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Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales
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Magic:
White and Black
by
Franz
Hartmann,M.D.
Magic: White and
Black
or
The Science of
Finite and Infinite Life
Containing
Practical Hints for Stu ents of Occultism
by Franz
Hartmann,M.D.
Published by
Kegan Paul,Trench,Tr ό bner &
Broa way House,
1924 -Seventh E
ition
"Everything
that exists upon the Earth has its ethereal counterpart above the Earth,
and there is
nothing,however insignificant it may apear in the world ,
which is not
depending on something higher;so that if the lower parts acts,
its presi eing
higher part reacts upon it".
Sohar
Wajecae,Fol.156,6
"For in our
searching are fulfille all our esires, and we obtain the victory over all world
s".
Khan .Upanisha .
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
CONTENTS
Page 23
INTRODUCTION SPIRITUAL LAW IN THE NATURAL WORLD.
The meaning of
"Magic" The Life principle Man's spiritual nature -Magicians and mediums
Man and
the universe
-The inner world Go ,science,religion,superstition -Mystic and mysticism
Truth and
fiction -The
Bible allegories Soul -knowle ge and brain speculation Self-knowle ge and theories
Realisation by
experience -Selfishness The false Egos Elementals Spiritual germs and their
growth-Asceticism
-Visionaries and reamers -The wisdom religion -The "sons of darkness"and
the
"chil ren
of light"-Spiritual evolution
Page 49 CHAPTER
I THE IDEAL
The ideal self
Realisation of ideals Truth Me itation Prayer Go prays to himself
Interior
revelation The
universal ideal -Christianity Theosophists I entity of revelations
Perception of
truth
Self-control Intuition and logical inferences The A epts False science
Nature Me icine
of the future
Faith is spiritual knowle ge Min -substance Invisible beings Object of
life and its
necessities
Alchemy
Page 67 CHAPTER
ll THE REAL AND THE UNREAL.
Primordial
essence The abstract ideas Character
and purpose Reincarnation The Ego Self-
consciousness
before and after eath The spiritual man Relative existence Unreality of
external
appearances
Matter and motion Consciousness Objective and subjective existence The
unknown
One
Imagination Perception -The "Fall" Creation The inner senses
States of min Dualism
Go and i ols
Page 85 CHAPTER
III FORM
Creation of
forms Spirit Soul -Matter The seven principles The four planes of
existence -The
"resurrection
of the flesh" Spheres and auras Psychic emanations Physical and astral
forms
Elementaries
"Materialisations" Necromancy "Doubles" Wraiths
Apparitions Ghosts Spirits
of nature
Gnomes Sylphs Un ines Salaman ers Spiritual beings Planetary spirits
Emotions
and their origin
Organisation of forms on the various planes Daemons Obsession Spirits of
music
The Creator and his
creatures Witchcraft Astral appearances Spiritism Spooks Spirits of
the
"ea
Devas Unconscious exercise of magic power Protection against evil spells
Page 110 CHAPTER
IV LIFE
The will and the
life Expression of character Chiromancy Psychometry Reincarnation of
soul
In ivi uality
In ddifferentiation of form and of character Change of character In ivi
uality Change of
purpose The ideal
realises itself Spirituality Delusion of separate ness Isolation
Vampires
Incubi and succubi
Elementaries "Killing out passions Change of esires The reamer
and the
realist Life
transfer Suspension of life Evolution The Elixir of Life.
Page 124 CHAPTER
V HARMONY
Harmony The
music of the spheres Spirituality and scientific curiosity Unity of the Law
Variety of
forms -Karma
Accords and iscords Numbers Number one Perio icity Magic Squares
Number Seven
Love and life Man and woman The true marriage Humanity and ivinity
In uction Foo
for the physical bo y Nutriment of the soul "Sin Suffering and its
necessity
Experience
Purification The spiritual organism A oration Me itation Efficacy of
"prayer"
Illumination.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Page 143 CHAPTER
VI ILLUSIONS
Imagination
Two world s The Dwellers of the Threshol Reason and Truth Illusions an
appearances
Prostitution of principles Starvation of soul "Self" Money
Possession "Love"
Celibacy Life
and illusion Science Intellectuality without spirituality Ambition
Power Fame
Authority Fear
Doubt Remorse Sins The "Lamb" Obe ience Reason Passive
imagination
Visions
Artificial means for in ucing hallucinations Fumigations Magic mirrors
Fortune telling
Me itation
Exercise of the will "Mesmerism"an "hypnotism" Unreality
of illusions Mediumship
Responsibility
Power of the imagination States after eath Materiality and ensity Heaven
an
hell Happiness
.
Page 164 CHAPTER
VII CONSCIOUSNESS
Min Absolute
and relative consciousness Realisation of existence --Perception Development
of
the senses
Light anddarkness Resistance Astral Light Astral forms Haunte houses
Sight
an touch True
self-consciousness Reason and reasoning Muscular consciousness Astral
consciousness
Obsessions Thought-bo y Apparitions Double consciousness Projection of
the
astral form
The Kama Rupa Double memory The inner man Somnambulism and trance Two
lives Two
souls Two attractions Spiritual consciousness Wisdom Organisation
Regeneration
The spiritual bo
y.
Page 183 CHAPTER
VIII UNCONSCIOUSNESS
Knowle ge is
life Ignorance is eath Relative life and relative eath Physical eath
Immortality
Nirmβnakβyas
Death is change Go re eems himself Principles and forms Living corpses or
shells
Insanity Process of ying-The astral form Letter from and A ept
Heaven and hell
Post-mortem consciousness Devachan The mystic eath Spiritualism an
spiritism
Communications from the "eparte " Conscious immortality Object of
life Reincarnation
Assuming a new
bo y Shall we know each other after eath ? Degra ation is eath Black magic
White magic
Evolution Permanent love.
Page 204 CHAPTER
IX TRANSFORMATIONS
Memory The
Astral Light Impressions and temptations Responsibility Crimes Capital
punishment
Clairvoyance Seership Amulets The Mumia Mysterious powers of precious
stones
Action of rugs
Primordial matter Single bo ies of chemistry Transformation Will and imagination
Alchemy in its
three aspects Projection of thought Mental epi emics -Receptivity Occult
phenomena
H.P.Blavatsky Controlling the thoughts The Master Wisdom Accumulation
of
energy
Manifestations of consciousness Organisation require The ivine Man The Re
eemer.
Page 227 CHAPTER
X CREATION
The great
mystery Man Memory and forgetting Mand the Creator of his world Self-ma
e men
Material and spiritual
nature Cosmology Mythology Animal foo Practical occultism
Faith and oubt
Action Development of will-power Experiences of life Truth and error
Duty
Knowle ge
Belief The "Path" Rules of life
Page 250 CHAPTER
XI LIGHT
Spirit and form
Free om Personality and in ivi uality The permanent and the impermanent
Hermes
Trismegistus The Saviour The Lord The true baptism,forgiveness of
sins,communion,
marriage The
true and universal church The "Son of Man" Birth of the Christ
Biblical "history"
Prayer The
true Faith Soul knowle ge Physical effects of regeneration Suffering
The true
Rosicrucians and
their symbols Initiation Spiritual nutriment Ceremonies Jesus of
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Re emption
Allegories "Faust" Real knowle ge Unselfishness Goo and evil
The unpar onable
sin.
Page 267 CHAPTER
XII THEOSOPHY
Beauty beyon the
power to escribe it The spiritual Sun Divine Wisdom the realisation of
Truth
The
Philosopher's Stone The Elixir of Life and Universal Panacea Magic power
The Path To
know Forbi en
knowle ge True knowle ge To will Love the fountain of true knowle ge
Development of
will-power To are is obe ience to the law Strengthening of self-will
Fakirs Hatha
yoga Philosophical
and theosophical courage Self-sacrifice To be silent Jackob Boehme Raja
yoga
Instructions Symbols Language The threefol word The language of nature
Universal
language
Thought,word,an action Mystic symbols The five-pointe star The ouble
interlace
triangle The
cross The Brothers of the gol en and rosy cross The true cross The self
realisation
of Truth.
Page 297
APPENDIX A NEW GUIDE ON THE PATH.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
DESCRIPTION OF
THE FRONTISPIECE
[Page 5 ] At the
foot of the picture is a sleeping Sphinx,whose upper part (representing the
higher
principles)is
human;while the lower parts (symbolising the lower principles)are of and animal
nature.She
is reaming of
the solution of the great problem of the construction of the Universe and of
the nature an
estiny of Man,an
her ream takes the shape of the figure above her,representing the Macrocosm an
the Microcosm
and their mutual interaction.
Above,aroun ,an
within all,without beginning and without and en ,penetrating and perva ing
all,from
the en less and unimaginable
periphery to the invisible and incomprehensible centre is Parabrahm ,the
unmanifeste
Absol te ,the supreme source of every power that ever manifeste or may in the
future
manifest itself
as a "thing",an by whose activity the world was thrown into
existence,being projecte by
the power of His
own will and imagination.
The Omega (and
the Alpha in the centre)represent the "Son ",the Absolute having
become manifest as
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
the Universal
Logos or The Christ ,also calle B ddhi ,or the sixth principle ,the cause of
the beginning
and the en of
every create thing.It is One with the "father ",being manifeste as a
Trinity in a Unity ,the
cause of what we
call Space,Motion,and S bstance .Its highest manifestation is Self-conscio
sness ,by
which it may
come to the comprehension of Man .The spiritual man whose matrix is his own
physical
bo y,raws his
nutriment from this universal spiritual principle as the physical [Page 6 ]
foetus is nourishe
by means of the
womb of the mother,his so l being forme from the astral influences or the so l
of the
world .
Out of the
Universal Logos procee s the "invisible Light "of the Spirit,the
Truth ,the Law ,and the Life ,
embracing and penetrating
the Cosmos and becoming manifest in the illuminate soul of Man,while the
visible light of
Nature is only its most material aspect or mo e of manifestation,in the same
sense as the
visible sun is
the reflex of its ivine prototype,the invisible centre of power or the great
spirit al Sun.
The circle with
the twelve signs of the Zo iac,enclosing the space in which the planets
belonging to our
solar system are
represente ,symbolises the Cosmos,fille with the planetary influences perva ing
the
Astral Light ,an
which are cause by the interaction of the astral emanations of the cosmic bo
ies an
their
inhabitants.
The activity in
the Cosmos is represente by the interlace triangle.The two outer ones represent
the
great powers of
creation,preservation,an estruction,or Brahama ,Vishn ,an Siva ,acting upon the
elements of
Fire,Water,an Earth that is to say,upon the original principles out of which
ethereal,
flui and soli
material substances and forms are pro uce .
The two inner
interlace triangles refer more especially to the evelopment of Man.B ,C ,an D
represent
Knowledge ,the Knower ,and the Known ,which trinity constitutes Self-knowle
ge.E,F,an G
represent the
Physical Man,the Ethereal or Inner Man ,and the Spirit al Man .The centre
represents the
ivine Atma
,being i entical with the Universal Logos .It is,like the latter,a Trinity in a
Unity.[Of the three
interlace A's
only one is istinctly rawn in the figure.It is the spiritual see [Page 7 ]
implante in the soul
of man,through
whose growth immortal life is attaine .Its light is the Rose of the Cross that
is forme by
Wisdom and Power
.But below all is the realm of ill sion ,of the most gross and heavy
materialise
thoughts,sinking
into Darkness and Death,where they ecompose and putrefy,an are resolve again
into the
elements out of which the Universe came into existence.[Page 8 and 9 ]
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
PREFACE TO THE
FOURTH EDITION
This book was
originally written for the purpose of isenchanting certain cre ulous
inquirers,who fancie
that the
exercise of spiritual powers coul be taught by teaching them certain
incantations and formulas.
It was to prove
that spiritual powers must be evelope before they can be exercise ,an to
explain the
con itions
necessary for their evelopment.
Since the
appearance of the previous e ition,a little a itional knowle ge,gaine by the
experiences of
my own inner
life,has enable me to make certain corrections;to sift out much of what was
irrelevant,
an to remo el a
great eal of what was incorrectly expresse .Moreover in this e ition and attempt
has
been ma e to
answer the numerous questions which have been a resse to me by the rea ers of
"Magic".
The most serious
objection which has been ma e against this book has been on account of its
title;but
the causes which
in uce me to select such a title were suggeste by the purpose for which the
book
was inten e ;nor
woul I at present be able to fin one more appropriate for it,for
"Magic"means that
ivine art or
exercise of spiritual power by which the awakene spirit in man controls the
invisible living
elements in the
soul-substance of the universe;but,above all,those in his own soul,which are
the ones
nearest to him.
If we esire to
master any forces whatever,it is,above all,necessary to know what they are and how
they
originate,an as we have no better means to stu y the qualities of any internal
forces,than by
observing [Page
10 ] those which are active within ourselves,the perception of the processes
going on
within our own
psychic organism,will be the means to accomplish our object.The art Magic is
the
exercise of
spiritual power,to be obtaine by practising self-control,an this power cannot
be acquire in
any other
way;nor is it possible to teach anyone how to exercise a power which he oes not
possess,
because he has
not evelope it;we can only in icate the way in which the psychic powers latent
in
every human
constitution may be evelope .The constitutions of all men are fun amentally the
same,
an in each human
being are containe magical powers germinally or in a latent con ition;but they
cannot be sai to
exist before they become active and manifest themselves,first interiorly,an
afterwards in
and outward irection.
It was not my
object,in composing this book,to write merely a code of ethics ,and thereby to
increase
the alrea y
existing pile of moral precepts,but to assist the stu ent of Occultism in stu
ying the elements
of which his own
soul is compose ,an to learn to know his own psychical organism.I want to give
an
impulse to the
stu y of a
science,which may be calle the "anatomy and physiology of the so l
",which investigates the
elements of
which the organism of the soul is compose ,and the source from which man's
esires an
emotions spring.
Physical science
has a vance with great stri es in the realm of superficial phenomena and external
illusions,but
the science of the real interior and invisible man is still very little
known.The mechanical
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
an chemical
forces of nature have been ma e subservient to physical science.She has lai the
yoke
upon the neck of
the giant Steam and chaine Electricity to her triumphal chariot;she ma e
mechanical
motion,heat,an
light,an magnetism the obedient slaves of men;she ma e [Page 11 ] iscoveries
which
make man to a
certain extent independent of the con itions impose upon him by space and time;she
succee e in
realising certain ideas and to put them
into practical execution,ideas which a
century ago
were believe to
belong merely to the realm of the fancies of the visionary and the reamer.
Why shoul we
stop here?Why shoul it not be possible for us to a vance still further,an to
enchain
those
semi-conscious and conscious forces which perva e our own soul,an also the soul
of the world ?
Why shoul it be
impossible to con ense into forms by the omnipotent power of Will the living
but
formless
Elementals ;to concentrate and give shape to living and universal
principles,which,although
they are at
present invisible for us,nevertheless exist?Such things have been accomplishe
by the
Eastern sages
thousan s of years ago,an may be accomplishe by ourselves,provi e we attain the
same state of
perfection which characterises these Adepts .
To arrive at
this en the merely superficially intellectual rea ing of books on Occultism is
entirely
insufficient.The
ivine mysteries of nature are above and beyon the power of conception of the
limite
intellect.They
must be graspe by the power of the spirit.If we cannot by our own soul
perception
perceive a
spiritual truth with the eye of the spirit,intellectual reasoning and book
learning will not enable
us to perceive
it clearly.Books,ealing with such subjects,shoul not be masters to us;they
shoul
merely be our
assistants.They are merely useful to escribe the etails of things which we
alrea y know
in the epths of
our soul;they are merely servants to hol up before our eyes magnifying mirrors,
wherein we see
the truths whose presence we feel in ourselves.
Jackob Boehme
,the great theosoph,says in regard to [Page 12 ] the stu y of
Occultism:"If you esire to
investigate the
ivine mysteries of nature,investigate first your own min ,an ask yourself about
the
purity of your
purpose.Do you esire to put the goo teachings which you may receive into
practice for
the benefit of
humanity ?Are you rea y to renounce all selfish esires,which clou your min and hin
er
you to see the
clear light of eternal truth ?Are you willing to become and instrument for the
manifestation
of Divine
your illusive
Self,to become one with the living universal power of Goo and to ie to your own
sha owy
insignificant
terrestrial personality ?Or o you merely esire to obtain great knowle ge,so
that your
curiosity may be
gratifie ,an that you may be prou of your science,an believe yourself to be
superior
to the rest of
mankin ?Consi er,that the epths of Divinity can only be searche by the ivine
spirit
itself,which is
active within you.Real knowledge must come from our own interior,not merely
from
externals,and
they who seek for the essence of things merely in externals may fin the
artificial colour of
a thing,but not
the true thing itself".
Again this
self-taught philosopher says:"The intellect shoul be evelope ,but above
all the heart .We
shoul attempt to
un erstan intellectually the laws of everything;but our own still fallible
intellect shoul
not be ma e the
starting-point in our investigations.Man shoul not be governe by his reasoning
from
appearances;but
he shoul govern his min ,so that the light of ivine wisdom may illuminate his
intellect.If our
ju gment becomes free of all selfish taint,and the vibrations of our soul are
ma e to
vibrate in
harmony with the eternal spirit,our perishable intellect will be [Page 13 ]
penetrate by the
imperishable
light of ivine wisdom;an we will be able to perceive and to solve the eepest
problems of
nature.If our
esire and reason cling to the sphere of self,we shall see merely the illusions
which we
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
ourselves have
create ;but if we become free by being obedient to the universal law,we will
become
one with the law
and see the truth in its purity".
An to this we
will a ,as a warning to all inquirers,that a scientific investigation of the
occult mysteries
of
nature,without that firm foun ation furnishe by the evelopment of true
spirituality,is excee ingly
angerous and lea
s to eplorable consequences.The perception of things which belong to the spirit
is a
faculty of the
spiritually evelope man and not within the reach of the semi-material min .He
who
continually
pores over things which he cannot comprehen lives in the realm of his reams;he
becomes
an unpractical
person,incapable to fulfil his uties in life,an often insanity and suici e is
the result.The
school of the
occultist is only for those who have gra uate in the school of terrestrial
life.
Let,therefore,those
who wish to acquire spiritual or ivine power,follow this a vice:let them rise
spirit ally into
the highest regions of thought and remain therein as its permanent resi
ents.Let them
cultivate their
physical bo ies and their mental constitutions in such a manner that the matter
of which
they are compose
will become less gross and more penetrable to the ivine light of the
spirit.Then will
the veils that
separate them from the invisible world become thinner;then will they become
aware of the
fact that the
circle which limits their terrestrial and phenomenal existence is merely a
small segment of
that gran circle
wherein their existence as self-conscious beings on the spiritual pIane is
enclose ,an
as they increase
in transcen ental [Page 14 ] knowle ge they will grow in spiritual
power,until,by the
un erstan ing of
the ivine laws of the universe,they will become the co-operators of Go ,an Go
will
perform his
miracles in and through them.
The following
pages are and attempt to show the way how Man may become and instrument of the
Divine
Power whose pro
uct is Nature;they constitute a book which may properly bear the title of
"Magic",for if
the rea ers
succee in practically following its teachings,they will be able to witness the
greatest of all
magical
feats,the spiritual regeneration of
PREFACE
Our age is the
age of opinions.The majority of our ed cated people live,so to say,in their hea
s,an
the claims of
the heart are neglecte .Vanity is king,an wisdom is only permitte to speak when
it oes
not come into
conflict with selfish consi erations.The guardians of a narrow limite science
elu e
themselves with
a belief of being capable to bring the infinite truth within the grasp of their
finite
un erstan ing,an
whatever they fail to comprehen is asserte not to exist.Our speculative
philosophers
refuse to recognise the eternal power of universal love whose light is reflecte
in the human
soul;they wish
to examine eternal truths by the flickering can le-light of their
logic,reasoning from the
basis of sensual
observations;they forget that Humanity is a Unity ,an that one in ivi ual
cannot
encompass the
All;and the ignorant asks scientific reasons why man shoul be faithful and true,an
why
he shoul not
consi er his own personal interests above those of the rest of mankin .
It is
universally a mitte that man's final estiny cannotdependon the theories which
he may have
forme in his min
regarding Cosmology,Pneumatology,plans of salvation,etc.,an as long as he
possesses no
real knowle ge,one set of beliefs or opinions may perhaps be as goo as
another;but it
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
cannot be enie
,that the sooner man frees himself of the erroneous opinions of others and opening
his
own eyes
recognises [Page 16 ] the real truth,the less will he be impe e by the
obstacles which are in the
way of his
higher evolution,and the sooner will he reach the summit of his final
perfection.
The most
important question seems,therefore,to be:"Is it possible that a man shoul
actually know
anything
transcen ing his sensual perception,unless it is tol to him by some suppose
authority ?Can
the power of
intuition be evelope to such and extent as to become actual knowle ge without
any
possibility of
error,or shall we always be oome todependon hearsay and opinions?Can any
in ivi ual man
possess powers transcen ing those which are a mitte to exist by mo ern
science,an
how can such
transcen ental powers be acquire ?"
The following
pages were written for the purpose of attempting to answer such questions,by
calling the
attention of
those who esire to know the truth to a consi eration of the true nature of Man
and of his
position in the
Universe.Those who alrea y know these things of course will not nee the
instructions
which these
pages contain,but to those who esire to know they may be of some use,an to the
latter
we recommen the
a vice given by Gautama Bu ha to his isciples:"Believe nothing which is
unreasonable,an
reject nothing as unreasonable without proper examination".
This book was
not written for the purpose of convincing sceptics of the fact that phenomena
of and occult
character have
taken place in the past and are occurring at present;though and attempt has
been ma e
to prove the
possibility of mystic occurrences,by offering some explanation in regar to the
laws by
which they may
be pro uce .No space has been evote to lengthy illustrative examples of
phenomena.Those
who require them will fin such evi ence in the books whose titles have been
given
at the foot of
the pages.[Page 17 ]
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
INTRODUCTION
SPIRITUAL LAW IN
THE NATURAL WORLD
"There is
no religion higher than truth".
[Page 23 ]
WHATEVER misinterpretation ancient or mo ern ignorance may have given to the
word Magic ,
its only true
significance is The Highest Science ,or Wisdom,based pon knowledge and
practical
experience.
If you oubt
whether there is any such thing as Magic,an if you esire any practical
illustration about it,
open your eyes
and look aroun you.See the world ,the animals,and the trees,an ask yourself
whether they
coul have come into existence by any other power than by the magic power of nat
re .
Magical power is
not a supernatural power,if by the term "supernatural"you mean a
power which is
outsi e,beyon
,or locally above nature.To suppose the existence of such a power is and absurdity
and a
superstition,oppose
to all our experience;for we see that all organisms,vegetable and animal ones,
grow by the
action of internal forces acting outwardly,an not by having something a e to
their
substance from
the outsi e.A see oes not become a tree,nor a chil a man,by having substance
a e to its
organism by some outsi e workman,or like a house which is built by putting
stones on the
top of each
other;but living things grow by the action of and internal power,acting from a
centre within the
form.To this
centre flow the influences coming from the universal storehouse of matter and motion,an
from [Page 24 ]
there they ra iate again towards the periphery,an perform that labour which
buil s up the
living organism.
But what else
can such a power be,except a spirit al ,power,because it penetrates to the very
centre of
material
things.It acts according to law,an buil s up organisms accor ing to a certain
or er,an is
therefore
superior to blin mechanical force.It cannot be a mere mechanical force;for we
know that a
mechanical force
ceases as soon as the impulse which originate it ceases to act,while the stream
of life
is
inexhaustible,an only the forms in which it becomes manifest ie.It cannot be a
chemical force,for
chemical action
ceases when the chemical combination of the substances which were to combine
has
taken place.It
must therefore be a living power,an as life cannot be a pro uct of a ea form,it
can be
nothing else but
the power of the One Life ,acting within the life centres of the forms.
Nature is a
magician,every plant,animal,an every man is a magician,who uses his powers
unconsciously
and instinctively to buil up his own organism;or,in other words,every living
being is an
organism in
which the magic power of the spirit in nature acts;an if a man shoul attain the
knowle ge
how to control
this power of life,an to employ it consciously,instea of merely submitting
unconsciously
to its
influence,then he woul be a magician,an coul control the processes of life in
his own organism,
an perhaps in
that of other beings.
Now the question
is:Can any man obtain such a power as to control the processes of life ?The
answer
to this questiondepends
on what you mean by the term "man ".If you mean by "man "an
intellectual
animal,such as
we meet every ay in the streets,then the answer is:No!for the majority of the
men an
women of our
present generation,inclu ing our greatest scientific l mens ,know absolutely
nothing about
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
their own inner
nature or about the universal power of the One Life ,an many of them have not
even
ma e up their
min s whether or not they will believe in the existence of their own soul.They
can neither
see it nor feel
it objectively,and therefore they o not know what to make of it.[Page 25 ]
But if you mean
by "man"that intelligent principle,which is active within the
organism of man,an which
constitutes him
a human being,an by whose action he becomes a being very istinct from and superior
to animals in
human or animal form,then the answer is:Yes !for the ivine power which acts
within the
organism of man
is the same and i entical power which acts within the centre of nature.It is
and internal
power of man,an
belongs to man's true self,an if man once knows all the powers which belong to
his
essential
constitution,an knows how to use them,then he may enter from the passive into
the active
state,an employ
these powers himself.
Absurd as it may
seem,it is nevertheless a logical consequence rawn from the fun amental truths
about the
constitution of man,that if a man coul control the universal power of life
acting within himself,
he might prolong
the life of his organism as long as it please him;if he coul control it,an knew
all the
laws of his
nature,he might ren er it ense or vaporous,concentrate it to a small point,or
expan it,so
as to occupy a
great eal of space.Verily,truth is stranger than fiction,an we might see it,if
we coul
only rise above
the narrow conceptions and preju ices which we have inherite and acquire by
e ucation and sensual
observation.
The most strange
things happen continually in nature,an har ly attract our attention.They o not
seem
strange to
us,although we o not un erstand them;merely because we are accustome to see them
every ay.Who
woul be so "foolish"as to believe that a tree coul grow out of a see
as there is
evi ently no
tree in the see if his experience ha not tol him that trees grow out of see s
in spite of
all arguments to
the contrary ?Who woul believe that a flower woul grow out of a plant,if he ha
not
seen it,for
observation and reason show that there is no flower in the stalk
?Nevertheless,flowers grow,
an cannot be
ispute away.
Everywhere in
nature the action of a universal spiritual law is manifest,but we cannot see
the law [Page
26 ]
itself.Everywhere we see the manifestations of wisdom;but those who seek for
the origin of wisdom
within their own
brains will seek for it in vain.
The art of Magic
is the art of employing invisible or so-calle spiritual agencies to obtain
certain visible
results.Such
agencies are not necessarily invisible entities,flitting about in vacant
space,rea y to come
at the comman of
anyone who has learne certain incantations and ceremonies;but they consist
principally in
the unseen but nevertheless powerful influences of the Emotions and the Will,of
esires
an
passions,thought and imagination,love and hate,fear and hope,faith and oubt,etc.,etc.They
are
the powers of
what is calle the Soul;they are employe everywhere and by everybo y every ay,
consciously or
unconsciously,willingly or unwillingly,an while those that cannot control or
resist.such
influences,but
are controlle by them,are passive Instruments,"Medi ms "through which
such unseen
powers act,an
often their unwilling slaves;those who are able to gui e and control such
influences by
gaining control
over themselves,are,in proportion to their controlling capacity,active,an
powerful,an
true
Magicians,an may employ their powers for goo or for evil.We see,therefore,that
with the
exception of
irresponsible persons,everyone who has any will power is,in so far as he
exercises that will
power,an active
Magician;a white magician if he employs them for goo ,a black magician if he
uses
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
them for the
purposes of evil.
There are people
in the East and some in the West,through whom extraordinary feats,such as are
usually
classifie as "Magic",are performe ;but it oes not logically follow
that such people are therefore
conscious
Magicians;it only shows that the power which acts through their organism,is a
magic power,
and the suppose
"Magician"may be merely the instrument through which invisible
intelligent powers
perform such
feats,an he may not even know who or what such a power is.
We all cannot
honestly say "we have life ";for life oes not belong to us,an we
cannot control or
monopolise [Page
27 ] it.All we can say without arrogance and presumption is,that we are
instruments
through which
the universal One Life manifests itself in the form of a human being.We are all
Medi ms ,
through which
the universal One Life acts.Only when we know our own selves and can control
the life-
principle within
ourselves,can we become our own Masters.He who thinks that he has any power
whatever of his
own,thinks foolish:for all the powers he has are lent him by nature,or more
correctly
speaking by
that eternal spiritual power,which acts in and from the centre of nature,an
which men
have calle
"Go ",because they have foun it to be the source of all goo ;the one
Reality within the
universe and within
every being.
No one will eny
that Man,besi es having physical powers,is also temporally en owe with mental
an
even spiritual
energies.We love,respect,or obey a person,not on account of his superior bo ily
strength,but on
account of his intellectual and moral worth,or while we are un er the spell of
some real
or imaginary
authority,that we may believe him to possess.A king or a bishop has,as a
person,not
necessarily any
more physical power than his lackey or butler,an must make himself known before
he
will be obeye ;a
captain may be bo ily the weakest man in his company and still his sol iers
obey him.
We love
beauty,harmony,an sublimity,not on account of their usefulness for material
purposes,but
because they
satisfy a correspon ing inner sense,which oes not belong to the physical plane;
civilisation
gains groun ,more by moral and intellectual influences than by the power of the
bayonet,an
it is a true
saying,that in our age the pen is mightier thand the sword.
What woul be a world
without the magic power of love of beauty and harmony ?How woul a world look
if ma e after a
pattern furnishe by mo ern science ?A world in which the universal power of
truth were
not recognise
coul be nothing else but a world of maniacs and fille with hallucinations.In
such a worl
art and poetry
coul not exist,justice woul become a convenience,honesty be equivalent [Page 28
] with
imbecility,to be
truthful woul be to be foolish,and the i ol of "Self"the only go
worthy of any
consi eration.
Magic may be sai
to be that science which eals with the mental and moral powers of man,an shows
what control he
may exercise over himself and others.In order to stu y the powers of man it is
necessary
to investigate
what Man is,an what relation he bears to the universe,an such and investigation,if
properly con
ucte ,will show that the elements which compose the essential man are i entical
with
those we fin in
the universe;that is to say,that the universe is the Macrocosm ,an man its
true copy
the Microcosm
.
Microcosmic man
and the Macrocosm of nature are one.How coul it be possible that the Macrocosm
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
shoul contain
anything not containe within the Microcosm or that man shoul have something
within
his
organism,which cannot be foun within the gran organism of nature ?Is not mand
the chil of nature,
an cand there be
anything within his constitution which oes not come from his eternal father and
mother
?If man's
organisation containe something unnatural,he woul be a monster,an nature woul
spew
him out.
Everything
containe in nature can be foun within the organism of man,an exists therein
either in a
germinal or
evelope state;either latent or active,an may be perceive by him who possesses
the
power of
self-knowle ge.
We are born into
a world in which we fin ourselves surroun e by physical objects.There seems to
be
still another
a subjective world within us,capable of receiving and retaining impressions
from the
outsi e world .Each
one is a world of its own,with a relation to space different from that of the
other.
Each has its ays
of sunshine and its nights ofdarkness,which are not regulate by the ays and nights
of the
other,each has its clou s and its storms,an shapes and forms of its own.
As we grow up we
listen to the teachings of science to try to fin out the true nature of these world
s an
the laws that
govern them,but physical science eals [Page 29 ] only with forms,an forms are
continually
changing.She
gives only a partial solution of the problems of the objective world ,an leaves
us in regard
to the
subjective world almost entirely in the ark.Mo ern science classifies phenomena
and escribes
events,but to
escribe how and event takes place is not sufficient to explain why it takes
place.To
iscover
causes,which are in themselves the effects of unknown primal causes,is only to
eva e one
ifficulty by
substituting another.Science escribes some of the attributes of things,but the
first causes
which brought
these attributes into existence are unknown to her,an will remain so,until her
powers of
perception will
penetrate into the unseen.
Besi es
scientific observation there seems to be still another way to obtain knowle ge
of the mysterious
si e of
nature.The religious teachers of the world claim to have soun e the epths which
the scientists
cannot
reach.Their octrines are suppose by many to have been receive through certain
ivine or
angelic
revelations,procee ing from a supreme,infinite omnipresent,an yet personal,and
therefore
limite external
Being ,the existence of which has never been prove .Although the existence of
such a
being is to
say the least excee ingly oubtful,yet men in all countries have bowe own in
terror
before its
suppose ictates;rea y to tear each other's throats at a sign of its suppose
comman ,an
willing to lay
own their money,their lives,an even their honour at the feet of those who are
looke
upon as the
confi ants or eputies of a go .Men and women are willing to make themselves
miserable
an unhappy in
life for the purpose of obtaining some reward after they live no more.Some
waste their
life in the
anticipation of joys in a life of which they o not know whether or not it
exists;some ie for fear
of losing that
which they o not possess.
Thousan s are
engage in teaching others that which they themselves o not know,an in spite of
a
very great
number of religious systems there is comparatively little religion at present
upon the Earth.
The term
Religion is erive from the Latin world religere ,which may be properly
translate "to bin
back",[Page
30 ] or to "relate".Religion,in the true sense of the term,implies
that science which examines
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
the link which
exists between man and the cause from which he originate ,or in other
words,which
eals with the
relation which exists between man and Go ,for the true meaning of the term
"God "is
S preme First Ca
se ,an Nat re is the effect of its manifestation.True religion is therefore a
science far
higher than a
science base upon mere sensual perception,but it cannot be in conflict with
what is true
in science.Only
what is false in science must necessarily be in conflict with what is true in
religion,an
what is false in
religion is in conflict with what is true in science.True religion and true
science are
ultimately one
and the same thing,and therefore equally true;a religion that clings to illusions,an
an
illusory
science,are equally false,and the greater the obstinacy with which they cling
to their illusions the
more pernicious
is their effect.
A istinction
shoul be ma e between "religion "an "religionism ";between
"science "an "scientism ";
between
"mystic science "an "mysticism ".
The highest
aspect of Religion is practically the union of man with the Supreme First
Cause,from which
his essence
emanate in the beginning.
Its second
aspect teaches theoretically the relations existing between that Great First
Cause and Man;in
other words,the
relations existing between the Macrocosm and Microcosm.
In its lowest
aspect religionism consists of the a ulation of ea forms,of the worshipping of
fetiches,of
fruitless
attempts to whee le oneself into the favour of some imaginary eity,to persua e
"Go "to
change his min
,an to try to obtain some favours which are not in accordance with justice.
Science in her
highest aspect is the real knowle ge of the fun amental laws of Nature,an is
therefore a
spiritual science,base
upon the knowle ge of the spirit within one's own self.
In its lower
aspect it is a knowle ge of external phenomena,and the secon ary or superficial
causes
which pro uce
the latter,an which our mo ern scientism mistakes for the final cause.[Page 31
]
In its lowest
aspect scientism is a system of observation and classification of external
appearances,of
the causes of
which we know nothing.
Religionism and Scientism
are continually subject to changes.They have been create by illusions,an
ie when the illusions
are over.True Science and true Religion are one,an if realise by Practice,they
form,with the
truth which they contain,the three Iateral pyrami ,whose foun ations are upon
the earth,
an whose point
reaches into the king om of heaven.
Mystic science
in its true meaning is spiritual knowle ge;that is to say,the soul knowle ge of
spiritual
an
"super-sensual"things,perceive by the spiritual powers of the
soul.These powers are germinally
containe in
every human organisation,but only few have evelope them sufficiently to be of
any
practical use.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Mysticism
belongs to the vapoury speculations of the brain.It is a hankering after
illusions,a esire to pry
into ivine
mysteries which the material min cannot comprehen ,a craving to satisfy
curiosity in regard
to what and animal
ought not to know.It is the realm of fancies,of reams,the para ise of
ghost-seers,
an of
spiritistic tomfooleries of all kin s.
But which is the
true religion and the true science ?There is no oubt that a efinite
relationship exists
between Man and the
cause that calle humanity into existence,an a true religion or a true science
must be the one
which teaches the true terms of that relation.If we take a superficial view of
the various
religious
systems of the world ,we fin them all apparently contra icting each other.We
fin a great mass
of apparent
superstitions and absurdities heape upon a grain of something that may be
true.We a mire
the ethics and moral
octrines of our favourite religious system,an we take its theological rubbish
in our
bargain,forgetting
that the ethics of nearly all religions are essentially the same,an that the
rubbish
which surroun s
them is not real religion.It is evi ently and absur ity to believe that any
system coul be
true,unless it
containe the truth.But it is equally evi ent that a thing cannot be true and false
at the
same time.[Page
32 ]
The truth can
only be one .The truth never changes;but we ourselves change,an as we change so
changes our
aspect of the truth.The various religious systems of the world cannot be
unnatural pro ucts.
They are all the
natural outgrowth of man's spiritual evolution upon this globe,and they iffer
only in so
far as the con
itions un er which they came into existence iffere at the time when they began
to exist;
while his
science has been artificially built by facts collecte from external
observation.Each intellectual
human
being,except one blin e by preju ice,recognises the fact that each of the great
religious
systems of the world
contains certain truths,which we intuitively know to be true;an as there can be
only one fun
amental truth,so all these religions are branches of the same tree,even if the
forms in
which the truth
manifests itself are not alike.The sunshine is everywhere the same,only its
intensity
iffers in different
localities.In one place it in uces the growth of palms,in another of
mushrooms;but
there is only
one Sun in our system.The processes going on,on the physical plane have their
analogies
in the spiritual
realm,for there is only one Nature,one Law.
If one person
quarrels with another about religious opinions,he cannot have the true
religion,nor can he
have any true
knowle ge;because true religion is the realisation of truth.The only true
religion is the
religion of
universal Love;this love is the recognition of one's own ivine universal
self.Love is an
element of ivine
Wisdom,and there can be no wisdom without love.Each species of birds in the woo
s
sings a different
tune;but the principle which causes them to sing is the same in each.They o not
quarrel with
each other,because one can sing better thand the rest.Moreover,religious
isputations,with
their resulting
animosities,are the most useless things in the world ;for no one can combat thedarkness
by fighting it
with a stick:the only way to removedarkness is to kin le a light,the only way
to ispel
spiritual
ignorance is to let the light of knowle ge that comes from the centre of love
shine into every
heart.[Page 33 ]
All religions
are base upon internal truth,all have and outsi e ornamentation which varies in
character in
the different
systems,but all have the same foun ation of truth,an if we compare the various
systems
with one
another,looking below the surface of exterior forms,we fin that this truth is
in all religious
systems one and the
same.In all this,truth has been hi en beneath a more or less allegorical
language,impersonal
and invisible powers have been personifie and represente in images carve in
stones or woo ,and
the formless and real has been picture in illusive forms.These forms in
letters,an
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
pictures,an
images are the means by which truths may be brought to the attention of the
unripe Min .
They are to the
grown-up chil ren of all nations what picture-books are to small chil ren who
are not yet
able to rea ,an
it woul be as unreasonable to eprive grown-up chil ren of their images before
they
are able to rea
in their own hearts,as it woul be to take away the picture-books from little
chil ren an
to ask them to
rea printe books,which they cannot yet un erstan .
Very
uninteresting and insignificant woul be the stories containe in the Bible ,an
in other religious
books,if the
personal events escribe therein were referring merely to certain occurrences
having
happene in the
lives of certain in ivi uals who live some thousan s of years ago,an whose
biography can
seriously interest no one to ay.What o we care now about the family affairs of
a man
calle A am or
Abraham ?Why shoul we want to be intereste in knowing how many legitimate or
illegitimate
chil ren the Jewish Patriarchs ha ,an what became of them?What is it to us
whether or not
a man by the
name of Jonah was thrown into the water and swallowe by a whale ?What happens
to ay
in the various
countries of
at the court of
Zerubabel or Nabucho onoser.
But fortunately
for the Bible and if we only knew how to rea it fortunately for us,the
stories containe
therein are by
no means merely histories of persons who [Page 34 ] live in ancient times,but
they are
allegories and myths
having always a very eep meaning,of which our expoun ers of the Bible,as well
as its
critics,usually know very little.
The men and the
women of the ol and new "testament"are much more than mere persons
suppose to
have existe at
that time.They are personifications of eternally active spiritual forces,of
which physical
science oes not
even know that they exist;and their histories give and account of their
action,their
interrelations
within the Macrocosm and its counterpart the Microcosm;they teach the history
of the
evolution of
mankin in its spiritual aspect.
If our natural
philosophers woul stu y the Bible and the ancient religious books of the
East,in their
esoteric and spiritual
aspects,they might learn a great many things which they esire to know.They
might learn to
fin out what are the true powers of the still sleeping "Inner
Man",which are require to
pro uce occult
phenomena at will;they might fin instruction how to transmute lea or iron into
pure
gol ,an to
transform animals into go s.
But it is a
truth,base upon natural laws,that man can see nothing except that which exists
in his min .
If a man closes
his eyes,he sees nothing,an if his min is fille with illusions,he will have no
room for
the truth,and
the eepest of symbols will be pictures without meaning to him.
If our chil ren
the big ones as well as the little ones are only looking at the pictures
without learning
the text,they
are apt to grow to believe the pictorial representations to be the very things
they are
inten e to
represent;they become accustome to forget that forms are only illusions,an that
formless
realities cannot
be seen.It is so much easier to believe than to think.Chil ren shoul not linger
over their
picture-books so
long as to neglect their higher e ucation.Humanity has outgrown the infancy of
its
present cycle,an
asks for more intellectual foo ;the age of superstition is passing away,and the
eman is not for
opinions but for knowle ge,an knowle ge cannot be obtaine without [Page 35 ] an
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
effort.If we
examine the various religious systems we may fin a great eal of truth,but we
cannot
recognise it
without knowle ge,an real knowle ge can only be obtaine by practical
experience.The
expresse opinion
of one person can only give rise to conviction in another,if corroborate by the
same
or a similar
experience of the latter.A person can only truly believe that which he knows
himself,an he
can only
actually know himself that which he has experience himself.
There is a great
ifference between believing and un erstan ing the truth.We may believe the
truth with
our heart and reject
it with our brain.In other words:We may feel the truth intuitively,an not see
it
intellectually.If
our present generation woul cultivate the faculty of knowing the truth by
heart,an
afterwards
examine that which they know by means of their intellect,we woul soon have a
far better
an happier state
of society everywhere.But the great curse of our age is that the intellectual
faculties
reject the truth
in the heart.The science of the brain suppresses the knowle ge of the soul,an
tries to
grasp that which
only the heart can touch.
Men,instea of
living in the sanctuary of the temples which they inhabit,are continually
absent from
there,an resi e
in the garret un er the roof,looking out through the win ows of the garret
after scientific
theories and other
illusions of life.Day and night they stand there and watch,careful that none of
the
passing
illusions may escape their observation,an while their attention is absorbe by these
i le shows,
the thieves
enter the house and the sanctuary without being seen,an steal away the
treasures.Then at
the time when
the house is estroye ,an eath appears,the soul returns to the heart and fin s
it empty
an esolate,an
all the illusions that occupie the brain uring life fly away,an man is left
poor in ee ,
because he has
not perceive the truth in his heart.
The real object
of a religious system shoul therefore be to teach a way by which a person may
evelop
the power to
perceive the truth himself,independent of [Page 36 ] anybo y's opinion.To ask a
man to
believe in the
opinion expresse by another,an to remain satisfie with such a belief,is to ask
him to
remain
ignorant,an to trust to another person more than to his own experience.A person
without
knowle ge can
have no real conviction,no true faith.His a option of one particular theory or
system
epen s on the
circumstances un er which he is born,or brought up,or surroun e .He is most
liable to
a opt that
system which his parents or neighbours have inherite or a opte ,an if he
changes from
one to
another,he,generally speaking,oes so from mere sentimentalism,or on account of
some selfish
consi
eration,expecting to obtain some benefit to himself by that change.From a
spiritual stan point he
will gain
nothing un er such circumstances;because to approach the truth,he must love the
truth for its
own sake,an not
on account of the personal a vantage that it may bring;from and intellectual
stan point
he will gain
little or nothing by exchanging one superstition for another.The only way by
which Man can
hope to arrive
at the truth is to love the truth on account of its being the truth,an to free
his min from all
preju ices and pre
ilections,so that its light may penetrate into the min .
What is the
religionism of to ay,but a religion of fear ?Men o not wish to avoi vice,but
they wish to
avoi the
punishment for having in ulge in vice.Their experience teaches them that the
laws of nature
are
unchangeable,but nevertheless they continue to act against the universal
law.They claim to believe
in a Go who is
unchangeable,an yet they implore his assistance if they esire to break his own
law.
When will they
rise up to the true conception that the only possible Go is that universal
power which
acts in the
law,which is itself the law of the spirit in nature,an cannot be change ?To
break the law is
i entical with
breaking the Go within ourselves,and the only way to obtain forgiveness after
he is
broken is to
restore the supremacy of the law,an to create a new Go within ourselves.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
It may be well
to stu y the opinions of others,an [Page 37 ] to store them up in the book of
our memory,
but we shoul not
believe them to constitute self-knowle ge.Even the teachings of the world 's
greatest
A
epts,unimpeachable as they may be,can only instruct us,but give us no real
knowle ge.They can
show the way,but
we must take ourselves the steps on the la er.Were we to recognise their dict m
as
the final aim,to
be accepte without any further internal investigation,we shoul again fall back
into a
system of belief
for the sake of authority.Knowle ge gives strength,oubt paralyses the will.A
man who
oes not believe
that he is able to walk will not be able to walk as long as he oes not
believe;a man
who knows by
experience that he can comman himself will be able to o so.He who can comman
himself can
comman that which is below him,because the low is controlle by the high,and there
is
nothing higher
than Man having obtaine a perfect knowle ge of Self.
The knowle ge of
Self is i entical with Self-knowle ge,i.e.,with one's own Soul knowle ge independent
of any ogmas or
octrines,no matter from what external authority they may procee .If we stu y
the
teachings of any
suppose authority external to our own selves,we at best know what the opinion
of
such and authority
is in regard to the truth,but we o not necessarily arrive thereby at a
self-knowle ge of
the truth.If
we,for instance,learn what Christ taught about Go ,we are only informe of what
he knew
or believe to
know;but we cannot know Go for all that,unless we awaken to a realisation of Go
's
presence within
our own heart.The knowle ge of even the wisest of all men,if communicate to
us,will
be to us nothing
more than and opinion,as long as it is not experience within our own selves.As
long as
we cannot
penetrate within the soul of Man,we can know little more about him but his
corporeal form;but
how coul we
penetrate within the soul of another as long as we o not know our own
?Therefore the
beginning of all
real knowle ge is the knowle ge of Self;the knowle ge of the Soul and not the
vagaries
of the brain.
Does external
science confer any true knowle ge of [Page 38 ] Man ?The range of her power of
observation is
limite by the perceptive power of the physical senses,assiste by physical
instruments;
she has no means
to investigate that which transcen s physical sense,she cannot enter the temple
of
the unseen,she
only knows the external form in which the reality wells.She only knows what man
appears to
be,but not what he is,she knows nothing whatever of the essential and real
man,an
sometimes enies
his existence.In vain shall we look to her for the solution of the
problem,which
thousan s of
years ago the Egyptian Sphinx propoun e .
Do the popular
religious systems confer any true knowle ge of Man ?The conception which the
average
theologian has
of the mysterious being calle Man is as narrow as that of the professor of mo
ern
science.He looks
upon man as a personal being,isolate from other personal beings aroun whose
infinite little
personality centres the interests of the infinitely great.He forgets that the
foun ers of the
principal
religious systems taught that the original and essential man was a universal
power,that the real
man is a whole
and cannot be ivi e ,an that the personal form of man is only the temporary
temple in
which the spirit
wells.[Bible:Corinth.iii.16.]
The
misconceptions arising from ignorance of the true nature of Man are the cause
that the popular
religious
opinions hel by the average theologians in Christian and Pagan countries are
base upon
selfishness,contrary
to the spirit of that which true religion teaches."Christians"an
"Heathens"clamour
for some benefit
to be conferre by some imaginary person upon that insignificant soap
bubble,calle
the
"personal self",either here or in the hereafter.Each one of such
short-sighte nothings wants to be
save personally
himself above all,the salvation of the rest is a matter of secon consi
eration.They
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
expect to obtain
some benefit which they o not eserve,to whee le themselves into the favour of
some
personal
eity,argue their case before Go ,cheat the "evil"of his just ues,an
smuggle their
imperfections
into the king om of heaven.[Page 39 ]
The only
reasonable object which any external religious system can possibly have,is to
elevate man
from a lower
state to a higher one,in which he can form a better conception of his true
ignity as a
member of the
human family.If there is any possibility of imparting to a man a knowle ge of
his true self,
the churches are
the places where such a knowle ge shoul be imparte ;but to accomplish this the
claims of the
truth shoul pre ominate over those of the form,the interests of religion and the
interests of
the
"church"woul have to cease to be interchangeable terms,and the church
shoul again be foun e
upon the rock of
self-knowle ge,instea of the craving to obtain some selfish personal benefit in
this
world or in the
problematical hereafter.
He who is le by
selfish consi erations cannot enter a heaven where personal consi erations o
not
exist.He who oes
not care for heaven but is contente where he is,is alrea y,in heaven,while the
iscontente will
in vain clamour for it.To be without personal esires is to be free and happy."Heaven"
can mean nothing
else but a state in which free om and happiness exist.The man who performs
beneficial acts
in uce by a hope of reward is not happy unless the reward is obtaine ,an if his
reward
is obtaine his
happiness en s.There can be no permanent rest and happiness as long as there is
some
work to be one
and not accomplishe ,and the fulfillment of uties brings its own reward.
A man who performs
a goo act with the hope of reward is not free.He is a servant of Self,an works
for
the benefit of
Self and not for his Go .It is,therefore,not the power of Go which will reward
him,he can
only expect that
reward from his own temporary surroun ings.
The man who
performs evil acts,in uce by a selfish motive,is not free.He who esires evil
and is
restraine by
fear is not his own master.He who recognises the supreme power of the universe
in his
own heart has
become free.He whose will is swaye by his personal self is the slave of his
person,but
he who has
conquere that so-calle "self"enters the higher life and becomes a
power.[Page 40 ]
The science of
Life consists in sub uing the low and elevating the high.Its first lesson is
how to free
oneself from the
love of self,the first angel of evil,or,according to E win Arnol in his
"Light of
"The sin of
self,who in the universe
As in a mirror
sees her fon face shown,
An crying I
,woul have the world say 'I',
An all things
perish so if she en ure.
This lower Self
is and unreal thing,compose of a great many illusive egos,of which each one has
his
peculiar
claims,an whose eman s grow in proportion as we attempt to satisfy them.They
are the
semi-intellectual
forces of the soul that woul ren the soul to pieces if they were allowe to
grow,an
which must be
sub ue by the power of the real Master,the superior "I"the Go .
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
These "I
s"are the Elementals ,of which has been sai so much in occult
literature.They are not
imaginary
things,but living forces,and they may be perceive by him who has acquire the
power to
look within his
own soul.Each of these forces correspon s to some animal esire,an if it is
permitte to
grow is
symbolise by the form of the being which correspon s to its nature.At first
they are thin an
sha owy,but as
the esire which correspon s to them is in ulge in,they become more and more
ense
within the
soul,an being nourishe by the will,they gain great strength as our esires grow
into a
passion.The
lesser Elementals are swallowe by the bigger ones,the little esires are absorbe
by the
stronger
ones,until perhaps at last one Master Passion,one powerful Elemental
remains.They form the
rea e Dwellers of
the Threshold ,who guard the garden of the para ise of the soul.They are
escribe
as having the
form of snakes and tigers,hogs,insatiable wolves,etc.,but as they are often the
result of a
mixture of human
and animal elements,they o not merely exhibit purely animal forms;but
frequently
they look like
animals with human hea s or like men with animal members;they appear un er
[Page 41 ]
en less
varieties of shapes,because there is and en less variety of correlations and mixtures
of lust,
avarice,gree
,sensual love,ambition,cowardice,fear,terror,hate,pri
e,vanity,self-conceit,stupi ity,
voluptuousness,selfishness,jealousy,envy,arrogance,hypocrisy,cunning,sophistry,imbecility,
superstition,etc.,etc..
These Elementals
live in the soul-realm of man as long as he lives,an grow strong and fat,for
they live
on his
life-principle,an are fe by the substance of his thoughts.They may even become
objective to
him,if uring a
paroxysm of fear or in consequence of some isease they are enable to step out
of their
sphere.
They cannot be
kille by pious ceremonies,nor be riven away by the exhortations of a
clergyman;they
are only estroye
by the power of the spirit al Will of the ivine man,which annihilates them as
the light
annihilatesdarkness,or
as a stroke of lightning seems to ren the clou s.
Only those who
have awakene to ivine spiritual consciousness can have that spiritual will,of
which the
non-regenerate
knows nothing.But those who are not yet so far a vance may cause those
elementals
to ie slowly,by
with rawing from them the foo which they require,that is to say,by not esiring
or
enjoying their
presence;by not giving to their existence the consent of the will.They will
then begin to
wane,to get
sick,ie and putrefy like a member of the bo y which has become mortifie .A line
of
demarkation will
be forme in the soul-bo y of man,there may be "inflammation"an
suffering.A
process,similar
to that which occurs if a gangrenous part of the physical bo y is thrown
off,takes place;
an at last the
putri carcass of the Elemental rops off and issolves.
These
escriptions are neither fancies nor allegories.Theophrast s Paracelsus,Jackob
Boehme,an
many other
writers on Occultism write about them,an a ue appreciation of their octrines
will go far to
explain many
occurrences mentione in the history of witch-craft,an in the legen s of the
lives of the
saints.
But there are
not merely animal germs within the realm of the soul of man.In each human
constitution
[Page 42 ] there
are also the germs which go to make up a Shakespeare,a Washington,Goethe,Voltaire,
a Bu ha,or Jesus
of Nazareth.There are also the germs which may grow to make a Nero,Messalina,
or Torquema a;an
each germ hag the latent power to evelop,take a form and ultimately fin its
expression and reflection
in the outward bo y,as much as the ensity of the material atoms,which are
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
slow to
transform,will permit;for each character correspon s to a form,an each form to
a character.
Man's microcosm
is a garden in which all kin s of living plants grow Some are poisonous,some
are
wholesome.It
rests with man to eci e which germs he wants to evelop into a living tree,an
that tree
will be himself.
To accomplish
the task of becoming spiritual it is not necessary to be a misanthrope and retire
into a
jungle there to
fee on the pro ucts of one's own morbi imagination;the struggle cause by the
petty
annoyances of
every ay life is the best school to exercise the will power for those that have
not yet
gaine the
mastery over Self."To renounce the vanities of the world "oes not
mean to look with
contempt upon
the progress of the world ,to remain ignorant of mathematics and logic,to take
no interest
in the welfare
of humanity,to avoi the uties of life or neglect one's family.Such a procee ing
woul
accomplish the
very reverse of what is inten e ;it woul increase the love of self,it woul
cause the soul
to shrink to a
small focus instea of expan ing it over the world .We must attain a state
before we can
outgrow it.A
misanthrope cannot attain the love of Go ,if he oes not first rise up to the
love for
mankin ."To
renounce one's self"means to conquer the sense of personality and to free
one's self of the
love of things
which that personality esires.It means to "live in the world ,but not
cling to the world ",to
substitute
universal love for personal love,an to consi er the interests of the whole of
superior
importance than
personal claims.The renunciation of that self which is only a mask,is
necessarily
followe by
spiritual growth.As we forget our personal self,[Page 43 ] we attach less
importance to
personalities,personal
things,an personal feelings.We begin to look upon ourselves not as being
permanent,unchanging
and unchangeable entities,stan ing isolate among other isolate entities,an
being separate
from them by impenetrable shells,but as manifestations of and infinite
power,which
embraces the
universe,an whose powers are concentrate and brought to a focus in the bo ies
which
we temporarily
inhabit,into which bo ies continually flow and from which are incessantly ra
iating the
rays of and infinite
sphere of light,whose circumference is en less and whose centre is everywhere.
Upon the
recognition and realisation of this truth rests the only true Law,the Religion
of the Universal
Love of God in
all Beings .As long as man takes only his own little self into consi eration in
his thoughts
an acts,the
sphere of his min becomes necessarily narrow.All our popular religious sects
are base
upon selfish
consi erations.Each of our religious sectarians speculates to obtain some
spiritual,if not
material,benefit
for himself .Each one wants to be save by somebo y;first he,and then perhaps
the
others;but,above
all,he himself.The true religion of universal Love knows of no "self".
Even the high
and lau able esire to go to heaven or enter the state of Nirvana is,after
all,but a selfish
esire,an as long
as man has any selfish esires whatever,his min perceives only his own self.Only
when he ceases
to have a limite illusive "self"will his real go become unlimite and be
omnipresent,
like the spirit
of Wisdom.He who esires unlimite knowle ge must rise above limitation.
Looke at from
that height,the personality appears excee ingly small and insignificant,an of
little
importance.Man
appears as the centralisation of and i ea,persons and peoples like living
grains of san
on the shore of
and infinite ocean.Fortune,fame,love,luxury,etc.,assume the importance of soap-
bubbles,and the
soul has no hesitation in relinquishing them as the i le playthings of chil
ren.Neither
can such a
renunciation be calle a sacrifice,for grown-up boys and girls [Page 44 ] o not
"sacrifice"their
popguns and olls,they
simply o not want them any longer.In proportion as their min s expan ,o
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
they reach out
for something more useful,an as a man's soul expan s,his surroun ings,an even
the
planet on which
he lives,appear to him small as a lan scape seen from a great istance,or from a
high
mountain,while
at the same time his conception of the infinite grows larger and assumes a
gigantic form.
This expansion
of our existence "robs us of a country and a
home"[Bulwer-Lytton:"Zanoni"] by making
us citizens of
the gran universe;it separates us from the fancie affections for the
impermanent forms of
our mortal
parents and frien s,to unite us with their true in ivi ualities for ever as our
immortal brothers
an sisters;it
lifts us up from the narrow confines of the illusory to the unlimite realm of
the Ideal,an
releasing man
from the prison-house of insignificant clay,it lea s him to the sublime free om
an
splen our of
Eternal and Universal Life.
Every form of
life,the human form not excepte ,is nothing more than a focus in which the
energies of
the universal
principle of life are concentrate ,and the more they are concentrate and cling
to that
centre,the less
are they able to manifest their activity,to grow and expan .Self-satisfie
man,who
employs his
capacities only for his own selfish purpose,contracts them into himself,an as
he contracts
he becomes more
and more narrow-min e and insignificant,an as he loses sight of the whole,the
whole loses
sight of him.If,on the other han ,a person lives only in reams,sen ing his
forces into the
region of the
unknown,scattering them through space,without having obtaine intellectual
strength,his
thoughts will
wan er like sha ows through the realm of the infinite and become lost.Neither
the self-
conceite realist
nor the visionary reamer and idealist grasps the truth.Harmonious growth
requires
expansion along
with a correspon ing accumulation of energy.
Some persons are
possesse of great intellectual power,but of little spirituality;some have
spiritual [Page
45 ]
power,but a weak
intellect;those in whom the intellectual energies are well supporte by a strong
spirit
are the elect.To
become practical,we must first learn to un erstand the thing we want to
practice,by
observation and receiving
instruction.Un erstan ing is a result of assimilation and growth,not a result
of
memory.The truth
must nourish the soul.It is and awakening to a state of consciousness of the
nature of
the thing that
comes to be a part of our own being.A person coming to a strange country in the
evening
will,when after
a night's rest he awakes in the morning,har ly realise where he is.He
has,perhaps,
been reaming of
his home and those that are left there,an only after he opens his eyes and awakens
to a full sense
of consciousness of his new and strange surroun ings,will the ol impressions fa
e away,
an he will begin
to realise where he is.In the same manner ol errors must isappear before new
truths
can be realise
.Man only begins to exist as a conscious spiritual being when he begins to
experience
spiritual life.
To become
spiritual,physical health,intellectual growth,an spiritual activity shoul go
han in han .
Intuition shoul
be supporte by and unselfish intellect,a pure min by a healthy form.How to
accomplish
this can neither
be taught by a science which eals only with illusory effects,nor by a religious
belief
base upon
illusions;but it is taught by Theosophy,the Wisdom Religion of the ages,whose
foun ation
is truth,an
whose practical application is the highest object of human existence.
