PART I.—TEXTS.

ORIGIN OF SUFISM.

It is generally conceded among the Sufis that one of the great founders of their system, as found in Islam, was the adopted son and son-in-law of the Prophet, Ali-ibn-Abi-Talib. But it is also admitted that their religious system has always existed in the world, prior to Mohammed. It is known that a tribe, Sufah, from whom possibly the name is derived, in “the time of ignorance” separated themselves from the world and devoted themselves to spiritual exercises like those of the present Sufis.

Sufism in its best known forms must thus be considered to be the philosophy of Mohammedanism and to represent the protest of the human soul against the formalism and barrenness of the letter of the Quran. Still there is much in favor of Schmölder’s assertion (Essai sur les ecoles philos. chez les Arabes) that Sufism is neither a philosophical system nor the creed of a religious sect, but simply a way of living.

Perhaps the simplest statement is this: _Sufism is theosophy from the standpoint of Mohammedanism_.

Said-Abul-Chair (about A. D. 820) is often called the author of Sufism. Abu Hashem (A. D. 767) has been called the first Sufi.

The _Dabistan_ maintains the identity of the pure Sufis and that of Platonism and it has popularly been supposed that Sufism has borrowed very much from the Vedanta and from Plato and Aristotle; it has even been confidently asserted that the similarity is so striking to the student, that it is a most easy matter to find identical statements in either of them. We must confess that our study does not prove the assertion. The similarity is to be accounted for by the universality of truth.

ETYMOLOGY.

The root of the word implies wisdom, the Greek Sophia, purity, spirituality, etc. Some have connected it with sûf, wool, on account of the woolen garment worn by the devotees.

Graham[43] maintains that “any person or a person of any religion or sect, may be a Sûfi. The mystery lies in this: a total disengagement of the mind from all temporal concerns and worldly pursuits; an entire throwing off not only of every superstition, doubt, or the like, but of the practical mode of worship, ceremonies, etc., laid down in every religion, which the Mohammedans term _Sheriat_, being the law, or canonical law; and entertaining solely mental abstraction, and contemplation of the soul and Deity, their affinity, etc.” In short, Sufism may be termed the religion of the heart, as opposed to formalism and ritualism.

“Traces of the Sufi doctrine exist in some shape or other in every region of the world. It is to be found in the most splendid theogonies of the ancient school of Greece and of the modern philosophers of Europe. It is the dream of the most ignorant and the most learned, and is seen at one time indulging in the shade of ease, at another traversing the pathless desert.” (Malcolm Hist. of Persia.)

_Abu-Said-Abul-Chair_, the accredited founder of Sufism, when asked what Sufism was, answered: “What you have in the head, give it up; what you have in the hand, throw it away; whatever may meet you, depart not from it.”

_Dschuneid_, a Sufi Shaikh, thus defined Sufism: “To liberate the mind from the violence of the passions, to put off nature’s claims, to extirpate human nature, to repress the sensual instinct, to acquire spiritual qualities, to be elevated through an understanding of wisdom, and to practice that which is good—that is the aim of Sufism.”

_Abul Hussein Nuri_ thus expressed himself: “Sufism is neither precept nor doctrine, but something _inborn_. If it were a precept, it could be followed; if it were a doctrine, it could be learned; it is rather something inborn—and as the Quran says: ‘Ye are _created_ in the image of God.’ Evidently no one can, either by application or by teaching, possess himself of the likeness of God.”

SUFI DOCTRINES.

DEITY.

_The Deity alone_ IS _and permeates all things. All visible and invisible things are an emanation from Deity, and are not absolutely distinct from it._

One sect “the Unionists,” believe that God is as one with every enlightened being. They compare the Almighty to a flame, and their souls to charcoal; and say, that in the same manner that charcoal when it meets flame, becomes flame, the immortal part, from its union with God becomes God.

According to the Dabistan, the presence of the universal Deity is fivefold. The first is the presence of “the absolute mystery.” The absolute mystery is one with “the invariable prototypes” (or realities of things). The second is the presence of “the relative mystery,” and this belongs to pure intellects and spirits. The third is the presence of “the mysterious relation,” which is nearest to the absolute evidence; this is the world of similitude or dream. The fourth is the presence of the “absolute evidence” which reaches from the centre of the earth to the middle of the ninth empyrean heaven. The fifth is “the presence of the rest,” and this is the universe in an extensive, and mankind in a restricted acceptation.

Silvestre de Sacy gives the following explanation to the above from Jorjani. The five divine presences are (1) the presence of the absolute absence (or mystery); its world is the world of the fixed substances in the scientific presence. To the presence of the absolute mystery is opposed: (2) the presence of the absolute assistance; it is the world of the throne or seat of God, of the four elemental natures. (3) The presence of the relative absence; this is divided into two parts: The one nearer the presence of the absolute mystery; the world of which is that of spirits, which belong to what is called intelligences and bare souls; the other: (4) Nearer the presence of the absolute assistance; the world of which is that of models (images). (5) The presence which comprises the four preceding ones, and its world is the world of mankind, a world which reunites all the worlds, and all they contain.

GOOD AND EVIL: ETHICS.

_There is no absolute difference between Good and Evil; all that exists, exists in unity and God is the real author of all the acts of mankind._

The Sufi says that evil only came into the world through ignorance, and that ignorance is the cause of error and disunion among men. The following tale answers to the point: “Four travelers—a Turk, an Arab, a Persian, and a Greek, having met together, decided to take their meal in common, and as each one had but ten paras, they consulted together as to what should be purchased with the money. The first said _Uzum_, the second _Ineb_, the third decided in favor of _Inghur_, and the fourth insisted upon _Stafilion_. On this a dispute arose between them and they were about to come to blows, when a peasant passing by happened to know all four of their tongues, and brought them a basket of grapes. They now found out, greatly to their astonishment, that each one had what he desired.”

They believe the emanating principle, proceeding from God, can do nothing without His will and can refrain from nothing that He wills. Some of them deny the existence of evil on the ground that nothing but good can come from God.

The Dabistan: One sect, “the Eternals,” conceive that man is taught his duty by a mysterious order of priesthood,[44] whose number and ranks are fixed, and who rise in gradation from the lowest paths to the sublimest height of divine knowledge.

Another sect, “the Enlightened,” teach that men’s actions should neither proceed from fear of punishment nor the hope of reward, but from innate love of virtue, and detestation of vice.

THE SOUL, ITS LIFE AND CONDITIONS.

_The soul existed before the body and is confined in it like in a cage. To the Sufi, death is liberation and return to the Deity._

_The soul is confined in a body_ (metempsychosis) _to be purified, to fulfill its destination, the union with Deity_.

_Without the grace of God_ (Fazlu allah) _no soul can attain this union, but God’s grace can be obtained by fervently asking for it_.

_The soul_ of man is _of_ God, not _from_ God, an exile from Him; it lives in the body as in a prison and banishment from God. Before its exile the soul saw _Truth_, but here it only has glimpses “to awaken the slumbering memory of the past.” The object of all Sufi teaching is to lead the soul onward by degrees to reach that stage again.

“You say ‘the sea and the waves,’ but in that remark you do not believe that you signify distinct objects, for the sea when it heaves produces waves, and the waves when they settle down again become sea; in the same manner men are the waves of God, and after death return to His bosom. Or, you trace with ink upon paper the letters of the alphabet, a, b, c; but these letters are not distinct from the ink which enabled you to write them; in the same manner the creation is the alphabet of God, and is lost in Him.”

RELIGIONS

_are matters of indifference_; still they serve as stepping-stones to realities. Some are more useful than others, among which is al-Islam, of which Sufism is the true philosophy.

THE WORLD, &c.

_The world is life_ and intellect, as far as the mineral kingdom; but the manifestation of intellect in everybody is determined by the temperature of the human constitution. Sometimes beauty attains an excellence which is uttered with ecstacy, and becomes a modulation more powerful than that which strikes the ear; and this is the work of the prophet.

THE TARIGAH OR “JOURNEY OF LIFE” AND ITS STATES.

The main duty of this life is _Meditation on the Unity of Deity_ (wahdaniyah), the _Remembrance of God’s Name_ (Zikr), and _Progression in the Tarigah_ (the Path, the Journey of Life).

Human life is a _journey_ (safar) and the seekers after God are _travellers_ (salik). _Perfect knowledge_ (marifah) of Deity as diffused throughout creation is the purpose of the journey. _Sufism is the guide_, and the _end of the journey, is Union with God_.

The natural state of every human being is nasut. In this state the disciple can not yet observe the Law (shariat). This is the lowest form of spiritual existence.

The states in the Tarigah are the following:

The first state is called _Shariat_—the _state of law or method_. The student’s passions are in this degree checked by a rigid observance of ritual, &c., whereby he learns human nature and to respect order and finds out for himself the rudiments of a knowledge of God.

The second state is _Tureequt_ or the way, or road. This state implies mental or spiritual worship, abstracted totally from the above. The student learns to see the propædeutic nature of ceremonies and devotes himself to realities. At this stage the ascetic exercises begin and he holds communion with _Melkut_ or the angelic world.

The third state, _Huqeequt_, or the state of truth is the state of inspiration or greater natural knowledge. The Sufi now lives no more in faith but in subjective truth and spiritual power; he has seen the similarity of God’s nature and his own; all antinomies are destroyed, even sin disappears from his reflections.

The fourth and last state is _Marifut_ or union of spirit and soul with God. “Union (with God) is reality, or the state, truth and perception of things, when there is neither lord nor servant.” Still “the man of God is not God; but he is not separate from God.” At this stage man’s “corporeal veil will be removed, and his emancipated soul will mix again with the glorious essence, from which it had been separated, though not divided.”[45]

_Aziz ibn Muhammad Nafasi_ in a book called _al-Maqsadu ‘l-Aqsa_ or the “Remotest Aim,” (trans. in E. H. Palmer’s Oriental Mysticism) marks out the journey a little differently from that already described.

When a man possessing the necessary requirements of fully developed reasoning powers turns to them for a resolution of his doubts and uncertainties concerning the real nature of the Godhead, he is called a _talib_ “a searcher after God.”

If he has further desire for progress he is called a “murid” or “one who inclines,” and he places himself under the instruction and guidance of a teacher and becomes a “traveller.”

The _first_ stage of his journey is called “ubudiyah” or “service” and is as described above.

The _second_ stage is ishq or “love.” He loves God. The divine love filling his heart, it expels all other loves and brings him to the _third_ stage, Zuhd or “seclusion.” He occupies himself exclusively with contemplation of God and his attributes, and comes to the fourth state, Marifah or “knowledge.”

When settled he is come to the _fifth_ stage, wajd or “ecstasy.” He now receives revelations and soon reaches the sixth stage, that of hagigah or “_truth_,” and proceeds to the final state, that of “wasl,” or “union with God.”

He has now finished the journey and remains in the state he has come to, still going on, however, progressing in depth of understanding. Finally he comes to “the total absorption into Deity.”

_The Zikr_, or ecstatic exercises belonging to the training on this journey, will be explained in our second part: Symbols.

THE SEVEN WAY-STATIONS OF PILGRIMAGE are these:[46]

The _first_ degree consists of penitence, obedience, and meditation, and in this degree the light is, as it were, green.

The _second_ degree is the _purity of the Spirit_ from satanic qualities, violence, and brutality, because as long as the spirit is the slave of satanic qualities, it is subject to concupiscence, and this is the quality of fire. In this state Iblis evinces his strength, and when the spirit is liberated from this, it is distressed with the quality of fierceness, which may be said to be _flashing_ and this is conformable to the property of wind. Then it becomes insatiable (lit. eager after anything to excess), and this is similar to water. After this it obtains quietness, and this quality resembles earth (_i. e._ apathy or cessation from all action). In the degree of repose, the light is as it were, blue, and the utmost reach of one’s progress is the earthly dominion.

The _third_ degree is the _manifestation of the heart_, by laudable qualities, which is similar to red light, and the utmost reach of its progress is the middle of the upper dominion; and in this station the heart praises God, and sees the light of worship and spiritual qualities.

The _fourth_ degree is the _applying of the constitution to nothing else but to God_, and this is similar to yellow light, and the utmost reach of its progress is the midst of the heavenly _Malkat_ “dominion.”

The _fifth_ degree of the soul is that which resembles white light, and the utmost aim of its progress is the extreme heavenly dominion.

The _sixth_ degree is the _hidden_, which is like a black light, and the utmost reach of its progress is “the world of power.”

The _seventh_ degree is “the evanescence of evanescence,” which is “annihilation” and “eternal life,” and is colorless. It _is absorption_ in God, non-existence and effacement of the imaginary in the true being, like the loss of a drop of water in the ocean. It is _eternal_ life as the union of the drop with the sea. “Annihilation” is not to be taken in the common acceptation, but in a higher sense, “annihilation in God.”

SUFI SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE.

The Sufis inculcate the doctrine, “Adore the Deity in his creatures.” It is said in a verse of the Quran—“It is not given to man that the Deity should speak to him: if it does so it is by inspirations, or through a veil.” _Thus all the efforts of man should tend to raise the veil of divine love and to the annihilation of the individuality_ which separates him from the Divine essence; and this expression “raise up the veil,” has remained in the language of the East as expressive of great intimacy.

One of the most violent and able of the enemies of the Sufis, says that they deem everything in the world a type of the beauty and power of the Deity and adds that it appears from both their actions and writings, that it is in the red cheeks of beautiful damsels that they contemplate its beauty; and in the “impious” daring of Nimrod and of Pharaoh, that they see and admire the omnipotence of its power.[47]

The Persian commentator _Suruni_ says in regard to sexual love: “the beauty of the wife is a ray from God and not from the beloved herself. The Mystic recognizes the fact of the divine beauty everywhere in creation, and loves because he in beauty sees a revelation of the blessings of the divine name. It is therefore the prophet says he prefers these three things to all others: women, incense, and enjoyments.”

_Jellaladdin Rumi_ said: “They (the Sufis) profess eager desire, but with no carnal affection, and circulate the cup, but no material goblet; since all things are spiritual, all is mystery within mystery.”

_Jami_ exclaims, addressing the Deity:

Sometimes the wine, sometimes the cup we call Thee! Sometimes the lure, sometimes the net we call Thee! Except Thy name, there is not a letter on the tablet of the universe: Say, by what name shall we call Thee?

_Nizami_ explains himself:

Think not that when I praise wine I mean the juice of the grape; I mean that wine which raiseth me above self. “My cup-bearer” is to perform my vow to God; “My morning draught from the tavern” is the wine of self oblivion.

* * * * *

By heaven so long as I have enjoyed existence, Never hath the tip of my lip been stained with wine!

In regard to _Hafis_ it is maintained that by _wine_ he invariably means _devotion_; and his admirers have gone so far as to compose a dictionary of words of the language, as they call it, of the _Sufis_. In that vocabulary _sleep_ is explained by _meditation_ on the divine perfections, and _perfume_ by hope of divine favor; _gales_ (_i. e._ Zephyrs) are illapses of grace; _kisses and embraces_, the raptures of piety; _idolators_, _infidels_, and _libertines_ are men of the purest religion, and their _idol_ is the creator himself; _the tavern_ is the cell where the searcher after truth becomes intoxicated with the wine of divine love. Read with this key to the esoteric meaning, Mr. Clouston says, the gazelles of Hafis are no longer anacreontic and bacchanalian effusions, but ecstatic lucubrations on the love of man to his creator. The _keeper_, or wine seller, the spiritual instructor; _beauty_ denotes the perfection of the supreme being; _tresses_ and _curls_ are the expansion and infiniteness of his glory; _lips_, the hidden and inscrutable mysteries of his essence; _down_ on the cheek, the world of spirits, who encircle the creator’s throne; and a _black mole_ is the point of indivisible unity; lastly, _wantonness_, _mirth_ and _ebriety_, mean religious ardor, ecstasy and abstraction from all terrestrial thoughts and contempt for all worldly things.

_Mohemmed Missiree_: On the Tesavuf, or spiritual life of the Sufis. Translated from the Turkish by John P. Brown, Esq., of the American embassy at Constantinople. (In Journ. of Am. Orient. Soc. vol. viii.):

What is the beginning of at-Tesavuf? Faith, which has six pillars, namely: (1) Belief in God, (2) in His Angels, (3) in His Books, (4) in His Prophets, (5) and in the Last Day, and (6) in His decree of Good and Evil. What is the result of the Tesavuf? It is not only the reciting with the tongue of these pillars of faith but also establishing them in the heart. What is the distinction between a Sufi and an ordinary person? The knowledge of an ordinary person is a “counterfeit faith” whereas that of the Sufi is “true faith.” What do you mean by “counterfeit faith?” It is that which an ordinary person has derived from his forefathers, or from the teachers and preachers of his own day, without knowing why it is essential that a man should believe in these six articles for his soul’s salvation. What is the proof of faith? The proof of faith consists in a search being made for the true origin of each of these six pillars of faith, until the enquirer arrives at “the Truth.” The Sufis regard certain things as lawful which are forbidden. For instance, they enjoin the use of wine, wine-shops, the wine-cup, sweethearts; they speak of the curls of their mistresses, and the moles on their faces, cheeks, &c., and compare the furrows on their brows to verses of the Quran. What does this mean? The Sufis often exchange the external features of all things for the internal, the corporeal for the spiritual, and thus give an imaginary signification to outward forms. They behold objects of a precious nature in their natural character and for this reason the greater part of their words have a spiritual and figurative meaning. For instance, when, like Hafis, they mention wine, they mean a knowledge of God, which, figuratively considered, is the love of God. Wine, viewed figuratively, is also love; love and affection are here the same thing. The wine-shop, with them, means “spiritual director,” for his heart is said to be the depository of the love of God. The sweetheart means the excellent preceptor, because, when anyone sees his beloved, he admires her perfect proportions, with a heart full of love. As the lover delights in the presence of his sweetheart, so the Salik rejoices in the company of his beloved preceptor. The sweetheart is the object of a worldly affection, but the preceptor of a spiritual attachment. The curls or ringlets of the beloved are the grateful praises of the preceptor, tending to bind the affections of the disciple; the moles on her face signify that when the pupil, at times, beholds the total absence of all worldly wants on the part of the preceptor, he also abandons all the desires of both worlds—he perhaps even goes so far as to desire nothing else in life than his preceptor; the furrows on the brow of the beloved one, which they compare to verses of the Quran, mean the light of the heart of the preceptor; they are compared to verses of the Quran, because the attributes of God, in accordance with the injunction of the Prophet, “Be ye endued with divine qualities,” are possessed by the preceptor.

(_To be continued._)

THEOSOPHICAL SYMBOLISM.

The number 7 has, ever since the Theosophical Society was founded November 17th, 1875, played a prominent part in all its affairs, and, as usual, the symbols which particularly relate or pertain to the Society are in number, seven. They are: first the seal of the Society; second, the serpent biting his tail; third, the gnostic cross near the serpent’s head; fourth, the interlaced triangles; fifth, the cruxansata in the centre; sixth, the pin of the Society, composed of a cruxansata entwined by a serpent, forming together T. S.; and seventh, OM the sacred Vedic word.

The seal of the Society contains all of the symbols enumerated, excepting _aum_, and is the synthesis of them. It, in fact, expresses what the Society is itself, and contains, or ought to, in symbolic form, the doctrines which many of its members adhere to.

A symbol to be properly so called, must be contained in the idea or ideas which it is intended to represent. As a symbol of a house could never be the prow of a boat, or the wing of a bird, but must be contained somewhere in the form of the house itself; that is, it must be an actual part chosen to represent or stand for the whole. It need not be the whole, but may be a lower form or species used as the representative of a higher of the same kind. The word is derived from the Greek words meaning _to throw with_, that is to throw together. To be a just and correct symbol, it should be such as that the moment it is seen by one versed in symbolism, its meaning and application become easily apparent. The Egyptians adopted to represent the soul passing back to its source, after the trial in the Hall of Two Truths, a winged globe, for a globe is a symbol of either the Supreme Soul or a portion of it, and the wings were added to represent its life and flight to the upper spheres. In another branch of their symbology they represented justice by a scale which gives a just balance; while even there in the Hall of Two Truths, they reverted again to the other mode and symbolized the man being weighed by justice, in the form of his heart over against the feather of truth in the opposite pan of the scales.

There is one very curious hieroglyph of the Egyptians which deserves some study by those of curious mind. Here we will merely point it out, remarking that there is a mine of great value in the Egyptian method of picturing their ideas of the macrocosm. In one of the numerous papyri now in the British Museum, there is a picture of a globe being held up by a beetle by means of his head and two fore legs, while he is standing upon a sort of pedestal which has certain divisions, looking on the whole, like a section of an hour glass crossed by horizontal lines that project from each side. This pedestal represents stability; but what does the whole mean or shadow forth? Those who can follow up suggestions should direct their thoughts to the relation which the Sun bears to the earth in its orbital revolution.

To proceed with our analysis: The second symbol is the serpent biting his tail. This is wisdom, and eternity. It is eternity, because that has neither beginning nor end and therefore the ring is formed by serpent swallowing his tail. There is an old hermetic symbol similar to this, in which the circle is formed by two serpents interlaced and each swallowing the tail of the other one. No doubt the symbolism in that is, in respect to the duality of the manifested All, and hence, two serpents inextricably entwined.

Furthermore, the scales of the reptiles form the figures of facettes or diamonds, which shadow forth the illimitable diversity of the aspects of wisdom or truth. This is not due to any want of coherence or congruity in truth itself, but solely to the diverse views which each individual takes of the one Truth. These reflecting facettes are the beings composing the macrocosm: each one has developed himself only to a certain degree, and therefore can only appreciate and reflect that amount of wisdom which has fallen to his lot. As he passes again and again through the form of man, he slowly develops other various powers of appreciating more truth, and so at the last may become one with the whole—the perfect man, able to know and to feel completely his union with all. This is when he has acquired the highest Yoga. So in our experience and in history and ethnology we find individuals, nations and races, whose want of responsiveness to certain ideas, and others whose power to grasp them, can only be explained by the doctrines of Reincarnation and Karma. If those doctrines are not accepted, there is no escape from a blank negation.

It is not necessary to express the duality of the Supreme Soul by two serpents, because in the third component part of the Seal, elsewhere, that is symbolized by the interlaced triangles. One of these is white, that one with the point uppermost, and the other is black with its apex directed downward. They are intertwined because the dual nature of the Supreme, while in manifestation, is not separate in its parts. Each atom of matter, so called, has also its atom of spirit This is what the _Bagavad-Gita_[48] denominates Purusha and Prakriti, and Krishna there says that he is at once Purusha and Prakriti, he is alike the very best and the very worst of men. These triangles also mean, “the manifested universe.” It is one of the oldest and most beautiful of symbols, and can be discovered among all nations, not only those now inhabiting the earth, but also in the monuments, carvings and other remains of the great races who have left us the gigantic structures now silent as far as the voice of man is concerned, but resounding with speech for those who care to listen. They seem to be full of ideas turned into stone.

The triangles thus combined form in the interior space, a six sided plane figure. This is the manifested world. Six is the number of the world, and 666 is the great mystery which is related to the symbol. St. John talks of this number. Around the six sided centre are the six triangles projecting into the spiritual world, and touching the enclosed serpent of wisdom. In an old book, this is made by the great head of the Lord rising above the horizon of the ocean of matter, with the arms just raised so that they make the upper half of the triangle. This is the “long face,” or macrocoscopos, as it is called. As it rises slowly and majestically, the placid water below reflects it in reverse, and thus makes the whole double triangle. The lower one is dark and forbidding in its aspect, but at the same time the upper part of the darker one is itself light, for it is formed by the majestic head of this Adam Kadmon. Thus they shade into one another. And this is a perfect symbolism, for it clearly figures the way in which day shades into night, and evil into good. In ourselves we find both, or as the Christian St. Paul says, the natural and spiritual man are always together warring against each other, so that what we would do we cannot, and what we desire not to be guilty of, the darker half of man compels us to do. But ink and paper fails us in the task of trying to elucidate this great symbol. Go to Hermes, to St. John, the Caballah, the Hindu books, wherever you please, and there will you find the seven times seven meanings of the interlaced triangles.

OM is the Sacred Vedic syllable: let us repeat it with a thought directed to its true meaning.[49]

Within the small circle, placed upon the serpent, is a cross with its ends turned back. This is called the Gnostic Cross. It signifies evolution, among other ideas, for the turning back of its ends is caused by the revolving of the two diameters of the circle. The vertical diameter is the spirit moving down and bisecting the horizontal. This completed, the revolution round the great circle commences, and that motion is represented in the symbol by the ends turned back. In Chapter III. of _Bagavad-Gita_, Krishna says: “He who in this life does not cause this cycle, thus already revolved, to continue revolving lives to no purpose, a life of sin, indulging his senses.” That is, we must assist the great wheel of evolution and not oppose it; we must try to help in the great work of returning to the source from whence we came, and constantly endeavor to convert lower nature into higher, not only that of ourselves, but also of our fellow men and of the whole animated world.

This cross is also the symbol of the Hindu Chakkra, or discus, of Vishnu. In the Mahabharata is described the conflict between the Asuras and Devas, for the possession of the vase of Amreeta which had been churned with infinite trouble, from the ocean, and which the Asuras desired to take for themselves. The conflict began when _Rahu_, an Asura, assuming the form of a Deva, began drinking the ambrosia. In this case the Amreeta was spiritual wisdom, material existence, immortality, and also magic power. The deceit of _Rahu_ was discovered before he had swallowed, and then the battle began.

“In the midst of this dreadful hurry and confusion of the fight, _Nar_ and _Narayan_ entered the field together. _Narayan_ beholding a celestial bow in the hands of _Nar_, it reminded him of his Chakkra, the destroyer of the Asuras. The faithful weapon, ready at the mind’s call, flew down from heaven with direct and refulgent speed, beautiful, yet terrible to behold. And being arrived, glowing like the sacrificial flame, and spreading terror around, _Narayan_ with his right arm formed like the elephantine trunk, hurled forth the ponderous orb, the speedy messenger, and glorious ruin of hostile towns, who raging like the final all destroying fire, shot bounding with desolating force, killing thousands of the Asuras in his rapid flight, burning and involving, like the lambent flame, and cutting down all that would oppose him. Anon he climbeth the heavens from whence he came.” (Mahabharata, Book I, Chap 15.)

Ezekiel, of the Jews, saw this wheel, when he was among the captives by the river Chebar in Chaldea. In a vision he saw the four beasts and the man of the Apocalypse, and with them “for each of the four faces,” was a wheel, of the colour of a beryl; it was “as a wheel within a wheel,” and they went wherever the living creatures went, “for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.” All of this appeared terrible to him, for he says: “And when they went I heard a noise like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of a host.”

There are many other meanings concealed in this symbol, as in all the others.

In the center of the interlaced triangles is placed the _Cruxansata_. This is also extremely ancient. In the old Egyptian papyri it is frequently found. It signifies life. As Isis stands before the candidate, or the soul, upon his entry, she holds in one hand this cross, while he holds up his hand that he may not look upon her face. In another there is a winged figure, whose wings are attached to the arms, and in each hand is held the same cross. Among other things we find here the horizontal and vertical diameters once more, but conjoined with the circle placed on top. This is the same as the old astrological sign for Venus. But in the seal, its chief and most important meaning is _the regenerated man_. Here in the centre, after passing the different degrees and cycles, both spirit and matter are united in the intelligent regenerated man, who stands in the middle knowing all things in the manifested universe. He has triumphed over death and holds the cross of life.

The last theosophical symbol is, the pin of the Society, adopted early in its history but not used much. It is the cross we have just been considering, entwined in such a way by a serpent, that the combination makes T S as a monogram.

The foregoing is not exhaustive. Every symbol should have seven meanings of principal value, and out of every one of those we have been considering can be drawn that number of significations. Intelligent study of them will be beneficial, for when a consistent symbol, embodying many ideas is found and meditated upon, the thought or view of the symbol brings up each idea at once before the mind. NILAKANT.

REVIEWS.

THE SECRET DOCTRINE OF THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES.—An essay by J. D. Buck, (Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, O.). This little pamphlet of 32 pages, is an essay read by Dr. Buck before the Liberal Club of Cincinnati. The author tries to show that one truth has run all through the Ancient Mysteries, and later, is even to be found in the Christian Church. His hint on p. 22, that “the Apostolic Catholic Church possessed the Secret Doctrine, that some of its clergy apprehended the great truths, but that there was wisdom for the priests and command for the people,” is full of truth. At the present day the great Jesuit College possesses much knowledge of the theurgy which is a part of the practice of the Secret Doctrine, and if all the magical practices of the disciples of Loyola were known, the Christian world would be startled. They know enough of forecasting the future to fear all such movements as the Theosophical Society, and have tried, as they still try, to undermine it within its own borders.

Anyone who reads Dr. Buck’s essay with a candid spirit, will agree with him that one core of truth underlies all religions, and will feel the refreshing influence of the author’s clear mind and solid sense.

INWORLD.

[A poem taken from the January number of “The Dial,” 1842, the organ of the Transcendentalists, edited by RALPH WALDO EMERSON.]

Amid the watches of the windy night A poet sat, and listened to the flow Of his own changeful thoughts, until there passed A vision by him, murmuring as it moved, A wild and mystic lay—to which his thoughts And pen kept time—and thus the measure ran:

All is but as it seems, The round, green earth, With river and glen; The din and the mirth Of the busy, busy men; The world’s great fever Throbbing forever; The creed of the sage, The hope of the age, All things we cherish, All that live and all that perish, These are but inner dreams.

The great world goeth on To thy dreaming; To thee alone Hearts are making their moan, Eyes are streaming. Thine is the white moon turning night to day, Thine is the dark wood sleeping in her ray. Thee the winter chills, Thee the spring time thrills; All things nod to thee— All things come to see If thou art dreaming on. If thy dream should break, And thou should’st awake, All things would be gone.

Nothing is, if thou art not, From thee as from a root The blossoming stars upshoot, The flower cups drink the rain. Joy and grief and weary pain Spring aloft from thee, And toss their branches free. Thou are under, over all; Thou dost hold and cover all; Thou art Atlas—thou art Jove:— The mightiest truth Hath all its youth From thy enveloping thought. Thy thought itself lay in thy earliest love.

Nature keeps time to thee With voice unbroken: Still doth she rhyme to thee When thou hast spoken. When the sun shines to thee, ’Tis thy own joy, Opening mines to thee Nought can destroy. When the blast moans to thee Still doth the wind Echo the tones to thee Of thy own mind. Laughter but saddens thee When thou art sad, Life is not life to thee, But as thou livest, Labor is strife to thee When thou least strivest:—

More did the spirit sing, and made the night, Most musical with inward melodies, But vanished soon, and left the listening bard Wrapt in unearthly silence—till the morn Reared up the screen that shuts the spirit world From loftiest poet and from wisest sage.

OUTWORLD.

The sun was shining on the busy earth. All men and things were moving on their way— The old, old way which we call life. The soul Shrank from the giant grasp of Space and Time, Yet, for it was, her dreamy hour half yielded To the omnipotent delusion—and looked out On the broad glare of things, and felt itself Dwindling before the universe: Then came unto the bard Another spirit with another voice, And sang:—

Said he, that all but seems? Said he, the world is void and lonely, A strange vast crowd of dreams Coming to thee only? And that thy feeble soul Hath such a strong control O’er sovereign Space and sovereign Time And all their train sublime? Said he, thou art the eye Reflecting all that is— The ear that hears, while it creates All sounds and harmonies— The central sense that bides amid All shows and tunes and realities? Listen mortal while the sound Of this life intense is flowing! Dost thou find all things around Go as thou art going? Dost thou dream that thou art free, Making, destroying all that thou dost see In the unfettered might of thy soul’s liberty?

Lo, an atom troubles thee. One bodily fibre crushes thee, One nerve tortures and maddens thee, One drop of blood is death to thee. Art thou but a withering leaf, For a summer season brief Clinging to the tree, ‘Till the winds of circumstance, Whirling in their hourly dance, Prove too much for thee? Art thou but a speck, a mote In the system universal? Art thou but a passing note Woven in the great rehearsal? Canst thou roll back the tide of Thought And unmake the creed of the age, And unteach the wisdom taught By the prophet and the sage? Art thou but a shadow Chasing o’er a meadow? The great world goes on Spite of thy dreaming; Not to be alone Hearts are making their moan And tear-drops streaming, And the mighty voice of Nature Is thy parent, not thy creature, Is no pupil but thy teacher: And the world would still move on Were thy soul forever flown. For while thou dreamest on enfolded In nature’s wide embrace, All thy life is daily moulded By her informing grace. And Time and Space must reign And rule o’er thee forever, And the Outworld lifts its chain From off thy spirit never; But in the dream of thy half-waking fever Thou shalt be mocked with gleam and show Of truths thou pinest for, and yet canst never know.

And then the Spirit fled and left the bard Still wondering—for he felt that voices twain Had come from different spheres with different truths That seemed at war and yet agreed in one. C.

ANOTHER THEOSOPHICAL PROPHECY.

In the first number of THE PATH was inserted a prophecy made from certain books in India called _Nadigrandhams_, respecting the Society.

This called forth from the _N. Y. Sun_, that model of journalism, a long tirade about the superficial knowledge which it claims pervades the Society on the subject of oriental philosophy. Unfortunately for the learned editorial writer in that paper, he never before heard of _Nadigrandhams_, which are almost as common in India as the Sun is here, nor does he appear to know what a _Nadi_ may be, nor a _Grandham_, either.

But without trying to drag the daily press of this country into the path of oriental knowledge, we will proceed to record another prophecy or two.

The first will seem rather bold, but is placed far enough in the future to give it some value as a test. It is this:—The Sanscrit language will one day be again the language used by man upon this earth, first in science and in metaphysics, and later on in common life. Even in the lifetime of the Sun’s witty writer, he will see the terms now preserved in that noblest of languages creeping into the literature and the press of the day, cropping up in reviews, appearing in various books and treatises, until even such men as he will begin perhaps to feel that they all along had been ignorantly talking of “thought” when they meant “cerebration,” and of “philosophy” when they meant “philology,” and that they had been airing a superficial knowledge gained from cyclopœdias of the mere lower powers of intellect, when in fact they were totally ignorant of what is really elementary knowledge. So this new language cannot be English, not even the English acquired by the reporter of daily papers who ascends fortuitously to the editorial rooms—but will be one which is scientific in all that makes a language, and has been enriched by ages of study of metaphysics and the true science.

The second prophecy is nearer our day, and may be interesting.—It is based upon cyclic changes. This is a period of such a change, and we refer to the columns of the _N. Y. Sun_ of the time when the famous brilliant sunsets were chronicled and discussed not long ago for the same prognostication. No matter about dates; they are not to be given; but facts may be. This glorious country, free as it is, will not long be calm: _Unrest_ is the word for this cycle. The people will rise. For what, who can tell? The statesman who can see _for what_ the uprising will be might take measures to counteract. But all your measures can not turn back the iron will of fate. And even the City of New York will not be able to point its finger at Cincinnati and St. Louis. Let those whose ears can hear the whispers, and the noise of the gathering clouds, of the future, take notice; let them read, if they know how, the physiognomy of the United States, whereon the mighty hand of nature has traced the furrows to indicate the character of the moral storms that will pursue their course no matter what the legislation may be. But enough. Theosophists can go on unmoved, for they know that as Krishna said to Arjuna, these bodies are not the real man, and that “no one has ever been non-existent nor shall any of us ever cease to exist.”

CORRESPONDENCE.

THEOSOPHY.

[A LETTER FROM A FRIEND.]

DEAR BROTHER:

“It rejoices us all here more than I can tell you, to know that you have made such a start in America with Theosophy. We have had so many things to pull us back, that it has been quite as much as we could manage to keep our heads above water, and this not so much from the action of our enemies as from the apathy of our friends. It is strange to me to see how little faith there is in the power of truth, even among those who ought to realize this most strongly. Why should we fear and fold our hands when men speak evil of us or of the cause, why should we imagine that any attack on individual members can effect the position we take as a group or that theosophy can be endangered thereby? How few understand what theosophy is; they look upon it as solely an intellectual movement that can be damned by the folly of its adherents; they little dream of the strength that underlies the apparently inconsistent workings of this manifestation of truth which we call the Theosophical Society. And there is one thing which I believe establishes more than any other, the fact that the Society as a whole has true vitality within it, and that is the visible action of Karma in its developments.

“See how the mistaken value given to phenomena in the early history of the Society, brought immediately its Karmic development in the troubles then, and whenever any undue importance has been given either to individualities or any particular line of practice, it is always on that particular point that the next attack comes. So that while fully realizing that as an organization, the T. S. is defective in some things, I yet believe that there is a power within it that will purge it from its defects and carry it on in spite of the attacks of its enemies and what is worse still, the follies of its friends. What I do feel more and more is the necessity that we should remember and constantly keep before us what it is we are working for and not think we accomplish our end when we number our converts in the world of fashion, and gather around us men and women who vainly hope for psychic powers and the arts of fortune telling and reading the future. I do not fear black magic in our midst, but I do feel very strongly that there are many who will sink to the level of mere wonder-seekers and that they will become the prey of elemental influences.

