{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_59038/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_59038","id":"gutenberg_59038","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59038","summary":null,"tags":["Category: American Literature","Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Theosophy -- Periodicals"],"text":"Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images\nmade available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin hyphenation and ligatures have been standardised but all other\nspelling and punctuation remains unchanged. In particular * are used\nfrequently throughout in various quantities and spacings. These have\nbeen reproduced as nearly as possible.\n\nRythm is spelled thus throughout and has not been corrected\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_.\n\nFootnotes are presented at the end of each volume.\n\n\n\n\n [Illustration]\n\n THE PATH.\n\n A MAGAZINE DEVOTED\n\n TO\n\n THE BROTHERHOOD OF HUMANITY, THEOSOPHY IN\n\n AMERICA, AND THE STUDY OF OCCULT\n\n SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND\n\n ARYAN LITERATURE.\n\n VOL. I.\u20141886-\u20197.\n\n PUBLISHED AND EDITED AT NEW YORK\n BY WILLIAM Q. JUDGE.\n 1887.\n\n\n\n\n Copyright 1887, by\n WILLIAM Q. JUDGE.\n\n\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I, 1886-1887.\n\n\n\n\n INDEX.\n\n\n A\n\n PAGE\n A Year on the Path 353\n\n Activities in Theosophy 30, 32, 62, 64, 95, 96, 127, 158,\n 191, 223\n Animal Magnetism and Star Colors 129\n\n Announcement 288\n\n Apollonius and Mahatmas 197, 274\n\n AUM 4\n\n\n B\n\n Biogen Series 124\n\n Body, Polarity of 84\n\n Boehme, Jacob, on Soul of Man 149\n\n Buddha\u2019s Religion, Nature and Office of 24\n\n\n C\n\n Caballah of Old Testament 8, 103, 134\n\n Chela\u2019s Diary, Hindu 65, 97, 131, 169\n\n Christianity, What is True 355\n\n Common Sense of Theosophy 225\n\n Corner Stone, The 215\n\n Correspondence 59, 93, 95, 124, 188, 320\n\n\n D\n\n Diary of Hindu Chela 65, 97, 131, 169\n\n\n E\n\n Effects of Thought 341\n\n Elementals and Elementary Spirits 289, 321\n\n Environment 346\n\n Evolution of Individual and Reticence of Mahatmas 184\n\n Evolution and Rotation 304\n\n\n G\n\n Gates of Gold, Through the 372\n\n\n H\n\n Heralds from the Unseen 361\n\n Hermes Trismegistus 167\n\n Hermetic Philosophy 87, 112, 281\n\n Higher Life, Living the 114, 152\n\n Hindu Chela\u2019s Diary 65, 97, 131, 169\n\n Hindu Symbolism 220, 251, 334, 371\n\n Human Body, Polarity of 84\n\n\n I\n\n Individual Evolution 184, 304\n\n Inworld and Outworld 56\n\n\n K\n\n Kaballah 8, 103, 134\n\n Karma 175\n\n\n L\n\n Light on the Path 335\n\n Lines from Lower Levels 263\n\n Literary Notes 28, 55, 89, 92, 124, 156, 189, 222, 287, 319\n\n Living the Higher Life 114, 152\n\n\n M\n\n Magic, Considerations on 377\n\n Mahatmas and Apollonius 197, 274\n \u201e Reticence of 184\n \u201e Theosophical 257\n\n Man, Soul of 149\n\n\n Master, Teachings of, The 253, 278\n\n Mohammedanism or Sufism 41, 68, 108, 139, 180, 199\n\n Morals, Theosophic 161, 165\n\n Musings on True Theosophist\u2019s Path 155, 208, 339\n\n Mystery of Numbers 37\n\n\n N\n\n Nature and Office of Buddha\u2019s Religion 24\n\n Numbers, Mystery of 37\n\n\n O\n\n Occultism, Poetical 211, 245, 270, 331, 383\n\n Old Testament Caballah 8, 103, 134\n\n\n P\n\n Papyrus 359\n\n Path, A Year on the 353\n \u201e Light on the 335\n \u201e The 188, 189\n\n Plato 102\n\n Poetry 56, 384\n\n Poetical Occultism 211, 245, 270, 331, 383\n\n Polarity of Human Body 84\n\n Prophecy, Theosophical 27, 57\n\n\n R\n\n Reincarnation and Spirits 232, 320\n\n Religion of Buddha 24\n\n Reticence of Mahatmas 184\n\n Reviews 28, 55, 89, 92, 124, 156, 189, 222, 287, 319\n\n Rosicrucians, Society of 217\n\n Rotation and Individual Evolution 304\n\n\n S\n\n Salutatory 1\n\n Sanscrit Pronunciation 95\n\n Seership 14\n\n Singing Silences 144\n\n Society of the Rosicrucians 217\n\n Solitude, Thoughts in 308\n\n Soul of Man 149\n\n Spirits and Reincarnation, Theories About 232, 320\n\n Studies in the Upanishads 33, 121\n\n Sufism 41, 68, 108, 139, 180, 199\n\n Symbolism, Hindu 220, 251, 334, 370\n \u201e Theosophical 51\n\n\n T\n\n Tea Table Talk 284, 314, 348, 380\n\n Teachings of The Master 253, 278\n\n Theories About Reincarnation and Spirits 232, 320\n\n Theosophic Morals 161, 165\n\n Theosophical Activities 30, 32, 62, 64, 95, 96, 127, 158,\n 191, 222, 317\n Theosophical Mahatmas 257\n\n Theosophical Society, What is the 193, 300\n\n Theosophical Symbolism 51\n\n Theosophist\u2019s Path, Musings on the True 155, 208, 339\n\n Theosophy, Common Sense of 225\n\n Thought Effects 341\n\n Thoughts in Solitude 308, 367\n\n Through the Gates of Gold 372\n\n True Christianity, What is 355\n\n\n U\n\n Udgitha, What is the 61\n\n Universal Unity 384\n\n Unwritten Message Becomes Visible 93\n\n Upanishads, Studies in the 33, 121\n\n\n W\n\n What is the Theosophical Society? 193, 300\n\n What is True Christianity? 355\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n Unveil, O Thou who givest sustenance to the world, that face of the\n true sun, which is now hidden by a vase of golden light! so that we\n may see the truth, and know our whole duty.\n\n In him who knows that all spiritual beings are the same in kind\n with the Supreme Spirit, what room can there be for delusion of\n mind, and what room for sorrow, when he reflects on the identity of\n spirit.\u2014_Yajur Veda._\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. APRIL, 1886. NO. 1.\n\n _The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\n or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\n contained in an official document._\n\n Where any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\n alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor\n will be accountable.\n\n\nThis magazine is not intended either to replace or to rival in America\n_The Theosophist_, nor any other journal now published in the interest\nof Theosophy.\n\nWhether we are right in starting it the future alone will determine. To\nus it appears that there is a field and a need for it in this country.\nNo cultivating of this field is necessary, for it is already ripe.\n\n_The Theosophist_ is the organ of the Theosophical Society, now\nspread all over the civilized world, its readers and subscribers are\neverywhere, and yet there are many persons who will not subscribe for\nit although they are aware of its existence; and furthermore, being an\nIndian publication, it necessarily follows, because of certain peculiar\ncircumstances, that it cannot be brought to the attention of a large\nclass of persons whom this journal will endeavor to reach.\n\nBut while the founders of THE PATH are Theosophists, they do not speak\nauthoritatively for the Theosophical Society. It is true that had they\nnever heard of Theosophy, or were they not members of the Society, they\nwould not have thought of bringing out this magazine, the impulse for\nwhich arose directly from Theosophical teachings and literature.\n\nIt is because they are men, and therefore interested in anything\nconcerning the human race, that they have resolved to try on the one\nhand to point out to their fellows a Path in which they have found hope\nfor man, and on the other to investigate all systems of ethics and\nphilosophy claiming to lead directly to such a path, regardless of the\npossibility that the highway may, after all, be in another direction\nfrom the one in which they are looking. From their present standpoint\nit appears to them that the true path lies in the way pointed out by\nour Aryan forefathers, philosophers and sages, whose light is still\nshining brightly, albeit that this is now Kali Yuga, or the age of\ndarkness.\n\nThe solution of the problem, \u201cWhat and Where is the Path to Happiness,\u201d\nhas been discovered by those of old time. They thought it was in the\npursuit of Raja Yoga, which is the highest science and the highest\nreligion\u2014a union of both. In elaborating this, they wrote much more\nthan we can hope to master in the lifetime of this journal, and they\nhave had many kinds of followers, many devotees, who, while earnestly\ndesiring to arrive at truth, have erred in favor of the letter of the\nteachings. Such are some of the mendicants of Hindoostan who insist\nupon the verbal repetition of OM for thousands of times, or upon the\npractice of postures and breathing alone, forgetting that over all\nstands the real man, at once the spectator of and sufferer by these\nmistakes. _This is not the path._\n\nAt the same time we do not intend to slight the results arrived at by\nothers who lived within our own era. They shall receive attention,\nfor it may be that the mind of the race has changed so as to make it\nnecessary now to present truths in a garb which in former times was of\nno utility. Whatever the outer veil, the truth remains ever the same.\n\nThe study of what is now called \u201cpractical occultism\u201d has some interest\nfor us, and will receive the attention it may merit, but is not _the_\nobject of this journal. We regard it as incidental to the journey\nalong the path. The traveller, in going from one city to another, has,\nperhaps, to cross several rivers; may be his conveyance fails him and\nhe is obliged to swim, or he must, in order to pass a great mountain,\nknow engineering in order to tunnel through it, or is compelled to\nexercise the art of locating his exact position by observation of the\nsun; but all that is only incidental to his main object of reaching\nhis destination. We admit the existence of hidden, powerful forces in\nnature, and believe that every day greater progress is made toward an\nunderstanding of them. Astral body formation, clairvoyance, looking\ninto the astral light, and controlling elementals, is all possible, but\nnot all profitable. The electrical current, which when resisted in the\ncarbon, produces intense light, may be brought into existence by any\nignoramus, who has the key to the engine room and can turn the crank\nthat starts the dynamo, but is unable to prevent his fellow man or\nhimself from being instantly killed, should that current accidentally\nbe diverted through his body. The control of these hidden forces is not\neasily obtained, nor can phenomena be produced without danger, and in\nour view the attainment of true wisdom is not by means of phenomena,\nbut through the development which begins within. Besides that, mankind\nin the mass are not able to reach to phenomena, while every one can\nunderstand right thought, right speech, and right action.\n\nTrue occultism is clearly set forth in the _Bhagavat-Gita_, and _Light\non the Path_, where sufficient stress is laid upon practical occultism,\nbut after all, Krishna says, the kingly science and the kingly mystery\nis devotion to and study of the light which comes from within. The very\nfirst step in true mysticism and true occultism is to try to apprehend\nthe meaning of Universal Brotherhood, without which the very highest\nprogress in the practice of magic turns to ashes in the mouth.\n\nWe appeal, therefore, to all who wish to raise themselves and\ntheir fellow creatures\u2014man and beast\u2014out of the thoughtless jog\ntrot of selfish every-day life. It is not thought that Utopia can\nbe established in a day; but through the spreading of the idea of\nUniversal Brotherhood, the truth in all things may be discovered.\nCertainly, if we all say that it is useless, that such highly strung,\nsentimental notions cannot obtain currency, nothing will ever be done.\nA beginning must be made, and has been by the Theosophical Society.\nAlthough philanthropic institutions and schemes are constantly being\nbrought forward by good and noble men and women, vice, selfishness,\nbrutality and the resulting misery, seem to grow no less. Riches are\naccumulating in the hands of the few, while the poor are ground harder\nevery day as they increase in number. Prisons, asylums for the outcast\nand the magdalen, can be filled much faster than it is possible to\nerect them. All this points unerringly to the existence of a vital\nerror somewhere. It shows that merely healing the outside by hanging a\nmurderer or providing asylums and prisons, will never reduce the number\nof criminals nor the hordes of children born and growing up in hot-beds\nof vice. What is wanted is true knowledge of the spiritual condition of\nman, his aim and destiny. This is offered to a reasonable certainty in\nthe Aryan literature, and those who must begin the reform, are those\nwho are so fortunate as to be placed in the world where they can see\nand think out the problems all are endeavoring to solve, even if they\nknow that the great day may not come until after their death. Such a\nstudy leads us to accept the utterance of Prajapati to his sons: \u201cBe\nrestrained, be liberal, be merciful;\u201d it is the death of selfishness.\n\n\n AUM!\n\nThe most sacred mystic syllable of the Vedas, is Aum. It is the first\nletter of the Sanscrit alphabet, and by some it is thought to be the\nsound made by a new born child when the breath is first drawn into the\nlungs. The daily prayers of the Hindu Brahmin are begun and ended with\nit, and the ancient sacred books say that with that syllable the gods\nthemselves address the most Holy One.\n\nIn the Chandogya Upanishad its praises are sung in these words:[1]\n\n Let a man meditate on the syllable OM called the udgitha,[2] * * it is\n the best of all essences, the highest, deserving the highest place,\n the eighth.\n\nIt is then commanded to meditate on this syllable as the breath, of two\nkinds, in the body\u2014the vital breath and the mere breath in the mouth\nor lungs, for by this meditation come knowledge and proper performance\nof sacrifice. In verse 10 is found: \u201cNow, therefore, it would seem to\nfollow that both he who knows the true meaning of OM, and he who does\nnot, perform the same sacrifice. But this is not so, for knowledge\nand ignorance are different. The sacrifice which a man performs with\nknowledge, faith and the Upanishad is more powerful.\u201d\n\nOutwardly the same sacrifice is performed by both, but that performed\nby him who has knowledge, and has meditated on the secret meaning of\nOM partakes of the qualities inhering in OM, which need just that\nknowledge and faith as the medium through which they may become visible\nand active. If a jeweler and a mere ploughman sell a precious stone,\nthe knowledge of the former bears better fruit than the ignorance of\nthe latter.\n\nShankaracharya in his _Sharir Bhashya_, dwells largely on OM, and in\nthe _Vayu Purana_, a whole chapter is devoted to it. Now as Vayu is\nair, we can see in what direction the minds of those who were concerned\nwith that purana were tending. They were analyzing sound, which will\nlead to discoveries of interest regarding the human spiritual and\nphysical constitution. In sound is tone, and tone is one of the most\nimportant and deep reaching of all natural things. By tone, the natural\nman, and the child, express the feelings, just as animals in their\ntones make known their nature. The tone of the voice of the tiger is\nquite different from that of the dove, as different as their natures\nare from each other, and if the sights, sounds and objects in the\nnatural world mean anything, or point the way to any laws underlying\nthese differences, then there is nothing puerile in considering the\nmeaning of tone.\n\nThe Padma Purana says that: \u201cThe syllable OM is the leader of all\nprayers; let it therefore be employed in the beginning of all prayers,\u201d\nand Manu, in his laws, ordains: \u201cA Brahmin, at the beginning and end\nof a lesson on the Vedas, must always pronounce the syllable OM, for\nunless OM precede, his learning will slip away from him, and unless it\nfollows, nothing will be long retained.\u201d\n\nThe celebrated Hindoo Raja, Ramohun Roy, in a treatise on this letter,\nsays:\n\n\u201cOM, when considered as one letter, uttered by the help of one\narticulation, is the symbol of the Supreme Spirit. \u2018One letter (OM) is\nthe emblem of the Most High, Manu II, 83.\u2019 But when considered as a\ntriliteral word consisting of \u0905 (a), \u0909 (u), \u092e (m), it implies the three\n_Vedas_, the three _states_ of human nature, the three _divisions_ of\nthe universe, and the three _deities_\u2014Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, agents\nin the _creation_, _preservation_ and _destruction_ of this world; or,\nproperly speaking, the three principal attributes of the Supreme Being\npersonified in those three deities. In this sense it implies in fact\nthe universe controlled by the Supreme Spirit.\u201d\n\nNow we may consider that there is pervading the whole universe a single\nhomogeneous resonance, sound, or tone, which acts, so to speak, as the\nawakener or vivifying power, stirring all the molecules into action.\nThis is what is represented in all languages by the vowel _a_, which\ntakes precedence of all others. This is the word, the _verbum_, the\n_Logos_ of St. John of the Christians, who says: \u201cIn the beginning was\nthe Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.\u201d[3] This\nis creation, for without this resonance or motion among the quiescent\nparticles, there would be no visible universe. That is to say, upon\nsound, or as the Aryans called it, _Nada Brahma_ (divine resonance),\ndepends the evolution of the visible from the invisible.\n\nBut this sound _a_, being produced, at once alters itself into _au_,\nso that the second sound _u_, is that one made by the first in\ncontinuing its existence. The vowel _u_, which in itself is a compound\none, therefore represents preservation. And the idea of preservation\nis contained also in creation, or evolution, for there could not be\nanything to preserve, unless it had first come into existence.\n\nIf these two sounds, so compounded into one, were to proceed\nindefinitely, there would be of course no destruction of them. But it\nis not possible to continue the utterance further than the breath, and\nwhether the lips are compressed, or the tongue pressed against the\nroof of the mouth, or the organs behind that used, there will be in\nthe finishing of the utterance the closure or _m_ sound, which among\nthe Aryans had the meaning of _stoppage_. In this last letter there\nis found the destruction of the whole word or letter. To reproduce it\na slight experiment will show that by no possibility can it be begun\nwith _m_, but that _au_ invariably commences even the utterance of _m_\nitself. Without fear of successful contradiction, it can be asserted\nthat all speech begins with _au_, and the ending, or destruction of\nspeech, is in _m_.\n\nThe word \u201ctone\u201d is derived from the Latin and Greek words meaning\nsound and tone. In the Greek the word \u201ctonos\u201d means a \u201cstretching\u201d\nor \u201cstraining.\u201d As to the character of the sound, the word \u201ctone\u201d is\nused to express all varieties, such as high, low, grave, acute, sweet\nand harsh sounds. In music it gives the peculiar quality of the sound\nproduced, and also distinguishes one instrument from another; as rich\ntone, reedy tone, and so on. In medicine, it designates the state of\nthe body, but is there used more in the signification of strength, and\nrefers to strength or tension. It is not difficult to connect the use\nof the word in medicine with the divine resonance of which we spoke,\nbecause we may consider tension to be the vibration, or quantity\nof vibration, by which sound is apprehended by the ear, and if the\nwhole system gradually goes down so that its tone is lowered without\nstoppage, the result will at last be dissolution for that collection of\nmolecules. In painting, the tone also shows the general drift of the\npicture, just as it indicates the same thing in morals and manners. We\nsay, \u201ca low tone of morals, an elevated tone of sentiment, a courtly\ntone of manners,\u201d so that tone has a signification which is applied\nuniversally to either good or bad, high or low. And the only letter\nwhich we can use to express it, or symbolize it, is the _a_ sound, in\nits various changes, long, short and medium. And just as the _tone_ of\nmanners, of morals, of painting, of music, means the real character of\neach, in the same way the tones of the various creatures, including man\nhimself, mean or express the real character; and all together joined\nin the deep murmur of nature, go to swell the _Nada Brahma_, or Divine\nresonance, which at last is heard as the music of the spheres.\n\nMeditation on tone, as expressed in this Sanscrit word OM, will lead\nus to a knowledge of the secret Doctrine. We find expressed in the\nmerely mortal music the seven divisions of the divine essence, for as\nthe microcosm is the little copy of the macrocosm, even the halting\nmeasures of man contain the little copy of the whole, in the seven\ntones of the octave. From that we are led to the seven colors, and so\nforward and upward to the Divine radiance which is the Aum. For the\nDivine Resonance, spoken of above, is not the Divine Light itself. The\nResonance is only the outbreathing of the first sound of the entire\nAum. This goes on during what the Hindoos call a Day of Brahma, which,\naccording to them, lasts a thousand ages.[4] It manifests itself not\nonly as the power which stirs up and animates the particles of the\nUniverse, but also in the evolution and dissolution of man, of the\nanimal and mineral kingdom, and of solar systems. Among the Aryans\nit was represented in the planetary system by Mercury, who has always\nbeen said to govern the intellectual faculties, and to be the universal\nstimulator. Some old writers have said that it is shown through\nMercury, amongst mankind, by the universal talking of women.\n\nAnd wherever this Divine Resonance is closed or stopped by death or\nother change, the Aum has been uttered there. These utterances of Aum\nare only the numerous microcosmic enunciations of the Word, which is\nuttered or completely ended, to use the Hermetic or mystical style of\nlanguage, only when the great Brahm stops the outbreathing, closes\nthe vocalization, by the _m_ sound, and thus causes the universal\ndissolution. This universal dissolution is known in the Sanscrit and\nin the secret Doctrine, as the _Maha Pralaya_; _Maha_ being \u201cthe\ngreat,\u201d and _Pralaya_ \u201cdissolution.\u201d And so, after thus arguing, the\nancient Rishees of India said: \u201cNothing is begun or ended; everything\nis changed, and that which we call death is only a transformation.\u201d\nIn thus speaking they wished to be understood as referring to the\nmanifested universe, the so-called death of a sentient creature being\nonly a transformation of energy, or a change of the mode and place of\nmanifestation of the Divine Resonance. Thus early in the history of the\nrace the doctrine of conservation of energy was known and applied. The\nDivine Resonance, or the _au_ sound, is the universal energy, which\nis conserved during each Day of Brahma, and at the coming on of the\ngreat Night is absorbed again into the whole. Continually appearing\nand disappearing it transforms itself again and again, covered from\ntime to time by a veil of matter called its visible manifestation, and\nnever lost, but always changing itself from one form to another. And\nherein can be seen the use and beauty of the Sanscrit. Nada Brahma is\nDivine Resonance; that is, after saying _Nada_, if we stopped with\nBrahm, logically we must infer that the _m_ sound at the end of Brahm\nsignified the Pralaya, thus confuting the position that the Divine\nResonance existed, for if it had stopped it could not be resounding.\nSo they added an _a_ at the end of the Brahm, making it possible to\nunderstand that as _Brahma_ the sound was still manifesting itself.\nBut time would not suffice to go into this subject as it deserves, and\nthese remarks are only intended as a feeble attempt to point out the\nreal meaning and purpose of Aum.\n\nFor the above reasons, and out of the great respect we entertain for\nthe wisdom of the Aryans, was the symbol adopted and placed upon the\ncover of this magazine and at the head of the text. With us OM has a\nsignification. It represents the constant undercurrent of meditation,\nwhich ought to be carried on by every man, even while engaged in the\nnecessary duties of this life. There is for every conditioned being a\ntarget at which the aim is constantly directed. Even the very animal\nkingdom we do not except, for it, below us, awaits its evolution into a\nhigher state; it unconsciously perhaps, but nevertheless actually, aims\nat the same target.\n\n\u201cHaving taken the bow, the great weapon, let him place on it the arrow,\nsharpened by devotion. Then, having drawn it with a thought directed\nto that which is, hit the mark, O friend\u2014the Indestructible. OM is the\nbow, the Self is the arrow, Brahman is called its aim. It is to be hit\nby a man who is not thoughtless; and then as the arrow becomes one\nwith the target, he will become one with Brahman. Know him alone as\nthe Self, and leave off other words. He is the bridge of the Immortal.\nMeditate on the Self as OM. Hail to you that you may cross beyond the\nsea of darkness.\u201d[5]\n HADJI-ERINN.\n AUM!\n\n\n KABBALAH.\n\nThe Kabbalah was formerly a tradition, as the word implies, and is\ngenerally supposed to have originated with the Jewish Rabbins. The word\nis of Hebrew origin, but the esoteric science it represents did not\noriginate with the Jews; they merely recorded what had previously been\ntraditional.\n\nThe Kabbalah is a system of philosophy and theosophy, that was obtained\nat a very remote period of time by the wise men of the east, through\nthe unfoldment of the intuitive perceptions.\n\nSelf consciousness forms the basis of mind, and knowledge is acquired\nthrough the reception of activities from without, which are recorded\nin consciousness; there are two sources through which knowledge is\nreceived\u2014one subjective, the other objective. The former gives us\na knowledge of the causal side of the cosmos, and the latter, the\nobjective or material side, which is the world of effects, on account\nof being evolved from the former.\n\n \u201cThe outward doth from the inward roll,\n And the inward dwells in the inmost soul.\u201d\n\nIf this be true, the great first cause\u2014God, has evolved out of\nHimself the esoteric or subjective world, in which He is to be found\nmanifested. Out of the subjective, by change of energy and substance\nthrough law, He evolved the objective world. Therefore, the antecedents\nof the objective are to be found in the unseen or invisible portion of\nthe universe. In a work we are preparing for the press, which has been\na study for over thirty years, we will show what spirit is, that it is\nself-generating and self-sustaining, and from it, through volition, the\ncosmos was evolved.\n\nDo not understand by the above remark that spirit becomes matter,\nthrough evolution, and that the universe is a huge _Divine\nPersonality_. We have too high a conception and reverence for Deity,\nto suppose for an instant, that He became a material being through\nthe evolution of the universe. He is not in any manner _personally\nassociated_ with _either_ the esoteric or exoteric cosmos. _Spirit\nis distinct from matter but not from energy; energy is the source of\nmatter. It is therefore through energy and law that God is associated\nwith the universe. The law is His Providence, and His will the\nexecutive._ A miracle is an impossibility, for it requires a suspension\nof the law upon which the universe is reared. To suspend this law\nfor one moment, would disarrange the harmony of the entire universe.\nTherefore, the suspension of this unique law, which controls energy\nin the production of substance and matter, would immediately suspend\nevolution, and the entire universe and all that is associated with it,\nwould at once become disintegrated.\n\nThe Providential law, being one of harmony, applies to everything\noutside of the spirit of God, and therefore cannot be violated with\nimpunity. The beauties of nature result from its harmony, and when it\nis violated, discord ensues. We see this in nationalities, society,\nindividuals, and in fact in all departments of nature. If the violation\ngoes beyond certain limits, revolution is the result, and if it is not\ncorrected, destruction naturally follows. The greater the violation\nthe more difficult it is to overcome the discordancy. Dissipation is\nsure to be rewarded with sickness, and if carried too far, with death.\nLuxury and licentiousness, if persisted in, will destroy society\nas well as nationalities. History affords us ample proof of this.\nThis law, no matter how slightly violated, brings its comparative\npunishment, and when obeyed, its corresponding reward.\n\nAfter these preliminary remarks, we turn to our subject, the Kabbalah,\nand show how it has been preserved and transmitted or handed down from\none generation to another. The study of external nature alone affords\nus no evidence of a future life\u2014on the contrary, it tends to disprove\nit, which accounts for the agnostic belief, which has become so\nprevalent of late years. In the investigation of external phenomena, we\nrecognize matter, energy and life; the latter we are told is the result\nof protoplasmic cell action\u2014the same of mind. The _continuity_ observed\nthrough all the departments of nature, implies that there is a law\ncontrolling energy in the production of forms. If energy had nothing\nto guide it, its movements would be erratic, and nature would become\na conglomerate discordant mass. Now, the existence of a law implies a\nlaw giver, for it is not self-creating or self-sustaining, therefore\nwe logically conclude that there is something back of material nature\nthat is not recognized by the external senses. What proof have we of\nthe existence of an external world, except through consciousness?\nAn unborn child, if it possessed reasoning faculties, would deny the\nexistence of its own mother. A person born blind can have no conception\nof the beauties of nature, and if the sense of touch be suspended\nwith that of sight, we could form no conception of solidity. If born\ndeaf, of the harmony and discord of sound or of music. _We therefore\nperceive that we can have no conception of the existence of an external\nworld, except through neural activities recorded in consciousness_,\nand without the unfoldment of the inner consciousness, we can form no\nopinion of a future life. In fact, logically speaking, we have the same\ngrounds for denying its existence as we would have of the external\nworld, providing objective consciousness was closed.\n\nThis accounts for the doubt, uncertainty, and fear respecting the\nfuture, which is intensified by the present system of religious\nteachings. The spiritual world is as much a reality as this, in fact\nmore so, for it undergoes no change, as this one does.\n\nThe study of Theosophy has demonstrated to the writer that there\nis another source of knowledge which can only be acquired through\nthe cultivation of a plane of consciousness, which is not reached\nby objective neural activities, but can be by unfoldment of inner\nconsciousness.\n\nIt is the development of this state of consciousness that brings us\n_en rapport_ with the esoteric world. The question now arises, how are\nwe to develop this much desired condition? It can only be accomplished\nthrough the harmony of the moral attributes of the spirit. Harmony\nis the only passport to Heaven, and the absence of harmony, which\nis discord, is the only passport to what christianity terms Hell.\nTherefore, heaven and hell are only conditions of the spirit, which are\nbeautifully illustrated in the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse, where\nit describes the angel descending from heaven, having the key of the\nbottomless pit, and a chain. With the key he unlocked hell, and with\nthe chain he bound the devil for a thousand years. The angel is the\nrepresentative of holiness and purity, which is only attained through\nthe harmony of the spirit; the key is a symbol of light, and the chain\nthat of truth; hell is supposed to be the abode of darkness, and the\ndevil a spirit of falsehood and error. We will now ask the question,\nis there anything to banish darkness, but light? Anything to disperse\nfalsehood and error, but truth?\n\nChrist was an Essene, and this secret order was a branch of the\nKabbalah. St. John was his favorite disciple, whom he fully initiated\ninto the mysteries. During this disciple\u2019s exile on the Isle of Patmos\nor Patmo, he wrote the Apocalypse, which is a profound Kabbalistic\nproduction, describing the unity, duality, ternary and septenary of\nthe Kabbalah. The ancient adepts found from experience, that in order\nto develop the interior or subjective consciousness, it was necessary\n(allegorically speaking) to \u201cwear the cloak of Apollonius;\u201d that is,\nto withdraw from the outer world, practice to the fullest extent,\nself-denial, and spend their wakeful moments in esoteric meditation.\nIn order to isolate themselves from society, they established secret\nsanctuaries, in which they met for mutual communion and religious\nexercises.\n\nAs they advanced in spiritual knowledge they found that there were\nvarious grades of harmony in the subjective or spiritual world, and\neach individual on leaving this life gravitated, as it were, to the\nsphere with which he was in harmony. They divided their sanctuaries\ninto seven degrees to correspond with the harmonies in esoteric nature,\nand to each degree there were three years of spiritual probation.\nAs harmony results from the analogy of contraries, there were as\nmany degrees of discord as there were of harmonies. The former they\ndesignated hell. The material cosmos, that is what we call the external\nworld, was, as it were, middle ground between the two, which they\ncalled Hades, into which the soul passed at death, and the spirit was\nmade cognizant of its record while on earth. Physical death, they\nclaimed was merely a change from a physical to a spiritual condition;\nthe soul or spiritual body being formed at the same time that the\nphysical was, but in a very different manner. After death, the soul\neither ascended or descended, depending not upon gravity, but upon\nharmony.\n\nIt will thus be perceived that each degree in the sanctuary required\na separate or distinct initiation for each one, which was intended to\nrepresent a higher state of moral and intellectual advancement. The\nlast or seventh degree was the one of perfection which brought about\nillumination, when the subjective world was as much a reality to the\ninward or subjective consciousness as the outward world is to the\nobjective. When this condition of moral and intellectual unfoldment\nwas obtained, all interest in this life was gone and the spirit\nlonged for separation from its physical casket. The neophyte seeking\nspiritual knowledge could only attain to the wisdom of the different\ndegrees by advancing morally, so as to be in harmony with the degrees.\nThe knowledge thus obtained was never recorded, but communicated\nverbally in symbolic language. By this means it was kept a profound\nsecret, and handed down traditionally. The first record we have of\nthe Kabbalah was made by Rabbi Akiba and Rabbi Simeon Ben Jochai; the\nformer compiled _The Sepher Jetzirah_, \u201cBook of Creation,\u201d and the\nlatter, _The Sepherhaz Sohar_, \u201cBook of Light.\u201d The first is regarded\nby the Kabbalist at the key of the second. The Sohar has never been\ntranslated, and as a late Bishop of the Church of England justly\nstates, never will be by a Christian. This is owing to its symbolic\ncharacter, which can only be interpreted by a Kabbalist. It is in three\nvolumes, in unpointed Hebrew, and consists of a mixture of Armenic\nand Semetic languages. The Sepher Jetzirah may be procured in three\nlanguages, the Hebrew, Latin and German.\n\n[Illustration: FIG. A. and FIG. B.]\n\nWe now come to the most interesting part of our subject. The key to\nthe Kabbalah is the \u201c_Word_,\u201d consisting of four Hebrew letters, which\nmay be arranged in a cross inclosed in a circle, Fig. A. The Christian\nKabbalist inserted the Hebrew letter Sin, as a representative of Christ\nin the ineffable name, Fig. B. The four-lettered name was the one given\nto Moses on the Mount, with the understanding that it represented his\n(Jehovah) verbalization in the universe. The Word was held in profound\nreverence by all, Kabbalists as well as the Jews, and all ancient\nsecret orders, and was never spoken audibly, in fact never mentioned,\nexcept in the last initiation, when it was whispered in the initiate\u2019s\near by the Grand Master of Ceremonies. The knowledge and power the Word\nconfers upon the recipient of its meaning is given in a fragment of\na clavicle of Solomon: \u201cI, Solomon, King of Israel and Palmyra, have\nsought and obtained in part, the Holy Chocmah, which is the wisdom\nof Adonai. I have become King of the spirit of heaven and of earth,\nmaster of the inhabitants of the air, and the souls of the sea, because\nI procured the key of the occult gate of light. I have accomplished\ngreat things by the virtue of _Schema Hamphorasch_, and by the\nthirty-two paths of the _Sepher Jetzirah_. Number, weight and measure\ndetermine the form of all things, substance is one, and God created\nit eternally. Happy is he who knows the letters and numbers; numbers\nare ideas, and ideas are forces, and forces Elohim. The synthesis of\nElohim is Schema. Schema is one, and its pillars are two, its power is\nthree, its form four. Its reflection gives eight, and eight multiplied\nby three, gives the twenty-four thrones of wisdom. On each throne\nrests a crown of three jewels, each jewel bears a name, each name an\nabsolute idea. There are seventy-two names on the twenty-four crowns\nof Schema. Thou shalt write these names on thirty-six talismans, two\non each talisman\u2014one on each side. Thou shalt divide these talismans\ninto four series of nine each, according to the number of the letters\nof the Schema. On the first series engrave the letter Jod, figure of\nthe blooming rod of Aaron; on the second series the letter He, figure\nof the cup of Joseph; on the third series the letter Vau, the figure\nof the source of David, my Father; on the fourth series the letter He,\nthe figure of the Jewish shekel. The thirty-six talismans will be a\nbook that will contain all the secrets of nature, and by their divers\ncombinations, thou wilt make the Genii and Angels speak.\u201d\n\nThe Schema represents the four-lettered name; when mathematically\nconstructed into seventy-two different forms, it is called\nSchema-hamphorasch, and represents seventy-two paths of wisdom, which\nconstitute the keys of universal science.\n\nThe history of the Kabbalah is yet to be written, which can only be\naccomplished by one versed in its secrets. Historians have not done\nit justice, they have debased it by associating it with necromancy or\nthe black art, which is to the Kabbalah what false religion is to pure\nChristianity. The kernel lies hidden in the rubbish of the past, where\nit has been preserved for future generations. When it is disrobed of\nits vile and obnoxious covering it will be found to have lost none of\nits beauty and brilliancy. The light of the Orient has been preserved\nby the wise men of the east, in symbols and allegorical language, and\nwhen the time arrives, which is not far distant, someone possessing the\nkey, which is the _Word_, will unlock its mysteries and bring it forth\nin its divine purity, to enlighten the present and future generations.\n\nThe cycle of Tritheme, which commenced in 1878, will prepare someone\nto bring it forth from its oblivion, and through its teachings a new\ntrain of thought will be instituted and an impetus given to the moral\nand emotional development which will be the harbinger of a bright\nfuture. Science will take new strides, religion will throw aside her\nthread-bare garment and assume a new dress, which will accord with\nthe teachings and example of Christ. When this occurs, the conflict\nbetween religion and science will cease and harmony be established.\nThe two then will be like brother and sister, aiding each other in the\ndevelopment of the intellectual and moral attributes of the spirit. It\nis no fault of science that a difference between them has occurred, it\nhas advanced while religion has been carrying on a warfare about creeds\nand dogmas, which has retarded her progress.\n\nChristianity of to-day is as different from what it was in the first\nand second centuries of the Christian era, as modern masonry is\ndifferent from what it was in ancient times. Religion has attempted to\ncontrol humanity through fear, having created a devil to keep man in\nsubjection, and force the belief that God, who is the quintessence of\npurity and holiness, is a vindictive and angry being, who takes delight\nin chastising those who through ignorance violate the Divine Law.\nWhile this religious conflict has been progressing, christianity has\ngradually lost its hold on the public mind. At the same time humanity\nlongs to know something of the future which science cannot give.\n\nHow is this emotional or moral want to be supplied? for humanity\ncannot progress intellectually beyond objective knowledge, without the\ndevelopment of the moral attributes. We venture the assertion that if\nthe same advancement had been made in the development of the emotional\nattributes of the spirit, as has been in the intellectual, there would\nhave been no agnosticism, and science would be far in advance of what\nit is. Science has about reached the limit of objective knowledge\nand cannot advance until it acquires a knowledge of this world\u2019s\nantecedents, which will enable it to correct numerous errors and give\nan impetus to further development. This cannot be done so long as they\nignore the existence of a subjective consciousness.\n\nThe Kabbalah embodies both philosophy and theosophy. The former\ngives us a knowledge of the universe, and the latter teaches man\nhow to know himself and his God. It will also elevate masonry and\nall secret organizations having their rise from it, by showing that\nancient masonry was not merely a social and beneficial order like\nmodern masonry, but an organization for the unfolding of the moral and\nintellectual attributes.\n\nThe Kabbalah has shown its fruits in philosophy through such minds as\nThales, Solon, Plato, Pythagoras, G\u00f6ethe, and many others. In religion\nthrough Zoroaster, Confucius, Christ, Old and New Testament, and the\nEarly Christians, and later through the United Brethren, to which Jacob\nBehmen belonged, and other theosophic sects. If the views we have\nadvanced be correct, that it is through the development of the inner\nconsciousness that man attains to a knowledge of the subjective or\ncausal world, and that the knowledge of the Kabbalah will enable us to\nunfold these faculties, how urgent we all should be to have its secrets\nrevealed.\n SETH PANCOAST.\n\n\n SEERSHIP.\n\nThe following remarks are not intended to be a critique upon the\nliterary merits or demerits of the poem which is taken as the subject\nof criticism. In 1882, _The Theosophist_[6] published a review of \u201cThe\nSeer, a Prophetic Poem,\u201d by Mr. H.\u202fG. Hellon, and as clairvoyance is\nmuch talked of in the West, it seemed advisable to use the verses\nof this poet for the purpose of inquiring, to some extent, into the\nwestern views of Seership, and of laying before my fellow seekers the\nviews of one brought up in a totally different school.\n\nI have not yet been able to understand with the slightest degree\nof distinctness, what state is known as \u201cSeership\u201d in the language\nof western mysticism. After trying to analyze the states of many\na \u201cseer,\u201d I am as far as ever from any probability of becoming\nwiser on the subject, as understood here, because it appears to me\nthat no classification whatever exists of the different states as\nexhibited on this side of the globe, but all the different states are\nheterogeneously mixed. We see the state of merely catching glimpses in\nthe astral light, denominated _seership_, at the same time that the\nvery highest illustrations of that state are called _trances_.\n\nAs far as I have yet been able to discover, \u201cSeership,\u201d as thus\nunderstood here, does not come up to the level of _Sushupti_,\nwhich is the dreamless state in which the mystic\u2019s highest\nconsciousness\u2014composed of his highest intellectual and ethical\nfaculties\u2014hunts for and seizes any knowledge he may be in need of. In\nthis state the mystic\u2019s lower nature is at rest (paralyzed): only his\nhighest nature roams into the ideal world in quest of food. By _lower\nnature_, I mean his physical, astral or psychic, lower emotional and\nintellectual principles, including the lower fifth.[7] Yet even the\nknowledge obtained during the Sushupti state must be regarded, from\nthis plane, as theoretical and liable to be mixed upon resuming the\napplication of the body, with falsehood and with the preconception of\nthe mystic\u2019s ordinary waking state, as compared with the true knowledge\nacquired during the several initiations. There is no guarantee held out\nfor any mystic that any experience, researches or knowledge that may\ncome within his reach in any other state whatever, is accurate, except\nin the mysteries of initiation.\n\nBut all these different states are necessary to growth. _Yagrata_\u2014our\nwaking state, in which all our physical and vital organs, senses and\nfaculties find their necessary exercise and development, is needed\nto prevent the physical organization from collapsing. _Swapna_\u2014dream\nstate, in which are included all the various states of consciousness\nbetween Yagrata and Sushupti, such as somnambulism, trance, dreams,\nvisions, &c.\u2014is necessary for the physical faculties to enjoy rest,\nand for the lower emotional and astral faculties to live, become\nactive, and develop; and _Sushupti_ state, comes about in order that\nthe consciousnesses of both Yagrata and Swapna states may enjoy rest,\nand for the fifth principle, which is the one active in Sushupti, to\ndevelop itself by appropriate exercise. In the equilibrium of these\nthree states lies true progress.\n\nThe knowledge acquired during Sushupti state, might or might not be\nbrought back to one\u2019s physical consciousness; all depends upon his\ndesires, and according as his lower consciousnesses are or are not\nprepared to receive and retain that knowledge.\n\nThe avenues of the ideal world are carefully guarded by elementals from\nthe trespass of the profane.\n\nLytton makes Mejnour say:[8] \u201cWe place our tests in ordeals\nthat purify the passions and elevate the desires. And nature in\nthis controls and assists us, for it places awful guardians and\nunsurmountable barriers between the ambitions of vice and the heaven of\nloftier science.\u201d\n\nThe desire for physical enjoyment, if rightly directed, becomes\nelevated, as a desire for something higher, gradually becoming\nconverted into a desire to do good to others, and thus ascending,\nceases to be a desire, and is transformed into an element of the sixth\nprinciple.\n\nThe control by nature to which Mejnour refers, in found in the natural\nmaximum and minimum limits; there cannot be too much ascension, nor can\nthe descent be too quick or too low. The assistance of nature is found\nin the Turya state, in which the adept takes one step and nature helps\nfor another.\n\nIn the Sushupti state, one might or might not find the object of his\nearnest search, and as soon as it is found, the moment the desire to\nbring it back to normal consciousness arises; that moment Sushupti\nstate is at an end for the time being. But one might often find himself\nin an awkward position, when he has left that state. The doors for\nthe descent of the truth into the lower nature are closed. Then his\nposition is beautifully described in an Indian proverb: \u201cThe bran in\nthe mouth and the fire are both lost.\u201d This is an allusion to a poor\ngirl who is eating bran, and at the same time wants to kindle the fire\njust going out before her. She blows it with the bran in her mouth; the\nbran falls on the dying ashes, extinguishing them completely; she is\nthus a double loser. In the Sushupti state, the anxiety which is felt\nto bring back the experience to consciousness, acts as the bran with\nthe fire. Anxiety to have or to do, instead of being a help as some\nimagine, is a direct injury, and if permitted to grow in our waking\nmoments, will act with all the greater force on the plane of Sushupti.\nThe result of these failures is clearly set forth by Patanjali.[9]\n\nEven where the doors to the lower consciousness are open, the knowledge\nbrought back from Sushupti state, might, owing to the distractions and\ndifficulties of the direct and indirect routes of ascent and descent,\nbe lost on the way either partially or wholly, or become mixed up with\nmisconceptions and falsehood.\n\nBut in this search for knowledge in Sushupti, there must not remain\na spark of indifference or idle inquisitiveness in the higher\nconsciousness. Not even a jot of lurking hesitation about entering\ninto the state, nor doubt about its desirability, nor about the\nusefulness or accuracy of the knowledge gleaned on former occasions,\nor to be presently gleaned. If there is any such doubt or hesitancy,\nhis progress is retarded. Nor can there be any cheating or hypocrisy,\nnor any laughing in the sleeve. In our normal wakeful state it always\nhappens that when we believe we are earnestly aspiring, some one or\nmore of the elements of one or more of our lower consciousnesses\nbelie us, make us feel deluded and laugh at us, for such is the\nself-inconsistent nature of desire.\n\nIn this state, which we are considering there are subjective and\nobjective states, or classes of knowledge and experience, even as\nthere are the same in Yagrata. So, therefore, great care should be\ntaken to make your aims and aspirations _as high as possible_ while in\nyour normal condition. Woe to him who would dare to trifle with the\nmeans placed at his disposal in the shape of Sushupti. One of the most\neffectual ways in which western mystics could trifle with this, is to\nseek for the missing links of evolution, so as to bring that knowledge\nto the normal consciousness, and then with it to extend the domain of\n\u201cscientific\u201d knowledge. Of course, from the moment such a desire is\nentertained, the one who has it is shut out from Sushupti.[10]\n\nThe mystic might be interested in analyzing the real nature of the\nobjective world, or in soaring up to the feet of _Manus_,[11] to the\nspheres where Manava intellect is busy shaping the mould for a future\nreligion, or had been shaping that of a past religion. But here the\nmaximum and minimum limits by which nature controls, are again to be\ntaken account of. One essential feature of Sushupti is, as far as can\nnow be understood, that the mystic must get at all truths through but\none source, or path, viz: through the divine world pertaining to his\nown lodge (or teacher), and through this path he might soar as high as\nhe can, though how much knowledge he can get is an open question.\n\nLet us now inquire what state is the seership of the author of our\npoem \u201cThe Seer,\u201d and try to discover the \u201chare\u2019s horns\u201d in it. Later on\nwe may try to peep into the states of Swedenborg, P.\u202fB. Randolph, and a\nfew of the \u201ctrained, untrained, natural born, self-taught, crystal, and\nmagic mirror seers.\u201d\n\nI look at this poem solely to point out mistakes so as to obtain\nmaterials for our study. There are beauties and truths in it which all\ncan enjoy.\n\nIn ancient days it was all very well for mystics to write figuratively\nso as to keep sacred things from the profane. Then symbolism was rife\nin the air with mysticism, and all the allegories were understood at\nonce by those for whom they were intended. But times have changed. In\nthis materialistic age it is known that the wildest misconceptions\nexist in the minds of many who are mystically and spiritually\ninclined. The generality of mystics and their followers are not\nfree from the superstitions and prejudices which have in church and\nscience their counterpart. Therefore in my humble opinion there can\nbe no justification for writing allegorically on mysticism, and by\npublication, placing such writings within reach of all. To do so is\npositively mischievous. If allegorical writings, and misleading novels\nare intended to popularize mysticism by removing existing prejudices,\nthen the writers ought to express their motives. It is an open question\nwhether the benefit resulting from such popularization is not more\nthan counterbalanced by the injury worked to helpless votaries of\nmysticism, who are misled. And there is less justification for our\npresent allegorical writers than there was for those of Lytton\u2019s time.\nMoreover, in the present quarter of our century, veils are thrown by\nsymbolical or misleading utterances, over much that can be safely given\nout in plain words. With these general remarks let us turn to \u201cThe\nSeer.\u201d\n\nIn the Invocation, addressed evidently to the Seer\u2019s guru,[12] we find\nthese words:\n\n \u201cWhen in delicious dreams I leave this life,\n And in sweet trance unveil its mysteries;\n Give me thy light, thy love, thy truth divine!\u201d\n\n_Trance_ here means only one of the various states known as cataleptic\nor somnambulic, but certainly neither Turya nor Sushupti. In such a\ntrance state very few of the mysteries of \u201cthis life,\u201d or even of\nthe state of trance itself, could be unveiled. The so-called Seer\ncan \u201cenjoy\u201d as harmlessly and as uselessly as a boy who idly swims\nin the lagoon, where he gains no knowledge and may end his sport\nin death. Even so is the one who swims, cuts capers, in the astral\nlight, and becomes lost in something strange which surpasses all his\ncomprehension. The difference between such a Seer and the ordinary\nsensualist, is, that the first indulges both his astral and physical\nsenses to excess, while the latter his physical senses only. These\noccultists fancy that they have removed their interest from _self_,\nwhen in reality they have only enlarged the limits of experience and\ndesire, and transferred their interest to the things which concern\ntheir larger span of life.[13]\n\nInvoking a Guru\u2019s blessings on your own higher nature for the purpose\nof sustaining you in this trance state, is as blasphemous and\nreprehensible an act of assisting descent, and conversion of higher\ninto lower energies, as to invoke your Guru to help you in excessive\nwine drinking; for the astral world is also material. To be able to\nsolve the mysteries of any consciousness whatever, even of the lowest\nphysical, while in trance, is as vain a boast of the hunters for such\na state, as that of physiologists or mesmerists. While you are in\ntrance state, if you are not ethical enough in your nature, you will be\ntempted and forced, by your powerful lower elements, to pry into the\nsecrets of your neighbors, and then, on returning to your normal state,\nto slander them. The surest way to draw down your higher nature into\nthe miry abyss of your physical and astral world, and thus to animalize\nyourself, is to go into trance or to aspire for clairvoyance.\n\n \u201cAnd thou, (Guru) left me looking upward through the veil,\n To gaze into thy goal and follow thee!\u201d\n\nThese lines are highly presumptuous. It is impossible, even for a very\nhigh Hierophant, in _any of his states whatever_, to gaze into his\nGuru\u2019s goal;[14] his subjective consciousness can but _barely_ come up\nto the level of the normal or objective consciousness of his Guru. It\nis only during the initiation that the initiated sees not only his own\nimmediate goal, but also Nirvana, which of course includes his Guru\u2019s\ngoal also; but after the ceremony is over he recollects only his own\nimmediate goal for his next \u201cclass,\u201d but nothing beyond that.[15] This\nis what is meant by the God Jehovah saying to Moses: \u201cAnd I will take\naway mine hand and Thou shalt see my back, but my face shall not be\nseen.\u201d And in the Rig Veda it is said:[16] \u201cDark is the path of Thee,\nwho art bright; the light is before Thee.\u201d\n\nMr. Hellon opens his poem with a quotation from _Zanoni_: \u201cMan\u2019s first\ninitiation is in trance; in dreams commence all human knowledge, in\ndreams he hovers over measureless space, the first faint bridge between\nspirit and spirit\u2014this world and the world beyond.\u201d\n\nAs this is a passage often quoted approvingly, and recognized as\ncontaining no misconceptions, I may be permitted to pass a few remarks,\nfirst, upon its intrinsic merits, and secondly, on Lytton himself and\nhis Zanoni. I shall not speak of the rage which prevails among mystical\nwriters, for quoting without understanding what they quote.\n\nIn _Swapna_ state man gets human, unreliable knowledge, while divine\nknowledge begins to come in Sushupti state. Lytton has here thrown\na gilded globule of erroneous ideas to mislead the unworthy and\ninquisitive mysticism hunters, who unconsciously price the globule. It\nis not too much to say that such statements in these days, instead of\naiding us to discover the true path, but give rise to numberless patent\nremedies for the evils of life, remedies which can never accomplish a\ncure. Man-made edifices called true Raja Yoga,[17] evolved in trance,\narise confronting each other, conflicting with each other, and out of\nharmony in themselves. Then not only endless disputation arises, but\nalso bigotry, while the devoted and innocent seekers after truth are\nmisled, and scientific, intelligent, competent men, are scared away\nfrom any attempt to examine the claims of the true science. As soon as\nsome one sided objective truth is discovered by a Mesmer, a defender\nof ancient Yoga Vidya,[18] blows a trumpet crying out, \u201cYoga is self\nmesmerization, mesmerism is _the key_ to it, and animal magnetism\ndevelops spirituality and is itself spirit, God, Atman,\u201d deluding\nhimself with the idea that he is assisting humanity and the cause of\ntruth, unconscious of the fact that he is thus only degrading Yoga\nVidya. The ignorant medium contends that her \u201ccontrol\u201d is divine.\nThere seems to be little difference between the claims of these two\nclasses of dupes, and the materialist who sets up a protoplasm in the\nplace of God. Among the innumerable hosts of desecrated terms are\n_Trance_, _Yoga_, _Turya_, _initiation_, &c. It is therefore no wonder\nthat Lytton, in a novel, has desecrated it and misapplied it to a mere\nsemi-cataleptic state. I, for one prefer, always to limit the term\n_Initiation_ to its true sense, viz., those sacred ceremonies in which\nalone \u201cIsis is unveiled.\u201d\n\nMan\u2019s first initiation is _not_ in trance, as Lytton means. Trance is\nan artificial, waking, somnambulistic state, in which one can learn\nnothing at all about the real nature of the elements of our physical\nconsciousness, and much less any of any other. None of Lytton\u2019s\nadmirers seems to have thought that he was chaffing at occultism,\nalthough he believed in it, and was not anxious to throw pearls before\nswine. Such a hierophant as Mejnour\u2014not Lytton himself\u2014could not have\nmistaken the tomfoolery of somnambulism for even the first steps in\nRaja Yoga. This can be seen from the way in which Lytton gives out\nabsolutely erroneous ideas about occultism, while at the same time\nhe shows a knowledge which he could not have, did he believe himself\nin his own chaffing. It is pretty well recognized that he at last\nfailed, after some progress in occultism as a high accepted disciple.\nHis Glyndon might be Lytton, and Glyndon\u2019s sister Lady Lytton. The\nhieroglyphics of a book given him to decipher, and which he brought out\nas Zanoni, must be allegorical. The book is really the master\u2019s ideas\nwhich the pupil\u2019s highest consciousness endeavors to read. But they\nwere only the mere commonplaces of the master\u2019s mind. The profane and\nthe cowardly always say that the master descends to the plane of the\npupil. Such can never happen. And precipitation of messages from the\nmaster is only possible when the pupil\u2019s highest ethical and intuitive\nfaculties reach the level of the master\u2019s normal and objective state.\nIn Zanoni, this is veiled by the assertion that he had to _read_ the\nhieroglyphics\u2014they did not _speak_ to him. And he confesses in the\npreface that he is by no means sure that he has correctly deciphered\nthem. \u201cEnthusiasm,\u201d he says, \u201cis when that part of the soul which\nis above intellect, soars up to the Gods, and there derives the\ninspiration.\u201d Errors will therefore be due to wilful misstatements or\nto his difficulty in reading the cipher.\n\n \u201cIn dreams I see a world so fair,\n That life would love to linger there;\n And pass from this to that bright sphere.\n In dreams ecstatic, pure and free,\n Strange forms my inward senses see,\n While hands mysterious welcome me.\u201d\n\nSuch indefinite descriptions are worse than useless. The inward senses\nare psychic senses, and their perceiving strange forms and mere\nappearances in the astral world is not useful or instructive. Forms\nand appearances in the astral light are legion, and take their shape\nnot only from the seer\u2019s mind unknown to himself, but are also in many\ncases, reflections for other people\u2019s minds.\n\n \u201cOh, why should mine be ever less\n And light ineffable bless\n Thee, in thy starry loneliness,\u201d\n\nseems to be utterly unethical. Here the seer is in the first place\njealous of the light possessed by his guru, or he is grasping in the\ndark, ignorant even of the _rationale_ of himself being in lower states\nthan his guru. However, Mr. Hellon has not erred about the existence\nof such a feeling. It does and should exist in the trance and dreaming\nstate. In our ordinary waking state, attachments, desires, &c., are the\nvery life of our physical senses, and in the same way the emotional\nenergies manifest themselves on the astral plane in order to feed and\nfatten the seer\u2019s astral senses, sustaining them during his trance\nstate. Unless thus animated, his astral nature would come to rest.\n\nNo proof is therefore needed for the proposition that any state which\nis sustained by desires and passions cannot be regarded as anything\nmore than as a means for developing one part of the animal nature. Van\nHelmont is of the same opinion as Mr. Hellon.[19] We cannot, therefore,\nfor a moment believe that in such a state the \u201cI\u201d of that state is\n_Atman_.[20] It is only the false \u201cI\u201d; the vehicle for the real one.\nIt is _Ahank\u00e1ra_\u2014lower self, or individuality of the waking state, for\neven in trance state, the lower sixth principle plays no greater part\nand develops no more than in the wakeful state. The change is only\nin the field of action: from the waking one to the astral plane, the\nphysical one remaining more or less at rest. Were it otherwise, we\nwould find somnambules day by day exhibiting increase of intellect,\nwhereas this does not occur.\n\nSuppose that we induce the trance state in an illiterate man. He can\nthen read from the astral counterpart of Herbert Spencer or Patanjali\u2019s\nbooks as many pages as we desire, or even the unpublished ideas of\nSpencer; but he can never make a comparison between the two systems,\nunless that has already been done by some other mind in no matter what\nlanguage. Nor can any somnambule analyze and describe the complicated\nmachinery of the astral faculties, much less of the emotional ones, or\nof the fifth principle. For in order to be analyzed they must be at\nrest so that the higher self may carry on the analysis. So when Mr.\nHellon says:\n\n \u201cA trance steals o\u2019er my spirit now,\u201d\n\nhe is undoubtedly wrong, as Atman, or spirit, cannot go into a trance.\nWhen a lower plane energy ascends to a higher plane it becomes silent\nthere for a while until by contact with the denizens of its new home\nits powers are animated. The somnambulic state has two conditions, (a)\nwaking, which is psycho-physiological or astro-physical; (b) sleeping,\nwhich is psychical. In these two the trance steals partly or completely\nonly over the physical consciousness and senses.\n\n \u201cAnd from my forehead peers the sight,\u201d etc.\n\nThis, with much that follows, is pure imagination or misconception. As\nfor instance, \u201cfloating from sphere to sphere.\u201d In this state the seer\nis confined to but one sphere\u2014the astral or psycho-physiological\u2014no\nhigher one can he even comprehend.\n\nSpeaking of the period when the sixth sense shall be developed, he says:\n\n \u201cNo mystery then her sons shall find,\n Within the compass of mankind;\n The one shall read the other\u2019s mind.\u201d\n\nIn this the seer shows even a want of theoretical knowledge of the\nperiod spoken of. He has madly rushed into the astral world without a\nknowledge of the philosophy of the mystics. Even though the twelfth\nsense were developed\u2014let alone the physical sixth\u2014it shall ever remain\nas difficult as it is now, for people to read one another\u2019s mind.\nSuch is the mystery of Manas.[21] He is evidently deluded by seeing\nthe apparent triumphs during a transitional period of a race\u2019s mental\ndevelopment, of those minds abnormally developed which are able to look\ninto the minds of others; and yet they do that only partially. If one\nwith a highly developed sixth principle were to indulge for only six\ntimes in reading other\u2019s minds, he would surely drain that development\ndown to fatten the mind and desires. Moreover, Mr. Hellon\u2019s seer seems\nto be totally unaware of the fact that the object of developing higher\nfaculties is not to peer into the minds of others, and that the economy\nof the occult world gives an important privilege to the mystic, in\nthat the pages of his life and _manas_ shall be carefully locked up\nagainst inquisitive prowlers, the key safely deposited with his guru,\nwho never lends it to any one else. If with the occult world the laws\nof nature are so strict, how much more should they be with people\nin general. Otherwise, nothing would be safe. The sixth sense would\nthen be as delusive and a curse to the ignorant as sight and learning\nare now. Nor shall this sixth sense man be \u201cperfect.\u201d Truth for him\nshall be as difficult to attain through his \u201csense,\u201d as it is now. The\nhorizon shall have only widened, and what we are now acquiring as truth\nwill have passed into history, into literature, into axiom. \u201cSense\u201d\nis always nothing else than a channel for desire to flow through and\ntorment ourselves and others.\n\nThe whole poem is misleading, especially such expressions as: \u201cHis\nspirit views the world\u2019s turmoil; behold his body feed the soil.\u2014A\nsixth sense race borne ages since, to God\u2019s own zone.\u201d Our higher\nself\u2014Atman\u2014can never \u201cview the world\u2019s turmoil,\u201d nor behold the body.\nFor supposing that it did view the body or the world\u2019s turmoil, it\nwould be attracted to them, descending to the physical plane, where it\nwould be converted more or less into physical nature. And the elevation\nof a sixth sense race unphilosophically supposes the raising up of that\nsense, which certainly has only to do with our physical nature, at most\nour astro-physical nature, to the sphere of God or Atman.\n\nBy merely training the psychical powers true progress is not gained,\nbut only the enjoyment of those powers; a sort of alcohol on the astral\nplane, which results in unfavorable Karma. The true path to divine\nwisdom is in performing our duty unselfishly in the station in which we\nare placed, for thereby we convert lower nature into higher, following\nDharma\u2014our whole duty.\n MURDHNA JOTI.\n\n\n THE NATURE AND OFFICE OF BUDDHA\u2019S RELIGION.\n\n_From a dissertation by the Rt. Rev. H. Sumangala, High Priest of\nAdam\u2019s Peak, Ceylon._[22]\n\nWhat must a religion chiefly reveal? A religion, as such, must for the\nmost part propound what is not generally seen and felt in the nature of\nsentient beings. It must also proclaim \u201cthe ways and means\u201d by which\nthe good of the world is attained. These _teachings_ are essential to\na religion or it would, at best, become only a system of philosophy or\na science of nature. We find these two essentials fully treated in the\nreligion of Buddha.\n\nBuddha says:[23] \u201cThe world has mounted on the passions and is\nsuspended therefrom\u2014that is, the thoughts of men are hanging down from\nthe lusts and other evils. The whole world is encompassed by decay;\nand Death overwhelms us all, (consumption and decay ever slowly but\nsteadily creep in and eat into each and everything in existence, and\nit is here likened to something like land encircled by sea). Nature\nhas subjected us to birth, decay and death, _and the deeds of our past\nlives are covered by the terrors of death from our view_, although\nthe time of their action is not very far removed from our present\nstate of existence. Hence it is that we do not view the scenes of our\npast births. Human life before it arrives at its final destiny, is\never inseparable from J\u00e2ti, Jar\u00e2, Marana, etc., (birth, infirmities,\ndeath, etc.). As we are at present we are in sorrow and pain, and we\nhave not yet obtained the highest object of our being. It behooves us,\ntherefore, to exert ourselves everytime and by all means to attain to\nour _summum ultimum_, and we have to use and practice \u2018the ways and\nmeans\u2019 shown in religion in earnestness and integrity.\u201d\n\nNow what are they as set forth in Buddhism? \u201cThe man who is ever fully\nin the observance of the precepts of morality; who sees and understands\nthings well and truly; who has perfect and serene command over his\nthoughts; and who has his mind fixed well in proper contemplation. I\nsay, that such a man alone will safely pass over the dreadful torrent\nof metempsychosis, which is indeed hard to be gone over safely and\nwithout meeting with great obstacles and difficulties.\u201d\n\nThe way to holiness of being, to destruction of sorrows, pain and\nsufferings, and to the path to Nirvana and to its attainment, is, the\nstarting of memory, on the body, on sensation, on mind and on the true\ndoctrines, largely discoursed on by the Lord Gautama Buddha. \u201cMen are\nsanctified by their deeds, their learning, their religious behavior,\ntheir morals, and by leading a holy life; _they do not become holy by\nrace or wealth_.\u201d[24]\n\nBuddha has opened up to us a supreme path for sanctification; described\nin detail in many verses of His _Dharm\u00e1_.[25] He says: \u201cOh Bhikkus!\nwhat is the holy path which ought to be walked over to destroy pain\nand sorrows? It is the _ariya_ path, consisting of eight members or\ncomponent parts, which are: Right Seeing or correct belief; right\nThinking; right Words; right Actions; right Living; right Exertions;\nright Recollecting; and right Composing of Mind\u2014_the practice of Yoga_.\u201d\n\nOf all the paths this, the eight membered one, is the Supremest; of the\nTruths, the fourfold one is the highest; of all classes of knowledge,\nthat of Nirvana is the most excellent, and of all bipeds Buddha is the\nhighest and most supremely exalted and enlightened.\n\nI. Right seeing is the correct and full comprehension of the four\nfacts or divisions, which are: Sorrows, the origin of sorrows, the\ndestruction of sorrows, and the ways and means to be used for that\ndestruction. Now this Right seeing may be viewed in two ways, (1)\n_worldly_, (2) _over-worldly_, or above the worldly way. The first is\nunderstanding, while still we have not overcome our lusts, passions and\ndesires, the effects of good and bad actions, and that such acts alone\nbrought about the effects; the second is brought about by destroying\nlust, anger, &c., and rightly comprehending what are known as the \u201cfour\nsupreme verities.\u201d\n\nII. Right Thinking includes, pondering on the abandoning of all\nmerely worldly happiness, bad desires, anger, &c., and the cherishing\nof thoughts to live separated from them all; loathing to take life,\nand the continued mental exercise of the determination not to hurt a\nsentient being.\n\nIII. Right Speech avoids lying, slandering, uttering rough or vulgar\nwords, and vain babbling or empty talk.\n\nIV. Right Actions is, sanctifying the body by refraining from killing,\nstealing, enjoying unlawful sexual intercourse, &c.\n\nV. Right Living is, obtaining a livelihood by being worthily employed,\nsupporting one\u2019s self.\n\nVI. Right Exertion is, to labor willingly and earnestly to prevent\nevil thoughts _from arising in the mind_, nipping even the buds of\nsuch thoughts already sprung, and by nourishing good thoughts and by\ncreating morally virtuous ideas when heart and mind are vacant and\nempty of them.\n\nVII. The seventh is the four above mentioned\u2014in possession.\n\nVIII. The last member includes the four _dhy\u00e1nas_. _Samm\u00e1 Sam\u00e1dhi_, or\nRight Meditation, is the last member of the Supreme Path. In religion\n_Sam\u00e1dhis_ are of various natures, but now we will confine ourselves to\none particular _Sam\u00e1dhi_.\n\nIt is that state of mind in which dispersed thoughts are brought\ntogether and concentrated on one particular object. The chief\nfeature is composure of the mind, and its essential characteristic\nis the restriction of thoughts from dispersion. Stability aids its\nsustentation and undisturbed happiness is its natural result.\n\nThe primary stage of this state of mind is known as Upach\u00e1ra\nSam\u00e1dhi,[26] the second, or advanced stage, as Uppan\u00e1 Sam\u00e1dhi.[27]\n\nIt is also divided into two classes. _Lokiya_[28] which any one may\nenter into; and _Lokuttara_,[29] which can be entered into only by\nthose who are free from worldly desires. The first is a preliminary\nstep to the attainment of the second. For the first, the devotee must\ngive himself up to devotion in the manner prescribed in 3d, 4th and\n5th angas of the _Arya_ astangikamarga chatuparisuddhi silas, and\nthen free himself from the ten worldly troubles, which arise: from\nbuilding houses; connections with family; excessive gains; the duties\nof a teacher; from manual work; journeys for another or for one\u2019s own\ngain; sickness of teacher, pupils and parents; bodily sufferings;\nconstant study, and worldly power and its loss. Being free from these\nhe must then be acquainted with the systematic process of meditation,\ninstructed by a friend or an eminent preceptor.\n\nMeditation is of two classes. First, that wherein the devotee exercises\nuniversal love of mankind, reflects that death is close at hand, and\nthat the human body being liable to decay is not to be regarded with\nconsideration. The second is that which applies to a man according to\nhis moral nature.[30] These are forty in number. Taking one let us see\nhow meditation should be practised.\n\nMan\u2019s moral nature is divided into six classes: Sensuous, irascible,\nignorant, faithful, discreet, reflective. The first three are evil,\nand the last three good qualities. If in any man\u2019s nature an evil\nand virtue combine, that which predominates will influence his moral\ncharacter. The process of meditation, then, is to be decided by the\npreceptor according to the tendency of the moral character as thus\ninfluenced.[31] The devotee then seeks retirement resigned to Buddha.\n\n\n A PROPHECY ABOUT THEOSOPHY.\n\nThere are alleged to exist in India certain Sibylline books called\n_Nadigrandhams_. As the name indicates, they are compilations of\nastrological statements or predictions, and are supposed to contain\nactual prophecies fitting into the lives of inquirers as well as into\nthe history of a village. They resemble the Sibylline books of Rome,\nwhich prophesied, it is said, for over two hundred years, all the\nimportant events in the affairs of the Eternal City.\n\nIn May, 1885, Col. H.\u202fS. Olcott, President of the Theosophical Society,\nhearing of some of these books in Madras, had an interview at the\nheadquarters with the astrologer who possessed them, in the presence of\ntwo witnesses.\n\nIn reporting the predictions in the May article[32] he left certain\nblanks saying that he would speak regarding it in twelve months, and\nthat the unpublished portion concerned the welfare of the society. The\nprophecy was:\n\n \u201cThe society is now, April 3, 1885, passing through a dark cycle,\n which began August 24, 1884; it will last nine months and sixteen\n days more, making seventeen months for the whole period. By the end\n of fourteen months next following the seventeen dark months, the\n society will have increased threefold in power and strength, and\n some who have joined it and worked for its advancement, shall attain\n gnyanam.[33] The society will live and survive its founders for many\n years, becoming a lasting power for good; it will survive the fall of\n governments. And you (H. S.\u202fO.) will live from this hour, twenty-eight\n years, five months, six days, fourteen hours, and on your death the\n society will have 156 principal branches, not counting minor ones,\n with 50,000 enrolled members; before that, many branches will rise and\n expire, and many members come and go.\u201d\n\nAt the time the society was founded in 1875, the editor of this journal\nwas present in New York when the proposed name was discussed, and it\nwas prophesied after the selection had been made, that the organization\nwas destined to accomplish a great work, far beyond the ideas of those\npresent. Since then many members have followed the example of Buddha\u2019s\nproud disciples and deserted the cause\u2014others have remained.\n\nIn Paris, in 1884, the Coulomb scandal had not exploded, but warnings\nof it were heard. One night in the Rue Notre Dame des Champs, an\nastrologer consulted a _nadigrandham_ for a reply to queries as to what\nwas brewing. The reply was:[34] \u201cA conspiracy; but all will be suddenly\ndiscovered, and will come to nothing.\u201d Such was the result as to the\ndiscovery and for the balance of the later prophecy let time disclose.\n\n\u201cThe desire of the pious shall be accomplished.\u201d\n\n\n REVIEWS AND NOTES.\n\nAPOLLONIUS OF TYANA.[35]\u2014This volume is the result of a gage thrown\ndown by a well known Brooklyn clergyman, who some few years ago said\nthat he \u201cchallenged any one to produce anything which rises to the\nsublimity of the miracles of \u2018the Blessed Redeemer,\u2019 or the simplicity\nof his life, or to produce from the dust of eighteen centuries, a\nrecord of the life, sayings and doings of any personage so well\nattested, and by so many reputable witnesses, as is that of our Savior\nin the account of Matthew.\u201d When we reflect upon the well known fact\nthat the writings of the alleged time of Jesus, contain no reference\nto him, and that every precept of morality ascribed to him, can be\nfound abundantly through the well attested and written sayings of his\npredecessors, and upon the grave doubts clustering about the same\nMatthew gospel, we are not surprised to find that Mr. Tredwell has\nsucceeded in fully meeting the challenge. But no one ever suspected the\n\u201cBrooklyn clergyman\u201d of being in earnest or of expecting any reply.\nThe book before us is replete with information, and especially in its\nbibliographical references. Our only regret is that the author has\naltogether put aside the so-called miracles of Apollonius. We would\nlike to see, in treating the subject, those occurrences taken account\nof, not as miracles, but as actual incidents, the result of natural\nforces, and not subject to chance, nor being a proof of claims to\ndivinity. In the preface he well says, that error courts investigation\nand is nearly always the prelude to the discovery of truth, but,\n\u201cFalsehood seeks exemption from every scientific r\u00e9gime, and recoils\nfrom the light and scrutiny of investigation, and postulates its\nown canon, setting up a claim to miraculous interposition; such is\nrevelation.\u201d And further on he quotes the celebrated Moody, who said:\n\u201cIt is not only every man\u2019s privilege, but every man\u2019s duty to make\n_honest_ inquiry into the truth of the gospel; but should we conclude\nthat it is not true, _then we will surely be damned_.\u201d This book, and\nthat of John Henry Newman, D.\u202fD., on the same subject, with Rev. Edward\nBerwick\u2019s translation of the great philosopher\u2019s life by Philostrates,\nshould be in the library of every student, for comparison, if for\nnothing else.[36] A great deal of time and careful study have been\ndevoted to the preparation of this book, from a love of the subject,\nwhich increased so fast as the author proceeded, and grew so strong,\nthat he says he entirely forgot the clergyman who stirred him up to the\ntask. We are sorry that lack of space prevents us from going further\ninto this valuable work.\n\nTHE SECRET DOCTRINE.\u2014Madame H.\u202fP. Blavatsky is now engaged upon\nthis work, in Germany, where she went last year for her health. The\nsubject is interesting, and the result of the author\u2019s endeavors will\nmark an era. It will not only be an amplification and explanation of\n_Isis Unveiled_, but will contain mines of further information. There\nwill be in it verbatim passages from the Book of Dgyan and Limri of\nTsong-ka-po, and old commentaries, to which hitherto, access has not\nbeen possible, and great attention will be paid to the doctrine of\nHuman Evolution, to Divine or White Magic, and Human or Black Magic.\nThe portion in which the subject of the Divine Hermaphrodite is\nconsidered, should be of absorbing interest. It will be divided in four\nparts: Archaic, Ancient, Medi\u00e6val and Modern, presenting the complete\nsequences of the development of Occultism and Magic in their religious\nand anti-religious aspects.\n\nBIBLE MYTHS, AND THEIR PARALLELS IN OTHER RELIGIONS.\u2014J. W. Bouton, New\nYork; Royal 8vo., 600 pages.\u2014This book should be in the hands of all\nstudents. It is clearly the result of years of patient and plodding\nresearch made over a vast field of reading. By an overwhelming amount\nof evidence, the author proves that that which is miraculous, found\nin the New Testament, cannot be of Christian origin, nor can anything\nof the same kind found in the Old Testament be of Hebrew origin, the\nconclusion being irresistible, that if the Christian Bibles are of\nDivine origin, so must also be all the other and older books which\ncontain these parallels. Orthodoxy has passed this work over in\nsilence, leaving the people still in their ignorance. One clerical\npaper said that those whose theological opinions or faith was not\nsettled should avoid the book. Truth-seekers, however, cannot afford to\navoid it.\n\nWHAT IS THEOSOPHY?\u2014By a fellow of the Theosophical Society. Cupples,\nUpham & Co., Boston, 1886.\u2014This little book has just come out of the\npress, and is very attractively dressed. The sheets, all loose, have\nbeen merely placed between covers, which are tightly bound with cords\nof the same color as the covers. It is dedicated by the author to a\nson whose inquiring mind daily asked his father and mother, \u201cWhat is\nTheosophy?\u201d The result is good, and we are sure that this unpretentious\nlittle waif will do much toward aiding the cause; for when mothers\nand fathers all over the land see that there are families in which\nTheosophy is preached and practised, as this book evidences, they will\nfeel attracted to it. The author rightly says, that \u201cTheosophy means\nGod\u2019s wisdom.\u201d The principal Aryan doctrines of use to the west, are\nadverted to, such as Karma, Reincarnation, Devachan, and Nirvana. One\nof the exalted beings referred to by the author has said, \u201cthat it is\nquite probable that the sons of Theosophists will become Theosophists.\u201d\nSuch is undoubtedly the case, and if the parents of other children\nwill follow the example to be found in the family of our author, by\ninquiring into and trying to practise real Theosophy, teaching it to\ntheir children, instead of sneering at phenomena which never were\nclaimed to be Theosophy, the great Day will soon dawn when our race\nmay prepare to take a higher place. This book is written in an easy,\npleasant style. On page 17 we find: \u201cIn a small apple seed there lies\nthe harvest of many summers, and in the human soul there lie the\npossibilities of hundreds of lives.\u201d True, and more true, that there\nmay be tens of thousands of lives in the human soul. Natural arguments\nthus addressed to children produce great effects in their minds and\nlife, and as from children grow the men, we ought to see to it that our\nown theories are right before we permit the youthful ones to drift with\na prevailing current, and when we are really convinced of our own it\nshould be inculcated.\n\n\n THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.\n\nTHE ROCHESTER BRANCH.\u2014This is the elder brother in America. It was\nformed in 1882, by Mr. W.\u202fB. Shelley and Mrs. J.\u202fW. Cables, who had\nbeen engaged with several friends, before that, in studying the\nproblems presented to thinking minds in life and death. The coincidence\nis rather curious between the first Theosophical Branch starting\nin Rochester and the first sounding there so many years ago of the\nspiritualistic rappings.\n\nA great deal has been done by this Branch. They have constantly studied\n_The Theosophist_, and many people have, so to say, made pilgrimages\nthere to become members of the Society.\n\nHere was started the first distinctively American Theosophical paper.\nIt is called _The Occult Word_, and appears monthly.\n\nWe believe the Branch meets in Mrs. Cables\u2019 house, at 40 Ambrose\nstreet, where inquirers in that section should address her, as she\nis willing to answer all. We would also suggest that correspondents\nenclose return postage, which is in the majority of cases ignored or\nforgotten.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.\u2014This Branch was formed with\nthe idea of cementing together the New York members taken into the\nParent Society while Col. Olcott and Madame Blavatsky were here, but\nit was found that a good many had merely joined under the impression\nthat it was a new kind of spiritualism, and then had retired. But some\nstaunch ones remaining, the Branch has grown gradually. Every now and\nthen it holds meetings, to which a great many are admitted who are not\nmembers.\n\nBro. Gopal Vinayak Joshee, of Bombay, now travelling here, delivered an\naddress on Theosophy in India and America, and on the same evening Bro.\nJudge explained the object, drift and method of Theosophy, and also\nread a paper on Jacob B\u00f6hme.\n\nIn March, Bro. A. Gebhard delivered a short lecture on \u201cThe Ideals\nof Richard Wagner, as they bear on Theosophy.\u201d Several visitors from\nBoston attended, and a general discussion on ancient myths in the light\nof Theosophical ideas was held.\n\nOn March 25th, Mr. C.\u202fH. A. Bjerregaard, of the Astor Library, gave an\naddress on Historic Cycles, but we then were so near going to press\nthat we cannot give its substance.\n\nThe Branch is actively engaged in spreading Theosophical literature,\nand now has requests for books from all parts of the U.\u202fS. It has\nreprinted Mrs. Sinnett\u2019s \u201cPurpose of Theosophy\u201d very cheap in form, but\nwell done, and has other reprints in mind. At present, meetings are\nheld in a private house of a member, but other permanent quarters will\nsoon be obtained. All inquiries should be addressed to the Secretary,\nbox 2,659, New York City.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE PIONEER THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF ST. LOUIS, was formed in 1884, by\nthe efforts of Brother Elliott B. Page, who is also Secretary of the\nAmerican Board of Control. It is pursuing its way quietly and surely,\nand has sent out some members to other parts of the United States,\nwhose influence will further spread the cause of Universal Brotherhood.\nBrother Page\u2019s address is 301 South Main Street, St. Louis, Mo.\n\n * * * * *\n\nCINCINNATI.\u2014A branch is ready here, and no doubt will be very active.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE CHICAGO BRANCH was founded the 27th of November, 1885, Stanley\nB. Sexton, President, No. 2 Park Row, Dr. W. Phelon, Corresponding\nSecretary, 629 W. Fulton.\n\nMeetings are held every Sunday at 2 P.\u202fM. All the fellows except the\nPresident are a little over a year old in Theosophy. The President\nbecame an F.\u202fT. S. in 1879. One of the members is Rev. Mr. Hoisington,\nthe blind lecturer on Egypt, who is one of our most earnest workers,\nand has been a Theosophist for many years.\n\nWe are all working with heart and soul for the spread of Theosophy.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE BRANCH IN MALDEN, Massachusetts, originated in the spring of\n1885, with a few persons who casually discovered that they had\nmutually had an interest in Theosophy. Informal meetings were held\nto discuss Theosophical subjects, and were conducted in this way\nwithout organization until December 27, when a formal organization was\naffected under the customary provisional charter from the American\nBoard of Control. The name chosen was the Malden Branch, Theosophical\nSociety. At the organization valuable assistance was rendered by\nBrothers Arthur H. Gebhard of New York, and Hollis B. Page and Charles\nR. Kendall of Boston. Two open meetings were held the past winter, at\nwhich addresses were made by Brothers William Q. Judge and Arthur H.\nGebhard, respectively, and considerable outside interest was awakened.\nThe members have devoted themselves chiefly to the spiritual, moral and\nphilosophical aspects of the subject, and have laid little stress upon\nthe phenomenal, and have discouraged marvel-seekers from membership.\nThe President is Sylvester Baxter, and Frank S. Collins is Secretary.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE SOCIETY\u2019S EXTENT may be understood by the number and ramification\nof its branches, of which in India there are 106; in Europe, 7; in the\nUnited States, 9; in Australia, 1; and the West Indies, 1.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBOSTON has a Branch of the Society also. In various intellectual\ncircles in the city there is much discussion of Theosophical\nliterature, and in general, of the subject. Notwithstanding recent\nmalicious attacks on our harmless and studious Brotherhood, the current\nof truth flowing through the Society\u2019s channels makes itself felt in\nBoston.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE AMERICAN BOARD OF CONTROL.\u2014The general and routine work of the\nSociety in America, is under the jurisdiction of the _Board of\nControl_, of which the President is Prof. Elliott Coues, Washington,\nD.\u202fC., and the Secretary, Elliott B. Page, 301 South Main Street, St.\nLouis, Mo.\n\nA resolution has been passed by this Board, which is binding on all\nmembers, that no publication shall be issued as a Theosophical one,\nwithout previous consent obtained from the officers of the Board.\nThis is wise, as it will tend to prevent unauthorized declarations of\nso-called Theosophical doctrine from being laid at the door of the\nSociety. All members, therefore, intending to make publication, should\naddress the Secretary of the Board.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThe Word and the verses at the head of this text, contain the verbal\nexposition of the symbol on the cover, which is, in one aspect, the\nradiating of the Great All. He who knows this is fortunate and will\nlearn to pronounce the syllable\n\n AUM!\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Khandogya Upanishad, 1st Khanda. See Vol. 1, _Sacred Books of the\nEast_. M\u00fcller.\n\n[2] Hymn of Praise to Brahm.\n\n[3] St. John. C. I, v.\u202f1.\n\n[4] See _Bagavad-Gita_.\n\n[5] _Mundaka Upanishad_, II, Kh. 2. (M\u00fcller\u2019s Tr.)\n\n[6] See _Theosophist_, Vol. III, p. 177.\n\n[7] See _Esoteric Buddhism_ for the sevenfold classification adopted by\nmany Theosophists.\n\n[8] _Zanoni_, Book IV, Chapter 2.\n\n[9] _Patanjali\u2019s Yoga Aphorisms_, 30 & 31, Part I.\n\n[10] The following from the _Kaushitaki Upanishad_, (see Max Muller\u2019s\ntranslation, and also that published in the Bibliotheka Indica,\nwith Sankaracharya\u2019s commentary\u2014Cowell\u2019s tran.) may be of interest\nto students. \u201cAgatasatru to him: B\u00e0l\u00e0ki, where did this person here\nsleep? Where was he? Whence did he come back? B\u00e0l\u00e0ki did not know. And\nAgatasatru said to him: \u2018Where this person here slept, where he was,\nwhence he thus came back, is this: The arteries of the heart called\nHita extend from the heart of the person towards the surrounding body.\nSmall as a hair divided a thousand times, they stand, full of a thin\nfluid of various colors, white, black, yellow, red. In these the person\nis when sleeping, he sees no dream (Sushupti). Then he becomes one with\nthat pr\u00e2na (breath) alone.\u2019\u201d (Elsewhere the number of these arteries is\nsaid to be 101.) \u201cAnd as a razor might be fitted in a razor case, or as\nfire in the fire place, even thus this conscious self enters into the\nself of the body, to the very hair and nails; he is the master of all,\nand eats with and enjoys with them. So long as Indra did not understand\nthat self, the Asuras (lower principles in man) conquered him. When he\nunderstood it, he conquered the Asuras, and obtained the pre-eminence\namong all gods. And thus also he who knows this obtains pre-eminence,\nsovereignty, supremacy.\u201d And in the _Khandogya Upanishad_, VI Prap. 8,\nKh. 1: \u201cWhen the man sleeps here, my dear son, he becomes united with\nthe True\u2014in Sushupti sleep\u2014he is gone to his own self. Therefore they\nsay, he sleeps (Swapita), because he is gone (apita) to his own (sva).\u201d\nAnd in _Prasna Up_ II, 1, \u201cThere are 101 arteries from the heart; one\nof them penetrates the crown of the head; moving upwards by it man\nreaches the immortal; the others serve for departing in different\ndirections.\u201d [ED.]\n\n[11] This opens up an intensely interesting and highly important\nsubject, which cannot be here treated of, but which will be in future\npapers. Meanwhile, Theosophists can exercise their intuition in respect\nto it. |ED.\n\n[12] _Guru_, a spiritual teacher.\n\n[13] Vide _Light on the Path_, Rule 1, note, part 1.\n\n[14] There is one exceptional case where the Guru\u2019s goal is seen, and\nthen the Guru has to die, for there can be no two _equals_.\n\n[15] There is no contradiction between this and the preceding paragraph\nwhere it is said \u201cTo see the Guru\u2019s goal is impossible.\u201d During the\ninitiation ceremony, there is no separateness between those engaged in\nit. They all become one whole, and therefore, even the High Hierophant,\nwhile engaged in an initiation, is no more his separate self, but is\nonly a part of the whole, of which the candidate is also a part, and\nthen, for the time being, having as much power and knowledge as the\nvery highest present. [ED.]\n\n[16] Rig Veda, IV, VII, 9.\n\n[17] Divine science.\n\n[18] \u201cThe knowledge of Yoga, which is, joining with your higher self.\u201d\n\n[19] See _Zanoni_, Book IV, c. iii.\n\n[20] Highest soul.\n\n[21] Fifth principle.\n\n[22] See Vol. 1, _Theosophist_.\n\n[23] Taubaya uddito l\u00f3k\u00f3; jar\u00e1ya pari v\u00e2rato: Maccuna pihito loko;\nDukkhe Loko patitthito.\n\n[24] Kammam vijj\u00e0 dhamm\u00f3ca; Silam jivita muttamam; Etena macc\u00e1\nsujjhanti: Na-gott\u00eana dhanenav\u00e1.\n\n[25] Code of laws.\n\n[26] Restraining thoughts from being dispersed.\n\n[27] Effecting complete reconciliation and composure of mind.\n\n[28] Worldly.\n\n[29] Superhuman.\n\n[30] This means the particular kind which each man, because of\nheredity, education and class, exercises. It is also known as using\nthe path pertaining to the Lodge or Ray, to which the one meditating,\nbelongs.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[31] See Bagavad-Gita, c. 14.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[32] See No. 68 (May, 1886) _Theosophist_.\n\n[33] _Gnyanam_ is translated \u201chigher knowledge,\u201d which does not merely\nmean acquirement of greater so-called mortal or ordinary knowledge,\nbut that kind of knowledge which is only attained by rising to higher\nspiritual planes, and which transcends the highest of ordinary\nknowledge of the greatest literati or scientist.\n\n[34] This was written then to various persons in Paris, London, New\nYork, and India.\n\n[35] By D.\u202fM. Tredwell. Published by Fred Tredwell, 78 Nassau St., New\nYork, 1886.\n\n[36] _The Life of Apollonius_, &c., Hist. of Chr. Church, Vol. I, p.\n348. _The Life of Apollonius, of Tyana_, by Philostrates, tr. by Rev.\nEdward Berwick, Ireland (1809).\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n The departure of the soul atom from the bosom of Divinity, is a\n radiation from the life of the great All, who expends his strength\n in order that he may grow again and live by its return. God thereby\n acquires a new vital force provided by all the transformations that\n the soul atom has undergone. Its return is the final reward. Such is\n the secret of the evolution of the great Being and of the Supreme\n Soul.\u2014_Book of Pitris._\n\n The soul is the assemblage of the Gods. The universe rests in the\n Supreme Soul. It is the soul that accomplishes the series of acts\n emanating from animate beings. So the man who recognizes the Supreme\n Soul as present in his own soul, understands that it is his duty to\n be kind and true to all, and the most fortunate destiny that he could\n have desired is that of being finally absorbed in Brahma.\u2014_Manu._, V.\n 12.\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. MAY, 1886. NO. 2.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n STUDIES IN THE UPANISHADS.\n\n [BY A STUDENT.]\n\nMany American theosophists are asking, \u201cWhat are the Upanishads?\u201d\nThey are a portion of the ancient Aryan literature which this journal\nhas set itself to help lay before theosophists of America, to the end\nthat whatever in them is good and true may be brought out. As Max\nMuller says, hitherto the Upanishads have not received at the hands of\nSanskrit and oriental scholars, that treatment which in the eyes of\nphilosophers and theologians they seem so fully to deserve. He also\ncalls them \u201cancient theosophic treatises\u201d and declares that his real\nlove for Sanskrit literature was first kindled by them.[37] They have\nreceived no treatment at all in the United States, because they are\nalmost absolutely unknown in the original tongue in this country, and\nin translations, have been but little studied here. Europe and America\ndiffer in this, that while in England and Germany nearly all such study\nis confined to the book-worm or the theologian, here there is such a\ngeneral diffusion of pretty fair education in the people, that the\nstudy of these books, as translated, may be made popular, a thing which\nin Europe is perhaps impossible.\n\nMuller returned to the study of the Upanishads after a period of thirty\nyears, during which he had devoted himself to the hymns and Brahmanas\nof the Vedas, and found his interest in them undiminished. As for the\nperiod of these treatises, he says that has been fixed _provisionally_,\nat about 800 B.\u202fC.\n\nThe word means \u201csecret charm,\u201d \u201cphilosophical doctrine;\u201d and more\nstrictly, \u201cto sit down near.\u201d Hindu theologians say the Upanishads\nbelong to revealed religion in opposition to that which is traditional.\nIn the opinion of our friend Muller, to whom all western students must\never remain grateful no matter how much they may disagree with his\nviews as to the Vedas being the lispings of baby man, \u201cthe earliest\nof these philosophical treatises will always maintain a place in the\nliterature of the world, among the most astounding productions of the\nhuman mind in any age and in any country.\u201d[38]\n\nProfessor Weber placed the number of Upanishads at 235[39]; in 1865\nMuller put them at 149, and others added to that number, so that even\nto-day the actual figures are not known. Indeed it is held by several\nOrientalists, that before they assumed their present form, a large mass\nof traditional Upanishads must have existed.\n\nThe meaning of the word which ought to be borne most in mind is,\n\u201csecret knowledge, or true knowledge\u201d although there may be a Upanishad\nor secret knowledge, which is false.\n\nIn the Chandogya Upanishad (I, 1,) after describing the deeper\nmeaning of OM, it is said that the sacrifice which a man performs\nwith knowledge, with faith, and with the Upanishad, _i. e._ with\nan understanding of the secret charm, or underlying principles and\neffects, is more powerful than when with faith, the only knowledge\npossessed is of the rites themselves, their origin and regularity. The\nsacrifice referred to is, not alone the one offered on the altar in the\ntemple, but that daily sacrifice which every breath and every thought,\nbrings about in ourselves.\n\n THE MUNDAKA UPANISHAD.\n\nThis is in the _Atharva Veda_. Although it has the form of a mantra,\nit is not to be used in the sacrifices, as its sole object is to teach\nthe highest knowledge, the knowledge of Brahman, which cannot be\nobtained by either worship or sacrifices. Offerings to the Gods, in\nno matter what mode or church, restraining of the breath, penances, or\ncultivation of the psychic senses, will not lead to the true knowledge.\nYet some works have to be performed, and many persons require works,\nsacrifices and penances as stepping stones to a higher life. In the\nprogress of these works and sacrificial performances, errors are\ngradually discovered by the individual himself. He can then remove\nthem. So the Hindu commentators have explained the title of this\nUpanishad as the \u201cshaving\u201d one. That is, it cuts off the errors of the\nmind like a razor. It is said by European scholars that the title has\nnot yet been explained. This may be quite correct for them, but it is\nvery certain the Hindu explanation appears to the Hindu mind to be a\nvery good one. Let us proceed.\n\n FIRST MUNDAKA.\n\nThis means, first shaving, or beginning of the process for removing\nerror. It may be considered as a division equivalent to \u201cfirst title,\u201d\nafter which follow the lesser divisions, as: _First Khanda_.\n\n \u201c1. Brahma was the first of the Devas, the maker of the universe,\n the preserver of the world. He told the knowledge of Brahman, the\n foundation of all knowledge, to his eldest son Atharva.\u201d\n\nHere at once should be noted, that although in Hindu theology we find\nBrahma, Vishnu and Siva, as the creator, preserver and destroyer,\nforming the Trinity, the Upanishad now before us\u2014for cutting away\nerror\u2014has not such a division. It says Brahma is first, also the maker\nand the preserver. Even knowledge that is true for certain stages of\ndevelopment becomes error when we rise up into the higher planes and\ndesire to know the true. Similarly we find Buddha in his congregation\nteaching his disciples by means of the \u201cthree vehicles,\u201d but when\nhe had raised them to the higher plane, he informed them that these\nvehicles might be discarded and _sat_ or truth be approached through\none vehicle.\n\nThe knowledge here spoken of is Brahman knowledge which is the supreme\nvehicle.\n\n \u201c2. Whatever Brahma told Atharvan that knowledge Atharvan told to\n Angir, he told it to Satyavaha Bharadvaga, and he in succession told\n it to Angiras.\n\n \u201c3. Saunaka, the great householder, approached Angiras respectfully\n and asked \u2018Sir, what is that through which if it is known, everything\n else becomes known?\u2019\n\n \u201c4. He said to him: \u2018Two kinds of knowledge must be known, this is\n what all who know Brahman tell us, the higher and the lower knowledge.\n\n \u201c5. \u2018The lower knowledge is the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda,\n Atharva-Veda Phonetics, Ceremonial, Grammar, Etymology, Metre\n and Astronomy; but the higher knowledge is that by which the\n Indestructible (Brahma) is apprehended.\n\n \u201c6. \u2018That which cannot be seen nor seized, which has no origin and is\n without qualities, no eyes nor ears, no hands nor feet, the eternal,\n the all pervading, infinitesimal, that which is imperishable, that is\n what is regarded by the wise as the source of all beings.\n\n \u201c7. \u2018As the spider sends forth and draws in its thread, as plants grow\n on the earth, as from every man hairs spring forth on the head and the\n body, thus does everything arise here from the Indestructible.\n\n \u201c8. \u2018The Brahman swells by means of meditation; hence is produced\n matter; from matter mind, breath and intellect, the seven worlds, and\n from the works performed by men in the worlds, the eternal effects,\n rewards and punishment of works.\n\n \u201c9. \u2018From Him who perceives all and who knows all, whose meditation\n consists of knowledge, from that highest Brahman is born that other\n Hiranyagarbha\u2014name, form, and matter.\u2019\u201d\n\nThis Khanda unfolds broadly the whole philosophy. The following ones\ngo into particulars. It is very easy here to see that the imperishable\ndoctrine could not be communicated directly by the Great Brahma to\nman, but it has to be filtered down through various channels. The\ncommunicator of it to mortals, however, would be regarded by his finite\nauditors as a god. The same method is observable in the _Bagavad-Gita_\n(ch. IV) where Krishna says to Arjuna that \u201cthis never failing doctrine\nI formerly taught unto Vivaswat and he to Manu, who told it to Ikswaku,\nsucceeding whom came the Rajarshis who studied it.\u201d Manu is regarded as\nof a wholly Divine nature although not the Great Brahm.\n\nNow, when Angiras, as detailed in the Upanishad, had received this\nhigher knowledge, he was approached by a great householder, by name\nSaunaka. This has reference to an ancient mode of life in India when\nSaunaka would be called a grihastha, or one who was performing all his\nduties to his family, his tribe, and his nation while still in the\nworld. All the while, however, he studied the knowledge of Brahman,\nso that when the proper time came for him to give up those duties of\nlife, he could either die or retire to solitude. It was not considered\nthen to be a virtue for one to violently sever all ties and assume the\ngarb and life of a mendicant devoted to religious contemplation, but\nthe better way was thought to be that one which resulted in our, so to\nspeak, consuming all the Karma of our family in ourselves. Otherwise\nit would inevitably result that if he retired with many duties\nunfulfilled, they waited, figuratively speaking, for him, sure to\nattach to him in a succeeding incarnation and to work him either injury\nor obstruction. So it was thought better to work out all such results\nin the present life as far as possible.\n\nWe find here also a foreshadowing of some ideas held by the Greek\nphilosophers. In the third verse, the question is asked: \u201cWhat is that\nthrough which when it is known, the knower thereof knows everything\nelse.\u201d Some of the Greeks said that we must first ascend to the\ngeneral, from which descent to the particular is easy. Such, however,\nis directly opposite to the modern method, which delights in going from\nparticulars to generals, from effects to causes. The true knowledge\nproceeds as shown in the Upanishad. By endeavoring to attain to the\nUniversal Soul of all, the knowledge of the particular parts may be\ngained. This is not easy, but it is easy to try. At the same time do\nnot forsake modern methods altogether, which correspond to the lower\nknowledge spoken of in Verse 5. Therefore Angiras says: Two kinds of\nknowledge, the lower and the higher, must be known.\n\nHere and there are persons who seem not to need the lower knowledge,\nwho pay no attention to it, and who apprehend the higher flights\nimpossible for others. This is what is known as the result of past\nbirths. In previous incarnations these persons studied upon all the\nlower planes so that their spiritual perceptions do not now need that\nhelp and training which the lower knowledge gives to others. They are\napproaching that state which is beautifully described by Longfellow in\nhis \u201cRain in Summer,\u201d in these words:\u2014\n\n \u201cThus the seer,\n With vision clear,\n Sees forms appear and disappear,\n In the perpetual round of strange,\n Mysterious change\n From birth to death, from death to birth;\n From earth to heaven, from heaven to earth;\n \u2019Till glimpses more sublime,\n Of things unseen before,\n Unto his wondering eyes reveal\n The Universe, as an immeasurable wheel\n Turning forevermore\n In the rapid and rushing river of Time.\u201d\n\n (_To be continued._)\n\n\n THE MYSTERY OF NUMBERS.\n\nIn a previous article on the Kabbalah, we spoke of it as being\na tradition embodying a noble philosophy, which is but slightly\nunderstood, owing to its symbolical representations.\n\nThere were three forms of symbols introduced by the Ancient\nTheosophists to express their thoughts and convey their ideas from one\nto another. The object of the symbolic language was for the purpose\nof preventing their esoteric knowledge from becoming public property\nand to obviate persecution from those who were in authority and held\ndifferent views. These three forms were: hieroglyphics, numbers and\nallegories.\n\nIt is the Kabbalistic science of numbers of which we purpose to\nspeak. Deity in constructing the universe, employed but few means to\naccomplish a great purpose. They consisted of _energy_ and _law_. The\nformer is under control of the latter. The first act was the positing\nof energy, which formed substance. In this manner He converted chaos,\nwhich was a motionless, dark abyss, into activity and light. Light\nis not energy, but primarily resulted from the activity of atomic\nsubstance.\n\nGod creates all things by number, weight and measure, and with an\narithmetical and geometrical precision. The universal _continuity_\nobserved in nature is owing to the law that controls energy. Any\ninterference with this law throws energy out of harmony, producing\ndiscord, and consequently a varying of continuity.\n\nEvery seed has within it an individual life energy which gives to it\nwhen developed into a plant or tree its type and form. Any external\ninterference induces a struggle for life in the forces in maintaining\ntheir ancestral types and forms. Heredity may produce the same by\ninterfering with the law controlling development.\n\nThe Kabbalists never intended to convey the idea that numbers possessed\nspecial virtues. They merely represent them; for example 3 represents\na life entity; without this ternary combination it would be impossible\nfor life to exist. The self-existing Deity is a Triune Entity; so\nis every individual life form. Whether it be a _Monera_, the lowest\nstructureless life organism, or _Man_, the highest in the scale of\nliving beings. Number three is therefore called the generating number.\n\nAgain, 7 is the harmonic numeral, there being seven primary grades\nof harmony, and in order to extend it, the scale of seven must be\nrepeated, and every repetition lessens the harmony and tends to discord.\n\nThe _Sepher Jetzirah_, which is recognized by the Kabbalist as the\nkey of the Sohar, is a wonderful and obscure work. Its wisdom is\nrepresented in ten numbers and twenty-two letters. From the numbers\n\u201care drawn or cut\u201d the twenty-two letters which are divided into\nthree mothers, seven double and twelve single letters. According to\nthe Sepher there were three acts of creation; 1st, _Conception or\nIdea_; 2nd, _The Word_; 3rd, _The Writings_. For example, _first_,\nGod conceived in His own mind, the archetype of the universe which\nconstituted the _design_; _second_, the Word represents the law and the\nenergy it controls and directs in carrying out the design; _third_, the\nproduct arising from the second constitute the writings.\n\nThe Sepher Jetzirah teaches that the hidden ways of wisdom are in the\nten _sephiroth_, which are usually termed spheres. The Hebrews use the\nword \u201cways,\u201d which with us mean degrees, forms or species. These hidden\nways are the workings of the forces producing differentiation of forms,\nwhich represents the twenty-two letters, which are expressed as one in\nthree, and three in seven, and seven in twelve, making twenty-two.\n\nThe ten sephiroth interest us the most for they represent the unity\nand synthesis of numbers and the manifestations of Deity in nature.\nThe first sefir is called the Crown on account of its being the\nabode of the _En Soph_[40] the unmanifested infinite Being; but\nthe first form by which he became known was the _Memra_ or \u201cword,\u201d\nwhich is represented by the first three sephiroth, namely, _Kether_,\n\u201cthe Crown,\u201d _Chochma_, \u201cwisdom,\u201d _Binah_, \u201cunderstanding.\u201d[41] To\nexpress it more clearly, the first three sephiroth comprise a Triune\nEntity, the verbalized spirit of God consisting of self-consciousness,\nwisdom and love which embodied the _Word_, \u201cthe heavenly man,\u201d \u201cthe\nman on high,\u201d (Ezekiel I, 26), the Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalist, the\nParadisical Adam of Genesis, the Christ of the Christians and the\nBuddha of the Buddhists.\n\nIn order to be understood, we will state that the Triune spirit of the\nworld contains the word, and is therefore the source of energy and life\nin both the subjective and objective worlds, and in fact is the source\nof all that exists outside of spirit. It is under the direction of\nspirit in developing forms and giving them activity and life. We thus\nperceive how a knowledge of the word gives us an insight into the work\nof God in creation.\n\nJacob Behmen was a mystic, and acquainted with the meaning of the\nword which he obtained through illumination or the unfolding of inner\nconsciousness. What he called the _Signatura Rerum_\u2014the signature of\nall things\u2014is the word. He describes it as coming from a triune entity,\nwhich he locates in the super-celestial world. It is first manifested\nin the subjective or esoteric world, and afterwards in the objective.\nHe also alludes to the septenary which he applies to the external\nworld; he could not have understood the laws of harmony or he would not\nhave made this application, for it applies to both the subjective and\nobjective worlds.\n\nWe will now explain the _Tetractys_ of Pythagoras; before doing so,\nhowever, we have a few remarks to make regarding his Kabbalistic\nknowledge. He is said to have been initiated into the secrets of\nnature by Daniel and Ezekiel, and subsequently admitted into the\nEgyptian Sanctuaries upon a personal recommendation by King Amosis.\nHis tetractys proves that he was thoroughly familiar with theosophical\nscience, which enabled him to study nature and arrive at correct\nconclusions. It is a noted fact that he was familiar with the movements\nof the heavenly bodies; which science did not reveal until centuries\nafter his death. If he mistook some of its details, his substantial\ncorrectness was none the less wonderful. He was the founder of the\nrenowned school of Crotona, about five hundred years before Christ.\nHe maintained that the Sun is the centre of a system around which all\nthe planets revolve, and that the fixed stars were each the centre of\na system. He also believed that the planets were inhabited and that\nthey and our earth are ever revolving in harmonious order\u2014\u201ckeeping\nup a grand celestial concert, inaudible to man, but as a music of the\nspheres audible to God.\u201d He was not permitted to declare publicly all\nthat he knew, but taught it privately to a few chosen friends. He\nwas also familiar with the laws of attraction and repulsion, which\nconstituted one of the most important duties of the sanctuaries. Newton\nwas led to the discovery of these forces through the study of the\nKabbalah.\n\nSpeaking of Pythagoras calls to mind the Kabbalistic enigma written by\nPlato and sent to Dionysius: \u201call things surround our King, (God) He is\nthe cause of all things: seconds for seconds and thirds for thirds.\u201d\nThis expresses the division of the Sephiroth. Plato was an earnest and\nmost intelligent Kabbalist.\n\nWe will now explain for the first time the Tetractys of Pythagoras,\nwhich reveals the numerical meaning of the word. We remark, however,\nbefore doing so, that there is a greater enigma attached to it than is\nexpressed by the numbers, which we cannot give for several reasons. One\nis, the name has never been imparted; when obtained, it was through\nself illumination; another is, it would open the doors of masonry, and\nreveal the secrets of the order. It is the key to mysticism\u2014to religion\nand universal science.\n\nIn the Tetractys the four letters composing the name, are arranged in\na triangular form, enclosed with a double circle.[42] The numerical\ndivision he has made applies to the _super-celestial_, _celestial_ and\n_material_ worlds:\n\n[Illustration: _The Tetractys of Pythagoras._]\n\n_Super Celestial._\u2014The first series of numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 of the\ntetractys refers to the super-celestial world.\n\n1 is the unity of God represented thus: \u2460 God in nothing.\n\n2 is the duality of God.\n\n3 is the spirit of a triune entity.\n\n4 is Divine volition, capable of determining choice and forming a\npurpose, and manifesting activity.\n\n_Celestial._\u2014The above numerals are combined in the following\norder:\u20141+2=3\u2014the manifestation of the word, in the celestial world.\n\n2+3=5\u2014substance or quintescent matter, produced by the activity of the\nword.\n\n3+4=7\u2014the law of harmony\u2014the providence of God in Nature. The celestial\nworld is called by the Kabbalist the world of harmony, which none can\noccupy save the pure in spirit. Harmony is the only passport to Heaven.\n\n_Material._\u2014The numeral 1, which represents the unity of God, is not\nrepresented in this world\u2014we only have the following numerals:\n\n2+3+4=9\u2014humanity with the word unmanifested in the spirit. Yet it\nexists and can be made manifest through harmony of the spirit. It not\nbeing manifested debars humanity from the pleasure of enjoying the\nlight of the celestial world. It is for this reason the Kabbalist\ncalled it the world of darkness or Hades. It is also called the world\nof discord. There are as many grades of discord here as there are\nharmonies in the world above. When man throws off the material covering\nof his soul, his consciousness reveals to him his moral standard and he\ngravitates to the sphere with which he is in accord. If harmonious he\nascends, if discordant he descends.\n\n10 is the synthesis of numbers. In the beginning before Deity\nmanifested himself, it stood thus \u2460; in the consummation of creation it\nbecame reversed, thus 10.\n SETH PANCOAST.\n\n\n SUFISM,\n\n OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.\n\n _A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in\n Mysticism._\n\n BY C.\u202fH. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._\n\n In Two Parts:\u2014Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.\n\n The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi:\n\n \u201cLast night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress,\n when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the\n garden, soft as the dews of heaven.\u201d\n\n INTRODUCTION.\n\nSufism has not yet received fair treatment in any publication that has\nappeared in Western literature.\n\nThe reason is that no Western writer upon the subject has endeavored\nto understand it, either because of an intellectual bias or from\nwillful perversion. Most treatises are written under strong dogmatic\nprejudices, or by persons intellectually and morally incapable of\nrising to the A B C of a spiritual philosophy.\n\nThe present attempt to represent the doctrines and practices of Sufism\nhas been made in the hope of overcoming the effect of these evils. We\nhave studied patiently Sufism from Sufi works and claim to be in full\nsympathy with our subject.\n\nThat which we here present to the judgment of the candid reader is a\npart of a larger work we have been engaged on for many years; a work\ndesigned as a text book for students in Mysticism. This fact, the\nintention of making a text book for reference on all mystic questions,\nwill account for the unusual method adopted in this series of articles.\n\nIn the first part we shall give a resum\u00e9 of Sufi doctrine with copious\nquotations from Sufi works. In the second we shall give a full\nexposition of Sufi practices and symbols.\n\nThe following is a partial list of works consulted and quoted without\nfurther reference:\n\nTholuck, Sufismus, sive theosophia persarum\u2014Tholuck, Bl\u00fcthensammlung\nder morgenl. Mystik\u2014Malcolm, Hist. of Persia\u2014Trans. of the lit. soc.\nof Bombay, vol. I, art. by Capt. Graham\u2014J. von Hammer, Geschichte der\nSch\u00f6nen Redek\u00fcnste Persiens, mit einer Bl\u00fcthenlese\u2014Garcin de Tassy, la\npoesie phil. et rel. chez les Persans, in Rev. cont. 1856\u2014Fleischer,\nuber die farbigen Lichterscheinungen der Sufis, in Zeitsh. f.\nmorgl. Geselsch. vol. 16\u2014G. P. Brown, The Dervishes, or Oriental\nSpiritualism\u2014Journal of Am. Orient. Soc., vol. 8\u2014The Dabistan, or\nschool of sects\u2014E. H. Palmer, Oriental Mysticism\u2014Persian Poetry by S.\nRobinson\u2014Th. P. Hughes, Dict. of Islam\u2014Ousely, Biographical notices of\nPersian poets\u2014Omar Khayyam, see ed. illust. by Vedder\u2014Al Gazzali, la\nperle precieuse, par L. Gautier\u2014Allegories recits poetiques traduit\nde l\u2019arabe, du persan &c., par Garcin de Tassy\u2014Al Gazzali, Alchemy of\nHappiness tr. by H.\u202fA. Homes\u2014Hammer-Purgstall, Literatur-Geschichte\nder Araber\u2014The works of Nizami, Saadi, Attar, Jellalladin Rumi,\nHafiz, Jami, Hatifi, &c., in English, French, German and Latin\ntranslations\u2014Lane\u2019s transl. of the Quran\u2014&c., &c.\n\n PART I.\u2014TEXTS.\n\n ORIGIN OF SUFISM.\n\nIt is generally conceded among the Sufis that one of the great founders\nof their system, as found in Islam, was the adopted son and son-in-law\nof the Prophet, Ali-ibn-Abi-Talib. But it is also admitted that their\nreligious system has always existed in the world, prior to Mohammed. It\nis known that a tribe, Sufah, from whom possibly the name is derived,\nin \u201cthe time of ignorance\u201d separated themselves from the world and\ndevoted themselves to spiritual exercises like those of the present\nSufis.\n\nSufism in its best known forms must thus be considered to be the\nphilosophy of Mohammedanism and to represent the protest of the human\nsoul against the formalism and barrenness of the letter of the Quran.\nStill there is much in favor of Schm\u00f6lder\u2019s assertion (Essai sur les\necoles philos. chez les Arabes) that Sufism is neither a philosophical\nsystem nor the creed of a religious sect, but simply a way of living.\n\nPerhaps the simplest statement is this: _Sufism is theosophy from the\nstandpoint of Mohammedanism_.\n\nSaid-Abul-Chair (about A.\u202fD. 820) is often called the author of Sufism.\nAbu Hashem (A. D. 767) has been called the first Sufi.\n\nThe _Dabistan_ maintains the identity of the pure Sufis and that of\nPlatonism and it has popularly been supposed that Sufism has borrowed\nvery much from the Vedanta and from Plato and Aristotle; it has even\nbeen confidently asserted that the similarity is so striking to the\nstudent, that it is a most easy matter to find identical statements\nin either of them. We must confess that our study does not prove the\nassertion. The similarity is to be accounted for by the universality of\ntruth.\n\n ETYMOLOGY.\n\nThe root of the word implies wisdom, the Greek Sophia, purity,\nspirituality, etc. Some have connected it with s\u00fbf, wool, on account of\nthe woolen garment worn by the devotees.\n\nGraham[43] maintains that \u201cany person or a person of any religion or\nsect, may be a S\u00fbfi. The mystery lies in this: a total disengagement\nof the mind from all temporal concerns and worldly pursuits; an entire\nthrowing off not only of every superstition, doubt, or the like, but\nof the practical mode of worship, ceremonies, etc., laid down in\nevery religion, which the Mohammedans term _Sheriat_, being the law,\nor canonical law; and entertaining solely mental abstraction, and\ncontemplation of the soul and Deity, their affinity, etc.\u201d In short,\nSufism may be termed the religion of the heart, as opposed to formalism\nand ritualism.\n\n\u201cTraces of the Sufi doctrine exist in some shape or other in every\nregion of the world. It is to be found in the most splendid theogonies\nof the ancient school of Greece and of the modern philosophers of\nEurope. It is the dream of the most ignorant and the most learned,\nand is seen at one time indulging in the shade of ease, at another\ntraversing the pathless desert.\u201d (Malcolm Hist. of Persia.)\n\n_Abu-Said-Abul-Chair_, the accredited founder of Sufism, when asked\nwhat Sufism was, answered: \u201cWhat you have in the head, give it up;\nwhat you have in the hand, throw it away; whatever may meet you, depart\nnot from it.\u201d\n\n_Dschuneid_, a Sufi Shaikh, thus defined Sufism: \u201cTo liberate the mind\nfrom the violence of the passions, to put off nature\u2019s claims, to\nextirpate human nature, to repress the sensual instinct, to acquire\nspiritual qualities, to be elevated through an understanding of wisdom,\nand to practice that which is good\u2014that is the aim of Sufism.\u201d\n\n_Abul Hussein Nuri_ thus expressed himself: \u201cSufism is neither precept\nnor doctrine, but something _inborn_. If it were a precept, it could\nbe followed; if it were a doctrine, it could be learned; it is rather\nsomething inborn\u2014and as the Quran says: \u2018Ye are _created_ in the image\nof God.\u2019 Evidently no one can, either by application or by teaching,\npossess himself of the likeness of God.\u201d\n\n SUFI DOCTRINES.\n\n DEITY.\n\n_The Deity alone_ IS _and permeates all things. All visible and\ninvisible things are an emanation from Deity, and are not absolutely\ndistinct from it._\n\nOne sect \u201cthe Unionists,\u201d believe that God is as one with every\nenlightened being. They compare the Almighty to a flame, and their\nsouls to charcoal; and say, that in the same manner that charcoal when\nit meets flame, becomes flame, the immortal part, from its union with\nGod becomes God.\n\nAccording to the Dabistan, the presence of the universal Deity is\nfivefold. The first is the presence of \u201cthe absolute mystery.\u201d The\nabsolute mystery is one with \u201cthe invariable prototypes\u201d (or realities\nof things). The second is the presence of \u201cthe relative mystery,\u201d\nand this belongs to pure intellects and spirits. The third is the\npresence of \u201cthe mysterious relation,\u201d which is nearest to the absolute\nevidence; this is the world of similitude or dream. The fourth is the\npresence of the \u201cabsolute evidence\u201d which reaches from the centre of\nthe earth to the middle of the ninth empyrean heaven. The fifth is \u201cthe\npresence of the rest,\u201d and this is the universe in an extensive, and\nmankind in a restricted acceptation.\n\nSilvestre de Sacy gives the following explanation to the above from\nJorjani. The five divine presences are (1) the presence of the absolute\nabsence (or mystery); its world is the world of the fixed substances\nin the scientific presence. To the presence of the absolute mystery is\nopposed: (2) the presence of the absolute assistance; it is the world\nof the throne or seat of God, of the four elemental natures. (3) The\npresence of the relative absence; this is divided into two parts: The\none nearer the presence of the absolute mystery; the world of which is\nthat of spirits, which belong to what is called intelligences and bare\nsouls; the other: (4) Nearer the presence of the absolute assistance;\nthe world of which is that of models (images). (5) The presence which\ncomprises the four preceding ones, and its world is the world of\nmankind, a world which reunites all the worlds, and all they contain.\n\n GOOD AND EVIL: ETHICS.\n\n_There is no absolute difference between Good and Evil; all that\nexists, exists in unity and God is the real author of all the acts of\nmankind._\n\nThe Sufi says that evil only came into the world through ignorance,\nand that ignorance is the cause of error and disunion among men. The\nfollowing tale answers to the point: \u201cFour travelers\u2014a Turk, an Arab,\na Persian, and a Greek, having met together, decided to take their\nmeal in common, and as each one had but ten paras, they consulted\ntogether as to what should be purchased with the money. The first said\n_Uzum_, the second _Ineb_, the third decided in favor of _Inghur_, and\nthe fourth insisted upon _Stafilion_. On this a dispute arose between\nthem and they were about to come to blows, when a peasant passing by\nhappened to know all four of their tongues, and brought them a basket\nof grapes. They now found out, greatly to their astonishment, that each\none had what he desired.\u201d\n\nThey believe the emanating principle, proceeding from God, can do\nnothing without His will and can refrain from nothing that He wills.\nSome of them deny the existence of evil on the ground that nothing but\ngood can come from God.\n\nThe Dabistan: One sect, \u201cthe Eternals,\u201d conceive that man is taught\nhis duty by a mysterious order of priesthood,[44] whose number and\nranks are fixed, and who rise in gradation from the lowest paths to the\nsublimest height of divine knowledge.\n\nAnother sect, \u201cthe Enlightened,\u201d teach that men\u2019s actions should\nneither proceed from fear of punishment nor the hope of reward, but\nfrom innate love of virtue, and detestation of vice.\n\n THE SOUL, ITS LIFE AND CONDITIONS.\n\n_The soul existed before the body and is confined in it like in a cage.\nTo the Sufi, death is liberation and return to the Deity._\n\n_The soul is confined in a body_ (metempsychosis) _to be purified, to\nfulfill its destination, the union with Deity_.\n\n_Without the grace of God_ (Fazlu allah) _no soul can attain this\nunion, but God\u2019s grace can be obtained by fervently asking for it_.\n\n_The soul_ of man is _of_ God, not _from_ God, an exile from Him; it\nlives in the body as in a prison and banishment from God. Before its\nexile the soul saw _Truth_, but here it only has glimpses \u201cto awaken\nthe slumbering memory of the past.\u201d The object of all Sufi teaching is\nto lead the soul onward by degrees to reach that stage again.\n\n\u201cYou say \u2018the sea and the waves,\u2019 but in that remark you do not believe\nthat you signify distinct objects, for the sea when it heaves produces\nwaves, and the waves when they settle down again become sea; in the\nsame manner men are the waves of God, and after death return to His\nbosom. Or, you trace with ink upon paper the letters of the alphabet,\na, b, c; but these letters are not distinct from the ink which enabled\nyou to write them; in the same manner the creation is the alphabet of\nGod, and is lost in Him.\u201d\n\n RELIGIONS\n\n_are matters of indifference_; still they serve as stepping-stones to\nrealities. Some are more useful than others, among which is al-Islam,\nof which Sufism is the true philosophy.\n\n THE WORLD, &c.\n\n_The world is life_ and intellect, as far as the mineral kingdom;\nbut the manifestation of intellect in everybody is determined by the\ntemperature of the human constitution. Sometimes beauty attains an\nexcellence which is uttered with ecstacy, and becomes a modulation more\npowerful than that which strikes the ear; and this is the work of the\nprophet.\n\n THE TARIGAH OR \u201cJOURNEY OF LIFE\u201d AND ITS STATES.\n\nThe main duty of this life is _Meditation on the Unity of Deity_\n(wahdaniyah), the _Remembrance of God\u2019s Name_ (Zikr), and _Progression\nin the Tarigah_ (the Path, the Journey of Life).\n\nHuman life is a _journey_ (safar) and the seekers after God are\n_travellers_ (salik). _Perfect knowledge_ (marifah) of Deity as\ndiffused throughout creation is the purpose of the journey. _Sufism is\nthe guide_, and the _end of the journey, is Union with God_.\n\nThe natural state of every human being is nasut. In this state the\ndisciple can not yet observe the Law (shariat). This is the lowest form\nof spiritual existence.\n\nThe states in the Tarigah are the following:\n\nThe first state is called _Shariat_\u2014the _state of law or method_. The\nstudent\u2019s passions are in this degree checked by a rigid observance of\nritual, &c., whereby he learns human nature and to respect order and\nfinds out for himself the rudiments of a knowledge of God.\n\nThe second state is _Tureequt_ or the way, or road. This state implies\nmental or spiritual worship, abstracted totally from the above. The\nstudent learns to see the prop\u00e6deutic nature of ceremonies and devotes\nhimself to realities. At this stage the ascetic exercises begin and he\nholds communion with _Melkut_ or the angelic world.\n\nThe third state, _Huqeequt_, or the state of truth is the state of\ninspiration or greater natural knowledge. The Sufi now lives no more\nin faith but in subjective truth and spiritual power; he has seen the\nsimilarity of God\u2019s nature and his own; all antinomies are destroyed,\neven sin disappears from his reflections.\n\nThe fourth and last state is _Marifut_ or union of spirit and soul with\nGod. \u201cUnion (with God) is reality, or the state, truth and perception\nof things, when there is neither lord nor servant.\u201d Still \u201cthe man of\nGod is not God; but he is not separate from God.\u201d At this stage man\u2019s\n\u201ccorporeal veil will be removed, and his emancipated soul will mix\nagain with the glorious essence, from which it had been separated,\nthough not divided.\u201d[45]\n\n_Aziz ibn Muhammad Nafasi_ in a book called _al-Maqsadu \u2018l-Aqsa_ or the\n\u201cRemotest Aim,\u201d (trans. in E.\u202fH. Palmer\u2019s Oriental Mysticism) marks out\nthe journey a little differently from that already described.\n\nWhen a man possessing the necessary requirements of fully developed\nreasoning powers turns to them for a resolution of his doubts and\nuncertainties concerning the real nature of the Godhead, he is called a\n_talib_ \u201ca searcher after God.\u201d\n\nIf he has further desire for progress he is called a \u201cmurid\u201d or \u201cone\nwho inclines,\u201d and he places himself under the instruction and guidance\nof a teacher and becomes a \u201ctraveller.\u201d\n\nThe _first_ stage of his journey is called \u201cubudiyah\u201d or \u201cservice\u201d and\nis as described above.\n\nThe _second_ stage is ishq or \u201clove.\u201d He loves God. The divine love\nfilling his heart, it expels all other loves and brings him to the\n_third_ stage, Zuhd or \u201cseclusion.\u201d He occupies himself exclusively\nwith contemplation of God and his attributes, and comes to the fourth\nstate, Marifah or \u201cknowledge.\u201d\n\nWhen settled he is come to the _fifth_ stage, wajd or \u201cecstasy.\u201d He now\nreceives revelations and soon reaches the sixth stage, that of hagigah\nor \u201c_truth_,\u201d and proceeds to the final state, that of \u201cwasl,\u201d or \u201cunion\nwith God.\u201d\n\nHe has now finished the journey and remains in the state he has come\nto, still going on, however, progressing in depth of understanding.\nFinally he comes to \u201cthe total absorption into Deity.\u201d\n\n_The Zikr_, or ecstatic exercises belonging to the training on this\njourney, will be explained in our second part: Symbols.\n\n THE SEVEN WAY-STATIONS OF PILGRIMAGE are these:[46]\n\nThe _first_ degree consists of penitence, obedience, and meditation,\nand in this degree the light is, as it were, green.\n\nThe _second_ degree is the _purity of the Spirit_ from satanic\nqualities, violence, and brutality, because as long as the spirit is\nthe slave of satanic qualities, it is subject to concupiscence, and\nthis is the quality of fire. In this state Iblis evinces his strength,\nand when the spirit is liberated from this, it is distressed with the\nquality of fierceness, which may be said to be _flashing_ and this is\nconformable to the property of wind. Then it becomes insatiable (lit.