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THE following pages are derived from
"The Book of the Golden Precepts," one of the works put into the hands of mystic
students in the East. The knowledge of them is obligatory in that school, the
teachings of which are accepted by many Theosophists. Therefore, as I know many
of these Precepts by heart, the work of translating has been relatively an easy
task for me.
It is well known that, in India, the
methods of psychic development differ with the Gurus (teachers or masters), not
only because of their belonging to different schools of philosophy, of which
there are six, but because every Guru has his own system, which he generally
keeps very secret. But beyond the Himalayas the method in the Esoteric Schools
does not differ, unless the Guru is simply a Lama, but little more learned than
those he teaches.
The work from which I here translate
forms part of the same series as that from which the "Stanzas" of the Book of
Dzyan were taken, on which the Secret Doctrine
is based. Together with the great mystic work called Paramartha,
which, the legend of Nagarjuna tells us, was
delivered to the great Arhat by the Nagas or "Serpents" (in truth a name given
to the ancient Initiates), the Book of the Golden Precepts claims the same
origin. Yet its maxims and ideas, however noble and original, are often found
under different forms in Sanskrit works, such as the Dnyaneshvari,
that superb mystic treatise in which Krishna describes to Arjuna in
glowing colors the condition of a fully illumined Yogi; and
ii
again in certain Upanishads. This is
but natural, since most, if not all, of the greatest Arhats, the first followers
of Gautama Buddha were Hindus and Aryans, not Mongolians, especially those who
emigrated into Tibet. The works left by Aryasanga alone are very numerous.
The original Precepts
are engraved on thin oblongs [squares] ; copies very often on discs.
These discs, or plates, are generally preserved on the altars of the temples
attached to centres where the so-called "contemplative" or Mahayana (Yogacharya)
schools are established. They are written variously, sometimes in Tibetan but
mostly in ideographs. The sacerdotal language (Senzar), besides an alphabet of
its own, may be rendered in several modes of writing in cypher characters, which
partake more of the nature of ideographs than of syllables. Another method (lug,
in Tibetan) is to use the numerals and colors, each of which corresponds to a
letter of the Tibetan alphabet (thirty simple and seventy-four compound letters)
thus forming a complete cryptographic alphabet. When the ideographs are used
there is a definite mode of reading the text; as in this case the symbols and
signs used in astrology, namely the twelve zodiacal animals and the seven
primary colors, each a triplet in shade, i.e. the light, the
primary, and the dark—stand
for the thirty-three letters of the simple alphabet, for words and sentences.
For in this method, the twelve "animals" five times repeated and coupled with
the five elements and the seven colors, furnish a whole alphabet composed of
sixty sacred letters and twelve signs. A sign placed at the beginning of the
text determines whether the reader has to spell it according to the Indian mode,
when every word is simply a Sanskrit adaptation, or according to the Chinese
principle of reading the
iii
ideographs. The easiest way however,
is that which allows the reader to use no special, or any language he likes, as
the signs and symbols were, like the Arabian numerals or figures, common and
international property among initiated mystics and their followers. The same
peculiarity is characteristic of one of the Chinese modes of writing, which can
be read with equal facility by any one acquainted with the character: for
instance, a Japanese can read it in his own language as readily as a Chinaman in
his.
The Book of the Golden Precepts—some
of which are pre-Buddhistic while others belong to a later date—contains about
ninety distinct little treatises. Of these I learnt thirty-nine by heart, years
ago. To translate the rest, I should have to resort to notes scattered among a
too large number of papers and memoranda collected for the last twenty years and
never put in order, to make of it by any means an easy task. Nor could they be
all translated and given to a world too selfish and too much attached to objects
of sense to be in any way prepared to receive such exalted ethics in the right
spirit. For, unless a man perseveres seriously in the pursuit of self-knowledge,
he will never lend a willing ear to advice of this nature.
And yet such ethics fill volumes
upon volumes in Eastern literature, especially in the Upanishads. "Kill out all
desire of life," says Krishna to Arjuna. That desire lingers only in the body,
the vehicle of the embodied Self, not in the SELF which is "eternal,
indestructible, which kills not nor is it killed" (Katho Upanishad). "Kill out
sensation," teaches Sutta Nipata; "look alike on pleasure and pain, gain and
loss, victory and defeat." Again, "Seek shelter in the eternal alone" (ibid).
"Destroy the sense of separateness," repeats Krishna under every form.
iv
"The Mind (Manas) which follows the
rambling senses, makes the Soul (Buddhi) as helpless as the boat which the wind
leads astray upon the waters" (Bhagavad Gita II).
Therefore it has been thought better
to make a judicious selection only from those treatises which will best suit the
few real mystics in the Theosophical Society, and which are sure to answer their
needs. It is only these who will appreciate these words of Krishna-Christos, the
"Higher Self":
"Sages do not grieve for the living
nor the dead. Never did I not exist, nor you, nor these rulers of men; nor will
any one of us ever hereafter cease to be." (Bhagavad Gita
II).
In this translation, I have done my
best to preserve the poetical beauty of language and imagery which characterizes
the original. How far this effort has been successful, is for the reader to
judge.
"H.P.B."
1889
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“This rendition is a copy of the
1893 New York edition of the VOICE OF THE SILENCE published by Mr. W. Q.
Judge. --Eds.”
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THESE instructions are for those
ignorant of the dangers of the lower IDDHI. (1)
He who would hear the voice of
Nada, (2)
"the Soundless Sound," and comprehend it, he has to learn the nature of
Dharana. (3)
Having become indifferent to objects
of perception, the pupil must seek out the
Rajah
2
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Foot notes
(1). The Pali word
Iddhi, is the synonym of the
Sanskrit Siddhis, or
psychic faculties, the abnormal powers in man. There are two kinds of
Siddhis. One group which
embraces the lower, coarse, psychic and mental energies; the other is one which
exacts the highest training of Spiritual powers. Says Krishna in
Shrimad Bhagavat [Bhagavad-Gita]:
"He who is engaged in the performance of yoga, who has subdued his senses and
who has concentrated his mind in me (Krishna), such yogis all the Siddhis stand
ready to serve."
(2). The "Soundless Voice," or the "Voice of the Silence."
Literally perhaps this would
read "Voice in the Spiritual Sound,"
as Nada
is the equivalent word in Sanskrit, for the
Senzar term.
(3). Dharana, is the
intense and perfect concentration of the mind upon some one interior object,
accompanied by complete abstraction from everything pertaining to the external
Universe, or the world of the senses.
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2
of the senses, the Thought-Producer,
he who awakes illusion.
The Mind is the great Slayer of the
Real.
Let the Disciple slay the Slayer.
For--
When to himself his form appears
unreal, as do on waking all the forms he sees in dreams;
When he has ceased to hear the many,
he may discern the ONE—the
inner sound which kills the outer.
Then only, not till then, shall he
forsake the region of Asat,
the false, to come unto the realm of
Sat, the true.
Before the soul can see, the Harmony
within must be attained, and fleshly eyes be rendered blind to all illusion.
Before the Soul can hear, the image
(man) has to become as deaf to roarings as to whispers, to cries of bellowing
elephants as to the silvery buzzing of the golden fire-fly.
3
Before the soul can comprehend and
may remember, she must unto the Silent Speaker be united just as the form to
which the clay is modelled, is first united with the potter's mind.
For then the soul will hear, and
will remember.
And then to the inner ear will
speak--
THE VOICE OF
THE SILENCE
And say:
If thy Soul smiles while bathing in
the Sunlight of thy Life; if thy Soul sings within her chrysalis of flesh and
matter; if thy Soul weeps inside her castle of illusion; if thy Soul struggles
to break the silver thread that binds her to the MASTER;
(1) know, O Disciple, thy Soul is of the earth.
When to the World's turmoil thy
budding
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Foot
note
(1).
The
"great Master" is the term used by
Lanoos or Chelas to indicate one's "HIGHER
SELF." It is the equivalent of
Avalokitesvara, and the same
as Adi-Budha with the
Buddhist Occultists, ATMAN the "Self" (the Higher Self) with the Brahmins, and CHRISTOS
with the ancient Gnostics.
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4
Soul
(1)
lends ear; when to the roaring voice of the great illusion thy Soul responds;
(2) when frightened at the sight of the hot tears of pain; when deafened by the
cries of distress, thy soul withdraws like the shy turtle within the carapace of
SELFHOOD,
learn, O Disciple, of her Silent "God," thy Soul is an unworthy shrine.
When waxing stronger, thy Soul
glides forth from her secure retreat: and breaking loose from the protecting
shrine, extends her silver thread and rushes onward; when beholding her image on
the waves of Space she whispers, "This is I,"—declare,
O Disciple, that thy soul is caught in the webs of delusion. (3)
This Earth, Disciple, is the Hall of
Sorrow, wherein are set along the Path of dire probations, traps to ensnare thy
EGO
by the delusion called "Great
Heresy". (4)
This earth, O ignorant Disciple, is
but the
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Foot
notes
(1). Soul is used here for the
Human Ego or Manas, that
which is referred to in our Occult Septenary division as the "Human Soul" (Vide
the Secret Doctrine)
in contradistinction to the Spiritual and Animal Souls.
(2). Maha Maya
"Great Illusion," the objective Universe.
(3). Sakkayaditthi
"delusion" of personality.
(4). Attavada,
the heresy of the belief in Soul, or rather in the separateness
of Soul or Self
from the One Universal, Infinite SELF.
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5
dismal entrance leading to the
twilight that precedes the valley of true light—that
light which no wind can extinguish, that light which burns without a wick or
fuel.
Saith the Great Law: "In order to
become the
KNOWER
of ALL SELF (1) thou hast first of SELF
to be the knower." To reach the
knowledge of that SELF,
thou hast to give up Self
to Non-Self, Being to Non-Being, and then thou canst repose between the
wings of the GREAT
BIRD.
Aye, sweet is rest between the wings of that which is not born, nor dies, but is
the AUM (2) throughout eternal ages. (3)
Bestride the Bird of Life, if thou
would'st know.
(4)
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Foot
notes
(1).
The Tattvajyani is the
"knower" or discriminator of the principles in nature and in man; and
Atmajnyani is the knower of
ATMA or the Universal, ONE SELF.
(2).
Kala Hansa, the "Bird"
or Swan. Says the Nadavindu
Upanishad
(Rig Veda) translated by the Kumbakonam
Theosophical Society — "The syllable A is considered to be its
(the bird Hansa's) right wing, U, its left, M, its tail, and the Ardha-matra
(half metre) is said to be its head."
(3).
Eternity with the Orientals has quite another signification than it has with us.
It stands generally for the 100 years or "age" of Brahma, the duration of a
Maha-Kalpa or a period of 311,040,000,000,000 years.
(4).
Says the same Nadavindu,
"A Yogi who bestrides the Hansa (thus contemplates on AUM) is
not affected by Karmic influences or crores of sins."
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6
Give up thy
life, if thou
would'st live. (1)
Three Halls, O weary pilgrim, lead
to the end of toils. Three Halls, O conqueror of Mara, will bring thee through
three states (2)
into the fourth (3) and thence into the seven worlds, (4) the worlds of Rest
Eternal.
If thou would'st learn their names,
then hearken, and remember.
The name of the first Hall is IGNORANCE—Avidya.
It is the Hall in which thou saw'st
the light, in which thou livest and shalt die. (5)
The name of Hall the second is the
Hall of LEARNING.
(6) In it thy Soul will find the
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Foot
notes
(1). Give up the life of physical
personality
if you would live in spirit.
(2). The three states of consciousness, which are
Jagrat,
the waking; Swapna,
the dreaming; and
Sushupti, the
deep sleeping state. These three Yogi
conditions, lead to the fourth, or—
(3). The Turiya,
that beyond the dreamless state, the one above all, a state of high spiritual
consciousness.
(4). Some Oriental [Sanskrit] mystics locate seven planes of being, the seven
spiritual lokas or
worlds within the body of Kala Hansa,
the Swan out of Time and Space, convertible into the Swan
in Time, when it becomes
Brahma instead of Brahman.
(5). The phenomenal World of Senses
and of terrestrial consciousness—only.
(6)
The Hall of Probationary
Learning. ["The Mind
(Manas) which follows the rambling senses, makes the Soul (Buddhi) as helpless
as the boat which the wind leads astray upon the waters" (Bhagavad-Gita II).]
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blossoms of life, but under every
flower a serpent coiled. (1)
The name of the third Hall is WISDOM,
beyond which stretch the shoreless waters of AKSHARA,
the indestructible Fount of Omniscience. (2)
If thou would'st cross the first
Hall safely, let not thy mind mistake the fires of lust that burn therein for
the sunlight of life.
If thou would'st cross the second
safely, stop not the fragrance of its stupefying blossoms to inhale. If freed
thou would'st be from the karmic chains, seek not for thy Guru in those Mayavic
regions.
The WISE ONES tarry not in
pleasure-grounds of senses.
The WISE ONES heed not the
sweet-tongued voices of illusion.
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Foot Notes
(1). The astral region, the Psychic
World of supersensuous perceptions and of deceptive sights — the world of
mediums. It is the great "Astral Serpent" of Eliphas Levi. No blossom plucked in
those regions has ever yet been brought down on earth without its serpent coiled
around the stem. It is the world of the
Great Illusion.
(2). The region of the full Spiritual Consciousness beyond which there is no
longer danger for him who has reached it.
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8
Seek for him who is to give thee
birth,
(1) in the Hall of Wisdom, the Hall
which lies beyond, wherein all shadows are unknown, and where the light of truth
shines with unfading glory.
That which is uncreate abides in
thee, Disciple, as it abides in that Hall. If thou would'st reach it and blend
the two, thou must divest thyself of thy dark garments of illusion. Stifle the
voice of flesh, allow no image of the senses to get between its light and thine,
that thus the twain may blend in one. And having learnt thine own
Ajnyana, (2)
flee from the Hall of Learning. This Hall is dangerous in its perfidious beauty,
is needed but for thy probation. Beware, Lanoo, lest dazzled by illusive
radiance thy Soul should linger and be caught in its deceptive light.
This light shines from the jewel of
the
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Foot Notes
(1). The Initiate who leads the
disciple through the Knowledge given to him to his spiritual, or second birth,
is called the Father, Guru
or Master.
(2). Ajnyana
is ignorance or non-wisdom
the opposite of "Knowledge" Jnyana.
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Great Ensnarer, (Mara). (1) The
senses it bewitches, blinds the mind, and leaves the unwary an abandoned wreck.
The moth attracted to the dazzling
flame of thy night-lamp is doomed to perish in the viscid oil. The unwary Soul
that fails to grapple with the mocking demon of illusion, will return to earth
the slave of Mara.
Behold the Hosts of Souls. Watch how
they hover o'er the stormy sea of human life, and how exhausted, bleeding,
broken-winged, they drop one after other on the swelling waves. Tossed by the
fierce winds, chased by the gale, they drift into the eddies and disappear
within the first great vortex.
If through the Hall of Wisdom, thou
would'st reach the Vale of Bliss, Disciple, close fast thy senses against the
great dire heresy of Separateness that weans thee from the rest.
==============================
Foot Note
(1).
Mara is in exoteric
religions a demon, an Asura,
but in esoteric philosophy it is personified temptation through men's vices, and
translated literally means "that which kills" the Soul. It is represented as a
King (of the Maras)
with a crown in which shines a jewel of such lustre that it
blinds those who look at it, this lustre referring of course to the fascination
exercised by vice upon certain natures.
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10
Let not thy "Heaven-born," merged in
the sea of Maya, break from the Universal Parent (SOUL),
but let the fiery power retire into the inmost chamber, the chamber of the Heart
(1) and the abode of the World's Mother. (2)
Then from the heart that Power shall
rise into the sixth, the middle region, the place between thine eyes, when it
becomes the breath of the ONE-SOUL, the voice which filleth all, thy Master's
voice.
'Tis only then thou canst become a
"Walker of the Sky" (3)
who treads the winds above the waves, whose step touches not the waters.
Before thou set'st thy foot upon the
ladder's
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Foot
Notes
(1) The
inner chamber of the Heart,
called in Sanskrit Brahma-pura.
The "fiery power" is Kundalini.
