this gross body
of ours is called earthy from what
is most predominant
therein."--Cudworth, "Intell. Syst." From the same
source we extract the following: "Wherefore these ancients say that
impure souls after their departure
out of this body wander here up and
down for a certain space in their
spirituous vaporous and airy body,
appearing about sepulchres and
haunting their former habitation. For
which cause there is great reason
that we should take care of living
well, as also of abstaining from a
fouler and grosser diet; these
Ancients telling us likewise that
this spirituous body of ours being
fouled and incrassated by evil diet,
is apt to render the soul in this
life also more obnoxious to the
disturbances of passions. They further
add that there is something of the
Plantal or Plastic life, also
exercised by the soul, in those
spirituous or airy bodies after death;
they being nourished too, though not
after the same manner, as those
gross earthy bodies of ours are here,
but by vapours, and that not by
parts or organs, but throughout the
whole of them (as sponges), they
imbibing everywhere those vapours.
For which cause they who are wise
will in this life also take care of
using a thinner and dryer diet, that
so that spirituous body (which we
have also at this present time within
our proper body) may not be clogged
and incrassed, but attenuated. Over
and above which, those Ancients made
use of catharms, or purgations to
the same end and purpose also. For as this earthy body is washed by
water so is that spirituous body
cleansed by cathartic vapours--some of
these vapours being nutritive, others
purgative. Moreover, these
Ancients further declared concerning
this spirituous body that it was
not organized, but did the whole of
it in every part throughout exercise
all functions of sense, the soul
hearing, seeing and perceiving all
sensibles by it everywhere. For which cause Aristotle himself affirmeth
in his Metaphysics that there is properly
but one sense and one Sensory.
He by this one sensory meaneth the
spirit, or subtle airy body, in which
the sensitive power doth all of it
through the whole immediately
apprehend all variety of
sensibles. And if it be demanded to how
it
comes to pass that this spirit
becomes organized in sepulchres, and most
commonly of human form, but sometimes
in the forms of other animals, to
this those Ancients replied that
their appearing so frequently in human
form proceeded from their being
incrassated with evil diet, and then, as
it were, stamped upon with the form
of this exterior ambient body in
which they are, as crystal is formed
and coloured like to those things
which it is fastened in, or reflects
the image of them. And that their
having sometimes other different
forms proceedeth from the phantastic
power of the soul itself, which can
at pleasure transform the spirituous
body into any shape. For being airy, when it is condensed and
fixed, it
becometh visible, and again invisible
and vanishing out of sight when it
is expanded and rarified." Proem in Arist. de Anima. And Cudworth
says, "Though spirits or ghosts
had certain supple bodies which they
could so far condense as to make them
sometimes visible to men, yet is
it reasonable enough to think that
they could not constipate or fix them
into such a firmness, grossness and
solidity, as that of flesh and bone
is to continue therein, or at least
not without such difficulty and pain
as would hinder them from attempting
the same. Notwithstanding which it
is not denied that they may possibly
sometimes make use of other solid
bodies, moving and acting them, as in
that famous story of Phlegons when
the body vanished not as other ghosts
use to do, but was left a dead
carcase behind."
In all these speculations the Anima
Mundi plays a conspicuous part. It
is the source and principle of all
animal souls, including the
irrational soul of man. But in man, who would otherwise be merely
analogous to other terrestrial
animals--this soul participates in a
higher principle, which tends to
raise and convert it to itself. To
comprehend the nature of this union
or hypostasis it would be necessary
to have mastered the whole of Plato's
philosophy as comprised in the
Parmenides and the Timaeus; and he would dogmatize rashly who without
this arduous preparation should claim
Plato as the champion of an
unconditional immortality. Certainly in the Phaedo the dialogue
popularly supposed to contain all
Plato's teaching on the subject--the
immortality allotted to the impure
soul is of a very questionable
character, and we should rather infer
from the account there given that
the human personality, at all events,
is lost by successive immersions
into "matter." The following passage from Plutarch (quoted
by Madame
Blavatsky, "Isis Unveiled,"
vol. ii. p. 284) will at least demonstrate
the antiquity of notions which have
recently been mistaken for fanciful
novelties. "Every soul hath some portion of nous,
reason, a man cannot
be a man without it; but as much of each soul as is mixed with
flesh
and appetite is changed, and through
pain and pleasure becomes
irrational. Every soul doth not mix herself after one
sort; some
plunge themselves into the body, and
so in this life their whole frame
is corrupted by appetite and
passion; others are mixed as to some
part,
but the purer part still remains
without the body. It is not drawn down
into the body, but it swims above,
and touches the extremest part of the
man's head; it is like a cord to hold up and direct the
subsiding part
of the soul, as long as it proves
obedient and is not overcome by the
appetites of the flesh. The part that is plunged into the body is
called soul. But the incorruptible part is called the
nous, and the
vulgar think it is within them, as
they likewise imagine the image
reflected from a glass to be in that
glass. But the more intelligent,
who know it to be without, call it a
Daemon." And in the same learned
work ("Isis Unveiled ") we
have two Christian authorities, Irenaeus and
Origen, cited for like distinction
between spirit and soul in such a
manner as to show that the former
must necessarily be regarded as
separable from the latter. In the distinction itself there is of course
no novelty for the most moderately
well-informed. It is insisted upon
in many modern works, among which may
be mentioned Heard's "Trichotomy
of Man" and Green's
"Spiritual Philosophy"; the
latter being an
exposition of Coleridge's opinion on
this and cognate subjects. But the
difficulty of regarding the two
principles as separable in fact as well
as in logic arises from the senses,
if it is not the illusion of
personal identity. That we are particle, and that one part only
is
immortal, the non-metaphysical mind
rejects with the indignation which
is always encountered by a
proposition that is at once distasteful and
unintelligible. Yet perhaps it is not a greater difficulty
(if, indeed,
it is not the very same) than that
hard saying which troubled Nicodemus,
and which has been the key-note of
the mystical religious consciousness
ever since. This, however, is too extensive and deep a
question to be
treated in this paper, which has for
its object chiefly to call
attention to the distinctions
introduced by ancient thought into the
conception of body as the instrument
or "vehicle" of soul. That
there
is a correspondence between the
spiritual condition of man and the
medium of his objective activity
every spiritualist will admit to be
probable, and it may well be that
some light is thrown on future states
by the possibility or the manner of
spirit communication with this one.
--C. C. Massey
The Nilgiri Sannyasis
I was told that Sannyasis were
sometimes met with on a mountain called
Velly Mallai Hills, in the Coimbatore
District, and trying to meet with
one, I determined to ascend this
mountain. I traveled up its steep
sides and arrived at an opening,
narrow and low, into which I crept on
all fours. Going up some twenty yards I reached a cave,
into the
opening of which I thrust my head and
shoulders. I could see into it
clearly, but felt a cold wind on my
face, as if there was some opening
or crevice--so I looked carefully,
but could see nothing. The room was
about twelve feet square. I did not go into it. I saw arranged round
its sides stones one cubit long, all
placed upright. I was much
disappointed at there being no
Sannyasi, and came back as I went,
pushing myself backwards as there was
no room to turn. I was then told
Sannyasis had been met with in the
dense sholas (thickets), and as my
work lay often in such places, I
determined to prosecute my search, and
did so diligently, without, however,
any success.
One day I contemplated a journey to
Coimbatore on my own affairs, and
was walking up the road trying to
make a bargain with a handy man whom I
desired to engage to carry me
there; but as we could not come to
terms,
I parted with him and turned into the
Lovedale Road at 6 P.M. I had not
gone far when I met a man dressed
like a Sannyasi, who stopped and spoke
to me. He observed a ring on my finger and asked me
to give it to him.
I said he was welcome to it, but
inquired what he would give me in
return, he said, "I don't care
particularly about it; I would rather
have that flour and sugar in the
bundle on your back." "I will
give you
that with pleasure," I said, and
took down my bundle and gave it to him.
"Half is enough for me," he
said; but subsequently changing his mind
added, "now let me see what is
in your bundle," pointing to my other
parcel. "I can't give you that." He said, "Why cannot you give me your
swami (family idol)?" I said, "It is my swami, I will not part
with it;
rather take my life." On this he pressed me no more, but said,
"Now you
had better go home." I said, "I will not leave
you." "Oh you must," he
said, "you will die here of
hunger." "Never mind," I
said, "I can but
die once." "You have no clothes to protect you from
the wind and rain;
you may meet with tigers," he
said. "I don't care," I
replied. "It is
given to man once to die. What does it signify how he dies?" When I
said this he took my hand and
embraced me, and immediately I became
unconscious. When I returned to consciousness, I found
myself with the
Sannyasi in a place new to me on a
hill, near a large rock and with a
big shola near. I saw in the shola right in front of us, that
there was
a pillar of fire, like a tree
almost. I asked the Sannyasi what was
that like a high fire. "Oh," he said, "most likely a
tree ignited by
some careless wood-cutters."
"No," I said, "it is
not like any common fire--there is no smoke, nor
are there flames--and it's not lurid
and red. I want to go and see it."
"No, you must not do so, you
cannot go near that fire and escape alive."
"Come with me then," I
begged. "No--I cannot," he
said, "if you wish to
approach it, you must go alone and at
your own risk; that tree is the
tree of knowledge and from it flows
the milk of life: whoever drinks
this never hungers again." Thereupon I regarded the tree with awe.
I next observed five Sannyasis
approaching. They came up and joined the
one with me, entered into talk, and
finally pulled out a hookah and
began to smoke. They asked me if I could smoke. I said no.
One of
them said to me, let us see the swami
in your bundle (here gives a
description of the same). I said, "I cannot, I am not clean enough
to
do so." "Why not perform your ablutions in
yonder stream?" they said.
"If you sprinkle water on your
forehead that will suffice." I went
to
wash my hands and feet, and laved my
head, and showed it to them. Next
they disappeared. "As it is very late, it is time you
returned home,"
said my first friend. "No," I said, "now I have
found you I will not
leave you." "No, no," he said, "you must
go home. You cannot leave the
world yet; you are a father and a husband, and you must
not neglect
your worldly duties. Follow the footsteps of your late respected
uncle;
he did not neglect his worldly
affairs, though he cared for the
interests of his soul; you must go, but I will meet you again when
you
get your fortnightly
holiday." On this he embraced me,
and I again
became unconscious. When I returned
to myself, I found myself at the
bottom of Col. Jones' Coffee
Plantation above Coonor on a path. Here
the Sannyasi wished me farewell, and
pointing to the high road below, he
said, "Now you will know your
way home;" but I would not part
from him.
I said, "All this will appear a
dream to me unless you will fix a day
and promise to meet me here
again." "I promise," he
said. "No, promise
me by an oath on the head of my
idol." Again he promised, and
touched
the head of my idol. "Be here," he said, "this day
fortnight." When
the day came I anxiously kept my
engagement and went and sat on the
stone on the path. I waited a long time in vain. At last I said to
myself, "I am deceived, he is
not coming, he has broken his oath"--and
with grief I made a poojah. Hardly had these thoughts passed my mind,
than lo! he stood beside me. "Ah, you doubt me," he said; "why this
grief." I fell at his feet and confessed I had
doubted him and begged
his forgiveness. He forgave and comforted me, and told me to
keep in my
good ways and he would always help
me; and he told me and advised me
about all my private affairs without
my telling him one word, and he
also gave me some medicines for a
sick friend which I had promised to
ask for but had forgotten. This medicine was given to my friend and he
is perfectly well now.
A verbatim translation of a
Settlement Officer's statement to
--E.H. Morgan
Witchcraft on the Nilgiris
Having lived many years (30) on the
Nilgiris, employing the various
tribes of the Hills on my estates,
and speaking their languages, I have
had many opportunities of observing
their manners and customs and the
frequent practice of Demonology and
Witchcraft among them. On the
slopes of the Nilgiris live several
semi-wild people: 1st, the
"Curumbers," who frequently
hire themselves out to neighbouring estates,
and are first-rate fellers of
forest; 2nd, the "Tain"
("Honey
Curumbers"), who collect and
live largely on honey and roots, and who do
not come into civilized parts; 3rd, the "Mulu" Curumbers, who are
rare
on the slopes of the hills, but
common in Wynaad lower down the plateau.
These use bows and arrows, are fond
of hunting, and have frequently been
known to kill tigers, rushing in a
body on their game and discharging
their arrows at a short
distance. In their eagerness they
frequently
fall victims to this animal; but they are supposed to possess a
controlling power over all wild
animals, especially elephants and
tigers; and the natives declare they have the power
of assuming the
forms of various beasts. Their aid is constantly invoked both by the
Curumbers first named, and by the
natives generally, when wishing to be
revenged on an enemy.
Besides these varieties of Curumbers
there are various other wild tribes
I do not now mention, as they are not
concerned in what I have to
relate.
I had on my estate near Ootacamund a
gang of young Badagas, some 30
young men, whom I had had in my
service since they were children, and
who had become most useful handy
fellows. From week to week I missed
one or another of them, and on
inquiry was told they had been sick and
were dead!
One market-day I met the Moneghar of
the village to which my gang
belonged and some of his men,
returning home laden with their purchases.
The moment he saw me he stopped, and
coming up to me, said, "Mother, I
am in great sorrow and trouble, tell
me what I can do!" "Why, what
is
wrong?" I asked. "All my young men are dying, and I
cannot help them,
nor prevent it; they are under a spell of the wicked
Curumbers who are
killing them, and I am
powerless." "Pray
explain," I said; "why do the
Curumbers behave in this way, and
what do they do to your people?"
"Oh,
Madam, they are vile extortioners,
always asking for money; we have
given and given till we have no more
to give. I told them we had no
more money and then they said,--All
right--as you please; we shall see.
Surely as they say this, we know what
will follow--at night when we are
all asleep, we wake up suddenly and
see a Curumber standing in our
midst, in the middle of the room
occupied by the young men."
"Why do
you not close and bolt your doors
securely?" I interrupted.
"What is
the use of bolts and bars to them?
they come through stone walls.... Our
doors were secure, but nothing can
keep out a Curumber. He points his
finger at Mada, at Kurira, at
Jogie--he utters no word, and as we look
at him he vanishes! In a few days these three young men sicken, a
low
fever consumes them, their stomachs
swell, they die. Eighteen young
men, the flower of my village, have
died thus this year. These effects
always follow the visit of a Curumber
at night." "Why not complain
to
the Government?" I said. "Ah, no use, who will catch
them?" "Then give
them the 200 rupees they ask this
once on a solemn promise that they
exact no more" "I suppose we must find the money
somewhere," he said,
turning sorrowfully away.
A Mr. K---is the owner of a coffee
estate near this, and like many
other planters employs Burghers. On one occasion he went down the
slopes of the hills after bison and
other large game, taking some seven
or eight Burghers with him as gun
carriers (besides other things
necessary in jungle-walking--axes to
clear the way, knives and ropes,
&c.). He found and severely wounded a fine elephant
with tusks.
Wishing to secure these, he proposed
following up his quarry, but could
not induce his Burghers to go deeper
and further into the forests; they
feared to meet the "Mula
Curumbers" who lived thereabouts.
For long he
argued in vain, at last by dint of
threats and promises he induced them
to proceed, and as they met no one,
their fears were allayed and they
grew bolder, when suddenly coming on
the elephant lying dead (oh, horror
to them!), the beast was surrounded
by a party of Mulu Curumbers busily
engaged in cutting out the tusks, one
of which they had already
disengaged! The affrighted Burghers fell back, and
nothing Mr. K---
could do or say would induce them to
approach the elephant, which the
Curumbers stoutly declared was
theirs. They had killed him they said.
They had very likely met him
staggering under his wound and had finished
him off. Mr. K---was not likely to give up his game in
this fashion.
So walking threateningly to the
Curumbers he compelled them to retire,
and called to his Burghers at the
same time. The Curumbers only said,
"Just you DARE to touch that
elephant," and retired. Mr.
K---thereupon
cut out the remaining tusk himself,
and slinging both on a pole with no
little trouble, made his men carry
them. He took all the blame on
himself, showed them that they did
not touch them, and finally declared
he would stay there all night rather
than lose the tusks. The idea of a
night near the Mulu Curumbers was too
much for the fears of the
Burghers, and they finally took up
the pole and tusks and walked home.
From that day those men, all but one
who probably carried the gun,
sickened, walked about like spectres,
doomed, pale and ghastly, and
before the month was out all were
dead men, with the one exception!
A few months ago, at the village of
Ebanaud, a few miles from this, a
fearful tragedy was enacted. The Moneghar or headman's child was sick
unto death. This, following on several recent deaths, was
attributed to
the evil influences of a village of
Curumbers hard by. The Burghers
determined on the destruction of
every soul of them. They procured the
assistance of a Toda, as they
invariably do on such occasions, as
without one the Curumbers are
supposed to be invulnerable. They
proceeded to the Curumber village at
night and set their huts on fire,
and as the miserable inmates
attempted to escape, flung them back into
the flames or knocked them down with
clubs. In the confusion one old
woman escaped unobserved into the
adjacent bushes. Next morning she
gave notice to the authorities, and
identified seven Burghers, among
whom was the Moneghar or headman, and
one Toda. As the murderers of her
people they were all brought to trial
in the Courts here,--except the
headman, who died before he could be
brought in--and were all sentenced
and duly executed, that is, three
Burghers and the Toda, who were proved
principals in the murders.
Two years ago an almost identical
occurrence took place at Kotaghery,
with exactly similar results, but
without the punishment entailed having
any deterrent effect. They pleaded "justification," as
witchcraft had
been practiced on them. But our Government ignores all occult
dealings
and will not believe in the dread
power in the land. They deal very
differently with these matters in
Russia, where, in a recent trial of a
similar nature, the witchcraft was
admitted as an extenuating
circumstance and the culprits who had
burnt a witch were all acquitted.
All natives of whatever caste are
well aware of these terrible powers
and too often do they avail
themselves of them--much oftener than any
one has an idea of. One day as I was riding along I came upon a
strange
and ghastly object--a basket
containing the bloody head of a black
sheep, a cocoanut, 10 rupees in
money, some rice and flowers. These
smaller items I did not see, not
caring to examine any closer; but I
was told by some natives that those
articles were to be found in the
basket. The basket was placed at the
apex of a triangle formed by three
fine threads tied to three small
sticks, so placed that any one
approaching from the roads on either
side had to stumble over the
threads and receive the full effects
of the deadly "Soonium" as the
natives call it. On inquiry I learnt that it was usual to
prepare such
a "Soonium" when one lay
sick unto death; as throwing it on
another was
the only means of rescuing the sick
one, and woe to the unfortunate who
broke a thread by stumbling over it!
--E.H. Morgan
Shamanism and Witchcraft Amongst the
Kolarian Tribes
Having resided for some years amongst
the Mimdas and Hos of Singbhoom,
and Chutia Nagpur, my attention was drawn
at times to customs differing
a good deal in some ways, but having
an evident affinity to those
related of the Nilghiri
"Curumbers" in Mrs. Morgan's article.
I do not
mean to say that the practices I am
about to mention are confined simply
to the Kolarian tribes, as I am aware
both Oraons (a Dravidian tribe),
and the different Hindu castes living
side by side with the Kols, count
many noted wizards among their
number; but what little I have come to
know of these curious customs, I have
learnt among the Mimdas and Hos,
some of the most celebrated
practitioners among them being Christian
converts. The people themselves say, that these
practices are peculiar
to their race, and not learnt from
the Hindu invaders of their plateau;
but I am inclined to think that some,
at least, of the operations have a
strong savour of the Tantric black
magic about them, though practiced by
people who are often entirely
ignorant of any Hindu language.
These remarks must he supplemented by
a short sketch of Kol ideas of
worship. They have nothing that I have either seen or
heard of in the
shape of an image, but their
periodical offerings are made to a number
of elemental spirits, and they assign
a genie to every rock or tree in
the country, whom they do not
consider altogether malignant, but who, if
not duly "fed" or
propitiated, may become so.
The Singbonga (lit., sun or light
spirit) is the chief; Buru Bonga
(spirit of the hills), and the Ikhir
Bonga (spirit of the deep), come
next.
After these come the Darha, of which each family has its own, and
they may be considered in the same
light as Lares and Penates. But
every threshing, flour and oil mill,
has its spirit, who must be duly
fed, else evil result may be
expected. Their great festival (the
Karam)
is in honour of Singbonga and his
assistants; the opening words of the
priests' speech on that occasion,
sufficiently indicate that they
consider Singbonga, the creator of
men and things. Munure Singbonga
manokoa luekidkoa (In the beginning
Singbonga made men).
Each village has its Sarna or sacred
grove, where the hereditary priest
from time to time performs
sacrifices, to keep things prosperous;
but
this only relates to spirits actually
connected with the village, the
three greater spirits mentioned, being
considered general, are only fed
at intervals of three or more years,
and always on a public road or
other public place, and once every
ten years a human being was (and as
some will tell you is sacrificed to
keep the whole community of spirits
in good train.) The Pahans, or village priests, are regular
servants of
the spirits, and the najo, deona and
bhagats are people who in some way
are supposed to obtain an influence
or command over them. The first and
lowest grade of these adepts, called
najos (which may be translated as
practitioners of witchcraft pure and
simple), are frequently women.
They are accused, like the "Mula
Curumbers," of demanding quantities of
grain or loans of money, &c.,
from people, and when these demands are
refused, they go away with a remark
to the effect, "that you have lots
of cattle and grain just now, but
we'll see what they are like after a
month or two." Then probably the cattle of the bewitched
person will
get some disease, and several of them
die, or some person of his family
will become ill or get hurt in some
unaccountable way. Till at last,
thoroughly frightened, the afflicted
person takes a little uncooked rice
and goes to a deona or mati (as he is
called in the different
vernaculars of the province)--the
grade immediately above najo in
knowledge--and promising him a reward
if he will assist him, requests
his aid; if the deona accedes to the request, the
proceedings are as
follows. The deona taking the oil brought, lights a
small lamp and
seats himself beside it with the rice
in a surpa (winnower) in his
hands. After looking intently at the lamp flame for
a few minutes, he
begins to sing a sort of chant of
invocation in which all the spirits
are named, and at the name of each
spirit a few grains of rice are
thrown into the lamp. When the flame at any particular name gives a
jump and flares up high, the spirit
concerned in the mischief is
indicated. Then the deona takes a small portion of the
rice wrapped up
in a sal (Shorea robusta) leaf and
proceeds to the nearest new white-ant
nest from which he cuts the top off
and lays the little bundle, half in
and half out of the cavity. Having
retired, he returns in about an hour
to see if the rice is consumed, and
according to the rapidity with which
it is eaten he predicts the sacrifice
which will appease the spirit.
This ranges from a fowl to a buffalo,
but whatever it may include, the
pouring out of blood is an
essential. It must be noted, however,
that
the mati never tells who the najo is
who has excited the malignity of
the spirit.
But the most important and lucrative
part of a deona's business is the
casting out of evil spirits, which
operation is known variously as ashab
and langhan. The sign of obsession is generally some
mental alienation
accompanied (in bad cases) by a
combined trembling and restlessness of
limbs, or an unaccountable swelling
up of the body. Whatever the
symptoms may be the mode of cure
appears to be much the same. On such
symptoms declaring themselves, the
deona is brought to the house and is
in the presence of the sick man and
his friends provided with some rice
in a surpa, some oil, a little
vermilion, and the deona produces from
his own person a little powdered
sulphur and an iron tube about four
inches long and two tikli.* Before the proceedings begin all the things
mentioned are touched with vermilion,
a small quantity of which is also
mixed with the rice. Three or four grains of rice and one of the
tikli
being put into the tube, a lamp is
then lighted beside the sick man and
the deona begins his chant, throwing
grains of rice at each name, and
when the flame flares up, a little of
the powdered sulphur is thrown
into the lamp and a little on the
sick man, who thereupon becomes
convulsed, is shaken all over and
talks deliriously, the deona's chant
growing louder all the while. Suddenly the convulsions and the chant
cease, and the deona carefully takes
up a little of the sulphur off the
man's body and puts into the tube,
which he then seals with the second
tikli. The deona and one of the man's friends then
leave the hut,
taking the iron tube and rice with
them, the spirit being now supposed
out of the man and bottled up in the
iron tube. They hurry across
country until they leave the hut some
miles behind. Then they go to the
edge of some tank or river, to some
place they know to be frequented by
people for the purposes of bathing,
&c., where, after some further
ceremony, the iron is stuck into the
ground and left there. This is
done with the benevolent intention
that the spirit may transfer its
attentions to the unfortunate person
who may happen to touch it while
bathing. I am told the spirit in this case usually
chooses a young and
healthy person. Should the deona think the spirit has not been
able to
suit itself with a new receptacle, he
repairs to where a bazaar is
taking place and there (after some
ceremony) he mixes with the crowd,
and taking a grain of the reddened
rice jerks it with his forefinger and
thumb in such a way that without attracting
attention it falls on the
person or clothes of some. This is done several times to make certain.
Then the deona declares he has done
his work, and is usually treated to
the best dinner the sick man's
friends can afford. It is said that the
person to whom the spirit by either
of these methods is transferred may
not be affected for weeks or even
months. But some fine day while he is
at his work, he will suddenly stop,
wheel round two or three times on
his heels and fall down more or less
convulsed, from that time forward
he will begin to be troubled in the
same way as his dis-obsessed
predecessor was.
--------
* Tikli is a circular piece of gilt
paper which is stuck on between the
eyebrows of the women of the Province
as ornament.
--------
Having thus given some account of the
deona, we now come to the bhagat,
called by the Hindus sokha and
sivnath. This is the highest grade of
all, and, as I ought to have
mentioned before, the 'ilm (knowledge) of
both the deona and bhagat grades is
only to be learned by becoming a
regular chela of a practitioner; but I am given to understand that the
final initiation is much hastened by
a seasonable liberality on the part
of the chela. During the initiation
of the sokha certain ceremonies are
performed at night by aid of a human
corpse, this is one of the things
which has led me to think that this
part at least of these practices is
connected with Tantric black magic.
The bhagat performs two distinct
functions: (1st), a kind of divination
called bhao (the same in Hindi), and
(2nd), a kind of Shamanism called
darasta in Hindi, and bharotan in
Horokaji, which, however, is resorted
to only on very grave occasions--as,
for instance, when several families
think they are bewitched at one time and
by the same najo.
The bhao is performed as
follows:--The person having some query to
propound, makes a small dish out of a
sal leaf and puts in it a little
uncooked rice and a few pice; he then proceeds to the bhagat and lays
before him the leaf and its contents,
propounding at the same time his
query. The bhagat then directs him to go out and
gather two golaichi
(varieties of Posinia) flowers (such
practitioners usually having a
golaichi tree close to their
abodes); after the flowers are brought
the
bhagat seats himself with the rice
close to the inquirer, and after some
consideration selects one of the
flowers, and holding it by the stalk at
about a foot from his eyes in his
left hand twirls it between his thumb
and fingers, occasionally with his right
hand dropping on it a grain or
two of rice.* In a few minutes his eyes close and he begins
to talk--
usually about things having nothing
to do with the question in hand, but
after a few minutes of this, he
suddenly yells out an answer to the
question, and without another word
retires. The inquirer takes his
meaning as he can from the answer,
which, I believe, is always
ambiguous.
---------
* This is the process by which the
bhagat mesmerizes himself.
---------
The bharotan as I have above remarked
is only resorted to when a matter
of grave import has to be inquired
about; the bhagat makes a high
charge for a seance of this
description. We will fancy that three or
four families in a village consider
themselves bewitched by a najo, and
they resolve to have recourse to a
bhagat to find out who the witch is;
with this view a day is fixed on, and
two delegates are procured from
each of five neighbouring villages,
who accompany the afflicted people
to the house of the bhagat, taking with
them a dali or offering,
consisting of vegetables, which on
arrival is formally presented to him.
Two delegates are posted at each of
the four points of the compass, and
the other two sent themselves with
the afflicted parties to the right of
the bhagat, who occupies the centre
of the apartment with four or five
chelas, a clear space being reserved
on the left. One chela then brings
a small earthenware-pot full of
lighted charcoal, which is set before
the bhagat with a pile of mango wood
chips and a ball composed of dhunia
(resin of Shorea robusta), gur
(treacle), and ghee (clarified butter),
and possibly other ingredients. The bhagat's sole attire consists of a
scanty lenguti (waist-cloth), a
necklace of the large wooden beads such
as are usually worn by fakeers, and
several garlands of golaichi flowers
round his neck, his hair being
unusually long and matted. Beside him
stuck in the ground is his
staff. One chela stands over the firepot
with a bamboo-mat fan in his hand,
another takes charge of the pile of
chips, and a third of the ball of
composition, and one or two others
seat themselves behind the bhagat,
with drums and other musical
instruments in their hands. All being in readiness, the afflicted ones
are requested to state their
grievance. This they do, and pray the
bhagat to call before him the najo,
who has stirred up the spirits to
afflict them, in order that he may be
punished. The bhagat then gives a
sign to his chelas, those behind him
raise a furious din with their
instruments, the fire is fed with
chips, and a bit of the composition is
put on it from time to time,
producing a volume of thick greyish-blue
smoke; this is carefully fanned over,
and towards the bhagat, who, when
well wrapped in smoke, closes his
eyes and quietly swaying his body
begins a low chant. The chant gradually becomes louder and the
sway of
his body more pronounced, until he
works himself into a state of
complete frenzy. Then with his body actually quivering, and
his head
rapidly working about from side to side,
he sings in a loud voice how a
certain najo (whom he names) had
asked money of those people and was
refused, and how he stirred up
certain spirits (whom he also names) to
hurt them, how they killed so and
so's bullocks, some one else's sheep,
and caused another's child to fall
ill. Then he begins to call on the
najo to come and answer for his
doings, and in doing so rises to his
feet--still commanding the najo to
appear; meanwhile he reels about;
then falls on the ground and is quite
still except for an occasional
whine, and a muttered, "I see
him!" "He is coming!"
This state may last
for an hour or more till at last the
bhagat sits up and announces the
najo has come; as he says so, a man, apparently mad with
drink, rushes
in and falls with his head towards
the bhagat moaning and making a sort
of snorting as if half stifled. In this person the bewitched parties
often recognize a neighbour and
sometimes even a relation, but whoever
he may be they have bound themselves
to punish him. The bhagat then
speaks to him and tells him to
confess, at the same time threatening
him, in case of refusal, with his
staff. He then confesses in a
half-stupefied manner, and his
confession tallies with what the bhagat
has told in his frenzy. The najo is then dismissed and runs out of
the
house in the same hurry as he came
in. The delegates then hold a
council at which the najo usually is
sentenced to a fine--often heavy
enough to ruin him--and expelled from
his village. Before the British
rule the convicted najo seldom
escaped with his life, and during the
mutiny time, when no Englishmen were
about, the Singbhoom Hos paid off a
large number of old scores of this
sort. For record of which, see
"Statistical Account of
Bengal," vol. xvii. p. 52.
In conclusion I have merely to add
that I have derived this information
from people who have been actually
concerned in these occurrences, and
among others a man belonging to a
village of my own, who was convicted
and expelled from the village with
the loss of all his movable property,
and one of his victims, a relation of
his, sat by me when the above was
being written.
--E.D. Ewen
Mahatmas and Chelas
A Mahatma is an individual who, by
special training and education, has
evolved those higher faculties, and
has attained that spiritual
knowledge, which ordinary humanity
will acquire after passing through
numberless series of re-incarnations
during the process of cosmic
evolution, provided, of course, that
they do not go, in the meanwhile,
against the purposes of Nature and
thus bring on their own annihilation.
This process of the self-evolution of
the MAHATMA extends over a number
of "incarnations,"
although, comparatively speaking, they are very few.
Now, what is it that incarnates? The occult doctrine, so far as it is
given out, shows that the first three
principles die more or less with
what is called the physical
death. The fourth principle, together
with
the lower portions of the fifth, in
which reside the animal
propensities, has Kama Loka for its
abode, where it suffers the throes
of disintegration in proportion to
the intensity of those lower desires;
while it is the higher Manas, the
pure man, which is associated with the
sixth and seventh principles, that
goes into Devachan to enjoy there the
effects of its good Karma, and then
to be reincarnated as a higher
personality. Now an entity that is passing through the
occult training
in its successive births, gradually
has less and less (in each
incarnation) of that lower Manas
until there arrives a time when its
whole Manas, being of an entirely
elevated character, is centred in the
individuality, when such a person may
be said to have become a MAHATMA.
At the time of his physical death,
all the lower four principles perish
without any suffering, for these are,
in fact, to him like a piece of
wearing apparel which he puts on and
off at will. The real MAHATMA is
then not his physical body but that
higher Manas which is inseparably
linked to the Atma and its vehicle
(the sixth principle)--a union
effected by him in a comparatively
very short period by passing through
the process of self-evolution laid
down by Occult Philosophy. When
therefore, people express a desire to
"see a MAHATMA," they really do
not seem to understand what it is
they ask for. How can they, with
their physical eyes, hope to see that
which transcends that sight? Is
it the body--a mere shell or
mask--they crave or hunt after? And
supposing they see the body of a
MAHATMA, how can they know that behind
that mask is concealed an exalted
entity? By what standard are they to
judge whether the Maya before them
reflects the image of a true MAHATMA
or not? And who will say that the physical is not a
Maya? Higher things
can be perceived only by a sense
pertaining to those higher things;
whoever therefore wants to see the
real MAHATMA, must use his
intellectual sight. He must so elevate his Manas that its
perception
will be clear and all mists created
by Maya be dispelled. His vision
will then be bright and he will see
the MAHATMA wherever he may be, for,
being merged into the sixth and the
seventh principles, which know no
distance, the MAHATMA may be said to
be everywhere. But, at the same
time, just as we may be standing on a
mountain top and have within our
sight the whole plain, and yet not be
cognizant of any particular tree
or spot, because from that elevated
position all below is nearly
identical, and as our attention may
be drawn to something which may be
dissimilar to its surroundings--in
the same manner, although the whole
of humanity is within the mental
vision of the MAHATMA, he cannot be
expected to take special note of
every human being, unless that being by
his special acts draws particular
attention to himself. The highest
interest of humanity, as a whole, is
the MAHATMA's special concern, for
he has identified himself with that
Universal Soul which runs through
Humanity; and to draw his attention one must do so
through that Soul.
This perception of the Manas may be
called "faith" which should not be
confounded with blind belief. "Blind faith" is an expression
sometimes
used to indicate belief without
perception or understanding; while the
true perception of the Manas is that
enlightened belief which is the
real meaning of the word
"faith." This belief should at
the same time
be accompanied by knowledge, i.e.,
experience, for "true knowledge
brings with it faith." Faith is the perception of the Manas (the
fifth
principle), while knowledge, in the
true sense of the term, is the
capacity of the Intellect, i.e., it
is spiritual perception. In short,
the individuality of man, composed of
his higher Manas, the sixth and
the seventh principle, should work as
a unity, and then only can it
obtain "divine wisdom," for
divine things can be sensed only by divine
faculties. Thus a chela should be actuated solely by a
desire to
understand the operations of the Law
of Cosmic Evolution, so as to be
able to work in conscious and
harmonious accord with Nature.
--Anon.
The Brahmanical Thread
I.
The general term for the investiture of this thread is Upanayana;
and the invested is called Upanita,
which signifies brought or drawn
near (to one's Guru), i.e., the
thread is the symbol of the wearer's
condition.
II.
One of the names of this thread is Yajna-Sutra. Yajna means
Brahma, or the Supreme Spirit, and
Sutra the thread, or tie.
Collectively, the compound word
signifies that which ties a man to his
spirit or god. It consists of three yarns twisted into one
thread, and
three of such threads formed and
knotted into a circle. Every
Theosophist knows what a circle
signifies and it need not be repeated
here.
He will easily understand the rest and the relation they have to
mystic initiation. The yarns signify the great principle of
"three in
one, and one in three,"
thus:--The first trinity consists of Atma which
comprises the three attributes of
Manas, Buddhi, and Ahankara (the mind,
the intelligence, and the
egotism). The Manas again, has the three
qualities of Satva, Raja, and Tama
(goodness, foulness, and darkness).
Buddhi has the three attributes of
Pratyaksha, Upamiti and Anumiti
(perception, analogy, and inference).
Ahankara also has three
attributes, viz., Jnata, Jneya, and
Jnan (the knower, the known, and the
knowledge).
III.
Another name of the sacred thread is Tri-dandi. Tri means three,
and Danda, chastisement, correction,
or conquest. This reminds the
holder of the three great
"corrections" or conquests he has to
accomplish. These are:--(1) the Vakya Sanyama;* (2) the Manas Sanyama;
and (3) the Indriya (or Deha)
Sanyama. Vakya is speech, Manas, mind, and
Deha (literally, body) or Indriya, is
the senses. The three conquests
therefore mean the control over one's
speech, thought, and action.
--------
* Danda and Sanyama are synonymous
terms.--A.S.
---------
This thread is also the reminder to
the man of his secular duties,
and its material varies, in
consequence, according to the occupation
of the wearer. Thus, while the thread of the Brahmans is
made of
pure cotton, that of the Kshatriyas
(the warriors) is composed of
flax--the bow-string material; and that of Vaishyas (the traders and
cattle-breeders), of wool. From this it is not to be inferred that caste
was originally meant to be
hereditary. In the ancient times, it depended
on the qualities of the man.
Irrespective of the caste of his parents, a
man could, according to his merit or
otherwise, raise or lower himself
from one caste to another; and instances are not wanting in which a man
has elevated himself to the position
of the highest Brahman (such as
Vishvamitra Rishi, Parasara, Vyasa,
Satyakam, and others) from the very
lowest of the four castes. The sayings of Yudhishthira on this subject,
in reply to the questions of the
great serpent, in the Arannya Parva of
the Maha-Bharata, and of Manu, on the
same point, are well known and
need nothing more than bare
reference. Both Manu and
Maha-Bharata--the
fulcrums of Hinduism--distinctly
affirm that a man can translate
himself from one caste to another by his
merit, irrespective of his
parentage.
The day is fast approaching when the
so-called Brahmans will have to
show cause, before the tribunal of
the Aryan Rishis, why they should not
be divested of the thread which they
do not at all deserve, but are
degrading by misuse. Then alone will the people appreciate the
privilege of wearing it.
There are many examples of the
highest distinctive insignia being worn
by the unworthy. The aristocracies of Europe and Asia teem
with such.
--A. Sarman
Reading in a Sealed Envelope
Some years ago, a Brahman astrologer
named Vencata Narasimla Josi, a
native of the village of
Periasamudram in the Mysore Provinces, came to
the little town in the Bellary
District where I was then employed. He
was a good Sanskrit, Telugu and
Canarese poet, and an excellent master
of Vedic rituals; knew the Hindu system of astronomy, and
professed to
be an astrologer. Besides all this, he possessed the power of
reading
what was contained in any sealed
envelope. The process adopted for this
purpose was simply this:--We wrote
whatever we chose on a piece of
paper; enclosed it in one, two or
three envelopes, each properly gummed
and sealed, and handed the cover to
the astrologer. He asked us to name
a figure between 1 and 9, and on its
being named, he retired with the
envelope to some secluded place for
some time; and then he returned with
a paper full of figures, and another
paper containing a copy of what was
on the sealed paper--exactly, letter
for letter and word for word. I
tried him often and many others did
the same; and we were all satisfied
that he was invariably accurate, and
that there was no deception
whatsoever in the matter.
About this time, one Mr. Theyagaraja
Mudalyar, a supervisor in the
Public Works Department, an English
scholar and a good Sanskrit and
Telugu poet, arrived at our place on
his periodical tour of inspection.
Having heard about the aforesaid
astrologer, he wanted to test him in a
manner, most satisfactory to himself.
One morning handing to the
astrologer a very indifferently
gummed envelope, he said, "Here, Sir,
take this letter home with you and
come back to me with your copy in the
afternoon." This loose way of closing the envelope, and
the permission
given to the astrologer to take it
home for several hours, surprised the
Brahman, who said, "I don't want
to go home. Seal the cover better, and
give me the use of some room
here. I shall be ready with my copy very
soon." "No," said the Mudalyar, "take
it as it is, and come back
whenever you like. I have the means of finding out the
deception, if
any be practiced."
So then the astrologer went with the
envelope; and returned to the
Mudalyar's place in the
afternoon. Myself and about twenty
others were
present there by appointment. The astrologer then carefully handed the
cover to the Mudalyar, desiring him
to see if it was all right. "Don't
mind that," the Mudalyar
answered; "I can find out the trick, if there
be any. Produce your copy." The astrologer
thereupon presented to the
Mudalyar a paper on which four lines
were written and stated that this
was a copy of the paper enclosed in
the Mudalyar's envelope. Those four
lines formed a portion of an
antiquated poem.
The Mudalyar read the paper once,
then read it over again. Extreme
satisfaction beamed over his
countenance, and he sat mute for some
seconds seemingly in utter
astonishment. But soon after, the
expression
of his face changing, he opened the
envelope and threw the enclosure
down, jocularly saying to the
astrologer, "Here, Sir, is the original of
which you have produced the
copy."
The paper lay upon the carpet, and
was quite blank! not a word, nor a
letter on its clean surface.
This was a sad disappointment to all
his admirers; but to the
astrologer himself, it was a real
thunderbolt. He picked up the paper
pensively, examined it on both sides,
then dashed it on the ground in a
fury;
and suddenly arising, exclaimed, "My Vidya* is a delusion, and I
am a liar!"
---------
* Secret knowledge, magic.
---------
The subsequent behaviour of the poor
man made us fear lest this great
disappointment should drive him to
commit some desperate act. In fact
he seemed determined to drown himself
in the well, saying that he was
dishonoured. While we were trying to console him, the
Mudalyar came
forward, caught hold of his hands,
and besought him to sit down and
calmly listen to his explanation,
assuring him that he was not a liar,
and that his copy was perfectly
accurate. But the astrologer would not
be satisfied; he supposed that all
this was said simply to console him;
and cursed himself and his fate most
horribly. However, in a few
minutes he became calmer and listened
to the Mudalyar's explanation,
which was in substance as follows The
only way for the sceptic to
account for this phenomenon, is to
suppose that the astrologer opened
the covers dexterously and read their
contents. "So," he said,
"I wrote
four lines of old poetry on the paper
with nitrate of silver, which
would be invisible until exposed to
the light; and this would have
disclosed the astrologer's fraud, if
he had tried to find out the
contents of the enclosed paper, by
opening the cover, however
ingeniously. For, if he opened it and
looked at the paper, he would have
seen that it was blank, resealed the
cover, and declared that the paper
enveloped therein bore no writing
whatever; or if he had, by design or
accident, exposed the paper to light,
the writing would have become
black; and he would have produced a copy of it as if
it were the result
of his own Vidya; but in either case and the writing remaining,
his
deception would have been clear, and
it would have been patent to all
that he did open the envelope. But in the present case, the result
proved conclusively that the cover
was not opened at all."
--P. Sreeneevas Row
The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac
The division of the Zodiac into
different signs dates from immemorial
antiquity. It has acquired a world-wide celebrity and is
to be found in
the astrological systems of several nations.
The invention of the Zodiac
and its signs has been assigned to
different nations by different
antiquarians. It is stated by some that, at first, there
were only ten
signs, that one of these signs was
subsequently split up into two
separate signs, and that a new sign
was added to the number to render
the esoteric significance of the
division more profound, and at the same
time to conceal it more perfectly
from the uninitiated public. It is
very probable that the real
philosophical conception of the division
owes its origin to some particular
nation, and the names given to the
various signs might have been
translated into the languages of other
nations. The principal object of this article,
however, is not to
decide which nation had the honour of
inventing the signs in question,
but to indicate to some extent the
real philosophical meaning involved
therein, and the way to discover the
rest of the meaning which yet
remains undisclosed. But from what is
herein stated, an inference may
fairly be drawn that, like so many
other philosophical myths and
allegories, the invention of the
Zodiac and its signs owes its origin to
ancient India.
What then is its real origin, what is
the philosophical conception which
the Zodiac and its signs are intended
to represent? Do the various
signs merely indicate the shape or
configuration of the different
constellations included in the
divisions, or, are they simply masks
designed to veil some hidden
meaning? The former supposition is
altogether untenable for two reasons,
viz.:--
I.
The Hindus were acquainted with the precession of the equinoxes, as
may he easily seen from their work on
Astronomy, and from the almanacs
published by Hindu astronomers. Consequently they were fully aware of
the fact that the constellations in
the various Zodiacal divisions were
not fixed. They could not, therefore, have assigned
particular shapes
to these shifting groups of fixed
stars with reference to the divisions
of the Zodiac. But the names indicating the Zodiacal signs
have all
along remained unaltered. It is to be inferred, therefore, that the
names given to the various signs have
no connection whatever with the
configurations of the constellations
included in them.
II. The names assigned to these signs
by the ancient Sanskrit writers
and their exoteric or literal
meanings are as follows:--
The Names of the Signs ....... Their
Exoteric or Literal Meanings
1. Mesha ...........................
Ram, or Aries.
2. Rishabha .......................Bull,
or Taurus.
3. Mithunam ...................
Twins, or Gemini (male and female).
4. Karkataka ......................
Crab, or Cancer.
5. Simha
.............................. Lion, or Leo.
6. Kanya
............................. Virgin or Virgo.*
7. Tula ..........................
Balance, or Libra.
8. Vrischika .....................
Scorpion, or Scorpio.
9. Dhanus .......................
Archer, or Sagittarius.
10. Makara ........... The Goat, or
Capricornus (Crocodile, in Sanskrit).
11. Kumbha ..................
Water-bearer, or Aquarius.
12. Meenam ................. Fishes,
or Pisces.
The figures of the constellations
included in the signs at the time the
division was first made do not at all
resemble the shapes of the
animals, reptiles and other objects
denoted by the names given them.
The truth of this assertion can be
ascertained by examining the
configurations of the various
constellations. Unless the shape of the
crocodile** or the crab is called up
by the observer's imagination,
there is very little chance of the
stars themselves suggesting to his
idea that figure, upon the blue
canopy of the starry firmament.
--------
* Virgo-Scorpio, when none but the
initiates knew there were twelve
signs. Virgo-Scorpio was then followed for the
profane by Sagittarius.
At the middle or junction-point where
now stands Libra and at the sign
now called Virgo, two mystical signs
were inserted which remained
unintelligible to the profane.--Ed.
Theos.
** This constellation was never
called Crocodile by the ancient Western
astronomers, who described it as a
horned goat and called it so--
Capricornus.--Ed. Theos.
--------
If, then, the constellations have
nothing to do with the origin of the
names by which the Zodiacal divisions
are indicated, we have to seek for
some other source which might have
given rise to these appellations. It
becomes my object to unravel a
portion of the mystery connected with
these Zodiacal signs, as also to
disclose a portion of the sublime
conception of the ancient Hindu
philosophy which gave rise to them. The
signs of the Zodiac have more than
one meaning. From one point of view
they represent the different stages
of evolution up to the time the
present material universe with the
five elements came into phenomenal
existence. As the author of
"Isis Unveiled" has stated in the second
volume of her admirable work,
"The key should be turned seven times" to
understand the whole philosophy
underlying these signs. But I shall
wind it only once and give the
contents of the first chapter of the
History of Evolution. It is very fortunate that the Sanskrit names
assigned to the various divisions by
Aryan philosophers contain within
themselves the key to the solution of
the problem. Those of my readers
who have studied to some extent the
ancient "Mantra" and the "Tantra
Sastras" * of India, would have
seen that very often Sanskrit words are
made to convey a certain hidden
meaning by means of well-known
pre-arranged methods and a tacit
convention, while their literal
significance is something quite
different from the implied meaning.
---------
* Works on Incantation and Magic.
---------
The following are some of the rules
which may help an inquirer in
ferreting out the deep significance
of ancient Sanskrit nomenclature to
be found in the old Aryan myths and
allegories:
1. Find out the synonyms of the word
used which have other meanings.
2. Find out the numerical value of
the letters composing the word
according to the methods given in
ancient Tantrika works.
3. Examine the ancient myths or
allegories, if there are any, which have
any special connection with the word
in question.
4. Permute the different syllables
composing the word and examine the
new combinations that will thus be
formed and their meanings, &c. &c.
I shall now apply some of the above
given rules to the names of the
twelve signs of the Zodiac.
I. Mesha.--One of the synonyms of
this word is Aja. Now, Aja literally
means that which has no birth, and is
applied to the Eternal Brahma in
certain portions of the Upanishads.
So, the first sign is intended to
represent Parabrahma, the
self-existent, eternal, self-sufficient cause
of all.
II. Rishabham.--This word is used in
several places in the Upanishads
and the Veda to mean Pranava
(Aum). Sankaracharya has so interpreted
it
in several portions of his
commentary.*
--------
* Example,
"Rishabhasya--Chandasam Rishabhasya Pradhanasya
Pranavasya."
--------
III. Mithuna.--As the word plainly
indicates, this sign is intended to
represent the first androgyne, the
Ardhanareeswara, the bisexual
Sephira--Adam Kadmon.
IV. Karkataka.--When the syllables
are converted into the corresponding
numbers, according to the general
mode of transmutation so often alluded
to in Mantra Shastra, the word in
question will be represented by ////.
This sign then is evidently intended
to represent the sacred Tetragram;
the Parabrahmadharaka; the Pranava resolved into four separate
entities
corresponding to its four
Matras; the four Avasthas indicated by
Jagrata (waking) Avastha, Swapna
(dreaming) Avastha, Sushupti (deep
sleep) Avastha, and Turiya (the last
stage, i.e., Nirvana) Avastha (as
yet in potentiality); the four states of Brahma called Vaiswanara,
Taijasa (or Hiranyagarbha), Pragna,
and Iswara, and represented by
Brahma, Vishna, Maheswara, and
Sadasiva; the four aspects of
Parabrahma, as Sthula (gross),
Sukshma (subtle), Vija (seed), and Sakshi
(witness); the four stages or conditions of the Sacred
Word, named
Para, Pasyanti, Madhyama and
Vaikhari; Nadam, Bindu, Sakti and Kala.
This sign completes the first
quaternary.
V. Simha.--This word contains a world
of occult meaning within itself;
and it may not be prudent on my part
to disclose the whole of its
meaning now. It will be sufficient for the present purpose
to give a
general indication of its
significance.
Two of its synonymous terms are
Panchasyam and Hari, and its number in
the order of the Zodiacal divisions
(being the fifth sign) points
clearly to the former synonym. This synonym--Panchasyam--shows that
the sign is intended to represent the
five Brahmas--viz., Isanam,
Aghoram, Tatpurusham, Vamadevam, and
Sadyojatam:--the five Buddhas. The
second synonym shows it to be
Narayana, the Jivatma or Pratyagatma.
The
Sukarahasy Upanishad will show that
the ancient Aryan philosophers
looked upon Narayana as the Jivatma.*
The Vaishnavites may not admit it.
But as an Advaiti, I look upon
Jivatma as identical with Paramatma in
its real essence when stripped of its
illusory attributes created by
Agnanam or Avidya--ignorance.
---------
* In its lowest or most material
state, as the life-principle which
animates the material bodies of the
animal and vegetable worlds, &c.
--Ed. Theos.
---------
The Jivatma is correctly placed in
the fifth sign counting from Mesham,
as the fifth sign is the putrasthanam
or the son's house according to
the rules of Hindu Astrology. The sign in question represents Jivatma--
the son of Paramatma as it were. (I may also add that it represents the
real Christ, the anointed pure
spirit, though many Christians may frown
at this interpretation.)* I will only add here that unless the nature
of this sign is fully comprehended it
will be impossible to understand
the real order of the next three
signs and their full significance. The
elements or entities that have merely
a potential existence in this sign
become distinct separate entities in
the next three signs. Their union
into a single entity leads to the
destruction of the phenomenal
universe, and the recognition of the pure
Spirit and their separation
has the contrary effect. It leads to material earth-bound existence
and
brings into view the picture gallery
of Avidya (Ignorance) or Maya
(Illusion). If the real orthography of the name by which
the sign in
question is indicated is properly
understood, it will readily be seen
that the next three signs are not
what they ought to be.
--------
* Nevertheless it is a true one. The Jiv-atma in the Microcosm (man) is
the same spiritual essence which animates
the Macrocosm (universe), the
differentiation, or specific
difference between the two Jivatmas
presenting itself but in the two
states or conditions of the same and
one Force. Hence, "this son of Paramatma" is
an eternal correlation of
the Father-Cause. Purusha manifesting
himself as Brahma of the "golden
egg" and becoming Viradja--the
universe. We are "all born of Aditi
from
the water" (Hymns of the Maruts,
X. 63, 2), and "Being was born from
not-being" (Rig-Veda, Mandala I,
Sukta 166).--Ed. Theos.
-----------
Kanya or Virgo and Vrischika or
Scorpio should form one single sign, and
Thula must follow the said sign if it
is at all necessary to have a
separate sign of that name. But a separation between Kanya and
Vrischika was effected by interposing
the sign Tula between the two.
The object of this separation will be
understood on examining the
meaning of the three signs.
VI. Kanya.--Means a virgin and
represents Sakti or Mahamaya. The sign
in question is the sixth Rasi or
division, and indicates that there are
six primary forces in Nature. These forces have different sets of names
in Sanskrit philosophy. According to one system of nomenclature, they
are called by the following
names*:--(1) Parasakty; (2) Gnanasakti;
(3) Itchasakti (will-power); (4)
Kriytisakti; (5) Kundalinisakti; and
(6) Matrikasakti. The six forces are in their unity represented
by the
Astral Light.**
---------
* Parasakti:--Literally the great or
supreme force or power. It means
and includes the powers of light and heat.
Gnanasakti:--Literally the power of
intellect or the power of real
wisdom or knowledge. It has two aspects.
I. The following are some of its
manifestations when placed under the
influence or control of material
conditions.
(a) The power of the mind in
interpreting our sensations; (b) Its
power
in recalling past ideas (memory) and
raising future expectation; (c)
Its power as exhibited in what are
called by modern psychologists "the
laws of association," which
enables it to form persisting connections
between various groups of sensations
and possibilities of sensations,
and thus generate the notion or idea
of an external object; (d) Its
power in connecting our ideas
together by the mysterious link of memory,
and thus generating the notion of
self or individuality.
II. The following are some of its
manifestations when liberated from the
bonds of matter:--
(a) Clairvoyance. (b) Pyschometry.
Itchasakti:--Literally the power of
the will. Its most ordinary
manifestation is the generation of
certain nerve currents which set in
motion such muscles as are required
for the accomplishment of the
desired object.
Kriyasakti:--The mysterious power of
thought which enables it to produce
external, perceptible, phenomenal
results by its own inherent energy.
The ancients held that any idea will
manifest itself externally if one's
attention is deeply concentrated upon
it. Similarly an intense volition
will be followed by the desired
result.
A Yogi generally performs his wonders
by means of Itchasakti and
Kriyasakti.
Kundalinisakti:--Literally the power
or force which moves in a
serpentine or curved path. It is the universal life-principle which
everywhere manifests itself in
Nature. This force includes in itself
the two great forces of attraction
and repulsion. Electricity and
magnetism are but manifestations of
it. This is the power or force
which brings about that
"continuous adjustment of internal relations to
external relations" which is the
essence of life according to Herbert
Spencer, and that "continuous
adjustment of external relations to
internal relations" which is the
basis of transmigration of souls or
punarjanmam (re-birth) according to
the doctrines of the ancient Hindu
philosophers.
A Yogi must thoroughly subjugate this
power or force before he can
attain moksham. This force is, in fact, the great serpent of
the Bible.
Matrikasakti:--Literally the force or
power of letters or speech or
music. The whole of the ancient Mantra Shastra has
this force or power
in all its manifestations for its subject-matter. The power of The Word
which Jesus Christ speaks of is a
manifestation of this Sakti. The
influence of its music is one of its
ordinary manifestations. The power
of the mirific ineffable name is the
crown of this Sakti.
Modern science has but partly
investigated the first, second and fifth
of the forces or powers above named,
but it is altogether in the dark as
regards the remaining powers.
** Even the very name of Kanya
(Virgin) shows how all the ancient
esoteric systems agreed in all their
fundamental doctrines. The
Kabalists and the Hermetic
philosophers call the Astral Light the
"heavenly or celestial
Virgin." The Astral Light in its
unity is the
7th.
Hence the seven principles diffused in every unity or the 6 and
one--two triangles and a crown.--Ed.
Theos.
-----------
VII. Tula.--When represented by
numbers according to the method above
alluded to, this word will be
converted into 36. This sign, therefore,
is evidently intended to represent
the 36 Tatwams. (The number of
Tatwams is different according to the
views of different philosophers
but by Sakteyas generally and by
several of the ancient Rishis, such as
Agastya, Dvrasa and Parasurama,
&c., the number of Tatwams has been
stated to be 36). Jivatma differs from
Paramatma, or to state the same
thing in other words,
"Baddha" differs from "Mukta" * in being encased
as it were within these 36 Tatwams,
while the other is free. This sign
prepares the way to earthly Adam to
Nara. As the emblem of Nara it is
properly placed as the seventh sign.
---------
* As the Infinite differs from the
Finite and the Unconditioned
from the Conditioned.--Ed. Theos.
---------
VIII. Vrischika.--It is stated by
ancient philosophers that the sun when
located in this Rasi or sign is
called by the name of Vishnu (see the
12th Skandha of Bhagavata). This sign is intended to represent Vishnu.
Vishnu literally means that which is
expanded--expanded as Viswam or
Universe. Properly speaking, Viswam itself is Vishnu
(see
Sankaracharya's commentary on
Vishnusahasranamam). I have already
intimated that Vishnu represents the
Swapnavastha or the Dreaming State.
The sign in question properly
signifies the universe in thought or the
universe in the divine conception.
It is properly placed as the sign
opposite to Rishabham or Pranava.
Analysis from Pranava downwards leads
to the Universe of Thought, and
synthesis from the latter upwards
leads to Pranava (Aum). We have now
arrived at the ideal state of the
universe previous to its coming into
material existence. The expansion of the Vija or primitive germ
into
the universe is only possible when
the 36 "Tatwams" * are interposed
between the Maya and Jivatma. The dreaming state is induced through the
instrumentality of these
"Tatwams." It is the existence
of these
Tatwams that brings Hamsa into
existence. The elimination of these
Tatwams marks the beginning of the
synthesis towards Pranava and Brahmam
and converts Hamsa into Soham. As it is intended to represent the
different stages of evolution from
Brahmam downwards to the material
universe, the three signs Kanya,
Tula, and Vrischika are placed in the
order in which they now stand as
three separate signs.
IX. Dhanus (Sagittarius).--When
represented in numbers the name is
equivalent to 9, and the division in
question is the 9th division
counting from Mesha. The sign, therefore, clearly indicates the 9
Brahmas--the 9 Parajapatis who
assisted the Demiurgus in constructing
the material universe.
X. Makara.--There is some difficulty
in interpreting this word;
nevertheless it contains within
itself the clue to its correct
interpretation. The letter Ma is equivalent to number 5, and
Kara means
hand.
Now in Sanskrit Thribhujam means a triangle, bhujam or karam
(both are synonymous) being
understood to mean a side. So, Makaram
or
Panchakaram means a Pentagon.**
----------
* 36 is three times 12, or 9
Tetraktis, or 12 Triads, the most sacred
number in the Kabalistic and
Pythagorean numerals.--Ed. Theos.
** The five-pointed star or pentagram
represented the five limbs of
man.--Ed. Theos.
----------
Now, Makaram is the tenth sign, and
the term "Dasadisa" is generally
used by Sanskrit writers to denote
the faces or sides of the universe.
The sign in question is intended to
represent the faces of the universe,
and indicates that the figure of the
universe is bounded by Pentagons.
If we take the pentagons as regular
pentagons (on the presumption or
supposition that the universe is
symmetrically constructed) the figure
of the material universe will, of
course, be a Dodecahedron, the
geometrical model imitated by the
Demiurgus in constructing the material
universe. If Tula was subsequently invented, and if
instead of the
three signs "Kanya,"
"Tula," and "Vrischikam," there had existed
formerly only one sign combining in
itself Kanya and Vrischika, the sign
now under consideration was the
eighth sign under the old system, and it
is a significant fact that Sanskrit
writers generally speak also of
"Ashtadisa" or eight faces
bounding space. It is quite possible
that
the number of disa might have been
altered from 8 to 10 when the
formerly existing Virgo-Scorpio was
split up into three separate signs.
Again, Kara may be taken to represent
the projecting triangles of the
five-pointed star. This figure may also be called a kind of
regular
pentagon (see Todhunter's
"Spherical Trigonometry," p. 143).
If this
interpretation is accepted, the Rasi
or sign in question represents the
"microcosm." But the "microcosm" or the world of
thought is really
represented by Vrischika. From an objective point of view the
"microcosm" is represented
by the human body. Makaram may be taken to
represent simultaneously both the
microcosm and the macrocosm, as
external objects of perception.
In connection with this sign I shall
state a few important facts which I
beg to submit for the consideration
of those who are interested in
examining the ancient occult sciences
of India. It is generally held by
the ancient philosophers that the macrocosm
is similar to the microcosm
in having a Sthula Sariram and a
Suksma Sariram. The visible universe
is the Sthula Sariram of Viswam; the ancient philosophers held that as
a substratum for this visible
universe, there is another universe--
perhaps we may call it the universe
of Astral Light--the real universe
of Noumena, the soul as it were of
this visible universe. It is darkly
hinted in certain passages of the
Veda and the Upanishads that this
hidden universe of Astral Light is to
be represented by an Icosahedron.
The connection between an Icosahedron
and a Dodecahedron is something
very peculiar and interesting, though
the figures seem to be so very
dissimilar to each other. The connection may be understood by the
under-mentioned geometrical
construction. Describe a Sphere about an
Icosahedron; let perpendiculars be drawn from the centre
of the Sphere
on its faces and produced to meet the
surface of the Sphere. Now, if
the points of intersection be joined,
a Dodecahedron is formed within
the Sphere. By a similar process an Icosahedron may be
constructed from
a Dodecahedron. (See Todhunter's "Spherical
Trigonometry," p. 141, art.
193).
The figure constructed as above described will represent the
universe of matter and the universe
of Astral Light as they actually
exist. I shall not now, however, proceed to show how
the universe of
Astral Light may be considered under
the symbol of an Icosahedron. I
shall only state that this conception
of the Aryan philosophers is not
to be looked upon as mere
"theological twaddle" or as the outcome of
wild fancy. The real significance of the conception in
question can, I
believe, be explained by reference to
the psychology and the physical
science of the ancients. But I must stop here and proceed to consider
the meaning of the remaining two
signs.
XI. Kumbha (or Aquarius).--When
represented by numbers, the word is
equivalent to 14. It can be easily perceived then that the
division in
question is intended to represent the
"Chaturdasa Bhuvanam," or the 14
lokas spoken of in Sanskrit writings.
XII. Mina (or Pisces).--This word
again is represented by 5 when written
in numbers, and is evidently intended
to convey the idea of
Panchamahabhutams or the 5
elements. The sign also suggests that
water
(not the ordinary water, but the
universal solvent of the ancient
alchemists) is the most important
amongst the said elements.
I have now finished the task which I
have set to myself in this article.
My purpose is not to explain the ancient
theory of evolution itself, but
to show the connection between that
theory and the Zodiacal divisions.
I have herein brought to light but a
very small portion of the
philosophy imbedded in these signs.
The veil that was dexterously thrown
over certain portions of the mystery
connected with these signs by the
ancient philosophers will never be
lifted up for the amusement or
edification of the uninitiated
public.
Now to summarize the facts stated in
this article, the contents of the
first chapter of the history of this
universe are as follows:
1.
The self-existent, eternal Brahmam.
2.
Pranava (Aum).
3.
The androgyne Brahma, or the bisexual Sephira-Adam Kadmon.
4.
The Sacred Tetragram--the four matras of Pranava--the four
avasthas--the four states of Brahma--the Sacred Dharaka.
5.
The five Brahmas--the five Buddhas representing in their totality
the Jivatma.
6.
The Astral Light--the holy Virgin--the six forces in Nature.
7.
The thirty-six Tatwams born of Avidya.
8.
The universe in thought--the Swapna Avastha--the microcosm looked at
from a subjective point of view.
9.
The nine Prajapatis--the assistants of the Demiurgus.*
10.
The shape of the material universe in the mind of the Demiurgus--
the DODECAHEDRON.
11.
The fourteen lokas.
12.
The five elements.
--------
* The nine Kabalistic Sephiroths
emanated from Sephira the 10th and the
head Sephiroth are identical. Three trinities or triads with their
emanative principle form the
Pythagorean mystic Decad, the sum of all
which represents the whole
Kosmos.--Ed. Theos.
--------
The history of creation and of this
world from its beginning up to the
present time is composed of seven
chapters. The seventh chapter is not
yet completed.
--T. Subba Row
Triplicane, Madras, September 14,
1881
The Sishal and Bhukailas Yogis
We are indebted to the kindness of
the learned President of the Adi
Brahmo Samaji for the following
accounts of two Yogis, of whom one
performed the extraordinary feats of raising
his body by will power, and
keeping it suspended in the air
without visible support. The Yoga
posture for meditation or
concentration of the mind upon spiritual
things is called Asana. There are various of these modes of sitting,
such as Padmasan, &c.
&c. Babu Rajnarain Bose translated
this narrative
from a very old number of the
Tatwabodhini Patrika, the Calcutta organ
of the Brahmo Samaj. The writer was
Babu Akkhaya Kumar Dalta, then
editor of the Patrika, of whom Babu
Rajnarain speaks in the following
high terms--"A very truth-loving
and painstaking man; very fond of
observing strict accuracy in the
details of a description."
Sishal Yogi
A few years ago, a Deccan Yogi, named
Sishal, was seen at Madras, by
many Hindus and Englishmen, to raise
his Asana, or seat, up into the
air.
The picture of the Yogi, showing his mode of seating, and other
particulars connected with him, may
be found in the Saturday Magazine on
page 28.
His whole body seated in air, only
his right hand lightly touched a deer
skin, rolled up in the form of a
tube, and attached to a brazen rod
which was firmly stuck into a wooden
board resting on four legs. In
this position the Yogi used to
perform his japa (mystical meditation),
with his eyes half shut. At the time of his ascending to his aerial
seat, and also when he descended from
it, his disciples used to cover
him with a blanket. The Tatwabodhini Patrika, Chaitra, 1768
Sakabda,
corresponding to March 1847.
The Bhukailas Yogi
The extraordinary character of the holy
man who was brought to
Bhukailas, in Kidderpore, about 14
years ago, may still be remembered by
many.
In the month of Asar, 1754 Sakabda (1834 A.C.), he was brought to
Bhukailas from Shirpur, where he was
under the charge of Hari Singh, the
durwan (porter) of Mr. Jones. He kept
his eyes closed, and went without
food and drink, for three consecutive
days, after which a small quantity
of milk was forcibly poured down his
throat. He never took any food
that was not forced upon him. He seemed always without external
consciousness. To remove this condition Dr. Graham applied
ammonia to
his nostrils; but it only produced tremblings in the body,
and did not
break his Yoga state. Three days passed before he could be made to
speak. He said that his name was Dulla Nabab, and
when annoyed, he
uttered a single word, from which it
was inferred that he was a Punjabi.
When he was laid up with gout Dr.
Graham attended him, but he refused to
take medicine, either in the form of
powder or mixture. He was cured of
the disease only by the application
of ointments and liniments
prescribed by the doctor. He died in the month of Chaitra 1755 Sakabda,
of a choleric affection.*--The
Tatwabodhini Patrika, Chaitra, 1768
Sakabda, corresponding to March, 1847
A.C.
--------
* The above particulars of this holy
man have been obtained on
unexceptionable testimony.--Ed.
T.B.P.
--------------------
PHILOSOPHICAL
True and False Personality
The title prefixed to the following
observations may well have suggested
a more metaphysical treatment of the
subject than can be attempted on
the present occasion. The doctrine of the trinity, or trichotomy of
man, which distinguishes soul from
spirit, comes to us with such
weighty, venerable, and even sacred
authority, that we may well be
content, for the moment, with
confirmations that should be intelligible
to all, forbearing the abstruser
questions which have divided minds of
the highest philosophical
capacity. We will not now inquire
whether the
difference is one of states or of
entities; whether the phenomenal or
mind consciousness is merely the
external condition of one indivisible
Ego, or has its origin and nature in
an altogether different principle;
the Spirit, or immortal part of us,
being of Divine birth, while the
senses and understanding, with the
consciousness--Ahankara--thereto
appertaining, are from an Anima
Mundi, or what in the Sankhya philosophy
is called Prakriti. My utmost expectations will have been
exceeded if
it should happen that any
considerations here offered should throw even
a faint suggestive light upon the
bearings of this great problem. It
may be that the mere
irreconcilability of all that is characteristic of
the temporal Ego with the conditions
of the superior life--if that can
be made apparent--will incline you to
regard the latter rather as the
Redeemer, that has indeed to be born
within us for our salvation and our
immortality, than as the inmost,
central, and inseparable principle of
our phenomenal life. It may be that by the light of such
reflections
the sense of identity will present no
insuperable difficulty to the
conception of its contingency, or to
the recognition that the mere
consciousness which fails to attach
itself to a higher principle is no
guarantee of an eternal
individuality.
It is only by a survey of
individuality, regarded as the source of all
our affections, thoughts, and
actions, that we can realize its intrinsic
worthlessness; and only when we have brought ourselves to a
real and
felt acknowledgment of that fact, can
we accept with full understanding
those "hard sayings" of
sacred authority which bid us "die to
ourselves," and which proclaim
the necessity of a veritable new birth.
This mystic death and birth is the
key-note of all profound religious
teaching; and that which distinguishes the ordinary
religious mind from
spiritual insight is just the
tendency to interpret these expressions as
merely figurative, or, indeed, to
overlook them altogether.
Of all the reproaches which modern
Spiritualism, with the prospect it is
thought to hold out of an individual
temporal immortality, has had to
encounter, there is none that we can
less afford to neglect than that
which represents it as an ideal
essentially egotistical and borne. True
it is that our critics do us
injustice through ignorance of the enlarged
views as to the progress of the soul
in which the speculations of
individual Spiritualists coincide
with many remarkable spirit teachings.
These are, undoubtedly, a great
advance upon popular theological
opinions, while some of them go far
to satisfy the claim of Spiritualism
to be regarded as a religion. Nevertheless, that slight estimate of
individuality, as we know it, which
in one view too easily allies itself
to materialism, is also the attitude
of spiritual idealism, and is
seemingly at variance with the
excessive value placed by Spiritualists
on the discovery of our mere psychic
survival. The idealist may
recognise this survival; but, whether he does so or not, he occupies a
post of vantage when he tells us that
it is of no ultimate importance.
For he, like the Spiritualist who
proclaims his "proof palpable of
immortality," is thinking of the
mere temporal, self-regarding
consciousness--its sensibilities, desires,
gratifications, and
affections--which are unimportant
absolutely, that is to say, their
importance is relative solely to the
individual. There is, indeed, no
more characteristic outbirth of
materialism than that which makes a
teleological centre of the
individual. Ideas have become mere
abstractions; the only reality is the infinitely
little. Thus
utilitarianism can see in the State
only a collection of individuals
whose "greatest happiness,"
mutually limited by nice adjustment to the
requirements of "the greatest
numbers," becomes the supreme end of
government and law. And it cannot, I think, be pretended that
Spiritualists in general have
advanced beyond this substitution of a
relative for an absolute
standard. Their "glad tidings of
great joy"
are not truly religious. They have regard to the perpetuation in time
of that lower consciousness whose
manifestations, delights, and activity
are in time, and of time alone. Their glorious message is not
essentially different from that which
we can conceive as brought to us
by some great alchemist, who had
discovered the secret of conferring
upon us and upon our friends a
mundane perpetuity of youth and health.
Its highest religious claim is that
it enlarges the horizon of our
opportunities. As such, then, let us hail it with gratitude
and relief;
but, on peril of our salvation, if I
may not say of our immortality, let
us not repose upon a prospect which
is, at best, one of renewed labours,
and trials, and efforts to be free even
of that very life whose only
value is opportunity.
To estimate the value of
individuality, we cannot do better than regard
man in his several mundane relations,
supposing that either of these
might become the central, actuating
focus of his being--his "ruling
love," as Swedenborg would call
it--displacing his mere egoism, or
self-love, thrusting that more to the
circumference, and identifying
him, so to speak, with that circle of
interests to which all his
energies and affections relate.
Outside this substituted Ego we are to
suppose that he has no conscience, no
desire, no will. Just as the
entirely selfish man views the whole
of life, so far as it can really
interest him solely in relation to
his individual well-being, so our
supposed man of a family, of a
society, of a Church, or a State, has no
eye for any truth or any interest
more abstract or more individual than
that of which he may be rightly
termed the incarnation. History shows
approximations to this ideal man.
Such a one, for instance, I conceive
to have been Loyola; such another, possibly, is Bismarck. Now these
men have ceased to be individuals in
their own eyes, so far as concerns
any value attaching to their own
special individualities. They are
devotees. A certain "conversion" has been
effected, by which from mere
individuals they have become
"representative" men. And
we--the
individuals--esteem them precisely in
proportion to the remoteness from
individualism of the spirit that
actuates them. As the circle of
interests to which they are
"devoted" enlarges--that is to say, as the
dross of individualism is purged
away--we accord them indulgence,
respect, admiration and love. From
self to the family, from the family
to the sect or society, from the sect
or society to the Church (in no
denominational sense) and State,
there is the ascending scale and
widening circle, the successive
transitions which make the worth of an
individual depend on the more or less
complete subversion of his
individuality by a more comprehensive
soul or spirit. The very modesty
which suppresses, as far as possible,
the personal pronoun in our
addresses to others, testifies to our
sense that we are hiding away some
utterly insignificant and unworthy
thing; a thing that has no business
even to be, except in that utter
privacy which is rather a sleep and a
rest than living. Well, but in the above instances, even those
most
remote from sordid individuality, we
have fallen far short of that ideal
in which the very conception of the
partial, the atomic, is lost in the
abstraction of universal being,
transfigured in the glory of a Divine
personality. You are familiar with Swedenborg's
distinction between
discrete and continuous degrees.
Hitherto we have seen how man--the
individual--may rise continuously by
throwing himself heart and soul
into the living interests of the
world, and lose his own limitations by
adoption of a larger mundane spirit.
But still he has but ascended
nearer to his own mundane source,
that soul of the world, or Prakriti,
to which, if I must not too literally
insist on it, I may still resort
as a convenient figure. To transcend it, he must advance by the
discrete degree. No simple "bettering" of the
ordinary self, which
leaves it alive, as the focus--the
French word "foyer" is the more
expressive--of his thoughts and
actions; not even that identification
with higher interests in the world's
plane just spoken of, is, or can
progressively become, in the least
adequate to the realization of his
Divine ideal. This "bettering" of our present
nature, it alone being
recognized as essential, albeit
capable of "improvement," is a
commonplace, and to use a now
familiar term a "Philistine," conception.
It is the substitution of the
continuous for the discrete degree. It
is
a compromise with our dear old
familiar selves. "And Saul and the
people spared Agag, and the best of
the sheep, and of the oxen, and of
the fatlings, and the lambs, and all
that was good, and would not
utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that
they destroyed utterly." We know how little acceptable that compromise
was to the God of Israel; and no illustration can be more apt than this
narrative, which we may well, as we
would fain, believe to be rather
typical than historical. Typical of that indiscriminate and radical
sacrifice, or "vastation,"
of our lower nature, which is insisted upon
as the one thing needful by all, or
nearly all,* the great religions of
the world. No language could seem more purposely chosen
to indicate
that it is the individual nature
itself, and not merely its accidental
evils, that has to be abandoned and
annihilated. It is not denied that
what was spared was good; there is no suggestion of a universal
infection of physical or moral
evil; it is simply that what is good and
useful relatively to a lower state of
being must perish with it if the
latter is to make way for something
better. And the illustration is the
more suitable in that the purpose of
this paper is not ethical, but
points to a metaphysical conclusion,
though without any attempt at
metaphysical exposition. There is no question here of moral
distinctions; they are neither denied
nor affirmed. According to the
highest moral standard, 'A' may be a
most virtuous and estimable person.
According to the lowest, 'B' may be
exactly the reverse. The moral
interval between the two is within
what I have called, following
Swedenborg, the "continuous
degree." And perhaps the
distinction can be
still better expressed by another
reference to that Book which we
theosophical students do not less
regard, because we are disposed to
protest against all exclusive
pretensions of religious systems.
--------
* Of the higher religious teachings
of Mohammedanism I know next to
nothing, and therefore cannot say if
it should be excepted from the
statement.
--------
The good man who has, however, not
yet attained his "son-ship of God" is
"under the law"--that moral
law which is educational and preparatory,
"the schoolmaster to bring us
unto Christ," our own Divine spirit, or
higher personality. To conceive the difference between these two
states
is to apprehend exactly what is here
meant by the false, temporal, and
the true, eternal personality, and
the sense in which the word
personality is here intended to be
understood. We do not know whether,
when that great change has come over
us, when that great work* of our
lives has been accomplished--here or
hereafter--we shall or shall not
retain a sense of identity with our
past, and forever discarded selves.
In philosophical parlance, the
"matter" will have gone, and the very
"form" will have been
changed. Our transcendental identity
with the 'A'
or 'B' that now is** must depend on
that question, already disclaimed in
this paper, whether the Divine spirit
is our originally central
essential being, or is an hypostasis.
Now, being "under the law" implies
that we do not act directly from our
own will, but indirectly, that is,
in willing obedience to another will.
--------
* The "great work," so
often mentioned by the hermetic philosophers, and
which is exactly typified by the
operation of alchemy, the conversion of
the base metals to gold, is now well
understood to refer to the
analogous spiritual conversion. There is also good reason to believe
that the material process was a real
one.
** "A person may have won his
immortal life, and remained the same inner
self he was on earth, through
eternity; but this does not imply
necessarily that he must either remain
the Mr. Smith or Brown he was on
earth, or lose his
individuality."--Isis Unveiled, vol. 1. p. 316.
----------
The will from which we should
naturally act--our own will--is of course
to be understood not as mere
volition, but as our nature--our "ruling
love," which makes such and such
things agreeable to us, and others the
reverse. As "under the law," this nature is
kept in suspension, and
because it is suspended only as to
its activity and manifestation, and
by no means abrogated, is the
law--the substitution of a foreign will--
necessary for us. Our own will or nature is still central; that which
we obey by effort and resistance to
ourselves is more circumferential or
hypostatic. Constancy in this obedience and resistance
tends to draw
the circumferential will more and
more to the centre, till there ensues
that "explosion," as St.
Martin called it, by which our natural will is
for ever dispersed and annihilated by
contact with the divine, and the
latter henceforth becomes our very
own. Thus has "the schoolmaster"
brought us unto "Christ,"
and if by "Christ" we understand no
historically divine individual, but
the logos, word, or manifestation of
God in us--then we have, I believe,
the essential truth that was taught
in the Vedanta, by Kapila, by Buddha,
by Confucius, by Plato, and by
Jesus. There is another presentation of possibly the
same truth, for a
reference to which I am indebted to
our brother J.W. Farquhar. It is
from Swedenborg, in the
"Apocalypse Explained," No. 57:--"Every man has
an inferior or exterior mind, and a
mind superior or interior. These
two minds are altogether
distinct. By the inferior mind man is in
the
natural world together with men
there; but by the superior mind he is
in the spiritual world with the
angels there. These two minds are so
distinct that man so long as he lives
in the world does not know what is
performing within himself in his
superior mind; but when he becomes a
spirit, which is immediately after
death, he does not know what is
performing in his mind." The consciousness of the "superior
mind," as
the result of mere separation from
the earthly body, certainly does not
suggest that sublime condition which
implies separation from so much
more than the outer garment of flesh,
but otherwise the distinction
between the two lives, or minds,
seems to correspond with that now under
consideration.
What is it that strikes us especially
about this substitution of the
divine-human for the human-natural
personality? Is it not the loss of
individualism? (Individualism, pray observe, not
individuality.) There
are certain sayings of Jesus which
have probably offended many in their
hearts, though they may not have
dared to acknowledge such a feeling to
themselves: "Woman, what have I to do with
thee?" and those other
disclaimers of special ties and
relationships which mar the perfect
sympathy of our reverence. There is something awful and
incomprehensible to us in this
repudiation of individualism, even in its
most amiable relations. But it is in the Aryan philosophies that we
see
this negation of all that we
associate with individual life most
emphatically and explicitly insisted
on. It is, indeed, the
impossibility of otherwise than thus
negatively characterizing the soul
that has attained Moksha (deliverance
from bonds) which has caused the
Hindu consummation to be regarded as
the loss of individuality and
conscious existence. It is just because we cannot easily
dissociate
individuality from individualism that
we turn from the sublime
conception of primitive philosophy as
from what concerns us as little as
the ceaseless activity and
germination in other brains of thought once
thrown off and severed from the
thinking source, which is the
immortality promised by Mr. Frederick
Harrison to the select specimens
of humanity whose thoughts have any
reproductive power. It is not a
mere preference of nothingness, or
unconscious absorption, to limitation
that inspires the intense yearning of
the Hindu mind for Nirvana. Even
in the Upanishads there are many
evidences of a contrary belief, while
in the Sankhya the aphorisms of
Kapila unmistakably vindicate the
individuality of soul (spirit).
Individual consciousness is maintained,
perhaps infinitely intensified, but
its "matter" is no longer personal.
Only try to realize what
"freedom from desire," the favourite phrase in
which individualism is negated in
these systems, implies. Even in that
form of devotion which consists in
action, the soul is warned in the
Bhagavad-Gita that it must be
indifferent to results.
Modern Spiritualism itself testifies
to something of the same sort.
Thus we are told by one of its most
gifted and experienced champions,
"Sometimes the evidence will
come from an impersonal source, from some
instructor who has passed through the
plane on which individuality is
demonstrable." (M.A. (Oxon.),
"Spirit Identity," p. 7.)
Again, "And if
he" (the investigator)
"penetrates far enough, he will find himself in a
region for which his present embodied
state unfits him: a region in
which the very individuality is
merged, and the highest and subtlest
truths are not locked within one
breast, but emanate from representative
companies whose spheres of life are
interblended." (Id., p. 15.) By
this "interblending" is of
course meant only a perfect sympathy and
community of thought; and I should doubtless misrepresent the
author
quoted were I to claim an entire
identity of the idea he wishes to
convey, and that now under
consideration. Yet what, after all, is
sympathy but the loosening of that
hard "astringent" quality (to use
Bohme's phrase) wherein individualism
consists? And just as in true
sympathy, the partial suppression of
individualism and of what is
distinctive, we experience a superior
delight and intensity of being, so
it may be that in parting with all
that shuts us up in the spiritual
penthouse of an Ego--all, without
exception or reserve--we may for the
first time know what true life is,
and what are its ineffable
privileges. Yet it is not on this ground that acceptance
can be hoped
for the conception of immortality
here crudely and vaguely presented ill
contrast to that bourgeois eternity
of individualism and the family
affections, which is probably the
great charm of Spiritualism to the
majority of its proselytes. It is doubtful whether the things that
"eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard,"
have ever taken stronghold of the
imagination, or reconciled it to the
loss of all that is definitely
associated with the Joy and movement
of living. Not as consummate bliss
can the dweller on the lower plane
presume to command that transcendent
life.
