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The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Charles Johnston
Produced by J. C. Byers and Dringbloom.
THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI "The Book of the Spiritual Man"
An Interpretation By
Charles Johnston
Bengal Civil Service, Retired; Indian Civil Service, Sanskrit Prizeman; Dublin University, Sanskrit Prizeman
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are in themselves exceedingly brief, less than ten pages of large type in the original. Yet they contain the essence of practical wisdom, set forth in admirable order and detail. The theme, if the present interpreter be right, is the great regeneration, the birth of the spiritual from the psychical man: the same theme which Paul so wisely and eloquently set forth in writing to his disciples in Corinth, the theme of all mystics in all lands.
We think of ourselves as living a purely physical life, in these material bodies of ours. In reality, we have gone far indeed from pure physical life; for ages, our life has been psychical, we have been centred and immersed in the psychic nature. Some of the schools of India say that the psychic nature is, as it were, a looking-glass, wherein are mirrored the things seen by the physical eyes, and heard by the physical ears. But this is a magic mirror; the images remain, and take a certain life of their own. Thus within the psychic realm of our life there grows up an imaged world wherein we dwell; a world of the images of things seen and heard, and therefore a world of memories; a world also of hopes and desires, of fears and regrets. Mental life grows up among these images, built on a measuring and comparing, on the massing of
is the realizing of that prophecy. curiosity. Patanjali is concerned with the . speculation. envy.ASTROCCULT. Patanjali has in mind the spiritual man. His purpose is. they are in essence spiritual. whereby we enter our divine inheritance and come to inhabit Eternity. indeed. self-will. of that new birth. therefore. that the psychical man is the veil and prophecy of the spiritual man. in all times. salvation. to be born from the psychical. that all these are true powers overlaid by false desires. till a new world is built up within. the birth of the spiritual from the psychical. on the abstraction of new notions and images from these. longing. the purpose of all true religion. that though in manifestation psychical. the unveiling of the immortal man. This is. The teaching of the East is. and to indicate the fruit. self-interest. full of desires and hates. to set in order the practical means for the unveiling and regeneration. ambition. the glory and the power. Through the Sutras of the first book. The purpose of life.NET images together into general ideas.
the emergence of the spiritual man from the veils and meshes of the psychic nature. consecutive chain of argument. suggesting. a pithy sentence of very general application. But with a Sutra the case is different. a piece of proverbial wisdom that may be quoted in a good many sets of circumstance. indeed. to me at least. The Sutras of Patanjali are as closely knit together. once he stands clear of the psychic veils and trammels. and which will almost bear on its face the evidence of its truth. a thread." and means. Later will come the consideration of the nature and powers of the spiritual man. the moods and vestures of the mental and emotional man. therefore. when the word Aphorism has been connected with them in our minds for a generation. a close knit. and a view of the realms in which these new spiritual powers are to be revealed. for these rules of Patanjali's system. as dependent on each other. taken out of this place. It comes from the same root as the word "sew. The reason is this: the name Aphorism suggests.NET first great problem. Not only has each Sutra a definite place in the system. and will by no means be self-evident. but further.ASTROCCULT. and can no more be taken . So I have thought best to adhere to the original word. At this point may come a word of explanation. I have been asked why I use the word Sutras. as the propositions of Euclid. it will be almost meaningless.
and of certain steps and stages in the ascent from the ordinary consciousness of practical life. wherein the soul partakes of the being.ASTROCCULT. whereby the mortal becomes immortal. of the personal consciousness with the Divine Consciousness. We are led to the consideration of the barriers to his emergence. . OM: Here follows Instruction in Union. here as always in the Scriptures of India. BOOK I 1. first. the problem of the emergence of the spiritual man is further dealt with. salvation is. to the finer. the wisdom and glory of God.NET out of their proper setting. and then a divine and eternal well-being. radiant consciousness of the spiritual man. Union. of the overcoming of the barriers. and enters the Eternal. means union of the individual soul with the Oversoul. Therefore. deeper. In the second part of the first book. freedom from sin and the sorrow which comes from sin.
then the spiritual man stands forth luminous. illumined by the Divine Light. perverted. Therefore our first task is. Union. Heretofore the Seer has been enmeshed in the activities of the psychic nature. spiritual consciousness. Egotism is but the perversion of spiritual being. The goal is the full consciousness of the spiritual man. Ambition is the inversion of spiritual power. purify and restore the misplaced powers. 4. as the sun. drawn from their proper channel. is gained through control of the versatile psychic nature. Then the Seer comes to consciousness in his proper nature. The mortal is the limitation of the immortal. to regain control of this perverted nature. When these false images give place to true.NET 2. to chasten. Nothing except the obdurate resistance of the psychic nature keeps us back from the goal. . 3. when the clouds disperse. Passion is the distortion of love. The psychical powers are spiritual powers run wild.ASTROCCULT.
3).NET The power and life which are the heritage of the spiritual man have been caught and enmeshed in psychical activities. Thus the mind-image of an indulgence suggests and invites to a new indulgence. the picture of past joy is framed in regrets or hopes.ASTROCCULT. These are all real forces. to classify. restless. stimulating to new acts. busies itself ceaselessly with the mind-images. they are kinetic. but distorted from their true nature and goal. And there is the ceaseless play of the desire to know. Instead of pure being in the Divine. too. without destructive violence. This. they are either subject or not subject to the five hindrances (Book II. the power which lies behind and dwells in mind-pictures. like gems from the matrix. to penetrate to the essence of things. egotism. Instead of spiritual joy. its hand against every man. Spiritual powers are to be drawn forth from the psychic meshes. The psychic activities are five. steadily. So that we may . combative. the undivided joy of pure being. These pictures do not remain quiescent in the mind. They must be extricated. like the pith from the reed. there has been self-indulgence of body and mind. there has been fretful. The psychic nature is built up through the image-making power. Instead of the light of pure vision. there have been restless senses nave been re and imaginings. 5.
Unsound intellection is false understanding. Direct observation is the outermost form of the Soul's pure vision. but to raise it from the psychical to the spiritual realm. not to destroy it. the sharing of one soul in the wisdom of another.NET classify the activities of the psychic nature thus: 6. predication. 7.ASTROCCULT. Inductive reason rests on the great principles of continuity and correspondence. unsound intellection. not resting on a . But the power to know and feel is spiritual and immortal. We have here a list of mental and emotional powers. What is needed is. on the supreme truth that all life is of the One. sleep. Trustworthy testimony. and these. These activities are: Sound intellection. and of powers that picture and feel. and trustworthy testimony. 8. Each of these is a spiritual power. of powers that picture and observe. rests on the ultimate oneness of all souls. inductive reason. thinly veiled. The elements of sound intellection are: direct observation. memory.
induction and testimony always go back to an object. thought or reasoning based on that mistaken perception is of necessity false and unsound. 10. by adding to it a predicate. all material things being absent. "is wise" is the predicate." "the man" is the subject. Predication is carried on through words or thoughts not resting on an object perceived. Sleep is the psychic condition which rests on mind states. In the sentence. "the man is wise. In waking life.ASTROCCULT. an outer current . without the presence of the object thought of. while observation. 9. when the observation is inaccurate and faulty. The purpose of this Sutra is. we have two currents of perception. This may be simply an interplay of thoughts. Predication is the attribution of a quality or action to a subject. or the things thought of may be imaginary or unreal. induction or testimony. to distinguish between the mental process of predication. When the object is not truly perceived.NET perception of the true nature of things. and observation.
ASTROCCULT. there is still a certain consciousness in sleep. which are the material of which the psychic world is built. That which is ever before the spiritual eye of the Seer needs not to be remembered. Here.NET of physical things seen and heard and perceived." Even when there are no dreams." or "I have slept badly. we "dream. without modifying them. even such evil things as . as before. Therefore the sages teach that the world of our perception. the mental power is explained in terms of mind-images. is but the wraith or shadow of the real and everlasting world. The control of these psychic activities comes through the right use of the will. and watching the mind-images float before the field of consciousness. one says. an inner current of mind-images and thoughts. ever-present vision. The outer current ceases in sleep." 11. on waking. 12. so that. Memory is holding to mind-images of things perceived. which is indeed a world of mind-images. and through ceasing from self-indulgence. the inner current continues. In this sense. "I have slept well. memory is but the psychical inversion of the spiritual. If these psychical powers and energies.
humility. are but spiritual powers fallen and perverted. and the purification of mind and thought. perhaps. how are we to bring about their release and restoration? Two means are presented to us: the awakening of the spiritual will.NET passion and hate and fear. dwelling in the Light. We must seek spiritual life in conformity with the laws of spiritual life. at the mercy of storm and hunger and our enemies. We are to think of ourselves as immortals. rather helpless. which is an acknowledgment of the One Soul within us all. which will unveil to us the nearness of the Eternal. when followed long. through perpetual remembrance of our oneness with all Divine . 13. gentle charity. with earnestness.ASTROCCULT. as creatures moving upon this earth. Only through obedience to that shared Life. with earnestness. This becomes a firm resting-place. effort to stand in spiritual being. encompassed and sustained by spiritual powers. The steady effort to hold this thought will awaken dormant and unrealized powers. The right use of the will is the steady. We have thought of ourselves. persistently. 14.
and purification. through reverence before the coming soul. The lust of sensual stimulus and excitation rests on the longing to feel one's life keenly. Ceasing from self-indulgence is conscious mastery over the thirst for sensuous pleasure here or hereafter. faith by works. With this awakening of the spiritual will. 16. the desire for sensation is the desire of being. and the soul comes only in silence. Rightly understood. can we enter our inheritance. after self-indulgence has been courageously and loyally stilled. study must be supplemented by devoted practice. to gain the sense of being really alive. our nothingness apart from Divine Being. The consummation of this is freedom from thirst for any mode of psychical activity. In order to gain a true understanding of this teaching. a real ceasing from self-indulgence.NET Being.ASTROCCULT. The reading of the words will not avail. There must be a real effort to stand as the Soul. This sense of true life comes only with the coming of the soul. 15. will come at once the growth of the . through the establishment of the spiritual man. the distortion of the soul's eternal life.
In the second stage. The third stage is the inspiration. exterior examining.ASTROCCULT. In virtue of continued practice and effort. shall be given. such as a sacred image or picture. then realization of individual being. or a part of a book of devotion. which is called "the cloud of . which results from this pondering. An interior state of spiritual consciousness is reached. will help us notably in our contest. Meditation with an object follows these stages: first. and this. meditation rests only on the fruit of former meditations. the heightening of the spiritual will. as enkindled by this meditation. 17.NET spiritual man and our awakening consciousness as the spiritual man. In the practice of meditation. 18. attained in even a small degree. then interior judicial action. To him that hath. the need of an external object on which to rest the meditation is outgrown. a beginning may be made by fixing the attention upon some external object. then joy. After the exercise of the will has stilled the psychic activities. The fourth stage is the realization of one's spiritual being. one passes from the outer object to an inner pondering upon its lessons.
Subjective consciousness arising from a natural cause is possessed by those who have laid aside their bodies and been absorbed into subjective nature. perception. right mindfulness. and finally. and they will be born again into this world. Not one can be dispensed with. Spiritual consciousness is nearest to those of keen. led up to by faith. right mindfulness. 29). Those who have died. and then from faith. It is well to keep in mind these steps on the path to illumination: faith. intense will. perception. from right mindfulness. First faith. there is spiritual consciousness. But in the fullness of time. all must be won. one-pointedness. perception. 19. are in a condition resembling meditation without an external object. from valour.ASTROCCULT. valour. valour right mindfulness. full vision as the soul. .NET things knowable" (Book IV. entered the paradise between births. valour. one-pointedness. 20. from this. the seeds of desire in them will spring up. For the others. 21. a one-pointed aspiration toward the soul.
If we think of our lives as tasks laid on us by the Master of Life. 22. Higher than the three stages of the way is the goal. or of middle strength. the end of the way. we must live them. The will may be weak. Or spiritual consciousness may be gained by ardent service of the Master. if we . the kingdom must be taken by force. Therefore there is a spiritual consciousness higher than this. and thus to strengthen the will to more perfect obedience. we are permitted to share the power of God.NET The image used is the swift impetus of the torrent.ASTROCCULT. The will is not ours. and we come into it only through obedience. As we enter into the spirit of God. effort is inspired by faith. to live the life. The great secret is this: it is not enough to have intuitions. Firm will comes only through effort. there is this counsel: to be faithful in obedience. but God's. we must act on them. For those of weak will. or intense. 23.
26. since he is not limited by Time. All spiritual attainment rests on this. is of the same nature as the soul in us. In the Master is the perfect seed of Omniscience. promptly. loyally. but we still bear the burden of many evils. The Soul of the Master is free from sin and servitude and sorrow. The Soul of the Master. He is the Teacher of all who have gone before. sincerely.NET look on all duties as parts of that Master's work. 24. if we obey. The Master is the spiritual man. we are under the dominance of sorrow. who is free from hindrances. and forming our life-work. we are in bondage through our former works. and therefore partaker of the Oversoul's all-wisdom and all-power. the Lord. then. entrusted to us. . 25. and the fruition and seed of works. and is possible because the soul and the Oversoul are One. The Soul of the Master is in essence one with the Oversoul.ASTROCCULT. we shall enter by degrees into the Master's life and share the Master's power. Thus we shall be initiated into the spiritual will. bondage to works.
Let there be soundless repetition of OM and meditation thereon. the three Divine Powers. Thus we rise . Then there is the manifold significance of the symbol. For the Oversoul is before Time. of the Master and Lord. This has many meanings. 28. first. Lastly. omniscience. the three essences. There is. Preservation.ASTROCCULT. in the one Spirit. the three times. by their entrance into the Oversoul. as of all words. have inherited the kingdom of the Light. This is the Word. is one of His children. past. His word is OM. as suggested above. the Oversoul has been the Teacher of all souls.NET From the beginning. by realizing their oneness with the Oversoul. joy. 27. the perfected Spiritual Man. in ascending degrees. which. the potency of the word itself. and Time. in the one Being. present. immortality. there is the spiritual realization of the high essences thus symbolized. future. the three worlds in the Soul. the Symbol. in Eternity. father of all else. Creation. OM: the symbol of the Three in One. Transformation.
the life must be led as well as studied. 29. as we view all organization. but in the Eternal. Thence come the awakening of interior consciousness. The awakening of spiritual consciousness can only be understood in measure as it is entered. before the full meaning can be understood. Here again faith must be supplemented by works. and thus remove the barrier' in our path toward the Light. and the resolute conquest of each sin. that. It can only be entered where the conditions are present: purity of heart. and strong aspiration. may easily be understood: that the recognition of the three worlds as resting in the Soul leads us to realize ourselves and all life as of the Soul. we become more at one with the Eternal. we shall come more into harmony with the One. however. In the second part of the first book. not in past. and the removal of barriers. mutation as the work of the Divine One. present or future. This. as we dwell. preservation.ASTROCCULT.NET step by step to the Eternal. the problem of the emergence of the spiritual man is further dealt with. We are led to the consideration . that.
thinking of each as a psychic state. We must remember that we are considering the spiritual man as enwrapped and enmeshed by the psychic nature. The barriers to interior consciousness. Sickness is included rather for its effect on the emotions and mind. laziness. inability to reach a stage of meditation. radiant consciousness of the spiritual man. deeper. or to hold it when reached. and they go pretty thoroughly into the brute toughness of the psychic nature. such as blindness or deafness. doubt. as cutting off distractions. because of the psychic veils of the personality. inertia. Nine of these are enumerated. lightmindedness. which drive the psychic nature this way and that. and may sometimes be a help. 30. false notions. the emotional and mental powers. is no insuperable barrier to spiritual life. are these: sickness. It will be well for us to ponder over each of these nine activities. to the finer. and of certain steps and stages in the ascent from the ordinary consciousness of practical life. and as unable to come to clear consciousness. of the overcoming of the barriers.ASTROCCULT. intemperance. a barrier to the interior .NET of the barriers to his emergence. since bodily infirmity. unable to stand and see clearly.
bodily restlessness. is in a special way the fault of our day and generation.NET consciousness of the spiritual man. mental restlessness will be half conquered. The surface meaning is harsh and irregular breathing.ASTROCCULT. concerning the life breath. flagrantly opposed to the pure and positive joy of spiritual life. The remedy is a return to the pristine state of the . The will. the drawing in and sending forth of the life-breath also contribute to drive the psychic nature to and fro. We can well see bow a sodden psychic condition. offer some difficulty. which. Hence come all the morbid and sickly moods of the mind. too. bodily restlessness. in its pristine state. The next. was full of vigour. Grieving. When it is conquered. would be a barrier. The next two terms. has been steadily corrupted by self-indulgence. the seeking of moods and sensations for sensation's sake. the deeper meaning is a life of harsh and irregular impulses. despondency. 31. 32. The first two moods are easily understood. Steady application to a principle is the way to put a stop to these.
