Masonic, Occult and Esoteric Online Library
The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett - 1923
By A. T. Barker
Letter XLIX
From K.H. Received at Umballa on the way to Simla, August 5, 1881.
Just home. Received more letters than I care to answer—yoursexcepted. Have nothing particular to say, I will simply attendto your questions ; a task which may seem an easy one, but is notso, in reality, if we but remember that similar in that to the deitydescribed in Upanishad *' Sokamayata bahuh syam prajaye yeti "—they *• love to be many and to multiply." At any rate, thirstfor knowledge was never regarded as a sin and you will alwaysfind me prompt to answer such queries—that can be answered.
Certainly I am of the opinion that since our correspondence wasestablished for the good of the many it would prove very littleprofitable to the world at large unless you do recast the teachingand ideas contained therein " in the form of an essay," not onlyon the occult philosophical view of creation but upon every otherquestion. The sooner you begin your " future book '* the better; for who can answer for unexpected incidents? Our correspondencemay break off suddenly the obstacle coming from those who knowbest. Their mind—as you know, is a sealed book for manyofus, and which no amount of "art magic" can break open.Further "aids to reflection" will however come in good time;and the little I am permitted to explain may, I hope, prove morecomprehensive than Eliphas Levi's Haute Magie. No wonderyou find it cloudy, for it was never meant for the uninitiatedreader. Eliphas studied from the Rosicrucian MSS. (now reducedto three copies in Europe). These expound our eastern doctrinesfrom the teachings of Rosencrauz, who, upon his return fromAsia dressed them up in a semi-Christian garb intended as a shieldfor his pupils, against clerical revenge. One must have the keyto it and that key is a science per se. Rosencrauz taught orally.Saint Germain recorded the good doctrines in figures and his onlyexciphered MS. remained with his staunch friend and patron thebenevolent German Prince from whose house and in whose pre-sence he made his last exit—Home. Failure, dead failure ! Speaking of " figures " and " numbers " Eliphas addresses those who know something- of the Pythagorean doctrines. Yes ; some of them do sum up all philosophy and include all doctrine. Isaac Newton understood them well ; but withheld his knowledge very prudently for his own reputation, and very unfortunately for the writers of Saturday Review and its contemporaries. You seem to admire it—I do not. However talented from the literary point of view, a paper which gives vent to such unprogressive and dogmatic ideas as the one I came across in it, lately, ought to lose caste among its more liberal confreres. Scientific men, it thinks—** do not make at all good observers" at exhibitions of modern magic, spiritism and other ** nine days wonders." This is certainly not as it should be, it adds: for, '" knowing as well as they do the limits of the natural (? ! !) they should begin by assuming that what they see, or what they think they see, cannot he done, and should next look for the fallacy " etc. etc. Circulation of the blood, electric telegraphy, railway and steamer argument all over again. They know ** the limits of the natural " ! ! Oh century of conceit, and mental obscuration ! And we are invited to London, among these academical rags whose pre- decessors persecuted Mesmer and branded St. Germain as an imposter ! All is secret for them as yet in nature. Of man—they know but the skeleton and form ; hardly are they able to outline the paths through which the invisible messengers they call " senses " pass on their way to man's perception ; their school of science is a hotbed of doubts and conjectures ; it teaches but for its own sophistry, infects with its emasculation, its scorn for truth, its false morality and dogmatism, and its representatives would boast knowing " the limits of the natural." Bus—my good friend; I would forget you belonged to this generation, and are an admirer of your " modern Science." Her behests and oracular verdicts are on a level with the papal—non-possumus. Yes ; the Saturday Review has let us off easily enough to be sure. Not so the Spiritualist. Poor perplexed, wee paper ! You gave it a tremendous blow. Losing its footing on mediumistic ground, it fights its death struggle for supremacy of English adeptship over Eastern knowledge. I almost hear its sub rosa cry : ** If we Spiritualists are shown to be in the wrong box so are you—theosophists. " The great "Adept," the formidable J.K. is certainly a dangerous enemy ; and I am afraid, our Boddhisatwas will have to confess some day their profound ignorance before his mighty learning. ** Real Adepts like Gautama Buddha or Jesus Christ did not shroud themselves in mystery, but came, and talked openly," quotes our oracle. If they did it's news to us—^the humble followers of the former. Gautama is qualified the ** Divine Teacher" and at the same time '' God's messenger" ! ! (See Spt., July 8th, p. 21. para 2.) Buddha has now become the messenger of one, whom He, Sankia K'houtchoo, the preciouswisdom, has dethroned 2,500 years back, by unveiling the Tabernacle and showing its emptiness. Where did that cockney adeptlearn his Buddhism, I wonder? You really ought to advise yourfriend Mr. C. C. Massey to study with that London Jewel whosodespises Indian occult knowledge " The Lotus of the Good Law,"and " Atma Boddlia "—in the light of Jewish Kabalism.
