Masonic, Occult and Esoteric Online Library
The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett - 1923
By A. T. Barker
Letter No XLVIII
Received Allahabad, March 3rd, 1882.
Good friend, I ** know "—of course. And knowing, without your telling me I would, were I but authorized to influence you in one direction—answer most gladly : " that knowledge thou shalt share with me some day." When, or how—** is not for me to say, nor for myself to know," as you. Aye, you alone, have to weave your destiny. ** Perhaps soon and perchance—never: but why feel despairing," or even doubting? Believe me: we may yet walk along the arduous path together. We may yet meet : but if at all, it has to be along and on—^those " Adamantine rocks with which our occult rules surround us "—never outside them, however bitterly we may complain. No, never can we pursue our further journey—if hand in hand—along that high-way, crowded thoroughfare, which encircles them, and on which Spiritualists and mystics, prophets and seers elbow each other now-a-day. Yea, verily, the motley crowd of candidates may shout for an eternity to come, for the Sesame to open. It never will, so long as they keep outside those rules. Vainly do your modern seers and their prophetesses, creep into every cleft and crevice without outlet or continuity they chance to see ; and still more vainly, when once within do they lift up their voices and loudly cry : ** Eureka ! —We have gotten a Revelation from the Lord ! " For verily have theynothing of the kind. They have disturbed but bats, less blind thantheir intruders; who, feeling- them flying about, mistake them asoften for angels—as they too, have wings ! Doubt not, myfriend : it is but from the very top of those *' Adamantine rocks "of ours, and not at their foot, that one is ever enabled to perceivethe whole Truth, by embracing the whole limitless horizon. Andthough they may seem to you to be standing in your way, it issimply because you have hitherto failed to discover or even somuch as suspect the reason and the operation of those laws ; hencethey appear so cold and merciless and selfish in your sight; although yourself have intuitionally recognised in them the out-come of ages of wisdom. Nevertheless, were one but toobediently follow them out, they could be made to gradually yieldto one's desire and give to him all he asks of them. But no onecould ever violently break them, without becoming the first victimto his guilt; yea, to the extent of risking to lose his own, his hardwon share of immortality, here and there. Remember : tooanxious expectation is not only tedious, but dangerous too. Eachwarmer and quicker throb of the heart wears so much of life away.The passions, the affections are not to be indulged in by him,who seeks to know; for they "wear out the earthly body withtheir own secret power ; and he, who would gain his aim—must hecold." He must not even desire too earnestly or too passionatelythe object he would reach : else, the very wish will prevent thefK>ssibility of its fulfilment, at best—retard and throw it back.You will find in the forth-coming number, two articles whichyou must read, I need not tell you why, as I leave it with yourintuitions. As usual, it is an indiscretion, which, however I haveallowed to remain as there are few, if any, who will understandthe hint contained—but you. There are more than one suchhint though; hence your attention is asked to the "Elixir ofLife" and W. Oxley's "Philosophy of Spirit." The formercontains references and explanations, the haziness of which, mayremind you of a man who stealthily approaching one gives hima hit upon his back, and then runs away ; as they most undeniablybelong to the genus of those " Fortunes " that come to one likethe thief by night and during one's sleep, and go back, findingno one to respond to the offer—of which you complain in yourletter to Brother. This time, you are warned, good friend, socomplain no more. Article No. 2, is penned by the ManchesterSeer—Oxley. Having received no reply to his summons toK.H., he criticises—mildly so far—the utterances of that" Internal Power "—for which new title I feel rather obliged tohim. At the sight of the gentle rebuke, our blunderbuss Editorfailed not to explode. Nor would she be soothed, until Djwal- Khul, with whom the famous review was concocted—(one by-thebye, which seen by, ought to