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Vol. 17 No. 4 Boulder, Colorado July/August, 2002

Contents

Are Theosophists Preparing For1975? …................................1

“The Two Paths” The Voice…...5

Secret Doctrine Question AndAnswer Section…................8

The Yoga SutrasOf Patanjali..............................…9

Letters Received….....................13

Marty’s Discussion Corner…..14

Two Stories….............................19

Corrections….............................22

The Shrine….............................23

ARE THEOSOPHISTS PREPARING FOR 1975?

The Canadian Theosophist April 15th, 1940

In none of her writings is HPB more communicative andinteresting than in Volume III of the Secret Doctrine(Collected Writings Vol XII). In that volume on page 412, shegives the origin of what we now term the TheosophicalMovement, saying:

“Among the commandments of Tsong Kha-pa thereis one that enjoins the Rahats (Arhats) to make a attempt toenlighten the world, including the`white barbarians,’ everycentury at a certain specific period of the cycle.”

The attempt is made, HPB repeatedly said, at the lastquarter of each century. As Tsong-Kha-pa died in 1419,presumably the first effort to impart the higher knowledge to the“white barbarians” and the rest of the world was put forth in1475 and the fifth in 1875, when HPB founded the TheosophicalSociety in New York. At that time the Masters sent twoMessengers, HPB and Hilarion Smerdis; but the mission of thelatter was veiled in obscurity. Theosophists have been assuredthat in 1975 another agent of the Masters will come andundertake the difficult task of rejuvenating and reorganizing theTheosophical Movement.

When HPB began her work she had to do arduouspioneering. Although the Dark Ages are said to have ended in

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the sixteenth century, and during the next threecenturies the physical scientists had made fairheadway, dispelling which for more than amillennium had enveloped the Christian world,the vast majority of the “white barbarians”were then, as they still are, church-riddenreligionists, with padlocked minds, while themore open-minded men who had defied thetyrannical religious rulers, and by theinvestigation of physical phenomena hadinaugurated the era of modern science, hadbecome mostly agnostics and materialists.Among the religionists and scientists HPBproclaiming Theosophy, could gain nofollowers.

But the cult of spiritualism, which hadstarted about fifty years before, was in itszenith, and its discoveries corroborated to acertain extent the Occult doctrines; so HPB’swork at first was mainly with the spiritualists,gaining from them a few converts, includingCol. Olcott and Mr. Judge, with whose help shefounded the Theosophical Society. When,however, she was directed by the Masters topoint out the errors of spiritualism and warnagainst its dangerous practices, she did so withsuch vehemence that the spiritualists tookumbrage, and nearly all of them who had joinedthe Society deserted it. Consequently whenshe and Col. Olcott left for India little remainedof the Society but its name; but Mr. Judge, byyears of strenuous efforts, rebuilt from itswreckage a splendid American organization.

The next Messenger, when he comes,will reap the benefits of HPB’s pioneering.There will be many Theosophists, members ofvarious factions and students unattached to anyorganization. There will be a large volume of

Theosophical literature, and the tenets ofTheosophy, such as reincarnation and karma,will be familiar to most well-read persons. Buthe will find the T.S., a house divided againstitself, rival factions making conflicting claims.It may be said with certainty that he will ignoreall claims that this, that or the other faction is theone and only T.S., or the only one that preservesthe original and orthodox teaching. The truecriterion of these Theosophical claimants is thepractice by them of the brotherhood which theypreach. Each tree in the Theosophical orchardwill be judged by its fruits.

It must be admitted that the T.S., far frombecoming “the nucleus of a UniversalBrotherhood,” has set the world a mostwretched example of brotherhood. NoTheosophists of any faction, can gainsay this.Then, if we are to prepare the way for the nextMessenger, the first requisite is for Theoso-phists to become brotherly among themselvesand to extend brotherliness to all their fellow-mortals “without distinction of race, creed, sex,caste or color.” Does the first object of the T.S.mean exactly what it says, or is it insincere, amere contemptible playing to the gallery?Should not the members of every factionconcede that the members of all the otherfactions are indeed their brothers?

In imagination we can hear the typicalfactionary Theosophist say: “I cannotrecognize as Theosophists the members oforganizations other than my own. They do notfollow my leader, do not belong to my Society,which is the only one representing the originalT.S., and they teach false doctrines, corruptingthe teaching of HPB and the Masters.”Shameful is such a narrow, bigoted, sectarian

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attitude. Whoever among Theosophists takesthat position is placing obstacles in the way ofthe next Messenger, instead of paving the wayfor him.

In acknowledging as Theosophists themembers of rival factions, and the many menand women who have accepted Theosophy butbelonging to no Theosophical organization, it isnot necessary to endorse all their beliefs or toconcede their claims to leadership orsuccessorship. Such subjects may bediscussed, freely, good-naturedly and politely,without any sectarian or personal animus. ...

Only thirty-five years remain before thecoming of the next Messenger. Many youngerTheosophists will be here when he comes. Buthow about the older ones who will not be onearth at that time? If we accept literally theoften-repeated statement that the averageperiod between incarnations is 1500 years ormore, in connection with the other statementthat what we now call the TheosophicalMovement was started by the Masters onlyfive centuries ago, we are forced to theconclusion that at its renewal in the last quarterof each century its members are always newrecruits who have not been on earth sinceancient times. But are we compelled to acceptliterally that cycle of 1500 years?

HPB says in the SD that ciphers aresometimes affixed to cyclic numbers as a‘blind.” Would we be justified, therefore, if wewere to strike off a cipher from the number1500, thus reducing it to 150? Charles Fourier,the French philosopher, makes incarnation andthe mid-incarnation period analogous withwaking and sleeping: man sleeps one-third of

the time and is awake for two-thirds, and so,earth-life being considered the slumber of thesoul, if he lives 75 years he will be 150 years inthe disincarnated state, the soul’s wakingperiod. We reject as an absurdity the religiousdogma that man has but one brief life on earthfollowed by an eternity in heaven or hell. Butdoes not the period of 1500 years seemdisproportionate with the few years of physicalexistence - for every year on earth twenty ormore years of Devachan? Such speculationsmay be baseless, and the 150 number may beentitled to both its ciphers.

It should be remembered, however, thatthe teaching given to the “white barbarians” inthe nineteenth century is fragmentary and by nomeans free from “blinds.” No doubt the nextMessenger will clarify them and give outadditional information. Some chelas, we aretold by HPB forego Devachan, which theyconsider to be a waste of time, and reincarnateimmediately. Since chelas can thus shorten theperiod between incarnations, it is reasonable topresume that zealous Theosophists can do thesame. But if those who have not achievedchelaship cannot return to earth in time to takepart in the Movement of 1975, and must abidein the subjective spheres for 1500 years ormore, when they do come back their birth-certificates will then be dated about 3500.

It likewise follows that until the presentMovement they had not been on earth since theearly centuries of the Christian era. Butwhether the Theosophists now engaged in theMovement are veterans or “rookies” theyshould exert themselves to prepare the way forthe coming Messenger.

