The Veil issue 6

The Veil Vol. 6 | Feb 2015

SCIENCE, OCCULTISM, ESOTERICA, PHILOSOPHY & HISTORICAL ANECDOTE

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ON THE EFFECTS OF ATTACHMENT TO CONSCIOUSNESS

THE BOAT AND THE LONE TRAVELLER

THE WESAK FESTIVAL; FESTIVAL OF THE EAST

WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING?

HOW MANY GODS DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE A LIGHT BULB?

By Levin Diatschenko

A

fter much hiking and wading through rough woods, a seeker named Joshua arrived at a clearing, where, to his surprise, God Himself stood in the centre. The Lord stood silently and content, radiating tranquillity.

Joshua threw himself onto the ground before God in submission. “O Lord,” he cried, “Tell me what I should do?”

God gave him a staff and said, “Take this staff. It is filled with my power. Take it back with you, and once home, use it to create a god.”

Joshua took the staff and travelled back through the wilderness to his town. As instructed he waved the staff and called ABRACADABRA. The staff emitted a stream of golden light that coagulated into a god, appearing exactly as Joshua remembered God Himself.

The new god opened its eyes and saw everything that was before him. He smiled. Joshua threw himself on his face, in submission. “O Lord,” he cried, “Tell me what I should do?”

The god told Joshua to invite his friends and neighbours and family over to the house. Joshua did as instructed and soon many people came and threw themselves on the floor in submission.

The god began giving out orders. He delegated everyone in groups or individually, and all of

The Veil CONCEPT & RESEARCH

Levin Diatschenko LAYOUT & DESIGN

Nico Liengme All works © their respective owners except where copyright expired.

Printed in Darwin by Uniprint NT. For subscriptions, submissions and arguments, write to the editor: aybrus@hotmail.com

Joshua’s friends set to work fulfilling the will of the god. Cathedrals and temples and great sculptures were begun. Operas and journeys and conquests were embarked upon. Philanthropic endeavours rolled out into poor neighbourhoods and developing countries. The god stood in the centre of it all, yelling out directions and orders.

After some time, Joshua became very stressed.

He felt overworked and worried about not fulfilling the desires of the god. He worked extra hard to make sure he understood and performed what the god wanted.

He discovered that his friends and family were each in a similar state of stress and worry.

Months later, cathedrals and temples and so on began to be completed. Paradoxically, while many of these works sparkled with beauty and glory, the morale of their builders was considerably low.

The worshippers were tired, disaffected, stressed, and even angry. Notwithstanding their health and moral, many of the worshippers became wealthy.

Many of them spent their wealth in gambling, drinking, or other drugs in order to compensate for the depression. And yet the world flocked to behold the art of this region, or even to give awards to the worshippers.

After some time, Joshua prepared to set out to the wilderness again and seek out the first God. But the second god, noticing the preparations, asked, “Where are you going, Joshua?”

Joshua told him.

“You cannot,” said the god, “for I need you somewhere else. There is still much work to be done.”

So Joshua postponed his trip and continued doing the will of the god. Years later, he lamented that there was never a time when the god did not need him to work on one thing or another. Every time Joshua set out, the god called out, “Where are you going, Joshua? I need you in such and such a place to do such and such a thing!”

Joshua got a little farther each time, but finally he’d do the right thing and obey the god.

Finally – perhaps blasphemously – Joshua left for the forest, ignoring the thunderous shouts of the god. Warning thunderbolts demolished trees and hills around him as he went.

For the second time in his life, Joshua reached the clearing where God stood in the centre.

The Lord stood silently and content, radiating tranquillity.

Joshua threw himself on the ground and beseeched the Lord. “Have I done your will O lord?”

God said, “You have done well, Joshua.”

“Have I not done wrong by coming here, Lord?”

“Certainly not, child. You ought to come to me as much as possible.”

“But the other god…”

“It is up to you whose word you follow.”

Joshua dwelt for some time there, but received no orders. He then made the journey back to his home.

Waiting there for him was the other god, quietly, though not so patiently. Joshua barely got out the word hello before the god began giving orders. Off Joshua went to work again.

Continued on page 4

EDITORIAL In any specific place and time, its people are almost entirely concerned with what are called ‘the current issues.’ They prefer to discuss these issues exclusively. The understanding is that they are current because they are important. The proposition here is that those same issues are only current because they are discussed.

Newspapers don’t discuss Climate Change because it is important; it has been an important issue since the Industrial Revolution kicked off.

The discussions of the day are mostly reactions. The words “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you” are far from outdated, despite their time of authorship. Buddhist and Hindu texts – even older — wrote that we are all interconnected. Then Einstein, Tesla and others helped to prove that on a physical and electrical level. Einstein didn’t discover something new; he confirmed something old. Our timecentricity is just another prejudice. We have the same interests and problems that we’ve had for centuries (like food, sex and war). Our progress amounts to being more efficient at being the same.

The politics of the day are like soap operas; there is never any resolution.

The Veil is an attempt at detaching itself from the orbit of its own day.

And, from that space, publishing articles on their own merit. The idea is that an article that is relevant to today, need not necessarily have been written today.

Inside The Veil you will find entertaining anecdotes, letters, articles and documents of interest from a range of different eras and countries.

Levin Diatschenko Editor

By Rudolf Steiner From a book called Esoteric Lessons 1913-1923 (Steiner Books). The book is a collection of lectures recalled by students. Rudolf Steiner (25/27 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was the head of the German Branch of the Theosophical Society, and broke away during the Krishnamurti affair. Almost the whole German branch went with him, and he founded the Anthroposophical Society. A renaissance man, he wrote and lectured prolifically, made reforms and innovations to dance (inventing Eurythmy), architecture, education (creating Waldorf Steiner Schools) – and even inspiring the creation of biodynamic farming.

I include here two extracts, one long and one short, but both related.

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ON THE EFFECTS OF ATTACHMENT TO CONSCIOUSNESS “It is because the moment

1.

My dear sisters and brothers, we can know a great deal of Anthroposophy and be able to quickly answer all possible questions, and yet, must say to ourselves: Actually, if I want to be honest, I must admit that I do not progress well in my meditations.

What should I do to better move forward? Quite often, the reason students must say such a thing is that they do not immerse their souls completely in the element of devoutness in relation to the spiritual beings. The deepest reverence must hold sway in their soul, if they want to raise themselves up to these beings. Not thought or feeling from the daily life may be in the students; they must be totally still within themselves.

In such a mood, we want to contemplate human sleep from a certain side. We know that during sleep the astral body and “I” leave the physical body and etheric body. However, the “I” knows nothing of this; it remains unconscious.

The consciousness of the “I” and astal body is awake only on the physical plane. Why is this?

It is because the moment the “I” and astral body are outside, they have a burning desire to be reunited with the physical and etheric bodies.

That is the reason consciousness does not awaken in the spiritual world. Just as soon as the “I” is back in the physical body, it awakens to the things presented to it by the senses. If human beings did not have this burning desire, they would immediately become conscious in the spiritual world. Then they would see a world full of life around them, but it would be totally different from the physical world. They would perceive a world of spiritual beings and forces. And the students would see that all of these beings and forces tend toward a single central point, and would see this central point as their own physical body and etheric body.