NET will. When we are wrapped up in ourselves. thus doubling their joy. absorbed in our pains and bitter thoughts.ASTROCCULT. as we are here told. compassion for the sorrowful. This rending of the veils will reveal to us something of the grace and peace which are of the interior consciousness of the spiritual man. or. disregard of the unholy. the psychic nature moves to gracious peace. by steady application to a principle. in others as in ourselves. thus halving their sorrow. . The principle to which we should thus steadily apply ourselves should be one arising from the reality of spiritual life. Or peace may be reached by the even sending forth and control of the life-breath. we are not willing to disturb or strain our own sickly mood by giving kindly sympathy to the happy. 33. positive effort. and let the mind brood in sad pessimism on unholy things. delight in the holy. By sympathy with the happy. 34. We refuse to find delight in holy things. valorous work for the soul. All these evil psychic moods must be conquered by strong effort of will. shrouded with the cloak of our egotism. by vigorous. or by showing compassion for the sad.
There is no such illusion as gloomy pessimism. but is rather an offering to the ideal of spiritual life. which make it quite unfit to transmit the inward consciousness and stillness. will bind the mind to steadiness. and to train it by steady and persistent work: by "sitting close" to our work. then the even and quiet tenor of life. despondency. are very amenable to the will. without harsh or dissonant impulses. the pale cast of thought. persistent application to any object. if completely attained. We are still considering how to overcome the wavering and perturbation of the psychic nature.ASTROCCULT. We are once more told to use the will. that even and quiet breathing which is a part of the victory over bodily restlessness. and it has been truly said that a man's cheerfulness is the measure of his faith.NET Here again we may look for a double meaning: first. Faithful. But it must always be remembered that this is not for solace to the personal man. Sturdy and courageous effort will bring a clear and valorous mind. which brings stillness to the heart. radiant spirit. As also will a joyful. Gloom. 35. 36. a . in the phrase of the original.
it is true. dreams are. reflections of what the eyes have seen and the ears heard. As we climbed down hill for our pleasure. Or the purging of self-indulgence from the psychic nature. with which our psychic natures are soaked through and through. objective on their own plane. 38. For the Eastern sages. perhaps. We must recognize that the fall of man is a reality. exemplified in our own persons. Or a pondering on the perceptions gained in dreams and dreamless sleep. But dreams are something more.NET contribution to the universal and universally shared treasure in heaven. and they have all come through self-indulgence. Much of poetry and art is such a solace from dreamland.ASTROCCULT. for the images are in a sense real. made up of images of waking life. and the knowledge that there is another world. But there is more in dream. The process is painful. for it may image what is above. not . as well as what is below. We have quite other sins than the animals. even a dream-world. so must we climb up again for our purification and restoration to our former high estate. and far more deleterious. yet indispensable. 37. lightens the tyranny of material life.
only the children of men, but also the children by the shore of the immortal sea that brought us hither, may throw their images on this magic mirror: so, too, of the secrets of dreamless sleep with its pure vision, in even greater degree.
39. Or meditative brooding on what is dearest to the heart.
Here is a thought which our own day is beginning to grasp: that love is a form of knowledge; that we truly know any thing or any person, by becoming one therewith, in love. Thus love has a wisdom that the mind cannot claim, and by this hearty love, this becoming one with what is beyond our personal borders, we may take a long step toward freedom. Two directions for this may be suggested: the pure love of the artist for his work, and the earnest, compassionate search into the hearts of others.
40. Thus he masters all, from the atom to the Infinite.
Newton was asked how he made his discoveries. By intending my mind on them, he replied. This steady pressure, this becoming one with what we seek to understand, whether it be atom or soul, is the one means to know. When we become a thing, we really know it, not
otherwise. Therefore live the life, to know the doctrine; do the will of the Father, if you would know the Father.
41. When the perturbations of the psychic nature have all been stilled, then the consciousness, like a pure crystal, takes the colour of what it rests on, whether that be the perceiver, perceiving, or the thing perceived.
This is a fuller expression of the last Sutra, and is so lucid that comment can hardly add to it. Everything is either perceiver, perceiving, or the thing perceived; or, as we might say, consciousness, force, or matter. The sage tells us that the one key will unlock the secrets of all three, the secrets of consciousness, force and matter alike. The thought is, that the cordial sympathy of a gentle heart, intuitively understanding the hearts of others, is really a manifestation of the same power as that penetrating perception whereby one divines the secrets of planetary motions or atomic structure.
42. When the consciousness, poised in perceiving, blends together the name, the object dwelt on and the idea, this is perception with exterior consideration.
In the first stage of the consideration of an external object, the perceiving mind comes to it, preoccupied by the name and idea conventionally associated with that object. For example, in coming to the study of a book, we think of the author, his period, the school to which he belongs. The second stage, set forth in the next Sutra, goes directly to the spiritual meaning of the book, setting its traditional trappings aside and finding its application to our own experience and problems.
The commentator takes a very simple illustration: a cow, where one considers, in the first stage, the name of the cow, the animal itself and the idea of a cow in the mind. In the second stage, one pushes these trappings aside and, entering into the inmost being of the cow, shares its consciousness, as do some of the artists who paint cows. They get at the very life of what they study and paint.
43. When the object dwells in the mind, clear of memory-pictures, uncoloured by the mind, as a pure luminous idea, this is perception without exterior or consideration.
We are still considering external, visible objects. Such perception as is here described is of the nature of that penetrating vision whereby
ASTROCCULT. and makes that soul live on canvas. and one nearer to the keen vision of the spiritual man. and then range together those of like quality. It is precisely by comparing. 45. or that whereby a really great portrait painter pierces to the soul of him whom he paints. is the judicial action of the mind spoken of. 44. . to that pure nature which has no distinguishing mark. the immortal. But when we exercise swift divination upon the mind images. whereby we select certain qualities in a group of mind-images. Subtle substance rises in ascending degrees. when referring to things of finer substance. The same two steps. judicial action of the mind. These stages of perception are described in this way. or without. We now come to mental or psychical objects: to images in the mind. This process of analysis and synthesis. arranging and superposing these mind-images that we get our general notions or concepts. are said to be with. to lead the mind up to an understanding of the piercing soul-vision of the spiritual man. made his discoveries.NET Newton. intending his mind on things. as does a poet or a man of genius. then we use a power higher than the judicial.
we finally come to purer essences. where the partition wall between us and the Highest. The above are the degrees of limited and conditioned spiritual consciousness. Thus we rise from separation to true individuality in unity. between us and others. Our bodily. our spiritual selves attain true consciousness through unity. 46. substance. The highest riches are possessed by all pure souls. our mental selves. name. meet and part. drawing ever nearer and nearer to unity. meet and part again. in perpetual concussion and interchange. In the four stages of perception above described. as we ascend. still containing the seed of separateness. Or we may illustrate this principle thus. the spiritual vision . only when united. of finer substance. and whose chief characteristic is to be separate.ASTROCCULT. place. is broken down and we are all made perfect in the One. which overlap and coalesce in both space and time. to mind-images. and then to ideas and principles. just as so many pebbles are separate from each other. in form. external selves are quite distinct and separate. first.NET As we ascend from outer material things which are permeated by separateness.
the wise philosopher and the saint not only reach a wide and luminous consciousness. and beauty in all things. For we have come to the stage where we know things by being them. we know that we know. All these are far advanced on the way. perception is unfailingly true. personal man. The poet. whereby he sees the spirit within the symbol. but they gain certain knowledge of substantial reality. In that peace. When pure perception without judicial action of the mind is reached. but on its realities. and . or the saint's firm perception of spiritual life and being. 47. the psychical veils laid aside.ASTROCCULT.NET is still working through the mental and psychical. When we know. in his own realm. whose vision rests not on the appearances of life. they have drawn near to the secret dwelling of peace. We have instanced certain types of this pure perception: the poet's divination. the pure insight of the true philosopher. the inner genius is still expressed through the outer. there follows the gracious peace of the inner self. 48. likeness in things unlike. The spiritual man has yet to come completely to consciousness as himself.
as of the poet. each field of knowledge. 49. precise knowledge. Each state or field of the mind. is a psychical state. He receives defined. since this perception is particular. whether these be for himself or others. and know it to be rock. The impress on the consciousness springing from this perception supersedes all previous impressions. But the spiritual perception of the awakened Seer brings particular truth concerning his own particular life and needs. The Scriptures teach general truths.ASTROCCULT. or by sound inference. rooted in the very heart of the world. When the pure vision. The distinction is a luminous and inspiring one. the . is a psychical state or field. exactly applying to what he has at heart. The object of this perception is other than what is learned from the sacred books. so to speak. just as the mind picture of a stage with the actors on it. 50. We rest on the rock. and inference from their teaching is not less general. concerning universal spiritual life and broad laws.NET nothing can be more true than being. which is reached by mental and emotional energies.
which we now begin. INTRODUCTION TO BOOK II The first book of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras is called the Book of Spiritual Consciousness. the saint.NET philosopher. even by the vision of a sage.ASTROCCULT. that which is viewed as part. a thin psychical veil. with no seed of separateness left. in a certain sense. and the spiritual man stands with unveiled vision. Yet. since all impressions have ceased. however pure and luminous that veil may be. It is the last and highest psychic state. fills the whole field. And we must remember that soul growth here means the growth of the realization of the spiritual . is the Book of the Means of Soul Growth. there arises pure spiritual consciousness. pure serene. The second book. has still an element of illusion. 51. The last psychic veil is drawn aside. This high consciousness displaces all lesser consciousness. all lesser views and visions are crowded out. then. When this impression ceases.
In reality. for example. like a bird caught in a net. The most striking thing in it is the emphasis laid on the Commandments. Our day and generation is far too prone to fancy that there can be mystical life and growth on some other foundation. and to detail the means in a way entirely practical and very lucid. together with obedience to the Master. the growth of the spiritual man. the disguises laid upon him by the mind and the psychical nature. to put the matter more briefly. wherein he is enmeshed. in his radiant eternalness and divine power? And the second book sets itself to answer this very question. and he who reads may understand and practise. or. and the disentangling of the spiritual man from the wrappings.ASTROCCULT. so that he may stand forth above death. The second part of the second book is concerned with practical spiritual training. which are precisely those of the latter part of the Decalogue. the veils. that is.NET man. on the foundation. with the earlier practical training of the spiritual man. so that he who runs may read. The question arises: By what means may the spiritual man be freed from these psychical meshes and disguises. of intellectual curiosity or psychical selfishness. on this latter .
ASTROCCULT. vital for us to realize that the Yoga system. indeed. nor. rests on this broad and firm foundation of honesty. These have I kept.NET foundation the life of the spiritual man can never be built. meets the question: What must I do to be saved? with the age-old answer: Keep the Commandments. Without these. obedience. truth. and he who practices these. It is. there is no salvation. even though ignorant of spiritual things. . Therefore Patanjali. Only after the disciple can say. spiritual reading. BOOK II 1. cleanness. like every great spiritual teacher. like every true system of spiritual teaching. can there be the further and finer teaching of the spiritual Rules. The practices which make for union with the Soul are: fervent aspiration. therefore. and complete obedience to the Master. anything but a psychic counterfeit. is laying up treasure against the time to come. a dangerous delusion.
that fiery quality of the will which enkindles and illumines. Their aim is. as the first of the means of spiritual growth.ASTROCCULT. and at the same time the fire which purifies. is. and a very effective one. the evidence of new growth of the Soul. The aim of fervour. and. and to wear away hindrances. will reveal new ways and new tasks. which are but psychic distortions of the one Divine Will. Nothing will do more for the spiritual man in us than this. and to wear away hindrances. the burning away of all known impurities. Obedience to the Master means. to bring soulvision. and shall confirm in all wave to the will of the Divine. Spiritual reading is so universally accepted and understood. and. as our first practice. The very study of Patanjali's Sutras is an exercise in spiritual reading. The constant effort to obey in all the ways we know and understand. spiritual reading and obedience to the Master. that it needs no comment. And so with all other books of the Soul. for there is no such regenerating power as the awakening spiritual will. therefore.NET The word which I have rendered "fervent aspiration" means primarily "fire". it means the fire which gives life and light. that we shall make the will of the Master our will. We have. at the same time. setting aside the wills of self. in the Eastern teaching. to use the . Or. the steady practice of purification. 2. to bring soul-vision.
is.NET phrase we have already adopted.ASTROCCULT. the enmeshing psychic nets which surround him. sensations and desires. Each. and so doggedly resists all efforts of the spiritual man to cast off his psychic tyrant and set himself free. This is the real darkness. the self-absorption of the psychical man. tying his hands. as all teachers testify. so that he fails to see. These are the hindrances: the darkness of unwisdom. that there is a spiritual man. is a long and arduous task. his complete preoccupation with his own hopes and fears. and all those who deny the . primarily. So with the other means. is two-fold. or refuses to see. attachment. 3. and upbuilding the spiritual man. And this. and bandaging his eyes. spiritual reading and obedience. two-fold: it illumines. demanding fine courage and persistent toil. to help the spiritual man to open his eyes. as we said. Fervour. self-assertion. to help him also to throw aside the veils and disguises. plans and purposes. lust hate. a steady up-hill fight. and it also burns up the nets and meshes which ensnare the spiritual man. Let us try to translate this into terms of the psychical and spiritual man. the aim of these practices is. wearing away the psychical. the fire of the spiritual will. The darkness of unwisdom is. in its action. and so helps the spiritual man to see. as it were.
the cackling geese would drown the song of the nightingale. is the dogged conviction that the psychic. mortal man and his ambitions. which he can follow for himself alone. and so lay out their lives wholly for the psychical.NET immortality of the soul. This hate. that perfect love which casts out fear. in Shakespeare's phrase. since it hinders the revelation of the high harmony between the spiritual man and his other selves. a harmony to be revealed only through the practice of love. or deny the soul's existence. In like manner. this psychic self-absorption. but rather in their images within our minds. again. leads to contest with other personalities. as. the din of which smothers the voice of the spiritual man. and this conviction. are under this power of darkness. makes against the spiritual man. our inner eyes are fixed on them. when put into practice in our life. not in outward things. for we are absorbed. personal man has separate.ASTROCCULT. our inner desires brood over . exclusive interests. lust is the psychic man's craving for the stimulus of sensation. and so to hate. coming from the failure to find strength in the primal life of the spiritual man. And this craving for stimulus is the fruit of weakness. Attachment is but another name for psychic self-absorption. Born of this darkness.
we are told that these barriers may be either dormant. or worn thin. the Soul. Faults which are dormant will be brought out through the pressure of life.-as a veil might. or the links of manacles. . or worn thin. and em we blind ourselves to the presence of the prisoner' the enmeshed and fettered spiritual man. not the Soul.ASTROCCULT. impure. The first has been explained already: in the darkness of unwisdom grow the parasites. or expanded.NET them. they must be worn thin. or through the pressure of strong aspiration. as Patanjali quaintly says. The darkness of unwisdom is the field of the others. or suspended. or expanded. full of joy. 4. attachment. to be eternal. Here we have really two Sutras in one. hate. They are all outgrowths of the self-absorption of the psychical self. pure. These hindrances may be dormant. they must be fought and conquered. or suspended. 5 The darkness of ignorance is: holding that which is unenduring. lust. Next. or. full of pain. Thus expanded.
of which the Yoga is avowedly the practical side. Self-assertion comes from thinking of the Seer and the instrument of vision as forming one self. This is that psychical man of whom it is said: he that soweth to the flesh. shall of the flesh reap corruption. therefore. impure.NET This we have really considered already. or. But we turn the servant into the master. We attribute to the psychical man. This is the fundamental idea of the Sankhya philosophy. The spiritual man is enduring. for whom we should build. full of joy. and so. the man for whom we should toil. 6. through which the spiritual man gains experience of the outer world. the real Self. to the exclusion of the spiritual man. To translate this into our terms. thinking of the quality of the spiritual man as belonging to the psychical. a reality which really belongs to the spiritual man alone. for whom we should live. personal man. we may say that the Seer is the spiritual man. The psychic man is unenduring. that the personal man is the real man. the instrument of vision is the psychical man. as the text says. the self-absorption of the psychical. It is the belief. carried into action. The darkness of unwisdom is. not the Soul. not the real Self. full of pain.ASTROCCULT. the personal self. we merge the spiritual man in the psychical. pure. we think of the two as .
. Hate is the resting in the sense of pain. from the strife of personalities. This has been explained again and again. in this case. as a pleasure in itself. through resting in the sensation. thus hindering the harmony of the Real. and the avoidance of poisonous and hurtful things. and live to eat. Sensation. which tears the warring selves yet further asunder. for the most part. Pain comes. 8. This lust comes into being. So with the other great organic power. each of which deems itself supreme. instead of eating to live. the reconciliation through the Soul. and puts new enmity between them. and looking for pleasure from that. Lust is the resting in the sense of enjoyment. as. that is. rest. the jarring discords between psychic selves. the choice of wholesome food. in the psychical side of taste. for example.ASTROCCULT.NET forming one self. But if we rest in the sense of taste. 7. is meant to be the guide to action. we fall into gluttony. A dwelling on this pain breeds hate. the power of reproduction. the sense of taste.