At the utmost he can but echo the revelation that came to the
troubled mind in "Sartor
Resartus," "A man may do without happiness, and
instead thereof find blessedness." It is no sublimation of hope, but
the necessities of thought that
compel us to seek the condition of true
being and immortality elsewhere than
in the satisfactions of
individualism. True personality can only subsist in
consciousness by
participation of that of which we can
only say that it is the very
negation of individuality in any
sense in which individuality can be
conceived by us. What is the content or "matter" of
consciousness we
cannot define, save by vaguely
calling it ideal. But we can say that in
that region individual interests and
concerns will find no place. Nay,
more, we can affirm that only then
has the influx of the new life a free
channel when the obstructions of
individualism are already removed.
Hence the necessity of the mystic
death, which is as truly a death as
that which restores our physical body
to the elements. "Neither I am,
nor is aught mine, nor do I
exist," a passage which has been well
explained by a Hindu Theosophist
(Peary Chand Mittra), as meaning "that
when the spiritual state is arrived
at, I and mine, which belong to the
finite mind, cease, and the soul,
living in the universum and
participating in infinity with God,
manifests its infinite state." I
cannot refrain from quoting the
following passage from the same
instructive writer:--
Every human being has a soul which,
while not separable from the brain
or nerves, is mind or jivatma, or
sentient soul, but when regenerated or
spiritualized by yoga, it is free
from bondage and manifests the divine
essence. It rises above all phenomenal states--joy,
sorrow, grief,
fear, hope, and in fact all states
resulting in pain or pleasure, and
becomes blissful, realizing
immortality, infinitude and felicity of
wisdom within itself. The sentient
soul is nervous, sensational,
emotional, phenomenal, and
impressional. It constitutes the natural
life and is finite. The soul and the
non-soul are thus the two
landmarks. What is non-soul is prakriti, or
created. It is not the lot
of every one to know what soul is,
and therefore millions live and die
possessing minds cultivated in
intellect and feeling, but not raised to
the soul state. In proportion as one's soul is emancipated
from
prakriti or sensuous bondage, in that
proportion his approximation to
the soul state is attained; and it is this that constitutes disparities
in the intellectual, moral, and
religious culture of human beings and
their consequent approximation to
God.--Spiritual Stray Leaves,
Calcutta, 1879.
He also cites some words of Fichte,
which prove that the like conclusion
is reached in the philosophy of
Western idealism: "The real spirit which
comes to itself in human
consciousness is to be regarded as an
impersonal pneuma--universal reason,
nay, as the spirit of God Himself;
and the good of man's whole
development, therefore, can be no other than
to substitute the universal for the
individual consciousness."
That there may be, and are affirmed
to be, intermediate stages, states,
or discrete degrees, will, of course,
be understood. The aim of this
paper has been to call attention to
the abstract condition of the
immortalized consciousness; negatively it is true, but it is on this
very account more suggestive of
practical applications. The connection
of the Theosophical Society with the
Spiritualist movement is so
intimately sympathetic, that I hope
one of these may he pointed out
without offence. It is that immortality cannot be phenomenally
demonstrated. What I have called psychic survival can be, and
probably
is.
But immortality is the attainment of a state, and that state the
very negation of phenomenal
existence. Another consequence refers to
the direction our culture should
take. We have to compose ourselves to
death. Nothing less.
We are each of us a complex of desires, passions,
interests, modes of thinking and
feeling, opinions, prejudices, judgment
of others, likings and dislikings,
affections, aims public and private.
These things, and whatever else
constitutes, the recognizable content of
our present temporal individuality,
are all in derogation of our ideal
of impersonal being--saving
consciousness, the manifestation of being.
In some minute, imperfect, relative,
and almost worthless sense we may
do right in many of our judgments,
and be amiable in many of our
sympathies and affections. We cannot be sure even of this. Only people
unhabituated to introspection and
self-analysis are quite sure of it.
These are ever those who are loudest
in their censures, and most
dogmatic in their opinionative
utterances. In some coarse, rude fashion
they are useful, it may be
indispensable, to the world's work, which is
not ours, save in a transcendental
sense and operation. We have to
strip ourselves of all that, and to
seek perfect passionless
tranquillity. Then we may hope to die. Meditation, if it be deep, and
long, and frequent enough, will teach
even our practical Western mind to
understand the Hindu mind in its
yearning for Nirvana. One
infinitesimal atom of the great conglomerate
of humanity, who enjoys the
temporal, sensual life, with its
gratifications and excitements, as much
as most, will testify with unaffected
sincerity that he would rather be
annihilated altogether than remain
for ever what he knows himself to be,
or even recognizably like it. And he is a very average moral specimen.
I have heard it said, "The
world's life and business would come to an
end, there would be an end to all its
healthy activity, an end of
commerce, arts, manufactures, social
intercourse, government, law, and
science, if we were all to devote
ourselves to the practice of Yoga,
which is pretty much what your ideal
comes to." And the criticism is
perfectly just and true. Only I believe it does not go quite far
enough. Not only the activities of the world, but the
phenomenal world
itself, which is upheld in
consciousness, would disappear or take new,
more interior, more living, and more
significant forms, at least for
humanity, if the consciousness of
humanity was itself raised to a
superior state. Readers of St. Martin, and of that impressive
book of
the late James Hinton, "Man and
his Dwelling-place," especially if they
have also by chance been students of
the idealistic philosophies, will
not think this suggestion
extravagant. If all the world were
Yogis, the
world would have no need of those
special activities, the ultimate end
and purpose of which, by-the-by, our
critic would find it not easy to
define. And if only a few withdraw,
the world can spare them. Enough of
that.
Only let us not talk of this ideal of
impersonal, universal being in
individual consciousness as an
unverified dream. Our sense and
impatience of limitations are the
guarantees that they are not final and
insuperable. Whence is this power of standing outside
myself, of
recognizing the worthlessness of the
pseudo--judgments, of the
prejudices with their lurid colouring
of passion, of the temporal
interests, of the ephemeral
appetites, of all the sensibilities of
egoism, to which I nevertheless
surrender myself so that they indeed
seem myself? Through and above this troubled atmosphere I
see a being,
pure, passionless, rightly measuring
the proportions and relations of
things, for whom there is, properly
speaking, no present, with its
phantasms, falsities, and
half-truths; who has nothing personal in
the
sense of being opposed to the whole
of related personalities: who sees
the truth rather than struggles
logically towards it, and truth of which
I can at present form no
conception; whose activities are unimpeded
by
intellectual doubt, un-perverted by
moral depravity, and who is
indifferent to results, because he
has not to guide his conduct by
calculation of them, or by any
estimate of their value. I look up to
him with awe, because in being
passionless he sometimes seems to me to
be without love. Yet I know that this
is not so; only that his love is
diffused by its range, and elevated
in abstraction beyond my gaze and
comprehension. And I see in this
being my ideal, my higher, my only
true, in a word, my immortal self.
--C.C. Massey
Chastity
Ideal woman is the most beautiful
work of the evolution of forms (in our
days she is very often only a
beautiful work of art). A beautiful
woman
is the most attractive, charming, and
lovely being that a man can
imagine. I never saw a male being who could lay any
claims to manly
vigour, strength or courage, who was
not an admirer of woman. Only a
profligate, a coward or a sneak would
hate women; a hero and a man
admires woman, and is admired by her.
Women's love belongs to a complete
man. Then she smiles on him his
human nature becomes aroused, his
animal desires like little children
begin to clamour for bread, they do
not want to be starved, they want to
satisfy their hunger. His whole soul flies towards the lovely
being,
which attracts him with almost
irresistible force, and if his higher
principles, his divine spirit, is not
powerful enough to restrain him,
his soul follows the temptations of
his physical body. Once again the
animal nature has subdued the
divine. Woman rejoices in her victory,
and man is ashamed of his
weakness; and instead of being a
representation of strength, he
becomes an object of pity.
To be truly powerful a man must
retain his power and never for a moment
lose it. To lose it is to surrender his divine nature
to his animal
nature; to restrain his desires and retain his power,
is to assert his
divine right, and to become more than
a man--a god.
Eliphas Levi says: "To be an object of attraction for all
women, you
must desire none;" and every one who has had a little experience
of his
own must know that he is right. Woman wants what she cannot get, and
what she can get she does not want.
Perhaps it is to the man endowed
with spiritual power, that the Bible
refers, when it says: "To him who
has much, more shall be given, and
from him who has little, that little
shall be taken away."
To become perfect it is not required
that we should be born without any
animal desires. Such a person would not be much above an idiot; he
would be rightly despised and laughed
at by every true man and woman;
but we must obtain the power to
control our desires, instead of being
controlled by them; and here lies the true philosophy of
temptation.
If a man has no higher aim in life than
to eat and drink and propagate
his species; if all his aspirations and desires are
centred in a wish
of living a happy life in the bosom
of his family; there can be no
wrong if he follows the dictates of
his nature and is satisfied with his
lot.
When he dies, his family will mourn, his friends will say he was a
good fellow; they will give him a first-class funeral, and
they will
perhaps write on his tombstone
something like what I once saw in a
certain churchyard:
Here is the grave of John McBride,
He lived, got married, and died.
And that will be the end of Mr. John
McBride, until in another
incarnation he will wake up again
perhaps as Mr. John Smith, or
Ramchandra Row, or Patrick
O'Flannegan, to find himself on much the same
level as he was before.
But if a man has higher aims and
objects in life, if he wants to avoid
an endless cycle of re-incarnations,
if he wants to become a master of
his destiny, then must he first
become a master of himself. How can he
expect to be able to control the
external forces of Nature, if he cannot
control the few little natural forces
that reside within his own
insignificant body?
To do this, it is not necessary that
a man should run away from his wife
and family, and leave them uncared
for. Such a man would commence his
spiritual career with an act of
injustice,--an act that like Banquo's
ghost would always haunt him and
hinder him in his further progress. If
a man has taken upon himself
responsibilities, he is bound to fulfill
them, and an act of cowardice would
be a bad beginning for a work that
requires courage.
A celibate, who has no temptation and
who has no one to care for but
himself, has undoubtedly superior
advantages for meditation and study.
Being away from all irritating
influences, he can lead what may be
called a selfish life; because he looks out only for his own
spiritual
interest; but he has little opportunity to develop his
will-power by
resisting temptations of every
kind. But the man who is surrounded by
the latter, and is every day and
every hour under the necessity of
exercising his will-power to resist
their surging violence, will, if he
rightly uses these powers, become
strong; he may not have as much
opportunity for study as the celibate,
being more engrossed in material
cares; but when he rises up to a higher state in his
next incarnation,
his will-power will be more
developed, and he will be in the possession
of the password, which is CONTINENCE.
A slave cannot become a commander,
until after he becomes free. A man
who is subject to his own animal
desires, cannot command the animal
nature of others. A muscle becomes developed by its use, an
instinct or
habit is strengthened in proportion
as it is permitted to rule, a mental
power becomes developed by practice,
and the principle of will grows
strong by exercise; and this is the use of temptations. To have strong
passions and to overcome them, makes
man a hero. The sexual instinct is
the strongest of all, and he who
vanquishes it, becomes a god.
The human soul admires a beautiful
form, and is therefore an idolater.
The human spirit adores a principle,
and is the true worshiper.
Marriage is the union of the male
spirit with the female soul for the
purpose of propagating the species; but if in its place there is only a
union of a male and a female body,
then marriage becomes merely a brutal
act, which lowers man and woman, not
to the level of animals but below
them;
because animals are restricted to certain seasons for the
exercise of their procreative
powers; while man, being a reasonable
being, has it in his power to use or
abuse them at all times.
But how many marriages do we find
that are really spiritual and not
based on beauty of form or other
considerations? How soon after the
wedding-day do they become disgusted
with each other? What is the cause
of this? A man and a woman may marry and their
characters may differ
widely. They may have different tastes, different
opinions and
different inclinations. All those differences may disappear, and will
probably disappear; because by living together they become
accustomed
to each other, and become equalized
in time. Each influences the other,
and as a man may grow fond of a pet
snake, whose presence at first
horrified him, so a man may put up
with a disagreeable partner and
become fond of her in course of time.
But if the man allows full liberty to
his animal passions, and exercises
his "legal rights" without
restraint, these animal cravings which first
called so piteously for
gratification, will soon be gorged, and flying
away laugh at the poor fool who
nursed them in his breast. The wife
will come to know that her husband is
a coward, because she sees him
squirm under the lash of his animal
passions; and as woman loves
strength and power, so in proportion
as he loses his love, will she lose
her confidence. He will look upon her
as a burden, and she will look
upon him in disgust as a brute. Conjugal happiness will have departed,
and misery, divorce or death will be
the end.
The remedy for all these evils is
continence, and it has been our object
to show its necessity, for it was the
object of this article.
--F. Hartmann
Zoroastrianism on the Septenary
Constitution of Man
Many of the esoteric doctrines given
out through the Theosophical
Society reveal a spirit akin to that
of the older religions of the East,
especially the Vedic and the
Zendic. Leaving aside the former, I
propose to point out by a few
instances the close resemblance which the
doctrines of the old Zendic
Scriptures, as far as they are now
preserved, bear to these recent
teachings.
Any ordinary Parsi, while reciting
his daily Niyashes, Gehs and Yashts,
provided he yields to the curiosity
of looking into the meanings of what
he recites, will, with a little
exertion, perceive how the same ideas,
only clothed in a more intelligible
and comprehensive garb, are
reflected in these teachings. The description of the septenary
constitution of man found in the 54th
chapter of the Yasna, one of the
most authoritative books of the
Mazdiasnian religion, shows the identity
of the doctrines of Avesta and the
esoteric philosophy. Indeed, as a
Mazdiasnian, I felt quite ashamed
that, having such undeniable and
unmistakable evidence before their
eyes, the Zoroastrians of the present
day should not avail themselves of
the opportunity offered of throwing
light upon their now entirely
misunderstood and misinterpreted
Scriptures by the assistance and
under the guidance of the Theosophical
Society. If Zend scholars and students of Avesta would
only care to
study and search for themselves, they
would, perhaps, find to assist
them, men who are in possession of
the right and only key to the true
esoteric wisdom; men, who would be willing to guide and help
them to
reach the true and hidden meaning,
and to supply them with the missing
links that have resulted in such
painful gaps as to leave the meaning
meaningless, and to create in the
mind of the perplexed student doubts
that finally culminate in a thorough
unbelief in his own religion. Who
knows but they may find some of their
own co-religionists, who, aloof
from the world, have to this day
preserved the glorious truths of their
once mighty religion, and who, hidden
in the recesses of solitary
mountains and unknown silent caves,
are still in possession of; and
exercising, mighty powers, the
heirloom of the ancient Magi. Our
Scriptures say that ancient Mobeds
were Yogis, who had the power of
making themselves simultaneously
visible at different places, even
though hundreds of miles apart, and
also that they could heal the sick
and work that which would now appear
to us miraculous. All this was
considered facts but two or three
centuries back, as no reader of old
books (mostly Persian) is
unacquainted with, or will disbelieve a priori
unless his mind is irretrievably
biassed by modern secular education.
The story about the Mobed and Emperor
Akbar and of the latter's
conversion, is a well-known
historical fact, requiring no proof.
I will first of all quote side by
side the two passages referring to the
septenary nature of man as I find
them in our Scriptures and the
THEOSOPHIST--
Sub-divisions of septenary Sub-divisions of septenary
man according to the man according to Yasna
Occultists. (chap.54, para. I).
1. The Physical body, com- 1. Tanwas-i.e., body(the
posed wholly of matter in its self ) that consists of bones
grossest and most tangible -grossest form of matter.
form.
2. The Vital principle-(or
Jiva)- 2. Ushtanas-Vital heat
a form of force indestructible, (or force).
and when disconnected with
one set of atoms, becoming
attracted immediately by others.
3. The Astral body (Linga- 3. Keherpas Aerial form,
sharira) composed of highly the airy mould, (Per. Kaleb).
etherealized matter; in its
habitual passive state, the
perfect but very shadowy
duplicate of the body; its
activity, consolidation and
form depending entirely on
the Kama-rupa.
4. The Astral shape (Kama- 4. Tevishis-Will, or where
rupa or body of desire, a sentient consciousness is
principle defining the con- formed, also fore-knowledge.
figuration of--
5. The animal or Physical 5. Baodhas (in Sanskrit,
intelligence or Conscious- Buddhi)-Body of physical
ness or Ego, analogous to, consciousness, perception by
though proportionally higher the senses or animal soul.
in the senses or the animal
degree than the reason,
instinct, memory, imagination
&c., existing in the higher
animals.
6. The Higher or Spiritual 6. Urawanem (Per. Rawan)
intelligence or consciousness, -Soul, that which gets its
spiritual Ego, in which or reward or punishment
mainly resides the sense of after death.
consciousness in the perfect
man, though the lower dimmer
animal consciousness co-exists
in No. 5.
7. The Spirit-an emanation from 7. Frawashem or Farohar-
the ABSOLUTE uncreated; eternal; Spirit (the guiding energy
a state rather than a being. which is with every man,
is
absolutely independent,
and,
without mixing with
any worldly object, leads
man to
good. The spark
of
divinity in every being).
The above is given in the Avesta as
follows:--
"We declare and positively make
known this (that) we offer (our) entire
property (which is) the body (the
self consisting of) bones (tanwas),
vital heat (ushtanas), aerial form
(keherpas), knowledge (tevishis),
consciousness (baodhas), soul
(urwanem), and spirit (frawashem), to the
prosperous, truth-coherent (and) pure
Gathas (prayers)."
The ordinary Gujarathi translation
differs from Spiegel's, and this
latter differs very slightly from
what is here given. Yet in the
present translation there has been
made no addition to, or omission
from, the original wording of the
Zend text. The grammatical
construction also has been preserved
intact. The only difference,
therefore, between the current
translations and the one here given is
that ours is in accordance with the
modern corrections of philological
research which make it more
intelligible, and the idea perfectly clear
to the reader.
The word translated "aerial
form" has come down to us without undergoing
any change in the meaning. It is the modern Persian word kaleb, which
means a mould, a shape into which a
thing is cast, to take a certain
form and features. The next word is one about which there is a
great
difference of opinion. It is by some called strength, durability,
i.e.,
that power which gives tenacity to
and sustains the nerves. Others
explain it as that quality in a man
of rank and position which makes him
perceive the result of certain events
(causes), and thus helps him in
being prepared to meet them. This meaning is suggestive, though we
translate it as knowledge, or foreknowledge
rather, with the greatest
diffidence. The eighth word is quite clear. That inward feeling which
tells a man that he knows this or
that, that he has or can do certain
things--is perception and
consciousness. It is the inner conviction,
knowledge and its possession. The ninth word is again one which has
retained its meaning and has been in
use up to the present day. The
reader will at once recognize that it
is the origin of the modern word
Rawan. It is (metaphorically) the king, the
conscious motor or agent in
man. It is that something which
depends upon and is benefited or injured
by the foregoing attributes. We say depends upon, because its progress
entirely consists in the development
of those attributes. If they are
neglected, it becomes weak and
degenerated, and disappears. If they
ascend on the moral and spiritual
scale, it gains strength and vigour
and becomes more blended than ever to
the Divine essence--the seventh
principle. But how does it become
attracted toward its monad? The tenth
word answers the question. This is the Divine essence in man. But this
is only the irresponsible minister
(this completes the metaphor). The
real master is the king, the
spiritual soul. It must have the
willingness and power to see and
follow the course pointed out by the
pure spirit. The vizir's business is only to represent a
point of
attraction, towards which the king
should turn. It is for the king to
see and act accordingly for the glory
of his own self. The minister or
spirit can neither compel nor
constrain. It inspires and electrifies
into action; but to benefit by the inspiration, to take
advantage of
it, is left to the option of the
spiritual soul.
If, then, the Avesta contains such a
passage, it must fairly be admitted
that its writers knew the whole
doctrine concerning spiritual man. We
cannot suppose that the ancient
Mazdiasnians, the Magi, wrote this short
passage, without inferring from it,
at the same time, that they were
thoroughly conversant with the whole
of the occult theory about man.
And it looks very strange indeed,
that modern Theosophists should now
preach to us the very same doctrines
that must have been known and
taught thousands of years ago by the
Mazdiasnians,--the passage is
quoted from one of their oldest
writings. And since they propound the
very same ideas, the meaning of which
has well-nigh been lost even to
our most learned Mobeds, they ought
to be credited at least with some
possession of a knowledge, the key to
which has been revealed to them,
and lost to us, and which opens the
door to the meaning of those
hitherto inexplicable sentences and
doctrines in our old writings, about
which we are still, and will go on,
groping in the dark, unless we
listen to what they have to tell us about
them.
To show that the above is not a
solitary instance, but that the Avesta
contains this idea in many other
places, I will give another paragraph
which contains the same doctrine,
though in a more condensed form than
the one just given. Let the Parsi reader turn to Yasna, chapter
26, and
read the sixth paragraph, which runs
as follows:--
We praise the life (ahum), knowledge
(daenam), consciousness (baodhas),
soul (urwanem), and spirit
(frawashem) of the first in religion, the
first teachers and hearers
(learners), the holy men and holy women who
were the protectors of purity here
(in this world).
Here the whole man is spoken of as
composed of five parts, as under:--
1. The
Physical Body.
1. Ahum-Existence, Life. 2. The Vital Principle.
It includes: 3. The Astral Body.
2. Daenam-Knowledge. 4. The Astral shape or
body
of desire.
3. Baodhas-Consciousness. 5. The Animal or physical
intelligence or
consciousness or Ego.
4. Urwanem-Soul. 6. The Higher or
Spiritual
intelligence
or
consciousness, or
Spiritual Ego.
5. Frawashem-Spirit. 7. The Spirit.
In this description the first triple
group--viz., the bones (or the
gross matter), the vital force which
keeps them together, and the
ethereal body, are included in one
and called Existence, Life. The
second part stands for the fourth
principle of the septenary man, as
denoting the configuration of his
knowledge or desires.* Then the
three, consciousness (or animal
soul), (spiritual) soul, and the pure
Spirit are the same as in the first
quoted passage. Why are these four
mentioned as distinct from each other
and not consolidated like the
first part? The sacred writings explain this by saying
that on death
the first of these five parts
disappears and perishes sooner or later in
the earth's atmosphere. The gross elementary matter (the shell) has
to
run within the earth's
attraction; so the ahum separates from
the
higher portions and is lost.
---------
* Modern science also teaches that
certain characteristics of features
indicate the possession of certain
qualities in a man. The whole science
of physiognomy is founded on it. One can predict the disposition of a
man from his features,--i.e., the
features develop in accordance with
the idiosyncrasies, qualities and
vices, knowledge or the ignorance of
man.
---------
The second (i.e., the fourth of the
septenary group) remains, but not
with the spiritual soul. It continues to hold its place in the vast
storehouse of the universe. And it is this second daenam which stands
before the (spiritual) soul in the
form of a beautiful maiden or an ugly
hag.
That which brings this daenam within the sight of the (spiritual)
soul is the third part (i.e., the
fifth of the septenary group), the
baodhas. Or in other words, the (spiritual) soul has
with it, or in it,
the true consciousness by which it
can view the experiences of its
physical career. So this consciousness, this power or faculty
which
brings the recollection, is always
with, in other words, is a part and
parcel of, the soul itself; hence, its not mixing with any other part,
and hence its existence after the
physical death of man.*
--A Parsi F.T.S.
---------
* Our Brother has but to look into
the oldest sacred hooks of China--
namely, the YI KING. or Book of
Changes (translated by James Legge)
written 1,200 B.C., to find that same
Septenary division of man
mentioned in that system of
Divination. Zhing, which is translated
correctly enough "essence,"
is the more subtle and pure part of matter--
the grosser form of the elementary
ether; Khi, or "spirit," is
the
breath, still material but purer than
the zhing, and is made of the
finer and more active form of ether. In the hwun, or soul (animus) the
Khi predominates and the zhing (or
zing) in the pho or animal soul. At
death the hwun (Or spiritual soul)
wanders away, ascending, and the pho
(the root of the Tibetan word
Pho-hat) descends and is changed into a
ghostly shade (the shell). Dr. Medhurst thinks that "the Kwei
Shans"
(see "Theology of the
Chinese," pp. 10-12) are "the expanding and
contracting principles of human
life!" "The Kwei Shans" are brought
about by the dissolution of the human
frame--and consist of the
expanding and ascending Shan which
rambles about in space, and of the
contracted and shrivelled Kwei, which
reverts to earth and nonentity.
Therefore, the Kwei is the physical
body; the Shan is the vital
principle the Kwei Shan the linga-sariram, or the vital soul; Zhing
the fourth principle or Kama Rupa,
the essence of will; pho, the animal
soul;
Khi, the spiritual soul; and Hwun
the pure spirit--the seven
principles of our occult
doctrine!--Ed. Theos.
---------
Brahmanism on the Sevenfold Principle
in Man
It is now very difficult to say what
was the real ancient Aryan
doctrine. If an inquirer were to attempt to answer it
by an analysis
and comparison of all the various
systems of esotericism prevailing in
India, he will soon be lost in a maze
of obscurity and uncertainty. No
comparison between our real
Brahmanical and the Tibetan esoteric
doctrines will be possible unless one
ascertains the teachings of that
so-called "Aryan doctrine,"
and fully comprehends the whole range of the
ancient Aryan philosophy. Kapila's "Sankhya," Patanjali's
"Yog
philosophy," the different
systems of "Saktaya" philosophy, the various
Agamas and Tantras are but branches
of it. There is a doctrine, though,
which is their real foundation, and
which is sufficient to explain the
secrets of these various systems of
philosophy and harmonize their
teachings. It probably existed long before the Vedas
were compiled, and
it was studied by our ancient Rishis
in connection with the Hindu
scriptures. It is attributed to one mysterious personage
called
Maha.*.....
----------
* The very title of the present chief
of the esoteric Himalayan
Brotherhood.--Ed. Theos.
----------
The Upanishads and such portions of
the Vedas as are not chiefly devoted
to the public ceremonials of the
ancient Aryans are hardly intelligible
without some knowledge of that
doctrine. Even the real significance of
the grand ceremonials referred to in
the Vedas will not be perfectly
apprehended without its light being
throw upon them. The Vedas were
perhaps compiled mainly for the use
of the priests assisting at public
ceremonies, but the grandest
conclusions of our real secret doctrine are
therein mentioned. I am informed by persons competent to judge
of the
matter, that the Vedas have a
distinct dual meaning--one expressed by
the literal sense of the words, the
other indicated by the metre and the
swara (intonation), which are, as it
were the life of the Vedas.
Learned Pundits and philologists of
course deny that swara has anything
to do with philosophy or ancient
esoteric doctrines; but the mysterious
connection between swara and light is
one of its most profound secrets.
Now, it is extremely difficult to
show whether the Tibetans derived
their doctrine from the ancient
Rishis of India, or the ancient
Brahrnans learned their occult
science from the adepts of Tibet; or,
again, whether the adepts of both
countries professed originally the
same doctrine and derived it from a
common source.* If you were to go
to the Sramana Balagula, and question
some of the Jain Pundits there
about the authorship of the Vedas and
the origin of the Brahmanical
esoteric doctrine, they would
probably tell you that the Vedas were
composed by Rakshasas** or Daityas,
and that the Brahmans had derived
their secret knowledge from them.***
---------
* See Appendix, Note I.
** A kind of demons-devil.
*** And so would the Christian
padris. But they would never admit that
their "fallen angels" were
borrowed from the Rakshasas; that their
"devil" is the illegitimate
son of Dewel, the Sinhalese female demon;
or that the "war in heaven"
of the Apocalypse--the foundation of the
Christian dogma of the "Fallen
Angels" was copied from the Hindu story
about Siva hurling the Tarakasura who
rebelled against the gods into
Andhahkara, the abode of Darkness,
according to Brahmanical Shastras.
---------
Do these assertions mean that the
Vedas and the Brahmanical esoteric
teachings had their origin in the
lost Atlantis--the continent that once
occupied a considerable portion of
the expanse of the Southern and the
Pacific oceans? The assertion in "Isis Unveiled,"
that Sanskrit was the
language of the inhabitants of the
said continent, may induce one to
suppose that the Vedas had probably
their origin there, wherever else
might be the birthplace of the Aryan
esotericism.* But the real
esoteric doctrine, as well as the
mystic allegorical philosophy of the
Vedas, were derived from another
source again, whatever that may be--
perchance from the divine inhabitants
(gods) of the sacred island which
once existed in the sea that covered
in days of old the sandy tract now
called Gobi Desert. However that may be, the knowledge of the
occult
powers of Nature possessed by the
inhabitants of the lost Atlantis was
learnt by the ancient adepts of
India, and was appended by them to the
esoteric doctrine taught by the
residents of the sacred island.** The
Tibetan adepts, however, have not
accepted this addition to their
esoteric doctrine; and it is in this respect that one should
expect to
find a difference between the two
doctrines.***
----------
* Not necessarily. (See Appendix,
Note II.) It is generally held by
Occultists that Sanskrit has been
spoken in Java and adjacent islands
from remote antiquity.--Ed. Theos.
** A locality which is spoken of to
this day by the Tibetans, and called
by them "Scham-bha-la," the
Happy Land. (See Appendix, Note III.)
*** To comprehend this passage fully,
the reader must turn to vol. I.
pp. 589-594 of "Isis Unveiled."
--------
The Brahmanical occult doctrine
probably contains everything that was
taught about the powers of Nature and
their laws, either in the
mysterious island of the North or in
the equally mysterious continent of
the South. And if you mean to compare the Aryan and the
Tibetan
doctrines as regards their teachings
about the occult powers of Nature,
you must beforehand examine all the
classifications of these powers,
their laws and manifestations, and
the real connotations of the various
names assigned to them in the Aryan
doctrine. Here are some of the
classifications contained in the
Brahmanical system:
I. As appertaining to Parabrahmam and existing in the MACROCOSM.
II. As appertaining to man and existing in the MICROCOSM.
III. For the purposes of d Taraka Yog or
Pranava Yog.
IV. For the purposes of Sankhya Yog (where they are, as it were,
the inherent attributes of Prakriti).
V. For the purposes of Hata Yog.
VI. For the purposes of Koula Agama.
VII. For the purposes of Sakta Agama.
VIII. For the purposes of Siva Aqama.
IX. For the purposes of Sreechakram (the Sreechakram referred
to in "Isis Unveiled" is not the real esoteric Sreechakram
of the ancient adepts of Aryavarta).*
--------
* Very true. But who would be allowed
to give out the "real" esoteric
one?--Ed. Theos.
--------
X. In Atharvena Veda, &c.
In all these classifications
subdivisions have been multiplied
indefinitely by conceiving new
combinations of the Primary Powers in
different proportions. But I must now drop this subject, and proceed
to
consider the "Fragments of
Occult Truth" (since embodied in "Esoteric
Buddhism").
I have carefully examined it, and
find that the results arrived at (in
the Buddhist doctrine) do not differ
much from the conclusions of our
Aryan philosophy, though our mode of
stating the arguments may differ in
form.
I shall now discuss the question from my own standpoint, though,
following, for facility of comparison
and convenience of discussion, the
sequence of classification of the
sevenfold entities or principles
constituting man which is adopted in
the "Fragments." The questions
raised for discussion are (1) whether
the disembodied spirits of human
beings (as they are called by
Spiritualists) appear in the seance-rooms
and elsewhere; and (2) whether the manifestations taking
place are
produced wholly or partly through
their agency.
It is hardly possible to answer these
two questions satisfactorily
unless the meaning intended to be
conveyed by the expression
"disembodied spirits of human
beings" be accurately defined. The words
spiritualism and spirit are very
misleading. Unless English writers in
general, and Spiritualists in
particular, first ascertain clearly the
connotation they mean to assign to
the word spirit, there will be no end
of confusion, and the real nature of
these so-called spiritualistic
phenomena and their modus occurrendi
can never be clearly defined.
Christian writers generally speak of
only two entities in man--the body,
and the soul or spirit (both seeming
to mean the same thing to them).
European philosophers generally speak
of body and mind, and argue that
soul or spirit cannot be anything
else than mind. They are of opinion
that any belief in lingasariram* is
entirely unphilosophical. These
views are certainly incorrect, and
are based on unwarranted assumptions
as to the possibilities of Nature,
and on an imperfect understanding of
its laws. I shall now examine (from the standpoint of
the Brahmanical
esoteric doctrine) the spiritual
constitution of man, the various
entities or principles existing in
him, and ascertain whether either of
those entities entering into his
composition can appear on earth after
his death, and if so, what it is that
so appears.
--------
* The astral body, so called.
--------
Professor Tyndall in his excellent
papers on what he calls the "Germ
Theory," comes to the following
conclusions as the result of a series of
well-planned experiments:--Even in a
very small volume of space there
are myriads of protoplasmic germs
floating in ether. If, for instance,
say water (clear water) is exposed to
them, and if they fall into it,
some form of life or other will be
evolved out of them. Now, what are
the agencies for the bringing of this
life into existence? Evidently--
I. The water, which is the field, so
to say, for the growth
of life.
II. The protoplasmic germ, out of
which life or a living organism
is to be evolved or developed. And
lastly--
III. The power, energy, force, or tendency
which springs into activity
at the touch or combination of the
protoplasmic germ and the water, and
which evolves or develops life and
its natural attributes.
Similarly, there are three primary
causes which bring the human being
into existence. I shall call them, for the purpose of
discussion, by
the following names
(1) Parabrahmam, the Universal
Spirit.
(2) Sakti, the crown of the astral
light, combining in itself all the
powers of Nature.
(3) Prakriti, which in its original
or primary shape is represented by
Akasa. (Really every form of matter is finally
reducible to Akasa.)*
It is ordinarily stated that Prakriti
or Akasa is the Kshetram, or the
basis which corresponds to water in
the example we have taken Brahmam
the germ, and Sakti, the power or
energy that comes into existence at
their union or contact.**
--------
* The Tibetan esoteric Buddhist
doctrine teaches that Prakriti is cosmic
matter, out of which all visible
forms are produced; and Akasa, that
same cosmic matter, but still more
subjective--its spirit, as it were.
Prakriti being the body or substance,
and Akasa Sakti its soul or
energy.
** Or, in other words,
"Prakriti, Swabhavat, or Akasa, is SPACE, as the
Tibetans have it; Space filled with whatsoever substance or no
substance at all--i.e., with
substance so imperceptible as to be only
metaphysically conceivable. Brahman, then, would be the germ thrown
into the soil of that field, and
Sakti, that mysterious energy or force
which develops it, and which is
called by the Buddhist Arahat of Tibet,
FOHAT. That which we call form (rupa) is not
different from that which
we call space (sunyata).... Space is not different from form. Form is
the same as space; space is the same as form. And so with the other
skandhas, whether vedana, or sanjna,
or sanskara, or vijnana, they are
each the same as their
opposite." .... (Book of Sin-king, or the "Heart
Sutra." Chinese translation of
the "Maha-Prajna-Paramita-Hridaya-Sutra,"
chapter on the
"Avalokiteshwara," or the manifested Buddha.) So that
the Aryan and Tibetan or Arhat
doctrines agree perfectly in substance,
differing but in names given and the
way of putting it.
---------
But this is not the view which the
Upanishads take of the question.
According to them, Brahamam* is the
Kshetram or basis, Akasa or
Prakriti, the germ or seed, and
Sakti, the power evolved by their union
or contact. And this is the real scientific,
philosophical mode of
stating the case.
--------
* See Appendix, Note IV.
--------
Now, according to the adepts of
ancient Aryavarta, seven principles are
evolved out of these three primary
entities. Algebra teaches us that the
number of combinations of n things,
taken one at a time, two at a time,
three at a time, and so forth =
2(n)-1.
Applying this formula to the present
case, the number of entities
evolved from different combinations
of these three primary causes
amounts to 2(3)-1 = 8-1 = 7.
As a general rule, whenever seven
entities are mentioned in the ancient
occult science of India, in any
connection whatsoever, you must suppose
that those seven entities came into
existence from three primary
entities; and that these three entities, again, are
evolved out of a
single entity or MONAD. To take a familiar example, the seven coloured
rays in the solar ray are evolved out
of three primary coloured rays;
and the three primary colours coexist
with the four secondary colours in
the solar rays. Similarly, the three primary entities which
brought man
into existence co-exist in him with the
four secondary entities which
arose from different combinations of
the three primary entities.
Now these seven entities, which in
their totality constitute man, are as
follows. I shall enumerate them in the order adopted
in the
"Fragments," as far as the
two orders (the Brahmanical and the Tibetan)
coincide:--
Corresponding
names in
Esoteric
Buddhism.
I. Prakriti. Sthulasariram
(Physical Body).
II. The entity evolved
out of the combination Sukshmasariram or Lingasariram
of Prakriti and Sakti. (Astral Body).
III. Sakti. Kamarupa (the
Perispirit).
IV. The entity evolved out
of the combination of Jiva (Life-Soul).
Brahmam, Sakti and
Prakriti.
V. The entity evolved out
of the combination of Physical Intelligence (or
Brahmam and Prakriti. animal soul).
VI. The entity evolved
out of the combination of Spiritual Intelligence (or Soul).
Brahmam and Sakti.
VII. Brahmam. The emanation from the
ABSOLUTE,
&c. (or
pure spirit.)
Before proceeding to examine these
nature of these seven entities, a few
general explanations are
indispensably necessary.
I. The secondary principles arising
out of the combination of primary
principles are quite different in
their nature from the entities out of
whose combination they came into
existence. The combinations in
question are not of the nature of
mere mechanical juxtapositions, as it
were.
They do not even correspond to chemical combinations.
Consequently no valid inferences as
regards the nature of the
combinations in question can be drawn
by analogy from the nature
[variety?] of these combinations.
II. The general proposition, that
when once a cause is removed its
effect vanishes, is not universally
applicable. Take, for instance, the
following example:--If you once
communicate a certain amount of momentum
to a ball, velocity of a particular
degree in a particular direction is
the result. Now, the cause of this motion ceases to exist
when the
instantaneous sudden impact or blow
which conveyed the momentum is
completed; but according to Newton's first law of motion,
the ball will
continue to move on for ever and
ever, with undiminished velocity in the
same direction, unless the said
motion is altered, diminished,
neutralized, or counteracted by
extraneous causes. Thus, if the ball
stop, it will not be on account of
the absence of the cause of its
motion, but in consequence of the
existence of extraneous causes which
produce the said result.
Again, take the instance of
subjective phenomena.
Now the presence of this ink-bottle
before me is producing in me, or in
my mind, a mental representation of
its form, volume, colour and so
forth.
The bottle in question may be
removed, but still its mental picture may
continue to exist. Here, again, you see, the effect survives the
cause.
Moreover, the effect may at any subsequent
time be called into conscious
existence, whether the original cause
be present or not.
Now, in the ease of the filth
principle above mentioned-the entity that
came into existence by the
combination of Brahmam and Prakriti--if the
general proposition (in the
"Fragments of Occult Truth") is correct,
this principle, which corresponds to
the physical intelligence, must
cease to exist whenever the Brahmam
or the seventh Principle should
cease to exist for the particular
individual; but the fact is certainly
otherwise. The general proposition under consideration
is adduced in
the "Fragments" in support
of the assertion that whenever the seventh
principle ceases to exist for any
particular individual, the sixth
principle also ceases to exist for
him. The assertion is undoubtedly
true, though the mode of stating it
and the reasons assigned for it, are
to my mind objectionable.
It is said that in cases where
tendencies of a man's mind are entirely
material, and all spiritual
aspirations and thoughts were altogether
absent from his mind, the seventh
principle leaves him either before or
at the time of death, and the sixth
principle disappears with it. Here,
the very proposition that the
tendencies of the particular individual's
mind are entirely material, involves
the assertion that there is no
spiritual intelligence or spiritual
Ego in him, it should then have been
said that, whenever spiritual
intelligence ceases to exist in any
particular individual, the seventh
principle ceases to exist for that
particular individual for all
purposes. Of course, it does not fly off
anywhere. There can never be any thing like a change of
position in the
case of Brahmam.* The assertion merely means that when there is
no
recognition whatever of Brahmam, or spirit,
or spiritual life, or
spiritual consciousness, the seventh
principle has ceased to exercise
any influence or control over the
individual's destinies.
--------
* True--from the standpoint of Aryan
Exotericism and the Upanishads, not
quite so in the case of the Arahat or
Tibetan esoteric doctrine; and it
is only on this one solitary point
that the two teachings disagree, as
far as we know. The difference is very trifling, though,
resting as it
does solely upon the two various
methods of viewing the one and the same
thing from two different
aspects. (See Appendix, Note IV.)
--------
I shall now state what is meant (in
the Aryan doctrine) by the seven
principles above enumerated.
I. Prakriti. This is the basis of Sthulasariram, and
represents it in
the above-mentioned classification.
II. Prakriti and Sakti. This is the Lingasariram, or astral body.
III. Sukti. This principle corresponds to your Kamarupa.
This power or
force is placed by ancient occultists
in the Nabhichakram. This power
can gather akasa or prakriti, and
mould it into any desired shape. It
has very great sympathy with the
fifth principle, and can be made to act
by its influence or control.
IV. Brahmam and Sakti, and
Prakriti. This again corresponds to your
second principle, Jiva.
This power represents the universal
life-principle which exists in
Nature. Its seat is the Anahatachakram (heart). It is a force or power
which constitutes what is called
Jiva, or life. It is, as you say,
indestructible, and its activity is
merely transferred at the time of
death to another set of atoms, to
form another organism.
V. Brahma and Prakriti. This, in our Aryan philosophy, corresponds to
your fifth principle, called the
physical intelligence. According to
our philosophers, this is the entity
in which what is called mind has
its seat or basis. This is the most difficult principle of all
to
explain, and the present discussion
entirely turns upon the view we take
of it.
Now, what is mind? It is a mysterious something, which is
considered to
be the seat of consciousness--of
sensations, emotions, volitions, and
thoughts. Psychological analysis shows it to be
apparently a congeries
of mental states, and possibilities
of mental states, connected by what
is called memory, and considered to
have a distinct existence apart from
any of its particular states or
ideas. Now in what entity has this
mysterious something its potential or
actual existence? Memory and
expectation, which form, as it were,
the real foundation of what is
called individuality, or Ahankaram,
must have their seat of existence
somewhere. Modern psychologists of Europe generally say
that the
material substance of brain is the
seat of mind; and that past
subjective experiences, which can he
recalled by memory, and which in
their totality constitute what is
called individuality, exist therein in
the shape of certain unintelligible
mysterious impressions and changes
in the nerves and nerve-centres of
the cerebral hemispheres.
Consequently, they say, the mind--the
individual mind--is destroyed when
the body is destroyed; so there is no possible existence after
death.
But there are a few facts among those
admitted by these philosophers
which are sufficient for us to
demolish their theory. In every portion
of the human body a constant change
goes on without intermission. Every
tissue, every muscular fibre and
nerve-tube, and every ganglionic centre
in the brain, is undergoing an
incessant change. In the course of a
man's lifetime there may be a series
of complete tranformations of the
substance of his brain. Nevertheless, the memory of his past mental
states remains unaltered. There may be additions of new subjective
experiences and some mental states
may be altogether forgotten, but no
individual mental state is
altered. The person's sense of personal
identity remains the same throughout
these constant alterations in the
brain substance.* It is able to survive all these changes, and
it can
survive also the complete destruction
of the material substance of the
brain.
--------
* This is also sound Buddhist
philosophy, the transformation in
question being known as the change of
the skandhas.--Ed. Theos.
--------
This individuality arising from
mental consciousness has its seat of
existence, according to our
philosophers, in an occult power or force,
which keeps a registry, as it were,
of all our mental impressions. The
power itself is indestructible,
though by the operation of certain
antagonistic causes its impressions may
in course of time be effaced, in
part or wholly.
I may mention in this connection that
our philosophers have
associated seven occult powers with
the seven principles or entities
above-mentioned. These seven occult powers in the microcosm
correspond
with, or are the counterparts of, the
occult powers in the macrocosm.
The mental and spiritual
consciousness of the individual becomes the
general consciousness of Brahmam,
when the barrier of individuality is
wholly removed, and when the seven
powers in the microcosm are placed
en rapport with the seven powers in
the macrocosm.
There is nothing very strange in a
power, or force, or sakti, carrying
with it impressions of sensations,
ideas, thoughts, or other subjective
experiences. It is now a well-known fact, that an electric
or magnetic
current can convey in some mysterious
manner impressions of sound or
speech, with all their individual
peculiarities; similarly, I can
convey my thoughts to you by a
transmission of energy or power.
Now, this fifth principle represents
in our philosophy the mind, or, to
speak more correctly, the power or
force above described, the
impressions of the mental states
therein, and the notion of
self-identity or Ahankaram generated
by their collective operation.
This principle is called merely
physical intelligence in the
"Fragments." I do not know what is really meant by this
expression. It
may be taken to mean that
intelligence which exists in a very low state
of development in the lower animals.
Mind may exist in different stages
of development, from the very lowest
forms of organic life, where the
signs of its existence or operation
can hardly be distinctly realized,
up to man, in whom it reaches its
highest state of development.
In fact, from the first appearance of
life* up to Tureeya Avastha, or
the state of Nirvana, the progress
is, as it were, continuous.
--------
* In the Aryan doctrine, which blends
Brahmam, Sakti, and Prakriti in
one, it is the fourth principle then,
in the Buddhist esotericisms the
second in combination with the first.
--------
We ascend from that principle up to
the seventh by almost imperceptible
gradations. But four stages are recognized in the
progress where the
change is of a peculiar kind, and is
such as to arrest an observer's
attention. These four stages are as follows:--
(1) Where life (fourth principle)
makes its appearance.
(2) Where the existence of mind
becomes perceptible in conjunction with
life.
(3) Where the highest state of mental
abstraction ends, and spiritual
consciousness commences.
(4) Where spiritual consciousness
disappears, leaving the seventh
principle in a complete state of
Nirvana, or nakedness.
According to our philosophers, the
fifth principle under consideration
is intended to represent the mind in every
possible state of
development, from the second stage up
to the third stage.
IV. Brahmam and Sakti. This principle corresponds to your
"spiritual
intelligence." It is, in fact, Buddhi (I use the word Buddhi
not in the
ordinary sense, but in the sense in
which it is used by our ancient
philosophers); in other words, it is the seat of Bodha or
Atmabodha.
One who has Atmabodha in its
completeness is a Buddha. Buddhists know
very well what this term
signifies. This principle is described
in the
"Fragments" as an entity coming into existence by the
combination of
Brahmam and Prakriti. I do not again know in what particular sense
the
word Prakriti is used in this
connection. According to our
philosophers
it is an entity arising from the
union of Brahmam and Sakti. I have
already explained the connotation
attached by our philosophers to the
words Prakriti and Sakti.
I stated that Prakriti in its primary
state is Akasa.*
If Akasa be considered to be Sakti or
power** then my statement as
regards the ultimate state of
Prakriti is likely to give rise to
confusion and misapprehension unless
I explain the distinction between
Akasa and Sakti. Akasa is not, properly speaking, the crown of
the
astral light, nor does it by itself
constitute any of the six primary
forces. But, generally speaking, whenever any
phenomenal result is
produced, Sakti acts in conjunction
with Akasa. And, moreover, Akasa
serves as a basis or Adhishthanum for
the transmission of force currents
and for the formation or generation
of force or power correlations.***
--------
* According to the Buddhists, in
Akasa lies that eternal, potential
energy whose function it is to evolve
all visible things out of
itself.--Ed. Theos.
** It was never so considered, as we
have shown it. But as the
"Fragments" are written in
English, a language lacking such an abundance
of metaphysical terms to express ever
minute change of form, substance
and state as are found in the
Sanskrit, it was deemed useless to confuse
the Western reader, untrained in the
methods of Eastern expression, more
than is necessary, with a too nice
distinctions of proper technical
terms. As "Prakriti in its primary state is
Akasa," and Sakti "is an
attribute AKASA," it becomes
evident that for the uninitiated it is all
one.
Indeed, to speak of the "union of Brahmam and Prakriti"
instead of
"Brahmam and Sakti" is no
worse than for a theist to write that "That
man has come into existence by the
combination of spirit and matter,"
whereas, his word, framed in an
orthodox shape, ought to read "man is a
living soul was created by the power
(or breath) of God over matter."
*** That is to say, the Aryan Akasa
is another word for Buddhist SPACE
(in its metaphysical meaning).--Ed.
Theos.
---------
In Mantrasastra the letter Ha represents
Akasa, and you will find that
this syllable enters into most of the
sacred formula intended to be used
in producing phenomenal results. But by itself it does not represent
any Sakti. You may, if you please, call Sakti an
attribute of Akasa.
I do not think that, as regards the
nature of this principle, there can
in reality exist any difference of
opinion between the Buddhist and
Brahmanical philosophers.
Buddhist and Brahmanical initiates
know very well that mysterious
circular mirror composed of two
hemispheres which reflects as it were
the rays emanating from the
"burning bush" and the blazing star--the
spiritual sun Shining in CHIDAKASAM.
The spiritual impressions
constituting this principle have their
existence in an occult power
associated with the entity in question.
The successive incarnations of
Buddha, in fact, mean the successive
transfers of this mysterious power,
or the impressions thereof. The
transfer is only possible when the
Mahatma* who transfers it has
completely identified himself with
his seventh principle, has
annihilated his Ahankaram, and
reduced it to ashes in CHIDAGNIKUNDUM,
and has succeeded in making his
thoughts correspond with the eternal
laws of Nature and in becoming a
co-worker with Nature. Or, to put the
same thing in other words, when he
has attained the state of Nirvana,
the condition of final negation,
negation of individual, or separate
existence.**
---------
* The highest adept.
* In the words of Agatha in the
"Maha-pari-Nirvana Sutra,"
"We reach a condition of rest
Beyond the limit of any human knowledge"
--Ed. Theos.
---------
VII. Atma.--The emanation from the
absolute, corresponding to the
seventh principle. As regards this entity there exists
positively no
real difference of opinion between
the Tibetan Buddhist adepts and our
ancient Rishis.
We must now consider which of these
entities can appear after the
individual's death in seance-rooms
and produce the so-called
spiritualistic phenomena.
Now, the assertion of the
Spiritualists, that the "disembodied spirits"
of particular human beings appear in
seance-rooms, necessarily implies
that the entity that so appears bears
the stamp of some particular
personality.
So, we have to ascertain beforehand
in what entity or entities
personality has its seat of
existence. Apparently it exists in the
person's particular formation of
body, and in his subjective experiences
(called his mind in their
totality). On the death of the
individual his
body is destroyed; his lingasariram being decomposed, the power
associated with it becomes mingled in
the current of the corresponding
power in the macrocosm. Similarly,
the third and fourth principles are
mingled with their corresponding
powers. These entities may again enter
into the composition of other
organisms. As these entities bear no
impression of personality, the
Spiritualists have no right to say that
the disembodied spirit of the human
being has appeared in the
seance-room whenever any of these
entities may appear there. In fact,
they have no means of ascertaining
that they belonged to any particular
individual.
Therefore, we must only consider
whether any of the last three entities
appear in seance-rooms to amuse or to
instruct Spiritualists. Let us
take three particular examples of
individuals, and see what becomes of
these three principles after death.
I. One in whom spiritual attachments
have greater force than terrestrial
attachments.
II. One in whom spiritual aspirations
do exist, but are merely of
secondary importance to him, his
terrestrial interests occupying the
greater share of his attention.
III. One in whom there exists no
spiritual aspirations whatsoever, one
whose spiritual Ego is dead or
non-existent to his apprehension.
We need not consider the case of a
complete adept in this connection.
In the first two cases, according to
our supposition, spiritual and
mental experiences exist
together; when spiritual consciousness
exists,
the existence of the seventh
principle being recognized, it maintains
its connection with the fifth and
sixth principles. But the existence
of terrestrial attachments creates
the necessity of Punarjanmam
(re-birth), the latter signifying the
evolution of a new set of
objective and subjective experiences,
constituting a new combination of
surrounding circumstances, or, in
other words, a new world. The period
between death and the next subsequent
birth is occupied with the
preparation required for the
evolution of these new experiences.
During
the period of incubation, as you call
it, the spirit will never of its
own accord appear in this world, nor
can it so appear.
There is a great law in this universe
which consists in the reduction of
subjective experiences to objective
phenomena, and the evolution of the
former from the latter. This is otherwise called "cyclic
necessity."
Man is subjected to this law if he do
not check and counterbalance the
usual destiny or fate, and he can
only escape its control by subduing
all his terrestrial attachments
completely. The new combination of
circumstances under which he will
then be placed may be better or worse
than the terrestrial conditions under
which he lived; but in his
progress to a new world, you may be
sure he will never turn around to
have a look at his spiritualistic
friends.
In the third of the above three cases
there is, by our supposition, no
recognition of spiritual
consciousness or of spirits; so they are
non-existing so far as he is
concerned. The case is similar to that
of
an organ or faculty which remains
unused for a long time. It then
practically ceases to exist.
These entities, as it were, remain
his, or in his possession, when they
are stamped with the stamp of
recognition. When such is not the case,
the whole of his individuality is
centred in his fifth principle. And
after death this fifth principle is
the only representative of the
individual in question.
By itself it cannot evolve for itself
a new set of objective
experiences, or, to say the same
thing in other words, it has no
punarjanmam. It is such an entity that can appear in
seance-rooms; but
it is absurd to call it a disembodied
spirit.* It is merely a power or
force retaining the impressions of
the thoughts or ideas of the
individual into whose composition it
originally entered. It sometimes
summons to its aid the Kamarupa
power, and creates for itself some
particular ethereal form (not
necessarily human).
--------
* It is especially on this point that
the Aryan and Arahat doctrines
quite agree. The teaching and argument that follow are in
every respect
those of the Buddhist Himalayan
Brotherhood.--Ed. Theos.
--------
Its tendencies of action will be
similar to those of the individual's
mind when he was living. This entity maintains its existence so long
as
the impressions on the power
associated with the fifth principle remain
intact. In course of time they are effaced, and the
power in question
is then mixed up in the current of
its corresponding power in the
MACROCOSM, as the river loses itself
in the sea. Entities like these
may afford signs of there having been
considerable intellectual power in
the individuals to which they
belonged; because very high intellectual
power may co-exist with utter absence
of spiritual consciousness. But
from this circumstance it cannot be
argued that either the spirits or
the spiritual Egos of deceased
individuals appear in seance-rooms.
There are some people in India who
have thoroughly studied the nature of
such entities (called Pisacham). I do not know much about them
experimentally, as I have never
meddled with this disgusting,
profitless, and dangerous branch of
investigation.
The Spiritualists do not know what
they are really doing. Their
investigations are likely to result
in course of time either in wicked
sorcery or in the utter spiritual
ruin of thousands of men and women.*
--------
* We share entirely in this
idea.--Ed. Theos.
--------
The views I have herein expressed
have been often illustrated by our
ancient writers by comparing the course
of a man's life or existence to
the orbital motion of a planet round
the sun. Centripetal force is
spiritual attraction, and centrifugal
terrestrial attraction. As the
centripetal force increases in
magnitude in comparison with the
centrifugal force, the planet
approaches the sun--the individual reaches
a higher plane of existence. If, on the other hand, the centrifugal
force becomes greater than the
centripetal force, the planet is removed
to a greater distance from the sun,
and moves in a new orbit at that
distance--the individual comes to a
lower level of existence. These are
illustrated in the first two
instances I have noticed above.
We have only to consider the two
extreme cases.
When the planet in its approach to
the sun passes over the line where
the centripetal and centrifugal force
completely neutralize each other,
and is only acted on by the
centripetal force, it rushes towards the sun
with a gradually increasing velocity,
and is finally mixed up with the
mass of the sun's body. This is the
case of a complete adept.
Again, when the planet in its retreat
from the sun reaches a point where
the centrifugal force becomes
all-powerful, it flies off in a tangential
direction from its orbit, and goes
into the depths of void space. When
it ceases to be under the control of
the sun, it gradually gives up its
generative heat, and the creative
energy that it originally derived from
the sun, and remains a cold mass of
material particles wandering through
space until the mass is completely decomposed
into atoms. This cold
mass is compared to the fifth
principle under the conditions above
noticed, and the heat, light, and
energy that left it are compared to
the sixth and seventh principles.
Either after assuming a new orbit or
in its course of deviation from the
old orbit to the new, the planet can
never go back to any point in its
old orbit, as the various orbits
lying in different planes never
intersect each other.
This figurative representation
correctly explains the ancient
Brahmanical theory on the
subject. It is merely a branch of what
is
called the Great Law of the Universe
by the ancient mystics.
--T. Subba Row
Appendix
Note I.
In this connection it will be well to
draw the reader's attention to the
fact that the country called
"Si-dzang" by the Chinese, and Tibet by
Western geographers, is mentioned in
the oldest books preserved in the
province of Fo-kien (the headquarters
of the aborigines of China) as the
great seat of occult learning in the
archaic ages. According to these
records, it was inhabited by the
"Teachers of Light," the "Sons of
Wisdom" and the "Brothers
of the Sun." The Emperor Yu the
"Great" (2207
B.C.), a pious mystic, is credited
with having obtained his occult
wisdom and the system of theocracy
established by him--for he was the
first one to unite in China
ecclesiastical power with temporal
authority--from Si-dzang. That system was the same as with the old
Egyptians and the Chaldees; that which we know to have existed in the
Brahmanical period in India, and to
exist now in Tibet--namely, all the
learning, power, the temporal as well
as the secret wisdom were
concentrated within the hierarchy of
the priests and limited to their
caste. Who were the aborigines of Tibet is a
question which no
ethnographer is able to answer
correctly at present. They practice the
Bhon religion, their sect is a
pre-and anti-Buddhistic one, and they
are to be found mostly in the
province of Kam. That is all that is
known of them. But even that would justify the supposition
that they
are the greatly degenerated
descendants of mighty and wise forefathers.
Their ethnical type shows that they
are not pure Turanians, and their
rites--now those of sorcery,
incantations, and Nature-worship--remind
one far more of the popular rites of
the Babylonians, as found in the
records preserved on the excavated
cylinders, than of the religious
practices of the Chinese sect of
Tao-sse (a religion based upon pure
reason and spirituality), as alleged
by some. Generally, little or no
difference is made, even by the
Kyelang missionaries, who mix greatly
with these people on the borders of
British Lahoul and ought to know
better, between the Bhons and the two
rival Buddhist sects, the Yellow
Caps and the Red Caps. The latter of these have opposed the reform
of
Tzong-ka-pa from the first, and have
always adhered to old Buddhism, so
greatly mixed up now with the
practices of the Bhons. Were our
Orientalists to know more of them,
and compare the ancient Babylonian
Bel or Baal worship with the rites of
the Bhons, they would find an
undeniable connection between the
two. To begin an argument here,
proving the origin of the aborigines
of Tibet as connected with one of
the three great races which
superseded each other in Babylonia, whether
we call them the Akkadians (a name
invented by F. Lenormant), or the
primitive Turanians, Chaldees, and
Assyrians, is out of the question.
Be it as it may, there is reason to
call the trans-Himalayan esoteric
doctrine Chaldeo-Tibetan. And when we remember that the Vedas came,
agreeably to all traditions, from the
Mansarawara Lake in Tibet, and the
Brahmins themselves from the far
North, we are justified in looking on
the esoteric doctrines of every
people who once had or still has it, as
having proceeded from one and the
same source; and to thus call it the
"Aryan-Chaldeo-Tibetan"
doctrine, or Universal Wisdom-Religion. "Seek
for the Lost Word among the
hierophants of Tartary, China, and Tibet,"
was the advice of Swedenborg the
seer.
Note II.
Not necessarily, we say. The Vedas, Brahmanism, and along with these,
Sanskrit, were importations into what
we now regard as India. They were
never indigenous to its soil. There was a time when the ancient nations
of the West included under the
generic name of India many of the
countries of Asia now classified
under other names. There was an Upper,
a Lower, and a Western India, even
during the comparatively late period
of Alexander; and Persia (Iran) is called Western India in
some ancient
classics. The countries now named
Tibet, Mongolia, and Great Tartary
were considered by them as forming
part of India. When we say,
therefore, that India has civilized
the world, and was the Alma Mater of
the civilizations, arts, and sciences
of all other nations (Babylonia,
and perhaps even Egypt, included), we
mean archaic, pre-historic India,
India of the time when the great Gobi
was a sea, and the lost "Atlantis"
formed part of an unbroken continent
which began at the Himalayas and
ran down over Southern India, Ceylon,
and Java, to far-away Tasmania.
Note III.
To ascertain such disputed questions,
one has to look into and study
well the Chinese sacred and
historical records--a people whose era
begins nearly 4,600 years back (2697
B.C.). A people so accurate, and
by whom some of the most important
inventions of modern Europe and its
so much boasted modern science were
anticipated--such as the compass,
gunpowder, porcelain, paper,
printing, &c.--known and practiced
thousands of years before these were
rediscovered by the Europeans,
ought to receive some trust for their
records. And from Lao-tze down to
Hiouen-Thsang their literature is
filled with allusions and references
to that island and the wisdom of the
Himalayan adepts. In the "Catena
of Buddhist Scriptures from the
Chinese," by the Rev. Samuel Beal, there
is a chapter "On the TIAN-TA'I
School of Buddhism" (pp. 244-258) which
our opponents ought to read. Translating the rules of that most
celebrated and holy school and sect
in China founded by Chin-che-K'hae,
called Che-chay (the Wise One), in
the year 575 of our era, when coming
to the sentence which reads
"That which relates to the one garment
(seamless) worn by the GREAT TEACHERS
OF THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS, the school
of the Haimavatas" (p. 256), the
European translator places after the
last sentence a sign of
interrogation, as well he may. The
statistics
of the school of the
"Haimavatas," or of our Himalayan Brotherhood, are
not to be found in the general census
records of India. Further, Mr.
Beal translates a rule relating to
"the great professors of the higher
order who live in mountain depths
remote from men," the Aranyakas, or
hermits.
So, with respect to the traditions
concerning this island, and apart
from the (to them) historical records
of this preserved in the Chinese
and Tibetan sacred books, the legend
is alive to this day among the
people of Tibet. The fair island is no more, but the country
where it
once bloomed remains there still, and
the spot is well known to some of
the "great teachers of the Snowy
Mountains," however much convulsed and
changed its topography by the awful
cataclysm. Every seventh year these
teachers are believed to assemble in
SCHAM-BHA-LA, the "Happy Land."
According to the general belief it is
situated in the north-west of
Tibet. Some place it within the unexplored central
regions,
inaccessible even to the fearless
nomadic tribes; others hem it in
between the range of the Gangdisri
Mountains and the northern edge of
the Gobi desert, south and north, and
the more populated regions of
Khoondooz and Kashmir, of the
Gya-Pheling (British India), and China,
west and east, which affords to the
curious mind a pretty large latitude
to locate it in. Others still place it between Namur Nur and
the
Kuen-Lun Mountains, but one and all
firmly believe in Scham-bha-la, and
speak of it as a fertile fairy-like
land once an island, now an oasis of
incomparable beauty, the place of
meeting of the inheritors of the
esoteric wisdom of the god-like
inhabitants of the legendary island.
In connection with the archaic legend
of the Asian Sea and the Atlantic
Continent, is it not profitable to
note a fact known to all modern
geologists-that the Himalayan slopes
afford geological proof that the
substance of those lofty peaks was
once a part of an ocean floor?
Note IV.
We have already pointed out that, in
our opinion, the whole difference
between Buddhistic and Vedantic
philosophies was that the former was a
kind of Rationalistic Vedantism, while
the latter might be regarded as
transcendental Buddhism. If the Aryan esotericism applies the term
jivatma to the seventh principle--the
pure and per se unconscious
spirit--it is because the Vedanta,
postulating three kinds of
existence--(1) the paramarthika (the
true, the only real one), (2) the
vyavaharika (the practical), and (3)
the pratibhasika (the apparent or
illusory life)--makes the first life
or jiva, the only truly existent
one.
Brahma, or the ONE'S SELF, is its only representative in the
universe, as it is the universal Life
in toto, while the other two are
but its "phenomenal
appearances," imagined and created by ignorance, and
complete illusions suggested to us by
our blind senses. The Buddhists,
on the other hand, deny either
subjective or objective reality even to
that one Self-Existence. Buddha declares that there is neither Creator
nor an Absolute Being. Buddhist rationalism was ever too alive to
the
insuperable difficulty of admitting
one absolute consciousness, as in
the words of Flint, "wherever
there is consciousness there is relation,
and wherever there is relation there
is dualism." The ONE LIFE is
either "MUKTA" (absolute
and unconditioned), and can have no relation to
anything nor to any one; or it is "BADDHA" (bound and conditioned),
and
then it cannot be called the
absolute; the limitation, moreover,
necessitating another deity as
powerful as the first to account for all
the evil in this world. Hence, the Arahat secret doctrine on
cosmogony
admits but of one absolute, indestructible,
eternal, and uncreated
UNCONSCIOUSNESS (so to translate) of
an element (the word being used for
want of a better term) absolutely
independent of everything else in the
universe; a something ever present or ubiquitous, a
Presence which ever
was, is, and will be, whether there
is a God, gods, or none, whether
there is a universe, or no universe,
existing during the eternal cycles
of Maha Yugs, during the Pralayas as
during the periods of Manvantara,
and this is SPACE, the field for the
operation of the eternal Forces and
natural Law, the basis (as Mr. Subba
Row rightly calls it) upon which
take place the eternal
intercorrelations of Akasa-Prakriti;
guided by
the unconscious regular pulsations of
Sakti, the breath or power of a
conscious deity, the theists would
say; the eternal energy of an
eternal, unconscious Law, say the
Buddhists. Space, then, or "Fan,
Bar-nang" (Maha Sunyata) or, as
it is called by Lao-tze, the "Emptiness,"
is the nature of the Buddhist
Absolute. (See Confucius' "Praise
of the
Abyss.") The word jiva, then, could never be applied
by the Arahats to
the Seventh Principle, since it is
only through its correlation or
contact with matter that Fo-hat (the
Buddhist active energy) can
develop active conscious life; and that to the question "how can
unconsciousness generate
consciousness?" the answer would be:
"Was the
seed which generated a Bacon or a
Newton self-conscious?"
Note V.
To our European readers, deceived by
the phonetic similarity, it must
not be thought that the name
"Brahman" is identical in this connection
with Brahma or Iswara, the personal
God. The Upanishads--the Vedanta
Scriptures--mention no such God, and
one would vainly seek in them any
allusions to a conscious deity. The
Brahman, or Parabrahm, the absolute
of the Vedantins, is neuter and
unconscious, and has no connection with
the masculine Brahma of the Hindu
Triad, or Trimurti. Some Orientalists
rightly believe the name derived from
the verb "Brih," to grow or
increase, and to be in this sense the
universal expansive force of
Nature, the vivifying and spiritual
principle or power spread throughout
the universe, and which, in its
collectivity, is the one Absoluteness,
the one Life and the only Reality.
--H.P. Blavatsky
Septenary Division in Different
Indian Systems
We give below in a tabular form the
classifications, adopted by
Buddhist and by Vedantic teachers, of
the principles in man:--
Classification in Vedantic Classification in
Esoteric Buddhism Classification Taraka Raja Yoga
(1.) Sthula sarira Annamaya kosa Sthulopadhi
(2.) Prana
Pranamaya kosa
(3.)The Vehicle
of Prana
(4.) Kama rupa
(a) Volitions Manomaya kosa
(5.) Mind/& feelings &c. Sukshmopadhi
(b) Vignanam
Vignanamayakosa
(6.) Spiritual Soul Anandamayakosa Karanopadhi
(7.) Atma Atma Atma
From the foregoing table it will be
seen that the third principle in the
Buddhist classification is not
separately mentioned in the Vedantic
division as it is merely the vehicle
of prana. It will also be seen
that the fourth principle is included
in the third kosa (sheath), as the
said principle is but the vehicle of
will-power, which is but an energy
of the mind. It must also be noticed that the
Vignanamayakosa is
considered to be distinct from the
Manomayakosa, as a division is made
after death between the lower part of
the mind, as it were, which has a
closer affinity with the fourth
principle than with the sixth and its
higher part, which attaches itself to
the latter, and which is, in fact,
the basis for the higher spiritual
individuality of man.
We may also here point out to our
readers that the classification
mentioned in the last column is for
all practical purposes connected
with Raja Yoga, the best and
simplest. Though there are seven
principles in man, there are but
three distinct Upadhis (bases), in each
of which his Atma may work
independently of the rest. These three
Upadhis can be separated by an adept
without killing himself. He cannot
separate the seven principles from
each other without destroying his
constitution.
--T.S.
The Septenary Principle in
Esotericism
Since the exposition of the Arhat esoteric
doctrine was begun, many who
had not acquainted themselves with
the occult basis of Hindu philosophy
have imagined that the two were in
conflict. Some of the more bigoted
have openly charged the Occultists of
the Theosophical Society with
propagating rank Buddhistic heresy;
and have even gone to the length of
affirming that the whole Theosophic
movement was but a masked Buddhistic
propaganda. We were taunted by ignorant Brahmins and
learned Europeans
that our septenary divisions of
Nature and everything in it, including
man, are arbitrary and not endorsed
by the oldest religious systems of
the East. It is now proposed to throw a cursory glance
at the Vedas,
the Upanishads, the Law-Books of
Manu, and especially the Vedanta, and
show that they too support our
position. Even in their crude
exotericism their affirmation of the
sevenfold division is apparent.
Passage after passage may be cited in
proof. And not only can the
mysterious number be found traced on
every page of the oldest Aryan
Sacred Scriptures, but in the oldest
books of Zoroastrianism as well;
in the rescued cylindrical tile
records of old Babylonia and Chaldea, in
the "Book of the Dead" and
the Ritualism of ancient Egypt, and even in
the Mosaic books--without mentioning
the secret Jewish works, such as
the Kabala.
The limited space at command forces
us to allow a few brief quotations
to stand as landmarks and not even
attempt long explanations. It is no
exaggeration to say that upon each of
the few hints now given in the
cited Slokas a thick volume might be
written.
From the well-known hymn To Time, in
the Atharva-Veda (xix. 53):
"Time, like a brilliant steed with seven rays,
Full of fecundity, bears all things onward.
"Time, like a seven-wheeled, seven-naved car moves on,
His rolling wheels are all the worlds, his axle
Is immortality...."
--down to Manu, "the first and
the seventh man," the Vedas, the
Upanishads, and all the later systems
of philosophy teem with allusions
to this number. Who was Manu, the son of Swayambhuva? The
secret
doctrine tells us that this Manu was
no man, but the representation of
the first human races evolved with
the help of the Dhyan-Chohans (Devas)
at the beginning of the first Round.
But we are told in his Laws (Book
I. 80) that there are fourteen Manus
for every Kalpa or "interval from
creation to creation" (read
interval from one minor "Pralaya" to
another) and that "in the
present divine age there have been as yet
seven Manus." Those who know
that there are seven Rounds, of which we
have passed three, and are now in the
fourth; and who are taught that
there are seven dawns and seven
twilights, or fourteen Manvantaras;
that at the beginning of every Round
and at the end, and on and between
the planets, there is "an
awakening to illusive life," and "an awakening
to real life," and that,
moreover, there are "root-Manus," and what we
have to clumsily translate as the
"seed-Manus"--the seeds for the human
races of the forthcoming Round (a mystery
divulged but to those who have
passed the 3rd degree in
initiation); those who have learned all
that,
will be better prepared to understand
the meaning of the following. We
are told in the Sacred Hindu
Scriptures that "the first Manu produced
six other Manus (seven primary Manus
in all), and these produced in
their turn each seven other
Manus" (Bhrigu I. 61-63),* the production of
the latter standing in the occult
treatises as 7 x 7. Thus it becomes
clear that Manu--the last one, the
progenitor of our Fourth Round
Humanity--must be the seventh, since
we are on our fourth Round, and
that there is a root-Manu on globe A
and a seed-Manu on globe G. Just
as each planetary Round commences
with the appearance of a "Root-Manu"
(Dhyan-Chohan) and closes with a
"Seed-Manu," so a root-and a seed-Manu
appear respectively at the beginning
and the termination of the human
period on any particular planet.
-------
* The fact that Manu himself is made
to declare that he was created by
Viraj and then produced the ten
Prajapatis, who again produced seven
Menus, who in their turn gave birth
to seven other Manus (Manu, I.
33-36), relates to other still
earlier mysteries, and is at the same
time a blind with regard to the
doctrine of the Septenary chain.
---------
It will be easily seen from the
foregoing statement that a Manu-antaric
period means, as the term implies,
the time between the appearance of
two Manus or Dhyan-Chohans: and hence a minor Manu-antara is the
duration of the seven races on any
particular planet, and a major
Manu-antara is the period of one
human round along the planetary chain.
Moreover, that, as it is said that
each of the seven Manus creates 7 x 7
Manus, and that there are 49
root-races on the seven planets during each
Round, then every root-race has its
Manu. The present seventh Manu is
called "Vaivasvata," and
stands in the exoteric texts for that Manu who
represents in India the Babylonian
Xisusthrus and the Jewish Noah. But
in the esoteric books we are told
that Manu Vaivasvata, the progenitor
of our fifth race--who saved it from
the flood that nearly exterminated
the fourth (Atlantean)--is not the
seventh Manu, mentioned in the
nomenclature of the Root, or
primitive Manus, but one of the 49
"emanated from this 'root'--Manu."
For clearer comprehension we here
give the names of the 14 Manus in
their respective order and relation
to each Round:--
1st 1st (Root) Manu on Planet A.-Swayambhuva
Round. 1st (Seed) Manu on Planet G.-Swarochi
(or)Swarotisha
2nd 2nd (R.) M.
on Planet A.-Uttama
Round 2nd (S.)
M. " "
G.-Thamasa
3rd 3rd (R.) M.
" " A.-Raivata
Round 3rd (S.)
M. " "
G.-Chackchuska
4th 4th (R.) M.
" " A.-Vaivasvata (our progenitor)
Round 4th (S.)
M. " "
G.-Savarni
5th 5th (R.) M.
" " A.-Daksha Savarni
Round 5th (S.)
M. " "
G.-Brahma Savarni
6th 6th (R.)
M. on
Planet A.-Dharma Savarni
Round 6th
(S.) M. "
" G.-Rudra Savarni
7th 7th
(R.) M. "
" A.-Rouchya
Round 7th
(S.) M. "
" G.-Bhoutya
Vaivasvata thus, though seventh in
the order given, is the primitive
Root-Manu of our fourth Human Wave
(the reader must always remember that
Manu is not a man but collective
humanity), while our Vaivasvata was but
one of the seven Minor Manus who are
made to preside over the seven
races of this our planet. Each of these has to become the witness of
one of the periodical and
ever-recurring cataclysms (by fire and water
in turn) that close the cycle of
every root-race. And it is this
Vaivasvata--the Hindu ideal
embodiment called respectively Xisusthrus,
Deukalion, Noah, and by other
names--who is the allegorical man who
rescued our race when nearly the
whole population of one hemisphere
perished by water, while the other
hemisphere was awakening from its
temporary obscuration.
The number seven stands prominently
conspicuous in even a cursory
comparison of the 11th Tablet of the
Izdhubar Legends of the Chaldean
account of the Deluge and the
so-called Mosaic books. In both the number
seven plays a most prominent
part. The clean beasts are taken by
sevens, the fowls by sevens
also; in seven days, it is promised
Noah,
to rain upon the earth; thus he stays "yet other seven
days," and again
seven days; while in the Chaldean. account of the Deluge,
on the
seventh day the rain abated. On the seventh day the dove is sent out;
by sevens, Xisusthrus takes
"jugs of wine" for the altar, &c.
Why such
coincidence? And yet we are told by, and bound to believe
in, the
European Orientalists, when passing
judgment alike upon the Babylonian
and Aryan chronology they call them "extravagant
and fanciful!"
Nevertheless, while they give us no
explanation of, nor have they ever
noticed, as far as we know, the
strange identity in the totals of the
Semitic, Chaldean, and Aryan Hindu
chronology, the students of Occult
Philosophy find the following fact
extremely suggestive. While the
period of the reign of the 10
Babylonian antediluvian kings is given as
432,000 years,* the duration of the
postdiluvian Kali-yug is also given
as 432,000, while the four ages or
the divine Maha-yug, yield in their
totality 4,320,000 years. Why should they, if fanciful and
"extravagant," give the
identical figures, when neither the Aryans nor
the Babylonians have surely borrowed
anything from each other! We
invite the attention of our
occultists to the three figures given--4
standing for the perfect square, 3
for the triad (the seven universal
and the seven individual principles),
and 2 the symbol of our
illusionary world, a figure ignored
and rejected by Pythagoras.
--------
* See "Babylonia," by
George Smith, p. 36. Here again, as with
the
Manus and 10 Prajapatis and the 10
Sephiroths in the Book of Numbers--
they dwindle down to seven!
--------
It is in the Upanishads and the
Vedanta though, that we have to look for
the best corroborations of the occult
teachings. In the mystical
doctrine the Rahasya, or the
Upanishads--"the only Veda of all
thoughtful Hindus in the present
day," as Monier Williams is made to
confess, every word, as its very name
implies,* has a secret meaning
underlying it. This meaning can be fully realized only by
him who has a
full knowledge of Prana, the ONE
LIFE, "the nave to which are attached
the seven spokes of the Universal
Wheel." (Hymn to Prana, Atharva-Veda,
XI. 4.)
Even European Orientalists agree that
all the systems in India assign to
the human body: (a) an exterior or gross body
(sthula-sarira); (b) an
inner or shadowy body (sukshma), or
linga-sarira (the vehicle), the two
cemented with--(c), life (jiv or
Karana sarira, "causal body").**
These
the occult system or esotericism
divides into seven, farther adding to
these--kama, manas, buddhi and
atman. The Nyaya philosophy when
treating of Prameyas (by which the
objects and subjects of Praman are to
be correctly understood) includes
among the 12 the seven "root
principles" (see IXth Sutra),
which are 1, soul (atman), and 2 its
superior spirit Jivatman; 3, body (sarira); 4, senses (indriya); 5,
activity or will (pravritti); 6, mind (manas); 7, Intellection
(Buddhi). The seven Padarthas (inquiries or predicates
of existing
things) of Kanada in the Vaiseshikas,
refer in the occult doctrine to
the seven qualities or attributes of
the seven principles. Thus: 1,
substance (dravya) refers to body or
sthula-sarira; 2, quality or
property (guna) to the life principle,
jiv; 3, action or act (karman)
to the Linga, sarira; 4, Community or
commingling of properties
(Samanya) to Kamarupa; 5, personality
or conscious individuality
(Visesha) to Manas; 6, co-inherence or perpetual intimate
relation
(Samuvuya) to Buddhi, the inseparable
vehicle of Atman; 7,
non-existence or non-being in the
sense of, and as separate from,
objectivity or substance (abhava)--to
the highest monad or Atman.
-------
* Upa-ni-shad means, according to
Brahminical authority, "to conquer
ignorance by revealing the secret
spiritual knowledge." According to
Monier Williams, the title is derived
from the root sad with the
prepositions upa and ni, and implies
"something mystical that underlies
or is beneath the surface."
** This Karana-sarira is often
mistaken by the uninitiated for
Linga-sarira, and since it is
described as the inner rudimentary or
latent embryo of the body, confounded
with it. But the Occultists
regard it as the life (body) or Jiv,
which disappears at death; is
withdrawn--leaving the 1st and 3rd
principles to disintegrate and
return to their elements.
----------
Thus, whether we view the ONE as the
Vedic Purusha or Brahman (neuter)
the "all-expanding
essence;" or as the universal
spirit, the "light of
lights" (jyotisham jyotih) the
TOTAL independent of all relation, of the
Upanishads; or as the Paramatman of the Vedanta; or again as Kanada's
Adrishta, "the unseen
Force," or divine atom; or as
Prakriti, the
"eternally existing
essence," of Kapila--we find in all these impersonal
universal Principles the latent
capability of evolving out of themselves
"six rays" (the evolver
being the seventh). The third aphorism
of the
Sankhya-Karika, which says of
Prakriti that it is the "root and
substance of all things," and no
production, but itself a producer of
"seven things, which produced by
it, become also producers," has a
purely occult meaning.
What are the "producers"
evoluted from this universal root-principle,
Mula-prakriti or undifferentiated primeval
cosmic matter, which evolves
out of itself consciousness and mind,
and is generally called "Prakriti"
and amulam mulam, "the rootless
root," and Aryakta, the "unevolved
evolver," &c.? This primordial tattwa or "eternally
existing 'that,'"
the unknown essence, is said to
produce as a first producer, 1, Buddhi--
"intellect"--whether we
apply the latter to the 6th macrocosmic or
microcosmic principle. This first produced produces in its turn (or
is
the source of) Ahankara,
"self-consciousness" and manas "mind." The
reader will please always remember
that the Mahat or great source of
these two internal faculties,
"Buddhi" per se, can have neither
self-consciousness nor mind; viz., the 6th principle in man can preserve
an essence of personal self-consciousness
or "personal individuality" only
by absorbing within itself its own
waters, which have run through that
finite faculty; for Ahankara, that is the perception of
"I," or the
sense of one's personal
individuality, justly represented by the term
"Ego-ism," belongs to the
second, or rather the third, production out of
the seven, viz., to the 5th
principle, or Manas. It is the latter
which
draws "as the web issues from
the spider" along the thread of Prakriti,
the "root principle," the
four following subtle elementary principles or
particles--Tanmatras, out of which
"third class," the Mahabhutas or the
gross elementary principles, or
rather sarira and rupas, are evolved--
the kama, linga, Jiva and
sthula-sarira. The three gunas of
"Prakriti"--the Sattwa,
Rajas and Tamas (purity, passionate activity,
and ignorance or darkness)--spun into
a triple-stranded cord or "rope,"
pass through the seven, or rather
six, human principles.
It depends on the 5th--Manas or
Ahankara, the "I"--to thin the guna,
"rope," into one
thread--the sattwa; and thus by becoming
one with the
"unevolved evolver," win
immortality or eternal conscious existence.
Otherwise it will be again resolved
into its Mahabhautic essence; so
long as the triple-stranded rope is left
unstranded, the spirit (the
divine monad) is bound by the
presence of the gunas in the principles
"like an animal" (purusha
pasu). The spirit, atman or jivatman
(the 7th
and 6th principles), whether of the
macro-or microcosm, though bound by
these gunas during the objective
manifestation of universe or man, is
yet nirguna--i.e., entirely free from
them. Out of the three producers
or evolvers, Prakriti, Buddhi and
Ahankara, it is but the latter that
can be caught (when man is concerned)
and destroyed when personal. The
"divine monad" is aguna
(devoid of qualities), while Prakriti, once that
from passive Mula-prakriti it has
become avyakta (an active evolver) is
gunavat--endowed with qualities. With the latter, Purusha or Atman can
have nought to do (of course being
unable to perceive it in its
gunuvatic state); with the former--or Mula-prakriti or
undifferentiated
cosmic essence--it has, since it is
one with it and identical.
