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Page 1 of 11912 · PDF PAGE 84
()8 probably disguised as workmen,and stole the picture under the very eye of the guardian; very likely got him to help them. It is only necessary to believe that a thing must be to bring it about. This belief must not be an emotional or an intellectual one. It resides in a deeper portion of the mind, yet a portion not so deep but that most men, probably all successful men, will understand these words, having experience of their own with which they can compare it. The most important factor in Dhyana is, however, the annihilation of the Ego. Our…
1912 · PDF PAGE 22
8 Diverse as these statements are at first sight, all agree in announcing an experience of the class which fifty years ago would have been called supernatural, to-day may be called spiritual, and fifty years hence will have a proper name based on an understanding of the phenomenon which occurred. Theorists have not been at a loss to explain; but they differ. The Mohammedan insists that God is, and did really send Gabriel with messages for Mohammed: but all others contradict him. And from the nature of the case proof is impossible. The lack of proo…
1912 · PDF PAGE 65
…e mind, improving quickly at first, afterwards more slowly, up to perfection at F. It starts well above zero in the case of most educated men. The height of the perpendiculars HI indicates the dissatisfaction of the student with his power of control. Increasing at first, it ultimately diminishes to zero.
1912 · PDF PAGE 17
PRELIMINARY REMARKS XISTENCE, as we know it, is full of sorrow. To mention only one minor point: every man is a condemned criminal, only he does not know the date of his execution. This is unpleasant for every man. Consequently every man does everything possible to postpone the date, and would sacrifice anything that he has if he could reverse the sentence. Practicallyall religions and all philosophies have started thus crudely, by promising their adherents some such reward as immortality. No religion has failed hitherto by not promising enough;…
1912 · PDF PAGE 19
5 world of dogs, whereas in the history of mankind this happens with regularity and frequency. Now here are three “ super-men, ’ all at loggerheads. What is there in common between Christ, Buddha, and Mohammed? Is there any one point upon which all three are in accord? No point of doctrine, no point of ethics, no. theory of a “ hereafter” do they share, and yet in the history of their lives we find one identity amid many diversities. Buddha was born a Prince, and died a beggar. Mohammed was born a beggar, and died a Prince. Christ remained obscu…
1912 · PDF PAGE 21
…d to them in their absence? History will not help us to solve the problem, for history is silent. We have only the accounts given by the men themselves. It would be very remarkable should we find that these accounts agree. Of the great teachers we have mentioned Christ is silent; the other four tell us something; some more, some less. Buddha goes into details too elaborate to enter upon in this place; but the gist of it is that in one way or another he got hold of the secret force of the World and mastered it. Of St. Paul’s experiences, we have …
1912 · PDF PAGE 8
…an save them time and trouble by giving a few useful “tips,” his work will have been done to his own satisfaction. Those who have wished men to believe in them were absurd. A per- suasive tongue or pen, or an efficient sword, with rack and stake, pro- duced this “belief,” which is contrary to, and destructive of, all real religious experience. The whole life of Frater Perdurabo is now devoted to seeing that you obtain this living experience of Truth for, by, and in yourselves! SOROR VIRAKAM (Mary d’Este Sturges).
1912 · PDF PAGE 75
59 will disgust you with yourself. You will completely forget who you are, what you are, and what you are doing. A similar phenomenon sometimeshappens when one is half awake in the morning, and one cannot think what town one is living in. The similarity of these two things is rather significant. It suggests that what is really happening is that you are waking up from the sleep which men call waking, the sleep Whose dreams are life. There is another way to test one’s progress in this practice, and that is by the character of the breaks. Breaks ar…
1912 · PDF PAGE 41
…thout a thorough knowledge of the subject. Such knowledgehas not yet been published. However, one may safely assert that since the great men previously mentioned did not do this, it will not be necessary for their followers. Let us then choose a suitable position, and consider what happens. There is a sort of happy medium between rigidity and limpness; the muscles are not to be strained; and yet they are not allowed to be altogether slack. It is difficult to find a good descriptive word. Braced is perhaps the best. A sense of physical alertness i…
1912 · PDF PAGE 20
…be explained in any of the ordinary ways. There is not the smallest ground for the contention that these were from the start exceptional men. Mohammed would hardly have driven a camel until he was thirty-five years old if he had possessed any talent or ambition. St. Paul had much original talent; but he is the least of the five. Nor do they seem to have possessed any of the usual materials of power, such as rank, fortune, or influence. Moses was rather a big man in Egypt when he left; he came back as a mere stranger.
1912 · PDF PAGE 32
…longs. The history of Christianity shows precisely the same remarkable fact. Jesus Christ was brought up on the fables of the “ Old Testament,” and so was compelled to ascribe his experiences to “Jehovah,” although his gentle spirit could have had nothing in common with the monster who was always commanding the rape of virgins and the murder of little children, and whose rites were then, and still are, celebrated by human sacrifice.1 Similarly the visions of Joan of Arc were entirely Christian; but she, like all the others we have mentioned, fou…
1912 · PDF PAGE 88
72 he would tell you that the “ether,” which cannot be perceived in any way by any of the senses, or detected by any instruments, and which possesses qualities which are, to use ordinary language, impossible, is very much more real than the chair he is sitting on. The chair is only one fact; and its existence is testified by one very falliole person. The ether is the necessary deduction from millions of facts, which have been verified again and again and checked by every pos- sible test of truth. There is therefore no ὰpriori reason for rejecting…
1912 · PDF PAGE 83
…e swayed by anything thus authoritative and distinct. History is full of stories of officers who have walked unarmed up to a mutinous regiment, and disarmed them by the mere force of confidence. The power of the orator over the mob is well known. It is, probably, for this reason while that the prophet has been able to constrain mankind to obey his law. It never occurs to him that any one can do otherwise. In practical life one can walk past any guardian, such as a sentry or ticket-collector, if one can really act so that the man is somehow persua…
1912 · PDF PAGE 48
…en times, then not quite so loudly and a very little faster ten times more. Continue this process until there is nothing but a rapid movement of the lips ; this movement should be continued with increased velocity and diminishing intensity until the mental muttering completelyabsorbs the physical. The student is by this time absolutely still, with the mantra racing in his brain; he should, however, continue to speed it up until he reaches his limit, at which he should continue for as long as possible, and then cease the practice by reversing th…
1912 · PDF PAGE 23
…tan country) to attack their “morals.” We should then avoid all rhetoric, and try to investigate with perfect freedom from bias the phenomena which occurred to these great leaders of mankind. There is no difficulty in our assuming that these men themselves did not understand clearly what happened to them. The only one who explains his system thoroughly is Buddha, and Buddha is the only one that is not dogmatic. We may also suppose that the others thought it inadvisable to explain too clearly to their followers ; St. Paul evidently took this line…