Chapter XIX: Part II: Symbols (6)

Thus far I have been speaking of _Elementals_ in the commonly accepted sense. But, it appears to me that there is another order of beings which also may be called _Elementals_, though perhaps in another sense.

I mean the ten _Sephiroth_.

The Kabbala teaches that the _En-Soph_ (the One without end, the Boundless) is present in the _Sephiroth_ or “intelligences,” by means of which creation is effected.

These Sephiroth, these “intelligences” or spheres, as they also have been called, these spiritual substances are emanations from the _En-Soph_ in which they existed from all eternity. They are emanations, not creations. A creation implies diminution of strength, but an emanation does not, hence the ten Sephiroth form among themselves, and with the En-Soph, a strict unity. They are in fact only differing from the En-Soph in the same way as light differs from its source, the fire. They are boundless on one side of their being, but finite manifestations on the other. They are both infinite and finite.

It has been stated that the whole world is like a gigantic tree full of branches and leaves, the root of which is the spiritual world of the Sephiroth; or it is like an immense sea, which is constantly filled by a spring everlastingly gushing forth its streams. That which thus has been said about the world applies equally to the Sephiroth. They are like trees rooted in the En-Soph, but blossoming and bearing fruit in the world. They are open within but closed without. Though they partake of the divine nature, they are on the outer side the garments of the Most High. This _their outer side is their bodily form_, and it is with this _we_ may come in contact.

It is almost blasphemy to call the outer side of the Sephiroth bodily—for body is to us something very low. Let us, therefore, beware of attaching anything low or mean to Body, when we speak of the Sephiroth. Let us bow down and revere, for we are in the presence of the Holy, even when we in thought rise to the bodily form of the Sephiroth.

The Sephiroth, through the divine power immanent in them, uphold the World. _They are the Elemental Forces of the World._ Through them flows all Power and all Mercy. Yea, the En-Soph is revealed through the Sephiroth, and becomes incarnate in them. It is stated in the Kabbala that the En-Soph, through various Sephiroth, became incarnate in Abraham as love, in Isaac as power, in Jacob as beauty, in Moses as firmness, in Aaron as splendor, in Joseph as foundation, etc.

The soul, notwithstanding its connection with the body, if it remain uncontaminated and pure, is able to ascend to the Kingdom of the Sephiroth and to “command them”. But great mysteries surround the secrets connected with this power, and but few have they been who have been pious enough and strong enough to be admitted.

That the Sephiroth are powers, “Elementals,” and not individual beings is evident from their division into three groups, intelligence, animation and matter.

Each of the three groups is again subdivided, the first into (1) the Crown or the inscrutable Height, (2) the creative Wisdom, (3) the conceiving Intellect. The result of the combination of the latter two: the creative Wisdom and the conceiving Intellect, is in the Kabbala called knowledge (= Logos), which certainly shows these three Sephiroph to be spiritual substances, rather than individualities according to the common acceptation of the term. But it is not enough that we escape the mistakes which we would fall into if we regarded the Sephiroth as individualities, we must also beware of regarding them as mere _abstractions_, which the terms wisdom and intellect might lead us into. We shall never arrive at the truth, much less the power of associating with these celestials, until we return to the simplicity and fearlessness of the primitive ages, when men mixed freely with the gods, and the gods descended among men and guided them in truth and holiness.

The _first_ group of the Sephiroth rests in so sublime an atmosphere and so near the Deity, that we can know nothing of their nature or activity.

The _second_ group of the Sephiroth exercises its power over the moral world, and consists of (1) infinite Grace, (2) divine Justice, and (3) Beauty, which is the connecting link between Grace and Justice.

Here again we have to do neither with mere moral states nor with abstractions, but with embodiments of living and moving realities. Human eyes can, however, neither see them, nor can human hands touch them, for they are far removed from them, existing as they do on another plane of existence. Yet, he who _keeps his virtue_, and who knows the key to the chain of existences, can bring them out from their own realm and into his own and cause them to act.

The _third_ group of the Sephiroth stands in relation to Matter in the same way as the other two stand to the Mind and the Heart, and may be called _Elementals par excellence_. They are called Firmness, Splendor, primary Foundation and Kingdom.—

I now wish to engage your attention by describing to you Leibnitz’s Monads. His monads have all the characteristics of Elementals, at the same time, that they seem to be purely physical molecules. But this very duplicity is an argument for my theory, that Leibnitz’s monad is a faithful definition of an Elemental. If it should be proved that they are not Elementals, and I doubt that that can be proved, they will at least serve as _illustrations_ as to what an Elemental is.

Leibnitz[158] formulates his conception of substance in direct opposition to Spinozism. To Spinoza substance is dead and inactive, but to Leibnitz’s penetrating powers of mind everything is living activity and active energy. In holding this view he comes infinitely nearer the Orient than any other thinker of his day or after him. His discovery that an _active energy forms the essence of substance_ is a principle that places him in direct relationship to the seers of the East.

This fact, that the chief points of Leibnitz’s philosophy are derived from this conception of an active energy forming the essence of substance, places it at once in our confidence.

From Leibnitz’s _Monadology_ I translate the following paragraphs:

§1. “The Monad is a _simple substance_, entering into those which are compound; simple, that is to say, without parts.”