As said by the Maha Chohan, the world in

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general has in the past two millenniums proveda failure. At the present time it is torn by astruggle between freedom and despotism, andgreat changes may be expected in the nextthirty-five years. In a small way the T.S. hasbeen passing likewise thorough a strugglebetween democracy, its original form ofgovernment, and the dictatorship of self-appointed “leaders” and “successors.” If in theworld struggle civilization survives the strain,humanity can go on to a brighter future; but ifthe Dictators triumph the world will fall back toa condition even worse than the mental murk ofthe Middle Ages. For self-ruling peoples arefree to progress and maintain the principle ofbrotherhood; whereas under despotic rule theyare bound to deteriorate, becoming slavish andanimalism. ...

One of the privileges of living in theTwentieth century is the opportunity of allyingoneself with the Theosophical Movementoriginated by the Elder Brothers of the Race,and of making a conscious link, howeverslender, with them. Join any TheosophicalSociety which maintains the traditions of theMasters of Wisdom and study their SecretDoctrine. You can strengthen the link youmake by doing service, by strong search, byquestions, and by humility. We should be ableto build the future on Foundations of Wisdom,Love and Justice.

James Morgan Pryse, The CanadianTheosophists, Vol XXI

We find this piece most amusing now thatwe are nearing thirty years after 1975. Whathappened to this predicted teacher? Certainly,he\she did not appear in any of the organized

societies, unless he\she is well hidden. SomeFellow Theosophical Students (FTS) claim thatmaybe the Theosophical Society didn’t “have”what he\she needed. Some even go as far tosuggest that maybe “mankind” as a whole hassimply degraded to the point that no master willcome. Some have suggested that maybe weare in a “teenage” period where we must striveand try our best without their support to see ifwe can pass this trial period; we must be ableto assimilate what we have been given.

Co-editor Marty Lyman suggests thatwhich may seem very preposterous to manyFTS. Maybe the Brotherhood did send theiragents and they are here right now amongst the‘New Agers,’ with the Eastern Religionscoming to America, and the OrganizedReligions undergoing massive changes. Whatis to say that just because Organized Religionswere so vehemently attacked during HPB’stime, they would be attacked today? We haveKH’s words:

“I will point out the greatest, chiefcause of nearly 2\3 of evils that pursuehumanity ever since that cause became apower. It is religion under whatever formand in whatsoever nation. It is sacerdotalcaste, the priesthood and the churches....”

Mahatma Letter # 10

We also have the words of the MahaChohan (1882):

“The world in general andChristendom especially, left for 2000years to the regime a personal God as wellits political and social systems based onthat idea, as now proved a failure.”

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Letters from the Master of Wisdom 1stseries

But who is to say that OUR masterswouldn’t put their energy behind those veryreligions, in the New Age, only with the muchneeded changes? Much did happen in the mid-seventies as that is when the ‘gurus’ (Hinduand Buddhist) came to America. That is whenthe ‘yoga’ movements started to becomepopular. That is when the ‘new charismaticmovement took place in the Catholic Church.That is also when we saw massive suicides viablind followers following their charismaticleaders. That is when channeling became verypopular. I am not suggesting that we shouldignore the warnings given by HPB. I am sayingthat in order for there to be the false, there mustalso be the true. We, as Theosophists, weregiven tools to help us determine what is falseand true. We must use them and not justsquabble amongst ourselves as to what isTheosophy and what is not.

“THE TWO PATHS” THE VOICE

Co-editor Marty has been studyingHPB’s book The Voice, the part about the twopaths which evoked the following questions.The questions will be within The Voice.

No one response belongs to anyone. Allis just a discussion.

The Voice is really a book that introducesboth the Hindu and Buddhist paths toenlightenment or liberation. The first twenty-two pages refer to Hinduism; the two paths

(pages 23-44) and seven portals (pages 86)refer to Buddhism. She is not really advocatingany path in particular, but introducing the Westto them. Never did she mean to renounceenlightenment but liberation according to thefollowing definition. Liberation simply meansstaying in constant bliss with no more contactwith humanity.

Renunciation of Liberation is notgenerally spoken of; the general publicprobably would not understand it. For most , itis enough to maintain ‘the will’ to end sufferingas the pull of maya is very strong. Most feel thatthey don’t have the strength to accomplish sucha feat on their own. So ‘the concept of Grace’has been maintained for those who don’t feelthey can do it on their own. Grace is all thingsregardless of their Consciousness, and Onewith God or Nature. There is much more to theconcept of Grace. For now, I am only referringto it in the context as a relationship to a path.

The paths can be really thought of asthree disciplines: Bodily, Morality, Spiritual(Bennett John. Long Pilgrimage). In theBodily discipline one thinks of his needs firstand then perhaps his family. In the seconddiscipline of morality one then reaches out to a‘brotherhood.’ Now he thinks about nature, hiswork, his society. Last is the spiritual, whereone strives to know God or to always be in tunewith The Dharma. It is at the latter spiritualstage where the decision comes as to stay andremain to serve mankind or to rest in Nirvana.It is not until this last stage where the “TrueChela” is tested. It is this latter stage that HPBis referring to in the two paths.

It is true that we can prepare ourselvesfor this latter stage by practicing the Paramitas,

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and in this way we are fine tuning our soulnature for Chelaship.

The voice of the Candidates:

Shall not thou, Master of thine ownMercy, reveal the Doctrine of the Heart?

Shalt thou refuse to lead thyServants unto the Path of Liberation?

Quoth the Teacher:

The Paths are two; the greatPerfections three; six are the Virtues thattransform the body into the Tree ofKnowledge.

H.P. Blavatsky. The Voice of TheSilence, page 23

HPB in The Voice does speak of twopaths. I don’t understand? There reallyshould be only one path, the path to theSelf.

These vestures are: Nirmanakaya,Sambhoga Kaya, and Dharmakaya, robeSublime.

The Shangna robe is true, canpurchase light eternal. The Sangna robealone gives the Nirvana of destruction; itstops rebirth, but O Lanoo, it also kills -compassion. No longer can the perfectBuddhas, who don the Dharmakayaglory, help man’s salvation. Alas! shallSELVES be sacrificed to Self; mankind,unto the weal of Units?

Know, O beginner, this is the OpenPath, the way to selfish bliss, shunned bythe Boddhisattvas of the “Secret Heart,”the Buddhas of Compassion.

H.P. Blavatsky. The Voice of TheSilence, page 32

What is this so called Open Path? Isthere really anything that is Selfish Bliss?Could it be another illusion?

To live to benefit mankind is thefirst step. To practice the six gloriousvirtues is the second.

To don Nirmanakaya’s humble robeis to forego eternal bliss for Self, to helpon man’s salvation. To reach Nirvana’sbliss, but to renounce it, is the supreme,the final step - the highest onRenunciation’s Path.

H.P. Blavatsky. The Voice of TheSilence, page 33

‘Tis from the bud of Renunciationof the Self, that springeth the sweet fruitof final Liberation.

H.P. Blavatsky. The Voice of TheSilence, page 35

What does Renunciation of the Selfmean? Notice that Self is capitalized.

The One becomes the two, theOpen and the Secret. The first oneleadeth to the goal, the second, to Self-Immolation.

When to the Permanent is sacri-ficed the Mutable, the prize is thine: thedrop returneth whence it came. The OpenPath leads to the changeless change -Nirvana, the glorious state of Absolute-ness, the Bliss past human thought.

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Thus, the first Path is LIBERA-TION.

But Path the Second is - RENUN-CIATION, and therefore called the “Pathof Woe.”

H.P. Blavatsky. The Voice of TheSilence, page 41

OK explain this! How can there betwo paths? Is there really not one goal -The One? Is HPB really saying that wemust renounce liberation?