The Atma Bodha, or "knowledge of
soul," a tract written by the great
Sankaracharya, speaks distinctly of
the seven principles in man (see
14th verse). They are called therein the five sheaths
(panchakosa) in
which is enclosed the divine
monad--the Atman, and Buddhi, the 7th and
6th principles, or the individuated
soul when made distinct (through
avidya, maya and the gunas) from the
supreme soul--Parabrahm. The 1st
sheath, called Ananda-maya--the
"illusion of supreme bliss"--is the
manas or fifth principle of the
occultists, when united with Buddhi;
the 2nd sheath is Vjnana-maya-kosa,
the case or "envelope of
self-delusion," the manas when
self-deluded into the belief of the
personal "I," or ego, with
its vehicle. The 3rd, the Mano-maya
sheath,
composed of "illusionary
mind" associated with the organs of action and
will, is the Kamarupa and
Linga-sarira combined, producing an illusive
"I" or Mayavi-rupa. The 4th sheath is called Prana-maya,
"illusionary
life," our second life principle
or jiv, wherein resides life, the
"breathing" sheath. The 5th kosa is called Anna-maya, or the
sheath
supported by food--our gross material
body. All these sheaths produce
other smaller sheaths, or six
attributes or qualities each, the seventh
being always the root sheath; and the Atman or spirit passing through
all these subtle ethereal bodies like
a thread, is called the
"thread-soul" or sutratman.
We may conclude with the above
demonstration. Verily the Esoteric
doctrine may well be called in its
turn the "thread-doctrine," since,
like Sutratman or Pranatman, it
passes through and strings together all
the ancient philosophical religious
systems, and, what is more,
reconciles and explains them. For though seeming so unlike externally,
they have but one foundation, and of
that the extent, depth, breadth and
nature are known to those who have
become, like the "Wise Men of the
East," adepts in Occult Science.
--H.P. Blavatsky
Personal and Impersonal God
At the outset I shall request my
readers (such of them at least as are
not acquainted with the Cosmological
theories of the Idealistic thinkers
of Europe) to examine John Stuart
Mill's Cosmological speculations as
contained in his examination of Sir
William Hamilton's philosophy,
before attempting to understand the
Adwaita doctrine; and I beg to
inform them beforehand that in
explaining the main principles of the
said doctrine, I am going to use, as
far as it is convenient to do so,
the phraseology adopted by English
psychologists of the Idealistic
school of thought. In dealing with the phenomena of our present
plane
of existence John Stuart Mill
ultimately came to the conclusion that
matter, or the so-called external
phenomena, are but the creation of our
mind;
they are the mere appearances of a particular phase of our
subjective self, and of our thoughts,
volitions, sensations and emotions
which in their totality constitute
the basis of that Ego. Matter then
is the permanent possibility of
sensations, and the so-called Laws of
matter are, properly speaking, the
Laws which govern the succession and
coexistence of our states of
consciousness. Mill further holds that
properly speaking there is no
noumenal Ego. The very idea of a mind
existing separately as an entity,
distinct from the states of
consciousness which are supposed to
inhere in it, is in his opinion
illusory, as the idea of an external
object, which is supposed to be
perceived by our senses.
Thus the ideas of mind and matter, of
subject and object, of the Ego and
external world, are really evolved
from the aggregation of our mental
states which are the only realities
so far as we are concerned.
The chain of our mental states or
states of consciousness is "a
double-headed monster,"
according to Professor Bain, which has two
distinct aspects, one objective and
the other subjective. Mr. Mill has
paused here, confessing that
psychological analysis did not go any
further; the mysterious link which
connects together the train of our
states of consciousness and gives
rise to our Ahankaram in this
condition of existence, still remains
an incomprehensible mystery to
Western psychologists, though its
existence is but dimly perceived in
the subjective phenomena of memory
and expectation.
On the other hand, the great
physicists of Europe are gradually coming
to the conclusion* that mind is the
product of matter, or that it is one
of the attributes of matter in some
of its conditions. It would appear,
therefore, from the speculations of
Western psychologists that matter is
evolved from mind and that mind is
evolved from matter. These two
propositions are apparently
irreconcilable.
--------
* See Tyndall's Belfast
Address.--S.R.
--------
Mill and Tyndall have admitted that
Western science is yet unable to go
deeper into the question. Nor is it likely to solve the mystery
hereafter, unless it calls Eastern
occult science to its aid and takes a
more comprehensive view of the
capabilities of the real subjective self
of man and the various aspects of the
great objective universe. The
great Adwaitee philosophers of
ancient Aryavarta have examined the
relationship between subject and
object in every condition of existence
in this solar system in which this
differentiation is presented. Just
as a human being is composed of seven
principles, differentiated matter
in the solar system exists in seven
different conditions. These
different states of matter do not all
come within the range of our
present objective consciousness. But they can be objectively perceived
by the spiritual Ego in man. To the liberated spiritual monad of man,
or to the Dhyan Chohans, every thing
that is material in every condition
of matter is an object of
perception. Further, Pragna or the
capacity
of perception exists in seven
different aspects corresponding to the
seven conditions of matter. Strictly speaking, there are but six states
of matter, the so-called seventh
state being the aspect of cosmic matter
in its original undifferentiated
condition. Similarly there are six
states of differentiated Pragna, the
seventh state being a condition of
perfect unconsciousness. By differentiated Pragna, I mean the
condition
in which Pragna is split up into
various states of consciousness. Thus
we have six states of consciousness,
either objective or subjective for
the time being, as the case may be,
and a perfect state of
unconsciousness, which is the
beginning and the end of all conceivable
states of consciousness,
corresponding to the states of differentiated
matter and its original
undifferentiated basis which is the beginning
and the end of all cosmic evolutions. It will be easily seen that the
existence of consciousness is
necessary for the differentiation between
subject and object. Hence these two phases are presented in six
different conditions, and in the last
state there being no consciousness
as above stated, the differentiation
in question ceases to exist. The
number of these various conditions is
different in different systems of
philosophy. But whatever may be the number of divisions,
they all lie
between perfect unconsciousness at
one end of the line and our present
state of consciousness or Bahipragna
at the other end. To understand
the real nature of these different
states of consciousness, I shall
request my readers to compare the
consciousness of the ordinary man with
the consciousness of the astral man,
and again compare the latter with
the consciousness of the spiritual
Ego in man. In these three
conditions the objective universe is
not the same. But the difference
between the Ego and the non-Ego is
common to all these conditions.
Consequently, admitting the
correctness of Mill's reasoning as regards
the subject and object of our present
plane of consciousness, the great
Adwaitee thinkers of India have
extended the same reasoning to other
states of consciousness, and came to
the conclusion that the various
conditions of the Ego and the non-Ego
were but the appearances of one
and the same entity--the ultimate
state of unconsciousness. This entity
is neither matter nor spirit; it is neither Ego nor non-Ego; and it is
neither object nor subject. In the language of Hindu philosophers it is
the original and eternal combination
of Purusha and Prakriti. As the
Adwaitees hold that an external
object is merely the product of our
mental states, Prakriti is nothing
more than illusion, and Purush is the
only reality; it is the one existence which remains eternal
in this
universe of Ideas. This entity then is the Parabrahmam of the
Adwaitees. Even if there were to be a personal God with
anything like a
material Upadhi (physical basis of
whatever form), from the standpoint
of an Adwaitee there will be as much
reason to doubt his noumenal
existence as there would be in the
case of any other object. In their
opinion, a conscious God cannot be
the origin of the universe, as his
Ego would be the effect of a previous
cause, if the word conscious
conveys but its ordinary
meaning. They cannot admit that the
grand
total of all the states of
consciousness in the universe is their deity,
as these states are constantly
changing and as cosmic idealism ceases
during Pralaya. There is only one permanent condition in the
universe
which is the state of perfect
unconsciousness, bare Chidakasam (field of
consciousness) in fact.
When my readers once realize the fact
that this grand universe is in
reality but a huge aggregation of
various states of consciousness, they
will not be surprised to find that
the ultimate state of unconsciousness
is considered as Parabrahmam by the
Adwaitees.
The idea of a God, Deity, Iswar, or
an impersonal God (if consciousness
is one of his attributes) involves
the idea of Ego or non-Ego in some
shape or other, and as every
conceivable Ego or non-Ego is evolved from
this primitive element (I use this
word for want of a better one) the
existence of an extra-cosmic god
possessing such attributes prior to
this condition is absolutely
inconceivable. Though I have been
speaking
of this element as the condition of
unconsciousness, it is, properly
speaking, the Chidakasam or Chinmatra
of the Hindu philosophers which
contains within itself the
potentiality of every condition of "Pragna,"
and which results as consciousness on
the one hand and the objective
universe on the other, by the
operation of its latent Chichakti (the
power which generates thought).
Before proceeding to discuss the
nature of Parabrahmam. It is to be
stated that in the opinion of
Adwaitees, the Upanishads and the
Brahmasutras fully support their
views on the subject. It is distinctly
affirmed in the Upanishads that
Parabrahmam, which is but the bare
potentiality of Pragna,* is not an
aspect of Pragna or Ego in any shape,
and that it has neither life nor
consciousness. The reader will be able
to ascertain that such is really the
case on examining the Mundaka and
Mandukya Upanishads. The language used here and there in the
Upanishads
is apt to mislead one into the belief
that such language points to the
existence of a conscious Iswar. But the necessity for such language
will perhaps be rendered clear from
the following considerations.
--------
* The power or the capacity that
gives rise to perception.
--------
From a close examination of Mill's
cosmological theory the difficulty
will be clearly seen referred to
above, of satisfactorily accounting for
the generation of conscious states in
any human being from the
standpoint of the said theory. It is generally stated that sensations
arise in us from the action of the
external objects around us: they are
the effects of impressions made on
our senses by the objective world in
which we exist. This is simple enough to an ordinary mind,
however
difficult it may be to account for
the transformation of a cerebral
nerve-current into a state of
consciousness.
But from the standpoint of Mill's
theory we have no proof of the
existence of any external
object; even the objective existence of
our
own senses is not a matter of
certainty to us. How, then, are we to
account for and explain the origin of
our mental states, if they are the
only entities existing in this
world? No explanation is really given by
saying that one mental state gives
rise to another mental state, to a
certain extent at all events, under
the operation of the so-called
psychological "Laws of
Association." Western psychology
honestly admits
that its analysis has not gone any
further. It may be inferred,
however, from the said theory that
there would be no reason for saying
that a material Upadhi (basis) is
necessary for the existence of mind or
states of consciousness.
As is already indicated, the Aryan
psychologists have traced this
current of mental states to its
source--the eternal Chinmatra existing
everywhere. When the time for evolution comes this germ
of Pragna
unfolds itself and results ultimately
as Cosmic ideation. Cosmic ideas
are the conceptions of all the conditions
of existence in the Cosmos
existing in what may be called the
universal mind (the demiurgic mind of
the Western Kabalists).
This Chinmatra exists as it were at
every geometrical point of the
infinite Chidakasam. This principle then has two general aspects.
Considered as something objective it
is the eternal Asath--Mulaprakriti
or Undifferentiated Cosmic
matter. From a subjective point of view
it
may be looked upon in two ways. It is Chidakasam when considered as the
field of Cosmic ideation; and it is
Chinmatra when considered as the
germ of Cosmic ideation. These three aspects constitute the highest
Trinity of the Aryan Adwaitee
philosophers. It will be readily seen
that the last-mentioned aspect of the
principle in question is far more
important to us than the other two
aspects; for, when looked upon in
this aspect the principle under
consideration seems to embody within
itself the great Law of Cosmic
Evolution. And therefore the Adwaitee
philosophers have chiefly considered
it in this light, and explained
their cosmogony from a subjective
point of view. In doing so, however,
they cannot avoid the necessity of
speaking of a universal mind (and
this is Brahma, the Creator) and its
ideation. But it ought not to be
inferred therefrom that this
universal mind necessarily belongs to an
Omnipresent living conscious Creator,
simply because in ordinary
parlance a mind is always spoken of
in connection with a particular
living being. It cannot be contended that a material Uphadi
is
indispensable for the existence of
mind or mental states when the
objective universe itself is, so far
as we are concerned, the result of
our states of consciousness.
Expressions implying the existence of a
conscious Iswar which are to be found
here and there in the Upanishads
should not therefore be literally
construed.
It now remains to be seen how
Adwaitees account for the origin of mental
states in a particular
individual. Apparently the mind of a
particular
human being is not the universal
mind. Nevertheless Cosmic ideation is
the real source of the states of
consciousness in every individual.
Cosmic ideation exists
everywhere; but when placed under
restrictions
by a material Upadhi it results as
the consciousness of the individual
inhering in such Upadhi. Strictly
speaking, an Adwaitee will not admit
the objective existence of this
material Upadhi. From his standpoint it
is Maya or illusion which exists as a
necessary condition of Pragna. But
to avoid confusion, I shall use the
ordinary language; and to enable my
readers to grasp my meaning clearly
the following simile may be adopted.
Suppose a bright light is placed in
the centre with a curtain around it.
The nature of the light that
penetrates through the curtain and becomes
visible to a person standing outside
depends upon the nature of the
curtain. If several such curtains are thus
successively placed around
the light, it will have to penetrate
through all of them; and a person
standing outside will only perceive
as much light as is not intercepted
by all the curtains. The central light becomes dimmer and dimmer
as
curtain after curtain is placed
before the observer; and as curtain
after curtain is removed the light
becomes brighter and brighter until
it reaches its natural
brilliancy. Similarly, universal mind or
Cosmic
ideation becomes more and more
limited and modified by the various
Upadhis of which a human being is
composed; and when the action or
influence of these various Upadhis is
successively controlled, the mind
of the individual human being is
placed en rapport with the universal
mind and his ideation is lost in
Cosmic ideation.
As I have already said, these Upadhis
are strictly speaking the
conditions of the gradual development
or evolution of Bahipragna--or
consciousness in the present plane of
our existence--from the original
and eternal Chinmatra, which is the
seventh principle in man, and the
Parabrahmam of the Adwaitees.
This then is the purport of the
Adwaitee philosophy on the subject under
consideration, and it is, in my
humble opinion, in harmony with the
Arhat doctrine relating to the same
subject. The latter doctrine
postulates the existence of Cosmic
matter in an undifferentiated
condition throughout the infinite
expanse of space. Space and time are
but its aspects, and Purush, the
seventh principle of the universe, has
its latent life in this ocean of
Cosmic matter. The doctrine in
question explains Cosmogony from an
objective point of view.
When the period of activity arrives,
portions of the whole differentiate
according to the latent law. When this differentiation has commenced,
the concealed wisdom or latent
Chichakti acts in the universal mind, and
Cosmic energy or Fohat forms the
manifested universe in accordance with
the conceptions generated in the
universal mind out of the
differentiated principles of Cosmic
matter. This manifested universe
constitutes a solar system. When the
period of Pralaya comes, the
process of differentiation stops and
Cosmic ideation ceases to exist;
and at the time of Brahmapralaya or
Mahapralaya the particles of matter
lose all differentiation, and the
matter that exists in the solar system
returns to its original
undifferentiated condition. The latent design
exists in the one unborn eternal
atom, the centre which exists
everywhere and nowhere; and this is the one life that exists
everywhere. Now, it will be easily seen that the
undifferentiated
Cosmic matter, Purush, and the ONE
LIFE of the Arhat philosophers, are
the Mulaprakriti, Chidakasam, and Chinmatra
of the Adwaitee
philosophers. As regards Cosmogony, the Arhat standpoint is
objective,
and the Adwaitee standpoint is
subjective. The Arhat Cosmogony accounts
for the evolution of the manifested
solar system from undifferentiated
Cosmic matter, and Adwaitee Cosmogony
accounts for the evolution of
Bahipragna from the original
Chinmatra. As the different conditions
of
differentiated C osmic matter are but
the different aspects of the
various conditions of Pragna, the
Adwaitee Cosmogony is but the
complement of the Arhat
Cosmogony. The eternal principle is
precisely
the same in both the systems, and
they agree in denying the existence of
an extra-Cosmic God.
The Arhats call themselves Atheists,
and they are justified in doing so
if theism inculcates the existence of
a conscious God governing the
universe by his will-power. Under such circumstance the Adwaitee will
come under the same denomination.
Atheism and theism are words of
doubtful import, and until their
meaning is definitely ascertained it
would be better not to use them in
connection with any system of
philosophy.
--T. Subba Row
Prakriti and Parusha
Prakriti may be looked upon either as
Maya when considered as the Upadhi
of Parabrahmam or as Avidya when considered
as the Upadhi of Jivatma
(7th principle in man).* Avidya is ignorance or illusion arising from
Maya. The term Maya, though sometimes
used as a synonym for Avidya, is,
properly speaking, applicable to
Prakriti only. There is no difference
between Prakriti, Maya and
Sakti; and the ancient Hindu
philosophers
made no distinction whatsoever
between Matter and Force. In support of
these assertions I may refer the
learned hermit to "Swetaswatara
Upanishad" and its commentary by
Sankaracharya. In case we adopt the
fourfold division of the Adwaitee
philosophers, it will be clearly seen
that Jagrata,* Swapna* and Sushupti
Avasthas* are the results of Avidya,
and that Vyswanara,* Hiranyagarbha*
and Sutratma* are the manifestations
of Parabrahmam in Maya or
Prakriti. In drawing a distinction
between
Avidya and Prakriti, I am merely
following the authority of all the
great Adwaitee philosophers of
Aryavarta. It will be sufficient for me
to refer to the first chapter of the
celebrated Vidantic treatise, the
Panchadasi.
----------
* Upadhi--vehicle.
Jagrata--waking state, or a condition
of external perception.
Swapna--dreamy state, or a condition
of clairvoyance in the astral
plane.
Sushupti--a state of extasis; and Avastas--states or conditions of
Pragna.
Vyswanara--the magnetic fire that
pervades the manifested solar system--
the root objective aspect of the ONE
LIFE.
Hiranyagarbha--the one life as
manifested in the plane of astral Light.
Sutratma--the Eternal germ of the manifested
universe existing in the
field of Mulaprakriti.
---------
In truth, Prakriti and Purusha are
but the two aspects of the same ONE
REALITY. As our great Sankaracharya truly observes at
the close of his
commentary on the 23rd Sutra of the
first chapter of the Brahma sutras,
"Parabrahmam is Karta (Purush),
as there is no other Adhishtatha,* and
Parabrahmam is Prakriti, there being
no other Upadanam." This sentence
clearly indicates the relation
between "the One Life" and "the One
Element" of the Arha-philosophers. This will elucidate the meaning of
the statement so often quoted by
Adwaitees--"Sarvam Khalvitham Brahma"
** and also of what is meant by
saying that Brahmam is the Upadanakarnam
(material cause) of the Universe.
--T Subba Row
---------
* Adishtatha--that which inheres in
another principle--the active agent
working in Prakriti.
** Everything in the universe is
Brahma.
---------
Morality and Pantheism
Questions have been raised in several
quarters as to the inefficiency of
Pantheism (which term is intended to
include Esoteric Buddhism, Adwaitee
Vedantism, and other similar
religious systems) to supply a sound basis
of morality.
The philosophical assimilation of
meum and teum, it is urged, must of
necessity be followed by their
practical confusion, resulting in the
sanction of cruelty, robbery,
&c. This line of argument points,
however, most unmistakably to the
co-existence of the objection with an
all but utter ignorance of the
systems objected to, in the critic's
mind, as we shall show by-and-by. The
ultimate sanction of morality, as
is well known, is derived from a
desire for the attainment of happiness
and escape from misery. But schools differ in their estimate of
happiness. Exoteric religions base
their morality on the hope of reward
and fear of punishment at the hands
of an Omnipotent Ruler of the
Universe by following the rules he
has at his pleasure laid down for the
obedience of his helpless
subjects; in some cases, however,
religions
of later growth have made morality to
depend on the sentiment of
gratitude to that Ruler for benefits
received. The worthlessness, not
to speak of the mischievousness, of
such systems of morality is almost
self-evident. As a type of morality founded on hope and
fear, we shall
take an instance from the Christian
Bible: "He that giveth to the poor
lendeth to the Lord." The duty of supporting the poor is here made
to
depend upon prudential motives of
laying by for a time when the "giver
to the poor" will be incapable of
taking care of himself. But the
Mahabharata says that "He that
desireth a return for his good deeds
loseth all merit; he is like a merchant bartering his
goods." The true
springs of morality lose their
elasticity under the pressure of such
criminal selfishness; all pure and unselfish natures will fly away
from
it in disgust.
To avoid such consequences attempts
have been made by some recent
reformers of religion to establish
morality upon the sentiment of
gratitude to the Lord. But it requires no deep consideration to find
that, in their endeavours to shift
the basis of morality, these
reformers have rendered morality
entirely baseless. A man has to do
what is represented to be a thing
"dear unto the Lord" out of gratitude
for the many blessings He has heaped
upon him. But as a matter of fact
he finds that the Lord has heaped
upon him curses as well as blessings.
A helpless orphan is expected to be
grateful to him for having removed
the props of his life, his parents,
because he is told in consolation
that such a calamity is but
apparently an evil, but in reality the
All-Merciful has underneath it hidden
the greatest possible good. With
equal reason might a preacher of the
Avenging Ahriman exhort men to
believe that under the apparent
blessings of the "Merciful" Father there
lurks the serpent of evil.
The modern Utilitarians, though the
range of their vision is so narrow,
have sterner logic in their
teachings. That which tends to a man's
happiness is good, and must be
followed, and the contrary shunned as
evil.
So far so good. But the practical
application of the doctrine is
fraught with mischief. Cribbed, cabined, and confined, by rank
Materialism, within the short space
between birth and death, the
Utilitarians' scheme of happiness is merely
a deformed torso, which
cannot certainly be considered as the
fair goddess of our devotion.
The only scientific basis of morality
is to be sought for in the
soul-consoling doctrines of Lord
Buddha or Sri Sankaracharya. The
starting-point of the "pantheistic"
(we use the word for want of a better
one) system of morality is a clear
perception of the unity of the one
energy operating in the manifested
Cosmos, the grand result which it is
incessantly striving to produce, and
the affinity of the immortal human
spirit and its latent powers with
that energy, and its capacity to
cooperate with the one life in
achieving its mighty object.
Now knowledge or jnanam is divided
into two classes by Adwaitee
philosophers--Paroksha and
Aparoksha. The former kind of knowledge
consists in intellectual assent to a
stated proposition, the latter in
the actual realization of it. The object which a Buddhist or Adwaitee
Yogi sets before himself is the
realization of the oneness of existence,
and the practice of morality is the
most powerful means to that end, as
we proceed to show. The principal obstacle to the realization of
this
oneness is the inborn habit of man of
always placing himself at the
centre of the Universe. Whatever a man might act, think, or feel, the
irrepressible personality is sure to
be the central figure. This, as
will appear on reflection, is that
which prevents every individual from
filling his proper sphere in
existence, where he only is exactly in
place and no other individual
is. The realization of this harmony is
the practical or objective aspect of
the GRAND PROBLEM. And the
practice of morality is the effort to
find out this sphere; morality,
indeed, is the Ariadne's clue in the
Cretan labyrinth in which man is
placed. From the study of the sacred philosophy
preached by Lord Buddha
or Sri Sankara, paroksha knowledge
(or shall we say belief?), in the
unity of existence is derived, but
without the practice of morality that
knowledge cannot be converted into
the highest kind of knowledge, or
aproksha jnanam, and thus lead to the
attainment of mukti. It availeth
naught to intellectually grasp the
notion of your being everything and
Brahma, if it is not realized in
practical acts of life. To confuse
meum and teum in the vulgar sense is
but to destroy the harmony of
existence by a false assertion of
"I," and is as foolish as the anxiety
to nourish the legs at the expense of
the arms. You cannot be one with
all, unless all your acts, thoughts,
and feelings synchronize with the
onward march of Nature. What is meant by the Brahmajnani being beyond
the reach of Karma, can be fully
realized only by a man who has found
out his exact position in harmony
with the One Life in Nature; that man
sees how a Brahmajnani can act only
in unison with Nature, and never in
discord with it: to use the phraseology of ancient writers on
Occultism, a Brahmajnani is a real
"co-worker with Nature." Not
only
European Sanskritists, but also
exoteric Yogis, fall into the grievous
mistake of supposing that, in the
opinion of our sacred writers, a human
being can escape the operation of the
law of Karma by adopting a
condition of masterly inactivity,
entirely losing sight of the fact that
even a rigid abstinence from physical
acts does not produce inactivity
on the higher astral and spiritual
planes. Sri Sankara has very
conclusively proved, in his
commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, that such
a supposition is nothing short of a
delusion. The great teacher shows
there that forcibly repressing the
physical body from working does not
free one from vasana or vritti--the
inherent inclination of the mind to
work.
There is a tendency, in every department of Nature, for an act to
repeat itself; the Karma acquired in the last preceding
birth is always
trying to forge fresh links in the
chain, and thereby lead to continued
material existence;--and this
tendency can only be counteracted by
unselfishly performing all the duties
appertaining to the sphere in
which a person is born; such a course alone can produce chitta
suddhi,
(purification of the mind), without
which the capacity of perceiving
spiritual truths can never be
acquired.
A few words must here be said about
the physical inactivity of the Yogi
or the Mahatma. Inactivity of the physical body (sthula
sarira) does
not indicate a condition of
inactivity either on the astral or the
spiritual plane of action. The human spirit is in its highest state of
activity in samadhi, (highest trance)
and not, as is generally supposed,
in a dormant, quiescent condition.
And, moreover, it will be easily
seen, by any one who examines the
nature of occult dynamics, that a
given amount of energy expended on
the spiritual or astral plane is
productive of far greater results
than the same amount expended on the
physical objective plane of
existence. When an Adept has placed
himself
en rapport with the universal mind he
becomes a real power in Nature.
Even on the objective plane of
existence the difference between brain
and muscular energy, in their
capacity of producing widespread and
far-reaching results, can he very
easily perceived. The amount of
physical energy expended by the
discoverer of the steam-engine might not
have been more than that expended by
a hardworking day-labourer. But
the practical results of the
labourer's work can never be compared with
the results achieved by the discovery
of the steam-engine. Similarly,
the ultimate effects of spiritual
energy are infinitely greater than
those of intellectual energy.
From the above considerations it is abundantly
clear that the initiatory
training of a true Vedantin Raj Yogi
must be the nourishing of a
sleepless and ardent desire of doing
all in his power for the good of
mankind on the ordinary physical
plane, his activity being transferred,
however, to the higher astral and
spiritual planes as his development
proceeds. In course of time, as the Truth becomes
realized, the
situation is rendered quite clear to
the Yogi, and he is placed beyond
the criticism of any ordinary
man. The Mahanirvan Tantra says:--
Charanti trigunatite ko vidhir ko ishedhava.
"For one, walking beyond the
three gunas--Satva (feeling of
gratification), Rajas (passional
activity) and Tamas (inertness)--what
injunction or what restriction is
there?"--in the consideration of men,
walled in on all sides by the
objective plane of existence. This does
not mean that a Mahatma can or will
ever neglect the laws of morality,
but that he, having unified his
individual nature with Great Nature
herself, is constitutionally
incapable of violating any one of the laws
of nature, and no man can constitute
himself a judge of the conduct of
the Great one without knowing the
laws of all the planes of Nature's
activity. (As honest men are honest without the least consideration of
the) criminal law, so a Mahatma is
moral without reference to the laws
of morality.
These are, however, sublime
topics: we shall before conclusion
notice
some other considerations which lead
the ordinary "pantheist" to the
true foundation of morality. Happiness has been defined by John Stuart
Mill as the state of absence of
opposition. Manu gives the definition
in more forcible terms:
Sarvam paravasam duhkham
Sarva matmavasam sukham
Idam jnayo samasena
Lakshanam sukhaduhkhayo.
"Every kind of subjugation to
another is pain, and subjugation to one's
self is happiness: in brief, this is to be known as the
characteristic
marks of the two." Now, it is universally admitted that the
whole
system of Nature is moving in a
particular direction, and this
direction, we are taught, is
determined by the composition of two
forces--namely, the one acting from
that pole of existence ordinarily
called "matter" towards the
other pole called "spirit," and the other in
the opposite direction. The very fact that Nature is moving shows
that
these two forces are not equal in
magnitude. The plane on which the
activity of the first force
predominates is called in occult treatises
the "ascending arc," and
the corresponding plane of the activity of the
other force is styled the
"descending arc." A little
reflection will
show that the work of evolution
begins on the descending arc and works
its way upwards through the ascending
arc. From this it follows that
the force directed towards spirit is
the one which must, though not
without hard struggle, ultimately
prevail. This is the great directing
energy of Nature, and, although
disturbed by the operation of the
antagonistic force, it is this that
gives the law to her; the other is
merely its negative aspect, for
convenience regarded as a separate
agent. If an individual attempts to move in a
direction other than that
in which Nature is moving, that
individual is sure to be crushed, sooner
or later, by the enormous pressure of
the opposing force. We need not
say that such a result would be the
very reverse of pleasurable. The
only way, therefore, in which
happiness might be attained is by merging
one's nature in great Mother Nature,
and following the direction in
which she herself is moving: this again can only be accomplished by
assimilating men's individual conduct
with the triumphant force of
Nature, the other force being always
overcome with terrific
catastrophes. The effort to assimilate the individual with
the
universal law is popularly known as
the practice of morality. Obedience
to this universal law, after
ascertaining it, is true religion, which
has been defined by Lord Buddha
"as the realization of the True."
An example will serve to illustrate
the position. Can a practical
pantheist, or, in other words, an
occultist, utter a falsehood? Now, it
will be readily admitted that life
manifests itself by the power of
acquiring sensation, temporary
dormancy of that power being suspended
animation. If a man receives a particular series of
sensations and
pretends they are other than they
really are, the result is that he
exercises his will-power in
opposition to a law of Nature on which, as
we have shown, life depends, and
thereby becomes suicide on a minor
scale. Space prevents further discussion, but all
the ten deadly sins
mentioned by Manu and Buddha can be
satisfactorily dealt with in the
light sought to be focused here.
--Mohini M. Chatterji
Occult Study
The practical bearing of occult
teaching on ordinary life is very
variously interpreted by different
students of the subject. For many
Western readers of recent books on
the esoteric doctrine, it even seems
doubtful whether the teaching has any
bearing on practical life at all.
The proposal which it is supposed
sometimes to convey, that all earnest
inquirers should put themselves under
the severe ascetic regimen
followed by its regular Oriental
disciples, is felt to embody a strain
on the habits of modern civilization
which only a few enthusiasts will
be prepared to encounter. The mere intellectual charm of an intricate
philosophy may indeed be enough to
recommend the study to some minds,
but a scheme of teaching that offers
itself as a substitute for
religious faith of the usual kind
will be expected to yield some
tangible results in regard to the
future spiritual well-being of those
who adopt it. Has occult philosophy nothing to give except
to those who
are in a position and willing to make
a sacrifice in its behalf of all
other objects in life? In that case it would indeed be useless to
bring
it out into the world. In reality the
esoteric doctrine affords an
almost infinite variety of
opportunities for spiritual development, and
no greater mistake could be made in
connection with the present movement
than to suppose the teaching of the
Adepts merely addressed to persons
capable of heroic self-devotion. Assuredly it does not discourage
efforts in the direction of the
highest achievement of occult progress,
if any Western occultists may feel
disposed to make them; but it is
important for us all to keep clearly
in view the lower range of
possibilities connected with humbler
aspirations.
I believe it to be absolutely true
that even the slightest attention
seriously paid to the instructions
now emanating from the Indian Adepts
will generate results within the
spiritual principles of those who
render it--causes capable of
producing appreciable consequences in a
future state of existence. Any one who has sufficiently examined the
doctrine of Devachan will readily follow
the idea, for the nature of the
spiritual existence which in the
ordinary course of things must succeed
each physical life, provides for the
very considerable expansion of any
aspirations towards real knowledge
that may be set going on earth. I
will recur to this point directly,
when I have made clearer the general
drift of the argument I am trying to
unfold. At the one end of the scale
of possibilities connected with
occult study lies the supreme
development of Adeptship; an achievement which means that the person
reaching it has so violently
stimulated his spiritual growth within a
short period, as to have anticipated
processes on which Nature, in her
own deliberate way, would have spent
a great procession of ages. At the
other end of the scale lies the small
result to which I have just
alluded--a result which may rather be
said to establish a tendency in
the direction of spiritual
achievement than to embody such achievement.
But between these two widely
different results there is no hard and fast
line that can be drawn at any place
to make a distinct separation in the
character of the consequences ensuing
from devotion to occult pursuits.
As the darkness of blackest night
gives way by imperceptible degrees to
the illumination of the brightest
sunrise, so the spiritual consequences
of emerging from the apathy either of
pure materialism or of dull
acquiescence in unreasonable dogmas,
brighten by imperceptible degrees
from the faintest traces of
Devachanic improvement into the full blaze
of the highest perfection human
nature can attain. Without assuming
that the course of Nature which
prescribes for each human Ego successive
physical lives and successive periods
of spiritual refreshment--without
supposing that this course is altered
by such moderate devotion to
occult study as is compatible with
the ordinary conditions of European
life, it will nevertheless be seen
how vast the consequences may
ultimately be of impressing on that
career of evolution a distinct
tendency in the direction of supreme enlightenment,
of that result which
is described as the union of the
individual soul with universal spirit.
The explanations of the esoteric
doctrine which have been publicly
given, have shown that humanity in
the mass has now attained a stage in
the great evolutionary cycle from
which it has the opportunity of
growing upward towards final
perfection. In the mass it is, of course,
unlikely that it will travel that
road: final perfection is not a gift
to be bestowed upon all, but to be
worked for by those who desire it.
It may be put within the theoretical
reach of all; there may be no
human creature living at this moment,
of whom it can be said that the
highest possibilities of Nature are
impossible of attainment, but it
does not follow by any means that every
individual will attain the
highest possibilities. Regarding each individual as one of the seeds
of
a great flower which throws out
thousands of seeds, it is manifest that
only a few, relatively to the great
number, will become fully developed
flowers in their turn. No unjust neglect awaits the majority. For each
and every one the consequences of the
remote future will be precisely
proportioned to the aptitudes he
develops, but only those can reach the
goal who, with persistent effort
carried out through a long series of
lives, differentiate themselves in a
marked degree from the general
multitude. Now, that persistent effort must have a
beginning, and
granted the beginning, the
persistence is not improbable. Within
our
own observation of ordinary life,
good habits, even though they may not
be so readily formed as bad ones, are
not difficult to maintain in
proportion to the difficulty of their
commencement. For a moment it may
be asked how this may be applied to a
succession of lives separate from
each other by a total oblivion of
their details; but it really applies
as directly to the succession of
lives as to the succession of days
within one life, which are separated
from each other by as many nights.
The certain operation of those
affinities in the individual Ego which
are collectively described in the
esoteric doctrine by the word Karma,
must operate to pick up the old
habits of character and thought, as life
after life comes round, with the same
certainty that the thread of
memory in a living brain recovers,
day after day, the impressions of
those that have gone before. Whether a moral habit is thus deliberately
engendered by an occult student in
order that it may propagate itself
through future ages, or whether it
merely arises from unintelligent
aspirations towards good, which
happily for mankind are more widely
spread than occult study as yet, the
way it works in each case is the
same.
The unintelligent aspiration towards goodness propagates itself
and leads to good lives in the
future; the intelligent aspiration
propagates itself in the same way
plus the propagation of intelligence;
and this distinction shows the gulf
of difference which may exist
between the growth of a human soul
which merely drifts along the stream
of time, and that of one which is
consciously steered by an intelligent
purpose throughout. The human Ego which acquires the habit of
seeking
for knowledge becomes invested, life
after life, with the qualifications
which ensure the success of such a
search, until the final success,
achieved at some critical period of
its existence, carries it right up
into the company of those perfected
Egos which are the fully developed
flowers only expected, according to
our first metaphor, from a few of
the thousand seeds. Now, it is clear that a slight impulse in a
given
direction, even on the physical plane
does not produce the same effect
as a stronger one; so, exactly in this matter of engendering
habits
required to persist in their
operation through a succession of lives, it
is quite obvious that the strong
impulse of a very ardent aspiration
towards knowledge will be more likely
than a weaker one to triumph over
the so called accidents of Nature.
This consideration brings us to the
question of those habits in life
which are more immediately associated
in the popular views of the matter
with the pursuit of occult
science. It will be quite plain that the
generation within his own nature by
an occult student of affinities in
the direction of spiritual progress,
is a matter which has little if
anything to do with the outer
circumstances of his daily life. It
cannot be dissociated from what may
be called the outer circumstances of
his moral life, for an occult
student, whose moral nature is consciously
ignoble, and who combines the pursuit
of knowledge with the practice of
wrong, becomes by that condition of
things a student of sorcery rather
than of true occultism--a candidate
for satanic evolution instead of
perfection. But at the same time the physical habits of
life may be
quite the reverse of ascetic, while
all the while the thinking processes
of the intellectual life are
developing affinities which cannot fail in
the results just seen to produce
large ulterior consequences. Some
misconception is very apt to arise
here from the way in which frequent
reference is made to the ascetic
habits of those who purpose to become
the regular chelas of Oriental
Adepts. It is supposed that what is
practiced by the Master is
necessarily recommended for all his pupils.
Now this is far from being the case
as regards the miscellaneous pupils
who are gathering round the occult
teachers lately become known to
public report. Certainly even in
reference to their miscellaneous pupils
the Adepts would not discountenance
asceticism. As we saw just now,
there is no hard line drawn across
the scale on which are defined the
varying consequences of occult study
in all its varying degrees of
intensity--so with ascetic practice,
from the slightest habits of
self-denial, which may engender a preference
for spiritual over material
gratification, up to the very largest
developments of asceticism
required as a passport to chelaship,
no such practices can be quite
without their consequences in the
all-embracing records of Karma. But,
broadly speaking, asceticism belongs
to that species of effort which
aims at personal chelaship, and that
which contemplates the patient
development of spiritual growth along
the slow track of natural
evolution claims no more, broadly
speaking, than intellectual
application. All that is asserted in regard to the opening
now offered
to those who have taken notice of the
present opportunity, is, that they
may now give their own evolution an
impulse which they may not again
have an opportunity of giving it with
the same advantage to themselves
if the present opportunity is thrown
aside. True, it is most unlikely
that any one advancing through
Nature, life after life, under the
direction of a fairly creditable
Karma, will go on always without
meeting sooner or later with the
ideas that occult study implants. So
that the occultist does not threaten
those who turn aside from his
teachings with any consequences that
must necessarily be disastrous.
He only says that those who listen to
them must necessarily derive
advantage from so doing in exact
proportion to the zeal with which they
undertake the study and the purity of
motive with which they promote it
in others.
Nor must it be supposed that those
which have here been described as the
lower range of possibilities in connection
with occult study, are a mere
fringe upon the higher possibilities,
to be regarded as a relatively
poor compensation accorded to those
who do not feel equal to offering
themselves for probation as regular
chelas. It would be a grave
misconception of the purpose with
which the present stream of occult
teaching has been poured into the
world, if we were to think it a
universal incitement to that course
of action. It may be hazardous for
any of us who are not initiates to
speak with entire confidence of the
intention of the Adepts, but all the
external facts concerned with the
growth and development of the
Theosophical Society, show its purpose to
be more directly related to the
cultivation of spiritual aspirations
over a wide area, than to the
excitement of these with supreme intensity
in individuals. There are considerations, indeed, which may
almost be
said to debar the Adepts from ever
doing anything to encourage persons
in whom this supreme intensity of
excitement is possible, to take the
very serious step of offering
themselves as chelas. Directly that by
doing this a man renders himself a
candidate for something more than the
maximum advantages that can flow to
him through the operation of natural
laws--directly that in this way he
claims to anticipate the most
favourable course of Nature and to
approach high perfection by violent
and artificial processes, he at once
puts himself in presence of many
dangers which would never beset him
if he contented himself with a
favourable natural growth. It appears to be always a matter of grave
consideration with the Adepts whether
they will take the responsibility
of encouraging any person who may not
have it in him to succeed, to
expose himself to these dangers. For any one who is determined to face
them and is permitted to do so, the
considerations put forward above in
regard to the optional character of
personal physical training fall to
the ground. Those ascetic practices which a candidate for
nothing more
than the best natural evolution may
undertake if he chooses, with the
view of emphasizing his spiritual
Karma to the utmost, become a sine qua
non in regard to the very first step
of his progress. But with such
progress the present explanation is
not specially concerned. Its
purpose has been to show the
beneficial effects which may flow to
ordinary people living ordinary
lives, from even that moderate devotion
to occult philosophy which is
compatible with such ordinary lives, and
to guard against the very erroneous
belief that occult science is a
pursuit in which it is not worth
while to engage, unless Adeptship is
held out to the student as its
ultimate result.
--Lay Chela
Some Inquiries Suggested by Mr.
Sinnett's "Esoteric Buddhism"
The object of the following paper is
to submit certain questions which
have occurred to some English readers
of "Esoteric Buddhism." We
have
had the great advantage of hearing
Mr. Sinnett himself explain many
points which perplexed us; and it is with his sanction that we now
venture to ask that such light as is
permissible may be thrown upon some
difficulties which, so far as we can
discover, remain as yet unsolved.
We have refrained from asking
questions on subjects on which we
understand that the Adepts forbid
inquiry, and we respectfully hope
that, as we approach the subject with
a genuine wish to arrive at all
the truth possible to us, our
perplexities may be thought worthy of an
authorized solution.
We begin, then, with some obvious
scientific difficulties.
1.
Is the Nebular Theory, as generally held, denied by the Adepts? It
seems hard to conceive of the
alternate evolution from the sun's central
mass of planets, some of them visible
and heavy, others invisible,--and
apparently without weight, as they
have no influence on the movements of
the visible planets.
2.
And, further, the time necessary for the manvantara even of one
planetary chain, much more of all
seven, seems largely to exceed the
probable time during which the sun
can retain heat, if it is merely a
cooling mass, which derives no
important accession of heat from without.
Is some other view as regards the
maintenance of the sun's heat held by
the Adepts?
3.
The different races which succeed each other on the earth are said
to be separated by catastrophes,
among which continental subsidences
occupy a prominent place. Is it meant that these subsidences are so
sudden and unforeseen as to sweep
away great nations in an hour? Or, if
not, how is it that no appreciable
trace is left of such high
civilizations as are described in the
past? Is it supposed that our
present European civilization, with
its offshoots all over the globe,
can be destroyed by any inundation or
conflagration which leaves life
still existing on the earth? Are our existing arts and languages doomed
to perish? or was it only the earlier
races who were thus profoundly
disjoined from one another?
4.
The moon is said to be the scene of a life even more immersed in
matter than the life on earth. Are there then material organizations
living there? If so, how do they dispense with air and
water, and how
is it that our telescopes discern no
trace of their works? We should
much like a fuller account of the
Adepts' view of the moon, as so much
is already known of her material
conditions that further knowledge could
be more easily adjusted than in the
case (for instance) of planets
wholly invisible.
5.
Is the expression "a mineral monad" authorized by the Adepts?
If so,
what relation does the monad bear to
the atom, or the molecule, of
ordinary scientific hypothesis? And does each mineral monad eventually
become a vegetable monad, and then at
last a human being? Turning now
to some historical difficulties, we
would ask as follows:--
6. Is there not some confusion in the
letter quoted on p. 62 of
"Esoteric Buddhism," where
"the old Greeks and Romans" are said to have
been Atlanteans? The Greeks and Romans were surely Aryans,
like the
Adepts and ourselves: their language being, as one may say,
intermediate between Sanscrit and
modern European dialects.
7.
Buddha's birth is placed (on p. 141) in the year 643 B.C.. Is this
date given by the Adepts as
undoubtedly correct? Have they any view
as
to the new inscriptions of Asoka (as
given by General A. Cunningham,
"Corpus Inscriptionum Indicanum,"
vol. I. pp. 20-23), on the strength of
which Buddha's Nirvana is placed by
Barth ("Religions of India," p.
106), &c., about 476 B.C., and
his birth therefore at about 556 B.C.?
It would be exceedingly interesting
if the Adepts would give a sketch
however brief of the history of India
in those centuries with authentic
dates.
8. Sankaracharya's date is variously
given by Orientalists, but always
after Christ. Barth, for instance, places him about 788
A.D. In
"Esoteric Buddhism" he is made
to succeed Buddha almost immediately (p.
149).
Can this discrepancy be explained?
Has not Sankaracharya been
usually classed as Vishnuite in his
teaching? And similarly has not
Gaudapada been accounted a
Sivite? and placed much later than
"Esoteric
Buddhism" (p.147) places
him? We would willingly pursue this line
of
inquiry, but think it best to wait
and see to what extent the Adepts may
be willing to clear up some of the
problems in Indian religious history
on which, as it would seem, they must
surely possess knowledge which
might be communicated to lay students
without indiscretion.
We pass on to some points beyond the
ordinary range of science or
history on which we should be very
glad to hear more, if possible.
9. We should like to understand more
clearly the nature of the
subjective intercourse with beloved
souls enjoyed in Devachan. Say, for
instance, that I die and leave on
earth some young children. Are these
children present to my consciousness
in Devachan still as children? Do
I imagine that they have died when I
died? or do I merely imagine them
as adult without knowing their
life-history? or do I miss them from
Devachan until they do actually die,
and then hear from them their
life-history as it has proceeded
between my death and theirs?
10.
We do not quite understand the amount of reminiscence attained at
various points in the soul's
progress. Do the Adepts, who, we
presume,
are equivalent to sixth rounders,
recollect their previous incarnations?
Do all souls which live on into the
sixth round attain this power of
remembrance? or does the Devachan, at
the end of each round bring a
recollection of all the Devachans, or
of all the incarnations, which
have formed a part of that particular
round? And does reminiscence
carry with it the power of so
arranging future incarnations as still to
remain in company with some chosen
soul or group of souls?
We have many more questions to ask,
but we scruple to intrude further.
And I will conclude here by repeating
the remark with which we are most
often met when we speak of the Adepts
to English friends. We find that
our friends do not often ask for
so-called miracles or marvels to prove
the genuineness of the Adepts'
powers. But they ask why the Adepts will
not give some proof--not necessarily
that they are far beyond us, but
that their knowledge does at least
equal our own in the familiar and
definite tracks which Western science
has worn for itself. A few
pregnant remarks on Chemistry,--the
announcement of a new electrical
law, capable of experimental
verification--some such communication as
this (our interlocutors say), would
arrest attention, command respect,
and give a weight and prestige to the
higher teaching which, so long as
it remains in a region wholly
unverifiable, it can scarcely acquire.
We gratefully recognize the very
acceptable choice which the Adepts have
made in selecting Mr. Sinnett as the
intermediary between us and them.
They could hardly have chosen any one
more congenial to our Western
minds:--whether we consider the
clearness of his written style, the
urbanity of his verbal expositions,
or the earnest sincerity of his
convictions. Since they have thus far met our peculiar
needs with such
considerate judgment, we cannot but
hope that they may find themselves
able yet further to adapt their modes
of teaching to the requirements of
Occidental thought.
--An English F.T.S.
London, July 1883.
Reply to an English F.T.S
Answers
It was not in contemplation, at the outset
of the work begun in
Fragments, to deal as fully with the
scientific problems of cosmic
evolution as now seems expected. A distinct promise was made, as Mr.
Sinnett is well aware, to acquaint
the readers with the outlines of
Esoteric doctrines and--no more. A good deal would be given, much more
kept back.
This seeming unwillingness to share
with the world some of Nature's
secrets that may have come into the
possession of the few, arises from
causes quite different from the one
generally assigned. It is not
SELFISHNESS erecting a Chinese wall
between occult science and those who
would know more of it, without making
any distinction between the simply
curious profane, and the earnest,
ardent seeker after truth. Wrong and
unjust are those who think so; who attribute to indifference for other
people's welfare a policy
necessitated, on the contrary, by a far-seeing
universal philanthropy; who accuse the custodians of lofty physical
and
spiritual though long rejected
truths, of holding them high above the
people's heads. In truth, the inability to reach them lies
entirely
with the seekers. Indeed, the chief reason among many others
for such a
reticence, at any rate, with regard
to secrets pertaining to physical
sciences--is to be sought
elsewhere.* It rests entirely on the
impossibility of imparting that the
nature of which is at the present
stage of the world's development,
beyond the comprehension of the
would-be learners, however
intellectual and however scientifically
trained may be the latter. This tremendous difficulty is now explained
to the few, who, besides having read
"Esoteric Buddhism," have studied
and understood the several occult
axioms approached in it. It is safe
to say that it will not be even
vaguely realized by the general reader,
but will offer the pretext for sheer
abuse. Nay, it has already.
-------
* Needless to remind AN ENGLISH
F.T.S. that what is said here, applies
only to secrets the nature of which
when revealed will not be turned
into a weapon against humanity in
general, or its units--men. Secrets
of such class could not be given to
any one but a regular chela of many
years' standing and during his
successive initiations; mankind as a
whole has first to come of age, to
reach its majority, which will happen
but toward the beginning of its sixth
race--before such mysteries can be
safely revealed to it. The vril is not altogether a fiction, as some
chelas and even "lay"
chelas know.
---------
It is simply that the gradual
development of man's seven principles and
physical senses has to be coincident
and on parallel lines with Rounds
and Root-races. Our fifth race has so far developed but its
five
senses. Now, if the Kama or Will-principle of the
"Fourth-rounders" has
already reached that stage of its evolution
when the automatic acts, the
unmotivated instincts and impulses of
its childhood and youth, instead
of following external stimuli, will
have become acts of will framed
constantly in conjunction with the
mind (Manas), thus making of every
man on earth of that race a free
agent, a fully responsible being--the
Kama of our hardly adult fifth race
is only slowly approaching it. As
to the sixth sense of this, our race,
it has hardly sprouted above the
soil of its materiality. It is highly unreasonable, therefore, to
expect for the men of the fifth to
sense the nature and essence of that
which will be fully sensed and
perceived but by the sixth--let alone the
seventh race--i.e., to enjoy the
legitimate outgrowth of the evolution
and endowments of the future races
with only the help of our present
limited senses. The exceptions to this quasi-universal rule
have been
hitherto found only in some rare
cases of constitutional, abnormally
precocious individual
evolutions; or, in such, where by early
training
and special methods, reaching the
stage of the fifth rounders, some men
in addition to the natural gift of
the latter have fully developed (by
certain occult methods) their sixth,
and in still rarer cases their
seventh, sense. As an instance of the former class may be
cited the
Seeress of Prevorst; a creature born out of time, a rare
precocious
growth, ill adapted to the
uncongenial atmosphere that surrounded her,
hence a martyr ever ailing and
sickly. As an example of the other, the
Count St. Germain may be
mentioned. Apace with the
anthropological and
physiological development of man runs
his spiritual evolution. To the
latter, purely intellectual growth is
often more an impediment than a
help.
An instance: radiant
stuff--"the fourth state of matter"--has
been hardly discovered, and no
one--the eminent discoverer himself not
excepted--has yet any idea of its
full importance, its possibilities,
its connection with physical
phenomena, or even its bearing upon the
most puzzling scientific
problems. How then can any
"Adept" attempt to
prove the fallacy of much that is
predicated in the nebular and solar
theories when the only means by which
he could successfully prove his
position is an appeal to, and the
exhibition of, that sixth sense--
consciousness which the physicist
cannot postulate? Is not this plain?
Thus, the obstacle is not that the
"Adepts" would "forbid inquiry," but
rather the personal, present
limitations of the senses of the average,
and even of the scientific man. To undertake the explanation of that
which at the outset would be rejected
as a physical impossibility, the
outcome of hallucination, is unwise
and even harmful, because premature.
It is in consequence of such
difficulties that the psychic production of
physical phenomena--save in
exceptional cases--is strictly forbidden.
And now, "Adepts" are asked
to meddle with astronomy--a science which,
of all the branches of human
knowledge has yielded the most accurate
information, afforded the most
mathematically correct data, and of the
achievements in which the men of
science feel the most justly proud! It
is true that on the whole astronomy
has achieved triumphs more brilliant
than those of most other
sciences. But if it has done much in the
direction of satisfying man's
straining and thirsting mind and his
noble aspirations for knowledge,
physical as to its most important
particulars, it has ever laughed at
man's puny efforts to wrest the
great secrets of Infinitude by the
help of only mechanical apparatus.
While the spectroscope has shown the
probable similarity of terrestrial
and sidereal substance, the chemical
actions peculiar to the variously
progressed orbs of space have not
been detected, nor proven to be
identical with those observed on our
own planet. In this particular,
Esoteric Psychology may be
useful. But who of the men of science
would
consent to confront it with their own
handiwork? Who of them would
recognise the superiority and greater
trustworthiness of the Adept's
knowledge over their own hypotheses, since
in their case they can claim
the mathematical correctness of their
deductive reasonings based on the
alleged unerring precision of the
modern instruments; while the Adepts
can claim but their knowledge of the
ultimate nature of the materials
they have worked with for ages,
resulting in the phenomena produced.
However much it may he urged that a
deductive argument, besides being an
incomplete syllogistic form, may
often be in conflict with fact; that
their major propositions may not
always be correct, although the
predicates of their conclusions seem
correctly drawn--spectrum analysis
will not be acknowledged as inferior
to purely spiritual research. Nor,
before developing his sixth sense,
will the man of science concede the
error of his theories as to the solar
spectrum, unless he abjure, to
some degree at least, his marked
weakness for conditional and
disjunctive syllogisms ending in
eternal dilemmas. At present the
"Adepts" do not see any
help for it. Were these invisible and
unknown
profanes to interfere with--not to
say openly contradict--the dicta of
the Royal Society, contempt and
ridicule, followed by charges of crass
ignorance of the first elementary
principles of modern science would be
their only reward; while those who would lend an ear to their
"vagaries," would be
characterized immediately as types of the "mild
lunatics" of the age. Unless, indeed, the whole of that August body
should be initiated into the great
Mysteries at once, and without any
further ado or the preliminary and
usual preparations or training, the
F.R.S.'s could be miraculously
endowed with the required sixth sense,
the Adepts fear the task would be
profitless. The latter have given
quite enough, little though it may
seem, for the purposes of a first
trial. The sequence of martyrs to the great
universal truths has never
been once broken; and the long list of known and unknown
sufferers,
headed with the name of Galileo, now
closes with that of Zollner. Is the
world of science aware of the real
cause of Zollner's premature death?
When the fourth dimension of space
becomes a scientific reality like the
fourth state of matter, he may have a
statue raised to him by grateful
posterity. But this will neither recall him to life, nor
will it
obliterate the days and months of
mental agony that harassed the soul of
this intuitional, far-seeing, modest
genius, made even after his death
to receive the donkey's kick of
misrepresentation and to be publicly
charged with lunacy.
Hitherto, astronomy could grope
between light and darkness only with the
help of the uncertain guidance
offered it by analogy. It has reduced to
fact and mathematical precision the
physical motion and the paths of the
heavenly bodies, and--no more. So far, it has been unable to discover
with any approach to certainty the
physical constitution of either sun,
stars, or even cometary matter. Of the latter, it seems to know no more
than was taught 5,000 years ago by
the official astronomers of old
Chaldea and Egypt--namely, that it is
vaporous, since it transmits the
rays of stars and planets without any
sensible obstruction. But let the
modern chemist be asked to tell one
whether this matter is in any way
connected with, or akin to, that of
any of the gases he is acquainted
with;
or again, to any of the solid elements of his chemistry. The
probable answer received will be very
little calculated to solve the
world's perplexity; since, all hypotheses to the contrary
notwithstanding, cometary matter does
not appear to possess even the
common law of adhesion or of chemical
affinity. The reason for it is
very simple. And the truth ought long ago to have dawned
upon the
experimentalists, since our little
world (though so repeatedly visited
by the hairy and bearded travelers, enveloped
in the evanescent veil of
their tails, and otherwise brought in
contact with that matter) has
neither been smothered by an addition
of nitrogen gas, nor deluged by an
excess of hydrogen, nor yet
perceptibly affected by a surplus of oxygen.
The essence of cometary matter must
be--and the "Adepts" say is--totally
different from any of the chemical or
physical characteristics with
which the greatest chemists and
physicists of the earth are familiar--
all recent hypotheses to the contrary
notwithstanding. It is to be
feared that before the real nature of
the elder progeny of Mula Prakriti
is detected, Mr. Crookes will have to
discover matter of the fifth or
extra radiant state; et seq.
Thus, while the astronomer has
achieved marvels in the elucidation of
the visible relations of the orbs of
space, he has learnt nothing of
their inner constitution. His science has led him no farther towards a
reading of that inner mystery than
has that of the geologist, who can
tell us only of the earth's
superficial layers, and that of the
physiologist, who has until now been
able to deal only with man's outer
shell, or Sthula Sarira. Occultists have asserted, and go on asserting
daily, the fallacy of judging the
essence by its outward manifestations,
the ultimate nature of the
life-principle by the circulation of the
blood, mind by the gray matter of the
brain, and the physical
constitution of sun, stars and comets
by our terrestrial chemistry and
the matter of our own planet. Verily and indeed, no microscopes,
spectroscopes, telescopes,
photometers, or other physical apparatuses
can ever be focused on either the
macro-or micro-cosmical highest
principles, nor will the mayavirupa
of either yield its mystery to
physical inquiry. The methods of spiritual research and
psychological
observation are the only efficient
agencies to employ. We have to
proceed by analogy in everything to
be sure. Yet the candid men of
science must very soon find out that
it is not sufficient to examine a
few stars--a handful of sand, as it
were, from the margin of the
shoreless, cosmic ocean--to conclude
that these stars are the same as
all other stars--our earth
included; that, because they have
attained a
certain very great telescopic power,
and gauged an area enclosed in the
smallest of spaces when compared with
what remains, they have,
therefore, concurrently perfected the
survey of all that exists within
even that limited space. For, in truth, they have done nothing of the
kind.
They have had only a superficial glance at that which is made
visible to them under the present
conditions, with the limited power of
their vision. And even though it were helped by telescopes
of a
hundred-fold stronger power than that
of Lord Rosse, or the new Lick
Observatory, the case would not
alter. No physical instrument will ever
help astronomy to scan distances of
the immensity of which that of
Sirius, situated at the trifle of
130,125,000,000,000 miles away from
the outer boundary of the spherical
area, or even that of (a) Capella,
with its extra trifle of
295,355,000,000,000* miles still farther away,
can give them, as they themselves are
well aware, the faintest idea.
For, though an Adept is unable to
cross bodily (i.e., in his astral
shape) the limits of the solar
system, yet he knows that, far
stretching beyond the telescopic
power of detection, there are systems
upon systems, the smallest of which
would, when compared with the system
of Sirius, make the latter seem like
an atom of dust imbedded in the
great Shamo desert. The eye of the astronomer, who thinks he also
knows
of the existence of such systems, has
never rested upon them, has never
caught of them, even that spectral
glimpse, fanciful and hazy as the
incoherent vision in a slumbering mind
that he has occasionally had of
other systems, and yet he verily
believes he has gauged INFINITUDE! And
yet these immeasurably distant worlds
are brought as clear and near to
the spiritual eye of the astral
astronomer as a neighbouring bed of
daisies may be to the eye of the
botanist.
--------
* The figures are given from the
mathematical calculations of exoteric
Western astronomy. Esoteric astronomy may prove them false some
day.
--------
Thus, the "Adepts" of the
present generation, though unable to help the
profane astronomer by explaining the
ultimate essence, or even the
material constitution, of star and
planet, since European science,
knowing nothing as yet of the
existence of such substances, or more
properly of their various states or
conditions, has neither proper terms
for, nor can form any adequate idea
of them by any description, they
may, perchance, be able to prove what
this matter is not--and this is
more than sufficient for all present
purposes. The next best thing to
learning what is true is to ascertain
what is not true.
Having thus anticipated a few general
objections, and traced a limit to
expectations, since there is no need
of drawing any veil of mystery
before "An English F.T.S.,"
his few questions may be partially answered.
The negative character of the replies
draws a sufficiently strong line
of demarcation between the views of
the Adepts and those of Western
science to afford some useful hints
at least.
Question 1.--Do the Adepts deny the
Nebular Theory?
Answer:--No; they do not deny its general propositions,
nor the
approximative truths of the
scientific hypotheses. They only deny
the
completeness of the present, as well
as the entire error of the many
so-called "exploded" old
theories, which, during the last century, have
followed each other in such rapid
succession. For instance: while
denying, with Laplace, Herschel and
others, that the variable patches of
light perceived on the nebulous
background of the galaxy ever belonged
to remote worlds in the process of
formation; and agreeing with modern
science that they proceed from no
aggregation of formless matter, but
belong simply to clusters of
"stars" already formed; they
yet add that
many of such clusters, that pass in
the opinion of the astro-physicists
for stars and worlds already
evoluted, are in fact but collections of
the various materials made ready for
future worlds. Like bricks already
baked, of various qualities, shapes
and colour, that are no longer
formless clay but have become fit
units of a future wall, each of them
having a fixed and distinctly
assigned space to occupy in some
forthcoming building, are these
seemingly adult worlds. The astronomer
has no means of recognizing their
relative adolescence, except perhaps
by making a distinction between the
star clusters with the usual orbital
motion and mutual gravitation, and
those termed, we believe, irregular
star-clusters of very capricious and
changeful appearances. Thrown
together as though at random, and
seemingly in utter violation of the
law of symmetry, they defy
observation: such, for instance, are 5 M.
Lyrae, 5 2 M. Cephei, Dumb-Bell, and
some others. Before an emphatic
contradiction of what precedes is
attempted, and ridicule offered
perchance, it would not be amiss to
ascertain the nature and character
of those other so-called
"temporary" stars, whose periodicity, though
never actually proven, is yet allowed
to pass unquestioned. What are
these stars which, appearing suddenly
in matchless magnificence and
splendour, disappear as mysteriously
as unexpectedly, without leaving a
single trace behind? Whence do they appear? Whither are they engulfed?
In the great cosmic deep--we
say. The bright "brick" is
caught by the
hand of the mason--directed by that
Universal Architect which destroys
but to rebuild. It has found its place in the cosmic
structure and will
perform its mission to its last
Manvantaric hour.
Another point most emphatically
denied by the "Adepts" is, that there
exist in the whole range of visible
heavens any spaces void of starry
worlds. There are stars, worlds and systems within as
without the
systems made visible to man, and even
within our own atmosphere, for all
the physicist knows. The "Adept" affirms in this
connection that
orthodox, or so-called official
science, uses very often the word
"infinitude" without
attaching to it any adequate importance;
rather as
a flower of speech than a term
implying an awful, a most mysterious
Reality. When an astronomer is found in his Reports
"gauging
infinitude," even the most
intuitional of his class is but too often apt
to forget that he is gauging only the
superficies of a small area and
its visible depths, and to speak of
these as though they were merely the
cubic contents of some known
quantity. This is the direct result of
the
present conception of a
three-dimensional space. The turn of a
four-dimensional world is near, but
the puzzle of science will ever
continue until their concepts reach
the natural dimensions of visible
and invisible space--in its septenary
completeness. "The Infinite and
the Absolute are only the names for
two counter-imbecilities of the
human (uninitiated) mind;" and
to regard them as the transmuted
"properties of the nature of
things--of two subjective negatives
converted into objective
affirmatives," as Sir W. Hamilton puts it, is
to know nothing of the infinite
operations of human liberated spirit, or
of its attributes, the first of which
is its ability to pass beyond the
region of our terrestrial experience of
matter and space. As an
absolute vacuum is an impossibility
below, so is it a like impossibility
above. But our molecules, the
infinitesimals of the vacuum "below," are
replaced by the giant-atom of the
Infinitude "above." When
demonstrated, the four-dimensional
conception of space may lead to the
invention of new instruments to
explore the extremely dense matter that
surrounds us as a ball of pitch might
surround--say, a fly, but which,
in our extreme ignorance of all its
properties save those we find it
exercising on our earth, we yet call
the clear, the serene, and the
transparent atmosphere. This is no psychology, but simply occult
physics, which can never confound
"substance" with "centres of Force,"
to use the terminology of a Western
science which is ignorant of Maya.
In less than a century, besides
telescopes, microscopes, micrographs and
telephones, the Royal Society will
have to offer a premium for such an
etheroscope.
It is also necessary in connection
with the question under reply that
"An English F.T.S." should
know that the "Adepts" of the Good Law reject
gravity as at present explained. They deny that the so-called "impact
theory" is the only one that is
tenable in the gravitation hypothesis.
They say, that if all efforts made by
the physicists to connect it with
ether, in order to explain electric
and magnetic distance-action have
hitherto proved complete failures, it
is again due to the race ignorance
of the ultimate states of matter in
Nature, and, foremost of all, of the
real nature of the solar stuff. Believing but in the law of mutual
magneto-electric attraction and
repulsion, they agree with those who
have come to the conclusion that
"Universal gravitation is a weak
force," utterly incapable of accounting
for even one small portion of
the phenomena of motion. In the same connection they are forced to
suggest that science may he wrong in
her indiscriminate postulation of
centrifugal force, which is neither a
universal nor a consistent law.
To cite but one instance this force
is powerless to account for the
spheroidal oblateness of certain
planets. For if the bulge of planetary
equators and the shortening of their
polar axes is to be attributed to
centrifugal force, instead of being
simply the result of the powerful
influence of solar electro-magnetic
attraction, "balanced by concentric
rectification of each planet's own
gravitation achieved by rotation on
its axis," to use an
astronomer's phraseology (neither very clear nor
correct, yet serving our purpose to
show the many flaws in the system),
why should there be such difficulty
in answering the objection that the
differences in the equatorial
rotation and density of various planets
are directly in opposition to this
theory? How long shall we see even
great mathematicians bolstering up
fallacies to supply an evident
hiatus! The "Adepts" have never claimed
superior or any knowledge of
Western astronomy and other
sciences. Yet turning even to the most
elementary textbooks used in the
schools of India, they find that the
centrifugal theory of Western birth
is unable to cover all the ground.
That, unaided, it can neither account
for every spheroid oblate, nor
explain away such evident
difficulties as are presented by the relative
density of some planets. How indeed can any calculation of centrifugal
force explain to us, for instance,
why Mercury, whose rotation is, we
are told, only "about one-third
that of the Earth, and its density only
about one-fourth greater than the
Earth," should have a polar
compression more than ten times
greater than the latter? And again, why
Jupiter, whose equatorial rotation is
said to be "twenty-seven times
greater, and its density only about
one-fifth that of the Earth," should
have its polar compression seventeen times
greater than that of the
Earth? Or, why Saturn, with an equatorial velocity
fifty-five times
greater than Mercury for centrifugal
force to contend with, should have
its polar compression only three
times greater than Mercury's? To crown
the above contradictions, we are
asked to believe in the Central Forces
as taught by modern science, even
when told that the equatorial matter
of the sun, with more than four times
the centrifugal velocity of the
earth's equatorial surface and only
about one-fourth part of the
gravitation of the equatorial matter,
has not manifested any tendency to
bulge out at the solar equator, nor
shown the least flattening at the
poles of the solar axis. In other and clearer words, the sun, with
only
one-fourth of our earth's density for
the centrifugal force to work
upon, has no polar compression at
all! We find this objection made by
more than one astronomer, yet never
explained away satisfactorily so far
as the "Adepts" are aware.
Therefore do they say that the great
men of science of the West, knowing
nothing or next to nothing either
about cometary matter, centrifugal and
centripetal forces, the nature of the
nebulae, or the physical
constitution of the sun, stars, or
even the moon, are imprudent to speak
so confidently as they do about the
"central mass of the sun" whirling
out into space planets, comets, and
whatnot. Our humble opinion being
wanted, we maintain: that it evolutes out, but the life principle,
the
soul of these bodies, giving and
receiving it back in our little solar
system, as the "Universal
Life-giver," the ONE LIFE gives and receives
it in the Infinitude and
Eternity; that the Solar System is as
much the
Microcosm of the One Macrocosm, as
man is the former when compared with
his own little solar cosmos.
What are the proofs of science? The solar spots (a misnomer, like much
of the rest)? But these do not prove the solidity of the
"central
mass," any more than the
storm-clouds prove the solid mass of the
atmosphere behind them. Is it the non-coextensiveness of the sun's
body with its apparent luminous
dimensions, the said "body" appearing
"a solid mass, a dark sphere of
matter confined within a fiery
prison-house, a robe of fiercest
flames?" We say that there is
indeed a
"prisoner" behind, but that
having never yet been seen by any physical,
mortal eye, what he allows to be seen
of him is merely a gigantic
reflection, an illusive phantasma of
"solar appendages of some sort," as
Mr. Proctor honestly calls it. Before saying anything further, we will
consider the next interrogatory.
Question II.--Is the Sun merely a
cooling mass?
Such is the accepted theory of modern
science: it is not what the
"Adepts" teach. The former says--the sun "derives no
important
accession of heat from
without:"--the latter answer--"the sun needs it
not." He is quite as self dependent as he is
self-luminous; and for
the maintenance of his heat requires
no help, no foreign accession of
vital energy; for he is the heart of his system, a heart
that will not
cease its throbbing until its hour of
rest shall come. Were the sun "a
cooling mass," our great
life-giver would have indeed grown dim with age
by this time, and found some trouble
to keep his watch-fires burning for
the future races to accomplish their
cycles, and the planetary chains to
achieve their rounds. There would remain no hope for evoluting
humanity; except perhaps in what passes for science in
the astronomical
textbooks of Missionary
Schools--namely, that "the sun has an orbital
journey of a hundred millions of
years before him, and the system yet
but seven thousand years old!"
(Prize Book, "Astronomy for General
Readers.")
The "Adepts," who are thus
forced to demolish before they can
reconstruct, deny most emphatically
(a) that the sun is in combustion,
in any ordinary sense of the
word; or (b) that he is incandescent, or
even burning, though he is
glowing; or (c) that his luminosity has
already begun to weaken and his power
of combustion may be exhausted
within a given and conceivable time;
or even (d) that his chemical and
physical constitution contains any of
the elements of terrestrial
chemistry in any of the states that
either chemist or physicist is
acquainted with. With reference to the latter, they add that,
properly
speaking, though the body of the sun--a
body that was never yet
reflected by telescope or
spectroscope that man invented--cannot be said
to be constituted of those
terrestrial elements with the state of which
the chemist is familiar, yet that
these elements are all present in the
sun's outward robes, and a host more
of elements unknown so far to
science. There seems little need, indeed, to have
waited so long for
the lines belonging to these
respective elements to correspond with dark
lines of the solar spectrum to know
that no element present on our earth
could ever be possibly found wanting
in the sun; although, on the other
hand, there are many others in the
sun which have either not reached or
not as yet been discovered on our
globe. Some may be missing in certain
stars and heavenly bodies still in
the process of formation; or,
properly speaking, though present in
them, these elements on account of
their undeveloped state may not
respond as yet to the usual scientific
tests. But how can the earth possess that which the sun
has never had?
The "Adepts" affirm as a
fact that the true Sun--an invisible orb of
which the known one is the shell,
mask, or clothing--has in him the
spirit of every element that exists
in the solar system; and his
"Chromosphere," as Mr.
Lockyer named it, has the same, only in a far
more developed condition, though
still in a state unknown on earth; our
planet having to await its further
growth and development before any of
its elements can be reduced to the
condition they are in within that
chromosphere. Nor can the substance producing the coloured
light in the
latter be properly called solid,
liquid, or even "gaseous," as now
supposed, for it is neither. Thousands of years before Leverrier and
Padri Secchi, the old Aryans sung of
Surya .... "hiding behind his
Yogi,* robes his head that no one
could see;" the ascetic's dress
being, as all know, dyed expressly
into a red-yellow hue, a colouring
matter with pinkish patches on it,
rudely representing the vital
principle in man's blood--the symbol
of the vital principle in the sun,
or what is now called
chromosphere. The "rose-coloured
region!" How
little astronomers will ever know of
its real nature, even though
hundreds of eclipses furnish them
with the indisputable evidence of its
presence. The sun is so thickly surrounded by a shell
of this "red
matter," that it is useless for
them to speculate with only the help of
their physical instruments, upon the
nature of that which they can never
see or detect with mortal eye behind
that brilliant, radiant zone of
matter.
---------
* There is an interesting story in
the Puranas relating to this subject.
The Devas, it would appear, asked the
great Rishi Vasishta to bring the
sun into Satya Loka. The Rishi requested the Sun-god to do
so. The
Sun-god replied that all the worlds
would be destroyed if he were to
leave his place. The Rishi then offered to place his
red-coloured cloth
(Kashay Vastram) in the place of the
sun's disk, and did so. The
visible body of the sun is this robe
of Vasishta, it would seem.
---------
If the "Adepts" are
asked: "What then, in your views,
is the nature of
our sun and what is there beyond that
cosmic veil?"--they answer:
beyond rotates and beats the heart
and head of our system; externally is
spread its robe, the nature of which
is not matter, whether solid,
liquid, or gaseous, such as you are
acquainted with, but vital
electricity, condensed and made
visible.*
---------
* If the "English F.T.S."
would take the trouble of consulting p. 11 of
the "Magia Adamica" of
Eugenius Philalethes, his learned compatriot, he
would find therein the difference
between a visible and an invisible
planet is clearly hinted at as it was
safe to do at a time when the iron
claw of orthodoxy had the power as
well as disposition to tear the flesh
from heretic bones. "The earth is invisible," says he,
.... "and which
is more, the eye of man never saw the
earth, nor can it be seen
without art. To make this element visible is the greatest
secret in
magic .... As for this feculent,
gross body upon which we walk, it is
a compost, and no earth but it hath
earth in it .... in a word, all the
elements are visible but one, namely,
the earth: and when thou hast
attained to so much perfection as to
know why God hath placed the earth
in abscondito, thou hast an excellent
figure whereby to know God
himself, and how he is visible, how
invisible," The italics are the
author's, it being the custom of the
Alchemists to emphasize those words
which had a double meaning in their
code. Here "God himself"
visible
and invisible, relates to their lapis
philosophorum--Nature's seventh
principle.
----------
And if the statement is objected to
on the grounds that were the
luminosity of the sun due to any
other cause than combustion and flame,
no physical law of which Western
science has any knowledge could account
for the existence of such intensely
high temperature of the sun without
combustion; that such a temperature, besides burning with
its light and
flame every visible thing in our
universe, would show its luminosity of
a homogeneous and uniform intensity
throughout, which it does not; that
undulations and disturbances in the
photosphere, the growing of the
"protuberances," and a
fierce raging of elements in combustion have been
observed in the sun, with their
tongues of fire and spots exhibiting
every appearance of cyclonic motion,
and "solar storms," &c. &c.;
to
this the only answer that can be
given is the following: the
appearances are all there, yet it is
not combustion. Undoubtedly were
the "robes," the dazzling
drapery which now envelopes the whole of the
sun's globe, withdrawn, or even
"the shining atmosphere which permits us
to see the sun" (as Sir William
Herschel thought) removed so as to allow
one trifling rent, our whole universe
would be reduced to ashes.
Jupiter Fulminator revealing himself
to his beloved would incinerate her
instantly. But it can never be. The protecting shell is of a thickness
and at a distance from the universal
HEART that call hardly be ever
calculated by your mathematicians.
And how can they hope to see the
sun's inner body once that the
existence of that "chromosphere" is
ascertained, though its actual
density may be still unknown, when one of
the greatest, if not the greatest, of
their authorities--Sir W.
Herschel--says the following: "The sun, also, has its atmosphere, and
if some of the fluids which enter
into its composition should be of a
shining brilliancy, while others are
merely transparent, any temporary
cause which may remove the lucid
fluid will permit us to see the body of
the sun through the transparent
ones." The underlined words,
written
nearly eighty years ago, embody the
wrong hypothesis that the body of
the sun might be seen under such
circumstances, whereas it is only the
far-away layers of "the lucid
fluid" that would be perceived. And
what
the great astronomer adds invalidates
entirely the first portion of his
assumption: "If an observer were placed on the moon,
he would see the
solid body of our earth only in those
places where the transparent
fluids of the atmosphere would permit
him. In others, the opaque
vapours would reflect the light of
the sun without permitting his view
to penetrate to the surface of our
globe." Thus, if the atmosphere of
our earth, which in its relation to
the "atmosphere" (?) of the sun is
like the tenderest skin of a fruit
compared with the thickest husk of a
cocoa-nut, would prevent the eye of
an observer standing on the moon
from penetrating everywhere "to
the surface of our globe," how can an
astronomer ever expect his sight to
penetrate to the sun's surface, from
our earth and at a distance of from
85 to 95 million miles,* whereas,
the moon, we are told, is only about
238,000 miles!
--------
* Verily, "absolute accuracy in
the solution of this problem (of
distances between the heavenly bodies
and the earth) is simply out of
the question."
----------
The proportionately larger size of
the sun does not bring it any the
more within the scope of our physical
vision. Truly remarks Sir W.
Herschel that the sun "has been
called a globe of fire, perhaps
metaphorically!" It has been supposed that the dark spots were
solid
bodies revolving near the sun's
surface. "They have been
conjectured to
be the smoke of volcanoes the scum
floating upon an ocean of fluid
matter.... They have been taken for
clouds .... explained to be opaque
masses swimming in the fluid matter
of the sun...." When all his
anthropomorphic conceptions are put
aside, Sir John Herschel, whose
intuition was still greater than his
great learning, alone of all
astronomers comes near the truth--far
nearer than any of those modern
astronomers who, while admiring his
gigantic learning, smile at his
"imaginative and fanciful
theories." His only mistake, now
shared by
most astronomers, was that he
regarded the "opaque body" occasionally
observed through the curtain of the
"luminous envelope" as the sun
itself. When saying in the course of his speculations
upon the Nasmyth
willow-leaf theory--"the
definite shape of these objects, their exact
similarity one to another.... all
these characters seem quite repugnant
to the notion of their being of a
vaporous, a cloudy, or a fluid
nature"--his spiritual intuition
served him better than his remarkable
knowledge of physical science. When he adds:
"Nothing remains but to
consider them as separate and
independent sheets, flakes.... having some
sort of solidity.... Be they what
they may, they are evidently the
immediate sources of the solar light
and heat"--he utters a grander
physical truth than was ever uttered
by any living astronomer. And
when, furthermore, we find him
postulating--"looked at in this point of
view, we cannot refuse to regard them
as organisms of some peculiar and
amazing kind; and though it would be
too daring to speak of such
organization as partaking of the
nature of life, yet we do know that
vital action is competent to develop
at once heat, and light, and
electricity," Sir John Herschel
gives out a theory approximating an
occult truth more than any of the profane
ever did with regard to solar
physics. These "wonderful objects" are not,
as a modern astronomer
interprets Sir J. Herschel's words,
"solar inhabitants, whose fiery
constitution enables them to
illuminate, warm and electricize the whole
solar system," but simply the
reservoirs of solar vital energy, the
vital electricity that feeds the
whole system in which it lives, and
breathes, and has its being. The sun is, as we say, the storehouse of
our little cosmos, self-generating
its vital fluid, and ever receiving a
much as it gives out. Were the astronomers to be asked--what
definite
and positive fact exists at the root
of their solar theory--what
knowledge they have of solar
combustion and atmosphere--they might,
perchance, feel embarrassed when confronted
with all their present
theories. For it is sufficient to make a resume of what
the solar
physicists do not know, to gain
conviction that they are as far as ever
from a definite knowledge of the
constitution and ultimate nature of the
heavenly bodies. We may, perhaps, be permitted to enumerate:--
Beginning with, as Mr. Proctor wisely
calls it, "the wildest assumption
possible," that there is, in
accordance with the law of analogy, some
general resemblance between the
materials in, and the processes at work
upon, the sun, and those materials
with which terrestrial chemistry and
physics are familiar, what is that
sum of results achieved by
spectroscopic and other analyses of
the surface and the inner
constitution of the sun, which
warrants any one in establishing the
axiom of the sun's combustion and
gradual extinction? They have no
means, as they themselves daily
confess, of experimenting upon, hence of
determining, the sun's physical
condition; for (a) they are ignorant of
the atmospheric limits; (b) even though it were proved that matter,
such as they know of, is continuously
falling upon the sun, being
ignorant of its real velocity and the
nature of the material it falls
upon, they are unable "to
discuss of the effect of motions wholly
surpassing in velocity ....
enormously exceeding even the inconceivable
velocity of many meteors;" (c) confessedly--they "have no means of
learning whence that part of the
light comes which gives the continuous
spectrum".... hence no means of
determining how great a depth of the
solar substance is concerned in
sending out that light. This light
"may
come from the surface layers
only;" and, "it may be but a
shell" ....
(truly!); and finally, (d) they have yet to learn
"how far combustion,
properly so-called, can take place
within the sun's mass;" and
"whether
these processes, which we (they)
recognize as combustion, are the only
processes of combustion which can
actually take place there."
Therefore, Mr. Proctor for one comes
to the happy and prudent idea after
all "that what had been supposed
the most marked characteristic of
incandescent solid and liquid bodies,
is thus shown to be a possible
characteristic of the light of the
glowing gas." Thus, the whole basis
of their reasoning having been shaken
(by Frankland's objection), they,
the astronomers, may yet arrive at
accepting the occult theory, viz.,
that they have to look to the 6th
state of matter, for divulging to them
the true nature of their
photospheres, chromospheres, appendages,
prominences, projections and horns.
Indeed, when one finds one of the
authorities of the age in physical
science--Professor Tyndall--saying
that "no earthly substance with
which we are acquainted, no
substance which the fall of meteors
has landed on the earth--would
be at all competent to maintain the
sun's combustion;" and
again:--".... multiplying all
our powers by millions of millions, we do
not reach the sun's expenditure. And still, notwithstanding this
enormous drain in the lapse of human
history, we are unable to detect a
diminution of his store
...."--after reading this, to see the men of
science still maintaining their
theory of "a hot globe cooling," one may
be excused for feeling surprised at
such inconsistency. Verily is that
great physicist right in viewing the
sun itself as "a speck in infinite
extension--a mere drop in the
Universal sea;" and saying that,
"to
Nature nothing can be added; from Nature nothing can be taken away; the
sum of her energy is constant, and
the utmost man can do in the pursuit
of physical truth, or in the
applications of physical knowledge, is to
shift the constituents of the
never-varying total. The law of
conservation rigidly excludes both
creation and annihilation .... the
flux of power is eternally the
same." Mr. Tyndall speaks here as
though he were an Occultist. Yet, the memento mori--"the sun is
cooling .... it is dying!" of
the Western Trappists of Science resounds
as loud as it ever did.
