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diff --git a/17009.txt b/17009.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..652b22e --- /dev/null +++ b/17009.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1688 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Studies in Occultism; A Series of Reprints +from the Writings of H. P. Blavatsky, by H. P. Blavatsky + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Studies in Occultism; A Series of Reprints from the Writings of H. P. Blavatsky + No. 1: Practical Occultism--Occultism versus the Occult + Arts--The Blessings of Publicity + +Author: H. P. Blavatsky + +Release Date: November 5, 2005 [EBook #17009] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STUDIES IN OCCULTISM; A *** + + + + +Produced by Stacy Brown Thellend, Suzanne Shell and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + +STUDIES +IN +OCCULTISM + +by + +H.P. BLAVATSKY + + + + +STUDIES IN OCCULTISM + + +A Series of Reprints from the Writings + +of + +H.P. BLAVATSKY + +NO. 1 + + +PRACTICAL OCCULTISM + +OCCULTISM VERSUS THE OCCULT ARTS + +THE BLESSINGS OF PUBLICITY + +POINT LOMA EDITION + + +The Aryan Theosophical Press +Point Loma, California +1910 + + + +See Book List at the end of this volume for the other numbers of this +Series and also for other Theosophical literature. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +Practical Occultism 1 + From _Lucifer_, April, 1888 + +Occultism versus the Occult Arts 17 + From _Lucifer_, May, 1888 + +The Blessings of Publicity 42 + From _Lucifer_, August, 1891 + + + + +Occultism is not magic, though magic is one of its tools. + +Occultism is not the acquirement of powers, whether psychic or +intellectual, though both are its servants. Neither is occultism the +pursuit of happiness, as men understand the word; for the first step is +sacrifice, the second, renunciation. + +Occultism is the science of life, the art of living.--_Lucifer_, Vol. I, +p. 7. + + + + +PRACTICAL OCCULTISM + +IMPORTANT TO STUDENTS + + +As some of the letters in the Correspondence of this month show, there +are many people who are looking for practical instruction in Occultism. +It becomes necessary, therefore, to state once for all:-- + +(_a_) The essential difference between theoretical and practical +Occultism; or what is generally known as Theosophy on the one hand, and +Occult science on the other, and:-- + +(_b_) The nature of the difficulties involved in the study of the latter. + +It is easy to become a Theosophist. Any person of average intellectual +capacities, and a leaning toward the metaphysical; of pure, unselfish +life, who finds more joy in helping his neighbor 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 oneself 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 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, almost 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 undertake to teach the rudiments of the Sacred Science to +their disciples--those western Hierophants being often themselves +ignorant of the danger they incur--one and all of these "Teachers" are +subject to the same inviolable law. From the moment they begin _really_ +to teach, from the instant they confer _any_ power--whether psychic, +mental, or physical--on their pupils, they take upon themselves _all_ +the sins of that pupil, in connexion with the Occult Sciences, whether +of omission or commission, until the moment when initiation 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 symbol and an +expression. This is the dogma of the absolute sacredness of the relation +between the god-parents who stand sponsors for a child.[A] + +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 necessary to the security of both Master and +pupil. + +Occultism is not magic. It is _comparatively_ 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 any exercise of power become black, malignant, 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 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 perfectly pure in heart--and this is Divine Magic. + +What are then the conditions required 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 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. + + * * * * * + +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 colors gathered +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 colors" are the prismatic hues arranged in a certain + way, as these colors are very magnetic. By "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, it is one of the most + difficult ones to obtain.] + +2. Before the disciple shall be permitted to study "face to face," he +has to acquire preliminary understanding in a select company of other +lay _upasakas_ (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 information, 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 (holy) words of Lamrin, or shalt permit him "to make +ready" for _Dubjed_, thou shalt take care that his mind is thoroughly +purified and at peace with all, especially _with his 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 instructions, 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 + most carefully the positive and the negative elements.] + +4. The _upasakas_ while studying must take care to be united as the +fingers on one hand. Thou shalt impress upon their minds that whatever +hurts one should hurt the others, and if the rejoicing 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 preliminary 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 tune_ with their companions. For--] + +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 +presiding gods (tutelary or patron-angels) and useful to the Lanoo. So +shall Wisdom be impressed forever 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 powers) have to renounce all the vanities of life and of the +world (here follows enumeration of the Siddhis). + +7. None can feel the difference between 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 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 himself. 