{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_17009/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_17009","id":"gutenberg_17009","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17009","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Occultism","Racism","Theosophy"],"text":"Produced by Stacy Brown Thellend, Suzanne Shell and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTUDIES\nIN\nOCCULTISM\n\nby\n\nH.P. BLAVATSKY\n\n\n\n\nSTUDIES IN OCCULTISM\n\n\nA Series of Reprints from the Writings\n\nof\n\nH.P. BLAVATSKY\n\nNO. 1\n\n\nPRACTICAL OCCULTISM\n\nOCCULTISM VERSUS THE OCCULT ARTS\n\nTHE BLESSINGS OF PUBLICITY\n\nPOINT LOMA EDITION\n\n\nThe Aryan Theosophical Press\nPoint Loma, California\n1910\n\n\n\nSee Book List at the end of this volume for the other numbers of this\nSeries and also for other Theosophical literature.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                      PAGE\n\nPractical Occultism                      1\n  From _Lucifer_, April, 1888\n\nOccultism versus the Occult Arts        17\n  From _Lucifer_, May, 1888\n\nThe Blessings of Publicity              42\n  From _Lucifer_, August, 1891\n\n\n\n\nOccultism is not magic, though magic is one of its tools.\n\nOccultism is not the acquirement of powers, whether psychic or\nintellectual, though both are its servants. Neither is occultism the\npursuit of happiness, as men understand the word; for the first step is\nsacrifice, the second, renunciation.\n\nOccultism is the science of life, the art of living.--_Lucifer_, Vol. I,\np. 7.\n\n\n\n\nPRACTICAL OCCULTISM\n\nIMPORTANT TO STUDENTS\n\n\nAs some of the letters in the Correspondence of this month show, there\nare many people who are looking for practical instruction in Occultism.\nIt becomes necessary, therefore, to state once for all:--\n\n(_a_) The essential difference between theoretical and practical\nOccultism; or what is generally known as Theosophy on the one hand, and\nOccult science on the other, and:--\n\n(_b_) The nature of the difficulties involved in the study of the latter.\n\nIt is easy to become a Theosophist. Any person of average intellectual\ncapacities, and a leaning toward the metaphysical; of pure, unselfish\nlife, who finds more joy in helping his neighbor than in receiving help\nhimself; one who is ever ready to sacrifice his own pleasures for the\nsake of other people; and who loves Truth, Goodness, and Wisdom for\ntheir own sake, not for the benefit they may confer--is a Theosophist.\n\nBut it is quite another matter to put oneself upon the path which leads\nto the knowledge of what is good to do, as to the right discrimination\nof good from evil; a path which also leads a man to that power through\nwhich he can do the good he desires, often without even apparently\nlifting a finger.\n\nMoreover, there is one important fact with which the student should be\nmade acquainted. Namely, the enormous, almost limitless responsibility\nassumed by the teacher for the sake of the pupil. From the Gurus of the\nEast who teach openly or secretly, down to the few Kabalists in Western\nlands who undertake to teach the rudiments of the Sacred Science to\ntheir disciples--those western Hierophants being often themselves\nignorant of the danger they incur--one and all of these \"Teachers\" are\nsubject to the same inviolable law. From the moment they begin _really_\nto teach, from the instant they confer _any_ power--whether psychic,\nmental, or physical--on their pupils, they take upon themselves _all_\nthe sins of that pupil, in connexion with the Occult Sciences, whether\nof omission or commission, until the moment when initiation makes the\npupil a Master and responsible in his turn. There is a weird and mystic\nreligious law, greatly reverenced and acted upon in the Greek,\nhalf-forgotten in the Roman Catholic, and absolutely extinct in the\nProtestant Church. It dates from the earliest days of Christianity and\nhas its basis in the law just stated, of which it was a symbol and an\nexpression. This is the dogma of the absolute sacredness of the relation\nbetween the god-parents who stand sponsors for a child.[A]\n\nThese tacitly take upon themselves all the sins of the newly baptized\nchild--(anointed, as at the initiation, a mystery truly!)--until the day\nwhen the child becomes a responsible unit, knowing good and evil. Thus\nit is clear why the \"Teachers\" are so reticent, and why \"Chelas\" are\nrequired to serve a seven years probation to prove their fitness, and\ndevelop the qualities necessary to the security of both Master and\npupil.\n\nOccultism is not magic. It is _comparatively_ easy to learn the trick of\nspells and the methods of using the subtler, but still material, forces\nof physical nature; the powers of the animal soul in man are soon\nawakened; the forces which his love, his hate, his passion, can call\ninto operation, are readily developed. But this is Black\nMagic--_Sorcery_. For it is the motive, _and the motive alone_, which\nmakes any exercise of power become black, malignant, or white,\nbeneficent Magic. It is impossible to employ _spiritual_ forces if there\nis the slightest tinge of selfishness remaining in the operator. For,\nunless the intention is entirely unalloyed, the spiritual will\ntransform itself into the psychic, act on the astral plane, and dire\nresults may be produced by it. The powers and forces of animal nature\ncan equally be used by the selfish and revengeful, as by the unselfish\nand the all-forgiving; the powers and forces of spirit lend themselves\nonly to the perfectly pure in heart--and this is Divine Magic.\n\nWhat are then the conditions required to become a student of the \"Divina\nSapientia\"? For let it be known that no such instruction can possibly be\ngiven unless these certain conditions are complied with, and rigorously\ncarried out during the years of study. This is a _sine qua non_. No man\ncan swim unless he enters deep water. No bird can fly unless its wings\nare grown, and it has space before it and courage to trust itself to the\nair. A man who will wield a two-edged sword, must be a thorough master\nof the blunt weapon, if he would not injure himself--or what is\nworse--others, at the first attempt.\n\nTo give an approximate idea of the conditions under which alone the\nstudy of Divine Wisdom can be pursued with safety, that is without\ndanger that Divine will give place to Black Magic, a page is given from\nthe \"private rules,\" with which every instructor in the East is\nfurnished. The few passages which follow are chosen from a great number\nand explained in brackets.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n1. The place selected for receiving instruction must be a spot\ncalculated not to distract the mind, and filled with\n\"influence-evolving\" (magnetic) objects. The five sacred colors gathered\nin a circle must be there among other things. The place must be free\nfrom any malignant influences hanging about in the air.\n\n     [The place must be set apart, and used for no other purpose. The\n     five \"sacred colors\" are the prismatic hues arranged in a certain\n     way, as these colors are very magnetic. By \"malignant influences\"\n     are meant any disturbances through strifes, quarrels, bad feelings,\n     etc., as these are said to impress themselves immediately on the\n     astral light, i.e., in the atmosphere of the place, and to hang\n     \"about in the air.\" This first condition seems easy enough to\n     accomplish, yet--on further consideration, it is one of the most\n     difficult ones to obtain.]\n\n2. Before the disciple shall be permitted to study \"face to face,\" he\nhas to acquire preliminary understanding in a select company of other\nlay _upasakas_ (disciples), the number of whom must be odd.\n\n     [\"Face to face\" means in this instance a study independent or apart\n     from others, when the disciple gets his instruction _face to face_\n     either with himself (his higher, Divine Self) or--his guru. It is\n     then only that each receives _his due_ of information, according to\n     the use he has made of his knowledge. This can happen only toward\n     the end of the cycle of instruction.]