“What can be done to make men realize, as you say, a sense of universal brotherhood and the true meaning of Theosophy. Well, let us join you in America and the few here who do realize that psychism is not spirituality, and let us try to stir the hearts of men with the living truths of Theosophy.

“I am most anxious, and have been for a long time, that we should address ourselves to another stratum of society than that (the intellectual and the fashionable) which we have sought. It is not that I would depreciate intellect; if I err in that matter it is in putting too much stress on intellectual development. But I am beginning to realize that the lower intellect can only deal with physical facts and that it can never develop ideas; these can only be apprehended by the higher intellectual faculties, and the ethical and emotional nature of man has also its higher and lower aspects.

“I wish very much that we had a literature calculated to appeal to the general masses, and I think that we should resolutely turn our attention to this object. I think the little book that Dr. Buck has just published very useful and I should be glad to see many more such little works treating of the various points of doctrine such as Reincarnation, Karma, &c. It is also encouraging to see such efforts as that contained in the small book lately out—_What is Theosophy?_ Doubtless, in connection with that, for it seems to have been written for the author’s children, you will call to mind what was written by one of the adepts, not so long ago: ‘there is a great likelihood that the sons of theosophists will become theosophists,’ and will quite agree with me in the idea that we need a literature, not solely for highly intellectual persons, but of a more simple character, which attempts to appeal to ordinary common sense minds, who are really fainting for such mental and moral assistance, which is not reached by the more pretentious works. Indeed, we all need this. It is fortunate that we have been able to live through the tide of mere psychism and bare intellectuality which threatened nearly to swamp us. And you know to whom we owe our escape, and now, that there are ten or twelve members left who are prepared to work on independently of perturbation, I think it a clear gain. What does it matter to us whether H. P. Blavatsky has or has not fulfilled all of her duties, or whether investigation has cast doubt into the minds of some. In so far as she has done her duty, her work will remain, and if perchance she has come to the end of her capabilities—which I do not admit—it is for us to carry on what she has thus far done.

“In America I hope you will not fall into running after wonders and psychic gifts to the detriment of true philosophical and moral progress.

“Believe me to be, fraternally yours, A.”

NOTE.—The whole of this letter should be carefully studied, and in particular the point that Karma brings its attacks just on the point or persons where or by whom stress has been laid on phenomena. It may be accepted as almost axiomatic by our members, that if any group or single person has paid too undue attention to phenomena, to astralism, psychism, or whatever it is called, there will develop the next trouble or attack upon the Society. It has been authoritatively stated by one of the great Beings who are behind this movement, that _it must prosper by moral worth and philosophy, and not by phenomena_. Let us well beware then. Phenomena, powers—or _siddhis_ as the Hindu say—are only incidental. Our real object is to spread Universal Brotherhood, in which task we necessarily explain phenomena, but the Society is not a _Hall for Occultism_, and that has also been asserted by an adept in India in reply to letters written him by certain well-known Englishmen who desired to establish a Branch then which should control all literature and phenomena. There are no secrets to be given out to any select persons, for no one receives a secret inaccessible to the rest, _until he has acquired the right to it_, and the proper sense to know when and to whom it is to be given out.—[ED.]

WHAT IS THE UDGITHA?

JAMESTOWN, April 16th, 1886.

DEAR BROTHER:—Will you kindly explain, through THE PATH, what is to be understood by the _Udgitha_, or hymn of praise to Brahm? With best wishes for the success of your enterprise, I remain,

Fraternally yours, L. J.

This is a vital question. It may have arisen from the peculiarity of the word inquired about, or it may be that our brother really knows the importance of the point. We refer him to the article upon OM in the April number. Om is the Udgitha, and OM has been explained in that article. Read between the lines; and read also the “Upanishad Notes” in this month’s PATH.

In the _Maitrayana-Brahmana-Upanishad_, (Pr. VI), it is said: “The Udgitha, called Pranava, the leader, the bright, the sleepless, free from old age and death, three footed, (waking, dream, and deep sleep), consisting of three letters and likewise to be known as fivefold, is placed in the cave of the heart.”

This is the Self. Not the mere body or the faculties of the brain, but the Highest Self. And that must be meditated on, or worshipped, with a constant meditation. _Hymn of praise_, then, means that we accept the existence of that Self and aspire to or adore Him. Therefore, it is said again, in the same Upanishad:

“In the beginning Brahman was all this. He was one, and infinite. * * * The Highest Self is not to be fixed, he is unlimited, unborn, not to be reasoned about, not to be conceived. He is, like the ether, everywhere, and at the destruction of the Universe, he alone is awake. Thus from that ether he wakes all this world, which consists of (his) thought only, and by him alone is all this meditated on, and in him it is dissolved. His is that luminous form which shines in the sun, and the manifold light in the smokeless fire. He who is in the fire, and he who is in the heart, and he who is in the sun, they _are one and the same_. He who knows this becomes one with the One.”

Now “to know” this, does not mean to merely apprehend the statement, but actually become personally acquainted with it by interior experience. And this is difficult. But it is to be sought after. And the first step to it is the attempt to realize universal brotherhood, for when one becomes identified with the One, who is all, he “participates in the souls of all creatures;” surely then the first step in the path is universal brotherhood.

The hymn of praise to Brahm (which is Brahman) is the real object of this magazine, and of our existence. The hymn is used, in the sacrifice, when verbally expressed, and we can offer it in our daily existence, in each act, whether eating, sleeping, waking, or in any state. A man can hardly incorporate this idea in his being and not be spiritually and morally benefited.

But we cannot fully explain here, as it is to be constantly referred to in this magazine.—[ED.]

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.—This branch has established the nucleus of a library to consist of Theosophical, Metaphysical, Occult, Aryan, and other literature. It already numbers about fifty volumes, some of which are loaned pending further accumulations and the acquirement of a proper place to keep them. It is hoped that this will grow to be of great value. A fund for the purpose has also been started. During April the contributions have been: A Friend, $5; Mr. B. X., $3: C., nine books: _Hist. of Witchcraft in Salem_; _Zend Avesta_; _What is Theosophy?_; _Mother Clothed with the Sun_; _Footfalls on the Boundaries of Another World, &c._; from Dr. Seth Pancoast, _Red and Blue Light_.

The books will be loaned to resident members upon giving receipt for a definite period. Donations of books or money towards the fund, can be sent to THE PATH, or the Pres’t of the A. T. S., box 2659, New York City.

Several other books are promised and will be in hand before next month.

The Branch is actively engaged in spreading Theosophical literature, and now has requests for books from all parts of the U. S. It has reprinted Mrs. Sinnett’s “Purpose of Theosophy” very cheap in form, but well done, and has other reprints in mind. Since last month, permanent quarters have been obtained, where the library will be established. Private meetings are also held from time to time among the members, for study and discussion.

Mr. C. H. A. Bjerregaard finished his course of lectures on “Historic and Individual Cycles.”

All inquiries should be addressed to the Secretary, Box 2659, New York City.

* * * * *

CINCINNATI.—Since our April issue the members here have been steadily at work, and among other things accomplished, is the printing of Dr. Buck’s essay upon the “Secret Doctrine of the Ancient Mysteries.”

* * * * *

BOSTON.—Interest in Boston continues unabated. A member of the Aryan Branch of New York has been spending a month in Boston, discussing the philosophy and ethics to be found in theosophical literature, and it is to be hoped that the work done will be permanent, founded as it is in ethics and not upon phenomena.

* * * * *

BULLEL.—Brother Krishnarao B. Bullel, a Bombay member, who has been studying medicine in New York, and who constantly attended the meetings of the Aryan Branch, graduated from the Homœopathic Medical College, of New York, with honors. He sailed for home on April 14th, on the steamer America, intending to stop in London. He carries back with him the best wishes of his American brothers, and a good report of the progress of the Cause here.

* * * * *

OLCOTT.—Col. H. S. Olcott has lately been in Ceylon looking after the work there. Rev. Mr. Leadbeater was with him, and will remain on the Island, where Theosophy is very strong, to work for the Society. A theosophical paper, in Singhalese, was started there some years ago, and still flourishes. The Colonel has just recovered from a slight attack of fever contracted in his journeys, but his vigor remains unabated.

* * * * *

EXPOSURES.—In reply to several inquiries made here, and also sent to London from the U. S., we beg to say that it is true that the Society for Psychical Research sent a prejudiced expert to India, who exposed nothing except his own bias. Among other things, he thought he had proved that the writing of alleged adepts was only Mme. Blavatsky’s disguised hand. But since then, a well-known German member has submitted specimens of adept writing, together with Mme. Blavatsky’s, to one of the best calligraphic experts in Germany, who certifies that the messages which have been impugned were not written by her.

Mme. Blavatsky is now in Europe, for her health, but she may be expected to return very soon to India, spy-theory and missionaries, to the contrary notwithstanding.

* * * * *

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF CONTROL.—The general and routine work of the Society in America, is under the jurisdiction of the _Board of Control_, of which the Secretary is Elliott B. Page, 301 South Main Street, St. Louis, Mo.

A resolution has been passed by this Board, which is binding on all members, that no publication shall be issued as a Theosophical one, without previous consent obtained from the officers of the Board. This is wise, as it will tend to prevent unauthorized declarations of so-called Theosophical doctrine from being laid at the door of the Society. All members, therefore, intending to make publication, should address the Secretary of the Board.

YOGA VIDYA or the Knowledge of Yoga, is the name by which in India psychic practices, or astralism, or seeking after astral-body formation, or inducing clairvoyance and the like, is most commonly known. At the same time, True Yoga, called _Raja Yoga_, is a different thing. In the March _Theosophist_ a member writes giving the name of one who will instruct in these practices, and the Editor replied:

“We cannot endorse the writer’s opinion as to the benefits of Yoga Vidya. For one or two who succeed in it, hundreds fail and wreck both body and mind, through its dangerous practices, and even if physical results are obtained they are not invariably followed by spiritual illumination.”

It certainly thus appears that our Society is not in favor of such practices, no matter if some of its members indulge in them.

ADMISSION TO THE SOCIETY is open to any person of full age, who is in sympathy with its objects, willing to abide by its rules; and is obtained by signing an application which sets forth the above in a form which is provided. This must be countersigned by any two active members in good standing. The entrance fee is $5 and one belonging to a Branch should also pay the annual dues thereof. Applications can be made to Presidents of Branches or other officers. Persons may become members of Branches or unattached members of the General Society.

* * * * *

All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought pain follows him as the wheel follows the foot of him who draws the carriage.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.—_Dhammapada._

Receive this law, young men; keep, read, fathom, teach, promulgate and preach it to all beings. I am not avaricious nor narrow minded; I am confident and willing to impart Buddha knowledge, or knowledge of the self-born. I am a bountiful giver, young men, and ye should follow my example; imitate me in liberality, showing this knowledge, and preaching this code of laws and conduct to those who shall successively gather round you, and rouse unbelieving persons to accept this law. By so doing ye will acquit your debt to the Tathagatas.—_Saddharma Pundarika._

OM.

FOOTNOTES:

[37] _Sacred Books of the East_, Vol. I, lxv.

[38] _Sacred Books_, &c., Vol. I, lxvii.

[39] _Hist. of Sans. Lit._, p. 155, note.

[40] From the negatives _en_ and _am_, and the noun _Soph_ “end or terminus.”

[41] See _Kabbalah_, published by R. Worthington, 770 Broadway, N. Y.

[42] See _Kabbalah_, Page 47.

[43] Trans. Bomb. lit. Soc. Comp. the Dabistan.

[44] The Dabistan: The prophet is a person who is sent to the people as their guide to the perfection which is fixed for them in the presence of God, according to the exigency of the dispositions determined by the fixed substances, whether it be the perfection of faith, or another.

[45] It is to this state the Sufis refer Mohammed’s words: “I have moments when neither prophet nor angel can comprehend me.”

[46] From the Dabistan. Comp. Zeitschrift d. morgl. Gesellsch. 16 art. by Fleischer Ueber die farbigen lichterscheinungen der Sufis.

[47] J. P. Brown, Dervishes pp. 333.

[48] Bagavad-Gita, ch. 13; id. ch. 10.

[49] Path, No. 1. p. 24.

AUM

The great All, which is constantly in motion, and is constantly undergoing change in the visible and invisible universe, is like the tree which perpetuates itself by the seed and is incessantly creating the same identical types.—_Book of Pitris._

Nothing is commenced or ended. Everything is transformed. Life and death are only modes of transformation which rule the vital molecule from plant up to Brahma himself.-_Atharva Veda._

THE PATH.

VOL. I. JUNE, 1886. NO. 3.

_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document._

Where any article, or statement, has the authors name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

A HINDU CHELA’S DIARY.[50]

In the month of December he arrived at Benares, on what he hoped would be his last pilgrimage. As much as I am able to decipher of this curious manuscript, written in a mixture of Tamil—the South Indian language—with Mahratta, which, as you know, is entirely dissimilar, shows that he had made many pilgrimages to India’s sacred places, whether by mere impulse or upon actual direction, I know not. If he had been only any ordinary religiously disposed Hindu we might be able to come to some judgment hereupon, for the pilgrimages might have been made in order to gain merit, but as he must long ago have risen above the flowery chains of even the Vedas, we cannot really tell for what reason these journeys were made. Although, as you know, I have long had possession of these papers, the time had not until now seemed ripe to give them out. He had, when I received them, already long passed away from these busy scenes to those far busier, and now I give you liberty to print the fragmentary tale without description of his person. These people are, you know, not disposed to have accurate descriptions of themselves floating about. They being real disciples, never like to say that they are, a manner quite contrary to that of those famed professors of occult science who opportunely or inopportunely declare their supposed chelaship from the house top.

* * * * *

* * * “Twice before have I seen these silent temples standing by the rolling flood of sacred Ganges. They have not changed, but in me what changes have occurred! And yet that cannot be, for the I changeth not, but only the veil wrapped about, is either torn away or more closely and thickly folded round to the disguising of the reality. * * * It is now seven months since I began to use the privilege of listening to Kunâla. Each time before, that I came to see him, implacable fate drove me back. It was Karma, the just law, which compels when we would not, that prevented me. Had I faltered then and returned to the life then even so far in the past, my fate in this incarnation would have been sealed—and he would have said nothing. Why? Happy was I that I knew the silence would have not indicated in him any loss of interest in my welfare, but only that the same Karma prevented interference. Very soon after first seeing him I felt that he was not what he appeared exteriorly to be. Then the feeling grew into a belief within a short time so strong that four or five times I thought of throwing myself at his feet and begging him to reveal himself to me. But I thought that was useless, as I knew that I was quite impure and could not be trusted with that secret. If I remained silent I thought that he would confide to me whenever he found me worthy of it. I thought he must be some great Hindu Adept who had assumed that illusionary form. But there this difficulty arose, for I knew that he received letters from various relatives in different parts, and this would compel him to practice the illusion all over the globe, for some of those relatives were in other countries, where he had been too. Various explanations suggested themselves to me. * * * I was right in my original conception of Kunâla that he is some great Indian Adept. Of this subject I constantly talked with him since—— although I fear I am not, and perhaps shall not be in this life worthy of their company. My inclination has always been in this direction. I always thought of retiring from this world and giving myself up to devotion. To Kunâla I often expressed this intention, so that I might study this philosophy, which alone can make man happy in this world. But then he usually asked me what I would do _there_ alone? He said that instead of gaining my object I might perhaps become insane by being left alone in the jungles with no one to guide me; that I was foolish enough to think that by going into the jungles I could fall in with an adept; and that if I really wanted to gain my object I should have to work in the reform in and through which I had met so many good men and himself also, and when the Higher Ones, whom I dare not mention by any other names, were satisfied with me they themselves would call me away from the busy world and teach me in private. And when I foolishly asked him many times to give me the names and addresses of some of those Higher Ones he said once to me: ‘One of our Brothers has told me that as you are so much after me I had better tell you once for all that I have no right to give you any information about them, but if you go on asking Hindus you meet what they know about the matter you might hear of them, and one of those Higher Ones may perhaps throw himself in your way without your knowing him, and will tell you what you should do.’ These were orders, and I knew I must wait, and still I knew that through Kunâla only would I have my object fulfilled. * * *

“I then asked one or two of my own countrymen, and one of them said he had seen two or three such men, but that they were not quite what he thought to be ‘_Raj Yogs_’ He also said he had heard of a man who had appeared several times in Benares, but that nobody knew where he lived. My disappointment grew more bitter, but I never lost the firm confidence that Adepts do live in India and can still be found among us. No doubt too there are a few in other countries, else why had Kunâla been to them.

* * * In consequence of a letter from Vishnurama, who said that a certain X[51] lived in Benares, and that Swamiji K knew him. However, for certain reasons I could not address Swamiji K directly, and when I asked him if _he_ knew X he replied: “If there be such a man here at all he is not known.” Thus evasively on many occasions he answered me, and I saw that all my expectations in going to Benares were only airy castles. I thought I had gained only the consolation that I was doing a part of my duty. So I wrote again to Nilakant: “As directed by you I have neither let him know what I know of him nor what my own intentions are. He seems to think that in this I am working to make money, and as yet I have kept him in the dark as regards myself, and am myself groping in the dark. Expecting enlightenment from you, etc.” * * * The other day Nilakant came suddenly here and I met Sw. K. and him together, when to my surprise K at once mentioned X, saying he knew him well and that he often came to see him, and then he offered to take us there. But just as we were going, arrived at the place an English officer who had done Kunâla a service in some past time. He had in some way heard of X and was permitted to come. Such are the complications of Karma. It was absolutely necessary that he should go too, although no doubt his European education would never permit him to more than half accept the doctrine of Karma, so interwoven backward and forwards in our lives, both those now, that past and that to come. At the interview with X, I could gain nothing, and so we came away. The next day came X to see us. He never speaks of himself, but as ‘this body.’ He told me that he had first been in the body of a Fakir, who, upon having his hand disabled by a shot he received while he passed the fortress of Bhurtpore, had to change his body and choose another, the one he was now in. A child of about seven years of age was dying at that time, and so, before the complete physical death, this Fakir had entered the body and afterwards used it as his own. He is, therefore, doubly not what he seems to be. As a Fakir he had studied Yoga science for 65 years, but that study having been arrested at the time he was disabled, leaving him unequal to the task he had to perform, he had to choose this other one. In his present body he is 53 years, and consequently the inner X is 118 years old. * * * In the night I heard him talking with Kunâla, and found that each had the same Guru, who himself is a very great Adept, whose age is 300 years, although in appearance he seems to be only 40[52]. He will in a few centuries enter the body of a _Kshatriya_[53], and do some great deeds for India, but the time had not yet come.”

[_To be continued._]

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in Mysticism._

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katobi:

“Last night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress, when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the garden, soft as the dews of heaven.”

(CONTINUED.)

SUFI ECSTASY.

MOTTO: “Highest nature wills the capture; “Light to light!” the instinct cries; And in agonizing rapture falls the moth, and bravely dies. Think not what thou art, Believer; think but what thou mayest become For the World is thy deceiver, and the Light thy only home.” (_Palm Leaves._)

ABULFAZL (A.D. 1595):

O Lord, whose secrets are for ever veiled, And whose perfection knows not a beginning! End and beginning both are lost in thee; No trace of them is found in thy eternal realm.

My words are lame; my tongue, a stony tract; Slow wings my foot, and wide is the expanse. Confused are my thoughts; but this is thy best praise— _In ecstacy alone I see thee face to face!_

SHEMS TEBREEZ:

What advice, O Musselmans? I don’t know myself; I[54] am neither Christian nor Jew, nor am I a fire-worshipper nor Musselman. I am not from the East or West, nor am I of land or fire. I am not from the country of Iran, nor am I from the land of Khoorassan. I am neither of water nor air, nor am I of fire or earth. I am not of Adam or Eve, nor am I of the inhabitants of paradise. My place is no place, my sign is without sign: I have neither body nor soul,—what is there then? I am the soul of my Beloved.[55] When I took out my heart, the two worlds I saw as one. He is the first, He is the last, He is the manifest. He is the secret. Except Him, and that I am Him, I do not know anything else. O thou, Shems Tebreez, why this rapture in this world? _Except with rapture and enthusiastic ardour, this work cannot be effected._

ECSTASY: THE HEART AS MEDIUM.

All the earth I’d wandered over, seeking still the beacon light, Never tarried in the day time, never sought repose at night; Till I heard a reverend preacher all the mystery declare, Then I looked within my bosom, and ‘twas shining brightly there. (_E. H. Palmer, Orient. Myst._)

Who so knoweth himself, knoweth the Godhead.—Thy soul is the sufficient proof of the existence of the Godhead: When by reflection thou hast penetrated to that deep within, thou shalt discover there the Universal Worker of his work. (_D’Herbelot—Persian Paraphrases._)

Wouldst know where I found the Supreme? One step beyond self.—Behind the veil of self shines unseen the beauty of the Beloved.—(_Aphorisms._)

Soul of the soul! Neither thought nor reason comprehend thy essence, and no one knows thy attributes. Souls have no idea of thy being. The prophets themselves sink into the dust before thee. Although intellect exists by thee, has it ever found the path of thy existence? _Thou art the interior and the exterior of the soul._—(_Attar._)

They who see God are ever rapt in ecstacy. * * * (_The Mesnevi._)

ECSTASY: NATURE AS MEDIUM.

The varied pictures I have drawn on space, Behold what fair and goodly sights they seem; One glimpse I gave them of my glorious face, And lo! ‘tis now the universal theme. (_E. H. Palmer, Orient. Myst._).

Recognise the mark of Deity in every place, and never place the foot without its own limit. The world is the image of the Godhead.—(_Buslami._)

* * * * *

RABIA LEGENDS.

—The widow _Rabia_[56] is reported having said “an interior wound consumes my heart; it can only be cured by communion with a friend.[57] I shall remain sick till the day of judgment when I shall reach my end.”—

—It is told of _Rabia_, that once when requested to marry, she answered: My being has for a long time been in marital communion; hence I say that my ego is long ago lost in itself and arisen again in Him (in God); since then I am entirely in His power, yea, I am He. He, who would ask me for a bride, would ask me, not from myself, but from Him (God). _Hassan Basri_ (a famous Mohamedan Theologian) asked her how she had reached this state. She answered: In this way, everything which I had found I lost again in Him (God). When questioned as to by which mode she knew Him, she made answer: O, _Hassan, you_ know Him by certain methods and means, I know Him without modes and means.—

—_Ibn Chali Kan_ tells about Rabia that she often in the middle of the night went up upon the roof and in her loneness cried out: O, my God! Now is silenced the noise of the day, and the lover enjoys the night with the beloved, but I enjoy myself in my loneness with Thee; Thou art my true lover.—

—It is told of her that once while journeying to Mecca on seeing the Kaaba she exclaimed: What is the Kaaba to me? I need the Lord of the Kaaba! I am so near God that I apply to myself his words: He who approaches me by an inch, him I approach by a yard. What is the Kaaba to me?—

—_Feri’d Eddin Attar_ tells about her, that she, once while crossing the fields, cried out: Deep longing after God has taken possession of me! True, Thou art both earth and stone, but I yearn to behold Thee, Thyself. The high God spoke to her in her heart, without a medium: O, Rabia! Do you not know that once when Moses requested to see God, only a grain fell from the sun and he collapsed: Be satisfied with my name!—

—Once asked if she beheld God while worshipping Him, “Assuredly,” said she, “I behold Him, for Whom I cannot see, I cannot worship.”—

—Once when Rabia was sick three famous Theologians called upon her, namely _Hassan Basri_, _Malik Dinar_, and _Schakik Balchi_. Hassan said: The prayers of that man are not sincere who refuses to bear the Lord’s chastisements. Schakik added to that: He is not sincere who does not rejoice in the Lord’s chastisements. But Rabia, who detected selfish joy even in those words, replied: He is not sincere in his prayers, who does not, when he beholds his Lord, forget entirely that he is being chastised.—

—On one occasion Rabia was questioned concerning the cause of an illness and replied: I allowed myself to think on the delights of paradise, therefore my Lord has punished me.—

* * * * *

ACTS OF ADEPTS.[58]

_Munsoor Halaj_ attained victory of the body, by incessant prayer and contemplation. He used to say “_I am the Truth._”

The following story is told of him. He observed his sister go out frequently at night, and wondering what it meant, he resolved to watch her and see where she went. He did so and found that she went to a company of celestial spirits, who gave her of their nectar or immortal beverage. Thinking that a drop might be left in the cup after his sister had drank from it, he took hold of it and did, much against her warning, get a drop of the divine fluid. Ever afterwards he went about exclaiming “I am the Truth!” This was too much for the observers of the canonical law and they sentenced him to be impaled alive. When they came to take him, he told them, that he did not fear them, they could do him no harm, and when they were putting him on the stake, he disappeared from them and appeared in a sitting posture in the air at a small distance over the stake. This was repeated several times. His spirit ascended to heaven and asked the Prophet if it be right that he should suffer. The Prophet advised him to suffer, otherwise there would be an end to formal religion. On this Munsoor Halaj’s spirit descended and permitted the body to take the course of nature. When about to be impaled, he called a disciple of his, told him the secret and that his voice, “I am the Truth” would be heard, when they after burning him, should throw his ashes into the sea; and that the sea would rise and overflow all the land, if they did not take his godhra[59] and place it on the rising waves. It so all happened.—

A Sufi poet has explained the cause of Munsoor’s death, to lie in the fact, that he revealed a mystery.

Of _Shems Tebreez_ the following story is told. He raised a King’s only son from death by throwing his mantle over him and ordering him “Rise by my order.” For this he was summoned before the ecclesiastical court and sentenced to be flayed alive. When the sentence came to be executed, no knives could cut him, his body was invulnerable. It is related, that he ascended in spirit to heaven and the Prophet directed him to undergo his punishment, which he subsequently did. He directed the doctors of Law, himself, how to begin to cut the skin from his feet, or rather made the incision himself. When they had thus flayed him, he requested his own skin, be given to him as the letter of the law was fulfilled, and they gave it to him. Of this he made his Khirqeh or derwish’s habit, threw it over his shoulders, and went away.

After that the doctors of law ordered everybody to give him nothing to eat, drink, &c. He thus remained for some days without food, &c. At last he found a dead ox and cut out a piece, but as no one dared give him fire, he ordered the sun to descend from the firmament and come nearer to broil his meat. The sun obeyed—but the prince and people fearing the consequences implored him to relieve their sufferings by ordering the sun to return to its station. He granted their request.

* * * * *

TEXTS FROM REPRESENTATIVE SUFIS.

_Al-Ghazzali_ (Abu Hamid Muhammed ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al Ghazzali,) surnamed Hujjatu ‘l-Islam (“the proof of Islam”). He was born at Tus A. D. 1058 and died A. D. 1111.—

The following are his own words: “I said to myself: the aim of my life is simply to know the truth of things; therefore I must ascertain what _knowledge_ is. * * I then said to myself ‘the only hope of acquiring incontestable convictions is by the perceptions of the senses and by necessary truths.’ Their evidence seemed to me to be indubitable. I soon began to examine the objects of sensation and speculation to see if they were beyond doubt and doubts crowded in upon me, that my incertitude became complete. * * I abandoned the senses, therefore, having seen all my confidence in their truth shaken. * * * Perhaps, said I, there is no assurance but in the notions of reason, viz., in first principles. * * * Upon this the senses replied: ‘What assurance have you that your confidence in reason is not of the same nature as your confidence in us? May there not be some other judge superior to reason? The non-appearance of such a judge is no proof of his non-existence.’ * * * I came to reflect on sleep, how during sleep we give to visions, reality and consistence, and have no suspicion of their untruth. On awaking we see they were nothing but visions. What assurance have we that all we feel and see and know when we are awake does actually exist?”

Al Gazzali had now come to disbelief and distrust of the world of sense. He gave his wealth away, left Bagdad and retired into Syria, to the desert, where he spent two years in solitary struggle, combating his passions, purified his heart and prepared for another world. _He attained freedom._ Afterwards he said: “The life of man passes through three degrees. The first or infantile state is that of pure sensation; the second is that of understanding, and the third that of reason, where the intellect perceives the necessary truths, &c. But there is a fourth state, beyond these three, in which man perceives the hidden things, that have been, and that will be and the things that escape both the senses and reason. This state is Freedom.”

* * * * *

AL GAZZALI: ALCHEMY OF HAPPINESS.

CHAP. I. On the knowledge of the soul, and how knowledge of the soul is the key to the knowledge of God.

O seeker after the divine mysteries! Know thou that the door to the knowledge of God will be opened to a man first of all, when he knows his own soul, and understands the truth about his own spirit, according as it has been revealed, “he who knows himself knows his Lord also.”

If you wish, O seeker of the way! to know your own soul, know that the blessed and glorious God created you of two things: the one is a visible body, and the other is a something internal, that is called spirit and heart, which can only be perceived by the mind. But when we speak of the heart, we do not mean the piece of flesh which is in the left side of the breast of man, for that is found in a dead body and in animals: it may be seen with the eyes, and belongs to the visible world. That heart, which is emphatically called spirit, does not belong to this world, and although it has come to this world, it has only come to leave it. It is the sovereign of the body, which is its vehicle, and all the external and internal organs of the body are its subjects. Its special attribute is to know God and to enjoy the vision of the Beauty of the Lord God.—They will ask you about the spirit. Answer, “The spirit is a creation by decree of the Lord. The spirit belongs to the world of decrees. All existence is of two kinds, one is of the world of decrees, and the other is of the world of creation. To Him belong creation and decree.”

—That spirit, which has the property of knowing God is called the heart; it is not found in beasts, nor is it matter or an accident. The heart has been created with angelic qualities. It is a substance of which it is difficult to apprehend the essence. The law does not permit it to be explained, but there is no occasion for the student being acquainted with it at the outset of his journey.

—Know, O seeker after the divine mysteries! that the body is the kingdom of the heart, and that in the body there are many forces in contrariety with the heart, as God speaks in his Holy Word.

—Know, O student of wisdom! that the body, which is the kingdom of the heart, resembles a great city. The hand, the foot, the mouth and the other members resemble the people of the various trades. Desire is a standard bearer; anger is a superintendent of the city, the heart is its sovereign, and reason is the vizier. The sovereign needs the service of all the inhabitants. But desire, the standard bearer, is a liar, vain and ambitious. He is always ready to do the contrary of what reason, the vizier, commands. He strives to appropriate to himself whatever he sees in the city, which is the body. Anger, the superintendent, is rebellious and corrupt, quick and passionate. He is always ready to be enraged, to spill blood, and to blast one’s reputation. If the sovereign, the heart, should invariably consult with reason, his vizier, and, when desire was transgressing, should give to wrath to have power over him (yet, without giving him full liberty, should make him angry in subjection to reason, the vizier, so that passing all bounds he should not stretch out his hand upon the kingdom), there would then be an equilibrium in the condition of the kingdom, and all the members would perform the functions for which they were created, their service would be accepted at the mercy seat, and they would obtain eternal felicity.

The dignity of the heart is of two kinds; one is by means of knowledge, and the other through the exertion of divine power. Its dignity by means of knowledge is also of two kinds. The first is external knowledge, which everyone understands: the second kind is veiled and cannot be understood by all, and is extremely precious.

—In the second, by the power of thought, the soul passes from the abyss to the highest heaven, and from the East to the West.

The most wonderful thing of all is, that there is a window in the heart from whence it surveys the world. This is called the invisible world, the world of intelligence, or the spiritual world.

—The heart resembles a pure mirror, you must know, in this particular, that when a man falls asleep, when his senses are closed, and when the heart, free and pure from blamable affections, is confronted with the preserved tablet, then the tablet reflects upon the heart the real states and hidden forms inscribed upon it. In that state the heart sees most wonderful forms and combinations. But when the heart is not free from impurity, or when, on waking, it busies itself with things of sense, the side towards the tablet will be obscured, and it can view nothing. For, although in sleep the senses are blunted, the image-making faculty is not, but preserves the forms reflected upon the mirror of the heart.

—In death, the senses are completely separated and the veil of the body is removed, the heart can contemplate the invisible world and its hidden mysteries, without a veil, just as lightning or the celestial rays impress the external eye.

—If a person calls into exercise, in perfection, holy zeal and austerities, and purifies his heart from the defilement of blamable affections, and then sits down in a retired spot, abandons the use of his external senses, and occupies himself with calling out “O God! O God!” his heart will come into harmony with the visible world, he will no longer receive notices from the material world, and nothing will be present in his heart but the exalted God. In this revelation of the invisible world, the windows of the heart are opened, and what others may have seen in a dream, he in this state sees in reality. The spirits of angels and prophets are manifested to him and he holds intercourse with them. The hidden things of the earth and heaven are uncovered to him. * * * Probably the knowledge of all the prophets was obtained in this way, for it was not obtained by learning.

—When the heart is free from worldly lusts, from the animosities of society and from distractions by the senses, the vision of God is possible. And this course is adopted by the Mystics. It is also the path followed by the prophets.

—The heart of man while in the spiritual world knows its Maker and Creator: it had mingled with the angels and knows for what service it was created.

—To whomsoever this revelation has been vouchsafed, if it directs him to reform the world, to invite the nations to turn to God, and to a peculiar way of life, that person is called a prophet, and his way of life is called a law; and that influence which proceeds from him, which transcends what is ordinary, is called a _miracle_. If he has not been appointed to invite nations, but worships in accordance with the law of another, he is called a _saint_, and that which proceeds from him, which transcends what is ordinary, is called a _manifestation of grace_.

—The knowledge of God, which is the occasion of the revelation of truth, cannot be acquired without self-denial and effort. Unless a man has reached perfection and the rank of a Superior, nothing will be revealed to him, except in cases of special divine grace and merciful providence, and this occurs very rarely.

—You have now learned, O student of the divine mysteries, the dignity of the heart through knowledge.

—Now listen to the heart’s dignity through divine power and the greatness of which it is capable.

—When God wills it, the angels send forth the winds, cause the rain to fall, bring forth the embryo in animals, shape their forms, cause seeds to sprout in the earth and plants to grow, many legions of angels being appointed to this service. The heart of man, being created with angelic properties must also have influence and power over the material world; * * * and if the animal and ferocious qualities should not be dominant, if it should look upon a lion or tiger with “majesty” they would become weak and submissive. If it should look with kindness upon one who is sick, his infirmity might be changed to health. If it should look upon the vigorous with majesty, they might become infirm. The reality of the existence of these influences is known both by reason and experience.

—In whomsoever these influences are shown to have power, if he occasions misery in the exercise of this power, he is designated a sorcerer.

—The heart has dominion and control through three channels. One is through visions;—the second is through the dominion which the heart exercises over its own body;—the third source of dominion of the heart is through knowledge.—Some persons have all things opened up to them by the will of God. This kind of knowledge is called “infused and illuminated” as God says in his Word: “we have illuminated him with our knowledge.” These three specialities are all of them found in certain measure in some men, in others two of them are found, and in others, only one is found: but whenever the three are found in the same person, he belongs to the rank of prophets or of the greatest of the saints. Man cannot comprehend states of being which transcend his own nature. No person can understand any individual who belongs to a scale of rank above him.

—The path of mysticism is sought for by all men, and longed for by all classes of society, yet those who attain to the end are exceedingly rare.

—The body is but an animal to be ridden by the heart, which is its rider, while the heart’s chief end is to acquire a knowledge of God.

CHAP. II. On the knowledge of God.

—In the books of former prophets it is written, “Know thine own soul, and thou shalt know thy Lord,” and we have received it in a tradition, that “He who knows himself, already knows his Lord.”

—Everyone in the sphere to which he attains, is still veiled with a veil. The light of some is as of a twinkling star. Others see as by the light of the moon. Others are illuminated as if by the world-effulgent sun. To some the invisible world is even perfectly revealed, as we hear in the holy word of God: “And thus we caused Abraham to see the heaven and the earth.” And hence it is that the prophet says: “There are before God seventy veils of light; if he should unveil them, the light of His countenance would burn everything that came into His presence.”

CHAP. III. On the knowledge of the world.

—Know, that this world is one stage of our life for eternity. For those who are journeying in the right way, it is the road of religion. It is a market opened in the wilderness, where those who are travelling on their way to God, may collect and prepare provisions for their journey, and depart thence to God, without sorrow or despondency.

—The world is delusive, enchanting and treacherous.

—The world will be brought to the great assembly at the last day, in the form of a woman with livid eyes, pendent lips, and deformed shape, and all the people will look upon her, and will exclaim, “what deformed and horrible person is that, whose aspect alone is severe torture to the soul.” And they will be answered, “It was on her account that you were envying and hating one another, and were ready to slay one another. It was on her account that you rebelled against God, and debased yourselves to every sort of corruption.” And then God will order her to be driven off to hell with her followers and her lovers.[60]

The Lord Jesus (upon whom be peace!) declares that the world is like the man who drinks sea water. The more he drinks, the more his internal heat increases, and unless he stops, he will destroy himself by drinking.

