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THE WAY Lam is the Tibetan word for Way or Path, and Lama is He who Goeth, the specific title of the Gods of Egypt, the Treader of the Path, in Buddhistic phraseology. Its numerical value is 71, the number of this book.
…its predeces- sor. COMPASSION is really a certain Chinese figure whose names are numerous. One of them is BAPHOMET. 95. Such is the Arya Path, Path of the Buddhas of per- fection. This closes the subject. 96. Withal, what mean the sacred scrolls which make thee say: “Om! I believe it is not all the Arhats that get of the Nir- vanic Path the sweet fruition.” “Om! I believe that the Nirvana-Dharma is entered not by all the Buddhas.” Here, however, we come to the question of the final renun- ciation. It is undoubtedly true that one may push spirit…
THE EQUINOX 89. On Sowan’s Path, O Srotapatti, thou art secure. Aye (), on that Marga, where nought but darkness meets the weary pilgrim, where torn by thorns the hands drip blood, the feet are cut by sharp, unyielding flints, and Mara wields his strongest arms—there lies a great reward imme- diately beyond. It is not at all clear to what stage of the Path this refers. In verse 91 it appears to refer to the Dhyana Path, but the Dhyana Path has been described in entirely different terms in verses 71 to 73, and it is certainly a quite bad descrip…
…he Brahmin’s widow. 77. When to the Permanent is sacrificed the Mutable, the prize is thine: the drop returneth whence it came. The Open PATH leads to the changeless change—Nirvéna, the glori- ous state of Absoluteness, the Bliss past human thought. 78. Thus, the first Path is LIBERATION. 79. But Path the second is RENUNCIATION, and therefore called the “Path of Woe.” There is far too much emotionalism in this part of the treatise, though perhaps this is the fault of the language; but the attitude of contemplating the sorrow of the Universe ete…
THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE appears on the surface. The words “bud” and “worm” form a clue. 49. Thou canst not travel on the path before thou hast become that Path itself. Compare the scene in Parsifal, where the scenery comes to the knight instead of the knight going to the scenery. But there is also implied the doctrine of the Tao, and only one who is an accomplished Taoist can hope to understand this verse. (See “The Hermit of Esopus Island,” part of the Magical Record of 666, to be published in THE Equinox, Vol. III.) 50. Let thy Soul lend its…
…hy being to Humanity’s great pain, O candidate for light? Thou hast? . . . Thou mayest enter. Vet, ere thou settest foot upon the dreary Path of Sorrow, *tis well thou should’ st first learn the pitfalls on thy way. It appears as if the condition of entering the Path was the Vision of Sorrow, and of course the present Commentator might be inclined to support this theory, since, in his own ex- perience, it was this Vision of Sorrow which caused him to take the First Great Oath. He had suddenly presented to him the perception of the Three Charact…
THE SEVEN PORTALS 73. Thou hast estranged thyself from objects of the senses, travelled on the “Path of seeing,’ on the “Path of hearing,” and standest in the light of Knowledge. Thou hast now reached Titiksha state. O Narjol, thou art safe. In these three verses the passage to the sixth Gate is made clear. There is no longer any struggle, there is but the golden fire within the alabaster vase, and thou art that vase. Male and female are again interchanged. Above Chiah and Neshamah is Yechidah, and in the lower aspect of that, one has again bec…
THE SEVEN PORTALS his formula from solve to coagula. His progress on the up- ward path now corresponds exactly with his progress on the downward path; he can only save himself by saving others, for if it were not so he would be hardly better than he who shuts himself in his black tower of illusion, the Brother of the Left Hand, the Klingsor of “Parsifal.” 58. Make hard thy Soul against the snares of Self; de- serve for it the name of “Diamond-Soul.” Here is another muddle, for the words “Soul” and “Self” have previously been used in exactly the…
THE SEVEN PORTALS 4. The rugged Path of fourfold Dhyana winds on uphill. Thrice great is he who climbs the lofty top. 5. The Péramita heights are crossed by a still steeper path. Thou hast to fight thy way through portals seven, seven strongholds held by cruel, crafty Powers—passions incarnate. The distinction between the two Paths is now evident; that of Dhyana is intellectual, or one might better say, men- tal, that of Paramita, moral: But it may well be asked whether these Paths are mutually exclusive, whether a good man is always an idiot a…
THE SEVEN PORTALS 43. Stern and exacting is the virtue of Vairdga. If thou its Path would’st master, thou must keep thy mind and thy perceptions far freer than before from killing action. The English is getting ambiguous. The word “killing” is, I suppose, an adjective implying ‘fatal to the purpose of the Student’. But even so, the comment appears to me out of place. On this high Path action should already have been made harmless; in fact, the second Path had this as its principal object. It is very difficult to make out what the Authoress real…