\neager after anything to excess), and this is similar to water. After\nthis it obtains quietness, and this quality resembles earth (_i. e._\napathy or cessation from all action). In the degree of repose, the\nlight is as it were, blue, and the utmost reach of one\u2019s progress is\nthe earthly dominion.\n\nThe _third_ degree is the _manifestation of the heart_, by laudable\nqualities, which is similar to red light, and the utmost reach of its\nprogress is the middle of the upper dominion; and in this station\nthe heart praises God, and sees the light of worship and spiritual\nqualities.\n\nThe _fourth_ degree is the _applying of the constitution to nothing\nelse but to God_, and this is similar to yellow light, and the utmost\nreach of its progress is the midst of the heavenly _Malkat_ \u201cdominion.\u201d\n\nThe _fifth_ degree of the soul is that which resembles white light, and\nthe utmost aim of its progress is the extreme heavenly dominion.\n\nThe _sixth_ degree is the _hidden_, which is like a black light, and\nthe utmost reach of its progress is \u201cthe world of power.\u201d\n\nThe _seventh_ degree is \u201cthe evanescence of evanescence,\u201d which is\n\u201cannihilation\u201d and \u201ceternal life,\u201d and is colorless. It _is absorption_\nin God, non-existence and effacement of the imaginary in the true\nbeing, like the loss of a drop of water in the ocean. It is _eternal_\nlife as the union of the drop with the sea. \u201cAnnihilation\u201d is not to be\ntaken in the common acceptation, but in a higher sense, \u201cannihilation\nin God.\u201d\n\n SUFI SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE.\n\nThe Sufis inculcate the doctrine, \u201cAdore the Deity in his creatures.\u201d\nIt is said in a verse of the Quran\u2014\u201cIt is not given to man that the\nDeity should speak to him: if it does so it is by inspirations, or\nthrough a veil.\u201d _Thus all the efforts of man should tend to raise the\nveil of divine love and to the annihilation of the individuality_ which\nseparates him from the Divine essence; and this expression \u201craise up\nthe veil,\u201d has remained in the language of the East as expressive of\ngreat intimacy.\n\nOne of the most violent and able of the enemies of the Sufis, says that\nthey deem everything in the world a type of the beauty and power of the\nDeity and adds that it appears from both their actions and writings,\nthat it is in the red cheeks of beautiful damsels that they contemplate\nits beauty; and in the \u201cimpious\u201d daring of Nimrod and of Pharaoh, that\nthey see and admire the omnipotence of its power.[47]\n\nThe Persian commentator _Suruni_ says in regard to sexual love: \u201cthe\nbeauty of the wife is a ray from God and not from the beloved herself.\nThe Mystic recognizes the fact of the divine beauty everywhere in\ncreation, and loves because he in beauty sees a revelation of the\nblessings of the divine name. It is therefore the prophet says\nhe prefers these three things to all others: women, incense, and\nenjoyments.\u201d\n\n_Jellaladdin Rumi_ said: \u201cThey (the Sufis) profess eager desire, but\nwith no carnal affection, and circulate the cup, but no material\ngoblet; since all things are spiritual, all is mystery within mystery.\u201d\n\n_Jami_ exclaims, addressing the Deity:\n\n Sometimes the wine, sometimes the cup we call Thee!\n Sometimes the lure, sometimes the net we call Thee!\n Except Thy name, there is not a letter on the tablet of the universe:\n Say, by what name shall we call Thee?\n\n_Nizami_ explains himself:\n\n Think not that when I praise wine I mean the juice of the grape;\n I mean that wine which raiseth me above self.\n \u201cMy cup-bearer\u201d is to perform my vow to God;\n \u201cMy morning draught from the tavern\u201d is the wine of self oblivion.\n\n * * * * *\n\n By heaven so long as I have enjoyed existence,\n Never hath the tip of my lip been stained with wine!\n\nIn regard to _Hafis_ it is maintained that by _wine_ he invariably\nmeans _devotion_; and his admirers have gone so far as to compose a\ndictionary of words of the language, as they call it, of the _Sufis_.\nIn that vocabulary _sleep_ is explained by _meditation_ on the divine\nperfections, and _perfume_ by hope of divine favor; _gales_ (_i. e._\nZephyrs) are illapses of grace; _kisses and embraces_, the raptures\nof piety; _idolators_, _infidels_, and _libertines_ are men of the\npurest religion, and their _idol_ is the creator himself; _the tavern_\nis the cell where the searcher after truth becomes intoxicated with\nthe wine of divine love. Read with this key to the esoteric meaning,\nMr. Clouston says, the gazelles of Hafis are no longer anacreontic and\nbacchanalian effusions, but ecstatic lucubrations on the love of man to\nhis creator. The _keeper_, or wine seller, the spiritual instructor;\n_beauty_ denotes the perfection of the supreme being; _tresses_ and\n_curls_ are the expansion and infiniteness of his glory; _lips_, the\nhidden and inscrutable mysteries of his essence; _down_ on the cheek,\nthe world of spirits, who encircle the creator\u2019s throne; and a _black\nmole_ is the point of indivisible unity; lastly, _wantonness_, _mirth_\nand _ebriety_, mean religious ardor, ecstasy and abstraction from all\nterrestrial thoughts and contempt for all worldly things.\n\n_Mohemmed Missiree_: On the Tesavuf, or spiritual life of the Sufis.\nTranslated from the Turkish by John P. Brown, Esq., of the American\nembassy at Constantinople. (In Journ. of Am. Orient. Soc. vol. viii.):\n\nWhat is the beginning of at-Tesavuf? Faith, which has six pillars,\nnamely: (1) Belief in God, (2) in His Angels, (3) in His Books, (4)\nin His Prophets, (5) and in the Last Day, and (6) in His decree of\nGood and Evil. What is the result of the Tesavuf? It is not only\nthe reciting with the tongue of these pillars of faith but also\nestablishing them in the heart. What is the distinction between a\nSufi and an ordinary person? The knowledge of an ordinary person is a\n\u201ccounterfeit faith\u201d whereas that of the Sufi is \u201ctrue faith.\u201d What do\nyou mean by \u201ccounterfeit faith?\u201d It is that which an ordinary person\nhas derived from his forefathers, or from the teachers and preachers\nof his own day, without knowing why it is essential that a man should\nbelieve in these six articles for his soul\u2019s salvation. What is the\nproof of faith? The proof of faith consists in a search being made\nfor the true origin of each of these six pillars of faith, until the\nenquirer arrives at \u201cthe Truth.\u201d The Sufis regard certain things as\nlawful which are forbidden. For instance, they enjoin the use of wine,\nwine-shops, the wine-cup, sweethearts; they speak of the curls of their\nmistresses, and the moles on their faces, cheeks, &c., and compare the\nfurrows on their brows to verses of the Quran. What does this mean?\nThe Sufis often exchange the external features of all things for the\ninternal, the corporeal for the spiritual, and thus give an imaginary\nsignification to outward forms. They behold objects of a precious\nnature in their natural character and for this reason the greater part\nof their words have a spiritual and figurative meaning. For instance,\nwhen, like Hafis, they mention wine, they mean a knowledge of God,\nwhich, figuratively considered, is the love of God. Wine, viewed\nfiguratively, is also love; love and affection are here the same thing.\nThe wine-shop, with them, means \u201cspiritual director,\u201d for his heart\nis said to be the depository of the love of God. The sweetheart means\nthe excellent preceptor, because, when anyone sees his beloved, he\nadmires her perfect proportions, with a heart full of love. As the\nlover delights in the presence of his sweetheart, so the Salik rejoices\nin the company of his beloved preceptor. The sweetheart is the object\nof a worldly affection, but the preceptor of a spiritual attachment.\nThe curls or ringlets of the beloved are the grateful praises of the\npreceptor, tending to bind the affections of the disciple; the moles\non her face signify that when the pupil, at times, beholds the total\nabsence of all worldly wants on the part of the preceptor, he also\nabandons all the desires of both worlds\u2014he perhaps even goes so far as\nto desire nothing else in life than his preceptor; the furrows on the\nbrow of the beloved one, which they compare to verses of the Quran,\nmean the light of the heart of the preceptor; they are compared to\nverses of the Quran, because the attributes of God, in accordance with\nthe injunction of the Prophet, \u201cBe ye endued with divine qualities,\u201d\nare possessed by the preceptor.\n\n (_To be continued._)\n\n\n THEOSOPHICAL SYMBOLISM.\n\nThe number 7 has, ever since the Theosophical Society was founded\nNovember 17th, 1875, played a prominent part in all its affairs, and,\nas usual, the symbols which particularly relate or pertain to the\nSociety are in number, seven. They are: first the seal of the Society;\nsecond, the serpent biting his tail; third, the gnostic cross near the\nserpent\u2019s head; fourth, the interlaced triangles; fifth, the cruxansata\nin the centre; sixth, the pin of the Society, composed of a cruxansata\nentwined by a serpent, forming together T.\u202fS.; and seventh, OM the\nsacred Vedic word.\n\nThe seal of the Society contains all of the symbols enumerated,\nexcepting _aum_, and is the synthesis of them. It, in fact, expresses\nwhat the Society is itself, and contains, or ought to, in symbolic\nform, the doctrines which many of its members adhere to.\n\nA symbol to be properly so called, must be contained in the idea\nor ideas which it is intended to represent. As a symbol of a house\ncould never be the prow of a boat, or the wing of a bird, but must\nbe contained somewhere in the form of the house itself; that is, it\nmust be an actual part chosen to represent or stand for the whole. It\nneed not be the whole, but may be a lower form or species used as the\nrepresentative of a higher of the same kind. The word is derived from\nthe Greek words meaning _to throw with_, that is to throw together. To\nbe a just and correct symbol, it should be such as that the moment it\nis seen by one versed in symbolism, its meaning and application become\neasily apparent. The Egyptians adopted to represent the soul passing\nback to its source, after the trial in the Hall of Two Truths, a winged\nglobe, for a globe is a symbol of either the Supreme Soul or a portion\nof it, and the wings were added to represent its life and flight to the\nupper spheres. In another branch of their symbology they represented\njustice by a scale which gives a just balance; while even there in\nthe Hall of Two Truths, they reverted again to the other mode and\nsymbolized the man being weighed by justice, in the form of his heart\nover against the feather of truth in the opposite pan of the scales.\n\nThere is one very curious hieroglyph of the Egyptians which deserves\nsome study by those of curious mind. Here we will merely point it out,\nremarking that there is a mine of great value in the Egyptian method of\npicturing their ideas of the macrocosm. In one of the numerous papyri\nnow in the British Museum, there is a picture of a globe being held\nup by a beetle by means of his head and two fore legs, while he is\nstanding upon a sort of pedestal which has certain divisions, looking\non the whole, like a section of an hour glass crossed by horizontal\nlines that project from each side. This pedestal represents stability;\nbut what does the whole mean or shadow forth? Those who can follow up\nsuggestions should direct their thoughts to the relation which the Sun\nbears to the earth in its orbital revolution.\n\nTo proceed with our analysis: The second symbol is the serpent biting\nhis tail. This is wisdom, and eternity. It is eternity, because that\nhas neither beginning nor end and therefore the ring is formed by\nserpent swallowing his tail. There is an old hermetic symbol similar to\nthis, in which the circle is formed by two serpents interlaced and each\nswallowing the tail of the other one. No doubt the symbolism in that\nis, in respect to the duality of the manifested All, and hence, two\nserpents inextricably entwined.\n\nFurthermore, the scales of the reptiles form the figures of facettes\nor diamonds, which shadow forth the illimitable diversity of the\naspects of wisdom or truth. This is not due to any want of coherence or\ncongruity in truth itself, but solely to the diverse views which each\nindividual takes of the one Truth. These reflecting facettes are the\nbeings composing the macrocosm: each one has developed himself only to\na certain degree, and therefore can only appreciate and reflect that\namount of wisdom which has fallen to his lot. As he passes again and\nagain through the form of man, he slowly develops other various powers\nof appreciating more truth, and so at the last may become one with the\nwhole\u2014the perfect man, able to know and to feel completely his union\nwith all. This is when he has acquired the highest Yoga. So in our\nexperience and in history and ethnology we find individuals, nations\nand races, whose want of responsiveness to certain ideas, and others\nwhose power to grasp them, can only be explained by the doctrines of\nReincarnation and Karma. If those doctrines are not accepted, there is\nno escape from a blank negation.\n\nIt is not necessary to express the duality of the Supreme Soul by two\nserpents, because in the third component part of the Seal, elsewhere,\nthat is symbolized by the interlaced triangles. One of these is white,\nthat one with the point uppermost, and the other is black with its apex\ndirected downward. They are intertwined because the dual nature of the\nSupreme, while in manifestation, is not separate in its parts. Each\natom of matter, so called, has also its atom of spirit This is what\nthe _Bagavad-Gita_[48] denominates Purusha and Prakriti, and Krishna\nthere says that he is at once Purusha and Prakriti, he is alike the\nvery best and the very worst of men. These triangles also mean, \u201cthe\nmanifested universe.\u201d It is one of the oldest and most beautiful of\nsymbols, and can be discovered among all nations, not only those now\ninhabiting the earth, but also in the monuments, carvings and other\nremains of the great races who have left us the gigantic structures now\nsilent as far as the voice of man is concerned, but resounding with\nspeech for those who care to listen. They seem to be full of ideas\nturned into stone.\n\nThe triangles thus combined form in the interior space, a six sided\nplane figure. This is the manifested world. Six is the number of the\nworld, and 666 is the great mystery which is related to the symbol.\nSt. John talks of this number. Around the six sided centre are the\nsix triangles projecting into the spiritual world, and touching the\nenclosed serpent of wisdom. In an old book, this is made by the great\nhead of the Lord rising above the horizon of the ocean of matter, with\nthe arms just raised so that they make the upper half of the triangle.\nThis is the \u201clong face,\u201d or macrocoscopos, as it is called. As it\nrises slowly and majestically, the placid water below reflects it in\nreverse, and thus makes the whole double triangle. The lower one is\ndark and forbidding in its aspect, but at the same time the upper part\nof the darker one is itself light, for it is formed by the majestic\nhead of this Adam Kadmon. Thus they shade into one another. And this\nis a perfect symbolism, for it clearly figures the way in which day\nshades into night, and evil into good. In ourselves we find both, or\nas the Christian St. Paul says, the natural and spiritual man are\nalways together warring against each other, so that what we would do we\ncannot, and what we desire not to be guilty of, the darker half of man\ncompels us to do. But ink and paper fails us in the task of trying to\nelucidate this great symbol. Go to Hermes, to St. John, the Caballah,\nthe Hindu books, wherever you please, and there will you find the seven\ntimes seven meanings of the interlaced triangles.\n\nOM is the Sacred Vedic syllable: let us repeat it with a thought\ndirected to its true meaning.[49]\n\nWithin the small circle, placed upon the serpent, is a cross with\nits ends turned back. This is called the Gnostic Cross. It signifies\nevolution, among other ideas, for the turning back of its ends\nis caused by the revolving of the two diameters of the circle.\nThe vertical diameter is the spirit moving down and bisecting the\nhorizontal. This completed, the revolution round the great circle\ncommences, and that motion is represented in the symbol by the ends\nturned back. In Chapter III. of _Bagavad-Gita_, Krishna says: \u201cHe\nwho in this life does not cause this cycle, thus already revolved, to\ncontinue revolving lives to no purpose, a life of sin, indulging his\nsenses.\u201d That is, we must assist the great wheel of evolution and not\noppose it; we must try to help in the great work of returning to the\nsource from whence we came, and constantly endeavor to convert lower\nnature into higher, not only that of ourselves, but also of our fellow\nmen and of the whole animated world.\n\nThis cross is also the symbol of the Hindu Chakkra, or discus, of\nVishnu. In the Mahabharata is described the conflict between the Asuras\nand Devas, for the possession of the vase of Amreeta which had been\nchurned with infinite trouble, from the ocean, and which the Asuras\ndesired to take for themselves. The conflict began when _Rahu_, an\nAsura, assuming the form of a Deva, began drinking the ambrosia.\nIn this case the Amreeta was spiritual wisdom, material existence,\nimmortality, and also magic power. The deceit of _Rahu_ was discovered\nbefore he had swallowed, and then the battle began.\n\n\u201cIn the midst of this dreadful hurry and confusion of the fight,\n_Nar_ and _Narayan_ entered the field together. _Narayan_ beholding a\ncelestial bow in the hands of _Nar_, it reminded him of his Chakkra,\nthe destroyer of the Asuras. The faithful weapon, ready at the mind\u2019s\ncall, flew down from heaven with direct and refulgent speed, beautiful,\nyet terrible to behold. And being arrived, glowing like the sacrificial\nflame, and spreading terror around, _Narayan_ with his right arm formed\nlike the elephantine trunk, hurled forth the ponderous orb, the speedy\nmessenger, and glorious ruin of hostile towns, who raging like the\nfinal all destroying fire, shot bounding with desolating force, killing\nthousands of the Asuras in his rapid flight, burning and involving,\nlike the lambent flame, and cutting down all that would oppose him.\nAnon he climbeth the heavens from whence he came.\u201d (Mahabharata, Book\nI, Chap 15.)\n\nEzekiel, of the Jews, saw this wheel, when he was among the captives by\nthe river Chebar in Chaldea. In a vision he saw the four beasts and the\nman of the Apocalypse, and with them \u201cfor each of the four faces,\u201d was\na wheel, of the colour of a beryl; it was \u201cas a wheel within a wheel,\u201d\nand they went wherever the living creatures went, \u201cfor the spirit of\nthe living creatures was in the wheels.\u201d All of this appeared terrible\nto him, for he says: \u201cAnd when they went I heard a noise like the noise\nof great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like\nthe noise of a host.\u201d\n\nThere are many other meanings concealed in this symbol, as in all the\nothers.\n\nIn the center of the interlaced triangles is placed the _Cruxansata_.\nThis is also extremely ancient. In the old Egyptian papyri it is\nfrequently found. It signifies life. As Isis stands before the\ncandidate, or the soul, upon his entry, she holds in one hand this\ncross, while he holds up his hand that he may not look upon her\nface. In another there is a winged figure, whose wings are attached\nto the arms, and in each hand is held the same cross. Among other\nthings we find here the horizontal and vertical diameters once more,\nbut conjoined with the circle placed on top. This is the same as the\nold astrological sign for Venus. But in the seal, its chief and most\nimportant meaning is _the regenerated man_. Here in the centre, after\npassing the different degrees and cycles, both spirit and matter are\nunited in the intelligent regenerated man, who stands in the middle\nknowing all things in the manifested universe. He has triumphed over\ndeath and holds the cross of life.\n\nThe last theosophical symbol is, the pin of the Society, adopted early\nin its history but not used much. It is the cross we have just been\nconsidering, entwined in such a way by a serpent, that the combination\nmakes T S as a monogram.\n\nThe foregoing is not exhaustive. Every symbol should have seven\nmeanings of principal value, and out of every one of those we have been\nconsidering can be drawn that number of significations. Intelligent\nstudy of them will be beneficial, for when a consistent symbol,\nembodying many ideas is found and meditated upon, the thought or view\nof the symbol brings up each idea at once before the mind.\n NILAKANT.\n\n\nREVIEWS.\n\nTHE SECRET DOCTRINE OF THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES.\u2014An essay by J.\u202fD.\nBuck, (Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, O.). This little pamphlet of\n32 pages, is an essay read by Dr. Buck before the Liberal Club of\nCincinnati. The author tries to show that one truth has run all through\nthe Ancient Mysteries, and later, is even to be found in the Christian\nChurch. His hint on p. 22, that \u201cthe Apostolic Catholic Church\npossessed the Secret Doctrine, that some of its clergy apprehended the\ngreat truths, but that there was wisdom for the priests and command\nfor the people,\u201d is full of truth. At the present day the great Jesuit\nCollege possesses much knowledge of the theurgy which is a part of\nthe practice of the Secret Doctrine, and if all the magical practices\nof the disciples of Loyola were known, the Christian world would be\nstartled. They know enough of forecasting the future to fear all such\nmovements as the Theosophical Society, and have tried, as they still\ntry, to undermine it within its own borders.\n\nAnyone who reads Dr. Buck\u2019s essay with a candid spirit, will agree with\nhim that one core of truth underlies all religions, and will feel the\nrefreshing influence of the author\u2019s clear mind and solid sense.\n\n INWORLD.\n\n[A poem taken from the January number of \u201cThe Dial,\u201d 1842, the organ of\nthe Transcendentalists, edited by RALPH WALDO EMERSON.]\n\n Amid the watches of the windy night\n A poet sat, and listened to the flow\n Of his own changeful thoughts, until there passed\n A vision by him, murmuring as it moved,\n A wild and mystic lay\u2014to which his thoughts\n And pen kept time\u2014and thus the measure ran:\n\n All is but as it seems,\n The round, green earth,\n With river and glen;\n The din and the mirth\n Of the busy, busy men;\n The world\u2019s great fever\n Throbbing forever;\n The creed of the sage,\n The hope of the age,\n All things we cherish,\n All that live and all that perish,\n These are but inner dreams.\n\n The great world goeth on\n To thy dreaming;\n To thee alone\n Hearts are making their moan,\n Eyes are streaming.\n Thine is the white moon turning night to day,\n Thine is the dark wood sleeping in her ray.\n Thee the winter chills,\n Thee the spring time thrills;\n All things nod to thee\u2014\n All things come to see\n If thou art dreaming on.\n If thy dream should break,\n And thou should\u2019st awake,\n All things would be gone.\n\n Nothing is, if thou art not,\n From thee as from a root\n The blossoming stars upshoot,\n The flower cups drink the rain.\n Joy and grief and weary pain\n Spring aloft from thee,\n And toss their branches free.\n Thou are under, over all;\n Thou dost hold and cover all;\n Thou art Atlas\u2014thou art Jove:\u2014\n The mightiest truth\n Hath all its youth\n From thy enveloping thought.\n Thy thought itself lay in thy earliest love.\n\n Nature keeps time to thee\n With voice unbroken:\n Still doth she rhyme to thee\n When thou hast spoken.\n When the sun shines to thee,\n \u2019Tis thy own joy,\n Opening mines to thee\n Nought can destroy.\n When the blast moans to thee\n Still doth the wind\n Echo the tones to thee\n Of thy own mind.\n Laughter but saddens thee\n When thou art sad,\n Life is not life to thee,\n But as thou livest,\n Labor is strife to thee\n When thou least strivest:\u2014\n\n More did the spirit sing, and made the night,\n Most musical with inward melodies,\n But vanished soon, and left the listening bard\n Wrapt in unearthly silence\u2014till the morn\n Reared up the screen that shuts the spirit world\n From loftiest poet and from wisest sage.\n\n OUTWORLD.\n\n The sun was shining on the busy earth.\n All men and things were moving on their way\u2014\n The old, old way which we call life. The soul\n Shrank from the giant grasp of Space and Time,\n Yet, for it was, her dreamy hour half yielded\n To the omnipotent delusion\u2014and looked out\n On the broad glare of things, and felt itself\n Dwindling before the universe: Then came unto the bard\n Another spirit with another voice,\n And sang:\u2014\n\n Said he, that all but seems?\n Said he, the world is void and lonely,\n A strange vast crowd of dreams\n Coming to thee only?\n And that thy feeble soul\n Hath such a strong control\n O\u2019er sovereign Space and sovereign Time\n And all their train sublime?\n Said he, thou art the eye\n Reflecting all that is\u2014\n The ear that hears, while it creates\n All sounds and harmonies\u2014\n The central sense that bides amid\n All shows and tunes and realities?\n Listen mortal while the sound\n Of this life intense is flowing!\n Dost thou find all things around\n Go as thou art going?\n Dost thou dream that thou art free,\n Making, destroying all that thou dost see\n In the unfettered might of thy soul\u2019s liberty?\n\n Lo, an atom troubles thee.\n One bodily fibre crushes thee,\n One nerve tortures and maddens thee,\n One drop of blood is death to thee.\n Art thou but a withering leaf,\n For a summer season brief\n Clinging to the tree,\n \u2018Till the winds of circumstance,\n Whirling in their hourly dance,\n Prove too much for thee?\n Art thou but a speck, a mote\n In the system universal?\n Art thou but a passing note\n Woven in the great rehearsal?\n Canst thou roll back the tide of Thought\n And unmake the creed of the age,\n And unteach the wisdom taught\n By the prophet and the sage?\n Art thou but a shadow\n Chasing o\u2019er a meadow?\n The great world goes on\n Spite of thy dreaming;\n Not to be alone\n Hearts are making their moan\n And tear-drops streaming,\n And the mighty voice of Nature\n Is thy parent, not thy creature,\n Is no pupil but thy teacher:\n And the world would still move on\n Were thy soul forever flown.\n For while thou dreamest on enfolded\n In nature\u2019s wide embrace,\n All thy life is daily moulded\n By her informing grace.\n And Time and Space must reign\n And rule o\u2019er thee forever,\n And the Outworld lifts its chain\n From off thy spirit never;\n But in the dream of thy half-waking fever\n Thou shalt be mocked with gleam and show\n Of truths thou pinest for, and yet canst never know.\n\n And then the Spirit fled and left the bard\n Still wondering\u2014for he felt that voices twain\n Had come from different spheres with different truths\n That seemed at war and yet agreed in one.\n C.\n\n\n ANOTHER THEOSOPHICAL PROPHECY.\n\nIn the first number of THE PATH was inserted a prophecy made from\ncertain books in India called _Nadigrandhams_, respecting the Society.\n\nThis called forth from the _N. Y. Sun_, that model of journalism, a\nlong tirade about the superficial knowledge which it claims pervades\nthe Society on the subject of oriental philosophy. Unfortunately for\nthe learned editorial writer in that paper, he never before heard\nof _Nadigrandhams_, which are almost as common in India as the Sun\nis here, nor does he appear to know what a _Nadi_ may be, nor a\n_Grandham_, either.\n\nBut without trying to drag the daily press of this country into the\npath of oriental knowledge, we will proceed to record another prophecy\nor two.\n\nThe first will seem rather bold, but is placed far enough in the future\nto give it some value as a test. It is this:\u2014The Sanscrit language will\none day be again the language used by man upon this earth, first in\nscience and in metaphysics, and later on in common life. Even in the\nlifetime of the Sun\u2019s witty writer, he will see the terms now preserved\nin that noblest of languages creeping into the literature and the\npress of the day, cropping up in reviews, appearing in various books\nand treatises, until even such men as he will begin perhaps to feel\nthat they all along had been ignorantly talking of \u201cthought\u201d when they\nmeant \u201ccerebration,\u201d and of \u201cphilosophy\u201d when they meant \u201cphilology,\u201d\nand that they had been airing a superficial knowledge gained from\ncyclop\u0153dias of the mere lower powers of intellect, when in fact they\nwere totally ignorant of what is really elementary knowledge. So this\nnew language cannot be English, not even the English acquired by the\nreporter of daily papers who ascends fortuitously to the editorial\nrooms\u2014but will be one which is scientific in all that makes a language,\nand has been enriched by ages of study of metaphysics and the true\nscience.\n\nThe second prophecy is nearer our day, and may be interesting.\u2014It is\nbased upon cyclic changes. This is a period of such a change, and we\nrefer to the columns of the _N. Y. Sun_ of the time when the famous\nbrilliant sunsets were chronicled and discussed not long ago for the\nsame prognostication. No matter about dates; they are not to be given;\nbut facts may be. This glorious country, free as it is, will not long\nbe calm: _Unrest_ is the word for this cycle. The people will rise. For\nwhat, who can tell? The statesman who can see _for what_ the uprising\nwill be might take measures to counteract. But all your measures can\nnot turn back the iron will of fate. And even the City of New York\nwill not be able to point its finger at Cincinnati and St. Louis. Let\nthose whose ears can hear the whispers, and the noise of the gathering\nclouds, of the future, take notice; let them read, if they know how,\nthe physiognomy of the United States, whereon the mighty hand of nature\nhas traced the furrows to indicate the character of the moral storms\nthat will pursue their course no matter what the legislation may be.\nBut enough. Theosophists can go on unmoved, for they know that as\nKrishna said to Arjuna, these bodies are not the real man, and that\n\u201cno one has ever been non-existent nor shall any of us ever cease to\nexist.\u201d\n\n\n CORRESPONDENCE.\n\n THEOSOPHY.\n\n [A LETTER FROM A FRIEND.]\n\nDEAR BROTHER:\n\n\u201cIt rejoices us all here more than I can tell you, to know that you\nhave made such a start in America with Theosophy. We have had so many\nthings to pull us back, that it has been quite as much as we could\nmanage to keep our heads above water, and this not so much from the\naction of our enemies as from the apathy of our friends. It is strange\nto me to see how little faith there is in the power of truth, even\namong those who ought to realize this most strongly. Why should we\nfear and fold our hands when men speak evil of us or of the cause, why\nshould we imagine that any attack on individual members can effect\nthe position we take as a group or that theosophy can be endangered\nthereby? How few understand what theosophy is; they look upon it as\nsolely an intellectual movement that can be damned by the folly of\nits adherents; they little dream of the strength that underlies the\napparently inconsistent workings of this manifestation of truth which\nwe call the Theosophical Society. And there is one thing which I\nbelieve establishes more than any other, the fact that the Society as\na whole has true vitality within it, and that is the visible action of\nKarma in its developments.\n\n\u201cSee how the mistaken value given to phenomena in the early history\nof the Society, brought immediately its Karmic development in the\ntroubles then, and whenever any undue importance has been given either\nto individualities or any particular line of practice, it is always\non that particular point that the next attack comes. So that while\nfully realizing that as an organization, the T.\u202fS. is defective in\nsome things, I yet believe that there is a power within it that will\npurge it from its defects and carry it on in spite of the attacks of\nits enemies and what is worse still, the follies of its friends. What\nI do feel more and more is the necessity that we should remember and\nconstantly keep before us what it is we are working for and not think\nwe accomplish our end when we number our converts in the world of\nfashion, and gather around us men and women who vainly hope for psychic\npowers and the arts of fortune telling and reading the future. I do not\nfear black magic in our midst, but I do feel very strongly that there\nare many who will sink to the level of mere wonder-seekers and that\nthey will become the prey of elemental influences.\n\n\u201cWhat can be done to make men realize, as you say, a sense of universal\nbrotherhood and the true meaning of Theosophy. Well, let us join\nyou in America and the few here who do realize that psychism is not\nspirituality, and let us try to stir the hearts of men with the living\ntruths of Theosophy.\n\n\u201cI am most anxious, and have been for a long time, that we should\naddress ourselves to another stratum of society than that (the\nintellectual and the fashionable) which we have sought. It is not that\nI would depreciate intellect; if I err in that matter it is in putting\ntoo much stress on intellectual development. But I am beginning to\nrealize that the lower intellect can only deal with physical facts and\nthat it can never develop ideas; these can only be apprehended by the\nhigher intellectual faculties, and the ethical and emotional nature of\nman has also its higher and lower aspects.\n\n\u201cI wish very much that we had a literature calculated to appeal to\nthe general masses, and I think that we should resolutely turn our\nattention to this object. I think the little book that Dr. Buck has\njust published very useful and I should be glad to see many more\nsuch little works treating of the various points of doctrine such as\nReincarnation, Karma, &c. It is also encouraging to see such efforts\nas that contained in the small book lately out\u2014_What is Theosophy?_\nDoubtless, in connection with that, for it seems to have been written\nfor the author\u2019s children, you will call to mind what was written by\none of the adepts, not so long ago: \u2018there is a great likelihood that\nthe sons of theosophists will become theosophists,\u2019 and will quite\nagree with me in the idea that we need a literature, not solely for\nhighly intellectual persons, but of a more simple character, which\nattempts to appeal to ordinary common sense minds, who are really\nfainting for such mental and moral assistance, which is not reached by\nthe more pretentious works. Indeed, we all need this. It is fortunate\nthat we have been able to live through the tide of mere psychism and\nbare intellectuality which threatened nearly to swamp us. And you\nknow to whom we owe our escape, and now, that there are ten or twelve\nmembers left who are prepared to work on independently of perturbation,\nI think it a clear gain. What does it matter to us whether H.\u202fP.\nBlavatsky has or has not fulfilled all of her duties, or whether\ninvestigation has cast doubt into the minds of some. In so far as she\nhas done her duty, her work will remain, and if perchance she has come\nto the end of her capabilities\u2014which I do not admit\u2014it is for us to\ncarry on what she has thus far done.\n\n\u201cIn America I hope you will not fall into running after wonders and\npsychic gifts to the detriment of true philosophical and moral progress.\n\n \u201cBelieve me to be, fraternally yours, A.\u201d\n\n NOTE.\u2014The whole of this letter should be carefully studied, and in\n particular the point that Karma brings its attacks just on the point\n or persons where or by whom stress has been laid on phenomena. It may\n be accepted as almost axiomatic by our members, that if any group or\n single person has paid too undue attention to phenomena, to astralism,\n psychism, or whatever it is called, there will develop the next\n trouble or attack upon the Society. It has been authoritatively stated\n by one of the great Beings who are behind this movement, that _it must\n prosper by moral worth and philosophy, and not by phenomena_. Let us\n well beware then. Phenomena, powers\u2014or _siddhis_ as the Hindu say\u2014are\n only incidental. Our real object is to spread Universal Brotherhood,\n in which task we necessarily explain phenomena, but the Society is\n not a _Hall for Occultism_, and that has also been asserted by an\n adept in India in reply to letters written him by certain well-known\n Englishmen who desired to establish a Branch then which should control\n all literature and phenomena. There are no secrets to be given out to\n any select persons, for no one receives a secret inaccessible to the\n rest, _until he has acquired the right to it_, and the proper sense to\n know when and to whom it is to be given out.\u2014[ED.]\n\n WHAT IS THE UDGITHA?\n\n JAMESTOWN, April 16th, 1886.\n\n DEAR BROTHER:\u2014Will you kindly explain, through THE PATH, what is to\n be understood by the _Udgitha_, or hymn of praise to Brahm? With best\n wishes for the success of your enterprise, I remain,\n\n Fraternally yours, L.\u202fJ.\n\nThis is a vital question. It may have arisen from the peculiarity of\nthe word inquired about, or it may be that our brother really knows\nthe importance of the point. We refer him to the article upon OM in\nthe April number. Om is the Udgitha, and OM has been explained in that\narticle. Read between the lines; and read also the \u201cUpanishad Notes\u201d in\nthis month\u2019s PATH.\n\nIn the _Maitrayana-Brahmana-Upanishad_, (Pr. VI), it is said: \u201cThe\nUdgitha, called Pranava, the leader, the bright, the sleepless, free\nfrom old age and death, three footed, (waking, dream, and deep sleep),\nconsisting of three letters and likewise to be known as fivefold, is\nplaced in the cave of the heart.\u201d\n\nThis is the Self. Not the mere body or the faculties of the brain, but\nthe Highest Self. And that must be meditated on, or worshipped, with a\nconstant meditation. _Hymn of praise_, then, means that we accept the\nexistence of that Self and aspire to or adore Him. Therefore, it is\nsaid again, in the same Upanishad:\n\n\u201cIn the beginning Brahman was all this. He was one, and infinite. * * *\nThe Highest Self is not to be fixed, he is unlimited, unborn, not to be\nreasoned about, not to be conceived. He is, like the ether, everywhere,\nand at the destruction of the Universe, he alone is awake. Thus from\nthat ether he wakes all this world, which consists of (his) thought\nonly, and by him alone is all this meditated on, and in him it is\ndissolved. His is that luminous form which shines in the sun, and the\nmanifold light in the smokeless fire. He who is in the fire, and he who\nis in the heart, and he who is in the sun, they _are one and the same_.\nHe who knows this becomes one with the One.\u201d\n\nNow \u201cto know\u201d this, does not mean to merely apprehend the statement,\nbut actually become personally acquainted with it by interior\nexperience. And this is difficult. But it is to be sought after. And\nthe first step to it is the attempt to realize universal brotherhood,\nfor when one becomes identified with the One, who is all, he\n\u201cparticipates in the souls of all creatures;\u201d surely then the first\nstep in the path is universal brotherhood.\n\nThe hymn of praise to Brahm (which is Brahman) is the real object\nof this magazine, and of our existence. The hymn is used, in the\nsacrifice, when verbally expressed, and we can offer it in our daily\nexistence, in each act, whether eating, sleeping, waking, or in any\nstate. A man can hardly incorporate this idea in his being and not be\nspiritually and morally benefited.\n\nBut we cannot fully explain here, as it is to be constantly referred to\nin this magazine.\u2014[ED.]\n\n\n THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.\n\nARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.\u2014This branch has established\nthe nucleus of a library to consist of Theosophical, Metaphysical,\nOccult, Aryan, and other literature. It already numbers about fifty\nvolumes, some of which are loaned pending further accumulations and\nthe acquirement of a proper place to keep them. It is hoped that\nthis will grow to be of great value. A fund for the purpose has also\nbeen started. During April the contributions have been: A Friend,\n$5; Mr. B.\u202fX., $3: C., nine books: _Hist. of Witchcraft in Salem_;\n_Zend Avesta_; _What is Theosophy?_; _Mother Clothed with the Sun_;\n_Footfalls on the Boundaries of Another World, &c._; from Dr. Seth\nPancoast, _Red and Blue Light_.\n\nThe books will be loaned to resident members upon giving receipt for\na definite period. Donations of books or money towards the fund, can\nbe sent to THE PATH, or the Pres\u2019t of the A.\u202fT. S., box 2659, New York\nCity.\n\nSeveral other books are promised and will be in hand before next month.\n\nThe Branch is actively engaged in spreading Theosophical literature,\nand now has requests for books from all parts of the U.\u202fS. It has\nreprinted Mrs. Sinnett\u2019s \u201cPurpose of Theosophy\u201d very cheap in form, but\nwell done, and has other reprints in mind. Since last month, permanent\nquarters have been obtained, where the library will be established.\nPrivate meetings are also held from time to time among the members, for\nstudy and discussion.\n\nMr. C.\u202fH. A. Bjerregaard finished his course of lectures on \u201cHistoric\nand Individual Cycles.\u201d\n\nAll inquiries should be addressed to the Secretary, Box 2659, New York\nCity.\n\n * * * * *\n\nCINCINNATI.\u2014Since our April issue the members here have been steadily\nat work, and among other things accomplished, is the printing of Dr.\nBuck\u2019s essay upon the \u201cSecret Doctrine of the Ancient Mysteries.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nBOSTON.\u2014Interest in Boston continues unabated. A member of the Aryan\nBranch of New York has been spending a month in Boston, discussing the\nphilosophy and ethics to be found in theosophical literature, and it is\nto be hoped that the work done will be permanent, founded as it is in\nethics and not upon phenomena.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBULLEL.\u2014Brother Krishnarao B. Bullel, a Bombay member, who has been\nstudying medicine in New York, and who constantly attended the meetings\nof the Aryan Branch, graduated from the Hom\u0153opathic Medical College, of\nNew York, with honors. He sailed for home on April 14th, on the steamer\nAmerica, intending to stop in London. He carries back with him the best\nwishes of his American brothers, and a good report of the progress of\nthe Cause here.\n\n * * * * *\n\nOLCOTT.\u2014Col. H.\u202fS. Olcott has lately been in Ceylon looking after the\nwork there. Rev. Mr. Leadbeater was with him, and will remain on the\nIsland, where Theosophy is very strong, to work for the Society. A\ntheosophical paper, in Singhalese, was started there some years ago,\nand still flourishes. The Colonel has just recovered from a slight\nattack of fever contracted in his journeys, but his vigor remains\nunabated.\n\n * * * * *\n\nEXPOSURES.\u2014In reply to several inquiries made here, and also sent to\nLondon from the U.\u202fS., we beg to say that it is true that the Society\nfor Psychical Research sent a prejudiced expert to India, who exposed\nnothing except his own bias. Among other things, he thought he had\nproved that the writing of alleged adepts was only Mme. Blavatsky\u2019s\ndisguised hand. But since then, a well-known German member has\nsubmitted specimens of adept writing, together with Mme. Blavatsky\u2019s,\nto one of the best calligraphic experts in Germany, who certifies that\nthe messages which have been impugned were not written by her.\n\nMme. Blavatsky is now in Europe, for her health, but she may be\nexpected to return very soon to India, spy-theory and missionaries, to\nthe contrary notwithstanding.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE AMERICAN BOARD OF CONTROL.\u2014The general and routine work of the\nSociety in America, is under the jurisdiction of the _Board of\nControl_, of which the Secretary is Elliott B. Page, 301 South Main\nStreet, St. Louis, Mo.\n\nA resolution has been passed by this Board, which is binding on all\nmembers, that no publication shall be issued as a Theosophical one,\nwithout previous consent obtained from the officers of the Board.\nThis is wise, as it will tend to prevent unauthorized declarations of\nso-called Theosophical doctrine from being laid at the door of the\nSociety. All members, therefore, intending to make publication, should\naddress the Secretary of the Board.\n\n YOGA VIDYA or the Knowledge of Yoga, is the name by which in India\n psychic practices, or astralism, or seeking after astral-body\n formation, or inducing clairvoyance and the like, is most commonly\n known. At the same time, True Yoga, called _Raja Yoga_, is a different\n thing. In the March _Theosophist_ a member writes giving the name of\n one who will instruct in these practices, and the Editor replied:\n\n \u201cWe cannot endorse the writer\u2019s opinion as to the benefits of Yoga\n Vidya. For one or two who succeed in it, hundreds fail and wreck both\n body and mind, through its dangerous practices, and even if physical\n results are obtained they are not invariably followed by spiritual\n illumination.\u201d\n\n It certainly thus appears that our Society is not in favor of such\n practices, no matter if some of its members indulge in them.\n\nADMISSION TO THE SOCIETY is open to any person of full age, who is\nin sympathy with its objects, willing to abide by its rules; and is\nobtained by signing an application which sets forth the above in a form\nwhich is provided. This must be countersigned by any two active members\nin good standing. The entrance fee is $5 and one belonging to a Branch\nshould also pay the annual dues thereof. Applications can be made to\nPresidents of Branches or other officers. Persons may become members of\nBranches or unattached members of the General Society.\n\n * * * * *\n\n All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded\n on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or\n acts with an evil thought pain follows him as the wheel follows the\n foot of him who draws the carriage.\n\n All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded\n on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or\n acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that\n never leaves him.\u2014_Dhammapada._\n\n Receive this law, young men; keep, read, fathom, teach, promulgate\n and preach it to all beings. I am not avaricious nor narrow\n minded; I am confident and willing to impart Buddha knowledge, or\n knowledge of the self-born. I am a bountiful giver, young men, and\n ye should follow my example; imitate me in liberality, showing this\n knowledge, and preaching this code of laws and conduct to those who\n shall successively gather round you, and rouse unbelieving persons\n to accept this law. By so doing ye will acquit your debt to the\n Tathagatas.\u2014_Saddharma Pundarika._\n\n OM.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[37] _Sacred Books of the East_, Vol. I, lxv.\n\n[38] _Sacred Books_, &c., Vol. I, lxvii.\n\n[39] _Hist. of Sans. Lit._, p. 155, note.\n\n[40] From the negatives _en_ and _am_, and the noun _Soph_ \u201cend or\nterminus.\u201d\n\n[41] See _Kabbalah_, published by R. Worthington, 770 Broadway, N.\u202fY.\n\n[42] See _Kabbalah_, Page 47.\n\n[43] Trans. Bomb. lit. Soc. Comp. the Dabistan.\n\n[44] The Dabistan: The prophet is a person who is sent to the people as\ntheir guide to the perfection which is fixed for them in the presence\nof God, according to the exigency of the dispositions determined by the\nfixed substances, whether it be the perfection of faith, or another.\n\n[45] It is to this state the Sufis refer Mohammed\u2019s words: \u201cI have\nmoments when neither prophet nor angel can comprehend me.\u201d\n\n[46] From the Dabistan. Comp. Zeitschrift d. morgl. Gesellsch. 16 art.\nby Fleischer Ueber die farbigen lichterscheinungen der Sufis.\n\n[47] J.\u202fP. Brown, Dervishes pp. 333.\n\n[48] Bagavad-Gita, ch. 13; id. ch. 10.\n\n[49] Path, No. 1.\u202fp. 24.\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n The great All, which is constantly in motion, and is constantly\n undergoing change in the visible and invisible universe, is like the\n tree which perpetuates itself by the seed and is incessantly creating\n the same identical types.\u2014_Book of Pitris._\n\n Nothing is commenced or ended. Everything is transformed. Life and\n death are only modes of transformation which rule the vital molecule\n from plant up to Brahma himself.-_Atharva Veda._\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. JUNE, 1886. NO. 3.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the authors name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n A HINDU CHELA\u2019S DIARY.[50]\n\nIn the month of December he arrived at Benares, on what he hoped would\nbe his last pilgrimage. As much as I am able to decipher of this\ncurious manuscript, written in a mixture of Tamil\u2014the South Indian\nlanguage\u2014with Mahratta, which, as you know, is entirely dissimilar,\nshows that he had made many pilgrimages to India\u2019s sacred places,\nwhether by mere impulse or upon actual direction, I know not. If he\nhad been only any ordinary religiously disposed Hindu we might be able\nto come to some judgment hereupon, for the pilgrimages might have been\nmade in order to gain merit, but as he must long ago have risen above\nthe flowery chains of even the Vedas, we cannot really tell for what\nreason these journeys were made. Although, as you know, I have long had\npossession of these papers, the time had not until now seemed ripe to\ngive them out. He had, when I received them, already long passed away\nfrom these busy scenes to those far busier, and now I give you liberty\nto print the fragmentary tale without description of his person. These\npeople are, you know, not disposed to have accurate descriptions of\nthemselves floating about. They being real disciples, never like to\nsay that they are, a manner quite contrary to that of those famed\nprofessors of occult science who opportunely or inopportunely declare\ntheir supposed chelaship from the house top.\n\n * * * * *\n\n* * * \u201cTwice before have I seen these silent temples standing by the\nrolling flood of sacred Ganges. They have not changed, but in me what\nchanges have occurred! And yet that cannot be, for the I changeth not,\nbut only the veil wrapped about, is either torn away or more closely\nand thickly folded round to the disguising of the reality. * * * It is\nnow seven months since I began to use the privilege of listening to\nKun\u00e2la. Each time before, that I came to see him, implacable fate drove\nme back. It was Karma, the just law, which compels when we would not,\nthat prevented me. Had I faltered then and returned to the life then\neven so far in the past, my fate in this incarnation would have been\nsealed\u2014and he would have said nothing. Why? Happy was I that I knew\nthe silence would have not indicated in him any loss of interest in\nmy welfare, but only that the same Karma prevented interference. Very\nsoon after first seeing him I felt that he was not what he appeared\nexteriorly to be. Then the feeling grew into a belief within a short\ntime so strong that four or five times I thought of throwing myself\nat his feet and begging him to reveal himself to me. But I thought\nthat was useless, as I knew that I was quite impure and could not be\ntrusted with that secret. If I remained silent I thought that he would\nconfide to me whenever he found me worthy of it. I thought he must be\nsome great Hindu Adept who had assumed that illusionary form. But there\nthis difficulty arose, for I knew that he received letters from various\nrelatives in different parts, and this would compel him to practice\nthe illusion all over the globe, for some of those relatives were in\nother countries, where he had been too. Various explanations suggested\nthemselves to me. * * * I was right in my original conception of Kun\u00e2la\nthat he is some great Indian Adept. Of this subject I constantly talked\nwith him since\u2014\u2014 although I fear I am not, and perhaps shall not be in\nthis life worthy of their company. My inclination has always been in\nthis direction. I always thought of retiring from this world and giving\nmyself up to devotion. To Kun\u00e2la I often expressed this intention, so\nthat I might study this philosophy, which alone can make man happy in\nthis world. But then he usually asked me what I would do _there_ alone?\nHe said that instead of gaining my object I might perhaps become insane\nby being left alone in the jungles with no one to guide me; that I was\nfoolish enough to think that by going into the jungles I could fall in\nwith an adept; and that if I really wanted to gain my object I should\nhave to work in the reform in and through which I had met so many good\nmen and himself also, and when the Higher Ones, whom I dare not mention\nby any other names, were satisfied with me they themselves would\ncall me away from the busy world and teach me in private. And when I\nfoolishly asked him many times to give me the names and addresses of\nsome of those Higher Ones he said once to me: \u2018One of our Brothers has\ntold me that as you are so much after me I had better tell you once for\nall that I have no right to give you any information about them, but\nif you go on asking Hindus you meet what they know about the matter\nyou might hear of them, and one of those Higher Ones may perhaps throw\nhimself in your way without your knowing him, and will tell you what\nyou should do.\u2019 These were orders, and I knew I must wait, and still I\nknew that through Kun\u00e2la only would I have my object fulfilled. * * *\n\n\u201cI then asked one or two of my own countrymen, and one of them said\nhe had seen two or three such men, but that they were not quite what\nhe thought to be \u2018_Raj Yogs_\u2019 He also said he had heard of a man who\nhad appeared several times in Benares, but that nobody knew where he\nlived. My disappointment grew more bitter, but I never lost the firm\nconfidence that Adepts do live in India and can still be found among\nus. No doubt too there are a few in other countries, else why had\nKun\u00e2la been to them.\n\n* * * In consequence of a letter from Vishnurama, who said that a\ncertain X[51] lived in Benares, and that Swamiji K knew him. However,\nfor certain reasons I could not address Swamiji K directly, and when\nI asked him if _he_ knew X he replied: \u201cIf there be such a man here\nat all he is not known.\u201d Thus evasively on many occasions he answered\nme, and I saw that all my expectations in going to Benares were only\nairy castles. I thought I had gained only the consolation that I was\ndoing a part of my duty. So I wrote again to Nilakant: \u201cAs directed\nby you I have neither let him know what I know of him nor what my own\nintentions are. He seems to think that in this I am working to make\nmoney, and as yet I have kept him in the dark as regards myself, and\nam myself groping in the dark. Expecting enlightenment from you, etc.\u201d\n* * * The other day Nilakant came suddenly here and I met Sw. K. and\nhim together, when to my surprise K at once mentioned X, saying he knew\nhim well and that he often came to see him, and then he offered to take\nus there. But just as we were going, arrived at the place an English\nofficer who had done Kun\u00e2la a service in some past time. He had in some\nway heard of X and was permitted to come. Such are the complications of\nKarma. It was absolutely necessary that he should go too, although no\ndoubt his European education would never permit him to more than half\naccept the doctrine of Karma, so interwoven backward and forwards in\nour lives, both those now, that past and that to come. At the interview\nwith X, I could gain nothing, and so we came away. The next day came\nX to see us. He never speaks of himself, but as \u2018this body.\u2019 He told\nme that he had first been in the body of a Fakir, who, upon having his\nhand disabled by a shot he received while he passed the fortress of\nBhurtpore, had to change his body and choose another, the one he was\nnow in. A child of about seven years of age was dying at that time,\nand so, before the complete physical death, this Fakir had entered the\nbody and afterwards used it as his own. He is, therefore, doubly not\nwhat he seems to be. As a Fakir he had studied Yoga science for 65\nyears, but that study having been arrested at the time he was disabled,\nleaving him unequal to the task he had to perform, he had to choose\nthis other one. In his present body he is 53 years, and consequently\nthe inner X is 118 years old. * * * In the night I heard him talking\nwith Kun\u00e2la, and found that each had the same Guru, who himself is a\nvery great Adept, whose age is 300 years, although in appearance he\nseems to be only 40[52]. He will in a few centuries enter the body of\na _Kshatriya_[53], and do some great deeds for India, but the time had\nnot yet come.\u201d\n\n [_To be continued._]\n\n\n SUFISM,\n\n OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.\n\n_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in\nMysticism._\n\n BY C.\u202fH. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._\n\n In Two Parts:\u2014Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.\n\n The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katobi:\n\n \u201cLast night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress,\n when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the\n garden, soft as the dews of heaven.\u201d\n\n (CONTINUED.)\n\n SUFI ECSTASY.\n\n MOTTO: \u201cHighest nature wills the capture; \u201cLight to light!\u201d the\n instinct cries;\n And in agonizing rapture falls the moth, and bravely dies.\n Think not what thou art, Believer; think but what thou\n mayest become\n For the World is thy deceiver, and the Light thy only home.\u201d\n (_Palm Leaves._)\n\nABULFAZL (A.D. 1595):\n\n O Lord, whose secrets are for ever veiled,\n And whose perfection knows not a beginning!\n End and beginning both are lost in thee;\n No trace of them is found in thy eternal realm.\n\n My words are lame; my tongue, a stony tract;\n Slow wings my foot, and wide is the expanse.\n Confused are my thoughts; but this is thy best praise\u2014\n _In ecstacy alone I see thee face to face!_\n\nSHEMS TEBREEZ:\n\n What advice, O Musselmans? I don\u2019t know myself; I[54] am neither\n Christian nor Jew, nor am I a fire-worshipper nor Musselman.\n I am not from the East or West, nor am I of land or fire.\n I am not from the country of Iran, nor am I from the land of\n Khoorassan.\n I am neither of water nor air, nor am I of fire or earth.\n I am not of Adam or Eve, nor am I of the inhabitants of paradise.\n My place is no place, my sign is without sign:\n I have neither body nor soul,\u2014what is there then? I am the soul of\n my Beloved.[55]\n When I took out my heart, the two worlds I saw as one. He is the\n first, He is the last, He is the manifest. He is the secret.\n Except Him, and that I am Him, I do not know anything else.\n O thou, Shems Tebreez, why this rapture in this world?\n _Except with rapture and enthusiastic ardour, this work cannot be\n effected._\n\nECSTASY: THE HEART AS MEDIUM.\n\n All the earth I\u2019d wandered over, seeking still the beacon light,\n Never tarried in the day time, never sought repose at night;\n Till I heard a reverend preacher all the mystery declare,\n Then I looked within my bosom, and \u2018twas shining brightly there.\n (_E. H. Palmer, Orient. Myst._)\n\n Who so knoweth himself, knoweth the Godhead.\u2014Thy soul is the\n sufficient proof of the existence of the Godhead: When by reflection\n thou hast penetrated to that deep within, thou shalt discover there\n the Universal Worker of his work.\n (_D\u2019Herbelot\u2014Persian Paraphrases._)\n\n Wouldst know where I found the Supreme? One step beyond\n self.\u2014Behind the veil of self shines unseen the beauty of the\n Beloved.\u2014(_Aphorisms._)\n\n Soul of the soul! Neither thought nor reason comprehend thy essence,\n and no one knows thy attributes. Souls have no idea of thy being. The\n prophets themselves sink into the dust before thee. Although intellect\n exists by thee, has it ever found the path of thy existence? _Thou art\n the interior and the exterior of the soul._\u2014(_Attar._)\n\n They who see God are ever rapt in ecstacy. * * * (_The Mesnevi._)\n\nECSTASY: NATURE AS MEDIUM.\n\n The varied pictures I have drawn on space,\n Behold what fair and goodly sights they seem;\n One glimpse I gave them of my glorious face,\n And lo! \u2018tis now the universal theme.\n (_E. H. Palmer, Orient. Myst._).\n\n Recognise the mark of Deity in every place, and never place\n the foot without its own limit. The world is the image of the\n Godhead.\u2014(_Buslami._)\n\n * * * * *\n\nRABIA LEGENDS.\n\n\u2014The widow _Rabia_[56] is reported having said \u201can interior wound\nconsumes my heart; it can only be cured by communion with a friend.[57]\nI shall remain sick till the day of judgment when I shall reach my\nend.\u201d\u2014\n\n\u2014It is told of _Rabia_, that once when requested to marry, she\nanswered: My being has for a long time been in marital communion; hence\nI say that my ego is long ago lost in itself and arisen again in Him\n(in God); since then I am entirely in His power, yea, I am He. He,\nwho would ask me for a bride, would ask me, not from myself, but from\nHim (God). _Hassan Basri_ (a famous Mohamedan Theologian) asked her\nhow she had reached this state. She answered: In this way, everything\nwhich I had found I lost again in Him (God). When questioned as to by\nwhich mode she knew Him, she made answer: O, _Hassan, you_ know Him by\ncertain methods and means, I know Him without modes and means.\u2014\n\n\u2014_Ibn Chali Kan_ tells about Rabia that she often in the middle of the\nnight went up upon the roof and in her loneness cried out: O, my God!\nNow is silenced the noise of the day, and the lover enjoys the night\nwith the beloved, but I enjoy myself in my loneness with Thee; Thou art\nmy true lover.\u2014\n\n\u2014It is told of her that once while journeying to Mecca on seeing the\nKaaba she exclaimed: What is the Kaaba to me? I need the Lord of the\nKaaba! I am so near God that I apply to myself his words: He who\napproaches me by an inch, him I approach by a yard. What is the Kaaba\nto me?\u2014\n\n\u2014_Feri\u2019d Eddin Attar_ tells about her, that she, once while crossing\nthe fields, cried out: Deep longing after God has taken possession of\nme! True, Thou art both earth and stone, but I yearn to behold Thee,\nThyself. The high God spoke to her in her heart, without a medium: O,\nRabia! Do you not know that once when Moses requested to see God, only\na grain fell from the sun and he collapsed: Be satisfied with my name!\u2014\n\n\u2014Once asked if she beheld God while worshipping Him, \u201cAssuredly,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cI behold Him, for Whom I cannot see, I cannot worship.\u201d\u2014\n\n\u2014Once when Rabia was sick three famous Theologians called upon her,\nnamely _Hassan Basri_, _Malik Dinar_, and _Schakik Balchi_. Hassan\nsaid: The prayers of that man are not sincere who refuses to bear the\nLord\u2019s chastisements. Schakik added to that: He is not sincere who\ndoes not rejoice in the Lord\u2019s chastisements. But Rabia, who detected\nselfish joy even in those words, replied: He is not sincere in his\nprayers, who does not, when he beholds his Lord, forget entirely that\nhe is being chastised.\u2014\n\n\u2014On one occasion Rabia was questioned concerning the cause of an\nillness and replied: I allowed myself to think on the delights of\nparadise, therefore my Lord has punished me.\u2014\n\n * * * * *\n\nACTS OF ADEPTS.[58]\n\n_Munsoor Halaj_ attained victory of the body, by incessant prayer and\ncontemplation. He used to say \u201c_I am the Truth._\u201d\n\nThe following story is told of him. He observed his sister go out\nfrequently at night, and wondering what it meant, he resolved to watch\nher and see where she went. He did so and found that she went to a\ncompany of celestial spirits, who gave her of their nectar or immortal\nbeverage. Thinking that a drop might be left in the cup after his\nsister had drank from it, he took hold of it and did, much against\nher warning, get a drop of the divine fluid. Ever afterwards he went\nabout exclaiming \u201cI am the Truth!\u201d This was too much for the observers\nof the canonical law and they sentenced him to be impaled alive. When\nthey came to take him, he told them, that he did not fear them, they\ncould do him no harm, and when they were putting him on the stake, he\ndisappeared from them and appeared in a sitting posture in the air at\na small distance over the stake. This was repeated several times. His\nspirit ascended to heaven and asked the Prophet if it be right that he\nshould suffer. The Prophet advised him to suffer, otherwise there would\nbe an end to formal religion. On this Munsoor Halaj\u2019s spirit descended\nand permitted the body to take the course of nature. When about to be\nimpaled, he called a disciple of his, told him the secret and that his\nvoice, \u201cI am the Truth\u201d would be heard, when they after burning him,\nshould throw his ashes into the sea; and that the sea would rise and\noverflow all the land, if they did not take his godhra[59] and place it\non the rising waves. It so all happened.\u2014\n\nA Sufi poet has explained the cause of Munsoor\u2019s death, to lie in the\nfact, that he revealed a mystery.\n\nOf _Shems Tebreez_ the following story is told. He raised a King\u2019s\nonly son from death by throwing his mantle over him and ordering him\n\u201cRise by my order.\u201d For this he was summoned before the ecclesiastical\ncourt and sentenced to be flayed alive. When the sentence came to be\nexecuted, no knives could cut him, his body was invulnerable. It is\nrelated, that he ascended in spirit to heaven and the Prophet directed\nhim to undergo his punishment, which he subsequently did. He directed\nthe doctors of Law, himself, how to begin to cut the skin from his\nfeet, or rather made the incision himself. When they had thus flayed\nhim, he requested his own skin, be given to him as the letter of the\nlaw was fulfilled, and they gave it to him. Of this he made his Khirqeh\nor derwish\u2019s habit, threw it over his shoulders, and went away.\n\nAfter that the doctors of law ordered everybody to give him nothing to\neat, drink, &c. He thus remained for some days without food, &c. At\nlast he found a dead ox and cut out a piece, but as no one dared give\nhim fire, he ordered the sun to descend from the firmament and come\nnearer to broil his meat. The sun obeyed\u2014but the prince and people\nfearing the consequences implored him to relieve their sufferings by\nordering the sun to return to its station. He granted their request.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTEXTS FROM REPRESENTATIVE SUFIS.\n\n_Al-Ghazzali_ (Abu Hamid Muhammed ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Ghazzali,)\nsurnamed Hujjatu \u2018l-Islam (\u201cthe proof of Islam\u201d). He was born at Tus\nA.\u202fD. 1058 and died A.\u202fD. 1111.\u2014\n\nThe following are his own words: \u201cI said to myself: the aim of my life\nis simply to know the truth of things; therefore I must ascertain what\n_knowledge_ is. * * I then said to myself \u2018the only hope of acquiring\nincontestable convictions is by the perceptions of the senses and by\nnecessary truths.\u2019 Their evidence seemed to me to be indubitable. I\nsoon began to examine the objects of sensation and speculation to\nsee if they were beyond doubt and doubts crowded in upon me, that my\nincertitude became complete. * * I abandoned the senses, therefore,\nhaving seen all my confidence in their truth shaken. * * * Perhaps,\nsaid I, there is no assurance but in the notions of reason, viz., in\nfirst principles. * * * Upon this the senses replied: \u2018What assurance\nhave you that your confidence in reason is not of the same nature as\nyour confidence in us? May there not be some other judge superior\nto reason? The non-appearance of such a judge is no proof of his\nnon-existence.\u2019 * * * I came to reflect on sleep, how during sleep we\ngive to visions, reality and consistence, and have no suspicion of\ntheir untruth. On awaking we see they were nothing but visions. What\nassurance have we that all we feel and see and know when we are awake\ndoes actually exist?\u201d\n\nAl Gazzali had now come to disbelief and distrust of the world of\nsense. He gave his wealth away, left Bagdad and retired into Syria, to\nthe desert, where he spent two years in solitary struggle, combating\nhis passions, purified his heart and prepared for another world. _He\nattained freedom._ Afterwards he said: \u201cThe life of man passes through\nthree degrees. The first or infantile state is that of pure sensation;\nthe second is that of understanding, and the third that of reason,\nwhere the intellect perceives the necessary truths, &c. But there is\na fourth state, beyond these three, in which man perceives the hidden\nthings, that have been, and that will be and the things that escape\nboth the senses and reason. This state is Freedom.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nAL GAZZALI: ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS.\n\nCHAP. I. On the knowledge of the soul, and how knowledge of the soul is\nthe key to the knowledge of God.\n\nO seeker after the divine mysteries! Know thou that the door to the\nknowledge of God will be opened to a man first of all, when he knows\nhis own soul, and understands the truth about his own spirit, according\nas it has been revealed, \u201che who knows himself knows his Lord also.\u201d\n\nIf you wish, O seeker of the way! to know your own soul, know that\nthe blessed and glorious God created you of two things: the one is a\nvisible body, and the other is a something internal, that is called\nspirit and heart, which can only be perceived by the mind. But when we\nspeak of the heart, we do not mean the piece of flesh which is in the\nleft side of the breast of man, for that is found in a dead body and\nin animals: it may be seen with the eyes, and belongs to the visible\nworld. That heart, which is emphatically called spirit, does not belong\nto this world, and although it has come to this world, it has only come\nto leave it. It is the sovereign of the body, which is its vehicle, and\nall the external and internal organs of the body are its subjects. Its\nspecial attribute is to know God and to enjoy the vision of the Beauty\nof the Lord God.\u2014They will ask you about the spirit. Answer, \u201cThe\nspirit is a creation by decree of the Lord. The spirit belongs to the\nworld of decrees. All existence is of two kinds, one is of the world\nof decrees, and the other is of the world of creation. To Him belong\ncreation and decree.\u201d\n\n\u2014That spirit, which has the property of knowing God is called the\nheart; it is not found in beasts, nor is it matter or an accident. The\nheart has been created with angelic qualities. It is a substance of\nwhich it is difficult to apprehend the essence. The law does not permit\nit to be explained, but there is no occasion for the student being\nacquainted with it at the outset of his journey.\n\n\u2014Know, O seeker after the divine mysteries! that the body is the\nkingdom of the heart, and that in the body there are many forces in\ncontrariety with the heart, as God speaks in his Holy Word.\n\n\u2014Know, O student of wisdom! that the body, which is the kingdom of the\nheart, resembles a great city. The hand, the foot, the mouth and the\nother members resemble the people of the various trades. Desire is\na standard bearer; anger is a superintendent of the city, the heart\nis its sovereign, and reason is the vizier. The sovereign needs the\nservice of all the inhabitants. But desire, the standard bearer, is\na liar, vain and ambitious. He is always ready to do the contrary\nof what reason, the vizier, commands. He strives to appropriate to\nhimself whatever he sees in the city, which is the body. Anger, the\nsuperintendent, is rebellious and corrupt, quick and passionate. He\nis always ready to be enraged, to spill blood, and to blast one\u2019s\nreputation. If the sovereign, the heart, should invariably consult\nwith reason, his vizier, and, when desire was transgressing, should\ngive to wrath to have power over him (yet, without giving him full\nliberty, should make him angry in subjection to reason, the vizier, so\nthat passing all bounds he should not stretch out his hand upon the\nkingdom), there would then be an equilibrium in the condition of the\nkingdom, and all the members would perform the functions for which they\nwere created, their service would be accepted at the mercy seat, and\nthey would obtain eternal felicity.\n\nThe dignity of the heart is of two kinds; one is by means of knowledge,\nand the other through the exertion of divine power. Its dignity\nby means of knowledge is also of two kinds. The first is external\nknowledge, which everyone understands: the second kind is veiled and\ncannot be understood by all, and is extremely precious.\n\n\u2014In the second, by the power of thought, the soul passes from the abyss\nto the highest heaven, and from the East to the West.\n\nThe most wonderful thing of all is, that there is a window in the heart\nfrom whence it surveys the world. This is called the invisible world,\nthe world of intelligence, or the spiritual world.\n\n\u2014The heart resembles a pure mirror, you must know, in this particular,\nthat when a man falls asleep, when his senses are closed, and when\nthe heart, free and pure from blamable affections, is confronted with\nthe preserved tablet, then the tablet reflects upon the heart the\nreal states and hidden forms inscribed upon it. In that state the\nheart sees most wonderful forms and combinations. But when the heart\nis not free from impurity, or when, on waking, it busies itself with\nthings of sense, the side towards the tablet will be obscured, and it\ncan view nothing. For, although in sleep the senses are blunted, the\nimage-making faculty is not, but preserves the forms reflected upon the\nmirror of the heart.\n\n\u2014In death, the senses are completely separated and the veil of the\nbody is removed, the heart can contemplate the invisible world and its\nhidden mysteries, without a veil, just as lightning or the celestial\nrays impress the external eye.\n\n\u2014If a person calls into exercise, in perfection, holy zeal and\nausterities, and purifies his heart from the defilement of blamable\naffections, and then sits down in a retired spot, abandons the use of\nhis external senses, and occupies himself with calling out \u201cO God! O\nGod!\u201d his heart will come into harmony with the visible world, he will\nno longer receive notices from the material world, and nothing will\nbe present in his heart but the exalted God. In this revelation of the\ninvisible world, the windows of the heart are opened, and what others\nmay have seen in a dream, he in this state sees in reality. The spirits\nof angels and prophets are manifested to him and he holds intercourse\nwith them. The hidden things of the earth and heaven are uncovered to\nhim. * * * Probably the knowledge of all the prophets was obtained in\nthis way, for it was not obtained by learning.\n\n\u2014When the heart is free from worldly lusts, from the animosities of\nsociety and from distractions by the senses, the vision of God is\npossible. And this course is adopted by the Mystics. It is also the\npath followed by the prophets.\n\n\u2014The heart of man while in the spiritual world knows its Maker and\nCreator: it had mingled with the angels and knows for what service it\nwas created.\n\n\u2014To whomsoever this revelation has been vouchsafed, if it directs him\nto reform the world, to invite the nations to turn to God, and to a\npeculiar way of life, that person is called a prophet, and his way of\nlife is called a law; and that influence which proceeds from him, which\ntranscends what is ordinary, is called a _miracle_. If he has not been\nappointed to invite nations, but worships in accordance with the law\nof another, he is called a _saint_, and that which proceeds from him,\nwhich transcends what is ordinary, is called a _manifestation of grace_.\n\n\u2014The knowledge of God, which is the occasion of the revelation of\ntruth, cannot be acquired without self-denial and effort. Unless a man\nhas reached perfection and the rank of a Superior, nothing will be\nrevealed to him, except in cases of special divine grace and merciful\nprovidence, and this occurs very rarely.\n\n\u2014You have now learned, O student of the divine mysteries, the dignity\nof the heart through knowledge.\n\n\u2014Now listen to the heart\u2019s dignity through divine power and the\ngreatness of which it is capable.\n\n\u2014When God wills it, the angels send forth the winds, cause the rain to\nfall, bring forth the embryo in animals, shape their forms, cause seeds\nto sprout in the earth and plants to grow, many legions of angels being\nappointed to this service. The heart of man, being created with angelic\nproperties must also have influence and power over the material world;\n* * * and if the animal and ferocious qualities should not be dominant,\nif it should look upon a lion or tiger with \u201cmajesty\u201d they would become\nweak and submissive. If it should look with kindness upon one who is\nsick, his infirmity might be changed to health. If it should look upon\nthe vigorous with majesty, they might become infirm. The reality of the\nexistence of these influences is known both by reason and experience.\n\n\u2014In whomsoever these influences are shown to have power, if he\noccasions misery in the exercise of this power, he is designated a\nsorcerer.\n\n\u2014The heart has dominion and control through three channels. One is\nthrough visions;\u2014the second is through the dominion which the heart\nexercises over its own body;\u2014the third source of dominion of the heart\nis through knowledge.\u2014Some persons have all things opened up to them\nby the will of God. This kind of knowledge is called \u201cinfused and\nilluminated\u201d as God says in his Word: \u201cwe have illuminated him with our\nknowledge.\u201d These three specialities are all of them found in certain\nmeasure in some men, in others two of them are found, and in others,\nonly one is found: but whenever the three are found in the same person,\nhe belongs to the rank of prophets or of the greatest of the saints.\nMan cannot comprehend states of being which transcend his own nature.\nNo person can understand any individual who belongs to a scale of rank\nabove him.\n\n\u2014The path of mysticism is sought for by all men, and longed for by all\nclasses of society, yet those who attain to the end are exceedingly\nrare.\n\n\u2014The body is but an animal to be ridden by the heart, which is its\nrider, while the heart\u2019s chief end is to acquire a knowledge of God.\n\nCHAP. II. On the knowledge of God.\n\n\u2014In the books of former prophets it is written, \u201cKnow thine own soul,\nand thou shalt know thy Lord,\u201d and we have received it in a tradition,\nthat \u201cHe who knows himself, already knows his Lord.\u201d\n\n\u2014Everyone in the sphere to which he attains, is still veiled with a\nveil. The light of some is as of a twinkling star. Others see as by the\nlight of the moon. Others are illuminated as if by the world-effulgent\nsun. To some the invisible world is even perfectly revealed, as we hear\nin the holy word of God: \u201cAnd thus we caused Abraham to see the heaven\nand the earth.\u201d And hence it is that the prophet says: \u201cThere are\nbefore God seventy veils of light; if he should unveil them, the light\nof His countenance would burn everything that came into His presence.\u201d\n\nCHAP. III. On the knowledge of the world.\n\n\u2014Know, that this world is one stage of our life for eternity. For those\nwho are journeying in the right way, it is the road of religion. It is\na market opened in the wilderness, where those who are travelling on\ntheir way to God, may collect and prepare provisions for their journey,\nand depart thence to God, without sorrow or despondency.\n\n\u2014The world is delusive, enchanting and treacherous.\n\n\u2014The world will be brought to the great assembly at the last day,\nin the form of a woman with livid eyes, pendent lips, and deformed\nshape, and all the people will look upon her, and will exclaim,\n\u201cwhat deformed and horrible person is that, whose aspect alone is\nsevere torture to the soul.\u201d And they will be answered, \u201cIt was on her\naccount that you were envying and hating one another, and were ready\nto slay one another. It was on her account that you rebelled against\nGod, and debased yourselves to every sort of corruption.\u201d And then God\nwill order her to be driven off to hell with her followers and her\nlovers.[60]\n\nThe Lord Jesus (upon whom be peace!) declares that the world is like\nthe man who drinks sea water. The more he drinks, the more his internal\nheat increases, and unless he stops, he will destroy himself by\ndrinking.\n\nCHAP. IV. On the knowledge of the future world.\n\n\u2014Know, beloved, that we cannot understand the future world, until we\nknow what death is: and we cannot know what death is, until we know\nwhat life is: nor can we understand what life is, until we know what\nspirit is.\n\n\u2014The following is an illustration of the duration of eternity, so far\nas the human mind can comprehend it. If the space between the empyreal\nheaven to the regions below the earth, embracing the whole universe,\nshould be filled up with grains of mustard seed, and if a crow should\nmake use of them as food and come but once in a thousand years and take\nbut a single grain away, so that with the lapse of time there should\nnot remain a single grain, still at the end of that time not the amount\nof a grain of mustard seed would have been diminished from the duration\nof eternity.\u2014\n\nAL GAZZALI ON PRAYER.\n\n\u2014Prayers are of three degrees, of which the first are those that are\nsimply spoken with the lips. Prayers are of the second kind, when\nwith difficulty, and only by a most resolute effort, the soul is able\nto fix its thoughts on Divine things without being disturbed by evil\nimaginations; of the third kind, when one finds it difficult to _turn\naway_ the mind from dwelling on Divine things. But it is the very\nmarrow of prayer, when He who is invoked takes possession of the soul\nof the suppliant, and the soul of him who prays is absorbed into God\nto whom he prays, and his prayer ceasing, all consciousness of self\nhas departed, and to such a degree, that all thought whatsoever of\nthe praying is felt as a veil betwixt the soul and God. This state is\ncalled by the Mystics \u201cabsorption,\u201d for the reason that the man is so\nabsorbed, that he takes no thought of his body, or of anything that\nhappens externally, none of what occurs in his own soul, but, absent\nas it were from all such matter whatsoever, is first engaged in going\n_towards_ his Lord, and finally is wholly _in_ his Lord. If only the\nthought occurs that he is absorbed into the Absolute, it is a blemish;\nfor that absorption only is worthy of the name which is unconscious\nof itself. And these words of mine, although they will be called, as\nI well know, but foolish babbling by raw theologians, are yet by\nno means without significance. For consider, the condition of which\nI speak, resembles that of a person who loves any other object, as\nwealth, honor, or pleasure. We see such persons so carried away with\ntheir love, and others with anger, that they do not hear one who speaks\nto them, nor see those passing before their eyes; nay, so absorbed are\nthey in their passion, that they do not perceive their absorption. Just\nso far as you turn your mind upon your absorption, you necessarily turn\nit away from that which is the object of it.\u201d\n\nAgain he says: \u201cThe commencement of this is the going to God, then\nfollows the finding Him, when the \u201cabsorption\u201d takes place. This is,\nat first, momentary, as the lightening swiftly glancing upon the eye.\nBut afterwards confirmed by use, it introduces the soul into a higher\nworld, where the most pure, essential essence meeting it, fills the\nsoul with the image of the spiritual world, while the majesty of deity\nevolves and discovers itself.\u201d\n\n_Omar Khayyam_ (Ghias uddin Abul Fath Omar ibn Ibrahim Al Khayyam) was\nborn in Khorassan \u201cthe focus of Persian culture\u201d and is supposed to\nhave died A.\u202fD. 1123.\n\nHe was not affiliated with any Sufi order, but large parts of his works\nare full of true Sufi philosophy and are recognized as such.\n\nThe first part of the following quotations are taken from the\ntranslation by E.\u202fH. Whinfield in Tr\u00fcbner\u2019s Oriental Series. The second\npart is extracted from B. Quarritch\u2019s ed. 1879.\n\n Motto: There is a mystery I know full well,\n Which to all, good and bad, I cannot tell;\n My works are dark, but I cannot unfold\n The secrets of the \u201cstation\u201d where I dwell.\n\n (66)\u2014to attain unconsciousness of self\n Is the sole cause I drink me drunk with wine.\u2014\n (108) They preach how sweet those Houri brides will be,\n But I say wine is sweeter\u2014taste and see!\u2014\n (120) Ten powers, and nine spheres, eight heavens made He,\n And planets seven, of six sides, as we see,\n Five senses, and four elements, three souls,\n Two worlds, but only one, O man, like thee.\u2014\n (124) What lord is fit to rule but \u201cTruth?\u201d not one.\n What beings disobey His rule? not one.\u2014\n (131) Thy being is the being of Another,\n Thy passion is the passion of Another.\n Cover thy head, and think, and then wilt see,\n Thy hand is but the cover of Another.\u2014\n (148) Allah hath promised wine in Paradise,\n Why then should wine on earth be deemed a vice?\u2014\n (225) When the fair soul this mansion doth vacate,\n Each element assumes its principal state,\u2014\n (266) They go away, and none is seen returning,\n To teach that other world\u2019s recondite learning;\n \u2019Twill not be shown for dull mechanic prayers,\n For prayer is naught without true heartfelt yearning.\u2014\n (285) Life\u2019s fount is wine, Khizer[61] its guardian\n I, like Elias,[62] find it where I can;\n \u2019Tis sustenance for heart and spirit too,\n Allah himself calls wine \u201ca boon to man.\u201d\u2014\n (340) Man is the whole creation\u2019s summary,\n The precious apple of great wisdom\u2019s eye;\n The circle of existence is a ring,\n Whereof the signet is humanity.\u2014\n (351) The more I die to self, I live the more,\n The more abase myself, the higher soar;\n And, strange! the more I drink of Being\u2019s wine,\n More sane I grow, and sober than before!\u2014\n (369) This world a body is, and God its soul,\n And angels are its senses, who control\n Its limbs\u2014the creatures, elements, and spheres;\n _The One_ is the sole basis of the whole.\u2014\n (376) Some look for truth in creeds, and forms, and rules;\n Some grope for doubts or dogmas in the schools;\n But from behind the veil a voice proclaims,\n \u201cYour road lies neither here nor there, O fools.\u201d\u2014\n (400) My body\u2019s life and strength proceed from Thee!\n My soul within and spirit are of Thee!\n My being is of Thee, and Thou art mine,\n And I am Thine, since I am lost in Thee!\u2014\n\n * * * * *\n\n (31) Up from Earth\u2019s Centre through the Seventh Gate\n I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn[63] sate,\n And many a Knot unravel\u2019d by the Road;\n But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.\u2014\n (32) There was the Door to which I found no Key;\n There was the Veil through which I might not see:\n Some little talk awhile of _Me_ and _Thee_\n There was\u2014and then no more of _Thee_ and _Me_.[64]\u2014\n (33) Earth could not answer; nor the Seas that mourn\n In flowing Purple, of their Lord forlorn;\n Nor rolling Heaven, with all his Signs reveal\u2019d\n And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Morn.\n (34) Then of the _Thee in Me_ who works behind\n The Veil, I lifted up my hands to find\n A Lamp amid the Darkness; and I heard,\n As from Without\u2014\u201c_The Me Within Thee Blind!_\u201d\u2014\n (35) Then to the Lip of this poor earthern Urn\n I lean\u2019d, the Secret of my Life to learn:\n And Lip to Lip it murmur\u2019d\u2014\u201cWhile you live,\n Drink!\u2014for once dead, you never shall return.\u201d\u2014\n\n (36) I think the Vessel, that with fugitive\n Articulation answer\u2019d, once did live,\n And drink; and Ah! the passive lip I kiss\u2019d.\n How many kisses might it take\u2014and give![65]\u2014\n\n (44) Why, if the Soul can fling the dust aside,\n And naked on the Air of Heaven ride,\n Wer\u2019t not a Shame\u2014wer\u2019t not a Shame for him\n In this clay carcase crippled to abide?\u2014\n\n (50-52) A Hair perhaps divides the False and True;\n Yes; and a single Alif were the clue\u2014\n Could you but find it\u2014to the Treasure-house,\n And peradventure to _The Master_ too.\n Whose secret Presence * * *\n * * * * eludes your pains;\n Taking all shapes * * *; and\n They change and perish all\u2014but He remains.\n A moment guess\u2019d\u2014then back behind the Fold\n Immerst of darkness * * *\n\n (55-56) You know, my Friends, * * *\n I made a Second Marriage in my house;\n Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed,\n And took the Daughter of the Vine to spouse.\u2014\n For \u201cIs\u201d and \u201cIs-not\u201d though with Rule and line,\n And \u201cUp-and-Down\u201d by Logic I define,\n Of all that one should care to fathom, I\n Was never deep in anything but Wine.\u2014\n\n (66-67) I sent my Soul through the Invisible,\n Some letter of that After-life to spell:\n And by and by my Soul returned to me,\n And answer\u2019d: \u201cI myself am Heav\u2019n and Hell:\u201d\n Heav\u2019n but the Vision of fulfill\u2019d Desire\n And Hell the shadow from a Soul on fire\n Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves,\n So late emerg\u2019d from, shall so soon expire.\n\n * * * * *\n\n * * * the Banquet is ended!\n\nFARIDU\u2019D-DIN SHAKRGUNJ (about A.\u202fD. 1200).\n\n Man, what thou art is hidden from thyself,\n Know\u2019st not that morning, mid-day, and the eve\n Are all within Thee? The ninth heaven art Thou,\n And from the sphere into the roar of time\n Didst fall ere-while, Thou art the brush that painted\n The hues of all the world\u2014the light of life\n That ranged its glory in the nothingness.\n Joy! Joy! I triumph now; no more I know\n Myself as simply me. I burn with love.\n The centre is within me, and its wonder\n Lies as a circle everywhere about me.\n Joy! Joy! No mortal thought can fathom me.\n I am the merchant and the pearl at once.\n Lo! time and space lay crouching at my feet.\n Joy! Joy! When I would revel in a rapture,\n I plunge into myself, and all things know.\n\n_Saadi_ (Shaikh-Muslah-ud-Din Saadi) was born at Shiraz, the capital of\nPersia, A.D. 1176.\n\nHe thus characterizes his life and his studies: \u201cI have wandered to\nvarious regions of the world, and everywhere have I mixed freely with\nthe inhabitants; I have gathered something in each corner; I have\ngleaned an ear from every harvest.\u201d The divan of Saadi is by his\ncountrymen reckoned to be the true Salt mine of poets. Jami calls him\n\u201cthe nightingale of the groves of Shiraz.\u201d\n\nWe would call him the moral philosopher of Sufism. His writings do not\ncontain much metaphysics.\n\nSAADIS\u2019 GULISTAN (or ROSE GARDEN):\n\n MOTTO: The Rose may continue to bloom five or six days;\n But my _Rose garden_ is fragrant for ever.\n\n \u2014Shame on the man * *\n\n Who, when the drum soundeth for departure, hath not made up his burden\n\n Who, on the morning of his journey, is still indulging in sweet sleep.\n\n \u2014They asked Lockman, the wise, from whence he learnt wisdom. He\n answered: \u201cFrom the blind; for till they have tried the ground, they\n plant not the foot.\u201d\n\n \u2014The world, O my brother, abideth with no one.\n\n \u2014Ask the inhabitants of Hell, they will tell you it is Paradise.\n\n \u2014The sons of Adam are limbs of one another, for in their creation they\n are formed of one substance.\n\n When Fortune bringeth affliction to a single member, not one of the\n rest remaineth without disturbance.\n\n \u2014Know that from God is the difference of enemy and friend, for the\n hearts of both are alike in His keeping.\n\n \u2014So long as thou art able, crush not a single heart, for a sigh has\n power to overturn a world.\n\n \u2014Not a word can be said, even in child\u2019s play, from which an\n intelligent person may not gather instruction; but if a hundred\n chapters of wisdom were read in the hearing of a fool, to his ears it\n would sound as nothing but child\u2019s play.\n\n \u2014Yesternight, towards morning, a warbling bird stole away my reason,\n my patience, my strength, and my understanding. My exclamations, by\n chance, reached the ear of a most intimate friend. \u201cNever,\u201d he said\n \u201ccould I believe that the voice of a bird should have such a power\n to disturb thy intellect!\u201d\u2014\u201cIt is not,\u201d I replied, \u201cbefitting the\n condition of man, that a bird should be reciting its hymn of praise,\n and that I should be silent.\u201d\n\n \u2014One day the Prophet said to Abu Huraizah: \u201cDo not come _every_ day,\n that our friendship may increase.\u201d\n\n A holy man has said: \u201cWith all the beauty which attends the sun, I\n have never heard that anyone has taken him for a friend, except in\n winter, when he is veiled, and _therefore_ is loved.\u201d\n\n \u2014The treasure chosen by Lokman was patience: without patience there is\n no such thing as wisdom.\n\n \u2014Were every night a night of power, _the Night of Power_, would lose\n its worth. Were every pebble a ruby, the ruby and the pebble would be\n of equal value.\n\n [Quran, Chap, xcvii: Verily we sent down the Quran in the night of al\n Kadr.\u2014Therein do the angels descend, and the spirit of _Gabriel_ also,\n by the permission of their Lord _with his decrees_ concerning every\n matter. It is peace until morning. Comp. footnote to Lane\u2019s transl. of\n the Quran and our Part II: Symbols].\n\n \u2014How should the multitude find its way to their secret chambers, for,\n like the waters of life, they are hidden in darkness?\n\n They kindle themselves the flame, which, as a moth, consumeth them;\n not wrapping themselves up like the silk-worm in its own web.\n\n Seeking for the Soul\u2019s repose on the bosom which only can give repose,\n their lips are still dry with thirst on the very margin of the stream:\n\n Not that they have no power to drink the water, but that their thirst\n could not be quenched, even on the banks of the Nile.\n\n * * * * *\n\n \u201cThe bird of the morning only knoweth the worth of the book of the\n rose; for not every one who readeth the page understandeth the\n meaning.\u201d (_Hafiz._)\n\nSAADIS\u2019 BOOSTAN (FRUIT GARDEN OR GARDEN OF PLEASURE).\n\n _His_ nature\u2019s true state all are helpless to read.\n The extent of _His_ glory, no mortal has found;\n _His_ exquisite beauty, no vision can bound.\n\n * * * * *\n\n To the skirt of _His_ praise Reason\u2019s hand comes not nigh.\n\n * * * * *\n\n The mind can\u2019t _this_ world by reflection embrace.\n\n * * * * *\n\n But the Lord of the sky and the earth\u2019s rugged skin,\n On none shuts the door of subsistence for sin.\n Like a drop in the ocean of knowledge are seen\n Both His worlds, and the faults, He sees, kindly, He\u2019ll screen.\n\n * * * * *\n\n The Creator is mercy-diffusing and kind,\n For He helps all His creatures and knows ev\u2019ry mind.\n In Him, self-reliance and grandeur you see,\n For His kingdom is old and His nature is free.\u2014\n\n * * * * *\n\n He is tardy in seizing on those who rebel,\n And does not excuse\u2014bringers rudely repel.\n\n * * * * *\n\n When you\u2019ve penitent turned \u201c_It is past_,\u201d He will write.\n\n * * * * *\n\n The extent of God\u2019s mercies, no mortal can guess;\n The need of His praises, what tongue can express?\n\n * * * * *\n\n Who knows that communion with God you don\u2019t share,\n When without an absolution you stand to say pray\u2019r?\n\n * * * * *\n\n That pray\u2019r is the key of the portal of hell,\n Over which in men\u2019s presence a long time you dwell.\n If your path does not lead to the Maker alone,\n Your carpet for pray\u2019r into Hell will be thrown!\n He ordered, and something from nothing arose;\n Who something from nothing but He could disclose?\n Again to nonentity\u2019s hiding He flings us.\u2014\n\n * * * * *\n\n And thence to the plain of the judgment He brings us.\n Let the robes of deceit, name and fame be dispersed!\n For a man becomes weak if in garments immersed.\n Worldly love is a veil by which nothing is gained;\n When you snap the attachments the Lord is obtained.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Know, that the people in ecstacy drown\u2019d,\n In the eyes of the Lord special favour have found!\n He watches the \u201cfriend,\u201d in the fierce burning pile?\n\n * * * * *\n\n You\u2019ve no road in yourself while to self you are wed;\n The enraptured alone are informed on this head.\u2014\n Some one said to a Moth \u201cOh, contemptible mite!\n Go! love one who will your affection requite.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\n Between you and the candle no friendship can be!\n\n * * * * *\n\n No one tells you your conduct is perfectly right\n In destroying your life for the love of the light!\n Observe what the moth, full of hot anguish, said:\n \u201cIf I burn, oh astonishing! What is the dread?\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\n * * I fancy the flame is a beautiful rose!\n\n * * * * *\n\n Won\u2019t you helplessly, one day, your life give away?\n For the sake of space and death, better give it to day!\n\n * * * * *\n\n A wild beast is not likely to change into man;\n Instruction is lost on it, strive as you can.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Effort makes not a rose from a willow to grow;\n A warm bath will not whiten a negro like snow.\n Since naught can the arrow of destiny brave.\n _Resignation\u2019s_ the shield that is left to God\u2019s slave.\n\n\n POLARITY OF THE HUMAN BODY.\n\nMr. H. Durville, Director of the \u201cJournal du Magn\u00e9tisme,\u201d published in\nParis, France, has made some very interesting experiments which have\nled him to fix the exact Polarity of the Human Body. To understand well\nwhat I am going to state, it is necessary to know first that the French\ncall the South pole of the Earth, Austral, and the North pole, Boreal,\nand that they call the end of the compass needle or of a Magnet which\nis attracted to the North of the Earth, Austral, and the end which is\nattracted to the South, Boreal.\n\nMr. Durville has replaced the denominations Austral and Boreal by the\nterms positive and negative, based on the following Electro-Chemical\nlaw. If a Saline solution be submitted to the action of a Voltaic\ncurrent, the acids go to the pole +, or positive and the alkalis to the\npole-, or negative.\n\nAlso if we put in the water contained in two different glasses, the two\nelectrodes of a pile, uniting the two glasses by a wet woolen or cotton\nthread, the water in the glass exposed to the electrode +, will take a\nfresh and acidulated taste, and the water in the other glass exposed to\nthe electrode-, will take an alkaline, tepid and unsavoury taste. Now,\nif we submit two glasses filled with water to the poles of a Magnet,\nthe water exposed to the Austral pole will take an acidulated taste,\nand the water exposed to the Boreal pole will take an alkaline taste.\n\nThere is, then, a concordance of nature between the positive or + pole\nof the pile, and the Austral or positive pole of the Magnet, both being\nfresh and acids; and between the negative or-pole of the pile, and the\nBoreal or negative pole of the Magnet, both being tepid, nauseous and\nalkaline. Consequently we can call +, or positive, the Austral pole\nof the Magnet and-, or negative, the Boreal pole. Furthermore, if we\nmagnetize two glasses of water, one with the right hand, and the other\nwith the left hand, the first will become acidulated and fresh, and the\nsecond, tepid, nauseous and alkaline.\n\nThen, there is again concordance of nature between the positive or +\npole of the pile, the positive or Austral pole of the Magnet, and the\nright hand, which are fresh and acidulated; and between the negative\nor-pole of the pile, the negative or Boreal pole of the Magnet, and the\nleft hand which are tepids, nauseous and alkalines.\n\nConsequently we can call positive or +, the right hand and the Austral\npole of the Magnet, as well as the positive pole of the pile; and\nnegative or -, the left hand and the Boreal pole of the Magnet, as well\nas the negative pole of the pile.\n\nWe know that the Earth is a Magnet and that it acts like one.\n\nWe also know that when Magnets act freely one upon another, the poles\nof the same name are repulsed and the poles of contrary names are\nattracted.\n\nNow, Mr. Durville found by repeated experiments that all the right side\nof a sensitive subject is strongly influenced by the positive pole of\nthe Magnet which produces contraction, repulsion and excitation; while,\non the contrary, the other pole relaxes, attracts and calms the same\nside. The Austral pole of the Magnet presented within about 4-inches of\nthe forehead of the subject, repulses him and puts him to sleep; while\nthe left hand attracts and awakens him. It is evident, then, that the\npositive pole of the Magnet and the right hand are poles of the same\nname; and, if the Austral pole of the Magnet is positive, then the\nBoreal or Northern pole of the Earth must be negative. The physical\nlaws of the Human Magnetism are consequently identical with those\ngoverning the actions of the Magnets.\n\nThe Human body represents three horse-shoe Magnets, two of them\nhaving the neutral point at the summit of the head and the third in\nan inverted position to that of the two first ones. The axis the most\nimportant divides us laterally from right to left, the other from the\nforepart to the back part of the body. The first horse-shoe Magnet has\nits neutral point at the summit of the head, and its extremities or\npoles at the right hand and the left hand, the right hand being the\npositive, and the left hand the negative pole.\n\nThe second horse-shoe Magnet has also its neutral point at the summit\nof the head, and the extremities or poles of its two branches are the\nright and the left foot, the right foot being positive and the left\nfoot negative.\n\nThe third horse-shoe Magnet, the one in an inverted position, has its\nneutral point at the perineum and the extremities of its branches are\nthe forehead and the occiput. The forehead being positive and the\nocciput negative.\n\nFrom this it follows that in the human body, from the extremities of\nthe feet to the summit of the head, all the right side is positive and\nthe left side negative, and from the forehead to the perineum all the\nforepart of the body is positive, while the opposite or back part, from\nthe occiput to the perineum is negative. The Human body possesses other\npolary axes of less importance.\n\nReichenbach has found, through experiments made with many sensitives,\nthat the end of the Magnet which seeks the North pole of the Earth, the\nend we call positive, sends to the left hand of a sensitive a fresh\nbreeze, while the other end emits a tepid one. He also found that the\npositive end emits in the dark a blue light, while the negative one\nemits a yellow red light. His sensitives found that in the dark, the\nright side of the human body emits a blue light, while the left side\nemits a yellow red one. Then the right side of the body has the same\nquality of Magnetism as the positive, or North seeking, or Austral pole\nof the Magnet, and the left side has the same quality of Magnetism as\nthe negative, or South seeking, or Boreal pole of the Magnet. Those\nexperiments of Reichenbach agree thus entirely with those made by Mr.\nDurville. His polarity of the Human body is also the same as given by\nAndrew Jackson Davis, page 91 of his work \u201cThe Harbinger of Health.\u201d\nThere are consequently very strong reasons for believing that the\ntheory of Mr. Durville is the right one, since it has been confirmed by\npractical experiments made by himself, Reichenbach and Davis.\n\nMr. Durville concludes his article in the \u201cJournal du Magn\u00e9tisme,\u201d\nJanuary number of 1886, with some interesting points in Therapeutics.\nDiseases can be classed as of two kinds, those due to atony or\nparalysis of the organs, and those due to excitation or inflammation.\n\nThe object of Medicine is to excite the functions of the atonic organs\nand to calm or moderate those which are too active. Magnetizers knew\nthat the ends of the fingers presented within a few inches of the\ndiseased part, will produce excitation, while the palm of the hand\napplied on produces calm; but they could not always obtain the desired\neffect for want of the knowledge of the true polarity of the Human body.\n\nThe right hand will produce attraction, calm and easiness on the left\nand back side of the body; and repulsion, excitation and uneasiness on\nthe right and forepart of the body; and the left hand will produce the\nsame corresponding effects on the right and forepart of the body, and\non the left and backpart. The right-hand, a positive pole, will act\nwith more energy than the left-hand, a negative one.\n\nHe found by experiments that the most certain and active results are\nproduced by presenting the palm of the hand within about two inches\nfrom the diseased part, the attractions and repulsions being in inverse\nratio of the square of the distances. Every time we want to take off\na pain, or calm an excitation, we will succeed by presenting the palm\nof the right hand to the diseased part, if that part is on the left\nside or the back of the body, or by presenting the palm of the left\nhand, if it is on the right side or the forepart of the body. For\nexample, a heaviness in the head, a neuralgia and in general, all kinds\nof headaches, will cease more or less rapidly under the influence of\nthe palm of the hand presented with the fingers upright at about two\ninches from the forehead. To calm the nervous system, place yourself\non the left of the patient and apply the left hand on the epigastrium,\nand the right hand on the vertebral column, on the corresponding part.\nIf we were to use the other hand on the same part, we should increase\nfor a while the intensity of the pain. To obtain the desired result,\nthe time necessarily varies according to the nature of the disease and\nsensibility of the patient.\n\nWith a knowledge of the laws regulating the human polarity, Magnetism\nbecomes an exact science, a positive one. But the application of it is\nalso an art which constant practice may improve considerably.\n CH. J. QUETIL, F.\u202fT. S.\n\n\n THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.\n\nFragments of the Ancient Wisdom Religion have come down to us from the\nremotest past, through many channels, and in various forms.\n\nThe study of philology alone will be inadequate to discover the true\nmeaning of ancient sacred writings, though it may very greatly assist\nthe labors of those who have already gained a clue to the Secret\nDoctrine. The Theosophist and the Antiquarian differ very widely, and\nthough the former has sometimes been accused of searching out obsolete\ndoctrines and magnifying the achievements of the past, but little\nobservation will be required to reveal the fact, that that for which\nthey search may be very old because it is valuable, but never valuable\nmerely because it is old. In short that of which they are in search may\ntruly be said to never fade, and ne\u2019er grow old, though it is often\nlost sight of. Occultism is not a new craze as some suppose, it is not\nsimply a line of the marvelous, it is rather the profoundest of all\nsciences, conforming in its methods of research and the character of\nits results to those of all sciences. The naturalist does not hesitate\nto construct from a single tooth or a few fragments of bone, the entire\nanimal and assign to it its proper place, declare its habits, modes of\nlife, size, &c., &c., even though he fixed its era centuries ago, and\nno one nowadays questions the general correctness of the result; the\nstudy of comparative anatomy and the science of biology testify all\nthis. In like manner and by similar methods may one familiar with the\nscience of occultism, which deals with the operation of uniform laws\nin the higher realms of nature, arrive at exact data from very small\nbeginnings, and with this advantage, viz., that he has the means at\nhand to verify his conclusions, which the naturalist has not, for in\nthis realm there are no extinct species, the elements of human nature,\nand the laws which underlie their unfoldment and manifestation are the\nsame now, as thousands of years ago.\n\nIt is the custom of many who are entirely ignorant of this higher\nscience, to deny its existence and ridicule its cultivators. Just as an\nuneducated and conceited boor would ridicule an Agassiz for attempting\nto reconstruct an animal from its thigh bone. When, therefore, one\nentirely ignorant not only of the principles but of the existence of\nsuch a thing as occult science, examines ancient records in which it is\nconcealed, he will arise from his task possibly better satisfied with\nhis own possessions as contrasted with the \u201cignorance\u201d of past ages,\nbut seldom wiser for his endeavor. Few persons nowadays are ignorant\nof the form of most ancient hierarchic writings, as consisting of, or\ncontaining a double meaning under the garb of allegory or parable. It\nis moreover becoming quite generally known that many of these ancient\nrecords are of vital importance to us of the present day, as containing\nthe very knowledge of which we stand most in need, and the amount\nof attention they are receiving may be determined by observing the\ninterest in, and almost unprecedented sales of, such works as Arnold\u2019s\nLight of Asia, while the labors of men like Max Muller in rendering the\nancient scriptures into English have made it possible for everyone to\ngain some familiarity with the religious casts of antiquity. Bearing\nin mind these general observations, let us briefly examine one of\nthe most ancient, most famous, and yet least comprehended sources of\nancient wisdom. As to the questions who was Hermes? which Hermes? when\ndid he write? we have these points for the philologists and historians,\nquoting here the remark of Iamblichus in his treatise on the Mysteries:\n\u201cHermes, the God who presides over language, was formerly very properly\nconsidered as common to all priests; and the power who presides over\nthe true science concerning the Gods is one and the same in the whole\nof things. Hence our ancestors dedicated the inventions of their wisdom\nto this deity, inscribing all their own writings with the name of\nHermes,\u201d and \u201cthe late learned Divine Doctor Everard\u201d in the preface\nto his translation of the Divine Pymander 1650, contends that Hermes\nTrismegistus lived a long time before Moses, that he had \u201cperfect and\nexact knowledge of all things contained in the world,\u201d * * \u201cthat he was\nthe first that invented the art of communicating knowledge to the world\nby writing, that he was King of Egypt, that he styled himself the son\nof Saturn, and that he was believed to have come from heaven, and not\nto have been born on earth.\u201d[66]\n\nThe above writer goes on to say that Hermes did excel in the right\nunderstanding of, because he attained to, the knowledge of the\nquintessence of the whole universe, otherwise called the _Elixir_ of\nthe philosophers, which secret many ignorantly deny, many have sought\nafter, and some have found. A description of this great Treasure is\nsaid to have been found engraved upon a Smaragdine Tablet in the valley\nof Hebron after the flood.[67]\n\nTo the modern reader, all this sounds very queer, a bundle of\ncontradictions and vagaries, taxing reason and even credulity. But\nsuppose we are told, that it was designed for exactly that purpose,\nthat only they who were _determined_ to find the truth, and who\ntherefore had faith that it existed somewhere, were expected to walk\naround or dig under this stumbling-block. If we turn now to _Isis\nUnveiled_ p. 507, Vol. I, we shall find the inscription said to have\nbeen found on the tablet.\n B.\n [_To be continued._]\n\n\n REVIEWS.\n\nPANTANJALI\u2019S RAJ YOGA PHILOSOPHY.\u2014(Reprinted by the Bombay Branch\nof the Theosophical Society.) We will give in subsequent numbers of\nthis magazine, remarks and explanations by a Hindu brother member. In\nthis reprint are some things which do not improve the book. They are\nselections from such men as P.\u202fB. Randolph and others. We do not think\nPantanjali needs confirmation from such a source as Randolph\u2019s. No\ndoubt many Theosophists will be disappointed in this great Hindu, in\nconsequence of their own expectations of finding explicit directions\nas to developing and projecting the double and other like tricks, and\nbecause of erroneous suppositions as to what Raj Yoga is. It is the\nhighest philosophy, but the work needs just the explanations which\nwe propose to furnish, in part at least. Pantanjali is immensely\ninteresting to ordinary Theosophists from an intellectual standpoint,\nand to those who are somewhat advanced its instruction is very great.\nAt present all the Raj Yoga which the western body of Theosophists can\nassimilate, is found in _Light on the Path_ and _Bagavad-Gita_.\n\nJOURNAL OF SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY.\u2014We have received from Wm. T. Harris,\n(No. 3, Vol. XIX) for which we offer our thanks. Our small space will\nnot permit extended notice. It is full of splendid matter.\n\nIMMORTALITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL.\u2014(W. T. Harris, D. Appleton & Co., New\nYork.) On p. 5 is the basis of a great argument, that \u201cthe interaction\nbetween soul and body can never be explained, except by a combination\nof introspection with observation of physiologic facts.\u201d The grossest\nscientist exercises both and yet denies the value of introspection.\n\nPHILOSOPHY IN OUTLINE.\u2014(Wm. T. Harris, D. Appleton & Co., New York.)\nA brief exposition of the method of Philosophy and its results in\nobtaining a view of nature, man and God.\n\nNOTES AND QUERIES.\u2014A monthly magazine full of curious information\nin art, science, mathematics, folk-lore, mysticism, etc., comes to\nThe Path as an exchange and the back volumes have been received for\nour Theosophical library. It is published by S.\u202fC. & L.\u202fM. Gould,\nManchester, N.\u202fH., at $1.00 a year. Among its articles are many on\nsubjects allied with Eastern wisdom, ancient philosophy, masonry,\nbibliography, etc. Write to them for a sample copy.\n\nLIGHT ON THE HIDDEN WAY.\u2014_Anon._ (Boston.) This book has excited a\ngreat deal of comment in Boston.\n\nThe similarity of titles might lead one to expect something like \u201cLight\non the Path,\u201d but the reader would soon find that the book, whose\nnon-commital introduction by a distinguished Unitarian Minister has\nbrought it considerable earnest consideration, has nothing in common\nwith that priceless volume. It is the account of the experiences of the\nauthor, a sensitive and seer from childhood, and, in some respects, it\nreminds us strikingly of what Kerner tells us about the Seherin von\nPrevorst. While we cannot commend untrained seership, or its results,\nwe can commend the earnestness and sincerity of the author and at\nleast say for her work that it ought to do good in turning Spiritistic\nreaders away from the materialistic aspects which their belief most\ncommonly presents, and in teaching them that immortality is only to\nbe obtained through \u201cslaying the dragon Self.\u201d For the rest, we will\nsubmit the following comments on the work from a source which we feel\nto be competent to judge:\u2014\n\n\u201cI feel as if my father\u2019s eyes were always upon me. p. 21. In this\nand following instances, the evidences are, that the writer is\nlooking into the Astral world, or, in other words, is seeing the\nimpressions that have been made upon her personal aura. Not having\nbeen effaced, they are readily mistaken for the personalities who\nmade the impressions. Was it her father, the individual, he would be\nengaged in more important matters than watching for dust in unswept\ncorners. So far, all is sentimental, or in the sphere of earthly\nimpressions, beliefs and feelings\u2014naturally to a great extent illusory\nand unsatisfactory. A chorus of heavenly voices swelling a hymn, may\nfulfill the requirements for some individuals, but we can hardly see or\nfeel that any chorus, no matter how earthly, much more heavenly, can\nsing a song of rejoicing because a man has laid aside his robe, and in\nthe doing it, causing a woman, perhaps, to pass through Gethsemane. The\nsorrows and demands of others are entirely lost to sight in the fancied\nimportance of one being passing through the change of abode called\n_Death_. We do not think any man ever saw any being with wings in the\nspheres above the Astral. In the Astral they do exist, for they are\ncreatures of the imagination. In truth, therefore, they are elementals,\nclothed in this form. Imagination, properly guided, does not create\nthese beings, but unguided, or badly guided, it does, the result being\nthat it is quite possible not only to see them with wings, but with a\nthousand of them, or, like a centipede, with a hundred legs.\n\n\u201cSimilar visionaries, and this one also, have to a great extent\nunconsciously permitted their thoughts to be influenced by Biblical\nwriters who express their visions in symbolical language. But the\nProphets say: \u201cAnd I saw one _like unto_ an angel having four wings,\u201d\netc. They do not claim to have seen this, but that which they did see\ncould only be expressed in this manner. They could convey their meaning\nonly in this form.\n\n\u201cThe ineffable Light is not to be beheld so easily, or with so little\neffort as a prayer. And _earthly eyes do not behold it_. In prayer the\nwill is at work in _desire_. This produces a more active condition,\nor rousing of the material, causing a greater amount of motion or\nvibration, thereby increasing the brilliancy of the Astral, or Aura,\nof the personality, and the seer being within it and producing it,\nmistakes it for the Ineffable. After all, the seer is only looking at\nher physical self and calling it God.\n\n\u201cIn regard to the higher precepts that are brought forth, we do not\nfind her father connected with them in any way. But we do find some\nof the higher principles endeavoring to assert themselves. The words\nare those of the Inner Consciousness. It is herself that is trying to\nteach. It is that which is the first to assert itself when one begins\nto desire wisdom, and occurs long before the advent of a teacher, or\nany other individual. The teachings are good, and come to all who find\nthe unimportance of self. But our work is not for the spirits in the\nastral, but for those who are in reality earth-bound, those in the\nbody. Our teachings are for man. Our workings are for him. It is quite\nall we can do to instruct ourselves and fellow men, without attempting\nto teach him when out of a body. We can violate no law. One law is,\nthat if a spirit needs instruction then he must be in possession of a\nbody, and striving for knowledge in that manner. We cannot, in or out\nof a body, attach ourselves to any other individual and expect him to\nsave us from the results of our own ignorance, selfishness, or bad\nKarma in general.\n\n\u201cThe most peculiar of all the ideas suggested, as one reads farther, is\nthis: That these spirits, after making such sad mistakes as they said\nthey did in life, should come back to be saved by the reading, in some\ncases, of one book. If they had discovered enough, through the mere\nfact of death, to find that they were all wrong, why did they seek at\nthe source of all their errors for more? Why not seek at the source\nthat taught them that they were wrong? The fact is, Death has not the\nmighty power ascribed to it. If I move from one house to another, the\nmere act of going out of one does not solve the _why_ that I lived in\none, or _will_ in another. I may perceive that one is better adapted\nto my wants, but the moving into it does not tell me \u2018why?\u2019 I, as the\ntenant, know already the why, and perhaps if I open the windows of my\nhouse, the house itself may become pervaded with the knowledge. But it\nis \u2018I\u2019 who do the act, not Death. Death closes my windows and opens the\ndoor. I close my door to Death and open my window to Wisdom\u2014perhaps in\na new house, quite likely in one which has had another occupant.\n\n\u201cIf the \u2018evil-minded, malicious, and undeveloped souls\u2019 would only\nunfold their pin-feathers and fly off into the \u2018Beyond,\u2019 they would be\na source of little sorrow to earth. But they do not. Undeveloped, they\ncannot fly; malicious, they remain in their proper degree; evil-minded,\nthey are not souls, but elementaries.\n\n\u201cThe book is the property of Death.\u201d \u201cAMERICAN F.\u202fT. S.\u201d\n\nMEN, WOMEN AND GODS, AND OTHER LECTURES.\u2014By Helen H. Gardener.\nIntroduction by Robt. G. Ingersoll, (_Truth Seeker Co., 33 Clinton\nPlace, N.\u202fY._) pp. 174, with a portrait of Miss Gardener; Cloth $1.00,\npaper .50. This is a valuable contribution, being compact, fervid in\nits reasonings yet not at all heavy. Its statements are unanswerable.\nEvidently the author read widely, thought deeply, observed keenly, and\nadded to all that, a native genius. On page 53 she has put 12 articles\nof positive belief, and as the famous Colonel says in the introduction,\n\u201cthere is no misunderstanding between her head and her heart. She says\nwhat she thinks and feels what she says.\u201d\n\nThe design of the book is the emancipation of woman, but in carrying\nthat out she does not abuse men for the position of women. She calls\nupon the women to dare to think and act for themselves and to gain the\nplace which rightfully, in the author\u2019s estimation, belongs to them.\n\nTHE ORDER OF CREATION.\u2014(_Truth Seeker Co., New York._) This contains\nthe controversy between Gladstone, Huxley, Muller, Reville and Linton,\nas to the order in which creation proceeded; p.\u202fp. 178, cloth .75 paper\n.50. Those who followed this interesting dispute will find this a\nvaluable book, as it brings together the arguments of these masters of\nrhetoric, science and philosophy into one compact volume, and enables\nall who care for different kinds of authority upon vexed questions,\nto see what these modern lights each have to say as to the evident\nconflict which exists between Genesis and Geology.\n\n\n CORRESPONDENCE.\n\n AN UNWRITTEN MESSAGE BECOMES VISIBLE.\n\n NEW YORK, May 16, 1886.\n EDITOR OF THE PATH,\n\n DEAR SIR:\u2014Could you explain the following?\n\n A friend of mine, a physician, who is a rational agnostic and scoffer\n at all so called supernatural things, relates the following curious\n mystery, which happened to him the other day.\n\n He was sitting in his office holding in his hand a letter from one of\n his regular patients, which asked him to come as soon as he could. It\n being then towards 5 p.\u202fm., when his office hours are over, he was\n thinking whether he could go that day or not as he has an extensive\n practice. While thinking he found that the letter was gone. He\n searched for it on his table, but in vain. A strange feeling came over\n him as he could not even remember when he had received the letter, nor\n when he had opened it. A feeling that the letter had after all been a\n physical delusion he dismissed with scorn; he was sure it would by and\n by easily explain itself. However the servant was sure that no letter\n had since 2 p.\u202fm. been delivered, as she never leaves the door during\n that time.\n\n The next morning he called on his patient, who was very glad to see\n him, though being a little astonished that her daughter had been very\n sick the preceding day for an hour or two. It had soon passed over.\n \u201cI am glad to hear that it is nothing serious,\u201d the doctor said, \u201cI\n wanted to excuse myself for not coming yesterday. I received your\n letter only at 5 p.\u202fm.\u201d \u201cMy letter?\u201d the lady answered, \u201cI never\n wrote to you; it is impossible, for about that time I was with my\n sick daughter, and thought very intensely to write, but as I had but\n one servant in the house I concluded to wait till my son came in. By\n the time he came, my daughter felt better, and so we concluded not to\n trouble you.\u201d\n\n My friend went home, perfectly sure that in spite of all appearance,\n though no letter could be found after repeated searching\u2014\u2014 the lady\n had written but forgotten it. I can vouch for the truth of the story.\n Remain yours fraternally, H.\u202fP. L.\n\n[The explanation by those who adhere to mediumship would be, that this\nwas what they call, \u201ca spirit letter.\u201d But at this time we cannot\naccept that proposition; it seems rather a degradation of what we call\n\u201cspirit,\u201d and many alleged \u201ccontrols\u201d of mediums have deprecated the\nconstant referring of everything to spirit agency, when in perhaps the\nmajority of cases, \u201cspirits\u201d have nothing to do in the matter. Many\nso called extraordinary things occur every day which are attributed\nto spirits, or classed as hallucination, which really are due to the\npowers of the living man, their laws of operation being almost unknown\nto western people.\n\nThe true student of Raj Yoga knows that everything has its origin in\nthe mind; that even this universe is the passing before the Divine Mind\nof the images he desires to appear.\n\nNow in the case before us, the doctor must be a sensitive man who\nhas the power, unknown to himself, of seeing very clearly the mental\nimages passing in the minds of those with whom he is in sympathy.\nThese impressions are quite common, but they are not usually seen as\napparently visible things. Some receive them as images, others as\nthoughts and ideas. We are all constantly affecting each other in this\nway every day of our lives, but not everyone receives the impression in\nthe same way. The variations of the operations of _manas_, which may be\nproperly called \u201cmind,\u201d are infinite.\n\nThe lady whose daughter was sick, desired very intently to see the\ndoctor, and the message was probably formulated in her mind at once.\nThis is evident, for she awaited the arrival of the son to whom she\nwould at once have given it. That message thus formed was impressed\nin the astral light, and because of the sympathy existing between\npatient and doctor it immediately rushed into the sphere of the doctor,\nregistering itself in his mind. He then saw in his hand a letter,\nwhich apparently he could feel and read. This was either, (_a_) the\nreflection from his mind, or (_b_) an actual momentary appearance in\nhis hand of the astral message. It was never found again because it had\nno corporeal existence.\n\nIt would be easy to cry \u201cspirits,\u201d but it would not be common sense.\nWe might also say elementals did it, but that would infer that either\nthe doctor or the patient has elementals devoted to them. Elementals do\nperform such things but the cases are not common, and therefore we are\nnot justified in taking that explanation when neither party knows of\nelementals.\n\nIf the doctor had not been a sensitive man, he would merely have\nreceived the message and repeated it to himself as a sudden thought of\nthat particular patient.\n\nWe know several persons of our acquaintance who habitually obey sudden\nimpressions, causing them to write to absent friends, &c., always\nfinding that they answer the other person\u2019s thought or written letter\nthen on the way and undelivered until after the reply had been sent.\n\nLet us then pay attention to these things in this light and not allow\nourselves, except in known cases, to fly into the arms of alleged\nspirits or elementals.\u2014ED.]\n\n * * * * *\n\n DEAR PATH:\u2014Is not it an error on p. 28 of April No. in review of\n _Apollonius of Tyana_, where it says:\n\n \u201c_Error_ courts investigation\u201d; was not \u201ctruth\u201d meant.\n Yours, F.\u202fE. B.\n\n[There was not a mistake. The author was trying to show how error\npreludes truth, but falsehood never does; that error courts\ninvestigation, falsehood never. Falsehood is altogether untrue and\ntherefore without any knowledge; and being thus false it hides itself\nfrom investigation. But error is merely that which has not true\nknowledge, and does not imply falsity. Science is full of error, but\nconstantly corrects itself. The process of acquiring true knowledge is\nin fact the cutting away of errors.\u2014ED.]\n\n * * * * *\n\n PRONUNCIATION OF SANSCRIT.\n\n DEAR BROTHER:\u2014Is there any dictionary or book giving the correct\n pronunciation of the Oriental words so current in theosophical\n literature.\n Yours \u2014\u2014\n\n[In Sanscrit dictionaries the true pronunciation is found. But if\nour correspondent will, in these words, always read _a_ as _ah_,\n_e_ as _eh_, _i_ as _ee_, _u_ as _oo_, and _o_ as _oh_, she will\nbe right. _Arjuna_ is sounded as _Arjoona_, _Veda_ as _Vaydah_,\n_Brahma_ as _Br\u00e4hm\u0101_, _Prakriti_ as _Pr\u00e4kreetee_, _Mulaprakriti_ as\n_Moolahprakreetee_, and so on.\u2014ED.]\n\n\n THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.\n\nIRELAND.\u2014A charter for a Branch of the Society in Dublin, was issued\nin April. This is the first Irish charter, and it marks an era in the\nhistory of the Society as well as of Ireland. The month of April is an\nimportant one for the green Isle in several ways, and this charter must\nbear a date of some significance.\n\nFurthermore, Ireland\u2019s real name signifies, \u201cthe Isle of Destiny,\u201d and,\nas if she really had some great destiny, she has long been a thorn in\nEngland\u2019s side, and has furnished great men, poets, and warriors, to\nall western peoples.\n\nPerhaps now some great exponent of Theosophy will arise in that island,\nand the new Branch become a power for good amongst us. The name\nselected is, _The Dublin Lodge of the Theosophical Society_.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNEW YORK: THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.\u2014Meetings are now held on the\n2d and 4th Tuesdays in each month, attended by members and inquirers.\nAt each meeting a paper is read or address delivered followed by\ndiscussion and questions.\n\nThe Branch does not yet devote itself to psychical experiments, but\nto an inquiry into all the doctrines which have been put forth in\nTheosophical literature, and to inquiring into Aryan philosophy.\n\nBeside these open meetings, they also hold private meetings, where\nfurther and more familiar discussions and conversations are carried on.\n\nA series of notes of all the discussions has been started in the\nform of a printed leaflet, to be distributed each month among all\nthe members to be found in the United States, with the object of\nsolidifying them in their struggle to find the truth, and if possible\nto procure an interchange of questions and replies in the whole body\nof American Theosophists. It is believed that this will do much toward\nhelping all, for there is no better way of getting new ideas and of\nspreading knowledge, than by rubbing minds together, so to say, and\nthus eliciting the doubts, the questions, and the views of all.\n\nAs we are a universal Brotherhood, we are each bound to help the rest,\nand to do as much as we can toward communicating with each other upon\nthe subject of our studies. This does not mean that any one is to\ngive to the world any rare knowledge which ought to be hidden. It is\nsupposed that up to this time the whole body of American Theosophists\nis upon one plane. At any rate, those who possess occult knowledge, or\nthink they do, ought to know where and when to keep silent. Long before\nwe are ready for occult knowledge, we have to study that which is the\ncommon property of all, but which hitherto has been neglected and\nallowed to lie hidden, not only in Eastern literature, but also in much\nthat has been produced among Christian people.\n\nThe donations of books for the Library of the Branch, during the last\nmonth, have been as follows:\n\nBy S.\u202fC. & L.\u202fM. Gould: _Vol._ I. _and_ II. _Notes and Queries_; by\nBro. R. Hart, 10 books: _Mary Jane (spiritist inquiry)_, _Suicide, 2\nvols._, _Lights and Shades of Spiritualism_, _Psychography (Oxon)_,\n_Animal Magnetism_, _&c._, _England and Islam_, _Vocal Culture_, _Civil\nPolity of the U.\u202fS._; by Bro. W.\u202fH. Dannat, London Lodge, 20 books:\n_Modern Magic_, _Book of Mediums_, _Infinite and Finite_, _Idyll of\nWhite Lotos_, _Possibility of not Dying_, _Col. Olcott\u2019s Lectures_,\n_Palmistry_, _Essence of Christianity_, _Mysteries of Astrology_,\n_Zoroaster_, _Rosicrucians (Jennings)_, _Chaldean Magic_, _Circle\nof Light_, _Gould\u2019s Myths_, _Unseen Universe_, _Moore\u2019s Epicurean_,\n_Oriental Interpreter_, _Theosophy and the Higher Life_, _Pagan\nand Christian Symbolism (Inman)_, _Man-Fragments_, _&c._, and _28\nMiscellaneous Theosophical pamphlets_.\n\n * * * * *\n\nCINCINNATI.\u2014The new Branch here has been organized since our last\nissue, with about twenty members. Some meetings have been held at\nwhich great interest was manifested. At the next meeting an essay upon\nsome theosophical subject will be read. The members are all engaged in\nserious study of such subjects as: the laws of Karma, Reincarnation, &c.\n\n \u201cAs the great universe has no boundary, and the eight quarters of\n heaven no gateway, so Supreme Reason has no limits.\u201d\u2014_Buddha._\n\n \u201cLook up at it; it is higher than you can see! Bore into it; it is\n deeper than you can penetrate! Look at it as it stands before you;\n suddenly it is behind you!\u201d\u2014_Confucius._\n\n \u201cLooking up, you cannot see the summit of its head; go behind it, you\n cannot see its back.\u201d\u2014_Lau-tze._\n\n \u201cA man who foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the\n protection of my ungrudging love; the more evil comes from him, the\n more good shall go from me; the fragrance of these good actions always\n rebounding to me, the harm of the slanderer\u2019s words returning to him.\n For as sound belongs to the drum, and shadow to the substance, so in\n the end, misery will certainly overtake the evil doer.\u201d\u2014_Buddha Sutra\n of 42 sections._\n\n OM.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[50] The original MS. of this Diary as far as it goes is in our\npossession. The few introductory lines are by the friend who\ncommunicated the matter to us.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[51] I find it impossible to decipher this name.\n\n[52] There is a peculiarity in this, that all accounts of Cagliostro,\nSt. Germain and other Adepts, give the apparent age as forty only.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[53] The warrior caste of India.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[54] The soul soliloquizing.\n\n[55] The Deity.\n\n[56] Second century.\n\n[57] The Deity.\n\n[58] The Work entitled \u201c_The Acts of the Adepts_,\u201d by Shemsu-D-Din\nAhmed, El EFlaki has been reserved for our second part: Symbols.\n\n[59] _A Godhra_ is the counterpane of shreds the Fakirs use to lie down\nupon, and throw over their shoulders.\n\n[60] Comp. the medi\u00e6val conception \u201cLady World.\u201d\n\n[61] Khizer, the \u201cGreen Old Man\u201d is the guardian of \u201cthe fountain of\nlife\u201d and the type of the self sustaining power of Deity.