§2. “Monads are the veritable Atoms of Nature, in one word, the elements of things.”

When _Leibnitz_ speaks of atoms it must not be understood that he is a materialist. He is far from it. Indeed, his system has been called a spiritualistic _atomistic_. Atoms and Elements to him are SUBSTANCE not _Matter_. They are centres of force or better “spiritual beings, whose very nature it is to act.” These elementary particles are vital forces, not acting mechanically, but from an internal principle. They are incorporeal or spiritual units, inaccessible to all change from without, but only subject to internal movement. They are indestructible by any external force. Leibnitz’s monads differ from atoms in the following particulars, which are very important for us to remember, otherwise we shall not be able to see the difference between Elementals and mere matter.

Atoms are not distinguished from each other, they are qualitatively alike, but one monad differs from every other monad, qualitatively; and every one is a peculiar world to itself. Not so with the atoms; they are absolutely alike quantitatively and qualitatively and possess no individuality of their own. Again, the atoms of materialistic philosophy can be considered as extended and divisible, while the monads are mere “metaphysical points” and indivisible. Finally, and this is a point where these monads of Leibnitz closely resemble the Elementals of mystic philosophy, these monads are representative beings. Every monad reflects every other. Every monad is a living mirror of the universe, within its own sphere. And mark this, for upon it depends the power possessed by these monads, and upon it depends the work they can do for us: in mirroring the world, the monads are not mere passive reflective agents, but _spontaneously self-active_; they produce the images spontaneously, as the soul does a dream. In every monad, therefore, the adept may read everything, even the future. Every monad—or elemental—is a looking-glass that can speak.

The monads may from one point of view be called _force_, from another _matter_. To occult science _force_ and _matter_ are only two sides of the same substance.

Such a doctrine is of course much objected to by people of the modern age, who pretend to possess very fine analytical powers, and yet are unable to conceive of matter under any other conditions than those cognizable by our coarse senses.

Those who have _intellectual_ difficulties in seeing that Brahm is everything and everything is Brahm must take this doctrine _on faith_ for awhile. A little earnest practice will lead them to see that truth is not attained through reflection, but through immediate intuition.

If we should desire to look upon these monads as matter, I know of no better comparison than with that which has been called Matter in a _Fourth_ state or condition, a condition as far removed from the state of gas as a gas is from a liquid.

If we should desire to look upon these monads as _force_, I know of no better comparison than with that which Faraday called “Radiant Matter” and which by Crooke’s experiments has been shown to be so much like mere _force_, or matter completely divested of all the characteristics of bodies that its physical properties have been so modified that it has changed nature and appears under the _form_ of force.

In §8 of the Monadology Leibnitz declares that “The Monads have _qualities_—otherwise they would not even be entities.” The qualities attributed to them make them appear very much like living rational beings. I am disposed to look upon them as upon those little beings represented by Raphael, as heads resting upon a pair of wings: pure intelligence, or spirits who have not yet attained to bodily life. If they have not a _thinking_ soul, they are at least forces that resemble life. Continuing, Leibnitz (§11) says: “We might give the name of _Perfection_ (Entelechies) to all monads inasmuch as there is in them a certain Completeness or Perfection. There is a sufficiency which makes them the sources of their own internal actions, and, as it were, incorporeal automata.” Says Leibnitz: (§19) “If we choose to give the name of soul to all that has perceptions and desires, in the general sense which I have just indicated, all simple substances or monads may be called souls.”

You see these infinitesimal beings are regarded by the great philosopher very much like intelligent existences; and yet they are very far removed from our conceptions of soul-life and existence. They are like the Elementals of the Kabbala: they never become men.

Continuing his definitions, he says (§60): “The monads are limited, not in the object, but in the mode of their knowledge of the object.” That is, the objective would have no power over them, but they themselves have only a limited knowledge of the objectivity, hence also a limited power. But that does not preclude the possibility of their being the means of the greatest influence upon the objective world—in the hands, namely, of an intelligent human being or spirit. “They all”, says Leibnitz, “tend (confusedly) to the infinite, to the whole; but they are limited and distinguished by the degrees of distinctness in their perception.”

Now I quote (§62) a sentence that reëchoes the most beautiful philosophy of the Orient. Leibnitz has seen as distinctly as the old nature worshippers of the early Aryans, that “every monad represents the entire universe.” This short sentence is the key to all mystical philosophy and to all magic; it is only second to such sentences as these: “God dwells in all things in His fullness,” (Vemana verse), and “The world is the image of God,” (Sufi philosophy).

It is a common mistake in the world to believe that God and his truth is only to be found in the Grand, in the Large, in the infinitely large.