If we as human beings would go further, and could make observations outside of our body in the spiritual world—to the point where we could observe our “I” or that of another—we would then see that the human “I” is the target of the spiritual beings’ work. And we would recognise these beings as messengers and servants of the spirits of form and, in part of the spirits of movement. And we would know that these beings working on the human “I” are in progress; they are involved in their own development. By nurturing and caring for the human “I,” they develop themselves at the same time. Clairvoyants would see behind every human being such a group of beings taking care of the human “I.” And if the clairvoyants would look at the physical body

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and the etheric body, themselves as physical the ‘I’ and astral body they would again see illness, as well as crowds of elemental are outside, they have psychological as soulbeings that they would pain, fear, anxiety, and a burning desire to be recognise as servants mental illnesses. These of the spirits of reunited with the physical elemental beings strive movement, spirits of the human being and etheric bodies. That is toby healremoving wisdom, and spirits of these the reason consciousness form. effects of Ahriman and And human beings Lucifer. These beings does not awaken in would recognise are servants of the lofty in reverence and the spiritual world.” spirit beings that now devoutness, that all of shine upon our Earth these elemental beings and the human world are working on the temple of the physical body from the forces of the zodiac. These elemental and the etheric body, while the human beings beings are the spirit-messengers of the forces of themselves are outside of their body-temple. our zodiac, and out of this circumference they all Waking up is nothing other than driving these work into the centre point: our Earth. beings from their field of work, and taking their All human beings may feel themselves as a place with our egotistical earthly “I.” centre point of the work of these elemental beings There are twelve categories of such beings. and of the spiritual beings working upon their “I.” Human beings have twelve senses, and these Our earth passes over into a spiritual condition, beings work on them. We have the warmth- which is called the “pralaya,” once it has gone sense, the “I”-sense, the thought-sense, balance- through its prescribed seven evolutionary stages. sense, word-sense, life-sense, smell, taste, sight, It will then emerge again in a new configuration hearing, touch, and movement-sense. The word- as Jupiter. The elemental beings that are now the sense works in such a way that, when we hear messengers of our zodiac will then become the another person speak, we do not hear the words zodiac of Jupiter; that is their development. Now spoken, but the individual vowels and consonants they are working on what stands spiritually behind out of which the word was formed. our senses.

We know these beings work upon the temple of humanity given to the human “I” by the Those who want to enter into the spiritual worlds must, above all, Godhead. And we know that the human “I” practice strict self-knowledge. The destroys this temple again and again by allowing Ahriman and Lucifer to seduce us. Of course, Essene Order—the exalted teachers of which it will be clear to the clairvoyant that what we taught the Nathan Jesus of the Lukas Gospel consider to be the physical body—what we can the extract of all the wisdom that precisely this touch and take hold of—is not the temple that being would need—had two especially important is being referred to. The clairvoyant knows this rules that can show us how far we are from the temple to be the spiritual organization that stands spiritual in our modern time. The first rule was: behind the physical body. And these spiritual Before sunrise and after sundown, no Essene shall speak of worldly things. And for those who had beings work on this spiritual organization.

What we call our physical body, what as such achieved a higher level, this rule was further is in the physical surroundings, is all the product enhanced in that they were also not to occupy of Ahriman. We meet his products in everything themselves with thoughts of worldly things during that is physical. And we know, when we come to this time. A second instruction was: Before the the point of experiencing ourselves outside the Sun rises, every Essene shall ask that the sunrise physical and etheric bodies, that our whole soul will indeed take place and that the power of the life that we bear within us through the physical Sun will shine over humanity everywhere. These body is the work of Lucifer. Lucifer is at work rules give us tidings of the importance of our in all of our thinking, feeling, and willing that being’s connection with the events of the spiritual is stimulated only through the emotions caused world, out of which we emerge in the morning by the sense world. The clairvoyant knows that and into which we enter when we go to sleep in these elemental beings strive to remove the effects the evening. of Lucifer and Ahriman. These effects exhibit

2.

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HOW MANY GODS DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE A LIGHT BULB? CONT. From then on, Joshua made the pilgrimage to God more often. The other god protested, but the more Joshua went, the more the other god accepted it. Finally, when Joshua started the journey, the god stood silently in waiting. He threw no more thunderbolts, and he yelled less and less – until he waited silently.

Joshua would leave the silent and accepting god, and go to an equally silent and accepting God. It got to the point where the gods resembled each other like mirror images.

“You are both the same,” Joshua mused one day.

“One of you is therefore redundant.”

As if in reply, one of the gods vanished into thin air.

Joshua stood facing the remaining god, and without thinking about it, Joshua, in his peace and contentment, mirrored Him. Both stood enchanted, beholding each other – Joshua because he beheld the most beautiful and glorious of Beings; God, because he beheld His most loyal and exalted creation and servant.

Eventually they resembled each other (since man was made in His likeness). God finally broke the silence: “We are both the same now: one of us is redundant.”

One of them vanished.

INTERPRETATION

The journey through the wilderness represents the effort to meditate, to turn inwards.

The clearing in the wilderness represents the mental stillness one reaches in deep meditation, and the God he found there is the higher part of the Meditator previously unknown or only theorised about.

The staff represents the fruit of reaching the divine part of self. This higher self, once experienced, causes the aspirant to yearn to express this truth in some way to others. This is most often expressed by increased participation in groups and endeavours deemed ‘services to humanity’.

What this increased participation causes, however, is a duality. On the one hand, the aspirant has achieved peace and detachment from his worldly self. This very peace—and experiencing of a larger self—has caused increased worldly activity, so that on the other hand this activity has caused increased worldly attachments. So the God in the clearing and his reflection in the town have become conflicting forces catching the aspirant in a tug-of-war. This needs to be reconciled.

Reconciliation is done when the server achieves both increased activity and detachment to results of that activity, both at the same time. Alice A. Bailey expressed it in the phrase, “To stand free whilst surrounded”.

The duality is then made a unity.

From A Treatise On White Magic by Alice A. Bailey. First written in 1934 and published by Lucis Press (who still hold copyright). This is reprinted here with permission from the Lucis Trust.

Alice A. Bailey was a theosophist who eventually founded her own esoteric school, the Arcane School, in the 1920s, which is still around today.

She wrote many books on spiritual development and universal brotherhood, and has been very influential on spiritual movements. Many phrases and ideas were borrowed from her (including ‘the new age’), though not necessarily preserved or used in the same way she did.

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RULES OF THOUGHTFORM BUILDING The necessity for clear thinking and the elimination of idle, destructive and negative thoughts, becomes increasingly apparent as the aspirant progresses on his way. As the power of the mind increases, and as the human being differentiates his thoughts increasingly from mass thought, he inevitably builds thought substance into form. It is at first automatic and unconscious.

He can not help so doing, and fortunately, for the race, the forms constructed are so feeble that they are largely innocuous, or so in line with mass thought that they are negligible in their effect.

But as man evolves his power, and his capacity to harm or to help increases, and unless he learns to build rightly, and correctly to motivate that which he has built, he will become a destructive agency and a centre of harmful force destroying and harming not only himself, as we shall see shortly, but equally hurting and harming those who vibrate to his note.

Granted all this, you might appositely inquire: Are there some simple rules which the earnest and sincere beginner could apply to this science of building, and which are so clear and concise that they will produce the needed effect? There are, and I will state them simply so that the beginner will, if he follows them, escape the dangers of black magic, and learn to build in line with the Plan. He will, if he follows the rules I give, avoid the intricate problem which he has himself blindly constructed, and which will indeed shut out the light of day, darken his world, and imprison him in a wall of forms which will embody for him his own peculiar great illusion.

These rules may sound too simple for the learned aspirant, but for those who are willing to become as little children, they will be found to be a safe guide into truth and will eventually make them able to pass the tests for adeptship.

Some are couched in terms symbolic, others are necessarily blinds, still others express the truth just as it is.

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1. View the world of thought, and separate the false out of the true.

2. Learn the meaning of illusion, and in its midst locate the golden thread of truth.

3. Control the body of emotion, for the waves that rise upon the stormy seas of life engulf the swimmer, shut out the sun and render all plans futile.

4. Discover that thou hast a mind and learn its dual use.

5. Concentrate the thinking principle, and be the master of thy mental world.

6. Learn that the thinker and his thought, and

that which is the means of thought, are diverse in their nature, yet one in ultimate reality.

