THE PATH. VOL. IJ:J:, IN D EX. A A Buddhist Doctrine ........... Achievement, Escape or.. ......... .. 150 Action, Meditation and. . . . . . . . . ..... ....... 343 Activities Theosophical. .............. 27,65, 104, 132, 171,203, 235, 259, 2!)8, 331, 361 A Curious Tale. . . . ......... . ...... ;........ 214 Amonll the Dead............................................. ....... ..... 278 Analogies ..................... ...... 237 Answers to Questioners ..................................... 21,96, 123,250, 353 A Plea for the Children ........... 222 A Servant of the Masters... ... . .. .. ...... .... .... ... . ....... .............. 8 B Be It Done Unto Thee According to Thy Desire... ............................ 310 Rhagavad-Gita, The ................................. 33,73, 137, 173, 205,248,269 Bijou of Asia (Literary Note). . . . . . . . . . . .. 166 Blavatsky, H. P. & Col. H. S. Olcott .............. 244 ... and The TheolOphical Society.............................. ....... 143 Blood, The Serpent's........ . ................... 313 Buddhist Doctrine, A ............. : ......................................... 183 c Centres, General Theosophical .............................................. 352 Ceylon and Theosophy (Correspondence) .................................... 234 Chelaship, To Aspirants for ................ 105 Children, A Plea for the. ..... ............. 222 Christian Science, (Literary Notes)..... .. .. . .. ...... ...................... 165 Col. Olcott's Tour. . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... .... .. . ... 364 of Raja Yoga Philosophy (Literary Note) .......... 330 Concentration, Culture of. . . . . . . . .. ... .. 116 Digitized by Google iv THE PATH. lVol. III . COnsciOUSDesI, The Planes of. . . . .............................. 287 Contemporary Uterature and Theosophy......................... ......... 92, 384, Convention, Theosophical.... . . . . . . . . . . . .. ............... 66 Conversations on Occultism... .... ........... .. 17, 540 94, 125, 160, 187, 219 Correspondence. . . .. . . .... ...... . . .. . . . . .. ....................... 97, 233, 361 Course of Theosophicai Reading (Literary Note) ... " ... . 298 Culture of Concentration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 116 Curious Tale, A............................................................ 284 D f>ead, Among the ......................................................... 278 DesiR', Be It Done Unto Thee According to Thy .............................. 310 Desirability of Reviving Sanserit Literaiure (Uterary Note). . ... 58 Diet, Tbeosophic. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . .. .. . . .... . . . .. . ... .. . .. .. .... ...... 290 Doctrine, A Buddhist...... . .................. .. , 183 Doctrine, The Secret. ........................................... 97, 133.233. 268 Dream of the Gironde (Literary Note) ....................................... 60,165 Dweller on the Threshold, The. . . . . . . . .. .............................. 281 E Epitome of Theosophy (Literary Note) ........................................ 166 Escape or Achievement? , . . . . . . . . 150 G Gates of Gold, Through the ................................................. 71 General Theosophical Centres ....................... 352 German Mystic, Some Teachings of a ........... 110, 153, 177.224 Get Your Luggage Ready ................................................ 366 Gifts, Spiritual, and Their Attainment ........................................ 339 Golden Rules-of Huddhism (Literary Note)............................... .... 24 Guide to Theosophy (Literary Note).. ....... .... ...... ........ ...... 59 II Heredity, Is it a Puzzle .................................................... 256 Hestia (Literary Note)... . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 332 How the Christ Child Was Born ..... ............... 301 H. r. Blavatsky and Col. H. S. Olcott. ... ... ......... . .................... 244 Human Life. The Three Planes of .............. 147 I "Idylls of the King," Theosophy in ...... , . . 79 Interest, TheHIGAL f!GTllIVITllIES. IN AMERICA ST. LOUlS.-A charter was issued, March 17th, 1888, to the Esh Jlfaof)n T. S. of St. Louis, Mo. Its organization is for the present private. MICHIGAN.-On April 3d, 1888, a charter was issued to the Lotus T. S., located in Michigan. It is a private society. DR. FRANZ HARTMANN, F. T. 5., has been making a visit to Phila-delphia, where he was hospitably entertained by the President of the Krishna Branch. On April 7th he addressed a meeting of the Krishna Brethren, giving an account of his intimacy and his travels with our honored chief, Madame Blavatsky, and responding to the questions of members upon Theosophic doctrine. A similar privilege had been given to the Aryan T. S. of New York on March 27th. PHILADELPHIA.-Bro. Carl F. Redwitz has resigned the Presidency of the Krishna T. S., Philadelphia, because of his removal to New York, and Bro. Henry B. Foulke has been elected his successor. In the second city of itized by Goo 66 THE PATH. the Union there shQuld be material for a strong organization, and the PATH, which has copious experience of the liberality of the existing membership, . will welcome every item showing its growth and vigoT. CLEVELAND, OHIO.