In opposition to this, much of our mystical and esoteric philosophy points to the infinitely _Small_, declaring, that if we can become humble enough to descend to nature’s workshop, we shall learn more from the “atoms in space” upon which God let fall a “beam of his glory,” than from all the magnificent systems of the learned. Hear what Leibnitz himself says, though he is not a mystic. He ought to have been, for his insight was truly remarkable. He declares: (§66) “There is a world of creatures, of living things, of animals, of Perfection of souls, in the minutest portion of matter.” (§67) “Every particle of matter may be conceived as a garden of plants, or as a pond full of fishes—all swarming with life!“

Keep this in mind, that I am not talking about _atoms of_ MATTER, but of _atoms of substance_, real unities, the first principles in the composition of things. _Leibnitz_ himself, besides calling these corpuscular units Monads, has also called them _Metaphysical points_, and _Scaliger_ called them _seeds of eternity_, and a Persian poet has put it very clearly before us, that an atom is not a unit, by saying, ”_Cleave an atom, and you will find in it a Sun_.” Here is the kernel of our subject, the substance of an atom in space is the storehouse of the immanent forces to which elementals, and elementary spirits to some extent, have access, and by means of which they work.

This view is fully corroborated by a representative of modern science, Sir John F. W. Herschel, who has approached very near to the teachings of occult science by declaring the presence of mind in atoms. In the _Fortnightly Review_ of 1865, Sir John Herschel stated as follows: “All that has been predicated of Atoms, ‘the dear little creatures,’ as Hermione said, all their hates and loves, their attractions and repulsions, _according to the primary laws of their being_, only becomes intelligible when we assume the presence of MIND.”

These various definitions of the Monads as given by Leibnitz, answer in many important points exactly to what we find in occult teachings about the Elementals, and I can see no good reason why we should not look upon Leibnitz’s Monadology as a work on Elementals.

We are really done with him as far as our subject is concerned, but before dismissing him to turn to other wisdom, permit me to quote a few more passages, though they do not bear directly upon the subjects of monads. He says (§83-86): “Among other differences which distinguish spirits from ordinary souls, there is also this: ‘That souls in general are living mirrors, or images of the _universe of creatures_, but spirits are, furthermore, images of Divinity itself, or of the Author of Nature, capable of cognizing the system of the universe, and of imitating something of it by architectonic experiments, each spirit being, as it were, a little divinity in its own department.’—Hence spirits are able to enter into a kind of fellowship with God.—All spirits constitute the City of God—that is to say, the most perfect state possible under the most perfect of monarchs.—The City of God, this truly universal monarchy, is a moral world within the natural; and it is the most exalted and the most divine among the works of God.”

(_To be continued._)

WHAT IS THE “THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY”?

The subjoined extracts from the writings and public utterances of some of the leading members of the Theosophical Society will it is believed throw considerable light on the issues raised in Dr. Hartmann’s article in the number for October entitled “What is the Theosophical Society”; not so much perhaps as testing the validity of his observations as expanding their scope, and throwing into relief the true character of the Theosophical Society. Anything done or said by anybody without exception, not in harmony with the spirit of these extracts is entirely without binding power on the Theosophical Society or any of its members.

UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD THE MAIN OBJECT OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

In support of this assertion it may be noticed that in the April number of the Theosophist for the year 1880 in the extract of the rules of the Society as given in 1879, it is alternatively described as the Theosophical Society or Universal Brotherhood, and further stated that “The Theosophical Society is formed upon a basis of a Universal Brotherhood.”

In March, 1880, in a speech by Ráo Báhádur Gopálráo Hurry Deshmuk, the Society is described in the following words: “This Society was established in America four years ago (_i.e._ in 1875) and its object is to inquire into the philosophies of the East, to announce the brotherhood of man, and to create the bonds of fellowship among nations and sects of different denominations.”

In the June number of the _Theosophist_ for 1881, the name of the Society is again put forward as, “Universal Brotherhood” and its first object is stated to be—To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity.

The same sentiment is to be found enunciated by Mr. Sinnett in a speech made on the occasion of the seventh anniversary of the Society. He says: “But even this philosophical search for truth is hardly the primary object of the Society. That object is promoted by the philosophical search for truth, as I hope directly to show, that object itself is that pressed in the foremost watchword of the Society, Universal Brotherhood.” (_Supplement Theosophist, January, 1883._)

In the last edition of his lectures, published in 1885, Col. Olcott quotes a passage from Lange’s “History of Materialism” p. 361, in which it is stated:—“That the new epoch will not conquer unless it be under the banner of a great idea which sweeps away egoism, and sets human perfection in human fellowship as a new aim in the place of reckless toil, which looks only to personal gain.” Col. Olcott then proceeds: “It is to such an idea as this that the Theosophical Society seeks to give a formal if not already a quite practical expression,” p. 30. Further on in the same book, p. 117, he states “Our Society might have added to the name ‘Theosophical’ that of ‘Philadelphian’ as it was always meant to be a Society of Universal Brotherhood and for promoting brotherly love among all races.”

In No. 8, Transactions of the London Lodge Theosophical Society, Mr. Mohini M. Chatterji, in a paper “On the Theosophical Society and its Work,” after enumerating the three objects of the Society, makes the following observation:—“Of these three the first (_i.e._ Universal Brotherhood) is to be looked upon as the crown and end, the other two are merely accessories and means. Every member of the Theosophical Society must be inspired by that end, but may or may not be interested in the other two objects.”

