Book: Five Years Of Theosophy

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Modern Spiritualism itself testifies to something of the same sort.
Thus we are told by one of its most gifted and experienced champions,
"Sometimes the evidence will come from an impersonal source, from some
instructor who has passed through the plane on which individuality is
demonstrable." (M.A. (Oxon.), "Spirit Identity," p. 7.) Again, "And if
he" (the investigator) "penetrates far enough, he will find himself in a
region for which his present embodied state unfits him: a region in
which the very individuality is merged, and the highest and subtlest
truths are not locked within one breast, but emanate from representative
companies whose spheres of life are interblended." (Id., p. 15.) By
this "interblending" is of course meant only a perfect sympathy and
community of thought; and I should doubtless misrepresent the author
quoted were I to claim an entire identity of the idea he wishes to
convey, and that now under consideration. Yet what, after all, is
sympathy but the loosening of that hard "astringent" quality (to use
Bohme's phrase) wherein individualism consists? And just as in true
sympathy, the partial suppression of individualism and of what is
distinctive, we experience a superior delight and intensity of being, so
it may be that in parting with all that shuts us up in the spiritual
penthouse of an Ego--all, without exception or reserve--we may for the
first time know what true life is, and what are its ineffable
privileges. Yet it is not on this ground that acceptance can be hoped
for the conception of immortality here crudely and vaguely presented ill
contrast to that bourgeois eternity of individualism and the family
affections, which is probably the great charm of Spiritualism to the
majority of its proselytes. It is doubtful whether the things that "eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard," have ever taken stronghold of the
imagination, or reconciled it to the loss of all that is definitely
associated with the Joy and movement of living. Not as consummate bliss
can the dweller on the lower plane presume to command that transcendent
life. At the utmost he can but echo the revelation that came to the
troubled mind in "Sartor Resartus," "A man may do without happiness, and
instead thereof find blessedness." It is no sublimation of hope, but
the necessities of thought that compel us to seek the condition of true
being and immortality elsewhere than in the satisfactions of
individualism. True personality can only subsist in consciousness by
participation of that of which we can only say that it is the very
negation of individuality in any sense in which individuality can be
conceived by us. What is the content or "matter" of consciousness we
cannot define, save by vaguely calling it ideal. But we can say that in
that region individual interests and concerns will find no place. Nay,
more, we can affirm that only then has the influx of the new life a free
channel when the obstructions of individualism are already removed.
Hence the necessity of the mystic death, which is as truly a death as
that which restores our physical body to the elements. "Neither I am,
nor is aught mine, nor do I exist," a passage which has been well
explained by a Hindu Theosophist (Peary Chand Mittra), as meaning "that
when the spiritual state is arrived at, I and mine, which belong to the
finite mind, cease, and the soul, living in the universum and
participating in infinity with God, manifests its infinite state." I
cannot refrain from quoting the following passage from the same
instructive writer:--

Every human being has a soul which, while not separable from the brain
or nerves, is mind or jivatma, or sentient soul, but when regenerated or
spiritualized by yoga, it is free from bondage and manifests the divine
essence. It rises above all phenomenal states--joy, sorrow, grief,
fear, hope, and in fact all states resulting in pain or pleasure, and
becomes blissful, realizing immortality, infinitude and felicity of
wisdom within itself. The sentient soul is nervous, sensational,
emotional, phenomenal, and impressional. It constitutes the natural
life and is finite. The soul and the non-soul are thus the two
landmarks. What is non-soul is prakriti, or created. It is not the lot
of every one to know what soul is, and therefore millions live and die
possessing minds cultivated in intellect and feeling, but not raised to
the soul state. In proportion as one's soul is emancipated from
prakriti or sensuous bondage, in that proportion his approximation to
the soul state is attained; and it is this that constitutes disparities
in the intellectual, moral, and religious culture of human beings and
their consequent approximation to God.--Spiritual Stray Leaves,
Calcutta, 1879.

He also cites some words of Fichte, which prove that the like conclusion
is reached in the philosophy of Western idealism: "The real spirit which
comes to itself in human consciousness is to be regarded as an
impersonal pneuma--universal reason, nay, as the spirit of God Himself;
and the good of man's whole development, therefore, can be no other than
to substitute the universal for the individual consciousness."