\n\n[62] Quran II. 216, Elias discovered the water of life.\n\n[63] Saturn is lord of the seventh heaven.\n\n[64] No more individual existence.\n\n[65] The following is told, and attributed to Attar; A thirsty\ntraveller dips his hand into a spring of water to drink from. Another\ncomes likewise to drink and leaves his earthen bowl behind him. The\nfirst traveller takes it up for another draught and is surprised to\nfind the same water bitter when drank from the earthen cup. But a voice\nfrom heaven tells him the clay from which the bowl is made was once\n_Man_; and into whatever shape renewed, _can never lose the bitter\nflavour of mortality_.\n\n[66] See Introduction to The Divine Pymander p. VI-et. seq. edition\n1650.\n\n[67] Ibid.\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n This is the Truth. As from a blazing fire sparks, being like unto\n fire, fly forth a thousandfold, thus are various beings brought forth\n from the Imperishable, and return thither also.\n\n That heavenly Person is without body; he is both without and within,\n not produced, without breath and without mind, pure, higher than the\n high Imperishable. The sky in his head, his eyes the sun and the moon,\n the quarters his ears, his speech the Vedas disclosed, the wind his\n breath, his heart the universe; from his feet came the earth; he is\n indeed the inner self of all things. _Mundaka Upanishad._ II, Mun., I.\n Kh.\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. JULY, 1886. NO. 4.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n A HINDU CHELA\u2019S DIARY.\n\n (_Continued from June Number._)\n\n\u201cYesterday I went with Kun\u00e2la to look at the vast and curious temples\nleft here by our forefathers. Some are in ruins, and others only\nshowing the waste of time. What a difference between my appreciation of\nthese buildings now, with Kun\u00e2la to point out meanings I never saw, and\nthat which I had when I saw them upon my first pilgrimage, made so many\nyears ago with my father.\u201d * * * * * * *\n\nA large portion of the MS. here, although written in the same\ncharacters as the rest, has evidently been altered in some way by\nthe writer, so as to furnish clues meant for himself. It might be\ndeciphered by a little effort, but I must respect his desire to keep\nthose parts of it which are thus changed, inviolate. It seems that some\nmatters are here jotted down relating to secret things, or at least,\nto things that he desired should not be understood at a glance. So I\nwill write out what small portion of it as might be easily told without\nbreaking any confidences.\n\nIt is apparent that he had often been before to the holy city of\nBenares, and had merely seen it as a place of pilgrimage for the\nreligious. Then, in his sight, those famous temples were only temples.\nBut now he found, under the instruction of Kun\u00e2la, that every really\nancient building in the whole collection had been constructed with the\nview to putting into imperishable stone, the symbols of a very ancient\nreligion. Kun\u00e2la, he says, told him, that although the temples were\nmade when no supposition of the ordinary people of those eras leaned\ntoward the idea that nations could ever arise who would be ignorant\nof the truths then universally known, or that darkness would envelop\nthe intellect of men, there were many Adepts then well known to the\nrulers and to the people. They were not yet driven by inexorable fate\nto places remote from civilization, but lived in the temples, and\nwhile not holding temporal power, they exercised a moral sway which\nwas far greater than any sovereignty of earth.[68] And they knew that\nthe time would come when the heavy influence of the dark age would\nmake men to have long forgotten even that such beings had existed,\nor that any doctrines other than the doctrine based on the material\nrights of _mine_ and _thine_, had ever been held. If the teachings\nwere left simply to either paper or papyrus or parchment, they would\nbe easily lost, because of that decay which is natural to vegetable\nor animal membrane. But stone lasts, in an easy climate, for ages. So\nthese Adepts, some of them here and there being really themselves Maha\nRajahs,[69] caused the temples to be built in forms, and with such\nsymbolic ornaments, that future races might decipher doctrines from\nthem. In this, great wisdom, he says, is apparent, for to have carved\nthem with sentences in the prevailing language would have defeated the\nobject, since languages also change, and as great a muddle would have\nresulted as in the case of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, unless a key\nstone had also been prepared; but that itself might be lost, or in its\nown turn be unintelligible. The ideas underneath symbols do not alter,\nno matter what might be the language, and symbols are clear immortally,\nbecause they are founded in nature itself. In respect to this part of\nthe matter, he writes down that Kun\u00e2la informed him that the language\nused then was not Sanscrit, but a far older one now altogether unknown\nin the world.\n\nFrom a detached sentence in the MS., it is shadowed out that Kun\u00e2la\nreferred to a curious building put up many years ago in another part\nof India and now visible, by which he illustrated the difference\nbetween an intelligent construction and unintelligent one. This\nbuilding was the product of the brain of a Chandala,[70] who had been\nenriched through a curious freak. The Rajah had been told upon some\nevent occurring, by his astrologers, that he must give an immense\nsum of money to the first person he saw next day, they intending to\npresent themselves at an early hour. Next day, at an usually early\nseason, the Rajah arose, looked out of the window, and beheld this\nChandala. Calling his astrologers and council together and the poor\nsweeper into his presence, he presented him with lacs upon lacs of\nrupees, and with the money the Chandala built a granite building having\nimmense monolithic chains hanging down from its four corners. Its only\nsymbology was, the change of the chains of fate; from poor low caste to\nhigh rich low caste. Without the story the building tells us nothing.\n\nBut the symbols of the temple, not only those carved on them, but\nalso their conjuncture, need no story nor knowledge of any historical\nevents. Such is the substance of what he writes down as told him by\nKun\u00e2la. He says also that this symbology extends not only to doctrines\nand cosmology, but also to laws of the human constitution spiritual and\nmaterial. The explanation of this portion, is contained in the altered\nand cryptic parts of the MS. He then goes on:\n\n* * * \u201cYesterday, just after sunset, while Kun\u00e2la and X were talking,\nKun\u00e2la suddenly seemed to go into an unusual condition, and about ten\nminutes afterwards a large quantity of malwa flowers fell upon us from\nthe ceiling.\n\n\u201cI must now go to\u2014\u2014 and do that piece of business which he ordered\ndone. My duty is clear enough, but how am I to know if I shall perform\nit properly. * * * When I was there and after I had finished my work\nand was preparing to return here, a wandering fakir met me and asked if\nhe could find from me the proper road to Karli. I directed him, and he\nthen put to me some questions that looked as if he knew what had been\nmy business; he also had a very significant look upon his face, and\nseveral of his questions were apparently directed to getting me to tell\nhim a few things Kun\u00e2la had told me just before leaving Benares with\nan injunction of secrecy. The questions did not on the face show that,\nbut were in the nature of inquiries regarding such matters, that if I\nhad not been careful, I would have violated the injunction. He then\nleft me saying: \u2018you do not know me but we may see each other.\u2019 * * * I\ngot back last night and saw only X, to whom I related the incident with\nthe fakir, and he said that, \u2018it was none other than Kun\u00e2la himself\nusing that fakir\u2019s body who had said those things, and if you were to\nsee that fakir again he would not remember you and would not be able\nto repeat his questions, as he was for the time being taken possession\nof for the purpose, by Kun\u00e2la, who often performs such things.\u2019 I then\nasked him if in that case Kun\u00e2la had really entered the fakir\u2019s body,\nas I have a strange reluctance toward asking Kun\u00e2la such questions, and\nX replied that if I meant to ask if he had really and in fact entered\nthe fakir\u2019s person, the answer was no, but that if I meant to ask if\nKun\u00e2la had overcome that fakir\u2019s senses, substituting his own, the\nanswer was, yes; leaving me to make my own conclusions. * * * I was\nfortunate enough yesterday to be shown the process pursued in either\nentering an empty body, or in using one which has its own occupant. I\nfound that in both cases it was the same, and the information was also\nconveyed that a Bhut[71] goes through just the same road in taking\ncommand of the body or senses of those unfortunate women of my country\nwho sometimes are possessed by them. And the Bhut also sometimes gets\ninto possession of a part only of the obsessed person\u2019s body, such as\nan arm or a hand, and this they do by influencing that part of the\nbrain that has relation with that arm or hand; in the same way with the\ntongue and other organs of speech. With any person but Kun\u00e2la I would\nnot have allowed my own body to be made use of for the experiment. But\nI felt perfectly safe, that he would not only let me in again, but also\nthat he would not permit any stranger, man or gandharba,[72] to come in\nafter him. We went to\u2014\u2014 and he * * The feeling was that I had suddenly\nstepped out into freedom. He was beside me and at first I thought he\nhad but begun. But he directed me to look, and there on the mat I saw\nmy body, apparently unconscious. As I looked * * * the body of myself,\nopened its eyes and arose. It was then superior to me, for Kun\u00e2la\u2019s\ninforming power moved and directed it. It seemed to even speak to me.\nAround it, attracted to it by those magnetic influences, wavered and\nmoved astral shapes, that vainly tried to whisper in the ear or to\nenter by the same road. In vain! They seemed to be pressed away by the\nair or surroundings of Kun\u00e2la. Turning to look at him, and expecting to\nsee him in a state of samadhi, he was smiling as if nothing, or at the\nvery most, but a part, of his power had been taken away * * * another\ninstant and I was again myself, the mat felt cool to my touch, the\nbhuts were gone, and Kun\u00e2la bade me rise.\u201d\n\nHe has told me to go to the mountains of\u2014\u2014 where\u2014\u2014 and \u2014\u2014 usually\nlive, and that even if I were not to see any body the first time,\nthe magnetized air in which they live would do me much good. They do\nnot generally stop in one place, but always shift from one place to\nanother. They, however, all meet together on certain days of the year\nin a certain place near Bhadrinath, in the northern part of India. He\nreminded me that as India\u2019s sons are becoming more and more wicked,\nthose adepts have gradually been retiring more and more toward the\nnorth, to the Him\u00e1laya mountains. * * * Of what a great consequence\nis it for me to be always with Kun\u00e2la. And now X tells me this same\nthing that I have always felt. All along I have felt and do still feel\nstrongly that I have been once his most obedient and humble disciple in\na former existence. All my hopes and future plans are therefore centred\nin him. My journey therefore to up country has done me one good, that\nof strengthening my belief, which is the chief foundation on which the\ngrand structure is to be built. * * * As I was walking past the end of\nRamalinga\u2019s compound holding a small lamp of European make, and while\nthere was no wind, the light there several times fell low. I could not\naccount for it. Both Kun\u00e2la and X were far away. But in another moment,\nthe light suddenly went out altogether, and as I stopped, the voice of\nrevered Kun\u00e2la, who I supposed was many miles away, spoke to me, and I\nfound him standing there. For one hour we talked; and he gave me good\nadvice, although I had not asked it\u2014thus it is always that when I go\nfearlessly forward and ask for nothing I get help at an actual critical\nmoment\u2014he then blessed me and went away. Nor could I dare to look in\nwhat direction. In that conversation, I spoke of the light going down\nand wanted an explanation, but he said I had nothing to do with it. I\nthen said I wanted to know, as I could explain it in two ways, viz:\n1st, that he did it himself, or 2d, that some one else did it for him.\nHe replied, that even if it were done by somebody else, _no Yogee will\ndo a thing unless he sees the desire in another Yogee\u2019s mind_.[73] The\nsignificance of this drove out of my mind all wish to know _who_ did\nit, whether himself, or an elemental or another person, for it is of\nmore importance for me to know even a part of the laws governing such a\nthing, than it is to know who puts those laws into operation. Even some\nblind concatenation of nature might put such natural forces in effect\nin accordance with the same laws, so that a knowledge that nature did\nit would be no knowledge of any consequence.\n\n [_To be continued._]\n\n\n[Illustration: PLATO\n\n_Apud Fulvium Vrsinum in gemma._]\n\n PORTRAIT OF PLATO IN CARNELIAN STONE\n\n BY FULVIUS URSINUS.\n\nThis portrait was taken from an old work by John Moretus, published\nin 1606 at Antwerp, containing 167 other portraits of ancient Greek\nand Latin philosophers, poets, orators, and scholars of renown.\nAccompanying each is a description in old Latin, and a literal\ntranslation of that which is given of the head of Plato is as follows:\n\n\u201cThis likeness of Plato is represented on some precious stone, perhaps\na Carnelian, very beautiful, of oval shape, and in the highest style\nof art, which one hundred years before, a Cardinal under Julius C\u00e6sar\na Pontifican legate in the Florentine Council had brought from Greece.\nBut it is long haired and bearded, as are the other likenesses of\nPlato, as the son of Ailius writes, that the first debate between Plato\nand Aristotle was about the hair and beard, because Aristotle, contrary\nto the fixed habit and style of Plato, was accustomed to have his hair\ncut and his face shaved.\n\n\u201cVery like to this portrait is that which is seen cut very artistically\nin Carnelian stone, and which was once in the possession of the first\nCardinal of the Holy Cross, which in addition to the likeness of Plato,\nhas also a likeness of the great teacher himself, Socrates.\n\n\u201cOn the pillar of Hermes, which has the head broken off, these words\nare inscribed in Greek: \u2018_Plato was a son of Ariston, an Athenian._\u2019\n\n\u201cThis also Laertius himself confirms, since he writes that he was born\nat Athens of his father Ariston, in the village Collyteum, eighteen\nyears after the second year of the Olympiad, Aminia being chief ruler.\n\n\u201cMoreover there is extant in marble, by Fulvius, a portrait of this\nsame Plato of the very highest artistic skill: and there is another\nvery like to this by the same artist cut in a most beautiful Carnelian\nstone which represents Plato at that time an old man, as it would\nappear, about eighty-one years old, at which time, engaged in writing\nextensively he died, one hundred and eight years after the first\nyear of the Olympiad. In the same Carnelian portrait not only is\nthe forehead of Plato represented very broad on account of which he\nwas called by the name of Plato, prior to which he had been called\nAristocles; but also his shoulders are very broad on which account some\nwished him to select a name from the Greek language.\n\n\u201cA statue of this same Plato was dedicated in the Academy, the work of\na Silanian sculptor of the highest rank; and Cicero reminds us in his\nBrutus, of a statue which he had, in these words: \u2018Then we erected a\nstatue of Plato on the public square, etc., etc.\u2019\u201d\n\n\n NOTES ON THE CABBALAH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.\n\n BY PERMISSION OF BRO. J. RALSTON SKINNER (McMillan Lodge, No. 141).\n\n I.\n\nI said in my article on Hebrew Metrology,[74] that the system embracing\nit was a language, veiled under the Hebrew text of Scripture, and that\n\u201cto the extent to which the language was known among the Jews, the\nlearning and teaching thereof was called \u2018CABBALAH.\u2019\u201d\n\nIt is a fact that so little is known of Cabbalah that its existence\nhas been denied. It has seemed to possess a like property with that\nof Prester John, namely, the more and further he was searched for\nthe less he could be found and the more fabulous he became. After\nthe same fashion, as very much was related of wonders connected with\nPrester John, so the most marvelous things are claimed for Cabbalah.\nThe Cabbalistic field is that in which astrologers, necromancers,\nblack and white magicians, fortune tellers, chiromancers, and all the\nlike, revel and make claims to supernaturalism _ad nauseam_. Claim is\nalso made that it conceals a sublime divine philosophy, which has been\nattempted to be set forth in a most confused and not understandable\nway. The Christian quarrying into its mass of mysticism, claims for\nit support and authority for that most perplexing of all problems the\nHoly Trinity, and the betrayed character of Christ. The good, pious,\nignorant man picks up Cabbalah at will as a cheap, easy and veritable\nproduction, and at once, with the poorest smattering of starved ideas,\ngives forth to the world, as by authority, a devout jumble of stuff and\nnonsense. With equal assurance, but more effrontery the knave, in the\nname of Cabbalah, will sell amulets and charms, tell fortunes, draw\nhoroscopes, and just as readily give specific rules, as in the case of\nthat worthy, Dr. Dee, for raising the dead, and actually\u2014the devil.\n\nNo wonder then that the whole affair has been discredited and condemned\nby the rational and the wise.\n\nDiscovery has yet to be made of what Cabbalah really consists before\nany weight or authority can be given to the name. On that discovery\nwill rest the question whether the name should be received as related\nto matters worthy of rational acknowledgment.\n\nThe writer claims that such a discovery has been made, and that the\nsame embraces rational science of sober and great worth. He claims that\nit will serve to clear up and take away very much of the mysticism\nwhich up to this time has been an unexplainable part of religious\nsystems,\u2014especially the Hebrew or Jewish, and the Christian, so much\nso that the supernatural in those systems will have to give place to\nthe rational, to a very great extent. He claims that that sublime\nscience upon which Masonry is based, is in fact, the substance of\nCabbalah,\u2014which last is the rational basis of the Hebrew text of Holy\nwrit.\n\nCabbalah is inseparably connected with the text of the Scriptures,\nand an exposition of the inner sense of the same is as John Reuchlin\nclaimed necessary to a right and full understanding of the Sacred\nText. But he saw vaguely, being taught only in a mystic phraseology\nwhich was really a blind, and he did not come into possession of the\nsolid, rational grounds of it which he could formulate and impart. For\nthis reason, though he was right in his general assertion, his scheme\nfailed, and his works in this regard, passed away from the common sense\nworld, and have ever since lived only among the mystics and dreamers.\n\nLike all other human productions of the kind, the Hebrew text of\nthe Bible was in characters which could serve as sound signs for\nsyllabic utterance, or for this purpose what are called letters. Now\nin the first place, these original character signs were also pictures,\neach one of them; and these pictures of themselves stood for ideas\nwhich could be communicated,\u2014much like the original Chinese letters.\nGustav Seyffarth shows that the Egyptian hieroglyphics numbered\nover six hundred picture characters, which embraced the modified\nuse, syllabically, of the original number of letters of the Hebrew\nalphabet. The characters of the Hebrew text of the Sacred Scroll were\ndivided into classes, in which the characters of each class were\ninterchangeable; whereby one form might be exchanged for another\nto carry a modified signification, both by letter, and picture and\nnumber. Seyffarth shows the modified form of the very ancient Hebrew\nalphabet in the old Coptic by this law of interchange of characters.\nThis law of permitted interchange of letters is to be found quite\nfully set forth in the Hebrew dictionaries, such as Fuerst\u2019s and\nothers. Though recognized and largely set forth it is very perplexing\nand hard to understand, because we have lost the specific use and\npower of such interchange. In the second place, these characters\nstood for _numbers_\u2014to be used for numbers as we use specific number\nsigns,\u2014though, also, there is very much to prove that the old Hebrews\nwere in possession of the so-called Arabic numerals, as we have them,\nfrom the straight line 1 to the _zero_ character, together making 1\n+ 9 = 10. The order of these number letters run from 1 to 9, then\n10 to 90, then 100 upward. In the third place it is said, and it\nseems to be proven, that these characters stood for musical notes;\nso that for instance, the arrangement of the letters in the first\nchapter of Genesis, can be rendered musically, or by song. Another\nlaw of the Hebrew characters was that only the consonantal signs were\ncharacterized,\u2014the vowels were not characterized, but were supplied.\nIf one will try he will find that a consonant of itself cannot be\nmade vocal without the help of a vowel; therefore it was said that\nthe consonants made the frame work of a word, but to give it life or\nutterance into the air, so as to impart the thought of the mind, and\nthe feeling of the heart, the vowels had to be supplied. Thus the dead\nword of consonants became quickened into life by the Holy Spirit, or\nthe vowels.\n\nThis being said then:\u2014\n\nFirst: The Holy or Sacred Text was given in consonants only, without\nany voweling, or signs of vowels.\n\nSecond: The letters were written one after the other at equal\ndistances, without any separation whatever of distinct words, and\nwithout any punctuations whatever, such as commas, semi-colons, colons\nor periods.\n\nIt will be seen at once that a various reading of the text might be had\nin many places, both by differing arrangements of letters, and by a\ndiffering supplying of vowels. A very important difference of reading\nmay be instanced in the first line of Genesis. It is made to be read\n\u201cB\u2019rashith b\u00e2r\u00e2 Elohim,\u201d etc., \u201cIn the beginning God created the\nheavens and the earth\u201d; wherein Elohim is a plural nominative to a verb\nin the third person singular. Nachminedes called attention to the fact\nthat the text might suffer the reading, \u201cBrash ithb\u00e2r\u00e2 Elohim,\u201d etc.\n\u201cIn the head (source or beginning) created itself (or developed) Gods,\nthe heavens and the earth,\u201d\u2014really a more grammatical rendering.\n\nWhat the originally and intended right reading was who can tell? It may\nbe surmised, however, that it was made to subserve a co-ordinating,\nsymmetrical and harmonious working of the characters to unfold and\ndevelop their various uses;\u2014as sound signs to frame a narrative,\u2014as\nnumbers to develop geometrical shapes and the numerical enunciations of\ntheir elements, comparisons and applications,\u2014as pictures to show forth\nideas in some accordance with the story told, and finally,\u2014as musical\nsounds to give an appropriate song to embrace the whole. The whole\ncompass was to embrace rational proof, through operations in nature,\nof the existence of that Divine Contriving Willing Cause which we call\nGod. But be this as it may there was no end of effort for thousands\nof years, by the best trained and most learned men of the Hebrews and\nJews, to give and preserve what had to be decided upon by them as the\nright reading of the Sacred Text. This reading was certainly perfected\nas we have it, as early as the time of Ezra; and as to the various\nreadings which offered, the present was perfected as the orthodox\none,\u2014or that one to be received by the profound vulgar.\n\nIt must be known that it is claimed for the Sacred Scroll by the\nHebrew, that no letter in it has ever been changed, and that even the\nmarginal readings were part of the original text for a varied use\nthereof, in perfect accord with the object of its writing. Unlike the\nChristian Gospels, with the Hebrews and Jews, alike, the original text\nwas sacredly precious as to its every and very letter, and had to be\nthus preserved. To the contrary of this, the Gospels can be changed in\ntheir reading to suit the currently changing ideas of what the same\nshould be. The marks to indicate \u201c_right reading_\u201d were after the time\nof Ezra gradually made public, were called _Massorah_, and finally,\nedited by Ben Chajim, were published by Bomberg, in Venice, in the\nfifteenth century.\n\nAfter this fashion and mode the books of the Old Testament were\nprepared and read by the Jews long before the time of the Christian\nEra. They were thus accepted at that time; and afterwards by the\nChristian World:\u2014so that, to day, we accept the record, as thus\nprepared by the ancient orthodox Jewish and Hebrew Church.\n\nWhatever may have been the Jewish mode of complete interpretation of\nthese books, the Christian Church had taken them _for what they show\non their first face_,\u2014and that only. As they may be read orally, so is\ntheir fullest meaning to be gathered from the oral reading; and by\nmeans of what the sound of the words may convey to the ear the full and\ncomplete intendment of meaning is to be had. The Christian Church has\nnever attributed to these books any property beyond this; and herein\nhas existed its great error.\n\nNow, as said, the substance of the Cabbalah is a rendering of the\nsecret doctrine of the Old Testament, and this is not only asserted,\nbut an argument is raised about the matter in the following set terms:\n\u201cIf the Law simply consisted of ordinary expressions and narratives,\nex. gr. the words of Esau, Hagar, Laban, the ass of Balaam, or of\nBalaam himself, why should it be called the Law of Truth, the perfect\nlaw, the true witness of God? Each word contains a sublime source,\neach narrative points not only to the single instance in question, but\nalso to generals.\u201d (Sohar iii, 149 b). \u201cWoe be to the son of man who\nsays that the Tora (Pentateuch) contains common sayings and ordinary\nnarratives. * * There is the garment that every one can see, but those\nwho have more understanding do not look at the garment but at the body\nbeneath it; while the wisest, the servants of the Heavenly King, those\nwho dwell at Mount Sinai, look at nothing else but the soul (i.e., the\nsecret doctrine), which is the root of all the real Law.\u201d (Sohar, iii,\n152 a).\n\nNow it is a strange thing, that in the quotations made by Dr. Ginsburg\nin his Essay,[75] can be gleaned a series of data wherewith to arrange\na philosophy of Cabbalistic teaching, covered by the names and remarks\non the Ten Sephiroth. The \u201c_trick of the thing_\u201d lays plainly before\nthe eyes in its development, and yet is perfectly concealed from\nunintelligent observation. In other words, the very text is laughing at\nthe worthy doctor, while he is criticising it with an apparent aspect\nof superiority and authority. The same thing is to be found in the text\nof Plutarch\u2019s Morals, by C.\u202fW. King, and in many other texts where the\nlike phenomenal mode is practiced. It in fact is said that the Cabbalah\nis evolved by \u201c_hints scarcely perceptible_,\u201d and the cunning of the\nconcealment is something to admire and laugh at. The description in\nSohar of the mode of communication tends to explain what has been said:\n\n\n\u201cThe opinion that the mysteries of the Cabbalah are to be found in\nthe garment of the Pentateuch is still more systematically propounded\nin the following parable: \u2018Like a beautiful woman, concealed in the\ninterior of her palace, who when her friend and beloved passes by,\nopens for a moment a secret window and is seen by him alone, and then\nwithdraws herself immediately and disappears for a long time, so the\ndoctrine only shows herself to the chosen (i. e., to him who is devoted\nto her with body and soul); and even to him not always in the same\nmanner. At first she simply beckons at the passer by with her hand,\nand it generally depends upon his understanding this gentle hint. This\nis the interpretation known by the name of _r\u00e2m\u00e4z_. Afterwards she\napproaches him a little closer, lisps him a few words, but her form\nis still covered with a thick veil, which his looks cannot penetrate.\nThis is the so-called _d\u0101rausch_. She then converses with him with her\nface covered by a thin veil; this is the enigmatic language of the\n_h\u0101gadah_. After having thus become accustomed to her society, she at\nlast shows herself face to face and entrusts him with the innermost\nsecrets of her heart. This is the secret of the Law, _sod_. He who is\nthus far initiated in the mysteries of the _Tora_ will understand that\nall these profound secrets are based upon the simple literal sense, and\nare in harmony with it, and from this literal sense not a single iota\nis to be taken and nothing is to be added to it.\u201d (Sohar, ii, 99.)\n\n\n SUFISM,\n\n OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.\n\n_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in\nMysticism._\n\n BY C.\u202fH. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._\n\n In Two Parts:\u2014Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.\n\n The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi:\n\n \u201cLast night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress,\n when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the\n garden, soft as the dews of heaven.\u201d\n\n (CONTINUED.)\n\n SAADIS\u2019 BOOSTAN (FRUIT GARDEN OR GARDEN OF PLEASURE) Continued:\n\nCONVERSATION BETWEEN THE CANDLE AND THE MOTH:\n\n I remember one night lying sleepless in bed,\n That I heard what the moth to the fair candle said:\n \u201cA lover am I, if I burn it is well!\n Why you should be weeping and burning, do tell.\u201d\n \u201cOh my poor humble lover!\u201d the candle replied,\n \u201cMy friend, the sweet honey away from we hied.\n When sweetness away from my body departs,\n A fire-like _Farhads_[76] to my summit then starts.\u201d\n Thus she spoke, and each movement a torrent of pain\n Adown her pale cheeks trickled freely like rain.\n \u201cOh, suitor! with love you have nothing to do,\n Since nor patience, nor power of standing have you.\n Oh, crude one! a flame makes you hasten away;\n But I, till completely consumed, have to stay.\n If the burning of love makes your wings feel this heat,\n See how I am consumed, from the head to the feet!\u201d\n But a very small portion had passed of the night\n When a fairy-fated maiden extinguished her[77] light.\n She was saying while smoke from her head curled above,\n \u201cThus ends, oh my boy, the existence of love!\u201d\n If the love-making science you wish to acquire,\n You\u2019re more happy extinguished than being on fire.\n Do not weep o\u2019er the grave of the slain for the friend!\n Be glad! for to him He will mercy extend.\n If a lover, don\u2019t wash the complaint from your head!\n\n * * * * *\n\n I have told you: don\u2019t enter this ocean at all!\n If you do; yield your life to the hurricane squall!\n\nThe above translation is from the hand of G.\u202fS. Davie but since this\nstory is representative of Sufi love, I add another made by S. Robinson.\n\nI remember that one night, when I could not close my eyes in sleep, I\nheard the moth say to the taper.\n\n\u201cI am a lover, therefore it is right that I should be burnt, but\nwherefore shouldst thou be lamenting and shedding tears?\u201d\n\nIt replied: \u201cO my poor airy friend, my honey-sweet Shirin is going away;\n\n\u201cAnd since my Shirin hath left me, like Ferhad\u2019s,[78] my head is all on\nfire.\u201d\n\nSo spoke the taper, and each moment a flood of sorrow flowed down over\nits pale cheek.\n\nThen it continued: \u201cO pretender, love is no affair of thine; for thou\nhast neither patience nor persistency.\n\n\u201cThou takest to flight before a slight flame; I stand firm till I am\ntotally consumed.\n\n\u201cThou mayest just singe a wing at the fire of love; look at me, who\nburn from head to foot.\u201d\n\nA part of the night was not yet gone, when suddenly a Peri-faced damsel\nextinguished the light.\n\nThen said the taper: \u201cMy breath is departed, the smoke is over my\nhead;\u2014such my son, is the ending of love!\u201d\n\nIf thou wouldst learn the moral of the story, it is this: Only will the\npangs of burning affection cease, when life\u2019s taper is extinct.\n\nWeep not over this monument of thy perished friend\u2014rather praise Allah,\nthat he is accepted by Him.\n\nIf thou art indeed a lover, wash not the pains of love from thy head;\nwash rather, like Saadi, thy hand from all malevolence.\n\nThe man who volunteereth a service of peril will not withdraw his grasp\nfrom his purpose, though stones and arrows rain down upon his head.\n\nI have said to thee: \u201cTake heed how thou goest to the sea; but if thou\nwilt go, resign thyself to its billows.\u201d\n\n_Jelaluddin Rumi_ (Mevlana\u2014Our Lord\u2014Jelalu-\u2019d-din, Muhammed, Er Rumi of\nQonya) usually called _Jelal or Mulla_.[79] Born A.\u202fD. 1195, he died\n1273.\n\nJelal is the greatest poet among the Sufis and is their Grand Master of\nspiritual knowledge. His name means \u201cMajesty of Faith.\u201d He instituted\nthe order of the Mevlevi, the \u201cdancing or whirling dervishes,\u201d of which\nwe shall speak more later on. This order is a realization of Jelal\u2019s\nfather\u2019s prophecy about his son: \u201cThe day shall come, when this child\nwill kindle the fire of divine enthusiasm throughout the world.\u201d\n\nJelal is truly the greatest Sufi saint, for marvelous were his powers.\nIn the _Menaqibu\u2019l Afifin_ (the Acts of the Adepts) by _Shemsu-\u2019d-din\nAhmed, el Eflaki_ the following _acts_ are recorded against his name.\n\u201cWhen five years old, he used at times to become extremely uneasy\nand restless, so much so that his attendants used to take him into\nthe midst of themselves. The cause of these perturbations was that\nspiritual forms and shapes of the absent (invisible world) would arise\nbefore his sight, that is, angelic messengers, righteous Genii, and\nsaintly men\u2014the concealed ones of the bowers of the True One (spiritual\nspouses of God), used to appear to him in bodily shapes: * * * His\nfather used on these occasions to coax and soothe him by saying: \u201cThese\nare the Occult Existences. They come to present themselves before you,\nto offer unto you gifts and presents from the invisible world.\u201d These\necstasies and transports of his began to be publicly known and talked\nabout The honorific title of Khudavendgar[80] was conferred upon him\nat this time by his father, who used to address him as \u201cMy Lord.\u201d\u2014\u201cIt\nis related that when Jelal was six years old, he one Friday afternoon\nwas taking the air on the terraced roof of the house, and reciting the\nQuran, when some other children of good families came in and joined him\nthere. After a time, one of these children proposed that they should\ntry and jump from thence on to a neighbouring terrace, and should lay\nwagers on the result. Jelal smiled at this childish proposal, and\nremarked: \u201cMy brethren, to jump from terrace to terrace is an act\nwell adapted for cats, dogs, and the like, to perform; but is it not\ndegrading to man, whose station is so superior. Come now, if you feel\ndisposed, let us spring up to the firmament, and visit the regions of\nGod\u2019s realm.\u201d As he yet spake, he vanished from their sight. Frightened\nat Jelal\u2019s sudden disappearance, the other children raised a shout of\ndismay, that some one should come to their assistance, when lo, in\nan instant, there he was again in their midst; but with an altered\nexpression of countenance and blanched cheeks. They all uncovered\nbefore him, fell to the earth in humility, and all declared themselves\nhis disciples. He now told them that, as he was yet speaking to them, a\ncompany of visible forms, clad in green raiment, had led him away from\nthem, and had conducted him about the various concentric orbs of the\nspheres, and through the signs of the Zodiac, showing him the wonders\nof the world of spirits, and bringing him back to them so soon as their\ncries had reached his ears.\n\nAt that age, he was used not to break his fast more often than once in\nthree or four, and sometimes even seven, days.\n\nWhen Jelal went to Damascus to study, he passed by Sis in Upper\nCilicia. There, in a cave, dwelt forty Christian monks, who had a\ngreat reputation for sanctity, but in reality were mere jugglers. On\nthe approach of Jelal\u2019s caravan to the cave, the monks caused a little\nboy to ascend into the air, and there remain standing between heaven\nand earth. Jelal noticed this exhibition, and fell into a reverie.\nHereupon, the child began to weep and wail, saying that the man in\nthe reverie was frightening him. The monks told him not to be afraid,\nbut to come down. \u201cOh!\u201d cried the child, \u201cI am as though nailed here,\nunable to move hand or foot.\u201d The monks became alarmed. They flocked\naround Jelal, and begged him to release the child. After a time, he\nseemed to hear and understand them. His answer was: \u201cOnly through the\nacceptance of Islam[81] by yourselves, all of you, as well as by the\nchild, can he be saved.\u201d In the end they all embraced Islam, and wished\nto follow Jelal as his disciples, but he recommended them to remain in\ntheir cave, as before, to cease from practising jugglery, and to serve\nGod in the spirit and in truth. So he proceeded on his journey.\n\nTo prove that man lives through God\u2019s will alone, and not by\nblood, Jelal one day, in the presence of a crowd of physicians and\nphilosophers, had the veins of both his arms opened and allowed them to\nbleed until they ceased to flow. He then ordered incisions to be made\nin various parts of his body; but not one drop of moisture was anywhere\nobtainable. He now went to a hot bath, washed, performed an ablution,\nand then commenced the exercise of the sacred dance.\n\n (_To be continued._)\n\n\n THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.\n\n [_Continued from June Number._]\n\nThe inscription said to have been found on the Smaragdine Tablet\nand to which reference was made in a former article, and which Dr.\nEverard refers to as containing the \u201c_Elixir_ of the philosophers,\u201d is\nfurther explained by the author of Isis, where it is also said \u201cIt is\nfor the Hermetic student to watch its motions, to catch its subtile\ncurrents, to guide and direct them with the help of the _Athanor_, the\nArchimedean lever of the Alchemist.\u201d[82] It is further stated in plain\nwords that this mysterious agent \u201cis the universal magical agent, the\nastral light, which in the correlation of its forces furnishes the\nAlkahest, the philosophers\u2019 stone, and the elixir of life.\u201d[83] Now\none great advantage to the student who follows carefully these hints\nis, that he soon discovers certain basic principles which reach far\nand wide, and in Hermetic language enable him to ascend from Earth to\nHeaven, and descend from Heaven to Earth, not in a vague, fanciful\nway, but as applicable to physical phenomena as to philosophical\nsynthesis. These basic principles are not hypothesis, they are the\n_first principles of Nature_, as manifested in the phenomenal universe,\na thread or clue to the labyrinth of phenomena.\n\nThere is a vast difference between modern and ancient science in regard\nto the Ether: The former hypothecates it to bridge a gap in phenomena\nand at once, as if ashamed of its weakness, turns its back upon it. Not\nso our ancient Hermetic brethren. Modern speculation regarding a fourth\ndimension of space apprehends the necessity for something beyond the\nold conception, as does physical science. And yet the latter reaches\nno solid ground, though the problem lies in the rubbish derived from\nanalytical science, and the necessity which has compelled it to pay\ntribute. There is a logical, uniform, invariable antithesis in all\nmanifested nature, which at once suggests the unmanifested. Sometimes\nthe change of a letter or an accent in a word or its division into\nsyllables produces wonderful results, _e. g._, atonement, at-one-ment.\nSo here in the phenomenal universe, nothing and no-thing are not\nsynonymous. To say that the ether fills all space, penetrates the\ndensest matter, and gives rise by emanation to the whole phenomenal\nuniverse, and yet that it is _nothing_ is nonsense, but that it is\nno-thing is perfectly true. The ether is to the phenomenal universe\nwhat the 0 is to the mathematician, nothing in itself and yet from\nassociation, implication or involution, it enters into every form and\nquantity. Oken has shown[84] that there are really two zeros, or that\nzero exists as 0+ and 0-, and even here begins the science of symbolism\nin the ancient _Mathesis_. It is in this shoreless ocean of ether that\nsuns and solar systems are suspended. It is the alkahest or universal\nsolvent from which all forms and qualities of matter and life proceeds,\nand into which they return. It is luminous, and yet the abode of\ndarkness, the Unmoved Mover of Plato.\n\nTake now the three dimensions of space, and we find the _idea_ of\nlength, breadth and thickness are associated with objects. Where there\nis no object upon which the eye can rest, we have then no length, no\nbreadth, no thickness, _i. e._, Ether, the antithesis of objective\nforms in which occur all phenomena. This ether is called the Mirror of\nIsis, because in it are impressed or mirrored all forms. When these\nforms are clothed upon then occurs, first, a _positing_; second,\nmotion; third, the \u201cpicture\u201d in the ether is involved and the outer\nmaterial shape evolved. Nay, there is no first, second, third about it,\nfor all occurs coincidently. The last analysis of physics is matter,\nforce and motion; and these three, inseparable on the physical visual\nplane, resolve back into the ocean of ether, which contains them all\n_potentially_, and which sends them out as an indissoluble trinity.\nCompared with matter then, the ether is transcendental, and yet we\ncannot say it is nothing, as has already been pointed out. Now all\nlife, all matter, all forms, are in their essence cyclic. This is\nreadily seen in the colloidal forms incident to organic life, but even\nin crystalline forms, though often overlooked, it is none the less\napparent.\n\nIn relation to objective manifestation, preserving the idea of cyclic\nform, the ether is spoken of as the center which is everywhere, and the\ncircumference which is nowhere.\n\nProceeding now with the idea of center and circumference (as yet only\nan idea) let us imagine a globule of protoplasm to spring instantly\ninto visual existence. The act of _positing_ was geometrical, _i. e._,\n\u201cposition without extension.\u201d Let this positing represent _force_, and\nextension represent matter, typically, (in all directions) but this\ntension and extension begets motion, all together; creation, from the\nhitherto \u201c_without form and void_\u201d _i. e._, the ether.\n\nWhat was the immediate coefficient of the positing? a picture, a Divine\nidea, an essential form, projected in the ether. This idea is now\nbeing clothed upon, or involved in matter, and coincidently the outer\nmaterial shape and structure is being evolved. Here is an equation\nbeing solved, and from this on, it is easy to trace what occurs even\nunder a good microscope. We are, however, interested in principles\nrather than processes, therefore we will preserve our typical sphere\nwith its center and circumference.\n\nWe shall presently come back to the Smaragdine inscription, and then be\nable to see what a revelation it contains, and what a magical key it\naffords to unlock the doors of knowledge.\n B.\n [_To be continued._]\n\n\n LIVING THE HIGHER LIFE.\n\n \u201cI have no desire for any other line of life; but by the time I had\n awakened to a knowledge of this life, I found myself involved by\n circumstances against which I do not rebel, but out of and through\n which, I am _determined_ to work, neglecting no known duty to\n others.\u201d\u2014_Letter from a Friend._\n\nThe \u201cDweller of the Threshold\u201d which stares even advanced occultists\nin the face and often threatens to overwhelm them, and the ordeals of\nChelaship or of probation for Chelaship, differ from each other only in\ndegree. It may not be unprofitable to analyze this Dweller and those\nordeals. For our present purpose, it is enough to state, that they are\nof a triune nature and depend upon these three relations: (1) To our\nnationality; (2) to our family; and (3) to ourselves. And every one of\nthese three relations is due to the assertion of a portion of our own\npast Karma, that is to say, to its effects.\n\nWhy should we be born in a particular nation and in a particular\nfamily? Because of the effect of a particular set of our Karmic\nattractions, which assert themselves in that manner. I mean that one\nset of our past Karmas exhaust themselves in throwing us in our present\nincarnation amidst a particular nation, another set introducing us\ninto a particular family; and a third set serving to differentiate\nor individualize us from all the other members of the nation or of\nthe family. One of our Eastern proverbs says: \u201cthe five children of a\nfamily differ like the five fingers of a hand.\u201d Unless we look at this\ndifference from this standpoint, it must always appear to us a riddle,\na problem too difficult to solve, a mystery, in short, why children\nborn of one family, while they have some traits common to all, should\nstill appear to differ vastly from one another. What applies to the\nfamily applies also to the nation, of which families are but units; and\nalso to mankind as a whole, of whom nations are but families or units.\nThe only way to decide the great question of the age, whether the laws\nof nature are blind and material, or spiritual, intelligent and divine,\nis, it seems to me, to point out in connection with every subject, the\nabsolutely intelligent and divine manner in which these laws act, and\nhow they force us to realize the economy of nature. This is the only\nway by which we could become spiritual; and I would, once for all, call\nupon my co-workers for the cause, to realize at every step of their\nstudy, as far as possible, the Divine Intelligence thus manifesting\nitself. Otherwise, how much soever you might believe or take it for\ngranted, that the forces that govern the universe are spiritual, the\nbelief, however deep rooted it might appear, would be of little use to\nyou when you have to pass through the ordeals of Chelaship; and then\nyou are sure to succumb and exclaim that the \u201cLaw is blind, unjust and\ncruel,\u201d especially when your selfishness and personality overwhelm\nyou. When once a practical occultist and a learned philosopher met\nwith, what seemed to him a \u201cserious calamity and trial,\u201d in spite of\nhimself he exclaimed to me frankly; \u201cthe law of Karma is surely blind,\nthere is no God; what better proofs are needed?\u201d So deep-rooted in\nhuman nature is infidelity and selfishness; no one need therefore to\nbe sure of his own spiritual nature. No amount of lip learning will\navail us in the hour of need. We have to study the law in all its\naspects and assimilate to our highest consciousness,\u2014that which is\ncalled by Du Prel super sensuous consciousness\u2014all the data which go\nto prove and convince us that the Power is spiritual. Look around and\nsee whether any two persons are absolutely identical, even for a time.\nHow intelligent must be the power that ever strives to keep each and\nevery one of us totally different _on the whole_, while, if analyzed,\nwe possess some traits in common, even with the Negro, with whom we are\nremotely allied.\n\nIn this connection I shall refer you to a passage in the article on\n\u201cChelas and Lay Chelas\u201d (vide column 1, page 11 of \u201cSupplement to the\nTheosophist\u201d for July, 1883);\u2014\u201cThe Chela is not only called to face\nall latent evil propensities of his nature, but in addition, the whole\nvolume of maleficent power accumulated by the community and nation\nto which he belongs * * until the result is known.\u201d I shall only ask\nyou to apply the same principle to your family relations affecting\nyour present incarnation. Thus seven things are found to secure us a\nvictory, or a sad, inglorious defeat in the mighty struggle known as\nthe Dweller of the threshold and the ordeals of Chelaship:\u2014(1) The evil\npropensities common to ourselves and to our family; (2) those common to\nourself and our nation; (3) those common to ourself and to mankind in\ngeneral, or better known as the weakness of human nature, the fruits\nof Adam\u2019s first transgression; (4 to 6) the noble qualities common to\nus and to these three; (7) the peculiar way in which the 6 sets of our\npast Karmas choose or are allowed to influence us now, or their effects\nin producing in us the present tendency. The adept alone can take the\nseventh or last mentioned item completely into his own hands; and\nevery mortal who would, as I have since recently begun to reiterate,\ndirect all his energies to the highest plane possible for him (\u201cDesire\nalways to attain the unattainable\u201d\u2014says the author of \u201cLight on the\nPath\u201d),\u2014such a mortal too could more or less do the same thing as the\nadept, in so far as he acts up to the rule. Every Chela, and also those\nwho have a desire to be Chelas even, as they suppose secretly, have to\ndo with the first six propensities or influences.\n\nThe world is inclined\u2014at least in this Kali Yuga (the Dark Age)\u2014always\nto begin at the wrong end of anything and direct all its faculties to\nthe perception of effects and not of their causes. So the ideas of\n\u201crenunciation,\u201d \u201casceticism\u201d and of the \u201ctrue feeling of universal\nBrotherhood\u201d (or \u201cmercy,\u201d as I call it, in accordance with South\nIndian Ethics), all of which are compatible with Gnanis, or the most\nexalted of Mahatmas, all these have come to be recognized by all our\nTheosophists, in general, as _the means_ of progress for a beginner;\nwhile the real means of progress for us mortals\u2014duties to our own\nfamilies and to our own nation, or \u201ckindness\u201d and \u201cpatriotism\u201d in\nthe highest and ethical sense of the terms\u2014are discarded. True, from\nthe standpoint of a Jivanmukta, a true friend of humanity, these two\nSadhanas are really \u201cselfishness\u201d; still, until we attain that exalted\nstate, these two feelings should be made the ladders for raising\nourselves, the means of not only getting ourselves rid of our family\ndefects and natural idiosyncrasies, but also of strengthening in\nourselves the noble qualities of our families and of our nation. Until\nwe reach that ideal slate where the blessed soul has to make neither\ngood nor bad Karma, we must strive to be constantly doing \u201cgood\u201d Karma,\nin order that we might become Karma-less (nish Karmis).\n\nLet it not be understood at all, that I mean by \u201cfamily duties\u201d and\n\u201cnational duties,\u201d false attachments to the family or to the nation.\nFamily duty consists not in sensuality or pleasure-hunting, but\nin cultivating and in elevating the emotional nature (the fourth\nprinciple), of ourselves and of our family; in being equally \u201ckind\u201d,\nnot only to the members of the family, but also to all creatures, and\nin enjoying all such pleasures of the family life as are consistent\nwith the acquirement of \u201cwealth\u201d (all the means necessary for the\nperformance of Dharma or whole duty) according to the teachings\nof Valluvar, and in utilizing such pleasures and means for the\nperformance of our duty to our nation. Patriotism consists similarly\nin theosophising our own nation, in not only getting ourselves rid of\nour national defects, as well as other members of the nation rid of\nthe same, but also in strengthening in ourselves and in our nation as\na whole, all the noble qualities which belong to our nation; in the\nenjoyment of the privileges[85] of the nation and using them as a means\nfor the performance of _Dharma_. If family duties are taken due care\nof, our duties to the nation and to humanity would, to a great extent,\ntake care of themselves unimpeded. Our national duties, if strictly\nperformed, serve to purify our fifth lower principle of its dross and\nto establish and develop the better part of it, while the performance\nof our duty to Humanity or the _realization of universal tolerance and\nmercy_, purifies the lower (human) stuff in the fifth higher principle\nand makes it divine, thus enabling us to free ourselves gradually from\nthe bonds of ignorance common to all human beings.\n\nThe above assertions, might, at first sight, seem rather bold and\nuntheosophical. But I should venture to state my conviction that the\nwhole edifice of Aryan religions and Aryan philosophy is based upon\nthese principles, and that, on a careful consideration of the subject,\nthe great importance attached to household life (Grihasta ashrama) in\nthat philosophy, would be fully borne out. To my mind no ascetics, no\nteachers of mankind, however eminent and full of the highest knowledge,\nare really such good and practical benefactors of humanity as Valluvar,\nof ancient times, who incarnated on earth for the express purpose,\namong others, of setting an example of an ideal household life to\nmortals who were prematurely and madly rushing against the rocks of\nrenunciation, and of proving the possibility of leading such a life in\nany age however degenerated; or as R\u00e1ma, who, even after having become\nan _avatar-purusha_, came down amidst mortals and lead a household life.\n\nIt has often been contended that the world has not progressed on _the\npath_, because _gnanis_, or Mahatmas, have dwindled in their number\nand greatness, and because it is Kali-Yuga, or the dark age, now.\nSuch arguments are due to our mistaking the effects for their causes.\nThe only way to prepare the way for the advent of a favorable Yuga\nand for the increase of the number and greatness of Mahatmas, is to\nestablish gradually the conditions for the leading of a true household\nlife. I should unhesitatingly state, that that is the duty of earnest\nTheosophists and real philanthropists.\n\nIs it not conceded by all philanthropists that unselfish labors for\nhumanity can alone relieve us from the ocean of Sainsara (Rebirth),\ndevelop our highest potentialities and help us to alchemise our human\nweakness? Applying the same principle to unselfish discharge of our\nfamily and national duties, my position becomes tenable. A Mahatma has,\nit appears, declared that He has still \u201cpatriotism.\u201d But He has not\nsaid nor would say, that He has still family \u201cattachments.\u201d This proves\nthat He has got out of the defects of the family to which He belongs,\nwhile He is only striving to get out of national defects, some of which\nat any rate cling to Him. A Buddha would say, that He has \u201cmercy,\u201d but\nno \u201cpatriotism.\u201d\n\nThe only effectual way to get out of family defects is to discharge\nall our duty to our family before leaving it, as ascetics, or before\nwe die. Blessed is he[86] who, in each of his incarnations, _then and\nthere_, gets rid of the defects of the family into which he is ushered,\nthereby converts those defects in his parents, brothers and sisters,\ninto noble qualities, thus strengthening and developing the good\nqualities both of himself and of his family, then strives to be born in\nthe same family again and again, until he himself becomes a Buddha and\nassists his family to become a family fit for a Buddha to be born into,\nwhile he becomes the cream of all the noble qualities of the family\nwithout being tainted with its idiosyncrasies. A Dugpa (Black Magician)\nis frequently born in the same family and becomes the cream of all its\nevil propensities. Here again is the operation of the sublime and\ndivinely intelligent law of universal and natural economy asserting\nitself. This is beautifully allegorized in the story of a Jivanmukta\nchurning out of the ocean, the elixir of life and leaving the _visha_\n(the poison, all the evil propensities) for the Dugpas. This is one\nof the meanings of the allegory. Avoiding all personalities and\nquestionable facts, I shall rely solely upon our Puranas and scriptures\nto prove that in every family where Adepts and Gnanis are (or choose to\nbe) frequently born, often Dugpas are also born, as a matter of course.\nKrishna was the greatest of Gnanis and his uncle Kausa (for our present\npurpose) was a terrible Dugpa. The five Pandavas had a hundred wicked\ncousins, the Kauravas. Devas and the whole brood of wicked Asuras were\nborn of the same parent. _Vibhishana_ had for his brother, _Ravana_ the\nprince of Dugpas; so had the good Sugriva a brother like Vali. Prahlada\nhad a monster for his father.\n\nTake the case of one who has not done all his duty to his family,\nbefore he dies, or before he takes the vows of renunciation and\nbecomes an ascetic. Such ascetics find themselves attracted by the\nfamily defects and selfishness of themselves (which hitherto perhaps\nlay more or less dormant and now become kindled and awakened by the\nselfishness of the relatives) and are disturbed in the performance of\nthe duties of their new order or _Ashrama_, however unselfish their\nrelatives might have been \u201cunconsciously\u201d or unintentionally. In spite\nof themselves these relatives arrest the progress of the ascetics\nin whom the family defects become thus strengthened and developed.\nSuch is the mysterious law of attraction. This man must be born again\n(1) either in the same family, with the family defects strengthened,\nboth in himself and in his family; (2) or in another family. In the\nfirst case, the noble qualities of the family are not strengthened\nand therefore gradually disappear both from him and from the family.\nIn the second case, he becomes an undutiful son, brother or husband,\nin his new family, firstly because of the natural law of repetition,\nwhich, with the terrible Karmic interest, strengthens the tendency\nin him to disregard duty; secondly because of the \u201ccounter family\nattractions\u201d (or repulsions). Let not this unfortunate wanderer from\nthe post of his family duty console himself with the foolish idea that\nthis tendency would confine its havoc to family traits (good and evil)\nand to family duties alone. It would extend itself in all directions,\nwherever it can; it would make him disregard his duties to his nation\nand to himself (or in other words, to humanity). He would suddenly be\nsurprised to find himself apathetic to his nation and to his highest\nnature, or to mankind. Such are the mazes and unknown ramifications\nof our evil or good propensities. Any evil or noble element of human\nnature converts itself, under \u201cfavorable\u201d conditions into any other\nelement however apparently remote. The conditions are there ready\nwherever the element is strong; where there is a will there is a way.\nPerformance of family duties therefore develops patriotism and mercy.\n\nI do not at all mean to say that the effects of Karma _always_ assert\nthemselves in the same shape or form; but they often might and do. Nor\ndo I mean that the affinities above stated, blossom and ripen in the\nincarnation immediately succeeding; they might develop ten or even\none hundred incarnations after; but in such a case, the Karma only\naccumulates enormous interest. The affinities might not develop _at the\nsame time_ in both him and her, who was once his wife; if they did at\nthe same time, the account could be easily settled,\u2014otherwise, woe to\nhim and to her! Supposing that the attractions for him are developed\nin her, while the attachments for her are not developed in him at the\nsame time; the result might be, that she pines and languishes for him,\nsends her poisonous darts consciously or \u201cunconsciously\u201d against him;\nif these arrows do not kindle the corresponding nature in him, for\nthe time being they frustrate his achievements in other directions.\nSupposing by the time the affinities in him are developed, he becomes\nan initiate and she becomes, (let us suppose) his pupil (male or\nfemale). If at the time the pupil\u2019s affinities have become converted\ninto devotion for the initiate, the latter becomes blinded in his\nphilanthropic work and noble duties of a sage, and commits, through the\ninfatuation of a love for the pupil, serious blunders, which result in\na catastrophe to both of them and to humanity: and both the pupil and\ninitiate fall down and have to mount their rugged pathway again with\nincreased difficulties in their way.\n\nOnce, in an age and in a country, when and where household life\ncontinues to be ideal, one single wretch commits the first act of\ntransgression by impetuously rushing into the circle of ascetics, or\nby dying before wholly discharging his duty to his family, the natural\nresult is that both himself, his family, and his nation, become thereby\nseriously affected. The Akasa[87] becomes affected by the impulse to\ntransgress in this direction; this impulse forces itself gradually\n(with accumulated interest, redoubled force) upon others; the ignoble\nexample becomes a precedent; other cases of a like nature follow in\nquick succession. In course of time, (just when a sad descending cycle\nbegins, such is the divine intelligence of the law that economizes\nenergies and makes things fit it) the leading of the ideal family life\nbecomes almost impossible and very rare; the whole community is thus\nruined. Learned and great adepts retire to other spheres (where there\nthen is an ascending cycle) and leave the nation to be swallowed by a\ncataclysm after ages of degradation and vice.\n\nLet us now reverse this case, and suppose that in the most degenerate\nnation, in the darkest of cycles, one philanthropist becomes unselfish\nand intelligent enough to set a noble and intelligent example by\nfulfilling all family duties; then, as naturally as in the preceding\ncase, the precedent gradually gains acceptance; the way is paved for\nthe advent of an ascending cycle; Gnanis bless the noble man and come\ndown from other unfavorable spheres, where descending cycles begin to\ndawn.\n\nNow it may be easy to understand why Chelas and lay Chelas (who have\nnot yet thrown off their family defects and thus become the cream of\ntheir family\u2019s good qualities) are told to be careful lest they become\nDugpas (Black Magicians).\n\nI will ask you to apply the same kinds of arguments to the necessity\nfor performing (and the failure to perform) our duties to our nation\nand to mankind. You can see that the phenomena of heresy, downfall\nof religions, rise of new religions, the birth in Europe of a Max\nM\u00fcller, who expatiates upon the greatness of the Vedic philosophy, and\nof Bradlaughs and other infidel sons of Christian parents\u2014all these\nare due to the fact (and also to other causes), that the individuals\nconcerned had not in some one or other of their past incarnations, done\ntheir duty to the nations (or religions), to which they respectively\nbelonged. A study of the times when and in the manner in which the\ntraits of these men are brought into play should be profitable in\nseveral ways. Extending the analogy, it may be said that heartlessness,\nmurder, cannibalism, etc., are due to failure to discharge, in past\nincarnations, one\u2019s duty to humanity (that is to one\u2019s self).\n\nIn conclusion it might be added that the most important element in the\n\u201cDweller of the Threshold,\u201d and in the ordeals of Chelaship, is family\ndefects, which ought to be _first_ \u201cconquered;\u201d then in order come\nnational defects and the \u201cdiseases of the flesh\u201d in general. Though all\nthese three have to be got rid of simultaneously as far as possible,\nand all the three kinds of duties performed, still beginners should pay\nmore attention to the first than to the second, and more to the second\nthan to the third, and none of these neglected.\n\nIn those happy Aryan ages, when Dharma was known and performed fully,\nthose men and women who did not marry, remained in the family for\nperforming their family duties and led a strictly ascetical and\nVedantic life as Brahmacharis and Kannikas (or virgins). Those alone\nmarried, who were in every way qualified for leading a grihasta\n(household) life. Marriage was in those days a sacred and religious\ncontract, and not at all a means of gratifying selfish desires and\nanimal passions. These marriages were of two kinds: (1) Those who\nmarried for the express purpose of assisting each other (husband and\nwife) in their determination to lead a higher life, in fulfilling their\nfamily duties, in enjoying all pleasures enjoined for such a life\nand thereby acquiring the means for attaining the qualifications for\nhigher ashrama of renunciation (Sanny\u00e1sa), and, above all, for giving\nthe world the benefit of children, who would become gnanis and work\nfor humanity. Such a husband and wife might be regarded as not having\nin their previous incarnations been able enough to become ripe for\nChelaship. (2) Those who had, in their past incarnations already fitted\nthemselves completely for entering the sanctuary of Occultism and gnana\nmarga (path of wisdom). One of them, the Pati (the master or \u201chusband\u201d)\nwas the Guru who had advanced far higher than his Patni (co-worker or\npupil or \u201cwife\u201d). As soon as the alliance between them was made, these\nretired into the forest to lead the life of celibacy and practical\nOccultism. But, before so retiring, they had invariably promised to\ntheir parents and other members of their family to assist and elevate\nthem even from a distance and offered to periodically adjust[88] the\ninner life of all the relatives. I quote the language generally used in\nmaking such promises:\u2014\u201cWhenever mother, father, sister and brothers,\nany of you think of me in your hour of need, wherever or whatever I may\nbe, I solemnly promise to lend you a helping hand.\u201d\n MURDHNA JOTI.\n [_To be continued._]\n\n\n STUDIES IN THE UPANISHADS.\n\n [BY A STUDENT.]\n\n [_Continued from May number._]\n\nLongfellow, in the lines last quoted, symbolized the Universe by an\nimmeasurable wheel forever turning in the stream of time. Allowing\nfor the western habit of studying effects and not causes, this is a\nfair simile. Yet it is faulty in that it presupposes two co-existing\neternities; the wheel of the Universe, and the stream in which it\nturns. There can be but one eternity.\n\nSaunaka asks in this Upanishad a natural question, propounded by\nnearly every thinking man, especially by students of occultism who\nare continually seeking a royal road to the accomplishment of their\nobjects. He wishes to be told what may be the great solvent of all\nknowledge. The reply of Angiras points out two great roads, which\ninclude all the others. The lower road is the one of hard work for\ncountless births, during which we acquire knowledge slowly in all\ndirections, and, of course, when that is possessed, one rises to the\nhigher road.\n\nThis is the true initiation, nature, so to speak, acting as the\ninitiator. In replying to Saunaka, Angiras did not mean to be\nunderstood, that a man could in one birth pass over the lower road,\nbut that the progress of a human monad toward perfection proceeded in\na certain fixed manner which included all experiences. Of course if we\nsay that we appear on the earth once only, and then disappear from it,\nto the place called by the spiritualists of America, \u201cthe summer land,\u201d\nand by the christian, \u201cheaven,\u201d there is no need for one to acquire\nthe lower knowledge, for that might be obtained in the life after\ndeath. But we regard it as true that the spirit, in order to acquire\ncomplete knowledge, must inhabit a human form, and one term of tenancy\nin such a form will not be enough for the testing of the countless\nvarieties of life, of temptation, of triumph, failure and success.\n\nThe sage Angiras in this Upanishad looks at man from the standpoint\nof one who can see the great stream of life which flows through the\neternal plain, and therefore he could not have meant to apply his words\nto one incarnation, but to the whole series through which man has to\npass until he reaches \u201cimmortal, blest nirvana.\u201d\n\nIn the journey along this road we will encounter great differences\nin the powers of our fellow travellers. Some go haltingly and others\nquickly; some with eyes bent on the ground, a few with gaze fixed on\nthe great goal. Those who halt or look down will not reach the end,\nbecause they refuse to take the assistance to be found in the constant\naspiration to the light. But we are not to blame them: they have not\nyet been often enough initiated to understand their error. Nature is\nkind and will wait for them much longer than their human fellows would\nif they were permitted to be their judges. This ought to give us a\nlesson in charity, in universal brotherhood. Very often we meet those\nwho show an utter inability to appreciate some spiritual ideas which\nwe quite understand. It is because they have not, so far, been able\nto transmute into a part of themselves, that which we have been so\nfortunate as to become possessed of, and so they seem devoted to things\nthat to us appear to be of small value.\n\nThe Bagavad-Gita says that there is no detriment or loss to one\u2019s\nefforts in any direction, be it good or bad; that is, in going through\nthese countless incarnations, all inquiry, every sort of investigation,\nno matter even if it seems at the close of any one life that the life\nwas wasted, is so much energy and experience stored up. For although,\nin the course of one existence, physical energy is expended, there is,\nall the while, a storing up of spiritual energy which is again a power\nin the next succeeding life.\n\nIn consequence of the modern, western system of education, we are\napt constantly to forget the existence of the great force and value\nbelonging to our super-sensuous consciousness. That consciousness is\nthe great register where we record the real results of our various\nearthly experiences; in it we store up the spiritual energy, and once\nstored there, it becomes immortal, our own eternal possession. The\nquestion then will be asked: \u201cHow is one to store up such spiritual\nenergy: do we do it unconsciously, and how are we to know that any has\nbeen stored up?\u201d It is to be done by trying to know and to act truth;\nby \u201cliving in the eternal,\u201d as _Light on the Path_ directs. To live\nthus in the eternal, does not mean that we shall abandon the cares\nand struggles of life, for so surely as we do we must suffer, but that\nwe should try to make the real self direct its aspirations ever to the\neternal truth.\n\nThis series of births is absolutely necessary, so that the \u201clower\nknowledge\u201d can be acquired; and just so long as we do not acquire that,\nwe must be reborn. Here and there will occur exceptions to this rule,\nin those great souls who, with \u201can astonishing violence,\u201d leap beyond\nand over all barriers, and by getting the higher knowledge, become at\nthe same time, possessors of the lower knowledge also.\n\nIn the Chaldean Oracles such souls are thus described: \u201cMore robust\nsouls perceive truth through themselves, and are of a more inventive\nnature,\u201d and by Proklus in I Alkibiad: \u201csuch a soul being saved,\naccording to the oracle, through its own strength.\u201d But even this\nrapid progress must be regarded as comparative, for even these \u201crobust\nsouls,\u201d had to go through certain incarnations in which they were\naccumulating to themselves that very strength and ability to outstrip\ntheir fellows which, later on, placed them in the front rank.\n\nIn consequence of our ignorance of what we really are, not knowing at\nthe time we begin the struggle in this present life whether the real\nman inside has passed through incarnations full of this necessary\nexperience or not, we must not, because of the fancied importance we\ngive ourselves, neglect the _lower knowledge_. There are many pitfalls\nbesetting the road. Perchance we feel a certain degree of illumination,\nor we are able to see or hear in the astral world, and at once the\ntemptation presents itself to claim to ourselves a spiritual greatness\nnot our own. The possession of such astral acuteness is not high\nspirituality _per se_, for one might be able, as Buddha declares in\nthe Saddharma-Pundarika, to smell the extraordinary odors arising in\nten points of space which are not perceived by ordinary people, or to\nhear the innumerable and strange voices, sounds, bells, discords and\nharmonies produced by the whole host of unknown and unseen spirits\nof the earth, air, water and fire, and still be altogether devoid of\nspirituality. If we let ourselves then, be carried away by this, it is\nonly a form of pride that precedes a severe fall. Being carried away\nwith it, is at once a proof that we are not master, but are mastered by\nwhat is merely a novel experience.\n\nBut if we wisely and carefully test all experience, being willing to\ndescend low enough to learn and study so that the instrument may be\ntuned and perfected, we may avoid the pitfalls, or be able to cross\nthem should they be inevitable, whereas if we are deluded by supposed\nself-illumination, and run after that to the exclusion of all study, we\nwill perhaps, enjoy a period of excitement and of self-satisfaction,\nbut it will end, and the end will be bitter. As Buddha says: \u201cHe\nwho ignores the rotation of mundane existences, has no perception of\nblessed rest.\u201d\n\nThe very fact that a man is in the world and has a continual fight\nwith his passions and inclinations, proves that he is not yet in any\ncondition to leave it. And of even the very far advanced, it was said\nby those who were near the time of the Upanishads:\n\n\u201cThe disciple who by his discrimination has escaped from the triple\nworld, thinks he has reached pure, blessed nirvana; but it is only by\nknowing all the laws of the lower world, and the universal laws as\nwell, that the immortal, pure, blest nirvana is reached. There is no\nreal nirvana without all-knowingness; try to reach this.\u201d\n\n\n CORRESPONDENCE.\n\n LONDON, June 17, 1886.\n\nAs No. 5 of \u201cThe Biogen Series,\u201d Professor Coues has reprinted Robert\nDodsley\u2019s \u201c\u0152conomy of Human Life,\u201d which he considers is based on\nTheosophical Ethics. The history of this little treatise is rather\ncurious. It was originally published in 1750 and purported to be\nby a Brahmin, but the authorship was generally ascribed to Lord\nChesterfield. The great celebrity which the book at one time attained,\nwas mainly due to this mistaken opinion. Dodsley, however, did not\nlong persist in his disguise. It went through numerous editions, found\nmany imitators, and has been translated into French, Italian, German\nand Bengali. The moral maxims contained in this little volume are of\na character to admit of their attribution to Lord Chesterfield. Their\nclaim to an especial Eastern origin receives a striking comment from\nthe way in which the law of retribution, the nature of the soul, the\neternal paradise of God, and other similar topics are regarded. In the\ntreatment of these subjects, the author follows the theology of the\nChristian church rather than Brahmanical philosophy. The association of\nthe name Kuthumi with the book, so perplexing to understand, is not a\nbiographical fact, as Prof. Coues explains in his \u201cfore-word\u201d(p. 10).\nIt only remains to state clearly what is implied in the fore-word that\nthe Theosophical Society has no special code of morals, ready made and\nrigorously defined, for the acceptance of its members on admission.\nProf. Coues is deserving of praise for rescuing from oblivion a book,\nin many ways calculated to do good.\n Fraternally,\n MOHINI M. CHATTERJI.\n\n\n REVIEWS AND NOTES.\n\nTHE BIOGEN SERIES (_Estes & Lauriat, Boston, Mass._). This series of\npublications is under the editorial management of Prof. Coues, the\nwell known Scientist and Theosophist. The series has just reached its\nfifth number \u201c_Kuthumi, or the Economy of Human Life_.\u201d This is a\nreprint of a little volume, originally issued in 1770, but under the\nclassical pen of Prof. Coues who has added an introduction, and the\nfaultless typography of Estes & Lauriat, the little book is a very\ndifferent affair from the earlier edition. Number four of the series\nwhich is also only just out of press, bears the significant title,\n\u201c_Can Matter Think_,\u201d and is reprint of an article which was written\nin India and published some years ago in _The Theosophist_. By no\nmeans the least important part of these publications are the notes and\neditorial comments of Prof Coues. Number four of the series has both an\nintroduction and an appendix from the Professor\u2019s pen. To give these\npublications such extended notice as they deserve would occupy more\nspace and time than is at our command, while the exceedingly readable\nform and low price at which they are issued, renders such review\nunnecessary, as they are within reach of all.\n\nThese little books are in short, classics, and as such, substantial\nadditions to the literature of the age, while their bearing on the\ngreat problems of Theosophy, can hardly be over estimated. Prof.\nCoues\u2019 familiarity with the whole field of modern research, his\nexactness, which comes from scientific training, his remarkable command\nof first-class English, and his insight into the complex problems\nof psychology, place these books in the forefront of Theosophic\nliterature, and we cordially commend them to our readers.\n J.D. BUCK.\n\n THE SANSCRIT LANGUAGE.\n\nSeveral letters have been written and inquiries propounded to the\nEditor regarding Sanscrit, and in one or two instances the assertion\nhas been made that we were incorrect in saying that Sanscrit is not\nreally a dead language. In reply to those asking about the language, we\nrefer them to Perry\u2019s _Sanscrit Primer_ (Ginn & Co., Boston), Lanman\u2019s\n_Sanscrit Reader_ and Whitney\u2019s _Sanscrit Grammar_.\n\nTo the others, we quote from Perry\u2019s _Primer_, \u00a7 21, p. 7: \u201cThe\nSanscrit is used in India to this day very much as Latin was used in\nEurope in the previous century; it is a common medium of communication\nbetween the learned, be their native tongues what they may, and it is\nnot the vernacular of any district whatever.\u201d And in India, the Editor\nwas told by many Brahmins that it is in constant use in all religious\nconvocations and assemblies convened among people of learning who come\nfrom widely separated parts of Hindustan.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHOUGHTS.\u2014By Ivan Panin, (_Cupples, Upham & Co., Boston._) The author\nsays that he does not know why he writes, but the thoughts jotted down\nare put forth as his own. Many of them are good and worth remembering.\nThe book is of size convenient for the pocket, and well bound; the\nthoughts are topically arranged and numbered consecutively from 1 to\n435; the first is, that to be never unhappy is the greatest misfortune;\nand the last, that next to the pleasure of seeing beautiful things, is\nto describe them. The best one is No. 205, that nature preaches many a\nfine sermon on silence, as: the loud thunder hurts not, but the silent\nlightning; silent gravity binds all worlds together; silent snow covers\nthe ground, but noisy rain makes puddles and then runs away. Another\ngood one is No. 188: \u201cAlways indeed, tell the truth, but do not always\nspeak it;\u201d also No. 80: \u201cAbhor his vice, but not the man; for he is\nlike thee a son of God.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.\u2014By a woman. (_Rockwell & Churchill,\nBoston, 1885._) We are informed that the author is a Theosophist and\nwrote this before joining the Society. It is divided into 3 parts. I,\nRelates to Jesus; II, The Warfare of the Truth; III, The Letters and\nEvidences. She adheres to the idea of the immaculate conception, while\nnot advocating the theological dogma of the Divinity; this seems to us\nnot to follow. We cannot help pointing out that Jesus, the subject of\nthis book, apparently violated filial duty when he refused to recognize\nhis mother at the time he was told that she waited without. Also on\npage 10, the author surmizes that \u201cprobably not more than a score of\nchildren perished\u201d by the order of King Herod. There is no historical\nrecord of the \u201cslaughter of the Innocents,\u201d but it is important and\nought not to be lightly passed over. A similar legend is told regarding\nKrishna, the Hindu incarnation, thousands of years before Jesus, for\nKing Kausa his uncle, ordered the slaughter of all the male infants in\nhis kingdom, but Krishna escaped to another city under the protection\nof the great God, (see the Mahabarata). Again Gaffarel and others say,\nthat really it referred to the persecution of the Kabalists and wise\nmen of Herod\u2019s day, for they were called \u201cinnocents\u201d and \u201cbabes.\u201d Now\nthis tale has an occult signification, in common with the incident of\nJesus refusing to recognize his mother.\n\nThe book is an excellent one, and if christendom held the same views,\nthe millenium would advance. The author thinks that the spirit of the\nwork and words of Jesus, if lived up to by his followers, would raise\nthe western world to a higher plane, and in that we agree with her.\nBut we cannot agree that Jesus came to the whole world, or that St.\nJohn\u2019s revelation is for humanity. Both of them were only speaking to\nthe races they were born in, revealing again a part of the knowledge\nand doctrine which anciently prevailed among all peoples, and which,\neven in their own day, were fully known in the farther East. Each time\nand people has its own prophet and sacred book, but it does not follow,\nif the last be the best for the people to whom it is revealed, that\ntherefore it is the best of all.\n\nAt the beginning of each Manvantara (the remanifestation of a world and\nman upon it), a planetary spirit appears among men, and implants the\ngreat ideas afterwards held intuitionally. They are projected with a\nspiritual force and power that carries them through all the ages of\nthat manvantara, now appearing and again apparently lost to sight. The\noriginal impulse every now and then, receives additions, through beings\nof a lower illumination than those who started them, as: Jesus, Buddha,\nConfucius and others, who appear in intermediate periods.\n\nSimilarly, great events, such as the occurrences related as anterior to\nKrishna\u2019s, Buddha\u2019s and Jesus\u2019 birth, as well as the slaughter of the\ninnocents and the death of Osiris, have an inherent spiritual force,\nwherever they really took place, that carries them down the stream of\ntime and causes them to reappear among all peoples as a part of the\nbiographies of different sacred personages.\n\nThis author has our approval, though worth but little, for she shows\na keen insight. Witness on p. 517: \u201cBelieve not those who exalt woman\nabove man, for they are equal powers. The use of the feminine pronoun\nin describing the soul, the earth, the moon * * has no profound\nscientific or philosophical foundation.\n\n\u201cBelieve not those who claim to give final wisdom to the world; for\nthere must be many instruments of truth.\u201d\n\nAnd on p. 519: \u201cSufficient guides are in that development of seership\nwhich is the necessary and natural sequence of the ripening of the\nintellect and moral sense, and which must and will grow. To man\u2019s own\nconscience] and judgment is left the supreme utilization of these first\nuniversal efforts at intercommunion between the material and spiritual\nplanes of existence.\u201d\n\nWe regret that our limited space prohibits a more extended notice.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSINNETT.\u2014Mr. A.\u202fP. Sinnett of London, author of Esoteric Buddhism,\nhas just brought out a new novel of a theosophical cast. We have not\nreceived a copy as there has not been time, but hope to notice it in\nthe August number. Its title is \u201c_Union_\u201d.\n\n\n THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.\n\nTHE AMERICAN BOARD OF CONTROL\u2014will meet in Rochester July 4th. This\nwill be an important meeting, being the first one since the new\nera of American Theosophical Activity. It is hoped that each year\nhereafter will see conventions of the Society when each Branch will be\nrepresented by a delegate.\n\n * * * * *\n\nJOSHEE.\u2014Bro. Gopal Vinayak Joshee was in Boston May 28th, at the annual\nmeeting of the Free Religion Association, and delivered an address\nbefore them upon \u201cWhat is lacking in Christianity,\u201d which was reported\nin _The Index_, of June 10th, ult. It deserves perusal, and must have\nseemed to its hearers like plain speaking.\n\n * * * * *\n\nALABAMA.\u2014A new Branch of the society is being organized here, the\nprovisional charter having been issued. We hope also soon to hear of\nanother in Texas, where a good Theosophist has settled.\n\n * * * * *\n\nMALDEN.\u2014The theosophists here are in earnest and active. They\nhave heartily adopted the suggestion of the New York Branch about\ndiscussions in condensed form being printed for circulation among\nmembers.\n\n * * * * *\n\nCINCINNATI.\u2014This Branch has been hard at work, and has had the benefit\nof several addresses and thorough explanations of hermetic doctrines\nfrom a well known and well versed theosophist.\n\n * * * * *\n\nABRIDGEMENTS OF DISCUSSIONS.\u2014The discussions and study of every member\nof the Society and of each Branch should not be kept exclusively to\nthemselves, except when they may relate to necessarily secret matter,\nbut ought to be made known in some way to all other members. To that\nend, the N.\u202fY. Branch has issued the first of a series of leaflets\nfor private circulation, containing abstracts of these discussions.\nThey contain the ideas of many different people upon the subjects of\nKarma, Reincarnation, and other doctrines of Hinduism, Buddhism and\nChristianity.\n\nAll branches ought to contribute notes to this work, so that the\nleaflets may appeal to as many minds in the society as possible. If a\ncentral editor could be hit upon that would also be a good idea.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.\u2014Regular meetings have been\nheld each week, since our last issue, two during this month being open\nones, at which addresses were delivered and discussions had. On the 8th\nult., the subject was that of evolution as laid down in theosophical\nliterature, and at one meeting, the lecture was illustrated by\nreference to a famous carved temple roof in India, the blackboard being\nused for rough outlines of the design.\n\nDuring the last month, the following books have been donated to the\nlibrary of the Branch, by Bro. Edson D. Hammond: _Ancient Mysteries\nDescribed_ (Hone, 1823); _The Obelisk and Freemasonry_ (Weisse, 1880);\n_Psychological Review_ (London), _12 Nos. 1882; 2 of 1883_, when Review\nstopped. The library has now increased to over 125 vols. and has been\nconsiderably used by the members.\n\n * * * * *\n\n That subtle self is to be known by thought alone; for every thought of\n men is interwoven with the senses, and when thought is purified, then\n the self arises.\u2014_Mundaka Upanishad._\n\n OM.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[68] In the ancient Aztec civilization in Mexico, the Sacerdotal order\nwas very numerous. At the head of the whole establishment were two high\npriests, elected from the order, solely for their qualifications, as\nshown by their previous conduct in a subordinate station. They were\nequal in dignity and inferior only to the sovereign, who rarely acted\nwithout their advice in weighty matters of private concern. (Sahagun\n_Hist. de Nueva Espa\u00f1a, lib. 2; lib. 3 cap. 9_\u2014_Torq. Mon. Ind. lib. 8\ncap. 20; lib. 9, cap. 3, 56_; cited by Prescott in _vol. 1, Conq. Mex.\np. 66_).\u2014[ED.]\n\n[69] King or Ruler.\n\n[70] A low caste man, _e. g._, a sweeper. Such a building can now be\nseen at Bijapur, India.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[71] An obsessing astral shell. The Hindus consider them to be the\nreliqu\u00e6 of deceased persons.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[72] Nature spirit or elemental.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[73] This sentence is of great importance. The Occidental mind delights\nmuch more in effects, personalities and authority, than in seeking for\ncauses, just as many Theosophists have with persistency sought to know\nwhen and where Madame Blavatsky did some feat in magic, rather than in\nlooking for causes or laws governing the production of phenomena. In\nthis italicized sentence is the clue to many things, for those who can\nsee.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[74] _Masonic Review_, July, 1885.\n\n[75] The Cabbalah, its Doctrine, Development and Literature.\n\n[76] _Farhad_ was the youthful lover of _Shirin_.\n\n[77] _Her_ refers to the candle. The moth is the lover and the candle\nthe beloved.\n\n[78] See note above.\n\n[79] Mulla is the Persian form of the Arabic Maulawi, \u201ca learned man,\u201d\n\u201ca scholar.\u201d\n\n[80] Khudawand is a Persian word signifying \u201clord,\u201d \u201cprince,\u201d \u201cmaster.\u201d\nA professor: a man of authority. It is used as a title of the Deity\nand by Christian missionaries in India it is generally employed as a\ntranslation of the Greek Kyrios, \u201cLord.\u201d (Hughes\u2019 Dic.)\n\n[81] _Islam_ means _the resigning or devoting one\u2019s self entirely to\nGod_, and his service.\n\n[82] Isis Unveiled, p. 507, vol I.\n\n[83] Ibid.\n\n[84] Physio-philosophy.\n\n[85] I use this word \u201cprivilege\u201d in its ethical sense; privileges are\nto the patriot what the \u201cpleasures\u201d are to the family life.\n\n[86] This is the man to be in the family and not of the family like the\nwater on the lotus leaf, making only the good traits of the family the\nseat of his higher self.\n\n[87] The Ether, the Astral Light.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[88] I use the word in the peculiar sense which I have already attached\nto it.\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n In the beginning this was Self alone\u2014undeveloped. It became developed\n by form and name. The Self entered thither to the very tips of the\n finger nails, as the fire in the fireplace. He cannot be seen: for, in\n part only, when breathing, he is breath by name; when seeing, eye by\n name; when hearing, ear; when thinking, mind, by name. All these are\n but the names of his acts. And he who regards him as the one or the\n other, does not know him, for he is apart from them. Let men worship\n him as the Self, for in the Self, all these are one. This Self is the\n footstep of everything, for through it one knows everything, and as\n one can find again by footsteps what was lost, thus he who knows this\n may find the Self.\u2014_Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad, 1 Adh., 4 Brah., 7 v._\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. AUGUST, 1886. NO. 5.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n STAR COLORS AND ANIMAL MAGNETISM.\n\nIt is well known that yellow is the complementary of blue, and red\nof green, color, and it struck me that, relating to this subject,\nthe remarks of Mr. Isaac Sharpless, who is an undoubted authority in\nastronomical matters, are of some importance. Writing from Haverford\nCollege Observatory, June 3d, instant, he says:\n\n \u201cThe question of star colors has been receiving attention from the\n hand of an English gentleman, W.\u202fS. Franks. He has examined carefully\n the colors of a list of 1893 of the brightest stars, with especial\n reference to the distribution in the heavens of the different colors.\n He finds 962 white stars, 614 yellow, 168 orange, 10 red, 15 green, 59\n blue, 58 purple and 7, for some reason, have no colors given. He finds\n that the constellations which contain a large percentage of white\n stars are in or near the Milky Way, and wherever stars are closely\n associated together; while the yellow and orange stars are most\n plentiful in large straggling constellations.\n\n \u201cIt is well known that a certain kind of spectrum is connected with\n certain star colors. The yellow stars belong to the class of our\n sun and include such bright stars as Capella. The white stars, like\n Vega, have a spectrum of a great number of fine lines, and the red\n gives a banded spectrum. It has been a favorite theory that the\n colors indicate the age of the stars, if not in years, at least in\n development. That the white are the youngest: as they cool they become\n yellow, then red, and, finally invisible, just as a piece of iron\n would in cooling down from a white heat. There is much to commend this\n idea, though, of course, as to the relative ages of the stars we know\n very little, and some changes appear to be in the opposite direction.\n Perhaps there are people to whom the idea of different colors in\n stars is a novelty. They have a general idea that there are bright\n points of light overhead, at night, and probably they have observed,\n in a general way, that some are brighter than others. It will not\n require a very close watch, however, to add to the knowledge of the\n sky the additional fact that they are differently colored. Castor and\n Pollux which now shine in the west in the evening, are very evidently\n diverse, and a careful amateur can go over the heavens and notice\n among the brighter stars quite a variety.\n\n \u201cBut a telescope increases the capacities for this work immensely.\n Nearly all the very red stars are too faint to be seen by the naked\n eye, and many which show the strongest contrasts of color are double\n stars, which require considerable magnifying power to separate them.\n Blue and green stars are never solitary, but associated with a red\n or a yellow star, which is nearly always brighter, so that color has\n something to do with association. There are also sometimes clusters of\n stars which show great variety of color. Sir John Herschel describes\n one in the Southern Hemisphere which resembled a mass of colored gems.\n There is probably a prolific field of discovery yet undeveloped in\n connection with star colors.\u201d\n\nThe experiments of Reichenbach and others have shown that from crystals\nand human bodies emanate not only influences of a positive and negative\ncharacter\u2014which are also referred to in the PATH at p. 86\u2014but also that\ncertain colors are seen by sensitives to arise from the human head,\neyes, and hands. Now, as animal magnetism is slowly forcing recognition\nfrom the scientific world, why are we not justified in giving some\ncredence to the views held by the old Hermetic philosophers, that the\nhuman being derives its magnetism and vitality from the stars: that\nis, that these colors seen by sensitives, are to be directly traced to\nthe sidereal influences and atmospheres. They gave to each color an\nappropriate star, and we find curiously enough, that although it is\nclaimed against them that they were ignorant and had no appliances,\nthey, without apparatus, knew that the stars had colors, while to the\nsun they ascribed life. Now in this century our astronomers tell us,\nas above, of star colors of great variety and peculiar combination.\nThese are mere hints, however, which I would like more competent men to\nenlarge upon.\n ISAAC MYER.\n\n[NOTE.\u2014We are personally acquainted with several persons who can\nsee these magnetic colors, and they all agree in the main as to the\nconditions of health or of temper which accompany them. Mere quick\nthoughts they see as bright sparks; sensuality seems pink or reddish;\nwhile life and wisdom, appear as blue. It is interesting to note also,\nthat in the Hindu system, when Krishna is represented as the life\ngiver, or as the principle of life, he is painted blue, which color\nReichenbach found proceeded from the _positive_ pole; while the passive\nmendicant or ascetic of Hindustan, has to wear the yellow robe, which\nstands for the _negative_ pole that emits the yellow ray. It is also\nrather curious that the ancient Egyptians in their papyri painted\nwisdom, which is cold, of a yellow color, and the son of life appears\nin blue.\u2014ED.]\n\n\n A HINDU CHELA\u2019S DIARY.[89]\n\n (_Continued from July Number._)\n\n\u201cI have always felt and still feel strongly that I have already once\nstudied this sacred philosophy with Kun\u00e2la, and that I must have been,\nin a previous life, his most obedient and humble disciple. This must\nhave been a fact, or else how to account for the feelings created in me\nwhen I first met him, although no special or remarkable circumstances\nwere connected with that event. All my hopes and plans are centred in\nhim, and nothing in the world can shake my confidence in him especially\nwhen several of my Brahmin acquaintances tell me the same things\nwithout previous consultation. * * *\n\n\u201cI went to the great festival of Durga yesterday, and spent nearly\nthe whole day looking in the vast crowd of men, women, children and\nmendicants for some of Kun\u00e2la\u2019s friends, for he once told me to never\nbe sure that they were not near me, but I found none who seemed to\nanswer my ideas. As I stood by the ghaut at the river side thinking\nthat perhaps I was left alone to try my patience, an old and apparently\nvery decrepit Bairagee plucked my sleeve and said: \u2018Never expect to see\nany one, but always be ready to answer if they speak to you; it is not\nwise to peer outside of yourself for the great followers of Vasudeva:\nlook rather within.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis amazed me, as I was expecting him to beg or to ask me for\ninformation. Before my wits returned, he had with a few steps mingled\nwith a group of people, and in vain searched I for him: he had\ndisappeared. But the lesson is not lost.\n\n\u201cTo-morrow I return to I\u2014\u2014.\n\n\u201cVery wearying indeed in a bodily sense was the work of last week and\nespecially of last evening, and upon laying down on my mat last night\nafter continuing work far into the night I fell quickly sound asleep.\nI had been sleeping some hour or two when with a start I awoke to find\nmyself in perfect solitude and only the horrid howling of the jackals\nin the jungle to disturb me. The moon was brightly shining and I walked\nover to the window of this European modeled house threw it open and\nlooked out. Finding that sleep had departed, I began again on those\npalm leaves. Just after I had begun, a tap arrested my attention and\nI opened the door. Overjoyed was I then to see Kun\u00e2la standing there,\nonce more unexpected.\n\n\u201c\u2018Put on your turban and come with me,\u2019 he said and turned away.\n\n\u201cThrusting my feet into my sandals, and catching up my turban, I\nhurried after him, afraid that the master would get beyond me, and I\nremain unfortunate at losing some golden opportunity.\n\n\u201cHe walked out into the jungle and turned into an unfrequented path.\nThe jackals seemed to recede into the distance; now and then in the\nmango trees overhead, the flying foxes rustled here and there, while I\ncould distinctly hear the singular creeping noise made by a startled\nsnake as it drew itself hurriedly away over the leaves. Fear was not\nin my breast for master was in front. He at last came to a spot that\nseemed bare of trees, and bending down, seemed to press his hand into\nthe grass. I then saw that a trap door or entrance to a stairway very\ncuriously contrived, was there. Stairs went down into the earth. He\nwent down and I could but follow. The door closed behind me, yet it was\nnot dark. Plenty of light was there, but where it came from I cared\nnot then nor can I now, tell. It reminded me of our old weird tales\ntold us in youth of pilgrims going down to the land of the Devas where,\nalthough no sun was seen, there was plenty of light.\n\n\u201cAt the bottom of the stairs was a passage. Here I saw people but they\ndid not speak to me and appeared not to even see me although their eyes\nwere directed at me. Kun\u00e2la said nothing but walked on to the end,\nwhere there was a room in which were many men looking as grand as he\ndoes but two more awful, one of whom sat at the extreme end.\u201d\n\n * * * * * * * *\n\n[Here there is a confused mass of symbols and ciphers which I confess\nI cannot decipher, and even if I had the ability to do so, I would\ncheck myself, because I surmise that it is his own way of jotting\ndown for his own remembrance, what occurred in that room. Nor do I\nthink that even a plain reading of it would give the sense to any one\nbut the writer himself, for this reason, that it is quite evidently\nfragmentary. For instance, I find among the rest, a sort of notation\nof a division of states or planes: whether of consciousness, of\nanimated, or of elemental life, I cannot tell; and in each division\nare hieroglyphs that might stand for animals, or denizens of the astral\nworld, or for anything else\u2014even for ideas only, so I will proceed at\nthe place of his returning.]\n\n\u201cOnce more I got out into the passage, but never to my knowledge went\nup those steps, and in a moment more was I again at my door. It was as\nI left it, and on the table I found the palm leaves as I dropped them,\nexcept that beside them was a note in Kun\u00e2la\u2019s hand, which read:\n\n\u201c\u2018Nilakant\u2014strive not yet to think too deeply on those things you have\njust seen. Let the lessons sink deep into your heart, and they will\nhave their own fruition. To-morrow I will see you.\u2019 * * * *\n\n\u201cWhat a very great blessing is mine to have had Kun\u00e2la\u2019s company for\nso many days even as we went to\u2014\u2014. Very rarely however he said a few\nwords of encouragement and good advice as to how I should go on. He\nseems to leave me as to that to pick my own way. This is right, I\nthink, because otherwise one would never get any individual strength\nor power of discrimination. Happy were those moments, when alone at\nmidnight, we then had conversation. How true I then found the words of\nthe Agroushada Parakshai to be:\n\n\u201c\u2018Listen while the Sudra sleeps like the dog under his hut, while\nthe Vaysa dreams of the treasures that he is hoarding up, while the\nRajah sleeps among his women. This is the moment when just men, who\nare not under the dominion of their flesh, commence the study of the\nsciences.\u2019[90]\n\n\u201cThe midnight hour must have powers of a peculiar nature. And I learned\nyesterday from glancing into an Englishman\u2019s book, that even those semi\nbarbarians speak of that time as \u2018the witching hour,\u2019 and it is told me\nthat among them \u2018witching\u2019 means to have magic power. * * * *\n\n\u201cWe stopped at the Rest House in B\u2014\u2014 yesterday evening, but found it\noccupied and so we remained in the porch for the night. But once more I\nwas to be blessed by another visit with Kun\u00e2la to some of his friends\nwhom I revere and who will I hope bless me too.\n\n\u201cWhen every one had quieted down he told me to go with him to the\nsea which was not far away. We walked for about three quarters of an\nhour by the seashore, and then entered as if into the sea. At first a\nslight fear came into me, but I saw that a path seemed to be there,\nalthough water was all around us. He in front and I following, we went\nfor about seven minutes, when we came to a small island; on it was a\nbuilding and on top of that a triangular light. From the sea shore,\nthe island would seem like an isolated spot covered all over by green\nbushes. There is only one entrance to go inside. And no one can find\nit out unless the occupant wishes the seeker to find the way. On the\nisland we had to go round about for some space before we came in front\nof the actual building. There is a little garden in front and there\nwas sitting another friend of Kun\u00e2la with the same expression of the\neyes as he has. I also recognized him as one of those who was in the\nroom underground. Kun\u00e2la seated himself and I stood before them. We\nstayed an hour and saw a portion of the place. How very pleasant it\nis! And inside he has a small room where he leaves his body when he\nhimself moves about in other places. What a charming spot, and what a\ndelightful smell of roses and various sorts of flowers! How I should\nwish to visit that place often. But I cannot indulge in such idle\ndreams, nor in that sort of covetousness. The master of the place put\nhis blessing hand upon my head, and we went away back to the Rest\nHouse and to the morrow full of struggles and of encounters with men\nwho do not see the light, nor hear the great voice of the future; who\nare bound up in sorrow because they are firmly attached to objects\nof sense. But all are my brothers and I must go on trying to do the\nmaster\u2019s work which is only in fact the work of the Real Self which is\nAll and in All.\u201d\n\n\n NOTES ON THE CABBALAH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.\n\n BY PERMISSION OF BRO. J. RALSTON SKINNER (McMillan Lodge, No. 141).\n\n II.\n\nGinsburg and others tell us that Raymond Lully and John Picus de\nMirandola had acquired knowledge of the Hebrew and the Caballah.\nMirandola studied Hebrew and Cabbalistic theology under Jochanan\nAleman, who came to Italy from Constantinople, and\u2014\u201cfound that there\nis more Christianity in the Cabbalah than Judaism; he discovered in it\nproof for the doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Divinity of\nChrist, the heavenly Jerusalem, the fall of the angels, the order of\nthe angels,\u201d and so on, and so on. \u201cIn 1486, when only 24 years old,\nhe published 900 _theses_, which were placarded in Rome, and which he\nundertook to defend in the presence of all European scholars, whom\nhe invited to the Eternal City, promising to defray their traveling\nexpenses. Among the theses was the following: \u2018No science yields\ngreater proof of the Divinity of Christ than magic and the Cabbalah.\u2019\u201d\n\nThrough Picus de Mirandola, Reuchlin became aware of this phase of\nHebrew philosophy or theosophy, as, by a school of the rabbins, a\nrecognized appurtenant to the Hebrew Scriptures. He not only examined\ninto the Cabbalah to satisfy his thirst for facts of literature, but,\non investigation, became a convert to the system,\u2014\u201cwithin two years\nof beginning to learn the language, published (1494) his De Verbo\nMirifico, and afterwards (1516) with more matured learning, his De Arte\nCabbalistica.\u201d And thus the joint efforts of Mirandola and Reuchlin\nestablished a field of literature, of the Cabbalah, which has always\nflourished, and will continue to flourish so long as our civilization\nshall last.\n\nIt is interesting and useful to place this great fact, but it is a\nmatter of especially great weight and value that the knowledge of\nthe Cabbalah was sprung upon the world of letters, with, and _as an\nessential part of_ the Reformation itself. Not that the philosophy\nof the Cabbalah became engrafted into the study and development\nof Hebrew (and consequently Christian) theosophy:\u2014for, because of\nlack of knowledge of what the Cabbalah really was, such could not\nbe the case,\u2014but it was entitled so to be, and the assertion of its\nexistence as a real element of Scripture was, even then, so strongly\nand enduringly made, that, though an unknown quantity except by name,\nit has ever since stood firmly, and ready to have such claim made\ngood:\u2014with a vitality that has outworn four hundred years of patient\nwaiting.\n\nOf course there was a field of Jewish Cabbalistic literature,\u2014not\nopen, but confined, for the most part, as a kind of sacred mystery,\nwithin narrow and restricted limits, even among the Jews themselves.\nIt was of the same nature with what is called, to-day, The Speculative\nPhilosophy of Free Masonry, an ever seemingly substantive embodiment\nout of surrounding shadowy mists and mental fogs, wherein a doubt\nalways exists whether after all there is in the nebulous matter of the\nmist itself anything from whence substance may congeal; or, it may,\nfor illustration, be compared to the city of King Arthur, before whose\ngate Gareth, standing, says: \u201cBut these my men\u2014(your city moves so\nweirdly in the mist),\u2014doubt if the King be King at all, or come from\nFairy land: and whether this be built by magic, and by fairy kings and\nqueens, or whether there be any city at all, or all a vision.\u201d It is\nnecessary to make a brief mention of this literature with its sources;\nboth that these may be known, and that a foundation may be laid for\nwhat is stated as to the reality of Cabbalah, and its significance.\n\nThere is almost no teaching of the Cabbalah in the English language\nexcept the Essay by Christian D. Ginsburg, LL. D., to which we have\nreferred. Dr. Ginsburg says: \u201cIt is a system of religious philosophy,\nor more properly, of theosophy, which has not only exercised for\nhundreds of years an extraordinary influence on the mental development\nof so shrewd a people as the Jews, but has captivated the minds of\nsome of the greatest thinkers of Christendom in the sixteenth and\nseventeenth centuries, and which claims the greatest attention of both\nthe philosopher and theologian.\u201d\n\nIt is faintly claimed that some statements applying to Cabbalah are to\nbe found in the Talmud; but apart from this we have:\u2014(1) The Commentary\non the Ten Sephiroth, by R. Azariel ben Manachem (1160-1238), who was\na pupil of Isaac the Blind, and master of the celebrated R. Moses\nNachmanides, (2) The Book Sohar (Light), or Midrash, Let there be\nLight, claimed to have been a revelation from God, communicated through\nR. Simon ben Jochai, A.\u202fD. 70-110, to his select disciples. This book\nhas been pronounced by the ablest critics to have been a pseudograph\nof the thirteenth century,\u2014the composition of Moses de Leon, who lived\nin Spain; who, by the admission of his wife and daughter after his\ndeath, first published and sold it as the production of R. Simon ben\nJochai, and (3) The Book Jetzirah or Book of Creation,\u2014of unknown age\nand authorship, but mentioned as early as the eleventh century in the\nBook Chazari, by R. Jehudah Ha Levi,\u2014as the literary sources for the\nentire system and scope thereof, so far as disclosed. It is from these\nsources that the entire volume of Cabbalistic literature has had rise\nand development.\n\nFrom these sources, and the numberless treatises and expositions\nthereon, the history of the subject matter and containment of Cabbalah\nis laid down as follows: It was first taught by God himself to a select\ncompany of angels. After the fall the angels taught it to Adam. From\nAdam it passed to Noah, thence to Abram, the friend of God who carried\nit to Egypt. Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, was\ninitiated into it from the land of his birth. He covertly laid down the\nprinciples of its doctrines in the first four books of the Pentateuch,\nbut withheld them from Deuteronomy (\u201cthis constitutes the former the\n\u2018_man_\u2019 and the latter the \u2018_woman_\u2019\u201d). Moses initiated the seventy\nelders, and they again passed the sacred and secret doctrine down to\nthe heads (continually imparting the same) of the Church of Israel.\nDavid and Solomon were adepts in it. No one dared to write it down till\nthe supposititious Simon ben Jochai, who really lived and taught, as\none of the most celebrated doctors, at the time of the destruction of\nthe second temple; and his teachings are claimed to constitute the Book\nof Sohar, published, as already said, by Moses de Leon of Valladolid,\nin Spain. But Ben Jochai, or whoever worked under his name, though\nhe wrote and published, as said, covered the true doctrine by veils,\nso that no one but an initiate, or, as the saying runs, \u201cby the gift\nof God,\u201d could penetrate behind them;\u2014though the veils of the words\nstill plainly held the secret doctrine, to those who could see. The\nCabbalah, as an exposition to the Sacred Text of Holy Writ, was claimed\nto contain the Wisdom of God in every branch and department of His\nworking,\u2014and all terms and descriptions were exhausted to express the\nineffable reward to him who might be permitted to penetrate behind the\nveil, either by initiation or \u201cby the gift of God;\u201d satiating every\nfunction of enjoyment, and affording an indescribable bliss, in the\nultimate possessions of the Divine conceptions.\n\nMore definitely:\u2014The exposition of the system treats of the impersonal\nFirst Cause manifesting within the limits of the finite. \u201cBefore he\ngave any shape to this world, before he produced any form, he was\nalone, without a form and resemblance to anything else.[91] Who,\nthen, can comprehend him, how he was before the creation, since he\nwas formless? Hence, it is forbidden to represent him by any form,\nsimilitude, or even by his sacred name, by a single letter or a single\npoint; and to this, the words, \u2018Ye saw no manner of similitude on the\nday the Lord spake unto you\u2019 (Deut. iv. 15)\u2014_i. e._, ye have nor seen\nanything which you could represent by any form or likeness,\u2014refer\u201d\n(Sohar 42 b, 43 a, Sec. AB):\u2014And this shows clearly enough that the\nsupposed sacred names of Scripture do not have reference to the\nImpersonal First Cause, as its essential designations, but rather to\nits creations. * * Then\u2014\u201cThe creation, or the universe, is simply the\ngarment of God _woven from the Deity\u2019s own substance_ (The Impersonal\nmanifesting in the cosmos, in modes to be expressed by the sacred names\nand otherwise). For although, to reveal himself to us, the Concealed of\nall the Concealed, sent forth the _Ten Emanations_ (the Ten Sephiroth)\ncalled the Form of God, Form of the _Heavenly-Man_, yet since even\nthis luminous form was too dazzling for our vision, it had to assume\nanother form, or had to put on another garment which consists of the\n_universe_. The universe, therefore, or the visible world, is a further\nexpansion of the Divine Substance, and is called in the Cabbalah, \u2018_the\nGarment of God_.\u2019\u201d (Sohar i, 2 a)\u2014\u201cThe whole universe, however, was\nincomplete, and did not receive its finishing stroke till _man_ was\nformed, who is the _acme of the creation_, and the macrocosm uniting\nin himself the totality of beings,\u2014\u2018the heavenly Adam,\u2019 _i. e._, the\nTen Sephiroth, who emanated from the highest primordial obscurity\n(The Impersonal First Cause), created the _earthly Adam_.\u201d (Sohar\nii, 70 b). This is more definitely expressed in another place, where\nit says:\u2014\u201cJehovah (for which stands the letter _jod_, or _j or i_)\ndescended on Sinai _in fire_,\u201d the word for which is _a-sh_ fire. Let\nthe _j, or i_, the signature for Jehovah, descend in the midst of\nthis word, and one will have _a i sh_, which is the Hebrew word for\n_man_ man; thus _man_ became out of the _Divine fire_\u2014\u2014\u201cMan is both\nthe import and the highest degree of creation, for which reason he was\nformed on the sixth day. As soon as man was created every thing was\ncomplete, including the upper and nether world, for every thing _is\ncomprised in man_. He unites in himself all forms.\u201d (Sohar iii, 48\na)\u2014\u201cBut after he created the form of the Heavenly Man, he used it as a\nchariot (Mercabah) (wheels, circles) wherein to descend, and wishes to\nbe called by this form, which is the sacred name Jehovah.\u201d (Sohar i, 42\nb, 43 a, section AB.)\n\nIt is to be observed especially, as to the ground work of the\nCabbalah, that the first manifestation was in the \u201c_Ten Sephiroth_,\u201d\nor Emanations, so called, out of which came the \u201c_Heavenly Man_\u201d; and\nthe human or earth man represented these Ten Sephiroth in himself. \u201cThe\nlower world is made after the pattern of the upper world; everything\nwhich exists in the upper world is to be found as it were in a copy on\nearth; still the whole is one.\u201d (Sohar i, 20 a.)\n\nThus it is that the compass of the Cabbalah, by Sohar, is idealized in\nthe form of a _man_. This man represented the combination of the Ten\nSephiroth, or, as systematically called, _Emanations_, in which as a\nunity the whole cosmos existed in its segregated detail; and through\nwhich all knowledge thereof, physically, psychically and spiritually,\nwas to be had, in passiveness and in activities;\u2014and through which\nthese activities, as of all potencies\u2014as of angels and powers,\u2014had\ntheir special existences. These Emanations had names of qualities, as\nBeauty, Strength, Wisdom, etc., etc., each name being located upon\none of nine parts marked out on the form of the man; each of which\nwas called a _Sephira_. The totality of the man being taken as _one_,\nthis added to the nine made ten; and as a number this was the letter\n_jod_, already spoken of. The locations of these Sephiroth (shown as\ncircles) are united one with another, so that one Emanation may flow\ninto another; one into all, and all into one;\u2014and the 22 letters of\nthe alphabet with the 10 vowel sounds, are found therein, or thereby;\nand these are called the \u201c_thirty-two ways or canals of Wisdom_\u201d; and\nas these letters stood also for numbers, there is in this containment\nevery possible mode of expression _by word and number_. The exposition\nof the Old Testament, especially the Thora, in the secret or esoteric\nway, is claimed under this statement;\u2014that is, by numbering the letters\nof words, and by their permutations and changes of positions; so that\nthis is one of the functions of the Emanations or Sephiroth; and a\nmighty one for disclosing the Wisdom of God.\n\nThe Book Jetzirah deals especially with these letters and numbers: \u201c_By\nthirty-two paths of secret wisdom_, the Eternal, the Lord of Hosts, the\nGod of Israel, the living God, the King of the Universe, the Merciful\nand Gracious, the High and Exalted God, He who inhabiteth eternity,\nGlorious and Holy is His name, hath created the world by means of\nnumbers, phonetic language and writing.\u201d\n\nThe Commentary on the Ten Sephiroth, by R. Azariel Ben Menachem, as its\nname implies, is directly in consonance with the Sohar.\n\nAs to the Book Jetzirah, Dr. Ginsburg says: \u201cThe _Book Jetzirah_, which\nthe Cabbalists claim is their oldest document, has really nothing\nin common with the cardinal doctrines of the Cabbalah. There is not\na word in it bearing on the En Soph (Impersonal First Cause), the\nArchetypal Man,\u201d and so on, and so on. But here the doctor is at fault\nfor this reason:\u2014The word \u201c_Sephiroth_\u201d means \u201c_Numbers_,\u201d and the _Ten\nSephiroth_ means the Ten Numbers; and in the Cabbalistic way these are\ncomposed out of a geometrical shape. The circle is the first _naught_,\nbut out of this naught develops a straight vertical line, viz: the\ndiameter of this circle. This is the first _One_; and having a first\none, from it comes 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 and 9,\u2014the\ncircle or naught and its diameter one, the embracement of all together,\nforming the comprehensive _Ten_, or Ten Numbers, Ten Sephiroth, Ten\nEmanations, the Heavenly Man, the great Jah, of the ineffable name.\nHence the contents of the book Jetzirah are of the very essence of the\nother two, and all are one.\n\n\n SUFISM,\n\n OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.\n\n_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in\nMysticism._\n\n BY C.\u202fH. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._\n\n In Two Parts:\u2014Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.\n\n The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi:\n\n \u201cLast night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress,\n when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the\n garden, soft as the dews of heaven.\u201d\n\n (CONTINUED.)\n\n NOTES ON _JELALUDDIN RUMI_\u2014Continued:\n\n\u2014Space forbids us to dwell any longer upon the miracles of this\nwonderful man of whom _Shems Tebreez_ once asserted, in Jelal\u2019s\nCollege, that \u201cwhosoever wished to see again the prophets, had only\nto look on Jelal, who possessed all their qualifications; more\nespecially of those to whom revelations were made, whether by angelic\ncommunications, or whether in visions; the chief of such qualities\nbeing serenity of mind with perfect inward confidence and consciousness\nof being one of God\u2019s elect. Go and look upon Jelal, if thou wish to\ncomprehend the signification of that saying \u2018_the learned are the heirs\nof the prophets_,\u2019 together with something beyond that, which I will\nnot here specify.\u201d\n\nWe must add a few passages from Jelal\u2019s lectures, &c. These were his\nlast instructions, \u201c_the best of mankind is he who benefiteth men_\u201d\nand, \u201c_the best of speech is that which is short and to the purpose_.\u201d\nJelal once at a funeral spoke thus: \u201cThe ordinary reciters, by their\nservices, bear witness that the deceased lived a Muslim. My singers,\nhowever, testify that he was a Muslim, a believer, and a lover of\nGod.\u201d He added: \u201cBesides that; when the human spirit, after years of\nimprisonment in the cage and dungeon of the body, is at length set\nfree, and wings its flight to the source whence it came, is not this\nan occasion for rejoicings, thanks, and dancings? The soul in ecstacy,\nsoars to the presence of the Eternal; and stirs up others to make\nproof of courage and self sacrifice. If a prisoner be released from a\ndungeon and be clothed with honour, who would doubt that rejoicings are\nproper? So, too, the death of a saint is an exactly parallel case.\u201d\nOnce, when requested to give a lecture to men of science, he answered:\n\u201cA tree laden with fruit, had its branches bowed down to the earth\ntherewith. At the time, doubts and gainsayings prevented the gardeners\nfrom gathering and enjoying the fruit. The tree has now raised its head\nto the skies, and beyond. Can they hope, then, to pluck and eat of its\nfruit?\u201d\u2014\n\nJelal\u2019s chief work, and the reference-book of Sufism, is the _Mesnevi_\n(_Mathnawi_) usually known as the _Mesneviyi Sherif, or Holy Mesnevi_.\nIt is truly one of the most famous books of the East, studied and\ncommented upon wherever dogmatic religion has been abandoned for\nesoteric truth.\n\nFrom the preface we quote the following:\n\n\u201cThis is the book of the Rhymed Couplets (Mathnawi, Mesnevi). It\ncontains the roots of the roots of the roots of the one (one true)\nReligion (of Islam); and treats of the discovery of the mysteries of\nreunion and sure knowledge. It is the Grand Jurisprudence of God, the\nmost glorious Law of the Deity, the most manifest Evidence of the\nDivine Being. The refulgence thereof \u201cis like that of a lantern in\nwhich is a lamp\u201d[92] that scatters beams more bright than the morn. It\nis the paradise of the heart, with springs and foliage. One of these\nsprings is \u201cthe fount named Salsabil\u201d[93] by the brethren of this\nreligious order;[94] but, by saints and those miraculously endowed, it\nis called \u201cthe Good Station,\u201d[95] and \u201cthe Best Resting place.\u201d[96]\nThe just shall eat and drink therein, and the righteous shall rejoice\nand be glad thereof. Like the Egyptian Nile, it is a beverage for the\npatient, but a delusion to the people of Pharaoh and to blasphemers;\neven as God, whose name be glorified, hath said: \u201cHe misleads therewith\nmany, and He guides therewith many; but He misleads not therewith\n(any), save the wicked.\u201d[97]\n\n\u201cIt is a comfort to man\u2019s breast, an expeller of cares. It is an\nexposition of the Quran, an amplification of spiritual aliments, and\na dulcifier of the disposition; written \u201cby the hands of honorable\nscribes\u201d[98] who inscribed theron the prohibition: \u201cLet none touch it\nsave the purified.\u201d[99] It is (a revelation) \u201csent down (from on high)\nby the Lord of (all) the worlds,[100] which vanity approacheth not from\nbefore, nor from behind,\u201d[101] which God watches over and observes, He\nbeing \u201cthe best of a Preserver,\u201d[102] and \u201cThe Most Compassionate of\nthe merciful ones,\u201d[103] unto whom pertain (many) titles, his utmost\ntitle being God, whose name be exalted.\u201d\n\nFurther on he says: \u201cI have exerted myself to enlarge this book of\npoetry in rhyming couplets, which contains strange and rare narratives,\nbeautiful sayings, and recondite indications, a path for the devout,\nand a garden for the pious, short in its expressions, numerous in their\napplications.\u201d\u2014\n\nThe Mesnevi is said to contain twenty-six thousand six hundred and\nsixty couplets and a large part of them ought to be cited here, but\nspace forbids. We offer a few selections entirely at random.\n\n The strength of strongest man can merely split a stone;\n The Power that informs man\u2019s soul can cleave the moon.\n If man\u2019s heart but untie the mouth of mystery\u2019s sack,\n His soul soon soars aloft beyond the starry track.\n If heaven\u2019s mystery divulged should, \u2018haps become,\n The whole world \u2018twould burn up, as fire doth wood consume.\u2014\n Saints\u2019 ecstacy springs from a glimpse of God, his pride.\n His station\u2019s that of intimate. He\u2019s bridegroom; God is bride.\n A bride\u2019s veiled graces are not seen by groom alone;\n Her unveiled charms solely to him in private shown.\n In state she first appears before the people all;\n Her veil removed, the groom alone is at her call.\u2014\n Who\u2019s not received the gift of knowledge from above,\n Will ne\u2019er believe a stock could sigh and moan for love.\n He may pretend to acquiesce; not from belief;\n He says: \u201cTis so,\u201d to scape a name much worse than thief.\n All they who\u2019re not convinced that God\u2019s \u201cBe\u201d is enough,\n Will turn away their face; this tale they\u2019ll treat as \u201cstuff.\u201d\n If he (man) from _esse_, reach not _posse\u2019s_ state, he\u2019s _nil_.\u2014\n (God) Himself He\u2019s veiled in man, as sun behind a cloud.\n This seek to comprehend. God knows what mysteries shroud.\n The sun He is;\u2014the sun of spirit, not of sky;\n By light from Him man lives;\u2014and angels eke, forby.\u2014\n The soul it is originates all vital force.\u2014\n The Prophet hath assureth us God\u2019s the soul of all.\u2014\n The world\u2019s renewed each moment, though we still remain\n In ignorance that permanence can change sustain.\n Life, like a river, ceaselessly, is still renewed.\u2014\n Each night Thou settest free the soul from trap of flesh,\n To scan and learn the hidden records of Thy wish.\n Each night the soul is like a bird from cage set free,\n To wander. Judge and judgment, then, it does not see.\n By night the pris\u2019ner loses sense of bars, of chains;\n By night the monarch knows no state, no pomp retains;\n The merchant counts no more, in sleep, his gains and loss;\n The prince and peasant, equal, on their couches toss.\n The Gnostic is so e\u2019en by day, when wide awake;\n For God hath said: \u201cLet quietude care of him take.\u201d\n Asleep to all the things of earth by night, by day,\n As pen in writer\u2019s hand he doth his guide obey.\u2014\n Of this, the Gnostic\u2019s privilege, a trace\u2019d suffice\n To rob of sleep and reason vulgar souls of ice.\n His spirit wanders in the groves of th\u2019 absolute.\n His soul is easy; body, still, calm, quiet, mute.\u2014\n In sleep thou bearest no burden; borne thou art, instead.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Know then, thy sleep\u2019s a foretaste of what is to come,\n From the rapt state of saints arriving at their home.\n The saints were well prefigured by the \u201cSleeper\u2019s Seven,\u201d\n \u201cTheir sleep,\u201d \u201ctheir stretchings,\u201d \u201ctheir awaking\u201d lead to\n heaven.\u2014\n Each night, in profound sleep our consciousness sinks,\n Becomes non-existent;\u2014waves on seashore\u2019s brinks.\u2014\n The body\u2019s a cage and a thorn to the soul.\n Hence, seldom are body and soul wholly whole.\u2014\n Both men and fairies pris\u2019ners are in earthly cage.\u2014\n If lifted could be from our souls the dark veil,\n Each word of each soul would with miracles trail.\u2014\n The soul unto the flesh is joined, by God\u2019s decree,\n That it may be afflicted,\u2014trials made to see.\u2014\n Th\u2019 Infinites\u2019 lovers finite\u2019s worshippers are not\n Who seek the finite lose th\u2019 Infinite, as we wot,\n When finite with the finite falls in love, perforce,\n His loved one soon returns to her infinite source.\u2014\n In non-existence mirrored, being we may see;\u2014\n Annihilate thy darksome self,\u2014thy being\u2019s pall.\n Let thy existence in God\u2019s essence be enrolled,\n As copper in alchemists\u2019 bath is turned to gold.\n Quit \u201cI\u201d and \u201cWe,\u201d which o\u2019er thy heart exert control.\n \u2019Tis egotism, estranged from God, that clogs thy soul.\u2014\n Discharge thyself of every particle of self;\n So shalt thou see thyself pure, free from soil of pelf.\n Within thy heart thou\u2019lt see the wisdom of the saints,\n Without a book, a teacher, or professor\u2019s plaints.\u2014\n Thyself * * purge of self. Abstraction thou shalt gain.\u2014\n Both love and soul are occult, hidden and concealed.\u2014\n A lover\u2019s whole life is but self-sacrifice;\n He wins not a heart, save his own heart\u2019s the price.\u2014\n When love for God is lighted in the human heart,\n It fiercely burns; it suffers not effects\u2019 dull smart;\n \u2014\u2014 love is love\u2019s own sign, giv\u2019n from the highest sphere.\u2014\n The heart\u2019s with God,\u2014the heart is God,\u2014boundless, immense!\n From all eternity, the figures of all things,\n Unnumbered, multitudinous, gleam in hearts\u2019 wings.\n To all eternity each new-created form\n In heart of saint reflected is, most multiform.\u2014\n Have patience, thou too, brother, with thy needle\u2019s smart.\n So shalt thou, \u2018scape the sting of conscience in thy heart.\n They who have conquered,\u2014freed themselves from body\u2019s thrall,\n Are worshipped in the spheres, the sun, the moon, stars, all.\n Whoever\u2019s killed pride\u2019s demon in his earthly frame,\n The sun and clouds are slaves, to do his bidding, tame.\n His heart can lessons give of flaming to the lamp;\n The very sun not equals him in ardent vamp.\u2014\n The inward hymn that\u2019s sung by all the hearts of saints\n Commences: \u201cO component parts of that thing _Not_.\u201d\n Now since they take their rise in this _Not_, negative,\n They put aside the hollow phantom where we live.\n Ideas and essences become \u201cthings\u201d at His word.\u2014\n This world\u2019s a negative; the positive seek thou.\n All outward forms are cyphers; search, the sense to know.\u2014\n Mankind the songs of fairies never hear at all,\n They are not versed in fairies\u2019 ways, their voices small.\u2014\n \u201cAllah, Allah!\u201d[104] cried the sick man, racked with pain the long\n night through;\n Till with prayer his heart grew tender, till his lips like honey grew.\n But at morning came the Tempter; said \u201cCall louder, child of Pain!\n See if Allah ever hear or answers \u2018Here am I,\u2019 again.\u201d\n Like a stab, the cruel cavil through his brain and pulses went;\n To his heart an icy coldness, to his brain a darkness sent.\n Then before him stands Elias; says, \u201cMy child, why thus dismayed?\n Dost repent thy former fervor? Is thy soul of prayer afraid?\u201d\n \u201cAh!\u201d he cried, \u201cI\u2019ve called so often; never heard the \u2018Here am I;\u2019\n And I thought, God will not pity; will not turn on me his eye.\u201d\n Then the grave Elias answered, \u201cGod said, Rise, Elias, go\n Speak to him, the sorely tempted; lift him from his gulf of woe.\n Tell him that his very longing is itself an answering cry;\n That his prayer, \u2018Come, gracious Allah!\u2019 is my answer \u2018Here am I.\u2019\u201d\n ..When thy mind is dazed by colour\u2019s magic round,\n All colour\u2019s lost in one bright light diffused around.\n Those colours, too, all vanish from our view by night.\n We learn from this, that colour\u2019s only seen through light.\n The sense of colour-seeing\u2019s not from light distinct.\n So, too, the sudden rainbow of our mind\u2019s instinct.\n From sunlight, and the like, all outer colours rise;\n The inward tints that mark our minds, from God\u2019s sunrise.\n The light that lights the eye\u2019s the light that\u2019s in the heart.\n Eye\u2019s light is but derived from what illumes that part.\n The light that lights the heart\u2019s the light that comes of God,\n Which lies beyond the reach of sense and reason, clod!\n By night we have no light; no colour can we see.\n Thus, light we learn by darkness, its converse. Agree!\n A seeing of the light, perception is of tints;\n And these distinguished are through darkness gloomy hints.\n Our griefs and sorrows were by God first introduced,\n That joy to sense apparent thence should be reduced\n Occult things, thus, by converse, grow apparent, all.\n Since God has no converse, apparent He can\u2019t fall.\n Sight first saw light, and then the colours saw,\n From converse converse stands forth, as Frank from Negro.\n By converse of the light, distinguish we the light;\n A converse \u2018tis that converse shows unto our sight.\n The light of God no converse has in being\u2019s bound;\n By converse, then, man has not its distinction found.\n Our eyes cannot distinguish God, decidedly;\n Though He distinguish Moses and the Mount from thee.\u2014\n\nThe doctrine, which Jelal was most emphatic about was the\nextinguishment of Self, and his teachings are quite characteristic for\nhim, though the general doctrine is a common one among the Sufis. _He\nargues for simplicity._ He tells us a story about a dispute between\nChinamen and Greeks before the Sultan, as to who is the more skilful of\nthe two nations, in the art of decoration. The Chinese ask for and get\nthousands of colours and work hard, while the Greeks ask for no color;\nthey only polish their front,\n\n \u201cEffacing every hue with nicest care,\u201d\n\nand when the Sultan came to examine the relative merit of Chinese\ngorgeousness and Greek simplicity,\n\n \u201cDown glides a sunbeam through the rifted clouds,\n And, lo the colours of that rainbow house\n Shine, all reflected on those glassy walls\n That face them, rivalling: The sun hath painted\n With lovelier blending, on that stony mirror\n The colours spread by man so artfully.\u2014\n Know them, O friend! such Greeks the Sufis are,\n Having one sole and simple task,\u2014to make\n Their hearts a stainless mirror for their God.\u2014\u201d\n\n (_To be continued._)\n\n\n THE SINGING SILENCES.\n\nTheosophists may be interested in an experience which I have named\nas above; \u201cSinging\u201d\u2014because of a peculiar resonance which I then\nhear; \u201cSilences\u201d\u2014because this resonance only reaches me in moments of\nretirement and silence.\n\nOccurring throughout a lifetime, at infrequent and remote intervals,\nthey have, since I became a Theosophist, increased until they embrace\nall isolated moments. They consist of a resonance difficult to\ndescribe, but resembling the vibrant note of a distant locomotive,\nresounding in the night atmosphere of a mountain gorge, and partaking\nsomewhat of that melodious wail caused by running the moistened finger\naround the rim of a glass. Sometimes, though rarely, a low orchestral\nharmony unites briefly with this monotone. Unable to find any word\nwhich conveyed this cadence, I now discover that the word \u201c_Aum_,\u201d\n(hitherto unknown to me,) does so exactly, the A sound being the\nopening note, which prolongs itself into the M, or closing sound, when\nthe keynote is then struck over again. Thus the \u201cSinging Silences\u201d\nmainly consist of innumerable repetitions of the word \u201cAum,\u201d distinctly\nand musically uttered, having a resonant or vibrant quality, and a\nmeasured rise and fall, such as all sound assumes if one alternately\ncloses and uncloses the ear. If the analyst will alternately inhale air\nwith the mouth and expel it with the nostrils, he will gain a fair idea\nof this sound minus its musical vibration.