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{{Style P-Signature|Mabel Collins.}} | {{Style P-Signature|Mabel Collins.}} | ||
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{{Style P-Title small caps|level=3|1=Thoughts in Solitude.}} | |||
{{Style P-Title small caps|level=4|plain=yes|1=VIII.}} | |||
What is known in the present day under the name of Theosophy, as has repeatedly been stated, is the primary truth which all the religions of the world alike have enshrined—it may be regarded as the kernel of which the religions have been the husks, and it would seem that in the development of this idea, and in the comparison of the objects aimed at by the various religions and by Theosophy, that we shall best realize the stupendous scope and importance of this divine hidden wisdom. | |||
While some of the religions may have been more transparent husks than others through which the kernel of the wisdom of the ages might be dimly visioned, in other words, while some may contain vague hints of | |||
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the wider horizon and the more transcendent heights of being, it may generally be stated without making invidious distinctions that the religions of the world as a rule have concerned themselves almost exclusively with the present earth life and the life lying immediately beyond. It is with the rewards and punishments of this state in the immediate future, and with the moral or virtuous thoughts and actions of the present life, which are supposed to be the means of meriting the former and of avoiding the latter, that the priesthoods and the teachers of religion have principally dealt. Indeed, so engrossed in the pursuit of worldly objects have the priesthoods of some religions become that the wider horizon has been completely lost by them. | |||
While the quality of spirituality is but feebly developed in mankind, while the occupations and aims of this present earth life continue to absorb so very much the greater part of the energy of men, and while the intellectual development of those who have some dim perception of a higher state has still to achieve its period of blossom, the different religions adopted by the various races of men will continue to supply the required needs. But there are a few in each country who have risen above the prevailing level—the forerunners we take it of the mighty coming race, and their numbers are being daily added to—men of thought and feeling who through pain and inward struggle have emancipated themselves from the deadly bonds of superstition, and who have at the same time been too great hearted to fall into the still deadlier grip of the opposing faction that usurps the name of science, and that parades its little aims under the denial of all that is most sacred in humanity—men who by intense imaginative power have grasped and realized all that this life has to give, and have been forced to put it by as failing to satisfy their highest aspirations. For such men the Theosophic advent has been a true Eirenicon. No longer bounded by the dimly imaged heaven which superstitious ignorance stretched into eternity, all life now lies before the impartial student of nature in logical order. The law of absolute justice under the name of Karma, which follows with impartial reward or retribution every act, every word and every thought, is now recognized alike as satisfying the moral conscience of the religious man, and as extending over the whole horizon of man's nature the inevitable sequence of cause and effect which the scientists have shown to exist in the material world; while in marked contrast alike to the agnostic acceptance of annihilation, and to the diabolic theory of the arbitrary awardment of eternal bliss or eternal misery to the poor struggling mortals, who after a short life time of 70 or 80 years are surely unlikely to be deserving of either, the picture is completed by the steady progress and evolution of the soul through the continually repeated vicisitudes of earthly life—alternated and relieved by the blissful dreams of heaven where the infinite variety of | |||
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human character will through æons of time reap in subtle distinction that which is due of each. | |||
The objects of the Theosophical Society may be stated as twofold. Firstly to act as a counter movement alike to the decaying but still lingering superstitions, and still more to the rampant and growing materialism of the present day, and the best way to attain this first object is surely to give to the world such a system of thought as may help to explain the mysteries of life. Such a system as will at once satisfy man's logical requirements, his moral feeling of fitness, and his highest spiritual aspirations. And where will such a system be found as in the doctrines Theosophy teaches? The second and main object to which the first leads up, is to act as a guide to the pathway of deliverance by which man may escape from the alternating miseries of birth and death, and attain the one permanent state of Being. This is the great—the divine—secret—to be bound no longer in conditioned existence—to merge the manhood in the Godhead! To catch a glimpse of one of the thousand states of ecstatic being that lie in infinite gradation between us and that stupendous goal would blind us with excess of light. Surely then the only figure before the mind when whispering in worshiping awe of that ineffable state of being should be the kneeling angel with head bent low, and wings crossed before the face. | |||
