Practical Occultism

i V

40ft *i*

PRACTIcfAC
OCCULTISM

and
Occultism versus the Occult Arts

1939

THE THEOSOPHICAL
PUBLISHING HOUSE

Adyar, Madras, India

PRACTICAL OCCULTISM

IMPORTANT TO STUDENTS

HP HERE are many people who are
looking for practical instruction
in Occultism. It becomes necessary,
therefore, to state once for all :

(a) The essential difference be
tween theoretical and practical Oc
cultism ; or what is generally known
as Theosophy on the one hand, and
Occult science on the other, and :

(6) The nature of the difficulties
involved in the study of the latter.

8 PRACTICAL

It is easy to become a Theosophist.
Any person of average intellectual capa
cities, and a leaning toward the meta
physical ; of pure, unselfish life, who
finds more joy in helping his neighbour
than in receiving help himself ; one who
is ever ready to sacrifice his own
pleasures for the sake of other people ;
and who loves Truth, Goodness and
Wisdom for their own sake, not for
the benefit they may confer is a
Theosophist.

But it is quite another matter to put
onself upon the path which leads to the
knowledge of what is good to do, as to
the right discrimination of good from
evil ; a path which also leads a man to
that power through which he can do

OCCULTISM 9

the good he desires, often without even
apparently lifting a finger.

Moreover, there is one important fact
with which the student should be made
acquainted. Namely, the enormous, al
most limitless, responsibility assumed
by the teacher for the sake of the pupil.
From the Gurus of the East who teach
openly or secretly, down to the few
Kabalists in Western lands who under
take to teach the rudiments of the
Sacred Science to their disciples those
Western Hierophants being often them
selves ignorant of the danger they incur
one and all of those " Teachers " are
subject to the same inviolable law.
From the moment they begin really to
teach, from the instant they confer any

10 PRACTICAL

power whether psychic, mental or
physical on their pupils, they take
upon themselves all the sins of that
pupil, in connection with the Occult
Sciences, whether of omission or com
mission, until the moment when initia
tion makes the pupil a Master and
responsible in his turn. There is a
weird and mystic religious law, greatly
reverenced and acted upon in the Greek,
half-forgotten in the Roman Catholic,
and absolutely extinct in the Protestant
Church. It dates from the earliest days
of Christianity and has its basis in the
law just stated, of which it was a sym
bol and an expression. This is the
dogma of the absolute sacredness of the
relation between the god-parents who

OCCULTISM 11

stand sponsors for a child. 1 These
tacitly take upon themselves all the
sins of the newly baptized child
(anointed as at the initiation, a mystery
truly !) until the day when the child
becomes a responsible unit, knowing
good and evil. Thus it is clear why
the " Teachers " are so reticent, and
why "Chelas" are required to serve a
seven years probation to prove their
fitness, and develop the qualities neces
sary to the security of both Master and
pupil.

1 So holy is the connection thus formed deemed
in the Greek Church, that a marriage between
god-parents of the same child is regarded as the
worst kind of incest, is considered illegal and is
dissolved by laxv ; and this absolute prohibition
extends even to the children of one of the sponsors
as regards those of the other.

12 PRACTICAL

Occultism is not magic. It is com
paratively easy to learn the trick of
spells and the methods of using the
subtler, but still material, forces of
physical nature ; the powers of the
animal soul in man are soon awakened ;
the forces which his love, his hate, his
passion, can call into operation, are
readily developed. But this is Black
Magic Sorcery. For it is the motive,
and the motive alone, which makes an} r
exercise of power become black, malig
nant, or white, beneficent Magic. It is
impossible to employ spiritual forces if
there is the slightest tinge of selfishness
remaining in the operator. For, unless
the intention is entirely unalloyed, the
spiritual will transform itself into the

OCCULTISM 13

psychic, act on the astral plane, and
dire results may be produced by it.
The powers and forces of animal nature
can equally be used by the selfish and
revengeful, as by the unselfish and the
all-forgiving ; the powers and forces of
spirit lend themselves only to the per
fectly pure in heart and this is DIVINE
MAGIC.

What are then the conditions requir
ed to become a student of the " Divina
Sapientia " ? For let it be known that
no such instruction can possibly be
given unless these certain conditions
are complied with, and rigorously
carried out during the years of study.
This is a sine qua non. No man can
swim unless he enters deep water, No

14 PRACTICAL

bird can fly unless its wings are grown,
and it has space before it and courage
to trust itself to the air. A man who
will wield a two-edged sword, must be
a thorough master of the blunt weapon ,
if he would not injure himself or
what is worse others, at the first
attempt.

To give an approximate idea of the
conditions under which alone the study
of Divine Wisdom can be pursued with
safety, that is, without danger that
Divine will give place to Black Magic, a.
page is given from the " private rules/"
with which every instructor in the East
is furnished. The few passages which
follow are chosen from a great number
and explained in brackets.

OCCULTISM 15

1. The place selected for receiving
instruction must be a spot calculated
not to distract the mind, and filled
with " influence-evolving " (magnetic)
objects. The five sacred colours gather
ed in a circle must be there among
other things. The place must be free
from any malignant influences hanging
about in the air.

[The place must be set apart, and used
for no other purpose. The five " sacred
colours " are the prismatic hues arranged
in a certain way, as these colours are very
magnetic. By 4 malignant influences " are
meant any disturbances through strifes,
quarrels, bad feelings, etc., as these are
said to impress themselves immediately on
the astral light, i.e., in the atmosphere of
the place, and to hang " about in the air."
This first condition seems easy enough to
accomplish, yet on further consideration,

16 PRACTICAL

it is one of the most difficult ones to
obtain.]

2. Before the disciple shall be per
mitted to study " face to face," he has
to acquire preliminary understanding in
a select company of other lay upasaka
(disciples), the number of whom must
be odd.

[" Face to face," means in this instance
a study independent or apart from others,
when the disciple gets his instruction face
to face either with himself (his higher,
Divine Self) or his guru. It is then
only that each receives his due of infor
mation, according to the use he has made
of his knowledge. This can happen only
toward the end of the cycle of instruction.]

3. Before thou (the teacher) shalt
impart to thy Lanoo (disciple) the good

OCCULTISM 17

(holy) words of LAMRIN, or shall
permit him " to make ready " for
Dubjed, thou shalt take care that his
mind is thoroughly purified and at
peace with all, especially with Ms other
Selves. Otherwise the words of Wisdom
and of the good Law shall scatter and
be picked up by the winds.

[" Lamrin " is a work of practical in
structions, by Tson-kha-pa, in two portions,
one for ecclesiastical and exoteric purposes,
the other for esoteric use. " To make
ready" for Dubjed, is to prepare the vessels
used for seership, such as mirrors and
crystals. The " other selves " refers to
the fellow* students. Unless the greatest
harmony reigns among the learners, no
success is possible. It is the teacher who
makes the selections according to the
magnetic and electric natures of the
students, bringing together and adjusting

18 PRACTICAL

most carefully the positive and the
negative elements.]

4. The upasaka while studying must
take care to be united as the ringers on
one hand. Thou shalt impress upon
their minds that whatever hurts one
should hurt the others ; and if the re
joicing of one finds no echo in the
breasts of the others, then the required
conditions are absent, and it is useless
to proceed.

[This can hardly happen if the pre
liminary choice made was consistent with
the magnetic requirements. It is known
that chelas otherwise promising and fit for
the reception of truth, had to wait for
years on account of their temper and the
impossibility they felt to put themselves in
tnne with their companions. For ]

OCCULTISM 19

5. The co-disciples must be tuned
by the guru as the strings of a lute
(vina), each different from the others,
yet each emitting sounds in harmony
with all. Collectively they must form
a key-board answering in all its parts to
thy lightest touch (the touch of the
Master). Thus their minds shall open
for the harmonies of Wisdom, to vibrate
as knowledge through each and all,
resulting in effects pleasing to the pre
siding gods (tutelary or patron-angels)
and useful to the Lanoo. So shall
Wisdom be impressed for ever on their
hearts and the harmony of the law shall
never be broken.

6. Those who desire to acquire the
knowledge leading to the Siddhis (occult

20 PRACTICAL

powers) have to renounce all the vani
ties of life and of the world (here fol
lows enumeration of the Siddhis).