have never been permitted to see the day by you)—was authorized, under the safe nom-de-plume of " Reviewer " to answer (by correcting- some of his blunders) the Seer, in a few innocent foot-notes. Yet, I must say, that of all the present English ** prophets," W. Oxley is the only one who has an inkling of truth ; hence the only one calculated to effectually help our movement. The man runs constantly in and out of the straight road, deviating from it every time he thinks he per- ceives a new path ; but finding himself in a cul-de-sac as invariably returns to the right direction. I must admit, there is much sound philosophy here and there in what he writes ; and, though his story of " Busiris " in its anthropomorphic presentation is ridiculous nonsense, and, his rendering of Sanskrit names is mostly wrong ; and though he seems to have but very hazy notions about what he calls the ** astro-masonic basis of Bhagavat Gita'* and —Mahabharata to both of which he evidently attributes the same author—yet he is positively and absolutely the only one, whose general comprehension of Spirit, and its capabilities and functions after the first separation, we call death, are on the whole if not quite correct, at least approximating very nearly Truth. Read it, when it comes out, especially Par. 3, Col. I, page 152 et seq, where you will find them. You may then understand, why, instead of answering your direct question I go into a subject, so far, perfectly indifferent to you. Follow, for instance his defini- tion of the term ** Angel " (it will be on line 30,) and try to follow and comprehend his thoughts, so clumsily yet withal so correctly expressed and then, compare it with the Tibetan teaching. Poor, poor Humanity, when shall thou have the whole and unadulterated Truth ! Behold, each of the " privileged " ones saying: *' I alone am right! There is no Lacuna, . . ." No ; none : —not on that one special page opened before him, and which he alone is reading in the endless volume of ** Spirit Revelation," called Seership. But why such stubborn oblivion of the important fact that there are other and inumerable pages before and after that one solitary page that each of the ** Seers " has so far hardly learnt to decipher? Why is it, that every one of these ** Seers" believes himself the Alpha and the Omega of Truth? Thus—S.M. is taught that there are no such " Beings " as " Brothers,'' and to reject the doctrine of frequent annihilation and that of the Elementary and of the non-human Spirits. Maitland and Mrs. K. have revealed to them—by Jesus and God themselves (that alone would beat +) that many of the supposed ** Spirits " which control mediums and converse with visitors— Spiritualists, are no "disembodied" spirits at all, but only ** flames," and the reliquiae of dogs, cats and pigs, helped to communicate with mortals by the spirits of " trees," vegetablesand minerals. Though more hazy than the human, cautious dis-courses of the alleged + those teachings are nearer to the markthan anything uttered so far by the mediums, and I will tell youwhy. When the " Seeress " is made to reveal that " immortahty is by no means a m.atter of course for all " . . . that" souls shrink away and expire," it being " the nature of them toburn out and expand themselves "... etc., she is deliver-ing herself of actual, incontrovertible jacts. And why? Because both Maitland and herself as well as their circle—are strictvegetarians, while S.M. is a flesh-eater and a wine and liquordrinker. Never will the Spiritualists find reliable, trustworthymediums and Seers (not even to a degree) so long as the latterand their " circle " will saturate themselves with animal blood,and the millions of infusoria of the fermented fluids. Since myreturn I found it impossible for me to breathe—even in the atmosphere of the Headquarters! M. had to interfere, and to forcethe whole household to give up meat ; and they had, all of them,to be purified and thoroughly cleansed with various disinfectingdrugs before I could even help myself to my letters. And I amnot, as you may imagine, half as sensitive to the loathsomeemanations as a tolerably respectable disembodied shell wouldbe,—leaving out of question a real Presence, though but a ** projecting " one. In a year or so, perchance earlier, I may findmyself hardened again. At present I find it impossible—do whatI may.