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 individualize it for occult purposes.] + +9. The mind must remain blunt to all but the universal truths in +nature, lest the "Doctrine of the Heart" should become only the +"Doctrine of the Eye," (i.e., empty exoteric ritualism). + +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 _Lhama-yin_ (evil spirits), who fasten upon the +unwary, they 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 in all, the observation of moral duties, +gentle thoughts, good deeds and kind words, as good will to all and +entire oblivion of Self, are the most efficacious means of obtaining +knowledge and preparing for the reception of higher wisdom. + +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 gradually 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.[B] + +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 +cultivated, 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 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 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 difficulties, which may be considered +"external," 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 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 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 realize some of the foregoing truths, the answer given by +the Delphic Oracle to all who came seeking after Occult Wisdom--words +repeated and enforced again and again by the wise Socrates:--MAN KNOW +THYSELF. + +Chelaship has nothing _whatever_ to do with means of subsistence or +anything of the kind, for a man can isolate his mind entirely from his +body and its surroundings. Chelaship is a _state of mind_, rather than a +life according to hard and fast rules, on the physical plane. This +applies especially to the earlier, probationary period, while the rules +given in _Lucifer_ for April last pertain properly to a later stage, +that of actual occult training and the development of occult powers and +insight. These rules indicate, however, the mode of life which ought to +be followed by all aspirants _so far as practicable_, since it is the +most helpful to them in their aspirations. + +It should never be forgotten that Occultism is concerned with the _inner +man_, who must be strengthened and freed from the dominion of the +physical body and its surroundings, which must become his servants. +Hence the _first_ and chief necessity of Chelaship is a spirit of +absolute unselfishness and devotion to Truth; then follow self-knowledge +and self-mastery. These are all-important; while outward observance of +fixed rules of life is a matter of secondary moment.--_Lucifer_: IV, +348, note. + + + + +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_ + + +In this month's Correspondence several letters testify to the strong +impression produced on some minds by our last month's article "Practical +Occultism." Such letters go far to prove and strengthen two logical +conclusions:-- + +(_a_) There are more well-educated and thoughtful men who believe in the +existence of Occultism and Magic (the two differing vastly) than the +modern materialist dreams of; and:-- + +(_b_) That most of the believers (comprising many theosophists) have no +definite idea of the nature of Occultism and confuse it with the Occult +sciences in general, the "Black art" included. + +Their representations of the powers it confers upon man, and of the +means to be used to acquire them are as varied as they are fanciful. +Some imagine that a master in the art, to show the way, is all that is +needed to become a Zanoni. Others, that one has but to cross the Canal +of Suez and go to India to bloom forth as a Roger Bacon or even a Count +St. Germain. 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-Endorism" pure and simple, for Occultism--"through +the yawning Earth from Stygian gloom, call up the meager ghost 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 mockingly +laid down by Eliphas Levi, is another imagined _alter ego_ of the +philosophy of the Arhats of old. In short, the prisms through which +Occultism appears, to those innocent of the philosophy, are as +multicolored and varied as human fancy can make them. + +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 disabuse 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 hundreds 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 Occultism, and +the difference between the two, and then feel wrathful if they still +think themselves right. Meanwhile, let them learn that Occultism differs +from Magic and other secret Sciences as the glorious Sun does from a +rush-light, as the immutable and immortal Spirit of Man--the reflection +of the absolute, causeless, and unknowable all,--differs from the mortal +clay--the human body. + +In our highly civilized 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 materialized in the cold +atmosphere of Western selfishness and its incessant 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 obsolete and +exploded "superstition." Such words could answer only to ideas which a +cultured man was scarcely supposed to harbor in his mind. "Magic," a +synonym for jugglery; "Sorcery," an equivalent for crass ignorance; and +"Occultism," the sorry relic of crack-brained, medieval +Fire-philosophers, of the Jacob Boehmes and the St. Martins, are +expressions believed more than amply sufficient to cover the whole field +of "thimble-rigging." They are terms of contempt, and used generally +only in reference to 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 acquisition of them, with the nicety +possible in the Eastern languages--pre-eminently the Sanskrit. What do +the words "miracle" and "enchantment" (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 pronounce them? A +Christian--_breaking_ "of the laws of nature," notwithstanding--while +believing firmly in the _miracles_, because said to have