VernalBlooms_WQJudge

8/11/2019 VernalBlooms_WQJudge

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Vernal Blooms by William Quan Judge

Vernal Blooms

by William Quan Judge

Published in the 1800's

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CONTENTS

A Friend of Old ime and of the Future

!"ours ill #eath and After$ %&P&B

Ad(antages and #isad(antages in )ife

Friends or *nemies in the Future+efle,tions

-,ono,lasm o.ards -llusions

%y/o,risy or -gnoran,e

Of O,,ult Po.ers and heir A,uirement

/iritual 2ifts and heir Attainment

3e,hani,al heoso/hy

hrough the 2ates of 2old

!he 2ates of 2old%it the 3ar4

3ethods of heoso/hi,al Wor4

What We 5eed 3ost 6 heoso/hi,al *du,ation

im/lifi,ation of ea,hings

Of tudying heoso/hy

7autions in Paragra/hs

What hould heoso/hists +ead

3u,h +eading$ )ittle houghtWhat hould heoso/hists al4 About

Astral -nto9i,ation

7laiming to be Jesus

2lamour -ts Pur/ose and Pla,e in 3agi,

O77:) A+

5o& -6 Pre,i/itation

5o& -- #isintegration;+eintegration5o& ---6 ome Pro/ositions by %&P& B)AVA


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7on(ersations on O,,ultism

5o& 16 he


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Foreword

Fifty years ago$ on the #ay of the /ring *uino9$ William Quan Judge laid aside his body of only forty>four years$ after a,,om/lishing a mighty tas4& tudents of heoso/hi,al history 4no. ho. substantiallyhe ,ontributed to the building of the organism through .hi,h .as radiated the #i(ine Wisdom& -ntuiti(eas/irants to soul>4no.ledge are ,ons,ious that his .ritings are /rofound@ and dee/ is the im/ress thatthese ma4e u/on their minds and hearts&

-n this (olume .e ha(e brought together but a fe. ,ulled flo.ers$ fragrant of sym/athy andunderstanding$ ,olourful in 4no.ledge& hat 4no.ledge not only a//eals to the head but also fe,undatethe heart .ith real ,om/assion and a.a4ens both to sa,rifi,ial ser(i,e of man4ind& :ntiring .as 3r&Judges /atien,e and gentleness .ith his /u/ils$ .ith his ,o>.or4ers$ and .ith all the men and .omen h,onta,ted& he attenti(e reader of this (olume .ill learn mu,h but the ardent one .ill gain$ by in(isibleosmosis and assimilation$ these outstanding ualities of his& u,h a de(oted reader .ill find in the boo4not only usable 4no.ledge but also e9er,ises for the ,ontrol of the mind and the a.a4ening of the hearte9er,ises to be daily done&

he boo4 ,ontains arti,les .hi,h deal .ith /rin,i/les and /ra,ti,es of the higher morality founded u/onthe meta/hysi,s of heoso/hy@ ne9t$ arti,les .hi,h indi,ate to the /romulgator the methods of ser(i,e@then$ e9/ositions on /sy,hi, /o.ers and /henomena and on s/iritual ones /ertaining to #i(ineO,,ultism& he last fi(e arti,les are of histori,al interest but ha(e a distin,t message for the /resent>day.or4ers .ho are building the future&

3r& +obert 7rosbie made the utmost use of the .ritings of W&Q& Judge and as a de(oted ,hela he/ointed to their (alue& %e .rote6>

Freuent reading of arti,les by W&Q&J& de(elo/s the tenden,y to /resent the right ideas in the sim/lestform$ and these ideas be,ome a mental storehouse .hi,h ,an be dra.n u/on at .ill& -t is not sone,essary that .e understand the dee/ly meta/hysi,al ,on,e/ts of heoso/hy$ as it is to ,om/rehendthe fundamentals and be able to ma4e an a//li,ation of them to e(ery /roblem of life& W&Q&Js arti,les.ill be found to ,ontain !al/habet$ grammar and ,om/osition$ or$ in other .ords$ a basis for right ideas$right thin4ing and right a//li,ation& A daily reading from his .ritings is ad(isable& One .ho does this,annot hel/ but imbibe;the s/irit of them$ and be,ome an e9/onent .ho is at on,e dee/$ sim/le and,on(in,ing&

his is a memorial (olume in the sense that it gi(es a fe. de(otees of William Quan Judge ano//ortunity to offer a to4en of gratitude at the feet of the great oul .hose one aim .as to ele(ate theminds of his fello.men & For thousands of mysti,ally in,lined readers and as/irants$ all o(er the .orld$William Quan Judge has be,ome or .ill be,ome the )in4 .hi,h ma4es and 4ee/s inta,t their relation tothe World of *lder Brothers& %e ma4es ,lear$ as no one else has done$ the /ur/ose of the 3ission of hissenior;%&P& B)AVA


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-n /re/aring this (olume .e ha(e enDoyed and ha(e benefited from the s.eetness and the strength of its,ontents& 3ay these Vernal Blooms /ro(e (eritablepuja flo.ers for many$ many Pilgrim>ouls bound fothe em/le of #i(ine Wisdom&

Bombay$ =1st3ar,h 1HGI

he Publishers

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A Friend of Old Time and of te Future

As su,h does William Quan& Judge a//ear to me$ as doubtless he does to many others in this and othlands&

he first heoso/hi,al treatise - read .as his Epitome of Theosophy@ my first meeting .ith him ,hangethe .hole ,urrent of my life& - trusted him then $ as - trust him no. and all those .hom he trusted@ to meseems that !trust is the bond that binds$ that ma4es the strength of the 3o(ement$ for it is of the heaAnd this trust he ,alled forth .as not allo.ed to remain a blind trust$ for as time .ent on$ as the energsteadfastness and de(otion of the student be,ame more mar4ed$ the !real W&Q&J& .as more and more(ealed$ until the /o.er that radiated through him be,ame in ea,h as e(er /resent hel/ in the .or4& Asu,h it remains today$ a li(ing ,entre in ea,h heart that trusted him$ a fo,us for the +ays of the ,omin!great messenger&

%a(ing been engaged in a,ti(e && .or4 in Boston for o(er se(en years$ it has been my


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!!ours Till "eat and After# $%&%B'

u,h has been the manner in .hi,h our belo(ed tea,her and friend al.ays ,on,luded her letters to mAnd no.$ though .e are all of us ,ommitting to /a/er some a,,ount of that de/arted friend and tea,herfeel e(er near and e(er /otent the magi, of that resistless /o.er$ as of a mighty rushing ri(er$ .hi,those .ho .holly trusted her al.ays ,ame to understand& Fortunate indeed is that


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-n 1888 she .rote to me /ri(ately6>

!Well$ my only friend$ you ought to 4no. better& )oo4 into my life and try to realiKe it;in its outer ,oursat least$ as the rest is hidden& - am under the ,urse of e(er .riting$ as the .andering Je. .as under thof being e(er on the mo(e$ ne(er sto//ing one moment to rest& I haveto do& - li(e an artifi,ial life@ - am aautomaton running full steam until the /o.er of generating steam sto/s$ and then;good byeM NNN 5ig

before last - .as sho.n a birds eye (ie. of the heoso/hi,al o,ieties& - sa. a fe. earnest reliabheoso/hists in a death struggle .ith the .orld in general$ .ith other;nominal but ambitiousheoso/hists& he former are greater in numbers than you may thin4$ and they prevailedas you America will prevail,if you only remain staun,h to the 3asters /rogramme and true to yoursel(es& Anlast night - sa. NNN and no. - feel strong;su,h as - am in my body;and ready to fight for heoso/hand a fe. trueones to my last breath& he defending for,es ha(e to be Dudi,iously;so s,anty they are;distributed o(er the globe$ .here(er heoso/hy is struggling against the /o.ers of dar4ness&

u,h she e(er .as@ de(oted to heoso/hy and the o,iety organiKed to ,arry out a /rogrammembra,ing the .orld in its s,o/e& Willing in the ser(i,e of the ,ause to offer u/ ho/e$ money$ re/utatio

life itself$ /ro(ided the o,iety might be sa(ed from e(ery hurt$ .hether small or great& And thus bounbody$ heart and soul to this entity ,alled the heoso/hi,al o,iety$ bound to /rote,t it at all haKards$ fa,e of e(ery loss$ she often in,urred the resentment of many .ho be,ame her friends but .ould noal.ays ,are for the infant organiKation as she had s.orn to do& And .hen they a,ted as if o//osed to tho,iety$ her instant o//osition seemed to them to nullify /rofessions of friendshi/& hus she had but fefriends$ for it reuired a 4een insight$ untinged .ith /ersonal feeling$ to see e(en a small /art of the re%&P& B)AVA


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%&P&B had a lion heart$ and on the .or4 tra,ed out for her she had the lions gras/@ let us$ her friend,om/anions and dis,i/les$ sustain oursel(es in ,arrying out the designs laid do.n on the trestle>boarby the memory of her de(otion and the ,ons,iousness that behind her tas4 there stood$ and still remaithose *lder Brothers .ho$ abo(e the ,latter and the din of our battle$ e(er see the end and dire,t thfor,es distributed in array for the sal(ation of !that great or/han;%umanity&

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Ad(antages and "isad(antages in )ife

hat (ie. of ones ,allead(antageous /osition in life is really not good nor fortunate in the true and inner meaning of thos.ords& he fortunate one has money and tea,hers$ ability$ and means to tra(el and fill the surrounding.ith .or4s of art$ .ith musi, and .ith ease& But these are li4e the tro/i,al airs that ener(ate the bodthese ener(ate the ,hara,ter instead of building it u/& hey do not in themsel(es tend to the a,uiremeof any (irtue .hate(er but rather to the o//osite by reason of the ,onstant stee/ing of the senses in thsubtle essen,es of the sensuous .orld& hey are li4e s.eet things .hi,h$ being s.allo.ed in uantitieturn to a,ids in the inside of the body& hus they ,an be seen to be the o//osite of good


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,hara,ter$ .e must admit that /o(erty is not$ in itself$ ne,essarily bad ,alled ad(antages of o//ortunity$ money$ tra(el antea,hers .e see at on,e that it all has to do .ith the brain and nothing else& )anguages$ ar,haeologmusi,$ satiating sight .ith beauty$ eating the finest food$ .earing the best ,lothes$ tra(elling to man

/la,es and thus infinitely (arying im/ressions on ear and eye@ all these begin and end in the brain annot in the soul or ,hara,ter& As the brain is a /ortion of the unstable$ fleeting body the .ho/hantasmagoria disa//ears from (ie. and use .hen the note of death sends its a.ful (ibration througthe /hysi,al form and dri(es out the inhabitant& he .onderful ,entral master>ganglion disintegrates$ annothing at all is left but some faint aromas here and there de/ending on the a,tual lo(e .ithin for any on/ursuit or image or sensation& 5othing left of it all but a fe. tenden,ies;Skandhas$ not of the (ery beshe ad(antages then turn out in the end to be disad(antages altogether& But imagine the same brain anbody not in /la,es of ease$ struggling for a good /art of life$ doing their duty and not in a /osition /lease the senses6 this e9/erien,e .ill burn in$ stam/ u/on$ ,ar(e into the ,hara,ter$ more energy$ mo/o.er and more fortitude& -t is thus through the ages that great ,hara,ters are made& he other mode the mode of the humdrum a(erage .hi,h is nothing after all$ as yet$ but an animal