This Wisdom
Religion has been,an is to ay,the inheritance of the saints,prophets,an
seers,an of
the illuminate
ones of all nations,no matter to what external system of religion they may have
given
their a
herence.It was taught by the ancient Brahmins,Egyptians,an Jews in temples and caves,
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Gautama Bu ha
and Jesus of Nazareth preache it,it forme the basis of the Eleusinian and Bacchic
mysteries of the
Greeks,and the true religion of the eternal Christ is resting upon it.It is the
religion of
Humanity,that
has nothing to o with opinions and forms.Now,as [Page 46 ] in times of ol ,its
truths are
misun erstoo and
misrepresente by men who profess to be teachers of men.The Pharisees an
Sadd cees of the
New Testament were the prototypes of mo ern churchmen and scientists existing
to ay.Now,as
then,the truth is aily crucifie between superstition and selfishness and lai in
the tomb
of ignorance.Now
,as then,the spirit has fle from the form,being riven away by those that
worship the
letter and ignore
the spirit.Wisdom will forever remain a secret science to the i olators a oring
the form,
even if it were
proclaime from the housetops and preache at a market-place.The ealer in poun s
an
pennies,absorbe
by his material interests,may be surroun e by the greatest beauties of nature
an
not comprehen
them,the speculative reasoner will ask for a sign and not see the signs by
which he is
continually
surroun e .The tomb from which the Saviour will arise is the heart of mankin
;if the Go in
Humanity awakens
to self-consciousness of his Divinity then will he appear as a sun,she ing his
light
upon a better
and happier generation.[See "Bhagava Gita",chap xi.)]
The existence of
the magic power of goo will probably be enie by few;but if the existence of
benevolent,or
White Magic ,is a mitte ,that of malevolent,or Black Magic ,is not any more
improbable.
It is not man
who exercises goo or evil magic powers,but it is the spirit in him who works
goo or evil
through the
organism of man.Go in his aspect as the great cause is goo or evil according to
the
con itions un er
which he acts,for if Go i not inclu e evil as well as goo ,he woul not be
universal.
Go performs goo
or evil ee s accor ing to the mo e in which he must act;in the same way as the
sun is goo in
spring-time when he melts the snow and assists the grass and flowers to crawl
out of the
ark earth,an
evil if he parches the skin of the wan erer in tropical
stroke.Go causes
the healthy growth of a limb and the unhealthy growth of a cancer by the power
of his
unintelligent
material nature which acts accor ing to law and not according to whims.[Page 47
] Divine
wisdom oes not
become manifest in that which is not ivine or spiritual.Consciousness cannot
become
reveale in and unconscious
bo y.Only when the spirit in Man has awakene to consciousness an
knowle ge,will
man be able to control his own spiritual power and employ it for goo or for
evil.
A person having
create (or calle into consciousness)in himself a spiritual power may employ it
for
goo or for
evil.Every ay we may rea of persons who have use high intellectual powers for
vile
purposes.We see
persons making use of the vanity,gree iness,selfishness,or ambition of others
to
ren er them
subservient to their own purpose.We see them commit murder and instigate wars
for the
benefit of their
own purposes or to attain some object of their ambition.But such events belong
more or
less to the
struggle for existence.They o not necessarily belong to the sphere of black
magic because
they are usually
not cause by a love for absolute evil,but by a esire of a personal benefit of
some kin .
The real black
magicians are those that are oing evil for the sake of oing evil,who injure
others without
expecting or
receiving any benefit for themselves.To that class belong the habitual
backbiter an
slan erer,tra
ucer and se ucer,those who enjoy to create enmity in the bosom of
families,oppose
progress and encourage
ignorance,and they have been rightly calle the Sons of Darkness ,while those
who o goo for
the sole purpose of oing goo have been calle the Children of Light .
The struggle
between Light and Darkness is as ol as the world ;there can no light become
manifest
without Darkness
and no evil without goo .Goo and evil are the light and sha ow of the one
eternal
principle of
life,an each is necessary if the other is to become manifest.Absolute goo must
exist,but
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
we cannot know
goo without knowing the presence of evil.Absolute evil cannot exist,because it
is hel
together by the
power of goo .A soul in which there were no goo whatever woul rage against
itself,
the forces
constituting such and entity woul combat each other and ren it to pieces.Man's
Re eemer is
his power for
goo .This power [Page 48 ] attracts him to that which is goo ,an at the en
,when the
supreme source
of all power,from which life emanate in the beginning,with raws that activity
into itself,
the powers ofdarkness
will suffer,but the creatures of Light will be one with their own source.
This is the law
of evolution,that the lower shoul evelop into something higher;but this can be
accomplishe only
by the power of the highest of all germinally containe within the form,an acte
upon by itself
from without.The soul requires nutriment as much as the physical form,and the
nutriment
of the soul
escen s from above like the rain;while the earth below furnishes the con itions
for its
assimilation.This
is the law of the spirit in the natural world ,that all nature shoul receive it
and by a
spiritual unfol
ing rise up to the spirit,while matter is to furnish the steps upon which to
ascen .This
unfol ing and uprising
takes place in proportion as the spirit of Go becomes self-conscious in man,
en owing him
with a sense of its ivine nature,which will ultimately lea him to a recognition
of Go .
[Page 49 ]
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
CHAPTER I
THE IDEAL
"Go is a
Spirit,and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in
truth".-John iv.24.
THE highest
esire any reasonable man can cherish and the highest right he may possibly
claim,is to
become
perfect.To know everything,to love all and be known and belove by all,to
possess an
comman
everything that exists,such is a con ition of being that,to a certain
extent,may be felt
intuitively,but
whose possibility cannot be graspe by the intellect of mortal man.A foretaste
of such a
blissful con
ition may be experience by a person who even for a short perio of time is
perfectly
happy.He who is
not oppresse by sorrow,not excite by selfish esires,an who is conscious of his
own strength and
liberty,may feel as if he were the master of world s and the king of
creation;an ,in fact,
uring such
moments he is their ruler,as far as he himself is concerne ,although his
subjects may not
seem to be aware
of his existence.
But when he
awakes from his ream and looks through the win ows of his senses into the
exterior world ,
an begins to
reason about his surroun ings,his vision fa es away;he behol s himself a chil
of the
Earth,a mortal
form,boun with many chains to a speck of ust in the Universe,on a ball of
matter
calle a planet
that floats in the infinity of space.The ideal world ,that perhaps a moment
before
appeare to him
as a glorious reality,may now seem to him the baseless fabric of a ream,in
which
there is nothing
real,an physical existence,with all its imperfections,is now to him the only
unquestionable
reality,an its [Page 50 ] most ear illusions the only things worthy of his
attention.He
sees himself
surroun e by material forms,an he seeks to iscover among these forms that which
correspon s to
his highest ideal.
The highest
esire of mortal is to attain fully that which exists in himself as his highest ideal.A
person
without and
ideal is unthinkable.To be conscious is to realise the existence of some ideal,to
relinquish the
ideal world woul
be eath.A person without any esire for some ideal woul be useless in the
economy
of nature,a
person having all his esires satisfie nee s to live no longer,for life can be
of no further use
to him.Each one
is boun to his own ideal;he whose ideal is mortal must ie when his ideal ies,he
whose ideal is
immortal must become immortal himself to attain it.
Each man's
highest ideal shoul be his own higher spiritual self.Man's semi-animal
self,which we see
expresse in his
physical form,is not the whole of man.Man may be regarde as and invisible power
or
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
ray exten ing
from the (spiritual)Sun to the Earth.Only the lower en of that ray is
visible,where it has
evolve and organise
material bo y;by means of which the invisible ray raws strength from the earth
below.If all the
life and thought-force evolve by the contact with matter are spent within the
material
plane,the higher
spiritual self will gain nothing by it.Such a person resembles a plant
eveloping nothing
but its root.When
eath breaks the communication between the higher and lower,the lower self will
perish,and the
ray will remain what it was,before it evolve a mortal inhabitant of the
material world .
Man lives in two
world s,in his interior and in the exterior world .Each of these world s exists
un er
con itions
peculiar to itself,an that world in which he lives is for the time being the
most real to him.
When he enters
into his interior world uring eep sleep or in moments of perfect
abstraction,the forms
perceive in the
exterior world fa e away;but when he awakes in the exterior world the
impressions
receive in his
interior state are forgotten,or leave only their uncertain [Page 51 ] sha ows
on the sky.To
live
simultaneously in both world s is only possible to him who succee s in
harmoniously blen ing his
internal and external
world s into one.
The so-calle
Real sel om correspon s with the Ideal,an often it happens that man,after many
unsuccessful
attempts to realise his ideals in the exterior world ,returns to his interior world
with
isappointment,an
resolves to give up his search;but if he succee s in the realisation of his ideal,then
arises for him a
moment of happiness,uring which time,as we know it,exists for him no more,the
exterior world is
then blen e with his interior world ,his consciousness is absorbe in the
enjoyment of
both,an yet he
remains a man.
Artists and poets
may be familiar with such states.An inventor who sees his invention accepte ,a
sol ier
coming
victorious out of the struggle for victory,a lover unite with the object of his
esire,forgets his
own personality
and is lost in the contemplation of his ideal.The extatic saint,seeing the Re
eemer
before
him,floats in and ocean of rapture,an his consciousness is centre in the ideal
that he himself
has create out
of his own min ,but which is as real to him as if it were a living form of
flesh.
Shakespeare's
Juliet fin s her mortal ideal realise in Romeo's youthful form.Unite with
him,she
forgets the rush
of time,night isappears,an she is not conscious of it;the lark heral s the awn
an
she mistakes its
song for the singing of the nightingale.Happiness measures no time and knows no
anger.But
Juliet's ideal is mortal and ies;having lost her ideal Juliet must ie;but the
immortal ideals
of both become
again one as they enter the immortal realm through the oor of physical eath.
But as the sun
rose too early for Juliet,so all evanescent ideals that have been realise in
the external
world vanish
soon.An ideal that has been realise ceases to be and ideal;the ethereal forms
of the
interior world ,if
graspe by the ru e han of mortals and embo ie in matter,must ie.To grasp an
immortal ideal,man's
mortal nature must ie before he can grasp it.[Page 52 ]
Low ideals may
be kille ,but their eath calls similar ones into existence.From the bloo of a
vampire
that has been
slain a swarm of vampires arises.A selfish esire fulfille makes room for
similar esires,a
gratifie passion
is chase away by other similar passions,a sensual craving that has been stille
gives
rise to new
cravings.Earthly happiness is short-live and often ies in isgust;the love of
the immortal
alone is
immortal.Material acquisitions perish,because forms are evanescent and ie.Intellectual
accomplishments
vanish,for the pro ucts of the imagination,opinions,and theories,are subject to
change.Desires
and passions change and memories fa e away.He who clings to ol memories,clings
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
to that which is
ea .A chil becomes a man,a man and ol man,an ol man a chil ;the playthings of
chil hoo give
way to intellectual playthings,but when the latter have serve their
purpose,they appear
as useless as i
the former,only spiritual realities are everlasting and true.In the ever-revolving
kalei oscope of
nature the aspect of illusions continually changes its form.What is laughe at
as a
superstition by
one century is often accepte as the basis of science for the next,an what
appears as
wisdom to ay may
be looke upon as and absurdity in the great tomorrow.Nothing is permanent but
the
truth.
But where can
man fin the truth ?If he seeks eep enough in himself he will fin it reveale
,each man
may know his own
heart.He may let a ray of the light of intelligence into the epths of his soul
an
search its
bottom,he will fin it to be as infinitely eep as the sky above his hea .He may
fin corals an
pearls,or watch
the monsters of the eep.If his thought is stea y and unwavering,he may enter
the
innermost
sanctuary of his own temple and see the go ess unveile .Not everyone can
penetrate into
such
epths,because the thought is easily le astray;but the strong and persisting
searcher will
penetrate veil
after veil,until at the innermost centre he iscovers the germ of
truth,which,awakene to
self-consciousness,will
grow in him into a sun that illuminates the whole of his interior world .[Page
53 ]
Such and interior
me itation and elevation of thought in the innermost centre of the soul,is the
only true
prayer .The a
ulation of and external form,whether living or ea ,whether existing objectively
or merely
subjectively in
the imagination,is useless,an serves only to eceive.It is very easy to atten to
forms of
external
worship,but the true worship of the living Go within requires a great effort of
will and a power of
thought,an is in
fact the exercise of a spiritual power receive from Go .Go in us prays to
himself.
Our business
consists in continual guarding of the oor of the sacre lo ge,so that no
illegitimate
thoughts may
enter the min to isturb the holy assembly whose eliberations are presi e over
by the
spirit of
wisdom.
How shall we
know the truth ?It can be known only if it becomes reveale within the
soul.Truth,having
awakene to
consciousness,knows that it is;it is the go -principle in man,which is
infallible and cannot
be misle by
illusions.If the surface of the soul is not lashe by the storms of passion,if
no selfish
esires exist to
isturb its tranquility,if its waters are not arkene by reflections of the
past,we will see
the image of
eternal truth mirrore in the eep.To know the truth in its fulness is to become
alive an
immortal,to lose
the power of recognising the truth is to perish in eath.The voice of truth in a
person
that has not yet
awakene to spiritual life,is the "still small voice"that may be heard
in the heart,listene
to by the
soul,as a half-conscious reamer listens to the ringing of bells in the
istance,[See H.P.
Blavatsky:"The
voice of the silence".] but in those that have become conscious of
life,having receive
the baptism of
the first initiation a ministere by the spirit of Go ,the voice heard by the
new-born ego
has no uncertain
soun ,but becomes the powerful Word of the Master.The awakene truth is self-
conscious and self-sufficient,it
knows that it exists.It stan s higher than all theories and cree s an
higher than
science,it oes not nee to be corroborate by "recognise
authorities",it cares not for the
opinion of
others,an its ecisions [Page 54 ] suffer no appeal.It knows neither oubt nor
fear,but reposes
in the
tranquility of its own supreme majesty.It can neither be altere nor change ,it
always was an
ever remains the
same,whether mortal man perceives it or not.It may be compare to the light of
the
earthly sun,that
cannot be exclu e from the world ,but from which man may exclu e himself.We may
blin ourselves
to the perception of the truth,but the truth itself is not thereby change .It
illuminates the
min s of those
who have awakene to immortal life.A small room requires a little flame,a large
room a
great light for
its illumination,but in either room the light shines equally clear in each;in
the same manner
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
the light of
truth shines into the hearts of the illumine with equal clearness,but with a
power iffering
according to
their in ivi ual capacity.
It woul be
perfectly useless to attempt to escribe this interior illumination.Only that
which exists
relatively to
ourselves has a real existence for s ,that of which we know nothing oes not exist
for us.No
real knowle ge
of the existence of light can be furnishe to the blin ,no experience of
transcen ental
knowle ge can be
given to those whose capacity to know oes not transcen the realm of external
appearances.
There is nothing
higher than truth,and the acquisition of truth is therefore man's highest ideal.The
highest ideal in
the Universe must be a universal ideal.The constitution of all men is built
according to
one universal
law,and the highest ideal must be the same to all and attainable to all,an in
its attainment
all in ivi uals
become reunite .As long as the soul of man oes not recognise the highest ideal
in the
Universe,the
highest one which he is able to recognise will be the highest to him;but as
long as there
still exists a
higher one thand the one he perceives,the higher will unconsciously attract
him,unless he
forcibly and persistingly
repulses its attraction.Only the attainment of the highest ideal in the
Universe
can give eternal
and permanent happiness,for having attaine the highest there is nothing left
that coul
possibly be
esire .As long as there is still a higher ideal for man,he will have
aspirations [Page 55 ] to
reach it,but
having reache the highest all attraction ceases,he becomes one with it and can
esire
nothing more.There
must be a state of perfection which all may reach and beyon which none can
a vance,until
the Universe as a whole a vances beyon it.All men have the same right to reach
the
highest,but not
all have the same power evelope ,some may reach it soon,others may lag on the
roa ,an perhaps
the majority may fall and have to begin again at the foot of the la er.Each
ripe acorn
that falls from
and oak has the inherent capacity to evelop into and oak;but not each fin s the
same
con itions for
evelopment.Some may grow,a few may evelop into trees,but the majority will
enter into
ecomposition to
furnish material out of which new forms may be evelope .
The highest
truth in its fulness is not known to man in the mortal form.Those that have
attaine to a state
of perfect consciousness
of infinite truth are not imprisone in a limite form,they belong to a formless
tribe;they coul
not be one with and universal principle if they were tie by the chains of
personality;a
soul expan e ,so
that the prison-house of flesh can hol it no more,will require that
prison-house no
longer.Flesh and
bloo is only require to shelter the spirit in the infancy of his evelopment,as
long as
he has not
attaine full power.The "clothes of skin,[ Bible:Genesis iii.21 ]were nee e
to protect him
against the
estructive elementary influences of the sphere of evil as long as he coul not
rise above evil.
Having attaine
the knowle ge of evil and the power to sub ue it,an having by the realisation
of the
truth
"eaten from the tree of life and attaine substantiality",[Bible:Genesis
iii.22 ] he can protect himself
by his own
power,an requires his clothes of flesh no longer.
Imperfectly
evelope man,unless he has become egra e ,feels intuitively that which is
true,but oes
not know the
truth by irect perception.The externalist who reasons only from the plane of
sensual
perceptions is
farthest from a recognition of the truth,because he mistakes the illusions pro
uce by his
senses for the
reality,an repulses the revelations of his own [Page 56 ] spirit.The
philosopher,unable to
see the
truth,attempts to grasp it with his logic,an may approach it to a certain
extent;but he,in whom
the truth has
attaine its own self-consciousness,knows the truth because he is himself one
with it.Such
a state is
incomprehensible to the majority of men,to scientists and philosophers as well
as to the
ignorant,an
nevertheless men have existe ,an exist to ay,who have attaine it.They are the
true
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Theosophos ,but
not everyone is a Theosopher who goes by the name of
"Theosophist",nor is everyone
a Christ who is
calle a Christian.But a true Theosopher and a true Christian are one and the
same,
because both are
human forms in which the universal spirit al so l ,the Christ or the light of
Divine
Wisdom,has
become manifest.
The terms
"Christian"or "Theosophist",like so many other terms of a
similar kin ,have almost entirely
lost their true
meaning.A "Christian"now-a-days means a person whose name is inscribe
in the register
of some so-calle
Christian Church,an performs the ceremonies prescribe by that social
organisation;
while a
"Theosophist"is sai to be a visionary or reamer.
But a real
Christian is something entirely different from a merely external one.The first
Christians were a
secret
organisation,a
spiritual
truths,an thus to communicate them to each other.
A real
Theosophos is not a reamer,but a most practical person.By purity of life he
acquires the power
to perceive
higher truths than average man is able to see,an he un erstan s the things
which he sees,
because he
possesses a spiritual knowle ge gaine by many a life of self-denial in repeate
reincarnations.
As fun amental
truth the life of all things is only one,men in all countries,having attaine
self-
consciousness in
it,have the same perception.This explains why the revelations or the sages are
i entical with
each other.The truths reveale by a Jackob Boehme,Eckhart,or Paracelsus in
are essentially
the same as those reveale by the Thibetan A epts,they only iffer in [Page 57 ]
extent an
in mo e of
expression.A true Christian saint in Englan or France woul tell the same tale
as a real
Brahmin in In ia
or a truly wise re In ian in
perception,woul
exactly see the same thing.The truth is there,visible to all who possess it,but
each
will escribe
what he sees accor ing to his mo e of thinking and in his own fashion.If as
the ignorant
believe all
the visions of saints and lamas,sanyβssi,an ervishes,were only the result of
hallucinations
and fancies,not two of them,having never heard of each other,woul have the same
vision.A tree
will be a tree to all who are able to see it,an if their sight is clear no
arguments will change
it into and oyster;a
truth will be seen as a truth by all who are able to see it,an no sophistry
will change it
into a lie.To
know the whole truth is to know everything that exists;to love the truth above
all is to
become unite
with everything;to be able to express the truth in its fulness is to possess
universal
power;to be one
with immortal truth is to be for ever immortal.
The capacity of
perceiving the truthdepends on the tranquility of the soul.The soul not being
true cannot
realise truth,it
can at best ream of it as of something existing in another world .The soun of
the voice
of the truth
cannot penetrate through the noise cause by the turmoil in the heart;its light
cannot break
through the clou
s of false theories and the smoke of opinions which inhabit the brain.To un
erstan
that voice and to
behol that light istinctly and without any foreign a mixture,heart and hea
shoul be
at rest.To
perceive the truth,purity of heart and self control shoul go han in han ,an it
is therefore
taught that men
must become as unsophisticate as chil ren and strong as lions before they can
enter
the sphere of
truth.Hea and heart,if unite ,are One ,but if they act against each other they
form the
absurd Two that
pro uces illusions.The emotional maniac is only gui e by his heart,the
intellectual fool
only listens to
the ictates of his hea ,he lives in his hea and knows not the heart.But neither
the
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
revelry of the
emotions nor intellectual fanaticism iscloses the truth;[Page 58 ] only in the
"stillness that
follows the
storm",[Light on the Path',by Mabel Collins ] when the harmony of both is
restore ,cand the
truth be
iscovere .A man who only follows the ictates of his emotions,resembles one who
in
ascen ing a
mountain peak becomes izzy,an losing his power to control himself,falls over a
precipice;
a man who is
only gui e by his sensual perceptions influencing his intellect is easily lost
in the whirlpool
of multifarious
illusions.He is like a person on and islan in the ocean examining a rop of
water taken
from the
ocean,an being blin to the existence of the ocean from which that rop has been
taken.But if
heart and hea
are attune to the ivine harmonies of the invisible realm of nature,then will
the truth
reveal itself to
man,an in him will the highest ideal see its own image reflecte .
We sometimes
hear some people boast that they are controlle by their intellect,others are
gui e by
their emotions;a
free man is not controlle by either of the two;he is his own master gui ing his
heart
an his min .By
the power of the go in him he controls the intellectual workings of his brain
no less
thand the
emotions of his heart.Heart and brain are not ourselves.They are instruments
which have been
lent to us by
our Creator.They shoul not govern us;but we shoul govern them,an use them
according to the
ictates of his wisdom.
Material
man,entombe in his chrysalis of clay,can only feel,but not see,the spiritual
rays that ra iate
from the sun of
infinite truth;but if he bi s his emotions be still !an comman s his reasoning
power be
not elu e !he
may stretch his feelers into the realm of the spirit.In ealing with the unseen,his
heart
shoul be use as
a touchstone to examine the conclusions arrive at by the brain,and the brain
shoul
be employe like
scales to weigh the ecisions of the heart;but when the light of ivine wisdom
comes to
his ai ,there
will be no more ifference of opinion between the hea and the heart,the
perceptions of
the one will be
in harmony with the [Page 59 ] aspirations of the latter,because both will be
joine in the
light.
Man is usually
gui e principally by his intellect,woman by her emotions;man represents
intelligence,
womand the
will.To reason from external appearances has become a necessity to men in
consequence of
their material
organisation,which like a shell surroun s their soul;but if the innermost
spiritual man,
sleeping in
every heart,awakens to life,he emits a light that penetrates through the veil
of matter an
illuminates the
min .If this germ of ivinity,hi en in the centre,awakens,it emits a spiritual
light,which
reaches from man
to the stars and to the utmost limits of space,an by the help of that ivine
light the
min may perceive
and penetrate into the eepest mysteries of the Universe.Those who are able to
know the truth
by irect perception o not nee to be informe of it by others,the whole of the
visible an
invisible realm
lies open before them,like a book in whose pages they may rea the whole history
of the
world .They know
all the manifestations of life,because they are one with the source of life
from which all
forms were
born,they nee not stu y letters,because the Word itself is living in them.They
are the
instruments
through whom eternal wisdom reveals itself to those who are entombe in
matter.These are
the true Savio
rs ,Adepts,Ill minates,Rosicr cians,Mahatmas,and Theosophoi ;not those preten
ers
who merely fancy
to be what they not really are.
How pitiful must
appear to the enlightene the war of opinions raging among those whom humanity
believes to be
the keepers of knowle ge and wisdom;how insignificantly small appear those
lights before
the sun of ivine
truth.What appears as a light to the ignorant,appears to the illuminate seer as
arkness and smoke,and
the wisdom of the world becomes foolishness [ 1 Cor.iii.19 ] before the eye of
the truth.The
oyster in its shell may believe itself at the pinnacle of perfection,an that
there is no higher
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
existence than
that which it enjoys in the ocean-be ;the self conceite ,prou of his
learning,is swelle
[Page 60 ] with
vanity,knowing little how little he knows.Many of the representatives of mo ern
science
forget that the
greatest inventions have been ma e,not by the professe guardians of science,but
by
men with a clear
perception,an upon whom they looke with contempt.They ought to remember,that
many useful
inventions were ma e and intro uce ,not with the assistance,but in spite of the
opposition
of the learne
.It may be isagreeable to call up unpleasant memories,but we cannot close our
eyes to
the fact that
the inventors of railroa s,steamships,an telegraphs have been ri icule by
professors of
science,that men
of science have laughe at the belief in the rotun ity of the earth,an that some
of the
appointe keepers
of the truth have often been conspicuous on account of their misun erstan ing
of the
laws of
nature,an of their opposition to truth,whenever it conflicte with their
preconceive opinions.
Many useful
iscoveries have been ma e through the power of intuition;some have been ma e by
logical
reasoners without intuition,and their results are still a curse to mankin .For
centuries the learne
professions have
been thriving on human suffering,an many of their followers,mistaking the low
for the
high,have
prostitute their knowle ge.The fear of and illusory evil external to man has
serve to swell
the money-bags
of Brahmins and priests,while the real internal evils,resi ing in the
passionate nature
of man,were
allowe to grow.For centuries many of the self-appointe servants of the Supreme
have
only serve the
gol en calf,resi ing in their animal nature,fee ing their followers with false
hopes of
immortality,an
speculating on the selfish propensities of men.Those to whom humanity looks for
protection
against bo ily ills,an who therefore more than anybo y else shoul un erstand
the real
constitution of
man,still experiment with the physical form to seek the cause of isease,being
ignorant of
the fact that
the form is and expression of life,the pro uct of the soul,an that external
effects cannot be
effectually
change without changing the internal causes.Many of them refusing to believe in
Soul,seek
the cause of
iseases in its [Page 61 ] external expression,where it oes not exist.Diseases
are the
necessary
results of isobe ience to the laws of nature,they are the consequences of
"sins"that cannot
be forgiven,but
must be atone for by acting again in accor ance with natural laws.In vain will
the
ignorant ask the
guardians of health for their assistance to cheat
nature out of
its ues.Physicians may restore health by restoring the supremacy of the law,but
as long
as they know
only and infinitesimal part of the law they can only cure and infinitesimal
part of the iseases
afflicting
mankin ;they sometimes suppress the manifestation of one isease by calling
another an
more serious one
into existence.In vain will such investigators seek for the cause for epi emic
iseases
in places where
such iseases may be propagate ,but where they are not create .The soul of the
worl
in which such
causes resi e cannot be seen with microscopes,it can only be recognise by a man
capable of perceiving
the truth.
A true
conception of the nature of man will lea to the comprehension of the fact that
man,being as a
microcosm the
true image,reflection and representative of the macrocosm of nature;Nature has
the
same
organisation as Man,although not the same external form .Having the same organs
and functions,
an being rule by
the same laws,the organism of Nature is liable to experience iseases similar to
those experience
by the organism of man.Nature has her ropsical swellings,her nervous
tremblings,
her paralytic
affections by which civilise countries turn into eserts,her inflammatory
affections,her
rheumatic
contractions,spells of heat and col ,eruptions and earthquakes.If our
physicians knew the
nature of
man,they woul also know the organisation of Nature as a whole,an un erstan more
about
the origin of
epi emic iseases,of which they now know merely the external effects.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
What oes mo ern
me ical science know of the constitution of man,whose life and safety is ma e
to
epen on that
knowle ge ?It knows the form of the bo y,the arrangement of muscles,an bones,an
organs,an it
calls these constituent parts by names [Page 62 ] which it invente .Having no
supersensual
perceptions it
oes not know the soul of man,but believes that his bo y is the essential man.If
its eyes
were open it
woul see that this visible bo y is only the material kernel of the
"immaterial",but
nevertheless
substantial real man,whose soul-essence ra iates far into space,an whose spirit
is
without
limits,an that the spirit is not merely within the bo y,but rather the bo y
within the sphere of the
spirit.They woul
know that in the life-principle resi es sensation,perception,consciousness,an
all the
causes that pro
uce the growth of the form.Labouring un er their fatal mistake they attempt to
cure that
which is not
sick,while the real patient is unknown to them.Un er such circumstances it is
not surprising
that the most
enlightene physicians of our time have expresse the opinion that our present
system of
me icine is
rather a curse than a blessing to mankin ,an that our rugs and me icines on the
whole o
vastly more harm
than goo ,because they are continually misapplie .This is and assertion which
has
often been ma e
by their own most prominent lea ers.
The ideal
physician of the future is he who knows the true constitution of man,an who is
not le by
illusive
external appearances,but able to examine into the hi en causes of all external
effects.To him
the acquisitions
of external science are not the gui es but only the assistants,his gui e will
be his own
knowle ge and not
a theory,an his knowle ge will en ow him with power.[Such a physician was
Theophrast s
Paracelsus ,the great reformer of me icine in the sixteenth century.]
If our me ical
stu ents were to apply a part of the time which they employ for amusements for
the
evelopment of a
love for the truth,they woul become able to know certain processes within the
organism of
man,which are at present to them a mere matter of speculation,an which are not
iscoverable by
any physical means.
But even the mo
ern physician acts wiser than he knows.He may say that he oes not believe in
faith,
an yet it is
only faith that uphol s him and by which [Page 63 ]he exists,because if men ha
no
confi ence in
him they woul not employ him,an if his patients i not believe that he coul
benefit
them they woul
not follow his irections.A physician without spiritual knowle ge,having no
confi ence
in himself,an in
whom no one else has any faith,is perfectly useless as a physician,no matter
how
much he may have
learne in schools.
There is nothing
whatever that can be accomplishe without the power of Faith,and there is no
faith
possible without
spiritual knowle ge.We can only accomplish that of which we are confi ent that
we can
accomplish it,an
we can only be truly confi ent if we know by experience that we have the power
to o
it.
What oes popular
science know about Min ?Accor ing to the usual efinition,Min is "the
intellectual
power in
man",an as "man "means a visible bo y,this efinition makes of
min something confine
within that
visible form.But if this conception were true,there coul be no transmission of
will to a
istance and no
transmission of thought.No soun can be heard in a space from which the air has
been
exhauste ,an no
thought can travel from one in ivi ual to another without a correspon ing
"ether"
existing between
them;but the possibility of thought-transference is now and universally a mitte
fact;its
truth has been
perceive long ago by chil ren who make practical use of it in some of their
games,an it
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
has now been a
mitte as a fact even by the most sceptical and superficial
observers.["Report of the
Society for
Psychical Research".London,1884.] Moreover,anyone who oubts its
possibility has it in his
power to
convince himself by either impressing his thoughts silently upon others,or by
letting others
impress their
thoughts upon him.
How infinitely
more gran and how much more reasonable is the conception of ancient
philosophical
science,according
to whose octrines everything that exists is and expression of the thoughts of
the
Universal Min
,perva ing all space!This conception makes Mind a power in the realm of
infinity,acting
through living
and intelligent instruments,an of Man ,[Page 64 ] and intellectual power,an
expression of
the Universal
Min ,able to receive,reflect,an mo ify the thoughts of the latter,like a iamon
that
becomes
self-luminous through the influence of the Sun.
There is no
reason why we shoul elu e ourselves with a belief that and intelligent min can
exist only in
a form which is
visible and tangible to the external senses of man.There may be,for all we
know,untol
millions of
intelligent or semi-intelligent beings in the universe,whose forms are
constitute differently
from ours,living
on another plane of existence than ours,an who are therefore invisible to our
physical
senses,but may
be perceive by the superior power of perception of the inner man.Nor is their
existence a
matter of mere speculation,for they have been perceive by those who have the
power of
interior
perception.
All we know of
external objects is the images which they pro uce in the sphere of our min
.Astral or
spiritual beings
pro uce no reflection upon the retina,but their presence may be known when they
enter
the mental
sphere of the observer and they may be perceive with the eye of the soul.
The ideal
scientist of the future having attaine the power of inner perception,will
recognise this truth.
If we believe
that the object of life is simply to ren er our material Self satisfie and to
keep it in comfort,
an that material
comfort confers the highest state of possible happiness,we mistake the low for
the high
an and illusion
for the truth.Our material mo e of life is a consequence of the material
constitution of our
bo ies.
We are
"worms of earth"because we cling with all our esires and aspirations
to earth.If we can enter
upon a path of
evolution,by which we become less material and more ethereal,a very different
or er of
civilisation
woul be establishe .Things which now appear in ispensable and necessary woul
cease to
be useful;if we
coul transfer our consciousness with the velocity of thought from one part of
the globe to
another,the
present mo e of communication and transportation woul be no longer require .The
eeper
we sink into
matter,the more material means for comfort will be [Page 65 ] nee e ;but the
essential inner
man is not
material in the usual acceptation of this term and independent of the
restrictions of matter.
What are the
real necessities of life ?The answer to this questiondepends entirely on what
we imagine
to be
necessary.Railways,steamers,electric lights,etc.,are now a necessity to us,an
yet millions of
people have live
long and happy knowing nothing about them.To one man a ozen of palaces may
appear to be and
in ispensable necessity,to another a carriage,another a pipe,or a bottle of
whisky.But
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
all such
necessities are only such as man himself has create .They make the state in
which he now is
agreeable to
him,an tempt him to remain in that state and to esire for nothing higher.They
may even
hin er his
evelopment instea of a vancing it.If we woul rise into a higher state,in which
we woul no
longer require
such things,they woul cease to be a necessity,an even become un esirable an
useless;but it
is the craving and the wasting of thought for the augmentation of the pleasures
of the
lower life which
prevent man to enter the higher one.
To raise the
evanescent man to a state of perfection enjoye by the permanent ideal man is
the great
Arcan m ,that
cannot be learne in books.It is the great secret,that may be un erstoo by a
chil ,but
will for ever be
incomprehensible to him who,living entirely in the realm of his reams,has no
power to
grasp it.The
attainment of a higher consciousness is the Magn m op s ,the great work,of
which the
Alchemists sai
that thousan s of years may be require to perform it,but that it may also be
accomplishe in a
moment,even by a woman while engage in spinning.They looke upon the human
min as being a
great alembic,in which the conten ing forces of the emotions may be purifie by
the
heat of holy
aspirations and by a supreme love of truth.They gave instructions how the soul
of mortal
man may be
sublimate and purifie from earthly attractions,an its immortal parts be ma e
living an
free.The purifie
elements were ma e to ascen to the supreme source of law,an escen e again in
showers of snowy
whiteness ,visible to all,because [Page 66 ] they ren ere every act of life
holy an
pure.They taught
how the base metals meaning the animal energies in man coul be transforme
into the pure
gol of true spirituality,an how,by attaining spiritual knowle ge and spiritual
life,souls
coul have their
youth and innocence restore and be ren ere immortal.
Their truths
share the fate of other truths;they were misun erstoo and rejecte by the
ignorant,who
continually
clamour for truth and reject it when it is offere ,an ri icule by
fools.Theology and Masonry
have each in
its own manner continue the teachings of the Alchemists,an fortunate is the
Mason
or the priest
who spiritually un erstan s that which he teaches.But of such true isciples
there are only
few.The systems
in which the ol truths have been embo ie are still in existence,but the col han
s of
Sophistry and Materialism
have been lai upon the outward forms,an from the interior the spirit has
fle .Doctors and
clergymen see only the outward form,an not the hi en mystery that calle these
forms into
existence.The key to the inner sanctuary has been lost by those that were
entruste with its
keeping,and the
true password has not been re iscovere by the followers of Hiram Abiff.The ri
le of
the Egyptian
Sphinx still waits for a solution,an will be reveale to none unless he becomes
strong
enough to
iscover it himself.
But the true
Word still lives.The light of truth still shines eep into the interior world of
man,an sen s its
ivine influence
own into the valleys,an wherever the oors and win ows are open to receive
it,there
will it ispel
thedarkness,ren ering men and women conscious of their own go like attributes
an
gui ing them on
the roa to perfection,until,when all their struggles have cease and the law has
been
restore ,they
will fin permanent happiness in the realisation of the highest universal ideal,their
own
ivine self.[Page
67 ]
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
CHAPTER II
THE REAL AND THE
UNREAL
"Allah
!Bi'-smi'-llah ! Go is One". Koran.
EVERYWHERE in
the broa expanse of the universe we see and almost infinite variety of forms,
belonging to different
king oms and species,an exhibiting and en less variety of appearances.The
substance of
which those forms are compose may,for aught we know,consist essentially of the
same
primordial
material,forming the basis of their constitution,although the qualities of the
various bo ies
iffer from each
other,an it is far more reasonable to suppose that this one primordial eternal
essence
exists and appears
in the course of evolution in various forms,than to believe that a number of different
original
substances have come into existence either by being create out of nothing or
otherwise.What
this primordial
essence this immaterial substance [The A'kβsa of the Brahmins or the Iliaster
of
Paracelsus,the
Universal Prote s .] is we o not know,we only know of its manifestation in
forms
which we call
things.Whatever fin s expression in one form or another is calle a thing,an a
thing may
change its form
and the substance remain.Water may be frozen into soli ice,or be transforme by
heat
into visible vapour;an
vapour may be chemically ecompose into hy rogen and oxygen;yet,if the
necessary con
itions are given,the energies which previously forme water will form water
again;the
forms and attributes
change,but the elements remain ,the same and combine again in certain
proportions,regulate
by the law of mutual attraction.[Page 68 ]
As this
hypothetical primordial substance or principle has no attributes which we can
perceive with our
senses,we o not
know the real substance of a thing.We may gra ually eprive a thing of some of
its
attributes and change
its form,an yet it remains that thing as long as its character remains,an even
after we estroy
its form and issolve its materials the character of the thing still remains as
and i ea in
the subjective world
,where we cannot estroy it,an we may clothe the ol i ea with new attributes an
repro uce it un
er a new form on the objective plane.A thing exists as long as its character
exists,only
when it changes
its character it changes its essential nature.A material thing is only the
symbol or the
representation
of and i ea;we may give it a name,but i ea remains hi en behin the veil.If we
coul on
the physical
plane separate a single substance from its character,an en ow it with
another,then one
bo y coul be
transforme into another,as,for instance,base metals be transforme into gol ;but
unless we change
the character of a thing,a mere change of its form will only affect its
external
appearance.
By way of
illustration,let us look at a stick.It is ma e of woo ,but this is not
essential;it might be ma e
of something
else and still be a stick.We o not perceive the stick itself,we only see its
attributes,its
extension and colour
and ensity;we feel its weight and we hear its soun if we strike.Each of these
attributes or
all of them may be change ,an it will remain a stick for all that,as long as
its character is
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
not lost because
that which essentially constitutes its character is its purpose,an i ea which
has not a
efinite form.Let
us en ow that formless i ea with a new purpose that will change its
character,an we
shall have
transforme our ideal stick into anything we choose to make of it.
We cannot change
copper into gol on the physical plane,we cannot change a man into a physical
chil ,
but we may aily
transform our esires,our aspirations,tastes,an our character,if we conceive of
a
new purpose of
life,In oing this we make of man,even on the physical plane,a different being.[Page
69 ]
Nobo y ever saw
a real man,we only perceive the qualities which he possesses.Man cannot see
himself.He
speaks of his bo y,his soul,his spirit;it is the combination of the three which
constitutes the
sum of his
attributes;the real Ego ,in which his character rests,is something
unknown,whose nature
becomes
conceivable to us only when we ivine the purpose of its existence.As and i ea
and for a
purpose he
enters the world of matter,evolutes a new personality,obtains new experience an
knowle ge,passes
through the pleasures and vicissitu es of life and through the valley of
eath,an
enters again
into that realm where in the course of ages his outward form will cease to
exist,to appear
again in such a
form upon the scene when the hour for his reappearance strikes.His bo y an
personality
change his purpose,and therefore his Ego remains the same and yet not the
same,because
uring life it
acquires new attributes and changes its characteristics.
A true
appreciation and un erstan ing of the essential nature of man will show that
the repeate
reincarnation of
the human mona in successive personalities is a scientific necessity.How coul
it be
possible for a
man to evelop into a state of perfection,if the time of his spiritual growth
were restricte to
the perio of one
short existence upon this globe ?If he coul go on and evelop without having a
physical bo
y,then why shoul it have been necessary for him to take a physical bo y at
all?It is
unreasonable to
suppose that the spirit al germ of a man begins its existence at the time of
the birth of
the physical bo
y,or that the physical parents of the chil coul be the generators of the
spiritual mona .
If the spiritual
mona existe before the bo y was born,an coul evelop without it,what woul be the
use of its
entering any bo y at all?
We see that a
plant ceases to grow when its roots are torn from the soil,an when they are
replace into
the soil the
growth continues.Likewise the human soul,for the purpose of attaining
self-knowle ge,takes
root in the
physical organism of man,an evelops a character,but when eath tears out the
roots,the
soul rests and ceases
to grow,until it fin s again a physical [Page 70 ] organism to acquire new con
itions
for continue
growth.
What can this
inner ego be,which lives through eath and changes uring life,except a spiritual
ray of
Life,obtaining
relative consciousness by coming in contact with matter ?Is any man certain of
his own
existence ?
All the proof we
have of our existence is in our own self-consciousness,in the feeling of the I
Am ,which
is the
realisation of our existence.Every other state of consciousness is subject to
change.The
consciousness of
one moment iffers from that of another,according to the changes which take
place in
the con itions
which surroun us,an according to the variety of our impressions.We are craving
for
change and eath;to
remain always the same woul be torture.Ol impressions ie and are replace
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
with new ones,an
we rejoice to see the ol ones ie,so that the new ones may step into their
places.
We o not make
our impressions ourselves,but we receive them from the outsi e world .If it
were
possible that
two or more persons coul be born and e ucate un er exactly the same con itions,
having the same
character and receiving always the same impressions,they woul always have the
same
thoughts,the same feelings and esires,their consciousness woul be i entical,and
they might be
consi ere as
forming collectively only one person.A person,having forgotten all the mental
impressions
he ever receive
,an receiving no new ones,might exist for ages,living in eternal
imbecility,with no
consciousness
whatever except the consciousness of the I Am ,an that consciousness coul not
cease
to exist as long
as his personality were capable to recognise its existence relatively to
itself.
This woul be the
only con ition in which a person coul possibly exist,if he ha gaine no
spiritual self-
knowle ge and if
he were to cease to receive any impressions from the external world ,an similar
to this
may be the state
of such a person after the eath of his bo y,if uring life he has not attaine
any higher
knowle ge than
that which refers to perishing things.Having no spiritual consciousness,he can
have no
spiritual
perceptions,he can bring with him into the spiritual world nothing except his
own ignorance.
[Page 71 ]
His sensations
leave him at eath,and the images receive in his min uring life will fa e
away;the
intellectual
forces which have been set into motion by his scientific pursuits will be
exhauste ,an after
that time the
spirit of such a person,even if he has been uring life the greatest
scientist,speculator,an
logician,will be
nothing but and imbecile,living indarkness,an being rawn irresistibly towards
reincarnation;to
reimbo y itself again un er any circumstances whatever,to escape from
nothingness
into existence.
Un er whatever
form life may exist,it is only relative.A stone,a plant,an animal,a man or Go
,each
has and existence
for itself,an each exists only for the others,as long as the others are
conscious of his
existence.Man
looks upon the existence below him as incomplete,and the incomplete beings
below him
know little
about him.Man knows little about any superior beings,an yet there may be such,looking
upon him with
pity,as he woul look upon and inferior animal,an ape that has not yet awakene
to a
realisation of
its own nature.
Those who are
suppose to know,inform us that there is no being in the universe superior to
the man
having become
conscious of his own ivine and immortal nature;but that there are innumerable
invisible
beings who are
either far superior or inferior to mortal man as we know him.In other words,the
highest
beings in the
universe are such as have once been men;but the men and women of our present
civilisation may
have to progress through millions of ages before they attain that state of
perfection which
such beings
possess.
Existence is
relative .There is something in me which causes me to live and to think.I may
call it "I"or
"Go
";in either case it is intellectually incomprehensible,an it has no
existence for me of which I am
conscious,as
long as I o not realise the relation between this unknown something and my own
nature.
Nevertheless it
is;for if it were nothing it coul not cause me to live and to think.It is the
source of my
being,and therefore
it is existence and my nature is its manifestation.In realising my own
existence,
existence
becomes [Page 72 ] to me a reality;to realise the nature of ivine being is to
enter into that state.
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We are accustome
to look upon that which we perceive with our senses as real,an upon everything
else as
unreal,an yet our aily experience teaches us that our senses cannot be truste
if we wish to
istinguish
between the true and the false.We see the sun rise in the East,see him travel
along the sky
uring the ay and
isappear again in the West;but every chil now-a-days knows that this apparent
movement is only
and illusion,cause by the turning of the earth.At night we see the "fixe
"stars above
our hea s,they
look insignificant compare with the wi e expanse of the earth and the ocean,an
yet
we are tol that
they are blazing suns,in comparison with which our mother Earth is only a speck
of ust.
Nothing seems to
us more quiet and tranquil thand the soli rocks un er our feet,an yet the earth
whereon we live
whirls with tremen ous velocity through space;the mountains seem to be
everlasting,
but continents
sink beneath the waters of the ocean and rise again above its surface.Below our
feet
moves,with ebbs
and ti es,the swelling bosom of our apparently soli mother the earth,above our
hea
seems to be
nothing tangible,an yet we live on the very bottom of the airy ocean above
us,an o not
know the things
that may perhaps live in its currents or upon its surface.A stream of light
seems to
escen from the
sun to our planet,an yetdarkness is sai to exist between the atmosphere of the
Earth and the
sun,where no meteoric matter exists to cause a reflection;while again we are
surroun e
by and ocean of
light of a higher order,which appears to us to bedarkness,because the nerves of
our
bo ies have not
yet been sufficiently evelope to react un er the influence of the Astral Light
.The
image reflecte
in the mirror seems a reality to the unreasoning min ,the voice of and echo may
be
mistaken for the
voice of a man.We often ream when awake,an while believing to be awake we are
asleep.
"Conscio
sness"is a relative term .It is not scientific to say "we are
asleep";as long as we o not know
[Page 73 ] who
"we "are.We can only truly say that such and such functions of a
physical or psychical
organism,which
are calle our own,are asleep or inactive while others are active and awake.We
may
be fully awake
relatively to one thing and asleep relatively to another.A somnamb le's bo y is
in a state
resembling
eath,while his higher consciousness is fully alive and employs even far
superior powers of
perception than
if all the activity of his life-principle were engage in performing the
functions of his lower
organism.
"Matter"and
"Motion"are relative terms ;both referring to manifestations of
something we o not know,
an which we may
call "Spirit".There is no motion without matter,no matter without
some motion,an
every power is
therefore substantial.A soli mass of matter is con ense energy,representing a
certain
amount of latent
power;every force is invisible substance in motion.
"Space","extension","d
ration"are relative .Their qualities change according to our stan ar of
measurement and according
to our mo e of perception.To and animalcule in a rop of water that rop
may appear as
and ocean,an to and insect living on a leaf that leaf may constitute a world .If
uring our
sleep the whole
of the visible world were to shrink to the size of a walnut or expan to a
thousan fol its
present
imensions,on awakening we shoul perceive no change,provi e that change ha
equally
affecte
everything,inclu ing ourselves.A chil has no conception of its relation to
space and tries to
grasp the moon
with its han s,an a person who has been born blin and is afterwards ma e to
see,
cannot ju ge of
istances correctly.Our thoughts know of no intervening space when they travel
from
one part of the
globe to another.Our conceptions of our relation to space are base upon
experience an
memory acquire
in our present con ition.If we were moving among entirely different con
itions,our
experiences,an
consequently our conceptions,woul be entirely different.Space relatively to form
can
only have three
imensions,because all forms are compose of three imensions:length,thickness,an
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
height.[Page 74
]
Consciousness in
the Absolute is unconsciousness relatively to everything.A consciousness being
in
relation with
nothing is inconceivable.A consciousness existing in relation to its own self
is self-
consciousness.
The Absolute is
independent of its manifestations;but all manifestationsdependon the presence
of that
which becomes
manifest.Go can exist in his own ivine nature without revealing his presence to
his
creatures;but
his creatures cannot exist without Go .We know that space exists;but it is
inconceivable
to us as long as
it oes not become reveale to us in a form.Forms are objectifie space.Without
such a
manifestation of
three imensional bo ies we can form no conception of space.We know that Go
exists;but we
cannot conceive of his existence unless his nature becomes reveale to us in its
triunity
within
ourselves.
The imensions of
space exist in our own min .We conceive of no imensions of space in a
mathematical
point,an self-consciousness exists in itself without any relation to anything
except its own
self.This might
therefore be calle a one-dimensional space.As to two-dimensional space,everyone
knows that there
is a ifference between goo and evil,between love and hate,etc.,and the
realisation
of such a
ifference furnishes us with a conception of space in which we perceive only two
imensions.
Three-dimensional
space is the world of corporeal bo ies;but there is also a fourth imension of
space,
known only to
the enlightene ,who have learne how to square the circle,because fo r is the
number of
truth,an three
the number of form.
As our
conception of space is only relative,so is our conception of time.It is not
time itself,but its
measurement,of
which we are conscious,an time is nothing to us unless in connection with our
association of ideas
.The human min can only receive a small number of impressions per secon ;if we
were to receive
only one impression per hour,our life woul seem excee ingly short,an if we were
able
to receive,for
[Page 75 ] instance,the impression of each single un ulation of a yellow ray of
light,whose
vibrations
number 509 billions per secon ,a single ay in our life woul appear to be and eternity
without
en .[Carl u
Prel:"Die Planetenbewohner."]To a prisoner in a ungeon,who has no
occupation,time
may seem
extremely long,while for him who is actively engage it passes quickly.During
sleep we have
no conception of
time,but a sleepless night passe in suffering seems very long.During a few
secon s
of time we
may,in a ream,pass through experiences which woul require a number of years in
the
regular course
of events,while in the unconscious state time has no existence for us.[In books
on
mystical
subjects we fin often accounts of a person having reame in a short moment of
time,things
which we shoul
suppose that it woul take hours to ream them;for instance the following:"A
traveler
arrive late at
night at a station.He was very fatigue ,an as the con uctor opene the oor of
the car,
he entere ,an
imme iately fell asleep.He reame that he was at home,an living with his
family;that
he fell in love
with a girl and marrie her;that he live happy
until he me le
with political affairs,an was arreste on the charge of having entere into a
conspiracy
against the
government.He was trie ,an con emne to be shot,an le out to be execute .Arrive
at
the place of
execution,the comman was given,and the sol iers fire at him,an he awoke at the
noise
cause by the
shutting of the oor of the car,which the con uctor ha shut behin him when our
frien
entere .It seems
probable that the noise pro uce by shutting that oor cause the whole
ream".]
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Persons fully in
the subjective world receive no impressions from the objective world .If they
are only
partially in
that state which occurs in reams and insanity,the sensations carrie to the half
conscious
brain become
mixe with the ideas born in the
subjective world ,an pro uce caricatures and istortion of
images.In this
state,when the experiences of the internal state mingles with the sensations of
the
external
consciousness,the most erroneous impressions may be pro uce ;because the
intellect
labours,but
reason oes not act sufficiently powerful to enable man to iscriminate between
the true an
the false.
But what is the
ifference between objective and [Page 76 ] subjective states of existence ?We o
not
cease to live
while we are asleep,but we have a different kin of perceptions in either
state.The popular
i ea is that
sensual objective perceptions are real and subjective ones only the pro ucts of
our
imagination.But
a little reflection will show that all perceptions,the objective as well as the
subjective
ones,are results
of our "imagination".If we look at a tree,the tree oes not come into
our eye,but its
picture appears
in our min ;if we look at a form we perceive and impression ma e in our min by
the
image of and object
existing beyon the limits of our bo y;if we look at a subjective image of our
own
creation,we
perceive the impression which it pro uces on our min .In either case the
pictures exist
objectively in
our min ,an we perceive the impressions.
The fact is,that
everything appears either objective or subjective according to the state of
consciousness
of the
perceiver,an what may be to him entirely subjective in one state may appear to
him objectively in
another.The
highest ideal truths have to him who can realise them and objective
existence,the grossest
material forms
have no existence to him who cannot perceive them.
But here the
great question arises:"Who or what is this unknown One that perceives the images
existing
in its own min ,and
the sensations that come to his consciousness ?What is that which you call your
"I",
which knows that
you know,an which also recognises your ignorance ?What is that Self ,which is
neither the bo y
nor the min ,but which uses these things as its instruments ?If you know that
invisible
being,you may
throw away this book;it can teach you nothing new,because you know Go and are
the
wisest of men.
The basis upon
which all exhibition of magical power rests is a knowle ge of the relations
that exist
between
objective and subjective states of existence,and the source from which they
originate.If we
conceive in our
min of the picture of a thing we have seen before,an objective form of that
thing comes
into existence
within our own min
,an is compose of the substance [Page 77 ] of our own min .If by continual
practice
we gain
sufficient power to hol on to that image and to prevent it from being riven
away and isperse
by other
thoughts,it will become comparatively ense,an can be projecte upon the mental
sphere of
others,so that
they may actually see objectively that which exists subjectively as and image
within our
own min ;but he
who cannot hol on to a thought and control it at will cannot impress it upon
the min s
of others,and
therefore such experiments fail,not on account of any absolute impossibility to
perform
them,but on
account of the weakness of those who experiment,but have not the power to
control their
own thoughts,an
to ren er them corporeal enough for transmission.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Everything is
either a reality or a elusion,accor ing to the stan point from which we view
it.The words
"real"an
"unreal"are only relative terms,an what may seem real in one state of
existence appears
unreal in
another.Money,love,power,etc.,appear very real to those who nee them;to those
who have
outgrown the
necessity for their possession they are only illusions.That which we realise is
real to us,
however unreal
it may be to another.If my imagination is powerful enough to represent to me
the
presence of and angel,that
angel will be there,alive and real,my own creation,no matter how invisible
an unreal he may
be to another.If your min can create for you a para ise in a wil erness,that
para ise will
have for yo and objective existence.Everything that exists,exists in the
universal Min ,an
if the in ivi
ual min becomes conscious of his relation to a thing therein,it begins to
perceive it.No man
can realise a thing
beyon his experience,he cannot know anything to which he stan s in no relation.
For the purpose
of perceiving,three facts are necessary:The perception,the perceiver,and the
thing
that is the
object of perception.If they exist on entirely different planes,an cannot enter
into
relationship,no
perception will be possible.If I wish to look at my face,an am not able to step
out of
myself,I must
use a mirror to establish a relation between myself and the object of [Page 78
] my
perception.The
mirror has no sensation,an I cannot see myself in the mirror,I can only see
myself in
my min .The
reflection of the mirror pro uces a reflection which is objective to my min ,an
which
comes to my
perception.
A consi eration
of this will give us the key to and un erstan ing of man's original nature,an
of the
necessity of his
"fall from grace".We cannot objectively see the light or the truth,as
long as we are within
the bo y of the
one or the other.Only when we go beyon the sphere of the light,we can see
luminosity,
only when we
fall into error,will we learn to appreciate the truth.As long as primor ial man
was one with
the universal
power from which he emanate as a spiritual ray or entity in the beginning,he
coul not
know the ivine
source from which he came.The will and imagination of the Universal Min were
his own
will and imagination.Only
when he began to "step out of his ivine self",coul he begin to exist
as an
in ivi ual
"Self";only when he began to act against the law,i he begin to
realise that there was a law.
Man's apparently
separate existence from Go is and illusion:but this illusion must be experience
by
him,so as to
enable him to outgrow it,an to realise his unity with Go .A go who oes not
realise his
own ivine nature
woul not be able to enjoy it.When man,as a spiritual entity,having attaine
perfection,enters
again into his source,his sense of self and separateness will be lost,but he
will be in
possession of
knowle ge.To see a thing,it must become objective.To know what love is,we must
be
separate from
the object of our love.When we fully comprehen a thing,we become one with it,an
know it by
knowing ourselves.
This example is
inten e to illustrate the fun amental law of creation.The first great cause
so to say
stepping out of
itself,becomes its own mirror,and thereby establishes a relation with
itself."Go "sees
his face
reflecte in Nature;the Universal Min sees itself reflecte in the in ivi ual min
of man.Go
comes to
relative consciousness in his own nature,but when he again retires into himself
the relation will
[Page 79 ]
cease,he will again become one with himself,there will be no more relative
consciousness,an
"Brahma
will go to sleep"until the new ay of creation begins.But man knows that he
exists even after
all his relation
with external things has cease ,he oes not nee to look continually into a
mirror to be
remin e of that
fact.Likewise the absolute self-consciousness of the great I Am is independent
of the
objective
existence of Nature,an he will still "sit on the great white throne after
the earth and the heaven
fle away from
his face";[
consciousness.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
The superior
powers of inner perceptions are those possesse by the inner man ,and they
become
evelope after
the inner man awakens to self-consciousness.They correspon to the senses of the
external
man,such as seeing,hearing,feeling,tasting,smelling.
External sensual
perceptions are necessary to see sensual things;the internal sensual
perceptions are
necessary to see
internal things.Physical matter is as invisible to the spiritual sight as
astral bo ies are
to the physical
eyes;but as every object in nature has its astral counterpart within the
physical form,it
may
see,hear,feel,taste,an smell with its astral senses those astral objects,and
thereby know the
attributes of
the physical objects as well or still better thand the physical man might have
been able to o
with his physical
senses;but neither the physical nor the astral senses will be able to
perceive,unless
they are
permeate by the power of the spirit which en ows them with life.
Men usually look
upon a thing as real if it is seen alike by several persons,while if only one
person
professes to see
it,it being invisible to others,it is calle illusive;but each impression pro
uces a certain
state of the min
,an a person perceiving it must be in a con ition to enter into a relation with
that state
which the
impression pro uces.All persons being in the same state of min ,an receiving
the same
impression,will
perceive the same thing,but if their states of min iffer,their perceptions will
iffer.A
horse or a lion
[Page 80 ] may be seen alike by everyone who has his normal senses evelope ;but
if one
is excite by
fear,his perception will iffer from that of others,because the pro uct of his
own
imagination
istorts the impression receive .A runkar in a state of deliri m tremens
believes to see
worms and snakes
crawling over his bo y.His experience tells him that they have no external
existence.
Nevertheless
they are realities to him.They really exist for him as the pro ucts of his own
mental
con ition,but
they o not exist for others who o not share that con ition.But if others were
to enter the
same state they
woul see the same things.
Our perceptions
therefore iffer not only in proportion as the impressions coming from the
objects of
our perception
iffer but also accor ing to our capacity to receive such impressions,or
according to our
own mental
states.If we coul evelop a new sense of perception,we woul be in a new world .
If our capacity
to receive impressions were restricte to only one sense,we woul only be able to
conceive of that
which coul become manifest to us through that sense.Let us suppose the
existence of
a being who coul
enter into only one state of consciousness;for instance,that of hate.Having all
his
consciousness
concentrate into one gui ing passion,he coul become aware of nothing else but
of
hate.Such a
"go of hate",incapable of entering into any other mental state,coul
perceive no other
states but those
correspon ing with his own.To such a being the whole world woul be ark and voi
,
our oceans and mountains,our
forests and rivers woul have no existence for him;but wherever a man
or and animal
woul burn with hate,there woul be perhaps a luri glow perceivable by him
through the
arkness,which
woul attract his attention and attract him,an on his approach that glow woul
burst
into a flame in
which the in ivi ual from whom it procee e may be consume .Any other mental
state or
passion may
serve for a similar illustration.Hate knows hate,Love knows love,an a person
full of hate
is as incapable
to love as a being full of love is incapable to hate.[Page 81 ]
The Bhagavad
Gita says:"Those that are born un er and evil estiny"(having acquire
evil ten encies by
their con uct in
former lives)"know not what it is to procee in virtue or to rece e from
vice;nor is purity,
veracity,or the
practice of morality,to be foun in them.They say the world is without beginning
an
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
without en ,an
without and Ishwar,that all things are conceive in the junction of the
senses,an that
attraction is the
only cause".[Bhagava Gita,L.xvi.]
Those who
believe that everything exists in consequence of the unconscious attraction of
two principles,
forget that
there coul be no attraction if there were not some continually acting cause
that pro uces that
attraction.They
are the elu e followers of a octrine which they themselves cannot seriously
believe.
They agree that
out of nothing,nothing can come,an yet they believe that unconscious attraction
can
pro uce
consciousness.They are the followers of the absurd Two which has no real
existence,because
the eternal One
ivi e into two parts woul not become two Ones but the two halves of a ivi e
One.
One is the
number of Unity,an Two is Division;the One ivi e into two ceases to exist as a
One,an
nothing new is
thereby pro uce .If the plan for the construction of the world ha been ma e
according
to the ideas of the followers of Dualism,nothing coul have
come into existence,because action an
reaction woul
have been of equal power,annihilating each other.Neither coul there be any
progression
un er such
circumstances at present.