-From here we have intimations that a new Br.anch will very soon be asked for. We have some earnest members there. IN WILKESBARRE, PA., a Sunday paper has of late opened its columns to theosophical doctrine, and aNew York theosophist has contributed nine articles expounding Re-incarnation, Karma, and other interesting subjects. These are now being collected and will soon be reprinted. @HEOSOPHIGAL IN ILLS. According to notice the Ptesidents, Delegates, and Councillors of the American Section, Theosophical Society, met in convention at the Sherman House, Chicago, Ills., on April 22d, 1888. We subjoin an excellent report made by the Chicago Inler-Ocean. The proceedings in full are being printed, and will make a large pamphlet which will be sent to all theosophists in the U. S. free, and will be sold to all desiring to purchase. It will con-tain, among other things, an excellent paper by Dr. J. D. Buck of Cincin-nati, Ohio. MEETING OF THE FIRST NATIONAL CONVENTION OF AMERICAN THEOSOPHISTS. ADDRESSES BY SEVERAL PROMINENT BELIEVERS IN OCCULTISM.--A LETTER Io-R01ll M1IIE. BLAVATSKY.--DR. ELLIOT COVES ELEl.'TED CHAIRMAN.--LENGTHY AND LEARNED ELUCIDATIONS OF TH.: Eso-TERIC FAITH. A MEETING OF THE MYSTICS. Nearly seventy-five disciples of the doctrine of theosophy assembled in the club-room of the Sherman House yesterday to listen to the deliberations and papers read at the first National convention the body has ever held. A delegate from England-from Mme. Blavatsky-was present in the person of Dr. A. Keightley of London, and representatives from many of the States were likewise present. The mornin!) session was of a purely executive character, and admittance to any save the regular accredited theosophists was denied. A long auto-graph letter from Mme. Blavatsky was presented by her emissary, Dr. Keightley, wherein the lady spoke with much tenderness of her watchfulness and abiding Digitized by Google 1888.] THEOSOPHICAL CONVENTION. 67 faith in the aim to do good to the assembly then gathered, and of her inability to be there .. in esse," concluding with an ardent expression of hope that the result would be of lasting good. During the reading of this personal missive-for each one present deemed it a personal letter-there was what one of the ladies afterward expressed as "a wave of unity of love and brotherhood" in the room, and it was plain to be seen that the responsive-ness of their inner natures had been touched. A note of congratulation was also read from Mr. Charles Johnston of Dublin, Ireland, a prominent theosophist in the far-away land, in which he spoke of the advance of the movement of universal brotherhood and unity. Dr. Elliott Coues was made chairman of the convention at this preliminary meeting, and almost without exception the officers of the preceding year were re-elected. AT THE AFTERNOON SESSION, which was somewhat delayed, the believers were present in good numbers, together with a few of the uninitiated, who; however, did not come to scoff and be hypocritical, but who were interested" intellectually" in the esoteric sciencp.. The majority of those present were in the prime of life, and were profounrl scholars in the mystic lore and subtleties that pertain to theosophy and its scientific attachments. Some few, on the contrary, as yet untutored in the mysteries of the occult, were inclined to be skittish, but were speedily brought to a sense of decorum by their more advanced fellows. About one hundred and fifty were present in all. In the absence of Dr. Elliotl Coues, Dr. Buck was called to the chair by a unanimous vote. The auditing committee's report was read by the assistant secretary, and was immediately followed by the report of the com-mittees to nominate members of the general council. The general council members are: Edward W. Parker, Mrs. M. :\1. Phelon, Mrs. E. C. Cush-man, F. S. Collins, E. D. Hammond, Judge O'Rourke, James Taylor, Louise A. Off, :\Irs. H. E. Morey, Mrs. A. N. Savery,Mrs. M. Bangle, S. C. Gould, Alexander Fullerton, W. H. Cornell, Dr. Borglum, W. W. Allen, J. M. Wheeler, Mrs. M. L. Brainard, George M. Sweet, Mrs. K. Westen-dorf, A. 0. Robinson, and others. Miscellaneous business was then entered upon, and a place of meeting for the next convention fixed. It was decided that the next convention was to be held in Cincinnati, in April, on the Sunday corresponding to that of yesterday, subject, however, to the revision of the executive committee. The Secretary was authorized to print the proceedings in full. MR. G. M. STEARNS, OF BOSTON, read a very creditable paper upon the subject of" Our W (lrk." Said he : " The path of wisdom is the path of duty. The disciple performs the action, Digitized by Google 68 THE PATH. [May, and in doing so finds wisdom. Whoever sees in action action, he among men is possessed of spiritual illumination. He is the man of right action, and the doer of all action." Our work, whether as a theosophical society or as a branch, or as individual members of a branch, is