\n\nIt is, moreover, invariably accompanied by a sensation of physical\nrepose, even peace, and a perfect mental quiescence which falls about\nme like an enfolding mantle. The frequency of these moments has\ngreatly increased since my attention has been specifically turned to\nthem. Hitherto, beyond a momentary curiosity as to their nature, I\nattached no importance to their occurrence; the very rarity caused\nthem to be easily forgotten in the whirl of every day life; I admitted\nto myself with surprise, however, that my innumerable pleasures, my\nkeen enjoyments, shrank to nothing before the deep delight of these\nbrief but peculiar moments, and I applied to them the opening lines of\nFaber\u2019s hymn to music.\n\nReading the article on \u201cAum\u201d in the April \u201cPATH,\u201d I was startled by\nsuch passages as this: \u201cThere is, pervading the whole universe, a\nhomogeneous resonance, sound, or tone, which acts, so to speak, as the\nawakener or vivifying power, stirring all the molecules into action.\u201d\nI then called to mind various facts connected with Sound, as for\ninstance, that a regiment marching over a bridge is ordered to \u201cbreak\nstep,\u201d lest the regular footfall strike the \u201ccoefficient of vibration,\u201d\nwhich would destroy the bridge: also that the measured trot of the\nsmallest dog will cause a perceptible vibration in a wire bridge, no\nmatter what its size. Moreover, the monotonous sound of the railroad,\nin time changes the texture of the car wheels and axles from fibrous\ninto crystalline, with consequent fracture.\n\nIn Reichenbach\u2019s \u201cResearches on Magnetism,\u201d we find this statement. * *\n* \u201cThe following laws prevail in nature. _A._ There resides in matter a\npeculiar force, hitherto overlooked, which, when the crystalline form\nhas been assumed, is found acting in the line of the axes.\u201d\n\nSince then, the homogeneous tone acts upon all the molecules of\ncreation, may not this singing resonance cause such a transformation\nof brain energy as to vivify or awaken it, in time, to the True,\nor Central Idea? We have seen that Sound, so to speak, polarises\ncertain particles of matter attracting them to the earth, the great\nmagnet, from which they came; it confers upon other particles this\nsame magnetic power, as in the case of crystallisation; it awakens\nsimilar tones, as when several untouched harps vibrate in harmony\nwhen the musical key note is struck upon one alone. Why then may not\nthe thought awakened by a fixed musical sound be in time attracted to\nthe real source of that sound, of all sound? And as thought causes\na disturbance among the molecules of the brain, some sound, however\naerial, must accompany this vibration; does not my brain then answer\nthis singing resonance with the note homogeneous to all the ethereal\nspace?\n\nIn the article from \u201cTHE PATH\u201d before quoted, I find the following\nlines. \u201cHaving taken the Bow, the great weapon (Om), let him place\non it the arrow (the Self), sharpened by devotion; * * * Brahman is\ncalled the aim. It is to be hit by a man who is not thoughtless.\u201d The\n\u201cSinging Silences\u201d are superinduced by meditation, thought, devotion:\nthe closest imitation of them possible to the human voice consists in\nchanting, half aloud, the word \u201cAum,\u201d over and over, as heretofore\ndescribed. Do those Yogees who repeat \u201cAum\u201d thousands of times daily,\nfollow this practice in order to produce the resonance, or homogeneous\ntone, and to calm the mind, (as they claim to do,) by means of the\nharmonious monotony thus engendered? True, it fails to lead them to\nthe higher knowledge, but is this not because the mental condition is\nself induced, like the delusive trances of self mesmerization? On the\nother hand, if (as they claim again,) it throws them into a trance\nlike state or crystallisation of thought, is not this because it is\nafter all, in some measure, akin to the natural resonance? The idea\nherein advanced would thus seem to be further supported, since this\nmechanical repetition of \u201cAum,\u201d and its sedative power, is as the\npower of the microcosm, faintly outlining that of the macrocosm, (or\nreal resonance,) to lead towards the calm which incubates the dawning\nthought and leads towards the true Illuminated State. \u201cTHE PATH\u201d goes\non to state that we are \u201cled by the resonance, which is not the Divine\nLight itself, towards that Radiance which is Divine; the resonance is\nonly the outbreathing of the first sound of the entire Aum.\u201d\n\nThis constant and peculiar singing, provocative as it is of a peaceful\nabstraction so great as to exclude all outer things and thoughts,\nseems to induce a state which draws the hearer into the border lands\nof Spirit. Works on eastern travel and foreign witnesses, alike affirm\nthat many faquirs repeat \u201cAum,\u201d and also \u201cRama,\u201d thousands of times,\nmerely because they are told that such a thing is useful, while others\ndo it with the mind fixed on realizing the True. Studious investigation\nalways reveals a deep philosophy underlying religious forms, from which\nthere is no reason to suppose this one to be exempt.\n\nListening attentively to the \u201cSinging Silence,\u201d I fall, after a brief\nspace, into an unbroken and dreamless sleep which lasts for hours;\nhearing, without listening, I experience a sensation of physical\nrefreshment and mental placidity. It came to me uncalled for,\nunnoticed, unrecognized; when finally a sense of pleasure fastened upon\nmy mind, I idly accepted it, but without questioning, as a curious\npersonal peculiarity. It was only when, giving myself up to thoughts\nof higher things, I met it upon the threshold of meditation, found\nit daily recurring, daily growing in distinctness and power, that I\nrecognized it as a possible psychical experience. As I never strove to\nproduce it at the outset, so I never attempt to increase or evoke it\nnow; I should not know how to set about doing so. _It influenced me_;\nI have no control whatever over it. It comes as it wills, and is not\nsubject to my command.\n\nIs this then one of the practical significances or uses of \u201cthe word\nOm, as expressed in tone?\u201d Does this bell-like resonance have such an\neffect upon the molecules of the human body, (including those of the\nbrain,) as to polarize them in time to The Spirit? If there are those\nwho doubt the existence of a great undercurrent of universal tone,\ndescribed by \u201cTHE PATH\u201d as Nada Brahma,\u2014\u201cthe divine resonance upon\nwhich depends the evolution of the visible from the invisible,\u201d\u2014they\nwill at least grant its probability when they consider that this has\nbeen admitted by some of the greatest intellects of the world, many of\nwhom firmly believed in the \u201cmusic of the spheres.\u201d Plato taught it.\nMaximus Tyrius says that \u201cthe mere proper motion of the planets must\ncreate sounds, and as the planets move at regular intervals, these\nsounds must be harmonious.\u201d The Cyclop\u0153dia Britanica says, \u201cthe origin\nof musical sounds consists in the regular, periodic vibration of some\nsurface in contact with the air, whereby motion is imparted to the air.\nThe loudness or intensity of the note depends on the magnitude of the\nmotion or pitch.\u201d The regular motions of the planets of our system,\nas well as those of known moving stars, such as Sirius, may well be\naccompanied by a rythmical sound arising from the ether waves thus set\nin motion. That we do not hear it, may be due to the density of our\natmosphere, yet it may be none the less transmitted along the ether\nwaves and heard by the inner ear of those whose sense is developed.\nPythagoras was the first philosopher to suggest this idea, which is\nmentioned by Shakespear:\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s not the smallest orb which thou behold\u2019st\n But his motion like an angel sings,\n Still quiring to the young eyed cherubims:\n _Such harmony is in immortal souls_;\n But while this muddy vesture of decay\n Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.\u201d\n\nHe also speaks of it again in Pericles.\n\n\u201cKeppler\u2019s idea of the universe was essentially Pythagorean and\nPlatonic. He thought that the planetary movements were related to\nmusical intervals.\u201d (Cyclo. Brit.) Montaigne, Milton, Donne, Pope,\nNewton, Tycho-Brahe and others believed in the \u201cmusic of the spheres.\u201d\nFaber beautifully attributed it to the vibration caused by the\nshooting rays of light on their journey earthward:\n\n \u201cThou art fugitive splendors made vocal\n As they glanced from that shining sea.\u201d\n\nAll are agreed that the idea has come down to us from the earliest\ntimes.\n\nFinally, if this resonance exists as the great undertone of nature,\nit is probable, natural and consistent that it should be a stepping\nstone towards reaching Spirit, since harmony and accord are vitally\nnecessary to our progress in either the physical or the psychical\nworld. The effect of harmonious sound on the moral nature of man has\nreceived much scientific attention in relation to its influence over\nthe insane. The Rev. R.\u202fH. Haweis speaks of it in \u201cMusic and Morals,\u201d\nas \u201cthe much neglected study of Musical Psychology.\u201d His remarks are\ngreatly to our present point. \u201cWhat has Nature done for the musician?\nShe has given him sound. * * Thoughts are but wandering spirits that\ndepend for their vitality upon the magnetic current of feeling. * * *\nEmotion is often weakened by association with thought, whereas\nthoughts are always strengthened by emotion. I have endeavored to * * * *\nto show that there is a region of abstract emotion in human nature;\n* * * * that, this region of emotion consisted of infinite varieties\nof mental temperature that upon these temperatures or atmospheres\nof the soul depended the degree, and often the kind of actions of\nwhich at different times we were capable. * * Who will deny that the\nexperience of such soul-atmospheres must leave a definite impress upon\nthe character? * * * But if, as we have maintained, music has the power\nof actually creating and manipulating these mental atmospheres, what\nvast capacities, for good or evil must music possess!\u201d * * * The Bible\nitself pays a tribute to the emotional effect and power of changing\nthe soul\u2019s atmosphere possessed by even such a primitive instrument\nas David\u2019s Harp. \u201cWhen the evil Spirit from God was upon Saul, then\nDavid took an harp, and played with his hand. So Saul was refreshed,\nand was well, and the evil Spirit departed from him.\u201d (1 Sam. xvi,\n23.) I have no doubt whatever that the acknowledged influence of music\nover the insane might be far more extensively used; indeed if applied\njudiciously to a disorganized mind, it might be as powerful an agent\nas galvanism in restoring healthy and pleasurable activity to the\nemotional regions. Who can deny then, if such a mysterious command as\nthis is possessed by music over the realm of abstract emotion, that\nmusic itself must be held responsible for the manner in which it deals\nwith that realm, and the kind of succession, proportion and degrees of\nthe various emotional atmospheres it has the power of generating.\n\nTestimony upon these various points might be multiplied, but is not the\nabove sufficient to indicate a possibility at least that these \u201cSinging\nSilences\u201d are closely allied to \u201cNada Brahma,\u201d the omnipresent sound,\nthe vibration caused perhaps by the speeding of Light, (which is the\nfirst Divine Thought,) from the Central Sun, and in the mighty harmony\nof its coming, awakening and vivifying all things?\n\n \u201cI guess, by the stir of this music\n What raptures in heaven can be,\n Where the sound is Thy marvellous stillness,\n And the music is light out of Thee.\u201d\n JULIUS.\n\n\n ON THE SOUL OF MAN.\n\nBEING THE REPLIES TO TWO OUT OF FORTY QUESTIONS, BY _Jacob Behmen_, IN\nTHE YEAR 1620. FROM THE TRANSLATION MADE IN 1647.\n\nTO THE EIGHTH QUESTION:\n\n _After what manner doth the soule come into the Body of Man?_\n\nMY BELOVED FRIEND: I understand this question to be meant concerning\nits propagation; for Moses telleth you how it came into Adam, and we\nhave declared that before; but if you ask concerning its propagation,\nhow it cometh into a childe in the mother\u2019s wombe, we must put on\nanother habit.\n\n2. You know what is written in our third booke very punctually and at\nlarge, with many circumstances concerning its propagation; how Adam was\ncreated one Image, he was both man and woman before Eve; he had (within\nhim) both Tincture of the Fire, and of the Water; that is soule and\nspirit; he should have brought his similitude out of himself, an image\nof himself, out of himself by his imagination and his owne Love, and\nthat he was able to do without rending of the body.\n\n3. For, as we have mentioned before, the soule had power to change the\nbody into another forme, and so also it had power to bring forth a twig\nout of itself, according to its property, if Adam had stood out in the\nTriall.\n\n4. But when he imagined according to the Omnipotence, and let in the\nspirit of this world into the soule, and the serpent into the Tincture,\nand tooke a longing in himself after the earthly fruite, to eate of\nevill and good, then also his Tincture conceived such an image as was\nhalf earthly; viz: a monster, into which also the Turba (the gross\nlower elements), then instantly insinuated itself and sought the limit\n(that is, filled it as far as possible).\n\n5. And so the noble image was found in the earthly, and then\ndestruction and death began, and Adam could not bring forth, for his\nomnipotence was lost.\n\n6. And should indeed have ever been lost, if the heart of God had not\ninstantly turned itself with the word of promise, into Adam\u2019s soule;\nwhich did so preserve it, that its image must perish and the soule must\nsinke downe with the heavenly body through death into the new life,\nwhere its spirit will be renewed againe.\n\n7. And thus Adam in impotence fell asleep; and then the second creation\nbegan, for God tooke the Tincture of the Water, as a twig out of Adam\u2019s\nsoule, and a rib out of Adam, and halfe of the crosse that was in Adam,\nand made a woman of them.\n\n8. As you know that the woman hath the one halfe crosse in her head,\nand the man the other, for the spirit of the soule dwelleth in the\nhead, in the braine, out of which spirit God hath taken a twig (_viz_:\na childe out of the spirit of the soule of Adam) and hath given it to\nthe woman.\n\n9. And hath given the tincture of the water to her, that she should not\nbring forth Devills, and the man hath the tincture of fire, _viz_: the\ntrue Originall of Life.\n\n10. And therefore the woman hath gotten the matrix, _viz_: the tincture\nof Venus, and the man hath the tincture of fire: understand, the woman\nhath the tincture of Light, which cannot awaken Life\u2014the Life ariseth\nin the tincture of fire.\n\n11. And so it cannot be otherwise now, but that they must propagate as\nbeasts doe, in two seeds: the man soweth soule, and the woman soweth\nspirit; and being sowne in an earthly field, it is also brought forth\nafter the manner of all beasts.\n\n12. Yet nevertheless all the three principles are in the seed, but the\ninward cannot be knowne by the outward, for in the seed the soule is\nnot living: but when the two tinctures are brought together, then it is\na whole essence; for the soule is essentiall in the seed, and in the\nconception becometh substantiall.\n\n13. For so soon as the fire is struck upon by Vulcan, the soule is\nwholly perfect in the essence and the spirit goeth instantly out of the\nsoule into the tincture, and attracteth the outward dominion to itself,\n_viz_: the Starres together with the Aire.\n\n14. And then it is an eternall childe, and hath the corruptible spirit\nalso with the _Turba_ cleaving to it, which Adam tooke in by his\nimagination.\n\n15. Then instantly the Turba seeketh the limit in the spirit of this\nworld, and will enter into the limit, and so soone as the soule hath\nits life, the body is old enough to die: and thus, many a soule\nperisheth in the Essence,[105] while it is in the sulphur in the seed.\n\n16. But that you may perceive that the man hath the tincture of the\nfire, and the woman the tincture of the light in the water, _viz_:\nthe tincture of Venus; you must observe the eager imagination of both\ntowards one another: for the seed in the essence eagerly seeketh the\nlife, the masculine in the woman in Venus, and the feminine in the\nfire, in the originall of life in the man: as we have very cleerly\ndemonstrated in the third Booke, and therefore we refer the reader\nthither.\n\n17. And we answer here, that soule cometh not at all into the body, or\nis breathed into it from without, but the three principles have each\nof them its own artificer: one worketh with fire in the centre, and\nthe other maketh tincture and water, and the third maketh the earthly\n_Mysterium Magnum_.[106]\n\n18. And yet it (soule) is not any new thing, but the seed of man and\nwoman, and is onely conceived in the mixture, and so onely a twig\ngroweth out of the tree.[107]\n\nTO THE ELEVENTH QUESTION:\n\n _How and where is it seated in Man?_\n\nA thing which is unsearchable, and yet seeketh and maketh a ground in\nitself; that hath its originall, and seat in its first conception,\nwhere it conceiveth itself in itself: therein is its limit, _viz_:\nin the most innermost, and it goeth forth out of itself, and seeketh\nforward, where then it always maketh one glasse according to the other,\nuntill it finds the first again, _viz_: the unsearchable limit.\n\n2. Thus also is the soule, it is in God conceived in the heart, and the\nword which conceived it was in the heart, _viz_: in the centre; and so\nit continueth in the figure and in the seat, as it was comprehended by\nthe _fiat_; and so it is still at this day.\n\n3. It dwelleth in three principles: but the heart is its originall; it\nis the inward fire in the heart, in the inward blood of the heart; and\nthe spirit of it which hath a glance from the fire is in the tincture:\nfor it is cloathed with the tincture, and burneth in the heart.\n\n4. And the spirit moveth upon the heart in the bosom of the heart,\nwhere both principles part themselves, and it burneth in the tincture\nin a brimstony light: and diffuseth itself abroad into all the members\nof the whole body: for the tincture goeth through all the members.\n\n5. But the true Firesmith in the centre\u2014master workman\u2014sitteth in\nthe heart, and governeth with the spirit in the head where it hath\nits counsell house, _viz_: the mind and senses, also the five chief\ncounsellors, _viz_: the five senses, which arise from the five spirits\nof understanding, as we have declared in our third booke; and in our\nsecond, and in our first.[108]\n\n6. The soule is indeed seated in the inward principle, but it moveth\neven in the outward, _viz_: in the starres and elements, and if it be\nnot an ape, and suffer itself to be captivated, it hath power enough to\nrule them, and if the soule plungeth itself into God, the outward must\nbe obedient to it.\n\n7. And if it cometh againe into the outward, riding upon the chariot of\nthe bride, and so have the Holy Ghost for an assistant, no assault of\nthe Devill is of any consequence, it destroyeth his nest, and driveth\nhim out, and he must stand in scorne and shame.\n\n8. And this is our answer to this question; but it must not be so\nunderstood as that if a man be beheaded, and so his blood gush out and\nthe outward life perishes, this reacheth the soule and killeth that;\nno, it loseth one principle indeed thereby, but not even the essence of\nthat principle, for that essence followeth it in the tincture, in the\nspirit, as a shadow.\n\n9. For the outward essence reacheth not the inward in the soule, but\nonely by the imagination; there is nothing else in this world, no fire,\nnor sword, that can touch the soule, or put it to death,[109] but onely\nthe imagination; that is its poyson.\n\n10. For it originally proceeded from the imagination, and remaineth in\nit eternally.\n\n\n LIVING THE HIGHER LIFE.\n\n [_Concluded from July Number._]\n\nNeedless to say, that such vows were conscientiously kept, and that\nthose who were not really able to do so never made such promises nor\nretired from the side of their family, but chose to belong to the\nfirst class of married people. This second class of persons who thus\nretired into the forest and became hermits, were called Vanaprasthas.\nThey always obtained the full consent[110] of their near relatives and\nrenounced \u201cpleasures\u201d and material prosperity (money making, etc.).\n\nThe fourth highest order of life was complete renunciation (Sannyasis).\nThese were the blessed few who had, then and there, in each\nincarnation, got out of family defects. Only those _were_ admitted into\nthis order whom the defects of no family could affect. Long before\ntheir admission into this order, they had, by fulfilling family duties,\nsuccessively, incarnation after incarnation gone far beyond the reach\nof family defects. Brahmacharis and Kannikas could, after they had\ndischarged family duties, become Sannyasis. All except those belonging\nto the second order of life, were called upon and did take a vow to\ngive up one or more of their dearest and strongest defects.\n\nSuch, my friends, were the Laws of Manu. If any of you could establish\na community on a better foundation, I should be happy to give up my\nallegiance to the great Sage, Saviour, and Legislator. As every Manu\nestablishes the same Manava Dharma again and again, and as the Manus\nare higher than Buddha and other founders of religions, I should call\nupon you to pay all possible attention to this subject. Manu is higher,\nbecause he overshadows a Buddha.\n\nI must request the readers, to study every word and the whole of this\npaper (if it deserves to be so called) and not tear it piece-meal or\ninterpret passages and phrases in it, as they please. I must add,\nthat by \u201cfamily duties\u201d I do not at all mean sacrificing your duty\nor conviction and Truth, to gratify the whims or selfish nature or\nsectarian views of any of your \u201crelatives.\u201d But I use the expression\n\u201cfamily duties\u201d in a peculiar sense, namely \u201cthat course and _only\nthat course_ of action, speech and thoughts by which you can not only\nget rid of your family defects in this very incarnation, but also\nstrengthen in yourself all the noble qualities of your family, and\nwhich will at the same time enable your relatives (parents, brothers,\nsisters, wife, children, etc.,) also to get rid of _the same_ defects\nand strengthen in themselves _the same_ good qualities\u2014so that you\nmight be born again and again in the same family.\u201d \u201cPatriotism\u201d is\nused in a similar manner; and the article \u201cElixir of Life\u201d (see\n_Theosophist_) should be read in the light of this paper.\n\nThe question is asked, \u201cHas the dweller of the threshold an objective\nform; upon what does its objective form depend; does it always appear\nto every one in the same form as it did to Glyndon in Bulwer\u2019s story?\u201d\n\nIt is objective to those who have gone very far.\n\nIt depends upon (1) a certain thing I shall not here name; (2) the\nstage of development to which the chela or occultist has attained or is\nnear attaining; (3) the mode of regarding elementals and the Dweller,\npeculiar to the chela or occultist, to his family and to his nation,\nor rather to the national and family legends or religion; (4) which\nform, more or less monstrous or incongruous, would be most frightful\nand overpowering to him at the critical period. Subject to the above\nfour conditions, the Dweller assumes a form according to the manner in\nwhich the chela or occultist _has or has not fulfilled his threefold\nduties_, and according to the manner in which the sevenfold elements of\nthe Dweller assert themselves upon him. The better he has fulfilled the\nthreefold duties, the less does the Dweller affect him. Of course the\nform is not necessarily the same for every one.\n\nWhy did the Dweller appear to Glyndon\u2019s sister, who was not undergoing\nprobation, and why in the same form?\n\nBecause she was sympathetic and sensitive enough. The principle\ninvolved in this case is the same as in obsession.\n\nThe Dweller might either be but one elemental, or a group or several\ngroups of elementals assuming one collective form. It is one elemental,\nwhen the crisis comes at the very commencement of the chela\u2019s or\noccultist\u2019s attempt to elevate his lower nature. This is the case when\nhe has the least (Karmic) stamina for the \u201cuphill path.\u201d The later on\nhis path is waylaid the more numerous are the elementals of which the\nDweller is composed.\n\nIt need not be imagined that this appearance or influence confronts the\nchela only once until he reaches the first initiation, and an initiate\nonly once during the interval between two initiations. It appears as\noften as the stock of his Karmic stamina falls below the minimum limit.\n\nBy Karmic stamina is meant the _phala_ (effect or fruit) of past\nunselfish, good Karma that has become ripened. Though the occultist\nmight have an immense quantity of past unselfish good Karma stored up,\nstill, if during his crisis there be not a sufficient number of present\nunselfish good thoughts to ripen a sufficient portion of that quantity,\nhe finds himself destitute of the necessary stock of stamina. Few are\nthey who have already laid up a good quantity of unselfish good Karma;\nand fewer still are they who have the requisite degree of unselfish and\nspiritual nature during the period of trial; and there are still fewer\nwho would not rush for further Yoga development, without having all the\nrequisite means.\n\nWhen not qualified fully for it, we ought to and could go on developing\nourselves in the ordinary way, and try to secure the necessary means\nby leading an unselfish life and setting an example to others, and\nthis is the stage of nearly all ordinary Theosophists. They, in common\nwith all their fellows, are influenced by a \u201cDweller,\u201d which is the\neffect upon them of their own, their family, and national defects;\nand although they may never, in this life, see objectively any such\nform, the influence is still there, and is commonly recognized as \u201cbad\ninclinations and discouraging thoughts.\u201d\n\nSeek then, to live the Higher life by beginning now to purify your\nthoughts by good deeds, and by right speech.\n MURDHNA JOTI.\n\n\n MUSINGS ON THE TRUE THEOSOPHIST\u2019S PATH.\n\n\u201cThe way of inward peace is in all things to conform to the pleasure\nand disposition of the Divine Will. Such as would have all things\nsucceed and come to pass according to their own fancy, are not come\nto know this way; and therefore lead a harsh and bitter life; always\nrestless and out of humor, without treading the way of peace.\u201d\n\nKnow then Oh Man, that he who seeks the hidden way, can only find it\nthrough the door of life. In the hearts of all, at some time, there\narises the desire for knowledge. He who thinks his desire will be\nfulfilled, as the little bird in the nest, who has only to open his\nmouth to be fed; will very truly be disappointed.\n\nIn all nature we can find no instance where effort of some kind is not\nrequired. We find there is a natural result from such effort. He who\nwould live the life or find wisdom can only do so by continued effort.\nIf one becomes a student, and learns to look partially within the veil,\nor has found within his own being something that is greater than his\nouter self, it gives no authority for one to sit down in idleness or\nfence himself in from contact with the world. Because one sees the\ngleam of the light ahead he cannot say to his fellow \u201cI am holier than\nthee\u201d or draw the mantle of seclusion around himself.\n\nThe soul develops like the flower, in God\u2019s sunlight, and unconsciously\nto the soil in which it grows. Shut out the light and the soil grows\ndamp and sterile, the flower withers or grows pale and sickly. Each\nand every one is here for a good and wise reason. If we find partially\n_the why_ we are here, then is there the more reason that we should by\nintelligent contact with life, seek in it the farther elucidation of\nthe problem. It is not the study of ourselves so much, as the thought\nfor others that opens this door. The events of life and their causes\nlead to knowledge. They must be studied when they are manifested in\ndaily life.\n\nThere is no idleness for the Mystic. He finds his daily life among the\nroughest and hardest of the labors and trials of the world perhaps,\nbut goes his way with smiling face and joyful heart, nor grows too\nsensitive for association with his fellows, nor so extremely spiritual\nas to forget that some other body is perhaps hungering for food.\n\nIt was said by one who pretended to teach the mysteries \u201cIt is needful\nthat I have a pleasant location and beautiful surroundings.\u201d He who\nis a true Theosoph will wait for nothing of the sort, either before\nteaching: or what is first needful, learning. It would perhaps, be\nagreeable, but if the Divine Inspiration comes only under those\nconditions, then indeed is the Divine afar from the most of us. He\nonly can be a factor for good or teach how to approach the way, who\nforgetting his own surroundings, strives to beautify and illumine\nthose of others. The effort must be for the good of others, not the\ngratifying of our own senses, or love for the agreeable or pleasant.\n\nGiving thought to self will most truly prevent and overthrow your aims\nand objects, particularly when directed toward the occult.\n\nAgain there arises the thought \u201cI am a student, a holder of a portion\nof the mystic lore.\u201d Insidiously there steals in the thought \u201cBehold I\nam a little more than other men, who have not penetrated so far.\u201d Know\nthen oh, man, that you are not as great even as they. He who thinks he\nis wise is the most ignorant of men, and he who begins to _believe_ he\nis wise is in greater danger than any other man who lives.\n\nYou think, oh, man, that because you have obtained a portion of occult\nknowledge, that it entitles you to withdraw from contact with the rest\nof mankind. It is not so. If you have obtained true knowledge it forces\nyou to meet all men not only half way, but more than that to seek them.\nIt urges you not to retire but, seeking contact, to plunge into the\nmisery and sorrow of the world, and with your cheering word, if you\nhave no more (the Mystic has little else) strive to lighten the burden\nfor some struggling soul.\n\nYou dream of fame. We know no such thing as fame. He who seeks the\nupward path finds that all is truth; that evil is the good gone astray.\nWhy should we ask for fame? It is only the commendation of those we\nstrive to help.\n\nDesire neither notice, fame or wealth. Unknown you are in retirement.\nBeing fameless you are undisturbed in your seclusion, and can walk\nthe broad face of the earth fulfilling your duty, as commanded,\nunrecognized.\n\nIf the duty grows hard, or you faint by the way, be not discouraged,\nfearful or weary of the world. Remember that \u201cThou may\u2019st look\nfor silence in tumult, solitude in company, light in darkness,\nforgetfulness in pressures, vigor in despondency, courage in fear,\nresistance in temptation, peace in war, and quiet in tribulation.\u201d\n AMERICAN MYSTIC.\n\n\n REVIEWS AND NOTES.\n\nTHEOSOPHY IN THE PRESS.\u2014A great many articles, both editorial and\notherwise, have within the past few months appeared in the daily\npapers, the most of them full of misstatements mixed with ignorance of\nnot only Theosophy, but also of many things well known in literature.\nOne paper devoted two columns to the subject, and the editor called\nthem thorough and accurate, yet we find in it the mind cure treated as\nTheosophy, and then all the cranky notions the writer could rake up in\nNew York and Boston are called \u201cBuddhist bosh.\u201d\n\nBut some Theosophists have been guilty of ventilating in the papers\nthe statement that Theosophy is _astralism_, that is to say, that the\nobject of the Society is to induce people to go into the study and\npractice of spirit raising, cultivating the abnormal faculties, of\nclairvoyance and the like, ignoring entirely the prime object, real\nend, aim and _raison d\u2019etre_ of the movement\u2014universal brotherhood\nand ethical teaching. In fact, we make bold to assert, from our own\nknowledge and from written documents, that the Mahatmas, who started\nthe Society, and stand behind it now, are distinctly opposed to making\nprominent these phenomenal leanings, this hunting after clairvoyance\nand astral bodies, and that they have so declared most unmistakeably,\nstating their wish and advice to be, that \u201c_the Society should prosper\non its ethical, philosophical and moral worth alone_.\u201d\n\nTheosophists should haste to see that this false impression created\nat large, that it is a dangerous study, or that it is in any way\ndangerous, or that we conceal our reasons for what we are doing, is\ndone away with. There is proof enough to their hand. India has nearly\n120 branches, all studying freely and openly how best to purify their\nown lives, while they bring to others a knowledge of right doctrine.\nAmerica has a dozen branches, nearly all of which know that the\nimpressions referred to are ridiculous. If one or two persons in the\nSociety imagine that the pursuit of psychical phenomena is its real end\nand aim and so declare, that weighs nothing against the immense body of\nthe membership or against its widespread literature; it is merely their\nindividual bias.\n\nBut at the same time, this imagination and misstatement are dangerous,\nand insidiously so. It is just the impression which the Jesuit college\ndesires to be spread abroad concerning us, so that in one place\nridicule may follow, and in another a superstitious dread of the thing;\nwhich ever of those may happen to obtain, they would be equally well\npleased.\n\nLet Theosophists attend to this, and let them not forget, that the\nonly authoritative statement of what are the ends and objects of the\nSociety, is contained in those printed in its by-laws. No amount of\nassertion to the contrary by any officer or member can change that\ndeclaration.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cLAST WORDS\u201d OF MONCURE D. CONWAY.\u2014We do not refer to a book, but\nto an article written by Mr. Conway in the _Forum_ upon the subject\nof Theosophy. He declares to those who are honored by his personal\nacquaintance, that that article is really \u201cthe _last word_ to be\nsaid on the subject,\u201d and he desires all people to read it, so that\ntheir delusions may be dispelled. In this he is wise, because certain\ndelusions held by some people would be at once dispelled upon reading\nhis lucubrations.\n\nMr. Conway has been excessively bitter against Theosophy ever since\nhe went to the headquarters in Madras, and was well treated and\nentertained by the unsuspecting Theosophists there. Almost in the\nsame hour that he was being housed and fed there, he was writing to\nthe _Glasgow Herald_\u2014he had not yet got into the _Forum_\u2014an article\nabusing those who extended to him their hospitality. He had been\nthere but a few hours, and so great was his penetration, that in that\nshort time, he had succeeded, as he said, in unravelling the whole\nmystery, in pricking the bubble. But how he grew so wise in such short\nspace, we do not know. His solution was and is, that Madame Blavatsky\nproduced Mahatmas, Aryan literature, Sanscrit language, Astral bodies\nand all the rest, by means of a curious thing called \u201cglamour,\u201d which\nis vulgarly called \u201cpulling the wool.\u201d But Conway gives a little more\npower to this glamour than the vulgar phrase, for he ascribes to it\nsome power over the imagination. He does not say how we are to know\nwhether or not his own perceptions were \u201cglamoured\u201d; for he has the\nhardihood to assert that Madame Blavatsky, the arch conspirator, was\nfool enough to unburden her heart to him, a decaying English divine,\nand to weakly confess upon a mere plain interrogation put by him,\nthat \u201cit is all glamours.\u201d For our part, we are led to believe, from\ncertain information and after having, subsequent to Mr. Conway\u2019s\nreturn to London, conversed with him, that the \u201cglamour\u201d used on the\noccasion, was so powerful as to affect Mr. Conway\u2019s perception to such\nan extent, that he is willing to accuse himself of such a foolish thing\nas trying to make us believe that Blavatsky made a full confession _to\nhim_. It is really \u201call glamours\u201d; but after all, the _Forum_ is not\na bad sort of a magazine for Theosophy to get into, even through the\ninstrumentality of this \u201cglamoured\u201d clergyman.\n\nHowever, as Theosophy sometimes has prophets, we hope and trust, that\nhis own entitlement of his thoughts on the subject may not be fateful,\nand not be his \u201clast words.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nSINNETT.\u2014In our July issue a printer\u2019s error gave the wrong title to\nMr. Sinnett\u2019s new book. It is called \u201c_United_\u201d and not _Union_, as was\nprinted in July.\n\n\n THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.\n\nNEW YORK: THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY continues to publish its short\nAbridgement of Discussions, which are circulated to all Branches, and\nhave met with commendation.\n\nAt a recent meeting Mr. C.\u202fH. A. Bjerregaard lectured on mysticism,\nshowing how much the world is indebted to its mystics. Mr. Bjerregaard\npromises the Society further lectures in the Fall.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE ROCHESTER CONVENTION was held July 4th, 1886, at Mrs. Cable\u2019s\nhouse in Rochester. Delegates attended from fourteen Branches, and\nenthusiastic meetings were held July 4th and 5th. The report of the\nSecretary showed a gain in Branches, of over 100 per cent. since July,\n1885.\n\nImportant orders were received from India, being the resolutions of a\ncouncil meeting held in Adyar, at which it was resolved that American\nTheosophical Branches shall form into a general American Council,\nsimilar and subject to the parent body, and thus being democratic and\nmore like a brotherhood. Arrangements were made for carrying these\norders into full effect, and soon, perhaps, we will have another\nconvention.\n\n * * * * *\n\nROCHESTER BRANCH.\u2014This Branch held a public meeting near the end of\nJuly, which was duly advertised, and well attended by intelligent\npeople. Mr. E. Sasseville, of that Branch, read a paper on\n_Reincarnation_, and Mrs. Cables addressed the meeting on the _Inner\nLife of Man_. This is really the first public Theosophical meeting we\nhave had in America, and marks an era. Strangely too, it occurred in\nRochester, where the spiritual rappings first were heard. The members\nwho got it up and carried it out are not those who have become the most\nfamous, but are a band of devoted souls who believe in the cause and\nare willing to let it be known. It is through such people always that\nthe most work is accomplished for the progression of any cause.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE PSYCHICAL RESEARCH SOCIETIES OF LONDON AND AMERICA.\u2014The London\nsociety some time ago had a long report made by one of its members, a\nMr. Hodgson, in which the Theosophical Society is attacked, and Mme.\nBlavatsky is branded as the greatest impostor of modern times. By many\nweak people who swear by authority, and who do not rely upon their own\njudgment, this report has been accepted as final, and has prevented\nthem from giving any further attention to the study of either Theosophy\nor Aryan literature. We are not sorry for the Society, but commiserate\nthose who, thus deluded, have lost a golden opportunity. The cause of\ntheosophy does not depend, however, upon them, and still flourishes in\nevery land.\n\nIn the _Religio Philosophical Journal_ a long letter is printed,\nsigned \u201cF. T.\u202fS.\u201d in which the Psychical Research Society of America\nis given a warning. The writer specifies his charges in the name of\ntheosophists, to be as follows:\n\n\u201cPreferring the general charge that you are not what you pretend to be,\nwe specify:\n\n1. That you know nothing of psychic science.\n\n2. That you do not know how to conduct psychic research.\n\n3. That you do not know what it is that you are in search of.\n\n4. That you would not know a psychic result to be such if you reached\nit.\n\n5. That you do not know how to judge the evidence upon which psychic\nphenomena rests.\n\n6. That you do not know of anything really worth investigating in\npsychic science.\n\n7. That you do not know how to learn and do not really want to be\ntaught.\n\nAnd yet you are pleased to style yourselves \u2018The American Society for\nPsychical Research.\u2019 We say to you, gentlemen, that being what you are,\nyour very name is an insult to psychic science, and would be, were\nit known, a just cause of offense to hundreds of thousands who have\nreached that goal toward which you have resolutely turned your backs.\nIn discussing the charges which we bring against you, we shall take\noccasion to show you that you are not in the line of psychic evolution,\nbut surely tending in the opposite direction. If you do not heed our\nwarning, if you do not desist and turn to the rightabout before it is\ntoo late, every hope that you entertain will be frustrated, your every\nendeavor will yield you shame and confusion, your goal will prove to be\nthe pillory of public opinion, and your first real lesson in psychic\nscience will have been learned when psychic research into your own\nsouls shows you what it is to be made a laughing-stock.\u201d\n\nHe then goes on to catechise the Society with a long list of questions\ndirected to showing that they never studied psychical science, that\nthey do not know even the rudiments of the simplest phenomenon, to all\nof which questions the answer must be \u201cNo.\u201d\n\nAs this letter applies just as well to the London Society, we hope it\nwill be read by those who are interested. The London gentlemen went\nso far as to accept the conclusions of an investigator who got all\nhis _facts_ second-handed, and who could not possibly have had the\nreal evidence. Among other things he says that the editor of this\nMagazine went to India to investigate \u201cbut was not allowed to see the\n(famous) shrine.\u201d This statement was false, and merely the result of\nthe ignorance of Mr. Hodgson, for we not only saw the shrine, but after\nseeing everything, ordered it closed up from the prejudiced prying\neyes and steel jimmies of Englishmen who came afterwards, and the very\ndrawing of the premises used by Mr. Hodgson in his report, after being\nfalsified, was made by the editor of this Magazine.\n\n * * * * *\n\n From study let a man proceed to meditation, and from meditation to\n study; by perfection in both, the supreme spirit becomes manifest.\n Study is one eye to behold it, and meditation is the other.\u2014_Vishnu\n Purana._\n\n Neither by the eyes, nor by spirit, nor by the sensuous organ,\n by austerity, nor by sacrifices, can we see God. Only the pure,\n by the light of wisdom and by deep meditation can see the pure\n God.\u2014_Upanishads._ Only the pure in heart shall see God.\u2014_Jesus._\n\n \u201cLead me from the unreal to the real! Lead me from darkness to light!\n Lead me from death to immortality!\u201d\u2014_Saman and Yagur Vedas, and Brih.\n Upan._\n\n The small, old path stretching far away, has been found by me. On\n it sages who know Brahman move on to the heavenly place, and thence\n higher on, entirely free.\u2014_Yajnavalkya._\n\n OM.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[89] In reply to several inquiries as to the meaning of _Chela_, we\nanswer that it here means an accepted disciple of an Adept. The word,\nin general, means, _Disciple_.\n\n[90] See Agroushada Parakshai, 2d book, 23d dialogue.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[91] It is interesting to compare the _Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad_, 4th\nBrah., with this: \u201cIn the beginning this was Self alone, in the shape\nof a spirit. He looking round, saw nothing but his Self.\u201d\u2014[ED.]\n\n[92] Quran xxiv, 35.\n\n[93] ibid. lxxvi, 18.\n\n[94] The Mevlevi or dancing devishes.\n\n[95] Quran xix, 74.\n\n[96] ibid. xxv, 26.\n\n[97] ibid. ii,\n\n[98] ibid. lxxx, 15.\n\n[99] ibid. lvi, 78.\n\n[100] ibid. lvi, 79.\n\n[101] ibid. xli, 42.\n\n[102] ibid. xii, 64.\n\n[103] ibid. vii, 150.\n\n[104] True transl. by J. Freeman Clark.\n\n[105] This is also an ancient Hindu doctrine laid down in secret\nbooks.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[106] See his _Clavix_, written in 1624.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[107] It is important to remember that Behmen gave the name spirit to\nthe lower soul and _soul_ with him meant what we call _spirit_.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[108] _Threefold life_; _Three principles_; and _Aurora_.\n\n[109] See _Bagavad-Gita_.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[110] \u201cFull consent\u201d including the consent of all their various\nconsciousnesses. If the Patin or Pati saw, and they ought to be able\nto see, that even in one of the consciousnesses of any of their near\nrelatives there lurked a latent spark of hesitation to consent or of\nunwillingness, then the pair unselfishly gave up their determination to\nbecome Vanaprasthas and remained with the family until the proper time\ncame.\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n The Supreme Universal Spirit is One, simple and indivisible; being\n all, pervading all, sustaining all, the good, the bad and the ignorant\n alike.\n\n I am the origin of all. From me all proceeds. For those who are\n constantly devoted, dead in me, do I, on account of my compassion,\n destroy the darkness which springs from ignorance, by the brilliant\n lamp of spiritual knowledge.\u2014_Bagavad-Gita._\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. SEPTEMBER, 1886. NO. 6.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n THEOSOPHIC MORALS.\n\nSome remarks professedly concerned with \u201cThe Higher Life,\u201d appearing in\n\u201cTHE PATH\u201d for July, over the _nom de plume_ of _Murdhna Joti_, strike\nme as presenting the readers with so narrow and unwholesome a view of\nTheosophic principles, that I find myself impelled to point out some\nof the misconceptions from which they seem to arise. That hard-worked\nphrase the \u201cDweller on the Threshold\u201d has been interpreted in many\nfantastic senses, but surely it has never before been saddled with so\nludicrously inappropriate a meaning as in this essay where it is made\nto stand for love of kindred and love of country. That these ennobling\nsentiments are what the writer means by \u201cfamily defects\u201d and \u201cnational\ndefects\u201d is apparent from the passage that would be little less than\nblasphemous in the ears of any real oriental Chela with whom I have\never been acquainted,\u2014in which:\u2014\u201cA Mahatma has, it appears, declared\nthat he has still patriotism. But he has not said nor would say that\nhe has still family attachment. This proves that he has got out of the\ndefects of the family to which he belongs, while he is only striving to\nget out of national defects, some of which at any rate cling to him.\u201d\nThe reference here is of course to one of the letters quoted by me in\nthe _Occult World_, in which the writer so beautifully shows that the\nexalted rank in nature to which he has attained, leaves him as free\nas ever to entertain generous emotions of sympathy with the race to\nwhich his latest personality belongs. If he had been dealing with the\nsubject from another point of view he would have equally shown himself\nto be,\u2014as I have good reason to believe that he is,\u2014animated by still\nmore specific attachments to certain persons of his physical kindred.\n\u201cDefects\u201d of family and defects of nationality may undoubtedly be\nreflected in given individuals, and like any other personal failings\nmay in such cases stand in the way of devotion to the Higher Life; but\nsuch defects are not those which are convertible terms, according to\nthe extraordinary essay before me, with healthy patriotism and domestic\naffection. And I can hardly imagine a more grotesquely misleading\naccount of occult progress than that which represents the \u201cbeginner\u201d\nas employed upon first extinguishing his regard for his relations, and\ngoing on to teach himself indifference to the land of his birth. If the\nextravagance of such a doctrine could be enhanced in an essay addressed\nto Western readers, it would be thus intensified by its author\u2019s\nreference to the \u201cfamily duties\u201d which must be duly accomplished first\nbefore the promising neophyte in the training subsequently prescribed\nfor him is at liberty to enter the \u201ccircle of ascetics.\u201d A certain\nhaziness clings round his theory as to the nature of these duties,\nbut enough is said to show any reader familiar with India, that the\nwriter\u2019s mind is running on the exoteric customs of the Hindu which\nconstitute the local superstitions of the common people,\u2014a designation\nwhich applies equally to one caste as to another, for modern Brahmins\nmay be as thoroughly dissociated from the spirit of the esoteric\ndoctrine and as hopelessly saturated with corrupt conventionalities as\nBritish churchwardens or the corresponding functionaries in America.\nSome such fancies derived from exoteric Hindu thinking have clearly\ninspired the article under notice. In India even exoteric thinking\nrecognizes the existence of Mahatmas and theories concerning the\nmethods by which their condition may be approached, but Theosophic\nstudents in Europe and America should be on their guard against\nsupposing that every thing which emanates from an Indian source, must\non that account be true occult philosophy.\n\nEspecially in India, but in other parts of the world too, in various\ndisguises we continually encounter the fundamental blunder of the\nmere _fakir_ that progress in occult development is to be acquired\nby simulating some of the external characteristics of a development\nthat has been accomplished. No doubt there are states of immaterial\nexistence to which human beings may ultimately climb,\u2014at distances of\ntime as immeasureable as those heights themselves, where such relative\nattributes as those which invest embodied human beings with specific\nattachments, will be merged in the higher mysteries of nature, which\nwe can talk about already, perhaps, and assign names to, but assuredly\ncannot yet realize, or even effectually comprehend. But it may be,\nthere is hardly any level even in Adeptship, at which still embodied\nhumanity is ripe to shed such attachments, and the notion of talking\nabout attempting this from the point of view of incipient chelaship is\nas ludicrous as it would be to talk about pruning a seedling which had\njust protruded its first green shoot above the ground; and suggests, in\nregard to human illustrations, the notion of a beardless youngster, who\npresents himself to a barber to be shaved. We Theosophists are engaged\nin an undertaking which makes it very desirable that we should not\nrender ourselves ridiculous; and though there is no endeavor possible\nfor us which is better entitled to respect than an honest attempt to\nlead \u201cthe Higher Life,\u201d we may perhaps more easily bring discredit\non our movement by talking nonsense about that grand ideal, than in\nany other way. We may go further, indeed, than the mere recognition\nof nobility attaching to the pursuit of the Higher Life. We may grant\nthat no one can truly be said to have assimilated the principles of\nesoteric teaching unless these have made a sensible impression on his\nconduct and on the practical attitude he assumes in relation to others\nand the world at large. But it will be a matter to be determined by\neach man\u2019s temperament, how far he keeps his own personal dealings, so\nto speak, with the great principles of Theosophy a private transaction\nbetween himself and his conscience, or how far he ventures to bring\nthem into relief by devoting himself especially as a Theosophist to the\ntask of preaching exalted morality. I am now of course passing out, on\nmy own account, into the ocean of Theosophic discussion in general,\nand the sentence just penned has no reference to the article I began\nby reviewing,\u2014which appears to me to be very far from promulgating\nany morality or even coherent sense, exalted or otherwise. But on the\nsubject at large a few general remarks at this juncture may perhaps not\nbe inappropriate.\n\nThe most exalted morality imaginable is inevitably deduced from the\nprinciples of occult science, for by explaining to mankind how it is\nthat they really evolve through successive lives, each depending on\nthe last and on all its predecessors as summed up in the last, the\nbasic motives for good conduct are set out with far greater precision\nthan they can be suggested by the bribes or threats of conventional\nreligion. Such temptations and warnings, as experience has shown,\ncome to be distrusted or no longer feared as the manifestly erroneous\nconceptions with which they are entangled, become apparent to advancing\nintelligence. Then, loving the right still, under the influence of an\ninner intuition they have not learned to interpret properly, people\nattempt sometimes to supply the vacant places of their vanished faith,\nwith painful abstract theories of a barren duty, which take their rise\nin no intelligible sanction and tend to no specific result. For mere\nmorality divorced from religion and justified by no prospects of future\nexistence, it is impossible that the human mind could permanently\nfurnish a nourishing soil. To provide for the gathering emergency the\nesoteric doctrine is now beginning to shine on the world. In the longer\nfreedom with which it will shine hereafter, no doubt it will do much\nmore even than explain to men the scientific and satisfactory reasons\nwhy, right is right, why the pursuit of good conduces to happiness and\n_vice versa_. Already indeed, it is made apparent that the highest\ndegrees of exaltation possible for human beings, can only be attained\nin connection with a pursuit of good which has a still more subtle\nmotive than the thirst for spiritual happiness\u2014which is animated by\nthat unsurpassably sublime intention (often talked about so glibly,\nbut surely realized so seldom) unselfishness and disinterested zeal\nfor the welfare of others. But even if we do not handle that exalted\ntopic\u2014which sits ill upon the lips of any preachers who do not at all\nevents outshine the average achievements of ordinary good men in the\nexercise of unselfishness, is there not in what is put forward above\nin the first purpose of Theosophy a sufficiently exhilarating task to\nabsorb our best energies? To be laying the foundations of the future\nsystem of thought which _must_ in due time replace\u2014as the guiding rule\nof men\u2019s lives\u2014the earlier and cruder prescriptions of a priestcraft\nthat their widening comprehension of Nature is fast outgrowing,\u2014is not\nthat a sufficiently magnificent task for the Theosophical Society?\n\nCertainly esoteric teaching opens up possibilities before the sight\nof ardent spiritual aspirants that suggest to some eager hearts\nthe pursuit of an object\u2014which if rightly understood may be more\nmagnificent still, but which, as contemplated in the beginning may\noften be prompted by a relatively selfish motive,\u2014the personal pursuit\nof Adeptship. But in its original purpose the welfare of mankind at\nlarge and not the enlistment of new recruits in the army of chelaship\nwas as I read its design, the idea of the Theosophical Society. And\nhow was that design to be carried out? This question seems to me to\ntouch a point which it is highly important to keep in view at the\npresent moment. The Theosophical movement did not begin by preaching\n_de haut en bas_ an all but impossible code of ethics. It began by the\nhighly practical course of linking its operations with one of the most\ngrowing impulses in the most spiritually minded sections of the Western\ncommunity. These were _not_ the merely good and pious representatives\nof still surviving, though decaying religious systems; they were not\nthe hopeless however unselfish exponents of a barren philosophy that\nthrew forward no light on the future; they were found mainly among\npeople who in one way or another, and following various false beacons,\nperhaps, were realizing that discoveries were possible beyond the\nbarriers that had formerly seemed to set a limit to the range of the\nhuman senses. The bold though bewildered pioneers of psychic inquiry\nwere naturally marked out, indeed, to be appealed to first by the\nesoteric teachers. For them above all was the rudderless condition\nof modern religions thought a dark and threatening danger. Along the\nroad they had set out to travel they would certainly not stop short.\nBut readers of Theosophic literature will not require to be reminded\nwhere the study of occult phenomena un-illuminated by occult morality\nmust ultimately conduct its enthusiasts. The classes referred to were\nbest qualified to receive the new dispensation: and most urgently\nin need of it. To them therefore the Theosophical propaganda in the\nbeginning was directed, and this is the consideration which will be\nseen to explain the mystery that has so frequently been discussed in\nmore recent years\u2014the free and so to speak the extravagant display of\noccult wonders and marvellous phenomena with which the advent of the\nTheosophical movement was heralded. Its directors as it were, had to\nput themselves at the head of the psychic movement generally, in order\nto direct its future course aright, and they could not do this without\ncommanding the attention of persons already largely experienced in\npsychic investigation.\n\nNo doubt the time has now gone by when the policy that thus inaugurated\nthe Theosophical movement is either practicable or desirable. \u201cThe age\nof miracles is past,\u201d for us as for mankind at large,\u2014always making\nallowance for the familiar correction required by the saying that the\nage for helping on the more general comprehension of those resources\nof nature with which the \u201cmiracles\u201d had to do has not passed, by\nany means. The interpretation of Nature\u2014the promulgation of truth\nconcerning the \u201cpowers latent in Man\u201d\u2014to the end that the world at\nlarge may the better understand its own destinies and promote its own\nhealthier development through an immediate future, is still the ample\ntask that lies before the working members of our organization. Again\nlet us say that no one proposes to divorce this from recognition with\nwhich it is so intimately blended, of the sublime morality expressed in\nthe phrase\u2014the Brotherhood of Man. But in our zeal for the starry goal\nin the far distance, it will be discreet, on our part, to avoid the\nmistake of the Greek philosopher and not to forget the ground at our\nfeet.\n A.\u202fP. SINNETT.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNOTE.\u2014The admirable letter which we have printed above from the able\npen of the author of Esoteric Buddhism is a good instance of the truth\nthat there are many ways of arriving at the same goal, and incidentally\nit also illustrates how difficult it is for those who look at any\nsubject by the light of their own \u201cray\u201d to appreciate the view taken\nof it by one whose mental constitution is different. Both Murdhna\nJoti and Mr. Sinnett are right from their own points of view, and\nas they understand themselves. Both seem to us to be wrong as they\nprobably understand each other. Patriotism and family attachments\nas understood by Mr. Sinnett are good things, for he characterises\nthem by the adjectives \u201chealthy\u201d \u201cennobling\u201d \u201cgenerous.\u201d It cannot be\nsupposed from either a critical or casual reading of \u201cThe Higher Life\u201d\nthat Murdhna Joti advocates the elimination of any statement to which\nthese terms would apply. But patriotism and family attachments may be\nnarrow, bigoted, and founded upon an ignorance of other countries and\nother families, and upon an inability to perceive in other nations and\npersons the very qualities that make us feel warmly toward those we are\nacquainted with, intensified by a corresponding blindness to faults we\nhave become habituated to and perhaps partake of ourselves. It is the\n\u201cprovincialism\u201d of patriotism which breeds the prejudice in favor of\nthings which are a part of our \u201clarger selves,\u201d and which is bad; and\nthis narrowness in the case of family attachment (a different thing\nfrom personal affection), makes us fancy that our family geese are more\nbeautiful than our neighbor\u2019s swans. It is in this sense, it seems to\nus, that the family defects in question are held by Murdhna Joti as\nthings to get rid of, and may be said to enter into that practical\nconception \u201cthe Dweller on the Threshold;\u201d and it is in this sense\nthat a Mahatma may be supposed to lose them. As we rise to a higher\nlevel we perceive in clearer distinction the lights and shades in our\nown country and family, and we see also that much the same lights\nand shades exist elsewhere and everywhere; we lose at the same time\nthe personal prejudice which made lights and shades of a particular\ntint more agreeable to us than others; and thus we are brought to\nview all countries and families in their true light and in their real\nproportions. But the process by which this is accomplished is more of\nthe nature of a levelling up than of a levelling down. The attachment\nof a villager is at first confined to his village; as his mind expands,\nhis interests extend themselves progressively to the country, the\nstate, and the nation. This last entails an expenditure of \u201cgenerous\nfeeling\u201d which is exhaustive for most men; but a Mahatma has enough\nleft to stretch out over the whole of humanity. Anything smaller would\nnot be \u201cennobling\u201d or \u201cgenerous\u201d in his case.\n\nWe cannot agree, however, with Mr. Sinnett, in his criticism of Murdhna\nJoti\u2019s article, as to its presenting a false view of \u201cTheosophic\nmorals.\u201d The fact, at which the learned author of the _Occult World_\nhints, that a certain Mahatma has \u201cspecific attachments\u201d to relatives,\ndoes not prove that He still has \u201cfamily defects.\u201d Perhaps the writer\nof \u201cLiving the Higher Life\u201d might have been better understood by Mr.\nSinnett if he had in his first paper, intimated that while family\ndefects were to be got rid of, the noble qualities of the family,\nwere to be strengthened; but this seems to be plainly inferred, and\nis actually to be found in the paper, (p. 153, 3d paragraph); and\nall through the first paper, it is strenuously insisted, that the\nonly theosophic morality, is that one which compels us to unselfishly\nperform our duty in our family where we are placed by inevitable Karma.\n\nNot only has a Mahatma said He \u201cstill had patriotism,\u201d but He has also\nstated more emphatically, that \u201cin external Buddhism is the road to\ntruth.\u201d He cannot therefore agree with Mr. Sinnett in the objection\nthat exoteric Indian thought and religion led to error. In complete\nknowledge of this second declaration of the Mahatma, we read and\nprinted Murdhna Joti\u2019s paper, as we have \u201cTheosophic Morals.\u201d We see in\nthe paper criticised high aspiration and excellent precepts.\n\nThere are many modes of life; there are lower and higher planes. No man\nin one short article can write away all possible future misconceptions;\nboth sides must be presented, and they shall be in this Magazine. We\nneed therefore here warn readers, that Mr. Sinnett does not by any\nmeans desire them to understand that in saying that the Mahatma quoted\nhas \u201ccertain specific attachments,\u201d he would convey the impression that\nsuch a great Being has to struggle with the limitations of a family, or\nthat he has given up one legitimate set of ties only to assume others\nsimilar. Far from that. The nature of the attachment referred to, is\nquite as undefinable at Mr. Sinnett\u2019s hands as it is at those of the\nreaders, and we think it would be wise for the critic to state with\nclearness what the attachment is, in order that all readers may for\nthemselves be able to judge of the full meaning, extent and connection\nof Mr. Sinnett\u2019s reference, and what use can properly be made of it for\ncomparison or analysis.\n\nThe Mahatma studies the Bagavad-Gita in its higher sense, and all\nthrough that book the \u201cpassionless ascetic\u201d is lauded. What does it\nmean? Neglect of life and family? Never! But sometimes one gets out of\nfamily defects quite naturally. Yet the world says that _Bagavad-Gita_\ninculcates stony hearted selfishness, even as they carp at _Light on\nthe Path_ when it says \u201cthe eyes must be incapable of tears; ambition\nand desires must be killed out.\u201d These are hard sayings. Theosophy\nis full of difficult sayings, just as Jesus of the Christians said\nhis parables were. But Bagavad-Gita is the divine colloquy; and it is\nasserted that a Mahatma dictated Light on the Path.\u2014[ED.]\n\n\n HERMES TRISMEGISTUS.\n\n THE FOURTH STATE OF MATTER DESCRIBED IN THE SMARAGDINE TABLET.\n\nThat a tablet, now called the SMARAGDINE, was found there is no doubt.\nIts discovery is attributed by tradition to an _isarim_ or initiate,\nwho it is said, took it from the dead body of Hermes\u2014this could not\nhave been the Egyptian god Thoth\u2014which was buried at Hebron, in an\nobscure ditch. The tablet was held between the hands of the corpse.\nSome authors say that it was of emerald, which I do not believe; it\nprobably was of green strass or paste, an imitation of emerald, in\nthe manufacture of which the Egyptians excelled. Be it as it may, the\ncontents evidently refer to that subtile body, called by the great\nscientist Sir William Thompson, \u201cthe luminiferous \u00e6ther,\u201d\u2014to that\nmysterious, invisible to us, something, in which the matter-atoms\nfloat, the _azoth_ of the Hermetic philosophers, the _astral light_\nof the occultists, the _akasa_ of the Hindus; which physical science\nattempts to grasp, comprehend and sometimes use, under the name of\nelectricity, magnetism, heat, light, etc; which is experimentally made\nvisible, in one of its forms, by means of Professor Crookes \u201cradiant\nmatter\u201d and which he terms the fourth state of matter. It permeates all\nthings, going through flesh and blood, and steel and glass, the diamond\nand sapphire, with the facility of water through a net. A translation\nof this tablet is:[111]\n\n\u201cIt is true without falsehood, certain and very veritable, that that\nwhich is below, is as that which is above, and that that which is on\nhigh, is as that which is below, so as to perpetuate the miracles of\nall things.\n\n\u201cAnd as all things have been and come from One, by the mental desire of\nOne, so all things have been produced from that One only by adaptation.\n\n\u201cThe Sun (Osiris) is thence the father, and the Moon (Isis) the mother.\nThe Air, its womb, carries it thence, and the Earth is its nurse.\n\n\u201cHere is the producer of all, the talisman of all the world.\n\n\u201cIts force (or potentiality) is entire, if it is changed into the\nEarth, you separate the Earth from the Fire, the subtile from the\ngross. Sweetly, but with great energy, it mounts from the Earth to\nthe Heaven, and again descends to the Earth with powerful energy, and\nreceives the potentiality of the superior and inferior things.\n\n\u201cYou have, by this means, the light (or fire) of the whole universe.\nAnd upon account of this, all obscurity itself, with that, will fly\nentirely thence.\n\n\u201cIn this is the energy the strongest of all energy, for it vanquishes\nall subtile things and penetrates all the solid things.\n\n\u201cThus the world was created. From this will be and will go out\nadmirable adaptations, of which the medium is here.\n\n\u201cAnd because of these reasons I am called Hermes Trismegistus,\npossessing the three divisions of the philosophy of the universe.\n\n\u201cIt is complete, this that I have said of the operation of the Sun.\u201d\n\nThe reader must take note, that the fire referred to here, is not the\nperceptible fire, but the hidden occult fire, which is concealed in\nall things, and only becomes evident through a tearing asunder of the\natoms. The fire, which we see, is the black fire, the other the unseen,\nis the white fire. So the ancient Hebrew philosophy says, the Tablets\nof the Law given to Moses, were written by the Deity with black fire on\nwhite fire. It is referred to but concealed in the Maasey B\u2019reshith,\nthe great occult book of which is the Book of Genesis.\n ISAAC MYER.\n\n\n A HINDU CHELA\u2019S DIARY.\n\n [_This was begun in the June number._]\n\n\u201cI have been going over that message I received just after returning\nfrom the underground room, about not thinking yet too deeply upon what\nI saw there, but to let the lessons sink deep into my heart. Can it be\ntrue\u2014must it not indeed be true\u2014that we have periods in our development\nwhen rest must be taken for the physical brain in order to give it\ntime as a much less comprehensive machine than these English college\nprofessors say it is, to assimilate what it has received, while at\nthe same time the real brain\u2014as we might say, the spiritual brain\u2014is\ncarrying on as busily as ever all the trains of thought cut off from\nthe head. Of course this is contrary to this modern science we hear\nso much about now as about to be introduced into all Asia, but it is\nperfectly consistent for me.\n\n\u201cTo reconsider the situation: I went with Kun\u00e2la to this underground\nplace, and there saw and heard most instructive and solemn things. I\nreturn to my room, and begin to puzzle over them all, to revolve and\nre-revolve them in my mind, with a view to clearing all up and finding\nout what all may mean. But I am interrupted by a note from Kun\u00e2la\ndirecting me to stop this puzzling, and to let all I saw sink deep into\nmy heart. Every word of his I regard with respect, and consider to\nhold a meaning, being never used by him with carelessness. So when he\nsays, to let it sink into my \u2018heart,\u2019 in the very same sentence where\nhe refers to my thinking part\u2014the mind\u2014why he must mean to separate my\nheart from my mind and to give to the heart a larger and greater power.\n\n\u201cWell, I obeyed the injunction, made myself, as far as I could, forget\nwhat I saw and what puzzled me and thought of other things. Presently,\nafter a few days while one afternoon thinking over an episode related\nin the _Vishnu Purana_,[112] I happened to look up at an old house\nI was passing and stopped to examine a curious device on the porch;\nas I did this, it seemed as if either the device, or the house, or\nthe circumstance itself, small as it was, opened up at once several\navenues of thought about the underground room, made them all clear,\nshowed me the conclusion as vividly as a well demonstrated and fully\nillustrated proposition, to my intense delight. Now could I perceive\nwith plainness, that those few days which seemed perhaps wasted because\nwithdrawn from contemplation of that scene and its lessons, had been\nwith great advantage used by the spiritual man in unraveling the\ntangled skein, while the much praised brain had remained in idleness.\nAll at once the _flash_ came and with it knowledge.[113] But I must not\ndepend upon these flashes, I must give the brain and its governor, the\nmaterial to work with. * * * * * * * *\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cLast night just as I was about to go to rest, the voice of Kun\u00e2la\ncalled me from outside and there I went at once. Looking steadily at me\nhe said: \u2018we want to see you,\u2019 and as he spoke he gradually changed,\nor disappeared, or was absorbed, into the form of another man with\nawe-inspiring face and eyes, whose form apparently rose up from the\nmaterial of Kun\u00e2la\u2019s body. At the same moment two others stood there\nalso, dressed in the Tibetan costume; and one of them went into my\nroom from which I had emerged. After saluting them reverently, and not\nknowing their object, I said to the greatest,\n\n\u201c\u2018Have you any orders to give?\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018If there are any they will be told to you without being asked,\u2019 he\nreplied, \u2018stand still where you are.\u2019\n\n\u201cThen he began to look at me fixedly. I felt a very pleasant sensation\nas if I was getting out of my body. I cannot tell now what time passed\nbetween that and what I am now to put down here. But I saw I was in a\npeculiar place. It was the upper end of\u2014\u2014 at the foot of the\u2014\u2014 range.\nHere was a place where there were only two houses just opposite to\neach other, and no other sign of habitation; from one of these came\nout the old faquir I saw at the Durga festival, but how changed, and\nyet the same: then so old, so repulsive; now so young, so glorious, so\nbeautiful. He smiled upon me benignly and said:\n\n\u201c\u2018Never expect to see any one, but always be ready to answer if they\nspeak to you; it is not wise to peer outside of yourself for the great\nfollowers of Vasudeva: look rather within.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe very words of the poor faquir!\n\n\u201cHe then directed me to follow him.\n\n\u201cAfter going a short distance, of about half a mile or so, we came to\na natural subterranean passage which is under the\u2014\u2014 range. The path is\nvery dangerous; the River\u2014\u2014 flows underneath in all the fury of pent\nup waters, and a natural causeway exists upon which you may pass; only\none person at a time can go there and one false step seals the fate\nof the traveller. Besides this causeway, there are several valleys\nto be crossed. After walking a considerable distance through this\nsubterranean passage we came into an open plain in L\u2014\u2014 K. There stands\na large massive building thousands of years old. In front of it is a\nhuge Egyptian Tau. The building rests on seven big pillars each in the\nform of a pyramid. The entrance gate has a large triangular arch, and\ninside are various apartments. The building is so large that I think it\ncan easily contain twenty thousand people. Some of the rooms were shown\nto me.\n\n\u201cThis must be the central place for all those belonging to the\u2014\u2014 class,\nto go for initiation and stay the requisite period.\n\n\u201cThen we entered the great hall with my guide in front. He was youthful\nin form but in his eyes was the glance of ages. * * The grandeur and\nserenity of this place strikes the heart with awe. In the centre was\nwhat we would call an altar, but it must only be the place where\nfocuses all the power, the intention, the knowledge and the influence\nof the assembly. For the seat, or place, or throne, occupied by the\nchief\u2014\u2014 the highest\u2014\u2014 has around it an indescribable glory, consisting\nof an effulgence which seemed to radiate from the one who occupied\nit. The surroundings of the throne were not gorgeous, nor was the\nspot itself in any way decorated\u2014all the added magnificence was due\naltogether to the aura which emanated from Him sitting there. And over\nhis head I thought I saw as I stood there, three golden triangles in\nthe air above\u2014Yes, they were there and seemed to glow with an unearthly\nbrilliance that betokened their inspired origin. But neither they nor\nthe light pervading the place, were produced by any mechanical means.\nAs I looked about me I saw that others had a triangle, some two, and\nall with that peculiar brilliant light.\u201d\n\n [Here again occurs a mass of symbols. It is apparent that just at\n this spot he desires to jot down the points of the initiation which\n he wished to remember. And I have to admit that I am not competent\n to elucidate their meaning. That must be left to our intuitions and\n possibly future experience in our own case.]\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201c14th day of the new moon. The events of the night in the hall of\ninitiation gave me much concern. Was it a dream? Am I self deluded? Can\nit be that I imagined all this? Such were the unworthy questions which\nflew behind each other across my mind for days after. Kun\u00e2la does not\nrefer to the subject and I cannot put the question. Nor will I. I am\ndetermined, that, come what will, the solution must be reached by me,\nor given me voluntarily.\n\n\u201cOf what use to me will all the teachings and all the symbols be,\nif I cannot rise to that plane of penetrating knowledge, by which I\nshall myself, by myself, be able to solve this riddle, and know to\ndiscriminate the true from the false and the illusory? If I am unable\nto cut asunder these questioning doubts, these bonds of ignorance, it\nis proof that not yet have I risen to the plane situated above these\ndoubts. * * * Last night after all day chasing through my mental sky,\nthese swift destroyers of stability\u2014mental birds of passage\u2014I lay down\nupon the bed, and as I did so, into my hearing fell these words:\n\n\u201c\u2018Anxiety is the foe of knowledge; like unto a veil it falls down\nbefore the soul\u2019s eye; entertain it, and the veil only thicker grows;\ncast it out, and the sun of truth may dissipate the cloudy veil.\u2019\n\n\u201cAdmitting that truth; I determined to prohibit all anxiety. Well I\nknew that the prohibition issued from the depths of my heart, for that\nwas master\u2019s voice, and confidence in his wisdom, the self commanding\nnature of the words themselves, compelled me to complete reliance on\nthe instruction. No sooner was the resolution formed, than down upon my\nface fell something which I seized at once in my hand. Lighting a lamp,\nbefore me was a note in the well known writing. Opening it, I read:\n\n\u201c\u2018Nilakant. It was no dream. All was real, and more, that by your\nwaking consciousness could not be retained, happened there. Reflect\nupon it all as reality, and from the slightest circumstance draw\nwhatever lesson, whatever amount of knowledge you can. Never forget\nthat your spiritual progress goes on quite often to yourself unknown.\nTwo out of many hindrances to memory are anxiety and selfishness.\nAnxiety is a barrier constructed out of harsh and bitter materials.\nSelfishness is a fiery darkness that will burn up the memory\u2019s matrix.\nBring then, to bear upon this other memory of yours, the peaceful\nstillness of contentment and the vivifying rain of benevolence.\u2019\u201d[114]\n* * * * *\n\n [I leave out here, as well as in other places, mere notes of journeys\n and various small matters, very probably of no interest.]\n\n\u201cIn last month\u2019s passage across the hills near V\u2014\u2014, I was irresistibly\ndrawn to examine a deserted building, which I at first took for a\ngrain holder, or something like that. It was of stone, square, with\nno openings, no windows, no door. From what could be seen outside, it\nmight have been the ruins of a strong, stone foundation for some old\nbuilding, gateway or tower. Kun\u00e2la stood not far off and looked over\nit, and later on he asked me for my ideas about the place. All I could\nsay, was, that although it seemed to be solid, I was thinking that\nperhaps it might be hollow.\n\n\u201c\u2018Yes,\u2019 said he, \u2018it is hollow. It is one of the places once made by\nYogees to go into deep trance in. If used by a chela (a disciple) his\nteacher kept watch over it so that no one might intrude. But when an\nadept wants to use it for laying his body away in while he travels\nabout in his real, though perhaps to some unseen, form, other means of\nprotection were often taken which were just as secure as the presence\nof the teacher of the disciple.\u2019 \u2018Well,\u2019 I said, \u2018it must be that just\nnow no one\u2019s body is inside there.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Do not reach that conclusion nor the other either. It may be occupied\nand it may not.\u2019\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cThen we journeyed on, while he told me of the benevolence of not only\nBrahmin Yogees, but also of Buddhist. No differences can be observed by\nthe true disciple in any other disciple who is perhaps of a different\nfaith. All pursue truth. Roads differ but the goal of all remains\nalike.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\n* * * \u201cRepeated three times: \u2018Time ripens and dissolves all beings in\nthe great self, but he who knows into what time itself is dissolved, he\nis the knower of the Veda.\u2019\n\n\u201cWhat is to be understood, not only by this, but also by its being\nthree times repeated?\n\n\u201cThere were three shrines there. Over the door was a picture which I\nsaw a moment, and which for a moment seemed to blaze out with light\nlike fire. Fixed upon my mind its outlines grew, then disappeared,\nwhen I had passed the threshold. Inside, again its image came before\nmy eyes. Seeming to allure me, it faded out, and then again returned.\nIt remained impressed upon me, seemed imbued with life and intention\nto present itself for my own criticism. When I began to analyze it,\nit would fade, and then when I was fearful of not doing my duty or\nof being disrespectful to those beings, it returned as if to demand\nattention. Its description:\n\n\u201cA human heart that has at its centre a small spark\u2014the spark expands\nand the heart disappears\u2014while a deep pulsation seems to pass through\nme. At once identity is confused, I grasp at myself; and again the\nheart reappears with the spark increased to a large fiery space.\nOnce more that deep movement; then sounds (7); they fade. All this\nin a picture? Yes! for in that picture there is life; there might\nbe intelligence. It is similar to that picture I saw in Tibet on my\nfirst journey, where the living moon rises and passes across the view.\nWhere was I? No, not afterwards! It was in the hall. Again that all\npervading sound. It seems to bear me like a river. Then it ceased,\u2014a\nsoundless sound. Then once more the picture; here is Pranava.[115] But\nbetween the heart and the Pranava is a mighty bow with arrows ready,\nand tightly strung for use. Next is a shrine, with the Pranava over\nit, shut fast, no key and no keyhole. On its sides emblems of human\npassions. The door of the shrine opens and I think within I will see\nthe truth. No! another door? a shrine again. It opens too and then\nanother, brightly flashing is seen there. Like the heart, it makes\nitself one with me. Irresistible desire to approach it comes within me,\nand it absorbs the whole picture.\n\n\u201c\u2018Break through the shrine of Brahman; use the doctrine of the\nteacher.\u2019\u201d[116]\n\n [There is no connection here of this exhortation with any person, and\n very probably it is something that was said either by himself, in\n soliloquy, or by some voice or person to him.\n\n I must end here, as I find great rents and spaces in the notes. He\n must have ceased to put down further things he saw or did in his real\n inner life, and you will very surely agree, that if he had progressed\n by that time to what the last portions would indicate, he could not\n set down his reflections thereon, or any memorandum of facts. We,\n however, can never tell what was his reason. He might have been told\n not to do so, or might have lacked the opportunity.\n\n There was much all through these pages that related to his daily\n family life, not interesting to you; records of conversations; worldly\n affairs; items of money and regarding appointments, journeys and\n meetings with friends. But they show of course that he was all this\n time living through his set work with men, and often harassed by care\n as well as comforted by his family and regardful of them. All of that\n I left out, because I supposed that while it would probably interest\n you, yet I was left with discretion to give only what seemed to relate\n to the period marked at its beginning, by his meetings with M\u2014\u2014, and\n at the end by this last remarkable scene, the details of which we can\n only imagine. And likewise were of necessity omitted very much that\n is sufficiently unintelligible in its symbolism to be secure from\n revelation. Honestly have I tried to unlock the doors of the ciphers,\n for no prohibition came with their possession, but all that I could\n refine from its enfolding obscurity is given to you.\n\n As he would say, let us salute each other and the last shrine of\n Brahman; Om, hari, Om!\n TRANS.]\n\n\n KARMA.\n\nThe child is the father of the man, and none the less true is it:\n\n \u201cMy brothers! each man\u2019s life\n The outcome of his former living is;\n The bygone wrmongs brings forth sorrows and woes\n The bygone right breeds bliss.\u201d\n * * * * *\n\n\u201cThis is the doctrine of Karma.\u201d\n\nBut in what way does this bygone wrong and right affect the present\nlife? Is the stern nemesis ever following the weary traveler, with\na calm, passionless, remorseless step? Is there no escape from its\nrelentless hand? Does the eternal law of cause and effect, unmoved by\nsorrow and regret, ever deal out its measure of weal and woe as the\nconsequence of past action? The shadow of the yesterday of sin,\u2014must\nit darken the life of to-day? Is Karma but another name for fate? Does\nthe child unfold the page of the already written book of life in which\neach event is recorded without the possibility of escape? What is the\nrelation of Karma to the life of the individual? Is there nothing for\nman to do but to weave the chequered warp and woof of each earthly\nexistence with the stained and discolored threads of past actions? Good\nresolves and evil tendencies sweep with resistless tide over the nature\nof man and we are told:\n\n\u201cWhatever action he performs, whether good or bad, every thing done in\na former body must necessarily be enjoyed or suffered.\u201d _Anugita_, cp\nIII.\n\nThere is good Karma, there is bad Karma, and as the wheel of life moves\non, old Karma is exhausted and again fresh Karma is accumulated.\n\nAlthough at first it may appear that nothing can be more fatalistic\nthan this doctrine, yet a little consideration will show that in\nreality this is not the case. Karma is twofold, hidden and manifest,\nKarma is the man that is, Karma is his action. True that each action\nis a cause from which evolves the countless ramifications of effect in\ntime and space.\n\n\u201cThat which ye sow ye reap.\u201d In some sphere of action the harvest will\nbe gathered. It is necessary that the man of action should realize this\ntruth. It is equally necessary that the manifestations of this law in\nthe operations of Karma should be clearly apprehended.\n\nKarma, broadly speaking may be said to be the continuance of the nature\nof the act, and each act contains within itself the past and future.\nEvery defect which can be realized from an act must be implicit in the\nact itself or it could never come into existence. Effect is but the\nnature of the act and cannot exist distinct from its cause. Karma only\nproduces the manifestation of that which already exists; being action\nit has its operation in time, and Karma may therefore be said to be the\nsame action from another point of time. It must, moreover, be evident\nthat not only is there a relation between the cause and the effect,\nbut there must also be a relation between the cause and the individual\nwho experiences the effect. If it were otherwise, any man would reap\nthe effect of the actions of any other man. We may sometimes appear to\nreap the effects of the action of others, but this is only apparent. In\npoint of fact it is our own action\n\n \u201c* * None else compels\n None other holds you that ye live and die.\u201d\n\nIt is therefore necessary in order to understand the nature of Karma\nand its relation to the individual to consider action in all its\naspects. Every act proceeds from the mind. Beyond the mind there is no\naction and therefore no Karma. The basis of every act is desire. The\nplane of desire or egotism is itself action and the matrix of every\nact. This plane may be considered as non-manifest, yet having a dual\nmanifestation in what we call cause and effect, that is the act and its\nconsequences. In reality, both the act and its consequences are the\neffect, the cause being on the plane of desire. Desire is therefore the\nbasis of action in its first manifestation on the physical plane, and\ndesire determines the continuation of the act in its karmic relation\nto the individual. For a man to be free from the effects of the Karma\nof any act he must have passed to a state no longer yielding a basis\nin which that act can inhere. The ripples in the water caused by the\naction of the stone will extend to the furthest limit of its expanse,\nbut no further, they are bounded by the shore. Their course is ended\nwhen there is no longer a basis or suitable medium in which they can\ninhere; they expend their force and are not. Karma is, therefore, as\ndependent upon the present personality for its fulfillment, as it was\nupon the former for the first initial act. An illustration may be given\nwhich will help to explain this.\n\nA seed, say for instance mustard, will produce a mustard tree and\nnothing else; but in order that it should be produced, it is necessary\nthat the co-operation of soil and culture should be equally present.\nWithout the seed, however much the ground may be tilled and watered,\nit will not bring forth the plant, but the seed is equally inoperative\nwithout the joint action of the soil and culture.\n\nThe first great result of Karmic action is the incarnation in\nphysical life. The birth seeking entity consisting of desires and\ntendencies, presses forward towards incarnation. It is governed in\nthe selection of its scene of manifestation by the law of economy.\nWhatever is the ruling tendency, that is to say, whatever group of\naffinities is strongest, those affinities will lead it to the point of\nmanifestation at which there is the least opposition. It incarnates\nin those surroundings most in harmony with its Karmic tendencies and\nall the effects of actions contained in the Karma so manifesting will\nbe experienced by the individual. This governs the station of life,\nthe sex, the conditions of the irresponsible years of childhood, the\nconstitution with the various diseases inherent in it, and in fact all\nthose determining forces of physical existence which are ordinarily\nclassed under the terms, \u201cheredity,\u201d and \u201cnational characteristics.\u201d\n\nIt is really the law of economy which is the truth underlying these\nterms and which explains them. Take for instance a nation with certain\nspecial characteristics. These are the plane of expansion for any\nentity whose greatest number of affinities are in harmony with those\ncharacteristics. The incoming entity following the law of least\nresistance becomes incarnated in that nation, and all Karmic effects\nfollowing such characteristics will accrue to the individual. This\nwill explain what is the meaning of such expressions as the \u201cKarma of\nnations,\u201d and what is true of the nation will also apply to family and\ncaste.\n\nIt must, however, be remembered that there are many tendencies which\nare not exhausted in the act of incarnation. It may happen that\nthe Karma which caused an entity to incarnate in any particular\nsurrounding, was only strong enough to carry it into physical\nexistence. Being exhausted in that direction, freedom is obtained for\nthe manifestation of other tendencies and their Karmic effects. For\ninstance, Karmic force may cause an entity to incarnate in a humble\nsphere of life. He may be born as the child of poor parents. The Karma\nfollows the entity, endures for a longer or shorter time, and becomes\nexhausted. From that point, the child takes a line of life totally\ndifferent from his surroundings. Other affinities engendered by former\naction express themselves in their Karmic results. The lingering\neffects of the past Karma may still manifest itself in the way of\nobstacles and obstructions which are surmounted with varying degrees of\nsuccess according to their intensity.\n\nFrom the standpoint of a special creation for each entity entering the\nworld, there is vast and unaccountable injustice. From the standpoint\nof Karma, the strange vicissitudes and apparent chances of life can\nbe considered in a different light as the unerring manifestation of\ncause and sequence. In a family under the same conditions of poverty\nand ignorance, one child will be separated from the others and thrown\ninto surroundings very dissimilar. He may be adopted by a rich man, or\nthrough some freak of fortune receive an education giving him at once\na different position. The Karma of incarnation being exhausted, other\nKarma asserts itself.\n\nA very important question is here presented: Can an individual affect\nhis own Karma, and if so to what degree and in what manner?\n\nIt has been said that Karma is the continuance of the act, and for any\nparticular line of Karma to exert itself it is necessary that there\nshould be the basis of the act engendering that Karma in which it can\ninhere and operate. But action has many planes in which it can inhere.\nThere is the physical plane, the body with its senses and organs; then\nthere is the intellectual plane, memory, which binds the impressions\nof the senses into a consecutive whole and reason puts in orderly\narrangement its storehouse of facts. Beyond the plane of intellect\nthere is the plane of emotion, the plane of preference for one object\nrather than another:\u2014the fourth principle of the man. These three,\nphysical, intellectual, and emotional, deal entirely with objects of\nsense perception and may be called the great battlefield of Karma.[117]\nThere is also the plane of ethics, the plane of discrimination of the\n\u201cI ought to do this, I ought not to do that.\u201d This plane harmonizes the\nintellect and the emotions. All these are the planes of Karma or action\nwhat to do, and what not to do. It is the mind as the basis of desire\nthat initiates action on the various planes, and it is only through the\nmind that the effects of rest and action can be received.\n\nAn entity enters incarnation with Karmic energy from past existences,\nthat is to say the action of past lives is awaiting its development\nas effect. This Karmic energy presses into manifestation in harmony\nwith the basic nature of the act. Physical Karma will manifest in the\nphysical tendencies bringing enjoyment and suffering. The intellectual\nand the ethical planes are also in the same manner the result of\nthe past Karmic tendencies and the man as he is, with his moral and\nintellectual faculties, is in unbroken continuity with the past.\n\nThe entity at birth has therefore a definite amount of Karmic energy.\nAfter incarnation this awaits the period in life at which fresh Karma\nbegins. Up to the time of responsibility it is as we have seen the\ninitial Karma only that manifests. From that time the fresh personality\nbecomes the ruler of his own destiny. It is a great mistake to suppose\nthat an individual is the mere puppet of the past, the helpless victim\nof fate. The law of Karma is not fatalism, and a little consideration\nwill show that it is possible for an individual to affect his own\nKarma. If a greater amount of energy be taken up on one plane than\non another this will cause the past Karma to unfold itself on that\nplane. For instance, one who lives entirely on the plane of sense\ngratification will from the plane beyond draw the energy required for\nthe fulfillment of his desires. Let us illustrate by dividing man into\nupper and lower nature. By directing the mind and aspirations to the\nlower plane, a \u201cfire\u201d or centre of attraction, is set up there, and in\norder to feed and fatten it, the energies of the whole upper plane are\ndrawn down and exhausted in supplying the need of energy which exists\nbelow due to the indulgence of sense gratification. On the other hand,\nthe centre of attraction may be fixed in the upper portion, and then\nall the needed energy goes there to result in increase of spirituality.\nIt must be remembered that Nature is all bountiful and withholds not\nher hand. The demand is made, and the supply will come. But at what\ncost? That energy which should have strengthened the moral nature and\nfulfilled the aspirations after good, is drawn to the lower desires.\nBy degrees the higher planes are exhausted of vitality and the good\nand bad Karma of an entity will be absorbed on the physical plane. If\non the other hand the interest is detached from the plane of sense\ngratification, if there is a constant effort to fix the mind on the\nattainment of the highest ideal, the result will be that the past Karma\nwill find no basis in which to inhere on the physical plane. Karma\nwill therefore be manifested only in harmony with the plane of desire.\nThe sense energy of the physical plane will exhaust itself on a higher\nplane and thus become transmuted in its effects.\n\nWhat are the means through which the effects of Karma can be thus\nchanged is also clear. A person can have no attachment for a thing\nhe does not think about, therefore the first step must be to fix the\nthought on the highest ideal. In this connection one remark may be\nmade on the subject of repentance. Repentance is a form of thought in\nwhich the mind is constantly recurring to a sin. It has therefore to be\navoided if one would set the mind free from sin and its Karmic results.\nAll sin has its origin in the mind. The more the mind dwells on any\ncourse of conduct, whether with pleasure or pain, the less chance is\nthere for it to become detached from such action. The _manas_ (mind) is\nthe knot of the heart, when that is untied from any object, in other\nwords when the mind loses its interest in any object, there will no\nlonger be a link between the Karma connected with that object and the\nindividual.\n\nIt is the attitude of the mind which draws the Karmic cords tightly\nround the soul. It imprisons the aspirations and binds them with chains\nof difficulty and obstruction. It is desire that causes the past Karma\nto take form and shape and build the house of clay. It must be through\nnon-attachment that the soul will burst through the walls of pain, it\nwill be only through a change of mind that the Karmic burden will be\nlifted.\n\nIt will appear, therefore, that although absolutely true that action\nbrings its own result, \u201cthere is no destruction here of actions good\nor not good. Coming to one body after another they become ripened in\ntheir respective ways.\u201d\u2014Yet this ripening is the act of the individual.\nFree will of man asserts itself and he becomes his own saviour. To\nthe worldly man Karma is a stern Nemesis, to the spiritual man Karma\nunfolds itself in harmony with his highest aspirations. He will look\nwith tranquility alike on past and future, neither dwelling with\nremorse on past sin nor living in expectation of reward for present\naction.\n\n\n SUFISM,\n\n OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.\n\n_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text-book for Students in\nMysticism_ BY C.\u202fH. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._\n\n In Two Parts:\u2014Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.\n\n (CONTINUED.)\n\n PART II.\u2014SYMBOLS.\n\n The practical expounders and preachers of Sufism are the Dervishes,\n the monks of Islam.\n\nIt must have become clear to our readers, that the sweet and peaceful\nsentiments of the couplet of Katebi, placed as motto over our first\npart, are the expressions of at least one side of the inner life of\nSufism. But, if we listen more closely, we shall hear the plaintive\nnote of the nightingale more distinct and perceive more readily the\ngloom of the cypress; both of them, like the soul of man, bewail in\nmelancholy our disunion from Deity. That, too, is another side of\nSufism, which now has been illustrated, and we have given enough\nquotations to show, that the highest aim of the Sufi is to attain\nself-annihilation by losing his humanity in Deity.\n\nSo far the direct teachings as they lie on the surface of our\nquotations. The grand undercurrents are the relations of The Universal\nSelf and The Individual Self. The expression \u201cSelf\u201d has not been used,\nbut \u201cGod\u201d and \u201cSoul\u201d because of the peculiarity of the exoteric forms\nof current Mohammedan Theology, which the Sufi-Doctors find themselves\nbound to observe.\n\nWe have yet to quote the Sufi poets Hafiz, Jami, Nizami, Attar and\nothers, but as their teachings are veiled under symbols, they naturally\nfind their place in this our second part, and shall be treated fully\ntoward the end. We will begin with the more ecstatic features of\npractical Sufism, with the Dervishes, the Moslem saints, and thus\ndevelop the _subjective_ forms of Sufism. We shall come to appreciate\nthe use of a ritualistic service and ascetic practices, when we see\nthese framed in close harmony with the laws of Nature and conductive to\nUnion with Self.\n\nWhere we use the phrase The Personal, our readers will understand it as\nthe _subjective_ equivalent for the objective \u201cSelf.\u201d\u2014\n\nAn historic study of the rise of Sufism out of original asceticism,\nwill afford us an excellent view of the evolution of Sufism itself as\nwell as of all other forms of Mysticism. Hence we must devote some\nspace to it.\n\nIt must undoubtedly be maintained that asceticism and monastic life are\nentirely inconsistent with Mohammedanism, and in fact Mohammed himself\nwas far from anything like it, and constantly preached against it,\nadvocating an active life and an aggressive religion.\n\nBut neither Mohammed nor his followers could stem the tide of ascetic\ninfluences from the East, from Buddhism; nor from the West, from\nChristianity. These two religious systems had existed for centuries\nand were both characterized by monastic institutions, and missionary\nspirit. But, much deeper than these individual influences lies the\npower of a new historic cycle beginning about a century after Mohammed,\njust at the time we find the greatest number of Islam saints, with\na distinctive monastic cast. The era is characterized by a new\ncivilization in the West, and a consolidation of the Eastern conquests.\nThe Mohammedan power encircles Christendom and threatens to destroy\nboth Church and Christianity. In the East itself a terror of existence\nbefell the minds of men and has left the strongest impressions in the\nwritings of such men as Ata Salami and Hasan, &c.\n\nEven in Mohammed\u2019s lifetime an attempt was made to engraft the elements\nof the contemplative life upon his doctrine. The facts are well known.\nOne evening, after some more vigorous declamations than usual on the\nprophet\u2019s part\u2014he had taken for his theme the flames and tortures of\nhell\u2014several of his most zealous companions, among whom the names of\nOmar, Ali, Abou-Dharr, and Abou-Horeirah are conspicuous, retired to\npass the night together in a neighbouring dwelling. Here they fell into\ndeep discourses on the terrors of divine justice, and the means to\nappease or prevent its course. The conclusion they came to was nowise\nunnatural. They agreed that to this end the surest way was to abandon\ntheir wives, to pass their lives in continued fast and abstinence, to\nwear hair-cloth, and practice other similar austerities: in a word,\nthey laid down for themselves a line of conduct truly ascetic, and\nleading to whatever can follow in such a course. But they desired\nfirst to secure the approbation of Mohammed. Accordingly, at break of\nday, they presented themselves before him, to acquaint him with the\nresolution of the night, as well as its motives and purport; but they\nhad reckoned without their host. The prophet rejected their proposition\nwith a sharp rebuke, and declared marriage and war to be far more\nagreeable to the Divinity than any austereness of life or mortification\nof the senses whatever, and the well known passage of the Quran: \u201cO\ntrue believers, do not abstain from the good things of the earth which\nGod permits you to enjoy,\u201d revealed on this very occasion, remains a\nlasting monument of Mohammed\u2019s disgust at this premature outbreak of\nascetic feeling. This lesson and many others of a similar character,\nfor the time being, checked any and all appearance of declared forms of\nasceticism, but could not prevent the ultimate triumph of the truer and\nbetter parts of human nature. \u201cFate\u201d would have it, that within his\nown family, lie hidden the germs, destined in after ages, down to the\npresent day, and probably as long as Islam shall exist, to exert the\nmightiest influence in the Mohammedan world.\n\n_Ali_, Mohammed\u2019s cousin, and Ali\u2019s son _Hasan_, his grandson _Zein el\nAbidin_, and after them _Djaufar es Sadik_, _Mousa el Kadhim_, _Ali er\nRidha_, and others of their race, were members of a family which became\nthe very backbone of asceticism. They were successively looked up to by\nindividual ascetics as the guides and instructors in word and deed of\nself-denial and abnegation.\n\nIn the Menaqibu l Arafin (the Acts of the Adepts) it is related that\nthe Prophet one day recited to Ali in private the secrets and mysteries\nof the \u201cBrethren of Sincerity\u201d enjoining him not to divulge them to\nany of the uninitiated, so that they should not be betrayed; also, to\nyield obedience to the rule of implicit submission. For forty days, Ali\nkept the secret in his own sole breast, and bore therewith until he was\nsick at heart. As his burden oppressed him and he could no more breathe\nfreely, he fled to the open wilderness, and there chanced upon a well.\nHe stooped, reached his head as far down into the well as he was able;\nand then, one by one, he confided those mysteries to the bowels of\nthe earth. From the excess of his excitement, his mouth filled with\nfroth and foam. There he spat out into the water of the well, until he\nhad freed himself of the whole, and he felt relieved. After a certain\nnumber of days, a single seed was observed to be growing in that\nwell. It waxed and shut up, until at length a youth, whose heart was\nmiraculously enlightened on the point, became aware of this growing\nplant, cut it down, drilled holes in it, and began to play upon it\nairs, similar to those now performed by the dervish lovers of God, as\nhe pastured his sheep in the neighbourhood. By degrees, the various\ntribes of Arabs of the desert heard of this flute-playing of the\nshepherd, and its fame spread abroad. The camels and the sheep of the\nwhole region would gather around him as he piped, ceasing to pasture\nthat they might listen. From all directions, the nomads flocked to hear\nhis strains, going into ecstasies with delight, weeping for joy and\npleasure, breaking forth in transports of gratification. The rumor at\nlength reached the ears of the Prophet, who gave orders for the piper\nto be brought before him. When he began to play in the sacred presence,\nall the holy disciples of God\u2019s messenger were moved to tears and\ntransports, bursting forth with shouts and exclamations of pure bliss,\nand losing all consciousness. The Prophet declared that the notes of\nthe shepherd\u2019s flute were the inspiration of the holy mysteries he had\nconfided in private to Ali\u2019s charge.\n\nThus it is that, until a man acquires the sincere devotion of the\nlinnet-voiced flute-reed, he cannot hear the mysteries of \u201cThe\nBrethren of Sincerity\u201d in its dulcet notes, or realize the delights\nthereof; for \u201cfaith is altogether a yearning of the heart, and a\ngratification of the spiritual sense.\u201d\n\nIn regard to \u201cThe Brethren of Sincerity\u201d mentioned above it can be said\nthat the Mohammedans in the East know perfectly well that there exists\non earth, among the initiated, a secret hierarchy which governs the\nwhole human race, infidels as well as believers, but that their power\nis often exercised in such a manner that the subjects influenced by it\nknow not from what person or persons its effects proceed.\n\nIn this hierarchy the supreme dignity is vested in the _Khidr_. This is\na man indeed, but one far elevated above ordinary human nature by his\ntranscendent privileges. Admitted to the Divine Vision, and possessed\nin consequence of a relative omnipotence and omniscience on earth;\nvisible and invisible at pleasure; freed from the bonds of space and\ntime; by his ubiquitous and immortal powers appearing in various forms\non earth to uphold the cause of truth; then concealed awhile from men;\nknown in various ages as Seth, as Enoch, as Elias, and yet to come at\nthe end of time as the Mahdi; this wonderful being is the centre, the\nprop, the ruler, the mediator of men of ascetic habits and retirement,\nand as such he is honoured with the name of _Kothb_, or axis, as being\nthe spiritual pole round which and on which all move or are upheld.\nUnder him are the _Aulia_, or intimate friends of God, seventy-two\nin number (some say twenty-four), holy men living on earth, who are\nadmitted by the Kothb to his intimate familiarity, and who are to the\nrest the sources of all doctrine, authority, and sanctity. Among these\nagain one, pre-eminent above the rest, is qualified by the vicarious\ntitle of _Kothb-ez-zaman_, or axis of his age, and is regarded as the\nvisible depositary of the knowledge and power of the supreme Kothb\u2014who\nis often named, for distinction\u2019s sake, _Kothb el-Akthab_, or axis\nof the axes\u2014and his constant representative amongst men. But as this\nimportant election and consequent delegation of power is invisible\nand hidden from the greater number even of the devotees themselves,\nand neither the Kothb-ez-zaman nor the Aulia carry any outward or\ndistinctive sign of dignity and authority, it can only be manifested\nby its effects, and thus known by degrees to the outer world, and even\nthen rather as a conjecture than as a positive certainty.\n\nOn the authority of the famous saint of Bagdad, Aboo-Bekr el Kettan\u00e9e,\nE. W. Lane[118] states that the orders under the rule of this chief are\ncalled _Omud_ (or Owtad), _Akhyar_, _Abdal_, _Nujaba_, and _Nukaba_,\nnaming them according to their precedence, and remarks that perhaps\nto these should be added an inferior order called _Ashab ed-Darak_,\nthat is \u201cWatchmen\u201d or \u201cOverseers.\u201d The Nukaba are three hundred and\nreside in El-Gharb (Northern Africa to the West of Egypt); the Nujaba\nare seventy and reside in Egypt; the Abdal are forty and are found in\nSyria; the Akhyar are seven and travel about the earth; the Omud are\nfour and stand in the corners of the earth. The members are not known\nas such to their inferior unenlightened fellow-creatures, and are often\ninvisible to them. This is most frequently the case with the Kothb,\nwho, though generally stationed at Mekka, on the roof of the Kaaba, is\nnever visible there, nor at any of his other favorite stations, yet his\nvoice is often heard at these places.\n\nLet us add that their great power is supposed to be obtained by\nself-denial, implicit reliance upon God, from good genii and by the\nknowledge and utterance of \u201cthe most great name.\u201d\n\n_Eflaki_, the historian, has given us the links of a spiritual series,\nthrough whom the mysteries of the dervish doctrines were handed down to\nand in the line of Jelaludin er Rumi.\n\nAli communicated the mysteries to the Imam Hasan of Bara, who died\nA. D. 728. Hasan taught them to Habib, the Persian (\u2020 A.\u202fD. 724) who\nconfided them to Dawud of the tribe Tayyi (\u2020 A.\u202fD. 781) who transmitted\nthem to Maruf of Kerkh (\u2020 A.\u202fD. 818); he to Sirri (\u2020 A.\u202fD. 867)\nand he to the great Juneyd (\u2020 A.\u202fD. 909). Juneyd\u2019s spiritual pupil\nShibli (\u2020 A.\u202fD. 945) taught Abu-Amr Muhammed, son of Ilahim Zajjaj\n(\u2020 A.\u202fD. 959) and his pupil was Abu-Bekr, son of Abdu-llah of Tus,\nwho taught Abu-Ahmed Muhammed, son of Muhammed Al-Gazzali (\u2020 A.D.\n1111), and he committed those mysteries to Ahmed el-Khatibi, Jelal\u2019s\ngreat-grandfather, who consigned them to the Imam Sarakhsi (\u2020 A.\u202fD.\n1175). Sarakhsi was the spiritual teacher of Jelal\u2019s father Baha\nVeled, who taught the Sayyid Burhanu-d-Diu Termizi, the instructor of\nJelal.\u2014We shall now proceed with the history.\n\n (_To be continued._)\n\n Please note the following correction of previous article: Footnote,\n page 143, August No. of the PATH, should read \u201cFree translation by J.\n Freeman Clarke.\u201d\n\n\n RETICENCE OF MAHATMAS AND EVOLUTION OF THE INDIVIDUAL.\n\nMembers of the Theosophical Society and the general public have alike\nmanifested a wide divergence of opinion both as regards the fundamental\naim of the Society, and its adaptation to individual cases. To get\na right view of these points, it is first absolutely necessary that\nthe Society should be considered as a whole, and to remember that\nlike every movement in the physical or spiritual world, it must be\ngoverned by the great law of Evolution. This is its primal Cause, and\nthe evolution of the individual its primary work. It is not, as its\nhistory shows, an ephemeral institution, to last for a given period,\nlike a hospital, or a society to benefit animals, or poor children,\nor fallen women. It is a spoke of the universal wheel of Evolution.\nWhen the world contained a body of persons sufficiently developed\non the spiritual plane, they naturally formed a nucleus, from which\nrays presently diverged to various parts of the globe. Stimulating\ncentres of energy which are constantly expanding through the individual\nefforts of their members. What is true of the whole body is true also\nof its component parts, and each individual, in mental capacity and\npsychical conditions is precisely what his previous experience, or his\nevolutionary ratio entitles him to be. Only by means of ever increasing\neffort on his own part, can he invigorate these powers.\n\nIn founding the Theosophical Society, it was hoped that the united\nlabors of all for each and of each for all, might result in so much\nenlightenment and expansion of individuals as the friction of many\nminds, all directed to one issue, should through the correlation of\nmoral forces afford. Hence the Society was based upon the idea of\nUniversal Brotherhood.\n\nThere are at present two classes of persons who misinterpret this aim\nof the Society. The first class is variously composed of,\u2014(_A_) those\npersons who suppose the Society to be solely devoted to a large phase\nof the subject, such as the progressive development of the entire\nbody of the present race, or to the united interests of great masses\nof people, leaving the individual altogether alone in the uphill path\nof his own spiritual development. (_B_) Various persons in different\nparts of the world who have seen fit, coincidently with giving in\ntheir adherence to the idea of Universal Brotherhood, to ridicule it\nas \u201ca mere sham\u201d or \u201ca pure formula\u201d or \u201can utopian impossibility:\u201d\nthe wavering incredulity of every such person arises no doubt from\nindividual or constitutional peculiarity. (_C_) Such as suppose this\nbasic idea to be an elastic declaration which may always be used\nas a shield to ward off the unpopular or chaffing accusation of an\ninterest in Mysticism. (_D_) Those who base their denial of universal\nbrotherhood upon the very sensible rule requiring applicants for\ninitiation to have endorsement from active fellows of the Society. \u201cIf\nyou make distinctions you are not universal,\u201d is the cry of these last.\n\nAll the above persons will sooner or later discover that the Society\nas a whole progresses through the spiritual advancement of individual\nmembers. If the individual retrogrades, the common welfare is minus\nso much; if he progresses, it is plus so much, and when many rise all\nare presently lifted as by specific gravity, into a higher plane.\nFor this reason not only the exoteric and much slandered founders of\nthe Society, but also the hidden and real founders have always given\nmuch of their time and thought to individuals. At the same time they\nhave unceasingly insisted upon the necessity for individual efforts,\nthat each member might develop himself. This is the true meaning of\nEvolution. It is not the expansion of the man by means of an external\nforce acting upon inert tissue, but an impulse from within outward and\nupward, enhanced by the cumulative effect of previous impulses, and\nfurther assisted by such favoring environment as his condition may\npermit him to assimilate.\n\nIt is in this final respect that the second class under consideration\nhave erred. They demand greater extraneous aid for the individual.\nSuch persons, having joined the Society and asserted their belief in\nthe existence of Mahatmas, or Adepts, or highly advanced human beings,\nhave after a time uttered complaints because they had no personal\ncommunications from these Great Beings, while they feel such attentions\nto be their due. These persons have said,\u2014\u201cWe have declared our belief\nin these wise and holy Men; we have joined the Society, but we have\nnot been favored with any proofs directly from them.\u201d Such persons\nrequire a letter under seal, projected in a phenomenal manner through\nthe air or otherwise. Nothing short of this will satisfy them, and if\nthey do not get it, they are likely to leave the fold of the Society,\nas they themselves intimate. Their complaint, in general terms, is\nthat the Mahatmas are reticent, altogether too reticent to suit their\nrequirements. They say that it is declared that certain other persons\nhave received such evidence in the shape of letters, and they cite\nMessrs. Sinnett, Olcott, Damodar, Hume, Madame Blavatsky and several\nHindus as the favored recipients. The complainants then state that\ntheir aspirations, their need, their merit, equal that of these\npersons, that they are, to put it roughly, \u201cevery bit as good.\u201d Some\nwho do not say as much, think it, and a general outcry arises of,\u2014\u201cWhy\ndo we not get such letters as proofs? Are we not justified in ascribing\nundue reticence to the Mahatmas?\u201d When in addition it is said that\nsome others have seen the Mahatmas, or heard their voices and received\ngifts from them, the injured ones reiterate the complaint,\u2014\u201cWhy are\nthe Mahatmas so reticent?\u201d This attitude has finally become that of\nthe press and the public at large, so that the question presents\nitself,\u2014\u201cAre the Mahatmas unduly reticent?\u201d\n\nThe solution of this question is bound up in the subject of the\n\u201cEvolution of the Individual.\u201d As regards the general evolution,\nthe Mahatmas cannot be thus accused, for had we their knowledge of\nthe whole, so as to be able to feel and know what all minerals,\nplants, animals and men feel collectively, we should see that in this\ndepartment Mahatmas are never accused even in thought of withholding\neither knowledge, favor or blessing. The whole moves by law (which law\nincludes the Mahatmas themselves), and as a whole recognises this law\nand knows no possible departure from it.\n\nAs heretofore stated, the work of the Theosophical Society lies within\nthe department of individual evolution, and just as its sphere may\nonly be enlarged through the constant labors of its members, so every\nindividual follows the same law, _will he, nil he_. The Mahatmas are\nnot reticent. They can justly be no more than the favoring environment\nto the individual soul. They give to each human well just the water it\ncan hold; to overflow it would be waste. It has been well said that\nthe human mind, like the atmosphere, has its saturation point. To\nrealise when we have reached this point is the first step on the path\nof self-knowledge: to strive to expand our boundaries by incessant\nstudy and observation, carries us leagues further on our way. Those\nwho journey thus have neither time nor desire for complaint. We enter\ninto this life through our parents, subject to law. From one mystery\nwe pass, ignorant of the future, into another mystery: lessons are\nlearned in each. So is the soul born into the higher life and becomes\nby degrees acquainted with its mysteries. Through each order of life\nruns the law of natural selection. \u201cA man is a method, a progressive\narrangement, a selecting principle,\u201d says Emerson. As the man chooses\nthe friends and the pursuits best adapted to him, so by the law of\nspiritual dynamics is the soul attracted to just such food as it can\nassimilate, to the influences necessary to its present development.\nIf the individual mind fails to grasp this idea and to see that we\nourselves, (and not the Mahatmas,) create our own possibilities, how\nfar less fitted is it to profit usefully by the very opportunities it\ndemands. The gratification of curiosity, the quickening of interest in\npersonalities or phenomena as such, are not growths of the soul, nor\ncan they advance the evolution of the individual. The Mahatmas do not\nwithhold us from Truth, but we ourselves. When we come to be a part of\nit, we shall know it: when we come to live in its laws, who can shut us\naway from it? The upright heart cries,\u2014\u201cMine is mine, if the universe\ndeny me, and not all the Mahatmas combined can convey to me one truth\nin which I am not ready to dwell. The Spirit communicates itself; the\nMasters but interpret the vision, as soothsayers the dreams of Kings.\nI am a king when the Spirit exalts me, made so by the super-royal act.\nI will not covet borrowed robes, nor whine as a beggar for charities,\nbut wait until I am come into mine own estate. Then the Wise Ones will\nteach me how to rule it.\u201d The heart that chooses in truth this noble\npart, has felt already the quickening touch of the Divine. Like Jove of\nold, it bids the earth-bound waggoner abate his cries, and put first\nhis own shoulder to the wheel.\n\nLet complainants therefore reflect how ignorant they are of their own\ncapacity to understand psychological data, and how necessary it is that\nthey should first develop themselves in that direction. A ray of light\nmay shoot by us unseen and unknown, to be lost in the further space,\nfor want of the timely interposition of a reflective surface. Or it may\nstream directly into the eye, and even so may still be lost, should\nthe eye lack the power to receive the impression. Thus an attempt at\ndirect communication or illumination may be and often is frustrated for\nlack of the perceptive eye and soul. Shall we expect to receive these\nat other hands, as by a miracle, when we know well that we never fully\nprofit by any experience which we have not lived out for ourselves. Who\namongst us has not seen a child reject with impatience the teachings of\nhis elders, and presently return home brimful of wonder and dogmatism\nover the very same fact which some companion had knocked into him? The\nstrong soul must be self delivered. Amongst our number there are indeed\nthose who have the spiritual eye in part, and the Mahatmas, desirous to\narouse it more fully, now and then project a beam of wisdom which the\neye fails to receive and it passes on to those who are better fitted to\nabsorb it. \u201cNo man can learn what he has not preparation for learning,\nhowever near to his eye is the object. A chemist may tell his most\nprecious secrets to a carpenter, and he shall never be the wiser,\u2014the\nsecret he would not utter to a chemist for an estate. God screens us\nevermore from premature ideas. Our eyes are holden that we cannot see\nthings that stare us in the face, until the hour arrives when the mind\nis ripened; then we behold them, and the time when we saw them not is\nlike a dream.\u201d[119]\n\nLet us then press forward to this harvest time, neither asking for\nhelp, nor doubting that it is at hand though unseen, and remembering\nabove all that what we consider reticence, or silence on the part of\nthe Mahatmas, is often but a higher order of speech which we do not as\nyet understand, and to whose golden accents untiring endeavor alone can\ngive the key.\n JULIUS.\n\n\n CORRESPONDENCE.\n\n HARTFORD, Aug., 1886.\nTO THE PATH,\n\nDEAR FRIEND:\u2014I like the PATH much. I have noted many articles that I am\nanxious to get time to read at my leisure. They are full of the meat\nthat satisfieth the soul. How this on-coming wave from esoteric and\nmystic sources has rushed upon us within the past few years! \u2018Tis a\nveritable ground-swell, and it seems to stretch out to all shores, and\nits sources are from Infinity itself. Surely, that that we need, does\ncome to us at the right time. The demands of the soul imply that the\nrequisite supply is somewhere in existence. The glass of sparkling cold\nwater tendered by Emerson to Frederika Bremer at the crystal spring at\nwhich they halted by the road-side, is symbolic of the wants of the\nspiritual nature. Her comments upon it, are in the line of thought I\nhave touched upon:\n\n\u201cA glass of water! How much may be comprised in this gift! Why this\nshould become significant to me on this occasion, I cannot say; but\nso it was. I have silently within myself combated with Emerson from\nthe first time that I became acquainted with him. I have questioned\nin what consisted this power of the spirit over me, while I so much\ndisapproved of his mode of thinking. In what consisted his mysterious,\nmagical power,\u2014that invigorating, refreshing influence which I always\nexperience in his writings, or in intercourse with him? This cordial\ndraught of clear water from the spring, given by his hand, I understood\nit. It is precisely this crystal, pure, fresh cold water in his\nindividual character, in his writings, which has refreshed, and will\nagain and yet again refresh me. I have opposed Emerson in thought with\nmyself. * * * But in long years to come, and when I am far from here\nin my own native land, and when I am old and gray,\u2014yes, always, always\nwill moments recur when I shall yearn toward Waldo Emerson, and long to\nreceive from his hand that draught of fresh water.\u201d\n\nEmerson drew from invisible sources, and Miss Bremer\u2019s fine tribute is\nall the stronger because it comes in spite of orthodox prejudice. But\nI have turned off into an unexpected \u201cpath,\u201d and my time is up, and I\nmust end abruptly, as usual.\n Yours fraternally,\n F.\u202fE.\n\n * * * * *\n\n MARSEILLES, Aug., 1886.\nEDITOR OF THE PATH,\n\nDEAR SIR AND BROTHER:\u2014It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge the\nreceipt of your valuable magazine.\n\nI cannot but admire the great abilities and learning of its\ncontributors, and I trust and hope that a complete success will repay\nyou for your endeavors after the improvement of our poor and misguided\nhumanity, and the glorification of the Truth.\n Yours fraternally,\n BARON J. SPEDALIERI, F.\u202fT. S.\n\n\n REVIEWS AND NOTES.\n\nTHE OPTIMISM OF EMERSON.\u2014By Wm. F. Dana. (_Cupples, Upham & Co.,\nBoston, 1886._) Price 50 c. cloth. For sale by Brentano, Union Square,\nNew York.\n\nThe author seeks to account for the optimism of Emerson by his\n\u201ccheerful disposition,\u201d and for his influence in literature by the\naction of that cheerfulness upon \u201can age of intellectual gloom\u201d due to\n\u201cEngland, France, Germany and Italy, having taken a despairing view\nof life.\u201d The cause of nineteenth century pessimism Mr. Dana sums up\nthus: \u201cThe root of our difficulties is the fact that we have lost faith\nin a revealed religion. We do not believe the Bible to be an inspired\nbook, hence, we have to form a religion by ourselves out of the\nmaterial within us and about us. It has seemed impossible to us, unless\nwe abandoned our reason, to believe, that what appear to us _good\nand evil_ could be _all good_.\u201d Mr. Dana, though evidently a sincere\nadmirer of Emerson, confesses that he gave the world no new revelation,\neither in religion or philosophy, and he compares his influence to the\nmoonlight, rather than the sunlight. But if Emerson left the mystery of\nlife unsolved, he influenced men\u2019s emotional nature for good by reason\nof the cheerful, hopeful tone of his own mind, which, by setting up\nsympathetic vibrations in the hearts of others, gave them a renewed\nassurance that \u201cthe sun is shining behind the clouds,\u201d and that\napparent evil is but real good in disguise.\n\n * * * * *\n\nPHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.\u2014A series of articles on the \u201cPhilosophy of\nReligion from the Standpoint of the Mystics,\u201d prepared by C.\u202fH. A.\nBjerregaard of the Astor Library, will be published forthwith, in the\n_Religio Philosophical Journal_.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE SONG CELESTIAL OR BAGAVAD-GITA, tr. from the Sanscrit by Edwin\nArnold, M.\u202fA. (_Roberts Brothers, Boston._) Cloth $1.00. This is a\npoetical rendering by a master hand, of the greatest of books, and\nby many will be more easily understood than the present extant prose\neditions of Wilkins, Thomson, and others. But its power and beauty\ndepend upon the inherent qualities of the poem, and an indifferent\nhand at the work could not spoil it: how much more it will be for its\nreaders, under the touch of Mr. Arnold, is easy to see, for he is a\nscholar, a philosopher, and a true singer. So much exoterically.\n\nBut this is in every sense an esoteric poem, and as usual, an\ninterpreter who knows nothing of the secret doctrine, has not succeeded\nin opening the lock of this great treasure box. Following all his\npredecessors, Mr. Arnold opens with the old old error of ranging the\npeople of King Dhritirashtra upon the plain of Kurukshetra in battle\nwith the Pandavas, and utterly fails to translate this name of a\nplain. Here is the key. This plain is the human body and is _not_\na field in the centre of India; and the king himself is material\nexistence possessing a _thirst_ for life. Proceeding with the details\nof the generals and chiefs engaged, our poet simply gives their names\nuntranslated, whereas each name is a power, quality or manifestation of\nthe mental or spiritual man. Bhishma and Bhima of all, are untouched.\n\nIgnorance as to the use and intention of these names is due very much\nto the indifference of the Hindus who, while knowing well the errors\ncommitted, have not raised a finger.\n\nMr. Arnold\u2019s translation is very beautiful and inspiring, and is to our\nknowledge, in the hands of many Theosophists.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE SECRET OF DEATH, from the Sanscrit, and other poems, by Edwin\nArnold, M.\u202fA. (_Roberts Brothers, Boston._) Cloth $1.00. 45 pages\nare taken up by the \u201cSecret of Death,\u201d and scattered through the 252\npages are, here and there, other short pieces from Sanscrit. The first\npoem is a practical rendering of the episode in the Katha Upanishad\nwhere Nachiketas is devoted to Yama, the god of death, and learns high\nknowledge from him. The other Indian songs are: Rajah\u2019s Ride, Bihari\nMill song, Funeral song, Serpent Charmer\u2019s song, Flour Mill song and a\nshort discourse of Buddha held at Rajagriha, cast in the same mould as\n\u201cThe Light of Asia.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nINDIA REVISITED.\u2014By Edwin Arnold, M.\u202fA. C.\u202fS.\u202fI. (_Roberts Brothers,\nBoston, 1886._) Cloth $2.00, illustrated. This is Mr. Arnold\u2019s account\nof his revisiting India after the lapse of some years. In prose he is\nas clear as he is enchanting in poetry. The illustrations are from\nphotographs and lend a charm to the book. The reader\u2019s interest is held\nto the last chapter; and fair justice is done to \u201chis India,\u201d which is\nnot generally the method pursued by Englishmen who detail their travels\nin the mysterious land. On returning, his adieu declares that lakhs of\ntrue friends are left there among Hindus, and his heart roves from hut\nto hut, whispering \u201che knows and loves.\u201d\n\n * * * * *\n\nDOGMA AND RITUAL OF HIGH MAGISM.\u2014By Eliphas L\u00e9vi, translated by a\nfellow of the Theosophical Society, is now in hand for publication as\nsoon as may be convenient. It will be issued in two volumes, about 600\npages, and put at as low a price as possible, $5.00. THE PATH has taken\ncharge of the issuing of the book, and will receive subscriptions for\nit. All the illustrations in the French edition will be reproduced.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA FALLEN IDOL.\u2014By F. Anstey. This is a novel devoted to a plot in which\n_Theosophy_, _Chelas_, _astral bodies_, _currents_, and what not,\nfigure on every page. It tells of the power and wanderings, the evil\ndeeds and influence of a strong bad man\u2019s shell, attached to an eastern\nidol. There is a German _Chela_ included, and also a fraudulent message.\n\n\n THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.\n\nTHE AMERICAN THEOSOPHICAL COUNCIL.\u2014In the July _Theosophist_, it\nwas announced that the General Council had resolved to organize\nthe American Branches upon a better and more permanent basis, than\npreviously existed, and that instructions to postpone the Board of\nControl meeting had been sent.\n\nThe formal orders have arrived, and are in brief, that all the\nBranches here are to be formed into the American Council, which is\nto be the Western Section of the General Council, but subordinate to\nit, whereupon the Board of Control goes out of existence; all Branch\npresidents and the present members of the Board of Control are to\nbe _ex-officio_ members of this Council which the orders direct to\nbe formed on call of the Board of Control as soon as possible after\nreceipt of advices. Other members of the Council, to be selected from\nthe whole body of American Theosophists, may be elected, and the\nCouncil is to meet in time to forward reports to the regular Council at\nAdyar in December.\n\nThis action is eminently wise, as the term _Board of Control_ was\nmisleading, inasmuch as the very foundation of the Society is\ndemocratic in its nature, and _control_ savored to much of form,\nceremonies, discipline, officers, secret reports and all the\nparaphernalia of an established church.\n\nIn all other respects the routine is unchanged by the orders. With 14\nBranches and others contemplated, these great United States ought to\nstand in fair way of being soon theosophized.\n\n * * * * *\n\nMALDEN.\u2014Members are working and studying. They enjoy advantages in\nhaving a few who thoroughly understand the subject.\n\nNEW YORK.\u2014The ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY meets regularly. Not many open\nmeetings have occurred in August or July, but frequent private ones\nhave been held, and the members are deeply in earnest. The library has\nreceived several additions, and the books are regularly used by members.\n\n * * * * *\n\nRUMORS\u2014are afloat that some very learned and distinguished theosophists\nfrom abroad will be here in the fall. If so\u2014and we think our\ninformation is reliable\u2014the whole host of newspapers, critics, and\nConways, may expect to hear a few more final \u201clast words on Theosophy.\u201d\nGentlemen of the opposition! the cycle runs its course, the terrible\nwheel of Karma turns round resistlessly, and you cannot stop it,\nastonishing as may seem to you to be the senility of people in running\nafter Theosophy.\n\n * * * * *\n\nROSICRUCIANS.\u2014The Society of the R.\u202fC. is being revived in Germany it\nis said, and theosophists are in it. Next month we will give a resum\u00e9\nof some of their ideas.