(2). The "Power" and the "World-mother" are names given to
Kundalini—one
of the mystic "Yogi powers." It is
Buddhi considered as an active instead of a passive principle
(which it is generally, when regarded only as the vehicle, or casket of the
Supreme Spirit ATMA). It is an electro-spiritual force, a creative power which
when aroused into action can as easily kill as it can create.
(3). Keshara or
"sky-walker" or "goer." As explained in the 6th.
Adhyaya of that king of mystic
works the Dhyaneshvari—the
body of the Yogi becomes as one formed
of the wind; as "a cloud from which limbs have sprouted out,"
after which —"he (the Yogi) beholds the things beyond the seas and stars; he
hears the language of the Devas and comprehends it, and perceives what is
passing in the mind of the ant."
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upper rung, the ladder of the mystic
sounds, thou hast to hear the voice of thy
inner GOD
(1) in
seven manners.
The first is like the nightingale's
sweet voice chanting a song of parting to its mate.
The second comes as the sound of a
silver cymbal of the Dhyanis, awakening the twinkling stars.
The next is as the plaint melodious
of the ocean-sprite imprisoned in its shell.
And this is followed by the chant of
Vina. (2)
The fifth like sound of bamboo-flute
shrills in thine ear.
It changes next into a
trumpet-blast.
The last vibrates like the dull
rumbling of a thunder-cloud.
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Foot Notes
(1) The Higher SELF.
(2). Vina
is an Indian stringed instrument like a lute.
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The seventh swallows all the other
sounds. They die, and then are heard no more.
When the six (1)
are slain and at the Master's feet are laid, then is the pupil merged into the
ONE, (2) becomes that ONE and lives therein.
Before that path is entered, thou
must destroy thy lunar body, (3)
cleanse thy mind-body (4) and make clean thy heart.
Eternal life's pure waters, clear
and crystal, with the monsoon tempest's muddy torrents cannot mingle.
Heaven's dew-drop glittering in the
morn's first sun-beam within the bosom of the lotus, when dropped on earth
becomes a piece of clay; behold, the pearl is now a speck of mire.
=================================
Foot Notes
(1). The six principles; meaning when
the lower personality is destroyed and the inner individuality is merged into
and lost in the Seventh or Spirit. (2). The disciple is one with Brahman or the
ATMAN.
(3). The astral form produced by the
Kamic principle, the
Kama-rupa or
body of desire.
(4). Manasa-rupa.
The first refers to the astral or
personal Self; the second to
the individuality or the reincarnating
Ego whose consciousness on our plane or the
lower Manas—has to be
paralyzed.
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13
Strive with thy thoughts unclean
before they overpower thee. Use them as they will thee, for if thou sparest them
and they take root and grow, know well, these thoughts will overpower and kill
thee. Beware, Disciple, suffer not, e'en though it be their shadow, to approach.
For it will grow, increase in size and power, and then this thing of darkness
will absorb thy being before thou hast well realized the black foul monster's
presence.
Before the "mystic Power" (1)
can make of thee a god, Lanoo, thou must have gained the faculty to slay thy
lunar form at will.
The Self of Matter and the SELF
of Spirit can never meet. One of the twain must disappear; there is no place for
both.
Ere thy Soul's mind can understand,
the bud of personality must be crushed out, the worm of sense destroyed past
resurrection.
==================================
Foot Note
(1).
Kundalini is called the
"Serpent Power" or mystic fire.
Kundalini
is called the "Serpentine" or
the annular power on account on its spiral-like working or progress in the body
of the ascetic developing the power in himself. It is an electric fiery occult
or Fohatic
power, the great pristine force, which underlies all organic and
inorganic matter.
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Thou canst not travel on the Path
before thou hast become that Path itself. (1)
Let thy Soul lend its ear to every
cry of pain like as the lotus bares its heart to drink the morning sun.
Let not the fierce Sun dry one tear
of pain before thyself hast wiped it from the sufferer's eye.
But let each burning human tear drop
on thy heart and there remain, nor ever brush it off, until the pain that caused
it is removed.
These tears, O thou of heart most
merciful, these are the streams that irrigate the fields of charity immortal. 'Tis
on such soil that grows the midnight blossom of Buddha (2)
more difficult to find, more rare to view than is the
=========================
Foot Notes
(1). This "Path" is mentioned in all
the Mystic Works. As Krishna says in the
Dhyaneshvari:
"When this Path is beheld . . . whether one sets out to the
bloom of the east or to the chambers of the west,
without moving, O holder of the
bow, is the travelling in this road.
In this path, to whatever place one would go,
that place one's own self
becomes." "Thou art the Path" is said to the adept guru and by the latter to the
disciple, after initiation. "I am the way and the Path" says another MASTER.
(2). Adeptship—the "blossom of
Bodhisattva."
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15
flower of the Vogay tree. It is the
seed of freedom from rebirth. It isolates the Arhat both from strife and lust,
it leads him through the fields of Being unto the peace and bliss known only in
the land of Silence and Non-Being.
Kill out desire; but if thou killest
it, take heed lest from the dead it should again arise.
Kill love of life, but if thou
slayest Tanha, (1)
let this not be for thirst of life eternal, but to replace the fleeting by the
everlasting.
Desire nothing. Chafe not at Karma,
nor at Nature's changeless laws. But struggle only with the personal, the
transitory, the evanescent and the perishable.
Help Nature and work on with her;
and Nature will regard thee as one of her creators and make obeisance.
And she will open wide before thee
the
=================================
Foot
Note
(1).
Tanha —"the will
to live," the fear of death and love for life, that force or energy which causes
the rebirths.
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16
portals of her secret chambers, lay
bare before thy gaze the treasures hidden in the very depths of her pure virgin
bosom. Unsullied by the hand of matter she shows her treasures only to the eye
of Spirit—the
eye which never closes, the eye for which there is no veil in all her kingdoms.
Then will she show thee the means
and way, the first gate and the second, the third, up to the very seventh. And
then, the goal—beyond
which lie, bathed in the sunlight of the Spirit, glories untold, unseen by any
save the eye of Soul.
There is but one road to the Path;
at its very end alone the "Voice of the Silence" can be heard. The ladder by
which the candidate ascends is formed of rungs of suffering and pain; these can
be silenced only by the voice of virtue. Woe, then, to thee, Disciple, if there
is one single vice thou hast not left behind. For then the ladder will give way
and overthrow thee; its foot rests in the deep mire of thy sins and failings,
and ere thou canst attempt to cross this wide abyss of matter thou hast to
17
lave thy feet in Waters of
Renunciation. Beware lest thou should'st set a foot still soiled upon the
ladder's lowest rung. Woe unto him who dares pollute one rung with miry feet.
The foul and viscous mud will dry, become tenacious, then glue his feet unto the
spot, and like a bird caught in the wily fowler's lime, he will be stayed from
further progress. His vices will take shape and drag him down. His sins will
raise their voices like as the jackal's laugh and sob after the sun goes down;
his thoughts become an army, and bear him off a captive slave.
Kill thy desires, Lanoo, make thy
vices impotent, ere the first step is taken on the solemn journey.
Strangle thy sins, and make them
dumb for ever, before thou dost lift one foot to mount the ladder.
Silence thy thoughts and fix thy
whole attention on thy Master whom yet thou dost not see, but whom thou feelest.
18
Merge into one sense thy senses, if
thou would'st be secure against the foe. 'Tis by that sense alone which lies
concealed within the hollow of thy brain, that the steep path which leadeth to
thy Master may be disclosed before thy Soul's dim eyes.
Long and weary is the way before
thee, O Disciple. One single thought about the past that thou hast left behind,
will drag thee down and thou wilt have to start the climb anew.
Kill in thyself all memory of past
experiences. Look not behind or thou art lost.
Do not believe that lust can ever be
killed out if gratified or satiated, for this is an abomination inspired by
Mara. It is by feeding vice that it expands and waxes strong, like to the worm
that fattens on the blossom's heart.
The rose must re-become the bud born
of its parent stem, before the parasite has eaten through its heart and drunk
its life-sap.
The golden tree puts forth its
jewel-buds before its trunk is withered by the storm.
19
The pupil must regain
the child-state he has lost
ere the first sound can fall upon his ear.
The light from the ONE MASTER, the
one unfading golden light of Spirit, shoots its effulgent beams on the disciple
from the very first. Its rays thread through the thick dark clouds of matter.
Now here, now there, these rays
illumine it, like sun-sparks light the earth through the thick foliage of the
jungle growth. But, O Disciple, unless the flesh is passive, head cool, the soul
as firm and pure as flaming diamond, the radiance will not reach the
chamber, its sunlight will not
warm the heart, nor will the mystic sounds of the Akasic heights (1)
reach the ear, however eager, at the initial stage.
Unless thou hear’st, thou canst not
see.
Unless thou seest thou canst not
hear. To hear and see this is the second stage.
* *
* * * * * *
====================================
Foot Note
(1). These mystic sounds or the
melody heard by the ascetic at the beginning of his cycle of meditation called
Anahad-shabd
by the Yogis.
-----------------------------------------------------------
20
When the disciple sees and hears,
and when he smells and tastes, eyes closed, ears shut, with mouth and nostrils
stopped; when the four senses blend and ready are to pass into the fifth, that
of the inner touch—then
into stage the fourth he hath passed on.
And in the fifth, O slayer of thy
thoughts, all these again have to be killed beyond reanimation. (1)
Withhold thy mind from all external objects, all external sights. Withhold
internal images, lest on thy Soul-light a dark shadow they should cast.
Thou art now in DHARANA,
(2) the sixth stage.
When thou hast passed into the
seventh, O happy one, thou shalt perceive no more the
============================
Foot
Notes
(1). This means that in the sixth
stage of development which, in the occult system is
Dharana,
every sense as an individual faculty has to be "killed" (or
paralyzed) on this plane, passing into and merging with the
Seventh sense, the most
spiritual.
(2). See page 1, footnote No. 3.
-----------------------------------------------
21
sacred three, (1) for thou shalt
have become that three thyself. Thyself and mind, like twins upon a line, the
star which is thy goal, burns overhead. (2)
The three that dwell in glory and in bliss ineffable, now in the world of Maya
have lost their names. They have become one star, the fire that burns but
scorches not, that fire which is the Upadhi (3) of the Flame.
And this, O Yogi of success, is what
men call Dhyana,(4)
the right precursor of Samadhi. (5)
=================================
Foot Notes
(1).
Every stage of development in Raja Yoga
is symbolised by a geometrical figure. This one is the sacred
Triangle and precedes
Dharana. The [Δ] is the
sign of the high chelas, while another kind of triangle is that of high
Initiates. It is the symbol "I" discoursed upon by Buddha and used by him as a
symbol of the embodied form of Tathagata when released from the three methods of
the Prajna.
Once the preliminary and lower stages passed, the disciple sees
no more the [Δ] but the—the abbreviation of the—, the full Septenary.
Its true form is not given here, as it is
almost sure to be pounced upon by some charlatans and—desecrated
in its use for fraudulent purposes.
(2).
The star that burns overhead is the "the star of initiation." The caste-mark of
Shaivas, or devotees of the sect of Shiva, the great patron of all Yogis, is a
black round spot, the symbol of the Sun
now, perhaps, but that of the star of initiation, in Occultism, in days of old.
(3). The
basis (upadhi)of
the ever unreachable FLAME," so long as the ascetic is still in this life.
(4).
Dhyana is the last
stage before the final on this Earth
unless one becomes a full MAHATMA. As said already in this state
the Raj Yogi is yet spiritually conscious of Self, and the working of his higher
principles. One step more, and he will be on the plane beyond the Seventh (or
fourth according to some schools). These, after the practice of
Pratyehara—a preliminary
training, in order to control one's mind and thoughts—count
Dhasena, Dhyana
and Samadhi
and embraces the three under the generic name of SANNYAMA
(5).
Samadhi
is the state in which the ascetic loses the consciousness of
every individuality including his own. He becomes—the ALL.
--------------------------------
22
And now thy
Self is lost in SELF,
Thyself unto THYSELF, merged in
THAT SELF from which thou first didst radiate.
Where is thy individuality, Lanoo,
where the Lanoo himself? It is the spark lost in the fire, the drop within the
ocean, the ever-present Ray become the All and the eternal radiance.
And now, Lanoo, thou art the doer
and the witness, the radiator and the radiation, Light in the Sound, and the
Sound in the Light.
Thou art acquainted with the five
impediments, O blessed one. Thou art their conqueror, the Master of the sixth,
deliverer of the four modes of Truth. (1)
The light that falls upon them shines from thyself, O thou who wast disciple but
art Teacher now.
And of these modes of Truth--
=========================
Foot
Note
(1).
The "four modes of truth" are, in Northern Buddhism,
Ku
"suffering or misery"; Tu
the assembling of temptations; Mu
"their destructions" and
Tau,
the "path." The "five impediments" are the knowledge of misery,
truth about human frailty, oppressive restraints, and the absolute necessity of
separation from all the ties of passion and even of desires. The "Path of
Salvation"—is the last one.
------------------------------------
23
Hast thou not passed through
knowledge of all misery—truth
the first?
Hast thou not conquered the Maras'
King at Tsi, the portal of assembling—truth
the second? (1)
Hast thou not sin at the third gate
destroyed and truth the third attained?
Hast not thou entered
Tau, "the Path" that leads to
knowledge—the
fourth truth? (2)
And now, rest 'neath the Bodhi tree,
which is perfection of all knowledge, for, know, thou art the Master of SAMADHI—the
state of faultless vision.
Behold! thou hast become the Light,
thou hast become the Sound, thou art thy Master and thy God. Thou art THYSELF
the object
===============================
Foot Notes
(1).
At the portal of the "assembling" the King of the Maras the
Maha Mara
stands trying to blind the candidate by the radiance of his
"Jewel."
(2).
This is the fourth "Path" out of the five paths of rebirth which lead and toss
all human beings into perpetual states of sorrow and joy. These "paths" are but
sub-divisions of the One, the Path followed by Karma.
-----------------------------------------
24
of thy search: the VOICE unbroken,
that resounds throughout eternities, exempt from change, from sin exempt, the
seven sounds in one, the
VOICE OF THE SILENCE
Om Tat Sat
============================================================
25
FRAGMENT II
THE TWO PATHS
AND now, O Teacher of Compassion,
point thou the way to other men. Behold, all those who knocking for admission,
await in ignorance and darkness, to see the gate of the Sweet Law flung open!
The voice of the Candidates:
Shalt not thou, Master of thine own
Mercy, reveal the Doctrine of the Heart? (1)
Shalt thou refuse to lead thy Servants unto the Path of Liberation?
Quoth the Teacher:
==============================
Footnotes
(1)
The two schools of Buddha's doctrine, the esoteric and the exoteric, are
respectively called the "Heart" and the "Eye" Doctrine. Bodhidharma called them
in China—from whence the names reached Tibet—the
Tsung-men
(esoteric) and Kiau-men
(exoteric school). It is so named, because it is the teaching which emanated
from Gautama Buddha's heart,
whereas the "Eye" Doctrine was the work of his head or brain. The "Heart
Doctrine" is also called "the seal of truth" or the "true seal," a symbol found
on the heading of almost all esoteric works.
-------------------------------------------------
26
The Paths are two; the great
Perfections three; six are the Virtues that transform the body into the Tree of
Knowledge. (1)
Who shall approach them?
Who shall first enter them?
Who shall first hear the doctrine of
two Paths in one, the truth unveiled about the Secret Heart? (2)
The Law which, shunning learning, teaches Wisdom, reveals a tale of woe.
Alas, alas, that all men should
possess Alaya, be one with the great Soul, and that possessing it, Alaya should
so little avail them!
Behold how like the moon, reflected
in the tranquil waves, Alaya is reflected by the small and by the great, is
mirrored in the tiniest
==================================
Footnotes
(1)
The "tree of knowledge" is a title given by the followers of the
Bodhidharma to those who
have attained the height of mystic knowledge—adepts. Nagarjuna the founder of
the Madhyamika School was called the "Dragon Tree," Dragon standing as a symbol
of Wisdom and Knowledge. The tree is honoured because it is under the Bodhi
(wisdom) Tree that Buddha received his birth and enlightenment, preached his
first sermon and died.
(2)
"Secret Heart" is the esoteric doctrine.