in reality one. The beginning of all work is in the soul. However dark the path may be, light is promised; however complex the problem, the solution was at hand. The great life-work of man was to learn to unselfishly strive to help others. Growth and real knowledge lead instinctively. to practical effort for others. We learn that we may teach, and teach that we may learn; and such a practical union, wherever formed, is a true theosophical society and doing true theosophical work. The question which faces every theosophical society is: "How may we realize these highest aspirations?" TheosoPQY can never be learned through matter. There are several ways to prosper in its study. First, hold public meetings and invite c0nservative talkers there. Colonel Olcott. in India, is holding such meetings anrl doing such work. In America it does not seem to succeed so well. Why, India has more than five times as many branches as America. and because the work is con-ducted systematically and wisely, because the movement in India is a National movement, SUPPORTED BY NATIONAL THOUGHT. Secondly, publish books and pamphlet'1, circulate leaflets, for they do more to unify men by making friends than mutual study can do. Thirdly, establish a system of correspondence by various methods. Fourthly, let there be some regular plan of conducting meetings. Fifthly, giving and receiving help and suggestions, for it was Emerson who said: "He who speaks to himself speaks to eternity." During the reading of the address Dr. Coues entered the room and assumed possession of the chair vacated by Dr. Buck. DR. BUCK'S PAPER. Then Dr. Buck was called on to read a paper. He prefaced his remarks by saying that it was a paper he had read some time ago to a mixed assem-bly of skeptics and followers. In substance he said: Every revelation of truth is a divine revelation in man, and to separate these revelations into groups, to call this a science and that a religion, while it may be very con-venient, is not strictly correct. The reality of nature is hart.lly yet compre-hended by anyone. The worst of II isms," present or prospective, is that of materialism. The deification of matter is the degradation of man. To mate-rialize is to brutalize, and to brutalize is to destroy. The great bulk of those who formed the advance guard of truth were women; but in this triumphal march toward liberty the weak, the poor, and the degraded have equal share, for the woman, clad with the sun, is a divine mother of all souls, rather than of those alone whose lines have fallen in pleasant places. Digitized by Google 1888.J THEOSOPHICAL CONVENTION. , THE ORIGIN OF MAN 69 is a profound mystery, his nature a mystery, and the country to which he inevitably tends the profoundest mystery of all. We only know this says materialism: To-morrow we die; let us eat, drink, and be merry. We need only look around and be honest in our glance to assure ourselves of the truth of this statement. What is the key to the labyrinth? Man; for he is the epitome of all. Both nature and man will tell the story of their being if man will but listen to the wondrous story. But he who prefers to hold fast to ideas already preconceived-what he thinks ought to be-will but retard the general move-ment of the race. Who built the palaces of Yucatan or the pyramids of Egypt? Who built that other city on which Troy was founded? Why do we refer to those anci!!nt ruins? Simply because we of to-day have imagined in our ignorance that our predecessors were barbarous, and we alone possessed of wisdom. Before people smile at us let them tell us whence the origin of the signs and knowledge of the zodiac. We hear a good deal about man's environment, the survival of the fittest, etc. Consider all the varying conditions of life-food, occupation, the differep..ce in religious and social life-from a material stand-point, and tell us, if you can, how it happens that a semblance of the human still remains. Theosophy interro-gates nature, and interrogates one's own soul. Suppose we say that Theo-sophy is of all philosophies the philosophy, of all religions the religion, of all sciences the science. WHAT IS RELIGION "PER SE"? Actually, it is the method by which man discovers his relation to God. It does not have to do with formulated results, but is ever changing. We are, therefore, admonished to get knowledge and wisdom .. but withal to get it understandingly. Wisdom consists of knowing nature. Let man but interrogate nature, and she will fill his soul with anthems and symphonies of knowledge. Yet this is but the nature side of man. There is yet the spiritual; for the consciousness of man ever fluctuates between the natural and spiritual. We thus find man a cunditioned soul, to know and understand the natural and the spiritual. Suppose we accept the doctrine of reincarnation-ten-tatively if you choose. We are here preparing incarnations for the next gene-ration. If this be true, what prevents man from climbing up to God? What, but his lust and ambition and earthly vanities. And thus it is seen that the-osophy unfolds a study of evolution, but more advanced than that evolution which