been produced +by God through Moses, will either scout the enchantments performed by +Pharoah'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 Occultists, and would +blush to give one serious thought to such "superstitions." This, because +there is no term in existence 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 "breaking of the laws of +Nature" by man, God, or devil; the former--the _scientific_ "miracles" +and enchantments of Moses and the Magicians _in accordance 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 (1) _Yajna-Vidya_,[C] knowledge of the occult powers awakened +in Nature by the performance of certain religious ceremonies and rites. +(2) _Maha-Vidya_, the "great knowledge," the magic of the Kabalists and +of the _Tantrika_ worship, often Sorcery of the worst description. (3) +_Guhya-Vidya_, knowledge 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 performance +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 Occultism that any Theosophist who admires +_Light on the Path_, and who would 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 essence of all things +in the Kingdom of Nature--such as minerals, plants, and animals--hence +of things pertaining to the realm of _material_ Nature, however +invisible that essence may be, and howsoever much it has hitherto eluded +the grasp of Science. Alchemy, Astrology, Occult Physiology, Chiromancy +exist in Nature, and the _exact_ Sciences--perhaps so called because +they are found in this age of paradoxical philosophies the reverse--have +already discovered not a few of the secrets of the above _arts_. But +clairvoyance, symbolized in India as the "Eye of Siva," called in +Japan, "Infinite Vision," is _not_ Hypnotism, 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 explain: 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 too 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 vivisectionists and +the _diploma-ed_ "Hypnotizers" of the Faculties of Medicine; the only +difference between the two classes being that the Voodoos and the Dugpas +are _conscious_, and the Charcot-Richet crew _unconscious_ Sorcerers. +Thus, since both have to reap the fruits of their labors and +achievements in the black art, the Western practitioners should not have +the punishment and reputation without the profits and enjoyments they +may get therefrom. For we say it again, _hypnotism_ and _vivisection_ as +practised in such schools, are _Sorcery_ pure and simple, _minus_ a +knowledge that the Voodoos and Dugpas enjoy, and which no Charcot-Richet +can procure for himself in fifty years of hard study and experimental +observation. 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 them become magicians by all means, even +though they do become _Voodoos_ and _Dugpas_ for the next ten +incarnations. + +But the interest of our readers will probably center on those who are +invincibly attracted towards the "Occult," yet who neither realize 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 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 incarnations 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 to carry. Without ever becoming a "Mahatma," a Buddha, or a Great +Saint, let him study the philosophy and the "Science of Soul," and he +can become 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 Occultism +or Theosophy_ is the "Great Renunciation 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 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 Nature_. There are two poles for him after that, two paths, and +no midward place of rest. He has either to ascend laboriously, step by +step, often through numerous incarnations and _no Devachanic break_, the +golden ladder leading to Mahatmaship (the _Arhat_ or _Bodhisattva_ +condition), or--he will let himself slide down the ladder at the first +false step, and roll down into _Dugpa-ship_.... + +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 candidates, 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 expanded, but +turned toward higher and more holy purposes; namely, _until their +collective and unexpanded strength enables their possessor to enter the +true 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 smolder under a thin layer of +ashes. They submit joyfully to the torture 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 Sanctuary hung with pure white linen, +and that instead of soiling and turning it by 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 atmosphere 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 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 between 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, are lulled instead of +being killed, and locked up in their breasts by some imprudent +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 +neighbors. The "Higher Self" or Spirit is as unable to assimilate such +feelings as water to get 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 the +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 harmony +prevail and conquer, when the soul is stained and distracted with the +turmoil of passions and the terrestrial desires of the bodily senses, or +even of the "Astral man"? + +For this "Astral"--the shadowy "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 projected by man, it follows his +movements and impulses slavishly and mechanically, and leans therefore +to matter without ever ascending to Spirit. It is only when the power of +the passions is dead altogether, and when they have been crushed and +annihilated in the retort of an unflinching will; when not only all the +lusts and longings of the flesh are dead, but also the recognition 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 personality, then the brilliant +_Augoeides_, the divine Self, can vibrate in conscious 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 Gnostics, blended, +merged into, and one with IT for ever.