Response:

The problem with HPB’s comments onthe two paths and your statement that there canbe only one path to the Self is easily explained.Yes, there is only one Self or Consciousness -everything is THAT. The two paths are simplytwo aspects of desire. The first path, the “openpath,” is the path for the antahkarana’s or ego’srelease (liberation) to Nirvana. The ego thatHPB speaks about is the`Ego’ or spiritual egowhich seeks, hence desires, liberation and istherefore referred to as `Spiritual Selfishness’(Pratyeka Buddha).

The second or closed path renouncesliberation for itself (Spiritual Ego), and to desirethe liberation of all other beings, before it takesits own rest in Nirvana. Yes, there is only onegoal (liberation), but the first path (open) ischosen by the spiritual ego for its own liberationto Nirvana. It desires to liberate itself and onceit reaches this state it goes to Nirvana, it can nolonger return to the earth or be active spirituallyon the astral realms to assist in the liberation of

humanity of other beings, because the Nirvanicstate is the ‘blowing out’ of all desires.

Nirvana is a compound of the preposition‘Nir = out’ and ‘vana = blown’ (blown out).This blowing out is only of the lower principles(lower four), and all traces of thoughts of“others.” It is a state of bliss. The thoughts of‘self’ are desire based and related to the lowerprinciples.

The second path (secret) is the path ofrenunciation, that is, the turning away from theextinguishment of ‘desire,’ for the liberation of‘all else’ (Nirvana for them) before it acceptsit for itself (spiritual ego). It is the renunciationof union with the ‘one self for its self, until allothers are in union with the One Self - then it willaccept union. This is why it is called the ‘Pathof Woe’ (suffering or self spiritual immolation).For, in making this choice it is still connected tothe realms of maya and the ‘maya of suffering.’This actually illustrates how great theirsuffering is for they are not stupid i.e. theycompletely know and understand the doctrines,paths, concept of oneness of all, and thediversity of maya being a dream, yet, they stillrenounce Nirvana for themselves, to help theconsciousness that is witnessing itself in wovendreams. There is only one consciousness whichis infinite yet finite with all its diverse forms(simply bound states of consciousness) whichthinks it is seeing itself in its limited form. It isAbsolute Consciousness being liberated fromthe sense of ‘I’ or ego.

So, in Truth, there is only one path, one’sown liberation from ignorance, bondage ormaya, and along the way, an awakening ofothers too. The renunciation of Nirvana, in

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Truth, does not mean one is not enlightened oreven liberated, it simply means one is notcompletely liberated to reach the portals ofNirvana. It is the refusal of the final step toextinguish all desires, in order, to stayconnected to help the states of being bound.One needs desires to enter these planes andstates of desire, so although it is desirelessnessfor oneself, one will still retain the desire forothers.

In Truth, there is no bondage or liberationas consciousness simply is; it is the ego or senseof ‘I’ ness with its connection to andrelationship to all the stuff, thoughts, concepts,emotions, etc. One is nothing but consciousnessright here, right now; one is Nirvana in that form(its form), but one thinks it is bound with all thestuff related to it (samskaras and skandas) withtheir projected activities. It is the identificationwith such that leads one astray.

SECRET DOCTRINE QUESTIONAND ANSWER SECTION

CONDUCTED BY GEOFFREY A.BARBORKA

Question. Is Atman a Monad?

Answer. As this is a direct question, theprecise reply is: Both Yes and No. Inexplanation: in its usage in The SecretDoctrine, the Monad is either a unit or a duad.Examples will be given to illustrate the point

(1) In the two quotations that follow,Monad signifies Atman (a unit):

“Atma (our seventh principle)being identical with the universal Spirit,and man being one with it in his essence,what is then the Monad proper? It is thathomogeneous spark which radiates inmillions of rays from the primeval‘Seven’:.... It is the emanating spark fromthe uncreated Ray-a mystery.” (S.D. I,571; II, 294 6-vol. ed.; I, 624 3rd ed.)

“For the Monad or Jiva per secannot be even called spirit: it is a ray, abreath of the Absolute, or the Absolute-ness rather, and the Absolute Homogene-ity, having no relations with the condi-tioned and relative finiteness, is uncon-scious on our plane.” (S.D. I, 247; I, 292 6-vol. ed.; I, 267 3rd ed.)

(2) In stating the second fundamentalproposition of The Secret Doctrine, inconnection with the definition given to the word“Pilgrim” the Monad is defined as a duad (“twoin one”), referring to the cycle of incarnationson the earth: the duad signified Atma-Buddhi.

“‘Pilgrim’ is the appellation given toour Monad (the two in one) during itscycle of incarnations.” (S.D.I, 16 fn.; I, 826-vol. ed.; I, 45 3rd ed.)

Aware that a confusion might arise inregard to the word “monad,” since the originalmeaning of the Greek word signifies a unit, one,a clarification was provided in The SecretDoctrine:

“Thus it may be wrong on strictlymetaphysical lines to call Atma-Buddhi aMONAD since in the materialistic view itis dual and therefore compound. But asMatter is Spirit, and vice versa; and sincethe Universe and the Deity which informsit are unthinkable apart from each other;

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so in the case of Atma-Buddhi.” (S.D. I,179; I, 231 6 -vol. ed.; I. 202 3rd ed.)

“The ‘Monad’ is the combinationlast two ‘principles’ in man, the 6th and7th, and, properly speaking, the term‘human monad’ applies only to the dualsoul (Atma-Buddhi), not to its highestspiritual vivifying Principle, Atma, alone.But since the Spiritual Soul, if divorcedfrom the latter (Atma) could have noexistence, no being, it has been thuscalled..” (S.D. I, 178; I, 230 6-vol. ed.; I, 2013rd ed.)

However, there is still another use givento the term ‘monad,’ specifically applying to theafter-death state of the immortal components.In this state the Monad is referred to as thethree-in-one Atma-Buddhi-Higher Manas:

“The monad - a truly ‘indivisiblething,’ as defined by Good, who did notgive it the sense we now do is hererendered as the Atma in conjunction withBuddhi and the higher Manas. Thistrinity is one and eternal, the latter beingabsorbed in the former at the terminationof all conditioned and illusive life. Themonad then, can be traced through thecourse of its pilgrimage and its changesof transitory vehicles only from theincipient stage of the manifested Uni-verse.’ (S.D. I. 570; II 293 6 vol. ed.; I, 6233rd ed.)

In this quotation, the reference to theabsorption of the Higher Manas (or theReincarnating Ego) into Buddhi refers to theperiod termed a pralaya (between twoManvantaras) NOT to the after-death stale;for in the latter state the Reincarnating Egoexperiences the state of Devachan, following

which it returns to the Earth for anotherincarnation.

From The Canadian Theosophist, Vol.53, No. 5, October 1972

THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI“The Book of the Spiritual Man”

An Interpretation by Charles Johnston.

42. By perfectly concentrated Medita-tion on the correlation of the body with theether, and by thinking of it as light as thistle-down, will come the power to traverse theether.

It has been said that he who would treadthe path of power must look for a home in theair, and afterwards in the ether. This wouldseem to mean, besides: the constant injunctionto detachment, that he must be prepared toinhabit first a psychic, and then an etheric body;the former being the body of dreams; the latter,the body of the spiritual man, when he wakes upon the other side of dreamland. The gradualaccustoming of the consciousness to its newetheric vesture, its gradual acclimatization, soto speak, in the etheric body of the spiritual man,is what our text seems to contemplate.