ordinary science treats of. But why talk of evolution, and say nothing about involution-polarity, the inward movement from the circumference of the circle. The whole of life is a process of gestation by which man is being created. JUST ONE LAST PHA8E of the subject. Many persons stolidly regard death. Well, we have so misconceived life, what wonder that we misconceive death. In nature Dig 70 THE PATH. [May, nothing dies. The change called death is but the rest in Paradise, and when working conscientiously man may climb up to the Mount of Transfigura-tion and the unfolding of the Divine. He may read his destiny in the living light. The ageing of the body is but the blossoming ofthe soul. The speaker summed up the ultimate of theosophy in the following poem :' 'J All love must first be cast aside-All things that men esteem their own-And truth be taken as a bride Who reigns supreme, and reigns alone. She will not come for lower price; Her sweetness man can never know, Who seeks this virgin to entice, To share his love with things below. She does not ask for written creeds, The faith her lover need profe5&, But she demands unselfish deeds, Nor will be satisfied with less. Ah! she will gladly give her hand, And fondly cling to his embrace, Whose love is passionate and grand For all the stricken human race. But lest he should profess a love Of sentiments that only seem Sincere intention, he must prove By making sacrifice supreme. Then she will slowly lead him on, By suffering and sharp ordeal, Until a victory is won, And he begins to sense the real. Mainly by suffering he grows Where his real faculties commence; Then he by effort of his own The painful pilgrimage has trod. At last he finds himself alone With nature and with nature's God. He feels that sanity is won; He knows to him God is revealed. He basks in the creative sun, By clouds of darkness long concealed; He finds he lives, and breathes, and moves With instinct never known before, As to his frame his mighty loves Its long lost faculties restore. " SECRETARY Jl:DGE then delivered a veritable sermon on the words "Beware of the JIlusions of Matter. .. He was followed by Dr. Coues, who said : " Just so far as a man comes to seeing that which is trlie, just so far back is the source of what he sees. There is no new thing under the sun. A little y.lullger, a little less developed, and therefore a little less true; for all untruth is but the imperfection of that which in the end is the process of nature come to be perfected in it. Every human being does in his own self epitomize the nature of God, and it is only a question of time until it can reach that temple necessary to reach the height of our existence." This ended the Convention, so far as the public was concerned, the remainder of the time being taken up in a semi-official way.' The delegates were: Professor Elliott Coues, Washington; Stanley B. Sexton, Chicago; Dr. W. P. Phelon, Chicago; Elliott B. Page, St. Louis ; William Q. Judge, New York; Dr. J. H. Ohmann-Dumesniel, St. Louis; Dr. J. D. Buck, Cincinnati; George 1\1. Stearns, Boston ;F. A. Nims, Muskegon; Dr. M. J. Gahan, Grand I:sland, Neb; W. S. Wing, Omaha, Nebraska; Dr. J. B. W. La Pierre, Minneapolis; Dr. A Keightley, London, 1 From S""""",,mal4, by Lawrence Oliphant. Digitized by Google 1888.] THE GATES OF GOLD. 71 England, and others. Proxies were held by delegates for branches in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Malden, Mass., Philadelphia, and other places. Another meeting was held at the home of Stanley B. Sexton on the 23d. On the evening of ud William Q. Judge delivered an address to the Spiritualists at Martine's Hall. Dr. Coues delivered an address on the 26th before the Western Society for Psychical Research. The whole affair was full of encouragement. Loyalty to the cause, to the Masters, and to Mme. H. P. Blavatsky was felt and declared by all. "(9HE GiAJIlES OFf GiOllD." .. When the strong man has crossed the threshold he speaks no more to those at the other (this) side. And even the words he utters when he is outside are so full of mystery, so veiled and profound, that only those who follow in his steps can see the light within them." - Through I h ~ Gain 0/ Goltl, p. 19. He fails to speak when he has crossed, because, if he did, they would neither hear nor understand him. All the language he can use when on this side is language based upon experience gained outside the Gates, and when he uses that language, it calls up in the minds of his hearers only the ideas corresponding to the plane they are on and experience they have undergone; for if he speaks of that kind of idea and experience which he has found on the other side, his hearers do not know what is beneath his words, and therefore his utterances seem profound. They are not veiled and profound because he wishes to be a mystic whose words no one can expound, but solely because of the necessities of the case. He is willing and anxious to tell all who wish to know, but cannot convey what he desires, and he is sometimes accused of being unnecessarily vague and misleading. But there are some who pretend to have passed through these Gates and who utter mere nothings, mere juggles of words that cannot be under-stood because then: is nothing behind them rooted in experience. Then the question arises, " How are we to distinguish between these two?" There are two ways. I. By having an immense erudition, a profound knowledge of the various and numberless utterances of those known Masters throughout the ages whose words are full of power. But this is obviously an immense and difficult task, one which involves years devoted to reading and a rarely-found retentiveness of memory. So it cannot be the one most useful to us. It is the path of mere book-knowledge. 