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Page 1 of 21904 · PDF PAGE 4
…nsion Day and Pentecost; with some Prose Essay s and an Epilogue,’ just as the title is ‘The Sword of Song’ y ou know, just in the sam e way, just in the sam e way, just in the same way . . .” Alice put her fingers in her ears and gave a little scream . “ Oh, dear me! That’s * This passage is a parody on one in “Alice through the Looking-Glass.” harder than ever!” s he s aid to hers elf, and then, looking determ inedly intelligent: “So thats what the song is called. I see. But what is the song?” “You must be a perfect fool,” said the Knight, i…
1904 · PDF PAGE 85
…ing in the sign of the Lion, that our Father set out from his Castle of Ug 3 to attain the Quint- essence or Philosophical Tincture. The way being dark and the Golden Dawn at hand, he did call forth four se rvants to keep him in the m idst of the way, and the Lion roared before him to bid the opposers beware of his coming. On the Bull he rode, and on his left hand and his right marched the Eagle and the Man. But his b ack was uncovered, seeing that he would not turn. And the Spirit of the Path met him. It was a y oung girl of two and twenty y e…
1904 · PDF PAGE 124
…iberately set their face agains t such an attem pt. I am not of them; humanity has grown up; if the knowledge be dangerous in unexpected way s, what of bacteriology? I have obtained one result; a result striking at the very condition of consciousness; which I may formulate as follows: “If a single state of consciousness persist unchanged for a period exceeding a very few seconds, its duality is annihilated; its nature is violently overthrown; this phenomenon is accompanied by an indes cribable s ensation of bliss.” Very well! but I want this fo…
1904 · PDF PAGE 87
… and wiping his blade he kissed it and went on, knowing that his luck should now be ill. And ill it was, for a tem ple was set up in his way , and there he saw the grisly Goat enthroned. But he knew better than to judge a goat from a goat’s head and hoofs. And the first week he s acrificed to that goat 1 a crown every day. The second a p hallus. The third a silver vase of blood. The fourth a roy al sceptre. The fifth a sword. The sixth a heart. The seventh a garland of flowers. The eighth a grass-snake. The ninth a sickle. And the tenth week di…
1904 · PDF PAGE 119
…othesis, empiric as it was, and is. But with the growth and gathering-together, classify ing, criticism of our facts, we are well on the way to erect a surer structure on a broader basis. IX. AGNOSTICISM. It should be clearly understood, and well remembered, that throughout all these m edi- tations and ideas, there is no necessary way to any orthodox ontology whatever. As to the way of salvation, we are not to rely on the Buddha; the vicious lie of vicarious atonement finds no place here. The Buddha himself does not escape the law of c ausation…
1904 · PDF PAGE 84
…nce only leads to s orrow ; that the ceas ing from existence is the ceasing of sorrow (the third) ; and you would seek in the fourth the Way , the Noble Eightfold Path. “I know, O Arahats, that y ou do not need this instruction : but m y words will not stay here : they will go forth and illum inate the whole system of ten thousand worlds, w here Arahats do not grow on every tree. Little brothers, the night is fallen : it were well to sleep.”
1904 · PDF PAGE 43
THE SWORD OF SONG 36 So to the laws all bards obey I bend, and seek in my own way By false things to expound the real. But never think I shall appeal To Gods. What folly can compare With such stupidity as prayer ? Some years ago I thought to try Prayer51—tests its efficacity. I fished by a Norwegian lake. “O God,” I prayed, “for Jesus’ sake Grant thy poor servant all his wish ! For every prayer produce a fish !” Nine times the prayer went up the spout, And eight times—what a thumping trout ! (This is the only true fish-story I ever heard—give G…
1904 · PDF PAGE 81
…ime we must win or die.’ ‘Goetia1 expects every God to do his duty,’ he excitedly lunographed to Swarga.2 But Ganesha was already on his way. “The elephant-headed God was in great spirits. ‘Never say die !’ he cried genially , on beholding the downcast appearance of his fellow-conspirator. ‘This’ll break the slate. There is no change in the Arupa- Brahma-Loka !’3 ‘Rupe me no rupes!’ howled the necromancer. ‘Get up, fool!’ roared the God. ‘I have got Perdu R’ Abu elected M aha Brahm a.’ ‘Oh Lord, have you really ?’ said the wizard, looking a lit…
1904 · PDF PAGE 101
…idence every where, even in our garbled and mutilated version of the Hebrew Scriptures, that Jehovah’s power was limited in all sorts of way s. At the Fall, for instance, Tetragrammaton Elohim has to summon his angels hastily to guard the Tree of Life, lest he should be proved a liar. For had it occurred to Adam to eat of that Tree before their transgression was discovered, or had the Serpent been aware of its properties, Adam would indeed have lived and not died. S o that a m ere accident saved the rem nants of the already be- smirched reputat…
1904 · PDF PAGE 20
…ieve, whate’er we do Is best for me and best for you And best for all : I line no brow With wrinkles, meditating how.) Well, but another way remains. Shall we expound the cosmic plan By symbolising God and man And nature thus? As man contains Cells, nerves, grey matter in his brains, Each cell a life, self-centred, free Yet self-subordinate to the whole For its own sake—expand !—so we Molecules of a central soul, Time’s sons, judged by Eternity. Nature is gone—our joys, our pains, Our little lives—and God remains. Were this the truth—why ! wors…
1904 · PDF PAGE 86
…. But the fire grew and the light dazzled her; so that with a s hriek she fell. But the beasts flung them selves against the burning gateway of iron, and it gave way. Our Father passed into the fire. Som e say that it consumed him utterly and that he died; howbeit, it is certain that he rose from a sarcophagus, and in the skies stood an angel with a trumpet, and on that trumpet he blew s o mighty a blas t that the dead rose all from their tombs, and our Father among them. “Now away !” he cried. “I would look upon the sun !” And with that the fi…
1904 · PDF PAGE 12
…! Well ! I guess Brer Buddha’s right ! I am no brutal Cain37 to smash an Abel: I hear that blasphemy’s unfashionable: So in the quietest way we’ll chat about it; No need to show teeth, claws of cat about it! With gentle words—fiat exordium; Exeat dolor, intret gaudium ! 1 It had a design of 666 and Crowley’s name in Hebrew (which, like most names, adds up to that figure) on the reverse. 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 Necessity of poem. Mysticism v. literal interpre tation. Former excused. Buddha re- bukes poet. Detailed scheme of modified poem.