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Friends or Enemies in te Future

he fundamental do,trines of heoso/hy are of no (alue unless they are a//lied to daily life& o the9tent to .hi,h this a//li,ation goes they be,ome li(ing truths$ uite different from intelle,tue9/ressions of do,trine& he mere intelle,tual gras/ may result in s/iritual /ride$ .hile the li(ing do,trinebe,omes an entity through the mysti, /o.er of the human soul& 3any great minds ha(e d.elt on thiaint Paul .rote6>

hough - s/ea4 .ith the tongues of men and of angels and ha(e not ,harity$ - am be,ome as soundinbrass or a tin4ling ,ymbal& And though - ha(e the gift of /ro/he,y and understand all mysteries and a4no.ledge$ and though - ha(e all faith so that - ,ould remo(e mountains$ and ha(e not ,harity$ - anothing& And though - besto. all my goods to feed the /oor$ and though - gi(e my body to be burned$ anha(e not ,harity$ it /rofiteth me nothing&

The Voice of the Silence$ e9/ressing the (ie.s of the highest s,hools of o,,ultism$ as4s us to ste/ out

the sunlight into the shade so as to ma4e room for others$ and de,lares that those .hom .e hel/ in thlife .ill hel/ us in our ne9t one&

Buttresses to these are the do,trines of


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Our future friends or enemies$ then$ are those .ho are .ith us and to be .ith us in the /resent& -f theyare those .ho no. seem inimi,al$ .e ma4e a gra(e mista4e and only /ut off the day of re,on,iliationthree more li(es if .e allo. oursel(es today to be defi,ient in ,harity for them& We are annoyed andhindered by those .ho a,ti(ely o//ose as .ell as others .hose mere loo4s$ tem/erament$ andun,ons,ious a,tion fret and disturb us& Our ,ode of Dusti,e to oursel(es$ often but /etty /ersonality$in,ites us to rebu4e them$ to ,riti,ise$ to atta,4& -t is a mista4e for us to so a,t& 7ould .e but glan,eahead to ne9t life$ .e .ould see these for .hom .e no. ha(e but s,ant ,harity ,rossing the /lain of tha

life .ith oursel(es and e(er in our .ay$ al.ays hiding the light from us& But ,hange our /resent attitude$and that ne. life to ,ome .ould sho. these bores and /artial enemies and obstru,tors hel/ing us$ aidinour e(ery effort& For


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*efle+tions

When - am annoyed by an ungo(ernable animal$ - am reminded that the brutes .ould not o//ose manman understood and entered into his true relations .ith all things& he brutes are un,ons,iously a.are the general human o//osition$ .hi,h they see fo,aliKed in ea,h human being& When - am in harmon.ith all things$ men cannotand brutes will noto//ose me& -n unde(iating instin,t$ the brute is more truthan is the man$ to the un.ritten )a.&

he !idle .ord ,ondemned by Jesus is ina,ti(ity of Being& -t is the ,essation of the homogeneouresonan,e$ the )ogos or Word& he Word in its highest a,ti(ity is /ure s/irit@ in stagnation it is hell& ea,h man it is gi(en in trust for all men@ if he misinter/rets it he is tortured& Of he seuestrates it$ he ,ondemned to eternal death that it may be free@ for it is eternally free& hrough misuse$ he may learn use& -f he denies it$ he is lost@ for by it alone he li(es&

-t is better for a man to sin deliberately against the )a. than to ,hafe under the mandates of ,ons,ien,

he first is a renegade .ho ,hooses another


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,+ono+lasm Towards ,llusions

A dis/osition not to interfere in any .ay .ith beliefs .hi,h are illusions /re(ails .ith many .ho disli4e th/ain ,aused by su,h tearing a.ay of the (eil& And the argument that illusionary beliefs$ ,reeds$ andogmas should not be done a.ay .ith so long as the belie(er is ha//y or good has been used by th7hristian 7hur,h;and more es/e,ially by the +oman 7atholi, bran,h of it;as a /otent means 4ee/ing the mind of man in an iron ,hain& hey are a,,ustomed to add that unless su,h ,reeds anbeliefs shall stand$ morality .ill die out altogether& But e9/erien,e does not /ro(e the /osition to b,orre,t&

For numerous e9am/les e9ist in the dissenting or Protestant form of 7hristianity sho.ing that thim/ortant do,trines of the 7hur,h are not ne,essary for the /re(ailing of good morals@ and$ on the othhand$ immortality$ (i,e$ and ,rime in /la,es high and lo. ,oe9ist .ith a formal de,laration of belief in th,hur,h dogmas& -n many /arts of -taly the grossest su/erstition and murderous (engefulness an,roo4ed hearts are found side by side .ith an out.ardly /ious ,om/lian,e .ith the ordinan,es of th7hur,h and a su/erstitious belief in its dogmas& he .hole 7hristian assembly of nations offi,ia

(iolates the ,ommands of Jesus e(ery day and hour&

hall it be .orse or better$ or 4ind or harsh$ to tear a.ay the (eil as ui,4ly as /ossible And if thin,ono,lasti, atta,4 should be made$ for .hat reason ought one to hesitate be,ause the o/eration anthe atta,4 may result in mental /ain

he only reason for hesitation lies in this fear to gi(e /ain@ there ,an be nothing but good results from th,hange from an untrue and illogi,al$ and therefore debasing$ ,reed$ if a system that is ,om/lete anreasonable be furnished in its /la,e&

Were .e dealing .ith ,hildren or .ith a ra,e mind .hi,h though d.elling in an adult body is but that of,hild$ then$ indeed$ it .ould be right to lead them on by .hat may be entirely an illusion& But the day mans ,hildhood as an immortal being has /assed a.ay& %e is no. gro.n u/$ his mind has arri(ed at th/oint .here it must 4no.$ and .hen$ if 4no.ledge be refused$ this (iolation of our being .ill result in thgrossest and (ilest su/erstition of the most a//alling materialism& 5o ,hild is born .ithout tha,,om/anying /ains$ and no. the soul>mind of man is struggling for birth& hall .e aid in /re(entingmerely for the a(oidan,e of /reliminary /ain hall .e hel/ a (ast brood of /riests to refasten the ,lam/of steel .hi,h for so many ,enturies they ha(e held tightly on the ra,e>mind 5e(er$ if .e see the gretruth that .e are /re/aring for a ,y,le .hen reason is to ta4e her /la,e beside the soul and guide th

/ilgrim to the tree of life eternal&

Be not beguiled by the argument that 'tis un.ise to tell the truth& -t is but the song of the siren$ intendeto lure the tra(eller to his doom&

ell the truth$ but do not for,e it& -f e(en a /ious soul should lose the histori,al Jesus 7hrist and seinstead the glorious image of the elf in e(ery man$ that .ere a gain .orth all the /ain the first rudsho,4 might gi(e& he danger of lifting the (eil of -sis lies not in the do,trines of :nity$ +ein,arnation$ an

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$y-o+risy or ,gnoran+e

here are some members of the heoso/hi,al o,iety .ho e9/ose themsel(es to the ,harge of indulginin hy/o,risy or being ignorant about their o.n failings and short,omings& hey are those .ho$ ha(instudied the literature of the mo(ement and a,,e/ted most of its do,trines$ then tal4 either to fello.members or to outsiders as if the goal of renun,iation and uni(ersal 4no.ledge had been rea,hed in the,ase$ .hen a (ery slight obser(ation re(eals them as uite ordinary human beings&

-f one a,,e/ts the do,trine of :ni(ersal Brotherhood$ .hi,h is based on the essential unity of all humabeings$ there is a long distan,e yet inter(ening bet.een that a,,e/tation and its realiKation$ in those .hha(e ado/ted the do,trine& -t is Dust the differen,e bet.een intelle,tual assent to a moral$ /hiloso/hi,aor o,,ult la.$ and its /erfe,t de(elo/ment in ones being so that it has be,ome an a,tual /art oursel(es& o .hen .e hear a theoso/hist say that he ,ould see his ,hildren$ .ife$ or /arents die and nfeel anything .hate(er$ .e must infer that there is a hy/o,riti,al /retension or (ery great ignoran,here is one other ,on,lusion left$ .hi,h is that .e ha(e before us a monster .ho is in,a/able of afeeling .hate(er$ selfishness being o(er>dominant&

he do,trines of heoso/hy do not as4 for nor lead to the ,utting out of the human heart of e(ery humafeeling& -ndeed$ that is an im/ossibility$ one .ould thin4$ seeing that the feelings are an integral /art the ,onstitution of man$ for in the /rin,i/le ,alled !"ma;the desires and feelings;.e ha(e the basis all our emotions$ and if it is /rematurely ,ut out of any being death or .orse must result& -t is (ery truthat theoso/hy as .ell as all ethi,al systems demands that the being .ho has ,ons,ien,e and .ill$ su,as are found in man$ shall ,ontrol this /rin,i/le of ,ontrol$ mastery of the human body$ steadiness in the fa,e of affli,tion$ but it is ne9tir/ation of the feelings .hi,h one has to ,ontrol& -f any theoso/hi,al boo4 deals .ith this subDe,t it the #hagavad $ita, and in that /resent thougu/on the subDe,t$ ,ou/led .ith a ,onstant .at,h o(er all faults of mind and s/ee,h$ that in time an a,tu,hange is /rodu,ed in the material /erson$ as .ell as in the immaterial one .ithin .ho is the mediator .ay bet.een the /urely ,or/oral lo.er man and his %igher di(ine self& his ,hange$ it is (ery ob(iou,annot ,ome about at on,e nor in the ,ourse of years of effort&

he ,harge of /retension and ignoran,e is more gra(e still in the ,ase of those theoso/hists guilty of th

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fault$ .ho ha//en to belie(e;as so many do>that e(en in those dis,i/les .hose duties in the .orld anilfrom the (ery beginning$ and .ho ha(e de(oted themsel(es to self>renun,iation and self>study so lonthat they are immeasurably beyond the members of our o,iety$ the defe,ts due to family$ tribal$ annational inheritan,e are no. and then obser(able&

-t seems to be time$ then$ that no theoso/hist shall e(er be guilty of ma4ing /retension to any one that h

or she has attained to the high /la,e .hi,h no. and then some assume to ha(e rea,hed& 3u,h better it to be ,ons,ious of our defe,ts and .ea4nesses$ al.ays ready to a,4no.ledge the truth that$ beinhuman$ .e are not able to al.ays or ui,4ly rea,h the goal of effort&