2. The other mode is by testing those utterances by our intuition. There is scarcely anyone who has not got an internal voice -a silent mon-itor- who, so to say, strikes within us the bell that corresponds to truth, Digitized by Google 72 THE PATH. [May, 1888. just as a piano's wires each report the vibrations peculiar to it, but not due to striking the wire itself. It is just as if we had within us a series of wires whose vibrations are all true, but which will not be vibrated except by those words and propositions which arc in themselves true. So that false and pretending individual who speaks in veiled lauguage only mere nothingness will never vibrate within us those wires which correspond to truth. But when one has been to and through those Gates spe:tks ordinary words really veiling grand ideas. then all the invisible wires within immedi-ately vibrate in unison. The inner monitor has struck them, and we feel that he has said what is true, and whether we understand him or not we feel the power of the vibration and the value of the words we have heard. Many persons are inclined to doubt the existence in themselves of this intuition, who in fact posses!t it. It is a common heritage of man. and only needs unselfish effort to develop it. Many selfish men have it in their selfish lives: many a great financier and manager has it and exercises it. This is merely its lowest use and expression. By constantly referring mentally all propositions to it and thus giving it an opportunity for growth, it will grow and speak soon with no uncertain tones. This is what is meant in old Hindu books by the expression, "a knowledge of the real meaning of sacred books." It ought to be cultivated because it is one of the first steps in knowing ourselves and understanding others. In this civilization e!>pecial1y we are inclined to look outside instead of inside ourselves. Nearly all our progress is material and thus superficial. Spirit is neglected or forgotten, while that which is not spirit is enshrined as such. The intuitions of the little child are stifled until at last they are almost lost, leaving the many at the mercy of judgments based upon ex-terior reason. How, then, can one who has been near the Golden Gates-much more he who passed through them-be other than silent in surround-ings where the golden refulgence is unknown or denied. Obliged to use the words of his fellow travellers. he gives them a meaning unknown to them, or detaches them from their accustomed relation. Hence he is some-times vague, often misleading, seldom 'Properly understood. But not lost are any of these words, for they sound through the ages, and in future eras they wiJI turn themselves into sentences of gold in the hearts of disciples yet to come. MOULVIE. SPECIAL NOTICE. Since complaints have reached us about the non-delivery of the PATH in foreign countries, we wish to state that we are not responsible for its de-livery except to those ordering from us either dfrectly or through our agent, the Theosophical Publication Society, 78 Clarendon Road, Notting Hill, London, England. The price for England, post-free, is 8 shillings. The living soul is not woman, nor man, nor neuter; whatever body it takes, witb that it is joined only. OM. 1 NOTB.-This meeting was devoted to initiation and other matters. Digitized by Google ----------VOL. Ill. Nay I but once more Take lIIyl&at word. 1Iy u tmo.t meaning have! Precious tbou art to Me ; right well beloved ! Ll.ten I I tell thee for tby comfort thIB. Give Me thy heart I adore Me I eerve Me I cling In faith and love and reverence to Me ! I!o .blllt thou come to Me I I proml"" true. For thou art neet to Me I And let 110 thoee Rltee aud wrtt duties I Fly to me lIlone ! Malte Me thy 81nllie refnlle I I will free Thy 10ul from allite alna I Be of 1l00d ch.,.,.. I -B"1I(/4H4-GillJ, ell. 18. THE PATH. JUNE, ISS8. NO3 The Theosophical Society, as such, is nol responsible for any opinion or declaralion ill Ihis magazine, ~ , whomsoever expressed, unless conlained in all oJlicial document. Where any article, or statement, has the author's name attached, he alone is responsible, and for those which are unsigned, the Editor will be accountablt'. (9HE BHAGA V AD-GIJIlA. (Continued from May number.) We have seen that Devotion must be attained by that student who desires to reach enlightment. This is what is meant by Krishna's reply to Atjuna, at the condusion of the second chapter. . "When he has put away all desires which enter the heart, and is