7. None can feel the difference be
tween himself and his fellow-students,
such as " I am the wisest," " I am
more holy and pleasing to the teacher,
or in my community, than my brother,"
etc., and remain an upasaka. His
thoughts must be predominantly fixed
upon his heart, chasing therefrom every
hostile thought to any living being. It
(the heart) must be full of the feeling
of its non-separateness from the rest of
beings as from all in Nature ; otherwise
no success can follow.

8. A Lanoo (disciple) has to dread
external living influence alone (magnetic

OCCULTISM 21

emanations from living creatures). For
this reason, while at one with all, in
his inner nature, he must take care to
separate his outer (external) body from
every foreign influence : none must
drink out of, or eat in his cup but him
self. He must avoid bodily contact
(i.e., being touched or touch) with
human, as with animal being.

[No pet animals are permitted, and it is
forbidden even to touch certain trees and
plants. A disciple has to live, so to say,
in his own atmosphere in order to in
dividualise it for occult purposes.]

9. The mind must remain blunt to
all but the universal truths in nature,
lest the " Doctrine of the ,Hp%t tl
should become only the " D0i^^*ol
the Eye " (i.e., empty exoteri^/^yalism) .

22 PRACTICAL

10. No animal food of whatever kind,
nothing that has life in it, should be
taken by the disciple. No wine, no
spirits or opium should be used ; for
these are like the Lhamaym (evil
spirits), who fasten upon the unwary,
the.} devour the understanding.

[Wine and Spirits are supposed to
contain and preserve the bad magnetism of
all the men who helped in their fabrication ;
the meat of each animal, to preserve the
psychic characteristics of its kind.]

11. Meditation, abstinence, the ob
servation of moral duties, gentle
thoughts, good deeds and kind words,
as goodwill to all and entire oblivion of
Self, are the most efficacious means of
obtaining knowledge and preparing for
the reception of higher wisdom.

OCCULTISM 23

12. It is only by virtue of a strict
observance of the foregoing rules that a
Lanoo can hope to acquire in good
time the Siddhis of the Arhats, the
growth which makes him become gradu
ally One with the UNIVERSAL ALL.

These 12 extracts are taken from
among some 73 rules, to enumerate
which would be useless as they would be
meaningless in Europe. But even these
few are enough to show the immensity
of the difficulties which beset the path
of the would-be " Upasaka," who has
been born and bred in Western lands. 1

1 Be it remembered that all "Chelas," even
lay disciples, are called Upasaka until after their
first initiation, when they become Lanoo-Upasaka.
To that day, even those who belong to Lamaseries
and are set apart, are considered as " laymen."

24 PRACTICAL

All Western, and especially English,
education is instinct with the principle
of emulation and strife ; each boy is
urged to learn more quickly, to outstrip
his companions, and to surpass them in
every possible way. What is mis-called
" friendly rivalry " is assiduously culti
vated, and the same spirit is fostered
and strengthened in every detail of life.
With such ideas " educated into "
him from his childhood, how can a
Western bring himself to feel towards
his co-students " as the fingers on one
hand " ? Those co-students, too, are
not of his own selection, or chosen by
himself from personal sympathy and
appreciation. They are chosen by his
teacher on far other grounds, and he

OCCULTISM 25

who would be a student must first be
strong enough to kill out in his heart
all feelings of dislike and antipathy to
others. How many Westerns are ready
even to attempt this in earnest ?

And then the details of daily life, the
command not to touch even the hand
of one s nearest and dearest. How-
contrary to Western notions of affection
and good feeling ! How cold and hard
it seems. Egotistical too, people would
say, to abstain from giving pleasure to
others for the sake of one s own
development. Well, let those who think
so defer till another lifetime the attempt
to enter the path in real earnest. But
let them not glory in their own fancied
unselfishness. For, in reality, it is only

26 PRACTICAL

the seeming appearances which they
allow to deceive them, the conventional
notions, based on emotionalism and
gush, or so-called courtesy, things of
the unreal life, not the dictates of
Truth.

But even putting aside these diffi
culties, which may be considered " ex
ternal," though their importance is
none the less great, how are students
in the West to " attune themselves "
to harmony as here required of them ?
So strong has personality grown in
Europe and America, that there is no
school of artists even whose members
do not hate and are not jealous of each
other. " Professional " hatred and
envy have become proverbial ; men seek

OCCULTISM 27

each to benefit himself at all costs,
and even the so-called courtesies of life
are but a hollow mask covering these
demons of hatred and jealousy.

In the East the spirit of " non-
separateness " is inculcated as steadily
from childhood up, as in the West the
spirit of rivalry. Personal ambition,
personal feelings and desires, are not
encouraged to grow so rampant there.
When the soil is naturally good, it is
cultivated in the right way, and the child
grows into a man in whom the habit
of subordination of one s lower to one s
higher Self is strong and powerful.
In the West men think that their
own likes and dislikes of other men
and things are guiding principles for

28 PRACTICAL

them to act upon, even when they do
not make of them the law of their
lives and seek to impose them upon
others.

Let those who complain that they
have learned little in the Theosophical
Society lay to heart the words written
in an article in the Path for last
February: " The key in each degree is
the aspirant himself." It is not " the
fear of God " which is " the beginning
of Wisdom," but the knowledge of

SELF which is WISDOM ITSELF.

How grand and true appears, thus,
to the student of Occultism who has
commenced to realise some of the
foregoing truths, the answer given by
the Delphic Oracle to all who came

OCCULTISM 29

seeking after Occult Wisdom words
repeated and enforced again and again
by the wise Socrates : MAN KNOW
THYSELF. . . .

OCCULTISM VERSUS THE
OCCULT ARTS

"I oft have heard, but ne er believed till now,
There are, who can by potent magic spells
Bend to their crooked purpose Nature s
laws." MILTON.

TN this month s "Correspondence"
several letters testify to the strong
impression produced on some minds
by our last month s article, Practi
cal Occultism. Such letters go far to
prove and strengthen two logical con
clusions.

(a) There are more well-educated
and thoughtful men who believe in the
existence of Occultism and Magic (the

3

34 OCCULTISM VE

two differing vastly) than the m
materialist dreams of ; and

(6) That most of the believers
prising many Theosophists) ha
definite idea of the nature of
ism, and confuse it with the (
sciences in general, the " Black
included.

Their representations of the p
it confers upon man, and of the i
to be used to acquire them, ;
varied as they are fanciful,
imagine that a master in the ;
show the way, is all that is nee<
become a Zanoni. Others, tha
has but to cross the Canal of Sue
go to India to bloom forth as a
Bacon or even a Count St. Gei

THE OCCULT ARTS 35

Many take for their ideal, Margrave with
his ever-renewing youth, and care little
for the soul as the price paid for it. Not
a few, mistaking " Witch-of-Endor-
ism," pure and simple, for Occultism
" through the yawning Earth from
Stygian gloom, call up the meagre
ghosts to walks of light," and want, on
the strength of this feat, to be regarded
as full-blown Adepts. " Ceremonial
Magic," according to the rules mock
ingly laid down by Eliphas Levi, is
another imagined alter ego of the philo
sophy of the Arhats of old. In short,
the prisms through which Occultism
appears, to those innocent of the philo
sophy, are as multicoloured and varied
as human fancy can make them.

36 OCCULTISM VERSUS

Will these candidates to Wisdom and
Power feel very indignant if told the
plain truth ? It is not only useful, but
it has now become necessary to dis
abuse most of them, and before it is
too late. This truth may be said in- a
few words : There are not in the West
half-a-dozen among the fervent hund
reds who call themselves " Occultists "
who have even an approximately correct
idea of the nature of the science they
seek to master. With a few exceptions,
they are all on the highway to Sorcery.
Let them restore some order in the
chaos that reigns in their minds before
they protest against this statement. Let
them first learn the true relation in
which the Occult Sciences stand to

THE OCCULT ARTS 37

Occultism, and the difference bet
ween the two, and then feel wrathful
if they still think themselves right.
Meanwhile, let them learn that Occult
ism differs from Magic and other secret
Sciences as the glorious sun does from
a rush-light, as the immutable and im
mortal Spirit of Man the reflection of
the absolute, causeless and unknowable
ALL differs from the mortal clay the
human body.