CHAP. IV. On the knowledge of the future world.

—Know, beloved, that we cannot understand the future world, until we know what death is: and we cannot know what death is, until we know what life is: nor can we understand what life is, until we know what spirit is.

—The following is an illustration of the duration of eternity, so far as the human mind can comprehend it. If the space between the empyreal heaven to the regions below the earth, embracing the whole universe, should be filled up with grains of mustard seed, and if a crow should make use of them as food and come but once in a thousand years and take but a single grain away, so that with the lapse of time there should not remain a single grain, still at the end of that time not the amount of a grain of mustard seed would have been diminished from the duration of eternity.—

AL GAZZALI ON PRAYER.

—Prayers are of three degrees, of which the first are those that are simply spoken with the lips. Prayers are of the second kind, when with difficulty, and only by a most resolute effort, the soul is able to fix its thoughts on Divine things without being disturbed by evil imaginations; of the third kind, when one finds it difficult to _turn away_ the mind from dwelling on Divine things. But it is the very marrow of prayer, when He who is invoked takes possession of the soul of the suppliant, and the soul of him who prays is absorbed into God to whom he prays, and his prayer ceasing, all consciousness of self has departed, and to such a degree, that all thought whatsoever of the praying is felt as a veil betwixt the soul and God. This state is called by the Mystics “absorption,” for the reason that the man is so absorbed, that he takes no thought of his body, or of anything that happens externally, none of what occurs in his own soul, but, absent as it were from all such matter whatsoever, is first engaged in going _towards_ his Lord, and finally is wholly _in_ his Lord. If only the thought occurs that he is absorbed into the Absolute, it is a blemish; for that absorption only is worthy of the name which is unconscious of itself. And these words of mine, although they will be called, as I well know, but foolish babbling by raw theologians, are yet by no means without significance. For consider, the condition of which I speak, resembles that of a person who loves any other object, as wealth, honor, or pleasure. We see such persons so carried away with their love, and others with anger, that they do not hear one who speaks to them, nor see those passing before their eyes; nay, so absorbed are they in their passion, that they do not perceive their absorption. Just so far as you turn your mind upon your absorption, you necessarily turn it away from that which is the object of it.”

Again he says: “The commencement of this is the going to God, then follows the finding Him, when the “absorption” takes place. This is, at first, momentary, as the lightening swiftly glancing upon the eye. But afterwards confirmed by use, it introduces the soul into a higher world, where the most pure, essential essence meeting it, fills the soul with the image of the spiritual world, while the majesty of deity evolves and discovers itself.”

_Omar Khayyam_ (Ghias uddin Abul Fath Omar ibn Ibrahim Al Khayyam) was born in Khorassan “the focus of Persian culture” and is supposed to have died A. D. 1123.

He was not affiliated with any Sufi order, but large parts of his works are full of true Sufi philosophy and are recognized as such.

The first part of the following quotations are taken from the translation by E. H. Whinfield in Trübner’s Oriental Series. The second part is extracted from B. Quarritch’s ed. 1879.

Motto: There is a mystery I know full well, Which to all, good and bad, I cannot tell; My works are dark, but I cannot unfold The secrets of the “station” where I dwell.

(66)—to attain unconsciousness of self Is the sole cause I drink me drunk with wine.— (108) They preach how sweet those Houri brides will be, But I say wine is sweeter—taste and see!— (120) Ten powers, and nine spheres, eight heavens made He, And planets seven, of six sides, as we see, Five senses, and four elements, three souls, Two worlds, but only one, O man, like thee.— (124) What lord is fit to rule but “Truth?” not one. What beings disobey His rule? not one.— (131) Thy being is the being of Another, Thy passion is the passion of Another. Cover thy head, and think, and then wilt see, Thy hand is but the cover of Another.— (148) Allah hath promised wine in Paradise, Why then should wine on earth be deemed a vice?— (225) When the fair soul this mansion doth vacate, Each element assumes its principal state,— (266) They go away, and none is seen returning, To teach that other world’s recondite learning; ’Twill not be shown for dull mechanic prayers, For prayer is naught without true heartfelt yearning.— (285) Life’s fount is wine, Khizer[61] its guardian I, like Elias,[62] find it where I can; ’Tis sustenance for heart and spirit too, Allah himself calls wine “a boon to man.”— (340) Man is the whole creation’s summary, The precious apple of great wisdom’s eye; The circle of existence is a ring, Whereof the signet is humanity.— (351) The more I die to self, I live the more, The more abase myself, the higher soar; And, strange! the more I drink of Being’s wine, More sane I grow, and sober than before!— (369) This world a body is, and God its soul, And angels are its senses, who control Its limbs—the creatures, elements, and spheres; _The One_ is the sole basis of the whole.— (376) Some look for truth in creeds, and forms, and rules; Some grope for doubts or dogmas in the schools; But from behind the veil a voice proclaims, “Your road lies neither here nor there, O fools.”— (400) My body’s life and strength proceed from Thee! My soul within and spirit are of Thee! My being is of Thee, and Thou art mine, And I am Thine, since I am lost in Thee!—

* * * * *

(31) Up from Earth’s Centre through the Seventh Gate I rose, and on the Throne of Saturn[63] sate, And many a Knot unravel’d by the Road; But not the Master-knot of Human Fate.— (32) There was the Door to which I found no Key; There was the Veil through which I might not see: Some little talk awhile of _Me_ and _Thee_ There was—and then no more of _Thee_ and _Me_.[64]— (33) Earth could not answer; nor the Seas that mourn In flowing Purple, of their Lord forlorn; Nor rolling Heaven, with all his Signs reveal’d And hidden by the sleeve of Night and Morn. (34) Then of the _Thee in Me_ who works behind The Veil, I lifted up my hands to find A Lamp amid the Darkness; and I heard, As from Without—“_The Me Within Thee Blind!_”— (35) Then to the Lip of this poor earthern Urn I lean’d, the Secret of my Life to learn: And Lip to Lip it murmur’d—“While you live, Drink!—for once dead, you never shall return.”—

(36) I think the Vessel, that with fugitive Articulation answer’d, once did live, And drink; and Ah! the passive lip I kiss’d. How many kisses might it take—and give![65]—

(44) Why, if the Soul can fling the dust aside, And naked on the Air of Heaven ride, Wer’t not a Shame—wer’t not a Shame for him In this clay carcase crippled to abide?—

(50-52) A Hair perhaps divides the False and True; Yes; and a single Alif were the clue— Could you but find it—to the Treasure-house, And peradventure to _The Master_ too. Whose secret Presence * * * * * * * eludes your pains; Taking all shapes * * *; and They change and perish all—but He remains. A moment guess’d—then back behind the Fold Immerst of darkness * * *

(55-56) You know, my Friends, * * * I made a Second Marriage in my house; Divorced old barren Reason from my Bed, And took the Daughter of the Vine to spouse.— For “Is” and “Is-not” though with Rule and line, And “Up-and-Down” by Logic I define, Of all that one should care to fathom, I Was never deep in anything but Wine.—

(66-67) I sent my Soul through the Invisible, Some letter of that After-life to spell: And by and by my Soul returned to me, And answer’d: “I myself am Heav’n and Hell:” Heav’n but the Vision of fulfill’d Desire And Hell the shadow from a Soul on fire Cast on the Darkness into which Ourselves, So late emerg’d from, shall so soon expire.

* * * * *

* * * the Banquet is ended!

FARIDU’D-DIN SHAKRGUNJ (about A. D. 1200).

Man, what thou art is hidden from thyself, Know’st not that morning, mid-day, and the eve Are all within Thee? The ninth heaven art Thou, And from the sphere into the roar of time Didst fall ere-while, Thou art the brush that painted The hues of all the world—the light of life That ranged its glory in the nothingness. Joy! Joy! I triumph now; no more I know Myself as simply me. I burn with love. The centre is within me, and its wonder Lies as a circle everywhere about me. Joy! Joy! No mortal thought can fathom me. I am the merchant and the pearl at once. Lo! time and space lay crouching at my feet. Joy! Joy! When I would revel in a rapture, I plunge into myself, and all things know.

_Saadi_ (Shaikh-Muslah-ud-Din Saadi) was born at Shiraz, the capital of Persia, A.D. 1176.

He thus characterizes his life and his studies: “I have wandered to various regions of the world, and everywhere have I mixed freely with the inhabitants; I have gathered something in each corner; I have gleaned an ear from every harvest.” The divan of Saadi is by his countrymen reckoned to be the true Salt mine of poets. Jami calls him “the nightingale of the groves of Shiraz.”

We would call him the moral philosopher of Sufism. His writings do not contain much metaphysics.

SAADIS’ GULISTAN (or ROSE GARDEN):

MOTTO: The Rose may continue to bloom five or six days; But my _Rose garden_ is fragrant for ever.

—Shame on the man * *

Who, when the drum soundeth for departure, hath not made up his burden

Who, on the morning of his journey, is still indulging in sweet sleep.

—They asked Lockman, the wise, from whence he learnt wisdom. He answered: “From the blind; for till they have tried the ground, they plant not the foot.”

—The world, O my brother, abideth with no one.

—Ask the inhabitants of Hell, they will tell you it is Paradise.

—The sons of Adam are limbs of one another, for in their creation they are formed of one substance.

When Fortune bringeth affliction to a single member, not one of the rest remaineth without disturbance.

—Know that from God is the difference of enemy and friend, for the hearts of both are alike in His keeping.

—So long as thou art able, crush not a single heart, for a sigh has power to overturn a world.

—Not a word can be said, even in child’s play, from which an intelligent person may not gather instruction; but if a hundred chapters of wisdom were read in the hearing of a fool, to his ears it would sound as nothing but child’s play.

—Yesternight, towards morning, a warbling bird stole away my reason, my patience, my strength, and my understanding. My exclamations, by chance, reached the ear of a most intimate friend. “Never,” he said “could I believe that the voice of a bird should have such a power to disturb thy intellect!”—“It is not,” I replied, “befitting the condition of man, that a bird should be reciting its hymn of praise, and that I should be silent.”

—One day the Prophet said to Abu Huraizah: “Do not come _every_ day, that our friendship may increase.”

A holy man has said: “With all the beauty which attends the sun, I have never heard that anyone has taken him for a friend, except in winter, when he is veiled, and _therefore_ is loved.”

—The treasure chosen by Lokman was patience: without patience there is no such thing as wisdom.

—Were every night a night of power, _the Night of Power_, would lose its worth. Were every pebble a ruby, the ruby and the pebble would be of equal value.

[Quran, Chap, xcvii: Verily we sent down the Quran in the night of al Kadr.—Therein do the angels descend, and the spirit of _Gabriel_ also, by the permission of their Lord _with his decrees_ concerning every matter. It is peace until morning. Comp. footnote to Lane’s transl. of the Quran and our Part II: Symbols].

—How should the multitude find its way to their secret chambers, for, like the waters of life, they are hidden in darkness?

They kindle themselves the flame, which, as a moth, consumeth them; not wrapping themselves up like the silk-worm in its own web.

Seeking for the Soul’s repose on the bosom which only can give repose, their lips are still dry with thirst on the very margin of the stream:

Not that they have no power to drink the water, but that their thirst could not be quenched, even on the banks of the Nile.

* * * * *

“The bird of the morning only knoweth the worth of the book of the rose; for not every one who readeth the page understandeth the meaning.” (_Hafiz._)

SAADIS’ BOOSTAN (FRUIT GARDEN OR GARDEN OF PLEASURE).

_His_ nature’s true state all are helpless to read. The extent of _His_ glory, no mortal has found; _His_ exquisite beauty, no vision can bound.

* * * * *

To the skirt of _His_ praise Reason’s hand comes not nigh.

* * * * *

The mind can’t _this_ world by reflection embrace.

* * * * *

But the Lord of the sky and the earth’s rugged skin, On none shuts the door of subsistence for sin. Like a drop in the ocean of knowledge are seen Both His worlds, and the faults, He sees, kindly, He’ll screen.

* * * * *

The Creator is mercy-diffusing and kind, For He helps all His creatures and knows ev’ry mind. In Him, self-reliance and grandeur you see, For His kingdom is old and His nature is free.—

* * * * *

He is tardy in seizing on those who rebel, And does not excuse—bringers rudely repel.

* * * * *

When you’ve penitent turned “_It is past_,” He will write.

* * * * *

The extent of God’s mercies, no mortal can guess; The need of His praises, what tongue can express?

* * * * *

Who knows that communion with God you don’t share, When without an absolution you stand to say pray’r?

* * * * *

That pray’r is the key of the portal of hell, Over which in men’s presence a long time you dwell. If your path does not lead to the Maker alone, Your carpet for pray’r into Hell will be thrown! He ordered, and something from nothing arose; Who something from nothing but He could disclose? Again to nonentity’s hiding He flings us.—

* * * * *

And thence to the plain of the judgment He brings us. Let the robes of deceit, name and fame be dispersed! For a man becomes weak if in garments immersed. Worldly love is a veil by which nothing is gained; When you snap the attachments the Lord is obtained.

* * * * *

Know, that the people in ecstacy drown’d, In the eyes of the Lord special favour have found! He watches the “friend,” in the fierce burning pile?

* * * * *

You’ve no road in yourself while to self you are wed; The enraptured alone are informed on this head.— Some one said to a Moth “Oh, contemptible mite! Go! love one who will your affection requite.”

* * * * *

Between you and the candle no friendship can be!

* * * * *

No one tells you your conduct is perfectly right In destroying your life for the love of the light! Observe what the moth, full of hot anguish, said: “If I burn, oh astonishing! What is the dread?”

* * * * *

* * I fancy the flame is a beautiful rose!

* * * * *

Won’t you helplessly, one day, your life give away? For the sake of space and death, better give it to day!

* * * * *

A wild beast is not likely to change into man; Instruction is lost on it, strive as you can.

* * * * *

Effort makes not a rose from a willow to grow; A warm bath will not whiten a negro like snow. Since naught can the arrow of destiny brave. _Resignation’s_ the shield that is left to God’s slave.

POLARITY OF THE HUMAN BODY.

Mr. H. Durville, Director of the “Journal du Magnétisme,” published in Paris, France, has made some very interesting experiments which have led him to fix the exact Polarity of the Human Body. To understand well what I am going to state, it is necessary to know first that the French call the South pole of the Earth, Austral, and the North pole, Boreal, and that they call the end of the compass needle or of a Magnet which is attracted to the North of the Earth, Austral, and the end which is attracted to the South, Boreal.

Mr. Durville has replaced the denominations Austral and Boreal by the terms positive and negative, based on the following Electro-Chemical law. If a Saline solution be submitted to the action of a Voltaic current, the acids go to the pole +, or positive and the alkalis to the pole-, or negative.

Also if we put in the water contained in two different glasses, the two electrodes of a pile, uniting the two glasses by a wet woolen or cotton thread, the water in the glass exposed to the electrode +, will take a fresh and acidulated taste, and the water in the other glass exposed to the electrode-, will take an alkaline, tepid and unsavoury taste. Now, if we submit two glasses filled with water to the poles of a Magnet, the water exposed to the Austral pole will take an acidulated taste, and the water exposed to the Boreal pole will take an alkaline taste.

There is, then, a concordance of nature between the positive or + pole of the pile, and the Austral or positive pole of the Magnet, both being fresh and acids; and between the negative or-pole of the pile, and the Boreal or negative pole of the Magnet, both being tepid, nauseous and alkaline. Consequently we can call +, or positive, the Austral pole of the Magnet and-, or negative, the Boreal pole. Furthermore, if we magnetize two glasses of water, one with the right hand, and the other with the left hand, the first will become acidulated and fresh, and the second, tepid, nauseous and alkaline.

Then, there is again concordance of nature between the positive or + pole of the pile, the positive or Austral pole of the Magnet, and the right hand, which are fresh and acidulated; and between the negative or-pole of the pile, the negative or Boreal pole of the Magnet, and the left hand which are tepids, nauseous and alkalines.

Consequently we can call positive or +, the right hand and the Austral pole of the Magnet, as well as the positive pole of the pile; and negative or -, the left hand and the Boreal pole of the Magnet, as well as the negative pole of the pile.

We know that the Earth is a Magnet and that it acts like one.

We also know that when Magnets act freely one upon another, the poles of the same name are repulsed and the poles of contrary names are attracted.

Now, Mr. Durville found by repeated experiments that all the right side of a sensitive subject is strongly influenced by the positive pole of the Magnet which produces contraction, repulsion and excitation; while, on the contrary, the other pole relaxes, attracts and calms the same side. The Austral pole of the Magnet presented within about 4-inches of the forehead of the subject, repulses him and puts him to sleep; while the left hand attracts and awakens him. It is evident, then, that the positive pole of the Magnet and the right hand are poles of the same name; and, if the Austral pole of the Magnet is positive, then the Boreal or Northern pole of the Earth must be negative. The physical laws of the Human Magnetism are consequently identical with those governing the actions of the Magnets.

The Human body represents three horse-shoe Magnets, two of them having the neutral point at the summit of the head and the third in an inverted position to that of the two first ones. The axis the most important divides us laterally from right to left, the other from the forepart to the back part of the body. The first horse-shoe Magnet has its neutral point at the summit of the head, and its extremities or poles at the right hand and the left hand, the right hand being the positive, and the left hand the negative pole.

The second horse-shoe Magnet has also its neutral point at the summit of the head, and the extremities or poles of its two branches are the right and the left foot, the right foot being positive and the left foot negative.

The third horse-shoe Magnet, the one in an inverted position, has its neutral point at the perineum and the extremities of its branches are the forehead and the occiput. The forehead being positive and the occiput negative.

From this it follows that in the human body, from the extremities of the feet to the summit of the head, all the right side is positive and the left side negative, and from the forehead to the perineum all the forepart of the body is positive, while the opposite or back part, from the occiput to the perineum is negative. The Human body possesses other polary axes of less importance.

Reichenbach has found, through experiments made with many sensitives, that the end of the Magnet which seeks the North pole of the Earth, the end we call positive, sends to the left hand of a sensitive a fresh breeze, while the other end emits a tepid one. He also found that the positive end emits in the dark a blue light, while the negative one emits a yellow red light. His sensitives found that in the dark, the right side of the human body emits a blue light, while the left side emits a yellow red one. Then the right side of the body has the same quality of Magnetism as the positive, or North seeking, or Austral pole of the Magnet, and the left side has the same quality of Magnetism as the negative, or South seeking, or Boreal pole of the Magnet. Those experiments of Reichenbach agree thus entirely with those made by Mr. Durville. His polarity of the Human body is also the same as given by Andrew Jackson Davis, page 91 of his work “The Harbinger of Health.” There are consequently very strong reasons for believing that the theory of Mr. Durville is the right one, since it has been confirmed by practical experiments made by himself, Reichenbach and Davis.

Mr. Durville concludes his article in the “Journal du Magnétisme,” January number of 1886, with some interesting points in Therapeutics. Diseases can be classed as of two kinds, those due to atony or paralysis of the organs, and those due to excitation or inflammation.

The object of Medicine is to excite the functions of the atonic organs and to calm or moderate those which are too active. Magnetizers knew that the ends of the fingers presented within a few inches of the diseased part, will produce excitation, while the palm of the hand applied on produces calm; but they could not always obtain the desired effect for want of the knowledge of the true polarity of the Human body.

The right hand will produce attraction, calm and easiness on the left and back side of the body; and repulsion, excitation and uneasiness on the right and forepart of the body; and the left hand will produce the same corresponding effects on the right and forepart of the body, and on the left and backpart. The right-hand, a positive pole, will act with more energy than the left-hand, a negative one.

He found by experiments that the most certain and active results are produced by presenting the palm of the hand within about two inches from the diseased part, the attractions and repulsions being in inverse ratio of the square of the distances. Every time we want to take off a pain, or calm an excitation, we will succeed by presenting the palm of the right hand to the diseased part, if that part is on the left side or the back of the body, or by presenting the palm of the left hand, if it is on the right side or the forepart of the body. For example, a heaviness in the head, a neuralgia and in general, all kinds of headaches, will cease more or less rapidly under the influence of the palm of the hand presented with the fingers upright at about two inches from the forehead. To calm the nervous system, place yourself on the left of the patient and apply the left hand on the epigastrium, and the right hand on the vertebral column, on the corresponding part. If we were to use the other hand on the same part, we should increase for a while the intensity of the pain. To obtain the desired result, the time necessarily varies according to the nature of the disease and sensibility of the patient.

With a knowledge of the laws regulating the human polarity, Magnetism becomes an exact science, a positive one. But the application of it is also an art which constant practice may improve considerably. CH. J. QUETIL, F. T. S.

THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.

Fragments of the Ancient Wisdom Religion have come down to us from the remotest past, through many channels, and in various forms.

The study of philology alone will be inadequate to discover the true meaning of ancient sacred writings, though it may very greatly assist the labors of those who have already gained a clue to the Secret Doctrine. The Theosophist and the Antiquarian differ very widely, and though the former has sometimes been accused of searching out obsolete doctrines and magnifying the achievements of the past, but little observation will be required to reveal the fact, that that for which they search may be very old because it is valuable, but never valuable merely because it is old. In short that of which they are in search may truly be said to never fade, and ne’er grow old, though it is often lost sight of. Occultism is not a new craze as some suppose, it is not simply a line of the marvelous, it is rather the profoundest of all sciences, conforming in its methods of research and the character of its results to those of all sciences. The naturalist does not hesitate to construct from a single tooth or a few fragments of bone, the entire animal and assign to it its proper place, declare its habits, modes of life, size, &c., &c., even though he fixed its era centuries ago, and no one nowadays questions the general correctness of the result; the study of comparative anatomy and the science of biology testify all this. In like manner and by similar methods may one familiar with the science of occultism, which deals with the operation of uniform laws in the higher realms of nature, arrive at exact data from very small beginnings, and with this advantage, viz., that he has the means at hand to verify his conclusions, which the naturalist has not, for in this realm there are no extinct species, the elements of human nature, and the laws which underlie their unfoldment and manifestation are the same now, as thousands of years ago.

It is the custom of many who are entirely ignorant of this higher science, to deny its existence and ridicule its cultivators. Just as an uneducated and conceited boor would ridicule an Agassiz for attempting to reconstruct an animal from its thigh bone. When, therefore, one entirely ignorant not only of the principles but of the existence of such a thing as occult science, examines ancient records in which it is concealed, he will arise from his task possibly better satisfied with his own possessions as contrasted with the “ignorance” of past ages, but seldom wiser for his endeavor. Few persons nowadays are ignorant of the form of most ancient hierarchic writings, as consisting of, or containing a double meaning under the garb of allegory or parable. It is moreover becoming quite generally known that many of these ancient records are of vital importance to us of the present day, as containing the very knowledge of which we stand most in need, and the amount of attention they are receiving may be determined by observing the interest in, and almost unprecedented sales of, such works as Arnold’s Light of Asia, while the labors of men like Max Muller in rendering the ancient scriptures into English have made it possible for everyone to gain some familiarity with the religious casts of antiquity. Bearing in mind these general observations, let us briefly examine one of the most ancient, most famous, and yet least comprehended sources of ancient wisdom. As to the questions who was Hermes? which Hermes? when did he write? we have these points for the philologists and historians, quoting here the remark of Iamblichus in his treatise on the Mysteries: “Hermes, the God who presides over language, was formerly very properly considered as common to all priests; and the power who presides over the true science concerning the Gods is one and the same in the whole of things. Hence our ancestors dedicated the inventions of their wisdom to this deity, inscribing all their own writings with the name of Hermes,” and “the late learned Divine Doctor Everard” in the preface to his translation of the Divine Pymander 1650, contends that Hermes Trismegistus lived a long time before Moses, that he had “perfect and exact knowledge of all things contained in the world,” * * “that he was the first that invented the art of communicating knowledge to the world by writing, that he was King of Egypt, that he styled himself the son of Saturn, and that he was believed to have come from heaven, and not to have been born on earth.”[66]

The above writer goes on to say that Hermes did excel in the right understanding of, because he attained to, the knowledge of the quintessence of the whole universe, otherwise called the _Elixir_ of the philosophers, which secret many ignorantly deny, many have sought after, and some have found. A description of this great Treasure is said to have been found engraved upon a Smaragdine Tablet in the valley of Hebron after the flood.[67]

To the modern reader, all this sounds very queer, a bundle of contradictions and vagaries, taxing reason and even credulity. But suppose we are told, that it was designed for exactly that purpose, that only they who were _determined_ to find the truth, and who therefore had faith that it existed somewhere, were expected to walk around or dig under this stumbling-block. If we turn now to _Isis Unveiled_ p. 507, Vol. I, we shall find the inscription said to have been found on the tablet. B. [_To be continued._]

REVIEWS.

PANTANJALI’S RAJ YOGA PHILOSOPHY.—(Reprinted by the Bombay Branch of the Theosophical Society.) We will give in subsequent numbers of this magazine, remarks and explanations by a Hindu brother member. In this reprint are some things which do not improve the book. They are selections from such men as P. B. Randolph and others. We do not think Pantanjali needs confirmation from such a source as Randolph’s. No doubt many Theosophists will be disappointed in this great Hindu, in consequence of their own expectations of finding explicit directions as to developing and projecting the double and other like tricks, and because of erroneous suppositions as to what Raj Yoga is. It is the highest philosophy, but the work needs just the explanations which we propose to furnish, in part at least. Pantanjali is immensely interesting to ordinary Theosophists from an intellectual standpoint, and to those who are somewhat advanced its instruction is very great. At present all the Raj Yoga which the western body of Theosophists can assimilate, is found in _Light on the Path_ and _Bagavad-Gita_.

JOURNAL OF SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHY.—We have received from Wm. T. Harris, (No. 3, Vol. XIX) for which we offer our thanks. Our small space will not permit extended notice. It is full of splendid matter.

IMMORTALITY OF THE INDIVIDUAL.—(W. T. Harris, D. Appleton & Co., New York.) On p. 5 is the basis of a great argument, that “the interaction between soul and body can never be explained, except by a combination of introspection with observation of physiologic facts.” The grossest scientist exercises both and yet denies the value of introspection.

PHILOSOPHY IN OUTLINE.—(Wm. T. Harris, D. Appleton & Co., New York.) A brief exposition of the method of Philosophy and its results in obtaining a view of nature, man and God.

NOTES AND QUERIES.—A monthly magazine full of curious information in art, science, mathematics, folk-lore, mysticism, etc., comes to The Path as an exchange and the back volumes have been received for our Theosophical library. It is published by S. C. & L. M. Gould, Manchester, N. H., at $1.00 a year. Among its articles are many on subjects allied with Eastern wisdom, ancient philosophy, masonry, bibliography, etc. Write to them for a sample copy.

LIGHT ON THE HIDDEN WAY.—_Anon._ (Boston.) This book has excited a great deal of comment in Boston.

The similarity of titles might lead one to expect something like “Light on the Path,” but the reader would soon find that the book, whose non-commital introduction by a distinguished Unitarian Minister has brought it considerable earnest consideration, has nothing in common with that priceless volume. It is the account of the experiences of the author, a sensitive and seer from childhood, and, in some respects, it reminds us strikingly of what Kerner tells us about the Seherin von Prevorst. While we cannot commend untrained seership, or its results, we can commend the earnestness and sincerity of the author and at least say for her work that it ought to do good in turning Spiritistic readers away from the materialistic aspects which their belief most commonly presents, and in teaching them that immortality is only to be obtained through “slaying the dragon Self.” For the rest, we will submit the following comments on the work from a source which we feel to be competent to judge:—

“I feel as if my father’s eyes were always upon me. p. 21. In this and following instances, the evidences are, that the writer is looking into the Astral world, or, in other words, is seeing the impressions that have been made upon her personal aura. Not having been effaced, they are readily mistaken for the personalities who made the impressions. Was it her father, the individual, he would be engaged in more important matters than watching for dust in unswept corners. So far, all is sentimental, or in the sphere of earthly impressions, beliefs and feelings—naturally to a great extent illusory and unsatisfactory. A chorus of heavenly voices swelling a hymn, may fulfill the requirements for some individuals, but we can hardly see or feel that any chorus, no matter how earthly, much more heavenly, can sing a song of rejoicing because a man has laid aside his robe, and in the doing it, causing a woman, perhaps, to pass through Gethsemane. The sorrows and demands of others are entirely lost to sight in the fancied importance of one being passing through the change of abode called _Death_. We do not think any man ever saw any being with wings in the spheres above the Astral. In the Astral they do exist, for they are creatures of the imagination. In truth, therefore, they are elementals, clothed in this form. Imagination, properly guided, does not create these beings, but unguided, or badly guided, it does, the result being that it is quite possible not only to see them with wings, but with a thousand of them, or, like a centipede, with a hundred legs.

“Similar visionaries, and this one also, have to a great extent unconsciously permitted their thoughts to be influenced by Biblical writers who express their visions in symbolical language. But the Prophets say: “And I saw one _like unto_ an angel having four wings,” etc. They do not claim to have seen this, but that which they did see could only be expressed in this manner. They could convey their meaning only in this form.

“The ineffable Light is not to be beheld so easily, or with so little effort as a prayer. And _earthly eyes do not behold it_. In prayer the will is at work in _desire_. This produces a more active condition, or rousing of the material, causing a greater amount of motion or vibration, thereby increasing the brilliancy of the Astral, or Aura, of the personality, and the seer being within it and producing it, mistakes it for the Ineffable. After all, the seer is only looking at her physical self and calling it God.

“In regard to the higher precepts that are brought forth, we do not find her father connected with them in any way. But we do find some of the higher principles endeavoring to assert themselves. The words are those of the Inner Consciousness. It is herself that is trying to teach. It is that which is the first to assert itself when one begins to desire wisdom, and occurs long before the advent of a teacher, or any other individual. The teachings are good, and come to all who find the unimportance of self. But our work is not for the spirits in the astral, but for those who are in reality earth-bound, those in the body. Our teachings are for man. Our workings are for him. It is quite all we can do to instruct ourselves and fellow men, without attempting to teach him when out of a body. We can violate no law. One law is, that if a spirit needs instruction then he must be in possession of a body, and striving for knowledge in that manner. We cannot, in or out of a body, attach ourselves to any other individual and expect him to save us from the results of our own ignorance, selfishness, or bad Karma in general.

“The most peculiar of all the ideas suggested, as one reads farther, is this: That these spirits, after making such sad mistakes as they said they did in life, should come back to be saved by the reading, in some cases, of one book. If they had discovered enough, through the mere fact of death, to find that they were all wrong, why did they seek at the source of all their errors for more? Why not seek at the source that taught them that they were wrong? The fact is, Death has not the mighty power ascribed to it. If I move from one house to another, the mere act of going out of one does not solve the _why_ that I lived in one, or _will_ in another. I may perceive that one is better adapted to my wants, but the moving into it does not tell me ‘why?’ I, as the tenant, know already the why, and perhaps if I open the windows of my house, the house itself may become pervaded with the knowledge. But it is ‘I’ who do the act, not Death. Death closes my windows and opens the door. I close my door to Death and open my window to Wisdom—perhaps in a new house, quite likely in one which has had another occupant.

“If the ‘evil-minded, malicious, and undeveloped souls’ would only unfold their pin-feathers and fly off into the ‘Beyond,’ they would be a source of little sorrow to earth. But they do not. Undeveloped, they cannot fly; malicious, they remain in their proper degree; evil-minded, they are not souls, but elementaries.

“The book is the property of Death.” “AMERICAN F. T. S.”

MEN, WOMEN AND GODS, AND OTHER LECTURES.—By Helen H. Gardener. Introduction by Robt. G. Ingersoll, (_Truth Seeker Co., 33 Clinton Place, N. Y._) pp. 174, with a portrait of Miss Gardener; Cloth $1.00, paper .50. This is a valuable contribution, being compact, fervid in its reasonings yet not at all heavy. Its statements are unanswerable. Evidently the author read widely, thought deeply, observed keenly, and added to all that, a native genius. On page 53 she has put 12 articles of positive belief, and as the famous Colonel says in the introduction, “there is no misunderstanding between her head and her heart. She says what she thinks and feels what she says.”

The design of the book is the emancipation of woman, but in carrying that out she does not abuse men for the position of women. She calls upon the women to dare to think and act for themselves and to gain the place which rightfully, in the author’s estimation, belongs to them.

THE ORDER OF CREATION.—(_Truth Seeker Co., New York._) This contains the controversy between Gladstone, Huxley, Muller, Reville and Linton, as to the order in which creation proceeded; p. p. 178, cloth .75 paper .50. Those who followed this interesting dispute will find this a valuable book, as it brings together the arguments of these masters of rhetoric, science and philosophy into one compact volume, and enables all who care for different kinds of authority upon vexed questions, to see what these modern lights each have to say as to the evident conflict which exists between Genesis and Geology.

CORRESPONDENCE.

AN UNWRITTEN MESSAGE BECOMES VISIBLE.

NEW YORK, May 16, 1886. EDITOR OF THE PATH,

DEAR SIR:—Could you explain the following?

A friend of mine, a physician, who is a rational agnostic and scoffer at all so called supernatural things, relates the following curious mystery, which happened to him the other day.

He was sitting in his office holding in his hand a letter from one of his regular patients, which asked him to come as soon as he could. It being then towards 5 p. m., when his office hours are over, he was thinking whether he could go that day or not as he has an extensive practice. While thinking he found that the letter was gone. He searched for it on his table, but in vain. A strange feeling came over him as he could not even remember when he had received the letter, nor when he had opened it. A feeling that the letter had after all been a physical delusion he dismissed with scorn; he was sure it would by and by easily explain itself. However the servant was sure that no letter had since 2 p. m. been delivered, as she never leaves the door during that time.

The next morning he called on his patient, who was very glad to see him, though being a little astonished that her daughter had been very sick the preceding day for an hour or two. It had soon passed over. “I am glad to hear that it is nothing serious,” the doctor said, “I wanted to excuse myself for not coming yesterday. I received your letter only at 5 p. m.” “My letter?” the lady answered, “I never wrote to you; it is impossible, for about that time I was with my sick daughter, and thought very intensely to write, but as I had but one servant in the house I concluded to wait till my son came in. By the time he came, my daughter felt better, and so we concluded not to trouble you.”

My friend went home, perfectly sure that in spite of all appearance, though no letter could be found after repeated searching—— the lady had written but forgotten it. I can vouch for the truth of the story. Remain yours fraternally, H. P. L.

[The explanation by those who adhere to mediumship would be, that this was what they call, “a spirit letter.” But at this time we cannot accept that proposition; it seems rather a degradation of what we call “spirit,” and many alleged “controls” of mediums have deprecated the constant referring of everything to spirit agency, when in perhaps the majority of cases, “spirits” have nothing to do in the matter. Many so called extraordinary things occur every day which are attributed to spirits, or classed as hallucination, which really are due to the powers of the living man, their laws of operation being almost unknown to western people.

The true student of Raj Yoga knows that everything has its origin in the mind; that even this universe is the passing before the Divine Mind of the images he desires to appear.

Now in the case before us, the doctor must be a sensitive man who has the power, unknown to himself, of seeing very clearly the mental images passing in the minds of those with whom he is in sympathy. These impressions are quite common, but they are not usually seen as apparently visible things. Some receive them as images, others as thoughts and ideas. We are all constantly affecting each other in this way every day of our lives, but not everyone receives the impression in the same way. The variations of the operations of _manas_, which may be properly called “mind,” are infinite.

The lady whose daughter was sick, desired very intently to see the doctor, and the message was probably formulated in her mind at once. This is evident, for she awaited the arrival of the son to whom she would at once have given it. That message thus formed was impressed in the astral light, and because of the sympathy existing between patient and doctor it immediately rushed into the sphere of the doctor, registering itself in his mind. He then saw in his hand a letter, which apparently he could feel and read. This was either, (_a_) the reflection from his mind, or (_b_) an actual momentary appearance in his hand of the astral message. It was never found again because it had no corporeal existence.

It would be easy to cry “spirits,” but it would not be common sense. We might also say elementals did it, but that would infer that either the doctor or the patient has elementals devoted to them. Elementals do perform such things but the cases are not common, and therefore we are not justified in taking that explanation when neither party knows of elementals.

If the doctor had not been a sensitive man, he would merely have received the message and repeated it to himself as a sudden thought of that particular patient.

We know several persons of our acquaintance who habitually obey sudden impressions, causing them to write to absent friends, &c., always finding that they answer the other person’s thought or written letter then on the way and undelivered until after the reply had been sent.

Let us then pay attention to these things in this light and not allow ourselves, except in known cases, to fly into the arms of alleged spirits or elementals.—ED.]

* * * * *

DEAR PATH:—Is not it an error on p. 28 of April No. in review of _Apollonius of Tyana_, where it says:

“_Error_ courts investigation”; was not “truth” meant. Yours, F. E. B.