But behin all
manifestations of power there is the eternal power itself,the source of all
perfection that
can become
manifest.This is the Unity and Reality,in which no ivision exists;from which
all things
originate and to
which all will return.In its aspect as being the source of perfection in
everything an
which all things
esire to attain,it has been calle "goo ".
Whatever this
power of goo may be it is beyon the capacity of man to give it and appropriate
name,or
to escribe
it,because it is beyon the comprehension of mortal man.To give a name to that
which
inclu es [Page
82 ] everything,is to limit the whole to one of its parts.It has been calle
"Go ",an as
such it has
"many faces",because its aspect iffers according to the stan point
from which we behol it.
It is the S
preme ca se ,from which everything comes into existence;it must be absol te
conscio
sness,wisdom and power,love,intelligence,an life,because these attributes exist
in its
manifestations
and coul not have come into existence without it.
It is
necessarily one and unlimite ,an cand therefore not be known to the limite
intellect of man.It can
only be known by
itself;but if it reveals itself in our soul,our soul will partake of its knowle
ge.Therefore
Angelus Silesius
says
"Go welleth
in a light far out of human ken,
Become thyself
that light,an thou shalt see him then."
When Gautama Bu
ha was aske to escribe the supreme source of all beings,he remaine silent,
because those
who have reache a state in which they can realise what it is,have no words to
escribe
it,[2
Corinth.xii.4.]an those who cannot realise it woul not be able to comprehen the
escription.
To escribe a
thing we must invest it with comprehensible attributes,an it then ceases to be
unlimite
an becomes
limite .Therefore all theological iscussions about the nature of "Go
"are useless,
because "Go
"is the All and oes not iffer from anything;but not everything is Go
;because not
everything is
conscious of its own ivine nature.To become conscious of one's own ivine
nature,is to
realise the
presence of Go .To eny the existence of Go is and absurdity equivalent to
enying one's
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
own existence,while
existence is its own proof.He can only be spiritually known,but not
scientifically
escribe ,and the
fight between so-calle Deists and Atheists is a mere quarrel about words which
have
no efinite
meaning.Every man is himself a manifestation of Go ,an as each man's character
iffers
from that of
every other,so each man's i ea of Go iffers from that of the rest,an each one
has a Go
(an ideal)of his
own:only when they all have the same aspirations,will they all have the same Go
.
[Page 83 ]
To him who has
not the power of Go ,the power of Go oes not exist.To him who perceives the
presence of Go
,Go exists,an to him his existence cannot be ispute away.The ignorant cannot be
ma e to realise
the existence of knowle ge unless he becomes knowing;those who know cannot have
their knowle ge
reasone away.The caricatures of go s set up by the various churches as
representations
of the only true Go are merely attempts to escribe that which cannot be escribe
.As
every man has a
highest ideal (a go )of his own,which is a symbol of his aspirations,so every
church
has its peculiar
go ,who is and outgrowth or a pro uct of evolution of the ideal necessities of
that
collective bo y
calle a church.They are all true go s to them ,because they temporarily answer
their
nee s,an as the
requirements of the church change,so change their go s;ol go s are iscarde an
new ones put
into their places.The go of the Christian iffers from that of the Jews,and the
Christian
go of the
nineteenth century is very different from the one that live at the time of
Torquema a an
Peter Arbues,an
was please with torture and A tos da Fι.As long as men are imperfect their go s
will
be imperfect;as
they become more perfect their go s will grow in perfection,an when all men are
equally perfect
they will all have the same perfect "Go ",the same highest spiritual ideal
recognise alike
by science and by
religion as being ivinity in humanity;because there can be only one supreme ideal,
one absolute
Truth,whose realisation is
an whose most
perfect expression is ideal
There are seven
steps on the la er,representing the religious evelopment of mankin :On the
first
stage man
resembles and animal,conscious only of his instincts and bo ily esires,without
any
conception of
the ivine element.On the secon he begins to have a presentiment of the
existence of
something
higher.On the third he begins to seek for that higher element,but his lower
elements are still
prepon erating
over the higher aspirations.On the fourth his lower and higher esires are
counterbalancing
each other.At times he seeks for [Page 84 ] the higher,at other times he is
again
attracte to the
lower.On the fifth he anxiously seeks for the ivine,but seeking it in the
external he
cannot fin it.He
then begins to seek for it within himself.On the sixth he fin s the ivine
element within
himself and evelops
spiritual self-consciousness,which on the seventh grows into self-knowle ge.
Having arrive at
the sixth,his spiritual senses begin to become alive and active,an he will then
be able
to recognise the
presence of other spiritual entities,existing on the same plane.On the seventh
he fin s
that he himself
is the Go which he has been seeking.His will is free from every selfish
esire,his
tho ght is one
with his will,his word becomes a creative act.Such a spiritual being may still
well in a
human bo y upon
this planet,an not even be recognise as something superior to the rest of
mankin ;
for his
personality is not Go .He lives,an yet he lives not;for it is Go ,his ivine
Self,the eternal
Reality living
in him.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
CHAPTER III
FORM
"The
Universe is a thought of Go .Paracelsus.
ACCORDING to
Plato the primordial essence is and emanation of the Demi rgic Mind,which
contains
from eternity
the i ea of the natural world within itself,an which i ea is thrown into
objectivity by the
power of the
ivine self-conscious will.This octrine seems to be almost as ol as the
existence of
reasoning man on
this globe.It contains essentially the same truth which has been taught by the
ancient
Rishis ,an has
been expresse by the eepest thinkers of all ages,apparently from the first
planetary
spirit ,that ma
e his appearance on this earth,own to the mo ern philosophers who teach that
the worl
is a pro uct of
i eation and will.[Schopenhauer:"Die Welt als Wille un Vorstellung ]
The great
Christian Mystic,Jacob Boehme escribes the Great First Cause as a trinity of
will,intelligence
an action.His
octrine correspon s to that which is taught in the East,regarding the three
emanations
of Brahm,an of
which that German shoemaker coul at that time hardly have known anything,if he
ha
not been and Ill
minate .He says in his book on "The Three Principles ,that by the
activity of the Will-Fire
at the Centre
the eternal consciousness of the latter was reflecte in Space as in a mirror,an
from this
activity Light
and Life were born.He then escribes,how by the action ra iating from the
incomprehensible
centre,ra iating into the element of Matter,and the subsequent reaction from
the
periphery toward
the centre rotation was cause ,an how in the Ether ,the world of forms.came
into
existence,an
grew into material ensity.Thus through the action of the Father in the [Page 86
] Son,the
"Holy Ghost
became manifest,an its manifestation is the visible and invisible universe in
one,with all
its
suns,stars,planets,their forms and inhabitants,with all the angels and emons,evas,elementals,
men and animals,or
in other words,with all the energies and powers and forms of the visible an
invisible si e
of nature.
This trinity
manifests itself on three different planes or modes of action ,that have been
terme Matter,
So l,an Spirit
,or according to the symbolism of ancient occult science,Earth,Water ,an Fire
.The
One becomes
manifest in the Three ,but the Three is a whole and oes not consist of three
parts,of
which one comes
into succession after another,it springs into existence at once.Reaction cannot
exist
without Action
,an both are ue to a co-existing Potency or Ca se.
Spirit or
"Fire is immaterial,formless,an universal,manifesting its power in
forms.It is the "creator ,the
great
"carpenter of the universe,the "stepfather of Christ ,whose wife
is Maja (Nature),the ever
immaculate
virgin.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
So l or
"Water is a semi-material element,formless in its original state.It is
the organising element of
corporeal
forms.It penetrates and surroun s the planets as it surroun s and penetrates
the bo ies of
men and animals
and all other bo ies and forms,an all material forms will soon perish after the
soul-
principle has
cease to be active in them.
Matte r or
"Earth ,or (as it is calle in its primor ial state)A'kβsa ,is and invisible
material element
perva ing all
space.Con ense by the organising power of the soul,it clothes the forms of the
latter an
ren ers them
visible on the physical plane.
By the
interaction of the three primordial elements,Spirit,Soul,an Matter,four interme
iate links
become manifest,and
these four a e to the three former represent seven principles.
These
three,respectively seven principles,must not be suppose to exist
separately;they are seven
aspects of one
element,in the same sense as the seven notes of one octave are seven mo
ifications of
one [Page 87 ]
vibration pro ucing soun .Man is a unity;but also a trinity of
expression,capable to enter
four istinct
states of consciousness and existence,a compoun of four elements joine to the
fifth One
Element,making
him a harmonious accord of five notes.He may also be regarde as a manifestation
of
three higher and
three lower powers,in which the unmanifeste seventh is to become manifest.All
these
ivisions are
legitimate and not arbitrary;because they are base upon the action of natural
certain laws.
1.A The element
of Matter ,A kβsa ,represented by "Earth .
2.AB The
combination of Matter and Soul,known as the Astral Body,a mixture of
"Earth and
Water .
3.B The
Soul,known as the animal principle in man,represented by "Water .
4.ABC The
Essence of Life ,a combination of Matter,Soul,and Spirit,"Earth,Water,
and Fire .
5.AC The Mind ,a
combination of Matter and Spirit,or "Earth and Fire (the
principle of
Intellectuality ).
6.BC The
Spiritual Soul ,a combination of Soul and pure Spirit,or "Water and
Fire (the
principle of Spiritual Intelligence).
7.
C
Pure Spirit or
"Fire .[The Sanskrit terms for the seven principles are:1,
Pracriti;2,Lingsarira;3.Kamarupa;4,Jiva;5,Manas;6,Buddhi;7.Atma.
See "Five
Years of Theosophy ,p.153.]
The ivisions a
opte by Paracelsus and in "Esoteric B ddhism are nearly i entical with
the above:1.
The physical bo
y.2.Vitality (Mumia).3.Astral Bo y (Si ereal bo y).4.Animal Soul.5.Intellectual
Soul.
6.Spiritual
Soul.(The man of the new olympus).7.Spirit.
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It is sai that
this ivision was also known to the ancient Jews,an that the Hebrew
Alphabet,consisting
of 22
letters,was ma e with reference to it;because the three in seven states pro
uces twelve symbols,
an 3+7+12
=22.[Page 88 ]
This sevenfol
ivision of principles,representing the constitution of man as well as that of the
Universe
as whole,was
also known to the ancient Egyptians,an escribe as follows
I.chat.The
material body.
II.bas (heart)
and
nif (breath)
Physical life.
III.Ka.The
astral body (Personality).
IV.ab.Will.(
V.ba.Soul
(Manas).
VI.chaib.The
shadow of the spirit (Buddhi).
VII.chu.The
spirit (Atma).
The ancient
Alchemists represente the same ideas by
the symbols of the seven planets
Saturn,The
material element.
Jupiter,Power or
Life.
Mars,Will,Strength.
Sun,The
centre;the source of all planets.
Venus,Love.In
its lower aspect esire.
Mercury,Min
,Intelligence.
Moon
Spirituality.
The qualities of
these powers iffer in their combination accor ing to the prepon erating
influence of one
over another;an
this causes their aspects to be either goo or evil.Thus these aspects are ba as
follows
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
If spirituality
[Moon ] is overrule by materiality [Saturn ]
If the min
[Mercury ] is ominate by blin force [Jupiter ]
If love [Venus ]
is overrule by passion [Mars ] .
If the contrary
is the case,their aspects are goo .
The sun occupies
the centre of these planets;it is their parent,an not ominate by any of them.
[Page 89 ]
Jane Leade also
a opts a sevenfol ivision of principles;but in a reverse or er
1.Spirit The wor
.The creator.
2.Wind The
breath or the life.
3.Water
Coagulate win (soul).
4.Light
Intelligence.
5.Heaven The
astral world .
6.Air Physical
life.
7.Earth The
matrix or centre.
To these seven
principles correspon four planes of existence or states of consciousness;namely
I.The physical
world.
II.The astral
world .
III.The spirit
al world .
IV.The divine
plane of existence .
Each of these world
s has its own state of being,an each form in either of them contains all the
above-
name seven
principles,which are fun amentally one and inseparable;only with this
ifference,that
according to the
plane in which a form exists,some of these principles are active while others
are latent.
Thus in a stone
or a tree the higher principles are entirely latent and as if
non-existent,while in one of the
higher plane the
higher principles are alone manifest while the lower ones have cease to
manifest any
activity.The
following table may give and approximate illustration of this theory.The
prominently active
principles are
printe in larger,and the less active ones in smaller,type;while those that are
still latent,or
have become
so,are enclose in brackets.
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Physical
Nature.Astral Plane.Devachan.
PHYSICAL
MATTER.(Physical matter.)(Physical matter.)
PHYSICAL LIFE
.(Physical life.)(Physical life.)
Astral
life.ASTRAL LIFE.(Astral life.)
Lower
Manas.Lower Manas .(Lower Manas.)
(Higher
Manas.)(Higher Manas.)HIGHER MANAS.
(Bu hi.)(Bu
hi.)BUDDHI
(Atma.)(Atma.)Atma.
[Page 90 ] The
proportion of activities of course iffer in in ivi ual cases.There are many
variations.
Upon this earth
all the seven principles may become manifeste in man;he may live alternatively
or
successively,in
either one of these four states of consciousness;his spirit belongs to Go ,his
min to
heaven,his
esires to the soul of the world ,an his bo y to earth.After eath the lower
principles
become inactive
and he moves upwards on the scale of being in proportion as he has become
attune to
it uring his
life.
What are the con
itions of the divine state of being we o not know nor care to speculate about
it.Our
object ought to
be to attain it rather than to worry our brains in seeking to gratify our
scientific curiosity in
regard to it.It
might be suppose that in this plane only the B ddhi,Atma ,and the highest
essence of the
Manas is
active;but Jacob Boehme tells us,that "all the Seven Spirits of God are
born one in another;
one gives birth
to the other and there is neither first nor last ."They are all seven
equally eternal ;["The
life and octrines
of Jacob Boehme ,p.73.] and furthermore he escribes that the third principle
reappears in the
seventh;an that therein consists the "resurrection of the flesh
,["The life an
octrines of
Jacob Boehme ,p.84.] which causes a divine being to be not and unsubstantial
spirit but
possessing the
"Bo y of Go ."In the seventh form all the other forms of nature
manifest their activity ;
the element of
earth therefore manifests itself again on a higher octave,an this will give us
a key to the
un erstan ing of
the meaning of the words of St.Paul,when he speaks of a bo y "that has been
sowe
in corruption
and is raise in glory ;but which is surely not the astral form of a ghost.[1
Cor.i.5.]
All forms are
the expression of either one or more of these elementary principles,an exist as
long as
their respective
powers are active in them.They are not necessarily visible,because their
visibility
epen s on their
power to reflect light.Invisible gases may be [Page 91 ] soli ifie by pressure
and col ,
an ren ere
visible and tangible,and the most soli substances may be ma e invisible and intangible
by the
application of heat.The pro ucts of cosmic thought are not all visible to the
physical eye,we see
only those which
are on our plane of existence.
All bo ies have
their invisible spheres.Their visible spheres are limite by the periphery of
their visible
forms;their
invisible spheres exten farther into space.Their spheres cannot be always
etecte by
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
physical
instruments,but they nevertheless exist,an un er certain con itions their
existence can be
prove to the
senses.The sphere of and o oriferous bo y can be perceive by the organ of
smell,the
sphere of a
magnet by the approach of iron,the sphere of a man or and animal by that most
elicate of all
instruments,the
sensitive soul.
These spheres
are the magnetic,caloric,o ic,luminous auras and other emanations belonging to
every
object in
space.Such and emanation may sometimes be seen as the A rora Borealis in the
polar regions
of our planet,or
as the photosphere of the sun uring and eclipse.The "glory aroun the hea
of a saint
is no poetical
fiction,no more thand the sphere of life ra iating from a precious stone.As
each sun has its
system of
planets revolving aroun it,so each bo y is surroun e by smaller centres of
energy evolving
from the common
centre,an partaking of the attributes of that centre.Copper,Carbon,an
Arsenic,for
instance,sen out
auras of re ;Lea and
an Iron emits
all the colours of the rainbow.Plants,animals,an men emit similar colours accor
ing to
their
characteristics;persons of a high and spiritual character have beautiful auras
of white and blue,gol
an green,in
various tints;while low natures emit principally ark re emanations,which in
brutal an
vulgar or
villainous persons arken almost to black,and the collective auras of bo ies of
men or plants or
animals,of
cities and countries,correspon to their pre ominant characteristics,so that a
person whose
sense of
perception is sufficiently evelope may [Page 92 ] see the state of the
intellectual and moral
evelopment of a
place or a country by observing the sphere of its emanations.
These spheres
expan from the centre,and their periphery grows in proportion to the intensity
of the
energy acting
within the centre.We know the sphere of a rose by the o our that procee s from
the latter
if we have the
power to smell,we know the character of the min of a man if we enter the sphere
of his
thoughts.
The quality of
psychic emanationsdepends on the state of activity of the centre from which
they
originate.They
are symbols of the states of the soul of each form,they in icate the state of
the emotions.
Each emotion
correspon s to a certain colour.Love correspon s to blue,Desire to re ,Benevolence
to
green,and these
colours may in uce correspon ing emotions in other souls.Blue has a soothing
effect,
an may
tranquillize a maniac or sub ue a fever;Re excites to passion,a steer will
become furious at
the sight of a
re cloth,an and unreasoning mob become infuriate at the sight of bloo .This
chemistry
of the soul is
not any more won erful thand the facts known in physical chemistry,and these
processes
take place accor
ing to the same law which causes Chlori e of Silver to turn from white into
black if
expose to light.
The thoughts of
the Universal Min expresse in matter on the physical plane comprise all the
forms of
the
mineral,vegetable,an animal king oms on Earth,escribe by physical science.Each
material
form contains
within itself its ethereal counterpart,which will,un er certain con
itions,separate itself
from the more
material part,or be extracte therefrom by the han s of and A ept.These astral
parts may
be reclothe with
con ense A 'kβsa and be ren ere visible,an in this way and object can be uplicate
by him who knows
how to manipulate these invisible forces.[A.P.Sinnett:"The Occult World
.]
Such astral
forms exist after their material forms have ecaye ;the astral forms of the ea
may be seen
by the
clairvoyant hovering over the graves,bearing the resemblance of the once living
man.They may
be artificially
infuse with life and with a borrowe consciousness,an ma e use of in the
practices of
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Necromancy and Black
Magic ,or be attracte to "spiritual sιances to represent the spirits of
the ea .
There are
persons in whom this principle either in consequence of constitutional
peculiarities or in
consequence of
isease is not very firmly unite with the physical bo y,an may become separate
from it for a
short perio .[This intimate relation of the astral form and the physical bo y
is often illustrate
at so-calle
exposures of "spiritual mediums.If a materialize form is soile by ink or
soot,the colouring
matter will
afterwards be foun on the correspon ing part of the medium's bo y,because,when
the
astral form
re-enters that bo y,it will leave the soiling matter on the correspon ing parts
of the latter.]
Such persons are
suitable "medi ms for so-calle spirit-materialisations ,their ethereal
counterparts
appear separate
from their bo ies and assume the visible form of some person either living or
ea .It
receives its new
mask by the unconscious or conscious thoughts of the persons present,by the
reflections
thrown out from their memories and min s,or it may be ma e to represent other
characters
by influences
invisible to the physical eye.
As the brain is
the central organ for the circulation of nerve-flui ,an as the heart is the
organ for the
circulation of
the bloo ,so the spleen is the organ from which the astral elements raw their
vitality,an
in certain
iseases,where the action of the spleen is impe e ,this "ouble of a person
may involuntarily
separate itself
from the bo y.It is nothing very unusual that a sick person feels "as if
he were not
himself ,or as
if another person was lying in the same be with him,an that he himself were
that other.
Such cases of
"Doppelgaengers ,Wraiths,Apparitions,Ghosts,&c.,cause by the
separation of the
Lingasarira from
the physical form can be foun in many works treating of mystic phenomena
occurring
in nature.[A
olphe D'Assier;"L'humanitι posthume ]
Usually these
astral forms are without consciousness and without any life of their own;but
they may be
[Page 94 ] [The stories
of fakirs who have been burie alive for months and resurrecte afterwards might
here be use as
illustration.They are too well known to nee repetition in this place.Moreover,
phenomena,however
well atteste they may be,can never stan in the place of knowle ge;they furnish
no explanation
of the mysterious laws of nature.The occurrence of phenomena proves nothing but
that
they occur.Real
knowle ge is never attaine by the observation of external phenomena,it can only
be
attaine by un
erstan ing the law.]
But there are
also many forms whose natural home is the astral plane,of which physical
science oes
not know,because
they can be seen only by means of the astral perception,a faculty which is at
present
in possession of
only comparatively few persons.The astral plane has,like the physical plane,its
mineral,vegetable,an
animal king om,its four elements;an as in our world the earth,the air,and the
sea have their
inhabitants,so in the astral world there are inhabitants,the Spirits of Nat re
,to be foun in
the elements of
the earth,air,water,an fire.They are all the pro uct of originally shapeless ideas
,
existing in the
Universal Min ,con ense into organise forms by the creative power of
nature;visible
an objective to
each other as long as they exist on the same plane.
In ivi ual forms
on that plane often make their presence felt to men or animals,but un er or
inary
circumstances
they cannot be seen.They may,however,be seen by the clairvoyant,an un er
certain
con itions,even
assume visible and tangible shapes.Their bo ies are of and elastic
semi-material
essence,ethereal
enough so as not to be etecte by the physical sight,and they change their forms
according to
certain laws.Bulwer Lytton says:"Life is one all-perva ing principle,an
even the thing that
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
seems to ie and putrefy
but engen ers new life and changes to [Page 95 ] new forms of matter.
Reasoning then
by analogy if not a leaf,if not a rop of water,but is no less than yon er
star a
habitable and breathing
world common sense woul suffice to teach that the circumfluent Infinite,which
you call space
the boun less Impalpable which ivi es the earth from the moon and stars is
fille
also with its correspon
ent and appropriate life .
An further on he
says:"In the rop of water you see animalcule vary;how vast and terrible
are some of
these
monster-mites as compare with others.Equally so with the inhabitants of the
atmosphere.Some
of surpassing
wisdom,some of horrible malignity;some hostile as fien s to man;others gentle
as
messengers
between Earth and Heaven .[Bulwer Lytton;"Zanoni ]
Our ignorant and
therefore sceptical age is accustome to a mire in such escriptions the fancy of
the
writer ,never suspecting
that they were inten e to convey a truth;but there are many witnesses to
testify that
such invisible but substantial and variously shape beings exist,an that they,by
the
e ucate will of
man,can be ma e conscious,intelligent,visible,an even useful to man.This
assertion
is supporte by
the testimony foun in the writings of Rosicrucians,Cabbalists,Alchemists,an A
epts,
as well as in
the ancient books of wisdom of the East and in the Bible of the Christians.
Such existences
are,however,not necessarily personal beings.They may be impersonal forces,
acquiring
form,an life,an consciousness by their contact with man.The Gnomes and Sylphes
,the
Undines and Salamanders
,o not entirely belong to the realm of fable,although they are something very
different of what
the ignorant believe them to be.How insignificant and little appears in ivi ual
man in the
infinity of the
universe!an yet there is only a comparatively insignificant part of the
universe reveale to
him by the
senses.Coul he see the world s within world s above,beneath,an
everywhere,swarming
with beings
whose existence he oes not suspect,while they,perhaps,know nothing of his
existence,he
woul be
overwhelme with terror and seek for a go to protect him;an yet there are none
of these
beings higher or
as powerful as the spiritual man who has learne to know his powers.[See
"Theophrast
s Paracelsus ,chapter v ]
The beings of
the spirit al plane are such as have once been men,their constitution is beyon
the
comprehension of
those that are not their equals,and their ethereal forms in a state of
perfection we
cannot
conceive.Still higher beings,having outgrown the necessity of manifesting
themselves in a form,
enter the state
of the formless.We may look upon a personal man as a single note in the great
orchestra
composing the world
,an upon a Dhyan Chohan [Son of Wisdom (Planetary spirit)]as a full accor or a
compoun of notes
in the symphony of the go s.There may be unharmonious compositions of notes in
music,and there
are evil spiritualities as there isdarkness in contra istinction to light.
The surface
realm of the Soul is the realm of the emotions.Emotions are not merely the
results of
physiological
processes depending on causes coming from the physical plane,but they belong to
a form
of life on the
astral plane,they come and go without any known cause.The state of the
weather,or
circumstances
over which we have no control,cause certain emotions.A person entering a room
where
everyone is
laughing is liable to participate in the laughter without knowing the cause of
the hilarity;a
whole crow may
be swaye by the intense emotion of a speaker,although they may not even
un erstan what
he says;one hysterical woman may create and epi emic of hysteria among other
women,an a whole
congregation may become excite by the harangue of and emotional exhorter,no
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
matter whether
his language is foolish or wise.A su en accumulation of emotion or energy on
the astral
plane can kill a
person as quickly as a su en explosion of pow er.We hear of persons who were
"transfixe
by terror or "paralyse by fear .In such cases the astral consciousness
having become
abnormally
active at the expense of the consciousness on the physical plane,the activity
of life on the
physical plane
ceases when the affecte person faints or ies.[Page 97 ]
All forms come
into existence accor ing to certain laws.The solar microscope shows how,in a
solution
of salt,a centre
of matter is forme ,an how to that centre its kin re forces are attracte
,crystallising
aroun it,an
becoming soli and firm.Each kin of salt pro uces the peculiar crystals that
belong to its
class and no
other,however often the process may be repeate .In the vegetable king om the
see of
one plant
attracts to itself those forces which it requires to pro uce a plant resembling
its parent;the
see of and apple-tree
can pro uce nothing else but and apple-tree,an and acorn can grow into nothing
else but and oak.The
principal characteristics of and animal will be those that belong to its
parents,and the
external
appearance of a man will correspon more or less to that of the race and family
in which he was
born.
As every
mathematical point in space may evelop into a living and conscious and visible
being,after
once a certain
centre of energy (a germ)has been forme ,so in the invisible realm of the soul
astral
forms may come
into existence,wherever the necessary con itions for their growth exist.In the
same
manner as a
living germ on the physical plane attracts matter for its growth,a psychic germ
on the astral
plane causes to
crystallise aroun a thought and invisible but nevertheless substantial
entity.As the forms
on the physical
plane correspon to the characters of the germs,so the forms on the astral plane
are
expressions of
the characteristics of the prevailing emotions on that plane.They manifest
themselves
either in
beautiful or in horrible shapes,because every form is only the symbol or the
expression of the
character which
it represents.
The animal forms
are expressions of forces acting on the animal plane.Some have a consciousness
of
their own and realise
their existence,but un er ordinary circumstances they have no more intelligence
than animals,an
cannot act intelligently.They follow their blin attraction,as iron is attracte
to a
magnet,an
wherever they fin suitable con itions for their evelopment,they are attracte
thither.We
therefore see
that if and emotion is not controlle in the beginning [Page 98 ] it grows and becomes
uncontrollable.Some
people have ie of grief and some others of joy.
But if these
unintelligent forms are infuse with the principle of intelligence procee ing
from man,they
become
intelligent and act in accordance with the ictates of the master from which
they receive their will
an
intelligence,an who may employ them for goo or for evil.Every emotion that
arises in man may
combine with the
astral forces of nature and create a being,which may be perceive ,by persons
possessing
higher faculties of perception,as and active and living entity.Every sentiment
which fin s
expression in
word or action calls into existence a living entity on the astral plane.Some of
these forms
are very en
uring,according to the intensity and uration of the thought that create
them,while others
are the creations
of one moment and vanish in the next.
There are
numerous cases on record in which some person or other having committe some
crime is
escribe as
having been persecute for years by some avenging emon,who woul appear
objectively
an isappear
again.Such emons are the pro ucts of the involuntary action of the imagination
of their
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
victims;but they
are nevertheless real to them.[A person in
an insane asylum
in
became su enly
well and was permitte to return to Paris.Some months afterwards a report reache
him,that the
cell which he ha occupie in the asylum was still haunte by his "ghost
.which continue
raving and making
a noise,an that this ghost ha been seen by many persons.Curious to see his own
"ghost the
man returne to
it,remaine
insane to the en of his life.] They may be calle into existence by memory and remorse,
and their images
existing in the min ,become objective by fear,because fear is a repulsive
function;it
instinctively
repulses the object of which a man is afrai ,an by repelling the image from the
centre
towards the
periphery of the sphere of min ,that image is ren ere objective.
Instances are
known in which persons have been [Page 99 ] riven to suici e,hoping thereby to
escape
these
persecuting emons.Such emons are sai to have in some cases taken even a
tangible form.
But whether
tangible or intangible,the substance of which they are forme is merely a
projection of
substance of the
person to whom they thus appear.They are,so to say,that person himself.[In the
"Lives of
the Saints ,an in the history of witchcraft,we often fin instances of the
appearance of
"oubles in
visible and even tangible forms.Such phenomena take place in mediumistic
persons,if by
contrary
emotions the Will becomes ivi e ,acting in two different irections,an
projecting thereby two
forms;for it is
the Will of man that creates subjective forms,consciously or unconsciously,an
un er
certain con
itions they become objective and visible.
As and illustration
of this law we may cite from the Acta Sanctorum and episo e in the life of
Saint Dominic.
He was once
calle to the be si e of a sick person,who tol him that Christ ha appeare to
him.The
saint answere
that this was impossible,an that the apparition ha been pro uce by the evil,
because only
holy persons coul have and apparition of Christ.As he sai so,a oubt as to
whether the
apparition seen
may not have been a true one after all,entere his min ,an imme iately a ivision
of
consciousness
was pro uce ,which cause the ouble of Dominic to appear at the other si e of
the
patient's be
.The two Dominics were seen by the patient,an heard to ispute with each
other.an
while one
Dominic asserte that the apparition ha been the work of the evil.the other one
maintaine
that it was the
true Christ.The two Dominics were so exactly i entical,that the patient i not
know which
of them was the
true saint and which one his image,an he coul not make up his min what to
believe;
until at last
the saint calle upon Go to assist him, that is to say,he concentrate his willpower
again
within
himself;his consciousness became again a unity.and the "ouble isappeare
from view.
Absurd as such
stories may appear to our "enlightene age ,their absurdity ceases when
the occult laws
of nature,and
the fact of the possibilities of a do ble conscio sness are un erstoo .]
An A ept in a
letter to Mr Sinnett says:
"Every
thought of man upon being evolve passes into another world and becomes and active
entity by
associating
itself coalescing,we might term it with and Elemental that is to say,with
one of the semi-
intelligent
forces of the king oms.It survives as and active intelligence a creature of
the min 's begetting
for a longer
or shorter perio ,proportionate with the [Page 100 ] original intensity of the
cerebral action
which generate
it.Thus,a goo thought is perpetuate as and active,beneficent power,an evil one
as a
maleficent
emon.An so man is continually peopling his current in space with the offspring
of his
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Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
fancies,esires,impulses,an
passions;a current which re-acts upon any sensitive or nervous
organisation
which comes in contact with it,in proportion to its ynamic intensity....The A
ept evolves
these shapes consciously,other
men throw them off unconsciously .[A.P.Sinnett:"The Occult World! ]
This testimony
is corroborate by one coming from another source,an proving that to create
subjective
forms it is not
necessary to give a istinct shape to our thoughts by the power of
imagination,but that
each state of
feeling or sentiment may fin expression in subjective forms,whether or not we
may be
conscious of
their existence.A form is a state of min ,an a sentiment is a state of min ;a
sentiment
expresse will be
represente by a correspon ing form.[Mr Whitworth,a clairvoyant,escribes how in
his youth,while
seeing a German professor perform on and organ,he notice a host of appearances
moving about the
keyboard veritable Lilliputian sprites,fairies,an gnomes,astonishingly minute
in
size,yet as
perfect in form and features as any of the larger people in the room.He escribe
them as
being ivi e into
sexes and clothe in a most fantastic manner;in form,appearance,an movement
they were in
perfect accord with the theme.
"In the quick
measures,how ma ly they ance ,waving their plume hats and fans in very
ecstasy,an
arting to and fro
inconceivable rapi ity,with feet beating time in rain-like patter of accor
!Quick as a
flash,when the
music change to the solemn ca ence of a march for the ea ,the airy things
vanishe ,
an in their
place came black robe gnomes,resse like cowle monks,sour face Puritans,or mutes
in the black
garb of a funeral procession!Strangest of all,on every tiny face was expresse
the
sentiment of the
music,so that I coul instantly un erstand the thought and feeling that was
inten e to
be conveye .In a
wil burst of soun ing grief came a rush of mothers,tear-eye and with ishevelle
hair,beating
their breasts and wailing pious lamentations over their ea love ones.These woul
be
followe by plume
knights with shiel and spear,an host of fiery troops,mounte or foot,re -han e
in the fiery
strife of bloo y battle,as the clang of martial music came leaping from the
keyboard,an
ever,as each
change brought its new set of sprites,the ol ones woul vanish into the air as
su enly as
they ha
come.Whenever a iscord was struck,the tiny sprite that appeare was some
misshapen
creature,with
limbs and ress awry,usually a humpbacke warf,whose voice was guttural and rasping,
an his every
movement ungainly and isagreeable.
He then escribes
how in his riper age he saw such fairy-like beings coming from the lips of
persons
talking and which
seeme in every action the very counterpart of the feeling conveye in the uttere
speech.If the
words were inspire by goo sentiments,these figures were transcen entally
beautiful;
ba sentiments
pro uce horri -looking creatures;hate was expresse by hissing snakes and ark,fiery
evils;treacherous
words pro uce figures beautiful in front and isgusting and horri behin ;while
love
pro uce forms
silvery,white,an full of beauty and harmony.
"On one
never-to-be-forgotten occasion I was a paine witness to a scene of living
faithlessness on one
si e and a
ouble-face ,treacherous uplicity on the other.A fair young girl and her eparting
lover ha
met to exchange
greetings ere he went on a istant journey.Each word of hers gave forth
beautiful,
ra iant
fairies;but while the front half of each that was turne to the girl was equally
fair to look upon,an
smile with all
the ra iant seeming of un ying affection,the rear half of each was black and evilish,with
fiery snakes and
re forke tongues protru ing from their cruel lips,as gleams of wicke cunning
ance
in sneaking,si
e-long glances from the corners of the half-close eyes.These ark backgroun s of
the
little figures
were horrible to look at,ever shifting,o ging,an seeming to shut up within
themselves,as
they sought to
keep only bright and honest toward the trusting girl,an hol the black eception
out of
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-------Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales------
Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
sight.An it was
noticeable that while a halo of clou less ra iance surroun e the goo outsi e
seeming,a pall
of thick vapour hung like a canopy of unbroken gloom above the
other".[Religio-
Philosophical
Journal.] [Page 101 ]
All forms are
manifestations of life,they have no life of their own;for life is a universal
power.They are
the creations of
thought-power,acting upon the A'kβssa.The creations of man are kept alive by
the life-
power that ra
iates into them from the life-centre in man who is a go in that world which he
creates in
his min ;his
creatures are like sha ows,vanishing when the fountain of light from which they
rink is
exhauste .When
the psychical action of man,that gave them life,ceases to act,or acts in
another
irection,they
will isappear sooner or later,an in the same way the forms of men isappear,when
the
life coming from
Go is with rawn.However,as the corpse of a man oes not issolve imme iately as
soon as the
principle [Page 102 ] of life is eparte ,but ecays slowly or rapi ly accor ing
to their
molecular ensity
and cohesion,likewise the astral forms and memories create by the thoughts an
sentiments of
man require time for their issolution.They continue to exist as long as man
infuses life
an consciousness
into them by his thought and his will,an if they have once gaine a certain
amount
of power,they
may still cling to him,although he may not esire their companionship.Theydependon
him for their
life,and the struggle for existence forces them to remain with the source from
which they
raw their
vitality.If they epart from that fountain they ie;they are therefore force to
remain,an ,like
the phantom
create by "Frankenstein ,they persecute their creators with their
unwelcome presence.To
ri oneself of
such a presence,he who is persecute shoul irect the full power of his
aspirations an
thoughts into
another and higher irection,and thereby starve them to eath.In this way the
spiritual
principle of
every man becomes his special Redeemer ,who by the transformation of character
saves him
from the effects
of his sin,an before whose pure light the illusions create by the lower
attractions will
melt like the
snow un er the influence of the sun.
Elemental forms
being the servants of their creator in fact,his own self may be use by him
for goo
or for evil
purposes.Love and hate creates subjective forms of beautiful or of horri
shapes,an being
infuse with
consciousness,obtain life,and they may be sent on some erran for goo or for
evil.
Through them the
magician blen s his own life and consciousness with the person he esires to
affect.A
lock of hair,a
piece of clothing,or some object that has been worn by the person he esires to
affect,
forms a
connecting link.The same object can be attaine if that person is put into
possession of an
article
belonging to the magician,because wherever a portion of anything with which the
magician was
connecte
exists,there will a part of his own elements exist,which will form a magnetic
link between him
and the person
whom he wishes to affect.If he projects his astral form at a [Page 103 ]
istance,his
personality will
be present with his victim,although the latter may not be able to see it.[Lord
Lytton,
"Zanoni an
"Strange Story ]
The astral image
of a person may be projecte consciously or unconsciously to a istance.If he
intensely
thinks of a
certain place,his thought will be there,an if his thought is spiritual and consequently
self-
conscious he
will be there himself.Wherever a man's consciousness is,there is the man
himself,no
matter whether
his physical bo y is there or not.
The history of
spiritualism and somnambulism furnishes abun ant evi ence that a person may be
consciously and knowingly
in one place,while his physical bo y lies ormant in another.Franciscus
Xavier was thus
seen in two different places at one and the same time.Likewise Apollonius of
Tyana,an
innumerable
others mentione in ancient and mo ern history.
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The Elemental
sent by a magician is a constituting part of the magician himself,an if the
victim is
vulnerable or mediumistic,the
latter may be injure by the former.But the astral form of the magician
may also be
injure by physical force,an as the astral form re-enters the physical bo y,the
latter will
partake of the
injuries inflicte upon the former.
The
magician,who,by the power of his will,has obtaine control over the
semi-intelligent forces of
Nature,can make
use of these forces for the purposes of goo or evil.The helpless medium,through
whom
manifestations of occult power take place,can neither cause nor control such
manifestations.He
cannot control
the elementals,but is controlle by them.The elements of his bo y serve as
instruments
through which
these astral existences act,after the Medium has surren ere his will and given
up the
supreme comman
over his soul.He sits passively and waits for what these elementals may o;he
unconsciously
furnishes them with his life and power to think,an his thoughts and the
thoughts of those
that are present
become reflecte in these astral forms,enabling them to manifest apparently an
intelligence of
their own.[Page 104 ]
A medium for
spirit-manifestations is merely and instrument for the manifestation of
invisible forces over
which he has no
control.The best of such mediums have been very unjustly blame for
"cheating .The
thoughts of the
person visiting a Medium,are reflecte by him.It is therefore not the Medium's
person
that cheats
purposely,but his visitors are cheating themselves through his
instrumentality.A mirror that
woul not reflect
al l the objects that are brought before it,woul be a very unnatural and eceptive
thing;
a Medi m who
woul only reflect such thoughts as he or she chooses to reflect woul be and impostor,for
exercising and intelligence
of his own,he woul not be in that passive con ition which constitutes his
mediumship.
The A ept in
Magic is not the slave of these forces,but controls them by the power of his
will.He
consciously infuses
life and consciousness and intelligence into them,an makes them act as he
pleases;they
obey his comman ,because they are a part of himself.The spiritualists o this
unconsciously;they
sing at their sιances,thinking that the more the con itions are harmonious the
better
will be the
manifestations.The true reason for this is,that the more the thoughts of the
sitters are in a
state of
abstraction,the more they are "absent-min e ,the easier it will be for
the Elementals to take
possession of
them.
The astral
elements use by the Elementals in spiritual sιances for the purpose of pro
ucing physical
phenomena,are
not only taken from the medi m ,but from all present,whose constitution is not
strong,
an who may
therefore be easily vampirize for the purpose of furnishing the require
elements.In
sιances for
materialization s,they are also taken from the clothing of those present,an
furnish material
for the rapery
of the "spirits ,an it has been observe ,that the clothing worn by
people who frequently
atten to such
sιances,wears out sooner than usual.
To bring
fresh-spille bloo into such "spiritual sιances ,increases the strength
of the "materialisations
very much,an a
knowle ge of such facts has given rise to some abominable practices of black
magic ,
which [Page 105
] are still going on in many parts of the world ,although secretly and unknown
to the public.
This knowle ge
has also un oubte ly given rise to the sacrifice of animals in the performance
of religious
ceremonies.A
certain executioner was unfortunately gifte with clairvoyance,an every time
after having
ecapitate a
person he coul see the "spirits of ea people sometimes even his frien s
an
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relatives
pounce upon the fresh-spille bloo of the criminal,an fee on its emanation and aura.It
is
also a fact
that,at a time when the bloo -drinking mania in Europe was starte by me ical
ignorance,
some people who
practise it became insane,an many became emoralise by it.[One of the favourite
ai s for the
materialism of spooks is the a ra seminalis ,which increases the power of
ghosts,elementals
an vampires for
assuming a substantial form.There are many curious practices going on at such
sιances,which we
must forbear to escribe.See "The Life and Doctrines of Theophrast s
Paracelsus
pages 66 and 90
The astral
remnant of man is without ju gment and reason,it goes wherever his instincts
attract it,or
wherever ny
unsatisfie craving impels it to go.If you wish to be haunte by the "ghost
of a man,attract
him by the power
of esire.Leave some promise you ma e to him unfulfille ,an instinctively the
astral
form of the
ecease will be attracte to you to seek its fulfillment,rawn to you by its own
unsatisfie
esire.
It is not his
fault if you o not perceive his presence and hear his voice,it is because your
astral senses
are asleep and unconscious;you
may feel his presence and it may cause a feeling of epression in your
min ;he speaks
to you,but in a language which you have not yet learne to un erstan .In those
elementary
remnants remains that which constitute the lower nature of man,an if they are
temporarily
infuse with
life,they will manifest the lower characteristics of the ecease ,such as have
not been
sufficiently
refine to join his immortal part.If a music-box is set to play a certain melo y
and ma e to
start,it will
pro uce that same melo y and no other,although it has no consciousness of its
own.The
remnant of
emotional and intellectual powers in the [Page 106 ] astral remnant of man
will,if this remnant is
ma e to
speak,become manifest in the same kin of language which the man uring his life
use to
speak.
The fresh corpse
of a person who has su enly been kille ,may be galvanise into a semblance of
life
by the application
of a galvanic battery.Likewise the astral corpse of a person may be brought
back into
an artificial
life by being infuse with a part of the life principle of the medium.If that
corpse is one of a
very
intellectual person,it may talk very intellectually;an if it was that of a
fool,it will talk like a fool.The
intellectual
action resembles mechanical motion in so far,that if it is once set into
action,it will continue
without any
special effort of the will,until impulse is exhauste .We often see this in aily
life.There are
ol and young
people frequently seen,who are in the habit of telling some favourite
story,which they
have alrea y tol
many times,an which they repeat on every occasion.It may be notice ,that when
such and one
begins to tell his story,it is of no use to tell him that one knows it alrea
y.He has to finish
the story
nevertheless.
An orator or a
preacher oes not nee to think and reason about each word he utters.When the
stream
of ideas once flows,it flows without any effort of
will.If life from a medium flows into the astral brain of a
ecease
person,that brain will elaborate its latent ideas in the same way it was accustome to o
uring life.
We also reason
while we ream;we raw logical conclusions uring our sleep;but reason is
absent,an
although,while
we ream,our logic seems to be reasonable,nevertheless we often see that it was
foolish,when we
awake and our reason returns.
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The mental
organism of man resembles a clockwork,which if it is once set into operation
will continue to
run until its
force is exhauste ;but there is no clockwork which win s itself up without
extraneous
assistance,and
there is no mental organism able to think without a power that causes it to
begin the
process of
intellectuation.
But here we must
raw the attention to one of the [Page 107 ] many angers of that amusement calle
the
practice of
spiritism.
In a eparte soul
the attraction of goo and evil still continues to act,until the final
separation of the
higher and the
lower takes place.It may follow the attraction of the higher principles and be
attracte to
"heaven
,or again come into contact with matter through the instrumentality of mediumship,take
again
part in the
whirling ance of life,though by vicarious organs;follow once more the se uction
of the
senses,an lose
entirely sight of the immortal self.
It is therefore
not merely angerous to a person to hol intercourse with the "spirits of
the eparte ;but
it is especially
injurious to the latter, as long as the final separation of their lower
principles from the
higher ones has
not yet taken place.Necromancy is a vile art,an so has therefore always been
abhorre .It may
isturb the blissful reams of the sleeping soul,which aspires to a higher state
of
existence.It is
like isturbing the peace of a saint uring his hours of me itation,or to se uce
a chil .It is
a step towards
egra ation;an as every impulse has a ten ency to repeat itself,the most
terrible
consequences may
follow after what seeme to be at first merely some innocent amusement.
These astral
remnants are use by the black magician and by the elemental forces in nature
for the
purpose of
evil.If they are unconscious,they will only serve as the blin instruments of
the latter;if they
are conscious he
may enter into and alliance and co-operate with them.
Such
alliance,either consciously or unconsciously on the part of him who enters into
such and nspirit al
intercourse,may
take place between and evil-dispose person and a very evil inhabitant of the
spiritual
plane.Many
people who are in actual possession of powers to work black magic ,work evil
unconsciously;that
is to say,they are unconscious of the effects which their will pro uces,an of
the
mo e in which it
acts.The spiritual force create by hate enters the organism of another,and the
person
from whom the
evil power procee s may be entirely ignorant of it.Such black [Page 108 ]
magicians
unconsciously
furnish the elements by which their own evil spirit acts.If the will of a black
magician is not
strong enough to
effect his evil purpose,the force will.return and kill the magician.This is un
oubte ly
true,and the
grossest illustration of it is,if a person by a fit of rage or jealousy is in
uce to kill himself.It
is the reaction
following and unfulfille esire,which in uces the rash act;the act is merely a
result of his
previous mental
state.
The surest
protection against all the practices of black magic,whether they are cause
consciously or
unconsciously,is
to acquire strength of character in other words,faith in the ivine power
within one's
own soul.
As man becomes
ennoble ,the lower elements in his constitution are thrown off and replace by
higher
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ones,an in a
similar manner a transformation takes place in the opposite way if he egra es
himself by
his thoughts and
acts.Sensual man attracts from the A'kβsa those elements that his sensuality
requires,
for gross
pleasures can only be felt by gross matter.A man with brutal instincts growing
and increasing
egra es himself
into a brute in character,if not in external form.But as the form is only and expression
of
character,even
that form may come to approach and animal in resemblance.
The proof of
this assertion is seen every ay,for we meet every ay in the streets brutish
men,whose
animal instincts
are only too well expresse in their external forms.We meet with human
snakes,hogs,
wolves,an those
upon whom alcohol has stampe his seal,an it oes not nee the instructions given
in book on
physiognomy to enable almost anybo y to rea the character of certain persons
more or less
correctly
expresse in their exterior forms.
In the physical
plane the inertia of matter is greater than in the astral plane,an consequently
its
changes are
slow.Astral matter is more active,an changes its form more rapi ly.The astral
bo y of a
man whose
character resemble and animal will therefore appear to the seer as and animal
in its outward
expression.[E.Swe
enborg:"Heaven and Hell ] [Page 109 ]
The astral form
of and evil person may appear in and animal shape if it is so fille with
brutish instincts as to
become i entifie
with the image of that animal which is the expression of such instincts.It may
even
enter the form
of and animal and obsess it,an it sometimes happens that it enters such forms
for its own
protection
against imme iate ecomposition and eath.
It woul be easy
to give anecdotes illustrating instances in which such things took place.[For
examples.
see
Goerres:"Christian Mysticism ;Maximillian Perty:"Mystic phenomena
in Nature ;D'Assier:
"Postumus
Humanity ;Catharine Crowe:"Nightsi e of Nature ;Hardinge
Britten:"History of Spiritualism ;
H.P.Blavatsky:"Isis
Unveile ,etc.,etc..] The principal object of the rea er shoul be to learn to
know
the nature of
his own constitution and the law which rules in all forms.If he once un erstan
s the mo es
in which the law
acts,it will be a matter of little importance to know in what particular cases
it has
manifeste itself
in such mo es.Accounts of phenomena can never supply the place of the
un erstan ing of
the law.
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CHAPTER IV
LIFE
"I never
was not ,nor shall I hereafter cease to be Bhagavad Gita
THE universe of
forms may be compare to a kalei oscope in which the various forms of the
original
energy manifest
themselves in and en less variety,appearing,isappearing,an re-appearing
again.As
in a kalei
oscope the pieces of variously coloure glass o not change their substance,but
only change
their
positions,an ,through the elusive reflections of mirrors at each turn of the
instrument,are ma e to
appear in new
constellations and figures,so the One Life manifesting itself appears in and infinite
number
of forms
unconscious or conscious,blin or intelligent,voluntary or involuntary,from the
atom whose
auras and ethers
rush through a common vortex,[Babbit:"Principles of Light and Colour ] up
to the
blazing suns
whose photospheres exten over millions of miles,an from the microscopic Amoeba
,up to
perfect
Man,whose intelligence conquers the go s.
Forms are
materialise thoughts.If you can control thought you can control life and call
into existence a
form;but few
persons are able to hol on to one thought even for one minute of time,because
their
min s are
wavering and their will is ivi e .If a form comes into existence on the
physical plane,its
growth is simply
a process by which something that alrea y exists in thought becomes visible an
material.This
something is the character of the form,an as each character is in ivi ual and a
whole,it
becomes expresse
in all parts of the form.A human being for instance will not have the bo y
of a
man,and the hea
of and animal,but its human character will be expresse in all its parts,an as
the
character
constituting humanity is expresse in all human in ivi uals,so is the character
of and in ivi ual
expresse in all
its parts.This is a truth upon which the octrines of
Astrology,Phrenology,Chiromancy,
Physiognomy,etc.,are
base ,which are necessarily true,because Nature is a Unity .An animal,a plant,
or a man,is a
unity,an is therefore expresse in all the parts of the forms.It can be
scientifically
emonstrate that
each component part of and organism is a microcosm,in which are represente the
principles
composing that organism.We may by examining a part of a leaf know that it comes
from a
plant,an by
looking at and animal substance see that it came from and animal,or by testing
even the most
minute part of a
mineral or metal know that it belongs to the mineral king om.Likewise we may
rea a
man's character
in his han s or face or feet or in any other part of his bo y,if we have
acquire the art
how to rea it
correctly.
Upon this law is
base the science of Psychometry .[Prof.W.Denton:"Soul of Things
.J.R.Buchanan:
"Manual of
Psychometry ] By this science we may obtain a true history of past events.By
psychometrically
examining a stone taken from a house we may obtain correct information in
regard to
the former or
present inhabitants of that house,or a fossil may give us a true escription of
ante iluvian
scenery and of
the mo e of life of prehistoric animals or men.By the psychometrical
examination of a
letter we may
obtain information about the person who wrote the letter and also of the place
in which the
letter was
written.[By submitting a letter which I ha receive in and occult manner from a
"Master in Tibet,
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to a German
peasant woman,for the purpose of having it examine psychometrically,I receive a
correct
escription of a certain temple in Tibet,an of certain persons with whom I
afterwards became
acquainte . H.]
If this art were universally known and practise ,criminals coul be etecte by
examining
psychometrically a piece of [Page 112 ] the wall,the floor,or the furniture of
the room in which a
mur er or
robbery was committe ;it woul make and en to convicting of innocent persons on
circumstantial
evi ence,or to letting the guilty escape for want of proof;for the psychometer
woul ,by
the superior
powers of his perception with the spiritual eye,see the murderer or robber or
counterfeiter
as plain as if
he ha seen them with his external eyes while the ee was committe .
Each form is the
external expression of a certain character which it represents,an as such it
has certain
peculiar
attributes,which istinguish it from other forms.A change of its character is
followe by a
gra ual change
of the form.An in ivi ual who becomes egra e in morals will,in the course of
time,
show his egra
ation in his external appearance;persons of a different appearance and
different
characters
may,in the course of time,as their characters harmonise,resemble each other to
a certain
extent in
appearance.Forms of life,belonging to the same class and species,resemble each
other,an
each nationality
has certain characteristics expresse in the in ivi uals belonging to it.A
full-bloo e
Irishman will
not easily be mistaken for a full-bloo e Spaniard,although the two may be resse
alike,
but,if they
emigrate,they or their chil ren will in time lose the national character which
they possesse .
Change of
character changes the form;but a change of form oes not necessarily change the
character.
A man may lose a
leg and become a cripple,an still his character may remain the same as before;a
chil may grow
into a man,an still his character remain that of a chil unless mo ifie by e
ucation.
These facts are
incontrovertible proofs that the character of a being is more essential than
his external
form.If the
character of and in ivi ual were todependon his inherite form,chil ren born of
the same
parents and e
ucate un er the same circumstances woul always manifest the same moral
characteristics,but
it is well known that the characters of such chil ren often iffer wi ely from
each
other,an possess
characteristics which their parents o not possess.[Page 113 ]
If,as it
frequently happens,chil ren show the same or similar talents and intellectual
capacities as their
parents,such a
fact is by no means a proof that the parents of the chil 's physical bo y are
also the
parents or pro
ucers of its intellectual germ;but it may be taken as and a itional evi ence of
the truth of
the octrine of
reincarnation ,because the spiritual mona of the chil woul be naturally
attracte ,in its
efforts to
reincarnate,to the bo ies of parents,whose mental and intellectual constitution
woul
correspon
nearest to its own talents and inclinations,evelope uring a previous earthly
life.
"Character
means "in ivi uality ,It is that which istinguishes one in ivi ual from
another.That which
represents the
true character of something is its in ivi ual being,an not its corporeal
form,an this
in ivi uality
exists after the corporeal bo y,which was the expression of its qualities which
has been
issolve .This in
ivi uality,calle the "so l ,is not seen with our physical eyes,neither
uring the life of
the form nor
after its eath.The life of the bo y may epart;but the life of the in ivi uality
is independent
from that of the
form or personality.
The in ivi
uality may belong either to a class as a whole,or to separate isolate beings.In
the lower
king oms no ddifferentiation
of character or soul exists;there is only a ddifferentiation of form;they have
one common
soul;but in intelligent beings a istinct in ivi uality belongs to each
form;each self-
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conscious being
has its own in ivi ual soul as soon as it has attaine and in ivi ual
character,an its
in ivi uality is
independent of the existence of its personality.Forms perish;but the in ivi
uality remains
unchange after
their eath.
Seen from this
stan point,"eath is life,because,uring the time that eath lasts,that
which is essential
oes not
change;life is eath,because only uring life in the form the character is change
,an ol
ten encies and inclinations
ie and are replace by others.Our passions and vices may ie while we
live;if they
survive us they will be born again.[Page 114 ]
The character of
and oak exists before the acorn begins to grow,but the growing germ attracts
from earth
an air such
elements as it nee s to pro uce and oak;the soul of a chil exists as such
before the
physical form of
the chil is born into the world ,an uring its life in the form it may attract
from the
spiritual
atmosphere the elements to which its aspirations and ten encies reach.Each see
will grow
best in the soil
that is best a apte to its constitution,each human mona existing in the
subjective state
will be attracte
at the time of its incarnation to parents whose qualities furnish the best soil
for its own
ten encies and inclinations,an
whose moral and mental attributes correspon to its own.The physical
parents cannot
be the progenitors of the spiritual germ of the chil ;that germ is the pro uct
of a previous
spiritual
evolution,through which it has passe in connection with former objective
lives.In the present
existence of a being
the character of the being that will be its successor is prepare .Therefore
every
man may be truly
sai to be his own father;for he is the incarnate result of the personality
which he
evolve in his
last life upon the planet,and the next personality which he will represent in
his next visit
upon this
globe,is evolve by him uring his present life.
The evelopment
of a plant reaches its climax in the evelopment of the see ;the evelopment of
the
animal bo y
reaches its climax in the capacity to repro uce its form,but the intellectual
and spiritual
evelopment of a
man goes on long after he has acquire the power of repro uction,an it may not
have
reache its
climax when the physical form is on the ownward path,an ceases to live.The con
ition of
the physical bo
y un oubte ly furnish facilities for the evelopment of character in the same
sense as a
goo soil will
furnish facilities for the growth of a tree;but the best soil cannot transform
a thistle into a
rose-bush,and
the son of a goo and intellectual man may be a villain or a unce.
As the primor
ial essence procee s to manifest itself in forms,it escen s from the universal
con ition to
[Page 115 ]
general,special,an finally in ivi ual states.As it ascen s again to the
formless,the scale is
reverse ,and the
in ivi ual units expan ,to mingle again with the whole.Life on the lowest
planes
manifests itself
in and un differentiate con ition;air has no strictly efine shape;one rop of
water in the
ocean shares and
existence common to all other rops;one piece of clay is essentially the same as
another.In the
vegetable and animal king om the universal principle of life manifests itself
in in ivi ual
forms;still
there is little ifference between in ivi ual plants,trees,animals,an men
belonging to the
same species,and
the peculiar attributes which istinguish one in ivi ual form from another cease
to
exist when the
form isappears.That which essentially istinguishes one in ivi ual from another
is
independent of
form.Distinctions of form isappear after the forms have issolve ;istinctions of
character
remain.Those attributes which raise their possessors eminently above the common
level begin
at a state where
external appearances cease to be of great consequence.Socrates was eforme an
yet a great
genius;the size of Napoleon's bo y was not at all in proportion with the
greatness of his
intellect.Spirituality
rises above the grave of the form,and the influence of great min s often grows
stronger after
the bo ies that serve them have turne to ust.Strong min s exert a power far
beyon
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their physical
form while they live;that power remains what it is when they ie.They o not ie
when the
form isappears.
All characters
may become reincarnate or reimbo ie after they have left the form,but if and in
ivi ual
has no specific
character of its own the common character belonging to its species or class
will be all
that,after
leaving the ol bo y,can enter the new.If and in ivi ual has evelope a specific
character of
its own,that
istinguishes it from its fellows,that in ivi ual character will in ivi ually
survive the
issolution of
its form,because the law that applies to the whole,or to the class,will also
apply to the
part.A rop of
water mixe in a bo y of water will become isperse in the mass,it may be
evaporate
an con ense
again,[Page 116 ] but it will never again be the same rop;but if a rop of some
ethereal
oil is mixe with
the water,and the whole is evaporate in a retort,it will,after being con ense
,form
again the same
in ivi ual rop in the mass.A character may lose its in ivi uality uring life
and sink to
the common
level,but if it bas establishe a istinction from others,its in ivi uality will
survive the eath
of the form.To
buil up a character and in ivi ual form is require ;to buil up and in ivi ual
form a
character must
exist.
If we wish to
pro uce a form we must first eci e upon its character.A sculptor who woul
aimlessly cut a
stone,without
making up his min as to what form he esire to pro uce,woul not accomplish
anything
great.The form
is a temple of learning for the character,in which the latter gains experience
by passing
through the
struggles of life.The har er the struggle the faster may the character of the
in ivi ual
become evelope
;an easy life may increase the size of the form,but leave the character weak;a
hard
struggle may
weaken the form,but strengthens the spirit.
If we wish to
make a new form out of ol clay,we must first of all etermine what that form
shall be which
we are about to
create.The clay is passive,we may moul it into a thing of beauty or make it to
represent
something vile.If we wish to change our character for the better uring our
life,we must first of
all learn to
know a higher purpose of life,an reach up for a higher ideal,to be realise
within our own
self.After this
nothing else nee s to be one but to keep away everything that will prevent this
ideal to
realise itself
in us.If we only protect it in its work,it will accomplish that work alone and without
our active
co-operation.We
nee not run after,catch,invent,create or manufacture our ideal,we only nee to
let
that which alrea
y exists become a reality in us.We cannot even grow a cabbage;we can only
prepare
the con itions
un er which a cabbage can grow.We cannot grow and ideal in us;the ideal grows
itself ,if
we furnish the
soil,an that soil is our life.
If our soul is
to expan its consciousness beyon the [Page 117 ] narrow limits of this world
and realise the
glory of and universal
existence,then must we let a high and universal ideal realise itself in
us.Dreaming
an talking of
some ideal is to no purpose,we must let it nourish itself by our life.Wis om
and Power,
Love and Truth,Justice
and Knowle ge,are no objects for reaming or for scientific research;they must
become our life
and nourish us by our living in harmony with these universal
principles,otherwise we
cannot rise
above the limitation of form,which is the cause of the elusion of separation
and personality.
From the
illusion of separate ness cause by the realisation of form arises this elusion
of self.From this
elusion arise
innumerable others.From the sense of self arises the love of self,the esire for
continuance of
personality,gree ,avarice,envy,jealousy,fear,oubt and sorrow,pain and eath,an
the whole range
of sufferings which ren er life miserable and afford no permanent happiness.If
a person
is miserable and
can fin no happiness in himself,the surest and quickest way for him to be
contente is
to forget his
own personality.
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A person living
in a continual state of isolation of the heart,cares for nothing but for his
own personality.