A letter from Dewan Bahadoor Ragoonath Row published in the _Theosophist_ for March, 1884, and quoted in the same “Transaction,” still further accentuates this position. He says:—“Theosophy, as understood by me, is made up of three elements, viz, universal brotherhood, knowledge of truths discovered by science generally known to the ordinary scientist, and knowledge of truths still in store for them. It may be described in another way, viz, ‘universal religion and science reconciled.’ To be a Theosophist he must acknowledge and practice universal brotherhood. If he is not prepared to admit the principle, he cannot be a Theosophist. In addition to this, he should be a student of truths generally known, of course to the extent of his capacity. He should, besides, be a searcher of truths hitherto unknown. If he be all these three, he is undoubtedly a Theosophist. It is, however, possible that one may not be capable of knowing scientific truths, extant or prospective, and yet may be able to recognize and practice universal brotherhood; he is still a Theosophist. No one who does not admit and practice universal brotherhood, though he be a scientist of the first degree, can ever be a Theosophist.”

In the last published report (1886) of the Rules of the Theosophical Society it will also be seen that the first object of the Society is again stated as the promotion of a “Universal Brotherhood of Humanity.”

It is evident from these extracts, dating from the first formation of the Society to the present year, that Universal Brotherhood has been the one and only constant object of the Theosophical Society. The other objects which have at different times been added to this can only be looked upon as additions forming no part of the basic nature of the original, admissible only on the principle of toleration but in no sense binding on the Society. Whatever may be the statement put forward by individuals, from the President to the youngest member of the Society, or by any groups of individuals, such statements ought to be considered as representing individual opinion only and as having no authoritative legislation over the members of the Society.

THE UNSECTARIAN CHARACTER OF THE SOCIETY.

This point which is the logical outcome of the former position, is likewise as clearly enunciated in Theosophical literature.

In October, 1879, in an article entitled “What are Theosophists,” which has since been acknowledged by Madame Blavatsky, it is stated:

“With how much, then, of this nature-searching, God-seeking science of the ancient Aryan and Greek mystics, and of the powers of modern spiritual mediumship, does the Society agree? Our answer is:—with it all. But if asked what it believes in, the reply will be:—‘_as a body_—Nothing.’ The Society, as a body, has no creed, as creeds are but the shells around spiritual knowledge; and Theosophy in its fruition is spiritual knowledge itself—the very essence of philosophical and theistic enquiry. Visible representative of Universal Theosophy, it can be no more sectarian than a Geographical Society, which represents universal geographical exploration without caring whether the explorers be of one creed or another. The religion of the Society is an algebraical equation, in which so long as the sign = of equality is not omitted, each member is allowed to substitute quantities of his own, which better accord with climatic and other exigencies of his native land, with the idiosyncracies of his people, or even with his own. Having no accepted creed, our Society is very ready to give and take, to learn and teach, by practical experimentation, as opposed to mere passive and credulous acceptance of enforced dogma. It is willing to accept every result claimed by any of the foregoing schools or systems, that can be logically and experimentally demonstrated. Conversely it can take nothing on mere faith, no matter by whom the demand may be made. * *

“Born in the United States of America, the Society was constituted on the model of its Mother Land. The latter, omitting the name of God from its constitution lest it should afford a pretext one day to make a state religion, gives absolute equality to all religions in its laws. All support and each is in turn protected by the state. The Society, modelled upon this constitution, may fairly be termed a ‘Republic of Conscience.’

“We have now, we think, made clear why our members, as individuals, are free to stay outside or inside any creed they please, provided they do not pretend that none but themselves shall enjoy the privilege of conscience, and try to force their opinions upon the others. In this respect the Rules of the Society are very strict. It tries to act upon the wisdom of the old Buddhistic axiom: ‘Honor thine own faith, and do not slander that of others;’ echoed back in our present century, in the ‘Declaration of Principles’ of the Brahmo Samaj, which so nobly states that: ‘no sect shall be vilified, ridiculed, or hated.’” * * * * *

“In conclusion, we may state that, broader and far more universal in its views than any existing mere scientific Society, it has _plus_ science its belief in every possibility, and determined will to penetrate into those unknown spiritual regions which exact science pretends that its votaries have no business to explore. And, it has one quality more than any religion in that it makes no difference between Gentile, Jew or Christian. It is in this spirit that the Society has been established upon the footing of a Universal Brotherhood.”

In the supplement of the _Theosophist_, January, 1886, in the Preamble or Statement of Principles, first put forth in 1875 are these words: “Whatever may be the private opinions of its members, the Society has no dogmas to enforce, no creed to disseminate. It is formed neither as a Spiritualistic schism, nor to serve as the foe or friend of any sectarian or philosophical body. Its only axiom is the omnipotence of truth, its only creed a profession of unqualified devotion to its discovery and propagation. In considering the qualification of applicants for membership, it knows neither race, sex, color, nor creed.

In the rules of the Theosophical Society, published in 1886, it is also stated “That the Society represents no particular religious creed, is entirely unsectarian, and includes professors of all faiths.”

In the paper before alluded to No. 8, Transactions of the London Lodge—Mr. Mohini M. Chatterji makes the following remark:—“All attempts to fasten the authority of the Society to any creed, philosophical or otherwise, which is not covered by these rules (viz, the printed objects of the Society) are void _ab initio_; not because of the merits of such creed or doctrine, or of their exponents, but simply for the reason that the Theosophical Society, by its constitution, is not capable of holding any creed or doctrine in its corporate character.”