--------------------------------------------------------
27
atoms, yet fails to reach the heart
of all. Alas, that so few men should profit by the gift, the priceless boon of
learning truth, the right perception of existing things, the Knowledge of the
non-existent!
Saith the pupil:
O Teacher, what shall I do to reach
to Wisdom?
O Wise one, what, to gain
perfection?
Search for the Paths. But, O Lanoo,
be of clean heart before thou startest on thy journey. Before thou takest thy
first step learn to discern the real from the false, the ever-fleeting from the
everlasting. Learn above all to separate Head-learning from Soul-Wisdom, the
"Eye" from the "Heart" doctrine.
Yea, ignorance is like unto a closed
and airless vessel; the soul a bird shut up within. It warbles not, nor can it
stir a feather; but the songster mute and torpid sits, and of exhaustion dies.
28
But even ignorance is better than
Head-learning with no Soul-wisdom to illuminate and guide it.
The seeds of Wisdom cannot sprout
and grow in airless space. To live and reap experience the mind needs breadth
and depth and points to draw it towards the Diamond Soul. (1)
Seek not those points in Maya's
realm; but soar beyond illusions, search the eternal and the changeless
SAT, (2) mistrusting fancy's false suggestions.
For mind is like a mirror; it
gathers dust while it reflects. (3)
It needs the gentle breezes of Soul-Wisdom to brush away the dust of our
illusions. Seek, O Beginner, to blend thy Mind and Soul.
Shun ignorance, and likewise shun
illusion. Avert thy face from world deceptions; mistrust thy senses, they are
false. But within thy body
=================================
Footnotes
(1)
"Diamond Soul" "Vajrasattva," a title of the supreme Buddha, the "Lord of all
Mysteries," called Vajradhara and Adi-Buddha.
(2)
SAT, the one eternal and Absolute Reality and Truth, all the rest being
illusion.
(3)
From Shin-Sien's
Doctrine, who teaches that the human mind is like a mirror which attracts and
reflects every atom of dust, and has to be, like that mirror, watched over and
dusted every day. Shin-Sien
was the sixth Patriarch of North China who taught the esoteric doctrine of
Bodhidharma.
---------------------------------------------
29
—the
shrine of thy sensations—seek in the Impersonal for the "eternal man" (1); and
having sought him out, look inward: thou art Buddha. (2)Shun praise, O Devotee.
Praise leads to self-delusion. Thy body is not self, thy SELF is in itself
without a body, and either praise or blame affects it not.
Self-gratulation, O disciple, is
like unto a lofty tower, up which a haughty fool has climbed. Thereon he sits in
prideful solitude and unperceived by any but himself.
False learning is rejected by the
Wise, and scattered to the Winds by the good Law. Its wheel revolves for all,
the humble and the proud. The "Doctrine of the Eye" (3)
is for the crowd, the "Doctrine of the Heart," for the elect. The first repeat
in pride: "Behold, I know,"
=================================
Footnotes
(1)
The reincarnating EGO is called by the Northern Buddhists the "true man," who
becomes in union with his Higher Self a Buddha.
(2)
"Buddha" means "Enlightened."
(3)
See page 25, footnote No. 1. The
Exoteric Buddhism of the masses.
---------------------------------------
30
the last, they
who in humbleness have garnered, low confess, "thus have I heard". (1)
"Great Sifter" is the name of the
"Heart Doctrine," O disciple.
The wheel of the good Law moves
swiftly on. It grinds by night and day. The worthless husks it drives from out
the golden grain, the refuse from the flour. The hand of Karma guides the wheel;
the revolutions mark the beatings of the Karmic heart.
True knowledge is the flour, false
learning is the husk. If thou would'st eat the bread of Wisdom, thy flour thou
hast to knead with Amrita's
(2) clear waters. But if thou
kneadest husks with Maya's dew, thou canst create but food for the black doves
of death, the birds of birth, decay and sorrow.
If thou art told that to become
Arhan thou hast to cease to love all beings—
tell them they lie.
==============================
Footnotes
(1)
The usual formula that precedes the Buddhist Scriptures, meaning, that that
which follows is what has been recorded by direct oral tradition from Buddha and
the Arhats.
(2)
Immortality.
-------------------------------------------------
31
If thou art told that to gain
liberation thou hast to hate thy mother and disregard thy son; to disavow thy
father and call him "householder";
(1) for man and beast all pity to
renounce—tell them their tongue is false.
Thus teach the Tirthikas, the
unbelievers.
(2)
If thou art taught that sin is born
of action and bliss of absolute inaction, then tell them that they err.
Non-permanence of human action; deliverance of mind from thraldom by the
cessation of sin and faults, are not for "Deva Egos."
(3)
Thus saith the "Doctrine of the Heart."
The Dharma of the "Eye" is the
embodiment of the external, and the non-existing.
The Dharma of the "Heart" is the
embodiment of Bodhi,
(4) the Permanent and Everlasting.
The Lamp burns bright when wick and
oil are
==================================
Footnotes
(1)
Rathapala the great Arhat thus addresses his father in the legend called
Rathapala Sutrasanne. But
as all such legends are allegorical (e.g.
Rathapala's father has a mansion with
seven doors) hence the reproof,
to those who accept them literally.
(2) Brahman ascetics
(3) The reincarnating Ego.
(4) True, divine Wisdom.
----------------------------------------------------
32
clean. To make them clean a cleaner
is required. The flame feels not the process of the cleaning. "The branches of a
tree are shaken by the wind; the trunk remains unmoved."
Both action and inaction may find
room in thee; thy body agitated, thy mind tranquil, thy Soul as limpid as a
mountain lake.
Wouldst thou become a Yogi of
"Time's Circle"? Then, O Lanoo:
Believe thou not that sitting in
dark forests, in proud seclusion and apart from men; believe thou not that life
on roots and plants, that thirst assuaged with snow from the great Range—believe
thou not, O Devotee, that this will lead thee to the goal of final liberation.
Think not that breaking bone, that
rending flesh and muscle, unites thee to thy "silent Self". (1)
Think not, that when the sins of thy
=======================================
Footnote
(1)
The "Higher Self" the "seventh" principle.
------------------------------------------------------------------
33
gross form are conquered, O Victim
of thy Shadows, (1)
thy duty is accomplished by nature and by man.
The blessed ones have scorned to do
so. The Lion of the Law, the Lord of Mercy, (2)
perceiving the true cause of human woe, immediately forsook the sweet but
selfish rest of quiet wilds. From Aranyaka (3) He became the Teacher of mankind.
After Julai (4) had entered the Nirvana, He preached on mount and plain, and
held discourses in the cities, to Devas, men and gods. (5)
Sow kindly acts and thou shalt reap
their fruition. Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin.
Thus saith the Sage.
Shalt thou abstain from action? Not
so shall gain thy soul her freedom. To reach Nirvana
========================================
Footnotes
(1)
Our physical bodies are called "Shadows" in the mystic schools.
(2) Buddha.
(3)
A forest, a desert. Aranyaka, a hermit who retires to the jungles and lives in a
forest, when becoming a Yogi.
(4)
Julai the Chinese name
for Tathagata, a title applied to every Buddha.
(5)
All the Northern and Southern traditions agree in showing Buddha quitting his
solitude as soon as he had resolved the problem of life—i.e.,
received the inner enlightenment—and
teaching mankind publicly.
----------------------------------------------
34
one must reach Self-Knowledge, and
Self-Knowledge is of loving deeds the child.
Have patience, Candidate, as one who
fears no failure, courts no success. Fix thy Soul's gaze upon the star whose ray
thou art, (1)
the flaming star that shines within the lightless depths of ever-being, the
boundless fields of the Unknown.
Have perseverance as one who doth
for evermore endure. Thy shadows live and vanish; (2)
that which in thee shall live for ever, that which in thee
knows, for it is knowledge, (3)
is not of fleeing life: it is the man that was, that is, and will be, for whom
the hour shall never strike.
If thou would'st reap sweet peace
and rest, Disciple, sow with the seeds of merit the fields of future harvests.
Accept the woes of birth.
Step out from sunlight into shade,
to make
================================
Footnotes
(1)
Every spiritual EGO is a ray of a "Planetary Spirit" according to esoteric
teaching.
(2)
"Personalities" or physical bodies
called "shadows" are evanescent.
(3)
Mind (Manas)the
thinking Principle or EGO in man, is referred to "Knowledge" itself, because the
human Egos are
called Manasa-putras,
the sons of (universal) Mind.
-----------------------------------------------------
35
more room for others. The tears that
water the parched soil of pain and sorrow, bring forth the blossoms and the
fruits of Karmic retribution. Out of the furnace of man's life and its black
smoke, winged flames arise, flames purified, that soaring onward, 'neath the
Karmic eye, weave in the end the fabric glorified of the three vestures of the
Path. (1)
These vestures are: Nirmanakaya,
Sambhogakaya, and Dharmakaya, robe Sublime. (2)
The
Shangna robe, (3)
'tis true, can purchase light eternal. The Shangna robe alone gives the Nirvana
of destruction; it stops rebirth, but, O Lanoo, it also kills—compassion. No
longer can the perfect Buddhas, who don the Dharmakaya glory, help man's
salvation.
===================================
Footnotes
(1) See page 77, footnote No. 2
(2)
Ibid.
(3)
The Shangna robe, from
Shangnavesu of Rajagriha the third great Arhat or "Patriarch" as the
Orientalists call the hierarchy of the 33 Arhats who spread Buddhism. "Shangna
robe" means metaphorically, the acquirement of Wisdom with which the Nirvana of
destruction (of personality)
is entered. Literally, the "initiation robe" of the Neophytes. Edkins states
that this "grass cloth" was brought to China from Tibet in the Tong Dynasty.
"When an Arhan is born this plant is found growing in a clean spot" says the
Chinese as also the Tibetan legend.
--------------------------------------------------
36
Alas! shall SELVES
be sacrificed to Self;
mankind, unto the weal of Units?
Know, O beginner, this is the
Open
PATH,
the way to selfish bliss, shunned by the Bodhisattvas of the "Secret Heart," the
Buddhas of Compassion.
To live to benefit mankind is the
first step. To practise the six glorious virtues
(1) is
the second.
To don Nirmanakaya's humble robe is
to forego eternal bliss for Self, to help on man's salvation. To reach Nirvana's
bliss, but to renounce it, is the supreme, the final step—the
highest on Renunciation's Path.
Know, O Disciple, this is the
Secret PATH, selected by the
Buddhas of Perfection, who sacrificed The SELF to weaker Selves.
Yet, if the "Doctrine of the Heart"
is too high-winged for thee. If thou need'st help thyself and fearest to offer
help to others,—then,
======================================
Footnote
(1)
To "practise the Paramita Path" means to become a Yogi with a view of becoming
an ascetic.
---------------------------------------------------------------
37
thou of timid heart, be warned in
time: remain content with the "Eye Doctrine" of the Law. Hope still. For if the
"Secret Path" is unattainable this "day," it is within thy reach "to-morrow.".
(1) Learn that no efforts, not the
smallest—whether in right or wrong direction—can vanish from the world of
causes. E'en wasted smoke remains not traceless. "A harsh word uttered in past
lives, is not destroyed but ever comes again." (2) The pepper plant will not
give birth to roses, nor the sweet jessamine's silver star to thorn or thistle
turn.
Thou canst create this "day" thy
chances for thy "morrow." In the "Great Journey,"
(3)
causes sown each hour bear each its harvest of effects, for rigid Justice rules
the World. With mighty sweep of never erring action, it brings to mortals lives
of weal or woe, the Karmic progeny of all our former thoughts and deeds.
Take then as much as merit hath in
store for thee, O thou of patient heart. Be of good
==============================
Footnotes
(1)
"To-morrow" means the following rebirth or reincarnation.
(2)
Precepts of the Prasanga School.
(3)
"Great journey" or the whole complete cycle of existences, in one "Round."
---------------------------------------------------
38
cheer and rest content with fate.
Such is thy Karma, the Karma of the cycle of thy births, the destiny of those,
who, in their pain and sorrow, are born along with thee, rejoice and weep from
life to life, chained to thy previous actions.
* *
* * * * * * *
Act thou for them "to-day," and they
will act for thee "to-morrow."
'Tis from the bud of Renunciation of
the Self, that springeth the sweet fruit of final Liberation.
To perish doomed is he, who out of
fear of Mara refrains from helping man, lest he should act for Self. The pilgrim
who would cool his weary limbs in running waters, yet dares not plunge for
terror of the stream, risks to succumb from heat. Inaction based on selfish fear
can bear but evil fruit.
The Selfish devotee lives to no
purpose. The man who does not go through his appointed work in life—has
lived in vain.
39
Follow the wheel of life; follow the
wheel of duty to race and kin, to friend and foe, and close thy mind to
pleasures as to pain. Exhaust the law of Karmic retribution. Gain Siddhis for
thy future birth.
If Sun thou can'st not be, then be
the humble planet. Aye, if thou art debarred from flaming like the noon-day Sun
upon the snow-capped mount of purity eternal, then choose, O Neophyte, a humbler
course.
Point out the "Way"—however
dimly, and lost among the host—as does the evening star to those who tread their
path in darkness.
Behold Migmar,
(1) as
in his crimson veils his "Eye" sweeps over slumbering Earth. Behold the fiery
aura of the "Hand" of Lhagpa (2) extended in protecting love over the heads of
his ascetics. Both are now servants to Nyima (3) left in his absence silent
watchers in the
=============================
Footnotes
(1)
Mars.
(2)
Mercury.
(3)
The Sun. Nyima, the Sun
in Tibetan Astrology. Migmar
or Mars is symbolized by an "Eye," and
Lhagpa or Mercury by a "Hand."
-------------------------------------------------
40
night. Yet both in Kalpas past were
bright Nyimas, and may in future "Days" again become two Suns. Such are the
falls and rises of the Karmic Law in nature.
Be, O Lanoo, like them. Give light
and comfort to the toiling pilgrim, and seek out him who knows still less than
thou; who in his wretched desolation sits starving for the bread of Wisdom and
the bread which feeds the shadow, without a Teacher, hope or consolation, and—let
him hear the Law.
Tell him, O Candidate, that he who
makes of pride and self-regard bond-maidens to devotion; that he, who cleaving
to existence, still lays his patience and submission to the Law, as a sweet
flower at the feet of Shakya-Thub-pa,
(1)
becomes a Srotapatti (2)
in this birth. The Siddhis of perfection may loom far, far away; but the first
step is taken, the stream is entered, and he may
==================================
Footnotes
(1)
Buddha.
(2)
Srotapatti or "he who
enters in the stream" of Nirvana, unless he reaches the goal owing to some
exceptional reasons, can rarely attain Nirvana in one birth. Usually a Chela is
said to begin the ascending effort in one life and end or reach it only in his
seventh succeeding birth.
-------------------------------------------
41
gain the eye-sight of the mountain
eagle, the hearing of the timid doe.
Tell him, O Aspirant, that true
devotion may bring him back the knowledge, that knowledge which was his in
former births. The deva-sight and deva-hearing are not obtained in one short
birth.
Be humble, if thou would'st attain
to Wisdom.
Be humbler still, when Wisdom thou
hast mastered.
Be like the Ocean which receives all
streams and rivers. The Ocean's mighty calm remains unmoved; it feels them not.
Restrain by thy Divine thy lower
Self.
Restrain by the Eternal the Divine.
Aye, great is he, who is the slayer
of desire.
Still greater he, in whom the Self
Divine has slain the very knowledge of desire.
42
Guard thou the Lower lest it soil
the Higher.
The way to final freedom is within
thy SELF.
That way begins and ends outside of
Self.
(1)
Unpraised by men and humble is the
mother of all Rivers, in Tirthika's
(2)
proud sight; empty the human form
though filled with Amrita's sweet waters, in the sight of fools. Withal, the
birth-place of the sacred rivers is the sacred land, (3) and he who Wisdom hath,
is honoured by all men.
Arhans and Sages of the boundless
Vision
(4) are rare as is the blossom of
the Udumbara tree. Arhans are born at midnight hour, together with the sacred
plant of nine and seven stalks (5), the holy flower that opes and blooms in
darkness, out of the pure dew and on the
===================================
Footnotes
(1)
Meaning the personal lower "Self."