\n\n3. Before thou (the teacher) shalt impart to thy Lanoo (disciple) the\ngood (holy) words of Lamrin, or shalt permit him \"to make\nready\" for _Dubjed_, thou shalt take care that his mind is thoroughly\npurified and at peace with all, especially _with his other Selves_.\nOtherwise the words of Wisdom and of the good Law, shall scatter and be\npicked up by the winds.\n\n     [\"Lamrin\" is a work of practical instructions, by Tson-kha-pa, in\n     two portions, one for ecclesiastical and exoteric purposes, the\n     other for esoteric use. \"To make ready\" for _Dubjed_, is to prepare\n     the vessels used for seership, such as mirrors and crystals. The\n     \"other selves,\" refers to the fellow students. Unless the greatest\n     harmony reigns among the learners, _no_ success is possible. It is\n     the teacher who makes the selections according to the magnetic and\n     electric natures of the students, bringing together and adjusting\n     most carefully the positive and the negative elements.]\n\n4. The _upasakas_ while studying must take care to be united as the\nfingers on one hand. Thou shalt impress upon their minds that whatever\nhurts one should hurt the others, and if the rejoicing of one finds no\necho in the breasts of the others, then the required conditions are\nabsent, and it is useless to proceed.\n\n     [This can hardly happen if the preliminary choice made was\n     consistent with the magnetic requirements. It is known that Chelas\n     otherwise promising and fit for the reception of truth, had to\n     wait for years on account of their temper and the impossibility\n     they felt to put themselves _in tune_ with their companions. For--]\n\n5. The co-disciples must be tuned by the guru as the strings of a lute\n(_vina_) each different from the others, yet each emitting sounds in\nharmony with all. Collectively they must form a key-board answering in\nall its parts to thy lightest touch (the touch of the Master). Thus\ntheir minds shall open for the harmonies of Wisdom, to vibrate as\nknowledge through each and all, resulting in effects pleasing to the\npresiding gods (tutelary or patron-angels) and useful to the Lanoo. So\nshall Wisdom be impressed forever on their hearts and the harmony of the\nlaw shall never be broken.\n\n6. Those who desire to acquire the knowledge leading to the _Siddhis_\n(occult powers) have to renounce all the vanities of life and of the\nworld (here follows enumeration of the Siddhis).\n\n7. None can feel the difference between himself and his\nfellow-students, such as \"I am the wisest,\" \"I am more holy and pleasing\nto the teacher, or in my community, than my brother,\" etc.,--and remain\nan upasaka. His thoughts must be predominantly fixed upon his heart,\nchasing therefrom every hostile thought to any living being. It (the\nheart) must be full of the feeling of its non-separateness from the rest\nof beings as from all in Nature; otherwise no success can follow.\n\n8. A _Lanoo_ (disciple) has to dread external living influence alone\n(magnetic emanations from living creatures). For this reason while at\none with all, in his _inner nature_, he must take care to separate his\nouter (external) body from every foreign influence: none must drink out\nof, or eat in his cup but himself. He must avoid bodily contact (i.e.,\nbeing touched or touch) with human, as with animal being.\n\n     [No pet animals are permitted, and it is forbidden even to touch\n     certain trees and plants. A disciple has to live, so to say, in his\n     own atmosphere in order to individualize it for occult purposes.]\n\n9. The mind must remain blunt to all but the universal truths in\nnature, lest the \"Doctrine of the Heart\" should become only the\n\"Doctrine of the Eye,\" (i.e., empty exoteric ritualism).\n\n10. No animal food of whatever kind, nothing that has life in it should\nbe taken by the disciple. No wine, no spirits, or opium should be used;\nfor these are like the _Lhama-yin_ (evil spirits), who fasten upon the\nunwary, they devour the understanding.\n\n     [Wine and spirits are supposed to contain and preserve the bad\n     magnetism of all the men who helped in their fabrication; the meat\n     of each animal, to preserve the psychic characteristics of its\n     kind.]\n\n11. Meditation, abstinence in all, the observation of moral duties,\ngentle thoughts, good deeds and kind words, as good will to all and\nentire oblivion of Self, are the most efficacious means of obtaining\nknowledge and preparing for the reception of higher wisdom.\n\n12. It is only by virtue of a strict observance of the foregoing rules\nthat a Lanoo can hope to acquire in good time the Siddhis of the\nArhats, the growth which makes him become gradually One with the\nUniversal ALL.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThese 12 extracts are taken from among some 73 rules, to enumerate which\nwould be useless as they would be meaningless in Europe. But even these\nfew are enough to show the immensity of the difficulties which beset the\npath of the would-be \"Upasaka,\" who has been born and bred in Western\nlands.[B]\n\nAll western, and especially English, education is instinct with the\nprinciple of emulation and strife; each boy is urged to learn more\nquickly, to outstrip his companions, and to surpass them in every\npossible way. What is mis-called \"friendly rivalry\" is assiduously\ncultivated, and the same spirit is fostered and strengthened in every\ndetail of life.\n\nWith such ideas \"educated into\" him from his childhood, how can a\nWestern bring himself to feel towards his co-students \"as the fingers on\none hand\"? Those co-students, too, are not of his _own selection_, or\nchosen by himself from personal sympathy and appreciation. They are\nchosen by his teacher on far other grounds, and he who would be a\nstudent must _first_ be strong enough to kill out in his heart all\nfeelings of dislike and antipathy to others. How many Westerns are ready\neven to attempt this in earnest?\n\nAnd then the details of daily life, the command not to touch even the\nhand of one's nearest and dearest. How contrary to Western notions of\naffection and good feeling! How cold and hard it seems. Egotistical too,\npeople would say, to abstain from giving pleasure to others for the sake\nof one's own development. Well, let those who think so defer till\nanother lifetime the attempt to enter the path in real earnest. But let\nthem not glory in their own fancied unselfishness. For, in reality, it\nis only the seeming appearances which they allow to deceive them, the\nconventional notions, based on emotionalism and gush, or so-called\ncourtesy, things of the unreal life, not the dictates of Truth.\n\nBut even putting aside these difficulties, which may be considered\n\"external,\" though their importance is none the less great, how are\nstudents in the West to \"attune themselves\" to harmony as here required\nof them? So strong has personality grown in Europe and America, that\nthere is no school of artists even whose members do not hate and are not\njealous of each other. \"Professional\" hatred and envy have become\nproverbial; men seek each to benefit himself at all costs, and even the\nso-called courtesies of life are but a hollow mask covering these demons\nof hatred and jealousy.\n\nIn the East the spirit of \"non-separateness\" is inculcated as steadily\nfrom childhood up, as in the West the spirit of rivalry. Personal\nambition, personal feelings and desires, are not encouraged to grow so\nrampant there. When the soil is naturally good, it is cultivated in the\nright way, and the child grows into a man in whom the habit of\nsubordination of one's lower to one's higher Self is strong and\npowerful. In the West men think that their own likes and dislikes of\nother men and things are guiding principles for them to act upon, even\nwhen they do not make of them the law of their lives and seek to impose\nthem upon others.\n\nLet those who complain that they have learned little in the Theosophical\nSociety lay to heart the words written in an article in the _Path_ for\nlast February:--\"The key in each degree is the _aspirant himself_.\" It\nis not \"the fear of God\" which is \"the beginning of Wisdom,\" but the\nknowledge of SELF which is WISDOM ITSELF.