7. Act as the thinker, and learn it is not right to prostitute thy thought to the base use of separative desire.

8. The energy of thought is for the good of all and for the furtherance of the Plan of God. Use it not therefore for thy selfish ends.

9. Before a thought-form is by thee constructed, vision its purpose, ascertain its goal, and verify the motive.

10. For thee, the aspirant on the way of life, the way of conscious building is not yet the goal. The work of cleaning out the atmosphere of thought,

of barring fast the doors of thought to hate and pain, to fear, and jealousy and low desire, must first precede the conscious work of building. See to thy aura, oh traveller on the way.

11. Watch close the gates of thought. Sentinel desire. Cast out all fear, all hate, all greed. Look out and up.

12. Because thy life is mostly centred on the plane of concrete life, thy words and speech will indicate thy thought. To these pay close attention.

13. Speech is of triple kind. The idle words will each produce effect. If good and kind, naught need be done. If otherwise, the paying of the price cannot be long delayed.

The selfish words, sent forth with strong intent, build up a wall of separation. Long time it takes to break that wall and so release the stored-up, selfish purpose. See to thy motive, and seek to use those words which blend thy little life with the large purpose of the will of God. The word of hate, the cruel speech which ruins those who feel the spell, the poisonous gossip, passed along because it gives a thrill - these words kill the flickering impulses of the soul, cut at the roots of life, and so bring death.

If spoken in the light of day, just retribution will they bring; when spoken and then registered as lies, they strengthen that illusory world in which the speaker lives, and holds him back from liberation.

If uttered with intent to hurt, to bruise and kill, they wander back to him who sent them forth, and him they bruise and kill.

14. The idle thought, the selfish thought, the cruel hateful thought, if rendered into word, produce a prison, poison all the springs of life, lead to disease, and cause disaster and delay. Therefore, be sweet and kind and good as far as in thee lies.

Keep silence and the light will enter in.

15. Speak not of self. Pity not thy fate. The thoughts of self and of thy lower destiny, prevent the inner voice of thine own soul from striking upon thine ear. Speak of the soul; enlarge upon the plan; forget thyself in building for the world.

Thus is the law of form offset. Thus can the rule of love enter upon that world.

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THE LIMITS OF REASON

Taken from War And Peace (book V, Chapter 2) by Count Leo Tolstoy (1828 –1910). Tolstoy is one of the Great Russian novelists and philosophers, so much so that his status became guru-like in his lifetime.

He even received regular letters from the young Gandhi, who named his non-violence community in South Africa ‘Tolstoy Farm.’

In his book The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Tolstoy professed what others have since called an anarchic version of Christianity, whose pacifism even called to stop paying taxes that would go to the up keeping of an army.

“Allow me to ask,” he said, “are you a Mason?”

“Yes, I belong to the Brotherhood of the Freemasons,” said the stranger, looking deeper and deeper into Pierre’s eyes. “And in their name and my own I hold out a brotherly hand to you.”

“I am afraid,” said Pierre, smiling, and wavering between the confidence the personality of the Freemason inspired in him and his own habit of ridiculing the Masonic beliefs – “I am afraid I am very far from understanding- how am I to put it? – I am afraid my way of looking at the world is so opposed to yours that we shall not understand one another.”

“I know your outlook,” said the Mason, “and the view of life you mention, and which you think is the result of your own mental efforts, is the one held by the majority of people, and is the invariable fruit of pride, indolence, and ignorance.

Forgive me, my dear sir, but if I had not known it I should not have addressed you. Your view of life is a regrettable delusion.”

“Just as I may suppose you to be deluded,” said Pierre, with a faint smile.

“I should never dare to say that I know the truth,” said the Mason, whose words struck Pierre more and more by their precision and firmness.

“No one can attain to truth by himself. Only by laying stone on stone with the cooperation of all, by the millions of generations from our forefather Adam to our own times, is that temple reared which is to be a worthy dwelling place of the Great God,” he added, and closed his eyes.

“I ought to tell you that I do not believe... do not believe in God,” said Pierre, regretfully and with an effort, feeling it essential to speak the whole truth.

The Mason looked intently at Pierre and smiled as a rich man with millions in hand might smile at a poor fellow who told him that he, poor man, had not the five rubles that would make him happy.

“Yes, you do not know Him, my dear sir,” said the Mason. “You cannot know Him. You do not know Him and that is why you are unhappy.”

“Yes, yes, I am unhappy,” assented Pierre.

“But what am I to do?”

“You know Him not, my dear sir, and so you are very unhappy. You do not know Him, but He is here, He is in me, He is in my words, He is in thee, and even in those blasphemous words thou hast just uttered!” pronounced the Mason in a stern and tremulous voice.

He paused and sighed, evidently trying to calm himself.

“If He were not,” he said quietly, “you and I

would not be speaking of Him, my dear sir. Of what, of whom, are we speaking? Whom hast thou denied?” he suddenly asked with exulting austerity and authority in his voice. “Who invented Him, if He did not exist? Whence came thy conception of the existence of such an incomprehensible Being? Didst thou, and why did the whole world, conceive the idea of the existence of such an incomprehensible Being, a Being all-powerful, eternal, and infinite in all His attributes?...”

He stopped and remained silent for a long time.

Pierre could not and did not wish to break this silence.

“He exists, but to understand Him is hard,” the Mason began again, looking not at Pierre but straight before him, and turning the leaves of his book with his old hands which from excitement he could not keep still.

“If it were a man whose existence thou didst doubt I could bring him to thee, could take him by the hand and show him to thee. But how can I, an insignificant mortal, show His omnipotence, His infinity, and all His mercy to one who is blind, or who shuts his eyes that he may not see or understand Him and may not see or understand his own vileness and sinfulness?” He paused again. “Who art thou? Thou dreamest that thou art wise because thou couldst utter those blasphemous words,” he went on, with a somber and scornful smile. “And thou art more foolish and unreasonable than a little child, who, playing with the parts of a skillfully made watch, dares to say that, as he does not understand its use, he does not believe in the master who made it.

To know Him is hard.... For ages, from our forefather Adam to our own day, we labor to attain that knowledge and are still infinitely far from our aim; but in our lack of understanding we see only our weakness and His greatness....”

Pierre listened with swelling heart, gazing into the Mason’s face with shining eyes, not interrupting or questioning him, but believing with his whole soul what the stranger said. Whether he accepted the wise reasoning contained in the Mason’s words, or believed as a child believes, in the speaker’s tone of conviction and earnestness, or the tremor of the speaker’s voice— which sometimes almost broke— or those brilliant aged eyes grown old in this conviction, or the calm firmness and certainty of his vocation, which radiated from his whole being (and which struck Pierre especially by contrast with his own dejection and hopelessness)- at any rate, Pierre longed with his whole soul to believe and he did

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CONSCIENCE RITE believe, and felt a joyful sense of comfort, regeneration, and return to life.

“He is not to be apprehended by reason, but by life,” said the Mason.

“I do not understand,” said Pierre, feeling with dismay doubts reawakening. He was afraid of any want of clearness, any weakness, in the Mason’s arguments; he dreaded not to be able to believe in him. “I don’t understand,” he said, “how it is that the mind of man cannot attain the knowledge of which you speak.”

The Mason smiled with his gentle fatherly smile.

“The highest wisdom and truth are like the purest liquid we may wish to imbibe,” he said. “Can I receive that pure liquid into an impure vessel and judge of its purity? Only by the inner purification of myself can I retain in some degree of purity the liquid I receive.”

“Yes, yes, that is so,” said Pierre joyfully.

“The highest wisdom is not founded on reason alone, not on those worldly sciences of physics, history, chemistry, and the like, into which intellectual knowledge is divided. The highest wisdom is one. The highest wisdom has but one science— the science of the whole—the science explaining the whole creation and man’s place in it. To receive that science it is necessary to purify and renew one’s inner self, and so before one can know, it is necessary to believe and to perfect one’s self.