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Of O++ult &owers and Teir A+.uirement

here are thousands of /eo/le in the :nited tates$ as .ell in the ran4s of the o,iety as outside$ .hbelie(e that there are ,ertain e9traordinary o,,ult /o.ers to be en,om/assed by man& u,h /o.ers athought reading$ seeing e(ents yet to ,ome$ un(eiling the moti(es of others$ a//ortation of obDe,ts$ anthe li4e$ are those most sought after$ and nearly all desired .ith a selfish end in (ie.& he future inuired into so as to enable one to s/e,ulate in sto,4s and another to ,ir,um(ent ,om/etitors& hoslongings are /andered to here and there by men and so,ieties .ho hold out delusi(e ho/es to thedu/es that$ by the /ayment of money$ the /o.ers of nature may be in(o4ed&

*(en some of our o.n members ha(e not been guiltless of see4ing after su,h .onderful fruit 4no.ledge .ith those .ho .ould barter the Almighty$ if they ,ould$ for gold&

Another ,lass of earnest theoso/hists$ ho.e(er$ ha(e ta4en a different ground& hey ha(e thought th,ertain Ade/ts .ho really /ossess /o.er o(er nature$ .ho ,an see and hear through all s/a,e$ .ho ,a

trans/ort solid obDe,ts through s/a,e and ,ause .ritten messages to a//ear at a distan,e .ith beautifsounds of astral bells $ ought to inter(ene$ and by the e9er,ise of the same /o.er ma4e these earnedis,i/les hear sounds ordinarily ,alled o,,ult$ and thus easily transmit information and hel/ .ithout thaid of telegra/h or mailboat& But that these Beings .ill not do this has been stated o(er and o(er agaifor the 4ingdom of hea(en is not gi(en a.ay$ it must be !ta4en by (iolen,e& -t lies there before us to bentered u/on and o,,u/ied$ but that ,an be only after a battle .hi,h$ .hen .on$ entitles the (i,tor remain in undisturbed /ossession&

As many ha(e seemed to forget these rules$ - thought it .ell to offer them the follo.ing .ords from one those (ery Ade/ts they see4 to meet6

!he edu,ing of the fa,ulty of hearing o,,ult sounds .ould be not at all the easy matter you imagine&.as ne(er done to any of us$ for the iron rule isthat .hat /o.ers one gets he must himself ac%uire,an.hen a,uired and ready for use$ the /o.ers lie dumb and dormant in their /otentiality li4e the .heels a musi, bo9$ and only then it is easy to .ind the 4ey and start them& NNN "et e(ery earnestly>dis/oseman maya,uire su,h /o.ers /ra,ti,ally@ that is the finality of it& here are no more distin,tions /ersons in this than there are as to .hom the sun shall shine u/on or the air gi(e (itality to& here are th/o.ers of all nature before you@ take what you can&

his is /erfe,tly ,lear and stri,tly a,,ording to the e,ret 7anon& !When the materials are all /re/areand ready$ the ar,hite,t shall a//ear@ and .hen .e ha(e ac%uiredthe /o.ers .e see4$ by edu,ing theoursel(es from our inner being$ the 3aster .ill then be ready and able to start into e9er,ise that .hi,h .ha(e obtained&

But;e(en here is an im/ortant /oint& his& -f the 3aster ,an$ so to say$ .ind the 4ey and thus start thma,hinery$ %e ,an also refuse to gi(e the ne,essary im/ulse& For reasons that ha(e to do .ith thmoti(es and life of students$ it may be ad(isable for a .hile not to /ermit the e9er,ise of these /o.e.hi,h !lie dumb and dormant in their /otentiality& o san,tion their use might in one lead to the ruin

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other li(es$ or in another to /ersonal disaster and retardation of true /rogress&

herefore the 3aster says that uite often he may not only refuse to gi(e the start$ but yet further ma/re(ent the .heels from turning&

%*+* A+* %* POW*+ OF A)) 5A:+* B*FO+* "O:@ A


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S-iritual /ifts and Teir Attainment

One of the uestions .hi,h a heoso/hist is a/t to as4$ and to as4 .ith some earnestness and intensitis$ %o. ,an - ma4e /rogress in the higher life %o. ,an - attain s/iritual gifts For the /hrase !s/iritugifts$ .hi,h is a rather loose>Dointed e9/ression$ .e are indebted to Paul$ the A/ostle and Ade/t$ .hthus .rote to the 7orinthian 7hur,h6 !7on,erning s/iritual gifts$ brethren$ - .ould not ha(e you ignoranAmong the !gifts .hi,h he goes on to enumerate are these$;.isdom$ 4no.ledge$ faith$ healing$ th.or4ing of mira,les$ /ro/he,y$ dis,erning of s/irits$ the s/ea4ing of di(ers tongues$ and the inter/retatioof tongues& And .hile the A/ostle urges the 7orinthians to !,o(et earnestly the best gifts$ he y/ro,eeds to sho. them a more e9,ellent .ay$ namely$ the su/reme la. of lo(e& !5o. abideth$ he say!faith$ ho/e$ ,harity or lo(eR$ these three@ but the greatest of these is ,harity& /iritual gifts$ theho.e(er desirable their /ossession may be$ are /lainly not$ in the o/inion of this good Ade/t$ on thhighest /lane$ not the su/reme obDe,t of human attainment$ or the most e9,ellent .ay of rea,hing huma/erfe,tion& hey may doubtless /ro/erly be regarded as e(iden,es of ad(an,ement on the higher /laneof thought and s/iritual life$ and may be ,o(eted and used for the benefit of others@ but they are not themsel(es the ,hief obDe,t of human desire& For mans su/reme aim should be to be,ome 2od$ an!2od is lo(e&

But let us loo4 at the matter a little more ,losely& -n the first /la,e$ .hat is a !gift What is the ,ommoa,,e/tation of the .ord 7learly something gi(en to or besto.ed u/on a re,i/ient$ not something .hi,a man already /ossesses$ or .hi,h he may obtain by a /ro,ess of gro.th or de(elo/ment& he lattestri,tly s/ea4ing$ .ould a !fruit$ not a gift& A tree .hi,h has been /rodu,ing nothing but lea(es anbran,hes for many years finally brea4s out into blossom and fruit& 5o ne. !gift has been ,onferred u/oit@ it has sim/ly rea,hed a stage of de(elo/ment in its natural gro.th .here ,ertain /o.ers$ inherent the tree from the beginning$ ha(e an o//ortunity to assert themsel(es& -n the same .ay ttrans,endental /o.ers /ossessed by the Ade/ts are not gifts@ but the natural result of gro.th in ,ertadire,tions$ and the ne,essary effores,en,e$ so to s/ea4$ of the /rofound de(elo/ment in their ,ases

those s/iritual /otentialities .hi,h are the birthright of all men&

a4ing this (ie. of the meaning of the .ord$ - thin4 most heoso/hists .ill be ready to admit that th/hrase !s/iritual gifts is a misnomer& here are and ,an be no gifts for man to re,ei(e& Whate(er thstudent of the higher life is$ he is as the result of his /ast labours& Whate(er he may be,ome in the futu.ill be due to his o.n efforts& %e may de(elo/ his latent fa,ulties and in time be,ome an Ade/t$ or hmay drift along the ,urrents of life .ithout aim or effort$ till he finally sin4s into obli(ion& %is destiny is his o.n hands$ and is in no .ay de/endent u/on !gifts&

Bearing in mind$ ho.e(er$ the manifold nature of man$ the subDe,t may be loo4ed at from another /oint (ie.& For all /ra,ti,al /ur/oses man may be said to ,onsist of body$ soul$ and s/irit$ the soul being thtrue ego$ and the s/irit one .ith the u/reme& And regarding these for the time as se/arate entities$ it /erfe,tly true$ as James$ another a/ostle$ /uts it$ that !e(ery good gift and e(ery /erfe,t gift is froabo(e& *(ery as/iration of the soul for s/iritual things$ e(ery resol(e of the man to lead a /urer life(ery hel/ing outstret,hed hand to a .ea4er brother$ e(ery desire for the truth$ all hungering and thirstinafter righteousness6;these and li4e yearnings and stri(ings of the soul ha(e first of all ,ome from abo(from the #i(ine .ithin& -n this sense they may be ,alled !gifts$;gifts from the higher nature to the lo.efrom the s/iritual to the human& And this a,tion of the abo(e u/on the belo. is seen in those human

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attributes$ or ualities$ or (irtues;.hate(er one may be /leased to ,all them;.hi,h Paul in anoth/la,e enumerates as the !fruits of the s/irit$;lo(e$ Doy$ /ea,e$ long suffering$ gentleness$ goodnesfaith$ mee4ness$ tem/eran,e&

)oo4ed at from either of these /oints of (ie.$ ho. ,an .e attain s/iritual gifts he ans.er .ould seeto de/end u/on .hat .e are really stri(ing for& -f the e9traordinary /o.ers of the Ade/ts ha(e ,a/ti(ate

our fan,y and fired our ambition$ then .e must /ossess our souls in /atien,e& Fe.$ if any$ of us are at afitted for a !for,ing /ro,ess& We must be ,ontent to .ait and .or4@ to gro. and de(elo/@ line u/on lin/re,e/t u/on /re,e/t$ here a little and there a little$ till$ ages hen,e /erha/s$ .e ,ome to the full statuof the /erfe,t man& -f ho.e(er$ .isely re,ogniKing our limitations$ .e stri(e instead after .hat may btermed the ordinary manifestations of the s/irit$ t.o ob(ious lines of ,ondu,t suggest themsel(es&

*(ery im/ulse from abo(e$ e(ery /rom/ting of the #i(ine .ithin$ should meet at on,e .ith a hear.el,ome and res/onse& -f you feel as if something urged you to (isit some si,4 or affli,ted neighbour friend$ obey the suggestion .ithout delay& -f the .ish to turn o(er a ne. leaf ,omes into the lo.,ons,iousness$ dont .ait till ne9t 5e. "ears before a,tually turning it o(er@ turn it no.& -f some /athe

story of suffering has mo(ed you$ a,t on the emotion .hile your ,hee4s are still .et .ith tears& -n sho/ut yourself at on,e in line .ith the #i(ine .ays$ in harmony .ith the #i(ine la.s& 3ore light$ mor.isdom$ more s/irituality must ne,essarily ,ome to one thus /re/ared$ thus e9/e,tant& %o. ,an a bar iron be /ermeated .ith the earths magnetism if it is /la,ed a,ross instead of in line .ith the magnetmeridian %o. ,an a man e9/e,t s/iritual gifts or /o.ers if he /ersists in ignoring s/iritual ,onditions$ (iolating s/iritual la.s o obtain the good$ .e must thin4 good thoughts@ .e must be filled .ith goodesires@ in short .e must be good&

And this /ra,ti,al suggestion is to fulfil faithfully and ,ons,ientiously e(ery 4no.n duty& -t is in anthrough the in,idents of daily life$ in .or4 .ell done$ in duties thoroughly /erformed$ that .e today ,a

most readily ma4e /rogress in the higher life$;slo. /rogress$ it may be$ but at any rate sure& hese aste//ing stones to better things& We ad(an,e most ra/idly .hen .e sto/ to hel/ other .ayfarers& Wre,ei(e most .hen .e sa,rifi,e most& We attain to the largest measure of #i(ine lo(e .hen .e mounselfishly lo(e the brethren& We be,ome one .ith the u/reme most surely .hen .e lost oursel(es .or4 for %umanity&