\n\nHow grand and true appears, thus, to the student of Occultism who has\ncommenced to realize some of the foregoing truths, the answer given by\nthe Delphic Oracle to all who came seeking after Occult Wisdom--words\nrepeated and enforced again and again by the wise Socrates:--MAN KNOW\nTHYSELF.\n\nChelaship has nothing _whatever_ to do with means of subsistence or\nanything of the kind, for a man can isolate his mind entirely from his\nbody and its surroundings. Chelaship is a _state of mind_, rather than a\nlife according to hard and fast rules, on the physical plane. This\napplies especially to the earlier, probationary period, while the rules\ngiven in _Lucifer_ for April last pertain properly to a later stage,\nthat of actual occult training and the development of occult powers and\ninsight. These rules indicate, however, the mode of life which ought to\nbe followed by all aspirants _so far as practicable_, since it is the\nmost helpful to them in their aspirations.\n\nIt should never be forgotten that Occultism is concerned with the _inner\nman_, who must be strengthened and freed from the dominion of the\nphysical body and its surroundings, which must become his servants.\nHence the _first_ and chief necessity of Chelaship is a spirit of\nabsolute unselfishness and devotion to Truth; then follow self-knowledge\nand self-mastery. These are all-important; while outward observance of\nfixed rules of life is a matter of secondary moment.--_Lucifer_: IV,\n348, note.\n\n\n\n\nOCCULTISM VERSUS THE OCCULT ARTS\n\n    \"I oft have heard, but ne'er believed till now,\n    There are, who can by potent magic spells\n    Bend to their crooked purpose Nature's laws.\"\n                                        _Milton_\n\n\nIn this month's Correspondence several letters testify to the strong\nimpression produced on some minds by our last month's article \"Practical\nOccultism.\" Such letters go far to prove and strengthen two logical\nconclusions:--\n\n(_a_) There are more well-educated and thoughtful men who believe in the\nexistence of Occultism and Magic (the two differing vastly) than the\nmodern materialist dreams of; and:--\n\n(_b_) That most of the believers (comprising many theosophists) have no\ndefinite idea of the nature of Occultism and confuse it with the Occult\nsciences in general, the \"Black art\" included.\n\nTheir representations of the powers it confers upon man, and of the\nmeans to be used to acquire them are as varied as they are fanciful.\nSome imagine that a master in the art, to show the way, is all that is\nneeded to become a Zanoni. Others, that one has but to cross the Canal\nof Suez and go to India to bloom forth as a Roger Bacon or even a Count\nSt. Germain. Many take for their ideal Margrave with his ever-renewing\nyouth, and care little for the soul as the price paid for it. Not a few,\nmistaking \"Witch-of-Endorism\" pure and simple, for Occultism--\"through\nthe yawning Earth from Stygian gloom, call up the meager ghost to walks\nof light,\" and want, on the strength of this feat, to be regarded as\nfull blown Adepts. \"Ceremonial Magic\" according to the rules mockingly\nlaid down by Eliphas Levi, is another imagined _alter ego_ of the\nphilosophy of the Arhats of old. In short, the prisms through which\nOccultism appears, to those innocent of the philosophy, are as\nmulticolored and varied as human fancy can make them.\n\nWill these candidates to Wisdom and Power feel very indignant if told\nthe plain truth? It is not only useful, but it has now become\n_necessary_ to disabuse most of them and before it is too late. This\ntruth may be said in a few words: There are not in the West half-a-dozen\namong the fervent hundreds who call themselves \"Occultists,\" who have\neven an approximately correct idea of the nature of the Science they\nseek to master. With a few exceptions, they are all on the highway to\nSorcery. Let them restore some order in the chaos that reigns in their\nminds, before they protest against this statement. Let them first learn\nthe true relation in which the Occult Sciences stand to Occultism, and\nthe difference between the two, and then feel wrathful if they still\nthink themselves right. Meanwhile, let them learn that Occultism differs\nfrom Magic and other secret Sciences as the glorious Sun does from a\nrush-light, as the immutable and immortal Spirit of Man--the reflection\nof the absolute, causeless, and unknowable all,--differs from the mortal\nclay--the human body.\n\nIn our highly civilized West, where modern languages have been formed,\nand words coined, in the wake of ideas and thoughts--as happened with\nevery tongue--the more the latter became materialized in the cold\natmosphere of Western selfishness and its incessant chase after the\ngoods of this world, the less was there any need felt for the production\nof new terms to express that which was tacitly regarded as obsolete and\nexploded \"superstition.\" Such words could answer only to ideas which a\ncultured man was scarcely supposed to harbor in his mind. \"Magic,\" a\nsynonym for jugglery; \"Sorcery,\" an equivalent for crass ignorance; and\n\"Occultism,\" the sorry relic of crack-brained, medieval\nFire-philosophers, of the Jacob Boehmes and the St. Martins, are\nexpressions believed more than amply sufficient to cover the whole field\nof \"thimble-rigging.\" They are terms of contempt, and used generally\nonly in reference to the dross and residues of the Dark Ages and its\npreceding aeons of paganism. Therefore have we no terms in the English\ntongue to define and shade the difference between such abnormal powers,\nor the sciences that lead to the acquisition of them, with the nicety\npossible in the Eastern languages--pre-eminently the Sanskrit. What do\nthe words \"miracle\" and \"enchantment\" (words identical in meaning after\nall, as both express the idea of producing wonderful things by _breaking\nthe laws of nature_ [!!] as explained by the accepted authorities)\nconvey to the minds of those who hear, or who pronounce them? A\nChristian--_breaking_ \"of the laws of nature,\" notwithstanding--while\nbelieving firmly in the _miracles_, because said to have been produced\nby God through Moses, will either scout the enchantments performed by\nPharoah's magicians, or attribute them to the devil. It is the latter\nwhom our pious enemies connect with Occultism, while their impious foes,\nthe infidels, laugh at Moses, Magicians, and Occultists, and would\nblush to give one serious thought to such \"superstitions.\" This, because\nthere is no term in existence to show the difference; no words to\nexpress the lights and shadows and draw the line of demarcation between\nthe sublime and the true, the absurd and the ridiculous. The latter are\nthe theological interpretations which teach the \"breaking of the laws of\nNature\" by man, God, or devil; the former--the _scientific_ \"miracles\"\nand enchantments of Moses and the Magicians _in accordance with natural\nlaws_, both having been learned in all the Wisdom of the Sanctuaries,\nwhich were the \"Royal Societies\" of those days--and in true OCCULTISM.\nThis last word is certainly misleading, translated as it stands from the\ncompound word _Gupta-Vidya_, \"Secret Knowledge.\" But the knowledge of\nwhat? Some of the Sanskrit terms may help us.\n\nThere are four (out of the many other) names of the various kinds of\nEsoteric Knowledge or Sciences given, even in the exoteric Puranas.\nThere is (1) _Yajna-Vidya_,[C] knowledge of the occult powers awakened\nin Nature by the performance of certain religious ceremonies and rites.\n(2) _Maha-Vidya_, the \"great knowledge,\" the magic of the Kabalists and\nof the _Tantrika_ worship, often Sorcery of the worst description. (3)\n_Guhya-Vidya_, knowledge of the mystic powers residing in Sound (Ether),\nhence in the _Mantras_ (chanted prayers or incantations) and depending\non the rhythm and melody used; in other words a magical performance\nbased on Knowledge of the Forces of Nature and their correlation; and\n(4) Atma-Vidya, a term which is translated simply \"Knowledge of\nthe Soul,\" _true Wisdom_ by the Orientalists, but which means far more.