He passes away
his life in reaming of that which he oes not possess,an thus he loses his
spiritual
substance and power,becoming
himself like a vapoury ream.
Isolation on the
physical plane pro uces starvation.He who is not nourishe by the spirit of
universal
love starves his
soul.An organism upon a low scale of existence,a stone,en ures isolation;a
scrub pine
may live in a
place where no higher plant can exist.An i iot may live alone in a cave and not
trouble
himself,because
he has no spiritual aspirations requiring nourishment;but one who esires to
attain life
an strength in
the spirit,must be nourishe by that spirit,whose name is universal spiritual
love.
As on the
physical plane,so on the astral plane,isolation pro uces starvation.A esire
locke up in the
heart fee s on
the life of him who harbours it;store up anger seeks for some object upon which
to [Page
118 ] spen
itself;passions are never contente ,they always clamour for more.The forces of
the astral
plane are
conscious,even if not intelligent;they refuse to be "kille out ,they cry
for life,an follow the
currents of
life's attractions.The astral soul of a runkard will be attracte to
runkards;the astral spook
of the lew seek
enjoyment in a brothel through the organs of another;the ghost of the miser is
hovering
over his burie
treasures until the force which put him there is exhauste .There are
spooks,ghosts,
vampires
incubi,succubi,an elementals of various kin s,all thirsting for life.
An isolate esire
oes not ie,but grows into a passion;passions grow stronger at one's expense by
being imprisone
.Accumulate energy cannot be annihilate ,it must be transferre to other
forms,or be
transforme into
other mo es of motion;it cannot remain for ever inactive.It is useless to
attempt to
resist a passion
which one cannot control.If its accumulating energy is not le into other channels
it will
grow until it
becomes stronger than reason.To control it,it shoul be le into another and higher
channel.Thus a
love for something vulgar may be change by turning it into a love for something
high,
an vice may be
turne into virtue by changing its aim.Passion is blin ,it goes where it is le
to,an
requires reason
to gui e it.Love for a form isappears with the eath of the form,or soon
after;love of
character
remains even after the form in which that character was embo ie cease to exist.
The ancients sai
that Nat re suffers no vacu m .We cannot estroy or annihilate a passion.If one
passion is riven
away another will take its place.We shoul therefore not attempt to estroy the
low,but
isplace the low
by the high;vice by virtue,an superstition by knowle ge.
There are some
persons who live in perfect isolation on the intellectual plane.They are such
whose
thoughts are
entirely absorbe by intellectual speculation,having no time or inclination to
atten to the
claims of their
character.They fee their brains while [Page 119 ] their hearts are ma e to
starve.They live
in reams and scientific
illusions,in the smoke of the speculations arising from their vapoury
brains.They
are like
misers,filling the min with what they believe to be immortal
treasures,consisting of collections
of
theories,ogmas,hypotheses,suppositions,inferences,an sophistry,while they have
no room for
the evelopment
of spirituality or the ivine knowle ge of self.This class is constitute of the
very
learne ,the
great ogmatists,rationalists,material philosophers,an "sceptical
scientists of our age,
with overgrown
brains and petrifie hearts.They argue about immortality or eny its
existence,instea of
seeking to
attain it;they sometimes become criminals for the sake of gratifying their
scientific curiosity.
Their astral
corpses will continue to exist for a while after the eath of the bo y,until
their life is
exhauste ,an
having attaine no spirituality uring terrestrial life,they will,after their
borrowe
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treasures have
eparte ,be spiritual i iots.
There exists no
isolation on the spiritual plane,nor can we speak of isolation in Go ;for if Go
is self-
existent,self-conscious,self-knowing,an
self-sufficient,his self,his existence,his knowle ge encloses
the All with all
of his creatures.Well may he who has gaine the knowle ge of his own ivine self
be
satisfie to live
in a tomb;for what other company shoul be esire by one who enjoys the presence
of
Go ;what comfort
shoul be given to one who lives in ivine peace;what coul be offere to one who
possesses the
All?
Life itself
never perishes;only the forms perish,if life ceases to manifest itself in them.
Life is
universally present in nature,it is containe in every particle of matter,an
only when the last
particle of life
has eparte the form ceases to exist.Life in a stone oes not appear to exist,an
yet
without life
there woul be no cohesion of its atoms.If the life-principle were extracte from
a mineral its
form woul be
annihilate .A see taken from the tomb of and Egyptian mummy began to germinate
an
grow after [Page
120 ] it was plante in the earth,having kept its life-principle uring a sleep
of many
centuries.If the
activity of animal life coul be correspon ingly arreste ,an animal or a man
might
prolong in ivi
ual existence to and in efinite perio .Stones may live from the beginning of a
Manvantara
unto its en
;some forms reach a very ol age,but if the life-impulse is once given it is
ifficult to arrest it
without
estroying the form.[If the life of a person coul be suspen e by arresting its
activity for some
years (as has
been actually one in the well-known instances of burie fakirs),we might
preserve all our
great statesmen
and politicians for ages,an wake them up only on occasions when their a vice
woul
be require ???]
Life may be
transferre from one form upon another,and the power by which it may be
transferre is the
power of
Love,because Love,Will and Life are essentially the same power,or different aspects
of one,in
the same sense
as heat and life are mo ifications of motion.The power of hate may kill,and the
power
of love has been
known to call the apparently ea back to life.Spiritual Love is Life,a spiritual
power
more powerful
than all the rugs of the Pharmacopoeia.A person may actually give his life to
another
an ie himself,so
that another may live.This transfer can be ma e and sick persons restore to
health,
by the power of
love.
The fountain of
this universal love is also the source of the life of all things;it is ivine
self-
consciousness,the
power by which Go recognises himself in everything;in other words,it is ivine
wisdom,the Light
.["In him was the life,and the life was the light of all men . John
i.4.also "He is the
light in all
luminous things.He is the Knower,the Knowle ge,and the object of Knowle ge
.-Bhagavad
Gita xiii.17.]It
is everywhere present,an manifests itself in every form capable to correspon to
its
living
vibrations.It cannot be foun by vivisection nor by means of the microscope,telescope,or
chemical
analysis,an mo ern science knows nothing about it.Nevertheless it is a
principle or power,in
an through which
we all live and have our being,an if it were with rawn [Page 121 ] from us for
one
moment,we woul
be imme iately annihilate .
To be blin to
the universal presence of this Light is to be blin to the fact that grasses and
trees,men
an animals,live
and grow,an that every form strives to be initiate into a higher egree
according to
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the law of
evolution.The buil ing of the "Temple of Solomon goes on
unceasingly.Invisibly act the
elements of
nature,the master buil ers of the universe,an no soun of a hammer is heard.Life
inhabits
a form,an when
the form is ecaye it gathers the elements and buil s itself a new house.A rock,
expose to the
action of win and rain,begins to ecay on its surface the elements gather again
an
appear in a new
form.Minute plants and mosses grow on the surface,living and ying and being
reborn,
until the soil
accumulates and higher forms come into existence.Centuries may pass away before
this
part of the work
is complete ;but finally grasses will grow,and the life that was formally
ormant in a
rock now manifests
itself in forms capable to enter the animal king om.A worm eats a plant,and the
life
of the plant
becomes active and conscious in a worm;a bird eats the worm and the life that
was chaine
to a form
crawling indarkness and filth,now partakes of the joys of and inhabitant of the
air.At each step
on the la er of
progression life acquires new means to manifest its activity,and the eath of
its previous
form enables it
to step into a higher one.But a time arrives in the process of its evolution
when its activity
becomes so high
and its sphere so expan e ,that no physical organism,no form of which we can
conceive,will be
able to serve as and instrument in which its attributes coul fin and appropriate
expression.Then
will the mortal frame be too insignificant to serve the immortal genius,and the
free
Eagle will arise
from the form.
Forms are
nothing but symbols of life,and the higher the life expresses itself the higher
will be the form.
An acorn is and insignificant
thing compare with the oak,but it has a character,an through the magic
action of life
it may evelop into and oak.The germ of its in ivi ual [Page 122 ] life is
incarnate in the
acorn,an forms
the point of attraction for the universal principle of life.Its character is
alrea y forme ,
an if it grows
it can become nothing else but and oak.Burie in the earth it grows and evelops
from a
lower into a
higher state through the influence of the highest,because the principle of life
is present in it.
But however
great its potency for growth may be,still it cannot germinate without the
life-giving influence
of the universal
fountain of life reaching it through the power of the sun,and the sun coul not
make it
grow unless the
same principle of life were containe within the germ.
The rays of the
sun penetrate from their airy regions to the earth;their light cannot enter the
soli earth,
which protects
the ten er see of a plant from the fiery rays,whose activity woul estroy its
inherent
vitality.But the
see is touche by the heat that ra iates into the earth,an a special mo e of
life
manifests itself
in the see .The see begins to sprout,and the germ struggles towards the source
of the
life-giving
influence,an strives towards the light.The roots have no esire for light,they
only crave for
nutriment,which
they fin in the ark caverns of matter.They penetrate eeper into the earth,an
may
even absorb the
activity of the higher parts of the plant.But if these parts belong to a
species whose
character it is
to grow towards the light,its nobler portions will enter its sphere,an
ultimately bear
flowers and fruits.
The soul of man
being burie in matter,feels the life-giving influence of the supreme spiritual
sun,while
at the same time
it is attracte by matter.If man's whole attention is attracte to the claims of
his bo y,if
all his
aspirations and esires are irecte to satisfy the esires of his "self ,he
will himself remain a
thing of
earth,incapable to become conscious of the existence of Light.But if he strives
for Light an
opens his soul
to its ivine influence,he will enter its sphere and become conscious of its
existence.
The true Elixir
of Life can only be foun at the eternal fountain of life.It springs from the
seventh
principle,manifesting
itself as spiritual power in the [Page 123 ] sixth and she ing its light own
into the
fifth,illuminating
the min .In the fifth it is manifest as the intellectual power in man,ra iating
own into
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the fourth it
creates esires,by calling forth instincts in the lower tria ,and thereby
enabling the forms to
raw the elements
which they nee from the storehouse of nature.It for ever calls men to life by
the
voice of
truth,whose echo is the power of intuition crying in the wil erness of our hearts,baptising
the
souls with the
water of truth,an pointing out to them the true path to the realisation of
their own
immortality.[Page
124 ]
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CHAPTER V
HARMONY
Let no one
enter here who is not well verse in mathematics and music . Pythagoras.
To listen to the
music of the spheres is a poetical,expression,but it expresses a great
truth;because the
Universe is
fille with harmony,an a soul who is in full harmony with the soul of the
universe may listen
to that music
and un erstan it.The world as well as man resemble musical instruments,in which
every
string shoul be
in perfect order,so that no iscordant notes may be soun e .We may look upon
matter
on the physical
plane as a state of low vibration and upon spirit as the highest vibration of
life,an
between the two
poles are the interme iary states constituting the gran octave calle Man .
Plato is sai to
have written over the oor of his aca emy:Let no one enter here,unless he is
verse in
mathematics
,an Pythagoras eman e of his isciples and a itional knowle ge of music
;meaning
the capacity to
keep their soul attune to the harmonies of the ivine law of being,so as to be
able to
realise the
beauty of truth;for without such and elevation of soul and without
spirituality,all esire for a
knowle ge of
that which transcen s the realm of the sensual is merely and outcome of
vanity,an insane
craving for
gratifying curiosity,which efeats its own en ;because the more one seeks to
examine
objectively the
One which inclu es the All,the more oes he rece e from it and separate himself
from the
realisation of
that truth which is one,eternal,omnipresent and infinite.[Page 125 ] It is not
the personality of
man that can
grasp the impersonal.If man wants to know Go ,he must ie to himself,an enter Go
's
nature;which
means that he must overcome the isharmony cause by the elusion of ivision,
separation and self,an
again realise the unity of the whole.
The foun ation
of nature is Unity.Go is only One.He is the Law,an requires no law-giver
;being
Himself
omnipresent within the All of his nature;self-sufficient,self-existent and absolute.The
Law is
everywhere,an
everything exists in the Law,an without the law of existence no existence is to
be
foun .
But as by the
act of creation and subsequent evolution a variety of forms comes into
existence,with
innumerable
beings capable to will,an to think,an to use the law contrary to ivine
wisdom,many
isharmonies are
cause in what ought to be a harmonious whole.
Thus the law is
still the same;but its action may be misapplie and its use perverte .It is
still the
foun ation of
every in ivi ual being,and the sooner each in ivi ual will become able to
recognise the
highest and fun
amental law of its own nature,which is i entical with the law that rules the
All,the
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sooner will the
original harmony be restore .
Man is himself
and outcome of the action of law,an that law is in him.It is the centre and fountain
of his
own being;he is
and expression of it,an it is his true self.He is himself the law,an will
recognise
himself as the
law when he learns to know his true self.All the elements in his nature which o
not
recognise this
one universal law,an act in accordance with it,o not belong to man's ivine
nature;they
are not his real
self,but pro uce the isharmony which exist in his world .Only when all the
inhabitants of
his king om will
bow before the superiority of that law,will there be perfect harmony.
In every
epartment of nature every effectdepends on a correspon ing cause,an every cause
will
pro uce a
certain effect accor ing to the con itions in which it becomes manifest.If we
knew the causes
we coul easily
calculate their effects.Each thought,each word,each [Page 126 ] act creates a
cause,
which acts
irectly on the plane to which it belongs,creating there new causes,which react
again upon
the other
planes.A motive or thought which fin s no expression in and act will have no
irect result on the
physical
plane,but it may cause great emotions in the sphere of min ,and these may again
react on the
physical
plane.The best intention will pro uce no visible effect unless it is put into
execution;but
intentions pro
uce certain mental states,that may be pro uctive of actions at some time in the
future.
The performance
of and act will have and effect,no matter whether it was preme itate or not,but
and act
without a motive
will not irectly affect the planes of thought.Such and act imposes no moral
responsibility
upon the
performer,but it will,nevertheless,have its effects on the physical plane that
may react upon
the min .
From the causes
create on the physical,astral,an spiritual planes innumerable combinations of
effects
come into
existence,creating new causes,that are again followe by effects,an every force
that is put
into action on
either plane continues to act until it is exhauste by transformations into
other mo es of
action,when its
vibrations will be change into others,and the previous effects will cease to
exist.
By the threefol
action of that law as tho ght ,will ,an performance on the physical,emotional,
intellectual and
spiritual planes a great many con itions ensue which give rise to en less mo
ifications
an varieties,an
again pro uce innumerable secon ary causes,which again pro uce effects,an at
last the actions
of the law of Karma will become so complicate ,that it is impossible to follow
it into its
etails.
The law of Karma
is the law of justice for the purpose of restoring harmony;it inclu es
retribution in the
shape of
punishment an reward .It knows nothing of revenge ,neither oes it
recognise any
personal
merits;it is the Law itself,an acts according to its own nature and not in
accordance to this or
that consi
eration.It is the law according to which the sum of the causes create by one in
ivi ual in on
incarnation will
pro uce certain effects in his next [Page 127 ] incarnation,an cause him to
either enjoy or
suffer that which
he has either willingly,an with etermination,or ignorantly create himself.Every
being
in nature having
attaine in ivi uality has its own in ivi ual Karma ,etermining the course of
its future
career;each of
the in ivi ual elements in the constitution of man has its own Karma ,an man
being
i entifie with
his nature,partakes of the Karma of the principles which constitute his own
nature;but as
Go is superior
to nature and therefore not subject to it,so the in ivi ual man who conquers
his nature,
rises above
it,an becoming one with the law,becomes free of the Karma affecting his
terrestrial nature.
Giving his
nature away ,an sacrificing himself wholly to the law of ivine being,he also
forgives his
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sins.
The iscords in
nature,cause by the action of the elu e self-will and the perverte esires of
in ivi ual
entities,cannot cease in any other way than by the restoration of the unity of
the in ivi ual will
with the will of
the fun amental law of the whole.This unity exists;it oes not nee to be create
by man;
he is only
require to recognise it.If he recognises it practically,it will become realise
in him.Personal
man cannot
recognise himself as being this Unity,because he is ivi e against himself;his
self is an
illusion,an and illusion
cannot become a realisation of truth.If the truth becomes realise ,the illusion
ceases to be.
All numbers are
the outcome of one;in all numbers the one is containe ,an without the one at
the
bottom no
numbers coul come into existence.This number one remains always the
same;whether
ivi e or
multiplie by itself,it oes not change.All mathematics is base upon the faith
into the
immutability of
number one.We have no positive proof that it never changes;our knowle ge about
it is
only
negative;because it has never been known to change.In the same way our
intellectual knowle ge
of Go is only
negative;we cannot prove his eternal immutability scientifically;we only
believe in it;the
only proof we
have of it is,that our own inner self-consciousness,if [Page 128 ] we have once
attaine it,
remains ever the
same.This proof is sufficient for the wise;but it will go for nought with the
fool.
The foun ation
of nature is one ;but the numbers of its manifestation appear to be
infinite.Nevertheless,
all things in
nature are relate to each other,owing to their relation to the one ,which is at
the bottom or
their existence.
Everything has
its number,measure,an weight,and there is nothing in nature which is not rule
by
mathematical
laws.Suns and stars have their perio ical revolutions.The molecules of bo ies
combine in
certain
proportions,known to chemistry,an in all events on the physical plane as well
as in the realm of
the emotions a
certain regularity and perio icity has been observe .There are regular hours
for the
appearance of ay
and night,fixe intervals for spring and summer,autumn and winter,for ebbs an
ti es in the
ocean and in the waters constituting the soul.The physiological and anatomical
changes in
animal forms
occur at fixe perio s,an even the events of life take place according to
certain occult
laws;because,although
man's will seems to be free,nevertheless his actions are controlle by certain
circumstances,an
even the comparative free om of his will is a result of the action of the law
of his
evolution.
The followers of
Pythagoras believe every process in nature to be regulate by certain
numbers,which
are as follows:
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3 9 15 45
4 16 34 136
5 25 65 325
6 36 111 666
7 49 175 1225
8 64 260 2080
9 81 369 3321
This table
represents a succession of numbers,which are obtaine by the construction of
Tetragrams or
magic sq ares
,an it was believe that by the use of these numbers every effect coul be
calculate if
the original
[Page 129 ] number referring to the cause were known.If everything has a
certain number of
vibrations,an if
these vibrations increase or iminish at a certain ratio and in regular perio
s,a
knowle ge of
these numbers will enable us to pre ict a future event.[The magic squares of o
numbers
are forme as
escribe below:by writing own the numbers of their squares in regular
succession,
cutting out
their heart an transposing the numbers that are left to their opposite
places.The following
is the process
in forming the magic square of the number III.The square of 3 is 9:
We see here the
numbers 1,3,7,9,left on the outsi e of the square.If they are inserte in a
certain
or er into the
blank spaces at the opposite si es of the square,the following figure will be
the result:
These numbers,if
a e in any column of three,will always pro uce 15.
The following
will make still clearer the order in which the numbers are to be inserte ,with
the figure
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rawn in and upright
position.
Accor ing to
this principle,all the other magic squares of o numbers are ma e.
The following is
the tetragram of the number seven:
Each column a e
together pro uces 175.
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The numbers
omitte here may be inserte by the stu ent.
The construction
of tetragrams of even numbers is more complicate ,but the following examples
will
show the
principles after which they are constructe .
VI
6
(32)(3)(43)(35)1
(7)11 (27)(28)8
(30)
(24)(14)16 15
(23)(19)
(13)(20)22 21
(17)(18)
(25)29 (10)(9)26
(12)
36
(5)(33)(4)(2)31
Summa =111
VIII
8
(58)(62)(4)(5)(59)(63)1
(9)15
(51)(53)(52)(54)10 (16)
(48)(18)22
(44)(45)19 (23)(41)
(25)(39)(35)29
28 (38)(34)(32)
(33)(31)(27)37
36 (30)(26)(40)
(24)(42)46
(20)(21)43 (47)(17)
(49)55
(11)(13)(12)(14)50 (56)
64
(2)(6)(60)(61)(3)(7)57
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Summa =260
Every person has
a certain number that expresses his character,an if we know that number,we
may,by
the use of the
magic squares,calculate certain perio ical changes in his mental and emotional
states,
which in uce him
to make certain changes in his outward con itions,an in this way calculate
approximately
the time when some important changes may take place in his career.]
Perio icity is a
manifestation of universal law,an and attention to it may lea to some important
iscoveries.Its
actions have long ago been known to exist in the vibrations pro ucing light and
soun ,
an it has
recently been recognise in chemistry by experiments ten ing to prove that all
so-calle
simple elements
[Page 130 ] are only various states of vibrations of one primordial
element,manifesting
itself in seven
principal mo es of action,each of which to be sub-divi e into seven [Page 131 ]
again.The
ifference which
exists between so-calle single substances is,therefore,no ifference of
substance
[Page 132 ] or
matter,but only a ifference of the function of matter or in the ratio of its
atomic vibration.
This perio icity
is also known to exist in the macrocosm of the universe;the ti e of
civilisation rises an
sinks according
to certain laws,an ages of spiritual ignorance are followe by eras of spiritual
enlightenment;upon
the Kali Y ga follows the Satya Y ga (the era of wisdom),as sure as ay follows
the
night.[This
perio icity is state to be as follows:-
Satya Y ga
=4,800 ivine years.
Treta Y ga
=3,600 ivine years
Dwapara Y ga
=2,400 ivine years
Kali Y ga =1,200
ivine years
Each ivine year
being equal to 360 years of mortal men.See H.P.Blavatsky:Theosophical Glossary
]
The number Seven
represents the scale of nat re,it is represente in all epartments of
nature,from the
ra iant
sun,whose light is broken by a ew rop into the seven colours of the rainbow,own
to the
snowflake
crystallising in six-pointe stars aroun the invisible centre.The law of seven
has been foun
to rule in the
evelopment and growth of vegetable and animal organisms,in the constitution of
the
universe,an in
the constitution of Man.Seven is the rule by which the totality of existence is
measure ,
but Five is the
number of Harmony .If the fifth note in the musical scale is in accor with the
first and the
thir ,harmony
will be the result.There are other accords which are harmonious,but the most
perfect
accord is cause
by the harmony of the first,the third,and the fifth.Two soun s may be
harmonious,but
to attain a
perfect accord a third one is require .The same law rules in the constitution
of Man.If his
bo y (his first
principle)is in accord with his instincts (the thir ),he experiences pleasant
sensations,but
full harmony and
happiness is only attaine when his fifth principl e [Page 133 ] (his
intelligence)fully
assents in the
union of the first and the third.Other parallels may be rawn between the
musical scale
and the scale of
principles in man,an it will be foun that both have their accords in moll and in
d r that
correspon to
each other.Each man's life is a symphony,in which either harmonious or
iscordant tunes
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may prevail.
The power by
which harmony is pro uce is the power of Love.Love pro uces union and harmony,hate
causes issension
and iscor .Love is the power of mutual recognition;recognition is a
manifestation of
consciousness,consciousness
is a manifestation of life.Life,Love,Consciousness,Harmony,are
essentially
one.Love is the power by which a being existing in one form recognises itself
in the form of
another
being.Why o some notes,if soun e together,pro uce harmony,if not on account of
the
similarity of
the elements that compose them coming to the consciousness of our own min
?Mutual
recognition
among frien s causes joy,an joy means harmony,happiness,an content.
If two or more
notes of exactly the same kin are soun e together,they pro uce neither harmony
nor
iscord,they
simply increase their own strength.They are alrea y one,in form and in
spirit;but if
different notes
are struck,each containing and element also containe in the other,each sees its
own
counterpart
represente in the mirror hel by the other,an this recognition is joy.If we
listen to beautiful
music the air
seems fille with life.If the principle of harmony exists within ourselves we
recognise it in
music;it becomes
alive in our soul.A iscor ant being may listen to the most beautiful music and will
experience no
pleasure because there is no harmony within his own soul.
If a principle
becomes conscious of its own existence in another form and recognises its
beauty in that
form in its
purity,an unalloye by any a ulteration,perfect harmony is the result.If two or
more things
contain the same
element,these elements are justly a apte to each other,an seek to unite,because
they are
constitute alike,they vibrate together as one.This ten ency [Page 134 ] to
unite is Attraction ,
which manifests
itself on all planes of existence.The planets are attracte to the sun and to
each other,
because they all
contain the same elements,seeking to reunite,and the power of gravitation is
nothing
else but the
power exercise by love.Man is attracte to woman and woman to man,because if
they
realise in each
other the presence of the elements of their own ideal,they will love each other
and be
fully contente
.Man and woman can only truly love each other if they are both attracte by the
same
ideal.This ideal
may be high or low,but the higher it is the more permanent will it be,and the
greater will
be their mutual
happiness.
Original man was
a Unity;an ethereal being,in whom will and thought were one.Being misle by the
allurements of
sensual existence he began to ream,an while he reame he forgot his own ivine
nature and became
a worm of the earth.When he opene his eyes,he foun the woman before him.He,
the original
unity ha become ivi e in two;which means that his will and his reason ha become
ivi e ;they were
no longer in harmony with each other and no longer in harmony with the law.Man
represents the
imagination,womand the will.If they ha both separate themselves from the law as
they
i from each
other,woman woul have no intelligence and man woul have no will;but fortunately
some
of the original
nature that constitute original man remaine with them;they still are both to a
certain
extent embo
iments of the law,an by entering again into harmony with the law,will and intelligence
will
become unite in
wisdom;the heart one with the hea ;the true man and the true woman one
being.This
is the celestial
marriage of the soul with the spirit,of beauty with strength,of which all
external marriages
are at best
symbols but usually caricatures.
Mankind is only
one,but it appears in many millions of various masks.This mask is the
personality of
each man,the
instrument through which his humanity acts,an which is full of
imperfections.He,in
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whom humanity
has become conscious,sees in every man and [Page 135 ] woman not only his
brother or
sister,but his
own self .A person who injures another,injures himself,for each man constitutes
a power
which acts upon
all the elements constituting humanity and the goo or evil he oes will return
to himself;
because whatever
takes place in humanity,takes place within his own nature;for his true nature
is that of
humanity and the
bo y of humanity belongs to it as a whole.
Love is
self-recognition.You cannot love a thing or recognise yourself in it,if you are
not relate to it.You
cannot love
humanity if you have not the principle of humanity alive in you;you cannot love
Go and still
remain Mr Smith
or Mrs Jones;only Go can love Go .To love Go you must outgrow yourself an
become truly
ivine.He who claims to love Go without having any spiritual knowle ge of Him is
a
hypocrite or a
fool.
Love is
self-knowle ge,Go .It is a spiritual,self-existent,an self-sufficient
principle,requiring for its
own being only
its own self;but without some object it cannot become manifest,and the quality
of its
manifestationdepends
on the quality of that object.A person in love with himself loves a
nothing.Love in
the high acts
high,in the egra e ,low.The more universal the object,the more will the power
of love in
a person expand
the min ;but the min ,to be so expan e ,must be strong,a weak min has no power.
Love,to be
strong,must be pure,intelligent,an unalloye with selfish consi erations.If we
love a thing
on account of
the use we can make of it,we o not in reality love that thing,but
ourselves.Pure love has
only the
well-being of its object in view,it oes not calculate profits,an is not afrai
of isa vantages
that may grow
out of its love.The intellect calculates,but love is its own law.
Impure love is
weak and oes not enter into its object;it may cause a ruffle on the soul of
another,but
oes not
penetrate to the centre.Pure love penetrates and cannot be resiste .The most
potent love
potion a person
can give to another is to love that person without any selfish object in
view.[Page 136 ]
If you wish to
progress on the roa to perfection,take lessons in love.Learn to love the
highest,an you
will be attracte
by it.Love in every man not the person,but his humanity.If you espise another
you
espise your own
self,because he who prominently notices the faults of another has the elements
of
those faults in
himself.A vain person is repulse by the vanity of another,a liar expects from
others the
truth,a thief
oes not wish to have his own property taken away.
Each man is a
mirror in which every other man may see his own image reflecte ,either as he is
or as he
may become in
the future,for in every human soul exist the same elements,although in different
states
of evelopment,and
there evelopment oftendepends on external con itions over which man has but
little control.
Love is the most
necessary element for the continuance of life;there is no life without love,an
if man
were to cease to
love life he woul cease to live.A love for a higher life will lea men to a
higher
con ition,a love
for a lower state will rag them own to the low.It often happens that if a
person's love
for a high ideal
oes not meet the object which it esires,it transfers its love upon something
that is low.
Ol females
without any offspring often transfer their parental affection upon some
favourite cat or og,
and there are
men who buy the semblance of love when no genuine love can be ha .
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Whenever a lower
vibration is not entirely out of harmony with a higher one,the higher vibration
accelerates the
action of the lower one and brings it up to its own level,in the same manner as
a bar of
iron,surroun e
by and insulate electric wire,may have electricity in uce in it,an through a
long-
continue and powerful
action of the higher vibrations upon the lower ones,even the involuntary
actions
of the bo y,such
as the movements of the heart,may become subject to in ivi ual will.Two strings
of a
musical
instrument which soun not entirely out of harmony,by being soun e together for
a certain
length of
time,at last become harmonious;a man living in more refine society,which is not
too far
above his moral
or [Page 137 ] intellectual level,will become more refine ,servants will ape
their masters,
an animals take
some of the lower characteristics of those that atten to them,an frien s or
marrie
couples being
continually in each other's company may finally resemble each other to a
certain extent.
If the
respective rates of the vibrations of two substances are entirely out of
harmony,they may repel
each other,an
abnormal activity or excitement follows.The animal bo y,for instance,can be
expose
without anger to
a comparatively high egree of heat,if the temperature is gra ually raise ;while
an
even lower egree
of heat may be very injurious if applie su enly.It is not without reasons that
the
occultist
abstains from Alcohol and from animal foo .
What may be one
man's foo ,will be another man's poison ;in the sphere of matter as well as
in the
sphere of the
emotions.Strong constitutions can bear strong foo ,weak min s will get
frightene at
unwelcome
truths.No man has ever become and A ept merely because he live on vegetables;a
vegetable iet is
however preferable to meat-eating for various reasons.Apart from the self-evi
ent fact
that it is
entirely oppose to the ivine law of justice that he who strives after the
attainment of a higher
state of
existence shoul estroy animal life,or cause others to estroy it for the purpose
of gratifying his
appetite.
Those who esire
to become more spiritual and refine shoul avoi supplying their bo ies with that
which is
gross;those who esire to master their passions shoul not fee them with
substances in which
the elements of
such passions resi e.
A great variety
of different kin s of foo pro uces impurities of the bloo ;a struggle ensues
between the
different
auras,an excitement,fever,an isease is the result.The same law explains the
origin of
venereal and cutaneous
iseases,an in the astral plane,a great variety of emotions,calle into
existence within
a short space of time,may ren er a person insane.
If two forces of
a character different from each other meet,isharmony will be the result.Everybo
y has
[Page 138 ] his
own peculiar emanations and auras and transmits them to others,so everyone
receives the
magnetic auras
of others or of the locality by which he is surroun e ,and these emanations may
be
either wholesome
or pestiferous;men and women may either cure or poison each other by them,an it
is
therefore well
to follow the a vice which Gautama Bu ha gave to his isciples,an eat and sleep
alone.
Many people are
very careful to have their foo well prepare ,so that no unhealthy foo enters
the bo y;
while at the
same time they are very careless as to what thoughts enter their min ;but the
quality of the
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thoughts that
well in the min ,an of the emotions which nourish the soul,is of far more
importance
thand the
quality of the foo which enters the bo y.The min and the will of man,no less
than his bo y,
may be poisone
;the foo which the min requires comes from the highest planes of thought;the
foo
for the soul
from the light of ivine wisdom.Only that which has escen e from heaven can rise
to
heaven again.
There is no such
thing as sin in the usual acceptation of this term and there is no one to
punish it.Our
mistakes are our
teachers;our vices are often the basis of our virtues,our passions are the
steps which
furnish material
for the steps that lea us to heaven.Vice and virtue are manifestations of one
energy,
which we may
employ accor ing to the egree of our wisdom;but he who has no power for evil
has also
no power for goo
.We may spen the treasure which nature has lent us either for a high or for a
low
purpose,it
concerns only ourselves;but we cannot expen the same sum again after it has
been
expen e .A
purely animal life will pro uce happiness if the possessor is contente with
it.If a person
has no higher
object in view than to eat and rink,sleep,an propagate his species,he may be
thereby
ren ere
happy;there can be nothing wrong;but he who esires to become and immortal
being,must
take care not to
waste his strength.
Only that which
is pure can be harmonious.
Singleness of
purpose ren ers a motive pure,but a variety of purposes causes impurity.If a
person
evotes [Page 139
] himself to a certain mo e of life,because all his esires are irecte towards
that en ,
his motive will
be pure;but if he has besi es other objects in view,his motive will be
impure,an may
efeat his aim.
The word
asceticism is continually misun erstoo .A man who lives in a convent,or as
and hermit in the
wil erness,is
not and ascetic ,if he has no esire for a life in the world ;for it is no
act of self-denial to
avoi that which
we o not want.Asceticism means discipline ,an a person who is isguste with
the
ways of the world
un ergoes a much more severe iscipline,if he remains in the world ,than if he
runs
away,an goes
where he may enjoy his peace.The real ascetic is therefore he who lives in the
mi st of
the society
whose manners isplease him,an whose tastes are not his own,an who,in spite of
all the
temptations by
which he may be surroun e ,still maintains his integrity of character.Strength
only grows
by
resistance.Our enemies are our frien s,if we know how to use them.A hermit
living in the woo s,
where he has no
temptations,gains no strength.Isolation is only suitable for and A ept;the
Neophite must
go throughout
the ordeal of life.
A tiger oes not
sin if he kills a man,he only follows the law of his nature.He who follows the
ictates of
his nature
commits no crime.But what is virtue in and animal may become vice in a
man;because he has
two natures,an
animal and a spiritual nature.If he knows his own higher nature,he will follow
it,an for
the purpose of
obtaining knowle ge of it he must sin and suffer the consequences.Real sin is
the wilful
rejection of the
manifestation of ivine truth.
The saintly
Eckhart says:Go has ma e great sinners of those who were to become the
performers of
great works;so
that they coul attain a superior wisdom by means of his love.If Go foun it
necessary
that I shoul
have sinne and suffere for the purpose of gaining experience,I o not wish that
I ha not
sinne ,nor o I
regret having sinne ;for thus his will is one on earth as it is in heaven.A
truly honest
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man will also
not wish that he shoul have no esire for [Page 140 ] sinning;because without
the power to
sin he woul have
no means to overcome it.There can be no victory without a battle,an no true
knowle ge of goo
without the experience of evil .
Suffering is and
absolutely necessary con ition for man as long as he has not attaine
perfection.To
believe in the
presence of suffering is as necessary for his terrestrial nature as it is
necessary for his
spiritual nature
to realise the presence of Go .There is no other Re eemer of Mankin except
Self-
knowle ge
attaine by experience.If all the poverty in the world coul be artificially
abolishe at once,
men and women
woul perish in in olence.Nothing can be truly enjoye which has not been gaine
by
one's own
exertions.If there were one teacher suppose to be infallible,whose ictates woul
be
accepte by
everybo y,the whole world woul be satisfie in believing his theories;there woul
be no
incitement for
anyone to seek himself for the truth.If we support a lazy beggar in his i
leness,we rob him
of the
opportunity to gain by experience that knowle ge which he can rightfully claim.
Metals are
purifie by fire,and the heart gains knowle ge by suffering.The lower esires
must starve to
nourish the
higher;the animal passions must be crucifie and ie;but the angel of Love
removes the
stone from the
sepulchre,an liberates the higher energies from the sphere of selfishness anddarkness;
and the
resurrecte virtues live and become active in a new world of light and harmony.
If you wish to
represent to your min the process of spiritual purification,seek to un erstan
that you are
a world create
by a ream,fille with the pro uct of the imagination of nature,an thrown into
isorder
by the absence
of the light of ivine wisdom,which is the recognition of ivine law,the true
inner self-
consciousness,which
you o not possess.You are comparable to and empty nothing,an evanescent
soap-bubble,upon
whose glittering surface various colours play;but in which there is no true
life and no
substance as
long as the truth has not become a living power in you.In this world as in a
mirror the
invisible image
of the [Page 141 ] ivine Adonai is for ever reflecte and his power is latent
within you.If,by
the strength of
obe ience and the knowle ge which you have alrea y receive ,you can sub ue the
turbulent
elements in your world and restore or er in Chaos by ceasing to give life and strength
to your
esires and reams,then
will the image of the Lord of All,whose presence is everywhere,become
visible in
yourself and his power awaken within you.
In this
principle will and thought and the law are as one without any ivision.If you
know the law,it will
lea you to unity
and restoration of harmony;the ivine ideal will become realise within you,an as
it
becomes a
reality in you,you will recognise it as being your own immortal self.
Bones,muscles,nerves,etc.,are
the elements of the physical constitution of man;illusions,elusions,
reams,theories,opinions,an
ogmas are the inhabitants of his min ;truth,love,justice,purity,self-
knowle ge,free
om,harmony,an happiness are the elements and attributes of his spiritual
organism,
and the more
these principles manifest their universality in him,the more will he himself
approach the
ivine state.
To recognise the
ivinity in humanity is to become ivine;to behol the realisation of the highest ideal
within one's own
soul is ivine a oration;to esire not the possession of any creature,but to a
ore the
Creator within
them all,inclu ing oneself,is worship;to recognise and enjoy the harmonies of
the
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universe
manifeste in nature is ivine praise;to let the unity of will,thought,an law be
restore within
one's soul is
true me itation;to rise above the illusion of self and sacrifice oneself to the
Go of All is true
prayer;to
realise the truth within one's own heart is to ispel the clou s of error;to
become nothing
oneself is to
enter into that higher self-consciousness which constitutes man's ivine state.
There is not a
single instance known in history in which true prayer has not been
efficacious.If any man
has not obtaine
that which he aske ,it only proves that he i not know how to pray.True prayer
oes
[Page 142 ] not
consist in words,but in actions,and the go s help him who helps himself;but he
who
expects that the
go s shoul o for him that which he ought to accomplish himself,oes not know how
to
pray,an will be
isappointe .Prayer means the rising up in our thoughts and aspirations to the
highest
ideal;if we o
not rise up to it,we o not pray.If we expect our highest ideal to come own to
us,we
expect and absurdity
and impossibility.
To attain the
highest the spirit shoul be the master,the passions the servants.A helpless
cripple is the
slave of his
servant;a man whodepends on ignorant servants to o work which he can o
himself,has
to submit to
their whims and imperfections,an if he changes his servants,that oes not change
his
position.A
person who has vulgar esires and tastes becomes their servant;they ictate to
him,an he
has to exert
himself to attain the means to gratify their claims;but he who has no ignoble
esires to
serve,is
free.Having conquere the world of which he himself is the creator and which
belongs to him,
his strife with
the astral elements ceases.For him iscord no longer exists,an resting with his
heart at
the centre,he is
himself the sun illuminating his world and enjoys the harmonies which he create
in his
own ivine
nature.[Page 143 ]
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CHAPTER VI
ILLUSIONS.
"Reason
issipates the illusions and visionary interpretations of things,
in which the
imagination run!!riot . Dr Cair .
THE first power
that meets us at the threshol of soul's ominion is the power of imagination:it
is the
plastic and creative
power of the min .Man is conscious of being able to receive ideas and to put them
into forms.He
lives not entirely in the objective world ,but possesses and interior world of
his own.It is in
his power to be
the sole autocrat in that world ,the master of its creations and lord over all
it contains.He
may govern there
by the supreme power of his will,an if ideas intru e,which have no legitimate right to
exist in it,it
is in his power either to rive them away or suffer them to remain and to
grow.His reason is
the supreme
ruler in that world ,its ministers are the emotions.If man's reason,misle by
the treacherous
a vice of evil
emotions,suffers evil ideas to grow,they
may become powerful and ethrone reason.
This interior world
,like the outer world ,is a world of its own.It is sometimes ark,sometimes
illumine ;
its space and the
things it contains are as real to its inhabitants as the physical world is real
to the
physical
senses;its horizon may be either narrow or expan e ,limite in some and without
limits in
others;it has
its beautiful scenery and its ismal localities,its sunshine and storms,its
forms of beauty
an horrible
shapes.It is the privilege of man to retire to that world whenever he
chooses;physical
enemies o not
persecute him there;bo ily pain cannot enter.The vexations of material life
remain
behin ,only that
which moves his soul enters with him.[Page 144 ]
In this interior
realm is the Temple of Man wherein he can lock the oor against the intrusion of
sensual
impressions.On
the entrance of that temple are the Dwellers of the Threshold,ma e of esires an
passions,which
are our own creations,an which must be conquere before we can enter.Within that
temple exists a world
,as big and illimitable as the unboun e universe.In this inner realm is the Go
whose spirit
floats over the waters of the eep,an whose fiat calls into existence the
creatures which
inhabit the king
om of min .
In the air
surroun ing the centre of that interior world is the battle groun of the go
s.There the go s of
love and hate,the
aemons of lust and pri e,an anger,the evils of malice,cruelty,an revenge,
vanity,envy,an
jealousy,hol high carnival,they stir up the emotions,an ,unless sub ue by
Reason,
grow strong
enough to ethrone it.
Reason rests
upon the recognition of Truth.Wherever truth is isregar e illusions appear.If
we lose
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sight of the
highest,the low will appear,an and illusion will be create .One is the number
of Truth,Six is
the number of
illusion,because the Six have no existence without the Seventh,they are the
visible
pro ucts of the
one,manifesting itself as six aroun and invisible centre.Wherever they are
six,there
must be the
seventh.The six cannot know the seventh if the seventh oes not become
manifest.Go
knows
himself;but we cannot know his presence unless that presence becomes manifeste
in us.One is
the number of
life,an six the number of sha ows,having no life of their own.
Forms without
life are illusive,an he who mistakes the form for the life or principle of
which it is an
expression is
haunte by and illusion.Forms perish,but the principle that causes their
existence remains.
The object of
forms is to represent principles,an as long as a form is a true representation
of a
principle,the
principle gives it life;but if a form is ma e to serve another principle thand
the one which
calle it into
existence,egra ation will be the result.[Page 145 ]
The irrational
forms pro uce by nature are perfect expressions of the principles they are
inten e to
represent;rational
beings only are the issemblers.Each animal is a true expression of the
character
represente by
its form,only at the point where intellectuality begins eception commences.Each
animal
form is a symbol
of the mental state which characterises its soul,because it is not itself the
arbitrary
originator of
its form,but rational man has it in his power to create,an if he prostitutes
one principle in a
form for
another,the form will gra ually a opt that shape which characterises the
prostitute principle,of
which,in the
course of time,it becomes a true expression.
Therefore we fin
that a man of noble appearance,by becoming a miser,gra ually a opts the
sneaking
look and the stealthy
gait of and animal going in search of its prey;the lascivious may acquire the
habits,
an perhaps the
appearance,of a monkey or goat,the sly one the features of a fox,and the
conceite
the looks of a
onkey.
If our bo ies
were forme of a more ethereal and plastic material than of muscles and bones,each
change of our
character woul pro uce quickly a correspon ing change of our form;but gross
matter is
inert and follows
only slowly the impressions ma e upon the soul.The material of which astral
forms are
ma e are more
plastic,and the soul of a villainous person may actually resemble a pool fille
with vipers
an scorpions,the
true symbol of his moral characteristics,mirrore in his min .A generation of
saints
woul ,in the
course of time,pro uce a nation of Apollos and Dianas,a generation of villains
woul grow
into monsters
and warfs.To keep the form in its original beauty the principle must be kept
pure an
without any a
ulteration.
One fun amental
colour of the solar spectrum,if unmixe ,is as pure as another;one element,if
free
from another,is
pure.Unmixe copper is as pure as unalloye gol ,an emotions are pure if free
from
extraneous
mixture.Forms are pure if they represent their principles in their purity;a
villain who shows
himself what he
is,is pure and true to his nature,a [Page 146 ] saint who issembles is impure
and false.
Fashions are the
external expressions of the mental states of a country,an if men and women
egenerate in
their character their fashions will become absurd.
The want of
power to iscriminate between the true and the illusive,between the form and the
principle,
and the
consequent error of apprehen ing the low for the high,is the cause of
suffering.Man's material
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interests are
generally consi ere to be of supreme importance,and the interests of the
highest
elements in his
constitution are forgotten.The power that shoul be expen e to fee the high is
eaten
up by the
low.Instea of the low serving the high,the high is ma e to serve the low,an
instea of the
form being use
as and instrument of action for a high principle,a low principle is substitute
for a higher
one,for the
purpose of serving the form.
Such a
prostitution of principle in favour of form is foun in all spheres of social
life.We fin it among the
rich and the
poor,the e ucate and the ignorant,in the forum,the press,and the pulpit,no less
than in
the halls of the
merchant and in the aily transactions of life.The prostitution of principle is
worse than
the prostitution
of the bo y.He who uses his intellectual powers for selfish and villainous
purposes is
more to be pitie
than she who carries on a tra e with her bo ily charms to gain the means by
which she
may keep that bo
y alive.The prostitution of universal human rights for the benefit of a few in
ivi uals is
the most
angerous form of prostitution on Earth.[ The ifference between vulgar
prostitution of the bo y
and the more
refine prostitution of the intellectual faculties for the purpose of
accomplishing selfish
en s,is merely
that in the first class merely the grossest parts of the human organisation are
misuse ,
while in the
other class the higher and nobler elements are prostitute .There are few women
in the worl
who have become egra
e from and inclination to be so;in the great majority of cases they are the
victims of
circumstances which they ha not the power to resist;but intellectual
prostitutes belong to the
higher
classes,where want and poverty are unknown .]
To employ the intellectual
powers for selfish purposes is the beginning of intellectual
prostitution.Blesse
are they who are
able to gain their brea by the [Page 147 ] honest work of their han s for and employment
which requires
little intellectual attention will leave them free to employ their powers for
the purpose of
spiritual unfol
ment;while those who spen all their energy upon the lower planes of the min are
selling
their immortal
birthright for a worthless mess of potage which will nourish the impermanent
intellect while
it starves the
soul.
The soul no less
thand the bo y requires to be nourishe .The heart starves if the brain is
overfe .The
nutriment of the
soul comes from the action of the spirit in the bo y,an this foo is as
"material an
necessary for it
as physical foo for the physical bo y.The existing of the emotions is no
nutriment for
the soul.The
emotions belong to the astral form.The nutriment of the soul is rawn out of the
material
bo y by the
power of the ivine light of the spirit within the heart.
The greatest of
all illusions is the illusion of Self .Material man looks upon himself as
something existing
apart from every
other existence.The shape of his form creates the illusion of being a separate
part of
the whole.
Still,experience
shows that there is not a single element in his bo y,in the constitution of his
soul,or in
the mechanism of
his intellect,that is not continually eparting,an is replace by others.What
belongs
to him to ay
belonge yesterday to another,an will belong to another tomorrow.In his physical
form
there is a
continual change.In the bo ies of organise beings tissues isappear slowly or
quickly,
according to the
nature of their affinities,an new ones take their places,to be replace in their
turn by
others.The human
bo y changes in size,shape,an ensity as age a vances,presenting successively
the symbols of
the buoyant health in youth,the vigorous constitution of manhoo ,or the grace
an
beauty of
womanhoo ,up to the attributes in icating ol age,the forerunner of ecay and cessation
of
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activity in that
in ivi ual form.
No less is the
change in the min .Sensation and esires change,consciousness changes,memories
grow im.No man
has the same opinions he ha when he [Page 148 ] was a chil ;knowle ge
increases,
intellect grows
weak,an on the mental as well as on the physical plane the special activity
ceases when
the accumulate
energy is exhauste by transformation into other mo es of action or is
transferre into
other forms.
The lower
material elements in the constitution of man change rapi ly,the higher ones
change slowly,but
only the highest
elements are en uring.Nothing can be sai to belong essentially to man but his
character.He who
cares a great eal for his lower nature,cares for that which is not his own,but
which
he has only
borrowe from nature.While he enjoys its possession and illusion is create
,making it appear
to be and essential
part of himself.But man's terrestrial nature is not more and essential part of
himself than
the clothes
which a man wears,a constituent part of the man.His only true self is his
character,an he
who loses the
purity and strength of his character loses all his possessions.
One of the kings
of illusions is Money ,the king of the world .Money represents the principle of
equity,an
it shoul be
employe to enable everyone to obtain the just equivalent for his labour.If we
esire more
money than we
can rightfully claim,we wish for something that oes not belong to us but to
another.If
we obtain labour
without paying for it its proper equivalent,we eprive others of justice,and therefore
eprive ourselves
of the truth,which is a more serious loss to ourselves thand the loss of money
to the
efrau e .
Money as such is
a symbol,only the principle which it represents has a real
existence.Nevertheless we
see the world lie
at the feet of the illusion.The poor clamour for it,and the rich crave for
more,and the
general esire is
to obtain the greatest amount of reward by giving the least possible
equivalent.
Clergymen save
souls,an octors cure bo ies for the purpose of making money;law is sol to him
who
is able and willing
to pay,fame and reputation and the semblance of love can be obtaine for
money,an
the worth of a
man is expresse in the sum of shillings or poun s which he may call his
own.Starvation
threatens the
[Page 149 ] poor,and the consequences of superabun ance the rich,and the rich
take
a vantage of the
istress of the poor to enrich themselves more,Science exerts her powers to
increase
the amount of
the material comforts of man.It vanquishes the impe iments presente by time and
space,
an turns night
into ay.New engines are invente ,and the work whose performance in former times
require the use
of a thousan arms,may now be accomplishe by a chil .An immense amount of
personal
suffering and labour is thereby save ,But as the means to satisfy the craving
for comfort
increase a
craving arises for more.Things that formerly were consi ere luxuries now become
in ispensable
nee s.Illusions create illusions,an esires give rise to esires.The sight of the
principle
is lost,and the
gol en calf is put into its place.Pro uction is followe by over pro uction,the
supply
excee s the eman
,the price of labour comes own to starvation rates,an on the rotten soil the
mushrooms of
monopoly grow.The more the facilities increase to sustain the battle of
life,the more
increases its
fury.The noblest power of man,his intellect,whose estiny it is to form a soli
basis for the
highest
spiritual knowle ge of man,is force to labour for the satisfaction of the
animal instincts of man;
the bo y
flourishes while the soul starves and becomes a beggar in the king om of truth.
From the love of
self arises the love of possession.It is the hy ra-hea e monster whose cravings
can
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never be stille
.Nearest to the illusion of self stan s the illusion of so-calle Love .True
love is not an
illusion,it is
the power that unites the world s and an attribute of the spirit;but the
illusion of love is not
love,but only
love's sha ow.True love is sacrifice,but false love cares for itself,an seeks
for
enjoyment.True
love exists,even if the form is issolve ;false love ies,when the form to which
it was
attache ecays .Ideal
women is the crown of creation,an has a right to be love by man.A man who
oes not love
beauty has no element of beauty in him.Man loves beauty and woman loves
strength,A
man who is the
slave of [Page 150 ] his esires is weak,an cannot command the respect of
woman.If she
sees him squirm
un er the lash of his animal passions,she will see and animal and will not be
able to look
upon him as her
protector and go .
Marital love is
a law of nature and a necessity for the propagation of man.But however
beautiful the
relations
between husban and wife may be,sexual intercourse belongs to the animal king om
and not
to the spiritual
nature of man.Mutual attraction between animals is not less beautiful and usually
more
pure than among
mankin ;the bir s of the air o not marry for money,an often animals ie on
account
of their grief
over the eath of their mates.A person who has not yet outgrown his terrestrial
nature will
yearn for
terrestrial love;a celibacy enforce by law is a crime against nature;a celibacy
enforce by
circumstances is
a misfortune;but for the spiritually unfol e soul there exists a higher
attraction;the true
ivine requires
no law to teach him celibacy;he is alrea y a natural celibat,an inhabitant of
that
king om (coel m
),where terrestrial marriage oes not exist .
Another illusion
is the craving for physical life,an well may he crave for it who has no in ivi
ual
character of his
own,because,if he loses his life,he loses his all.Men and women cling to the
illusion of
life because
they o not know what life is.They will submit to in ignity,ishonour,an
suffering rather
than ie.But why
shoul animal life be so esirable as to sacrifice character for it ?One life is
only one
temporary con
ition among a thousan similar ones through which the in ivi uality of man
passes in its
travels on the
roa to perfection,an whether he remains a longer or a shorter interval at one
station,
cannot be of any
very serious importance to him.Man can make no better use of his life than to
sacrifice
it,if
necessary,for a high purpose;because this act will strengthen his own in ivi
uality,in which rests
the power by
which he is enable to reappear in a new form.
On the other han
,he who sneaks away from the battle of life for selfish purposes,or because he
is
afrai to
continue its struggles,will not escape.He may wish [Page 151 ] to step out of
life and estroy his
bo y,but the law
cannot be cheate .Life will remain with him until his natural ays woul have en
e .
He cannot estroy
it,he can only eprive himself of the instrument through which he can act.He
resembles a man
who has to perform some work and throws away the instrument which woul have
enable him to
perform it.Vain will be his regrets.
Another illusion
is a great eal of what is calle "science .True knowle ge makes a man
free,but false
science ren ers
him a slave to the opinions of others.Many men waste their lives to learn that
which is
foolish and neglect
that which is true,mistaking that which is evanescent and perishing for the
eternal.
Often learning
is not the aim but the means to the aim of the stu ent,while his real objects
are the
attainment of
wealth,position,an fame,or the gratification of ambition or curiosity.The true
wealth of a
nation or a man
oes not rest in its collecte opinions,but in moral and spiritual
possessions,which
alone will
remain permanent.
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There is nothing
more pro uctive of a ten ency to the evelopment of and extreme egree of
selfishness
thand the
evelopment of a high egree of intellectuality,without any accompanying growth
of spirituality.
A high egree of
intellectuality enables a person to take personal a vantages over others who
are less
clever,an unless
he possesses great moral powers he will not be able to resist the temptations
that are
put in his
way.The greatest villains and criminals have been persons of great intellectual
qualifications.
That which a man
really nee s to know,an without whose knowle ge he cannot obtain the
consciousness of
his own true and immortal nature,is not taught in our colleges.The most favoure
stu ent is he
who is taught by his Go ."Blesse is he whom wisdom teaches,not by
perishable
emblems and words,but
by its own inherent power;not what it appears to be,but as it is .[Thomas e
Kempis ]
The esire for
power and fame are other illusions [Page 152 ] True power is and attribute of
the spirit.If I am
obeye because I
am rich,it is not myself who comman s obe ience,but my riches.If I am calle
powerful because
I enjoy authority,it is not myself who is powerful,but it is the authority
veste in me.
Riches and authority
are illusions thrown aroun men,which often vanish as quickly as they have been
acquire .Fame is
often enjoye by him who oes not eserve it.The most honoure man is he who has
cause to respect
himself.
Place of birth
and con ition of life are circumstances which are usually not matters of
choice,an no one
has a right to
espise another on account of his nationality,religious belief,colour of skin,or
the act he
may play on this
planet.Whether and actor plays the part of a king or a servant,the actor
is,therefore,not
espise ,provi e
he plays his part well.
"Honour and
shame from no con itions rise;
Act well your
part,there all the honour lies. Pope.
One of the
greatest illusions is much of what goes to ay by the name of "religion
,not religion itself,but
its mask in the
shape of clericalism,priestcraft,an ortho oxy.Each religious system represents
an
expression of
truth,but it requires the possession of truth to fin truth therein.As a man's
spirit cannot
exist upon this
earth and express itself except in and through the material bo y,so each
church,however
spiritual its
soul may be,has and external,physical,animal,an mental organism,represente by
the
members
composing the church or society and by its octrines,cree s,theories,an
speculations;
neither cand the
spiritual organism be separate from the lower principles;such a separation woul
be
eath to the
visible church.Thus the lower self of the church battles for life and is foun e
upon
selfishness,while
its spires reach up to heaven.All that can be hope for reasonably is that the
spirituality at
the top may gra ually escen to the foun ations,an that each member may fin the
truth
containe in his
religious [Page 153 ] system,not by the can le light of blin speculation and foolish
belief,
but by its own
light;for the truth requires no other light but itself .
There are other
illusions which come without being aske ,an remain,although their stay is not
wante .
They are the
unwelcome visitors Fear,Do bt ,an Remorse .Their father is "selfishness
,an
"cowardice
is the name of the mother.Born from the king om ofdarkness,their substance is
ignorance,
which only the
magic of true knowle ge can issolve.Men live in fear of a revengeful power
which has
no existence,an
ie from fear of and evil that oes not exist.They are afrai of the effects of
causes
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which
they,nevertheless,continue to create;an not aring to face their natural
consequences,they
seek to escape
from the creatures which they themselves have create .Every act creates a
cause,an
the cause is
followe by and effect which reacts on him who create the cause,whether he may
experience that
effect in this life or in another.To escape the effect of the cause which has
been create ,
he who create
the cause must try to transform himself into another being.If the elements
composing his
lower nature
have le him into making mistakes they will suffer,but if he succee s in living
in his higher
nature he
changes himself into a superior being.Only in this sense is the Christ in every
human nature
the "Lamb
taking upon himself the sins of the world .The lamb is the symbol of obe ience
to ivine law;
this obe ience
is wisdom;wisdom is self-knowle ge;ivine self-knowle ge is ivine being,an he
who
has entere the
state of Divinity is one with the law and has cease to sin.Such is the only
rational
philosophy of
the "forgiveness of sins ,an priests coul forgive sins if they were able
to change the
sinner into a
saint.This can,however,only be one by the in ivi ual exertions of the
"sinner ,who may
be instructe by
one who is wise.To become sufficiently wise to instruct another about the laws
of his
nature it is of
the utmost importance that the instructor shoul know these laws,an be acquainte
with
the true
constitution of man.
The truth is the
saviour of man,ignorance is [Page 154 ] his perdition.Reason is the power of
the min to
recognise the
truth,an in the light of truth the sha ows of oubt and fear and remorse cannot
exist.
Illusions are
isperse through the power of true knowle ge.When the will is hel in abeyance
the
imagination is
ren ere passive,and the min takes in the reflections of pictures store up in
the Astral
Light without
choice or iscrimination.When reason oes not gui e the imagination the min
creates
isorderly
fancies and hallucinations.The passive seer reams while awake,an to him his reams
are
realities,they
are impressions cause by foreign ideas taking possession of the unresisting min ,an ,
according to the
source from which such impressions come,they may be either true or
false.Various
means have been
a opte to suspen the iscriminating power of reason and ren er the imagination
abnormally
passive,an all such practices are injurious,in proportion as they are
efficacious.The ancient
Pythoness
attempte to heighten her alrea y abnormal receptivity by the inhalation of
noxious vapours;
some whirl in a
ance until the action of reason is temporarily suspen e ;others use opium,In
ian
hemp,an other
narcotics,which ren er their min a blank,an in uce morbi fancies and illusions.
[ The
fumigations which were use at former times for the purpose of ren ering reason
inactive,an
allowing the pro
ucts of a passive imagination to appear in and objective state,were usually
narcotic
substances.Bloo
was only use for the purpose of furnishing substance to Elementals an
Elementaries,by
the ai of which they might ren er their bo ies more ense and visible.
Corneli s
Agrippa gives the following prescription:Make a pow er of spermaceti,aloe woo
,musk,
saffron,an
thyme,sprinkle it with the bloo of a hoopop.If this pow er is burnt upon the
graves of the
ea ,the ethereal
forms of the latter will approach,an may become visible.
Eekartsho sen ma
e successful experiments with the following prescription:Mix pow ere
frankincense
an flour with
and egg,a milk,honey,an rose water,make a paste,an throw some of it upon
burning
coals.
Another
prescription given by the same author consists of
hemlock,saffron,aloes,opium,man ragora
henbane,poppy-flowers,an
some other poisonous plants.After un ergoing a certain preparation,which
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he escribes,he
attempte the experiment,an saw the ghost of the person which he esire to
see;but
he came very
near poisoning himself.Dr Horst repeate the experiment with the same result,an
for
years afterwards
whenever he looke upon a ark object,he saw the apparition again.
