The Equinox (Volume III, Number I)

THE SEVEN PORTALS —to Arthur Edward Waite, immediately occur to the mind. What does not occur to the mind is the names of people now living who know their subject from experience. The late Swami Vivekananda did know his. Sabapaty Swami did so. Shri Parananda Swami did so, and of course above all these stands Bhikkhu Ananda Metteya. Outside these, one can think of no one, except the very reticent Rudolf Steiner, who betrays practical acquaintance with the Path. The way to discover whether a Teacher knows anything about it or not is to do the work yourself, and see if your understanding of him improves, or whether he fobs you off in your hour of need with remarks on Virtue. 3. Which wilt thou choose, O thou of dauntless heart? The Samtan of “Eye Doctrine,’ fourfold Dhyana, or thread thy way through Péramités, six in number, noble gates of virtue leading to Bodhi and to Pragny4G, seventh step of Wisdom? It must not be supposed that the Paths here indicated are all. Apparently the writer is still harping on the same old two Paths. It appears that “fourfold Dhyana” is a mere extension of the word Samtan. There are, however, eight, not four, four of these being called Low and four High. They are defined in Rhys-Davids’ “Buddhism,” 174-6. The Buddha just before his death went through all these stages of meditation which are described in the paragraph here quoted: “Then the blessed One addressed the Brethren, and said: ‘Behold now, brethren, I exhort you, saying, “Decay is inherent in all component things! Work out your salvation with diligence !”’ * 79