I, "annoyed at newspaper ribald notices?" Certainly not.But I do feel a little wrathful at the sacrilegious utterances of J.K.; that I confess. I felt like answering the conceited fool—^but'* so far shalt thou go and no further "—again. The Hobilghanto whom I showed the passage laughed till the tears streameddown his old cheeks. I wish I could. When the " Old Lady"reads it, there will be a cedar or two damaged at Simla. Thanksindeed for your kind offer to let me have possession of the Reviewscraps; but I rather you should preserve them yourself, as thesenotices may prove unexpectedly valuable to you in a few yearshence.
To your offer to give a solemn pledge never to divulge anythingwithout permission I can give no answer, at present. Neither itsacceptance nor rejection depend of me, to tell you the truth, sinceit would be quite an unprecedented event to pledge an outsiderto our own particular form of oath or promise and that no otherwould hold good in my Superior's opinion. Unfortunately forboth of us, once—or rather twice—upon a time you made use ofan expression which was recorded, and but three days ago, whenpleading for some privileges for you, it was brought out beforeme very unexpectedly, I must say. Upon hearing it repeated andseeing it recorded, I had but to turn, as gently as I could, the othercheek to still more unexpected buffets of fortune dealt out by therespected hand of him whom I so revere. Cruel as the reminderseemed to me it was just, for you have pronounced these wordsatSimla : ** I am a member of the Theosophical Society but in noway a Theosophist," you said. I am not breaking a confidencein revealing this result of my pled doyer to you, as I am evenadvised to do so. We have to travel then, at the same slow rateat which we have hitherto gone, or—halt at once and write Finisat the bottom of our letters. I hope you will give preference to theformer.
Once we are upon the topic, I wish you would impress upon yourLondon friends some wholesome truths that they are but too aptto forget, even, when they have been told of them over and overagain. The Occult Science is not one, in which secrets can becommunicated of a sudden, by a written or even verbal communication. If so, all the " Brothers " should have to do, would betopublish a Handbook of the art which might be taught in schools as grammar is. It is the common mistake of people that we willingly wrap ourselves and our powers in mystery, that we wish to keep our knowledge to ourselves, and of our own will refuse—" wantonly and deliberately " to communicate it. The truth is that till the neophyte attains to the condition necessary for that degree of Illumination to which, and for which, he is entitled and fitted, most // not all of the Secrets are incommunicable. The receptivity must be equal to the desire to instruct. The illumination must come from within. Till then no hocus pocus of in- cautious, or mummery of appliances, no metaphysical lectures or discussions, no self-imposed penance can give it. All these are but means to an end, and all we can do is to direct the use of such means as have been empirically found by the experience of ages to conduce to the required object. And this was and has been no secret for thousands of years. Fasting, meditation, chastity of thought, word, and deed; silence for certain periods of time to enable nature herself to speak to him who comes to her for information ; government of the animal passions and impulses ; utter unselfishness of intention, the use of certain incense and fumigations for physiological purposes, have been published as the means since the days of Plato and lamblichus in the West, and since the far earlier times of our Indian Rishis, How these must be complied with to suit each individual temperament is of course a matter for his own experiments and the watchful care of his tutor or Guru. Such is in fact part of his course of discipline, and his Guru or initiator can but assist him with his experience and will power but can do no more until the last and supreme initiation. I am also of opinion that few candidates imagine the degree of inconvenience—nay sufifering and harm to himself—the said initiator submits to for the sake of his pupil. The peculiar physical, moral, and intellectual conditions of neophytes and adepts alike vary muchj as anyone will easily understand ; thus, in each case, the instructor has to adapt his conditions to those of the pupil, and the strain is terrible for to achieve success we have to bring ourselves into a full rapport with the subject under training. And as, the greater the powers of the adept the less he is in sympathy with the natures of the profane who often come to him saturated with the emanations of the outside world, those animal emanations of the selfish, brutal, crowd that we so' dread—the longer he was separated from that world and the purer he has himself become, the more difficult the self-imposed task. Then —knowledge, can only be communicated gradually ; and some of the highest secrets—if actually formulated even in your well pre- pared ear—might sound to you as insane gibberish, notwithstanding all the sincerity of your present assurance that ** absolute trust defies misunderstanding." This is the real cause of our reticence.
This is why people so often complain with a plausible showofreason that no new knowledge is communicated to them, thoughthey have toiled for it for two, three or more years. Let thosewho really desire to learn abandon all and come to us, insteadofasking- or expecting- us to go to them. But how is this to be donein your world, and atmosphere? ** Woke up sad on the morningof the i8th. " Did you? Well, well patience my good brother,patience. Something has occurred, though you have preservedno consciousness of the event, but let this rest. Only what morecan I do? How am I to give expression to ideas for which youhave as yet no language. The finer and more susceptible headsget like yourself, more than others do, and even when they geta little extra dose it is lost for want of words and images to fixthe floating ideas. Perhaps, and undoubtedly you know nottowhat I now refer to. You will know it one day—patience. Togive more knowledge to a man than he is yet fitted to receive is adangerous experiment; and furthermore, other considerations goto restrain me. The sudden communication of facts, so transcending the ordinary, is in many instances fatal not only to theneophyte but to those directly about him. It is like deliveringaninfernal machine or a cocked and loaded revolver into the handsof one who had never seen such a thing. Our case is exactlyanalogous. We feel that the time is approaching, and that weare bound to choose between the triumph of Truth or the Reignof Error and—^Terror. We have to let in a few chosen ones intothe great secret, or—allow the infamous Shammars to leadEurope's best minds into the most insane and fatal superstitions—Spiritualism ; and we do feel as if we were delivering a whole cargoof dynamite into the hands of those, we are anxious to see defending themselves against the Red Capped Brothers of the Shadow.You are curious to know where I am travelling about; to learnmore of my great work and mission? Were I to tell you, youcould hardly make anything of it. To test your knowledge andpatience, I may answer you though—this once. I now come fromSakkya-Jung. To you the name will remain meaningless.Repeat it before the ** Old Lady " and—observe the result. Butto return. Having then, to deliver with one hand the much neededyet dangerous weapon to the world, and with the other to keepoff the Shammars (the havoc produced by them already beingimmense) do you not think we have a right to hesitate, to pauseand feel the necessity of caution, as we never did before? Tosum up : the misuse of knowledge by the pupil always reacts uponthe initiator; nor, do I believe you know yet, that in sharing thesecrets with another, the Adept by immutable Law, is delaying hisown progress to the Eternal Rest. Perhaps, what I now tell you,may help you to a truer conception of things, and to appreciate our mutual position the better. Loitering- on the way, does not conduce to a speedy arrival at the journey's end. And, it must strike you as a truism that a Price must be paid for everything and every truth by somebody and in this case—we pay it. Fear not ; I am willing to pay my share, and I told so those who put me the question. I will not desert you ; nor will I show myself less self-sacrificing than the poor, worn out mortality we know as the '* Old Lady." Tbe above must remain between us two. I expect you to regard this letter as strictly confidential for it is neither for publication nor your friends. I