Chemistry has a
vance since that time,anti those who esire to make such experiments at the risk
of
their health,may
now accomplish this in a more comfortable and easy manner by inhaling some of
the
stupefying gases
known to chemical science.] [Page 155 ]
Fortune-tellers
and clairvoyants employ various means to fix their attention,for the purpose of
suspen ing
thought and ren ering their min s passive;others stare at mirrors or crystals,water
or ink,
[There are
numerous prescriptions for the preparation of magic mirrors;but the best magic
mirror will be
useless to him
who is not able to see clairvoyantly;while the natural clairvoyant calls that
faculty into
action by
concentrating his min on any particular spot,a glass of water,ink,a crystal,or
anything;for it
is not in the
mirror where such things are seen,but in the min ;the mirror merely serves to
assist in the
entering of that
mental state which is necessary to pro uce clairvoyant sight.The best of all
magic
mirrors is the
soul,an it shoul always be kept pure,an be protecte against ust and ampness an
rust,so that it
may not become tarnishe ,an remain perfectly clear,an able to reflect the light
of the
ivine spirit in
its original purity.] but the enlightene ren ers his imagination passive by
maintaining,
un er all
circumstances,tranquility of the min .The surface of a lake whose water is in
motion reflects
only istorte
repro uctions of images projecte upon it,an if the elements in the interior world
are in a
state of
confusion,if emotion fights with emotion and the uproar of the passions
troubles the min ,if the
heaven of the
soul is clou e by preju ices,arkene by ignorance,hallucinate by insane
esires,the
true images of
things seen will be equally istorte .The ivine principle in man remains in
itself unaltere
an un isturbe
,like the image of a star reflecte in water;but unless its welling is ren ere
clear an
transparent,it
cannot sen its rays through the surroun ing walls.The more the emotions
rage,the more
will the min
become isturbe and the spiritual soul be force to retreat into its interior
prison;or if it
loses entirely
its hol over the min ,it may be riven away by the forces which it cannot
control,burst the
oor of its
ungeon,return to the source from whence [Page 156 ]it came.[See
H.P.Blavatsky:"Isis
Unveile .
The author
says:"Such a catastrophe may happen long before the final separation of
the life-principle
from the bo
y.When eath arrives,its iron and clammy grasp fin s work with life as usual;but
there is no
more soul to
liberate.The whole essence of the latter has alrea y been absorbe by the vital
system of
the physical
man.Grim eath frees but a spiritual corpse,at best and i iot.Unable either to
soar higher or
awaken from
lethargy,it is soon issolve in the elements of the terrestrial atmosphere.] But
as long as
this Christ is
one of the passengers in the boat tosse by the waves of the inner life,he will
always be
rea y to come
forth,stretch out his han (manifest his power),bi ing the turbulent waters to
be still.
Then will the
storms cease to rage and the soul be restore to calmness.
If a person
suffers his reason to give up the control over his imagination he surren ers
one of the
greatest
prerogatives of man.True me itation oes not consist in ren ering the min
passive for the
influences of
the astral plane,nor oes it consist in reaming.It is a state in which the min
oes not
roam in the
realms of the imagination,but is hel still by the soul so as to receive the
light of the spirit.
"Yoga is
the exercise of the power to hol in abeyance the transformations of the
thinking principle ,says
the Patanjali,and
the Bhagavad Gita teaches:"Whenever the wavering and unstea fast heart wan
ers
away,let him sub
ue it and bring it back to the control of the soul .[Bhagavad Gita,vi.2 b ]
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This cannot be
accomplishe by means of the imagination (which ought to be at rest);neither cand
the
min control its
own self;but it is one by means of the spiritual power of spiritually awakene
man.]A
person who reams
oes not control the actions which he performs in his ream,although he may ream
that he is
exercising his will.The things seen in his ream are to him realities,an he oes
not oubt
their
substantiality,while external physical objects have no existence for him,an not
even the possibility
of their
existence comes to his consciousness.He may see before him a itch and ream that
he wills to
jump over it,but
he oes not actually exert his will,he only reams that he wills.A person in a
magnetic
trance has no
active will of his own,an is [Page 157 ] le by the will of the operator.What he
sees is real
to him,an if the
operator creates a precipice in his imagination,the subject will,on approaching
it,
experience and manifest
the same terror as he woul in his normal state if a precipice were yawning
un er his feet.A
glass of water transforme into imaginary wine by the will of the
"mesmeriser makes
the subject
intoxicate ,an if that water has been transforme into imaginary poison it may
injure or kill
the sensitive.
[Mrs.Chan os
Leigh Hunt of London,in her "Private Instructions in Organic Magnetism
,informs us,
that imaginary
intoxicants,emetics,etc.,have a powerful effect upon subjects.
Eliphas Levi
(Abbι Constant)cites a case in which some sceptics submitte a poor girl to
magnetic
experiments,to
gratify their curiosity,an to see whether "magnetism was true .They
succee e in
putting her to
sleep,an comman e her to look into hell.She became terribly agitate ,an begge
for
mercy,but they
insiste that she shoul go there.
"The
features of the subject became frightful to see;her hair stoo upright on her
hea ;her eyes were
wi e open,an
showe nothing but the white;her bosom heave ,an a kin of eath-rattle came from
her breast.
"Go there!I
will it !repeate the magnetist.
"I am there
,sai the wretche subject,between her close teeth,an fell exhauste .Then she
spoke no
more;her hea
rests on her shoul er;her arms hang motionless own.They approach her and touch
her.They wish to
awaken her;but the crime has been one;the woman was ea ,and the authors of
this
sacrilegious experiment were safe from prosecution on account of the public's
incre ulity in regar to
such things ] A
powerful "hypnotiser can form either a beautiful or a horrible picture in
his min ,an by
transferring it
by his will upon the mental sphere of a sensitive,he may cause him either
pleasure or
suffering.
Such states may
be in uce not merely uring the "hypnotic sleep,but also uring the normal
con ition,
an without any
conscious esire on the part of a magnetiser.If the au ience she s tears uring
the
performance of a
trage y,although they all know that it is merely a play,they are in a state of
partial
"hypnotisation
.Hun re s of similar occurrences take place every ay in every country,and there
is
sufficient
material everywhere in every-ay life for the stu ent of psychology to
investigate and explain,
without seeking
for cases of and abnormal character.[Page 158 ]
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All these things
are classifie as illusions,because the power of reason,the power of
iscriminating
between the true
and the false has been suspen e ,which causes a person to mistake things for
realities which
only exist in his own imagination,but if this efinition is applie to every ay
existence it
appears that the
whole world is in a state of hypnotic sleep,for there are few that are capable
of seeing
the truth or to
iscriminate between the true and false,an few who act always according to
reason.
Whenever the
external form of a thing is examine carefully,it will always be foun to
constitute an
illusion.The
illusion oes not exist in those things,it exists in ourselves.Go i not create
the world for
the purpose of
elu ing mankin .The illusions are cause by our own misconceptions of
truth,which
hin er us to see
that which is real.If we were to see that which is real,we woul be knowing the
truth.If
we ha always
known the truth,we woul not have nee e to come into the world .Our existence
upon
this planet is a
certificate of our ignorance,and the fact of having been born a proof of our
folly.
That which
istinguishes a man from and animal is the use of his reason.If a "Medium
submits the control
over his
imagination to another being he surren ers his reason.This other being may be
another person,
or and invisible
power.It may be and elemental,an astral corpse,or a malicious influence,and the
Medium
become and epileptic,a
maniac,or a criminal.A person who surren ers his will to and unknown power is
not less insane
than he who woul entrust his money and valuables to the first stranger or
vagabon that
woul ask him for
it.
If a crime is
committe in consequence of "hypnotic suggestions ,it is the hypnotiser
and not the
sensitive person
who is responsible for it.Such cases occur every ay;for it is not necessary
that a very
sensitive person
shoul be put to sleep for to become capable of being influence by the will of
another.
All in ivi ual
min s act upon each other;each influences the other or becomes influence by
others
without knowing
the [Page 159 ] source of the influence.Thoughts and impulses come and go,and
their
source is not
known.No man creates his own thoughts out of nothing,an he who has no
self-knowle ge
cannot even know
who or what it is that is thinking or willing in him.
How many murders
and crimes are committe every year through sensitive persons,who have been
influence
,"hypnotise ,or "mesmerise by invisible powers to commit them,an
who ha not sufficient
will-power to
resist,it is impossible to etermine.In such cases we hang or punish the
instrument,but the
real culprit
escapes.Such a "justice is equivalent to punishing a stick with which a
mur er has been
committe ,an to
let the man who use the stick go free.Verily the coming generations will have
as
much cause to
laugh at the ignorance of their ancestors as we now laugh at the ignorance of
those who
prece e us.
We take not
things for what they are,but for what we imagine them to be.The savage sees in
the
sculpture
Minerva only a curious piece of rock,an a beautiful painting is to him only a
piece of cloth
aube over with
colours.The gree y miser,looking at the beauties of nature,thinks only of the
money-
value they
represent,while for the poet the forest swarms with fairies and the water with
sprites.The
artist fin s
beautiful forms in the wan ering clou s and in the projecting rocks of the
mountains,an to
him whose min is
poetic every symbol in nature becomes a poem and suggests to him new ideas ;but
the coward wan
ers through life with a scowl upon his face;he sees in every corner and enemy,an
for
him the world has
nothing attractive except.his own little self.The world is a mirror wherein
every man
may see his own
face.To him whose soul is beautiful,the world will look beautiful;to him whose
soul is
eforme
,everything will seem to be evil.
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The power of the
imagination,if ren ere strong by the will and ma e alive by the spirit,is
little known.
The impressions
ma e on the min by the effects of such and imagination may be powerful and lasting
upon the
person.They change or istort the features,they ren er the hair white in a
single hour;they
[Page 160 ]
mark,kill,isfigure,or break the bones of the unborn chil ,an make the effects
of injuries
receive by one
person visible upon the bo y of another with whom that person is in
sympathy.They act
more powerfully
than rugs;they cause and cure iseases,pro uce hallucinations,an stigmata.
Imagination
performs its miracles,either consciously or unconsciously.By altering the
surroun ings of
animals the
colour of their offspring can be change at will.The tiger's stripes correspon
to the long
jungle grass,and
the leopard's spots resemble the speckle light falling through the leaves.[Sir
John
Lubbock;"Procee
ings of the British Association ]The forces of nature,influence by the
imagination of
man,act on the
imagination of nature,an create ten encies on the astral plane,which,in the
course of
evolution,fin
expression through material forms.In this way man's vices or virtues become
objective
realities,an as
man's imagination becomes purifie ,the earth becomes more beautiful and refine
,
while his vices
fin their expression in poisonous reptiles and noxious plants.The Elementals in
the soul
of man are the
pro ucts of the action of the thought in the in ivi ual min of man;the
elemental forms in
the soul of the world
are the pro ucts of the collective thoughts of all beings.These elemental
powers are
attracte to the
germs of animals,an may grow into objective visible animal forms,an mo ify the
characters and also
the outward appearance of the animals of our globe.We therefore see that as the
imagination of
the Universal Min changes uring the course of ages,ol forms isappear and new
ones
come into
existence.Perhaps if there were no snakes in human forms,the snakes of the
animal king om
woul cease to
exist.
But the
impressions ma e on the min o not en with the life of the in ivi ual on the
physical plane.A
cause which pro
uces a su en terror,or otherwise acts strongly on the imagination,can pro uce
an
impression that
not only lasts through life but beyon it.A person,for instance,who uring his
life has
strongly believe
in the existence of eternal amnation and hell-fire,may at his entrance into the
subjective state
after eath,actually [Page 161 ] behol all the terrors of hell which his
imagination uring
life has conjure
up;the terrifie soul,seeing before it all the horrors of its own vivi
imagination,rushes
back again into
the eserte bo y,an clings to it in espair,seeking protection.Personal
consciousness
returns,an it
fin s itself alive in the grave,where it passes a secon time through the pangs
of eath,
or,by sen ing
out its astral form in search of sustenance from the living,it becomes a
vampire,an
prolongs for
awhile its horrible existence.[Maximilian Perty:"Die mystischen
Erscheinungen in er Natur
] Such misfortunes
in ortho ox countries are by no means rare,and the best reme y for it is knowle
ge
and the
cremation of the bo y soon after eath.
On the other han
,the convicte murderer who,before stepping on the gallows,has been fully
"converte
an "prepare by the atten ing clergyman,an ma e to believe firmly that
his sins have
been forgiven,an
that the angels will stan rea y to receive him with open arms,may,on his
entrance
to the
subjective state,see the creations of his own imaginations before him until the
elusion fa es
away.
In the state
after eath and in the evachanic con ition the imagination neither creates new
and original
forms nor is it
capable of receiving new impressions;it lives on the sum of the impressions
accumulate
uring life,which
evolute innumerable variations of mental states,symbolise in their correspon
ing
subjective
forms,an lasting until their forces are exhauste .These mental states may be
calle illusive
in the same
sense as events of the physical life may be calle illusive,an life in
"heaven or "hell may
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be calle a
ream,as life on this earth is calle a ream.The ream of life only iffers from
the ream
after
eath,that,uring the one,we are able to make use of our will to gui e and control
our imagination
an acts,while
uring the latter that gui ance is wanting,an we earn that which we have sown.No
effort,whether
for goo or for evil,is ever lost.Those who have reache out in their aspirations
towards a
high ideal on
earth will fin it in heaven;[Page 162 ] those whose esires have ragge them own
will sink
to the level of
their esires.
It is generally
suppose that this world in which we live is the most ense and "material
,and the astral
world the lan of
vapoury ghosts;but the terms "materiality ,"ensity ,etc.,are
merely relative terms.
What appear to
us ense and material now,will appear ethereal or vaporous if we are in another
state,
an things which
are invisible to us now may appear grossly material then.There are world s more
ense
an material to
its inhabitants than our physical world is to us;for it is the light of the
spirit that enlivens
matter,and the
more matter is gathere up by sensuality and concentrate by selfishness,the less
penetrable to
the spirit will it become,and the more ense and hard will it grow,although it
may for all
that not be
perceptible to our physical senses,they being a apte merely to our present
state of
existence.
There is no
heaven or hell but that which man creates in his imagination;nevertheless,the
state in which
he lives is real
to him.If we wish to secure happiness after eath in our next life upon this
planet,we
must secure it
before we ie by controlling our impulses for evil,an by cultivating a pure and exalte
imagination.
We shoul enter
the higher life now,instea of waiting for it to come to us in the hereafter.The
term
"heaven
means a state of spiritual consciousness and enjoyment of spiritual truths;but
how can he who
has evolve no
spiritual consciousness and no spiritual power of perception enjoy the
perception of
spiritual things
which he has not the spiritual power to perceive?A man without spiritual power
entering a
heaven woul be
like a man blin and eaf and without the power to feel.Man can only enjoy that
which
he is able to
realise,that which he cannot realise oes not exist for him.
The surest way
to be happy is to rise above "self .People crave for amusements and pastimes;but
to
forget one's
time is to forget one's self;by forgetting themselves they are ren ere
happy.The charm of
music consists
in the temporary absorption it causes to [Page 163 ] the personality in the
harmony of
soun .If we
witness a theatrical performance and enter into the spirit of the play,we
forget our personal
sorrows and live
in the actor.An orator who is in full accord with his au ience becomes inspire
with the
sentiments of
his au ience;it is his au ience that gives expressions of his feelings through
him.There
are no
"spirits"require to inspire and inspirational speaker.If he is
impressible the thoughts of those that
are present will
be sufficient to inspire him.
If we enter a
cathe ral or a temple,whose architecture inspires sublimity and solemnity,expan
ing the
soul;where the
language of music speaks to the heart,rawing it away from the attachment to the
earth;
and the beauty
and o our of flowers lull the senses into a forgetfulness of self,such
amusements ren er
us temporarily
happy to and extent proportionate to the egree in which they succee in
estroying our
consciousness of
personality and self.
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Illusions as
such o not exist;their existence is and illusion.Nature is not and illusion,but
a manifestation of
truth.Every form
in nature is and expression of truth;but it requires the eye of truth to fin
the truth in
those forms.If
we cling to forms,we cling to illusions,having no real existence;if we cling to
the truth we
have the
reality.If our happinessdepends on the possession of a cherishe form,our
happiness will
perish when that
form isappears.
To attain real
knowle ge is to make the min free of its illusions;this free om is attaine only
by a love
for the
truth;for the truth is the life and the foun ation of our existence,which will
remain after all the
illusions
constituting our lower nature have passe away;when we will possess nothing but
that which
we are,an being
ourselves the light and the truth we will be in possession of truth.[Page 164 ]
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CHAPTER VII
CONSCIOUSNESS
I am that I am
.-Bible.
EVERYTHING in
the universe is a manifestation of the Universal Min .Everything is therefore
min
itself,an exists
in absolute consciousness;but relative consciousness begins when it becomes
manifest
in the form.The
term consciousness signifies realisation of existence.Consciousness in the
absolute is
unconsciousness
in relation to things.Consciousness means knowle ge and life;unconsciousness is
ignorance and eath.An
imperfect knowle ge is a state of imperfect consciousness;the highest possible
state of
consciousness is the full realisation of the truth.
A thing has no
existence relatively to ourselves before we become conscious of its existence.A
person
who oes not
realise his own existence is unconscious,an ,for the time being,to all
practical purposes
ea .We cannot
actually realise the existence of a power which we o not possess.We see the
effects
pro uce by
electricity and realise that such effects take place;but we o not realise the
existence or the
nature of what
is calle electricity if we are not conscious of that same power existing in
our own
constitution.In
the same sense we can realise the effect of the manifestation of ivine wisdom
within the
universe;we
behol the expression of beauty,justice,an truth;but we cannot realise the
existence of
these
principles,unless we become conscious of their presence in us.Go 's works exist
and we see the
pro ucts of the
[Page 165 ] action of his spirit in nature;but Go himself is to us a nonentity
if we are not
ren ere ivine by
his presence in us;we cannot realise the nature of Go ,unless his ivine nature
is
present in us
and comes to our own consciousness.A state of existence is incomprehensible
unless it is
experience and realise
,an it begins to exist from the moment that it is realise .If a person were the
legal possessor
of millions of money and i not know it,he woul have no means to ispose of it or
enjoy it.A man
is present at the elivery of the most eloquent speech,an ,unless he hears what
is sai ,
that speech will
have no existence for him.Every man is en owe with reason and conscience,but if
he
never listens to
its voice,the relation between him and the voice of wisdom will cease to
exist,an it will
ie for him in
proportion as he ies to the power to hear it.
A man may be
alive and conscious in relation to one thing,an ea and unconscious relatively
to
another.One set
of his faculties may be active and conscious,while another set is unconscious
and its
activity suspen
e .A person who listens attentively to music is conscious of nothing but soun
;one who
is wrapt in the
a miration of form is only conscious of seeing;another,who suffers from
pain,may be
conscious of
nothing but the relation that exists between him and the sensation of pain.A
man absorbe
in thought
believes himself alone in the mi st of a crow .He may be threatene by
estruction and be
unconscious of
the anger.If he has the strength of a lion,it will avail him nothing unless he
becomes
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conscious of
it;he cannot be immortal unless he becomes conscious of his own immortal
life.The more a
person learns to
realise the true state of his existence the more will he become conscious of
real
existence.If he
oes not realise his true state he oes not know himself.If he fully knows
himself,he will
be conscious of
his own powers,he will know how to exercise them and become strong.
To become
conscious of the existence of a thing is to possess it.To perceive its
existence means to enter
[Page 166 ] into
relation with it,an to realise the existence of that relation.Consciousness
begins,
therefore,wherever
sensation begins,but sensation and perception of a form are only followe by a
recognition of
the truth if the principle that exists in that form is a conscious power in our
own constitution.
If a stranger is
intro uce to us we perceive his exterior form and see the clothes which he
wears,we
realise his
existence as a living form,but we know nothing of his true character.His
appearance may be
prepossessing
and still he may be untruthful,his clothing may be new and elegant and still
his character
ba .His bo y may
be healthy,but his soul may be isease .His certificates and testimonials may be
excellent,an yet
they may eceive us.If we want to know the true character of the man,we must be
able to realise
the nature of his character in ourselves.We may look into his eyes,an when soul
speaks
to soul,the two
will enter into conscious relation with each other,and there will be no
eception possible.
This recognition
of the truth by irect perception is one of the faculties which at the present
state of
evolution are
not yet fully evelope in man.It is a sixth sense that as yet exists only as a
bu in the tree
of life,while
the other five senses have been fully evelope .Still it exists,and therefore
the first
impression we
receive of a stranger is usually correct,but not always believe ,because
speculation
comes in to
mislea .
Perception is
the entering into a relation to the object of one's perception.Such a relation
is only
possible,if the
perceiver and the object of his perception exist upon the same plane of
existence.For this
reason physical
objects are perceive by the physical senses;the things of the soul by the
soul,an that
which belongs to
the spirit can only be perceive by the power of the self-conscious spirit in
man.
Everything that
exists,exists within the Universal Min ,an nothing can exist outsi e of
it,because the
Universal Min
inclu es all.Perception is a faculty by which min learns to know what is going
on within
itself.To see a
thing is to perceive the existence of its [Page 167 ] appearance within one's
own min ;to
feel the
presence of and invisible power within the soul is to become conscious of its
presence by means
of the sense of
touch that belongs to the min .Man can know nothing but what exists within his
own
min .Even the
most ardent lover has never seen his belove one,he merely sees the image which
the
form of the
latter pro uces in his min .If we pass through the streets of a city the images
of men an
women pass
review in our min while their bo ies meet our own;but for the images which they
pro uce
within our
consciousness we woul know nothing about their existence.The images pro uce in
the
min come to the
consciousness whose workshop is the brain;if man's consciousness were centere
in
some other part
of his bo y,he woul become conscious in that part of the sensations which he
receives.
He might for
instance see with his stomach or hear with his fingers,as has often been prove
by
scientifically
con ucte experiments,and the reason of it is that sensation is not a quality
belonging to
the physical bo
y;but belongs to the astral form,whose senses are not so localise ;but which
penetrates the
physical bo y and whose senses become localise therein.
A self-conscious
power,being universally iffuse through space,woul have the faculty to realise
all
that takes place
in any portion of it,because it woul be in conscious relation with everything.A
conscious power
being boun to a material form,can only realise that which enters into
relationship with
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that form.All
self-consciousness and all perception cannot belong to a limite form;it belongs
to the
ivine nature of
man,which is not limite by the limitations of form.
From the
influence of the universal power of Min ,and the resistance of the
form,physical senses came
into
existence.If man ha originally remaine in perfect harmony with the Universal
Min ,he woul
never have
become clothe in a material form.There coul be no perception without
resistance.If our
bo ies were
perfectly transparent to light we coul not perceive the light,because light
cannot illuminate
itself.The
Astral [Page 168 ] Light penetrates our bo ies,but we are not able to see
it,because the physical
bo y offers no
resistance to it.
At the time when
we fall asleep,consciousness gra ually leaves its seat in the brain and merges
into the
consciousness of
the inner man .We then begin to realise another state of existence;an if a
part of the
consciousness
still remains with the brain,the perception of the interior consciousness comes
to the
cognisance of
the personal self.It is therefore possible in that half-conscious state,between
sleeping an
waking,when
consciousness is oscillating between two states of existence,to receive
important
revelations from
the higher state and retain them in the personal memory.The more our
consciousness
merges in that
higher state,the better will we realise the higher existence,but the
impressions upon our
external self
will become im and not be remembere ;but as long as the greatest part of our
consciousness is
active within the material brain,the perceptions of a higher state will only be
im an
mixe up with
memories and sensations of the lower state of existence.
There probably
was a time in the evelopment of the bo y of man,when his form was -so to say
-all
eye,an his whole
surface sensitive to the power of light.The resistance of his form to the
influence of
light create the
eye.Fishes have been foun in subterranean lakes which have no eyes;there being
no
light,they nee e
no organs to receive it and none to resist it.In tropical countries the
intensity of light is
stronger.Tropical
man nee s the ark pigment in his skin to protect his nu e bo y from the
influence of
the tropical
sun.
There are
semi-material existences (Elementals)which have no teguments sufficiently soli
to protect
them from
terrestrial light.Such natures are very sensitive to the action of light,they
can only continue to
live indarkness,an
only manifest their powers at night.[ Adolphe d'Assier ,who spent much time in
the
investigation of
occult phenomena,tells of a case,where a person slept in a haunte house ,for
the
purpose of
investigating the spook.He went to be and left the light burning.At once a ark
sha ow
seeme to rush
through the oor into his room and went un er his be .Soon a long arm exten e
from
un er the be
,reache up to the table and extinguishe the light,an imme iately the rampage
began.
Furniture was
overthrown and broken,and the noise was so great that it attracte the
neighbours,who
came with a
light,when the ark sha ow fle through the oor.] [Page 169 ] If the astral bo y
of man were
expose to the
full influence of,the astral light,without having acquire the power to resist
it,it woul be
estroye slowly
or quickly according to the intensity of that light.The myths of hell an
purgatory are
suggestive of
that action of the estructive action of the Astral Light.But this estruction is
not
necessarily
accompanie by sensation,unless that bo y is conscious.A corpse from which the
spirit has
with rawn may be
cremate and cannot feel it,an astral corpse may issolve into its elements and feel
no pain.Only
when a form becomes associate with spirit,in whatever plane of existence,there
will
sensation become
manifest.
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Some of the
practices of black magic and necromancy are base upon this fact,an it oes not
appear
impossible that
the astral bo ies of the ea may be tormente by the living,if they knew how to
en ow
them with
spirit,an to reawaken consciousness by infusing some of their own life within
these forms.
If our bo ies
were sufficiently ethereal to pass through others without experiencing any
resistance,we
woul not feel
their presence.If the keyboard of the ear were not present to receive the
vibrations of
soun ,hearing
woul be efective.The power to resist pro uces sensation.
Man suffers
because he resists.If he were to obey the laws of his nature un er all
circumstances,he
woul know no bo
ily isease;if he were to execute in all things the ivine will of Go ,he woul
incur no
suffering.
Life,sensation,perception,an
consciousness may be with rawn from the physical bo y and become
active in the
astral bo y of man.The astral mand then becomes conscious of his existence independent
of
the physical bo
y and can evelop faculties of sense.He may then see sights which have no
existence
for the physical
[Page 170 ] eye,hear soun s that the physical ear cannot hear,feel,taste,an
smell things
whose existence
the physical senses cannot realise,an which consequently have no existence to
them.
What and astonishing
sight woul meet the eyes of a mortal,if the veil that mercifully hi es the
astral
world from his
sight were to be su enly remove !He woul see the space which he inhabits
occupie
by a different world
full of inhabitants,of whose existence he knew nothing.What before appeare to
him
ense and soli
woul now seem to be sha owy,an what seeme to him like empty space he woul
fin people with
life.
Scientifically
con ucte researches have brought to light many instances of cases in which the
astral
senses have been
ren ere more or less active.The Seeress of Prevorst,for instance,perceive many
things which for
other persons ha no existence;the history of the saints gives numerous similar
examples,an mo
ern mediumship proves the existence of such inner senses by facts which occur
every ay.If the
astral senses of a person are fully alive and active,he is able to perceive
things without
the use of his
physical senses.He will be clairvoyant and claira dient ,he will be able to
see,hear,feel,
taste,an smell
the astral attributes of things existing in or out or corporeal forms.
All houses are
haunte ,but not all persons are equally able to see the ghosts that haunt
them,because
to perceive
things on the astral plane requires the evelopment or a sense a apte to such
perceptions.
Thoughts are
ghosts ,an only those that can see images forme of thought can see ghosts
,unless
the latter are
sufficiently materialise to refract the light and to become visible to the eye.
We may feel the
presence of and astral form without being able to see it,an be just as certain
of its
presence as if
we i behol it with our eyes;for the sense of touch is not less reliable thand
the sense of
sight.The presence
of a holy,high,an exalte i ea that enters the min fills it with a feeling of
happiness,with
and exhilarating influence whose vibrations may be perceive long after that
thought has
gone.[Page 171 ]
The explanation
which material science gives in regard to the process of seeing only explains
the
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formation of a
picture on the retina of the physical eye,but gives no explanation whatever how
these
pictures come to
the consciousness of the min .If the min of man were enclose in the physical bo
y of
man he coul not
perceive the size of any exterior thing.In such a case he coul at best see the
minute
picture forme on
his retina,and the outsi e world woul appear to him like the microscopic object
seen
through a
reverse telescope.But the reflections forme in the physical eye only serve to
call the
attention of the
min to the objects of its perception,or awaken the interior sense of feeling
which the
min possesses to
a consciousness of its relation to the objects of its perception,which exist
within its
own
sphere.Visible man is the kernel of the invisible man,the sphere of his min
surroun s him in all
si es like and invisible
pulp,exten ing far into space,an he can become conscious of the objects
existing within
that sphere if he recognises his relation with them.
This invisible
and ethereal sphere is as essential to constitute a man as the pulp of a peach
is essential
to constitute a
peach,but material science knows only the kernel,an knows nothing about the
pulp.Still
this soul sphere
exists,an intermingles with the spheres of others,pro ucing sympathies,or
antipathies,according
to the harmony,or isharmony,of their respective elements.A great many events
may take place
within one's min and we may not perceive them,unless our attention is attracte
to
them,and they
come to our consciousness.
The min
perceives what is going on in the physical plane by being awakene by physical
means to a
consciousness of
his relationship with physical things;it perceives what is going on in the
realm of the
soul by being
awakene to a consciousness of his relationship with the realm of the soul by
influences
coming from that
realm,an it perceives spiritual truth by being awakene to a recognition of its
relationship to
truth by the power procee ing from it.
The physical bo
y may be ormant and perceive no [Page 172 ] external objects;the astral senses
are
un evelope ;the
spiritual power of perception in the majority of mankin is still inactive,an
feels the
presence of the
spirit only by the uncertain reflex of its light,like a man in a semi-conscious
con ition
may see the
reflex of light shining through the close li s and not know what it is.This is
the power of
intuition that
prece es and awakening to spiritual knowle ge.
Min has no
conceivable limits,an istance is therefore no impe iment to mental
perception,because a
min being in
soli arity with the whole stan s in relation to every part of the whole,an as
soon as man
recognises his
relation to and object in space he becomes conscious of its presence.
The reason why
the min of man oes not perceive everything and requires the ai of the physical
senses,is that A
am is still sleeping the sleep which came over him while he was and inhabitant
of the
para ise.He is
still unconscious of the fact that his real nature comprises the all;his
consciousness has
become boun to a
material form,an he is now the prisoner of that form.
To see a thing
is i entical with touching it with the min .The in ivi ual min of man being one
with the
universal min
,exten s through space;it is therefore not merely the images of things,but the
things
themselves that
exist within the periphery of our min ,however istant from the centre of our
consciousness
they may be,an if we were able to shift that centre from one place to another
within the
sphere of the
min ,we might in a moment of time approach to the object of our perception.
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The min
substance is everywhere,but its consciousness is limite .If the whole sphere of
the min of a
man were
self-conscious,he woul be omnipresent and all-knowing.As the sphere of
perception of an
in ivi ual min
expan s,so expan s the sphere of his conscious being.
The centre of
consciousness in man is locate in the brain,an if the min touches and object
the
impressions have
to travel all the way to the brain.If we look at a istant star our min is
actually there
an in contact
[Page 173 ] with it,an if we coul transfer our consciousness to that place of
contact,we
woul be
ourselves upon that star and perceive the objects thereon as if we were stan
ing personally
upon its
surface.
This however is
and impossibility as long as the centre of our consciousness is in the
brain;because that
consciousness is
and illusion itself,it enables us to roam through space by means of our
imagination,but
oes not reveal
the truth.The consciousness of the brain is in regard to our true
self-consciousness what
the false light
of the moon is to the light of the sun.Our true self-consciousness rests in the
heart,an
therefore the
heart can expan in that universal love,which is not imaginary,through the whole
of
creation.If that
love becomes self-conscious in our heart,all the mysteries of the universe will
be open
before us.
Perception is
passive imagination ,because if we perceive and object,the relation which it
bears to us
comes to our
consciousness without any active exertion on our part.But there is and active
imagination by
which we may
enter into relation with a istant object in space by a transfer of
consciousness.By this
power we may act
upon a istant object if we succee in forming a true image of it in our own
consciousness.By
concentrating our consciousness upon such and object we become conscious in
that
place of the
sphere of our min where that object exists.Thus we establish a conscious
relation between
such and object
and ourselves,but this requires that spiritual power which resi es in the
heart.
Consciousness is
existence,and there are as many states of consciousness as there are states of
existence.Every
living being has a consciousness of its own,and the state of its consciousness
changes
every moment of
time,as fast as the impressions which it receives change;because its
consciousness is
the perception
of the relation it bears to things,an as this relation changes,consciousness
changes its
character.
If our whole
attention is taken up by animal pleasure,we exist in and animal state of
consciousness;if we
are aware of the
presence of spiritual principles,such as
hope,faith,charity,justice,truth,etc.,we live in
our [Page 174 ]
spiritual consciousness,an between these two extremes there are a great variety
of
gra
ations.Consciousness itself oes not change,it only moves up and own on the
scale of existence.
There is only
one kin of consciousness which never changes its place because it is independent
of all
relation to
things.It is the self-consciousness of self-existence,the realisation of the I
am .It can be
ignore ,but once
attaine it cannot change,because Go never changes;its change woul involve non-
existence or the
annihilation of all.He who has not attaine that true self-consciousness,the
realisation
of the existence
of his own real self oes not exist.He may be highly evelope physically an
intellectually;nevertheless
he is nothing else but a compoun of physical and intellectual elements an
his sense of
self and ever-changing illusion.He cannot ie,because he has never come to
life;he oes
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not truly
exist,because he oes not realise his true existence.There is no one truly
alive,except he who
can realise his
own true ivine life.
When Life manifests
itself in a form it begins to live relatively to form;but the egree of
consciousness of
the formdepends
on the state of its organisation.In a low organise form there is sensation,but
no
intelligence.An
oyster has consciousness,but no intelligence.A man may have a great eal of
intellect
an no
consciousness of spirituality,sublimity,justice,beauty,or truth.
The lowest
existences follow implicitly the laws of nature or of Universal Reason ;because
in them exists
no ddifferentiation
of min ;they have no will and reason of their own.The highest spiritual beings
follow
their own
reason;but their will and reason is in harmony with the universal law.The
ifference between
the lowest
beings and the highest ones is,therefore,that the lowest ones perform the will
of Go
unconsciously
and unknowingly;while the highest ones o the same thing knowingly and consciously.It
is only the
reasoning beings who imagine that they are their own law-givers,an may o what
they
please.All evil
is cause by reasoning;the [Page 175 ] enlightene oes not reason;he has Reason
itself
for his gui e.
The muscular
system exercises its habitual movements in the act of
walking,eating,&c.,without being
especially gui e
by a superinten ing intellect,like a clockwork that,after being once set in
motion,
continues to
run;an a man who is in the habit of oing that which is right and just,will act
in accordance
with the law of
wisdom and justice instinctively,an without any consi eration or oubt.
Each state of
min has its own mo e of perception,sensation,instinct,an consciousness,and the
activity of one
may overpower and suppress that of the other.A person being only conscious of
the
sensations
create by some physical act,is at that time unconscious of spiritual
influences.One who is
un er the influence
of chloroform loses his external sensation.One in a state of trance is awake on
a
higher plane of
existence,an unconscious of what happens on the physical plane.
The
unintelligent muscular system is conscious of nothing else but the attraction
of Earth.In it the
element of Earth
pre ominates,an unless it is uphel by reason,it acts accor ing to the impulse
create in it by
that attraction.The astral bo y is unintelligent,an unless infuse with the
intelligence
coming from the
higher principles,it follows the attractions of the astral plane.These
attractions are its
esires.As the
physical bo y,if ungui e by reason,follows the law of gravitation,so the astral
bo y
follows the
attractions of esire.The animal consciousness of man is that unreasoning
attraction which
impels him to
seek for the gratification of his instincts.
Correctly
speaking,there is no such thing as animal reason,animal intellect,animal
consciousness,etc.
Consciousness,reason,intelligence,etc.,in
the absolute,have no qualifications;they are universal
principles,that
is to say,functions of the Universal One Life ,manifesting themselves on
various planes in
various forms.
The con ition of
a person whose consciousness is no more illumine by reason,is seen in emotional
mania and obsession.In
such cases the person acts entirely [Page 176 ] according to the impulses
acting
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in him,an when
he recovers his reason,he is unconscious of his actions uring that state.Such
states
manifest
themselves sometimes in only one person,or they affect several persons
simultaneously,an
even whole
countries,as has been experience in some wholesale obsessions occurring
uring the
Mi le Ages.[
Histoire es iables e Lou in .-Cases of obsession are by no means
unfrequent,an
many cases of
insanity are merely cases of obsession.It is extremely esirable in the
interests of
humanity that
our superinten ents and octors of insane asylums shoul stu y the occult laws of
nature,
an learn to know
the causes of insanity,instea of merely stu ying their external effects.] They
are often
observe in cases
of hysteria,may be witnesse at religious meetings,uring theatrical
performances,
uring the attack
upon and enemy,or at any other occasion,where the passions of the multitu e are
excite ,in ucing
them to acts of folly or bravery,an enabling people to perform acts which they
woul
be neither
willing nor able to perform if they were gui e only by the calculations of
their intellect.All such
states are the
manifestation of unseen powers,acting in and through different forms.
There are
persons in whom the astral bo y has become the centre of consciousness,and they
may
acquire the
power to transfer that consciousness to a istant locality.Min is everywhere,an
capable of
receiving
impressions.If we stea ily concentrate our thoughts upon a istant person or a
place,a current
of min is create
.Our thoughts go to the esire locality,for that locality,however far it may
be,is still
within the sphere
of min .If we have been there before,or if there is something to attract us,it
will not be
ifficult to fin
it.Un er ordinary circumstances consciousness remains with the bo y.But if our
astral
elements are
sufficiently alive,so as not to cling to the bo y,but to accompany our
thoughts,then our
consciousness
may go with them,being projecte there by the power of the will,and the more the
will is
intense the
easier will this be accomplishe .We shall then visit the chosen place
consciously and know
what we are
[Page 177 ] oing,an our astral elements carry the memory back and impress them
upon our
physical brain.
This is the
secret how the thought bo y may be projecte to a istance by those who have
acquire that
power.It is a
power that may be acquire by birth or learne by practice.There are persons in
whom,in
consequence of
either and inherite peculiarity of the constitution or from sickness,such a
separation
between the
physical and astral elements may either voluntarily or involuntarily take
place,and the astral
form either
consciously or unconsciously travel to istant places or persons,an by the
assistance of the
o ic and magnetic
emanations even materialise into a visible and even tangible form.[ Adolphe d
'
Assier cites
several instances in which the ouble of a person was seen simultaneously with
the physical
form.A young la
y at college was seen by her mates in the parlour of the school,while at the
same time
her ouble was in
the garden.The stronger the double grew,the more faint became her corporeal
form.
When she
recovere her strength,the ouble isappeare from sight.In this case,the
consciousness of
the la y was evi
ently ivi e between the room and the garden,an as her thoughts went to the
flowers
they forme a bo
y there.In stu ying the law accor ing to which such apparently mysterious
things
occur,it will be
a visable to remember that all forms ,whether material or ethereal,consist
merely of
certain
vibrations of primordial matter,manifesting themselves accor ing to the
character impresse
upon them.]
The Kama-rupa is
sometimes attracte unconsciously to places while the physical bo y is asleep.It
has
been seen by
impressible persons on such occasions,but it shows no signs of intelligence or
life;it only
acts like and automaton
and returns when the physical bo y requires its presence.At the time of eath,
when the
cohesion between the lower and higher principles is loosene ,such a projection
is of not
unfrequent
occurrence;it may then be for a short time,conscious,alive,an intelligent,an
represent the
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true
man.[Numerous instances of such occurrences may be foun in E,Gurney,Phantasms
of the
Living ]
There are a
great number of cases on record where,in consequence of a su en and intense
emotion,
for instance,the
esire to see a certain person,the thought [Page 178 ] bo y projecting itself
from the
physical bo y
has become conscious and visible at a istance.In cases of home-sickness we fin
some
approach to and instance
of this,The person separate from home and frien s,having and intense
yearning to see
his native place again,projects his thoughts to that place,He lives so to say
in that
place,while his
physical bo y vegetates in another.He becomes weaker,an finally ies;that is to
say,
he goes where
his thoughts alrea y are,although his gra ual going is imperceptible and unrecognisable
to physical
senses.
In cases of
sickness or eath a similar process of separation takes place.When,from whatever
cause,
the union
between the physical form and the astral bo y becomes weakene ,the astral form
separates
itself for a
while or permanently from the physical form.
The symptoms of
such a beginning of separation is often observe in severe sickness,when the
patient
has the
sensation as if another person were lying in the same be with him.As recovery
takes place,the
principles whose
cohesion has been loosene become reunite and that sensation isappears.
Accor ing to the
plane of existence,where a person lives is the state of his consciousness,an
each of
these planes has
its own sensations,perceptions,an memories.What is seen and perceive an
remembere in one
state,is not remembere in another state,an it is therefore not improbable that
a
person,entering
into a higher state of consciousness after the eath of his bo y,will remember
nothing
about the con
itions of his terrestrial life.[A case is cite in Dr Hammon 's book on
insanity,in which a
servant,while in
a state of intoxication,carrie a package with which he ha been entruste to the
wrong
house.Having
become sober,he coul not remember the place,and the package was suppose to be
lost;but after
he got runk again he remembere the place,he went there and recovere the
package.This
goes to show that when he was runk he was another person than when he was
sober;
man's in ivi
uality continually changes according to the con itions in which he exists,an as
his
consciousness
changes he becomes another in ivi ual,although he still retains the same
outward form.
]
In the state of
intoxication the person is only conscious [Page 179 ] of his animal existence
and entirely
unconscious of
his higher existence.A somnambule in the luci con ition looks upon her bo y as
a being
istinct from her
own self,who is,to a certain extent,un er her care.She speaks of that being in
the thir
person,prescribes
sometimes for it as a physician prescribes for his patient and often shows
tastes,
inclinations,an
opinions entirely oppose to those which she possesses in her normal con ition.
Persons while in
a trance may love another person intensely,because they are then capable to
perceive
his goo interior
qualities,an etest him when they are in their normal con ition,when they merely
behol his
external attributes.[H.Zachokke:Verklaerungen (Transfigurations)]
In the state of
trance the bo y is entirely unconscious and unable to realise any physical
sensation.It
may be burnt or
burie .Such a procee ing woul not affect the inner man otherwise than to
prevent his
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return to that
bo y.But while his earthly form is unconscious,his spiritual self is
conscious,an may be
engage in uties
beyon our comprehension,among scenes from which it must be painful to return to
the bon s of
Earth.
Even while
physical consciousness is active the consciousness of the higher principles may
be so
exalte as to ren
er the bo y little conscious of pain.History speaks of men and women whose
souls
rejoice while
their earthly tabernacles were un ergoing the tortures of the rack,or evoure by
flames
at the stake.
Man lea s
essentially two lives,one while he is fully awake,another while he is fully
asleep.Each has its
own
perceptions,consciousness,an experiences,but the experiences uring sleep are
not
remembere when
we are fully awake .At the borderlan between sleep and waking,where the
impressions of
each state meet and mingle,is the realm of confuse reams,which sel om contain
any
truth.
This state
is,however,favourable to receive impressions from the inner self.The inner man
may use
symbolical forms
and allegorical images to convey ideas [Page 180 ] to the lower self,an to give it
a
monitions,forebo ings,an warnings in regard to future events.
There are
various kin s of reams.Many a ifficult problem has been solve uring sleep,and
the
terrestrial world
is not always without any reflex of the light from above.The min of the sleeper
uring
the sleep of the
bo y comes into contact with other min s,an passes through experiences which
one
oes not remember
when awake.Man,in his waking con ition,often has experiences which he
afterwards oes
not remember,but which he,nevertheless,enjoye at the time when they occurre ,an
which at that
time were real to him.[ One extraor inary case is mentione in A.P.Sinnett's
Inci ents in
the Life of Ma
ame Blavatsky .Speaking of her sickness in Tiflis,Ma ame Blavatsky says,that
she ha
the sensation as
if she were two different persons,one being the Ma ame Blavatsky,whose bo y was
lying sick in be
,the other person and entirely different and superior being.When I was in my
lower
state ,she
says,I knew who that other person was and what she (or he)ha been oing;but
when I
was that other
being myself,I i not know nor care who was that Ma ame Blavatsky .It is therefore
very well
possible that Ma ame Blavatsky's transcen ental Ego ,with all its
consciousness,faculties,
an powers of
perception,in fact,her real self ,was consciously and really un ergoing certain
mysterious
experiences in
Tibet,while the physical instrument,which we call Ma ame Blavatsky ,was sick
at Tiflis.
]
Man feels in
himself at least two sets of attractions that come to his consciousness.One set
rags him
own to earth and
makes him cling to material necessities and enjoyments,the other set,lifting
him up
into the region
of the unknown,makes him forget the allurements of matter,an brings him nearer
to the
realm of
immortal beauty.The greatest poets and philosophers have recognise this fact of
ouble
consciousness,or
the two poles of one,an between those two poles ebbs and floo s the normal
consciousness of
the average human being.
Goethe expresses
this in his Faust in about the following terms:
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Two souls,alas I
are conscious in my breast,
One from the
other seeks to separate.
One clings to
earth,where all its life is roote ,
The other rises
upwards to the go s.[Page 181 ]
One attraction
arises from Wisdom,another from folly.By the power of Knowle ge,Man is enable
to
choose which way
he will follow,an by the power of obe ience he is enable to procee .He may live
on the lower
planes of consciousness and become ea to spirituality and immortal life;or in
the highest
spheres of
thought,where his min expan s and where he ultimately will fin that spirit al
self-
conscio
sness,which is Divine Wisdom,the realisation of eternal truth .Few may be able
to reach such a
state,an few
will be able to comprehen its possibility;but there have been men who,on the
threshol
of Nirwana,an
while their physical bo ies continue to live on this planet,coul consciously
roam
through the
interplanetary spaces and see the won ers of the material and spiritual world s.This
is the
highest form of
A eptship attainable on Earth,an to him who accomplishes it the mysteries of
the
Universe will be
like and open book.
Divine Wisdom
for the purpose of manifesting itself requires and organism.In the mineral king
om it
manifests itself
as attraction,in plants as life,in animals as instinct,in human beings as
reason,in Divine
natures as
self-knowle ge;on every plane the character of its manifestationdepends on the
character of
the organism
through which it acts.Without a human organism,even the most intelligent animal
cannot
become a
man;without a spiritual organism even the most pious christian will be only a
reamer.
Every state of
consciousness requires for its expression a suitable organism,and the greater
the realm of
its
manifestation,the more expan e must be the sphere of its activity.There is no
realisation of physical
existence
without a physical bo y;there is no emotional nature without and organise
astral form;no
i eation without
and organise min ,an no ivine existence without and incorruptible bo y.Without
that
spiritual organisation,whose
elements are self-conscious immortality,ivine justice,eternal beauty an
harmony,universal
justice and love,knowle ge and power,purity and perfection,free om and glory,
even the most
evout worshipper can only feel.Even the most evout worshipper,as [Page 182 ]
long as
the ivine spirit
has not awakene within his soul,will merely feel the beauties of the spiritual
realm in the
same sense as a
blin man may enjoy the warm rays of the sunshine without being able to see the
light;
only when the
process of spiritual regeneration has been accomplishe will he be able to see
the sun of
ivine glory
within his own soul,an know that he exists as and eternal,self-existent and immortal
power
in Go .
To become a
magician requires a perfect man and not merely a being born of a ream;the
exercise of
spiritual power
requires a substantial bo y as its foun ation;to attain true knowle ge of all
the mysteries
of the universe
requires and organisation as large as the world .This spiritual bo y grows out
of the
elements of the
corruptible material bo y.Without that organism there can be no realisation of
one's own
ivine
nature:Unless a man is reborn in the Spirit,he cannot enter the King om of Go
.
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CHAPTER VIII
UNCONSCIOUSNESS
"Omne bonum
a Deo,imperfectum a Diabalo .Paracelsus
[Page 183 ]
CONSCIOUSNESS is knowle ge and life;unconsciousness is ignorance and eath.If we
are
conscious of the
existence of a thing,we know that a relation exists between ourselves and that
thing.If
we become
unconscious of its existence,neither we nor that object ceases to exist,but we
fail to
recognise its
relation to us.As soon as we begin to realise that relation,the character of
the object
perceive in the
sphere of our min becomes a part of our mental constitution,an we begin to live
in
relation to
it.We then possess it in our consciousness,an may retain it there by the power
of our Will.If
it isappears,we
may recall it by the power of recollection and memory.To know and object is to
live
relatively to
it,to forget it is to cease to exist in relation to it.
Unconsciousness,ignorance,an
eath are therefore synonymous terms,an everyone is ea in
proportion as he
is ignorant.If he is ignorant of a fact,he is ea relatively to it,although he
may be fully
alive relatively
to other things.We cannot be conscious of everything at once,and therefore,as
our
impressions and thoughts
change,our consciousness and relation to certain things change,an we
continually ie
relatively to some things and live relatively to others.There can be no
absolute
unconsciousness;because
the One Life is self-existent and independent of its manifestations.It
manifests itself
in our forms,an even if our forms issolve,Life continues to be and to evolve
other
forms.[Page 184
] There can be no cessation of absolute consciousness as long as there is
absolute
being,because
the "Absolute never ceases to be in relation to itself.Relative eath an
unconsciousness
occurs every moment,an we are not aware of its occurrence.We meet hun re s of
corpses in the
streets,which are entirely ea and unconscious in regar to certain things of
which we
are alive;an we
are ea in regar to many things to which others are alive and conscious.Only
simultaneously
occurring omniscience in regar to everything that exists woul be absolute life
without
any a mixture of
eath,but such a state is and impossibility as long as man is boun to a
personality an
limite form,an
has therefore only a limite existence and consciousness.
Each principle
in man has a certain sphere of activity,an its perceptions can only exten to
the limits of
that sphere.Each
is ea to such mo es of activity as are in no relation with it.Minerals are
unconscious
of the action of
intelligence,but not of the attraction of Earth;the spirit is ea to earthly
attraction an
mechanical
pressure,but not to love.If we can change the mo e of activity in a form,we
call into
existence a new
state of consciousness,because we establish new relations of a different or
er;the ol
activity ies and
a new one begins to live.
If the energy
which we are now using for the purpose of igesting foo ,for performing
intellectual labour
an for enjoying
sensual pleasures,were use for the purpose of eveloping the spiritual germs
containe within
the constitution of man,we woul be in a comparatively short time rewarde for
our
labour by
becoming superior beings,of a state so far above our present con ition,that we
can at present
not even
conceive of it,because we have no experience about it.All we know about such
states is that
which has been
tol to us by those who have entere it,an in moments of tranquility and exaltation
the
soul of even not
highly spiritually evelope people may occasionally pass by the temple of ivine
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wisdom,when the
oor is left ajar,an from the glance caught of the interior light that streams
[Page 185 ]
through the
Gates of Gol it may form a conception about the beauties containe therein.
In the
constitution of average man life is especially active in the physical bo y,an
he clings to the life of
that bo y as if
it were the only possible mo e of existence.He knows of no other mo e of
life,an is,
therefore,afrai
to ie.A person who has concentrate his life and consciousness into his astral
bo y will
be conscious of
another existence,an his physical bo y will be only so far of value to him,as
by its
instrumentality
he can act on the physical plane.Physical eath is a continuation of the
activity of life in
other
principles.If we,by and occult process,concentrate all our life into our higher
principles before our
bo y ceases to
live,we master eath,an live independent of our physical bo y.[Such beings exist
an
are calle
"Nirmβnakβyas .See H.P.Blavatsky,"The Voice of the Silence ,Part
III.They are not to be
confoun e with
the so-calle "Theosophical Mahatmas ,who are terrestrial men and A
epts;but who
have been
represente by some fanatical a mirers as "spirits or ghosts.]
Such a transfer
of life and consciousness is not beyon possibility.It has been accomplishe by
many,
an will be
accomplishe by others.The material elements of the physical bo y are
continually subject to
elimination and renewal.By
permitting the physical bo y gra ually to ie,while the spiritual organism
becomes evelope
,the astral bo y assumes the functions of the physical form.
No one woul be
willing to look upon such a change as death ,an nevertheless it woul be nothing
else
but a mo e of
ying slow as far as the physical bo y is concerne ,while at the same time it is
a raising
of the real man
into a superior form of existence.Death whether slow or quick is nothing
but a
process of
purification,by which the imperfect is eliminate and ren ere
unconscious.Nothing perishes
but that which
is not able to live.Principles cannot ie,only their manifestations cease in one
plane,to
appear in
another.
Only that which
is perfect can remain without being [Page 186 ] change .Go oes not re eem the
personal man by
the process of eath;he re eems himself by freeing himself from the personality
of the
man.Truth,wisdom,justice,beauty,goo
ness,etc.,cannot be exterminate ;it is merely the forms in
which they
become manifest that can be estroye .If all the wise men in the world were to
ie,the
principle of
Wisdom woul nevertheless continue to exist,an manifest in ue time in other
receptive
forms;if Love
were to leave the hearts of all human beings,it woul thereby not be annihilate
,it woul
merely cease to
exist relatively to men,an men woul cease to live,while love woul continue to
be.
Eternal
principles are self-existent,and therefore independent of forms,an not subject
to change;but
forms are
changeable,an cannot continue without the presence of the principles whose
instruments for
manifestation
they represent.
The human bo y
is and instrument for the manifestation of life,the soul is and instrument for
the
manifestation of
spirit.When life leaves the bo y,the bo y isintegrates;if the spirit leaves the
astral
form,the latter
issolves.A person in whom the spiritual principle has become entirely inactive
is morally
ea ,although his
bo y may be full of life and his earthly soul full of animal esires.Such
spiritless living
corpses or
shells are often seen in fashionable society as well as in the crow s where the
vulgar
assemble.A
person in whom the principle of reason has become inactive is intellectually ea
,although
his bo y may be
full of animal life;lunatics are ea people,in whom reason has cease to live.If
the
soul leaves the
bo y,the form ies,but the soul lives if en owe with spirit,but if its
connection with spirit
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ceases,either
before or after the eath of the bo y,it issolves into the elements of the
astral plane.
The astral
soul,like the bo y,is a compoun organism,compose of various elements.Some of
these
elements may be
fit to assimilate with the spirit,others are not fit to o so.If a person,uring
his earthly
life,has not
purifie his soul sufficiently,so as to enter the spiritual state imme iately
after the eath of
the [Page 187 ]
physical bo y,a gra ual separation of the pure and impure elements from the
still impure
remains takes
place in the state after eath.When the final separation is accomplishe ,the
spiritual
elements enter
the spiritual state (which,in fact,they have never left);and the lower elements
remain in
the lower
plane,where they gra ually isintegrate.
If the
organisation of the physical bo y becomes impaire to such and extent,that the
principle of life
cannot employ it
any longer to serve as and instrument for its manifestation,it ceases to
act.Death may
begin at the hea
,the heart,or the lungs but life lingers longest in the hea ,an is still active
there to a
certain extent
after the bo y,to all exterior appearances,has become unconscious and cease to
live.
The power of
thought continues for a time to work in its habitual manner,although sensation
has cease
to exist in the
nerves.This activity may even grow in intensity as the principles become
isunite ;an if
the thought of
the ying is intensely irecte upon and absent frien it can impress itself upon
the
consciousness of
that frien ,an perhaps cause him to see the apparition of the ying.At last
vitality
leaves the
brain,and the higher principles epart,carrying with them their proper
activity,life,an
consciousness,leaving
behin and empty form,a mask,an illusion.There nee not necessarily be any
loss of
consciousness in regard to the persons and things by which the ying person is
surroun e ;the
only
consciousness which necessarily ceases is that which refers to con itions
concerning his
personality,such
as physical sensation,pain,weight,heat and col ,hunger and thirst,which affecte
the
physical form.As
his life eparts from the brain,another state of consciousness comes into
existence,
because he
enters into relation to a different or er of things."The
principle,carrying memory,emerges
from the
brain,an every event of the life which is ebbing away,is reviewe by the min
.Picture after
picture presents
itself with living vivi ness before his consciousness,an he lives in a few
minutes his
whole life
again.Persons in a state or rowning have [Page 188 ] experience that state.That
impression
which has been
the strongest,survives all the rest;the other impressions isappear to reappear
again in
the evachanic
state.No man ies unconscious,whatever external appearances may seem to in icate
to
the
contrary;even a ma man will have a moment,at the time of his eath,when his
intellect will be
restore .Those
who are present at such solemn moments shoul take care not to isturb,by
outbursts
of grief or
otherwise,that process by which the soul behol s the effects of the past and lays
the plan for
its future
existence .[Extracte from the letter of and A ept.]
The process of
the parting of the astral form from the physical remains is escribe by a
clairvoyant as
follows:"At
first I saw a beautiful light of a pale blue colour,in which appeare a small
egg-shape
substance about
three feet above the hea .It was not stationary,but wavere to and fro like a
balloon in
the air.Gra
ually it elongate to the length of the bo y,the whole envelope in a mist or
smoke.I
perceive a face
correspon ing in features to that which was so soon to be soulless,only
brighter,more
smooth,more
beautiful,yet unfinishe ,with the same want of expression that we observe in a
new-born
infant.With
every breath from the ying bo y the ethereal form was a e to and became more
perfect.
Presently the
feet became efine ,not si e by si e,as the ying man ha place himself,but one
hanging below
the other,an one knee bent,as new-born infants woul be in and acci ental
position.The
bo y appeare to
be enshrou e in a clou like mist.A countless host of other presences seeme to
be
near.When the
whole was complete,all slowly passe out of sight .[A.J.Davis escribes a
similar
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scene.]
This ethereal bo
y is the soul-bo y or perisprit of the person that ie .It is not the spirit
itself,but still
connecte with
the spirit,as it was connecte with it uring life.It still contains the goo and evil
ten encies which
it acquire uring life,unless its attraction towards one pole or the other was
alrea y so
great [Page 189
] that a separation of the highest principle has taken place before physical
eath.The real
man is and impersonal
power,an his existence oes notdependon a physical form,he only acquires
such a form to
manifest his activity on the lower planes.If his spirit rises above the
attractions of his
lower self,his
lower self will be unconscious and isintegrate;but if he clings to his animal
nature with a
great intensity
of esire,a centre of consciousness may become establishe therein,an its sense
of
personality
still continue to exist for a while even after the physical bo y is ea .His
soul will in such
cases be a
semi-conscious inhabitant of the Kama loca state.
The time uring
which and astral corpse may remain in this state before it is entirely issolvedepends
on
the ensity and strength
of its elements.It may iffer from a few hours or ays to a great many years.
Man is ma e up
of a great many living elements or principles,of which each one exists in its
own
in ivi ual state
while they all receive their life from the spirit.When the spirit with raws
they become
separate ,while
each retains for a while its own particular life in the same sense as a wheel
which is
once set into
motion will continue to run until after the force is exhauste ,even if the
original motive
power is with
rawn.
The remnant of a
man in the Kama loca state is therefore not the man,but and elementary part of
him
which may or may
not be conscious that it exists.
This Kama loca
state is the "lan of the sha ows ,the Hades of the ancient Greeks,and the
"purgatory"
of the Roman
Catholic Church.Its inhabitants may or may not possess consciousness and intelligence,
but the astral
souls of average men and women possess no intelligence of their own;they
can,however,
be ma e to act
intelligently by the power of the Elementals ,who infuse their own
consciousness into
them.Paracelsus
says:"Men and women ie every ay,whose souls uring their lives have been
subject
to the influence
and gui ance of Elementals.How much easier will it be for such Elementals to
influence
the si ereal bo
ies of such persons and to make them act as they please,after their [Page 190 ]
souls
have lost the
protection which their physical bo ies afforde !They may use their soul-bo ies
to move
physical objects
from place to place,to carry such objects from istant countries,an to perform
other
feats of a
similar kin that may appear miraculous to the uninitiate .
The state of
consciousness of the fourth principle (the animal soul)after the lower tria has
become
unconscious and lifeless,therefore,iffers
wi ely in different persons,according to the con itions that
have been
establishe uring its connection with the bo y.The soul of and average person in
Kama loca
with only mo
erate selfish esires is not conscious and intelligent enough to know that its
physical bo y
has ie ,an that
it is itself un ergoing the process of isintegration;but the soul of a person
whose
whole
consciousness was centre in self,chaine to earth by fear,remorse,gree ,or esire
for revenge,
[Chinamen kill
themselves for the purpose of fastening their soul upon and enemy and taking
revenge.
Let those who
"know that this is a superstition try the experiment.] may be conscious
and intelligent
enough to make
esperate efforts to enter again into physical life.Feeling its impen ing
fate,seeking to
prolong its
existence,it clings for protection to the organism of some living being,an
causes obsession.
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Not only
weak-min e human beings but also animals may be subject to such and obsession.
To a bo y
without sensation or consciousness it can make no ifference un er what con
itions it may
continue to
exist or perish,because it cannot realise its existence;but to a soul in which
the ivine spark
of intelligence
coming from the sixth principle has kin le consciousness and sensation,its
surroun ing
con itions will
be of importance,because it realises them more or less fully according to the
egree of its
consciousness.Such
surroun ings,in the state after eath,each man creates for himself uring life by
his thoughts,his
words,an his acts.Man is creating all his life the world wherein he will live
in the
hereafter.