In our highly civilised West, where
modern languages have been formed,
and words coined, in the wake of ideas
and thoughts as happened with every
tongue the more the latter became
materialised in the cold atmosphere of
Western selfishness and its incessant

38 OCCULTISM VERSUS

chase after the goods of this world, the
less was there any need felt for the
production of new terms to express
that which was tacitly regarded as
absolute and exploded " superstition."
Such words could answer only to ideas
which a cultured man was scarcely
supposed to harbour in his mind.

" Magic," a synonym for jugglery ;
" Sorcery/ an equivalent for crass
ignorance ; and " Occultism," the sorry
relic of crack-brained, mediaeval Fire-
philosophers, of the Jacob Boehmes
and the St. Martins, are expressions
believed more than amply sufficient to
cover the wjhole field of " thimble-
rigging-" They are terms of contempt,
arid used generally only yi reference to

THE OCCULT ARTS 39

the dross and residues of the dark ages
and its preceding aeons of paganism.
Therefore have we no terms in the
English tongue to define and shade
the difference between such abnormal
powers, or the sciences that lead to the
acquisitions of them, with the nicety
possible in the Eastern languages
pre-eminently the Sanskrit. What do
the words " miracle " and " enchant
ment " (words identical in meaning
after all, as both express the idea of
producing wonderful things by breaking
the laws of nature (!!) as explained by
the accepted authorities) convey to the
minds of those who hear, or who pro
nounce them ? A Christian " breaking
of the laws of nature " notwithstanding

40 OCCULTISM VERSUS

while believing firmly in the miracles,
because said to have been produced by
God through Moses, will either scout
the enchantments performed by Pha
raoh s magicians, or attribute them to
the devil. It is the latter whom our
pious enemies connect with Occultism,
while their impious foes, the infidels,
laugh at Moses, Magicians, and Occult
ists, and would blush to give one
serious thought to such " superstitions."
This, because there is no term in exist
ence to show the difference ; no words
to express the lights and shadows, and
draw the line of demarcation between
the sublime and the true, the absurd
and the ridiculous. The latter are the
theological interpretations which teach

THE OCCULT ARTS 41

the " breaking of the laws of Nature "
by man, God, or devil ; the former the
scientific " miracles " and enchantments
of Moses and the Magicians in accor
dance with natural laws, both having
been learned in all the Wisdom of the
Sanctuaries, which were the " Royal
Societies " of those days and in true
OCCULTISM. This last word is
certainly misleading, translated as it
stands from the compound word Gupta-
Vidya, " Secret Knowledge." But the
knowledge of what ? Some of the
Sanskrit terms may help us.

There are four (out of the many
other) names of the various kinds of
Esoteric Knowledge or Sciences given,
even in the exoteric Puranas. There is

42 OCCULTISM VERSUS

(1) Yajna-Vidya, 1 knowledge of the
occult powers awakened in nature by
the performance of certain religious
ceremonies and rites. (2) Mahavidya,

1 "The Yajna," say the Brahmans, "exists
from eternity, for it proceeded forth from the
Supreme One ... in whom it lay dormant from
no beginning. It is the key to the TRAIVIDYA,
the thrice sacred science contained in the Rig
verses, which teaches the Yagus or sacrificial
mysteries. The Yajna exists as an invisible
thing at all times ; it is like the latent power of
electricity in an electrifying machine, requiring
only the operation of a suitable apparatus in
order to be elicited. It is supposed to extend
from the Ahayaniya or sacrificial fire to the
heavens, forming a bridge or ladder by means of
which the sacrificer can communicate with the
world of gods and spirits, and even ascend when
alive to their abodes." Martin Haug s Aitareya
Brahmana.

1 This Yajna is again one of the forms of the
Akasa ; and the mystic word calling it into ex
istence and pronounced mentally by the initiated
Priest is the Lost Word receiving impulse through
WILL POWER." " Isis Unveiled," vol. i, Intr.
See Aitareya Brahmana, Haug,

THE OCCULT ARTS 43

the " great knowledge," the magic of
the Kabalists and of the Tantrika
worship, often Sorcery of the worst
description. (3) Guhya-Vidya, know
ledge of the mystic powers residing in
Sound (Ether), hence in the Mantras
(chanted prayers or incantations), and
depending on the rhythm and melody
used ; in other words, a magical per
formance based on knowledge of the
Forces of Nature and their correlation ;
and (4) ATMA-VIDYA, a term which is
translated simply " Knowledge of the
Soul," true Wisdom by the Orientalists,
but which means far more.

This last is the only kind of Occult
ism that any Theosophist who admires
" Light on the Path/ and who would

44 OCCULTISM VERSUS

be wise and unselfish, ought to strive
after. All the rest is some branch of
the " Occult Sciences," i.e., arts based
on the knowledge of the ultimate es
sence of all things in the Kingdoms of
Nature such as minerals, plants and
animals hence of things pertaining
to the realm of material nature, how
ever invisible that essence may be, and
howsoever much it has hitherto eluded
the grasp of Science. Alchemy, Astro
logy, Occult Physiology, Chiromancy,
exist in Nature, and the exact Sciences
perhaps so called, because they are
found in this age of paradoxical philo
sophies the reverse have already dis
covered not a few of the above
arts. But clairvoyance, symbolised in

THE OCCULT ARTS 45

India as the. " Eye of Siva," called in
Japan, " Infinite Vision," is not Hypno
tism, the illegitimate son of Mesmerism,
and is not to be acquired by such arts.
All the others may be mastered and
results obtained, whether good, bad,
or indifferent; but Atma-Vidya sets
small value on them. It includes them
all and may even use them occasionally,
but it does so after purifying them of
their dross, for beneficent purposes, and
taking care to deprive them of every
element of selfish motive. Let us ex
plain : Any man or woman can set
himself or herself to study one or all of
the above specified " Occult Arts "
without any great previous preparation,
and even without adopting any tod

46 OCCULTISM VERSUS

restraining mode of life. One could
even dispense with any lofty standard
of morality. In the last case, of course,
ten to one the student would blossom
into a very decent kind of sorcerer, and
tumble down headlong into black
magic. But what can this matter ?
The Voodoos and the Dugpas eat,
drink, and are merry over hecatombs
of victims of their infernal arts. And
so do the amiable gentlemen vivisec-
tionists and the diploma-ed " Hypno-
tisers " of the Faculties of Medicine ;
the only difference between the two
classes being that the Voodoos and
Dugpas are conscious^ and the Charcot-
Richet crew unconscious, Sorcerers.
Thus, since both have to reap the

THE OCCULT ARTS 47

fruits of their labours and achievements
in the black art, the Western practi
tioners should not have the punishment
and reputation without the profits and
enjoyments they may get therefrom. For
we say it again, hypnotism and vivisec
tion as practised in such Schools, are
Sorcery pure and simple, minus a knowl
edge that the Voodoos and Dugpas en
joy, and which no Charcot-Richet can
procure for himself in fifty years of
hard study and experimental observa
tion. Let, then, those who will dabble
in magic, whether they understand its
nature or not, but who find the rules
imposed upon students too hard, and
who, therefore, lay Atma-Vidya or
Occultism aside go without it. Let

48 OCCULT VERSUS

them become magicians by all means,
even though they do become Voodoos
and Dugpas for the next ten incar
nations.

But the interest of our readers will
probably centre on those who are in
vincibly attracted towards the " Occult,"
yet who neither realise the true nature
of what they aspire towards, nor have
they become, passion-proof, far less,
truly unselfish.

How about these unfortunates, we
shall be asked, who are thus rent in
twain by conflicting forces ? For it has
been said too often to need repetition,
and the fact itself is patent to any
observer, that when once the desire for
Occultism has really .awakened in a

THE OCCULT ARTS 49

man s heart, there remains for him no
hope of peace, no place of rest and
comfort in all the world. He is driven
out into the wild and desolate spaces
of life by an ever-gnawing unrest he
cannot quell. His heart is too full of
passion and selfish desire to permit him
to pass the Golden Gate ; he cannot
find rest or peace in ordinary life.
Must he then inevitably fall into sorcery
and black magic, and through many in
carnations heap up for himself a terrible
Karma ? Is there no other road for
him ?