want you alone to know it. Only, if all this was more generally known to candidates for initiation, I feel certain that they would be both more thankful and more patient as well as less inclined to be irritated at what they consider our reticence and vacillation. Few possess your discretion ; fewer still know to appreciate at their true value the results obtained. —Your two letters to S.M. will lead to no result whatever. He will remain as immovable and your trouble will have been taken in vain. You will receive a letter from him full of suspicion and with no few unkind remarks. You cannot per- suade him that + is a living Brother for that was tried and— failed ; unless, indeed you convert him to popular exoteric Lamaism ; which regards our ** Byang-tzyoobs " and " Tchangchubs ' ' —the Brothers who pass from the body of one great lama to that of another—as Lhas or disetjibodied Spirits. Remember what I said in my last of Planetary Spirits. The Tchang-chub (an adept who has, by the power of his knowledge and soul enlightenment become exempt from the curse of unconscious transmigration)—may, at his will and desire and instead of re- incarnating himself only after bodily death, do so, and repeatedly —during his life if he chooses. He holds the power of choosing for himself new bodies—^whether on this or any other planet—^while in possession of his old form, that he generally preserves for pur- poses of his own. Read the book of Khintee and you will find in it these laws. She might translate for you some paras, as she knows them by rote. To her you may read the present.
Do I often laugh at " the helpless way in which you grope in the dark? " Most decidedly not. That would be as unkind and about as foolish for me to do as for you to laugh at a Hindu for his pidgin English, in a district, where your Government will not teach people English. Whence such a thought? And whence that other to have my portrait? Never had but one taken, in my whole life; a poor ferrotype produced in the days of the ** Gaudeamus " by a travelling female artist—(some relative, I suppose, of the Munich beer hall beauties that you have inter- viewed of late)—and from whose hands I had to rescue it. The ferrotype is there, but the image itself has vanished : the nose peeled off and one of the eyes gone. No other to offer. I darenot promise for I never break my word. Yet—I may try—someday to get you one.
Quotation from Tennyson? Really cannot say. Some straylines picked up in the astral light or in somebody's brain andre-membered, I never forget what I once see or read. A bad habit.So much so, that often and unconsciously to myself I stringtogether sentences of stray words and phrases, before my eyesand which may have been used hundreds of years ago or will behundreds of years hence, in relation to quite a different subject.Laziness and real lack of time. The " Old Lady " called mea*' brain pirate " and a plagiarist, the other day for using a Avholesentence of five lines, which, she is firmly convinced, I must havepilfered from Dr. Wilder's brain as three months later, he repro-duced it in an essay of his on prophetic intuition. Never hadalook into the old philosopher's brain cells. Got it somewhereinthe northern current—don't know. Write this for your information as something new for you, I suppose. Thus a child maybeborn bearing the greatest resemblance and features to anotherperson, thousands of miles off, no connexion to the mother, neverseen by her, but whose floating image was impressed upon hefsoul memory, during sleep or even waking hours, and reproducedupon the sensitized plate of living flesh she carries in her. Yet,Ibelieve, the lines quoted, were written by Tennyson years ago, andthey are published. I hope these disjointed reflections and explanations may be pardoned in one, who, remained for over nine daysin his stirrups without dismounting. From Ghalaring-TchoLamasery (where your Occult World was discussed and commentedupon)—Heaven save the mark ! will you think. I crossed to theHorpa Pa La territory,—** the unexplored regions of Turki tribes"—say your maps ignorant of the fact that there are no tribes thereat all—and thence—^home. Yes; I am tired, and therefore willcdose.
Yours faithfully,
K. H.
In October I will be in Bhutan. I have a favour to ask of you: try and make friends with Ross Scott. / need him.