No, we say; no, while there is one man left on the globe,
the sun will
not be extinguished. Before the hour of the "Solar
Pralaya" strikes on
the watch-tower of Eternity, all the
other worlds of our system will be
gliding in their spectral shells
along the silent paths of Infinite
Space. Before it strikes, Atlas, the mighty Titan,
the son of Asia and
the nursling of Aether, will have
dropped his heavy manvantaric burden
and--died; the Pleiades, the bright
seven Sisters, will have upon
awakening hiding Sterope to grieve
with them--to die themselves for
their father's loss. And, Hercules, moving off his left leg, will
have
to shift his place in heavens and
erect his own funeral pile. Then only,
surrounded by the fiery element
breaking through the thickening gloom of
the Pralayan twilight, will Hercules,
expiring amidst a general
conflagration, bring on likewise the
death of our sun: he will have
unveiled by moving off the
"CENTRAL SUN"--the mysterious, the
ever-hidden centre of attraction of
our sun and system. Fables? Mere
poetical fiction? Yet, when one knows that the most exact
sciences, the
greatest mathematical and
astronomical truths went forth into the world
among the hoi polloi from the circle
of initiated priests, the
Hierophants of the sanctum sanctorum
of the old temples, under the guise
of religious fables, it may not be
amiss to search for universal truths
even under the patches of fiction's
harlequinade. This fable about the
Pleiades, the seven Sisters, Atlas,
and Hercules exists identical in
subject, though under other names, in
the sacred Hindu books, and has
likewise the same occult
meaning. But then like the Ramayana
"borrowed
from the Greek Iliad" and the
Bhagavat-Gita and Krishna plagiarized from
the Gospel--in the opinion of the
great Sanskritist, Prof. Weber, the
Aryans may have also borrowed the
Pleiades and their Hercules from the
same source! When the Brahmins can be shown by the
Christian
Orientalists to be the direct
descendants of the Teutonic Crusaders,
then only, perchance, will the cycle
of proofs be completed, and the
historical truths of the West
vindicated!
Question III.--Are the great nations
to be swept away in an hour?
No such absurdity was ever
postulated. The cataclysm that
annihilated
the choicest sub-races of the Fourth
race, or the Atlanteans, was slowly
preparing its work for ages; as any one can read in "Esoteric
Buddhism"
(page 54). "Poseidonis," so called, belongs to
historical times, though
its fate begins to be realized and
suspected only now. What was said is
still asserted: every root-race is separated by a
catastrophe, a
cataclysm--the basis and historical
foundation of the fables woven later
on into the religious fabric of every
people, whether civilized or
savage, under the names of
"deluges," "showers of fire," and such like.
That no "appreciable trace is
left of such high civilization" is due to
several reasons. One of these may be traced chiefly to the
inability,
and partially to the unwillingness
(or shall we say congenital spiritual
blindness of this our age!) of the
modern archeologist to distinguish
between excavations and ruins 50,000
and 4,000 years old, and to assign
to many a grand archaic ruin its
proper age and place in prehistoric
times. For the latter the archeologist is not
responsible--for what
criterion, what sign has he to lead
him to infer the true date of an
excavated building bearing no
inscription; and what warrant has the
public that the antiquary and
specialist has not made an error of some
20,000 years? A fair proof of this we have in the scientific
and
historic labeling of the Cyclopean
architecture. Traditional archeology
bearing directly upon the monumental
is rejected. Oral literature,
popular legends, ballads and rites,
are all stifled in one word--
superstition; and popular antiquities have become
"fables" and
"folk-lore." The ruder style of Cyclopean masonry, the
walls of Tyrius,
mentioned by Homer, are placed at the
farthest end--the dawn of
pre-Roman history; the walls of Epirus and Mycenae--at the
nearest. The
latter are commonly believed the work
of the Pelasgi and probably of
about 1,000 years before the Western
era. As to the former, they were
hedged in and driven forward by the
Noachian deluge till very lately--
Archbishop Usher's learned scheme,
computing that earth and man "were
created 4,004 B.C.," having been
not only popular but actually forced
upon the educated classes until Mr.
Darwin's triumphs. Had it not been
for the efforts of a few Alexandrian
and other mystics, Platonists, and
heathen philosophers, Europe would have
never laid her hands even on
those few Greek and Roman classics
she now possesses. And, as among the
few that escaped the dire fate not
all by any means were trustworthy--
hence, perhaps, the secret of their
preservation--Western scholars got
early into the habit of rejecting all
heathen testimony, whenever truth
clashed with the dicta of their
churches. Then, again, the modern
Archeologists, Orientalists and
Historians, are all Europeans; and they
are all Christians, whether nominally
or otherwise. However it may be,
most of them seem to dislike to allow
any relic of archaism to antedate
the supposed antiquity of the Jewish
records. This is a ditch into
which most have slipped.
The traces of ancient civilizations
exist, and they are many. Yet, it is
humbly suggested, that so long as
there are reverend gentlemen mixed up
unchecked in archaeological and
Asiatic societies; and Christian
bishops to write the supposed
histories and religions of non-Christian
nations, and to preside over the
meetings of Orientalists--so long will
Archaism and its remains be made
subservient in every branch to ancient
Judaism and modern Christianity.
So far, archeology knows nothing of
the sites of other and far older
civilizations, except the few it has
stumbled upon, and to which it has
assigned their respective ages,
mostly under the guidance of biblical
chronology. Whether the West had any right to impose upon
Universal
History the untrustworthy chronology
of a small and unknown Jewish tribe
and reject, at the same time, every
datum as every other tradition
furnished by the classical writers of
non-Jewish and non-Christian
nations, is questionable. At any
rate, had it accepted as willingly data
coming from other sources, it might
have assured itself by this time,
that not only in Italy and other
parts of Europe, but even on sites not
very far from those it is accustomed
to regard as the hotbed of ancient
relics--Babylonia and Assyria--there
are other sites where it could
profitably excavate. The immense "Salt Valley" of
Dasht-Beyad by
Khorasson covers the most ancient
civilizations of the world; while the
Shamo desert has had time to change
from sea to land, and from fertile
land to a dead desert, since the day
when the first civilization of the
Fifth Race left its now invisible,
and perhaps for ever hidden, "traces"
under its beds of sand.
Times have changed, are
changing. Proofs of the old
civilizations and
the archaic wisdom are
accumulating. Though soldier-bigots and
priestly
schemers have burnt books and converted
old libraries to base uses;
though the dry rot and the insect
have destroyed inestimably precious
records; though within the historic period the Spanish
brigands made
bonfires of the works of the refined
archaic American races, which, if
spared, would have solved many a
riddle of history; though Omar lit the
fires of the Alexandrian baths for
months with the literary treasures of
the Serapeum; though the Sybilline and other mystical books
of Rome and
Greece were destroyed in war; though
the South Indian invaders of Ceylon
"heaped into piles as high as
the tops of the cocoanut trees" the ollas
of the Buddhists, and set them ablaze
to light their victory--thus
obliterating from the world's
knowledge early Buddhist annals and
treatises of great importance: though this hateful and senseless
Vandalism has disgraced the career of
most fighting nations--still,
despite everything, there are extant
abundant proofs of the history of
mankind, and bits and scraps come to
light from time to time by what
science has often called "most
curious coincidences." Europe has
no
very trustworthy history of her own
vicissitudes and mutations, her
successive races and their
doings. What with their savage wars, the
barbaric habits of the historic Goths,
Huns, Franks, and other warrior
nations, and the interested literary
Vandalism of the shaveling priests
who for centuries sat upon its
intellectual life like a nightmare, an
antiquity could not exist for
Europe. And, having no Past to record
themselves, the European critics,
historians and archeologists have not
scrupled to deny one to
others--whenever the concession excited a
sacrifice of biblical prestige.
No "traces of old
civilizations" we are told! And
what about the
Pelasgi--the direct forefathers of
the Hellenes, according to Herodotus?
What about the Etruscans--the race
mysterious and wonderful, if any, for
the historian, and whose origin is
the most insoluble of problems? That
which is known of them only shows
that could something more be known, a
whole series of prehistoric
civilizations might be discovered. A
people
described as are the Pelasgi--a
highly intellectual, receptive, active
people, chiefly occupied with
agriculture, warlike when necessary,
though preferring peace; a people who built canals as no one else,
subterranean water-works, dams,
walls, and Cyclopean buildings of the
most astounding strength; who are even suspected of having been the
inventors of the so-called Cadmean or
Phoenician writing characters from
which all European alphabets are
derived--who were they? Could they be
shown by any possible means as the
descendants of the biblical Peleg
(Gen. x. 25) their high civilization
would have been thereby
demonstrated, though their antiquity
would still have to be dwarfed to
2247 "B.C.." And who were the Etruscans?
Shall the Easterns like the Westerns
be made to believe that between the
high civilizations of the pre-Roman
(and we say--prehistoric) Tursenoi
of the Greeks, with their twelve great
cities known to history; their
Cyclopean buildings, their plastic
and pictorial arts, and the time when
they were a nomadic tribe "first
descended into Italy from their
northern latitudes"--only a few
centuries elapsed? Shall it be still
urged that the Phoenicians with their
Tyre 2750 "B.C." (a chronology,
accepted by Western history), their
commerce, fleet, learning, arts, and
civilization, were only a few
centuries before the building of Tyre but
"a small tribe of Semitic
fishermen"? Or, that the Trojan war
could not
have been earlier than 1184 B.C., and
thus Magna Graecia must be fixed
somewhere between the eighth and the
ninth Century "B.C.," and by no
means thousands of years before, as
was claimed by Plato and Aristotle,
Homer and the Cyclic Poems, derived
from, and based upon, other records
millenniums older? If the Christian historian, hampered by his
chronology, and the freethinker by
lack of necessary data, feel bound to
stigmatize every non-Christian or
non-Western chronology as "obviously
fanciful," "purely
mythical," and "not worthy of a moment's
consideration," how shall one,
wholly dependent upon Western guides get
at the truth? And if these incompetent builders of
Universal History
can persuade their public to accept
as authoritative their chronological
and ethnological reveries, why should
the Eastern student, who has
access to quite different--and we
make bold to say, more trustworthy--
materials, be expected to join in the
blind belief of those who defend
Western historical infallibility? He believes--on the strength of the
documentary evidence, left by
Yavanacharya (Pythagoras) 607 "B.C." in
India, and that of his own national
"temple records," that instead of
giving hundreds we may safely give
thousands of years to the foundation
of Cumaea and Magna Graecia, of which
it was the pioneer settlement.
That the civilization of the latter
had already become effete when
Pythagoras, the great pupil of Aryan
Masters went to Crotone. And,
having no biblical bias to overcome, he
feels persuaded that, if it took
the Celtic and Gaelic tribes
Britannicae Insulae, with the ready-made
civilizations of Rome before their
eyes, and acquaintance with that of
the Phoenicians whose trade with them
began a thousand years before the
Christian era; and to crown all with the definite help later
of the
Normans and Saxons--two thousand
years before they could build their
medieval cities, not even remotely
comparable with those of the Romans;
and it took them two thousand five
hundred years to get half as
civilized; then, that instead of that hypothetical
period, benevolently
styled the childhood of the race,
being within easy reach of the
Apostles and the early Fathers, it
must be relegated to an enormously
earlier time. Surely if it took the barbarians of Western
Europe so
many centuries to develop a language
and create empires, then the
nomadic tribes of the
"mythical" periods ought in common fairness--since
they never came under the fructifying
energy of that Christian influence
to which we are asked to ascribe all
the scientific enlightenment of
this age--about ten thousand years to
build their Tyres and their Veii,
their Sidons and Carthagenes. As
other Troys lie under the surface of
the topmost one in the Troad; and other and higher civilizations were
exhumed by Mariette Bey under the
stratum of sand from which the
archeological collections of Lepsius,
Abbott, and the British Museum
were taken; and six Hindu "Delhis," superposed
and hidden away out of
sight, formed the pedestal upon which
the Mogul conqueror built the
gorgeous capital whose ruins still
attest the splendour of his Delhi;
so when the fury of critical bigotry
has quite subsided, and Western men
are prepared to write history in the
interest of truth alone, will the
proofs be found of the cyclic law of
civilization. Modern Florence
lifts her beautiful form above the
tomb of Etruscan Florentia, which in
her turn rose upon the hidden
vestiges of anterior towns. And so also
Arezzo, Perugia, Lucca, and many other
European sites now occupied by
modern towns and cities, are based
upon the relics of archaic
civilizations whose period covers
ages incomputable, and whose names
Echo has forgotten to even whisper
through "the corridors of Time."
When the Western historian has
finally and Unanswerably proven who were
the Pelasgi, at least, and who the
Etruscans, and the as mysterious
Iapygians, who seem also to have had
an earlier acquaintance with
writing--as proved by their
inscriptions--than the Phoenicians, then
only may he menace the Asiatic into
acceptance of his own arbitrary data
and dogmas. Then also may he tauntingly ask "how it
is that no
appreciable trace is left of such
high civilizations as are described in
the Past?"
"Is it supposed that the present
European civilization with its
offshoots .... can be destroyed by
any inundation or conflagration?"
More easily than was many another
civilization. Europe has neither the
titanic and Cyclopean masonry of the
ancients, nor even its parchments,
to preserve the records of its
"existing arts and languages."
Its
civilization is too recent, too
rapidly growing, to leave any positively
indestructible relics of either its
architecture, arts or sciences.
What is there in the whole Europe
that could be regarded as even
approximately indestructible, without
mentioning the debacle of the
geological upheaval that follows
generally such cataclysms? Is it its
ephemeral Crystal Palaces, its
theatres, railways, modern fragile
furniture: or its electric telegraphs, phonographs,
telephones, and
micrographs? While each of the former is at the mercy of
fire and
cyclone, the last enumerated marvels
of modern science can be destroyed
by a child breaking them to
atoms. When we know of the destruction
of
the "Seven World's Wonders,"
of Thebes, Tyre, the Labyrinth, and the
Egyptian pyramids and temples and
giant palaces, as we now see slowly
crumbling into the dust of the
deserts, being reduced to atoms by the
hand of Time--lighter and far more
merciful than any cataclysm--the
question seems to us rather the
outcome of modern pride than of stern
reasoning. Is it your daily newspapers and periodicals,
rags of a few
days;
your fragile books bearing the records of all your grand
civilization, withal liable to become
annihilated after a few meals are
made on them by the white ants, that
are regarded as invulnerable? And
why should European civilization
escape the common lot? It is from the
lower classes, the units of the great
masses who form the majorities in
nations, that survivors will escape
in greater numbers; and these know
nothing of the arts, sciences, or
languages except their own, and those
very imperfectly. The arts and sciences are like the phoenix of
old:
they die but to revive. And when the question found on page 58 of
"Esoteric Buddhism"
concerning "the curious rush of human progress
within the last two thousand
years," was first propounded, Mr. Sinnett's
correspondent might have made his
answer more complete by saying:
"This
rush, this progress, and the abnormal
rapidity with which one discovery
follows the other, ought to be a sign
to human intuition that what you
look upon in the light of
'discoveries' are merely rediscoveries, which,
following the law of gradual
progress, you make more perfect, yet in
enunciating, you are not the first to
explain them." We learn more
easily that which we have heard
about, or learnt in childhood. If, as
averred, the Western nations have
separated themselves from the great
Aryan stock, it becomes evident that the
races that first peopled Europe
were inferior to the root-race which
had the Vedas and the pre-historic
Rishis. That which your far-distant forefathers had
heard in the
secrecy of the temples was not lost.
It reached their posterity, which
is now simply improving upon details.
Question IV.--Is the Moon immersed in
matter?
No "Adept," so far as the
writers know, has ever given to "Lay Chela"
his "views of the moon,"
for publication. With Selenography,
modern
science is far better acquainted than
any humble Asiatic ascetic may
ever hope to become. It is to be feared the speculations on pp.
104 and
105 of "Esoteric Buddhism,"
besides being hazy, are somewhat premature.
Therefore, it may be as well to pass
on to--
Question V.--About the mineral monad.
Any English expression that correctly
translates the idea given is
"authorized by the
Adepts." Why not? The term "monad" applies to the
latent life in the mineral as much as
it does to the life in the
vegetable and the animal. The monogenist may take exception to the term
and especially to the idea while the
polygenist, unless he be a
corporealist, may not. As to the other class of scientists, they
would
take objection to the idea even of a
human monad, and call it
"unscientific." What relation does the monad bear to the
atom? None
whatever to the atom or molecule as
in the scientific conception at
present. It can neither be compared with the
microscopic organism
classed once among polygastric
infusoria, and now regarded as vegetable
and ranked among algae; nor is it quite the monas of the
Peripatetics.
Physically or constitutionally the
mineral monad differs, of course,
from that of the human monad, which
is neither physical, nor can its
constitution be rendered by chemical
symbols and elements. In short,
the mineral monad is one--the higher
animal and human monads are
countless. Otherwise, how could one
account for and explain
mathematically the evolutionary and
spiral progress of the four
kingdoms? The "monad" is the combination of
the last two Principles in
man, the 6th and the 7th, and,
properly speaking, the term "human monad"
applies only to the Spiritual Soul,
not to its highest spiritual
vivifying Principle. But since divorced from the latter the
Spiritual
Soul could have no existence, no
being, it has thus been called. The
composition (if such a word, which
would shock an Asiatic, seems
necessary to help European
conception) of Buddhi or the 6th principle is
made up of the essence of what you
would call matter (or perchance a
centre of Spiritual Force) in its 6th
and 7th condition or state; the
animating ATMAN being part of the ONE
LIFE or Parabrahm. Now the
Monadic Essence (if such a term be
permitted) in the mineral, vegetable
and animal, though the same
throughout the series of cycles from the
lowest elemental up to the Deva
kingdom, yet differs in the scale of
progression.
It would be very misleading to
imagine a monad as a separate entity
trailing its slow way in a distinct
path through the lower kingdoms, and
after an incalculable series of
transmigrations flowering into a human
being; in short, that the monad of a Humboldt dates
back to the monad
of an atom of hornblende. Instead of
saying a mineral monad, the
correcter phraseology in physical
science which differentiates every
atom, would of course have been to
call it the Monad manifesting in that
form of Prakriti called the mineral
kingdom. Each atom or molecule of
ordinary scientific hypotheses is not
a particle of something, animated
by a psychic something, destined to
blossom as a man after aeons. But
it is a concrete manifestation of the
Universal Energy which itself has
not yet become individualized: a sequential manifestation of the one
Universal Monas. The ocean does not divide into its potential and
constituent drops until the sweep of
the life-impulse reaches the
evolutionary stage of man-birth. The tendency towards segregation into
individual monads is gradual, and in
the higher animals comes almost to
the point. The Peripatetics applied the word Monas to
the whole Cosmos,
in the pantheistic sense; and the Occultists while accepting this
thought for convenience' sake,
distinguish the progressive stages of the
evolution of the Concrete from the
Abstract by terms of which the
"Mineral Monad" is one. The term merely means that the tidal wave of
spiritual evolution is passing
through that arc of its circuit. The
"Monadic Essence" begins to
imperceptibly differentiate in the vegetable
kingdom. As the monads are
uncompounded things, as correctly defined by
Leibnitz, it is the spiritual essence
which vivifies them in their
degrees of differentiation which
constitutes properly the monad--not the
atomic aggregation which is only the
vehicle and the substance through
which thrill the lower and higher degrees
of intelligence.
And though, as shown by those plants
that are known as sensitives, there
are a few among them that may be
regarded as possessing that conscious
perception which is called by
Leibnitz apperception, while the rest are
endowed but with that internal
activity which may be called vegetable
nerve-sensation (to call it
perception would be wrong), yet even the
vegetable monad is still the Monad in
its second degree of awakening
sensation. Leibnitz came several
times very near the truth, but defined
the monadic evolution incorrectly and
often greatly blundered. There
are seven kingdoms. The first group comprises three degrees of
elementals, or nascent centres of
forces--from the first stage of the
differentiation of Mulaprakriti to
its third degree--i.e., from full
unconsciousness to
semi-perception; the second or higher
group embraces
the kingdoms from vegetable to
man; the mineral kingdom thus forming
the central or turning-point in the
degrees of the "Monadic Essence"--
considered as an Evoluting
Energy. Three stages in the elemental
side;
the mineral kingdom; three stages in the objective physical
side--these
are the seven links of the
evolutionary chain. A descent of spirit
into
matter, equivalent to an ascent in
physical evolution; a re-ascent from
the deepest depths of materiality
(the mineral) towards its status quo
ante, with a corresponding
dissipation of concrete organisms up to
Nirvana--the vanishing point of
differentiated matter. Perhaps a simple
diagram will aid us:--
[[Diagram here]]
The line A D represents the gradual
obscuration of spirit as it passes
into concrete matter; the point D indicates the evolutionary
position
of the mineral kingdom from its
incipient (d) to its ultimate concretion
(a);
c, b, a, on the left-hand side of the figure, are the three stages
of elemental evolution; i.e., the
three successive stages passed by the
spiritual impulse (through the
elementals--of which little is permitted
to be said) before they are imprisoned
in the most concrete form of
matter; and a, b, c, on the
right-hand side, are the three stages of
organic life, vegetable, animal,
human. What is total obscuration of
spirit is complete perfection of its
polar antithesis--matter; and this
idea is conveyed in the lines A D and
D A. The arrows show the line of
travel of the evolutionary impulse in
entering its vortex and expanding
again into the subjectivity of the
ABSOLUTE. The central thickest line,
d d, is the Mineral Kingdom.
The monogenists have had their
day. Even believers in a personal god,
like Professor Agassiz, teach now
that, "There is a manifest progress in
the succession of beings on the
surface of the earth. The progress
consists in an increasing similarity
of the living fauna, and among the
vertebrates especially, in the
increasing resemblance to man. Man is
the end towards which all the animal
creation has tended from the first
appearance of the first Palaeozoic
fishes" ("Principles of Zoology," pp.
205-6). The mineral "monad" is not an
individuality latent, but an
all-pervading Force which has for its
Present vehicle matter in its
lowest and most concrete terrestrial
state; in man the monad is fully
developed, potential, and either
passive or absolutely active, according
to its vehicle, the five lower and
more physical human principles. In
the Deva kingdom it is fully
liberated and in its highest state--but one
degree lower than the ONE Universal
Life.*
----------
* The above diagram represents a
logical section of the scheme of
evolution, and not the evolutionary
history of a unit of consciousness.
----------
Question VIII.--Sri Sankaracharya's
Date
It is always difficult to determine
with precision the date of any
particular event in the ancient
history of India; and this difficulty
is considerably enhanced by the
speculations of European Orientalists,
whose labours in this direction have
but tended to thicken the confusion
already existing in popular legends
and traditions, which were often
altered or modified to suit the
necessities of sectarian controversy.
The causes that have produced this
result will be fully ascertained on
examining the assumptions on which
these speculations are based. The
writings of many of these
Orientalists are often characterized by an
imperfect knowledge of Indian
literature, philosophy and religion, and
of Hindu traditions, and a
contemptuous disregard for the opinions of
Hindu writers and pundits. Very often, facts and dates are taken by
these writers from the writings of
their predecessors or contemporaries
on the assumption that they are
correct without any further
investigation by themselves. Even when a writer gives a date with an
expression of doubt as to its
accuracy, his follower frequently quotes
the same date as if it were absolutely
correct. One wrong date is made
to depend upon another wrong date,
and one bad inference is often
deduced from another inference
equally unwarranted and illogical. And
consequently, if the correctness of
any particular date given by these
writers is to be ascertained, the
whole structure of Indian Chronology
constructed by them will have to be
carefully examined. It will be
convenient to enumerate some of the
assumptions above referred to before
proceeding to examine their opinions concerning
the date of
Sankaracharya.
I. Many of these writers are not
altogether free from the prejudices
engendered by the pernicious
doctrine, deduced from the Bible, whether
rightly or wrongly, that this world
is only six thousand years old. We
do not mean to say that any one of
these writers would now seriously
think of defending the said
doctrine. Nevertheless, it had exercised
a
considerable influence on the minds
of Christian writers when they began
to investigate the claims of Asiatic
Chronology. If an antiquity of
five or six thousand years is
assigned to any particular event connected
with the ancient history of Egypt,
India or China, it is certain to be
rejected at once by these writers
without any inquiry whatever regarding
the truth of the statement.
II. They are extremely unwilling to
admit that any portion of the Veda
can be traced to a period anterior to
the date of the Pentateuch, even
when the arguments brought forward to
establish the priority of the
Vedas are such as would be convincing
to the mind of an impartial
investigator untainted by Christian
prejudices. The maximum limit of
Indian antiquity is, therefore, fixed
for them by the Old Testament;
and it is virtually assumed by them
that a period between the date of
the Old Testament on the one side,
and the present time on the other,
should necessarily be assigned to
every book in the whole range of Vedic
and Sanskrit literature, and to
almost every event of Indian history.
III. It is often assumed without
reason that every passage in the Vedas
containing philosophical or
metaphysical ideas must be looked upon as a
subsequent interpolation, and that
every book treating of a
philosophical subject must be
considered as having been written after
the time of Buddha or after the commencement
of the Christian era.
Civilization, philosophy and
scientific investigation had their origin,
in the opinion of these writers,
within the six or seven centuries
preceding the Christian era, and
mankind slowly emerged, for the first
time, from "the depths of animal
brutality" within the last four or five
thousand years.
IV. It is also assumed that Buddhism
was brought into existence by
Gautama Buddha. The previous existence of Buddhism, Jainism
and Arhat
philosophy is rejected as an absurd
and ridiculous invention of the
Buddhists and others, who attempted
thereby to assign a very high
antiquity to their own religion. In consequence of this erroneous
impression every Hindu book referring
to the doctrines of Buddhists is
declared to have been written
subsequent to the time of Gautama Buddha.
For instance, Mr. Weber is of opinion
that Vyasa, the author of the
Brahma Sutras, wrote them in the
fifth century after Christ. This is
indeed a startling revelation to the
majority of Hindus.
V. Whenever several works treating of
various subjects are attributed to
one and the same author by Hindu
writings or traditions, it is often
assumed, and apparently without any
reason whatever in the majority of
cases, that the said works should be
considered as the productions of
different writers. By this process of reasoning they have
discovered
two Badarayanas (Vyasas), two
Patanjalis, and three Vararuchis. We do
not mean to say that in every case
identity of name is equivalent to
identity of personality. But we cannot but protest against such
assumptions when they are made
without any evidence to support them,
merely for the purpose of supporting
a foregone conclusion or
establishing a favourite hypothesis.
VI. An attempt is often made by these
writers to establish the
chronological order of the events of
ancient Indian history by means of
the various stages in the growth or
development of the Sanskrit language
and Indian literature. The time required for this growth is often
estimated in the same manner in which
a geologist endeavours to fix the
time required for the gradual
development of the various strata
composing the earth's crust. But we
fail to perceive anything like a
proper method in making these
calculations. It will be wrong to assume
that the growth of one language will
require the same time as that of
another within the same limits. The peculiar characteristics of the
nation to whom the language belongs
must be carefully taken into
consideration in attempting to make
any such calculation. The history
of the said nation is equally
important. Any one who examines Max
Muller's estimate of the so-called
Sutra, Brahmana, Mantra and Khanda
periods, will be able to perceive
that no attention has been paid to
these considerations. The time allotted to the growth of these four
"strata" of Vedic
literature is purely arbitrary.
We have enumerated these defects in
the writings of European
Orientalists for the purpose of
showing to our readers that it is not
always safe to rely upon the conclusions
arrived at by these writers
regarding the dates of ancient Indian
history.
In examining the various quotations
and traditions selected by European
Orientalists for the purpose of
fixing Sankaracharya's date, special
care must be taken to see whether the
person referred to was the very
first Sankaracharya who established
the Adwaitee doctrine, or one of his
followers who became the Adhipathis
(heads) of the various Mathams
(temples) established by him and his
successors. Many of the Adwaitee
Mathadhipatis who succeeded him
(especially of the Sringeri Matham) were
men of considerable renown and were
well known throughout India during
their time. They are often referred to under the general
name of
Sankaracharya. Consequently, any reference made to any one
of these
Mathadhipatis is apt to be mistaken
for a reference to the first
Sankaracharya himself.
Mr. Barth, whose opinion regarding
Sankara's date is quoted by "An
English F.T.S." against the date
assigned to that teacher in Mr.
Sinnett's book on Esoteric Buddhism,
does not appear to have carefully
examined the subject himself. He assigns no reasons for the date given,
and does not even allude to the
existence of other authorities and
traditions which conflict with the
date adopted by him. The date which
he assigns to Sankara appears in an
unimportant foot-note on page 89 of
his book on "The Religions of
India," which reads thus:
"Sankaracharya
is generally placed in the eighth
century; perhaps we must accept the
ninth rather. The best accredited
tradition represents him as born on
the 10th of the month 'Madhava' in
788 A.D. Other traditions, it is
true, place him in the second and
fifth centuries. The author of the
Dabistan, on the other hand, brings
him as far down as the commencement
of the fourteenth." Mr. Barth is clearly wrong in saying that
Sankara
is generally placed in the eight
century. There are as many traditions
for placing him in some century
before the Christian era as for placing
him in some century after the said
era, and it will also be seen from
what follows that in fact evidence
preponderates in favour of the former
statement. It cannot be contended
that the generality of Orientalists
have any definite opinions of their
own on the subject under
consideration. Max Muller does not appear to have ever
directed his
attention to this subject. Monier Williams merely copies the date given
by Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Weber seems to
rely upon the same authority
without troubling himself with any
further inquiry about the matter.
Mr. Wilson is probably the only
Orientalist who investigated the subject
with some care and attention; and he frankly confesses that the exact
period at which "he (Sankara)
flourished can by no means be determined"
(p. 201 of vol. I. of his
"Essays on the Religion of the Hindoos").
Under such circumstances the
foot-note above quoted is certainly very
misleading. Mr. Barth does not inform his readers where
he obtained the
tradition referred to, and what
reasons he has for supposing that it
refers to the first Sankaracharya,
and that it is "the best accredited
tradition." When the matter is still open to discussion,
Mr. Barth
should not have adopted any
particular date if he is not prepared to
support it and establish it by proper
arguments. The other traditions
alluded to are not intended, of
course, to strengthen the authority of
the tradition relied upon. But the wording of the foot-note in question
seems to show that all the
authorities and traditions relating to the
subject are comprised therein, when
in fact the most important of them
are left out of consideration, as
will be shown hereafter. No arguments
are to be found in support of the
date assigned to Sankara in the other
portions of Mr. Barth's book, but
there are a few isolated passages
which may be taken either as
inferences from the statement in question
or arguments in its support, which it
will be necessary to examine in
this connection.
Mr. Barth has discovered some
connection between the appearance of
Sankara in India and the commencement
of the persecution of the
Buddhists, which he seems to place in
the seventh and eighth centuries.
In page 89 of his book he speaks of
"the great reaction on the offensive
against Buddhism which was begun in
the Deccan in the seventh and eighth
centuries by the schools of Kumarila
and Sankara;" and in page 135 he
states that the "disciples of
Kumarila and Sankara, organized into
military bands, constituted
themselves the rabid defenders of
orthodoxy." The force of these
statements is, however, considerably
weakened by the author's observations
on pages 89 and 134, regarding the
absence of any traces of Buddhist
persecution by Sankara in the
authentic documents hitherto
examined, and the absurdity of legends
which represent him as exterminating
Buddhists from the Himalaya to Cape
Comorin.
The association of Sankara with
Kumarila in the passages above cited is
highly ridiculous. It is well known to almost every Hindu that
the
followers of Purva Mimamsa (Kumarila
commented on the Sutras) were the
greatest and the bitterest opponents
of Sankara and his doctrine, and
Mr. Barth seems to be altogether
ignorant of the nature of Kumarila's
views and Purva Mimamsa, and the
scope and aim of Sankara's Vedantic
philosophy. It is impossible to say what evidence the
author has for
asserting that the great reaction
against the Buddhists commenced in the
seventh and eighth centuries, and
that Sankara was instrumental in
originating it. There are some passages in his book which
tend to show
that this date cannot be considered
as quite correct. In page 135 he
says that Buddhist persecution began
even in the time of Asoka.
Such being the case, it is indeed
very surprising that the orthodox
Hindus should have kept quiet for
nearly ten centuries without
retaliating on their enemies. The political ascendency gained by the
Buddhists during the reign of Asoka
did not last very long; and the
Hindus had the support of very
powerful kings before and after the
commencement of the Christian era. Moreover,
the author says, in p. 132
of his book, that Buddhism was in a
state of decay in the seventh
century. It is hardly to be expected that the reaction
against the
Buddhists would commence when their
religion was already in a state of
decay. No great religious teacher or reformer would
waste his time and
energy in demolishing a religion
already in ruins. But what evidence is
there to show that Sankara was ever
engaged in this task? If the main
object of his preaching was to evoke
a reaction against Buddhism, he
would no doubt have left us some
writings specially intended to
criticize its doctrines and expose
its defects. On the other hand, he
does not even allude to Buddhism in
his independent works.
Though he was a voluminous writer,
with the exception of a few remarks
on the theory advocated by some
Buddhists regarding the nature of
perception, contained in his
Commentary on the Brahma-Sutras, there is
not a single passage in the whole
range of his writings regarding the
Buddhists or their doctrines; and the insertion of even these few
remarks in his Commentary was
rendered necessary by the allusions
contained in the Sutras which he was
interpreting. As, in our humble
opinion, these Brahma-Sutras were
composed by Vyasa himself (and not by
an imaginary Vyasa of the fifth
century after Christ, evolved by Mr.
Weber's fancy), the allusions therein
contained relate to the Buddhism
which existed to the date of Gautama
Buddha. From these few remarks it
will be clear to our readers that
Sankaracharya had nothing to do with
Buddhist persecution. We may here quote a few passages from Mr.
Wilson's Preface to the first edition
of his Sanskrit Dictionary in
support of our remarks. He writes as follows regarding Sankara's
connection with the persecution of the
Buddhists:--"Although the popular
belief attributes the origin of the
Bauddha persecution to
Sankaracharya, yet in this case we
have some reason to distrust its
accuracy. Opposed to it we have the mild character of
the reformer, who
is described as uniformly gentle and
tolerant; and, speaking from my
own limited reading in Vedanta works,
and the more satisfactory
testimony of Ram Mohun Roy, which he
permits me to adduce, it does not
appear that any traces of his being
instrumental to any persecution are
to be found in his own writings, all
which are extant, and the object of
which is by no means the correction
of the Bauddha or any other schism,
but the refutation of all other
doctrines besides his own, and the
reformation or re-establishment of
the fourth religious order."
Further
on he observes that "it is a
popular error to ascribe to him the work of
persecution; he does not appear at all occupied in that
odious task,
nor is he engaged in particular
controversy with any of the Bauddhas."
From the foregoing observations it
will be seen that Sankara's date
cannot be determined by the time of
the commencement of the Buddhist
persecution, even if it were possible
to ascertain the said period.
Mr. Barth seems to have discovered
some connection between the
philosophical systems of Sankara,
Ramanuja and Anandathirtha, and the
Arabian merchants who came to India
in the first centuries of the
Hejira, and he is no doubt fully
entitled to any credit that may be
given him for the originality of his
discovery. This mysterious and
occult connection between Adwaita
philosophy and Arabian commerce is
pointed out in p. 212 of his book,
and it may have some bearing on the
present question, if it is anything
more than a figment of his fancy.
The only reason given by him in
support of his theory is, however, in my
humble opinion, worthless. The Hindus had a Prominent example of a
grand religious movement under the
guidance of a single teacher in the
life of Buddha, and it was not
necessary for them to imitate the
adventures of the Arabian
prophet. There is but one other passage
in
Mr. Barth's book which has some
reference to Sankara's date. In page
207 he writes as follows:--"The
Siva, for instance, who is invoked at
the commencement of the drama of
Sakuntala, who is at once God, priest
and offering, and whose body is the
universe, is a Vedantic idea. This
testimony appears to be forgotten
when it is maintained, as is sometimes
done, that the whole sectarian
Vedantism commences with Sankara."
But
this testimony appears to be equally
forgotten when it is maintained, as
is sometimes done by Orientalists
like Mr. Barth, that Sankara lived in
some century after the author of
Sakuntala.
From the foregoing remarks it will be
apparent that Mr. Barth's opinion
regarding Sankara's date is very
unsatisfactory. As Mr. Wilson seems to
have examined the subject with some
care and attention, we must now
advert to his opinion and see how far
it is based on proper evidence.
In attempting to fix Amara Sinha's
date (which attempt ultimately ended
in a miserable failure), he had to
ascertain the period when Sankara
lived. Consequently his remarks concerning the said
period appear in
his preface to the first edition of
his Sanskrit Dictionary. We shall
now reproduce here such passages from
this preface as are connected with
the subject under consideration and
comment upon them. Mr. Wilson
writes as follows:--
"The birth of Sankara presents
the same discordance as every other
remarkable incident amongst the
Hindus. The Kadali (it ought to be
Koodali) Brahmins, who form an
establishment following and teaching his
system, assert his appearance about
2,000 years since; some accounts
place him about the beginning of the
Christian era, others in the third
or fourth century after; a manuscript history of the kings of Konga,
in
Colonel Mackenzie's Collection, makes
him contemporary with Tiru Vikrama
Deva Chakravarti, sovereign of
Skandapura in the Dekkan, AD. 178; at
Sringeri, on the edge of the Western
Ghauts, and now in the Mysore
Territory, at which place he is said
to have founded a College that
still exists, and assumes the supreme
control of the Smarta Brahmins of
the Peninsula, an antiquity of 1,600
years is attributed to him, and
common tradition makes him about
1,200 years old. The Bhoja Prabandha
enumerates Sankara among its
worthies, and as contemporary with that
prince; his antiquity will then be between eight and
nine centuries.
The followers of Madhwacharya in
Tuluva seem to have attempted to
reconcile these contradictory
accounts by supposing him to have been
born three times; first at Sivuli in Tuluva about 1,500 years
ago,
again in Malabar some centuries
later, and finally at Padukachaytra in
Tuluva, no more than 600 years
since; the latter assertion being
intended evidently to do honour to
their own founder, whose date that
was, by enabling him to triumph over
Sankara in a supposititious
controversy. The Vaishnava Brahmins of Madura say that
Sankara appeared
in the ninth century of Salivahana,
or tenth of our era. Dr. Taylor
thinks that, if we allow him about
900 years, we shall not be far from
the truth, and Mr. Colebroke is
inclined to give him an antiquity of
about 1,000 years. This last is the age which my friend Ram
Mohun Roy,
a diligent student of Sankara's
works, and philosophical teacher of his
doctrines, is disposed to concur in,
and he infers that 'from a
calculation of the spiritual
generations of the followers of Sankara
Swami from his time up to this date,
he seems to have lived between the
seventh and eighth centuries of the
Christian era,' a distance of time
agreeing with the statements made to
Dr. Buchanan in his journey through
Sankara's native country, Malabar,
and in union with the assertion of
the Kerala Utpatti, a work giving art
historical and statistical account
of the same province, and which,
according to Mr. Duncan's citation of
it, mentions the regulations of the
castes of Malabar by this
philosopher to have been effected
about 1,000 years before 1798. At the
same time, it must be observed, that
a manuscript translation of the
same work in Colonel Mackenzie's
possession, states Sankaracharya to
have been born about the middle of
the fifth century, or between
thirteen or fourteen hundred years
ago, differing in this respect from
Mr. Duncan's statement--a difference
of the less importance, as the
manuscript in question, either from
defects in the original or
translation, presents many palpable
errors, and cannot consequently be
depended upon. The weight of authority therefore is altogether
in
favour of an antiquity of about ten
centuries, and I am disposed to
adopt this estimate of Sankara's
date, and to place him in the end of
the eighth and beginning of the ninth
century of the Christian era."
We will add a few more authorities to
Mr. Wilson's list before
proceeding to comment on the
foregoing passage.
In a work called "The
Biographical Sketches of Eminent Hindu Authors,"
published at Bombay in 1860 by
Janardan Ramchenderjee, it is stated that
Sankara lived 2,500 years ago, and that,
in the opinion of some people,
2,200 years ago. The records of the Combaconum Matham give a
list of
nearly 66 Mathadhipatis from Sankara
down to the present time, and show
that he lived more than 2,000 years
ago.
The Kudali Matham referred to by Mr.
Wilson, which is a branch of the
Sringeri Matham, gives the same date
as the latter Matham, their
traditions being identical. Their calculation can safely be relied upon
as far as it is supported by the
dates given on the places of Samadhi
(something like a tomb) of the
successive Gurus of the Sringeri Matham;
and it leads us to the commencement
of the Christian era.
No definite information is given by
Mr. Wilson regarding the nature,
origin, or reliability of the
accounts which place Sankara in the third
or fourth century of the Christian
era or at its commencement; nor does
it clearly appear that the history of
the kings of Konga referred to
unmistakably alludes to the very
first Sancharacharya. These traditions
are evidently opposed to the
conclusion arrived at by Mr. Wilson, and it
does not appear on what grounds their
testimony is discredited by him.
Mr. Wilson is clearly wrong in
stating that an antiquity of 1,600 years
is attributed to Sankara by the
Sringeri Matham. We have already
referred to the account of the
Sringeri Matham, and it is precisely
similar to the account given by the
Kudali Brahmins. We have ascertained
that it is so from the agent of the
Sringeri Matham at Madras, who has
recently published the list of
teachers preserved at the said Matham
with the dates assigned to them. And
further, we are unable to see which
"common tradition" makes
Sankara "about 1,200 years old."
As far as our
knowledge goes there is no such
common tradition in India. The majority
of people in Southern India have, up
to this time, been relying on the
Sringeri account, and in Northern
India there seems to be no common
tradition. We have but a mass of contradictory accounts.
It is indeed surprising that an
Orientalist of Mr. Wilson's pretensions
should confound the poet named
Sankara and mentioned in Bhoja Prabandha
with the great Adwaitee teacher. No Hindu would ever commit such a
ridiculous mistake. We are astonished to find some of these
European
Orientalists quoting now and then some
of the statements contained in
such books as Bhoja Prabandha, Katha
Sarit Sagara, Raja-tarangini and
Panchatantra, as if they were
historical works. In some other part of
his preface Mr. Wilson himself says
that this Bhoja Prabandha is
altogether untrustworthy, as some of
the statements contained therein
did not harmonize with his theory
about Amarasimha's date; but now he
misquotes its statements for the
purpose of supporting his conclusion
regarding Sankara's date. Surely, consistency is not one of the
prominent characteristics of the
writings of the majority of European
Orientalists. The person mentioned in Bhoja Prabandha is
always spoken
of under the name of Sankara Kavi
(poet), and he is nowhere called
Sankaracharya (teacher), and the
Adwaitee teacher is never mentioned in
any Hindu work under the appellation
of Sankara Kavi.
It is unnecessary for us to say
anything about the Madhwa traditions or
the opinion of the Vaishnava Brahmins
of Madurah regarding Sankara's
date.
It is, in our humble opinion, hopeless to expect anything but
falsehood regarding Sankara's history
and his philosophy from the
Madhwas and the Vaishnavas. They are always very anxious to show to the
world at large that their doctrines
existed before the time of Sankara,
and that the Adwaitee doctrine was a
deviation from their preexisting
orthodox Hinduism. And consequently they have assigned to him an
antiquity of less than 1,500 years.
It does not appear why Dr. Taylor
thinks that he can allow Sankara about
900 years, or on what grounds Mr.
Colebrooke is inclined to give him an
antiquity of about 1,000 years. No reliance can be placed on such
statements before the reasons
assigned therefore are thoroughly sifted.
Fortunately, Mr. Wilson gives us the reason
for Ram Mohun Roy's opinion.
We are inclined to believe that Ram
Mohun Roy's calculation was made
with reference to the Sringeri list
of Teachers or Gurus, as that was
the only list published up to this
time; and as no other Matham, except
perhaps the Cumbaconum Matham, has a
list of Gurus coming up to the
present time in uninterrupted
succession. There is no necessity for
depending upon his calculation (which
from its very nature cannot be
anything more than mere guesswork)
when the old list preserved at
Sringeri contains the dates assigned
to the various teachers. As these
dates have not been published up to
the present time, and as Ram Mohun
Roy had merely a string of names
before him, he was obliged to ascertain
Sankara's date by assigning a certain
number of years on the average to
every teacher. Consequently, his opinion is of no importance
whatever
when we have the statement of the
Sringeri Matham which, as we have
already said, places Sankara some
centuries before the Christian era.
The same remarks will apply to the
calculation in question even if it
were made on the basis of the number
of teachers contained in the list
preserved in the Cumbaconum Matham.
Very little importance can be
attached to the oral evidence adduced by
some unknown persons before Dr.
Buchanan in his travels through Malabar;
and we have only to consider the
inferences that may be drawn from the
accounts contained in Kerala
Utpatti. The various manuscript copies
of
this work seem to differ in the date
they assign to Sankaracharya; even
if the ease were otherwise, we cannot
place any reliance upon this work,
for the following among other
reasons:--
I. It is a well-known fact that the
customs of Malabar are very
peculiar. Their defenders have been, consequently, pointing
to some
great Rishi or some great philosopher
of ancient India as their
legislator. Some of them affirm (probably the majority)
that Parasurama
brought into existence some of these
customs and left a special Smriti
for the guidance of the people of
Malabar; others say that it was
Sankaracharya who sanctioned these
peculiar customs. It is not very
difficult to perceive why these two
persons were selected by them.
According to the Hindu Puranas,
Parasurama lived in Malabar for some
time, and according to Hindu
traditions Sankara was born in that
country. But it is extremely doubtful whether either
of them had
anything to do with the peculiar
customs of the said country. There is
no allusion whatever to any of these
customs in Sankara's works. He
seems to have devoted his whole
attention to religious reform, and it is
very improbable that he should have
ever directed his attention to the
local customs of Malabar. While attempting to revive the philosophy of
the ancient Rishis, it is not likely
that he should have sanctioned the
customs of Malabar, which are at
variance with the rules laid down in
the Smritis of those very Rishis; and
as far as our knowledge goes, he
left no written regulations regarding
to the castes of Malabar.
II. The statements contained in
Kerala Utpatti are opposed to the
account of Sankara's life given in
almost all the Sankara Vijayams
(Biographies of Sankara) examined up
to this time--viz., Vidyaranya's
Sankara Vijayam, Chitsukhachary's
Sankara Vijayavilasam, Brihat Sankara
Vijayam, &c. According to the account contained in these
works, Sankara
left Malabar in his eighth year, and
returned to his native village when
his mother was on her death-bed, and
on that occasion he remained there
only for a few days. It is difficult to see at what period of his
lifetime he was engaged in making
regulations for the castes of Malabar.
III. The work under consideration
represents Malabar as the seat of
Bhattapada's triumphs over the
Buddhists, and says that this teacher
established himself in Malabar and
expelled the Buddhists from that
country. This statement alone will be sufficient to
show to our readers
the fictitious character of the
account contained in this book.
According to every other Hindu work,
this great teacher of Purva Mimamsa
was born in Northern India; almost
all his famous disciples and
followers were living in that part of
the country, and according to
Vidyaranya's account he died at
Allahabad.
For the foregoing reasons we cannot
place any reliance upon this account
of Malabar.
From an examination of the traditions
and other accounts referred to
above, Mr. Wilson comes to the
conclusion that Sankaracharya lived in
the end of the eighth and the
beginning of the ninth century of the
Christian era. The accounts of the Sringeri, Kudali and
Cumbaconum
Mathams, and the traditions current
in the Bombay Presidency, as shown
in the biographical sketches
published at Bombay, place Sankara in some
century before the Christian
era. On the other hand, Kerala Utpatti,
the information obtained by Dr.
Buchanan in his travels through Malabar,
and the opinions expressed by Dr.
Taylor and Mr. Colebrooke, concur in
assigning to him an antiquity of
about 1,000 years. The remaining
traditions referred to by Mr. Wilson
are as much opposed to his opinion
as to the conclusion that Sankara
lived before Christ. We shall now
leave it to our readers to say
whether, under such circumstances, Mr.
Wilson is justified in asserting that
"the weight of authority is
altogether in favour" of his
theory.
We have already referred to the
writings of almost all the European
Orientalists who expressed an opinion
upon the subject under discussion;
and we need hardly say that Sankara's
date is yet to be ascertained.
We are obliged to comment at length
on the opinions of European
Orientalists regarding Sankara's
date, as there will be no probability
of any attention being paid to the
opinion of Indian and Tibetan
initiates when it is generally
believed that the question has been
finally settled by European
Sanskritists. The Adepts referred to by
"An
English F.T.S." are certainly in
a position to clear up some of the
problems in Indian religious
history. But there is very little chance
of their opinions being accepted by
the general public under present
circumstances, unless they are
supported by such evidence as is within
the reach of the outside world. As it is not always possible to procure
such evidence, there is very little
use in publishing the information
which is in their possession until
the public are willing to recognize
and admit the antiquity and
trustworthiness of their traditions, the
extent of their powers, and the
vastness of their knowledge. In the
absence of such proof as is above
indicated, there is every likelihood
of their opinions being rejected as
absurd and untenable; their motives
will no doubt be questioned, and some
people may be tempted to deny even
the fact of their existence. It is often asked by Hindus as well as by
English men why these Adepts are so
very unwilling to publish some
portion at least of the information
they possess regarding the truths of
physical science. But, in doing so, they do not seem to
perceive the
difference between the method by
which they obtain their knowledge and
the process of modern scientific
investigation by which the facts of
Nature are ascertained and its laws
are discovered. Unless an Adept can
prove his conclusions by the same
kind of reasoning as is adopted by the
modern scientist they remain undemonstrated
to the outside world. It is
of course impossible for him to
develop in a considerable number of
human beings such faculties as would
enable them to perceive their
truth; and it is not always practicable to establish
them by the
ordinary scientific method unless all
the facts and laws on which his
demonstration is to be based have
already been ascertained by modern
science. No Adept can be expected to anticipate the
discoveries of the
next four or five centuries, and
prove some grand scientific truth to
the entire satisfaction of the
educated public after having discovered
every fact and law of Nature required
for the said purpose by such
process of reasoning as would be
accepted by them. They have to
encounter similar difficulties in
giving any information regarding the
events of the ancient history of
India.
However, before giving the exact date
assigned to Sankaracharya by the
Indian and Tibetan initiates, we
shall indicate a few circumstances by
which his date may be approximately
determined. It is our humble opinion
that the Sankara Vijayams hitherto
published can be relied upon as far
as they are consistent with each
other regarding the general outlines of
Sankara's life. We cannot, however, place any reliance
whatever upon
Anandagiri's Sankara Vijaya published
at Calcutta. The Calcutta edition
not only differs in some very
material points from the manuscript copies
of the same work found in Southern
India, but is opposed to every other
Sankara Vijayam hitherto
examined. It is quite clear from its
style and
some of the statements contained
therein, that it was not the production
of Anandagiri, one of the four chief
disciples of Sankara and the
commentator on his Upanishad
Bhashyam. For instance, it represents
Sankara as the author of a certain
verse which is to be found in
Vidyaranya's Adhikaranaratnamala,
written in the fourteenth century. It
represents Sankara as giving orders
to two of his disciples to preach
the Visishtadwaitee and the Dwaitee
doctrines, which are directly
opposed to his own doctrine. The book under consideration says that
Sankara went to conquer Mandanamisra
in debate, followed by
Sureswaracharya, though Mandanamisra
assumed the latter name at the time
of initiation. It is unnecessary for us here to point out
all the
blunders and absurdities of this
book. It will be sufficient to say
that in our opinion it was not
written by Anandagiri, and that it was
the introduction of an unknown author
who does not appear to have been
even tolerably well acquainted with
the history of the Adwaitee
doctrine. Vidyaranya's (otherwise
Sayanachary, the great commentator of
the Vedas) Sankara Vijaya is
decidedly the most reliable source of
information as regards the main
features of Sankara's biography. Its
authorship has been universally
accepted, and the information contained
therein was derived by its author, as
may be seen from his own
statements, from certain old
biographies of Sankara existing at the time
of its composition. Taking into consideration the author's vast
knowledge and information, and the
opportunities he had for collecting
materials for his work when he was
the head of the Sringeri Matham,
there is every reason to believe that
he had embodied in his work the
most reliable information he could
obtain. Mr. Wilson, however, says
that the book in question is
"much too poetical and legendary" to be
acknowledged as a great
authority. We admit that the style is
highly
poetical, but we deny that the work
is legendary. Mr. Wilson is not
justified in characterizing it as
such on account of its description of
some of the wonderful phenomena shown
by Sankara. Probably the learned
Orientalist would not be inclined to
consider the Biblical account of
Christ in the same light. It is not the peculiar privilege of
Christianity to have a miracle-worker
for its first propagator. In the
following observations we shall take
such facts as are required from
this work.
It is generally believed that a
person named Govinda Yogi was Sankara's
Guru, but it is not generally known
that this Yogi was in fact
Patanjali--the great author of the
Mahabhashya and the Yoga Sutras--
under a new name. A tradition current in Southern India
represents him
as one of the Chelas of
Patanjali; but it is very doubtful if
this
tradition has anything like a proper
foundation. But it is quite clear
from the 94th, 95th, 96th, and 97th
verses of the 5th chapter of
Vidyaranya's Sankara Vijayam that
Govinda Yogi and Patanjali were
identical. According to the immemorial custom observed
amongst
initiates, Patanjali assumed the name
of Govinda Yogi at the time of his
initiation by Goudapada. It cannot be contended that Vidyaranya
represented Patanjali as Sankara's
Guru merely for the purpose of
assigning some importance to Sankara
and his teaching. Sankara is
looked upon as a far greater man than
Patanjali by the Adwaitees, and
nothing can be added to Sankara's
reputation by Vidyaranya's assertion.
Moreover, Patanjali's views are not
altogether identical with Sankara's
views; it may be seen from Sankara's writings that
he attached no
importance whatever to the practices
of Hatha Yog regarding which
Patanjali composed his Yoga Sutras.
Under such circumstances, if
Vidyaranya had the option of
selecting a Guru for Sankara, he would no
doubt have represented Vyasa himself
(who is supposed to be still
living) as his Guru. We see no reason
therefore to doubt the correctness
of the statement under
examination. Therefore, as Sankara was
Patanjali's Chela, and as Goudapada was
his Guru, his date will enable
us to fix the dates of Sankara and
Goudapada. We may here point out to
our readers a mistake that appears in
p. 148 of Mr. Sinnett's book on
Esoteric Buddhism as regards the
latter personage. He is there
represented as Sankara's Guru; Mr. Sinnett was informed, we believe,
that he was Sankara's Paramaguru, and
not having properly understood the
meaning of this expression, Mr.
Sinnett wrote that he was Sankara's
Guru.
It is generally admitted by
Orientalists that Patanjali lived before the
commencement of the Christian
era. Mr. Barth places him in the second
century before the Christian era,
accepting Goldstucker's opinion, and
Monier Williams does the same thing.
Weber, who seems to have carefully
examined the opinions of all the
other Orientalists who have written
upon the subject, comes to the
conclusion that "we must for the present
rest satisfied with placing the date
of the composition of the Bhashya
between B.C. 140 and A.D. 60, a
result which considering the wretched
state of the chronology of Indian
Liturgy generally is, despite its
indefiniteness, of no mean
importance." And yet even this date
rests
upon inferences drawn from one or two
unimportant expressions contained
in Patanjali's Mahabhashya. It is always dangerous to draw such
inferences, and especially so when it
is known that, according to the
tradition current amongst Hindu
grammarians, some portions of
Mahabhashya were lost, the gaps being
filled up by subsequent writers.
Even supposing that we should
consider the expression quoted as written
by Patanjali himself, there is
nothing in those expressions which would
enable us to fix the writer's
date. For instance, the connection
between the expression "Arunad
Yavanah Saketam" and the expedition of
Menander against Ayodhya between B.C.
144 and 120, relied upon by
Goldstucker is merely imaginary. There is nothing in the expression to
show that the allusion contained
therein points necessarily to
Menander's expedition. We believe that Patanjali is referring to the
expedition of Yavanas against Ayodhya
during the lifetime of Sagara's
father described in Harivamsa. This expedition occurred long before
Rama's time, and there is nothing to
connect it with Menander.
Goldstucker's inference is based upon
the assumption that there was no
other Yavana expedition against
Ayodhya known to Patanjali, and it will
be easily seen from Harivamsa
(written by Vyasa) that the said
assumption is unwarranted. Consequently the whole theory constructed by
Goldstucker on this weak foundation
falls to the ground. No valid
inferences can be drawn from the mere
names of kings contained in
Mahabhashya, even if they are traced
to Patanjali himself, as there
would be several kings in the same
dynasty bearing the same name. From
the foregoing remarks it will be
clear that we cannot fix, as Weber has
done, B.C. 140 as the maximum limit
of antiquity that can be assigned to
Patanjali. It is now necessary to see
whether any other such limit has
been ascertained by
Orientalists. As Panini's date still
remains
undetermined, the limit cannot be
fixed with reference to his date. But
it is assumed by some Orientalists
that Panini must have lived at some
time subsequent to Alexander's
invasion, from the fact that Panini
explains in his Grammar the formation
of the word Yavanani. We are very
sorry that European Orientalists have
taken the pains to construct
theories upon this basis without
ascertaining the meaning assigned to
the word Yavana, and the time when
the Hindus first became acquainted
with the Greeks. It is unreasonable to assume without proof
that this
acquaintance commenced at the time of
Alexander's invasion. On the
other hand, there are very good
reasons for believing that the Greeks
were known to the Hindus long before
this event. Pythagoras visited
India, according to the traditions
current amongst Indian initiates, and
he is alluded to in Indian
astrological works under the name of
Yavanacharya. Moreover, it is not quite certain that the word
Yavana
was strictly confined to the Greeks
by the ancient Hindu writers.
Probably it was originally applied to
the Egyptians and the Ethiopians;
it was probably extended first to the
Alexandrian Greeks, and
subsequently to the Greeks, Persians,
and Arabians. Besides the Yavana
invasion of Ayodhya described in
Harivamsa, there was another subsequent
expedition to India by Kala Yavana
(Black Yavana) during Krishna's
lifetime described in the same
work. This expedition was probably
undertaken by the Ethiopians. Anyhow, there are no reasons whatever, as
far as we can see, for asserting that
Hindu writers began to use the
word Yavana after Alexander's
invasion. We can attach no importance
whatever to any inferences that may
be drawn regarding the dates of
Panini and Katyayana (both of them
lived before Patanjali) from the
statements contained in Katha Sarit
Sayara, which is nothing more than a
mere collection of fables. It is now
seen by Orientalists that no proper
conclusions can be drawn regarding
the dates of Panini and Katyayana
from the statements made by Hiuan
Thsang, and we need not therefore say
anything here regarding the said
statements. Consequently the dates of
Panini and Katyayana still remain
undetermined by European Orientalists.
Goldstucker is probably correct in
his conclusion that Panini lived
before Buddha, and the Buddhists'
accounts agree with the traditions of
the initiates in asserting that
Katyayana was a contemporary of Buddha.
From the fact that Patanjali must
have composed his Mahabhashyam after
the composition of Panini's Sutras
and Katyayana's Vartika, we can only
infer that it was written after
Buddha's birth. But there are a few
considerations which may help us in
coming to the conclusion that
Patanjali must have lived about the
year 500 B.C.; Max Muller fixed the
Sutra period between 500 B.C. and 600
B.C. We agree with him in
supposing that the period probably
ended with B.C. 500, though it is
uncertain how far it extended into
the depths of Indian antiquity.
Patanjali was the author of the Yoga
Sutras, and this fact has not been
doubted by any Hindu writer up to
this time. Mr. Weber thinks, however,
that the author of the Yoga Sutras
might be a different man from the
author of the Mahabhashya, though he
does not venture to assign any
reason for his supposition. We very much doubt if any European
Orientalist can ever find out the
connection between the first Anhika of
the Mahabhashya and the real secrets
of Hatha Yoga contained in the Yoga
Sutras. No one but an initiate can understand the
full significance of
the said Anhika; and the "eternity of the Logos" or
Sabda is one of the
principal doctrines of the
Gymnosophists of India, who were generally
Hatha Yogis. In the opinion of Hindu writers and pundits
Patanjali was
the author of three works, viz.,
Mahabhashya, Yoga Sutras, and a book on
Medicine and Anatomy; and there is not the slightest reason for
questioning the correctness of this
opinion. We must, therefore, place
Patanjali in the Sutra period, and this
conclusion is confirmed by the
traditions of the Indian
initiates. As Sankaracharya was a
contemporary
of Patanjali (being his Chela) he
must have lived about the same time.
We have thus shown that there are no
reasons for placing Sankara in the
eighth or ninth century after Christ,
as some of the European
Orientalists have done. We have further shown that Sankara was
Patanjali's Chela, and that his date
should be ascertained with
reference to Patanjali's date. We have also shown that neither the year
B.C. 140 nor the date of Alexander's
invasion can be accepted as the
maximum limit of antiquity that can
be assigned to him, and we have
lastly pointed out a few
circumstances which will justify us in
expressing an opinion that Patanjali
and his Chela Sankara belonged to
the Sutra period. We may, perhaps, now venture to place before
the
public the exact date assigned to
Sankaracharya by Tibetan and Indian
initiates. According to the historical information in
their possession
he was born in the year B.C. 510
(fifty-one years and two months after
the date of Buddha's Nirvana), and we
believe that satisfactory evidence
in support of this date can be
obtained in India if the inscriptions at
Conjeveram, Sringeri, Jaggurnath,
Benares, Cashmere, and various other
places visited by Sankara, are
properly deciphered. Sankara built
Conjeveram, which is considered as
one of the most ancient towns in
Southern India; and it may be possible to ascertain the time
of its
construction if proper inquiries are
made. But even the evidence now
brought before the public supports
the opinion of the Initiates above
indicated. As Goudapada was Sankaracharya's Guru's guru,
his date
entirely depends on Sankara's
date; and there is every reason to
suppose that he lived before Buddha.
Question VI.--"Historical
Difficulty"--Why?
It is asked whether there may not be
"some confusion" in the letter
quoted on p. 62 of "Esoteric
Buddhism" regarding "old Greeks and Romans
said to have been
Atlanteans." The answer is--None
whatever. The word
"Atlantean" was a generic
name. The objection to have it applied
to the
old Greeks and Romans on the ground
that they were Aryans, "their
language being intermediate between
Sanskrit and modern European
dialects," is worthless. With
equal reason might a future 6th Race
scholar, who had never heard of the
(possible) submergence of a portion
of European Turkey, object to Turks
from the Bosphorus being referred to
as a remnant of the Europeans. "The Turks are surely Semites," he
might
say 12,000 years hence, and
"their language is intermediate between
Arabic and our modern 6th Race
dialects." *
--------
* This is not to be construed to mean
that 12,000 years hence there will
be yet any man of the 6th Race, or
that the 5th will be submerged. The
figures are given simply for the sake
of a better comparison with the
present objection in the case of the
Greeks and Atlantis.
---------
The "historical difficulty"
arises from a certain authoritative
statement made by Orientalists on
philological grounds. Professor Max
Muller has brilliantly demonstrated
that Sanskrit was the "elder
sister"--by no means the
mother--of all the modern languages. As
to
that "mother," it is
conjectured by himself and colleagues to be a "now
extinct tongue, spoken probably by
the nascent Aryan race." When asked
what was this language, the Western
voice answers: "Who can tell?"
When, "during what geological
periods did this nascent race flourish?"
the same impressive voice replies: "In prehistoric ages, the duration
of which no one can now
determine." Yet it must have been
Sanskrit,
however barbarous and unpolished,
since "the ancestors of the Greeks,
the Italians, Slavonians, Germans and
Kelts" were living within "the
same precincts" with that
nascent race, and the testimony borne by
language has enabled the philologist
to trace the "language of the gods"
in the speech of every Aryan nation.
Meanwhile it is affirmed by these
same Orientalists that classical
Sanskrit has its origin at the very
threshold of the Christian era; while Vedic Sanskrit is allowed an
antiquity of hardly 3,000 years (if
so much) before that time.
Now, Atlantis, on the statement of
the "Adepts," sank over 9,000 years
before the Christian era.* How then can one maintain that the "old
Greeks and Romans" were
Atlanteans? How can that be, since both
nations
are Aryans, and the genesis of their
languages is Sanskrit? Moreover,
the Western scholars know that the
Greek and Latin languages were formed
within historical periods, the Greeks
and Latins themselves having no
existence as nations 11,000
B.C.. Surely they who advance such a
proposition do not realize how very
unscientific is their statement!
----------
* The position recently taken up by
Mr. Gerald Massey in Light that the
story of Atlantis is not a geological
event but an ancient astronomical
myth, is rather imprudent. Mr. Massey, notwithstanding his rare
intuitional faculties and great
learning, is one of those writers in
whom the intensity of research bent
into one direction has biased his
otherwise clear understanding. Because Hercules is now a constellation
it does not follow that there never
was a hero of this name. Because
the Noachian Universal Deluge is now
proved a fiction based upon
geological and geographical
ignorance, it does not, therefore, appear
that there were not many local
deluges in prehistoric ages. The
ancients connected every terrestrial
event with the celestial bodies.
They traced the history of their
great deified heroes and memorialized
it in stellar configurations as often
as they personified pure myths,
anthropomorphizing objects in
Nature. One has to learn the difference
between the two modes before
attempting to classify them under one
nomenclature. An earthquake has just engulfed over 80,000
people
(87,903) in Sunda Straits. These were mostly Malays, savages with whom
but few had relations, and the dire
event will be soon forgotten. Had a
portion of Great Britain been thus swept
away instead, the whole world
would have been in commotion, and
yet, a few thousand years hence, even
such an event would have passed out
of man's memory; and a future Gerald
Massey might be found speculating
upon the astronomical character and
signification of the Isles of Wight,
Jersey, or Man, arguing, perhaps,
that this latter island had not
contained a real living race of men but
"belonged to astronomical
mythology," was a "Man submerged in celestial
waters." If the legend of the lost Atlantis is only
"like those of
Airyana-Vaejo and Jambu-dvipa,"
it is terrestrial enough, and therefore
"the mythological origin of the
Deluge legend" is so far an open
question. We claim that it is not "indubitably
demonstrated," however
clever the theoretical demonstration.
---------
Such are the criticisms passed, such
the "historical difficulty." The
culprits arraigned are fully alive to
their perilous situation;
nevertheless, they maintain the
statement. The only thing which may
perhaps here be objected to is, that
the names of the two nations are
incorrectly used. It may be argued that to refer to the remote
ancestors and their descendants
equally as "Greeks and Romans," is an
anachronism as marked as would be the
calling of the ancient Keltic
Gauls, or the Insubres, Frenchmen. As
a matter of fact this is true.
But, besides the very plausible
excuse that the names used were embodied
in a private letter, written as usual
in great haste, and which was
hardly worthy of the honour of being
quoted verbatim with all its
imperfections, there may perhaps
exist still weightier objections to
calling the said people by any other
name. One misnomer is as good as
another; and to refer to old Greeks and Romans in a
private letter as
the old Hellenes from Hellas or Magna
Graecia, and the Latins as from
Latium, would have been, besides
looking pedantic, just as incorrect as
the use of the appellation noted,
though it may have sounded, perchance,
more "historical." The truth is that, like the ancestors of
nearly all
the Indo-Europeans (or shall we say
Indo-Germanic Japhetidae?), the
Greek and Roman sub-races mentioned
have to be traced much farther back.
Their origin must be carried far into
the mists of that "prehistoric"
period, that mythical age which
inspires the modern historian with such
a feeling of squeamishness that
anything creeping out of its abysmal
depths is sure to be instantly
dismissed as a deceptive phantom, the
mythos of an idle tale, or a later
fable unworthy of serious notice.
The Atlantean "old Greeks"
could not be designated even as the
Autochthones--a convenient term used
to dispose of the origin of any
people whose ancestry cannot be
traced, and which, at any rate with the
Hellenes, meant certainly more than
simply "soil-born," or primitive
aborigines; and yet the so-called fable of Deukalion and
Pyrrha is
surely no more incredible or
marvelous than that of Adam and Eve--a
fable that hardly a hundred years ago
no one would have dared or even
thought to question. And in its esoteric significance the Greek
tradition is possibly more truly
historical than many a so-called
historical event during the period of
the Olympiades, though both Hesiod
and Homer may have failed to record
the former in their epics. Nor
could the Romans be referred to as
the Umbro-Sabbellians, nor even as
the Itali. Peradventure, had the
historians learnt something more than
they have of the Italian
"Autochthones"--the Iapygians--one might have
given the "old Romans" the
latter name. But then there would be
again
that other difficulty: history knows that the Latin invaders drove
before them, and finally cooped up,
this mysterious and miserable race
among the clefts of the Calabrian
rocks, thus showing the absence of any
race affinity between the two. Moreover, Western archeologists keep to
their own counsel, and will accept of
no other but their own
conjectures. And since they have failed to make anything
out of the
undecipherable inscriptions in an
unknown tongue and mysterious
characters on the Iapygian monuments,
and so for years have pronounced
them unguessable, he who would
presume to meddle where the doctors
muddle would be likely to be reminded
of the Arab proverb about
proffered advice. Thus, it seems hardly possible to designate
"the old
Greeks and Romans" by their
legitimate, true name, so as to at once
satisfy the "historians"
and keep on the fair side of truth and fact.
However, since in the Replies that
precede Science had to be repeatedly
shocked by most unscientific
propositions, and that before this series
is closed many a difficulty,
philological and archeological as well as
historical, will have to be
unavoidably created--it may be just as wise
to uncover the occult batteries at
once and have it over with.
Well, then, the "Adepts"
deny most emphatically to Western science any
knowledge whatever of the growth and
development of the Indo-Aryan race
which, "at the very dawn of
history," they have espied in its
"patriarchal simplicity" on
the banks of the Oxus. Before our
proposition concerning "the old
Greeks and Romans" can be repudiated or
even controverted, Western
Orientalists will have to know more than they
do about the antiquity of that race
and the Aryan language; and they
will have to account for those
numberless gaps in history which no
hypotheses of theirs seem able to
fill up. Notwithstanding their
present profound ignorance with
regard to the early ancestry of the
Indo-European nations, and though no
historian has yet ventured to
assign even a remotely approximate
date to the separation of the Aryan
nations and the origins of the
Sanskrit language, they hardly show the
modesty that might, under these
circumstances, be expected from them.
Placing as they do that great
separation of the races at the first "dawn
of traditional history," with
the Vedic age as "the background of the
whole Indian world" (of which
confessedly they know nothing), they will,
nevertheless, calmly assign a modern
date to any of the Rik-vedic oldest
songs, on its "internal
evidence;" and in doing this, they
show as
little hesitation as Mr. Fergusson
when ascribing a post-Christian age
to the most ancient rockcut temple in
India, merely on its "external
form." As for their unseemly quarrels, mutual
recriminations, and
personalities over questions of
scholarship, the less said the better.
"The evidence of language is
irrefragable," as the great Oxford
Sanskritist says. To which he is answered--"provided it
does not clash
with historical facts and
ethnology." It may be--no doubt it
is, as far
as his knowledge goes--"the only
evidence worth listening to with regard
to ante-historical
periods;" but when something of
these alleged
"prehistorical periods"
comes to be known, and when what we think we
know of certain supposed prehistoric
nations is found diametrically
opposed to his "evidence of
language," the "Adepts" may be, perhaps,
permitted to keep to their own views
and opinions, even though they
differ with those of the greatest
living philologist. The study of
language is but a part--though, we
admit, a fundamental part--of true
philology. To be complete, the latter has, as correctly
argued by
Bockt, to be almost synonymous with
history. We gladly concede the
right to the Western philologist, who
has to work in the total absence
of any historical data, to rely upon
comparative grammar, and take the
identification of roots lying at the
foundation of words of those
languages he is familiar with, or may
know of, and put it forward as the
result of his study, and the only
available evidence. But we would like
to see the same right conceded by him
to the student of other races;
even though these be inferior to the
European races, in the opinion of
the paramount West: for it is barely possible that, proceeding on
other
lines, and having reduced his
knowledge to a system which precludes
hypothesis and simple affirmation,
the Eastern student has preserved a
perfectly authentic record (for him)
of those periods which his opponent
regards as ante-historical. The bare fact that, while Western men of
science are referred to as
"scholars" and scholiasts--native
Sanskritists and archeologists are
often spoken of as "Calcutta" and
"Indian sciolists"--affords
no proof of their real inferiority, but
rather of the wisdom of the Chinese
proverb that "self-conceit is rarely
companion to politeness."
The "Adept" therefore has
little, if anything, to do with difficulties
presented by Western history. To his knowledge--based on documentary
records from which, as said,
hypothesis is excluded, and as regards
which even psychology is called to
play a very secondary part--the
history of his and other nations
extends immeasurably beyond that hardly
discernible point that stands on the
far-away horizon of the Western
world as a landmark of the
commencement of its history. Records
made
throughout a series of ages, based on
astronomical chronology and
zodiacal calculations, cannot
err. (This new "difficulty"--
palaeographical, t his time--that may
be possibly suggested by the
mention of the Zodiac in India and
Central Asia before the Christian
era, is disposed of in a subsequent
article.)
Hence, the main question at issue is
to decide which--the Orientalist or
the "Oriental"--is most
likely to err. The "English
F.T.S." has choice
of two sources of information, two groups
of teachers. One group is
composed of Western historians with
their suite of learned Ethnologists,
Philologists, Anthropologists,
Archeologists and Orientalists in
general. The other consists of unknown Asiatics
belonging to a race
which, notwithstanding Mr. Max
Muller's assertion that the same "blood
is running in the veins (of the
English soldier) and in the veins of the
dark Bengalese," is generally
regarded by many a cultured Western as
"inferior." A handful of men can hardly hope to be listened
to,
specially when their history,
religion, language, origin and sciences,
having been seized upon by the
conqueror, are now disfigured and
mutilated beyond recognition, and who
have lived to see the Western
scholar claim a monopoly beyond
appeal or protest of deciding the
correct meaning, chronological date,
and historical value of the
monumental and palaeographic relics
of his motherland. It has little,
if ever, entered the mind of the
Western public that their scholars
have, until very lately, worked in a
narrow pathway obstructed with the
ruins of an ecclesiastical, dogmatic
Past; that they have been cramped
on all sides by limitations of
"revealed" events coming from God, "with
whom a thousand years are but as one
day," and who have thus felt bound
to cram millenniums into centuries
and hundreds into units, giving at
the utmost an age of 1,000 to what is
10,000 years old. All this to
save the threatened authority of
their religion and their own
respectability and good name in
cultured society. And even that, when
free themselves from preconceptions,
they have had to protect the honour
of the Jewish divine chronology
assailed by stubborn facts; and thus
have become (often unconsciously) the
slaves of an artificial history
made to fit into the narrow frame of
a dogmatic religion. No proper
thought has been given to this purely
psychological but very significant
trifle. Yet we all know how, rather than admit any
relation between
Sanskrit and the Gothic, Keltic,
Greek, Latin and old Persian, facts
have been tampered with, old texts
purloined from libraries, and
philological discoveries vehemently
denied. And we have also heard from
our retreats, how Dugald Stewart and
his colleagues, upon seeing that
the discovery would also involve
ethnological affinities, and damage the
prestige of those sires of the world
races--Shem, Ham and Japhet--denied
in the face of fact that
"Sanskrit had ever been a living, spoken
language," supporting the theory
that "it was an invention of the
Brahmins, who had constructed their
Sanskrit on the model of the Greek
and Latin." And again we know, holding the proof of the
same, how the
majority of Orientalists are prone to
go out of their way to prevent any
Indian antiquity (whether MSS. or
inscribed monument, whether art or
science) from being declared
pre-Christian. As the origin and history
of the Gentile world is made to move
in the narrow circuit of a few
centuries "B.C.," within
that fecund epoch when mother earth,
recuperated from her arduous labours
of the Stone age, begat, it seems
without transition, so many highly
civilized nations and false
pretenses, so the enchanted circle of
Indian archeology lies between the
(to them unknown) year of the Samvat
era, and the tenth century of the
Western chronology.
Having to dispose of an
"historical difficulty" of such a serious
character, the defendants charged
with it can but repeat what they have
already stated; all depends upon the past history and
antiquity allowed
to the Indo-Aryan nation. The first step to take is to ascertain how
much History herself knows of that
almost prehistoric period when the
soil of Europe had not been trodden
yet by the primitive Aryan tribes.
From the latest Encyclopedia down to
Professor Max Muller and other
Orientalists, we gather what follows; they acknowledge that at some
immensely remote period, before the
Aryan nations got divided from the
parent stock (with the germs of
Indo-Germanic languages in them); and
before they rushed asunder to scatter
over Europe and Asia in search of
new homes, there stood a "single
barbaric (?) people as physical and
political representative of the
nascent Aryan race." This people spoke
"a now extinct Aryan
language," from which by a series of modifications
(surely requiring more thousands of
years than our difficulty-makers are
willing to concede) there arose
gradually all the subsequent languages
now spoken by the Caucasian races.
That is about all Western history
knows of its genesis. Like Ravana's
brother, Kumbhakarna,--the Hindu Rip
van Winkle--it slept for a long
series of ages a dreamless, heavy
sleep. And when at last it awoke to
consciousness, it was but to find the
"nascent Aryan race" grown into
scores of nations, peoples and races,
most of them effete and crippled
with age, many irretrievably extinct,
while the true origin of the
younger ones it was utterly unable to
account for. So much for the
"youngest brother." As for "the eldest brother, the
Hindu," who,
Professor Max Muller tells us,
"was the last to leave the central home
of the Aryan family," and whose
history this eminent philologist has now
kindly undertaken to impart to
him,--he, the Hindu, claims that while
his Indo-European relative was
soundly sleeping under the protecting
shadow of Noah's ark, he kept watch
and did not miss seeing one event
from his high Himalayan
fastnesses; and that he has recorded the
history thereof, in a language which,
though as incomprehensible as the
Iapygian inscriptions to the
Indo-European immigrant, is quite clear to
the writers. For this crime he now stands condemned as a
falsifier of
the records of his forefathers. A place has been hitherto purposely
left open for India "to be
filled up when the pure metal of history
should have been extracted from the
ore of Brahmanic exaggeration and
superstition." Unable, however, to meet this programme, the
Orientalist
has since persuaded himself that
there was nothing in that "ore" but
dross. He did more.
He applied himself to contrast Brahmanic
"superstition" and
"exaggeration" with Mosaic revelation and its
chronology. The Veda was confronted with Genesis. Its absurd claims to
antiquity were forthwith dwarfed to
their proper dimensions by the 4,004
years B.C. measure of the world's
age; and the Brahmanic
"superstition
and fables" about the longevity
of the Aryan Rishis, were belittled and
exposed by the sober historical
evidence furnished in "The genealogy and
age of the Patriarchs from Adam to
Noah," whose respective days were 930
and 950 years; without mentioning Methuselah, who died at
the premature
age of nine hundred and sixty-nine.
In view of such experience, the Hindu
has a certain right to decline the
offers made to correct his annals by
Western history and chronology. On
the contrary, he would respectfully
advise the Western scholar, before
he denies point-blank any statement
made by the Asiatics with reference
to what is prehistoric ages to
Europeans, to show that the latter have
themselves anything like trustworthy
data as regards their own racial
history. And that settled, he may have the leisure and
capacity to help
his ethnic neighbours to prune their
genealogical trees. Our Rajputs,
among others, have perfectly
trustworthy family records of an unbroken
lineal descent through 2,000 years
"B.C." and more, as proved by Colonel
Tod;
records which are accepted by the British Government in its
official dealings with them. It is not enough to have studied stray
fragments of Sanskrit
literature--even though their number should amount
to 10,000 texts, as boasted
of--allowed to fall into foreign hands, to
speak so confidently of the
"Aryan first settlers in India," and assert
that, "left to themselves, in a
world of their own, without a past and
without a future (!) before them,
they had nothing but themselves to
ponder upon," and therefore
could know absolutely nothing of other
nations. To comprehend correctly and make out the
inner meaning of most
of them, one has to read these texts
with the help of the esoteric
light, and after having mastered the
language of the Brahmanic Secret
Code--branded generally as
"theological twaddle." Nor is
it
sufficient--if one would judge
correctly of what the archaic Aryans did
or did not know; whether or not they cultivated the social and
political virtues; cared or not for history--to claim
proficiency in
both Vedic and classical Sanskrit, as
well as in Prakrit and Arya
Bhasha. To comprehend the esoteric meaning of ancient
Brahmanical
literature, one has, as just
remarked, to be in possession of the key to
the Brahmanical Code. To master the conventional terms used in the
Puranas, the Aranyakas and Upanishads
is a science in itself, and one
far more difficult than even the
study of the 3,996 aphoristical rules
of Panini, or his algebraical
symbols. Very true, most of the Brahmans
themselves have now forgotten the
correct interpretations of their
sacred texts. Yet they know enough of the dual meaning in
their
scriptures to be justified in feeling
amused at the strenuous efforts of
the European Orientalist to protect
the supremacy of his own national
records and the dignity of his
science by interpreting the Hindu
hieratic text after a peremptory
fashion quite unique. Disrespectful
though it may seem, we call on the
philologist to prove in some more
convincing manner than usual, that he
is better qualified than even the
average Hindu Sanskrit pundit to
judge of the antiquity of the "language
of the gods;" that he has been really in a position to
trace unerringly
along the lines of countless
generations the course of the "now extinct
Aryan tongue" in its many and
various transformations in the West, and
its primitive evolution into first
the Vedic, and then the classical
Sanskrit in the East, and that from
the moment when the mother-stream
began deviating into its new ethnographical
beds, he has followed it up.
Finally that, while he, the
Orientalist, can, owing to speculative
interpretations of what he thinks he
has learnt from fragments of
Sanskrit literature, judge of the
nature of all that he knows nothing
about--i.e., to speculate upon the
past history of a great nation he has
lost sight of from its "nascent
state," and caught up again but at the
period of its last degeneration--the
native student never knew, nor can
ever know, anything of that
history. Until the Orientalist has
proved
all this, he can be accorded but
small justification for assuming that
air of authority and supreme contempt
which is found in almost every
work upon India and its Past. Having no knowledge himself whatever of
those incalculable ages that lie
between the Aryan Brahman in Central
Asia, and the Brahman at the
threshold of Buddhism, he has no right to
maintain that the initiated
Indo-Aryan can never know as much of them
as the foreigner. Those periods being an utter blank to him, he
is
little qualified to declare that the
Aryan, having had no political
history "of his own...."
his only sphere was "religion and
philosophy.... in solitude and
contemplation." A happy thought
suggested, no doubt, by the active
life, incessant wars, triumphs, and
defeats portrayed in the oldest songs
of the Rik-Veda. Nor can he with
the smallest show of logic affirm
that "India had no place in the
political history of the world,"
or that "there are no synchronisms
between the history of the Brahmans
and that of other nations before the
date of the origin of Buddhism in
India;" for he knows no more of the
prehistoric history of those
"other nations" than of that of the
Brahman. All his inferences, conjectures and
systematic arrangements of
hypotheses begin very little earlier
than 200 "B.C.," if even so much,
on anything like really historical
grounds. He has to prove all this
before he can command our
attention. Otherwise, however
"irrefragable
the evidence of language," the presence
of Sanskrit roots in all the
European languages will be
insufficient to prove, either that (a) before
the Aryan invaders descended toward
the seven rivers they had never left
their northern regions; or (b) why the "eldest brother, the
Hindu,"
should have been "the last to
leave the central home of the Aryan
family." To the philologist such a supposition may
seem "quite
natural." Yet the Brahman is no less justified in his
ever-growing
suspicion that there may be at the
bottom some occult reason for such a
programme. That in the interest of his theory the
Orientalist was
forced to make "the eldest
brother" tarry so suspiciously long on the
Oxus, or wherever "the
youngest" may have placed him in his "nascent
state" after the latter
"saw his brothers all depart towards the setting
sun." We find reasons to believe that the chief
motive for alleging
such a procrastination is the
necessity to bring the race closer to the
Christian era. To show the "brother" inactive and
unconcerned, "with
nothing but himself to ponder
on," lest his antiquity and "fables of
empty idolatry," and perhaps his
traditions of other people's doings,
should interfere with the chronology
by which it is determined to try
him.