\n\n * * * * *\n\n \u201cA knot of ignorance binds all men\u2019s hearts; this, action looses and\n God\u2019s grace imparts.\u201d\u2014_Hindi verse._\n\n \u201cStudy all Scriptures written, near or far;\n\n Worship all images and saints of earth; But if you do not study who\n you are, All your best actions are nothing worth.\u201d\u2014_Sanscrit verse._\n OM!\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[111] The emerald table is from the collection commencing with Le\nMiroirs d\u2019 Alquimie de Jean de Mehun, philosophe, tres\u2014excellent.\nTraduict de Latin on Fran\u00e7ois, A Paris, 1613, pp. 36-39, to which is\nalso attached, the Petit Commentaire de L\u2019Hortulain, philosophe, dict\ndes Jardins maritimes, sur la Table d\u2019 Esmerande d\u2019 Hermes Trismegiste\npp. 42-64.\n\n[112] An ancient Hindu book full of tales as well as doctrines.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[113] These _flashes_ of thought are not unknown even in the scientific\nworld, as, where in such a moment of lunacy, it was revealed to an\nEnglish scientist, that there must be iron in the sun; and Edison gets\nhis ideas thus.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[114] The careful student will remember that Jacob B\u0153hme speaks of\nthe \u201charsh and bitter anguish of nature which is the principle that\nproduces bones and all corporification.\u201d So here the master, it\nappears, tells the fortunate chela, that in the spiritual and mental\nworld, anxiety, harsh and bitter, raises a veil before us and prevents\nus from using our memory. He refers, it would seem, to the other memory\nabove the ordinary. The correctness and value of what was said in this,\nmust be admitted when we reflect that, after all, the whole process of\ndevelopment is the process of _getting back the memory of the past_.\nAnd that too is the teaching found in pure Buddhism as well also as in\nits corrupted form.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[115] The mystic syllable OM.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[116] There is some reference here apparently to the Upanishad, for\nthey contain a teacher\u2019s directions to break through all shrines until\nthe last one is reached.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[117] See _Bagavad-Gita_ where the whole poem turns upon the\nconflict in this battle field, which is called the \u201csacred plain of\n_Kurukshetra_\u201d meaning, the \u201cbody which is acquired by Karma.\u201d\u2014[ED.]\n\n[118] Arabian Soc. in the Middle Age.\u2014D\u2019Ohsson describing the Turkish\nDervishes gives another account.\n\n[119] Emerson.\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n Every period of soul is measured by time. The period of other\n souls indeed is measured by a certain time; but that of the first\n soul, since it is measured by time, is measured by the whole of\n time.\u2014_Proklos\u2019 Elements of Theology._\n\n Time, like a seven-wheeled, seven-naved car, moves on; His rolling\n wheels are all the worlds. His axle is immortality.\u2014_Atharva Veda._\n\n The moving finger writes, and having writ,\n Moves on, nor all your piety and wit\n Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,\n Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.\u2014_The Rubaiyat._\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. OCTOBER, 1886. NO. 7.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n WHAT IS THE \u201cTHEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY\u201d?\n\n AN OPINION IN REGARD TO WHAT IT OUGHT TO BE.\n\n [BY A MEMBER.]\n\nI am often asked by strangers who have heard some accounts of the\ndoings of the Theosophists: What is the Theosophical Society, and\nwhat is its purpose? Some believe it to be a sect, in which no\nopinion is suffered to exist unless it is first sanctioned by certain\n\u201cHeadquarters\u201d or \u201cBoards of Control\u201d; others believe it to be a school\nfor occultism and witchcraft; others think that it is a new form of\nBuddhism, coming under some disguise to overthrow Christianity, while\nsome of those who do not belong to the Christian church suspect it of\nbeing an effort to spread Christian doctrines among them by clothing\nthem in some new and more acceptable form. Nearly everyone of such\ninquirers sees in the T.\u202fS. only a bug-bear, and there are all sorts of\nopinions except the right one prevailing about it.\n\nTo all such objections I can only answer by showing to them the printed\n\u201cRules of the Theosophical Society,\u201d where under the head \u201cObjects of\nthe Society,\u201d it says: \u201c_The Society represents no particular religious\ncreed, interferes with no man\u2019s caste, is entirely unsectarian and\nincludes professors of all faiths._\u201d This sounds so beautifully, that\npeople who have been accustomed all their life to cling to creeds and\ndogmas and \u201crecognized authorities\u201d are unable to believe that it can\nbe true. Moreover the objectors have heard of \u201cBoards of Control,\u201d\nof \u201cPresidential Orders,\u201d of \u201cOfficial Organs,\u201d etc., and all these\nthings have such an air of sectarianism, that they seem to be hardly\ncompatible with the spirit of freedom, so loudly proclaimed by the\nT.\u202fS. It is asked: What has a \u201cBoard of Control\u201d to control? Who\nenforces obedience to presidential orders? Does the official organ\npromulgate the dogmas of the sect; and if not, what then is the use of\nthese things? It seems therefore time that we should once more consider\nwhat the T.\u202fS. is, or what it ought to be.\n\nIt must be plain to every lover of truth, that, however great the\nprogress may be, which modern civilization has made in regard to the\nmaterial and temporal welfare of man, the world is still far from\nhaving attained physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual perfection.\nDisease and crime, suffering and death, poverty, tyranny and ignorance\nare still in existence, and although there are many organized bodies,\nwhose purpose it is to do good and to cure the ills of humanity,\nstill the majority of such bodies are hampered to a certain extent\nby old beliefs, usages, creeds and superstitions, their activity is\nnot sufficiently free, because their opinions are not free; they may\nbenefit a certain class of humanity, but not all mankind; they know\nperhaps a part of the truth, but not all of it; their charity extends\nover a small circle, but not over the whole world. The root of all evil\nis ignorance, with its children, superstition, fear, crime and disease;\nthe only remedy against ignorance is to spread the knowledge of truth.\n\nThere have been at all times men and societies, willing to spread _that\nwhich they believe to be the truth_, by all means which were at their\ncommand, whether fair or foul; there have been people ready to force\ntheir opinions in regard to the truth upon others, by the power of\nthe sword, the faggot, the rack and the fire; but the truth cannot be\nspread in this manner. Real knowledge of the good, the beautiful and\nthe true can only be attained by obtaining the knowledge of self, and\nthe knowledge of self must grow in every individual in the course of\nhis development. It can no more be implanted by others or be forced\nupon another, than a tree be made to grow by pulling its trunk. The\nobject of the true Theosophist is therefore to attain self-knowledge,\nand to employ the knowledge which he possesses, for the purpose of\naccomplishing the greatest good.\n\nThere is perhaps not a single country upon the face of the earth,\nin which may not be found a number of persons, who desire to obtain\nself-knowledge, to find the truth by means of a free and unrestricted\ninvestigation, and to employ their knowledge for the benefit of\nhumanity. There are persons who desire to see true progress in the\nplace of stagnation, knowledge in the place of accepted but still\ndubious opinions, wisdom in the place of sophistry, universal love and\nbenevolence in the place of selfishness. Such men and women may be\nfound here and there, and each one acts in the way he considers the\nbest. Some work by means of the school, others by means of the pulpit;\nsome teach science, others influence the sense of the beautiful and\ntrue by their works of art, others speak the powerful language of\nmusic; but the most advanced of these give an example to others by\ntheir own Christlike conduct in the affairs of every-day life.\n\nThe great majority of such persons, interested in the welfare of\nhumanity, live isolated although they may be residing in crowded\ncities; for they find few who share their mode of feeling and thought\nand who have identical objects in view. They are often living\nin communities where little more but selfishness, the greed for\nmoney-making or perhaps bigotry and superstition are found. They are\nisolated and without the support of those who sympathize with their\nideas; for although one universal principle unites all those who have\nthe same object in view; still their persons are unknown to each other\nand they seldom find means for mutual intercourse and exchange of\nthought.\n\nNow let us suppose that in each country a centre of communication were\nto be established, by means of which such persons could come into\ncontact with each other, and that at each such centre a journal or\nnewspaper were to be established, by means of which such persons could\nexchange their thoughts;\u2014not a centre from which supreme wisdom was\nto be dispensed and from whence dogmas were to be doled out for the\nunthinking believers; but a centre through which the thought of the\nmembers of the society could freely flow; and we could then have an\nideal \u201cTheosophical Society.\u201d Such a centre would resemble a central\ntelephone station to which all the different wires extend, and it would\nrequire a trustworthy servant at the office to connect the wires and\nto attend to the _external_ affairs connected with the affairs of the\noffice; but if such a \u201ctelephone operator\u201d would attempt to interfere\nwith the messages running over the wires, and to assume an authority to\nsay what kinds of opinions should be wired and what messages should be\nsuppressed; if he were to assume the role of a dictator and permit only\nsuch messages to pass over the wires as would be in harmony with his\nown ideas; then the object of the centre of communication would come to\nnought; we would again have papal dictates and presidential orders in\nthe place of liberty of thought and speech, and there would be an end\nof the object and purpose of the society.\n\nBut on the other hand, if every unripe mind were to be permitted to\nhave his effusions printed at the expense of the society, and to teach\nthings, which perhaps a few months afterwards, having learned to\nknow better, he would be sorry to think that they had ever seen the\nlight, such a proceeding would throw discredit upon the society and be\nmoreover altogether impracticable.\n\nOur \u201ctelephone operator\u201d should therefore be a man possessed of the\ngreatest circumspection and discrimination, and while he should never\ninterfere with the expression of any opinion, no matter how much\nopposed the latter may be to his own opinion, he should at the same\ntime be permitted to cut down the messages sent over his wires to\ncertain limits and to present them, if necessary, in a more suitable\nform.\n\nAs regards the liberty of speech, it would be an absurdity if such a\nsociety were to attempt to prescribe to any of its members what kind\nof opinions or dogmas he should express; because whatever opinions\nhe may pronounce, they could never be regarded as being the opinions\nof the society as a whole; for the society as such _\u201crepresents no\nparticular creed\u201d and \u201cis entirely unsectarian.\u201d_ If in spite of this\nsolemn assertion anyone chooses to believe that the opinions publicly\nexpressed by a member of the society represent the creed of the\nsociety, such an unfortunate circumstance can only be deplored, but\nwill do no serious harm. On the other hand if a \u201cpresident\u201d or \u201cboard\nof control\u201d should attempt to preside over more important things than\nmerely over the meetings of the members, and if a \u201cboard of control\u201d\nwould attempt to control the conscience and the opinions of the\nmembers, instead of merely exercising its control over the external\naffairs of the society; and if an \u201cofficial organ\u201d would attempt to\npostulate what ought and what ought not to be believed by the members\nof the society, such a proceeding would be in direct opposition\nto the spirit, the object and the purpose of that society, and in\ncontradiction to the principles upon which it was founded; and while it\nshould be the object of every lover of truth to assist the growth of a\ntrue \u201cTheosophical Society,\u201d and to maintain its purity of principle,\nit should also be his aim to suffocate in the germ everything that is\nopposed to liberty and freedom of speech.\n\nI beg every member of the Theosophical Society to well consider these\npoints, for upon their consideration and decision, depends the solution\nof the question, whether the Theosophical Society shall end in a farce,\nor whether it shall be the great movement which it was intended to be.\n F. HARTMANN.\n_Kemplen (Bavaria), Aug. 23, 1886._\n\n\n APOLLONIUS AND THE MAHATMAS.\n\n [READ BEFORE THE MALDEN BRANCH, T.\u202fS.]\n\nThe journey to India made by the great adept, Apollonius of Tyana, has\na special interest for us modern students of occultism. The story of\nthis journey, related in the life of Apollonius by Philostratus, has\nbeen held by many to be a fable, and Mr. Tredwell, in his laudable\nwork, omits any account of it. To an earnest Theosophist, however,\nthe internal evidence of the narration is too strong to be resisted,\nalthough it is told at third hand probably with the adornments which an\naccomplished Greek author thought needful for the requisite grace of\nstyle.\n\nApollonius may perhaps be said to have been the Master whose mission\nwas to set the temples in order for the departure of the glorious\nclassic era. Born in the same century as Jesus of Nazareth, nowhere did\nthe teachings of the two, so far as it appears, come into open contact,\nalthough the fame of the former spread far and wide in Europe, Asia and\nAfrica during his lifetime. It is said, however, that although no creed\nbears his name, his work in the world was nevertheless immense and his\nteachings have, in many unperceived ways, influenced millions of human\nbeings down to the present day.\n\nApollonius was still a young man when he went to India, but even then\nhe was famous for his wisdom. He had been sent, as a boy of fourteen\nyears, to school in Tarsus by his wealthy father, but he did not like\nthe ways of that city and he was allowed to remove to Aeg\u00e6, also in\nSicily, where he studied the great philosophers and was specially drawn\nto the teachings of Pythagoras. At the age of sixteen he fully adopted\nthe Pythagorean life and held firmly to it ever after, letting his\nhair grow long, eating no flesh, and drinking no wine, and wearing no\nclothing made of animal products. He took up his abode in the temple\nof Asclepius, and thousands were attracted thither by the wisdom of\nthe wonderfully beautiful youth. Grown to manhood, he made a vow of\nsilence and spoke not a word for five years. Then for a time he taught\nin Antioch. When asked how the wise man should treat questions of\nlearning, he replied: \u201cLike the law-giver. For the law-giver must make\nthat, of whose truth he has convinced himself, into commandments for\nthe multitude.\u201d\n\nHe now conceived the idea of a journey to India to meet the wise men\nknown as Brahmins and Hyrkanians. He afterwards told the Egyptian\nGymnosophists that his thoughts were directed to them in his youth, but\nhis teacher pointed out to him that in India lived the men who stood\nnearest the source of wisdom, and from whom the Egyptians themselves\nderived their light.\n\nHis seven disciples in Antioch had not the courage to undertake the\njourney with him, and he departed with two of his family servants, \u201cone\nfor writing rapidly and the other finely,\u201d according to Philostratus.\nAt Ninus he was joined by Damis the Ninivite. This young Assyrian was\nthenceforth his devoted disciple, accompanying him on all his many\njourneys throughout his long career. It is to Damis that we chiefly owe\nthe detailed accounts of the doings of the Master thenceforward. We are\nthereby enabled to see Apollonius in his daily life; in his various\ndeeds and actions, his familiar sayings recorded as he talks with his\nfaithful companion about the common sights and occurrences around them.\nThe picture is therefore exceptionally intimate, and the man himself\nis brought near to us as well as his divine teachings. When Damis was\nreproached for writing down such trifles about his master, and compared\nwith a dog devouring the crumbs from a table, he replied: \u201cWhen the\ngods are feasting they doubtless have servants who take care that no\ncrumbs of ambrosia are lost.\u201d\n\nA year and eight months were spent in Babylon, where King Bardanus,\nwho was a friend of wisdom, received Apollonius with great honors.\nConsiderable intercourse was had with the Magi; he learnt something of\nthem and also taught them something. Damis was forbidden to accompany\nhim in his visits to them, but he said that Apollonius visited them\nat noon and at midnight. Once Damis asked \u201cWhat are the Magi?\u201d and\nwas answered, \u201cThey are indeed wise, but not in everything.\u201d The King\nbecame ill, and Apollonius spoke so much and so divinely about the soul\nthat the monarch said to those around: \u201cApollonius not only relieves me\nof concern for the Kingdom, but also for Death.\u201d\n\nApollonius, in departing, refused all gifts, but the King provided him\nwith camels and all things needful for the journey. When the King asked\nwhat he would bring him from India he replied. \u201cA joyful gift, O King!\nFor if intercourse with the men there makes me wiser, I shall come back\nto thee better than I now am.\u201d\n\nUpon this the King embraced him and said: \u201cMay\u2019st thou but come; for\nthis gift is great.\u201d\n\nThey crossed what they called the Caucasus mountains, separating India\nand Medea. May it not be that from this ancient designation we get\nthe name of the Caucasian race, rather than from what is now known as\nthe Caucasus? This would make the place of origin identical with that\ncommonly ascribed to the Aryans.\n\nCrossing the Indus they soon came to Taxila, which they called the\ncapital of India. It is difficult to trace out their exact course, the\npresent names of most geographical features being quite different from\nthe designations given by Damis. It would probably require a thorough\nOccultist to tell just what places they did visit. King Phraotes\nwas the ruler at Taxila, and in him Apollonius found an initiate.\nThe latter was struck with the modest simplicity of the monarch\u2019s\nsurroundings on entering the palace, and inferred that he must be a\nphilosopher. The King told Apollonius the course which a youth took\nwho proposed to dedicate himself to the pursuit of Wisdom. When he had\nreached his 18th year he had to cross the Hyphasis river to those men\nwho had attracted Apollonius to India. Beforehand, however, he had to\nmake his intention publicly known, in order that he might be restrained\nin case he was not pure. To be pure one had to be without blemish in\nrespect to father and mother, and moreover with an upright ancestry for\nthree generations. If without fault in this respect the youth himself\nwas then examined as to whether he had a good memory, whether he was\nnaturally inclined to uprightness or would only have it appear so,\nwhether given to drink or gluttony, of boastful habits, evil or foolish\nways, whether obedient to father, mother and instructors, and finally\nif he had made no evil use of the bloom of his youth. \u201cSince wisdom\nstands in great esteem here,\u201d said the King, \u201cand is honored by the\nIndians, it is of great moment that those who seek to devote themselves\nunto it should be carefully examined and made to undergo thousandfold\ntests.\u201d\n B.\n (_Concluded in November._)\n\n\n SUFISM,\n\n OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.\n\n_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in\nMysticism._\n\n BY C.\u202fH. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._\n\n In Two Parts:\u2014Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.\n\n (CONTINUED.)\n\n PART II.\u2014SYMBOLS.\n\nThe practical expounder and preachers of Sufism are the Dervishes, the\nmonks of Islam.\n\n_Zaous Abou Add er-Rahman_, of Persian origin, but born in Yemen,\nled the way. He had passed his early youth in the society of Zein el\nAbidin, the son of Hasan, and grandson of Ali, and the first of that\nfamily who in life and writing professed the mystical ideas and austere\npractices, which ever afterwards distinguished the race. Abou-Horeirah,\nthe devoutest of Mohammed\u2019s own companions, and Ebn Abbas were also\nhis masters. He took up his abode at Mecca, the centre of religious\nfeeling, and soon Zaous\u2019 influence began to appear among the crowd of\npilgrims from all parts of the Mohammedan empire; they began to imitate\nhis long prayers, his fasts, and extreme poverty, and above all his\nopen contempt for all worldly dignity and rank, and many adopted the\npeculiarity of his dress, the long and patched garment and the high\nwoollen cap, both of which later became so characteristic of the Sufi.\n\nOne of his most distinguished followers was _Hasan Yesar_, like Zaous,\nof Persian origin, but born in Arabia, in Medinah. Having received his\nliberty (he was born after his mother had become a slave of Omm Salma,\none of the numerous wives of the Prophet), he retired to Basra, on the\nPersian Gulf, a town known for its attachment to the family of Ali and\ntheir doctrines, and henceforth a stronghold of the ascetic sect. His\nlife proved the truth and strength of his doctrines, and Basra was now\ntheir headquarters.\n\n_Malik Ebn Dinar_, a Persian, and a slave by birth, known for his love\nof manual labor, poverty and humility, next appears as chief among the\nascetics of his age.\n\n_Omar Abou Othman_, was a disciple of Hasan Yesar and also an\ninhabitant of Basra. Hasan Yesar described him as one worthy of angels\nand prophets for preceptors and guides, one who never exhorted save to\nwhat he had first put in practice, nor deterred from anything except\nwhat he himself inviolably abstained from. He was a vigorous asserter\nof man\u2019s free-will.\n\nAbout the same time _Omar Abou Durr_ at Coufa and _Sofein Abou Abd\nAllah_ displayed similar examples of austerity and virtue, and so did\n_Hammad Abou Ismail_, son of the celebrated Abou Hanifah, Abd Allah\nMerouj\u00ef, and _Mohammed Ebn es Semmak_.\n\nBut whether at Mecca or at Basra, the various ascetics already\nmentioned, and the many not mentioned; whatever personal influence they\nexercised, and virtues they possessed, they did not form a particular\nand distinct association or brotherhood. No common rule united them,\nnor did they group themselves around any superior or chief, as yet.\n\nBut the next prominent man among them was not only a remarkable man\nas an ascetic, but also the father and founder of all the numerous\nDervish family. His name was _Fodheil Abou Ali Zalikani_. He was\nborn of Persian parents and spent his youth as a highway robber. One\nnight he had scaled the walls of a house where the girl of whom he\nwas enamored dwelt, and concealed on the roof, awaited the moment to\ndescend and gratify his passion. But while thus occupied he heard a\nvoice repeating the well-known verse of the Quran: \u201cIs it not high time\nfor those who believe to open their hearts to compunction?\u201d \u201cLord, it\nis high time indeed,\u201d replied Fodheil; and leaving the house, as well\nas his evil design, he retired to a half-ruined caravansarai not far\noff, there to pass the rest of the night. Several travellers were at\nthe moment lodged in the caravansarai, and, concealed by the darkness,\nhe overheard their conversation: \u201cLet us start on our journey,\u201d said\none; and the others answered: \u201cLet us wait till morning, for the robber\nFodheil is out on the roads.\u201d This completed the conversion of the\nalready repentant highwayman. He advanced towards the travellers, and,\ndiscovering himself to them, assured them that henceforth neither they\nnor any others should have aught to fear from him. He then stripped\nhimself of his weapons and worldly gear, put on a patched and tattered\ngarment, and passed the rest of his life in wandering from place to\nplace, in the severest penitence and in extreme poverty, sometimes\nalone, sometimes with numerous disciples, whom he took under his\ndirection, and formed into a strict and organized brotherhood. But\nwith all his austerity of life, his prolonged fasts and watchings, his\nragged dress and wearisome pilgrimages, he preferred the practice of\ninterior virtue and purity of intention to all outward observances,\nand used often to say that \u201che who is modest and compliant to others,\nand lives in meekness and patience, gains a higher reward by so doing\nthan if he fasted all his days, and watched in prayer all his nights.\u201d\nAt so high a price did he place obedience to a spiritual guide, and\nso necessary did he deem it, that he declared: \u201cHad I a promise of\nwhatever I should ask in prayer, yet would I not offer that prayer save\nin union with a superior.\u201d But his favorite virtue was the love of\nGod in perfect conformity to his will, above all hope and fear. Thus\nwhen his only son\u2014whose virtues resembled his father\u2019s\u2014died in early\nage, Fodheil was seen with a countenance of unusual cheerfulness; and\nbeing asked by his intimate disciple Ragi Abou Ali, afterwards Kadhi of\nthe town of Rei, the reason therefor, he answered: \u201cIt was God\u2019s good\npleasure, and it is therefore my good pleasure also.\u201d We must notice\none more of his famous sentences: \u201cMuch is he beguiled who serves\nGod from fear or hope, for this true service is for mere love;\u201d and,\nspeaking of himself: \u201cI serve God because I cannot help serving Him for\nvery love\u2019s sake.\u201d\n\nFodheil died in the year 187 of the Hegira. His disciple was _Ibrahim\nEbn Adhem_, son of noble parents and also a Persian by birth, and he\nis an example upon the forbearance under injury and reluctance to have\ntheir right manifested, so prominent amongst the disciples of Fodheil.\n\nAfter the death of Fodheil the supreme direction of the brotherhood\nwas vested in _Bishar el Hafi_, a native of Meron and inhabitant of\nBagdad. When young he had, like Fodheil, led a reckless life, till one\nday walking in the streets he saw written on a piece of paper, torn and\ntrampled on by the feet of the passers-by, the name of God. He picked\nit up and, having cleaned it to the best of his ability, took it home\nand placed it out of the reach of further profanation. The same night\nhe heard a voice saying to him; \u201cBishar, thou has honoured my name.\nI will accordingly render thy name honourable in this world and in\nthat to come.\u201d He awoke from sleep a changed man, and began a new life\nof penance and virtue. The name Hafi signifies _barefoot_. He walked\nbarefooted. His greatest trial was from the veneration of man: \u201cO God,\u201d\nhe used to say, \u201csave me from this honour, the requital of which may\nperchance be confusion in another life.\u201d\n\nOur space forbids us to dwell upon the Egyptian ascetics who helped to\nlay the foundation for the future Sufism. We pass by them and dwell\nmainly with the Persian representatives.\n\nAbout this time\u2014the beginning of the fourth century\u2014two events occurred\nof greatest importance in the history we are narrating. The Samanide\nprinces had gained ascendency in the empire over the Abbaside Caliphs.\nAll the princes of the Samanide race were remarkable for their piety\nand patronage of learning. _Nasser Ebn Ahmed_, signalized himself by\nhis love of retirement and religious meditation. He founded an oratory\nat Bokhara which soon became the resort of the now numerous ascetics,\nand soon other similar institutions arose throughout the country and\n_the dervishes of the East now took on them their permanent name and\nmanner of life_.\n\nThe other event which characterized this era was the outbreak of open\nheterodoxy among the ascetics. Hitherto they had concealed their tenets\nand practices, opposed as they were to the prevailing system, much\nafter the fashion of Ali Zein el Abidin, grandson of the famous Ali,\ngrand-master of the secret order:\n\n \u201cAbove all things I conceal the precious jewel of my knowledge,\n Lest the uninitiated should behold it, and be bewildered;\n Ah, how many a rare jewel of this kind, should I openly display it,\n Men would say to me: \u2018Thou art one of the worshippers of idols;\u2019\n And Zealous Muslims would set my blood at price,\n Deeming the worst of crimes an acceptable and virtuous action.\u201d\n\nAfter these ascetics had learned their strength from their union they\nbegan to take part in politics and worked zealously with that party\nthat wished to overthrow the family and religion of Mohammed and place\nAli and mysticism in their stead. They accordingly soon had martyrs\nin their ranks. Thus died at Bagdad the famous _Hosain Abou Meghith\nel Halladj_. To his school belonged the three giants of learning and\npiety: Abd-el-Kadir el Ghilani, Mohi ed Din Ebn-Aarabi el Moghrebi, and\nOmar Ebn el Faridh. We pen a few of his words:\n\n \u201cI am He whom I love, and He whom I love is I;\n We are two spirits, inhabiting one outward frame:\n And when you behold me, you behold Him,\n And when you behold Him, you behold us twain.\u201d\n\nHe taught the freedom of the human will and wrote the following satire\non the predestinarian system of Islam:\n\n \u201cWhat can man do, if the decrees of predestination surround him,\n Binding him in his every state? answer me, O learned professor.\n He (_i. e._, as if He, that is God) cast him into the ocean, bound\n hand and foot, and then said to him,\n Woe to you, woe to you, should you get wet with the water.\u201d\n\nHe it is who thus in his verse addresses God:\n\n \u201cI love Thee with a twofold love, the love of friendship,\n And the love grounded on this alone, that Thou art worthy of it.\n But as to that my love which is the love of friendship,\n It is a love which leaves me no thought for any save Thee;\n And as to the love of Thee according to Thy worthiness,\n O raise from betwixt us the vail, that I may behold Thee.\n Nor is any praise due to me either for this or for that (love),\n But to Thee alone the praise both for this and that.\u201d\n\nHalladj\u2019s three famous disciples gave their names to the three\nprincipal brotherhoods among the Mohammedans, and their work remains to\nthis day.\n\n_Abd-el-Kadir el Ghilani_ was a Persian by birth and resided at Bagdad.\nNobody doubted that he was the Kothb of his time, and as such he\nannounced himself in his ecstatic state, though ordinarily he strove\nto conceal himself under the veil of a mean and despicable appearance.\nHe founded the order of the Qadiriyah which association counted in its\nranks some of the greatest names among Eastern mystics and poets. The\ndoctrine of the order was that of Hosein el Halladj, whom he taught the\norder to look upon as their master, though their doctrine was commonly\nveiled under a seemingly orthodox terminology. They subsist to this day\nand are counted among the most prominent.\n\nM. D\u2019hosson in his celebrated work on the Ottoman empire traces the\norigin of the Faquirs to the time of Mohammed in the following manner:\nIn the first year of the Hegira, forty-five citizens of Mecca joined\nthemselves to many others from Medina. They took an oath of fidelity\nto the doctrines of their Prophet, and formed a sect or fraternity,\nthe object of which was to establish among themselves a community of\nproperty, and to perform every day certain religious practices in a\nspirit of penitence and mortification. To distinguish themselves from\nother Mohammedans, they took the name of Sufis. This name, which later\nwas attributed to the most zealous partizans of Islam, is the same\nstill in use to indicate any Muselman who retires from the world to\nstudy, to lead a life of pious contemplation, and to follow the most\npainful exercises of an exaggerated devotion. To the name of Sufi they\nadded also that of Faquir, because their maxim was to renounce the\ngoods of the earth, and to live in an entire abnegation of all worldly\nenjoyments, following thereby the words of the Prophet: \u201cPoverty is my\npride.\u201d Following their example, _Abu Bakr and Ali_ established, even\nduring the lifetime of the Prophet and under his own eyes, religious\norders, over which each presided, with Zikrs or peculiar religious\nexercises, established by them separately, and a vow taken by each\nof the voluntary disciples forming them. On his decease, Abu Bakr\nmade over his office of president to one _Salmann l-Farisi_, and Ali\nto _al-Hasann l-Basri_, and each of these charges were consecrated\nunder the title of _Khalifah_, or successor. The two first successors\nfollowed the example of the Khalifahs of Islam, and transmitted it\nto their successors, and these in turn to others, the most aged and\nvenerable of their fraternity. Some among them, led by the delirium\nof the imagination, wandered away from the primitive rules of their\nsociety, and converted, from time to time, these fraternities into a\nmultitude of religious orders. * * * It was about A.\u202fH. 49 (A. D. 766)\nthat the Shaikh Alwan, a mystic renowned for his religious fervor,\nfounded the first regular order of the Faquirs, now known as the\nAlwaniyah.\n\nThe Bastamiyah, the Nagshbandiyah, and the Bakhtashiyah descend from\nthe original order established by Abu Bakr. All the others come from\nAli.\n\n THE FAQUIRS OR DERVISHES.\n\nThe Arabic word _Faqir_ signifies _poor_, poor in the sense of being\nin need of mercy, poor in the sight of God. The Persian equivalent\n_Darvish_ is derived from _dar_ \u201ca door\u201d\u2014those who \u201cbeg from door to\ndoor.\u201d\n\nThe dervishes are, as stated before, the _practical_ expounders of\nMohammedanism. They are divided into two great classes, the _ba Shara_\n(with the law), or those who govern their conduct according to the\nprinciples of Islam: and the _be Shara_ (without the law), or those\nwho do not rule their lives according to the formal principles of any\nreligious creed, although they call themselves Muslims. To the latter,\nthe Sufis principally belong. These Faquirs are called either _Azad_,\nthe free, or _Majnub_, the absorbed. The former shave their beards,\nwhiskers, eyebrows, etc., and live a life of celibacy.\n\nEvery school and every brotherhood has its own distinctive teachings\nand technicalities, and its peculiar practices and observances, its\nsaints and doctors, great men and founders.\n\nA student will also readily discover a different character in Arabic\nand Persian Sufism. The Arabic being nearer to Christianity takes up\nmuch from it, but moulds it in its peculiar way; the Persian being\nnearer the traditions of Zoroaster and in immediate contact with\nManechaism, naturally borrows from thence. Thus the \u201cpantheistic\u201d\ntendencies, such as Divine absorption, universal manifestation of the\nDeity under the seeming appearances of limited forms, the final return\nof all things to the unity of God, a tendency to regard matter as evil,\nthe reprobation of marriage, etc.\u2014these were ideas that rose from\nPersian soil, while the ideas of a radiant Divinity mediating between\nthe supreme fountain-head of Being and the created world; of an\nall-prevading Spirit of love; of detachment from the world; of poverty,\nhumility, etc., were more akin to Christian belief.\n\nStill Saadis\u2019 description applies to all: \u201cThe outward tokens of a\ndervish are a patched garment and a shaven head; and the inward signs,\nthose of being alive in the spirit, and dead in the flesh:\u2014\u2018not he who\nwill sit apart from his fellow-creatures at the door of supplication\nwith God; and, if he shall reject his prayer, will stand up in\ndisobedience; or if a millstone come rolling down a mountain, he is not\nintelligent in the ways of providence, that would rise to avoid it.\u2019\n\n\u201cThe ritual of the Dervishes is gratitude and praise, worship and\nobedience, contentment and charity, and a belief in the unity and\nprovidence of God, having a reliance on and being resigned to his will,\nconfident of his favour, and forbearant of all: whosoever is endowed\nwith these qualifications is in truth a dervish, notwithstanding he be\narrayed in gorgeous apparel: whereas, the irreligious and hypocritical\nvainboaster, sensualist, and whoremonger, who turn days into nights in\nhis slavish indulgences, and converts nights into days in his dreams of\nforgetfulness; who eats whatever falls in his way, and speaks whatever\ncomes uppermost, is a profligate, though clothed in the sackcloth of a\nsaint.\u2014\u2014\u201d\n\nThe dervishes differ, says A. Vambery,[120] from each other only by the\nmanner in which they demonstrate their enthusiasm; still the more we\npenetrate towards the East, the greater is the purity with which they\nhave been preserved. In Persia the dervishes play a much more important\npart than in Turkey, and in Central Asia, isolated as it has been from\nthe rest of the world for centuries, this fraternity is still in full\nvigor, and exercises a great influence upon society.\n\nAccording to A. Vambery, the _Bektashi_, _Mevlevi_, and _Rufai_ orders\nare principally found in Turkey; the _Kadrie_ and _Djelali_ in Arabia;\nthe _Oveisi_ and the _Nurbakhchi Nimetullahi_ in Persia; the _Khilali_\nand _Zahibi_ in India, and the _Nakishbendi_ and _Sofi_ (a recent\norder) in Central Asia.\n\nAccording to Th. P. Hughes[121] the following are the chief orders of\nFaqirs met with in North India: (1) The _Naqshbandia_, the followers\nof Khwajah Pir Mohammed Naqshband, and are a very numerous sect; they\nusually perform the Zikr-i-Khafi[122] or the silent devotion. (2) The\n_Qadiria_ sprung from the celebrated Sayyid Abdul Qadir, surnamed\nPir Dustagir, whose shrine is at Bagdad. They practice both forms of\nthe Zikr. Most of the Sunni Moulavis of the north-west frontier of\nIndia are members of this order. In Egypt it is most popular among\nthe fisherman. (3) The _Chishtia_ are followers of Banda Nawaz, whose\nshrine is at Calburgah; they are partial to vocal music, for the\nfounder of the order remarked, that singing was the food and support\nof the soul. They perform the Zikr-i-Jali. (4) The _Jalalia_ founded\nby Sayyid Jalal-ud-din of Bokhara; they are met with in Central Asia.\nReligious mendicants are often of this order. (5) The _Sarwardia_ are\npopular in Afganistan and comprise many learned men. They are the\nfollowers of Hasan Bisri of Basra, near Bagdad. These five are all\nba-Shara Faqirs.\n\nThe be-Shara Faqirs are very numerous. The most popular order is that\nof the _Mudaria_, founded by Zinda Shah Murdar of Syria, whose shrine\nis at Mukanpur, in Oudh. From these have sprung the _Malang_ Faqirs who\ncrowd the bazaars of India. They wear their hair matted or tied in a\nknot. The _Rafia_ order is also a numerous one in some parts of India.\nThey practice the most severe discipline and mortify themselves by\nscourging.\n\nThe secrets of the dervish orders cannot be learned. An initiation is\ndescribed in Lane\u2019s Society is the Middle Ages and the following is\nanother.\n\nThe following is the account of the admission of Tewekkul B\u00eag into the\norder of the Qadiriyahfaqirs, one of the four most prominent ones, by\nMoolla Shah, a Saint and poet of some celebrity, who died in the year\nof the Hegira 1072 (1661-62 of our era), at Lahore, where his shrine\nwas reared by the Princess Fatima, daughter of Shah-Jihan. Tewekkul is\nhimself the narrator:\n\n\u201cHaving been introduced, by means of Akh\u00f4nd Moll\u00e2 Mohammed Say\u2019d\ninto the intimate circle of Moll\u00e2 Shah, my heart through frequent\nintercourse with the Sheikh was filled with a burning desire of\nreaching the sublime goal [of the mystical science], and I no longer\nfound sleep by night nor rest by day * * I passed the whole of that\nnight without being able to shut my eyes, and betook myself to reciting\na hundred thousand times the one hundred and twelfth chapter of the\nQoran. I accomplished this in several days. It is well known that in\nthis chapter of the Qoran the great Name of God is contained, and\nthat through the power of that Name, whoever recites it a hundred\nthousand times may obtain all that he desires. I conceived then the\nwish that the Master should bestow his affection upon me. And, in\nfact, I convinced myself of the efficacy of this means, for hardly had\nI finished the hundred thousandth recitation of this chapter of the\nbook of God, when the heart of the Master was filled with sympathy\nfor me, and he gave order to Senghin Mohammed, his vicar, to conduct\nme on the following night to his presence. During that whole night he\nconcentrated his mind upon me, while I directed my meditation upon my\nown heart; but the knot of my heart was not unloosed. So passed three\nnights, during which he made me the object of his spiritual attention,\nwithout any result being manifested. On the fourth night Moll\u00e2 Sh\u00e2h\nsaid, \u2018This night Moll\u00e2 Senghin and S\u00e2lih B\u00eag, who are both very\nsusceptible to ecstatic emotions, will direct their whole mind upon the\nneophyte.\u2019 They obeyed this order, while I remained seated the whole\nnight, my face turned towards Mecca, at the same time concentrating all\nmy mental faculties upon my own heart. Towards daybreak, a little light\nand brightness came into my heart, but I could distinguish neither\nform nor color. After morning prayer I presented myself, and the two\npersons I have just mentioned, before the Master who saluted me and\nasked them what they had done to me. They replied: \u2018Ask him, himself.\u2019\nThen, addressing me, he told me to relate to him my impressions. I said\nthat I had seen a brightness in my heart; whereupon the Sheikh became\nanimated, and said to me: \u2018Thy heart contains an infinity of colors,\nbut it is become so dark that the looks of these two crocodiles of the\ninfinite ocean [the mystic science] have not availed to bestow upon\nit either brightness or clearness; the moment is come when I myself\nwill show thee how it is enlightened.\u2019 With these words he made me\nsit in front of him, while my senses were, so to speak, inebriated,\nand ordered me to reproduce within me his appearance. Then, having\nblindfolded me, he bade me concentrate all my mental faculties upon\nmy heart. I obeyed, and in an instant, by the divine favor and the\nspiritual assistance of the Sheikh, my heart was opened. I saw then\nwithin me something like a cup, turned upside down; and this object\nhaving been turned up again, a feeling of illimitable happiness filled\nmy whole being. I said to the Master, \u2018This cell, where I am sitting\nbefore you\u2014I see a faithful reproduction of it within me, and it seems\nas if another T\u00e9wekkul B\u00eag were seated before another Moll\u00e2 Sh\u00e2h.\u2018 He\nanswered, \u2018It is well; the first vision which presents itself to thy\nview is the figure of the Master.\u2019 * * * He next bade me uncover my\neyes, which I did, and I then saw him, by the material organ of vision,\nseated in front of me. Again he made me bandage them, and I perceived\nhim by my spiritual vision, seated in front of me just the same. Full\nof wonder I cried out, \u2018O my Master, whether I look with my bodily\neyes or my spiritual vision, it is always you that I see.\u2019 Meanwhile\nI saw advance towards me a dazzling figure, and upon my telling the\nMaster of it, he bade me ask the apparition its name. In my spirit I\nput to it that question, and the figure answered me by the voice of\nthe heart, \u2018My name is Abd Alk\u00e2dir Glil\u00e2ny.\u2019 I heard this answer by my\nspiritual ear. The Master then advised me to pray the Saint to give me\nhis spiritual help and succor. I made this petition; and the apparition\nsaid to me, \u2018I had already granted to thee my spiritual assistance;\nhence it is that the knots of thy heart have been loosed.\u2019 Full of deep\ngratitude, I imposed on myself the obligation of reciting every Friday\nnight the whole Qoran in honor of this great Saint, and for two whole\nyears I never neglected this practice. Moll\u00e2 Sh\u00e2h then said, \u2018The\nspiritual world has been shown to thee in all its beauty: remain there\nseated, effacing thyself completely in the marvels of this unknown\nworld.\u2019\n\n\u201cI obeyed strictly the directions of my Master, and, day by day, the\nspiritual world became more and more unveiled before me. The next day I\nsaw the figures of the Prophet and his chief Companions, and legions of\nSaints and Angels passed before my inner vision. Three months passed in\nthis manner, after which the sphere where all color is effaced opened\nbefore me, and then all the figures disappeared. During all this time\nthe Master ceased not to explain to me the doctrine of the union with\nGod and of mystical intuition. But, nevertheless, the Absolute Reality\nwould not show itself to me. It was not until after a year that the\nknowledge of the Absolute Reality, in its relation with the conception\nof my own existence came to me. The following verses revealed\nthemselves at that moment to my heart, whence they passed unbidden to\nmy lips:\u2014\n\n \u2018That this corruptible frame was other than water and dust\n I knew not: the powers of the heart and the soul and the body I knew\n not,\n Woe is me! that so much of my life without Thee has for ever fled\n from me.\n Thou wert I; but dark was my heart: I knew not the secret transcendent.\u2019\n\n\u201cI submitted to Moll\u00e2 Sh\u00e2h this poetical inspiration, and he rejoiced\nthat the idea of the union with God was at last manifested to my heart;\nand addressing his disciples, he said: \u2018T\u00e8wekkul B\u00eag has heard from\nmy mouth the words of the doctrine of the union with God, and he will\nnever betray the mystery. His inner eye is opened; the sphere of color\nand images is shown to him, and at last the sphere where all color is\neffaced has been revealed to him. Whoever after having passed through\nthese phases of the union with God, has obtained the Absolute Reality,\nshall no more be led astray, whether by his own doubts or by those\nwhich sceptics may suggest to him.\u201d\n\n (_To be continued._)\n\n\n MUSINGS ON THE TRUE THEOSOPHIST\u2019S PATH.\n\n II.\n\n \u201cWork as those work who are ambitious.\u2014Respect life as those do who\n desire it.\u2014Be happy as those are who live for happiness.\u201d\u2014_Light on\n the Path._\n\nWe are tried in wondrous ways, and in the seemingly unimportant affairs\nof life, there often lie the most dangerous of the temptations.\n\nLabor, at best, is frequently disagreeable owing either to mental or\nphysical repugnance. When he who seeks the upward path, begins to find\nit, labor grows more burdensome, while at the time, he is, owing to his\nphysical condition, not so well fitted to struggle with it. This is\nall true, but there must be no giving in to it. It must be forgotten.\nHe _must work_, and if he cannot have the sort he desires or deems\nbest suited to him, then must he take and perform that which presents\nitself. It is that which he most needs. It is not intended either, that\nhe do it to have it done. It is intended that he work as if it was the\nobject of his life, as if his whole heart was in it. Perhaps he may be\nwise enough to know that there is something else, or that the future\nholds better gifts for him, still this also must to all intents be\nforgotten, while he takes up his labor, as if there were no to-morrow.\n\nRemember that life is the outcome of the Ever-Living. If you have\ncome to comprehend a little of the mystery of life, and can value its\nattractions according to their worth; these are no reasons why you\nshould walk forth with solemn countenance to blight the enjoyments of\nother men. Life to them is as real, as the mystery is to you. Their\ntime will come as yours has, so hasten it for them, if you can, by\nmaking life brighter, more joyous, better.\n\nIf it be your time to fast, put on the best raiment you have, and go\nforth, not as one who fasts, but as one who lives for life.\n\nDo your sighing and crying within you. If you can not receive the small\nevents of life and their meanings without crying them out to all the\nworld, think you that you are fitted to be trusted with the mysteries?\n\nThe doing away with one or certain articles of diet, _in itself_, will\nnot open the sealed portals. If this contained the key, what wise\nbeings must the beasts of the field be, and what a profound Mystic must\nNebuchadnezar have been, after he was \u201cturned out to grass!\u201d\n\nThere are some adherents of a faith, which has arisen in the land, who\ndeem it wise to cast away all things that are distasteful to them; to\ncut asunder the ties of marriage because they deem it will interfere\nwith their spiritual development, or because the other pilgrim is not\nprogressed enough. Brothers, there lives not the man who is wise enough\nto sit as a judge upon the spiritual development of any living being.\nHe is not only unwise but blasphemous who says to another: \u201cDepart! you\nimpede my exalted spiritual development.\u201d\n\nThe greatest of all truths lies frequently in plain sight, or veiled\nin contraries. The impression has gone abroad that the Adept or the\nMystic of high degree, has only attained his station by forsaking the\nassociation of his fellow creatures or refusing the marriage tie. It\nis the belief of very wise Teachers that all men who had risen to the\nhighest degrees of Initiation, have at some time passed through the\nmarried state. Many men, failing in the trials, have ascribed their\nfailure to being wedded, precisely as that other coward, Adam, after\nbeing _the first transgressor_ cried out \u201cIt was Eve.\u201d\n\nOne of the most exalted of the Divine Mysteries lies hidden\nhere\u2014therefore, Oh Man, it is wise to cherish that which holds so much\nof God and seek to know its meaning; not by dissolution and cutting\nasunder, but by binding and strengthening the ties. Our most Ancient\nMasters knew of this and Paul also speaks of it. (Ephesians v. 32.)\n\nBe patient, kindly and wise, for perhaps in the next moment of life,\nthe light will shine out upon thy companion, and you discover that you\nare but a blind man, claiming to see. Remember this, that you own not\none thing in this world. Your wife is but a gift, your children are\nbut loaned to you. All else you possess is given to you only while you\nuse it wisely. Your body is not yours, for Nature claims it as her\nproperty. Do you not think, Oh Man, that it is the height of arrogance\nfor you to sit in judgment upon any other created thing, while you, a\nbeggar, are going about in a borrowed robe?\n\nIf misery, want and sorrow are thy portion for a time, be happy that it\nis not death. If it is death be happy there is no more of life.\n\nYou would have wealth, and tell of the good you would do with it. Truly\nwill you lose your way under these conditions. It is quite probable,\nthat you are as rich as you ever will be, therefore, desire to do good\nwith what you have\u2014and _do it_. If you have nothing, know that it is\nbest and wisest for you. Just so surely as you murmur and complain just\nso surely will you find that \u201cfrom him that hath not, shall be taken\neven that which he hath.\u201d This sounds contradictory, but in reality is\nin most harmonious agreement. Work in life and the Occult are similar;\nall is the result of your own effort and will. You are not rash enough\nto believe that you will be lifted up into Heaven like the Prophet of\nold\u2014but you really hope some one will come along and give you a good\nshove toward it.\n\nKnow then, Disciples, that you only can lift yourselves by your own\nefforts. When this is done, you may have the knowledge that you will\nfind many to accompany you on your heretofore lonely journey; but\nneither they or your Teacher will be permitted to push or pull you one\nstep onward.\n\nThis is all a very essential part of your preparation and trial for\nInitiation.\n\nYou look and wait for some great and astounding occurrence, to show you\nthat you are going to be permitted to enter behind the veil; that you\nare to be Initiated. It will never come. He only who studies all things\nand learns from them, as he finds them, will be permitted to enter,\nand for him there are no flashing lightnings or rolling thunder. He\nwho enters the door, does so as gently and imperceptibly, as the tide\nrises in the night-time.\n\nLive well your life. Seek to realize the meaning of every event. Strive\nto find the Ever Living and wait for more light. The True Initiate\ndoes not fully realize what he is passing through, until his degree is\nreceived. If you are striving for light and Initiation, remember this,\nthat your cares will increase, your trials thicken, your family make\nnew demands upon you. He who can understand and pass through these\npatiently, wisely, placidly\u2014may hope.\n AMERICAN MYSTIC.\n\n\n POETICAL OCCULTISM.\n\n SOME ROUGH STUDIES OF THE OCCULT LEANINGS OF THE POETS.\n\n I.\n\nIn the _Bagavad-Gita_ and the _Upanishads_ it is held that:\n\n Ishwara, the Lord of all things, dwells in the heart of every mortal\n being, and from that place causes the illusions of the world to appear\n to man as reality.\n\n_Light on the Path_ dwells upon the necessity of understanding your\nown heart: It tells us to seek for the source of evil there, where it\nlives, as fruitfully in the heart of the devoted disciple as in that of\nthe man of desire, and that your heart is the profoundest mystery of\nall the great obscurities.\n\nLongfellow felt this when, in _The Beleaguered City_, he sang:\u2014\n\n I have read, in the marvelous heart of man,\n That strange and mystic scroll,\n That an army of phantoms vast and wan\n Beleaguer the human soul.\n\nThis verse occurs to him in connection with the old story that the\nCity of Prague was once beleaguered by a vast phantom army, which\ncamped down on the opposite bank of the river, and he likens the\nhuman heart to Prague. Here, in the city dwells Ishwara, who, while\nthus imprisoned, is beleaguered by the vast army\u2014the phantoms of\nall the acts and thoughts of the person in this and other lives.\nOccultism declares with the poet, that the heart is a mystic scroll;\nit is a veritable field also, in which are sown many seeds that\nmay lie unnoticed, not only during one life, but often for many\nmany incarnations, but sure to blossom forth one day under favoring\ncircumstances. And as they begin to grow, they evoke the phantoms of\nthe deeds that sowed them, and those ghostly hosts sweep round the soul\nin its prison house.\n\nIn _Resignation_, Longfellow wrote: \u201cThere is no death! What seems so\nis transition.\u201d\n\nThis is one of the propositions of Occultism. The poet was writing\nupon the death of the physical body of a girl much beloved, and was\nconsidering the change which in common life is known as \u201cdeath.\u201d But\nthe followers of the Wisdom Religion know that this terrible change is\nnot really death, is not in any sense the moment of decease of even the\nphysical man. The visible being is a congeries of energies or elements\nwhich are by no means all dead when the person breathes his last, nor\nwhen the body is consigned to the grave. It is only the transition, as\nLongfellow says, of the informing spirit, to another sphere of action.\n\nThe same view is taken in the _Atharva Veda_, where it says,\n\u201cEverything is transformed. Life and death are only modes of\ntransformation, which rule the vital molecule from plant up to Brahma\nhimself.\u201d\n\nThe occult philosophy considers as death, only that process, and\nperiod, of separation between _all_ the various elements of one\u2019s lower\nhuman and animal nature; so that, in the case of suicides and other\nsudden and premature deaths, what occultists know as \u201cdeath,\u201d extends\nover a long period of time. The moment called death by the world, is\nonly the time of separation between the body and the life principle,\nwhich the Hindus call _jiva_; this is the moment when the transition\nbegins.\n\nGoethe was a profound student of occultism. Its influence is to be\ntraced throughout his works, and a leading motive in many of his dramas\nis the dominance over the lives of men of that power which we call\n_Karma_. His masterpiece, _Faust_, upon which a library of commentaries\nhas been written, can only be truly read in the light of Occultism.\n_Faust_ comes to an end with the following \u201cMystic Chorus\u201d sung by the\nassembled Hosts of Heaven:\n\n All that\u2019s impermanent\n Is but a likeness.\n The Unattainable\n Here findeth witness;\n The Indescribable,\n Here is it done;\n The Ever-womanly\n Leadeth us on.\n\nA wealth of occult meaning is packed into these eight closing lines of\nthe grand drama, which is designed to depict the course of the soul\nfrom Heaven, through earth, back to Heaven. All that is impermanent,\nor of the earth, belonging to the realm of matter, is but a likeness,\nor symbol, designed for the instruction of man, who must learn to\nread the lesson if he is to progress. The Unattainable in the desires\nof those on and of the earth finds witness, or comes to pass, in the\nrealization of all aspirations in the life beyond. The indescribable\nis done there, because man in the flesh has no senses adequate to\ncomprehend those things pertaining to a higher plane of existence. The\nEver-womanly is that which makes progress of the soul possible\u2014the\nfeminine principle which attracts the masculine, or pure spirit, to\nits opposite pole and thereby causes it to manifest itself. It is by\nthese successive manifestations that the individual is carried forward,\nenriched by the experience which only thus, through the attraction\nof the Ever-womanly, or eternal feminine principle, is attained. So\nthe Ever-womanly, or that whereby God the spirit is made manifest in\nmatter, is the means to lead the soul of man on its course through the\ngrandest possibilities of the Universe to the most exalted heights of\nthe Indescribable.\n\nWordsworth, in his _Ode on Immortality_, says:\n\n Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;\n The soul that rises with us, our life\u2019s star,\n Had had elsewhere its setting,\n And cometh from afar.\n Not in entire forgetfulness,\n And not in utter nakedness,\n But trailing clouds of glory, do we come\n From God, who is our home.\n Heaven lies about us in our infancy!\n Shades of the prison-house begin to close\n Upon the growing boy;\n But he beholds the light, and whence it flows\u2014\n He sees it in his joy.\n The youth, who daily farther from the east\n Must travel, still is nature\u2019s priest.\n And by the vision splendid\n Is on his way attended;\n At length the man perceives it die away,\n And fade into the light of common day.\n\nIt is very clear here that Wordsworth is setting down the theory of\n\u201cReincarnation.\u201d For he says the soul had elsewhere its setting; in\norder to set elsewhere, it must have had elsewhere an existence. He\nalso refers, quite as curiously as do Whitman and Whittier, to a\ncoming from the east, as if he had memories of a previous life in some\noriental land where such ideas prevailed.\n\nShelley in _Prometheus Unbound_, sings:\n\n Man, O not men! a chain of linked thought,\n Of love and might to be divided not,\n Compelling the elements with adamantine stress;\n As the sun rules, even with a tyrant\u2019s gaze,\n The unquiet republic of the maze\n Of Planets, struggling fierce towards heaven\u2019s free wilderness.\n\n Man, one harmonious soul of many a soul,\n Whose nature is its own divine control,\n Where all things flow to all, as rivers to the sea;\n Familiar acts are beautiful through love;\n Labor and pain and grief, in life\u2019s green grove,\n Sport like tame beasts,\u2014none knew how gentle they could be!\n\nIn the foregoing verses, the doctrine of Brotherhood is enunciated.\nShelly refers to humanity as one, composed of its many units,\u2014the\none-life running through all; and also, in the first two lines, to the\nfact admitted by occultism, but sneered at by science, and dogmatic\ntheology, that this \u201cchain of linked thought,\u201d compels the elements,\nand actually affects the course and destiny of the world. That is, that\nthe Karma of the physical world, indissolubly bound up in that of the\nindividuals upon it, is moulded and concentrated by the force of men\u2019s\nthoughts and lives. To carry this out in one direction, we say that\nesoteric theosophy teaches that the inclination of the earth\u2019s axis is\nmade greater or less by the influence of the wickedness or goodness\nof the people upon the earth, thus bringing down what the people call\nevils, such as glacial disturbances, cyclones, earthquakes and other\nvicissitudes of earthly life. However fanciful this theory may appear,\nit remains for us quite true; and as the scientific world has no reason\nto give for the inclination of the axis, or for the precession of the\nequinoxes, we are entitled to hold an opinion where they have none. For\nthe devout Christian this theory ought to have merits, if he chooses to\nremember that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their wickedness.\nThey grew so horribly bad that fire was brought upon them either from\nheaven or beneath. If it ever happened, it must have been a cyclic\ndisturbance. Science pooh-poohs it. Did it take place, then it was the\nculminating point for the dynamic power of the evil deeds and thoughts\nof the inhabitants.\n\nIn many places in the Christian bible, reference is made to the crying\nout to the Lord of the blood of the slain. Now as blood has no power to\ncry out, we must try in some way to make sense of these expressions,\nand the only way is by giving to the thoughts which produce deeds of\nviolence, a dynamic power. It would then be easy to attribute to the\nblood the ability to cry out for justice, instead of saying that the\ndeeds of blood require compensation.\n\nBut when blood is shed, elemental spirits pour in to the spot, drawn\nthere by the emanations arising from it, and they become important\nfactors in this supposed \u201ccalling out of the blood from the ground.\u201d\nBeing strengthened by the human exhalations, they are a new force\ncomposed not only of the thoughts of the murdered, but also of the\ndespair, hate and revenge of the slain. Science of course of this knows\nnothing, and cares less. She cannot tell how long this new force, thus\ncompounded of elementals, blood, and the thought of slayer and his\nvictim, will last. But the God of the Christians knew all about this.\nIn Genesis, Ch. iv, Verse 10, He says to Cain:\n\n\u201cWhat hast thou done? _the voice of thy brother\u2019s blood crieth unto me\nfrom the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath\nopened her mouth to receive thy brother\u2019s blood from thy hand._\u201d\n\nThe blood furnishes the _occasion_, the thoughts of each give it\n_force_, and the elementals give it a _voice_ to call on God.\n S.\u202fB.\u202fJ.\n\n\n THE CORNER STONE.\n\nTradition relates that in the building of King Solomon\u2019s temple there\nwas a stone of such peculiar shape that the workmen could find no place\nfor it, though it was regularly cut and with great care, and contained\nthe _sign_ of the Master. When the temple was near completion a place\nwas found for the stone which the builders had through ignorance\nrejected. It was the _Keystone_ of the _Royal Arch_.\n\nThose who have opened the halls of learning to this generation\nhave given a foundation stone, and repeatedly declared that no\nother foundation can endure, that the floods of time and the storms\nof passion will surely sweep with the besom of destruction every\nsuperstructure not founded on this rock. And yet there are those who\nwear the garb of fellow-crafts, and claim the wages of workmen, who\nnot only reject this stone but ridicule it, and laugh it to scorn.\nThe result is manifest in the confusion of the workmen, and it will\npresently become manifest that those who thus reject the corner-stone\nof Theosophy are brothers of the shadow literally, rather than Sons of\nLight; they will find no designs on the tracing-board, and they will be\naccused of murdering the \u201cwidow\u2019s son.\u201d\n\nThe time for wages will surely come, and even they who have come in at\nthe ninth hour and labored faithfully in the vineyard will receive due\nwages.\n\nThe corner stone of Theosophy is distinctly stated to be _Universal\nBrotherhood_. A firm belief in this principle is required of every\ncandidate for membership in the Theosophical Society. This is the sole\nrequirement for affiliation, it is made plain, and no one can plead\nignorance of this one requirement. To claim fellowship in the society,\nand ignore or repudiate its cardinal doctrine is not only the most\npronounced hypocrisy, but works in every way to the injury of the\nindividual and the society. Those therefore who are not ashamed to\nrepudiate this cardinal principle ought in all fairness to retire from\nthe society, and direct their energies into more congenial channels.\n\nBut aside from explicit repudiation of this principle of Brotherhood\nthere is too often a tacit disregard of its requirements. It has been\ncharged against the Society, that in the enunciation of this simple\ndoctrine, they have announced nothing new, and it may at once be\nanswered that it is not claimed as a novelty, but an _actuality_. And\nyet it is too often the case, that the application of this principle\nof universal brotherhood reaches no further than to the admission to\nmembership in the T.\u202fS. of persons of either sex, and of every creed,\ncolor, and nationality, while in the relations of members and the\nnecessary work of the society, the principle of brotherhood is too\noften practically ignored. It may therefore be profitable to inquire\ninto the reasons assigned by the Masters for giving out to the world\nat this time their priceless treasures, and the purpose for which\nthe Theosophical Society was instituted, though these purposes have\nbeen time and again stated, in plain English, and are printed in the\nrules and by-laws of the society, as well as in every application for\nmembership. The misinterpretation of these plain declarations leads to\nconstant disappointment, and hinders the legitimate work of the Society.\n\nWe have been repeatedly told that the Masters are no respecters of\npersons. They have on every occasion persistently and consistently\nrefused to teach occultism to individuals. They have stated over and\nover again the terms on which anyone can gain their notice, or hope to\nadvance in spiritual knowledge or power, viz: by working unselfishly\nand unceasingly for the advancement of the Brotherhood of man. This\nis the plan on which the masters work. Whatsoever they have given out\nhas been designed for the elevation and well-being of the _whole human\nrace_.\n\nThey have chosen such agents or assistants as were available for the\npromulgation of their doctrines, and they have distinctly stated, that\nnot for this generation alone, but more especially for the coming Yuga,\ndo they labor, like wise husbandmen, sowing now the seed for future\nharvests.\n\nThe meaning of Universal Brotherhood, and the mission of the\nTheosophical Society become thus perfectly plain, and we can\nmisinterpret only at our peril. The masters have said, work with us,\nand become a part of us, and share with us.\n\nCreeds and sects are innately selfish, dividing mankind into selfish\ncircles of conceited and selfish men. Creeds are crumbling; replace\nthem with universal benevolence, toleration, charity, justice\u2014in one\nword, BROTHERHOOD. He, therefore, who repudiates brotherhood, denies\nall. He who forgets charity, kindness, forbearance, forgiveness, has\nno right to call himself a Theosophist. We should have charity for\neverything but for uncharitableness. Let those who will in the face\nof all this, strive for occult power. Let them in spite of constant\nwarning force, if they can, themselves into the astral plane, to be\ndriven back in ever lasting terror by the \u201cDemon of the Threshold,\u201d or\nend their days in an Asylum for the Insane, but let them look for no\nassistance or protection from the Masters.\n\nPure and undefiled Theosophy leads man only to higher planes of thought\nand life. It puts him in possession of the true philosopher\u2019s stone, by\nenabling him to convert the energies of life, into higher uses, for the\nwelfare and elevation of his race. It teaches him neglect of no common\nduty or obligation, and it nowhere holds out the inducement that a\nMahatma can be evolved by some secret hocus-pocus out of a mountebank.\nThe mountebanks will presently denounce Mahatmas and repudiate\ntheosophy, but they will prove as powerless to stay the tide of truth\nas to achieve mahatmahood. They may deceive the foolish and unwary,\nand console themselves with the company of Coloumb, Hodgson & Co., but\nthose who have accepted in deed and in truth the simple doctrine of\nuniversal brotherhood _with all that it implies_, will possess their\nsouls in patience and perfect trust, for they have heard the music of\nBATH COL.\n J.\u202fD. BUCK.\n\n\n THE SOCIETY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS.\n\n A ROUGH SKETCH OF THEIR FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES.\n\n (_Communicated._)\n\nThe following are in outline the fundamental doctrines of the Brothers\nof the Rosy Cross. He who fulfills the required conditions, may find\nall necessary information in the \u201cBook of Initiation,\u201d and they say\nthat when he is ready he finds with ease, a guide who, through his\n_higher self_ instructs and directs him infallibly.\n\nIt is understood that the Society desires to be truly spiritual and\nasks no fees, but it seeks as members only those who are practical\nworkers in the cause of humanity. But it is a secret body, not from\nfear of enemies, but in order to spread the truth, unimpeded by the war\nof opinions. The truth being eternal, is not subject to opinion, but to\nthose who are able to see, it stands revealed in its own light.\n\n 1. The _Universe_ as a whole is a _Unity_, having only _one_,\n eternal, universal and fundamental cause for its existence. All the\n multifarious forms, essences, powers or principles, are not originally\n self-existent, but are merely various manifestations of that one and\n universal cause. They are various modes of one original activity, and\n their shapes or organisms are the products of that activity, working\n upon different planes of existence and in various stages of evolution.\n\n 2. This cause, being eternal, unlimited and infinite, is beyond the\n power of the intellectual comprehension of any mortal and limited\n being. Its presence may be perceived everywhere, but in its highest\n aspect it can fully be known only to itself. Beings lower than itself,\n may intuitively feel its presence, but cannot intellectually know it,\n until they have risen up to its own level on the plane of existence.\n To avoid circumlocution, we call that eternal (spiritual) principle\n in its highest aspect \u201c_God_\u201d or \u201c_Brahm_\u201d; both words signifying\n originally \u201cGood.\u201d[123]\n\n 3. In this eternal and universal cause, the centre or fountain\n of _All_, is contained potentially everything existing in the\n Universe. It is itself, germinally or in a more or less developed\n state contained in everything that exists. It forms the (spiritual)\n centre of every living organism, and life itself is only a mode of\n manifestation of its own power. It is the cause and the architect of\n every form; it builds the form which it inhabits, from that centre,\n by the power of its own (consciously or unconsciously active) _will_\n and _thought_, and by the means offered by eternal nature, the latter\n being itself a product of previous states of its own existence and\n eternal action.\n\n 4. The highest form of activity of this principle requires for its\n perfect expression, perfect means. The perfect cannot manifest its\n perfection in an imperfect organism. The place which a being occupies\n on the ladder of evolution, depends on the progress which that divine\n principle, acting in the centre of each being, has made in evolving an\n organism, adapted to its manifestation.\n\n 5. The most perfect organism for the manifestation of the divine and\n universal principle in its highest aspect, of which we know, is the\n (spiritual) organism of Man. In this organism, this divine principle,\n after having attained _sensation_ and _consciousness_ in the lower\n forms of nature, may acquire (spiritual) _self-consciousness_ and\n _self-knowledge_, evolving what is called the individual _mind_, with\n all its powers and faculties, for (spiritual) perception and _real\n knowledge_ or wisdom.\n\n 6. The (ordinarily) visible so called physical-body of man is not\n the _real_ Man, but merely a more or less imperfect representation\n of the real, or \u201cinner man,\u201d whose sphere of activity may extend as\n far as the sphere of his mind; in other words\u2014as far as the power of\n his (spiritual) perception. The \u201cinner man\u201d is a reality, which after\n having attained\u2014by the power of self differentiation\u2014an individual\n existence, will retain its individuality, after the physical forms,\n which it has occupied for the purposes of evolution during its life\n upon a planet, have been disintegrated and changed into other forms.\n\n 7. Every being continues to exist in its essence after the (physical)\n form which expressed its essential character, has dissolved and\n disappeared; but as long as it has not acquired (spiritual)\n self-consciousness and self-knowledge, it is forced, after a time of\n rest, to reappear in a new form (mask or personality), to resume the\n process of its further development.[124] After the divine principle\n in man has attained individual (spiritual) self-consciousness and\n self-knowledge, it requires no more embodiments in (physical) forms,\n and may, harmoniously united with the _All_, continue to exist as a\n self-conscious intelligence.\n\n 8. The attainment of spiritual self-consciousness and self-knowledge\n and the necessarily resulting perfection, therefore involves the\n attainment of immortality, and the latter can only be acquired\n by acquiring the former. Only that which is perfect remains; the\n imperfect is continually subject to change.\n\n 9. Although the individual human monad, without (spiritual)\n self-consciousness and knowledge, may arrive at that state of\n perfection in the slow course of its evolution, extending perhaps over\n many millions of years, nevertheless there is no necessity to wait\n until nature may, perhaps slowly and unaided, accomplish her object,\n but she may be assisted by the individual will and effort of those who\n know how to proceed.\n\n 10. The _first_ necessary requirement for all who desire perfection,\n is therefore _to know_ the laws that rule in the visible and invisible\n universe, and the attainment of the knowledge involves a study of the\n constitution of the _Universe_ and of the constitution of (the soul\n of) _Man_.\n\n 11. From knowledge springs power, but those who possess knowledge,\n will be in the possession of something that will not benefit them,\n unless they desire to put it to some practical use. The _second_\n requirement is therefore _to will_, and as an individual will,\n deviating from the direction of the will of universal good, or acting\n in opposition to the latter, is evil, and can only bring final\n destruction upon him that exercises it, consequently the will of the\n individual must act in accordance with the universal will of God.\n\n 12. To act evil is for the majority of men far easier than to do good.\n Good will and desires to become useful must be made to accomplish some\n work. To overcome the resistance of evil and to put good into practice\n requires energy, courage and effort, and the _third_ necessary\n requirement is therefore _to dare_ to practice the good which we know\n and desire.\n\n 13. But as a power, after it has once been obtained, may be employed\n for good or for evil purposes, and as it is not desirable that persons\n with evil inclinations and tendencies, should be taught the way\n to prolong their personal existence after the dissolution of their\n physical form, because their existence would cause the infliction\n of injury upon others, and expose themselves to a long, slow and\n painful final disintegration; therefore, the deepest secrets of the\n Rosicrucians, and the way to the practical application of the secret\n knowledge, should be taught only to those who are good and pure to\n a degree sufficient to warrant that the mysteries communicated and\n revealed to them, may not be misapplied. The _fourth_ necessary\n requirement for the Rosicrucian is, therefore, _to be silent_, in\n regard to that which it is not expedient to speak.\n\n\n [Illustration:]\n\n HINDU SYMBOLISM.\n\n I.\n\nThe student of Hindu metaphysical religious philosophy, will find most\nof its important formulations, veiled under a mystical symbolism; to\nunderstand which, is a key to the hints in the Upanishads and other\nesoteric writings.\n\nWe propose to give those interested, a series of illustrations from\nHindu drawings with descriptions; in the latter, our study of the\nKabbalah has been of great assistance.\n\nThe figure is a symbolical representation of Brahman (neuter) intwined\nin Itself.[125] It is the highest deity of the Hindus, the principle of\nthe universe; the representation is, of It, at the immediate instant\nof Its revealing Itself in the emanation of the universe, and before\nIts entrance into any kind of matter and before Its self renunciation.\nIt symbolises the God-dawn between the pauses of emanative creation,\nits preservation, and the dissolution of created forms. Wrapped in Its\ncloak-sphere, Brahman conducts Its toe into Its mouth, perhaps to make,\nan eternal circle of Itself, perhaps to signify the union of the linga\nand yoni, perhaps to indicate the retrogression of Itself into Itself,\nor may be the eternity and unfathomableness of Its nature, plunged\nin the contemplation of Its own essence. Compare with this the great\nfigure of N\u00e9ith or Typh\u00e9, the Heaven goddess of the Egyptian Zodiac of\nDendera. Brahman (neuter) or Para-brahma, _i. e._, the Great Brahma,\nas an unrevealed deity, has neither temple or image in India. It is\nin effect considered in Itself without form or figure, but exteriorly\nIt manifests Itself in many figures and symbols. It is the unit and\nthe multiplied in all, at the same instant, smaller than an atom, it\nis greater than the whole universe, which cannot contain It, and is\nineffable and inexpressible in Its essence. The ancient Hindus say\nof it in the Vedas:\u2014\u201cBrahman is eternal, the being above all others,\nrevealing Itself in felicity and joy. The universe is Its name, Its\nimage, but that first existence, which contains all in Itself, is the\nsoul really existing. All the phenomena have their cause in Brahman,\nIt is not limited by time or space, is imperishable, is the soul of\nthe world and of each particular existence.\u201d * * * \u201cThat universe is\nBrahman, it comes from Brahman, exists in Brahman, and it will return\nto Brahman.\u201d\n\n\u201cBrahman, the Being existing in Itself, is the form of all wisdom and\nof all the worlds without end. All the worlds are made only one with\nIt, because they are through Its Will. That eternal Will is innate in\nall things. It reveals Itself in the emanation (or creation), in the\npreservation, and in the destruction (which is also a re-creation),\nand in the movements and forms, of Time and Space.\u201d The Atharva-Veda\nsays:\u2014\u201cAll the gods are in (Brahman) as cows in a cow-house. In the\nbeginning Brahman was this (universe). It created gods. Having created\ngods, It placed them in these worlds, viz: Agni in this world, V\u0101yu in\nthe atmosphere, and Surya in the sky.[126] And in the worlds which are\nyet higher, It placed the gods which are still higher. Then Brahman\nproceeded to the higher sphere.\u201d This is explained by a commentator\nto be Satyaloka,[127] the most excellent limit of all the worlds.\nIn the \u201cTaitteriya Br\u0101hmana\u201d it is; \u201cBrahman generated the gods,\nBrahman (generated or emanated) this entire world. Within It are all\nthese worlds. Within It is the entire universe. It is Brahman who is\nthe greatest of beings. Who can vie with It.\u201d Brahman (neuter) is the\nonly real eternal true essence; when It passes in to actual manifested\nexistence It is called Brahma; when It develops Itself in the universe\nIt is called Vishnu, and when It again dissolves Itself into simple\nbeing, It is called Siva; all the other deities are only symbols or\nmanifestations of the eternal neuter Brahman.[128]\n\nThe Vishnu Purana says: \u201cGlory to Brahman, who is addressed by that\nmystic word AUM,[129] who is associated eternally with the triple\nuniverse (heaven, sky, earth), and who is one with the four Vedas.\nGlory to Brahman, who both in the destruction and renovation of the\nuniverse is called the great and mysterious cause of the intellectual\nprinciple, who is without limit in time or space, and exempt from\ndiminution and decay, etc. To that supreme Brahman be for ever\nadoration.\u201d\n\nIn its highest development, the doctrine of the Vedas is a rational\nand philosophical pantheism, combined with the most ideal, pure, and\nabsolute monotheism, that the mind can conceive. The doctrines as to\nBrahman (neuter) in their higher conceptions, are similar in many\nrespects to the exalted ideas as to the Ain Soph or Non Ego, of the\nKabbalah.\n\nBrahman, the Eternal, in Itself, Being, goes out of Its profundity in\nIts eternity, to emanate the universe of all the things, and undeniably\nestablishes that great law of production, through the opposition and\nyet a harmonious blending, as to which, all nature offers everywhere a\nsimilitude, evidence, and image. Its first emanation is the creating\nenergy, force or potentiality, which manifests Itself in Time, the\nmother and the matrix of the existences, that is the Sakti, Para Sakti\nor Maya, the first virgin and first female or plasticity, containing\nall in germ, symbolized by the Yoni. Its spouse, the spiritualizing,\nthe man-type, is symbolized by the Lingam.\n ISAAC MEYER.\n\n\n LITERARY NOTES.\n\nBETTY\u2019S VISIONS.\u2014By Rhoda Broughton. (_Geo. Routledge & Sons, London._)\nThe prominence which occultism is acquiring, despite the attacks of so\ncalled scientific bodies and the constant sneers of savants and their\nparrot-like followers, is shown in the fact that such a book as this is\npublished by a firm like Routledge and written by Rhoda Broughton. It\nis one of the one and sixpenny English books, in cloth. The visions are\nfive\u2014through a long life\u2014each preceding a death in the family.\n\n * * * * *\n\nESOTERIC CHRISTIANITY, OR MENTAL THERAPEUTICS.\u2014By Dr. W.\u202fF. Evans.\n(_Carter & Karrick, Boston._) Extra cloth, $1.00. This is designed to\ncomplete a series of books on the subject of the Mind Cure, commenced\nsome fifteen years ago. It contains twelve lectures intended to\ninstruct in the philosophy of the subject. \u201cTo aid the student of\nChristian Theosophy to explore the inner realm of truth into which his\nspirit opens is the object of this volume,\u201d and he believes that the\nprinciples are \u201cidentical with the philosophy of the New Testament and\nwith primitive Christianity.\u201d The book is well written, and is full\nof excellent arguments, but it covers so much ground that it would be\nimpossible to properly review it in the limits allowable here.\n\nWe must disagree with him, however, in his statement: \u201cThat this system\nmust ever be kept within the domain of a genuine Christianity,\u201d to be\nsuccessful. It is well known that hundreds of persons are practising\nmind cure, are helping many people, and none of these either believe in\nor talk of Christianity, genuine or otherwise. If mind cure have a real\nbasis, no monopoly of it can be had by either Christian or dissenter.\n\n * * * * *\n\nBUDDHIST DIET BOOK.\u2014A New York publishing house announces this book,\nprepared by Laura C. Holloway. It is a compilation of dishes used by\nBuddhists in Europe and the East, interspersed with explanations of\nthe religious convictions of this great Sect regarding foods. The work\nwill be of value to vegetarians\u2014of whom there are many in this country.\nMrs. Holloway writes with authority on this subject, having enjoyed in\nEurope and Prussia the advantages of an unmixed vegetarian diet in the\nhomes of those who eat no meat. The book is a quaint brown-and-white\nconceit in parchment covers. Price 50 cents. Theosophists who desire to\nhave this vegetarian cook book, can order it through THE PATH.\n\n * * * * *\n\nCAN MATTER THINK.\u2014This number of Prof. Coues\u2019 Biogen Series was noticed\nin the July PATH, and through a mistaken assumption of the proof reader\nit was stated that it was a reprint of an article which previously\nappeared in _The Theosophist_. Prof. Coues assures us that \u201cCan Matter\nThink,\u201d is a thoroughly original composition and has never been within\n10,000 miles of India. The proof reader was thinking of the reprint of\nan English book under the title \u201cKuthumi,\u201d in the same series, and also\nof the fact that the same subject was treated of in _The Theosophist_\nsome years ago. We hasten, therefore, to correct the statement made in\nJuly.\n\n\n THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.\n\nJOSHEE.\u2014Bro. Gopal Vinayak Joshee and his wife Anandabai, who graduated\nin Medicine at Philadelphia, return to India in October.\n\n * * * * *\n\nRAMABAI.\u2014Pandita Ramabai, who has been some time in America,\naccompanies Bro. Joshee and his wife to India.\n\n * * * * *\n\nPHILADELPHIA.\u2014The charter for a new Branch here has been received and\nprobably soon the organization will be complete.\n\n * * * * *\n\nSECRECY IN THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.\u2014The question is frequently asked:\n\u201cIs the Society a secret body; and how can a person enter it?\u201d The\nreply can be found in the proceedings of the general Council last year,\nwhen it was resolved, that from thenceforth any person of good moral\ncharacter, upon being recommended by two active members, and paying the\nusual fee, could become a member upon signing the application in which\nthe declaration is made that the signer is in sympathy with the objects\nof the Society.\n\nThe old obligation is retained merely for those Branches desiring to\nuse it in giving the signs and passwords of the Society, which are the\nonly points about which the new member is pledged to secrecy, it being\nleft to his own discretion and sense of propriety, not to make public\nmatters which do not concern the public. For that matter, however,\nthere is nothing in the teachings or practices of the lower section of\nthe Society requiring secrecy.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNEW YORK.\u2014The New York Branch has issued its third number of the\n_Abridgements of Discussions_ on Theosophical subjects. The object of\nthese leaflets is to increase interest among all Theosophists, and to\nstrengthen the feeling of union. Col. H.\u202fS. Olcott, the President in\nIndia, has written to say, that he thinks the idea of the Abridgements\nis excellent. All Branches ought to co-operate in this movement, either\nby contributing questions and answers to New York, or by starting\nleaflets of their own and exchanging and distributing them.\n\n * * * * *\n\nCINCINNATI.\u2014The Branch here has held its first fall meeting, and has\narranged for a series of essays of an interesting character, and also\nfor meetings, to which strangers are to be invited by members.\n\n * * * * *\n\nOLCOTT.\u2014It may be interesting to Theosophists to know that a statue was\noffered to Col. Olcott in Ceylon some months ago, but was refused by\nhim on the ground that his work was not yet done, and no one could say\nwhether he would deserve a statue until his death.\n\n * * * * *\n\n There is a limit beyond which the sun, moon and the planets cannot\n rise, and when they reach their point of climax, they come down\n again. But the souls that have attained to perfection never come down\n again.\u2014_Jain Precept._\n\n OM!\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[120] Intell. Obs. Vol. 7.\n\n[121] Notes on Mohammedanism.\n\n[122] The Zikrs will be described in next number of THE PATH.\n\n[123] Those words are continually giving rise to misunderstandings and\nmisinterpretations, because nearly every one has a different opinion of\nwhat is \u201cGood.\u201d\n\n[124] See Bagavad-Gita, c.\u202f6.\n\n[125] Taken from the Glauben, Wissen und Kunst der alten Hindus, etc.,\nvon Niklas M\u00fcller. Erster Band, Mainz, 1822.\n\n[126] Fire, \u00c6ther, Light.\n\n[127] _Satya-Loka_, the place, world, or region of Truth.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[128] See Indian Wisdom by Monier Williams, p. 12.\n\n[129] This occurs at the beginning of prayers, etc., as our word AMeN\noccurs at the end. It is so sacred that none must hear it pronounced.\nOriginally its three letters typified the three Vedas, afterwards it\nbecame a mystical symbol of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva in unity; see\nfurther as to AUM _supra_.\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n Sri Krishna is the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings; his unthinkable\n glory irradiates all that is manifest and all that is unmanifest.\n This infinite universe, its life and its beauty, and its joy, rest\n but on his foot, from which flows the sacred stream of the Ganges,\n whose mortal aspect alone is known on this earth. Krishna reveals his\n infinity of attributes to his beloved worshipper, and yet he is devoid\n of attributes.\n\n It is the crown of devotion to have these mysteries revealed to the\n inner gaze. May all his lovers reach that goal.\u2014_Vaishnara Scriptures._\n\n Inquire about him by prostration, by question, and by service,\n and the wise men who know the truth, will give you the\n knowledge.\u2014_Bagavad-Gita._\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. NOVEMBER, 1886. NO. 8.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n THE COMMON SENSE OF THEOSOPHY.\n\n [REPRINTED FROM THE _Dublin University Review_, MAY, 1886, BY\n PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR.]\n\nIt is difficult to break down the Chinese wall of misconceptions with\nwhich all new movements of thought become more or less completely\nsurrounded. The assimilation by the public mind of ideas which\nlie outside its mechanically-regulated every-day life is a slow\nprocess, which the vigour of the constitution does not justify. For\nall movements, which possess any vitality at all, always provoke to\nan unusual degree of activity the imaginative faculties of their\nopponents. More or less fantastic caricatures of the aims and methods\nof a struggling movement are generated by an unconscious process of\ninvention, fathered upon the movement, and then knocked down with\nsolemn pomposity. At the end of the achievement, when the invader of\northodox indolence and respectable indifference is found to gain ground\nin the midst of the dust-storm of misrepresentations, a wondering sneer\nis directed against personalities who have not had the decency and good\nsense to die at the command of their antagonists. The Theosophical\nmovement has proved no exception to this general rule. Oppositions\nagainst it are generally but attempts to remove this disturber of\nestablished ease by finding some excuse for ignoring its existence.\nFalse issues are raised in every direction, and a candid examination\nof the truths that Theosophy embodies is evaded in the confusion. It\nis a profitless task to hunt the brood of Error which, like the giants\nof Norse folk-lore, sally forth at night to slay and devour, but melt\ninto thin air when surprised by a ray of sunlight. Kicking at nothing\nis an exhausting process. Unmindful of this, many, in the words of the\nauthor of _Religio Medici_, have \u201crashly charged the troops of Error,\nand remained as trophies unto the enemies.\u201d It is therefore proposed to\nset forth a \u201cplain, unvarnished\u201d statement of what Theosophy really is,\nand of the work in which the Theosophical Society is engaged, and leave\nthe decision to the common sense of the reader. The transcendental\nmetaphysics of Theosophy will be but slightly touched upon here. For\nfuller information the inquirer is referred to sources indicated by\nthe publications of the Theosophical Society and the writings of the\nTheosophists of the day.\n\nWhat, then, is Theosophy? Numberless are the misconceptions to which\nthe word has given rise. Etymology does not throw any great light\non it. The interpretation of \u201cGod-wisdom\u201d can be spread over a very\nlarge area. Without following the history of the word, it may be\nstated that the chief exponents of the present revival of Theosophy\ntake it to mean Wisdom-religion. Their interpretation, while open\nto no great philological objection, is sufficiently precise for all\nliterary purposes. Theosophy from this standpoint is synonymous with\nTruth\u2014the Truth that has been clothed in various garbs of religion; it\nalso implies that this Truth is attainable by a natural development\nof wisdom, without the intervention of supernatural means. Thus it\nwill be seen that Theosophy does not attach infallibility to any\nparticular system of revelation, but maintains that under suitable\nconditions Truth reveals itself to every individual. The sun shines\nequally on all; the crystal reflects it; the clod of earth does not.\nYet Theosophy sets great value on all systems of revelation, looking\nupon them as finger-posts which indicate the direction in which Truth\nis to be sought, although it declines to accept them as invitations\nto surrender personal inquiry. This tenet of Theosophy is founded\nupon the consideration that Truth is the result of real experience,\nand does not consist in the transfer of intellectual symbols from one\nperson to another. To speak about Truth is one thing, and to perceive\nit is quite another. It is a fact of common experience that the\nmost accurate and elaborate description of, say, a flower is by no\nmeans an efficient substitute for a visual contact with it, although\nthe description has an abundant value of its own. Hence individual\nconsciousness is consistently upheld as the only criterion of Truth,\nbut this consciousness derives material help in its development and\nexpansion by the study of the experiences of others. Thus Theosophy\nteaches that _personal exertion is the only means by which progress\ncan be achieved_. But in the effort for growth the ultimate unity\nof consciousness must not be ignored. Individuals are not distinct\ncrystals, placed side by side, but the varied manifestations of one\nunchanging universal consciousness. As light from one single source\nproduces the appearance of different lights by reflection from a\nnumber of surfaces, so this universal consciousness, remaining itself\nunchanged, produces endless individualities, which in the course of\ntheir evolution reach perfection by recognising this essential unity.\nAccording to Theosophical thinkers this doctrine forms the fundamental\ntruth upon which all religions are based; it is the final consummation\nof all philosophical thought and the crowning experience of all\npractical mysticism.\n\nThe search for this truth, and the practical realization of it are not\nconsidered as mere gratification of intellectual curiosity, but as the\nvery _summum bonum_ of evolutionary progress. It is the Nirv\u00e2na of the\nBuddhists, the Moksha of the Brahmins, and not very different from\nthe Beatific Vision of the Christians. When this condition, or rather\nwant of condition, is realized in consciousness, pain is for ever\nextinguished. Nirv\u00e2na is by no means the annihilation of consciousness,\nbut its rest in the infinite plenitude of being. Needless to discuss\nthe Nihilist view of Buddhism which some scholars of ability have\nbrought forward; suffice it to say, that the Theosophists on this\npoint share the responsibility of their opinion with many names of\ngreat eminence. Nirv\u00e2na is the extinction of all pain because, being\nthe ultimate unity of all being, it cannot be the playground of those\ncontending forces which alone produce pain.\n\nProceeding upon this basis, the essential features of Theosophy can\nbe thrown into relief by determining its relations to Religion and\nScience. As the Science of Religion, it looks upon the different\nsystems of faith as so many languages seeking to express the truth\nabout man, his origin, nature, and destiny, as well as his relations to\nthe surrounding world of objects. But, as a word or phrase is nothing\nbut a sound in the absence of experience of the object connoted, so the\nproper comprehension of religious symbology can be acquired only by\nrealizing the truths that underlie it. From the Theosophic standpoint\nthe different systems of religion appear as the various forms evolved\nby the peculiarities of time, place, and other special causes, to\nembody the bodiless truth.\n\nIt is necessary to guard against a misconception which may arise here.\nTheosophy is not eclecticism, which is a mosaic, while Wisdom-Religion\nis an organic whole. Theosophy is like an abstract mathematical\nformula of which each religion is a particular application. It does\nnot select bits from all religions and piece them together according\nto some fanciful standard of symmetry. But being the inner truth\nitself, Theosophy regards religions as various descriptions of that\ntruth. It will no more recognise antagonism between religions than the\nlinguist will condemn the description of the same thing in different\nlanguages because of peculiarities of idiom and grammar. Theosophy is\nnot hostile to any religion, but is bound, in the interest of truth, to\noppose the tyranny of ecclesiastical forms on individuals. Humanity,\nin the course of its evolution, produces individuals who outstrip\nthe generality in the realization of truth, and are thus enabled to\nperceive the capabilities of the truth to be manifested within a\ncertain period of time. To help the masses struggling blindly for\nthe light of truth, these teachers of mankind construct a symbology\nof words and emblems to represent the truth. But, as acquisition of\nwisdom is a change in the quality of the consciousness of the acquirer,\nand not merely a surface expansion of it, the symbology, though\neminently useful, is not in itself spiritual knowledge, and can never\nbe converted into it except when \u201cinwardly digested.\u201d The physical\nprocess of digestion supplies a striking analogy in this matter. Food,\nassimilated by different organisms, follows their original differences.\nSpiritual food, on assimilation, partakes of the peculiarities of the\nindividual, and two individuals cannot be exactly identical, whether\nphysically or otherwise. A contrary supposition would violate the _lex\nparsimoni\u00e6_ in nature. Consequently, Theosophy is the uncompromising\nsupporter of the freedom of individual conscience. On the other hand,\nit condemns a selfish desire for self-development as wrong, on account\nof its violation of the essential unity of being. One of the greatest\nTheosophists of the world, Gautama Buddha, declared, \u201cLet the sins\nof the Kali Yuga[130] fall upon me, and let the world be redeemed.\u201d\nThis noble saying found an echo in the Christian Apostle, who would be\nanathema from Christ if he could save the world thereby.\n\nNor has Theosophy any antagonism to the scientific spirit. Claiming\nto be the religion of Truth, it must show itself to be the most exact\nof all exact sciences. According to it truth cannot be dissociated\nfrom real experience; the mere intellectual form of it can never\nbe the truth any more than the word man can be the human being. It\nopposes the dogmatisms of science which deny independent reality to\nfacts of mental experience because of their eminently unscientific\ncharacter. If there be no operation of thought matter itself will\ndisappear. The contrary of this\u2014existence of matter without relation\nto a conscious knower\u2014has never been experienced. Therefore matter and\nconsciousness are both eternal or neither. Further, it rejects the\nmechanical theory of the universe on account of its unreasonableness.\nIf consciousness is derivable from unconsciousness, a fundamental\nlaw of reason becomes stultified. Unconsciousness is the negation of\nconsciousness, and therefore an affirmation of the absence of all\nrelations to consciousness is its essential property. How, then, can\nit be related to consciousness so as to produce it? If the atoms\nthemselves are considered conscious the difficulty is not removed. For\nconsciousness must be associated with the notion of I, and if this\negoism is to be postulated for each atom it is inexplicable how a\nman, composed of myriads of atoms, possesses yet a single indivisible\nnotion of I. It is clear therefore that there is in nature a principle\nof consciousness whose units are not atoms but individualities,\nand as the principle is eternal its units must also be so. For the\nocean cannot be salt unless the quality of saltness inhered in every\none of its drops. Theosophy for these, among other reasons, holds\nagainst materialism that the individuality in man is immortal. In\nthis, however, it does not maintain that the present body, emotion or\nthought of a man will as such abide for ever, but that the unit of\nconsciousness which is now manifested as the man, will never undergo\nany change in essence. For change, independent of consciousness, is\nunthinkable. It is in fact the unchangeableness of consciousness that\nby comparison renders the conception of change a reality. In ordinary\nlanguage no doubt such phrases as the \u201cgrowth and development of\nconsciousness\u201d are in use, but strictly speaking it is the basis in\nwhich the consciousness inheres that changes, the phrases in question\nbeing of the same character as those which ascribe motion to the sun\nin relation to the earth. Moreover, if one unit of consciousness were\nto change in essence, that is, become annihilated, the same liability\nmust attach to all other units, and we shall be driven to hold that\nthe principle of consciousness in nature is destructible, while\nmatter which cannot exist in its absence is indestructible. From the\nindestructibility of individual consciousness, and its relations to\nmatter, two important deductions follow. First, that this relation,\nwhich is perpetually changing, changes according to a definite law. The\nproducts of the change are bound each to each in a definite way. What\nis now is not wholly unrelated to what was before. This is a matter\nof experience, and in fact experience is based upon it. Without the\nlaw of causation experience would be impossible, on whatever plane\nwe take experience\u2014mental or physical. Thus by the application of\nthe law of causation to our being, it follows that the experience of\npleasure and pain in the present must be the necessary consequence of\ncauses generated in the past. A contention may here be raised that it\nis a fact of experience that many sufferings and enjoyments come to\nus of which we are not conscious of having generated the causes. But\nit is without any real force. What connection is there between _our_\nconsciousness of a cause and its power to produce effect? If we receive\nin the system malarious germs, the disease is not prevented because we\nwere unconscious of the reception. Whatever you sow the same you reap,\nwhether you are conscious of the sowing or not. The law of causation,\nthus applied to personal experience of suffering and enjoyment, is\ncalled by the Brahmins and Buddhists the Law of Karma.\n\nThe second deduction hinges on to the first and forms with it a\nharmonious whole. If the individual consciousness is immortal, and its\nexperiences are governed by the Law of Karma, then it follows that\nso long as all causes, capable of producing effects on the present\nplane of life, are not exhausted, and the generation of similar causes\nis not stopped, the individual consciousness will remain connected\nwith the experience of earthly existence. Thus the ego successively\nincarnates itself on this earth until it has collected all experiences\nthat life on this planet can offer. The doctrine of reincarnation is\ntaught by all religions of the world, Christianity not excepted. In the\nGospel of St Matthew it is declared in no uncertain tone that John the\nBaptist was the incarnation of Elias (chap. xvii. 12, 13). It is not\nintended fully to discuss the scientific and metaphysical bases of the\ndoctrine of reincarnation, as the subject has been adequately dealt\nwith in a recent Theosophical publication.[131] But it will not be\nout of place to consider the ethical objection which is so frequently\nbrought forward against the doctrine. Is it just that a person should\nexperience pleasure or pain for acts done in a previous life of which\nno recollection is preserved? The argument thus implied is based upon\nthe confusion of the two different meanings of the word justice as\napplied to the regulation of human affairs, and to the operation of\nnatural laws. Human beings are admittedly imperfect in knowledge, and\nit is required for the well-being of society that all its members\nshould feel confident that they are not liable to arbitrary punishment.\nFor this reason it is necessary that before inflicting punishment the\ngrounds for it should be disclosed. But justice, as affecting the\noperation of natural laws, is a totally different thing. The workings\nof nature being invariably governed by the law of Causation are not\namenable to conditions which depend upon admitted inability to apply\nthat law without failure. The moral amelioration, which it is fancied\nthat a knowledge of the precise cause of our sufferings would produce,\nis more than compensated for by the numberless incentives to good,\nwhich gratitude and other similar motives supply.\n\nThe teachings of Theosophy from the standpoint of common sense can be\nbriefly summed up thus:\u2014\n\n1. That there is a principle of consciousness in man which is immortal.\n\n2. That this principle is manifested in successive incarnations on\nearth.\n\n3. That the experiences of the different incarnations are strictly\ngoverned by the law of causation.\n\n4. That as each individual man is the result of a distinct causal\nnecessity in nature, it is not wise for one man to dominate the life\nand action of another, no matter what their relative development\nmay be. On the other hand it is of paramount importance that each\nindividual should ceaselessly work for the attainment of the highest\nideal that he is capable of conceiving. Otherwise, pain will arise from\nthe opposition of the real and the ideal. Be as perfect as your Father\nin heaven is perfect.\n\n5. That for the above reasons it is wise and just to practise the most\nungrudging toleration towards all our fellow-creatures.\n\n6. That as absolute unity of all nature subsists for ever, all\nself-centred actions are bound to end in pain to the actor on account\nof their opposition to this fact. The foundation of morals must\ntherefore lie in the feeling of Universal Brotherhood of Man.\n\n7. That the harmony of the unit with the whole is the only condition\nwhich can remove all pain, and as each individual represents a distinct\ncausal operation of nature, this harmony is attainable only through the\nindividual\u2019s own exertions.\n\nThe Theosophical Society is an organization having for its object the\nstudy of truth upon the most unsectarian basis, and as a result of such\nstudy it believes that the truths enumerated above are, if generally\naccepted, calculated greatly to benefit the age. It is necessary,\nhowever, to add that there are many members in the Society, earnest\nin the pursuit of truth, who are not prepared to subscribe to all\nthese doctrines without further thought and study; but all are agreed\nas to the ethical principles involved therein. The chief aim of the\nTheosophical Society is \u201cto form the nucleus of a universal Brotherhood\nof mankind without distinction of race, color or creed.\u201d The basis of\nbrotherhood, which the Theosophical Society considers scientific has\nalready been adverted to. The Theosophic brotherhood does not limit the\nfreedom of individual development. It requires nothing from its members\nbut a desire to recognise the unity of the human family as a natural\nfact which cannot be ignored with impunity, and a living conscious\nfeeling of which is sure to lead to the highest development of the\nindividual.\n\nThe Theosophical Society is convinced that the most efficacious\nmeans for the study of truth is furnished by the ancient religious\nand philosophical systems of the world, as they are free from the\ndisturbing influences by which contemporary forms are surrounded. The\nSociety therefore earnestly labours to promote an appreciative study\nof Eastern philosophy, built up by generations of Theosophists, as\naffording easy access to the Wisdom-Religion of the world.\n\nFurther, the Society seeks to combat materialism by the investigation\nof abnormal phenomena which afford a practical demonstration of the\nexistence of a Psyche in man and to lead to a proper comprehension of\nthe laws which underlie those phenomena. Theosophists do not believe\nin supernaturalism, and discard the notion of miracles as involving an\nunreasonable limitation of the possibilities of nature. The views of\nthe leading Theosophists with regard to this subject are to be found\nvery ably expounded in Madame Blavatsky\u2019s _Isis Unveiled_, and Mr.\nSinnett\u2019s _Esoteric Buddhism_. All Theosophists, whether in perfect\nagreement with these views or not, look upon them as opening immense\nvistas of thought on subjects which are as important as they are\nneglected.\n\nIn conclusion, it is to be clearly stated that the Theosophical\nSociety is composed of a body of earnest students and inquirers, and\nnot of dogmatic teachers. But naturally a large number of members\nhold convictions in common on many points. Yet in each case the final\nauthority comes from no external source but from within.\n\n\u201cThere is no religion higher than Truth,\u201d is the motto of the Society.\n MOHINI M. CHATTERJI.\n\n\n THEORIES: ABOUT REINCARNATION AND SPIRITS.\n\n BY H.\u202fP. BLAVATSKY.\n\nOver and over again the abstruse and mooted question of Rebirth\nor Reincarnation has crept out during the first ten years of the\nTheosophical Society\u2019s existence. It has been alleged on _prima facie_\nevidence, that a notable discrepancy was found between statements made\nin \u201c_Isis Unveiled_\u201d Vol. I, 351-2, and later teachings from the same\npen and under the inspiration of the same master.[132]\n\nIn _Isis_, it was held,\u2014reincarnation is denied. An occasional return,\nonly of \u201cdepraved spirits\u201d is allowed. \u201cExclusive of that rare and\ndoubtful possibility, \u2018_Isis_\u2019 allows only three cases\u2014abortion, very\nearly death, and idiocy\u2014in which reincarnation on this earth occurs.\u201d\n(\u201cC. C.\u202fM.\u201d in _Light_, 1882.)\n\nThe charge was answered then and there as every one who will turn to\nthe _Theosophist_ of August, 1882, can see for himself. Nevertheless,\nthe answer either failed to satisfy some readers or passed unnoticed.\nLeaving aside the strangeness of the assertion that _reincarnation_\u2014_i.\ne._, the serial and periodical rebirth of every individual _monad_\nfrom _pralaya_ to _pralaya_[133] is denied in the face of the fact\nthat the doctrine is part and parcel and one of the fundamental\nfeatures of Hinduism and Buddhism, the charge amounted virtually to\nthis: the writer of the present, a professed admirer and student of\nHindu philosophy, and as professed a follower of Buddhism years before\n_Isis_ was written, by rejecting reincarnation must necessarily reject\nKARMA likewise! For the latter is the very _corner_-stone of Esoteric\nphilosophy and Eastern religions; it is the grand and one pillar _on\nwhich hangs the whole philosophy of rebirths_, and once the latter is\ndenied, the whole doctrine of Karma falls into meaningless verbiage.\n\nNevertheless, the opponents without stopping to think of the evident\n\u201cdiscrepancy\u201d between charge and fact, accused a Buddhist by profession\nof faith of denying reincarnation hence also by implication\u2014Karma.\nAdverse to wrangling with one who was a friend and undesirous at the\ntime, to enter upon a defence of details and internal evidence\u2014a loss\nof time indeed,\u2014the writer answered merely with a few sentences. But\nit now becomes necessary to well define the doctrine. Other critics\nhave taken the same line, and by misunderstanding the passages to\nthat effect in _Isis_ they have reached the same rather extraordinary\nconclusions.\n\nTo put an end to such useless controversies, it is proposed to explain\nthe doctrine more clearly.\n\nAlthough, in view of the later more minute renderings of the esoteric\ndoctrines, it is quite immaterial what may have been written in\n\u201c_Isis_\u201d\u2014an encyclopedia of occult subjects in which each of these is\n_hardly sketched_\u2014let it be known at once, that the writer maintains\nthe correctness of every word given out upon the subject in my earlier\nvolumes. What was said in the _Theosophist_ of August, 1882, may now\nbe repeated here. The passage quoted from it may be, and is, most\nlikely \u201cincomplete, chaotic, vague, perhaps clumsy, as are many more\npassages in that work the first literary production of a foreigner who\neven now can hardly boast of her knowledge of the English language.\u201d\nNevertheless it is quite correct so far as that collateral feature of\nreincarnation is therein concerned.\n\nI will now give extracts from _Isis_ and proceed to explain every\npassage criticised, wherein it was said that \u201ca few _fragments_\nof this mysterious doctrine of reincarnation as _distinct from_\nmetempsychosis\u201d\u2014would be then presented. Sentences now explained are in\nitalics.\n\n \u201cReincarnation _i. e._ the appearance of the same individual, _or\n rather of his astral monad, twice on the same planet_ is not a rule\n in nature, it is an exception, like the teratological phenomenon of\n a two-headed infant. It is preceded by a _violation of the laws of\n harmony of nature_, and happens only when the latter _seeking_ to\n _restore_ its _disturbed equilibrium, violently throws back into\n earth-life the astral monad which had been tossed out of the circle\n of necessity by crime or accident_. Thus in cases of abortion, of\n infants dying before a certain age, and of congenital and incurable\n idiocy, nature\u2019s original design to produce a perfect human being,\n has been interrupted. Therefore, while the gross matter of each of\n these several entities is suffered to disperse itself at death,\n through the vast realm of being, _the immortal spirit and astral\n monad of the individual\u2014the latter having been set apart_ to animate\n a frame and the former to shed its divine light on the corporeal\n organization\u2014_must try a second time to carry out the purpose of the\n creative intelligence_.\u201d (Vol. 1.\u202fp. 351.)\n\nHere the \u201castral monad\u201d or body of the deceased personality\u2014say of\nJohn or Thomas\u2014is meant. It is that which, in the teachings of the\nEsoteric philosophy of Hinduism, is known under its name of _bhoot_;\nin the Greek philosophy is called the _simulacrum_ or _umbra_, and in\nall other philosophies worthy of the name is said, as taught in the\nformer, to disappear after a certain period more or less prolonged in\n_Kama-loka_\u2014the Limbus of the Roman Catholics, or _Hades_ of the the\nGreeks.[134] It is \u201ca violation of the laws of harmony of nature,\u201d\nthough it be so decreed by those of _Karma_\u2014every time that the astral\nmonad, or the _simulacrum_ of the personality\u2014of John or Thomas\u2014instead\nof running down to the end of its natural period of time in a\nbody\u2014finds itself (a) violently thrown out of it by whether early death\nor accident; or (b) is compelled in consequence of its unfinished task\nto reappear, (_i. e. the same astral body wedded to the same immortal\nmonad_) on earth again, in order to complete the unfinished task.\nThus \u201cit must try a second time to carry out the purpose of creative\nintelligence\u201d or _law_.\n\n If reason has been so far developed as to become active and\n discriminative there is no[135] (_immediate_) _reincarnation_ on\n this earth, for the three parts of the triune man have been united\n together, and he is capable of running the race. But when the new\n being has not passed beyond the condition of Monad, or when, as in\n the idiot, the trinity has not been completed on earth and therefore\n cannot be so after death, the immortal spark which illuminates it, has\n to re-enter on the earthly plane as it was frustrated in its first\n attempt. Otherwise, the mortal or astral, and the immortal or divine\n souls, _could not progress in unison and pass onward to the sphere\n above_[136] (_Devachan_). Spirit follows a line parallel with that\n of matter; and the spiritual evolution goes hand in hand with the\n physical.\n\nThe Occult Doctrine teaches that:\u2014\n\n(1) There is no _immediate_ reincarnation on Earth for the Monad, as\nfalsely taught by the Reincarnationists Spiritists; nor is there any\nsecond incarnation at all for the \u201c_personal_\u201d or _false_ Ego\u2014the\n_perisprit_\u2014save the exceptional cases mentioned. But that (_a_) there\nare rebirths, or periodical reincarnations for the immortal Ego\u2014(\u201cEgo\u201d\nduring the cycle of rebirths, and _non_-Ego, in Nirvana or Moksha when\nit becomes _impersonal_ and _absolute_); for that Ego is the root of\nevery new incarnation, the string on which are threaded, one after the\nother, the false personalities or illusive bodies called men, in which\nthe Monad-Ego incarnates itself during the cycle of births; and (_b_)\nthat such reincarnations take place not before 1,500, 2,000, and even\n3,000 years of Devachanic life.\n\n(2) That _Manas_\u2014the seat of _Jiv_, that spark which runs the round\nof the cycle of birth and rebirths with the Monad, from the beginning\nto the end of a Manvantara,\u2014is the real _Ego_. That (_a_) the _Jiv_\nfollows the divine monad that gives it spiritual life and immortality\ninto Devachan,\u2014that therefore, it can neither be reborn before its\nappointed period, nor reappear on Earth _visibly_ or _invisibly_ in the\n_interim_; and (_b_) that, unless the fruition, the spiritual aroma\nof the Manas\u2014or all these highest aspirations and spiritual qualities\nand attributes that constitute the higher SELF of man become united\nto its monad, the latter becomes as _Non_ existent; since it is _in\nesse_ \u201cimpersonal\u201d and _per se_ Ego-less, so to say, and gets its\nspiritual colouring or flavour of Egotism only from each _Manas_ during\nincarnation and after it is disembodied, and separated from all its\nlower principles.\n\n(3) That the remaining four principles, or rather the\u20142\u00bd\u2014as they\nare composed of the terrestrial portion of _Manas_ of its Vehicle\n_Kama~Rupa_ and _Lingha Sarira_,\u2014the body dissolving immediately, and\n_prana_ or the life principle along with it,\u2014that these principles\nhaving belonged to the _false_ personality are unfit for Devachan.\nThe latter is the state of Bliss, the reward for all the undeserved\nmiseries of life,[137] and that which prompted man to sin, namely his\nterrestrial passionate nature can have no room in it.\n\nTherefore the reincarnating principles are left behind in _Kama-loka_,\nfirstly as a material residue, then later on as a reflection on the\nmirror of Astral light. Endowed with _illusive_ action, to the day\nwhen having gradually faded out they disappear, what is it but the\nGreek _Eidolon_ and the _simulacrum_ of the Greek and Latin poets and\nclassics?\n\n \u201cWhat reward or punishment can there be in that sphere of disembodied\n human entities for a _f\u0153tus_ or a human embryo which had not even\n time to breathe on this earth, still less an opportunity to exercise\n the divine faculties of its spirit? Or, for an irresponsible infant,\n whose senseless monad remaining dormant within the astral and physical\n casket, could as little prevent him from burning himself as any other\n person to death? Or again for one idiotic from birth, the number of\n whose cerebral circumvolutions is only from twenty to thirty per cent.\n of those of sane persons, and who therefore is irresponsible for\n either his disposition, acts, or for the imperfections of his vagrant,\n half-developed intellect.\u201d (_Isis_, vol. 1, p. 352.)\n\nThese are then, the \u201cexceptions\u201d spoken of in _Isis_, and the doctrine\nis maintained now as it was then. Moreover, there is no \u201cdiscrepancy\u201d\nbut only _incompleteness_\u2014hence, misconceptions arising from later\nteachings. Then again, there are several important mistakes in _Isis_\nwhich, as the plates of the work had been _stereotyped_ were not\ncorrected in subsequent editions.\n\nOne of such is on page 346, and another in connection with it and as a\nsequence on page 347.\n\nThe discrepancy between the first portion of the statement and the\nlast, ought to have suggested the idea of an evident mistake. It is\naddressed to the spiritists, _reincarnationists_ who take the more\nthan ambiguous words of Apuleius as a passage that corroborates their\nclaims for their \u201cspirits\u201d and reincarnation. Let the reader judge[138]\nwhether Apuleius does not justify rather _our_ assertions. We are\ncharged with denying reincarnation and this is what we said there and\nthen in _Isis_!\n\n \u201cThe _philosophy_ teaches that nature _never leaves her work\n unfinished; if baffled at the first attempt, she tries again_. When\n she evolves a human embryo, the intention is that a man shall be\n perfected\u2014physically, intellectually, and spiritually. His body is\n to grow, mature, wear out, and die; his mind unfold, ripen, and be\n harmoniously balanced; his divine spirit illuminate and blend easily\n with the inner man. No human being completes its grand cycle, or\n the \u201ccircle of necessity,\u201d until all these are accomplished. As the\n laggards in a race struggle and plod in their first quarter while\n the victor darts past the goal, so, in the race of immortality,\n some souls outspeed all the rest and reach the end, while their\n myriad competitors are toiling under the load of matter, close to\n the starting point. Some unfortunates fall out entirely and lose all\n chance of the prize; some retrace their steps and begin again.\u201c\n\nClear enough this, one should say. Nature baffled _tries again_. No\none can pass out of this world, (our earth) without becoming perfected\n\u201d_physically_, _morally_ and _spiritually_.\u201d How can this be done,\nunless there _is a series of rebirths_ required for the necessary\nperfection in each department\u2014to evolute in the \u201ccircle of necessity,\u201d\ncan surely never be found in one human life? and yet this sentence is\nfollowed without any break by the following parenthetical statement:\n\u201cThis is what the Hindu dreads above all things\u2014_transmigration_ and\n_reincarnation_; only on other and inferior planets, never on this\none!!!\u201d\n\nThe last \u201csentence\u201d is a fatal mistake and one to which the writer\npleads \u201c_not guilty_.\u201d It is evidently the blunder of some \u201creader\u201d\nwho had no idea of Hindu philosophy and who was led into a subsequent\nmistake on the next page, wherein the unfortunate word \u201cplanet\u201d is\nput for _cycle_. \u201c_Isis_\u201d was hardly, if ever, looked into after its\npublication by its writer, who had other work to do; otherwise there\nwould have been an apology and a page pointing to the _errata_ and\nthe sentence made to run: \u201cThe Hindu dreads transmigration in other\n_inferior_ forms, on this planet.\u201d\n\nThis would have dove-tailed with the preceding sentence, and would\nshow a fact, as the Hindu _exoteric_ views allow him to believe and\nfear the possibility of reincarnation\u2014human and animal in turn by\njumps, from man to beast and even a plant\u2014and _vice versa_; whereas\n_esoteric_ philosophy teaches that nature never proceeding backward\nin her evolutionary progress, once that man has evoluted from every\nkind of lower forms\u2014the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms\u2014into\nthe human form, he can never become an animal except morally,\nhence\u2014_metaphorically_. Human incarnation is a cyclic necessity, and\nlaw; and no Hindu dreads it\u2014however much he may deplore the necessity.\nAnd this law and the periodical recurrence of man\u2019s rebirth is shown\non the same page (346) and in the same unbroken paragraph, where it is\nclosed by saying that:\n\n \u201cBut there is a way to avoid it. Buddha taught it in his doctrine\n of poverty, restriction of the senses, perfect indifference to the\n objects of this earthly vale of tears, freedom from passion, and\n frequent intercommunication with the Atma\u2014soul-contemplation. _The\n cause of reincarnation is ignorance[139] of our senses, and the idea\n that there is any reality in the world, anything except abstract\n existence._ From the organs of sense comes the \u201challucination\u201d we call\n contact; \u201cfrom contact, desire; from desire, sensation (which also is\n a deception of our body,) from sensation, the cleaving to existing\n bodies; from this cleaving, reproduction; and from reproduction,\n disease, decay, and death.\u201d\n\nThis ought to settle the question and show there must have been some\ncarelessly unnoticed mistake and if this is not sufficient, there is\nsomething else to demonstrate it, for it is further on:\n\n \u201cThus, like the revolutions of a wheel, _there is a regular succession\n of death and birth_, the moral cause of which is the cleaving to\n existing objects, while the instrumental cause is _Karma_ (the power\n which controls the universe, prompting it to activity,) merit and\n demerit. It is therefore, the great desire of all beings who would\n be released _from the sorrows of successive birth_, to seek the\n destruction of the moral cause the cleaving to existing objects, or\n evil desire.\u201d\n\n \u201cThey in whom evil desire is entirely destroyed are called _Arhats_.\n Freedom from evil desire insures the possession of a _miraculous_\n power. At his death, the Arhat is never reincarnated; he invariably\n attains nirvana\u2014a word, by the by, falsely interpreted by the\n Christian scholar and skeptical commentators. Nirvana is the world of\n _cause_, in which all deceptive effects or delusions of our senses\n disappear. Nirvana is the highest attainable sphere. The _pitris_ (the\n pre-Adamic spirits) are considered as reincarnated by the Buddhistic\n philosopher, though in a degree far superior to that of the man of\n earth. Do they not die in their turn? Do not their astral bodies\n suffer and rejoice, and feel the same curse of illusionary feelings as\n when embodied?\u201d\n\nAnd just after this we are again made to say of Buddha and his Doctrine\nof \u201cMerit and Demerit,\u201d or Karma:\n\n \u201cBut this _former life_ believed in by the Buddhists, is not a life\n on _this planet_ for, more than any other people, the Buddhistical\n philosopher appreciated the great doctrine of cycles.\u201d\n\nCorrect \u201clife on this planet\u201d by \u201c_life in the same cycle_,\u201d and you\nwill have the correct reading: for what would have appreciation of\n\u201cthe great doctrine of cycles\u201d to do with Buddha\u2019s philosophy, had the\ngreat sage believed but in one short life on this Earth and in the same\ncycle. But to return to the real theory of reincarnation as in the\nesoteric teaching and its unlucky rendering in _Isis_.\n\nThus, what was really meant therein, was that, the principle which\n_does not reincarnate_\u2014save the exceptions pointed out\u2014is the _false_\npersonality, the illusive human Entity defined and individualized\nduring this short life of ours, under some specific form and name;\nbut that which _does_ and has to reincarnate _nolens volens_ under\nthe unflinching, stern rule of Karmic law\u2014is the real EGO. This\nconfusing of the real immortal Ego in man, with the false and ephemeral\n_personalities_ it inhabits during its Manvantaric progress, lies at\nthe root of every such misunderstanding. Now what is the one, and what\nis the other? The first group is\u2014\n\n1. The immortal Spirit\u2014sexless, formless (arupa) an emanation from the\nOne universal BREATH.\n\n2. Its Vehicle\u2014the _divine_ Soul\u2014called the \u201cImmortal Ego,\u201d the \u201cDivine\nmonad,\u201d etc. etc., which by accretions from _Manas_ in which burns\nthe ever existing _Jiv_\u2014the undying spark\u2014adds to itself at the close\nof each incarnation the essence of that individuality _that was_, the\naroma of the culled flower that is no more.\n\nWhat is the _false_ personality? It is that bundle of desires,\naspirations, affection and hatred, in short of _action_, manifested by\na human being on this earth during one incarnation and under the form\nof one personality.[140] Certainly it is not all _this_, which as a\nfact for us, the deluded, material, and and materially thinking lot\u2014is\nMr. So and So, or Mrs. somebody else\u2014that remains immortal, or is ever\nreborn.\n\nAll that bundle of _Egotism_ that apparent and evanescent \u201c_I_\u201d\ndisappears after death, as the costume of the part he played disappears\nfrom the actor\u2019s body, after he leaves the theatre and goes to bed.\nThat actor re-becomes at once the same \u201cJohn Smith\u201d or Gray, he was\nfrom his birth and is no longer the Othello or Hamlet that he had\nrepresented for a few hours. Nothing remains now of that \u201cbundle\u201d\nto go to the next incarnation, except _the seed for future Karma_\nthat _Manas_ may have united to its immortal group, to form with\nit\u2014the disembodied _Higher Self_ in \u201cDevachan.\u201d As to the four lower\nprinciples, that which becomes of them is found in most classics, from\nwhich we mean to quote at length for our defence. The doctrine of the\n_perisprit_ the \u201cfalse personality,\u201d or the remains of the deceased\nunder their astral form\u2014fading out to disappear in time, is terribly\ndistasteful to the spiritualists, who insist upon confusing the\ntemporary with the immortal EGO.\n\nUnfortunately for them and happily for us, it is not the modern\nOccultists who have invented the doctrine. They are on their defense.\nAnd they prove what they say, _i.e._, that no \u201c_personality_\u201d has ever\nyet been \u201creincarnated\u201d \u201con the same planet\u201d (_our earth_, this once\nthere is _no_ mistake) save in the three exceptional cases above cited.\nAdding to these a fourth case, _which is the deliberate, conscious\nact of adeptship_; and that such an _astral_ body belongs _neither to\nthe body nor the soul_ still less to the immortal spirit of man, the\nfollowing is brought forward and proofs cited.\n\nBefore one brings out on the strength of undeniable manifestations,\ntheories as to _what_ produces them and claims at once on _prima\nfacie_ evidence that it is the _spirits_ of the departed mortals\nthat re-visit us, it behooves one to first study what antiquity has\ndeclared upon the subject. Ghosts and apparitions, materialized and\nsemi-material \u201cSPIRITS\u201d have not originated with Allan Kardec, nor\nat Rochester. If those beings whose invariable habit it is to give\nthemselves out for _souls_ and the phantoms of the dead, choose to do\nso and succeed, it is only because the cautious philosophy of old is\nnow replaced by an _a priori_ conceit, and unproven assumptions. The\nfirst question is to be settled\u2014\u201cHave spirits any kind of substance to\ncloth themselves with?\u201d _Answer_: That which is now called _perisprit_\nin France, and a \u201cmaterialized Form\u201d in England and America, was\ncalled in days of old _peri-psyche_, and _peri-nous_, hence was well\nknown to the old Greeks. Have they _a body_ whether gaseous, fluidic,\netherial, material or semi-material? No; we say this on the authority\nof the occult teachings the world over. For with the Hindus _atma or\nspirit_ is _Arupa_ (bodiless,) and with the Greeks also. Even in the\nRoman Catholic Church the angels of Light as those of Darkness _are\nabsolutely incorporeal_: \u201c_meri spiritus, omnes corporis expertes_,\u201d\nand in the words of the \u201cSECRET DOCTRINE,\u201d _primordial_. Emanations of\nthe undifferentiated Principle, the Dhyan Chohans of the ONE (First)\ncategory or pure Spiritual Essence, are formed of the _Spirit of the\none Element_; the second category of the second Emanation of the Soul\nof the Elements; the third have a \u201c_mind_ body\u201d to which they are\nnot subject, but that they can assume and govern as a body, subject\n_to them_, pliant to their will in form and substance. Parting from\nthis (third) category, they (the spirits, angels, Devas or Dhyan\nChohans) have BODIES the first _rupa_ group of which is composed of\none element _Ether_; the second, of two\u2014ether and fire; the third, of\nthree\u2014Ether, fire and water; the fourth of four\u2014Ether, air, fire and\nwater. Then comes man, who, besides the four elements, has the fifth\nthat predominates in him\u2014Earth: therefore he suffers. Of the Angels,\nas said by St. Augustine and Peter Lombard, their bodies are made _to\nact_ not to suffer. It is earth and water, _humor et humus_, that gives\nan aptitude for suffering and passivity, _ad patientiam_, and _Ether_\nand _Fire_ for action. The spirits or human _monads_, belonging to the\nfirst, or indifferentiated essence are thus incorporeal; but their\nthird principle (or the human Fifth\u2014_Manas_) can in conjunction with\nits vehicle become _Kama rupa_ and _Mayavi rupa_\u2014body of desire or\n\u201cillusion body.\u201d After death, the best, noblest, purest qualities of\n_Manas_ or the _human_ soul ascending along with the divine Monad into\nDevachan whence no one emerges from or returns, except at the time of\nreincarnation\u2014what is that then which appears under the double mask\nof the spiritual _Ego_ or soul of the departed individual? _The Kama\nrupa element with the help of elementals._ For we are taught that those\nspiritual beings that can assume a form at will and appear, _i.e._,\nmake themselves objective and even tangible\u2014are the angels alone (the\nDhyan Chohans) and the _nirmanakaya_[141] of the adepts, whose spirits\nare clothed in sublime matter. The astral bodies\u2014_the remnants_ and\n_dregs_ of a mortal being which has been disembodied, when they do\nappear, are not the individuals they claim to be, but only their\nsimulachres. And such was the belief of the whole of antiquity, from\nHomer to Swedenborg; from the _third_ race down to our own day.\n\nMore than one devoted spiritualist has hitherto quoted Paul as\ncorroborating his claim that spirits do and can appear. \u201cThere is a\nnatural and there is a spiritual body,\u201d etc., etc., (1 Cor. xv, 44);\nbut one has only to study closer the verses preceding and following the\none quoted, to perceive that what St. Paul meant was quite different\nfrom the sense claimed for it. Surely there is a _spiritual_ body, but\nit is not identical with the _astral_ form contained in the \u201cnatural\u201d\nman. The \u201cspiritual\u201d is formed only by our individuality _unclothed_\nand _transformed after death_; for the apostle takes care to explain in\nVerses 51 and 52, \u201c_Immut abimur sed non omnes_.