\n\nThis last is the only kind of Occultism that any Theosophist who admires\n_Light on the Path_, and who would be wise and unselfish, ought to\nstrive after. All the rest is some branch of the \"Occult Sciences,\"\ni.e., arts based on the knowledge of the ultimate essence of all things\nin the Kingdom of Nature--such as minerals, plants, and animals--hence\nof things pertaining to the realm of _material_ Nature, however\ninvisible that essence may be, and howsoever much it has hitherto eluded\nthe grasp of Science. Alchemy, Astrology, Occult Physiology, Chiromancy\nexist in Nature, and the _exact_ Sciences--perhaps so called because\nthey are found in this age of paradoxical philosophies the reverse--have\nalready discovered not a few of the secrets of the above _arts_. But\nclairvoyance, symbolized in India as the \"Eye of Siva,\" called in\nJapan, \"Infinite Vision,\" is _not_ Hypnotism, the illegitimate son of\nMesmerism, and is not to be acquired by such arts. All the others may be\nmastered and results obtained, whether good, bad, or indifferent; but\n_Atma-Vidya_ sets small value on them. It includes them all, and may\neven use them occasionally, but it does so after purifying them of their\ndross, for beneficent purposes, and taking care to deprive them of every\nelement of selfish motive. Let us explain: Any man or woman can set\nhimself or herself to study one or all of the above specified \"Occult\nArts\" without any great previous preparation, and even without adopting\nany too restraining mode of life. One could even dispense with any lofty\nstandard of morality. In the last case, of course, ten to one the\nstudent would blossom into a very decent kind of sorcerer, and tumble\ndown headlong into black magic. But what can this matter? The _Voodoos_\nand the _Dugpas_ eat, drink and are merry over hecatombs of victims of\ntheir infernal arts. And so do the amiable gentlemen vivisectionists and\nthe _diploma-ed_ \"Hypnotizers\" of the Faculties of Medicine; the only\ndifference between the two classes being that the Voodoos and the Dugpas\nare _conscious_, and the Charcot-Richet crew _unconscious_ Sorcerers.\nThus, since both have to reap the fruits of their labors and\nachievements in the black art, the Western practitioners should not have\nthe punishment and reputation without the profits and enjoyments they\nmay get therefrom. For we say it again, _hypnotism_ and _vivisection_ as\npractised in such schools, are _Sorcery_ pure and simple, _minus_ a\nknowledge that the Voodoos and Dugpas enjoy, and which no Charcot-Richet\ncan procure for himself in fifty years of hard study and experimental\nobservation. Let then those who will dabble in magic, whether they\nunderstand its nature or not, but who find the rules imposed upon\nstudents too hard, and who, therefore, lay Atma-Vidya or Occultism\naside--go without it. Let them become magicians by all means, even\nthough they do become _Voodoos_ and _Dugpas_ for the next ten\nincarnations.\n\nBut the interest of our readers will probably center on those who are\ninvincibly attracted towards the \"Occult,\" yet who neither realize the\ntrue nature of what they aspire towards, nor have they become\npassion-proof, far less truly unselfish.\n\nHow about these unfortunates, we shall be asked, who are thus rent in\ntwain by conflicting forces? For it has been said too often to need\nrepetition, and the fact itself is patent to any observer, that when\nonce the desire for Occultism has really awakened in a man's heart,\nthere remains for him no hope of peace, no place of rest and comfort in\nall the world. He is driven out into the wild and desolate spaces of\nlife by an ever-gnawing unrest he cannot quell. His heart is too full of\npassion and selfish desire to permit him to pass the Golden Gate; he\ncannot find rest or peace in ordinary life. Must he then inevitably fall\ninto sorcery and black magic, and through many incarnations heap up for\nhimself a terrible Karma? Is there no other road for him?\n\nIndeed there is, we answer. Let him aspire to no higher than he feels\nable to accomplish. Let him not take a burden upon himself too heavy for\nhim to carry. Without ever becoming a \"Mahatma,\" a Buddha, or a Great\nSaint, let him study the philosophy and the \"Science of Soul,\" and he\ncan become one of the modest benefactors of humanity, without any\n\"superhuman\" powers. _Siddhis_ (or the Arhat powers) are only for those\nwho are able to \"lead the life,\" to comply with the terrible sacrifices\nrequired for such a training, and to comply with them _to the very\nletter_. Let them know at once and remember always, that _true Occultism\nor Theosophy_ is the \"Great Renunciation of SELF,\" unconditionally and\nabsolutely, in thought as in action. It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him\nwho practises it out of calculation of the ranks of the living\naltogether. \"Not for himself, but for the world, he lives,\" as soon as\nhe has pledged himself to the work. Much is forgiven during the first\nyears of probation. But, no sooner is he \"accepted\" than his\npersonality must disappear, and he has to become _a mere beneficent\nforce in Nature_. There are two poles for him after that, two paths, and\nno midward place of rest. He has either to ascend laboriously, step by\nstep, often through numerous incarnations and _no Devachanic break_, the\ngolden ladder leading to Mahatmaship (the _Arhat_ or _Bodhisattva_\ncondition), or--he will let himself slide down the ladder at the first\nfalse step, and roll down into _Dugpa-ship_....\n\nAll this is either unknown or left out of sight altogether. Indeed, one\nwho is able to follow the silent evolution of the preliminary\naspirations of the candidates, often finds strange ideas quietly taking\npossession of their minds. There are those whose reasoning powers have\nbeen so distorted by foreign influences that they imagine that animal\npassions can be so sublimated and elevated that their fury, force, and\nfire can, so to speak, be turned inwards; that they can be stored and\nshut up in one's breast, until their energy is, not expanded, but\nturned toward higher and more holy purposes; namely, _until their\ncollective and unexpanded strength enables their possessor to enter the\ntrue Sanctuary of the Soul_ and stand therein in the presence of the\n_Master_--the Higher Self! For this purpose they will not\nstruggle with their passions nor slay them. They will simply, by a\nstrong effort of will put down the fierce flames and keep them at bay\nwithin their natures, allowing the fire to smolder under a thin layer of\nashes. They submit joyfully to the torture of the Spartan boy who\nallowed the fox to devour his entrails rather than part with it. Oh,\npoor, blind visionaries!\n\nAs well hope that a band of drunken chimney-sweeps, hot and greasy from\ntheir work, may be shut up in a Sanctuary hung with pure white linen,\nand that instead of soiling and turning it by their presence into a heap\nof dirty shreds, they will become masters in and of the sacred recess,\nand finally emerge from it as immaculate as that recess. Why not imagine\nthat a dozen of skunks imprisoned in the pure atmosphere of a _Dgon-pa_\n(a monastery) can issue out of it impregnated with all the perfumes of\nthe incenses used?... Strange aberration of the human mind. Can it be\nso? Let us argue.