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0e+ani+al Teoso-y

he *A+5*$ de(oted student ,an hardly belie(e that there e9ist any theoso/hists sin,erely holdingbelief in theoso/hi,al do,trines but .ho are$ at the same time$ found to ha(e su,h a me,hani,,on,e/tion of them as /ermits one to retain undisturbed many old dogmas .hi,h are diametri,ao//osed to heoso/hy& "et .e ha(e su,h among us&

-t ,omes about in this manner& First$ heoso/hy and its do,trines are .ell re,ei(ed be,ause affording ae9/lanation of the sorro.s of life and a /artial ans.er to the uery$ !Why is there anything hendee/er e9amination and larger ,om/rehension of the .ide>embra,ing do,trines of :nity$ +ein,arnatio


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both& 3e,hani,al heoso/hy .ould not ,ondemn;as 7hristianity does not;those missionaries of Jesu.ho$ finding themsel(es in danger of death in a land .here the /eo/le do not .ant them$ a//eal to thego(ernment for .arshi/s$ for soldiers$ guns and for,ible /rote,tion in a territory they do not o.n& -t .athe me,hani,al (ie. of 7hristianity that ,reated an -nuisition& his sort of religion has dri(en out the trureligion of Jesus$ and the me,hani,al (ie. of our do,trines .ill$ if /ersisted in$ do the same foheoso/hy&

Our /hiloso/hy of life is one grand .hole$ e(ery /art ne,essary and fitting into e(ery other /art& *(eone of its do,trines ,an and must be ,arried to its ultimate ,on,lusion& -ts ethi,al a//li,ation mu/ro,eed similarly& -f it ,onfli,ts .ith old o/inions those must be ,ast off& -t ,an ne(er ,onfli,t .ith trumorality& But it .ill .ith many (ie.s tou,hing our dealings .ith one another& he s/irit of heoso/hy mube sought for@ a sin,ere a//li,ation of its /rin,i/les of life and a,t should be made& hus me,hani,heoso/hy$ .hi,h ine(itably leads;as in many ,ases it already has;to a negation of brotherhood$ .be im/ossible$ and instead there .ill be a li(ing$ a,tual heoso/hy& his .ill then raise in our hearts thho/e that at least a small nu,leus of :ni(ersal Brotherhood may be formed before .e of this generatioare all dead&

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Troug te /ates of /old

he most notable boo4 for guidan,e in 3ysti,ism .hi,h has a//eared sin,e 'ight on the (ath .a.ritten has Dust been /ublished under the signifi,ant title of !hrough the 2ates of 2old& SThrough th$ates of $old) a *ragment of Thought& Boston6 +oberts Brothers$ 188L& Pri,e 0 ,ents&T hough thauthors name is .ithheld$ the o,,ult student .ill ui,4ly dis,ern that it must /ro,eed from a (ery higsour,e& -n ,ertain res/e,ts the boo4 may be regarded as a ,ommentary on 'ight on the (ath& he read.ould do .ell to bear this in mind& 3any things in that boo4 .ill be made ,lear by the reading of this onand one .ill be ,onstantly reminded of that .or4$ .hi,h has already be,ome a ,lassi, in our literaturThrough the $ates of $oldis a .or4 to be 4e/t ,onstantly at hand for referen,e and study& -t .ill sureta4e ran4 as one of the standard boo4s of heoso/hy&

he !2ates of 2old re/resent the entran,e to that realm of the soul un4no.able through the /hysi,/er,e/tions$ and the /ur/ose of this .or4 is to indi,ate some of the ste/s ne,essary to rea,h thethreshold& hrough its e9traordinary beauty of style and the ,learness of its statement it .ill a//eal to.ider /ortion of the /ubli, than most .or4s of a heoso/hi,al ,hara,ter& -t s/ea4s to the Western Wor

in its o.n language$ and in this fa,t lies mu,h of its (alue&

hose of us .ho ha(e been longing for something !/ra,ti,al .ill find it here$ .hile it .ill /robably ,ominto the hands of thousands .ho 4no. little or nothing of heoso/hy$ and thus meet .ants dee/ly fethough une9/ressed& here are also doubtless many$ .e fan,y$ .ho .ill be ,arried far along in its /ageby its resistless logi, until they en,ounter something .hi,h .ill gi(e a rude sho,4 to some of their o,on,e/tions$ .hi,h they ha(e imagined as firmly based as u/on a ro,4;a sho,4 .hi,h may ,ause theto dra. ba,4 in alarm$ but from .hi,h they .ill not find it so easy to re,o(er$ and .hi,h .ill be li4ely to sthem thin4ing seriously&

he titles of the fi(e ,ha/ters of the boo4 are$ res/e,ti(ely$ !he ear,h for Pleasure$ !he 3ystery the hreshold$ !he -nitial *ffort$ !he 3eaning of Pain$ and !he e,ret of trength& -nstead s/e,ulating u/on mysteries that lie at the (ery end of man s destiny$ and .hi,h ,annot be a//roa,heby any manner of ,onDe,ture$ the .or4 (ery sensibly ta4es u/ that .hi,h lies ne9t at hand$ that .hi,,onstitutes the first ste/ to be ta4en if .e are e(er to ta4e a se,ond one$ and tea,hes us its signifi,an,At the outset .e must ,o/e .ith sensation and learn its nature and meaning& An im/ortant tea,hing 'ight on the (athhas been misread by many& We are not enDoined to 4ill out sensation$ but to !4ill odesirefor sensation$U .hi,h is something uite different& !ensation$ as .e obtain it through the /hysi,body$ affords us all that indu,es us to li(e in that sha/e$ says this .or4& he /roblem is$ to e9tra,t thmeaning .hi,h it holds for us& hat is .hat e9isten,e is for& !-f men .ill but /ause and ,onsider .h

lessons they ha(e learned from /leasure and /ain$ mu,h might be guessed of that strange thing .hi,,auses these effe,ts&

!he uestion ,on,erning results seemingly un4no.able$ that ,on,erning the life beyond the 2ates$ /resented as one that has been as4ed throughout the ages$ ,oming at the hour !.hen the flo.er ,i(iliKation had blo.n to its full$ and .hen its /etals are but sla,4ly held together$ the /eriod .hen marea,hes the greatest /hysi,al de(elo/ment of his ,y,le& -t is then that in the distan,e a great glittering seen$ before .hi,h many dro/ their eyes be.ildered and daKKled$ though no. and then one is founbra(e enough to gaKe fi9edly on this glittering$ and to de,i/her something of the sha/e .ithin it& !Poe

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and /hiloso/hers$ thin4ing and tea,hers$ all those .ho are the elder brothers of the ra,e;ha(e behethis sight from time to time$ and some among them ha(e re,ogniKed in the be.ildering glitter the outlinof the 2ates of 2old&

hose 2ates admit us to the san,tuary of mans o.n nature$ to the /la,e .hen,e his life>/o.er ,omeand .here he is /riest of the shrine of life& -t needs but a strong hand to /ush them o/en$ .e are tol

!he ,ourage to enter them is the ,ourage to sear,h the re,esses of ones nature .ithout fear an.ithout shame& -n the first /art$ the essen,e$ the fla(our of the man$ is found the 4ey .hi,h unlo,4s thosgreat 2ates&

he ne,essity of 4illing out the sense of se/arateness is /rofoundly em/hasiKed as one of the moim/ortant fa,tors in this /ro,ess& We must di(est oursel(es of the illusions of the material life& !When .desire to s/ea4 .ith those .ho ha(e tried the 2olden 2ates and /ushed them o/en$ then it is (ene,essary;in fa,t it is essential;to dis,riminate$ and not bring into our life the ,onfusions of our slee-f .e do$ .e are re,4oned as madmen$ and fall ba,4 into the dar4ness .here there is no friend b,haos& his ,haos has follo.ed e(ery effort of man that is .ritten in history@ after ,i(iliKation has flo.ere

the flo.er falls and dies$ and .inter and dar4ness destroy it& -n this last senten,e is indi,ated th/ur/ose of ,i(iliKation& -t is the blossoming of a ra,e$ .ith the /ur/ose of /rodu,ing a ,ertain s/iritufruit@ this fruit ha(ing ri/ened$ then the degeneration of the great residuum begins$ to be .or4ed o(er ano(er again in the grand fermenting /ro,esses of rein,arnation& Our great ,i(iliKation is no. flo.ering anin this fa,t .e may read the reason for the e9traordinary efforts to so. the seed of the 3ysti, ea,hing.here(er the mind of man may be ready to re,ei(e it&

-n the !3ystery of hreshold$ .e are told that !only a man .ho has the /otentialities in him both of th(olu/tuary and the stoi, has any ,han,e of entering the 2olden 2ates& %e must be ,a/able of testinand (aluing to its most deli,ate fra,tion e(ery Doy e9isten,e has to gi(e@ and he must be ,a/able o

denying himself all /leasure$ and that .ithout suffering from the denial&

he fa,t that the .ay is different for ea,h indi(idual is finely set forth in !he -nitial *ffort$ -n the .ordthat man !may burst the shell that holds him in dar4ness$ tear the (eil that hides him from the eternal$ any moment .here it is easiest for him to do so@ and most often this /oint .ill be .here he least e9/e,to find it& By this .e may see the uselessness of laying do.n arbitrary la.s in the matter&

he meaning of those im/ortant .ords$ !All ste/s are ne,essary to ma4e u/ the ladder$ finds a .ealth illustration here& hese senten,es are /arti,ularly /regnant6 !/irit is not a gas ,reated by matter$ and .,annot ,reate our future by for,ibly using one material agent lea(ing out the rest& /irit is the great life o.hi,h matter rests$ as does the ro,4y .orld on the free and fluid ether@ .hene(er .e ,an brea4 oulimitations .e find oursel(es on that mar(ellous shore .here Words.orth on,e sa. the gleam of thgold& Virtue$ being of the material life$ man has not the /o.er to ,arry it .ith him$ !yet the aroma of hgood deeds is a far s.eeter sa,rifi,e than the odour of ,rime and ,ruelty&

!o the one .ho has lifted the golden lat,h the s/ring of s.eet .aters$ the fountain itself .hen,e asoftness arises$ is o/ened and be,omes /art of his heritage& But before this ,an be rea,hed a hea(.eight has to be lifted from the heart$ an iron bar .hi,h holds it do.n and /re(ents it arising in i

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strength&

he author here .ishes to sho. that there is s.eetness and light in o,,ultism$ and not merely a .ide dle(el of dreadful


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them in(ersely6

!e,reted and hidden in the heart of the .orld and the heart of man is the light .hi,h ,an illumine all lifthe future and the /ast&

!On the mental ste/s of a million men Buddha /assed through the 2ates of 2old@ and be,ause a gre,ro.d /ressed about the threshold he .as able to lea(e behind him .ords .hi,h /ro(e that those gate.ill o/en&

!his is one of the most im/ortant fa,tors in the de(elo/ment of man$ the re,ognition;/rofound an,om/lete re,ognition;of the la. of uni(ersal unity and ,oheren,e&

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!Te /ates of /old'