43. When that condition of conscious-ness is reached, which is far-reaching andnot confined to the body, which is outsidethe body and not conditioned by it, then theveil which concea1s the light is worn away.

Perhaps the best comment on this is

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afforded by the words of Paul: “I knew a manin Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether inthe body, I cannot tell; or whether out of thebody, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such a onecaught up to the third heaven. And I knew sucha man, (whether in the body, or out of the body,I cannot tell: God knoweth) how that he wascaught up into paradise, and. heard unspeak-able [or, unspoken] words, which it is not lawfulfor a man to utter.”

The condition is, briefly, that of theawakened spiritual man, who sees, and hearsbeyond the veil.

44. Mastery of the elements comes fromperfectly concentrated Meditation on theirfive forms, the gross, the elemental, thesubtle, the inherent, the purposive.

These five forms are analogous to thoserecognized: by modern physics: solid, liquid,gaseous, radiant and ionic. When the piercingvision of the awakened; spiritual man isdirected to the forms of matter, from within, asit were, from behind. the scenes, then perfectmastery over the “beggarly elements” isattained. This is, perhaps, equivalent to theinjunction: “Inquire of the earth, the air, and thewater, of the secrets they hold for you. Thedevelopment of your inner senses will enableyou to do this.”

45. “Thereupon will come the manifes-tation of the atomic and other powers, whichare the endowment of the body, togetherwith its unassailable force.

The body in question is, of course, theetheric body of the spiritual man. He is said to

possess eight powers; the atomic, the power ofassimilating himself with the nature of the atom,which will, perhaps involve the power todisintegrate material forms the power oflevitation; the power of limitless extension; thepower of boundless reach, so that, as thecommentator says, “he can touch the moonwith the tip of his finger;” the power toaccomplish his will; the power of gravitation,the correlative of levitation; the power ofcommand; the power of creative will. Theseare the endowments of the spiritual man.Further, the spiritual body is unassailable. Fireburns it not, water wets it not, the sword cleavesit not, dry winds parch it not. And, it is said, thespiritual man can impart something of thisquality and temper to his bodily vesture.

46. Shapeliness, beauty, force, thetemper of the diamond: these are theendowments of that body.

The spiritual man is shapely, beautiful,strong, firm as the diamond. Therefore it iswritten: “These things saith the Son of God,who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, andhis feet are like fine brass. He that overcomethand keepeth my works unto the end, to him willI give power over the nations: and he shall rulethem with a rod of iron; and I will give him themorning star.”

47. Mastery over the powers ofperception and action comes throughperfectly concentrated Meditation on theirfivefold forms; namely, their power tograsp, their distinctive nature, the elementof self-consciousness in them, theirinherence, and their purposiveness.

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Take, for example, sight. This possesses,first, the power to grasp, apprehend, perceive;second, it has its distinctive form of perception:that is, visual perception; third. it alwayscarries with its operations self-consciousness,the thought: “I perceive;” fourth, sight has thepower of extension throughout the whole fieldof vision, even to the utmost star; fifth. it is usedfor the purposes of the Seer. So with the othersenses. Perfectly concentrated Meditation oneach sense, a viewing it from within as ispossible for the spiritual man, brings a masteryof the scope and true character of each sense,and of the worId on which they reportcollectively.

48. Thence comes the power swift asthought, independent of instruments, andthe mastery over matter.

We are further enumerating theendowments of the spiritual man. Amongthese is the power to traverse space with theswiftness of thought so that whatever place thespiritual man thinks of, to that he goes, in thatplace he already is. Thought has now becomehis means of locomotion. He is, therefore,independent of instruments, and, can bring hisforce to bear directly, wherever he wills.

49. When the spiritual, man is perfectlydisentangled from the psychic body, heattains to mastery over all things and to aknowledge of all.

The spiritual man is enmeshed in the webof the emotions; desire, fear, ambition, passion;and impeded by the mental forms ofseparateness and materialism. When thesemeshes are sundered, these obstacIes

completely overcome, then the spiritual manstands forth in his own wide world, strong,mighty, wise. He uses divine powers, with adivine scope and energy, working together withdivine Companions. To such a one it is said:“Thou art now a disciple, able to stand, able tohear, able to see, able to speak, thou hastconquered desire and attained to selfknowledge thou hast seen thy soul in its bloomand recognized it, and heard the voice of thesilence.”

50. By absence of all self-indulgence atthis point, when the seeds of bondage tosorrow are destroyed, pure spiritual beingis attained.

The seeking of indulgences for thepersonal self, whether through passion orambition, sows the seed of future sorrow. Forself-indulgence of the personality is a double sinagainst. the real; a sin against cleanness of life.and a sin against the universal being. whichpermits no excIusive particular good, since, inthe real. all piritual possessions are held incommon. This twofold sin brings its reactingpunishment, its confining bondage to sorrow.But ceasing from self-indulgence brings purity,liberation, spiritual life.

51. There should be complete overcoming of allurement or pride in theinvitation of the different realms of life, lestattachment to things evil arise once more.

The commentator tells us that disciples,seekers for union, are of four degrees: first, thosewho are entering the path; second, those who arein the realm of allurements; third, those who havewon the victory over matter and the senses;

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fourth, those who stand firm in pure spiritual life.To the second, especially, the caution in the text isaddressed. More modern. teachers wouldexpress the same truth by a warning against thedelusions and fascinations of the psychic realm,which open around the disciple, as he breaksthrough into the unseen worlds. These are thedangers of the anteroom. Safety lies in passing onswiftly into the inner chamber. “Him thatovercometh will I make a pillar in the temple of myGod, and he shall go no more out.”

52. From perfectly concentratedMedtation on the divisions of time and theirsuccession comes that wisdom which is bornof discernment.

The Upanishads say of the liberated that“he has passed beyond the triad of time;” he nolonger sees life as projected into past, presentand future, since these are forms of the mind;but beholds all things spread out in the quiet lightof the Eternal. This would seem to be the samethought, and to point to that clear-eyed spiritualperception which is above time; that wisdomborn of the unveiling of Time’s delusion. Thenshall the disciple live neither in. the present northe future but in the Eternal.

53. Hence comes discernment betweenthings which are of like nature, notdistinguished. by difference of kind,character or position.

Here, as also in the preceding Sutra, we areclose to the doctrine that distinctions of order,time and space are creations of the mind; thethreefold prism through which the real objectappears to us distorted and refracted. When theprism is withdrawn, the object returns to itsprimal unity, no longer distinguishable by the

mind, yet clearly knowable by the high power ofspiritual discernment, of illumination, which isabove the mind.

54. The wisdom which is born ofdiscernment is starlike; it discerns allthings, and all conditions of things, itdiscerns without succession: simulta-neously.

That wisdom, that intuitive, diviningpower is starlike, says the commentator,because it shines with its own light, because itrises on high, and illumines all things to come;for it is beyond the threefold form of time, sothat all things are spread before it together, inthe single light of divine. This power has beenbeautifully described by Columba: “Some thereare, though very few, to whom Divine gracehas granted this: that they can clearly and mostdistinctly see, at one and the same moment, asthough under one ray of the sun, even the entirecircuit of the whole world with its surroundingsof ocean and sky, the inmost part of their mindbeing marvelously enlarged.”