\n\nThe \"Master\" in the Sanctuary of our souls is \"the Higher Self\"--the\ndivine spirit whose consciousness is based upon and derived solely (at\nany rate during the mortal life of the man in whom it is captive) from\nthe Mind, which we have agreed to call the _Human Soul_ (the \"Spiritual\nSoul\" being the vehicle of the Spirit). In its turn the former (the\n_personal_ or human soul) is a compound in its highest form, of\nspiritual aspirations, volitions and divine love; and in its lower\naspect, of animal desires and terrestrial passions imparted to it by its\nassociations with its vehicle, the seat of all these. It thus stands as\na link and a medium between the animal nature of man which its higher\nreason seeks to subdue, and his divine spiritual nature to which it\ngravitates, whenever it has the upper hand in its struggle with the\n_inner animal_. The latter is the instinctual \"animal Soul\" and is the\nhotbed of those passions, which, as just shown, are lulled instead of\nbeing killed, and locked up in their breasts by some imprudent\nenthusiasts. Do they still hope to turn thereby the muddy stream of the\nanimal sewer into the crystalline waters of life? And where, on what\nneutral ground can they be imprisoned so as not to affect man? The\nfierce passions of love and lust are still alive and they are allowed to\nstill remain in the place of their birth--_that same animal soul_; for\nboth the higher and the lower portions of the \"Human Soul\" or Mind\nreject such inmates, though they cannot avoid being tainted with them as\nneighbors. The \"Higher Self\" or Spirit is as unable to assimilate such\nfeelings as water to get mixed with oil or unclean liquid tallow. It is\nthus the mind alone--the sole link and medium between the man of earth\nand the Higher Self--that is the only sufferer, and which is in the\nincessant danger of being dragged down by those passions that may be\nreawakened at any moment, and perish in the abyss of matter. And how\ncan it ever attune itself to the divine harmony of the highest\nPrinciple, when that harmony is destroyed by the mere presence, within\nthe Sanctuary in preparation, of such animal passions? How can harmony\nprevail and conquer, when the soul is stained and distracted with the\nturmoil of passions and the terrestrial desires of the bodily senses, or\neven of the \"Astral man\"?\n\nFor this \"Astral\"--the shadowy \"double\" (in the animal as in man)--is\nnot the companion of the _divine Ego_ but of the _earthly body_. It is\nthe link between the personal Self, the lower consciousness of\n_Manas_ and the Body, and is the vehicle of _transitory_, _not\nof immortal life_. Like the shadow projected by man, it follows his\nmovements and impulses slavishly and mechanically, and leans therefore\nto matter without ever ascending to Spirit. It is only when the power of\nthe passions is dead altogether, and when they have been crushed and\nannihilated in the retort of an unflinching will; when not only all the\nlusts and longings of the flesh are dead, but also the recognition of\nthe personal Self is killed out and the \"astral\" has been reduced in\nconsequence to a cipher, that the Union with the \"Higher Self\" can take\nplace. Then when the \"astral\" reflects only the conquered man, the still\nliving, but no more the longing, selfish personality, then the brilliant\n_Augoeides_, the divine Self, can vibrate in conscious harmony\nwith both the poles of the human Entity--the man of matter purified, and\nthe ever pure Spiritual Soul--and stand in the presence of the\nMaster Self, the Christos of the mystic Gnostics, blended,\nmerged into, and one with IT for ever.[D]\n\nHow then can it be thought possible for a man to enter the \"strait gate\"\nof occultism when his daily and hourly thoughts are bound up with\nworldly things, desires of possession and power, with lust, ambition\nand duties, which, however honorable, are still of the earth earthy?\nEven the love for wife and family--the purest as the most unselfish of\nhuman affections--is a barrier to _real_ occultism. For whether we take\nas an example the holy love of a mother for her child, or that of a\nhusband for his wife, even in these feelings, when analysed to the very\nbottom, and thoroughly sifted, there is still _selfishness_ in the\nfirst, and an _egoisme a deux_ in the second instance. What mother would\nnot sacrifice without a moment's hesitation hundreds and thousands of\nlives for that of the child of her heart? and what lover or true husband\nwould not break the happiness of every other man and woman around him to\nsatisfy the desire of one whom he loves? This is but natural, we shall\nbe told. Quite so; in the light of the code of human affections; less\nso, in that of divine universal love. For, while the heart is full of\nthoughts for a little group of _selves_, near and dear to us, how shall\nthe rest of mankind fare in our souls? What percentage of love and care\nwill there remain to bestow on the \"great orphan\"? And how shall the\n\"still small voice\" make itself heard in a soul entirely occupied with\nits own privileged tenants? What room is there left for the needs of\nHumanity _en bloc_ to impress themselves upon, or even receive a speedy\nresponse? And yet, he who would profit by the wisdom of the universal\nmind, has to reach it through _the whole of Humanity_ without\ndistinction of race, complexion, religion or social status. It is\n_altruism_, not _ego-ism_ even in its most legal and noble conception,\nthat can lead the unit to merge its little Self in the Universal Selves.\nIt is to _these_ needs and to this work that the true disciple of true\nOccultism has to devote himself, if he would obtain _theo_-sophy, divine\nWisdom and Knowledge.\n\nThe aspirant has to choose absolutely between the life of the world and\nthe life of Occultism. It is useless and vain to endeavor to unite the\ntwo, for no one can serve two masters and satisfy both. No one can serve\nhis body and the higher Soul, and do his family duty and his universal\nduty, without depriving either one or the other of its rights; for he\nwill either lend his ear to the \"still small voice\" and fail to hear the\ncries of his little ones, or, he will listen but to the wants of the\nlatter and remain deaf to the voice of Humanity. It would be a\nceaseless, a maddening struggle for almost any married man, who would\npursue true practical Occultism, instead of its _theoretical_\nphilosophy. For he would find himself ever hesitating between the voice\nof the impersonal divine love of Humanity, and that of the personal,\nterrestrial love. And this could only lead him to fail in one or the\nother, or perhaps in both his duties. Worse than this; for, _whoever\nindulges, after having pledged himself to_ OCCULTISM, _in the\ngratification of a terrestrial love or lust_, must feel an almost\nimmediate result; that of being irresistibly dragged from the impersonal\ndivine state down to the lower plane of matter. Sensual, or even mental\nself-gratification, involves the immediate loss of the powers of\nspiritual discernment; the voice of the MASTER can no longer\nbe distinguished from that of one's passions or _even that of a Dugpa_;\nthe right from wrong; sound morality from mere casuistry. The Dead Sea\nfruit assumes the most glorious mystic appearance, only to turn to ashes\non the lips, and to gall in the heart, resulting in:--\n\n    Depth ever deepening, darkness darkening still;\n    Folly for wisdom, guilt for innocence;\n    Anguish for rapture, and for hope despair.\n\nAnd once being mistaken and having acted on their mistakes, most men\nshrink from realizing their error, and thus descend deeper and deeper\ninto the mire. And, although it is the intention that decides primarily\nwhether _white_ or _black_ magic is exercised, yet the results even of\ninvoluntary, unconscious sorcery cannot fail to be productive of bad\nKarma. Enough has been said to show that _sorcery is any kind of evil\ninfluence exercised upon other persons, who suffer, or make other\npersons suffer, in consequence_. Karma is a heavy stone splashed in the\nquiet waters of Life; and it must produce ever widening circles of\nripples, carried wider and wider, almost _ad infinitum_. Such causes\nproduced have to call forth effects, and these are evidenced in the just\nlaws of Retribution.\n\nMuch of this may be avoided if people will only abstain from rushing\ninto practices neither the nature nor importance of which they\nunderstand. No one is expected to carry a burden beyond his strength and\npowers. There are \"natural-born magicians\"; Mystics and Occultists by\nbirth, and by right of direct inheritance from a series of incarnations\nand aeons of suffering and failures. These are passion-proof, so to say.\nNo fires of earthly origin can fan into a flame any of their senses or\ndesires; no human voice can find response in their souls, except the\ngreat cry of Humanity. These only may be certain of success. But they\ncan be met only far and wide, and they pass through the narrow gates of\nOccultism because they carry no personal luggage of human transitory\nsentiments along with them. They have got rid of the feeling of the\nlower personality, paralysed thereby the \"astral\" animal, and the\ngolden, but narrow gate is thrown open before them. Not so with those\nwho have to carry yet for several incarnations the burden of sins\ncommitted in previous lives, and even in their present existence. For\nsuch, unless they proceed with great caution, the golden gate of Wisdom\nmay get transformed into the wide gate and the broad way \"that leadeth\nunto destruction,\" and therefore \"many be they that enter in thereby.