[There was not a mistake. The author was trying to show how error preludes truth, but falsehood never does; that error courts investigation, falsehood never. Falsehood is altogether untrue and therefore without any knowledge; and being thus false it hides itself from investigation. But error is merely that which has not true knowledge, and does not imply falsity. Science is full of error, but constantly corrects itself. The process of acquiring true knowledge is in fact the cutting away of errors.—ED.]

* * * * *

PRONUNCIATION OF SANSCRIT.

DEAR BROTHER:—Is there any dictionary or book giving the correct pronunciation of the Oriental words so current in theosophical literature. Yours ——

[In Sanscrit dictionaries the true pronunciation is found. But if our correspondent will, in these words, always read _a_ as _ah_, _e_ as _eh_, _i_ as _ee_, _u_ as _oo_, and _o_ as _oh_, she will be right. _Arjuna_ is sounded as _Arjoona_, _Veda_ as _Vaydah_, _Brahma_ as _Brähmā_, _Prakriti_ as _Präkreetee_, _Mulaprakriti_ as _Moolahprakreetee_, and so on.—ED.]

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

IRELAND.—A charter for a Branch of the Society in Dublin, was issued in April. This is the first Irish charter, and it marks an era in the history of the Society as well as of Ireland. The month of April is an important one for the green Isle in several ways, and this charter must bear a date of some significance.

Furthermore, Ireland’s real name signifies, “the Isle of Destiny,” and, as if she really had some great destiny, she has long been a thorn in England’s side, and has furnished great men, poets, and warriors, to all western peoples.

Perhaps now some great exponent of Theosophy will arise in that island, and the new Branch become a power for good amongst us. The name selected is, _The Dublin Lodge of the Theosophical Society_.

* * * * *

NEW YORK: THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.—Meetings are now held on the 2d and 4th Tuesdays in each month, attended by members and inquirers. At each meeting a paper is read or address delivered followed by discussion and questions.

The Branch does not yet devote itself to psychical experiments, but to an inquiry into all the doctrines which have been put forth in Theosophical literature, and to inquiring into Aryan philosophy.

Beside these open meetings, they also hold private meetings, where further and more familiar discussions and conversations are carried on.

A series of notes of all the discussions has been started in the form of a printed leaflet, to be distributed each month among all the members to be found in the United States, with the object of solidifying them in their struggle to find the truth, and if possible to procure an interchange of questions and replies in the whole body of American Theosophists. It is believed that this will do much toward helping all, for there is no better way of getting new ideas and of spreading knowledge, than by rubbing minds together, so to say, and thus eliciting the doubts, the questions, and the views of all.

As we are a universal Brotherhood, we are each bound to help the rest, and to do as much as we can toward communicating with each other upon the subject of our studies. This does not mean that any one is to give to the world any rare knowledge which ought to be hidden. It is supposed that up to this time the whole body of American Theosophists is upon one plane. At any rate, those who possess occult knowledge, or think they do, ought to know where and when to keep silent. Long before we are ready for occult knowledge, we have to study that which is the common property of all, but which hitherto has been neglected and allowed to lie hidden, not only in Eastern literature, but also in much that has been produced among Christian people.

The donations of books for the Library of the Branch, during the last month, have been as follows:

By S. C. & L. M. Gould: _Vol._ I. _and_ II. _Notes and Queries_; by Bro. R. Hart, 10 books: _Mary Jane (spiritist inquiry)_, _Suicide, 2 vols._, _Lights and Shades of Spiritualism_, _Psychography (Oxon)_, _Animal Magnetism_, _&c._, _England and Islam_, _Vocal Culture_, _Civil Polity of the U. S._; by Bro. W. H. Dannat, London Lodge, 20 books: _Modern Magic_, _Book of Mediums_, _Infinite and Finite_, _Idyll of White Lotos_, _Possibility of not Dying_, _Col. Olcott’s Lectures_, _Palmistry_, _Essence of Christianity_, _Mysteries of Astrology_, _Zoroaster_, _Rosicrucians (Jennings)_, _Chaldean Magic_, _Circle of Light_, _Gould’s Myths_, _Unseen Universe_, _Moore’s Epicurean_, _Oriental Interpreter_, _Theosophy and the Higher Life_, _Pagan and Christian Symbolism (Inman)_, _Man-Fragments_, _&c._, and _28 Miscellaneous Theosophical pamphlets_.

* * * * *

CINCINNATI.—The new Branch here has been organized since our last issue, with about twenty members. Some meetings have been held at which great interest was manifested. At the next meeting an essay upon some theosophical subject will be read. The members are all engaged in serious study of such subjects as: the laws of Karma, Reincarnation, &c.

“As the great universe has no boundary, and the eight quarters of heaven no gateway, so Supreme Reason has no limits.”—_Buddha._

“Look up at it; it is higher than you can see! Bore into it; it is deeper than you can penetrate! Look at it as it stands before you; suddenly it is behind you!”—_Confucius._

“Looking up, you cannot see the summit of its head; go behind it, you cannot see its back.”—_Lau-tze._

“A man who foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my ungrudging love; the more evil comes from him, the more good shall go from me; the fragrance of these good actions always rebounding to me, the harm of the slanderer’s words returning to him. For as sound belongs to the drum, and shadow to the substance, so in the end, misery will certainly overtake the evil doer.”—_Buddha Sutra of 42 sections._

OM.

FOOTNOTES:

[50] The original MS. of this Diary as far as it goes is in our possession. The few introductory lines are by the friend who communicated the matter to us.—[ED.]

[51] I find it impossible to decipher this name.

[52] There is a peculiarity in this, that all accounts of Cagliostro, St. Germain and other Adepts, give the apparent age as forty only.—[ED.]

[53] The warrior caste of India.—[ED.]

[54] The soul soliloquizing.

[55] The Deity.

[56] Second century.

[57] The Deity.

[58] The Work entitled “_The Acts of the Adepts_,” by Shemsu-D-Din Ahmed, El EFlaki has been reserved for our second part: Symbols.

[59] _A Godhra_ is the counterpane of shreds the Fakirs use to lie down upon, and throw over their shoulders.

[60] Comp. the mediæval conception “Lady World.”

[61] Khizer, the “Green Old Man” is the guardian of “the fountain of life” and the type of the self sustaining power of Deity.

[62] Quran II. 216, Elias discovered the water of life.

[63] Saturn is lord of the seventh heaven.

[64] No more individual existence.

[65] The following is told, and attributed to Attar; A thirsty traveller dips his hand into a spring of water to drink from. Another comes likewise to drink and leaves his earthen bowl behind him. The first traveller takes it up for another draught and is surprised to find the same water bitter when drank from the earthen cup. But a voice from heaven tells him the clay from which the bowl is made was once _Man_; and into whatever shape renewed, _can never lose the bitter flavour of mortality_.

[66] See Introduction to The Divine Pymander p. VI-et. seq. edition 1650.

[67] Ibid.

AUM

This is the Truth. As from a blazing fire sparks, being like unto fire, fly forth a thousandfold, thus are various beings brought forth from the Imperishable, and return thither also.

That heavenly Person is without body; he is both without and within, not produced, without breath and without mind, pure, higher than the high Imperishable. The sky in his head, his eyes the sun and the moon, the quarters his ears, his speech the Vedas disclosed, the wind his breath, his heart the universe; from his feet came the earth; he is indeed the inner self of all things. _Mundaka Upanishad._ II, Mun., I. Kh.

THE PATH.

VOL. I. JULY, 1886. NO. 4.

_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document._

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

A HINDU CHELA’S DIARY.

(_Continued from June Number._)

“Yesterday I went with Kunâla to look at the vast and curious temples left here by our forefathers. Some are in ruins, and others only showing the waste of time. What a difference between my appreciation of these buildings now, with Kunâla to point out meanings I never saw, and that which I had when I saw them upon my first pilgrimage, made so many years ago with my father.” * * * * * * *

A large portion of the MS. here, although written in the same characters as the rest, has evidently been altered in some way by the writer, so as to furnish clues meant for himself. It might be deciphered by a little effort, but I must respect his desire to keep those parts of it which are thus changed, inviolate. It seems that some matters are here jotted down relating to secret things, or at least, to things that he desired should not be understood at a glance. So I will write out what small portion of it as might be easily told without breaking any confidences.

It is apparent that he had often been before to the holy city of Benares, and had merely seen it as a place of pilgrimage for the religious. Then, in his sight, those famous temples were only temples. But now he found, under the instruction of Kunâla, that every really ancient building in the whole collection had been constructed with the view to putting into imperishable stone, the symbols of a very ancient religion. Kunâla, he says, told him, that although the temples were made when no supposition of the ordinary people of those eras leaned toward the idea that nations could ever arise who would be ignorant of the truths then universally known, or that darkness would envelop the intellect of men, there were many Adepts then well known to the rulers and to the people. They were not yet driven by inexorable fate to places remote from civilization, but lived in the temples, and while not holding temporal power, they exercised a moral sway which was far greater than any sovereignty of earth.[68] And they knew that the time would come when the heavy influence of the dark age would make men to have long forgotten even that such beings had existed, or that any doctrines other than the doctrine based on the material rights of _mine_ and _thine_, had ever been held. If the teachings were left simply to either paper or papyrus or parchment, they would be easily lost, because of that decay which is natural to vegetable or animal membrane. But stone lasts, in an easy climate, for ages. So these Adepts, some of them here and there being really themselves Maha Rajahs,[69] caused the temples to be built in forms, and with such symbolic ornaments, that future races might decipher doctrines from them. In this, great wisdom, he says, is apparent, for to have carved them with sentences in the prevailing language would have defeated the object, since languages also change, and as great a muddle would have resulted as in the case of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, unless a key stone had also been prepared; but that itself might be lost, or in its own turn be unintelligible. The ideas underneath symbols do not alter, no matter what might be the language, and symbols are clear immortally, because they are founded in nature itself. In respect to this part of the matter, he writes down that Kunâla informed him that the language used then was not Sanscrit, but a far older one now altogether unknown in the world.

From a detached sentence in the MS., it is shadowed out that Kunâla referred to a curious building put up many years ago in another part of India and now visible, by which he illustrated the difference between an intelligent construction and unintelligent one. This building was the product of the brain of a Chandala,[70] who had been enriched through a curious freak. The Rajah had been told upon some event occurring, by his astrologers, that he must give an immense sum of money to the first person he saw next day, they intending to present themselves at an early hour. Next day, at an usually early season, the Rajah arose, looked out of the window, and beheld this Chandala. Calling his astrologers and council together and the poor sweeper into his presence, he presented him with lacs upon lacs of rupees, and with the money the Chandala built a granite building having immense monolithic chains hanging down from its four corners. Its only symbology was, the change of the chains of fate; from poor low caste to high rich low caste. Without the story the building tells us nothing.

But the symbols of the temple, not only those carved on them, but also their conjuncture, need no story nor knowledge of any historical events. Such is the substance of what he writes down as told him by Kunâla. He says also that this symbology extends not only to doctrines and cosmology, but also to laws of the human constitution spiritual and material. The explanation of this portion, is contained in the altered and cryptic parts of the MS. He then goes on:

* * * “Yesterday, just after sunset, while Kunâla and X were talking, Kunâla suddenly seemed to go into an unusual condition, and about ten minutes afterwards a large quantity of malwa flowers fell upon us from the ceiling.

“I must now go to—— and do that piece of business which he ordered done. My duty is clear enough, but how am I to know if I shall perform it properly. * * * When I was there and after I had finished my work and was preparing to return here, a wandering fakir met me and asked if he could find from me the proper road to Karli. I directed him, and he then put to me some questions that looked as if he knew what had been my business; he also had a very significant look upon his face, and several of his questions were apparently directed to getting me to tell him a few things Kunâla had told me just before leaving Benares with an injunction of secrecy. The questions did not on the face show that, but were in the nature of inquiries regarding such matters, that if I had not been careful, I would have violated the injunction. He then left me saying: ‘you do not know me but we may see each other.’ * * * I got back last night and saw only X, to whom I related the incident with the fakir, and he said that, ‘it was none other than Kunâla himself using that fakir’s body who had said those things, and if you were to see that fakir again he would not remember you and would not be able to repeat his questions, as he was for the time being taken possession of for the purpose, by Kunâla, who often performs such things.’ I then asked him if in that case Kunâla had really entered the fakir’s body, as I have a strange reluctance toward asking Kunâla such questions, and X replied that if I meant to ask if he had really and in fact entered the fakir’s person, the answer was no, but that if I meant to ask if Kunâla had overcome that fakir’s senses, substituting his own, the answer was, yes; leaving me to make my own conclusions. * * * I was fortunate enough yesterday to be shown the process pursued in either entering an empty body, or in using one which has its own occupant. I found that in both cases it was the same, and the information was also conveyed that a Bhut[71] goes through just the same road in taking command of the body or senses of those unfortunate women of my country who sometimes are possessed by them. And the Bhut also sometimes gets into possession of a part only of the obsessed person’s body, such as an arm or a hand, and this they do by influencing that part of the brain that has relation with that arm or hand; in the same way with the tongue and other organs of speech. With any person but Kunâla I would not have allowed my own body to be made use of for the experiment. But I felt perfectly safe, that he would not only let me in again, but also that he would not permit any stranger, man or gandharba,[72] to come in after him. We went to—— and he * * The feeling was that I had suddenly stepped out into freedom. He was beside me and at first I thought he had but begun. But he directed me to look, and there on the mat I saw my body, apparently unconscious. As I looked * * * the body of myself, opened its eyes and arose. It was then superior to me, for Kunâla’s informing power moved and directed it. It seemed to even speak to me. Around it, attracted to it by those magnetic influences, wavered and moved astral shapes, that vainly tried to whisper in the ear or to enter by the same road. In vain! They seemed to be pressed away by the air or surroundings of Kunâla. Turning to look at him, and expecting to see him in a state of samadhi, he was smiling as if nothing, or at the very most, but a part, of his power had been taken away * * * another instant and I was again myself, the mat felt cool to my touch, the bhuts were gone, and Kunâla bade me rise.”

He has told me to go to the mountains of—— where—— and —— usually live, and that even if I were not to see any body the first time, the magnetized air in which they live would do me much good. They do not generally stop in one place, but always shift from one place to another. They, however, all meet together on certain days of the year in a certain place near Bhadrinath, in the northern part of India. He reminded me that as India’s sons are becoming more and more wicked, those adepts have gradually been retiring more and more toward the north, to the Himálaya mountains. * * * Of what a great consequence is it for me to be always with Kunâla. And now X tells me this same thing that I have always felt. All along I have felt and do still feel strongly that I have been once his most obedient and humble disciple in a former existence. All my hopes and future plans are therefore centred in him. My journey therefore to up country has done me one good, that of strengthening my belief, which is the chief foundation on which the grand structure is to be built. * * * As I was walking past the end of Ramalinga’s compound holding a small lamp of European make, and while there was no wind, the light there several times fell low. I could not account for it. Both Kunâla and X were far away. But in another moment, the light suddenly went out altogether, and as I stopped, the voice of revered Kunâla, who I supposed was many miles away, spoke to me, and I found him standing there. For one hour we talked; and he gave me good advice, although I had not asked it—thus it is always that when I go fearlessly forward and ask for nothing I get help at an actual critical moment—he then blessed me and went away. Nor could I dare to look in what direction. In that conversation, I spoke of the light going down and wanted an explanation, but he said I had nothing to do with it. I then said I wanted to know, as I could explain it in two ways, viz: 1st, that he did it himself, or 2d, that some one else did it for him. He replied, that even if it were done by somebody else, _no Yogee will do a thing unless he sees the desire in another Yogee’s mind_.[73] The significance of this drove out of my mind all wish to know _who_ did it, whether himself, or an elemental or another person, for it is of more importance for me to know even a part of the laws governing such a thing, than it is to know who puts those laws into operation. Even some blind concatenation of nature might put such natural forces in effect in accordance with the same laws, so that a knowledge that nature did it would be no knowledge of any consequence.

[_To be continued._]

PORTRAIT OF PLATO IN CARNELIAN STONE

BY FULVIUS URSINUS.

This portrait was taken from an old work by John Moretus, published in 1606 at Antwerp, containing 167 other portraits of ancient Greek and Latin philosophers, poets, orators, and scholars of renown. Accompanying each is a description in old Latin, and a literal translation of that which is given of the head of Plato is as follows:

“This likeness of Plato is represented on some precious stone, perhaps a Carnelian, very beautiful, of oval shape, and in the highest style of art, which one hundred years before, a Cardinal under Julius Cæsar a Pontifican legate in the Florentine Council had brought from Greece. But it is long haired and bearded, as are the other likenesses of Plato, as the son of Ailius writes, that the first debate between Plato and Aristotle was about the hair and beard, because Aristotle, contrary to the fixed habit and style of Plato, was accustomed to have his hair cut and his face shaved.

“Very like to this portrait is that which is seen cut very artistically in Carnelian stone, and which was once in the possession of the first Cardinal of the Holy Cross, which in addition to the likeness of Plato, has also a likeness of the great teacher himself, Socrates.

“On the pillar of Hermes, which has the head broken off, these words are inscribed in Greek: ‘_Plato was a son of Ariston, an Athenian._’

“This also Laertius himself confirms, since he writes that he was born at Athens of his father Ariston, in the village Collyteum, eighteen years after the second year of the Olympiad, Aminia being chief ruler.

“Moreover there is extant in marble, by Fulvius, a portrait of this same Plato of the very highest artistic skill: and there is another very like to this by the same artist cut in a most beautiful Carnelian stone which represents Plato at that time an old man, as it would appear, about eighty-one years old, at which time, engaged in writing extensively he died, one hundred and eight years after the first year of the Olympiad. In the same Carnelian portrait not only is the forehead of Plato represented very broad on account of which he was called by the name of Plato, prior to which he had been called Aristocles; but also his shoulders are very broad on which account some wished him to select a name from the Greek language.

“A statue of this same Plato was dedicated in the Academy, the work of a Silanian sculptor of the highest rank; and Cicero reminds us in his Brutus, of a statue which he had, in these words: ‘Then we erected a statue of Plato on the public square, etc., etc.’”

NOTES ON THE CABBALAH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

BY PERMISSION OF BRO. J. RALSTON SKINNER (McMillan Lodge, No. 141).

I.

I said in my article on Hebrew Metrology,[74] that the system embracing it was a language, veiled under the Hebrew text of Scripture, and that “to the extent to which the language was known among the Jews, the learning and teaching thereof was called ‘CABBALAH.’”

It is a fact that so little is known of Cabbalah that its existence has been denied. It has seemed to possess a like property with that of Prester John, namely, the more and further he was searched for the less he could be found and the more fabulous he became. After the same fashion, as very much was related of wonders connected with Prester John, so the most marvelous things are claimed for Cabbalah. The Cabbalistic field is that in which astrologers, necromancers, black and white magicians, fortune tellers, chiromancers, and all the like, revel and make claims to supernaturalism _ad nauseam_. Claim is also made that it conceals a sublime divine philosophy, which has been attempted to be set forth in a most confused and not understandable way. The Christian quarrying into its mass of mysticism, claims for it support and authority for that most perplexing of all problems the Holy Trinity, and the betrayed character of Christ. The good, pious, ignorant man picks up Cabbalah at will as a cheap, easy and veritable production, and at once, with the poorest smattering of starved ideas, gives forth to the world, as by authority, a devout jumble of stuff and nonsense. With equal assurance, but more effrontery the knave, in the name of Cabbalah, will sell amulets and charms, tell fortunes, draw horoscopes, and just as readily give specific rules, as in the case of that worthy, Dr. Dee, for raising the dead, and actually—the devil.

No wonder then that the whole affair has been discredited and condemned by the rational and the wise.

Discovery has yet to be made of what Cabbalah really consists before any weight or authority can be given to the name. On that discovery will rest the question whether the name should be received as related to matters worthy of rational acknowledgment.

The writer claims that such a discovery has been made, and that the same embraces rational science of sober and great worth. He claims that it will serve to clear up and take away very much of the mysticism which up to this time has been an unexplainable part of religious systems,—especially the Hebrew or Jewish, and the Christian, so much so that the supernatural in those systems will have to give place to the rational, to a very great extent. He claims that that sublime science upon which Masonry is based, is in fact, the substance of Cabbalah,—which last is the rational basis of the Hebrew text of Holy writ.

Cabbalah is inseparably connected with the text of the Scriptures, and an exposition of the inner sense of the same is as John Reuchlin claimed necessary to a right and full understanding of the Sacred Text. But he saw vaguely, being taught only in a mystic phraseology which was really a blind, and he did not come into possession of the solid, rational grounds of it which he could formulate and impart. For this reason, though he was right in his general assertion, his scheme failed, and his works in this regard, passed away from the common sense world, and have ever since lived only among the mystics and dreamers.

Like all other human productions of the kind, the Hebrew text of the Bible was in characters which could serve as sound signs for syllabic utterance, or for this purpose what are called letters. Now in the first place, these original character signs were also pictures, each one of them; and these pictures of themselves stood for ideas which could be communicated,—much like the original Chinese letters. Gustav Seyffarth shows that the Egyptian hieroglyphics numbered over six hundred picture characters, which embraced the modified use, syllabically, of the original number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The characters of the Hebrew text of the Sacred Scroll were divided into classes, in which the characters of each class were interchangeable; whereby one form might be exchanged for another to carry a modified signification, both by letter, and picture and number. Seyffarth shows the modified form of the very ancient Hebrew alphabet in the old Coptic by this law of interchange of characters. This law of permitted interchange of letters is to be found quite fully set forth in the Hebrew dictionaries, such as Fuerst’s and others. Though recognized and largely set forth it is very perplexing and hard to understand, because we have lost the specific use and power of such interchange. In the second place, these characters stood for _numbers_—to be used for numbers as we use specific number signs,—though, also, there is very much to prove that the old Hebrews were in possession of the so-called Arabic numerals, as we have them, from the straight line 1 to the _zero_ character, together making 1 + 9 = 10. The order of these number letters run from 1 to 9, then 10 to 90, then 100 upward. In the third place it is said, and it seems to be proven, that these characters stood for musical notes; so that for instance, the arrangement of the letters in the first chapter of Genesis, can be rendered musically, or by song. Another law of the Hebrew characters was that only the consonantal signs were characterized,—the vowels were not characterized, but were supplied. If one will try he will find that a consonant of itself cannot be made vocal without the help of a vowel; therefore it was said that the consonants made the frame work of a word, but to give it life or utterance into the air, so as to impart the thought of the mind, and the feeling of the heart, the vowels had to be supplied. Thus the dead word of consonants became quickened into life by the Holy Spirit, or the vowels.

This being said then:—

First: The Holy or Sacred Text was given in consonants only, without any voweling, or signs of vowels.

Second: The letters were written one after the other at equal distances, without any separation whatever of distinct words, and without any punctuations whatever, such as commas, semi-colons, colons or periods.

It will be seen at once that a various reading of the text might be had in many places, both by differing arrangements of letters, and by a differing supplying of vowels. A very important difference of reading may be instanced in the first line of Genesis. It is made to be read “B’rashith bârâ Elohim,” etc., “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”; wherein Elohim is a plural nominative to a verb in the third person singular. Nachminedes called attention to the fact that the text might suffer the reading, “Brash ithbârâ Elohim,” etc. “In the head (source or beginning) created itself (or developed) Gods, the heavens and the earth,”—really a more grammatical rendering.

What the originally and intended right reading was who can tell? It may be surmised, however, that it was made to subserve a co-ordinating, symmetrical and harmonious working of the characters to unfold and develop their various uses;—as sound signs to frame a narrative,—as numbers to develop geometrical shapes and the numerical enunciations of their elements, comparisons and applications,—as pictures to show forth ideas in some accordance with the story told, and finally,—as musical sounds to give an appropriate song to embrace the whole. The whole compass was to embrace rational proof, through operations in nature, of the existence of that Divine Contriving Willing Cause which we call God. But be this as it may there was no end of effort for thousands of years, by the best trained and most learned men of the Hebrews and Jews, to give and preserve what had to be decided upon by them as the right reading of the Sacred Text. This reading was certainly perfected as we have it, as early as the time of Ezra; and as to the various readings which offered, the present was perfected as the orthodox one,—or that one to be received by the profound vulgar.

It must be known that it is claimed for the Sacred Scroll by the Hebrew, that no letter in it has ever been changed, and that even the marginal readings were part of the original text for a varied use thereof, in perfect accord with the object of its writing. Unlike the Christian Gospels, with the Hebrews and Jews, alike, the original text was sacredly precious as to its every and very letter, and had to be thus preserved. To the contrary of this, the Gospels can be changed in their reading to suit the currently changing ideas of what the same should be. The marks to indicate “_right reading_” were after the time of Ezra gradually made public, were called _Massorah_, and finally, edited by Ben Chajim, were published by Bomberg, in Venice, in the fifteenth century.

After this fashion and mode the books of the Old Testament were prepared and read by the Jews long before the time of the Christian Era. They were thus accepted at that time; and afterwards by the Christian World:—so that, to day, we accept the record, as thus prepared by the ancient orthodox Jewish and Hebrew Church.

Whatever may have been the Jewish mode of complete interpretation of these books, the Christian Church had taken them _for what they show on their first face_,—and that only. As they may be read orally, so is their fullest meaning to be gathered from the oral reading; and by means of what the sound of the words may convey to the ear the full and complete intendment of meaning is to be had. The Christian Church has never attributed to these books any property beyond this; and herein has existed its great error.

Now, as said, the substance of the Cabbalah is a rendering of the secret doctrine of the Old Testament, and this is not only asserted, but an argument is raised about the matter in the following set terms: “If the Law simply consisted of ordinary expressions and narratives, ex. gr. the words of Esau, Hagar, Laban, the ass of Balaam, or of Balaam himself, why should it be called the Law of Truth, the perfect law, the true witness of God? Each word contains a sublime source, each narrative points not only to the single instance in question, but also to generals.” (Sohar iii, 149 b). “Woe be to the son of man who says that the Tora (Pentateuch) contains common sayings and ordinary narratives. * * There is the garment that every one can see, but those who have more understanding do not look at the garment but at the body beneath it; while the wisest, the servants of the Heavenly King, those who dwell at Mount Sinai, look at nothing else but the soul (i.e., the secret doctrine), which is the root of all the real Law.” (Sohar, iii, 152 a).

Now it is a strange thing, that in the quotations made by Dr. Ginsburg in his Essay,[75] can be gleaned a series of data wherewith to arrange a philosophy of Cabbalistic teaching, covered by the names and remarks on the Ten Sephiroth. The “_trick of the thing_” lays plainly before the eyes in its development, and yet is perfectly concealed from unintelligent observation. In other words, the very text is laughing at the worthy doctor, while he is criticising it with an apparent aspect of superiority and authority. The same thing is to be found in the text of Plutarch’s Morals, by C. W. King, and in many other texts where the like phenomenal mode is practiced. It in fact is said that the Cabbalah is evolved by “_hints scarcely perceptible_,” and the cunning of the concealment is something to admire and laugh at. The description in Sohar of the mode of communication tends to explain what has been said:

“The opinion that the mysteries of the Cabbalah are to be found in the garment of the Pentateuch is still more systematically propounded in the following parable: ‘Like a beautiful woman, concealed in the interior of her palace, who when her friend and beloved passes by, opens for a moment a secret window and is seen by him alone, and then withdraws herself immediately and disappears for a long time, so the doctrine only shows herself to the chosen (i. e., to him who is devoted to her with body and soul); and even to him not always in the same manner. At first she simply beckons at the passer by with her hand, and it generally depends upon his understanding this gentle hint. This is the interpretation known by the name of _râmäz_. Afterwards she approaches him a little closer, lisps him a few words, but her form is still covered with a thick veil, which his looks cannot penetrate. This is the so-called _dārausch_. She then converses with him with her face covered by a thin veil; this is the enigmatic language of the _hāgadah_. After having thus become accustomed to her society, she at last shows herself face to face and entrusts him with the innermost secrets of her heart. This is the secret of the Law, _sod_. He who is thus far initiated in the mysteries of the _Tora_ will understand that all these profound secrets are based upon the simple literal sense, and are in harmony with it, and from this literal sense not a single iota is to be taken and nothing is to be added to it.” (Sohar, ii, 99.)

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in Mysticism._

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi:

“Last night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress, when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the garden, soft as the dews of heaven.”

(CONTINUED.)

SAADIS’ BOOSTAN (FRUIT GARDEN OR GARDEN OF PLEASURE) Continued:

CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE CANDLE AND THE MOTH:

I remember one night lying sleepless in bed, That I heard what the moth to the fair candle said: “A lover am I, if I burn it is well! Why you should be weeping and burning, do tell.” “Oh my poor humble lover!” the candle replied, “My friend, the sweet honey away from we hied. When sweetness away from my body departs, A fire-like _Farhads_[76] to my summit then starts.” Thus she spoke, and each movement a torrent of pain Adown her pale cheeks trickled freely like rain. “Oh, suitor! with love you have nothing to do, Since nor patience, nor power of standing have you. Oh, crude one! a flame makes you hasten away; But I, till completely consumed, have to stay. If the burning of love makes your wings feel this heat, See how I am consumed, from the head to the feet!” But a very small portion had passed of the night When a fairy-fated maiden extinguished her[77] light. She was saying while smoke from her head curled above, “Thus ends, oh my boy, the existence of love!” If the love-making science you wish to acquire, You’re more happy extinguished than being on fire. Do not weep o’er the grave of the slain for the friend! Be glad! for to him He will mercy extend. If a lover, don’t wash the complaint from your head!

* * * * *

I have told you: don’t enter this ocean at all! If you do; yield your life to the hurricane squall!

The above translation is from the hand of G. S. Davie but since this story is representative of Sufi love, I add another made by S. Robinson.

I remember that one night, when I could not close my eyes in sleep, I heard the moth say to the taper.

“I am a lover, therefore it is right that I should be burnt, but wherefore shouldst thou be lamenting and shedding tears?”

It replied: “O my poor airy friend, my honey-sweet Shirin is going away;

“And since my Shirin hath left me, like Ferhad’s,[78] my head is all on fire.”

So spoke the taper, and each moment a flood of sorrow flowed down over its pale cheek.

Then it continued: “O pretender, love is no affair of thine; for thou hast neither patience nor persistency.

“Thou takest to flight before a slight flame; I stand firm till I am totally consumed.

“Thou mayest just singe a wing at the fire of love; look at me, who burn from head to foot.”

A part of the night was not yet gone, when suddenly a Peri-faced damsel extinguished the light.

Then said the taper: “My breath is departed, the smoke is over my head;—such my son, is the ending of love!”

If thou wouldst learn the moral of the story, it is this: Only will the pangs of burning affection cease, when life’s taper is extinct.

Weep not over this monument of thy perished friend—rather praise Allah, that he is accepted by Him.

If thou art indeed a lover, wash not the pains of love from thy head; wash rather, like Saadi, thy hand from all malevolence.

The man who volunteereth a service of peril will not withdraw his grasp from his purpose, though stones and arrows rain down upon his head.

I have said to thee: “Take heed how thou goest to the sea; but if thou wilt go, resign thyself to its billows.”

_Jelaluddin Rumi_ (Mevlana—Our Lord—Jelalu-’d-din, Muhammed, Er Rumi of Qonya) usually called _Jelal or Mulla_.[79] Born A. D. 1195, he died 1273.

Jelal is the greatest poet among the Sufis and is their Grand Master of spiritual knowledge. His name means “Majesty of Faith.” He instituted the order of the Mevlevi, the “dancing or whirling dervishes,” of which we shall speak more later on. This order is a realization of Jelal’s father’s prophecy about his son: “The day shall come, when this child will kindle the fire of divine enthusiasm throughout the world.”

Jelal is truly the greatest Sufi saint, for marvelous were his powers. In the _Menaqibu’l Afifin_ (the Acts of the Adepts) by _Shemsu-’d-din Ahmed, el Eflaki_ the following _acts_ are recorded against his name. “When five years old, he used at times to become extremely uneasy and restless, so much so that his attendants used to take him into the midst of themselves. The cause of these perturbations was that spiritual forms and shapes of the absent (invisible world) would arise before his sight, that is, angelic messengers, righteous Genii, and saintly men—the concealed ones of the bowers of the True One (spiritual spouses of God), used to appear to him in bodily shapes: * * * His father used on these occasions to coax and soothe him by saying: “These are the Occult Existences. They come to present themselves before you, to offer unto you gifts and presents from the invisible world.” These ecstasies and transports of his began to be publicly known and talked about The honorific title of Khudavendgar[80] was conferred upon him at this time by his father, who used to address him as “My Lord.”—“It is related that when Jelal was six years old, he one Friday afternoon was taking the air on the terraced roof of the house, and reciting the Quran, when some other children of good families came in and joined him there. After a time, one of these children proposed that they should try and jump from thence on to a neighbouring terrace, and should lay wagers on the result. Jelal smiled at this childish proposal, and remarked: “My brethren, to jump from terrace to terrace is an act well adapted for cats, dogs, and the like, to perform; but is it not degrading to man, whose station is so superior. Come now, if you feel disposed, let us spring up to the firmament, and visit the regions of God’s realm.” As he yet spake, he vanished from their sight. Frightened at Jelal’s sudden disappearance, the other children raised a shout of dismay, that some one should come to their assistance, when lo, in an instant, there he was again in their midst; but with an altered expression of countenance and blanched cheeks. They all uncovered before him, fell to the earth in humility, and all declared themselves his disciples. He now told them that, as he was yet speaking to them, a company of visible forms, clad in green raiment, had led him away from them, and had conducted him about the various concentric orbs of the spheres, and through the signs of the Zodiac, showing him the wonders of the world of spirits, and bringing him back to them so soon as their cries had reached his ears.

At that age, he was used not to break his fast more often than once in three or four, and sometimes even seven, days.

When Jelal went to Damascus to study, he passed by Sis in Upper Cilicia. There, in a cave, dwelt forty Christian monks, who had a great reputation for sanctity, but in reality were mere jugglers. On the approach of Jelal’s caravan to the cave, the monks caused a little boy to ascend into the air, and there remain standing between heaven and earth. Jelal noticed this exhibition, and fell into a reverie. Hereupon, the child began to weep and wail, saying that the man in the reverie was frightening him. The monks told him not to be afraid, but to come down. “Oh!” cried the child, “I am as though nailed here, unable to move hand or foot.” The monks became alarmed. They flocked around Jelal, and begged him to release the child. After a time, he seemed to hear and understand them. His answer was: “Only through the acceptance of Islam[81] by yourselves, all of you, as well as by the child, can he be saved.” In the end they all embraced Islam, and wished to follow Jelal as his disciples, but he recommended them to remain in their cave, as before, to cease from practising jugglery, and to serve God in the spirit and in truth. So he proceeded on his journey.

To prove that man lives through God’s will alone, and not by blood, Jelal one day, in the presence of a crowd of physicians and philosophers, had the veins of both his arms opened and allowed them to bleed until they ceased to flow. He then ordered incisions to be made in various parts of his body; but not one drop of moisture was anywhere obtainable. He now went to a hot bath, washed, performed an ablution, and then commenced the exercise of the sacred dance.

(_To be continued._)

THE HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY.

[_Continued from June Number._]

The inscription said to have been found on the Smaragdine Tablet and to which reference was made in a former article, and which Dr. Everard refers to as containing the “_Elixir_ of the philosophers,” is further explained by the author of Isis, where it is also said “It is for the Hermetic student to watch its motions, to catch its subtile currents, to guide and direct them with the help of the _Athanor_, the Archimedean lever of the Alchemist.”[82] It is further stated in plain words that this mysterious agent “is the universal magical agent, the astral light, which in the correlation of its forces furnishes the Alkahest, the philosophers’ stone, and the elixir of life.”[83] Now one great advantage to the student who follows carefully these hints is, that he soon discovers certain basic principles which reach far and wide, and in Hermetic language enable him to ascend from Earth to Heaven, and descend from Heaven to Earth, not in a vague, fanciful way, but as applicable to physical phenomena as to philosophical synthesis. These basic principles are not hypothesis, they are the _first principles of Nature_, as manifested in the phenomenal universe, a thread or clue to the labyrinth of phenomena.

There is a vast difference between modern and ancient science in regard to the Ether: The former hypothecates it to bridge a gap in phenomena and at once, as if ashamed of its weakness, turns its back upon it. Not so our ancient Hermetic brethren. Modern speculation regarding a fourth dimension of space apprehends the necessity for something beyond the old conception, as does physical science. And yet the latter reaches no solid ground, though the problem lies in the rubbish derived from analytical science, and the necessity which has compelled it to pay tribute. There is a logical, uniform, invariable antithesis in all manifested nature, which at once suggests the unmanifested. Sometimes the change of a letter or an accent in a word or its division into syllables produces wonderful results, _e. g._, atonement, at-one-ment. So here in the phenomenal universe, nothing and no-thing are not synonymous. To say that the ether fills all space, penetrates the densest matter, and gives rise by emanation to the whole phenomenal universe, and yet that it is _nothing_ is nonsense, but that it is no-thing is perfectly true. The ether is to the phenomenal universe what the 0 is to the mathematician, nothing in itself and yet from association, implication or involution, it enters into every form and quantity. Oken has shown[84] that there are really two zeros, or that zero exists as 0+ and 0-, and even here begins the science of symbolism in the ancient _Mathesis_. It is in this shoreless ocean of ether that suns and solar systems are suspended. It is the alkahest or universal solvent from which all forms and qualities of matter and life proceeds, and into which they return. It is luminous, and yet the abode of darkness, the Unmoved Mover of Plato.