That there may be, and are affirmed to be, intermediate stages, states,
or discrete degrees, will, of course, be understood. The aim of this
paper has been to call attention to the abstract condition of the
immortalized consciousness; negatively it is true, but it is on this
very account more suggestive of practical applications. The connection
of the Theosophical Society with the Spiritualist movement is so
intimately sympathetic, that I hope one of these may he pointed out
without offence. It is that immortality cannot be phenomenally
demonstrated. What I have called psychic survival can be, and probably
is. But immortality is the attainment of a state, and that state the
very negation of phenomenal existence. Another consequence refers to
the direction our culture should take. We have to compose ourselves to
death. Nothing less. We are each of us a complex of desires, passions,
interests, modes of thinking and feeling, opinions, prejudices, judgment
of others, likings and dislikings, affections, aims public and private.
These things, and whatever else constitutes, the recognizable content of
our present temporal individuality, are all in derogation of our ideal
of impersonal being--saving consciousness, the manifestation of being.
In some minute, imperfect, relative, and almost worthless sense we may
do right in many of our judgments, and be amiable in many of our
sympathies and affections. We cannot be sure even of this. Only people
unhabituated to introspection and self-analysis are quite sure of it.
These are ever those who are loudest in their censures, and most
dogmatic in their opinionative utterances. In some coarse, rude fashion
they are useful, it may be indispensable, to the world's work, which is
not ours, save in a transcendental sense and operation. We have to
strip ourselves of all that, and to seek perfect passionless
tranquillity. Then we may hope to die. Meditation, if it be deep, and
long, and frequent enough, will teach even our practical Western mind to
understand the Hindu mind in its yearning for Nirvana. One
infinitesimal atom of the great conglomerate of humanity, who enjoys the
temporal, sensual life, with its gratifications and excitements, as much
as most, will testify with unaffected sincerity that he would rather be
annihilated altogether than remain for ever what he knows himself to be,
or even recognizably like it. And he is a very average moral specimen.
I have heard it said, "The world's life and business would come to an
end, there would be an end to all its healthy activity, an end of
commerce, arts, manufactures, social intercourse, government, law, and
science, if we were all to devote ourselves to the practice of Yoga,
which is pretty much what your ideal comes to." And the criticism is
perfectly just and true. Only I believe it does not go quite far
enough. Not only the activities of the world, but the phenomenal world
itself, which is upheld in consciousness, would disappear or take new,
more interior, more living, and more significant forms, at least for
humanity, if the consciousness of humanity was itself raised to a
superior state. Readers of St. Martin, and of that impressive book of
the late James Hinton, "Man and his Dwelling-place," especially if they
have also by chance been students of the idealistic philosophies, will
not think this suggestion extravagant. If all the world were Yogis, the
world would have no need of those special activities, the ultimate end
and purpose of which, by-the-by, our critic would find it not easy to
define. And if only a few withdraw, the world can spare them. Enough of
that.

Only let us not talk of this ideal of impersonal, universal being in
individual consciousness as an unverified dream. Our sense and
impatience of limitations are the guarantees that they are not final and
insuperable. Whence is this power of standing outside myself, of
recognizing the worthlessness of the pseudo--judgments, of the
prejudices with their lurid colouring of passion, of the temporal
interests, of the ephemeral appetites, of all the sensibilities of
egoism, to which I nevertheless surrender myself so that they indeed
seem myself? Through and above this troubled atmosphere I see a being,
pure, passionless, rightly measuring the proportions and relations of
things, for whom there is, properly speaking, no present, with its
phantasms, falsities, and half-truths; who has nothing personal in the
sense of being opposed to the whole of related personalities: who sees
the truth rather than struggles logically towards it, and truth of which
I can at present form no conception; whose activities are unimpeded by
intellectual doubt, un-perverted by moral depravity, and who is
indifferent to results, because he has not to guide his conduct by
calculation of them, or by any estimate of their value. I look up to
him with awe, because in being passionless he sometimes seems to me to
be without love. Yet I know that this is not so; only that his love is
diffused by its range, and elevated in abstraction beyond my gaze and
comprehension. And I see in this being my ideal, my higher, my only
true, in a word, my immortal self.