While a large and increasing number are likely to be influenced by the teachings of Theosophy towards more tolerant and wider views of life, the number of those who will feel impelled to attempt the great undertaking will not probably in this age of darkness be relatively large. But indeed it is not a matter of choice, the destiny of each guides unerringly in the path he is bound to tread, the good within drives and will drive in ways that we know not of. The deep depression or the cutting sorrow of former years may pass away, the torture may take a more subtle form, but while the wings are yet too weak to soar for long in the heavenly air, the detachment from earthly things is bound to bear its first fruits of pain, and the heart will still remain steadily crushed between the upper and the nether millstones. When the aimlessness of this life has made itself felt, to the exclusion of all other thought, to escape from its desolating curse must seem the one object worthy of accomplishment. The converging lines of Karma must doubtless have led those who feel impelled to scale the transcendent heights, compared with which the most soaring ambition of earthly life sinks into nothingness, but in weak-kneed moments to be thrust on such a path of greatness is felt to be a pathetic destiny, a forlorn hope, truly forlorn if the present life alone is regarded, but it is a forlorn hope that ''has'' to be led. | |||
To realize with vivid distinctness the inanity of all earthly bliss, and yet to catch no refreshing glimpse of the beatific vision; to taste no strengthening sip of the heavenly Amrit, this is indeed a desolateness | |||
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without any parallel in worldly life, it is the "indescribable vacuum" of the heart, so well pictured in an article in the June ''Theosophist'' entitled "Divine Heartache." But as the writer there goes on to describe in words which recall St. John of the Cross's "Obscure Night of the Soul" the apparent contraction of the heart is caused by the divine fire which is driving out its rheum and filthy moisture, and is but a prelude to the ultimate expansion. St. Thomas à Kempis, also dwells on the trouble of mind the disciple must learn to bear, and points out that "to be in a state of great devotion and sweetness" is not advantageous "for it is not by these things that a true lover of virtue is known, nor doth the spiritual progress and perfection of a man consist in these things." | |||
It is written, "He that hath put aside woman hath put aside the world" and this would seem to be the best illustration of that final detachment which is the prelude to the first step on the path to higher things. The different earthly desires from that of mere animal comfort up to the most ideal love, have all got characteristics that blend into each other, but earthly desire at every turn has to be fought and conquered, or put in other words it is a continual raising of the object of desire, either through the failure of realization or through the satiety that comes of realization. It may have required the experience of many incarnations to weed out of the heart the desire for wealth, for title, for power, for consideration among men, at each death of the body a step may have been gained, and the object raised a degree in nobility, until its culmination is reached in the desire for the ideal union, the true marriage of the soul, to which the bodily union is but a subsidiary supplement. The intensity of a fruitless passion if kept undegraded by any acceptance of a lower love, if steadily nursed through a whole life-time as the one thing worthy of achievement, may have alchemical force enough to transmute this love into what it already resembles, the still loftier and purer love of the Universal Soul. "Woman" may have been "put aside" and the ideal union as a tangible reality in this life despaired of—in moments of enthusiasm the earthly love may appear totally eclipsed by the heavenly—but while lungs fit to breathe the heavenly ether are still undeveloped, descents have to be made to the lower air, the old hopes of love rise again in the breast though more faintly, and the old torture is gone through again. | |||
But if the ultimate goal is steadily kept before the mind's eye, each pang that has been endured should have given added strength. The goad that drives each man to higher things is deep seated in his being, and must remain so through life until it ceases to be a goad at all by the conquest of the special desire against which it was directed, and if only we bear in mind that it is a matter of small moment whether or not we attain our earthly desires, and that the one thing important is to follow loyally what at the | |||
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time seems to us highest and worthiest—though that highest and worthiest ideal is ever moving upwards—periods of peace and satisfaction are bound to come at last, and we may repeat with Sidney | |||
{{Style P-Poem|"Leave me, O Love, that reachest but to dust ; | |||
"And thou my mind aspire to higher things ; | |||
"Grow rich in that which never taketh rust ; | |||
"Whatever fades but fading pleasure brings. | |||
* * * * * | |||
"Then farewell World! thy uttermost I see | |||
"Eternal Love, maintain thy life in me !"}} | |||
{{Style P-Signature|Pilgrim.}} | |||
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{{Style P-Title small caps|level=3|1=Theosophical Aspects of Contemporary Literature.}} | |||