55. When the vesture and the spiritualman are alike pure, then perfect spirituallife is attained.

The vesture, says the commentator, mustfirst be washed pure of all stains of passion anddarkness, and the seeds of future sorrow must beburned up utterly. Then, both the vesture and thewearer of the vesture being alike pure, thespiritual man enters into perfect spiritual life.

(To be continued)

From The Canadian Theosophist,Vol.13, No. 9, Nov. 15, 1932

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LETTERS RECEIVED

The Hague, May, 2002

Dear Marty and Dick,

The other day I received the May/Juneissue of your periodical and I hasten to send youmy contribution for the renewal of mysubscription.

Before now I wanted to tell you about thearticle in ‘Fohat’ for Winter 2001 by RobertBruce MacDonald “Cycles Great and Small,”about the sensibility of water and theexperiments with it by Dr. Masaru Emoto.Most probably you are already informed aboutthis research but to me it was quite new.

Emoto experimented on water byfreezing it and then viewing it under amicroscope. “By imparting certain mental andemotional energies into a medium we caneffect the structure and hence the health of thatmedium. Pollution is the effect of disorganizedand negative human thought and emotion.”

After the experiments with plants it isnow proved that the same sensibility exists inwater. How true it is what Geoffrey Farthingin his lecture: “Theosophy, its beneficentpotentialities” said (p. 4, March/April issue);’

this principle of UNITY is of greatestsignificance in the fields of Science, Religion,Education and Ecology.’

All the best to you both,Willy Schmit

We write:

Yes, it is true that “thoughts” do effectNature, and being that water is the mostessential ingredient needed, it would only standto reason that it would have a powerful healingeffect on our planet earth. Water is used in allreligions during their ritual ceremonies sincetime immemorial. It is offered to God in bothEastern and Western religions; it is here wherethe “thoughts” are projected into the water.These thoughts have been so powerful thatspontaneous healings have occurred. Even inthe twenty-first century, healing through waterhas been mentioned in both channeled sourcesand through various churches, and it has beensaid that healing through water will becomemore prominent in the future.

Taken from Fohat, Winter 2001:

Dr. Masaru Emoto may give us theclues we need in his book Messages fromWater. Jeane Manning looks at Emoto inher article “The Sensitivities of Water -Startling New Evidence that Water CanReflect Our Thoughts and More.” Emotoexperimented on water by freezing it andthen viewing it under a microscope. Shewrites:

Emoto’s associates sent himsamples of water from various parts of theworld - polluted rivers or holy sites,various cities and mountains. His stafftook many photographs of each sample.Although individual crystals from onewater sample differed incrementally, crys-tals from any given sample were similar.Unpolluted water samples yielded sym-metrical hexagons, but when pollutedwater droplets were frozen the photo-

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graphs revealed an inability for crystals toreach complete hexagonal structures. How-ever, most samples went through acommon stage when the ice dropletsmelted. Just before ice turns to water, ashape can be seen under the microscopethat is a replica of the six lines inside a circleconstituting the Chinese alphabet’s char-acter for water. ...

In later experiments, Emoto put thewater samples between loudspeakers andexposed them to certain recordings beforefreezing the droplets. When music lyricscontained aggression such as “I hateyou!” or “You fool!” the water not onlycould not form proper crystals, and underthe microscope it had a chaotic appearance[sic].

On the other hand, uplifting musicsuch as Mozart’s symphony No. 40 in GMinor and Beethoven’s Pastorale yieldedbeautiful gracefully formed crystals. ...

Emoto’s research indicates thattroubled tap water that cannot crystallizeproperly can be transformed to makebeautiful crystals through consciousthought focused on love. He learned thatthe most powerful combination of wordsare “love and gratitude.” [water, page 65].

References:

“Nature has linked all parts of herEmpire together by subtle threads ofmagnetic sympathy, and, there is a mutualcorrelation even between a star and a man;thought runs swifter than the electric fluid...”

Mahatma Letter. 48

“(4) KRIYASAKTI. The mysteri-ous power of thought which enables itto produce external, perceptible, phe-nomenal results by its own inherentenergy. The ancients held that any ideawill manifest itself externally if one’sattention is deeply concentrated uponit. Similarly an intense volition will befollowed by the desired result.”

SD Vol I page 293

Note: HPB stresses that one’s attentionmust be deeply concentrated with WILL.This is not as easy as one thinks as one’s mindmust be completely still and focused.

MARTY’S DISCUSSION CORNER

A series of topics and discussions bymany people.

Silence

Question: What does this mean?Thought when no longer active becomesextinct in its own source. This is a naturallaw. What is cessation of thought?

All thoughts come from “Conscious-ness,” or as is said in The Secret Doctrine:

“This something, at present un-known to Western speculation, is calledby the occultists Fohat. It is the ̀ bridge’by which the `ideas’ existing in the`Divine Thought’ are impressed onCosmic substance Ideation; or, re-garded from the other side, it is theintelligent medium, the guiding power of

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all manifestation, the `Thought Divine’transmitted and made manifest throughthe Dhyan Chohans, the Architects of thevisible World. Thus from Spirit, orCosmic Ideation, comes our conscious-ness; from Cosmic Substance the severalvehicles in which that consciousness isindividualized and attains to self - orreflective - consciousness; while Fohat,in its various manifestations, is themysterious link between Mind andMatter, the animating principle electrify-ing every atom into life.”

SD Vol I page 16

This same principle can be applied at ourhuman thought level. All thoughts come fromConsciousness. Thought when inactive isabsorbed back into its source the mind; the mindis absorbed into its source Ahamkara or ego(the mind arises from the Sattva guna ofAhankara- its spiritual side); the Ahamkara isthen absorbed into Buddhi where it is seared toa purified state. The searing is ‘Tapas’ or theburning in Spiritual Fire, with its corresponding‘kriyas,’ that arise. Once purified in the BuddhiManas or Channel of Light you enter thesilence of Sunya.

“The Jiva (soul) goes with SukshmaSarira from the heart of the body, to theBrahmarandra in the crown of the head,traversing Sushumna, a nerve connectingthe heart with the Brahmarandra. The Jivabreaks through the Brahmarandra andgoes to the region of the Sun(Suryamandala) through the solar Rays.Then it goes, through a dark spot in theSun, to Paramapadha. The Jiva is directedon its way by the Supreme Wisdomacquired by Yoga. ...”

Secret Doctrine Vol I, page 132

All of the above although esoteric isreferring to a meditation process. Every timeyou project a thought, hold it in manifestation fora period of time, then allow it to be re-absorbedor dissolved, you are performing the functionsof the three in one divinities: Brahma (creation,Vishnu (preservation) and Shiva (destruction).As above so below, and where does thisthought arise from? Silence. What does thethought exist in? The field of Silence. What isthe thought absorbed back into? Its source,Silence or pure consciousness without form oractivity.

The “region of the Sun” is the SpiritualAtma. The “rays” are the chakras andprinciples. The “dark spot in the sun” is Shiva,the purifier, [i.e. Tamas-Satva Guna, nodesires, or activity, see Voice of the Silencepage 79, (39)

The star that burns overhead is the “starof initiation.” The cast-mark of Saivas, ordevotees of Siva, the great patron of all Yogins,is a black round spot, the symbol of the Sunnow, perhaps, that of the star of initiation, inOccultism, in the days of old. [and new ML].