--C.C. Massey




Chastity


Ideal woman is the most beautiful work of the evolution of forms (in our
days she is very often only a beautiful work of art). A beautiful woman
is the most attractive, charming, and lovely being that a man can
imagine. I never saw a male being who could lay any claims to manly
vigour, strength or courage, who was not an admirer of woman. Only a
profligate, a coward or a sneak would hate women; a hero and a man
admires woman, and is admired by her.

Women's love belongs to a complete man. Then she smiles on him his
human nature becomes aroused, his animal desires like little children
begin to clamour for bread, they do not want to be starved, they want to
satisfy their hunger. His whole soul flies towards the lovely being,
which attracts him with almost irresistible force, and if his higher
principles, his divine spirit, is not powerful enough to restrain him,
his soul follows the temptations of his physical body. Once again the
animal nature has subdued the divine. Woman rejoices in her victory,
and man is ashamed of his weakness; and instead of being a
representation of strength, he becomes an object of pity.

To be truly powerful a man must retain his power and never for a moment
lose it. To lose it is to surrender his divine nature to his animal
nature; to restrain his desires and retain his power, is to assert his
divine right, and to become more than a man--a god.

Eliphas Levi says: "To be an object of attraction for all women, you
must desire none;" and every one who has had a little experience of his
own must know that he is right. Woman wants what she cannot get, and
what she can get she does not want. Perhaps it is to the man endowed
with spiritual power, that the Bible refers, when it says: "To him who
has much, more shall be given, and from him who has little, that little
shall be taken away."

To become perfect it is not required that we should be born without any
animal desires. Such a person would not be much above an idiot; he
would be rightly despised and laughed at by every true man and woman;
but we must obtain the power to control our desires, instead of being
controlled by them; and here lies the true philosophy of temptation.

If a man has no higher aim in life than to eat and drink and propagate
his species; if all his aspirations and desires are centred in a wish
of living a happy life in the bosom of his family; there can be no
wrong if he follows the dictates of his nature and is satisfied with his
lot. When he dies, his family will mourn, his friends will say he was a
good fellow; they will give him a first-class funeral, and they will
perhaps write on his tombstone something like what I once saw in a
certain churchyard:

Here is the grave of John McBride,
He lived, got married, and died.

And that will be the end of Mr. John McBride, until in another
incarnation he will wake up again perhaps as Mr. John Smith, or
Ramchandra Row, or Patrick O'Flannegan, to find himself on much the same
level as he was before.

But if a man has higher aims and objects in life, if he wants to avoid
an endless cycle of re-incarnations, if he wants to become a master of
his destiny, then must he first become a master of himself. How can he
expect to be able to control the external forces of Nature, if he cannot
control the few little natural forces that reside within his own
insignificant body?

To do this, it is not necessary that a man should run away from his wife
and family, and leave them uncared for. Such a man would commence his
spiritual career with an act of injustice,--an act that like Banquo's
ghost would always haunt him and hinder him in his further progress. If
a man has taken upon himself responsibilities, he is bound to fulfill
them, and an act of cowardice would be a bad beginning for a work that
requires courage.

A celibate, who has no temptation and who has no one to care for but
himself, has undoubtedly superior advantages for meditation and study.
Being away from all irritating influences, he can lead what may be
called a selfish life; because he looks out only for his own spiritual
interest; but he has little opportunity to develop his will-power by
resisting temptations of every kind. But the man who is surrounded by
the latter, and is every day and every hour under the necessity of
exercising his will-power to resist their surging violence, will, if he
rightly uses these powers, become strong; he may not have as much
opportunity for study as the celibate, being more engrossed in material
cares; but when he rises up to a higher state in his next incarnation,
his will-power will be more developed, and he will be in the possession
of the password, which is CONTINENCE.

A slave cannot become a commander, until after he becomes free. A man
who is subject to his own animal desires, cannot command the animal
nature of others. A muscle becomes developed by its use, an instinct or
habit is strengthened in proportion as it is permitted to rule, a mental
power becomes developed by practice, and the principle of will grows
strong by exercise; and this is the use of temptations. To have strong
passions and to overcome them, makes man a hero. The sexual instinct is
the strongest of all, and he who vanquishes it, becomes a god.

The human soul admires a beautiful form, and is therefore an idolater.

The human spirit adores a principle, and is the true worshiper.