These hindrances. and hence comes the circle of death and rebirth. the desire of psychic life. This prevails even in those who have attained much wisdom. the intensely vibrating life of the psychical self. carried on by its own energy and momentum. even in the wise. carried forward by its own energy. The darkness of unwisdom is to be removed by the light of wisdom. and of the Master who guards and aids the spiritual man. The desire of sensation. and by obedience to the Master. reproduces itself. instead of the liberation of the spiritual man. 10. .ASTROCCULT.NET 9. The life here desired is the psychic life. Attachment is the desire toward life. spiritual reading of holy teachings and of life itself. are to be removed by a countercurrent. pursued through fervour. complete obedience to each least behest of the spiritual man. so long as it falls short of the wisdom of complete renunciation. death and rebirth. when they have become subtle.
by lifting up the heart to the strong. the whole secret of Yoga. The active turnings. lust and hate are to be stilled by meditation.ASTROCCULT. in truth. Hate is to be overcome by love. The burden of bondage to sorrow has its root in these hindrances. The fear that arises through the sense of separate.NET Lust is to be removed by pure aspiration of spiritual life. which rests in the stillness of eternal love. by initial efforts. they have been located and recognized in the psychic nature. which. by letting heart and mind dwell in spiritual life. 11. The hindrances are said to have become subtle when. the one soul in all. Here is. the strident vibrations. Their active turnings are to be removed by meditation. bringing true strength and stability. This realization is the perfect love that casts out fear. the science of the soul. 12. takes away the void of weakness which we try to fill by the stimulus of sensations. of selfishness. . silent life above. and needs no harsh vibration to convince it of true being. warring selves is to be stilled by the realization of the One Self.
ASTROCCULT. absorption in the psychical self. But this much is clearly understood: that. would be to write a treatise on Karma and its practical working in detail. the incarnating self is drawn to a home and life-circle which will give it scope and discipline. or in a life not yet manifested. All these are. its standing.NET It will be felt in this life. But the psychical self will breed a new psychical self. and so new sorrows in a life not yet manifest. are determined. through a kind of spiritual gravitation. in attachment to sensation. in a new birth. in lust. of all that is tasted in life. From this root there grow and ripen the fruits of birth. in hate. and to do this the present commentator is in no wise fitted. in the last analysis. whereby the place and time of the next birth. and this means sorrow. and this means jarring discord and inevitable death. Fully to comment on this. its accomplishment. its content and duration. 13. of the life-span. and its need of discipline is clearly conditioned by its character. in selfishness. The burden of bondage to sorrow has its root in the darkness of unwisdom. . because it means the sense of separateness.
because birth brings inevitable death. And as unholiness is disobedience. so desire is not quenched . is ever afflicted with restlessness. The life of the psychic self is misery. because it is afflicted with restlessness. therefore joy comes of holiness: comes. or in a yet unmanifested birth.ASTROCCULT. therefore unholiness makes for pain. because it ever waxes and wanes. to the law of divine harmony. The fire is not quenched by pouring oil on it.NET 14. Since holiness is obedience to divine law. The whole life of the psychic self is misery. so that he who has much. or of affliction. 15. finds not satisfaction. fear. because there is no expectation without its shadow. whether the cause take effect in this. makes ever new dynamic impresses in the mind. because it ever waxes and wanes. but rather the whetted hunger for more. and because all its activities war with each other. and obedience to harmony strengthens that harmony in the soul. indeed. as they are sprung from holy or unholy works. and this two-fold law is true. These bear fruits of rejoicing. and therefore discord. in no other way. To him who possesses discernment. all personal life is misery. which is the one true joy.
The cause of what is to be warded off. there is no cure for the misery of longing. 16. is ever the house divided against itself. because a desire satisfied is but the seed from which springs the desire to find like satisfaction again. . but to fix the heart upon the eternal. is the absorption of consciousness in the psychical man and the things which beguile the psychical man. is the absorption of the Seer in things seen. because it makes ever new dynamic impresses in the mind. torn with conflicting desires. The appetite comes in eating. Here again we have the fundamental idea of the Sankhya. And the psychic self.ASTROCCULT. We must cut the root. The cause of what is to be warded off. we cannot cure the pains of life by laying on them any balm.NET by the satisfaction of desire. 17. which is the intellectual counterpart of the Yoga system. which must surely fall. Again. So it is said. This pain is to be warded off. In other words. as the proverb says. the root of misery. absorption in the psychical self. the life of the psychic self is misery. before it has come. and grows by what it feeds on.
that with distinctive mark. Things seen.NET The cure is liberation. as we might say. Or. They make for experience and for liberation. the soul gains experience. 19. the world of sense-impressions and mind-images. possess as their property. In each. In other words. The grades or layers of the Three Potencies are the defined. Here is a whole philosophy of life. in their grosser form. and is prepared for liberation. 18. and the side of force. make the material world. inertia: the qualities of force and matter in combination. inertia. the undefined. there is the side of form. the whole outer world exists for the purposes of the soul. the total of the phenomena.ASTROCCULT. The form side of the physical is here called the . in their finer. And through this totality of the phenomenal. they make the psychical world. and finds in this its true reason for being. action. that without distinctive mark. They form the basis of the elements and the sense-powers. there are two strata of the physical. and two strata of the psychical realms. manifestation. action. Things seen have as their property manifestation. These. more subjective form.
not only material things. 21. 20. The force side of the physical is the undefined. as always. which may flow now to this mind-image.ASTROCCULT. to set this prisoner free.NET defined. but the psychic man also. The things of outer life. is the spiritual man whose deepest consciousness is pure vision. now to that. The task is. by whom he is enfolded and enmeshed. But the spiritual man. that which has no boundaries. So in the psychical. The Seer is pure vision. the spiritual man Disaster comes. such as the characteristic features of mind-images. and there is the force side. the pure life of the eternal. when the psychical man sets up. looks out on the world through the eyes of the psychical man. exist in very deed for the purposes of the Seer. he looks out through the vesture of the mind. to clear the dust of ages from this buried temple. so to . without distinctive marks. The very essence of things seen is. Though pure. the Soul. that with distinctive marks. there is the form side. The Seer. such as the forces of desire or fear. as yet unseeing in his proper person. that they exist for the Seer.
Life is educative. Though fallen away from him who has reached the goal. on his own account. and through which we look at all material things. the Soul learns the secrets of the world. trying to live for himself alone. for now we see life as it is. which hold us in bondage to material things. All life's infinite variety is for discipline. since others still hate and suffer hatred. and taking material things to solace his loneliness. and will remain till they. since they still exist for others. When the coloured veil of illusion is gone. too. conquer delusion. for the development of the soul. things seen have not alto fallen away. When one of us conquers hate. 23. and therefore the world thus coloured by it remains for them. the august laws that are written in the . and also of the realizing of the nature of the Seer. the world which we saw through it is also gone. So with other delusions. 22.ASTROCCULT. in the white radiance of eternity.NET speak. The association of the Seer with things seen is the cause of the realizing of the nature of things seen. But for others the coloured veil remains. So passing through many lives. hate does not thereby cease out of the world.
therefore in learning these. by bringing the darkness of unwisdom to an end. learned all life's lessons. The cause of this association is the darkness of unwisdom. but projections outward. through which comes experience. and go no more out. 26. This is the fall. and in the things seen by the personal life.ASTROCCULT. A discerning which is carried on without wavering is the means of . through the psychical. of the laws of the soul. When the spiritual man has. the soul learns to know itself. 25. the time has come for him to put off the veil and disguise of the psychical and to stand revealed a King. the learning of the lessons of life. Yet all these laws are but reflections. is the great liberation. When they are learned. in the house of the Father. this is the Seer's attainment of his own pure being. All life is but the mirror wherein the Soul learns to know its own face. The bringing of this association to an end. 24. the day of redemption is at hand. The darkness of unwisdom is the absorption of consciousness in the personal life.NET form of the snow-crystal or the majestic order of the stars. So shall he enter into his kingdom.
rising In successive stages. following after Philo and Plato. He has in view a constant discriminating in act as well as thought. His illuminations is sevenfold. carried out constantly. makes for liberation. Paul. the things of another rather than one's own. Here we come close to the pure Vedanta.NET liberation. with its discernment between the eternal and the temporal. it need not be . 27. courage and not cowardice. of the two ways which present themselves for every deed or choice. the danger to be escaped is recognized. lays down the same fundamental principle: the things seen are temporal. though this too is vital. sacrifice and not indulgence.ASTROCCULT. This true discernment. St. that which makes for the things eternal: honesty rather than roguery. The commentator thus describes them: First. the things unseen are eternal. Patanjali's text does not tell us what the seven stages of this illumination are. always to choose the higher way. Patanjali means something more than an intellectual assent.
the dominance of its thinking is ended. like rocks from a precipice. has been developed. clear discernment. The essence of the matter lies in carrying them out. until impurity is worn away. we may well be astonished at their simplicity. as sixth. They are very familiar. by the contemplation which checks psychic perturbation. Happy is the spiritual man who beholds this seven-fold illumination in its ascending stages. . its potencies. freed from these potencies. From steadfastly following after the means of Yoga. the way of escape is clearly perceived. there comes the illumination of thought up to full discernment. they need not be worn away a second time. the spiritual man stands forth in his own nature as purity and light. The final release from the psychic is three-fold: As fifth of the seven degrees. There is little in them that is mysterious. they do not grow again. once dissolved. as seventh. we enter on the more detailed practical teaching of Patanjali. Second. And when we come to detail the means of Yoga.ASTROCCULT. Fourth. 28. the means of escape. This is the fourfold release belonging to insight. the causes of the danger to be escaped are worn away. with its sound and luminous good sense. Third. Then. Here.NET recognized a second time. fall of themselves.
. The eight means of Yoga are: the Commandments.ASTROCCULT. from impurity. in the sense which will immediately be made clear. from covetousness. And in the same spirit is the answer made to the young map having great possessions. These five precepts are almost exactly the same as the Buddhist Commandments: not to kill. They must be taken in their order. Meditation. We can get a ready understanding of the first two by comparing them with the Commandments which must be obeyed by all good citizens. These eight means are to be followed in their order. right Control of the life-force. the Rules. it is futile to concern oneself with the second. right Poise. not to be guilty of incontinence. The Commandments are these: nom injury. Attention. thou shalt not kill. thou shalt not covet. to speak the truth.NET 29. Almost identical is St. not to drink intoxicants. Until one has fulfilled the first. truthfulness. Paul's list: Thou shalt not commit adultery. Withdrawal. 30. And so with all the means of Yoga. not to steal. and the Rules which are laid on the members of religious orders. Contemplation. abstaining from stealing. thou shalt not steal.
then the angel. Each one of them rests on a universal. are the great obligation. the being of the Eternal Like the law of gravity. So the first steps in spiritual life must be taken by bringing ourselves into voluntary obedience to these spiritual laws and thus making ourselves partakers of the spiritual powers. First the man.NET who asked. must be accomplished to a very considerable degree. time or occasion. the Eternal. The Commandments. This broad. On this broad. What shall I do to be saved? and received the reply: Keep the Commandments. these great . universal. and then the spiritual. place. before there can be much hope of success in the further stages of spiritual life. spiritual law. Each one of them expresses an attribute or aspect of the Self. thereby bringing ourselves to inevitable con fusion. general training. when we violate one of the Commandments. which forms and develops human character. humane and wise foundation does the system of Patanjali rest.ASTROCCULT. the need of air to breathe. First the psychical. we set ourselves against the law and being of the Eternal. 31. The Commandments form the broad general training of humanity. not limited to any race.
a habitual criminal. for more advanced spiritual growth. the Rules demand obedience of the heart and spirit. or of using the divine gift of will. The Commandments may be obeyed in outer acts and abstinences. The Rules are these: purity. for all mankind. before the moral consciousness has awakened.ASTROCCULT. We may imprison such a thief. spiritual reading. that of a thief. less fit to obey. and they have finer degrees. Or we . 33. The Rules are the spiritual counterpart of the Commandments. the weight of the imagination should be thrown' on the opposite side. throughout al times. When transgressions hinder. Yet we can see that these Rules are the same in essence as the Commandments. but on a higher. who has drifted into stealing in childhood. more spiritual plane. 32. a far more awakened and more positive consciousness. and deprive him of all possibility of further theft. Let us take a simple case. one which humanity as a whole is less ready for. Here we have a finer law.NET laws know no exceptions They are in force in all lands. serenity fervent aspiration. and per feet obedience to the Master.
34. or caused. creatively.NET may recognize his disadvantages. wrath. but on the contrary virtue. rather than of opposition. In this way the whole nature will gradually be drawn up to the higher level. in well-doing. whether faint. then we can see how he would come vividly to realize the essence of theft and of honesty. theft. If we imagine that. To conquer a sin. Our sorrows and losses teach us the pain of the sorrow and loss we inflict on others. and draw forth his self-respect. and so we cease to inflict them. In some such way does the great Law teach us. The conquest of a sin is a matter of growth and evolution. after he has built well. envy. not on the sin. Now as to the more direct application. or infatuation. Transgressions are injury. Turn away from the sin and go forward courageously. and would cleave to honest dealings with firm conviction. through greed. and his possessions have become dear to him.ASTROCCULT. incontinence. and help him gradually to build up possessions which express his will. or excessive. bearing . on which the sin does not even exist. Let the sin be forced out by positive growth in the true direction. constructively. falsehood. not by direct opposition. he himself is robbed. or assented to. let heart and mind rest. or middling. whether committed.
We come now to the spiritual powers which result from keeping the Commandments. which is the seeking for the happiness of the All in some limited part of it. with their effects. and therefore with ourselves. from the obedience to spiritual law which is the keeping of the Commandments. For greed cannot endure before the realization that the whole world belongs to the Self. Where the heart is full of kindness which seeks no injury to another. infatuation. wrath. throw their weight on the other side. all enmity ceases in the presence of him who possesses it. either in act or thought or wish. the side. 35. Therefore let thought and imagination. not of the world.NET endless.ASTROCCULT. by a truer understanding of the Self. Where non-injury is perfected. The causes are to be cured by better wisdom. fruit of ignorance and pain. whose benign power . survive the knowledge that we are heirs of the All. which Self we are. ignorance and pain. this full love creates an atmosphere of harmony. nor can we hold wrath against one who is one with the Self. Therefore must the weight be cast on the other side. Here are the causes of sin: greed. mind and heart. but of the Self. nor can infatuation. of Life.
His word is not in vain. The obvious meaning is. Where cessation from theft is perfected. Exactly the same doctrine was taught by the Master who said to his disciples: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them. When he is perfected in truth. If he should say. there is in many of these sentences a second and finer significance. all acts and their fruits depend on him. and whose soever sins ye retain. all treasures present themselves to him who possesses it. beside the outer and apparent meaning. Become righteous! the man becomes righteous.ASTROCCULT. 36. even more surely than contention breeds contention. 37. Peace in the heart radiates peace to other hearts. that he who has wholly .NET touches with healing all who come within its influence. Here is a sentence which may warn us that. The commentator thus explains: If he who has attained should say to a man. they are retained. Gain heaven! the man gains heaven.
conferring on him the creative will. takes its place. and the means of gaining it. the reward is valour and virility. a new epoch. One of the commentaries says that he who has attained is able to transfer to the minds of his disciples what he knows concerning divine union. in act. is opened. It upholds and endows the spiritual man. strong and full of vigour. the power to engender spiritual children instead of bodily progeny. The deeper truth is. the spiritual universe. For him who is perfect in continence. is no longer dissipated. has come to an end. a new creative power. An epoch of life. that of the spiritual man. that of the spiritual man. 38. treasures of jewels and gold and pearls. finds buried treasures in his path. that he who in every least thing is wholly honest with the spirit of Life.ASTROCCULT. The old creative power is superseded and transcended. finds Life supporting him in all things.NET ceased from theft. carrying with it the power to work creatively in others for righteousness and eternal life. and gains admittance to the treasure house of Life. This is one of the powers of purity. The creative power. but turned to spiritual uses. . thought and wish. that of man the animal.
but the ray. as the taste for pure Life grows stronger. As the spiritual light grows in the heart within. which turns it this way and that until the great work is accomplished. because the root of covetousness is the desire of the individual soul. the great secret is discerned. The conquest of covetousness brings this rich fruit. a ceasing from infatuation with the bodily life of others. before we can understand the laws of Karma. Thus is the how and why of life disclosed by ceasing from covetousness. the age-long lesson learned.ASTROCCULT. the consciousness opens toward the great. 40. the will toward manifested life. the manifest instrument of the Life. Through purity a withdrawal from one's own bodily life. we must free ourselves from Karma. secret . the secret that the individual soul is not an isolated reality. he who has conquered it awakes to the how and why of life. still life of the universal Soul welling up in the heart within. The Commentator says that this includes a knowledge of one's former births. Where there is firm conquest of covetousness.NET 39. And where the desire of the individual soul is overcome by the superb. So it is said that.
We desire not so much outer converse and closeness to our friends. fugitive life. the primal Life. and also a heart cleansed from all disquiet. the victory over sensuality. from all wandering and unbridled thought. Thereafter. from the torment of sensuous imaginings.ASTROCCULT. One consciousness now thrills through both. and we seek rather the deep infinitudes. who is the supreme Soul. where all lives are one. the great Spirit. it becomes at one in essence with its source. 41. Then shall the pure in heart see God. where sickness and sorrow and death cannot come. because they become God. Blessed are the pure in heart. for the psychic partition wall is broken down. but rather that quiet communion with them in the inner chamber of the soul. whether of ourselves or of others. where all life is one. purity means fitness for this vision. manifested. In the deepest sense. loses something of its charm and glamour. we long for their inner and everlasting essence. and fitness to behold the Soul. and when the spirit is thus cleansed and pure. where spirit speaks to spirit. for they shall see God. this outer. To the pure of heart come also a quiet spirit. the ultimate Self of all beings. .NET places within. where alienation and separation never enter. Instead of the outer form and surroundings of our lives. and spirit answers. one-pointed thought.