(2)
An ascetic Brahman, visiting holy shrines, especially sacred bathing-places.
(3)
Tirthikas are the Brahmanical Sectarians "beyond" the Himalayas
called "infidels" by the Buddhists in the
sacred land, Tibet, and
vice versa.
(4)
Boundless Vision or psychic, superhuman sight. An Arhan is credited with
"seeing" and knowing all at a distance as well as on the spot.
(5)
See page 35, footnote No. 3 ; Shangna plant.
-------------------------------------------
43
frozen bed of snow-capped heights,
heights that are trodden by no sinful foot.
No Arhan, O Lanoo, becomes one in
that birth when for the first the Soul begins to long for final liberation. Yet,
O thou anxious one, no warrior volunteering fight in the fierce strife between
the living and the dead
(1), not one recruit can ever be
refused the right to enter on the Path that leads toward the field of Battle.
For, either he shall win, or he
shall fall.
Yea, if he conquers, Nirvana shall
be his. Before he casts his shadow off his mortal coil, that pregnant cause of
anguish and illimitable pain—in
him will men a great and holy Buddha honour.
And if he falls, e'en then he does
not fall in vain; the enemies he slew in the last battle will not return to life
in the next birth that will be his.
=====================================
Footnotes
(1)
The "living" is the immortal Higher Ego, and the "dead"—the lower
personal Ego.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
44
But if thou would'st Nirvana reach,
or cast the prize away,
(1) let not the fruit of action and
inaction be thy motive, thou of dauntless heart.
Know that the Bodhisattva who
liberation changes for Renunciation to don the miseries of "Secret Life,"
(2) is called, "thrice Honoured," O thou candidate for woe throughout the
cycles.
The PATH
is one, Disciple, yet in the end, twofold. Marked are its stages by four and
seven Portals. At one end—bliss immediate, and at the other—bliss deferred. Both
are of merit the reward: the choice is thine.
The One becomes the two, the
Open and the
Secret.
(3) The
first one leadeth to the goal, the second, to Self-Immolation.
When to the Permanent is sacrificed
the Mutable, the prize is thine: the drop returneth
==================================
Footnotes
(1)
See page 77, footnote No. 2
(2)
The "Secret Life" is life as a Nirmanakaya.
(3)
The "Open" and the "Secret Path"—or the one taught to the layman, the exoteric
and the generally accepted, and the other the Secret Path—the nature of which is
explained at initiation.
---------------------------------------
45
whence it came. The
Open
PATH
leads to the changeless change—Nirvana, the glorious state of Absoluteness, the
Bliss past human thought.
Thus, the first Path is
LIBERATION.
But Path the Second is—RENUNCIATION,
and therefore called the "Path of Woe."
That
Secret Path leads the Arhan
to mental woe unspeakable; woe for the living Dead,
(3) and
helpless pity for the men of karmic sorrow, the fruit of Karma Sages dare not
still.
For it is written: "teach to eschew
all causes; the ripple of effect, as the great tidal wave, thou shalt let run
its course."
The "Open Way," no sooner hast thou
reached its goal, will lead thee to reject the Bodhisattvic body and make thee
enter the thrice glorious state of Dharmakaya(2)
which is oblivion of the World and men for ever.
================================
Footnotes
(1)
Men ignorant of the Esoteric truths and Wisdom are called "the living Dead."
(2)
See page 77, footnote No. 2
----------------------------------------------------------
46
The "Secret Way" leads also to
Paranirvanic bliss—but
at the close of Kalpas without number; Nirvanas gained and lost from boundless
pity and compassion for the world of deluded mortals.
But it is said "The last shall be
the greatest," Samyak Sambuddha,
the Teacher of Perfection, gave up his SELF for the salvation of the
World, by stopping at the threshold of Nirvana—the
pure state.
* *
* * * * * * *
Thou hast the knowledge now
concerning the two Ways. Thy time will come for choice, O thou of eager Soul,
when thou hast reached the end and passed the seven Portals. Thy mind is clear.
No more art thou entangled in delusive thoughts, for thou hast learned all.
Unveiled stands truth and looks thee sternly in the face. She says:
"Sweet are the fruits of Rest and
Liberation for the sake of Self;
but sweeter still the fruits of long and bitter duty. Aye, Renunciation
for the sake of others, of suffering fellow men."
47
He, who becomes Pratyeka-Buddha,
(1) makes his obeisance but to his
Self.
The Bodhisattva who has won the battle, who holds the prize
within his palm, yet says in his divine compassion:
"For others' sake this great reward
I yield"—accomplishes
the greater Renunciation.
A SAVIOUR
OF THE
WORLD
is he.
* *
* * * * * * *
Behold! The goal of bliss and the
long Path of Woe are at the furthest end. Thou canst choose either, O aspirant
to Sorrow, throughout the coming cycles! . . . .
OM VAJRAPANI HUM.
===============================
Footnote
(1)
Pratyeka Buddhas are
those Bodhisattvas who strive after and often reach the Dharmakaya robe after a
series of lives. Caring nothing for the woes of mankind or to help it, but only
for their own bliss,
they enter Nirvana and— disappear from the sight and the hearts of men. In
Northern Buddhism a "Pratyeka Buddha" is a synonym of spiritual Selfishness.
"UPADHYAYA,
(1) the
choice is made, I thirst for Wisdom. Now hast thou rent the veil before the
secret Path and taught the greater Yana. (2) Thy servant here is ready for thy
guidance."
'Tis well, Shravaka.
(3)
Prepare thyself, for thou wilt have to travel on alone. The Teacher can but
point the way. The Path is one for all, the means to reach the goal must vary
with the Pilgrims.
===============================
Footnotes
(1) Upadhyaya
is a spiritual preceptor, a Guru. The Northern Buddhists choose
these generally among the "Narjol,"
saintly men, learned in gotrabhu-jnyana
and
jnyana-darshana-shuddhi
teachers of the Secret Wisdom.
(2) Yana—vehicle:
thus Mahayana is the
"Great Vehicle," and Hinayana,
the "Lesser Vehicle," the names for two schools of religious and
philosophical learning in Northern Buddhism.
(3) Sravaka—a
listener, or student who attends to the religious instructions. From the root "Sru."
When from theory they go into practice or performance of asceticism, they become
Sramanas, "exercisers,"
from Srama, action. As
Hardy shows, the two appellations answer to the words akoustikoi
and asketai of the Greeks.
------------------------------------------------------
50
Which wilt thou choose, O thou of
dauntless heart? The Samtan
(1) of "eye Doctrine," four-fold
Dhyana, or thread thy way through Paramitas, (2) six in number, noble gates of
virtue leading to Bodhi and to Prajna, seventh step of Wisdom?
The rugged Path of four-fold Dhyana
winds on uphill. Thrice great is he who climbs the lofty top.
The Paramita heights are crossed by
a still steeper path. Thou hast to fight thy way through portals seven, seven
strongholds held by cruel crafty Powers—
passions incarnate.
Be of good cheer, Disciple; bear in
mind the golden rule. Once thou hast passed the gate Srotapatti,
(3) "he
who the stream hath entered";
==================================
Footnotes
(1) Samtan (Tibetan),
the same as the Sanskrit Dhyana,
or the state of meditation, of which there are four degrees.
(2) Paramitas,
the six transcendental virtues; for the priests there are
ten.
(3) Srotapatti—(lit.)
"he who has entered the stream" that leads to the Nirvanic ocean. This name
indicates the first Path. The name of the
second is the Path of
Sakridagamin, "he who
will receive birth (only) once more." The third is called
Anagamin, "he who will be
reincarnated no more," unless he so desires in order to help mankind. The
fourth Path is known as that of Rahat
or Arhat.
This is the highest. An Arhat sees Nirvana during his life. For him it is no
post-mortem state, but
Samadhi, during which he
experiences all Nirvanic bliss.
Note. How little one can rely upon
the Orientalists for the exact words and meaning, is instanced in the case of
three "alleged" authorities. Thus the four names just explained are given by R.
Spence Hardy as: 1. Sowan; 2. Sakradagami; 3. Anagami, and 4. Arya. By the Rev.
J. Edkins they are given as: 1. Srotapanna; 2. Sagardagam; 3. Anaganim, and 4.
Arhan. Schlagintweit again spells them differently, each, moreover, giving
another and a new variation in the meaning of the terms.
----------------------------------------
51
once thy foot hath pressed the bed
of the Nirvanic stream in this or any future life, thou hast but seven other
births before thee, O thou of adamantine Will.
Look on. What seest thou before
thine eye, O aspirant to god-like Wisdom?
"The cloak of darkness is upon the
deep of matter; within its folds I struggle. Beneath my gaze it deepens, Lord;
it is dispelled beneath the waving of thy hand. A shadow moveth, creeping like
the stretching serpent coils. . . . It grows, swells out and disappears in
darkness."
It is the shadow of thyself outside
the Path, cast on the darkness of thy sins.
"Yea, Lord; I see the PATH; its foot
in
52
mire, its summits lost in glorious
light Nirvanic. And now I see the ever narrowing Portals on the hard and thorny
way to Jnana."
(1)
Thou seest well, Lanoo. These
Portals lead the aspirant across the waters on "to the other shore".
(2) Each Portal hath a golden key that openeth its gate; and these keys are:
1. DANA, the key of charity and love
immortal.
2. SHILA, the key of Harmony in word
and act, the key that counterbalances the cause and the effect, and leaves no
further room for Karmic action.
3. KSHANTI, patience sweet, that
nought can ruffle.
4. VIRAGA, indifference to pleasure
and to pain, illusion conquered, truth alone perceived.
5. VIRYA, the dauntless energy that
fights its
=====================================
Footnotes
(1) Knowledge, Wisdom.
(2) "Arrival at the shore" is with the Northern Buddhists synonymous with
reaching Nirvana through the exercise of the six and the ten
Paramitas (virtues).
--------------------------------------------------------
53
way to the supernal TRUTH, out of
the mire of lies terrestrial.
6. DHYANA, whose golden gate once
opened leads the Narjol
(1) toward the realm of Sat eternal
and its ceaseless contemplation.
7. PRAJNA, the key to which makes of
a man a god, creating him a Bodhisattva, son of the Dhyanis.
Such to the Portals are the golden
keys.
Before thou canst approach the last,
O weaver of thy freedom, thou hast to master these Paramitas of perfection—the
virtues transcendental six and ten in number—along the weary Path.
For, O Disciple! Before thou wert
made fit to meet thy Teacher face to face, thy MASTER light to light, what wert
thou told?
Before thou canst approach the
foremost gate thou hast to learn to part thy body from thy mind, to dissipate
the shadow, and to live in the
===================================
Footnote
(1) A saint, an adept.
---------------------------------------------------------
54
eternal. For this, thou hast to live
and breathe in all, as all that thou perceivest breathes in thee; to feel
thyself abiding in all things, all things in SELF.
Thou shalt not let thy senses make a
playground of thy mind.
Thou shalt not separate thy being
from BEING, and the rest, but merge the Ocean in the drop, the drop within the
Ocean.
So shalt thou be in full accord with
all that lives; bear love to men as though they were thy brother-pupils,
disciples of one Teacher, the sons of one sweet mother.
Of teachers there are many; the
MASTER-SOUL is one
(1) Alaya, the Universal Soul. Live
in that MASTER as ITS ray in thee. Live in thy fellows as they live in IT.
Before thou standest on the
threshold of the Path; before thou crossest the foremost Gate, thou hast to
merge the two into the One and
=================================
Footnote
(1) The "MASTER-SOUL" is
Alaya,
the Universal Soul or Atman, each man having a ray of it in him
and being supposed to be able to identify himself with and to merge himself into
it
------------------------------------------------------
55
sacrifice the personal to SELF
impersonal, and thus destroy the "path" between the two—Antaskarana.
(1)
Thou hast to be prepared to answer
Dharma, the stern law, whose voice will ask thee at thy first, at thy initial
step:
"Hast thou complied with all the
rules, O thou of lofty hopes?"
"Hast thou attuned thy heart and
mind to the great mind and heart of all mankind? For as the sacred River's
roaring voice whereby all Nature-sounds are echoed back,
(2) so
must the
==============================
Footnotes
(1)
Antaskarana is the lower Manas,
the Path of communication or communion between the personality
and the higher Manas or
human Soul. At death it is destroyed as a Path or medium of communication, and
its remains survive in a form as the Kamarupa—the
"shell."
(2) The Northern Buddhists, and all
Chinamen, in fact, find in the deep roar of some of the great and sacred rivers
the key-note of Nature. Hence the simile. It is a well-known fact in Physical
Science, as well as in Occultism, that the aggregate sound of Nature-such as
heard in the roar of great rivers, the noise produced by the waving tops of
trees in large forests, or that of a city heard at a distance—is
a definite single tone of quite an appreciable pitch. This is shown by
physicists and musicians. Thus Prof. Rice (Chinese
Music) shows that the Chinese recognized the fact
thousands of years ago by saying that "the waters of the Hoang-ho rushing by,
intoned the kung" called
"the great tone" in Chinese music; and he shows this tone corresponding with the
F, "considered by modern physicists to be the actual tonic of Nature." Professor
B. Silliman mentions it, too, in his
Principles of Physics, saying that "this tone is held to be
the middle F of the piano; which may, therefore, be considered the key-note of
Nature."
--------------------------------------
56
heart of him 'who in the stream
would enter,' thrill in response to every sigh and thought of all that lives and
breathes."
Disciples may be likened to the
strings of the soul-echoing Vina;
mankind, unto its sounding board; the hand that sweeps it to the tuneful breath
of the
GREAT WORLD-SOUL.
The string that fails to answer 'neath the Master's touch in dulcet harmony with
all the others, breaks—and is cast away. So the collective minds of
Lanoo-Shravakas. They have to
be attuned to the Upadyaya's mind—one with the Over-Soul—or, break away.
Thus do the "Brothers of the Shadow"—the
murderers of their Souls, the dread Dad-Dugpa clan. (1)
====================================
Footnote
(1) The Bhons or
Dugpas, the sect of the "Red Caps," are regarded as the most versed
in sorcery. They inhabit Western and little Tibet and Bhutan. They are all
Tantrikas. It is quite ridiculous to find Orientalists who have visited the
borderlands of Tibet, such as Schlagintweit and others, confusing the rites and
disgusting practices of these with the religious beliefs of the Eastern Lamas,
the "Yellow Caps," and their Narjols
or holy men. As an instance see page 59, footnote No. 1.
----------------------------------------------------------
57
Hast thou attuned thy being to
Humanity's great pain, O candidate for light?
Thou hast? . . . Thou mayest enter.
Yet, ere thou settest foot upon the dreary Path of sorrow, 'tis well thou
should'st first learn the pitfalls on thy way.
Armed with the key of Charity, of
love and tender mercy, thou art secure before the gate of Dana, the gate that
standeth at the entrance of the PATH.
* *
* * * * * * * *
Behold, O happy Pilgrim! The portal
that faceth thee is high and wide, seems easy of access. The road that leads
therethrough is straight and smooth and green. 'Tis like a sunny glade in the
dark forest depths, a spot on earth mirrored from Amitabha's paradise. There,
nightingales of hope and birds of radiant plumage sing perched in green bowers,
chanting success to fearless Pilgrims. They sing of Bodhisattvas' virtues five,
the fivefold source of Bodhi power, and of the seven steps in Knowledge.
58
Pass on! For thou hast brought the
key; thou art secure.
And to the second gate the way is
verdant too. But it is steep and winds up hill; yea, to its rocky top. Grey
mists will over-hang its rough and stony height, and all be dark beyond. As on
he goes, the song of hope soundeth more feeble in the pilgrim's heart. The
thrill of doubt is now upon him; his step less steady grows.
Beware of this, O candidate! Beware
of fear that spreadeth, like the black and soundless wings of midnight bat,
between the moonlight of thy Soul and thy great goal that loometh in the
distance far away.
Fear, O disciple, kills the will and
stays all action. If lacking in the Shila virtue,—the
pilgrim trips, and Karmic pebbles bruise his feet along the rocky path.
Be of sure foot, O candidate. In
Kshanti's
(1) essence bathe thy Soul; for now
thou dost
=================================
Footnote
(1) Kshanti, "patience,"
vide supra the enumeration of
the golden keys.