satis fied by the Self in himself. he is then said to be confirmed in spiritual knowl edge)' It is not possible to be wholly given up to the dictates of the Spirit while any desires that come into the heart are permitted to engross the attention. or course the person described here is one who has gone much higher in development. than most of us have been able to. But we ought to set up a high ideal at which to aim,' for a low one gives a lower result at the. expense of the same effort. We should not put before us an aim less than Digitized by Google 74 THE PATH. [June, the highest merely because it seems that our success will not be as great as we think it ought to be. It is not so much the clearly perceived outward result that counts, as the motive, effort, and aim, for judgment is not passed upon us among the things of sense where human time exists, but in that larger sphere of being where time ceases, and where we are confronted by what we are and not by what we have done. That which we have done touches us only in mortal life among the delusions of material existence; . but the motives with which we live our lives go to make up our greater being, our larger life, our tiuer self. Do actions we must, for no mortal can live without performing actions; those bring us back to earth for many weary incarnations, perhaps to final failure, unless the lesson is learned that they must be done with the right motive and the true aim. That stage reached, they affect us no more, for, like Krishna, we become the perfect performers of all action. And in so far as we purify and elevate the motive and the aim, we become spiritually enlightened, reaching in time the power to see what should be done and what refrained from. Many would-be occultists, as well as some theosophists, leave out of sight this chapter's teaching. Devotion has no charms for them; they leave it to those who would be good men, no matter what their creed or philoso-phy, and attention is paid to reading books, either new or old, upon magic, upon ceremonial, or any other of the manifold delusions. Nor is this er-roneous practice newly risen. It was common among the alchemists, and the result in some cases is that students now waste valuable years in mas-tering ceremonial, Rosicrucianism, talismanic lore, and what not, as laid down in the books, while all of it is either useless mental lumber or posi-tively dangerous. I do not mean it to be understood that there never was real Rosicru-cianism, or that ceremonial magic yields no results, or that there is no science of talismans. There are realities of which these, as now known, are shadows. But we might as well expect to find the soul by attentively studying the body, as to know the truths behind the influence of talismans or ceremonial magic by studying the books now extant upon those subjects. The medileval so-called magicians have left a mass of writings that are now a delusion and a snare for students, theosophical and non-theosophical. In these are minute directions for various sorts of practices, but they are all the attempts of men to enable mortals, by methods altogether outward, to control the astral or natural world. Success did not come to these practi-tioners, nor will much else save failure be the portion of those of our own day who follow their directions. In most cases of the old European so-called sorcerers and writers on magic, their published lucubrations are only salves to disappointed vanity; in the rest, mere reduplications of formulre left by their predecessors. Paracelsus positively declares that true magic i ~ Dig J888.J THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. 75 within the m a n ~ part of his inner nature, potential at first, active after development, and that ceremonies or formulre are the veriest rubbish unless the person using them is himself a magician. In the practice of ceremonial magic, where certain geometrical and other figures are to be used with the aid of prayers and invocations, there lies positive danger. This danger is increased if the student follows the practice for the sake of gain or glory or power or mere wonder seeking,-all of these being selfish. In this ceremonial the operator, or self-styled magus, surrounds himself with a circle or an arrangement of triangles, the use and purpose of which are to protect him from whatever sprites he may arouse. Mark that well! It is for protection. Protection of this sort would not be needed or thought of unless a fear lurked inside that the shades or demons had power to hurL So at the outset, fear, the product of ignorance, is fully present. The next important thing to be noted is that a sword has to enter into the conjuration. This is advised because the demons are said to fear sharp steel. Now Jesus said that he who lived by the sword should perish by the sword. By this he meant just what we are talking about. Ceremonial magic involves at almost every step the use of a sword. After the invocator or magus has used the ceremonial, say with success, for some time, he at last creates within his aura, or what Swedenborg called his sphere, a duplicate of what he had