Marriage is the union of the male spirit with the female soul for the
purpose of propagating the species; but if in its place there is only a
union of a male and a female body, then marriage becomes merely a brutal
act, which lowers man and woman, not to the level of animals but below
them; because animals are restricted to certain seasons for the
exercise of their procreative powers; while man, being a reasonable
being, has it in his power to use or abuse them at all times.

But how many marriages do we find that are really spiritual and not
based on beauty of form or other considerations? How soon after the
wedding-day do they become disgusted with each other? What is the cause
of this? A man and a woman may marry and their characters may differ
widely. They may have different tastes, different opinions and
different inclinations. All those differences may disappear, and will
probably disappear; because by living together they become accustomed
to each other, and become equalized in time. Each influences the other,
and as a man may grow fond of a pet snake, whose presence at first
horrified him, so a man may put up with a disagreeable partner and
become fond of her in course of time.

But if the man allows full liberty to his animal passions, and exercises
his "legal rights" without restraint, these animal cravings which first
called so piteously for gratification, will soon be gorged, and flying
away laugh at the poor fool who nursed them in his breast. The wife
will come to know that her husband is a coward, because she sees him
squirm under the lash of his animal passions; and as woman loves
strength and power, so in proportion as he loses his love, will she lose
her confidence. He will look upon her as a burden, and she will look
upon him in disgust as a brute. Conjugal happiness will have departed,
and misery, divorce or death will be the end.

The remedy for all these evils is continence, and it has been our object
to show its necessity, for it was the object of this article.

--F. Hartmann




Zoroastrianism on the Septenary Constitution of Man


Many of the esoteric doctrines given out through the Theosophical
Society reveal a spirit akin to that of the older religions of the East,
especially the Vedic and the Zendic. Leaving aside the former, I
propose to point out by a few instances the close resemblance which the
doctrines of the old Zendic Scriptures, as far as they are now
preserved, bear to these recent teachings.

Any ordinary Parsi, while reciting his daily Niyashes, Gehs and Yashts,
provided he yields to the curiosity of looking into the meanings of what
he recites, will, with a little exertion, perceive how the same ideas,
only clothed in a more intelligible and comprehensive garb, are
reflected in these teachings. The description of the septenary
constitution of man found in the 54th chapter of the Yasna, one of the
most authoritative books of the Mazdiasnian religion, shows the identity
of the doctrines of Avesta and the esoteric philosophy. Indeed, as a
Mazdiasnian, I felt quite ashamed that, having such undeniable and
unmistakable evidence before their eyes, the Zoroastrians of the present
day should not avail themselves of the opportunity offered of throwing
light upon their now entirely misunderstood and misinterpreted
Scriptures by the assistance and under the guidance of the Theosophical
Society. If Zend scholars and students of Avesta would only care to
study and search for themselves, they would, perhaps, find to assist
them, men who are in possession of the right and only key to the true
esoteric wisdom; men, who would be willing to guide and help them to
reach the true and hidden meaning, and to supply them with the missing
links that have resulted in such painful gaps as to leave the meaning
meaningless, and to create in the mind of the perplexed student doubts
that finally culminate in a thorough unbelief in his own religion. Who
knows but they may find some of their own co-religionists, who, aloof
from the world, have to this day preserved the glorious truths of their
once mighty religion, and who, hidden in the recesses of solitary
mountains and unknown silent caves, are still in possession of; and
exercising, mighty powers, the heirloom of the ancient Magi. Our
Scriptures say that ancient Mobeds were Yogis, who had the power of
making themselves simultaneously visible at different places, even
though hundreds of miles apart, and also that they could heal the sick
and work that which would now appear to us miraculous. All this was
considered facts but two or three centuries back, as no reader of old
books (mostly Persian) is unacquainted with, or will disbelieve a priori
unless his mind is irretrievably biassed by modern secular education.
The story about the Mobed and Emperor Akbar and of the latter's
conversion, is a well-known historical fact, requiring no proof.

I will first of all quote side by side the two passages referring to the
septenary nature of man as I find them in our Scriptures and the
THEOSOPHIST--

Sub-divisions of septenary Sub-divisions of septenary
man according to the man according to Yasna
Occultists. (chap.54, para. I).

1. The Physical body, com- 1. Tanwas-i.e., body(the
posed wholly of matter in its self ) that consists of bones
grossest and most tangible -grossest form of matter.
form.