---------------------------------------------------------
59
approach the portal of that name,
the gate of fortitude and patience.
Close not thine eyes, nor lose thy
sight of Dorje;
(1) Mara's arrows ever smite the man
who has not reached Viraga. (2)
Beware of trembling. 'Neath the
breath of fear the key of Kshanti rusty grows: the rusty key refuseth to unlock.
The more thou dost advance, the more
thy feet pitfalls will meet. The path that leadeth on, is lighted by one fire—the
light of daring, burning in the heart. The more one dares, the more he shall
obtain. The more he fears, the more that light shall pale—and that alone
=================================
Footnotes
(1)
Dorje
is the Sanskrit Vajra,
a weapon or instrument in the hands of some gods (the Tibetan
Dragshed, the Devas
who protect men), and is regarded as having the same occult
power of repelling evil influences by purifying the air as Ozone in chemistry.
It is also a Mudra
a gesture and posture used in sitting for meditation. It is, in short, a symbol
of power over invisible evil influences, whether as a posture or a talisman. The
Bhons or Dugpas,
however, having appropriated the symbol, misuse it for purposes of
Black Magic. With the "Yellow Caps," or
Gelugpas, it is a symbol of power, as the Cross is with the
Christians, while it is in no way more "superstitious." With the
Dugpas, it is like the
double triangle reversed, the
sign of sorcery.
(2) Viraga is that
feeling of absolute indifference to the objective universe, to pleasure and to
pain. "Disgust" does not express its meaning, yet it is akin to it.
------------------------------------------
60
can guide. For as the lingering
sunbeam, that on the top of some tall mountain shines, is followed by black
night when out it fades, so is heart-light. When out it goes, a dark and
threatening shade will fall from thine own heart upon the path, and root thy
feet in terror to the spot.
Beware, disciple, of that lethal
shade. No light that shines from Spirit can dispel the darkness of the nether
Soul, unless all selfish thought has fled therefrom, and that the pilgrim saith:
"I have renounced this passing frame; I have destroyed the cause: the shadows
cast can, as effects, no longer be."
For now the last great fight, the
final war between the Higher
and the Lower Self,
hath taken place. Behold, the very battlefield is now engulphed in the great
war, and is no more.
But once that thou hast passed the
gate of Kshanti, step the third is taken. Thy body is thy slave. Now, for the
fourth prepare, the Portal of temptations which do ensnare the
inner man.
Ere thou canst near that goal,
before thine
61
hand is lifted to upraise the fourth
gate's latch, thou must have mustered all the mental changes in thy Self and
slain the army of the thought sensations that, subtle and insidious, creep
unasked within the Soul's bright shrine.
If thou would'st not be slain by
them, then must thou harmless make thy own creations, the children of thy
thoughts, unseen, impalpable, that swarm round humankind, the progeny and heirs
to man and his terrestrial spoils. Thou hast to study the voidness of the
seeming full, the fulness of the seeming void. O fearless Aspirant, look deep
within the well of thine own heart, and answer. Knowest thou of Self the powers,
O thou perceiver of external shadows?
If thou dost not—then
art thou lost.
For, on Path fourth, the lightest
breeze of passion or desire will stir the steady light upon the pure white walls
of Soul. The smallest wave of longing or regret for Maya's gifts illusive, along
Antaskarana—the
path that lies between thy Spirit and thy self, the highway
62
of sensations, the rude arousers of
Ahankara
(1)—a
thought as fleeting as the lightning flash will make thee thy three prizes
forfeit—the prizes thou hast won.
For know, that the ETERNAL knows no
change.
"The eight dire miseries forsake for
evermore. If not, to wisdom, sure, thou can'st not come, nor yet to liberation,"
saith the great Lord, the Tathagata of perfection, "he who has followed in the
footsteps of his predecessors."
(2)
Stern and exacting is the virtue of
Viraga. If thou its path would'st master, thou must keep thy mind and thy
perceptions far freer than before from killing action.
Thou hast to saturate thyself with
pure Alaya, become as one with Nature's Soul-Thought. At one with it thou art
invincible; in separation, thou becomest the playground of Samvriti,
(3) origin of all the world's delusions.
=================================
Footnotes
(1)
Ahankara—the
"I" or feeling of one's personality, the "I-am-ness."
(2) "One who walks in the steps of his predecessors" or "those who came before
him," is the true meaning of the name
Tathagata.
(3)
Samvriti
is that one of the two truths which demonstrates the illusive
character or emptiness of all things. It is
relative truth in this case.
The Mahayana
school teaches the difference between these two truths
—Paramarthasatya
and
Samvrittisatya
(Satya "truth"). This is the bone of
contention between the Madhyamikas
and the Yogacharyas, the
former denying and the latter affirming that every object exists owing to a
previous cause or by a concatenation. The Madhyamikas
are the great Nihilists and Deniers, for whom everything is
parikalpita, an illusion and
an error in the world of thought and the subjective, as much as in the objective
universe. The Yogacharyas
are the great spiritualists. Samvriti,
therefore, as only relative truth, is the origin of all
illusion.
--------------------------------------------------
63
All is impermanent in man except the
pure bright essence of Alaya. Man is its crystal ray; a beam of light immaculate
within, a form of clay material upon the lower surface. That beam is thy
life-guide and thy true Self, the Watcher and the silent Thinker, the victim of
thy lower Self. Thy Soul cannot be hurt but through thy erring body; control and
master both, and thou art safe when crossing to the nearing "Gate of Balance."
Be of good cheer, O daring pilgrim
"to the other shore." Heed not the whisperings of Mara's hosts; wave off the
tempters, those ill-natured Sprites, the jealous Lhamayin
(1) in
endless space.
=================================
Footnote
(1)
Lhamayin are elementals and
evil spirits adverse to men and their enemies.
--------------------------------------------------------
64
Hold firm! Thou nearest now the
middle portal, the gate of Woe, with its ten thousand snares.
Have mastery o'er thy thoughts, O
striver for perfection, if thou would'st cross its threshold.
Have mastery o'er thy Soul, O seeker
after truths undying, if thou would'st reach the goal.
Thy Soul-gaze centre on the One Pure
Light, the Light that is free from affection, and use thy golden Key. . .
* *
* * * * * * * *
The dreary task is done, thy labour
well-nigh o'er. The wide abyss that gaped to swallow thee is almost spanned.
* *
* * * * * * * *
Thou hast now crossed the moat that
circles round the gate of human passions. Thou hast now conquered Mara and his
furious host.
Thou hast removed pollution from
thine heart and bled it from impure desire. But, O
65
thou glorious combatant, thy task is
not yet done. Build high, Lanoo, the wall that shall hedge in the Holy Isle,
(1) the dam that will protect thy
mind from pride and satisfaction at thoughts of the great feat achieved.
A sense of pride would mar the work.
Aye, build it strong, lest the fierce rush of battling waves, that mount and
beat its shore from out the great World Maya's Ocean, swallow up the pilgrim and
the isle—yea,
even when the victory's achieved.
Thine "Isle" is the deer, thy
thoughts the hounds that weary and pursue his progress to the stream of Life.
Woe to the deer that is o'ertaken by the barking fiends before he reach the Vale
of Refuge—Dhyana
Marga, "path of pure knowledge" named.
Ere thou canst settle in Dhyana
Marga
(2) and call it thine, thy Soul has
to become as the ripe mango fruit: as soft and sweet as its bright
===================================
Footnote
(1) The Higher Ego, or Thinking Self.
(2) Dhyana-Marga
is the "Path of Dhyana,"
literally; or the Path of
pure knowledge,
of Paramartha
or (Sanscrit)
Svasamvedana
"the self-evident or self-analysing reflection."
------------------------------------------------
66
golden pulp for others' woes, as
hard as that fruit's stone for thine own throes and sorrows, O Conqueror of Weal
and Woe.
Make hard thy Soul against the
snares of Self; deserve
for it the name of "Diamond-Soul."
(1)
For, as the diamond buried deep
within the throbbing heart of earth can never mirror back the earthly lights; so
are thy mind and Soul; plunged in Dhyana Marga, these must mirror nought of
Maya's realm illusive.
When thou hast reached that state,
the Portals that thou hast to conquer on the Path fling open wide their gates to
let thee pass, and Nature's strongest mights possess no power to stay thy
course. Thou wilt be master of the sevenfold Path: but not till then, O
candidate for trials passing speech.
Till then, a task far harder still
awaits thee: thou hast to feel thyself ALL-THOUGHT, and yet exile all thoughts
from out thy Soul.
=======================================
Footnote
(1) See page 28, footnote No. 1.
"Diamond-Soul" or Vajradhara
presides over the Dhyani-Buddhas.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
67
Thou hast to reach that fixity of
mind in which no breeze, however strong, can waft an earthly thought within.
Thus purified, the shrine must of all action, sound, or earthly light be void;
e'en as the butterfly, o'ertaken by the frost, falls lifeless at the threshold—so
must all earthly thoughts fall dead before the fane.
Behold it written:
"Ere the gold flame can burn with
steady light, the lamp must stand well guarded in a spot free from all wind."(1)
Exposed to shifting breeze, the jet will flicker and the quivering flame cast
shades deceptive, dark and ever-changing, on the Soul's white shrine.
And then, O thou pursuer of the
truth, thy Mind-Soul will become as a mad elephant, that rages in the jungle.
Mistaking forest trees for living foes, he perishes in his attempts to kill the
ever-shifting shadows dancing on the wall of sunlit rocks.
Beware, lest in the care of Self thy
Soul should lose her foothold on the soil of Deva-knowledge.
==================================
Footnote
(1) Bhagavad-Gita.
--------------------------------------------------------
68
Beware, lest in forgetting SELF, thy
Soul lose o'er its trembling mind control, and forfeit thus the due fruition of
its conquests.
Beware of change! For change is thy
great foe. This change will fight thee off, and throw thee back, out of the Path
thou treadest, deep into viscous swamps of doubt.
Prepare, and be forewarned in time.
If thou hast tried and failed, O dauntless fighter, yet lose not courage: fight
on and to the charge return again, and yet again.
The fearless warrior, his precious
life-blood oozing from his wide and gaping wounds, will still attack the foe,
drive him from out his stronghold, vanquish him, ere he himself expires. Act
then, all ye who fail and suffer, act like him; and from the stronghold of your
Soul, chase all your foes away—ambition,
anger, hatred, e'en to the shadow of desire—when even you have failed. . .
Remember, thou that fightest for
man's
69
liberation,
(1)
each failure is success, and each sincere attempt wins its reward in time. The
holy germs that sprout and grow unseen in the disciple's soul, their stalks wax
strong at each new trial, they bend like reeds but never break, nor can they
e'er be lost. But when the hour has struck they blossom forth. (2) . . .
* *
* * * * * * * *
But if thou cam'st prepare, then
have no fear.
* *
* * * * * * * *
Henceforth thy way is clear right
through the Virya gate,
the fifth one of the Seven Portals.
========================
Footnotes
(1) This is an allusion to a
well-known belief in the East (as in the West, too, for the matter of that) that
every additional Buddha or Saint is a new soldier in the army of those who work
for the liberation or salvation of mankind. In Northern Buddhist countries,
where the doctrine of Nirmanakayas—those
Bodhisattvas
who renounce well-earned Nirvana or the
Dharmakaya
vesture (both of which shut them out for ever from the world of
men) in order to invisibly assist mankind and lead it finally to Paranirvana—is
taught, every new Bodhisattva
or initiated great Adept is called the "liberator of mankind." The statement
made by Schlagintweit in his "Buddhism
in Tibet" to the effect that
Prulpai Ku
or "Nirmanakaya"
is "the body in which
the Buddhas or
Bodhisattvas appear upon earth to teach men"—is absurdly
inaccurate and explains nothing.
(2) A reference to human passions and
sins which are slaughtered during the trials of the novitiate, and serve as
well-fertilized soil in which "holy germs" or seeds of transcendental virtues
may germinate. Pre-existing or innate
virtues, talents or gifts are regarded as having been acquired in a
previous birth. Genius is without exception a talent or aptitude brought from
another birth.
--------------------------------------
70
Thou art now on the way that leadeth
to the Dhyana haven, the sixth, the Bodhi Portal.
The Dhyana gate is like an alabaster
vase, white and transparent; within there burns a steady golden fire, the flame
of Prajna that radiates from Atma.
Thou art that vase.
Thou hast estranged thyself from
objects of the senses, travelled on the "Path of seeing," on the "Path of
hearing," and standest in the light of Knowledge. Thou hast now reached Titiksha
state.
(1)
O Narjol thou art safe.
* *
* * * * * * * *
Know, Conqueror of Sins, once that a
Sowanee
(2) hath cross'd the seventh Path,
all Nature thrills with joyous awe and feels subdued.
=================================
Footnote
(1)
Titiksha
is the fifth state of
Raja Yoga—one
of supreme indifference; submission, if necessary, to what is called "pleasures
and pains for all," but deriving neither pleasure nor pain from such
submission—in short, the becoming physically, mentally, and morally indifferent
and insensible to either pleasure or pain.
(2)
Sowanee
is one who practices
Sowan, the
first path in Dhyana,
a Srotapatti.
----------------------------------------------------
71
The silver star now twinkles out the
news to the night-blossoms, the streamlet to the pebbles ripples out the tale;
dark ocean-waves will roar it to the rocks surf-bound, scent-laden breezes sing
it to the vales, and stately pines mysteriously whisper: "A Master has arisen, a
MASTER
OF THE
DAY".
(1)
He standeth now like a white pillar
to the west, upon whose face the rising Sun of thought eternal poureth forth its
first most glorious waves. His mind, like a becalmed and boundless ocean,
spreadeth out in shoreless space. He holdeth life and death in his strong hand.
Yea, He is mighty. The living power
made free in him, that power which is HIMSELF, can raise the tabernacle of
illusion high above the gods, above great Brahm and Indra.
Now he shall surely reach his
great reward!
Shall he not use the gifts which it
confers for his own rest and bliss, his well-earn'd weal and glory—he,
the subduer of the great Delusion?
==============================
Footnote
(1) "Day" means here a whole
Manvantara, a period of
incalculable duration.
------------------------------------------------
72
Nay,
O thou candidate for Nature's hidden
lore! If one would follow in the steps of holy Tathagata, those gifts and powers
are not for Self.
Would'st thou thus dam the waters
born on Sumeru?
(1) Shalt thou divert the stream for
thine own sake, or send it back to its prime source along the crests of cycles?
If thou would'st have that stream of
hard-earn'd knowledge, of Wisdom heaven-born, remain sweet running waters, thou
should'st not leave it to become a stagnant pond.
Know, if of Amitabha, the "Boundless
Age," thou would'st become co-worker, then must thou shed the light acquired,
like to the Bodhisattvas twain,
(2) upon the span of all three
worlds. (3)
==============================
Footnotes
(1) Mount Meru, the sacred mountain
of the Gods.
(2) In the Northern Buddhist symbology,
Amitabha or "Boundless Space" (Parabrahm)
is said to have in his paradise two
Bodhisattvas—Kwan-shi-yin
and Tashishi—who ever radiate light over the three worlds where they lived,
including our own (vide footnote No. 3, below), in order to help with this light
(of knowledge) in the instruction of Yogis, who will, in their turn, save men.
Their exalted position in Amitabha's
realm is due to deeds of mercy performed by the two, as such
Yogis, when on earth, says the allegory.
(3) These three worlds are the three planes of being, the terrestrial, astral
and the spiritual.
-----------------------------------
73
Know that the stream of superhuman
knowledge and the Deva-Wisdom thou hast won, must, from thyself, the channel of
Alaya, be poured forth into another bed.
Know, O Narjol, thou of the Secret
Path, its pure fresh waters must be used to sweeter make the Ocean's bitter
waves—that
mighty sea of sorrow formed of the tears of men.
Alas! when once thou hast become
like the fix'd star in highest heaven, that bright celestial orb must shine from
out the spatial depths for all—save
for itself; give light to all, but take from none.
Alas! when once thou hast become
like the pure snow in mountain vales, cold and unfeeling to the touch, warm and
protective to the seed that sleepeth deep beneath its bosom—'tis
now that snow which must receive the biting frost, the northern blasts, thus
shielding from their sharp and cruel tooth the earth that holds the promised
harvest, the harvest that will feed the hungry.