\u201d Behold, I tell you\n_a mystery_: we shall _not all sleep_ but we _shall all be changed_.\nThis corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on\nimmortality.\n\nBut this is no proof except for the Christians. Let us see what the old\nEgyptians and the Neo-Platonists\u2014both \u201c_theurgists_\u201d _par excellence_,\nthought on the subject: They divided man into three principal groups\nsubdivided into principles as we do: pure immortal spirit; the\n\u201cSpectral Soul\u201d (_a luminous phantom_) and the gross material body.\nApart from the latter which was considered as the terrestrial shell,\nthese groups were divided into six principles; (1) _Kha_ \u201cvital body\u201d;\n(2) _Khaba_ \u201castral form,\u201d or shadow, (3) _Khou_ \u201canimal soul\u201d (4)\n_Akh_ \u201cterrestrial intelligence;\u201d (5) _Sa_ \u201cthe divine soul\u201d (_or\nBuddhi_;) and (6) _Sah_ or mummy, the functions of which began after\ndeath. _Osiris_ was the highest uncreated spirit, for it was, in\none sense a generic name, every man becoming after his translation\n_Osirified_, _i. e._, absorbed into _Osiris_\u2014_Sun_ or into the glorious\ndivine state. It was _Khou_, with the lower portions of _Akh_ or _Kama\nrupa_ with the addition of the dregs of _Manas_ remaining all behind\nin the astral light of our atmosphere\u2014that formed the counterparts\nof the terrible and so much dreaded _bhoots_ of the Hindus (our\n\u201celementaries.\u201d) This is seen in the rendering made of the so-called\n\u201cHarris. Papyrus on magic.\u201d (_papyrus magique_, translated by Chabas)\nwho calls them _Kouey_ or _Khou_, and explains that according to the\nhieroglyphics they were called _Khou_ or the \u201crevivified dead,\u201d the\n\u201cresurrected shadows.\u201d\n\nWhen it was said of a person that he \u201c_had a Khou_\u201d it meant that\nhe was possessed by a \u201cSpirit.\u201d There were two kinds of _Khous_\u2014the\njustified ones,\u2014who after living for a short time _a second life_ (_nam\nonh_) faded out, disappeared; and those _Khous_ who were condemned\nto wandering without rest in darkness _after dying for a second\ntime_\u2014_mut, em, nam_\u2014and who were called the _H\u2019ou-m\u00eatr_ (\u201csecond time\ndead\u201d) which did not prevent them from clinging to a vicarious life\nafter the manner of Vampires. How dreaded they were is explained in our\nAppendices on Egyptian Magic and \u201cChinese Spirits\u201d (_Secret Doctrine_.)\nThey were exorcised by Egyptian priests as the evil spirit is exorcised\nby the Roman Catholic _cur\u00e9_; or again the Chinese _houen_, identical\nwith the _Khou_ and the \u201cElementary,\u201d as also with the _lares_ or\n_larv\u00e6_\u2014a word derived from the former by _Festus_, the grammarian; who\nexplains that they were \u201cthe shadows of the dead _who gave no rest in\nthe house they were in_ either to the Masters or the servants.\u201d These\ncreatures when evoked during theurgic, and especially _necromantic_\nrites, were regarded, and are so regarded still, in China\u2014as neither\nthe Spirit, Soul nor any thing belonging to the deceased personality\nthey represented, but simply, as his reflection\u2014_simmulacrum_.\n\n\u201cThe human soul,\u201d says Apuleius, \u201cis an _immortal God_\u201d (Buddhi) which\nnevertheless has his beginning. When death rids it (the Soul), from its\nearthly corporeal organism, it is called _lemure_. There are among the\nlatter not a few which are beneficent, and which become the gods or\ndemons of the family, _i. e._, its domestic gods: in which case they\nare called _lares_. But they are vilified and spoken of as _larvae_\nwhen sentenced by fate to wander about, they spread around them evil\nand plagues. (_Inane terriculamentum, celerum noxium malis_;) or if\ntheir real nature is doubtful they are referred to as simply _manes_\n(_Apuleius_. see\u2014_Du Dieu de Socrate_, pp. 143-145. Edit. Niz.) Listen\nto Yamblichus, Proclus, Porphyry, Psellus and to dozens of other\nwriters on these mystic subjects.\n\nThe Magi of Chaldea believed and _taught that the celestial or divine\nsoul_ would participate in the bliss of eternal light, while the animal\nor _sensuous_ soul would, if good, rapidly dissolve, and if wicked, go\non wandering about in the Earth\u2019s sphere. In this case, \u201cit (the soul)\nassumes at times the forms of various human phantoms and even those\nof animals.\u201d The same was said of the _Eid\u00f4lon_ of the Greeks, and of\ntheir _Nephesh_ by the Rabbins: (See _Sciences Occultes_, Count de\nResie. V. II) All the _Illuminati_ of the middle ages tell us of our\n_astral Soul_, the reflection of the dead or his _spectre_. At _Natal_\ndeath (birth) the pure spirit remains attached to the _intermediate_\nand _luminous_ body but as soon as its lower form (the physical body)\nis dead, the former ascends heavenward, and the latter descends into\nthe nether worlds, or the _Kama loka_.\n\nHomer shows us the body of Patroclus\u2014the true image of the terrestrial\nbody lying killed by Hector\u2014rising in its spiritual form, and Lucretius\nshows old Ennius representing Homer himself, shedding bitter tears,\namidst the _shadows and the human simulachres_ on the shores of\nAcherusia \u201c_where live neither our bodies nor our souls_, but only our\nimages.\u201d\n\n \u201c* * * Esse _Acherusia_ templa,\n * * * Quo _neque_ permanent _anim\u00e6, neque corpora_ nostra,\n _Sed qu\u00e6dam simulacra_ * *\u201d\n\nVirgil called it _imago_ \u201cimage\u201d and in the Odyssey (I. XI) the author\nrefers to it as the type, the model, and at the same time the copy of\nthe body; since Telemachus will not recognize Ulyssus and seeks to\ndrive him off by saying\u2014\u201cNo thou are not my father; thou art a demon,\u2014\u2014\ntrying to seduce me!\u201d (_Odys._ I. XVI. _v._ 194.) \u201cLatins do not lack\nsignificant proper names to designate the varieties of their demons;\nand thus they called them in turn, _lares_, _lemures_, _geni_ and\n_manes_.\u201d Cicero, in translating Plato\u2019s _Timaeus_ translates the word\n_daimones_ by _lares_; and Festus the grammarian, explains that the\ninferior or lower gods were the _souls_ of _men_, making a difference\nbetween the two as Homer did, and between _anima bruta_ and _anima\ndivina_ (animal and divine souls). Plutarch (in _proble. Rom._) makes\nthe lares preside and inhabit the (haunted) houses, and calls them,\ncruel, exacting, inquisitive, etc., etc. Festus thinks that there\nare good and bad ones among the lares. For he calls them at one time\n_pr\u00e6stites_ as they gave occasionally and watched over things carefully\n(_direct apports_,) and at another\u2014_hostileos_.[142] \u201cHowever it may\nbe\u201d says in his queer old French, Leloyer, \u201cthey are no better than our\ndevils, who, if they do appear helping sometimes men, and presenting\nthem with property, it is only to hurt them the better and the more\nlater on. _Lemures_ are also devils and _larv\u00e6_ for they appear at\nnight in various human and animal forms, but still more frequently with\nfeatures that THEY _borrow from dead men_.\u201d (_Livre des Spectres_. V.\nIV p. 15 and 16).\n\nAfter this little honour rendered to his Christian preconceptions, that\nsee Satan everywhere, Leloyer speaks like an Occultist, and a very\nerudite one too.\n\n\u201cIt is quite certain that the _genii_ and none other had mission to\nwatch over every newly born man, and that they were called _genii_, as\nsays Censorius, because they had in their charge our race, and not only\nthey _presided_ over every mortal being but over whole generations and\ntribes, being the _genii of the people_.\u201d\n\nThe idea of guardian angels of men, races, localities, cities, and\nnations, was taken by the Roman Catholics from the prechristian\noccultists and pagans. Symmachus (Epistol, I. X) writes: \u201cAs souls\nare given to those who are born, so _genii_ are distributed to the\nnations. Every city had its protecting genius, to whom the people\nsacrificed.\u201d There is more than one inscription found that reads:\n_Genio civitates_\u2014\u201cto the genius of the city.\u201d\n\nOnly the ancient profane, never seemed sure any more than the modern\nwhether an apparition was the _eidolon_ of a relative or the genius of\nthe locality. Enneus while celebrating the anniversary of the name of\nhis father Anchises, seeing a serpent crawling on his tomb knew not\nwhether that was the _genius_ of his father or the genius of the place\n(Virgil). \u201cThe _manes_[143] were numbered and divided between good and\nbad; those that were _sinister_, and that Virgil calls _numina larva_,\nwere appeased by sacrifices that they should commit no mischief, such\nas sending bad dreams to those who despised them, etc:\u201d\n\nTibullus shows by his line:\u2014\n\n_Ne tibi neglecti mittant insomnia manes._ (Eleg., 1. II.)\n\n\u201cPagans thought that the _lower Souls_ were transformed after death\ninto _diabolical aerial_ spirits.\u201d (Leloyer p. 22.)\n\nThe term _Eteroprosopos_ when divided into its several compound words\nwill yield a whole sentence, \u201can other than I under the features of my\nperson.\u201d\n\nIt is to this terrestrial principle, the _eidolon_, the _larva_, the\n_bhoot_\u2014call it by whatever name\u2014that reincarnation was refused in\n_Isis_.[144]\n\nThe doctrines of Theosophy are simply the faithful echoes of\nAntiquity. Man is a _Unity_ only at his origin and at his end. All\nthe Spirits, all the Souls, gods and demons emanate from and have\nfor their root-principle the SOUL OF THE UNIVERSE\u2014says Porphyry (_De\nSacrifice_). Not a philosopher of any notoriety who did not believe (1)\nin reincarnation (metempsychosis), (2) in the plurality of principles\nin man, or that man had _two_ Souls of separate and quite different\nnatures; one perishable, the _Astral Soul_, the other incorruptible\nand immortal; and (3) that the former was not the man whom it\nrepresented\u2014\u201cneither his spirit nor his body, but his _reflection_,\nat best.\u201d This was taught by Brahmins, Buddhists, Hebrews, Greeks,\nEgyptians, and Chaldeans; by the post-diluvian heirs of the prediluvian\nWisdom, by Pythagoras and Socrates, Clemens Alexandrinus, Synesius,\nand Origen. the oldest Greek poets as much as the Gnostics, whom\nGibbon shows as the most refined, learned and enlightened men of all\nages (\u201cSee Decline and Fall,\u201d etc.). But the rabble was the same in\nevery age: superstitious, self-opinionated, materializing every most\nspiritual and noble idealistic conception and dragging it down to its\nown low level, and\u2014ever adverse to philosophy.\n\nBut all this does not interfere with that fact, that our \u201cfifth\nRace\u201d man, analyzed esoterically as a septenary creature, was ever\n_exoterically_ recognized as mundane, sub-mundane, terrestrial and\nsupra mundane, Ovid graphically describing him as\u2014\n\n \u201cBis duo sunt hominis; _manes_, _caro_, _spiritus_, _umbra_\n Quatuor ista loca bis duo suscipiunt.\n Terra tegit carnem, tumulum circumvolat umbra,\n Orcus habet manes, spiritus astra petit.\u201d\n\n OSTENDE, _Oct., 1886_.\n\n\n POETICAL OCCULTISM.\n\n SOME ROUGH STUDIES OF THE OCCULT LEANINGS OF THE POETS.\n\nII.\n\nPerhaps no passage in _Light on the Path_ is more forcible than that\nwhich warns the disciple against allowing the idea of separateness from\nany evil thing or person to grow up within him. He is bidden to, \u201cbe\nwary, lest too soon you fancy yourself a thing apart from the mass.\u201d\nThe Bagavad-Gita utters the same truth in other words by picturing man\nas led astray by the pride of self-sufficiency and the great danger\nunderlying the desires and passions of the individual soul. Throughout\nlife the student of occultism daily renews the struggle of soul against\nflesh, of faith against desire. This combat is finely pictured in\nTennyson\u2019s _Palace of Art_. It is truly an occult palace. Four courts\nare made, east, west, south and north, with a squared lawn in each, and\nfour great fountains \u201cstream in misty folds.\u201d Here we are reminded of\nthe Garden of Eden with its four rivers, of which Eliphas Levi says:\n\u201cthis description of the terrestrial paradise is resumed in the figure\nof a perfect pentacle. It is circular or square, since it is equally\nwatered by four rivers disposed in a cross.\u201d The square, answering to\nthe number four was indeed the great kabbalistic figure, representing\nthe Trinity in Unity. Nor is the mystic circle wanting in our occult\npalace, for there are \u201ccool rows of circling cloisters\u201d about the\nsquares, and a gilded gallery that \u201clent broad verge to distant\nlands,\u201d and \u201cincense streaming from a golden cup,\u201d another mystic\nsymbol, representing the passive or negative side of nature. Full of\nsumptuousness was this palace, built for the soul that she might dwell\nin sensuous luxury, remote from the struggling world. Then the poet\nshows us further into the recesses of his sweet thought, and we see in\nthe pictures with which the palace was hung, a portrayal of the various\nlife experiences of the soul as it passes from phase to phase, from\nroom to room of this great palace which is human life.\n\n \u201cFull of great rooms and small the palace stood,\n All various, _each a perfect whole\n From living nature_, fit for every mood\n And change of my still soul.\u201d\n\nFrom high estate to low the soul thus passes, from a \u201cglimmering land\u201d\nto \u201ciron coast and angry wave;\u201d from uplands of toil and harvest, to\nthe \u201chigh bleak crags of sorrow,\u201d from Greece and Sicily to India or\nthe North, until \u201cevery landscape, as fit for every mood was there,\nnot less than truth designed,\u201d a rich panorama of reincarnations.\nAmongst all these the soul moves joyful and feasting, \u201cLord of the\nsenses five,\u201d communing with herself that all these are her own in the\n\u201cGod-like isolation which is hers.\u201d\n\n \u201cThen of the moral instinct would she prate,\n And of the rising from the dead,\n As hers by right of full-accomplished Fate,\n And at the last she said:\n\n I take possession of man\u2019s mind and deed.\n I care not what the sects may brawl.\n I sit as God, holding no form of creed\n But contemplating all.\u201d\n\nSo three years she throve and prospered, but in the fourth year, (mark\nagain the occult number of perfection,) a great dread came upon her,\nshe was plagued in \u201cthe abyssmal deeps of personality\u201d with a sore\ndespair. The moment of choice, the turning point had come, that period\nof which Esoteric Buddhism speaks as occurring for the race in the\nfifth round but to which some exceptional personalities have forced\nthemselves in this our fourth round. Many occultists will see their\nown experience mirrored in that of this tormented and lonely soul,\ncontemplating her \u201cpalace of strength whereof the foundation stones\nwere laid since her first memory,\u201d only to see in its dark corners,\n\u201cuncertain shapes, horrible nightmares, white-eyed phantasms and\nhollow shades enclosing hearts of flame.\u201d Do we not seem to see all\nthe elemental world, led on by the dread Dweller of the Threshold here\nconfronting us? The struggle is even more powerfully depicted but the\nlesson is learned; the soul may retrieve herself by a lowly life; she\nthrows aside her royal robes, and recognizing the need of mixing with\nher kind, begs for a \u201ccottage in the vale.\u201d\n\nThe poet reserves for his last verse the final lesson that only when\nwe lead others to the heights and share these with our kind, can we\nourselves stand steadfast there:\n\n \u201cYet pull not down my palace towers, that are\n So lightly, beautifully built;\n Perchance I may return with others there\n When I have purged my guilt.\u201d\n\nA footnote in the September PATH states:\u2014\u201cAfter all, the whole process\nof development is the process of _getting back the memory of the past_.\nAnd that too is the teaching found in pure Buddhism, etc.\u201d Sometimes we\nare conscious of vague callings to do a certain thing, and critically\nregarding ourselves, we cannot see in this life any cause. It seems the\nbugle note of a past life blown almost in our face: it startles us;\nsometimes we are overthrown. These memories affect us like the shadows\nof passing clouds across our path, now tangible; then fading, only a\ncloud. Now they start before us like phantoms, or like a person behind\nyou as you look at a mirror, it looks over the shoulder. If they are\nindeed reminiscences of other lives, although dead and past, they yet\nhave a power. Hear what Lowell whispers in \u201c_The Twilight_\u201d of these\nmysterious moments:\n\n \u201cSometimes a breath floats by me,\n An odor from Dreamland sent,\n Which makes the ghost seem nigh me\n Of a something that came and went,\n Of a life lived somewhere, I know not\n In what diviner sphere:\n Of mem\u2019ries that come not and go not;\n Like music once heard by an ear\n That cannot forget or reclaim it;\n A something so shy, it would shame it\n To make it a show.\n A something too vague, could I name it,\n For others to know:\n As though I had lived it and dreamed it,\n As though I had acted and schemed it\n Long ago.\n\n And yet, could I live it over,\n This Life which stirs in my brain;\n Could I be both maiden and lover,\n Moon and tide, bee and clover,\n As I seem to have been, once again.\n Could I but speak and show it.\n This pleasure more sharp than pain.\n Which baffles and lures me so!\n The world would not lack a poet,\n Such as it had\n In the ages glad,\n Long Ago.\u201d\n\nEmerson, who saw further into the world of nature than any poet of our\nrace, gives us this:\n\n \u201cAnd as through dreams in watches of the night,\n So through all creatures in their form and ways,\n Some mystic hint accosts the vigilant,\n Not clearly voiced, but waking a new sense,\n Inviting to new knowledge, _one with old_.\u201d\n\nThe hermetic maxim, \u201cAs above so below,\u201d sends us indeed to nature for\ninitiation, and the Gita follows up this nail with a hammer by saying:\n\u201cThe man, O Arjoona, who, from what passeth in his own breast, whether\nit be pain or pleasure, beholdeth the same in others, is esteemed a\nsupreme Yogi.\u201d Analogy, Harmony, Unity, these are the words traced\nover and over for us, the shining rays of the one Law. These are the\nthoughts in which the poets delight. Emerson speaks again with still\nclearer voice:\n\n \u201cBrother, sweeter is the Law\n Than all the grace Love ever saw,\n If the Law should thee forget.\n More enamored serve it yet.\n\n * * * * *\n\n * * I found this;\n That of goods I could not miss\n If I fell within the line;\n Once a member, all was mine:\n Houses, banquets, gardens, fountains,\n Fortune\u2019s delectable mountains.\n But if I would walk alone\n Was neither cloak nor crumb my own.\u201d\n\nThe Biblical verse:\u2014\u201cIt is more blessed to give than to receive,\u201d is\na great occult teaching. As we strengthen the muscles by exercise, so\nwe enlarge the intelligence and the heart by constantly dispensing our\nmeans, whether these be golden thoughts, or time, or affections, all\nalong the line of Brotherhood. Not because of a sentiment, but because\nLife is made up of vibrations which our scientists, cautious as they\nare, admit may affect the farthest stars.\n\n \u201cLike warp and woof, all destinies\n Are woven fast,\n Linked in sympathy, like the keys\n Of an organ vast.\n Pluck but one thread, and the web ye mar;\n Break but one of a thousand keys, and the paining jar\n Through all will run.\u201d\n\nThis from Whittier reminds us of the lines on Karma in _Light on the\nPath_. \u201cRemember that the threads are living,\u2014are like electric wires,\nmore, are like quivering nerves. How far, then, must the stain, the\ndrag awry, be communicated.\u201d Yes, the communion of saints is a living\nfact. We all commune, not alone with one another; with those above us\nand with those below, but essentially with our time. Not one of us can\nescape its influence: we oppose its conclusions, deny its powers, and\nmeanwhile it speaks through us, without our knowledge, the passwords\nwe do not yet understand. This \u201cdark age\u201d is still the birth-place of\nspiritual development, of an awakening belief in the supernatural, or\nthat which overshadows nature. We have had no more safe, practical\nsober poet than Whittier, who sweetly sings the life of every day, when\nhe is not stirred by the fret of the times, to Freedoms larger issues.\nYet hear him describing the power of a \u201cwizard:\u201d\n\n \u201cAll the subtle spirits hiding\n Under earth or wave; abiding\n In the caverned rock, or riding\n Misty clouds, or morning breeze.\n Every dark intelligence,\n Secret soul, and influence\n Of all things, which outward sense\n Feels, or hears, or sees,\u2014\n These the wizard\u2019s skill confessed.\u2014\u201d\n\nIs not here an \u201coutward sense\u201d of Professor Denton\u2019s discoveries of the\n\u201csoul of things?\u201d But hear further the poet\u2019s confession of faith in\nthe occult power of will:\n\n \u201cNot untrue that tale of old!\n Now as then, the wise and bold\n All the powers of nature hold,\n Subject to their kingly will.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Still to such, life\u2019s elements,\n With their sterner laws dispense,\n _And the chain of consequence_\n _Broken in their pathway lies_.\n To his aid the strong reverses,\n Hidden powers and giant forces,\n And the high stars in their courses,\n Mingle in his strife.\u201d\n\nThe italicized lines are almost an echo of the words of an Adept when\nspeaking of the possibility for the disciple, of an ultimate escape\nfrom the laws of Karma, which give him the right to demand the secrets\nof nature. \u201cHe obtains this right by having escaped from the limits of\nnature, and by having freed himself from the rules which govern human\nlife.\u201d So does Whittier\u2019s initiate. For every one of us there looms a\ndanger in our being prone to mistake desire for will. The paradox of\nLevi is sound and true: \u201cThe will obtains all that it does not desire.\u201d\nMeditation in this direction will reveal some deep and useful truths to\nthe practical occultist.\n\nBut to return to our poets. There are many butterfly hints to be found\nfluttering through their lines. Time has spared us this one from Marvel:\n\n \u201cAt some fruit-tree\u2019s mossy root,\n Casting the body\u2019s vest aside\n My soul into the bows does glide;\n There, like a bird, it sits and sings.\u201d\n\nAnd Matthew Arnold, turned dreamer for the nonce, has netted us\none, more meaty than diaphanous, in which we find hints of periodic\nDevachanic sleep, between every period of earth struggle, of man\u2019s\nthreefold nature which serves to hide the memory of his other lives,\nand a touch of Karma as well:\n\n \u201cThe Guide of our dark steps a triple veil\n Betwixt our senses and our sorrow keeps;\n Hath sown with cloudless passages the tale\n Of grief, and eased us with a thousand sleeps.\u201d\n\nIt would sometimes seem, as in the above quotation, that the poet\nhimself was scarcely conscious of the full bearing of what he wrote,\nas if that dim something from another life of which Lowell spoke,\nhad brushed him with its wing unawares. Often the higher Self speaks\nout from a man\u2019s work, to other men whose consciousness has a higher\ndevelopment than his own, while it has not as yet revealed itself\nto him. How many men tremble thus on the borders of the unseen. Let\nus beware whom we set down as remote from our communion, \u201cfor in an\ninstant a veil may fall down from his spirit, and he will be far\nahead of us all.\u201d There is an occult verse from Goethe which has been\nquoted by Tyndall in one of those sad and baffled paragraphs which\ndarkle through the works of our scientists, shadowy witnesses that\nthese distinguished materialists and physicists are often nearer our\npath than they or we suspect. Through such they seem to call for\ndeliverance. We give the verse in its setting, leaving Tyndall\u2019s prose\nto point its poetic meaning.\n\n\u201cAs regards knowledge, physical science is polar. In one sense it\nknows, or is destined to know everything. In another sense it knows\nnothing. Science understands much of this intermediate phase of things\nthat we call nature, of which it is the product; but science knows\nnothing of the origin or destiny of nature. Who or what made the sun,\nand gave his rays their alleged power? Who or what made and bestowed\nupon the ultimate particles of matter their wondrous power of varied\ninteraction? Science does not know: the mystery, though pushed back,\nremains unaltered. To many of us who feel that there are more things\nin heaven and earth than are dreamt of in the present philosophy of\nscience, but who have been also taught by baffled efforts, how vain is\nthe attempt to grapple with the Inscrutable, the ultimate frame of mind\nis that of Goethe:\u201d\n\n \u201cWho dares to name His name,\n Or belief in him proclaim,\n Veiled in mystery as He is, the All-enfolder?\n Gleams across the mind His light,\n Feels the lifted soul His might;\n Dare it then deny His reign, the All-upholder?\u201d\n JULIUS.\n\n\n [Illustration:]\n\n HINDU SYMBOLISM.\n\n II.\n\nThis figure represents Brahma-Maya or Mahat-Maya, Brahma Viraj, or the\ngreat Illusion.\n\nThe androgene or male-female, the Great Appearance, the first\nrevelation of the Being or Brahman (neuter), under the form of the\ndouble-sexed first emanation. The neuter, became male and female, by\nseparation into the male, positive, forming the spiritual\u2014the entities\nor the noumena, and his sakti or female, the negative, or plastic,\nmatter, the illusionary or phenomenal existence. The sakti, is his\ndeveloping energy, force or potentiality. This symbol, the divine\ntype of the first male and female, which can be compared with the\nterrestrial Adam before the final separation of Eve, is really in\nconsonance with this Adam\u2019s perfect ideal, the Adam Kadmon or Heavenly\nAdam of the Kabbalah. The Brahma-half is on the right side, the good\nside, man\u2019s, the Maya-half is on the left, the evil side, the woman\u2019s.\nSo according to the Hebrew sacred writings, through Eve the woman,\nevil was brought into the world. Compare with this the Greek myth of\nPandora. Issuing from the linga-yoni is the pearl chain, or connected\ncircle of the existences, looked upon as united atoms, and the symbol\nof all the existing. It is held up by the hand on the male side.\n\nBrahman (neuter), appears here as manifested in the male in union\nwith the female sakti, of the preformatory imagination, as the ante\ncreative monarch and Pearl King, richly decorated with the circles of\nthe soul-monads and atoms. On his head is the world egg cap. The veil\nof the existences, upon which are woven the ideas or models of the\nto-be-emanated existences, flows from the linga-yoni to the highest\npart of the head and thence down the right side. He as the male, has\na tendency to twist himself upon himself and his face bears the stamp\nof deep meditation. The aureole of fire is on the male side and from\nit scintillate sparks upon the veil of Maya. On the Maya side, the\nattitude is that of joy or dancing; the hand raised as if in play,\nholds up the veil, bells are hanging on her robe and singularly the\nEgyptian hieroglyphic for the water of life is shown; while the bust is\ndeveloped. Portrayed upon the veil are the prototypes of the creatures.\nCompare the symbolism of the girdle of Aphrodite and that of Venus.\n\nAs the double spouse of Brahman (neuter) considered apart and in\nopposition to It. The Brahma-Maya is the life in nature, of which,\nBrahman (neuter) is the soul. The Brahma-Maya is that blind energy\nand force, potential and powerful, and eternally fecund, which is\nincessantly producing under forms which are without cessation renewed;\nand which is adored in India to-day, as the Great Mother, the Universal\nMother, in other words all nature deified. Maya is the mother of Love\nor Desire, the first principle or affinity of all affection, creation,\nmatter. She is even matter itself, but the primitive subtile matter\nco-existing with God (Brahman, neuter) from all eternity, contained\nin It, and symbolized by the three colors, red, white, black; the\nthree qualities or powers of creation, preservation and destruction,\nconsequently the Trimurti, and also the three _gunas_ (qualities),\nTruth, Action, and Indifference, of the Bhagavadgit\u00e2.[145] It is Maya,\nwho through the attraction of her beauty, causes the Most High, from\nthe bosom of Its ineffable profoundity, forgetting Itself, to unite\nItself, in the intoxication of desire with that divine enchantress.\n\nThe mysterious veil, which she had woven with her hands, received\nentirely from both, and the thought of the Eternal Almighty became\nfecundated, and fell into Time. The innumerable forms of the creatures,\nrepresent the perfect ideals woven upon the magic tissue, the woven\nwarp and woof of all existence, with which veil Maya[146] envelops her\nspouse and causes the recurrence of the gift of life.\n ISAAC MYER.\n\n\n TEACHINGS OF THE MASTER.\n\nRECORDED BY ONE OF THE AUTHORS OF \u201cMAN: FRAGMENTS OF FORGOTTEN HISTORY.\u201d\n\n (_Copyrighted._)\n\n THE JOURNEY.\n\nThe Master stood on a great ledge of rock extending far out over a\nprecipice that seemed miles below. With his face lighted by the first\nrays of the coming day that shot across the peaks above him and with\nhis hands clasped behind him he waited in silence for the coming of\nthe pupil to whom he had signalled. A Brother lying on the grass not\nfar removed from the natural platform upon which he stood, questioned\nkindly the possibility of so long a journey by so feeble a student\u2014but\nthe Master waited looking piercingly across the distance. His eyes\ngazed intently before him turning neither to the right nor to the left,\nand when in the far azure of the clouds he saw approaching the soul\nthat had projected itself at his bidding, he impelled his thought to\nhis Brother who instantly recognized the approaching visitant. The Soul\ngaining in velocity every moment was in the presence of the Master\nbefore the twinkling of an eye could be noted\u2014and prostrate before him\ncould only articulate: \u201cMaster! Master!\u201d\n\nA touch of the purified hand pacified the terrible emotions of the new\ncomer, who in suppliant attitude awaited the command of the Beloved\nGuru. \u201cRise my child,\u201d came from the lips of the Teacher; who, when he\nwas obeyed continued:\n\n\u201cYour progress is clogged by your indifference to duty. There can\nbe no relations between us unless you disembody your desires and\nspiritualize every thought. Imprison the latter when they wander, and\nlive to teach the lessons so often inculcated in your higher mind. Help\nyour fellow-beings to better comprehend the capabilities of the inner,\nliving Self.\n\n\u201cBy the known laws of attraction and repulsion illustrate to them\nthe impossibility of a higher life on earth for any but clean souls.\nThere can be no mutuality of thought between clean and unclean\nnatures\u2014and the only hope of advancement is by casting off the latter\nand enveloping the real self in the shelter of noble thoughts. Teach\nthat it is matter that is illusionary\u2014life that is a transitory\nvision\u2014earthly vanities that blind the eyes of the world.\n\n\u201cTry to speak of these secret things to the lowly and the burdened\nwho are often endowed with a wisdom not to be found among the other\nand opposite classes. Tell them that the Spirit does have a real\nexistence here in matter\u2014does exercise absolute philanthropy, divine\ngoodness\u2014supreme self sacrifice; does know the power it possesses.\nReturn to your duty refreshed. Let the sunlight now breaking over the\nhills and the mountains of Himavat radiate through your transparent\nspirit. Drink of the dew of the morning and feed upon the honey\nof wisdom that flows in upon your hungry Soul. Thus will you be\nstrengthened to meet the conflict in the plain of action wherein you\nare constrained by your weakness to work. Thus will you escape from it\nand find in the mountain the repose and intuition for which you are\nyearning.\u201d\n\nThe Brother whose form had lain in repose on the grass now approached\nand looking intently at the disciple entranced with delight and\ngratitude\u2014said in stronger tones than the Beloved Master:\n\n\u201cIn the land where your body lies secure from an intrusion that would\nresult in your absolute separation from it\u2014the great conflict is about\nto be fought. All the preliminary preparations have been made. A people\nfreed from many chains\u2014fast sinking into a materialism only recognized\nabsolutely when some momentary impulse to generosity moves them\u2014is to\nrise or fall with this closing cycle. To such a Babe as you is revealed\na fact not perceived by the best minds among them. Go back there to\nwork! Obey the impulse to throw aside every barrier\u2014to do away with\nsubterfuges deemed best for the personality, and go the rugged way\nlone and alone. In the time of greatest need we will comfort you and\nsend the comforter to those whose Karma leads them to do battle in\nthe same field. To you the sustaining force of our Fraternity will be\ncontributed so long as the battle is waged for the race: the conquered\nrescued from their low estate and the Light of the Logos offered to\nevery one who walks in the night of earth-life without guide and\ncompass.\u201d\u2014Then there was silence.\n\nThe Beloved Master touching the speaker\u2019s uplifted head said in softest\naccents: \u201cGo now. If ye love me keep these commands.\u201d\n\n THE LESSONS.\n\nThe path of Wisdom is the path of duty. They are not separate roads as\nmany erroneously conclude. Men fail to associate wisdom with duty\u2014they\nconsider them as apart. The disciple performs the action (duty), and in\nso doing finds wisdom.\n\nThere is, in each incarnation, but one birth, one life, one death.\nIt is folly to duplicate these by persistent regrets for the past\u2014by\npresent cowardice or fear of the future. There is no time\u2014it is\neternity\u2019s Now that man mistakes for past, present and future.\n\nThe forging of earthly chains is the occupation of the indifferent, the\nawful duty of unloosing them through the sorrows of the heart is also\ntheir occupation. Both are foolish sacrifices.\n\nAs mortal conscience is within, so also is the evidence of the spirit\u2019s\nomnipotence. The soul of man is a tangible proof to his _bodily_ senses\nthat he is immortal. The existence of soul is not susceptible of proof\non any but its own plane.\n\nCompromise in the service of the weak. The starving must have food\nsuited to the limitations of the irritated system\u2014but be thou firm in\nthine own place of duty.\n\nLiberate thyself from evil actions by good actions. The man accustomed\nto actions cannot at once become a Muni; he must work out his\naction-impelling qualities, and thus he transforms them into higher\nenergies.\n\nMeditation is but a name to the bewildered; the word is not understood\nuntil it is translated by the hungry spirit.\n\nFight the unknown force within you\u2014it is evil. The good that is in you\nis written without, and is apparent.\n\nInquire of the stranger the earthly road you seek, but ask your higher\nself for the torch that will light you on your way. In the silence\nof one\u2019s own being, is lighted the candle of will and aspiration. No\nwind can put it out, no heat can melt it. The flame is of the spirit\u2019s\nquality\u2014pure and of even temperature.\n\nThere is no vacillation in the mind of the initiated. Half-knowledge is\nthe pitfall of the student.\n\nDo not run aimlessly about saying lo, here is the light\u2014lo, there\nis the truth. The light that illuminates the Atma is kindled in the\nmountain heights. It is the symbol of divine truth.\n\nWait in the morning for inspiration, at noon for guidance, and in the\nevening for a full understanding of the road thou hast travelled.\n\nMan\u2019s higher nature is invisible or rather the Divine Principle is.\nThe individual human soul is universal: a right comprehension of\nwhere there is difference and where identity between the _6th and\n7th_ Principles in man will free the subject of much confusion and\nmisapprehension.\n\nThere is real affiliation as well as an occult connection existing\nbetween the seven principles in man and the seven classes of minerals\nunder the earth. There are truths connected with the properties of the\nlatter which man may find out by learning the constitution of his own\nsevenfold nature.\n\nThe law of embodied principles is to follow magnets. Is this not also\ntrue of the higher nature? We draw to us the attention of the Mahatma\nby a purified heart and a right development of will. From his heights\nhe sees the valleys below and reaches out to give to him who is\nstraining every faculty to receive.\n\nAgitation that comes from mortal qualities affects the physical body\nalone: this deep unrest is not felt by the Atma, for the Atma is Spirit\nor pure bliss. But the ocean of matter, which includes the Soul, feels\nthese waves of trouble and thus is the soul bewildered, ignorantly\nimagining that the spirit is affected. Learn to know the distinction\nand to realize that the spirit is eternally unaffected.\n\nLife is a compromise\u2014hasten to acquit yourself of the debt contracted\nin a former life, and remove its oppressing influence in this sphere.\n\nWhen you re-enter the world of mortals again, let it be without\nthe three disqualifications for enlightenment, fear, passion and\nselfishness: the sea of rebirths is half crossed already by the man who\nhas overcome these three drawbacks.\n\nMeat for the thoughtless, wine for the weak, but devotion for him who\nhas overcome the appetites.\n\nTo be lord of self is to be selfless, a condition of perfect\ntranquility.\n\nForget not this lesson\u2014that every one is so placed in this world as to\nexhibit his worst qualities. The purpose of this life is to strengthen\nthe weak places of the spiritual man. His external life is for this\nonly, therefore, all are seen at a disadvantage.\n\nA lesson in meekness may be learned of the little child. It has come so\nrecently from its previous field of life that it walks with the air of\na stranger in a strange country and as one who must be led.\n\nThe divine quality is charity. Whenever it has been attained, the\nremainder of the spirit\u2019s work with the lower nature, is to acquire a\ncontrite heart.\n\n (_To be continued._)\n\n * * * * *\n\n \u201cAlas we reap what seed we sow; the hands that smite us are our own.\u201d\n\n OM.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[130] _I. e._, the present age of spiritual blindness.\n\n[131] See \u201cTransactions of the London Lodge of the Theosophical\nSociety,\u201d No. 5.\n\n[132] See charge and answer, in _Theosophist_, August, 1882.\n\n[133] The cycle of existence during the manvantara\u2014period before and\nafter the beginning and completion of which every such \u201cmonad\u201d is\nabsorbed and reabsorbed in the ONE soul, _anima mundi_.\n\n[134] Hades has surely never been meant for _Hell_. It was always\nthe abode of the sorrowing _shadows_ of astral bodies of the dead\npersonalities. Western readers should remember Kama-loka is not\n_Karma_-loka, for Kama means _desire_, and Karma does not.\n\n[135] Had this word \u201cimmediate\u201d been put at the time of publishing\n_Isis_ between the two words \u201cno\u201d and \u201creincarnation\u201d there would have\nbeen less room for dispute and controversy.\n\n[136] By \u201csphere above,\u201d of course \u201cDevachan\u201d was meant.\n\n[137] The reader must bear in mind that the esoteric teaching maintains\nthat save in cases of wickedness when man\u2019s nature attains the acme\nof Evil, and human terrestrial sin reaches _Satanic_ universal\ncharacter, so to say _as some Sorcerers_ do\u2014there is no punishment\nfor the majority of mankind after death. The law of retribution as\n_Karma_, waits man at the threshold of his new incarnation. Man is\nat best a wretched tool of evil, unceasingly forming new causes and\ncircumstances. He is not always (if ever) responsible. Hence a period\nof rest and bliss in Devachan, with an utter temporary oblivion of all\nthe miseries and sorrows of life. _Avitchi_ is a _spiritual_ state of\nthe greatest misery and is only in store for those who have devoted\n_consciously_ their lives to doing injury to others and have thus\nreached its highest spirituality of EVIL.\n\n[138] Says Apuleius: \u201cThe soul is born in this world upon leaving the\nsoul of the world (_anima mundi_) in which her existence precedes the\none we all know (on earth). Thus, the Gods who consider her proceedings\nin all the phases of various existences and as a whole, punish her\nsometimes for sins committed during an _anterior_ life. _She dies_ when\nshe separates herself from a body in which she crossed this life as in\na frail bark. And this is, if I mistake not, the secret meaning of the\ntumulary inscription, so simple for the initiate: \u201d_To the Gods manes\nwho lived._\u201c But this kind of death does not annihilate the soul, it\nonly transforms (one portion of it) it into a _lemure_. \u201d_Lemures_\u201c\nare the _manes_, or ghosts, which we know under the name _tares_. When\nthey keep away and _show us a beneficent protection_, we honour in them\nthe protecting divinities of the family hearth; but if their crimes\nsentence them to err, we call them _larv\u00e6_. They become a plague for\nthe wicked, and the vain terror of the good.\u201d (\u201cDu Dieu de Socrate\u201d\nApul. class, pp., 143-145.)\n\n[139] \u201cThe cause of reincarnation is ignorance\u201d\u2014therefore there is\n\u201creincarnation\u201d once the writer explained the causes of it.\n\n[140] A proof how our theosophical teachings have taken root in\nevery class of Society and even in English literature may be seen by\nreading Mr. Norman Pearson\u2019s article \u201cBefore Birth\u201d in the \u201cNineteenth\nCentury\u201d for August, 1886. Therein, theosophical ideas and teachings\nare speculated upon without acknowledgment or the smallest reference\nto theosophy, and among others, we see with regard to the author\u2019s\ntheories on the _Ego_, the following: \u201cHow much of the _individual\npersonality_ is supposed to go to heaven or hell? Does the whole of the\nmental equipment, good and bad, noble qualities and unholy passions,\nfollow the soul to its hereafter? Surely not. But if not, and something\nhas to be stripped off, how and when are we to draw the line? If, on\nthe other hand, the Soul is something distinct from all our mental\nequipment, except the sense of self, are we not confronted by the\nincomprehensible notion of a personality without any attributes.\u201d\n\nTo this query the author answers as any true theosophist would: \u201cThe\ndifficulties of the question really spring from a misconception of\nthe true nature of these attributes. The components of our mental\nequipment\u2014appetites, aversions, feelings, tastes and qualities\ngenerally\u2014are not absolute but relative existences. Hunger and thirst\nfor instance are states of consciousness which arise in response to\nthe stimuli of physical necessities. They are not inherent elements of\nthe soul and _will disappear_ or become modified, etc.,\u201d (pp. 356 and\n357). In other words the theosophical doctrine is adopted, Atma and\nBuddhi having culled off the _Manas_ the aroma of the personality or\n_human soul_\u2014go into Devachan: while the lower principles the astral\n_simulacrum_ or false personality void of its Divine monad or spirit\nwill remain in the _Kama-loka_\u2014the \u201cSummerland.\u201d\n\n[141] _Nirmanakaya_ is the name given to the astral forms (_in their\ncompleteness_) of adepts, who have progressed too high on the path of\n_knowledge_ and absolute truth, to go into the state of Devachan; and\nhave on the other hand, deliberately refused the bliss of nirvana,\nin order to help Humanity by invisibly guiding and helping on the\nsame path of progress elect men. But these _astrals_ are not empty\nshells, but complete monads made up of the 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th\nprinciples. There is another order of _nirmanakaya_, however, of which\nmuch will be said in the _Secret Doctrine_.\u2014H. P.\u202fB.\n\nPlacing these parallel with the division in esoteric teaching we see\nthat (1) _Osiris_ is Atma; (2) _Sa_ is Buddhi; (3) _Akh_ is Manas; (4)\n_Khou_ is Kama-rupa, the seat of terrestrial desires. (5) _Khaba_ is\nLingha Sarira; (6) _Kha_ is Pranatma (vital principle) (7) _Sah_, is\nmummy or body.\n\n[142] Because they drove the enemies away.\n\n[143] From _manus_\u2014\u201cgood,\u201d an _antiphraris_, as Festus explains.\n\n[144] Page 12. Vol I. of \u201c_Isis Unveiled_\u201d belief in reincarnation\nis asserted from the very beginning, as forming part and parcel of\nuniversal beliefs. \u201cMetempsychosis\u201d (or transmigration of souls) and\nreincarnation being after all the same thing.\n\n[145] These three qualities are explained by Krishna in the\n_Bhagavadgit\u00e2_, as _Satwa_ good or inactive being purely spiritual;\n_Rajas_ bad and active; and _Tamas_ inactive or indifferent and\nbad. They exist in every human mind and are mingled in greater or\nless proportions at all times, according to the individual and also\naccording to his varying circumstances. His teaching in regard to the\n_Tamo guna_ is the same as that taught in the Christian Bible, for\nhe says that for the indifferent man there is no salvation\u2014he is as\nit were \u201cejected like a broken cloud;\u201d and in I James v, 6, 7, the\ndoubting man is declared incapable of obtaining anything, while in Rev.\niii, 16, the Laodiceans are accused of being neither cold nor hot, that\nis of being indifferent, and they are condemned to be \u201cspewed out of\nthe mouth,\u201d which is the same as the fate described as awaiting those\nin whom indifference predominates, Krishna declaring that they become\nmore and more deluded at each succeeding generation until at last they\nreach the lowest round of the ladder in the shape of primordial matter.\nThe difference between the two schools is, that Krishna\u2019s allows the\ndoctrines of Reincarnation and Karma, while the modern Christians,\nblind to their own Bible, reject these supremely important laws, or\nrather ignore them as yet. [ED.]\n\n[146] _Maya_ is the sanscrit for _illusion_. [ED.]\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n When there was neither day nor night, neither earth or sky, neither\n light nor darkness: when there was nothing that could be seen or felt\n by the physical senses or the faculties of the mind, there existed the\n One Great Being\u2014God.\u2014_Vishnu Purana._\n\n Resignation: the action of rendering good for evil; temperance;\n probity; purity; repression of the senses; knowledge of holy books,\n and of the Supreme Soul; truthfulness, and abstaining from anger: such\n are the ten virtues in which consists duty. * * Those who study these\n ten precepts of duty, and after having studied them conform their\n lives thereto, will reach to the Supreme Condition.\u2014_Manu, Book_ vi,\n _sloka_ 92.\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. DECEMBER, 1886. NO. 9.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n \u201cTHE THEOSOPHICAL MAHATMAS.\u201d\n\nIt is with sincere and profound regret\u2014though with no surprise,\nprepared as I am for years for such declarations\u2014that I have read in\nthe Rochester _Occult Word_, edited by Mrs. J. Cables, the devoted\npresident of the T.\u202fS. of that place, her joint editorial with Mr.\nW.\u202fT. Brown. This sudden revulsion of feeling is perhaps quite natural\nin the lady, for she has never had the opportunities given her as Mr.\nBrown has; and her feeling when she writes that after \u201ca great desire\n* * to be put into communication with the Theosophical Mahatmas we\n(they) have come to the conclusion that it is useless to strain the\npsychical eyes toward the Himalayas * *\u201d is undeniably shared by many\ntheosophists. Whether the complaints are justified, and also whether it\nis the \u201cMahatmas\u201d or theosophists themselves who are to blame for it is\na question that remains to be settled. It has been a pending case for\nseveral years and will have to be now decided, as the two complainants\ndeclare over their signatures that \u201cwe (they) need not run after\nOriental Mystics, _who deny their ability to help us_.\u201d The last\nsentence, in italics, has to be seriously examined. I ask the privilege\nto make a few remarks thereon.\n\nTo begin with, the tone of the whole article is that of a true\n_manifesto_. Condensed and weeded of its exuberance of Biblical\nexpressions it comes to this paraphrastical declaration: \u201cWe have\nknocked at their door, and they have not answered us; we have prayed\nfor bread, they have denied us even a stone.\u201d The charge is quite\nserious; nevertheless, that it is neither just nor fair\u2014is what I\npropose to show.\n\nAs I was the first in the United States to bring the existence of our\nMasters into publicity; and, having exposed the holy names of two\nmembers of a Brotherhood hitherto unknown to Europe and America, (save\nto a few mystics and Initiates of every age) yet sacred and revered\nthroughout the East, and especially India, causing vulgar speculation\nand curiosity to grow around those blessed names, and finally leading\nto a public rebuke, I believe it my duty to contradict the fitness of\nthe latter by explaining the whole situation, as I feel myself the\nchief culprit. It may do good to some, perchance, and will interest\nsome others.\n\nLet no one think withal, that I come out as a champion or a defender\nof those who most assuredly need no defense. What I intend, is to\npresent simple _facts_, and let after this the situation be judged on\nits own merits. To the plain statement of our brothers and sisters\nthat they have been \u201cliving on husks,\u201d \u201chunting after strange gods\u201d\nwithout receiving admittance, I would ask in my turn, as plainly: \u201cAre\nyou sure of having knocked at the right door? Do you feel certain that\nyou have not lost your way by _stopping so often on your journey at\nstrange doors, behind which lie in wait the fiercest enemies of those\nyou were searching for_?\u201d Our MASTERS are not \u201ca jealous god;\u201d they\nare simply holy mortals, nevertheless, however, higher than any in\nthis world, morally, intellectually and spiritually. However holy and\nadvanced in the science of the Mysteries\u2014they are still men, members of\na Brotherhood, who are the first in it to show themselves subservient\nto its time-honored laws and rules. And one of the first rules in it\ndemands that those who start on their journey _Eastward_, as candidates\nto the notice and favors of those who are the custodians of those\nMysteries, should proceed by the straight road, without stopping on\nevery sideway and path, seeking to join other \u201cMasters\u201d and professors\noften of the Left-Hand Science, that they should have confidence and\nshow trust and patience, besides several other conditions to fulfill.\nFailing in all of this from first to last, what right has any man or\nwoman to complain of the liability of the Masters to help them?\n\nTruly \u201c\u2018The Dwellers of the threshold\u2019 are within!\u201d\n\nOnce that a theosophist would become a candidate for either\n_chelaship_ or favours, he must be aware of the mutual pledge,\ntacitly, if not formally offered and accepted between the two parties,\nand, _that such a pledge is sacred_. It is a bond of _seven_ years\nof probation. If during that time, notwithstanding the many human\nshortcomings and mistakes of the candidate (save two which it is\nneedless to specify in print) he remains throughout every temptation\n_true to the chosen Master_, or Masters, (in the case of _lay_\ncandidates), and as faithful to the Society founded at their wish and\nunder their orders, then the theosophist will be initiated into\u2014\u2014\nthenceforward allowed to communicate with his _guru_ unreservedly,\nall his failings, save this one, as specified, may be overlooked:\nthey belong to his future _Karma_, but are left for the present, to\nthe discretion and judgment of the Master. He alone has the power of\njudging whether even during those long seven years the _chela_ will\nbe favoured regardless of his mistakes and sins, with occasional\ncommunications with, and from the guru. The latter thoroughly posted\nas to the causes and motives that led the candidate into sins of\nomission and commission is the only one to judge of the advisability or\ninadvisability of bestowing encouragement; as he alone is entitled to\nit, seeing that he is himself under the inexorable law of Karma, which\nno one from the Zulu savage up to the highest archangel can avoid\u2014and\nthat he has to assume the great responsibility of the causes created by\nhimself.\n\nThus, the chief and the only indispensable condition required in the\ncandidate or chela on probation, is simply unswerving fidelity to the\nchosen Master and his purposes. This is a condition _sine qua non_; not\nas I have said, on account of any jealous feeling, but simply because\n_the magnetic rapport between the two once broken, it becomes at each\ntime doubly difficult to re-establish it again_; and that it is neither\njust nor fair, that the Masters should strain their powers for those\nwhose future course and final desertion they very often can plainly\nforesee. Yet, how many of those, who, expecting as I would call it\n\u201cfavours by anticipation,\u201d and being disappointed, instead of humbly\nrepeating _mea culpa_, tax the Masters with selfishness and injustice.\nThey will deliberately break the thread of connection ten times in\none year, and yet expect each time to be taken back on the old lines!\nI know of one theosophist\u2014let him be nameless though it is hoped he\nwill recognize himself\u2014a quiet, intelligent young gentleman, a mystic\nby nature, who, in his ill advised enthusiasm and impatience, changed\n_Masters_ and his ideas about half a dozen times in less than three\nyears. First he offered himself, was accepted on probation and took\nthe vow of chelaship; about a year later, he suddenly got the idea of\ngetting married, though he had several proofs of the corporeal presence\nof his Master, and had several favours bestowed upon him. Projects of\nmarriage failing, he sought \u201cMasters\u201d under other climes, and became an\nenthusiastic Rosicrucian; then he returned to theosophy as a Christian\nmystic; then again sought to enliven his austerities with a wife; then\ngave up the idea and turned a spiritualist. And now having applied once\nmore \u201cto be taken back as a chela\u201d (I have his letter) and his Master\nremaining silent\u2014he renounced him altogether, to seek in the words of\nthe above manifesto\u2014his old \u201cEssenian Master and _to test the spirits_\nin his name.\u201d\n\nThe able and respected editor of the \u201cOccult Word\u201d and her Secretary\nare right, and have chosen the only true path in which with a very\nsmall dose of blind faith, they are sure to encounter no deceptions\nor disappointments. \u201cIt is pleasant for some of us,\u201d they say, \u201cto\nobey the call of the \u2018Man of Sorrows\u2019 who will not turn any away,\nbecause they are unworthy or have not scored up a certain percentage of\npersonal merit.\u201d How _do_ they know? unless they accept the cynically\nawful and pernicious dogma of the Protestant Church, that teaches the\nforgiveness of the blackest crime, provided the murderer _believes\nsincerely_ that the blood of his \u201cRedeemer\u201d has saved him at the last\nhour\u2014what is it but _blind_ unphilosophical faith? Emotionalism is\n_not_ philosophy; and Buddha devoted his long self sacrificing life to\ntear people away precisely from that _evil breeding_ superstition. Why\nspeak of Buddha then, in the same breath? The doctrine of salvation by\n_personal_ merit, and _self_ forgetfulness is the corner-stone of the\nteaching of the Lord Buddha. Both the writers may have and very likely\nthey did\u2014\u201chunt after _strange_ gods;\u201d but these _were not our_ MASTERS.\nThey have \u201cdenied Him thrice\u201d and now propose \u201cwith bleeding feet and\nprostrate spirit\u201d to \u201cpray that He (Jesus) may take us (them) once more\nunder his wing,\u201d etc. The \u201cNazarene Master\u201d is sure to oblige them so\nfar. Still they will be \u201cliving on _husks_\u201d _plus_ \u201cblind faith.\u201d But\nin this they are the best judges, and no one has a right to meddle with\ntheir private beliefs in our Society; and heaven grant that they should\nnot in their fresh disappointment turn our bitterest enemies one day.\n\nYet, to those Theosophists, who are displeased with the Society in\ngeneral, no one has ever made to you any rash promises; least of all,\nhas either the Society or its founders ever offered their \u201cMasters\u201d\nas a _chromopremium_ to the best behaved. For years every new member\nhas been told that _he was promised nothing_, but had everything to\nexpect only from his own personal merit. The theosophist is left free\nand untrammeled in his actions. Whenever displeased\u2014_alia tentanda\nvia est_\u2014no harm in trying elsewhere; unless, indeed one has offered\nhimself and is decided to win the Masters\u2019 favors. To such especially,\nI now address myself and ask: Have you fulfilled _your_ obligations\nand pledges? Have you, who would fain lay all the blame on the Society\nand the Masters\u2014the latter the embodiment of charity, tolerance,\njustice and universal love\u2014have you _led the life_ requisite, and the\nconditions required from one who becomes a candidate? Let him who feels\nin his heart and conscience that he has,\u2014that he has never once failed\nseriously, never doubted his Master\u2019s wisdom, never sought _other_\nMaster or Masters in his impatience to become an Occultist with powers;\nand that he has never betrayed his theosophical duty in thought or\ndeed,\u2014let him, I say, rise and _protest_. He can do so fearlessly;\nthere is no penalty attached to it, and he will not even receive a\nreproach, let alone be excluded from the Society\u2014the broadest and most\nliberal in its views, the most Catholic of all the Societies known\nor unknown. I am afraid my invitation will remain unanswered. During\nthe eleven years of the existence of the Theosiphical Society I have\nknown, out of the seventy-two regularly accepted chelas on probation\nand the hundreds of _lay_ candidates\u2014only _three_ who have not hitherto\nfailed, and _one only_ who had a full success. No one forces anyone\ninto chelaship; no promises are uttered, none except the mutual pledge\nbetween Master and the would-be-chela. Verily, Verily, many are the\ncalled but few are chosen\u2014or rather few who have the patience of going\nto the bitter end, if bitter we can call simple perseverance and\nsingleness of purpose. And what about the Society, in general, outside\nof India. Who among the many thousands of members does _lead the life_?\nshall any one say because he is a strict vegetarian\u2014_elephants and cows\nare that_\u2014or happens to lead a celibate life, after a stormy youth\nin the opposite direction; or because he studies the _Bhagavat-Gita_\nor the \u201cYoga philosophy\u201d _upside down_, that he is a theosophist\n_according to the Master\u2019s hearts_? As it is not the cowl that makes\nthe monk, so, no long hair with a poetical vacancy on the brow are\nsufficient to make of one a faithful follower of _divine_ Wisdom.\nLook around you, and behold our UNIVERSAL Brotherhood so called! The\nSociety founded to remedy the glaring evils of christianity, to shun\nbigotry and intolerance, cant and superstition and to cultivate real\nuniversal love extending even to the dumb brute, what has it become in\nEurope and America in these eleven years of trial? In one thing only\nwe have succeeded to be considered higher than our Christian Brothers,\nwho, according to Lawrence Oliphant\u2019s graphic expression \u201cKill one\nanother for Brotherhood\u2019s sake and fight as devils for the love of\nGod\u201d\u2014and this is that we have made away _with every dogma_ and are\nnow justly and wisely trying to make away with the last vestige of\neven nominal authority. But in every other respect we are as bad as\nthey are: backbiting, slander, uncharitableness, criticism, incessant\nwar-cry and ding of mutual rebukes that Christian Hell itself might be\nproud of! And all this, I suppose is the Masters\u2019 fault: THEY will not\nhelp those who help others on the way of salvation and liberation from\nselfishness\u2014with kicks and scandals? Truly _we are_ an example to the\nworld, and fit companions for the holy ascetics of the snowy Range!\n\nAnd now a few words more before I close. I will be asked: \u201cAnd who are\nyou to find fault with us? Are you, who claim nevertheless, communion\nwith the Masters and receive daily favors from Them; Are you so holy,\nfaultless, and so worthy?\u201d To this I answer: I AM NOT. Imperfect\nand faulty is my nature; many and glaring are my shortcomings\u2014and\nfor this my Karma is heavier than that of any other Theosophist.\n_It is_\u2014and must be so\u2014since for so many years I stand set in the\npillory, a target for my enemies and some friends also. Yet I accept\nthe _trial_ cheerfully. Why? Because I know that I have, all my faults\nnothwithstanding, Master\u2019s protection extended over me. And if I have\nit, the reason for it is simply this: for thirty-five years and more,\never since 1851 that I saw any Master _bodily_ and personally for the\nfirst time, _I have never once denied or even doubted Him_, not even in\nthought. Never a reproach or a murmur against Him has escaped my lips,\nor entered even my brain for one instant under the heaviest trials.\nFrom the first I knew what I had to expect, for I was told that,\nwhich I have never ceased repeating to others: as soon as one steps\non the Path leading to the _Ashrum_ of the blessed Masters\u2014the last\nand only custodians of primitive Wisdom and Truth\u2014his Karma, instead\nof having to be distributed throughout his long life, falls upon him\nin a block and crushes him with its whole weight. He who believes in\nwhat he professes and in his Master, will stand it and come out of the\ntrial victorious; he _who doubts_, the coward who fears to receive his\njust dues and tries to avoid justice being done\u2014FAILS. He will not\nescape Karma just the same, but he will only lose that for which he\nhas risked its untimely visits. This is why having been so constantly,\nso mercilessly slashed by my Karma using my enemies as unconscious\nweapons, that I have stood it all. I felt sure that Master would\nnot permit that I should perish; that he would always appear at the\n_eleventh_ hour\u2014_and so he did_. Three times I was saved from death by\nHim, the last time almost against my will; when I went again into the\ncold, wicked world out of love for Him, who has taught me what I know\nand made me what I am. Therefore, I do His work and bidding, and this\nis what has given me the lion\u2019s strength to support shocks\u2014physical and\nmental, one of which would have killed any theosophist who would go\non doubting of the mighty protection. Unswerving devotion to Him who\nembodies the duty traced for me, and belief in the Wisdom\u2014collectively,\nof that grand, mysterious, yet actual Brotherhood of holy men\u2014is my\nonly merit, and the cause of my success in Occult philosophy. And\nnow repeating after the _Paraguru_\u2014my Master\u2019s MASTER\u2014the words He\nhad sent as a message to those who wanted to make of the Society a\n\u201cmiracle club\u201d instead of a Brotherhood of Peace, Love and mutual\nassistance\u2014\u201cPerish rather, the Theosophical Society and its hapless\nFounders,\u201d I say perish their twelve years\u2019 labour and their very\nlives rather than that I should see what I do to-day: theosophists,\noutvying political \u201crings\u201d in their search for personal power and\nauthority; theosophists slandering and criticizing each other as two\nrival Christian sects might do; finally theosophists refusing to _lead\nthe life_ and then criticizing and throwing slurs on the grandest and\nnoblest of men, because tied by their wise laws\u2014hoary with age and\nbased on an experience of human nature milleniums old\u2014those Masters\nrefuse to interfere with Karma and to play second fiddle to every\ntheosophist who calls upon Them and whether he deserves it or not.\n\nUnless radical reforms in our American and European Societies are\nspeedily resorted to\u2014I fear that before long there will remain but\none centre of Theosophical Societies and Theosophy in the whole\nworld\u2014namely, in India; on that country I call all the blessings of my\nheart. All my love and aspirations belong to my beloved brothers, the\nSons of old Aryavarta\u2014the Motherland of my MASTER.\n H.\u202fP. BLAVATSKY.\n\n\n LINES FROM LOWER LEVELS.\n\nMany will turn from this heading. Whether they really live upon the\nupper levels or only imagine such to be their dwellings, these words\nare probably mute to them. A laggard in the great race, one who has\nonly just rounded the starting buoy in stress of weather, here signals\nto his unseen companions amid heavy seas. If a score of blind men,\nturned loose to beat the city\u2019s by-ways, should meet and compare\nmischances, some light would presently dawn among them. We are not\nisolated in spiritual experience. Though Falsehood wears myriad masks,\nwhen Truth looks in, she turns the same face on all.\n\nIt is of the beginning of the Way that I speak. Confusions and\nperplexities beset us. Most of these are of our own conjuring. The\ninsidious canker of Doubt is first, is worst of all. Better stop right\nwhere you are for a lifetime than advance with this moral leprosy\nunexterminated. It will spread through future existences until it has\neaten the heart to the core. Now it is in our power. Wrestle boldly\nwith every doubt until you have converted it to a certainty; thus you\nforce it to bless you in departing, as Jacob did the Angel. Why should\nwe doubt? The day on which I first heard of the Wisdom-Religion is\nfor me set apart like a potent jewel in the crest of Time. My thought\nsalutes its messengers with the grand old words,\u2014\u201cHow beautiful upon\nthe mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that\npublisheth Peace.\u201d The Peace of this religion is the proof absolute of\nits Wisdom. Our vitality is exhausted with the life struggle; it seems\na dead pull against the current. Reason tells us we ought to be able\nto move with the stream. Man has a false idea of his own requirements;\nthis is why possession satiates all. We are ignorant that the desire\nfor Unity lies hidden in the deeps of every human heart. This is the\nTruth at the bottom of the well; it is the basic need of all mankind.\nRecognise it, and you may sweep unwearied along the resistless current\nof evolutionary progress. We begin to realize the inability of existing\ncreeds to sound and explain our Being. Every one of us craves a belief\nwhich shall not be a formula, but Life itself, which shall develop and\ncomplete the constituency of lives.\n\nOur religions violate the golden rule of Architecture,\u2014\u201cOrnament\nconstruction; do not construct ornamentation.\u201d Their slight framework\nis florid with theological detail, garlanded with the varying ideals\nof centuries. Not so does the Master Builder plan. Yet the keystone of\neach arch is the Truth manifest in the Past, that Truth which still\nbears witness to Divinity to the new Age.\n\nWhen men meet their belief in every department of life, when it assists\nthem on every plane, so that they eat better, sleep better, love\nbetter, create better and die better by it, then will it be a vital law\nto them, not a garment to be laid aside on work days. Theosophy does\nall this. It informs every deed, makes of each fact a new revelation,\nand testifies to more religion in one chapter of Natural Philosophy,\nthan in all the sermons of next Sunday. Study these grand similitudes\nand we find how single is Truth, so that the three great laws of Motion\nare also those of Emotion, and Newton spoke for my heart, as well as\nfor the universe. All life is thus related; if you doubt the validity\nof theory or action, test them by this law of correspondence.\n\nDo I revolt from the rule of gentle procedure in the teeth of wrath or\nabuse. I recall the axiom of mechanics,\u2014\u201cMotion seeks the line of least\nresistance,\u201d\u2014and my moral force proves itself perpetual motion by its\navoidances of friction. _Truth is the same in every part._ You shall\npass every beam of thought through this prism; if it is a pure ray each\ncomponent will have its distinct value on its own plane, and all will\nblend again to Light.\n\nSometimes we are chilled as by a sense of isolation from the main body\nof our kind. This is imaginary; you shall not think we are few, or\nstand alone. Even now the thoughtful listener hears the soughing of\nthe rising flood of Public Opinion. This was the mainstay of Science\nin her late tilt with the Church. The People, weary of barren Theology\ndemanded in facts, in laws, the manifestation of the Divine. Now it\nbegins to call Science to account for her limitations. Do we doubt the\nbubbling interest in Psychology? We should scan our newspapers, novels,\nmagazines, boudoir gossip even, to feel the pulse of the general tide.\nScience yields so far to the pressure as to explain why she cannot or\ndoes not make thorough and sustained psychical investigations, and with\na blunt,\u2014 \u201cso much the worse for you,\u201d the public turns expectantly to\nthe broader or younger men who better gauge the tendency of our time.\n\nThis tendency is to co\u00f6peration, to unification. Science and Religion\nare one, are Truth, and blindness is the portion of those who dismember\nher kingdom. A pertinent case is that of a physician well known to\nNew York clinics who used his mesmeric power in putting patients to\nsleep in the presence of his students and maintaining their complete\nunconsciousness during painful operations, thus carried to successful\nconclusions without the dangerous drawback of anesthetics. Less gifted\nconfreres frowned down the \u201cirregularity.\u201d This is a thinking Age, and\nmen are losing confidence in the judgment of scientists whose biased\nattitude would bar them from jury service in the pettiest court of the\nland.\n\nAgain there are those who are tried by the mistakes, the treachery,\nor the public misunderstanding of other adherents of Theosophy. What\ndoes it matter? The world swung on while Galileo recanted, and though\na disciple betrayed his Master, the Christian world still kneels.\nOur noblest opponents are often unconscious Theosophists, judging\nthem by their fervid search for Truth. When _their hour_ strikes,\nthey will find her; meanwhile Wisdom needs no converts. Man passes;\n_Truth is_, and needs no concern of ours. Do nut think either that the\nWisdom-Religion is only for the strong or the intellectual; it is for\nall. Food is meant to sustain life, and Love to develop it, but excess\nin either may kill. So those whose nature is morbid, exaggerate the\naspect of Truth and go mad of their own phantasms. Every Science, every\nArt, every Religion has its list of these moral suicides and those who\nconfront you with it are like the old nurses who scare children from\nthe jam closet with \u201cbogies.\u201d\n\nI said that we breed our own perplexities. Take the first day of the\nnew life, when with fledgling resolves aflutter we come glowing and\nresolute down the stairs. We had ordered a spartan meal which Love has\nspared us. Frowning, we order the dainties away and sit reflecting on\nthe encumbrances of earthly affection; wounded, it leaves our side.\nOur plain food comes; it is ill cooked and the retarded servant has a\nscowl which we resent: the household jangles and jars. The meal has\nnot refreshed us, and the lack of the soothing but condemned cigar\nbrings our irritability to a head. We hasten to lock ourselves into the\nstudy for meditation; but a bird sings in at the window, and Love\u2019s\nvoice pleads at the door. We shut out the song and chide the syren.\nWhy is our heart so heavy now when bent on eternal things? Knocking!\nWe open with a martyr face. A friend is there, a dogged churchman;\nhis salvation is in our hands! He chats of the weather, our club,\nstate politics. We broach a higher theme, we denounce, cut and thrust,\nargue. Surprised he listens in courteous silence, and as he leaves us\nwe remember too late that he too cherishes his religion, we curse\nthe follies of the wretched day and call Theosophy for the nonce\n\u201cimpracticable.\u201d Brothers! the man of creeds who can hear our dogmatism\nwith self control is perhaps nearer the Essential than we are. He who\nplunges into restraints which unhinge and irritate him is no better\nthan the man who loses his reason through drink. Both lack moderation,\nthe result is the same, and we have only to do with results. Devote\nyour thoughts to ascetic meals, and no Lucullus of the town is more\nprostrate before his viands than yourself. Moderation declares the\nsage. Accept all that comes with equal content, the thought held high\nabove all. When the daily functions are fulfilled I have done nothing;\nthe soul is no participant in these. Advance towards the Eternal and\nthe Transient will imperceptibly drop away from you. No shirking of\nthe duties of our position avails. _Comrades! The battle field is\nthere where the long roll finds you standing._ Your past acts enlisted\nyou under just that flag; fight it out there! The universal charge is\ncarried through the vigor of individuals, each acting from his own\nheadcentre and not from that of another. \u201cThe duties of a man\u2019s own\nparticular calling, although not free from faults, is far preferable\nto the duty of another, let it be ever so well pursued.\u201d[147] On this\nplane we are a body militant; on the next plane we shall transform this\nactivity, but as long as individuality exists, it would seem that each\nmust move in an orbit of his own. There is as much egotism in snatching\nat the burden not meant for us, as in refusing that which is. Do all\nnecessary acts promptly and with your best ability, abandoning at once\nall care for the result. Do you say this is not Theosophy? You mistake.\nTrue Theosophy is everything that elevates or aids mankind, were it but\nthe singing of a ballad to lighten another\u2019s toil. \u201cIt is not that you\nmust rush madly or boldly out _to do, to do_. Do what you find to do.\nDesire ardently to do it, and even when you shall not have succeeded\nin carrying out anything but some small duties, some words of warning,\nyour strong desire will strike like Vulcan upon other hearts in the\nworld, and suddenly you will find that done which you had longed to be\nthe doer of. Then rejoice, that another had been so fortunate as to\nmake such a meritorious Karma. Thus like the rivers running into the\nunswelling passive ocean, will your desires enter into your heart.\u201d\nDrop this concern for ephemera and forms; heed essentials only. Get to\nthe centre of every vital fact and live there as at the heart of an\nopal, darting forth prismatic rays of Love and Faith upon all created\nthings.\n\nIf we set out upon a journey to lands unknown, we should observe the\ninhabitants, gathering the spirit of their laws from their manners,\nourselves courteous yet cautious with all. So in this passage to the\nunseen, that which is essential is the spirit of things. What affair\nis it of mine if this man glows with gratified desire, or that woman\nshines in undue laces and coquetries? Do I know the principles of\ntheir constitution? Can I vouch that these errors are not the mere husk\nof habit, which dropping off may reveal a larger kernel of Virtue than\nI possess? Nor will I hastily become the spiritual bondsman of him\nwho stands above me. He has not exhausted the sum of Truth; to-morrow\nI shall find a fraction of my own. All these finical distinctions\nare not of the Eternal. The substratum of all things is Wisdom. The\ntwist of Failure has its strands of silver. The pratings of the fool\ndissuade men from folly. I have never done anything of myself: a\nclarion impulse commands my best deeds; high thoughts radiate to me\nfrom I know not what sphere. Ask yourself before friend or foe,\u2014\u201cHow\ndoes the spirit manifest in him?\u201d For above and below it manifests\nequally. The undeviating brute, true to its every principle, has a\nvolume of teaching for us. We cannot read until we know the alphabet\nand Nature holds our primer daily before us. Do not hawk Truth about to\nthe careless crowd. Not because you belittle it, (that is impossible,)\nnor yet yourself, (that is immaterial,) but because you must hold fast\nin silence to all that you possess to support you in the tests of the\nfuture. Nor is Truth a nostrum to be forced down the unready throat.\nThereby you disgust a man with Truth; who covets that responsibility?\nAh, gentle hearts and virile minds! Are you wounded by the wantonness\nof those you long to save? These errors are perhaps their appointed\nteachers in your stead. Error is not exempt from the law! Can Love\ncheck a cyclone in mid career, or does Reason outrun the whirlwind?\nDesire has a lustier voice than yours. Let these errant ones wisely\nalone. Presently when success is at an ebb, or the complacent Ego is\nstung by pride or pain, they will hear the low plaint of the soul.\nThen, their state related to yours, they will turn to you as the\nheliotrope to the sun. Trust to the law of spiritual affinity. He for\nwhom you have a thought will be attracted to you for it; he will in\nsome way ask it of you. Distrust the intellect in these replies. Only\nthe dwellers of the upper levels draw their thought crystal pure from\nthe Fountain-head of Mind. Below, sympathy is the universal solvent;\nits ardent fusion welds mankind. Speak to me in our common language; it\nis that of the heart. You cannot so much as tie up a straying rosetree\nwithout sympathy. Try it, and the tender shoots are nipped as by a\nfrost. Do you say that it is hard that you should not help others?\nPerhaps you only want to help them in your own way. The difference\nbetween loving a man for himself, and loving him for myself, is the\ndifference between \u201cheaven\u201d and \u201chell.\u201d There is no hell but that\nwhich we create in our hearts, and selfishness is its yawning portal.\nEffort for Wisdom is help for all; he who thinks wisely does a deed\nof beneficence. Beneath generous yearnings lurks sometimes the wish\nthat this \u201cI,\u201d shall become influential or admired, have clients and\nsuitors in the anteroom. Lest I deceive myself I will mutely speed my\ngood wishes to all. Only when we have learned how to preserve a wise\nsilence, will the first stammerings of speech come to us. Speak then\nfrom your own knowledge, simply, without trying to adorn Truth. Many of\nour most valued writers are at times too transcendent, too erudite for\nus of the lower level. As the great orator or actor sees one face grow\ntowards his from out the vast field of faces, and concentrating his\nburning purpose into that focus, sees streaming thence the homogeneous\nforce which electrifies the throng,\u2014so I would have each writer among\nyou address his thought to some especial comrade within his mind, that\nyou may drop this mantle of remoteness, and let us feel you tense and\nvibrant with helpfulness, pressing close to our side. The West needs a\nmore ringing note than the mystic Orient mind. Let the spirit of your\nnation speak through your work and to your fellows every word will be\nan occult charm.\n\nWhy are we so impatient that we do not receive the accolade of accepted\nduty from those Royal Souls who procede us on the Way? \u201cThey also serve\nwho only stand and wait.\u201d[148] He who cannot wait contentedly may be\nsure he cannot serve. We must master the diurnal before we can overcome\nthe spiritual. Some say that a heroic deed is easier than submission\nto pinpricks. We may survive Niagara when a drop of water per second\non the brain is madness. Friends; the struggle for the Eternal is\nnot one daring deed nor yet hundreds of them. It is a calm unbroken\nforgetfulness of the lower self for all time. Begin it on your present\nplane. You have within you the same guide that the Masters possess.\nBy obeying It, they have become what they are. Hark! A voice resounds\nwithin. \u201cKnow thy true Self; it is thy guide.\u201d If the voice seems\nsilent, it is perhaps because you ask with the mind only, which is a\nhigher kind of curiosity. When a spiritual need cries out within you,\nthe answer will come with a flash to the reverent listener. But in\nall the three worlds there is no power to save you but your own. When\nwe have exhausted the possibilities of growth on our present plane,\nwe rise naturally to a higher level. If here we find a Master, it is\nbecause we have come into the region where he dwells. Better than\ndesiring to deserve is deserving to desire. Of this be sure. All that\nis rightfully yours will come to you. So reads the Law.\n\nAs a mountain climber leans forward, treads zig-zag, counteracting\ngravity and the air\u2019s resistance, so shall you walk with care. We do\nnot know what moral resistance we arouse, what unseen evil lurks near,\nwhat stone our passage may loosen to fall on those below. We do not\nknow the delicate adjustment of this aerial world. Keep eyes and mind\nfixed on the heights above, lest the yawning abyss from which you\nrose, attract you. Distrust your emotions, your thoughts above all. An\ninsidious thought, like a traitor in the fortress, tends outward to the\nlegions of evil and would deliver you up to them. Who knows where the\nripples of a hasty thought may end? We are pledged by our theosophic\nvow to do naught that can dishonor our Society. What more dishonoring\nthan unjust, angered or vagrant fancies which corrupt the atmosphere of\nothers and may breed a moral pestilence. \u201cHe that hateth his brother is\na murderer.\u201d[149] Perhaps there are times when this is literally true.\n\u201cIf he does not love his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love\nGod, Whom he hath not seen?\u201d Pass this word along the line;\u2014\u201cEternal\nvigilance is the price of safety.\u201d\n\nYou who are inclined to dispute these thoughts, do better; ignore them.\nThey are a life experience, not meant for you who have it not, nor are\nyou once named herein. They are true from one standpoint and for those\nupon the same plane. Hereafter all must alchemize virtues and vices\nalike. Be not discouraged at these necessary transitions; they do not\nconvict you of radical error. Give me an unknown seed; its potentiality\nis a secret from me, but in faith I plant and tend it. As it waxes to\nthe budding glories of branch and flower, and thrills with the fecund\nboon of fruitage, I am no whit the loser, and hidden at the root of\nthis larger heritage, the same seed remains life bestowing and true.\nThus Knowledge is not final; it must expand and germinate or it is but\na dead thing. \u201cVeil upon veil shall lift, but there shall be veil upon\nveil behind.\u201d[150]\n\nDoes he who writes thus always follow his own teachings? _No!_ A\nhundred, a thousand times, no! Deluded, he climbs by devious paths and\nfrom the very brink of attainment, falls!\n\n\u201cJove strikes the Titans down. Not when they set about their mountain\npiling, but when one stone more would complete the work.\u201d[151]\n\nThen with toil and pain he rises and cons the chart once more. Beloved\nBrothers!\u2014and there is nowhere one so lost, so estranged, so low or so\ngreat whom this name does not call\u2014he will have received these blows\nto a benign purpose, if their teachings shall roll away a single stone\nfrom your upward path.\n J\u2014\u2014.\n\n\n POETICAL OCCULTISM.\n\n SOME ROUGH STUDIES OF THE OCCULT LEANINGS OF THE POETS.\n\n III.\n\nMany will find in Whitman, the fullest measure of mystic truths,\nplainly and significantly stated, to be met with in any modern poet.\nFor instance, a recognition of the reality of Reincarnation, and of its\nnecessity, constantly recurs in his poems. Passages like these attest\nit: \u201cBelieving I shall come again upon the earth after five thousand\nyears.\u201d Births have brought us richness and variety, and other births\nhave brought us richness and variety. \u201cAnd as to you Life, I reckon\nyou are the leavings of many deaths, (no doubt I have died myself ten\nthousand times before.)\u201d In contemplating an idiot he muses:\n\n \u201cAnd I knew for my consolation what they knew not,\n I knew of the agents that emptied and broke my brother,\n The same wait to clear the rubbish from the fallen tenement,\n And I shall look again in a score or two of ages,\n And I shall meet the real landlord, perfect and unharmed, every inch\n as good as myself.\u201d\n\nAre not the \u201cagents,\u201d mentioned above, the operations of Karmic\nlaw? Among the last lines of the closing poem of his volume are the\nfollowing:\n\n \u201cI receive now again of my many translations, from my avatars\n ascending, while others doubtless await me,\n An unknown sphere more real than I dream\u2019d, more direct, darts\n awakening rays about me, _So long!_\n Remember my words, _I may again return_.\u201d\n\nNeither rhyme nor verse are essential to true poetry. Even words\nare but its vehicle, and not the poetry itself. Poetry is that\nmanifestation of the mind which excites the imagination and arouses in\nresponsive minds a sense of beauty. All that which does this is poetic\nin quality: that which does not, which awakens no response, leaving\none cold and unimpressed, is prosaic. Poetry, therefore, possesses the\nrythmic quality, for beauty appeals to no sense, except through its\npower of producing rythmic action upon the brain through the nerves\nof sight, hearing, etc. Rythm is a product of harmonious vibration\nand produces the sensation of beauty by its play upon the nerves in a\nsuccession of reiterated, regular groups of impressions. All sensations\nof ugliness, etc., which are the causes of pain and disease, are due\nto the discordant impressions made by irregularity in the series of\nvibrations. Thus does strict mathematical law underlie all effects of\nbeauty. All poetry is in some way rythmic, and arouses rythmic action.\n\nThe highest poetry is truth made manifest in the guise of beauty. Poets\nhave often expressed in verse their feeling of the total inadequacy of\nwords to present to others the sublimity and beauty of the thoughts\nwhich at moments occur to them. The poetic temperament is one which\nenables an approach to that state which some exalted men attain in\nperfection, and which is the ultimate destiny of the entire human\nrace. The poet perceives fragments of the Divine thought as embodied\nin natural materials; he reads pages of the great book of Creation and\ninterprets more or less clearly the significance of the symbols that\nexist on every hand in growing things, in things inanimate, in the\nwaters and the heavens, and in the thoughts, sentiments, passions and\nemotions of men. In assuming the mental state which may be called the\n_poetic attitude_, he throws himself into rapport with his Higher self,\nhis _atma_, and thus obtains a glimpse of the eternal truth, so much of\nwhich his memory retains as accords with his personality and with the\nnature of his mood; of this he incorporates in poetic form that which\nhis power of expression enables him to give. Walt Whitman characterizes\nthis state in his lines:\n\n \u201cI lie abstracted and hear beautiful tales of things and the reasons\n of things,\n They are so beautiful I nudge myself to listen,\n I cannot say to any person what I hear\u2014I cannot say it to myself\u2014it\n is very wonderful!\u201d\n\nThe more unconscious one becomes of physical surroundings the more\nclearly does his mind act; its operations are attended with less\nfriction. By withdrawing his attention from bodily environment he\nenters upon the plane of the higher consciousness. This accounts for\nthe greater ease with which mental work proceeds after one has been\nengaged in it for some little time; it absorbs his attention so that\nthe surrounding objects and circumstances no longer distract it. In\nother words, the mental machinery settles down to smooth running, after\novercoming the various hitches and obstructions attending the starting\nof the train of thought. Everyone knows how earnest devotion to any\nobject makes him oblivious to all else. Under such conditions one, in\nreality, loses consciousness and is merged in the object. Self, the\nillusory Self, simply consists in a sense of the existence of the body\nand the relations borne to it by surrounding objects.\n\nTherefore, in concentration of the mind upon the object lies the true\nsecret of power, and the man who best knows how to do this is the most\npowerful among his fellows. The best work is that done when one is\nleast conscious of material environment. This accounts for remarkable\nexamples of work done in a somnambulistic state when all consciousness\nof physical surroundings is lost, and the Self becomes so absorbed\nin the object that on returning to ordinary consciousness it cannot\nremember the process of its most perfect activity of thought. And yet\npeople refuse to accept the truth of Reincarnation because they cannot\nremember, in this gross physical state, their former existences through\nthe intervening _Devachanic_ periods when their consciousness was\nlifted to a plane above the thralldom of matter!\n\nWhoever knows anything of ceremonial magic, whether practically or\ntheoretically, recognizes the necessity of rythmic action, or the\ninstitutions of a regularly recurring set of vibrations. Many will\ntestify to the marvels wrought by the earnest repetitions of a rythmic\nformula. It seems likely that the transfer of consciousness and the\nperformance of phenomenal feats by Adepts are wrought by their command\nof some formula or method which enables them instantly and perfectly to\nachieve the harmonious condition of mental vibration crudely acquired\nby novices only by elaborate processes. The logical inference may be\ndrawn that the purpose of the rythmic form of poetry is not only to\narouse harmonious thoughts in the minds of hearers or readers, but is\ndue to the fact that the poet, by subjecting his mind to a rythmic\nflow of thought, opens it to the reception of impressions from the\nhighest source of thought. In the words \u201cI nudge myself to listen\u201d the\npoet strikingly and graphically depicts the effort to maintain his\nconcentration of mind as he lies abstracted when he feels his attention\nslipping away from the sublime mysteries which, in the greatness of\ntheir wonder, are beyond his power to realize in any thoughts he may\nframe. Poets are often unconscious of the full greatness of the truths\nthey reveal after the moment of their receptive state has passed, but\nthey, perhaps, awake to a sense of the true significance of their words\nyears after.\n\nThis concentration of mind is insisted on in the Hindu systems in many\ndifferent ways. It is called by them Ekkragrata or _one-pointedness_.\nIn the dialogues the expression is constantly used, and Krishna is said\nto say to Arjuna (in _Bagavad-Gita_). \u201cHas thou listened to me with\nthy mind fixed on one point?\u201d It is to bring about such a condition\nthat practitioners of Hatha Yoga\u2014which in English simply means any\npractice tending to develop psychical powers, such as mediumship and\nthe like\u2014prescribe that the Yogee shall sit with his sight concentrated\nupon the tip of his nose. And this practice, although scarcely\ncommendable, has a scientific basis which shows that the much belittled\nAryans had a wonderful fund of knowledge. The fixing of the eyes upon\nthe tip of the nose puts the focus about three inches from the eyeball,\nand that produces first, concentration, because of the effort to remain\nfixed, and secondly, a hypnotic state in which trance results with\npsychic vision and the like. They prescribed it for another reason not\nlikely to be admitted by our science; three inches from the eyes was\nsaid by them to be the clairvoyant point.\n\nOur poet Whitman, whether he was aware of it or not, constantly\nenunciated the doctrine of Karma. In \u201cAssurances,\u201d to be found in\n_Leaves of Grass_, he says:\n\n I need no assurances. I am a man who is pre-occupied of his own soul;\n I do not doubt that from under the feet and beside the hands and face\n I am cognizant of, are now looking faces I am not cognizant of,\n calm and actual faces.\n I do not doubt but the majesty and beauty of the world are latent in\n any iota of the world.\n I do not doubt I am limitless, and that the universes are limitless;\n in vain I try to think how limitless.\n I do not doubt that the orbs and the systems of orbs play their swift\n sports through the air on purpose, and that I shall one day be\n eligible to do as much as they, and more than they.\n I do not doubt that temporary affairs keep on and on millions of years.\n I do not doubt interiors have their interiors, and exteriors have their\n exteriors, and that the eyesight has another eyesight, and the\n hearing another hearing, and the voice another voice.\n I do not doubt that the passionately-wept deaths of young men are\n provided for, and that the deaths of young women and the deaths\n of little children are provided for.\n (Did you think life was so well provided for, and Death, the purport\n of all life, not well provided for?)\n I do not doubt that wrecks at sea, no matter what the horror of them,\n no matter whose wife, child, husband, father, lover, has gone\n down, are provided for to the minutest points.\n I do not doubt that whatever can possibly happen anywhere at any time,\n is provided for in the inherences of things.\n I do not think Life provides for all and for Time and Space, but I\n believe Heavenly Death provides for all.\n\nHere he dwells upon the belief that all things are provided for. It\nwould be error to say that he was a fatalist, just as it is a mistake\nto hold that the Mohammedan doctrine of \u201cKismet\u201d is pure fatalism.\nEdwin Arnold in \u201cPearls of the Faith,\u201d enlarges on that pearl called\n_Al-Kadar_, in these words:\n\n \u201cWhen ye say _Kismet_, say it wittingly, O, true believers! under\n Allah\u2019s throne place is not left for those accursed three, \u2018Destiny,\u2019\n \u2018Fortune,\u2018 \u2018Chance.\u2019 Allah alone ruleth his children: _Kismet_ ye\n shall deem each man\u2019s alloted portion * * *\u201d\n\nAnd Whitman plainly states that the provision which is made for all the\nhappenings is a provision existing \u201cin the inherences of things,\u201d and\nnot a fatalistic decree by an irresponsible Almighty.\n\nHe also says that he is limitless. This is the doctrine of the\nUpanishads. Everyone is limitless, for Ishwara, the Lord, dwells in the\nheart of every mortal being. Jesus also, said; \u201cthe kingdom of heaven\nis _within_ you.\u201d Now the kingdom of heaven cannot be apart from God,\nso that the Nazarene herein says the same thing as the Upanishads.\n\nAgain, in the lines, \u201cI do not doubt that interiors have their\ninteriors, and exteriors have their exteriors, and that the eyesight\nhas another eyesight, and the hearing another hearing, and the voice\nanother voice,\u201d Whitman might be said to be taking the words from the\nmouths of those sages who in ancient India penned the Upanishads. In\nthose it is incessantly insisted that these interiors really are the\nUniversal Self which is \u201cthe eye of the eye and the hearing of the\near.\u201d And a knowledge of that is the key to unlock the doors of glory\nand praise. As it is beautifully said in Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad:[152]\n\n \u201cThis Self is the footstep of everything, for through it one knows\n everything. And as one can find again by footsteps what was lost, thus\n he who knows this finds glory and praise.\u201d\n\nAnd further, \u201cTherefore, now, also, he who thus knows that he is\nBrahman (the Self) becomes all this, and even the Devas cannot prevent\nit, for he himself is their Self.\u201d\n S.\u202fB.\u202fJ.\n\n\n APOLLONIUS AND THE MAHATMAS.\n\n [READ BEFORE THE MALDEN BRANCH, T.\u202fS.]\n\n (_Concluded._)\n\nWhen Apollonius asked about the wise men whom Alexander the Great was\nsaid to have conquered and then held converse with, Phraotes said that\nthey were the Oxydraks, a warlike people who claimed Wisdom though\nthey knew nothing of consequence; the truly wise men dwelt between\nthe Hyphasis and Ganges. Had Alexander gone thither he could not have\nconquered them, even with ten thousand Achilles and thirty thousand\nAjaxes. \u201cFor they fight not in battle against advancing enemies, but\nbeing holy men, beloved by God, they repulse them through aerial\napparitions and lightning flashes.\u201d\n\nWhen Apollonius took his departure Phraotes gave him the following\nsignificant letter to the Brahmins:\n\n\u201cThe King Phraotes greets his teacher Iarchas and the Wise men with\nhim. Apollonius, the wisest of men, regards you as wiser than himself,\nand comes to learn from you. Let him not depart without knowledge of\nall which you yourselves know. For thus nothing of your wisdom will be\nlost; since no one speaks better than he, or has a truer memory. Let\nhim also behold the throne whereon I sat when thou, Father Iarchas,\ngavest me my kingdom. His attendants also deserve praise for their\nattachment to such a man. Be thou happy. Be happy all of you.\u201d\n\nWhen they came near the hill where the wise men dwelt their guide was\nfilled with fear, for the Indians stood more in awe of these men than\nof their own King, and the King who ruled the land where they lived was\naccustomed to consult them about everything he said or did.\n\nWhen near a village not a stadium from the hill, a youth approached\nthem, blacker than any Indian, with a gleaming, moon-shaped mark\nbetween his eyebrows. He bore a golden anchor, which in India took\nthe place of the Herald\u2019s staff. He addressed Apollonius in Greek,\nwhich did not astonish him, since all the dwellers in the village\n[a lamasary?] spoke that tongue, but it did astonish the others to\nhear their master called by name; Apollonius, however, it filled with\nconfidence as he remembered the purpose of his journey. \u201cWe have come\nto men truly wise,\u201d he said to Damis, \u201cfor they have a fore-knowledge\nof things.\u201d Asking the youth what was to be done, he was told: \u201cThose\nwith you remain _here_; thou, however, shalt come just as thou art, for\nso _They_ command.\u201d In this _They_ Apollonius recognized Pythagorean\nlanguage and he followed with joy.\n\nIn one of his conversations with the Egyptian Gymnosophists, years\nafterwards, Apollonius thus characterized the wise men of India: \u201cI saw\nthe Indian Brahmins who dwell upon the earth and not upon the earth;\nin a strong fortress though unfortified; and, without possessions,\npossessing everything.\u201d The deep, interior significance of this is\nevident to a Theosophist. Damis, in the matter-of-fact way often\ncustomary with him, also gives these words a literal interpretation,\nsaying that they had their bed upon the earth and strewed the ground\nwith herbs selected by themselves; he himself had seen them floating\nin the air two ells above the earth; not for hocus pocus\u2014for they\ndespised vain striving\u2014but in order, by thus floating with the sun, to\nbe near and pleasing unto the god. This was what was meant by \u201cupon\nthe earth and not upon the earth.\u201d The strong fortress, unfortified,\nmeant the air in which they dwelt, for although they appeared to live\nunder the open heaven, they spread a shadow over themselves, were not\nwet by the rain, and were in the sunshine whenever they wished. And\nsince they obtained everything the moment they wished it, Apollonius\nrightly said that they possessed what they did not possess. \u201cThey wear\ntheir hair long, they bind a white mitra around their heads, their feet\nare bare. The form of their clothing resembles that of a sleeveless\nunder-garment; the material is a wool produced by the earth of itself,\nwhite like the Pamphylian, but softer, and so fat that oil flows from\nit. Of this they make their sacred garments, and when another than\nthese men seeks to gather this wool the earth will not release it. By\nthe power of the ring and the staff which they bear every thing can\nbe done, but both are kept as a secret.\u201d This personal description by\nDamis corresponds in certain particulars with what we are told of the\nMasters to-day. The account of the wool leads some commentators to\nbelieve that asbestos is meant.\n\nIarchas welcomed Apollonius in Greek and asked him for the letter\nfrom Phraotes; when Apollonius wondered at his gift of prescience he\nremarked that a _delta_ was lacking in the letter, left out by mistake,\nand so it proved. After reading the letter Iarchas asked: \u201cWhat dost\nthou think of us?\u201d\n\nAnd Apollonius replied: \u201cAs no other person in the land whence I came,\nas my journey hither shows.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat makest thou think that we know more than thou dost?\u201d\n\n\u201cI believe,\u201d answered Apollonius, \u201cthat your knowledge is deeper and\nmuch more divine.\u201d\n\nIarchas hereupon said: \u201cOthers are accustomed to ask the new comer\nwhence he comes and for what purpose; the first sign of our wisdom\nshall be this: that the stranger is not unknown to us. So then, test\nthis:\u201d\n\nHereupon he told Apollonius his history from father and mother down,\nwhat he had done in Aeg\u00e6, how Damis had come to him, what things\nof importance had happened on the way, etc. As Apollonius asked in\nsurprise whence came that knowledge, Iarchas answered: \u201cThou also\ncamest gifted with this wisdom, but not yet with all of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd wilt thou teach me all thy wisdom?\u201d asked Apollonius.\n\n\u201cBy all means, and in ungrudging abundance, for this is wiser\nthan miserly to conceal that which is worthy of knowing. Besides,\nApollonius, I see thou hast been richly gifted by Mnemosyne, and she is\nthe one among the gods whom we most love.\u201d\n\n\u201cDost thou also behold,\u201d asked Apollonius, \u201cof what manner my nature\nis?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe see all peculiarities of the soul, for we know them by thousandfold\nindications,\u201d replied Iarchas.\n\nWhen mid-day came they rose in the air and did homage to the sun. The\nyouth who bore the anchor was then told to go and provide for the\ncompanions of Apollonius. Swifter than the swiftest of birds he went\nand returned, saying: \u201cI have provided for them.\u201d He was then commanded\nto bring the throne of Phraotes, and when Apollonius had seated himself\nthereon they continued their conversation. Iarchas told him to ask what\nhe wished, for he had come to men who knew all things. Apollonius asked\nif they knew themselves, for he believed that they, like the Greeks,\nheld knowledge of self to be difficult. But Iarchus answered with an\nunexpected turning: \u201cWe know all things, because first of all we know\nourselves; for no one of us can approach this wisdom without first\nattaining knowledge of self.\u201d\n\nApollonius asked further, what they held themselves to be?\n\n\u201cGods,\u201d answered Iarchas.\n\n\u201cAnd wherefore?\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause we are good men.\u201d\n\nApollonius found so much wisdom in this saying that he made use of it\nin his speech of defence before the Emperor Domitian.\n\nThey talked about the soul and reincarnation, and Iarchas told him\nthat the truth was \u201cas Pythagoras taught you, and as we taught the\nEgyptians.\u201d They spoke about the previous incarnation of Apollonius as\nsteersman of an Egyptian ship, in which capacity he had refrained from\nfollowing the inducements held out by pirates to let his vessel come\ninto their hands.\n\nConcerning this Iarchas said that refraining from unrighteousness did\nnot constitute righteousness.\n\nThe King came to visit the Brahmins and a wonderful feast was prepared\nfor him; everything came of itself: Pythian tripods, and automatic\nattendants of black bronze, the earth spread out herbs softer than\nbeds to recline on, delicate viands appeared in orderly succession,\netc. The accounts of these phenomena occasioned great remark during\nthe subsequent career of Apollonius, and people would persist in\nmixing them up with the teachings of the master just as to-day they\ninextricably confound Madame Blavatsky\u2019s famous cup and saucer with\nTheosophy. But we are told that Apollonius did not concern himself\nwith phenomena; when he saw these wonderful things he did not ask how\nthey were done, nor to be taught to do them, but he contented himself\nwith admiring them. And we are also told that the marvelous things he\ndid were not accomplished through ceremonial magic, but through the\nperfection of his wisdom.\n\nDamis was subsequently allowed to come to the Brahmins and when he\nasked about the composition of the world and the four elements they\nreplied that there were five\u2014the fifth being ether, which was to be\nregarded as the primal source of the gods.\n\n\u201cFor everything that breathes the air is mortal; that which drinks the\nether is immortal and divine,\u201d said Iarchas. He also said that the\nworld was to be regarded as a living being of both sexes, having a more\nardent love for itself than that of one person to another, being united\nand bound to itself. Damis learnt much from his intercourse with the\nBrahmins, but he wrote that at the secret discourses Apollonius was\nalone with Iarchas, and from there originated the four books written by\nthe former. Iarchas, said Damis, gave Apollonius seven rings bearing\nthe names of the seven planets, and Apollonius wore them one after the\nother according to the name of the day of the week.\n\nThe foregoing is an incomplete account of the remarkable journey and\nexperience of Apollonius, as is necessitated by the limits of a brief\narticle. Many passages of deep wisdom have had to be passed over, and\nmany remarkable things are told, hard to understand, but which, there\nis reason to believe, have an occult significance.\n S.\u202fB.\n\n\n TEACHINGS OF THE MASTER.\n\nRECORDED BY ONE OF THE AUTHORS OF \u201cMAN: FRAGMENTS OF FORGOTTEN HISTORY.\u201d\n\n (_Copyrighted._)\n\nThe master walked beside the river at evening-time. In the instant\nthat his signal was recognized he walked no longer alone. By his side\nappeared one\u2014as a little child clinging close to his garments. The\nmaster said\u2014\u201cWhen you have obtained mastery over the senses then you\nwill no longer totter in your step or falter in your flight. Realize\nthe divine atma within you. Realize it!\u201d he repeated, and then raising\nhis hand slowly upward the stature of the child lengthened until a\nman\u2019s proportions were outlined. Only this form could hold the expanded\nsoul. Disenthralled the soul perceived a world with every pulsation and\nin every faculty there was absolute harmony. This was divine. This is\nman\u2019s rightful condition into which only the Mahatmas have fully come;\nbut to which every one is heir. The Mahatma teaches with the thought\nunexpressed, but formulated in his own mind and sent with sudden power,\ninto yours. It strikes with resounding force against the spirit\u2019s\nprison house. In great agony the pupil cried out: \u201cMaster! Master!\nredeem me from this state with your great power.\u201d The Master answering\nsaid: \u201cBurst by concentration of spiritual energy the bonds that bind\nyou.\u201d No pen can describe the force of the Master\u2019s thought. For the\ninstant it seemed possible; a moment\u2019s hesitation to make the effort\nthrough mortal fear, and the supreme moment was passed. The Master\nlooked sadly upon his suffering disciple and then was alone again.\n\nThe latter had gone back to try again through duty\u2014if need be through\ndeath.\n\nTHE LESSON.\n\nThe pupil goes to the Master without conditions. He goes, but not to\nreturn. The illusions of matter are dispelled for him and thenceforth\nhe is a stranger in the world of actions, even though he should be in\nit again.\n\nFiery is the furnace of probation, and great is the danger when the\nneophyte has reached the \u201cstates of exaltation.\u201d About each advance\nstep wait the enemies of the spirit\u2014to overthrow its sovereignty and\nhurl it back to the plane of matter. These enemies live in matter\nand are persuaded that their existence is confined to it\u2014hence their\ndetermination to keep matter from a knowledge of spirit. In darkness\nand sin is their safety, for they are children of these conditions and\nwill cease to exist when the lamp that is lighted from within is turned\nupon the world.\n\nTemptations are in the way of those who would _demand_ much without\n_deserving_ even a little. So soon as the student comes in contact with\nthe occult he encounters on the threshold the demons who loiter by\u2014the\ndemons of worldliness, inconstancy, suspicion and faint-heartedness.\n\nThe student should find in his own intuitions all the proof needed of\nthe existence on this earth of the Wisdom teachers. Behind the screen\nof the senses reposes the soul of man\u2014an unfathomable factor in the\nUniverse\u2014as unknown to its possessor as to its observers. Intuition is\nits only avenue of communication, and the language it speaks is known\nonly to him who understands arcane knowledge or occultism.\n\nWhen the Master has initiated his pupil he puts the seal of the\nmysteries upon his lips and locks them even against the chance of\nweakness or indiscretion.\n\nIt is the sense of personal isolation that brings on death; genuine\nphilanthropy puts the individual _en rapport_ with the _Divine\nSpirit_ and thus gives him the eternal life. The Divine Spirit\nbeing all-pervading, those who put themselves _en rapport_ with it,\nnecessarily put themselves _en rapport_ with all other entities in\nthe same _rapport_. Hence, the Mahatmas are necessarily in constant\nmagnetic relation with those who succeed in extricating themselves from\nthe lower animal nature. It is by this means that the Mahatmas must\nfirst be known.\n\nUntil the Master chooses you to come to Him be with humanity, and\nunselfishly work for its progress and advancement. This alone can bring\ntrue satisfaction.\n\nWhat is a Mahatma? Is it His physical body? No; for that must perish\nsooner or later\u2014though it can be preserved through what is to us an\nendless age. A Mahatma is one who lives in His higher individuality,\nand to know Him truly, He must be known through the individuality in\nwhich He is centered.\n\nKnowledge increases in proportion to its use\u2014that is, the more we teach\nthe more we learn. Therefore, seeker after Truth, with the faith of a\nlittle child and the _will_ of a Initiate give of your store to him\nwho hath not wherewithal to comfort him on his journey. A whisper of\nthe divine mystery into the ear of a weary wayfarer frees you from\nthe stain of many evil deeds done in your migrations through matter.\nPhilosophy can never be learned through phenomena. Try to break through\nthe desire for it. Occult students the world over have been warned by\ntheir teachers that it is a habit which grows with gratification. It is\nbetter to abandon the study than to risk the dangers of black magic.\n\nWhat is Self? Only a passing guest, whose concerns are all like a\nmirage of the great desert. Man is the victim of his surroundings while\nhe lives in the atmosphere of society. The Mahatma may be willing to\nbefriend such as he has an interest in, and yet be helpless to do so.\nThe _will of the neophyte_, also, must be the magnet which alone can\ncompel a Mahatma\u2019s notice. He follows his attractions as the needle\ndoes the poles. Will and Purity\u2014these are the qualities which open the\narcane to the presence of an adept\u2014mere enthusiastic regard has no\neffect.\n\nFeeble souls content themselves with wishes; great ones have _wills_.\n\nIn every man lie concealed the germs of faculties that are never\nunfolded on earth, and which have no reference to this state of\nknowledge.\n\nNo man can judge another, save by the measure of his own understanding:\ndo not injure your own chance for growth by condemning in others the\npossession of faculties not known to yourself.\n\nThought runs swifter than the electric fluid; every bright aspiration\nsparkles and attracts the attention of the distant, but ever-watchful\nMaster.\n\n\u201cLay your burden upon the Lord\u201d\u2014that is, put your reliance in the\nHigher Self. Use the body as a means of strengthening the connection\nwith the spirit and opening the road for its descents.\n\nSlay Ambition: it is a deadly and cowardly foe, whose power over you is\naugmented by the approbation of others.\n\nIt is Karma that sends you into this world\u2014to which you come alone\u2014that\nleaves you alone in it and which takes you out of it alone. The law\nof Karma is the law of the conservation of energy on the moral and\nspiritual planes of nature.\n\nThe body is the mind\u2019s portrait. The artist seeing its inharmonies\nregrets his failure, but knows not how to improve upon it. This is the\nspirit\u2019s work, which, accomplished, leaves the outward a reflection of\nthe indwelling Soul.\n\nThe manna that feeds the spirit is hidden from sight. The universal\nspirit supplies it.\n\nDuty is the River that flows through life. Its tide is silvery to those\nwho are on it, but threatening to those who approach it seldom.\n\nSeek to recover your soul. It is the hidden treasure lost in the\ncaverns of sense. Its recovery is redemption from many rebirths.\n\nThe vain and the arrogant demand our pity\u2014the weak and erring our\nforbearance\u2014the indifferent our sympathy\u2014and the wise, alone, our\nadmiration.\n\nYou have learned of Krishna that death is better than the performance\nof another\u2019s duty. In persevering in the erroneous idea that we were\nput here to do the duties of others, woes have resulted that follow one\nthrough many lives.\n\nYour perception of the inner self is clearer than the vision of the\nnatural eye.\n\nEarnestly regard the plane upon which you seek truth, do not expect to\nsecure soul knowledge through the avenues of the senses.\n\nKarma is like the vine that gathers strength through uninterrupted\nyears, and which fastens its tendrils so closely that it is as strong\nas the structure to which it adheres. There is no way to destroy\nits power except by the separation of the parts, these parts renew\nthemselves in other forms of life, but the structure is freed when its\nroot is destroyed.\n\nEvil thoughts corrode the character. Only the spirit has power over\ncharacter to purify it.\n\nWe carry the accumulated results of many lives from one to another.\nThis is the clue to the perfect fairness of nature. The apparent\ninjustice of all differences of well-being are explained by the fact\nthat we have known former states of existence. Every spiritual effort\nnow made will tell not only now, but in the next incarnation as well.\n\nThe clue to many of the great mysteries of life is to be found in\nreincarnation; it is the only possible solution of the enigmas of\nexistence.\n\nThe rule of the Mahatma is to approach every one where there exists\neven only the slightest glimmer of the true Light within him. None are\nleft to perish who desire to be succored.\n\nWe write in every aspiration for truth, in thought and deed by day,\nand in soul-struggles by night, the story of our desire for spiritual\ndevelopment. Upon the pages of the Book of Karma are written the\nminutest particulars of individual efforts: when the feeble will is\nstrong enough to prevent further births in this world, which is the\nspirit\u2019s dream life, we shall find in Real existence all the chapters\nthat we have written in all our transitions. Only then will we be able\nto read the whole book through and know the nature of the long journey\nout of spirit through matter and back again to the All.\n\nThe conflict of intuition against intellect has covered mankind in the\ncrumbling ruin of despair. Man will never surrender himself to be the\npermanent vehicle of any set of ideas unless it completely satisfies\nthe whole of his nature; the union of intellect and intuition only will\nend the conflict.\n\nTake what you can of the teachings, and in developing devotion keep\nbefore you your example\u2014THE TEACHER.\n\n\n THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.\n\n [_Concluded from the July Number._]\n\n\u201cThe music of the spheres\u201d is not a mere figure of speech, but an\nactuality.\n\nThe Soul of the World has its central Sun whose life throbs pulsate\nthroughout immensity. If we study the phenomena and conditions of\neither crystallization or organization we shall find that every atom\nin the vast universe is set to music. There is the pean of life, and\nthe dirge of death, the major and the minor key. The rythm is the same\nwhether in the ebb or flow of life, but the serried columns march\nin opposite directions. The Unity lies back of all phenomena in the\ninfinite ocean, the universal solvent, as the crystal lies latent,\npotential, unmanifested, in the solution of salt. So all things exist\npotentially in the ether. The real form of everything is perfect,\nessential, divine. Only the effigy appears with ebb and flow; with\nswell and cadence like martial music. Only in the Garden of the Gods\ncan the perfect flower and fruit appear. There is but one approximation\nto perfect form to be apprehended by mortals\u2014the Sphere\u2014and even this\nis ideal or geometrical, not actual. The dimensions of space pertain to\nobjects: objects exist in time, and the essence of time is motion.[153]\nImagine the intelligence of man posited in an ocean of Ether, a\nthinking principle, without form or extension, and the fallacy of space\nas generally conceived becomes manifest, and disappears. Matter, space,\ntime, and motion, these pertain to outwardly manifested existence. Read\nbackward the genesis of crystal, plant, animal or man, and one plan,\none basis is discovered in all.\n\n\u201c_Out from the shore of the great unknown_\u201d come trooping these\neffigies of diviner being, these shapes of diviner forms. In the\nbeginning was the Word, the Fiat has gone forth. Listen O! man to\nthe music of Bath Col the voice of thine own soul. Adonai speaks. If\nthou art _conscious_, His voice is _conscience_. It is the memory of\nthe voice of God in fields elysian, thy former divine abode. Thou\nmayest involve in thy life on earth thine Augoeides, \u201cbeing of light,\u201d\na \u201cgleaming brightness.\u201d This is thy holy mission, the meaning of\nthy human shape, thy manly powers, thy subtle intellect, thy holy\nintuitions. These are but the seed of larger life, the bird of promise.\nThe unfolded flower shall be thy highest aspiration, thy holiest wish,\nand its ripened fruit shall bear thee to the garden of the gods, with\nknowledge and power as thy servants. Ask but thine own soul, counsel\nwith thy better self, and if thou findest not within the silence the\nanswering voice, then return to thy wallowing in the mire, and the\nhusks which the swine do eat, rather than to thy _father\u2019s house_ which\nthou hast made, and will henceforth continue to make a den of thieves,\nat best, a whited sepulchre.\n\nNow let us read the Tablet of Hermes, bearing in mind the fact that man\nis an epitome of the universe, thus actually or potentially containing\nall that is, and if he knows how to read and to unfold his own nature,\npowers and possibilities, he may read thereby the universe, unfold\nits laws, comprehend its plan, and if he be master of himself, thus\nrevealed to his understanding, his powers shall be co-extensive with\nknowledge. He shall possess the MASTERS\u2019 WORD.\n\nThis tablet is printed in full in September _Path_ at p. 167.\n\nThe reader is referred to _Isis Unveiled_ for explanation of the Azoth\nto which, on the physical plane, the tablet refers,[154] and I might\nsay in passing, that those who complain that the Brothers closely guard\noccult secrets, will do well, even at this late day, to _read Isis\nUnveiled_. There are several matters contained in those two volumes\nwhich the careless reader, and complaining \u201ctheosophist\u201d has possibly\noverlooked. In fact there is less concealment in all occult matters\nthan the ignorant and time-serving suppose. There can be no better\nsafe-guards to Royal Secrets, than ignorance and defective vision, for\nwhich defects there is no surgery or remedy outside ourselves.\n\n\u201cGod saith, Let the man endued with a _mind_, mark, consider, and _know\nhimself well_. * * And before they give up their bodies to the death of\nthem, they hate their senses, knowing their works and operations.\n\n\u201cRather I, that am the mind itself, will not suffer the operations\nor works, which belong to the body, to be finished and brought to\nperfection in them, but being the _Porter_ and _Doorkeeper_ I will shut\nup the entrances of evil, and cut off the thoughtful desires of filthy\nworks.\n\n\u201cBut to the foolish, and evil, and wicked, and envious, and covetous,\nand profane, I am far off, giving place to the revenging demon * *\n\n\u201cFor the sleep of the body is the sober watchfulness of the mind, and\nthe shutting of my eyes, the true sight, and my _silence_ great with\nchild; and full of good, and the pronouncing of my words the blossoms\nand fruits of good things.[155]\n\n\u201cWherefore we must be bold to say that _an earthly man is a mortal god,\nand that the heavenly God is an immortal Man_[156].\u201d\n\nCompare with this the following from the writings of Plato:\n\n\u201cHe who has not even a knowledge of common things, is a brute among\nmen; he who has an accurate knowledge of human concerns alone, is a man\namong brutes; but he who knows all that can be known by intelligent\ninquiry is a god among men.\u201d\n\nIn these brief and imperfect outlines enough has been given to show\nthe thoughtful student, the agreement of the Hermetic doctrines\nwith the teachings of Theosophy, indeed, any real progress in the\ncomprehension of the one, may be taken as a key to the other. These,\ntogether with the teachings of the Kabala, are but different forms of\nthe _Secret Doctrine_; none of them are to be fully apprehended by the\nintellect alone; but only when the mind is _illuminated_ by the light\nof understanding, and the process by which this illumination is to be\nachieved, through diligent inquiry, unselfish work, and repression of\nthe senses, appetites and passion, has been often pointed out, and is\nfound repeated and reiterated in all these writings. If any, therefore,\nare disposed to complain that they are left to grope in darkness, they\nhave no one to blame but themselves. To the conscientious student, the\nconstant wonder is at the richness of the feast spread out on every\nhand.\n\nLike a beautiful landscape to the blind, or music to the deaf, are the\npages of wisdom to the ignorant and selfish. Eyes have they but they\nsee not, ears have they but they hear not, and so long as they are\njoined to their idols they may as well be let alone. But to the earnest\ndisciple, to the true seeker of _The Path_ these are the everlasting\nverities: let them run and not be weary, walk and not faint, seek, and\nthey shall _surely find_, desire, and they shall attain, knock, and the\ndoor of knowledge shall open, obey, and they shall in turn command,\nlabor, and they shall obtain rest.\n\n \u201cRest is not quitting\n The busy career,\n Rest is the fitting\n Of self to one\u2019s sphere.\n \u2019Tis the brook\u2019s motion,\n Clear, without strife,\n Fleeting to ocean\n After this life.\n \u2019Tis living and serving\n The highest and best,\n \u2019Tis _onward unswerving_,\n And this is true rest.\u201d\n B.\n\n\n TEA TABLE TALK.\n\n THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE AND DREAMS.\n\nHave you ever noticed the swiftness of thought transference in cases\nwhere the thinker is not consciously projecting his thought to another\nmind? The writer had lately a notable instance of this. I was seated\nat the breakfast table, thinking over an order from THE PATH which had\ncome the night before. It was an order for \u201c1000 words on dreams, etc.\u201d\nand not being such stuff as dreams are made of, I pondered intently\nalbeit silently:\u2014\u201cWhere the deuce am I to get any authentic dreams?\u201d\n\n\u201c_Mr. Julius, do you like dreams?_\u201d\n\nSo spoke a clear young voice at my elbow. It was the voice of Sue. I\nam not qualified to judge whether Sue is a child or a girl. She is,\nhowever, an embodiment of that young America who rules these United\nStates from Atlantic coast to Pacific wave, and although a bachelor, I\nrespect her accordingly. Sue represents my possible fate.\n\n\u201c_Dreams!_\u201d I stammered. \u201cWhat do you know about dreams?\u201d\n\n\u201cMe? Why I have \u2018em. Lots! But only the horrid kind, you know.\u201d\n\nI venture to ask, most respectfully, what she calls \u201cthe horrid kind.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe kind you can\u2019t remember, so\u2019s to tell \u2018em and scare the girls.\nAll mixed up, you see.\u201d Here Sue snaps down the lid of the maple syrup\ncruet with an air which indicates that the subject is closed. But I\nventure on. I fear Sue a trifle less than I do my Editor and his demand\nfor contracted copy.\n\n\u201cWhat made you think of dreams just now, Sue. if you please?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh! I don\u2019t know. They just came spang into my head. Perhaps you were\nthinking about them.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, my child! You do not mean to say that you believe in thought\ntransference!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that? Some nonsense! What I mean is that when I\u2019m thinkin\u2019\n\u2018bout somethin\u2019, an \u2018I don\u2019t want the other girls to talk about it, I\nput it out of my head, quick,\u2014(another hot cake, please,) so they won\u2019t\nget it into their heads too. They always do, unless. Understand?\u201d\n\nI did indeed. \u201cVerily out of the mouths of babes and sucklings proceed\nthe words of wisdom.\u201d\n\nThis to myself of course. What I said aloud was merely, \u201cI should like\nto hear a real good dream this minute, a true one.\u201d\n\nSue gives her head that capable toss. \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you ask me? You\npeople always think children don\u2019t know anything. Guess you\u2019ve changed\nyour mind since you were a child. Anyhow, Mrs. D. was tellin\u2019 it t\u2019\nSister an\u2019 some ladies, and it gives your blood a lovely curdle.\u201d\n\nHere Sue settled herself in her chair and gave herself up with gusto to\nthe joy of curdling my blood. Making careful inquiry afterward, I found\ntrue, in all its details, the dream which I now give to my readers.\n\nMrs. D. was at her country place. She dreamed one night that she rose,\nand walking to her window looked out upon the familiar scene just then\nlit by the moon. To her surprise she noticed persons walking two by two\nacross the lawn towards her; then more people, many of whom she knew.\nAs she watched this procession, there came finally a hearse driven by\na boy. He stopped the ghastly vehicle under her window, and raising a\nscarred face on which the moonbeams played, he called out; \u201c_Are you\nready?_\u201d Mrs. D. shrieked and awoke, to find herself in bed and the\nsport of a dream, but telling it afterwards to her family she remarked;\n\u201cIf ever I were to see that boy, I should know him by the awful scars\non his face.\u201d\n\nSome time afterward this lady was standing in a hotel corridor,\nwaiting for the lift. As it rose slowly into view, she was attracted\nby the head of the boy running it: \u201cWhere have I seen that head?\u201d was\nher thought, and so puzzling, she delayed to step into the waiting\nlift. Just as she moved forward and entered, the boy turned his face\ntowards her saying: \u201c_Are you ready?_\u201d and she saw again those great\nscars, and across her inner vision moved that slow funereal scene.\nSickened, startled, she felt an impulse of escape, and profited by\nthe stoppage of the lift at the next floor to get off, instead of\ncontinuing to a higher floor, as she had proposed. She paused a few\nmoments to recover herself, and to reason with herself as well, when\nsuddenly a horrible crash was heard; then a _dead silence_; afterward\nthe murmur of excited voices. The machinery had broken, the lift had\nfallen to the ground floor, and every person in it had been killed. As\nI thought over this strange story, the decided young voice streamed\non: \u201cDo you know, Mr. Julius, they were discussing it at dinner, and I\nheard some quite stylish people say they believed it was God Himself\nwarning her. Fancy! They weren\u2019t church people of course.\u201d\n\nHumanity is divided by Sue into two classes. Class 1. Members of The\nProtestant Episcopal Church. Class 2. Heathen. She finds this very\nconvenient. So, I doubt not, do many older persons.\n\n\u201cAnd what do you think it was, my child?\u201d\n\n\u201cMe? Oh, well! I just think it was her soul, somehow, Mr. Julius! Why\ndo you stare at me like that? I do believe you know something about it!\nNobody will ever tell me. Put down your coffee cup, its spilling all\nover your beard, and tell me straight off all you know about our souls.\u201d\n\nBut here the Skye terrier comes bouncing in, and offers himself for\ndissection instead. Nevertheless, I know a few people, (and I fancy\nTHE PATH knows scores more) who expect you to tell between the roast\nand the relev\u00e9, all that is known about the soul. Go instead to the\nchildren, question their fresh instincts, their curious methods, their\nhabitual impulses and freaks, above all, their _esprit de corps_, and\nwhat you learn about occultism from these still plastic minds will\nsurprise you. It has me!\n JULIUS.\n\n * * * * *\n\nA REMARKABLE OCCURRENCE.\n\nThis story was told me by my step-father about an uncle of his.\n\nThe uncle was large, broad-shouldered, loved fun, and yet had strange\npre-occupied ways. He was fond of playing strange tricks upon the\nlittle ones, and was known by them all as: \u201cthe\u2014queer uncle.\u201d\n\nIndeed he did not confine his experiments wholly to the small folks.\n\nOne evening he came into the sitting-room where his sister was, his\nface pale, with great drops of perspiration upon it, and his whole body\nshaking as with ague. She asked him what the matter was, and then said\nshe was glad if he who had been frightening other people all his life,\nwas really frightened himself. It was sometime before he could speak.\nAt last he said he would tell her what had happened as well as he could.\n\nHe went into the woods and found a large tree (Beech, I think) standing\nalone.\n\nHaving tied his handkerchief around it, he placed his back against\nthe tree and took so many paces in a straight line away from it.\nThen without looking towards the tree he walked three times around\nit\u2014keeping the circle as nearly as possible. The night was very calm\nwith a beautiful full moon.\n\nAfter he had been round it once, there appeared to be no change. The\nsecond time the wind began to blow, and before he had completed the\nthird circuit, the moon was overcast and the wind blew a gale. When he\nhad reached the point, for the third time, from which he first started,\nhe turned and faced the tree. Soon the wind ceased to blow, and the\nmoon shone clear. Then, coming in an opposite direction, he saw a young\nlady approaching the tree.\n\nShe walked directly to it, untied the handkerchief and brought it to\nhim and then disappeared on the spot. Upon concluding his narrative he\nsaid if ever he should meet that girl he should know her. The moonlight\nfell upon her face so that each feature was distinctly visible.\n\nSix months later business called him to another town. While waiting in\nthe parlor of the Hotel, before being called to dinner, the lady he had\nseen in the forest walked into the room.\n\nSometime after he obtained an introduction, and eventually became\nengaged. One day while discussing different matters, he told her of his\nsingular experience in the woods.\n\n\u201cWhy\u201d said she \u201cat that very time I had a most singular feeling, and\nfainted.\u201d Her mother was appealed to and corroborated the fact. She\nsaid she was unconscious for such a length of time they thought her\ndead.\n\nThe day of the month and the hour corresponded exactly with the time\nthe lady untied the handkerchief and brought it to him in the forest.\n F.\u202fC.\n\n\n REVIEWS AND NOTES.\n\nTHE THEOSOPHIST for October is a notably good number of that admirable\nmagazine. Madame Blavatsky contributes the leading article, \u201cAncient\nMagic in Modern Science,\u201d the reading of which makes us eager for the\npublication of her \u201cSecret Doctrine,\u201d the first volume of which, we\nlearn, will soon be ready for publication.\n\nMohini M. Chatterji contributes a short article on \u201cMother Ganga,\u201d and\nhis strong tale, \u201cSowing and Reaping,\u201d is concluded.\n\nMaurice Fredal writes of Apollonius of Tyana, anent Mr. Tredwell\u2019s\nvaluable book on the Master. It is a \u201ccoincidence\u201d that the October\nnumbers of both _The Theosophist_ and THE PATH should contain articles\non Apollonius, the two complementing each other. It has been said that\nthe teachings of Apollonius will have much to do in the new religion\nwhich is destined to become the leading faith of the world.\n\nCol. Olcott has a highly interesting article on \u201cPhantom Pictures in\nthe Astral Light,\u201d in which the various traditions of \u201cThe Flying\nDutchman\u201d are given prominence, and mention is made of a phantom ship\nseen from the man-of war which carried the two sons of the Prince of\nWales on their voyage around the world.\n\nTwo articles of this issue are contributed from Chicago\u2014a thoughtful\nessay on \u201cTheosophy and Theosophists\u201d by M.\u202fM. Phelon, and \u201cA World-Old\nStory Still Unlearned,\u201d by M.\u202fL. Brainard, the Secretary of the\nChicago Branch; an allegory that will take, and repay, much pains\nto discover its true significance. \u201cSome Hypnotic Experiments\u201d is a\nvaluable scientific article, and Miss L.\u202fS. Cook\u2019s ideas \u201cOn Prayer\u201d\nwill probably meet approval among all Theosophists, who object only\nto the common forms of prayer, such as those designed to be \u201cheard of\nmen\u201d like the prayers offered up in churches, and also the requests of\npeople for divine favors which they have done nothing to merit.\n\nThe Unpublished Writings of Eliphas Levy, a mine of occult information,\nare continued, and an article on Raj Yoga will be appreciated by\nstudents of Indian philosophy.\n\nMADAME BLAVATSKY: INCIDENTS IN HER LIFE. Edited by A.\u202fP. Sinnett.\n(_London, 1886._) Price, $3.00. These memoirs are of absorbing\ninterest, containing as they do authentic narratives written by the\nrelatives and friends of Madame Blavatsky. They are divided into ten\nchapters, beginning with her childhood and ending with the present\ntime when she rests in sickness in Germany, and bristle with stories\nof the most extraordinary character. Read in connection with the first\narticle in the present number of this magazine, they become of greater\ninterest. At page 257 Mr. Sinnett says she was not able to foresee\nthe annoyances in the future. But we think she could see those quite\nclearly, and therein lay one of her constant trials: that she might\nsee those troubles to come and yet refrain from trying to avert them.\nInquirers can purchase the book through THE PATH.\n\n * * * * *\n\n ANNOUNCEMENT.\n\n_We beg to announce that with this date we sever our partnership._ THE\nPATH _henceforth will be the exclusive property and under the sole\nmanagement of Mr. William Q. Judge_.\n WILLIAM Q. JUDGE,\n_New York, Dec. 1, 1886._ ARTHUR H. GEBHARD.\n\n * * * * *\n\n \u201cThere is a living creature in heaven which by day has \u201cTruth\u201d upon\n its forehead, by which the angels know it is day; but in the evening\n it has \u201cFaith\u201d on its forehead, whereby the angels know that night is\n near.