This is the true acceptance. By the true acceptance.NET 42. a keen vital vigour for the physical powers. for all these things are what they are through the will of the higher Self. There is needed. before one can attain to physical health. 43. accept yourself.ASTROCCULT. as the blood must be pure. the disciple gains happiness supreme. else would many nerveless ascetics of the cloisters rank as high saints. except their deficiencies. stronger. But absence of impurity is not in itself enough. The perfection of the powers of the bodily vesture comes through the wearing away of impurities. and through fervent aspiration. purity. One of the wise has said: accept conditions. a positive fire of the will. accept others. further. which come through thwarting the will of the higher Self. he comes thereby into happiness supreme. but of kindred essence. From acceptance. bliss. and something finer. . and. and can be conquered only through compliance with that will. This is true of the physical powers. the disciple comes into oneness of spirit with the overruling Soul. purer. since the own nature of the Soul is being. happiness. first. for the higher powers. There must be. and of those which dwell in the higher vestures.
NET The fire of genius is something more than a phrase. the disciple gains communion with the divine Power on which his heart is set. whereby we read ourselves into the Master's mind. for ancient India. had mystical potencies. potent essence of the divine. and it meant a recital of texts which were divinely emanated. in their very sounds. so that through the true reading of true books we do indeed read ourselves into the spirit of the Masters. It meant. Through spiritual reading. 44. Spiritual reading meant. which. the recital of sacred texts. and come at last into their very presence. It has been well said that all true art is contagion of feeling. . For us. 45. for there can be no genius without the celestial fire of the awakened spiritual will. and held in themselves the living.ASTROCCULT. something more than it does with us. Soul-vision is perfected through perfect obedience to the Master. just as through his music one can enter into the mind and soul of the master musician. first. share in the atmosphere of their wisdom and power. spiritual reading means a communing with the recorded teachings of the Masters of wisdom.
And sorrow and darkness are inevitable. for work and for meditation. The present sentence declares that. In His will is our peace. The first is physical. Right poise must be firm and without strain. since it is always and everywhere true that our study demands a sound mind in a sound body. Here we approach a section of the teaching which has manifestly a two-fold meaning.ASTROCCULT. the life of the spiritual man. The error of the personal will is inevitable. And with that peace comes light. to try and fail. wherein it finds rest and power. without losing freedom. It applies further to the poise of the soul. 46. Soul-vision is perfected through obedience. since each will must be free to choose. and concerns the bodily position of the student. and the personal will made once more one with the greater Will. that fine balance and stability which nothing can shake. These things have their direct influence upon soul-life. in order that the finer currents of life may run their course. the one great Life. until the path be found. where the consciousness rests on the .NET The sorrow and darkness of life come of the erring personal will which sets itself against the will of the Soul. and the regulation of breathing. the position of the body must be steady and without strain. and so to find the path.
Neither is effective without the other. effort without aspiration brings a false strength. the universal force of gravity. not resting on enduring things. Aspiration without effort brings weakness. 48 The fruit of right poise is the strength to resist the shocks of . Right poise is to be gained by steady and temperate effort. Here again. always guided by wisdom. 47. which the winds and waves beat upon in vain. for physical poise is to be gained by steady effort of the muscles. In like manner the firm and upright poise of the spiritual man is to be gained by steady and continued effort. linked with a right understanding of. there is the two-fold meaning. filling the soul with the atmosphere of the spiritual world. Uprightness of body demands that both these conditions shall be fulfilled. and relation with.NET firm foundation of spiritual being. The two together make for the right poise which sets the spiritual man firmly and steadfastly on his feet. and by setting the heart on the Eternal. This is indeed the house set upon a rock. by gradual and wise training. and by setting the heart upon the everlasting.ASTROCCULT.
The spiritual man. When this is gained. It is well understood to-day that most of our maladies come from impure conditions of the blood. continuous effort. It is coming to be understood that right breathing. and by filling the spirit with the atmosphere of the Eternal. will do very much to keep the blood clean and pure. as the captain remains steady. too.ASTROCCULT.NET infatuation or sorrow. But the deeper sense is far more important. right oxygenation. This is the power which is gained by wise. to remain steadfast through the perturbations of external things and the storms and whirlwinds of the psychical world. this sentence means that wise effort establishes such bodily poise that the accidents of life cannot disturb it. Therefore a right knowledge of breathing is a part of the science of life. which is also coveted by the wording of the original. the control of the incoming and outgoing breath. though disaster overtake his ship. there follows the right guidance of the life-currents. must learn to withstand all shocks. . 49. In the simpler physical sense.
. Therefore the first step in purification is to keep the Commandments. it is prolonged and subtle. both the incoming current of events.. can stand firm. uncleanness. 50. that the spiritual man. number. or balanced. In the breath. Exactly the same symbolism is used in the saying: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man. so closely related to health. even. followed by the period of pause. it is regulated according to place. and the outgoing current of his acts. thefts. physical side of this has its value.. but that which cometh out of the mouth. or inward. the lungs should be evenly filled. false witness.ASTROCCULT. murders. when he has gained poise through right effort and aspiration. this defileth a man. when the air comes into contact with the blood. The life-current is either outward. time. silent.. and guide the currents of his life. The technical. blasphemies. Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart . out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. steady. many maladies may arise from the neglect and consequent weakening of some region of the lungs. that every nurse's chart . Further. And the number of breaths is so important. and this again followed by right outbreathing. there should be right inbreathing..NET But the deeper meaning is.
in addition to the three degrees of control already described. the web of emotions.ASTROCCULT. which cover up and obscure the truth by absorbing the entire attention and keeping the consciousness in the psychic realm. a condition of perfect poise and stability in the midst of the flux of things outward and inward. But the deeper meaning is concerned with the currents of life. The fourth degree transcends external and internal objects. in comparison with lasting possessions of the Soul.NET records it. When hopes and fears are reckoned at their true worth. The inner meaning seems to be that. over the outgoing current. when the outer . 51. over the incoming current of life. with that which goeth into and cometh out of the heart. desires. Thereby is worn away the veil which covers up the light. there is a fourth degree of control. 52. and over the condition of pause or quiesence. that is. which holds in complete mastery both the outer passage of events and the inner currents of thoughts and emotions. control. argumentative trains of thought. The veil is the psychic nature.
first. through the Commandments and the Rules. Then is the light unveiled. It is a question. thus by degrees transferring the centre of consciousness from the psychical to the spiritual. and by intending our consciousness thereto. Thence comes the mind's power to hold itself in the light. that what we most need is the faculty of spiritual attention. but rather in our allowing God to hold our attention. through the faculty of spiritual attention. The vital matter is. when argumentative-thought no longer entangles us. and.ASTROCCULT. by steadily heeding endless fine intimations of the spiritual power within us. from the temporal to the Eternal. the consciousness is drawn from the psychical to the spiritual. but yields its place to flashing intuition. . by purification. that we need to disentangle our consciousness from the noisy and perturbed thraldom of the psychical. and to come to consciousness as the spiritual man. This we must do. It has been well said. first.NET reflections of things have ceased to distract us from inner realities. the certainty which springs from within. 53. then is the veil worn away. and in the same direction of thought it has been eloquently declared that prayer does not consist in our catching God's attention. second.
so that the spiritual force. . and then of attention. where the consciousness is. which has gone into the differentiated powers. as against psychical consciousness. at the same time. let us reverse the process. To understand this. taking on that unity which is the hall-mark of spiritual things. as the psychic nature has been withdrawn and stilled. 54. is once more gathered together into the inner power of intuition and spiritual will. the one will. Now let us imagine this to be reversed. The right Withdrawal is the disengaging of the powers from entanglement in outer things. there will the treasure be also. and think of the one consciousness. centred in the Soul. gradually expanding and taking on the form of the different perceptive powers. It is all a matter of love for the quality of spiritual consciousness.NET of love. For where the heart is.ASTROCCULT. as diversity is the seal of material things. of love and attention. there will the vesture with its powers be developed. differentiating itself into the varied powers of action.
ASTROCCULT. Paul's simile. the spiritual man is coming into his inheritance. Indeed. just as. When the spiritual condition which we have described is reached. through this very struggle and sacrifice the mastery has become possible. with its purity. two things must be understood and kept in memory. much of the struggle to keep the Commandments and the Rules has been paving the way for this mastery. and gaining complete mastery of his powers. poise. when the Commandments have . The first of these is this: These spiritual powers can only be gained when the development described in the first and second books has been measurably attained. Thereupon follows perfect mastery over the powers. the athlete gains the mastery in the contest and the race through the sacrifice of his long and arduous training. and illuminated vision. Thus he gains the crown. In considering these spiritual powers.NET 55. INTRODUCTION TO BOOK III The third book of the Sutras is the Book of Spiritual Powers. to use St.
therefore. and the experiences which are described have been passed through. For this is the secret of all spiritual powers: they are in no sense an abnormal or supernatural overgrowth upon the material man. The spiritual powers. the spiritual man is extricated. are the powers of the grown and liberated spiritual man. and coming naturally into activity. entirely natural to him. through keeping the Commandments and Rules already set forth. the Rules faithfully followed.NET been kept. This inversion is corrected by keeping the Commandments and Rules. so far disentangled from the psychical bandages and veils which have confined and blinded him. all his faculties and powers are inversions of the powers of the spiritual man.ASTROCCULT. As the personal man is the limitation and inversion of the spiritual man. as the spiritual man is disentangled and liberated from psychical bondage. that he can use his proper powers and faculties. as the inversion is overcome. They can only be developed and used as the spiritual man grows . For only after this is the spiritual man so far grown. In a single phrase. and gradually. and comes into possession and free exercise of his powers. his self seeking is the inversion of the Self-seeking which is the very being of the spiritual man: the ceaseless search after the divine and august Self of all beings. but are rather the powers and faculties inherent in the spiritual man.
in all that is said of spiritual powers in the third and fourth books of the Sutras. then this superb law comes into effect: whatever is within the knowledge of any consciousness.ASTROCCULT.NET and attains liberation through obedience. just as they have discerned and taught that all force is one and eternal. When the consciousness is cleared of psychic bonds and veils. so the ancient sages had discerned and taught that all consciousness is one. indivisible. immortal. infinite. and this includes the whole infinite . This is the first thing to be kept in mind. definitely related throughout the whole wide universe. within the reach of all consciousness. This has been well expressed by saying that all souls are fundamentally one with the Oversoul. that the Son of God. when the spiritual man is able to stand. and all Sons of God. are fundamentally one with the Father. The second thing to be understood and kept in mind is this: Just as our modern sages have discerned and taught that all matter is ultimately one and eternal. to the most distant star or nebula on the dim confines of space. whether actually or potentially. to see. so finely correlated and continuous that whatever is perceived by any consciousness is. and therefore within the reach of any consciousness. so coordinated throughout the whole universe that whatever affects any atom measurably affects the whole boundless realm of matter and force.
if he would work miracles. if he wills. and drawing on its resources. nothing unholy can ever cross that threshold. the very inception. and moves. must in no wise be detached from what has gone before. through it he comes into possession of his splendid and immortal powers. and can in no wise dispense with these or curtail them. The Son. The being. Nothing impure. These must be burnt away before an entrance to that world can be gained. This is the birthright of the spiritual man. of selfless self-conquest and genuine devotion to the weal of all others. whether of perception or of action.NET universe. least of all impure motives or self seeking desires. be made a part of his consciousness. Let no one imagine that the true life. by raising himself toward the consciousness above him. can be attained by any way except the hard way of sacrifice. and may. must come often into the presence of the Father. the true powers of the spiritual man. Only thus can we attain to that pure world wherein the spiritual man lives. Let it be clearly kept in mind that what is here to be related of the spiritual man.ASTROCCULT. . Only thus can the golden gates be reached and entered. of trial. and his exalted powers. This he may attain through his fundamental unity with the Oversoul. of the spiritual man depends on the purification and moral attainment already detailed. and has his being. is within his reach. of renunciation.
holiness. Therefore ponder well the earlier rules. and the lofty light of the soul casts upon the clouds of the mid-world the shadow of the spiritual man and of his powers. sacrifice. I read the page of a book while inking of something else. so . Then I wake up. they are a delusion. still thinking of something else. selflessness. with the same result. That is what is meant here. the very essence of unreality.NET But where there is light. At the end of he page. and lay a firm foundation of courage. even when attained. Emerson quotes Sir Isaac Newton as saying that he made his great discoveries by intending his mind on them.ASTROCCULT. there is shadow. and read it again. yet. the bastard vesture and the bastard powers of psychism are easily attained. I have no idea of what it is about. The binding of the perceiving consciousness to a certain region is attention (dharana). BOOK III 1.
the intending of the mind on each word and line of the page. This will apply equally to outer and inner things. and easily take in its meaning. So for things within. or one may hold the consciousness steadily upon them. It is the power to focus the consciousness on a given spot. until it yields up the secret of its details.ASTROCCULT. Attention to spiritual things is the first step to spiritual knowledge. The act of will. until what was in the dark slowly comes forth into the light. is the power here contemplated. A prolonged holding of the perceiving consciousness in that region is meditation (dhyana).NET to speak. The first is the focussing of the searchlight of consciousness upon the object. in a single penetrating glance. I may for a moment fix my attention on some visible object. or I may hold the attention fixedly on it until it reveals far more of its nature than a single glance could perceive. just as the eyes are focussed on each word and line. the effort of attention. one may fix the inner glance for a moment on spiritual things. The other is the holding of the white beam of light steadily and persistently on the object. make an effort of attention. 2. and yields up its immortal . fix my thought on what I am reading. and hold it there Attention is the first and indispensable step in all knowledge.
to illumine it with comprehending thought. the deceitfulness of riches. and all desire for personal profit or gratification must be quite put away. The cares of this world. Fourth. and is freed from the sense of separateness and personality. There must be a purely disinterested love of truth for its own sake. Let us review the steps so far taken.NET secret. the beam of perceiving consciousness is focussed on a certain region or subject. But this is possible only for the spiritual man. as it were. When the perceiving consciousness in this meditative is wholly given to illuminating the essential meaning of the object contemplated. choke the word of the spiritual message. all personal bias--all desire merely to indorse a previous opinion and so prove oneself right. Then this attending consciousness is held on its object. there is the ardent will to know its meaning. for until this is done. so that it will not remain fixed on spiritual things. The personal limitation stands . First. 3. the thronging storms of psychical thoughts dissipate and distract the attention.ASTROCCULT. this is contemplation (samadhi). of all personality or sense of separateness. Third. through the effort of attention. Thus is the perceiving consciousness made void. after the Commandments and the Rules have been kept.
aside and lets the All-consciousness come to bear upon the problem. The Oversoul bends its ray upon the object, and illumines it with pure light.
4. When these three, Attention, Meditation Contemplation, are exercised at once, this is perfectly concentrated Meditation (sanyama).
When the personal limitation of the perceiving consciousness stands aside, and allows the All-conscious to come to bear upon the problem, then arises that real knowledge which is called a flash of genius; that real knowledge which makes discoveries, and without which no discovery can be made, however painstaking the effort. For genius is the vision of the spiritual man, and that vision is a question of growth rather than present effort; though right effort, rightly continued, will in time infallibly lead to growth and vision. Through the power thus to set aside personal limitation, to push aside petty concerns and cares, and steady the whole nature and will in an ardent love of truth and desire to know it; through the power thus to make way for the All-consciousness, all great men make their discoveries. Newton, watching the apple fall to the earth, was able to look beyond, to see the subtle waves of force pulsating through apples and worlds and suns and galaxies, and thus to perceive universal gravitation. The
Oversoul, looking through his eyes, recognized the universal force, one of its own children. Darwin, watching the forms and motions of plants and animals, let the same august consciousness come to bear on them, and saw infinite growth perfected through ceaseless struggle. He perceived the superb process of evolution, the Oversoul once more recognizing its own. Fraunhofer, noting the dark lines in the band of sunlight in his spectroscope, divined their identity with the bright lines in the spectra of incandescent iron, sodium and the rest, and so saw the oneness of substance in the worlds and suns, the unity of the materials of the universe. Once again the Oversoul, looking with his eyes, recognized its own. So it is with all true knowledge. But the mind must transcend its limitations, its idiosyncrasies; there must be purity, for to the pure in heart is the promise, that they shall see God.
5. By mastering this perfectly concentrated Meditation, there comes the illumination of perception. The meaning of this is illustrated by what has been said before. When the spiritual man is able to throw aside the trammels of emotional and mental limitation, and to open his eyes, he sees clearly, he attains to illuminated perception. A poet once said that Occultism is the conscious cultivation of genius; and it is certain that the awakened spiritual man attains to the perceptions of genius. Genius is the vision, the power, of the spiritual man, whether
its possessor recognizes this or not. All true knowledge is of the spiritual man. The greatest in all ages have recognized this and put their testimony on record. The great in wisdom who have not consciously recognized it, have ever been full of the spirit of reverence, of selfless devotion to truth, of humility, as was Darwin; and reverence and humility are the unconscious recognition of the nearness of the Spirit, that Divinity which broods over us, a Master o'er a slave.