74
Self-doomed to live through future
Kalpas,
(1) unthanked and unperceived by
man; wedged as a stone with countless other stones which form the "Guardian
Wall", (2) such is thy future if the seventh gate thou passest. Built by the
hands of many Masters of Compassion, raised by their tortures, by their blood
cemented, it shields mankind, since man is man, protecting it from further and
far greater misery and sorrow.
Withal man sees it not, will not
perceive it, nor will he heed the word of Wisdom . . . for he knows it not.
But thou hast heard it, thou knowest
all, O thou of eager guileless Soul. . . . and thou must choose. Then hearken
yet again.
On Sowan's Path, O Srotapatti,
(3) thou art secure. Aye, on that
Marga, (4) where nought but
============================
Footnotes
(1) Cycles of ages.
(2) The "Guardian Wall" or the "Wall of Protection." It is taught that the
accumulated efforts of long generations of Yogis, Saints and Adepts, especially
of the Nirmanakayas—have
created, so to say, a wall of protection around mankind, which wall shields
mankind invisibly from still worse evils.
(3) Sowan and Srotapatti are synonymous terms.
(4)Marga—"Path."
-----------------------------------------
75
darkness meets the weary pilgrim,
where torn by thorns the hands drip blood, the feet are cut by sharp unyielding
flints, and Mara wields his strongest arms—there
lies a great reward immediately
beyond.
Calm and unmoved the Pilgrim glideth
up the stream that to Nirvana leads. He knoweth that the more his feet will
bleed, the whiter will himself be washed. He knoweth well that after seven short
and fleeting births Nirvana will be his . . .
Such is the Dhyana Path, the haven
of the Yogi, the blessed goal that Srotapattis crave.
Not so when he hath crossed and won
the Aryahata Path.
(1) . . . . . . .
There Klesha is destroyed for ever,
Tanha's roots
(3) torn out. But stay, Disciple . .
. Yet, one word. Canst thou destroy divine COMPASSION? Compassion is no
attribute. It is the LAW
======================================
Footnotes
(1) From the Sanscrit Arhat or
Arhan.
(2) Klesha
is the love of pleasure or of worldly enjoyment, evil or good.
(3) Tanha,
the will to live, that which causes rebirth.
------------------------------------------------
76
of LAWS—eternal
Harmony, Alaya's SELF;
a shoreless universal essence, the light of everlasting Right, and fitness of
all things, the law of love eternal.
The more thou dost become at one
with it, thy being melted in its BEING,
the more thy Soul unites with that which IS,
the more thou wilt become COMPASSION
ABSOLUTE.
(1)
Such is the Arya Path, Path of the
Buddhas of perfection.
Withal, what mean the sacred scrolls
which make thee say?
"OM! I believe it is not all the
Arhats that get of the Nirvanic Path the sweet fruition."
"OM! I believe that the
Nirvana-Dharma is entered not by all the Buddhas".
(2)
==============================
Footnotes
(1) This "compassion" must not be
regarded in the same light as "God, the divine love" of the Theists. Compassion
stands here as an abstract, impersonal law whose nature, being absolute Harmony,
is thrown into confusion by discord, suffering and sin.
(2) Thegpa Chenpoido,
"Mahayana Sutra," Invocations to the Buddhas of Confession,"
Part I., iv. In the Northern Buddhist phraseology all the great Arhats, Adepts
and Saints are called Buddhas.
------------------------------------
77
"Yea; on the Arya Path thou art no
more Srotapatti, thou art a Bodhisattva.
(1) The
stream is cross'd. 'Tis true thou hast a right to Dharmakaya vesture; but
Sambogakaya is greater than a Nirvanee, and greater still is a Nirmanakaya—the
Buddha of Compassion. (2)
================================
Footnotes
(1) A
Bodhisattva is, in the
hierarchy, less than a "perfect Buddha." In the exoteric parlance these two are
very much confused. Yet the innate and right popular perception, owing to that
self-sacrifice, has placed a Bodhisattva
higher in its reverence than a Buddha.
(2) This same popular reverence calls "Buddhas of Compassion" those
Bodhisattvas who, having
reached the rank of an Arhat (i.e.,
having completed the
fourth or seventh
Path), refuse to pass into the Nirvanic state or "don the
Dharmakaya
robe and cross to the other shore," as it would then become
beyond their power to assist men even so little as Karma permits. They prefer to
remain invisibly (in Spirit, so to speak) in the world, and contribute toward
man's salvation by influencing them to follow the Good Law,
i.e., lead them on the Path of
Righteousness. It is part of the exoteric Northern Buddhism to honour all such
great characters as Saints, and to offer even prayers to them, as the Greeks and
Catholics do to their Saints and Patrons; on the other
hand, the esoteric teachings
countenance no such thing. There is a great difference between the two
teachings. The exoteric layman hardly knows the real meaning of the word
Nirmanakaya—hence the confusion
and inadequate explanations of the Orientalists. For example Schlagintweit
believes that Nirmanakaya-body,
means the physical form assumed by the Buddhas when they incarnate on earth—"the
least sublime of their earthly encumbrances" (vide
Buddhism in Tibet)—and
he proceeds to give an entirely false view on the subject. The real teaching is,
however, this:
The three Buddhic bodies or forms are
styled
1.
Nirmanakaya.
2. Sambhogakaya.
3. Dharmakaya.
The first is that ethereal form which
one would assume when leaving his physical he would appear in his astral body—having
in addition all the knowledge of an Adept. The
Bodhisattva develops it in
himself as he proceeds on the Path. Having reached the goal and refused its
fruition, he remains on Earth, as an Adept; and when he dies, instead of going
into Nirvana, he remains in that glorious body he has woven for himself,
invisible to uninitiated
mankind, to watch over and protect it.
Sambhogakaya
is the same, but with the additional
lustre of "three perfections," one of which is entire obliteration of all
earthly concerns.
The
Dharmakaya
body is that of a complete Buddha,
i.e., no body at all, but an
ideal breath: Consciousness merged in the Universal Consciousness, or Soul
devoid of every attribute. Once a
Dharmakaya,
an Adept or Buddha leaves behind every possible relation with, or thought for
this earth. Thus, to be enabled to help humanity, an Adept who has won the right
to Nirvana, "renounces the Dharmakaya
body" in mystic parlance; keeps, of the
Sambhogakaya,
only the great and complete knowledge, and remains in his
Nirmanakaya
body. The Esoteric School teaches that Gautama Buddha with
several of his Arhats is such a
Nirmanakaya,
higher than whom, on account of the great renunciation and sacrifice to mankind
there is none known.
-----------------------------------
78
Now bend thy head and listen well, O
Bodhisattva—Compassion
speaks and saith: "Can there be bliss when all that lives must suffer? Shalt
thou be saved and hear the whole world cry?"
Now thou hast heard that which was
said.
Thou shalt attain the seventh step
and cross the gate of final knowledge but only to wed woe—if
thou would'st be Tathagata, follow upon thy predecessor's steps, remain
unselfish till the endless end.
Thou art enlightened—Choose
thy way.
* *
* * * * * * * *
79
Behold, the mellow light that floods
the Eastern sky. In signs of praise both heaven and earth unite. And from the
four-fold manifested Powers a chant of love ariseth, both from the flaming Fire
and flowing Water, and from sweet-smelling Earth and rushing Wind.
Hark! . . . from the deep
unfathomable vortex of that golden light in which the Victor bathes, ALL
NATURE'S
wordless voice in thousand tones ariseth to proclaim:
JOY
UNTO YE,
O
MEN OF
MYALBA.
(1)
A PILGRIM
HATH RETURNED BACK "FROM THE OTHER SHORE."
A
NEW
ARHAN
(2) IS BORN. . . .
Peace to all beings.
(3)
-------------------------------------
Footnotes
(1)
Myalba
is our earth—pertinently called "Hell," and the greatest of all
Hells, by the esoteric school. The esoteric doctrine knows of no hell or place
of punishment other than on a man-bearing planet or earth.
Avitchi
is a state and not a locality.
(2) Meaning that a new and additional Saviour of mankind is born, who will lead
men to final Nirvana i.e.,
after the end of the life-cycle.
(3) This is one of the variations of the formula that invariably follows every
treatise, invocation or Instruction. "Peace to all beings," "Blessings on all
that Lives," &c., &c.
===============================
==============================================================
In Seven
Stanzas translated from the Book of Dzyan.
1.
THE ETERNAL PARENT WRAPPED
IN HER EVER INVISIBLE ROBES HAD SLUMBERED ONCE AGAIN FOR SEVEN ETERNITIES.
2.
TIME WAS NOT, FOR IT LAY
ASLEEP IN THE INFINITE BOSOM OF DURATION.
3.
UNIVERSAL MIND WAS NOT,
FOR THERE WERE NO AH-HI
TO CONTAIN IT.
4.
THE SEVEN WAYS TO BLISS
WERE NOT. THE
GREAT CAUSES OF MISERY WERE NOT, FOR THERE WAS NO ONE TO PRODUCE AND GET
ENSNARED BY THEM.
5.
DARKNESS ALONE FILLED THE
BOUNDLESS ALL, FOR FATHER, MOTHER AND SON WERE ONCE MORE ONE, AND THE SON HAD
NOT AWAKENED YET FOR THE NEW WHEEL, AND HIS PILGRIMAGE THEREON.
6.
THE SEVEN SUBLIME LORDS
AND THE SEVEN TRUTHS HAD CEASED TO BE, AND THE
UNIVERSE, THE SON OF
NECESSITY, WAS
IM-
84
MERSED IN
PARANISHPANNA, TO BE
OUTBREATHED BY THAT WHICH IS AND YET IS NOT.
NAUGHT WAS.
7.
THE CAUSES OF EXISTENCE
HAD BEEN DONE AWAY WITH; THE VISIBLE THAT WAS, AND THE INVISIBLE THAT IS, RESTED
IN ETERNAL NON-BEING—THE
ONE BEING.
8.
ALONE THE ONE FORM OF
EXISTENCE STRETCHED BOUNDLESS, INFINITE, CAUSELESS, IN DREAMLESS SLEEP; AND LIFE
PULSATED UNCONSCIOUS IN UNIVERSAL SPACE, THROUGHOUT THAT ALL-PRESENCE WHICH IS
SENSED BY THE OPENED EYE OF THE DANGMA.
9.
BUT WHERE WAS THE
DANGMA WHEN THE
ALAYA OF THE UNIVERSE
WAS IN PARAMARTHA
AND THE GREAT WHEEL WAS ANUPADAKA?
1. . . .
WHERE WERE THE BUILDERS,
THE LUMINOUS SONS OF MANVANTARIC
DAWN? . . . IN
THE UNKNOWN DARKNESS IN THEIR AH-HI
PARANISHPANNA.
THE PRODUCERS OF FORM FROM NO-FORM—THE
ROOT OF THE WORLD—THE DEVAMATRI
AND SVABHAVAT,
RESTED IN THE BLISS OF NON-BEING.
85
2. . . .
WHERE WAS SILENCE?
WHERE THE EARS TO SENSE
IT? NO, THERE
WAS NEITHER SILENCE NOR SOUND; NAUGHT SAVE CEASELESS ETERNAL BREATH, WHICH KNOWS
ITSELF NOT.
3.
THE HOUR HAD NOT YET
STRUCK; THE RAY HAD NOT YET FLASHED INTO THE
GERM; THE
MATRIPADMA HAD NOT YET
SWOLLEN.
4.
HER HEART HAD NOT YET
OPENED FOR THE ONE RAY TO ENTER, THENCE TO FALL, AS THREE INTO FOUR, INTO THE
LAP OF MAYA.
5.
THE SEVEN SONS WERE NOT
YET BORN FROM THE WEB OF LIGHT. DARKNESS
ALONE WAS FATHER-MOTHER, SVABHAVAT;
AND SVABHAVAT
WAS IN DARKNESS.
6.
THESE TWO ARE THE
GERM, AND THE
GERM IS ONE.
THE
UNIVERSE WAS STILL
CONCEALED IN THE DIVINE
THOUGHT AND THE DIVINE
BOSOM. . . .
1. . . .
THE LAST VIBRATION OF THE
SEVENTH ETERNITY THRILLS THROUGH INFINITUDE.
THE MOTHER SWELLS,
EXPANDING FROM WITHIN WITHOUT, LIKE THE BUD OF THE LOTUS.
2.
THE VIBRATION SWEEPS
ALONG, TOUCHING WITH ITS SWIFT WING THE WHOLE UNIVERSE
86
AND THE GERM THAT DWELLETH IN
DARKNESS: THE
DARKNESS THAT BREATHES OVER THE SLUMBERING WATERS OF LIFE. . .
3.
DARKNESS RADIATES LIGHT,
AND LIGHT DROPS ONE SOLITARY RAY INTO THE MOTHER-DEEP.
THE RAY SHOOTS THROUGH THE
VIRGIN EGG, THE RAY CAUSES THE ETERNAL EGG TO THRILL, AND DROP THE NON-ETERNAL
GERM, WHICH CONDENSES INTO THE WORLD-EGG.
4.
THEN THE THREE FALL INTO
THE FOUR. THE
RADIANT ESSENCE BECOMES SEVEN INSIDE, SEVEN OUTSIDE.
THE LUMINOUS EGG, WHICH IN
ITSELF IS THREE, CURDLES AND SPREADS IN MILK-WHITE CURDS THROUGHOUT THE DEPTHS
OF MOTHER, THE ROOT THAT GROWS IN THE DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN OF LIFE.
5.
THE ROOT REMAINS, THE
LIGHT REMAINS, THE CURDS REMAIN, AND STILL
OEAOHOO IS ONE.
6.
THE ROOT OF LIFE WAS IN
EVERY DROP OF THE OCEAN OF IMMORTALITY, AND THE OCEAN WAS RADIANT LIGHT, WHICH
WAS FIRE, AND HEAT, AND MOTION. DARKNESS
VANISHED AND WAS NO MORE; IT DISAPPEARED IN ITS OWN ESSENCE, THE BODY OF FIRE
AND WATER, OR FATHER AND MOTHER.
87
7.
BEHOLD, OH
LANOO!
THE RADIANT CHILD OF THE
TWO, THE UNPARALLELED REFULGENT GLORY:
BRIGHT
SPACE
SON OF
DARK
SPACE, WHICH EMERGES FROM
THE DEPTHS OF THE GREAT DARK WATERS.
IT IS
OEAOHOO THE YOUNGER, THE *
* * HE SHINES
FORTH AS THE SON; HE IS THE BLAZING
DIVINE
DRAGON OF
WISDOM; THE
ONE IS
FOUR, AND
FOUR TAKES TO ITSELF
THREE,* AND THE
UNION PRODUCES
THE SAPTA, IN
WHOM ARE THE SEVEN WHICH BECOME THE
TRIDASA (OR THE HOSTS AND
THE MULTITUDES). BEHOLD
HIM LIFTING THE VEIL AND UNFURLING IT FROM EAST TO WEST.
HE SHUTS OUT THE ABOVE,
AND LEAVES THE BELOW TO BE SEEN AS THE GREAT ILLUSION.
HE MARKS THE PLACES FOR
THE SHINING ONES, AND TURNS THE UPPER INTO A SHORELESS SEA OF FIRE, AND THE ONE
MANIFESTED INTO THE GREAT WATERS.
8.
WHERE WAS THE GERM AND
WHERE WAS NOW DARKNESS? WHERE
IS THE SPIRIT OF THE FLAME THAT BURNS IN THY LAMP, OH
LANOO?
THE GERM IS THAT, AND THAT
IS LIGHT, THE WHITE BRILLIANT SON OF THE DARK HIDDEN FATHER.
===================================
Footnote
*
In the English translation from the Sanskrit the numbers are given in that
language, Eka, Chatur,
etc., etc. It was thought best to give them in English.
--------------------------------------------------------
88
9.
LIGHT IS COLD FLAME, AND
FLAME IS FIRE, AND FIRE PRODUCES HEAT, WHICH YIELDS WATER: THE WATER OF LIFE IN
THE GREAT MOTHER.
10.