[D] + +How then can it be thought possible 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 honorable, are still of the earth earthy? +Even the love for wife and family--the purest as the most unselfish of +human affections--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 instance. What mother would +not sacrifice 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 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 +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 _theo_-sophy, divine +Wisdom 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 endeavor 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 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 maddening struggle for almost any married man, who would +pursue true practical Occultism, instead of its _theoretical_ +philosophy. For he would find himself ever hesitating between the voice +of the impersonal 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 to_ OCCULTISM, _in the +gratification of a terrestrial love or lust_, 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 passions or _even that of a Dugpa_; +the right from wrong; sound morality from mere casuistry. The Dead Sea +fruit assumes the most glorious mystic appearance, only to turn to ashes +on the lips, and to gall in the heart, resulting in:-- + + Depth ever deepening, darkness darkening still; + 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 realizing 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 sorcery cannot fail to be productive of bad +Karma. Enough has been said to show that _sorcery is any kind of evil +influence 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; and it must produce ever widening circles of +ripples, carried wider and wider, almost _ad infinitum_. Such causes +produced 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 incarnations +and aeons of suffering and failures. These are passion-proof, so to say. +No fires of earthly origin can fan into a flame any of their senses or +desires; no human voice can find response 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, paralysed 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 incarnations the burden of sins +committed in previous lives, and even in their present existence. For +such, unless they 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 thousand-fold 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 laboring. +One of these is the relative facility with which men fancy they can get +at the "Gate" and cross the threshold 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--"Strait is the gate +and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life" eternal, and therefore +"few there be that find it." (_Matt._ vii, 14) 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, +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 Dugpa-ship, and they will be +sure to find themselves very soon landed on that _Via Fatale_ of the +_Inferno_, over whose portal Dante read the words:-- + + _Per me si va nella citta dolente_ + _Per me si va nell' eterno dolore_ + _Per me si va tra la perduta gente...._ + + + + +THE BLESSINGS OF PUBLICITY + + +A well-known public lecturer, a distinguished Egyptologist, said, in one +of his lectures against the teachings of Theosophy, a few suggestive +words, which are now quoted and must be answered:-- + + It is a delusion to suppose there is anything in the experience or + wisdom of the past, the ascertained results of which can only be + communicated from beneath the cloak and mask of mystery.... + Explanation is the Soul of Science. They will tell you _we cannot + have their knowledge without living their life_.... Public + experimental research, the printing press, and a free-thought + platform, have abolished the need of mystery. It is no longer + necessary for science to take the veil, as she was forced to do for + security in times past.... + +This is a very mistaken view in one aspect. "Secrets of the purer and +profounder life" not only _may_ but _must_ be made universally known. +But _there are secrets that kill_ in the arcana of Occultism, and unless +a man _lives the life_ he cannot be entrusted with them. + +The late Professor Faraday had very serious doubts whether it was quite +wise and reasonable to give out to the public at large certain +discoveries of modern science. Chemistry had led to the invention of too +terrible means of destruction in our century to allow it to fall into +the hands of the profane. What man of sense--in the face of such +fiendish applications of dynamite and other explosive substances as are +made by those incarnations of the Destroying Power, who glory in calling +themselves Anarchists and Socialists--would not agree with us in +saying:--Far better for mankind that it should never have blasted a rock +by modern perfected means, than that it should have shattered the limbs +of one per cent even of those who have been thus destroyed by the +pitiless hand of Russian Nihilists, Irish Fenians, and Anarchists. That +such discoveries, and chiefly their murderous application, ought to +have been withheld from public knowledge may be shown on the authority +of statistics and commissions appointed to investigate and record the +result of the evil done. The following information gathered from public +papers will give an insight into what may be in store for wretched +mankind. + +England alone--the center of civilization--has 21,268 firms fabricating +and selling explosive substances.