2. The Vital principle-(or Jiva)- 2. Ushtanas-Vital heat
a form of force indestructible, (or force).
and when disconnected with
one set of atoms, becoming
attracted immediately by others.

3. The Astral body (Linga- 3. Keherpas Aerial form,
sharira) composed of highly the airy mould, (Per. Kaleb).
etherealized matter; in its
habitual passive state, the
perfect but very shadowy
duplicate of the body; its
activity, consolidation and
form depending entirely on
the Kama-rupa.

4. The Astral shape (Kama- 4. Tevishis-Will, or where
rupa or body of desire, a sentient consciousness is
principle defining the con- formed, also fore-knowledge.
figuration of--

5. The animal or Physical 5. Baodhas (in Sanskrit,
intelligence or Conscious- Buddhi)-Body of physical
ness or Ego, analogous to, consciousness, perception by
though proportionally higher the senses or animal soul.
in the senses or the animal
degree than the reason,
instinct, memory, imagination
&c., existing in the higher
animals.

6. The Higher or Spiritual 6. Urawanem (Per. Rawan)
intelligence or consciousness, -Soul, that which gets its
spiritual Ego, in which or reward or punishment
mainly resides the sense of after death.
consciousness in the perfect
man, though the lower dimmer
animal consciousness co-exists
in No. 5.

7. The Spirit-an emanation from 7. Frawashem or Farohar-
the ABSOLUTE uncreated; eternal; Spirit (the guiding energy
a state rather than a being. which is with every man,
is absolutely independent,
and, without mixing with
any worldly object, leads
man to good. The spark
of divinity in every being).


The above is given in the Avesta as follows:--

"We declare and positively make known this (that) we offer (our) entire
property (which is) the body (the self consisting of) bones (tanwas),
vital heat (ushtanas), aerial form (keherpas), knowledge (tevishis),
consciousness (baodhas), soul (urwanem), and spirit (frawashem), to the
prosperous, truth-coherent (and) pure Gathas (prayers)."

The ordinary Gujarathi translation differs from Spiegel's, and this
latter differs very slightly from what is here given. Yet in the
present translation there has been made no addition to, or omission
from, the original wording of the Zend text. The grammatical
construction also has been preserved intact. The only difference,
therefore, between the current translations and the one here given is
that ours is in accordance with the modern corrections of philological
research which make it more intelligible, and the idea perfectly clear
to the reader.

The word translated "aerial form" has come down to us without undergoing
any change in the meaning. It is the modern Persian word kaleb, which
means a mould, a shape into which a thing is cast, to take a certain
form and features. The next word is one about which there is a great
difference of opinion. It is by some called strength, durability, i.e.,
that power which gives tenacity to and sustains the nerves. Others
explain it as that quality in a man of rank and position which makes him
perceive the result of certain events (causes), and thus helps him in
being prepared to meet them. This meaning is suggestive, though we
translate it as knowledge, or foreknowledge rather, with the greatest
diffidence. The eighth word is quite clear. That inward feeling which
tells a man that he knows this or that, that he has or can do certain
things--is perception and consciousness. It is the inner conviction,
knowledge and its possession. The ninth word is again one which has
retained its meaning and has been in use up to the present day. The
reader will at once recognize that it is the origin of the modern word
Rawan. It is (metaphorically) the king, the conscious motor or agent in
man. It is that something which depends upon and is benefited or injured
by the foregoing attributes. We say depends upon, because its progress
entirely consists in the development of those attributes. If they are
neglected, it becomes weak and degenerated, and disappears. If they
ascend on the moral and spiritual scale, it gains strength and vigour
and becomes more blended than ever to the Divine essence--the seventh
principle. But how does it become attracted toward its monad? The tenth
word answers the question. This is the Divine essence in man. But this
is only the irresponsible minister (this completes the metaphor). The
real master is the king, the spiritual soul. It must have the
willingness and power to see and follow the course pointed out by the
pure spirit. The vizir's business is only to represent a point of
attraction, towards which the king should turn. It is for the king to
see and act accordingly for the glory of his own self. The minister or
spirit can neither compel nor constrain. It inspires and electrifies
into action; but to benefit by the inspiration, to take advantage of
it, is left to the option of the spiritual soul.

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