Indeed there is, we answer. Let him

aspire to no higher than he feels able

to accomplish. Let him not take a

burden upon himself too heavy for him

4

SO OCCULTISM VERSUS

to carry. Without ever becoming a
61 Mahatma," a Buddha or a Great
Saint, let him study the philosophy and
the " Science of Soul/ and he can be
come one of the modest benefactors of
humanity, without any " superhuman "
powers. Siddhis (or the Arhat powers)
are only for those who are able to
" lead the life, to comply with the
terrible sacrifices required for such a
training, and to comply with them to
the very letter. Let them know at once
and remember always, that true Occult
ism or Theosophy is the " Great Re
nunciation of SELF," unconditionally
and absolutely, in thought as in action.
It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him who
practises it out of calculation of the

THE OCCULT ARTS 51

ranks of the living altogether. " Not
for himself, but for the world, he lives,"
as soon as he has pledged himself to
the work. Much is forgiven during the
first years of probation. But no sooner
is he " accepted " than his personality
must disappear, and he has to become
a mere beneficent force in Natiire.
There are two poles for him after that,
two paths, and no mid ward place of
rest. He has either to ascend laborious
ly, step by step, often through numer
ous incarnations and no Devachanic
break, the golden ladder leading to
Mahatmaship (theArhat*
condition), or he will let
down the ladder at the first fa^se step,
and roll down into Dugpash^.^. * .. ,

.: g

6*1

52 OCCULTISM VERSUS

All this is either unknown or left out
of sight altogether. Indeed, one who
is able to follow the silent evolution of
the preliminary aspirations of the candi
dates often finds strange ideas quietly
taking possession of their minds. There
are those whose reasoning powers have
been so distorted by foreign influences
that they imagine that animal passions
can be so sublimated and elevated that
their fury, force, and fire can, so to
speak, be turned inwards ; that they
can be stored and shut up in one s
breast, until their energy is, not ex
panded, but turned toward higher and
more holy purposes : namely, until their
collective and unexpanded strength
enables their possessor to enter the true

THE OCCULT ARTS 53

Sanctuary of the Soul and stand therein
in the presence of the Master the
HIGHER SELF. For this purpose they
will not struggle with their passions
nor slay them. They will simply, by a
strong effort of will, put down the fierce
flames and keep them at bay within
their natures, allowing the fire to
smoulder under a thin layer of ashes.
They submit joyfully to the torture of
of the Spartan boy who allowed the fox
to devour his entrails rather than part
with it. Oh, poor blind visionaries !

As well hope that a band of drunken
chimney-sweeps, hot and greasy from
their work, may be shut up in a Sanctu
ary hung with pure white linen, and
that instead of soiling and turning it by

54 OCCULTISM VERSUS

their presence into a heap of dirty
shreds, they will become masters in and
of the sacred recess, and finally emerge
from it as immaculate as that recess.
Why not imagine that a dozen of
skunks imprisoned in the pure atmos
phere of a Dgon-pa (a monastery) can
issue out of it impregnated with all the
perfumes of the incenses used ? . . .
Strange aberration of the human mind.
Can it be so ? Let us argue.

The "Master" in the Sanctuary of
our souls is " the Higher Self " the
divine spirit whose consciousness is
based upon and derived solely (at any
rate during the mortal life of the man
in whom it is captive) from the Mind,
which we have agreed to call the Human

THE OCCULT ARTS 55

Soul (the " Spiritual Soul " being the
vehicle of the Spirit). In its turn the
former (the personal or human soul)
is a compound, in its highest form, of
spiritual aspirations, volitions, and
divine love ; and in its lower aspect, of
animal desires and terrestrial passions
imparted to it by its associations with
its vehicle, the seat of all these. It
thus stands as a link and a medium be
tween the animal nature of man which
its higher reason seeks to subdue, and
his divine spiritual nature to which it
gravitates, whenever it has the upper
hand in its struggle with the inner
animal. The latter is the instinctual
" animal Soul," and is the hotbed of
those passions which, as just shown,

56 OCCULTISM VERSUS

are lulled instead of being killed, and
locked up in their breasts by some im
prudent enthusiasts. Do they still hope
to turn thereby the muddy stream of
the animal sewer into the crystalline
waters of life ? And where, on what
neutral ground, can they be imprisoned
so as not to affect man ? The fierce
passions of love and lust are still
alive, and they are allowed to still
remain in the place of their birth that
same animal soul ; for both the higher
and the lower portions of the " Human
Soul " or Mind reject such inmates,
though they cannot avoid being tainted
with them as neighbours. The " High
er Self " or Spirit is as unable to
Assimilate such feelings as water to get

THE OCCULT ARTS 57

mixed with oil or unclean liquid tallow.
It is thus the mind alone the sole link
and medium between the man of earth
and the Higher Self that is the only
sufferer, and which is in incessant
danger of being dragged down by those
passions that may be reawakened at
any moment, and perish in the abyss
of matter. And how can it ever attune
itself to the divine harmony of the
highest Principle, when that harmony
is destroyed by the mere presence,
within the Sanctuary in preparation, of
such animal passions ? How can har
mony prevail and conquer, when the
soul is stained and distracted with the
turmoil of passions and the terrestrial

58 OCCULTISM VERSUS

desires of the bodily senses, or even of
the "Astral man" ?

For this " Astral " the shadowy
61 double " (in the animal as in man) is
not the companion of the divine Ego
but of the earthly body. It is the link
between the personal SELF, the lower
consciousness of Manas and the Body,
and is the vehicle of transitory, not of
immortal life. Like the shadow pro
jected by man, it follows his move
ments and impulses slavishly and
mechanically, and leans therefore to
matter without ever ascending to Spirit.
It is only when the power of the pas
sions is dead altogether, and when they
have been crushed and annihilated in
the retort of an unflinching will ; when

THE OCCULT ARTS 59

not only all the lusts and longings of
the flesh are dead, but also the recogni
tion of the personal Self is killed out
and the " Astral " has been reduced in
consequence to a cipher, that the Union
with the " Higher Self" can take place.
Then when the " Astral " reflects only
the conquered man, the still living but
no more the longing, selfish personal
ity, then the brilliant Augoeides, the
divine SELF, can vibrate in con
scious harmony with both the poles
of the human Entity the man of
matter purified, and the ever pure
Spiritual Soul and stand in the
presence of the MASTER SELF, the
Christos of the mystic Gnostic, blended,

60 OCCULTISM VERSUS

merged into, and one with IT for
ever. 1

How, then, can it be thought possi
ble for a man to enter the " strait
gate " of occultism when his daily and
hourly thoughts are bound up with
worldly things, desires of possession
and power, with lust, ambition, and
duties which, however honourable, are
still of the earth earthy ? Even the
love for wife and family the purest

1 Those who would feel inclined to see three
Egos in one man will show themselves unable to
perceive the metaphysical meaning. Man is a
trinity composed of Body, Soul, and Spirit ; but
man is nevertheless one, and is surely not his
body. It is the latter which is the property, the
transitory clothing of the man. The three
Egos are MAN in his three aspects on the
astral, intellectual or psychic, and the Spiritual

THE OCCULT ARTS ei

as the most unselfish of human affec
tions is a barrier to real occultism.
For whether we take as an example
the holy love of a mother for her child,
or that of a husband for his wife, even
in these feelings, when analysed to the
very bottom, and thoroughly sifted,
there is still selfishness in the first, and
an egoisme a deux in the second in
stance. What mother would not sacri
fice without a moment s hesitation
hundreds and thousands of lives for
that of the child of her heart? and
what lover or true husband would not
break the happiness of every other man
and woman around him to satisfy the
desire of one whom he loves ? This is
but natural, we shall be told. Quite

62 OCCULTISM VERSUS

so, in the light of the code of human
affections ; less so, in that of divine
universal love. For, while the heart is
full of thoughts for a little group of
selves, near and dear to us, how shall
the rest of mankind fare in our souls ?
What percentage of love and care will
there remain to bestow on the " great
orphan " ? And how shall the " still
small voice " make itself heard in a
soul entirely occupied with its own
privileged tenants ? What room is there
left for the needs of Humanity en bloc
to impress themselves upon, or even
receive a speedy response ? And yet, he
who would profit by the wisdom of
the universal mind, has to reach it
through the whole of Humanity without

THE OCCULT ARTS 63

distinction of race, complexion, religion,
or social status. It is altruism, not
ego-ism even in its most legal and noble
conception, that can lead the unit to
merge its little Self in the Universal
Selves. It is to these needs and to this
work that the true disciple of true
Occultism has to devote himself if he
would obtain &eo-sophy, divine Wis
dom and Knowledge.