And to attain this end, we have the light called conscience that God has implanted in our souls.”

“Yes, yes,” assented Pierre.

“Look then at thy inner self with the eyes of the spirit, and ask thyself whether thou art content with thyself. What hast thou attained relying on reason only? What art thou? You are young, you are rich, you are clever, you are well educated. And what have you done with all these good gifts? Are you content with yourself and with your life?”

“No, I hate my life,” Pierre muttered, wincing.

“Thou hatest it. Then change it, purify thyself; and as thou art purified, thou wilt gain wisdom. Look at your life, my dear sir. How have you spent it? In riotous orgies and debauchery, receiving everything from society and giving nothing in return.

You have become the possessor of wealth. How have you used it? What have you done for your neighbor? Have you ever thought of your tens of thousands of slaves? Have you helped them physically and morally? No! You have profited by their toil to lead a profligate life. That is what you have done. Have you chosen a post in which you might be of service to your neighbor? No! You have spent your life in idleness. Then you married, my dear sir— took on yourself responsibility for the guidance of a young woman; and what have you done? You have not helped her to find the way of truth, my dear sir, but have thrust her into an abyss of deceit and misery. A man offended you and you shot him, and you say you do not know God and hate your life. There is nothing strange in that, my dear sir!”

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1. Upon an altar place the following: • A piece of hair or fingernail or photo (or all) of the person who has wronged you. A piece of paper with their name should be written there too.

• A candle.

• One cricket or grasshopper in a cage or jar.

• Your usual symbol or icon of your usual God or master.

• One item which represents the wrong done to you.1 2. Light the candle to gain the attention of the God, and of the mark’s subconscious.

3. To the idol say, “Hark O Lord and Master! Witness here my deed and guide my hand so that right may be done! OM.” 4. To the mark (through his/her hair or picture etc.) say, “Hark, O brother/sister on the Path! Hark O fellow lute-string on the same Lute, which is played by The Great Heavenly Musician! Behold our tune has turned dissonant, and we no longer play together!”

Hold up the symbol of grievance. Say: “See here, brother/sister, the trespass which has been done to me. See here my pain. Master, see the wrong done to your servant.”

Place it back on the altar, and take up the cricket. Say: “Behold, brother/sister; this is your conscience2, the sign of life inside us all, and spark of our divinity. Behold: I shall free it, so that all evil scatters as it approaches, as does snow melt before fire and smoke before wind! May your conscience find you! May it grow and multiply into a swarm3 until the wrong is righted!”

5. Leaving the candle light burning, take the cricket to the home or dwelling place of the mark. Set it free on the premises. It must be freed inside the yard or house. (Note: on the trip there, no conversation or interaction should be had with anybody along the way, since this would constitute a leak in the operation, thus draining its power.)

1. This may be, for example, the shirt you wore at the time, or a object used incidentally.

2. This is a reference to the film version of Pinocchio; the cricket acts as the boy’s conscience.

3. Here, the reference is the locusts of the Old Testament. Knowing the references gives the rite deeper roots and therefore more power.

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ON FAITH THE HUNGRY BEGGAR

Two short scenarios taken separately, but both from Leo Tolstoy’s short book, A Confession. In this book Tolstoy carefully explains why he has faith in a Higher Being and Reason, and he also takes the reader through his journey (from the brink of suicide all the way to a joyful mysticism) to get to this stance.

If a naked, hungry beggar has been taken from the cross-roads, brought into a building belonging to a beautiful establishment, fed, supplied with drink, and obliged to move a handle up and down, evidently, before discussing why he was taken, why he should move the handle, and whether the whole establishment is reasonably arranged - the begger should first of all move the handle. If he moves the handle he will understand that it works a pump, that the pump draws water and that the water irrigates the garden beds; then he will be taken from the pumping station to another place where he will gather fruits and will enter into the joy of his master, and, passing from lower to higher work, will understand more and more of the arrangements of the establishment, and taking part in it will never think of asking why he is there, and will certainly not reproach the master.

So those who do his will, the simple, unlearned working folk, whom we regard as cattle, do not reproach the master; but we, the wise, eat the master’s food but do not do what the master wishes, and instead of doing it sit in a circle and discuss: “Why should that handle be moved? Isn’t it stupid?”

So we have decided. We have decided that the master is stupid, or does not exist, and that we are wise, only we feel that we are quite useless and that we must somehow do away with ourselves.

THE DREAM

I saw that I was lying on a bed. I was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable: I was lying on my back. But I began to consider how, and on what, I was lying - a question which had not till then occurred to me. And observing my bed, I saw I was lying on plaited string supports attached to its sides: my feet were resting on one such support, by calves on another, and my legs felt uncomfortable. I seemed to know that those supports were movable, and with a movement of my foot I pushed away the furthest of them at my feet - it seemed to me that it would be more comfortable so. But I pushed it away too far and wished to reach it again with my foot, and that movement caused the next support under my calves to slip away also, so that my legs hung in the air. I made a movement with my whole body to adjust myself, fully convinced that I could do so at once; but the movement caused the other supports under me to slip and to become entangled, and I saw that matters were going quite wrong: the whole of the lower part of my body slipped and hung down, though my feet did not reach the ground. I was holding on only by the upper part of my back, and not only did it become uncomfortable but I was even frightened. And then only did I ask myself about something that had not before occurred to me. I asked myself: Where am I and what am I lying on? and I began to look around and first of all to look down in the direction which my body was hanging and whither

I felt I must soon fall. I looked down and did not believe my eyes. I was not only at a height comparable to the height of the highest towers or mountains, but at a height such as I could never have imagined.

I could not even make out whether I saw anything there below, in that bottomless abyss over which I was hanging and whither I was being drawn. My heart contracted, and I experienced horror. To look thither was terrible. If I looked thither I felt that I should at once slip from the last support and perish. And I did not look. But not to look was still worse, for I thought of what would happen to me directly I fell from the last support. And I felt that from fear I was losing my last supports, and that my back was slowly slipping lower and lower.

Another moment and I should drop off. And then it occurred to me that this cannot be real. It is a dream. Wake up! I try to arouse myself but cannot do so. What am I to do? What am I to do? I ask myself, and look upwards. Above, there is also an infinite space. I look into the immensity of sky and try to forget about the immensity below, and I really do forget it. The immensity below repels and frightens me; the immensity above attracts and strengthens me. I am still supported above the abyss by the last supports that have not yet slipped from under me; I know that I am hanging, but I look only upwards and my fear passes. As happens in dreams, a voice says: “Notice this, this is it!” And I look more and more into the infinite above me and feel that I am becoming calm. I remember all that has happened, and remember how it all happened; how I moved my legs, how I hung down, how frightened I was, and how I was saved from fear by looking upwards. And I ask myself: Well, and now am I not hanging just the same? And I do not so much look round as experience with my whole body the point of support on which I am held. I see that I no longer hang as if about to fall, but am firmly held. I ask myself how I am held: I feel about, look round, and see that under me, under the middle of my body, there is one support, and that when I look upwards I lie on it in the position of securest balance, and that it alone gave me support before. And then, as happens in dreams, I imagined the mechanism by means of which I was held; a very natural intelligible, and sure means, though to one awake that mechanism has no sense. I was even surprised in my dream that I had not understood it sooner. It appeared that at my head there was a pillar, and the security of that slender pillar was undoubted though there was nothing to support it.

From the pillar a loop hung very ingeniously and yet simply, and if one lay with the middle of one’s body in that loop and looked up, there could be no question of falling. This was all clear to me, and I was glad and tranquil. And it seemed as if someone said to me: “See that you remember.”

And I awoke.

1882.