The strong tendency of the present age towards an interest in Theosophy and Occultism is manifest in the marked attention given to such subjects in contemporary literature, and also in the way in which the writers' minds often appear to be unconsciously influenced by the thoughts in this direction that are "in the air." The prevalence of theosophical thought are evident in the fiction of the day, as in writing of a philosophical character. That readers of The Path may be enabled to refer to certain of these articles, it is proposed to chronicle briefly from time to time such as would be likely to interest them. In the cases of some of those mentioned herewith, we cannot give the exact date of their publication, but reference to the tables of contents of the various periodicals will enable those who have access to public or private libraries to turn to them with little trouble. | |||
Various essays by George Frederic Parsons on sociological aspects of modern civilization, among them "The Decline of Duty," and "The | |||
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Growth of Materialism," in several numbers of the ''Atlantic Monthly'' for 1886-7. These articles are notable as showing the practical application of theosophical teachings to a consideration of the ordinary affairs of life, and evince careful study on a high plane of thought. It seems, however, as if the author did not always take a sufficient number of factors into account in order to arrive at correct conclusions, there being often counterbalancing elements which might justify a less gloomy view of the course of our civilization, although the shadows are as black as he depicts them. Mr. Parsons is a prominent New York journalist and a member of the Theosophical Society. | |||
"The Peckster Professorship," a brilliant short story by J. P. Quincy; ''Atlantic Monthly'', November, 1886. This story is founded on thought-transference and kindred phenomena, and has a sequel in the ''Atlantic'' for June, 1887, called "A Crucial Test." Mr. Quincy's attitude is that of one who, by careful investigation, has been firmly convinced of the scientific justification of a belief in the actuality of the order of phenomena known as "occult." They contain some keen satire on the attitude of the great body of scientific men towards such subjects. The rebuke of Harvard University for its course in this respect is particularly significant, coming as it does from a grandson of Josiah Quincy, one of the most eminent presidents of Harvard. | |||
In the same number of the ''Atlantic'' as the former of these, we believe, is a story called "The Blindman's World," by E. W. Bellamy, being an imaginary account of an astronomer whose astral body was conveyed to the planet Mars through continued thought about that member of our solar system. There he found that the operation of the memories of the inhabitants was mainly into the future, and this idea is most beautifully worked up. The title of the story refers to the designation of our own world by the Martian inhabitants on account of their deficiency in this respect. | |||
"The Strange Story of Pragtna," by Harvard B. Rooke (Rev. Brooke Herford, of Boston); ''Atlantic Monthly'', December, 1886. A plausibly written burlesque of tales of Indian magic, pretending to be an account of a Yogi who was buried when Alexander the Great invaded India and resurrected a few years ago. | |||
In the "Contributors' Club" of the same magazine for February of this year is an article called "Anima Mundi," in which the writer imagines that if we could form an idea of the aspect of the Soul of the World, it would be found to be composed of the features of all who had ever lived upon it, as a composite photograph is formed by the features of various persons. | |||
"The Soul of the Far East," by Perceval Lowell; ''Atlantic Monthly'', | |||
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September, 1887—This is the first of a series of papers devoted to a careful psychical study of the Japanese, Coreans and Chinese. The author is a young Bostonian who spent some time in the Orient and is an exceptionally graceful writer. This paper is devoted to "Personality" and will repay reading by all students of Oriental thought. | |||
"Hypnotic Moralization," by Rev. William Wilberforce Newton. ''Harper's Monthly'', August, 1887. A brief paper, setting forth the idea, suggested by recent experiments, of hypnotizing men and women of evil disposition, or vicious and depraved children, and implanting a tendency and will towards good in them. The article appears to have been caused by the reading of an essay by F. W. H. Myers, of the London Psychical Research Society, in the Fortnightly Review for November, 1885. | |||
"Through what Historical Channels did Buddhism influence Early Christianity?" by General J. G. R. Furlong. ''The Open Court'', Aug. 18, Sept. 1, 1887. A scholarly essay showing careful research and giving in concise form the evidences on the subject, affording strong proof of the influence of Buddhism in the shaping of the Christian religion. | |||
"Mental Healing and Christian Science," by Rev. J. M. Buckley, D. D. ''The Century'', July, 1887. Dr. Buckley shows up the extravagances and absurd pretensions of many of the followers of the variously named methods for the mental treatment of disease which, nevertheless, with all one-sidedness and erratic theories, have a remarkable germ of truth at the basis. Dr. Buckley, who had an article on the same general subject about a year ago in ''The Century'', is too dogmatic and "evangelical" to write scientifically. | |||
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{{Style P-Title small caps|level=3|1=Literary Notes.}} | |||