The suspicion is strengthened when one finds in the book from
which we have been so largely
quoting--a work of a purely scientific and
philological character--such frequent
remarks and even prophecies as:
"History seems to teach that the
whole human race required a gradual
education before, in the fulness of
time, it could be admitted to the
truths of Christianity." Or, again "The ancient religions of the
world
were but the milk of Nature, which
was in due time to be succeeded by
the bread of life;" and such broad sentiments expressed as that
"there
is some truth in Buddhism, as there
is in every one of the false
religions of the world, but...."
*
-----------
* Max Muller's "History of
Ancient Sanskrit Literature."
-----------
The atmosphere of Cambridge and
Oxford seems decidedly unpropitious to
the recognition of either Indian
antiquity, or the merit of the
philosophies sprung from its soil!*
---------
* And how one-sided and biased most
of the Western Orientalists are may
be seen by reading carefully
"The History of Indian Literature," by
Albrecht Weber--a Sanskrit scholiast
classed with the highest
authorities. The incessant harping upon the one special
string of
Christianity, and the ill-concealed
efforts to pass it off as the
keynote of all other religions, is
painfully pre-eminent in his work.
Christian influences are shown to
have affected not only the growth of
Buddhism and Krishna worship, but
even that of the Siva-cult and its
legends; it is openly stated that "it is not at
all a far-fetched
hypothesis that they have reference
to scattered Christian
missionaries!" The eminent Orientalist evidently forgets
that,
notwithstanding his efforts, none of
the Vedic, Sutra or Buddhist
periods can be possibly crammed into
this Christian period--their
universal tank of all ancient creeds,
and of which some Orientalists
would fain make a poor-house for all
decayed archaic religions and
philosophy. Even Tibet, in his
opinion, has not escaped "Western
influence." Let us hope to the
contrary. It can be proved that Buddhist
missionaries were as numerous in
Palestine, Alexandria, Persia, and even
Greece, two centuries before the
Christian era, as the Padris are now in
Asia.
That the Gnostic doctrines (as he is obliged to confess) are
permeated with Buddhism. Basilides, Valentinian, Bardesanes, and
especially Manes were simply
heretical Buddhists, "the formula of
abjuration of these doctrines in the
case of the latter, specifying
expressly Buddha (Bodda) by
name."
----------
Leaflets from Esoteric History
The foregoing--a long, yet necessary
digression--will show that the
Asiatic scholar is justified in
generally withholding what he may know.
That it is not merely on historical
facts that hangs the "historical
difficulty" at issue; but rather on its degree of interference with
time-honoured, long-established
conjectures, often raised to the
eminence of an unapproachable
historical axiom. That no statement
coming from our quarters can ever
hope to be given consideration so long
as it has to be supported on the
ruins of reigning hobbies, whether of
an alleged historical or religious
character. Yet pleasant it is, after
the brainless assaults to which
occult sciences have hitherto been
subjected--assaults in which abuse
has been substituted for argument,
and flat denial for calm inquiry--to
find that there remain in the West
some men who will come into the field
like philosophers, and soberly and
fairly discuss the claims of our
hoary doctrines to the respect due to a
truth and the dignity demanded for a
science. Those alone whose sole
desire is to ascertain the truth, not
to maintain foregone conclusions,
have a right to expect undisguised
facts. Reverting to our subject, so
far as allowable, we will now, for
the sake of that minority, give them.
The records of the Occultists make no
difference between the "Atlantean"
ancestors of the old Greeks and
Romans. Partially corroborated and in
turn contradicted by licensed or
recognized history, their records teach
that of the ancient Latini of classic
legend called Itali; of that
people, in short, which, crossing the
Apennines (as their Judo-Aryan
brothers--let this be known--had
crossed before them the Hindoo-Koosh)
entered from the north the
peninsula--there survived at a period long
before the days of Romulus but the
name, and a nascent language.
Profane history informs us that the
Latins of the "mythical era" got so
Hellenized amidst the rich colonies
of Magna Grecia that there remained
nothing in them of their primitive
Latin nationality. It is the Latins
proper, it says, those pre-Roman
Italians who by settling in Latium had
from the first kept themselves free
from the Greek influence, who were
the ancestors of the Romans.
Contradicting exoteric history, the Occult
records affirm that if, owing to
circumstances too long and complicated
to be related here, the settlers of
Latium preserved their primitive
nationality a little longer than
their brothers who had first entered
the peninsula with them after leaving
the East (which was not their
original home), they lost it very
soon, for other reasons. Free from
the Samnites during the first period,
they did not remain free from
other invaders. While the Western historian puts together the
mutilated, incomplete records of
various nations and people, and makes
them into a clever mosaic according
to the best and most probable plan
and rejects entirely traditional
fables, the Occultist pays not the
slightest attention to the vain
self-glorification of alleged conquerors
or their lithic inscriptions. Nor does he follow the stray bits of
so-called historical information,
often concocted by interested parties
and found scattered hither and
thither in the fragments of classical
writers, whose original texts
themselves have not seldom been tampered
with.
The Occultist follows the ethnological affinities and their
divergences in the various
nationalities, races and sub-races, in a more
easy way; and he is guided in this as surely as the
student who
examines a geographical map. As the latter can easily trace by their
differently coloured outlines the
boundaries of the many countries and
their possessions; their geographical superficies and their
separations
by seas, rivers and mountains; so the Occultist can by following the
(to him) well distinguishable and
defined auric shades and gradations of
colour in the inner-man unerringly
pronounce to which of the several
distinct human families, as also to
what special group, and even small
sub-group of the latter, belongs any
particular people, tribe, or man.
This will appear hazy and
incomprehensible to the many who know nothing
of ethnic varieties of nerve-aura,
and disbelieve in any "inner-man"
theory, scientific but to the
few. The whole question hangs upon the
reality or unreality of the existence
of this inner-man whom
clairvoyance has discovered, and
whose odyle or nerve-emanations Von
Reichenbach proves. If one admits such a presence and realizes
intuitionally that being closer
related to the one invisible Reality,
the inner type must be still more
pronounced than the outer physical
type, then it will be a matter of
little, if any, difficulty to conceive
our meaning. For, indeed, if even the respective physical
idiosyncrasies and special
characteristics of any given person make his
nationality usually distinguishable
by the physical eye of the ordinary
observer--let alone the experienced
ethnologist: the Englishman being
commonly recognizable at a glance
from the Frenchman, the German from
the Italian, not to speak of the
typical differences between human
root-families* in their anthropological
division--there seems little
difficulty in conceiving that the
same, though far more pronounced,
difference of type and
characteristics should exist between the inner
races that inhabit these
"fleshly tabernacles." Besides
this easily
discernible psychological and astral
differences, there are the
documentary records in their unbroken
series of chronological tables and
the history of the gradual branching
off of races and sub-races from the
three geological primeval Races, the
work of the Initiates of all the
archaic and ancient temples up to
date, collected in our "Book of
Numbers," and other volumes.
---------
* Properly speaking, these ought to
be called "Geological Races," so as
to be easily distinguished from their
subsequent evolutions--the
root-races. The Occult doctrine has nothing to do with
the Biblical
division of Shem, Ham and Japhet, and
admires, without accepting it, the
latest Huxleyan physiological
division of the human races into their
quintuple groups of Australioids, Negroids,
Mongoloids, Xanthechroics,
and the fifth variety of
Melanochroics. Yet it says that the
triple
division of the blundering Jews is
closer to the truth, it knows but of
three entirely distinct primeval
races whose evolution, formation and
development went pari passu and on
parallel lines with the evolution,
formation, and development of three
geological strata; namely, the
BLACK, the RED-YELLOW, and the
BROWN-WHITE RACES.
---------
Hence, and on this double testimony
(which the Westerns are quite
welcome to reject if so pleased) it
is affirmed that, owing to the great
amalgamation of various sub-races,
such as the Iapygian, Etruscan,
Pelasgic, and later--the strong
admixture of the Hellenic and
Kelto-Gaulic element in the veins of the
primitive Itali of
Latium--there remained in the tribes
gathered by Romulus on the banks of
the Tiber about as much Latinism as
there is now in the Romanic people
of Wallachia. Of course if the historical foundation of the
fable of
the twins of the Vestal Silvia is
entirely rejected, together with that
of the foundation of Alba Longa by
the son of Aeneas, then it stands to
reason that the whole of the
statements made must be likewise a modern
invention built upon the utterly
worthless fables of the "legendary
mythical age." For those who now give these statements,
however, there
is more of actual truth in such
fables than there is in the alleged
historical Regal period of the
earliest Romans. It is to be deplored
that the present statement should
clash with the authoritative
conclusion of Mommsen and
others. Yet, stating but that which to
the
"Adepts" is fact, it must
be understood at once that all (but the
fanciful chronological date for the
foundation of Rome-April, 753
"B.C.") that is given in
old traditions in relation to the Paemerium,
and the triple alliance of the
Ramnians, Luceres and Tities, of the
so-called Romuleian legend, is indeed
far nearer truth than what
external history accepts as facts
during the Punic and Macedonian wars
up to, through, and down the Roman
Empire to its fall. The founders of
Rome were decidedly a mongrel people,
made up of various scraps and
remnants of the many primitive
tribes; only a few really Latin
families, the descendants of the
distinct sub-race that came along with
the Umbro-Sabellians from the East
remaining. And, while the latter
preserved their distinct colour down
to the Middle Ages through the
Sabine element, left unmixed in its
mountainous regions, the blood of
the true Roman was Hellenic blood
from its beginning. The famous Latin
league is no fable, but history. The succession of kings descended from
the Trojan Aeneas is a fact; and the idea that Romulus is to be
regarded as simply the symbolical
representative of a people, as Aeolus,
Dorius, and Ion were once, instead of
a living man, is as unwarranted as
it is arbitrary. It could only have been entertained by a
class of
historiographers bent upon condoning
their sin in supporting the dogma
that Shem, Ham and Japhet were the
historical once living ancestors of
mankind, by making a burnt-offering
of every really historical but
non-Jewish tradition, legend, or
record which might presume to a place
on the same level with these three
privileged archaic mariners, instead
of humbly groveling at their feet as
"absurd myths" and old wives' tales
and superstitions.
It will thus appear that the
objectionable statements on pp. 56 and 62
of "Esoteric Buddhism,"
which are alleged to create an "historical
difficulty," were not made by
Mr. Sinnett's correspondent to bolster a
western theory, but in loyalty to
historical facts. Whether they can or
cannot be accepted in those
particular localities where criticism seems
based upon mere conjecture (though
honoured with the name of scientific
hypothesis), is something which
concerns the present writers as little
as any casual traveler's unfavourable
comments upon the time-scarred
visage of the Sphinx can affect the
designer of that sublime symbol.
The sentences, "the Greeks and
Romans were small sub-races of our own
Caucasian stock" (p. 6), and
they were "the remnants of the Atlanteans
(the modern belong to the fifth
race)" (p. 62), show the real meaning on
their face. By the old Greeks, "remnants of the
Atlanteans" the
eponymous ancestors (as they are called
by Europeans) of the Aeolians,
Dorians and Ionians, are meant. By the connection together of the old
Greeks and Romans without
distinction, was meant that the primitive
Latins were swallowed by Magna
Graecia. And by "the modern"
belonging
"to the fifth race"--both
these small branchlets from whose veins had
been strained out the last drop of
the Atlantean blood--it was implied
that the Mongoloid 4th race blood had
already been eliminated.
Occultists make a distinction between
the races intermediate between any
two root-races: the Westerns do not. The "old
Romans" were Hellenes in
a new ethnological disguise; and the
still older Greeks the real blood
ancestors of the future Romans. In direct relation to this, attention
is drawn to the following fact--one
of the many in close historical
bearing upon the "mythical"
age to which Atlantis belongs. It is a
fable and may be charged to the
account of historical difficulties. It
is well calculated, however, to throw
all the old ethnological and
genealogical divisions into
confusion.
Asking the reader to bear in mind
that Atlantis, like modern Europe,
comprised many nations and many
dialects (issues from the three primeval
root-languages of the 1st, 2nd, and
3rd Races), we may return to
Poseidonis, its last surviving
remnant of 12,000 years ago. As the
chief element in the languages of the
5th race is the Aryan-Sanskrit of
the "Brown-white"
geological stock or race, so the predominating element
in Atlantis was a language which has
now survived but in the dialects of
some American Red-Indian tribes, and
in the Chinese speech of the
inland Chinamen, the mountainous
tribes of Kivang-ze--a language which
was an admixture of the agglutinate
and the monosyllabic, as it would be
called by modern philologists. It was, in short, the language of the
"Red-yellow" second or
middle geological stock (we maintain the term
"geological"). A strong percentage of the Mongoloid or 4th
Root-race
was, of course, to be found in the
Aryans of the 5th. But this did not
prevent in the least the presence at
the same time of unalloyed, pure
Aryan races in it. A number of small islands scattered around
Poseidonis had been vacated, in
consequence of earthquakes, long before
the final catastrophe, which has alone
remained in the memory of men--
thanks to some written records. Tradition says that one of the small
tribes (the Aeolians) who had become
islanders after emigrating from far
northern countries, had to leave
their home again for fear of a deluge.
If, in spite of the Orientalists and
the conjecture of M.F. Lenormant--
who invented a name for a people
whose shadowy outline he dimly
perceived in the faraway Past as
preceding the Babylonians--we say that
this Aryan race that came from
Central Asia, the cradle of the 5th race
Humanity, belonged to the
"Akkadian" tribes, there will be a new
historico-ethnological difficulty
created. Yet it is maintained that
these "Akkads" were no more
a "Turanian" race than any of the modern
British people are the mythical ten
tribes of Israel, so conspicuously
present in the Bible, and absent from
history. With such remarkable
pacta conventa between modern exact
(?) and ancient Occult sciences, we
may proceed with the fable. Belonging virtually, through their original
connection with the Aryan, Central
Asian stock, to the 5th race, the old
Aeolians yet were Atlanteans, not
only in virtue of their long residence
in the now submerged continent,
covering some thousands of years, but by
the free intermingling of blood, by
intermarriage with them. Perhaps in
this connection Mr. Huxley's
disposition to account for his Melanochroi
(the Greeks being included under this
classification or type)--as
themselves "the result of
crossing between the Xanthochroi and the
Australioids," among whom he
places the Southern India lower classes and
the Egyptians to some extent--is not
far off from fact. Anyhow the
Aeolians of Atlantis were Aryans on
the whole, as much as the Basques--
Dr. Pritchard's Allophylians--are now
southern Europeans, although
originally belonging to the South
Indian Dravidian stock (their
progenitors having never been the
aborigines of Europe prior to the
first Aryan emigration, as
supposed). Frightened by the frequent
earthquakes and the visible approach of
the cataclysm, this tribe is
said to have filled a flotilla of
arks, to have sailed from beyond the
Pillars of Hercules, and, sailing
along the coasts, after several years
of travel to have landed on the
shores of the Aegean Sea in the land of
Pyrrha (now Thessaly), to which they
gave the name of Aeolia. Thence
they proceeded on business with the
gods to Mount Olympus. It may be
stated here, at the risk of creating
a "geographical difficulty," that
in that mythical age Greece, Crete,
Sicily, Sardinia, and many other
islands of the Mediterranean, were
simply the far-away possessions, or
colonies, of Atlantis. Hence, the "fable" proceeds to
state that all
along the coasts of Spain, France,
and Italy the Aeolians often halted,
and the memory of their "magical
feats" still survives among the
descendants of the old Massilians, of
the tribes of the later
Carthago-Nova, and the seaports of
Etruria and Syracuse. And here
again it would not be a bad idea,
perchance, even at this late hour, for
the archeologists to trace, with the
permission of the anthropological
societies, the origin of the various
autochthones through their
folk-lore and fables, as they may
prove both more suggestive and
reliable than their
"undecipherable" monuments.
History catches a misty
glimpse of these particular
autochthones thousands of years only after
they had been settled in old
Greece--namely, at the moment when the
Epireans cross the Pindus bent on
expelling the black magicians from
their home to Boeotia. But history never listened to the popular
legends which speak of the
"accursed sorcerers" who departed, leaving as
an inheritance behind them more than
one secret of their infernal arts,
the fame of which crossing the ages
has now passed into history--or,
classical Greek and Roman fable, if
so preferred. To this day a popular
tradition narrates how the ancient
forefathers of the Thessalonians, so
renowned for their magicians, had
come from behind the Pillars, asking
for help and refuge from the great Zeus,
and imploring the father of the
gods to save them from the
deluge. But the "Father"
expelled them from
the Olympus, allowing their tribe to
settle only at the foot of the
mountain, in the valleys, and by the
shores of the Aegean Sea.
Such is the oldest fable of the
ancient Thessalonians. And now, what
was the language spoken by the
Atlantean Aeolians? History cannot
answer us. Nevertheless, the reader has only to be
reminded of some of
the accepted and a few of the as yet
unknown facts, to cause the light
to enter any intuitional brain. It is now proved that man was
universally conceived in antiquity as
born of the earth. Such is now
the profane explanation of the term
autochthones. In nearly every
vulgarized popular fable, from the
Sanskrit Arya "born of the earth," or
Lord of the Soil in one sense; the Erechtheus of the archaic Greeks,
worshiped in the earliest days of the
Akropolis and shown by Homer as
"he whom the earth bore" (
Il. ii. 548); down to Adam fashioned of
"red
earth," the genetical story has
a deep occult meaning, and an indirect
connection with the origin of man and
of the subsequent races. Thus,
the fables of Helen, the son of
Pyrrha the red--the oldest name of
Thessaly; and of Mannus, the reputed ancestor of the
Germans, himself
the son of Tuisco, "the red son
of the earth," have not only a direct
bearing upon our Atlantis fable, but
they explain moreover the division
of mankind into geological groups as
made by the Occultists. It is only
this, their division, that is able to
explain to Western teachers the
apparently strange, if not absurd,
coincidence of the Semitic Adam--a
divinely revealed personage--being
connected with red earth, in company
with the Aryan Pyrrha, Tuisco,
&c.--the mythical heroes of "foolish"
fables. Nor will that division made by the Eastern
Occultists, who call
the 5th race people "the
Brown-white," and the 4th race the
"Red-yellow,"
Root-races--connecting them with geological strata--appear
at all fantastic to those who
understood verse iii. 34-9 of the Veda and
its occult meaning, and another verse
in which the Dasyus are called
"Yellow." Hatvi Dasyun pra aryam varanam avat is said
of Indra who, by
killing the Dasyus, protected the
colour of the Aryans; and again, Indra
"unveiled the light for the
Aryas and the Dasyus was left on the left
hand" (ii. III 18). Let the student of Occultism bear in mind
that the
Greek Noah, Deukalion, the husband of
Pyrrha, was the reputed son of
Prometheus who robbed Heaven of its
fire (i.e., of secret Wisdom "of the
right hand," or occult
knowledge); that Prometheus is the
brother of
Atlas; that he is also the son of
Asia and of the Titan Iapetus--the
antetype from which the Jews borrowed
their Japhet for the exigencies of
their own popular legend to mask its
kabalistic, Chaldean meaning; and
that he is also the antetype of
Deukalion. Prometheus is the creator of
man out of earth and water,* who
after stealing fire from Olympus--a
mountain in Greece--is chained on a
mount in the far-off Caucasus. From
Olympus to Mount Kazbek there is a
considerable distance. The
Occultists say that while the 4th
race was generated and developed on
the Atlantean continent--our
Antipodes in a certain sense--the 5th was
generated and developed in Asia. (The ancient Greek geographer Strabo,
for one, calls by the name of Ariana,
the land of the Aryas, the whole
country between the Indian Ocean in
the south, the Hindu Kush and
Parapamisis in the north, the Indus
on the east, and the Caspian Gates,
Karamania and the mouth of the
Persian Gulf, on the west.) The fable of
Prometheus relates to the extinction
of the civilized portions of the
4th race, whom Zeus, in order to
create a new race, would destroy
entirely, and Prometheus (who had the
sacred fire of knowledge) saved
partially "for future
seed." But the origin of the fable
antecedes the
destruction of Poseidonis by more
than seventy thousand years, however
incredible it may seem. The seven great continents of the world,
spoken
of in the Vishnu Purana (B. II., cap.
2) include Atlantis, though, of
course, under another name. Ila and Ira are synonymous Sanskrit terms
(see Amarakosha), and both mean earth
or native soil; and Ilavrita is a
portion of Ila, the central point of
India (Jambudvipa), the latter
being itself the centre of the seven
great continents before the
submersion of the great continent of
Atlantis, of which Poseidonis was
but an insignificant remnant. And now, while every Brahmin will
understand the meaning, we may help
the Europeans with a few more
explanations.
--------
* Behold Moses saying that it
requires earth and water to make a living
man.
--------
If, in that generally tabooed work,
"Isis Unveiled," the "English
F.T.S." turns to page 589, vol.
I., he may find therein narrated another
old Eastern legend. An island .... (where now the Gobi desert
lies) was
inhabited by the last remnants of the
race that preceded ours: a
handful of "Adepts"--the "Sons of
God," now referred to as the Brahman
Pitris; called by another yet synonymous name in the
Chaldean Kabala.
"Isis Unveiled" may appear
very puzzling and contradictory to those who
know nothing of Occult Sciences. To the Occultist it is correct, and
while perhaps left purposely sinning
(for it was the first cautious
attempt to let into the West a faint
streak of Eastern esoteric light),
it reveals more facts than were ever
given before its appearance. Let
any one read these pages and he may
comprehend. The "six such races" in
Manu refer to the sub-races of the
fourth race (p. 590). In addition to
this the reader must turn to the
paper on "The Septenary Principle in
Esotericism" (p. 187 ante),
study the list of the "Manus" of our fourth
Round (p. 254), and between this and
"Isis" light may, perchance, be
focused. On pages 590-6 of the work mentioned above,
he will find that
Atlantis is mentioned in the
"Secret Books of the East" (as yet virgin
of Western spoliating hand) under
another name in the sacred hieratic or
sacerdotal language. And then it will be shown to him that
Atlantis was
not merely the name of one island but
that of a whole continent, of
whose isles and islets many have to
this day survived. The remotest
ancestors of some of the inhabitants
of the now miserable fisherman's
hovel "Aclo" (once Atlan),
near the gulf of Uraha, were allied at one
time as closely with the old Greeks
and Romans as they were with the
"true inland China-man,"
mentioned on p. 57 Of "Esoteric Buddhism."
Until the appearance of a map,
published at Basle in 1522, wherein the
name of America appears for the first
time, the latter was believed to
be part of India; and strange to him who does not follow the
mysterious
working of the human mind and its
unconscious approximations to hidden
truths--even the aborigines of the
new continent, the Red-skinned
tribes, the "Mongoloids" of
Mr. Huxley, were named Indians. Names
now
attributed to chance: elastic word
that! Strange coincidence, indeed,
to him who does not know--science
refusing yet to sanction the wild
hypothesis--that there was a time
when the Indian peninsula was at one
end of the line, and South America at
the other, connected by a belt of
islands and continents. The India of the prehistoric ages was not
only
within the region at the sources of
the Oxus and Jaxartes, but there was
even in the days of history, and
within its memory, an upper, a lower,
and a western India: and still earlier it was doubly connected
with the
two Americas. The lands of the ancestors of those whom
Ammianus
Marcellinus calls the "Brahmans
of Upper India" stretched from Kashmir
far into the (now) deserts of
Schamo. A pedestrian from the north
might
then have reached--hardly wetting his
feet--the Alaskan Peninsula,
through Manchooria, across the future
Gulf of Tartary, the Kurile and
Aleutian Islands; while another traveler, furnished with a
canoe and
starting from the south, could have
walked over from Siam, crossed the
Polynesian Islands and trudged into
any part of the continent of South
America. On pp. 592-3 of "Isis," vol. I.,
the Thevetatas--the evil,
mischievous gods that have survived
in the Etruscan Pantheon--are
mentioned, along with the "sons
of God" or Brahman Pitris. The
Involute, the hidden or shrouded
gods, the Consentes, Complices, and
Novensiles, are all disguised relics
of the Atlanteans; while the
Etruscan arts of soothsaying their
Disciplina revealed by Tages comes
direct and in undisguised form from
the Atlantean king Thevetat, the
"invisible" Dragon, whose
name survives to this day among the Siamese
and Burmese, as also, in the Jataka
allegorical stories of the Buddhists
as the opposing power under the name
of Devadat. And Tages was the son
of Thevetat, before he became the
grandson of the Etruscan
Jupiter-Tinia. Have the Western Orientalists tried to find
out the
connection between all these Dragons
and Serpents; between the "powers
of Evil" in the cycles of epic
legends, the Persian and the Indian, the
Greek and the Jewish; between the
contests of Indra and the giant; the
Aryan Nagas and the Iranian Aji
Dahaka; the Guatemalian Dragon and the
Serpent of Genesis--&c. &c.
&c.? Professor Max Muller discredits
the
connection. So be it.
But the fourth race of men, "men" whose sight
was unlimited and who knew all things
at once, the hidden as the
unrevealed, is mentioned in the Popol-Vuh,
the sacred books of the
Guatemalians; and the Babylonian Xisuthrus, the far later
Jewish Noah,
the Hindu Vaivaswata, and the Greek
Deukalion, are all identical with
the great Father of the
Thlinkithians, of Popol-Vuh who, like the rest
of these allegorical (not mythical)
Patriarchs, escaped in his turn and
in his days, in a large boat at the
time of the last great Deluge--the
submersion of Atlantis.
To have been an Indo-Aryan,
Vaivaswata had not, of necessity, to meet
with his Saviour (Vishnu, under the
form of a fish) within the precincts
of the present India, or even
anywhere on the Asian continent; nor is
it necessary to concede that he was
the seventh great Manu himself (see
catalogue of the Manus, in the paper
on "The Septenary Principle in
Esotericism" cited above), but
simply that the Hindu Noah belonged to
the clan of Vaivaswata and typifies
the fifth race. Now the last of the
Atlantean islands perished some
11,000 years ago; and the fifth race
headed by the Aryans began its
evolution, to the certain knowledge of
the "Adepts" nearer one
million than 900,000 years ago. But the
historian and the anthropologist with
their utmost stretch of liberality
are unable to give more than from
twenty to one hundred thousand years
for all our human evolution. Hence we put it to them as a fair
question: at what point during their own conjectural
lakh of years do
they fix the root-germ of the
ancestral line of the "old Greeks and
Romans?" Who were they? What is known or even
"conjectured" about their
territorial habitat after the
division of the Aryan nations? And where
were the ancestors of the Semitic and
Turanian races? It is not enough
for purposes of refutation of other
peoples' statements to say that the
latter lived separate from the
former, and then come to a full stop--a
fresh hiatus in the ethnological
history of mankind. Since Asia is
sometimes called the Cradle of
Humanity, and it is an ascertained fact
that Central Asia was likewise the
cradle of the Semitic and Turanian
races (for thus it is taught in
Genesis), and we find the Turans
agreeably to the theory evolved by
the Assyriologists preceding the
Babylonian Semitists, where, at what
spot of the globe, did these
Semito-Turanian nations break away
from the parent stock, and what has
become of the latter? It cannot be the small Jewish tribe of
Patriarchs; and unless it can be
shown that the garden of Eden was also
on the Oxus or the Euphrates, fenced
off from the soil inhabited by the
children of Cain, philologists who undertake
to fill in the gaps in
Universal History with their made-up
conjectures, may be regarded as
ignorant of this detail as those they
would enlighten.
Logically, if the ancestors of these
various groups had been at that
remote period massed together, then
the self-same roots of a parent
common stock would have been equally
traceable in their perfected
languages as they are in those of the
Judo-Europeans. And so, since
whichever way one turns, one is met
with the same troubled sea of
speculation, margined by the
treacherous quicksands of hypothesis, and
every horizon bounded by inferential
landmarks inscribed with imaginary
dates. Again, the "Adepts" ask why should
any one be awed into
accepting as final criterion that
which passes for science of high
authority in Europe? For all this is known to the Asiatic
scholar--in
every case save the purely
mathematical and physical sciences--as little
better than a secret league for
mutual support, and, perhaps,
admiration. He bows with profound respect before the
Royal Societies of
Physicists, Chemists, and, to a
degree, even of Naturalists. He refuses
to pay the slightest attention to the
merely speculative and conjectural
so-called "sciences" of the
modern Physiologist, Ethnologist,
Philologist, &c., and the mob of
self-styling Oedipuses to whom it is
not given to unriddle the Sphynx of
Nature, and who therefore throttle
her.
With an eye to the above, as also
with a certain prevision of the
future, the defendants in the cases
under examination believe that the
"historical difficulty"
with reference to the non-historical statement,
necessitated more than a simple
reaffirmation of the fact. They knew
that with no better claims to a
hearing than may be accorded by the
confidence of a few, and in view of
the decided antagonism of the many,
it would never do for them to say
"we maintain" while Western professors
maintained to the contrary. For a body of, so to say, unlicensed
preachers and students of
unauthorized and unrecognized sciences to
offer to fight an August body of
universally recognized oracles, would
be an unprecedented piece of
impertinence. Hence their respective
claims had to be examined on however
small a scale to begin with (in
this as in all other cases) on other
than psychological grounds. The
"Adepts" in Occult Arts had
better keep silence when confronted with the
"A.C.S.'s"--Adepts in
Conjectural Sciences--unless they could show,
partially at least, how weak is the
authority of the latter and on what
foundations of shifting sands their
scientific dicta are often built.
They may thus make it a thinkable
conjecture that the former may be
right after all. Absolute silence, moreover, as at present
advised,
would have been fatal. Besides risking to be construed into
inability
to answer, it might have given rise
to new complaints among the faithful
few, and lead to fresh charges of
selfishness against the writers.
Therefore have the "Adepts"
agreed to smooth in part at least a few of
the most glaring difficulties and
showing a highway to avoid them in
future by studying the non-historical
but actual, instead of the
historical but mythical, portions of
Universal History. And this they
have achieved, they believe (at any
rate with a few of their querists),
by simply showing, or rather reminding
them, that since no historical
fact can stand as such against the
"assumption" of the "Adepts"--
historians being confessedly ignorant
of pre-Roman and Greek origins
beyond the ghostly shadows of the
Etruscans and Pelasgians--no real
historical difficulty can be possibly
involved in their statement. From
objectors outside the Society, the
writers neither demand nor do they
expect mercy. The "Adept"
has no favours to ask at the hands of
conjectural science, nor does he
exact from any member of the "London
Lodge" blind faith: it being his cardinal maxim that faith should
only
follow inquiry. The "Adept" is more than content to
be allowed to
remain silent, keeping what he may
know to himself, unless worthy
seekers wish to share it. He has so done for ages, and can do so for a
little longer. Moreover, he would rather not "arrest
attention" or
"command respect" at
present. Thus he leaves his audience to
first
verify his statements in every case
by the brilliant though rather
wavering light of modern
science: after which his facts may be
either
accepted or rejected, at the option
of the willing student. In short,
the "Adept"--if one
indeed--has to remain utterly unconcerned with, and
unmoved by, the issue. He imparts that which it is lawful for him to
give out, and deals but with facts.
The philological and archeological
"difficulties" next demand attention.
Philological and Archeological
"Difficulties"
Two questions are blended into
one. Having shown the reasons why the
Asiatic student is prompted to
decline the guidance of Western History,
it remains to explain his
contumacious obstinacy in the same direction
with regard to philology and
archeology. While expressing the sincerest
admiration for the clever modern
methods of reading the past histories
of nations now mostly extinct, and
following the progress and evolution
of their respective languages, now
dead, the student of Eastern
occultism, and even the profane Hindu
scholar acquainted with his
national literature, can hardly be
made to share the confidence felt by
Western philologists in these
conglutinative methods, when practically
applied to his own country and
Sanskrit literature. Three facts, at
least, out of many are well
calculated to undermine his faith in these
Western methods:--
1. Of some dozens of eminent
Orientalists, no two agree, even in their
verbatim translation of Sanskrit
texts. Nor is there more harmony shown
in their interpretation of the
possible meaning of doubtful passages.
2. Though Numismatics is a less
conjectural branch of science, and when
starting from well-established basic
dates, so to say, an exact one
(since it can hardly fail to yield
correct chronological data, in our
case, namely, Indian antiquities);
archeologists have hitherto failed to
obtain any such position. On their
own confession, they are hardly
justified in accepting the Samvat and
Salivahana eras as their guiding
lights, the real initial points of
both being beyond the power of the
European Orientalists to verify; yet all the same, the respective dates
"of 57 B.C. and 78 A.D."
are accepted implicitly, and fanciful ages
thereupon ascribed to archeological
remains.
3. The greatest authorities upon
Indian archeology and architecture--
General Cunningham and Mr. Fergusson--represent
in their conclusions the
two opposite poles. The province of archeology is to provide
trustworthy canons of criticism, and
not, it should seem, to perplex or
puzzle. The Western critic is invited to point to one
single relic of
the past in India, whether written
record or inscribed or uninscribed
monument, the age of which is not
disputed. No sooner has one
archeologist determined a date--say
the first century--than another
tries to pull it forward to the 10th
or perhaps the 14th century of the
Christian era. While General Cunningham ascribes the
construction of
the present Buddha Gaya temple to the
1st century after Christ--the
opinion of Mr. Fergusson is that its
external form belongs to the 14th
century; and so the unfortunate outsider is as wise as
ever. Noticing
this discrepancy in a "Report on
the Archeological Survey of India"
(vol. viii. p. 60), the conscientious
and capable Buddha-Gaya Chief
Engineer, Mr. J.D. Beglar, observes
that "notwithstanding his
(Fergusson's) high authority, this
opinion must be unhesitatingly set
aside," and forthwith assigns
the building under notice to the 6th
century. While the conjectures of one archeologist are
termed by
another "hopelessly wrong,"
the identifications of Buddhist relics by
this other are in their turn
denounced as "quite untenable."
And so in
the case of every relic of whatever
age.
When the "recognized"
authorities agree--among themselves at least--then
will it be time to show them
collectively in the wrong. Until then,
since their respective conjectures
can lay no claim to the character of
history, the "Adepts" have
neither the leisure nor the disposition to
leave weightier business to combat
empty speculations, in number as many
as there are pretended
authorities. Let the blind lead the
blind, if
they will not accept the light.*
--------
* However, it will be shown elsewhere
that General Cunningham's latest
conclusions about the date of
Buddha's death are not all supported by
the inscriptions newly
discovered.--T. Subba Row.
---------
As in the "historical," so
in this new "archeological difficulty,"
namely, the apparent anachronism as
to the date of our Lord's birth, the
point at issue is again concerned
with the "old Greeks and Romans."
Less ancient than our Atlantean
friends, they seem more dangerous
inasmuch as they have become the
direct allies of philologists in our
dispute over Buddhist annals. We are notified by Prof. Max Muller, by
sympathy the most fair of
Sanskritists as well as the most learned--and
with whom, for a wonder, most of his
rivals are found siding in this
particular question--that
"everything in Indian chronology depends on
the date of Chandragupta,"--the
Greek Sandracottus. "Either of these
dates (in the Chinese and Ceylonese
chronology) is impossible, because
it does not agree with the chronology
of Greece." ("Hist. of the Sans.
Lit.," p. 275.) It is then by the clear light of this new
Alexandrian
Pharos shed, upon a few synchronisms
casually furnished by the Greek and
Roman classical writers, that the
"extraordinary" statements of the
"Adepts" have now to be
cautiously examined. For Western
Orientalists
the historical existence of Buddhism
begins with Asoka, though, even
with the help of Greek spectacles,
they are unable to see beyond
Chandragupta. Therefore, "before that time Buddhist
chronology is
traditional and full of
absurdities." Furthermore, nothing
is said in
the Brahmanas of the Bauddhas--ergo,
there were none before
"Sandracottus," nor have the
Buddhists or Brahmans any right to a
history of their own, save the one
evoluted by the Western mind. As
though the Muse of History had turned
her back while events were gliding
by, the "historian"
confesses his inability to close the immense lacunae
between the Indo-Aryan supposed
immigration en masse across the Hindoo
Kush, and the reign of Asoka. Having nothing more solid, he uses
contradictory inferences and
speculations. But the Asiatic
occultists,
whose forefathers had her tablets in
their keeping, and even some
learned native Pundits--believe they
can. The claim, however, is
pronounced unworthy of
attention. Of the late Smriti
(traditional
history) which, for those who know
how to interpret its allegories, is
full of unimpeachable historical records,
an Ariadne's thread through
the tortuous labyrinth of the
Past--has come to be unanimously regarded
as a tissue of exaggerations,
monstrous fables, "clumsy forgeries of the
first centuries A.D." It is now
openly declared as worthless not only
for exact chronological but even for
general historical purposes. Thus
by dint of arbitrary condemnations,
based on absurd interpretations (too
often the direct outcome of sectarian
prejudice), the Orientalist has
raised himself to the eminence of a
philological mantic. His learned
vagaries are fast superseding, even
in the minds of many a Europeanized
Hindu, the important historical facts
that lie concealed under the
exoteric phraseology of the Puranas
and other Smritic literature. At
the outset, therefore, the Eastern
Initiate declares the evidence of
those Orientalists who, abusing their
unmerited authority, play ducks
and drakes with his most sacred
relics, ruled out of court; and before
giving his facts he would suggest to
the learned European Sanskritist
and archeologist that, in the matter
of chronology, the difference in
the sum of their series of
conjectural historical events, proves them to
be mistaken from A to Z. They know that one single wrong figure in an
arithmetical progression will always throw
the whole calculation into
inextricable confusion: the multiplication yielding, generally, in
such
a case, instead of the correct sum
something entirely unexpected. A fair
proof of this may, perhaps, be found
in something already alluded to--
namely, the adoption of the dates of
certain Hindu eras as the basis of
their chronological assumptions. In assigning a date to text or
monument they have, of course, to be
guided by one of the pre-Christian
Indian eras, whether inferentially,
or otherwise. And yet--in one case,
at least--they complain repeatedly
that they are utterly ignorant as to
the correct starting-point of the
most important of these. The positive
date of Vikramaditya, for instance,
whose reign forms the starting point
of the Samvat era, is in reality
unknown to them. With some,
Vikramaditya flourished
"B.C." 56; with others,
86; with others again,
in the 6th century of the Christian
era; while Mr. Fergusson will not
allow the Samvat era any beginning
before the "10th century A.D."
In
short, and in the words of Dr.
Weber,* they "have absolutely no
authentic evidence to show whether
the era of Vikramaditya dates from
the year of his birth, from some
achievement, or from the year of his
death, or whether, in fine, it may
not have been simply introduced by
him for astronomical
reasons." There were several
Vikramadityas and
Vikramas in Indian history, for it is
not a name, but an honorary title,
as the Orientalists have now come to
learn. How then can any
chronological deduction from such a
shifting premise be anything but
untrustworthy, especially when, as in
the instance of the Samvat, the
basic date is made to travel along,
at the personal fancy of
Orientalists, between the 1st and the
10th century?
-----------
* "The History of Indian
Literature," Trubner's Series, 1882, p. 202.
-----------
Thus it appears to be pretty well
proved that in ascribing chronological
dates to Indian antiquities,
Anglo-Indian as well as European
archeologists are often guilty of the
most ridiculous anachronisms.
That, in fine, they have been
hitherto furnishing History with an
arithmetical mean, while ignorant, in
nearly every case, of its first
term!
Nevertheless, the Asiatic student is invited to verify and
correct his dates by the flickering
light of this chronological
will-o-the-wisp. Nay, nay.
Surely "An English F.T.S." would never
expect us in matters demanding the
minutest exactness to trust to such
Western beacons! And he will, perhaps, permit us to hold to
our own
views, since we know that our dates
are neither conjectural nor liable
to modifications. Where even such veteran archeologists as
General
Cunningham do not seem above
suspicion, and are openly denounced by
their colleagues, palaeography seems
to hardly deserve the name of exact
science. This busy antiquarian has been repeatedly
denounced by Prof.
Weber and others for his
indiscriminate acceptance of that Samvat era.
Nor have the other Orientalists been
more lenient; especially those
who, perchance under the inspiration
of early sympathies for biblical
chronology, prefer in matters
connected with Indian dates to give head
to their own emotional but
unscientific intuitions. Some would have
us
believe that the Samvat era "is
not demonstrable for times anteceding
the Christian era at all." Kern makes efforts to prove that the Indian
astronomers began to employ this era
"only after the year of grace
1000." Prof. Weber, referring sarcastically to
General Cunningham,
observes that "others, on the
contrary, have no hesitation in at once
referring, wherever possible, every
Samvat or Samvatsare-dated
inscription to the Samvat
era." Thus, e.g., Cunningham (in
his "Arch.
Survey of India," iii. 31, 39)
directly assigns an inscription dated
Samvat 5 to the year "B.C.
52," &c., and winds up the statement with the
following plaint: "For the present, therefore,
unfortunately, where
there is nothing else (but that
unknown era) to guide us, it must
generally remain an open question,
which era we have to do with in a
particular inscription, and what date
consequently the inscription
bears." *
--------
* Op. cit., p. 203.
--------
The confession is significant. It is pleasant to find such a ring of
sincerity in a European Orientalist,
though it does seem quite ominous
for Indian archeology. The initiated Brahmans know the positive
dates
of their eras and remain therefore
unconcerned. What the "Adepts"
have
once said, they maintain; and no new
discoveries or modified conjectures
of accepted authorities can exert any
pressure upon their data. Even if
Western archeologists or numismatists
took it into their heads to change
the date of our Lord and Glorified
Deliverer from the 7th century "B.C."
to the 7th century "A.D.,"
we would but the more admire such a
remarkable gift for knocking about
dates and eras, as though they were
so many lawn-tennis balls.
Meanwhile, to all sincere and
inquiring Theosophists, we will say
plainly, it is useless for any one to
speculate about the date of our
Lord Sanggyas's birth, while
rejecting a priori all the Brahmanical,
Ceylonese, Chinese, and Tibetan
dates. The pretext that these do not
agree with the chronology of a
handful of Greeks who visited the country
300 years after the event in
question, is too fallacious and bold.
Greece was never concerned with
Buddhism, and besides the fact that the
classics furnish their few
synchronistic dates simply upon the hearsay
of their respective authors--a few
Greeks, who themselves lived
centuries before the writers
quoted--their chronology is itself too
defective, and their historical
records, when it was a question of
national triumphs, too bombastic and
often too diametrically opposed to
fact, to inspire with confidence any
one less prejudiced than the
average European Orientalist. To seek to establish the true dates in
Indian history by connecting its
events with the mythical "invasion,"
while confessing that "one would
look in vain in the literature of the
Brahmans or Buddhists for any
allusion to Alexander's conquest, and
although it is impossible to identify
any of the historical events
related by Alexander's companions
with the historical tradition of
India," amounts to something
more than a mere exhibition of incompetence
in this direction: were not Prof. Max Muller the party concerned--we
might say that it appears almost like
predetermined dishonesty.
These are harsh words to say, and
calculated no doubt to shock many a
European mind trained to look up to
what is termed "scientific
authority" with a feeling akin
to that of the savage for his family
fetich. They are well deserved, nevertheless, as a
few examples will
show.
To such intellects as Prof. Weber's--whom we take as the leader
of the German Orientalists of the
type of Christophiles--certainly the
word "obtuseness" cannot be
applied. Upon seeing how chronology is
deliberately and maliciously
perverted in favour of "Greek influence,"
Christian interests and his own
predetermined theories--another, and
even a stronger term should be
applied. What expression is too severe
to signify one's feelings upon
reading such an unwitting confession of
disingenuous scholarship as Weber
repeatedly makes ("Hist. Ind. Lit.")
when urging the necessity of
admitting that a passage "has been touched
up by later interpellation," or
forcing fanciful chronological places
for texts admittedly very
ancient--"as otherwise the dates would be
brought down too far or too
near!" And this is the keynote of
his
entire policy: fiat hypothesis, ruat caelum! On the other hand Prof.
Max Muller, enthusiastic Indophile as
he seems, crams centuries into his
chronological thimble without the
smallest apparent compunction....
These two Orientalists are instances,
because they are accepted beacons
of philology and Indian
paleography. Our national monuments are
dated
and our ancestral history perverted
to suit their opinions; the
pernicious evil has ensued, that as a
result History is now recording
for the misguidance of posterity the
false annals and distorted facts
which, upon their evidence, will be
accepted without appeal as the
outcome of the fairest and ablest
critical analysis. While Prof. Max
Muller will hear of no other than a
Greek criterion for Indian
chronology, Prof. Weber (op. cit.)
finds Greek influence--his universal
solvent--in the development of
India's religion, philosophy, literature,
astronomy, medicine, architecture,
&c. To support this fallacy the most
tortuous sophistry, the most absurd
etymological deductions are resorted
to.
If one fact more than another has been set at rest by comparative
mythology, it is that their
fundamental religious ideas, and most of
their gods, were derived by the
Greeks from religions flourishing in the
north-west of India, the cradle of
the main Hellenic stock. This is now
entirely disregarded, because a disturbing
element in the harmony of the
critical spheres. And though nothing is more reasonable than
the
inference that the Grecian
astronomical terms were inherited equally
from the parent stock, Prof. Weber
would have us believe that "it was
Greek influence that just infused a
real life into Indian astronomy" (p.
251).
In fine, the hoary ancestors of the Hindus borrowed their
astronomical terminology and learnt
the art of star gazing and even
their zodiac from the Hellenic
infant! This proof engenders another:
the relative antiquity of the
astronomical texts shall be henceforth
determined upon the presence or
absence in them of asterisms and
zodiacal signs, the former being
undisguisedly Greek in their names, the
latter are "designated by their
Sanskrit names which are translated from
the Greek" (p. 255). Thus "Manu's law being unacquainted with
the
planets," is considered as more
ancient than Yajnavalkya's Code, which
"inculcates their worship,"
and so on. But there is still another
and a
better test found out by the
Sanskritists for determining with
"infallible accuracy" the
age of the texts, apart from asterisms and
zodiacal signs any casual mention in
them of the name "Yavana," taken in
every instance to designate the
"Greeks." This, apart
"from an internal
chronology based on the character of
the works themselves, and on the
quotations, &c., therein
contained, is the only one possible," we are
told.
As a result the absurd statement that "the Indian astronomers
regularly speak of the Yavanas as
their teachers" (p. 252). Ergo,
their
teachers were Greeks. For with Weber and others "Yavana"
and "Greek"
are convertible terms.
But it so happens that Yavanacharya
was the Indian title of a single
Greek--Pythagoras; as Sankaracharya was the title of a single
Hindu
philosopher; and the ancient Aryan astronomical writers
cited his
opinions to criticize and compare
them with the teachings of their own
astronomical science, long before him
perfected and derived from their
ancestors. The honorific title of Acharya (master) was
applied to him
as to every other learned astronomer
or mystic; and it certainly did
not mean that Pythagoras or any other
Greek "Master" was necessarily the
master of the Brahmans. The word "Yavana" was a generic
term employed
ages before the "Greeks of
Alexander" projected "their influence" upon
Jambudvipa, to designate people of a
younger race, the word meaning
Yuvan "young," or
younger. They knew of Yavanas of the
north, west,
south and east; and the Greek strangers received this
appellation as
the Persians, Indo-Scythians and
others had before them. An exact
parallel is afforded in our present
day. To the Tibetans every foreigner
whatsoever is known as a Peling; the
Chinese designate Europeans as
"red-haired devils;" and the Mussalmans call every one outside of
Islam
a Kuffir. The Webers of the future, following the
example now set them,
may perhaps, after 10,000 years,
affirm, upon the authority of scraps of
Moslem literature then extant, that
the Bible was written, and the
English, French, Russians and Germans
who possessed and translated or
"invented" it, lived in
Kaffiristan shortly before their era under
"Moslem influence." Because the Yuga Purana of the Gargi Sanhita
speaks
of an expedition of the Yavanas
"as far as Pataliputra," therefore,
either the Macedonians or the
Seleuciae had conquered all India! But
our Western critic is ignorant, of
course, of the fact that Ayodhya or
Saketa of Rama was for two
millenniums repelling inroads of various
Mongolian and other Turanian tribes,
besides the Indo-Scythians, from
beyond Nepaul and the Himalayas. Prof. Weber seems finally himself
frightened at the Yavana spectre he
has raised, for he
queries:--"Whether by the
Yavanas it is really the Greeks who are meant
or possibly merely their
Indo-Scythian or other successors, to whom the
name was afterwards
transferred." This wholesome doubt
ought to have
modified his dogmatic tone in many
other such cases.
But, drive out prejudice with a pitch
fork it will ever return. The
eminent scholar, though staggered by
his own glimpse of the truth,
returns to the charge with new
vigour. We are startled by the fresh
discovery that Asuramaya:* the earliest astronomer, mentioned
repeatedly in the Indian epics,
"is identical with 'Ptolemaios' of the
Greeks." The reason for it given is, that "this
latter name, as we see
from the inscriptions of Piyadasi,
became in Indian 'Turamaya,' out of
which the name 'Asuramaya' might very
easily grow; and since, by the
later tradition, this 'Maya' is
distinctly assigned to Romaka-pura in
the West." Had the "Piyadasi inscription" been
found on the site of
ancient Babylonia, one might suspect
the word "Turamaya" as derived from
"Turanomaya," or rather
mania. Since, however, the Piyadasi
inscriptions belong distinctly to
India, and the title was borne but by
two kings--Chandragupta and
Dharmasoka--what has "'Ptolemaios' of the
Greeks" to do with
"Turamaya" or the latter with "Asuramaya," except,
indeed, to use it as a fresh pretext
to drag the Indian astronomer under
the stupefying "Greek
influence" of the Upas Tree of Western Philology?
Then we learn that, because
"Panini once mentions the Yavanas, i.e.,
.... Greeks, and explains the
formation of the word 'Yavanani,' to
which, according to the Varttika, the
word lipi, 'writing,' must be
supplied," therefore the word
signifies "the writing of the Yavanas" of
the Greeks and none other. Would the German philologists (who have so
long and so fruitlessly attempted to
explain this word) be very much
surprised if told that they are yet
as far as possible from the truth?
That--Yavanani does not mean
"Greek writing" at all, but any foreign
writing whatsoever? That the absence
of the word "writing" in the old
texts, except in connection with the
names of foreigners, does not in
the least imply that none but Greek
writing was known to them, or that
they had none of their own, being
ignorant of the art of reading and
writing until the days of Panini?
(theory of Prof. Max Muller). For
Devanagari is as old as the Vedas,
and held so sacred that the Brahmans,
first under penalty of death, and
later on of eternal ostracism, were
not even allowed to mention it to
profane ears, much less to make known
the existence of their secret temple
libraries. So that by the word
Yavanani, "to which, according
to the Varttika, the word lipi,
'writing,' must he supplied,"
the writing of foreigners in general,
whether Phoenician, Roman, or Greek,
is always meant. As to the
preposterous hypothesis of Prof. Max
Muller that writing "was not used
for literary purposes in India"
before Panini's time (again upon Greek
authority) that matter has been
disposed of elsewhere.
---------
* Dr. Weber is not probably aware of
the fact that this distinguished
astronomer's name was simply
Maya; the prefix "Asura" was
often added
to it by ancient Hindu writers to
show that he was a Rakshasa. In the
opinion of the Brahmans he was an
"Atlantean" and one of the greatest
astronomers and occultists of the
lost Atlantis.
---------
Equally unknown are those certain
other and most important facts, fable
though they seem. First, that the Aryan "Great War,"
the Mahabharata,
and the Trojan War of Homer--both
mythical as to personal biographies
and fabulous supernumeraries, yet perfectly
historical in the main--
belong to the same cycle of
events. For the occurrences of many
centuries, among them the separation
of sundry peoples and races,
erroneously traced to Central Asia
alone, were in these immortal epics
compressed within the scope of single
dramas made to occupy but a few
years. Secondly, that in this immense antiquity the
forefathers of the
Aryan Greeks and the Aryan Brahmans
were as closely united and
intermixed as are now the Aryans and
the so-called Dravidians. Thirdly,
that before the days of the
historical Rama, from whom in unbroken
genealogical descent the Oodeypore
sovereigns trace their lineage,
Rajpootana was as full of direct
post-Atlantean "Greeks," as the
post-Trojan, subjacent Cumaea and
other settlements of pre-Magna Graecia
were of the fast Hellenizing sires of
the modern Rajpoot. One
acquainted with the real meaning of
the ancient epics cannot refrain
from asking himself whether these
intuitional Orientalists prefer being
called deceivers or deceived, and in
charity give them the benefit of
the doubt.*
---------
* Further on, Prof. Weber indulges in
the following piece of
chronological sleight of hand. In his arduous endeavour "to determine
accurately" the place in history
of "the Romantic Legend of Sakya
Buddha" (translation by Beale),
he thinks "the special points of
relation here found to Christian
legends are very striking. The
question which party was the borrower
Deals properly leaves
undetermined. Yet in all likelihood (!!) we have here
simply a similar
case to that of the appropriation of
Christian legend by this worshipers
of Krishna" (p. 300). Now it is this that every Hindu and Buddhist
has
the right to brand as
"dishonesty," whether conscious or unconscious.
Legends originate earlier than history
and die out upon being sifted.
Neither of the fabulous events in
connection with Buddha's birth, taken
exoterically, necessitated a great
genius to narrate them, nor was the
intellectual capacity of the Hindus
ever proved so inferior to that of
the Jewish and Greek mob that they
should borrow from them even fables
inspired by religion. How their fables, evolved between the second
and
third centuries after Buddha's death,
when the fever of proselytism and
the adoration of his memory were at their
height, could be borrowed and
then appropriated from the Christian
legends written during the first
century of the Western era, can only
be explained by a German
Orientalist. Mr. T.W. Rhys Davids (Jataka Book) shows the
contrary to
have been true. It may be remarked in this connection that,
while the
first "miracles" of both
Krishna and Christ are said to have happened at
a Mathura, the latter city exists to
this day in India--the antiquity of
its name being fully proved--while
the Mathura, or Matures in Egypt, of
the "Gospel of Infancy,"
where Jesus is alleged to have produced his
first miracle, was sought to be
identified, centuries ago, by the stump
of an old tree in thee desert, and is
represented by an empty spot!
----------
What can be thought of Prof. Weber's
endeavour when, "to determine more
accurately the position of Ramayana
(called by him the 'artificial
epic') in literary history," he
ends with an assumption that "it rests
upon an acquaintance with the Trojan
cycle of legend .... the conclusion
there arrived at is that the date of
its composition is to be placed at
the commencement of the Christian era
in an epoch when the operation of
the Greek influence upon India had
already set in!" (p. 194.) The case
is hopeless. If the "internal chronology" and
external fitness of
things, we may add presented in the
triple Indian epic, did not open the
eyes of the hypercritical professors
to the many historical facts
enshrined in their striking
allegories; if the significant mention
of
"black Yavanas," and
"white Yavanas," indicating totally different
peoples, could so completely escape
their notice;* and the enumeration
of a host of tribes, nations, races,
clans, under their separate
Sanskrit designations in the Mahbharata,
had not stimulated them to try
to trace their ethnic evolution and
identify them with their now living
European descendants, there is little
to hope from their scholarship
except a mosaic of learned
guesswork. The latter scientific mode of
critical analysis may yet end some
day in a consensus of opinion that
Buddhism is due wholesale to the
"Life of Barlaam and Josaphat," written
by St. John of Damascus; or that our religion was plagiarized from
that
famous Roman Catholic legend of the
eighth century in which our Lord
Gautama is made to figure as a
Christian Saint, better still, that the
Vedas were written at Athens under
the auspices of St. George, the
tutelary successor of Theseus.
---------
* See Twelfth Book of Mahabharata,
Krishnas fight with Kalayavana.
---------
For fear that anything might be
lacking to prove the complete obsession
of Jambudvipa by the demon of "Greek influence," Dr. Weber
vindictively
casts a last insult into the face of
India by remarking that if
"European Western steeples owe
their origin to an imitation of the
Buddhist topes* .... on the other
hand in the most ancient Hindu
edifices the presence of Greek
influence is unmistakable" (p. 274).
Well may Dr. Rajendralala Mitra
"hold out particularly against the idea
of any Greek influence whatever on
the development of Indian
architecture." If his ancestral literature must be
attributed to "Greek
influence," the temples, at
least, might have been spared. One can
understand how the Egyptian Hall in
London reflects the influence of the
ruined temples on the Nile; but it is a more difficult feat, even for a
German professor, to prove the
archaic structure of old Aryavarta a
foreshadowing of the genius of the
late lamented Sir Christopher Wren!
The outcome of this paleographic
spoliation is that there is not a
tittle left for India to call her
own. Even medicine is due to the same
Hellenic influence. We are told--this once by Roth--that
"only a
comparison of the principles of
Indian with those of Greek medicine can
enable us to judge of the origin, age
and value of the former;" .... and
"a propos of Charaka's
injunctions as to the duties of the physician to
his patient," adds Dr. Weber,
"he cites some remarkably coincident
expressions from the Oath of the
Asklepiads." It is then settled.
India is Hellenized from head to
foot, and even had no physic until the
Greek doctors came.
----------
* Of Hindu Lingams, rather.
----------
Sakya Muni's Place in History
No Orientalist, save perhaps, the
same wise, not to say deep, Prof.
Weber, opposes more vehemently than
Prof. Max Muller Hindu and Buddhist
chronology. Evidently if an Indophile he is not a
Buddhophile, and
General Cunningham, however
independent otherwise in his archeological
researches, agrees with him more than
would seem strictly prudent in
view of possible future
discoveries.* We have then to refute in
our
turn this great Oxford professor's
speculations.
---------
* Notwithstanding Prof. M. Muller's regrettable
efforts to invalidate
every Buddhist evidence, he seems to
have ill-succeeded in proving his
case, if we can judge from the openly
expressed opinion of his own
German confreres. In the portion headed "Tradition as to
Buddha's Age"
(pp. 283-288) in his "Hist. of
Ind. Lit.," Prof. Weber very aptly
remarks, "Nothing like positive
certainty, therefore, is for the present
attainable. Nor have the subsequent
discussions of this topic by Max
Muller (1859) ('Hist. A.S.L.' p. 264
ff), by Westergaard (1860), 'Ueber
Buddha's Todesjahr,' and by 'Kern
Over de Jaartelling der Zuidel
Buddhisten' so far yielded any
definite results." Nor are they
likely
to.
---------
To the evidence furnished by the
Puranas and Mahavansa, which he also
finds hopelessly entangled and
contradictory (though the perfect
accuracy of that Sinhalese history is
most warmly acknowledged by Sir
Emerson Tennant, the historian), he
opposes the Greek classics and their
chronology. With him, it is always "Alexander's
invasion" and
"Conquest," and "the
ambassador of Seleucus Nicator-Megasthenes," while
even the faintest record of such
"conquest" is conspicuously absent from
Brahmanic record; and although in an
inscription of Piyadasi are
mentioned the names of Antiochus,
Ptolemy, Magus, Antigonus, and even of
the great Alexander himself, as
vassals of the king Piyadasi, the
Macedonian is yet called the
"Conqueror of India." In other
words,
while any casual mention of Indian
affairs by a Greek writer of no great
note must be accepted unchallenged,
no record of the Indians, literary
or monumental, is entitled to the
smallest consideration. Until rubbed
against the touch-stone of Hellenic
infallibility it must be set down,
in the words of Professor Weber, as
"of course mere empty boasting."
Oh, rare Western sense of justice! *
----------
* No Philaryan would pretend for a
moment on the strength of the
Piyadasi inscriptions that Alexander
of Macedonia, or either of the
other sovereigns mentioned, was
claimed as an actual "vassal" of
Chandragupta. They did not even pay tribute, but only a
kind of
quit-rent annually for lands ceded in
the north: as the grant-tablets
could show. But the inscription, however misinterpreted,
shows most
clearly that Alexander was never the
conqueror of India.
---------
Occult records show differently. They say--challenging proof to the
contrary--that Alexander never
penetrated into India farther than
Taxila; which is not even quite the modern
Attock. The murmuring of
the Macedonian's troops began at the
same place, and not as given out,
on the banks of the Hyphasis. For having never gone to the Hydaspes or
Jhelum, he could not have been on the
Sutlej. Nor did Alexander ever
found satrapies or plant any Greek
colonies in the Punjab. The only
colonies he left behind him that the
Brahmans ever knew of, amounted to
a few dozens of disabled soldiers,
scattered hither and thither on the
frontiers; who with their native
raped wives settled around the deserts
of Karmania and Drangaria--the then
natural boundaries of India. And
unless history regards as colonists
the many thousands of dead men and
those who settled for ever under the
hot sands of Gedrosia, there were
no other, save in the fertile
imagination of the Greek historians. The
boasted "invasion of India"
was confined to the regions between Karmania
and Attock, east and west; and Beloochistan and the Hindu Kush, south
and north: countries which were all
India for the Greek of those days.
His building a fleet on the Hydaspes
is a fiction; and his "victorious
march through the fighting armies of
India," another. However, it is not
with the "world conqueror"
that we have now to deal, but rather with the
supposed accuracy and even casual
veracity of his captains and
countrymen, whose hazy reminiscences
on the testimony of the classical
writers have now been raised to
unimpeachable evidence in everything
that may affect the chronology of
early Buddhism and India.
Foremost among the evidence of
classical writers, that of Flavius
Arrianus is brought forward against the
Buddhist and Chinese
chronologies. No one should impeach the personal testimony
of this
conscientious author had he been
himself an eye-witness instead of
Megasthenes. But when a man comes to know that he wrote
his accounts
upon the now lost works of
Aristobulus and Ptolemy; and that the
latter
described their data from texts
prepared by authors who had never set
their eyes upon one line written by
either Megasthenes or Nearchus
himself; and that knowing so much one is informed by
Western historians
that among the works of Arrian, Book
VII. of the "Anabasis of
Alexander," is "the chief
authority on the subject of the Indian
invasion--a book unfortunately with a
gap in its twelfth chapter"--one
may well conceive upon what a broken
reed Western authority leans for
its Indian chronology. Arrian lived over 600 years after Buddha's
death; Strabo, 500 (55 "B.C."); Diodorus Siculus--quite a trustworthy
compiler!--about the first century;
Plutarch over 700 anno Buddhae, and
Quintus Curtius over 1,000 years! And when, to crown this army of
witnesses against the Buddhist
annals, the reader is informed by our
Olympian critics that the works of
the last-named author--than whom no
more blundering (geographically,
chronologically, and historically)
writer ever lived--form along with
the Greek history of Arrian the most
valuable source of information
respecting the military career of
Alexander the Great--then the only
wonder is that the great conqueror
was not made by his biographers to
have--Leonidas-like--defended the
Thermopylean passes in the Hindu Kush
against the invasion of the first
Vedic Brahmins "from the
Oxus." Withal the Buddhist dates are either
rejected or only accepted pro
tempore. Well may the Hindu resent the
preference shown to the testimony of
Greeks--of whom some, at least, are
better remembered in Indian history
as the importers into Jambudvipa of
every Greek and Roman vice known and
unknown to their day--against his
own national records and
history. "Greek influence" was
felt, indeed,
in India, in this, and only in this,
one particular. Greek damsels
mentioned as an article of great
traffic for India--Persian and Greek
Yavanis--were the fore-mothers of the
modern nautch-girls, who had till
then remained pure virgins of the
inner temples. Alliances with the
Autiochuses and the Seleucus Nicators
bore no better fruit than the
rotten apple of Sodom. Pataliputra, as prophesied by Gautama Buddha,
found its fate in the waters of the
Ganges, having been twice before
nearly destroyed, again like Sodom,
by the fire of heaven.
Reverting to the main subject, the
"contradictions" between the
Ceylonese and Chino-Tibetan
chronologies actually prove nothing. If the
Chinese annalists of Saul in
accepting the prophecy of our Lord that "a
thousand years after He had reached
Nirvana, His doctrines would reach
the north" fell into the mistake
of applying it to China, whereas Tibet
was meant, the error was corrected
after the eleventh century of the
Tzina era in most of the temple
chronologies. Besides which, it may now
refer to other events relating to
Buddhism, of which Europe knows
nothing, China or Tzina dates its
present name only from the year 296 of
the Buddhist era* (vulgar chronology
having assumed it from the first
Hoang of the Tzin dynasty): therefore the Tathagata could not have
indicated it by this name in his
well-known prophecy. If misunderstood
even by several of the Buddhist
commentators, it is yet preserved in its
true sense by his own immediate
Arhats. The Glorified One meant the
country that stretches far off from
the Lake Mansorowara; far beyond
that region of the Himavat, where
dwelt from time immemorial the great
"teachers of the Snowy
Range." These were the great
Sraman-acharyas who
preceded Him, and were His teachers,
their humble successors trying to
this day to perpetuate their and His
doctrines. The prophecy came out
true to the very day, and it is
corroborated both by the mathematical
and historical chronology of
Tibet--quite as accurate as that of the
Chinese. Arhat Kasyapa, of the dynasty of Moryas,
founded by one of the
Chandraguptas near Ptaliputra, left
the convent of Panch-Kukkutarama, in
consequence of a vision of our Lord,
for missionary purpose in the year
683 of the Tzin era (436 Western era)
and had reached the great Lake of
Bod-Yul in the same year. It is at that period that expired the
millennium prophesied.
--------
* The reference to Chinahunah
(Chinese and Huns) in the Vishma
Parva of the Mahabharata is evidently
a later interpolation, as
it does not occur in the old MSS.
existing in Southern India.
--------
The Arhat carrying with him the fifth
statue of Sakya Muni out of the
seven gold statues made after his
bodily death by order of the first
Council, planted it in the soil on that
very spot where seven years
later was built the first GUNPA
(monastery), where the earliest Buddhist
lamas dwelt. And though the conversion of the whole
country did not
take place before the beginning of
the seventh century (Western era),
the good law had, nevertheless,
reached the North at the time
prophesied, and no earlier. For, the first of the golden statues had
been plundered from Bhikshu Sali Suka
by the Hiong-un robbers and
melted, during the days of
Dharmasoka, who had sent missionaries beyond
Nepaul. The second had a like fate, at Ghar-zha, even
before it had
reached the boundaries of
Bod-Yul. The third was rescued from a
barbarous tribe of Bhons by a Chinese
military chief who had pursued
them into the deserts of Schamo about
423 Buddhist era (120 "B.C.") The
fourth was sunk in the third century
of the Christian era, together
with the ship that carried it from
Magadha toward the hills of
Ghangs-chhen-dzo-nga
(Chitagong). The fifth arriving in the
nick of
time reached its destination with
Arhat Kasyapa. So did the last two.*
---------
* No doubt, since the history of
these seven statues is not in the hands
of the Orientalists, it will be
treated as a "groundless fable."
Nevertheless such is their origin and
history. They date from the first
Synod, that of Rajagriha, held in the
season of war following the death
of Buddha, i.e., one year after his
death. Were this Rajagriha Council
held 100 years after, as maintained
by some, it could not have been
presided over by Mahakasyapa, the
friend and brother Arhat of Sakyamuni,
as he would have been 200 years
old. The second Council or Synod, that
of Vaisali, was held 120, not 100 or
110 years as some would have it,
after the Nirvana, for the latter
took place at a time a little over 20
years before the physical death of
Tathagata. It was held at the great
Saptapana cave (Mahavansa's
Sattapanni), near the Mount Baibhar (the
Webhara of the Pali Manuscripts),
that was in Rajagriha, the old capital
of Magadha. Memoirs exist, containing
the record of his daily life, made
by the nephew of king Ajatasatru, a
favourite Bikshu of the Mahacharya.
These texts have ever been in the
possession of the superiors of the
first Lamasery built by Arhat Kasyapa
in Bod-Yul, most of whose Chohans
were the descendants of the dynasty
of the Moryas, there being up to
this day three of the members of this
once royal family living in India.
The old text in question is a
document written in Anudruta Magadha
characters. (We deny that these or any other characters--whether
Devanagari, Pali, or Dravidian--ever
used in India, are variations of,
or derivatives from, the
Phoenician.) To revert to the texts it
is
therein stated that the Sattapanni
cave, then called "Sarasvati" and
"Bamboo-cave," got its
latter name in this wise. When our Lord
first
sat in it for Dhyana, it was a large
six-chambered natural cave, 50 to
60 feet wide by 33 deep. One day, while teaching the mendicants
outside, our Lord compared man to a
Saptaparna (seven-leaved) plant,
showing them how after the loss of
its first leaf every other could be
easily detached, but the seventh
leaf--directly connected with the stem.
"Mendicants," he said,
"there are seven Buddhas in every Buddha, and
there are six Bikshus and but one
Buddha in each mendicant. What are
the seven? The seven branches of complete
knowledge. What are the six?
The six organs of sense. What are the five? The five elements of
illusive being. And the ONE which is also ten? He is a true Buddha who
develops in him the ten forms of holiness
and subjects them all to the
one--'the silent voice' (meaning
Avolokiteswara). After that, causing
the rock to be moved at His command,
the Tathagata made it divide itself
into a seventh additional chamber,
remarking that a rock too was
septenary, and had seven stages of
development. From that time it was
called the Sattapanni or the
Saptaparna cave. After the first Synod
was
held, seven gold statues of the
Bhagavat were cast by order of the king,
and each of them was placed in one of
the seven compartments." These in
after times, when the good law had to
make room to more congenial
because more sensual creeds, were
taken in charge by various Viharas and
then disposed of as explained. Thus when Mr. Turnour states on the
authority of the sacred traditions of
Southern Buddhists that the cave
received its name from the Sattapanni
plant, he states what is correct.
In the "Archeological Survey of
India," we find that Gen. Cunningham
identifies this cave with one not far
away from it and in the same
Baihbar range, but which is most
decidedly not our Saptaparna cave. At
the same time the Chief Engineer of
Buddha Gaya, Mr. Beglar, describing
the Chetu cave, mentioned by Fa-hian,
thinks it is the Saptaparna cave,
and he is right. For that, as well as the Pippal and the other
caves
mentioned in our texts, are too
sacred in their associations--both
having been used for centuries by
generations of Bhikkhus, unto the very
time of their leaving India--to have
their sites so easily forgotten.
---------
On the other hand, the Southern
Buddhists, headed by the Ceylonese, open
their annals with the following
event:--
They claim according to their native
chronology that Vijaya, the son of
Sinhabahu, the sovereign of Lala, a
small kingdom or Raj on the Gandaki
river in Magadha, was exiled by his
father for acts of turbulence and
immorality. Sent adrift on the ocean with his companions
after having
their heads shaved, Buddhist-Bhikshu
fashion, as a sign of penitence, he
was carried to the shores of Lanka. Once landed, he and his companions
conquered and easily took possession
of an island inhabited by
uncivilized tribes, generically
called the Yakshas. This--at whatever
epoch and year it may have
happened--is an historical fact, and the
Ceylonese records, independent of
Buddhist chronology, give it out as
having taken place 382 years before
Dushtagamani (i.e., in 543 before
the Christian era). Now, the Buddhist Sacred Annals record
certain
words of our Lord pronounced by Him
shortly before His death. In
Mahavansa He is made to have
addressed them to Sakra, in the midst of a
great assembly of Devatas (Dhyan
Chohans), and while already "in the
exalted unchangeable Nirvana, seated
on the throne on which Nirvana is
achieved." In our texts Tathagata addresses them to his
assembled
Arhats and Bhikkhuts a few days
before his final liberation:--"One
Vijaya, the son of Sinhabahu, king of
the land of Lala, together with
700 attendants, has just landed on
Lanka. Lord of Dhyan Buddhas
(Devas)! my doctrine will be
established on Lanka. Protect him and
Lanka!" This is the sentence pronounced which, as
proved later, was a
prophecy. The now familiar phenomenon of clairvoyant
prevision, amply
furnishing a natural explanation of
the prophetic utterance without any
unscientific theory of miracle, the
laugh of certain Orientalists seems
uncalled for. Such parallels of
poetico-religious embellishments as
found in Mahavansa exist in the
written records of every religion--as
much in Christianity as anywhere else. An unbiased mind would first
endeavour to reach the correct and
very superficially hidden meaning
before throwing ridicule and
contemptuous discredit upon them.
Moreover, the Tibetans possess a more
sober record of this prophecy in
the Notes, already alluded to,
reverentially taken down by King
Ajatasatru's nephew. They are, as said above, in the possession of
the
Lamas of the convent built by Arhat
Kasyapa--the Moryas and their
descendants being of a more direct
descent than the Rajput Gautamas, the
Chiefs of Nagara--the village
identified with Kapilavastu--are the best
entitled of all to their
possession. And we know they are
historical to
a word. For the Esoteric Buddhist
they yet vibrate in space; and these
prophetic words, together with the true
picture of the Sugata who
pronounced them, are present in the
aura of every atom of His relics.
This, we hasten to say, is no proof
but for the psychologist. But there
is other and historical evidence: the
cumulative testimony of our
religious chronicles. The philologist has not seen these; but this is
no proof of their non-existence.
The mistake of the Southern Buddhists
lies in dating the Nirvana of
Sanggyas Pan-chhen from the actual
day of his death, whereas, as above
stated, He had reached it over twenty
years previous to his
disincarnation. Chronologically, the Southerners are right,
both in
dating His death in 543
"B.C.," and one of the great Councils at 100
years after the latter event. But the Tibetan Chohans, who possess all
the documents relating to the last
twenty-four years of His external and
internal life--of which no
philologist knows anything--can show that
there is no real discrepancy between
the Tibetan and the Ceylonese
chronologies as stated by the Western
Orientalists.* For the profane,
the Exalted One was born in the
sixty-eighth year of the Burmese
Eeatzana era, established by Eeatzana
(Anjana), King of Dewaha; for the
initiated--in the forty-eighth year
of that era, on a Friday of the
waxing moon, of May. And it was in 563 before the Christian
chronology
that Tathagata reached his full
Nirvana, dying, as correctly stated by
Mahavana--in 543, on the very day
when Vijaya landed with his companions
in Ceylon--as prophesied by
Loka-ratha, our Buddha.
---------
* Bishop Bigandet, after examining
all the Burmese authorities
accessible to him, frankly confesses
that "the history of Buddha offers
an almost complete blank as to what
regards his doings and preachings
during a period of nearly
twenty-three years." (Vol. I. p. 260.)
---------
Professor Max Muller seems to greatly
scoff at this prophecy. In his
chapter ("Hist. S. L.")
upon Buddhism (the "false" religion), the
eminent scholar speaks as though he
resented such an unprecedented
claim. "We are asked to believe"--he writes--"that
the Ceylonese
historians placed the founder of the
Vijyan dynasty of Ceylon in the
year 543 in accordance with their
sacred chronology!" (i.e., Buddha's
prophecy), "while we (the
philologists) are not told, however, through
what channel the Ceylonese could have
received their information as to
the exact date of Buddha's
death." Two points may be noticed
in these
sarcastic phrases: (a) the implication of a false prophecy by
our Lord;
and (b) a dishonest tampering with
chronological records, reminding one
of those of Eusebius, the famous
Bishop of Caesarea, who stands accused
in history of "perverting every
Egyptian chronological table for the
sake of synchronisms." With reference to charge one, he may be asked
why our Sakyasinha's prophecies should
not be as much entitled to his
respect as those of his Saviour would
be to ours--were we to ever write
the true history of the
"Galilean" Arhat. With regard
to charge two,
the distinguished philologist is
reminded of the glass house he and all
Christian chronologists are
themselves living in. Their inability to
vindicate the adoption of December 25
as the actual day of the Nativity,
and hence to determine the age and
the year of their Avatar's death--
even before their own people--is far
greater than is ours to demonstrate
the year of Buddha to other
nations. Their utter failure to
establish
on any other but traditional evidence
the, to them, historically
unproved, if probable, fact of his
existence at all--ought to engender a
fairer spirit. When Christian historians can, upon
undeniable
historical authority, justify
biblical and ecclesiastical chronology,
then, perchance, they may be better
equipped than at present for the
congenial work of rending heathen
chronologies into shreds.
The "channel" the Ceylonese
received their information through, was two
Bikshus who had left Magadha to
follow their disgraced brethren into
exile. The capacity of Siddhartha Buddha's Arhats
for transmitting
intelligence by psychic currents may,
perhaps, be conceded without any
great stretch of imagination to have
been equal to, if not greater than,
that of the prophet Elijah, who is
credited with the power of having
known from any distance all that
happened in the king's bed chamber. No
Orientalist has the right to reject
the testimony of other people's
Scriptures, while professing belief
in the far more contradictory and
entangled evidence of his own upon
the self-same theory of proof. If
Professor Muller is a sceptic at
heart, then let him fearlessly declare
himself; only a sceptic who impartially acts the
iconoclast has the
right to assume such a tone of
contempt towards any non-Christian
religion. And for the instruction of the impartial
inquirer only, shall
it be thought worth while to collate
the evidence afforded by
historical--not
psychological--data. Meanwhile, by
analyzing some
objections and exposing the dangerous
logic of our critic, we may give
the theosophists a few more facts
connected with the subject under
discussion.
Now that we have seen Professor Max
Muller's opinions in general about
this, so to say, the Prologue to the
Buddhist Drama with Vijaya as the
hero--what has he to say as to the
details of its plot? What weapon
does he use to weaken this
foundation-stone of a chronology upon which
are built and on which depend all
other Buddhist dates? What is the
fulcrum for the critical lever he
uses against the Asiatic records?
Three of his main points may be
stated seriatim with answers appended.
He begins by premising that--
1st.--"If the starting-point of
the Northern Buddhist chronology turns
out to be merely hypothetical, based
as it is on a prophecy of Buddha,
it will be difficult to avoid the
same conclusion with regard to the
date assigned to Buddha's death by
the Buddhists of Ceylon and of
Burmah" (p. 266). "The Mahavansa begins with relating
three miraculous
visits which Buddha paid to
Ceylon." Vijaya, the name of the founder of
the first dynasty (in Ceylon), means
conquest, "and, therefore, such a
person most likely never
existed" (p. 268). This he believes
invalidates the whole Buddhist
chronology.
To which the following pendant may be
offered:--
William I., King of England, is
commonly called the Conqueror; he was,
moreover, the illegitimate son of
Robert, Duke of Normandy, surnamed le
Diable. An opera, we hear, was invented on this
subject, and full of
miraculous events, called
"Robert the Devil," showing its traditional
character. Therefore shall we be also justified in
saying that Edward
the Confessor, Saxons and all, up to
the time of the union of the houses
of York and Lancaster under Henry
VII.--the new historical period in
English history--are all
"fabulous tradition" and "such a person as
William the Conqueror most likely
never existed?"
2nd.--In the Chinese chronology--continues
the dissecting critic
--"the list of the thirty-three
Buddhist patriarchs .... is of a
doubtful character. For Western history the exact Ceylonese
chronology begins with 161
B.C." Extending beyond that date
there
exists but "a traditional native
chronology. Therefore .... what goes
before .... is but fabulous
tradition."
The chronology of the Apostles and
their existence has never been proved
historically. The history of the Papacy is confessedly
"obscure."
Ennodius of Pavia (fifth century) was
the first one to address the Roman
Bishop (Symmochus), who comes
fifty-first in the Apostolic succession,
as "Pope." Thus, if we were to write the history of
Christianity, and
indulge in remarks upon its
chronology, we might say that since there
were no antecedent Popes, and since
the Apostolic line began with
Symmochus (498 A.D.), all Christian
records beginning with the Nativity
and up to the sixth century are
therefore "fabulous traditions," and all
Christian chronology is "purely
hypothetical."
3rd.--Two discrepant dates in
Buddhist chronology are scornfully pointed
out by the Oxford Professor. If the landing of Vijaya, in Lanka--he
says--on the same day that Buddha
reached Nirvana (died) is in
fulfilment of Buddha's prophecy, then
"if Buddha was a true prophet, the
Ceylonese argue quite rightly that he
must have died in the year of the
conquest, or 543 B.C." (p.
270). On the other hand, the Chinese
have a
Buddhist chronology of their
own; and it does not agree with the
Ceylonese. "The lifetime of Buddha from 1029 to 950
rests on his own
prophecy that a millennium would
elapse from his death to the conversion
of China. If, therefore, Buddha was a true prophet, he
must have lived
about 1000 B.C." (p. 266). But the date does not agree with the
Ceylonese chronology--ergo, Buddha
was a false prophet. As to that other
"the first and most important
link" in the Ceylonese as well as in the
Chinese chronology, "it is
extremely weak." .... In the Ceylonese "a
miraculous genealogy had to be provided
for Vijaya," and, "a prophecy
was therefore invented" (p.
269).
On these same lines of argument it
may be argued that:
Since no genealogy of Jesus,
"exact or inexact," is found in any of the
world's records save those entitled
the Gospels of SS. Mathew (I--1-17),
and Luke (iii. 23--38); and, since these radically disagree--although
this personage is the most
conspicuous in Western history, and the
nicest accuracy might have been
expected in his case; therefore,
agreeably with Professor Max Muller's
sarcastic logic, if Jesus "was a
true prophet," he must have
descended from David through Joseph
(Matthew's Gospel); and "if he was a true prophet,"
again, then the
Christians "argue quite rightly
that he must have" descended from David
through Mary (Luke's Gospel). Furthermore, since the two genealogies
are obviously discrepant and
prophecies were, in this instance, truly
"invented" by the
post-apostolic theologians [or, if preferred, old
prophecies of Isaiah and other Old
Testament prophets, irrelevant to
Jesus, were adapted to suit his
case--as recent English commentators (in
Holy Orders), the Bible revisers, now
concede]; and since, moreover--
always following the Professor's
argument, in the cases of Buddhist and
Brahmanical chronologies--Biblical
chronology and genealogy are found to
be "traditional and full of
absurdities .... every attempt to bring them
into harmony having proved a
failure." (p. 266): have we or have
we not
a certain right to retort, that if
Gautama Buddha is shown on these
lines a false prophet, then Jesus
must be likewise "a false prophet?"
And if Jesus was a true prophet
despite existing confusion of
authorities, why on the same lines
may not Buddha have been one?
Discredit the Buddhist prophecies and
the Christian ones must go along
with them.
The utterances of the ancient
pythoness now but provoke the scientific
smile: but no tripod ever mounted by the prophetess
of old was so shaky
as the chronological trinity of
points upon which this Orientalist
stands to deliver his oracles. Moreover, his arguments are
double-edged, as shown. If the citadel of Buddhism can be undermined
by Professor Max Muller's critical
engineering, then pari passu that of
Christianity must crumble in the same
ruins. Or have the Christians
alone the monopoly of absurd
religious "inventions" and the right of
being jealous of any infringement of
their patent rights?