\"\nThis is the Gate of the Occult arts, practised for selfish motives and\nin the absence of the restraining and beneficent influence of\nAtma-Vidya. We are in the Kali Yuga and its fatal influence is\na thousand-fold more powerful in the West than it is in the East; hence\nthe easy preys made by the Powers of the Age of Darkness in this cyclic\nstruggle, and the many delusions under which the world is now laboring.\nOne of these is the relative facility with which men fancy they can get\nat the \"Gate\" and cross the threshold of Occultism without any great\nsacrifice. It is the dream of most Theosophists, one inspired by desire\nfor Power and personal selfishness, and it is not such feelings that\ncan ever lead them to the coveted goal. For, as well said by one\nbelieved to have sacrificed himself for Humanity--\"Strait is the gate\nand narrow is the way which leadeth unto life\" eternal, and therefore\n\"few there be that find it.\" (_Matt._ vii, 14) So strait indeed, that at\nthe bare mention of some of the preliminary difficulties the affrighted\nWestern candidates turn back and retreat with a shudder....\n\nLet them stop here and attempt no more in their great weakness. For if,\nwhile turning their backs on the narrow gate, they are dragged by their\ndesire for the Occult one step in the direction of the broad and more\ninviting gates of that golden mystery which glitters in the light of\nillusion, woe to them! It can lead only to Dugpa-ship, and they will be\nsure to find themselves very soon landed on that _Via Fatale_ of the\n_Inferno_, over whose portal Dante read the words:--\n\n    _Per me si va nella citta dolente_\n    _Per me si va nell' eterno dolore_\n    _Per me si va tra la perduta gente...._\n\n\n\n\nTHE BLESSINGS OF PUBLICITY\n\n\nA well-known public lecturer, a distinguished Egyptologist, said, in one\nof his lectures against the teachings of Theosophy, a few suggestive\nwords, which are now quoted and must be answered:--\n\n     It is a delusion to suppose there is anything in the experience or\n     wisdom of the past, the ascertained results of which can only be\n     communicated from beneath the cloak and mask of mystery....\n     Explanation is the Soul of Science. They will tell you _we cannot\n     have their knowledge without living their life_.... Public\n     experimental research, the printing press, and a free-thought\n     platform, have abolished the need of mystery. It is no longer\n     necessary for science to take the veil, as she was forced to do for\n     security in times past....\n\nThis is a very mistaken view in one aspect. \"Secrets of the purer and\nprofounder life\" not only _may_ but _must_ be made universally known.\nBut _there are secrets that kill_ in the arcana of Occultism, and unless\na man _lives the life_ he cannot be entrusted with them.\n\nThe late Professor Faraday had very serious doubts whether it was quite\nwise and reasonable to give out to the public at large certain\ndiscoveries of modern science. Chemistry had led to the invention of too\nterrible means of destruction in our century to allow it to fall into\nthe hands of the profane. What man of sense--in the face of such\nfiendish applications of dynamite and other explosive substances as are\nmade by those incarnations of the Destroying Power, who glory in calling\nthemselves Anarchists and Socialists--would not agree with us in\nsaying:--Far better for mankind that it should never have blasted a rock\nby modern perfected means, than that it should have shattered the limbs\nof one per cent even of those who have been thus destroyed by the\npitiless hand of Russian Nihilists, Irish Fenians, and Anarchists. That\nsuch discoveries, and chiefly their murderous application, ought to\nhave been withheld from public knowledge may be shown on the authority\nof statistics and commissions appointed to investigate and record the\nresult of the evil done. The following information gathered from public\npapers will give an insight into what may be in store for wretched\nmankind.\n\nEngland alone--the center of civilization--has 21,268 firms fabricating\nand selling explosive substances.[E] But the centers of the dynamite\ntrade, of infernal machines, and other such results of modern\ncivilization, are chiefly at Philadelphia and New York. It is in the\nformer city of \"Brotherly Love\" that the now most famous manufacturer of\nexplosives flourishes. It is one of the well-known respectable\ncitizens--the inventor and manufacturer of the most murderous \"dynamite\ntoys\"--who, called before the Senate of the United States anxious to\nadopt means for the repression of a _too free trade_ in such implements,\nfound an argument that ought to become immortalized for its cynical\nsophistry--\"My _machines_,\" that expert is reported to have said--\"are\nquite _harmless to look at_; as they may be manufactured in the shape of\noranges, hats, boats, and anything one likes.... Criminal is he who\nmurders people by means of such machines, not he who manufactures them.\nThe firm refuses to admit that were there no supply there would be no\nincentive for demand on the market; but insists that every demand should\nbe satisfied by a supply ready at hand.\"\n\nThat \"supply\" is the fruit of civilization and of the publicity given to\nthe discovery of every murderous property in matter. What is it? As\nfound in the Report of the Commission appointed to investigate the\nvariety and character of the so-called \"infernal machines,\" so far the\nfollowing implements of instantaneous human destruction are already on\nhand. The most fashionable of all among the many varieties fabricated\nby Mr. Holgate are the \"Ticker,\" the \"Eight Day Machine,\" the \"Little\nExterminator,\" and the \"Bottle Machines.\" The \"Ticker\" is in appearance\nlike a piece of lead, a foot long and four inches thick. It contains an\niron or steel tube full of a kind of gunpowder invented by Holgate\nhimself. That gunpowder, in appearance like any other common stuff of\nthat name, has, however, an explosive power two hundred times stronger\nthan common gunpowder; the \"Ticker\" containing thus a powder which\nequals in force two hundred pounds of the common gunpowder. At one end\nof the machine is fastened an invisible clock-work meant to regulate the\ntime of the explosion, which time may be fixed from one minute to\nthirty-six hours. The spark is produced by means of a steel needle which\ngives a spark at the touch-hole, and communicates thereby the fire to\nthe whole machine.\n\nThe \"Eight Day Machine\" is considered the most powerful, but at the same\ntime the most complicated, of all those invented. One must be familiar\nwith handling it before a full success can be secured. It is owing to\nthis difficulty that the terrible fate intended for London Bridge and\nits neighborhood was turned aside by the instantaneous killing instead\nof the two Fenian criminals. The size and appearance of that machine\nchanges, Proteus-like, according to the necessity of smuggling it in, in\none or another way, unperceived by the victims. It may be concealed in\nbread, in a basket of oranges, in a liquid, and so on. The Commission of\nExperts is said to have declared that its explosive power is such as to\nreduce to atoms instantly the largest edifice in the world.\n\nThe \"Little Exterminator\" is an innocent-looking plain utensil having\nthe shape of a modest jug. It contains neither dynamite nor powder, but\nsecretes, nevertheless, a deadly gas, and has a hardly perceptible\nclock-work attached to its edge, the needle of which points to the time\nwhen that gas will effect its escape. In a shut-up room this new \"vril\"\nof lethal kind will _smother to death, nearly instantaneously_, every\nliving being within a distance of a hundred feet radius of the murderous\njug. With these three \"latest novelties\" in the high season of Christian\ncivilization, the catalog of the dynamiters is closed; all the rest\nbelongs to the old \"fashion\" of the past years. It consists of hats,\n_porte cigars_, bottles of ordinary kind, and even _ladies' smelling\nbottles_, filled with dynamite, nitro-glycerin, etc., etc.