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THE BOAT AND THE LONE TRAVELLER

By Devendra, an engineer and yogi of no particular tradition; though with learning in many, mostly of the Eastern approach.

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Imagine that you are a lone traveller in a sailboat, in the wide-open blue sea, with beautiful waters and a clean bright sky. There is nothing between you and the journey that you have ventured upon.

The goal of the journey is to enjoy nature and to explore the hitherto unknown islands. The boat is well equipped for the journey, including tools for fixing the boat, and weapons for combating any small and untoward happenings that are likely for a traveller on such a journey.

Naturally, you are skilled to sail the boat, and to read the map and compass to steer it in the desired direction.

You have started your journey and have been enjoying the clean sky and the beautiful clouds hovering in the infinite. Not far have you ventured when you find something that is disturbing. There is some water at the bottom of the boat that appears to be rising. Well, in the tool box you find a bucket and a mug. You reluctantly get up, disturbed from your contemplation, to fill the bucket up with the water and throw it out of the boat.

You have hardly lain down for long when you check to see if there is any more water coming in.

And to your disappointment, it is there, and in a larger quantity. Now you fill the bucket again, and faster then before you bail it out into the sea, only to notice that the water is coming in at a steady rate. You have to keep doing this bucket filling and emptying out business. And so you do. Enjoying the journey is left behind. You have no time to change the direction of the boat as required, since you can’t look at the compass anymore or control the boat. All your time is spent in emptying the boat of the intruding water.

Soon the sun is setting and the sunset that you thought of enjoying is gone unnoticed. You start cursing the water, which by now is pouring into the boat at a faster and faster rate. You want to take your mind off the water but you can not do it as there is the danger of the boat sinking. You try to read a book to take your mind off it but it is impossible. And so on and so forth.

But wait a minute: is there something wrong with the version of the story narrated above? Of course, you are thinking, “that could not be me”.

You, an intelligent enough person, would first find the source of the water leakage and would try to fix the hole rather than spend the whole time throwing the water out. Who would not agree to this approach? And yet you, as a person, is doing exactly the same thing with your life when it comes to your day to day problems and addressing and solving them.

The daily problems that you face are the water that leaks into the boat that is you: a body and mind full of consciousness. The problems that affect you are leaking inside you like the water in the boat. And you are busy solving them one by one like the emptying of the boat, and never even questioning the reason that these problems come to your life in the first place. This is the same as the boatman never questioning the source of the water leakage into the boat in the first version of the story. You solve your problems as if they are the obvious outcome of your life, as does the boatman busying himself in emptying the water.

In both instances, there is the assumption that it is the obvious approach. In both these roles, as a boatman and as the one in the daily life, you never try to find the reason or the source of leakage.

These problems and finding their solution takes up all your productive time which could have been used for living, enjoying and exploring life.

You would be very convinced to look for the hole in the boat, but would be reluctant to look for the hole in the life wherefrom these events (that you call problems) are flowing towards you—are attracted towards you.

What would constitute the hole in your life?

It is the level of your consciousness that invites certain external events as the hole in the boat invites the water. The water outside the boat helps the boat to float and move, but when leaking inside it then becomes the problem. Therefore, one can say that the hole is turning the helpful water into a problem. Similarly the events, which as such are there to help you, are turned into a problem depending on the level of your consciousness.

If you become more and more aware, and raise the level of your consciousness, the problems that you will attract will be of a different nature than what you attract when you are completely unaware. And more importantly, they will stay outside you as the water stays outside the boat, in order to assist it in sailing and not otherwise.

Then the problems will be there but will not enter you, and will only help you in your journey.

The lone traveller, Enjoys, This journey, From here to nowhere …

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ON CONCENTRATION From the book Concentration,

by Ernest Wood (August 18, 1883 – September 17, 1965), first published in 1949 by The Theosophical Publishing House. Ernest Wood was an English Theosophist, and educator, serving as Headmaster for numerous colleges in India founded by the Theosophical Society. Later in life he left the T.S. and channelled his efforts into yoga, meeting and studying with various Indian yogis.

He wrote many books on spiritual and occult topics.

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The Statement. Impressions from the outside (through hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell or telepathy) strike upon us, and we react to them after they have penetrated into us to a certain depth.

These processes are called afferent and efferent by some psychologists.

There is a point, however, where the afferent ceases and the efferent begins, and in that I am or you are.

The diagram. A represents an animal which reacts from emotional habit; B the animal-man who does the same with the addition of memory, imagination and cunning; C the man-man who considers what likes and dislikes to encourage, in accord with ``natural law’’; D the god-man, or philosopher, who feels for others, and reacts from the depth of intelligent love, or intelligence in service to love. For those who do not immediately see this as a natural and necessary fact, I will merely quote Emerson’s statement, to be reflected upon: I see that when souls reach a certain clearness of perfection,

2.

they accept a knowledge and motive above selfishness. A breath of Will blows eternally through the universe of souls in the direction of the Right and Necessary. It is the air which all intellects inhale and exhale, and it is the wind which blows the world into order and orbit. This contains something of a still deeper depth, of which the god-man will become aware in due course - a spiritual intuition of the purpose of our being in the present moment, as though the future tree were talking to the seed or at least the seedling. Enough said. I hope we shall all experience this before too long.

I must prevent a possible error by pointing out that we are not to become desicated men, without likes and dislikes. We have flesh and blood and a heritage of emotions and ideas; but impressions from all these will be carried inwards on the afferent stream and dealt with according to their true worth as seen in the depths, and brought out again in full strength, but purified.

The Question. In which depth will you establish your mood? I beg you to think again and again about this, and to explore and re-explore those depths until they become familiar ground. Give yourself leisure for thought.

Be brave, then, and face the world with clear thoughts, intelligent love, and enlightened will.

There will be a new policy in your life. Consider it practically.

What will it mean to you when you rise in the morning, when you eat, when you lie down to sleep? What when you meet your companions, your friends, your so-called enemies? What when you lose your appointment or money or meet with an accident, or fall ill, and your family suffers? Sit down, and think over the disagreeable things that might happen within the next week, and see in each case what it would mean to you. You would not wish them to be otherwise; you would say to each of them: ``What are you for; what use can I make of you?’’

You would not sink down weeping; nor rise up in thoughtless battling.

There is not hoping in this mood - but there is certainty, inherent steadiness of power. There is no expectation, but there is knowledge.

There is no fear, but confidence in the true law of life within you and in all things.

Every morning for a week, before you begin the day, spend five minutes in thinking over this strong outlook upon life. Every night before you go to rest, spend a few minutes in glancing back to see how you have maintained your spiritual dignity during the past day. Do not ask yourself especially: “In what have I erred?’’ but: “In what have I succeeded?’’ Each day will tell its tale of achievement. Do not wish, nor regret, nor hope. But when you are about to go to sleep, whisper gently: “I will’’. And when you wake whisper gently: “I will’’.

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THE PSYCHIC BATTERY An excerpt from The Tarot; A Contemporary Course of The Quintessence of Hermetic Occultism (1962 Allen & Unwin Ltd) By Mouni Sadhu—specifically the chapter on the Eleventh Arcana (‘Strength’). Mouni Sadhu was the pen name of Mieczyslaw Demetriusz Sudowski (17 August 1897 – 24 December 1971), a Polish author and occultist. He served in the Polish Army during WW2, where he apparently killed a fellow officer in a duel of honour.

Sadhu briefly studied in the Polish Theosophical Society, but he seems to have served mainly under two great teachers: Prof.

Gregory Ossipovitch Mebes, a Russian Martinist whose practice centred around The Tarot; and the Indian sage Sri Ramana Maharsi, during which time Sadhu took his pen name. He finally immigrated to Melbourne, Australia, in June 1948, where he wrote spiritual books and taught a small group of students.