When the strong man has ,rossed the threshold he s/ea4s no more to those on the other thisR side&And e(en the .ords he utters .hen he is outside are so full of mystery$ so (eiled and /rofound$ that onlythose .ho follo. in his ste/s ,an see the light .ithin them&;Through the $ates of $old, /&1H&

%e fails to s/ea4 whenhe has ,rossed$ if he did$ they .ould neither hear nor understand him & All thelanguage he ,an use .hen on this side is language& All the language he ,an use .hen on this side islanguage based u/on e9/erien,e gained outside the 2ates$ and .hen he uses that language$ it ,alls u/in the minds of his hearers only the ideas ,orres/onding to the /lane they are on and e9/erien,e theyha(e undergone@ for if he s/ea4s of that 4ind of idea and e9/erien,e .hi,h he has found on the otherside$ his hearers do not 4no. .hat is beneath his .ords$ and therefore his utteran,es seem /rofound&hey are not (eiled and /rofound be,ause he .ishes to be a mysti, .hose .ords no one ,an e9/ound$but solely be,ause of the ne,essities of the ,ase& %e is .illing and an9ious to tell all .ho .ish to 4no.$but ,annot ,on(ey .hat he desires$ and he is sometimes a,,used of being unne,essarily (ague andmisleading&

But there aresome .ho /retend to ha(e /assed through these 2ates and .ho utter mere nothings$ meDuggles of .ords that ,annot be understood be,ause there is nothing behind them rooted in e9/erien,ehen the uestion arises$ !%o. are .e to distinguish bet.een these t.o

here are t.o .ays&

1& By ha(ing an immense erudition$ a /rofound 4no.ledge of the (arious and numberless utteran,es of

those 4no.n 3asters throughout the ages .hose .ords are full of /o.er& But this is ob(iously animmense and diffi,ult tas4$ one .hi,h in(ol(es years de(oted to reading and rarely>found retenti(enessof memory& o it ,annot be the one most useful to us& -t is the /ath of mere boo4>4no.ledge&

=& he other mode is by testing those utteran,es by our intuition& here is s,ar,ely any one .ho has notgot an internal (oi,e;a silent monitor;.ho$ so to say$ stri4es .ithin us the bell that ,orres/onds totruth$ Dust as a /ianos .ires ea,h re/orts the (ibrations /e,uliar to it$ but not due to stri4ing the .ireitself& -t is Dust as if .e had .ithin us a series of .ires .hose (ibrations are all true$ but .hi,h .ill not be(ibrated e9,e/t by those .ords and /ro/ositions .hi,h are in themsel(es true& o that false and/retending indi(idual .ho s/ea4s in (eiled language only mere nothingness .ill ne(er (ibrate .ithin usthose .ires .hi,h ,orres/ond to truth& But .hen one .ho has been to and through those 2ates s/ea4sordinary .ords really (eiling grand ideas$ then all the in(isible .ires .ithin immediately (ibrate in unisonhe inner monitor has stru,4 them$ and .e feel that he has said .hat is true$ and .hether .e understanhim or not .e feel the /o.er of the (ibration and the (alue of the .ords .e ha(e heard&

3any /ersons are in,lined to doubt the e9isten,e in themsel(es of this intuition$ .ho in fa,t /ossess it& -is a ,ommon heritage of man$ and only needs unselfish effort to de(elo/ it& 3any selfish men ha(e it intheir selfish li(es@ many a great finan,ier and manager has it and e9er,ises it& his is merely its lo.estuse and e9/ression&

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By ,onstantly referring mentally all /ro/ositions to it and thus gi(ing it an o//ortunity for gro.th$ it .illgro. and s/ea4 soon .ith no un,ertain tones& his is .hat is meant in old %indu boo4s by thee9/ression$ !a 4no.ledge of the real meaning of sa,red boo4s& -t ought to be ,ulti(ated be,ause it is onof the first ste/s in 4no.ing oursel(es and understanding others&

-n this ,i(iliKation es/e,ially .e are in,lined to loo4 outside instead of inside oursel(es& 5early all our

/rogress is material and thus su/erfi,ial& /irit is negle,ted or forgotten$ .hile that .hi,h is not s/irit isenshrined as su,h& he intuitions of the little ,hild are stifled until at last they are almost lost$ lea(ing themany at the mer,y of Dudgements based u/on e9terior reason& %o.$ then$ ,an one .ho has been nearthe 2olden 2ates;mu,h more he .ho /assed through them;be other than silent in surroundings.here the golden refulgen,e is un4no.n or denied& Obliged to use the .ords of his fello. tra(ellers$ hegi(es them a meaning un4no.n to them$ or deta,hes them from their a,,ustomed relation& %en,e he issometimes (ague$ often misleading$ seldom /ro/erly understood& But not lost are any of these .ords$ fothey sound through the ages$ and in future eras they .ill turn themsel(es into senten,es of gold in thehearts of dis,i/les yet to ,ome&

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$it te 0ar1

%a(ing ta4en the bo.$ the great .ea/on$let him /la,e on it the arro.$ shar/ened by de(otion&hen$ ha(ing dra.n it .ith a thought dire,ted to that .hi,h is$ hit the mar4$ O friend$;the -ndestru,tible&

O3 is the bo.$ the elf is the arro.$ Brahman is ,alled its aim&

-t is to be hit by a man .ho is not thoughtless@ and then as the arro. be,omes one .ith the target$he .ill be,ome one .ith Brahman&


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nature .hi,h enables him to a,,om/lish more and to be nearer the s/iritual ,ondition& But the string ofthe bo. must al.ays be strung tight@ and this$ in s/iritual ar,hery$ is the fi9ed determination to al.aysstri(e for the goal&

When the arro. is aimed and loosed it must be slightly raised to allo. for the traDe,tory$ for if not it .ill fashort& his ,orres/onds on its /lane .ith one of the ne,essities of our human ,onstitution$ in that .e

must ha(e a high mental and s/iritual aim if .e are to hit high& We ,annot go uite as high as the aim$but ha(e to thus allo. for the traDe,tory that ,omes about from the limitations of our nature@ the traDe,toryof the arro. is due to the for,e of gra(ity a,ting on it$ and our as/irations ha(e the same ,ur(e in,onseuen,e of the ,alls of the senses$ hereditary defe,ts$ and .rong habits that ne(er /ermit us to doas mu,h as .e .ould .ish to do&

)et us hit the mar4$ O friendM and that mar4 is the indestru,tible$ the highest s/iritual life .e are at anytime ,a/able of&

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0etods of Teoso-i+al Wor1

-n my e9/erien,e .ith the heoso/hi,al o,iety - ha(e noti,ed a dis/osition on the /art of somemembers to often obDe,t to the methods of others or to their /lans on the ground that they are un.ise$ onot suitable$ or .hat not& hese obDe,tions are not /ut in a s/irit of dis,ord$ but more often arise merelyfrom a .ant of 4no.ledge of the .or4ing of the la.s .hi,h go(ern our efforts&

%&P&B al.ays said;follo.ing the rules laid do.n by high tea,hers;that no /ro/osal for theoso/hi,al.or4 should be reDe,ted or o//osed /ro(ided the /ro/oser has the sin,ere moti(e of doing good to themo(ement and to his fello.s& Of ,ourse that does not mean that distin,tly bad or /erni,ious /ur/oses ato be for.arded& eldom$ ho.e(er$ does a sin,ere theoso/hist /ro/ose bad a,ts& But they often desire tbegin some small .or4 for the o,iety$ and are freuently o//osed by those .ho thin4 the Dun,tureunfa(ourable or the thing itself un.ise& hese obDe,tions al.ays ha(e at bottom the assum/tion thatthere is only one ,ertain method to be follo.ed& One man obDe,ts to the fa,t that a Bran,h holds o/en/ubli, meetings$ another that it does not& Others thin4 the Bran,h should be distin,tly meta/hysi,al$ stillmore that it should be entirely ethi,al& ometimes .hen a member .ho has not mu,h ,a/a,ity /ro/ose

an insignifi,ant .or4 in his o.n .ay$ his fello.s thin4 it ought not to be done& But the true .ay is to bidgood>s/eed to e(ery sin,ere attem/t to s/read theoso/hy$ e(en if you ,annot agree .ith the method& Asit is not your /ro/osal$ you are not ,on,erned at all in the matter& "ou /raise the desire to benefit@ natureta4es ,are of results&

A fe. e9am/les may illustrate& On,e in 5e. "or4 a most uniue ne.s/a/er arti,le about theoso/hya//eared& -t .as a lying inter(ie.& All that it had in it true .as the address of an offi,ial of the && -t .assent by an enemy of the o,iety to a gentleman .ho had long desired to find us& %e read it$ too4 do.nthe address$ and be,ame one of our most (alued members& -n *ngland a lady of influen,e had desired find out the o,ietys /la,e but ,ould not& By a,,ident a /la,ard that some members thought un.ise fell

into her hands noti,ing an address on theoso/hy in an obs,ure /la,e& he attended$ and there met thos.ho dire,ted her to the o,iety& -n the same to.n a member .ho is not in the u//er ,lasses thro.s ,ardabout at meetings dire,ting those .ho .ant to 4no. theoso/hi,al do,trines .here to go& -n se(eral ,asethese ,han,e ,ards$ undignifiedly s,attered$ ha(e brought into the ran4s e9,ellent members .ho had noother means of finding out about the o,iety& 7ertainly the most of us .ould thin4 that s,attering ,ards ithis manner is too undignified to our .or4&

But no one method is to be insisted on& *a,h man is a /oten,y in himself$ and only by .or4ing on thelines .hi,h suggest themsel(es to him ,an he bring to bear the for,es that are his& We should deny noman and interfere .ith none@ for our duty is to dis,o(er .hat .e oursel(es ,an do .ithout ,riti,iKing the

a,tions of another& he la.s of 4armi, a,tion ha(e mu,h to do .ith this& We interfere for a time .ith gooresults to ,ome .hen .e attem/t to Dudge a,,ording to our o.n standards the methods of .or4 .hi,h afello. member /ro/oses for himself& +amifying in e(ery dire,tion are the le(ers;absolutely ne,essaryfor the greatest of results;being (ery small and obs,ure& hey are all of them human beings$ and hen,.e must ,arefully .at,h that by no .ord of ours the le(ers are obstru,ted& -f .e attend stri,tly to our o.duty all .ill a,t in harmony$ for the duty of another is dangerous for us& herefore if any member/ro/oses to s/read the do,trines of theoso/hy in a .ay that seems .ise to him$ .ish him su,,ess e(enhis method be one that .ould not ,ommend itself to you for your o.n guidan,e&