\u201d\u2014_From the Kabbalistic book, Kitzur-Sh\u2019lh, fol. 42, col. 2._\n\n OM!\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[147] Bagavad-Gita.\n\n[148] Milton.\n\n[149] Bible.\n\n[150] Light of Asia.\n\n[151] Browning.\n\n[152] _Bri-Up._ 1. Adh., 4 Brah., 7.\n\n[153] \u2018We take no notice of time save by its loss\u2019, _i. e._ its passage\nor motion.\n\n[154] _Isis Unveiled_, vol. I.\u202fp. 507, _et seq._\n\n[155] Pymander, p. 33, _et seq._, edition of 1650.\n\n[156] IV Book, p. 60.\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n But there is another invisible eternal existence, higher, deeper,\n innermost; not like this life of sense, escaping sight, unchanging.\n This endures when all created things have passed away. This is the\n highest walk and very supreme abode.\u2014_Bagavad-Gita_, ch. 8.\n\n Hear the secret of the wise. Be not anxious for subsistence; it is\n provided by the maker. When the child is born the mother\u2019s breasts\n flow with milk. He who hath clothed the birds with their bright\n plumage will also feed thee.\u2014_Hitapodesa._\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. JANUARY, 1887. NO. 10.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n THE ELEMENTALS, THE ELEMENTARY SPIRITS,\n\n AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM AND HUMAN BEINGS.\n\n _A paper read before the Aryan Theosophical Society of New York,\n December 14th, 1886._\n\n BY C.\u202fH. A. BJERREGAARD.\n\nThe subject of my paper is \u201c_The Elementals, the Elementary Spirits,\nand the relation between them and human beings_.\u201d\n\nI will endeavor to give an outline of some of the teachings of the\noccult science relative to these beings, their relationship to the\nuniversal powers and to us, and our power over them.\n\nIn the general statement I shall probably not be able to say anything\nnew to students of the occult forces of nature, except it be in the\nillustrations I shall bring forth from what I consider new sources,\nfrom Leibnitz\u2019s Monadology, namely:\n\nIn Leibnitz\u2019s Monads, I think we may see the very substance of the\nastral sphere, in which the elementary spirits \u201cwrap themselves,\u201d\naccording to a statement in the Kabbala. We may even see more, we may\neven look upon them as the Elementals themselves.\n\nIf Leibnitz\u2019s Monads may be considered not only as Elementals, but\nalso the very substance of the astral sphere, and if it be so, that\naccording to the Zohar, \u201cthe spirits, when they come down clothe\nthemselves with air, or wrap themselves in elements,\u201d then it becomes\na subject of the greatest importance to us how or by what means we\nmay influence the astral sphere, or in other words, it becomes very\nimportant by _what kind of Monads_ we are surrounded.\n\nAs a help to the proper consideration of this momentous question, I\nshall offer some information regarding the natural auras or objective\nspheres, that surround us, and also some historic facts regarding the\nuse of aromatic vapors, odors, &c.\n\nHaving come so far with my paper, I shall say a few words about our\npower over the elementals \u201cclothed with air and wrapped in elements,\u201d\nby defining the power of _Mind_ and by describing those\u2014almost\nunknown\u2014small nerve centres of the human hand, called _the Pacinian\ncorpuscles_.\n\nI shall only stop to define these two tools, the _head_ and the _hand_,\nand leave out, for the present, the third of the human trinity, the\n_heart_.\n\nHaving defined the power of mind and the hand, I shall come to a close\nwith a few suggestions as to the use of these powers regarding the\nsubject under consideration.\n\n * * * * *\n\n_Elementary Spirits_ are defined in \u201cIsis Unveiled\u201d to be \u201cthe\ndisembodied _souls_. The depraved souls have at some time prior to\ndeath separated from themselves their divine spirits, and so lost their\nchance for immortality. Eliphas Levi and some other Kabbalists make\nlittle distinction between elementary spirits who have been men, and\nthose beings which people the elements, and are the blind forces of\nnature.\u201d\n\nThe points to mark in this definition are these: (1) Elementary Spirits\nare disembodied _souls_; (2) they are disembodied souls of _the good_,\nand (3) of _the depraved_, _i. e._, of those, in whom the higher\nprinciples have never been developed, nor even born into light. They\nare the _shades_ of those who, by their sins and moral misery, have\nclosed the most interior principles of the constitution of man, and\nhaving closed the door against them, have no part in life, but sooner\nor later become dissolved and disintegrated in the surrounding elements.\n\nIn the manifestations common among Spiritualists, these Elementary\nSpirits play the most prominent parts. The Elementals do not. We shall\nconcern ourselves mainly with the Elementals.\n\n_Elementals_ are defined in \u201cIsis Unveiled\u201d as \u201cthe creatures _evolved_\nin the four kingdoms of earth, air, fire, and water, and called by\nthe Kabbalists gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and undines. They may be\ntermed the forces of nature, and will either operate effects as the\nservile agents of general law, or may be employed by the disembodied\nspirits\u2014whether pure or impure\u2014and by living adepts of magic and\nsorcery, to produce desired phenomenal results. _Such beings never\nbecome men._\u201d\n\nThey are in popular mythology and folktales called by a great many\nnames, peris, fauns, elves, brownies, nixies, &c., &c.\n\nThey are not disembodied human spirits, but distinct Creations. They\nhave their homes in the astral sphere but are found commonly on earth.\n\nThe definition already given from \u201cIsis Unveiled\u201d I will amplify by a\nfew lines I have extracted and translated from the various works of\nParacelsus:\n\n\u201cAll elements have a soul and are living. The inhabitants of the\nelements are named _Saganes_ (Saganae), _i. e._, elements. They are\nnot inferior to men; they differ from men by having no immortal soul.\nThey are the powers of Nature, _i. e._, _they are the ones who do that\nwhich is usually ascribed to Nature_. We may call them beings, but they\nare not of Adam\u2019s kin. They eat and drink such substances as in their\nelement serve for eating and drinking. They are clothed, they marry and\nmultiply themselves. They can not be incarcerated, and die like the\nanimals, having no soul.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey know all that is going on, and do often reveal it to men, who\nare able to converse with them. But they are very unreliable, and some\nare very treacherous. They like children and simple minded persons the\nbest. They avoid drunken and beastly men. They reveal more of their\nnature to the simple minded and innocent ones than to the learned and\narrogant ones. They are rather simple minded themselves.\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are more women among them than men, and a congregation of women\nis called a Venus-mount. The fable told about Tannhauser is no mere\ntale, it is true.\u201d\n\nThus far, we have, perhaps, no difficulty in following Paracelsus, but\nwhen we read further into his revelations, our common sense fails to\ncomprehend the mysteries laid open. Yet, I will say for myself, that\nthough I can not comprehend it, I can readily apprehend such a state of\nthings as that described in the following words:\n\n\u201cThey can come to us and mix with our society. They can bear us\nchildren; but such children do not belong to them, _they belong to us_.\nWe may bring these elemental wives to us by faith, pure thinking and\nour image-making powers. When they enter our sphere of existence and\ncopulate with us, they appear, on account of their strange manners,\nlike gods.\u201d\n\n\u201cThose that live in the water are called Nymphs or Undines, those in\nthe air Sylphs, those of the earth Pygmies or Gnomes, those of the fire\nSalamanders. Nymphs or Undines look much like human beings, the others\ndiffer more or less.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is particularly the Undines or Nymphs that unite with men. When an\nUndine marries a man, both she and her child become souls.\u201d\n\nFrom the Kabbala we can draw many statements corroborating the\ntestimony of Paracelsus. In fact all the most valuable teachings we\npossess, relative to Elementals, as far _as they are printed and given\nto the public_, are derived from the Kabbala. According to it all\nactivity, all events, in History and in Nature, are in the hands of\nspirits, either Elementals or Elementary. We find them as ministering\neverywhere, from the Zodiac down to the smallest worm. We find them\nmentioned by name, those of the sphere of the Shechina as well as those\npresiding over the four elements.\n\nIn _Jalkut Chadash_ it is stated: \u201cThere is not a thing in the world,\nnot the least herb, over which is not set a spirit.\u201d\n\nThe Kabbalistic work _Berith Menucha_ (by Abraham, a son of Isaac, a\nJew from Granada), their names are given:\n\nThe spirit that presides over fire is named _Jehuel_, and under him\nrange seven other spirits. Prince _Michael_ is set over water, and\nunder him rule seven other spirits. _Jechiel_ rules over the wild\nanimals and these rule under him. _Anpiel_ rules over the birds and two\nprinces rule beside him. _Hariel_ controls the cattle and besides him\nthree spirits. _Samniel_ rules the creatures of earth and water and\n_Mesannahel_ the worms. _Deliel_ together with three princes command\nthe fishes; _Ruchiel_ and three others, the winds; _Gabriel_, the\nthunder; _Nariel_, the hailstorm; _Maktuniel_, the rocks and _Alpiel_\nthe fruitful trees, while _Saroel_, the unfruitful. _Sandolfon_ governs\nmen.\n\nThese names are important, as you know, for they are the key to the\nrespective powers of each of these spirits.\n\nAs stated in \u201cIsis Unveiled,\u201d Eliphas Levi and other Kabbalists make no\nor very little distinction between Elementals and Elementary Spirits.\nThis cannot be right by Levi to do. There are essential differences.\nThe _Elementals never become men, nor were they ever men_. The\nElementary spirits as defined by Levi resemble very much such spirits\nas those we are familiar with in ordinary spiritism. I shall in this\npaper only give them a passing notice and speak about the Elementals\nmainly.\n\nFrom the definition already given, it is evident that the Elementals\nexist in a great variety of forms, some are mere forces of nature, pure\nabstract beings; others have some kind of body, at least, when we speak\nof gnomes, sylphs, undines, &c., we represent them in figures more or\nless human.\n\nIn the Kabbala and other Jewish secret books and traditions, the\nElementals are represented as a middle race of beings, which, by a\ngeneral name, the Jews called _Schedim_ (the male Ruchin and the female\nLilin). They are really the lowest and the dregs of the spiritual\norders. They are divided into four classes: (1) Those of Fire; these\ncannot be seen with the eye; they mean to do good, and often help men.\nThey understand the Thora and have communion with the angelic world.\nThey are masters of many of nature\u2019s secrets.\n\nIt was these beings which Solomon employed, according to Mohammedan\ntraditions, in erecting the temple. We are told,[157] that \u201che obliged\nthe male genii to erect various public buildings, among others also,\nthe temple. The female genii he obliged to cook, to bake, to wash, to\nweave, to spin, to carry water, and to perform other domestic labors.\nThe stuffs they produced Solomon distributed among the poor.\u201d\n\nMuch curious information can be had from these Mohammedan traditions.\nSolomon, we are told, once asked an Elemental, who appeared to him\nin the form of a fish, as to how many there were of that kind, and\nreceived the following reply: \u201cThere are of my species alone, seventy\nthousand kinds, the least of which is so large that thou would appear\nin its body like a grain of sand in the wilderness.\u201d\n\nWe are further told, that Solomon, by means of a certain stone, \u201chad\ndominion over the kingdom of spirits, which is much greater than that\nof man and beasts, and fills up the whole space between the earth and\nheaven.\u201d Part of these spirits believe in the only God, but others are\nunbelieving. Some adore the fire; others the sun; others, again, the\ndifferent stars; and many of them even water. The first continually\nhover round the pious, to preserve them from evil and sin; but the\nlatter seek in every possible manner to torment and to seduce them,\nwhich they do the more easily, since they render themselves invisible,\nor assume any form they please. Solomon desired to see the genii in\ntheir original form. An angel rushed like a column of fire through the\nair, and soon returned with a host of demons and genii, whose appalling\nappearance filled Solomon, spite of his dominion over them, with\nhorror. He had no idea that there were such misshapen and frightful\nbeings in the world. He saw human heads on the necks of horses, with\nasses\u2019 feet; the wings of eagles on the dromedary\u2019s back; and the\nhorns of the gazelle on the head of the peacock. Astonished at this\nsingular union, he prayed the angel to explain it to him: \u201cThis is the\nconsequence,\u201d replied the angel, \u201cof their wicked lives and their\nshameless intercourse with men, beasts and birds; for their desires\nknow no bounds; and the more they multiply, the more they degenerate.\u201d\n\n(2) The second group consists of those of Fire and Air; they are lower\nin order than the former, those of Fire, but they are good and wise.\nThey are also invisible. They inhabit, like the former, the upper\nregions.\n\n(3) The third group consists of those of Fire, Air and Water, they are\nsometimes visible to our senses.\n\n(4) The fourth class is also made of Fire, Air and Water, but have\nbesides an element of Earth in their constitution. They may be fully\nseen by human eyes.\n\nThis class and those of the third are of a wicked disposition and\ndeceive men, and are glad to do us harm. They have no moral sense\nat all. Some of them live in the waters, some in the mountains and\ndeserts, and some in filthy places. Some of them are hideous to look\nupon, and are said to be met with even in open daylight.\n\nThe two first classes mentioned stand bodily next to men and are very\ndangerous. They possess extraordinary powers, standing, as they do,\nbetween the visible and the invisible worlds. They have some knowledge\nof the future and are particularly wise in regard to natural things.\nSome of these have in the time past been worshipped as gods and\nnational deities. The Kabbala is quite emphatic in warnings against\nthem, saying that they are untrustworthy because \u201ctheir natural\naffinities are towards the lower realms of existence, rather than the\nhigher.\u201d\n\nAll these elementals, whatever class they belong to are subject to\ndissolution. _Their lives are not centred on an eternal principle._\nThey die\u2014and that is the end of them.\n\nIt is also worthy of notice that there is a close parallel between the\nteachings of the Kabbala on this point with that of the _Vishnu Purana_\nregarding the composition of the descending order of emanations.\nAccording to the Kabbala, as we have just heard, the Elementals of\nthe first order were pure Fire, those of the next were Fire plus Air,\nthose of the next Fire, Air, and Water, while those of the lowest order\nconsisted of Fire, Air, Water plus Earth. Each of them as they live on\na lower plane add a new element to their constitution. The same law is\nfound in the groupings of the elements according to the Vishnu Purana.\nThe purest one is Ether and has only one property, sound. The next is\nAir which to sound adds touch; the next is Fire, which to sound and\ntouch adds colour; the next is Water, which to the three former adds a\nfourth, taste; the last is _Earth_, which to all the former adds smell,\nthus possessing five properties.\n\nThe harmony in the teachings of these two authorities, resting as they\ndo on so different a basis is an additional argument for the truths of\ntheir teachings on the main subject.\n\nThus far I have been speaking of _Elementals_ in the commonly accepted\nsense. But, it appears to me that there is another order of beings\nwhich also may be called _Elementals_, though perhaps in another sense.\n\nI mean the ten _Sephiroth_.\n\nThe Kabbala teaches that the _En-Soph_ (the One without end, the\nBoundless) is present in the _Sephiroth_ or \u201cintelligences,\u201d by means\nof which creation is effected.\n\nThese Sephiroth, these \u201cintelligences\u201d or spheres, as they also have\nbeen called, these spiritual substances are emanations from the\n_En-Soph_ in which they existed from all eternity. They are emanations,\nnot creations. A creation implies diminution of strength, but an\nemanation does not, hence the ten Sephiroth form among themselves,\nand with the En-Soph, a strict unity. They are in fact only differing\nfrom the En-Soph in the same way as light differs from its source,\nthe fire. They are boundless on one side of their being, but finite\nmanifestations on the other. They are both infinite and finite.\n\nIt has been stated that the whole world is like a gigantic tree full of\nbranches and leaves, the root of which is the spiritual world of the\nSephiroth; or it is like an immense sea, which is constantly filled by\na spring everlastingly gushing forth its streams. That which thus has\nbeen said about the world applies equally to the Sephiroth. They are\nlike trees rooted in the En-Soph, but blossoming and bearing fruit in\nthe world. They are open within but closed without. Though they partake\nof the divine nature, they are on the outer side the garments of the\nMost High. This _their outer side is their bodily form_, and it is with\nthis _we_ may come in contact.\n\nIt is almost blasphemy to call the outer side of the Sephiroth\nbodily\u2014for body is to us something very low. Let us, therefore,\nbeware of attaching anything low or mean to Body, when we speak of\nthe Sephiroth. Let us bow down and revere, for we are in the presence\nof the Holy, even when we in thought rise to the bodily form of the\nSephiroth.\n\nThe Sephiroth, through the divine power immanent in them, uphold the\nWorld. _They are the Elemental Forces of the World._ Through them\nflows all Power and all Mercy. Yea, the En-Soph is revealed through\nthe Sephiroth, and becomes incarnate in them. It is stated in the\nKabbala that the En-Soph, through various Sephiroth, became incarnate\nin Abraham as love, in Isaac as power, in Jacob as beauty, in Moses as\nfirmness, in Aaron as splendor, in Joseph as foundation, etc.\n\nThe soul, notwithstanding its connection with the body, if it remain\nuncontaminated and pure, is able to ascend to the Kingdom of the\nSephiroth and to \u201ccommand them\u201d. But great mysteries surround the\nsecrets connected with this power, and but few have they been who have\nbeen pious enough and strong enough to be admitted.\n\nThat the Sephiroth are powers, \u201cElementals,\u201d and not individual beings\nis evident from their division into three groups, intelligence,\nanimation and matter.\n\nEach of the three groups is again subdivided, the first into (1) the\nCrown or the inscrutable Height, (2) the creative Wisdom, (3) the\nconceiving Intellect. The result of the combination of the latter two:\nthe creative Wisdom and the conceiving Intellect, is in the Kabbala\ncalled knowledge (= Logos), which certainly shows these three Sephiroph\nto be spiritual substances, rather than individualities according\nto the common acceptation of the term. But it is not enough that\nwe escape the mistakes which we would fall into if we regarded the\nSephiroth as individualities, we must also beware of regarding them as\nmere _abstractions_, which the terms wisdom and intellect might lead\nus into. We shall never arrive at the truth, much less the power of\nassociating with these celestials, until we return to the simplicity\nand fearlessness of the primitive ages, when men mixed freely with the\ngods, and the gods descended among men and guided them in truth and\nholiness.\n\nThe _first_ group of the Sephiroth rests in so sublime an atmosphere\nand so near the Deity, that we can know nothing of their nature or\nactivity.\n\nThe _second_ group of the Sephiroth exercises its power over the moral\nworld, and consists of (1) infinite Grace, (2) divine Justice, and (3)\nBeauty, which is the connecting link between Grace and Justice.\n\nHere again we have to do neither with mere moral states nor with\nabstractions, but with embodiments of living and moving realities.\nHuman eyes can, however, neither see them, nor can human hands touch\nthem, for they are far removed from them, existing as they do on\nanother plane of existence. Yet, he who _keeps his virtue_, and who\nknows the key to the chain of existences, can bring them out from their\nown realm and into his own and cause them to act.\n\nThe _third_ group of the Sephiroth stands in relation to Matter in the\nsame way as the other two stand to the Mind and the Heart, and may be\ncalled _Elementals par excellence_. They are called Firmness, Splendor,\nprimary Foundation and Kingdom.\u2014\n\nI now wish to engage your attention by describing to you Leibnitz\u2019s\nMonads. His monads have all the characteristics of Elementals, at the\nsame time, that they seem to be purely physical molecules. But this\nvery duplicity is an argument for my theory, that Leibnitz\u2019s monad is a\nfaithful definition of an Elemental. If it should be proved that they\nare not Elementals, and I doubt that that can be proved, they will at\nleast serve as _illustrations_ as to what an Elemental is.\n\nLeibnitz[158] formulates his conception of substance in direct\nopposition to Spinozism. To Spinoza substance is dead and inactive,\nbut to Leibnitz\u2019s penetrating powers of mind everything is living\nactivity and active energy. In holding this view he comes infinitely\nnearer the Orient than any other thinker of his day or after him. His\ndiscovery that an _active energy forms the essence of substance_ is a\nprinciple that places him in direct relationship to the seers of the\nEast.\n\nThis fact, that the chief points of Leibnitz\u2019s philosophy are derived\nfrom this conception of an active energy forming the essence of\nsubstance, places it at once in our confidence.\n\nFrom Leibnitz\u2019s _Monadology_ I translate the following paragraphs:\n\n\u00a71. \u201cThe Monad is a _simple substance_, entering into those which are\ncompound; simple, that is to say, without parts.\u201d\n\n\u00a72. \u201cMonads are the veritable Atoms of Nature, in one word, the\nelements of things.\u201d\n\nWhen _Leibnitz_ speaks of atoms it must not be understood that he is\na materialist. He is far from it. Indeed, his system has been called\na spiritualistic _atomistic_. Atoms and Elements to him are SUBSTANCE\nnot _Matter_. They are centres of force or better \u201cspiritual beings,\nwhose very nature it is to act.\u201d These elementary particles are vital\nforces, not acting mechanically, but from an internal principle. They\nare incorporeal or spiritual units, inaccessible to all change from\nwithout, but only subject to internal movement. They are indestructible\nby any external force. Leibnitz\u2019s monads differ from atoms in the\nfollowing particulars, which are very important for us to remember,\notherwise we shall not be able to see the difference between Elementals\nand mere matter.\n\nAtoms are not distinguished from each other, they are qualitatively\nalike, but one monad differs from every other monad, qualitatively;\nand every one is a peculiar world to itself. Not so with the atoms;\nthey are absolutely alike quantitatively and qualitatively and possess\nno individuality of their own. Again, the atoms of materialistic\nphilosophy can be considered as extended and divisible, while the\nmonads are mere \u201cmetaphysical points\u201d and indivisible. Finally, and\nthis is a point where these monads of Leibnitz closely resemble the\nElementals of mystic philosophy, these monads are representative\nbeings. Every monad reflects every other. Every monad is a living\nmirror of the universe, within its own sphere. And mark this, for upon\nit depends the power possessed by these monads, and upon it depends the\nwork they can do for us: in mirroring the world, the monads are not\nmere passive reflective agents, but _spontaneously self-active_; they\nproduce the images spontaneously, as the soul does a dream. In every\nmonad, therefore, the adept may read everything, even the future. Every\nmonad\u2014or elemental\u2014is a looking-glass that can speak.\n\nThe monads may from one point of view be called _force_, from another\n_matter_. To occult science _force_ and _matter_ are only two sides of\nthe same substance.\n\nSuch a doctrine is of course much objected to by people of the modern\nage, who pretend to possess very fine analytical powers, and yet are\nunable to conceive of matter under any other conditions than those\ncognizable by our coarse senses.\n\nThose who have _intellectual_ difficulties in seeing that Brahm is\neverything and everything is Brahm must take this doctrine _on faith_\nfor awhile. A little earnest practice will lead them to see that truth\nis not attained through reflection, but through immediate intuition.\n\nIf we should desire to look upon these monads as matter, I know of no\nbetter comparison than with that which has been called Matter in a\n_Fourth_ state or condition, a condition as far removed from the state\nof gas as a gas is from a liquid.\n\nIf we should desire to look upon these monads as _force_, I know of no\nbetter comparison than with that which Faraday called \u201cRadiant Matter\u201d\nand which by Crooke\u2019s experiments has been shown to be so much like\nmere _force_, or matter completely divested of all the characteristics\nof bodies that its physical properties have been so modified that it\nhas changed nature and appears under the _form_ of force.\n\nIn \u00a78 of the Monadology Leibnitz declares that \u201cThe Monads have\n_qualities_\u2014otherwise they would not even be entities.\u201d The qualities\nattributed to them make them appear very much like living rational\nbeings. I am disposed to look upon them as upon those little beings\nrepresented by Raphael, as heads resting upon a pair of wings: pure\nintelligence, or spirits who have not yet attained to bodily life. If\nthey have not a _thinking_ soul, they are at least forces that resemble\nlife. Continuing, Leibnitz (\u00a711) says: \u201cWe might give the name of\n_Perfection_ (Entelechies) to all monads inasmuch as there is in them\na certain Completeness or Perfection. There is a sufficiency which\nmakes them the sources of their own internal actions, and, as it were,\nincorporeal automata.\u201d Says Leibnitz: (\u00a719) \u201cIf we choose to give the\nname of soul to all that has perceptions and desires, in the general\nsense which I have just indicated, all simple substances or monads may\nbe called souls.\u201d\n\nYou see these infinitesimal beings are regarded by the great\nphilosopher very much like intelligent existences; and yet they are\nvery far removed from our conceptions of soul-life and existence. They\nare like the Elementals of the Kabbala: they never become men.\n\nContinuing his definitions, he says (\u00a760): \u201cThe monads are limited, not\nin the object, but in the mode of their knowledge of the object.\u201d That\nis, the objective would have no power over them, but they themselves\nhave only a limited knowledge of the objectivity, hence also a limited\npower. But that does not preclude the possibility of their being the\nmeans of the greatest influence upon the objective world\u2014in the hands,\nnamely, of an intelligent human being or spirit. \u201cThey all\u201d, says\nLeibnitz, \u201ctend (confusedly) to the infinite, to the whole; but they\nare limited and distinguished by the degrees of distinctness in their\nperception.\u201d\n\nNow I quote (\u00a762) a sentence that re\u00ebchoes the most beautiful\nphilosophy of the Orient. Leibnitz has seen as distinctly as the old\nnature worshippers of the early Aryans, that \u201cevery monad represents\nthe entire universe.\u201d This short sentence is the key to all mystical\nphilosophy and to all magic; it is only second to such sentences as\nthese: \u201cGod dwells in all things in His fullness,\u201d (Vemana verse), and\n\u201cThe world is the image of God,\u201d (Sufi philosophy).\n\nIt is a common mistake in the world to believe that God and his truth\nis only to be found in the Grand, in the Large, in the infinitely large.\n\nIn opposition to this, much of our mystical and esoteric philosophy\npoints to the infinitely _Small_, declaring, that if we can become\nhumble enough to descend to nature\u2019s workshop, we shall learn more\nfrom the \u201catoms in space\u201d upon which God let fall a \u201cbeam of his\nglory,\u201d than from all the magnificent systems of the learned. Hear what\nLeibnitz himself says, though he is not a mystic. He ought to have\nbeen, for his insight was truly remarkable. He declares: (\u00a766) \u201cThere\nis a world of creatures, of living things, of animals, of Perfection\nof souls, in the minutest portion of matter.\u201d (\u00a767) \u201cEvery particle of\nmatter may be conceived as a garden of plants, or as a pond full of\nfishes\u2014all swarming with life!\u201c\n\nKeep this in mind, that I am not talking about _atoms of_ MATTER,\nbut of _atoms of substance_, real unities, the first principles in\nthe composition of things. _Leibnitz_ himself, besides calling these\ncorpuscular units Monads, has also called them _Metaphysical points_,\nand _Scaliger_ called them _seeds of eternity_, and a Persian poet has\nput it very clearly before us, that an atom is not a unit, by saying,\n\u201d_Cleave an atom, and you will find in it a Sun_.\u201d Here is the kernel\nof our subject, the substance of an atom in space is the storehouse of\nthe immanent forces to which elementals, and elementary spirits to some\nextent, have access, and by means of which they work.\n\nThis view is fully corroborated by a representative of modern science,\nSir John F.\u202fW. Herschel, who has approached very near to the teachings\nof occult science by declaring the presence of mind in atoms. In the\n_Fortnightly Review_ of 1865, Sir John Herschel stated as follows:\n\u201cAll that has been predicated of Atoms, \u2018the dear little creatures,\u2019\nas Hermione said, all their hates and loves, their attractions and\nrepulsions, _according to the primary laws of their being_, only\nbecomes intelligible when we assume the presence of MIND.\u201d\n\nThese various definitions of the Monads as given by Leibnitz, answer\nin many important points exactly to what we find in occult teachings\nabout the Elementals, and I can see no good reason why we should not\nlook upon Leibnitz\u2019s Monadology as a work on Elementals.\n\nWe are really done with him as far as our subject is concerned, but\nbefore dismissing him to turn to other wisdom, permit me to quote a few\nmore passages, though they do not bear directly upon the subjects of\nmonads. He says (\u00a783-86): \u201cAmong other differences which distinguish\nspirits from ordinary souls, there is also this: \u2018That souls in general\nare living mirrors, or images of the _universe of creatures_, but\nspirits are, furthermore, images of Divinity itself, or of the Author\nof Nature, capable of cognizing the system of the universe, and of\nimitating something of it by architectonic experiments, each spirit\nbeing, as it were, a little divinity in its own department.\u2019\u2014Hence\nspirits are able to enter into a kind of fellowship with God.\u2014All\nspirits constitute the City of God\u2014that is to say, the most perfect\nstate possible under the most perfect of monarchs.\u2014The City of God,\nthis truly universal monarchy, is a moral world within the natural; and\nit is the most exalted and the most divine among the works of God.\u201d\n\n (_To be continued._)\n\n\n WHAT IS THE \u201cTHEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY\u201d?\n\nThe subjoined extracts from the writings and public utterances of some\nof the leading members of the Theosophical Society will it is believed\nthrow considerable light on the issues raised in Dr. Hartmann\u2019s article\nin the number for October entitled \u201cWhat is the Theosophical Society\u201d;\nnot so much perhaps as testing the validity of his observations as\nexpanding their scope, and throwing into relief the true character of\nthe Theosophical Society. Anything done or said by anybody without\nexception, not in harmony with the spirit of these extracts is entirely\nwithout binding power on the Theosophical Society or any of its members.\n\n UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD THE MAIN OBJECT OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.\n\nIn support of this assertion it may be noticed that in the April number\nof the Theosophist for the year 1880 in the extract of the rules of\nthe Society as given in 1879, it is alternatively described as the\nTheosophical Society or Universal Brotherhood, and further stated\nthat \u201cThe Theosophical Society is formed upon a basis of a Universal\nBrotherhood.\u201d\n\nIn March, 1880, in a speech by R\u00e1o B\u00e1h\u00e1dur Gop\u00e1lr\u00e1o Hurry Deshmuk,\nthe Society is described in the following words: \u201cThis Society was\nestablished in America four years ago (_i.e._ in 1875) and its object\nis to inquire into the philosophies of the East, to announce the\nbrotherhood of man, and to create the bonds of fellowship among nations\nand sects of different denominations.\u201d\n\nIn the June number of the _Theosophist_ for 1881, the name of the\nSociety is again put forward as, \u201cUniversal Brotherhood\u201d and its first\nobject is stated to be\u2014To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood\nof Humanity.\n\nThe same sentiment is to be found enunciated by Mr. Sinnett in a\nspeech made on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the Society.\nHe says: \u201cBut even this philosophical search for truth is hardly\nthe primary object of the Society. That object is promoted by the\nphilosophical search for truth, as I hope directly to show, that object\nitself is that pressed in the foremost watchword of the Society,\nUniversal Brotherhood.\u201d (_Supplement Theosophist, January, 1883._)\n\nIn the last edition of his lectures, published in 1885, Col. Olcott\nquotes a passage from Lange\u2019s \u201cHistory of Materialism\u201d p. 361, in which\nit is stated:\u2014\u201cThat the new epoch will not conquer unless it be under\nthe banner of a great idea which sweeps away egoism, and sets human\nperfection in human fellowship as a new aim in the place of reckless\ntoil, which looks only to personal gain.\u201d Col. Olcott then proceeds:\n\u201cIt is to such an idea as this that the Theosophical Society seeks to\ngive a formal if not already a quite practical expression,\u201d p. 30.\nFurther on in the same book, p. 117, he states \u201cOur Society might have\nadded to the name \u2018Theosophical\u2019 that of \u2018Philadelphian\u2019 as it was\nalways meant to be a Society of Universal Brotherhood and for promoting\nbrotherly love among all races.\u201d\n\nIn No. 8, Transactions of the London Lodge Theosophical Society, Mr.\nMohini M. Chatterji, in a paper \u201cOn the Theosophical Society and its\nWork,\u201d after enumerating the three objects of the Society, makes the\nfollowing observation:\u2014\u201cOf these three the first (_i.e._ Universal\nBrotherhood) is to be looked upon as the crown and end, the other two\nare merely accessories and means. Every member of the Theosophical\nSociety must be inspired by that end, but may or may not be interested\nin the other two objects.\u201d\n\nA letter from Dewan Bahadoor Ragoonath Row published in the\n_Theosophist_ for March, 1884, and quoted in the same \u201cTransaction,\u201d\nstill further accentuates this position. He says:\u2014\u201cTheosophy, as\nunderstood by me, is made up of three elements, viz, universal\nbrotherhood, knowledge of truths discovered by science generally known\nto the ordinary scientist, and knowledge of truths still in store for\nthem. It may be described in another way, viz, \u2018universal religion\nand science reconciled.\u2019 To be a Theosophist he must acknowledge and\npractice universal brotherhood. If he is not prepared to admit the\nprinciple, he cannot be a Theosophist. In addition to this, he should\nbe a student of truths generally known, of course to the extent of\nhis capacity. He should, besides, be a searcher of truths hitherto\nunknown. If he be all these three, he is undoubtedly a Theosophist. It\nis, however, possible that one may not be capable of knowing scientific\ntruths, extant or prospective, and yet may be able to recognize and\npractice universal brotherhood; he is still a Theosophist. No one who\ndoes not admit and practice universal brotherhood, though he be a\nscientist of the first degree, can ever be a Theosophist.\u201d\n\nIn the last published report (1886) of the Rules of the Theosophical\nSociety it will also be seen that the first object of the Society is\nagain stated as the promotion of a \u201cUniversal Brotherhood of Humanity.\u201d\n\nIt is evident from these extracts, dating from the first formation of\nthe Society to the present year, that Universal Brotherhood has been\nthe one and only constant object of the Theosophical Society. The\nother objects which have at different times been added to this can\nonly be looked upon as additions forming no part of the basic nature\nof the original, admissible only on the principle of toleration but\nin no sense binding on the Society. Whatever may be the statement put\nforward by individuals, from the President to the youngest member of\nthe Society, or by any groups of individuals, such statements ought to\nbe considered as representing individual opinion only and as having no\nauthoritative legislation over the members of the Society.\n\n THE UNSECTARIAN CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY.\n\nThis point which is the logical outcome of the former position, is\nlikewise as clearly enunciated in Theosophical literature.\n\nIn October, 1879, in an article entitled \u201cWhat are Theosophists,\u201d which\nhas since been acknowledged by Madame Blavatsky, it is stated:\n\n\u201cWith how much, then, of this nature-searching, God-seeking science\nof the ancient Aryan and Greek mystics, and of the powers of modern\nspiritual mediumship, does the Society agree? Our answer is:\u2014with\nit all. But if asked what it believes in, the reply will be:\u2014\u2018_as a\nbody_\u2014Nothing.\u2019 The Society, as a body, has no creed, as creeds are but\nthe shells around spiritual knowledge; and Theosophy in its fruition\nis spiritual knowledge itself\u2014the very essence of philosophical and\ntheistic enquiry. Visible representative of Universal Theosophy, it\ncan be no more sectarian than a Geographical Society, which represents\nuniversal geographical exploration without caring whether the explorers\nbe of one creed or another. The religion of the Society is an\nalgebraical equation, in which so long as the sign = of equality is not\nomitted, each member is allowed to substitute quantities of his own,\nwhich better accord with climatic and other exigencies of his native\nland, with the idiosyncracies of his people, or even with his own.\nHaving no accepted creed, our Society is very ready to give and take,\nto learn and teach, by practical experimentation, as opposed to mere\npassive and credulous acceptance of enforced dogma. It is willing to\naccept every result claimed by any of the foregoing schools or systems,\nthat can be logically and experimentally demonstrated. Conversely it\ncan take nothing on mere faith, no matter by whom the demand may be\nmade. * *\n\n\u201cBorn in the United States of America, the Society was constituted on\nthe model of its Mother Land. The latter, omitting the name of God from\nits constitution lest it should afford a pretext one day to make a\nstate religion, gives absolute equality to all religions in its laws.\nAll support and each is in turn protected by the state. The Society,\nmodelled upon this constitution, may fairly be termed a \u2018Republic of\nConscience.\u2019\n\n\u201cWe have now, we think, made clear why our members, as individuals, are\nfree to stay outside or inside any creed they please, provided they\ndo not pretend that none but themselves shall enjoy the privilege of\nconscience, and try to force their opinions upon the others. In this\nrespect the Rules of the Society are very strict. It tries to act upon\nthe wisdom of the old Buddhistic axiom: \u2018Honor thine own faith, and do\nnot slander that of others;\u2019 echoed back in our present century, in the\n\u2018Declaration of Principles\u2019 of the Brahmo Samaj, which so nobly states\nthat: \u2018no sect shall be vilified, ridiculed, or hated.\u2019\u201d * * * * *\n\n\u201cIn conclusion, we may state that, broader and far more universal in\nits views than any existing mere scientific Society, it has _plus_\nscience its belief in every possibility, and determined will to\npenetrate into those unknown spiritual regions which exact science\npretends that its votaries have no business to explore. And, it has one\nquality more than any religion in that it makes no difference between\nGentile, Jew or Christian. It is in this spirit that the Society has\nbeen established upon the footing of a Universal Brotherhood.\u201d\n\nIn the supplement of the _Theosophist_, January, 1886, in the Preamble\nor Statement of Principles, first put forth in 1875 are these words:\n\u201cWhatever may be the private opinions of its members, the Society has\nno dogmas to enforce, no creed to disseminate. It is formed neither\nas a Spiritualistic schism, nor to serve as the foe or friend of any\nsectarian or philosophical body. Its only axiom is the omnipotence\nof truth, its only creed a profession of unqualified devotion to\nits discovery and propagation. In considering the qualification of\napplicants for membership, it knows neither race, sex, color, nor creed.\n\nIn the rules of the Theosophical Society, published in 1886, it is also\nstated \u201cThat the Society represents no particular religious creed, is\nentirely unsectarian, and includes professors of all faiths.\u201d\n\nIn the paper before alluded to No. 8, Transactions of the London\nLodge\u2014Mr. Mohini M. Chatterji makes the following remark:\u2014\u201cAll attempts\nto fasten the authority of the Society to any creed, philosophical\nor otherwise, which is not covered by these rules (viz, the printed\nobjects of the Society) are void _ab initio_; not because of the merits\nof such creed or doctrine, or of their exponents, but simply for the\nreason that the Theosophical Society, by its constitution, is not\ncapable of holding any creed or doctrine in its corporate character.\u201d\n\nIt is important that each individual member should clearly realize\nwhat the Theosophical Society is, what its fundamental principles\nand what is required of its members. It has been with the thought of\ngiving further emphasis to the idea set forth by Dr. Hartmann in his\nconcluding paragraph that these few extracts have been put together. A\nlittle attention to these statements will it is believed show the true\ncharacter and purpose of the Theosophical Society and aid people to\ndiscern what is and what is _not_ consistent with that character and\npurpose.\n F.\u202fA.\n\n\n ROTATION-INDIVIDUAL EVOLUTION.\n\n [BY THE AUTHOR OF \u201cLINES FROM LOWER LEVELS.\u201d]\n\nThe paper on \u201cThe Higher Life,\u201d[159] and the remarks which it has\ncalled forth, have led me to further reflections upon the subject. That\nsubject is in fact, Individual Evolution, and the warning expressed\nby Murdhna Joti, in that article about \u201cimpetuously rushing into the\ncircle of ascetics,\u201d opens up an important phase of the topic most\nvital to humanity. For this sentence is not a mere advisory caution; it\npoints out the only available procedure, the one course conducive to\nsuccessful evolution, or final perfection. This course may be briefly\nsummed up in one word,\u2014Rotation. Upon examination we shall find this\nfact proved by the laws governing Universal Brotherhood.\n\nTo begin with, when we take into consideration the personalities of the\nreal Founders of the Theosophical Society, we find ourselves safely\nconcluding that the institution of this principle of Brotherhood as\nthe basis of that Society, did not occur from any arbitrary selection,\nnor yet from ethical or even humanitarian considerations merely. We\nmay say that it was not chosen; it presented itself as a central fact,\none which correlates with all things, and is itself one of the aspects\nof the Great, the Mysterious Law. It must be moreover that level of\nthe Law most nearly related to the human being, and by which alone he\ncan raise himself from this \u201cSlough of Despond\u201d called matter. Upon no\nlesser precedent than this would the Masters, those supreme exponents\nof the Law, proceed. The outcome and teaching of that Law is Unity;\nthe power of Unity is its exoteric expression. (Its hidden expression,\nGreat Spirits alone can declare.) This power is conferred by the\neconomic tendency of Nature, which uniformly moves along the line of\nleast resistance and of larger currents of energy, which draw in turn\nall minor streams of being into their resistless tide. In order to\nbring home to all mankind the primary fact that only as a united body,\nonly by living in and working with and for all, can unbroken advance\nto the Perfect Goal be achieved, this unitarian necessity had to be\nconveyed by a term which would appeal to the untrained, as well as to\nthe cultured mind. No man or woman so grossly ignorant but can sense\nthe advantages of \u201cUniversal Brotherhood,\u201d while the more profound the\nthinker, the more he warms to the sublime comprehensiveness of this\nidea.\n\nMany readers will doubtless recall an italicised sentence in the \u201cDiary\nof a Hindu,\u201d also published in THE PATH. It ran as follows:\u2014\u201c_No Yogee\nwill do a thing unless he sees the desire in another Yogee\u2019s mind._\u201d\nThese were the words of a teacher, and those who may require it have\nhere an authoritative recognition of the need of humanitarian unity.\nFor man\u2019s strength lies in his perfect equilibrium, and by man I now\nmean the whole, triune man. That this fact is also true on the physical\nplane alone, is evidenced by medical testimony to the effect that while\nperfect health is perfect balance, the more complete this balance,\nthe more readily is it disturbed. Thus trained athletes are compelled\nto take dietetic and other precautions, which men of minor strength\ndisregard with apparent impunity. I say \u201capparent,\u201d because the result\nis of course visible in their inferior physical powers. Only when the\ntriune man has attained equilibrium is he a moral force; then alone is\nhe in complete harmony. Harmony with what? With the Law that works for\nperfection or reunion, faith in which and accordance with which, is\nthe sum of the highest consciousness of the human being. Now remember\nthat there is at all times a body, (be it numerically large or small,)\nof individuals cognizing and waiting upon this Law. They perceive\nits tendency, they only act with and through it, and the cumulative\nenergy of this compact body, plus certain impersonal forces, is in\nitself a tremendous power, so vast in fact, that plus the energizing\nspirit again, it may be said to form the exoteric expression of the Law\nitself. Imagine some one member of this body attempting to act from his\nseparate impulse, and not from the general instinct. By disengaging his\nunit of force from the sum total, he at once neutralizes its effect\nand limits its expansive ratio; hence it is that action from self,\nhowever disinterested, is enfeebling in its tendency. This man may join\nhimself to the powers of evil and act in opposition to the Law: he\nhas then the accruing benefit of that energetic total, but this must\nfail in the long run, because it is minus the creative spirit, which\nworks for eventual harmony. So true is it that a given cause produces\nsimilar results on all the planes alike, that in the spiritual as\nin the physical world, there must be united action to produce large\nresults. The inutility of weak, single effort was acknowledged by\nSt. Paul when he said\u2014\u201cBecause thou art neither cold nor hot I will\nspew thee out of my mouth.\u201d Unless the Yogee therefore, perceives an\nidea in other related minds, as the reflection of the Universal mind,\nhe does not act. When the individual mind has freed itself from all\ndesire for personal action and resting in the Universal Mind, acts\npassively with it alone, saying: \u201cI rise with thy rising, with thee\nsubside,\u201d\u2014then the individual has attained Nirvana. So that our present\nunit of power depends upon our greater or lesser assimilation with the\nhighest aggregate of mind, and its continuance, upon our adherence\nto that manifested body of the Universal Mind which works for Good,\nwith faith into the Perfect Law. This body in turn depends upon the\nindividual efforts of its members, for the continuous elevation and\nexpansion of its highest Ideal. Being thus interdependent, I think we\nmay easily recognize that Universal Brotherhood is the starting point\ntowards final success, and that its complete realization is the goal\nitself. Each may attain Omniscience, but only as one of a body, not as\na separate part. \u201cYou shall enter the light, but you shall never touch\nthe flame.\u201d[160] So we may be part of the universal spirit, yet never\nthat spirit itself.\n\nThis Brotherhood then, in its harmonious equilibrium, implies\nsubservience to the Law of Evolution. The course marked out by this\nLaw is one of gradual progression through a series of interlinked\nprocesses, not one of which can be intermitted or dropped, any more\nthan we can omit a link from a chain without break of continuity, which\nwould in this case imply a break of individuality, either as applied\nto a member or to the whole body. We find this course substantiated by\nNature, who is our great initiator. Murdhna Joti\u2019s phrase about not\nrushing \u201cinto the circle of ascetics,\u201d refers to the rotation prevalent\nin Nature, and may be used in a large general sense, and not merely\napplied to any especial circle, such as the Hindu, Mahomedan, Christian\nor other group of ascetics. He refers to the disadvantages consequent\nupon any violation of this rotatory course; these apply quite as\nmuch to the farmer who fails to rotate his crops, as to any thing or\nperson rushing into any plane, before being in all respects fitted to\ngo there. Each plane in itself constitutes a \u201ccircle of ascetics,\u201d\nand must be entered in the proper manner. In every department of Life\nwe meet with an acceptance of this fact. No man is admitted to the\nprivileges of naturalization until he has resided in a country, and\nhas had time to accustom himself to its manners and laws. It is ever\nheld necessary to serve a certain apprenticeship before entering any\nprofession or trade. The social usages even make \u201ccircles of ascetics\u201d\nin this sense. A boor, a ploughman, or even unsuitably attired persons,\nare not desired or admitted in a parlor full of people in splendid\narray, and a natural instinct makes them shrink from entering there.\nWhen exceptions occur, there is an undercurrent of discord perceptible;\nall are alike ill at ease. So in Nature, minerals, plants and animals\nare limited to their proper sphere. Birds cannot swim nor fishes fly.\nI would say, as birds or as fish _per se_ they cannot do so, nor can\nthe boor, as a boor, be at ease with elevated minds. But advancement is\nthe common lot of all, provided it be made step by step in the natural\nseries of succession.\n\nWhat then is this process in practical Life? It is, firstly, the\nidentification of yourself with the highest consciousness accessible on\nyour present plane, the engrafting upon your entire life of the best\nideal attainable, so that you may act upon it in every thought and\nword. If you can do no more, select in your own mind the most unselfish\nand pure-hearted person in your horizon, and study the workings of such\ngracious aspirations and deeds. Noble ideals will soon spring up within\nyou, and by this lodestone similar minds will swiftly be attracted,\nuntil you shall collectively form a nucleus of persons identical in\naim and influence. If one receives a ray of Truth, he will speedily\nreflect it to all, and thus our attainment is largely regulated by that\nof our compeers. Largely, but not entirely. There are exceptional souls\nwho progress with amazing velocity, far outstripping the comrades of\ntheir starting-level. But even these hearts of power reach up to the\nmore perfect spirits above them, and to feel this attraction they must\nhave prepared themselves for it, in the uniform, if rapid, rotation\nof previous existences. Each must trace out the prescribed circuit,\nbut he may travel fast or slow. Let him not rashly conceive himself to\nbe endowed with unusual spiritual momentum: time is better spent in\ncaution than in failure.\n\nMurdhna Joti gives valid warning not to rush in until all is ready. The\ncircle is prepared, but you may not be so. Again, your fitness may be\nassured and the circle for the moment closed. The course of physical\nnature will exemplify my meaning. The blood leaves the heart by the\narteries and goes on to the capillary interchange with the venous\nsystem, even as man descends from Spirit into matter, and at the point\nof choice, turns, and reascends towards Spirit. The veins take up the\nfunction of returning the blood to the heart; in these are valves; they\nreceive, hold and transmit the impulse from the central heart. All the\nblood between any two valves has to stay there until the next impulse\ncomes from the heart; when this arrives, it passes on. The valves close\nbehind each quantum of blood thus ejected through: it is not possible\nfor the blood to recede; retrogression is impeded by the closed valve.\nNor can it remain; progress is imperative when the next impulse\ndrives it forward, and so it goes on to the heart In the same manner\neach person should stay in his appropriate place, not only until he is\nready, but also until the great Heart of all is ready to give the next\nimpulse. Then he will inevitably go on to the next place.\n\nMasters have said that for \u201cchelas and adepts alike there is an abyss\nbehind each step; a door closed. To stop or to go back is impossible.\u201d\nThat which is true for the Adept is true for the humblest disciple,\neach in his own manner and degree. It behooves us then to concentrate\nour attention upon the natural and fitting method of progression, and\nto assist those about us in maintaining a high average of ideality,\nthat the entire body may progress evenly, steadily, and that nowhere\nmay ignorance or undue haste clot or clog the way. In the end, the\nreward of patience is holy. In every effort you make to lighten the\nmind of another and open it to Truth, you help yourself. \u201cThose pearls\nyou find for another and give to him, you really retain for yourself in\nthe act of benevolence. Never lose, then, that altitude of mind. Never,\nnever desire to get knowledge or power for any other purpose than to\ngive it on the altar, for thus alone can it be saved to you. When you\nopen any door, beyond it you find others standing there who had passed\nyou long ago, but now, unable to proceed, they are there waiting;\nothers are there _waiting for you_! Then you come, and opening a door,\nthose waiting disciples perhaps may pass on; thus on and on. What a\nprivilege this, to reflect that we may perhaps be able to help those\nwho seemed greater than ourselves.\u201d[161]\n\nThe consent of the Spirit has hallowed those thoughts. Another\nMessenger of Truth once said:\u2014\u201cThe first shall be last and the last\nfirst; contain yourselves, therefore, in Peace.\u201d\n JASPER NIEMAND, F.\u202fT. S.\n\n\n THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE.\n\n I.\n\nWithin the symbols and doctrines of the Christian Church may indeed\nlie hidden all the truths of the Occult Philosophy, and another and\nabler pen has already traced the correspondences, but it is necessary\nto realize differences as well as likenesses, and while Christianity,\nas a definite system, has embodied for the world many noble ideas, it\nseems to the writer to have been able to display only one fact of the\ndivine jewel of Truth\u2014to have been able to trace only a short line of\nthe celestial circle of Wisdom.\n\nPutting aside all such unphilosophical dogmas, as a personal\nanthropomorphic God\u2014atonement by the vicarious sacrifice of\nanother\u2014eternal damnation and such like, which may be regarded as the\noutworks of the Creed, and which indeed many of its own professors\ndeny or minimize, and coming to the essential kernel of the system\u2014the\ninner stronghold of the faith\u2014that which would be regarded as such by\nall its truest sons throughout these nearly nineteen centuries of its\nexistence, it would yet seem to be but a one-sided statement\u2014a partial\nview\u2014compared with the all-embracing Catholicity of the Occult Wisdom.\n\nUnfortunately the outworks and excrescences above referred to, have,\nduring these many centuries, so warped the thoughts and feelings of\nthe populations professing this religion that it is no longer the pure\nand exalted doctrine as preached by its founder, but something very\ndifferent. There are, no doubt, here and there good and noble souls,\nwho practice the higher virtues of Christianity, but they are in such a\nminority that they are quite unable to affect the popular standard.\n\nWhen one begins to analyse the stupendous outgrowth called Western\nCivilization, of which steam and electricity, in their practical uses,\nmay be regarded as the types, and to ask how and by what means this\nvast fabric has arisen, we are informed by those who are able to see\nbelow the mere surface of things that the setting of men\u2019s minds in a\ncertain direction must have been the factor, and it is only logical\nthat if a man\u2019s highest religious duty is put before him as the saving\nof his own soul from perdition, a tendency of mind which may be\ncharacterized as the supremely selfish must naturally be set in motion.\nWhen the converging lines of heredity through many generations have\nso strengthened this tendency that it has become a potent factor, the\ndevelopment \u201c_in excelsis_\u201d of the purely intellectual faculties as\ndissociated from the moral will be seen to be the inevitable result,\nand from this has naturally evolved the Western Civilization which is\nspoken of with so much pride. But are not nations like trees to be\nknown by their fruits? \u201cDo men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of\nthistles?\u201d\n\nWhat sins are dwelt on with more emphatic reprobation throughout the\nwhole teachings of Christ than those of hypocrisy and cupidity? And\nwhere is hypocrisy deeper than within the Christian fold? So deep\nindeed, that it has become an integral part of the nature, and is no\nmore recognized as a vice than it was by the Pharisees of old. And\nwhere is the worship of mammon more rampant than throughout the length\nand breadth of Christendom? The preachers of the Churches may utter\nfaint-hearted protests, but the nations nevertheless remain prostrate\nbefore their idol, and as steam and electricity extend their sway, and\nnew countries are laid open to modern progress, the more primitive\nraces, to avoid extinction, join in the mad competition for wealth. But\nwhether conspicuously shown in the acts of States lustful to conquer\nfresh territory, or hidden in the individual character, where it\ndisplays itself in the haste to grow rich by fair means or foul, it\nremains none the less a gnawing canker at the heart of Christendom.\n\nWhat a gulf there lies between the practice of modern Europe and the\ndivine teachings of the Master.\n\n \u201cLay not up for yourselves treasures upon Earth, where moth and rust\n doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up\n for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth\n corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where\n your treasure is, there will your heart be also.\u201d\n\n And again: \u201cYe cannot serve God and Mammon.\u201d\n\nThere is probably no teaching more thoroughly altruistic in its\ncharacter, and which, if it could be literally applied, would exercise\nso direct and beneficial an influence on the human race as the teaching\nof Christ, but to the impartial student there seems to be none, the\nspirit of whose revelation has been more perverted and degraded by\nhis followers of all denominations, and following the spiritual law\nwhose complement on the physical plane may be recognized in the axiom\nthat action and reaction are equal, the moral light to which Christ\u2019s\nteachings soared is the measure which decides the depth to which such\nteaching, when perverted, must inevitably fall, and Christendom may\nveritably be said to have become Anti-Christian.[162] All the religions\nof the world have more or less lost the divine afflatus by which they\nwere originally vivified, but it has been reserved for Christianity to\nmould the life of the nations from the very blackness of the shadows\ncast by the \u201cLight of the World.\u201d\n\nWhen we ask to what goal or catastrophe this Western Civilization is\nhurrying, it is still more necessary to have the eyes of those who are\nable to read the signs of the times. The following is an extract from a\nletter to which many of the above ideas may be traced which was signed\n\u201ca Turkish Effendi\u201d (in the absence of any right to suggest the real\nand more authoritative name), and was published by his correspondent in\nBlackwood\u2019s Edinburgh Magazine of January, 1880:\n\n \u201cThe persistent violation for centuries of the great altruistic\n laws propounded and enjoined by the great founder of the Christian\n religion, must inevitably produce a corresponding catastrophe; and the\n day is not far distant when modern civilization will find, that in its\n great scientific discoveries and inventions, devised for the purpose\n of ministering to its own extravagant necessities, it has forged the\n weapons by which it will itself be destroyed. No better evidence of\n the truth of this can be found than in the fact that Anti-Christendom\n alone is menaced with the danger of a great class revolution: already\n in every so-called Christian country we hear the mutterings of the\n coming storm, when labor and capital will find themselves arrayed\n against each other\u2014when rich and poor will meet in deadly antagonism,\n and the spoilers and the spoiled solve, by means of the most recently\n invented artillery, the economic problems of modern \u2018progress.\u2019 It\n is surely a remarkable fact that this struggle between rich and poor\n is specially reserved for those whose religion inculcates upon them\n as the highest law\u2014the love of their neighbor\u2014and most strongly\n denounces the love of money. No country which does not bear the name\n of Christian is thus threatened.\u201d\n\nBut to return from this long digression, take Christianity, I say,\nin its loftiest ideal, as taught and practiced by its founder\u2014and\nit certainly is a very lofty one\u2014altruism in its most sublimated\nform\u2014self-sacrifice incarnate upon Earth\u2014giving of its life-blood to\nraise the sons of men, and drawing all to Him by the sheer force of\ndivine love, until the believer\u2019s heart is set on flame, and nothing\nseems worthy in his eyes short of absolute union with this divine\npersonality who is at once his Saviour, his brother and his God.\n\nYet were you to analyse the thoughts and feelings of the most ecstatic\nsaint, would they display more than an ardent soul, a devout mind and a\nholy life?\n\nThose of the Dualist Philosophy might indeed argue that such an one\nhad his feet well planted on the narrow way\u2014but the students of the\nwider Philosophy of Nature know well that everything on Earth\u2014religion\nincluded\u2014is under the governance of natural law. The attainment of\nperfection is not to be achieved by sentiment alone\u2014_it is a scientific\nprocess_, and knowledge is the supreme enlightener.\n\nThe devotion of Bhakti is indeed a necessary prelude to progress in\nthe religious life, under the guidance of whichever special cult the\nneophyte may aspire, but it is as it were the outer court of the\nTemple, and the Holy of Holies cannot be reached by any save those who\nhave attained knowledge.\n\nWithout some previous study of occult writings, this word knowledge\nwill entirely fail to carry home the idea which it is intended to\nexpress, and let alone the liability to misinterpretation from this\ncause, how can anyone pretend to describe it who has himself none of\nthis knowledge, who has not yet trodden one step of the path that\nleads there, and who can only strain with vague imagination towards\nthe sublime conception of the inmost workings of Nature through her\nmanifold diversity laid bare before the intuitive vision? However,\nalthough it is an act of temerity on the writer\u2019s part, these few words\nmay convey some idea to those who are no further on the path than\nhimself.\n\nWhen the lower states of consciousness have been so welded in\nthe fire of supreme emotion that duty, though involving the most\nappalling sacrifice, is no longer a thing to strive after with pain\nand struggle, but is a natural outcome of the life\u2014the absolute\nexpression of unity with nature\u2014when the higher faculties, emotional,\nethical and intellectual, whose respective functions may be said\nto be the perceiving of the Beautiful, the Good, and the True,\nhave been so merged in one that the Buddhi or divine spark which\nhitherto flickered, becomes a bright, steady, luminous flame\u2014when the\n\u201cExplosion,\u201d as St. Martin called it, has taken place, \u201cby which our\nnatural will is forever dispersed and annihilated by contact with the\ndivine,\u201d\u2014then and then only is one fit to begin to tread the path of\nknowledge.\n\nThat it leads altogether beyond human experience, and entirely\ntranscends what we can conceive is but too apparent.\n\nThe 15th and 16th Rules in the second part of \u201c_Light on the Path_\u201d may\nhelp towards a vague apprehension of what this knowledge means.\n\n15th. Inquire of the earth, the air and the water of the secrets they\nhold for you. The development of your inner senses will enable you to\ndo this.\n\n16th. Inquire of the holy ones of the earth of the secrets they hold\nfor you. The conquering of the desires of the outer senses will give\nyou the right to do this.\n\nAnd the final secret of all may be said to be wrapped up in the mystery\nof \u201cself.\u201d When the knowledge of the individualization of Being is\nreached, man has learned all that this world can teach him, and in the\nwords \u201cKnow thyself\u201d lie folded the ultimate possibilities of Humanity.\nKnowledge is indeed the supreme enlightener.\n\n \u201cThere is no purifier like thereto\n In all this world, and he who seeketh it\n Shall find it\u2014being grown perfect\u2014in himself.\u201d\n\nWhether any intelligible idea as to the knowledge itself can be\nevolved from what is here written\u2014it will at least be apparent that a\ngoodness so exalted as to be scarcely imaginable as a human attribute\nis required as the necessary qualification for the commencement of the\nsearch.\n\nWell did Shelley write in his Prometheus:\n\n \u201cThe good want power but to weep barren tears\n The powerful goodness want\u2014worse need for them.\n The wise want love; and those who love want wisdom.\n And all best things are thus confused to ill.\n Many are strong and rich, and would be just\n But live among their suffering fellow-men\n As if none felt: they know not what to do.\u201d\n\nand the current Theologies of the world have not been able to remove\nthe reproach. In the case of Christianity the failure may, to a great\nextent, be owing to its sentimentality and its failure to realize that\nto be supremely good it is necessary to be wise\u2014though wise with a\nhigher wisdom than that referred to in the above lines.\n\nBut Christianity\u2019s greatest fall has probably been its disregard of\nthe facts of Reincarnation. Whatever interpretation may be put on the\ngreat Master\u2019s utterance on this subject, and however the early church\nmay have regarded it, it is notorious that Christianity, as interpreted\nby its medi\u00e6val and modern professors alike, has entirely ignored\nthe evolution of the soul progressing through innumerable earthly\nexistences, and has instead adopted the illogical and unphilosophic\ndogma of a human soul born into the world from nothingness and meriting\nby its 70 or 80 years of earth-life an Eternity of bliss or an Eternity\nof misery.\n\nBut one does not expect of the child the reason-guided actions of\nmature manhood\u2014its teachings must be given in the form of dogma, to\nwhich it must yield implicit obedience. Nor do we expect the infant\nschool to provide the same training that the University does for the\ncultured intellect. Similarly the various Religions of the world have\nbeen the infant schools for growing Humanity until the complete stature\nof manhood should be reached.\n\nIt has been remarked by some Christians who are much enamored of the\nself-devoted love exhibited by the Founder of their faith, and the\nstrong feeling of personal love and attachment thereby called forth\nfrom them, that Theosophy is cold because it does not dwell exclusively\non that side of the nature, but while each separate Religion that has\nexisted in the world may be regarded as the analysis of one special\ncharacteristic of the mind, the occult philosophy gathers into one\nsynthetical whole all its varied characteristics. The different\nreligions accentuating as they do different truths may be regarded at\nthe same time\u2014according as one looks at them from the scientific or\nreligious standpoint\u2014and both views are equally tenable and mutually\ncomprehensive\u2014as natural evolutions of the peoples among whom they\narose, and as revelations from the unseen universe of partial truths\nwhich have to be received and assimilated before mankind can be fitted\nto comprehend the Supreme Truth in its abstract purity.\n\nIt will be seen from the foregoing that what we call Theosophy is the\nsupreme expression of all Religion, as it is the final synthesis of all\nScience\u2014for it is faith merged in Knowledge.\n\nWhen one looks abroad on the world and sees how few even among the\nReligious, the Cultured and the Intellectual are able to grasp the\nTruth by intuitive vision\u2014while the masses of mankind are sunk in\ndegradation and semi-barbarity, the mind is lost in the vistas of the\nfuture, during which the present Religions or those which may have\ntaken their place will have to continue their work of teaching.\n\nEducation is slow and Evolution is tardy, and the whole circle of\nwisdom is slow to trace; but the march of Nature has been as it was\nbound to be\u2014for the best\u2014and the line of Pope\n\n \u201cOne truth is clear, whatever is is right.\u201d\n\nseems more and more to be borne in upon the mind as an Eternal verity.\n\nDestiny has guided us till now, and has made us what we are, but we\nwho now realize the omnipotence of the divinely guided _Will_, have\nbecome potentially the makers\u2014let us take it in our hands and shape our\nown career, for the sooner we rise to the heights of our Being, the\nsooner shall we be able to stretch down helping hands to the suffering\nHumanity of To-day.\n PILGRIM.\n\n\n TEA TABLE TALK.\n\n THE TENDENCY OF THE PRESENT CIVILIZATION.\u2014AN ANCIENT HINDU STORY.\n\nPretty much every subject comes up for discussion at our afternoon\ntea-table. Hence I was not surprised lately, walking in upon our\nfive-o\u2019clock callers, to find an argument on crime going the rounds\nwith the bread and butter.\n\n\u201cWhat is the worst thing you have seen in the papers lately?\u201d This\nquestion imparted the flavor of caviare to the mild refreshment of the\nladies. The Club Bachelor held a certain divorce case to be\u2014\u2014; the\nmother drowned the rest in the peremptory rattle of her tea-cups and\ninstanced cruelty to the child slave of an Italian padrone. Sue let\noff a pyrotechnic series of wrath-compelling wrongs to animals, whom\nshe considers \u201cmiles above horrid humans.\u201d The widow pilloried that\nbrutal subject of recent press dispatches \u201cwho murdered his fifth wife\nat her tea-table. Fancy! What an invasion of the Sanctuary.\u201d Pretty\nPolly was also heard battling _vi et armis_ with the Medical Student\nover a breach of promise case, and all were moderately heated over\nthese comparative claims to condemnation when the professor entered.\nTumultuously appealed to, he replied in his serious way that if he must\ndiscriminate between evils, he should give precedence to the matter\nof the Chicago Anarchists. First, because of the blood-shed and riot;\nsecond, because of recent manifestations of incipient public sympathy\nwith the criminals. \u201cFor,\u201d said he, \u201cconsidering the infectious nature\nof the evil, a crime which strikes at principles as well as at humanity\nis a thousandfold crime.\u201d\n\nA murmur of approbation showed that as usual, he had conveyed the\nultimate sense of the tea-table,\u2014minus a paltry minority. For the widow\nfixing her eyes on me where I had edged between Polly and the Student,\nremarked that Mr. Julius looked \u201cas if he sympathised with incitors of\nriots rather than with their victims.\u201d\n\nThe prompt horror visible on Polly\u2019s face nettled me into this reply.\n\u201cMadam, your discrimination merits my homage, I am not totally devoid\nof all sympathy with the incitors of riots,\u201d(gutturals of dismay from\nevery throat,) \u201cfor those incitors,\u201d here I bowed in a semi circle,\n\u201care yourselves.\u201d\n\nThe silent indignation of my peers was brought presently home to my\nrecreant soul by the mother\u2019s gentle\u2014\u201cReally, Mr. Julius, you will\nexcuse me if I regret what you have just said.\u201d\n\n\u201cExcuse _me_, you who are Charity itself, and read my clumsy speech\nin the light of a declaration made by a Hindu theosophist\u2014Mr. Mohini:\n\u201cWhence springs the great diversity of conditions, the contemplation of\nwhich breeds Socialism? Is it not the direct outgrowth of the passion\nof acquisitiveness? The more a Western man gets, the more he wants, and\nwhile your world holds to this principle you can never be free from the\ndanger and fear of socialism. The Brotherhood of Man which Jesus Christ\nbelieved in has become unthinkable to you, with your millionaires at\none end of the scale and your tramps at the other.\u201d[163]\n\n\u201cDo I understand you to conclude that Society, being responsible for\ncrime, should permit criminals to go unpunished?\u201d\n\n\u201cBy no means, Professor, but if you will excuse another\nquotation,\u2014\u2018Give moral restraint to moral maladies, and not impious\nchastisements. Do not travel in a bloody circle in punishing murder\nby murder, for so you sanction assassination in one sense and you\nperpetuate a war of cannibals.\u2019 * * Remember the condemned man who\nsaid: \u2018In assassinating I risked my head. You gain; I pay; we are\nquits.\u2019 And in his heart he added: \u2018we are equals.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cWho said that?\u201d queried the widow.\n\n\u201cEliphas Levi, at your service.\u201d\n\n\u201cThanks. I\u2019ve no use for _French morals_!\u201d Under cover of this dart she\nretired. What I love most in woman is her way of retreating from the\nfield of defeat with all the honors of war!\n\n\u201cSeems to me,\u201d said Sue, emerging from a monopoly of tea bun, \u201cthat\nthings are just perfectly awful anyhow.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy Dear! What can you know about it?\u201d remonstrated the mother.\nSue silently pointed a sticky and accusing finger towards those\nphilanthropic journals which cheerfully fulfil their mission of\nhousehold enlightenment] _ad nauseam_.\n\n\u201cThings are as they always were,\u201d said the Professor smoothing his\nphilosophic beard.\n\nThe old Lady ruffled up in her shady corner. \u201cBy no means. When I was\nyoung\u2014\u201d\n\nThe mother looked deprecatingly at me. \u201cMr. Julius, have you never\nwondered why Life should be so dark? And yet there was once a Golden\nAge!\u201d\n\n\u201cThe occultists say that every age has its own characteristics. This is\nKali Yuga, the dark age. In the Satwa Yuga, cycle of causes or truth,\nthe highest of the three conditions or states, known as Satwa Guna,\nprevailed.[164] Consequently in that age, men lived longer, happier and\nmore spiritual lives. In Treta, the second age, prevailed Raja Guna the\nsecond condition, and the life period and happiness of men decreased.\nIn the Dwarapa, (third age) there was less of Raja Guna. In the present\nKali Yuga, there is more of Tamo Guna, and this is the worst of the\ncycles.\n\n\u201cThe characteristics of these grand cycles and the different minor\ncycles are elaborately described in the sacred literature of the\nHindus. If it would not weary you I could tell a story which gives some\nidea of the nature of cyclic influence and how coming events cast their\nshadows before.\u201d\n\nPopular opinion, led by Sue, clamored for the story.\n\n\u201cThis story is taken from a secret sanscrit book, called the Diary of\nthe Pandavas. It gives a diurnal account of the 18 years forest life\nof five exiled princely brothers immediately previous to our dark age.\nThis book contains 18 x 360 stories describing the cumulative tendency\nof sin, and it is said was used in the last yugas as the first book of\nmorals for boys;[165] every story has its moral; the series reveals the\ngenealogy of evil, or of the descent of spirit into matter.\n\n\u201cThe volume is secretly preserved for the training of occultists, and\nthe entire order in which the stories are arranged is only revealed\nduring initiations. An initiate who has passed three initiations and is\npreparing for the fourth, is only shown that series treating of such\nespecial elements of his evil nature as he is then preparing to convert\ninto higher energies. In this story, the five brothers are ideal kings.\nThe eldest is regarded as an embodiment of Dharma, (the Law itself,)\nan incarnation of the God of Justice, yet so strong was the influence\nof the coming dark cycle, that one Adharma, (transgression of law,\ninjustice) occurred daily within the palace. Late one evening the\nMaharaja, (elder brother) had retired and was chatting with his wife.\nThe four younger brothers were as usual respectively guarding the four\npalace gates. Bhima, (the terrible) _wisest_ of the younger brothers\nwas invariably at the chief gate during the first three hours. To him\ncomes a poor injured Brahmin who asks to see the Maharaja immediately\nand knocks the \u201cBell of Complaint.\u201d The Maharaja sends a servant to\nsay that he is in bed and will hear the complaint next morning. The\nBrahmin saw that the shadow of Kali Yuga had come and smiling, turned\naway.[166] But Bhima would not let him go without knowing whether\njustice had been done him. The Brahmin refused to reply; he would not\nsit in judgment nor reveal the king\u2019s faults. Bhima knew from the\npetitioner\u2019s silence that no attention had been paid to his case, and\nordered that a trumpet be sounded and a proclamation be thus issued:\n\u201cStrange that our just brother the Monarch has relied upon to-morrow\nand sacrificed duty to pleasure.\u201d The king heard the cry of the\ntrumpeter and coming hastily on foot, he overtook the Brahmin, fell at\nhis feet, heard and redressed his complaint, then walked sullenly back.\nKali\u2019s influence was thus doubly seen. First in the Monarch\u2019s conduct\nand secondly, in that the younger brother should presume to judge and\nto teach the elder. If even in the palace of the five most law abiding\npersons, Kali played so powerful a part, we may imagine her influence\nin other circles of life, amongst the ignorant, or amongst us later\nmortals now when her momentum has full swing.\u201d\n\nThere was a brief silence. Then a shooting fire ray revealed a divine\ngem in the Mother\u2019s eye and her soft voice said lowly; \u201cAfter all, it\nseems that we _are_ our brother\u2019s keeper.\u201d And no one gainsayed her.\n JULIUS.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNOTE.\u2014Any one desirous of having queries answered, or of relating\nauthentic dreams, experiences, etc., is invited to communicate with\n\u201cJulius, Care THE PATH, P.\u202fO. Box 2659.\u201d No attention will be paid to\nanonymous letters.\n\n\n THEOSOPHICAL WORK IN AMERICA.\n\nBOSTON.\u2014The Boston T.\u202fS. meets every Friday evening. Mr. Mohini M.\nChatterji is stopping quietly with friends in Boston. He is not here\non a public mission, feeling that a different instrument is needed\nfor arousing general interest in Theosophy. He is always glad to see\nTheosophists, however, and has set apart Monday, Wednesday and Friday\nafternoons to receive them and other earnest inquirers. He has a small\nclass in the _Bhagavat-Gita_ Tuesdays and Thursdays. Interest in\noccult subjects is largely increasing this winter. Some experiments\nby Mr. W.\u202fI. Bishop in \u201cThought Transference\u201d have done their share\nin directing public interest that way. It is amusing to observe the\ncrude theories to account for the phenomenon put forward by some of\nthe members of the American Society for Psychical Research, which\nseems to have been organized for the special purpose of not finding\nout anything. One of the members, Rev. Minot J. Savage, however, comes\nout with the declaration that three things are proven beyond doubt;\nThought Transference, Hypnotism, and Clairvoyance. There are rumors of\na notable book by a strictly anonymous author, and of special interest\nto Theosophists, soon to be issued by a Boston publisher.\n\nOn Tuesday evening, December 21, by invitation of a well known\ntheosophist, the Boston and Malden Societies held a largely attended\njoint meeting, to listen to Mr. Mohini Chatterji, who spoke on various\nphases of Theosophy, and with his spiritual insight, eloquence and\nlearning, afforded questioners much light in the course of the\ndiscussion that followed.\n\nIn the field of psychical research much interest has been aroused by\nan able article by Mr. Charles Howard Montague, city editor of THE\nGLOBE, describing the results and nature of experiments by which,\nafter a few days\u2019 trial, he was enabled to accomplish all that was\ndone by Mr. W.\u202fI. Bishop, in his so-called feats of mind-reading. Mr.\nMontague says that it is not \u201cmuscle-reading,\u201d but \u201cimpulse reading,\u201d\nor close attention to unconscious impulses given by the subject. As\nit is absurd to seek a psychical explanation for what proves to be\nphysical phenomena, it is well for the public to know the truth and not\nbe deluded by the claims of Mr. Bishop and other public performers.\nMr. Montague does not pretend to account, by his solutions, for the\nwell-known cases of genuine thought transference.\n\n * * * * *\n\nMALDEN.\u2014A largely attended open meeting of the Malden Branch, T.\u202fS.,\nheld Monday evening, December 6, was addressed by Mohini M. Chatterji\non the Theosophical Aspects of the Christian Religion, based on a study\nof the New Testament. The broad and tolerant attitude of the speaker\nmade a deep impression. At one of the recent previous meetings a record\nof some religious conversations held by the three Zu\u00f1i Indians who\nhave been spending the summer on the neighboring coast with Mr. Frank\nHamilton Cushing, the Ethnologist, was read and discussed, with one of\ntheir beautiful folktales, both showing deep veins of pure Theosophy.\n\n * * * * *\n\nNEW YORK.\u2014The Aryan Theosophical Society continues to hold bi-monthly\nmeetings, which have been well attended. In November, Brother Mohini M.\nChatterji and Col. Aym\u00e9 addressed meetings. Col. Aym\u00e9 gave an address\non Theosophy and Mathematics, with illustrations on the blackboard. On\nthe first meeting in December, Bro. C.\u202fH. A. Bjerregaard read a paper\nupon the Elementals, which was of great value and interest; the first\npart of it is printed in this number and will be finished in February.\n\n * * * * *\n\nCALIFORNIA.\u2014The work here is being carried on by the Branches in Los\nAngeles and Oakland, and some new members are reported.\n\n * * * * *\n\nTHE AMERICAN THEOSOPHICAL COUNCIL.\u2014In October, a Convention was held\nat Cincinnati, O., at which all the active Branches were represented.\nThe American section of the General Theosophical Council was then\nformed, to take the place of the Board of Control, which went out of\nexistence. Dr. Buck acted as Chairman, and a General Secretary who is\nto act as the means of communication between Branches and Headquarters\nwas elected. The choice fell upon Mr. William Q. Judge, of New York, to\nwhom hereafter all application and official communications should be\nsent. Since this convention, new applications have been coming in and\nthe work shows no signs of abatement.\n\nIt is expected that another meeting of the Council will be held very\nsoon for the purpose of carrying out some proposals for slight changes\nin the management of formal matters. The Council assumes no control of\nBranches who are left perfectly free so long as they act within the\ngeneral rules of the Society.\n\n * * * * *\n\nCHICAGO.\u2014At the annual election of this Branch, held December 4th,\n1886, the following officers were elected: President, Stanley B.\nSexton; Vice-President, Annie G. Ordway; Recording Secretary, Ursula\nN. Gestefeld; Corresponding Secretary, M.\u202fL. Brainard; Treasurer and\nLibrarian, Mrs. A.\u202fV. Wakeman. Address all official correspondence to\nthe Corresponding Secretary, 376 W. Adams St.\n\n\n REVIEWS AND NOTES.\n\n THE THEOSOPHIST.\u2014The leading article in _The Theosophist_ for\n November is again by Madame Blavatsky\u2014a notable contribution on\n animated images, in the course of which it is shown that some of\n the circumstances in that amusing travesty of Occultism, Anstey\u2019s\n \u201cFallen Idol,\u201d are based on true occult principles. By the way, every\n Theosophist should read Mr. Sinnett\u2019s \u201c_Incidents in the Life of\n Madame Blavatsky_,\u201d for thereby a clearer conception of the character\n of that illustrious and heroic woman will be gained, with a better\n understanding of her nature and mission. Col. Olcott\u2019s second and\n concluding article on \u201cThe Seeress of Prevorst,\u201d is a careful and\n scholarly piece of work, throwing some light from Eastern sources\n on that remarkable case of occult development in an obscure German\n village. Dr. Hartman has a paper on \u201cOccultism in Germany,\u201d in\n which he gives an important hint concerning one of the methods of\n practically developing one\u2019s higher nature. Srinivas Rao\u2019s new story\n opens interestingly. The Eliphas Levy series continue, and a second\n article on Hypnotic Experiments is given. Several other interesting\n contributions must remain unnoticed. It is a valuable number. _The\n Theosophist_ deserves to increase its circulation with the increasing\n interest in Theosophy.\n\n NOTES AND QUERIES.\u2014Brother Gould continues this useful and interesting\n publication. We are indebted to him for November and December numbers.\n Many of the replies are by our old friend, Prof. Alex. Wilder, who is\n learned in all that is curious in history, arch\u00e6ology and philology.\n The December number has 40 pages of extremely valuable matter. Address\n S.\u202fC. & L.\u202fM. Gould, Manchester, N.\u202fH.; price $1 a year.\n\n PSYCHOMETRY AND THOUGHT TRANSFERENCE, by N.\u202fC. F.\u202fT.\u202fS., with an\n introduction by H.\u202fS. Olcott, is one of the Adyar series. It has been\n compiled with a view of putting in a small compass the main facts\n available relating to these two subjects, with an outline of the\n occult explanation of the same.\n\n ESOTERIC BUDDHISM.\u2014A new American edition of this book has been\n brought out by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., containing all the new\n matter and notes of the latest English edition, besides a special\n introduction; it is sold at a less price. Inquirers can order through\n THE PATH.\n\n THE PLATONIST is to be revived, and will shortly appear in a new\n shape\u2014octavo, 56 pp.; $3 per year. Thos. M. Johnson, Osceola, St.\n Clair Co., Mo.\n\n\n CORRESPONDENCE.\n\n AN IMPORTANT CORRECTION.\n TO ALL THE READERS OF THE PATH.\n\nIn the November number of Path in my article \u201c_Theories about\nReincarnation and Spirits_,\u201d the entire batch of elaborate arguments\nis upset and made to fall flat owing to the mistake of either copyist\nor printer. On page 235, the last paragraph is made to begin with\nthese words: \u201cTherefore the _reincarnating_ principles are left\nbehind in _Kama-loka_, etc.,\u201d whereas it ought to read \u201cTherefore the\nNON-_reincarnating_ principles (the false personality) are left behind\nin Kama-loka, etc.,\u201d a statement fully corroborated by what follows,\nsince it is stated that those principles fade out and _disappear_.\n\nThere seems to be some fatality attending this question. The\nspiritualists will not fail to see in it the guiding hand of their dear\ndeparted ones from \u201cSummerland;\u201d and I am inclined to share that belief\nwith them in so far that there must be some mischievous spook between\nme and the printing of my articles. Unless immediately corrected and\nattention drawn to it, this error is one which is sure to be quoted\nsome day against me and called a _contradiction_.\n Yours truly,\n _November 20th, 1886._ H.\u202fP. BLAVATSKY.\n\n NOTE.\u2014The MS. for the article referred to was written out by some\n one for Mme. Blavatsky and forwarded to us as it was printed, and it\n is quite evident that the error was the copyist\u2019s, and not ours nor\n Madame\u2019s; besides that, the remainder of the paragraph clearly shows a\n mistake. We did not feel justified in making such an important change\n on our own responsibility, but are now glad to have the author do it\n herself. Other minor errors probably also can be found in consequence\n of the peculiar writing of the amanuensis, but they are very trivial\n in their nature.\u2014[ED.]\n\n * * * * *\n\n For thoughts alone cause the round of rebirths in this world; let a\n man strive to purify his thoughts. What a man thinks, that he is: this\n is the old secret.\u2014_Maitrayana Brahmana Upanishad_, vi _Prap._, 34.\n\n OM.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[157] Dr. G. Weil: The Bible, the Koran, and the Talmud.\n\n[158] Leibnitz was born 1646 at Leipzig, and died 1716. According to\nSchwegler\u2019s Hist. of Phil. he was, next to Aristotle, the most highly\ngifted scholar that ever lived, and according to F. Papillon (\u201cNature\nand Life\u201d) modern students in various departments of science and\nphilosophy have verified his ideas and endorsed then to a large extent.\n\n[159] See July and August PATH.\n\n[160] _Light on the Path._\n\n[161] Letter from a friend.\n\n[162] It is an old declaration of the esoteric doctrine that \u201cthe\ncounterfeit religion will last as long as the true one.\u201d\u2014[ED.]\n\n[163] See _N. Y. Tribune_, Nov. 28. 1886.\n\n[164] See _Bag.-Gita_, Ch. 14.\n\n[165] The numbers used here are significant. In _Bagavad-Gita_ are 18\nchapters, and Krishna as there revealed has a special meaning under the\nNo. 18. The five Pandavas are the same as those who are concerned in\nthe _Gita_ story. If the product of 18 x 360 be added, the sum is 18.\nThe correspondences in all the Hindu stories will repay study.\u2014[ED.]\n\n[166] This injured Brahmin was a sage who assuming that disguise\ndesired to make a test.\u2014[ED.]\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n There is not anything amongst the hosts of heaven which is free from\n the influence of the three qualities which arise from the first\n principles of nature.\u2014_Bagavad-Gita_, ch. xviii.\n\n Know that there is no enlightenment from without; the secret of things\n is revealed from within. From without cometh no Divine Revelation, but\n the spirit heareth within. Do not think I tell you that which you know\n not; for except you know it, it cannot be given you. To him that hath\n it is given, and he bath the more abundantly.\u2014_Hermetic Philosophy._\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. FEBRUARY, 1887. NO. 11.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n THE ELEMENTALS, THE ELEMENTARY SPIRITS,\n\n AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM AND HUMAN BEINGS.\n\n _A paper read before the Aryan Theosophical Society of New York,\n December 14th, 1886._\n\n BY C.\u202fH. A. BJERREGAARD.\n\n (_Continued._)\n\nThere are several designations for \u201cangels\u201d in the Bible, which\nclearly show that beings like the elementals of the Kabbala and the\nmonads of Leibnitz, must be understood by that term rather than that\nwhich is commonly understood. They are called \u201cmorning stars,\u201d (Job\n38, 7); \u201cflaming fires,\u201d (Ps. 104, 4.); \u201cthe mighty ones,\u201d (Ps. 103,\n20) and St. Paul sees them in his cosmogonic vision (1 Col. 1, 16) as\n\u201cprincipalities and powers.\u201d Such names as these preclude the idea\nof personality, and we find ourselves compelled to think of them as\nimpersonal existences, in the same way as we conceive the angel that\ntroubled the waters of the pool of Bethesda, as an _influence_, a\nspiritual substance or _conscious_ force.\n\nI stated above that the Kabbala taught that all events in Nature and\nHistory were under the immediate superintendence of spirits, elementals\nand elementary. It was in harmony with such teachings, that the\ntranslators of the Septuagint translated Deuteronomy 32, 8-9, thus:\n\u201cWhen the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, he set\nthe bounds of the Heathen according to the number of the spirits, but\nHe Himself took His abode in Israel.\u201d\n\nAccording to this translation, which differs radically[167] from the\northodox, spirits _i.e._ Elementals and Elementary Spirits, are the\nrulers, the principalities and powers, among the heathen, _i. e._ all\npeople outside of Israel. Whatever we may think of the exclusiveness of\nthis passage, and the work given the \u201cchosen people\u201d to perform, we can\nverify this passage historically.\n\nAll people of the earth\u2014so far as we know their religious and\nphilosophical ideas\u2014have drawn their spiritual life from sources very\ndifferent from those whence the leaders of Israel derived _their_\ninspiration. I say the leaders of Israel, for the Israelites as\na people, never comprehended the mission imposed upon them, they\nconstantly fell back into what has been called the \u201cidolatry\u201d of the\nnations around. The people, as a people, were true to their natural\ninstincts, which led them to follow the guiding influence of natural\n_ideas_, (_i. e._ Elementals and Elementary Spirits).\n\nI need not tell you that the _Ideas_ now spoken of are not merely\nConceptions, such as we, according to common usage, are wont to\nbelieve. Ideas to the antique world, were exactly the same thing\nas Leibnitz called monads, and the Kabbala Elements and Elementary\nSpirits. Plato, for instance, attributes to ideas an independent,\nsingular existence and hypostative power. He calls them Gods (in the\nTim\u0153us), and asserts that movement, life, animation, and reason belong\nto them, (in the Sophistes).\n\nThe nations of the earth, all those not belonging to the chosen few,\nhave indeed been\u2014for good and for evil\u2014guided by the Spirits, now\ncalled Elementals, now Ideas and now Gods. Therefore, if any one will\nstudy the history of mankind, he must begin with a knowledge of these\noccult powers. If any one will guide mankind\u2019s history, he must follow\nthe laws of these occult forces.\n\nIf we recognize the translation of the Septuagint as given above, and\nfind ourselves outside the pale of the chosen people, whose work is in\n\u201cthe plan of salvation,\u201d we know where to look for the intermediate\npowers between ourselves and the Deity, we know that they are the\nElementals, the powers of Nature, the silent, but invincible giants of\nthe Elements.\n\nThe importance to Theosophists of the modern school of clear\nconceptions on these points are evident. I need not point out to you\nwhy and wherefore.\n\nIn the Zohar it is stated that, \u201cwhen spirits come down, they clothe\nthemselves with air or wrap themselves in Elements.\u201d It is also stated\nthat, \u201csome spirits have a natural affinity for the air-(elements),\nothers for fire-(elements), and when they come down to the earth,\nthey envelop themselves either in air-(elements) or fire-(elements),\naccording to their nature.\u201d\n\nThese statements, which can easily be supplemented with many more like\nthem, are of the greatest importance, when the question is of spirit\nmanifestations, for it becomes a matter of grave consequence by what\nkind of monads we are surrounded.\n\nBut, before speaking of the atmosphere of monads that surround us, I\nmust define the auras or emanations that proceed from all objects in\nnature.\n\nAs an aromatic scent emanates from a flower, so all other bodies emit\neither colors or rays of \u201cimponderable\u201d matter. Copper and Arsenic\nsend out auras of red matter; Lead and Sulphur emit a blue colored\nsubstance; Gold, Silver Antimony green, etc. In short, Science teaches\nthat all matter is luminous, _i. e._ shines by its own light.\n\nHuman beings, be they spiritual-minded or not, are also surrounded\nby their spheres. We all know this. We have all felt these sphere\ninfluences, and some of you have perhaps seen them. It it said that\npersons of a high and spiritual character have beautiful auras of white\nand blue, gold and green, in various tints; while low natures emit\nprincipally dark red emanations, which in brutal and vulgar persons\ndarken almost to black.\n\nThe impulse or motive power, the cause, if you choose, of these\nemanations is the soul of man, of course. According to the condition\nof the soul, these emanations are more or less powerful, more or less\nextensive, more or less clear. The stuff they are made of, what is it?\nIt is of course physical, though they may not be measured and weighed\nby any scientific instrument known at this day.\n\n_These emanations are soul-rays and they become reflected upon those\nsmall_ MONADIC _bodies already described_. I can not prove this to\nyou experimentally, but I can see these reflections as clearly as a\nphysical experiment can demonstrate to you the light-reflection of the\nsun\u2019s rays upon a raindrop.\n\nSwedenborg claimed to have _smelled_ the inner nature of certain\nspirits he met with in the spiritual world, and to have determined\ntheir moral value by these rays. In his work \u201cHeaven and Hell,\u201d he has\nrecorded several such experiences.\n\nIt is an innate power of the soul, that enables it to throw off these\nrays and it does it by necessity, for without going beyond itself, to\nexpress itself, the soul would never realize itself.\n\nThe soul can, however, also be trained to emit these rays or auras,\nconsciously.\n\nIf we will believe the famous Norse traveller and explorer of\nSpiritland, already referred to, Em. Swedenborg, we may learn from his\nArcana Celestia, that \u201cthe particular quality of a spirit is perceived\nimmediately on his entrance into the other life, _from his sphere_,\u201d\nthat \u201cthe sphere is _the image_ of the spirit extended beyond him;\u201d\n\u201cindeed, it is the image of _all_ that is in him.\u201d The cause of the\nspheres around spirits, the same author states to be from \u201cthe activity\nof things in the interior memory,\u201d from \u201c_the ruling love_.\u201d\n\nSwedenborg further states, that \u201cby the sphere which exhales from the\nspirit of man, even while he lives in the body, every deed, however\nsecret, becomes manifest in clear light,\u201d and that good or evil spirits\nrecognize him by his sphere; and that good spirits can not be present\nwith those who are in worldly and corporeal loves, however pious\nexteriorly, because they instantly perceive their sphere of evil as\nsomething filthy; and, on the other hand, that good spirits readily\nassociate with those surrounded by pure and heavenly spheres. But it\nis not necessary to have recourse to the seers and those spiritually\nilluminated, most of us have some knowledge of these facts from daily\nlife. Who has not perceived the low and filthy sphere that surrounds\nthe sensual, or the intolerable atmosphere of a proud and haughty\nspirit, or been depressed in the surroundings of a melancholy and\npassionate man or woman? Indeed, we all have perceptions as to these\nthings; some stronger, some less developed.\n\nIt is, as I said, the very life of the soul to diffuse itself through\nall its surroundings. Without such an activity it would not be soul. An\ninactive, an inert soul has no existence.\n\nNext, the soul, while thus actualizing itself, takes its material from\nthe monads, just described, and moulds them into such shapes and forms\nas are requisite for its own life and the influence it endeavors to\nexert. The Soul has the power to mould and shape them into any possible\ncondition. (More about this later on.) This faculty is its image-making\npower or the form-making power of the soul.\n\nIn order to understand this image-making power, let it first be\nremembered, that it is an axiom in all mystical and spiritual\nphilosophy, that the spiritual degree in man (Atman) contains in its\nunity with the Universal soul, the patterns of all things and that\nthese are reflected through the soul (Buddhi and Manas).\n\nThis being so, _the soul (Buddhi and Manas) to understand the\nprinciple of creation has only to descend to its own deep, the spirit\n(Atman), there to find it reflected_. Having found and realized the\nidea of creation, the soul may take material from the ethereal world,\ncalled by the Orientals Akasa, and out of it build any form\u2014image, I\ncall it\u2014it likes.\n\nUnless the soul gives such form and shape to the ideas and life, that\ndwells in its own inner deep, these will remain uncreated and the soul\nuneducated by not approving of its opportunities.\n\nThis is what I call the image-making power of the soul. Upon it depends\nall Kardialogy or the science of the heart, and all Rationality. Upon\nit depends our attainment of psychic powers.\n\nIt is not only an innate and natural tendency of the soul (Manas) to go\nbeyond its body to find material with which to clothe the life that it\nwants to give expression to. The soul (Manas) can and must _be trained\nto do this_ CONSCIOUSLY.\n\nYou can easily see that this power possessed _consciously_ will give\nits possessor the power to work magic.\n\nAnd this leads me directly to the subject of the use of aromas,\nodors, etc., wherewith to create a suitable atmosphere around us; an\natmosphere congenial to the nature of spirits.\n\nYou all remember the splendid scene in Bulwer\u2019s Zanoni where Glyndon\nmeets the Dweller of the Threshold. In that scene is described all the\nmystery of aromatic vapors, their effect upon the human mind, and the\nassistance they offer to spirit manifestations.\n\nIn short, it is of the greatest importance that we produce the right\nenvironment by the right kind of emanations or auras, and atmospheres:\n\u201cAs we give, so we shall receive!\u201d\n\nIt would require a volume to relate the religious, political, economic,\nand gallant history of odors and perfumes. I shall mention a few\ninstances only.\n\nFrom the highest antiquity we find that priests have employed\nodoriferous substances. The worshippers of light, the Zoroastrians,\nlaid perfumes five times a day upon the sacred flame, that symbolized\nlight and life. The Greeks were very profuse in the use of ambrosia,\nand believed that the gods always appeared in fragrant clouds. You all\nknow the importance of smoke and perfumes in the rituals used at the\nMysteries and around the sacred tripod on which rested the prophetesses\nat Delphi. The Romans almost carried the use of incense and odoriferous\nsubstances too far. From the classic people the custom was borrowed by\nthe Christian Church. There was even a time, when the Romish Church\nowned large estates in the East, devoted exclusively to the cultivation\nof balms and essences to be used in the rites of worship.\n\nBut it was not only in religious practices that these delicate media\nwere used to facilitate the descent of spiritual beings. All through\nthe Orient, even to this day, they are employed in the private life\nfor the same purpose; not for mere luxury, as some people will have us\nbelieve. It was very appropriate indeed, that the Greeks should burn\naromatic substances during their banquets, and who can estimate the\nsoothing influence upon the wild and warlike Romans of their beautiful\ncustom of perfuming their baths, their sleeping rooms and beds, and\ntheir drinks. It is not at all likely that the Romans should have been\nignorant of the high spiritual significance of these practices. Why\nshould they before battle anoint the Roman eagles with the richest\nperfumes, if they did not think it pleasing to the god of war and\nhis followers, if they did not thereby expect to prepare a suitable\natmosphere for their descent.\n\nI pass by the modern use of these things. Among the many abuses with\nwhich we are familiar, the strong human instinct asserts itself\neverywhere. We expect, for instance, that Youth and Beauty shall be\nsurrounded by a sphere, sweet-smelling and elevating; and our instincts\nare true in this, for there is a close parallel between purity and\naromatic odors.\n\nIt is a truth well understood that Spirit does not act immediately upon\nMatter. There always is a medium between them. It seems rational that\nit should be so. Spirit and Matter being the two poles of one and the\nsame substance need the intermediate middle as a point of conjunction\nand exchange of energy.\n\n_Applying this general law to the particulars before us, it seems most\nnatural to conclude that the Elementals are the media by means of which\nall our spiritual efforts are exerted upon Nature, and that nothing can\nbe done without their intervention._\n\nBut the question also arises: how do we make the Elementals perform\nthis work for us? By what means do we influence them?\n\nOccult Science teaches that \u201cthe pure of heart,\u201d those that, having\ntravelled over \u201cthe Path,\u201d have come to \u201cfreedom,\u201d can, by a mere\nmental effort or by stretching out the hand, \u201cdo these things.\u201d\n\nIn view of this teaching, I shall state a few facts relative to the\npower of the Mind and the Hand.\n\n(1) The Word spoken consists of the thought or idea we want to convey\nto the person spoken to, and (2) this thought clothed in a form, a kind\nof vessel, by means of which we send the thought flying through space.\nThese two elements are the main factors of the Word.\n\nLet us now look a little closer upon each of these two factors.\n\nWhen an animal in distress calls for another, we, human beings,\nunderstand that it throws its desire or animal life into the sounds\nwhich proceed from that throat, and the other animal answers\n_instinctively_, we say quite correctly, for we do not think that the\nanimals _reason_ about their doings.\n\nThis kind of \u201clanguage,\u201d if it can be so called, is not much different\nfrom the language of mankind at large. All language as used in ordinary\ndaily life is but slightly higher in character, but not different in\ndegree.\n\n_Language\u2014the Word\u2014is spoken when an Idea or Spiritual Life is\ncommunicated._ In the true sense, we only speak or pronounce the Word\nwhen the Highest finds a channel into the actual world by means of our\nvocal organs.\n\nThat is the Word! Now, about its Form. Whence comes its material? For\nform is something substantial. It is not enough that an architect has\na design to a building in his mind, he needs actual material with\nwhich to erect the house if it is to be realized on the actual side\nof existence. As surely as he procures stones and wood, etc., so do\nwe also need material substances with which to construct our mental\nedifices. From what world do we draw these substances? From the astral\nor ethereal molecules! From the Monads!\n\nBy a pre-established harmony, the suitable monads glomerate around the\nheavenly idea that proceeds to reveal itself upon our tongue when we\nspeak the Word. Thus the thought gets its Form.\n\nThus far I have spoken of the thought or idea descending to utter\nitself upon our tongue, we being the mere tools of the idea. And such\nis almost always the case. We neither originate thought nor its form.\nThought or Spirit speaks through us as the passive agents. Yet we all\nknow how we boast of our oracles, of our prophets and our seers, even\nbecause they act as passive agents.\n\nBut there is a language still higher. It is possible for man to\noriginate thought and to control the form to such thought. The adepts\nknow this secret and they have arrived at that power by getting beyond\nthe \u201cordinary\u201d laws of life. They are not mere channels for the flux\nand reflux of thought; they originate and control thought.\n\nHeaven\u2019s first law is order. As we know some of the laws according\nto which we formulate speech in a logical way, so that other sphere\noutside (or inside, if you like), which is full of the germs of life,\nhas its laws. Hence the adepts, too, follow certain rules or laws, when\nthey want to originate or control thought and its form. Vulgarly, the\nlaws or methods are called spells or incantations.\n\nBefore we consciously can work spells or control spirits and their\nenergies, we must arrive at the state of the adept, where he is beyond\nthe laws that govern, so to say, the surface of things. But we cannot\ncome there on any highroads nor by any short cuts. We must travel the\nroad of self-denial and that of illusion.\n\nAs it is possible to enter into the sanctuary of a temple by sheer\nbrutal force, so it is possible to get into possession of formulas and\nspells which work wonders, though we be neither pure of mind nor strong\nof heart.\n\nWould formulas and spells under such conditions be useful to us? They\nmay! They may not! They may also work our destruction. We have been\ntaught that they are more dangerous to us than a naked sword in the\nhands of a child. The child may accidentally do some useful work with\nits sharp instrument, but it may also destroy itself.\n\nFrom this we should learn that the true course to pursue in regard to\nthe performing of wonders by means of Elementals or Elementary Spirits\nis to first to attain to the state of an adept: to learn to control\nlife and thought.\n\nIf we should happen to come in possession of spells or incantations\nwithout knowing the proper use of them\u2014better not use them!\n\nBut how do we attain to that state just described?\n\nI can not define the way nor teach anybody how to do so, but I think\nthat the way must be very much like that travelled by the Lord Buddha\nand now followed by \u201cthe Adepts.\u201d\n\nBut, as it is not our immediate duty to prepare for the performance of\nmiracles, we have been warned to abstain from such vain pursuits.\n\nFar better is it for us to follow the directions given for moral life:\n\n\u201cTry to get as near to wisdom and goodness as you can in this\nlife. Trouble not yourself about the gods. Disturb yourself not by\ncuriosities or desires about any future existence. Seek only after the\nfruit of the noble path of self-culture and of self-control.\u201d These are\nwords from Buddhist Scriptures.\n\nIt is not only by mind that we may control the Elementals and the\nElementary spirits. The hand forms a most important element among the\ntools used in occult science.\n\nI shall not define the science of chiromancy, but describe the magnetic\npoints of the fingers.\n\nHave you given any thought and attention to the hand? Generally we\nconsider the head of a man and put our estimate upon him according to\nthe size of his brain. But we neglect the hand. And yet the hand is as\nimportant a factor in the execution of spiritual acts as is the brain.\n\nThe hand is the executive organ of the dynamico-mysterious actions of\nthe Spirit of man. Through the hand its psychico-somatic operations\ntake place, through it its whole spiritual-psychical energy flows out,\nwhen laid upon the sick, for instance.\n\nIt may be readily enough understood that the spiritual activity of the\nspirit of man ultimates itself in acts, and that almost all of these\nare executed by the hand, but it is probably but little known that in\nhealing, for instance, there is a peculiar physical basis in the hand,\nupon which the healing power is dependent, _the Pacinian corpuscles_,\nnamely.\n\nIt is now many years ago (it was in 1830 and 1840) that Pacini, a\nphysician of Pistola, made his discovery; but with the exception of\nthe literature to which it gave rise, and which is known only to a few\nlearned men and a few librarians of larger libraries, little or nothing\nis known of his discovery.\n\nPacini found in all the sensible nerves of the fingers many small\nelliptical, whitish corpuscles. He compared them to the electrical\norgans of the torpedo and described them as animal magneto-motors, as\norgans of animal magnetism. And so did Henle and K\u00f3lliker, two German\nanatomists, who have studied and described these corpuscles very\nminutely.\n\nIn the human body they are found in great numbers in connection with\nthe nerves of the hand, also in those of the foot. Why should they\nnot be in the feet? Let us remember the rythmical structure of the\nhuman body, particularly the feet, and it becomes clear why they are\nthere; the ecstatic dances of the enthusiasts and the not-sinking of\nsomnambulists in water or their ability to use the soles of their feet\nas organs of perception and the ancient art of healing by the soles of\nthe feet\u2014all these facts explain the mystery.\n\nThey are found sparingly on the spinal nerves, and on the plexuses of\nthe sympathetic, but never on the nerves of motion.\n\nThey are most numerous on the small twigs of nerves and generally\nplaced parallel to them, though often at an acute angle. They are\nmore or less oval, sometimes elongated and bent. They are nearly\ntransparent, with a whitish line traversing their axis. The corpuscles\nof the human subject are from one-twentieth to one-tenth of an inch in\nlength.\n\nThey consist of a series of membranous capsules, from thirty to sixty\nor more in number, enclosed one within the other. Inside of these\ncapsules there is a single nervous fibre of a tubular kind enclosed in\nthe stalk, and advancing to the central capsule, which it traverses\nfrom end to end. Sometimes the capsules are connected by transverse\nbands.\n\nAnatomists are interested in these Pacinian corpuscles because of\nthe novel aspect in which they present the constituent parts of the\nnerve-tube, placed in the heart of a system of concentric membranous\ncapsules with intervening fluid, and divested of that layer which\nthey (the anatomists) regard as an isolator and protector of the more\npotential central axis within.\n\nThis apparatus\u2014almost formed like a voltaic pile, is the instrument\nfor that peculiar vital energy, known more or less to all students as\nAnimal Magnetism.\n\nSince the cat is somewhat famous in all witchcraft, let me state, that\nin the mesentary of the cat, they can be seen in large numbers with the\nnaked eye, as small oval shaped grains a little smaller than hempseeds.\nA few have been found in the ox (the symbol of the priestly office);\nbut they are wanting in all birds, amphibia and fishes.\n\nThough his discovery was disputed it has since been verified and the\ntheory strongly supported. These organs are the beneficent media\nthrough which the Spirit operates.\n\nFrom time immemorial the human hand has been regarded as the life-point\nof a mysterious magical power, but not until Pacini\u2019s discovery do\nwe know its seat. These corpuscles are its seat. Are they perhaps\nagglomerations of such monads as I have described and thus the media by\nmeans of which the highest spiritual powers perform their work?\n\nWe find the Elementals under all forms of existence, as mere natural\nforces, totally, to our perceptions, destitute of any self-conscious\nlife; we find them also attaining a form very near the human. There is\nno valid reason against supposing them to be the stuff out of which we\nform thoughts, much less against considering them to be the life-giving\nelements in the Pacinian corpuscles.\n\nLet us maintain the theory that there is no _such thing as a dead or\ninanimate force_ in the universe. _Every atom, itself a form of power,\nis alive with force._ Every atom in space _reflects the Universal\nSelf_, who is:\n\n _The Soul of Things._\n\nI shall now come to the end of my paper by a few words which contain\nthe practical purpose of my lecture.\n\n(1) The monads, just described, whether they reflect the auras, that\nsurround us consciously or unconsciously, whether they are used as\nmind-stuff or be located in the Pacinian corpuscles of the hand, are\nphysical media of intercourse between the Elementaries and the adepts.\n\nWhy not! If Eastern adepts and Western mediums are in possession of\npower to atomize \u201cthe body,\u201d to make it become the smallest of the\nsmallest, to enter into a diamond, for instance, if they have power to\nmagnify \u201cthe body\u201d to any dimensions; to change the polarity of the\nbody, to make it become the lightest of the lightest as in the well\nknown phenomena of levitation, why should the Elementaries, existing,\nas they do, under much more favorable circumstances, not be able to\nenter into matter, to enter into atoms which \u201ccontain a Sun\u201d and\nthere, for the time being direct its vital principle and its universal\norbs, to such purposes as they choose, to make it serve the adept\u2019s or\nmagician\u2019s will, who seeks aid or enlightenment?\n\n(2) I contend that they do! And I argue for the necessity of producing\nsuch surroundings of auras of monads as will facilitate and raise the\nstandard of what is commonly called \u201cMediumship.\u201d\n\n(3) I argue for a cultivation of the image-making power of the soul,\nthat we may be able to direct and utilize consciously the intercourse\nwith the Elementaries.\n\n(4) I wish to have a knowledge spread abroad about the Pacinian\ncorpuscles, that we may lay our hands upon mankind and cure its ills.\n\nI feel personally convinced that there is both \u201cLight and Life\u201d to be\nfound upon these lines of study and conduct.\n\n\n POETICAL OCCULTISM.\n\n SOME ROUGH STUDIES OF THE OCCULT LEANINGS OF THE POETS.\n\n IV.\n\nWhitman, in his short and remarkable poem, \u201cTo him that was Crucified,\u201d\nperceives very clearly the verity of Mahatmahood; the existence of men\nwho live upon a higher plane than that of ordinary mortals, and who are\nunited in an order of spiritual brotherhood. The poem runs:[168]\n\n My spirit to yours, dear brother,\n Do not mind because many sounding your name do not understand you,\n I do not sound your name, but I understand you,\n I specify you with joy, O my comrade, to salute you, and to salute\n those who are with you, before and since, and those to come also,\n That we all labor together transmitting the same charge and succession,\n We few equals indifferent of lands, indifferent of times,\n We, enclosers of all continents, all castes, allowers of all\n theologies,\n Compassionaters, perceivers, rapport of men,\n We walk silent among disputes and assertions, but reject not the\n disputers nor anything that is asserted,\n We hear the bawling and din, we are reached at by divisions,\n jealousies, recriminations on every side,\n They close peremptorily upon us to surround us, my comrade,\n Yet we walk unheld, free, the whole earth over, journeying up and down\n till we make our ineffaceable mark upon time and the diverse eras,\n Till we saturate time and eras, that the men and woman of races, ages\n to come, may prove brethren and lovers as we are.\n\nThese lines, sublime as they are, will probably be regarded as little\nshort of blasphemous by many of our good friends who, _sounding\nhis name, do not understand him_; who, worshipping him as the only\nMan-God, have lost sight of the God in man, the _Christ_, the potential\ndevelopment of which in all men was the great lesson which the Nazarene\nsought to convey. They little think that he whose name they sound\nmay perhaps be walking the earth to-day, striving to bring men to\nthe light, but despised and rejected by themselves because in an\nunrecognized and strange guise, while the same old truths are again\ntrampled upon, since they lack the endorsement of established authority.\n\nThe poet, however, shows that he, too broad to be limited by one\nname, truly understands the mission of Jesus; he, with his own grand\nteachings of universal brotherhood despised and misunderstood because\nof their unfamiliar form, is elevated by the sublimity of the truths\nthat inspire himself to the level which gives him the right to address\nthe founder of Christianity as a comrade. He sees, too, with a\ndirectness that probably has come to no other modern poet, that there\nis a band of \u201cEquals\u201d working for the same end, \u201ctransmitting the same\ncharge and succession,\u201d through all races, through all ages, and giving\nvitality to all religions. The free, uninfluenced attitude which he who\nwould grow towards the light must maintain is expressed here with most\neffective simplicity, as is the end for which THEY are striving\u2014so to\nsaturate the world and all eras with their precepts as finally to lift\nall mankind into the unity of perfect Brotherhood.\n\nThe true mental abnegation is here referred to, just as Krishna in the\nBagavad-Gita tries to teach Arjuna. In speaking of the necessity for\nretiring to the forest so as to attain perfection untroubled by man,\nhe says to Arjuna that the true philosopher will look with equal mind\nupon all classes of men, upon all systems of thought and all objects\nof sense, esteeming all alike, inasmuch as they are all one in the\nSupreme Spirit, and that spirit found in each, so that to retire to the\nforest is not a necessity. Thus Whitman says that he and all others of\nthe same mind, are indifferent of lands, times, disputes or disputers,\nallowers of all theologies, because they well know\u2014as occultism\nteaches\u2014that each theology and each assertion is one facet of the great\nTruth.\n\nThe result of this state of mind is beautifully set forth in the lines\nwhich say that amid the bawling and din, reached at by divisions and\njealousies on every side that close peremptorily upon us to surround\nand fetter us, we walk free, unheld by all, because we are fixed upon\nthe immutable rock of the True. This is the imperturbability sought\nby the ancient Chinese philosophers, who, themselves students of\noccultism, esteemed that equanimity above all else.\n\nThere are various passages throughout Whitman\u2019s poems that intimate a\nperception, perhaps intuitive, of the existences of the Masters. For\ninstance, he says, \u201cI see the serene company of philosophers,\u201d and in\n\u201cA Song of the Rolling Earth\u201d are the lines:\n\n \u201cThe workmanship of souls is by those inaudible words of the earth,\n The masters know the earth\u2019s words and use them more than audible\n words.\u201d\n\nAnd again, towards the end of the same poem:\n\n \u201cWhen the materials are all prepared and ready, the architects shall\n appear.\u201d\n\nThe thought here is identical with that in \u201c_Light on the Path_\u201d (note\nto Rule 21, First Section):\n\n \u201cTherefore in the Hall of Learning, when he is capable of entering\n there, the disciple will always find his master.\u201d\n\nAnd in the following note:\n\n \u201cWhen the disciple is ready to learn, then he is accepted,\n acknowledged, recognized. It must be so; for he has lit his lamp, and\n it cannot be hidden.\u201d\n\nThe poem in question concludes with the following exalted lines which\ncontain a significant statement of one of the great truths of Occultism:\n\n \u201cI swear to you the architects shall appear without fail,\n I swear to you they will understand you and justify you,\n The greatest among them shall be he who best knows you, and encloses\n all and is faithful to all.\n He and the rest shall not forget you, they shall perceive that you\n are not an iota less than they,\n You shall be fully glorified in them.\u201d\n\nIt is hardly possible to say whether or not the poet means that these\narchitects are in one sense the various, changeful mortal costumes the\nhuman monad had here and there, in many races and places, assumed while\npassing through the wheel of rebirths. When he says that the architects\n\u201cwill understand you and justify you,\u201d we may easily picture the time\nwhen the regenerated man, now able to see all his illusionary entrances\nupon the stage of life under the costume of varied personalities, can\nunderstand that all these different incarnations were fully justified\nby the need for the particular experience found in each new life, and\nthus he himself is glorified and justified by these architects, who\nwere really himself.\n\nComplete proof of Whitman\u2019s belief in reincarnation is to be found in\nthe following lines from \u201c_Facing West from California\u2019s Shores_:\u201d\n\n Facing west from California\u2019s shores,\n Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,\n I a child, very old, over waves, towards the house of maternity, the\n land of migrations, look afar,\n Look off the shores of my Western sea, the circle almost circled;\n For starting westward from Hindustan, from the vales of Kashmere,\n From Asia, from the north, from the God, the sage, and the hero,\n From the south, from the flowery peninsulas and the spice islands,\n Long having wander\u2019d since, round the earth having wander\u2019d.\n Now I face home again, very pleas\u2019d and joyous.\n (But where is what I started for so long ago?\n And why is it yet unfound?)\n\nThis last query is answered in _Light on the Path_ (rule 12, \u00a7 I.):\n\u201cYou will enter the light, but you will never touch the flame.\u201d The\nSelf is what we seek. It resides in the heart of every mortal creature\n\u201csmaller than a grain of mustard seed;\u201d the heart is in the Sun\u2014and now\nwe speak of the real heart and the real spiritual sun which is \u201cnow\nhidden by a vase of golden light\u201d\u2014(as the Upanishads say)\u2014the Sun in\nthe mouth of Brahman and Brahman is the All.\n S.\u202fB.\u202fJ.\n\n\n [Illustration:]\n\n HINDU SYMBOLISM.\n\n III.\n\nThis figure represents the Mystic Brahma espousals with Parasakti.\nThe latter is the divine principle of intellectual emanative\npotentiality or energy, and the ideal of archi-typal womanhood. The\nSakti is conceived of as the female part of the energy of Brahma\u2019s\nintellectual, creative power and creative wisdom. Brahma is here the\ntrue Para-Brahma, and Para-Sakti a true Para-sarasvadi. The sexless in\nBrahman (neuter) is here transmuted into the male or energizing power,\nas the principal symbolic type of the divine emanative, yet immanent,\ncreative power, as the masculine principle of the ideal or Great\nAndrogynic Man or the Makrokosm; and the flaming Sun is here depicted\nas the flaming sun-face, representative of the male-active deity,\nalso called Purusha. The Sakti or Para-Sakti, the fructifying energy\nand potentiality of Brahman\u2019s wisdom, wears upon her head a bright\nfire-flaming crown or nimbus.\n\nThe veil surrounding them, is the mystic veil produced by the ideation\nof the eternal thought of the eternal Mind. In the left hand of the\nsun-figure on the first finger, is carried a bird or perhaps a dove,\nwhich is intended to symbolize the flight of the ideal creation from\nthe eternal Mind before the appearance of that which appears to us to\nbe the real world. In the right hand he holds the end of the mystic\nveil. On the head of Maya\u2014the woman\u2014is the world-egg cap. Below, in the\nshadow of the spherical cloak of the God-dawn, is seen the world-egg\nsurrounded by the spiritualizing Ananda the snake of eternity, which as\nif asleep and inactive, is suspended around the egg.\n\nIn India the principal general symbols are fire and water, sun and\nmoon, man and woman, bull and cow, the linga and yoni, the lotus and\nthe sacred fig (_ficus indica_). The lotus is formed of red, white and\nblue colors; blue is considered the same as black.\n ISAAC MYER.\n\n\n\u201cLIGHT ON THE PATH.\u201d\n\n \u201cThe Soul of man is immortal and its future is the future of a thing\n whose growth and splendour has no limit.\u201d\n\nIt is with extreme diffidence that I venture to undertake a short\ncommentary or analysis of the book whose title heads this article;\nnot only because of the nature of the work itself, but also because\nit has already been twice commented upon, once by the author, and\nonce by a very learned student of Eastern Literature. The author\u2019s\nnotes, however, were rather an extension of the original text than\na commentary in the strict sense of the word; while the object of\nthe second annotator was more an attempt to show the identity of the\ndoctrines contained in _Light on the Path_ with those of ancient\nBrahamanical Philosophy, than to give the nature of those doctrines in\nthemselves.\n\nThe object of this paper on the contrary, is to attempt to analyze the\nscheme of Philosophy in accordance with which this little book has\nbeen written; in other words, to attempt to set forth the intellectual\ncounterpart of the spiritual doctrines of _Light on the Path_. It is\ninevitable that, in thus changing the doctrine from the Spiritual to\nthe intellectual plane, so to speak, the intellectual counterpart\nshould be inferior to the Spiritual original. To counterbalance this\nloss, however, it is true on the other hand that the intellectual\ncounterpart may render the spiritual original accessible to some,\nthe conformation of whose minds renders them unable to appreciate it\ndirectly. It is in the hope that this may be so that the present paper\nhas been attempted.\n\nTo begin with, then, the work we are considering indicates a possible\nenlightenment of the Soul, and development of the higher part of our\nnature; and further states that these results cannot take place before\na certain battle has been fought and won: we have, therefore, to\ndiscover what the soul is; what is the nature of the battle; what are\nthe opposing forces; and what are the results of the struggle.\n\nThe combatants are the higher nature, or Soul on the one side; and the\nlower nature or egotism on the other. The higher nature includes the\nintellectual, Spiritual, and \u00e6sthetical powers: that is to say, the\npowers which deal with the perception of truth, goodness, and beauty.\n\nThe sense of truth is characteristically manifested in the conquest of\nsome intricate mathematical problem, or in following successfully some\ndifficult chain of reasoning.\n\nThe sense of beauty is manifested in the joy with which we behold the\nsplendor of a glorious sunset.\n\nThe sense of goodness is manifested in the voice of an approving\nconscience, or in the reverence and admiration we feel for some godlike\nand noble character.\n\nIt is undeniable that the intellect can discriminate between what is,\nand what is not, true, within its own domain, the \u00e6sthetical faculty\nalso can pronounce with certainty as to the presence or absence of that\nquality which we call beauty.\n\nSo can the moral nature decide without hesitation as to what is or what\nis not in accordance with Righteousness. These three powers of the\nhigher nature are subject to development, that is to say, at different\nperiods they will perceive the qualities of beauty, truth, and goodness\nin different objects, and in different degrees; but as to the reality\nof the three qualities their voice is ever the same.\n\nThe three powers perceive three harmonies, each in its own domain;\nwhen the three are harmoniously developed the three harmonies are\nperceived to be one, and to this one great harmony are given the names\nof the Eternal and the Law of God. The seer of old feeling the sense of\nRightousness\u2019 within him exclaimed: \u201cI will rejoice in the Eternal, and\nin him will I put my trust.\u201d When the powers of the higher nature are\ndeveloped, under all temporary disharmony and chaotic disturbance, are\nperceived a deeper order and more enduring harmony ever at work. Marcus\nAurelius had perception of a deep Spiritual truth, when he wrote the\nconcluding sentences of the following utterance.\n\n\u201cFigs, when they are quite ripe, gape open: and in the ripe olives, the\nvery circumstance of their being near to rottenness, adds a peculiar\nbeauty to the fruit, and ears of corn bending down, and foam which\nflows from the mouth of wild boars, and many other things,\u2014though they\nare far from being beautiful, in a certain sense,\u2014still, because they\ncome in the course of nature, have a beauty in them, and they please\nthe mind; so that if a man should have a feeling and a deeper insight\nwith respect to the things which are produced in the universe, there\nis hardly anything which comes in the course of nature, which will not\nseem to him to be, in a manner, disposed so as to give pleasure.\u201d That\nis,\u2014in all things, could we but perceive it, is the harmony of the\nEternal.\n\nThe first harmony, the harmony of truth, is perceived by the scientific\nmaterialist; that is to say, he is capable of perceiving the reign of\nLaw in the physical universe.\n\nThe artistic nature can perceive the harmony of beauty in nature and\nart.\n\nBy the spiritually-minded is perceived the moral harmony.\n\nIt is the distinctive mark of modern Civilization that the harmonies\nof truth and beauty, of Science and Art are perceived and openly\nrecognized by all, while the harmony of Holiness is passed over,\nin silence and oblivion. It is the object of Theosophy, rightly\nunderstood, to arouse the world to a renewed sense of the harmony of\nRighteousness.\n\nSo much for the higher nature. Confronting it stands the Egotism. For\nwhere the moral sense dictates peace and goodwill to all men, the\nEgotism raises a selfish claim for a monopoly of all good things, all\npleasures, all enjoyments. The first enjoyment the Egotism demands\nis to surpass and dominate all other Egotisms which it seems to see\npursuing the same pleasures as itself. Hence the command: \u201cKill out\nambition.\u201d Having once gained this domination the self cries out for\nenjoyments both sensual and sensuous, for all the pleasures of life.\nHence the need for the command \u201cKill out the desire of life;\u201d the self\nis also deterred by indolence from carrying out any good inspirations\nthat may descend through the thick mist which surrounds it, from the\nhigher nature: against indolence it is written \u201cKill out the desire of\ncomfort.\u201d\n\nBut the moral sense condemns the existence of this self, this centre\nof force, which is not in accordance with its perception of Harmony.\nWhen once the moral nature comes to perceive the evil of egotism,\nthe question inevitably arises for solution, \u201cShall this cause of\ndisharmony cease or continue?\u201d If the decision is for its continuance\none of two things will happen. Either, before the moral nature has\nbeen completely paralysed and atrophied by neglect,\u2014before the seared\nconscience is completely silenced,\u2014the fact will be recognised, in the\nmidst of pain and sorrow unspeakable, that \u201cto work for self is to work\nfor disappointment;\u201d and in that case the moral nature may at last\nmeet with its development and all may be well; \u201cthe weak must wait\nfor its growth, its fruition, its death, and it is a plant that lives\nand increases through the ages.