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The most important factor of force for an power. But do not attempt (especially in the occultist and an average man alike is their beginning) to interfere in the way just shown with WILL-POWER. If it is advisable for the latter your vital functions or activities! to develop it, then it is a condition of success for DO NOTHING SENSELESS OR the former (among the exercises connected with UNREASONABLE! For occultism does not the experience of exteriorisation, there are some tolerate either unwise actions or unwise men. If which also imply the development of will-power). your duties or other circumstances compel you Here I want to include in a suitable form, means to speak or act in a certain way, you should not which have been tested and are otherwise well- cancel these activities, which belong to your known to religious and occult ascetics, and which karmic conditions. KNOW, that in your everyday can be followed without any change in the outer life you will find innumerable opportunities to life of the student. develop your will-power in the way just indicated, WILL-POWER is like an electric battery. If and if you will make use of even ten percent of all adequately charged and not exhausted, it retains these opportunities, which appear in your normal its usefulness; but if too often used for non- life, you will soon become a being, endowed essential purposes, the battery will give us little with a will-power far superior to that of your service in a moment of need. environment.

The generator of will-power in us is just the The more you follow this simple advice, the amount of inner impulses and desires, which we better you will feel the increase of your realisable consciously conquer and refuse to satisfy in order will-power, giving you much greater satisfaction to charge our will-power’s battery. You should and happiness, than you have ever experienced know, that if you obey the slightest emotions or before. Then you will probably try to perform thoughts arising in your consciousness, your will some more exercises, in order to grow steadily shall always be close to zero. in power and inner peace, which invariably is But every dominate desire, unexpressed connected with any inner strength. thought, unpronounced word, or unperformed What have I to tell you in such a case? For deed, if they are a result of your definite WILL great results greater efforts are necessary, which and DECISION, are the currents which charge mean greater inner efforts and ‘sacrifice’, self your battery. Examples will be more illuminating. restraint, or renunciations, which will charge your Suppose that you have a desire to tell your inner ‘battery’. I will limit myself to giving only acquaintance something, which in itself has no a few hints, as the earnest and ardent student can great meaning, or importance, and you have that complete the list for himself. Take the example of desire simply because you want to speak, having eminent occultists, saints, and yogis: all of them nothing better to do. Suppress this desire and did and do try CERTAIN asceticism, that is remain silent. You want to buy a newspaper, limitation of their desires and needs to the possible in order to read about some sensational, but minimum. SO THERE LIES THE SECRET insignificant happening, which is announced in OF INNER STRENGTH! Every time renounce it. Refuse to obey this something ‘dear’ to you, desire. “ For great results greater and so collect the power.

In both cases you Gradual and reasonable efforts are necessary, may observe some action is what is greater self-assertion in foremost needed. Do which mean greater you, something like an not, for example, fast inner efforts and inner fullness, or feeling yourself half to death! of strength, probably ‘sacrifice’, self restraint, That would be stupid! in the head (in the Your unnecessary or renunciations, which beginning). indulgences, when cut Going further, off will provide you with will charge your inner sacrifice some dish, a never-ending amount ‘battery’.” which you especially of the ‘CURRENT’. like, or a visit to This will-power is the theatre; take longer to walk to your home, useful not only in occult study, but also in one’s despite your subconscious desire to be there as everyday life. Properly used it brings happiness. soon as possible. All these movements in your And this power is the very idea of the Eleventh consciousness will considerably fortify your will- Arcanum.

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THE WESAK FESTIVAL; FESTIVAL OF THE EAST

By Alice A. Bailey, taken from chapter one of her Unfinished Autobiography, published by Lucis Press (in 1951) who still hold copyright.

These anecdotes describe two events that led to AAB’s founding of her school for spiritual development and service, Arcane School. The latter describes her experience in the Wesak Festival.

On June 30th, 1895, I had an experience which has made that date for me one that I never forget and always keep. I had been for months in the throes of adolescent miseries. Life was not worth living. There was nothing but sorrow and trouble on every hand. I had not asked to come into the world but here I was. I was just 15. Nobody loved me and I knew I had a hateful disposition and so was not surprised that life was difficult. There was no future ahead of me, except marriage and the humdrum life of my caste and set. I hated everybody (except two or three people) and I was jealous of my sister, her brains and good looks. I had been taught the narrowest kind of Christianity; unless people thought as I did, they could not be saved. The Church of England was divided into the High Church party which was almost Anglo-Catholic and the Low Church party which believed in a hell for those who did not accept certain tenets and a heaven for those who did. I belonged for six months of the year to one party and for six months of the year (when I was not in Scotland and under the influence of my aunt) to the other. I was torn between the beauties of ritual and the narrowness of dogma. Missionary work was dinned into my consciousness by both groups. The world was divided into those who were Christians and worked hard to save souls and those who were heathen and bowed down to images of stone and worshipped them. The Buddha was a stone image; and it never dawned on me then that the images of the Buddha were on a par with the statues and images of the Christ in the Christian churches with which I was so familiar on the continent of Europe. I was in a complete fog. And then—at the height of my unhappiness and in the very middle of my dilemma and questioning—one of the Masters of the Wisdom came to me.

At the time of that happening and for many years after, I had not the remotest idea Who He was. I was scared stiff at the occurrence.

Young as I was, I was intelligent enough to know something about adolescent mysticism and religious hysteria; I had heard religious workers discussing it. I had attended many revival meetings and had seen people “losing control” of themselves, as I called it. I, therefore, never mentioned my experience to any one for fear that they would class me as a “mental case” and one who would have to be carefully watched and handled. I was intensely alive spiritually. I was conscious of my faults to an abnormal degree. I was stopping with my Aunt Margaret at Castramont, in Kirkcudbrightshire, at the time and the atmosphere was exactly right.

It was a Sunday morning. The previous Sunday I had heard a sermon which had aroused all my aspiration. This Sunday, for some reason, I had not gone to Church. All the rest of the house-party had gone and there was no one in the house

but myself and the servants. I was sitting in the drawing-room reading. The door opened and in walked a tall man dressed in European clothes (very well cut, I remember) but with a turban on his head. He came in and sat down beside me. I was so petrified at the sight of the turban that I could not make a sound or ask what he was doing there. Then he started to talk.

He told me there was some work that it was planned that I could do in the world but that it would entail my changing my disposition very considerably; I would have to give up being such an unpleasant little girl and must try and get some measure of self-control. My future usefulness to Him and to the world was dependent upon how I handled myself and the changes I could manage to make. He said that if I could achieve real selfcontrol I could then be trusted and that I would travel all over the world and visit many countries, “doing your Master’s work all the time.” Those words have rung in my ears ever since.

He emphasised that it all depended upon me and what I could do and should do immediately. He added that He would be in touch with me at intervals of several years apart.

The interview was very brief. I said nothing but simply listened whilst He talked quite emphatically.

Having said what He had come to say, He got up and walked out, after pausing at the door for a minute to give me a look which to this day I remember very distinctly.

I did not know what to make of it all. When I had recovered from the shock, I was first frightened and thought I was going insane or had been to sleep and dreaming and then I reacted to a feeling of smug satisfaction. I felt that I was like Joan of Arc (at that time my heroine) and that, like her, I was seeing spiritual visions and was consequently set aside for a great work.

What it was I could not imagine, but pictured myself as the dramatic and admired teacher of thousands. This is a very common mistake on the part of beginners and I see a lot of it today in connection with various occult groups. People’s sincerity and aspiration do succeed in bringing them some inner, spiritual contact and they then interpret it in terms of personality success and importance. A reaction of overstimulation. This reaction was succeeded by one in which the criticism He had made of me became uppermost in my mind.