The aspirant has to choose absolutely
between the life of the world and the
life of occultism. It is useless and vain
to endeavour to unite the two, for no
one can serve two masters and satisfy
both. No one can serve his body and the
higher Soul, and do his family duty and
his universal duty, without depriving

64 OCCULTISM VERSUS

either one or the other of its rights ;
for he will either lend his ear to the
" still small voice " and fail to hear the
cries of his little ones, or, he will listen
but to the wants of the latter and
remain deaf to the voice of Humanity.
It would be a ceaseless, a madderiing
struggle for almost any married man,
who would pursue true practical Occult
ism, instead of its theoretical philo
sophy. For he would find himself ever
hesitating between the voice of the im
personal divine love of Humanity, and
that of the personal, terrestrial love.
And this could only lead him to fail in
one or the other, or perhaps in both his
duties. Worse than this. For, whoever
indulges, after having pledged himself

THE OCCULT ARTS 65

to OCCULTISM, in the gratification of
a terrestrial love or htst, must feel an
almost immediate result that of being
irresistibly dragged from the impersonal
divine state down to the lower plane of
matter. Sensual, or even mental, self-
gratification involves the immediate loss
of the powers of spiritual discernment ;
the voice of the MASTER can no longer
be distinguished from that of one s pas
sions, or even that of a Dugpa ; the
right from wrong ; sound morality from
mere casuistry. The Dead Sea fruit
assumes the most glorious mystic ap
pearance, only to turn to ashes on the
lips, and to gall in the heart, resulting in :

"Depth ever deepening, darkness
darkening still ;

66 OCCULTISM VERSUS

Folly for wisdom, guilt for innocence ;
Anguish for rapture, and for hope
despair."

And once being mistaken and having
acted on their mistakes, most men
shrink from realising their error, and
thus descend deeper and deeper into the
mire. And, although it is the intention
that decides primarily whether white or
black magic is exercised, yet the results
even of involuntary, unconscious sor
cery cannot fail to be productive of bad
Karma. Enough has been said to show
that sorcery is any kind of evil influ
ence exercised upon other persons, who
suffer, or make other persons suffer, in
consequence. Karma is a heavy stone
splashed in the quiet waters of Life ;

THE OCCULT ARTS 67

and it must produce ever widening cir
cles of ripples, carried wider and wider,
almost ad infinitum. Such causes pro
duced have to call forth effects and
these are evidenced in the just laws of
Retribution.

Much of this may be avoided if
people will only abstain from rushing
into practices neither the nature nor
importance of which they understand.
No one is expected to carry a burden
beyond his strength and powers. There
are " natural born magicians " ; Mystics
and Occultists by birth, and by right of
direct inheritance from a series of in
carnations and aeons of suffering and
failures. These are passion-proof, so
to say. No fires of earthly origin can

68 OCCULTISM VERSUS

fan into a flame any of their senses or
desires ; no human voice can find res
ponse in their souls, except the great
cry of Humanity. These only may be
certain of success. But they can be
met only far and wide, and they pass
through the narrow gates of Occultism
because they carry no personal luggage
of human transitory sentiments along
with them. They have got rid of the
feeling of the lower personality, para
lysed thereby the " astral " animal, and
the golden, but narrow gate is thrown
open before them. Not so with those
who have to carry yet for several incar
nations the burden of sins committed
in previous lives, and even in their pre
sent existence. For such, unless they

THE OCCULT ARTS 69

proceed with great caution, the golden
gate of Wisdom may get transformed
into the wide gate and the broad way
"that leadeth unto destruction," and
therefore " many be they that enter in
thereby." This is the Gate of the
Occult arts, practised for selfish motives
and , in the absence of the restraining
and beneficent influence of ATMA-
VIDYA. We are in the Kali Yuga and
its fatal influence is a thousandfold
more powerful in the West than it is in
the East ; hence the easy preys made
by the Powers of the Age of Darkness
in this cyclic struggle, and the many
delusions under which the world is now
labouring. One of these is the relative
facility with which men fancy they can

70 OCCULTISM VERSUS

get at the " Gate " and cross the thresh
old of Occultism without any great
sacrifice. It is the* dream of most
Theosophists, one inspired by desire for
power and personal selfishness, and it is
not such feelings that can ever lead
them to the coveted goal. For, as well
said by one believed to have sacrificed
himself for Humanity " narrow is the
gate and straitened the way that leadeth
unto life " eternal, and therefore " few
be they that find it." So strait indeed,
that at the bare mention of some of the
preliminary difficulties the affrighted
Western candidates turn back and
retreat with a shudder. . . .

Let them stop here and attempt no
more in their great weakness. For if

THE OCCULT ARTS 71

while turning their backs on the
narrow gate, they are dragged by their
desire for the Occult one step in the
direction of the broad and more inviting
Gates of that golden mystery which
glitters in the light of illusion, woe to
them ! It can lead only to Dugpaship,
and they will be sure to find themselves
very soon landed on that Via Fatah
of the Inferno, over whose portal Dante
read the words :

Per tne si va nella citta dolente
Per me si va neW eterno dolore
Per me si va tra la perduta genie. . ."

SOME PRACTICAL SUGGES
TIONS FOR DAILY LIFE

PREFACE

THE quotations of which the following
article is composed were not originally
extracted with a view to publication,
and may therefore appear somewhat
disjointed.

They were first published as a Theo-
sophical Sifting, in the hope that read
ers might take the hint, and make daily
books of extracts for themselves, thus
preserving a lasting record of the books
read, and rendering their reading of
practical value. By following this plan,
the reader would concentrate in a brief

76 PREFACE

space whatever has appealed to him as
being the essence of the book.

The plan of reading a set of quota
tions each morning, trying to live up to
them during the day, and meditating
upon them in leisure moments, is also
suggested as helpful to the earnest
student.

O ISE early, as soon as you are
awake, without lying idly in bed,
half-waking and half-dreaming. Then
earnestly pray that all mankind may be
spiritually regenerated, that those who
are struggling on the path of truth may
be encouraged by your prayers and
work more earnestly and successfully,
and that you may be strengthened and
not yield to the seductions of the
senses. Picture before your mind the
form of your Master as engaged in
Samadhi, Fix it before you, fill in all

78 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

the details, think of him with rever
ence, and pray that all mistakes of
omission and commission may be for
given. This will greatly facilitate con
centration, purify your heart, and do
much more. Or reflect upon the
defects of your character : thoroughly
realise their evils and the transient
pleasures they give you, and firmly will
that you shall try your best not to yield
to them the next time. This self-
analysis and bringing yourself before
the bar of your own conscience facili
tates, in a degree hitherto undreamt of,
your spiritual progress. When you
bathe, exercise during the whole time
your will, that your moral impurities
should be washed away with those of

FOR DAILY LIFE 79

your body. In your relations with
others observe the following rules.
1. Never do anything which you are not
bound to do as your duty ; that is, any
unnecessary thing. Before you do a
thing, think whether it is your duty to
do it. 2. Never speak an unnecessary
word. Think of the effects your words
might produce before you give utter
ance to them. Never allow yourself to
violate your principles by the force of
your company. 3. Never allow any
unnecessary or vain thought to occupy
your mind. This is more easily said
than done. You cannot make your
mind a blank all at once. So in the
beginning try to prevent evil or idle
thoughts by occupying your mind with

80 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

the analysis of your own faults, or the
contemplation of the Perfect Ones.
4. During meals exercise your will, that
your food should be properly digested
and build for you a body in harmony
with your spiritual aspirations, and not
create evil passion and wicked thoughts.
Eat only when you are hungry and
drink when you are thirsty, and never
otherwise. If some particular prepara
tion attracts your palate, do not allow
yourself to be seduced into taking it
simply to gratify that craving. Remem
ber that the pleasure you derive from
it had no existence some seconds be
fore, and that it will cease to exist
some seconds afterwards ; that it is a
transient pleasure ? that that which is a

FOR DAILY LIFE 81

pleasure now will turn into pain if you
take it in large quantities ; that it gives
pleasure only to the tongue^ that if you
are put to a great trouble to get that
thing, and if you allow yourself to be
seduced by it, you will not be ashamed
at any thing to get it ; that while there
is another object that can give you
eternal bliss, this centering your affec
tions on a transient thing is sheer folly ;
that you are neither the body nor the
sense, and therefore the pleasure and
the pains which these endure can never
affect you really, and so on. Practise
the same train of reasoning in the case
of every other temptation, and, though
you will often fail, yet you will achieve
a surer success. Do not read much. If
a

82 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

you read for ten minutes, reflect for as
many hours. Habituate yourself to
solitude, and to remaining alone with
your thoughts.