It is important that each individual member should clearly realize what the Theosophical Society is, what its fundamental principles and what is required of its members. It has been with the thought of giving further emphasis to the idea set forth by Dr. Hartmann in his concluding paragraph that these few extracts have been put together. A little attention to these statements will it is believed show the true character and purpose of the Theosophical Society and aid people to discern what is and what is _not_ consistent with that character and purpose. F. A.

ROTATION-INDIVIDUAL EVOLUTION.

[BY THE AUTHOR OF “LINES FROM LOWER LEVELS.”]

The paper on “The Higher Life,”[159] and the remarks which it has called forth, have led me to further reflections upon the subject. That subject is in fact, Individual Evolution, and the warning expressed by Murdhna Joti, in that article about “impetuously rushing into the circle of ascetics,” opens up an important phase of the topic most vital to humanity. For this sentence is not a mere advisory caution; it points out the only available procedure, the one course conducive to successful evolution, or final perfection. This course may be briefly summed up in one word,—Rotation. Upon examination we shall find this fact proved by the laws governing Universal Brotherhood.

To begin with, when we take into consideration the personalities of the real Founders of the Theosophical Society, we find ourselves safely concluding that the institution of this principle of Brotherhood as the basis of that Society, did not occur from any arbitrary selection, nor yet from ethical or even humanitarian considerations merely. We may say that it was not chosen; it presented itself as a central fact, one which correlates with all things, and is itself one of the aspects of the Great, the Mysterious Law. It must be moreover that level of the Law most nearly related to the human being, and by which alone he can raise himself from this “Slough of Despond” called matter. Upon no lesser precedent than this would the Masters, those supreme exponents of the Law, proceed. The outcome and teaching of that Law is Unity; the power of Unity is its exoteric expression. (Its hidden expression, Great Spirits alone can declare.) This power is conferred by the economic tendency of Nature, which uniformly moves along the line of least resistance and of larger currents of energy, which draw in turn all minor streams of being into their resistless tide. In order to bring home to all mankind the primary fact that only as a united body, only by living in and working with and for all, can unbroken advance to the Perfect Goal be achieved, this unitarian necessity had to be conveyed by a term which would appeal to the untrained, as well as to the cultured mind. No man or woman so grossly ignorant but can sense the advantages of “Universal Brotherhood,” while the more profound the thinker, the more he warms to the sublime comprehensiveness of this idea.

Many readers will doubtless recall an italicised sentence in the “Diary of a Hindu,” also published in THE PATH. It ran as follows:—“_No Yogee will do a thing unless he sees the desire in another Yogee’s mind._” These were the words of a teacher, and those who may require it have here an authoritative recognition of the need of humanitarian unity. For man’s strength lies in his perfect equilibrium, and by man I now mean the whole, triune man. That this fact is also true on the physical plane alone, is evidenced by medical testimony to the effect that while perfect health is perfect balance, the more complete this balance, the more readily is it disturbed. Thus trained athletes are compelled to take dietetic and other precautions, which men of minor strength disregard with apparent impunity. I say “apparent,” because the result is of course visible in their inferior physical powers. Only when the triune man has attained equilibrium is he a moral force; then alone is he in complete harmony. Harmony with what? With the Law that works for perfection or reunion, faith in which and accordance with which, is the sum of the highest consciousness of the human being. Now remember that there is at all times a body, (be it numerically large or small,) of individuals cognizing and waiting upon this Law. They perceive its tendency, they only act with and through it, and the cumulative energy of this compact body, plus certain impersonal forces, is in itself a tremendous power, so vast in fact, that plus the energizing spirit again, it may be said to form the exoteric expression of the Law itself. Imagine some one member of this body attempting to act from his separate impulse, and not from the general instinct. By disengaging his unit of force from the sum total, he at once neutralizes its effect and limits its expansive ratio; hence it is that action from self, however disinterested, is enfeebling in its tendency. This man may join himself to the powers of evil and act in opposition to the Law: he has then the accruing benefit of that energetic total, but this must fail in the long run, because it is minus the creative spirit, which works for eventual harmony. So true is it that a given cause produces similar results on all the planes alike, that in the spiritual as in the physical world, there must be united action to produce large results. The inutility of weak, single effort was acknowledged by St. Paul when he said—“Because thou art neither cold nor hot I will spew thee out of my mouth.” Unless the Yogee therefore, perceives an idea in other related minds, as the reflection of the Universal mind, he does not act. When the individual mind has freed itself from all desire for personal action and resting in the Universal Mind, acts passively with it alone, saying: “I rise with thy rising, with thee subside,”—then the individual has attained Nirvana. So that our present unit of power depends upon our greater or lesser assimilation with the highest aggregate of mind, and its continuance, upon our adherence to that manifested body of the Universal Mind which works for Good, with faith into the Perfect Law. This body in turn depends upon the individual efforts of its members, for the continuous elevation and expansion of its highest Ideal. Being thus interdependent, I think we may easily recognize that Universal Brotherhood is the starting point towards final success, and that its complete realization is the goal itself. Each may attain Omniscience, but only as one of a body, not as a separate part. “You shall enter the light, but you shall never touch the flame.”[160] So we may be part of the universal spirit, yet never that spirit itself.