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Wat We Need 0ost 2 Teoso-i+al Edu+ation

he first obDe,t of our o,iety is the formation of a nu,leus of a :ni(ersal Brotherhood& his is a /ra,ti,aobDe,t and at the same time a fa,t in nature& -t has been long regarded by the greater number of men asan :to/ian ideal$ one that might be held u/$ tal4ed about$ desired$ but im/ossible of attainment& And it.as no .onder that /eo/le so regarded it$ be,ause the ordinary religious (ie. of 2od$ nature$ and man/la,ed e(erything on a selfish basis$ offered /ersonal distin,tion in hea(en to the saints .ho might die ithe odour of san,tity$ and thus made im/ossible the realiKation of this beautiful dream& But .hen theheoso/hi,al /hiloso/hy sho.s that there is a unity among beings not only in their better natures butalso on the /hysi,al /lane$ our first obDe,t be,omes most /ra,ti,al& For if all men are brothers in fa,t$ thais$ Doined one to another by a tie .hi,h no one ,an brea4$ then the formation of the nu,leus for the futurebrotherhood is something that has to do .ith all the affairs of man$ affe,ts ,i(iliKations$ and leads to the/hysi,al as .ell as moral betterment of ea,h member of the great family&

his first obDe,t means /hilanthro/y& *a,h heoso/hist should therefore not only ,ontinue his /ri(ate of/ubli, a,ts of ,harity$ but also stri(e to so understand heoso/hi,al /hiloso/hy as to be able to e9/ound

it in a /ra,ti,al and easily understood manner$ so that he may be a .ider /hilanthro/ist by ministering tothe needs of the inner man& his inner man is a thin4ing being .ho feeds u/on a right or .rong/hiloso/hy& -f he is gi(en that one .hi,h is .rong$ then$ be,oming .ar/ed and diseased$ he leads hisinstrument$ the outer man$ into be.ilderment and sorro.&

5o. as heoso/hi,al theories .ere and are still uite strange$ fas,inating$ and /e,uliar .hen ,ontraste.ith the usual do,trines of men and things$ (ery many members ha(e o,,u/ied themsel(es .ith mu,hmeta/hysi,al s/e,ulation or .ith di(ing into the o,,ult and the .onderful$ forgetting that the higher/hilanthro/y ,alls for a s/reading among men of a right basis for ethi,s$ for thought$ for a,tion& o .eoften find heoso/hists among themsel(es debating ,om/li,ated do,trines that ha(e no /resent

a//li,ation to /ra,ti,al life$ and at the same time other members and some inuirers breathing a sigh ofrelief .hen anyone dire,ts the inuiries into su,h a ,hannel as shall ,ause all the do,trines to bee9tended to daily life and there a//lied&

What .e most need is su,h a heoso/hi,al edu,ation as .ill gi(e us the ability to e9/ound heoso/hy ia .ay to be understood by the ordinary /erson& his /ra,ti,al$ ,lear e9/osition is entirely /ossible& hatis of the highest im/ortan,e there ,an be no doubt .hate(er& -t relates to and affe,ts ethi,s$ e(eryday life(ery thought$ and ,onseuently e(ery a,t & he most learned$ astute$ and su,,essful ,hur,h$ the+oman 7atholi,$ /ro,eeds on this basis& hould .e refrain from a good /ra,ti,e be,ause a bigot ta4esthe same method he /riests of +ome do not e9/lain$ nor attem/t to e9/lain or e9/ound$ the highly

meta/hysi,al and obs,ure$ though im/ortant$ basis of their (arious do,trines& hey tou,h the /eo/le intheir daily life$ a 4no.ledge of their o.n system in all its details enabling them to /ut dee/ do,trine intoe(ery mans language$ although the learning of the /rea,her may be tem/orarily ,on,ealed& With themthe a//eal is to fear@ .ith us it is to reason and e9/erien,e& o .e ha(e a natural ad(antage .hi,h oughnot to be o(erloo4ed&

%igh s,holarshi/ and a 4no.ledge of meta/hysi,s are good things to ha(e$ but the mass of the /eo/leare neither s,holars nor meta/hysi,ians& -f our do,trines are of any su,h use as to ,ommand the effortsof sages in hel/ing on to their /romulgation $ then it must be that those sages;our 3asters;desire the

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do,trines to be /la,ed before as many of the mass as .e ,an rea,h& his our heoso/hi,al s,holars anmeta/hysi,ians ,an do by a little effort& -t is indeed a little diffi,ult$ be,ause slightly disagreeable$ for amember .ho is naturally meta/hysi,al to ,ome do.n to the ordinary le(el of human minds in general$ bit ,an be done& And .hen one does do this$ the re.ard is great from the e(ident relief and satisfa,tion othe inuirer&

-t is /re>eminently our duty to be thus /ra,ti,al in e9/osition as often as /ossible& -ntelle,tual study onlyof our heoso/hy .ill not s/eedily better the .orld& -t must$ of ,ourse$ ha(e effe,t through immortal ideaon,e more set in motion$ but .hile .e are .aiting for those ideas to bear fruit among men a re(olutionmay brea4 out and s.ee/ us a.ay& We should do as Buddha taught his dis,i/les$ /rea,h$ /ra,tise$/romulgate$ and illustrate our do,trines& %e s/o4e to the meanest of men .ith effe,t$ although ha(ing adee/er do,trine for greater and more learned minds& )et us$ then$ a,uire the art of /ra,ti,al e9/ositionof ethi,s based on our theories and enfor,ed by the fa,t of :ni(ersal Brotherhood&

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Sim-lifi+ation of Tea+ings

At the /resent time one of the most urgent needs is for a sim/lifi,ation of heoso/hi,al tea,hings&heoso/hy is sim/le enough@ it is the fault of its e9/onents if it is made ,om/li,ated$ abstruse or (ague"et enuiring /eo/le are al.ays ,om/laining that it is too diffi,ult a subDe,t for them$ and that theiredu,ation has not been dee/ enough to enable them to understand it& his is greatly the fault of themembers .ho ha(e /ut it in su,h a manner that the /eo/le sadly turn a.ay& At /ubli, meetings or .hentrying to interest an enuirer it is absolutely useless to use ans4rit$ 2ree4 or other foreign .ords& 5inetimes out of ten the habit of doing so is due to laKiness or ,on,eit& ometimes it is due to ha(ing merelylearned ,ertain terms .ithout 4no.ing and assimilating the ideas underneath& he ideas of heoso/hyshould be mastered$ and on,e that is done it .ill be easy to e9/ress those in the sim/lest /ossible termsAnd dis,ussions about the Absolute$ the %ierar,hies$ and so forth$ are .orse than useless& u,h ideasas


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Of Studying Teoso-y

-t is often as4ed6 %o. should - or my friend study theoso/hy

-n the beginning this study a series of !donts should first engage the students attention& #ont imagine

that you 4no. e(erything$ or that any man in s,ientifi, ,ir,les has uttered the last .ord on any subDe,t@dont su//ose that the /resent day is the best$ or that the an,ients .ere su/erstitious$ .ith no 4no.ledgof natural la.s& #ont forget that arts$ s,ien,es$ and meta/hysi,s did not ha(e their rise .ith *uro/ean,i(iliKation@ and dont forget that the influen,e of o,rates$ Plato$ and Aristotle of an,ient 2ree,e is stillim/osed u/on the modern mind& #ont thin4 that our astronomers .ould ha(e made anything but a mesof the Kodia, if the old 7haldeans had not left us the one .e use& #ont forget that it is easy to /ro(e tha,i(iliKation of the highest order has /eriodi,ally rolled around this globe and left tra,es great and smallbehind& #ont ,onfine Buddhism .ith Brahmanism$ or imagine that the %indus are Buddhists@ and dontta4e the .ord of *nglish or 2erman ans,rit s,holars in e9/lanation of the .ritings and s,ri/tures ofeastern nations .hose thoughts are as foreign in their form to ours as our ,ountries are& One should firsbe /re/ared to e9amine .ith a ,lear and unbiased mind&

But su//ose the inuirer is dis/osed at the outset to ta4e the .ord of theoso/hi,al .riters$ then ,aution Dust as ne,essary$ for theoso/hi,al literature does not bear the stam/ of authority& We should all be ableto gi(e a reason for the ho/e that is .ithin us$ and .e ,annot do that if .e ha(e s.allo.ed .ithout studythe .ords of others&

But .hat is study -t is not the mere reading of boo4s$ but rather long$ earnest$ ,areful thought u/on tha.hi,h .e ha(e ta4en u/& -f a student a,,e/ts rein,arnation and 4arma as true do,trines$ the .or4 is butbegun& 3any theoso/hists a,,e/t do,trines of that name$ but are not able to say .hat it is they ha(e

a,,e/ted& hey do not /ause to find out .hat rein,arnates$ or ho.$ .hen$ or .hy 4arma has its effe,ts$and often do not 4no. .hat the .ord means& ome at first thin4 that .hen they die they .ill rein,arnate.ithout refle,ting that it is the lo.er /ersonal - they mean$ .hi,h ,annot be born again in a body& Othersthin4 that 4arma is;.ell$ 4arma$ .ith no ,lear idea of ,lasses of 4arma$ or .hether or not it is/unishment or re.ard or both& %en,e a ,areful learning from one or t.o boo4s of the statement of thedo,trines$ and then a more ,areful study of them$ are absolutely ne,essary&

here is too little of su,h right study among theoso/hists$ and too mu,h reading of ne. boo4s& 5ostudent ,an tell .hether 3r& innett in Esoteric #uddhism.rites reasonably unless his boo4 is learnedand not merely s4immed& Although his style is ,lear$ the matter treated is diffi,ult$ needing firm lodgeme

in the mind$ follo.ed by ,areful thought& A /ro/er use of his boo4$ The Secret +octrine, The !ey toTheosophy$ and all other matter .ritten u/on the ,onstitution of man$ leads to an a,uaintan,e .ith thedo,trines as to the being most ,on,erned$ and only .hen that a,uaintan,e is obtained is one fitted tounderstand the rest& N Shis arti,le a//eared in The (athfor January 18H0& 3r& Judge himself .rote Thecean of Theosophyin 18HE& -t is a most able /resentation of the *soteri, Philoso/hy and an e9,ellente/itome of %&P& B)AVA


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Another bran,h of study is that /ursued by natural de(otees$ those .ho desire to enter into the .or4 itsefor the good of humanity& hose should study all bran,hes of theoso/hi,al literature all the harder$ inorder to be able to ,learly e9/lain it to others$ for a .ea4 reasoner or an a//arently ,redulous belie(erhas not mu,h .eight .ith others&

Western theoso/hists need /atien,e$ determination$ dis,rimination$ and memory$ if they e(er intend to

seiKe and hold the attention of the .orld for the do,trines they disseminate&

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Cautions in &aragra-s

#o not ma4e statements that tend to mi9 u/ the heoso/hi,al o,iety .ith any religious belief$ /oliti,altheory$ or so,ial obser(an,e or non>obser(an,e&

Be.are of the /ro/ositions that the ri,h or those in so,ial life needing theoso/hy as mu,h as the humbleran4s should therefore ha(e s/e,ial efforts made for them .hile they fail or refuse to o/enly hel/ theo,iety .ith their ,ountenan,e and effort&

#o not be misled by the fan,y that s/e,ial effort to !,on(ert a s,ientifi, ,elebrity .ill lead to any greatbenefit to the theoso/hi,al mo(ement$ or suffi,iently offset the time thereby lost from the general .or4among those .ho are ready to listen&