Accustom yourself to the thought that
no one beside yourself can assist you,
and wean away your affections from all
things gradually. Before you sleep, pray
as you did in the morning. Review the
actions of the day, and see wherein you
have failed, and resolve that you will
not fail in them to-morrow. 1

II

THE right motive for seeking self-
knowledge is that which pertains to
1 Theosophist, August 89, p. 647.

FOR DAILY LIFE 83

knowledge and not to self. Self
-knowledge is worth seeking by virtue
of its being knowledge, and not by
virtue of its pertaining to self. The
main requisite for acquiring self-know
ledge is pure love. Seek knowledge for
pure love, and self-knowledge eventually
crowns the effort. The fact of a student
growing impatient is proof positive that
he works for reward, and not for love,
and that, in its turn proves that he
does not deserve the great victory in
store for those who really work for
pure love. 1

The "God" in us that is to say,
the Spirit of Love and Truth, Justice
and Wisdom, Goodness and Power
1 Theosophist, August 89, p. 663,

84 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

should be our only true and permanent
Love, our only reliance in everything,
our only Fa4th, which, standing firm
as a rock, can for ever be trusted ; our
only Hope, which will never fail us if
all other things perish ; and the only
object which we must seek to obtain,
by our Patience, waiting contentedly
until our evil Karma has been exhausted
and the divine Redeemer will reveal to
us his presence within our soul. The
door through which he enters is called
Contentment ; for he who is disconten
ted with himself is discontented with
the law that made him such as he is ;
and as God is Himself the Law, God will
not come to those that are discontented

FOR DAILY LIFE 8B

with Him. 1 If we admit that we are in
the stream of evolution, then each
circumstance must be to us quite right.
And in our failure to perform set acts
should be our greatest help, for we can
in no other way learn that calmness
which Krishna insists upon. If all our
plans succeeded, then no contrasts
would appear to us. Also those plans
we make may all be made ignorantly,
and thus wrongly, and kind Nature will
not permit us to carry them out. We
get no blame for the plan, but we may
acquire karmic demerit by not accept
ing the impossibility of achieving. If
you are at all cast down, then by just

1 Theosophical Sift ings No. 8, vol. ii, p. 9,
Hartmann.

66 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

that much are your thoughts lessened in
power. One could be confined in a
prison and yet be a worker for the cause.
So I pray you to remove from your
mind any distaste for present circum
stances. If you can succeed in looking
at it all as just what you in fact desir
ed, 1 then it will act not only as a
strengthener of your thoughts, but will
act reflexly on your body and make it
stronger. 2

To act and act wisely when the time
for action comes, to wait and wait
patiently when it is time for repose,
put man in accord with the rising and

1<f yow" meaning the Higher Self. We are
as we make ourselves.

2 Path, August 89, p. 131.

)AILY LIFE 87

tides (of affairs), so that with

and law at his back, and truth

sneficence as his beacon light, he

:complish wonders. Ignorance of

,w results in periods of unreason-

thusiasm on the one hand, and

sion and even despair on the

Man thus becomes the victim

tides when he should be their
. i

e patience, Candidate, as one who
LO failure, courts no success. 2
umulated energy cannot be an
ted, it must be transferred to
forms, or be transformed into
modes of motion ; it cannot

h, July 89, p. 107.

ce of the Silence, p. 31.

88 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

remain for ever inactive and yet continue
to exist. It is useless to attempt to
resist a passion which we cannot con
trol. If its accumulating energy is not
led into other channels, it will grow
until it becomes stronger than will, and
stronger than reason. To control it,
you must lead it into another and
higher channel. Thus a love for some
thing vulgar may be changed by turning
it into a love for something high, and
vice may be changed into virtue by
changing its aim-. Passion is blind, it
goes where it is led, and reason is a
safer guide for it than the instinct.
Stored up anger (or love) will find
some object upon which to spend its
fury, else it may produce an explosion

FOR DAILY LIFE 89

destructive to its possessor ; tranquillity
follows a storm. The ancients said that
nature suffers no vacuum. We cannot
destroy or annihilate a passion. If it is
driven away, another elemental influ
ence will take its place. We should
therefore not attempt to destroy the
low without putting something in its
place, but we should displace the low
by the high ; vice by virtue, and super
stition by knowledge. 1

Ill

LEARN that there is no cure for desire,
no cure for the love of reward, no cure
for the misery of longing, save in the
1 Magic, p. 126, Hartmann.

90 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

fixing of the sight and hearing on that
which is invisible and soundless. 1

A man must believe in his innate
power of progress. A man must refuse
to be terrified by his greater nature,
and must not be drawn back by his
lesser or material self. 2

All the past shows us that difficulty
is no excuse for dejection, much less
for despair, else the world would have
been without the many wonders of
civilisation. 3

Strength to step forward is the pri
mary need of him who has chosen his
path. Where is this to be found ?

1 Light on the Path, Karma, p. 35.

2 Comments, Light on the Path.

3 Through the Gates of Gold, p. 69.

FOR DAILY LIFE 91

Looking round, it is not hard to see
where other men find their strength.
Its source is profound conviction. 1

Abstain because it is right to ab
stain, not that yourself shall be kept
clean. 2

The man who wars against himself
and wins the battle can do it only when
he knows that in that war he is
doing the one thing which is worth
doing.

" Resist not evil," that is, do not
complain of or feel anger against the
inevitable disagreeables of life. Forget

yourself (in working for others). If men

*

1 Op. cit. p. 87,

2 Light on the Path.

a Through the Gates of Gold, p. 118.

92 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

revile, persecute, or wrong one, why
resist ? In the resistance we create
greater evils. 1

The immediate work, whatever it
may be, has the abstract claim of duty,
and its relative importance or non-im
portance is not to be considered at all. 2

The best remedy for evil is not the
suppression, but the elimination of
desire, and this can best be accomplish
ed by keeping the mind constantly
steeped in things divine. The know
ledge of the Higher Self is snatched
away by engaging the mind in brooding
over or contemplating with pleasure the

1 Path, August 87, p. 151.

2 Lucifer, Feb. 88, p. 478.

FOR DAILY LIFE 93

objects which correspond to the unruly
sense. 1

Our own nature is so base, proud,
ambitious, and so full of its own ap
petites, judgments, and opinions, that
if temptations restrained it not, it would
be undone without remedy ; therefore
are we tempted to the end that we may
know ourselves and be humble. Know
that the greatest temptation is to be
without temptation, wherefore be glad
when it assaults thee, and with resig
nation, peace, and constancy resist it/

Feel that you have nothing to do for
yourself, but that certain charges are

1 Page 60, Bhagavad Gita. (All quotations are
taken from Mohini s translation.)

2 Molinos, Spiritual Guide.

94 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

laid upon you by the Deity, which you
must fulfil. Desire God, and not any
thing that he can give. 1 Whatever
there is to do, has to be done, but not
for the sake of enjoying the fruit of
action. 2 If all one s acts are performed
with the full conviction that they are
of no value to the actor, but are to be
done simply because they have to be
done in other words, because it is in
our nature to act then the personality
of egotism in us will grow weaker and
weaker until it comes to rest, per
mitting the knowledge revealing the
True Self to shine out in all its
splendour.