This Brotherhood then, in its harmonious equilibrium, implies subservience to the Law of Evolution. The course marked out by this Law is one of gradual progression through a series of interlinked processes, not one of which can be intermitted or dropped, any more than we can omit a link from a chain without break of continuity, which would in this case imply a break of individuality, either as applied to a member or to the whole body. We find this course substantiated by Nature, who is our great initiator. Murdhna Joti’s phrase about not rushing “into the circle of ascetics,” refers to the rotation prevalent in Nature, and may be used in a large general sense, and not merely applied to any especial circle, such as the Hindu, Mahomedan, Christian or other group of ascetics. He refers to the disadvantages consequent upon any violation of this rotatory course; these apply quite as much to the farmer who fails to rotate his crops, as to any thing or person rushing into any plane, before being in all respects fitted to go there. Each plane in itself constitutes a “circle of ascetics,” and must be entered in the proper manner. In every department of Life we meet with an acceptance of this fact. No man is admitted to the privileges of naturalization until he has resided in a country, and has had time to accustom himself to its manners and laws. It is ever held necessary to serve a certain apprenticeship before entering any profession or trade. The social usages even make “circles of ascetics” in this sense. A boor, a ploughman, or even unsuitably attired persons, are not desired or admitted in a parlor full of people in splendid array, and a natural instinct makes them shrink from entering there. When exceptions occur, there is an undercurrent of discord perceptible; all are alike ill at ease. So in Nature, minerals, plants and animals are limited to their proper sphere. Birds cannot swim nor fishes fly. I would say, as birds or as fish _per se_ they cannot do so, nor can the boor, as a boor, be at ease with elevated minds. But advancement is the common lot of all, provided it be made step by step in the natural series of succession.

What then is this process in practical Life? It is, firstly, the identification of yourself with the highest consciousness accessible on your present plane, the engrafting upon your entire life of the best ideal attainable, so that you may act upon it in every thought and word. If you can do no more, select in your own mind the most unselfish and pure-hearted person in your horizon, and study the workings of such gracious aspirations and deeds. Noble ideals will soon spring up within you, and by this lodestone similar minds will swiftly be attracted, until you shall collectively form a nucleus of persons identical in aim and influence. If one receives a ray of Truth, he will speedily reflect it to all, and thus our attainment is largely regulated by that of our compeers. Largely, but not entirely. There are exceptional souls who progress with amazing velocity, far outstripping the comrades of their starting-level. But even these hearts of power reach up to the more perfect spirits above them, and to feel this attraction they must have prepared themselves for it, in the uniform, if rapid, rotation of previous existences. Each must trace out the prescribed circuit, but he may travel fast or slow. Let him not rashly conceive himself to be endowed with unusual spiritual momentum: time is better spent in caution than in failure.

Murdhna Joti gives valid warning not to rush in until all is ready. The circle is prepared, but you may not be so. Again, your fitness may be assured and the circle for the moment closed. The course of physical nature will exemplify my meaning. The blood leaves the heart by the arteries and goes on to the capillary interchange with the venous system, even as man descends from Spirit into matter, and at the point of choice, turns, and reascends towards Spirit. The veins take up the function of returning the blood to the heart; in these are valves; they receive, hold and transmit the impulse from the central heart. All the blood between any two valves has to stay there until the next impulse comes from the heart; when this arrives, it passes on. The valves close behind each quantum of blood thus ejected through: it is not possible for the blood to recede; retrogression is impeded by the closed valve. Nor can it remain; progress is imperative when the next impulse drives it forward, and so it goes on to the heart In the same manner each person should stay in his appropriate place, not only until he is ready, but also until the great Heart of all is ready to give the next impulse. Then he will inevitably go on to the next place.

Masters have said that for “chelas and adepts alike there is an abyss behind each step; a door closed. To stop or to go back is impossible.” That which is true for the Adept is true for the humblest disciple, each in his own manner and degree. It behooves us then to concentrate our attention upon the natural and fitting method of progression, and to assist those about us in maintaining a high average of ideality, that the entire body may progress evenly, steadily, and that nowhere may ignorance or undue haste clot or clog the way. In the end, the reward of patience is holy. In every effort you make to lighten the mind of another and open it to Truth, you help yourself. “Those pearls you find for another and give to him, you really retain for yourself in the act of benevolence. Never lose, then, that altitude of mind. Never, never desire to get knowledge or power for any other purpose than to give it on the altar, for thus alone can it be saved to you. When you open any door, beyond it you find others standing there who had passed you long ago, but now, unable to proceed, they are there waiting; others are there _waiting for you_! Then you come, and opening a door, those waiting disciples perhaps may pass on; thus on and on. What a privilege this, to reflect that we may perhaps be able to help those who seemed greater than ourselves.”[161]

The consent of the Spirit has hallowed those thoughts. Another Messenger of Truth once said:—“The first shall be last and the last first; contain yourselves, therefore, in Peace.” JASPER NIEMAND, F. T. S.

THOUGHTS IN SOLITUDE.

I.