--weapons,\nsome of which, following unconsciously Karmic law, killed many of the\ndynamiters in the last Chicago _revolution_. Add to this the forthcoming\nlong-promised Keeley's vibratory force, capable of reducing in a few\nseconds a dead bullock to a heap of ashes, and then ask yourself if the\n_Inferno_ of Dante as a locality can ever rival earth in the production\nof more hellish engines of destruction?\n\nThus, if purely material implements are capable of blowing up, from a\nfew corners, the greatest cities of the globe, provided the murderous\nweapons are guided by expert hands--what terrible dangers might not\narise from magical _occult_ secrets being revealed, and allowed to fall\ninto the possession of ill-meaning persons! A thousand times more\ndangerous and lethal are these, because neither the criminal hand, nor\nthe _immaterial_ invisible weapon used, can ever be detected.\n\nThe congenital _black_ magicians--those who, to an innate propensity\ntowards evil, unite highly-developed mediumistic natures--are but too\nnumerous in our age. It is nigh time then that the psychologists and\nbelievers, at least, should cease advocating the beauties of publicity\nand claiming knowledge of the secrets of nature for all. It is not in\nour age of \"suggestion\" and \"explosives\" that Occultism can open wide\nthe doors of its laboratories except to those who _do_ live the life.\n\n                                                            H.P.B.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[A] So holy is the connexion thus formed deemed in the Greek\nChurch, that a marriage between god-parents of the same child is\nregarded as the worst kind of incest, is considered illegal, and is\ndissolved by law; and this absolute prohibition extends even to the\nchildren of one of the sponsors as regards those of the other.\n\n[B] Be it remembered that _all_ \"Chelas,\" even lay disciples,\nare called Upasaka until after their first initiation, when they become\nLanoo-Upasaka. To that day, even those who belong to Lamaseries and are\n_set apart_, are considered as \"laymen.\"\n\n[C] \"The _Yajna_,\" say the Brahmans, \"exists from eternity, for\nit proceeded forth from the Supreme One ... in whom it lay dormant from\n'_no_ beginning.' It is the key to the Traividya, the thrice\nsacred science contained in the Rig verses, which teaches the Yajus or\nsacrificial mysteries. 'The Yajna' exists as an invisible thing at all\ntimes; it is like the latent power of electricity in an electrifying\nmachine, requiring only the operation of a suitable apparatus in order\nto be elicited. It is supposed to extend from the _Ahavaniya_ or\nsacrificial fire to the heavens, forming a bridge or ladder by means of\nwhich the sacrificer can communicate with the world of gods and spirits,\nand even ascend when alive to their abodes.\"--Martin Haug's _Aitareya\nBrahmana_.\n\n\"This _Yajna_ is again one of the forms of the _Akasa_; and the\nmystic word calling it into existence and pronounced mentally by the\ninitiated Priest is the Lost Word receiving impulse through WILL\nPOWER.\"--_Isis Unveiled_, Vol. I. Introduction. See _Aitareya\nBrahmana_, Haug.\n\n[D] Those who would feel inclined to see three _Egos_ in one\nman will show themselves unable to perceive the metaphysical meaning.\nMan is a trinity composed of Body, Soul and Spirit; but _man_ is\nnevertheless _one_ and is surely not his body. It is the latter which is\nthe property, the transitory clothing of the man. The three \"Egos\" are\nMAN in his three aspects on the astral, intellectual or\npsychic, and the Spiritual planes, or states.\n\n[E] Nitro-glycerin has found its way even into medical\ncompounds. Physicians and druggists are vying with the Anarchists in\ntheir endeavors to destroy the surplus of mankind. The famous chocolate\ntablets against dyspepsia are said to contain nitro-glycerin! They may\nsave, but they can kill still more easily.\n\n\n\n\n_There is No Religion Higher than Truth_\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society\n\n_Established for the benefit of the people of the earth & all creatures_\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOBJECTS\n\nThis BROTHERHOOD is part of a great and universal movement which has\nbeen active in all ages.\n\nThis Organization declares that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. Its\nprincipal purpose is to teach Brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a fact\nin nature and make it a living power in the life of humanity.\n\nIts subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions,\nscience, philosophy and art; to investigate the laws of nature and the\ndivine powers in man.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, founded by\nH.P. Blavatsky at New York, 1875, continued after her death under the\nleadership of the co-founder, William Q. Judge, and now under the\nleadership of their successor, Katherine Tingley, has its Headquarters\nat the International Theosophical Center, Point Loma, California.\n\nThis Organization is not in any way connected with nor does it endorse\nany other societies using the name of Theosophy.\n\nThe Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society welcomes to\nmembership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the\neradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste or\ncolor, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere lovers\nof truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than the mere\npleasures and interests of a worldly life, and are prepared to do all in\ntheir power to make Brotherhood a living energy in the life of humanity,\nits various departments offer unlimited opportunities.\n\nThe whole work of the Organization is under the direction of the Leader\nand Official Head, Katherine Tingley, as outlined in the Constitution.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nDo not fail to profit by the following:\n\n     It is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of Theosophy\n     and of our Organization for self-interest, as also that of H.P.\n     Blavatsky, the Foundress, to attract attention to themselves and to\n     gain public support. This they do in private and public speech and\n     in publications, also by lecturing throughout the country. Without\n     being in any way connected with the Universal Brotherhood and\n     Theosophical Society, in many cases they permit it to be\n     inferred that they are, thus misleading the public, and many honest\n     inquirers are hence led away from the truths of Theosophy as\n     presented by H.P. Blavatsky and her successors, William Q. Judge\n     and Katherine Tingley, and practically exemplified in their\n     Theosophical work for the uplifting of humanity.\n\n\n\n\nThe International Brotherhood League\n\nFounded in 1897 by Katherine Tingley\n\n\nITS OBJECTS ARE:\n\n1. To help men and women to realize the nobility of their calling and\ntheir true position in life.\n\n2. To educate children of all nations on the broadest lines of Universal\nBrotherhood, and to prepare destitute and homeless children to become\nworkers for humanity.\n\n3. To ameliorate the condition of unfortunate women, and assist them to\na higher life.\n\n4. To assist those who are, or have been, in prisons, to establish\nthemselves in honorable positions in life.\n\n5. To abolish capital punishment.\n\n6. To bring about a better understanding between so-called savage and\ncivilized races, by promoting a closer and more sympathetic relationship\nbetween them.\n\n7. To relieve human suffering resulting from flood, famine, war, and\nother calamities; and, generally, to extend aid, help and comfort to\nsuffering humanity throughout the world.\n\nFor further information regarding the above Notices, address\n\nKATHERINE TINGLEY\nInternational Theosophical Headquarters,\nPoint Loma, California\n\nBooks Recommended to Inquirers\n\nFor _complete_ Book List write to\n\nThe Theosophical Publishing Co., Point Loma, California\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIsis Unveiled (H.P. Blavatsky). 