[E] But the centers of the dynamite +trade, of infernal machines, and other such results of modern +civilization, are chiefly at Philadelphia and New York. It is in the +former city of "Brotherly Love" that the now most famous manufacturer of +explosives flourishes. It is one of the well-known respectable +citizens--the inventor and manufacturer of the most murderous "dynamite +toys"--who, called before the Senate of the United States anxious to +adopt means for the repression of a _too free trade_ in such implements, +found an argument that ought to become immortalized for its cynical +sophistry--"My _machines_," that expert is reported to have said--"are +quite _harmless to look at_; as they may be manufactured in the shape of +oranges, hats, boats, and anything one likes.... Criminal is he who +murders people by means of such machines, not he who manufactures them. +The firm refuses to admit that were there no supply there would be no +incentive for demand on the market; but insists that every demand should +be satisfied by a supply ready at hand." + +That "supply" is the fruit of civilization and of the publicity given to +the discovery of every murderous property in matter. What is it? As +found in the Report of the Commission appointed to investigate the +variety and character of the so-called "infernal machines," so far the +following implements of instantaneous human destruction are already on +hand. The most fashionable of all among the many varieties fabricated +by Mr. Holgate are the "Ticker," the "Eight Day Machine," the "Little +Exterminator," and the "Bottle Machines." The "Ticker" is in appearance +like a piece of lead, a foot long and four inches thick. It contains an +iron or steel tube full of a kind of gunpowder invented by Holgate +himself. That gunpowder, in appearance like any other common stuff of +that name, has, however, an explosive power two hundred times stronger +than common gunpowder; the "Ticker" containing thus a powder which +equals in force two hundred pounds of the common gunpowder. At one end +of the machine is fastened an invisible clock-work meant to regulate the +time of the explosion, which time may be fixed from one minute to +thirty-six hours. The spark is produced by means of a steel needle which +gives a spark at the touch-hole, and communicates thereby the fire to +the whole machine. + +The "Eight Day Machine" is considered the most powerful, but at the same +time the most complicated, of all those invented. One must be familiar +with handling it before a full success can be secured. It is owing to +this difficulty that the terrible fate intended for London Bridge and +its neighborhood was turned aside by the instantaneous killing instead +of the two Fenian criminals. The size and appearance of that machine +changes, Proteus-like, according to the necessity of smuggling it in, in +one or another way, unperceived by the victims. It may be concealed in +bread, in a basket of oranges, in a liquid, and so on. The Commission of +Experts is said to have declared that its explosive power is such as to +reduce to atoms instantly the largest edifice in the world. + +The "Little Exterminator" is an innocent-looking plain utensil having +the shape of a modest jug. It contains neither dynamite nor powder, but +secretes, nevertheless, a deadly gas, and has a hardly perceptible +clock-work attached to its edge, the needle of which points to the time +when that gas will effect its escape. In a shut-up room this new "vril" +of lethal kind will _smother to death, nearly instantaneously_, every +living being within a distance of a hundred feet radius of the murderous +jug. With these three "latest novelties" in the high season of Christian +civilization, the catalog of the dynamiters is closed; all the rest +belongs to the old "fashion" of the past years. It consists of hats, +_porte cigars_, bottles of ordinary kind, and even _ladies' smelling +bottles_, filled with dynamite, nitro-glycerin, etc., etc.--weapons, +some of which, following unconsciously Karmic law, killed many of the +dynamiters in the last Chicago _revolution_. Add to this the forthcoming +long-promised Keeley's vibratory force, capable of reducing in a few +seconds a dead bullock to a heap of ashes, and then ask yourself if the +_Inferno_ of Dante as a locality can ever rival earth in the production +of more hellish engines of destruction? + +Thus, if purely material implements are capable of blowing up, from a +few corners, the greatest cities of the globe, provided the murderous +weapons are guided by expert hands--what terrible dangers might not +arise from magical _occult_ secrets being revealed, and allowed to fall +into the possession of ill-meaning persons! A thousand times more +dangerous and lethal are these, because neither the criminal hand, nor +the _immaterial_ invisible weapon used, can ever be detected. + +The congenital _black_ magicians--those who, to an innate propensity +towards evil, unite highly-developed mediumistic natures--are but too +numerous in our age. It is nigh time then that the psychologists and +believers, at least, should cease advocating the beauties of publicity +and claiming knowledge of the secrets of nature for all. It is not in +our age of "suggestion" and "explosives" that Occultism can open wide +the doors of its laboratories except to those who _do_ live the life. + + H.P.B. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] So holy is the connexion 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 law; and this absolute prohibition extends even to the +children of one of the sponsors as regards those of the other. + +[B] 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." + +[C] "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 Yajus 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 _Ahavaniya_ 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_. + +"This _Yajna_ is again one of the forms of the _Akasa_; and the +mystic word calling it into existence and pronounced mentally by the +initiated Priest is the Lost Word receiving impulse through WILL +POWER."