And now, with such a preface instead of answering I will putyou a question. You know, S. Moses, and you know Maitlandand Mrs. K. personally. And, you have heard of and read abouta good many Seers, in the past and present centuries, such asSwedenborg, Boehme, and others. Not one among the numberbut thoroughly honest, sincere, and as intelligent, as welleducated ; aye ; even learned. Each of them in addition to thesequalities, has or had an -f of his own ; a ** Guardian " and aRevelator—, under whatever " mystery " and ** mystic name "—whose mission it is—or has been to spin out to his spiritual ward—a new system embracing all the details of the world of Spirit.Tell me, my friend, do you know of two that agree? And why,since truth is one, and that putting entirely the question of dis-crepancies in details aside—we do not find them agreeing evenupon the most vital problems—those that have either " to be, ornot to be "—and of which there can be no two solutions?Summed up, it comes to the following : —All the '' Rosicrucians,"all the medicBval mystics, Swendenborg, P.B. Randolf, Oxley,etc., etc. : " there are secret Brotherhoods of Initiates in the East,especially in Tibet and Tartary "; there only can the Lost Word (which is no Word) be found " and, there are Spirits of the Elements, and Spirit-Flames, that were never incarnated (in this cycle), and immortality 1*5 conditional.
Mediums and clairvoyants, (of the type of S. Moses) there are no Brothers in Tibet or India, and the ** Lost Word " is in the sole keeping- of my ** Guardian " who knows the word but knows of no Brothers. And, immortality is for all and unconditional, there being no Spirits, but the human and the dis- embodied, etc. etc."—a system of radical denial of the first one and in complete antagonism with it. While Oxley and Mrs. H. Billing are in direct communication with the *' Brothers," S.M. rejects the very idea of one. While " Busiris " is an *' angel " au pluriel, or the Spirit of a congeries of Spirits (Dhyan Chohans) the -f soul of a disembodied Sage solo. His teachings are authoritative, yet we always find a ring of uncertainty and hesi- tation in them : " We are not able to say now " . . . ** It is doubtful " . , . " We do not understand whether it is pre- tended " . . . it " seems that " . . . ** we do not feel sure," etc. Thus speaketh a man, conditioned and limited in his means of obtaining absolute knowledge; but why should a " Soul within the Universal Soul " a ** Spirit Sage " use such a cautious, uncertain phraseology if the truth is known to him? Why not, in answer to her direct, fearless, and challenging remark : ** You want objective proof of the Lodge? have you not + ? and can you not ask him whether I speak the truth "?—why not answer—(if it is + who answers)—either one way or the other, and say : —" the poor wench is hallucinated " ; or, (as there cannot be another or a third alternative if S.M. is right) ** she lies intentionally, with such and such an object, beware of her! " Why so hazy?—Aye, verily, because *' he ( + ) knows/' and " his name be blessed, —but he (S.M. knoweth not; for, as his ** spirits," + he thinks —repeatedly reminds him : ** You do not appear to have gathered rightly what we said . . ." controversy stirs up your mind and feeling, and in place of a transparent medium, gives us one that is turpid. . . . We require a passive mind, and cannot act without it" . . . (see Light February 4th))
As we do not " require a passive mind " but on the contrary are seeking for those most active, which can put two and two to- gether once that they are on the right scent, we will, if you please, drop the subject. Let your mind work out the problem for itself. Yes ; I am indeed, satisfied with your last article, though it will satisfy no Spiritualist. Yet there is more philosophy and pro- found logic in it than in a dozen of their most pretentious publications. Thanks—will come later on. Thus, little by little, the now incomprehensible will become the self-evident ; and many a sentence of mystic meaning, will shine yet out before your Soul- eye, like a transparency illuminating the darkness of your mind.Such is the course of gradual progress ; a year or two back youmight have written a more brilliant, never a more profoundarticle. Neglect then, not, my good Brother, the humble, thederided Journal of your Society, and mind not either its quaint,pretentious cover, nor the '* heaps of manure " contained in it—to repeat the charitable, and to yourself the too familiar remarkused often at Simla. But let your attention be rather drawntothe few pearls of Wisdom and occult truths to be occasionallydiscovered under that ** manure." Our own ways and mannersare, perchance, as quaint and as uncouth—nay more so. SubbaRao is right ; he who knows aught of the ways of the Siddhasshall concur with the views expressed on the third page of hisincomplete letter : many of us would be mistaken for Madmen,by your English