previously used and pictured on the floor or walls. In this he is no longer master, for, it being placed in that part of his nature of which he is ignorant, the sword of metal becomes an astral sword with the handle held by the demons or influences he unwisely raised. They then attack him where no defence can be interposed-on the astral and mental planes, and, just as surely as the wise man's words were uttered, he at last perishes by the weapon he himself used. This danger, thus roughly outlined, is no mere figment of the brain. It is positive, actual, immanent in the practice. No book study will give a man the power to make the constitutional changes, as well as psychical alterations, needed before he is commander of immaterial forces. But these latter may be temporarily evoked and made acquainted with us by pursuing certain methods. That is the beginning. Their tum is sure to come, and, obeying a law of their nature, they take what has sometimes been called their "revenge." For all such practices call only upon the lower, unspiritual part of our nature, and that clothes such beings with cor-responding attributes. Their" revenge" consists in bringing on inflamma-tions in the moral character which will eventuate in a development of evil passions, atrophy of concentration, destruction of memory, ending at last in a miserable conclusion to life, an almost total failure to use the opportunities for progress presented by that incarnation. Therefore I said, it is all either useless meptallumber or positively dangerous. Digitized by Google 76 THE PATH. [June, In history and in our own experience there is abundant evidence that the Bhagavad-Gita is right in saying "spiritual knowledge includes e\'ery action without exception," and that it is to be attained by means of devo-tion. Ignorant men who had no access to books have by their inward sense perceived the real truth of things, not only those round about them. but relating to the larger conl-erns of nature. Jacob Bcehme was wholly unlettered, but he knew the truth. His writings show an acquaintance, not to be then gained from books, with the lIue doctrines found in the Hindu scriptures and secret books. In Germany to-day are men known to mC', who, more unlearned ret than Jacob Boehme was, know many things still mysteries for our learned theosophists who can boast of college educatiOl'. The reason is that these men have attained to devotion, and thereby cleared away from before the eye of the soul the clouds of sense whose shadows obscure our view of truth. I do not decry or despise learning; it is a great possession; but if the learned man were a devoted one in the sense of the Bhagavad-Gita, how much wider would be the sweep of his intellection no one could calculate. Learning of the human sort is not despised among the highest occul-tists, even among the Adepts. They use it and acquire it. They accumu-late the record of the experiences of seers and devoted men of small learning for long periods of time, until a great master of both learning and devotion arises who, by reason of his profound knowledge joined to devotion, can make the wonderful deductions in the possession of The Lodge respecting matters so far beyond us that they can with difficulty be imagined. But this again proves that devotion is the first and best. for these extraordinary Masters would not appear unless devotion had been the aim of their existence, Without devotion a vast confusion arises within us that has been likened by some to a, whirling motion, by others to the inrushing, o\'er-powering flow of turbid waters. Boehme caBs it in some aspeots "The Turba." It is the delusion produced by the senses. And so Krishna, in closing the second lecture, says: .. Let a man, restraining all these, remain in devotion when at rest, and intent on me alone. For he whose senses are under his control possesses spiritual knowledge. Attachment to objects of sense arises in a man who meditates upon them; from attachment arises nesire; from desire passion springs up ; from passion comes from bewilderment, c,onfu-sion of the memory; from confusion of the memory, destruction of the intellect; from destruction of the intellect he perishes. , But he who approaches the objects of sense with senses free from love and hate and beneath his own control, having his soul well-disposed, attains to tranquillity of thought. 'In this tranquillity there springs up in him a separation from an troubles. For the mind of him whose thoughts are tranquil soon becomes perfect in concentration." Digitized by Google 1888.J THE BHAGAVAD-GITA. 77 A very beautiful portion of the Sanatsujatiya maybe read with profit here.1 "Some say that freedom from death results from action; and others that death exists not. Hear me explain this, 0 King! -have no misgivings about it. "Both truths, 0 Kshatriya, have been current from the beginning. The-wise maintain what is called delusion to be death. I verily call heed-lessness death; and likewise I call freedom from heedlessness immortality. Through heedlessness verily were the demons vanquished; and through freedom from it the gods attained to the