6. This power is distributed in ascending degrees.
It is to be attained step by step. It is a question, not of miracle, but of evolution, of growth. Newton had to master the multiplication table, then the four rules of arithmetic, then the rudiments of algebra, before he came to the binomial theorem. At each point, there was attention, concentration, insight; until these were attained, no progress to the next point was possible. So with Darwin. He had to learn the form and use of leaf and flower, of bone and muscle; the characteristics of genera and species; the distribution of plants and animals, before he had in mind that nexus of knowledge on which the light of his great idea was at last able to shine. So is it with all knowledge. So is it with spiritual knowledge. Take the matter this way: The first subject
In faith and aspiration. This threefold power. I gather a harvest for the evening. By doing this. 8. to fulfil its duties. of Attention. to learn its lessons. . until all life becomes radiant and transparent. with its circumstances. Meditation. I try to live my day with aspiration and faith. Very naturally so. 7. in virtue of which I begin the next day with a certain advantage. So with all successive days. in growing knowledge and power. Contemplation. viewing life with open eyes.ASTROCCULT. its opportunities. its hindrances. I gain a deeper insight into life. is more interior than the means of growth previously described. free from the seed of mental analyses. I do what I can to solve it. That is the first step. its duties.NET for the exercise of my spiritual insight is my day. But this triad is still exterior to the soul vision which is unconditioned. we pass from day to day. because the means of growth previously described were concerned with the extrication of the spiritual man from psychic bondages and veils. with never more than one day to solve at a time. a certain spiritual advance and attainment. while this threefold power is to be exercised by the spiritual man thus extricated and standing on his feet.
Then comes the manifestation of the mind-impress of Control. he would have seen the Soul.ASTROCCULT. It is not an activity of the higher mind. There are. . the triad of Attention. the focussing of the beam of perceiving consciousness upon some form of manifesting being. Meditation is. This is a being. a being in immortality. the All consciousness. it is free from mental analysis or mental forms. but that high Being. There is a higher stage. that of the Soul's works. Had Newton risen to this higher stage. and that of the Life. he would have known. First there is the overcoming of the mind-impress of excitation. 9. from whose Life comes eternal motion. It is an activity of the soul. so far as we have yet considered it. where the beam of consciousness is turned back upon itself.NET The reason is this: The threefold power we have been considering. not the laws of motion. therefore. and knows. even the mind of the spiritual man. and that of the Soul itself. whose graduated thought and being all evolution expresses. One of the ascending degrees is the development of Control. Had Darwin risen to this. with a view of understanding it completely. Contemplation. and the individual consciousness enters into. rather than a knowing. Then the perceiving consciousness follows after the moment of Control. these two perceptions: that of living things.
controls his thoughts. Or a comet. perhaps terror-stricken. The man is excited by astonishment. appears in the sky like a flaming sword. This steadying effort of the will upon the perceiving consciousness is Control. perhaps. A charging elephant suddenly appears. The meaning seems to be this: Some object enters the field of observation. perceives the situation in its true bearings. views the apparition calmly. wonder. and immediately upon it follows perception. Take a trite example. But he exercises an effort of will. that he must get out of the way as quickly as possible. probably. unheralded. and viewing the matter calmly from above. steadying itself. The beholder is at first astonished. and. then the consciousness returns upon itself. insight.ASTROCCULT. and recognizes that a certain thing must be done. stirring up curiosity. but he takes himself in hand. fear. in this case. terror. Supposing one is walking in an Indian forest. and takes the perception firmly in hand. and at first violently excites the mind.NET This is the development of Control. understanding. and finally calculates its orbit and its relation to meteor showers. as it were. .
Control of the mind by the Soul. the mind becomes habituated to it. this will be a true and penetrating spiritual perception. first. but with all knowledge the order of perception is the same: first. then the Soul steadies itself and controls the pain.NET These are extreme illustrations. is really miraculous. Where the eyes of the spiritual man are open. Innumerable small efforts of attention will make a result which seems well-nigh miraculous. upon which follows the perception of the nature of the object. or a fencer gains skill with a rapier. and its bearing upon the progressive revelation of life. Then consider . 10. then the control of the mind from within. In some such way do our living experiences come to us. for the novice. the excitation of the mind by the new object impressed on it. then the spirit perceives the lesson of the event. take the ceaseless practice by which a musician gains mastery over his instrument. As an example of control of the muscles by the mind. comes by practice. like control of the muscles by the mind.ASTROCCULT. and constant voluntary repetition. which. Through frequent repetition of this process. and there arises an equable flow of perceiving consciousness. with a shock of pain.
So with us also. As an illustration of the mind's tendency to flit from one object to another. marbles and so on. innumerable small efforts of attention will accumulate into mastery. and flits off from one frivolous detail to another. For a concrete example. which will purchase so much candy.NET that far more wonderful instrument. learning arithmetic. in the store down the street. where are base-balls. He begins: two ones are two. We are seeking the meaning of our task.ASTROCCULT.--and then he comes back with a jerk. the Master gives the crown of life. make the development of Contemplation. but the mind takes advantage of a moment of slackened attention. and to go back within ourselves into the beam of . the Soul. take a small boy. take the gradual conquest of each day. the perceiving mind. and the power of one-pointedness. To him that is faithful unto death. till we suddenly come back to consciousness after traversing leagues of space. to four ones are four. three ones are three-and then he thinks of three coins in his pocket. played on by that fine musician. The gradual conquest of the mind's tendency to flit from one object to another. We must learn to conquer this. Here again. the effort to live that day for the Soul. and a mastery worth winning. 11. next to the toy-shop.
the inherent character. as a whole. according to their development. First. his the development of one-pointedness. Everything has these two sides. then the essence must be comprehended. distinctive marks and conditions of being and powers. Then there is the perception of the object as a unity. There is. This would seem to mean that the insight which is called one-pointedness has two sides. Through this.ASTROCCULT. the perception of its essence. To see the object truly. This is to be held firmly in the mind. the manifold aspect of any object. the bringing of our consciousness to a focus in the Soul. 12. the true onepointedness is attained. the details must be clearly perceived. are .NET perceiving consciousness itself. This is the true onepointedness. the sum of all its characteristics and properties. 13. the side of difference and the side of unity. the pole of matter and diversity. following this. and the pole of oneness and spirit. When. the controlled manifold tendency and the aroused one-pointedness are equally balanced parts of the perceiving consciousness. we must see both. When the two processes are equally balanced. which is a beam of the Oversoul. there is the individual and there is the genus. first. equally balanced.
distinctive marks and conditions of beings and powers are made clear. seeing at once all its individual characteristics and its essential character. which once represented its foremost growth.NET made clear. there are the buds at the end of each branch and twig. with its relation to all plants. species and genus. we also see in it the lesson set for the soul by the Eternal. to all life. we get a twofold view of each object. the family to which it belongs. its present and its future. For through this power. its peculiar fold of each petal. we see events and circumstances. to Life itself. So in any day. Every object has its characteristics which are already quiescent. there are the stumps or scars of dead branches. Thus we see a rose as that particular flower. By the power defined in the preceding sutra. but we also see in it the species. those which are active. In a fir tree. we see it in relation to itself. and in relation to the Eternal. for example. the inherent character. which carry the still closely . with its colour and scent. there are the branches with their needles spread out to the air. 14. Every object has characteristics belonging to its past.ASTROCCULT. and those which are not yet definable. as defined.
the angel. Difference in stage is the cause of difference in development. the chrysalis has. the caterpillar. We have taken our illustrations from natural science. the butterfly.ASTROCCULT. the chrysalis. So with all things. the butterfly. since every true discovery in natural science is a divination of a law in nature. such discoveries really represent acts of spiritual perception. and among the races of men. even though they are generally not so recognized. in his past. in his future. 16. the animal. because. the angel. attained through a flash of genius. Through perfectly concentrated Meditation on the three stages of development comes a knowledge of past and future.NET packed needles which are the promise of the future. The first stage is the sapling. for all things change and grow. as its past. In like manner. acts of perception by the spiritual man. as its future. the man. the animal. the caterpillar. Difference of stage is the cause of difference of development. So it is among men. 15. The man has. The third is the splendid pine. So . This but amplifies what has just been said. The second stage is the growing tree. Both are visible even now in his face.
ASTROCCULT. Past. can divine the meanings of all sounds. He who. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the distinction between them. It must be remembered that we are speaking of perception by the spiritual man. Perfectly concentrated Meditation. He who knows the seed. like every force. He who dwells in the Eternal knows all three. knows the seed-pod or ear it has come from. 17. present and future are all in the Eternal. and the plant that is to come from it. having entry to the consciousness of the Eternal knows the essence of this power. there comes an understanding of the sounds uttered by all beings. So in like manner he who really knows today.NET we may once more use the same illustration. knows its parent yesterday and its child tomorrow. the butterfly that it is destined to be. perfect insight into the chrysalis. Sound. . from the voice of the insect to the music of the spheres. reveals the caterpillar that it has been. and the heart of to-day. The sound and the object and the thought called up by a word are confounded because they are all blurred together in the mind. Infinite shades of this power are expressed in the infinitely varied tones of sound. is the expression of a power of the Eternal.
In like manner, he who has attained to spiritual vision can perceive the mind-images in the thoughts of others, with the shade of feeling which goes with them, thus reading their thoughts as easily as he hears their words. Every one has the germ of this power, since difference of tone will give widely differing meanings to the same words, meanings which are intuitively perceived by everyone.
18. When the mind-impressions become visible, there comes an understanding of previous births.
This is simple enough if we grasp the truth of rebirth. The fine harvest of past experiences is drawn into the spiritual nature, forming, indeed, the basis of its development. When the consciousness has been raised to a point above these fine subjective impressions, and can look down upon them from above, this will in itself be a remembering of past births.
19. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on mind-images is gained the understanding of the thoughts of others.
Here, for those who can profit by it, is the secret of thought-reading.
Take the simplest case of intentional thought transference. It is the testimony of those who have done this, that the perceiving mind must be stilled, before the mind-image projected by the other mind can be seen. With it comes a sense of the feeling and temper of the other mind and so on, in higher degrees.
20. But since that on which the thought in the mind of another rests is not objective to the thought-reader's consciousness, he perceives the thought only, and not also that on which the thought rests.
The meaning appears to be simple: One may be able to perceive the thoughts of some one at a distance; one cannot, by that means alone, also perceive the external surroundings of that person, which arouse these thoughts.
21. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the form of the body, by arresting the body's perceptibility, and by inhibiting the eye's power of sight, there comes the power to make the body invisible.
There are many instances of the exercise of this power, by mesmerists, hypnotists and the like; and we may simply call it an instance of the power of suggestion. Shankara tells us that by this power the popular
magicians of the East perform their wonders, working on the mind-images of others, while remaining invisible themselves. It is all a question of being able to see and control the mind-images.
22. The works which fill out the life-span may be either immediately or gradually operative. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on these comes a knowledge of the time of the end, as also through signs.
A garment which is wet, says the commentator, may be hung up to dry, and so dry rapidly, or it may be rolled in a ball and dry slowly; so a fire may blaze or smoulder. Thus it is with Karma, the works that fill out the life-span. By an insight into the mental forms and forces which make up Karma, there comes a knowledge of the rapidity or slowness of their development, and of the time when the debt will be paid.
23. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on sympathy, compassion and kindness, is gained the power of interior union with others.
Unity is the reality; separateness the illusion. The nearer we come to reality, the nearer we come to unity of heart. Sympathy, compassion, kindness are modes of this unity of heart, whereby we rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. These things are
whether subtle or concealed or obscure. By bending upon them the awakened inner light.NET learned by desiring to learn them. each consciousness is related to all consciousness. but poise and fineness of control. Elephants possess not only force. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the sun comes a . by withdrawing into the soul's reservoir of power. As was said at the outset. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on power. So the simile is a good one. even such power as that of the elephant may be gained. or obscure. there comes a knowledge of things subtle. They can lift a straw. we have no conception of the power of Meditation. 25. An understanding of this great truth will come with practice. a tree with perfectly judged control and effort. through it. By detachment. 24. concrete and abstract alike. a child.ASTROCCULT. has a potential consciousness of all things. and. the ability to handle with equal mastery things small and great. This is a pretty image. 26. or concealed. As one of the wise has said. we can gain all these. force and fineness and poise.
. each day. passes backward through one mansion of the stars. Here again are different meanings. with its divided realms. But the sun also means the Soul. This has several meanings: First. too. where the spiritual man is the astronomer. 27. 28. The moon is. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the moon comes a knowledge of the lunar mansions.NET knowledge of the worlds. which.ASTROCCULT. and these. But the moon also symbolizes the analytic mind. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the fixed pole-star comes a knowledge of the motions of the stars. And it is said that there is a finer astronomy. astronomers can understand the kindred nature of the stars. the boundaries of the mansion are learned. the companion planet. first. by a knowledge of the constitution of the sun. By watching the moon. may be understood through perfectly concentrated Meditation. with their succession in the great time-dial of the sky. and through knowledge of the Soul comes a knowledge of the realms of life.
which are. the awakening of the spiritual man as a self-conscious individual. the spiritual man's attainment of full self-consciousness. and in the process of gestation which precedes it. outward and downward. the projection. Wordsworth finely said: Thou cost preserve the stars from wrong. 29. Deep mysteries attend both. there is a close relation with the powers of the natural man.ASTROCCULT. of the powers of the spiritual man. In this awakening. in a certain sense.NET Addressing Duty. behind and above the natural man. stern daughter of the Voice of God. We are coming to a vitally important part of the teaching of Yoga: namely. and the veil of mystery is only to be raised by Meditation. as well as the star toward which points the axis of the earth. by open-eyed vision of the awakened spiritual man. So in this Sutra the fixed polestar is the eternal spirit about which all things move. This is . And the most ancient heavens through thee are fresh and strong-- thus suggesting a profound relation between the moral powers and the powers that rule the worlds. Perfectly concentrated Meditation on the centre of force in the lower trunk brings an understanding of the order of the bodily powers.
and its gradual withdrawal from the body of the natural man. and become operative in building the body of the spiritual man. through the life-channels of the body. it is the key to the dominance of the personal life. In due time. until the over-pressure. just as it has been operative in the building of physical bodies. is abated. which gives the one sure foothold for Meditation. which will mean its direction to the body of the spiritual man. Rising. that rising of the consciousness into the spiritual world. but also a gradually attained control of this wonderful force. through generation in the natural world. the creative force will be drawn off. first. when the spiritual man has begun to take form. not only an insight into the creative force. and then. but further. when embodied in the natural man. in the individual.NET notably true of that creative power of the spiritual man which. Not only is this power the cause of the continuance of the bodily race of mankind. becomes the power of generation. already described. and purity takes the . from that spiritual point of vantage. Perfectly concentrated Meditation on the nature of this force means. as it were.ASTROCCULT. it flushes the personality with physical force. in its spiritual and physical aspects. so general and such a fruitful source of misery in our day. and maintains and colours the illusion that the physical life is the dominant and all-important expression of life.
but spiritual vision. We have already considered the dominant power of physical life. to lift the misery and shame from human life. with its consequent over-pressure and attendant misery and shame. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the centre of force in the well of the throat. and. which this Sutra implies. the creative force could flow into the body of the spiritual man. not a natural. sacrifice. the . and that mastery of them. to blindness regarding the spiritual man. spiritual aspiration. there comes the cessation of hunger and thirst. for by this blind ignorance are closed the channels through which. Therefore. and ignorance even of his existence. the new birth from above. There is no cure for blindness.ASTROCCULT. were they open. We are continuing the study of the bodily powers and centres of force in their relation to the powers and forces of the spiritual man. the creative power which secures the continuance of physical life. let us follow after sacrifice and aspiration. is an abnormal. let us seek the light. 30. which is the cause of so many evils and so much of human shame. further. This over pressure. condition. there building up an immortal vesture. In this way only shall we gain that insight into the order of the bodily powers.NET place of passion. There is no other way to lighten the burden. It is primarily due to spiritual blindness.
where the dividing of the hair turns. The source of this psychical power. immortal. or.ASTROCCULT. it is gradually raised and set to the work of upbuilding the body of the spiritual man. magical in its power to arouse and rule the emotions of his hearers. its expectations and memories. Therein is the spiritual man.-this is the womb of Indra. Thus. with its hopes and fears. through aspiration and sacrifice." the psychical hunger and thirst for sensations. is the cause of "hunger and thirst. and which. Inward. which is the source of our two-sided life of emotionalism. And there. This emotional power." . We come now to the dominant psychic force. extending upward to the crown of the head.NET manner in which. perhaps we should say. the power which manifests itself in speech. we are told. its centre of activity in the physical body is said to be in the cavity of the throat. and in virtue of which the voice may carry so much of the personal magnetism." Indra is the name given to the creative power of which we have spoken. in the palate. this distinctively psychical force. endowing the orator with a tongue of fire. the organ that hangs down like a nipple. in the Taittiriya Upanishad it is written: "There is this shining ether in the inner being. in the palate. resides in "the organ which hangs down like a nipple. formed through thought. golden. its desires and hates. inward.
NET 31. there comes a cessation of "hunger and thirst. fearless life. are turned to the building of the spiritual man. Always. the centre. 32. in the chest." Thereafter.ASTROCCULT. the victory is first a spiritual one. Through perfectly concentrated Meditation on the light in the head . then this force is perfectly controlled. it must be remembered. through spiritual insight into the immortal. through the control of the psychic power which works through the nerve-centre in the throat." comes steadfastness. When the truth concerning fear is thoroughly mastered. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the centre of force in the channel called the "tortoise-formed. just as. these forces. only later does it bring control of the bodily powers. or which produces that sense of terror through which the heart is said to stand still. or their spiritual prototypes. We are concerned now with the centre of nervous or psychical force below the cavity of the throat. there is no more fear. the disturbance of which sets the heart beating miserably with dread. in which is felt the sensation of fear.