gentlemen. But he, who would become a sonof Wisdom can always see beneath the rugged surface. So, withthe poor old Journal. Behold, its mystically bumptious clothing!, its numerous blemishes and literary defects and with all thatcover the most perfect symbol of its contents : The main portionof its original ground, thickly veiled, all smutty and as black asnight, through which peep out grey dots, and lines, and words,and even—sentences. To the truly wise those breaks of grey,may suggest an allegory full of meaning, such as the streaks oftwilight, upon the Eastern sky, at morning's early dawn, after anight of intense darkness; the aurora of a more " spiritually in-tellectual " cycle. And who knows, how many of those, who,undismayed by unprepossessing appearance, the hideous intrica-cies of its style, and the other many failures of the unpopularmagazine will keep on tearing its pages, may find themselvesrewarded some day for their perseverance ! Illuminated sentencesmay gleam out upon them, at some time or other, sheddingabright light on some old puzzling problems. Yourself, some finemorning, while pouring over its crooked columns with thesharpened wits of a well rested brain, peering into what you nowview as hazy, impalpable speculations, having only the consist-ency of vapour, —yourself you may, perchance, perceive in themthe unexpected solution of an old, blurred, forgotten *' dream"of yours, which once recalled will impress itself in an indelibleimage upon your outer from your inner memory, to never fadeout from it again. All this is possible and may happen ; for ourways are the ways of " Madmen " . .
Then why feel ** unhappy " and " disappointed " my good, myfaithful friend? remember that hope deferred is no hope lost.'* Conditions " may change for the better—for we too spook-likeneed our conditions, and can hardly work without them ; andthen, the vague depression of Spirit, which is now settling down upon you like a heavy cloud upon a landscape may be blown away at the first favourable breeze. Bhavani Shanker is with O., and he is stronger and fitter in many a way more than Damodar or even our mutual '* female " friend.
No ; you will not be snatched away from your studies before you have thoroughly mastered the alphabet, so as to learn to read by yourself; and, it depends but on you alone to nail for ever '* the too attractive vision " which seems to you now to be fading away. .... . . ......^ whole situation. That I am not a " Seraph " yet is shown by the fact of my writing to you this endless letter. When it is proved that you have not misunderstood my meaning I may say more. Morya, to enable you as he says to confront your enemies, the believers in the materialisation of '* individual souls," wanted me, to acquaint you with the totality of the subtile bodies and their collective aggregate, as well as with the distributive aggregate or the sheaths. I believe it is premature. Before the world can be made to understand the difference between the " Sutratma " (thread-soul) and ** taijasa " (the brilliant or the luminous) they have to be taught the nature of the grosser elements. What I blame him for, is that he allowed you to begin from the wrong end—the most difficult unless one has thoroughly mastered the preparatory ground. I have looked over you(r) MS. to him ; and more than once have I detected on the white margin the shadow of your face, with its earnest, enquiring gaze in the eyes : your thought having projected your image on the spot you had on your mind, and which you longed to receive back filled—" thirsting '* as you say—for more notes and in- formation. Well, if his laziness overcomes his good intentions much longer, I will have to do it myself, though my time is limited. At all events to write for you is no ungrateful task, as you make the best use of the little you may pick up here and there. Indeed, when you complain of being unable to comprehend the meaning of Eliphas Levi, it is only because you fail like so many other readers to find the key to their way of writing. On close observation, you will find that it was never the intention of the Occultists really to conceal what they have been writing from the earnest determined students, but rather to lock up their in- formation for safety's sake, in a secure safe box, the key to which is—intuition. The degree of diligence and zeal with which the hidden meaning is sought by the student, is generally the test—how far he is entitled to the possession of the so buried treasure. And certainly if you are able to make out that which was concealed under the red ink of M.—you need despair of nothing. I believe, it is time now to bid you farewell, hoping you will find less trouble to read the blue than the red hiero-glyphics. O. will be with you shortly and you ought to makethe best of this opportunity which may be the last for both. Andnow, need I remind you that this letter is strictly private?
Yours, whatever may come of it,
K. H