Take now the three dimensions of space, and we find the _idea_ of length, breadth and thickness are associated with objects. Where there is no object upon which the eye can rest, we have then no length, no breadth, no thickness, _i. e._, Ether, the antithesis of objective forms in which occur all phenomena. This ether is called the Mirror of Isis, because in it are impressed or mirrored all forms. When these forms are clothed upon then occurs, first, a _positing_; second, motion; third, the “picture” in the ether is involved and the outer material shape evolved. Nay, there is no first, second, third about it, for all occurs coincidently. The last analysis of physics is matter, force and motion; and these three, inseparable on the physical visual plane, resolve back into the ocean of ether, which contains them all _potentially_, and which sends them out as an indissoluble trinity. Compared with matter then, the ether is transcendental, and yet we cannot say it is nothing, as has already been pointed out. Now all life, all matter, all forms, are in their essence cyclic. This is readily seen in the colloidal forms incident to organic life, but even in crystalline forms, though often overlooked, it is none the less apparent.

In relation to objective manifestation, preserving the idea of cyclic form, the ether is spoken of as the center which is everywhere, and the circumference which is nowhere.

Proceeding now with the idea of center and circumference (as yet only an idea) let us imagine a globule of protoplasm to spring instantly into visual existence. The act of _positing_ was geometrical, _i. e._, “position without extension.” Let this positing represent _force_, and extension represent matter, typically, (in all directions) but this tension and extension begets motion, all together; creation, from the hitherto “_without form and void_” _i. e._, the ether.

What was the immediate coefficient of the positing? a picture, a Divine idea, an essential form, projected in the ether. This idea is now being clothed upon, or involved in matter, and coincidently the outer material shape and structure is being evolved. Here is an equation being solved, and from this on, it is easy to trace what occurs even under a good microscope. We are, however, interested in principles rather than processes, therefore we will preserve our typical sphere with its center and circumference.

We shall presently come back to the Smaragdine inscription, and then be able to see what a revelation it contains, and what a magical key it affords to unlock the doors of knowledge. B. [_To be continued._]

LIVING THE HIGHER LIFE.

“I have no desire for any other line of life; but by the time I had awakened to a knowledge of this life, I found myself involved by circumstances against which I do not rebel, but out of and through which, I am _determined_ to work, neglecting no known duty to others.”—_Letter from a Friend._

The “Dweller of the Threshold” which stares even advanced occultists in the face and often threatens to overwhelm them, and the ordeals of Chelaship or of probation for Chelaship, differ from each other only in degree. It may not be unprofitable to analyze this Dweller and those ordeals. For our present purpose, it is enough to state, that they are of a triune nature and depend upon these three relations: (1) To our nationality; (2) to our family; and (3) to ourselves. And every one of these three relations is due to the assertion of a portion of our own past Karma, that is to say, to its effects.

Why should we be born in a particular nation and in a particular family? Because of the effect of a particular set of our Karmic attractions, which assert themselves in that manner. I mean that one set of our past Karmas exhaust themselves in throwing us in our present incarnation amidst a particular nation, another set introducing us into a particular family; and a third set serving to differentiate or individualize us from all the other members of the nation or of the family. One of our Eastern proverbs says: “the five children of a family differ like the five fingers of a hand.” Unless we look at this difference from this standpoint, it must always appear to us a riddle, a problem too difficult to solve, a mystery, in short, why children born of one family, while they have some traits common to all, should still appear to differ vastly from one another. What applies to the family applies also to the nation, of which families are but units; and also to mankind as a whole, of whom nations are but families or units. The only way to decide the great question of the age, whether the laws of nature are blind and material, or spiritual, intelligent and divine, is, it seems to me, to point out in connection with every subject, the absolutely intelligent and divine manner in which these laws act, and how they force us to realize the economy of nature. This is the only way by which we could become spiritual; and I would, once for all, call upon my co-workers for the cause, to realize at every step of their study, as far as possible, the Divine Intelligence thus manifesting itself. Otherwise, how much soever you might believe or take it for granted, that the forces that govern the universe are spiritual, the belief, however deep rooted it might appear, would be of little use to you when you have to pass through the ordeals of Chelaship; and then you are sure to succumb and exclaim that the “Law is blind, unjust and cruel,” especially when your selfishness and personality overwhelm you. When once a practical occultist and a learned philosopher met with, what seemed to him a “serious calamity and trial,” in spite of himself he exclaimed to me frankly; “the law of Karma is surely blind, there is no God; what better proofs are needed?” So deep-rooted in human nature is infidelity and selfishness; no one need therefore to be sure of his own spiritual nature. No amount of lip learning will avail us in the hour of need. We have to study the law in all its aspects and assimilate to our highest consciousness,—that which is called by Du Prel super sensuous consciousness—all the data which go to prove and convince us that the Power is spiritual. Look around and see whether any two persons are absolutely identical, even for a time. How intelligent must be the power that ever strives to keep each and every one of us totally different _on the whole_, while, if analyzed, we possess some traits in common, even with the Negro, with whom we are remotely allied.

In this connection I shall refer you to a passage in the article on “Chelas and Lay Chelas” (vide column 1, page 11 of “Supplement to the Theosophist” for July, 1883);—“The Chela is not only called to face all latent evil propensities of his nature, but in addition, the whole volume of maleficent power accumulated by the community and nation to which he belongs * * until the result is known.” I shall only ask you to apply the same principle to your family relations affecting your present incarnation. Thus seven things are found to secure us a victory, or a sad, inglorious defeat in the mighty struggle known as the Dweller of the threshold and the ordeals of Chelaship:—(1) The evil propensities common to ourselves and to our family; (2) those common to ourself and our nation; (3) those common to ourself and to mankind in general, or better known as the weakness of human nature, the fruits of Adam’s first transgression; (4 to 6) the noble qualities common to us and to these three; (7) the peculiar way in which the 6 sets of our past Karmas choose or are allowed to influence us now, or their effects in producing in us the present tendency. The adept alone can take the seventh or last mentioned item completely into his own hands; and every mortal who would, as I have since recently begun to reiterate, direct all his energies to the highest plane possible for him (“Desire always to attain the unattainable”—says the author of “Light on the Path”),—such a mortal too could more or less do the same thing as the adept, in so far as he acts up to the rule. Every Chela, and also those who have a desire to be Chelas even, as they suppose secretly, have to do with the first six propensities or influences.

The world is inclined—at least in this Kali Yuga (the Dark Age)—always to begin at the wrong end of anything and direct all its faculties to the perception of effects and not of their causes. So the ideas of “renunciation,” “asceticism” and of the “true feeling of universal Brotherhood” (or “mercy,” as I call it, in accordance with South Indian Ethics), all of which are compatible with Gnanis, or the most exalted of Mahatmas, all these have come to be recognized by all our Theosophists, in general, as _the means_ of progress for a beginner; while the real means of progress for us mortals—duties to our own families and to our own nation, or “kindness” and “patriotism” in the highest and ethical sense of the terms—are discarded. True, from the standpoint of a Jivanmukta, a true friend of humanity, these two Sadhanas are really “selfishness”; still, until we attain that exalted state, these two feelings should be made the ladders for raising ourselves, the means of not only getting ourselves rid of our family defects and natural idiosyncrasies, but also of strengthening in ourselves the noble qualities of our families and of our nation. Until we reach that ideal slate where the blessed soul has to make neither good nor bad Karma, we must strive to be constantly doing “good” Karma, in order that we might become Karma-less (nish Karmis).

Let it not be understood at all, that I mean by “family duties” and “national duties,” false attachments to the family or to the nation. Family duty consists not in sensuality or pleasure-hunting, but in cultivating and in elevating the emotional nature (the fourth principle), of ourselves and of our family; in being equally “kind”, not only to the members of the family, but also to all creatures, and in enjoying all such pleasures of the family life as are consistent with the acquirement of “wealth” (all the means necessary for the performance of Dharma or whole duty) according to the teachings of Valluvar, and in utilizing such pleasures and means for the performance of our duty to our nation. Patriotism consists similarly in theosophising our own nation, in not only getting ourselves rid of our national defects, as well as other members of the nation rid of the same, but also in strengthening in ourselves and in our nation as a whole, all the noble qualities which belong to our nation; in the enjoyment of the privileges[85] of the nation and using them as a means for the performance of _Dharma_. If family duties are taken due care of, our duties to the nation and to humanity would, to a great extent, take care of themselves unimpeded. Our national duties, if strictly performed, serve to purify our fifth lower principle of its dross and to establish and develop the better part of it, while the performance of our duty to Humanity or the _realization of universal tolerance and mercy_, purifies the lower (human) stuff in the fifth higher principle and makes it divine, thus enabling us to free ourselves gradually from the bonds of ignorance common to all human beings.

The above assertions, might, at first sight, seem rather bold and untheosophical. But I should venture to state my conviction that the whole edifice of Aryan religions and Aryan philosophy is based upon these principles, and that, on a careful consideration of the subject, the great importance attached to household life (Grihasta ashrama) in that philosophy, would be fully borne out. To my mind no ascetics, no teachers of mankind, however eminent and full of the highest knowledge, are really such good and practical benefactors of humanity as Valluvar, of ancient times, who incarnated on earth for the express purpose, among others, of setting an example of an ideal household life to mortals who were prematurely and madly rushing against the rocks of renunciation, and of proving the possibility of leading such a life in any age however degenerated; or as Ráma, who, even after having become an _avatar-purusha_, came down amidst mortals and lead a household life.

It has often been contended that the world has not progressed on _the path_, because _gnanis_, or Mahatmas, have dwindled in their number and greatness, and because it is Kali-Yuga, or the dark age, now. Such arguments are due to our mistaking the effects for their causes. The only way to prepare the way for the advent of a favorable Yuga and for the increase of the number and greatness of Mahatmas, is to establish gradually the conditions for the leading of a true household life. I should unhesitatingly state, that that is the duty of earnest Theosophists and real philanthropists.

Is it not conceded by all philanthropists that unselfish labors for humanity can alone relieve us from the ocean of Sainsara (Rebirth), develop our highest potentialities and help us to alchemise our human weakness? Applying the same principle to unselfish discharge of our family and national duties, my position becomes tenable. A Mahatma has, it appears, declared that He has still “patriotism.” But He has not said nor would say, that He has still family “attachments.” This proves that He has got out of the defects of the family to which He belongs, while He is only striving to get out of national defects, some of which at any rate cling to Him. A Buddha would say, that He has “mercy,” but no “patriotism.”

The only effectual way to get out of family defects is to discharge all our duty to our family before leaving it, as ascetics, or before we die. Blessed is he[86] who, in each of his incarnations, _then and there_, gets rid of the defects of the family into which he is ushered, thereby converts those defects in his parents, brothers and sisters, into noble qualities, thus strengthening and developing the good qualities both of himself and of his family, then strives to be born in the same family again and again, until he himself becomes a Buddha and assists his family to become a family fit for a Buddha to be born into, while he becomes the cream of all the noble qualities of the family without being tainted with its idiosyncrasies. A Dugpa (Black Magician) is frequently born in the same family and becomes the cream of all its evil propensities. Here again is the operation of the sublime and divinely intelligent law of universal and natural economy asserting itself. This is beautifully allegorized in the story of a Jivanmukta churning out of the ocean, the elixir of life and leaving the _visha_ (the poison, all the evil propensities) for the Dugpas. This is one of the meanings of the allegory. Avoiding all personalities and questionable facts, I shall rely solely upon our Puranas and scriptures to prove that in every family where Adepts and Gnanis are (or choose to be) frequently born, often Dugpas are also born, as a matter of course. Krishna was the greatest of Gnanis and his uncle Kausa (for our present purpose) was a terrible Dugpa. The five Pandavas had a hundred wicked cousins, the Kauravas. Devas and the whole brood of wicked Asuras were born of the same parent. _Vibhishana_ had for his brother, _Ravana_ the prince of Dugpas; so had the good Sugriva a brother like Vali. Prahlada had a monster for his father.

Take the case of one who has not done all his duty to his family, before he dies, or before he takes the vows of renunciation and becomes an ascetic. Such ascetics find themselves attracted by the family defects and selfishness of themselves (which hitherto perhaps lay more or less dormant and now become kindled and awakened by the selfishness of the relatives) and are disturbed in the performance of the duties of their new order or _Ashrama_, however unselfish their relatives might have been “unconsciously” or unintentionally. In spite of themselves these relatives arrest the progress of the ascetics in whom the family defects become thus strengthened and developed. Such is the mysterious law of attraction. This man must be born again (1) either in the same family, with the family defects strengthened, both in himself and in his family; (2) or in another family. In the first case, the noble qualities of the family are not strengthened and therefore gradually disappear both from him and from the family. In the second case, he becomes an undutiful son, brother or husband, in his new family, firstly because of the natural law of repetition, which, with the terrible Karmic interest, strengthens the tendency in him to disregard duty; secondly because of the “counter family attractions” (or repulsions). Let not this unfortunate wanderer from the post of his family duty console himself with the foolish idea that this tendency would confine its havoc to family traits (good and evil) and to family duties alone. It would extend itself in all directions, wherever it can; it would make him disregard his duties to his nation and to himself (or in other words, to humanity). He would suddenly be surprised to find himself apathetic to his nation and to his highest nature, or to mankind. Such are the mazes and unknown ramifications of our evil or good propensities. Any evil or noble element of human nature converts itself, under “favorable” conditions into any other element however apparently remote. The conditions are there ready wherever the element is strong; where there is a will there is a way. Performance of family duties therefore develops patriotism and mercy.

I do not at all mean to say that the effects of Karma _always_ assert themselves in the same shape or form; but they often might and do. Nor do I mean that the affinities above stated, blossom and ripen in the incarnation immediately succeeding; they might develop ten or even one hundred incarnations after; but in such a case, the Karma only accumulates enormous interest. The affinities might not develop _at the same time_ in both him and her, who was once his wife; if they did at the same time, the account could be easily settled,—otherwise, woe to him and to her! Supposing that the attractions for him are developed in her, while the attachments for her are not developed in him at the same time; the result might be, that she pines and languishes for him, sends her poisonous darts consciously or “unconsciously” against him; if these arrows do not kindle the corresponding nature in him, for the time being they frustrate his achievements in other directions. Supposing by the time the affinities in him are developed, he becomes an initiate and she becomes, (let us suppose) his pupil (male or female). If at the time the pupil’s affinities have become converted into devotion for the initiate, the latter becomes blinded in his philanthropic work and noble duties of a sage, and commits, through the infatuation of a love for the pupil, serious blunders, which result in a catastrophe to both of them and to humanity: and both the pupil and initiate fall down and have to mount their rugged pathway again with increased difficulties in their way.

Once, in an age and in a country, when and where household life continues to be ideal, one single wretch commits the first act of transgression by impetuously rushing into the circle of ascetics, or by dying before wholly discharging his duty to his family, the natural result is that both himself, his family, and his nation, become thereby seriously affected. The Akasa[87] becomes affected by the impulse to transgress in this direction; this impulse forces itself gradually (with accumulated interest, redoubled force) upon others; the ignoble example becomes a precedent; other cases of a like nature follow in quick succession. In course of time, (just when a sad descending cycle begins, such is the divine intelligence of the law that economizes energies and makes things fit it) the leading of the ideal family life becomes almost impossible and very rare; the whole community is thus ruined. Learned and great adepts retire to other spheres (where there then is an ascending cycle) and leave the nation to be swallowed by a cataclysm after ages of degradation and vice.

Let us now reverse this case, and suppose that in the most degenerate nation, in the darkest of cycles, one philanthropist becomes unselfish and intelligent enough to set a noble and intelligent example by fulfilling all family duties; then, as naturally as in the preceding case, the precedent gradually gains acceptance; the way is paved for the advent of an ascending cycle; Gnanis bless the noble man and come down from other unfavorable spheres, where descending cycles begin to dawn.

Now it may be easy to understand why Chelas and lay Chelas (who have not yet thrown off their family defects and thus become the cream of their family’s good qualities) are told to be careful lest they become Dugpas (Black Magicians).

I will ask you to apply the same kinds of arguments to the necessity for performing (and the failure to perform) our duties to our nation and to mankind. You can see that the phenomena of heresy, downfall of religions, rise of new religions, the birth in Europe of a Max Müller, who expatiates upon the greatness of the Vedic philosophy, and of Bradlaughs and other infidel sons of Christian parents—all these are due to the fact (and also to other causes), that the individuals concerned had not in some one or other of their past incarnations, done their duty to the nations (or religions), to which they respectively belonged. A study of the times when and in the manner in which the traits of these men are brought into play should be profitable in several ways. Extending the analogy, it may be said that heartlessness, murder, cannibalism, etc., are due to failure to discharge, in past incarnations, one’s duty to humanity (that is to one’s self).

In conclusion it might be added that the most important element in the “Dweller of the Threshold,” and in the ordeals of Chelaship, is family defects, which ought to be _first_ “conquered;” then in order come national defects and the “diseases of the flesh” in general. Though all these three have to be got rid of simultaneously as far as possible, and all the three kinds of duties performed, still beginners should pay more attention to the first than to the second, and more to the second than to the third, and none of these neglected.

In those happy Aryan ages, when Dharma was known and performed fully, those men and women who did not marry, remained in the family for performing their family duties and led a strictly ascetical and Vedantic life as Brahmacharis and Kannikas (or virgins). Those alone married, who were in every way qualified for leading a grihasta (household) life. Marriage was in those days a sacred and religious contract, and not at all a means of gratifying selfish desires and animal passions. These marriages were of two kinds: (1) Those who married for the express purpose of assisting each other (husband and wife) in their determination to lead a higher life, in fulfilling their family duties, in enjoying all pleasures enjoined for such a life and thereby acquiring the means for attaining the qualifications for higher ashrama of renunciation (Sannyása), and, above all, for giving the world the benefit of children, who would become gnanis and work for humanity. Such a husband and wife might be regarded as not having in their previous incarnations been able enough to become ripe for Chelaship. (2) Those who had, in their past incarnations already fitted themselves completely for entering the sanctuary of Occultism and gnana marga (path of wisdom). One of them, the Pati (the master or “husband”) was the Guru who had advanced far higher than his Patni (co-worker or pupil or “wife”). As soon as the alliance between them was made, these retired into the forest to lead the life of celibacy and practical Occultism. But, before so retiring, they had invariably promised to their parents and other members of their family to assist and elevate them even from a distance and offered to periodically adjust[88] the inner life of all the relatives. I quote the language generally used in making such promises:—“Whenever mother, father, sister and brothers, any of you think of me in your hour of need, wherever or whatever I may be, I solemnly promise to lend you a helping hand.” MURDHNA JOTI. [_To be continued._]

STUDIES IN THE UPANISHADS.

[BY A STUDENT.]

[_Continued from May number._]

Longfellow, in the lines last quoted, symbolized the Universe by an immeasurable wheel forever turning in the stream of time. Allowing for the western habit of studying effects and not causes, this is a fair simile. Yet it is faulty in that it presupposes two co-existing eternities; the wheel of the Universe, and the stream in which it turns. There can be but one eternity.

Saunaka asks in this Upanishad a natural question, propounded by nearly every thinking man, especially by students of occultism who are continually seeking a royal road to the accomplishment of their objects. He wishes to be told what may be the great solvent of all knowledge. The reply of Angiras points out two great roads, which include all the others. The lower road is the one of hard work for countless births, during which we acquire knowledge slowly in all directions, and, of course, when that is possessed, one rises to the higher road.

This is the true initiation, nature, so to speak, acting as the initiator. In replying to Saunaka, Angiras did not mean to be understood, that a man could in one birth pass over the lower road, but that the progress of a human monad toward perfection proceeded in a certain fixed manner which included all experiences. Of course if we say that we appear on the earth once only, and then disappear from it, to the place called by the spiritualists of America, “the summer land,” and by the christian, “heaven,” there is no need for one to acquire the lower knowledge, for that might be obtained in the life after death. But we regard it as true that the spirit, in order to acquire complete knowledge, must inhabit a human form, and one term of tenancy in such a form will not be enough for the testing of the countless varieties of life, of temptation, of triumph, failure and success.

The sage Angiras in this Upanishad looks at man from the standpoint of one who can see the great stream of life which flows through the eternal plain, and therefore he could not have meant to apply his words to one incarnation, but to the whole series through which man has to pass until he reaches “immortal, blest nirvana.”

In the journey along this road we will encounter great differences in the powers of our fellow travellers. Some go haltingly and others quickly; some with eyes bent on the ground, a few with gaze fixed on the great goal. Those who halt or look down will not reach the end, because they refuse to take the assistance to be found in the constant aspiration to the light. But we are not to blame them: they have not yet been often enough initiated to understand their error. Nature is kind and will wait for them much longer than their human fellows would if they were permitted to be their judges. This ought to give us a lesson in charity, in universal brotherhood. Very often we meet those who show an utter inability to appreciate some spiritual ideas which we quite understand. It is because they have not, so far, been able to transmute into a part of themselves, that which we have been so fortunate as to become possessed of, and so they seem devoted to things that to us appear to be of small value.

The Bagavad-Gita says that there is no detriment or loss to one’s efforts in any direction, be it good or bad; that is, in going through these countless incarnations, all inquiry, every sort of investigation, no matter even if it seems at the close of any one life that the life was wasted, is so much energy and experience stored up. For although, in the course of one existence, physical energy is expended, there is, all the while, a storing up of spiritual energy which is again a power in the next succeeding life.

In consequence of the modern, western system of education, we are apt constantly to forget the existence of the great force and value belonging to our super-sensuous consciousness. That consciousness is the great register where we record the real results of our various earthly experiences; in it we store up the spiritual energy, and once stored there, it becomes immortal, our own eternal possession. The question then will be asked: “How is one to store up such spiritual energy: do we do it unconsciously, and how are we to know that any has been stored up?” It is to be done by trying to know and to act truth; by “living in the eternal,” as _Light on the Path_ directs. To live thus in the eternal, does not mean that we shall abandon the cares and struggles of life, for so surely as we do we must suffer, but that we should try to make the real self direct its aspirations ever to the eternal truth.

This series of births is absolutely necessary, so that the “lower knowledge” can be acquired; and just so long as we do not acquire that, we must be reborn. Here and there will occur exceptions to this rule, in those great souls who, with “an astonishing violence,” leap beyond and over all barriers, and by getting the higher knowledge, become at the same time, possessors of the lower knowledge also.

In the Chaldean Oracles such souls are thus described: “More robust souls perceive truth through themselves, and are of a more inventive nature,” and by Proklus in I Alkibiad: “such a soul being saved, according to the oracle, through its own strength.” But even this rapid progress must be regarded as comparative, for even these “robust souls,” had to go through certain incarnations in which they were accumulating to themselves that very strength and ability to outstrip their fellows which, later on, placed them in the front rank.

In consequence of our ignorance of what we really are, not knowing at the time we begin the struggle in this present life whether the real man inside has passed through incarnations full of this necessary experience or not, we must not, because of the fancied importance we give ourselves, neglect the _lower knowledge_. There are many pitfalls besetting the road. Perchance we feel a certain degree of illumination, or we are able to see or hear in the astral world, and at once the temptation presents itself to claim to ourselves a spiritual greatness not our own. The possession of such astral acuteness is not high spirituality _per se_, for one might be able, as Buddha declares in the Saddharma-Pundarika, to smell the extraordinary odors arising in ten points of space which are not perceived by ordinary people, or to hear the innumerable and strange voices, sounds, bells, discords and harmonies produced by the whole host of unknown and unseen spirits of the earth, air, water and fire, and still be altogether devoid of spirituality. If we let ourselves then, be carried away by this, it is only a form of pride that precedes a severe fall. Being carried away with it, is at once a proof that we are not master, but are mastered by what is merely a novel experience.

But if we wisely and carefully test all experience, being willing to descend low enough to learn and study so that the instrument may be tuned and perfected, we may avoid the pitfalls, or be able to cross them should they be inevitable, whereas if we are deluded by supposed self-illumination, and run after that to the exclusion of all study, we will perhaps, enjoy a period of excitement and of self-satisfaction, but it will end, and the end will be bitter. As Buddha says: “He who ignores the rotation of mundane existences, has no perception of blessed rest.”

The very fact that a man is in the world and has a continual fight with his passions and inclinations, proves that he is not yet in any condition to leave it. And of even the very far advanced, it was said by those who were near the time of the Upanishads:

“The disciple who by his discrimination has escaped from the triple world, thinks he has reached pure, blessed nirvana; but it is only by knowing all the laws of the lower world, and the universal laws as well, that the immortal, pure, blest nirvana is reached. There is no real nirvana without all-knowingness; try to reach this.”

CORRESPONDENCE.

LONDON, June 17, 1886.

As No. 5 of “The Biogen Series,” Professor Coues has reprinted Robert Dodsley’s “Œconomy of Human Life,” which he considers is based on Theosophical Ethics. The history of this little treatise is rather curious. It was originally published in 1750 and purported to be by a Brahmin, but the authorship was generally ascribed to Lord Chesterfield. The great celebrity which the book at one time attained, was mainly due to this mistaken opinion. Dodsley, however, did not long persist in his disguise. It went through numerous editions, found many imitators, and has been translated into French, Italian, German and Bengali. The moral maxims contained in this little volume are of a character to admit of their attribution to Lord Chesterfield. Their claim to an especial Eastern origin receives a striking comment from the way in which the law of retribution, the nature of the soul, the eternal paradise of God, and other similar topics are regarded. In the treatment of these subjects, the author follows the theology of the Christian church rather than Brahmanical philosophy. The association of the name Kuthumi with the book, so perplexing to understand, is not a biographical fact, as Prof. Coues explains in his “fore-word”(p. 10). It only remains to state clearly what is implied in the fore-word that the Theosophical Society has no special code of morals, ready made and rigorously defined, for the acceptance of its members on admission. Prof. Coues is deserving of praise for rescuing from oblivion a book, in many ways calculated to do good. Fraternally, MOHINI M. CHATTERJI.

REVIEWS AND NOTES.

THE BIOGEN SERIES (_Estes & Lauriat, Boston, Mass._). This series of publications is under the editorial management of Prof. Coues, the well known Scientist and Theosophist. The series has just reached its fifth number “_Kuthumi, or the Economy of Human Life_.” This is a reprint of a little volume, originally issued in 1770, but under the classical pen of Prof. Coues who has added an introduction, and the faultless typography of Estes & Lauriat, the little book is a very different affair from the earlier edition. Number four of the series which is also only just out of press, bears the significant title, “_Can Matter Think_,” and is reprint of an article which was written in India and published some years ago in _The Theosophist_. By no means the least important part of these publications are the notes and editorial comments of Prof Coues. Number four of the series has both an introduction and an appendix from the Professor’s pen. To give these publications such extended notice as they deserve would occupy more space and time than is at our command, while the exceedingly readable form and low price at which they are issued, renders such review unnecessary, as they are within reach of all.

These little books are in short, classics, and as such, substantial additions to the literature of the age, while their bearing on the great problems of Theosophy, can hardly be over estimated. Prof. Coues’ familiarity with the whole field of modern research, his exactness, which comes from scientific training, his remarkable command of first-class English, and his insight into the complex problems of psychology, place these books in the forefront of Theosophic literature, and we cordially commend them to our readers. J.D. BUCK.

THE SANSCRIT LANGUAGE.

Several letters have been written and inquiries propounded to the Editor regarding Sanscrit, and in one or two instances the assertion has been made that we were incorrect in saying that Sanscrit is not really a dead language. In reply to those asking about the language, we refer them to Perry’s _Sanscrit Primer_ (Ginn & Co., Boston), Lanman’s _Sanscrit Reader_ and Whitney’s _Sanscrit Grammar_.

To the others, we quote from Perry’s _Primer_, § 21, p. 7: “The Sanscrit is used in India to this day very much as Latin was used in Europe in the previous century; it is a common medium of communication between the learned, be their native tongues what they may, and it is not the vernacular of any district whatever.” And in India, the Editor was told by many Brahmins that it is in constant use in all religious convocations and assemblies convened among people of learning who come from widely separated parts of Hindustan.

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THOUGHTS.—By Ivan Panin, (_Cupples, Upham & Co., Boston._) The author says that he does not know why he writes, but the thoughts jotted down are put forth as his own. Many of them are good and worth remembering. The book is of size convenient for the pocket, and well bound; the thoughts are topically arranged and numbered consecutively from 1 to 435; the first is, that to be never unhappy is the greatest misfortune; and the last, that next to the pleasure of seeing beautiful things, is to describe them. The best one is No. 205, that nature preaches many a fine sermon on silence, as: the loud thunder hurts not, but the silent lightning; silent gravity binds all worlds together; silent snow covers the ground, but noisy rain makes puddles and then runs away. Another good one is No. 188: “Always indeed, tell the truth, but do not always speak it;” also No. 80: “Abhor his vice, but not the man; for he is like thee a son of God.”

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THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.—By a woman. (_Rockwell & Churchill, Boston, 1885._) We are informed that the author is a Theosophist and wrote this before joining the Society. It is divided into 3 parts. I, Relates to Jesus; II, The Warfare of the Truth; III, The Letters and Evidences. She adheres to the idea of the immaculate conception, while not advocating the theological dogma of the Divinity; this seems to us not to follow. We cannot help pointing out that Jesus, the subject of this book, apparently violated filial duty when he refused to recognize his mother at the time he was told that she waited without. Also on page 10, the author surmizes that “probably not more than a score of children perished” by the order of King Herod. There is no historical record of the “slaughter of the Innocents,” but it is important and ought not to be lightly passed over. A similar legend is told regarding Krishna, the Hindu incarnation, thousands of years before Jesus, for King Kausa his uncle, ordered the slaughter of all the male infants in his kingdom, but Krishna escaped to another city under the protection of the great God, (see the Mahabarata). Again Gaffarel and others say, that really it referred to the persecution of the Kabalists and wise men of Herod’s day, for they were called “innocents” and “babes.” Now this tale has an occult signification, in common with the incident of Jesus refusing to recognize his mother.

The book is an excellent one, and if christendom held the same views, the millenium would advance. The author thinks that the spirit of the work and words of Jesus, if lived up to by his followers, would raise the western world to a higher plane, and in that we agree with her. But we cannot agree that Jesus came to the whole world, or that St. John’s revelation is for humanity. Both of them were only speaking to the races they were born in, revealing again a part of the knowledge and doctrine which anciently prevailed among all peoples, and which, even in their own day, were fully known in the farther East. Each time and people has its own prophet and sacred book, but it does not follow, if the last be the best for the people to whom it is revealed, that therefore it is the best of all.

At the beginning of each Manvantara (the remanifestation of a world and man upon it), a planetary spirit appears among men, and implants the great ideas afterwards held intuitionally. They are projected with a spiritual force and power that carries them through all the ages of that manvantara, now appearing and again apparently lost to sight. The original impulse every now and then, receives additions, through beings of a lower illumination than those who started them, as: Jesus, Buddha, Confucius and others, who appear in intermediate periods.

Similarly, great events, such as the occurrences related as anterior to Krishna’s, Buddha’s and Jesus’ birth, as well as the slaughter of the innocents and the death of Osiris, have an inherent spiritual force, wherever they really took place, that carries them down the stream of time and causes them to reappear among all peoples as a part of the biographies of different sacred personages.

This author has our approval, though worth but little, for she shows a keen insight. Witness on p. 517: “Believe not those who exalt woman above man, for they are equal powers. The use of the feminine pronoun in describing the soul, the earth, the moon * * has no profound scientific or philosophical foundation.

“Believe not those who claim to give final wisdom to the world; for there must be many instruments of truth.”

And on p. 519: “Sufficient guides are in that development of seership which is the necessary and natural sequence of the ripening of the intellect and moral sense, and which must and will grow. To man’s own conscience] and judgment is left the supreme utilization of these first universal efforts at intercommunion between the material and spiritual planes of existence.”

We regret that our limited space prohibits a more extended notice.

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SINNETT.—Mr. A. P. Sinnett of London, author of Esoteric Buddhism, has just brought out a new novel of a theosophical cast. We have not received a copy as there has not been time, but hope to notice it in the August number. Its title is “_Union_”.

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

THE AMERICAN BOARD OF CONTROL—will meet in Rochester July 4th. This will be an important meeting, being the first one since the new era of American Theosophical Activity. It is hoped that each year hereafter will see conventions of the Society when each Branch will be represented by a delegate.

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JOSHEE.—Bro. Gopal Vinayak Joshee was in Boston May 28th, at the annual meeting of the Free Religion Association, and delivered an address before them upon “What is lacking in Christianity,” which was reported in _The Index_, of June 10th, ult. It deserves perusal, and must have seemed to its hearers like plain speaking.

* * * * *

ALABAMA.—A new Branch of the society is being organized here, the provisional charter having been issued. We hope also soon to hear of another in Texas, where a good Theosophist has settled.

* * * * *

MALDEN.—The theosophists here are in earnest and active. They have heartily adopted the suggestion of the New York Branch about discussions in condensed form being printed for circulation among members.

* * * * *

CINCINNATI.—This Branch has been hard at work, and has had the benefit of several addresses and thorough explanations of hermetic doctrines from a well known and well versed theosophist.

* * * * *

ABRIDGEMENTS OF DISCUSSIONS.—The discussions and study of every member of the Society and of each Branch should not be kept exclusively to themselves, except when they may relate to necessarily secret matter, but ought to be made known in some way to all other members. To that end, the N. Y. Branch has issued the first of a series of leaflets for private circulation, containing abstracts of these discussions. They contain the ideas of many different people upon the subjects of Karma, Reincarnation, and other doctrines of Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity.

All branches ought to contribute notes to this work, so that the leaflets may appeal to as many minds in the society as possible. If a central editor could be hit upon that would also be a good idea.

* * * * *

THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK.—Regular meetings have been held each week, since our last issue, two during this month being open ones, at which addresses were delivered and discussions had. On the 8th ult., the subject was that of evolution as laid down in theosophical literature, and at one meeting, the lecture was illustrated by reference to a famous carved temple roof in India, the blackboard being used for rough outlines of the design.

During the last month, the following books have been donated to the library of the Branch, by Bro. Edson D. Hammond: _Ancient Mysteries Described_ (Hone, 1823); _The Obelisk and Freemasonry_ (Weisse, 1880); _Psychological Review_ (London), _12 Nos. 1882; 2 of 1883_, when Review stopped. The library has now increased to over 125 vols. and has been considerably used by the members.

* * * * *

That subtle self is to be known by thought alone; for every thought of men is interwoven with the senses, and when thought is purified, then the self arises.—_Mundaka Upanishad._

OM.

FOOTNOTES:

[68] In the ancient Aztec civilization in Mexico, the Sacerdotal order was very numerous. At the head of the whole establishment were two high priests, elected from the order, solely for their qualifications, as shown by their previous conduct in a subordinate station. They were equal in dignity and inferior only to the sovereign, who rarely acted without their advice in weighty matters of private concern. (Sahagun _Hist. de Nueva España, lib. 2; lib. 3 cap. 9_—_Torq. Mon. Ind. lib. 8 cap. 20; lib. 9, cap. 3, 56_; cited by Prescott in _vol. 1, Conq. Mex. p. 66_).—[ED.]

[69] King or Ruler.

[70] A low caste man, _e. g._, a sweeper. Such a building can now be seen at Bijapur, India.—[ED.]

[71] An obsessing astral shell. The Hindus consider them to be the reliquæ of deceased persons.—[ED.]

[72] Nature spirit or elemental.—[ED.]

[73] This sentence is of great importance. The Occidental mind delights much more in effects, personalities and authority, than in seeking for causes, just as many Theosophists have with persistency sought to know when and where Madame Blavatsky did some feat in magic, rather than in looking for causes or laws governing the production of phenomena. In this italicized sentence is the clue to many things, for those who can see.—[ED.]

[74] _Masonic Review_, July, 1885.

[75] The Cabbalah, its Doctrine, Development and Literature.

[76] _Farhad_ was the youthful lover of _Shirin_.

[77] _Her_ refers to the candle. The moth is the lover and the candle the beloved.

[78] See note above.

[79] Mulla is the Persian form of the Arabic Maulawi, “a learned man,” “a scholar.”

[80] Khudawand is a Persian word signifying “lord,” “prince,” “master.” A professor: a man of authority. It is used as a title of the Deity and by Christian missionaries in India it is generally employed as a translation of the Greek Kyrios, “Lord.” (Hughes’ Dic.)