" which some of our Western philosophers have supposed to be the dwelling of the soul. where the dividing of the hair turns. that better and wiser consciousness of "the back of the mind. crossing over to the further shore of the sea of death and rebirth. Perhaps it is to this divine sight that the Master alluded." which views spiritual things. as it were.NET comes the vision of the Masters who have attained. until one comes to understand it. it brings a vision of the great Companions of the spiritual man. and seeks to impress the spiritual view on the outward looking consciousness in the forward part of the head. seeking to bring the natural man to concern himself with the things of his immortality. the door way between the natural and the spiritual man. The tradition is.ASTROCCULT. who . extending upward to the crown of the head". those who have already attained. a centre which is. This is suggested in the words of the Upanishad already quoted: "There. It is the spiritual man seeking to guide the natural man. It is said that when this power is fully awakened. that there is a certain centre of force in the head. perhaps the "pineal gland. It is the seat of that better and wiser consciousness behind the outward looking consciousness in the forward part of the head. all of which may sound very fantastical.
in the same measure.NET is reported to have said: "I counsel you to buy of me eye-salve. Or through the divining power of tuition he knows all things." This divining power of intuition is the power which lies above and . Our souls have sight of that immortal sea Which brought us hither.ASTROCCULT. he has begun to "know all things." It is of this same vision of the great Companions. of the Sutra just translated. the children of light. When the eyes are fully opened. the spiritual view. that a seer wrote: "Though inland far we be." 33. Step by step. that you may see. as the better consciousness. the spiritual side. so. Can in a moment travel thither. the spiritual man is gaining the power to see: learning to open the spiritual eyes. And see the Children sport upon the shore And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore. the spiritual man beholds the great Companions standing about him. This is really the supplement. gains force in the back of the mind.
that the truths of science are reached. "the vision and the faculty divine. the consciousness of the spiritual man. . it may act directly. and blends with the Divine Consciousness above and about it.NET behind the so-called rational mind.ASTROCCULT. the flashes of discovery and genius. through which the rational mind brings questions to the intuition for solution. and to the wisdom of the heart. The heart here seems to mean. which is related to the heart. and finding." 34 By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the heart. it at the same time flows over. often immediately distorted by the rational mind. the interior being. It is by this process. as it were. as it so often does in the Upanishads. the consciousness of the spiritual man. yet always embodying a kernel of truth. which gives a real answer. a perfect knowledge of consciousness will be attained. spiritual nature. the rational mind formulates a question and lays it before the intuition. as full illumination. comes the knowledge of consciousness. For the consciousness of the spiritual man has this divine quality: while being and remaining a truly individual consciousness. By steadily seeking after. the interior. by coming to consciousness as the spiritual man. But this higher power need not work in subordination to the so-called rational mind.
The personal self seeks to feast on life. and yet has the self-conscious. descends into life. and forms a personality. The problem is. the secret that all consciousness is One and Divine. which is eternal. the personal self. the spiritual man. to blend these two powers. "conceived of the Holy Spirit. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on experience for the sake of the Self. who is heir to the immortality of his father. the self-conscious individuality of the second. This is the true immaculate conception.ASTROCCULT. it reveals the nature of all consciousness. and by showing itself to be one with the Divine Consciousness. the new birth from above. impersonal and abstract. taking the eternal and spiritual being of the first. 35. and thus bringing to life a third being. through the stress and storm of life. concrete individuality of his other parent. comes a knowledge of the spiritual man. and blending with it. through a failure to perceive the distinction between the personal self and the spiritual man. All personal experience really exists for the sake of another: namely." Of this new birth it is said: "that which .NET the consciousness of the great Companions. the Higher Self. which. the spiritual man. The divine ray of the Higher Self. is hammered into a definite and concrete self-conscious individuality. transferring into it.
in virtue of the perpetual sacrifice of the personal man. the spiritual man is built up. seek to secure the feasts of life for himself. and he comes fully into being as a divine and immortal individuality. Only through failure to see this." Rightly understood. giving himself as a contribution for the building of the spiritual man. and lives for the Higher Self. live sacrificially. daily and hourly giving his life for his divine brother the spiritual man. therefore. then his sacrifice bears divine fruit. the touch. does he seek enjoyment for himself. the whole life of the personal man is for another. and through the radiance ever pouring down from the Higher Self. not understanding that he must live for the other. and the hearing. offering both feasts and his very being on the altar. consciousness awakes in him. not for himself. When he does understand this. setting his heart and thought on the Higher Self. 36.ASTROCCULT. Thereupon are born the divine power of intuition. He exists only to render his very life and all his experience for the building up of the spiritual man. eternal . the vision.NET is born of the Spirit is spirit: ye must be born again. the taste and the power of smell of the spiritual man. When.
The spiritual man begins to see. hearing. besides the senses of the spiritual man. as we have seen. as the spiritual man supersedes the natural man. the continuity. to taste. there awakes his mind.-there awake in him those powers whose physical counterparts we know in the personal man. therefore.NET in the Heavens. Then the disciple becomes a Master. and can draw on that vast reservoir for all real needs. in contradistinction to the higher . to touch. This power. the power of spiritual intuition. of consciousness. owes its virtue to the unity. Thus the consciousness of the spiritual man. the spiritual man comes to birth. to hear. illumination. 37. And. spiritual vision. These powers stand in contradistinction to the highest spiritual vision. of divination. stand. In manifestation they are called magical powers. divination. whereby whatever is known to any consciousness. and touch. is in intimate touch with the consciousness of the great Companions. the power of direct and immediate knowledge. Thus arises within the spiritual man that certain knowledge which is called intuition. The opened powers of tile spiritual man. The divine man is destined to supersede the spiritual man. that divine counterpart of the mind of the physical man. who lives above our narrow barriers of separateness. is knowable by any other consciousness.ASTROCCULT.
from the standpoint of normal physical experience. they are a hindrance. in a sense. a barrier to the far higher powers of the divine man. there comes the transfer of the dominant consciousness. from the physical to the spiritual man. . the soul's growth and splendour have no limit. they are powers truly magical. and must in no wise be regarded as the end of the way. the consciousness is transferred to the other body. In due time. if the spiritual powers we have been considering are regarded as in any sense final.NET divine power above them.ASTROCCULT. and by learning the method of sassing. a subordinate. Thereafter the physical man is felt to be a secondary. and the spiritual man is felt to be the real individuality. This is. after the spiritual man has been formed and grown stable through the forces and virtues already enumerated. and after the senses of the spiritual man have awaked. the attainment to full salvation and immortal life. but rises ever to higher and higher glories. Through the weakening of the causes of bondage. 38. But viewed from below. So that. as the powers natural to a four-dimensional being will appear magical to a three-dimensional being. an instrument through whom the spiritual man works. the sense of individuality. for the path has no end.
" 39. and comes from the conquest of the delusion that the personal self is the real man. The transfer of the sense of individuality to this finer consciousness. When that delusion abates and is held in check. a matter of taking a deeper interest in the life and doings of the spiritual man.NET yet it is not the final goal or resting place. where moth and rust cloth corrupt.ASTROCCULT. the finer consciousness of the spiritual man begins to shine in the background of the mind. and thus to the spiritual man. than in the pleasures or occupations of the personality. where neither moth nor rust cloth corrupt. primarily. The means for this transfer are described as the weakening of the causes of bondage. and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. there will your heart be also. Through mastery of the upward-life comes freedom from the . and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is. of attention. and an understanding of the method of passing from the one consciousness to the other. then becomes a matter of recollection. The first may also be described as detach meet. Therefore it is said: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth. but only the beginning of the greater way.
Therefore it is said that he who would tread the path of power must look for a home in the air. which first builds. within this. often manifested in abnormal psychical experiences. and is not pierced by the thorns in the path. and thorny places. The upward-life means something more than the power. so characteristic of this author. .ASTROCCULT. and then awakes the spiritual man. of the Eastern spirit. of levitating the physical body. It means the strong power of aspiration. and the same symbol is used here. we use a symbol. Here is one of the sentences. of upward will. for it is he who passes safely over the waters of death and rebirth. that by mastery of a certain power. and. or to pass over thorny places without wounding the feet. indeed. but far more vital. in which there is an obvious exterior meaning. or near-by physical objects.NET dangers of water. there comes the ability to walk on water. The surface meaning is. morass. and finally transfers the conscious individuality to him. and the power of ascension is gained. and. not quite so obvious. But there is a deeper meaning. a clear interior meaning. When we speak of the disciple's path as a path of thorns. and akin to levitation. called here the upward-life.
perhaps "body of radiance" would better translate the ." This is the power of ascension spoken of in the Sutra.ASTROCCULT. through the life-currents which bind them together.NET and afterwards in the ether. 40. of these one passes to the crown. But the text seems to mean more than this and to have in view the "vesture of the colour of the sun" attributed by the Upanishads to the spiritual man. when the personality is brought thoroughly under control of the spiritual man. that vesture which a disciple has thus described: "The Lord shall change our vile body. such as is often an appanage of genius. it is said that this binding-life unites the upward-life to the downward-life. a strong personal magnetism. and these lives have their analogies in the "vital breaths" in the body. this is written in the Katha Upanishad: "A hundred and one are the heart's channels. The thought in the text seems to be. By mastery of the binding-life comes radiance. that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body". that. the personality is endowed with a new force. Going up this. Of the upward-life. In the Upanishads. one might call it. he comes to the immortal.
that the body of the full-grown spiritual man is radiant or luminous. But then is a finer hearing. the teaching seems to be. 41. In both these passages. or by water.ASTROCCULT. heat and magnetic waves. so it may well be that. carried by the same "thought-swift" medium. it may be. is carried by the air. take eight minutes for the journey. perhaps no that ether which carries light. .-for those at least. the far finer ether through which the power of gravity works. comes the power of spiritual hearing. iron. it is mathematically certain that the pull of gravitation does not take as much as eight seconds. we are told. or some medium on the same plane of substance. but. From perfectly concentrated Meditation on the correlation of hearing and the ether. who have anointed their eyes wit! eye-salve. Physical sound.NET Greek. while light or heat or magnetic waves. the thoughts travel by the same way. whose medium of transmission would seem to be the ether. The pull of gravitation travels. it would seem "as quick as thought". so that they see. travelling from the sun to the earth. For. or even the eighth of a second. in thought transference or telepathy.
as that power grows. and then an etheric body. that he must be prepared to inhabit first a psychic.NET The transfer of a word by telepathy is the simplest and earliest form of the "divine hearing" of the spiritual man. besides the constant injunction to detachment. the latter. or in perfectly definite words and sentences. the body of the spiritual man. 42. is what our text seems to contemplate. he grows able to hear and clearly distinguish the speech of the great Companions. They may speak to him either in wordless thoughts. By perfectly concentrated Meditation em the correlation of the body with the ether. This would seem to mean. . The gradual accustoming of the consciousness to its new etheric vesture. who counsel and comfort him on his way. its gradual acclimatization. the spiritual man comes into more complete mastery of it. will come the power to traverse the ether. and as. so to speak. the former being the body of dreams. through perfectly concentrated Meditation. in the etheric body of the spiritual man. and afterwards in the ether. and by thinking of it as light as thistle-down.ASTROCCULT. when he wakes up on the other side of dreamland. It has been said that he who would tread the path of power must look for a home in the air.
I cannot tell: God knoweth. who sees and hears beyond the veil. which it is not lawful for a man to utter. These five forms are analogous to those recognized by modern physics: solid. the inherent. 44. and heard unspeakable [or. briefly. then the veil which conceals the light is worn away. the purposive. unspoken] words. from within. (whether in the body. the subtle. gaseous. Perhaps the best comment on this is afforded by the words of Paul: "I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago. (whether in the body. When the piercing vision of the awakened spiritual man is directed to the forms of matter. And I knew such a man.NET 43.) such a one caught up to the third heaven. radiant and ionic. from behind . or out of the body. I cannot tell: God knoweth. or whether out of the body. which is outside the body and not conditioned by it." The condition is. When that condition of consciousness is reached. as it were. liquid. I cannot tell. Mastery of the elements comes from perfectly concentrated Meditation on their five forms: the gross. the elemental.) how that he was caught up into paradise. that of the awakened spiritual man.ASTROCCULT. which is far-reaching and not confined to the body.
Fire burns it not. the etheric body of the spiritual man. the power of command. Further. the power to accomplish his will. The development of your inner senses will enable you to do this. the power of gravitation. the spiritual body is unassailable. "he can touch the moon with the tip of his finger". These are the endowments of the spiritual man. the air.ASTROCCULT. He is said to possess eight powers: the atomic. involve the power to disintegrate material forms. the power of levitation. Thereupon will come the manifestation of the atomic and other powers. equivalent to the injunction: "Inquire of the earth. as the commentator says. dry winds parch it not. of course. then perfect mastery over the "beggarly elements" is attained. the power of boundless reach." 45.NET the scenes. and the water. And. which will. together with its unassailable force. which are the endowment of the body. the sword cleaves it not. the power of creative will. it is said. This is. the power of limitless extension. perhaps. of the secrets they hold for you. the power of assimilating himself with the nature of the atom. . The body in question is. the correlative of levitation. perhaps. so that. the spiritual man can impart something of this quality and temper to his bodily vesture. water wets it not.
who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire. third. force. apprehend. The spiritual man is shapely. beautiful strong. This possesses. Therefore it is written: "These things saith the Son of God. second. Mastery over the powers of perception and action comes through perfectly concentrated Meditation on their fivefold forms. it is used for the purposes of the Seer. fourth sight has the power of extension through the whole field of vision. firm as the diamond. to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. fifth. So with the ." 47. sight. first. namely. and I will give him the morning star. their inherence. and their purposiveness. that is. it has its distinctive form of perception. and his feet are like fine brass: He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end. beauty.ASTROCCULT.NET 46. visual perception. the temper of the diamond: these are the endowments of that body. it always carries with its operations self-consciousness. the element of self-consciousness in them. for example. even to the utmost star. Take. Shapeliness. the thought: "I perceive". their power to grasp their distinctive nature. the power to grasp. perceive.
and the mastery over matter. so that whatever place the spiritual man thinks of. wherever he wills. and impeded by the mental forms of separateness and materialism. therefore. brings a mastery of the scope and true character of each sense. a viewing it from behind and within. Among these is the power to traverse space with the swiftness of thought. Thence comes the power swift as thought. these obstacles completely overcome. He is. When the spiritual man is perfectly disentangled from the psychic body. We are further enumerating the endowments of the spiritual man.NET other senses. in that place he already is. passion. independent of instruments. desire. independent of instruments. Thought has now become his means of locomotion. and of the world on which they report collectively. The spiritual man is enmeshed in the web of the emotions. 48. and can bring his force to bear directly. he attains to mastery over all things and to a knowledge of all. fear. Perfectly concentrated Meditation on each sense. 49. ambition. When these meshes are sundered. to that he goes. then the spiritual man stands forth in his own .ASTROCCULT. as is possible for the spiritual man.
The seeking of indulgence for the personal self. wise. and heard the voice of the silence. in the real. whether through passion or ambition. . since.NET wide world." 50. thou hast seen thy soul in its bloom and recognized it. able to hear. For this self indulgence of the personality is a double sin against the real. To such a one it is said: "Thou art now a disciple. able to stand. working together with divine Companions. pure spiritual being is attained. He uses divine powers. its confining bondage to sorrow. thou hast conquered desire and attained to self-knowledge. able to speak. 51. able to see. when the seeds of bondage to sorrow are destroyed. strong. a sin against the cleanness of life. mighty. But ceasing from self-indulgence brings purity. and a sin against the universal being.ASTROCCULT. lest attachment to things evil arise once more. By absence of all self-indulgence at this point. sows the seed of future sorrow. with a divine scope and energy. which permits no exclusive particular good. liberation. all spiritual possessions are held in common. This twofold sin brings its reacting punishment. There should be complete overcoming of allurement or pride in the invitations of the different realms of life. spiritual life.
and he shall go no more out. fourth. which open around the disciple. These are the dangers of the anteroom. seekers for union. the caution in the text is addressed. he no longer sees life as projected into past.NET The commentator tells us that disciples. second.ASTROCCULT. The Upanishads say of the liberated that "he has passed beyond the triad of time". present and future. third. those who are in the realm of allurements. especially. are of four degrees: first. From perfectly concentrated Meditation on the divisions of time and their succession comes that wisdom which is born of discernment. those who stand firm in pure spiritual life. since these are forms of the mind. "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God. that wisdom born of the unveiling of Time's delusion. those who are entering the path. but beholds all things spread out in the quiet light of the Eternal. as he breaks through into the unseen worlds. This would seem to be the same thought. To the second." 52. Safety lies in passing on swiftly into the inner chamber. . those who have won the victory over matter and the senses. More modern teachers would express the same truth by a warning against the delusions and fascinations of the psychic realm. and to point to that clear-eyed spiritual perception which is above time.
so that all things are spread before it together. Nought is hid from it. which is above the mind. as also in the preceding Sutra. it discerns without succession: simultaneously. The wisdom which is born of discernment is starlike. or things to come. that intuitive. the object returns to its primal unity. divining power is starlike. and illumines all things. Here. because it rises on high. it discerns all things. Hence comes discernment between things which are of like nature. When the prism is withdrawn. no longer distinguishable by the mind. not distinguished by difference of kind. we are close to the doctrine that distinctions of order. whether things past. for it is beyond the threefold form of time. time and space are creations of the mind. of illumination. says the commentator. That wisdom. because it shines with its own light. things present. 53. 54. yet clearly knowable by that high power of spiritual discernment. the threefold prism through which the real object appears to us distorted and refracted. and all conditions of things. in the .NET Then shall the disciple live neither in the present nor the future. character or position. but in the Eternal.ASTROCCULT.
then perfect spiritual life is attained." 55. to whom Divine grace has granted this: that they can clearly and most distinctly see. Then. even the entire circuit of the whole world with its surroundings of ocean and sky. says the commentator.ASTROCCULT. as though under one ray of the sun. INTRODUCTION TO BOOK IV The third book of the Sutras has fairly completed the history of the birth and growth of the spiritual man. The vesture. When the vesture and the spiritual man are alike pure. though very few. and the seeds of future sorrow must be burned up utterly. and the enumeration of his . This power has been beautifully described by Columba: "Some there are.NET single light of the divine. at one and the same moment. the spiritual man enters into perfect spiritual life. both the vesture and the wearer of the vesture being alike pure. the inmost part of their mind being marvellously enlarged. must first be washed pure of all stains of passion and darkness.