1 P. 182, Bhagavad Gita.

9 Introduction, Bhagavad Gita.

FOR DAILY LIFE 95

One must not allow joy or pain to
shake one from one s fixed purpose. 1

Until the master chooses you to come
to him, be with humanity, and unsel
fishly work for its progress and advance
ment. This alone can bring true
satisfaction; 2

Knowledge increases in proportion
to its use that is, the more we teach
the more we learn. Therefore, Seeker
after Truth, with the faith of a little
child and the will of an Initiate,
give of your store to him who hath not
wherewithal to comfort him on his
journey. 3

1 Comments, Light on the Path.

2 Path, December 86, p. 279.

96 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGEST]

A disciple must fully recognise
the very thought of individual rig!
only the outcome of the veno
quality of the snake of Self. He
never regard another man as a p
who can be criticised or conder
nor may he raise his voice in
defence or excuse. 1

No man is your enemy, no n
friend. All alike are your teat
One must no longer work for the
of any benefit, temporal or spii
but to fulfil the law of being wh
the righteous will of God. 3

1 Lucifer, p. 382, Jan. 88.

2 Light on the Path. p. 25.

3 Bhagavad Gita, Introduction,

FOR DAILY LIFE 97

IV

LIVE neither in the present nor the
future, but in the eternal. The giant
weed (of evil) cannot flower there ; this
blot upon existence is wiped out by the
very atmosphere of eternal thought. 1
Purity of heart is a necessary condition
for the attainment of " Knowledge of
the Spirit." There are two principal
means by which this purification may
be attained. First, drive away persis
tently every bad thought ; secondly,
preserve an even mind under all condi
tions, never be agitated or irritated at
anything. It will be found that these
tw r o means of purification are best pro-

1 Light on the Path, Rule 4.
7

8 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

moted by devotion and charity. We
must not sit idle and make no attempt
to advance because we do not feel our
selves pure. Let everyone aspire, and
let them work in right earnest, but they
must work in the right way, and the first
step of that way is to purify the heart. 1

The mind requires purification when
ever anger is felt or a falsehood is
told, or the faults of another needlessly
disclosed ; whenever anything is said or
done for the purpose of flattery, or any
one is deceived by the insincerity of a
speech or an act. 2

Those who wish for salvation ought
to avoid lust, anger and greed, and

1 Theosophist, Oct. 88, p. 44.

2 Bhagavad Gita, p. 325.

FOR DAILY LIFE 9

cultivate courageous obedience to the
Scriptures, study of Spiritual philo
sophy, and perseverance in its practical
realisation. 1

He who is led by selfish considera
tions cannot enter a heaven where per
sonal considerations do not exist. He
who does not care for Heaven, but is
contented where he is, is already in
Heaven, while the discontented will in
vain clamour for it. To be without
personal desires is to be free and happy,
and " Heaven " can mean nothing else
but a state in which freedom and happi
ness exist. The man who performs
beneficial acts induced by a hope of
reward is not happy unless the reward

1 Bhagavad Gita, p. 240, -

100 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

is obtained, and if his reward is ob
tained his happiness ends. There can
be no permanent rest and happiness as
long as there is some work to be
done, and not accomplished, and the
fulfilment of duties brings its own
reward. 1

He who thinks himself holier than
another, he who has any pride in his
own exemption from vice or folly, he
who believes himself wise, or in any
way superior to his fellow-men, is in
capable of discipleship. A man must
become as a little child before he can
enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Virtue
and wisdom are sublime things, but if

1 Magic, Intro., p. 34, Hartniann.

FOR DAILY LIFE 101

they create pride and a consciousness
of separateness from the rest of
humanity, they are only the snakes of
self reappearing in a finer form. The
sacrifice or surrender of the heart of
man and its emotions is the first of the
rules ; it involves " the attaining of an
equilibrium which cannot be shaken
by personal emotion." Put, without
delay, your good intentions into prac
tice, never leaving a single one to
remain only an intention. Our only
true course is to let the motive
for action be in the action itself,
never in its reward ; not to be
incited to action by the hope of the
result, nor yet indulge a propensity to
inertness.

102 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

Through faith 1 the heart is purified
from passion and folly ; from that
comes mastery over the body, and, last
of all, subjugation of the senses. 2

The characteristics of the illuminated
sage are, 1st, he is free from all desires, 3
and knows that the true Ego or
Supreme, Spirit alone is bliss, all else is
pain. 2nd, that he is free from attach
ment and repulsion towards whatever
may befall him, and that he acts with
out determination. Lastly comes the
subjugation of the senses, which is
useless, and frequently injurious as

1 i.e., knowledge, and this comes by the practice
or unselfishness and kindness.

* P. 95, Bhagavad Gita.

3 This can best be accomplished by keeping the
nijnd constantly steeped in things divine,

FOR DAILY LIFE 103

breeding hypocrisy and spiritual pride,
without the second, and that again is
not of much use without the first. 1

He who does not practise altruism,
he who is not prepared to share his
last morsel 2 with a weaker or poorer
than himself, he who neglects to help
his brother man, of whatever race,
nation, or creed, wherever and whenever
he meets suffering, and who turns a
deaf ear to the cry of human misery ;
he who hears an innocent person
slandered, and does not undertake his
defence as he would undertake his
own, is no Theosophist.

1 P. 61, -Bhagavad Gita.

- This must be taken in its widest sense also,
i.e,, spiritual knowledge, etg.

104 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS
V

No man does right who gives up the
unmistakable duties of life, resting on
Divine command. He who performs
duties, thinking that if they are not
performed some evil will come to him,
or that their performance will remove
difficulties from his path, works for
result. Duties should simply be done
because commanded by God, who may
at any time command their abandon
ment. So long as the restlessness of
our nature is not reduced to tranquillity
we must work, consecrating to the
Deity all fruit of our action, and
attribute to Him the power to perform
works rightly. The true life of man is

FOR DAILY LIFE 105

rest in identity with the Supreme Spirit.
This life is not brought into ex
istence by any act of ours, it is a
reality, " the truth," and is altogether
independent of us. The realisation of
the non-existence of all that seems
opposed to this truth is a new con-
sciousness and not an act. Man s
liberation is in no way related to his
acts. .In so far as acts promote the
realisation of our utter inability to
emancipate ourselves from conditioned
existence, they are of use ; after this
stage is realised acts become obstacles
rather than helps. Those who work in
obedience to Divine commands, know
ing that the power thus to work is
a gift of God, and no part of man s

106 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

self-conscious nature, attain to freedom
from the need of action. Then the pure
heart is filled by the truth, and identity
with the Deity is perceived. A man
must first get rid of the idea that
he himself really does anything, know
ing that all actions take place in the
" three natural qualities/ T and not in
the soul at all. Then he must place all
his actions on devotion. That is, sacri
fice all his actions to the Supreme and
not to himself. He must either set
himself up as the God to whom he
sacrifices, or the other real God
Ishvara ; and all his acts and aspira
tions are done either for himself or for
the All. Here comes in the importance
1 i.e. , the three guna?,

FOR DAILY LIEE 107

of motive. For if he performs great
deeds of valour, or of benefit to man, or
acquires knowledge so as to assist man,
and is moved to that merely because
he thus thinks he will attain salvation,
he is only acting for his own benefit,
and is therefore sacrificing to himself.
Therefore he must be devoted inwardly
to the All ; knowing that he is not the
doer of the actions, but the mere wit
ness of them. As he is in a mortal body
he is affected by doubts which will
spring up. When they do arise, it is
because he is ignorant about something.
He should therefore be able to disperse
doubt " by the sword of knowledge."
For if he has a ready answer to some
doubt he disperses that much, All

108 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

doubts come from the lower nature, and
never in any case from the higher
nature. Therefore as he becomes more
and more devoted he is able to know
more and more clearly the knowledge
residing in his Sattva (goodness) nature.
For it says : " A man who is perfected
in devotion (or who persists in its culti
vation) finds spiritual knowledge sponta
neously in himself in progress of
time." Also, " A man of doubtful mind
enjoys neither this world nor the other
(the Deva world), nor final beatitude."
The last sentence is to destroy the idea
that if there is in us this Higher Self it
will, even if we are indolent and doubt
ful, triumph over the necessity for
knowledge and lead us to final beatitude

FOR DAILY LIFE 109

in common with the whole stream of
mankind. 1

True prayer is the contemplation of
all sacred things, of their application to
ourselves, our daily life and actions,
accompanied by the most heartfelt and
intense desire to make their influence
stronger and our lives better and
nobler, that some knowledge of them
may be vouchsafed to us. All such
thoughts must be closely interwoven
with a consciousness of the Supreme
and Divine Essence from which all
things have sprung. 2

Spiritual culture is attained through
concentration. It must be continued

1 Path, July 89, p. 109.

2 Path, Aug. 89, p. 159.

110 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

daily and every moment to be of use.
Meditation has been defined as " the
cessation of active external thought."
Concentration is the entire life-tendency
to a given end. For example, a devoted
mother is one who consults the interests
of her children and all branches of their
interests in and before all things ; not
one who sits down to think fixedly
about one branch of their interests all
the day. Thought has a self-reproduc
tive power, and when the mind is held
steadily to one idea it becomes coloured
by it, and, as we may say, all the cor
relates of that thought arise within the
mind. Hence the mystic obtains know
ledge about any object of which he
thinks constantly in fixed contemplation.