Within the symbols and doctrines of the Christian Church may indeed lie hidden all the truths of the Occult Philosophy, and another and abler pen has already traced the correspondences, but it is necessary to realize differences as well as likenesses, and while Christianity, as a definite system, has embodied for the world many noble ideas, it seems to the writer to have been able to display only one fact of the divine jewel of Truth—to have been able to trace only a short line of the celestial circle of Wisdom.

Putting aside all such unphilosophical dogmas, as a personal anthropomorphic God—atonement by the vicarious sacrifice of another—eternal damnation and such like, which may be regarded as the outworks of the Creed, and which indeed many of its own professors deny or minimize, and coming to the essential kernel of the system—the inner stronghold of the faith—that which would be regarded as such by all its truest sons throughout these nearly nineteen centuries of its existence, it would yet seem to be but a one-sided statement—a partial view—compared with the all-embracing Catholicity of the Occult Wisdom.

Unfortunately the outworks and excrescences above referred to, have, during these many centuries, so warped the thoughts and feelings of the populations professing this religion that it is no longer the pure and exalted doctrine as preached by its founder, but something very different. There are, no doubt, here and there good and noble souls, who practice the higher virtues of Christianity, but they are in such a minority that they are quite unable to affect the popular standard.

When one begins to analyse the stupendous outgrowth called Western Civilization, of which steam and electricity, in their practical uses, may be regarded as the types, and to ask how and by what means this vast fabric has arisen, we are informed by those who are able to see below the mere surface of things that the setting of men’s minds in a certain direction must have been the factor, and it is only logical that if a man’s highest religious duty is put before him as the saving of his own soul from perdition, a tendency of mind which may be characterized as the supremely selfish must naturally be set in motion. When the converging lines of heredity through many generations have so strengthened this tendency that it has become a potent factor, the development “_in excelsis_” of the purely intellectual faculties as dissociated from the moral will be seen to be the inevitable result, and from this has naturally evolved the Western Civilization which is spoken of with so much pride. But are not nations like trees to be known by their fruits? “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”

What sins are dwelt on with more emphatic reprobation throughout the whole teachings of Christ than those of hypocrisy and cupidity? And where is hypocrisy deeper than within the Christian fold? So deep indeed, that it has become an integral part of the nature, and is no more recognized as a vice than it was by the Pharisees of old. And where is the worship of mammon more rampant than throughout the length and breadth of Christendom? The preachers of the Churches may utter faint-hearted protests, but the nations nevertheless remain prostrate before their idol, and as steam and electricity extend their sway, and new countries are laid open to modern progress, the more primitive races, to avoid extinction, join in the mad competition for wealth. But whether conspicuously shown in the acts of States lustful to conquer fresh territory, or hidden in the individual character, where it displays itself in the haste to grow rich by fair means or foul, it remains none the less a gnawing canker at the heart of Christendom.

What a gulf there lies between the practice of modern Europe and the divine teachings of the Master.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon Earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

And again: “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.”

There is probably no teaching more thoroughly altruistic in its character, and which, if it could be literally applied, would exercise so direct and beneficial an influence on the human race as the teaching of Christ, but to the impartial student there seems to be none, the spirit of whose revelation has been more perverted and degraded by his followers of all denominations, and following the spiritual law whose complement on the physical plane may be recognized in the axiom that action and reaction are equal, the moral light to which Christ’s teachings soared is the measure which decides the depth to which such teaching, when perverted, must inevitably fall, and Christendom may veritably be said to have become Anti-Christian.[162] All the religions of the world have more or less lost the divine afflatus by which they were originally vivified, but it has been reserved for Christianity to mould the life of the nations from the very blackness of the shadows cast by the “Light of the World.”

When we ask to what goal or catastrophe this Western Civilization is hurrying, it is still more necessary to have the eyes of those who are able to read the signs of the times. The following is an extract from a letter to which many of the above ideas may be traced which was signed “a Turkish Effendi” (in the absence of any right to suggest the real and more authoritative name), and was published by his correspondent in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine of January, 1880:

“The persistent violation for centuries of the great altruistic laws propounded and enjoined by the great founder of the Christian religion, must inevitably produce a corresponding catastrophe; and the day is not far distant when modern civilization will find, that in its great scientific discoveries and inventions, devised for the purpose of ministering to its own extravagant necessities, it has forged the weapons by which it will itself be destroyed. No better evidence of the truth of this can be found than in the fact that Anti-Christendom alone is menaced with the danger of a great class revolution: already in every so-called Christian country we hear the mutterings of the coming storm, when labor and capital will find themselves arrayed against each other—when rich and poor will meet in deadly antagonism, and the spoilers and the spoiled solve, by means of the most recently invented artillery, the economic problems of modern ‘progress.’ It is surely a remarkable fact that this struggle between rich and poor is specially reserved for those whose religion inculcates upon them as the highest law—the love of their neighbor—and most strongly denounces the love of money. No country which does not bear the name of Christian is thus threatened.”

But to return from this long digression, take Christianity, I say, in its loftiest ideal, as taught and practiced by its founder—and it certainly is a very lofty one—altruism in its most sublimated form—self-sacrifice incarnate upon Earth—giving of its life-blood to raise the sons of men, and drawing all to Him by the sheer force of divine love, until the believer’s heart is set on flame, and nothing seems worthy in his eyes short of absolute union with this divine personality who is at once his Saviour, his brother and his God.