In a sense. which immediately succeeds. remembering that he is the hero of the story.NET powers." which is the wakeful enemy of all who seek to tread the path. and keep in our hands the clue to the mystery. only a few words.ASTROCCULT. In the fourth book. we are to consider what one might call the mechanism of salvation. at least so far as concerns that first epoch in his immortal life. The last part of the last book needs little introduction. the life of the natural man. and fulness of power. for example. the ideally simple working of cosmic law which brings the spiritual man to birth. that psychical "mind. and supersedes. we can hear it . Yet it is hoped that. we may be able to find our way through this thicket of tangled words. and prepares him for the splendid. and that all that is written concerns him and his adventures. a phrase or two indicates the sweep of some universal law. it is the most important part of the whole treatise. growth. by keeping our eyes fixed on the spiritual man. The Sutras are here brief to obscurity. toilsome further stages of his great journey home. since it unmasks the nature of the personality. Even now. are given to the great triune mystery and illusion of Time.
whispering the doubt whether that can be a good path, which thus sets "mind" at defiance.
If this, then, be the most vital and fundamental part of the teaching, should it not stand at the very beginning? It may seem so at first; but had it stood there, we should not have comprehended it. For he who would know the doctrine must lead the life, doing the will of his Father which is in Heaven.
1. Psychic and spiritual powers may be inborn, or they may be gained by the use of drugs, or by incantations, or by fervour, or by Meditation.
Spiritual powers have been enumerated and described in the preceding sections. They are the normal powers of the spiritual man, the antetype, the divine edition, of the powers of the natural man. Through these powers, the spiritual man stands, sees, hears, speaks, in the spiritual world, as the physical man stands, sees, hears, speaks
in the natural world.
There is a counterfeit presentment of the spiritual man, in the world of dreams, a shadow lord of shadows, who has his own dreamy powers of vision, of hearing, of movement; he has left the natural without reaching the spiritual. He has set forth from the shore, but has not gained the further verge of the river. He is borne along by the stream, with no foothold on either shore. Leaving the actual, he has fallen short of the real, caught in the limbo of vanities and delusions. The cause of this aberrant phantasm is always the worship of a false, vain self, the lord of dreams, within one's own breast. This is the psychic man, lord of delusive and bewildering psychic powers.
Spiritual powers, like intellectual or artistic gifts, may be inborn: the fruit, that is, of seeds planted and reared with toil in a former birth. So also the powers of the psychic man may be inborn, a delusive harvest from seeds of delusion.
Psychical powers may be gained by drugs, as poverty, shame, debasement may be gained by the self-same drugs. In their action, they are baneful, cutting the man off from consciousness of the restraining power of his divine nature, so that his forces break forth exuberant,
like the laughter of drunkards, and he sees and hears things delusive. While sinking, he believes that he has risen; growing weaker, he thinks himself full of strength; beholding illusions, he takes them to be true. Such are the powers gained by drugs; they are wholly psychic, since the real powers, the spiritual, can never be so gained.
Incantations are affirmations of half-truths concerning spirit and matter, what is and what is not, which work upon the mind and slowly build up a wraith of powers and a delusive well-being. These, too, are of the psychic realm of dreams.
Lastly, there are the true powers of the spiritual man, built up and realized in Meditation, through reverent obedience to spiritual law, to the pure conditions of being, in the divine realm.
2. The transfer of powers from one venture to another comes through the flow of the natural creative forces.
Here, if we can perceive it, is the whole secret of spiritual birth, growth and life Spiritual being, like all being, is but an expression of the Self, of the inherent power and being of Atma. Inherent in the Self are consciousness and will, which have, as their lordly heritage, the
and whatever powers of action there are throughout the seven worlds. And the consciousness of the Self may make itself manifest as seeing. Since through ages the desire of the Self has been toward the natural world. hearing. there will the treasure be also. or in handling. and. So may the will of the Self manifest itself in the uttering of words. wherein the Self sought to mirror himself that he might know himself. just as the white sunlight may divide into many-coloured rays. shall set his desire on the divine and real world. or whatsoever perceptive powers there may be. to handle. with it. to walk. It is but a question of the vesture through which these powers shall shine forth. since the divine is no strange . there will its powers be. Where the Self is. where the heart is. thus come to self-consciousness. and when the Self. therefore a vesture of natural elements came into being. or in moving. to hear. to a knowledge of his imprisonment. and raise his consciousness thereto. feeling.NET wide sweep of the universe throughout eternity.ASTROCCULT. to speak. And wherever the consciousness and desire of the ever-creative Self are fixed. the spiritual vesture shall be built up for him there. through which blossomed forth the Self's powers of perceiving and of will: the power to see. Nor will migration thither be difficult for the Self. for the Self is one with the Eternal. with its expression of his inherent powers. tasting. there will a vesture be built up.
NET or foreign land for him. it takes obstacles away. He plants and . first. then the ear. he sows his seed. finally. It is. which brings forth after its kind. immediate cause is not the true cause of the creative nature-powers. but. where he dwells from everlasting. stored up through ages. penetrable to air and rain. then the alchemy of sunlight which. he waters the seed-laden earth. then the full corn in the ear. like the husbandman in his field. the miraculous plasmic power in the grain of seed. turning the little rills from the irrigation tank now this way and that. gathers hydrogen from the water and carbon from the gases in the air. The apparent. The husbandman but removes the obstacles. the wholly occult vital powers of the plant itself. until the even How of water vitalizes the whole field. The husbandman tills his field. And so the plants germinate and grow. first the blade. and. but the house of his home. breaking up the clods of earth into fine mould. But it is not the husbandman who makes them grow. carefully covering it. and mingles them in the hydro-carbons of plant growth. in presence of the green colouring matter of the leaves. 3. and flowing down from the primal sources of life. for fear of birds and the wind. removing obstacles from the channels.ASTROCCULT.
joyous. creative forces and powers. as the Self. or. The divine Self puts forth. for the manifestation of its powers. Finally it stands forth radiant. again. then the states of consciousness of the finer body come into being. The Self. then to the finer body. begins to see and feel itself in the finer body. When the Self.ASTROCCULT.NET waters. . to speak exactly. in turn attaches itself to three vestures: first. to the physical body. He tills and sows. a new and finer vesture. luminous. When the Self attributes itself to the physical body. but the growth of the spiritual man comes through the surge and flow of divine. Here. 4. God gives the increase. says a great Teacher. but God gives the increase. there arise the states of bodily consciousness. Vestures of consciousness are built up in conformity with the Boston of the feeling of selfhood. and thirdly to the causal body. the body of the spiritual man. So with the finer husbandman of diviner fields. breaking through this first illusion. built up about the physical self. to find selfhood there.
it is ever the Light. Whether it breaks through as the dull fire of physical life. until it dwells forever in the Eternal. for there remains the fourth state.ASTROCCULT. It must learn to find itself in the causal body. the Consciousness.NET the finer body and its states of consciousness arise and grow together. with its own splendour and everlastingness. Nor must it dwell forever there. It is all a question of the states of consciousness. Here is the splendid teaching of oneness that lies at the heart of the Eastern wisdom. 5. to build up the wide and luminous fields of consciousness that belong to that. or the full glory of the Divine. But the Self must not dwell permanently there. Consciousness is ultimately One. the Father. . Consciousness is One. is the elective cause of many states of consciousness. in each individual who is but a facet of that Self. And so. is the One Self of All Beings. or the radiance of the spiritual man. In the different fields of manifestation. all a question of raising the sense of selfhood. though one. or the murky flame of the psychic and passional. everywhere and forever. The Eternal. the divine.
Pain's surcease brings pleasure back again. free from self and . Hope has its shadow of fear. But where the pure spiritual consciousness begins.NET naught but the Light. In all psychic states there is egotism. and the full play of bodily life begins. is the very essence of the psychic. Pleasure passes through deadness into pain. Hunger alternates with satiety. So here. too. The one Consciousness is the effective cause of all states of consciousness. Exclusive love is tortured by jealousy. With the psychic. and where there is egotism there is ever the seed of future sorrow. the alternation between prize and penalty is swifter. that which is born of Contemplation is free from the seed of future sorrow. the states of consciousness run their circle. 6. its progression carries with it inevitable limitations.ASTROCCULT. Birth involves death. which. on every plane. Desire carries bondage in its womb. So do the states of consciousness run along the circle of birth and death. or it is no hope. Meetings have their partings. Among states of consciousness. Where the consciousness breaks forth in the physical body. indeed. Age follows on the heels of youth.
or incurs the penalty of pain. Works done with self-seeking bear within them the seeds of future sorrow. He fears no hell and desires no heaven. He comes directly in line with the divine Will. The works of followers after Union make neither for bright pleasure nor for dark pain The works of others make for pleasure or pain. but from glory to glory. neither pain to be avoided nor pleasure to be gained inspires his work. present pain is future gain. like the passionate mood of the lover. the ancient law of retaliation ceases.NET stain. whose desire is set on the Eternal. But. The good passes to better. His heart dwells in the Eternal. the penalty of sorrow lapses and is no more imposed. no longer from sorrow to sorrow. for him who has gone beyond desire. or. or a mingling of these. according to the proverb. best. all his desires are set . as so often happens in life. without longing or fear.ASTROCCULT. The man of desire wins from his works the reward of pleasure. conversely. to know the will of the Father and finish His work. his guerdon. is part pleasure and part pain. Its growth and splendour have no limit. His one desire is. and works cleanly and immediately. The soul now passes. 7.
in his own mind. that body will become his outermost vesture. striking with a dagger at his enemy. Let us think of a man. and. when he comes to be born again. In other words he has made a deep wound in his own psychic body. of his bondage or freedom. Karma. From the force inherent in works comes the manifestation of those dynamic mind images which are conformable to the ripening out of each of these works.NET on the Eternal. at the same instant he paints. with its wound still there. So the man will be born . indeed. bodily tissue will be built up. It is the succession of the forces which built up the personal man. We are now to consider the general mechanism of Karma. with murderous intent in his heart.ASTROCCULT. reproducing themselves in one personality after another. a picture of that wound: a picture dynamic with all the fierce will-power he has put into his murderous blow. He makes a red wound in his victim's breast. is the concern of the personal man. in order that we may pass on to the consideration of him who is free from Karma. to see how these forces may work out. Now let us take an imaginary case. upon which. 8.
coming to the surface. 9. bringing together into one day of life the seeds gathered from many days. The memory constantly exemplifies this power. revealing the hidden. Thus do the dynamic mind-images manifest themselves. somewhat as the light of the magic lantern projects the details of a picture on the screen. and any trifling accidental blow will pierce the broken Joints of his psychic armour. so does this divine ray exercise a selective power on the dynamic mind-images. So a prayer may call up many prayers. so that works done in the past may ripen and come to fruition. are brought together by the correspondence between memory and dynamic impression. the same over-ruling selective power. a passage of poetry will call up in the mind like passages of many poets. and making secret things palpable and visible. or with the predisposition to some mortal injury.ASTROCCULT. In like manner. or place. in the ripening out of mind-images into bodily conditions. which is a ray . or time. he is unguarded at that point.NET maimed. Just as. the effect is brought about by the ray of creative force sent down by the Self. read at different times. Works separated by different nature.
Therefore the initial impulse behind these dynamic mind-images comes from the Self and is the descending ray of the Self. self-knowledge. from which the rest arose. Just as the dynamic mind-images of desire ripen out in bodily conditions and circumstances. The series of dynamic mind-images is beginningless.NET of the Higher Self. which make up the entire history of the personal man. because Desire is everlasting. selfrealization. and may be grouped in the frame of a single life or a single event. is a part of the mechanism which the Self employs. The whole series of dynamic mind-images. gathers together from different births and times and places those mind-images which are conformable. wherein the soul reaches toward the Eternal. to embody its powers in an outward form. Through this grouping. to mirror itself in a reflection. so the far more dynamic powers of aspiration. have their fruition in a finer world. visible bodily conditions or outward circumstances are brought about. and by these the soul is taught and trained. 10. building the vesture of the spiritual man. so that it cannot be said that there is any first member of the series of images. The impulse is .ASTROCCULT. to the end of self-expression.
by the wish for personal reward. it is to turn to the Eternal. by the support of outer things desired. when these cease. We are still concerned with the personal life in its bodily vesture. Since the dynamic mind-images are held together by impulses of desire. The driving-force is withdrawn and directed to the upbuilding of the spiritual body. and build up for him his finer vesture in a finer world. which is from everlasting. 11. therefore. . by the substratum of mental habit.NET beginningless. and so become aspiration. Desire is not to cease. to be checked. since it comes from the Self. and with the process whereby the forces which have upheld it are gradually transferred to the life of the spiritual man. which have built the conditions of life after life in this world of bondage. the day of liberation dawn? The answer is given in the Sutra just translated. the self reproduction of dynamic mind-images ceases.ASTROCCULT. that the time of imprisonment may come to an end. How is the current to be changed? How is the flow of self-reproductive mind-images.
present and future is. unto the end of the world". the Master speaks of himself as "the alpha and the omega. depends on the difference of phase of their properties. ceases with them. With the same purpose. 12. which has always been held to be of great moment in the Eastern wisdom: the thought that the division of time into past. that one of the names of the Enlightened is: "he who has passed beyond the three times: past. present. in great measure." So the Western Master said: "Before Abraham was. The difference between that which is past and that which is not yet come. an illusion. using the eternal present for past and future alike. and again. a new body of bondage.ASTROCCULT. "I am with you always. according to their natures. that past.NET When the building impulses and forces are withdrawn. future all dwell together in the eternal Now. I am". The discernment of this truth has been held to be so necessarily a part of wisdom. Here we come to a high and difficult matter. the beginning and the . the tendency to manifest a new psychical body. present. future.
The eternal is a constant present without beginning or end. both past and future are consummated. Eternity then is not identical with unending time. present. as an axe for fine carving. to plot out his existence in a series of moments. the Swedish philosopher. and future. by himself. the first and the last. Conceived by God. He lives undividedly. man's eternal life is clothed in the limitations we call time. without past or future. without limitations. as man. These properties.NET end. related to time as the perfect to the imperfect . Man as an entity for himself must have the natural limitations for the part. whether manifest or latent. Miserable concepts of the objective phases of the subjective whole... it is a different form of existence." In the eternal Now. and needs not. they are about as ill adapted for the purpose. man is eternal in the divine sense. Bjorklund. but conceived. are of the nature of .ASTROCCULT. has well stated the same truth: "Neither past nor future can exist to God." And a Master of our own days writes: "I feel even irritated at having to use these three clumsy words--past." 13.