FOR DAILY LIFE 111

Here is the rationale of Krishna s
words. " Think constantly of me ;
depend on me alone, and thou shalt
surely come to me" Life is the great
teacher : it is the great manifestation
of Soul, and Soul manifests the
Supreme. Hence all methods are good,
and all are but parts of the great aim,
which is Devotion. " Devotion is
success in actions," says the Bhagavad
Gita. The psychic powers, as they
come, must also be used, for they
reveal laws. But their value must not
be exaggerated, nor must their danger be
ignored. He who relies on them is like
a man who gives way to pride and
triumph because he has reached the

112 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

first wayside station on the peaks he
has set out to climb, 1

VI

IT is an eternal law that man cannot be
redeemed by a power external to him
self. Had this been possible, an angel
might long ago have visited the earth,
uttered heavenly truths, and, by mani
festing the faculties of a spiritual
nature, proved a hundred facts to the
consciousness of man of which he is
ignorant. 2

Crime is committed in the Spirit as
truly as in the deeds of the body. He

1 Path, July 89, p. 111.

? Spirit of the New Testament, p. 508.

FOR DAiLY LIFE il3

who for any cause hates another, who
loves revenge, and will not forgive an
injury, is full of the spirit of murder,
though none may know it. He who
bows before false creeds, and crushes
his conscience at the bidding of any
institution, blasphemes his own divine
soul, and therefore " takes the name of
God in vain " though he never utters an
oath. He who desires and is in sym
pathy with the mere pleasures of sense,
either in or out of the married relation,
is the real adulterer. He who deprives
any of his fellows of the light, the
good, the help, the assistance he can
wisely give them, and lives for the
accumulation of material things, for his
own personal gratification, is the real

114 SOMEiPRACTICALSUGGESTIOlsfg

robber ; and he who steals from his
fellows the precious possession of
character by slander, and any sort of
misrepresentation, is no less a thief,
and one of the most guilty kind. 1

If men were only honest with them
selves and kindly disposed towards
others, a tremendous change would
take place in their estimate of the value
of life, and of the things of this life, 3 -

DEVELOP THOUGHT. Strive, by
concentrating the whole force of your
soul, to shut the door of your mind to
all stray thoughts, allowing none to
enter but those calculated to reveal to
you the unreality of sense-life, and the

1 Spirit of the New Testament, p. 513.
2 " Theosophist, July 89, p. 590.

FOft DAILY LIFE US

Peace of the Inner World. Ponder day
and night over the unreality of all your
surroundings and of yourself. The
springing up of evil thoughts is less
injurious than that of idle and in
different ones. B.ecause . as to evil
thoughts you are always ,on your guard,
and, having determined to fight and
conquer them, this determination helps
to - develop the will power. Indifferent
thoughts, however, serve merely to .dis
tract the attention and waste energy..
The first great basic delusion you have
to get over is the identification of your
self with the physical body. Begin to
think of this body as nothing better
than the house you have to live in for a
time, and then you will ne^ver yield to

116 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

its temptations. Try also with con
sistent attempts to conquer the promi
nent weaknesses of your nature by
developing thought in the direction that
will kill each particular passion. After
your first efforts you will begin to feel
an indescribable vacuum and blankness
i n your heart ; fear not, but regard this
as the soft twilight heralding the rise
of the sun of Spiritual bliss. Sadness
is not an evil. Complain not ; what
seem to be sufferings and obstacles are
often in reality the mysterious efforts of
nature to help you in your work if you
can manage them properly. Look upon
all circumstances with the gratitude
of a pupil. 1 All complaint is a rebellion
l Theosophicdl Si/tings, No. 3, vol. 2, 89.

FOR DAILY LIFE

against the law of progress. That which
is to be shunned is pain not yet come.
The past cannot be changed or amend
ed ; that which belongs to the experi
ences of the present cannot and should
not be shunned ; but alike to be shun
ned are disturbing anticipations or fears
of the future, and every act or impulse
that may cause present or future pain
to ourselves or others. 1

. VII

THERE is no more valuable thing pos
sessed by any individual than an ex
alted ideal towards which he continually
aspires, and after which he moulds his
1 Patanjali s Yoga Aphorisms.

118 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

thoughts and feelings, and forms, as
best he may, his life. If he thus strives
to become rather than to seem, he can
not fail to continually approach nearer
his aim. He will not, however, reach
this point without a struggle, nor will
the real progress that he is conscious
of making fill him with conceit or self-
righteousness.; for if his ideal be high,
and his progress towards it real, he will
be the rather humiliated than puffed
up. The possibilities of further advance
ment, and the conception of still higher
planes of being that opea before him,
will not dampen his ardour, though they
will surely kill his conceit. It is just
this conception of the vast possibilities
of human life that is needed to kill out

FOR CAIL? LIFE

ennui, and to convert apathy into zest.
Life thus becomes worth living for its
own sake when its mission becomes
plain, and its splendid opportunities
are once appreciated. The most direct
and certain way of reaching this higher
plane is the cultivation of the principle
of altruism, both in thought and life.
Narrow indeed is the sweep of vision
that is limited to self, and that measures
all .things by the principle of self-inter
est, for while the soul is thus self limi
ted it is impossible for it to conceive of
any high ideal, or to approach any
higher plane of life. The conditions of
such advancement lie within rather than
without, and are fortunately made inde
pendent of circumstances and condition

120 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

in life. The opportunity therefore is
offered to everyone of advancing from
height to height of being, and of thus
working with nature in the accomplish 1
ment of the evident purpose of life. 1

If we believe that the object of life is
simply to render our material self satis
fied, and to keep it in comfort, and that
material comfort confers the highest
state of possible happiness, we mistake
the low for the high, and an illusion for
the truth. Our material mode of life
is a consequence- of the material con
stitution of our bodies. We are " worms
of the earth " because we cling with all
our aspirations to earth. If we can
enter upon a path of evolution, by which

1 Man, J. Buck, p. 106*

FOR DAILY LIFE 121

we become less material and more
ethereal, a very different order of civi
lisation would be established. Things
which now appear indispensable and
necessary would cease to be useful ; if
we could transfer our consciousness
with the velocity of thought from
one part of the globe to another, the
present modes of communication would
be no longer required. The deeper we
sink into matter, the more material
means for comfort will be needed ; the
essential and powerful god in man is
not material, and independent of the
restrictions laid upon matter. What
are the real necessities of life ? The
answer to this question depends entirely
on what we imagine to be necessary.

122 SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

Railways, steamers, etc., are now a
necessity to us, and $ 7 et millions of
people have lived long and happily,
knowing nothing about them. To one
man a dozen palaces may appear to be
an indispensable necessity, to another
a carriage, another a pipe, and so on.
But all such necessities are only such
as man himself has created. They
make the state in which man now is
agreeable to him, and tempt him to
remain in that state, and to desire
nothing higher. They may even hinder
his development instead of advancing
it. Everything material must cease to
become a necessity if we would really
advance spiritually. It is the craving
and the wasting of thought for the

FOR DAILY LIFE 123

augmentation of the pleasures of the
lower life which prevent man entering
the higher one. 1

1 Magic, Hartmann, p. 61.

Printed by C. Subbarayudu
at the Vasanta Press, Adyar, Madras.