\u201d It has been said also \u201cthe forging\nof earthly chains is the occupation of the indifferent, the awful\nduty of unloosing them through the sorrows of the heart is also their\noccupation\u201d and truly \u201cboth are foolish sacrifices.\u201d Either this takes\nplace, or,\u2014the moral nature at last becomes completely deadened, all\nthe force and vital power which has been drawn away from it goes to\nstrengthen the Egotism which becomes from henceforth a centre of evil,\nof destruction; an enemy of the eternal.\n\nIt seems that individual existence means a certain amount of force,\nwhich may vitalise either the powers of the higher nature or those of\nthe egotism; or those of both, in part. It seems also that the egotism\nis a group of centres, so to speak, from some or all of which the\nenergic force of the individual may work; so that, for example, when\nthis force works from one centre in the egotism sensuality arises; when\nfrom another centre, hate; from another, evil ambition, and so on.\nWhen the energic force is raised to the higher nature it may act from\nvarious centres; from one, as charity; from another, as holiness, and\nso on. Hence, \u201cany good quality may become any other good quality\u201d\u2014if\nthe conditions are favorable. It seems also that the Will can degrade\nthe energic force from the soul to the egotism; or, conversely, can\nraise it from the egotism to the soul; so that, by the alchemical\npower of the will, so to speak, the baser metal becomes converted and,\nrising to the top of the still, becomes pure gold. Besides the higher\nand lower natures we have been considering there resides also, in the\ncomplete being, consciousness or sense of existence and will. When\nall the portions of energic force,\u2014or the Satwaic sparks, as they are\nelsewhere called,\u2014rise to the higher nature, the individual becomes\none with the Eternal, and a part of the United Spirit of Life, and\nindividual existence ceases, in a sense. When the question is asked\n\u201cShall the self cease or continue?\u201d the moral nature answers decisively\n\u201cIt ought to cease.\u201d If the truth of this mandate is recognised, at\nonce a terrible struggle arises; self opposed rises with tenfold force\nand violence; again and again it craftily casts doubt on the truth of\nthe moral nature; raises obstacles, temptations and hindrances; all\nthe pleasures it has enjoyed are to be swept away forever; all the\nmomentum and power that the egotism has gained, through long continued\nindulgence and unhindered growth, are brought to bear at once on\nthe struggle; the whole nature is torn by the conflict, the will is\ntried to the uttermost; but under all this turmoil and strife lies\nthe assured consciousness of final victory; it is felt that sooner or\nlater the self must be destroyed, that it is built for time and not for\neternity, that its days are numbered.\n\nDuring the struggle intervals of peace occur, and grow greater and\nlonger as the end approaches; till at last, when the final victory is\nwon this peace becomes habitual.\n\nBut as the conflict goes on, the will at last gains strength to say,\nonce for all \u201cHenceforth, forever, will I serve self no more.\u201d And\nimmediately the first struggle is ended. The dominance of self is\nforever destroyed. In reply to the command \u201cSeek in the heart the\nsource of evil, and expunge it\u201d the soul can say \u201cthis also have I\ndone,\u201d then comes \u201cpeace to the troubled spirit\u201d peace deep and pure.\nThe soul recognises that the self has been the cause of individual\nexistence; when the self is removed the soul tends to harmonise itself\nwith the great harmony, to become one with the eternal; but all the\nevil tendencies to selfishness and sin, must be gradually overcome,\nfor though their cause and source has been destroyed, yet they still\nmaintain a certain momentum. Not yet can it be said that the soul is\nperfectly at one with the United Spirit of Life. Much remains to be\ndone, yet much has been done already, for during the struggle the\nenergic force has become loosened from the centres of self, and has\nascended to strengthen and vivify the soul, which becomes strong, fully\nawakened, and in harmony with the eternal; the flower of the soul is\nopening, the first step on the Path is taken. In the _Idyll of the\nWhite Lotus_ the same author has given the same history in another\nform. The New-Testament story is the same, and so is the scheme of\nChristian Theology for those who have eyes to see it; for that story is\n\u201cthe tragedy of the soul, it has been told in all ages and among every\npeople.\u201d\n\n \u201cEnter the Path! there spring the healing streams\n Quenching all thirst! there bloom the immortal flowers\n Carpeting all the way with joy! there throng\n Swiftest and sweetest hours.\u201d\n_Dublin, Ireland._ CHARLES JOHNSTON.\n\n\n MUSINGS ON THE TRUE THEOSOPHIST\u2019S PATH.\n\nIf you desire to labor for the good of the world, it will be unwise for\nyou to strive to include it all at once in your efforts. If you can\nhelp elevate or teach but one soul\u2014that is a good beginning, and more\nthan is given to many.\n\nFear nothing that is in Nature and visible. Dread no influence exerted\nby sect, faith, or society. Each and every one of them originated upon\nthe same basis\u2014Truth, or a portion of it at least. You may not assume\nthat you have a greater share than they, it being needful only, that\nyou find all the truth each one possesses. You are at war with none.\nIt is peace you are seeking, therefore it is best that the good in\neverything is found. For this brings peace.\n\nIt has been written that he who lives the Life shall know the doctrine.\nFew there be who realize the significance of The Life.\n\nIt is not by intellectually philosophizing upon it, until reason\nceases to solve the problem, nor by listening in ecstatic delight to\nthe ravings of an _Elemental clothed_\u2014whose hallucinations are but\nthe offspring of the Astral\u2014that the life is realized. Nor will it be\nrealized by the accounts of the experiences of other students. For\nthere be some who will not realize Divine Truth itself, when written,\nunless it be properly punctuated or expressed in flowery flowing words.\n\nRemember this: that as you live your life each day with an uplifted\npurpose and unselfish desire, each and every event will bear for you a\ndeep significance\u2014an occult meaning\u2014and as you learn their import, so\ndo you fit yourself for higher work.\n\nThere are no rose-gardens upon the way in which to loiter about, nor\nfawning slaves to fan one with golden rods of Ostrich plumes. The\nIneffable Light will not stream out upon you every time you may think\nyou have turned up the wick, nor will you find yourself sailing about\nin an astral body, to the delight of yourself and the astonishment of\nthe rest of the world, simply because you are making the effort to find\nwisdom.\n\nHe who is bound in any way\u2014he who is narrow in his thoughts\u2014finds it\ndoubly difficult to pass onward. You may equally as well gain wisdom\nand light in a church as by sitting upon a post while your nails grow\nthrough your hands. It is not by going to extremes or growing fanatical\nin any direction that the life will be realized.\n\nBe temperate in all things, most of all in the condemnation of other\nmen. It is unwise to be intemperate or drunken with wine. It is equally\nunwise to be drunken with temperance. Men would gain the powers; or\nthe way of working wonders. Do you know, O man, what the powers of the\nMystic are? Do you know that for each gift of this kind he gives a part\nof himself? That it is only with mental anguish, earthly sorrow, and\nalmost his heart\u2019s blood, these gifts are gained? Is it true, think\nyou, my brother, that he who truly possesses them desires to sell them\nat a dollar a peep, or any other price? He who would trade upon these\nthings finds himself farther from his goal than when he was born.\n\nThere _are_ gifts and powers. Not just such as you have created in\nyour imagination, perhaps. Harken to one of these powers: He who has\npassed onward to a certain point, finds that the hearts of men lie\nspread before him as an open book, and from there onward the motives of\nmen are clear. In other words he can read the hearts of men. But not\nselfishly; should he but once use this knowledge selfishly, the book is\nclosed\u2014and he reads no more. Think you, my brothers, he would permit\nhimself to _sell_ a page out of this book?\n\nTime\u2014that which does not exist outside the inner circle of this little\nworld\u2014seems of vast importance to the physical man. There comes to him\nat times, the thought that he is not making any progress, and that he\nis receiving nothing from some Mystic source. From the fact that he\nhas the thought that no progress is being made the evidence is gained\nthat he is working onward. Only the dead in living bodies need fear.\nThat which men would receive from Mystic sources is frequently often\nrepeated, and in such a quiet, unobtrusive voice, that he who is\nwaiting to hear it shouted in his ear, is apt to pass on unheeding.\n\nUrge no man to see as yourself, as it is quite possible you may see\ndifferently when you awake in the morning. It is wiser to let the\nmatter rest without argument. No man is absolutely convinced by that.\nIt is but blowing your breath against the whirlwind.\n\nIt was at one time written over the door: \u201cAbandon Hope, all ye who\nenter here.\u201d It has taken hundreds of years for a few to come to\nthe realization that the wise men had not the slightest desire for\nthe company of a lot of hopeless incurables in the mysteries. There\nis to be abandoned hope for the gratification of our passions, our\ncuriosities, our ambition or desire for gain. There is also another\nHope\u2014the true; and he is a wise man who comes to the knowledge of it.\nSister to Patience, they together are the Godmothers of Right Living,\nand two of the Ten who assist the Teacher.\n AMERICAN MYSTIC.\n\n\n THOUGHT EFFECTS.\n\nSome thirty years ago, I began a five years\u2019 residence in a foreign\nland. Whilst there, I was conscious of a stern conflict going on within\nme to keep myself from falling into some of the ways and beliefs of\nthe people of that land. So strong was the assault in one direction\nupon the Idol of Right which had been set up within me by a New England\ntraining, that for fear it should topple and fall, I was constrained to\nwithdraw myself little by little from social relations, until finally I\ncame to be pretty much alone, living on the pampas with flocks, herds,\nnature generally, and a few books for company. Even after this change\nthe fight went on, though in a less active form and on a more desultory\nscale.\n\nAfter I went from there, reflection upon the subject brought me to this\nconclusion among others, viz.: that one of the most powerful forces\nemanating from distinct societies of mankind works by mental action\nupon man from the unseen atmosphere surrounding him.\n\nIt is said advisingly, \u201cWhen in Rome do as the Romans do.\u201d It may be\nsaid, warningly: \u201cWhen one enters upon living in Rome, he can scarce\nhelp _but_ do as the Romans do.\u201d\n\nIn these later days, investigation of Theosophy has shown me of what\nnature was the obstacle against which I had been contending so stoutly.\n\nIt was of the Karma of that nation. It has shown me also the method\nof that unseen, unheard influence which \u201cis in the air,\u201d ever about\nus, ever ready to move us, to govern us. And this method of influence,\nunseen and unheard, is the action upon us of forces existing on the\nAstral Plane. Among these forces are the thoughts of men living upon\nthe objective plane of Earth.\n\nAfter so much of preface, I come to a more particular consideration of\nsome of the effects of those thoughts of man, which are unexpressed by\nspeech or action, upon others and upon himself:\n\n1st. How may we effectually resist the force of bad influence of\nlocality operating on _us_ from the Astral Plane?\n\n2nd. How may we do something, otherwise than by precept and example,\ntowards overcoming the evil Karma of Locality which may be affecting\n_others_?\n\n3rd. How may we in individual cases help some unfortunates with whose\nneeds we are acquainted?\n\nAn answer is\u2014by Thoughts.\n\nIn man\u2019s advancement from darkness into light, in the \u201cHuman Soul\u2019s\u201d\ndeparture from lower materiality to entrance into right Spiritual\nliving, among other means to be used to attain that end are right\nthought, right action, right speech and right meditation. Of these,\n_right thought_, is of primary importance, for it is the foundation\nfrom which only the others can spring into life. Actions in objectivity\nare illusions; they are shadows of our personality created by thoughts.\nThoughts are nearer, more akin to our personality than actions are,\nfor they are primary expressions from personality, always preceding\nconscious speech and action. Of all the indices to our personality\nof which we have knowledge thoughts are the clearest; we are as our\nthoughts are. In compliance with that grand mandate, \u201cKnow Thyself,\u201d\nwhy scan life\u2019s _page_ of speech and actions\u2014shadows\u2014when a vast\n_volume_ of thoughts\u2014realities\u2014expressions of our personality, lies\nopen to us for finding knowledge of self?\n\nThough independent of speech and action, thoughts are realities. They\nare real, living, active forces, until their force is expended,\u2014but\nthe effects of right thoughts last forever. Space does not necessarily\nlimit their reach. They are in the air, so to speak, everywhere, and\ncan move with a rapidity that is instantaneous. They may not only be\nsent, but are received. It takes but the veriest morsel of time to send\na thought to the Sun; at the Sun it takes as little time to receive a\nthought from the Earth.\n\nTo the first question\u2014\u201chow may we effectually resist the force of bad\ninfluence of Locality operating on _us_ from the Astral Plane?\u201d\u2014one\nway is to search for Spiritual Truth. That truth is \u201cin the air.\u201d It\nis conveyed to us by Thoughts. But a thought \u201cfrom the air\u201d is as a\nseed. A mustard seed planted in ice will not fructify; a spiritual\nthought-seed falling upon a \u201cHuman Soul\u201d which is bound and tied to\nEarth by its \u201cAnimal Soul\u201d will not fructify. The mustard seed must\nfall into ground properly prepared for its reception, ere by culture\nit can sprout, grow, and bear fruit. And so, too, must the soil of\nthe \u201cHuman Soul,\u201d be made ready in order that it shall afford an\nappropriate bed upon which the ever-present Spiritual thought-seed\nshall alight. On such a prepared soil it will _surely_ fall; as surely\nas the magnetic needle points to its pole, and once there, by our own\nculture it may grow into \u201can everlasting tree of Holiness.\u201d\n\nHow is that bed prepared? How is it that we become ready to receive\nSpiritual Truth? By right thought, right action, right speech and\nright meditation. It lies within our _inner selves_ whether we shall\nadvance in Spiritual knowledge and life, and nowhere else; it must\nbe our purpose, our business. No dictum of the Schools can bring it\nabout. No printed book on esoteric wisdom or on ethics, or on the\nmultitudinous religions of man can give it to us;\u2014belonging to the\nTheosophical Society does not necessarily lead us into Spiritual life.\nThese, to the hungry \u201cHuman Soul,\u201d may be of immense importance, but if\nthe \u201cHuman Soul\u201d\u2014principle 5, be not first prepared, if we do not look\nupward and build upward, all these means,\u2014Spiritual thoughts that are\n\u201cin the air,\u201d wise books, this society of yours\u2014they are all to such\na spiritually-desert soul, but as of old\u2014\u201cpearls before swine\u201d\u2014hidden\nlight\u2014a force shut out by ourselves from acting within us.\n\n_When we are engaged in right searching for Spiritual Truth, bad forces\nfrom the Astral Plane are inoperative upon us_: Thus may we effectually\nresist the force of bad influence of Locality operating on _ourselves_\nfrom the Astral Plane.\n\nThe second question we are considering is, \u201cHow may we do something,\notherwise than by precept and example, towards overcoming the evil\nKarma which may be affecting _others_?\u201d\n\nSurely, again, it is by right thought, and right action, speech and\nmeditation. For, not only do they prepare the way for the reception\nof Spiritual Truths, but the ego, so thinking, acting, speaking and\nmeditating, is, while so employed, disseminating Spiritual light on all\nsides through the Astral Plane. He is throwing out Spiritual truth-seed\nwhich is reaching far and near. Wherever a \u201cHuman Soul\u201d is in need of\nit, and hungering for it, it _will surely fall_; for there the soil is\nready for its reception. These right thoughts have gone into \u201cthe air,\u201d\nand are certain to strike in somewhere for good.\n\nThus by _right thought_ we may do something otherwise than by precept\nand example, towards obliterating the evil Karma of locality which is\naffecting _others_.\n\nRegarding the third question; it seems to me that we all know some\nparticular individuals to whose high needs we can minister by direct\nintention through the power of thought.\n\nWho, that observes and reflects, cannot gather from his own experience\nthe fact that thought can fly to a person at a distance? How common\nto say \u201cI was thinking of one and he appeared.\u201d It is not an uncommon\nexperience for one to unexpectedly entertain serious, at any rate\nmarked thoughts about another, and subsequently to find that the\nother was similarly occupied in mind with him at the same time. It\nis odd if there be not some among you who know that thought messages\nhave been sent, received and acted on by the object-person when the\nreceiver was in an abnormal condition to the sender. By these and other\nillustrations which doubtless will occur to you, we _know_ that it\nis within the province of cause and effect that thought has power to\noperate on others at a distance by direct intention of the sender, by\nmental action alone.\n\nBelieving in the reality of thought\u2014_knowing_ the reality of thought\u2014in\nits power to shield us from evil; in its power to affect others\nunknown to us; in our power to project it to special individuals, what\nopportunities it affords us for conferring high good.\n\nBut in order to do positive good to another by this direct thought\nunexpressed by speech or action, some certain conditions are necessary,\nwhich we may consider as milestones that shall indicate the progress\nof our own ascending path from materiality to spirituality. To be a\npower by thought influence,\u2014(I do not refer now to thought sent by will\npower to a particular \u201csensitive\u201d who is in subjective state to the\nsender\u2014which condition is on a lower plane than that which we are now\nconsidering,) presupposes intensity of love born of and nurtured by\nSpirituality for those whose high good we thus seek to establish. There\nmust first be born in us an enthusiasm for giving high and positive\ngood to another unconciously enthusiasm, as is our enthusiasm, shall be\nthe energy of our missive-thought; and according to the energy of that\nthought will be its effect upon the object to which it is sent,\u2014the\nmore powerfully intense the thought the deeper it will penetrate;\u2014the\nlonger its effects will endure.\n\nRight meditation will be required of us to determine what we really\ndesired to effect. If we arrive at the position within ourselves\nnecessary for obtaining power for affecting another for good by\nthought message, there will be engendered within us a portion of that\ngrand principle on which this Society is founded, viz: Universal\nBrotherhood\u2014unselfish love for others.\n\nIn making thought message to others, on the basis of lifting them to a\nhigher plane of action, a part of our daily life, by its reaction upon\nourselves we shall surely be \u201claying up treasures in Heaven\u201d\u2014and full\nwill be our material for Devachanic life.\n\nAs in Devachan one shall live in the good he has done while in\nobjective earth life\u2014shall live in the true beauty he has learned to\nperceive\u2014shall live in the effects of his good-life, his thoughts while\nhere on earth can be made for the Devachanic period of his existence\na vast storehouse of \u201cgood-life\u201d of purest water. But it must be of\nthoughts untinged by selfish considerations. It must be of thoughts\nevolved through love of others for _their_ good.\n\nRight thought being the grand power it is:\n\n1st. To resist within _ourselves_ the bad Karma of Locality.\n\n2nd. By which to weaken and destroy the bad Karma of Locality, which is\ndisastrously affecting _others_.\n\n3rd. By which from a basis of spiritual love we may send light to a\ngroping soul,\u2014what heavy responsibility is ever over us that it shall\nbe our purpose, our study to \u201cthink aright.\u201d\u2014To live much in thus right\nthinking\u2014we shall ever be lifting some of the heavy Karma from off the\nworld. It is thus, that we can \u201clive in the Eternal, for right thought\nis of the Universal Mind, and Universal Mind is of the Eternal.\u201d\n\nReflect that persistent right thinking affects humanity constantly in\nthe right direction, ever from the gross and material to the refined\nand Spiritual. It will ever be a constant force so long as evil exists.\nLet this idea sink into our consciousness. Let right thought be to\nus as the strong arm with which to do good to others. One need not\nlong for wealth, for position or power that he may do good to others;\nthe poorest in material wealth, the humblest in station, the most\ninsignificant among men has within himself this ever open storehouse of\npower for conferring good on which he can draw without limit; a wealth\nhe can scatter broadcast, or can give by direct selection of object\nwith the surety that he is bestowing benefits broadly,\u2014knowing that he\nis successfully contending against Spiritual poverty\u2014which is the sum\nof evil.\n\nHe who uses this wealth, can do so\u2014_must_ do so only by sacrifice\nof thought of self. He must be interested only in combating evil by\nhelping humanity at large; of offering special help to those whom he\nknows are desirous of help. As his life-love for the objects in view is\nthe only foundation upon which he can do these works,\u2014love of self can\nnot be a power within him.\n\nTo put it the other way. Begin the work of thought for the good of\nothers by first forgetting self; as fast as possible get away from\nthe dominion of materiality. Live in the love of doing _enduring_\ngood to others\u2014these conditions _are_ the true and upward advancement\nof ourselves. The doing of these things _is the reward_;\u2014it is the\nadvancing into _God-life_. It is part of our real Eternal selves. It\nis living in the Eternal\u2014the everlasting good; for the God-life\u2014the\ngood-life is the only eternally active one. By living thus, the gross\nand material now enchaining our entities will be broken down and will\ndie and leave us\u2014and die they must sooner or later or the \u201cI am I\u201d\nshall perish.\n H.\u202fN.\u202fH., F.T.S.\nBrooklyn, Oct 15, 1886.\n\n\n ENVIRONMENT.\n\nTo the Western mind the doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation contain\ndifficulties which while they seem imaginary to the Eastern student,\nare nevertheless for the Western man as real as any of the other\nnumerous obstructions in the path of salvation. All difficulties are\nmore or less imaginary, for the whole world and all its entanglements\nare said to be an illusion resulting from the notion of a separate I.\nBut while we exist here in matter, and so long as there is a manifested\nuniverse, these illusions are real to that man who has not risen above\nthem to the knowledge that they are but the masks behind which the\nreality is hidden.\n\nFor nearly twenty centuries the Western nations have been building up\nthe notion of a separate I\u2014of _meum_ and _tuum_\u2014and it is hard for them\nto accept any system which goes against those notions.\n\nAs they progress in what is called material civilization with all its\ndazzling allurements and aids to luxury, their delusion is further\nincreased because they appraise the value of their doctrine by the\nresults which seem to flow from it, until at last they push so far\nwhat they call the reign of law, that it becomes a reign of terror.\nAll duty to their fellows is excluded from it in practice, although\nthe beautiful doctrines of Jesus are preached to the people daily by\npreachers who are paid to preach but not to enforce, and who cannot\ninsist upon the practice which should logically follow the theory\nbecause the consequences would be a loss of position and livelihood.\n\nSo when out of such a nation rises a mind that asks for help to find\nagain the path that was lost, he is unconsciously much affected by the\neducation not only of himself but also of his nation through all these\ncenturies. He has inherited tendencies that are hard to be overcome. He\nbattles with phantasms, real for him but mere dreams for the student\nwho has been brought up under other influences.\n\nWhen, therefore, he is told to rise above the body, to conquer it, to\nsubdue his passions, his vanity, anger and ambition, he asks, \u201cwhat\nif borne down by this environment, which I was involuntarily born\ninto, I shall fail.\u201d Then when told that he must fight or die in the\nstruggle, he may reply that the doctrine of Karma is cold and cruel\nbecause it holds him responsible for the consequences which appear to\nbe the result of that unsought environment. It then becomes with him\na question whether to fight and die, or to swim on with the current\ncareless as to its conclusion but happy if perhaps it shall carry him\ninto smooth water whose shores are elysian.\n\nOr perhaps he is a student of occultism whose ambition has been fired\nby the prospect of adeptship, of attaining powers over nature, or what\nnot.\n\nBeginning the struggle he presently finds himself beset with\ndifficulties which, not long after, he is convinced are solely the\nresult of his environment. In his heart he says that Karma has unkindly\nput him where he must constantly work for a living for himself and a\nfamily: or he has a life long partner whose attitude is such that he is\nsure were he away from her he could progress: until at last he calls\nupon heaven to interpose and change the surroundings so opposed to his\nperfecting himself.\n\nThis man has indeed erred worse than the first. He has wrongly supposed\nthat his environment was a thing to be hated and spurned away. Without\ndistinctly so saying to himself, he has nursed within the recesses of\nhis being the idea that he like Buddha could in this one life triumph\nover all the implacable forces and powers that bar the way to Nirvana.\nWe should remember that the Buddha does not come every day but is the\nefflorescence of ages, who when the time is ripe surely appears in one\nplace and in one body, not to work _for his own_ advancement but for\nthe _salvation of the world_.\n\nWhat then of environment and what of its power over us?\n\nIs environment Karma or is it Reincarnation? THE LAW is Karma,\nreincarnation is only an incident. It is one of the means which The Law\nuses to bring us at last to the true light. The wheel of rebirths is\nturned over and over again by us in obedience to this law, so that we\nmay at last come to place our entire reliance upon Karma. Nor is our\nenvironment Karma itself, for Karma is the subtle power which works in\nthat environment.\n\nThere is nothing but the SELF\u2014using the word as Max M\u00fcller does to\ndesignate the Supreme Soul\u2014and its environment. The Aryans for the\nlatter use the word _Kosams_ or sheaths. So that there is only this\nSelf and the various sheaths by which it is clothed, beginning with the\nmost intangible and coming down to the body, while outside of that and\ncommon to all is what is commonly known as environment, whereas the\nword should be held to include all that is not The Self.\n\nHow unphilosophical therefore it is to quarrel with our surroundings,\nand to desire to escape them? We only escape one kind to immediately\nfall into another. And even did we come into the society of the wisest\ndevotees we would still carry the environment of the Self in our own\nbodies, which will always be our enemy so long as we do not know what\nit is in all its smallest details. Coming down then to the particular\nperson, it is plain that that part of the environment which consists\nin the circumstances of life and personal surroundings is only an\nincident, and that the real environment to be understood and cared\nabout is that in which Karma itself inheres in us.\n\nThus we see that it is a mistake to say\u2014as we often hear it said\u2014\u201cIf\nhe only had a fair chance; if his surroundings were more favorable\nhe would do better,\u201d since he really _could not_ be in any other\ncircumstances at that time, for if he were it would not be he but some\none else. It must be necessary for him to pass through those identical\ntrials and disadvantages to perfect the Self; and it is only because\nwe see but an infinitesimal part of the long series that any apparent\nconfusion or difficulty arises. So our strife will be, not to escape\nfrom anything, but to realize that these _Kosams_, or sheaths, are an\nintegral portion of ourselves, which we must fully understand before\nwe can change the abhorred surroundings. This is done by acknowledging\nthe unity of spirit, by knowing that everything, good and bad alike, is\nthe Supreme. We then come into harmony with the Supreme Soul, with the\nwhole universe, and no environment is detrimental.\n\nThe very first step is to rise from considering the mere outside\ndelusive environment, knowing it to be the result of past lives, the\nfruition of Karma done, and say with Uddalaka in speaking to his son:\n\n\u201cAll this Universe has the Deity for its life. That Deity is the Truth.\nHe is the Universal soul. He Thou art, O Svetaketu!\u201d[169]\n HADJII ERINN.\n\n\n TEA TABLE TALK.\n\nRecently the tea-table was chatting about the Widow\u2019s escape from the\nRomish fold. She was nearly converted by the urbane Monsignor Capel,\nbut escaped at the critical moment, she said, \u201cby reason of a sudden\npreoccupation.\u201d This turned out to be the death of her worthy husband.\nThe Widow is a pretty and amiable creature, approved even by the ladies\nwho say \u201cshe is a good little soul and mourns most expensively.\u201d Hence\nshe never appears at the tea-table without an escort, and the most\nfrequent of these is one Didymus, lawyer by profession, good humored,\nsceptic by nature, whose careless, semi-flippant manner makes it\ndifficult to know him, though he and I frequent the same clubs and\nmake our bows in the same drawing rooms. On the day in question the\nlady said that she brought him often because she \u201cwanted him converted\nto Theosophy.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, my dear Madam,\u201d said I, \u201cyou know we don\u2019t believe in converts.\nTheosophy is simply an extension of previous beliefs and like Victor\nHugo it says, \u2018in the name of Religion, I protest against religions.\u2019\nPeople have to grow into it. When they are ready for it a crisis of\nsome kind, now moral, now physical, seems to occur just before they\naccept the Light from the East as a man receives back something he has\nlost. It seems as if those elemental creatures, who attend man, foresaw\nhis determination and strove to frighten him away from the initial\nmoment of choice. Great momentum, even of misapplied energies, often\nindicates the nearness of radical change.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d broke in Didymus quietly, \u201cI believe that of the Elemental and\nthe astral world. I\u2019ve been there myself, don\u2019t you know!\u201d\n\nImagine the feelings of Balaam upon a noted occasion! Unlike the\nexcellent but misunderstood animal of scripture, Didymus was urged to\ncontinue.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said he, \u201cI can\u2019t profess to explain my experiences, but I\u2019ll\ntell them by way of illustrating Mr. Julius\u2019 remark, as I find most\npeople do go through a climax of some kind before they round the\nturning point of the Age.\u201d The tea-table settled itself comfortably and\nDidymus proceeded.\n\n\u201cI was in a good deal of trouble last winter, trouble of various kinds,\nand needless to specify, and I had foolishly taken to a pretty lively\nlife. I don\u2019t mind saying that one of the chief causes of my trouble\nwas the fact that I couldn\u2019t believe in anything that made life worth\nliving; all my ideals were pretty well played out. One Sunday I awoke\nwith an overwhelming sense of terrible calamity, I recalled the events\nof the previous day, but all was in due order from the matutinal\ncocktail to the vesper toddy, so I finally concluded that my depression\nwas a hint that I had been living too hard and I resolved to stop it.\nThis resolve, by the way, I carried out from that hour, nor have I\never touched liquor since. I passed the day otherwise as usual with\nvarious friends and dined out with a glorious appetite. Returning to\nmy hotel, I was engaged in making notes of one of Herbert Spencer\u2019s\nworks, when my attention was attracted by voices in the adjoining room,\nand I was astounded to find that they were detailing with startling\naccuracy, certain of my affairs which I not unnaturally supposed were\nhidden from the world at large. Conquering my blank amazement I sprang\ninto the corridor, when the voices as suddenly ceased and I found my\nneighbor\u2019s door ajar and the room entirely empty. This rather took me\ndown, and I concluded to turn in, and was just falling asleep, when I\nseemed to see two fellows in evening dress whom I somehow knew to be\njugglers. They advanced, bowed, and thereupon began a series of the\nmost fascinating and laughable tricks I ever saw. I looked on with\ninterest for what appeared to me a long time but at last the rapidity\nand variety of the illusions produced a feeling of intense weariness,\nand I said, \u2018Gentlemen, thanks for your interesting performance, but\nyou will pardon my remarking that it is late, and I am very tired.\u2019\nThey bowed, said nothing, and continued their performance which became\neven more ludicrous. I repeated my request; again the bows and tricks\nof increasing absurdity. Worn out I exclaimed angrily, \u2018I consider this\na beastly imposition, you know, and if you persist I shall be obliged\u2014\u2019\nbut I never finished the sentence, for the two distorted their faces\ninto masks of indescribable comicality and were off while I laughed\u2014and\nawoke. As I did so, I was amazed to see a broad patch of vivid scarlet\nlight slide down the wall from ceiling to floor and before I could give\na second thought to this phenomenon, a big white cat sprang from the\nfoot of my bed and vanished in the darkness.\n\n\u201cThis aroused me thoroughly, for though I had never experienced the\nlike before, I said to myself \u2018Old Boy, you must have a touch of D.\u202fT.\nthough why the devil you should have with your seasoned head, I can\u2019t\nsay.\u2019 I got up and lit my gas; it was after midnight but I concluded\nto go out and get some medicine. The halls were quite dark save for a\nlight in the front vestibule and I felt my way down by the balustrade.\nTurning the corner of the staircase I became aware of a shape\u2014I cannot\ncall it a form\u2014which was distinguishable from the surrounding darkness\nonly by being more intensely black. It seemed about seven feet high,\nthe body was indistinct but in the sharply defined head two fiery eyes\nglowed with a malice and menace that were truly appalling. The shape\nstood directly before me and barred my way. I felt an icy chill down my\nback, and I\u2019d wager that my hair stood up, but summoning all my courage\nI said,\u2014\u2018Well; what do you want?\u2019 The silent shape bowed mockingly and\nthe eyes became more malignant and threatening. My temper, which is\nreally hasty,\u201d (cries of \u201cOh! no!\u201d from the ladies,) \u201cgot the better\nof my fears, and advancing in furious anger I cried; \u2018Stand aside and\nlet me pass.\u2019 The shape vanished and I reached the front door without\nfurther incident.\n\n\u201cThe cold night somewhat calmed me, but as I crossed Madison Square\nI imagined that some one was following me. I turned sharply about;\nthe square was deserted. I resumed my walk; again the swift footsteps\never coming closer: again I turned; nothing! By this time I began to\nbe alarmed. For visible foes a man cares little, but those ghastly\nfootsteps,\u2014they curdled my very blood, by Jove! I walked on and\nreaching Broadway, I was struck with the tumult of voices that filled\nthe air though there were but few people about. The street cars\nseemed crowded with noisy men, laughing, swearing, telling more or\nless questionable stories, and from every cab and wagon came similar\nsounds: it was like the rumpus on the Stock Exchange on a field day.\nThe invisible footsteps, at first drowned in the noise recommenced, and\nconstantly turning, I found myself ever duped. By this time I began to\nthink the whole thing an illusion, but presently I saw a man just ahead\nof me look out from a doorway. As I approached, he apparently drew\nback, but getting opposite the door I found it closed by barred iron\nshutters: this occurred over and over. Then as I would approach anyone,\npedestrian or driver, he would shout at me, mockingly, jovially,\nprofanely or inconsequently, yet I could see that his lips were closed\nand that he was only mechanically aware of my presence.\n\n\u201cI now began to feel that there were two of me, so to speak. One\nrecognized that this was all a delusion; the other self was alarmed\nand unstrung. I walked quietly but rapidly, attracting no attention.\nLooking at myself in a chance mirror I saw that in outward appearance\nI was the same as ever. Reaching the drug store by the Herald Office,\nI sat down completely unstrung, but my voice was steady as I asked for\nsome Bromide of Potash, and the attendant gave me a dose in a glass of\nsoda water at my request without remark. Having no excuse for remaining\nI reluctantly turned homeward, hoping that fatigue and the drug would\ndissipate my delusions. In vain! I no longer heard the dogging steps\nor saw the peeping men, but the voices were louder and more confusing\nin a perfect chorus of commonplace talk, intensified in volume.\nArrived home, I took another dose of Bromide and threw myself on the\nbed. Instantly it seemed to sink under me and then rose violently. I\nrose, lit the gas and my cigar, but the voices began again in the next\nroom. Though tired out, I sought the street again. By this time the\nsense of being \u2018double\u2019 was intensified, and I recognized with anger\nthat my higher self was under the control of a lower portion which it\nridiculed and reprobated. I walked up Broadway this time, and as I\npassed the hotels from doors and windows came invitations to drink, to\ndine, to play billiards and less innocent suggestions. A man and woman\ncame towards me, and I was amazed at the breadth, or depth of their\nconversation, ranging over topics not whispered in general, much less\nproclaimed on the highway, yet as I met them I saw that their lips\nmoved not; with heads bent slightly against the keen air of the winter\nmorning they sped silently on their way. Jeers and mockeries saluted me\nfrom the cab stands, yet the cabbies dozed on their boxes. Hour after\nhour I walked thus, ready to drop with hunger and fatigue but unable\nto stop. At last in the cold grey of the morning I returned home, took\na tub and a meal, and went to my Doctor, having heard the irrational\ntumult of voices all the while. The Doctor was vastly amused at some\npoints of my narration; he thought my cat might be D.\u202fT. but could\nmake nothing out of all the rest except a threatening of insanity, and\ngiving me some beastly powders, advised me to live quietly, and keep\nout of doors as much as possible. I attended to my routine business,\nall the time hearing the voices, except when someone addressed me.\nGetting restless as the day wore on I walked down along the East River\npiers, went on board vessels, into holds and engine rooms, climbed over\ncargo and chatted with stevedores. No one saw anything unusual about\nme; friends asked me to wine and dine, yet still the hateful voices\nmingled with the real ones till I hardly knew them apart and feared I\nshould commit some noticeable indiscretion. The day passed in misery;\nas I got to my bed at last, a red setter appeared by my side. An inmate\nowned a dog of this species, and at first I thought this was he, but\nmy door was locked and as I turned to him he vanished, which upset my\nnerves again. Again I sought my Doctor\u2019s aid, and taking a second worse\nprescription, passed another hideous night in desperate wandering, ever\nwith the voices at my ear. It was useless to try to sleep or even to\nlie down; my bed heaved like a ship in a tempest. The next day I passed\nat my office again or with any acquaintances I could muster, talking\nas much as possible in the hope of a brief respite from the maddening\nsounds. At last the medicines did their work; the next day found me\nclear headed, the sights and sounds of the astral plane had vanished;\nI don\u2019t want to experience them again, but I believe in them, you\nbet! Later I found out what they really were when my life had wholly\nchanged, and I had joined the Theosophical Society.\u201d\n\nThe ladies turned on him with one voice. \u201c_You!_ A Theosophist! and you\nnever told us!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said he humbly, \u201cI tried hard, but\u2014you never gave me a chance.\u201d\n\nPretty Polly says that under cover of the laughter the Widow whispered\nto Didymus that she had thought he was trying to tell her something\nelse. But I don\u2019t believe it, for Didymus is still a bachelor; some say\nhe is a chela.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIn answer to queries, I would say that all occurrences related in this\ndepartment are strictly true, as is the above experience of an F.\u202fT. S.\ncommunicated since the published invitation to correspondents in our\nlast number. All such will be hospitably received by the Tea-Table. I\nmay add further that \u201cJulius\u201d is now the name of a department merely;\nthough it has at times sheltered groups of personalities of both sexes,\nthere has always been one fixed quantity directing these, and that\u2019s he\nwho now signs\n JULIUS.\n\n * * * * *\n\n \u201cThese sons belong to me; this wealth belongs to me:\u201d with such\n thoughts is a fool tormented. He himself does not belong to himself,\n much less sons and wealth.\u2014_Buddhaghosha Parables._\n\n OM.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[167] The orthodox translation is \u201cWhen the Most High divided to the\nnations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set\nthe bounds of the people according to the number of the children of\nIsrael.\u201d\n\n[168] From _Leaves of Grass_.\n\n[169] _Chandogya-Upanishad_, vi.\n\n\n\n\n AUM\n\n Let us adore the supremacy of that divine Sun, the Godhead who\n illuminates who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must\n return, whom we invoke: may he direct our understanding aright in our\n progress toward his holy seat.\u2014_The Gayatri._\n\n The spiritual mind which by study hath forsaken the fruit of\n works, and which by wisdom hath cut asunder the bond of doubt,\n cannot be brought back to mortal birth by reason of any human\n action.\u2014_Bagavad-Gita_, ch. iv.\n\n\n THE PATH.\n\n VOL. I. MARCH, 1887. NO. 12.\n\n_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion\nor declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless\ncontained in an official document._\n\nWhere any article, or statement, has the author\u2019s name attached, he\nalone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will\nbe accountable.\n\n\n A YEAR ON THE PATH.\n\nThe present issue of this Magazine closes the first year of its\npublication. It was not started because its projectors thought that\nthey alone knew the true Path, but solely out of an intense longing to\ndirect inquiring minds towards a way which had seemed to many persons\nwho had tried it, to hold out the possibility of finding an answer to\nthe burning questions that vex the human heart.\n\nThe question is always naturally asked \u201cWhat is the Path?\u201d or \u201cWhat is\nthe Philosophy?\u201d which is the same thing, for of course the following\nof any path whatever will depend upon the particular philosophy or\ndoctrines believed in. The path we had in view is held by us to be\nthe same one which in all ages has been sought by Heathen, Jew and\nChristian alike. By some called the path to Heaven, by others the path\nto Jesus, the path to Nirvana, and by the Theosophists the path to\nTruth. Jesus has defined it as a narrow, difficult and straight path.\nBy the ancient Brahmins it has been called, \u201cthe small old path leading\nfar away on which those sages walk who reach salvation;\u201d and Buddha\nthought it was a noble fourfold path by which alone the miseries of\nexistence can be truly surmounted.\n\nBut of course mental diversities inevitably cause diversity in the\nunderstanding of any proposition. Thus it happens that Theosophists\nhave many different views of how the path should be followed, but none\nof them disagree with the statement that there must be _one_ Truth,\nand that no religion can be called higher than Truth. We therefore\nhave pursued, as far as possible, a course which is the result of the\nbelief that the prevalence of similar doctrines in the writings and\ntraditions of all peoples points to the fact that _the true religion is\nthat one which will find the basic ideas common to all philosophies and\nreligions_.\n\nWe turned most readily and frequently to the simple declarations found\nin the ancient books of India, esteeming most highly that wonderful\nepic poem\u2014the Bagavad-Gita. And in that is found a verse that seems to\ntruly express in powerful words what philosophers have been blindly\ngrasping after in many directions.\n\n\u201cIt is even a portion of myself (the Supreme) that in this material\nworld is the universal spirit of all things. It draweth together the\nfive organs and the mind, which is the sixth, in order that it may\nobtain a body, and that it may leave it again; and that portion of\nmyself (Ishwar) having taken them under his charge, accompanieth them\nfrom his own abode as the breeze the fragrance from the flower.\u201d[170]\n\nTo catch the light which gleams through this verse, is not for mortal\nminds an easy task, and thus it becomes necessary to present as many\nviews from all minds as can be obtained. But it seems plain that in\nevery religion is found the belief that that part of man which is\nimmortal must be a part of the Supreme Being, for there cannot be two\nimmortalities at once, since that would give to each a beginning, and\ntherefore the immortal portion of man must be derived from the true and\nonly immortality.\n\nThis immortal spark has manifested itself in many different classes\nof men, giving rise to all the varied religions, many of which have\nforever disappeared from view. Not any one of them could have been\nthe whole Truth, but each must have presented one of the facettes of\nthe great gem, and thus through the whole surely run ideas shared by\nall. These common ideas point to truth. They grow out of man\u2019s inner\nnature and are not the result of revealed books. But some one people\nor another must have paid more attention to the deep things of life\nthan another. The \u201cChristian\u201d nations have dazzled themselves with the\nbaneful glitter of material progress. They are not the peoples who will\nfurnish the clearest clues to the Path. A few short years and they\nwill have abandoned the systems now held so dear, because their mad\nrush to the perfection of their civilization will give them control\nover now undreamed of forces. Then will come the moment when they must\nchoose which of two kind of fruit they will take. In the meantime it is\nwell to try and show a relation between their present system and the\nold, or at least to pick out what grains of truth are in the mass.\n\nIn the year just passing we have been cheered by much encouragement\nfrom without and within. Theosophy has grown not only in ten years, but\nduring the year past. A new age is not far away. The huge, unwieldy\nflower of the 19th century civilization, has almost fully bloomed,\nand preparation must be made for the wonderful new flower which is to\nrise from the old. We have not pinned our faith on Vedas nor Christian\nscriptures, nor desired any others to do so. All our devotion to Aryan\nliterature and philosophy arises from a belief that the millions of\nminds who have trodden weary steps before ours, left a path which might\nbe followed with profit, yet with discrimination. For we implicitly\nbelieve that in this curve of the cycle, the final authority is _the\nman himself_. In former times the disclosed Vedas, and later, the\nteachings of the great Buddha, were the right authority, in whose\nauthoritative teachings and enjoined practices were found the necessary\nsteps to raise Man to an upright position. But the grand clock of the\nUniverse points to another hour, and now Man must seize the key in his\nhands and himself\u2014as a whole\u2014open the gate. Hitherto he has depended\nupon the great souls whose hands have stayed impending doom. Let us\nthen together enter upon another year, fearing nothing, assured of\nstrength in the Union of Brotherhood. For how can we fear death, or\nlife, or any horror or evil, at any place or time, when we well know\nthat even death itself is a part of the dream which we are weaving\nbefore our eyes.\n\nOur belief may be summed up in the motto of the Theosophical Society\n\u201cThere is no religion higher than Truth,\u201d and our practice consists\nin a disregard of any authority in matters of religion and philosophy\nexcept such propositions as from their innate quality we feel to be\ntrue.\n\n\n WHAT IS TRUE \u201cCHRISTIANITY\u201d?\n\n\u201cChristianity\u201d is a _religion_; but the word \u201creligion\u201d has evidently\nthree distinct meanings:\n\n1. In the first place it signifies the practice of a certain kind of\nspiritual training, by which the higher principles in the constitution\nof man are developed and reunited (bound back) to the divine source\nto which they belong. In this sense it is the same as _yogism_ (from\n_yog_, to bind).\n\n2. In the second aspect it implies the knowledge of the true relation\nexisting between microcosmic man as a part of the All and the macrocosm\nof the spiritual and material universe. In this sense it is a science.\n\n3. In the third and common acceptation of the term, \u201creligion\u201d means a\ncertain system of forms, ceremonies and usages, by which some supposed\neternal deity is worshipped or propitiated and his favor obtained, so\nthat the sinner may escape the deserved punishment and evade the law.\nIn this sense it is a superstition.\n\nTo become a \u201cChristian\u201d of the third order, it is merely necessary\nto submit to a certain ceremony called baptism, whose mode of\nadministration varies in the different sects; but it seems that to\nbecome a real Christian some other baptism is necessary, namely, the\nbaptism of the _water of Truth_, the baptism of _Blood_, and the\nbaptism of the _living Fire_ of the Spirit.\n\nThe first baptism, with the _water of Truth_, means the attainment of\nspiritual knowledge, and corresponds to the first of the _four noble\ntruths_ taught by Buddha: \u201c_right doctrine_.\u201d\n\nThe second, or the baptism of _Blood_, is commonly supposed to mean\na shedding of blood by martyrdom, in the defense of a belief in a\nhistorical Christ. But such a process would be a loss of blood and not\na reception of it, and could not properly be called a \u201cbaptism.\u201d The\nbest way to obtain information in regard to this \u201cbaptism of blood,\u201d\nwill be to ask those who have received it or who are receiving it at\npresent.\n\nThere is a certain class of \u201cpractical occultists,\u201d whose inner senses\nare opened to a great extent, and who have been taught by no one but\nthe spirit within themselves and their own experience. They say that\nthe \u201cbaptism of blood\u201d means a penetration of the growing spiritual\ngerm in man, through the flesh and blood and bones of the physical\nbody, by which even the gross elements of the physical form are\nattenuated and purified,[171] and that this process produces pains and\nsufferings, typically represented by the suffering, crucifixion and\ndeath of the man Jesus of Nazareth. They say that no one can be a true\nfollower of Christ, or a \u201creal Christian,\u201d who has not undergone this\nbaptism of blood, and experienced the pains of crucifixion,[172] but\nthat man having passed through that occult process becomes an Adept,\nwhen only the highest baptism (or the last initiation)\u2014the baptism\nof _Fire_\u2014will be necessary to enter the highest attainable state\n(Spiritual Power), and to become a _Son of Light_.\n\nBut, it is asked, what has Jesus of Nazareth to do with that process?\nHow does the latter come to be typified by his suffering, and what is\nthe _rationale_ of it?\n\nIt is claimed that at the beginning of certain historical periods, when\nold religious truths are about to be forgotten, and the idolatry of\nform assumes the place of true religion, some great spirit (planetary)\nappears upon the Earth, incarnated into a human form, and by his\nword and _example_ impresses the old truths forcibly upon a number\nof receptive minds, to communicate them to others, and thus lay the\nfoundation of a new religious system, embodying old truths in a new\nform.\n\nIt is believed that the man Jesus of Nazareth was the mortal form in\nwhich such a Spirit was embodied; the latter being no less than what\nI believe every planetary spirit to be\u2014an emanation of the Universal\n_Logos_ or the _Word_.[173]\n\nBut what is the _Logos_? or, to express it better, how can we form a\nconception of it? We can conceive of no other _God_ (or Supreme Good)\nbut the one which lives within ourselves, and which is said to be the\nimage of the Universal God reflected in the purified human soul, where\nit (He) may attain self-consciousness and the knowledge of self. The\nUniversal God may be described as the incomprehensible centre from\nwhich proceed the elements of _Love_, _Life_ and _Light_ in the various\nmodes of manifestation on the different planes. The whole of Nature is\na product of the _Spirit of God_, being poured out throughout the _All_\nby the power of _The Word_, which is the _Life_\u2014or _thought_ rendered\nactive by _will_.\n\nThe same process which took place in the eternal Macrocosm of the\nUniverse, takes place in the inner world belonging to the microcosm\nof man. \u201cNo one can come to the _Father_, but through the _Son_;\u201d\nthat is to say: No _God_ will take his seat in the interior temple of\nMan, except through the power of the _Word_\u2014in other words; by the\nconcentration of thought and good will upon the divine germ which\nrests in the innermost centre of every human being. If we concentrate\nour _Love_ upon that centre of _Good_, the divine germ will begin\nits active _Life_, and the interior world will gradually become\nilluminated by the _Light_ of the spirit. As this principle grows, it\nwill penetrate the soul and through the soul all the lower principles,\neven the physical body, throwing off the impurities of soul and body,\nand the more such impurities are present, the greater will be the\nsuffering, typically represented by Jesus, until finally the _baptism\nof blood_ is completed, the soul purified, the animal _ego_ dead and\nthe man has become a \u201cChrist\u201d or an _Adept_,\u2014that is to say one in whom\nthe (6th) _Christ_ principle has taken form.\n\nIt will readily be seen that this process is much more difficult to\naccomplish, than merely to go to church, pay the dues to the priests,\nattend to prayer-meetings and perform the prescribed ceremonies. To\naccomplish this process requires a constant meditation of the highest\nkind, and a continual employment of will power to keep away the\ndisturbing elements of evil, which in a person who strives for _light_\nare still more boisterous than in one who is indifferent, for as\nsoon as the spiritual light kindled in the centre begins to radiate\nits life-giving rays throughout our interior world, the \u201c_dwellers\nof the threshold_\u201d\u2014the evil _egos_, created by evil thoughts and\nselfish desires, floating at the periphery of the soul-sphere like\nclouds sailing through the atmosphere of our earth, begin to feel the\ndestroying influence of the central sun and battle for their existence.\nStill this atmosphere of evil must be penetrated before we can reach\nthe luminous centre and the tranquil heaven within, and this is done by\nclinging to the principle of Good and virtue whose rays radiate from\nthe centre. This principle will at first only be felt intuitionally but\nas we feed it with good thoughts, it grows and the interior spiritual\nsenses become opened, so that we may _see_ and _hear_ its voice\ndistinctly and without any fear of misunderstanding its meaning.\n\nThe \u201cbelow\u201d is always in exact correspondence to and related with\nthe \u201cabove.\u201d We are immersed in an all surrounding but invisible\nocean of life, whose waves pervade our psychic organization, in the\nsame sense as volumes of air enter our lungs, and as the latter\nstimulates the life of the body, likewise the former stimulates the\ngrowth of the elements of the spirit; which draw their substance from\nthe lower-animal-principles. In the same way the caloric rays of the\nsun enter the bodies of plants and stimulate the assimilation of the\nelements which are drawn from earth, water and air.\n\nThose who have gone through that occult process, will require no proof\nof the truth of these assertions: because they know it to be true\nby experience; but the \u201cexoteric Christian\u201d and sceptic, having no\nsuch experience to assist his faith, may arrive at a certain degree\nof conviction by using his reasoning powers and logic in conjunction\nwith the teachings of the _Bible_. Christ is reported in the _New\nTestament_ to have said: \u201cExcept Ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man\nand drink his blood, ye have no life in You\u201d (John vi, 53); and again:\n\u201cI am the living bread, which came down from heaven; if any man eat\nof this bread, he shall live forever\u201d (John vi, 51.) Now this seems\nplain enough to every student of occultism, and if translated into\nthe scientific language of modern occultists, it would mean: \u201cUnless\nyou absorb and assimilate within your psychic organization the sixth\nprinciple (The Christ), which is the only permanent and immortal\nprinciple in the constitution of Man, you will have no sixth principle\ndeveloped within you, and consequently possess no immortal life\u2014at\nleast as far as Your personality is concerned (for the divine and now\nunconscious germ within you cannot die, but will reincarnate again).\nBut if you absorb the principle or spiritual life and develop the\nspirit within you, so that it grows through your flesh and blood,\nthen will you have drunk from the _Elixir of Life_ and received the\n_Baptism of Blood_ and become a _Christian_, an _Adept_; for \u2018Christ\u2019\nwill have taken form in your body, and being himself immortal you will\nbe immortal through him.\u201d\n\nThese views are corroborated by the great Christian mystic _Jacob\nBoehme_, by _Jane Leade_, _Paracelsus_, the Rosicrucians, and I can\nfind nothing in them which would in any way conflict with the _Esoteric\nDoctrine_, as taught by the Eastern Adepts. If any difference in\nopinion could arise, it could be only, in regard to the person of\n_Jesus of Nazareth_ or _Jehoshua_, and whether he lived exactly at the\ntime claimed by modern Christians. This question I must leave to some\none wiser than myself to settle; but it seems of no great importance to\nme; for the existence of the Christ-principle is disputed by none, and\nthe man, Jesus\u2014having died\u2014can only be a Savior to us at present, if we\nstudy his character and imitate his example.\n F. HARTMANN, M.\u202fD.\n\n\n PAPYRUS\u2014THE GEM.\n\nThe roads were thronged with the people moving toward the great square,\nfor it was a feast of the Goddess. The temples were crowded, while long\nlines of men and maidens in the robes of \u201cThe Sacred\u201d wound in and out\ntoward the river.\n\nMusic and song rose and fell upon the evening breeze, like the pulse of\na throbbing heart. Here and there could be seen the Scribes, and seated\nin an open space, the Tale-tellers. One of these, as I rested near him,\ntold the tale of\n\nONE WHO FOUND THE GEM.\n\n\u201cIn the land of the Wise-men, there dwelt a young man. Many years\nhad he labored in a strange mine; the \u2018Mine of the Priceless\nGems;\u2019\u2014hopefully, bravely, but fruitlessly. He had long known that he\nwho should find the Master Stone, would be free, be full of peace and\ndig no more, for nothing better could be found. He also knew that he\nwho found the stone should seek to share it with all men.\n\n\u201cMany small stones had he found, but they were laid aside to be used\nwhen the great stone was reached.\n\n\u201cSilently and steadily he worked on, until one gloomy day when he had\ngrown so weak that he could make but one more effort, that effort was\nrewarded, and before him lay the great gem. Weary, weak, but joyful, he\ngathered it into his bosom, and went forth to share it with others; for\nhe who told not of his gem, or shared it not with all men, must lose\nthe stone.\n\n\u201cFar he wandered, telling his wonderful story, the _finding of the\nPriceless Stone_\u2014the stone that made men greater, wiser, more loving\nthan all things living; the stone that no man could keep unless he gave\nit away.\n\n\u201cFar he wandered in his own country, seeking to tell his story and give\nof the Stone to each one he met. Silently they listened\u2014gravely they\nmeditated and gently they said to him: \u2018This is Kali-yuga, the dark\nage. Come to us a hundred thousand years from now. Until then\u2014the stone\nis not for us. It is Karma.\u2019\n\n\u201cFar into another land he wandered, ever trying for the same end.\nGravely they listened, quietly they spoke: \u2018Peace be with you. When the\nLotus ceases to bloom and our Sacred River runs dry, come to us. Until\nthen we need not the stone.\u2019\n\n\u201cOver the seas unto another land he went, for fully he believed that\nthere they would hear and share with him. The many days of wandering\nand the long journey across the sea had made him thin and ragged. He\nhad not thought of this, but as he told his story he was reminded of it\nand many other things, for here the people answered in many ways, and\nnot always gently.\n\n\u201cSome listened, for his story was new to them, but the gem was uncut,\nand they wished it polished.\n\n\u201cOthers paused and desired him to tell his story in their tents, for\nthat would make them exalted and famous, but they wanted not the gem.\nAs he did not belong to their tribe, it would bring discredit upon them\nto receive anything from him.\n\n\u201cOne paused to listen and desired some of the stone, but he desired to\nuse it to elevate his own position and assist him in overreaching his\nfellows in bartering and bargaining. The Wanderer was unable to give\nany of the stone to such as this one.\n\n\u201cAnother listened, but inasmuch as the Wanderer refused to make the gem\nfloat in the air, he would none if it.\n\n\u201cAnother heard, but he already knew of a better stone, and was sure he\nwould find it, because he ate nothing but star-light and moonbeams.\n\n\u201cAnother could not receive any of the stone or listen to the story, for\nthe Wanderer was poor and ragged. Unless he was dressed in purple and\nfine linen and told his story in words of oil and honey, he could not\nbe the possessor of the gem.\n\n\u201cStill another heard, but he knew it was not the gem. As the Wanderer\nhad been unsuccessful before, surely he could not have found the stone.\nEven had he found it, he could not have the proper judgment to divide\nit. So he wanted none of the stone.\n\n\u201cNear and far went the Wanderer. Still ever the same. Some wanted it,\nbut the stone was too hard, or not bright enough. He was not of their\npeople, or was ignorant. He was too ragged and worn to suit their\nideas, so they wanted none of the stone.\n\n\u201cSaddened, aged and heart-sore, he wandered back to the land of the\nWise men. To one of these he went, telling of his journeyings and that\nno man would share with him the magnificent stone, and also of his\nsorrow that he too must lose it.\n\n\u201c\u2018Be not troubled, my son,\u2019 said the Wise One, \u2018the stone is for you,\nnor can you lose it. He who makes the effort to help his fellow man\nis the rightful owner and still possesses the entire stone, although\nhe has shared it with all the world. To each and every one to whom\nyou have spoken, although they knew it not, you have given one of the\nsmaller stones which you first found. It is enough. When the Master\nStone is cut and polished, then is the labor of the fortunate possessor\nended. The long journeying and weary wandering, the sorrow-laden heart\nand tear-dimmed eyes, have cut and polished your gem. Behold, it is a\nwhite and a fair stone!\u2019\n\n\u201cDrawing it from his bosom, the Wanderer gazed into the wonderful light\nof the stone while an expression of great peace stole over his face.\nFolding the gem close to his bosom his eyelids closed, and he fell\nasleep, a wanderer no more.\u201d\n RAMESES.\n\n\n HERALDS FROM THE UNSEEN.\n\n \u201cBehold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall\n all be changed.\u201d\u2014I Cor. xv, 51. \u201cI have found the small old path\n leading far away.\u201d\u2014UPANISHAD.\n\nTo him who without murmuring, confident in the perfect justice of the\nlaw, waits and watches, there comes a herald from heights unseen. The\njust man follows him and attains; the unwise may surprise him and\nfollow also. But when the fool has rushed unbidden in where angels\nfear to tread, he meets a mailed Truth with a drawn sword, on whose\npoint he dies. Now there are two deaths. From the one he may rise,\n\u201cin a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, * * * for the dead shall be\nraised,\u201d[174] and this by the vivifying power of truth, if so be he\nhave one identical incorruptible atom in his spiritual make up, or else\nthat rash being is dead forever, and the spirit monad creates another\nin the dream of three thousand years.\n\nThe indivisible Truth in its entirety is incommunicable in the words\nof our plane. A clue may indeed be given; it is the herald to those\nwho await him. It is useless to turn the page to see who this is that\noffers the clue. Of myself I know nothing, yet through me may much be\nmade known. I am the trumpet; through it the herald may proclaim a\nmystery.\n\nIt was in a night of silence that a Power bade me waken, and drew\nme to a dark cave wherein It passed. Not so I, for the entrance was\nnarrow and I had encumbrances about me. Only many nights later, when I\nhad parted with effort, hope and fear, did I stand within. All of me\nthat was essential had entered; this was enough. Then a musical chord\nbreathed low, the darkness dispersed, and I saw the Unknown Land.\n\nIt was a circling land of streams, Light everywhere, flowing, flowing,\nflowing. The flow was cadenced and welled from a mysterious Centre of\nblackness at the edges of which spouted cataracts of flame. My thought\nshrank with awe of the Darkness, but an unknown grasp of Might expanded\nwithin me and drew me to that flaming verge. On the knees of the soul\nI fall and am not. I become one with the All, and consciously resting\nin Omniscience I know the whole. Yet _what_ forever dwells, wakeful\nand brooding with that dark pavillion, nor man nor angel may discover.\nProfounder than all Being, _It is_, girt about by unfathomed fires. \u201cYe\nshall enter the light, but ye shall never touch the flame.\u201d[175]\n\nA stir was over that central Dark, a titanic breath, like the sighing\nof myriad seas, measured, omnipotent. Where its harmonious friction\nfretted the verges of space, the flames burst forth, and with fecund\npulsations gave birth to heat, light, motion and sound. The Centre felt\na boundless attraction for the circumference, pouring toward it with\ninexhaustible energy, for \u201cthe heart of it is Love.\u201d This was the force\ncentrifugal, which in a dazzle of starry scintillations thrusts the\nuniversal glooms apart with a song. Were this all, Discord and Division\nwere the end. But the circumference trembled also with a vast yearning\ntoward the Centre, so that it ever tended to return there, as the\nprodigal, enriched in experience, returns to the mystic house of the\nFather. This was the centripetal force, and these two caused the double\nvibration of the Astral Light, and they are all you shall know though\nyou blend with the infinite forever. \u201cWhatever there is, the whole\nworld when gone forth trembles in His breath: that Brahman is a great\nterror, like a drawn sword. They who know it become immortal.\u201d[176]\n\nThen a voice said\u2014\u201cThe Absolute evolves thought from Himself, and the\nvibration of this thought in the passive wells of space generates Light\nand its correlated forces. The Thought is,\u2014\u2018_Creation!_\u2019 The singing\nbreath is the Word; the Light is the Absolute made manifest, and the\nUniverse begins.\u201d At once I saw divergent lances of light pour their\nserried splendors into the void, and the point of each spear displaced\nthe mist which curling backward from the centre of energy thus formed,\ncommunicated the movement to sister vapors in turn. Activities shoot,\nplay back and forth, elongate, crystalize, and so great planets spring\ninto the arena, feel the first instinct of separate Being, struggle to\ndepart,\u2014an estranged Self\u2014in meteoric desolation, when the magnetic\nimpulse of the Centre streams along the creative ray, meets the\nresponsive principle, and lo! each chafing Orb, held in leash by Love,\nwheels into the circle of attraction and obeys the Law. The astral\nworld has begun!\n\nThence presently the Light spreads afresh, reflected and repeated\nfrom every facet of every star, till arrowy glories, vibrant with\neach vibration sped forth by the primary pencils of light, in turn\ncreate dull planetary masses in the luminous abyss; then ever renewed\ncoruscations quicken their dust with whose initial tremor shining\ncrystals sparkle out and glide together about a glistering ring whose\ncentre is ever a darkness ruffled by the outreaching current from that\nfirst tinted Gloom. So new spheres form, these, repeating the parent\nmovement, with wide spreading auras touch and arouse their neighbors,\nand interpenetrating, revolving, throwing off, taking on, converging,\ndiverging, modifying and modified, a world of forms is evolved whose\nfinal expression of Being is Man. Thus further departing, the infinite\nvariations end in individuality and the greater the individuality, the\nmore it leans to the centrifugal force, and the lack of equilibrium in\nthe forces draws man further from the Eternal and he forgets the Law.\nHis aura, his rays are nerve currents centred in the personality, but\nlinked by star-beam and moon-ray to the quivering Source of all light,\nso that each man vibrating, imparts to the Akasa about him his own\nspecific rate of vibration, and all men, all things, suspended as it\nwere in this fine ether which fills the universe, act and react each\non each, every one striving to modify the others to his own vibratory\nratio, while the Light in the same way attacks all, and the battle of\nthe giants is here. So the final expression of \u201cevil\u201d is inertia, and\nthe highest attribute of Spirit is the Thought which is Life.\n\nOnce again the Voice spoke then saying: \u201cWhat gives Life?\u201d Someone\nanswered: \u201cVibration.\u201d And when It said, \u201cLook back to the earth\nworld,\u201d I obeyed. I saw the modern sage reducing all the great forces,\nall the intoxicating play of colors and the bewildering tangle of\nharmonies to this one source,\u2014Vibration. I saw wondering students\nbending over sensitive flames that danced or died at the mandate of\nsound. I saw a child playing with iron filings on glass, and as he\ndrew a bow athwart the pane they marshalled into tiny mimicries of\nthe primitive crystalline creation. I saw the Frost spirit, tracing\nhis white wonders of tropical forests on vibrant surfaces, blazoning\nsymbols of summer on the grim escutcheon of the snow. I saw Sound\ndisintegrating granite and iron, taming wild beasts with a lure,\ntransforming brothers into demons at the sibilant hiss of a scathing\nword.[177] I saw Light fecundating the soil, and the teeming battalions\nof the underworld issuing from the palpitating spark in their germs;\nthe selective art of the flower, choosing the kindred color of her\ntribe from all the flashing scale, gave up to me its secret of the\nsynchronous vibration of that hue with the astral soul within her\nfragrant form. Passion I saw also, flaming in two breasts that for one\ntumultuous moment became one, and knew it for an instant of similar\nvibration. Aye, and saw that Love was a steadfast quality of motion\nbetween loyal hearts, saw too that Anger and Hatred had their rise in\nthe same source, and mounting upward I saw that Faith was a similitude\nof vibration with Truth itself. Again the Voice spoke; \u201cDost thou see\naught but Vibration anywhere?\u201d I answered: \u201cSuch all life is, and from\nsuch all proceeds. He who cons its secret laws and can institute its\nmusical numbers at will, is a God! He can create and destroy.\u201d \u201cGo\nthen, and by analogy learn what thou art,\u201d said the Voice, and like\nthe rebel fraction of a star I fell from Glory, and found myself alone\nin the Maya world again, with these words thrilling my brain. \u201cBut\nHe, that Highest Person, who wakes in us while we sleep, shaping one\nlovely sight after another, He indeed is called the Light, He is called\nBrahman, He alone is called The Immortal. All worlds are founded on It\nand no one goes beyond. This is that.\u201d[178]\n\nIt is rarely that a man gets the whole of his thought; often others\nsupply it. Analogy is the power of following a thought into all its\ncorrelations, and I shall ask you to do this in a measure with mine.\nThese puny pages cannot contain the theme of cycles, and falling\nshort, it scarce matters by how many pen strokes I fail. Consider this\nfirst; what are we? Look abroad over our Society, largely; we see each\nmember working on his own particular line. So it must be with man for\nages. When you shall have exhausted your special hobby, when through\nastral perception, or mesmeric control or mental acumen, you shall\nhave attained high powers, the hour of your limitation will strike,\nas its awful knell can strike, even from the towers of Futurity, and\nyou will know that you have not found that corner-stone on which alone\nthe Eternal rests,\u2014your indivisible Self. \u201cGreat ones fall back, even\nfrom the threshold, unable to sustain the weight of responsibility;\nunable to pass on.\u201d[179] Follow from the start that solitary beacon\nwhich informs the ultimate goal: _Unity_. Make it your touchstone and\nyour guide; other stars are reflected lights only. The doctrine of\nunselfishness is no sentiment, but of logical, practical utility. The\nindividual way lies from limited Being, through Becoming, to unlimited\nBeing, precisely as the universal way lies from sterile Unity, through\nDivision to fecund Unity, or from the one Life through Death to the\nLife of the All. He who in final choice elects the path of Division,\nchooses Death eternal. You may indeed wend homeward through the devious\ntangle of reflected rays, but how long, how hard are such paths! I\nwould see your souls with eagle swoop make straight for the Central\nSun. Look then within you. Man! Woman! Are you what you seem? Till this\nthought daily; it will bear the harvest of Life.\n\nWith analogy for our guide we observe that the first forms of life are\ncrystalline and have two poles. You man, are also a magnetic sphere\nwith physical and spiritual poles. On the physical side of the subject\nwe find modern scientists telling us that man is matter in a state of\nlow vibration, and thought, matter in a state of high vibration.[180]\nIn this ascertained view, Spirit is a higher state of vibration than we\nat present cognize. \u201cDoes the fact look crass and material, threatening\nto degrade thy theory of Spirit? Resist it not; it goes to refine and\nraise thy theory of matter just as much.\u201d[181] Nor do I say this is\nall. Trust your highest ideal to the unconditioned causation lying back\nof that primal vibration\u2014Absolute Thought.\n\nThe vibrant tension of fixed thought must in time heighten the\nvibratory ratio of the man, for tension excites increased pulsation.\nThis rarefies the density of all bodies, and the friction of\nintensified chemical action establishes light, heat and odic force.\nThe increased porosity of the physical body tends to disengage the\natoms of the astral body, and the generation of a strong odic current\nforces it out to the astral world, (always attracting it) all the\nsooner because the intensified pulsation of thought-tension sends the\nauric emanations further into space, thus draughting a larger portion\nof the world-soul to the entity. All vibration being attended with\nsound (which may or may not escape the ear) we proceed to examine\ntones and find them varying from the lowest of eight vibrations per\nsecond, to the highest known to western science of 24,000 per second.\nRemember that the tones of anger, hatred, scorn are all deep notes,\nthose of cheerfulness, love, hope are treble. Here we discover the\napparently inexplicable effect of spoken words which raise or depress\nour vibrations to their own by means of the etheric medium. To resist\nthe wildfire spread of passion or anger we have but to check the\nvibration by holding steadily to our own; this maintained, may raise\nthat of others, precisely as the high musical note constantly sounded,\nraises all lower ones at all related, to its own pitch. Tyndall says:\n\u201cScientific education ought to teach us to see the invisible as well\nas the visible in nature; to picture with the vision of the mind those\noperations which entirely elude bodily vision; to look at the very\natoms of matter in motion and at rest, and to follow them forth without\nonce losing sight of them * * to see them integrating themselves in\nnatural phenomena.\u201d So I shall ask you to imagine a tone at a high rate\nof vibration, to see it striking the hearer\u2019s brain at a certain focus,\ncreating there a centre of energy, which tending to crystallization,\nfixes the thought in the mind. And the more permanent duration of\npleasant (which are high) thoughts and tones is evident if we glance\nback over a long period of time and note how the joys stand out and\nthe griefs disappear; so we always forget physical suffering. Moreover\nwe may see this tone raising his vibratory ratio and glancing off at\nan angle of reflection equal to that of incidence, reacting upon the\nsurrounding ether and upon all hearers. The magical success of eastern\nmantras depends upon the exact intonation, which governs the vibratory\nresult, and the proper intonation of the sacred books, learned from\nthe priests, doubtless increased their effect. Turning to colors, we\nfind them varying in vibration from violet 1/60000 inch to red 1/38000\ninch, and the violet has greater actinism; so it would seem to follow\nthat the more extended the undulation the greater the chemical action\nand resultant odic force. Hence the tone of animals or man is not such\na poor test of their nature as we might suppose, and a certain clue to\ncharacter is given in a preferred color. The higher sounds thus create\ngreater akasic disturbance through increased undulation. Deleuze in\nhis work on magnetism says: \u201cThe word which indicates our will can\noften exert an action. * * The very tones of the magnetizer, being\nproduced by the vital energy, act upon the organs of the patients.\u201d\nReichenbach proved that all chemical action is a source of odic force,\nand the transmertion of air being nothing less, additional witness is\nborn to the occult power of a word. All mesmerizers are now agreed that\nmotions and words are unnecessary; the will suffices; what is this\nbut the tension of fixed thought. Everything in Nature has its own\nspecific rate of vibration; if we know and can reproduce and heighten\nit we can call the thing into existence or pass ourselves within its\nconsciousness. Hence the old saying that numbers are the names of\nthings. The \u201clost word\u201d itself is, doubt it not, a sound of the highest\npossible vibration, represented by the Aum, or sound of the eternal\noutpour of Light, the Logos of the Christians. The ordinary ear may\nnot grasp this sound, but Tyndall tells us such are not dead because\nthey have passed from our ken.[182] When we remember that this astral\nvibration can in time elevate that of all matter, we glimpse alike the\ngreat factor of Evolution and of the use of Aum. The thought being\nspiritually fixed, an unbroken vital current sets in between the man\nand the \u201cOne eternal Thinker, thinking non-eternal thoughts. He though\none, fulfils the desire of many. The wise, who perceive Him within\ntheir Self, to them belong eternal joy, eternal peace!\u201d[183] Here we\nperceive the force of the repeated injunction to be calm; how else\ncan the harmonious medium act upon us? \u201cThe man who is not calm and\nsubdued, or whose mind is not at rest, he can never obtain the Self,\neven by knowledge.\u201d[184]\n\nFollow me now to the plane of soul. As all things from planet to\nmolecule have their mystic centre, that of man is found in the heart,\nwhose systole and diastole are regulated by the double movement of the\nAstral Light. There, hemmed about by the light of the semi-material\nsoul, is the dusky centre, where the spirit may awaken and breathe.\n\u201cThe self is smaller than small, greater than great, hidden in the\nheart of the creature.\u201d Air is breathed by the lungs; the soul breathes\nthe astral light. As that spiritual monad who is your own Augoides,\nbreathed first upon the plastic Akasa and drew together the principles\nof a man, so It must again breathe upon this silent centre to create\nthe spiritual man. It does not inhabit him, It overshadows him. It\nis his \u201cFather in Heaven\u201d to whom Jesus bade him pray; his Creator.\nIn each heart stands this shrouded altar to an unknown God. \u201cWhom ye\ntherefore ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.\u201d He has created\nthe physical man hundreds of times, for His mission is unfulfilled\nuntil through Evolution, He shall have made \u201cone higher than the\nangels.\u201d In that illimitable future which evades the mind, my soul sees\nultimate beings in their glory, raise the swelling tide of Being higher\nstill. So Divinity raises Itself by Itself and man expands God. Here is\nthe adhesion of Jesus to the destiny latent in Humanity. \u201cBe ye perfect\nas your Father in Heaven is also perfect.\u201d\n JASPER NIEMAND, F.\u202fT. S.\n (_Concluded in April._)\n\n\n THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE.\n\n II.\n\nThe votaries of Religions that preach salvation only through the\nacceptance of their dogmas must inevitably be more or less animated by\nthe proselytising spirit, and the more pretentious the claims of power\nto save by the inculcation of orthodox opinion, the more urgent must\nappear the necessity to spread those opinions as widely as possible.\nIndeed it seems imperative on one who holds such a faith in his heart\nof hearts, that he should spend his life in trying to spread it.\n\nBut when the true philosophic thought is attained and the law of Karma\nwith its infinite ramifications realized as the all pervading power,\nhow vain will seem all attempts to control or even deeply affect the\ndestiny of others. Truly Occultism teaches the widest tolerance, and\nthough its student will doubtless as formerly try to influence all who\nare brought into contact with him in his journey through life, and if\npossible instil into them the thoughts that actuate him and give his\nlife a definite purpose, yet will he realize that over his own life\nalone has he paramount power. He may exercise his worldly wisdom as the\nsower of seed, may avoid what is most patently the rocky or the thorny\nground, but he will gradually learn to cease to look for results from\neven the most promising, and will rise more and more on the wings of\ndevotion to the true giver of the increase.\n\nWhile therefore it is a subject for satisfaction if the Theosophical\nSociety should indeed prove to be the dawn of that better hope\nfor mankind the nucleus of that Universal Brotherhood which shall\noverspread all lands, and which shall plant in the hearts of men the\nScience-Religion along whose lines will move the spiritual progress of\nall future Humanity, yet as a Society it can scarcely be expected to be\nfree from the imperfections inherent in all organization, which being\nof the earth is necessarily earthly\u2014and after all it is a matter of\nvery small moment in what form truth is given to the world. This only\nis certain that truth must advance that no man can stay the wheel of\nevolution\u2014that the Divine Wisdom which we believe animates us will one\nday be recognized by all mankind as the only solution of the problem of\nthe Universe, and as the guide to Life Eternal.\n\nAnd Destiny will not be hurried\u2014spite of our impatience\u2014any more than\nshe can be retarded. The evil Karma of the World must work itself out.\nThe unclean man let him be unclean still, let him measure every depth\nof vice and taste of every spring of passion till the hour strikes for\nhim also and his painful upward progress has to begin. So have the\nRishis done who went before us, so have we done in past existences,\nindeed we may have but extricated ourselves from the slough, and the\nmire may still be clinging to our feet. For no man can transcend\nexperience, and all earthly places, foul and clean alike, must be\ntrodden by him. Nor when the words or acts of others come into direct\nantagonism with our own personality, any more than when the cruelty\nand injustice in the world at large are brought painfully before us,\nshall we continue to blame the actors, or allow the old prejudices\n\u201cwith their lurid colourings of passion\u201d to dominate us any longer, for\nthe true philosophic thought will have taught us to recognize that all\nacts are but the result of the \u201cThree Qualities\u201d blended in infinite\ncombination\u2014the great Karma of the World working itself out.\n\nThe deeper one looks into this Western Civilization of ours, and the\nmore one realizes in what degrading depths its masses are sunk, in what\nheartless frivolity so many of the more opulent spend their lives, and\nin what superstitious intolerance its so-called Religious World moves,\nit seems indeed a forlorn hope to attempt to carry conviction of the\nOccult Truth or expect a widespread acceptance of it. But though this\nage of Darkness may exhibit an appalling depth of materiality, yet in\nall ages of the world, the blind multitude are many and the lovers of\nWisdom few. And indeed this love of Wisdom is no light attainment,\nbut one for which the soul has been educated through life times of\nexperience and paroxysms of pain, for while the gratification of any\nof the senses still continues to give supreme satisfaction, there is\nno room in the soul for Theosophic thought. Not until by the slow\neducation of repeated experience it is realized that the senses can\nno longer satisfy, that even the higher joys of communion with ones\nkind\u2014though culminating in the ideal union of two souls\u2014are but steps\nin the ladder to the Supreme Thought, can any true idea of the Divine\nWisdom have been formed. Indeed a time will come for the student when\nthe gratification of the senses will actually cause pain. It may be\nushered in for one through the sense of sight, when the most beautiful\nscenery of earth, and the most perfect combinations of mountain wood\nand water only accentuate by their faint reflex the passionate desire\nfor that land which no eye hath seen, that land which no eye can see.\nOr the symphonies of earthly music which once enthralled the soul may\nraise the longing for the song of the celestial choir to that ecstatic\npoint where it becomes unrecognisable from pain. And so the student is\ndriven inward to find at last his refuge in pure Thought, and he begins\nto perceive that the Eternal World of ideas is the only real World, the\nonly one in which pure Being is to be found, and that this phenomenal\nexistence is indeed but the circling of the nets of delusion, the\nrestless tossing of the false salt waves of sense which reward \u201cwith\ndroughts that double thirst\u201d the deluded souls that float on them.\n\nThe more the student lives in this ideal world, the more will he find\nthat the association with those whose interests are exclusively centred\non earthly things becomes repugnant to him, and that even the calls of\nduty to descend from the tranquil heights of Thought, to the jarring\ndiscord of action in the world, are responded to with increasing pain,\nthough duty in such cases is likely to be in process of changing her\nsphere of action. When the inner struggles of one still bound by ties\nof earth suggest such thoughts as these, surely the isolation from\ncontact with the rude world of the most spiritual men, those who have\nachieved the sublime heights of Mahatmaship, is no longer a thing to\nwonder at, but becomes apparent as an absolute necessity.\n\nThe desires above referred to of seeing the invisible, and realizing\nthe divine, will probably if practised continuously enough, and with\nsufficient intensity, be the prelude to some partial lifting of the\nveil, when the ecstatic may reap in a moment of beatific vision more\nthan he ever dreamed of, and receive accretion of strength for the\ncoming years, though this is more likely to be the immediate reward\nof some supreme self-devotion whether in act or thought, and when the\nwords of Krishna, \u201cnear to renunciation\u2014very near\u2014dwelleth eternal\npeace\u201d will flash upon the soul as truth that requires no word of\nmortal man to give it authority.\n\nBut woe to the man who unduly cultivates his spiritual faculties\nwithout being a complete master of his lower nature\u2014the beast below\nwill turn and rend him some day\u2014the little bit of lust unconquered may\nbe the means of his complete undoing. For as his astral consciousness\ndevelops his whole being intensifies, including the small unconquered\npart of his physical nature, which he will then have to fight upon\nthe Astral plane, in far more terrible struggle than had he conquered\non the physical. It becomes in fact what is symbolically known as the\n\u201cDweller on the threshold\u201d that has to be fought and conquered before\nthe neophyte can aspire to gain the first glimmering of vision on\nthe true spiritual plane. For it must always be remembered that our\nnature is threefold, \u201cbody, soul and spirit\u201d as the initiate St. Paul\nexpressed it, and until the personality has transferred all its forces\nunto the soul plane, it cannot expect to attain to that of spirit.\nFrom this it will be evident how necessary it is to live more and more\ncontinuously in the Eternal Thought until all fleshly appetites and\ndesires of sense die off by sheer inanition.\n\nThe vague dreams with which life began, and which the child with\nmemories fresh from \u201cthat imperial palace whence he came\u201d pictured\nin a material way of a golden city with walls of jasper and with\ngates of pearl, and into which no unclean thing was permitted to\nenter, are lost for a while in the frenzied rush of youth and early\nmanhood, but maturer years bring them back with an added pathos and a\nmore spiritualized meaning. It is indeed the Golden city we all seek\nfor\u2014\u201cthe city that hath foundations whose builder and whose maker is\nGod.\u201d\n PILGRIM.\n\n\n [Illustration:]\n\n HINDU SYMBOLISM.\n\n IV.\n\nAUM symbolized as in unison with the attributes of the Trimurti, as\nthe symbolic foundation of the elementary universe. This has a certain\nconnection with figures Nos. 1 and 2 and 3.\n\nThe idea is to represent the mystic body of Brahman (neuter) and the\nideal type of the Trimurti. The representation is of a four-handed\ncloud picture. A wreath of clouds forms the outline of the head which\nis without any tiara. Two suns indicate the eyes without lids, always\nopen. This symbolism is also found in the Hebrew books, _e. g._ the\nZohar. The nose and eyebrows are formed by a palm tree divided on the\ntop, in the centre. This tree was considered as androgynous. The mouth\nis merely an opening in the clouds; from it emanate, four principal\nrays, the four-worlds of the Kabbalah. AUM is winged, Brahman (neuter)\nis not, for the latter is also AUM\u2014Prana, the breath of the highest\nlife and mystic carrier of the Will of Brahman (neuter). AUM is the\nbird of the Brahman Desire or Wish.\n\nThe four hands of AUM are holding the architypes of the four elements,\nfire, water, air, earth, in their height and depth. The lower are\nsupporting the Himalayah Mountains, the mountains of the gods. From\nwhich comes the German Himmel _i. e._ Heaven. The linga yoni is shown\nas the symbol of all the creative and emanative powers which lie in\nthe mystic cloud garment of AUM. In this figure are nearly all the\nprincipal symbols of the Brahmanical religious metaphysics.\n\nThe bond which unites Prakriti to Brahman (neuter) is Prana, the\nsubtile body of Brahman, the form of the Being, the divine breath, the\nprinciple of the organism, the respiration so to say, of the Deity; in\nSanscrit it also means \u201cbreath of man,\u201d more correctly it is AUM, the\nfirst form of the creator, the Sun engendered before Time, the first\nWord (the Logos) which went from Its mouth, the \u2018Hokhmah or Wisdom of\nthe Kabbalah, when It prepared Its work, the creative Word. Prana and\nAUM are confounded in Maya, and as it, they have formed the Cow. AUM is\nthe son of Maya as he is the son of Brahman (neuter), because Maya is\nBrahman. AUM is the first born Word or Logos of the Deity, the Memrah\nof the Jews, the Honover of the Persians, the origin of the Vedas. It\nhas revealed and manifested all the emanated things, the so-called\ncreation. It appeared before all things, and contains all qualities,\nall the elements, and is the name and body of Brahman (neuter), and\nconsequently as infinite as It. The Will, Desire, Word is the master\narchitect and creator of all the things. Brahma meditating upon the\ndivine Word, therein found the primitive water, the common bond of\nall the creatures, the primitive fire, and the Trimurti of the Vedas,\nalso the worlds and universal harmony of all the things. The image of\nAUM is the Cow, which is also a symbol of the universe. The universe\nwas concealed and at first was hidden under the waters, and the waters\nwere in Atma. These waters are those without any shores, all that which\nexists is water, and the water and AUM make but one; these primitive\nwaters are the sea of Maya, the celestial ocean of all existence.\n\nThere are to be found further in this symbolical picture many other\nsuggestions flowing from the Ancient Aryan or Hindu system. That system\nis believed to contain in germ all the others which have since arisen,\nas: the Hermetic, the Jewish, the Christian and others. Space, however,\nforbids a more extended explanation at present, and the student is\nrecommended to study the four which have appeared in this magazine.\n ISAAC MYER.\n\n\n THROUGH THE GATES OF GOLD.\n\nThe most notable book for guidance in Mysticism which has appeared\nsince _Light on the Path_ was written has just been published under\nthe significant title of \u201cThrough the Gates of Gold.\u201d[185] Though the\nauthor\u2019s name is withheld, the occult student will quickly discern that\nit must proceed from a very high source. In certain respects the book\nmay be regarded as a commentary on _Light on the Path_. The reader\nwould do well to bear this in mind. Many things in that book will be\nmade clear by the reading of this one, and one will be constantly\nreminded of that work, which has already become a classic in our\nliterature. Through the Gates of Gold is a work to be kept constantly\nat hand for reference and study. It will surely take rank as one of the\nstandard books of Theosophy.\n\nThe \u201cGates of Gold\u201d represent the entrance to that realm of the soul\nunknowable through the physical perceptions, and the purpose of\nthis work is to indicate some of the steps necessary to reach their\nthreshold. Through its extraordinary beauty of style and the clearness\nof its statement it will appeal to a wider portion of the public than\nmost works of a Theosophical character. It speaks to the Western World\nin its own language, and in this fact lies much of its value.\n\nThose of us who have been longing for some thing \u201cpractical\u201d will find\nit here, while it will probably come into the hands of thousands who\nknow little or nothing of Theosophy, and thus meet wants deeply felt\nthough unexpressed. There are also doubtless many, we fancy, who will\nbe carried far along in its pages by its resistless logic until they\nencounter something which will give a rude shock to some of their old\nconceptions, which they have imagined as firmly based as upon a rock\u2014a\nshock which may cause them to draw back in alarm, but from which they\nwill not find it so easy to recover, and which will be likely to set\nthem thinking seriously.\n\nThe titles of the five chapters of the book are, respectively, \u201cThe\nSearch for Pleasure,\u201d \u201cThe Mystery of Threshold,\u201d \u201cThe Initial Effort,\u201d\n\u201cThe Meaning of Pain,\u201d and \u201cThe Secret of Strength.\u201d Instead of\nspeculating upon mysteries that lie at the very end of man\u2019s destiny,\nand which cannot be approached by any manner of conjecture, the work\nvery sensibly takes up that which lies next at hand, that which\nconstitutes the first step to be taken if we are ever to take a second\none, and teaches us its significance. At the outset we must cope with\nsensation and learn its nature and meaning. An important teaching of\n_Light on the Path_ has been misread by many. We are not enjoined to\nkill out sensation, but to \u201ckill out _desire_ for sensation,\u201d which\nis something quite different \u201cSensation, as we obtain it through the\nphysical body, affords us all that induces us to live in that shape,\u201d\nsays this work. The problem is, to extract the meaning which it holds\nfor us. That is what existence is for. \u201cIf men will but pause and\nconsider what lessons they have learned from pleasure and pain, much\nmight be guessed of that strange thing which causes these effects.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe question concerning results seemingly unknowable, that concerning\nthe life beyond the Gates,\u201d is presented as one that has been\nasked throughout the ages, coming at the hour \u201cwhen the flower of\ncivilization had blown to its full, and when its petals are but slackly\nheld together,\u201d the period when man reaches the greatest physical\ndevelopment of his cycle. It is then that in the distance a great\nglittering is seen, before which many drop their eyes bewildered and\ndazzled, though now and then one is found brave enough to gaze fixedly\non this glittering, and to decipher something of the shape within it.\n\u201cPoets and philosophers, thinkers and teachers, all those who are the\n\u2018elder brothers of the race\u2019\u2014have beheld this sight from time to time,\nand some among them have recognized in the bewildering glitter the\noutlines of the Gates of Gold.\u201d\n\nThose Gates admit us to the sanctuary of man\u2019s own nature, to the place\nwhence his life-power comes, and where he is priest of the shrine\nof life. It needs but a strong hand to push them open, we are told.\n\u201cThe courage to enter them is the courage to search the recesses of\none\u2019s own nature without fear and without shame. In the fine part, the\nessence, the flavor of the man, is found the key which unlocks those\ngreat Gates.\u201d\n\nThe necessity of killing out the sense of separateness is profoundly\nemphasized as one of the most important factors in this process. We\nmust divest ourselves of the illusions of the material life. \u201cWhen\nwe desire to speak with those who have tried the Golden Gates and\npushed them open, then it is very necessary\u2014in fact it is essential\u2014to\ndiscriminate, and not bring into our life the confusions of our sleep.\nIf we do, we are reckoned as madmen, and fall back into the darkness\nwhere there is no friend but chaos. This chaos has followed every\neffort of man that is written in history; after civilization has\nflowered, the flower falls and dies, and winter and darkness destroy\nit.\u201d In this last sentence is indicated the purpose of civilization. It\nis the blossoming of a race, with the purpose of producing a certain\nspiritual fruit; this fruit having ripened, then the degeneration of\nthe great residuum begins, to be worked over and over again in the\ngrand fermenting processes of reincarnation. Our great civilization\nis now flowering and in this fact we may read the reason for the\nextraordinary efforts to sow the seed of the Mystic Teachings wherever\nthe mind of man may be ready to receive it.\n\nIn the \u201cMystery of Threshold,\u201d we are told that \u201conly a man who has\nthe potentialities in him both of the voluptuary and the stoic has any\nchance of entering the Golden Gates. He must be capable of testing\nand valuing to its most delicate fraction every joy existence has to\ngive; and he must be capable of denying himself all pleasure, and that\nwithout suffering from the denial.\u201d\n\nThe fact that the way is different for each individual is finely set\nforth in \u201cThe Initial Effort,\u201d in the words that man \u201cmay burst the\nshell that holds him in darkness, tear the veil that hides him from the\neternal, at any moment where it is easiest for him to do so; and most\noften this point will be where he least expects to find it.\u201d By this we\nmay see the uselessness of laying down arbitrary laws in the matter.\n\nThe meaning of those important words, \u201cAll steps are necessary to make\nup the ladder,\u201d finds a wealth of illustration here. These sentences\nare particularly pregnant: \u201cSpirit is not a gas created by matter,\nand we cannot create our future by forcibly using one material agent\nand leaving out the rest. Spirit is the great life on which matter\nrests, as does the rocky world on the free and fluid ether; whenever we\ncan break our limitations we find ourselves on that marvellous shore\nwhere Wordsworth once saw the gleam of the gold.\u201d Virtue, being of the\nmaterial life, man has not the power to carry it with him, \u201cyet the\naroma of his good deeds is a far sweeter sacrifice than the odor of\ncrime and cruelty.\u201d\n\n\u201cTo the one who has lifted the golden latch the spring of sweet waters,\nthe fountain itself whence all softness arises, is opened and becomes\npart of his heritage. But before this can be reached a heavy weight\nhas to be lifted from the heart, an iron bar which holds it down and\nprevents it from arising in its strength.\u201d\n\nThe author here wishes to show that there is sweetness and light in\noccultism, and not merely a wide dry level of dreadful Karma, such as\nsome Theosophists are prone to dwell on. And this sweetness and light\nmay be reached when we discover the iron bar and raising it shall\npermit the heart to be free. This iron bar is what the Hindus call \u201cthe\nknot of the heart!\u201d In their scriptures they talk of unloosing this\nknot, and say that when that is accomplished freedom is near. But what\nis the iron bar and the knot? is the question we must answer. It is the\nastringent power of self\u2014of egotism\u2014of the idea of separateness. This\nidea has many strongholds. It hold its most secret court and deepest\ncounsels near the far removed depths and centre of the heart. But it\nmanifests itself first, in that place which is nearest to our ignorant\npreceptions, where we see it first after beginning the search. When\nwe assault and conquer it there it disappears. It has only retreated\nto the next row of outworks where for a time it appears not to our\nsight, and we imagine it killed, while it is laughing at our imaginary\nconquests and security. Soon again we find it and conquer again, only\nto have it again retreat. So we must follow it up if we wish to grasp\nit at last in its final stand just near the \u201ckernel of the heart\u201d.\nThere it has become an \u201ciron bar that holds down the heart\u201d, and there\nonly can the fight be really won. That disciple is fortunate who is\nable to sink past all the pretended outer citadels and seize at once\nthis _personal devil_ who holds the bar of iron, and there wage the\nbattle. If won there, it is easy to return to the outermost places and\ntake them by capitulation. This is very difficult, for many reasons.\nIt is not a mere juggle of words to speak of this trial. It is a\nliving tangible thing that can be met by any real student. The great\ndifficulty of rushing at once to the centre lies in the unimaginable\nterrors which assault the soul on its short journey there. This being\nso it is better to begin the battle on the outside in just the way\npointed out in this book and _Light on the Path_, by testing experience\nand learning from it.\n\nIn the lines quoted the author attempts to direct the eyes of a very\nmaterialistic age to the fact which is an accepted one by all true\nstudents of occultism, that the true heart of a man-which is visibly\nrepresented by the muscular heart\u2014is the focus point for spirit, for\nknowledge, for power; and that from that point the converged rays begin\nto spread out fan-like, until they embrace the Universe. So it is the\nGate. And it is just at that neutral spot of concentration that the\npillars and the doors are fixed. It is beyond it that the glorious\ngolden light burns, and throws up a \u201cburnished glow.\u201d We find in this\nthe same teachings as in the Upanishads. The latter speaks of \u201cthe\nether which is within the heart,\u201d and also says that we must pass\nacross that ether.\n\n\u201cThe Meaning of Pain\u201d is considered in a way which throws a great\nlight on the existence of that which for ages has puzzled many learned\nmen. \u201cPain arouses, softens, breaks, and destroys. Regarded from a\nsufficiently removed standpoint, it appears as a medicine, as a knife,\nas a weapon, as a poison, in turn. It is an implement, a thing which\nis used, evidently. What we desire to discover is, who is the user;\nwhat part of ourselves is it that demands the presence of this thing so\nhateful to the rest?\u201d\n\nThe task is, to rise above both pain and pleasure and unite them to\nour service. \u201cPain and pleasure stand apart and separate, as do the\ntwo sexes; and it is in the merging, the making the two into one, that\njoy and deep sensation and profound peace are obtained. Where there is\nneither male nor female, neither pain nor pleasure, there is the god in\nman dominant; and then is life real.\u201d\n\nThe following passage can hardly fail to startle many good people:\n\u201cDestiny, the inevitable, does indeed exist for the race and for the\nindividual; but who can ordain this save the man himself? There is no\nclew in heaven or earth to the existence of any ordainer other than\nthe man who suffers or enjoys that which is ordained.\u201d But can any\nearnest student of Theosophy deny, or object to this? Is it not a\npure statement of the law of Karma? Does it not agree perfectly with\nthe teaching of the Bhagavat-Gita? There is surely no power which\nsits apart like a judge in court, and fines us or rewards us for this\nmisstep or that merit; it is we who shape, or ordain, our own future.\n\nGod is not denied. The seeming paradox that a God exists within each\nman is made clear when we perceive that our separate existence is an\nillusion; the physical, which makes us separate individuals, must\neventually fall away, leaving each man one with all men, and with God,\nwho is the Infinite.\n\nAnd the passage which will surely be widely misunderstood is that in\n\u201cThe secret of strength.\u201d \u201cReligion holds a man back from the path,\nprevents his stepping forward, for various very plain reasons. First,\nit makes the vital mistake of distinguishing between good and evil.\nNature knows no such distinctions.\u201d Religion is always man-made.\nIt cannot therefore be the whole truth. It is a good thing for the\nordinary and outside man, but surely it will never bring him to the\nGates of Gold. If religion be of God how is it that we find that same\nGod in his own works and acts violating the precepts of religion?\nHe kills each man once in life; every day the fierce elements and\nstrange circumstances which he is said to be the author of, bring on\nfamine, cold and innumerable untimely deaths; where then, in The True,\ncan there be any room for such distinctions as right and wrong? The\ndisciple, must as he walks on the path, abide by law and order, but\nif he pins his faith on any religion whatever he will stop at once,\nand it makes no matter whether he sets up Mahatmas, Gods, Krishna,\nVedas or mysterious acts of grace, each of these will stop him and\nthrow him into a rut from which even heavenly death will not release\nhim. Religion can only teach morals and ethics. It cannot answer the\nquestion \u201cwhat am I?\u201d The Buddhist ascetic holds a fan before his eyes\nto keep away the sight of objects condemned by his religion. But he\nthereby gains no knowledge, for that part of him which is affected by\nthe improper sights has to be known by the man himself, and it is by\nexperience alone that the knowledge can be possessed and assimilated.\n\nThe book closes gloriously, with some hints that have been much needed.\nToo many, even of the sincerest students of occultism, have sought\nto ignore that one-half of their nature, which is here taught to be\nnecessary. Instead of crushing out the animal nature, we have here\nthe high and wise teaching that we must learn to fully understand the\nanimal and subordinate it to the spiritual. \u201cThe god in man, degraded,\nis a thing unspeakable in its infamous power of production. The animal\nin man, elevated, is a thing unimaginable in its great powers of\nservice and of strength,\u201d and we are told that our animal self is a\ngreat force, the secret of the old-world magicians, and of the coming\nrace which Lord Lytton foreshadowed. \u201cBut this power can only be\nattained by giving the god the sovereignty. Make your animal ruler over\nyour self, and he will never rule others.\u201d\n\nThis teaching will be seen to be identical with that of the closing\nwords of \u201cThe Idyll of the White Lotus\u201d: \u201cHe will learn how to expound\nspiritual truths, and to enter into the life of his highest self, and\nhe can learn also to hold within him the glory of that higher self,\nand yet to retain life upon this planet so long as it shall last, if\nneed be; to retain life in the vigor of manhood, till his entire work\nis completed, and he has taught the three truths to all who look for\nlight.\u201d\n\nThere are three sentences in the book which ought to be imprinted in\nthe reader\u2019s mind, and we present them inversely:\n\n\u201cSecreted and hidden in the heart of the world and the heart of man is\nthe light which can illumine all life, the future and the past.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the mental steps of a million men Buddha passed through the Gates\nof Gold; and because a great crowd pressed about the threshold he was\nable to leave behind him words which prove that those gates will open.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis is one of the most important factors in the development of\nman, the recognition\u2014profound and complete recognition\u2014of the law of\nuniversal unity and coherence.\u201d\n\n\n CONSIDERATIONS ON MAGIC.\n\nWe hear a good deal nowadays and are likely to hear still more of\noccult science. In this regard we may as well accept the inevitable.\nAll things have their day, and all things revolve in cycles; they come\nand go, and come again, though never twice the same. Even our very\nthoughts conform to this universal law. The life, the teachings, and\nthe fate of Pythagoras are involved in mystery, but the fate of the\nschools which he established and of the followers who succeeded him\nare matters of history. The slaughter of the Magi stands over against\nthe abuses and abominations which were perpetrated in their name, and\ndoubtless by many styling themselves Magicians.\n\nIt is not the object of this brief paper to attempt to define\nmagic, or elucidate occult Science as such, but rather to suggest a\nfew considerations which are of vital import at the present time,\nequally important to those who utterly deny to magic any more than an\nimaginative basis, as to those who convinced of its existence as a\nscience, are, or are to become investigators. In both the publications\nand conversations of the day, frequently occur the expressions \u201cblack\nmagic,\u201d and \u201cwhite magic\u201d and those who follow these studies are\ndesignated as followers of the \u201c_left hand path_,\u201d or the \u201c_right\nhand path_\u201c. It ought to be understood that up to a certain point all\nstudents of magic, or occultism, journey together. By and by is reached\n_a place where two roads meet_, or where the common path divides, and\nthe _awful voice from the silence_, heard only in the recesses of the\nindividual soul utters the stern command: \u201d_Choose ye this day whom ye\nwill serve._\u201d Instead of black and white magic, read, black and white\n_motive_.\n\nThe student of occultism is rushing on his destiny, but up to a certain\npoint that destiny is in his own hands, though he is constantly shaping\nhis course, freeing his soul from the trammels of sense and self, or\nbecoming entangled in the web, which, with warp and woof will presently\nclothe him as with a garment without a seam.\n\nIf early in the race he finds it difficult to shake off his chains, let\nhim remember that at every step they grow more and more tyrannical,\nand often before the goal is reached where the ways divide, the battle\nis lost or won, and the decision there is only a matter of form. That\ndecision once made is irrevocable, or so nearly so that no exception\nneed be made. Man lives at once in two worlds: the natural and the\nspiritual, and as in the natural plane he influences his associates,\nand is in turn influenced by them, so let him not imagine that in the\nspiritual plane he is alone. This will be a fatal mistake for the\ndabbler in magic, or the student in occultism. Throughout this vast\nuniverse, the good will seek the good, and the evil the evil, each will\nbe unconsciously _drawn to its own kind_.\n\nBut when man faces his destiny in full consciousness of the issues\ninvolved, as he must before the final decision is reached, he will\nbe no longer unconscious of these influences, but will recognize his\ncompanions: companions, alas! no longer, _Masters_ now, inhuman,\npitiless; and the same law of attraction which has led him along the\ntortuous path, unveils its face, and by affinity of evil, the slave\nstands in the presence of his master, and the fiends that have all\nalong incited him to laugh at the miseries of his fellow men, and\ntrample under his feet every kindly impulse, every tender sympathy,\nnow make the measureless hells within his own soul resound with their\nlaughter at him, the poor deluded fool whose selfish pride and ambition\nhave stifled and at last obliterated his humanity.\n\nBlind indeed is he who cannot see why those who are in possession of\narcane wisdom, hesitate in giving it out to the world, and when in the\ncycles of time its day has come, they put forth the only doctrine which\nhas power to save and bless, UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD, with all that the\nterm implies.\n\nThere may be those who have already in this new era, entered the\nleft-hand road. But now as of old, \u201cby their works ye shall know them\u201d.\nTo labor with them is in vain. Selfishness, pride and lust for power\nare the signs by which we may know them. They may not at once cast\noff disguise, and they will never deceive the true Theosophist. They\ncan nevertheless deceive to their ruin the ignorant, the curious, the\nunwary, and it is for such as these that these lines are penned, and\nthe worst of it is, that these poor deluded souls, are led to believe\nthat no such danger exists, and this belief is fortified by the\nso-called scientists, who are quoted as authority, and who ridicule\neverything but rank materialism. Yet notwithstanding all this, these\nsimple souls flutter like moths around the flame till they are drawn\nwithin the vortex. It is better a million times, that the proud, the\nselfish and time-serving should eat, drink and be merry, and let\noccultism alone, for these propensities unless speedily eradicated,\nwill bear fruit and ripen into quick harvests, and the wages thereof is\ndeath, literally the \u201c_second death_\u201d.\n\nThe purpose of Theosophy is to eradicate these evil tendencies of man,\nso that whether on the ordinary planes of daily life, or in the higher\noccult realms, the Christ shall be lifted up, and draw all men unto him.\n\n \u201cMan\u2019s inhumanity to man\n Makes countless thousands mourn.\u201d\n\nThe Christs of all the ages have preached this one doctrine: Charity\nand Brotherhood of Man. To deny the law of charity is to deny the\nChrist. The Theosophical Society is not responsible for unveiling to\nthe present generation the occult nature of man. Modern Spiritualism\nhad already done this; nor is the responsibility to be charged to the\nSpiritualists, for these unseen forces had revealed themselves in the\nfullness of time, and many millions had become convinced, many against\ntheir wills, of the reality of the unseen universe. These things _are\nhere_, and neither crimination, or recrimination is of any use. The\nresponsibility therefore, rests entirely with the individual, as to\nwhat use he makes of his opportunities, as to his purposes and aims,\nand as he advances in his course, involved in the circle of necessity,\nhe influences whether he will or no, those whose spheres of life touch\nat any point his own. _As ye sow, so shall ye also reap._ By and by the\ncycle will close and both the evil and the good will return like bread\ncast upon the waters. This is a law of all life.\n\nImagine not that they are weak and vacillating souls who enter the\nleft-hand road: Lucifer was once a prince of light, admitted to the\ncouncils of the Most High. He fell through pride, and dragged downward\nin his fall all who worshiped the demon pride. This is no foolish\nfable, but a terrible tragedy, enacted at the gates of paradise, in\nthe face of the assembled universe, and re\u00ebnacted in the heart of\nman, the epitome of all. Only Infinite pity can measure the downfall\nof such an one, only Infinite love disarm by annihilation, and so put\nan end to unendurable woe, and that only when the cycle is complete,\nthe measure of iniquity balanced by its measure of pain. Occultism\nand magic are not child\u2019s-play, as many may learn to their sorrow, as\nmany visitants of dark circles have already and long ago discovered.\nBetter give dynamite to our children as a plaything, than Magic to\nthe unprincipled, the thoughtless, the selfish and ignorant. Let all\nwho have joined the Theosophical Society remember this, and search\ntheir hearts before taking the first step in any magical formulary.\n_The motive determines all._ Occult power brings with it unknown and\nunmeasured responsibility.\n\nIf in the secret councils of the soul, where no eye can see, and no\nthought deceive that divine spark conscience, we are ready to forget\nself, to forego pride, and labor for the well-being of man, then may\nthe upright man face his destiny, follow this guide and fear no evil.\nOtherwise it were far better that a millstone were hung about his neck,\nand he were cast into the depths of the sea.\n PYTHAGORAS.\n\n\n TEA TABLE TALK.\n\nThe Tea Table has had a sensation!\n\nDo you remember the case of \u201cChalanka\u201d? He was the \u201cFallen Idol,\u201d in\nAnstey\u2019s book of that name, and played the very deuce with people\nand bric-a-brac alike. There\u2019s a deal of truth in that clever little\nsatire, and the author shows up the elementals quite correctly without\nin the least suspecting it.\n\n The Chalanka of the Tea Table arrived very demurely one winter\n afternoon, per Adams Express, in a promising box which bore the mark\n of a great china firm and contained as well, securely moored in its\n harbor of cotton wool, a tea-pot which the Tea Table pronounced\n \u201cAdorable\u201d were it not smashed. Nothing else was near this brittle\n loveliness save and except Chalanka. To all appearances he was a\n pencil sketch of the head of a young Brahmin of high caste, folded in\n the typical turban. The drawing is powerful and the subtle sidelong\n glance of the eyes to the extreme left has one peculiarity, viz: if\n you come round from behind the picture on the extreme right, the eyes\n meet you equally, and so from any position. I cannot escape that dark\n and searching gaze. Still, one would say there was nothing dynamic\n about a sketch, and yet the tea-pot arrived literally crushed to\n pieces within its perfect casing, and the indignant ladies, with the\n acumen of their sex, soon spotted Chalanka and held him responsible.\n Presently I noticed that everyone had a more or less sidelong glance\n in return for his, towards where he glowered from an \u00e9tag\u00e8re on which\n we had put him, and in the course of the social hour I collected these\n remarks upon him.\n\n _The Professor_, sauntering up.\u2014\u201cH-m. Who have we here? The fellow has\n a beautiful face and\u2014the devil\u2019s in it!\u201d\n\n _Sue._ \u201cGoodness! who\u2019s that? Makes me feel like when I step down in\n the dark.\u201d\n\n _The Mother._ \u201cThat man\u2019s face is not human.\u201d\n\n _The Widow._ \u201cI have it! I wondered what Chalanka made me think\n of. Don\u2019t you know that thing in the Bible about \u2018the serpent that\n listeneth not to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely?\u2019\u201d\n (The Widow was wiser than she knew.)\n\n _The Student._ \u201cYou ladies always go in for poetry. Now he looks to\n me as if he said,\u2014\u2018Get me if you can, my boy; if you don\u2019t, _I\u2019ll get\n you_!\u2019\u201d Great sensation and nervous shivers from the ladies, followed\n by instant demands for the lamp. The maid who brings it being observed\n to fix a fascinated gaze on Chalanka, is asked what she thinks of him.\n After a little urgency she replies. \u201cThat gentlemaen\u2019s so sad, ain\u2019t\n he? I do\u2019n\u2019 know, he\u2019s unnatr\u2019al like. Seems like there\u2019s somethin\u2019 he\n can\u2019t get over.\u201d Flings her apron over her head suddenly, and breaks\n from the room. Apologizes later and says \u201cnerves is in her family\u201d but\n always thereafter calls Chalanka \u201cthat gentleman,\u201d as for instance;\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t bring meself to dust that gentleman.\u201d Or, \u201cI knocked that\n gentleman down but he ain\u2019t hurt.\u201d\n\n Now the curious fact about the above remarks is this: A fellow F.\u202fT.\n S. felt impelled to draw one night. As he did so, a mist gathered near\n him, and gradually this Brahmin stood plainly before him, just as the\n sketch shows him, with his magnetic gaze which affects everyone who\n sees him. Many callers come into the room where the 5 by 8 drawing\n stands inconspicuously, surrounded by all the Heaven-only-knows-what,\n of modern decoration, but the Tea Table has yet to see the person who\n does not comment upon Chalanka with a baffled sense of mystery. The\n artist, a student well up in such matters and a man of unimpeachable\n veracity, knew his strange visitor for an elemental who assumed\n that shape to attract attention, the artist knowing many Hindus and\n thinking often of them.\n\n What do you suppose it is that tells the story of this silent,\n watchful face, even to the incurious? Does some odic fluid inhere\n in it, or does the clue rest with the akasic vibrations from it? In\n consequence of its arrival, conversation has turned to coincidences,\n and from this I have collected the following items of interest:\n\n A. \u201cI dreamed the other night that I had a talk with a fellow student;\n next day he told me he dreamed same night\u2014that I came and said: \u2018I\u2019m\n tired of your nonsense; you must get serious.\u2019 That was just what I\n dreamed I had said to him myself. So when Father died; four times my\n Brother and I dreamed on the same night that we saw Father and talked\n with him on the same subject.\u201d\n\n C. \u201cThree times I dreamed of getting a letter in a blue envelope,\n each time I received one such next day. Dreamed one night of reading\n _Sun_ paragraph that a new gun shield had come out to shield artillery\n men. Next morning\u2019s _Sun_ had the exact paragraph. I had never\n previously thought of gun shields. Another night I dreamed I was in a\n town all on fire. Next morning\u2019s _Sun_ had an account of the burning\n of Little Rock, Ark.\u201d\n\n W. had some second sight in his family. One night when twelve years\n old, in Roumania, as he lay down in his bed, on looking towards the\n foot of the bed saw in the bright gaslight the head and shoulders of\n a beautiful child. He was very much frightened: his brother, who was\n with him saw nothing. A few years later W. emigrated to the U.\u202fS.,\n married later in life, and his first child, a boy, grew up to be the\n exact image of the vision which had gone out of his mind until the\n developed features of the child reproduced it. The same lad when 11,\n desired a dictionary, but could not find it after much search. The\n same night he dreamed that he got up and took it from a certain other\n shelf: looked the next morning and there it was.\n\n Several curious instances of thought sent ahead have also been sent in\n to the Tea Table, where persons seemed to see some one they knew and\n in a few moments met a member of that family.\n\n Some one suggested that the sketch might represent a black magician,\n (Dugpa) and the mother asks me what such a man really was. I had just\n been reading a Hindu MSS on this subject and I was able to explain,\n vide its able pages, as follows: As the Yogi is a person busied in\n converting his lower nature into higher, so the Dugpa endeavors to\n sink all his higher elements and changes them gradually into lower\n ones. He might remain in our earth life until the last spark of\n ethical nature or kindly emotion had been transmitted into love of\n evil for its own sake. He would then presumably go to any of the lower\n states from the eighth to the thirteenth. We know well, as Sinnett has\n put it for us, that \u201cnature sets no trap for any of her creatures,\u201d\n and so it happens that having been long immersed in the lower spheres,\n our Dugpa might once more ascend into the realms of light and begin\n to develop his higher nature. Many will ask whence the impulse is\n derived, if the ethical nature was completely destroyed. From the\n great law-giver; from Karma! In such a case, if there remained but a\n small balance of good Karma in his favor, even though it were at the\n very moment of his descent, he could necessarily rise again, (sooner\n or later,) until he had exhausted it, for the _lex parsimonae_ of\n nature gives every possible chance for the recovery of lost ground.\n These opportunities are said to occur whenever one or more items of\n the balance of good Karma have ripened, and often when the momentum of\n the lower nature was for the time exhausted, and he could no longer\n descend. In this view it will be seen that we only receive from time\n to time a part of our deserts. The whole bulk of our Karma does not\n fall at once, but is distributed throughout the series of lives.\n When a man goes into the extreme of occultism unadvisedly however,\n the resistance he encounters is apt to draw down the whole weight of\n Karma at once. If the balance is in his favor then great is the power\n for his benefit, otherwise he is crushed and fails. He has then an\n additional opportunity of choice along with his race, when the race\n period of choice occurs, as it will in the next round, we are told. In\n the fourth chapter of the Koran occurs a confirmation of the occult\n teaching as regards this distribution of deserts. \u201cCovet not that\n which God hath bestowed on some of you preferably to others. Unto the\n men shall be given _a portion_ of what they shall have gained, and\n unto the women shall be given _a portion_ of what they shall have\n gained.\u201d\n\n \u201cWell, Sir,\u201d said the professor, \u201cI should like to know the exact\n rationale of this Karmic process. Why does a student professing\n chelaship draw down the bulk of his Karma?\u201d\n\n \u201cThere are many who want to know quite as much as you do,\u201d I replied.\n \u201cAll they have to do is to study the operations of cyclic law for\n themselves. And mind, if you dig for ore, you bring down other things\n in the debris, while if a miner hands you a lump, you\u2019re not much\n more of a miner than you were at the start. You will find these laws\n represent perfect, equilibrated Justice.\u201d\n\n \u201cHumph! I\u2019m rather like the man in a recent novel, who said: \u2018who am\n I that should yearn to deal out strict Justice? I never got it, thank\n God!\u2019\u201d\n\n The fact is, Justice is a gun too heavily loaded for the use of man;\n its backward kick is more than I like to think of.\n JULIUS.\n\n\n POETICAL OCCULTISM.\n\nDEAR EDITOR: The following Poetical Occultism may be of interest.\nFROM THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE \u201cBANQUET\u201d OF DANTE.\n\n\u201cAs the Philosopher (Aristotle) has said at the beginning of\n\u201cMetaphysics,\u201d all men naturally desire to know. The reason of this\nmay be, that everything by an impulse of its own nature, tends towards\nperfection; therefore, since knowledge is the ultimate perfecting of\nour soul, in the which consists our ultimate felicity, we are all by\nnature filled with this desire. None the less are many deprived of\nthis most noble perfection, by divers causes, which, acting upon man\nfrom within and from without, remove him from the estate of knowledge\n* * * Manifest is it, therefore, to him who considereth well, that\nthere are but few who can attain to that estate desired of all, and\nthat almost innumerable are they who are forever famishing for this\nfood. Oh! blessed are those few that are seated at the table where the\nbread of the angels is eaten, and miserable are they who feed in common\nwith the sheep! But because every man is by nature a friend to every\nother man, and because every friend is grieved by the necessities of\nhim he loves; so they who are fed at so lofty a table, are not without\ncompassion toward them whom they see wandering in the pastures of the\nbrutes, and feeding upon acorns. And because compassion is the mother\nof benevolence, therefore always liberally do they who know, share of\ntheir great riches with the truly poor, and are like a living fountain,\nwhose waters slack the thirst of nature before named, (for knowledge).\nAnd I, therefore, who do not sit at the blessed table, but have fled\nfrom the pasture of the herd, and at the feet of those who are seated\nthere, gather up what they let fall, and who know the miserable life of\nthose whom I have left behind me, moved to mercy by the sweetness of\nthat which I have gained little by little, and not forgetting myself,\nhave reserved something for these wretched ones, which I have already,\nand for some time, held before their eyes, making them thereby all the\nmore desirous of it.\u201d\n Yours,\n K.\u202fH.\nROME, ITALY, _Nov., 1886_.\n\n\n UNIVERSAL UNITY.\n\n[READ AT A MEETING OF THE FIRST THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI, O.]\n\n \u2019Tis said they who the starry heavens watch\n Spending their time in silent contemplation\n And view the worlds and systems moving round\n Become so filled with peace and perfect trust\n That unto them life, death, grief, care and fear\n Are almost naught. So, I, a long time past\n Having passed my time in watching night by night\n The stare move in their orbits; and my days\n In making out their past and future course\n One August night, while that the quiet moon\n Flooded tree and bush, and vale and hill-top\n Stream, and bank and spire and roof with light\n And whistling and rustling leaves added\n Their voices to the myriad sounds\n Of insect life, fell fast asleep. And then\n I saw the moon swinging slowly to and fro,\n And round our Sun the earth and other satellites\n Revolving ceaselessly. And as they moved\n I heard a sweet melodious sound\n And felt a soft and mellow light\n And still I saw our Sun with other suns\n All circling round one common central point\n All these centres round some other centre circling.\n The sound increased till all things seemed but sound\n The light increased till all things seemed but light\n The heat increased till all things seemed but heat\n And then I felt my soul beat rapturously\n Against the throbbing pulsing central life.\n From thence I felt the light, the heat, the sound,\n The life, the love, the peace pass out unceasingly.\n From thence I knew all life to flow. And passing out\n I knew all life was part of it, and it of life;\n I knew that I was it, and it was I;\n That sound and light, and life, and I and it were one\n That life and death and tree and bush and stream\n And bank and flower and seed and it are one\n Then there passed into my soul, a perfect,\n Great content. And rising from my sleep,\n I passed into my life a happy man.\n HENRY TURNER PATTERSON.\n\n Copyright, 1887.]\n\n * * * * *\n\n A delicious fragrance spreads from the Leaders of the World over all\n quarters, a fragrance by which, when the wind is blowing, all these\n creatures are intoxicated.\u2014_Saddharma-Pundarika._\n\n OM.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[170] _Bagavad-Gita, ch. 15._\n\n[171] Compare the \u201cElixir of Life\u201d in _The Theosophist_.\n\n[172] This has nothing whatever to do with so-called \u201cstigmatization\u201d:\nthe latter being merely the result of a strong imagination upon a weak\nbody.\n\n[173] \u201cThat which was from the beginning.\u201d etc.\u2014John. Epistle I, i.\n\n[174] I Cor. xv.\n\n[175] _Light on the Path._\n\n[176] Vedanta.\n\n[177] It is known that in Ireland and other places, many peasants\npossess words whose sound can thrill a man and make a horse\nunmanageable. [ED.]\n\n[178] Vedanta.\n\n[179] _Light on the Path._\n\n[180] See Fiske, Stuart, _et al._\n\n[181] Emerson.\n\n[182] On sound, P. 54.\n\n[183] Vedanta.\n\n[184] Idem.\n\n[185] Through the Gates of Gold: a Fragment of Thought. Boston: Roberts\nBrothers. 1887. Price, 50 cents.","title":"The Path, Vol. I.\u20141886-'7.: A Magazine Devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, Theosophy in America, and the Study of Occult Science, Philosophy, and Aryan Literature.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":183959}