2 vols., royal 8vo, about\n1400 pages; cloth; with portrait of the author. _Point Loma\nEdition, with a preface._ Postpaid                               4.00\n\nKey to Theosophy, The (H.P. Blavatsky). _Point Loma Edition,\nwith Glossary and exhaustive Index. Portraits of H.P.\nBlavatsky and W.Q. Judge._ 8vo, cloth, 400 pages. Postpaid       2.25\n\n     A clear exposition of Theosophy in form of question and\n     answer. The book for Students.\n\nSecret Doctrine, The (H.P. Blavatsky). The Synthesis of\nScience, Religion, and Philosophy. New Point Loma Edition, 2\nvols., royal 8vo, about 1500 pages; cloth. Postpaid             10.00\n\nVoice of the Silence, The (For the daily use of disciples).\nTranslated and annotated by H.P. Blavatsky. Pocket size,\nleather                                                           .75\n\nMysteries of the Heart Doctrine, The. Prepared by Katherine\nTingley and her pupils. Square 8vo, cloth                        2.00\nPaper                                                            1.00\n\nA Series of Eight Pamphlets, comprising different articles\nin above, paper, each                                             .25\n\nLife at Point Loma, The. Some notes by Katherine Tingley,\nLeader and Official Head of the Universal Brotherhood and\nTheosophical Society                                              .15\n\n     Reprinted from the _Los Angeles Post_, Dec., 1902.\n\nKatherine Tingley, Humanity's Friend; A Visit to Katherine\nTingley (by John Hubert Greusel); A Study of Raja Yoga at\nPoint Loma (Reprint from the San Francisco _Chronicle_,\nJanuary 6th, 1907).\n\nThe above three comprised in a pamphlet of 50 pages,\npublished by the Woman's Theosophical Propaganda League,\nPoint Loma                                                        .15\n\nLight on the Path (M.C.), with comments, and a chapter on\nKarma; leather .75 Embossed paper                                 .25\n\nBhagavad Gita (W.Q. Judge, Amer. Edition) Pocket size,\nmorocco, gilt edges                                              1.00\n\n     _The pearl of the Scriptures of the East._\n\nYoga Aphorisms (trans. by William Q. Judge). Pocket size,\nleather                                                           .75\n\nEchoes from the Orient (W.Q. Judge); cloth                        .50\nPaper                                                             .25\n\n     21 valued articles, giving a broad outline of the\n     Theosophical doctrines, written for the\n     newspaper-reading public.\n\nEpitome of Theosophical Teachings, An (W.Q. Judge), 40 pages      .15\n\nConcentration, Culture of. (W.Q. Judge)                           .15\n\nErrors of Christian Science, Some of the. Criticism by H.P.\nBlavatsky and William Q. Judge                                    .15\n\nHypnotism: Theosophical views on. (40 pp.)                        .15\n\nNightmare Tales. (H.P. Blavatsky). _Newly illustrated by R.\nMachell._ A collection of the weirdest tales ever written\ndown. They contain paragraphs of the profoundest mystical\nphilosophy. Cloth                                                 .60\nPaper                                                             .35\n\n\n\n\nTheosophical Manuals\n\nElementary Handbooks for Students\n\nPrice, each, paper .25; cloth                                     .35\n\nNo.  1. Elementary Theosophy.\nNo.  2. The Seven Principles of Man.\nNo.  3. Karma.\nNo.  4. Reincarnation.\nNo.  5. Man After Death.\nNo.  6. Kamaloka and Devachan.\nNo.  7. Teachers and Their Disciples.\nNo.  8. The Doctrine of Cycles.\nNo.  9. Psychism, Ghostology, and the Astral Plane.\nNo. 10. The Astral Light.\nNo. 11. Psychometry, Clairvoyance, and Thought-Transference.\nNo. 12. The Angel and the Demon. (2 vols., 35c. each)\nNo. 13. The Flame and the Clay.\nNo. 14. On God and Prayer.\nNo. 15. Theosophy: the Mother of Religions.\nNo. 16. From Crypt to Pronaos\n    An Essay on the Rise and Fall of Dogma\nNo. 17. Earth\n    Its Parentage; its Rounds and its Races\nNo. 18. Sons of the Firemist\n    A Study of Man\n\n\nThe Path Series\n\n_Specially adapted for inquirers in Theosophy._\n\nALREADY PUBLISHED\n\nNo. 1. The Purpose of the Universal Brotherhood and\nTheosophical Society                                              .05\n\nNo. 2. Theosophy Generally Stated (W.Q. Judge)                    .05\n\nNo. 3. Mislaid Mysteries (H. Coryn, M.D.)                         .05\n\nNo. 4. Theosophy and its Counterfeits                             .05\n\nNo. 5. Some Perverted Presentations of Theosophy (H.T. Edge,\nB.A.)                                                             .05\n\nThirty copies $1.00; 100 copies $3.00\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nOccultism, Studies in (H.P. Blavatsky). Pocket size, 6\nvols., cloth; per set                                            1.50\n\nVol. 1. Practical Occultism. Occultism _vs._ the Occult\nArts. The Blessing of Publicity                                   .35\n\nVol. 2. Hypnotism. Black Magic in Science. Signs of the\nTimes                                                             .35\n\nVol. 3. Psychic and Noetic Action                                 .35\n\nVol. 4. Kosmic Mind. Dual Aspect of Wisdom                        .35\n\nVol. 5. Esoteric Character of the Gospels                         .35\n\nVol. 6. Astral Bodies. Constitution of the Inner Man              .35\n\n\nLotus Group Literature\n\nLotus Library for Children\n\nIntroduced under the direction of Katherine Tingley\n\n1. The Little Builders and their Voyage to Rangi. (R. N.)         .50\n\n2. The Coming of the King (Machell); cloth, gilt edges            .35\n\nLotus Song Book. Fifty original songs with copyrighted music      .50\n\nLotus Song--\"The Sun Temple\"--_with music_                        .15\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTheosophical Periodicals\n\nCentury Path. Illustrated Weekly, Edited by Katherine Tingley\n\n     A Magazine devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, the\n     Promulgation of Theosophy and the Study of Ancient and\n     Modern Ethics, Philosophy, Science and Art.\n\nYear $ 4.00                                           Single copy .10\n\nWrite for a sample copy to\nNew Century Corporation\nPoint Loma, California, U.S.A.\n\nRaja Yoga Messenger. _Illustrated._ Monthly.\nYearly subscription                                               .50\n\n     Unsectarian publication for Young Folk, conducted by a\n     staff of pupils of the Raja Yoga School at Lomaland.\n\n     Address Master Albert G. Spalding, Business Manager\n     Raja Yoga Messenger, Point Loma, California.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\nInternational Theosophical Chronicle. _Illustrated._\nMonthly. Yearly subscription, postpaid                           1.00\n\n     The Theosophical Book Co., 18 Bartlett's Buildings,\n     Holborn Circus, London, E.C.\n\nTheosophia. _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly subscription,\npostpaid                                                         1.50\n\n     Universella Broderskapets Foerlag, Box 265 Stockholm 1,\n     Sweden.\n\nUniversale Bruderschaft. _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly\nsubscription, postpaid                                           1.50\n\n     J. Th. Heller, Vestnertorgraben 13, Nuernberg, Germany.\n\nLotus-Knoppen. _Illustrated._ Monthly. Yearly subscription,\npostpaid                                                          .75\n\n     A. Goud, Steentilstraat 40, Groningen, Holland.\n\nSubscriptions to the above four Magazines may be secured\nalso through the Theosophical Publishing Co., Point Loma,\nCalifornia.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nNeither the editors of the those publications, nor the officers of the\nUniversal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, or of any of\nits departments, receive salaries or other remuneration.\n\nAll profits arising from the business of The Theosophical Publishing Co.\nare devoted to Humanitarian Work. All who assist in this work are\ndirectly helping that cause.","title":"Studies in Occultism; A Series of Reprints from the Writings of H. P. Blavatsky: No. 1: Practical Occultism\u2014Occultism versus the Occult; Arts\u2014The Blessings of Publicity","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":10382}