Goodness. all things that present themselves to the perceiving consciousness are compounded of these three. These Three Potencies are called Substance.NET the Three Potencies. for example. 14. when it consists of vibrations within the compass of the auditory nerve. or viewed rather for their moral colouring. We should be inclined to express the same law by saying. Every mental state is either good. This is a fundamental doctrine of the Sankhya system. it sends forth luminiferous vibrations within the compass of the retina and the optic nerve. Inertness. and the object remains . The external manifestation of an object takes place when the transformations ore in the same phase. when either directly or by reflection.ASTROCCULT. Vibrations below or above that compass make no impression at all. The Three Potencies are the three manifested modifications of the one primal material. or inert. latent or manifest. Force. Every material manifestation is a projection of substance into the empty space of darkness. which stands opposite to perceiving consciousness. or passional. Passion. whether subjective or objective. Darkness. that a sound is audible. that an object is visible. So.
and things to come. Having shown that our bodily condition and circumstances depend on Karma.ASTROCCULT. while Karma depends on perception and will. the external manifestation of the object takes place. The paths of material things and of states of consciousness are distinct. and. as is manifest from the fact that the same object may produce different impressions in different minds. the sage recognizes the fact that from this may be drawn the false deduction that material things are in no wise different from states of mind. may be easy from a higher point of view. as. The . There seems to be a further suggestion that the appearance of an object in the "present." is likewise a question of phase." or "future. a kettle of boiling water in a dark room. 15. though the kettle is sending forth heat vibrations closely akin to light. for example. just as the range of vibrations perceived might be increased by the development of finer senses. So. when the vibrations of the object and those of the perceptive power are in the same phase." or its remaining hid in the "past. so the perception of things past.NET invisible.
holding that matter is the manifestation of spirit as a whole. and. and still occurs. with the ancients. ruled by law. they all come to the same wise conclusion. for how could they remain objective to others. nor idealistic in the extreme sense. by various reasonings. The path of liberation is not through denial of matter but through denial of the wills of self. through obedience.NET same thought has occurred. a reflection or externalization of spirit. everywhere obedient to law. 16. So that our system is neither materialistic. like spirit. to all philosophers. and not by denying their existence on their own plane. but is rather the manifestation of the totality of invisible Being. by rising to a realm above them. consistent. but rather intuitional and spiritual. and that aspiration which builds the vesture of the spiritual man. yet its material expression is ordered. with the moderns. Unwelcome material things may be escaped by spiritual growth. if that mind ceased to think of them? This is but a further development of the thought of the preceding Sutra. that the material world is not made by the mood of any human mind. carrying on the thought that. while the universe is spiritual. Nor do material objects depend upon a single mind. not subject to the whims or affirmations of a single mind. or Ether. and. . whether we call this Mahat.ASTROCCULT.
or is not. as. tinged with the colour of the object. we perceive what we resent. suddenly he beholds it. An object is perceived. the mind perceives only those which conform to the hue of its Karma. and no longer attempts to pass through it. do not notice it at all.ASTROCCULT. while others. or. When he has exhausted for the time the nourishment to be drawn from any one person or thing. for example. that . Our minds apprehend what they wish to apprehend. that out of the vast totality of objects ever present in the universe. according as the mind is. on the other hand. The simplest manifestation of this is the matter of attention. or not perceived. but takes another way. But the deeper meaning is. all else passes unnoticed. The rest remain unseen. and does not once suspect their being. used to the sound. This spiritual law has been well expressed by Emerson: "Through solidest eternal things the man finds his road as if they did not subsist.NET 17. As soon as he needs a new object. the noise of a passing train. even though close at hand.
for the same multitude. with its dark and narrow view . all hoping and fearing. Jesus is not dead. To it also belong the measuring and comparing. nor Mahomet." 18. sound and well. make up mental life. remains unchanging. The movements of the psychic nature are perpetually objects of perception. both for understanding and for practice. and there they stand looking out of the window. he does not suspect its presence. Men feign themselves dead.ASTROCCULT. To the psychic nature belong all the ebb and flow of emotion. desire and hate: the things that make the multitude of men and women deem themselves happy or miserable. Nothing is dead. who is the lord of them. So that there results the emotion-soaked personality. the doubt and questioning. and could easily tell the names under which they go.NET object is withdrawn from his observation. since the Spiritual Man. and though still in his immediate neighbourhood. which. nor Aristotle. and endure mock funerals and mournful obituaries. at times we believe we have seen them all. in some new and strange disguise. Here is teaching of the utmost import. he is very well alive: nor John. nor Paul.
Let us under stand this. therefore. the "mind. to maintain the vantage-ground thus gained." by thus looking down on it from above. standing in the quiet light of the Eternal. since it can be seen as an object. as objective. it would clip the . who. asserting that life is for it and through it. 19. it seeks to impose on the whole being of man its narrow. The Mind is not self-luminous. The second. looks down serene upon this turmoil of the outer life. faithless view of life and the universe. outward. This is a further step toward overthrowing the tyranny of the "mind": the psychic nature of emotion and mental measuring. the personality. but only a spectacle which the true man observes. detachment.ASTROCCULT. not the living soul at all. by steadily watching its ebb and flow. terror driven personality that is life itself for all but all of mankind.NET of life: the shivering. and draw ourselves up inwardly to the height of the Spiritual Man. One first masters the personality. Yet the personality is not the true man. This standing back is the first step. and therefore not the real Self. claims to be absolute. is recollection. This psychic self. from within. materialistic.
ASTROCCULT. if we admit its knowledge. the ceaseless strife and contradiction of opinion among those who trust in the mind. hating and desiring." its secrets cannot be learned through the "mind. Nor could the Mind at the same time know itself and things external to it. watched by the serene eyes of the Spiritual Man. first.NET wings of the soaring Soul. But the Soul dethrones the tyrant. its hoping and fearing. because it is pervaded by the illusion that it truly knows. Its measuring and analyzing. or. nor any sense of real values. by perceiving and steadily affirming that the psychic self is no true self at all. Life cannot be known by the "mind. it never really attains to knowledge. . The truth is that the "mind" knows neither external things nor itself. truly is. not self-luminous. the vision of the Spiritual Man. which comes only through intuition. it ever falls short of wisdom. when the Spiritual Man. never give it a true measure of life. 20. Much less can the "mind" know itself. True knowledge of the "mind" comes." The proof is. Ceaselessly active. but only an object of observation. the more so.
that this would be no true solution. for its supremacy. and then begins the long battle of the "mind. one part observing the other. is to assert that this seeing is the work of a part of itself. when it feels that it is beginning to be circumvented and seen through. and seeing it for the tangled web of psychic forces that it truly is.NET arising. For we should have to find yet another part of the mind to view the first observing part. One of the expedients by which the "mind" seeks to deny and thwart the Soul. To this strategy the argument is opposed by our philosopher. but only a postponement of the solution. and so on. with quiet eyes. and a confusion of memories. and thus leaving no need nor place for the Spiritual Man. If the Mind be thought of as seen by another more inward Mind. stands detached. craftily. But the truth is divined long before it is clearly seen. 21. . endlessly. then there would be an endless series of perceiving Minds.ASTROCCULT." against the Real. regarding the "mind" from above. and then another to observe this. the "mind" fighting doggedly.
it reflected in its plastic substance the images of the earthy. as it were. it reflects the image of the heavenly. giving the spiritual intelligence a visible form. This is. taken palpable shape. The Self. Formerly. .ASTROCCULT. The solution of the mystery lies not in the "mind" but beyond it. this is "memory. and thus becomes not only conscious. viewing another part. the purpose of the whole evolutionary process. that the Spiritual Man looks down upon the psychic nature. beholding that visible form. by reflecting it. purified now. the Spiritual Man. thereby reaches self-recognition." which would be a hopeless." with its memories. When the psychical nature takes on the form of the spiritual intelligence. inextricable confusion. in which its spiritual intelligence has. and observes it. 22. when he views the psychic pictures gallery. self-comprehension. if we thought of one part of the "mind. with memories of its own. but self-conscious. in the luminous life of the risen Lord. then the Self becomes conscious of its own spiritual intelligence. We are considering a stage of spiritual life at which the psychical nature has been cleansed and purified. from one point of view. The Self sees itself in this mirror.NET The true solution is.
Then comes regeneration. and the washing away of sin. of things seen. though they be as crimson. but suffused with golden light. taking on the colour of the Seer and of things seen. no longer stained. through the fiery. Thus the Spiritual Man puts on fair raiment. or tasted.NET 23. The sensation of sweet things tasted clamours to be renewed. piling up sin's intolerable burden. Then the psychic vesture begins to take on the colour of the Soul. leads to the perception of all objects.ASTROCCULT. The psychic nature. and drives the man into effort to obtain its renewal. The suffering of regeneration springs from this indispensable purifying. . purifying it as gold is refined in the furnace. each dynamic and importunate. for of this cleansing it is said: Though your sins be as scarlet. creative power of the Soul. they shall be white as snow. and the man red generate gleams with the radiance of eternity. which burns out the stains of the psychic vesture. or felt. or heard. the psychic nature is saturated with images of material things. so he adds image to image. and this web of dynamic images forms the ordinary material and driving power of life. In the unregenerate man.
NET they shall be as wool. ready to his hand. but to atone. needs his instrument on earth. for his familiar friends. Finding sinlessness. finding kinship with angels. and fitted and perfected by the very struggles he has waged against it.ASTROCCULT. who stumble and sin in the dark. he. the hosts of the just made perfect. but he also dwells on earth. building for him. a well-trained instrument of the Spiritual Man. and pass out of the vision of mankind. not to share. is now the slave. finding his high realm. exists now for the Spiritual Man. who now stands in the heavenly realm. The psychic nature. he finds also that the world's sin and shame are his. and this instrument he finds. recognized as outward. It is true that he dwells in heaven. 24. The "mind. separate. which has been printed with mind-images of innumerable material things. not Self. For it is not ordained for the Spiritual Man that. but he has at the same time found a new kinship with the prone children of men. He has angels and archangels. he likewise finds his part in the toil of angels. For this work." once the tyrant. the toil for the redemption of the world. . he shall enter altogether there.
" of the personal man. and put off the day when the neck of the "mind" shall be put under the foot of the Soul. well-nigh hopeless. and ten times more than realized. most impossible aspiration shall be realized. bearing witness. there comes perfect fruition of the longing after the real being of the Self. before men." and the mind's worldview is won. And then it will be seen that unfaith and despair were but weapons of the "mind. For him who discerns between the Mind and the Spiritual Man." to daunt the Soul. the "mind. arduous fight against the "mind. after immortality? You shall be paid by entering the immortality of God. This once tyrant is now his servant and perfect ambassador. impossible dream.ASTROCCULT. healing love? . after consoling. once the long. How many times in the long struggle have the Soul's aspirations seemed but a hopeless.NET in the personality. Have you aspired. Yet every finest. 25. in misery and pain. a madman's counsel of perfection. of heavenly things and even in this present world doing the will and working the works of the Father. Have you aspired.
in lonely darkness. that you may rise again to God. with God working the works of God. after power? You shall wield power immortal. This is part of the secret of the Soul. not merely that a soul shall be cleansed and raised to heaven. the kingly figure of the Spiritual Man. building up.NET You shall be made a dispenser of the divine love of God Himself to weary souls. These are the prizes of regeneration. 26. and all the immortal hosts of the Dawn. Have you sought ardently. Thereafter. toward Eternal Life. longed for companionship and consolation? You shall have angels and archangels for your friends. These are the fruits of victory. Have you. the whole personal being bends toward illumination. . that salvation means. in your day of feebleness. Therefore die to self. Therefore overcome. but that the whole realm of the natural powers shall be redeemed. infinite.ASTROCCULT. even in this present world.
other thoughts will arise. Ages have gone to the strengthening of the foe. becomes the servant. fill the memories of all the nobler peoples. But the time cometh. nor myth. ere the foe. in hours when the contest flags.ASTROCCULT.NET The traditions of the ages are full of his footsteps. Let there be no mistake as to that. forgotten lives. through the impressions of the dynamic mind-images. 27. majestic. Go not forth to this battle without counting the cost. and unconditional. no longer demi-god. when he shall be known. Ages of conflict must be spent. working amid men for the life and cleansing of all souls. wholly conquered. mind-born children springing up to fight for mind. nor shadow. In the internals of the batik. reinforcements coming from forgotten years. but the ever-present Redeemer. The battle is long and arduous. demi-gods. myths. the Soul's minister to mankind. And from these long past ages. unreserved surrender of the vanquished. For once this conflict is begun. will come new foes. . it can be ended only by sweeping victory. uncomprehended shadows.
This is the true spiritual consciousness. These are to be overcome as it was taught that hindrances should be overcome. knowing that the spiritual will. once awakened. after he has attained. it is yet measurable. everlasting. is wholly free from self. He who. the great curse. shall. which shall put the stubbornness of the rocks to shame. by a steadfast.NET 28. for whom you fight. is. that great as is the dead-weight of the adversary. dogged persistence. It has been said that. 29. through the effort of the contest. come to its full strength. the giant weed which grows as strongly in .ASTROCCULT. For the Soul is older than all things. immeasurable. at the beginning of the way. and invincible. invincible. Therefore fight on. undaunted. it is of the very nature of the Soul to be unconquerable. reaches the essence of all that can be known. in might. we must kill out ambition. These new enemies and fears are to be overcome by ceaselessly renewing the fight. while the Warrior who fights for you. whether in victory or defeat. gathered together like a cloud. that ground gained can be held permanently.
then sorrow ceases.ASTROCCULT. too. Free from self-will. from the burden of toil. humility. that purity of heart which gives the vision of God. is free from the bond of Karma. all stains washed away. through the correcting stress of the divine will. obedience. seeing all life as God sees it. Thereafter. little remains for him to know. When all veils are rent. as with a cloud.NET the heart of the devoted disciple as in the man of desire. Thereon comes surcease from sorrow and the burden of toil. 31. for sorrow comes from the fight of self-will against the divine will. he has that perfect illumination which is the true spiritual consciousness. he who has attained is wrapt about with the essence of all that can be known. 30. Through obedience to the will of God. it is said. thereby enters into joy. . from that debt to works which comes from works done in self-love and desire. he comes into oneness of being with God. The remedy is sacrifice of self. and he who has grown into obedience. Such a one. which seeks to counteract the evil wrought by disobedience. he is initiated into God's view of the universe. his knowledge becomes infinite. he is free from sorrow. When the conflict with the divine will ceases.
for the making of the spiritual man.NET The first veil is the delusion that thy soul is in some permanent way separate from the great Soul. Little will remain unknown to thee. thou shalt discern thy oneness with everlasting Life. It is a part of the beauty and wisdom of the great Indian teachings. They teach that all nature is an orderly process of evolution. The world's sin and shame are thy sin and shame: its joy also. the Vedanta and the Yoga alike. to hold that all life exists for the purposes of Soul. . leading up to this. the divine Eternal. since their purpose is attained.ASTROCCULT. whereas in truth the soul that is in them is one with the soul that is in thee. The second veil is the delusion of enduring separateness from thy other selves. designed for this end. He is the crown of evolution: at his coming. existing only for this: to bring forth and perfect the Spiritual Man. When that veil is rent. These veils rent. thou shalt enter into knowledge of divine things and human things. 32. Thereafter comes the completion of the series of transformations of the three nature potencies. the goal of all development is attained.
34. time gives place to duration. the crowning transformation. That which is born must die. the inverse resolution of the potencies of Nature. The series of transformations is divided into moments. in the Circle of Necessity. Sansara. therefore. we doom ourselves to perpetual change. for him. While we are content to live in and for Nature. or it is the return of the power of pure Consciousness to its essential form. there is no longer eternal change.NET 33. in all that is not Spirit. which belongs to the Spirit. and that which dies must be reborn. which makes him heir of the Everlasting. of the whole realm of change. But the Spiritual Man enters a new order. which inheres in Nature. but eternal Being. He has entered into the joy of his Lord. It is change evermore. which have emptied themselves of their value for the Spiritual man. . sets a term to change. a ceaseless series of transformations. and the eternity of change. says the commentary: the eternity of immortal life. This spiritual birth.ASTROCCULT. it is the culmination. Pure spiritual life is. There are two kinds of eternity. When the series is completed.
and his entry into his immortal heritage. either as the culmination of the whole process of natural evolution and involution. stretching upward and onward from their feet to the everlasting hills. may be regarded. expressing the crown and end of his teaching. be they naturalist or idealist. which are but two accounts of the same thing. lest they should be tempted to delay over them. . as the restoration of pure spiritual Consciousness to its pristine and essential form. in which our wise philosopher finally reconciles the naturalists and the idealists.NET Here we have a splendid generalization. There is no discrepancy or conflict between these two views. and then in the terms of the idealist.ASTROCCULT. radiant with infinite Light. says our philosopher. have no excuse to linger over dialectic subtleties or disputes. turns again home". These things are lifted from their path. and they are left facing the path itself. where "that which flowed from out the boundless deep. or it may be looked at. Therefore those who study the wise philosopher. first in the terms of the naturalist. The birth and growth of the Spiritual Man. as the Vedantins look at it.
It predicts character. CHAUGHADIA CALCULATOR.net for astrology.NET Copyright: This work is in the public domain in the United States. It also gives remedial measures and occult advice based on name.ASTROCCULT. Queries gives daily/monthly/yearly predictions. career.astroccult.. Therefore.net/ for further information.. it would be appreciated if you consider contributing or donating some amount to continue our free services for your benefit. before you use or download this work. lucky stones. Thus. health prospects. please check laws governing copyright protection in your country. fate and astrological numbers.AND MUCH MUCH MORE Free ebooks.. birth. the expiration or loss of copyright protection in the United States may still leave the work fully protected against unauthorized use in other countries. . However this does not necessarily mean that you are free to use it in other countries.astroccult... Marriage compatibility and Queries are other modules. GET FREE Numerology forecast software HEAD NUMEROLOGIST Head Numerologist is a standard Numerology software based on Chaldean and Pythagorean number theories.net/ Note : This work is supplied fee of cost. name / place compatibility and important years of your life. numerology and occult services viz. RAHUKALAM CALCULATOR. Every nation has its own laws governing the length and scope of copyright protection. Visit http://www.. For this and other products visit http://www. : horoscope preparation and life predictions ask questions based on birth or horary astrology marriage compatibility lucky gemstones sun sign / zodiac predictions birth time rectification annual horoscope and predictions (varshphal) Lal Kitab (famed Indian Red Book) Remedies Feng shui tips Vastu tips . love and sex life...astroccult. Visit www. articles on astrology FREE NAPOLEON'S ORACLE. However. and these are applicable to uses of the work within that nation's borders.
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