5e(er ,ry do.n the efforts of a sin,ere member to disseminate theoso/hy merely be,ause it does not

meet your standards of method or /ro/riety&

Al.ays dis,ountenan,e any /ro/osal to establish a ,ensorshi/ of either literature or effort in theoso/hi,ran4s$ for su,h a ,ensorshi/ is against the broad and free /latform on .hi,h the o,iety rests&

uffer not yourself to be annoyed be,ause s,ientifi, men ,laim as their ne. and original dis,o(eries tha.hi,h theoso/hi,al literature has al.ays ,laimed@ remember .e are not in this mo(ement for glory$ butthat men shall 4no. the truth regardless of .here the ,redit for dis,o(ery is gi(en&

5e(er forget that a theoso/hi,al Bran,h is for the study of theoso/hy$ and not for dis,ussion u/onoutside to/i,s&

)et not sentimentality ma4e you fear to bring for.ard .hat you belie(e to be theoso/hy$ e(en thoughsome /ersons threaten to lea(e the ran4s be,ause their o.n fad seems endangered by the strength ofyour theory@ but be.are you do not mista4e self>assertion in yourself for the strength of your theories

Be not deluded by the idea that you ,an do great good by entering a ,hur,h so,iety in .hi,h you do notbelie(e& heoso/hy is not benefited by being thro.n among those .ho de,lare they do not .ant it&

Be.are of the /erson .ho offers to sell s/iritual s,ien,e in so many lessons for a sum of money&*9/ositions by le,tures in /ubli, of general theoso/hi,al /rin,i/les for an admission fee are /ro/er$ but,ourses of lessons on magi, arts$ s/iritual s,ien,e$ se,ret of nature$ and the li4e are eternally im/ro/er$emanate from ,u/idity or undis,i/lined intelle,t$ and lead to nothing&

Be ,haritable enough to remember that the theoso/hist is human$ and /erha/s has to struggle all the

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harder .ith our ,ommon failings Dust be,ause he has entered on the battle .ith the lo.er nature&

#o not fan,y that be,ause ours is ,alled a brotherhood any e9,lusion of .oman is inferred& *nglish is nothe only language on earth$ and in many others the same term des,ribes both feminine and mas,uline$heoso/hy does not ,on,ern se9 distin,tions and tal4s more of souls$ .hi,h are se9less$ than it does ofthe bodies they inhabit&

7arefully a(oid ,onfounding Brahmnism .ith Buddhism$ and the religions flourishing outside of -ndia.ith those of that ,ountry& Buddhism not being the religion of -ndia$ ,onfusion of uttered sounds and4no.ledge results from ,alling %indus Buddhists&

Very ,arefully refrain from ,onfusing 7hristianity .ith the religion of Jesus& he latter is not the former$inasmu,h as 7hristianity is s/lit u/ into o(er three hundred different se,ts$ .hereas Jesus had but onedo,trine&

Pay the highest res/e,ts to the sermons of Jesus$ from the remembran,e of the fa,t that in hisdis,ourses he but ga(e forth on,e again the old do,trine taught to him by the an,ient theoso/hists of.hom he .as a dis,i/le&

#o not ma4e the blunder of mista4ing the glitter of our ,i(iliKation for true /rogress& Weigh fine houses$good ,lothes$ me,hani,al de(i,es$ and uni(ersal male suffrage against the /o(erty$ misery$ (i,e$ ,rime$and ignoran,e .hi,h go .ith the former$ before you ,on,lude .hat is the best ,i(iliKation&

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Wat Sould Teoso-ists *ead3

here are se(eral hindran,es to the doing of good .or4 by indi(iduals$ .ith resulting loss to themo(ement& hese are all surmountable$ for hindran,es that are insurmountable are natures o.nlimitations that ,an be used as means instead of being left as barriers& One of these surmountable andunne,essary hindran,es is the /re(alent habit of reading trashy and sensational literature$ both inne.s/a/er and other form& his stu/efies and degrades the mind$ .asted time and energy$ and ma4esthe brain a storehouse of mere brute for,e rather than .hat it should be;a generator of ,osmi, /o.er&3any /eo/le seem to !read from the /ri,4ing of some ,erebral it,h$ .ith a moti(e similar to that .hi,hends in the ruin of a di/somania,6 a desire to deaden the /ersonal ,ons,iousness& ensation tem/orarisu,,eeds in dro.ning the (oi,e of ,ons,ien,e and the /ressure that ,omes from the soul that so manymen and .omen unintelligently feel& o they see4 a,ute sensation in a thousand different .ays$ .hileothers stri(e to attain the same end by 4illing both sensation and ,ons,iousness .ith the hel/ of drugs oal,ohol& +eading of a ,ertain sort is sim/ly the al,ohol habit remo(ed to another /lane$ and Dust as someunfortunates li(e to drin4 instead of drin4ing that they may li(e$ so other unfortunates li(e to read insteadof reading that they may learn ho. to li(e& 2autama Buddha .ent so far as to forbid his dis,i/les to readno(els;or .hat stood for no(els in those days;holding that to do so .as most inDurious& Peo/le are

res/onsible for the use they ma4e of their brains$ for the brain ,an be used for the noblest /ur/oses and,an e(ol(e the most refined uality of energy$ and to o,,u/y it ,ontinually .ith matters not only tri(ial buoften antagonisti, to heoso/hi,al /rin,i/les is to be untrue to a gra(e trust& his does not mean that thene.s of the day should be ignored$ for those .ho li(e in the .orld should 4ee/ themsel(es a,uainted.ith the .orlds doings6 but a fair test is that nothing not .orth remembering is .orth reading& o read fothe sa4e of reading$ and so filling the s/here of the mind .ith a mass of half>dead images$ is a hindran,to ser(i,e and a barrier to indi(idual de(elo/ment&

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0u+ *eading# )ittle Tougt

he .ise man sagely said that of ma4ing boo4s there is no end& -f true in his day$ it is the same no.&Among members of the heoso/hi,al o,iety the defe,ts are .ides/read$ of reading too many of thee(er ,oming boo4s and too little thought u/on the matter read& Anyone .ho is in a /osition to see theletters of inuiry re,ei(ed by those in the o,iety .ho are /rominent$ 4no.s that the greater number ofthe uestions as4ed are due to .ant of thought$ to the failure on the /art of the uestioners to lay do.n sure foundation of general /rin,i/les&

-t is so easy for some to sit do.n and .rite a boo4 ,ontaining nothing ne. sa(e its differen,e of stylefrom others$ that the /ilgrim theoso/hist may be ui,4ly be.ildered if he /ays any attention& hisbe.ilderment is ,hiefly due to the fa,t that no .riter ,an e9/ress his thoughts in a .ay that .ill be e9a,tand .holly ,om/rehended by e(ery reader$ and authors in theoso/hi, literature are only$ in fa,t$ trying to/resent their o.n /arti,ular understanding of old do,trines .hi,h the reader .ould do mu,h better .ith ithey de(oted more time to thin4ing them out for themsel(es&

-n the field of e(eryday boo4s there is so mu,h light reading that the su/erfi,ial habit of s4imming is/lainly e(ery.here a//arent$ and it threatens to sho. itself in theoso/hi,al ran4s&

o .ell am - ,on(in,ed there are too many su/erfluous boo4s in our /arti,ular field$ that$ if - had a youthto train in that de/artment$ - should ,onfine him to the #hagavid $-t", the .panishads,and the Secret+octrinefor a (ery long time$ until he .as able to ma4e boo4s for himself out of those$ and to a//ly the/rin,i/les found in them to e(ery ,ir,umstan,e and to his o.n life and thought&

hose theoso/hists .ho only .ish to indulge in a ,onstant (ariety of ne. theoso/hi,al dishes .ill go onreading all that a//ears$ but the others .ho are in earnest$ .ho 4no. that .e are here to learn and notsolely for our /leasure$ are beginning to see that a fe. boo4s .ell read$ .ell analysed$ and thoroughlydigested are better than many boo4s read o(er on,e& hey ha(e learned ho. all that /art of a boo4.hi,h they ,learly understand at first is already their o.n$ and that the rest$ .hi,h is not so ,lear or uiteobs,ure$ is the /ortion they are to study$ so that it also$ if found true$ may be,ome an integral /art of the,onstant thought&

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45/149


Astral ,nto4i+ation

here is su,h a thing as being into9i,ated in the ,ourse of an un.ise /ursuit of .hat .e erroneouslyimagine is s/irituality& -n the 7hristian Bible it is (ery .isely dire,ted to !/ro(e all and to hold only to tha.hi,h is good@ this ad(i,e is Dust as im/ortant to the student of o,,ultism .ho thin4s that he hasse/arated himself from those !inferior /eo/le engaged either in follo.ing a dogma or in ti//ing tables fomessages from de,eased relati(es;or enemies;as it is to s/iritists .ho belie(e in the !ummerlandand !returning s/irits&

he /la,id surfa,e of the sea of s/irit is the only mirror in .hi,h ,an be ,aught undisturbed the refle,tionof s/iritual things& When a student starts u/on the /ath and begins to see s/ots of light flash out no. anthen$ or balls of golden fire roll /ast him$ it does not mean that he is beginning to see the real elf;/ures/irit& A moment of dee/est /ea,e or .onderful re(ealings gi(en to the student$ is notthe a.ful momen.hen one is about to see his s/iritual guide$ mu,h less his o.n soul& 5or are /sy,hi,al s/lashes of blueflame$ nor (isions of things that after.ards ,ome to /ass$ nor sights of small se,tions of the astral light.ith its .onderful /hotogra/hs of /ast or future$ nor the sudden ringing of distant fairy>li4e bells$ any

/roof that you are ,ulti(ating s/irituality& hese things$ and still more ,urious things$ .ill o,,ur .hen youha(e /assed a little distan,e on the .ay$ but they are only the mere out/osts of a ne. land .hi,h is itse.holly material$ and only one remo(e from the /lane of gross /hysi,al ,ons,iousness&

he liability to be ,arried off and into9i,ated by these /henomena is to be guarded against& We should.at,h$ note and dis,riminate in all these ,ases$ /la,e them do.n for future referen,e$ to be related tosome la.$ or for ,om/arison .ith other ,ir,umstan,es of a li4e sort& he /o.er that 5ature has ofdeluding us is endless$ and if .e sto/ at these matters she .ill let us no further& -t is not that any /ersonor /o.er in nature has de,lared that if .e do so and so .e must sto/$ but .hen one is ,arried off by .hBoehme ,alls !2ods .onders$ the result is an into9i,ation that /rodu,es ,onfusion of the intelle,t& Wer

one$ for instan,e$ to regard e(ery /i,ture seen in the astral light as a s/iritual e9/erien,e$ he might trulyafter a .hile broo4 no ,ontradi,tion u/on the subDe,t$ but that .ould be merely be,ause he .as drun4.ith this 4ind of .ine& While he /ro(ided .ith his indulgen,e and negle,ted his true /rogress$ .hi,h isal.ays de/endent u/on his /urity of moti(e and ,onuest of his 4no.n or as,ertainable defe,ts$ nature.ent on a,,umulating the store of illusory a//earan,es .ith .hi,h he satiated himself&