To conclude, we say, that the year of
Buddha's death is correctly stated
by Mr. Sinnett, "Esoteric
Buddhism" having to give its chronological
dates according to esoteric
reckoning. And this reckoning would
alone,
if explained, make away with every
objection urged, from Professor Max
Muller's "Sanskrit
Literature" down to the latest "evidence"--the proofs
in the "Reports of the
Archeological Survey of India." The
Ceylonese
era, as given in Mahavansa, is
correct in everything, withholding but
the above given fact of Nirvana, the
great mystery of Samma-Sambuddha
and Abhidina remaining to this day
unknown to the outsider; and though
certainly known to Bikshu
Mahanama--King Dhatusena's uncle--it could not
be explained in a work like the
Mahavansa. Moreover, the Singhalese
chronology agrees in every particular
with the Burmese chronology.
Independent of the religious era
dating from Buddha's death, called
"Nirvanic Era," there
existed, as now shown by Bishop Bigandet ("Life of
Guadama"), two historical
eras. One lasted 1362 years, its last
year
corresponding with 1156 of the
Christian era: the other, broken in two
small eras, the last, succeeding
immediately the other, exists to the
present day. The beginning of the first, which lasted 562
years,
coincides with the year 79 A.D. and
the Indian Saka era. Consequently,
the learned Bishop, who surely can
never be suspected of partiality to
Buddhism, accepts the year 543 of
Buddha's Nirvana. So do Mr. Tumour,
Professor Lassen, and others.
The alleged discrepancies between the
fourteen various dates of Nirvana
collected by Csoma Corosi, do not
relate to the Nyr-Nyang in the least.
They are calculations concerning the
Nirvana of the precursors, the
Boddhisatwas and previous
incarnations of Sanggyas that the Hungarian
found in various works and wrongly
applied to the last Buddha.
Europeans must not forget that this
enthusiast acted under protest of
the Lamas during the time of his stay
with them: and that, moreover, he
had learned more about the doctrines
of the heretical Dugpas than of the
orthodox Gelugpas. The statement of this "great authority
(!) on
Tibetan Buddhism," as he is
called, to the effect that Gautama had three
wives whom he names--and then
contradicts himself by showing ("Tibetan
Grammar," p. 162, see note) that
the first two wives "are one and the
same," shows how little he can
be regarded as an "authority."
He had
not even learned that "Gopa,
Yasodhara and Utpala Varna" are the three
names for three mystical powers. So with the "discrepancies" of the
dates. Out of the sixty-four mentioned by him but
two relate to Sakya
Muni--namely, the years 576 and 546--and
these two err in their
transcription; for when corrected they must stand 564 and
543. As for
the rest they concern the seven
ku-sum, or triple form of the Nirvanic
state and their respective duration,
and relate to doctrines of which
Orientalists know absolutely nothing.
Consequently from the Northern
Buddhists, who, as confessed by Professor
Weber, "alone possess these
(Buddhist) Scriptures complete," and have
"preserved more authentic
information regarding the circumstances of
their redaction"--the
Orientalists have up to this time learned next to
nothing. The Tibetans say that Tathagata became a full
Buddha--i.e.,
reached absolute Nirvana--in 2544 of
the Kali era (according to
Souramana), and thus lived indeed but
eighty years, as no Nirvanee of
the seventh degree can be reckoned
among the living (i.e., existing)
men.
It is no better than loose conjecture to argue that it would have
entered as little into the thoughts
of the Brahmans to note the day of
Buddha's birth "as the Romans or
even the Jews (would have) thought of
preserving the date of the birth of
Jesus before he had become the
founder of a religion." (Max
Muller's "Hist. S. L.") For,
while the
Jews had been from the first
rejecting the claim of Messiah-ship set up
by the Chelas of the Jewish prophet
and were not expecting their Messiah
at that time, the Brahmans (the
initiates, at any rate) knew of the
coming of him whom they regarded as
an incarnation of Divine wisdom, and
therefore were well aware of the
astrological date of his birth. If, in
after times, in their impotent rage
they destroyed every accessible
vestige of the birth, life and death
of Him, who in his boundless mercy
to all creatures had revealed their
carefully concealed mysteries and
doctrines in order to check the ecclesiastical
torrent of ever-growing
superstitions, yet there had been a
time when he was met by them as an
Avatar. And, though they destroyed,
others preserved.
The thousand and one speculations and
the torturing of exoteric texts by
Archeologist or Paleographer will ill
repay the time lost in their
study.
The Indian annals specify King
Ajatasatru as a contemporary of Buddha,
and another Ajatasatru helped to
prepare the council 100 years after his
death. These princes were sovereigns of Magadha and have
naught to do
with Ajatasatru of the
Brihad-Aranyaka and the Kaushitaki-Upanishad, who
was a sovereign of the Kasis; though
Bhadrasena, "the son of Ajatasatru"
cursed by Aruni, may have more to do
with his namesake the "heir of
Chandragupta" than is generally
known, Professor Max Miller objects to
two Asokas. He rejects Kalasoka and
accepts but Dharmasoka--in
accordance with "Greek" and
in utter conflict with Buddhist chronology.
He knows not--or perhaps prefers to
ignore--that besides the two Asokas
there were several personages named
Chandragupta and Chandramasa.
Plutarch is set aside as conflicting
with the more welcome theory, and
the evidence of Justin alone is
accepted. There was Kalasoka, called by
some Chandramasa and by others
Chandragupta, whose son Nanda was
succeeded by his cousin the
Chandragupta of Seleucus, and under whom the
Council of Vaisali took place
"supported by King Nanda" as correctly
stated by Taranatha. (None of them were Sudras, and this is a pure
invention of the Brahmans.) Then there was the last of the
Chandraguptas who assumed the name of
Vikrama; he commenced the new era
called the Vikramaditya or Samvat and
began the new dynasty at
Pataliputra, 318 (B.C.)--according to
some European "authorities;" after
him his son Bindusara or
Bhadrasena--also Chandragupta, who was followed
by Dharmasoka Chandragupta. And there were two Piyadasis--the
"Sandracottus" Chandragupta
and Asoka. And if controverted, the
Orientalists will have to account for
this strange inconsistency. If
Asoka was the only
"Piyadasi" and the builder of the monuments, and
maker of the rock-inscriptions of
this name; and if his inauguration
occurred as conjectured by Professor
Max Muller about 259 B.C., in other
words, if he reigned sixty or seventy
years later than any of the Greek
kings named on the Piyadasian
monuments, what had he to do with their
vassalage or non-vassalage, or how
was he concerned with them at all?
Their dealings had been with his
grandfather some seventy years
earlier--if he became a Buddhist only
after ten years occupancy of the
throne. And finally, three well-known Bhadrasenas can
be proved, whose
names spelt loosely and phonetically,
according to each writer's dialect
and nationality, now yield a variety
of names, from Bindusara,
Bimbisara, and Vindusara, down to
Bhadrasena and Bhadrasara, as he is
called in the Vayu Purana. These are all synonymous. However easy, at
first sight, it may seem to be to
brush out of history a real personage,
it becomes more difficult to prove the
non-existence of Kalasoka by
calling him "false," while
the second Asoka is termed "the real," in the
face of the evidence of the Puranas,
written by the bitterest enemies of
the Buddhists, the Brahmans of the
period. The Vayu and Matsya Puranas
mention both in their lists of their
reigning sovereigns of the Nanda
and the Morya dynasties. And, though they connect Chandragupta with a
Sudra Nanda, they do not deny
existence to Kalasoka, for the sake of
invalidating Buddhist
chronology. However falsified the now
extant
texts of both the Vaya and Matsya
Puranas, even accepted as they at
present stand "in their true
meaning," which Professor Max Muller
(notwithstanding his confidence)
fails to seize, they are not "at
variance with Buddhist chronology
before Chandragupta." Not, at any
rate, when the real Chandragupta
instead of the false Sandrocottus of
the Greeks is recognized and
introduced. Quite independently of the
Buddhist version, there exists the
historical fact recorded in the
Brahmanical as well as in the Burmese
and Tibetan versions, that in the
year 63 of Buddha, Susinago of
Benares was chosen king by the people of
Pataliputra, who made away with
Ajatasatru's dynasty. Susinago removed
the capital of Magadha from Rajagriha
to Vaisali, while his successor
Kalasoka removed it in his turn to
Pataliputra. It was during the reign
of the latter that the prophecy of
Buddha concerning Patalibat or
Pataliputra--a small village during
His time--was realized. (See
Mahaparinibbana Sutta).
It will be easy enough, when the time
comes, to answer all denying
Orientalists and face them with proof
and document in hand. They speak
of the extravagant, wild
exaggerations of the Buddhists and Brahmans.
The latter answer: "The wildest theorists of all are they
who, to evade
a self-evident fact, assume moral,
anti-national impossibilities,
entirely opposed to the most
conspicuous traits of the Brahmanical
Indian character--namely, borrowing
from, or imitating in anything,
other nations. From their comments on
Rig Veda, down to the annals of
Ceylon, from Panini to Matouan-lin,
every page of their learned scholia
appears, to one acquainted with the
subject, like a monstrous jumble of
unwarranted and insane
speculations. Therefore, notwithstanding
Greek
chronology and Chandragupta--whose
date is represented as 'the
sheet-anchor of Indian chronology'
that 'nothing will ever shake'--it is
to be feared that as regards India,
the chronological ship of the
Sanskritists has already broken from
her moorings and gone adrift with
all her precious freight of
conjectures and hypotheses. She is
drifting
into danger. We are at the end of a cycle--geological and
other--and at
the beginning of another. Cataclysm is to follow cataclysm. The pent-up
forces are bursting out in many
quarters; and not only will men be
swallowed up or slain by thousands,
'new' land appear and 'old' subside,
volcanic eruptions and tidal waves
appal; but secrets of an unsuspected
past will be uncovered to the dismay
of Western theorists and the
humiliation of an imperious
science. This drifting ship, if watched,
may be seen to ground upon the
upheaved vestiges of ancient
civilizations, and fall to
pieces. We are not emulous of the
prophet's
honours: but still, let this stand as
a prophecy."
Inscriptions Discovered by General A.
Cunningham
We have carefully examined the new
inscription discovered by General A.
Cunningham on the strength of which
the date assigned to Buddha's death
by Buddhist writers has been declared
to be incorrect; and we are of
opinion that the said inscription
confirms the truth of the Buddhist
traditions instead of proving them to
be erroneous. The above-mentioned
archeologist writes as follows
regarding the inscription under
consideration in the first volume of
his reports:--"The most interesting
inscription (at Gaya) is a long and
perfect one dated in the era of the
Nirvana or death of Buddha. I read the date as follows:--Bhagavati
Parinirvritte Samvat 1819 Karttike
badi I Budhi--that is, 'in the year
1819 of the Emancipation of Bhagavata
on Wednesday, the first day of the
waning moon of Kartik.' If the era here used is the same as that of
the
Buddhists of Ceylon and Burmah, which
began in 543 B.C., the date of
this inscription will be 1819--543 =
A.D. 1276. The style of the
letters is in keeping with this date,
but is quite incompatible with
that derivable from the Chinese date
of the era. The Chinese place the
death of Buddha upwards of 1000 years
before Christ, so that according
to them the date of this inscription
would be about A.D. 800, a period
much too early for the style of
character used in the inscription. But
as the day of the week is here
fortunately added, the date can be
verified by calculation. According to
my calculation, the date of the
inscription corresponds with
Wednesday, the 17th of September, AD. 1342.
This would place the Nirvana of
Buddha in 477 B.C., which is the very
year that was first proposed by
myself as the most probable date of that
event. This corrected date has since been adopted by
Professor Max
Muller."
The reasons assigned by some
Orientalists for considering this so-called
"corrected date" as the
real date of Buddha's death have already been
noticed and criticized in the
preceding paper; and now we have only to
consider whether the inscription in
question disproves the old date.
Major-General Cunningham evidently
seems to take it for granted, as far
as his present calculation is
concerned, that the number of days in a
year is counted in the Magadha
country and by Buddhist writers in
general on the same basis on which
the number of days in a current
English year is counted; and this wrong assumption has vitiated his
calculation and led him to a wrong
conclusion. Three different methods
of calculation were in use in India
at the time when Buddha lived, and
they are still in use in different
parts of the country. These methods
are known as Souramanam,
Chandrarmanam and Barhaspatyamanam.
According
to the Hindu works on astronomy a
Souramanam year consists of 365 days
15 ghadias and 31 vighadias; a Chandramanam year has 360 days, and a
year on the basis of Barhaspatyamanam
has 361 days and 11 ghadias
nearly. Such being the case, General Cunningham ought
to have taken the
trouble of ascertaining before he
made his calculation the particular
manam (measure) employed by the
writers of Magadha and Ceylon in giving
the date of Buddha's death and the
manam used in calculating the years
of the Buddhist era mentioned in the inscription
above quoted. Instead
of placing himself in the position of
the writer of the said inscription
and making the required calculation
from that standpoint, he made the
calculation on the same basis of
which an English gentleman of the
nineteenth century would calculate
time according to his own calendar.
If the calculation were correctly
made, it would have shown him that the
inscription in question is perfectly
consistent with the statement that
Buddha died in the year 543 B.C.
according to Barhaspatyamanam (the only
manam used in Magadha and by Pali
writers in general). The correctness
of this assertion will be clearly
seen on examining the following
calculation.
543 years according to
Barhaspatyamanam are equivalent to 536 years and
8 months (nearly) according to
Souramanam.
Similarly, 1819 years according to
the former manam are equivalent to
1798 years (nearly) according to the
latter manarn.
As the Christian era commenced on the
3102nd year of Kaliyuga (according
to Souramanam), Buddha died in the
year 2565 of Kaliyuga and the
inscription was written in the year
4362 of Kaliyuga (according to
Souramanam). And now the question is whether according to
the Hindu
almanack, the first day of the waning
moon of Kartik coincided with a
Wednesday.
According to Suryasiddhanta the
number of days from the beginning of
Kaliyuga up to midnight on the 15th
day of increasing moon of Aswina is
1,593,072, the number of
Adhikamasansas (extra months) during the
interval being 1608 and the number of
Kshayathithis 25,323.
If we divide this number by 7 the
remainder would be 5. As Kaliyuga
commenced with Friday, the period of
time above defined closed with
Tuesday, as according to
Suryasiddhanta a weekday is counted from
midnight to midnight.
It is to be noticed that in places
where Barhaspatyamanam is in use
Krishnapaksham (or the fortnight of
waning moon) commences first and is
followed by Suklapaksham (period of
waxing moon).
Consequently, the next day after the
15th day of the waxing moon of
Aswina will be the 1st day of the
waning moon of Kartika to those who
are guided by the Barhaspatyamanam
calendar. And therefore the latter
date, which is the date mentioned in
the inscription, was Wednesday in
the year 4362 of Kaliyuga.
The geocentric longitude of the sun
at the time of his meridian passage
on the said date being 174 deg. 20'
16" and the moon's longitude being
70 deg 51' 42" (according to
Suryasiddhanta) it can be easily seen that
at Gaya there was Padyamitithi (first
day of waning moon) for nearly 7
ghadias and 50 vighadias from the
time of sunrise.
It is clear from the foregoing
calculation that "Kartik I Badi"
coincided with Wednesday in the year
4362 of Kaliyuga or the year 1261
of the Christian era, and that from
the standpoint of the person who
wrote the inscription the said year
was the 1819th year of the Buddhist
era.
And consequently this new inscription confirms the correctness of
the date assigned to Buddha's death
by Buddhist writers. It would have
been better if Major-General Cunningham
had carefully examined the basis
of his calculation before proclaiming
to the world at large that the
Buddhist accounts were untrustworthy.
Discrimination of Spirit and Not
Spirit
(Translated from the original
Sanskrit of Sankara Acharya.)
by Mohini M. Chatterji
[An apology is scarcely needed for
undertaking a translation of Sankara
Acharya's celebrated Synopsis of
Vedantism entitled "Atmanatma Vivekah."
This little treatise, within a small
compass, fully sets forth the scope
and purpose of the Vedanta
philosophy. It has been a matter of no
little wonder, considering the
authorship of this pamphlet and its own
intrinsic merits, that a translation
of it has not already been executed
by some competent scholar. The present translation, though pretending
to no scholarship, is dutifully
literal, excepting, however, the
omission of a few lines relating to
the etymology of the words Sarira
and Deha, and one or two other things
which, though interesting in
themselves, have no direct bearing on
the main subject of treatment.
--T.R.]
Nothing is Spirit which can be the
object of consciousness. To one
possessed of right discrimination,
the Spirit is the subject of
knowledge. This right discrimination of Spirit and
Not-spirit is set
forth in millions of treatises.
This discrimination of Spirit and
Not-spirit is given below:
Q.
Whence comes pain to the Spirit?
A.
By reason of its taking a body. It is said in the Sruti: * "Not in
this (state of existence) is there
cessation of pleasure and pain of a
living thing possessed of a
body."
Q.
By what is produced this taking of a body?
A.
By Karma.**
Q.
Why does it become so by Karma?
A.
By desire and the rest (i.e., the passions).
Q.
By what are desire and the rest produced?
A.
By egotism.
Q.
By what again is egotism produced?
A.
By want of right discrimination.
Q.
By what is this want of right discrimination produced?
A.
By ignorance.
Q.
Is ignorance produced by anything?
A.
No, by nothing. Ignorance is without
beginning and ineffable by
reason of its being the intermingling
of the real (sat) and the unreal
(asat.)*** It is a something embodying the three
qualities**** and is
said to be opposed to Wisdom,
inasmuch as it produces the concept "I am
ignorant." The Sruti says, "(Ignorance) is the
power of the Deity and
is enshrouded by its own
qualities." *****
----------
* Chandogya Upanishad.
** This word it is impossible to
translate. It means the doing of a
thing for the attainment of an object
of worldly desire.
*** This word, as used in Vedantic
works, is generally misunderstood. It
does not mean the negation of
everything; it means "that which
does not
exhibit the truth," the
"illusory."
**** Satva (goodness), Rajas
(foulness), and Tamas (darkness) are the
three qualities; pleasure, pain and indifference considered as
objective principles.
***** Chandogya Upanishad.
--------
The origin of pain can thus be traced
to ignorance and it will not cease
until ignorance is entirely dispelled,
which will be only when the
identity of the Self with Brahma (the
Universal Spirit) is fully
realized.* Anticipating the contention that the eternal
acts (i.e.,
those enjoined by the Vedas) are
proper, and would therefore lead to the
destruction of ignorance, it is said
that ignorance cannot be dispelled
by Karma (religious exercises).
--------
* This portion has been condensed
from the original.
--------
Q.
Why is it so?
A.
By reason of the absence of logical opposition between ignorance and
act.
Therefore it is clear that Ignorance can only be removed by
Wisdom.
Q.
How can this Wisdom be acquired?
A.
By discussion--by discussing the nature of Spirit and Non-Spirit.
Q.
Who are worthy of engaging in such discussion?
A.
Those who have acquired the four qualifications.
Q.
What are the four qualifications?
A.
(1) True discrimination of permanent and impermanent things. (2)
Indifference to the enjoyment of the
fruits of one's actions both here
and hereafter. (3) Possession of Sama and the other five
qualities.
(4) An intense desire of becoming
liberated (from conditional
existence).
(1.)
Q. What is the right
discrimination of permanent and impermanent
things?
A.
Certainty as to the Material Universe being false and illusive, and
Brahman being the only reality.
(2.)
Indifference to the enjoyment of the fruits of one's actions in
this world is to have the same amount
of disinclination for the
enjoyment of worldly objects of
desire (such as garland of flowers,
sandal-wood paste, women and the
like) beyond those absolutely necessary
for the preservation of life, as one
has for vomited food, &c. The same
amount of disinclination to enjoyment
in the society of Rambha, Urvasi,
and other celestial nymphs in the
higher spheres of life beginning with
Svarga loka and ending with Brahma
loka.*
--------
* These include the whole range of
Rupa loka (the world of forms)
in Buddhistic esoteric philosophy.
--------
(3)
Q. What are the six qualities
beginning with Sama?
A.
Sama, dama, uparati, titiksha, samadhana and sraddha.
Sama is the repression of the inward
sense called Manas--i.e., not
allowing it to engage in any other
thing but Sravana (listening to what
the sages say about the Spirit), Manana
(reflecting on it), Nididhyasana
(meditating on the same). Dama is the repression of the external
senses.
Q.
What are the external senses?
A.
The five organs of perception and the five bodily organs for the
performance of external acts. Restraining these from all other things
but sravana and the rest, is dama.
Uparati is the abstaining on
principle from engaging in any of the acts
and ceremonies enjoined by the
shastras. Otherwise, it is the state of
the mind which is always engaged in
Sravana and the rest, without ever
diverging from them.
Titiksha (literally the desire to
leave) is the bearing with
indifference all opposites (such as
pleasure and pain, heat and cold,
&c.) Otherwise, it is the showing of forbearance
to a person one is
capable of punishing.
Whenever a mind, engaged in Sravana
and the rest, wanders to any worldly
object of desire, and, finding it
worthless, returns to the performance
of the three exercises--such
returning is called samadhana.
Sraddha is an intensely strong faith
in the utterances of one's guru and
of the Vedanta philosophy.
(4.)
An intense desire for liberation is called mumukshatva.
Those who possess these four
qualifications, are worthy of engaging in
discussions as to the nature of Spirit
and Not-Spirit, and, like
Brahmacharins, they have no other
duty (but such discussion). It is
not, however, at all improper for
householders to engage in such
discussions; but, on the contrary, such a course is highly
meritorious.
For it is said--Whoever, with due
reverence, engages in the discussion
of subjects treated of in Vedanta
philosophy and does proper service to
his guru, reaps happy fruits. Discussion as to the nature of Spirit and
Not-Spirit is therefore a duty.
Q.
What is Spirit?
A.
It is that principle which enters into the composition of man and is
not included in the three bodies, and
which is distinct from the five
sheaths (Koshas), being sat
(existence),* chit (consciousness),** and
ananda (bliss),*** and witness of the
three states.
--------
* This stands for Purusha.
** This stands for Prakriti, cosmic
matter, irrespective of the state we
perceive it to be in.
*** Bliss is Maya or Sakti, it is the
creative energy producing changes
of state in Prakriti. Says the Sruti
(Taittiriya Upanishad): "Verily
from Bliss are all these bhutas
(elements) born, and being born by it
they live, and they return and enter
into Bliss."
--------
Q.
What are the three bodies?
A.
The gross (sthula), the subtile (sukshma), and the causal (karana).
Q.
What is the gross body?
A.
That which is the effect of the Mahabhutas (primordial subtile
elements) differentiated into the
five gross ones (Panchikrita),* is
born of Karma and subject to the six
changes beginning with birth.** It
is said:--
What is produced by the (subtile)
elements differentiated into the five
gross ones, is acquired by Karma, and
is the measure of pleasure and
pain, is called the body (sarira) par
excellence.
Q.
What is the subtile body?
A.
It is the effect of the elements not differentiated into five and
having seventeen characteristic marks
(lingas).
Q.
What are the seventeen?
A.
The five channels of knowledge (Jnanendriyas), the five organs of
action, the five vital airs,
beginning with prana, and manas and buddhi.
-------
* The five subtile elements thus
produce the gross ones--each of
the five is divided into eight parts,
four of those parts and one
part of each of the others enter into
combination, and the result
is the gross element corresponding
with the subtile element,
whose parts predominate in the
composition.
** These six changes are--birth,
death, existence in time, growth,
decay, and undergoing change of
substance (parinam) as milk is changed
into whey.
--------
Q.
What are the Jnandendriyas?
A.
[Spiritual] Ear, skin, eye, tongue and nose.
Q.
What is the ear?
A.
That channel of knowledge which transcends the [physical] ear, is
limited by the auricular orifice, on
which the akas depends, and which
is capable of taking cognisance of
sound.
Q.
The skin?
A.
That which transcends the skin, on which the skin depends, and which
extends from head to foot, and has
the power of perceiving heat and
cold.
Q.
The eye?
A.
That which transcends the ocular orb, on which the orb depends,
which is situated to the front of the
black iris and has the power of
cognising forms.
Q.
The tongue?
A.
That which transcends the tongue, and can perceive taste.
Q.
The nose?
A.
That which transcends the nose, and has the power of smelling.
Q.
What are the organs of action?
A.
The organ of speech (vach), hands, feet, &c.
Q.
What is vach?
A.
That which transcends speech, in which speech resides, and which is
located in eight different centres*
and has the power of speech.
--------
* The secret commentaries say
seven; for it does not separate the lips
into the "upper" and
"nether" lips. And, it adds to
the seven centres
the seven passages in the head
connected with, and affected by, vach--
namely, the mouth, the two eyes, the
two nostrils and the two ears.
"The left ear, eye and nostril
being the messengers of the right side of
the head; the right ear, eye and nostril, those of the
left side." Now
this is purely scientific. The latest discoveries and conclusions of
modern physiology have shown that the
power or the faculty of human
speech is located in the third
frontal cavity of the left hemisphere of
the brain. On the other hand, it is a well known fact
that the nerve
tissues inter-cross each other
(decussate) in the brain in such a way
that the motions of our left
extremities are governed by the right
hemisphere, while the motions of our
right limbs are subject to the left
hemisphere of the brain.
---------
Q.
What are the eight centres?
A.
Breast, throat, head, upper and nether lips, palate ligature
(fraenum), binding the tongue to the
lower jaw and tongue.
Q.
What is the organ of the hands?
A.
That which transcends the hands, on which the palms depend, and
which has the power of giving and
taking.... (The other organs are
similarly described.)
Q.
What is the antahkarana? *
A.
Manas, buddhi, chitta and ahankara form it. The seat of the manas
is the root of the throat, of buddhi
the face, of chitta the umbilicus,
and of ahankara the breast. The functions of these four components of
antahkarana are respectively doubt,
certainty, retention and egotism.
Q.
How are the five vital airs,** beginning with prana, named?
--------
* A flood of light will be thrown on the
text by the note of a learned
occultist, who
says:--"Antahkarana is the path of communication between
soul and body, entirely disconnected
with the former, existing with,
belonging to, and dying with the
body." This path is well traced in the
text.
** These vitals airs and sub-airs are
forces which harmonize the
interior man with his surroundings,
by adjusting the relations of the
body to external objects. They are the five allotropic modifications of
life.
-------
A.
Prana, apana, vyana, udana and samana. Their locations are said to
be:--of prana the breast, of apana
the fundamentum, of samana the
umbilicus, of udana the throat, and
vyana is spread all over the body.
Functions of these are:--prana goes
out, apana descends, udana ascends,
samana reduces the food eaten into an
undistinguishable state, and vyana
circulates all over the body. Of these five vital airs there are five
sub-airs--namely, naga, kurma,
krikara, devadatta and dhananjaya.
Functions of these are:--eructations
produced by naga, kurma opens the
eye, dhananjaya assimilates food,
devadatta causes yawning, and krikara
produces appetite--this is said by
those versed in Yoga.
The presiding powers (or macrocosmic
analogues) of the five channels of
knowledge and the others are dik
(akas) and the rest. Dik, vata (air),
arka (sun), pracheta (water), Aswini,
bahni (fire), Indra, Upendra,
Mrityu (death), Chandra (moon),
Brahma, Rudra, and Kshetrajnesvara,*
which is the great Creator and cause
of everything. These are the
presiding powers of ear, and the
others in the order in which they
occur.
All these taken together form the
linga sarira.** It is also said in
the Shastras:--
The five vital airs, manas, buddhi,
and the ten organs form the subtile
body, which arises from the subtile
elements, undifferentiated into the
five gross ones, and which is the
means of the perception of pleasure
and pain.
Q.
What is the Karana sarira?
---------
* The principle of intellect (Buddhi)
in the macrocosm. For further
explanation of this term, see
Sankara's commentaries on the Brahma
Sutras.
** Linga means that which conveys
meaning, characteristic mark.
--------
A.
It is ignorance [of different monads] (avidya), which is the cause
of the other two bodies, and which is
without beginning [in the present
manvantara],* ineffable, reflection
[of Brahma] and productive of the
concept of non-identity between self
and Brahma. It is also said:--
"Without a beginning, ineffable
avidya is called the upadhi (vehicle)--
karana (cause). Know the Spirit to be truly different from
the three
upadhis--i.e., bodies."
Q.
What is Not-Spirit?
A.
It is the three bodies [described above], which are impermanent,
inanimate (jada), essentially painful
and subject to congregation and
segregation.
--------
* It must not be supposed that avidya
is here confounded with prakriti.
What is meant by avidya being without
beginning, is that it forms no
link in the Karmic chain leading to
succession of births and deaths, it
is evolved by a law embodied in prakriti
itself. Avidya is ignorance or
matter as related to distinct monads,
whereas the ignorance mentioned
before is cosmic ignorance, or
maya-Avidya begins and ends with this
manvantara. Maya is eternal. The Vedanta philosophy of the school of
Sankara regards the universe as
consisting of one substance, Brahman
(the one ego, the highest abstraction
of subjectivity from our
standpoint), having an infinity of
attributes, or modes of manifestation
from which it is only logically
separable. These attributes or modes in
their collectivity form Prakriti (the
abstract objectivity). It is
evident that Brahman per se does not
admit of any description other than
"I am that I am." Whereas Prakriti is composed of an infinite
number of
differentiations of itself. In the universe, therefore, the only
principle which is indifferentiable
is this "I am that I am" and the
manifold modes of manifestation can
only exist in reference to it. The
eternal ignorance consists in this,
that as there is but one
substantive, but numberless
adjectives, each adjective is capable of
designating the All. Viewed in time the most permanent object or
mood
of the great knower at any moment
represents the knower, and in a sense
binds it with limitations. In fact, time
itself is one of these infinite
moods, and so is space. The only progress in Nature is the
realization
of moods unrealized before.
--------
Q.
What is impermanent?
A.
That which does not exist in one and the same state in the three
divisions of time [namely, present,
past and future.]
Q.
What is inanimate (jada)?
A.
That which cannot distinguish between the objects of its own
cognition and the objects of the
cognition of others....
Q.
What are the three states (mentioned above as those of which the
Spirit is witness)?
A.
Wakefulness (jagrata), dreaming (svapna), and the state of dreamless
slumber (sushupti).
Q.
What is the state of wakefulness?
A.
That in which objects are known through the avenue of [physical]
senses.
Q.
Of dreaming?
A.
That in which objects are perceived by reason of desires resulting
from impressions produced during
wakefulness.
Q.
What is the state of dreamless slumber?
A.
That in which there is an utter absence of the perception of
objects.
The indwelling of the notion of
"I" in the gross body during wakefulness
is visva (world of objects),* in
subtile body during dreaming is taijas
(magnetic fire), and in the causal
body during dreamless slumber is
prajna (One Life).
Q.
What are the five sheaths?
A.
Annamaya, Pranamaya, Manomaya, Vjjnanamaya, and Anandamaya.
Annamaya is related to anna** (food),
Pranamaya of prana (life),
Manomaya of manas, Vijnanamaya of
vijnana (finite perception),
Anandamaya of ananda (illusive
bliss).
-------
* That is to say, by mistaking the
gross body for self, the
consciousness of external objects is
produced.
** This word also means the earth in
Sanskrit.
-------
Q.
What is the Annamaya sheath?
A.
The gross body.
Q.
Why?
A.
The food eaten by father and mother is transformed into semen and
blood, the combination of which is
transformed into the shape of a body.
It wraps up like a sheath and hence
so called. It is the transformation
of food and wraps up the spirit like
a sheath--it shows the spirit
which is infinite as finite, which is
without the six changes, beginning
with birth as subject to those
changes, which is without the three kinds
of pain* as liable to them. It conceals the spirit as the sheath
conceals the sword, the husk the
grain, or the womb the fetus.
Q.
What is the next sheath?
A.
The combination of the five organs of action, and the five vital
airs form the Pranamaya sheath.
By the manifestation of prana, the
spirit which is speechless appears as
the speaker, which is never the giver
as the giver, which never moves as
in motion, which is devoid of hunger
and thirst as hungry and thirsty.
Q.
What is the third sheath?
A.
It is the five (subtile) organs of sense (jnanendriya) and manas.
--------
* The three kinds of pain are:--
Adhibhautika, i.e., from external
objects, e.g., from thieves,
wild animals, &c.
Adhidaivika, i.e., from elements,
e.g., thunder, &c.
Adhyatmika, i.e., from within one's
self, e.g., head-ache, &c.
See Sankhya Karika, Gaudapada's
commentary on the opening Sloka.
-------
By the manifestation of this sheath
(vikara) the spirit which is devoid
of doubt appears as doubting, devoid
of grief and delusion as grieved
and deluded, devoid of sight as
seeing.
Q.
What is the Vijnanamaya sheath?
A.
[The essence of] the five organs of sense form this sheath in
combination with buddhi.
Q.
Why is this sheath called the jiva (personal ego), which by reason
of its thinking itself the actor,
enjoyer, &c., goes to the other loka
and comes back to this?*
A.
It wraps up and shows the spirit which never acts as the actor,
which never cognises as conscious,
which has no concept of certainty as
being certain, which is never evil or
inanimate as being both.
Q.
What is the Anandamaya sheath?
A.
It is the antahkarana, wherein ignorance predominates, and which
produces gratification, enjoyment,
&c. It wraps up and shows the
spirit, which is void of desire,
enjoyment and fruition, as having them,
which has no conditioned happiness as
being possessed thereof.
Q.
Why is the spirit said to be different from the three bodies?
A.
That which is truth cannot be untruth, knowledge ignorance, bliss
misery, or vice versa.
Q.
Why is it called the witness of the three states?
A.
Being the master of the three states, it is the knowledge of the
three states, as existing in the
present, past and future.**
-------
* That is to say, flits from birth to
birth.
** It is the stable basis upon which
the three states arise and
disappear.
-------
Q.
How is the spirit different from the five sheaths?
A.
This is being illustrated by an example:--"This is my cow,"
"this is
my calf," "this is my son
or daughter," "this is my wife," "this is my
anandamaya sheath," and so on*--the
spirit can never be connected with
these concepts; it is different from and witness of them
all. For it
is said in the Upanishad--[The spirit
is] "naught of sound, of touch, of
form, or colour, of taste, or of
smell; it is everlasting, having no
beginning or end, superior [in order
of subjectivity] to Prakriti
(differentiated matter); whoever correctly understands it as such
attains mukti
(liberation)." The spirit has also
been called (above)
sat, chit, and ananda.
Q.
What is meant by its being sat (presence)?
A.
Existing unchanged in the three divisions of time and uninfluenced
by anything else.
Q.
What by being chit (consciousness)?
A.
Manifesting itself without depending upon anything else, and
containing the germ of everything in
itself.
Q.
What by being ananda (bliss)?
A.
The ne plus ultra of bliss.
Whoever knows without doubt and
apprehension of its being otherwise, the
self as being one with Brahma or
spirit, which is eternal, non-dual and
unconditioned, attains moksha (liberation
from conditioned existence.)
--------
* The "heresy of
individuality," or attavada of the Buddhists.
--------
Was Writing Known Before Panini?
I am entrusted with the task of
putting together some facts which would
support the view that the art of
writing was known in India before the
time of our grammarian--the
Siva-taught Panini. Professor Max Muller has
maintained the contrary opinion ever
since 1856, and has the approbation
of other illustrious Western
scholars. Stated briefly, their position
is that the entire absence of any
mention of "writing, reading, paper,
or pen" in the Vedas, or during
the whole of the Brahmana period, and
the almost, if not quite, as complete
silence as to them throughout the
Sutra period, "lead us to
suppose that even then [the Sutra period],
though the art of writing began to be
known, the whole literature of
India was preserved by oral tradition
only." ("Hist. Sans. Lit.," p.
501.)
To support this theory, he expands the mnemonic faculty of our
respected ancestors to such a
phenomenal degree that, like the bull's
hide of Queen Dido, it is made to
embrace the whole ground needed for
the proposed city of refuge, to which
discomfited savants may flee when
hard pressed. Considering that Professor
Weber--a gentleman who, we
observe, likes to distil the essence
of Aryan aeons down into an attar
of no greater volume than the
capacity of the Biblical period--admits
that Europe now possesses 10,000 of
our Sanscrit texts; and considering
that we have, or have had, many other
tens of thousands which the
parsimony of Karma has hitherto
withheld from the museums and libraries
of Europe, what a memory must have
been theirs!
Under correction, I venture to assume
that Panini, who was ranked among
the Rishis, was the greatest known
grammarian in India, than whom there
is no higher in history, whether
ancient or modern; further, that
contemporary scholars agree that the
Sanskrit is the most perfect of
languages. Therefore, when Prof. Muller affirms that
"there is not a
single word in Panini's terminology
which presupposes the existence of
writing" (op. cit. 507), we
become a little shaken in our loyal
deference to Western opinion. For it is very hard to conceive how one
so pre-eminently great as Panini
should have been incapable of inventing
characters to preserve his
grammatical system--supposing that none had
previously existed--if his genius was
equal to the invention of
classical Sanskrit. The mention of the word Grantha, the
equivalent for
a written or bound book in the later
literature of India--though applied
by Panini (in B. I. 3, 75) to the
Veda; (in B. iv. 3, 87) to any work;
(in B. iv. 3, 116) to the work of any
individual author; and (in B. iv.
3, 79) to any work that is studied,
do not stagger Prof. Muller at all.
Grantha he takes to mean simply a
composition, and this may be handed
down to posterity by oral
communication. Hence, we must believe
that
Panini was illiterate; but yet composed the most elaborate and
scientific system of grammar ever
known; recorded its 3,996 rules only
upon the molecular quicksands of his
"cerebral cineritious matter," and
handed them over to his disciples by
atmospheric vibration, i.e., oral
teaching! Of course, nothing could be clearer; it commends itself to
the simplest intellect as a thing
most probable! And in the presence of
such a perfect hypothesis, it seems a
pity that its author should (op.
cit. 523) confess that "it is
possible" that he "may have overlooked
some words in the Brahmanas and Sutras,
which would prove the existence
of written books previous to
Panini." That looks like the military
strategy of our old warriors, who
delivered their attack boldly, but
nevertheless tried to keep their rear
open for retreat if compelled.
The precaution was necessary: written books did exist many centuries
before the age in which this radiant
sun of Aryan thought rose to shine
upon his age. They existed, but the Orientalist may search
in vain for
the proof amid the exoteric words in
our earlier literature. As the
Egyptian hierophants had their
private code of hieratic symbols, and
even the founder of Christianity
spoke to the vulgar in parables whose
mystical meaning was known only to
the chosen few, so the Brahmans had
from the first (and still have) a
mystical terminology couched behind
ordinary expressions, arranged in
certain sequences and mutual
relations, which none but the
initiate would observe. That few living
Brahmans possess this key but proves
that, as in other archaic religious
and philosophical systems, the soul
of Hinduism has fled (to its primal
imparters--the initiates), and only
the decrepit body remains with a
spiritually degenerate posterity.*
-------
* Not only are the Upanishads a
secret doctrine, but in dozens of other
works as, for instance, in the
Aitareya Aranyaka, it is plainly
expressed that they contain secret
doctrines, that are not to be
imparted to any one but a Dwija
(twice-born, initiated) Brahman.
--------
I fully perceive the difficulty of
satisfying European philologists of a
fact which, upon my own statement,
they are debarred from verifying. We
know that from the present mental
condition of our Brahmans. But I hope
to be able to group together a few
admitted circumstances which will
aid, at least, to show the Western
theory untenable, if not to make a
base upon which to rest our claim for
the antiquity of Sanskrit writing.
Three good reasons may be adduced in
support of the claim--though they
will be regarded as circumstantial
evidence by our opponents.
I.--It can be shown that writing was
known in Phoenicia from the date of
the acquaintance of Western history
with her first settlements; and
this may be dated, according to
European figures, 2760 B.C., the age of
the Tyrian settlement.
II.--Our opponents confess to
ignorance of the source whence the
Phoenicians themselves got their
alphabet.
III.--It can be proved that before
the final division and classification
of languages, there existed two
languages in every nation: (a) the
profane or popular language of the
masses; (b) the sacerdotal or secret
language of the initiates of the
temples and mysteries--the latter being
one and universal. Or, in other, words, every great people had,
like
the Egyptians, its Demotic and its
Hieratic writing and language, which
had resulted first in a pictorial
writing or the hieroglyphics, and
later on in a phonetic alphabet. Now it requires a stretch of
prejudice, indeed, to assert upon no
evidence whatever that the Brahman
Aryans--mystics and metaphysicians
above everything--were the only ones
who had never had any knowledge of
either the sacerdotal language or the
characters in which it was recorded.
To contradict this gratuitous
assumption, we can furnish a whole
array of proofs. It can be
demonstrated that the Aryans no more
borrowed their writing from the
Hellenes, or from the Phoenicians,
than they were indebted to the
influence of the former for all their
arts and sciences. (Even if we
accept Mr. Cunningham's
"Indo-Grecian Period," for it lasted only from
250-57 B.C., as he states it.) The direct progenitor of the Vedic
Sanskrit was the sacerdotal language
(which has a distinct name among
the initiates). The Vach--its alter ego or the "mystic
self," the
sacerdotal speech of the initiated
Brahman--became in time the mystery
language of the inner temple, studied
by the initiates of Egypt and
Chaldea; of the Phoenicians and the Etruscans; of the Pelasgi and
Palanquans; in short, of the whole globe. The appellation DEVANAGARI
is the synonym of, and identical
with, the Hermetic and Hieratic
NETER-KHARI (divine speech) of the
Egyptians.
As the discussion divides naturally
into two parts as to treatment--
though a general synthesis must be
the final result--we will proceed to
examine the first part--namely, the
charge that the Sanskrit alphabet is
derived from the Phoenicians. When a Western philologer asserts that
writing did not exist before a
certain period, we assume that he has
some approximate certitude as to its
real invention. But so far is this
from the truth, that admittedly no
one knows whence the Phoenicians
learned the characters, now alleged
(by Gesenius first) to be the source
from which modern alphabets were
directly derived. De Rouge's
investigations make it extremely
probable that "they were borrowed, or
rather adapted from certain archaic
hieroglyphics of Egypt:" a theory
which the Prisse Papyrus, "the
oldest in existence," strongly supports
by its "striking similarities
with the Phoenician characters."
But the
same authority traces it back one
step farther. He says that the
ascription (by the myth-makers) of
the art of writing to Thoth, or to
Kadmos, "only denotes their
belief in its being brought from the East
(Kedem), or being perhaps
primeval." There is not even a
certainty
whether, primevally or archaically,
"there were several original
alphabetical systems, or whether one
is to be assumed as having given
rise to the various modes of writing
in use." So, if conjecture has the
field, it is no great disloyalty to
declare one's rebellion against the
eminent Western gentlemen who are
learnedly guessing at the origin of
things. Some affirm that the Phoenicians derived
their so-called
Kadmean or Phoenician
writing-characters from the Pelasgians, held also
to have been the inventors, or at
least the improvers, of the so-called
Kadmean characters. But, at the same time, this is not proven,
they
confess, and they only know that the
latter were in possession of the
art of writing "before the dawn
of history." Let us see what is known of
both Phoenicians and Pelasgians.
If we inquire who were the
Phoenicians, we learn as follows:--From
having been regarded as Hamites on
Bible testimony, they suddenly became
Semites--on geographical and
philological evidence(?). Their origin
begins, it is said, on the shores of
the Erythrian Sea; and that sea
extended from the eastern shores of
Egypt to the western shores of
India. The Phoenicians were the most maritime nation
in the world.
That they knew perfectly the art of
writing no one would deny. The
historical period of Sidon begins
1500 B.C. And it is well ascertained
that in 1250 Sanchoniathon had
already compiled from annals and State
documents, which filled the archives
of every Phoenician city, the full
records of their religion. Sanchoniathon wrote in the Phoenician
language, and was mis-translated
later on into Greek by Philo of Byblus,
and annihilated bodily--as to his
works--except one small fragment
preserved by Eusebius, the literary
Siva, the Destroyer of nearly all
heathen documents that fell in his
way. To see the direct bearing of
the alleged superior knowledge of the
Phoenicians upon the alleged
ignorance of the Aryan Brahmans, one
has but to turn to "European
Universal History," meagre though
its details and possible knowledge,
yet I suppose no one would contradict
the historical facts given. Some
fragments of Dius, the Phoenician who
wrote the history of Tyre, are
preserved in Josephus; and Tyre's activity begins 1100 B.C., in the
earlier part of the third period of
Phoenician history, so called. And
in that period, as we are told, they
had already reached the height of
their power; their ships covered all seas, their commerce
embraced the
whole earth, and their colonies
flourished far and near. Even on
Biblical testimony they are known to
have come to the Indies by the Red
Sea, while trading on Solomon's
account about a millennium before the
Western era. These data no man of
science can deny. Leaving entirely
aside the thousand-and-one
documentary proofs that could be given on the
evidence of our most ancient texts on
Occult Sciences, of inscribed
tablets, &c., those historical
events that are accepted by the Western
world are alone here given. Turning to the Mahabharata, the date of
which--on the sole authority of the
fancy lore drawn from the inner
consciousness of German scholars, who
perceive in the great epic poem
proofs of its modern fabrication in
the words "Yavana" and others--has
been changed from 3300 years to the
first centuries after Christ (!!),
we find: (1) ample evidence that the ancient Hindus
had navigated
(before the establishment of the
caste system) the open seas to the
regions of the Arctic Ocean and held
communication with Europe; and (2)
that the Pandus had acquired
universal dominion and taught the
sacrificial mysteries to other races
(see Mahabharata, book xiv,). With
such proofs of international
communication, and more than proved
relations between the Indian Aryans
and the Phoenicians, Egyptians and
other literate people, it is rather
startling to be told that our
forefathers of the Brahmanic period
knew nothing of writing.
Admitting, for the argument only,
that the Phoenician were the sole
custodians of the glorious art of writing,
and that as merchants they
traded with India, what commodity, I
ask, could they have offered to a
people led by the Brahmans so
precious and marketable as this art of
arts, by whose help the priceless
lore of the Rishis might be preserved
against the accidents of imperfect
oral transmission? And even if the
Aryans learned from Phoenicians how
to write--to every educated Hindu an
absurdity--they must have possessed
the art 2,000 or at least 1,000
years earlier than the period
supposed by Western critics. Negative
proof, perhaps? Granted:
yet no more so than their own, and most
suggestive.
And now we may turn to the
Pelasgians. Notwithstanding the rebuke
of
Niebuhr, who, speaking of the
historian in general, shows him as hating
"the spurious philology, out of
which the pretences to knowledge on the
subject of such extinct people
arise," the origin of the Pelasgians is
conjectured to have been from--(a)
swarthy Asiatics (Pellasici) or from
some (b) mariners--from the Greek
Pelagos, the sea; or again to be
sought for in the (c) Biblical
Peleg! The only divinity of their
Pantheon well known to Western
history is Orpheus, also the "swarthy,"
the "dark-skinned;" represented for the Pelasgians by Xoanon,
their
"Divine Image." Now if the Pelasgians were Asiatics, they
must have
been Turanians, Semites or
Aryans. That they could not have been
either
of the two first, and must have been
the last named, is shown on
Herodotus' testimony, who declared
them the forefathers of the Greeks--
though they spoke, as he says,
"a most barbarous language."
Further,
unerring philology shows that the
vast number of roots common both to
Greek and Latin, are easily explained
by the assumption of a common
Pelasgic linguistic and ethnical
stock in both nationalities. But then
how about the Sanskrit roots traced
in the Greek and Latin languages?
The same roots must have been present
in the Pelasgian tongues? We who
place the origin of the Pelasgian far
beyond the Biblical ditch of
historic chronology, have reasons to
believe that the "barbarous
language" mentioned by Herodotus
was simply "the primitive and now
extinct Aryan tongue" that
preceded the Vedic Sanskrit. Who could
they
be, these Pelasgians? They are described generally on the meagre
data
in hand as a highly intellectual,
receptive, active and simple people,
chiefly occupied with
agriculture; warlike when necessary,
though
preferring peace. We are told that they built canals,
subterranean
water-works, dams, and walls of
astounding strength and most excellent
construction. And their religion and worship originally
consisted in a
mystic service of those natural
powers--the sun, wind, water, and air
(our Surya, Maruts, Varuna, and
Vayu), whose influence is visible in the
growth of the fruits of the
earth; moreover, some of their tribes
were
ruled by priests, while others stood
under the patriarchal rule of the
head of the clan or family. All this reminds one of the nomads, the
Brahmanic Aryas of old under the sway
of their Rishis, to whom were
subject every distinct family or
clan. While the Pelasgians were
acquainted with the art of writing,
and had thus "a vast element of
culture in their possession before
the dawn of history," we are told (by
the same philologists) that our
ancestors knew of no writing until the
dawn of Christianity!
Thus the Pelasgianic language, that
"most barbarous language" spoken by
this mysterious people, what was it
but Aryan; or rather, which of the
Aryan languages could it have been?
Certainly it must have been a
language with the same and even
stronger Sanskrit roots in it than the
Greek. Let us bear in mind that the Aeolic was
neither the language of
Aeschylus, nor the Attic, nor even
the old speech of Homer. As the
Oscan of the "barbarous"
Sabines was not quite the Italian of Dante nor
even the Latin of Virgil. Or has the Indo-Aryan to come to the sad
conclusion that the average Western
Orientalist will rather incur the
blame of ignorance when detected than
admit the antiquity of the Vedic
Sanskrit and the immense period which
separated this comparatively rough
and unpolished language, compared
with the classical Sanskrit, and the
palmy days of the "extinct Aryan
tongue?" The Latium Antiquum of
Pliny
and the Aeolic of the Autochthones of
Greece present the closest
kinship, we are told. They had a
common ancestor--the Pelasgian. What,
then, was the parent tongue of the
latter unless it was the language
"spoken at one time by all the
nations of Europe--before their
separation?" In the absence of
all proofs, it is unreasonable that the
Rik-Brahmanas, the Mahabharata and
every Nirukti should be treated as
flippantly as they now are. It is admitted that, however inferior to
the classical Sanskrit of Panini, the
language of the oldest portions of
Rig Veda, notwithstanding the
antiquity of its grammatical forms, is the
same as that of the latest texts.
Every one sees--cannot fail to see and
to know--that for a language so old
and so perfect as the Sanskrit to
have survived alone, among all
languages, it must have had its cycles of
perfection and its cycles of
degeneration. And, if one had any
intuition, he might have seen that
what they call a "dead language"
being an anomaly, a useless thing in
Nature, it would not have survived,
even as a "dead" tongue,
had it not its special purpose in the reign of
immutable cyclic laws; and that Sanskrit, which came to be nearly
lost
to the world, is now slowly spreading
in Europe, and will one day have
the extension it had thousands upon
thousands of years back--that of a
universal language. The same as to the Greek and the Latin: there
will
be a time when the Greek of Aeschylus
(and more perfect still in its
future form) will be spoken by all in
Southern Europe, while Sanskrit
will be resting in its periodical
pralaya; and the Attic will be
followed later by the Latin of
Virgil. Something ought to have
whispered to us that there was also a
time--before the original Aryan
settlers among the Dravidian and
other aborigines, admitted within the
fold of Brahmanical initiation,
marred the purity of the sacred
Sanskrita Bhasha--when Sanskrit was
spoken in all its unalloyed
subsequent purity, and therefore must
have had more than once its rise
and fall. The reason for it is simply this: classical Sanskrit was
only restored, if in some things
perfected, by Panini. Panini,
Katyayana or Patanjali did not create
it; it has existed throughout
cycles, and will pass through other
cycles still.
Professor Max Miller is willing to
admit that a tribe of Semitic
nomads--fourteen centuries before the
year 1 of the Westerns--knew well
the art of writing, and had their
historically and scientifically proven
"book of the covenant and the
tables 'with the writing of God upon
them.'" Yet the same authority tells us that the
Aryans could neither
read nor write until the very close
of the Brahmanic period. "No trace
of writing can be discovered (by the
philologists) in the Brahmanical
literature before the days of
Panini." Very well, and now what
was the
period during which this Siva-taught
sage is allowed to have flourished?
One Orientalist (Bohtlingk) refers us
to 350 B.C., while less lenient
ones, like Professor Weber, land the
grammarian right in the middle of
the second century of the Christian
era! Only, after fixing Panini's
period with such a remarkable
agreement of chronology (other
calculations ranging variously
between 400 B.C. and 460 A.D.), the
Orientalists place themselves
inextricably between the horns of a
dilemma. For whether Panini flourished 350 B.C. or 180
A.D., he could
not have been illiterate; for firstly, in the Lalita Vistara, a
canonical book recognized by the
Sanskritists, attributed by Max Muller
to the third Buddhist council (and
translated into Tibetan), our Lord
Buddha is shown as studying, besides
Devanagari, sixty-three other
alphabets specified in it as being
used in various parts of India; and
secondly, though Megasthenes and
Nearchus do say that in their time the
laws of Manu were not (popularly)
reduced to writing (Strabo, xv. 66 and
73) yet Nearchus describes the Indian
art of making paper from cotton.
He adds that the Indians wrote
letters on cotton twisted together
(Strabo, xv. 53 and 67). This would be late in the Sutra period, no
doubt, according to Professor
Miller's reasoning. Can the learned
gentleman cite any record within that
comparatively recent period
showing the name of the inventor of
that cotton-paper, and the date of
his discovery? Surely so important a
fact as that, a novelty so
transcendently memorable, would not
have passed without remark. One
would seem compelled, in the absence
of any such chronicle, to accept
the alternative theory--known to us
Aryan students as a fact--that
writing and writing materials were,
as above remarked, known to the
Brahmans in an antiquity
inconceivably remote--many centuries before the
epoch made illustrious by Panini.
Attention has been asked above to the
interesting fact that the god
Orpheus, of "Thracia" (?)
is called the "dark-skinned."
Has it escaped
notice that he is "supposed to
be the Vedic Ribhu or Abrhu, an epithet
both of Indra and the
Sun."* And if he was "the
inventor of letters,"
and is "placed anterior to both
Homer and Hesiod," then what follows?
That Indra taught writing to the
Thracian Pelasgians under the guise of
Orpheus,** but left his own spokesmen
and vehicles, the Brahmans,
illiterate until "the dawn of
Christianity?" Or, that the
gentlemen of
the West are better at intuitional
chronology than conspicuous for
impartial research?
-------
* "Chamber's Encyclopedia,"
vii. 127.
** According to Herodotus the
Mysteries were actually brought from India
by Orpheus.
-------
Orpheus was--in Greece--the son of
Apollo or Helios, the sun-god,
according to corrected mythology, and
from him received the phorminx or
lyre of seven strings,
i.e.--according to occult phraseology--the
sevenfold mystery of the
Initiation. Now Indra is the ruler of
the
bright firmament, the disperser of
clouds, "the restorer of the sun to
the sky." He is identified with Arjuna in the Samhita
Satapatha
Brahmana (although Prof. Weber denies
the existence of any such person
as Arjuna, yet there was indeed one),
and Arjuna was the Chief of the
Pandavas;* and though Pandu the white passes for his
father, he is yet
considered the son of Indra. As throughout India all ancient cyclopean
structures are even now attributed to
the Pandavas, so all similar
structures in the West were anciently
ascribed to the Pelasgians.
Moreover, as shown well by
Pococke--laughed at because too intuitional
and too fair though, perchance less,
philologically learned--the
Pandavas were in Greece, where many
traces of them can be shown.
-------
* Another proof of the fact that the
Pandavas were, though Aryans, not
Brahmans, and belonged to an Indian tribe
that preceded the Brahmans,
and were later on Brahmanized, and
then out-casted and called Mlechhas,
Yavanas (i.e., foreign to the
Brahmans), is afforded in the following:
Pandu has two wives; and "it is
not Kunti, his lawful wife, but Madri,
his most beloved wife," who is
burnt with the old King when dead, as
well remarked by Prof Max Muller, who
seems astonished at it without
comprehending the true reason. As stated by Herodotus (v. 5), it was a
custom amongst the Thracians to allow
the most beloved of a man's wives
to be sacrificed upon his tomb; and Herodotus (iv. 17) asserts a
similar fact of the Scythians, and
Pausanias (iv. 2) of the Greeks.
("Hist. Sans. Lit." p.
48). The Pandavas and the Kauravas are
called
esoterically cousins in the Epic poem
because they were two distinct yet
Aryan tribes, and represent two
peoples, not simply two families.
--------
In the Mahabharata, Arjuna is taught
the occult philosophy by Krishna
(personification of the universal
Divine Principle); and the less
mythological view of Orpheus presents
him to us as "a divine bard or
priest in the service of Zagreus ....
founder of the Mysteries .... the
inventor of everything, in fact, that
was supposed to have contributed
to the civilization and initiation
into a more humane worship of the
deity." Are not these striking parallels; and is it not significant
that, in the cases of both Arjuna and
Orpheus, the sublimer aspects of
religion should have been imparted
along with the occult methods of
attaining it by masters of the
mysteries? Real Devanagari--non-phonetic
characters--meant formerly the
outward symbols, so to say, the signs
used in the intercommunication
between gods and initiated mortals.
Hence their great sacredness and the
silence maintained throughout the
Vedic and the Brahmanical periods
about any object concerned with, or
referring to, reading and
writing. It was the language of the
gods. If
our Western critics can only
understand what the Ancient Hindu writers
meant by Rhutaliai, so often
mentioned in their mystical writings, they
will be in a position to ascertain
the source from which the Hindus
first derived their knowledge of
writing.
A secret language, common to all
schools of occult science once
prevailed throughout the world. Hence Orpheus learnt "letters" in
the
course of his initiation. He is identified with Indra; according to
Herodotus he brought the art of
writing from India; his complexion
swarthier than that of the Thracians
points to his Indo-Aryan
nationality--supposing him to have
been "a bard and priest," and not a
god;
the Pelasgians are said to have been born in Thracia; they are
believed (in the West) to have first
possessed the art of writing, and
taught the Phoenicians; from the latter all modern alphabets proceed.
I submit, then, with all these
coincidences and sequences, whether the
balance of proof is on the side of
the theory that the Aryans
transmitted the art of writing to the
people of the West; or on the
side which maintains that they, with
their caste of scholarly Brahmans,
their noble sacerdotal tongue, dating
from high antiquity, their
redundant and splendid literature,
their acquaintance with the most
wonderful and recondite
potentialities of the human spirit, were
illiterate until the era of Panini,
the grammarian and last of the
Rishis. When the famous theorists of the Western
colleges can show us a
river running from its mouth back to
its source in the feeble mountain
spring, then may we be asked to
believe in their theory of Aryan
illiteracy. The history of human intellectual development
shows that
humanity always passes through the
stage of ideography or pictography
before attaining that of cursive
writing. It therefore remains with the
Western critics who oppose the
antiquity of Aryan Scriptures to show us
the pictographic proofs which support
their position. As these are
notoriously absent, it appears they
would have us believe that our
ancestors passed immediately from
illiteracy to the Devanagari
characters of Panini's time.
Let the Orientalists bear in mind the
conclusions drawn from a careful
study of the Mahabharata by Muir in
his "Sanskrit Texts" (vol. I. pp.
390,480 and 482). It may be conclusively proven on the
authority of the
Mahabharata that the Yavanas (of whom
India, as alleged, knew nothing
before the days of Alexander!) belong
to those tribes of Kshatriyas who,
in consequence of their
non-communication with, and in some cases
rejection by, the Brahmins, had
become from twice-born, "Vrishalas,"--
i.e., outcasts (Mahabharata
Anusasanaparvam, vv. 2103 F.):
"Sakah
Yavana-Kambojas tastah kshattriya
jatayah Vrishalatvam parigatah
Brahmananam adarsana. Dravidas cha Kalindas cha Pulindas chapy
Usinarah
Kalisarpa Mahishakas tastah
kshattriya jatayah," &c. &c. The same
reference may be found in verses
2158-9. The Mahabharata shows the
Yavanas descended from Turvasu--once
upon a time Kshatriya, subsequently
degraded into Vrishala. Harivamsa shows when and how the Yavanas were
excommunicated. It may be inferred from the account therein
contained
of the expedition against Ayodhya by
the Yavanas, and the subsequent
proceedings of Sagara, that the
Yavanas were, previous to the date of
the expedition, Kshatriyas subject to
the government of the powerful
monarchs who reigned at Ayodhya. But on account of their having
rebelled against their sovereign, and
attacked his capital, they were
excommunicated by Sagara who
successfully drove them out of Ayodhya, at
the suggestion of Vasishtha who was
the chief minister and guru of
Sagara's father. The only trouble in connecting the Pelasgians
with,
and tracing their origin to, the
Kshatriyas of Rajputana, is created by
the Orientalist who constructs a
fanciful chronology, based on no proof,
and showing only unfamiliarity with
the world's real history, and with
Indian history even within historical
periods.
The value of that chronology--which
places virtually the "primitive
Indo-Germanic-period" before the
ancient Vedic period (!)--may, in
conclusion, be illustrated by an
example. Rough as may be the
calculations offered, it is
impossible to go deeper into any subject of
this class within the narrow limits
prescribed, and without recourse to
data not generally accessible. In the words of Prof. Max Muller:--"The
Code of Manu is almost the only work
in Sanskrit literature which, as
yet, has not been assailed by those
who doubt the antiquity of
everything Indian. No historian has disputed its claim to that
early
date which had from the first been
assigned to it by Sir William Jones"
("Hist. Sans, Lit." p.
61). And now, pray, what is this
extremely
"early date?" "From 880 to 1200 B.C.," we are
told. We will then, for
the present purpose, accept this
authoritative conclusion. Several
facts, easily verifiable, have to be
first of all noticed:--(1) Manu in
his many enumerations of Indian
races, kingdoms and places, never once
mentions Bengal; the Aryan Brahmans had not yet reached, in
the days
when his Code was compiled, the banks
of the Ganges nor the plains of
Bengal. It was Arjuna who went first to Banga
(Bengal) with his
sacrificial horse. [Yavanas are mentioned in Rajdharma
Anasasanika
Parva as part of the tribes peopling
it.] (2) In the Ayun a list of the
Hindu kings of Bengal is given. Though the date of the first king who
reigned over Banga cannot be
ascertained, owing to the great gaps
between the various dynasties; it is yet known that Bengal ceased to be
an independent Hindu kingdom from
1203 after Christ. Now if,
disregarding these gaps, which are
wide and many, we make up the sum of
only those chronological periods of
the reign of the several dynasties
that are preserved by history, we
find the following:--
24 Kshatriya families of kings
reigned for a period of 2,418 years
9 Kaista kings " " " " 250 "
11 Of the Adisur families " " " 714
"
10 Of the Bhopal family "
" " 689
"
10 Of the Pala dynasty (from 855 to
1040 A.D.) " " 185
"
10 The Vaidya Rajahs reigned for a
period of " "
137 "
--------
Years
. . . . 4,393 "
If we deduct from this sum 1,203, we
have 3,190 years B.C. of successive
reigns. If it can be shown on the unimpeachable evidence
of the
Sanskrit texts that some of the
reigns happened simultaneously, and the
line cannot therefore be shown as
successive (as was already tried),
well and good. Against an arbitrary chronology set up with a
predetermined purpose and theory in view,
there will remain but little
to be said. But if this attempt at reconciliation of
figures and the
surrounding circumstances are
maintained simply upon "critical, internal
evidence," then, in the presence
of these 3,190 years of an unbroken
line of powerful and mighty Hindu
kings, the Orientalists will have to
show a very good reason why the
authors of the Code of Manu seem
entirely ignorant even of the
existence of Bengal--if its date has to be
accepted as not earlier than 1280
B.C.! A scientific rule which is good
enough to apply to the case of Panini
ought to be valid in other
chronological speculations. Or,
perhaps, this is one of those poor rules
which will not "work both
ways?"
--A Chela
THEOSOPHICAL
What is Theosophy?
According to lexicographers, the term
theosophia is composed of two
Greek words--theos "god,"
and sophas "wise." So far,
correct. But the
explanations that follow are far from
giving a clear idea of Theosophy.
Webster defines it most originally as
"a supposed intercourse with
God and superior spirits, and
consequent attainment of superhuman
knowledge by physical processes, as
by the theurgic operations of some
ancient Platonists, or by the
chemical processes of the German
fire-philosophers."
This, to say the least, is a poor and
flippant explanation. To
attribute such ideas to men like
Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, Jamblichus,
Porphyry, Proclus, shows either
intentional misrepresentation, or
ignorance of the philosophy and
motives of the greatest geniuses of the
later Alexandrian School. To impute to those, whom their contemporaries
as well as posterity styled
"theodidaktoi," god-taught, a purpose to
develop their psychological,
spiritual perceptions by "physical
processes," is to describe them as
materialists. As to the concluding
fling at the fire-philosophers, it
rebounds from them upon some of the
most eminent leaders of modern
science; those in whose mouths the Rev.
James Martineau places the following
boast: "Matter is all we want;
give us atoms alone, and we will
explain the universe."
Vaughan offers a far better, more
philosophical definition. "A
Theosophist," he says, "is
one who gives you a theory of God or the
works of God, which has not
revelation, but inspiration of his own for
its basis." In this view every great thinker and
philosopher,
especially every founder of a new
religion, school of philosophy, or
sect, is necessarily a
Theosophist. Hence, Theosophy and
Theosophists
have existed ever since the first
glimmering of nascent thought made man
seek instinctively for the means of
expressing his own independent
opinions.
There were Theosophists before the
Christian era, notwithstanding that
the Christian writers ascribe the
development of the Eclectic
Theosophical system to the early part
of the third century of their era.
Diogenes Laertius traces Theosophy to
an epoch antedating the dynasty of
the Ptolemies; and names as its founder an Egyptian
Hierophant called
Pot-Amun, the name being Coptic, and
signifying a priest consecrated to
Amun, the god of Wisdom. But history shows its revival by Ammonius
Saccas, the founder of the
Neo-Platonic School. He and his
disciples
called themselves
"Philaletheians"--lovers of the truth; while others
termed them the
"Analogists," on account of their method of interpreting
all sacred legends, symbolical myths,
and mysteries, by a rule of
analogy or correspondence so that
events which had occurred in the
external world were regarded as
expressing operations and experiences of
the human soul. It was the aim and purpose of Ammonius to
reconcile all
sects, peoples, and nations under one
common faith--a belief in one
Supreme, Eternal, Unknown, and
Unnamed Power, governing the universe by
immutable and eternal laws. His object was to prove a primitive system
of Theosophy, which, at the
beginning, was essentially alike in all
countries: to induce all men to lay aside their strifes
and quarrels,
and unite in purpose and thought as
the children of one common mother;
to purify the ancient religions, by
degrees corrupted and obscured, from
all dross of human element, by
uniting and expounding them upon pure
philosophical principles. Hence, the
Buddhistic, Vedantic and Magian, or
Zoroastrian systems were taught in
the Eclectic Theosophical School
along with all the philosophies of
Greece. Hence also, that
pre-eminently Buddhistic and Indian
feature among the ancient
Theosophists of Alexandria, of due
reverence for parents and aged
persons, a fraternal affection for
the whole human race, and a
compassionate feeling for even the
dumb animals. While seeking to
establish a system of moral
discipline which enforced upon people the
duty to live according to the laws of
their respective countries, to
exalt their minds by the research and
contemplation of the one Absolute
Truth; his chief object, in order, as he believed,
to achieve all
others, was to extract from the
various religious teachings, as from a
many-chorded instrument, one full and
harmonious melody, which would
find response in every truth-loving
heart.
Theosophy is, then, the archaic
Wisdom-Religion, the esoteric doctrine
once known in every ancient country
having claims to civilization. This
"Wisdom" all the old
writings show us as an emanation of the Divine
Principle; and the clear comprehension of it is typified
in such names
as the Indian Buddh, the Babylonian
Nebo, the Thoth of Memphis, the
Hermes of Greece; in the appellations, also, of some
goddesses--Metis,
Neitha, Athena, the Gnostic
Sophia; and, finally, the Vedas, from
the
word "to know." Under this designation, all the ancient
philosophers of
the East and West, the Hierophants of
old Egypt, the Rishis of Aryavart,
the Theodidaktoi of Greece, included
all knowledge of things occult and
essentially divine. The Mercavah of the Hebrew Rabbis, the
secular and
popular series, were thus designated
as only the vehicle, the outward
shell, which contained the higher
esoteric knowledges. The Magi of
Zoroaster received instruction and
were initiated in the caves and
secret lodges of Bactria; the
Egyptian and Grecian hierophants had their
apporiheta, or secret discourses,
during which the Mysta became an
Epopta--a Seer.
The central idea of the Eclectic
Theosophy was that of a single Supreme
Essence, Unknown and Unknowable; for "how could one know the
knower?"
as inquires Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad. Their system was
characterized by
three distinct features, the theory
of the above-named Essence: the
doctrine of the human soul; an emanation from the latter, hence of the
same nature; and its theurgy. It is this last science which has led
the Neo-Platonists to be so
misrepresented in our era of materialistic
science. Theurgy being essentially the art of applying
the divine
powers of man to the subordination of
the blind forces of Nature, its
votaries were first decisively termed
magicians--a corruption of the
word "Magh," signifying a
wise or learned man. Sceptics of a century ago
would have been as wide of the mark
if they had laughed at the idea of a
phonograph or telegraph. The ridiculed and the "infidels" of
one
generation generally become the wise
men and saints of the next.
As regards the Divine Essence and the
nature of the soul and spirit,
modern Theosophy believes now as
ancient Theosophy did. The popular Dev
of the Aryan nations was identical
with the Iao of the Chaldeans, and
even with the Jupiter of the less
learned and philosophical among the
Romans; and it was just as identical with the Jahve
of the Samaritans,
the Tiu or "Tiusco" of the
Northmen, the Duw of the Britons, and the
Zeus of the Thracians. As to the
Absolute Essence, the One and All,
whether we accept the Greek
Pythagorean, the Chaldean Kabalistic, or the
Aryan philosophy in regard to it, it
will all lead to one and the same
result. The Primeval Monad of the Pythagorean system,
which retires
into darkness and is itself Darkness
(for human intellect), was made the
basis of all things; and we can find the idea in all its integrity
in
the philosophical systems of Leibnitz
and Spinoza. Therefore, whether a
Theosophist agrees with the Kabala
which, speaking of En-Soph, propounds
the query; "Who, then, can
comprehend It, since It is formless, and
non-existent?" or, remembering
that magnificent hymn from the Rig Veda
(Hymn 129, Book x.), inquires:
"Who knows from whence this great creation sprang? Whether his will
created or was mute. He knows it--or perchance even He knows not."
Or, again, he accepts the Vedantic
conception of Brahma, who, in the
Upanishads, is represented as
"without life, without mind, pure,"
unconscious, for Brahma is
"Absolute Consciousness." Or,
even finally,
siding with the Svabhavikas of
Nepaul, maintains that nothing exists but
"Svabhavat" (substance or
nature) which exists by itself without any
creator--he is the true follower of
pure and absolute Theosophy. That
Theosophy which prompted such men as
Hegel, Fichte and Spinoza to take
up the labours of the old Grecian
philosophers and speculate upon the
One Substance--the Deity, the Divine
All proceeding from the Divine
Wisdom--incomprehensible, unknown and
unnamed by any ancient or modern
religious philosophy, with the
exception of Judaism, including
Christianity and Mohammedanism. Every Theosophist, then, holding to a
theory of the Deity "which has not
revelation but an inspiration of his
own for its basis," may accept
any of the above definitions or belong to
any of these religions, and yet
remain strictly within the boundaries of
Theosophy. For the latter is belief in the Deity as the
ALL, the source
of all existence, the infinite that
cannot be either comprehended or
known, the universe alone revealing
It, or, as some prefer it, Him, thus
giving a sex to that, to
anthropomorphize which is blasphemy.
True
Theosophy shrinks from brutal
materialization; it prefers believing
that, from eternity retired within
itself, the Spirit of the Deity
neither wills nor creates; but from the infinite effulgence everywhere
going forth from the Great Centre,
that which produces all visible and
invisible things is but a ray
containing in itself the generative and
conceptive power, which, in its turn,
produces that which the Greeks
called Macrocosm, the Kabalists
Tikkun or Adam Kadmon, the archetypal
man, and the Aryans Purusha, the
manifested Brahm, or the Divine Male.
Theosophy believes also in the
Anastasis, or continued existence, and in
transmigration (evolution) or a
series of changes of the personal ego,
which can be defended and explained
on strict philosophical principles
by making a distinction between Paramatma
(transcendental, supreme
spirit) and Jivatma (individual
spirit) of the Vedantins.
To fully define Theosophy, we must
consider it under all its aspects.
The interior world has not been
hidden from all by impenetrable
darkness. By that higher intuition acquired by
Theosophia, or
God-knowledge, which carries the mind
from the world of form into that of
formless spirit, man has been
sometimes enabled, in every age and every
country, to perceive things in the
interior or invisible world. Hence,
the "Samadhi," or Dhyan Yog
Samadhi, of the Hindu ascetics; the
"Daimonlonphoti," or
spiritual illumination of the Neo-Platonists;
the "sidereal confabulation of
soul," of the Rosicrucians or
Fire-philosophers; and, even the
ecstatic trance of mystics and of the
modern mesmerists and spiritualists,
are identical in nature, though
various as to manifestation. The search after man's diviner
"self," so
often and so erroneously interpreted
as individual communion with a
personal God, was the object of every
mystic; and belief in its
possibility seems to have been coeval
with the genesis of humanity, each
people giving it another name. Thus
Plato and Plotinus call "Noetic
work" that which the Yogi and
the Shrotriya term Vidya. "By
reflection,
self-knowledge and intellectual
discipline, the soul can be raised to
the vision of eternal truth,
goodness, and beauty--that is, to the
Vision of God. This is the epopteia," said the Greeks.
"To unite one's
soul to the Universal Soul,"
says Porphyry, "requires but a perfectly
pure mind. Through self contemplation, perfect chastity,
and purity of
body, we may approach nearer to It,
and receive, in that state, true
knowledge and wonderful
insight." And Swami Dayanund
Saraswati, who has
read neither Porphyry nor other Greek
authors, but who is a thorough
Vedic scholar, says in his "Veda
Bhashya" (opasna prakaru ank. 9)--"To
obtain Diksha (highest initiation)
and Yog, one has to practise
according to the rules..... The soul
in the human body can perform the
greatest wonders by knowing the
Universal Spirit (or God) and
acquainting itself with the
properties and qualities (occult) of all the
things in the universe. A human being (a Dikshit or initiate) can
thus
acquire a power of seeing and hearing
at great distances." Finally,
Alfred R. Wallace, F.R.S., a
spiritualist and yet a confessedly great
naturalist, says, with brave
candour: "It is spirit that alone
feels,
and perceives, and thinks, that
acquires knowledge, and reasons and
aspires..... There not unfrequently occur
individuals so constituted
that the spirit can perceive
independently of the corporeal organs of
sense, or can, perhaps, wholly or
partially quit the body for a time and
return to it again; the spirit communicates with spirit easier
than
with matter." We can now see how, after thousands of years
have
intervened between the age of the
Gymnosophists* and our own highly
civilized era, notwithstanding, or,
perhaps, just because of such an
enlightenment which pours its radiant
light upon the psychological as
well as upon the physical realms of
Nature, over twenty millions of
people today believe, under different
form, in those same spiritual
powers that were believed in by the
Yogis and the Pythagoreans, nearly
3,000 years ago.
--------
* The reality of the Yog-power was
affirmed by many Greek and Roman
writers, who call the Yogis Indian
Gymnosophists--by Strabo, Lucan,
Plutarch, Cicero (Tusculum), Pliny
(vii. 2), &c.
--------
Thus, while the Aryan mystic claimed
for himself the power of solving
all the problems of life and death,
when he had once obtained the power
of acting independently of his body,
through the Atman, "self," or
"soul;" and the old Greeks went in search of Atmu,
the Hidden one, or
the God-Soul of man, with the
symbolical mirror of the Thesmophorian
mysteries; so the spiritualists of today believe in the
capacity of the
spirits, or the souls of the
disembodied persons, to communicate visibly
and tangibly with those they loved on
earth. And all these, Aryan
Yogis, Greek philosophers, and modern
spiritualists, affirm that
possibility on the ground that the
embodied soul and its never embodied
spirit--the real self--are not
separated from either the Universal Soul
or other spirits by space, but merely
by the differentiation of their
qualities, as in the boundless
expanse of the universe there can be no
limitation. And that when this difference is once
removed--according to
the Greeks and Aryans by abstract
contemplation, producing the temporary
liberation of the imprisoned soul,
and according to spiritualists,
through mediumship--such a union
between embodied and disembodied
spirits becomes possible. Thus was it that Patanjali's Yogis, and,
following in their steps, Plotinus,
Porphyry and other Neo-Platonists,
maintained that in their hours of
ecstasy, they had been united to, or
rather become as one with, God
several times during the course of their
lives. This idea, erroneous as it may seem in its
application to the
Universal Spirit, was, and is,
claimed by too many great philosophers to
be put aside as entirely
chimerical. In the case of the
Theodidaktoi,
the only controvertible point, the
dark spot on this philosophy of
extreme mysticism, was its claim to
include that which is simply
ecstatic illumination, under the head
of sensuous perception. In the
case of the Yogis, who maintained
their ability to see Iswara "face to
face," this claim was
successfully overthrown by the stern logic of the
followers of Kapila, the founder of
the Sankhya philosophy. As to the
similar assumption made for their
Greek followers, for a long array of
Christian ecstatics, and, finally,
for the last two claimants to
"God-seeing" within these
last hundred years--Jacob Bohme and
Swedenborg--this pretension would and
should have been philosophically
and logically questioned, if a few of
our great men of science, who are
spiritualists, had had more interest
in the philosophy than in the mere
phenomenalism of spiritualism.
The Alexandrian Theosophists were
divided into neophytes, initiates and
masters, or hierophants; and their rules were copied from the ancient
Mysteries of Orpheus, who, according
to Herodotus, brought them from
India. Ammonius obligated his disciples by oath not
to divulge his
higher doctrines, except to those who
were proved thoroughly worthy and
initiated, and who had learned to
regard the gods, the angels, and the
demons of other peoples, according to
the esoteric hyponia, or
under-meaning. "The gods exist, but they are not what
the hoi polloi,
the uneducated multitude, suppose
them to be," says Epicurus.
"He is
not an atheist who denies the
existence of the gods, whom the multitude
worship, but he is such who fastens
on these gods the opinions of the
multitude." In his turn, Aristotle declares that of the
"Divine Essence
pervading the whole world of Nature,
what are styled the gods are simply
the first principles."
Plotinus, the pupil of the
"God-taught" Ammonius, tells us that the
secret gnosis or the knowledge of
Theosophy, has three degrees-opinion,
science, and illumination. "The means or instrument of the first is
sense, or perception; of the second, dialectics; of the third,
intuition. To the last, reason is subordinate; it is absolute
knowledge, founded on the
identification of the mind with the object
known." Theosophy is the exact science of psychology,
so to say; it
stands in relation to natural,
uncultivated mediumship, as the knowledge
of a Tyndall stands to that of a
school-boy in physics. It develops in
man a direct beholding; that which Schelling denominates "a
realization
of the identity of subject and object
in the individual;" so that under
the influence and knowledge of
hyponia man thinks divine thoughts, views
all things as they really are, and,
finally, "becomes recipient of the
Soul of the World," to use one
of the finest expressions of Emerson.
"I, the imperfect, adore my own
Perfect," he says in his superb "Essay
on the Oversoul." Besides this psychological, or soul state,
Theosophy
cultivated every branch of sciences
and arts. It was thoroughly
familiar with what is now commonly
known as mesmerism. Practical theurgy
or "ceremonial magic," so
often resorted to in their exorcisms by the
Roman Catholic clergy, was discarded
by the Theosophists. It is but
Jamblichus alone who, transcending
the other Eclectics, added to
Theosophy the doctrine of Theurgy.
When ignorant of the true meaning of
the esoteric divine symbols of
Nature, man is apt to miscalculate the
powers of his soul, and, instead of
communing spiritually and mentally
with the higher celestial beings, the
good spirits (the gods of the
theurgists of the Platonic school),
he will unconsciously call forth the
evil, dark powers which lurk around
humanity, the undying, grim
creations of human crimes and vices,
and thus fall from theurgia (white
magic) into goetia (or black magic,
sorcery). Yet, neither white nor
black magic are what popular
superstition understands by the terms.
The
possibility of "raising
spirits," according to the key of Solomon, is
the height of superstition and
ignorance. Purity of deed and thought
can alone raise us to an intercourse
"with the gods" and attain for us
the goal we desire. Alchemy, believed by so many to have been a
spiritual philosophy as well as a
physical science, belonged to the
teachings of the Theosophical School.
It is a noticeable fact that neither
Zoroaster, Buddha, Orpheus,
Pythagoras, Confucius, Socrates, nor
Ammonius Saccas, committed anything
to writing. The reason for it is obvious. Theosophy is a double-edged
weapon and unfit for the ignorant or
the selfish. Like every ancient
philosophy it has its votaries among
the moderns; but, until late in
our own days, its disciples were few
in numbers, and of the most various
sects and opinions. "Entirely speculative,
and founding no schools, they
have still exercised a silent
influence upon philosophy; and no doubt,
when the time arrives, many ideas
thus silently propounded may yet give
new directions to human
thought," remarks Mr. Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie,
himself a mystic and a Theosophist,
in his large and valuable work, "The
Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia"
(articles "Theosophical Society of New York,"
and "Theosophy," p. 731).*
Since the days of the fire-philosophers, they
had never formed themselves into societies,
for, tracked like wild
beasts by the Christian clergy, to be
known as a Theosophist often
amounted, hardly a century ago, to a
death-warrant.
----------
* "The Royal Masonic Cycloptedia
of History, Rites, Symbolism, and
Biography." Edited by Kenneth R.
H. Mackenzie IX. (Cryptonymus) Hon.
Member of the Canongate Kilwinning
Lodge, No. 2, Scotland. New York J.
W. Bouton, 706, Broadway. 1877.
--------
The statistics show that, during a
period of 150 years, no less than
90,000 men and women were burned in
Europe for alleged witchcraft. In
Great Britain only, from A.D. 1640 to
1660, but twenty years, 3,000
persons were put to death for compact
with the "Devil." It was but
late
in the present century--in 1875--that
some progressed mystics and
spiritualists, unsatisfied with the
theories and explanations of
Spiritualism started by its votaries,
and finding that they were far
from covering the whole ground of the
wide range of phenomena, formed at
New York, America, an association
which is now widely known as the
Theosophical Society.
(--H.P. Blavatsky)
How a "Chela" Found his
"Guru"
[Being Extracts from a private letter
to Damodar K. Mavalankar, Joint
Recording Secretary of the
Theosophical Society.]