FATHER-MOTHER
SPIN A WEB WHOSE UPPER END IS FASTENED TO SPIRIT—THE
LIGHT OF THE ONE DARKNESS—AND THE LOWER ONE TO ITS SHADOWY END, MATTER; AND THIS
WEB IS THE UNIVERSE SPUN OUT OF THE TWO SUBSTANCES MADE IN ONE, WHICH IS
SVABHAVAT.
11.
IT EXPANDS WHEN THE BREATH
OF FIRE IS UPON IT; IT CONTRACTS WHEN THE BREATH OF THE MOTHER TOUCHES IT.
THEN THE SONS
DISSOCIATE AND SCATTER, TO RETURN INTO THEIR MOTHER'S BOSOM AT THE END OF THE
GREAT DAY, AND RE-BECOME ONE WITH HER; WHEN IT IS COOLING IT BECOMES RADIANT,
AND THE SONS EXPAND AND CONTRACT THROUGH THEIR OWN SELVES AND HEARTS;
THEY EMBRACE INFINITUDE.
12.
THEN
SVABHAVAT SENDS
FOHAT TO HARDEN THE
ATOMS. EACH IS
A PART OF THE WEB. REFLECTING
THE "SELF-EXISTENT
LORD" LIKE A
MIRROR, EACH BECOMES IN TURN A WORLD.
89
1. . . .
LISTEN, YE
SONS OF THE
EARTH, TO YOUR INSTRUCTORS—THE
SONS OF THE
FIRE.
LEARN, THERE IS NEITHER
FIRST NOR LAST, FOR ALL IS ONE: NUMBER ISSUED FROM NO NUMBER.
2.
LEARN WHAT WE WHO DESCEND
FROM THE PRIMORDIAL
SEVEN, WE WHO
ARE BORN FROM THE PRIMORDIAL
FLAME, HAVE
LEARNT FROM OUR FATHERS. . . . . .
3.
FROM THE EFFULGENCY OF
LIGHT—THE
RAY OF THE EVER-DARKNESS—SPRUNG IN SPACE THE RE-AWAKENED ENERGIES; THE ONE FROM
THE EGG, THE SIX, AND THE FIVE. THEN
THE THREE, THE ONE, THE FOUR, THE ONE, THE FIVE—THE TWICE SEVEN THE SUM TOTAL.
AND THESE ARE
THE ESSENCES, THE FLAMES, THE ELEMENTS, THE BUILDERS, THE NUMBERS, THE ARUPA,
THE RUPA, AND THE FORCE OF DIVINE
MAN—THE SUM
TOTAL. AND FROM THE DIVINE MAN EMANATED THE FORMS, THE SPARKS, THE SACRED
ANIMALS, AND THE MESSENGERS OF THE SACRED FATHERS WITHIN THE HOLY FOUR.
4.
THIS WAS THE ARMY OF THE
VOICE—THE
DIVINE MOTHER OF THE SEVEN. THE
SPARKS OF THE SEVEN ARE SUBJECT TO, AND THE SERVANTS OF, THE FIRST, THE SECOND,
THE THIRD, THE FOURTH, THE FIFTH, THE SIXTH, AND THE
90
SEVENTH OF THE SEVEN.
THESE "SPARKS" ARE CALLED
SPHERES, TRIANGLES, CUBES, LINES, AND MODELLERS; FOR THUS STANDS THE
ETERNAL
NIDANA—THE
OEAOHOO, WHICH
IS:
5. "DARKNESS"
THE BOUNDLESS, OR THE NO-NUMBER, ADI-NIDANA
SVABHAVAT:—
I.
THE
ADI-SANAT,
THE NUMBER, FOR HE IS ONE.
II.
THE VOICE OF THE
LORD
SVABHAVAT, THE NUMBERS,
FOR HE IS ONE AND NINE.
III.
THE "FORMLESS SQUARE."
AND
THESE THREE ENCLOSED WITHIN THE
ARE
THE SACRED FOUR; AND THE TEN ARE THE ARUPA UNIVERSE.
THEN COME THE "SONS," THE
SEVEN FIGHTERS, THE ONE, THE EIGHTH LEFT OUT, AND HIS BREATH WHICH IS THE
LIGHT-MAKER.
6.
THEN THE SECOND SEVEN, WHO
ARE THE LIPIKA,
PRODUCED BY THE THREE. THE
REJECTED SON IS ONE. THE
"SON-SUNS" ARE
COUNTLESS.
1.
THE
PRIMORDIAL
SEVEN, THE
FIRST
SEVEN
BREATHS OF THE
DRAGON OF
WISDOM, PRODUCE IN THEIR
TURN FROM THEIR HOLY
91
CIRCUMGYRATING
BREATHS THE
FIERY
WHIRLWIND.
2.
THEY MAKE OF HIM THE
MESSENGER OF THEIR WILL. THE
DZYU BECOMES
FOHAT, THE
SWIFT SON OF THE DIVINE
SONS WHOSE SONS ARE THE LIPIKA,
RUNS CIRCULAR ERRANDS. FOHAT
IS THE STEED AND THE THOUGHT IS THE RIDER.
HE PASSES LIKE LIGHTNING
THROUGH THE FIERY CLOUDS; TAKES THREE, AND FIVE, AND SEVEN STRIDES THROUGH THE
SEVEN REGIONS ABOVE, AND THE SEVEN BELOW.
HE LIFTS HIS VOICE, AND
CALLS THE INNUMERABLE SPARKS, AND JOINS THEM.
3.
HE IS THEIR GUIDING SPIRIT
AND LEADER. WHEN
HE COMMENCES WORK, HE SEPARATES THE SPARKS OF THE
LOWER
KINGDOM THAT FLOAT AND
THRILL WITH JOY IN THEIR RADIANT DWELLINGS, AND FORMS THERE—WITH
THE GERMS OF WHEELS. HE
PLACES THEM IN THE SIX DIRECTIONS OF SPACE, AND ONE IN THE MIDDLE—THE CENTRAL
WHEEL.
4.
FOHAT TRACES SPIRAL LINES
TO UNITE THE SIXTH TO THE SEVENTH—THE
CROWN; AN ARMY OF THE SONS
OF LIGHT STANDS
AT EACH ANGLE, AND THE LIPIKA
IN THE MIDDLE WHEEL, THEY
SAY: THIS IS
GOOD, THE FIRST DIVINE
WORLD IS READY, THE FIRST IS NOW THE
92
SECOND.
THEN THE "DIVINE
ARUPA" REFLECTS
ITSELF IN CHHAYA
LOKA, THE FIRST
GARMENT OF THE ANUPADAKA.
5.
FOHAT TAKES FIVE STRIDES
AND BUILDS A WINGED WHEEL AT EACH CORNER OF THE SQUARE, FOR THE FOUR HOLY ONES
AND THEIR ARMIES.
6.
THE
LIPIKA CIRCUMSCRIBE THE
TRIANGLE, THE FIRST ONE, THE CUBE, THE SECOND ONE, AND THE PENTACLE WITHIN THE
EGG. IT IS THE
RING CALLED "PASS
NOT" FOR THOSE
WHO DESCEND AND ASCEND. ALSO
FOR THOSE WHO DURING THE KALPA
ARE PROGRESSING TOWARDS THE GREAT DAY "BE
WITH US." THUS
WERE FORMED THE RUPA
AND THE ARUPA:
FROM ONE LIGHT SEVEN LIGHTS; FROM EACH OF THE SEVEN, SEVEN TIMES SEVEN LIGHTS.
THE WHEELS
WATCH THE RING. . . . .
1.
BY THE POWER OF THE
MOTHER OF
MERCY AND
KNOWLEDGE—KWAN-YIN—THE
"TRIPLE" OF KWAN-SHAI-YIN,
RESIDING IN KWAN-YIN-TIEN,
FOHAT, THE
BREATH OF THEIR
PROGENY, THE
SON OF THE
SONS, HAVING
CALLED FORTH, FROM THE LOWER ABYSS,
93
THE ILLUSIVE FORM OF
SIEN-TCHANG
AND THE SEVEN
ELEMENTS:*
2.
THE
SWIFT AND
RADIANT
ONE PRODUCES THE
SEVEN
LAYA
CENTRES, AGAINST WHICH
NONE WILL PREVAIL TO THE GREAT DAY "BE-WITH-US,"
AND SEATS THE UNIVERSE
ON THESE ETERNAL
FOUNDATIONS
SURROUNDING TSIEN-TCHAN
WITH THE ELEMENTARY
GERMS.
3.
OF THE
SEVEN—FIRST
ONE MANIFESTED, SIX CONCEALED, TWO MANIFESTED, FIVE CONCEALED; THREE MANIFESTED,
FOUR CONCEALED; FOUR PRODUCED, THREE HIDDEN; FOUR AND ONE TSAN REVEALED, TWO AND
ONE HALF CONCEALED; SIX TO BE MANIFESTED, ONE LAID ASIDE.
LASTLY, SEVEN SMALL WHEELS
REVOLVING; ONE GIVING BIRTH TO THE OTHER.
4.
HE BUILDS THEM IN THE
LIKENESS OF OLDER WHEELS, PLACING THEM ON THE
IMPERISHABLE
CENTRES.
HOW DOES
FOHAT BUILD THEM? HE
COLLECTS THE FIERY DUST. HE
MAKES BALLS OF FIRE, RUNS THROUGH THEM, AND ROUND THEM, IN-
==============================
Footnote
*
Verse 1 of Stanza VI. is of a far later date than the other Stanzas, though
still very ancient. The old text of this verse, having names entirely unknown to
the Orientalists would give no clue to the student.
-----------------------------
94
FUSING LIFE THEREINTO THEN' SETS
THEM INTO MOTION; SOME ONE WAY, SOME THE OTHER WAY.
THEY ARE COLD, HE MAKES
THEM HOT. THEY
ARE DRY, HE MAKES THEM MOIST. THEY
SHINE, HE FANS AND COOLS THEM. THUS
ACTS FOHAT FROM
ONE TWILIGHT TO THE OTHER, DURING SEVEN
ETERNITIES.
5.
AT THE FOURTH, THE SONS
ARE TOLD TO CREATE THEIR IMAGES. ONE
THIRD REFUSES—
TWO OBEY.
THE
CURSE IS PRONOUNCED; THEY WILL BE BORN ON THE FOURTH, SUFFER AND CAUSE
SUFFERING; THIS IS THE FIRST WAR.
6.
THE OLDER WHEELS ROTATED
DOWNWARDS AND UPWARDS. . . . THE
MOTHER'S SPAWN FILLED THE WHOLE. THERE
WERE BATTLES FOUGHT BETWEEN THE CREATORS
AND THE DESTROYERS,
AND BATTLES FOUGHT FOR SPACE; THE SEED APPEARING AND RE-APPEARING CONTINUOUSLY.
7.
MAKE THY CALCULATIONS,
LANOO, IF THOU
WOULDEST LEARN THE CORRECT AGE OF THY SMALL WHEEL.
ITS FOURTH SPOKE IS OUR
MOTHER. REACH
THE FOURTH "FRUIT" OF THE FOURTH PATH OF KNOWLEDGE THAT LEADS TO
NIRVANA, AND THOU SHALT
COMPREHEND, FOR THOU SHALT SEE . . . .
. . . .
95
1.
BEHOLD THE BEGINNING OF
SENTIENT FORMLESS LIFE.
FIRST
THE DIVINE, THE
ONE FROM THE MOTHER-SPIRIT;
THEN THE SPIRITUAL;
THE THREE FROM THE ONE, THE FOUR FROM THE ONE, AND THE FIVE FROM WHICH THE
THREE, THE FIVE, AND THE SEVEN. THESE
ARE THE THREE-FOLD, THE FOUR-FOLD DOWNWARD; THE "MIND-BORN" SONS OF THE FIRST
LORD; THE
SHINING SEVEN.
IT
IS THEY WHO ARE THOU, ME, HIM, OH LANOO.
THEY, WHO WATCH
OVER THEE, AND THY MOTHER EARTH.
2.
THE ONE RAY MULTIPLIES THE
SMALLER RAYS. LIFE
PRECEDES FORM, AND LIFE SURVIVES THE LAST ATOM OF FORM.
THROUGH THE COUNTLESS RAYS
PROCEEDS THE LIFE-RAY, THE ONE, LIKE A THREAD THROUGH MANY JEWELS.
3.
WHEN THE ONE BECOMES TWO,
THE THREEFOLD APPEARS, AND THE THREE ARE ONE; AND IT IS OUR THREAD, OH
LANOO, THE HEART OF THE
MAN-PLANT CALLED SAPTAS
[P]ARM[N]A.
4.
IT IS THE ROOT THAT NEVER
DIES; THE THREE-TONGUED FLAME OF THE FOUR WICKS.
THE WICKS ARE THE SPARKS,
THAT DRAW FROM
96
THE THREE-TONGUED FLAME SHOT OUT BY
THE SEVEN—THEIR
FLAME—THE BEAMS AND SPARKS OF ONE MOON REFLECTED IN THE RUNNING WAVES OF ALL THE
RIVERS OF EARTH.
5.
THE SPARK HANGS FROM THE
FLAME BY THE FINEST THREAD OF FOHAT.
IT JOURNEYS
THROUGH THE SEVEN
WORLDS OF
MAYA.
IT STOPS IN THE FIRST,
AND IS A METAL AND A STONE; IT PASSES INTO THE SECOND AND BEHOLD—A
PLANT; THE PLANT WHIRLS THROUGH SEVEN CHANGES AND BECOMES A SACRED ANIMAL.
FROM THE
COMBINED ATTRIBUTES OF THESE, MANU,
THE THINKER IS FORMED. WHO
FORMS HIM? THE
SEVEN LIVES, AND THE ONE LIFE. WHO
COMPLETES HIM? THE
FIVE-FOLD LHA.
AND WHO
PERFECTS THE LAST BODY? FISH,
SIN, AND SOMA. . . . .
6.
FROM THE FIRST-BORN THE
THREAD BETWEEN THE SILENT
WATCHER AND HIS
SHADOW BECOMES
MORE STRONG AND RADIANT WITH EVERY CHANGE.
THE MORNING SUN-LIGHT HAS
CHANGED INTO NOON-DAY GLORY. . . . .
7.
THIS IS THY PRESENT WHEEL,
SAID THE FLAME
TO THE SPARK.
THOU ART
MYSELF, MY IMAGE, AND MY SHADOW. I
HAVE CLOTHED MYSELF IN THEE, AND THOU ART MY
VAHAN TO THE DAY, "BE
WITH US," WHEN THOU SHALT
97
RE-BECOME MYSELF AND OTHERS, THYSELF
AND ME. THEN
THE BUILDERS, HAVING DONNED THEIR FIRST CLOTHING, DESCEND ON RADIANT EARTH AND
REIGN OVER MEN—WHO
ARE THEMSELVES. . . .
(VERBATIM EXTRACTS.*)
1.
THE
LHA WHICH TURNS THE FOURTH
IS SUBSERVIENT TO THE LHA
OF THE SEVEN,
THEY WHO REVOLVE DRIVING THEIR CHARIOTS AROUND THEIR
LORD, THE
ONE
EYE.
HIS BREATH GAVE LIFE TO
THE SEVEN; IT
GAVE LIFE TO THE FIRST.
2.
SAID THE
EARTH:—"LORD
OF THE SHINING
FACE; MY HOUSE
IS EMPTY . . . . SEND THY SONS TO PEOPLE THIS WHEEL.
THOU HAST SENT THY SEVEN
SONS TO THE LORD
OF WISDOM.
SEVEN TIMES
DOTH HE SEE THEE NEARER TO HIMSELF, SEVEN TIMES MORE DOTH HE FEEL THEE.
THOU HAST FORBIDDEN THY
SERVANTS, THE SMALL RINGS, TO CATCH THY LIGHT AND HEAT, THY GREAT BOUNTY TO
INTERCEPT ON ITS
============================================
*
Only forty-nine Slokas out of several hundred are here given. Not every verse is
translated verbatim. A periphrasis is sometimes used for the sake of clearness
and intelligibility, where a literal translation would be quite unintelligible.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
100
PASSAGE.
SEND NOW TO THY SERVANT
THE SAME."
3.
SAID THE "LORD
OF THE SHINING
FACE":—"I
SHALL SEND THEE A FIRE WHEN THY WORK IS COMMENCED.