According to Theosophy and its SecretDoctrine a true Theosophists is one who hasbecome one with the wisdom of the Gods.

“After reaching Moksha (a state ofbliss meaning `release from Bandha’ orbondage), bliss is enjoyed by it in a placecalled Paramapadha, which place is notmaterial, but made of Suddasatwa (theessence, of which the body of Iswara -`the Lord’ - is formed). There, Muktas or

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Jivatmas (Monads) who have attainedMoksha, are never again subject to thequalities of either matter or Karma. “But ifthey choose, for the sake of doing goodto the world, they may incarnate onEarth.”

Secret Doctrine Vol I, page 132

After passing through Shiva (pure one),the soul goes to Paramapadha (a state, not aplace) made of suddha-sattava (pure-matter),it is “self luminous, Prakasa (pure-conscious-ness) and it is here that muktas who haveattained liberation are never again subject to thequalities of either matter or karma (The GreatChoice) state to either Nirvana or reincarnateto help mankind i.e. Nirmanakaya orBodhisattva etc.). Another name for this stateis Satchidananda or Truth - Consciousness -Bliss (light).

To your question on “cessation ofthought,” it is simply stopping the involvementor active entertainment with the mind andsenses, and it is true witnessing from the silenceyou are within. It is called ̀ nimesa’ or closingup of the active mind to enter the silence ofwitnessing. Nimesa means withdrawing of thespanda shakti. When you leave the cessation ofthe witness state to the active state and itsactivities, it is called ̀ unmesa,’ or opening out ofspanda shakti. It happens simultaneously as inpairs of opposites which is the natural realm ofmaya. When activity ceases, silence arises intoconsciousness (silence is always present as thefoundation of all, but one will only becomeaware of it upon the cessation of all else) as thearising of activity obscures the awareness ofsilence. Silence is not simply the absence ofsound or activity but is a very deep, absorbed,

palpable state. One can reside in silence in themidst of dynamic activities. As one becomesmore attuned to silence they are freeingthemselves for kama-manas and its activities.

The importance of all this is that the moreone become attune to silence the more one willfree themselves from kama-manas, itsactivities and desires. It is the manifestations ofdesires that keeps one bound. Eventually, theawareness will make the transition to unionwith its source, pure consciousness, but for thisto occur self effort is required with thepracticing of discipline. All paths teach this.

BEGINNING KARMA

Comment sent in by a subscriber:

To accept the premise of karma wemust assume that ‘bad or good’ was donewith NO CONSCIOUS THOUGHT at all.What I am speaking of is that at the verybeginning, karma had to come fromsomeone (GOD) or somewhere.

Our Answer:

Thank you for your comment. Karma isvery complex although simple in principle. It isdifficult not to make assumptions. Whichkarma are we referring too? Is there a place orthing that has no conscious thought? Is there abeginning\end and who or what is a God?Theosophy speaks of many types of karma.There is the karma of the Universe, the Earth,the Nation, the Human, the Animal, and eachjiva or soul.

When referring to a beginning, AncientWisdom speaks about Root Nature becoming

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two: Purusha and Prakriti (Hindu terminology).

Stanza 1 sloka 2:

Time was not, for it lay asleep in theinfinite bosom of duration.

Stanza 1, sloka 3:

Universal Mind was not, for therewere no Ah-Hi (Celestial beings) tocontain it.

Stanza 3 sloka 4:

The seven ways to bliss (Mokshaor Nirvana) were not. The great cause ofmisery (Nidana and Maya) were not, forthere was no one to produce and getensnared by them.

Stanza 1 sloka 8:

Alone the one form of existencestretched boundless, infinite, causeless,in dreamless sleep; and life pulsatedunconscious in universal space, through-out that all-presence which is sensed bythe opened eye of the Dagma.

SD page 27

These slokas are referring to a beginningand an end. However, when we refer to thekarma of the individual jiva taking on individualkarma we don’t usually refer to a beginning oran end. Good and evil can only exist in the realmof duality which was not present in thebeginning according to the Stanza of Dyzan andthere is nothing that is not Consciousness.

Taking the discussion further in theProem of The Secret Doctrine, HPB says:

“Spirit (or Consciousness) andMatter are, however, to be regarded, notas independent realities, but as the twofacets or aspects of the Absolute(Parabrahm), which constitute the basisof conditioned Being whether subjectiveor objective.

Considering this metaphysical triadas the Root from which proceeds allmanifestation, the Great Breath assumesthe character of precosmic Ideation. It isthe fons of origo of force and of allindividual consciousness, and suppliesthe guiding intelligence in the vastscheme of cosmic Evolution. ...

Just as pre-Cosmic Ideation is theroot of all individual consciousness, sopre-Cosmic, Substance is the substratumof matter in the various grades of itsdifferentiation.

Hence it will be apparent that thecontrast of these two aspects of theAbsolute is essential to the existence ofthe “Manifested Universe.” Apart fromCosmic Substance, Cosmic Ideation couldnot manifest as individual conscious-ness, since it is only through a vehicle ofmatter that consciousness wells up as `Iam I,’ a physical basis being necessary tofocus a ray of Universal Mind at a certainstage of complexity. Again, apart fromCosmic Ideation, Cosmic Substance wouldremain an empty abstraction, and noemergence of consciousness could en-sue.

The ‘Manifested Universe’ there-fore, is pervaded by duality, which is, as itwere, the very essence of its ex-istence as‘manifestation.’”

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SD page 16-7

This, however, speaks from a ‘Cosmic’level and it appears that our contributor isreferring to Us. How did we as individual takeon our first karma. Here, it is best to refer toanother Ancient Wisdom which is just recentlybeing studied in English. Kashmir Shavism isnot mentioned much in Theosophy, but its basicphilosophy explains that:

The Self is Consciousness. Conscious-ness is the perfect principle, which is allpervasive. Nothing can be added to it and itlacks nothing, nor does it have an excess ofanything. It exists everywhere. It has fivepowers of which it performs five actions:creation, sustenance, dissolution, concealmentand bestowal of grace. When Self involuted toPurusha and Prakriti, bondage formed via thethree malas:

1. (Maya Shakti) When a jiva (soul)considers the universe as different from itself itwill perform good and bad action because ofignorance which gives rise to infinite impurities.

There are three stages of impurities:

1. (Anava Mala) I am imperfect; “will”(icca mala) is contracted and karma isperformed.

2. (Mayiya Mala) This is the sense ofdifference arriving from duality which leads tothe third impurity.

3. (Karma Mala) Now good and badaction is performed as the mind perceivesthem.

It is through these malas that suffering isperceived and birth and death ensues. Thequestion still remains though: Why did “TheOne,” or “Root Cause” have to involute to allthe myriads and forms that we study inTheosophy. It is simply the process ofinvolution and evolution of each monad(Theosophy) or the Play of Consciousness(Kashmir Shavism). It is not the result of sins ofany God.

Once we understand this then we canmove (evolute) back in the direction of knowing‘We are the One’ and become the Dharmawhere there is no good and evil. This is thepurpose of Theosophy and our birth right(Kashmir Shavism).

The fifth power of Consciousness is thebestowal of grace. It is through the grace of ourHigher Self that we can overcome thesebondage created. We must be focused andhave the will to overcome the illusions of Maya.This is the purpose of ritual although thatpurpose quickly becomes lost too.