....When we met last at Bombay I told
you what had happened to me at
Tinnevelly. My health having been disturbed by official
work and worry,
I applied for leave on medical
certificate and it was duly granted. One
day in September last, while I was
reading in my room, I was ordered by
the audible voice of my blessed Guru,
M---Maharsi, to leave all and
proceed immediately to Bombay, whence
I was to go in search of Madame
Blavatsky wherever I could find her
and follow her wherever she went.
Without losing a moment, I closed up
all my affairs and left the
station. For the tones of that voice are to me the
divinest sound in
Nature, its commands imperative. I traveled in my ascetic robes.
Arrived at Bombay, I found Madame
Blavatsky gone, and learned through
you that she had left a few days
before; that she was very ill; and
that, beyond the fact that she had
left the place very suddenly with a
Chela, you knew nothing of her
whereabouts. And now, I must tell you
what happened to me after I had left
you.
Really not knowing whither I had best
go, I took a through ticket to
Calcutta; but, on reaching Allahabad, I heard the same
well-known
voice directing me to go to
Berhampore. At Azimgunge, in the train,
I
met, most providentially I may say,
with some Bengali gentlemen (I did
not then know they were also
Theosophists, since I had never seen any of
them), who were also in search of
Madame Blavatsky. Some had traced her
to Dinapore, but lost her track and
went back to Berhampore. They knew,
they said, she was going to Tibet and
wanted to throw themselves at the
feet of the Mahatmas to permit them
to accompany her. At last, as I was
told, they received from her a note,
permitting them to come if they so
desired it, but saying that she
herself was prohibited from going to
Tibet just now. She was to remain, she said, in the vicinity
of
Darjiling and would see the Mahatma
on the Sikkhim Territory, where they
would not be allowed to follow her
.... Brother Nobin K. Bannerji, the
President of the Adhi Bhoutic Bhratru
Theosophical Society, would not
tell me where Madame Blavatsky was,
or perhaps did not then know
himself. Yet he and others had risked
all in the hope of seeing the
Mahatmas. On the 23rd, at last he brought me from
Calcutta to
Chandernagore, where I found Madame
Blavatsky, ready to start by train
in five minutes. A tall, dark-looking hairy Chela (not Chunder
Cusho),
but a Tibetan I suppose by his dress,
whom I met after I had crossed the
river Hugli with her in a boat, told
me that I had come too late, that
Madame Blavatsky had already seen the
Mahatmas and that he had brought
her back. He would not listen to my supplications to
take me with him,
saying he had no other orders than
what he had already executed--namely,
to take her about twenty-five miles
beyond a certain place he named to
me, and that he was now going to see
her safe to the station and return.
The Bengali brother Theosophists had
also traced and followed her,
arriving at the station half an hour
later. They crossed the river from
Chandernagore to a small railway
station on the opposite side. When the
train arrived, she got into the
carriage, upon entering which I found
the Chela! And, before even her own things could be
placed in the van,
the train, against all regulations and
before the bell was rung, started
off, leaving the Bengali gentlemen
and her servant behind, only one of
them and the wife and daughter of
another--all Theosophists and
candidates for Chelaship--having had
time to get in. I myself had
barely the time to jump into the last
carriage. All her things, with the
exception of her box containing
Theosophical correspondence, were left
behind with her servant. Yet, even
the persons that went by the same
train with her did not reach
Darjiling. Babu Nobin Banerjee, with the
servant, arrived five days
later; and those who had time to take
their
seats, were left five or six stations
behind, owing to another
unforeseen accident (?), reaching
Darjiling also a few days later. It
required no great stretch of imagination
to conclude that Madame
Blavatsky was, perhaps, being again
taken to the Mahatmas, who, for some
good reasons best known to them, did
not want us to be following and
watching her. Two of the Mahatmas, I had learned for a
certainty, were
in the neighbourhood of British
territory; and one of them was seen and
recognized, by a person I need not
name here, as a high Chutukla of
Tibet.
The first days of her arrival Madame
Blavatsky was living at the house
of a Bengali gentleman, a
Theosophist, refusing to see any one, and
preparing, as I thought, to go again
somewhere on the borders of Tibet.
To all our importunities we could get
only this answer from her: that
we had no business to stick to and
follow her, that she did not want us,
and that she had no right to disturb
the Mahatmas with all sorts of
questions that concerned only the
questioners, for they knew their own
business best. In despair, I determined, come what might, to
cross the
frontier, which is about a dozen miles
from here, and find the Mahatmas
or--DIE. I never stopped to think that what I was
going to undertake
would be regarded as the rash act of
a lunatic. I had no permission, no
"pass" from the Sikkhim
Rajah, and was yet decided to penetrate into the
heart of a semi-independent State
where, if anything happened, the
Anglo-Indian officials would not--if
even they could--protect me, since
I should have crossed over without
their permission. But I never even
gave that a thought, but was bent
upon one engrossing idea--to find and
see my Guru. Without breathing a word of my intentions to
any one, one
morning, namely, October 5, I set out
in search of the Mahatma. I had
an umbrella and a pilgrim's staff for
sole weapons, with a few rupees in
my purse. I wore the yellow garb and cap. Whenever I was tired on the
road, my costume easily procured for
me for a small sum a pony to ride.
The same afternoon I reached the
banks of the Rungit River, which forms
the boundary between British and
Sikkhimese territories. I tried to
cross it by the aerial suspension
bridge constructed of canes, but it
swayed to and fro to such an extent
that I, who have never known in my
life what hardship was, could not
stand it. I crossed the river by the
ferry-boat, and this even not without
much danger and difficulty. That
whole afternoon I traveled on foot,
penetrating further and further into
the heart of Sikkhim, along a narrow
footpath. I cannot now say how
many miles I traveled before dusk,
but I am sure it was not less than
twenty or twenty-five miles. Throughout, I saw nothing but impenetrable
jungles and forests on all sides of
me, relieved at very long intervals
by solitary huts belonging to the
mountain population. At dusk I began
to search around me for a place to
rest in at night. I met on the road,
in the afternoon, a leopard and a
wild cat; and I am astonished now to
think how I should have felt no fear
then nor tried to run away.
Throughout, some secret influence
supported me. Fear or anxiety never
once entered my mind. Perhaps in my heart there was room for no
other
feeling but an intense anxiety to
find my Guru. When it was just
getting dark, I espied a solitary hut
a few yards from the roadside. To
it I directed my steps in the hope of
finding a lodging. The rude door
was locked. The cabin was untenanted at the time. I examined it on all
sides and found an aperture on the
western side. It was small indeed,
but sufficient for me to jump
through. It had a small shutter and a
wooden bolt. By a strange coincidence of circumstances the
hillman had
forgotten to fasten it on the inside
when he locked the door. Of
course, after what has subsequently
transpired, I now, through the eye
of faith, see the protecting hand of
my Guru everywhere around me. Upon
getting inside I found the room
communicated, by a small doorway, with
another apartment, the two occupying
the whole space of this sylvan
mansion. I laid down, concentrating every thought upon
my Guru as
usual, and soon fell into a profound
sleep. Before I went to rest, I
had secured the door of the other
room and the single window. It may
have been between ten and eleven, or
perhaps a little later, that I
awoke and heard sounds of footsteps
in the adjoining room. I could
plainly distinguish two or three
people talking together in a dialect
unknown to me. Now, I cannot recall
the same without a shudder. At any
moment they might have entered from
the other room and murdered me for
my money. Had they mistaken me for a burglar the same
fate awaited me.
These and similar thoughts crowded
into my brain in an inconceivably
short period. But my heart did not palpitate with fear, nor
did I for
one moment think of the possibly
tragical chances of the moment. I know
not what secret influence held me fast,
but nothing could put me out or
make me fear; I was perfectly calm. Although I lay awake staring into
the darkness for upwards of two
hours, and even paced the room softly
and slowly without making any noise,
to see if I could make my escape,
in case of need, back to the forest
by the same way I had effected my
entrance into the hut--no fear, I
repeat, or any such feeling ever
entered my heart. I recomposed myself to rest. After a sound
sleep,
undisturbed by any dream, I awoke at
daybreak. Then I hastily put on my
boots, and cautiously got out of the
hut through the same window. I
could hear the snoring of the owners
of the hut in the other room. But
I lost no time, and gained the path
to Sikkhim (the city) and held on my
way with unflagging zeal. From the inmost recesses of my heart I
thanked my revered Guru for the
protection he had vouchsafed me during
the night. What prevented the owners of the hut from
penetrating to the
second room? What kept me in the same serene and calm
spirit, as if I
were in a room of my own house? What could possibly make me sleep so
soundly under such
circumstances,--enormous, dark forests on all sides
abounding in wild beasts, and a party
of cut-throats--as most of the
Sikkhimese are said to be--in the
next room, with an easy and rude door
between them and me?
When it became quite light, I wended
my way on through hills and dales.
Riding or walking, the journey was
not a pleasant one for any man not as
deeply engrossed in thought as I was
then myself, and quite oblivious to
anything affecting the body. I have cultivated the power of mental
concentration to such a degree of
late that, on many an occasion, I have
been able to make myself quite
unconscious of anything around me when my
mind was wholly bent upon the one
object of my life, as several of my
friends will testify; but never to such an extent as in this
instance.
It was, I think, between eight and
nine A.M. I was following the road
to the town of Sikkhim, whence, I was
assured by the people I met on the
road, I could cross over to Tibet
easily in my pilgrim's garb, when I
suddenly saw a solitary horseman
galloping towards me from the opposite
direction. From his tall stature and skill in
horsemanship, I thought
he was some military officer of the Sikkhim
Rajah. Now, I thought, I am
caught! He will ask me for my pass and what business
I have in the
independent territory of Sikkhim,
and, perhaps, have me arrested and
sent back, if not worse. But, as he approached me, he reined up. I
looked at and recognized him
instantly.... I was in the awful presence
of him, of the same Mahatma, my own
revered Guru, whom I had seen before
in his astral body on the balcony of
the Theosophical Headquarters. It
was he, the "Himalayan
Brother" of the ever-memorable night of December
last, who had so kindly dropped a
letter in answer to one I had given
but an hour or so before in a sealed
envelope to Madame Blavatsky, whom
I had never lost sight of for one
moment during the interval. The very
same instant saw me prostrated on the
ground at his feet. I arose at
his command, and, leisurely looking
into his face, forgot myself
entirely in the contemplation of the
image I knew so well, having seen
his portrait (the one in Colonel
Olcott's possession) times out of
number. I knew not what to say: joy and reverence tied my tongue. The
majesty of his countenance, which
seemed to me to be the impersonation
of power and thought, held me rapt in
awe. I was at last face to face
with "the Mahatma of the
Himavat," and he was no myth, no "creation of
the imagination of a medium," as
some sceptics had suggested. It was no
dream of the night; it was between nine and ten o'clock of the
forenoon. There was the sun shining and silently
witnessing the scene
from above. I see him before me in flesh and blood, and
he speaks to me
in accents of kindness and
gentleness. What more could I want? My
excess of happiness made me
dumb. Nor was it until some time had
elapsed that I was able to utter a
few words, encouraged by his gentle
tone and speech. His complexion is not as fair as that of
Mahatma
Koothoomi; but never have I seen a countenance so
handsome, a stature
so tall and so majestic. As in his portrait, he wears a short black
beard, and long black hair hanging
down to his breast; only his dress
was different: Instead of a white, loose robe he wore a
yellow mantle
lined with fur, and on his head,
instead of the turban, a yellow Tibetan
felt cap, as I have seen some
Bhootanese wear in this country. When
the
first moments of rapture and surprise
were over, and I calmly
comprehended the situation, I had a
long talk with him. He told me to
go no further, for I should come to
grief. He said I should wait
patiently if I wanted to become an
accepted Chela; that many were those
who offered themselves as candidates,
but that only a very few were
found worthy; none were rejected, but all of them tried,
and most found
to fail signally, as for
example---and---. Some, instead of being
accepted and pledged this year, were
now thrown off for a year. The
Mahatma, I found, speaks very little
English--or at least it so seemed
to me--and spoke to me in my
mother-tongue--Tamil. He told me that if
the Chohan permitted Madame Blavatsky
to visit Parijong next year, then
I could come with her. The Bengali Theosophists who followed the
"Upasika" (Madame
Blavatsky) would see that she was right in trying to
dissuade them from following her
now. I asked the blessed Mahatma
whether I could tell what I saw and
heard to others. He replied in the
affirmative, and that moreover I
would do well to write to you and
describe all.
I must impress upon your mind the
whole situation, and ask you to keep
well in view that what I saw was not
the mere "appearance" only, the
astral body of the Mahatma, as we saw
him at Bombay, but the living man,
in his own physical body. He was pleased to say when I offered my
farewell namaskarams (prostration)
that he approached the British
territory to see the Upasika. Before he left me, two more men came on
horseback, his attendants I suppose,
probably Chelas, for they were
dressed like lama-gylungs, and both,
like himself, with long hair
streaming down their backs. They followed the Mahatma, when he left, at
a gentle trot. For over an hour I stood gazing at the place
that he had
just quitted, and then I slowly
retraced my steps. Now it was that I
found for the first time that my long
boots had pinched my leg in
several places, that I had eaten
nothing since the day before, and that
I was too weak to walk further. My whole body was aching in every limb.
At a little distance I saw petty
traders with country ponies, carrying
burdens. I hired one of these animals. In the afternoon I came to the
Rungit River and crossed it. A bath in its cool waters revived me. I
purchased some fruit in the only
bazaar there and ate heartily. I took
another horse immediately and reached
Darjiling late in the evening. I
could neither eat, nor sit, nor
stand. Every part of my body was
aching. My absence had seemingly alarmed Madame
Blavatsky. She scolded
me for my rash and mad attempt to try
to go to Tibet after that fashion.
When I entered the house I found with
Madame Blavatsky, Bahu Parbati
Churn Roy, Deputy Collector of
Settlements and Superintendent of Dearah
Survey, and his assistant, Babu Kanty
Bhushan Sen, both members of our
Society. At their prayer and Madame Blavatsky's
command, I recounted
all that had happened to me,
reserving of course my private conversation
with the Mahatma. They were all, to say the least,
astounded. After
all, she will not go this year to
Tibet; for which I am sure she does
not care, since she has seen our
Masters and thus gained her only
object. But we, unfortunate people! we lose our only
chance of going
and offering our worship to the
"Himalayan Brothers," who, I know, will
not soon cross over to British
territory, if ever, again.
And now that I have seen the Mahatma
in the flesh, and heard his living
voice, let no one dare say to me that
the Brothers do not exist. Come
now whatever will, death has no fear
for me, nor the vengeance of
enemies; for what I know, I know!
--S. Ramaswamier, F.T.S.
The Sages of the Himavat
While on my tour with Col. Olcott
several phenomena occurred, in his
presence as well as in his absence,
such as immediate answers to
questions in my Master's handwriting,
and over his signature, put by a
number of our Fellows. These occurrences took place before we
reached
Lahore, where we expected to meet in
the body my Master. There I was
visited by him in the body, for three
nights consecutively, for about
three hours every time, while I
myself retained full consciousness, and,
in one case, even went to meet him
outside the house. To my knowledge
there is no case on the Spiritualist
records of a medium remaining
perfectly conscious, and meeting, by
previous arrangement, his
spirit-visitor in the compound,
re-entering the house with him, offering
him a seat, and then holding a long
converse with the "disembodied
spirit" in a way to give him the
impression that he is in personal
contact with an embodied entity. Moreover, him whom I saw in person at
Lahore was the same I had seen in
astral form at the Headquarters of the
Theosophical Society, and again, the
same whom I had seen in visions and
trances at his house, thousands of
miles off, which I reached in my
astral Ego by his direct help and
protection. In those instances, with
my psychic powers hardly yet
developed, I had always seen him as a rather
hazy form, although his features were
perfectly distinct and their
remembrance was profoundly graven on
my soul's eye and memory, while now
at Lahore, Jummoo, and elsewhere, the
impression was utterly different.
In the former cases, when making
Pranam (salutation) my hands passed
through his form, while on the latter
occasions they met solid garments
and flesh. Here I saw a living man
before me, the original of the
portraits in Madame Blavatsky's
possession and in Mr. Sinnett's, though
far more imposing in his general
appearance and bearing. I shall not
here dwell upon the fact of his
having been corporeally seen by both
Col. Olcott and Mr. Brown separately
for two nights at Lahore, as they
can do so better, each for himself,
if they so choose. At Jummoo again,
where we proceeded from Lahore, Mr. Brown
saw him on the evening of the
third day of our arrival there, and
from him received a letter in his
familiar handwriting, not to speak of
his visits to me almost every day.
And what happened the next morning
almost every one in Jummoo is aware
of.
The fact is, that I had the good fortune of being sent for, and
permitted to visit a sacred Ashrum,
where I remained for a few days in
the blessed company of several of the
Mahatmas of Himavat and their
disciples. There I met not only my beloved Gurudeva and
Col. Olcott's
master, but several others of the
fraternity, including one of the
highest. I regret the extremely personal nature of my
visit to those
thrice blessed regions prevents my
saying more about it. Suffice it
that the place I was permitted to
visit is in the Himalayas, not in any
fanciful Summer Land, and that I saw
him in my own sthula sarira
(physical body) and found my Master
identical with the form I had seen
in the earlier days of my
Chelaship. Thus, I saw my beloved Guru
not
only as a living man, but actually as
a young one in comparison with
some other Sadhus of the blessed
company, only far kinder, and not above
a merry remark and conversation at
times. Thus on the second day of my
arrival, after the meal hour, I was
permitted to hold an intercourse for
over an hour with my Master. Asked by him smilingly what it was that
made me look at him so perplexed, I
asked in my turn:--"How is it,
Master, that some of the members of
our Society have taken into their
heads a notion that you were 'an
elderly man,' and that they have even
seen you clairvoyantly looking an old
man past sixty?" To which he
pleasantly smiled and said that this
latest misconception was due to the
reports of a certain Brahmachari, a
pupil of a Vedantic Swami in the
Punjab,* who had met last year in
Tibet the chief of a sect, an elderly
Lama, who was his (my Master's)
traveling companion at that time. The
said Brahmachari, having spoken of
the encounter in India, had led
several persons to mistake the Lama
for himself. As to his being
perceived clairvoyantly as an
"elderly man," that could never be, he
added, as real clairvoyance could
lead no one into such mistaken
notions; and then he kindly reprimanded me for giving
any importance to
the age of a Guru, adding that
appearances were often false, &c., and
explaining other points.
--------
* See infra. Rajani Kanta
Brahmachai's "Interview with a
Mahatma."
--------
These are all stern facts, and no
third course is open to the reader.
What I assert is either true or
false. In the former case, no
Spiritualistic hypothesis can hold
good, and it will have to be admitted
that the Himalayan Brothers are
living men, and neither disembodied
spirits nor creations of the
over-heated imagination of fanatics. Of
course I am fully aware that many
will discredit my account; but I
write only for the benefit of those
few who know me well enough to see
in me neither a hallucinated medium,
nor attribute to me any bad motive,
and who have ever been true and loyal
to their convictions and to the
cause they have so nobly
espoused. As for the majority who laugh
at and
ridicule what they have neither the
inclination nor the capacity to
understand, I hold them in very small
account. If these few lines will
help to stimulate even one of my
brother-Fellows in the Society, or one
right-thinking man outside of it, to
promote the cause of Truth and
Humanity, I shall consider that I
have properly performed my duty.
--Damodar K. Mavalankar
The Himalayan Brothers--Do They Exist?
"Ask and it shall be given unto
you; knock and it shall be opened,"
this is an accurate representation of
the position of the earnest
inquirer as to the existence of the
Mahatmas. I know of none who took
up this inquiry in right earnest and
were not rewarded for their labours
with knowledge, certainty. In spite of all this there are plenty of
people who carp and cavil but will
not take the trouble of proving the
thing for themselves. Both by
Europeans and a section of our own
countrymen--the too Europeanized
graduates of Universities--the
existence of the Mahatmas is looked
upon with incredulity and distrust,
to give it no harder name. The position of the Europeans is easily
intelligible, for these things are so
far removed from their
intellectual horizon, and their
self-sufficiency is so great, that they
are almost impervious to these new
ideas. But it is much more difficult
to conceive why the people of India,
who are born and brought up in an
atmosphere redolent with the
traditions of these things, should affect
such scepticism. It would have been more natural for them, on
the other
hand, to hail such proofs as those I
am now laying before the public
with the same satisfaction as an
astronomer feels when a new star, whose
elements he has calculated, swims
within his ken. I myself was a
thorough-going disbeliever only two
years back. In the first place I
had never witnessed any occult
phenomena myself, nor did I find any one
who had done so in that small ring of
our countrymen for whom only I was
taught to have any respect--the
"educated classes." It was
only in the
month of October, 1882, that I really
devoted any time and attention to
this matter, and the result is that I
have as little doubt with respect
to the existence of the Mahatmas as
of mine own. I now know that they
exist. But for a long time the proofs that I had
received were not all
of an objective character. Many things which are very satisfactory
proofs to me would not be so to the
reader. On the other hand, I have
no right to speak of the
unimpeachable evidence I now possess.
Therefore I must do the best I can
with the little I am permitted to
give.
In the present paper I have brought forward such evidence as
would be perfectly satisfactory to
all capable of measuring its
probative force.
The evidence now laid before the
public was collected by me during the
months of October and November, 1882,
and was at the time placed before
some of the leading members of the
Theosophical Society, Mr. Sinnett
among others. The account of Bro. Ramaswamier's interview
with his Guru
in Sikkhim being then ready for
publication, there was no necessity, in
their opinion, for the present paper
being brought to light. But since
an attempt has been made in some
quarters to minimize the effect of Mr.
Ramaswamier's evidence by calling it
most absurdly "the hallucinations
of a half-frozen strolling
Registrar," I think something might be gained
by the publication of perfectly
independent testimony of, perhaps,
equal, if not greater, value, though
of quite a different character.
With these words of explanation as to
the delay in its publication, I
resign this paper to the criticism of
our sceptical friends. Let them
calmly consider and pronounce upon
the evidence of the Tibetan pedlar at
Darjiling, supported and strengthened
by the independent testimony of
the young Brahmachari at
Dehradun. Those who were present when
the
statements of these persons were
taken, all occupy very respectable
positions in life--some in fact
belonging to the front ranks of Hindu
Society, and several in no way
connected with the Theosophical movement,
but, on the contrary, quite
unfriendly to it. In those days I again
say
I was rather sceptical myself. It is only since I collected the
following evidence and received more
than one proof of the actual
existence of my venerated master,
Mahatma Koothoomi, whose presence--
quite independently of Madame
Blavatsky, Colonel Olcott or any "alleged"
Chela--was made evident to me in a
variety of ways, that I have given up
the folly of doubting any
longer. Now I believe no more--I
KNOW; and
knowing, I would help others to
obtain the same knowledge.
During my visit to Darjiling I lived
in the same house with several
Theosophists, all as ardent aspirants
for the higher life, and most of
them as doubtful with regard to the
Himalayan Mahatmas as I was myself
at that time. I met at Darjiling persons who claimed to be
Chelas of
the Himalayan Brothers and to have
seen and lived with them for years.
They laughed at our perplexity. One of them showed us an admirably
executed portrait of a man who
appeared to be an eminently holy person,
and who, I was told, was the Mahatma
Koothoomi (now my revered master),
to whom Mr. Sinnett's "Occult
World" is dedicated. A few days
after my
arrival, a Tibetan pedlar of the name
of Sundook accidentally came to
our house to sell his things. Sundook was for years well-known in
Darjiling and the neighbourhood as an
itinerant trader in Tibetan
knick-knacks, who visited the country
every year in the exercise of his
profession. He came to the house several times during our
stay there,
and seemed to us, from his
simplicity, dignity of bearing and pleasant
manners, to be one of Nature's own
gentlemen. No man could discover in
him any trait of character even
remotely allied to the uncivilized
savages, as the Tibetans are held in
the estimation of Europeans. He
might very well have passed for a
trained courtier, only that he was too
good to be one. He came to the house while I was there. On the first
occasion he was accompanied by a
Goorkha youth, named Sundar Lall, an
employee in the Darjiling News
office, who acted as interpreter. But we
soon found out that the peculiar
dialect of Hindi which he spoke was
intelligible to some of us without
any interpreter, and so there was
none needed on subsequent
occasions. On the first day we put him
some
general questions about Tibet and the
Gelugpa sect, to which he said he
belonged, and his answers
corroborated the statements of Bogle, Turnour
and other travelers. On the second day we asked him if he had
heard of
any persons in Tibet who possessed
extraordinary powers besides the
great lamas. He said there were such men; that they were not regular
lamas, but far higher than they, and
generally lived in the mountains
beyond Tchigatze and also near the
city of Lhassa. These men, he said,
produce many and very wonderful
phenomena or "miracles," and some of
their Chelas, or Lotoos, as they are
called in Tibet, cure the sick by
giving them to eat the rice which
they crush out of the paddy with their
hands, &c. Then one of us had a
glorious idea. Without saying one word,
the above-mentioned portrait of the
Mahatma Koothoomi was shown to him.
He looked at it for a few seconds,
and then, as though suddenly
recognizing it, he made a profound
reverence to the portrait, and said
it was the likeness of a Chohan
(Mahatma) whom he had seen. Then he
began rapidly to describe the
Mahatma's dress and naked arms; then
suiting the action to the word, he
took off his outer cloak, and baring
his arms to the shoulder, made the
nearest approach to the figure in the
portrait, in the adjustment of his
dress.
He said he had seen the Mahatma in
question accompanied by a numerous
body of Gylungs, about that time of
the previous year (beginning of
October 1881) at a place called
Giansi, two days' journey southward of
Tchigatze, whither the narrator dad
gone to make purchases for his
trade. On being asked the name of the Mahatma, he
said to our unbounded
surprise, "They are called
Koothum-pa." Being cross-examined
and asked
what he meant by "they,"
and whether he was naming one man or many, he
replied that the Koothum-pas were
many, but there was only one man or
chief over them of that name; the disciples being always called after
the names of their guru. Hence the name of the latter being Koot-hum,
that of his disciples was
"Koot-hum-pa." Light was shed
upon this
explanation by a Tibetan dictionary,
where we found that the word "pa"
means "man;" "Bod-pa" is a "man of Bod or
Thibet," &c. Similarly
Koothum-pa means man or disciple of
Koothoom or Koothoomi. At Giansi,
the pedlar said, the richest merchant
of the place went to the Mahatma,
who had stopped to rest in the midst
of an extensive field, and asked
him to bless him by coming to his
house. The Mahatma replied, he was
better where he was, as he had to
bless the whole world, and not any
particular man. The people, and among them our friend
Sundook, took
their offerings to the Mahatma, but he
ordered them to be distributed
among the poor. Sundook was exhorted by the Mahatma to pursue
his trade
in such a way as to injure no one,
and warned that such was the only
right way to prosperity. On being told that people in India refused to
believe that there were such men as
the Brothers in Tibet, Sundook
offered to take any voluntary witness
to that country, and convince us,
through him, as to the genuineness of
their existence, and remarked that
if there were no such men in Tibet,
he would like to know where they
were to be found. It being suggested to him that some people
refused to
believe that such men existed at all,
he got very angry. Tucking up the
sleeve of his coat and shirt, and
disclosing a strong muscular arm, he
declared that he would fight any man
who would suggest that he had said
anything but the truth.
On being shown a peculiar rosary of
beads belonging to Madame Blavatsky,
the pedlar said that such things
could only be got by those to whom the
Tesshu Lama presented them, as they could
be got for no amount of money
elsewhere. When the Chela who was with us put on his
sleeveless coat
and asked him whether he recognized
the latter's profession by his
dress, the pedlar answered that he
was a Gylung and then bowing down to
him took the whole thing as a matter
of course. The witnesses in this
case were Babu Nobin Krishna
Bannerji, deputy magistrate, Berhampore,
M.R. Ry. Ramaswamiyer Avergal,
district registrar, Madura (Madras), the
Goorkha gentleman spoken of before,
all the family of the first-named
gentleman, and the writer.
Now for the other piece of
corroborative evidence. This time it
came
most accidentally into my
possession. A young Bengali Brahmachari,
who
had only a short time previous to our
meeting returned from Tibet and
who was residing then at Dehradun, in
the North-Western Provinces of
India, at the house of my
grandfather-in-law, the venerable Babu
Devendra Nath Tagore of the Brahmo
Samaj, gave most unexpectedly, in the
presence of a number of respectable
witnesses, the following account:--
On the 15th of the Bengali month of
Asar last (1882). being the 12th day
of the waxing moon, he met some
Tibetans, called the Koothoompas, and
their guru in a field near Taklakhar,
a place about a day's journey from
the Lake of Manasarawara. The guru and most of his disciples, who were
called gylungs, wore sleeveless coats
over under-garments of red. The
complexion of the guru was very fair,
and his hair, which was not parted
but combed back, streamed down his
shoulders. When the Brahmachani
first saw the Mahatma he was reading
in a book, which the Brahmachari
was informed by one of the gylungs
was the Rig Veda.
The guru saluted him, and asked him
where he was coming from. On
finding the latter had not had
anything to eat, the guru commanded that
he should be given some ground gram
(Sattoo) and tea. As the
Brahmachari could not get any fire to
cook food with, the guru asked
for, and kindled a cake of dry
cow-dung--the fuel used in that country
as well as in this--by simply blowing
upon it, and gave it to our
Brahmachari. The latter assured us that he had often
witnessed the same
phenomenon, produced by another guru
or chohan, as they are called in
Tibet, at Gauri, a place about a
day's journey from the cave of Tarchin,
on the northern side of Mount
Kailas. The keeper of a flock, who was
suffering from rheumatic fever came
to the guru, who gave him a few
grains of rice, crushed out of paddy,
which the guru had in his hand,
and the sick man was cured then and
there.
Before he parted company with the
Koothumpas and their guru, the
Brahmachari found that they were
going to attend a festival held on the
banks of the Lake of Manasarawara,
and that thence they intended to
proceed to the Kailas mountains.
The above statement was on several
occasions repeated by the Brahmachari
in the presence (among others) of
Babu Dwijender Nath Tagore of
Jorasanko, Calcutta; Babu Cally Mohan Ghose of the Trigonometrical
Surcey of India, Dehradun; Babu Cally Cumar Chatterij of the same
place; Babu Gopi Mohan Ghosh of Dacca; Babu Priya
Nath Sastri, clerk to
Babu Devender Nath Tagore, and the
writer. Comments would here seem
almost superfluous, and the facts
might very well have been left to
speak for themselves to a fair and
intelligent jury. But the averseness
of people to enlarge their field of
experience and the wilful
misrepresentation of designing
persons know no bounds. The nature of
the evidence here adduced is of an
unexceptional character. Both
witnesses were met quite accidentally. Even if it be granted, which we
certainly do not for a moment grant,
that the Tibetan pedlar, Sundook,
had been interviewed by some
interested person, and induced to tell an
untruth, what can be conceived to
have been the motive of the
Brahmachari, one belonging to a
religious body noted for their
truthfulness, and having no idea as
to the interest the writer took in
such things, in inventing a romance,
and how could he make it fit
exactly with the statements of the
Tibetan pedlar at the other end of
the country? Uneducated persons are no doubt liable to
deceive
themselves in many matters, but these
statements dealt only with such
disunited facts as fell within the
range of the narrator's eyes and
ears, and had nothing to do with his judgment
or opinion. Thus, when
the pedlar's statement is coupled
with that of the Dehradun Brahmachari,
there is, indeed, no room left for
any doubt as to the truthfulness of
either. It may here be mentioned that the statement
of the Brahmachari
was not the result of a series of
leading questions, but formed part of
the account he voluntarily gave of
his travels during the year, and that
he is almost entirely ignorant of the
English language, and had, to the
best of my knowledge, information and
belief, never even so much as
heard of the name of Theosophy. Now, if any one refuses to accept the
mutually corroborative but
independent testimonies of the Tibetan pedlar
of Darjiling and the Brahmachari of
Dehradun on the ground that they
support the genuineness of facts not
ordinarily falling within the
domain of one's experience, all I can
say is that it is the very miracle
of folly. It is, on the other hand, most unshakably
established upon
the evidence of several of his
Chelas, that the Mahatma Koothoomi is a
living person like any of us, and
that moreover he was seen by two
persons on two different
occasions. This will, it is to be hoped,
settle for ever the doubts of those
who believe in the genuineness of
occult phenomena, but put them down
to the agency of "spirits."
Mark
one circumstance. It may be argued that during the pedlar's
stay at
Darjiling, Madame Blavatsky was also
there, and, who knows, she might
have bribed him (!!) into saying what
he said. But no such thing can be
urged in the case of the Dehradun
Brahmachari. He knew neither the
pedlar nor Madame Blavatsky, had
never heard of Colonel Olcott, having
just returned from his prolonged
journey, and had no idea that I was a
Fellow of the Society. His testimony was entirely voluntary. Some
others, who admit that Mahatmas
exist, but that there is no proof of
their connection with the
Theosophical Society, will be pleased to see
that there is no a priori
impossibility in those great souls taking an
interest in such a benevolent Society
as ours. Consequently it is a
gratuitous insult to a number of
self-sacrificing men and women to
reject their testimony without a fair
hearing.
I purposely leave aside all proofs
which are already before the public.
Each set of proofs is conclusive in
itself, and the cumulative effect of
all is simply irresistible.
--Mohini M. Chatterji
Interview with a Mahatma
At the time I left home for the
Himalayas in search of the Supreme
Being, having adopted
Brahmacharyashrama (religious mendicancy), I was
quite ignorant of the fact that there
was any such philosophical sect as
the Theosophists existing in India,
who believed in the existence of the
Mahatmas or "superior
persons." This and other facts
connected with my
journey are perfectly correct as
already published, and so need not be
repeated or contradicted. Now I beg to give a fuller account of my
interview with the Mahatmas.
Before and after I met the so-called
Mahatma Koothum-pa, I had the good
fortune of seeing in person several
other Mahatmas of note, a detailed
account of whom, I hope, should time
allow, to write to you by-and-by.
Here I wish to say something about
Koothum-pa only.
When I was on my way to Almora from
Mansarowar and Kailas, one day I had
nothing with me to eat. I was quite at a loss how to get on without
food.
There being no human habitation in that part of the country, I
could expect no help, but pray to
God, and take my way patiently on.
Between Mansarowar and Taklakhal, by
the side of a road, I observed a
tent pitched and several Sadhus (holy
men), called Chohans, sitting
outside it who numbered about
seventeen in all. As to their dress,
&c.,
what Babu M.M. Chatterji says is
quite correct. When I went to them
they entertained me very kindly, and
saluted me by uttering, "Ram Ram."
Returning their salutations, I sat
down with them, and they entered upon
conversation with me on different
subjects, asking me first the place I
was coming from and whither I was
going. There was a chief of them
sitting inside the tent, and engaged
in reading a book. I inquired
about his name and the book he was
reading from, one of his Chelas, who
answered me in rather a serious tone,
saying that his name was Guru
Koothum-pa, and the book he was
reading was Rig Veda. Long before, I
had been told by some Pundits of
Bengal that the Tibetan Lamas were
well-acquainted with the Rig
Veda. This proved what they had told me.
After a short time, when his reading
was over, he called me in by one of
his Chelas, and I went to him. He, also bidding me "Ram Ram,"
received
me very gently and courteously, and
began to talk with me mildly in pure
Hindi. He addressed me in words such as
follows:--"You should remain
here for some time and see the fair
at Mansarowar, which is to come off
shortly. Here you will have plenty of
time and suitable retreats for
meditation, &c. I will help you in whatever I can." He spoke as above
for some time, and I replied that
what he said was right, and that I
would gladly have stayed, but there
was some reason which prevented me.
He understood my object immediately,
and then, having given me some
private advice as to my spiritual
progress, bade me farewell. Before
this he had come to know that I was
hungry, and so wished me to take
some food. He ordered one of his Chelas to supply me
with food, which
he did immediately. In order to get
hot water ready for my ablutions, he
prepared fire by blowing into a
cow-dung cake, which burst into flames
at once. This is a common practice among the Himalayan
Lamas. It is
also fully explained by M.M.
Chatterji, and so need not be repeated.
As long as I was there with the said
Lama, he never persuaded me to
accept Buddhism or any other
religion, but only said, "Hinduism is the
best religion; you should believe in the Lord Mahadeva--he
will do good
to you. You are still quite a young man--do not be
enticed away by the
necromancy of anybody." Having
had a conversation with the Mahatma as
described above for about three
hours, I at last took leave and resumed
my journey.
I am neither a Theosophist nor a
sectarian, but am the worshipper of the
only Om. As regards the Mahatma I personally saw, I
dare say that he is
a great Mahatma. By the fulfilment of certain of his
prophecies, I am
quite convinced of his excellence. Of all the Himalayan Mahatmas with
whom I had an interview, I never met
a better Hindi speaker than he. As
to his birth-place and the place of
his residence, I did not ask him any
question. Neither can I say if he is the Mahatma of the
Theosophists.
As to the age of the Mahatma
Koothum-pa, as I told Babu M. M. Chatterji
and others, he was an elderly looking
man.
--Rajani Kant Brahmachari
The Secret Doctrine
Few experiences lying about the
threshhold of occult studies are more
perplexing and tormenting than those
which have to do with the policy of
the Brothers as to what shall, and
what shall not, be revealed to the
outer world. In fact, it is only by students at the same
time tenacious
and patient--continuously anxious to
get at the truths of occult
philosophy, but cool enough to bide
their time when obstacles come in
the way--that what looks, at first
sight, like a grudging and miserly
policy in this matter on the part of
our illustrious teachers can be
endured. Most men persist in judging all situations by
the light of
their own knowledge and conceptions,
and certainly by reference to
standards of right and wrong with
which modern civilization is familiar
a pungent indictment may be framed
against the holders of philosophical
truth. They are regarded by their critics as keeping
guard over their
intellectual possessions, declaring,
"We have won this knowledge with
strenuous effort and at the cost of
sacrifice and suffering; we will
not make a present of it to luxurious
idlers who have done nothing to
deserve it." Most critics of the Theosophical Society and
its
publications have fastened on this
obvious idea, and have denounced the
policy of the Brothers as
"selfish" and "unreasonable."
It has been argued that, as regards occult
powers, the necessity for
keeping back all secrets which would
enable unconscientious people to do
mischief, might be granted, but that
no corresponding motives could
dictate the reservation of occult
philosophical truth.
I have lately come to perceive
certain considerations on this subject
which have generally been
overlooked; and it seems desirable to
put
them forward at once; especially as a very considerable body of
occult
philosophical teaching is now before
the world, and as those who
appreciate its value best, will
sometimes be inclined to protest all the
more emphatically against the
tardiness with which it has been served
out, and the curious precautions with
which its further development is
even now surrounded.
In a nutshell, the explanation of the
timid policy displayed is that the
Brothers are fully assured that the
disclosure of that actual truth
(which constitutes the secret
doctrine) about the origin of the World
and of Humanity--of the laws which
govern their existence, and the
destinies to which they are moving
on--is calculated to have a very
momentous effect on the welfare of
mankind. Great results ensue from
small beginnings, and the seeds of
knowledge now being sown in the world
may ultimately bear prodigious
harvest. We, who are present merely at
the sowing, may not realize the
magnitude and importance of the impulse
we are concerned in giving, but that
impulse will roll on, and a few
generations hence will be productive
of tremendous consequences one way
or the other.
For occult philosophy is no shadowy
system of speculation like any of
the hundred philosophies with which
the minds of men have been
overwhelmed; it is the positive Truth, and by the time
enough of it is
let out, it will be seen to be so by
thousands of the greatest men who
may then be living in the world. What will be the consequence? The
first effect on the minds of all who
come to understand it, is terribly
iconoclastic. It drives out before it everything else in
the shape of
religious belief. It leaves no room for any conceptions
belonging even
to the groundwork or foundation of
ordinary religious faith. And what
becomes then of all rules of right
and wrong, of all sanctions for
morality? Most assuredly there are rules of right and
wrong thrilling
through every fibre of occult
philosophy really higher than any which
commonplace theologies can
teach; far more cogent sanctions for
morality than can be derived at
second-hand from the distorted doctrines
of exoteric religions; but a complete transfer of the sanction will
be
a process involving the greatest
possible danger for mankind at the
time.
Bigots of all denominations will laugh at the idea of such a
transfer being seriously
considered. The orthodox
Christian--confident
in the thousand of churches
overshadowing all western lands, of the
enormous force engaged in the
maintenance and propagation of the faith,
with the Pope and the Protestant
hierarchy in alliance for this broad
purpose, with the countless clergy of
all sects, and the fiery Salvation
Army bringing up the rear--will think
that the earth itself is more
likely to crumble into ruin than the
irresistible authority of Religion
to be driven back. They are all counting, however, without the
progress
of enlightenment. The most absurd
religions die hard; but when the
intellectual classes definitively
reject them, they die, with throes of
terrible agony, may be, and, perhaps,
like Samson in the Temple, but
they cannot permanently outlive a
conviction that they are false in the
leading minds of the age. Just what has been said of Christianity may
be said of Mahomedanism and
Brahminism. Little or no risk is run while
occult literature aims merely at
putting a reasonable construction on
perverted tenets--in showing people
that truth may lurk behind even the
strangest theologic fictions. And the lover of orthodoxy, in either of
the cases instanced, may welcome the
explanation with complacency. For
him also, as for the Christian, the
faith which he professes--
sanctioned by what looks like a
considerable antiquity to the very
limited vision of uninitiated
historians, and supported by the
attachment of millions grown old in
its service and careful to educate
their children in the convictions
that have served their turn--is
founded on a rock which has its base
in the foundations of the world.
Fragmentary teachings of occult
philosophy seem at first to be no more
than annotations on the canonical
doctrine. They may even embellish it
with graceful interpretations of its
symbolism, parts of which may have
seemed to require apology, when
ignorantly taken at the foot of the
letter. But this is merely the beginning of the
attack. If occult
philosophy gets before the world with
anything resembling completeness,
it will so command the assent of
earnest students that for them nothing
else of that nature will remain
standing. And the earnest students in
such eases must multiply. They are
multiplying now even, merely on the
strength of the little that has been
revealed. True, as yet--for some
time to come--the study will be, as
it were, the whim of a few; but
"those who know," know
among other things that, give it fair-play, and
it must become the subject of
enthusiasm with all advanced thinkers. And
what is to happen when the world is
divided into two camps--the whole
forces of intellectuality and culture
on the one side, those of
ignorance and superstitious
fanaticism on the other? With such a war as
that impending, the adepts, who will
be conscious that they prepared the
lists and armed the combatants, will
require some better justification
for their policy before their own
consciences than the reflection that,
in the beginning, people accused them
of selfishness, and of keeping a
miserly guard over their knowledge,
and so goaded them with this taunt
that they were induced to set the
ball rolling.
There is no question, be it
understood, as to the relative merits of the
moral sanctions that are afforded by
occult philosophy and those which
are distilled from the worn-out materials
of existing creeds. If the
world could conceivably be shunted at
one coup from the one code of
morals to the other, the world would
be greatly the better for the
change. But the change cannot be made all at once,
and the transition
is most dangerous. On the other hand, it is no less dangerous to
take
no steps in the direction of that
transition. For though existing
religions may be a great power--the
Pope ruling still over millions of
consciences if not over towns and
States, the name of the Prophet being
still a word to conjure with in war,
the forces of Brahmanical custom
holding countless millions in willing
subjection--in spite of all this,
the old religions are sapped and past
their prime. They are in process
of decay, for they are losing their
hold on the educated minority; it
is still the case that in all
countries the camps of orthodoxy include
large numbers of men distinguished by
intellect and culture, but one by
one their numbers are
diminishing. Five-and-twenty years only,
in
Europe, have made a prodigious
change. Books are written now that pass
almost as matters of course which
would have been impossible no further
back than that. No further back, books thrilled society with
surprise
and excitement, which the
intellectual world would now ignore as
embodying the feeblest
commonplaces. The old creeds, in fact,
are
slowly losing their hold upon
mankind--more slowly in the more
deliberately moving East than Europe,
but even here by degrees also--and
a time will come, whether occult philosophy
is given out to take their
place or not, when they will no
longer afford even such faulty sanctions
for moral conduct and right as they
have supplied in times gone by.
Therefore it is plain that something
must be given out to take their
place, and hence the determinations
of which this movement in which we
are engaged is one of the
undulations--these very words some of the
foremost froth upon the advancing
wave.
But surely, when something which must
be done is yet very dangerous in
the doing, the persons who control
the operations in progress may be
excused for exercising the utmost
caution. Readers of Theosophical
literature will be aware how bitterly
our adept Brothers have been
criticized for choosing to take their
own time and methods in the task
of partially communicating their
knowledge to the world. Here in India
these criticisms have been
indignantly resented by the passionate
loyalty to the Mahatmas that is so
widely spread among Hindus--resented
more by instinct than reason in some
cases perhaps, though in others, no
doubt, as a consequence of a full
appreciation of all that is being now
explained, and of other
considerations beside. But in Europe
such
criticisms will have seemed hard to
answer. The answer is really
embodied, however imperfectly, in the
views of the situation now set
forth. We ordinary mortals in the world work as men
traveling by the
light of a lantern in an unknown
country. We see but a little way to the
right and left, only a little way
behind even. But the adepts work as
men traveling by daylight, with the
further advantage of being able at
will to get up in a balloon and
survey vast expanses of lake and plain
and forest.
The choice of time and methods for
communicating occult knowledge to the
world necessarily includes the choice
of intermediary agent. Hence the
double set of misconceptions in India
and Europe, each adapted to the
land of its origin. In India, where knowledge of the Brothers'
existence and reverence for their attributes
is widely diffused, it is
natural that persons who may be
chosen for their serviceability rather
than for their merits, as the
recipients of their direct teaching,
should be regarded with a feeling
resembling jealousy. In Europe, the
difficulty of getting into any sort
of relations with the fountain-head
of Eastern philosophy is regarded as
due to an exasperating
exclusiveness on the part of the
adepts in that philosophy, which
renders it practically worth no man's
while to devote himself to the
task of soliciting their
instruction. But neither feeling is
reasonable
when considered in the light of the
explanations now put forward. The
Brothers can consider none but public
interests, in the largest sense of
the words, in throwing out the first
experimental flashes of occult
revelation into the world. They can
only employ agents on whom they can
rely for doing the work as they may
wish it done--or, at all events, in
no manner which may be widely
otherwise. Or they can only protect the
task on which they are concerned in
another way. They may consent
sometimes to a very much more direct
mode of instruction than that
provided through intermediary agents
for the world at large, in the
cases of organized societies solemnly
pledged to secrecy, for the time
being at all events, in regard to the
teaching to be conveyed to them.
In reference to such societies, the
Brothers need not be on the watch to
see that the teaching is not worked
up for the service of the world in a
way they would consider, for any reasons
of their own, likely to be
injurious to final results or
dangerous. Different men will assimilate
the philosophy to be unfolded in
different ways: for some it will be
too iconoclastic altogether, and its
further pursuit, after a certain
point is reached, unwelcome. Such persons, entering too hastily on the
path of exploration, will be able to
drop off from the undertaking
whenever they like, if thoroughly
pledged to secrecy in the first
instance, without being a source of embarrassment
afterwards, as regards
the steady prosecution of the work in
hand by other more resolute, or
less sensitive, labourers. It may be that in some such societies, if
any should be formed in which occult
philosophy may be secretly studied,
some of the members will be as well
fitted as, or better than, any other
persons employed elsewhere to put the
teachings in shape for
publication, but in that case it is
to be presumed that special
qualifications will eventually make
themselves apparent. The meaning
and good sense of the restrictions,
provisionally imposed meanwhile,
will be plain enough to any impartial
person on reflection, even though
their novelty and strangeness may be
a little resented at the first
glance.
--Lay Chela
HISTORICAL
The Puranas on the Dynasty of the
Moryas and on Koothoomi
It is stated in Matsya Puran, chapter
cclxxii., that ten Moryas would
reign over India, and would be
succeeded by the Shoongas, and that Shata
Dhanva will be the first of these ten
Maureyas (or Moryas).
In Vishnu Purana (Book IV. chapter
iv.) it is stated that there was in
the Soorya dynasty a king called
Moru, who through the power of devotion
(Yoga) is said to be still living in
the village called Katapa, in the
Himalayas (vide vol. iii. p. 197, by
Wilson), and who, in a future age,
will be the restorer of the Kshatriya
race, in the Solar dynasty, that
is, many thousands of years
hence. In another part of the same
Purana
(Book IV. chapter xxiv.) it is stated
that, "upon the cessation of the
race of Nanda, the Moryas* will
possess the earth, for Kautilya will
place Chandragupta on the
throne." Col. Tod considers Morya,
or Maurya,
a corruption of Mori, the name of a
Rajput tribe.
-------
* The particulars of this legend are
recorded in the Atthata katha of
the Uttaraviharo priests.
-------
The Commentary on the Mahavanso
thinks that the princes of the town Mori
were thence called Mauryas. Vachaspattya, a Sanskrit Encyclopaedia,
places the village of Katapa on the
northern side of the Himalayas--
hence in Tibet. The same is stated in chapter xii. (Skanda)
of
Bhagavat, vol. iii. p. 325. The Vayu Purana seems to declare that Moru
will re-establish the Kshatriyas in
the nineteenth coming Yuga. In
chapter vi. Book III. of Vishnu
Purana, a Rishi called Koothoomi is
mentioned. Will any of our Brothers tell us how our
Mahatmas stand to
these revered personages?
--R. Ragoonath Row
Editor's Note
In the Buddhist Mahavanso,
Chandagatto, or Chandragupta, Asoka's
grandfather, is called a prince of the
Moryan dynasty as he certainly
was--or rather as they were, for
there were several Chandraguptas. This
dynasty, as said in the same book,
began with certain Kshatriyas
(warriors) of the Sakya line closely
related to Gautama Buddha, who
crossing the Himavanto (Himalayas)
"discovered a delightful location,
well watered, and situated in the
midst of a forest of lofty bo and
other trees. There they founded a town, which was called
by its Sakya
lords, Morya-Nagara." Prof. Max Muller would see in this legend a
made-up story for two reasons: (1) A desire on the part of Buddhists to
connect their king Asoka, "the
beloved of gods," with Buddha, and thus
nullify the slanders set up by the
Brahmanical opponents of Buddhism to
the effect that Asoka and Chandragupta
were Sudras; and (2) because this
document does not dovetail with his
own theories and chronology based on
the fanciful stories of the
Greek-Megasthenes and others. It was not
the princes of Morya-Nagara who
received their name from the Rajput
tribe of Mori, but the latter that
became so well known as being
composed of the descendants of the
Moryan sovereign of Morya-Nagara.
Some light is thrown on the
subsequent destiny of that dynasty in
"Replies to an English
F.T.S." (See ante.) The name of
Rishi Koothoomi
is mentioned in more than one Purana,
and his Code is among the eighteen
Codes written by various Rishis, and
preserved at Calcutta in the
library of the Asiatic Society. But we have not been told whether there
is any connection between our Mahatma
of that name and the Rishi, and we
do not feel justified in speculating
upon the subject. All we know is,
that both are Northern Brahmans,
while the Moryas are Kshatriyas. If
any of our Brothers know more, or can
discover anything relating to the
subject in the Sacred Books, we shall
hear of it with pleasure. The
words: "The Moryas will possess the earth, for
Kautilya will place
Chandragupta on the throne,"
have in our occult philosophy a dual
meaning. In one sense they relate to the days of early
Buddhism, when a
Chandragupta (Morya) was the king
"of all the earth," i.e., of Brahmans,
who believed themselves the highest
and only representatives of humanity
for whom earth was evolved. The
second meaning is purely esoteric.
Every adept or genuine Mahatma is
said to "possess the earth," by the
power of his occult knowledge. Hence, a series of ten Moryas, all
initiated adepts, would be regarded
by the occultists, and referred to
as "possessing all the
earth," or all its knowledge. The
names of
"Chandragupta" and
"Kautilya" have also an esoteric significance. Let
our Brother ponder over their
Sanskrit meaning, and he will perhaps see
what bearing the phrase--"for
Kautilya will place Chandragupta upon the
throne"--has upon the Moryas
possessing the earth. We would also
remind
our Brother that the word Itihasa,
ordinarily translated as "history,"
is defined by Sanskrit authorities to
be the narrative of the lives of
some August personages, conveying at
the same time meanings of the
highest moral and occult importance.
The Theory of Cycles
It is now some time since this
theory--which was first propounded in the
oldest religion of the world,
Vedaism--has been gradually coming into
prominence again. It was taught by various Greek philosophers,
and
afterwards defended by the
Theosophists of the Middle Ages, but came to
be flatly denied by the wise men of
the West, the world of negations.
Contrary to the rule, it is the men
of science themselves who have
revived this theory. Statistics of
events of the most varied nature are
fast being collected and collated
with the seriousness demanded by
important scientific questions. Statistics of wars and of the periods
(or cycles) of the appearance of
great men--at least those who have been
recognized as such by their
contemporaries; statistics of the
periods
of development and progress of large
commercial centres; of the rise
and fall of arts and sciences; of cataclysms, such as earthquakes,
epidemics; periods of extraordinary cold and heat; cycles of
revolutions, and of the rise and fall
of empires, &c.: all these are
subjected in turn to the analysis of
the minutest mathematical
calculations. Finally, even the
occult significance of numbers in names
of persons and cities, in events, and
like matters, receives unwonted
attention. If, on the one hand, a great portion of the
educated public
is running into atheism and
scepticism, on the other hand, we find an
evident current of mysticism forcing
its way into science. It is the
sign of an irrepressible need in
humanity to assure itself that there is
a power paramount over matter; an occult and mysterious law which
governs the world, and which we
should rather study and closely watch,
trying to adapt ourselves to it, than
blindly deny, and dash ourselves
vainly against the rock of
destiny. More than one thoughtful mind,
while studying the fortunes and
reverses of nations and great empires,
has been struck by one identical
feature in their history--namely, the
inevitable recurrence of similar
events, and after equal periods of
time.
This relation between events is found to be substantially
constant, though differences in the
outward form of details no doubt
occur. Thus the belief of the ancients in their
astrologers,
soothsayers and prophets might have been
warranted by the verification
of many of their most important
predictions, without these
prognostications of future events
implying of necessity anything very
miraculous. The soothsayers and augurs having occupied in
days of the
old civilizations the very same
position now occupied by our historians,
astronomers and meteorologists, there
was nothing more wonderful in the
fact of the former predicting the
downfall of an empire or the loss of a
battle, than in the latter predicting
the return of a comet, a change of
temperature, or perhaps the final
conquest of Afghanistan. Both studied
exact sciences; for, if the astronomer of today draws his
observations
from mathematical calculations, the
astrologer of old also based his
prognostication upon no less acute
and mathematically correct
observations of the ever-recurring
cycles. And, because the secret of
this ancient science is now being
lost, does that give any warrant for
saying that it never existed, or that
to believe in it, one must be
ready to swallow "magic,"
"miracles" and the like?
"If, in view of the
eminence to which modern science has
reached, the claim to prophesy
future events must be regarded as
either child's play or a deliberate
deception," says a writer in the
Novoye Vremja, "then we can point at
science which, in its turn, has now
taken up and placed on record the
question, whether there is or is not
in the constant repetition of
events a certain periodicity; in other words, whether these events
recur after a fixed and determined
period of years with every nation;
and if a periodicity there be,
whether this periodicity is due to blind
chance, or depends on the same
natural laws which govern the phenomena
of human life." Undoubtedly the latter. And the writer has the best
mathematical proof of it in the
timely appearance of such works as that
of Dr. E. Zasse, and others. Several
learned works treating upon this
mystical subject have appeared of
late, and to some of these works and
calculations we shall presently
refer. A very suggestive work by a
well-known German scientist, E.
Zasse, appears in the Prussian Journal
of Statistics, powerfully
corroborating the ancient theory of cycles.
These periods which bring around
ever-recurring events, begin from the
infinitesimally small--say of ten
years--rotation, and reach to cycles
which require 250, 500, 700, and 1000
years to effect their revolutions
around themselves, and within one
another. All are contained within the
Maha-Yug, the "Great Age"
or Cycle of Manu's calculation, which itself
revolves between two eternities--the
"Pralayas" or Nights of Brahma.
As, in the objective world of matter,
or the system of effects, the
minor constellations and planets
gravitate each and all around the sun,
so in the world of the subjective, or
the system of causes, these
innumerable cycles all gravitate
between that which the finite intellect
of the ordinary mortal regards as
eternity, and the still finite, but
more profound, intuition of the sage
and philosopher views as but an
eternity within THE ETERNITY. "As above, so it is below," runs
the old
Hermetic maxim. As an experiment in this direction, Dr. Zasse
selected
the statistical investigations of all
the wars recorded in history, as a
subject which lends itself more
easily to scientific verification than
any other. To illustrate his subject in the simplest and
most easily
comprehensible manner, Dr. Zasse
represents the periods of war and the
periods of peace in the shape of
small and large wave-lines running over
the area of the Old World. The idea is not a new one, for the image was
used for similar illustrations by
more than one ancient and medieval
mystic, whether in words or
pictures--by Henry Kunrath, for example.
But it serves well its purpose, and
gives us the facts we now want.
Before he treats, however, of the
cycles of wars, the author brings in
the record of the rise and fall of
the world's great empires, and shows
the degree of activity they have
played in the Universal History. He
points out the fact that if we divide
the map of the Old World into six
parts--into Eastern, Central, and
Western Asia, Eastern and Western
Europe, and Egypt--then we shall
easily perceive that every 250 years an
enormous wave passes over these
areas, bringing to each in its turn the
events it has brought to the one next
preceding. This wave we may call
"the historical wave" of
the 250 years' cycle.
The first of these waves began in
China 2000 years B.C., in the "golden
age" of this empire, the age of
philosophy, of discoveries, of reforms.
"In 1750 B.C. the Mongolians of
Central Asia establish a powerful
empire. In 1500, Egypt rises from its temporary
degradation and extends
its sway over many parts of Europe
and Asia; and about 1250, the
historical wave reaches and crosses
over to Eastern Europe, filling it
with the spirit of the Argonautic
Expedition, and dies out in 1000 B.C.
at the Siege of Troy."
The second historical wave appears
about that time in Central Asia.
"The Scythians leave her
steppes, and inundate towards the year 750 B.C.
the adjoining countries, directing
themselves towards the south and
west;
about the year 500, in Western Asia begins an epoch of splendour
for ancient Persia; and the wave moves on to the east of Europe,
where,
about 250 B.C., Greece reaches her
highest state of culture and
civilization--and further on to the
west, where, at the birth of Christ,
the Roman Empire finds itself at its
apogee of power and greatness."
Again, at this period we find the
rising of a third historical wave at
the far East. After prolonged revolutions, about this time,
China forms
once more a powerful empire, and its
arts, sciences and commerce
flourish again. Then 250 years later, we find the Huns
appearing from
the depths of Central Asia; in the year 500 A.D., a new and powerful
Persian kingdom is formed; in 750--in Eastern Europe--the Byzantine
empire; and in the year 1000--on its western
side--springs up the
second Roman Power, the Empire of the
Papacy, which soon reaches an
extraordinary development of wealth
and brilliancy.
At the same time the fourth wave
approaches from the Orient. China is
again flourishing; in 1250, the Mongolian wave from Central Asia
has
overflowed and covered an enormous
area of land, including Russia.
About 1500, in Western Asia the
Ottoman Empire rises in all its might,
and conquers the Balkan
peninsula; but at the same time, in
Eastern
Europe, Russia throws off the Tartar
yoke; and about 1750, during the
reign of Empress Catherine, rises to
an unexpected grandeur, and covers
itself with glory. The wave
ceaselessly moves further on to the West;
and beginning with the middle of the
past century, Europe is living over
an epoch of revolutions and reforms,
and, according to the author, "if
it is permissible to prophesy, then
about the year 2000, Western Europe
will have lived through one of those
periods of culture and progress so
rare in history." The Russian press taking the cue believes,
that
"towards those days the Eastern
Question will be finally settled, the
national dissensions of the European
peoples will come to an end, and
the dawn of the new millennium will
witness the abolition of armies and
an alliance between all the European
empires." The signs of regeneration
are also fast multiplying in Japan
and China, as if pointing to the rise
of a new historical wave in the
extreme East.
If from the cycle of two-and-a-half
centuries we descend to that which
leaves its impress every century,
and, grouping together the events of
ancient history, mark the development
and rise of empires, then we shall
find that, beginning from the year
700 B.C., the centennial wave pushes
forward, bringing into prominence the
following nations, each in its
turn--the Assyrians, the Medes, the
Babylonians, the Persians, the
Greeks, the Macedonians, the
Carthagenians, the Romans, and the Teutons.
The striking periodicity of the wars
in Europe is also noticed by Dr. E.
Zasse. Beginning with 1700 A.D., every ten years
have been signalized
by either a war or a revolution. The periods of the strengthening and
weakening of the warlike excitement
of the European nations represent a
wave strikingly regular in its
periodicity, flowing incessantly, as if
propelled onward by some fixed
inscrutable law. This same mysterious
law seems also to connect these
events with the astronomical wave or
cycle, which governs the periodicity
of solar spots. The periods when
the European powers have shown the
most destructive energy are marked by
a cycle of fifty years' duration. It would be too long and tedious to
enumerate them from the beginning of
history. We may, therefore, limit
our study to the cycle beginning with
the year 1712, when all the
European nations were fighting each
other in the Northern, and the
Turkish wars, and the war for the
throne of Spain. About 1761, the
"Seven Years' War"; in 1810, the wars of Napoleon I. Towards 1861, the
wave has been a little deflected from
its regular course; but, as if to
compensate for it, or propelled,
perhaps, with unusual force, the years
directly preceding, as well as those
which followed it, left in history
the records of the most fierce and
bloody wars--the Crimean War in the
former, and the American Civil War in
the latter period. The periodicity
in the wars between Russia and Turkey
appears peculiarly striking, and
represents a very characteristic
wave. At first the intervals between
the cycles of thirty years'
duration--1710, 1740, 1770 then these
intervals diminish, and we have a cycle
of twenty years--1790, 1810,
1829-30; then the intervals widen again--1853 and
1878. But if we take
note of the whole duration of the
in-flowing tide of the war-like cycle,
then we shall have at the centre of
it--from 1768 to 1812--three wars of
seven years' duration each, and at
both ends, wars of two years.
Finally, the author comes to the
conclusion that, in view of facts, it
becomes thoroughly impossible to deny
the presence of a regular
periodicity in the excitement of both
mental and physical forces in the
nations of the world. He proves that in the history of all the
peoples
and empires of the Old World, the
cycles marking the millenniums, the
centennials as well as the minor ones
of fifty and ten years' duration,
are the most important, inasmuch as
neither of them has ever yet failed
to bring in its train some more or
less marked event in the history of
the nation swept over by these
historical waves.
The history of India is one which, of
all histories, is the most vague
and least satisfactory. Yet were its consecutive great events noted
down, and its annals well searched,
the law of cycles would be found to
have asserted itself here as plainly
as in every other country in
respect of its wars, famines,
political exigencies, and other matters.
In France, a meteorologist of Paris
went to the trouble of compiling the
statistics of the coldest seasons,
and discovered that those years which
had the figure 9 in them had been
marked by the severest winters. His
figures run thus:--in 859 A.D., the
northern part of the Adriatic Sea
was frozen, and was covered for three
months with ice. In 1179, In the
most moderate zones, the earth was
covered with several feet of snow.
In 1209, in France the depth of snow
and the bitter cold caused such a
scarcity of fodder that most of the
cattle perished in that country. In
1249, the Baltic Sea between Russia,
Norway and Sweden remained frozen
for many months, and communication
was kept up by sleighs. In 1339,
there was such a terrific winter in
England, that vast numbers of people
died of starvation and exposure. In 1409, the river Danube was frozen
from its sources to its mouth in the
Black Sea.
In 1469, all the vineyards and
orchards perished in consequence of the
frost. In 1609, in France, Switzerland and Upper
Italy, people had to
thaw their bread and provisions
before they could use them. In 1639,
the Harbour of Marseilles was covered
with ice to a great distance. In
1659, all the rivers in Italy were
frozen. In 1699, the winter in
France and Italy proved the severest
and longest of all. The prices for
articles of food were so much raised
that half of the population died of
starvation. In 1709, the winter was no less
terrible. The ground was
frozen in France, Italy and
Switzerland to the depth of several feet;
and the sea, south as well as north,
was covered with one compact and
thick crust of ice, many feet deep,
and for a considerable distance in
the usually open sea. Numbers of wild beasts, driven out by the
cold
from their dens in the forests,
sought refuge in villages and even
cities; and the birds fell dead to the ground by
hundreds. In 1729,
1749 and 1769 (cycles of twenty
years' duration), all the rivers and
streams were ice-bound all over
France for many weeks, and all the fruit
trees perished. In 1789, France was again visited by a very
severe
winter. In Paris, the thermometer stood at nineteen
degrees of frost.
But the severest of all winters
proved that of 1829. For fifty-four
consecutive days all the roads in
France were covered, with snow several
feet deep, and all the rivers were
frozen. Famine and misery reached
their climax in the country in that
year. In 1839, there was again in
France a most terrific and trying
cold season. And the winter of 1879
has asserted its statistical rights,
and proved true to the fatal
influence of the figure 9. The meteorologists of other countries are
invited to follow suit, and make
their investigations likewise, for the
subject is certainly most fascinating
as well as most instructive.
Enough has been shown, however, to
prove that neither the ideas of
Pythagoras on the mysterious
influence of numbers, nor the theories of
the ancient world-religions and
philosophies are as shallow and
meaningless as some too forward thinkers
would have had the world to
believe.
--H.P.B.
SCIENTIFIC
Odorigen and Jiva
Professor Yaeger of Stuttgart has
made a very interesting study of the
sense of smell. He starts from the fact well known in medical
jurisprudence, that the blood of an
animal when treated by sulphuric, or
indeed by any other decomposing acid,
smells like the animal itself to
which it belongs. This holds good even after the blood has been
long
dried.
Let us state before all what is to be
understood by the smell of a
certain animal. There is the pure, specific smell of the
animal,
inherent in its flesh, or, as we
shall see hereafter, in certain
portions of its flesh. This smell is best perceived when the flesh
is
gently boiling in water. The broth thereby obtained contains the
specific taste and smell of the
animal--I call it specific, because
every species, nay every variety of
species, has its own peculiar taste
and smell. Think of mutton broth, chicken broth, fish
broth, &c. &c. I
shall call this smell, the specific
scent of the animal. I need not say
that the scent of an animal is quite
different from all such odours as
are generated within its organism,
along with its various secretions and
excretions: bile, gastric juice, sweat, &c. These odours are again
different in the different species
and varieties of animals. The
cutaneous exhalation of the goat, the
sheep, the donkey, widely differ
from each other; and a similar difference prevails with regard
to all
the other effluvia of these animals.
In fact, as far as olfactory
experience goes, we may say that the
odour of each secretion and
excretion of a certain species of
animals is peculiar to itself, and
characteristically different in the
similar products of another species.
By altering the food of an animal we
may considerably alter all the
above-mentioned odours, scents, as
well as smells; yet essentially they
will always retain their specific
odoriferous type. All this is matter
of strict experience.
Strongly diffusive as all these
odorous substances are, they permeate
the whole organism, and each of them
contributes its share to what in
the aggregate constitutes the smell
of the living animal. It is
altogether an excrementitious smell
tempered by the scent of the animal.
That excrementitious smell we shall
henceforth simply call the smell, in
contradistinction to the scent of the
animal.
To return after this not very
pleasant, but nevertheless necessary
digression, to our subject. Professor Yaeger found that blood, treated
by an acid, may emit the scent or the
smell of the animal, according as
the acid is weak or strong. A strong acid, rapidly disintegrating the
blood, brings out the animal's smell;
a weak acid, the animal's scent.
We see, then, that in every drop of
blood of a certain species of
animal, and we may as well say, in
each of its blood corpuscles, and in
the last instance, in each of its
molecules, the respective animal
species is fully represented, as to
its odorant speciality, under both
aspects of scent and smell.
We have, then, on the one side, the
fact before us that wherever we meet
in the animal kingdom with difference
of shape, form, and construction,
so different as to constitute a
class, a genus, or a family of its own,
there we meet at the same time with a
distinct and specific scent and
smell. On the other hand, we know that these
specific odours are
invariably interblended with the very
life-blood of the animal. And
lastly, we know that these specific
odours cannot be accounted for by
any agents taken up in the shape of
food from the outer world. We are,
then, driven to the conclusion that
they are properties of the inner
animal; that they, in other words, pertain to the
specific protoplasm
of the animal concerned.
And thus our conclusion attains
almost certainty, when we remember that
it stands the crucial test of
experiment--that we need only decompose
the blood in order to find there what
we contend to be an essential
ingredient of it.
I must now say a few words in explanation
of the term protoplasm.
Protoplasm is a soft, gelatinous
substance, transparent and homogeneous,
easily seen in large
plant-cells; it may be compared to the
white of an
egg.
When at rest all sorts of vibratory, quivering and trembling
movements can be observed within its
mass. It forms the living material
in all vegetable and animal
cells; in fact, it is that component of
the
body which really does the vital
work. It is the formative agent of all
living tissues. Vital activity, in the broadest sense of the
term,
manifests itself in the development
of the germ into the complete
organism, repeating the type of its
parents, and in the subsequent
maintenance of that organism in its
integrity and both these functions
are exclusively carried on by the
protoplasm. Of course, there is a
good deal of chemical and mechanical
work done in the organism, but
protoplasm is the formative agent of
all the tissues and structures.
Of tissues and structures already
formed, we may fairly say that they
have passed out of the realms of
vitality, as they are destined to
gradual disintegration and decay in
the course of life; it is they that
are on the way of being cast out of
the organism, when they have once
run through the scale of retrograde
metamorphosis; and it is they that
give rise to what we have called the
smell of the animal. What lives in
them is the protoplasm.
In the shape of food the outer world
supplies the organism with all the
materials necessary for the building
up of the constantly wasting
organic structures; and, in the shape of heat, there comes from
the
outer world that other element
necessary for structural changes,
development and growth--the element
of force. But the task of directing
all the outward materials to the
development and maintenance of the
organism--in other words, the task of
the director-general of the
organic economy falls to the
protoplasm.
Now this wonderful substance,
chemically and physically the same in the
highest animal and in the lowest
plant, has been all along the puzzle of
the biologist. How is it that in man protoplasm works out
human
structure; in fowl, fowl structure, &c. &c.,
while the protoplasm
itself appears to be everywhere the
same? To Professor Yaeger belongs
the great merit of having shown us
that the protoplasms of the various
species of plants and animals are not
the same; that each of them
contains, moreover, imbedded in its
molecules, odorant substances
peculiar to the one species and not
to the other.
That, on the other hand, those
odorous substances are by no means
inactive bodies, may be inferred from
their great volatility, known as
it is in physical science that
volatility is owing to a state of atomic
activity. Prevost has described two phenomena that are
presented by
odorous substances. One is that, when placed on water, they begin
to
move;
and the other is, that a thin layer of water, extended on a
perfectly clean glass plate, retracts
when such an odorous substance as
camphor is placed upon it. Monsieur Ligeois has further shown that the
particles of an odorous body, placed
on water, undergo a rapid division,
and that the movements of camphor, or
of benzoic acid, are inhibited, or
altogether arrested, if an odorous
substance be brought into contact
with the water in which they are moving.
Seeing, then, that odorous
substances, when coming in contact with
liquid bodies, assume a peculiar
motion, and impart at the same time
motion to the liquid body, we may
fairly conclude that the specific
formative capacity of the protoplasm
is owing, not to the protoplasm
itself, since it is everywhere alike,
but to the inherent, specific,
odoriferous substances.
I shall only add that Professor
Yaeger's theory may be carried farther
yet.
Each metal has also a certain taste and odour peculiar to itself;
in other words, they are also endowed
with odoriferous substances. And
this may help us to explain the fact
that each metal, when crystallizing
out of a liquid solution, invariably
assumes a distinct geometrical
form, by which it may be distinguished
from any other. Common salt, for
instance, invariably crystallizes in
cubes, alum in octohedra, and so
on.
Professor Yaeger's theory explains
further to us that other great
mystery of Nature--the transmission
from parent to offspring of the
morphological speciality. This is another puzzle of the biologist.
What is there in the embryonal germ
that evolves out of the materials
stored up therein a frame similar to
the parents? In other words, what
is there that presides over the
preservation of the species, working out
the miniature duplicate of the
parents' configuration and character? It
is the protoplasm, no doubt; and the female ovum contains protoplasm in
abundance. But neither the physicist nor the chemist can
detect any
difference between the primordial
germ, say of the fowl, and that of a
female of the human race.
In answer to this question--a
question before which science stands
perplexed--we need only remember what
has been said before about the
protoplasmic scent. We have spoken before of the specific scent
of the
animal as a whole. We know, however, that every organ and tissue
in a
given animal has again its peculiar
scent and taste. The scent and
taste of the liver, spleen, brain,
&c., are quite different in the same
animal.
And if our theory is correct, then it
could not be otherwise. Each of
these organs is differently
constructed, and as variety of organic
structure is supposed to be dependent
upon variety of scent, there must
necessarily be a specific cerebral
scent, a specific splenetic scent, a
specific hepatic scent, &c.
&c. What we call, then, the specific
scent
of the living animal must, therefore,
be considered as the aggregate of
all the different scents of its
organs.
When we see that a weak solution of
sulphuric acid is capable of
disengaging from the blood the scent
of the animal, we shall then bear
in mind that this odorous emanation
contains particles of all the scents
peculiar to each tissue and organ of
the animal. When we further say
that each organ in a living animal
draws by selective affinity from the
blood those materials which are
necessary for its sustenance, we must
not forget that each organ draws at
the same time by a similar selective
affinity the specific odorous
substances requisite for its constructive
requirements.
We have now only to suppose that the
embryonal germ contains, like the
blood itself, all the odorous
substances pertaining to the various
tissues and organs of the parent, and
we shall understand which is the
moving principle in the germ that
evolves an offspring, shaped in the
image and after the likeness of the
parents.
In plants it is the blossom which is
entrusted with the function of
reproduction, and the odorous
emanations accompanying that process are
well known. There is strong reason to believe that
something similar
prevails in the case of animals, as
may be seen from an examination of
what embryologists call the aura
seminalis.
Let us now inquire what the effects
are of odours generated in the outer
world on animals. The odorous impressions produced may be
pleasant or
unpleasant, pleasant to one and
unpleasant to another animal. What is
it that constitutes this sensation of
pleasure or displeasure?
Professor Yaeger answers, It is
harmony or disharmony which makes all
the difference. The olfactory organs of each animal are
impregnated by
its own specific scent. Whenever the
odorous waves of a substance
harmonize in their vibration with the
odorous waves emanating from the
animal; in other words, whenever they fall in and
agree with each
other, an agreeable sensation is
produced; whenever the reverse takes
places, the sensation is
disagreeable. In this way it is that the
odour
regulates the choice of the food on
the part of the animal. In a
similar way the sympathies and
antipathies between the various animals
are regulated. For every individual has not only its
specific but also
its individual scent. The selection between the sexes, or what, in
the
case of the human race, is called
love, has its mainspring in the
odorous harmony subsisting in the two
individuals concerned.
This individual scent--a variation of
the specific odorous type--alters
(within the limits of its speciality)
with age, with the particular mode
of occupation, with the sex, with
certain physiological conditions and
functions during life, with the state
of health, and last, but not
least, with the state of our mind.
It is to be remembered that every
time protoplasm undergoes
disintegration, specific odours are
set free. We have seen how
sulphuric acid, or heat, when boiling
or roasting meat, brings out the
specific animal odour. But it is an established fact in science,
that
every physical or mental operation is
accompanied by disintegration of
tissue; consequently we are entitled to say that with
every emotion
odours are being disengaged. It can be shown that the quality of those
odours differ with the nature of the
emotion. The prescribed limits
prevent further pursuit of the
subject; I shall, therefore, content
myself by drawing some conclusions
from Professor Yaeger's theory in the
light of the Esoteric Doctrine.
The phenomena of mesmeric cures find
their full explanation in the
theory just enunciated. For since the construction and preservation
of
the organism, and of every organ in
particular, is owing to specific
scents, we may fairly look upon
disease in general as a disturbance of
the specific scent of the organism,
and upon disease of a particular
organ of the body, as a disturbance of
the specific scent pertaining to
that particular organ. We have been hitherto in the habit of holding
the protoplasm responsible for all
phenomena of disease. We have now
come to learn that what acts in the
protoplasm are the scents; we shall,
therefore, have to look to them as
the ultimate cause of morbid
phenomena. I have mentioned before the experiment of
Mons. Ligeois,
showing that odoriferous substances,
when brought in contact with water,
move;
and that the motion of one odoriferous substance may be
inhibited, or arrested altogether, by
the presence of another
odoriferous substance. Epidemic diseases, and the zymotic diseases
in
particular, have, then, most likely
their origin in some local odours
which inhibit the action of our
specific organic odours. In the case of
hereditary diseases, it is most
likely the transmission of morbid
specific odours from parent to
offspring that is the cause of the evil,
knowing, as we do, that in disease
the natural specific odour is
altered, and must, therefore, have
been altered in the diseased parent.
Now comes the mesmeriser. He approaches the sick with the strong
determination to cure him. This determination, or effort of the will,
is absolutely necessary, according to
the agreement of all mesmerisers,
for his curative success. Now an effort of the will is a mental
operation, and is, therefore,
accompanied by tissue disintegration.
The
effort being purely mental, we may
say it is accompanied by
disintegration of cerebral and
nervous tissue. But disintegration of
organic tissue means, as we have seen
before, disengagement of specific
scents; the mesmeriser emits, then, during his
operation, scents from
his own body. And as the patient's sufferings are supposed
to originate
from a deficiency or alteration of
his own specific scent, we can well
see how the mesmeriser, by his
mesmeric or odoriferous emanations, may
effect a cure. He may supply the want of certain odoriferous
substances
in the patient, or he may correct
others by his own emanations, knowing,
as we do, from the experiment of
Mons. Ligeois, that odorant matter does
act on odorant matter.
One remark more and I have done. By the Esoteric Doctrine we are told
that the living body is divided into
two parts:
1. The physical body, composed wholly
of matter in its grossest and most
tangible form.
2. The vital principle (or Jiva), a
form of force indestructible, and,
when disconnected with one set of
atoms, becoming attracted immediately
by others.
Now this division, generally
speaking, fully agrees with the teachings
of science. I need only remind you of what I have said
before with
regard to the formed tissues and
structures of the body and its
formative agent the protoplasm. Formed structure is considered as
material which has already passed out
of the realms of life; what lives
in it is the protoplasm. So far the esoteric conception fully agrees
with the result of the latest
investigations of modern science.
But when we are told by the Esoteric
Doctrine that the vital principle
is indestructible, we feel we move on
occult, incomprehensible ground,
for we know that protoplasm is, after
all, as destructible as the body
itself. It lives as long as life lasts, and, it may
be said, it is the
only material in the body that does
live as long as life lasts. But it
dies with the cessation of life. It is true it is capable of a sort of
resuscitation. For that very dead protoplasm, be it animal
or
vegetable, serves again as our food,
and as the food of all the animal
world, and thus helps to repair our
constantly wasting economy. But for
all that it could hardly be said to
be indestructible; it is
assimilable--that is to say, capable
of re-entering the domain of life,
through its being taken up by a
living body. But such an eventual
chance does by no means confer upon
it the attribute of
indestructibility; for we need only leave the dead animal or
plant
containing the protoplasm alone, and
it will rot and decay--organs,
tissues, and protoplasm altogether.
To our further perplexity the
Esoteric Doctrine tells us that the vital
principle is not only indestructible,
but it is a form of force, which,
when disconnected with one set of
atoms, becomes attracted immediately
by others. The vital principle to the Esoteric Doctrine
would then
appear to be a sort of abstract
force, not a force inherent in the
living protoplasm--this is the
scientific conception--but a force per
se, independent altogether of the
material with which it is connected.
Now I must confess this is a doctrine
which puzzles one greatly,
although one may have no difficulty
in accepting the spirit of man as an
entity, for the phenomena of
ratiocination are altogether so widely
different from all physical phenomena
that they can hardly be explained
by any of the physical forces known
to us. The materialist, who tells
us that consciousness, sensation,
thought, and the spontaneous power of
the will, so peculiar to man and to
the higher animals, are altogether
so many outcomes of certain
conditions of matter and nothing else, makes
at best merely a subjective
statement. He cannot help acknowledging
that spontaneity is not a quality of
matter. He is then driven to the
contention that what we believe to be
spontaneous in us, is, after all,
an unconscious result of external
impulses only. His contention rests
then on the basis of his own inner
experience, or what he believes to be
such. This contention of his is,
however, disputed by many, who no less
appeal to their own inner experience,
or what they believe to be their
experience. It is then a question of inner experience of
the one party
versus inner experience of the
other. And such being the case, the
scientific materialist is driven to admit
that his theory, however
correct it may be, rests, after all,
on subjective experience, and can,
as such, not claim the rank of
positive knowledge. There is then no
difficulty in accepting the entity of
the spirit in man, the
materialistic assertion to the
contrary notwithstanding. But the vital
force is exclusively concerned with
the construction of matter. Here we
have a right to expect that physical
and chemical forces should hold the
whole ground of an explanation, if an
explanation is possible at all.
Now, physical and chemical forces are
no entities; they are invariably
connected with matter. In fact, they are so intimately connected
with
matter that they can never be
dissevered from it altogether. The
energy
of matter may be latent or patent,
and, when patent, it may manifest
itself in one form or the other,
according to the condition of its
surroundings; it may manifest itself in the shape of light,
heat,
electricity, magnetism, or
vitality; but in one form or the other
energy constantly inheres in
matter. The correlation of forces is now
a
well-established, scientific fact,
and it is more than plausible that
what is called the vital principle,
or the vital force, forms a link in
the chain of the other known physical
forces, and is, therefore,
transmutable into any of them; granted even that there is such a thing
as a distinct vital force. The tendency of modern Biology is then to
discard the notion of a vital entity
altogether. If vital force is to
be indestructible, then so are also indestructible
heat, light,
electricity, &c.; they are indestructible in this sense, that
whenever
their respective manifestation is
suspended or arrested, they make their
appearance in some other form of
force; and in this very same sense
vital force may be looked upon as
indestructible: whenever vital
manifestation is arrested, what had
been acting as vital force is
transformed into chemical, electrical
forces, &c., taking its place.
But the Esoteric Doctrine appears to
teach something quite different
from what I have just explained, and
what is, as far as I understand, a
fair representation of the scientific
conception of the subject. The
Esoteric Doctrine tells us that the
vital principle is indestructible,
and, when disconnected with one set
of atoms, becomes attracted by
others. He then evidently holds that, what
constitutes the vital
principle is a principle or form of
force per se, a form of force which
can leave one set of atoms and go
over as such to another set, without
leaving any substitute force
behind. This, it must be said, is simply
irreconcileable with the scientific
view on the subject as hitherto
understood.
By the and of Professor Yaeger's
theory this difficulty can be
explained, I am happy to say, in a
most satisfactory way.
