< Madame Blavatsky on “The Himalayan Brothers.” (continued from page 11-198) >
much as man can be on earth. He has rid himself of all human conceptions and religious side-issues; he is at one and the same time a Chaldean Sage, a Persian Magi, a Greek Theurgist, an Egyptian Hermetist, a Buddhist Rahat and an Indian Yogi. He has collected into one bundle all the separate fractions of Truth widely scattered over the nations, and holds in his hand the One Truth, a torch of light which no adverse wind can bend, blow out or even cause to waver. Not he the Prometheus who robs but a portion of the Sacred Fire, and therefore finds himself chained to Mount Caucasus for his intestines to be devoured by vultures, for he has secured God within himself and depends no more. on the whim and caprice of either good or evil deities. True, “Koot Hoomi” mentions Buddha. But it is not because the brothers hold him in the light of God or even of “a God,” but simply because he is the Patron of the Thibetan Occultists, the greatest of the Illuminati and adepts, self-initiated by his own Divine Spirit or “God-self” unto all the mysteries of the invisible universe. Therefore to speak of imitating “the life of Christ,” or that of Buddha, or Zoroaster, or any other man on earth chosen and accepted by any one special nation for its God and leader, is to show oneself a Sectarian even in Kabbalism, that fraction of the one “Universal Science”—Occultism. The latter is prehistoric and is coeval with intelligence. The Sun shines for the heathen Asiatic as well as for the Christian European and for the former still more gloriously, I am glad to say.
To conclude, it is enough to glance at that sentence of more than questionable propriety, and more fit to emanate from the pen of a Jesuit than that of a Kabbalist, which allows of the supposition that the “Brothers” are only a branch of the old established firm of “Devil and Co.” to feel convinced that beyond some “Abracadabra” dug out from an old mouldy MS. of Christian Kabbalism, J. K. knows nothing. It is but on the unsophisticated profane, or a very innocent Spiritualist, that his bombastic sentences all savouring of the Anche is son pittore, that he may produce some sensation. True there is no need of going absolutely to Thibet or India to find some knowledge and power " which are latent in every human soul;” but the acquisition of the highest knowledge and power require not only many years of the severest study enlightened by a superior intelligence and an audacity bent by no peril; but also as many years of retreat in comparative solitude, and association with but students pursuing the same object, in a locality where nature itself preserves like the neophyte an absolute and unbroken stillness if not silence! where the air is free for hundreds of miles around of all mephytic influence; the atmosphere and human magnetism absolutely pure and—no animal blood is spilt. Is it in London or even the most country-hidden village of England that such conditions can be found?
Bombay, July 20th.
<Untitled> (Where the heart goes before...)
Where the heart goes before, like a lamp, and illumines the pathway, many things are made clear that else lie hidden in darkness.—H. W. Longfellow.
So far from science being irreligious, as many think, it is the neglect of science that is irreligious,—it is the refusal to study the surrounding creation that is irreligious. . . . Devotion to science is a tacit worship, a tacit recognition of worth in the things studied, and by implication in their cause. It is not a mere liphomage, but a homage expressed in actions; not a mere professed respect, but a respect proved by the sacrifice of time, thought, and labour.—Herbert Spencer.
<Untitled> (Some news...)
Some news about the alleged “adepts” has reached hus from India too late for publication till next week.
Be ye of One Accord
Now that the question of the existence of the alleged Himalayan Brothers is to the fore, the opinion of Dr. Wyld, as expressed in his presidential address last year to the London branch of the Theosophical Society, may be of interest. The following extract from his address, shows what he thinks of the character of the Brothers:—
“In the East, adeptship is secret and mysterious, and hidden from all except a select few, who have passed through an ordeal so severe and dangerous that many, it is said, perish in body or in soul on making the attempt, and into which select few, so far as we know, no woman has ever been admitted.
“But the Christian adept not only invites, but implores all to enter into the order.
“The Oriental adept obtains magical or soul power over matter, which he uses for his own ends, and over inferior spirits. But the Christian adept has no dealings with low or weak spirits, except to convert them or to cast them out; but his life is spent in openly transmuting his spiritual powers into good works for the good of mankind.”
In The Theosophist of March, 1880, Colonel Olcott, the President in Chief of the Theosophical Society, remarked about the above utterance of Dr. Wyld, “I am bound to say that nothing could be farther from the real state of the case.”
When the two Presidents are thus at variance, what are the public expected to believe?
Dr. Wyld also said:—“We know nothing of the powers or mode of life followed by the Eastern adept. Perhaps one may some day appear in our midst and instruct us, although it may be a question whether he could, with advantage to himself, forsake his native soil and air, and, isolated from his brothers, stand before us.”
<Untitled> (Mystery:—Secrecy...)
Mystery:—Secrecy as an essential in Eastern Adeptship is so far a good, as it is of the nature of that reticence which is so far strength; but can secrecy be maintained for a lifetime, ana be the essence of one’s life, and not engender selfishness?—Dr. Wyld.
<Untitled> (Mr. Edwin Arnold...)
Mr. Edwin Arnold:—We regret to state that Mr. Edwin Arnold, who is now in Scotland, is unwell with a nervous disorder, and has been obliged to rest from his literary labours for some months. His recent book, The Light of Asia, is exerting a strong influence over the religious thought of the age, and very many pirated editions of it have been issued by the more unprincipled class of American publishers. At the Lake Bluff Camp Meeting of Evangelical people, near Chicago, the book was said to be exercising a strong influence upon Christian missions. Mr. Trubner has conferred a public benefit by issuing a new English edition at a cheap price.
Editor's notes
- ↑ Where the heart goes before... by unknown author, London Spiritualist, No. 468, August 12, 1881, p. 82
- ↑ Some news... by unknown author, London Spiritualist, No. 468, August 12, 1881, p. 78
- ↑ Be ye of One Accord by unknown author, London Spiritualist, No. 468, August 12, 1881, p. 83
- ↑ Mystery:—Secrecy... by unknown author, London Spiritualist, No. 468, August 12, 1881, p. 83
- ↑ Mr. Edwin Arnold... by unknown author, London Spiritualist, No. 468, August 12, 1881, p. 78
Sources
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London Spiritualist, No. 468, August 12, 1881, p. 82
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London Spiritualist, No. 468, August 12, 1881, p. 78
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London Spiritualist, No. 468, August 12, 1881, p. 83