I decided that maybe after all I was not in the class of Joan of Arc but simply some one who could be nicer than I had been and who could begin to control a rather violent temper. This I started to do. I tried not to be so cross and to control my tongue and for some time became so objectionably good that my family got disturbed; they wondered if I was ill and almost begged me to resume my explosive displays. I was smug and sweet and sentimental.

As the years went by I found that at seven years intervals

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(until I was thirty-five) I had indications of the supervision and interest of this individual. Then in 1915 I discovered who He was and that other people know Him. From then on the relationship has become closer and closer until today I can, at will, contact Him. This willingness to be contacted on the part of a Master is only possible when a disciple is also willing never to avail himself of the opportunity except in moments of real emergency in world service.

I found that this visitor was the Master K. H., the Master Koot Hoomi, a Master Who is very close to the Christ, Who is on the teaching line and Who is an outstanding exponent of the lovewisdom of which the Christ is the full expression.

The real value of this experience is not to be found in the fact that I, a young girl called Alice La Trobe-Bateman, had an interview with a Master but in the fact that knowing nothing whatsoever of Their existence, I met one of Them and that He talked with me. The value is to be found also in the fact that everything that He told me came true (after I had tried hard to meet requirements) and because I discovered that He was not the Master Jesus, as I had naturally supposed, but a Master of Whom I could not possibly have heard and one Who was totally unknown to me.

Anyway, the Master K. H. is my Master, beloved and real. I have worked for Him ever since I was fifteen years old and I am now one of the senior disciples in His group, or—as it is called esoterically—in His Ashram.

I make these statements with a definite purpose in mind. So much nonsense has been talked along these lines and so many claims made by those who have not the experience and the mental and spiritual orientation required, that true disciples are ashamed to mention their work and position.

I want to make it easier for such disciples in the future, and to “debunk” the nonsense put out by many esoteric (so-called) schools of thought. The claim of discipleship is ever permissible; it gives nothing away and only carries weight if backed by a life of service. The claim that one is an initiate of a certain status is never permissible, except among those of the same rating and then it is not necessary. The world is full of disciples. Let them acknowledge it. Let them stand together in the bonds of discipleship and make it easier for others to do the same. Thus will the existence of the Masters be proved and proved in the right way—through the lives and testimonies of those They train.

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is something which—at the time it occurred—I could not have imagined, having no indication that such a happening was possible. Twice I had a dream in full waking consciousness. I called it a dream because I could not imagine at that time what else it could possibly be. Now I know that I participated in something that really took place.

At the time of this dual occurrence this knowledge lay outside my field of ordinary recognition.

Herein lies the value of the happening. There was no opportunity for auto-suggestion, wishful thinking or an over-vivid imagination.

I twice (whilst living and working in Great Britain) took part in an extraordinary ceremony and it was nearly two decades after my participation that I discovered what it was all about. The ceremony in which I took part, I eventually found out, actually takes place every year at the time of the “Full Moon of May.” It is the full moon of the Hindu calendar month of Vaisakha (Taurus) under its ancient name. This month is of vital importance to all Buddhists and the first day of this month is the national holiday known as the Hindu New Year’s Day. This tremendous event takes place each year in the Himalayas. It is held in a valley and is not a mythical, subconscious happening but a real, physical plane occurrence. I found myself (whilst wide awake) in this valley and forming part of a vast, orderly crowd—mostly oriental but with a large sprinkling of occidental people. I knew exactly where I stood in that crowd and realised that it was my correct place and indicated my spiritual status.

The valley was large and oval shaped, rocky and with high mountains on either side. The people, crowded in the valley, faced towards the East and towards a narrow, bottle-necked passage at the end. Just before this funnel shaped passage there stood an immense rock, rising out of the floor of the valley like a great table, and on the top of the rock was a crystal bowl which looked as if it was three feet across. This bowl was full of water. Standing ahead of the crowd and in front of the rock were three Figures. They formed a triangle and, to my surprise, the one at the apex of the triangle seemed to me to be the Christ.

The waiting crowd appeared to be in constant movement, and as they moved they formed great and familiar symbols—the Cross in its various forms, the circle with the point in the centre, the five-pointed star and various interlaced triangles.

It was almost like a solemn, rhythmic dance, very slow and dignified but quite soundless. Suddenly, the three Figures before the rock stretched out

Their arms towards the heavens. The crowd froze into immobility. At the far end of the bottleneck a Figure was seen in the sky, hovering over the passage and slowly approaching the rock. I knew in some subjective and certain fashion that it was the Buddha. I had a sense of recognition.

I knew at the same time that in no way was our Christ belittled. I got a glimpse of the unity and of the Plan to which the Christ, the Buddha and all the Masters are eternally dedicated. I realised for the first time, though in a dim and uncertain manner, the unity of all manifestation and that all existence—the material world, the spiritual realm, the aspiring disciple, the evolving animal and the beauty of the vegetable and mineral kingdoms—constituted one divine and living whole which was moving on to the demonstration of the glory of the Lord. I grasped—faintly—that human beings needed the Christ and the Buddha and all the Members of the planetary Hierarchy, and that there were happenings and events of far greater moment to the progress of the race than those recorded in history. I was left bewildered, because to me (at that time) the heathen were still heathen and I was a Christian. Deep and fundamental doubts were left in my mind. My life was henceforth coloured (and is today) by the knowledge that there were Masters and subjective events upon the inner spiritual planes and in the world of meaning which were a part of life itself, perhaps the most important part. How could I fit these things into my limited theology and my daily life. I did not know.

It is said that one’s deepest and most intimate spiritual experiences should never be discussed or related. This is fundamentally true and no true “experiencer” is the least interested in such discussions. The deeper and more vital the experience, the less temptation is there to tell it. Only beginners with a theoretical, imaginative event in their consciousness claim such experiences. But with deliberation I have related the two above subjective events (or was the first subjective?) because it is time that people of standing and who are recognised as sane and intelligent should add their testimony to that of the frequently discredited mystic and occultist.

I have a good standing as an intelligent, normal woman, an effective executive and creative writer and I choose to add my certain knowledge and conviction to the witness of many others down the ages.

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RULES OF THE GOLDEN ROSICRUCIANS This is taken from The Real History of the Rosicrusians by Arthur Edward Waite 1887 (no publisher listed). Waite gives his source for these rules as Sincerus Renatus, circa 1622.

The Rosicrucians were a secret society that studied nature, alchemy, and spiritual advancement. The world first became aware of them when they anonymously published two manifestos in 1607 and 1616 respectively, both of which caused great excitement. In the first it claims that the society’s founder was a man named Christian Rosenkreuz, of whom no other known evidence exists. Many eminent thinkers were alleged to be members, including Francis Bacon, who Manly P. Hall argues to be the secret founder. They are often argued to have been the founders of (or at least greatly influential in) modern Freemasonry.

The group and its literature inspired many other societies to form, calling themselves ‘Rosicrucian’ to denote their method and direction. The Golden Rosicrucians are either one of them, or a high degree in the original order (research finds inconsistencies regarding dates and founders).

The thing of particular interest here is that these rules show that the group took for granted that they had already discovered the Philosophers’ Stone (i.e. a term referring to a substance capable of transforming base metals like lead into valuable minerals like gold), which is contrary to our modern assumptions.

LAWS OF THE BROTHERHOOD, AS PUBLISHED BY SINCERUS RENATUS.

(It is certain, says Semler, that the long series of regulations enumerated by this writer were not adopted before 1622, for Montanus (Ludov. Conr. von Berger), who was supposed to have been expelled from the Order in that year, was not acquainted with them.)

I. The brotherhood shall not consist of more than sixty-three members.

II. The initiation of Catholics shall be allowed, and one member is prohibited to question another about his belief.

III. The ten years’ office of the Rosicrucian imperator shall be abolished, and he shall be elected for life.

IV. The imperator shall keep the address of every member on his list, to enable them to help each other in case of necessity. A list of all names and birthplaces shall likewise be kept. The eldest brother shall always be imperator. Two houses

shall be erected at Nurenberg and Ancona for the periodical conventions.