Karma’s very root means “To do, or act,”so karma is any action. But for the Be-ing toacquire karma, it has to have the sense of doingsomething. This requires a sense of “I,” orsomething separate from something else as inego thinking it is separate from all else. Whatcauses karma is an act based on desire (toachieve or reject) and the will to achieve orreject in connection with the sense of I.

In Kashmir Shavism, this “I” is the senseof imperfection and limitation, which causes theI to seek perfection, fulfillment, and completion

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thru reaching outside itself and to choose this orthat. This choosing between this or that raisesthe sense of other instead of all being One. Thissense forces a choosing “a this” over “a that”giving rise to a bad or wrong feeling (karmamala) which results in the accumulation ofkarma. Remember that the essential essencenever accumulates karma. The skandhas andsamskaras are the Self woven sheaths that itwears because of its actions and choices. Ifyou look to the Theosophical Dhyan Chohan’swith their functions as builders of the globes androunds, then you will see the initial causes ofevolution and karma. Remember that inTheosophy the term “God” as Para-Brahman,Parma-Shiva, Pure Consciousness, does notcreate karma. It is the “Gods” (sheaths builtaround the pure essence) who create karma.Remember that all “this and that” is just theego’s mayavic dream.

TWO STORIESTwo stories: both concern the “Grace”

one is Christian and the other Hindu.

There once was a man named GeorgeThomas, pastor in a small New England town.One Easter Sunday morning he came to theChurch carrying a rusty, bent-up old bird cage, andset it by the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, asif in response, Pastor Thomas began to speak.

“I was walking through town yesterdaywhen I saw a young boy coming toward meswinging this bird cage. On the bottom of thecage were three little wild birds, shivering withcold and fright.

I stopped the lad and asked, “What yougot there, son?”

“Just some old birds,” came the reply.

“What are you gonna do with them?” Iasked.

Take’em home and have fun with ‘em,”he answered. “I’m gonna tease ‘em and pullout their feathers to make ‘em fight. I’m gonnahave a real good time.” he continued.

But you will get tired of those birds sooneror later. What will you do?” I asked.

“Oh, I got some cats,” said the boy.“They like birds. I’ll take ‘em to them.”

The pastor was silent for a moment.“How much do you want for those birds, son?”

“Huh? Why, you don’t want them birds,mister. They’re just plain old field birds. Theydon’t sing. They ain’t even pretty!”

“How much?” The pastor asked again.

The boy sized up the pastor as if he werecrazy and said, “$10?”

The pastor reached in his pocket and tookout a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy’shand. In a flash, the boy was gone.

The pastor picked up the cage and gentlycarried it to the end of the alley where there wasa tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down,he opened the door, and by softly tapping thebars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.

Well, that explained the empty bird cageon the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tellthis story.

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One day Satan and Jesus were having aconversation. Satan had just come from theGarden of Eden, and he was gloating andboasting.

“Yes, sir, I just caught the world full ofpeople down there. Set me a trap, used bait Iknew they couldn’t resist. Got ‘em all!”

“What are you going to do with them?”Jesus asked.

Satan replied, “Oh, I’m gonna have fun!I’m gonna teach them how to marry and divorceeach other, how to hate and abuse each other,how to drink and smoke and curse. I’m gonnateach them how to invent guns and bombs and killeach other. I’m gonna have fun!”

And what will you do when you get donewith them?” Jesus asked.

“Oh, I’ll kill ‘em,” Satan glared proudly.

“How much do you want for them?”Jesus asked.

“Oh, you don’t want those people. Theyain’t no good. Why, you’ll take them and theywill just hate you. They will spit on you, curseyou and kill you. You don’t want those people!”

“How much? He asked again.

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, “Allyour blood, tears and your life.”

Jesus said, “Done!” Then he paid theprice.

The pastor picked up the cage. He

opened the door and he walked from the pulpit.

Now for the Eastern Version:

The King, The Hawk, and the Dove

In ancient India, by the banks of theJamuna River, there lived a righteous kingnamed Shibi, who was famous for his integrity,compassion, and piety. One afternoon, justafter the conclusion of a great Yajna, a holy fireceremony that he had sponsored, Shibi wassitting in one of his bounteous gardens. He wasvery indrawn, absorbed in the aftermath of thepurity and power of the sacred ritual. Suddenlyhe felt an object fall into his hands, which werefolded in his lap. Opening his eyes, he saw afrightened little dove cowering in his palm, asthough seeking protection.

As the king began to stroke and reassurethe trembling bird, he heard the loud clatter ofbeating wings and looked up to see a keen-eyedhawk land right in front of him.

“Ah, there it is!” the hawk saidtriumphantly.

“There what is?” the king asked.

“There is the dove that I’ve been stalkingfor my family’s dinner. Please hand it over.”

“But you shall not have it. It is my duty totake care of it since it has come to me forrefuge.”

“Ah, your majesty,” the hawk said, “sothis is your vaunted dharma, the righteousnessfor which you are so well-known. You protectthis bird, but you deprive me and my little ones

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of our food. I chased and cornered this doveaccording to the law of nature, and you areviolating all common decency by withholding itfrom me. Hand it over. It is legally mine andI want it back.”

The king listened to the hawk’s argumentand then said, “There are higher laws. I cannotbetray this helpless creature.”

The hawk fixed the king with his gaze andsaid, “Do you realize that even if you save thelife of one dove by invoking your ̀ higher law,’you are unlawfully risking five lives? If I don’teat this dove soon, I may well perish of hungerright here in this royal garden. And if I die, myfamily will starve in return. You are lettingsentiment blind you and give you a very smallview of the issue.”

“If it is food you want,” the kinganswered, “why must you have this particulardove? Take a look around you. Does it seemthat I lack anything? Spare this poor terrifiedbird, and you can order any kind of food youwant.”

The hawk was not to be sidetracked. “Oking,” he continued, “don’t you see you areviolating God’s divinely ordained plan? Hawkscatch doves and hawks eat doves. It is alwaysbeen that way in God’s world.”

“This dove must be spared. Ask foranything but his poor little bird and it is instantlyyours. Right or wrong, I will not turn it over toyou no matter what.”

The hawk considered the king’s offer fora moment. “Well,” he said, “since you are sodetermined, there is one other thing, and only,

that will be acceptable in place of this dove.”

“Name it and it is yours.”

“I want the exact weight of the dove inyour own flesh.”

When he heard the hawk’s demand, theking instantly ordered one of his servants tobring a weighing balance. The dove was placedin a pan on one side, which dropped to the floor.The king called for a sharp knife, paused toremember the Lord, and then took a piece offlesh from his thigh. When he put it in the otherweighing pan, the scale didn’t move. The kingadded another piece, and another, but the panwith the dove in it didn’t lift at all.

Finally, the king said a prayer for thepeace of his soul and stepped into the panopposite the dove. The pan rose and exactlybalanced the other.

“That’s more like it!” the hawk shoutedand flew directly at King Shibi, who remainedtranquil and unafraid. Suddenly, as the hawk’sbeak and claws seemed about to reach the king,the air was filled with a sublime, celestialmelody. The most heavenly fragrances waftedthrough the ether. Everything became still andserene. And the hawk was gone! In his place,Indra, the resplendent king of the gods, stood inall his glory before King Shibi. And thecowering dove had turned into a spire of brilliantflames, out of which stepped Agni, the god offire.