1904 · PDF PAGE 46
… denominated “Love.” Indeed I think the man attained By some such means—I have not strained Out mind by chance of sense or sex To find a way less iron-brained Determining direction x;57 I know not if these Hindu methods Be best (’tis no such life and death odds, Since suffering souls to save or damn Never existed). So I fall Confessing : Well, perhance I am Myself a Christian after all ! So far at least. I must concede Christ did attain in every deed ; Yet, being an illiterate man, Not his to balance or to scan, To call God stupid or unjust ! H…
1904 · PDF PAGE 71
…cteristic of Tahuti. 157. Rolands crest.30—See “Two poets of Croisic,” xci. 159. A jest.31—See above : Ascension Day. 162. A mysterious way.32— “ God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform ; He plants His foodsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.” Intentional species ? 171. The old hymn.33—This hymn, quoted I fear with some failure of memory—I have not the documents at hand—is attributed to the late Bishop of Natal, though I doubt this, as the consistent and trustful piety of its sentiment is ill-suited to the author of those d…
1904 · PDF PAGE 58
… act commits it; but I feel that this is no place for metaphysical hair- splitting; let us prove w hat w e have to prove in the plainest way. I would premise in the first place that to commit adultery in the D ivorce C ourt sense is not here in question. It assumes too much proprietary right of a man over a woman, that root of all abomina- tion !—the whole machinery of inheritance, property, and all the labyrinth of law. We may more readily assume that the Buddha was (apparently at least) condemning incontinence. We know that Buddha had abandon…
1904 · PDF PAGE 10
… Nothing can part them for ever. And so, Muse, hover o’er me ! Apollo, above her ! I, of the Moderns, have let alone Greek.21 Out of the way Intuition shall shove her. Spirit and Truth in my darkness I seek. Little by little they bubble and leak; Such as I have to the world I discover. Words—are they weak ones at best ? They shall speak ! 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 Apology of poet. Skeleton of poem. Valuable fact for use of lovers. Invocation. Imperfect scholastic at- tainements of author reme- died by his great spiritual insight. His intention.
1904 · PDF PAGE 60
…h a lever of lath. Awake, awake only ! let there be ever re- membrance that Existence is sorrow, sorrow by the inherent necessity of the way it is made; sorrow not by volition, not by malice, not by carelessness, but by nature, by ineradicable tendency, by the incurable disease of Desire, its Creator, is it so, and the way to destroy it is by the uprooting of Desire ; nor is a task so formidable accomplished b y a ny t hreepenny- bit-in-the-plate-on-Sunday morality, the “deceive others and self-deception will take care of itself” uprightness, b…
1904 · PDF PAGE 56
…English. 94. I cannot write.29—This is not quite true. For instance: This, the opening stanza of my masterly poem on Ladak, reads :—“The way was long, and the w ind was cold : the Lama was infirm and advanced in years ; his prayer-wheel, to revolve which was his only pleasure, was carried by a disciple, an orphan.” There is a reminiscence of some previous incarnation about this : European critics may possibly even identify the passage. But at least the Tibetans should be pleased.* * They were ; thence the pacific character of the British expedi…
1904 · PDF PAGE 125
…mong Buddhists a very large proportion have deliberately gone out from social life of any kind to tread t hese paths of Research. Is the Way very hard? Is the brain tired? The results slow to com e? Others are working, failing, struggling, crowned here and there with rare garlands of success. Success for ourse lves, success for othe rs; is it not Compassion that binds us closer than all earthly ties? Ay, in joy and in sorrow, in weakness and in strength, do I take my refuge in the Sangha. XIII CONCLUSION Let me give a rapid resumé of what we ha…
1904 · PDF PAGE 79
… till the approachin of Perdu’ R Abu’s Arahatship. But in spite of the young gently-ambling cows which Ganesha took care to throw in his way , in spite of the tender shoots of green and the soft cocoanuts, this elephant was not as other elephants. The seasons spoke to him of change—the forest is ever full of sorrow— and nobody need preach to him the absence of an ego, for the brutes have had more sense than ever to im agine there was one. So the tusker was usually to be found, still as a rock, in s ome secluded place, m editating on the Three C…