Thought is
substantial and objective to those who live on the plane of thought.Even on the
physical
plane [Page 191
] every form that exists is materialise thought,grown or ma e into a form;the world
of the
souls is a world
in which thought itself appears material and soli to those who exist in that world
.Man is
a centre from
which continually thought is evolve ,an crystallises into forms in that world .His
thoughts
are things that
have life and form and tenacity;real entities,soli and more en uring thand the
forms of
the physical
plane.Goo thoughts are light and rise above us,but evil thoughts are heavy and sink.The
world below us
to which they sink is the sphere of the grossest,most isease ,an sensual
thoughts
evolve by
evil-dispose and ignorant men.It is a world still more material and soli to its
inhabitants
than ours is to
us;it is the habitation of man-create personal eities,evils,an monstrosities
invente
by the morbi
imagination of man.
They are only
the pro ucts of thoughts,but nevertheless they are relatively real and substantial
to those
who live among
them and realise their existence.The myths of hell and purgatory are base on
ill-
un erstoo
facts."Hells exist,but man is himself their creator.Brutal man creates
monsters by the
working of his
isease imagination uring life;isembo ie man will be attracte to its
creations.There
are few persons
who are not subject to evil thoughts;such thoughts are the reflex of the luri
light from
the region of
folly,but they cannot take form unless we give them form by welling on them and
fee ing
them with the
substance of our own will.Love is the life of the goo ,malice the substance of
evil.An evil
thought,evolve
without consent of the heart,is without life;an evil thought,brought into
existence with
malice,becomes
malicious and living.If it is embo ie in and act,a new evil will be born into
the world .
The horrors of
hell exist only for those who have been conscious,voluntary,an malicious
colaborers of
the
imagination,peopling the min with the pro ucts of fancy;the beauties of heaven
are only realise by
him who has
create a heaven within himself uring his life.
Pain is only
cause if a being exists un er abnormal con itions.Allegorically speaking,evils
o not
suffer [Page 192
] in hell,because they are there in their own natural element;they woul suffer if
they ha
to enter into
heaven.A man suffers if his hea is kept un er water:a fish suffers if he is
taken out of the
water.
We can only be
conscious of the existence of things,if a relation exists between ourselves and
these
things.A person
who has create nothing uring life that coul have establishe a conscious
relationship
with his
immortal self will have nothing immortal with which to remain in relation with
after eath.If his
whole attention
is taken up by his physical wants,the sphere of his consciousness uring life
will be
confine to those
material wants.When he leaves his material habitation material wants will no
longer
exist for him,an
his consciousness of them ceases.Having create nothing in his soul that can
enter
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into relation
with his own spirit,his soul will neither lose that which it never possesse nor
gain that which
it never esire
,but remain a blank.Death will clear away that which hin ers our spiritual
perception of
truth;but it
cannot enable us to evelop that power.If we hire a priest or a professor to o
our thinking for
us,an to be
guardian of our knowle ge and spiritual aspirations,we create no spiritual
aspirations or
living thoughts
for ourselves.If we are contente to live in the opinions of others,we have no
truth of our
own.The
artificial consciousness,which has thus been create by the illusive reflection
of the thought of
others on the
mirror of the in ivi ual min ,has no roots in the spiritual soul,an mere
opinions have no
immortal
existence.Those min s which have been fe on illusions will have no substance
after the
illusions have
passe away.The only knowle ge which can remain with the soul is that which it
loves an
knows and is
itself .
Whatever thou
lovest,man,that too,become you must,
Go ,if thou
lovest Go ; ust,if thou lovest ust .
-Angel s Silesi
s .
Every cause is
followe by and effect.Illusions that have been create in the min are forces
that must
become exhauste
before they can ie.They will continue to act in the subjective state and pro
uce
[Page 193 ]
other illusions by the law of harmony that governs the association of ideas ,an
all illusions will
en in the sphere
to which they belong.Selfish esires will en in the sphere of self,unselfish
aspirations
an thoughts will
bring their own rewards if they were goo ,and their own punishment if they were
evil.
But after all
the goo and evil thoughts have been exhauste in Kama loca and Devachan ,there
can be
left nothing of
the in ivi ual but the self-consciousness of his spirit,that existe uring his
life in the
innermost
sanctuary of his heart.If no such consciousness existe ,if there was nothing in
him to cause
him to feel his
own ivine nature,the presence of truth,there will be nothing left but a
blank,an empty
min ,to become
reincarnate for the purpose of trying again to attain the knowle ge of
self.Death is a
transformation
or change of con itions un er which we exist.Our esires for things change as
the
con itions un er
which we exist assume a different character.Before we are born our state of
life
epen s on the
state of the mother's womb;but having been born into the world ,we care nothing
more
for that which
furnishe us with nutriment and life uring our foetal existence.Being
infants,our interests
are centre upon
the breasts of the mother,but these breasts are forgotten after we nee them no
more.
Things which
absorbe the whole of our consciousness uring our youth are iscar e as we grow
ol er.
If we throw off
the physical bo y,the esire for that which was attractive to it and important
for its
existence is
thrown off with it,or perishes soon afterwards.
But if the soul
again approaches the material plane,an again enters into relationship with
it,the ol
consciousness
and the ol esires,that were gone to sleep,reawaken,an its physical sensations
return,but
vanish again after the influence of the medium is with rawn.The
"Elementary then relapses
in his
unconscious state.[The non-remembering of previous appearances is and essential
feature in
returning
ghosts.]
There are
innumerable varieties of con itions and possibilities in the world of spirit
and on the astral
plane,as there
are upon the physical plane.If the min [Page 194 ] begins to investigate these
things
separately,an without
un erstan ing the fun amental laws of nature upon which such phenomena are
base ,it may as
well espair of ever being able to form a correct conception of them.If a
botanist were
to examine
separately each one of the thousan s of leaves of a large tree which he has
never seen,for
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the purpose of
fin ing out the true nature of that tree,he woul never arrive at and en ;but if
he once
knows the tree
as a whole,the colour and shape of the in ivi ual leaves will be of secon ary
importance.
If we once
arrive at a correct conception of the spiritual nature of man,it will be easy
to follow the various
ramifications of
the one universal law.
There is no eath
for that which is perfect,but the imperfect must perish sooner or
later.So-calle eath
is simply a
process of elimination of that which is useless.In this sense we all are
continually ying every
ay,an even
wishing to ie,because every reasonable person esires to get ri of his
imperfections
and their
consequences and the sufferings which they cause.No one is afrai to lose that
which he oes
not want,an if
he clings to that which is useless,it is because he is unconscious and ignorant
of that
which is useful.In
such a case he is alrea y partly ea to that which is goo ,an must come to life
an
learn to realise
that which is useful,by ying to that which is useless.This is the so-calle
mystic death ,
by which the
enlightene come to life,which involves the unconsciousness of worthless and earthly
esires and passions,an
establishes a consciousness of that which is immortal and true.The reason
why men and women
are sometimes afrai to ie is because they mistake the low for the high,an
prefer material
illusions to spiritual truths.We ought not to live in the fear of eath;but in
the hope of
coming to
life.There is no eath for the perfect,and the ea in life must throw away their
imperfectness,
so that,that
which is perfect in him may become conscious and live.This mystic eath is
recommen e
by the wise as
being the supreme reme y against real eath.This mystic eath is a spiritual
regeneration.[
John iii.3.] [Page 195 ]
Hermes
Trismegistus says:"Happy is he whose vices ie before him";and the
great teacher Thomas e
Kempis writes:"Learn
to ie now to the world "(to the attractions of matter),"so that you
may begin to live
with Christ
;an Angel s Silesi s writes:"Christ rose not from the ea ,he is still in
the grave for those
who o not know
him .The true and only saviour of every man or woman is the self-knowle ge of
ivine
truth.
A person whose
vices have ie uring his earthly life oes not nee to ie again.His si ereal bo y
will
issolve like a
silver clou ,being unconscious of any esires for that which is low,an his
spirit will be
fully conscious
of that which is beautiful,harmonious,an true;but he,whose conscience is centre
in
the passions
that have rage in his soul uring life,can realise nothing higher than that
which was the
highest to him
uring his life,an cannot gain any other consciousness by the process of
eath.Physical
eath is no
gain,it cannot give us that which we o not alrea y possess.Unconsciousness
cannot confer
consciousness,ignorance
cannot give knowle ge.By the mystic death we arrive at life an
consciousness,knowle
ge and happiness,because the awaking of the higher elements to life implies the
eath of that
which is useless and low."Neither circumcision nor un-circumcision
availeth,but a new
creature
.[Galat.vi.15.]
There are
Esprits so ffrants ,our suffering souls.They are the "revenants or
"restants ,the astral bo ies
of victims of
premature eath,whose physical forms have perishe before their time.They remain
within
the attraction
of the Earth until the time arrives that shoul have been the termination of
their physical
lives accor ing
to the law of their Karma.They are un er normal con itions,not fully conscious
of the
con itions in
which they exist;but they may be temporarily stimulate into life by the
influence of
mediumship.Then
will their half-forgotten esires and memories return and cause them to
suffer.To
rouse such
existences from their stupor into a realisation of pain for the [Page 196 ]
purpose of gratifying
i le curiosity
is cruel,an very injurious to such irrational souls,as it reawakens their
thirst for life and for
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the
gratification of earthly esires.
The soul of the
same suici e,however,or that of a malicious person,may be fully conscious and realise
the situation in
which it is place .Such sha ows wan er about earth,clinging to material life,an
vainly
trying to escape
the issolution by which they are threatene .Partly bereft of reason,an
following their
animal
instincts,they may become Incubi and S ccubi,Vampires stealing life from the
living to prolong
their own
existence,regardless of the fate of their victims.The soul-bo ies of the ea may
be either
unconsciously or
consciously attracte to mediums for the purpose of communicating with the living.By
using the astral
emanations of the medium they sometimes become materialise ,visibly and tangibly,
an appear like
the ecease person himself.But if a ecease person was in possession of high
aspirations and virtues,his
soul-corpse will not be the actual entity which it represents,although it may
act in some
respect as the person whose mask it wears.If one blows into a trumpet it will
give the soun
of a trumpet and
no other.The soul-corpse of a goo person,if infuse artificially with life,will
pro uce
the thoughts it
use to pro uce uring life;but there nee s to be no more of the i entity of that
person in
the corpse thand
there is the i entity of a frien in a phonograph.
The revelations
ma e by such "spirits are the echoes of their former thoughts,or of
thoughts impresse
upon them by the
living,as a mirror reflects the faces of those that stan before it.They o not
give us a
true escription
of the spirit's con ition in the world of souls,because they are themselves
ignorant of
that con
ition.At the time when Plato was living,such souls returne ,giving escriptions
of Ha es and of
the eities that
were believe to exist in that place.At the present ay the souls of Roman
Catholics will
return and ask
for masses to be relieve from purgatory,while the Protestants refuse to be
benefite by
the ceremonies
[Page 197 ] of the Catholic Church.The souls of ea Hin us ask sometimes for the
performance of
sacrifices to their go s,an every such "spirit is omineere by those ideas
in which he
believe uring
his life.The iscrepancy in their reports prove that their tales are only the
pro ucts of the
imagination of
the irrational soul.[We o not eny the occurrence of so-calle spiritual
phenomena;an
we are not
oppose to "spiritualism ;but we are oppose to the misun erstan ing of
it.We believe in
Spiritualism as
belonging to the epartment of natural science and as having been very useful in
overthrowing the
blin materialism of the past.We also make a istinction between Spirit alism
which
implies Spirit
ality and ennobling elevation of soul and Spiritism ,which consists in ealing
with the
inhabitants of
the Astral plane,an intercourse whose angers are unfortunately not sufficiently
known.]
If man has a
"spirit that spirit must be immortal,but a man is not immortal if he oes
not realise the
presence of the
immortal spirit in him.Having become conscious in man,it cannot become
unconscious
again,because it
is self-existent and independent of all con itions but those which it creates
itself.In him
who IS,the
consciousness of the I Am is in estructible,because it exists in the absolute
eternal One .If
that
consciousness were to perish,the world woul perish with it,because in the
consciousness of the I
Am the world came
into existence,an by its power oes it continue to exist.Its consciousness uphol
s
the world ,its
unconsciousness woul be annihilation,but that which not truly IS cannot have
the true
consciousness of
being;it may at best fancy to be.It exists;but as and illusion and not in
truth.The object
of man's life is
to become conscious that He is not and illusive personal form but and impersonal,
immortal
reality,to ren er the unconscious spirit conscious and enable the immortal soul
to realise its
own
immortality;the object of eath is to release that which is conscious from that
which is unconscious,
an to free the
immortal from the bon s of matter.
The tree of life
grows and pro uces a see ,an this see has to be plante again,to grow into a
tree
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an pro uce
another see ,an this process will have to be [Page 198 ] repeate over and over
again,until
at last the soul
slumbering in the see awakens to the realisation of its immortal
life.Unconscious of any
relation to
personalities,unconscious of its own self,it will be attracte to such con
itions as may be best
suite for its
further evelopment,as its Karma eci es.It will be attracte to oversha ow a man
whose
moral and intellectual
ten encies and qualities correspon to its own,careless whether it enters the
worl
as a new-born
babe through the oor of the hut of a beggar or through the palace of a king.It
oes not
care for its
future con itions,because it is unconscious of their existence.The unconscious
spiritual
mona ,escen ing
into the lower plane,gathering again the elements which belonge to the previous
man of
earth,buil ing again the thought-bo y which it ha create in former lives and which
constitute
its terrestrial
character,an entering again into connection with a human physical organism,is
born once
more into the world
of sorrow,buil s up the house of flesh,an takes up once more the battle with
life,
the strife with
its lower nature,to make a step forward and come nearer to Go .
Thus a man that
reigne as a king in a former incarnation may be reborn as a beggar,if his
character
was that of a
beggar;an a liberal beggar may create as his future successor a king or a being
of noble
birth.Both act
without free om of choice at the time of their visit to the Earth,following
unconsciously
their Karma.But
the A ept,who knows his own real self and has learne to realise his immortal
existence,will
be his own master.He has grown above the sense of personality,and thereby gaine
immortal
consciousness uring his earthly life.He has thrown away his lower self,an eath
cannot rob
him of that
which he no longer possesses and to which he attaches no value.Being conscious
of his
existence and of
the con itions un er which he exists,he may follow his own choice in the
selection of a
bo y,if he
chooses to reincarnate,either for the benefit of humanity or for his own
progression.Having
entirely
overcome the attractions of Earth,he is truly free.He is ea and unconscious to
all earthly [Page
199 ]
temptations,but conscious of the highest happiness attainable by man.The
elusion of the senses
can fashion for
him no other tabernacle to imprison his soul,an before him lies open the roa to
eternal
rest in
Nirvana.[
But now,thou
buil er of the tabernacle,thou !
I know
thee!Never shalt thou buil again
These walls of
pain,
Nor raise the
roof-tree of eceits,nor lay
Fresh rafters on
the clay.
Broken thy house
is,and the ri ge-pole split I
Delusion
fashione it.
Save pass I
thence.Deliverance to obtain.
E win Arnol
:"The Light of Asia .]
If a person has
once attaine spiritual self-knowle ge he will not nee to follow the blin law of
attraction,
but he will be
able to choose the bo y and the con itions most suitable to him.He may then
reincarnate
himself in the
bo y of a chil ,or in the bo y of a grown person,whose soul has been separate
by
isease or acci
ent from the bo y,an that person will thus be brought to life again,if no vital
organ is
too seriously
injure ,to carry on the functions of life again.Cases are known in which a
certain person
apparently ie
,an finally came to life again,when from that time he appeare to be and entirely
different
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man;he may have
ie as a ruffian and after his recovery become su enly like a saint,so that such
a
su en change
appeare inexplicable on any other theory than that and entirely different
character ha
taken possession
of his bo y.Such people may,after their recovery takes place,speak a language
they
never learne
,talk familiarly of things they never saw;call people by their names,of which
they never
heard,know all
about places,where their physical bo ies never have been,etc.,etc.If phenomena
coul
prove
anything,such occurrences might go to prove the theory of the reincarnation of
living a epts.
"Shall we
know our love ones after eath ?is a question which is often aske ,an which
answers itself
if the true
nature of the "Ego is known.In all planes rules the law of harmony,an
like is attracte to like;
but and illusion
can only know illusions.We o not [Page 200 ] know each other in this life,if we
have not the
knowle ge of our
own self.
He who,having
become self-conscious of his own spiritual nature,knows his own real self,may
rise up
in his soul to
the planes of the blesse ,an by entering their in ivi ual spheres join their
own happiness
an partake of
their joys;but the souls reaming in heaven,being immerse in bliss,o not escen
an
join in the
circus of life,before the time of their reincarnation arrives.Such a escent
woul be
egra ation.Heaven
oes not escen to earth;but if earth ascen s to heaven it becomes heaven itself.
To ie is to
become unconscious in relation to certain things.If we become unconscious of a
lower state,
and thereby
become conscious of a higher existence,such a change cannot properly be calle
eath.If
we become
unconscious of a higher con ition,and thereby enter a lower one,such a change
is followe
by egra ation,and
therefore egra ation is the only eath to be feare .Degra ation takes place if a
human faculty is
employe for a lower purpose than that for which it was by nature inten e .Degra
ation
of the most
vulgar,the lowest material type takes place,if the organs of the physical bo y
are use for
villainous
purposes,an isease,atrophy,an eath are the common result.A higher and still
more
etrimental and lasting
egra ation takes place if the intellectual faculties are habitually use for
selfish
an egra ing
purposes.In such cases the intellect,that ought to serve as a basis for
spiritual
aspirations,becomes
merge with matter,its consciousness is boun own to the plane of materiality
an
selfishness,an becomes inactive in the region of spirituality.The lowest and most
en uring
egra ation takes
place if man,having reache a state in which his personality has,to a certain
extent,
merge with his
impersonal I ,egra es his spiritual self by employing the powers which such an
amalgamation
confers for villainous purposes of a low character.Such are the practices of
black magic .A
person who,for
want of any better un erstan ing,employs his intellectual faculties for his own
selfish
purposes,regardless
of the [Page 201 ] principle of justice,is not necessarily a villain,but simply
a fool.
The mur erer may
commit a mur er to save himself from being iscovere of some crime,an not for
the purpose of
robbing another person of life.A thief may steal a purse for the purpose of
enriching
himself,an not
for the purpose of ren ering another man poor.Such acts are the result of
ignorance;
persons usually
act evil for selfish purposes and not for the pure love of evil.Such acts are
the result of
personal
feelings,an personal feelings cease to exist when the personality to which they
belong ceases
to exist.Such a
personal existence ceases when his life on the lower plane ceases to act.The
higher
spiritual I of
the man is neither a gainer nor loser on such and occasion,it remains the same
as it was
before the
compoun of forces representing the late personality was born.
The real
villain,however,is he who performs evil for the love of evil without personal
consi erations.A
person who is no
more influence by his sense of personality,an has attaine spiritual knowle
ge,is a
magician.Those
who employ such a power for the purposes of evil have been calle black
magicians or
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Brothers of the
Shadow ,in the same sense as those who employ their spiritual powers for goo
purposes have
been calle Brothers of Light .The white magician is a spiritual power for goo
;the real
black magician
is a living power of evil attache to a personality that performs evil
instinctively and for the
love of evil
itself.This power of evil may kill the man or the animal that never offen e
it,an by whose
eath it has
nothing to gain,estroys for the love of estruction,causes suffering without
expecting any
benefit for
itself,robs to throw away the spoils,revels in torture and eath.Such and in ivi
ual attracts
an calls to its
ai other impersonal evil powers,which become a part of it,an which continue to
exist
after the
personality ceases to live on the physical plane.Many incarnations may be nee e
before such
a power will
come into existence,but when it once lives it will perish as slow as it
grew."Angels ,as well
as "evils
,are born into the world ,an chil ren with villainous propensities and malicious
characters are
not [Page 202 ]
very rare.They are the pro ucts of such forces as in former incarnations have
evelope a
spiritual
consciousness in the irection of evil.
A power which
may be employe for a goo purpose,can also be use for and evil purpose.If we can
by
magnetism
ecrease the rapi ity of the pulse of a fever-patient,we may also ecrease it to
such an
extent,that the
subject ceases to live.If we can force a person by our will to perform a goo
act,we may
also force him
to commit a crime.Everything is either goo or evil according to the purpose for
which it is
use .
It is
unnecessary to enter into etails in regard to the practices of Black Magic and Sorcery.It
is more
noble and useful
to stu y how we can benefit mankin than to satisfy our curiosity in regard to
the
powers for
evil.To show to what aberrations of min a craving for the power of working
black magic may
lea ,it may be
mentione that the woul -be black magician and great vivisector,Gilles de Rays,
marιchal of
France,an better known as "Blue Beard ,who was execute for his crimes at
Nantes,kille
an torture to
eath uring a few years not less than one hun re and sixty women and chil ren in
the
interest of his
science,an for the purpose of gratifying his curiosity in regar to Black Magic.
The white
magician elights in oing goo ,the servant of the black art revels in
cruelty.The former co-
operates with
the Divine Spirit of Wis om,the latter co-operates with certain spiritual forces
of nature;the
former will be
exalte in Go and unite with him;the latter will ultimately be absorbe by the
beings with
which he has
associate and which he calle to his ai .
To ennoble our
character and to raise our consciousness into the spiritual plane is to live;to
let it sink to a
lower level is
to ie.The natural order of the universe is that the high shoul elevate the
low;but if the
high is ma e to
serve the low,egra ation is the result.Everywhere in the workshop of nature the
high
acts upon the
low by the power of the highest.The highest itself cannot be egra e .Truth
itself cannot
be turne into
falsehoo ,it can only be rejecte or misapplie .Reason itself cannot be ren ere
foolish,
it can only be
[Page 203 ] misuse by reasoning foolishly.The universal and impersonal cannot
itself
become limite
,it can only come into contact with such personalities as are able to approach
it.The Law
oes not suffer
by breaking its connection with the form,the form alone suffers and ies.
The truth is
everywhere,seeking to manifest itself in the consciousness of man.Man's
consciousness
rotates between
the two poles of goo and evil,of spirit and matter.The omnipresent influence of
the
great spiritual
Sun ren ers him strong to overcome the attraction of matter,an assists him to
come
victorious out
of the struggle with evil.Man is not entirely free as long as he is not in
possession of
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perfect knowle
ge,which means,realisation of truth;but he is free to allow himself to be
attracte by a
love for the
truth or to close his oor against it.He may become unite with the principle of
wisdom,or he
may sever his
connection with it and sell his inherite rights to immortality for a
comparatively worthless
mess of
pottage.The Centaur in his nature,whose lower principles are animal,while the
upper parts are
possesse of
Intellect,may carry away his spiritual aspirations and lull them into
unconsciousness by the
music of its
illusions.
Bo ies may be
comparatively long-live ,an some forms,compare with others,may be very en
uring;
but there is
nothing permanent but the self-consciousness of love and the self-consciousness
of hate.
Love is light,an
hate isdarkness,an in the en love will conquer hate,becausedarkness cannot
estroy light,an
wherever light penetrates intodarkness,there will love conquer,an evil anddarkness
will
isappear.[Page 204 ]
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CHAPTER IX
TRANSFORMATIONS
Be ye
transforme by the renewing of your min .-Rom.xii.2.
THE Universe is
a manifestation of Divine Wisdom and thought is and action of Min .The Min in
which
Wisdom can bring
and universe into existence must be and Universal Min ,embracing in its
totality all the
in ivi ual min s
that ever existe ,an containing the germs of everything that will ever come
into
existence.Ideas are states of min ,and the thoughts of the
Universal Min store up in the Astral Light,
after their
representative forms have issolve ,grow again into visible forms,by being
clothe with
matter.Man
remembers his thoughts;that is to say,he enters again into one of his previous
mental
states.To
remember a thing is to rea it in the min .The Astral Light is the book of
memory,in which
every thought is
engrave and every event recorde ,and the more intense the thought the eeper
will it
be engrave ,and
the longer will the picture remain.Thought is a force,an its pro ucts remain in
the
Astral Light
long after the person who gave them form has cease to live.As the images of
things which
exist in the
Astral Light remain there for ages,they may be seen by the clairvoyant.Such
images are
forme of
thought,an as [Page 205 ] thought is something substantial,it is even possible
for the Occultist
to repro uce
books,writings,etc.,which have existe thousan s of years ago.Men o not create
thought;the ideas
existing in the Astral Light flow into
their min s,and there they transform themselves
into other
shapes,combining with other ideas ,consciously or unconsciously,accor ing to
the laws that
control the
correlations,interrelations,an associations of thought.A great min can grasp a
great i ea,
a narrow min is
only capable of hol ing narrow ideas .Thoughts are existing things and are
sometimes
graspe
contemporaneously by several receptive min s.Some great iscoveries have been ma
e
almost
simultaneously by several min s.[There are three claimants for the iscovery of
chloroform,two
for the iscovery
of Uranus,two for the Bell telephone,etc..] Ideas containe in the imagination of nature
throw their
reflections upon the min s of men,an ,according to the capacities of the latter
to receive
ideas ,they come
to their consciousness,clear or istorte ,plain or sha owy,like images of pictures
reflecte in
living mirrors,that are either clear or ren ere im by the accumulation of
ust.In those living
mirrors they are
remo ele and transforme into new pictures,to people the currents of the Astral
Light
with new
images,an to give rise to new forms of thought.Therefore a spiritually strong
person who lives
in solitu e and silence
may o a great work,by evolving ideas ,which will remain impresse upon the
Astral Light and
come to the cognisance of those who are capable to grasp them.The thoughts of
men
impress
themselves upon the Astral Light,an every event that takes place on the
physical plane is
recorde in the
memory of nature.Every stone,every plant,every animal as well as every man,has
a
sphere in which
is recorde every event of its existence.They all have a little world of their
own,ma e of
thought,an
whenever they move,they think ;for their motions are motions of thought.In the
Astral Light
of each is store
up every event of its past history,[Page 206 ] and of the history of its
surroun ings;so that
everything,no
matter how insignificant it may be,can give and account of its aily life,from
the beginning
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of its existence
as to form up to the present,to him who is able to rea .A piece of lava from
Pompeii will
give to the
Psychometer a true escription of the volcanic eruption that evastate that town
and burie It
un er its
ashes,where it remaine hi en for nearly two thousan years;a floating timber
carrie by the
Gulf Stream to
the far North can give to the inhabitants of the North a true picture of
tropical life;an a
piece of bone of
a Mastodon teach the vegetable and animal life of ante iluvian perio s.[
Prof.Wm.
Denton:Soul of
Things .]The pictures impresse in the Astral Light react upon the mental
spheres of
in ivi ual min s
and can create in them emotional isturbances,even if these pictures o not come
to
the full
consciousness of their min s.Dee s committe with a great concentration of thought
call living
powers in the
Astral Light into existence,tempting others to commit similar acts.[A case is
known,for
instance,in
which a prisoner hung himself in his cell,an several other persons that were
successively
shut up in the
same cell hung themselves also without any apparent cause.At another place a
sentinel
kille himself at
his post,an several sol iers mounting guard after him i likewise,so that the
post ha
to be eserte
.Many similar examples may be cite .Crimes of a certain character often become
epi emic in
places where a criminal has been execute ;murder becomes epi emic like measles
or
scarlatina.]
Man oes not know
the influences which cause him to think and to act,as long as he oes not know
his
own nature.He is
therefore not a responsible being,except to the extent of his wisdom and power
to
control his own
nature.Wisdom and strength can only be attaine in life by experience and by the
exercise of the
power of overcoming temptation.If the true nature of the constitution of man
were properly
un erstoo
,capital p nishment woul soon be aban one as perfectly useless,unjust,an
contrary to
the law of
nature.That which commits a murder or any other crime is a conscious and invisible
power,
[Page 207 ]
which cannot be kille and which oes not improve in character by being separate
from its
external
form.The bo y is innocent,it is merely and instrument in the han s of the
invisible culprit,the
astral man .The
face of even a criminal bears and expression of peace when the soul has eparte
.By
severing the bon
s between this vicious power and the physical form,we o not change its ten ency
to
act evil;but
while uring the life of the bo y the action of that power was restricte to only
one form,
having been
liberate ,it now incites numerous other weak-min e people to perform the same
crimes for
which the bo y
was execute .Thus by capital p nishment evil is not abolishe ,but its sphere of
action
increase .As far
as the theory of influencing other woul -be criminals with fear,my making and example
of one,an thus
to prevent others from committing crimes,is concerne ;it is well known that
criminals
o not look upon
any punishment as being something which they have eserve for their ee s,but as
being a
consequence of having been so careless as to allow themselves to be caught,and
they usually
make up their
min s,that if they were permitte to escape,they woul be more careful not to
be caught
again.Life is a
school through which everyone must pass for the purpose of acquiring
experience,
strength of
character,an self-knowle ge.To rob a person of this opportunity is a great
crime if it is one
knowingly.The
fool who kills another man has little responsibility,because he has no actual
knowle ge of
the nature of
his ee ;but the lawgiver who institutes legal murder is the true criminal .A
lock of hair,a
piece of
clothing,the han writing of a person or any article he may have touche ,han le
,or worn,can
in icate to and intuitive
min that person's state of health,his physical,emotional,intellectual,an moral
attributes and qualifications.The
picture of a mur erer may be impresse on the retina of his victim,an
repro uce by
means of photography;it is impresse on all the surroun ings of the place where
the
ee occurre ,an cand
there be etecte by the psychometer who,thus coming en rapport with the
criminal,can
follow [Page 208 ] him and hunt him own just as the bloo houn traces the steps
of a fugitive
slave.[Emma
Hardinge Britten:Ghost Lan .The case cite in this book,in which a
clairvoyant followe
the tracks of a
mur erer through several towns and caught him at last,is quote in several
German
publications of
the last century.]This ten ency of the Astral Light to inhere in material bo
ies gives
amulets their
power and invests keep-sakes and relics with certain occult properties.A ring,a
lock of hair,
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or a letter from
a frien ,can not only conjure up that frien 's picture in a person's memory,but
bring him
en rapport with
the peculiar mental state of which that person was or is a representation.If
you wish to
forget a
person,or free yourself from his magnetic attraction,part from everything that
remin s you of
him,or select
only such articles as call up isagreeable memories and are therefore
repulsive.Articles
belonging to a
person bring us in sympathy with that person,an this circumstance is sometimes
use
for purposes of
black magic.Paracelsus in his writings about the Mumia and the transplantation
of
iseases gives
many illustrations of this theory.The existence of a power,by which a isease
may be
transferre upon
a healthy person,even in non-contagious cases,by means of some article
belonging
to the sick
person,is generally believe in by the people in various countries.It must,however,be
remembere that
in making such experiments the successdepends on the amount of faith which
the
magician can
employ.Without that faith,which is soul knowle ge,nothing can be accomplishe in
any
epartment of
life.As every form is the representation of a certain mental state,every object
has such
attributes as
always belong to that state,and therefore every substance has its sympathies
and its
antipathies;the
loa stone attracts iron,an iron the oxygen of the air;hygroscopic bo ies
attract water,
affinities exist
between certain bo ies,some substances change their colours un er certain
coloure
rays,while
others remain unaffecte ,etc..These phenomena are all nothing else but the
various
manifestations
[Page 209 ] of the One Life ,in which the principle of Love is active and seeks
to unite
whatever is
harmonious.Every material object is con ense and soli ifie force.Looke at in
this light,it
oes not seem
impossible that the ancients shoul have attribute certain virtues to certain
precious
stones,an believe
that the Garnet was con ucive to joy,the Chalce ony to courage,the Topaz
promoting
chastity,the Amethyst assisting reason,and the Sapphire intuition.A spiritual
force,to be
effective,requires
a sensitive object to act upon.In and age which ten s to extreme
materialism,spiritual
influence ceases
to be perceive ,but if a person cannot feel the occult influences of nature,it
oes not
necessarily
follow that they o not exist,an that there are not others able to perceive them
because
their
impressional capacities are greater.
Only the fool
believes that he knows everything.What is really known is only like a grain of
san on the
shore of the
ocean in comparison to what is still unknown.Physiologists know that certain
plants an
chemicals have
certain powers,and they explain their effects.They know that Digitalis ecreases
the
quickness of the
pulse by paralysing the heart;that Bella onna ilates the pupil by paralysing
the
muscular fibres
of the Iris;that Opium in small oses pro uces sleep by causing anaemia of the brain,
while large oses
pro uce coma by causing congestion,etc.;but why these substances have such
effects,or why
some chemical compoun of Nitrogen,Oxygen,Carbon,an Hy rogen is poisonous in
one chemical
combination,while the same substances,if combine in a different
stoechiometrical
proportion,may
be use as foo ,neither chemistry nor physiology can tell us at present.If
we,however,
look upon all
forms as symbols of mental states,it will not be more ifficult to imagine why
strychnine is
poisonous,than
why hate can kill,or fear paralyse the heart .A simple i ea which is once
firmly roote in
the min cannot
be change .If and i ea is complicate it is less ifficult to mo ify it in its
etails,so that
gra ually and entirely
different compoun will be the [Page 210 ] result.In physical chemistry the law
is
analogous.Compoun
bo ies may be easily change into other combinations,but single bo ies cannot
be change .There
are,however,in ications that even these so-calle single bo ies are the results
of
combinations of
still more primitive elements.It has been observe that when lightning has
struck gil e
ornaments they
have become blackene ,an it has been foun ,on analysing the blackene
matter,that
the presence of
sulphur was istinctly in icate .Unless sulphur exists in the lightning it must
have
existe in the
gol ,an have been evolve by the action of lightning.We may then fairly assume
that
gol contains the
elements of sulphur,an this is no anomaly in the case of gol ,as other metals
have
also been prove
to contain the elements of sulphur,[Davi Low,F.R.S,E:Simple Bo ies in
Chemistry .]
and the reams of
physical Alchemy may have some foun ation,after all.But sulphur is suppose to
be
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relate to
nitrogen,and the elements of nitrogen are believe to be hy rogen and carbon,an
if we go
still further,we
fin that even on the physical plane all bo ies are only mo ifications of one
primordial
element,which is
not of a sufficiently material nature to be etecte by physical means,an that in
this
primordial
element the germs of all other secon ary principles must be containe .The power
to receive,
preserve,an
transform ideas ,is the power of Will and Imagination.If and i ea enters into
the min ,the
imagination
clothes it into a form,with or without a conscious exercise of the will.We step
upon a piece
of rope in the
ark and imme iately imagine that we have steppe upon a snake.This is calle
passive
imagination
;while,if we etermine to give a certain form to and i ea,it is calle active
imagination ;but in
both cases the
will is active;only in the former instance it is exercise instinctively,an in
the latter this is
one with intent
and eliberation.The will is,therefore,the active power,an it forms the basis of
all
artistic and magical.operations.[Page
211 ] Art and magic are closely relate together;both give objective
form to
subjective ideas .The artist exercises this power when he mentally projects the
picture forme in
his min upon the
canvas and chains it there by the use of his pencil or brush;the sculptor
shapes the
picture of a
form on his min and embo ies it in the marble.He then employs mechanical force
to free
the ideal from
all that is foreign to it,an raises it from the tomb,a materialisation of
thought.In the
regeneration of
mand the will is entirely inactive as far as the creation of and ideal is
concerne ;but it is
highly active in
keeping away all the influences which will prevent the realisation of the ideal.Go
oes
not nee the co-operation
of man,his will alone is sufficient;he only requires that the will of man shall
not
prevent him in
the performance of his work.The magician forms and image on his min and makes
it
perceptible to
others by projecting it into their mental spheres.Uniting his own mental sphere
with theirs,
they are ma e to
participate of his imagination,and they see that as a reality what he chooses
to fancy
an think.By this
law many of the feats performe by In ian fakirs can be explaine .They cause
tigers
an elephants to
appear before a multitu e,by forming the images of such things in the sphere of
their
min .What the
spectators see on such occasions is nothing else but the thoughts of the
conjuror,
ren ere
objective and visible by the latter.[The fact,that what the spectators on such
occasions believe
to see oes not
actually take place,has been prove by means of photography.]In the case of and artist
mechanical
labour executes the work;in the case of a magician,the will;but the greatest
amount of
labour will not enable
a person who is not and artist to pro uce a real work of art,and the greatest
concentration of
thought will not enable a person who has no spiritual power to perform a true
magical
feat.The will
to which we refer is a spiritual self-conscious power,unknown to mo ern
psychology.A
person may be
and excellent anatomist and know nothing whatever about living spiritual [Page
212 ]
principles;he
may be a splen i chemist and know nothing whatever about Alchemy;he may have
perfect control
over the mechanical forces of nature acting on the physical plane and know
nothing
whatever about
the chemistry of the soul.For this reason the mysteries of Alchemy will for
ever remain
mysteries to a
scientist who has no spiritual power at his comman .This spiritual power is the
spiritual
will.Without
this power he can only separate the substances of compoun bo ies and recombine
them
again as is one
in Chemistry,but not employ the principle of life.The processes of nature are
alchemical
processes;because,without
the principle of life acting upon the chemical substances of the earth,no
growth woul
result.If the force of attraction and repulsion were entirely equal,everything
woul be at a
stan still.If
growth and ecay woul go han in han ,nothing coul grow,because a cell woul begin
to
ecay as soon as
it woul begin to form.The chemist may take earth,an water,an air,an separate
them into their
constituent elements,an recombine them again,an at the en of his work he will
be
where he
began.But the Alchemy of nature takes water,an earth,an air,an infuses into
them the fire
of life,forming
them into trees and pro ucing flowers and fruits.Nature coul not give her
life-imparting
influence to her
chil ren if she i not possess it;the chemist,having no life-principle at his
comman ,or
not knowing how
to employ it,cannot perform the won ers of Alchemy.The reason why we have at
present very few
alchemists,is because we have very few persons en owe with the life of the
spirit.
There are three
aspects of Alchemy.It eals with the physical substances of things,more
especially with
their souls,an
in its highest aspect with their spiritual centres.In its physical processes it
requires
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physical
means,an from the stu y of these mo ern chemistry has taken its rise.By the
evelope
powers of his
soul the Alchemist may act upon the souls of material substances,an if he can
change
their
qualities,the character of the physical form may be change .If the spiritual
[Page 213 ] fire is
awakene within
him,he attains the spiritual powers require to act upon the inferior
elements.An
insufficient
egree of heat will not accomplish anything great:he must gra ually attain
within himself the
fire of ivine
love until he becomes himself the Salamander ,able to live in a light in which
nothing impure
can
exist.[H.P.Blavatsky says:Everything in this world of effects is ma e up of
three principles an
four
aspects,each object has and objective exterior,a vital soul,an a ivine spark of
spiritual fire.By
these principles
nature acts,an in or er to imitate nature,Kriyasakti (the creative will)must be
evelope in
man.This spiritual power is also calle the Word ,of which it is written,that
there is no
nee to seek it
in istant places;for it is close to yo ;it is in yo r mo th and in yo r heart
.] Johannes
Tritheim
says:The Spirit s Mundi resembles a breath,appearing at first like a fog and afterwards
con ensing like
water.This 'water'(A'kasa)was in the beginning perva e by the principle of
life,an
light was
awakene in it by the fiat of the eternal spirit.This spirit of light ,calle the
soul of the world (the
Astral Light),is
a spiritual substance,which can be ma e visible and tangible by art;it is a
substance,but
being invisible,we
call it spirit.This 'soul'or corp s is hi en in the centre of everything,an can
be
extracte by
means of the spiritual fire in man,which is i entical with the universal
spiritual fire,
constituting the
essence of nature and containing the images and figures of the Universal Min .
This Light resi
es in the Water and is hi en as a Seed in all things.Everything that originate
from the
spirit of light
is sustaine by it,and therefore this spirit is omnipresent;the whole of nature
woul perish
an isappear if
it were remove from it;it is the principi m of all
things.[J.Tritheim:Miraculosa ,Chap.
xiv.]
There were true
Alchemists uring the Mi le Ages who knew how to extract that See from the soul-
essence of the world
,and there are some who have the power to perform that process to ay;but those
who o not
possess that power will not be incline to a mit the possibility of such facts.
It is and eternal
truth,that [Page
214 ] without our secret magical fire nothing can be accomplishe in our art.The
ignorant
will not believe
in it because they o not possess that fire,an without this all their labour is
useless.
Without that
fire spirits cannot be boun ,much less cand they be acte upon by material fire
.[I am the
Light and the
Truth ;but he who spoke those words and speaks them still,cannot be ma e the
servant of
those who are
not themselves that Light ;nor can any Christian Scientist turn himself into
a Christ by
believing
himself to be Christ.Real knowle ge is attaine by nothing less than experience.No
one
becomes a Christ
unless the Christ becomes reveale in him.]
Some of the more
enlightene mo ern chemists o not eny the possibility that a metal may be
transforme into
another;but the most serious objections ma e against the ancient Alchemists is
that
their object was
to make artificial material gol .Such objections are base upon and entire
misconception
of alchemistical
terms.The sole circumstance that certain planetary constellations in the
microcosm were
of the utmost
importance for the success of alchemical processes is sufficient to show that
the
Alchemists
experimente with the so ls of things,of which their material forms are only the
external
representatives
on the physical plane.Gol ,the purest and most incorruptible metal,represente
Spirit,
Magnesia
wisdom,an Calcinate Magnesia wisdom attaine through suffering.
Sulphur,Mercury,an
Salt represent the trinity of all things,the fiery,watery,an material
elements,an
have nothing to
o with material substances.They are essentially one,but threefol in their
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manifestation.[
Here we are about to ivulge one of the secrets of Alchemy,the truth of which
will,
however,be
self-evi ent.On a prece ing page we have explaine that in every atom of the bo
y of man
are containe all
the principles which go to make up the whole organism of man,with all its
organs an
functions;an
likewise,in every atom of matter is containe a principle,which may grow into a
whole
universe of
matter with its great variety of substances.A principle cannot be change or
transforme into
another.Principles
are eternal.Only the mo e of their manifestation may be change .and the basis
of all
material
things,manifesting itself outwardly as iron or lea ,may.un er certain con
itions,by changing
the ivine
purpose of its existence be ma e to manifest itself as silver or gol .The
Alchemist oes not
create any new
substance,he merely gui es nature,an in uces her to grow the seeds of minerals
,In
the same sense
as a gardener assists nature to grow the see s of plants,an to evelop them into
flowers.The
alchemists,therefore,say:We cannot make gol out of anything which is not gol
.To
make material
gol ,we must have spiritual gol ;we can merely cause the spirItual gol which
exists
alrea y to grow
into a visible and material form.This process is taught by the science of
Alchemy,but this
science is
necessarily incomprehensible to him who has not arrive at that stage of spirit
al knowledge ,
in which he can
exercise a spirit al will ,an a spiritual will oes not exist in a man
whose will is not
free of material
or personal esires.As the gar ener puts the see into the groun ,an supplies it
with
water and with
the necessary temperature,likewise the Alchemist waters the see s of the
metals with
spiritual
influences procee ing from his own ivine soul.If a true appreciation of these
truths is arrive at,
it will at once
remove Alchemy from the realm of superstition,an bring it within the limits of
and exact
spirit al
science .
To answer the
question whether or not anyone ever succee e in making gol grow in this
manner,we
wIll say that
there is a German book in existence entitle ,Collection of historical accounts
regarding
some remarkable
occurrences in the life of some still living A epts .It was printe In 1780;an
among
many most
interesting anec otes about successful attempts of making gol grow,there are
copies of the
legal ocuments
and ecisions of the court at Leipzig in regard to a case where,uring the absence
of
the Co nt of
Erbach in the year 1715,an A ept visite the countess in the castle of
Tankerstein ,an out
of gratitu e for
and important service which ha been ren ere to him by the countess,he
transforme all
the silver she
ha into gol .When the count returne ,who,as it seems,kept his own property
separate
from that of his
wife,he claime that gol for himself,appealing to a certain statute of the
law,accor ing
to
which,treasures iscovere upon or below the surface of a certain piece of lan
belong to the
proprietor of
that territory;but the court eci e that as the material (the silver)out of
which the gol ha
been ma e
belonge legally to the countess,consequently this gol coul not be classifie as
a hi en
treasure,an i
not come within the reach of that statute.The count thereupon lost his case,an
his
wife was
permitte to keep the gol .
We have reasons
to believe in the genuineness of these ocuments;an if looke at from the stan
point
of Occultism,it
oes not at all seem improbable that gol can be ma e in that manner.Moreover,we
have some
personal experience to support our belief;for there live about ten years ago a
person whose
name was Prestel
,within a short istance of the town where we are now writing,who was a repute
Rosicrucian and Alchemist.We
personally knew this man,an are well acquainte with two of his still
living
isciples.This man was generally known as and eccentric and mysterious person.He
possesse
great powers of
projecting the images forme in his own min upon the min s of others,so that
they
believe to see
things which,however,ha no objective existence.For instance he was once waylai
by
an enemy,an as
the latter bounce upon him,he cause him to see a terrible sight of a scaffol
and an
executioner,so
that the person was terrifie and ran away;an it was not Prestel who tol this
story,but
the man himself
who attacke him:the former kept silent about it.
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Now,this man was
not a full-fle ge Alchemist,an coul not make gol and the Elixir of Life
,because,
as he sai ,he
coul not fin a woman sufficiently p re and at the same time willing,to assist
him in his
labours;for,it
is known to all Alchemists,it requires the co-operation of the male and the
female element
to accomplish
the highest process.This person coul therefore not make pure gol ;but he coul
change
the nature of
metals so that they woul obtain certain chemical qualities,iffering from
substances of the
same kin .He
coul ,so to say ennoble metals,so that,for instance,Iron or Brass woul not rust
if
expose to air
and water;an we are now in possession of a Rosicrucian Cross ma e of
brass,which,
although it is
over twenty years ol ,an has been expose to salt-water air,an to climates where
every
other inferior
metal rusts,is still as bright as it has been when first receive ,an it never
nee e any
cleaning or
polishing.
This person also
ha the power to cause combustible substances to become incombustible,an he
coul perform
many of the alchemical processes escribe in the books of T.Tritheim ,abbot of
Spanda .
He insiste that
he coul have ma e himself to live a thousan years,if he ha foun a suitable
person
to assist him in
his alchemical work.] [Page 215 ]
The most
important alchemical work is the generation of man;it requires not only the
chemical
combination of
physical substances,but involves the chemistry of the soul and an influence of
the spirit,
an all must
harmoniously act together,if a human being and not a human monster and mental
hom ncul s is to
be the result.If [Page 216 ] the rules of Alchemy were better un erstoo and a
here to,
scrofula,cancers,syphilis,tuberculosis,an
other inherite iseases woul isappear,an a strong an
healthy
generation of men and women woul be the result.
The great
alembic in which the passions of men are purifie and transforme is the min .The
true magic
fire,without
which nothing useful can be accomplishe ,is his self-conscious love,in other
words,spiritual
recognition
[Page 217 ] of self.Man oes not create or originate a thought.Ideas are alrea y in existence.
He oes not
invent ideas ,the ideas are alrea y
present;he can only collect,elaborate,an mo ify their
expressions.We
cannot imagine anything that oes not exist,we can only make new combinations of
that which is
alrea y in existence.We may imagine a snake with the hea of a man,because
snakes an
men o exist;but
we cannot imagine the form of and inhabitant of the Sun,because we have no
conception of
the forms that may be existing un er con itions of which we have no experience,an
which therefore
o not exist for s.
If as some mo
ern physiologists believe thoughts were a secretion of the brain,as the bile
is a
secretion of the
liver,a thought woul be lost as soon as it was expresse ,an we woul have to
wait for
the brain to
recuperate its power,an to form and secrete another one like it again before we
coul have
twice the same
thought.We woul have to be careful not to express our thought or impart our
knowle ge
to others,as by
oing so it woul be lost to ourselves.Verily,if we seek for absurdities,we nee
not look
for them in
ancient books on Alchemy,but fin them sufficiently represente in the works of
mo ern
scientific
authorities.
Thoughts and
ideas are entities,an exist independently
of the perception of man;they o not nee man
for their
existence,but man nee s them to enable him to think.Thoughts and ideas ,set in
motion by the
Will,move
through space;a thought set in motion in the Astral Ether resembles the expan
ing ripples
upon the surface
of a lake;a thought projecte to a certain estination by the power of and A ept
may be
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compare to and electric
current passing with lightning-velocity through space.Thoughts irecte towards
an object are
like a mountain stream rushing towards that object,an if the wills of several
persons
combine to irect
it,it grows in extension and force,provi e their wills are single-min e and without
any secon ary
esigns.[ This law is sai to be well known to certain Jesuits an employe for
the
purpose of
influencing min s at a istance.] If a mountain stream strikes [Page 218 ] a
rock,whose
resistance it
cannot conquer and which it cannot pass,the waters will swell into a
lake,evastating the
shore and surging
back towards its source.If a thought-current cannot enter the sphere of min of
the
in ivi ual
towards whom it is irecte ,it reboun s upon the min of the in ivi ual from whom
the impulse
came.A person
who concentrates the full power of a malicious thought upon another may,if he
fails to
succee ,be kille
by the energy which he has calle into action.
An illustration
of this law may be seen when a person ies of grief on account of
isappointment.The ray
of force
continually projecte by long and intense esire,unable to accomplish its
purpose,returns to the
heart,pro ucing
a su en revulsion of feeling;it changes love into grief,attraction into
repulsion,esire
into contempt,it
may cause sickness and eath.
Light travels
through the air with a velocity of over 180,000 miles per secon ;thoughts pass
with a similar
velocity through
space.A ray of light is seen to flash through the air and is intercepte by some
non-
con ucting
material.An i ea flashes through space and is intercepte by a receptive min .A soun
is
heard by and in
efinite number of persons,an and i ea may affect the world .As a pebble thrown
into
water pro uces
concentric waves,which grow wi er and wi er,but less istinct as istance
increases,so
a thought
affects some person,an sprea ing from that centre creates a ripple in the
family,the town,the
country,or all
over the world .
A biogenesis of
thought-infections and mental epi emics might be written.To such and investigation
woul
belong the
histories of all great reformations originating from some central i ea;also the
history of the
crusa es,the
flagellants,the inquisition,me ieval witchcraft,an mo ern materialism,and the
absurdities of
fashion.
To give
presupposes the ability to receive.The possibility to impress a thought upon
another min
presupposes the
ability of that min to receive that impression.A person who is sufficiently
sensitive an
[Page 219 ] in a
passive con ition,will without ifficulty be brought un er the control of the
will of another,
an be ma e to
act unconsciously in obe ience to that will.A sleeping person may be impresse
with
such reams as
another may call up in his imagination,by projecting a picture forme in his min
into the
min of the
sleeper;a person in a mesmeric trance may have his imagination i entifie with
that of the
person who
mesmerise him,an be ma e to comply implicitly with the will of the master.
We see in every
ay life that one person subjects another one to his will and causes him to obey
his
comman s without
putting him to sleep,an even without expressly stating a wish.A general oes not
nee to hypnotise
his sol iers to make them obey his orders.The ifference between such and obedient
person and one
in the hypnotic sleep is merely that the former will not and the latter cannot
resist.
An impulse
create by the will continues until the energy is exhauste .If the first impulse
is followe by a
series of others
acting in the same irection,the effect will be correspon ingly greater,an one
person
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may affect the
thoughts of another at a istance of thousan s of miles by continually irecting
his
thoughts upon
him.
It woul be
impossible to move inanimate bo ies at a istance by the mere power of will,if
there were no
substantial
contact between such objects and the person who attempts to move
them.Nevertheless such
movements take
place,an prove that there must be a contact of some kin ,even if it is and invisible
one.
The A'kasa
furnishes that contact,and the evelope will power of a person may act through
the
substance of his
soul upon the soul of the object,an set that object in motion.In this way
tables may be
ma e to talk and
bells be ma e to ring.This,however,cannot be accomplishe by everybo y;to
accomplish this
and astral organism is require ,an it cand therefore be one only by such
persons as
have their
astral bo y evelope and are capable to use its organs at will.[ H.P.Blavatsky
writes in a
private letter
to the author: I prove that all that mediums can o through spirits ,others
coul o at will
without any
spirits;that the ringing of bells,thought-rea ing,raps,an physical phenomena
coul be
achieve by
anyone who ha the faculty of acting in his physical bo y thro gh the organs of
the astral
body,an I ha
that faculty ever since I was four years ol .I coul make furniture move and objects
fly
apparently,an by
my astral arms that supporte them,which remaine invisible;all this before I
even
knew of the
Masters .] [Page 220 ]
The thoughts and
consciousness of a person or of a number of persons may be projecte an
concentrate upon
any object or to any place that exists within the sphere of their min s.It may
be ma e
to inhere in
material objects by entering their astral elements and pro ucing correspon ing
vibrations.
Plants or
precious stones may be brought in this manner into sympathetic relation with
persons,so that if
the person is
sick or ies,the plants wither and the stones lose their brilliancy.No object in
nature is
entirely
inanimate,and the life-principle is the same in all,whether it be a man or a
stone;only the state
of their
activities iffer.If we can in uce correspon ing vibrations in the souls of a
lower or er of life,their
life will be
unite with us because all in ivi ual forms are only centres in which the
Universal Min has
crystallise into
forms,an all forms are relate together and boun together by the universal
cement of
Love.A bird may
rop own ea when its mate is kille ,a mother may feel the pain of and acci ent
happening to her
chil ,twin-brothers have been known to have become affecte simultaneously with
the
same isease and to
ie at the same time,although their bo ies were far apart from each other.No
being stan s
entirely isolate in nature,all are unite by ivine love,and the more they become
conscious of the
love that unites them the more o they realise that they are one.
Separation and
ddifferentiation exists only in regar to the form,the fun amental power is one
,an those
who have unite
their min s with that principle know that they are one,an istance forms no
impe iment to
the actions of their min s.Spirit is substance,inseparable,impenetrable,in
ivisible,an
eternal;form is
and aggregate,separate,penetrable,ivisible and subject to [Page 221 ] continual
change.
The communion
of the saints is a reality,for they are all one in the spirit.Light is only
one.A number of
lights in a room
are as one light compose of that number.There is only one Soun but many
expressions.If
and orchestra is playe in a room,each instrument pro uces soun ,the soun of
each fills
the whole room
and is hear according to its intensity.One instrument may soun lou er than
another;
one light may
shine brighter thand the rest;but they o not annihilate or extinguish each
other.Soun is
one,an Light is
one,an Spirit is one,only their manifestations iffer in quality and in
strength.
Love is one,but
it manifests itself in various ways.Love unites all.Love is a state of the
Will.Thought is
irecte by
will,but the will to be powerful must be pure.If we esire two things at the
same time,the will
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acts in two different
irections:but ivision causes weakness,only in unity is strength.Will is one.The
will is a
universal principle and not confine within a form.If we concentrate our will
and thought unite
upon a clou in
the sky,we can cause that clou to issolve,and the rapi ity with which it
issolves will
be proportionate
to the strength of our concentration of min .[There will be very few of our rea
ers who
have never
notice ,that if they pass a certain person in the street,and then turn aroun to
look after him
or her,it very
often happens that the latter turns at the same time to look after them.This
happens so
frequent,to be a
mere matter of coinci ence,an is cause by the fact that the impulse of will of
one
person can
communicate itself to another person.But if one esires to make a person turn
aroun by the
effort of his
will,an for the purpose of seeing whether he can o so,he will probably fail;because
the
esire to gratify
his curiosity weakens the force of his will;he esires two things at once,an he
fails.]
As all forms are
only external expressions of thought,if we coul hol on to a thought and project
it,we
coul create a
form.But men o not control thought,they are the victims of it;they o not think
what they
choose,but what
they are force to think,by the thoughts flying into their min s.To obtain magic
power
the first
requirement is to learn how to control [Page 222 ] thought;to comman our own
moo s of min ,
an to allow only
such ideas to enter the min as we
voluntarily choose to a mit.Whoever has for the
first time
attempte to comman a thought,an to hol on to it for five minutes,will have
experience the
ifficulty,an yet
without this first requirement no progress in magic will ever be ma e.
Before one can
become a magician he must learn to control his own min ;for min is the
substance with
which the
magician acts,and the power to control it is the beginning of magic.No one can
control the
min of another
as long as he cannot control his own.The will acts outwardly from within the
centre of
the heart,an no
one can make it act beyon the periphery of his bo y as long as he has not
become
strong enough to
gui e it within the bo y.The neophyte must learn first to control his own
emotions
before he can
control the emotions of others,he must know how to master his thoughts before
he can
make them
objective.But the min cannot control its own self,it cannot rise above its own
nature.To
control the
action of the min a Master is require ;this Master is the spirit of man.But
spirit without
substance is
without power without and organism through which to act,it is merely a
spirit.That which
controls the min
is the spiritually awakene inner man the ivine nature in man,which is
superior to
his terrestrial
min .
To change a form
we change the state of min ,of which the form is and expression.Certain states
of min
fin their
expressions in certain attitu es,and these attitu es in uce correspon ing
mental states.A
prou man will
walk erect,a coward will creep,a continually practise creeping walk will evelop
a
cowardly
nature,an a habitually erect posture will make a man prou or conscious of his
ignity.An
actor who can i
entify himself fully with the personality whose part he plays,nee not stu y
attitu es to
appear
natural;an angry person who forces himself to smile lessens his anger;a person
with a continual
scowl on the
face will fin it ifficult to be gay.It is on account of the esire to facilitate
the entering into
certain mental
states that [Page 223 ] certain attitu es have been prescribe in religious
ceremonies an
acts of evotion.
If the Min were
its own Master,if the actions of the Universal Min were not subject to the
eternal ivine
law of cause and
effect,but gui e by the arbitrary whims and notions of some invisible power
constitute of
Min without wisdom,the most extraor inary results were liable to follow and the
age of
actual miracles
woul begin.The earth woul perhaps stan still for a ay or a year and begin to
revolve
again the
next;sometimes it might turn fast and at other times slow,and there is no en to
the
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absurdities
which might take place;especially if this imaginary power coul be in uce to
follow the
a vices of its
worshippers.
To the
superficial observer the processes of nature seem to be the results of
chance.The sun shines an
the rain falls
upon the lan of the pious as well as upon that of the wicke ;storms and fires
rage,
careless whether
they estroy the life and property of the learne or that of the ignorant,because
they
are the
necessary results of the law of cause and effect.The interest of in ivi uals
cannot control the
welfare of the
whole.While the welfare of the human bo y seems to be,to a certain extent,un er
the
control of the
will of the in ivi ual,the processes of nature,as a whole,appear to be ungui e
by the
reason of the
Universal Min .
The
intellect,being unreasonable,is ispose to gauge the absolute reason of the
Universal Min by the
relative un
erstan ing of comparatively microscopic man.By the same right might the insect
crawling in
the ust oubt the
intelligence of the wan erer,by whose foot it is maime or kille without consi eration
an without
remorse;such and insect,if capable of reasoning,woul iscover no intellect in
that foot,an
yet the
man,whose foot is the estroyer,may be highly intellectual.
The cause,why we
cannot comprehen the eternal principle of reason in nature,is because it acts
according to
law,being one with the law;while our intellect,being fille with consi erations
of self-
interests,is not
free of esire,and therefore always incline to act contrary to the law.[Page 224
]
Invisible causes
pro uce visible effects,and the same cause,acting un er similar con itions,will
always
pro uce similar
results.Whenever a certain amount of energy has been accumulate ,the time will
arrive
when it will be
expen e .The accumulate tension between the particles of explosives fin s its
equilibrium at
the approach of a spark;the electric tension establishe in the upper regions of
the air
fin s its relief
in lightning;accumulate emotions will be equilibrise by and outburst of
passion;
accumulate
energies in the soul of the earth pro uce earthquakes in the bo y of the
earth,in the same
manner as and outburst
of grief causes the human form to tremble and to shake.Man's reason may
prevent and outburst
of his emotions;but where is the personal go to control the emotions of the
soul of
the world ?Go
oes not prevent the growth of warts,or cancers,or tumours;Go being the law
cannot
act in contra
iction with himself.His blessings are accompanie by curses.Man's foot crushes
the insect,
because man's
perception and intelligence oes not perva e his feet;Go oes not prevent the
growth
of a stone in
the bla er,because the high cannot manifest itself in the low,wisdom cannot be
active in
an unconscious
form;the means must be a apte to the en .When universal Man will have so far
perfecte himself
as to be a self-conscious sphere of wisdom without any material parts,then will
nature
itself be a go
.The music that can be ma e with a harp cannot be ma e with a stick.The
absolute
intelligence of
the Universal Min can only manifest itself relatively through instruments a
apte to
intellectual
manifestation.Consciousness can manifest itself as relative consciousness only
in conscious
forms.