''Japanese Literature''.—We have received from Messrs. Z. Sawai and Matsuyama M., from Japan, the "Letters of Kenjiu Kasawara" to Prof. Max Müller, printed in English at Osaka, at the Bukkyo-Sho-ri-Yaku-Shuppan-Sha. Kasawara was a young Japanese Buddhist who studied at Oxford, and afterwards died prematurely on his return home. From the same source we get "The Temperance," a unique magazine in Japanese characters, devoted to temperance, started by students in the Buddhist college at Kioto, Japan, known as the Futsukioco of the Western Honganji, Kioto. These young men are anxious to spread Buddhism and have requested us to publish their wish. They would also like short articles upon teetotalism which they will publish in English and Japanese in the magazine. Address as above. | |||
''Lucifer''.—The first number of the new Theosophical magazine has an attractive table of contents. The two gifted editors both contribute important articles. Madame Blavatsky tells why the magazine is called "Lucifer", while Mable Collins begins a serial story called "The Blossom and the Fruit," a Tale of Love and Magic." All readers of that beautiful story, "The Idyll of the White Lotus," will follow the development of this novel with eager interest. We learn that it is written in the same way as that was as related in the new preface to the latter, and also as "Through the Gates of Gold," as related in the new preface to the latter, and that it is full of occultism to a remarkable degree. Coming from such a source it must be founded on true occult laws, and not the invented occultism that forms the basis of so many books dealing with the subject. The series of comments on ''Light on the Path'' by the author, are of the greatest importance, being the first authoritative one of the various commentaries occasioned by that noble work. Other articles are: "The History of a Planet," "Notes by an Unpopular Philosopher," "Karma," by Archibald Keightley, and something about Count Tolstoi as "A True Theosophist." Attention is asked to the advertisement of ''Lucifer'' on our cover, as it was taken from "''Science''," a leading scientific paper in this country. | |||
Dr. Franz Hartmann is an indefatigable literary worker. He has now nearly finished his third book for the year, and has, besides, written a number of articles on Theosophical subjects. The book in question is called ''Jehoshua the Prophet of Nazareth'', and treats of the life and times of the founder of the Christian religion, besides devoting considerable attention to the aspects of the Christian churches of to-day. Dr. Hartmann's important work, ''The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians'', illustrated with beautiful colored plates, is in the hands of the publishers and will soon appear. Dr. Hartmann had nearly finished a translation of the ''Bhagavat-Gita'' into German, when he learned that there was already an excellent metrical translation by Boxberger, and abandoned the undertaking. It is to be hoped that German Theosophists will do their best to circulate Boxberger's work. | |||
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''The Kabbalah Unveiled''.—Mr. S. L. Macgregor Mathers has translated under the above title, ''The Kabbalah Denudata''. It contains, from the Zohar, the Book of Concealed Mystery and the Greater and Lesser Assembly. Comments by the translator are added, put in small type so that the reader cannot mistake them for the text. It is a valuable book because a translation of the ''Kabbalah Denudata'' has been for a long time needed, and these books have lain buried, for most readers, in the Latin tongue. Mr. Mathers has added an explanatory introduction which will be found very useful, but we cannot say that the comments add a great deal to the text. | |||
In his remarks respecting the pronunciation of the name of Jehovah, he lays too much stress upon the mere sound of the word, in which the right pronunciation does not consist; its pronunciation is not in ''sound'', but in the very thing that Mr. Mathers refers to, that is, "''in becoming''," so it is misleading to speak of "20 different mystic pronunciations of the Word." This translation ought to be in the hands of every earnest student, and in each Branch library. For sale by Occult Publishing Co., Boston. 1 vol., demy, 8vo., $3,00. | |||
{{Style P-Title small caps|level=3|1=Theosophical Activities.}} | |||
{{Style P-Subtitle|In India.}} | |||
The interest in India continues unabated. New branches are being constantly formed. In May Col. H. S. Olcott was enthusiastically received at Bulandshahr, and entertained by Sir Namah Faiz Alikhan Bahadur, K. C. S. I. Before leaving there he formed a Branch called "The Baran T. S.," Baran being the old Hindu name of the town. | |||
On the same occasion, Thakur—or Baron—Ganesh Singh started a Purity Alliance for boys. | |||
At Anantapur the Branch celebrated the Queen's Jubilee by hoisting its flag and distributing alms of rice and money to 200 poor people, followed by a theosophical gathering which ended, as the report says, "with the distribution of sweetmeats, almonds, sandal, pan supari and flowers." | |||
In June Col. Olcott had carried his tour as far north as Lahore, where another new Branch was formed. The depth of interest is indicated by the fact that H. H., the Maharajah of Kashmir, placed his vast Lahore palace at the president's disposal, and the municipal authorities attended to the household arrangements. Posters were all over the city in English, Urdu, Hindi, and Gurmukhi announcing the theosophical programme. | |||