The seat of the vital principle,
according to Professor Yaeger's theory,
is not the protoplasm, but the
odorant matter imbedded in it. And such
being the case, the vital principle,
as far as it can be reached by the
breaking up of its animated
protoplasm, is really indestructible.
You
destroy the protoplasm by burning it,
by treating it with sulphuric
acid, or any other decomposing
agent--the odoriferous substances, far
from being destroyed, become only so
much the more manifest; they
escape the moment protoplasmic
destruction or decomposition begins,
carrying along with them the vital
principle, or what has been acting as
such in the protoplasm. And as they are volatile, they must soon meet
with other protoplasms congenial to
their nature, and set up there the
same kind of vital activity as they
have done in their former habitat.
They are, as the Esoteric Doctrine
rightly teaches, indestructible, and
when disconnected with one set of
atoms, they immediately become
attracted by others.
--L. Salzer, M.D.
Odorigen and Jiva (II.)
There is a well-known Sanskrit
treatise, where most of the deductions of
Dr. Yaeger are anticipated and
practically applied to sexual selection
in the human species. The subject of aura seminalis finds a pretty
full
treatment there. The connection between what Dr. Yaeger calls
"odorigen" and jiva or
prana, as it is differently called in different
systems of Indian philosophy, has
been well traced. But his remarks on
this subject, able as they no doubt
are, call for a few observations
from the point of view of occult
philosophy. Jiva has been described by
a trustworthy authority as a
"form of force indestructible, and, when
disconnected with one set of atoms,
is immediately attracted by another
set." Dr. Salzer concludes from this that occult
philosophy looks upon
it as an abstract force or force per
se. But surely this is bending too
much to the Procrustean phraseology
of modern science, and if not
properly guarded will lead to some
misapprehension. Matter in occult
philosophy means existence in the
widest sense of that word. However
much the various forms of existence,
such as physical, vital, mental,
spiritual, &c., differ from each
other, they are mutually related as
being parts of the ONE UNIVERSAL EXISTENCE,
the Parabrahma of the
Vedantist. Force is the inherent power or capacity of
Parabrahma, or
the "matter" of occultism,
to assume different forms. This power or
capacity is not a separate entity,
but is the thing itself in which it
inheres, just as the three-angled
character of a triangle is nothing
separate from the triangle
itself. From this it will be abundantly
clear that, accepting the
nomenclature of occult science, one cannot
speak of an abstract force without
being guilty of a palpable absurdity.
What is meant by Jiva being a
"form of force," &c., is that it is matter
in a state in which it exhibits
certain phenomena, not produced by it in
its sensuous state; or, in other words, it is a property of
matter in a
particular state, corresponding with
properties called, under ordinary
circumstances, heat, electricity,
&c., by modern science, but at the
same time without any correlation to
them. It might here be objected
that if Jiva was not a force per se,
in the sense which modern science
would attach to the phrase, then how
can it survive unchanged the grand
change called death, which the
protoplasms it inheres in undergo? and
even granting that Jiva is matter in
a particular state, in what part of
the body shall we locate it, in the
teeth of the fact that the most
careful examination has not been
successful in detecting it? Jiva, as
has already been stated, is subtle
supersensuous matter, permeating the
entire physical structure of the
living being, and when it is separated
from such structure life is said to
become extinct. It is not
reasonable therefore to expect it to
be subject to detection by the
surgeon's knife. A particular set of
conditions is necessary for its
connection with an animal structure,
and when those conditions are
disturbed, it is attracted by other
bodies, presenting suitable
conditions. Dr. Yaegar's "odorigen" is not Jiva
itself, but is one of
the links which connects it with the
physical body; it seems to be
matter standing between Sthula Sarira
(gross body) and Jiva.
--Dharanidar Kauthumi
Introversion of Mental Vision
Some interesting experiments have
recently been tried by Mr. F.W.H.
Myers and his colleagues of the
Psychic Research Society of London,
which, if properly examined, are
capable of yielding highly important
results. With the details of these we are not at
present concerned: it
will suffice for our purpose to
state, for the benefit of readers
unacquainted with the experiments,
that in a very large majority of
cases, too numerous to be the result
of mere chance, it was found that
the thought-reading sensitive
obtained but an inverted mental picture of
the object given him to read. A piece of paper, containing the
representation of an arrow, was held
before a carefully blindfolded
thought-reader, who was requested to
mentally see the arrow as it was
turned round. In these circumstances it was found that when
the
arrow-head pointed to the right, it
was read off as pointing to the
left, and so on. This led some to imagine that there was a
mirage in
the inner as well as on the outer
plane of optical sensation. But the
real explanation of the phenomenon
lies deeper.
It is well known that an object as
seen by us and its image on the
retina of the eye, are not exactly
the same in position, but quite the
reverse. How the image of an object on the retina is
inverted in
sensation, is a mystery which
physical science is admittedly incapable
of solving. Western metaphysics, too, with regard to this
point, hardly
fares any better; there are as many theories as there are
metaphysicians. The only philosopher who has obtained a
glimpse of the
truth is the idealist Berkeley, who
says that a child does really see a
thing inverted from our
standpoint; to touch its head it
stretches out
its hands in the same direction of
its body as we do of ours to reach
our feet. Repeated failures give
experience and lead to the correction
of the notions born of one sense by
those derived through another; the
sensations of distance and solidity
are produced in the same way.
The application of this knowledge to
the above mentioned experiments of
the Psychic Research Society will
lead to very suggestive results. If
the trained adept is a person who has
developed all his interior
faculties, and is on the psychic
plane in the full possession of his
senses, the individual, who
accidentally, that is, without occult
training, gains the inner sight, is
in the position of a helpless
child--a sport of the freaks of one
isolated inner sense. Such was the
case with the sensitives with whom
Mr. Myers and his colleagues
experimented. There are instances,
however, when the correction of one
sense by another takes place
involuntarily and accurate results are
brought out. When the sensitive reads the thoughts in a
man's mind,
this correction is not required, for
the will of the thinker shoots the
thoughts, as it were, straight into
the mind of the sensitive. The
introversion under notice will,
moreover, be found to take place only in
the instance of such images which cannot
be corrected by the already
acquired sense-experience of the
sensitive. A difficulty may here
suggest itself with regard to the
names of persons or the words thought
of for the sensitive's reading. But allowance must in such cases be
made for the operation of the
thinker's will, which forces the thought
into the sensitive's mind, and
thereby obviates introversion. It is
abundantly clear from this that the
best way of studying these phenomena
is when only one set of inner
faculties, that of the sensitive, is in
play.
This takes place always when the object the sensitive has to
abnormally perceive is independent of
the will of any other person, as
in the case of its being represented
on paper.
Applying the same law to dreams, we
can find the rationale of the
popular superstition that facts are
generally inverted in dreams. To
dream of something good is generally
taken to be the precursor of
something evil. In the exceptional cases in which dreams have
been
found to be prophetic, the dreamer
was either affected by another's will
or under the operation of some
disturbing forces, which cannot be
calculated except for each particular
case.
In this connection another very
important psychic phenomenon may be
noticed. Instances are too numerous and too well
authenticated to be
amenable to dispute, in which an
occurrence at a distance--for instance,
the death of a person--has pictured
itself to the mental vision of one
interested in the occurrence. In such
cases the double of the dying man
appears even at a great distance, and
becomes visible usually to his
friend only, but instances are not
rare when the double is seen by a
number of persons. The former case comes within the class of
cases
under consideration, as the
concentrated thought of the dying man is
clairvoyantly seen by the friend, and
the incidents correctly reproduced
by the operation of the dying man's
will-energy, while the latter is the
appearance of the genuine mayavirupa,
and therefore not governed by the
law under discussion.
--Mohini M. Chatterji
"Precipitation"
Or all phenomena produced by occult
agency in connection with our
Society, none have been witnessed by
a more extended circle of
spectators, or more widely known and
commented on through recent
Theosophical publications, than the
mysterious production of letters.
The phenomenon itself has been so
well described in the "Occult World"
and elsewhere, that it would be
useless to repeat the description here.
Our present purpose is more connected
with the process than the
phenomenon of the mysterious
formation of letters. Mr. Sinnett sought
for an explanation of the process,
and elicited the following reply from
the revered Mahatma, who corresponds
with him:--"....Bear in mind these
letters are not written, but impressed,
or precipitated, and then all
mistakes corrected .... I have to
think it over, to photograph every
word and sentence carefully in my
brain, before it can be repeated by
precipitation. As the fixing on chemically-prepared surfaces
of the
images formed by the camera requires
a previous arrangement within the
focus of the object to be
represented, for, otherwise--as often found
in bad photographs--the legs of the
sitter might appear out of all
proportion with the head, and so
on--so we here to first arrange our
sentences, and impress every letter
to appear on paper in our minds,
before it becomes fit to be read. For
the present, it is all I can tell
you."
Since the above was written, the
Masters have been pleased to permit the
veil to be drawn aside a little more,
and the modus operandi can thus be
explained now more fully to the
outsider.
Those having even a superficial
knowledge of the science of mesmerism
know how the thoughts of the
mesmeriser, though silently formulated in
his mind, are instantly transferred
to that of the subject. It is not
necessary for the operator, if he is
sufficiently powerful, to be
present near the subject to produce
the above result. Some celebrated
practitioners in this science are
known to have been able to put their
subjects to sleep even from a
distance of several days' journey. This
known fact will serve us as a guide
in comprehending the comparatively
unknown subject now under
discussion. The work of writing the
letters
in question is carried on by a sort
of psychic telegraphy; the
Mahatmas very rarely write their
letters in the ordinary way. An
electro-magnetic connection, so to
say, exists on the psychic plane
between a Mahatma and his chelas, one
of whom acts as his amanuensis.
When the Master wants a letter to be
written in this way, he very often
draws the attention of the chela,
whom he selects for the task, by
causing an astral bell (heard by so
many of our Fellows and others) to
be rung near him, just as the
despatching telegraph office signals to
the receiving office before wiring
the message. The thoughts arising in
the mind of the Mahatma are then
clothed in words, pronounced mentally,
and forced along currents in the
astral light impinge on the brain of
the pupil. Thence they are borne by
the nerve-currents to the palms of
his hands and the tips of his
fingers, which rest on a piece of
magnetically-prepared paper. As the thought waves are thus impressed on
the tissue, materials are drawn to it
from the ocean of akas (permeating
every atom of the sensuous universe)
by an occult process, out of place
here to describe, and permanent marks
are left.
From this it is abundantly clear that
the success of such writing, as
above described, depends chiefly upon
two conditions:--(1) The force
and clearness with which the thoughts
are propelled; and (2) the
freedom of the receiving brain from
disturbance of every description.
The case with the ordinary electric
telegraph is exactly the same. If,
for some reason or other, the battery
supplying the electric power falls
below the requisite strength on any
telegraph line, or there is some
derangement in the receiving
apparatus, the message transmitted becomes
either mutilated or otherwise
imperfectly legible. Inaccuracies, in
fact, do very often arise, as may be
gathered from what the Mahatma says
in the above extract. "Bear in mind," says he, "that
these letters are
not written, but impressed, or
precipitated, and then all mistakes
corrected." To turn to the sources of error in the
precipitation.
Remembering the circumstances under
which blunders arise in telegrams,
we see that if a Mahatma somehow
becomes exhausted, or allows his
thoughts to wander during the
process, or fails to command the requisite
intensity in the astral currents
along which his thoughts are projected,
or the distracted attention of the
pupil produces disturbances in his
brain and nerve-centres, the success
of the process is very much
interfered with.
It is to be regretted that
illustrations of the above general principles
are not permitted to be
published. Enough, however, has been
disclosed
to give the public a clue to many
apparent mysteries in regard to
precipitated letters, and to draw all
earnest and sincere inquirers
strongly to the path of spiritual progress,
which alone can lead to the
comprehension of occult phenomena.
--Anon.
"How Shall We Sleep?"
It appears that the opinion of Mr.
Seeta Nath Ghose and of Baron Von
Reichenbach are in direct conflict on
the subject of this paper, the
latter recommending the head of the
sleeper to be northward, the former
entirely condemning that position.
It is my humble opinion that both
writers are right, each from his own
standpoint, as I shall try to
show. What is the reason that our
position in sleep should be of any
consequence? Because our body must
be in a position at harmony with the
main magnetic currents of the
earth; but as these currents are not the same in all
parts of the world
the positions of the sleeper must,
therefore, vary.
There are three main magnetic
currents on our earth--viz., in the
northern hemisphere, from north pole
towards the equator; in the
southern hemisphere, from south pole
towards the equator; these two
currents meeting in the torrid zone
continue their combined course from
east to west. So the position of the sleeper must vary
according as he
finds himself to the north or south
of the torrid zone or within it.
In the north frigid or temperate
zone, he has to lie with his head
northward; in the southern, southward; in the torrid zone, eastward--
in order that the magnetic current
may pass through him from head to
foot without disturbance, as this is
the natural position for
magnetization.
The following diagram may give a
clearer view of the case, and thus help
us to answer the second part of the
question, whether and when we ought
to lie on the right or the left side,
on the stomach or on the back:--
[[Diagram here]]
The able writer of "How Shall we Sleep?" shows, in his
cross diagram,
that he thinks the head to be
entirely positive and both feet negative.
I think that this is not the case,
but that the right side of the head
and the left foot are positive, and
the left side of the head and the
right foot negative, and similarly
the right hand is negative and the
left hand is positive.
As the north pole is positive and the
left side of the head negative,
the natural position in sleep for
those living within the northern zones
would be on the right side, head
northward; and it is obvious that in
the southern zones the position must
be exactly the reverse. As to
those who live under the tropics,
lying on the stomach seems to me to be
the most natural position, since the
left, or negative side of the head,
is turned to the north or positive
current, and vice versa.
For many years I and my family have
been sleeping with our heads either
to the north or the west (the right
position in our hemisphere, in my
opinion), and we had no occasion to
regret it; for from that time
forward the physician has become a
rare visitor in our house.
Mr. Seeta Nath Ghose says, in his
interesting paper on "Medical
Magnetism," that Mandulies
(metallic cells) are worn to great advantage
in India on diseased parts of the
body. The curative properties of
these cells I have seen verified in authentic
instances. When, years
ago (I believe about 1852), cholera
was devastating some parts of
Europe, it was remarked at Munich
(Bavaria) that among the thousands of
its victims there was not a single
coppersmith. Hence, it was
recommended by the medical
authorities of that town to wear disks of
thin copperplate (of about 2 1/2 inch
diameter) on a string, on the pit
of the stomach, and they proved to be
a powerful preventive of cholera.
Again, in 1867, cholera visited
Odessa.
I and my whole family wore these
copper disks; and while all around
there were numerous cases of cholera
and dysentery, not one of us was
attacked. I propose that serious experiments should be
made in this
direction, and specially in those
countries which are periodically
devastated by that disease: as India, for instance. It is my
conviction that one disk of copper on
the stomach, and another of zinc
on the spine, opposite the former,
will be of still better service, the
more so if the disks are joined by a
thin copper chain.
--Gustave Zorn
In the first place it is necessary to
say that the rules laid down by
Garga, Markandeya and others on the
above subject, refer to the
inhabitants of the plains only, and
not to dwellers on mountains. The
rule is that on retiring a man should
first lie on his right side for
the period of sixteen breathings,
then turn on his left for double that
time, and after that he can sleep in
any position. Further, that a man
must not sleep on the ground, on
silken or woollen cloth, under a
solitary tree, where cross-roads
meet, on mountains, or on the sky
(whatever that may mean). Nor is he
to sleep with damp clothes, wet
feet, or in a naked state; and, unless an initiate, should not sleep on
Kusha grass or its varieties. There are many more such rules. I may
here notice that in Sanskrit the
right hand or side and south are
signified by the same term. So also the front and north have one and
the same name. The sun is the great and chief source of life
and
magnetism in the solar system.
Hence to the world the east is
positive as the source of light and
magnetism. For the same reason, to the northern
hemisphere the south
(the equator and not the north) is
positive. Under the laws of dynamics
the resultant of these two forces
will be a current in the directed from
S.E. to N.W. This, I think, is one of the real causes of
the prevailing
south-east wind. At any rate, I do not think the north pole to
be
positive, as there would be no snow
there in such a case. The aurora
cannot take place at the source of
the currents, but at their close.
Hence the source must be towards the
equator or south. The course of
life, civilization, light, and almost
everything seems to be from E. to
W. or S.E. to N.W. The penalty for sleeping with the head to the
west
is said to be anxiety of mind, while
sleeping with the head to the north
is considered fatal. I beg to invite the attention of the Hindus
to a
similar penalty of death incurred by
any but an initiate (Brahman)
pronouncing the sacred Pranava
(Om). This does not prove that Pranava
is really a mischievous bad word, but
that, with incompetent men, it is
fraught with danger. So also, in the case of ordinary men of the
plains, there may be unknown dangers
which it would not be prudent for
them to risk so long as they do not
know how to meet them, or so long as
they are not under the guidance of
men who can protect them. In short,
ordinary men should move on in their
beaten course, and these rules are
for them only.
As an instance of the infringement of
the rule the following anecdote is
given:--
After Ganesha (Siva's son) was born,
all the Devas (gods) came to
congratulate the family and bless the
child. Sani or Saturn, was the
last to come, and even then he came after
he had been several times
inquired after. When he went to see the infant, it appeared
headless!
This at once created a sensation, and
all the Devas were at their wits'
end.
At last Saturn himself approached Mahadeva with folded hands and
reminded him that it was due to his
presence, and the child having been
kept in a bed with its head to the
north. For such was the law. Then
the Devas consulted together and sent
out messengers to find out who
else was sleeping with the head to
the north. At last they discovered
an elephant in that position. Its head was immediately cut off and
placed on the shoulders of
Ganesha. It need not be said that
Ganesha
became afterwards so learned and wise
that if he had not had an
elephant's head, a human head would never
have been sufficient to hold
all he knew. This advantage he owed to the circumstance of
his sleeping
with head to the north, and the
blessing of the Devas. To the elephant,
the same position but minus the
blessing of the Devas proved absolute
death.
--Nobin K. Bannerji
Reading Mr. Seeta Nath Ghose's paper
on "Medical Magnetism" and having
studied long ago Baron von
Reichenbach's "Researches in Magnetism," I am
sorely puzzled, inasmuch as these two
authorities appear to clash with
each other most completely--the one
asserting "head to north never,
under no circumstances," the
other "head to north ever and under all
circumstances." I have pursued the advice of the latter, not
knowing of
the former for many years, but have
not found the effect on my health
which I had hoped for, and what is of
more importance, I have not found
a law of certain application to
humanity and bringing health to all. It
seems to me on carefully reading this
article that a most important
point has been omitted or passed over--i.e.,
the position of the
sleeper, whether on his face or on
his back? This is most important, for
a correct answer may go far to
reconcile the two theories, which, be it
remembered, claim both to be
supported by experiment and by observation.
I cannot conceive that a one-sided
position is a natural one for man,
and thus leave two alternatives. Is the proper position in sleep lying
on the back or on the stomach? Not one word has been said as to the
position in which experiments were
tried on either side.
Now the one thing which seems clear
in all this is, that positive should
be toward negative and negative
toward positive. Let us then draw a
diagram and these positions will
follow with these results--taking the
north as positive and south as negative,
east as negative and west as
positive.
Position I.--Lying on the Back.
A. Head to East ............ Accord
in all
B. Head to North .......... Discord--Head and feet
Accord--Hands.
C. Head to South ........... Accord--Head
and feet.
Discord--Hands.
D. Head to West ............ Discord
in all.
---529
[[Diagram here]]
Position II.--Lying on Stomach
A'. Head to East ........ Accord--in
Head and feet
Discord--in Hands
B'. Head to North ....... Discord in
all
C'. Head to South ....... Accord in
all
D'. Head to West ........
Discord--Head and feet
Accord--Hands
Now, from this will come some light,
I think on the apparently
contradictory theories, if we could
ascertain: (1) Which position did
the renowned Garga and Markandeya
contemplate as the proper position for
men to sleep in? (2) In which position did those on whom Baron
von
Reichenbach experimented lie?
This is a most important question for
all who value the gift of health,
as well as for those who would be
wise. In my sojourn in southern
countries I have noticed that the
natives of the lower classes at least
always sleep on their stomachs, with
their back turned to the sun, and
all animals do the same, while
sleeping on the back is most dangerous,
at least in the sun. Is not this a guide or hint as to the true
position?
Transmigration of the Life-Atoms
It is said that "for three
thousand years at least the 'mummy,' not
withstanding all the chemical
preparations, goes on throwing off to the
last invisible atoms, which, from the
hour of death, reentering the
various vortices of being, go indeed
through every variety of organized
life-forms. But it is not the soul, the fifth, least of
all the sixth
principle, but the life-atoms of the
Jiva, the second principle. At the
end of the 3,000 years, sometimes
more, and sometimes less, after
endless transmigrations, all these
atoms are once more drawn together,
and are made to form the new outer
clothing or the body of the same
monad (the real soul) which they had
already clothed two or three
thousand years before. Even in the worst case, that of the
annihilation
of the conscious personal principle,
the monad or individual soul is
ever the same, as are also the atoms
of the lower principles, which,
regenerated and renewed in this
ever-flowing river of being, are
magnetically drawn together owing to
their affinity, and are once more
reincarnated together."
This little passage is a new
instalment of occult teaching given to the
public, and opens up a vast field for
thought. It suggests, in the
first instance, that the exoteric
doctrine of the transmigration of the
soul through lower forms of
existence--so generally believed in by the
Hindus, though incorrect as regards
the soul (fifth principle)--has some
basis of truth when referred to the
lower principles.
It is stated further that the mummy
goes on throwing off invisible
atoms, which go through every variety
of organized life-forms, and
further on it is stated that it is
the life-atoms of the Jiva, the
second principle, that go through
these transmigrations.
According to the esoteric teaching,
the Jiva "is a form of force
indestructible, and, when disconnected
with one set of atoms, becoming
attracted immediately by
others."
What, then, is meant by the
life-atoms, and their going through endless
transmigrations?
The invisible atoms of the mummy
would mean the imperceptibly decaying
atoms of the physical body, and the
life-atoms of the Jiva would be
quite distinct from the atoms of the
mummy. Is it meant to imply that
both the invisible atoms of the
physical body, as well as the atoms of
the Jiva, after going through various
life-forms, return again to
re-form the physical body, and the
Jiva of the entity that has reached
the end of its Devachanic state and
is ready to be reincarnated again?
It is taught, again, that even in the
worst case (the annihilation of
the Personal Ego) the atoms of the lower
principles are the same as in
the previous birth. Here, does the term "lower
principles" include the
Kama rupa also, or only the lower
triad of body, Jiva, and Lingasarira?
It seems the Kama rupa in that
particular case cannot be included, for
in the instance of the annihilation
of the personal soul, the Kama rupa
would be in the eighth sphere.
Another question also suggests
itself. The fourth principle (Kama rupa)
and the lower portion of the fifth,
which cannot be assimilated by the
sixth, wander about as shells, and in
time disperse into the elements of
which they are made. Do the atoms of these principles also
reunite,
after going through various
transmigrations, to constitute over again
the fourth and the lower fifth of the
next incarnation?
--N.D.K.
Note
We would, to begin with, draw
attention to the closing sentence of the
passage quoted above: "Such was the true occult theory of the
Egyptians," the word
"true" being used there in the sense of its being
the doctrine they really believed in,
as distinct from both the tenets
fathered upon them by some
Orientalists, and that which the modern
occultists may be now teaching. It does not stand to reason that,
outside those occult truths that were
known to, and revealed by, the
great Hierophants during the final
initiation, we should accept all that
either the Egyptians or any other
people may have regarded as true. The
Priests of Isis were the only true
initiates, and their occult teachings
were still more veiled than those of
the Chaldeans. There was the true
doctrine of the Hierophants of the
inner Temple; then the half-veiled
Hieratic tenets of the Priest of the
outer Temple; and, finally, the
vulgar popular religion of the great
body of the ignorant, who were
allowed to reverence animals as
divine. As shown correctly by Sir
Gardner Wilkinson, the initiated
priests taught that "dissolution is
only the cause of reproduction ....
nothing perishes which has once
existed, but things which appear to
be destroyed only change their
natures and pass into another
form." To the present case,
however, the
Egyptian doctrine of atoms coincides
with our own occult teachings. In
the above remarks the words,
"The life-atoms of the Jiva," are taken in
a strictly literal sense. Without any doubt Jiva or Prana is quite
distinct from the atoms it
animates. The latter belong to the
lowest or
grossest state of matter--the
objectively conditioned; the former, to a
higher state--that state which the
uninitiated, ignorant of its nature,
would call the "objectively
finite," but which, to avoid any future
misunderstanding, we may, perhaps, be
permitted to call the subjectively
eternal, though, at the same time and
in one sense, the subsistent
existence, however paradoxical and
unscientific the term may appear.*
Life, the occultist says, is the
eternal uncreated energy, and it alone
represents in the infinite universe,
that which the physicists have
agreed to name the principle, or the
law of continuity, though they
apply it only to the endless
development of the conditioned.
But since modern science admits,
through her most learned professors,
that "energy has as much claim
to be regarded as an objective reality as
matter itself"** and as life,
according to the occult doctrine, is the
one energy acting, Proteus-like,
under the most varied forms, the
occultists have a certain right to
use such phraseology. Life is ever
present in the atom or matter,
whether organic or inorganic--a
difference that the occultists do not
accept. Their doctrine is that
life is as much present in the
inorganic as in the organic matter: when
life-energy is active in the atom,
that atom is organic; when dormant
or latent, then the atom is
inorganic.
--------
* Though there is a distinct term for
it in the language of the adepts,
how can one translate it into a
European language? What name can be
given to that which is objective yet
immaterial in its finite
manifestations, subjective yet
substantive (though not in our sense of
substance) in its eternal
existence? Having explained it the best
we
can, we leave the task of finding a
more appropriate term for it to our
learned English occultists.
** "Unseen Universe."
----------
Therefore, the expression
"life-atom," though apt in one sense to
mislead the reader, is not incorrect
after all, since occultists do not
recognize that anything in Nature can
be inorganic, and know of no "dead
atoms," whatever meaning science
may give to the adjective. The law of
biogenesis, as ordinarily understood,
is the result of the ignorance of
the man of science of occult
physics. It is accepted because the man
of
science is unable to find the
necessary means to awaken into activity
the dormant life inherent in what he
terms an inorganic atom; hence the
fallacy that a living thing can only be
produced from a living thing, as
though there ever was such a thing as
dead matter in Nature! At this
rate, and to be consistent, a mule
ought to be also classed with
inorganic matter, since it is unable
to reproduce itself and generate
life.
We dwell so much upon the above as it meets at once all future
opposition to the idea that a mummy,
several thousand years old, can be
throwing off atoms. Nevertheless, the sentence would perhaps have
gained in clearness if we had said,
instead of the "life-atoms of jiva,"
the atoms "animated by dormant
Jiva or life-energy." Again, the
definition of Jiva quoted above,
though quite correct on the whole,
might be more fully, if not more
clearly, expressed. The
"jiva," or
life, principle, which animates man,
beast, plant, and even a mineral,
certainly is "a form of force
indestructible," since this force is the
one life, or anima mundi, the
universal living soul, and that the
various modes in which objective
things appear to us in Nature in their
atomic aggregations, such as
minerals, plants, animals, &c., are all the
different forms or states in which
this force manifests itself. Were it
to become--we will not say absent,
for this is impossible, since it is
omnipresent--but for one single
instant inactive, say in a stone, the
particles of the latter would lose
instantly their cohesive property,
and disintegrate as suddenly, though
the force would still remain in
each of its particles, but in a
dormant state. Then the continuation of
the definition, which states that
when this indestructible force is
"disconnected with one set of
atoms, it becomes attracted immediately by
others," does not imply that it
abandons entirely the first set, but
only that it transfers its vis viva,
or living power--the energy of
motion--to another set. But because
it manifests itself in the next set
as what is called kinetic energy, it
does not follow that the first set
is deprived of it altogether; for it is still in it, as potential
energy, or life latent.* This is a cardinal and basic truth of
occultism, on the perfect knowledge
of which depends the production of
every phenomenon. Unless we admit this point, we should have to
give up
all the other truths of
occultism. Thus what is "meant by
the life-atom
going through endless transmigration"
is simply this: we regard and
call, in our occult phraseology,
those atoms that are moved by kinetic
energy as "life-atoms,"
while those that are for the time being passive,
containing but imperceptible
potential energy, we call "sleeping atoms;"
regarding, at the same time, these
two forms of energy as produced by
one and the same force or life.
-------
* We feel constrained to make use of
terms that have become technical in
modern science--though they do not
always fully express the idea to be
conveyed--for want of better
words. It is useless to hope that the
occult doctrine may be ever
thoroughly understood, even the few tenets
that can be safely given to the world
at large, unless a glossary of
such words is edited; and, what is of a still greater importance,
until
the full and correct meaning of the
terms therein taught is thoroughly
mastered.
---------
Now to the Hindu doctrine of
Metempsychosis. It has a basis of truth;
and, in fact, it is an axiomatic
truth, but only in reference to human
atoms and emanations, and that not
only after a man's death, but during
the whole period of his life. The esoteric meaning of the Laws of Manu
(sec. XII. 3, and XII. 54 and ), of
the verses asserting that "every
act, either mental, verbal or corporeal,
bears good or evil fruit
(Karma)," that "the various
transmigrations of men (not souls) through
the highest, middle and lowest
stages, are produced by their actions,"
and again that "a Brahman-killer
enters the body of a dog, bear, ass,
camel, goat, sheep, bird,
&c.," bears no reference to the human Ego, but
only to the atoms of his body, his
lower triad and his fluidic
emanations. It is all very well for
the Brahmans to distort, in their
own interest, the real meaning
contained in these laws, but the words as
quoted never meant what they were
made to yield later on. The Brahmans
applied them selfishly to themselves,
whereas by "Brahman," man's
seventh principle, his immortal monad
and the essence of the personal
Ego were allegorically meant. He who kills or extinguishes in himself
the light of Parabrahm--i.e., severs
his personal Ego from the Atman,
and thus kills the future Devachanee,
becomes a "Brahman killer."
Instead of facilitating, through a
virtuous life and spiritual
aspirations, the union of the Buddhi
and the Manas, he condemns, by his
own evil acts, every atom of his
lower principles to become attracted
and drawn in virtue of the magnetic
affinity, thus created by his
passions, into the bodies of lower
animals. This is the real meaning of
the doctrine of Metempsychosis. It is not that such amalgamation of
human particles with animal or even
vegetable atoms can carry in it any
idea of personal punishment per se,
for of course it does not. But it
is a cause, the effects of which may
manifest themselves throughout
succeeding re-births, unless the
personality is annihilated. Otherwise,
from cause to effect, every effect
becoming in its turn a cause, they
will run along the cycle of
re-births, the once given impulse expending
itself only at the threshold of
Pralaya. But of this anon.
Notwithstanding their esoteric
meaning, even the words of the grandest
and noblest of all the adepts,
Gautama Buddha, are misunderstood,
distorted and ridiculed in the same
way. The Hina-yana, the lowest form
of transmigration of the Buddhist, is
as little comprehended as the
Maha-yana, its highest form; and, because Sakya Muni is shown to have
once remarked to his Bhikkhus, while
pointing out to them a broom, that
"it had formerly been a novice who
neglected to sweep out" the
Council-room, hence was re-born as a
broom (!), therefore, the wisest of
all the world's sages stands accused
of idiotic superstition. Why not
try and find out, before condemning,
the true meaning of the figurative
statement? Why should we scoff before we
understand? Is or is not that
which is called magnetic effluvium a
something, a stuff, or a substance,
invisible, and imponderable though it
be? If the learned authors of
"The Unseen Universe"
object to light, heat and electricity being
regarded merely as imponderables, and
show that each of these phenomena
has as much claim to be recognized as
an objective reality as matter
itself, our right to regard the
mesmeric or magnetic fluid which
emanates from man to man, or even
from man to what is termed an
inanimate object, is far
greater. It is not enough to say that
this
fluid is a species of molecular
energy like heat, for instance, though
of much greater potency. Heat is produced when ever kinetic energy is
transformed into molecular energy, we
are told, and it may be thrown out
by any material composed of sleeping
atoms, or inorganic matter as it is
called; whereas the magnetic fluid projected by a
living human body is
life itself. Indeed it is "life-atoms" that a
man in a blind passion
throws off unconsciously, though he
does it quite as effectively as a
mesmeriser who transfers them from
himself to any object consciously and
under the guidance of his will. Let any man give way to any intense
feeling, such as anger, grief,
&c., under or near a tree, or in direct
contact with a stone, and after many
thousands of years any tolerable
psychometer will see the man, and
perceive his feelings from one single
fragment of that tree or stone that
he had touched. Hold any object in
your hand, and it will become
impregnated with your life-atoms, indrawn
and outdrawn, changed and transferred
in us at every instant of our
lives. Animal heat is but so many life atoms in
molecular motion. It
requires no adept knowledge, but simply
the natural gift of a good
clairvoyant subject to see them
passing to and fro, from man to objects
and vice versa like a bluish lambent
flame. Why, then, should not a
broom, made of a shrub, which grew
most likely in the vicinity of the
building where the lazy novice lived,
a shrub, perhaps, repeatedly
touched by him while in a state of
anger provoked by his laziness and
distaste for his duty--why should not
a quantity of his life-atoms have
passed into the materials of the
future besom, and therein have been
recognized by Buddha, owing to his
superhuman (not supernatural) powers?
The processes of Nature are acts of
incessant borrowing and giving back.
The materialistic sceptic, however,
will not take anything in any other
way than in a literal, dead-letter
sense.
To conclude our too long answer, the
"lower principles" mentioned before
are the first, second and the
third. They cannot include the Kama
rupa,
for this "rupa" belongs to
the middle, not the lower principles.
And,
to our correspondent's further query,
"Do the atoms of these (the fourth
and the fifth) also re-form, after
going through various
transmigrations, to constitute over
again the fourth and the lower fifth
of the next incarnation?" we
answer, "They do." The reason
why we have
tried to explain the doctrine of the
"life-atoms" at such length, is
precisely in connection with this
last question, and with the object of
throwing out one more fertile
hint. We do not feel at liberty at
present, however, to give any further
details.
--H.P. Blavatsky
"OM," And Its Practical
Significance
I shall begin with a definition of
Om, as given by the late Professor
Theodore Goldstucker:--
"Om is a Sanskrit word which, on
account of the mystical notions that
even at an early date of Hindu civilization
were connected with it,
acquired much importance in the
development of Hindu religion. Its
original sense is that of emphatic or
solemn affirmation or assent.
Thus, when in the White Yajur Veda
the sacrificer invites the gods to
rejoice in his sacrifice, the goddess
Savitri assents to his summons by
saying, 'Om' (i.e., be it so); proceed!"
Or, when in the Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad, Prajapati, the father of gods,
men and demons, asks the gods whether
they have understood his
instructions, he expresses his
satisfaction with their affirmative reply
in these words, "Om, you have
fully comprehended it;" and in the
same
Upanishad, Pravahana answers the
question of Swetaketu, as to whether
his father has instructed him, by
uttering the word "Om"--i.e.,
"forsooth (I am)."
A portion of the Rig Veda called the
Aitareya Brahmana, where,
describing a religious ceremony at
which verses from the Rig Veda, as
well as songs called Gathas, were
recited by the priest called Hotri,
and responses given by another
priest, the Adhwaryu, says: Om is the
response of the Adhwaryu to the Rig
Veda verses (recited by the Hotri),
and likewise tatha (i.e., thus) his
response to the Gathas, for Om is
(the term of assent) used by the
gods, whereas tatha is (the term of
assent) used by men (the Rig Veda
verses being, to the orthodox Hindu,
of divine and the Gathas of human
authorship).
In this, the original sense of the
word, it is little doubtful that Om
is but an older and contracted form
of the common Sanskrit word evam
("thus"), which, coming
from the pronominal base "a," in some
derivations changed to "e,"
may have at one time occurred in the form
avam, when, by the elision of the
vowel following a, for which there are
numerous analogies in Sanskrit, vum
would become aum, and hence,
according to the ordinary phonetic
laws of the language, Om. This
etymology of the word, however, seems
to have been lost even at an early
period of Sanskrit literature; for another is met with in the ancient
grammarians, enabling us to account
for the mysticism which many
religious and theological works of
ancient and medieval India suppose to
inhere in it. According to this latter etymology, Om would
come from a
radical av; by means of an affix man, when Om would be a
curtailed form
of avman or oman, and as av implies
the notion of "protect, preserve,
save," Om would be a term
implying "protection or salvation," its
mystical properties and its sanctity
being inferred from its occurrence
in the Vedic writings and in
connection with sacrificial acts, such as
are alluded to before.
Hence Om became the auspicious word
with which the spiritual teacher had
to begin and the pupil to end each
lesson of his reading of the Veda.
"Let this syllable," the
existing Prati-sakhya, or a grammar of the Rig
Veda, enjoins, "be the head of
the reading of the Veda; for alike to the
teacher and the pupil it is the
supreme Brahman, the gate of heaven."
And Manu ordains: "A Brahman at the beginning and end (of
a lesson on
the Veda) 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."
At the time when another class of
writings (the Puranas) were added to
the inspired code of Hinduism, for a
similar reason Om is their
introductory word.
That the mysterious power which, as
the foregoing quotation from the
law-book of Manu shows, was
attributed to this word must have been the
subject of early speculation, is
obvious enough. A reason assigned for
it is given by Manu himself. "Brahma," he says, "extracted
from the
three Vedas the letter a, the letter
u, and the letter m (which combined
result in Om), together with the
(mysterious) words Bhuh (earth), Bhuva
(sky), and Swah (heaven);" and
in another verse: "These three
great
immutable words, preceded by the
syllable Om, and (the sacred Rig Veda
verse called) Gayatri, consisting of
three lines, must be considered as
the mouth (or entrance) of Brahman
(the Veda)," or, as the commentators
observe, the means of attaining final
emancipation; and "The syllable Om
is the supreme Brahman. (Three) regulated breathings, accompanied
with
the mental recitation of Om, the
three mysterious words Bhuh, Bhuvah,
Swah and the Gayatri, are the highest
devotion."
"All rites ordained in the Veda,
such as burnt and other sacrifices,
pass away, but the syllable Om must
be considered as imperishable; for
it is (a symbol of) Brahman (the
supreme spirit) himself, the Lord of
Creation." In these speculations Manu bears out, and is
borne out by,
several Upanishads. In the Katha-Upanishad for instance, Yama,
the god
of death, in replying to a question
of Nachiketas, says: "The word
which all the Vedas record, which all
the modes of penance proclaim,
desirous of which religious students perform
their duties, this word I
will briefly tell thee--it is
Om. This syllable means the (inferior)
Brahman and the supreme
(Brahman). Whoever knows this syllable
obtains
whatever he wishes." And in the Pras'na-Upanishad the saint
Pippalada
says to Satyakama: "The supreme and the inferior Brahman
are both the
word Om; hence the wise follow by this support the one
or the other of
the two. If he meditates upon its one letter (a) only,
he is quickly
born on the earth; is carried by the verses of the Rig Veda to
the
world of man; and, if he is devoted there to austerity, the
duties of a
religious student and faith, he
enjoys greatness. But if he meditates
in his mind on its two letters (a and
u), he is elevated by the verses
of the Yajur Veda to the intermediate
region; comes to the world of the
moon and, having enjoyed there power,
returns again (to the world of
man).
If, however, he meditates on the supreme spirit by means of its
three letters (a, u, and m) he is
produced in light in the sun; as the
snake is liberated from its skin, so
is he liberated from sin."
According to the Mandukya-Upanishad
the nature of the soul is
summarized in the three letters a, u,
and m in their isolated and
combined form--a being Vaiswanara, or
that form of Brahman which
represents the soul in its waking
condition; a, Taijasa, or that form
of Brahman which represents it in its
dreaming state; and m, Piajna, or
that form of Brahman which represents
it in its state of profound sleep
(or that state in which it is temporarily
united with the supreme
spirit); while a, u, m combined (i.e., Om), represent
the fourth or
highest condition of Brahman,
"which is unaccountable, in which all
manifestations have ceased, which is
blissful and without duality. Om
therefore, is soul, and by this soul,
he who knows it, enters into (the
supreme) soul." Passages like these may be considered as the
key to the
more enigmatic expressions used; for instance, by the author of the
Yoga philosophy where, in three short
sentences, he says his (the
supreme lord's) name is Pranava
(i.e., Om); its muttering (should be
made) and reflection on its
signification; thence comes the
knowledge
of the transcendental spirit and the
absence of the obstacles (such as
sickness, languor, doubt, &c.,
which obstruct the mind of an ascetic).
But they indicate, at the same time,
the further course which
superstition took in enlarging upon
the mysticism of the doctrine of the
Upanishads. For, as soon as every letter of which the
word Om consists
was fancied to embody a separate
idea, it is intelligible that other
sectarian explanations were grafted
on them to serve special purposes.
Thus, while Sankara, the great
theologian and commentator on the
Upanishads, is still contented with
an etymological punning by means of
which he transforms a into an
abbreviation of apti (pervading), since
speech is pervaded by
Vaiswanara; u into an abbreviation of
utkartha
(superiority), since Taijasa is
superior to Vaiswanara; and m into an
abbreviation of miti (destruction),
Vaiswanara and Taijasa, at the
destruction and regeneration of the
world, being, as it were, absorbed
into Prajna--the Puranas make of a, a
name of Vishnu; of u, a name of
his consort "Sri;" and of m, a designation of their joint worshipper;
or they see in a, u, m, the
Triad--Brahm, Vishnu, and Siva; the
first
being represented by a, the second by
u, and the third by m--each sect,
of course, identifying the
combination of these letters, or Om with
their supreme deity. Thus, also, in the Bhagavadgita, which is
devoted
to the worship of Vishnu in his
incarnation as Krishna, though it is
essentially a poem of philosophical
tendencies based on the doctrine of
the Yoga, Krishna in one passage says
of himself that he is Om; while
in another passage he qualifies the
latter as the supreme spirit. A
common designation of the word
Om--for instance, in the last-named
passages of the Bhagavadgita is the
word Pranava, which comes from a
so-called radical nu,
"praise," with the prefix pra amongst other
meanings implying emphasis, and,
therefore, literally means "eulogium,
emphatic praise." Although Om,
in its original sense as a word of solemn
or emphatic assent, is, properly
speaking, restricted to the Vedic
literature, it deserves notice that
it is now-a-days often used by the
natives of India in the sense of
"yes," without, of course, any allusion
to the mystic properties which are
ascribed to it in the religious
works. Monier Williams gives the following account
of the mystic
syllable Om: "When by means of repeating the syllable
Om, which
originally seems to have meant 'that'
or 'yes,' they had arrived at a
certain degree of mental
tranquillity, the question arose what was meant
by this Om, and to this various
answers were given according as the mind
was to be led up to higher and higher
objects. Thus, in one passage, we
are told at first that Om is the
beginning of the Veda, or as we have to
deal with an Upanishad of the Shama
Veda, the beginning of the Shama
Veda;
so that he who meditates on Om may be supposed to be meditating
on the whole of the Shama Veda.
"Om is the essence of the Shama
Veda which, being almost entirely taken
from the Rig Veda, may itself be
called the essence of the Rig Veda. The
Rig Veda stands for all speech, the
Shama Veda for all breath or life;
so that Om may be conceived again as
the symbol of all speech and all
life.
Om thus becomes the name not only of all our mental and physical
powers, but is especially that of the
living principle of the pran or
spirit. This is explained by the parable in the
second chapter, while
in the third chapter that spirit
within us is identified with the spirit
in the sun.
"He, therefore, who meditates on
Om, meditates on the spirit in man as
identical with the spirit in Nature
or in the sun, and thus the lesson
that is meant to be taught in the
beginning of the Khandogya Upanishad
is really this that none of the
Vedas, with their sacrifices and
ceremonies, could ever secure the
salvation of the worshipers. That is,
the sacred works performed, according
to the rules of the Vedas, are of
no avail in the end, but meditation
on Om, or that knowledge of what is
meant by Om, alone can procure true
salvation or true immortality.
"Thus the pupil is led on step
by step to what is the highest object of
the Upanishads--namely, the
recognition of the self in man as identical
of the highest soul.
"The lessons which are to lead
up to that highest conception of the
universe, both subjective and
objective, are, no doubt, mixed up with
much that is superstitious and
absurd. Still the main object is never
lost sight of. Thus, when we come to the eighth chapter, the
discussion, though it begins with Om
ends with the question of the
origin of the world, and the final
answer--namely, that Om means Akasa,
ether, and that ether is the origin
of all things."
Dr. Lake considers electricity as the
akas, or the fifth element of the
Hindus.
I shall now give my own opinion on
the mystic syllable Om.
Breath consists of an inspiration
termed puraka, an interval termed
kumbhaka, and an expiration called
rechaka. When the respiration is
carried on by the right nostril, it
is called the pingala; when it is
carried on by the two nostrils, it is
named the susumna; and when it is
carried on by the left nostril, it is
called ida.
The right respiration is called the
solar respiration, from its heating
nature; while the left respiration is termed the
lunar respiration,
from its cooling character. The susumna respiration is called the
shambhu-nadi. During the intermediate respiration the human
mind should
be engaged in the contemplation of
the supreme soul.
The breath takes its origin from the
"indiscreet" or unreflecting form,
and the mind from the breath. The organs of sense and action are under
the control of the mind. The Yogis restrain their mind by the
suspension of breath. Breath is the origin of all speech. The word
soham is pronounced by a deep
inspiration followed by expiration carried
on by the nostrils.... This word
means, "God is in us." There
is
another word called hangsha. This is
pronounced by a deep expiration
followed by inspiration. Its meaning
is "I am in God."
The inspiration is sakti, or
strength. The expiration is siva, or
death. The internal or Kumbhaka is a promoter of
longevity. When the
expiration is not followed by
inspiration death ensues. A forcible
expiration is always the sure and
certain sign of approaching
dissolution or death. Both these words soham and hanysha cause the
waste of the animal economy, as they
permit the oxygen of the inspired
air to enter the lungs where the
pulmonary changes of the blood occur.
According to Lavoissier, an adult
Frenchman inhales daily 15,661 grains
of oxygen from the atmosphere, at the
rate of 10.87 grains nearly per
minute.
The word Om is pronounced by the
inspiration of air through the mouth
and the expiration of the same by the
nostrils.
When a man inspires through the mouth
and expires through the nostrils,
the oxygen of the inspired air does
not enter the lungs where the
pulmonary changes of the blood take
place. The monosyllable Om thus
acts as a substitute for the
suspension of the breath.
The waste of the body is
proportionate to the quantity of oxygen taken
into the system by the
respiration. The waste of a man who
breathes
quickly is greater than that of one
who breathes slowly. While
tranquillity of mind produces slow
breathing, and causes the retardation
of the bodily waste, the tranquil
respiration has a tendency to produce
calmness of mind. The Yogis attain to Nirvana by suspending or
holding
the breath. The Vedantists obtain moksha, or emancipation
of the soul,
by holding the mind (mental
abstraction). Thus Om is the process of
separating the soul from the
body. It is the product of the gasping
breath which precedes the dissolution
of our body. The ancient Hindus
utilized the gasping breath of the
dying man by discovering the syllable
Om.
The syllable Om protects man from
premature decay and death, preserves
him from worldly temptations, and
saves him from re-birth. It causes
the union of the human soul to the
supreme soul. Om has the property of
shortening the length of respiration.
Siva is made to say in a work on
"Sharodaya" (an excellent treatise on
respiration) that the normal length
of the expiration is 9 inches.
During meals and speaking the length
of the expiration becomes 13.5
inches. In ordinary walking the expiration is
lengthened to 18 inches.
Running lengthens the expiration to
25.5 inches.
In sexual intercourse the extent of
respiration becomes 48.75 inches.
During sleep the respiration becomes
75 inches long. As sleep causes a
great waste of the body and invites
disease, premature decay and death,
the Yogi tries to abstain from it. He
lives upon the following
dietary:--rice, 6 ounces troy; milk,
12 ounces troy. He consumes daily:
carbon, 156.2 grains; nitrogen, 63.8
grains.
Under this diet he is ever watchful,
and spends his time in the
contemplation of Om. From the small quantity of nitrogen contained
in
his diet he is free from anger. The Yogi next subdues his carnal desire
or sexual appetite. He diminishes day by day his food until it
reaches
the minimum quantity on which
existence is maintained. He passes his
life in prayer and meditation. He seeks retirement. He lives in his
little cell; his couch is the skin of
tiger or stag; he regards gold,
silver, and all precious stones as
rubbish. He abstains from flesh,
fish, and wine. He never touches salt, and lives entirely on
fruits and
roots. I saw a female mendicant who lived upon a
seer of potatoes and a
small quantity of tamarind pulp
daily. This woman reduced herself to a
skeleton. She led a pure, chaste life, and spent her
time in the mental
recitation of Om. One seer of potatoes contains 3,600 grains of
solid
residue, which is exactly 7 1/2
ounces troy.
The solid residue of one seer of
potatoes consists of the following
ultimate ingredients:--
Carbon .............. 1587.6 grains
Hydrogen ............ 208.8
"
Nitrogen ............. 43.2
"
Oxygen .............. 1580.4 "
Salts .................180.0 "
--------
3600.0 "
I saw a Brahman (Brahmachari) who
consumed daily one seer of milk, and
took no other food.
Analysis of One Seer of Cow's Milk by
Boussingault.
Water .......................
12,539.520 grains
Carbon ...................... 1,005.408
"
Hydrogen ...................... 164.736
"
Nitrogen ....................... 74.880
"
Oxygen .........................
525.456 "
Salts ...........................
90.000 "
-----------
14,400.000 "
Now, one seer of cow's milk requires
for combustion within the animal
economy 3278.88 grains of
oxygen. The Brahmachari inhaled 2.27
grains
of oxygen per minute. This Brahmachari spent his life in the
contemplation of Om, and led a life
of continence. The French adult, who
is a fair specimen of well-developed sensuality,
inhaled from the
atmosphere 10.87 grains of oxygen
every minute of his existence.
A retired, abstemious, and austere
life is essentially necessary for the
pronunciation of Om, which promotes
the love of rigid virtue and a
contempt of impermanent
sensuality. Siva says "He who is
free from
lust, anger, covetousness and
ignorance is qualified to obtain
salvation, or moksha," or the
Nirvana of the Buddhists. The solid
residue of one seer of cow's milk is
1860.48 grains. "In 1784 a student
of physic at Edinburgh confined
himself for a long space of time to a
pint of milk and half a pound of
white bread."
The diet of this student contained
1487.5 grains of carbon and 80.1875
grains of nitrogen. This food required 4,305 grains of oxygen for
the
complete combustion of its
elements. He inspired 2.92 grains of
oxygen
per minute. In this instance the intense mental culture
diminished the
quantity of oxygen inspired from the
atmosphere. The early Christian
hermits, with a view to extinguish
carnal desire and overcome sleep,
lived upon a daily allowance of 12
ounces of bread and water. They
daily consumed 4063.084 grains of
oxygen. They inhaled oxygen at the
rate of 2.8215 grains per minute.
According to M. Andral, the great
French physiologist, a French boy 10
years old, before the sexual appetite
is developed, exhales 1852.8
grains of carbon in the twenty-four
hours. He who wishes to curb his
lust should consume 1852.8 grains of
carbon in his daily diet.
Now, 6,500 grains of household bread
contain 1852 grains of carbon,
according to Dr. Edward Smith. This quantity of bread is equal to 14
ounces avoirdupois and 375 grains,
but the early Christian hermits who
lived upon 12 oz. of bread
(avoirdupois) consumed daily 1496.25 grains
of carbon. This quantity of carbon was less than that
which the French
boy consumed daily by 356.55
grains. The French boy consumed 1852.8
grains of carbon in his diet, but the
Hindu female mendicant, who led a
life of continence, consumed in her
daily ration of potatoes 1587.6
grains of carbon. Hence it is evident that the French boy
consumed
265.2 grains of carbon more than what
was consumed by the female Hindu
Yogi.
There lived in Brindavana a Sannyasi, who died at the age of 109
years, and who subsisted for forty
years upon the daily diet of four
chuttacks of penda and four chuttacks
of milk. His diet contained 1,980
grains of carbon and 90.72 grains of
nitrogen. Abstemiousness shortens
the length of respiration, diminishes
the waste of the body, promotes
longevity, and engenders purity of
heart. Abstemiousness cures vertigo,
cephalalgia, tendency to apoplexy,
dyspnoea, gout, old ulcers, impetigo,
scrofula, herpes, and various other
maladies.
Cornaro, an Italian nobleman, who was
given up by all his physicians,
regained health by living upon 12
ounces of bread and 15 ounces of
water, and lived to a great age.
He consumed less than an ounce of
flesh-formers in his diet. According
to Edward Smith 5401.2 grains of
bread contain 1 ounce of flesh-formers.
He who wishes to lead a life of
chastity, honesty, meekness, and mercy,
should consume daily one ounce of
flesh-formers in his diet. As an
ounce of nitrogenous matter contains
70 grains of nitrogen, one should
take such food as yields only 70
grains of azote.
Murder, theft, robbery, cruelty,
covetousness, lust, slander, anger,
voluptuousness, revenge, lying,
prostitution, and envy are sins which
arise from a consumption of a large
quantity of aliments containing a
higher percentage of azote.
He who intends to be free from every
earthly thought, desire and passion
should abstain from fish, flesh,
woman, and wine, and live upon the most
innocent food.
The following table shows
approximately the quantities of various
aliments furnishing 70 grains of
nitrogen:
Wheat dried in vacuo ............
3181.81 grains
Oats ............................
3181.81 "
Barley ..........................
3465.34 "
Indian corn .....................
3500 "
Rye dried
........................4117.64 "
Rice dried .......................5036 "
Milk dried
.......................1750 "
Peas dried
.......................1666.6 "
White haricots dried .....
.......1627.67 "
Horse beans dried
................1272.72 "
Cabbage dried
....................1891.89 "
Carrots dried
....................2916.66 "
Jerusalem artichokes
.............4375 "
Turnips dried
....................3181.81 "
Bread
............................5401.2
"
Locust beans
.....................6110 "
Figs .............................7172.13 "
Cow's milk fresh
.................1346.2 "
Abstemiousness begets suspension of
breath. From the suspension of
breath originates tranquillity of
mind, which engenders supersensuous
knowledge. From supersensuous knowledge originates
ecstasy which is the
Samadhi of the ancient Hindu sages.
Instead of walking and running, which
lengthen the respiration, the
devotees of Om should practice the
two tranquil postures termed the
padmasana and siddhasana, described
in my mystic tract called "The Yoga
Philosophy." According to Siva the normal length of
expiration is 9
inches. He says that one can subdue his lust and
desire by shortening
his expiration to 8.25 inches,
whether by the inaudible pronunciation of
Om or by the suspension of breath
(Pranayama); that one can enjoy
ecstasy by diminishing the length of
his expiration to 7.50 inches.
One acquires the power of writing
poetry by reducing his expiration to
6.75 inches.
When one can reduce his expiration to
6 inches long he acquires the
power of foretelling future
events. When one reduces the length of
his
expiration to 5.25 inches he is
blessed with the divine eye. He sees
what is occurring in the distant
worlds.
When the inaudible pronunciation of
Om reduces the length of the
expiration to 4.50 inches it enables
its votary to travel to aerial
regions. When the length of expiration becomes 3.75
inches, the votary
of Om travels in the twinkling of an
eye through the whole world.
When by the inaudible muttering of Om
a man reduces his expiration to 3
inches, he acquires ashta Siddhis or
consummations (or superhuman
powers). When the expiration is reduced to 2.25
inches, the votary of
Om can acquire the nine precious
jewels of the world (Nava nidhi). Such
a man can attract the wealth of the
world to him.*
--------
* Supposing he had any care or use
for it--Ed. Theos.
--------
When the expiration becomes 1.50
inches long from the above practice, he
sees the celestial sphere where the
Supreme Soul resides. When the
inaudible pronunciation of Om reduces
the length of expiration to .75
inch, the votary becomes deified and
casts no shadow.
"Om Amitaya! measure not with words
The immeasurable; nor sink the
string of thought
Into the Fathomless! Who asks doth err;
Who answers errs. Say nought!"
"Om mani padma hum. Om the jewel in the lotus."
By the muttering of the above formula
the Great Buddha freed himself
from selfishness, false faith, doubt,
hatred, lust, self-praise, error,
pride, and attained to Nirvana.
"And how man hath no fate except past deeds,
No Hell but what he makes, no Heaven too high
For those to reach whose passions sleeps subdued."
According to Siva a man acquires Nirvana
when his breathing becomes
internal and does not come out of the
nostrils. When the breathing
becomes internal--that is, when it is
contained within the nostrils, the
Yogi is free from fainting, hunger,
thirst, languor, disease and death.
He becomes a divine being, he feels
not when he is brought into contact
with fire; no air can dry him, no water can putrefy him,
no poisonous
serpent can inflict a mortal
wound. His body exhales fragrant odours,
and can bear the abstinence from air,
food, and drink.
When the breathing becomes internal,
the Yogi is incapable of committing
any sin in deed, thought, and speech,
and thereby inherits the Kingdom
of Heaven, which is open to sinless
souls.
--N.C. Paul
-------------------
Glossary
Ab-e-Hyat, Water of Life, supposed to give eternal youth.
Abhava, negation or non-being of individual objects; the
substance, the abstract objectivity.
Adam Kadmon, the bi-sexual Sephira of the Kabalists.
Adept, one who, through the development of his spirit, has
attained to transcendental knowledge
and powers.
Adhibhautika, arising from external objects.
Adhidaivika, arising from the gods, or accidents.
Adhikamasansas, extra months.
Adhishthanum, basis a principle in which some other
principle inheres.
Adhyatmika, arising out of the inner-self.
Advaiti, a follower of the school of Philosophy established
by Sankaracharya.
Ahankara, personality;
egoism; self identity; the fifth
principle.
Ahriman, the Evil Principle of the Universe; so called by
the Zoroastrians.
Ahum, the first three principles of septenary human
constitution; the gross living body of man according to the
Avesta.
A'kasa, the subtle supersensuous matter which pervades all
space.
Amulam Mulam (lit. "the rootless root"); Prakriti;
the
material of the universe.
Anahatachakram, the heart, the seat of life.
A'nanda, bliss.
A'nanda-maya-kosha, the blissful;
the fifth sheath of the
soul in the Vedantic system; the sixth principle.
Anastasis, the continued existence of the soul.
Anima Mundi, the soul of the world.
Annamaya Kosha, the gross body;
the first sheath of the
divine monad (Vedantic).
Antahkarana, the internal instrument, the soul, formed by
the thinking principle and egoism.
Anumiti, inference.
Aparoksha, direct perception.
Apavarya, emancipation from repeated births.
Apporrheta, secret discourses in Egyptian and Grecian
mysteries.
Arahats (lit."the worthy ones"), the initiated holy men of
the Buddhist and Jain faiths.
Aranyakas, holy sages dwelling in forests.
Ardhanariswara, (lit. "the bisexual Lord"); the unpolarized
state of cosmic energy; the bi-sexual Sephira, Adam Kadmon.
Arka, sun.
Aryavarta, the ancient name of Northern India where the
Brahmanical invaders first settled.
A'sana, the third stage of Hatha Yoga;
the posture for
meditation.
Asat, the unreal, Prakriti.
A'shab and Laughan, ceremonies for casting out evil spirits,
so called among the Kolarian tribes.
Ashta Siddhis, the eight consummations of Hatha Yoga.
Asoka (King), a celebrated conqueror, monarch of a large
portion of India, who is called
"the Constantine of Buddhism,"
temp. circa 250 B.C.
Astral Light, subtle form of existence forming the basis of
our material universe.
Asuramaya, an Atlantean astronomer, well known in Sanskrit
writings.
Asuras, a class of elementals considered maleficent;
demons.
Aswini, the divine charioteers mystically they correspond to
Hermes, who is looked upon as his
equal. They represent the
internal organ by which knowledge is
conveyed from the soul to
the body.
Atharva Veda, one of the four most ancient and revered books
of the ancient Brahmans.
Atlantis, the continent that was submerged in the Southern
and Pacific Oceans.
Atmabodha (lit. "self-knowledge"), the title of a Vedantic
treatise by Sankaracharya.
Atman, &c Atma.
A'tma, the spirit; the divine
monad; the seventh principle
of the septenary human constitution.
A'ttavada, the sin of personality (Pali).
Aum, the sacred syllable in Sanskrit representing the
Trinity
Avalokitesvara, manifested wisdom, or the Divine Spirit in
man.
Avasthas, states, conditions, positions.
Avatar, the incarnation of an exalted being, so called among
the Hindus.
Avesta, the sacred books of the Zoroastrians.
Avyakta, the unrevealed cause.
Baddha, bound or conditioned; the
state of an ordinary
human being who has not attained
Nirvana.
Bahihpragna, the present state of consciousness.
Baodhas, consciousness; the fifth
principle of man.
Barhaspatyamanam, a method of calculating time prevalent
during the later Hindu period in
North-eastern India.
Bhadrasena, a Buddhist king of Magadha.
Bhagats (or called Sokha and Sivnath by the Hindus), one who
exorcises an evil spirit.
Bhagavad Gita (lit, the "Lord's Song"), an episode of the
Maha-Bharata, the great epic poem of
India. It contains a
dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna
on Spiritual Philosophy.
Bhao, ceremony of divination among the Kolarian tribes of
Central India.
Bhashya, commentary.
Bhon, religion of the aborigines of Tibet.
Bikshu, a religious mendicant and ascetic who suppresses all
desire and is constantly occupied in
devotion; a Buddhist monk.
Boddhisatwas, Egos evolving towards Buddhahood.
Brahma, the Hindu Deity which personifies the active cosmic
energy.
Brahmachari, a Bushman ascetic.
Brahmagnani, one possessed of complete illumination.
Brahman, the highest caste in India;
Brahman, the absolute
of the Vedantins.
Brahmana period, one of the four periods into which the
Vedic literature has been divided.
Brihadranyaka Upanishad, one of the sacred books of the
Brahmins; an Aranyaka is a treatise appended to the
Vedas, and
considered the subject of special
study by those who have retired
to the forest for purposes of
religious meditation.
Buddha, the founder of Buddhism;
he was a royal prince, by
name Siddhartha, son of Suddhodhana,
king of the Sakyas, an Aryan
tribe.
Buddhi, the spiritual Ego.
Buru Bonga, spirit of the hills worshiped by the Kolarian
tribes of Central India.
Canarese, one of the Dravidian tongues, spoken in Southern
India.
Chandragupta, one of the kings of Magadha, an ancient
province of India.
Chandramanam, the method of calculating time by the
movements of the moon.
Charaka, the most celebrated writer on medicine among the
Hindus.
Chaturdasa Bhuvanam, the fourteen lokas or states.
Chela, a pupil of an adept in occultism;
a disciple.
Chichakti, the power which generates thought.
Chidagnikundum (lit. "the fireplace in the heart"), the seat
of the force which extinguishes all
individual desires.
Chidakasam, the field of consciousness.
Chinmatra, the germ of consciousness, abstract
consciousness.
Chit, the abstract consciousness.
Chitta suddhi (Chitta, mind, and Suddi, purification),
purification of the mind.
Chutuktu, the five chief Lamas of Tibet.
Daemon, the incorruptible part of man;
nous; rational
soul.
Daenam (lit.
"knowledge"), the fourth principle in man,
according to the Avesta.
Daimonlouphote, spiritual illumination.
Daityas, demons, Titans.
Dama, restraint of the senses.
Darasta, ceremonial magic practised among the Kolarian
tribes of Central India.
Darha, ancestral spirits of the Kolarian tribes of Central
India.
Deona or Mati, one who exercises evil spirits (Kolarian).
Deva, God; beings of the
subjective side of Nature.
Devachan, a blissful condition in the after-life; heavenly
existence.
Devanagari, the current Sanskrit alphabet.
Dharmasoka, one of the kings of Magadha.
Dhatu, the seven principal substances of the human body
--chyle, flesh, blood, fat, bones,
marrow, semen.
Dhyan, contemplation. There are
six stages of Dhyan,
varying in the degrees of abstraction
of the Ego from sensuous
life.
Dhyan Chohans, Devas or Gods planetary spirits.
Dik, space.
Diksha, initiation.
Dosha, fault.
Dravidians, a group of tribes inhabiting Southern India.
Dravya, substance.
Dugpas, the "Red Caps," evil magicians, belonging to the
left-hand path of occultism, so
called in Tibet.
Dukkhu, pain.
Dwija Brahman, twice born; the
investiture with the sacred
thread constitutes the second birth.
Elementals, generic name for all subjective beings other
than disembodied human creatures.
Epopta, Greek for seer.
Fakir, a Mahomedan recluse or Yogi.
Fan, Bar-nang, space, eternal law.
Fohat, Tibetan for Sakti; cosmic
force or energizing power
of the universe.
Fravashem, absolute spirit.
Gaudapada, a celebrated Brahmanical teacher, the author of
commentaries on the Sankhya Karika,
Mundukya Upanishad, &c.
Gayatri, the holiest verse of the Vedas.
Gehs, Parsi prayers.
Gelugpas, "Yellow Caps," the true Magi and their school, so
called in Tibet.
Gnansaki, the power of true knowledge, one of the six
forces.
Gujarathi, the vernacular dialect of Gujrat, a province of
Western India.
Gunas, qualities, properties.
Gunava, endowed with qualities.
Guru, spiritual preceptor.
Ha, a magic syllable used in sacred formula; represents the
power of Akasa Sakti.
Hangsa, a mystic syllable standing for evolution, it
literally means "I am he."
Hatha Yog, a system of physical training to obtain psychic
powers, the chief feature of this
system being the regulation of
breath.
Hierophants, the High Priests.
Hina-yana, lowest form of transmigration of the Buddhist.
Hiong-Thsang, the celebrated chinese traveler whose writings
contain the most interesting account
of India of the period.
Hwun, spirit; the seventh
principle in man (Chinese).
Ikhir Bongo, spirit of the deep of the Kolarian tribes.
Indriya, or Deha Sanyama, control over the senses.
"Isis" ("Isis Unveiled"), book written by Madame
Blavatsky
on the Esoteric Doctrine.
Iswara, Personal God, Lord, the Spirit in man, the Divine
principle in its active nature or
condition, one of the four
states of Brahma.
Itchasakti, will power; force of
desire; one of the six
forces of Nature.
Itchcha, will.
Ivabhavat, the one substance.
Jagrata, waking.
Jagrata Avasta, the waking state;
one of the four aspects
of Pranava.
Jains, a religious sect in India closely related to the
Buddhists.
Jambudvipa, one of the main divisions of the world,
including India, according to the
ancient Brahminical system.
Janaka, King of Videha, a
celebrated character in the Indian
epic of Ramayana. He was a great royal sage.
Janwas, gross form of matter.
Japa, mystical practice of the Yogi, consisting of the
repetition of certain formula.
Jevishis, will; Karma Rupa; fourth principle.
Jiva or Karana Sarira, the second principle of man; life.
Jivatma, the human spirit, seventh principle in the
Microcosm.
Jnanam, knowledge.
Jnanendrayas, the five channels of knowledge.
Jyotisham Jyotih, the light of lights, the supreme spirit,
so called in the Upanishads.
Kabala, ancient mystical Jewish books.
Kaliyuga, the last of the four ages in which the
evolutionary period of man is
divided. It began 3,000 years B.C.
Kalpa, the period of cosmic activity;
a day of Brahma,
4,320 million years.
Kama Loka, abode of desire, the first condition through
which a human entity passes in its
passage, after death, to
Devachan. It corresponds to purgatory.
Kama, lust, desire, volition; the
Hindu Cupid.
Kamarupa, the principle of desire in man; the fourth
principle.
Kapila, the founder of one of the six principal systems of
Indian philosophy--viz., the Sankhya.
Karans, great festival of the Kolarian tribes in honour of
the sun spirit.
Karana Sarira, the causal body;
Avidya; ignorance; that
which is the cause of the evolution
of a human ego.
Karma, the law of ethical causation;
the effect of an act
for the attainment of an object of personal
desire, merit and
demerit.
Karman, action; attributes of
Linga Sarira.
Kartika, the Indian god of war, son or Siva and Parvati; he
is also the personification of the
power of the Logos.
Kasi, another name for the sacred city of Benares.
Keherpas, aerial form; third
principle.
Khanda period, a period of Vedic literature.
Khi (lit, breath); the spiritual
ego; the sixth principle
in man (Chinese).
Kiratarjuniya of Bkaravi, a Sanskrit epic, celebrating the
encounters of Arjuna, one of this
heroes of the Maha-bharata with
the god Siva, disguised as a
forester.
Kols, one of the tribes in Central India.
Kriyasakti, the power of thought;
one of the six forces in
Nature.
Kshatriya, the second of the four castes into which the
Hindu nation was originally divided.
Kshetrajnesvara, embodied spirit, the conscious ego in its
highest manifestation.
Kshetram, the great abyss of the Kabbala; chaos;
Yoni,
Prakriti; space.
Kumbhaka, retention of breath, regulated according to the
system of Hatha Yoga.
Kundalinisakti, the power of life;
one of the six forces of
Nature.
Kwer Shans, Chinese for third principle;
the astral body.
Lama-gylongs, pupils of Lamas.
Lao-teze, a Chinese reformer.
Macrocosm, universe.
Magi, fire worshippers; the great
magicians or wisdom-
philosophers of old.
Maha-Bharata, the celebrated Indian epic poem.
Mahabhashya, a commentary on the Grammar of Panini by
Patanjali.
Mahabhautic, belonging to the macrocosmic principles.
Mahabhutas, gross elementary principles.
Mahaparinibbana Sutta, one of the most authoritative of the
Buddhist sacred writings.
Maha Sunyata, space or eternal law;
the great emptiness.
Mahat, Buddhi; the first product
of root-nature and
producer of Ahankara (egotism), and
manas (thinking principle).
Mahatma, a great soul; an adept
in occultism of the highest
order.
Mahavanso, a Buddhist historical work written by the Bhikshu
Mohanama, the uncle of King Dhatusma.
Maha-Yug, the aggregate of four Yugas, or ages--4,320,000
years--in the Brahmanical system.
Manas, the mind, the thinking principle;
the fifth
principle in the septenary division.
Manas Sanyama, perfect concentration of the mind; control
over the mind.
Manomaya Kosha, third sheath of the divine monad, Vedantic
equivalent for fourth and fifth
principles.
Mantra period, one of the four periods into which Vedic
literature has been divided.
Mantra Sastra, Brahmanical writings on the occult science of
incantations.
Mantra Tantra Shastras, works on incantation and Magic.
Manu, the great Indian legislator.
Manvantara, the outbreathing of the creative principle; the
period of cosmic activity between two
pralayas.
Maruts, the wind gods.
Mathadhipatis, heads of different religious institutions in
India.
Matras, the quantity of a Sanskrit syllable.
Matrikasakti, the power of speech, one of six forces in
Nature.
Matsya Puranas, one of the Puranas.
Maya, illusion, is the cosmic power which renders phenomenal
existence possible.
Mayavic Upadhi, the covering of illusion, phenomenal
appearance.
Mayavirupa, the "double;"
"doppelganger;"
"perisprit."
Mazdiasnian, Zoroastrian (lit. "worshiping God").
Microcosm, man.
Mobeds, Zoroastrian priests.
Monad, the spiritual soul, that which endures through all
changes of objective existence.
Moneghar, the headman of a village.
Morya, one of time royal houses of Magadha; also the name
of a Rajpoot tribe.
Mukta, liberated; released from
conditional existence.
Mukti. See Mukta.
Mula-prakriti, undifferentiated cosmic matter; the
unmanifested cause and substance of
all being.
Mumukshatwa, desire for liberation.
Nabhichakram, the seat of the principle of desire, near the
umbilicus.
Najo, witch.
Nanda (King), one of the kings of Magadha.
Narayana, in mystic symbology it stands for the life
principle.
Nava nidhi, the nine jewels, or consummation of spiritual
development.
Neophyte, a candidate for initiation into the mysteries of
adeptship.
Nephesh, one of the three souls, according to the Kabala;
first three principles in the human
septenary.
Neschamah, one of the three souls, according to the Kabala;
seventh principle in the human
septenary.
Nirguna, unbound; without gunas
or attributes; the soul in
its state of essential purity is so
called.
Nirvana, beautitude, abstract spiritual existence,
absorption into all.
Niyashes, Parsi prayers.
Noumena, the true essential nature of being, as
distinguished from the illusive
objects of sense.
Nous, spirit, mind; Platonic term,
reason.
Nyaya Philosophy, a system of Hindu logic founded by
Gautuma.
Occultism, the study of the mysteries of Nature and the
development of the psychic powers
latent in man.
Okhema, vehicle; Platonic term
for body.
Padarthas, predicates of existing things, so called in the
"Vaiseshikha," or atomic
system of philosophy, founded by Kanad
(Sanskrit).
Padma sana, a posture practised by some Indian mystics it
consists in sitting with the legs
crossed one over the other and
the body straight.
Pahans, village priests.
Panchakosha, the five sheaths in which is enclosed the
divine monad.
Panchikrita, developed into the five gross elements.
Parabrahm, the supreme principle in Nature; the universal
spirit.
Paramarthika, one of the three states of existence according
to Vedanta; the true, the only real one.
Paramatma, time Supreme Spirit, one of the six forces of
Nature; the great force.
Parasakti, intellectual apprehension of a truth.
Pataliputra, the ancient
capital of the kingdom Magadha, in
Eastern India, a city identified with
the modern Patna.
Patanjali, the author of "Yoga Philosophy," one of the six
orthodox systems of India and of the
Mahabhashya.
Peling, the name given to Europeans in Tibet.
Phala, retribution; fruit or
results of causes.
Pho, animal soul.
Pisacham, fading remnants of human beings in the state of
Kama Loka; shells or elementaries.
Piyadasi, another name for Asoka (q.v.)
Plaster or Plantal, Platonic term
for the power which
moulds the substances of the universe
into suitable forms.
Popol-Vuh, the sacred book of the Guatemalans.
Poseidonis, the last island submerged of the continent of
Atlantis.
Pracheta, the principle of water.
Pragna, consciousness.
Prajapatis, the constructors of the material universe.
Prakriti, undifferentiated matter;
the supreme principle
regarded as the substance of the
universe.
Pralaya, the period of cosmic rest.
Prameyas, things to be proved, objects of Pramana or proof.
Prana, the one life.
Pranamaya Kosha, the principle of life and its vehicle; the
second sheath of the Divine monad
(Vedantic).
Pranatman, the eternal or germ thread on which are strung,
like beads, the personal lives. The same as Sutratma.
Pratibhasika, the apparent or illusory life.
Pratyaksha, perception.
Pretya-bhava, the state of an ego under the necessity of
repeated births.
Punarjanmam, power of evolving objective manifestation;
rebirth.
Puraka, in-breathing, regulated according to the system of
Hatha Yoga.
Puranas (lit. "old writings").
A collection of symbolical
Brahmanical writings. They are eighteen in number, and are
supposed to have been composed by
Vyasa, the author of the
Mahabharata.
Purusha, spirit.
Rajas, the quality of foulness;
passionate activity.
Rajarshi, a king-adept.
Raj Yoga, the true science of the development of psychic
powers and union with the Supreme
Spirit.
Rakshasas, evil spirits;
literally, raw-eaters.
Ramayana, an epic poem describing the life of Rama, a
deified Indian hero.
Ram Mohun Roy, the well-known Indian Reformer, died 1833.
Rechaka, out-breathing, regulated according to the system of
Hatha Yoga.
Rig Veda, the first of the Vedas.
Rishabham, the Zodiacal sign Taurus, the sacred syllable
Aum.
Rishis (lit. "revealers"), holy sages.
Ruach, one of the souls, according to the Kabala; second
three principles in the human
septenary.
Sabda, the Logos or Word.
Saketa, the capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of
Ayodhya.
Sukshma sariram, the subtile body.
Sakti, the crown of the astral light;
the power of Nature.
Sakuntala, a Sanskrit drama by Kalidasa.
Samadhana, incapacity to diverge from the path of spiritual
progress.
Sama, repression of mental perturbations.
Samadhi, state of ecstatic trance.
Samanya, community or commingling of qualities.
Samma-Sambuddha, perfect illumination.
Samvat, an Indian era which, is usually supposed to have
commenced 57 B.C.
Sankaracharya, the great expositor of the monistic Vedanta
Philosophy, which denies the
personality of the Divine Principle,
and affirms its unity with the spirit
of man.
Sankhya Karika, a treatise containing the aphorisms of
Kapila, the founder of the Sankhya
system, one of the six schools
of Hindu philosophy.
Sankhya Yog, the system of Yog as set forth by Sankhya
philosophers.
Sannyasi, a Hindu, ascetic whose mind is steadfastly fixed
upon the Supreme Truth.
Sarira, body.
Sat, the real, Purusha.
Sattwa, purity.
Satva, goodness.
Satya Loka, the abode of Truth, one of the subjective
spheres in our solar system.
Shamanism, spirit worship; the
oldest religion of Mongolia.
Siddhasana, one of the postures enjoined by the system of
Hatha Yoga.
Siddhi, abnormal power obtained by spiritual development.
Sing Bonga, sun spirit of the Kolarian tribes.
Siva, one of the Hindu gods, with Brahma and Vishnu, forming
the Trimurti or Trinity; the principle of destruction.
Sivite, a worshipper of Siva, the name of a sect among the
Hindus.
Skandhas, the impermanent elements which constitute a man.
Slokas, stanzas (Sanskrit).
Smriti, legal and ceremonial writings of the Hindus.
Soham, mystic syllable representing involution; lit. "that
am I."
Soonium, a magical ceremony for the purpose of removing a
sickness from one person to another.
Soorya, the sun.
Souramanam, a method of calculating time.
Space, Akasa; Swabhavat (q.v.)
Sraddha, faith.
Sravana, receptivity, listening.
Sthula-Sariram, the gross physical body.
Sukshmopadhi, fourth and fifth
principles (Raja Yoga.)
Sunyata, space; nothingness.
Suras, elementals of a beneficent order;
gods.
Surpa, winnower.
Suryasiddhanta, a Sanskrit treatise on astronomy.
Sushupti Avastha, deep sleep; one
of the four aspects of
Pranava.
Sutra period, one of the periods into which Vedic literature
has been divided.
Sutratman, (lit. "the thread spirit,") the immortal
individuality upon which are strung
our countless personalities.
Svabhavat, Akasa; undifferentiated primary matter;
Prakriti.
Svapna, dreamy condition, clairvoyance.
Swami (lit. "a master"), the family idol.
Swapna Avastha, dreaming state;
one of the four aspects of
Pranava.
Tama, indifference, dullness.
Tamas, ignorance, or darkness.
Tanha, thirst; desire for life,
that which produces re-birth.
Tanmatras, the subtile elements, the abstract counterpart of
the five elements, earth, water,
fire, air and ether, consisting
of smell, taste, feeling, sight and
sound.
Tantras, works on Magic.
Tantrika, ceremonies connected with the worship of the
goddess Sakti, who typifies Force.
Taraka Yog, one of the Brahmanical systems for the
development of psychic powers and
attainment of spiritual
knowledge.
Tatwa, eternally existing "that;" the different principles
in Nature.
Tatwams, the abstract principles of existence or categories,
physical and metaphysical.
Telugu, a language spoken in Southern India.
Tesshu Lama, the head of the Tibetan Church.
The Laws of Upasanas, chapter in the Book iv. of Kui-te on
the rules for aspirants for
chelaship.
Theodidaktos (lit. "God taught "), a school of philosophers
in Egypt.
Theosophy, the Wisdom-Religion taught in all ages by the
sages of the world.
Tikkun, Adam Kadmon, the ray from the Great Centre.
Titiksha, renunciation.
Toda, a mysterious tribe in India that practise black magic.
Tridandi, (tri, "three," danda, "chastisement"),
name of
BrahmanicaI thread.
Trimurti, the Indian Trinity--Brahma, Vishnu and Siva,
Creator, Preserver and Destroyer.
Turiya Avastha, the state of Nirvana.
Tzong-ka-pa, celebrated Buddhist reformer of Tibet, who
instituted the order of Gelugpa
Lamas.
Universal Monas, the universal spirit.
Upadana Karnam, the material cause of an effect.
Upadhis, bases.
Upamiti, analogy.
Upanayana, investiture with the Brahmanical thread.
Upanishads, Brahmanical Scriptures appended to the Vedas,
containing the esoteric doctrine of
the Brahmans.
Upanita, one who is invested with the Brahmanical thread
(lit. "brought to a spiritual
teacher").
Uparati, absence of out-going desires.
Urvanem, spiritual ego; sixth
principle.
Ushtanas, vital force; second
principle.
Vach, speech; the Logos; the mystic Word.
Vaishyas, cattle breeders
artisans; the third caste among
the Hindus.
Vakya Sanyama, control over speech.
Varuna or Pracheta, the Neptune of India.
Vasishta, a great Indian sage, one of those to whom the Rig
Veda was revealed in part.
Vata, air.
Vayu, the wind.
Vayu Puranas, one of the Puranas.
Vedantists, followers of the Vedanta School of Philosophy,
which is divided into two branches,
monists and dualists.
Vedas, the most authoritative of the Hindu Scriptures. The
four oldest sacred books--Rig, Yajur,
Sama and Atharva--revealed
to the Rishis by Brahma.
Vedic, pertaining to the Vedas.
Vidya, secret knowledge.
Vija, the primitive germ which expands into the universe.
Vijnana-maya-kosha, the sheath of knowledge; the fourth
sheath of the divine monad; the fifth principle in man
(Vedanta).
Viraj, the material universe.
Vishnu, the second member of the Hindu trinity; the
principle of preservation.
Vishnuite or Vishuvite, a worshiper of Vishnu, the name of a
sect among the Hindus.
Vrishalas, Outcasts.
Vyasa, the celebrated Rishi,
who collected and arranged the
Vedas in their present form.
Vyavaharika, objective existence;
practical.
Yajna Sutra, the name of the Brahmanical thread.
Yama, law, the god of death.
Yashts, the Parsi prayer-books.
Yasna, religious book of the Parsis.
Yasodhara, the wife of Buddha.
Yavanacharya, the name given to Pythagoras in the Indian
books.
Yavanas, the generic name given by the Brahmanas to younger
peoples.
Yoga Sutras, a treatise on Yoga philosophy by Patanjali.
Yog Vidya, the science of Yoga;
the practical method of
uniting one's own spirit with the
universal spirit.
Yogis, mystics, who develop themselves according to the
system of Patanjali's "Yoga
Philosophy."
Yudhishthira, the eldest of the five brothers, called
Pandavas, whose exploits are
celebrated in the great Sanskrit
epic "Mahabharata."
Zend, the sacred language of ancient Persia.
Zhing, subtle matter; Kama Rupa,
or fourth principle
(Chinese).
Zoroaster, the prophet of the Parsis.
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