Chapter VIII: Part I: Texts (4)

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._]

_Apud Fulvium Vrsinum in gemma._]

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.”