[81] _Islam_ means _the resigning or devoting one’s self entirely to God_, and his service.

[82] Isis Unveiled, p. 507, vol I.

[83] Ibid.

[84] Physio-philosophy.

[85] I use this word “privilege” in its ethical sense; privileges are to the patriot what the “pleasures” are to the family life.

[86] This is the man to be in the family and not of the family like the water on the lotus leaf, making only the good traits of the family the seat of his higher self.

[87] The Ether, the Astral Light.—[ED.]

[88] I use the word in the peculiar sense which I have already attached to it.

AUM

In the beginning this was Self alone—undeveloped. It became developed by form and name. The Self entered thither to the very tips of the finger nails, as the fire in the fireplace. He cannot be seen: for, in part only, when breathing, he is breath by name; when seeing, eye by name; when hearing, ear; when thinking, mind, by name. All these are but the names of his acts. And he who regards him as the one or the other, does not know him, for he is apart from them. Let men worship him as the Self, for in the Self, all these are one. This Self is the footstep of everything, for through it one knows everything, and as one can find again by footsteps what was lost, thus he who knows this may find the Self.—_Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad, 1 Adh., 4 Brah., 7 v._

THE PATH.

VOL. I. AUGUST, 1886. NO. 5.

_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document._

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

STAR COLORS AND ANIMAL MAGNETISM.

It is well known that yellow is the complementary of blue, and red of green, color, and it struck me that, relating to this subject, the remarks of Mr. Isaac Sharpless, who is an undoubted authority in astronomical matters, are of some importance. Writing from Haverford College Observatory, June 3d, instant, he says:

“The question of star colors has been receiving attention from the hand of an English gentleman, W. S. Franks. He has examined carefully the colors of a list of 1893 of the brightest stars, with especial reference to the distribution in the heavens of the different colors. He finds 962 white stars, 614 yellow, 168 orange, 10 red, 15 green, 59 blue, 58 purple and 7, for some reason, have no colors given. He finds that the constellations which contain a large percentage of white stars are in or near the Milky Way, and wherever stars are closely associated together; while the yellow and orange stars are most plentiful in large straggling constellations.

“It is well known that a certain kind of spectrum is connected with certain star colors. The yellow stars belong to the class of our sun and include such bright stars as Capella. The white stars, like Vega, have a spectrum of a great number of fine lines, and the red gives a banded spectrum. It has been a favorite theory that the colors indicate the age of the stars, if not in years, at least in development. That the white are the youngest: as they cool they become yellow, then red, and, finally invisible, just as a piece of iron would in cooling down from a white heat. There is much to commend this idea, though, of course, as to the relative ages of the stars we know very little, and some changes appear to be in the opposite direction. Perhaps there are people to whom the idea of different colors in stars is a novelty. They have a general idea that there are bright points of light overhead, at night, and probably they have observed, in a general way, that some are brighter than others. It will not require a very close watch, however, to add to the knowledge of the sky the additional fact that they are differently colored. Castor and Pollux which now shine in the west in the evening, are very evidently diverse, and a careful amateur can go over the heavens and notice among the brighter stars quite a variety.

“But a telescope increases the capacities for this work immensely. Nearly all the very red stars are too faint to be seen by the naked eye, and many which show the strongest contrasts of color are double stars, which require considerable magnifying power to separate them. Blue and green stars are never solitary, but associated with a red or a yellow star, which is nearly always brighter, so that color has something to do with association. There are also sometimes clusters of stars which show great variety of color. Sir John Herschel describes one in the Southern Hemisphere which resembled a mass of colored gems. There is probably a prolific field of discovery yet undeveloped in connection with star colors.”

The experiments of Reichenbach and others have shown that from crystals and human bodies emanate not only influences of a positive and negative character—which are also referred to in the PATH at p. 86—but also that certain colors are seen by sensitives to arise from the human head, eyes, and hands. Now, as animal magnetism is slowly forcing recognition from the scientific world, why are we not justified in giving some credence to the views held by the old Hermetic philosophers, that the human being derives its magnetism and vitality from the stars: that is, that these colors seen by sensitives, are to be directly traced to the sidereal influences and atmospheres. They gave to each color an appropriate star, and we find curiously enough, that although it is claimed against them that they were ignorant and had no appliances, they, without apparatus, knew that the stars had colors, while to the sun they ascribed life. Now in this century our astronomers tell us, as above, of star colors of great variety and peculiar combination. These are mere hints, however, which I would like more competent men to enlarge upon. ISAAC MYER.

[NOTE.—We are personally acquainted with several persons who can see these magnetic colors, and they all agree in the main as to the conditions of health or of temper which accompany them. Mere quick thoughts they see as bright sparks; sensuality seems pink or reddish; while life and wisdom, appear as blue. It is interesting to note also, that in the Hindu system, when Krishna is represented as the life giver, or as the principle of life, he is painted blue, which color Reichenbach found proceeded from the _positive_ pole; while the passive mendicant or ascetic of Hindustan, has to wear the yellow robe, which stands for the _negative_ pole that emits the yellow ray. It is also rather curious that the ancient Egyptians in their papyri painted wisdom, which is cold, of a yellow color, and the son of life appears in blue.—ED.]

A HINDU CHELA’S DIARY.[89]

(_Continued from July Number._)

“I have always felt and still feel strongly that I have already once studied this sacred philosophy with Kunâla, and that I must have been, in a previous life, his most obedient and humble disciple. This must have been a fact, or else how to account for the feelings created in me when I first met him, although no special or remarkable circumstances were connected with that event. All my hopes and plans are centred in him, and nothing in the world can shake my confidence in him especially when several of my Brahmin acquaintances tell me the same things without previous consultation. * * *

“I went to the great festival of Durga yesterday, and spent nearly the whole day looking in the vast crowd of men, women, children and mendicants for some of Kunâla’s friends, for he once told me to never be sure that they were not near me, but I found none who seemed to answer my ideas. As I stood by the ghaut at the river side thinking that perhaps I was left alone to try my patience, an old and apparently very decrepit Bairagee plucked my sleeve and said: ‘Never expect to see any one, but always be ready to answer if they speak to you; it is not wise to peer outside of yourself for the great followers of Vasudeva: look rather within.’

“This amazed me, as I was expecting him to beg or to ask me for information. Before my wits returned, he had with a few steps mingled with a group of people, and in vain searched I for him: he had disappeared. But the lesson is not lost.

“To-morrow I return to I——.

“Very wearying indeed in a bodily sense was the work of last week and especially of last evening, and upon laying down on my mat last night after continuing work far into the night I fell quickly sound asleep. I had been sleeping some hour or two when with a start I awoke to find myself in perfect solitude and only the horrid howling of the jackals in the jungle to disturb me. The moon was brightly shining and I walked over to the window of this European modeled house threw it open and looked out. Finding that sleep had departed, I began again on those palm leaves. Just after I had begun, a tap arrested my attention and I opened the door. Overjoyed was I then to see Kunâla standing there, once more unexpected.

“‘Put on your turban and come with me,’ he said and turned away.

“Thrusting my feet into my sandals, and catching up my turban, I hurried after him, afraid that the master would get beyond me, and I remain unfortunate at losing some golden opportunity.

“He walked out into the jungle and turned into an unfrequented path. The jackals seemed to recede into the distance; now and then in the mango trees overhead, the flying foxes rustled here and there, while I could distinctly hear the singular creeping noise made by a startled snake as it drew itself hurriedly away over the leaves. Fear was not in my breast for master was in front. He at last came to a spot that seemed bare of trees, and bending down, seemed to press his hand into the grass. I then saw that a trap door or entrance to a stairway very curiously contrived, was there. Stairs went down into the earth. He went down and I could but follow. The door closed behind me, yet it was not dark. Plenty of light was there, but where it came from I cared not then nor can I now, tell. It reminded me of our old weird tales told us in youth of pilgrims going down to the land of the Devas where, although no sun was seen, there was plenty of light.

“At the bottom of the stairs was a passage. Here I saw people but they did not speak to me and appeared not to even see me although their eyes were directed at me. Kunâla said nothing but walked on to the end, where there was a room in which were many men looking as grand as he does but two more awful, one of whom sat at the extreme end.”

* * * * * * * *

[Here there is a confused mass of symbols and ciphers which I confess I cannot decipher, and even if I had the ability to do so, I would check myself, because I surmise that it is his own way of jotting down for his own remembrance, what occurred in that room. Nor do I think that even a plain reading of it would give the sense to any one but the writer himself, for this reason, that it is quite evidently fragmentary. For instance, I find among the rest, a sort of notation of a division of states or planes: whether of consciousness, of animated, or of elemental life, I cannot tell; and in each division are hieroglyphs that might stand for animals, or denizens of the astral world, or for anything else—even for ideas only, so I will proceed at the place of his returning.]

“Once more I got out into the passage, but never to my knowledge went up those steps, and in a moment more was I again at my door. It was as I left it, and on the table I found the palm leaves as I dropped them, except that beside them was a note in Kunâla’s hand, which read:

“‘Nilakant—strive not yet to think too deeply on those things you have just seen. Let the lessons sink deep into your heart, and they will have their own fruition. To-morrow I will see you.’ * * * *

“What a very great blessing is mine to have had Kunâla’s company for so many days even as we went to——. Very rarely however he said a few words of encouragement and good advice as to how I should go on. He seems to leave me as to that to pick my own way. This is right, I think, because otherwise one would never get any individual strength or power of discrimination. Happy were those moments, when alone at midnight, we then had conversation. How true I then found the words of the Agroushada Parakshai to be:

“‘Listen while the Sudra sleeps like the dog under his hut, while the Vaysa dreams of the treasures that he is hoarding up, while the Rajah sleeps among his women. This is the moment when just men, who are not under the dominion of their flesh, commence the study of the sciences.’[90]

“The midnight hour must have powers of a peculiar nature. And I learned yesterday from glancing into an Englishman’s book, that even those semi barbarians speak of that time as ‘the witching hour,’ and it is told me that among them ‘witching’ means to have magic power. * * * *

“We stopped at the Rest House in B—— yesterday evening, but found it occupied and so we remained in the porch for the night. But once more I was to be blessed by another visit with Kunâla to some of his friends whom I revere and who will I hope bless me too.

“When every one had quieted down he told me to go with him to the sea which was not far away. We walked for about three quarters of an hour by the seashore, and then entered as if into the sea. At first a slight fear came into me, but I saw that a path seemed to be there, although water was all around us. He in front and I following, we went for about seven minutes, when we came to a small island; on it was a building and on top of that a triangular light. From the sea shore, the island would seem like an isolated spot covered all over by green bushes. There is only one entrance to go inside. And no one can find it out unless the occupant wishes the seeker to find the way. On the island we had to go round about for some space before we came in front of the actual building. There is a little garden in front and there was sitting another friend of Kunâla with the same expression of the eyes as he has. I also recognized him as one of those who was in the room underground. Kunâla seated himself and I stood before them. We stayed an hour and saw a portion of the place. How very pleasant it is! And inside he has a small room where he leaves his body when he himself moves about in other places. What a charming spot, and what a delightful smell of roses and various sorts of flowers! How I should wish to visit that place often. But I cannot indulge in such idle dreams, nor in that sort of covetousness. The master of the place put his blessing hand upon my head, and we went away back to the Rest House and to the morrow full of struggles and of encounters with men who do not see the light, nor hear the great voice of the future; who are bound up in sorrow because they are firmly attached to objects of sense. But all are my brothers and I must go on trying to do the master’s work which is only in fact the work of the Real Self which is All and in All.”

NOTES ON THE CABBALAH OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

BY PERMISSION OF BRO. J. RALSTON SKINNER (McMillan Lodge, No. 141).

II.

Ginsburg and others tell us that Raymond Lully and John Picus de Mirandola had acquired knowledge of the Hebrew and the Caballah. Mirandola studied Hebrew and Cabbalistic theology under Jochanan Aleman, who came to Italy from Constantinople, and—“found that there is more Christianity in the Cabbalah than Judaism; he discovered in it proof for the doctrine of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Divinity of Christ, the heavenly Jerusalem, the fall of the angels, the order of the angels,” and so on, and so on. “In 1486, when only 24 years old, he published 900 _theses_, which were placarded in Rome, and which he undertook to defend in the presence of all European scholars, whom he invited to the Eternal City, promising to defray their traveling expenses. Among the theses was the following: ‘No science yields greater proof of the Divinity of Christ than magic and the Cabbalah.’”

Through Picus de Mirandola, Reuchlin became aware of this phase of Hebrew philosophy or theosophy, as, by a school of the rabbins, a recognized appurtenant to the Hebrew Scriptures. He not only examined into the Cabbalah to satisfy his thirst for facts of literature, but, on investigation, became a convert to the system,—“within two years of beginning to learn the language, published (1494) his De Verbo Mirifico, and afterwards (1516) with more matured learning, his De Arte Cabbalistica.” And thus the joint efforts of Mirandola and Reuchlin established a field of literature, of the Cabbalah, which has always flourished, and will continue to flourish so long as our civilization shall last.

It is interesting and useful to place this great fact, but it is a matter of especially great weight and value that the knowledge of the Cabbalah was sprung upon the world of letters, with, and _as an essential part of_ the Reformation itself. Not that the philosophy of the Cabbalah became engrafted into the study and development of Hebrew (and consequently Christian) theosophy:—for, because of lack of knowledge of what the Cabbalah really was, such could not be the case,—but it was entitled so to be, and the assertion of its existence as a real element of Scripture was, even then, so strongly and enduringly made, that, though an unknown quantity except by name, it has ever since stood firmly, and ready to have such claim made good:—with a vitality that has outworn four hundred years of patient waiting.

Of course there was a field of Jewish Cabbalistic literature,—not open, but confined, for the most part, as a kind of sacred mystery, within narrow and restricted limits, even among the Jews themselves. It was of the same nature with what is called, to-day, The Speculative Philosophy of Free Masonry, an ever seemingly substantive embodiment out of surrounding shadowy mists and mental fogs, wherein a doubt always exists whether after all there is in the nebulous matter of the mist itself anything from whence substance may congeal; or, it may, for illustration, be compared to the city of King Arthur, before whose gate Gareth, standing, says: “But these my men—(your city moves so weirdly in the mist),—doubt if the King be King at all, or come from Fairy land: and whether this be built by magic, and by fairy kings and queens, or whether there be any city at all, or all a vision.” It is necessary to make a brief mention of this literature with its sources; both that these may be known, and that a foundation may be laid for what is stated as to the reality of Cabbalah, and its significance.

There is almost no teaching of the Cabbalah in the English language except the Essay by Christian D. Ginsburg, LL. D., to which we have referred. Dr. Ginsburg says: “It is a system of religious philosophy, or more properly, of theosophy, which has not only exercised for hundreds of years an extraordinary influence on the mental development of so shrewd a people as the Jews, but has captivated the minds of some of the greatest thinkers of Christendom in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and which claims the greatest attention of both the philosopher and theologian.”

It is faintly claimed that some statements applying to Cabbalah are to be found in the Talmud; but apart from this we have:—(1) The Commentary on the Ten Sephiroth, by R. Azariel ben Manachem (1160-1238), who was a pupil of Isaac the Blind, and master of the celebrated R. Moses Nachmanides, (2) The Book Sohar (Light), or Midrash, Let there be Light, claimed to have been a revelation from God, communicated through R. Simon ben Jochai, A. D. 70-110, to his select disciples. This book has been pronounced by the ablest critics to have been a pseudograph of the thirteenth century,—the composition of Moses de Leon, who lived in Spain; who, by the admission of his wife and daughter after his death, first published and sold it as the production of R. Simon ben Jochai, and (3) The Book Jetzirah or Book of Creation,—of unknown age and authorship, but mentioned as early as the eleventh century in the Book Chazari, by R. Jehudah Ha Levi,—as the literary sources for the entire system and scope thereof, so far as disclosed. It is from these sources that the entire volume of Cabbalistic literature has had rise and development.

From these sources, and the numberless treatises and expositions thereon, the history of the subject matter and containment of Cabbalah is laid down as follows: It was first taught by God himself to a select company of angels. After the fall the angels taught it to Adam. From Adam it passed to Noah, thence to Abram, the friend of God who carried it to Egypt. Moses, who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt, was initiated into it from the land of his birth. He covertly laid down the principles of its doctrines in the first four books of the Pentateuch, but withheld them from Deuteronomy (“this constitutes the former the ‘_man_’ and the latter the ‘_woman_’”). Moses initiated the seventy elders, and they again passed the sacred and secret doctrine down to the heads (continually imparting the same) of the Church of Israel. David and Solomon were adepts in it. No one dared to write it down till the supposititious Simon ben Jochai, who really lived and taught, as one of the most celebrated doctors, at the time of the destruction of the second temple; and his teachings are claimed to constitute the Book of Sohar, published, as already said, by Moses de Leon of Valladolid, in Spain. But Ben Jochai, or whoever worked under his name, though he wrote and published, as said, covered the true doctrine by veils, so that no one but an initiate, or, as the saying runs, “by the gift of God,” could penetrate behind them;—though the veils of the words still plainly held the secret doctrine, to those who could see. The Cabbalah, as an exposition to the Sacred Text of Holy Writ, was claimed to contain the Wisdom of God in every branch and department of His working,—and all terms and descriptions were exhausted to express the ineffable reward to him who might be permitted to penetrate behind the veil, either by initiation or “by the gift of God;” satiating every function of enjoyment, and affording an indescribable bliss, in the ultimate possessions of the Divine conceptions.

More definitely:—The exposition of the system treats of the impersonal First Cause manifesting within the limits of the finite. “Before he gave any shape to this world, before he produced any form, he was alone, without a form and resemblance to anything else.[91] Who, then, can comprehend him, how he was before the creation, since he was formless? Hence, it is forbidden to represent him by any form, similitude, or even by his sacred name, by a single letter or a single point; and to this, the words, ‘Ye saw no manner of similitude on the day the Lord spake unto you’ (Deut. iv. 15)—_i. e._, ye have nor seen anything which you could represent by any form or likeness,—refer” (Sohar 42 b, 43 a, Sec. AB):—And this shows clearly enough that the supposed sacred names of Scripture do not have reference to the Impersonal First Cause, as its essential designations, but rather to its creations. * * Then—“The creation, or the universe, is simply the garment of God _woven from the Deity’s own substance_ (The Impersonal manifesting in the cosmos, in modes to be expressed by the sacred names and otherwise). For although, to reveal himself to us, the Concealed of all the Concealed, sent forth the _Ten Emanations_ (the Ten Sephiroth) called the Form of God, Form of the _Heavenly-Man_, yet since even this luminous form was too dazzling for our vision, it had to assume another form, or had to put on another garment which consists of the _universe_. The universe, therefore, or the visible world, is a further expansion of the Divine Substance, and is called in the Cabbalah, ‘_the Garment of God_.’” (Sohar i, 2 a)—“The whole universe, however, was incomplete, and did not receive its finishing stroke till _man_ was formed, who is the _acme of the creation_, and the macrocosm uniting in himself the totality of beings,—‘the heavenly Adam,’ _i. e._, the Ten Sephiroth, who emanated from the highest primordial obscurity (The Impersonal First Cause), created the _earthly Adam_.” (Sohar ii, 70 b). This is more definitely expressed in another place, where it says:—“Jehovah (for which stands the letter _jod_, or _j or i_) descended on Sinai _in fire_,” the word for which is _a-sh_ fire. Let the _j, or i_, the signature for Jehovah, descend in the midst of this word, and one will have _a i sh_, which is the Hebrew word for _man_ man; thus _man_ became out of the _Divine fire_——“Man is both the import and the highest degree of creation, for which reason he was formed on the sixth day. As soon as man was created every thing was complete, including the upper and nether world, for every thing _is comprised in man_. He unites in himself all forms.” (Sohar iii, 48 a)—“But after he created the form of the Heavenly Man, he used it as a chariot (Mercabah) (wheels, circles) wherein to descend, and wishes to be called by this form, which is the sacred name Jehovah.” (Sohar i, 42 b, 43 a, section AB.)

It is to be observed especially, as to the ground work of the Cabbalah, that the first manifestation was in the “_Ten Sephiroth_,” or Emanations, so called, out of which came the “_Heavenly Man_”; and the human or earth man represented these Ten Sephiroth in himself. “The lower world is made after the pattern of the upper world; everything which exists in the upper world is to be found as it were in a copy on earth; still the whole is one.” (Sohar i, 20 a.)

Thus it is that the compass of the Cabbalah, by Sohar, is idealized in the form of a _man_. This man represented the combination of the Ten Sephiroth, or, as systematically called, _Emanations_, in which as a unity the whole cosmos existed in its segregated detail; and through which all knowledge thereof, physically, psychically and spiritually, was to be had, in passiveness and in activities;—and through which these activities, as of all potencies—as of angels and powers,—had their special existences. These Emanations had names of qualities, as Beauty, Strength, Wisdom, etc., etc., each name being located upon one of nine parts marked out on the form of the man; each of which was called a _Sephira_. The totality of the man being taken as _one_, this added to the nine made ten; and as a number this was the letter _jod_, already spoken of. The locations of these Sephiroth (shown as circles) are united one with another, so that one Emanation may flow into another; one into all, and all into one;—and the 22 letters of the alphabet with the 10 vowel sounds, are found therein, or thereby; and these are called the “_thirty-two ways or canals of Wisdom_”; and as these letters stood also for numbers, there is in this containment every possible mode of expression _by word and number_. The exposition of the Old Testament, especially the Thora, in the secret or esoteric way, is claimed under this statement;—that is, by numbering the letters of words, and by their permutations and changes of positions; so that this is one of the functions of the Emanations or Sephiroth; and a mighty one for disclosing the Wisdom of God.

The Book Jetzirah deals especially with these letters and numbers: “_By thirty-two paths of secret wisdom_, the Eternal, the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, the living God, the King of the Universe, the Merciful and Gracious, the High and Exalted God, He who inhabiteth eternity, Glorious and Holy is His name, hath created the world by means of numbers, phonetic language and writing.”

The Commentary on the Ten Sephiroth, by R. Azariel Ben Menachem, as its name implies, is directly in consonance with the Sohar.

As to the Book Jetzirah, Dr. Ginsburg says: “The _Book Jetzirah_, which the Cabbalists claim is their oldest document, has really nothing in common with the cardinal doctrines of the Cabbalah. There is not a word in it bearing on the En Soph (Impersonal First Cause), the Archetypal Man,” and so on, and so on. But here the doctor is at fault for this reason:—The word “_Sephiroth_” means “_Numbers_,” and the _Ten Sephiroth_ means the Ten Numbers; and in the Cabbalistic way these are composed out of a geometrical shape. The circle is the first _naught_, but out of this naught develops a straight vertical line, viz: the diameter of this circle. This is the first _One_; and having a first one, from it comes 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 and 9,—the circle or naught and its diameter one, the embracement of all together, forming the comprehensive _Ten_, or Ten Numbers, Ten Sephiroth, Ten Emanations, the Heavenly Man, the great Jah, of the ineffable name. Hence the contents of the book Jetzirah are of the very essence of the other two, and all are one.

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text book for Students in Mysticism._

BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi:

“Last night a nightingale sung his song, perched on a high cypress, when the rose, on hearing his plaintive warbling, shed tears in the garden, soft as the dews of heaven.”

(CONTINUED.)

NOTES ON _JELALUDDIN RUMI_—Continued:

—Space forbids us to dwell any longer upon the miracles of this wonderful man of whom _Shems Tebreez_ once asserted, in Jelal’s College, that “whosoever wished to see again the prophets, had only to look on Jelal, who possessed all their qualifications; more especially of those to whom revelations were made, whether by angelic communications, or whether in visions; the chief of such qualities being serenity of mind with perfect inward confidence and consciousness of being one of God’s elect. Go and look upon Jelal, if thou wish to comprehend the signification of that saying ‘_the learned are the heirs of the prophets_,’ together with something beyond that, which I will not here specify.”

We must add a few passages from Jelal’s lectures, &c. These were his last instructions, “_the best of mankind is he who benefiteth men_” and, “_the best of speech is that which is short and to the purpose_.” Jelal once at a funeral spoke thus: “The ordinary reciters, by their services, bear witness that the deceased lived a Muslim. My singers, however, testify that he was a Muslim, a believer, and a lover of God.” He added: “Besides that; when the human spirit, after years of imprisonment in the cage and dungeon of the body, is at length set free, and wings its flight to the source whence it came, is not this an occasion for rejoicings, thanks, and dancings? The soul in ecstacy, soars to the presence of the Eternal; and stirs up others to make proof of courage and self sacrifice. If a prisoner be released from a dungeon and be clothed with honour, who would doubt that rejoicings are proper? So, too, the death of a saint is an exactly parallel case.” Once, when requested to give a lecture to men of science, he answered: “A tree laden with fruit, had its branches bowed down to the earth therewith. At the time, doubts and gainsayings prevented the gardeners from gathering and enjoying the fruit. The tree has now raised its head to the skies, and beyond. Can they hope, then, to pluck and eat of its fruit?”—

Jelal’s chief work, and the reference-book of Sufism, is the _Mesnevi_ (_Mathnawi_) usually known as the _Mesneviyi Sherif, or Holy Mesnevi_. It is truly one of the most famous books of the East, studied and commented upon wherever dogmatic religion has been abandoned for esoteric truth.

From the preface we quote the following:

“This is the book of the Rhymed Couplets (Mathnawi, Mesnevi). It contains the roots of the roots of the roots of the one (one true) Religion (of Islam); and treats of the discovery of the mysteries of reunion and sure knowledge. It is the Grand Jurisprudence of God, the most glorious Law of the Deity, the most manifest Evidence of the Divine Being. The refulgence thereof “is like that of a lantern in which is a lamp”[92] that scatters beams more bright than the morn. It is the paradise of the heart, with springs and foliage. One of these springs is “the fount named Salsabil”[93] by the brethren of this religious order;[94] but, by saints and those miraculously endowed, it is called “the Good Station,”[95] and “the Best Resting place.”[96] The just shall eat and drink therein, and the righteous shall rejoice and be glad thereof. Like the Egyptian Nile, it is a beverage for the patient, but a delusion to the people of Pharaoh and to blasphemers; even as God, whose name be glorified, hath said: “He misleads therewith many, and He guides therewith many; but He misleads not therewith (any), save the wicked.”[97]

“It is a comfort to man’s breast, an expeller of cares. It is an exposition of the Quran, an amplification of spiritual aliments, and a dulcifier of the disposition; written “by the hands of honorable scribes”[98] who inscribed theron the prohibition: “Let none touch it save the purified.”[99] It is (a revelation) “sent down (from on high) by the Lord of (all) the worlds,[100] which vanity approacheth not from before, nor from behind,”[101] which God watches over and observes, He being “the best of a Preserver,”[102] and “The Most Compassionate of the merciful ones,”[103] unto whom pertain (many) titles, his utmost title being God, whose name be exalted.”

Further on he says: “I have exerted myself to enlarge this book of poetry in rhyming couplets, which contains strange and rare narratives, beautiful sayings, and recondite indications, a path for the devout, and a garden for the pious, short in its expressions, numerous in their applications.”—

The Mesnevi is said to contain twenty-six thousand six hundred and sixty couplets and a large part of them ought to be cited here, but space forbids. We offer a few selections entirely at random.

The strength of strongest man can merely split a stone; The Power that informs man’s soul can cleave the moon. If man’s heart but untie the mouth of mystery’s sack, His soul soon soars aloft beyond the starry track. If heaven’s mystery divulged should, ‘haps become, The whole world ‘twould burn up, as fire doth wood consume.— Saints’ ecstacy springs from a glimpse of God, his pride. His station’s that of intimate. He’s bridegroom; God is bride. A bride’s veiled graces are not seen by groom alone; Her unveiled charms solely to him in private shown. In state she first appears before the people all; Her veil removed, the groom alone is at her call.— Who’s not received the gift of knowledge from above, Will ne’er believe a stock could sigh and moan for love. He may pretend to acquiesce; not from belief; He says: “Tis so,” to scape a name much worse than thief. All they who’re not convinced that God’s “Be” is enough, Will turn away their face; this tale they’ll treat as “stuff.” If he (man) from _esse_, reach not _posse’s_ state, he’s _nil_.— (God) Himself He’s veiled in man, as sun behind a cloud. This seek to comprehend. God knows what mysteries shroud. The sun He is;—the sun of spirit, not of sky; By light from Him man lives;—and angels eke, forby.— The soul it is originates all vital force.— The Prophet hath assureth us God’s the soul of all.— The world’s renewed each moment, though we still remain In ignorance that permanence can change sustain. Life, like a river, ceaselessly, is still renewed.— Each night Thou settest free the soul from trap of flesh, To scan and learn the hidden records of Thy wish. Each night the soul is like a bird from cage set free, To wander. Judge and judgment, then, it does not see. By night the pris’ner loses sense of bars, of chains; By night the monarch knows no state, no pomp retains; The merchant counts no more, in sleep, his gains and loss; The prince and peasant, equal, on their couches toss. The Gnostic is so e’en by day, when wide awake; For God hath said: “Let quietude care of him take.” Asleep to all the things of earth by night, by day, As pen in writer’s hand he doth his guide obey.— Of this, the Gnostic’s privilege, a trace’d suffice To rob of sleep and reason vulgar souls of ice. His spirit wanders in the groves of th’ absolute. His soul is easy; body, still, calm, quiet, mute.— In sleep thou bearest no burden; borne thou art, instead.

* * * * *

Know then, thy sleep’s a foretaste of what is to come, From the rapt state of saints arriving at their home. The saints were well prefigured by the “Sleeper’s Seven,” “Their sleep,” “their stretchings,” “their awaking” lead to heaven.— Each night, in profound sleep our consciousness sinks, Becomes non-existent;—waves on seashore’s brinks.— The body’s a cage and a thorn to the soul. Hence, seldom are body and soul wholly whole.— Both men and fairies pris’ners are in earthly cage.— If lifted could be from our souls the dark veil, Each word of each soul would with miracles trail.— The soul unto the flesh is joined, by God’s decree, That it may be afflicted,—trials made to see.— Th’ Infinites’ lovers finite’s worshippers are not Who seek the finite lose th’ Infinite, as we wot, When finite with the finite falls in love, perforce, His loved one soon returns to her infinite source.— In non-existence mirrored, being we may see;— Annihilate thy darksome self,—thy being’s pall. Let thy existence in God’s essence be enrolled, As copper in alchemists’ bath is turned to gold. Quit “I” and “We,” which o’er thy heart exert control. ’Tis egotism, estranged from God, that clogs thy soul.— Discharge thyself of every particle of self; So shalt thou see thyself pure, free from soil of pelf. Within thy heart thou’lt see the wisdom of the saints, Without a book, a teacher, or professor’s plaints.— Thyself * * purge of self. Abstraction thou shalt gain.— Both love and soul are occult, hidden and concealed.— A lover’s whole life is but self-sacrifice; He wins not a heart, save his own heart’s the price.— When love for God is lighted in the human heart, It fiercely burns; it suffers not effects’ dull smart; —— love is love’s own sign, giv’n from the highest sphere.— The heart’s with God,—the heart is God,—boundless, immense! From all eternity, the figures of all things, Unnumbered, multitudinous, gleam in hearts’ wings. To all eternity each new-created form In heart of saint reflected is, most multiform.— Have patience, thou too, brother, with thy needle’s smart. So shalt thou, ‘scape the sting of conscience in thy heart. They who have conquered,—freed themselves from body’s thrall, Are worshipped in the spheres, the sun, the moon, stars, all. Whoever’s killed pride’s demon in his earthly frame, The sun and clouds are slaves, to do his bidding, tame. His heart can lessons give of flaming to the lamp; The very sun not equals him in ardent vamp.— The inward hymn that’s sung by all the hearts of saints Commences: “O component parts of that thing _Not_.” Now since they take their rise in this _Not_, negative, They put aside the hollow phantom where we live. Ideas and essences become “things” at His word.— This world’s a negative; the positive seek thou. All outward forms are cyphers; search, the sense to know.— Mankind the songs of fairies never hear at all, They are not versed in fairies’ ways, their voices small.— “Allah, Allah!”[104] cried the sick man, racked with pain the long night through; Till with prayer his heart grew tender, till his lips like honey grew. But at morning came the Tempter; said “Call louder, child of Pain! See if Allah ever hear or answers ‘Here am I,’ again.” Like a stab, the cruel cavil through his brain and pulses went; To his heart an icy coldness, to his brain a darkness sent. Then before him stands Elias; says, “My child, why thus dismayed? Dost repent thy former fervor? Is thy soul of prayer afraid?” “Ah!” he cried, “I’ve called so often; never heard the ‘Here am I;’ And I thought, God will not pity; will not turn on me his eye.” Then the grave Elias answered, “God said, Rise, Elias, go Speak to him, the sorely tempted; lift him from his gulf of woe. Tell him that his very longing is itself an answering cry; That his prayer, ‘Come, gracious Allah!’ is my answer ‘Here am I.’” ..When thy mind is dazed by colour’s magic round, All colour’s lost in one bright light diffused around. Those colours, too, all vanish from our view by night. We learn from this, that colour’s only seen through light. The sense of colour-seeing’s not from light distinct. So, too, the sudden rainbow of our mind’s instinct. From sunlight, and the like, all outer colours rise; The inward tints that mark our minds, from God’s sunrise. The light that lights the eye’s the light that’s in the heart. Eye’s light is but derived from what illumes that part. The light that lights the heart’s the light that comes of God, Which lies beyond the reach of sense and reason, clod! By night we have no light; no colour can we see. Thus, light we learn by darkness, its converse. Agree! A seeing of the light, perception is of tints; And these distinguished are through darkness gloomy hints. Our griefs and sorrows were by God first introduced, That joy to sense apparent thence should be reduced Occult things, thus, by converse, grow apparent, all. Since God has no converse, apparent He can’t fall. Sight first saw light, and then the colours saw, From converse converse stands forth, as Frank from Negro. By converse of the light, distinguish we the light; A converse ‘tis that converse shows unto our sight. The light of God no converse has in being’s bound; By converse, then, man has not its distinction found. Our eyes cannot distinguish God, decidedly; Though He distinguish Moses and the Mount from thee.—

The doctrine, which Jelal was most emphatic about was the extinguishment of Self, and his teachings are quite characteristic for him, though the general doctrine is a common one among the Sufis. _He argues for simplicity._ He tells us a story about a dispute between Chinamen and Greeks before the Sultan, as to who is the more skilful of the two nations, in the art of decoration. The Chinese ask for and get thousands of colours and work hard, while the Greeks ask for no color; they only polish their front,

“Effacing every hue with nicest care,”

and when the Sultan came to examine the relative merit of Chinese gorgeousness and Greek simplicity,

“Down glides a sunbeam through the rifted clouds, And, lo the colours of that rainbow house Shine, all reflected on those glassy walls That face them, rivalling: The sun hath painted With lovelier blending, on that stony mirror The colours spread by man so artfully.— Know them, O friend! such Greeks the Sufis are, Having one sole and simple task,—to make Their hearts a stainless mirror for their God.—”

(_To be continued._)

THE SINGING SILENCES.

Theosophists may be interested in an experience which I have named as above; “Singing”—because of a peculiar resonance which I then hear; “Silences”—because this resonance only reaches me in moments of retirement and silence.

Occurring throughout a lifetime, at infrequent and remote intervals, they have, since I became a Theosophist, increased until they embrace all isolated moments. They consist of a resonance difficult to describe, but resembling the vibrant note of a distant locomotive, resounding in the night atmosphere of a mountain gorge, and partaking somewhat of that melodious wail caused by running the moistened finger around the rim of a glass. Sometimes, though rarely, a low orchestral harmony unites briefly with this monotone. Unable to find any word which conveyed this cadence, I now discover that the word “_Aum_,” (hitherto unknown to me,) does so exactly, the A sound being the opening note, which prolongs itself into the M, or closing sound, when the keynote is then struck over again. Thus the “Singing Silences” mainly consist of innumerable repetitions of the word “Aum,” distinctly and musically uttered, having a resonant or vibrant quality, and a measured rise and fall, such as all sound assumes if one alternately closes and uncloses the ear. If the analyst will alternately inhale air with the mouth and expel it with the nostrils, he will gain a fair idea of this sound minus its musical vibration.

It is, moreover, invariably accompanied by a sensation of physical repose, even peace, and a perfect mental quiescence which falls about me like an enfolding mantle. The frequency of these moments has greatly increased since my attention has been specifically turned to them. Hitherto, beyond a momentary curiosity as to their nature, I attached no importance to their occurrence; the very rarity caused them to be easily forgotten in the whirl of every day life; I admitted to myself with surprise, however, that my innumerable pleasures, my keen enjoyments, shrank to nothing before the deep delight of these brief but peculiar moments, and I applied to them the opening lines of Faber’s hymn to music.