RAISE THY VOICE TO OTHER
LOKAS; APPLY TO
THY FATHER, THE LORD
OF THE LOTUS,
FOR HIS SONS . . . . THY PEOPLE SHALL BE UNDER THE RULE OF THE
FATHERS.
THY MEN SHALL BE MORTALS.
THE MEN OF THE
LORD OF
WISDOM, NOT THE
LUNAR
SONS, ARE IMMORTAL.
CEASE THY
COMPLAINTS. THY
SEVEN SKINS ARE YET ON THEE . . . . THOU ART NOT READY.
THY MEN ARE NOT READY."
4.
AFTER GREAT THROES SHE
CAST OFF HER OLD THREE AND PUT ON HER NEW SEVEN SKINS, AND STOOD IN HER FIRST
ONE.
5.
THE WHEEL WHIRLED FOR
THIRTY CRORES MORE. IT
CONSTRUCTED RUPAS: SOFT STONES THAT HARDENED; HARD PLANTS THAT SOFTENED.
VISIBLE FROM INVISIBLE,
INSECTS AND SMALL LIVES. SHE
SHOOK THEM OFF HER BACK WHENEVER THEY OVERRAN THE MOTHER.
. . . . AFTER
THIRTY CRORES SHE TURNED ROUND. SHE
LAY ON HER BACK; ON HER SIDE. . . SHE
WOULD CALL NO SONS OF HEAVEN,
SHE WOULD ASK NO
101
SONS OF
WISDOM.
SHE CREATED FROM HER OWN
BOSOM. SHE
EVOLVED WATER-MEN, TERRIBLE AND BAD.
6.
THE WATER-MEN TERRIBLE AND
BAD SHE HERSELF CREATED FROM THE REMAINS OF OTHERS, FROM THE DROSS AND SLIME OF
HER FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD, SHE FORMED THEM.
THE
DHYANI CAME AND LOOKED—THE
DHYANI FROM THE
BRIGHT FATHER-MOTHER,
FROM THE WHITE REGIONS THEY CAME, FROM THE ABODES OF THE IMMORTAL MORTALS.
7.
DISPLEASED THEY WERE.
OUR FLESH IS
NOT THERE. NO
FIT RUPAS FOR OUR BROTHERS OF THE FIFTH.
NO DWELLINGS FOR THE
LIVES. PURE
WATERS, NOT TURBID, THEY MUST DRINK.
LET US DRY THEM.
8.
THE FLAMES CAME.
THE FIRES WITH THE
SPARKS; THE NIGHT FIRES AND THE DAY FIRES.
THEY DRIED OUT THE TURBID
DARK WATERS. WITH
THEIR HEAT THEY QUENCHED THEM. THE
LHAS OF THE
HIGH, THE
LHAMAYIN OF
BELOW, CAME. THEY
SLEW THE FORMS WHICH WERE TWO-AND FOUR-FACED.
THEY FOUGHT THE GOAT-MEN,
AND THE DOG-HEADED MEN, AND THE MEN WITH FISHES' BODIES.
102
9.
MOTHER-WATER, THE GREAT
SEA, WEPT. SHE
AROSE, SHE DISAPPEARED IN THE MOON WHICH HAD LIFTED HER, WHICH HAD GIVEN HER
BIRTH.
10.
WHEN THEY WERE DESTROYED,
MOTHER-EARTH
REMAINED BARE. SHE
ASKED TO BE DRIED.
11.
THE
LORD OF THE
LORDS CAME.
FROM HER BODY HE SEPARATED
THE WATERS, AND THAT WAS HEAVEN
ABOVE, THE FIRST HEAVEN.
12.
THE GREAT
CHOHANS CALLED THE
LORDS OF THE
MOON, OF THE AIRY
BODIES. "BRING
FORTH MEN, MEN OF YOUR NATURE. GIVE
THEM THEIR FORMS WITHIN. SHE
WILL BUILD COVERINGS WITHOUT. MALES-FEMALES
WILL THEY BE. LORDS
OF THE FLAME
ALSO . . . . "
13.
THEY WENT EACH ON HIS
ALLOTTED LAND: SEVEN OF THEM EACH ON HIS LOT.
THE
LORDS OF THE
FLAME REMAIN BEHIND.
THEY WOULD NOT
GO, THEY WOULD NOT CREATE.
14.
THE
SEVEN
HOSTS, THE "WILL-BORN
LORDS,"
PROPELLED BY THE SPIRIT
OF LIFE-
103
GIVING, SEPARATE MEN FROM
THEMSELVES, EACH ON HIS OWN ZONE.
15.
SEVEN TIMES SEVEN
SHADOWS OF FUTURE MEN
WERE BORN, EACH OF HIS OWN COLOUR AND KIND.
EACH INFERIOR TO HIS
FATHER. THE
FATHERS, THE BONELESS, COULD GIVE NO LIFE TO BEINGS WITH BONES.
THEIR PROGENY WERE
BHUTA, WITH NEITHER
FORM NOR MIND. THEREFORE
THEY ARE CALLED THE CHHAYA.
16.
HOW ARE THE
MANUSHYA BORN?
THE
MANUS WITH MINDS, HOW ARE
THEY MADE? THE
FATHERS CALLED TO THEIR HELP THEIR OWN FIRE; WHICH IS THE FIRE THAT BURNS IN
EARTH.
THE
SPIRIT OF THE
EARTH CALLED TO HIS HELP
THE SOLAR
FIRE.
THESE THREE PRODUCED IN
THEIR JOINT EFFORTS A GOOD RUPA.
IT COULD STAND,
WALK, RUN, RECLINE, OR FLY. YET
IT WAS STILL BUT A CHHAYA,
A SHADOW WITH NO SENSE . . . .
17.
THE BREATH NEEDED A FORM;
THE
FATHERS GAVE IT.
THE BREATH NEEDED A
GROSS BODY; THE EARTH
MOULDED IT. THE
BREATH NEEDED THE SPIRIT
OF LIFE; THE
SOLAR
LHAS BREATHED IT INTO
ITS FORM. THE
BREATH NEEDED A MIRROR
OF ITS BODY; "WE
GAVE IT OUR OWN," SAID THE DHYANIS.
THE
BREATH NEEDED A
VEHICLE OF
DESIRES; "IT
104
HAS IT," SAID THE
DRAINER OF
WATERS.
BUT
BREATH NEEDS A MIND TO
EMBRACE THE UNIVERSE;
"WE CANNOT GIVE
THAT," SAID THE FATHERS.
"I NEVER HAD
IT," SAID THE SPIRIT
OF THE EARTH. "THE
FORM WOULD BE CONSUMED WERE I TO GIVE IT MINE," SAID THE
GREAT
FIRE . . . .
MAN REMAINED AN EMPTY
SENSELESS BHUTA
. . . . THUS
HAVE THE BONELESS GIVEN LIFE TO THOSE WHO BECAME MEN WITH BONES IN THE THIRD.
18.
THE FIRST WERE THE SONS OF
YOGA.
THEIR SONS THE CHILDREN
OF THE YELLOW
FATHER AND THE
WHITE
MOTHER.
19.
THE
SECOND
RACE WAS THE PRODUCT BY
BUDDING AND EXPANSION, THE A-SEXUAL
FROM THE SEXLESS*
—THUS
WAS, O
LANOO, THE
SECOND
RACE PRODUCED.
20.
THEIR FATHERS WERE THE
SELF-BORN. THE
SELF-BORN, THE CHHAYA
FROM THE BRILLIANT BODIES OF THE LORDS,
THE FATHERS,
THE SONS OF
TWILIGHT.
=================================
* The idea and spirit of the
sentence is here given, as a verbal translation would convey very little to the
reader.
-----------------------------------------------------
105
21.
WHEN THE
RACE BECAME OLD, THE OLD
WATERS MIXED WITH THE FRESHER WATERS.
WHEN ITS DROPS BECAME
TURBID, THEY VANISHED AND DISAPPEARED IN THE NEW STREAM, IN THE HOT STREAM OF
LIFE. THE OUTER
OF THE FIRST BECAME THE INNER OF THE SECOND.
THE OLD
WING BECAME THE NEW
SHADOW, AND THE
SHADOW OF THE
WING.
22.
THEN THE SECOND EVOLVED
THE EGG-BORN,
THE THIRD. THE
SWEAT GREW, ITS DROPS GREW, AND THE DROPS BECAME HARD AND ROUND.
THE
SUN WARMED IT; THE
MOON COOLED AND SHAPED
IT; THE WIND FED IT UNTIL ITS RIPENESS.
THE WHITE SWAN FROM THE
STARRY VAULT OVERSHADOWED THE BIG DROP.
THE EGG OF THE FUTURE
RACE, THE MAN-SWAN
OF THE LATER THIRD. FIRST
MALE-FEMALE, THEN MAN AND WOMAN.
23.
THE SELF-BORN WERE THE
CHHAYAS: THE
SHADOWS FROM
THE BODIES OF THE SONS
OF TWILIGHT.
24.
THE
SONS OF
WISDOM, THE
SONS OF
NIGHT, READY FOR REBIRTH,
CAME DOWN, THEY SAW THE VILE FORMS OF THE
FIRST
THIRD, "WE
CAN CHOOSE," SAID THE LORDS,
"WE HAVE
106
WISDOM."
SOME ENTERED THE
CHHAYA.
SOME PROJECTED THE
SPARK.
SOME DEFERRED TILL THE
FOURTH.
FROM THEIR OWN
RUPA THEY
FILLED THE KAMA.
THOSE WHO
ENTERED BECAME ARHATS.
THOSE WHO
RECEIVED BUT A SPARK, REMAINED DESTITUTE OF KNOWLEDGE; THE SPARK BURNED LOW.
THE THIRD
REMAINED MIND-LESS. THEIR
JIVAS WERE NOT
READY. THESE
WERE SET APART AMONG THE SEVEN.
THEY BECAME
NARROW-HEADED. THE
THIRD WERE
READY. "IN
THESE SHALL WE DWELL," SAID THE LORDS
OF THE FLAME.
25.
HOW DID THE
MANASA, THE
SONS OF
WISDOM, ACT?
THEY REJECTED THE
SELF-BORN.
THEY ARE NOT READY.
THEY SPURNED
THE SWEAT-BORN.
THEY ARE NOT
QUITE READY. THEY
WOULD NOT ENTER THE FIRST EGG-BORN.
26.
WHEN THE
SWEAT-BORN PRODUCED THE
EGG-BORN, THE
TWOFOLD AND THE MIGHTY, THE POWERFUL WITH BONES, THE
LORDS OF
WISDOM SAID: "NOW
SHALL WE CREATE."
27.
THE
THIRD
RACE BECAME THE
VAHAN OF THE
LORDS OF
WISDOM.
IT CREATED "SONS
OF WILL AND
YOGA," BY
KRIYASAKTI IT
CREATED THEM, THE HOLY
FATHERS,
ANCESTORS OF
THE ARHATS. .
107
28.
FROM THE DROPS OF SWEAT;
FROM THE RESIDUE OF THE SUBSTANCE; MATTER FROM DEAD BODIES OF MEN AND ANIMALS OF
THE WHEEL BEFORE; AND FROM CAST-OFF DUST, THE FIRST ANIMALS WERE PRODUCED.
29.
ANIMALS WITH BONES,
DRAGONS OF THE DEEP, AND FLYING SARPAS
WERE ADDED TO THE CREEPING THINGS.
THEY THAT CREEP ON THE GROUND GOT WINGS.
THEY OF THE LONG NECKS IN
THE WATER BECAME THE PROGENITORS OF THE FOWLS OF THE AIR.
30.
DURING THE THIRD
RACE THE BONELESS
ANIMALS GREW AND CHANGED: THEY BECAME ANIMALS WITH BONES, THEIR
CHHAYAS BECAME SOLID.
31.
THE ANIMALS SEPARATED THE
FIRST. THEY
BEGAN TO BREED. THE
TWO-FOLD MAN SEPARATED ALSO. HE
SAID: "LET US
AS THEY; LET US UNITE AND MAKE CREATURES."
THEY DID.
32.
AND THOSE WHICH HAD NO
SPARK TOOK HUGE SHE-ANIMALS UNTO THEM.
THEY BEGAT UPON THEM DUMB
RACES.
DUMB THEY WERE
THEMSELVES. BUT
THEIR TONGUES UNTIED. THE
TONGUES OF THEIR PROGENY REMAINED
108
STILL.
MONSTERS THEY BRED.
A RACE OF
CROOKED RED-HAIR-COVERED MONSTERS GOING ON ALL FOURS.
A DUMB RACE TO KEEP THE
SHAME UNTOLD.
33.
SEEING WHICH, THE
LHAS WHO HAD NOT BUILT
MEN, WEPT, SAYING:—
34. "THE
AMANASA HAVE
DEFILED OUR FUTURE ABODES. THIS
IS KARMA.
LET US DWELL IN
THE OTHERS. LET
US TEACH THEM BETTER, LEST WORSE SHOULD HAPPEN.
THEY DID . . . .
35.
THEN ALL MEN BECAME
ENDOWED WITH MANAS.
THEY SAW THE
SIN OF THE MINDLESS.
36.
THE
FOURTH
RACE DEVELOPED SPEECH.
37.
THE
ONE BECAME
TWO; ALSO ALL THE LIVING
AND CREEPING THINGS THAT WERE STILL ONE, GIANT FISH-BIRDS AND SERPENTS WITH
SHELL-HEADS.
38.
THUS TWO BY TWO ON THE
SEVEN ZONES, THE THIRD
RACE GAVE BIRTH
TO THE FOURTH-RACE
MEN; THE GODS BECAME NO-GODS; THE SURA BECAME A-SURA.
39.
THE FIRST, ON EVERY ZONE,
WAS MOON-COLOURED; THE SECOND YELLOW LIKE GOLD;
109
THE THIRD RED; THE FOURTH BROWN,
WHICH BECAME BLACK WITH SIN. THE
FIRST SEVEN HUMAN SHOOTS WERE ALL OF ONE COMPLEXION.
THE NEXT SEVEN BEGAN
MIXING.
40.
THEN THE
FOURTH BECAME TALL WITH
PRIDE. WE ARE
THE KINGS, IT WAS SAID; WE ARE THE GODS.
41.
THEY TOOK WIVES FAIR TO
LOOK UPON. WIVES
FROM THE MINDLESS, THE NARROW-HEADED.
THEY BRED MONSTERS.
WICKED DEMONS,
MALE AND FEMALE, ALSO KHADO
(DAKINI), WITH LITTLE MINDS.
42. THEY BUILT TEMPLES FOR THE HUMAN
BODY. MALE AND
FEMALE THEY WORSHIPPED. THEN
THE THIRD
EYE ACTED NO
LONGER.
43.
THEY BUILT HUGE CITIES.
OF RARE EARTHS
AND METALS THEY BUILT, AND OUT OF THE FIRES VOMITED, OUT OF THE WHITE STONE OF
THE MOUNTAINS AND OF THE BLACK STONE, THEY CUT THEIR OWN IMAGES IN THEIR SIZE
AND LIKENESS, AND WORSHIPPED THEM.
44.
THEY BUILT GREAT IMAGES
NINE YATIS HIGH, THE SIZE OF THEIR BODIES.
INNER FIRES HAD DESTROYED
THE LAND OF THEIR FATHERS. THE
WATER THREATENED THE FOURTH.
110
45.
THE FIRST GREAT WATERS
CAME. THEY
SWALLOWED THE SEVEN GREAT ISLANDS.
46.
ALL
HOLY SAVED, THE
UNHOLY DESTROYED.
WITH THEM MOST
OF THE HUGE ANIMALS, PRODUCED FROM THE SWEAT OF THE EARTH.
47.
FEW MEN REMAINED: SOME
YELLOW, SOME BROWN AND BLACK, AND SOME RED REMAINED.
THE MOON-COLOURED WERE
GONE FOREVER.
48.
THE FIFTH PRODUCED FROM
THE HOLY STOCK
REMAINED; IT WAS RULED OVER BY THE FIRST DIVINE
KINGS.
49. . . . .
WHO RE-DESCENDED, WHO MADE
PEACE WITH THE FIFTH, WHO TAUGHT AND INSTRUCTED IT. . . . . .
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