-t is ,ertain that any student .ho de(otes himself to these astral ha//enings .ill see them in,rease& But.ere our .hole life de(oted to and re.arded by an enormous su,,ession of /henomena$ it is alsoeually ,ertain that the ,asting off the body .ould be the end of all that sort of e9/erien,e$ .ithout ourha(ing added really anything to our sto,4 of true 4no.ledge&

he astral /lane$ .hi,h is the same as that of our /sy,hi, senses$ is as full of strange sights and soundas an untrodden outh Ameri,an forest$ and has to be .ell understood before the student ,an stay therlong .ithout danger& While .e ,an o(er,ome the dangers of a forest by the use of human in(entions$.hose entire obDe,t is the /hysi,al destru,tion of the no9ious things en,ountered there$ .e ha(e no su,aids .hen treading the astral labyrinth& We may be /hysi,ally bra(e and say that no fear ,an enter intous$ but no untrained or merely ,urious see4er is able to say Dust .hat effe,t .ill result to his outer sensesfrom the atta,4 or influen,e en,ountered by the /sy,hi,al senses&

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And the /erson .ho re(ol(es selfishly around himself as a ,entre is in greater danger of delusion thanany one else$ for he has not the assistan,e that ,omes from being united in thought .ith all other sin,ersee4ers& One may stand in a dar4 house .here none of the obDe,ts ,an be distinguished and uite/lainly see all that is illuminated outside@ in the same .ay .e ,an see from out of the bla,4ness of ouro.n house;our hearts;the obDe,ts no. and then illuminated outside by the astral light@ but .e gainnothing& We must first dis/el the innerdar4ness before trying to see into the dar4ness .ithout@ .e mustknowourselvesbefore 4no.ing things e9traneous to oursel(es&

his is not the road that seems easiest to students& 3ost of them find it far /leasanter and as they thin4faster$ .or4$ to loo4 on all these outside allurements$ and to ,ulti(ate all /sy,hi, senses$ to the e9,lusioof real s/iritual .or4&

he true road is /lain and easy to find$ it is so easy that (ery many .ould>be students miss it be,ausethey ,annot belie(e it to be so sim/le&

he .ay lies through the heart@ As4 there and .ander not@


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Claiming to be Jesus

-n one of the letters .ritten by the 3aster


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/lamour ,ts &ur-ose and &la+e in 0agi+

he .ord !glamour .as long ago defined in old di,tionaries as !.it,hery or a ,harm on the yes$ ma4ingthem see things differently from .hat they really are& his is still the meaning of the .ord& 5ot long agobefore the strange things /ossible in hy/noti, e9/eriments be,ame 4no.n to the Western .orld$ itseemed as if e(erything .ould be redu,ed to mere matter and motion by the fiat of s,ien,e& Wit,hery.as to fade a.ay$ be forgotten$ be laughed out of sight$ and .hat ,ould not be as,ribed to defe,ti(etraining of the senses .as to ha(e its e9/lanation in the state of the li(er$ a most /rosai, organ& Butbefore s,ien,e .ith its s/e,ulation and e(er>altering ,anons ,ould enlighten the unlearned multitude$hy/notism ,re/t slo.ly and surely for.ard and at last began to buttress the /ositions of theoso/hy&2lamour stands on,e more a fair ,han,e for re,ognition& -ndeed$ %&P&B uttered /ro/heti, .ords .henshe said that in Ameri,a more than any.here else this art .ould be /ra,tised by selfish men for selfish/ur/oses$ for money>getting and gratifi,ation of desire&

%urriedly glan,ing o(er some fields of fol4lore$ see .hat a mess of tales bearing on glamour /rodu,ed bmen$ gods$ or elementals& -n -ndia the gods e(ery no. and then$ often the sages$ a//ear before ,ertain

/ersons in (arious guises by means of a glamour .hi,h ,auses the eye to see .hat is not really there& --reland (olumes of tales in .hi,h the /erson sees houses$ men$ and animals .here they are not@ he issuddenly gi(en the /o.er to see under the s4in of natural things$ and then /er,ei(es the field or themar4et/la,e full of fairies$ men$ and .omen gliding in and out among the /eo/le& Anon a man or .omanis ,hanged into the a//earan,e of animal or bird$ and only regains the old semblan,e .hen tou,hed .itthe magi, rod& his ,hange of a//earan,e is not a ,hange in fa,t$ but al.ays a glamour affe,ting theeyes of the other /erson& u,h a mass of similar stories found during all time and among e(ery /eo/le,annot be due to folly nor be .ithout a basis& he basis is a fa,t and a la. in mans nature& -t is glamourthe reason for glamour$ and the /o.er to bring it about& Just be,ause there ha(e al.ays been those .heither by natural ability or training$ had the /o.er to bring on a !.it,hery o(er the eyes$ these storiesha(e arisen&

A .riter .ell 4no.n in *ngland and Ameri,a on,e thought he had found a mares nest .hen he re/ortedthat 3me& Bla(ats4y had ,onfessed to him that ,ertain /henomena he enuired of had been ,aused byglamour&

Ah$ glamourM he said@ !thus falls this theoso/hi, house of ,ards@ and he .ent a.ay satisfied$ for in truhe had been himself thoroughly glamoured& But theoso/hists should not stumble and fall (iolently as thigentleman did o(er a .ord .hi,h$ .hen enuired into$ ,arries .ith it a good deal of s,ien,e relating to aim/ortant bran,h of o,,ultism& When - read in an issue of theArenaall about this ,onfession on glamou

- .as uite ready to belie(e that %&P&B did say to the learned enuirer .hat he re/orted$ but at the sametime$ of ,ourse$ 4ne. that she ne(er intended to a//ly her en,hantment e9/lanation to e(ery/henomenon& he only intended to in,lude ,ertain ,lasses$;although in e(ery o,,ult /henomenon theris some glamour u/on some of the obser(ers a,,ording to their indi(idual /hysi,al idiosyn,rasies&

he ,lasses of /henomena ,o(ered by this .ord are referred to in /art by PatanDali in his /ogaAphorisms$ .here he says that if the luminousness natural to obDe,t and eye is interfered .ith the obDe,t.ill disa//ear$ .hether it be man or thing and .hether it be day or night& his little a/horism ,o(ers agood deal of ground$ and ,onfutes$ if a,,e/ted$ some theories of the day& -t de,lares$ in fa,t$ that not on

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is it ne,essary for rays of light to /ro,eed from the obDe,t to the eye$ but also light must /ro,eed from theye to.ards the obDe,t& 7ut off the latter and the obDe,t disa//ears@ alter the ,hara,ter of theluminousness ,oming from the eye$ and the obDe,t is altered in sha/e or ,olour for the /er,ei(er&

7arrying this on further and ,onne,ting it .ith the .ell>4no.n fa,t that .e see no obDe,ts .hate(er$ butonly their ideal form as /resented to the mind$ and .e arri(e at an e9/lanation in /art of ho. glamour

may be /ossible& For if in any .ay you ,an interfere .ith the (ibrations /ro,eeding to the eye on the .ayto affe,t the brain and then the /er,i/ient .ithin$ then you ha(e the /ossibility of sensibly altering theideal form .hi,h the mind is to ,ogniKe .ithin before it de,lares the obDe,t to be .ithout .hi,h /rodu,edthe (ibration&

a4e u/ no. imagination in its as/e,ts of a /o.er to ma4e a ,lear and definite image& his is done inhy/notism and in s/iritualism& -f the image be definite enough and the /er,ei(er or subDe,t sensiti(eenough$ a glamour .ill be /rodu,ed& he /erson .ill see that .hi,h is not the normal sha/e or form or,or/orature of the other& But this ne. sha/e is as real as the normal$ for the normal form is but that .hi,is to last during a ,ertain stage of human e(olution and .ill ,ertainly alter as ne. senses and organs

de(elo/ in us&

hus far ha(ing gone$ it is not easy to see that if a /erson ,an ma4e the definite and (i(id mind>/i,turess/o4en of$ and if the minor organs ,an affe,t and be affe,ted$ it is uite /robable and /ossible thattrained /ersons may ha(e glamoured they eyes of others so as to ma4e them see an ele/hant$ sna4e$man$ tree$ /ot$ or any other obDe,t .here only is em/ty s/a,e$ or as an alternation of a thing or /ersona,tually there his is e9a,tly .hat is done in e9/eriments by the hy/notists .ith this differen,e$ that theha(e to /ut the subDe,t into an abnormal state$ .hile the other o/erators need no su,h ad(entitious aids2lamour$ then$ has a (ery im/ortant /la,e in magi,& hat it .as freuently used by %&P&B there is not thesmallest doubt$ Dust as there is no doubt that the yogi in -ndia /uts the same /o.er in o/eration&

-n many ,ases she ,ould ha(e used it by ma4ing the /ersons /resent thin4 they sa. her .hen she hadgone into the ne9t room$ or that another /erson .as also /resent .ho .as not in fa,t& he same /o.erof glamour .ould /ermit her to hide from sight any obDe,t in the room or in her hands& his is one of thediffi,ult feats of magi,$ and not in the slightest degree de/endent on legerdemain& Persons sometimessay this is folly e(en if true$ but loo4ed at in another light it is not folly$ nor are the ,ases those in .hi,hanyone .as entitled to 4no. all that .as going on& he e9hibited these feats;seldom as it .as;for the/ur/ose of sho.ing those .ho .ere learning from her that the human subDe,t is a ,om/li,ated and/o.erful being$ not to be ,lassed$ as s,ien,e so lo(es to do$ .ith mere matter and motion& All these/henomena a,,om/lished t.o obDe,ts& First$ to hel/ those .ho learned from her$ and se,ond$ to s/read

abroad again in the West the belief in mans real /o.er and nature& he last .as a most ne,essary thinto do be,ause in the West materialism .as beginning to ha(e too mu,h s.ay and threatened to destroys/irituality& And it .as done also in /ursuan,e of the /lans of the 2reat )odge for the human ra,e& As onof her 3asters said$ her /henomena /uKKled s,e/ti,s for many years& *(en no. .e see effe,ts$ for.hen su,h men as tead$ the *ditor of the 0eview of 0eviews$ and #u Prel$ ,hia/arelli$ and othersta4e u/ the fa,ts of /iritualism s,ientifi,ally$ one ,an /er,ei(e that another day for /sy,hology isda.ning&

his /o.er of glamour is used more often than /eo/le thin4$ and not e9,luding members of the &&$ by

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the Ade/ts& hey are often among us from day to day a//earing in a guise .e do not re,ogniKe$ and aredro//ing ideas into mens minds about the s/iritual .orld and the true life of soul$ as .ell as also in,itingmen and .omen to good a,ts& By this means they /ass unre,ogniKed and are able to a,,om/lish morein this doubting and transition age than they ,ould in any other .ay& ometimes as they /ass they arere,ogniKed by those .ho ha(e the right fa,ulty$ but a subtle and /o.erful bond and agreement /re(entstheir se,ret from being di(ulged& his is something for members of the o,iety to thin4 of$ for they maybe entertaining no. and then angels una.ares& hey may no. and then be tried by their leaders .hen

they least e9/e,t it$ and the (erdi,t is not gi(en out but has its effe,t all the same&

But glamo

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