Wisdom is not a
pro uct of the organisation of man.It is eternal and universal.It fin s its
expression in
the fun amental
laws upon which the universe with all its forms is constructe .It is expresse
in the
shape of a
leaf,in the bo y of and animal,in the organism of man.Its action can be foun
everywhere in
nature,as long
as the beings in nature live accor ing to natural law.There are no iseases in
nature,
which have not
been originally create by powers which acte contrary to the laws of [Page 225 ]
nature
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an became
therefore unnatural.Outward appearances seem to contra ict this
assertion;because we
fin animals
affecte with iseases,an epi emic iseases are even of frequent occurrence in the
vegetable king
om.But a eeper investigation into the occult laws of nature will go to show
that all the
forms of
nature,minerals,vegetables,an animals,are merely states or expressions of the
Universal
Min of Universal
Man.They are the pro ucts of the imagination of Nature,an as the imagination of
Nature is acte
on,influence and mo ifie by the imagination of man,a morbi imagination of man
is
followe by a
morbi state of Nature,an morbi results follow again on the physical plane.This
law
explains why
perio s of great moral epravity,sensuality,superstition,an materialism are
always
followe by plagues,epi
emics,famine,wars,etc.,an it woul be worth the while to collect statistics to
show that such
has invariably been the case.
The elementary
forces of nature are blin and obey the law that controls them.A motion
originate by an
impulse
continues until the original energy is expen e .Stones have no
intelligence,because they have
no organisation
through which intelligence can become manifest,but if and intelligent power
sets them into
motion,they obey
the law of its nature.As the organisms rise in the scale of evolution and evelopment
of form,their
consciousness becomes more manifest.Consciousness becomes manifest as instinct
in
the animal
creation.It teaches the bird to fly,the fish to swim,the ants to buil their
houses,the swallows
to make their
nests.Acting through the nerve centres and the spinal cord it in uces the
actions of the
heart and lungs
and other organic and involuntary actions of the bo y.
As the spinal
cord,in the course of evolution,evelops into a brain,the principle of
consciousness
obtains a more
perfect instrument for its manifestation.Intellectual power takes the place of
instinct,an
the Universal
Min begins to think through the in ivi ual brain of man,in the same sense as
universal
nature uses his
bo y for manifesting her powers.
With the highest
evelopment of the human brain,[Page 226 ] the most perfect instrument for the
external
manifestation of
min is attaine .But the essential man is a spirit,an with the evelopment of the
most
perfect physical
form the climax of his spiritual evolution is not reache .The essential man is
a spirit an
requires a
spiritual organisation for the isplay of his powers.He has within himself the
latent power to
realise his own
ivine and universal existence,an to awaken this power hi en within his
psychical
constitution
another light thand the light of nature is require .This Light is the light of
Divine Wis om,one
an infinite,an
beyon the conception of the brain.It is itself the one eternal Life into which
man must
enter,if he
esires to realise his own immortal existence.To realise that ivine universal
existence,an
organise soul as
wi e as the universe is require .This soul belongs to the ivine man,the
Divinity in
Humanity,whose
material bo y is the world and whose self-consciousness is Divine Wisdom ,the
self-
recognition of
Truth ,the Re eemer of All.
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CHAPTER X
CREATION.
"An Go sai
:Let us make Man . Bible.
[The term
Creation is frequently misun erstoo .Neither the Bible nor any other reasonable
book says
that anything ha
ever been create out of nothing.Such superstition belongs entirely to mo ern
materialistic
Science,which believes that life and consciousness coul grow out of ea an
unconscious things.The
word "Creation means the pro uction of forms out of alrea y existing
formless
materials;form
in the absolute is not a thing,it is nothing but and illusion,and therefore if
a form is
pro uce nothing
but and illusion has been create .]
THE most important
question that was ever aske ,an is still aske with anxiety and often with
fear,is
the same that
was propoun e thousan s of years ago by the Egyptian Sphinx,who kille him that
attempte to
solve the ri le and i not succee :What is Man ?Ages have passe away since the
question was
first aske ,nations have slain each other in cruel religious warfare,making
vain efforts to
impose upon each
other such solution of the great problem as they believe they ha foun ,but from
the
tombs of the
past only re-echoes the same question What is Man?An yet the answer seems
simple.
Reason,if iveste
of religious or scientific preju ices,tells us that man,like every other form
in the
universe,is a
collective centre of energy,a solitary ray of the universally present Divine
Light "which is
the common
source of everything that exists ;he is a true chil of the great Spiritual S
n .[Page 228 ] As
the rays of our
sun only become visibly active in contact with ust,so the ivine ray is absorbe
an
reflecte by
matter.
The sun-ray plays
with the waves of the ocean:the heat create by the contact of water with light
from
above extracts
from below the refine material,and the vapours rise to the sky,where,like the
ghosts of
the seas,they
wan er in clou s of manifol shapes,travelling freely through the air,playing
with the
win s,until the
time arrives when the energies which keep them suspen e become exhauste and they
once more escen
to the earth.In a similar manner a ivine ray of the spiritual sun mingles with
matter
while welling on
Earth,absorbing and assimilating whatever correspon s to its own nature.As the
butterfly flits
from flower to flower,tasting the sweets of each,so the human mona passes from
life to
life,from planet
to planet,gathering experience,knowle ge,an strength,but when the ay of life is
over,night
follows,an with it follows sleep,bringing reams of vivi reality.The grossest
elements
remain to mingle
again with earth,the more refine elements the astral elements which are
still within
the attraction
of the planet,float about,riven hither and thither by their inherent ten
encies,until the
energy which hol
s them together is exhauste ,and they issolve again in the plane to which they
belong,but the
highest spiritual energies of man,hel together by love,free from the attraction
of Earth,
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ascen to their
source like a white-robe spirit,bringing with them the pro ucts of experiences
beyon
the limits of
matter.Man's love and aspiration o not belong to Earth.They create energies
which are
active beyon the
confines of the grave and the funeral-pyre;their activity lasts for ages,until
it becomes
exhauste ,and
the purifie ray,still en owe with the ten encies impresse upon it by its last
visit to the
planet,again
seeks association with matter,buil s again its prison-house of animate clay,an
appears
an ol actor in a
new part upon the ever-changing stage of life.
Some of the
greatest philosophers have arrive at a recognition of this truth by speculation
and logical
[Page 229 ]
reasoning,while others,whose min s were illumine by wisdom,have perceive it as
a self-
evi ent fact by
the power of intuition.
To buil the new
house the impressions gathere by its previous visits furnish the material.The
slothful
rich man of the
past may become the beggar of the future,and the in ustrious worker in the
present life
evelop ten
encies which will lay the foun ation of greatness in the next.Suffering in one
life may
pro uce patience
and fortitu e that will be useful in another;hardships will pro uce en
urance,self-
enial will
strengthen the will;tastes engen ere in one life will be our gui es in
another;an latent
energies will
become active whenever circumstances require it uring and existence on the
material plane
either in one
life or another according to the eternal law of cause and effect.
A chil burns its
fingers by touching the flame,and the a ult oes not remember all the
circumstances
un er which the
acci ent occurre ;still the fact that fire will burn and must not be touche
will remain
impresse upon
the min .In the same manner the experiences gaine in one life are not remembere
in
their etails in
the next,but the impressions which they pro uce will remain.[There is a certain
stage in
the spiritual
evolution of man,when he will remember the events of his previous lives;but to
remember
them in his
present state of imperfection woul be merely a hin rance in his progress.It has
been sai ,
that by not
remembering the errors of our past lives,and their evil consequences,man is
liable to commit
his previous
errors again;but we ought not to o goo merely as a matter of speculation and to
avoi evil
consequences
resulting therefrom,but from and inherent sense of uty,regardless of what the
resulting
consequences may
be.] Again and again man passes through the wheel of transformation,changing
his
lower energies
into higher ones,until matter attracts him no longer,an he becomes what he is
estine
to be,a go .
Man,like the
majority of organise beings,is and atom in the immensity of the universe;he
cannot be
ivi e and still
remain a man;but unlike other and lower organise beings,whose realisation of
existence is
confine to the physical or astral plane,that which [Page 230 ] constitutes him
a Man an
istinguishes him
from and animal is and integral and conscious part of the highest spiritual
energy of the
universe,which
is everywhere present,an his spiritual consciousness is,therefore,not limite to
a
certain locality
in the physical world .
Who ma e Man
?Man makes himself uring every ay of his life.He is his own creator.The clay
the material bo
y that clings to the ray of the manifeste Life,is taken from Earth,the
energies,calle
the astral so l
,are the pro ucts of the astral plane,the highest energies belong to the
spirit.Animal man,
like the lower
orders of nature,is a pro uct of the blin law of necessity,an may even be pro
uce
artificially.[See
Paracelsus,Homunculi .] The physical attributes of the chil and its mental
qualifications
are the result of inheritance of previously existing con itions.Like the tree
that can sen its
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roots into the
neighbouring soil and gather the nutriment by which it is surroun e ,but cannot
roam
about in search
of foo at istant places,so physical man has only a limite choice in the
selection of
such means of
evelopment as he may require;he grows,because he cannot resist the law of
necessity
and the impulses
given by nature.But as reason begins to enlighten him,the work of creation
begins.
The intelligence
within says to the will:"Let us make man .She urges the will,and the
will sullenly leaves
its favourite
occupation of serving the passions and begins to moul man in accordance with
the ivine
image hel up
before him by wisdom.
Let s make Man
,means:Let us make a ivine man out of and animal man;let us surroun the ivine
ray
within us with
the purest of essences;let us throw off everything which is sensual and grossly
material,
an which hin ers
our progress;let us transform the emotions into virtues in which the spiritual
ray may
clothe itself
when it re-ascen s to its throne.
Let us make
man!Itdepends entirely on our efforts what kin of a man we shall make.To make
an
average man or
even a superior one in the common acceptation of the term is not a very
ifficult matter.
[Page 231 ]
Follow the rules of health and the laws of iet,provi e above all for yourself
and never give
anything
away,unless by oing so you are sure to get more in return.You will then make a
respectable
animal,a
"self-ma e man,prominent,independent,an rich -one who lives and ies on
the plane of
selfishness,an
object of envy for many;respecte perhaps by many,but not by his conscience.
There is another
class of self-ma e men;those on the intellectual plane.They stan before the world
as
the world 's
benefactors,as philosophers,teachers,statesmen,inventors,or artists.They have
what is
calle geni s ,an
instea of being mere imitators,they possess originality.They benefit themselves
by
benefiting the world
.Intellectual researches that benefit no one are unpro uctive;they resemble
physical
exercise with
umb-bells,by which muscular strength may be gaine ,but no labour accomplishe
.An
intellectual
pursuit may be followe for merely selfish purposes;but unless there is a love
for the object of
that stu
y,little progress will be ma e,an instea of a sage,a bookworm will be the
result.True genius
is a magician
who creates a world for himself and for others,an his power expan s as he grows
in
perfection.
The lower
intellectual labour alone cannot be the true object of life;the truth cannot be
graspe by the
unai e efforts
of the brain,an he who attempts to arrive at the truth merely by the
intellectual labour of
the brain,without
consulting the heart,will fail.The heart resembles the S n as the seat of
Wisdom,the
brain correspon
s to the Moon ;it is the seat of the reasoning intellect,an receives its light
and life from
the Sun.If the
Sun stan s guard over the Moon,thoughts which are istasteful to the heart will
not enter
the brain.The
heart and the hea shoul work together in harmony,to kill the ragon of
ignorance,
welling upon the
threshol of the temple,an to arrive at the truth.
In the
allegorical books of the Alchemists the S n represents Intelligence;he is the
"heart of our solar
system;the Moon
represents reams and esires or the "brain ;Earth represents the physical
Body .If
the [Page 232 ]
male S n cohabits with the female Moon in the water of Truth ,they will pro uce
a son
whose name is
Wisdom .The intellect is the material man whose bri e is spiritual un erstan
ing,the
ivine woman;no
man or woman is perfect as long as the celestial marriage has not taken place
through
the power of
Divine Love.[Compare "The Perfect Way,of the Finding of Christ .]
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The materials of
which Man is constructe are the principles that flow into him from the
store-house of
universal nature,the
buil er is the will,reason the superinten ent,an wisdom the supreme architect.
The buil ing
goes on without noise,an no soun of the hammer is heard,because the materials
are
alrea y prepare
by nature;they only require to be put into their proper places.The highest is
the Spirit
or
"Consciousness ,an Spirit alone is immortal.Such of the lower elements
as harmonise with it
amalgamate with
the spirit,an are ren ere conscious and immortal.Spirit can only fin its
correspon ing
vibrations in the highest spiritual elements of the soul such as are furnishe
by the higher
principles,an
consist of the purest thoughts,aspirations,an memories pro uce by the fifth,in
which
resi es the
intellectual power of man.Pure intelligence is Spirituality,but intellectual
activity confine
within the lower
planes of thought can bring to light no spiritual treasures.Intellectual
activity is not a
power;but the
result of the power of spirit acting within the min .A very intellectual and learne
person
may be very
unhappy and unharmonious,if his ten encies are towards selfishness,an his min
incapable to be
illuminate by the light of truth.Wis om is the self-recognition of the truth;it
resi es in
the spiritual
soul of man,an sen s its light own into his fifth principle,shining through the
clou s of
matter like the
sunlight penetrating a fog.
The fifth
principle receives its stimulus from the fourth,the irrational nature of man.We
cannot buil a
house without
soli material,an we may just as well attempt to run a steam-engine without fuel
or water
as to make a
genius out of a being without any emotions.The stronger the emotions are,the
more
en uring will
[Page 233 ] be the spiritual temple,if they can be ma e to fit into the walls
and pillars.A
person
originally without any emotions is without virtues,he is without energy,a sha
ow,neither col nor
warm,an
necessarily useless.The passionate man is nearer to the spirit,if he can gui e
his passions in
the right
irection,thand the man who has nothing to gui e and nothing to conquer.
To pro uce a
perfect buil ing,or a perfect man,the proportions must be harmonious.Wisdom gui
es the
work and love
furnishes the cement.An emotion is either a virtue or a vice according to the
manner in
which it is
applie .Misapplie virtues become vices,an well-irecte vices are virtues.A man
who acts
according to the
ictates of pru ence alone is a coward;one who in iscriminately exercises his
generosity is a
spen thrift;courage without caution is rashness;veneration without knowle ge
pro uces
superstition;charity
without ju gment makes a beggar,an even one-si e justice,un-tempere by
mercy,pro uces a
miserly,cruel,an espicable tyrant.
The irrational
soul,impelle only by its esires and ungui e by wisdom,resembles a runken man
who
has lost his
physical balance;it totters from si e to si e,falls from one extreme into
another,an cannot
gui e its
steps.Only and equilibrium of forces can pro uce harmony,beauty,an
perfection.The irrational
soul,swaye by
uncontrollable emotions,forms and unfit habitation for the ivine ray,that loves
peace
an tranquillity.
The control of
the emotions is the ifficult struggle that is allegorically represente by the
twelve labours
of
Hercules,which the oracle of Zeus comman e him to perform.Every man who esires
to progress is
his own Hercules
and works for the benefit of the king (his Atma),whose orders he receives
through the
ivine oracle of
his own conscience.He is constantly engage in battle,because the lower
principles
fight for their
lives and will not be conquere .They are the pro ucts of matter and they cling
to their
source.
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Whence o the
emotions come?
The cosmologies
of the ancients express un er various [Page 234 ] allegories the same fun
amental truth;
that "in
the beginning the Great First Ca se evolve out of itself,by the power of its
own will,certain
powers,whose
action and reaction brought the elementary forces that constitute the world into
existence.These
elementary forces are the Devas of the East,the Elohims of the Bible,the
Afrites of the
Persians,the
Titans of the Romans,the Eggregores of the book of Enoch.They are the active
agents of
the
cosmos,beneficial or etrimental according to the con itions un er which they
act,intelligent or
unintelligent
according to the nature of the instrument through which they work.They are not
necessarily
self-conscious
rational entities,but may manifest themselves through conscious organisms en
owe with
reason;they are
not persons,but become personifie by fin ing expression in in ivi ual
forms.Love an
hate,envy and benevolence,lust
and gree are not persons,but become personifie in human or animal
forms.An
extremely malicious person is the embo iment of malice,an if he sees the emon
in an
objective
form,he behol s the reflection of his own soul in the mirror of his min .Spirit
exists
everywhere,but
we cannot perceive a spirit unless it first enters the sphere of our soul.The
spirit that
enters our soul
obtains its life from ourselves,an if we o not expel it from our soul it grows
strong by
vampirising our
life.Like a parasite growing on a tree and fee ing on its substance,it fastens
its feelers
aroun the tree
of our life and grows strong while our own life grows weak.A thought,once
taking root in
the min ,will
grow until it becomes expresse in and act,when,obtaining a life of its own by
that act,it
leaves its place
to a successor.Those elementary forces of nature are everywhere,an always rea y
to
enter the soul
if its oors are not efen e .To call up a wicke spirit we nee not go in search
of him,we
nee only allow
him to come.To call up a evil means to give way to and evil thought,to vanquish
him
means to resist
successfully a temptation to evil.
The elementary
powers of nature are innumerable,and their classification gave rise to the
pantheons of
the [Page 235 ]
Greeks and to the mythologies of the East.The greatest power is Ze s ,the
father of the
go s,or the
source from which all other powers take their origin.Minerva,the go ess of
wisdom,
springs from his
hea ,her origin is the noblest of all,but Venus,the aughter of the Sun,arising
from the
ocean of the
universal Soul,conquers all by her beauty.She hol s together the world s in
space by the
power of her
attraction,bin s souls to souls,chains the like to like,an bin s the evil to
evil.She is the
mother of the
minor go s that combat each other,because love of self,love of possession,love
of fame,
love of
power,etc.,are all only chil ren of the universal power of love.They fight
among themselves like
chil ren,because
action gives rise to reaction,love is oppose by hate,hope by fear,faith by
oubt,etc.
To control them
the go of Power (Mars)must be unite with the go ess of Love in other
words,the
passions must be
hel in obe ience by the Will.
Each power exists
and is hel in its elementary matrix or vehicle,the A'kβsa,the Universal Prote s
,the
generator of
form,which fin s its outward expression in Matter,and these powers constitute
the eternal
circle,or the
snake ,"whose hea shall be crushe by the heel of the woman ,meaning
Wisdom,the
eternal
virgin,whose "aughters are faith,hope ,an charity .
The snake cannot
enter the soul,if the soul is efen e by wisdom.If and evil thought enters the
soul an
we o not reject
it,we harbour a evil in our heart,whose claims we take into consi eration;we
give him
a promise and in
uce him to remain,an ,like and unwelcome cre itor,he will continually urge his
claims
until they are
fulfille .
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The lower tria s
of principles in the constitution of man receive their nutriment from the
inferior king oms
of nature.If the
bo y is overfe or stimulate by rink,the emotional element will become
excessively
active and the
intellect will become weak.Too stimulating foo or rink is injurious for higher
evelopment,because
life will in such cases with raw its activity from the higher principles and be
ma e
to work in the
lower principles of man.Large quantities of otherwise healthy [Page 236 ] foo
will be
injurious for
the same reason.The principle of life which transforms the lower energies into
higher ones is
the same
principle which causes the igestion of foo .If it is squan ere in the lower
organs,the higher
organs will
starve.Some men are habituate to meat-eating,and they require it;others are use
to
alcohol,an if
they woul su enly iscontinue its use they will suffer;but meat and alcohol
are,un er
normal con
itions,unnecessary for the human system,an often they act positively injurious.
The principle
argument of the lovers of animal foo is that it "gives bo ily strength,an
is necessary for
those who have
to perform manual labour .This argument is base upon and erroneous
opinion,because
animal foo oes
not give as much strength as a vegetable iet;[According to the calculations ma
e by
Prov.J.V.Liebig,the
same amount of albuminous substances for which,if in the form of animal foo ,is
pai IOO .,can be
bought in the shape of peas for 9 .,an in that of wheat for 4 ] it only
stimulates
the organism,an
in uces it to use up the strength which it alrea y possesses in a short perio
of time
instea of saving
it up for the future.The consequences of and exclusive animal
iet,gluttony,extreme
sensuality,combativeness,cruelty,an
stupi ity,in olence,physical and psychical apathy,are the
necessary
consequences of over-stimulation.
Darwin says that
"the hardest-working people he ever met are the persons that work in the
mines of Chili,
an that they are
living on and exclusively vegetable iet .The country people in Irelan live
almost
without
meat-eating,an yet they are strong and en uring.The common Russian eats very
little meat
an enjoys goo
health.The strongest people that can perhaps be foun anywhere are the country
people in the
South of Bavaria,and they eat meat only on exceptional occasions and holy-ays.Horses,
bulls,elephants,are
the strongest animals,an live on vegetable foo ,while the prominent traits of
character of the
flesh-eating animals are cowardice,irritability,an cunning.A bear kept at the
Anatomical
Museum at Giessen [Page 237 ] showe a quiet,gentle nature as long as he was fe
on brea ,
but a few ays
fee ing on meat ma e him,not stronger,but vicious and angerous.
Let those who
esire to know the truth in regard to meat-eating seek the answers to their
questions,not
with the
intellect of the hea ,but through the voice of wisdom speaking in the interior
of their heart,an
they will not be
mistaken.[See Dr A.Kingsford:"The Perfect Way in Diet .]
Another question
arises in regard to the eating of flesh;it is the question whether or not man
has a right
to kill animals
for his foo .To the professe Christians who claim to believe in the Bible there
seems to
be no cause for
any oubt,because the comman is plain:"Tho shalt not kill .An yet this
comman is
isregarde aily
by millions of professe "Christians ,who base their illusory right to
kill animals upon a
misun erstoo
verse of their Bible.It is sai that Go permitte man to"have ominion over
the fish of
the sea,an over
the fowls of the air,an over the cattle,an over every living thing that moveth
upon
the earth
,[Genesis i.26.]if he kills his inferiors,his ominion over them is at and en
.Man's prerogative
is to appease
suffering,not to cause it;not to interrupt the work of evolution,but to assist
it.Christianity
an murder are
incompatible terms.
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Meat is
stimulating,an stimulating foo creates a esire for stimulating rink.The best
cure for the
esire for
alcoholic rink is to avoi the eating of meat.It is oubtful whether there is any
passion in the
world more
evilish and more etrimental to the true interests of humanity and of in ivi ual
happiness
thand the love
of Alcohol.As meat-eating en ows man with illusory strength,that soon fa es
away,leaving
its possessor
weaker than he was before;likewise stimulating rinks lull him into and illusory
happiness,
which soon
isappears,an is followe by lasting and real misery,causing suffering to himself
and to
others.It causes
a long list of iseases of the internal organs,an lea s to premature eath;it is
the
cause of by far
the great [Page 238 ] majority of all crimes committe in civilise countries.To
those who
look upon man as
a rational being,it seems incomprehensible why civilise nations will suffer and
evil in
their mi st that
fills their jails,hospitals,lunatic asylums,an graveyards;an why men will
"put an
enemy in their
mouths that estroys their health,their reason,and their life;but those who
look eeper
see that in our
present age the awn of reason has only begun,an that the spiritual faculties of
the
majority of men
still sleep in the icy embrace of ignorance.Reforms are necessary,but they
cannot be
inaugurate by
merely external means;the only re eemer is knowle ge.[See Dr
A.Kingsford:"The
Alchoholic
Controversy .]
The bo y politic
resembles the in ivi ual bo y.It is of no use to estroy the means to gratify a
esire as
long as the
esire itself is suffere to exist.The evils that affect mankin are the outcome
of their esires
for such
evils.Means to gratify evil esires will exist as long as they are patronise ,an
if they are
abolishe other
means will be foun .Wee s are not estroye by cutting their leaves,if the roots
are
allowe to
remain.These roots grow in the ark soil of,ignorance,they can only be estroye
by the light
of the truth.
To eat and rink
and sleep for the purpose of living,an not to live for the purpose of
eating,rinking,
an sleeping,is a
maxim which is often hear ,but which is not frequently carrie out.A great eal
of
nutriment aily
taken by men serves no other purpose than to comply with habit,an to gratify an
artificially
create esire.The more a man is gross and material,the greater is the quantity
of foo he
esires,and the
more foo he takes the more gross and material will he become.Noble and refine
natures require
little nutriment,ethereal beings and "spiritual entities require no
material foo .
The means shoul
always be a apte to the en in view.If the en is low and vulgar,low and vulgar
means will be
nee e ;if it is noble and high,equally high and noble means are require .A
prize-fighter,
whose main
object is to evelop muscle,will require [Page 239 ] a different training from
that of one who
esires to evelop
the faculty to perceive spiritual truths.Con itions that may be suitable for
the
evelopment of
one person may be impracticable for another.One man will evelop faster through
poverty,another
through wealth;one man may nee as his initial psychic stimulus the gentle and exalting
influences of marrie
life,while another one's aspirations rise higher,if independent of earthly
ties.Each
man who
exercises his will for the purpose of his higher evelopment is,to the extent he
exercises it,a
practical
occultist.Everyone grows necessarily in one irection or in another;none remain
stationary.
Those who esire
to outstrip others in growth must act.
One of the
Tibetan A epts says in a letter
"Man is ma
e up of ideas ,an ideas gui e his
life.The world of subjectivity is the only reality to him even
on this physical
plane.To the occultist it grows more real as it goes further and further from
illusory
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earthly
objectivity,an its ultimate reality is Parabrahm .Hence and aspirant for occult
knowle ge shoul
begin to
concentrate all his esires on the highest ideal,that of absolute
self-sacrifice,philanthropy,
ivine kin
ness,as of all the highest virtues obtainable on this Earth,an work up to it
incessantly.The
more strenuous
his efforts to rise up to that ideal,the oftener is his will-power exercise ,and
the stronger
it becomes.When
it is thus strengthene ,it sets up a ten ency,in the gross shell of St
la-sharira ,to o
such acts as are
compatible with the highest ideal he has to work up to,an his acts intensify
his will-
power
oubly,owing to the operation of the well-known law of action and reaction.Hence
in Occultism
great stress is
lai on practical results.
"Now the
question is:What are these practical results,an how are they to be pro uce ?It
is a well-
known fact,erive
from observation and experience,that progress is the law of nature.The
acceptance
of this truth
suggests the i ea,that humanity is in its lower state of evelopment,an is
progressing
towards the
stages of perfection.It will approach the final goal when it evelops new
sensibilities and a
clear relation
with [Page 240 ] nature.From this it is obvious that a final state of
perfection will be arrive at
when the energy
that animates man co-operates with the One Life operating in the Cosmos in
achieving
this mighty
object;an knowle ge is the most powerful means to that en .
"Thus it
will be clear that the ultimate object of nature is to make man perfect through
the union of the
human spirit
with the One Life .Having this final goal before our min ,an intellectual
brotherhoo shoul
be forme by
uniting all together,an this is the only stepping-stone towards the final
goal.To pro uce
this practical
result,union,we must hol up the highest ideal,which forms the real man,an make
others
see that truth
and act up to it.To lea our neighbours and fellow-creatures to this right
path,the best
means shoul be
pursue with self-sacrificing habits.When our energy as a collective whole is
thus
expen e ,in
working up to the highest ideal,it becomes potent,and the gran est results are
pro uce
on the spiritual
plane.As this is the most important work in which every occultist shoul be
engage ,an
aspirant for
higher knowle ge shoul spare no efforts to bring about this en .With the
progressive ti e of
evolution of the
bo y as a whole,the mental and the spiritual faculties of humanity expan .To
help this
ti e on,a knowle
ge of philosophical truths shoul be sprea .This is what is expected from and aspirant
for occult
knowledge,and what he sho ld do .
The will is
evelope through action and strengthene by faith.The movements of the bo y,such
as
walking,are only
successfully performe by a person because he has a full and unwavering faith in
his
power to perform
them.Fear and oubt paralyse the will and pro uce impotency;but hope and faith
pro uce
marvellous results.The lawyer or physician who has no faith in his own ability
will make
blun ers,an if
his clients or patients share his oubts,his usefulness will be seriously
impaire ;
whereas even the
ignorant fanatic or quack may succee ,if he has faith in himself.
Lord Lytton
says:"The victims of the ghostly one are those that woul aspire and can
only fear .[Page 241 ]
Fear and Doubt
are the hell-born aughters of ignorance that rag man own to per ition;while
Faith is
the white-robe
angel that len s him her wings and en ows him with power."Samsayatma
Vinasyati
(the oubter
perishes),sai Krishna to Arjuna,his favourite isciple.
Faith is
soul-knowle ge;therefore,even without intellectual knowle ge,it is more useful
than intellectual
knowle ge
without faith.Strong faith,even if resting upon and erroneous conception,acts
powerfully in
pro ucing
results;faith pro uces and exalte state of the imagination,which strengthens
the will,banishes
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pain,cures
isease,lea s to heroism,an transforms hell into heaven.
The only way to
evelop will-power is to act according to law.Each act creates a new impulse,which,
a e to the alrea
y existing energy,increases its strength.Goo acts increase the power for goo
;evil
acts,the power
for evil.A person who acts only from impulse manifests no will of his own.If he
obeys his
lower impulses
he passively evelops into a criminal or a maniac;he who acts by the impulse of
ivine
wisdom is a go
.The most horrible crimes are often committe without any proportionate
provocation,
because the
perpetrators ha not the power to resist the impulses that prompte them to such
acts.Such
persons are not
necessarily wicke ;they are weak and irresponsible beings;they are the servants
of the
impulses that
control them,and they can be ma e the helpless instruments and victims of those
who
know how to call
forth their emotions;they are like the sol iers of two opposing armies,who are
not
necessarily
personal enemies;but are ma e to hate and kill each other by appeals to their
passions.The
oftener such
persons give way to impulses,the more is their power of resistance iminishe ,and
their
own impotency is
their ruin.It is of little use to be merely passively goo ,if abstinence from
wrong-doing
may be so calle
.A person who oes neither goo nor evil accomplishes nothing.A stone,an
animal,an
imbecile,may be
consi ere goo ,because they o no active evil;a person may live a hun re years,
an at the en of
[Page 242 ] his life he may not have been more useful than a stone.[He who is
neither
hot nor col ,but
lukewarm,will be spue out by nature . Bible.]
There is nothing
in nature which has not a threefol aspect and a threefol activity.The
Will-power forms
no exception to
this rule.In its lowest aspect the Will is that power which in uces the
voluntary an
involuntary
functions of the physical organism;its centre of activity is the spinal cor .In
its higher aspect
it is the power
which in uces psychic activity;it is iffuse through the bloo which comes from
the heart
an returns to
it,an its actions are governe ,or can be governe ,by intellect acting in the
brain by
means of the
impulses,influences,an auras ra iating from there.In its highest aspects the
Will is a
living and self-conscious
power having its centre in Wisdom .
The will,to
become powerful,must be free of esire.If we esire and object,we o not attract
that object,
but the object
attracts us.Eliphas Levi says:"The Will accomplishes everything which it
oes not esire ;
and the truth of
this para ox is seen in every-ay life.Those who crave for fame or riches are
never
contente ;the
rich miser is poorer thand the beggar in the street;happiness is a sha ow that
flies before
him who seeks it
in material pleasures.The surest way to become rich is by being contente with
what
we have;the
safest way to obtain power is to sacrifice ourselves for others;an if we esire
love,we
must istribute
the love we possess to others,and then the love of others will escen upon us
like the
rain escen s
upon the earth.
The evelopment
of the will is a process of growth,and the only true way to evelop the Will is
by being
obedient to the
universal Law.If we wish to use nature,we must act according to natural law;if
we wish
to use spiritual
powers,we must act in obe ience to the spiritual law.Then will we become
masters of
Nature and Go
,an our Will,will become a serviceable instrument for the fulfillment of
law;but as long
as the Will is
governe by personal esire,it is not we [Page 243 ] who control our will,but it
is our esire.
As long as we o
the will of the lower animal we cannot be go s;only when we perform the will of
the
Divinity,we will
become free of the bon age of the animal elements,an our true Self will be the
Master.
Man in his youth
longs for the material pleasures of earth,for the gratification of his physical
bo y.As he
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a vances,he
throws away the playthings of his chil hoo and reaches out for something
higher.He
enters into
intellectual pursuits,an after years of labor he may fin that he has been
wasting his time by
running after a
sha ow.Perhaps love steps in and he thinks himself the most fortunate of
mortals,only to
fin out,sooner
or later,that ideals can only be foun in the ideal world .He becomes convince
of the
emptiness of the
sha ows he has been pursuing,an ,like the winge butterfly emerging from the
chrysalis,he
stretches out his feelers into the realm of infinite spirit,an is astonishe to
fin a ra iant
sun where he
only expecte to findarkness and eath.Some arrive at this light sooner;others
arrive
later,an many
are lure away by some illusive light and perish,an like insects that mistake
the flame
of a can le for
the light of the sun,scorch their wings in its fire.
Life is a
continual battle between error and truth;between man's spiritual aspirations
and the eman s of
his animal
instincts.There are two gigantic obstacles in the way of progress:his
misconception of the
nature of Go and
of Man.As long as man believes in and extra-cosmic personal Go istributing
favours
to some and punishing
others at pleasure,a Go that can be reasone with,persua e ,an pacifie by
ignorant man,he
will keep himself within the narrow confines of his ignorance,an his min cannot
expan .To think
of some place of personal enjoyment or heaven,oes not assist man's
progression.If
such a person
esists from oing a wicke act,or enies himself a material pleasure,he oes not o
so
from any innate
love of goo ;but either because he expects a reward from Go for his
"sacrifice ,or
because his fear
of Go makes him a coward.We must o goo ,not on account of any [Page 244 ]
personal consi
eration,but because to o goo is our uty.To be goo is to be wise;the fool
expects
rewards;the wise
expects nothing.The wise knows that by benefiting the world he benefits
himself,an
that by injuring
others he becomes his own executioner.
What are the
powers of Man,by which he may benefit the world ?Man has no powers belonging to
himself.Even the
substance of which his organisation is ma e up,oes not belong but is only lent
to him
by Nature,an he
must return it.He cannot make any use of it,except through that universal
power,
which is active
within his organisation,which is calle the Will ,an which itself is a function
of an
universal
principle,the Spirit .
Man as a
personal and limite being is merely a manifestation of this universal principle
in and in ivi ual
form,an all the
spiritual powers he seems to possess belong to the Spirit.Like all other forms
in nature
he receives
life,light,an energy from the universal fountain of Life,an enjoys their
possession for a
short span of
time;he has no powers whatever which he may properly call his own.
Thus the
sunshine and rain,the air and earth,oes not belong to a plant.They are
universal elements
belonging to
nature.They come and help to buil up the plant,they assist in the growth of the
rosebush
as well as the
thistle;their business is to evelop the see ,an when their work is one,the
organism in
which they were
active returns again to its mother,the Earth.There is then nothing which
properly
belongs to the
plant;but the see continues to exist without the parental organism after having
attaine
maturity,an in
it is containe the character of the species to which it belongs.
Life,sensation,an
consciousness are not the property of personal man;neither oes he pro uce them.
They are
functions of the Spirit and belong originally to Go .The One Life furnishes the
principles which
go to buil up
the organism calle Man ,the forms of the goo as well as those of the wicke
.They help
to evelop the
germ of Intelligence in man,an when their work is [Page 245 ] one they return
again to the
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universal
fountain.The germ of Divinity is all there is of the real man,an all that is
able to continue to
exist as and in
ivi ual,an it is not a man,but a Spirit,one and i entical in its essence with
the Universal
Go ,an one of
his chil ren.How many persons exist in whom this ivine germ reaches maturity
uring
their earthly
life ?How many ie before it begins to sprout ?How many o not even know that such
a
germ exists?
To this
Universal Principle belong the functions which we call Will and Life and Light;its
foun ation is
Love.To it
belong all the fun amental powers which pro uce the universe and man,an only
when man
has become one
and i entical with Go or to speak more correctly,when he has come to realise
his
oneness with Go
,can he claim to have powers of his own.
But the Will of
this Universal Power is i entical with universal Law,an man who acts against
the Law
acts against the
Will of Go ,an as Go is man's only real eternal Self,he who acts against that
Law
estroys himself.
The first and most
important object of man's existence is,therefore,that he shoul learn the law of
Go
an of Nature,so
that he may obey it and thereby become one with the law and live in Go .A man
who
knows the Law
knows himself,an a man who knows his ivine Self knows Go .
The only power
which man may rightfully claim his own is his Self-knowledge ;it belongs to him
because
he has require
it by the employment of the powers lent to him by Go .Not the "knowle ge
of the
illusions of
life,for such knowle ge is illusive,an will en with those illusions;not mere
intellectual
learning,for
that treasure will be exhauste in time;but the spiritual self-knowle ge of the
heart,which
means the power
to grasp the truth which exists in ourselves.
What has been
sai about the Will is equally applicable to the Imagination.If man lets his own
thoughts
rest,an rises up
to the sphere of the highest ideal,his min becomes a mirror wherein the
thoughts of
Go will be
reflecte ,an in which he may see the past,the [Page 246 ] present,an future;but
if he
begins to
speculate within the realm of illusions,he will see the truth istorte and behol
his own
hallucinations.
The knowle ge of
Go and the knowle ge of man are ultimately i entical,an he who knows himself
knows Go .If we
un erstand the nature of the ivine attributes within us,we will know the Law.It
will
then not be
ifficult to unite our Will with the supreme Will or the cosmos;an we shall be
no longer
subject to the
influences of the astral plane,but be their masters.Then will the Titans be
conquere by
the go s;the
serpent in us will have its hea crushe by Divine Wisdom;the evils within our
own hells
will be conquere
,an instea of being rule by illusions,we shall be rule by Wisdom.
It is sometimes
sai that it oes not make any ifference what a man believes so long as he acts
rightly;
but a person
cannot be certain to act rightly,unless he knows what is right.The belief of
the majority is
not always the
correct belief,and the voice of reason is often rowne in the clamour of a
superstition
base upon
erroneous theological octrine.An erroneous belief is etrimental to progress in
proportion
as it is
universal;such belief rests on illusion,knowle ge is base on truth.The greatest
of all religious
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teachers
therefore recommen e Right Belief as being the first step on the Noble
Eightfold Path.
The eight stages
on the noble eightfold Path to fin the truth are,according to the octrine of
Gautama
Bu ha,the
following -
1.Right Belief.
2.Right Thought.
3.Right Speech.
4.Right
Doctrine.
5.Right Means of
Livelihoo .
6.Right En
eavour.
7.Right Memory.
8.Right Me
itation.
The man who
keeps these a gas in min and follows them will be free from sorrow,an may
become safe from
future rebirths with their consequent miseries.
Perhaps it will
be useful to keep in min the following rules [Page 247 ]
I.Do not believe
that there is anything higher in the universe than your own ivine self,an know
that
you are exactly
what you permit yourself to become.The true religion is the recognition of
ivine truth;
i ols are
playthings for chil ren.
2.Learn that man
is essentially a component and integral part of universal humanity,an that what
is
one by one in
ivi ual acts and reacts on all.
3.Realise that
man's nature is and embo iment of ideas ,an his physical bo y and instrument
which
enables him to
come into contact with matter;an that this instrument shoul not be use for
unworthy
purposes.It
shoul neither be worshippe nor neglecte .
4.Let nothing
that affects your physical bo y,its comfort,or the circumstances in which you
are place ,
isturb the
equilibrium of your min .Crave for nothing on the material plane,live about it
without losing
control over
it.Matter forms the steps upon which we may ascen to the king om of heaven.
5.Never expect
anything from anybo y,but be always rea y to assist others to the extent of
your ability,
an according to the
requirements of justice.Never fear anything but to offen the moral law and you
will
not suffer.Never
hope for any reward and you will not be isappointe .Never ask for
love,sympathy,or
gratitu e from
anybo y,but be always rea y to bestow them on others.Such things come only when
they are not
esire .
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6.Learn to
istinguish and to iscriminate between the true and the false,an act up to your
highest
ideal.Grieve not
if you fall,but rise and procee on your way.
7.Learn to
appreciate everything (yourself inclu e )at its true value in all the various
planes.A person
who attempts to
look own upon one who is his superior is a fool,an a person who looks up to one
who
is inferior is
mentally blin .It is not sufficient to believe in the value of a thing,its
value must be realise ,
otherwise it
resembles a treasure hi en in the vaults of a miser.[Page 248 ]
Louis Clau e e
Saint Martin (the Unknown Philosopher)says:
"This is
what shoul pass in a man who is restore to his ivine proportions through the
process of
regeneration
"Not a
esire,but in obe ience to the law.
"Not and i
ea,which is not a sacre communication with Go .
"Not a
word,which is not a sovereign ecree.
"Not and act,which
is not a evelopment and extension of the vivifying rule of the Word.
"Instea of
this,our esires are false,because they come from ourselves.
"Our
thoughts are vague and corrupt,because they form a ulterous alliances.
"Our words
are without efficacy,because we allow them to be blunte every ay by the
heterogeneous
substances to
which we continually apply them.
"Our acts
are insignificant and barren,because they can but be the results of our words
.
The best of all
instructions for becoming spiritual and ultimately ivine are to be foun in the
Bhagava
Gita.They also
teach that man nee s not to exert his self-will for the purpose of saving
himself;for
Krishna
says:"Devote thy heart to Me,worship Me,sacrifice yourself to Me,bow own
before Me,so
shalt thou
surely come to me ;[Bhagava Gita,xviii.65 ]and the prayer of the Christians
says:"Let thy
will be one on
earth (in our mortal nature)as it is one in heaven (in our spiritual nature).
Such and similar
instructions are nothing new;they have been pronounce in various forms by the
philosophers of
all ages,an have been collecte in books,an men have rea them without getting
any
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better for
it,because they coul not realise the necessity for following such a vice.These
octrines have
been taught by
the ancient Rishis and Munis,by Bu ha and Christ,Confucius,Zoroaster an
Mahome
,Plato,Luther and Shakespeare,an every reformer.They have been preache in
sermons,
an written in
poems and prose,in works of philosophy,literature,fiction,an art.[Page 249 ]
They have
been heard by
all,un erstoo by some,an practise by a few.To learn them is easy,to realise
them is
ifficult,to a
opt them in practical life is ivine.The highest spiritual truths cannot be
intellectually
graspe ,the
reasoning powers of half-animal man cannot conceive of their
importance;terrestrial man
can only look up
to those ideals which are perceptible to his spiritual vision in moments of
aspiration,an
only gra ually
can he grow up into that plane when,becoming less animal and more spiritual,he
will be
able to realise
the fact that this growth is not necessary to please a go whose favour must be
obtaine ,
or to insure a
happy animal life;but that he himself becomes a go by that growth,an learns to
experience his
own immortal existence.The highest energies are latent in the lower ones;they
are the
attributes of
the spiritual soul,which in the majority of men is still in a state of
infancy,but which in future
generations will
be more universally evelope ,when humanity as a whole,having progresse higher,
will look back
upon our present era as the age of ignorance and misery,while they themselves
will enjoy
the fruits of
the higher evolution of Man.[Page 250 ]
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CHAPTER XI
LIGHT
Let there be
Light .Bible
FORM,personality,an
sensuality are the eath of spirit:the issolution of form,loss of personality an
unconsciousness
of sensuous perceptions,ren er spirit free and restore it to life.The
elementary forces
of nature,boun
to forms,become the prisoners of the forms.Being entombe in matter they lose
their
liberty of
action and move only in obe ience to external impulses;the more they cling to
form,the more
ense,compact,heavy,an
ull will they become,and the less will they be self-acting and free.Sunlight
an heat are
comparatively free;their elements travel from planet to planet,until they are absorbe
by
earthly
forms.Crystallise into matter they sleep in trees and forests and fiel s of
coal,until they are
liberate by the
slow ecomposition of form,or forcibly restore to free om by the go of fire.The
waves
of ocean and lake
play joyfully with the shore.Full of mirth they throw their spray upon the lazy
rocks.
The laughing
waters of the wan ering brook gli e restlessly through forest and fiel ,ancing
and whirling
an playing with
the flowers that grow by the si e of their roa .They rush without fear over
precipices,
falling in casca
es over the mountain si es,uniting,ivi ing,an uniting again,mingling with
rivers an
resting at last
for a while in the sea.But when winter arrives and King Frost puts his icy han
upon their
faces,they
crystallise into in ivi ual forms,they are then robbe of their free om,an like
[Page 251 ] the
amsels and knights
of the enchante castle,they are oome to sleep until the warm breath of youthful
Spring breaks
the spell of the sorcerer,an kisses them back into life.
The fun amental
laws of nature are the same in all her epartments,an man forms no exception to
the
general rule.He
is a centre aroun which some of the intelligent as well as some of the
unintelligent
forces have
crystallise into a form.Boun by the laws of the Karma which that centre create
,they are
oome to well in
a form,an to partake of the acci ents to which forms are expose ;imprisone in a
personality,they
partake of the sufferings which the ten encies of that personality have calle
into
existence.They
may be expose to esires whose thirst increases in proportion as they are
furnishe
with rink,to
passions whose fire burns hotter in proportion as their eman for fuel is grante
,they are
tempte to run
after sha ows that ever fly,to grasp at hopes that ever beckon and vanish as
soon as
they are
approache ,to sorrows that enter the house although the oors may be close
against them,to
fears whose
forms have no substance,to illusions that isappear only with the life of the
form.Like
Prometheus boun
to a rock,the impersonal spirit is chaine to a personality,until the
consciousness of
his herculean
power awakes in him,an bursting his chains he becomes again free.
Not all the
elements that go to make up a complete man are enclose in his material form.The
far
greater part of
them is beyon the limits of his physical bo y;the latter is merely a centre in
which those
invisible
elements meet.The bo y of man oes not enclose the sphere of his spirit;his soul
is far greater
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thand the
circumference of his form.[For this reason persons manifesting great genius
have been calle
great souls or
Mahatmas ,from maha great and atma the soul.]The elements that exist
beyon the
limits of his
visible organism stan in intimate relation with those that are within,although
the elements
within the form
may not seem to be conscious of the existence of those beyon .Still they act
and react
upon each
other.[Page 252 ]
The min of man
is far more important than his physical form.Thought can create a form,but no
form
can pro uce a
thought;an yet the substance of thought is invisible as long as it has not
clothe itself in
a form.Air
exists within and beyon the physical bo y;it is invisible and yet it is and important
element of
the bo y,a man
who coul not breathe woul be very incomplete.The ocean of min in which man
exists
is as necessary
to his soul-life as the air is to his bo y,he cannot breathe if eprive of
air;he cannot
think if eprive
of min .The outer acts upon the inner,the inner upon the outer,the above upon
the
below,the great
upon the little,and the little upon the great.A man who coul live independent
of his
surroun ings
woul be self-existent,he woul be a go .
The spirit is
not confine by the form,it only over-sha ows the form;the form oes not contain
the spirit,
it is only its
outward expression;it is the instrument upon which the spirit plays,an which
reacts upon its
touch,while the
spirit respon s to its vibrations.An ancient proverb says:Everything that
exists upon the
Earth has its
ethereal counterpart above the Earth,and there is nothing,however insignificant
it may
appear in the world
,which is not depending on something higher;so that,if the lower part acts,its
prece ing higher
part reacts upon it .[Sohar Wajecae ]
The greatest
philosophers in ancient times taught that the ??΅? that alone recognise
noumena,always
remaine outsi e
the physical bo y of man;that it oversha owe his hea ,an that only the ignorant
believe it
existe within themselves.Mo ern philosophers have arrive at similar
conclusions.Fichte
writes:The real
spirit which comes to itself in human consciousness is to be regarde as and impersonal
pneuma
universal reason and the goo of man's whole evelopment therefore can be no
other than
to substitute
the universal for the in ivi ual consciousness .
The Bhagavad
Gita says:The Supreme Brahma is within and without all beings;motionless and yet
[Page 253 ]
moving.Not istribute in beings,yet constantly istribute in them.He is the light
of all
luminous things
and in everything its perfection ,[Bhagava Gita,xiii ] and the same
truth,speaking
through the
mouth of Jesus of Nazareth,says:I am the Light of the world .He that followeth
me shall not
walk indarkness
but shall have the light of life .[St John,viii.12 ]
The greatest of
all teachers,Gautama Bu ha,says:The permanent never mingles with the
impermanent,although
the two are one.Only when all outward appearances are gone,is that one
principle of
life left,which exists independently of all external phenomena.It is the fire
that burns within
the external
light when the fuel is expen e and the flame is extinguishe ,for that fire is
neither in the
flame nor in the
fuel,nor yet insi e either of the two,but above,beneath,an everywhere .
This
principle,in which rests the self-recognition of eternal truth is the real Ego
of every human being,
an he who succee
s in attaining self-knowle ge of it has foun the Christ.It is the true and living
Christ
of the real
Christians,not the ea Jesus but the living Saviour,the Divinity,who,being
born in our
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Humanity,remains
with his followers unto the en of the world .Everyone who unites his own soul
with
that Christ no
matter what his cree or confession may be will become as true and veritable a
Christ
as ever live
upon the Earth.It is the ????? of the ancients,the A am Ka om of the
Hebrews,the Osiris
of the
Egyptians,the Iswar of the Hin us,the way,the light,and the truth,the ivine
Self of every man
and the Re eemer
for all.[Though Christ a thousan times in Bethlehem is born;If he's not born in
thee,
thy soul is all
forlorn .Angelus Silesius (born 1624)]
Hermes
Trismegist s says of that being calle Man :Its father is the Sun (Divine
Wis om),his mother
the stars (the
Astral light)an his bo y the generations of men
The whole of a
man is not enclose within the small [Page 254 ] circle that circumscribes his
terrestrial life.
He who has foun
the Father within himself knows the true insignificance of his own personal
self.The
life of the
personality is ma e up of a comparatively small number of years passe among the
illusions of
the terrestrial
plane;the experience of the inner man is ma e up of the essence of a great many
of such
lives;he has
retaine of them only that which is useful and gran ,while the worthless
materials have
been rejecte
,but the life of the Divine man is eternal,universal,self-existent,an
infinite.He who has
once realise the
presence of his Go laughs at the i ea of having ever imagine himself to be
something more
than a bun le of semi-conscious elements from which the inner Self raws
nutriment,if
it fin s
anything therein compatible with its own nature.What is all the power and glory
of earthly kings
compare with the
ivine Man,the King in the realm of the soul?what is all the science of this
earth but
nonsense,if
compare with the self-knowle ge of the regenerate ?Well may he who has welcome
the
Lord in his soul
be willing to renounce money,power and fame,terrestrial loves and all the
illusions of
life,if it can
be calle renunciation to refuse to touch things upon which one looks with in
ifference.
How can he,who
has never seen the image of the true Saviour,in his heart love him,an how can
he
who has once
behel his own real ideal Self cease to love and a ore it with his whole min and
with all
the faculties of
the soul?But such things will not be un erstoo by those who cannot yet rise
above
limitation;let those
who know them rejoice and worship in silence.
He who has
succee e in merging the higher elements of his soul with that ivine Self will
know its
power in his own
heart.This principle baptises his soul with fire,an he who receives this
baptism of fire
is or aine a
priest and a King.He who is full of its influence is the true vicegerent of Go
,because the
supreme power of
the universe acts through his instrumentality.The recognition of this principle
fills his
heart with a
peace which passeth un erstan ing .it attracts the [Page 255 ] affections of
men to him,an
she s blessings
upon everyone who approaches his presence.It forgives the sins of men,by
transforming
them into other beings who have not sinne and nee therefore not to be pardone
;it oes
not require to
hear confession to give a vice,because it un erstan s the innermost thoughts of
every
being,an its a
monishing voice is heard in the heart that has learne to un erstand the
language of
conscience.The
evelopment of the power to perceive its power confirms men's faith,by enabling
them
to recognise
that to be true which they heretofore only believe to be true,an being taught
by the truth
itself,they can
make no mistake.It communicates with man by being absorbe by man,an by
absorbing the
soul of man into itself;it brings the ying to life,because,being immortal,he
who is
consciously
unite with it enjoys its own immortality;the marriages it celebrates can never
be issolve ,
because in its
power all humanity is boun together to one in issoluble whole;to separate from
it woul
be eath to the
part that separates itself from the whole.The world in which this principle
exists is the
sphere of
eternal life;it is the only true and infallible church an its power cannot be
taken away.This
church is truly
universal,nothing can live without its juris iction,because nothing can
continue to exist
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without the
authority of life.Still it has no particular name,requires no other fee for
initiation but self-
sacrifice,no
ceremonies or rites except the crucifixion an eath of the irrational
man.Heathens an
Infi els may
enter it without changing their faith;opinions cease to exist where the truth
is reveale .
But this true
Christ is not the Christ of popular Christianism.He has long ago been riven
away from the
mo ern Christian
temples,an and i ol has occupie his place.The money-changers and tra esmen
have again taken
possession of the temple of the soul,sacrificing the life-bloo of the poor at
the altars of
woo en go
s,closing their eyes to the truth and worshipping tinsel,squan ering the wealth
of nations for
the
glorification of the illusion of self.The true Son of Man [Page 256 ] is
still scoffe at by his nominal
followers,tra
uce by his preten e frien s,tormente by the lusts of the flesh,crucifie by men
who o
not recognise in
him the only source of their life,kille by men in their own hearts,ignorantly
an
foolishly,because
they o not know what they are oing,an that their own life-substance eparts at
the
time when he
eparts from their life.
Mo ern hypocrisy
a ores the religion of selfishness and rejects the gospel of love.Humanity
ebases
her own ignity
by crouching at the feet of i ols,where she shoul stan up in her own ignity and
purity
as the queen of
the whole creation.The soul of humanity is still reaming and has not yet
awakene to
life.She seeks
for a go whom she oes not know,an cannot realise the fact that in herself is
that go ,
an that there
can be no other go besi es him.Men and women clamour for the coming of a go ,an
yet this go is
there and everywhere,an ever rea y to manifest his presence as soon as he is a
mitte
into the heart.
This unknown go
is attainable to all and may be recognise by everyone.It is a principle ever
rea y to
be born as a
power in every heart where the con itions for its birth are prepare .It always
begins to
come to life in
a manger between the elemental and animal forces in man.It can only be born
in a lowly
place,because pri
e and superstition are its enemies,an in a heart fille with vanity it woul soon
perish.The news
of its birth sen s a thrill of pleasure through the physical bo y,and the
morning stars in
the soul sing
together for joy,heral ing the awn of the ay for the resurrection of the
celestial spirit.The
three magicians
from the East,Spirit ,So l,an Matter ,representing Love,Wisdom,and Power
,appear
at the manger
and offer their gifts to the new-born babe.If the king of pri e and ambition
oes not
succee in riving
it out of the country,it begins to grow,an as it grows its ivinity becomes
manifest.It
argues with the
intellectual powers in the temple of the min and silences their sophistry by
its superior
knowle ge.It
penetrates into mysteries,which intellectuality,born of sensual [Page 257 ]
perceptions,
cannot.explain.Grey-hea
e material science,superstition hoary with age,ol logic base upon
misconceptions
of fun amental truths,give way,an are force to acknowle ge the wisdom of the
half-
grown go .
Living in the
wil erness of material esires,it is vainly tempte by the evil of selfishness.It
cannot be
misle by
personal consi erations,because being superior to them,it has no personal
claims.The devil
can give to it
nothing that it oes not alrea y possess,because being the highest it rules over
all that is
low.
This principle
is the first emanation of The Absolute.It becomes the only-begotten son of
its father,an
is as ol as the
father,because the Absolute coul only become a father at the time when the
son was
born.[Bible:St
John i.1;Hebrews i.3 ]It is the living Word ,an every man is that Word ,in whom
this
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son of go
becomes manifest.It is the ivine self of every man,his own ivine ethereal
counterpart
without any
infirmities,because the latter only belong to the terrestrial form.It is not a
personality,but it
may become in
ivi ualise in man and yet remain in its essence impersonal,a living
being,ubiquitous,
incorruptible,an
immortal.This is the great mystery before which the intellect,reasoning from
particulars to
universals,stan s hopelessly still,but which the soul,whose inner spiritual
perceptions are
alive,behol s
with astonishment and won er.Only that which is infinite and immortal in man
can
comprehen
infinitu e and immortality.
As long as the
wavering intellect oubts the existence of Go ,it cannot become conscious of His
existence,because
only the stea y light of unclou e reason can penetrate into the epths where
ivine
wisdom
wells.Mere belief is a confession of ignorance;true faith is base upon
experience.We
cannot be
convince of the existence of something we o not know,an of which we are
unconscious,
except by
becoming conscious of its existence.Consciousness,knowle ge,an realisation of
the
existence of
something can only begin at the moment when that something begins to become
conscious
within [Page 258
] ourselves.We may search for the go within us,but we cannot artificially bring
him to
life.We can
prepare the con itions un er which he may manifest his consciousness within
ourselves,by
ivesting the min
from all pre ilections and preju ices;the ivine principle awakes within us by
the
power of its own
grace.Such a grace is not a favour conferre by a partial,whimsical,an personal
go ,
it is the effect
of a free will which has the power to grant its own prayers.As well may and acorn
enclose
in a stone pray
to be evelope into and oak as a man whose heart is fille with esires for the
low ask to
become conscious
of the high.To put implicit belief in the statement of bonze or priest is
weakness,to
keep the soul
pure,so that it can be taught by wisdom itself,is strength,to arrive at
conviction through
the knowle ge of
the soul confers the only true faith.
Tennyson speaks
of the beginning of true faith when he says -
We have but
faith,we cannot know,
A beam indarkness,let
it grow .
When the beam
has grown,it constitutes spirit al knowledge ,which is i entical with the
living power of
faith .
When the ivine
being becomes conscious in the personal man,the bo y begins to feel new
sensations,
the pulse begins
to throb with more vigour,the animal forces stirre up in their hells by the
arrival of the
new light,become
more active,pains will be experience in various parts of his bo y,and the can i
ate
for immortality
will physically experience a process resembling the martyr om of the crucifie
Christ.[The
pains referre to
are the result of the penetrating power of the spirit,infusing a new life into
the physical
form.] The
penetration of the mortal by the new life will necessarily cause suffering
until the lower
elements are
entirely subjecte and that which is impure eliminate .
There is no
salvation except through suffering;pains accompany man's entrance into the world
,pains
accompany his
regeneration.The low must ie so that the high may live.Only he who has taste
the
bitterness [Page
259 ] of evil can fully realise the sweetness of goo ,only he who has suffere
the heat of
the ay can fully
appreciate the cool of the evening breeze.He who has live indarkness will know
the
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true value of
light when he enters its realm.
What is true in
regard to in ivi ual man is equally true in regard to humanity as a whole,but
that which
may be
accomplishe in a few suitable in ivi ual organisms in a comparatively short
time,will require
ages to take
place in the bo y of humanity as a whole.
Though other
things grow fair against the sun,
Yet fruits that
blossom first will first be ripe .
Othello,ii.3.
Infinite love ra
iating from the centre of the All,eternally escen s into the hearts of mankin
.Divine
wisdom has no
separate will of its own,but is oing the will of the Father.Christ takes upon
His
shoul ers the
sins of the world ,for he who has entere into the realisation of ivine
truth,has steppe
out of the realm
of ignorance and illusions and become free,is without sin,He can gain no
personal
benefit by His
escent into matter;being perfection itself,He nee s no further
perfection.[Bhagava Gita,
iii.22 ]As men
and women become conscious of His ivine presence,they become aware not merely
of
their own in ivi
ual evils,but of the sufferings of humanity as a whole;they begin to suffer
with and for
each other,they
recognise in the ivinity in humanity the universal link that bin s them all
together into
one harmonious
whole.
Realising their
high nature as sons of the eternal Go ,they ie to all that is low,and the more
they ie to
it the more will
they become alive in the only true,real,an immortal life.The motto of the
ancient
Rosicrucian
fraternity was:In Deo nascim r,in Jesu morim r,reviviscim s in Spirit Sancto
;that is to
say,they
recognise that their souls were born from the universal fountain of all;they ie
to their lower
natures by
entering into the spiritual bo y of Christ,an gaine eternal life by being
penetrate ,
illuminate
,nourishe and glorifie by the light of ivine truth.[Page 260 ]
The temple where
they worshippe was that of the Holy Ghost ,the spirit of ivine wisdom,perva
ing
the soul of the world
.This they represente by the symbols of Mercury and the earth joine in one.
These ideas are not new,they have not come into existence
with the a vent of mo ern Christianity;they
are eternal
truths,as ol as the world ,and they have been represente in various fables and allegories
among the
nations of this globe.In the Ol Testament we fin the octrine of salvation
represente in
the story of
Noah's ark.Noah represents the spiritual man,and the ark the plane of ivine
self-
consciousness.Only
those elements of the psychic organism of man which enter this spiritual realm
can
be save ,while
those who remain in a lower state are oome to estruction.Upon the waters of
thought
floats the ship
containing many compartments;the window of knowle ge is open to enable the
inner man
to look out upon
the watery waste.The intellectual raven is sent out to iscover ry lan ,but it
can fin
no place to
rest,an returns to the ark;the dove of spiritual knowle ge alone can fin soli
groun in the
realm of the
spirit;it returns carrying the emblem of peace,the oubts rece e,and the ark is
turne into a
temple resting
upon the top of the mountain of self knowle ge.
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Blesse is he
whose ark uring his terrestrial life is gui e upon this Ar-ar-at of true
Faith;it will enable
him patiently
and with in ifference to bear the ills of terrestrial life until the soul is
release from its bon s,
an returns to
its home in the eternal king om,having become separate from all the attractions
of earth.