Yet were you to analyse the thoughts and feelings of the most ecstatic saint, would they display more than an ardent soul, a devout mind and a holy life?

Those of the Dualist Philosophy might indeed argue that such an one had his feet well planted on the narrow way—but the students of the wider Philosophy of Nature know well that everything on Earth—religion included—is under the governance of natural law. The attainment of perfection is not to be achieved by sentiment alone—_it is a scientific process_, and knowledge is the supreme enlightener.

The devotion of Bhakti is indeed a necessary prelude to progress in the religious life, under the guidance of whichever special cult the neophyte may aspire, but it is as it were the outer court of the Temple, and the Holy of Holies cannot be reached by any save those who have attained knowledge.

Without some previous study of occult writings, this word knowledge will entirely fail to carry home the idea which it is intended to express, and let alone the liability to misinterpretation from this cause, how can anyone pretend to describe it who has himself none of this knowledge, who has not yet trodden one step of the path that leads there, and who can only strain with vague imagination towards the sublime conception of the inmost workings of Nature through her manifold diversity laid bare before the intuitive vision? However, although it is an act of temerity on the writer’s part, these few words may convey some idea to those who are no further on the path than himself.

When the lower states of consciousness have been so welded in the fire of supreme emotion that duty, though involving the most appalling sacrifice, is no longer a thing to strive after with pain and struggle, but is a natural outcome of the life—the absolute expression of unity with nature—when the higher faculties, emotional, ethical and intellectual, whose respective functions may be said to be the perceiving of the Beautiful, the Good, and the True, have been so merged in one that the Buddhi or divine spark which hitherto flickered, becomes a bright, steady, luminous flame—when the “Explosion,” as St. Martin called it, has taken place, “by which our natural will is forever dispersed and annihilated by contact with the divine,”—then and then only is one fit to begin to tread the path of knowledge.

That it leads altogether beyond human experience, and entirely transcends what we can conceive is but too apparent.

The 15th and 16th Rules in the second part of “_Light on the Path_” may help towards a vague apprehension of what this knowledge means.

15th. Inquire of the earth, the air and the water of the secrets they hold for you. The development of your inner senses will enable you to do this.

16th. Inquire of the holy ones of the earth of the secrets they hold for you. The conquering of the desires of the outer senses will give you the right to do this.

And the final secret of all may be said to be wrapped up in the mystery of “self.” When the knowledge of the individualization of Being is reached, man has learned all that this world can teach him, and in the words “Know thyself” lie folded the ultimate possibilities of Humanity. Knowledge is indeed the supreme enlightener.

“There is no purifier like thereto
In all this world, and he who seeketh it
Shall find it—being grown perfect—in himself.”

Whether any intelligible idea as to the knowledge itself can be evolved from what is here written—it will at least be apparent that a goodness so exalted as to be scarcely imaginable as a human attribute is required as the necessary qualification for the commencement of the search.

Well did Shelley write in his Prometheus:

“The good want power but to weep barren tears
The powerful goodness want—worse need for them.
The wise want love; and those who love want wisdom.
And all best things are thus confused to ill.
Many are strong and rich, and would be just
But live among their suffering fellow-men
As if none felt: they know not what to do.”

and the current Theologies of the world have not been able to remove the reproach. In the case of Christianity the failure may, to a great extent, be owing to its sentimentality and its failure to realize that to be supremely good it is necessary to be wise—though wise with a higher wisdom than that referred to in the above lines.

But Christianity’s greatest fall has probably been its disregard of the facts of Reincarnation. Whatever interpretation may be put on the great Master’s utterance on this subject, and however the early church may have regarded it, it is notorious that Christianity, as interpreted by its mediæval and modern professors alike, has entirely ignored the evolution of the soul progressing through innumerable earthly existences, and has instead adopted the illogical and unphilosophic dogma of a human soul born into the world from nothingness and meriting by its 70 or 80 years of earth-life an Eternity of bliss or an Eternity of misery.

But one does not expect of the child the reason-guided actions of mature manhood—its teachings must be given in the form of dogma, to which it must yield implicit obedience. Nor do we expect the infant school to provide the same training that the University does for the cultured intellect. Similarly the various Religions of the world have been the infant schools for growing Humanity until the complete stature of manhood should be reached.

It has been remarked by some Christians who are much enamored of the self-devoted love exhibited by the Founder of their faith, and the strong feeling of personal love and attachment thereby called forth from them, that Theosophy is cold because it does not dwell exclusively on that side of the nature, but while each separate Religion that has existed in the world may be regarded as the analysis of one special characteristic of the mind, the occult philosophy gathers into one synthetical whole all its varied characteristics. The different religions accentuating as they do different truths may be regarded at the same time—according as one looks at them from the scientific or religious standpoint—and both views are equally tenable and mutually comprehensive—as natural evolutions of the peoples among whom they arose, and as revelations from the unseen universe of partial truths which have to be received and assimilated before mankind can be fitted to comprehend the Supreme Truth in its abstract purity.