…N PORTALS less contemplation of the Universe. The Master of the Tem- ple, as he is in himself, is a rather similar person. Narjol is the Path-Treader, not a paraffin-purgative. 13. Before thou canst approach the last, O weaver of thy freedom, thou hast to master these Paramités of perfection —the virtues transcendental six and ten in number—along the weary Path. We now get back to the Paramitas, and this treatise is ap- parently silent with regard to them. Does any one regret it? It isn’t the Path that is weary: it is the Sermons on the way. 14…
THE EQUINOX which is taught. On reaching the highest grade of the sec- ond Order, that of Exempt Adept, there are two Paths open, the right hand and the left. These are described at length in Liber 418, and we must refer the Student to that book. But the main point is that on the right hand path, stripping self, the Adept becomes Nemo, the Master of the Temple, and re- turns across the abyss, or rather is flung forth, and appears in the Heaven of Jupiter—or sphere of another planet—as a morning Star or an evening Star to bring light to them tha…
THE TWO PATHS [FRAGMENT 11] 1. And now, O Teacher of Compassion, point thou the way to other men. Behold all those who, knocking for ad- mission, await [s] in ignorance and darkness to see the gate of the Sweet Law flung open! This begins with the word “And,” rather as if it were a sequel to the “VOICE OF THE SILENCE.” It should not be assumed that this is the case. However, assuming that the first Fragment explains the Path as far as Master of the Temple, it is legitimate to regard this second Fragment, so called, as the further instruction; f…
THE SEVEN PORTALS [FRAGMENT 111] 1. “Upadhaya, the choice is made, I thirst for Wisdom. Now hast thou rent the veil before the secret Path and taught the greater Yana. [Mahayana, the Big Path; a term for the Hinduized Buddhism of Tibet—Ep.] Thy servant here is ready for thy guidance.” This fragment again appears to be intended to follow on immediately after the last, and yet the Chela says to the Guru that the choice is made. Obviously it does not refer to the great choice referred to in Fragment II, verse 88. One is inclined further to suspect…
THE SEVEN PORTALS is symbolised as a swift and powerful stream, and the great mystery is revealed that the Path itself is the Goal. “Were the world understood Ye would see it was good, A dance to a delicate measure.” This is also the doctrine indicated in all the works of Fra Perdurabo. You can see it in Liber 418, where, as soon as a certain stage is reached, the great curse turns into an inef- fable blessing. In the Book of Lies, too, the same idea is stated again and again, with repetition only unwearying because of the beauty and variety of…
…were in the condition mentioned, he would be already very far advanced. But of course if we were to take the words “The threshold of the Path” “The foremost gate” “The stream” as equivalent to Srotapatti, the passage would gain in intel- ligibility. But, just as in the noble eight-fold Path, the steps are concurrent, not consecutive, so, like the Comte de Saint Germain, when he was expelled from Berlin, one can go through all the seven Gates at once. 23. Disciples may be likened to the strings of the soul- echoing Vina; Mankind, unto its soundi…
…f subject, though on other occasions it did not doso. Ihave already explained one of the technical meanings of Dana, and undoubtedly the Path seems attrac- tive at this stage. One thinks of the joyous reception into the Company of Adepts. One goes almost as a boy goes to meet his first sweetheart. But there is here another allusion to the beginnings of Meditation, when everything seems so simple and straight- forward, and withal so easy and pleasant. There is some- thing intensely human about this. Men set out upon the most dangerous expedition…
…is presented to the Lanoo. This can be done by an Adept, and sometimes it is a useful method. 9. It is the shadow of thyself outside the PATH, cast on the darkness of thy sins. This charming poetic image should not be taken literally. 10. “Yea, Lord; I see the PATH; its foot in mire, its sum- mit lost in glorious light Nirvanic. And now I see the ever- narrowing Portals on the hard and thorny way to Gnydana.” This continues a vision which resembles, only too pain- fully, the coloured prints of the Broad and Narrow Ways so familiar to those unfo…
…ese things are altogether different. Blavatsky’s attempt to mix up Hin- duism and Buddhism is productive of constant friction. The first Path in Dhyana has nothing whatever to do with being a Srotapatti. It is perfectly clear that you could be Master of all the eight Jhanas with no more hope of be- coming a Srotapatti than a Pwe-dancer. However, this is an extremely poetical description of what happens on the seventh Path. ‘You must notice that there is a certain amount of con- fusion between the Paths and the Portals at the end of them. Appare…
THE TWO PATHS 40. Know, O beginner, this is the Open PATH, the way to selfish bliss, shunned by the Bodhisattvas of the “Secret Heart,” the Buddhas of Compassion. The words “selfish bliss” must not be taken in a literal sense. It is exceedingly difficult to discuss this question. The Occidental mind finds it difficult even to attach any meaning to the conditions of Nirvana. Partly it is the fault of language, partly it is due to the fact that the condition of Arhat is quite beyond thought. He is beyond the Abyss, and there a thing is only true …