At Hardwar the Prime Minister invited Col. Olcott to an important convention, where resolutions were passed thanking the Theosophical Society for its great services during the past ten years in the cause of truth and religion. | |||
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The Buddhist catechism has been translated into Japanese. It is probable that a formal invitation will soon be extended to theosophical leaders to visit Japan. | |||
The high priest of Ceylon, Rev. H. Sumangala, also has written a letter to Col. Olcott adverting to the esteem he holds for our representative there, to whom he says he gave letters of introduction to the Buddhist chiefs at Ratnapura. As Mr. Leadbeater is a believer in Mahatmas, it may seem strange to the readers of Mr. Arnold's book that the high priest was so unusually attentive to a theosophist. | |||
The theosophists of Bellary in India have founded an association for the moral and spiritual advancement of the people, and have also started another Sanscrit school. | |||
Branch societies were started since last report at Monghyr, Behar Provinces, and at Rajmahal in Bengal. | |||
We notice that our old friend Bezonji Aderji, a Parsee lawyer, has become president of the Society at Secunderabad, Deccan. | |||
{{Style P-Subtitle|In America.}} | |||
The Chicago Theosophical Society is about beginning its Fall work. During the vacation there were several informal meetings which proved of great interest. This Branch pays attention to both the scientific and psychical sides of Theosophy. | |||
The Ramayana Theosophical Society of Chicago, has been organized with Brother W. P. Phelon as president and a good roll of members, several of whom have had considerable experience in "spiritualism," and who think they have found in the theories in vogue in the T. S., the right keys for many problems that have puzzled inquirers. The name taken is a good one; it is a celebrated Sanscrit name and calls before the mind an era of vast spiritual and material knowledge. We hope to see 'ere long many more active Branches in Chicago. | |||
Mohini M. Chatterji, of Calcutta, who has been visiting theosophical friends here for some months, sailed for India last month from Boston. | |||
In St. Louis, where the ''Pranava T. S.'' was instituted not long ago, an old secret Branch has resolved to make itself public. Its name is the ''Arjuna Theosophical Society''. Bro. Page, who organized the old ''Pioneer'' Branch which dissolved recently, has been and still is president of the ''Arjuna''. | |||
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{{Style P-Title small caps|level=3|1=Correspondence.}} | |||
{{Style P-Subtitle|Kioto, Japan, July 30th, 1887.}} | |||
{{Style P-No indent|Mr. William Q. Judge:}} | |||
{{Style P-No indent|Gentleman:—}} | |||
I am very glad to receive your epistle, answering to us: I have taken a great pleasure to read in it, that the story we read in the ''Russian News'', is in part true; and I am much interested with your earnest efforts of spreading the pure truth of Buddhism. In Japan, there are the twelve sects, or schools of Buddhism, and their principles are shortly explained in the small book, "A Short History of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects" which I presently send to you. | |||
All the people of this country are the Buddhist believers; but, unhappy to tell, many of them are merely nominal; and the doctrines of the Mahayana school are generally recognised and respected. There are a great may teachers and monks, with few nuns, of our religion, and the temples and monasteries in this land, are numerous and splendid; some of them being really huge and grand; the photographs, which you will find enclosed along with the book, show you some of them. | |||
I have a willingness to tell you and your associates about the principles of Buddhism, as recognised in this country, but as I at present find myself busy, I will write to you about that subject, after some days. Some missionaries from France, England, the United States, and Russia, are endeavoring to Christianised this country but for present their followers are few, and the influence of their religion is very weak upon our society. | |||
Our young Buddhistic men, particularly those of the Shin Shin sect, exhibit a strong spirit to propagate the truth of the great law over the face of the world, and they are making preparation in learning English and other languages. | |||
I have translated your letter, and inserted to some of our news, and I believe that it has made an interesting impression on our Buddhists. We are very desirous to make correspondence respecting your principles with your associates and other people, so, I want you would kindly publish our wish. | |||
I am translating an essay, titled "A Brief Sketch of the General View of Buddhism in Japan," and I suppose, this would be apt to make the foreign people know the chief and central principles and dogmas of Buddhism in Japan. | |||
Sir, excuse me of the defective manner in writing. I am, indeed, a baby in English language. | |||
{{Style P-No indent|I am, Sir, your humble friend,}} | |||
{{Style P-Signature|Matsuyama M.}} | |||
{{Style P-No indent|Address:— | |||
Matsuyama M., | |||
Futsukioco of the Western Honganji (a Buddhist college), Kioto, Japan.}} | |||
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<hr> | |||
{{Style P-No indent|As a person having seen one in a dream, recognizes him afterwards; so does one who has achieved proper concentration of mind perceive the Self.}} | |||
{{Style P-No indent|<center>OM.</center>}} | |||
{{Footnotes}} | {{Footnotes}} | ||