The gods led Shibi, now restored toperfect wholeness, down from the balancingscale. Then Lord Indra spoke: “King Shibi, youare the most righteous and wisest of men. Thegods have put you to the ultimate test and webow to your unshakable loving-kindness. Even

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in the direst circumstances, with your life atstake, you were willing to sacrifice yourselfinstead of your principles or that helpless bird.Your act will live forever as a magnificenttestament of your faith and trust in the higherlaw of love.”

Retold from the Mahbharata; One of theholy epics of India.

Corrections

Some corrections that must be made tothe May\June Issue in regards to the Tandraand Turiya States. My Dyslexic natureconfused the terms. Here are the corrections:

Sthylopadhi = Conscious waking state;

It is composed of::Physical BodyAstral BodyVital body or prana

Sukshmopadhi = dream state

It is composed of:lower manasKama

Kazanopadhi = deep sleep

It is composed of:Higher MindBuddhi or causal body, ananda-maya or

kosa bodyAtman

Sanskrit Keys to the Wisdom Religionpages 119, 120

Also, the 4th state of consciousness is the“Turiya” ( i.e. The Foundation Consciousness[witness] which is the substrate of, andinterpenetrates, the other three states ofconsciousness [waking, dreaming, deep sleep].

There is a fifth state of consciousnesscalled “Turiyatita” (i.e. beyond the fourthstate).

There is only one Consciousness, butConsciousness uses or wears its Kosa’s(bodies, sheaths, vehicles etc.) of manifesta-tion, which include the chakras, principles,elements etc.

There is always only one Consciousnesswitnessing, residing in, using, all these differentsheaths, Tandra-loka, included, which is a statein, of, the ether principle (kosa).

Consciousness is literally wearing thefield of ether (looks like infinite space,composed of very subtle matter), just likeConsciousness wears: buddhi, manas, kama,astral, prana, ahamkara, the physical, etc.

Everything the Consciousness witnesses,experiences, are its “clothes” or “vehicles.”You wear the entire universe as your body. Allof space, all the forms, all of sunya, all of silenceis your composite body.

Even Sunya, the infinite void, is a “state ofcondition,” because Consciousness is the formof an infinite field of emptiness, and therefore,it contains all forms. Nothing having attributescan be excluded.

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The ShrineDescribed by one commentator as A

profound allegory of man’s capacity forself-deception, rationalising power, andtendency to base one creed on another, thisstory is traditionally said to originate withHaji Bektash (died 1887) founder of theBektashi Order of Dervishes.

Another opinion of the story is that itis intended to show the parallel between realreligion and what man understands by it.

Real religion is likened to the tomb ofa true saint: what man understands by it isequal to the burying of a donkey instead ofa saint:

Dervishes have been known to pressthe tale into service in order to ridiculethemselves, saying: “All shrines are a hoax”They do this for the purpose of discourag-ing unsuitable candidates for discipleship.

Mulla Nasrudin’s father was the highly-respected keeper of a shrine, the burial-place ofa great teacher which was a place of pilgrimageattracting the credulous and the Seekers AfterTruth alike.

In the usual course of events, Nasrudincould be expected to inherit this position. But soonafter his fifteenth year, when he was consideredto be a man, he decided to follow the ancientmaxim: ‘Seek knowledge, even if it be in China:

‘I will not try to prevent you, my son,’ saidhis father. So Nasrudin saddled a donkey andset off on his travels.

He visited the lands of Egypt andBabylon, roamed in the Arabian Desert, strucknorthward to Iconium, to Bokhara, Samarkandand the Hindu-Kush mountains, consortingwith dervishes and always heading towards thefarthest East.

Nasrudin was struggling across the

mountain ranges in Kashmir after a detourthrough Little Tibet when, overcome by therarefied atmosphere and privations, his donkeylay down and died.

Nasrudin was overcome with grief; forthis was the only constant companion of hisjourneyings, which had covered a period of adozen years or more. Heartbroken, he buriedhis friend and raised a simple mound over thegrave. There he remained in silent meditation;the towering mountains above him, and therushing torrents below.

Before very long people who were takingthe mountain road between India and CentralAsia, China and the shrines of Turkestan,observed this lonely figure: alternately weeping athis loss and gazing across the valleys of Kashmir.

‘This must indeed be the grave of a holyman,’ they said to one another; ‘and a man of nomean accomplishments, if his disciple mournshim thus. Why, he has been here for manymonths, and his grief shows no sign of abating:

Presently a rich man passed, and gaveorders for a dome and shrine to be erected onthe spot, as a pious act. Other pilgrims terracedthe mountainside and planted crops whoseproduce went to the upkeep of the shrine. Thefame of the Silent Mourning Dervish spreaduntil Nasrudin’s father came to hear of it. He atonce set off on a pilgrimage to the sanctifiedspot. When he saw Nasrudin he asked himwhat had happened. Nasrudin told him. The olddervish raised his hands in amazement:

‘Know, O my son,’ he exclaimed, ‘that theshrine where you were brought up and whichyou abandoned was raised in exactly be samemanner, by a similar chain of events, when myown donkey died, over thirty years ago.’

From Caravan of Dreams byIdries ShahOctagon Press, London

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THE HIGH COUNTRY THEOSOPHIST,ISSN 1060-4766 is published bi-monthlyfor $12.00 per year by Richard Slusser,

140 S. 33rd St. Boulder, Co. 80303-3426POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:THE HIGH COUNTRY THEOSOPHIST140 S. 33rd St., Boulder, Co. 80303-3426Periodicals Postage Paid at Boulder, Co.

Submission GuidelinesBy floppy disk

3.5 or 5.25 inch (DOS format),WordPerfect, MS Word

or RTF format preferable.By hard copy

Laser printer preferable,NLQ Dot matrix OKGood Quality Xerox OK

UnacceptableDraft mode Dot matrixFaint printoutsStrike-overshandwriting on printed sheet

Address all communications to:Richard Slusser140 S. 33rd St, Boulder, CO U.S.A.80305-3426Phone (303) 494-5482E-Mail: dslusser@nurealm.net

SubscriptionsPaid New Subscriptions received during the

period July I - May 31 will be sent back issues,beginning with July/Aug. previous If received inJune, subscription will begin with July/Aug.

Rates: $12.00/year U.S.A.$15.00 Foreign (Surface)$20.00 Foreign (Via Air)

Payment must be in U.S. currency (Dollars)payable to Richard Slusser.

Free yearly Subscriptions are availableon written request if cost is a hardship.

THE HIGH COUNTRY THEOSOPHIST isan independent Journal and has thefollowing editorial objectives:

(1) To serve the greater TheosophicalMovement as a forum for the free interchangeof ideas and commentary in the pursuit of Truthand to facilitate various projects in furtheranceof Theosophical principles.

(2) To present articles and essaysconsistent with source theosophy, otherwiseknown as the Ancient Wisdom as given by TheMasters and H.P. Blavatsky, and othertheosophical writers consistent with thistradition.

(3) To examine contemporary ethical,religious, metaphysical, scientific and philo-sophical issues from the viewpoint of the sourcetheosophical teachings.

(4) To impartially examine significantevents and issues in the history of thetheosophical movement which have affectedand shaped its present-day realities.

EDITORIAL OBJECTIVES

High Country Theosophist is Free on Internet

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