Reading the article on “Aum” in the April “PATH,” I was startled by such passages as this: “There is, pervading the whole universe, a homogeneous resonance, sound, or tone, which acts, so to speak, as the awakener or vivifying power, stirring all the molecules into action.” I then called to mind various facts connected with Sound, as for instance, that a regiment marching over a bridge is ordered to “break step,” lest the regular footfall strike the “coefficient of vibration,” which would destroy the bridge: also that the measured trot of the smallest dog will cause a perceptible vibration in a wire bridge, no matter what its size. Moreover, the monotonous sound of the railroad, in time changes the texture of the car wheels and axles from fibrous into crystalline, with consequent fracture.

In Reichenbach’s “Researches on Magnetism,” we find this statement. * * * “The following laws prevail in nature. _A._ There resides in matter a peculiar force, hitherto overlooked, which, when the crystalline form has been assumed, is found acting in the line of the axes.”

Since then, the homogeneous tone acts upon all the molecules of creation, may not this singing resonance cause such a transformation of brain energy as to vivify or awaken it, in time, to the True, or Central Idea? We have seen that Sound, so to speak, polarises certain particles of matter attracting them to the earth, the great magnet, from which they came; it confers upon other particles this same magnetic power, as in the case of crystallisation; it awakens similar tones, as when several untouched harps vibrate in harmony when the musical key note is struck upon one alone. Why then may not the thought awakened by a fixed musical sound be in time attracted to the real source of that sound, of all sound? And as thought causes a disturbance among the molecules of the brain, some sound, however aerial, must accompany this vibration; does not my brain then answer this singing resonance with the note homogeneous to all the ethereal space?

In the article from “THE PATH” before quoted, I find the following lines. “Having taken the Bow, the great weapon (Om), let him place on it the arrow (the Self), sharpened by devotion; * * * Brahman is called the aim. It is to be hit by a man who is not thoughtless.” The “Singing Silences” are superinduced by meditation, thought, devotion: the closest imitation of them possible to the human voice consists in chanting, half aloud, the word “Aum,” over and over, as heretofore described. Do those Yogees who repeat “Aum” thousands of times daily, follow this practice in order to produce the resonance, or homogeneous tone, and to calm the mind, (as they claim to do,) by means of the harmonious monotony thus engendered? True, it fails to lead them to the higher knowledge, but is this not because the mental condition is self induced, like the delusive trances of self mesmerization? On the other hand, if (as they claim again,) it throws them into a trance like state or crystallisation of thought, is not this because it is after all, in some measure, akin to the natural resonance? The idea herein advanced would thus seem to be further supported, since this mechanical repetition of “Aum,” and its sedative power, is as the power of the microcosm, faintly outlining that of the macrocosm, (or real resonance,) to lead towards the calm which incubates the dawning thought and leads towards the true Illuminated State. “THE PATH” goes on to state that we are “led by the resonance, which is not the Divine Light itself, towards that Radiance which is Divine; the resonance is only the outbreathing of the first sound of the entire Aum.”

This constant and peculiar singing, provocative as it is of a peaceful abstraction so great as to exclude all outer things and thoughts, seems to induce a state which draws the hearer into the border lands of Spirit. Works on eastern travel and foreign witnesses, alike affirm that many faquirs repeat “Aum,” and also “Rama,” thousands of times, merely because they are told that such a thing is useful, while others do it with the mind fixed on realizing the True. Studious investigation always reveals a deep philosophy underlying religious forms, from which there is no reason to suppose this one to be exempt.

Listening attentively to the “Singing Silence,” I fall, after a brief space, into an unbroken and dreamless sleep which lasts for hours; hearing, without listening, I experience a sensation of physical refreshment and mental placidity. It came to me uncalled for, unnoticed, unrecognized; when finally a sense of pleasure fastened upon my mind, I idly accepted it, but without questioning, as a curious personal peculiarity. It was only when, giving myself up to thoughts of higher things, I met it upon the threshold of meditation, found it daily recurring, daily growing in distinctness and power, that I recognized it as a possible psychical experience. As I never strove to produce it at the outset, so I never attempt to increase or evoke it now; I should not know how to set about doing so. _It influenced me_; I have no control whatever over it. It comes as it wills, and is not subject to my command.

Is this then one of the practical significances or uses of “the word Om, as expressed in tone?” Does this bell-like resonance have such an effect upon the molecules of the human body, (including those of the brain,) as to polarize them in time to The Spirit? If there are those who doubt the existence of a great undercurrent of universal tone, described by “THE PATH” as Nada Brahma,—“the divine resonance upon which depends the evolution of the visible from the invisible,”—they will at least grant its probability when they consider that this has been admitted by some of the greatest intellects of the world, many of whom firmly believed in the “music of the spheres.” Plato taught it. Maximus Tyrius says that “the mere proper motion of the planets must create sounds, and as the planets move at regular intervals, these sounds must be harmonious.” The Cyclopœdia Britanica says, “the origin of musical sounds consists in the regular, periodic vibration of some surface in contact with the air, whereby motion is imparted to the air. The loudness or intensity of the note depends on the magnitude of the motion or pitch.” The regular motions of the planets of our system, as well as those of known moving stars, such as Sirius, may well be accompanied by a rythmical sound arising from the ether waves thus set in motion. That we do not hear it, may be due to the density of our atmosphere, yet it may be none the less transmitted along the ether waves and heard by the inner ear of those whose sense is developed. Pythagoras was the first philosopher to suggest this idea, which is mentioned by Shakespear:

“There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st But his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young eyed cherubims: _Such harmony is in immortal souls_; But while this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.”

He also speaks of it again in Pericles.

“Keppler’s idea of the universe was essentially Pythagorean and Platonic. He thought that the planetary movements were related to musical intervals.” (Cyclo. Brit.) Montaigne, Milton, Donne, Pope, Newton, Tycho-Brahe and others believed in the “music of the spheres.” Faber beautifully attributed it to the vibration caused by the shooting rays of light on their journey earthward:

“Thou art fugitive splendors made vocal As they glanced from that shining sea.”

All are agreed that the idea has come down to us from the earliest times.

Finally, if this resonance exists as the great undertone of nature, it is probable, natural and consistent that it should be a stepping stone towards reaching Spirit, since harmony and accord are vitally necessary to our progress in either the physical or the psychical world. The effect of harmonious sound on the moral nature of man has received much scientific attention in relation to its influence over the insane. The Rev. R. H. Haweis speaks of it in “Music and Morals,” as “the much neglected study of Musical Psychology.” His remarks are greatly to our present point. “What has Nature done for the musician? She has given him sound. * * Thoughts are but wandering spirits that depend for their vitality upon the magnetic current of feeling. * * * Emotion is often weakened by association with thought, whereas thoughts are always strengthened by emotion. I have endeavored to * * * * to show that there is a region of abstract emotion in human nature; * * * * that, this region of emotion consisted of infinite varieties of mental temperature that upon these temperatures or atmospheres of the soul depended the degree, and often the kind of actions of which at different times we were capable. * * Who will deny that the experience of such soul-atmospheres must leave a definite impress upon the character? * * * But if, as we have maintained, music has the power of actually creating and manipulating these mental atmospheres, what vast capacities, for good or evil must music possess!” * * * The Bible itself pays a tribute to the emotional effect and power of changing the soul’s atmosphere possessed by even such a primitive instrument as David’s Harp. “When the evil Spirit from God was upon Saul, then David took an harp, and played with his hand. So Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil Spirit departed from him.” (1 Sam. xvi, 23.) I have no doubt whatever that the acknowledged influence of music over the insane might be far more extensively used; indeed if applied judiciously to a disorganized mind, it might be as powerful an agent as galvanism in restoring healthy and pleasurable activity to the emotional regions. Who can deny then, if such a mysterious command as this is possessed by music over the realm of abstract emotion, that music itself must be held responsible for the manner in which it deals with that realm, and the kind of succession, proportion and degrees of the various emotional atmospheres it has the power of generating.

Testimony upon these various points might be multiplied, but is not the above sufficient to indicate a possibility at least that these “Singing Silences” are closely allied to “Nada Brahma,” the omnipresent sound, the vibration caused perhaps by the speeding of Light, (which is the first Divine Thought,) from the Central Sun, and in the mighty harmony of its coming, awakening and vivifying all things?

“I guess, by the stir of this music What raptures in heaven can be, Where the sound is Thy marvellous stillness, And the music is light out of Thee.” JULIUS.

ON THE SOUL OF MAN.

BEING THE REPLIES TO TWO OUT OF FORTY QUESTIONS, BY _Jacob Behmen_, IN THE YEAR 1620. FROM THE TRANSLATION MADE IN 1647.

TO THE EIGHTH QUESTION:

_After what manner doth the soule come into the Body of Man?_

MY BELOVED FRIEND: I understand this question to be meant concerning its propagation; for Moses telleth you how it came into Adam, and we have declared that before; but if you ask concerning its propagation, how it cometh into a childe in the mother’s wombe, we must put on another habit.

2. You know what is written in our third booke very punctually and at large, with many circumstances concerning its propagation; how Adam was created one Image, he was both man and woman before Eve; he had (within him) both Tincture of the Fire, and of the Water; that is soule and spirit; he should have brought his similitude out of himself, an image of himself, out of himself by his imagination and his owne Love, and that he was able to do without rending of the body.

3. For, as we have mentioned before, the soule had power to change the body into another forme, and so also it had power to bring forth a twig out of itself, according to its property, if Adam had stood out in the Triall.

4. But when he imagined according to the Omnipotence, and let in the spirit of this world into the soule, and the serpent into the Tincture, and tooke a longing in himself after the earthly fruite, to eate of evill and good, then also his Tincture conceived such an image as was half earthly; viz: a monster, into which also the Turba (the gross lower elements), then instantly insinuated itself and sought the limit (that is, filled it as far as possible).

5. And so the noble image was found in the earthly, and then destruction and death began, and Adam could not bring forth, for his omnipotence was lost.

6. And should indeed have ever been lost, if the heart of God had not instantly turned itself with the word of promise, into Adam’s soule; which did so preserve it, that its image must perish and the soule must sinke downe with the heavenly body through death into the new life, where its spirit will be renewed againe.

7. And thus Adam in impotence fell asleep; and then the second creation began, for God tooke the Tincture of the Water, as a twig out of Adam’s soule, and a rib out of Adam, and halfe of the crosse that was in Adam, and made a woman of them.

8. As you know that the woman hath the one halfe crosse in her head, and the man the other, for the spirit of the soule dwelleth in the head, in the braine, out of which spirit God hath taken a twig (_viz_: a childe out of the spirit of the soule of Adam) and hath given it to the woman.

9. And hath given the tincture of the water to her, that she should not bring forth Devills, and the man hath the tincture of fire, _viz_: the true Originall of Life.

10. And therefore the woman hath gotten the matrix, _viz_: the tincture of Venus, and the man hath the tincture of fire: understand, the woman hath the tincture of Light, which cannot awaken Life—the Life ariseth in the tincture of fire.

11. And so it cannot be otherwise now, but that they must propagate as beasts doe, in two seeds: the man soweth soule, and the woman soweth spirit; and being sowne in an earthly field, it is also brought forth after the manner of all beasts.

12. Yet nevertheless all the three principles are in the seed, but the inward cannot be knowne by the outward, for in the seed the soule is not living: but when the two tinctures are brought together, then it is a whole essence; for the soule is essentiall in the seed, and in the conception becometh substantiall.

13. For so soon as the fire is struck upon by Vulcan, the soule is wholly perfect in the essence and the spirit goeth instantly out of the soule into the tincture, and attracteth the outward dominion to itself, _viz_: the Starres together with the Aire.

14. And then it is an eternall childe, and hath the corruptible spirit also with the _Turba_ cleaving to it, which Adam tooke in by his imagination.

15. Then instantly the Turba seeketh the limit in the spirit of this world, and will enter into the limit, and so soone as the soule hath its life, the body is old enough to die: and thus, many a soule perisheth in the Essence,[105] while it is in the sulphur in the seed.

16. But that you may perceive that the man hath the tincture of the fire, and the woman the tincture of the light in the water, _viz_: the tincture of Venus; you must observe the eager imagination of both towards one another: for the seed in the essence eagerly seeketh the life, the masculine in the woman in Venus, and the feminine in the fire, in the originall of life in the man: as we have very cleerly demonstrated in the third Booke, and therefore we refer the reader thither.

17. And we answer here, that soule cometh not at all into the body, or is breathed into it from without, but the three principles have each of them its own artificer: one worketh with fire in the centre, and the other maketh tincture and water, and the third maketh the earthly _Mysterium Magnum_.[106]

18. And yet it (soule) is not any new thing, but the seed of man and woman, and is onely conceived in the mixture, and so onely a twig groweth out of the tree.[107]

TO THE ELEVENTH QUESTION:

_How and where is it seated in Man?_

A thing which is unsearchable, and yet seeketh and maketh a ground in itself; that hath its originall, and seat in its first conception, where it conceiveth itself in itself: therein is its limit, _viz_: in the most innermost, and it goeth forth out of itself, and seeketh forward, where then it always maketh one glasse according to the other, untill it finds the first again, _viz_: the unsearchable limit.

2. Thus also is the soule, it is in God conceived in the heart, and the word which conceived it was in the heart, _viz_: in the centre; and so it continueth in the figure and in the seat, as it was comprehended by the _fiat_; and so it is still at this day.

3. It dwelleth in three principles: but the heart is its originall; it is the inward fire in the heart, in the inward blood of the heart; and the spirit of it which hath a glance from the fire is in the tincture: for it is cloathed with the tincture, and burneth in the heart.

4. And the spirit moveth upon the heart in the bosom of the heart, where both principles part themselves, and it burneth in the tincture in a brimstony light: and diffuseth itself abroad into all the members of the whole body: for the tincture goeth through all the members.

5. But the true Firesmith in the centre—master workman—sitteth in the heart, and governeth with the spirit in the head where it hath its counsell house, _viz_: the mind and senses, also the five chief counsellors, _viz_: the five senses, which arise from the five spirits of understanding, as we have declared in our third booke; and in our second, and in our first.[108]

6. The soule is indeed seated in the inward principle, but it moveth even in the outward, _viz_: in the starres and elements, and if it be not an ape, and suffer itself to be captivated, it hath power enough to rule them, and if the soule plungeth itself into God, the outward must be obedient to it.

7. And if it cometh againe into the outward, riding upon the chariot of the bride, and so have the Holy Ghost for an assistant, no assault of the Devill is of any consequence, it destroyeth his nest, and driveth him out, and he must stand in scorne and shame.

8. And this is our answer to this question; but it must not be so understood as that if a man be beheaded, and so his blood gush out and the outward life perishes, this reacheth the soule and killeth that; no, it loseth one principle indeed thereby, but not even the essence of that principle, for that essence followeth it in the tincture, in the spirit, as a shadow.

9. For the outward essence reacheth not the inward in the soule, but onely by the imagination; there is nothing else in this world, no fire, nor sword, that can touch the soule, or put it to death,[109] but onely the imagination; that is its poyson.

10. For it originally proceeded from the imagination, and remaineth in it eternally.

LIVING THE HIGHER LIFE.

[_Concluded from July Number._]

Needless to say, that such vows were conscientiously kept, and that those who were not really able to do so never made such promises nor retired from the side of their family, but chose to belong to the first class of married people. This second class of persons who thus retired into the forest and became hermits, were called Vanaprasthas. They always obtained the full consent[110] of their near relatives and renounced “pleasures” and material prosperity (money making, etc.).

The fourth highest order of life was complete renunciation (Sannyasis). These were the blessed few who had, then and there, in each incarnation, got out of family defects. Only those _were_ admitted into this order whom the defects of no family could affect. Long before their admission into this order, they had, by fulfilling family duties, successively, incarnation after incarnation gone far beyond the reach of family defects. Brahmacharis and Kannikas could, after they had discharged family duties, become Sannyasis. All except those belonging to the second order of life, were called upon and did take a vow to give up one or more of their dearest and strongest defects.

Such, my friends, were the Laws of Manu. If any of you could establish a community on a better foundation, I should be happy to give up my allegiance to the great Sage, Saviour, and Legislator. As every Manu establishes the same Manava Dharma again and again, and as the Manus are higher than Buddha and other founders of religions, I should call upon you to pay all possible attention to this subject. Manu is higher, because he overshadows a Buddha.

I must request the readers, to study every word and the whole of this paper (if it deserves to be so called) and not tear it piece-meal or interpret passages and phrases in it, as they please. I must add, that by “family duties” I do not at all mean sacrificing your duty or conviction and Truth, to gratify the whims or selfish nature or sectarian views of any of your “relatives.” But I use the expression “family duties” in a peculiar sense, namely “that course and _only that course_ of action, speech and thoughts by which you can not only get rid of your family defects in this very incarnation, but also strengthen in yourself all the noble qualities of your family, and which will at the same time enable your relatives (parents, brothers, sisters, wife, children, etc.,) also to get rid of _the same_ defects and strengthen in themselves _the same_ good qualities—so that you might be born again and again in the same family.” “Patriotism” is used in a similar manner; and the article “Elixir of Life” (see _Theosophist_) should be read in the light of this paper.

The question is asked, “Has the dweller of the threshold an objective form; upon what does its objective form depend; does it always appear to every one in the same form as it did to Glyndon in Bulwer’s story?”

It is objective to those who have gone very far.

It depends upon (1) a certain thing I shall not here name; (2) the stage of development to which the chela or occultist has attained or is near attaining; (3) the mode of regarding elementals and the Dweller, peculiar to the chela or occultist, to his family and to his nation, or rather to the national and family legends or religion; (4) which form, more or less monstrous or incongruous, would be most frightful and overpowering to him at the critical period. Subject to the above four conditions, the Dweller assumes a form according to the manner in which the chela or occultist _has or has not fulfilled his threefold duties_, and according to the manner in which the sevenfold elements of the Dweller assert themselves upon him. The better he has fulfilled the threefold duties, the less does the Dweller affect him. Of course the form is not necessarily the same for every one.

Why did the Dweller appear to Glyndon’s sister, who was not undergoing probation, and why in the same form?

Because she was sympathetic and sensitive enough. The principle involved in this case is the same as in obsession.

The Dweller might either be but one elemental, or a group or several groups of elementals assuming one collective form. It is one elemental, when the crisis comes at the very commencement of the chela’s or occultist’s attempt to elevate his lower nature. This is the case when he has the least (Karmic) stamina for the “uphill path.” The later on his path is waylaid the more numerous are the elementals of which the Dweller is composed.

It need not be imagined that this appearance or influence confronts the chela only once until he reaches the first initiation, and an initiate only once during the interval between two initiations. It appears as often as the stock of his Karmic stamina falls below the minimum limit.

By Karmic stamina is meant the _phala_ (effect or fruit) of past unselfish, good Karma that has become ripened. Though the occultist might have an immense quantity of past unselfish good Karma stored up, still, if during his crisis there be not a sufficient number of present unselfish good thoughts to ripen a sufficient portion of that quantity, he finds himself destitute of the necessary stock of stamina. Few are they who have already laid up a good quantity of unselfish good Karma; and fewer still are they who have the requisite degree of unselfish and spiritual nature during the period of trial; and there are still fewer who would not rush for further Yoga development, without having all the requisite means.

When not qualified fully for it, we ought to and could go on developing ourselves in the ordinary way, and try to secure the necessary means by leading an unselfish life and setting an example to others, and this is the stage of nearly all ordinary Theosophists. They, in common with all their fellows, are influenced by a “Dweller,” which is the effect upon them of their own, their family, and national defects; and although they may never, in this life, see objectively any such form, the influence is still there, and is commonly recognized as “bad inclinations and discouraging thoughts.”

Seek then, to live the Higher life by beginning now to purify your thoughts by good deeds, and by right speech. MURDHNA JOTI.

MUSINGS ON THE TRUE THEOSOPHIST’S PATH.

“The way of inward peace is in all things to conform to the pleasure and disposition of the Divine Will. Such as would have all things succeed and come to pass according to their own fancy, are not come to know this way; and therefore lead a harsh and bitter life; always restless and out of humor, without treading the way of peace.”

Know then Oh Man, that he who seeks the hidden way, can only find it through the door of life. In the hearts of all, at some time, there arises the desire for knowledge. He who thinks his desire will be fulfilled, as the little bird in the nest, who has only to open his mouth to be fed; will very truly be disappointed.

In all nature we can find no instance where effort of some kind is not required. We find there is a natural result from such effort. He who would live the life or find wisdom can only do so by continued effort. If one becomes a student, and learns to look partially within the veil, or has found within his own being something that is greater than his outer self, it gives no authority for one to sit down in idleness or fence himself in from contact with the world. Because one sees the gleam of the light ahead he cannot say to his fellow “I am holier than thee” or draw the mantle of seclusion around himself.

The soul develops like the flower, in God’s sunlight, and unconsciously to the soil in which it grows. Shut out the light and the soil grows damp and sterile, the flower withers or grows pale and sickly. Each and every one is here for a good and wise reason. If we find partially _the why_ we are here, then is there the more reason that we should by intelligent contact with life, seek in it the farther elucidation of the problem. It is not the study of ourselves so much, as the thought for others that opens this door. The events of life and their causes lead to knowledge. They must be studied when they are manifested in daily life.

There is no idleness for the Mystic. He finds his daily life among the roughest and hardest of the labors and trials of the world perhaps, but goes his way with smiling face and joyful heart, nor grows too sensitive for association with his fellows, nor so extremely spiritual as to forget that some other body is perhaps hungering for food.

It was said by one who pretended to teach the mysteries “It is needful that I have a pleasant location and beautiful surroundings.” He who is a true Theosoph will wait for nothing of the sort, either before teaching: or what is first needful, learning. It would perhaps, be agreeable, but if the Divine Inspiration comes only under those conditions, then indeed is the Divine afar from the most of us. He only can be a factor for good or teach how to approach the way, who forgetting his own surroundings, strives to beautify and illumine those of others. The effort must be for the good of others, not the gratifying of our own senses, or love for the agreeable or pleasant.

Giving thought to self will most truly prevent and overthrow your aims and objects, particularly when directed toward the occult.

Again there arises the thought “I am a student, a holder of a portion of the mystic lore.” Insidiously there steals in the thought “Behold I am a little more than other men, who have not penetrated so far.” Know then oh, man, that you are not as great even as they. He who thinks he is wise is the most ignorant of men, and he who begins to _believe_ he is wise is in greater danger than any other man who lives.

You think, oh, man, that because you have obtained a portion of occult knowledge, that it entitles you to withdraw from contact with the rest of mankind. It is not so. If you have obtained true knowledge it forces you to meet all men not only half way, but more than that to seek them. It urges you not to retire but, seeking contact, to plunge into the misery and sorrow of the world, and with your cheering word, if you have no more (the Mystic has little else) strive to lighten the burden for some struggling soul.

You dream of fame. We know no such thing as fame. He who seeks the upward path finds that all is truth; that evil is the good gone astray. Why should we ask for fame? It is only the commendation of those we strive to help.

Desire neither notice, fame or wealth. Unknown you are in retirement. Being fameless you are undisturbed in your seclusion, and can walk the broad face of the earth fulfilling your duty, as commanded, unrecognized.

If the duty grows hard, or you faint by the way, be not discouraged, fearful or weary of the world. Remember that “Thou may’st look for silence in tumult, solitude in company, light in darkness, forgetfulness in pressures, vigor in despondency, courage in fear, resistance in temptation, peace in war, and quiet in tribulation.” AMERICAN MYSTIC.

REVIEWS AND NOTES.

THEOSOPHY IN THE PRESS.—A great many articles, both editorial and otherwise, have within the past few months appeared in the daily papers, the most of them full of misstatements mixed with ignorance of not only Theosophy, but also of many things well known in literature. One paper devoted two columns to the subject, and the editor called them thorough and accurate, yet we find in it the mind cure treated as Theosophy, and then all the cranky notions the writer could rake up in New York and Boston are called “Buddhist bosh.”

But some Theosophists have been guilty of ventilating in the papers the statement that Theosophy is _astralism_, that is to say, that the object of the Society is to induce people to go into the study and practice of spirit raising, cultivating the abnormal faculties, of clairvoyance and the like, ignoring entirely the prime object, real end, aim and _raison d’etre_ of the movement—universal brotherhood and ethical teaching. In fact, we make bold to assert, from our own knowledge and from written documents, that the Mahatmas, who started the Society, and stand behind it now, are distinctly opposed to making prominent these phenomenal leanings, this hunting after clairvoyance and astral bodies, and that they have so declared most unmistakeably, stating their wish and advice to be, that “_the Society should prosper on its ethical, philosophical and moral worth alone_.”

Theosophists should haste to see that this false impression created at large, that it is a dangerous study, or that it is in any way dangerous, or that we conceal our reasons for what we are doing, is done away with. There is proof enough to their hand. India has nearly 120 branches, all studying freely and openly how best to purify their own lives, while they bring to others a knowledge of right doctrine. America has a dozen branches, nearly all of which know that the impressions referred to are ridiculous. If one or two persons in the Society imagine that the pursuit of psychical phenomena is its real end and aim and so declare, that weighs nothing against the immense body of the membership or against its widespread literature; it is merely their individual bias.

But at the same time, this imagination and misstatement are dangerous, and insidiously so. It is just the impression which the Jesuit college desires to be spread abroad concerning us, so that in one place ridicule may follow, and in another a superstitious dread of the thing; which ever of those may happen to obtain, they would be equally well pleased.

Let Theosophists attend to this, and let them not forget, that the only authoritative statement of what are the ends and objects of the Society, is contained in those printed in its by-laws. No amount of assertion to the contrary by any officer or member can change that declaration.

* * * * *

“LAST WORDS” OF MONCURE D. CONWAY.—We do not refer to a book, but to an article written by Mr. Conway in the _Forum_ upon the subject of Theosophy. He declares to those who are honored by his personal acquaintance, that that article is really “the _last word_ to be said on the subject,” and he desires all people to read it, so that their delusions may be dispelled. In this he is wise, because certain delusions held by some people would be at once dispelled upon reading his lucubrations.

Mr. Conway has been excessively bitter against Theosophy ever since he went to the headquarters in Madras, and was well treated and entertained by the unsuspecting Theosophists there. Almost in the same hour that he was being housed and fed there, he was writing to the _Glasgow Herald_—he had not yet got into the _Forum_—an article abusing those who extended to him their hospitality. He had been there but a few hours, and so great was his penetration, that in that short time, he had succeeded, as he said, in unravelling the whole mystery, in pricking the bubble. But how he grew so wise in such short space, we do not know. His solution was and is, that Madame Blavatsky produced Mahatmas, Aryan literature, Sanscrit language, Astral bodies and all the rest, by means of a curious thing called “glamour,” which is vulgarly called “pulling the wool.” But Conway gives a little more power to this glamour than the vulgar phrase, for he ascribes to it some power over the imagination. He does not say how we are to know whether or not his own perceptions were “glamoured”; for he has the hardihood to assert that Madame Blavatsky, the arch conspirator, was fool enough to unburden her heart to him, a decaying English divine, and to weakly confess upon a mere plain interrogation put by him, that “it is all glamours.” For our part, we are led to believe, from certain information and after having, subsequent to Mr. Conway’s return to London, conversed with him, that the “glamour” used on the occasion, was so powerful as to affect Mr. Conway’s perception to such an extent, that he is willing to accuse himself of such a foolish thing as trying to make us believe that Blavatsky made a full confession _to him_. It is really “all glamours”; but after all, the _Forum_ is not a bad sort of a magazine for Theosophy to get into, even through the instrumentality of this “glamoured” clergyman.

However, as Theosophy sometimes has prophets, we hope and trust, that his own entitlement of his thoughts on the subject may not be fateful, and not be his “last words.”

* * * * *

SINNETT.—In our July issue a printer’s error gave the wrong title to Mr. Sinnett’s new book. It is called “_United_” and not _Union_, as was printed in July.

THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITIES.

NEW YORK: THE ARYAN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY continues to publish its short Abridgement of Discussions, which are circulated to all Branches, and have met with commendation.

At a recent meeting Mr. C. H. A. Bjerregaard lectured on mysticism, showing how much the world is indebted to its mystics. Mr. Bjerregaard promises the Society further lectures in the Fall.

* * * * *

THE ROCHESTER CONVENTION was held July 4th, 1886, at Mrs. Cable’s house in Rochester. Delegates attended from fourteen Branches, and enthusiastic meetings were held July 4th and 5th. The report of the Secretary showed a gain in Branches, of over 100 per cent. since July, 1885.

Important orders were received from India, being the resolutions of a council meeting held in Adyar, at which it was resolved that American Theosophical Branches shall form into a general American Council, similar and subject to the parent body, and thus being democratic and more like a brotherhood. Arrangements were made for carrying these orders into full effect, and soon, perhaps, we will have another convention.

* * * * *

ROCHESTER BRANCH.—This Branch held a public meeting near the end of July, which was duly advertised, and well attended by intelligent people. Mr. E. Sasseville, of that Branch, read a paper on _Reincarnation_, and Mrs. Cables addressed the meeting on the _Inner Life of Man_. This is really the first public Theosophical meeting we have had in America, and marks an era. Strangely too, it occurred in Rochester, where the spiritual rappings first were heard. The members who got it up and carried it out are not those who have become the most famous, but are a band of devoted souls who believe in the cause and are willing to let it be known. It is through such people always that the most work is accomplished for the progression of any cause.

* * * * *

THE PSYCHICAL RESEARCH SOCIETIES OF LONDON AND AMERICA.—The London society some time ago had a long report made by one of its members, a Mr. Hodgson, in which the Theosophical Society is attacked, and Mme. Blavatsky is branded as the greatest impostor of modern times. By many weak people who swear by authority, and who do not rely upon their own judgment, this report has been accepted as final, and has prevented them from giving any further attention to the study of either Theosophy or Aryan literature. We are not sorry for the Society, but commiserate those who, thus deluded, have lost a golden opportunity. The cause of theosophy does not depend, however, upon them, and still flourishes in every land.

In the _Religio Philosophical Journal_ a long letter is printed, signed “F. T. S.” in which the Psychical Research Society of America is given a warning. The writer specifies his charges in the name of theosophists, to be as follows:

“Preferring the general charge that you are not what you pretend to be, we specify:

1. That you know nothing of psychic science.

2. That you do not know how to conduct psychic research.

3. That you do not know what it is that you are in search of.

4. That you would not know a psychic result to be such if you reached it.

5. That you do not know how to judge the evidence upon which psychic phenomena rests.

6. That you do not know of anything really worth investigating in psychic science.

7. That you do not know how to learn and do not really want to be taught.

And yet you are pleased to style yourselves ‘The American Society for Psychical Research.’ We say to you, gentlemen, that being what you are, your very name is an insult to psychic science, and would be, were it known, a just cause of offense to hundreds of thousands who have reached that goal toward which you have resolutely turned your backs. In discussing the charges which we bring against you, we shall take occasion to show you that you are not in the line of psychic evolution, but surely tending in the opposite direction. If you do not heed our warning, if you do not desist and turn to the rightabout before it is too late, every hope that you entertain will be frustrated, your every endeavor will yield you shame and confusion, your goal will prove to be the pillory of public opinion, and your first real lesson in psychic science will have been learned when psychic research into your own souls shows you what it is to be made a laughing-stock.”

He then goes on to catechise the Society with a long list of questions directed to showing that they never studied psychical science, that they do not know even the rudiments of the simplest phenomenon, to all of which questions the answer must be “No.”

As this letter applies just as well to the London Society, we hope it will be read by those who are interested. The London gentlemen went so far as to accept the conclusions of an investigator who got all his _facts_ second-handed, and who could not possibly have had the real evidence. Among other things he says that the editor of this Magazine went to India to investigate “but was not allowed to see the (famous) shrine.” This statement was false, and merely the result of the ignorance of Mr. Hodgson, for we not only saw the shrine, but after seeing everything, ordered it closed up from the prejudiced prying eyes and steel jimmies of Englishmen who came afterwards, and the very drawing of the premises used by Mr. Hodgson in his report, after being falsified, was made by the editor of this Magazine.

* * * * *

From study let a man proceed to meditation, and from meditation to study; by perfection in both, the supreme spirit becomes manifest. Study is one eye to behold it, and meditation is the other.—_Vishnu Purana._

Neither by the eyes, nor by spirit, nor by the sensuous organ, by austerity, nor by sacrifices, can we see God. Only the pure, by the light of wisdom and by deep meditation can see the pure God.—_Upanishads._ Only the pure in heart shall see God.—_Jesus._

“Lead me from the unreal to the real! Lead me from darkness to light! Lead me from death to immortality!”—_Saman and Yagur Vedas, and Brih. Upan._

The small, old path stretching far away, has been found by me. On it sages who know Brahman move on to the heavenly place, and thence higher on, entirely free.—_Yajnavalkya._

OM.

FOOTNOTES:

[89] In reply to several inquiries as to the meaning of _Chela_, we answer that it here means an accepted disciple of an Adept. The word, in general, means, _Disciple_.

[90] See Agroushada Parakshai, 2d book, 23d dialogue.—[ED.]

[91] It is interesting to compare the _Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad_, 4th Brah., with this: “In the beginning this was Self alone, in the shape of a spirit. He looking round, saw nothing but his Self.”—[ED.]

[92] Quran xxiv, 35.

[93] ibid. lxxvi, 18.

[94] The Mevlevi or dancing devishes.

[95] Quran xix, 74.

[96] ibid. xxv, 26.

[97] ibid. ii,

[98] ibid. lxxx, 15.

[99] ibid. lvi, 78.

[100] ibid. lvi, 79.

[101] ibid. xli, 42.

[102] ibid. xii, 64.

[103] ibid. vii, 150.

[104] True transl. by J. Freeman Clark.

[105] This is also an ancient Hindu doctrine laid down in secret books.—[ED.]

[106] See his _Clavix_, written in 1624.—[ED.]

[107] It is important to remember that Behmen gave the name spirit to the lower soul and _soul_ with him meant what we call _spirit_.—[ED.]

[108] _Threefold life_; _Three principles_; and _Aurora_.

[109] See _Bagavad-Gita_.—[ED.]

[110] “Full consent” including the consent of all their various consciousnesses. If the Patin or Pati saw, and they ought to be able to see, that even in one of the consciousnesses of any of their near relatives there lurked a latent spark of hesitation to consent or of unwillingness, then the pair unselfishly gave up their determination to become Vanaprasthas and remained with the family until the proper time came.

AUM

The Supreme Universal Spirit is One, simple and indivisible; being all, pervading all, sustaining all, the good, the bad and the ignorant alike.

I am the origin of all. From me all proceeds. For those who are constantly devoted, dead in me, do I, on account of my compassion, destroy the darkness which springs from ignorance, by the brilliant lamp of spiritual knowledge.—_Bagavad-Gita._

THE PATH.

VOL. I. SEPTEMBER, 1886. NO. 6.

_The Theosophical Society, as such, is not responsible for any opinion or declaration in this magazine, by whomsoever expressed, unless contained in an official document._

Where any article, or statement, has the author’s name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountable.

THEOSOPHIC MORALS.

Some remarks professedly concerned with “The Higher Life,” appearing in “THE PATH” for July, over the _nom de plume_ of _Murdhna Joti_, strike me as presenting the readers with so narrow and unwholesome a view of Theosophic principles, that I find myself impelled to point out some of the misconceptions from which they seem to arise. That hard-worked phrase the “Dweller on the Threshold” has been interpreted in many fantastic senses, but surely it has never before been saddled with so ludicrously inappropriate a meaning as in this essay where it is made to stand for love of kindred and love of country. That these ennobling sentiments are what the writer means by “family defects” and “national defects” is apparent from the passage that would be little less than blasphemous in the ears of any real oriental Chela with whom I have ever been acquainted,—in which:—“A Mahatma has, it appears, declared that he has still patriotism. But he has not said nor would say that he has still family attachment. This proves that he has got out of the defects of the family to which he belongs, while he is only striving to get out of national defects, some of which at any rate cling to him.” The reference here is of course to one of the letters quoted by me in the _Occult World_, in which the writer so beautifully shows that the exalted rank in nature to which he has attained, leaves him as free as ever to entertain generous emotions of sympathy with the race to which his latest personality belongs. If he had been dealing with the subject from another point of view he would have equally shown himself to be,—as I have good reason to believe that he is,—animated by still more specific attachments to certain persons of his physical kindred. “Defects” of family and defects of nationality may undoubtedly be reflected in given individuals, and like any other personal failings may in such cases stand in the way of devotion to the Higher Life; but such defects are not those which are convertible terms, according to the extraordinary essay before me, with healthy patriotism and domestic affection. And I can hardly imagine a more grotesquely misleading account of occult progress than that which represents the “beginner” as employed upon first extinguishing his regard for his relations, and going on to teach himself indifference to the land of his birth. If the extravagance of such a doctrine could be enhanced in an essay addressed to Western readers, it would be thus intensified by its author’s reference to the “family duties” which must be duly accomplished first before the promising neophyte in the training subsequently prescribed for him is at liberty to enter the “circle of ascetics.” A certain haziness clings round his theory as to the nature of these duties, but enough is said to show any reader familiar with India, that the writer’s mind is running on the exoteric customs of the Hindu which constitute the local superstitions of the common people,—a designation which applies equally to one caste as to another, for modern Brahmins may be as thoroughly dissociated from the spirit of the esoteric doctrine and as hopelessly saturated with corrupt conventionalities as British churchwardens or the corresponding functionaries in America. Some such fancies derived from exoteric Hindu thinking have clearly inspired the article under notice. In India even exoteric thinking recognizes the existence of Mahatmas and theories concerning the methods by which their condition may be approached, but Theosophic students in Europe and America should be on their guard against supposing that every thing which emanates from an Indian source, must on that account be true occult philosophy.