How gran and sublime
are the mysteries of true religion!How superior is knowle ge of the soul to
speculative
science!How infinitely great the living spirit of Truth!
Those who cling
to external forms,cling to illusion.To convert and ignorant person by
substituting one
form of illusion
for another is useless,and the money and labour expen e for such conversions
is
waste .Ignorance
exchange for ignorance remains ignorance still;a change of opinion cannot
establish
[Page 261 ]
self-knowle ge and an imaginary knowle ge oes not make a man wise.
If a man has
religion,it matters little by what name he may call it,or un er what form he
may attempt to
express that
which cannot be expresse in a form.The Bu hist,who looks upon the image of Bu
ha
as a figurative
representation of a living principle,an who,in memory of a once living person
in whom
that principle
foun its fullest expression,an whose example he wishes to follow,offers flowers
an
fruits at his
shrine,is as near the truth as the Christian who sees in the picture of Jesus
of Nazareth the
representation
of his highest ideal,for it is not the person ,however much he may be venerate
,that
ought to be
worshippe but Divine Wisdom itself,without whose light Gautama coul not have
become a
Bu ha,nor Jesus
a Christ.
There has been a
great eal of time and labour spent to prove or isprove that the foun er of
Christianity
was a person
living in Palestine at the beginning of the Christian era.To know whether or
not such a
person by the
name of Jesus ,or perhaps Jehosh a ,ever existe ,an whether he existe at the
time
in icate by
theologians,may be a matter of great historical interest,but it cannot be of
supreme
importance for
our salvation;because the personality of even a Go incarnate is only a mask,and
the
knowle ge of
another man is not our own.
The Light of
Asia says:
Within thyself
salvation must be foun .
an Angel s
Silesi s (John Scheffler)expresses the same truth,when he says:
The cross of
Golgotha can never save thy soul,
The cross in
thine own heart alone can make thee whole .
The octrines of
the Jesus of the Gospel grow in sublimity in proportion as their secret meaning
is
un erstoo ;the
tales of the Bible in regard to His ee s and the miracles which He performe ,an
which to the
superficial observer appear incre ible and absurd,represent eternal truths an
psychological
processes which are not merely things of the past,but which occur even [Page
262 ] now
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within the realm
of the soul of man,an in proportion as man comes nearer to the true living
Christ,veil
after veil rops
from his eyes.
The theory of
the re emption of man oes not ate from the time when the historical Christ is
suppose
to have been
born.The history of Christ fin s its prototype in the history of Krishna.The
Greeks taught
the re emption
of the soul un er the allegory of Amor and Psyche .Psyche (the human
soul)enjoys the
embraces of her
ivine lover every night (in each incarnation).She feels his ivine presence and hears
the voice of
intuition in her heart,but she is not permitte to see the source from which
that voice
procee s.At a
time when the go is sleeping her curiosity awakes and she wishes to see him
objectively.
She lights the
lamp of the intellect and procee s to examine critically the source of her
happiness;but at
that moment the
go isappears.Despairingly she wan ers through the lower regions of her
intellect an
through the
sphere of sensual perceptions.She cannot fin her go by the power of reasoning
from the
material
plane.Rea y to ie (giving up her self-will),she is save by the power of
love.Losing her self
in love,she
becomes unite with him,knowing his attributes,which are now her own.
Mo ern
Christianity has not estroye the Olympian go s,it only estroye the forms in
which they were
represente .They
were allegorical representations of truths,an truths cannot be kille .The laws
of
nature are the
same to ay as they were at the time of Tiberius;Christianism has only change
the
symbols and calle
ol things by new names.Dea heathen i ols have been resurrecte in the form of
Roman Catholic
saints.
Mo ern writers
have represente the same ol truths in other forms,in prose and in verse.Goethe
represents it
beautifully in his Faust.Dr Faust,the man of great intellect and celebrate
for his learning,
in spite of all
his scientific accomplishments,is unable to fin the truth.
The unknown is
the useful thing to know;
That which we
know is useless for our purpose .[Page 263 ]
Despairing at
the impotency and insufficiency of speculative research,he enters into a pact
with the
principle of
evil.By its assistance he attains wealth,love,an power,he enjoys all that the
senses are
capable to
enjoy,still feeling intuitively that selfish enjoyment cannot confer true
happiness.Neither the
splen our of the
imperial court,nor the beauty of Helen of Troy,who returns from the lan of sha
ows at
his request,nor
the orgies of the Blocksberg ,where all human passions are let loose without
restraint,
can satisfy his
craving.Lord of the Earth,he sees only a single hut which is not yet his own,an
he takes
even
that,regardless of the fate of its inhabitants.Still he is not satisfie
until,after having recovere a
part of lan from
the ocean by his labours,he contemplates the happiness which others may enjoy
by
reaping the
benefit of his work.This is the first unselfish thought that takes root in his
min .It fills him
with extreme
happiness,an in the contemplation of the happiness of others his sense of self
ies an
his impersonal
soul is save .The soul knows that it is,but it cannot intellectually and critically
examine
itself unless it
steps out of itself,an ,stepping out of itself,it ceases to be one.The eye
cannot see itself
without the ai
of a mirror;goo becomes only known to us after we have experience evil,to
become
wise we must
first become foolish and gain experience by eating of the forbi en fruit.A
spiritual power
not having been
embo ie in a form,woul not know the nature of free om.To learn the con itions
of
existence man
becomes embo ie in form and acquires knowle ge;having gaine that knowle ge,form
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is no longer
require .The selfish esire for existence imprisons the inner man into a mortal
form;he who
uring his life
on Earth conquers all selfish esire for existence becomes free.The ivine Bu
ha,resting
un er the Bo
hi-tree of wisdom,an having his min fixe on the chain of causation,sai
:Ignorance is
the source of
all evil.From ignorance spring the Sankharas (ten encies)of threefol nature-pro
uctions
of bo y,of
speech,an thought (uring the previous life);from the Sankharas [Page 264 ]
originates
(relative)consciousness,from
consciousness spring name and form,from this the six regions (the six
senses);from
this springs esire,from esire attachment,from attachment existence,birth,ol age,
eath,grief,lamentation,suffering,ejection,an
espair.By the estruction of ignorance the Sankharas
are estroye ,and
their consciousness,name,an form,the six regions,contact,sensation,esire,
attachment,existence,an
its consequent evils.From ignorance spring all evils,from self-knowle ge
comes cessation
of this mass of misery.The truly enlightene one stan s,ispelling the hosts of
illusions
like the sun
that illuminates the sky .The power which estroys selfishness and the sense of
personality
is the same which
cause the existence of man;it is the power of universal love,and the more the
love of
a person expan s
over all others the more will the consciousness of personality be iffuse .We
esteem
a person accor
ing to the egree in which he prefers common interests to the interests of his
own
personality.We a
mire generosity,an unselfishness,an benevolence,an yet such qualities are
absurd and useless,if
we believe that the highest object of man's existence is his own personal
happiness on the
physical plane;because the highest happiness in that plane consists in the
greatest
amount of
possessions pertaining to that plane.To give is to experience a personal
loss.But if man
strives for
spiritual power,to sacrifice personal possessions will be his gain,because the
less he is
attracte by
personal possessions the more will his soul become free.To give with the view
of expecting
some benefit in
return is useless for such a purpose,because a person having such and object in
view
simply gives up
one personal possession for another.He is a tra esman that clings to his goo
s,an is
only willing to
part with something goo provi e he can get something better in exchange .Accor
ing to
the
unselfishness and the spiritual power of a person his in ivi ual influence may
exten over a family,a
village,a town,a
country,or over the whole Earth.Everyone esires influence,an seeks to obtain
[Page
265 ] power by
obtaining wealth and position.But the influence gaine by such possessions is
not spiritual
power.A fool may
be a pope,a king,or a millionary,an people bow in obe ience before him on
account
of his position
and wealth.They may espise his person and a ore his possessions,which he
himself
a ores,an to
which his person is as subject as the lowest one of his slaves.Such a person is
not a
comman er;it is
his wealth that comman s him and the others.His wealth and not he is,in such a
case,
the object of
the world 's a miration.When his wealth is squan ere ,those who use to crouch
at his feet
spurn him away
from their table.The spiritual power of a person is independent of such
external
con itions,a
virtuous person is esteeme in proportion as his qualities become known,and the
spiritually
strong exerts a
powerful invisible influence over all his surroun ings.Man may be compare with
a planet
revolving aroun
its own centre and circling aroun and invisible sun.Above the orbit in which he
turns is
light,an below
is thedarkness.The light above and thedarkness below attract him;farther he
travels
from the
invisible sun,from which the light procee s,the more will he approach the sha
ow,an having
reache a certain
point at which either one or the other attraction ceases,he will either rise up
to the
source of light
or sink into thedarkness.A change fromdarkness to light,from evil to goo ,is
only
possible as long
as man,in his revolutions aroun the centre of his own self,has not transcen e
the
orbit where the
attractions of light and sha ows are equal.Having transcen e that orbit,no
return is
possible.Only he
who has attaine the knowle ge of self will be able to choose free,because he
will
know the nature
of that which he chooses;the blin have no free om of choice.The npardonable sin
is
to knowingly and
wilf lly reject spiritual truth when it becomes manifest in the heart.In a
certain sense all
sins are unpardonable
,because they all cause effects,which have to become exhauste before they
can cease;but if
a person knowingly and wilfully rejects the truth reveale to him by his own
inner self-
consciousness,it
proves that he [Page 266 ] loves evil better than goo ,an that his nature is
evil.He who
is ignorant is
not responsible for his acts.But he who knows the truth by its interior
self-revelation in his
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own
consciousness and rejects it,con emns himself.Truth alone will survive in the
en while evil will
perish in
evil.It is therefore angerous for men to seek for occult spiritual knowle ge
for the gratification
of scientific
curiosity,before they have become sufficiently wise to select only that which
is true.[Page 267 ]
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CHAPTER XII
THEOSOPHY
He to whom time
is like eternity,an eternity like time,is free .Jackob Boehme.
To picture the
eternal and intellectually incomprehensible in forms,an to escribe the
unimaginable in
words,is a task
whose ifficulty has been experience by all who ever attempte it.The formless
cannot
be escribe in
forms,it can only be represente by allegories which can only be un erstoo by
those
whose min s are
open to the spiritual illumination of truth.The misun erstan ing of allegorical
expressions in
the sacre books has le to religious wars,to the torturing,burning,an killing of
thousan s of
innocent victims,it has cause the living wives of ea Hin us to be burne with
the
corpses of their
husban s,it has cause ignorant men and women to throw themselves before the
wheels of the
car of the Juggernath ,it causes the en less quarrels between some 200
Christian sects,
an while the
truth unites all humanity into one harmonious whole,the misun erstan ing of it
pro uces
innumerable
iscords and iseases.Far,in the unfathomable abyss of space,far beyon the reach
of the
imagination of
man,unapproachable even by the highest and purest angel or thought,an
nevertheless
omnipresent in
his own essence and power,self-existent,eternal,resplen ent in his own glory is
the
Shining One
,whose Centre is rest,peace and happiness,whose heart is invisible Fire,whose
rays are
[Page 268 ]
Light and Life,perva ing the Universe to its utmost limits,penetrating every
form and causing it
to live and to
grow.Their harmonious vibrations are un ulating through space,nourishing all
animate an
inanimate beings
with the substance of Love.Meeting with the sleeping forms of thought in
space,the
pro ucts of a
previous ay of creation,the ivine rays of wisdom en ow them with life,causing
them to
become living
systems of world s,chaine together by the power of mutual recognition,manifesting
itself
as attraction
and gui ing them on in their restless revolutions.Penetrating into the hearts
of animals an
men,they create
sensation and relative consciousness,cause the form to feel,to perceive and to
know
its surroun
ings,call into life the emotions,instincts,and the power of
reasoning.Penetrating eep into
the hearts of
men,they kin le there the ivine fire in whose light man may see the image of
the Shining
One,an know it
to be his own immortal ideal,to be realise within himself.But it is beyon the
power of
man to escribe
in language that which cannot be escribe ,to combine words,so that the rea er
may
form and intellectual
conception of something,for which no intellectual conception exists,because it
is
beyon the
experience of the limite min .In the presence of the highest,the unthinkable ideal,
intellectual
labour ceases,an spiritual recognition begins.The secret things belong to the
Lord ;only
ivine wisdom
itself can know that which is ivine;it being the self-knowle ge of Go in
man;the self-
realisation of
truth.Intellectual labour is a function which man shares with certain
animals;but the
prerogative of
spiritual man is to realise within his own self-consciousness the presence of
Truth,to
become himself
one with the Go of the universe and join His self-knowle ge,an this
self-realisation of
truth is calle
Divine Wisdom or Theosophia.
In this eternal
universal source of all that exists is all magic power containe ,even to the
extent of
creating new world
s.The realisation of its existence is the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of
life or
Universal
Panacea ,which can be ha everywhere and at any time [Page 269 ]without expense
by
everyone.It is
attainable only by man,because the lower animals are not yet far enough a vance
to be
use as vehicles
for the manifestation of ivine wisdom;but he whom it has awakene to life shares
its
attributes and is
a living temple of Go .The man whom this principle has not awakene from its
sleep is
merely and intellectual
animal,an can possess no spiritual or magical powers.Some mo ern
philosophers
,who say that man has no magical powers,are right from their own point of
view;for the
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man known to
mo ern science has no spiritual life and therefore no spiritual power;the real
man only
begins to exist
when he awakens to the realisation of his ivine nature.True philosophers have
recognise this
fact.Schopenhauer says:In consequence of the action of grace',the entire
being of
man becomes remo
elle ,so that he esires no longer anything of that for which he was craving
heretofore,an
becomes so to say a new man .[Go is as much in a stick of woo as in a human
being;
but the
ifference is that a stick of woo knows nothing of Go ;while man may attain the
realisation of
his presence in
him . Eckhart.]
Everything in
nature has a threefol nature,an likewise the allegories of the sacre books of
the East as
well as those of
the West have a threefol meaning and exoteric,an esoteric,an a spiritual
signification.The
vulgar,the learne as well as the unlearne ,can see only the external si e,which
is
often so
absurd,that its very absurdity shoul serve as a warning to people en owe with
reason not to
accept such
fables in their literal meaning.Those who are willing to learn can be instructe
,but they that
believe that
they alrea y know,refuse to be taught.For this reason the man-appointe
guardians of the
truth,the learne
teachers of science and religion are often the last ones to recognise that
which is
true.How can we
enter the path ? Only in practical experience is life.Petrifie speculative
science,
moul y
speculative philosophy,an rie -up speculative theology stan in our way.Humanity
awakes
from its slumber
[Page 270 ] and asks for brea ,but receives only a stone.It turns to
science,but science
is silent,wraps
itself up in its vanity and turns away;it turns to philosophy,an ol philosophy
answers,
but its talk is
and incomprehensible jargon,an confuses matters still more.It turns to
theology,but
theology
threatens the obnoxious questioner with curses,an bi s him to be satisfie with
a blin faith.
But the
people,as a whole,are no longer satisfie with such answers;they are no longer
contente with
the assertion that
the truth is to be known to a few privilege classes,an that they themselves
must
remain
ignorant.Wisdom is not to be monopolise by any sectarian bo y or any Society.If
we wish to
enter the path
to infinite life,the first requirement is
TO KNOW
Knowle ge is the
perception and un erstan ing of truth.We can only know that which we perceive.
There are two
principal mo es of perception,namely,seeing and feeling.Each of these mo es,if
unaccompanie by
the other,is unreliable;only if we simultaneously see and feel a thing o we
experience that
it exists.Thousan s of years have passe away since mankin first saw the sun and
the
stars,an mo ern
telescopes have brought them nearer to us.Nevertheless our knowle ge of these
cosmic bo ies
and the con itions of life existing upon them,consists merely of speculations
an
opinions,which
may be overthrown at any time,when our means for observation are supplante by
better ones.We
give names to the substances iscovere by the spectroscope,but we will not know
the
true nature of the
stars as long as we are not able to partake of their consciousness and experience
the
qualities of
life and characters embo ie in their forms.For thousan s of years mankin has
intuitively felt
the presence of
the Unknown.Those who experience the presence of the universal Spirit,know that
it
exists.Generations
after generations have isappeare from earth after spen ing their lives in vain
efforts to know
[Page 271 ]objectively that Go whose power they felt in their hearts;but whom
they coul
not see with their
eyes.If we are able to see and to feel the external qualities of a thing,we may
un erstan what
these qualities are,but we will still be ignorant of its interior character.To
know its spirit
it will be
necessary to enter into its spirit,an this can only be one by the spirit of
man,not by his
external
senses.The spiritual principle in man,if once awakene to self-consciousness,has
attributes
an functions far
superior to those of the external man;it has the power to perceive,to see and to
feel
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the internal
qualities of things which are imperceptible to the external senses;it can i
entify itself with the
object of its
observation and partake of its consciousness,it becomes for the time being
unite with that
object and shares
its feelings,it partakes of its subjective sensations.Thus oes a lover partake
of the
joys and sorrows
of the object he loves,an feel as if he were one with it in spirit;for love is
the power by
which such a
ivine state is attaine ,it penetrates all things,an coming from the heart it
goes to the
heart.What is it
that prevents us to love and to know all things but our own islikes and misconceptions?
We o not see
things as they are but as we imagine them to be.He who esires to know all
things
shoul not look
upon them with his own eyes,but with the eyes of the truth;he shoul not think
the
thoughts
suggeste by external appearances,but he shoul let Divine Wisdom do his thinking
within his
mind.To obtain
true knowle ge we must be able to receive the light of the truth;we must free
our min s
from the learne
rubbish that has accumulate there through the perverte metho s of e ucation of
mo ern
civilization.The more false octrines we have learne the more ifficult will be
the labour to
make room for
the truth,an it may take years to unlearn that which we have ,learne at the
expense of
a great eal of
labour,money,an time.The Bible says that we must become like little chil ren
before
we can enter the
king om of [Page 272 ] truth .The principal thing to know is to know o r own
true Self ;if
we know
ourselves,we will know that we are to be the kings of the universe.The
essential Man is a Son
of God ,he is
something incomparably greater,far more sublime and far more powerful thand the
insignificant,changeable
and impermanent and unconscious being escribe as man in our scientific
works on
anthropology.Well may Man who knows his true nature be prou of his nobility and
power;well
may the man of
earth be ashame of his weakness.The real Man is a ivine being,whose power
exten s as far
as his thoughts can reach;the illusive man is a compoun of semi-animal
forces,subject
to their
caprices and whims,with a spark of ivine fire in him to enable him to control them,but
which
spark is only
too frequently left to smoul er and vanish.The former is immortal,the latter
exists a few
years among the
illusions of life:The real man realises his own immortality;the elu e
illusion,having
the appearance
of a human being,elu es itself with the hope of obtaining permission,by the
favour of
some personal go
,to carry its falsehoo s into a sphere in which only the truth
exists.[Revelations xxi.
27 ]
There are three
kin s of knowle ge,the useful,the useless,and the harmful.The useless knowle ge
is
the knowle ge
of,or rather the a herence to,illusions and falsehoo s;it is no real knowle
ge,although it
embraces a great
eal of what is consi ere of great importance in civilize countries that men
shoul
know.It is true
that mo ern science has on many occasions rawn away apart of the veil which hi
es the
won ers of Wis
om in Nature;but as our science has not reache the foun ation of truth;it is
mixe up
with
illusions.Our scientific systems are continually subject to change,an what is
consi ere to be final
truth by one
generation,is often rejecte as false by the next.Our scientific attainments
confer no real
knowle ge of fun
amental law of nature,because they are base upon ignorance,in regar to the
fountain of
All,an ,however logical the e uctions ma e from false [Page 273 ] premises may
be,
falsehoo s can
pro uce only falsehoo .What can be more erroneous thand the assertion of
rationalistic
speculators,that
the intellect is a pro uct of the material organization of the physical bo
y;that life is a
pro uct of the
mechanical action of a ea force;that effects can be pro uce without any a
equate
causes;that
something can come out of something having elements therein capable to pro uce
it;that
man's min exists
within the narrow limits of his skull;that man can know nothing except what he
perceives with
his external senses;that consciousness is the result of the chemical action of
unconscious
substances;that
man can will,think,imagine,love,an hate without having a soul;that wisdom,
knowle ge,spiritual
perception,prophecy,etc.,were results of pathological con itions of the bo y an
other en less
absurdities and scientific hallucinations.As long as the true nature of man is
not known,his
lower interests
are mistaken for his higher ones.Scientific attainments are often only use for
the
purpose of
obtaining the power to speculate on the ignorance of those that have no such
intellectual
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acquirements,an
by taking a vantage of their beliefs to obtain money and material comfort.Such
scientific
attainments may be goo for such purposes,but they retard the progress of man in
a spiritual
irection,because
they make men more selfish,an cause them to worship matter;they are therefore
useless for the
only true and permanent interest of man.
If science
wishes to fin the foun ation of truth,it must begin to realise the unity of the
universe an
know that the world
of appearances manifeste in nature is a revelation of truth originating in
ivine
wisdom.This
realisation cannot be attaine by arguments and inferences,it is only realise by
the power
of universal
love,which is the recognition of truth.
To bring thee
to thy Go ,love takes the shortest route;
The way which
science lea s is but a roun about .[Angelu Silesius ]
The harmful
knowle ge consists in scientific attainments [Page 274 ] without any correspon
ing perception
of the moral
aspect of truth.It is only partial knowle ge,because it recognises only a part
of the truth.A
high
intellectual evelopment without any correspon ing growth of spirituality is a
curse to mankin .
Knowle ge to be
goo must be illuminate by Wis om;knowle ge without wisdom is angerous to
possess.Misun
erstan ing and misapplication of truths are the sources of evil.
A little
knowle ge is a angerous thing .
Such and attainment
of knowle ge without wisdom may become etrimental.The invention of the
fulminates of
mercury,of gunpow er and nitro-glycerine,has cause much suffering to a large
part of
humanity.Not
that the substances applie ,or the forces which are liberate ,are intrinsically
evil,but their
misapplication
in the han s of those without wisdom lea s to evil results.If all men were
intelligent
enough to un
erstand the laws which govern the world ,an wise enough to employ their knowle
ge for
goo purposes
only,no evil results woul follow.One of the most harmful acquisitions is the
so-calle
religious
knowle ge ;that is to say the hol ing on to theological octrines which are
wrong or
misun erstoo
,because it is unaccompanie by any unfol ment of true spirituality.Such a
religion
results in
bigotry,hypocrisy and intolerance;it is base upon fear and not upon faith.A
religion without
universal love
is and absurdity;because that Love is the link which relates man to Go .A faith
without love
is only a
superstition.Nevertheless it is that foolish faith which clamours the most
for its rights.Faith
without love
will make the greatest roar and in;
The cask soun s
lou est when there is nought within .[Angelus Silesius ]
If we procee a
step further and imagine intellectual but wicke and selfish people possesse not
only of
the power to
employ explosives,an poisonous rugs,to injure others,but able to sen their own
egra ing
poisonous thoughts to a istance,to leave at will the [Page 275 ] prison house
of the physical
bo y to kill or
injure others,the most isastrous results woul follow.Such forbi en knowle ge
has been
an is sometimes
possesse by people with criminal ten encies,a fact which is universally known
in the
East,an upon the
possibility and actuality of such facts have been establishe on many
occasions,an
among others by
many of the witch trials of the Mi le Ages.Mo ern scientists may now laugh at
these
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facts,but the
octors of law,of me icine,an of theology of their times,were as sure of their
knowle ge
as mo ern
representatives of science are of their own opinions to ay,and the former ha as
many
intellectual
capacities as the latter.The only ifference is that the former knew these
facts,but gave a
wrong
explanation;the latter fin it easier to ignore than to explain.
Man is
continually surroun e by unseen influences,and the astral plane is swarming
with entities an
forces,which are
acting upon him for goo or for evil,according to his goo or evil
inclinations.At the
present state of
evolution man has a physical bo y,which is a mirably a apte to mo ify the
influence
from the astral
plane,an to shelter him against the monsters of the deep .
If the physical
bo y is in goo health,it acts as and armour,an ,moreover,man has the power,by a
ju icious
exercise of his will,to so concentrate the odic aura by which he is surroun e
,as to ren er his
armour
impenetrable to the influences of the astral world and its inhabitants;but if
by ba health,by a
careless expen
iture of vitality,or by the practice of mediumship,he isperses his protective
power,his
physical armour
will become weakene and unable to guard him;he becomes the victim of
elementaries
an elemental
forces,his mental faculties lose their balance,an sooner or later he will,like
the
symbolical Adam
and Eve,know that he is naked ,an expose to influences which he cannot repel.
Such is the result
for which those ignorantly crave who wish to obtain knowle ge without correspon
ing
morality.To
supply the ignorant or weak with powers of estruction woul be like provi ing
chil ren with
gunpow er and matches
for play.[Page 276 ]
Only and intelligent
and well-balance min can iscriminate properly and ive into the hi en mysteries
of Nature.Only
the pure in heart can see Go .He who has reache that stage nee not search the
world for a
person to instruct him;the higher intelligences will be attracte to him,an
become his
instructor,in
the same manner as he himself is attracte by the beauty of and animal or of a
flower.
A harp oes not
invent soun but obeys the han of a master,and the more perfect the
instrument,the
sweeter will be
the music.A iamon oes not originate light,but reflects it,and the purer the
iamon
the purer will
be its lustre.Man oes not invent or create thought,will,an intelligence.He is a
mirror in
which the
thoughts of the world are reflecte ,an instrument through which the will of
nature expresses
itself;a pearl
fille with a rop of water from the universal ocean of intelligence.
The only true
knowle ge is the knowle ge of one's own true self,which knows neither goo nor
evil ,
but is the
realisation of truth.He who ate from the tree of the knowle ge of illusion has
ie ;because by
experiencing the
illusion of self,he has ie to his spiritual nature and become and illusion
himself.[Gen.
ii.17 ] If you
eat of the tree of ivine knowle ge,which is the tree of life,your illusion will
ie and you will
live.Your
personality will be swallowe up by a realisation of the fact that you are
nothing ,an that Go
in you is the
only true self and the All.Realising this,you will not be as one of the go s
;but a self-
conscious power
in Go ,unlimite and immortal.
How can
self-knowle ge be attaine ?The answer is:By the realisation of truth .The
truth is
everywhere,always
rea y to manifest itself in you and aroun you,if you only permit it to become
manifest.Wis om
requires no other teacher but wisdom itself.Rise up to it in your soul and it
will
escen upon you
and fill your heart.He who ascen s to the top of a high mountain nee not
enquire for
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somebo y to
bring him pure air.Pure air surroun s him there on all si es.[Page 277 ] The
realm of wisdom
is not limite
,an he whose min is receptive will not suffer from want of ivine grace to fee
his holy
aspiration.
The school in
which the occultist gra uates has many classes,each class representing a
life.The ays
of vacation may
arrive before the lesson is learne ,an what has been learne may be forgotten
uring
the time of
vacation;but still the impression remains,an a thing once learne is easily
learne again.
This accounts
for the different talents with which men are en owe ,an for their propensities
for goo or
for evil.No
effort is lost,every cause creates a correspon ing effect,no favours are grante
,no injustice
takes place.Blin
to bribes and eaf to appeals is the law of justice,ealing its treasures out to
everyone
according to his
capacities to receive,but he who has no selfish esire for reward,an no cowardly
fear
of
punishment,but who ares to act rightly because he will not o wrong,i entifies
himself with the law,
an in the
equilibrium of the law will he fin his Power
.The secon
requirement is
TO WILL
If we are not
willing to receive the truth we will not obtain it.
Men believe that
they love the truth,but there are few who loving for its own sake esire it.They
esire
welcome
truths;those that are unwelcome are rejecte .Opinions which flatter the vanity
and are in
harmony with
accustome mo es of thought are accepte ;strange truths are regarde with
astonishment and
riven away from the oor.Men are often afrai of that which they o not know,an ,
not knowing the
truth,they are afrai to receive it.They ask new truths for their passports,an
if they o
not bear the
stamp of some fashionable authority they are looke upon as illegitimate chil
ren,an are
not permitte to
grow.
How shall we
learn to love the truth ?By learning to know it.How can we know the truth ?By
learning to
love it.The elu
e asks for external proofs,but [Page 278 ] the wise requires no other
certificate for the
truth but its
own revelation.There can be no ifference between speculative and practical
knowledge ;
because knowle
ge is one,an opinion base upon mere speculation is no knowle ge.Knowle ge can
only be attaine
by speculation,if the speculation is accompanie by experience.Those who want to
know the truth
must practise it;those who cannot practise it will not know it;speculation
without practice
is only a
eceitful ream.
Man can have no
actual esire for a thing which he has never experience ,an which he therefore
not
knows.How can we
love a thing of which we know not that it exists ?How can we know its
existence,
except by
realising its presence ?How can we realise its presence if we o not enjoy it
?How can we
enjoy it if we o
not love it ?Neither in uctive nor e uctive reasoning can give us a realisation
of truth.
Divine Reason
itself alone can cause it to become manifest in ourselves.
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To know that a
thing is goo ,is to esire it;for it is a law acting within the constitution of
man,no less
than among the
planets,that we shoul be attracte to that which we know to be goo and be
repulse
by that which we
know to be evil.A strong esire to be goo ,causes man to perform goo actions;a
esire to be
evil,causes him to commit evil ee s.Man is the pro uct of his own thoughts and acts;if
he
thinks and acts
goo ,he becomes goo ;if he thinks and acts evil,he becomes evil.In and occult
sense
willing is i
entical with feeling ;for the substance of the Will,if infuse with the
consciousness of the
Spirit,feels and
grasps its object.Willing,knowing,an acting are ultimately i entical;because we
can
only will what
we know,an we can only know that of which we have and experience.
The only way to
obtain true practical knowle ge of spiritual truths is by the practice of the
truth in other
words,the a
wakening of the inner consciousness to the recognition of truth existing within
oneself.Only
a min which has
been purifie from all selfish esires,an is fille with a strong etermination to
learn
the [Page 279 ]
truth,is thereby duly and truly prepare to enter the temple of wisdom.Every
time that a
person,either
for selfish purposes or to gratify the whim of another,or for any other
personal
consi
eration,gives his consent to something,of which his reason or conscience tells
him that it ought
not to
be;however insignificant such and act may be;it will nevertheless involve for
him a loss of a certain
amount of will.
Man is chaine to
the king om of his illusions with a thousan chains.The inhabitants of his
earthly soul
appear before
him in their most se uctive forms.If they are riven away they change their
masks an
appear in some
other form.But the chains by which man is boun are forge by his own esire.His
vices
o not cling to
him against his will.He clings to them,and they will esert him as soon as he
rises up in
the strength and
ignity of his manhoo and shakes them off.There is a metho ,by which we may,
without any
active effort,obtain that which we esire,an this is that we sho ld desire
nothing except
what the divine
spirit wills within o r own heart.
The thir
requirement is
TO DARE
We must are to
act and throw off low esires,instea of waiting inactively until they esert
us.We must
are to tear
ourselves loose from accustome habits,irrational thoughts,an selfish consi
erations,an
from everything
that is and impe iment to our recognition of truth.We must are to conquer
ourselves an
the world by
becoming like a isintereste spectator,taking no part in the
performance,[Bhagava Gita ]
not on account
of any stupi in ifference or mournful acquiescence to the ecrees of fate,nor on
account
of being a
pessimist or a misanthrope;but on account of having outgrown the follies of
the lower worl
an realising the
beauties of the high.We must learn to overcome our own ignorance,are to face
the
ri icule of the
ignorant,the vilifications of bigots,the haughtiness of the vain,the contempt
of the learne ,
and the envy of
the small;are to proclaim the truth if it is useful to o so,an are to he silent
if taunte
by the
fool.[Prov.xxvi.4.] We must are to face poverty,suffering,an isolation,be
superior to all ills
that may affect
us,an act un er all circumstances according to our highest conception of truth.
All this might
be easily accomplishe ,if the will of man were free;if man were his own master
and not
boun with the
chains of the soul;but man is only free to a certain extent.Man may perform
certain acts
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an leave others
un one if he chooses;but his wisdom etermines his choice.A man knowing and wise
has the power to
will that which he oes not esire personally,an not to will that to which his
esires
attract him.To
make the will free,action is require ,an each action strengthens the will,an
each
unselfish ee
increases its power.There is only one ivine Law and one ivine Will;the Will of
ivine
Wisdom.He who
follows the law executes the will of Go ;he who opposes it may become in ivi
ually
strong in his
self-will;but will finally be crushe by the opposing force,which is
immeasurably stronger
than he.Dare to
obey the Law,and yo will become yo r own Master,and the Lord over all .
There are three
ways to evelop the power of will.
The first is to
act against our own esires by forcing ourselves to perform acts which are
isagreeable
an painful.This
metho use to be prevalent in the West uring the Mi le Ages,an is to ay practise
in the East by
Fakirs and the lower class of ascetics.It is a metho by which people ispose to
witchcraft may
obtain sufficient strength of will to control some of the lower Elementals,an
acquire
power to affect
men and animals at a istance by the influence of their will.It consists in the
en urance of
pain with in
ifference,and the accounts given by travellers in the East show to what height
of absur ity
such practices
of Hatha yoga have been carrie out.But while such practices may strengthen the
will,
they o not era
icate selfishness;but they rather increase it.Seen in the proper [Page 281 ]
light,people
given to such
practices o not act against their esires;because their esire is the attainment
of personal
power.Penances
and tortures are therefore worse than useless for the higher evelopment of the
soul.
The second way
is not to follow our unlawful esires on account of being afrai of the
consequences
which we might
have to experience if we were to be isobedient to the law.This is the kin of
morality
which is usually
to be foun in the world ;but which is base upon cowardice and not upon
recognition of
truth.Its foun
ation is the i ea to forego a small pleasure for the purpose of enjoying a
greater pleasure
of and equally
selfish kin .
Philosophical
courage is a quality for which men are a mire everywhere;its foun ation is
personal
vanity.The Re In
ian pri es himself at his in ifference to physical pain,the Fakir un ergoes
tortures to
strengthen his
will-power,the civilise sol ier is eager to prove his contempt for anger,an to
measure
his strength
with the strength of the enemy.But there are ee s to perform that require a
courage of a
superior kin .It
requires only momentary outbursts of ambition to perform a aring ee on the
physical
plane,but a
continual and unremitte strain is nee e to keep the emotions subjecte ,an this
strain is
ren ere still
more fatiguing by the circumstance that itdepends entirely on our own will
whether or not
we will en ure
it,an that if we relax the bri le and allow our emotions to run free,sensual
gratification
will be the
result.
The performance
of such ee of valour requires not merely a philosophical,but a theosophical
courage;
namely the
courage to o one's uty because it is one's uty to o it,an for no other
reason.Therefore,
the best way
is,not to make any selfish attempts at all to overcome our esires;but to let
the recognition
of truth
overcome these esires;to sacrifice not merely our esires,but our own self with
all its esires to
the fountain of
Divine Wisdom,which is to be fo nd in the temple of our own heart,an to remain
there
even while [Page
282 ] we atten to the uties of life.If we enter that place,all esires will
remain outsi e;
they cannot
enter the sacre precinct.It requires a courage of the highest order to act un
er all
circumstances in
obe ience to ivine law.Long may the battle last,but each victory strengthens
the will;
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each act of
submission ren ers it more powerful,until at last the combat is en e ,an over
the battlefiel
where the
remnants of the slain esires are expose to the ecomposing action of the
elements hovers
the spiritual
eagle,rising towards the sun and enjoying the serene tranquillity of the
ethereal realm.
Metals are
purifie by fire and the spirit is purifie by suffering.Only when the molten
mass has coole
can we ju ge of
the progress of the purification;only when a victory over the emotions is gaine
,an
peace follows
after the struggle,cand the spirit rest to contemplate and realise the beauty
of eternal truth.
In vain will men
attempt to listen to the voice of truth uring the clash of conten ing esires
and opinions,
only in the
silence that follows the storm cand the voice of truth be heard.[Light on the
Path ,by M.C.]
The fourth
requirement to the recognition of the truth is therefore
TO BE SILENT
This means that
we must not allow any esire to speak in our heart,but only the voice of the
truth;
because the
truth is a jealous go ess and suffers no rivals.He who selects wisdom for the
bri e of his
soul must woo
her with his whole heart and ismiss the concubines from the bri al chamber of
his soul.
He must clothe
her in the purity of his affection and ornament her with the gol of his
love,for wisdom is
mo est,she oes
not a orn herself but waits until she is a orne by her lover.She cannot be
bought
with money nor
with promises,her love is only gaine by acts of evotion.Science is only the han
mai
of wisdom,an he
who makes love to the servant will be rejecte by the [Page 283 ] mistress;but
he who
sacrifices his
whole being to wisdom will be unite with it.
The Bhagwat Gita
says:He who thinketh constantly of me,his min un iverte by any other
object,will
fin me.I will at
all times be easily foun by a constant evotion to me .
The Christian
Mystic,Jackob Boehme,an illuminate seer,expresses the same truth,in the form of
a
ialogue between
the master and his isciple,as follows:
The isciple sai
to the master:How can I succee in arriving at that supersensual life,in which
I may
see and hear the
Supreme?
The master
answere :If you can only for a moment enter in thought into the formless,where
no
creature resi
es,you will hear the voice of the Supreme .
The isciple sai
:Is this far or near?
The master
answere :It is in yourself,an if you can comman only for one hour the silence
of your
esires,you will
hear the inexpressible words of the Supreme.If your own will and self are
silent in you,
the perception
of the eternal will be manifest through you;Go will hear,an see,an talk through
you;
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your own
hearing,esiring,an seeing prevents you to see and hear the Supreme .[Jackob
Boehme:
Theosophical
Writings ,book vi.]
These irections
are i entical with those prescribe by the practice of Raja-Yog ,by which the
holy men
of the East
unite their min s with the formless and infinite.All religious ceremonies are
calculate to
elevate the min
into the region of the formless,an ,in fact,all religious systems can have no
other
ultimate object
than to teach metho s how to attain such states.All churches are not worthy the
name of
church ,which
means a spirit al nion ,unless they serve as schools in which the science of
uniting
oneself with the
eternal fountain of life is practically taught.But it is easier to allow one's
min to revel
among the
multifarious forms and attractions of the material plane,or to go through forms
of external
worship ;than
to enter into nothingness,where at first no soun is hear but the echo of our
voice.It is
easier to let
our min s be [Page 284 ] controlle by thoughts that visit the min than to close
the oors of
the soul to all
thoughts that have not the seal of truth impresse upon their forms;an this is
the reason
why the majority
of men and women prefer the illusions of finite life to the eternal realities
of the infinite;
why they prefer
ignorance to a knowle ge of truth.
To be silent
means to let no other language be heard within the heart but the language of Go
,to listen
to the voice of
Divine Wisdom speaking within the heart .[H.P.Blavatsky.The voice of the
silence ]
He who has
learne to know,to will,to are,an to be silent,is upon the true path that lea s
to immortal
life,but by
those who move merely in the sensual plane,or whose min s are absorbe in
external things
of the
intellectual plane,even the meaning of these words will not be un erstoo .
Various
instructions are given in the books of the East in regard to the practice of
this silence and interior
me itation,but
they all teach the same thing,namely,a concentration of man's higher
consciousness to a
single point
within his own centre.
In the O
pnekhata the following irections are given:-
Breathe eep and
slow,an concentrate your unwavering attention into the mi st of your bo y,into
the
region of the
heart.The lamp in your bo y will then be protecte against win and motion,an
your
whole bo y will
become illuminate .You must with raw all your senses within yourself like a
turtle,which
with raws its
members within the shell.Enter your own heart and guar it,an Brahma will enter
it like a
fire or a stroke
of lightning.In the mi st of the big fire in your heart will be a small
flame,an in the centre
of it will be
Atma .
Herocarcas ,an
abbot of a convent upon the mount Athos ,gives to his monks the following
irections to
acquire the
power of true clairvoyance:Sit alone in your room,after having the oor locke
against
intrusion,concentrate
your min upon the region of the navel and try to see with that.Try to fin the
seat
of your heart
(sink your consciousness into your heart),[Page 285 ] where the centre of power
resi es.At
first you will
fin nothing butdarkness;but if you continue for ays and nights without
fatigue,you will see
light,an
experience inexpressible things.When the spirit once recognises its own centre
in the heart,it
will know what
it never knew before,and there will be nothing hi en before its sight,whether
in heaven
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or upon the
earth .
Let us compare
with these statements one receive from and unknown une ucate person,who is an
illuminate of
our times.He has never heard of the O pnekata nor of Herocarcas ;but he
possesses the
power to see
interior truths.He says:Sink your thoughts ownward into the centre of your
being,an
you will fin
there a germ which,if continually nourishe by pure and holy thoughts,will grow
into a
power that will
exten and ramify through all parts of your bo y.Your han s and feet and your bo
y will
become alive ;a
sun will appear within your heart and illuminate your whole being.In this light
you will
see the
present,the past,and the future,an by its ai you will attain the true knowle ge
of self .
Man is himself a
creation of thought,perva ing the ocean of Min .If his soul is in perfect
accord with the
truth,the truth
will be one with his soul.A talente musician will not nee a scientific
calculation of the
vibrations of
soun to know whether a melo y which he hears is melo ious or not;a person who
is one
with the truth
will recognise himself in the mirrors of every external manifestation of truth.
The highest
magical power in nature is Wisdom ;it is the oneness of Intelligence,Will and Law.It
is the
highest ideal
that man can possess.The highest power of the soul is to express wisdom in
language,the
highest power of
physical man is to embo y that language in acts.
Every form in
Nature is a symbol of and i ea and represents a sign,or a letter,or a word;an a
succession of
such symbols forms a language.Nature is therefore the ivine language,in which
the
Universal Min
expresses its ideas .The in ivi ual min which is evelope to such a state of
perfection
as to form the
best [Page 286 ] instrument through which the highest intelligence can manifest
itself,will be
the most apt to
realise the meaning of that language.The highest secrets of Nature
are,therefore,
accessible to
him whose mental constitution is so perfecte as to enable him to un erstand the
language
of Nature.
Such a language
means a ra iation of the essence of things into the centre of the human min ,an
a
ra iation from
that centre into the universal ocean of min .Man in a state of purity,being and
image an
an external
expression of the highest spiritual power,is able to reflect and repro uce the
highest truth in
its original purity,an
man's expressions ought therefore to be a perfect repro uction or echo of the
impressions
which he receives from the sphere of eternal truth;but average man being
immerse in
matter,as a
result of a combination of principles on a lower scale of evolution,receives
the pure original
rays only in a
state of refraction,an cand therefore repro uce them only in and imperfect con
ition.He has
wan ere away
from the sun of truth,an behol ing it from a istance it appears to him only as
a small
star,about to vanish
from sight.Everything in Nature has its natural name,an he who has the power to
call a thing by
that name can call its form into existence.This proper name of a thing is its
character,the
expression of
the totality of its powers and attributes,to cause the truth in a thing to
become manifest by
the spiritual
power of the living word,is to call it into existence.This cannot be one by any
merely
external
language;but by the living power of the spirit,of which the external expression
is merely an
outward symbol
and form.[There are three states of Vach or word',each more interior thand
the other,
an each has
three elements;the meaning,the thought and its expression in soun .S bba Rao
,
Lectures on the
Bhagava Gita ]
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There is only
one genuine and interior language for man,the symbols of which are natural and must
be
intelligible to
all,an this language is and interior irect communication of thought.This
interior language
is the parent of
the exterior one,an being cause by the [Page 287 ] ra iation of the first cause
which is
unity and with
whom all men are one,it follows that if the original ra iation of the supreme
ray were
existing in all
men in its original purity,all men woul un erstand the same language.There
exists such
an external
language,which is a perfect expression of that interior one;but this language
is known to
only few and it
cannot be artificially acquire .He who knows the internal language will also
know the
external one.The
interior language breathes spirit;while the exterior one is only a succession
of soun s.
The key to that
interior language is in the ivine Word ,the key to the exterior one is the
mental
organisation of
collective bo ies of men.Man in his present con ition hears the voice which
speaks that
interior
language,but oes not un erstan it;he sees the sacre symbols,but oes not
comprehen
them;his ear is
accustome to connect certain meanings with certain soun s,but the true
vibrations are
lost;he un
erstan s human writings in books,but he cannot ivine the hieroglyphics that
express the
true nature of
things.
Each character
has its own true symbol and form,which expresses its nature;each symbol is a
thing
representing the
essential character of a certain power,an this character cand therefore be
recognise
by him who knows
the language of nature in the same way as and artist recognises the character
of
another
artist,by simply behol ing his work.
Men have ever
been esiring and universal language.Such and universal language cannot be
arbitrarily
constructe ,or
if so constructe ,woul be more ifficult to learn than any other.True language
must
express the
harmony of the soul with the nature of things,an as long as there is a ddifferentiation
of
national
character and isharmony there can be no universal harmonious language.
There is a
threefol expression of ivine essence;a physical,an intellectual,an a ivine
word.The first
is the language
of nature,the secon the language of reason,the thir one is the language of Go
,which
is tho
ght,speech and action in one ,an which is therefore a [Page 288 ] creative
power.Each true
symbol or form
is and external image of and internal state.Each bo y is the symbol of and invisible
an
correspon ing
power,an Man,in whom the highest powers are containe ,is the most noble symbol
in
nature,the first
and most beautiful letter in the alphabet of earth.If he were true to his own
ivine nature,
his bo y woul be
a bo y of light,a perfect expression of beauty.For every thought there is and outward
expression,an if
we have a thought which we cannot express by symbols,it oes not follow that
such
symbols o not
exist,but that we are un-acquainte with them.A word or a language is the
expression of
thought,an to be
perfect it must give perfect expression to the thought it is inten e to
convey.By
giving a false
expression to thought the true power of language is lost.In our present state
of civilisation
words are use
more for the purpose of concealing than revealing thought.Lying involves a loss
of
spiritual
power.To give pure and perfect expression to thought is White Magic;to act upon
the
imagination so
as to create false impressions is witchcraft,eception,an falsehoo .Such
witchcraft is
practise every
ay and almost in every station of life,from the priest in the pulpit who whee
les his
au ience into a
belief that he possesses the keys of heaven,own to the merchant who cheats with
his
goo s,and the ol
mai securing a husban by means of artificial teeth and false hair.Such
practices
are publicly
enounce but silently followe ;they lea to a universal isappearance of faith and
trust,
they will
necessarily lea to active evil and bring estruction upon the nation that allows
them to grow;
because,as the
power of goo increases by practice,in the same manner increases the power of
evil.
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-------Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales------
Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
Man's mission is
to o the highest goo to himself that means to o that which is most useful for
his
highest
evelopment,an being in his true nature universal and unlimite ,his highest goo
can only be
obtaine by
working for the benefit of the whole world and not for his own limite
personality.
In this way his
nature will become more refine ,an its interior illuminate by the light of
[Page 289 ] ivine
wisdom.By living
attache to self he attracts to himself the unintelligent and material
principles of
Nature,his
constitution becomes more material,egra e and heavy until,unable to rise to the
true light,
be becomes
meta-physically petrifie ,lost in the astral plane.
Man's actions
are his writings.By putting his thoughts into action,he expresses them and records
them
in the book of
life.Every evil act is followe by a egra ation of character,a metaphysical
incrustation of
the soul.Goo
actions issolve existing incrustations pro uce by evil ee s,an re-establish the
soul in
its former con
ition.Repentance,unless followe by a change of nature,is useless.It is like the
inflammation
cause by a thorn in the flesh;it causes pain,an unless the cause is remove
putrefaction
will be the
result.Man's acts are his creations,they give expression to his thoughts.The
motive en ows
them with
character,the will furnishes them with life.
An intention is
practically useless as long as it is not put into practice.A sign,a letter,or a
word is useless
unless it
conveys a meaning;a symbol represents and i ea,but no symbol can be efficacious
unless one
masters that
which it represents.The most potent magical signs are useless to him who cannot
spiritually
in his soul
realise what they mean,while in him who has so l-knowledge ,the use of a single
point,a line,
or any
geometrical figure,may put spiritual powers into action.
Let us in
conclusion attempt to explain exoterically and esoterically a few of the most
important magical
signs.We may
succee to a certain extent in giving these explanations in words;but their
spiritual
meaning cannot
be expresse in language nor even in music;language can merely attempt to gui e
the
rea er into a
region of thought in which be may be able to perceive the secret meaning with
the eye of
the spirit;if he
has the power of perceiving the truth spiritually by the light of the
truth.[Page 290 ]
The Pentagram or
the Five-pointe Star
In its external
appearance it is merely a geometrical figure,foun everywhere
as a tra e-mark
or ornament.Superstitious and cre ulous people once
believe ,that if
it were rawn upon the oors of their houses it woul protect
them against the
intrusions of the sorcerer and the witch.
In its esoteric
signification it symbolises Man.The four lower triangles represent
the four
elementary forces of nature,an as the lines of each triangle are intimately
connecte or
i entical with
those forming the other lines,the sum of these lines forming only one broken
line without
any
interruption,likewise the four lower elements are intimately connecte and i
entical with the fifth
element,the
quintessence of all things,situate at the top of the figure;representing the
hea ,the seat
of intelligence.
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-------Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales------
Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
The spiritual
knowle ge of the Five-pointe Star is i entical with its practical
application.Let us beware
that the figure
is always well rawn,leaving no open space,through which the enemy can enter an
isturb the
harmony existing in the Pentagon.Let us keep the figure always upright,with the
topmost
triangle [Page
291 ] pointing to heaven,for it is the seat of Wisdom,an if the figure is
reverse
perversion and evil
will be the result.Let the lines be straight,so that all the triangles will be
harmonious
an of equal
size,so that the symbol will grow without any abnormal evelopment of one
principle at the
cost of
another.Then the lower triangles will sen their quintessence to the top,the
seat of intelligence,
and the top will
supply the lower triangles with power and in uce them to grow.Then,when the
time of
probation and evelopment
is over,the triangles will be absorbe by the Pentagon in the centre,an
form into a
square within the invisible circle connecting the apices of the triangles,an
our estiny will be
fulfille .There
is no higher uty for man to perform,than to keep the Five-pointe Spiritual Star
intact;it
will be his
protection uring life and his salvation in the hereafter.
The Double
Triangle or Six-Pointed Star
This is one of
the most important signs,an practically applie it invests
man with magic
power.[Page 292 ] Its exoteric meaning is merely two
triangles joine
together,so that they partially cover each other,while the
apex of one
points upwards and the apex of the other ownward.It is
sometimes
surroun e by a circle or by a snake biting its tail,an
sometimes with a
ta in the mi le.
Its esoteric
meaning is very extensive.It represents among other things the
escent of spirit
into matter,and the ascension of matter to spirit,which is
continually
taking place within the circle of eternity,represente by the snake,the symbol
of wisdom.Six
points are seen
in the star,but the seventh cannot be seen;nevertheless the seventh point must
exist
unmanifeste ,it
not having become manifest;because without a centre there coul be no six-pointe
star,nor any
other figure existing.
But who can
escribe in words the secret spiritual and universal signification of the six-pointe
star an
its invisible
centre ?Who can intellectually grasp and escribe the beauties and truths which
it
represents?Only
he who experiences in his own ivine nature the power of this sign can
practically apply
it,an he who can
apply it practically is and A ept.Knowing that sign practically means to
realise the
nature of Go
,to be Go and know,and the laws of eternal nature,it means to know by
experience the
process of
evolution and involution of matter and spirit;to realise how the life-impulse
travels from planet
to
planet,beginning with the evolution of the elemental king om,rising up through
the mineral,
vegetable,an
animal king om,an at last evolving a go -like being out of animal man.To him
who
cannot realise
within his heart the ivine mysteries of nature,the blin ing light shining from
the centre of
the figure has
no existence;but the A ept knows that invisible centre,the great Spiritual
Sun,the heart of
the Cosmos,from
which Love and Light and Life are ra iating for ever.He sees the seven primordial
rays
of that light
shining into invisible matter and forming visible world s upon which men and animals
live an
ie,an are happy
or iscontente according to their con itions.[Page 293 ] He sees how by the
breath
of that
invisible centre suns and stars,planets and satellites are evolve ,an how if
the ay of creation of
forms is over,it
reabsorbs them into its bosom.Verily the six-pointe star is a most potent
magical sign,
an it requires
the wisdom of Go to un erstan it,and the omnipotent power of Life to apply it
to its
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-------Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales------
Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
fullest extent.
In its external
signification the Christian Cross is a symbol of torture and eath.The sight of
a cross calls
up in the min of
the pious the memory of a historical event sai to have taken place in Palestine
some
two thousan
years ago,when a noble,goo ,an just man,an incarnation of Go ,is sai to have
been
execute as a
criminal upon across.
[Page 294 ] The
esoteric meaning of the Cross is very
ancient,and the
Cross has existe as a secret
symbol probably
thousan s of years ago before the
Christian era.It
is foun in the ancient cave-temples
of In ia and Egypt,where
it was hewn in stone long
before
Christianity was known.The philosophical
Cross
represents,among other things,the principle
of matter and that
of spirit intersecting each other,
forming the
quaternary which,when it is inscribe in
the square,forms
the basis of knowle ge for the
Occultist.The
horizontal line represents the animal
principle,for
the hea s of animals are bowe to the
earth.Man is the
only being upon the globe who
stan s erect;the
ivine principle within him keeps
him morally
erect,and therefore the perpen icular
line is the
symbol of his ivinity.The cross represents
Man,who has acte
against the law and thereby
transforme
himself into and instrument for his own torture.From the beginning of his
existence as a ray
of the ivine
spiritual Sun he represente a perpen icular line,cutting in the irection of the
source from
which he emanate
in the beginning.As the istance from that source increase ,an as the ray entere
into matter,it
eviate from the originally straight line and became broken;creating thereby a
ivision in
its own essence
and making two parts out of the original Unity;thus establishing a will and imagination
of
its own,acting
not in accordance with the Law,but even in opposition to it.If man follows
again the
ictates of the
Law,he will then be taken from the Cross and resume his former position.To take
up
one's Cross
,means to submit one's own esires to the rule of ivine Law.
Who can know the
practical spiritual signification of the Cross except spirit al man ,who by his
incarnation in a
terrestrial human form has become naile to the cross of suffering the ills of
the flesh an
its
temptations,nor can he regain his free om unless the terrestrial man ies the
mystic eath for him,by
nailing his
self-will to the cross of the law and ying the mystic eath,so that the true man
may live.
On the hea of
the Christian cross there are inscribe [Page 295 ] the letters I.N.R.I ..,which
in its exoteric
meaning is sai
to rea Jesus Nazaren s,Rex I deorum .This means that the light of Divine
Wisdom is
the king of all
knowle ge,an must rule over all intellectual speculations,to which not only the
Jews,but
also our mo ern
philosophers are evote ;but the Rosicrucian meaning of these letters was:In
Nobis
Regnat Jesus,an
this truth will also be realise only by those who are in possession of immortal
life:
an because in
them the true Jesus,the spiritual soul,illumine by the light of Divine
Wisdom,has
awakene to life
and is actually the Lord and ruler of their interior king om.
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-------Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales------
Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
In its practical
application the Cross represents the self-recognition of Divine Truth.He whose
spiritual
perception is
open sees the living Cross in its glory.Sublimely stan s that Cross upon the
mountain of
self-knowle
ge,magnificent is its aspect.Far into heaven shines the light ra iating from
its centre an
illuminating thedarkness
with its beneficent rays.Rise,oh man,up to your true ignity,so that you may
see the meaning
of the true Cross.Not the ea woo en Cross,the emblem of ignorance and suffering,
nor the
glittering cross ma e of brass,the emblem of vanity,sectarianism and superstition;but
the true
Cross,ma e of
the pure gol of the light of Wis om which each true Brother of the Golden and
Rosy
Cross carries
eeply burie within his own heart.This cross is the full-grown Tree of Life and of
Knowle
ge,bearing the fruits of salvation and immortality,the ispenser of Life,the
protector against
evil.He who
knows practically the true mystery of the Cross is acquainte with the highest
wisdom;he
who is a orne
with the true Cross is safe from all anger.Infinite power of the Cross!In thee
the Truth is
reveale .Burie
eep in thedarkness of Earth is thy foot,teaching us Patience ;high into the
light of
heaven reaches
thy crown,teaching us Faith .Lifte by Hope and exten e by Charity are thy
arms,light
an sunshine
surroun thee.Link upon link the chain of creation encircles the Cross;world s
within
world s,forms
within forms,illusions upon illusions.But in the Centre is the Reality [Page
296 ] in which is
hi en the jewel
of priceless value,the Truth .Let the ew of heaven which comes from the true
Cross
escen into your
hearts and penetrate into your soul and bo y,so that it may crystallize into
form.Then
will thedarkness
within your min isappear,the veil of matter will be rent,an before your
spiritual
vision will stan
reveale the angel of truth.Truly!no one can be a real Christian unless he
practically
realises in his
soul the meaning of the symbol of the Cross;the self-revelation of Truth.
The present
material age is ever rea y to reject without examination the symbols of the
past whose
meaning it
cannot realise because it oes not possess the treasures which they
represent.Engage in
the pursuit of
material pleasures,it loses sight of ivine wisdom and exchanges spiritual
wealth for
worthless
baubles.Losing sight of his ivine estiny,man runs after sha ows,closing his eye
to the Light
of the
World.Rule by fear,man bows before the Moloch of superstition and ignorance,rushes
ma ly
into the arms of
a ea and col agnostic science to perish in its stony embrace;but the wise,whose
far-
seeing
perception reache beyon the narrow circle of his material surroun ings and beyon
the short
span of time
which inclu es one of his lives on this earth,knows that it is in his power to
control his future
estiny.He raises
the magic wan of his will and quiets the tempest of the soul.The forces which
were
rushing to his
estruction obey him and execute his or ers,an he walks safely upon the waters
un er
whose calm
surface is hi en the abyss of eath,while above his hea shines that bright
constellation
forme of
Truth,Knowle ge,an Power,whose centre is the Law and whose germs can be foun in
the
spiritual
self-consciousness of every human being.[Page 297 ]
Page 170?
-------
Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
APPENDIX
A NEW GUIDE ON
THE PATH
FOR THOSE WHO
DESIRE TO FOLLOW THE
1.Know that All
is One.
2.Know that
everything is Thyself.
3.Know that the
One in a state of vibration pro uces the great multiplicity of forms and activities
in the
Universe.
4.Know that if
you examine this multiplicity from the stan point of your intellectual
reasoning,you will
arrive at the
following e uctions:
5.Everything
that you call Life ,Energy ,Substance ,is a Duality.
6.Everything has
a ten ency to return to Unity .
7.All esire and therefore
all suffering originates from uality.
8.Let thy
aspiration be for enlightenment.
9.Rise above the
state of con ensation.
11.Know that the
result of the joys experience in the state of con ensation is suffering.
12.On the roa
from Unity in motion to tranquillity is the state of con ensation.It is the
cause of your
illusions,because
you imagine it to be tranquillity;an it is the cause of your oubts,because you
regar
it as the object
of your esires.Know that the striving after the unification of the uality is
the only source
of your
will,your esires,an of those joys whose results you call suffering .[Page
298 ]
13.Know that the
oor for the solution of that which is fixe is what is calle Matter .
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-------
Magic: White and Black by Franz Hartmann,M.D.
14.Know that
everything has to pass through that oor.
15.Know that the
oor for the solution of the fixe is also calle Life .
16.Know that
everything has to pass through that oor.
17.An that the
long sojourn in Matter and the interruption of the voyage by Life means
retardation in
the solution of
the fixe and procrastination in the unification of the uality.
18.Enforce the
practice of the power of that which is solve over that which is con ense .
19.Direct your
attention to the consciousness of that which is issolve over that which is con
ense .
20.Carry this
consciousness through all the planes of your being.
21.Elevate your
whole bo y to the capacity to think,to hear,an to see.
22.Cause it
thereby to become a fit instrument for the use of your self-consciousness of
the One and of
your self-power
(resulting from unification).
23.Conquer the
pains resulting therefrom.
24.When the
ivine Language is once heard within thy heart when the King within thy
interior has once
obtaine ominion
when thou hast passe through water and fire,an thy spirit has become the life
of
thy bloo then
you may say:I am,I go,and I remain.
Page 172
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Preface
Theosophy and the Masters General Principles
The Earth Chain Body and Astral Body Kama Desire
Manas Of Reincarnation Reincarnation Continued
Karma Kama Loka
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Arguments Supporting Reincarnation
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Colonel Henry Steel Olcott William Quan Judge
The Start of the Theosophical
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A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom
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The Secret Doctrine Volume 3
A compilation of H P Blavatskys
writings published after her death
Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries
The Early Teachings of The Masters
A Collection of Fugitive Fragments
Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy
Mystical,
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Essays Selected from "The Theosophist"
Edited by George Robert Stow Mead
From Talks on the Path of Occultism - Vol. II
In the Twilight
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in The Theosophist.
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Letters and
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