Brahman. Death, verily, does not devour living creatures like a tiger; for, indeed, his form is not to be perceived. Heedlessness develops in men as desire, and afterwards as wrath, and in the shape of delusion. And then traveling in devious paths, through egoism, one does not attain to union with the Self. Those who are deluded by it. and who remain under its influence, depart from this world and then again fall down into generation. Then the senses gather round them. And then they undergo death after death. Being attached to the fruit of action, on action presenting itself, they follow after it and do not cross beyond death. And the embodied self. in consequence of not understanding union with the real entity, proceeds on all hands with attachments to enjoyments. That, verily, is the great source of delusion to the senses: for, by contact with unreal entities, his migrations are rendered inevitable; because, having his inner self contaminated by contact with unreal entities, he devotes himself to objects of sense on all sides, pondering on them only. That pondering first confuses him, and soon afterwards desire and wrath attack him. These lead children to death. But sensible men cross beyond death by their good sense. He who, pondering on the Self, destroys the fugitive objects of sense, not even thinking of them through contempt for them, and who, being possessed of knowledge, destroys desires in this way, becomes, as it were, the death of Death itself, and swallows it up." The second chapter ends with a declaration of what is the sort of death that results in union with the Divine, preventing absolutely any return to incarnations lIpon earth. It is found in the sentences: " That man who, casting off all desires, acts without attachment to results, free from egotism and selfishness, attains to tranquillity. This is the condition of the Supreme Being, 0 Son of Pritha. ! Having obtained this, one is not troubled; and remaining in it, even at the time of death, he passes on to extinction (or union with) the Supreme Spirit." Those are the last word,; of the second chapter. Any other mental attitude at the time of passing away will surely cause us to acquire a mortal body again. ---------------------------------------1 Banatau'atiya. ch. 2. Digitized by Google 78 THE PATH. [June, Krishna's declaration brings up before us, not only the practices previously inculcated, but also the whole subject of death. For, in order to know how to "think of Him at the moment of death," or to have that tranquillity which only perfection of devotion confers, we must find out what death is, and whether it is solely what we see going on at the decease of a human being, or more than can be gauged with the eye. A little reflection shows that what is seen and noted by physicians and spectators is but the withdrawal of the soul and energy from the outer envelope called" body." While that is going on, the person may accept" rites of the church or profess adherence to any sort of doctrine whatever, even with his last outward sigh speak of heaven with its bliss awaiting him. But that is only the first step. It leaves his visible features calm and happy, perhaps, in expression; his relatives close his eyes.-they call it death. He, however, has only begun to die. The soul has yet to pass through other envelopes beyond the ken of friends, beyond even the dying man's present control. All now depends upon the whole course and kind of thought in which he indulged during the life of the body. For the soul has to pass along the road by which it came, and that way is lined with the memories of a life-time; as these memories rise up they affect the departing entity, causing it to be either disturbed from concentration on the Supreme Being, or assisting to a greater perfection. If, then, some few years only near the close of life were devoted to the sort of practice inculcated by Krishna, the memoriel.' of the years previously spent in following after desires will throw a cloud over the soul and absolutely prevent it from attaining that state from which return to earth is impossible without our consent. It is more perfectly illustrated by considering life as a grand musical movement that is brought to a close by using at once all the tones sounded throughout the whole preceding portion. The result will be a combined sound, expressing neither the highest nor lowest notes, or the sweetest or less sweet, but the resultant of all. And thiR last sound is the fixed vibration that governs the entity, sounding all through him, and throwing him into the state to which it corresponds or of which it is the key. Thus it is easily seen that in each thought lie the possibilities of a harmony or a discord for life's conclusion. "Guided by the clear light of the soul, we have considered thy teach-ings, 0 holy sage! They have been efficacious for the removal of the obscurities surrounding Ishwara's abiding place in us ; we are delighted and refreshed; may thy words remain with us, and, as a spring refreshes the earth, may we be refreshed by them !" WILLIAM BREHON, F. T. S. Digitized by Google 1888. ) THEOSOPHY IN IDYLLS OF THE KING. .