Especially in India, but in other parts of the world too, in various disguises we continually encounter the fundamental blunder of the mere _fakir_ that progress in occult development is to be acquired by simulating some of the external characteristics of a development that has been accomplished. No doubt there are states of immaterial existence to which human beings may ultimately climb,—at distances of time as immeasureable as those heights themselves, where such relative attributes as those which invest embodied human beings with specific attachments, will be merged in the higher mysteries of nature, which we can talk about already, perhaps, and assign names to, but assuredly cannot yet realize, or even effectually comprehend. But it may be, there is hardly any level even in Adeptship, at which still embodied humanity is ripe to shed such attachments, and the notion of talking about attempting this from the point of view of incipient chelaship is as ludicrous as it would be to talk about pruning a seedling which had just protruded its first green shoot above the ground; and suggests, in regard to human illustrations, the notion of a beardless youngster, who presents himself to a barber to be shaved. We Theosophists are engaged in an undertaking which makes it very desirable that we should not render ourselves ridiculous; and though there is no endeavor possible for us which is better entitled to respect than an honest attempt to lead “the Higher Life,” we may perhaps more easily bring discredit on our movement by talking nonsense about that grand ideal, than in any other way. We may go further, indeed, than the mere recognition of nobility attaching to the pursuit of the Higher Life. We may grant that no one can truly be said to have assimilated the principles of esoteric teaching unless these have made a sensible impression on his conduct and on the practical attitude he assumes in relation to others and the world at large. But it will be a matter to be determined by each man’s temperament, how far he keeps his own personal dealings, so to speak, with the great principles of Theosophy a private transaction between himself and his conscience, or how far he ventures to bring them into relief by devoting himself especially as a Theosophist to the task of preaching exalted morality. I am now of course passing out, on my own account, into the ocean of Theosophic discussion in general, and the sentence just penned has no reference to the article I began by reviewing,—which appears to me to be very far from promulgating any morality or even coherent sense, exalted or otherwise. But on the subject at large a few general remarks at this juncture may perhaps not be inappropriate.

The most exalted morality imaginable is inevitably deduced from the principles of occult science, for by explaining to mankind how it is that they really evolve through successive lives, each depending on the last and on all its predecessors as summed up in the last, the basic motives for good conduct are set out with far greater precision than they can be suggested by the bribes or threats of conventional religion. Such temptations and warnings, as experience has shown, come to be distrusted or no longer feared as the manifestly erroneous conceptions with which they are entangled, become apparent to advancing intelligence. Then, loving the right still, under the influence of an inner intuition they have not learned to interpret properly, people attempt sometimes to supply the vacant places of their vanished faith, with painful abstract theories of a barren duty, which take their rise in no intelligible sanction and tend to no specific result. For mere morality divorced from religion and justified by no prospects of future existence, it is impossible that the human mind could permanently furnish a nourishing soil. To provide for the gathering emergency the esoteric doctrine is now beginning to shine on the world. In the longer freedom with which it will shine hereafter, no doubt it will do much more even than explain to men the scientific and satisfactory reasons why, right is right, why the pursuit of good conduces to happiness and _vice versa_. Already indeed, it is made apparent that the highest degrees of exaltation possible for human beings, can only be attained in connection with a pursuit of good which has a still more subtle motive than the thirst for spiritual happiness—which is animated by that unsurpassably sublime intention (often talked about so glibly, but surely realized so seldom) unselfishness and disinterested zeal for the welfare of others. But even if we do not handle that exalted topic—which sits ill upon the lips of any preachers who do not at all events outshine the average achievements of ordinary good men in the exercise of unselfishness, is there not in what is put forward above in the first purpose of Theosophy a sufficiently exhilarating task to absorb our best energies? To be laying the foundations of the future system of thought which _must_ in due time replace—as the guiding rule of men’s lives—the earlier and cruder prescriptions of a priestcraft that their widening comprehension of Nature is fast outgrowing,—is not that a sufficiently magnificent task for the Theosophical Society?

Certainly esoteric teaching opens up possibilities before the sight of ardent spiritual aspirants that suggest to some eager hearts the pursuit of an object—which if rightly understood may be more magnificent still, but which, as contemplated in the beginning may often be prompted by a relatively selfish motive,—the personal pursuit of Adeptship. But in its original purpose the welfare of mankind at large and not the enlistment of new recruits in the army of chelaship was as I read its design, the idea of the Theosophical Society. And how was that design to be carried out? This question seems to me to touch a point which it is highly important to keep in view at the present moment. The Theosophical movement did not begin by preaching _de haut en bas_ an all but impossible code of ethics. It began by the highly practical course of linking its operations with one of the most growing impulses in the most spiritually minded sections of the Western community. These were _not_ the merely good and pious representatives of still surviving, though decaying religious systems; they were not the hopeless however unselfish exponents of a barren philosophy that threw forward no light on the future; they were found mainly among people who in one way or another, and following various false beacons, perhaps, were realizing that discoveries were possible beyond the barriers that had formerly seemed to set a limit to the range of the human senses. The bold though bewildered pioneers of psychic inquiry were naturally marked out, indeed, to be appealed to first by the esoteric teachers. For them above all was the rudderless condition of modern religions thought a dark and threatening danger. Along the road they had set out to travel they would certainly not stop short. But readers of Theosophic literature will not require to be reminded where the study of occult phenomena un-illuminated by occult morality must ultimately conduct its enthusiasts. The classes referred to were best qualified to receive the new dispensation: and most urgently in need of it. To them therefore the Theosophical propaganda in the beginning was directed, and this is the consideration which will be seen to explain the mystery that has so frequently been discussed in more recent years—the free and so to speak the extravagant display of occult wonders and marvellous phenomena with which the advent of the Theosophical movement was heralded. Its directors as it were, had to put themselves at the head of the psychic movement generally, in order to direct its future course aright, and they could not do this without commanding the attention of persons already largely experienced in psychic investigation.

No doubt the time has now gone by when the policy that thus inaugurated the Theosophical movement is either practicable or desirable. “The age of miracles is past,” for us as for mankind at large,—always making allowance for the familiar correction required by the saying that the age for helping on the more general comprehension of those resources of nature with which the “miracles” had to do has not passed, by any means. The interpretation of Nature—the promulgation of truth concerning the “powers latent in Man”—to the end that the world at large may the better understand its own destinies and promote its own healthier development through an immediate future, is still the ample task that lies before the working members of our organization. Again let us say that no one proposes to divorce this from recognition with which it is so intimately blended, of the sublime morality expressed in the phrase—the Brotherhood of Man. But in our zeal for the starry goal in the far distance, it will be discreet, on our part, to avoid the mistake of the Greek philosopher and not to forget the ground at our feet. A. P. SINNETT.

* * * * *

NOTE.—The admirable letter which we have printed above from the able pen of the author of Esoteric Buddhism is a good instance of the truth that there are many ways of arriving at the same goal, and incidentally it also illustrates how difficult it is for those who look at any subject by the light of their own “ray” to appreciate the view taken of it by one whose mental constitution is different. Both Murdhna Joti and Mr. Sinnett are right from their own points of view, and as they understand themselves. Both seem to us to be wrong as they probably understand each other. Patriotism and family attachments as understood by Mr. Sinnett are good things, for he characterises them by the adjectives “healthy” “ennobling” “generous.” It cannot be supposed from either a critical or casual reading of “The Higher Life” that Murdhna Joti advocates the elimination of any statement to which these terms would apply. But patriotism and family attachments may be narrow, bigoted, and founded upon an ignorance of other countries and other families, and upon an inability to perceive in other nations and persons the very qualities that make us feel warmly toward those we are acquainted with, intensified by a corresponding blindness to faults we have become habituated to and perhaps partake of ourselves. It is the “provincialism” of patriotism which breeds the prejudice in favor of things which are a part of our “larger selves,” and which is bad; and this narrowness in the case of family attachment (a different thing from personal affection), makes us fancy that our family geese are more beautiful than our neighbor’s swans. It is in this sense, it seems to us, that the family defects in question are held by Murdhna Joti as things to get rid of, and may be said to enter into that practical conception “the Dweller on the Threshold;” and it is in this sense that a Mahatma may be supposed to lose them. As we rise to a higher level we perceive in clearer distinction the lights and shades in our own country and family, and we see also that much the same lights and shades exist elsewhere and everywhere; we lose at the same time the personal prejudice which made lights and shades of a particular tint more agreeable to us than others; and thus we are brought to view all countries and families in their true light and in their real proportions. But the process by which this is accomplished is more of the nature of a levelling up than of a levelling down. The attachment of a villager is at first confined to his village; as his mind expands, his interests extend themselves progressively to the country, the state, and the nation. This last entails an expenditure of “generous feeling” which is exhaustive for most men; but a Mahatma has enough left to stretch out over the whole of humanity. Anything smaller would not be “ennobling” or “generous” in his case.

We cannot agree, however, with Mr. Sinnett, in his criticism of Murdhna Joti’s article, as to its presenting a false view of “Theosophic morals.” The fact, at which the learned author of the _Occult World_ hints, that a certain Mahatma has “specific attachments” to relatives, does not prove that He still has “family defects.” Perhaps the writer of “Living the Higher Life” might have been better understood by Mr. Sinnett if he had in his first paper, intimated that while family defects were to be got rid of, the noble qualities of the family, were to be strengthened; but this seems to be plainly inferred, and is actually to be found in the paper, (p. 153, 3d paragraph); and all through the first paper, it is strenuously insisted, that the only theosophic morality, is that one which compels us to unselfishly perform our duty in our family where we are placed by inevitable Karma.

Not only has a Mahatma said He “still had patriotism,” but He has also stated more emphatically, that “in external Buddhism is the road to truth.” He cannot therefore agree with Mr. Sinnett in the objection that exoteric Indian thought and religion led to error. In complete knowledge of this second declaration of the Mahatma, we read and printed Murdhna Joti’s paper, as we have “Theosophic Morals.” We see in the paper criticised high aspiration and excellent precepts.

There are many modes of life; there are lower and higher planes. No man in one short article can write away all possible future misconceptions; both sides must be presented, and they shall be in this Magazine. We need therefore here warn readers, that Mr. Sinnett does not by any means desire them to understand that in saying that the Mahatma quoted has “certain specific attachments,” he would convey the impression that such a great Being has to struggle with the limitations of a family, or that he has given up one legitimate set of ties only to assume others similar. Far from that. The nature of the attachment referred to, is quite as undefinable at Mr. Sinnett’s hands as it is at those of the readers, and we think it would be wise for the critic to state with clearness what the attachment is, in order that all readers may for themselves be able to judge of the full meaning, extent and connection of Mr. Sinnett’s reference, and what use can properly be made of it for comparison or analysis.

The Mahatma studies the Bagavad-Gita in its higher sense, and all through that book the “passionless ascetic” is lauded. What does it mean? Neglect of life and family? Never! But sometimes one gets out of family defects quite naturally. Yet the world says that _Bagavad-Gita_ inculcates stony hearted selfishness, even as they carp at _Light on the Path_ when it says “the eyes must be incapable of tears; ambition and desires must be killed out.” These are hard sayings. Theosophy is full of difficult sayings, just as Jesus of the Christians said his parables were. But Bagavad-Gita is the divine colloquy; and it is asserted that a Mahatma dictated Light on the Path.—[ED.]

HERMES TRISMEGISTUS.

THE FOURTH STATE OF MATTER DESCRIBED IN THE SMARAGDINE TABLET.

That a tablet, now called the SMARAGDINE, was found there is no doubt. Its discovery is attributed by tradition to an _isarim_ or initiate, who it is said, took it from the dead body of Hermes—this could not have been the Egyptian god Thoth—which was buried at Hebron, in an obscure ditch. The tablet was held between the hands of the corpse. Some authors say that it was of emerald, which I do not believe; it probably was of green strass or paste, an imitation of emerald, in the manufacture of which the Egyptians excelled. Be it as it may, the contents evidently refer to that subtile body, called by the great scientist Sir William Thompson, “the luminiferous æther,”—to that mysterious, invisible to us, something, in which the matter-atoms float, the _azoth_ of the Hermetic philosophers, the _astral light_ of the occultists, the _akasa_ of the Hindus; which physical science attempts to grasp, comprehend and sometimes use, under the name of electricity, magnetism, heat, light, etc; which is experimentally made visible, in one of its forms, by means of Professor Crookes “radiant matter” and which he terms the fourth state of matter. It permeates all things, going through flesh and blood, and steel and glass, the diamond and sapphire, with the facility of water through a net. A translation of this tablet is:[111]

“It is true without falsehood, certain and very veritable, that that which is below, is as that which is above, and that that which is on high, is as that which is below, so as to perpetuate the miracles of all things.

“And as all things have been and come from One, by the mental desire of One, so all things have been produced from that One only by adaptation.

“The Sun (Osiris) is thence the father, and the Moon (Isis) the mother. The Air, its womb, carries it thence, and the Earth is its nurse.

“Here is the producer of all, the talisman of all the world.

“Its force (or potentiality) is entire, if it is changed into the Earth, you separate the Earth from the Fire, the subtile from the gross. Sweetly, but with great energy, it mounts from the Earth to the Heaven, and again descends to the Earth with powerful energy, and receives the potentiality of the superior and inferior things.

“You have, by this means, the light (or fire) of the whole universe. And upon account of this, all obscurity itself, with that, will fly entirely thence.

“In this is the energy the strongest of all energy, for it vanquishes all subtile things and penetrates all the solid things.

“Thus the world was created. From this will be and will go out admirable adaptations, of which the medium is here.

“And because of these reasons I am called Hermes Trismegistus, possessing the three divisions of the philosophy of the universe.

“It is complete, this that I have said of the operation of the Sun.”

The reader must take note, that the fire referred to here, is not the perceptible fire, but the hidden occult fire, which is concealed in all things, and only becomes evident through a tearing asunder of the atoms. The fire, which we see, is the black fire, the other the unseen, is the white fire. So the ancient Hebrew philosophy says, the Tablets of the Law given to Moses, were written by the Deity with black fire on white fire. It is referred to but concealed in the Maasey B’reshith, the great occult book of which is the Book of Genesis. ISAAC MYER.

A HINDU CHELA’S DIARY.

[_This was begun in the June number._]

“I have been going over that message I received just after returning from the underground room, about not thinking yet too deeply upon what I saw there, but to let the lessons sink deep into my heart. Can it be true—must it not indeed be true—that we have periods in our development when rest must be taken for the physical brain in order to give it time as a much less comprehensive machine than these English college professors say it is, to assimilate what it has received, while at the same time the real brain—as we might say, the spiritual brain—is carrying on as busily as ever all the trains of thought cut off from the head. Of course this is contrary to this modern science we hear so much about now as about to be introduced into all Asia, but it is perfectly consistent for me.

“To reconsider the situation: I went with Kunâla to this underground place, and there saw and heard most instructive and solemn things. I return to my room, and begin to puzzle over them all, to revolve and re-revolve them in my mind, with a view to clearing all up and finding out what all may mean. But I am interrupted by a note from Kunâla directing me to stop this puzzling, and to let all I saw sink deep into my heart. Every word of his I regard with respect, and consider to hold a meaning, being never used by him with carelessness. So when he says, to let it sink into my ‘heart,’ in the very same sentence where he refers to my thinking part—the mind—why he must mean to separate my heart from my mind and to give to the heart a larger and greater power.

“Well, I obeyed the injunction, made myself, as far as I could, forget what I saw and what puzzled me and thought of other things. Presently, after a few days while one afternoon thinking over an episode related in the _Vishnu Purana_,[112] I happened to look up at an old house I was passing and stopped to examine a curious device on the porch; as I did this, it seemed as if either the device, or the house, or the circumstance itself, small as it was, opened up at once several avenues of thought about the underground room, made them all clear, showed me the conclusion as vividly as a well demonstrated and fully illustrated proposition, to my intense delight. Now could I perceive with plainness, that those few days which seemed perhaps wasted because withdrawn from contemplation of that scene and its lessons, had been with great advantage used by the spiritual man in unraveling the tangled skein, while the much praised brain had remained in idleness. All at once the _flash_ came and with it knowledge.[113] But I must not depend upon these flashes, I must give the brain and its governor, the material to work with. * * * * * * * *

* * * * *

“Last night just as I was about to go to rest, the voice of Kunâla called me from outside and there I went at once. Looking steadily at me he said: ‘we want to see you,’ and as he spoke he gradually changed, or disappeared, or was absorbed, into the form of another man with awe-inspiring face and eyes, whose form apparently rose up from the material of Kunâla’s body. At the same moment two others stood there also, dressed in the Tibetan costume; and one of them went into my room from which I had emerged. After saluting them reverently, and not knowing their object, I said to the greatest,

“‘Have you any orders to give?’

“‘If there are any they will be told to you without being asked,’ he replied, ‘stand still where you are.’

“Then he began to look at me fixedly. I felt a very pleasant sensation as if I was getting out of my body. I cannot tell now what time passed between that and what I am now to put down here. But I saw I was in a peculiar place. It was the upper end of—— at the foot of the—— range. Here was a place where there were only two houses just opposite to each other, and no other sign of habitation; from one of these came out the old faquir I saw at the Durga festival, but how changed, and yet the same: then so old, so repulsive; now so young, so glorious, so beautiful. He smiled upon me benignly and said:

“‘Never expect to see any one, but always be ready to answer if they speak to you; it is not wise to peer outside of yourself for the great followers of Vasudeva: look rather within.’

“The very words of the poor faquir!

“He then directed me to follow him.

“After going a short distance, of about half a mile or so, we came to a natural subterranean passage which is under the—— range. The path is very dangerous; the River—— flows underneath in all the fury of pent up waters, and a natural causeway exists upon which you may pass; only one person at a time can go there and one false step seals the fate of the traveller. Besides this causeway, there are several valleys to be crossed. After walking a considerable distance through this subterranean passage we came into an open plain in L—— K. There stands a large massive building thousands of years old. In front of it is a huge Egyptian Tau. The building rests on seven big pillars each in the form of a pyramid. The entrance gate has a large triangular arch, and inside are various apartments. The building is so large that I think it can easily contain twenty thousand people. Some of the rooms were shown to me.

“This must be the central place for all those belonging to the—— class, to go for initiation and stay the requisite period.

“Then we entered the great hall with my guide in front. He was youthful in form but in his eyes was the glance of ages. * * The grandeur and serenity of this place strikes the heart with awe. In the centre was what we would call an altar, but it must only be the place where focuses all the power, the intention, the knowledge and the influence of the assembly. For the seat, or place, or throne, occupied by the chief—— the highest—— has around it an indescribable glory, consisting of an effulgence which seemed to radiate from the one who occupied it. The surroundings of the throne were not gorgeous, nor was the spot itself in any way decorated—all the added magnificence was due altogether to the aura which emanated from Him sitting there. And over his head I thought I saw as I stood there, three golden triangles in the air above—Yes, they were there and seemed to glow with an unearthly brilliance that betokened their inspired origin. But neither they nor the light pervading the place, were produced by any mechanical means. As I looked about me I saw that others had a triangle, some two, and all with that peculiar brilliant light.”

[Here again occurs a mass of symbols. It is apparent that just at this spot he desires to jot down the points of the initiation which he wished to remember. And I have to admit that I am not competent to elucidate their meaning. That must be left to our intuitions and possibly future experience in our own case.]

* * * * *

“14th day of the new moon. The events of the night in the hall of initiation gave me much concern. Was it a dream? Am I self deluded? Can it be that I imagined all this? Such were the unworthy questions which flew behind each other across my mind for days after. Kunâla does not refer to the subject and I cannot put the question. Nor will I. I am determined, that, come what will, the solution must be reached by me, or given me voluntarily.

“Of what use to me will all the teachings and all the symbols be, if I cannot rise to that plane of penetrating knowledge, by which I shall myself, by myself, be able to solve this riddle, and know to discriminate the true from the false and the illusory? If I am unable to cut asunder these questioning doubts, these bonds of ignorance, it is proof that not yet have I risen to the plane situated above these doubts. * * * Last night after all day chasing through my mental sky, these swift destroyers of stability—mental birds of passage—I lay down upon the bed, and as I did so, into my hearing fell these words:

“‘Anxiety is the foe of knowledge; like unto a veil it falls down before the soul’s eye; entertain it, and the veil only thicker grows; cast it out, and the sun of truth may dissipate the cloudy veil.’

“Admitting that truth; I determined to prohibit all anxiety. Well I knew that the prohibition issued from the depths of my heart, for that was master’s voice, and confidence in his wisdom, the self commanding nature of the words themselves, compelled me to complete reliance on the instruction. No sooner was the resolution formed, than down upon my face fell something which I seized at once in my hand. Lighting a lamp, before me was a note in the well known writing. Opening it, I read:

“‘Nilakant. It was no dream. All was real, and more, that by your waking consciousness could not be retained, happened there. Reflect upon it all as reality, and from the slightest circumstance draw whatever lesson, whatever amount of knowledge you can. Never forget that your spiritual progress goes on quite often to yourself unknown. Two out of many hindrances to memory are anxiety and selfishness. Anxiety is a barrier constructed out of harsh and bitter materials. Selfishness is a fiery darkness that will burn up the memory’s matrix. Bring then, to bear upon this other memory of yours, the peaceful stillness of contentment and the vivifying rain of benevolence.’”[114] * * * * *

[I leave out here, as well as in other places, mere notes of journeys and various small matters, very probably of no interest.]

“In last month’s passage across the hills near V——, I was irresistibly drawn to examine a deserted building, which I at first took for a grain holder, or something like that. It was of stone, square, with no openings, no windows, no door. From what could be seen outside, it might have been the ruins of a strong, stone foundation for some old building, gateway or tower. Kunâla stood not far off and looked over it, and later on he asked me for my ideas about the place. All I could say, was, that although it seemed to be solid, I was thinking that perhaps it might be hollow.

“‘Yes,’ said he, ‘it is hollow. It is one of the places once made by Yogees to go into deep trance in. If used by a chela (a disciple) his teacher kept watch over it so that no one might intrude. But when an adept wants to use it for laying his body away in while he travels about in his real, though perhaps to some unseen, form, other means of protection were often taken which were just as secure as the presence of the teacher of the disciple.’ ‘Well,’ I said, ‘it must be that just now no one’s body is inside there.’

“‘Do not reach that conclusion nor the other either. It may be occupied and it may not.’

* * * * *

“Then we journeyed on, while he told me of the benevolence of not only Brahmin Yogees, but also of Buddhist. No differences can be observed by the true disciple in any other disciple who is perhaps of a different faith. All pursue truth. Roads differ but the goal of all remains alike.”

* * * * *

* * * “Repeated three times: ‘Time ripens and dissolves all beings in the great self, but he who knows into what time itself is dissolved, he is the knower of the Veda.’

“What is to be understood, not only by this, but also by its being three times repeated?

“There were three shrines there. Over the door was a picture which I saw a moment, and which for a moment seemed to blaze out with light like fire. Fixed upon my mind its outlines grew, then disappeared, when I had passed the threshold. Inside, again its image came before my eyes. Seeming to allure me, it faded out, and then again returned. It remained impressed upon me, seemed imbued with life and intention to present itself for my own criticism. When I began to analyze it, it would fade, and then when I was fearful of not doing my duty or of being disrespectful to those beings, it returned as if to demand attention. Its description:

“A human heart that has at its centre a small spark—the spark expands and the heart disappears—while a deep pulsation seems to pass through me. At once identity is confused, I grasp at myself; and again the heart reappears with the spark increased to a large fiery space. Once more that deep movement; then sounds (7); they fade. All this in a picture? Yes! for in that picture there is life; there might be intelligence. It is similar to that picture I saw in Tibet on my first journey, where the living moon rises and passes across the view. Where was I? No, not afterwards! It was in the hall. Again that all pervading sound. It seems to bear me like a river. Then it ceased,—a soundless sound. Then once more the picture; here is Pranava.[115] But between the heart and the Pranava is a mighty bow with arrows ready, and tightly strung for use. Next is a shrine, with the Pranava over it, shut fast, no key and no keyhole. On its sides emblems of human passions. The door of the shrine opens and I think within I will see the truth. No! another door? a shrine again. It opens too and then another, brightly flashing is seen there. Like the heart, it makes itself one with me. Irresistible desire to approach it comes within me, and it absorbs the whole picture.

“‘Break through the shrine of Brahman; use the doctrine of the teacher.’”[116]

[There is no connection here of this exhortation with any person, and very probably it is something that was said either by himself, in soliloquy, or by some voice or person to him.

I must end here, as I find great rents and spaces in the notes. He must have ceased to put down further things he saw or did in his real inner life, and you will very surely agree, that if he had progressed by that time to what the last portions would indicate, he could not set down his reflections thereon, or any memorandum of facts. We, however, can never tell what was his reason. He might have been told not to do so, or might have lacked the opportunity.

There was much all through these pages that related to his daily family life, not interesting to you; records of conversations; worldly affairs; items of money and regarding appointments, journeys and meetings with friends. But they show of course that he was all this time living through his set work with men, and often harassed by care as well as comforted by his family and regardful of them. All of that I left out, because I supposed that while it would probably interest you, yet I was left with discretion to give only what seemed to relate to the period marked at its beginning, by his meetings with M——, and at the end by this last remarkable scene, the details of which we can only imagine. And likewise were of necessity omitted very much that is sufficiently unintelligible in its symbolism to be secure from revelation. Honestly have I tried to unlock the doors of the ciphers, for no prohibition came with their possession, but all that I could refine from its enfolding obscurity is given to you.

As he would say, let us salute each other and the last shrine of Brahman; Om, hari, Om! TRANS.]

KARMA.

The child is the father of the man, and none the less true is it:

“My brothers! each man’s life The outcome of his former living is; The bygone wrmongs brings forth sorrows and woes The bygone right breeds bliss.” * * * * *

“This is the doctrine of Karma.”

But in what way does this bygone wrong and right affect the present life? Is the stern nemesis ever following the weary traveler, with a calm, passionless, remorseless step? Is there no escape from its relentless hand? Does the eternal law of cause and effect, unmoved by sorrow and regret, ever deal out its measure of weal and woe as the consequence of past action? The shadow of the yesterday of sin,—must it darken the life of to-day? Is Karma but another name for fate? Does the child unfold the page of the already written book of life in which each event is recorded without the possibility of escape? What is the relation of Karma to the life of the individual? Is there nothing for man to do but to weave the chequered warp and woof of each earthly existence with the stained and discolored threads of past actions? Good resolves and evil tendencies sweep with resistless tide over the nature of man and we are told:

“Whatever action he performs, whether good or bad, every thing done in a former body must necessarily be enjoyed or suffered.” _Anugita_, cp III.

There is good Karma, there is bad Karma, and as the wheel of life moves on, old Karma is exhausted and again fresh Karma is accumulated.

Although at first it may appear that nothing can be more fatalistic than this doctrine, yet a little consideration will show that in reality this is not the case. Karma is twofold, hidden and manifest, Karma is the man that is, Karma is his action. True that each action is a cause from which evolves the countless ramifications of effect in time and space.

“That which ye sow ye reap.” In some sphere of action the harvest will be gathered. It is necessary that the man of action should realize this truth. It is equally necessary that the manifestations of this law in the operations of Karma should be clearly apprehended.

Karma, broadly speaking may be said to be the continuance of the nature of the act, and each act contains within itself the past and future. Every defect which can be realized from an act must be implicit in the act itself or it could never come into existence. Effect is but the nature of the act and cannot exist distinct from its cause. Karma only produces the manifestation of that which already exists; being action it has its operation in time, and Karma may therefore be said to be the same action from another point of time. It must, moreover, be evident that not only is there a relation between the cause and the effect, but there must also be a relation between the cause and the individual who experiences the effect. If it were otherwise, any man would reap the effect of the actions of any other man. We may sometimes appear to reap the effects of the action of others, but this is only apparent. In point of fact it is our own action

“* * None else compels None other holds you that ye live and die.”

It is therefore necessary in order to understand the nature of Karma and its relation to the individual to consider action in all its aspects. Every act proceeds from the mind. Beyond the mind there is no action and therefore no Karma. The basis of every act is desire. The plane of desire or egotism is itself action and the matrix of every act. This plane may be considered as non-manifest, yet having a dual manifestation in what we call cause and effect, that is the act and its consequences. In reality, both the act and its consequences are the effect, the cause being on the plane of desire. Desire is therefore the basis of action in its first manifestation on the physical plane, and desire determines the continuation of the act in its karmic relation to the individual. For a man to be free from the effects of the Karma of any act he must have passed to a state no longer yielding a basis in which that act can inhere. The ripples in the water caused by the action of the stone will extend to the furthest limit of its expanse, but no further, they are bounded by the shore. Their course is ended when there is no longer a basis or suitable medium in which they can inhere; they expend their force and are not. Karma is, therefore, as dependent upon the present personality for its fulfillment, as it was upon the former for the first initial act. An illustration may be given which will help to explain this.

A seed, say for instance mustard, will produce a mustard tree and nothing else; but in order that it should be produced, it is necessary that the co-operation of soil and culture should be equally present. Without the seed, however much the ground may be tilled and watered, it will not bring forth the plant, but the seed is equally inoperative without the joint action of the soil and culture.

The first great result of Karmic action is the incarnation in physical life. The birth seeking entity consisting of desires and tendencies, presses forward towards incarnation. It is governed in the selection of its scene of manifestation by the law of economy. Whatever is the ruling tendency, that is to say, whatever group of affinities is strongest, those affinities will lead it to the point of manifestation at which there is the least opposition. It incarnates in those surroundings most in harmony with its Karmic tendencies and all the effects of actions contained in the Karma so manifesting will be experienced by the individual. This governs the station of life, the sex, the conditions of the irresponsible years of childhood, the constitution with the various diseases inherent in it, and in fact all those determining forces of physical existence which are ordinarily classed under the terms, “heredity,” and “national characteristics.”

It is really the law of economy which is the truth underlying these terms and which explains them. Take for instance a nation with certain special characteristics. These are the plane of expansion for any entity whose greatest number of affinities are in harmony with those characteristics. The incoming entity following the law of least resistance becomes incarnated in that nation, and all Karmic effects following such characteristics will accrue to the individual. This will explain what is the meaning of such expressions as the “Karma of nations,” and what is true of the nation will also apply to family and caste.

It must, however, be remembered that there are many tendencies which are not exhausted in the act of incarnation. It may happen that the Karma which caused an entity to incarnate in any particular surrounding, was only strong enough to carry it into physical existence. Being exhausted in that direction, freedom is obtained for the manifestation of other tendencies and their Karmic effects. For instance, Karmic force may cause an entity to incarnate in a humble sphere of life. He may be born as the child of poor parents. The Karma follows the entity, endures for a longer or shorter time, and becomes exhausted. From that point, the child takes a line of life totally different from his surroundings. Other affinities engendered by former action express themselves in their Karmic results. The lingering effects of the past Karma may still manifest itself in the way of obstacles and obstructions which are surmounted with varying degrees of success according to their intensity.

From the standpoint of a special creation for each entity entering the world, there is vast and unaccountable injustice. From the standpoint of Karma, the strange vicissitudes and apparent chances of life can be considered in a different light as the unerring manifestation of cause and sequence. In a family under the same conditions of poverty and ignorance, one child will be separated from the others and thrown into surroundings very dissimilar. He may be adopted by a rich man, or through some freak of fortune receive an education giving him at once a different position. The Karma of incarnation being exhausted, other Karma asserts itself.

A very important question is here presented: Can an individual affect his own Karma, and if so to what degree and in what manner?

It has been said that Karma is the continuance of the act, and for any particular line of Karma to exert itself it is necessary that there should be the basis of the act engendering that Karma in which it can inhere and operate. But action has many planes in which it can inhere. There is the physical plane, the body with its senses and organs; then there is the intellectual plane, memory, which binds the impressions of the senses into a consecutive whole and reason puts in orderly arrangement its storehouse of facts. Beyond the plane of intellect there is the plane of emotion, the plane of preference for one object rather than another:—the fourth principle of the man. These three, physical, intellectual, and emotional, deal entirely with objects of sense perception and may be called the great battlefield of Karma.[117] There is also the plane of ethics, the plane of discrimination of the “I ought to do this, I ought not to do that.” This plane harmonizes the intellect and the emotions. All these are the planes of Karma or action what to do, and what not to do. It is the mind as the basis of desire that initiates action on the various planes, and it is only through the mind that the effects of rest and action can be received.

An entity enters incarnation with Karmic energy from past existences, that is to say the action of past lives is awaiting its development as effect. This Karmic energy presses into manifestation in harmony with the basic nature of the act. Physical Karma will manifest in the physical tendencies bringing enjoyment and suffering. The intellectual and the ethical planes are also in the same manner the result of the past Karmic tendencies and the man as he is, with his moral and intellectual faculties, is in unbroken continuity with the past.

The entity at birth has therefore a definite amount of Karmic energy. After incarnation this awaits the period in life at which fresh Karma begins. Up to the time of responsibility it is as we have seen the initial Karma only that manifests. From that time the fresh personality becomes the ruler of his own destiny. It is a great mistake to suppose that an individual is the mere puppet of the past, the helpless victim of fate. The law of Karma is not fatalism, and a little consideration will show that it is possible for an individual to affect his own Karma. If a greater amount of energy be taken up on one plane than on another this will cause the past Karma to unfold itself on that plane. For instance, one who lives entirely on the plane of sense gratification will from the plane beyond draw the energy required for the fulfillment of his desires. Let us illustrate by dividing man into upper and lower nature. By directing the mind and aspirations to the lower plane, a “fire” or centre of attraction, is set up there, and in order to feed and fatten it, the energies of the whole upper plane are drawn down and exhausted in supplying the need of energy which exists below due to the indulgence of sense gratification. On the other hand, the centre of attraction may be fixed in the upper portion, and then all the needed energy goes there to result in increase of spirituality. It must be remembered that Nature is all bountiful and withholds not her hand. The demand is made, and the supply will come. But at what cost? That energy which should have strengthened the moral nature and fulfilled the aspirations after good, is drawn to the lower desires. By degrees the higher planes are exhausted of vitality and the good and bad Karma of an entity will be absorbed on the physical plane. If on the other hand the interest is detached from the plane of sense gratification, if there is a constant effort to fix the mind on the attainment of the highest ideal, the result will be that the past Karma will find no basis in which to inhere on the physical plane. Karma will therefore be manifested only in harmony with the plane of desire. The sense energy of the physical plane will exhaust itself on a higher plane and thus become transmuted in its effects.

What are the means through which the effects of Karma can be thus changed is also clear. A person can have no attachment for a thing he does not think about, therefore the first step must be to fix the thought on the highest ideal. In this connection one remark may be made on the subject of repentance. Repentance is a form of thought in which the mind is constantly recurring to a sin. It has therefore to be avoided if one would set the mind free from sin and its Karmic results. All sin has its origin in the mind. The more the mind dwells on any course of conduct, whether with pleasure or pain, the less chance is there for it to become detached from such action. The _manas_ (mind) is the knot of the heart, when that is untied from any object, in other words when the mind loses its interest in any object, there will no longer be a link between the Karma connected with that object and the individual.

It is the attitude of the mind which draws the Karmic cords tightly round the soul. It imprisons the aspirations and binds them with chains of difficulty and obstruction. It is desire that causes the past Karma to take form and shape and build the house of clay. It must be through non-attachment that the soul will burst through the walls of pain, it will be only through a change of mind that the Karmic burden will be lifted.

It will appear, therefore, that although absolutely true that action brings its own result, “there is no destruction here of actions good or not good. Coming to one body after another they become ripened in their respective ways.”—Yet this ripening is the act of the individual. Free will of man asserts itself and he becomes his own saviour. To the worldly man Karma is a stern Nemesis, to the spiritual man Karma unfolds itself in harmony with his highest aspirations. He will look with tranquility alike on past and future, neither dwelling with remorse on past sin nor living in expectation of reward for present action.

SUFISM,

OR THEOSOPHY FROM THE STANDPOINT OF MOHAMMEDANISM.

_A Chapter from a MS. work designed as a text-book for Students in Mysticism_ BY C. H. A. BJERREGAARD, _Stud. Theos._

In Two Parts:—Part I, Texts; Part II, Symbols.

(CONTINUED.)