|
FIVE YEARS OF THEOSOPHY
Mystical, Philosophical, Theosophical, Historical and Scientific Essays
Selected from "The Theosophist"
Edited by George Robert Snow 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 importan |