--_Isis Unveiled_, Vol. I. Introduction. See _Aitareya +Brahmana_, Haug. + +[D] 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 planes, or states. + +[E] Nitro-glycerin has found its way even into medical +compounds. Physicians and druggists are vying with the Anarchists in +their endeavors to destroy the surplus of mankind. The famous chocolate +tablets against dyspepsia are said to contain nitro-glycerin! They may +save, but they can kill still more easily. + + + + +_There is No Religion Higher than Truth_ + +The Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society + +_Established for the benefit of the people of the earth & all creatures_ + + * * * * * + +OBJECTS + +This BROTHERHOOD is part of a great and universal movement which has +been active in all ages. + +This Organization declares that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. Its +principal purpose is to teach Brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a fact +in nature and make it a living power in the life of humanity. + +Its subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions, +science, philosophy and art; to investigate the laws of nature and the +divine powers in man. + + * * * * * + +The Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, founded by +H.P. Blavatsky at New York, 1875, continued after her death under the +leadership of the co-founder, William Q. Judge, and now under the +leadership of their successor, Katherine Tingley, has its Headquarters +at the International Theosophical Center, Point Loma, California. + +This Organization is not in any way connected with nor does it endorse +any other societies using the name of Theosophy. + +The Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society welcomes to +membership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the +eradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste or +color, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere lovers +of truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than the mere +pleasures and interests of a worldly life, and are prepared to do all in +their power to make Brotherhood a living energy in the life of humanity, +its various departments offer unlimited opportunities. + +The whole work of the Organization is under the direction of the Leader +and Official Head, Katherine Tingley, as outlined in the Constitution. + + * * * * * + +Do not fail to profit by the following: + + It is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of Theosophy + and of our Organization for self-interest, as also that of H.P. + Blavatsky, the Foundress, to attract attention to themselves and to + gain public support. This they do in private and public speech and + in publications, also by lecturing throughout the country. Without + being in any way connected with the Universal Brotherhood and + Theosophical Society, in many cases they permit it to be + inferred that they are, thus misleading the public, and many honest + inquirers are hence led away from the truths of Theosophy as + presented by H.P. Blavatsky and her successors, William Q. Judge + and Katherine Tingley, and practically exemplified in their + Theosophical work for the uplifting of humanity. + + + + +The International Brotherhood League + +Founded in 1897 by Katherine Tingley + + +ITS OBJECTS ARE: + +1. To help men and women to realize the nobility of their calling and +their true position in life. + +2. To educate children of all nations on the broadest lines of Universal +Brotherhood, and to prepare destitute and homeless children to become +workers for humanity. + +3. To ameliorate the condition of unfortunate women, and assist them to +a higher life. + +4. To assist those who are, or have been, in prisons, to establish +themselves in honorable positions in life. + +5. To abolish capital punishment. + +6. To bring about a better understanding between so-called savage and +civilized races, by promoting a closer and more sympathetic relationship +between them. + +7. To relieve human suffering resulting from flood, famine, war, and +other calamities; and, generally, to extend aid, help and comfort to +suffering humanity throughout the world. + +For further information regarding the above Notices, address + +KATHERINE TINGLEY +International Theosophical Headquarters, +Point Loma, California + +Books Recommended to Inquirers + +For _complete_ Book List write to + +The Theosophical Publishing Co., Point Loma, California + + * * * * * + +Isis Unveiled (H.P. Blavatsky). 2 vols., royal 8vo, about +1400 pages; cloth; with portrait of the author. _Point Loma +Edition, with a preface._ Postpaid 4.00 + +Key to Theosophy, The (H.P. Blavatsky). _Point Loma Edition, +with Glossary and exhaustive Index. Portraits of H.P. +Blavatsky and W.Q. Judge._ 8vo, cloth, 400 pages. Postpaid 2.25 + + A clear exposition of Theosophy in form of question and + answer. The book for Students. + +Secret Doctrine, The (H.P. Blavatsky). The Synthesis of +Science, Religion, and Philosophy. New Point Loma Edition, 2 +vols., royal 8vo, about 1500 pages; cloth. Postpaid 10.00 + +Voice of the Silence, The (For the daily use of disciples). +Translated and annotated by H.P. Blavatsky. Pocket size, +leather .75 + +Mysteries of the Heart Doctrine, The. Prepared by Katherine +Tingley and her pupils. Square 8vo, cloth 2.00 +Paper 1.00 + +A Series of Eight Pamphlets, comprising different articles +in above, paper, each .25 + +Life at Point Loma, The. Some notes by Katherine Tingley, +Leader and Official Head of the Universal Brotherhood and +Theosophical Society .15 + + Reprinted from the _Los Angeles Post_, Dec., 1902. + +Katherine Tingley, Humanity's Friend; A Visit to Katherine +Tingley (by John Hubert Greusel); A Study of Raja Yoga at +Point Loma (Reprint from the San Francisco _Chronicle_, +January 6th, 1907). + +The above three comprised in a pamphlet of 50 pages, +published by the Woman's Theosophical Propaganda League, +Point Loma .15 + +Light on the Path (M.C.), with comments, and a chapter on +Karma; leather .75 Embossed paper .25 + +Bhagavad Gita (W.Q. Judge, Amer. Edition) Pocket size, +morocco, gilt edges 1.00 + + _The pearl of the Scriptures of the East._ + +Yoga Aphorisms (trans. by William Q. Judge). Pocket size, +leather .75 + +Echoes from the Orient (W.Q. 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