V. If two or three brethren meet together, they shall not be empowered to elect a new member without the permission of the imperator. Any such election shall be void.

VI. The young apprentice or brother shall be obedient unto death to his master.

VII. The brothers shall not eat together except on Sundays, but if they work together they shall be allowed to live, eat, and drink in common.

VIII. It is prohibited for a father to elect his son or brother, unless he shall have proved him well.

It is better to elect a stranger so as to prevent the Art becoming hereditary.

IX. Although two or three of the brethren may be gathered together, they shall not permit anyone, whomsoever it may be, to make his profession to the Order unless he shall have previously taken part in the Practice, and has had full experience of all its workings, and has, moreover, an earnest desire to acquire the Art. X. When one of the brethren intends to make an heir, such an one shall confess in one of the churches built at our expense, and afterwards shall remain about two years as an apprentice.

During this probation he shall be made known to the Congregation, and the Imperator shall be informed of his name, country, profession, and origin, to enable him to despatch two or three members at the proper time with his seal to make the apprentice a brother.

XI. When the brethren meet they shall salute each other in the following manner:--The first shall say, Ave Frater! The second shall answer, Roseæ et Aureæ. Whereupon the first shall conclude with Crucis. After they have thus discovered their position, they shall say one to another, Benedictus Dominus Deus noster qui dedit nobis signum, and shall also uncover their seals, because if the name can be falsified the seal cannot.

XII. It is commanded that every brother shall set to work after he has been accepted in our large houses, and has been endowed with the Stone (he receives always a sufficient portion to ensure his life for the space of sixty years).

Before beginning he shall recommend himself to God, pledging himself not to use his secret Art to offend Him, to destroy or corrupt the empire, to become a tyrant through ambition or other causes, but always to appear ignorant, invariably asserting that the existence of such secret arts is only proclaimed by charlatans.

XIII. It is prohibited to make extracts from the secret writings, or to have them printed, without

permission from the Congregation; also to sign them with the names or characters of any brother.

Likewise, it is prohibited to print anything against the Art. XIV. The brethren shall only be allowed to discourse of the secret Art in a well-closed room.

XV. It is permitted for one brother to bestow the Stone freely upon another, for it shall not be said that this gift of God can be bought with a price.

XVI. It is not permissible to kneel before any one, under any circumstances, unless that person be a member of the Order.

XVII. The brethren shall neither talk much nor marry. Yet it shall be lawful for a member to take a wife if he very much desire it, but he shall live with her in a philosophical mind. He shall not allow his wife to practise over-much with the young brethren. With the old members she may be permitted to practise, and he shall value the honour of his children as his own.

XVIII. The brethren shall refrain from stirring up hatred and discord among men. They shall not discourse of the soul, whether in human beings, animals, or plants, nor of any other subject which, however natural to themselves, may appear miraculous to the common understanding. Such discourse can easily lead to their discovery, as occurred at Rome in the year 1620. But if the brethren be alone they may speak of these secret things.

XIX. It is forbidden to give any portion of the Stone to a woman in labour, as she would be brought to bed prematurely.

XX. The Stone shall not be used at the chase.

XXI. No person having the Stone in his possession shall ask a favour of any one.

XXII. It is not allowable to manufacture pearls or other precious stones larger than the natural size.

XXIII. It is forbidden (under penalty of punishment in one of our large houses) that anyone shall make public the sacred and secret matter, or any manipulation, coagulation, or solution thereof.

XXIV. Because it may happen that several brethren are present together in the same town, it is advised, but not commanded, that on Whitsuntideday any brother shall go to that end of the town which is situated towards sunrise and shall hang up a green cross if he be a Rosicrucian, and a red one if he be a brother of the Golden Cross. Afterwards, such a brother shall tarry in the vicinity till sunset, to see if another brother shall come and hang up his cross also, when they shall salute after the usual manner, make themselves mutually acquainted, and subsequently

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inform the imperator of their meeting.

XXV. The imperator shall every ten years change his abode, name, and surname. Should he think it needful he may do so at shorter periods, the brethren to be informed with all possible secresy.

XXVI. It is commanded that each brother, after his initiation into the Order, shall change his name and surname, and alter his years with the Stone. Likewise, should he travel from one country to another, he shall change his name to prevent recognition.

XXVII. No brother shall remain longer than ten years out of his own country, and whenever he departs into another he shall give notice of his destination, and of the name he has adopted.

XXVIII. No brother shall begin to work till he has been one year in the town where he is residing, and has made the acquaintance of its inhabitants. He shall have no acquaintance with the professores ignorantes.

XXIX. No brother shall dare to reveal his treasures, either of gold or silver, to any person whomsoever; he shall be particularly careful with members of religious societies, two of our brethren having been lost, anno 1641, thereby. No member of any such society shall be accepted as a brother upon any pretence whatever.

XXX. While working, the brethren shall select persons of years as servants in preference to the young.

XXXI. When the brethren wish to renew themselves, they must, in the first place, travel through another kingdom, and after their renovation is accomplished, must remain absent from their former abode.

XXXII. When brethren dine together, the host, in accordance with the conditions already laid down, shall endeavour to instruct his guests as much as possible.

XXXIII. The brethren shall assemble in our great houses as frequently as possible, and shall communicate one to another the name and abode of the Imperator.

XXXIV. The brethren in their travels shall have no connection nor conversation with women, but shall choose one or two friends, generally not of the Order.

XXXV. When the brethren intend to leave any place, they shall divulge their destination to no one, neither shall they sell anything which they cannot carry away, but shall direct their landlord to divide it among the poor, if they do not return in six weeks.

XXXVI. A brother who is travelling shall carry

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nothing in oil, but only in the form of powder of the first projection, which shall be enclosed in a metallic box having a metal stopper.

XXXVII. No brother should carry any written description of the Art about him, but should he do so, it must be written in an enigmatical manner.

XXXVIII. Brethren who travel, or take any active part in the world, shall not eat if invited by any man to his table unless their host has first tasted the food. If this be not possible, they shall take in the morning, before leaving home, one grain of our medicine in the sixth projection, after which they can eat without fear, but both in eating and drinking they shall be moderate.

XXXIX. No brother shall give the Stone in the sixth projection to strangers, but only to sick brethren.

XL. If a brother, who is at work with anyone, be questioned as to his position, he shall say that he is a novice and very ignorant.

XLI. Should a brother desire to work, he shall only employ an apprentice in default of securing the help of a brother, and shall be careful that such an apprentice is not present at all his operations.

XLII. No married man shall be eligible for initiation as a brother, and in case any brother seeks to appoint an heir, he shall choose some one unencumbered by many friends. If he have friends, he must take a special oath to communicate the secrets to none, under penalty of punishment by the imperator.

XLIII. The brethren may take as an apprentice anyone they have chosen for their heir, provided he be ten years old. Let the person make profession. When the permission of the imperator is obtained, whereby anybody is really accepted as a member, he can be constituted heir.

XLIV. It is commanded that a brother who by any accident has been discovered by any prince, shall sooner die than initiate him into the secret; and all the other brethren, including the imperator, shall be obliged to venture their life for his liberation. If, by misfortune, the prince remain obstinate, and the brother dies to preserve the secret, he shall be declared a martyr, a relative shall be received in his place, and a monument with secret inscriptions shall be erected in his honour.

XLV. It is commanded that a new brother can only be received into the Order in one of the churches built at our expense, and in the presence of six brethren. It is necessary to instruct him for three months, and to provide him with all things needful. Afterwards he must receive the

sign of Peace, a palm-branch, and three kisses, with the words--”Dear brother, we command you to be silent.” After this, he must kneel before the imperator in a special dress, with an assistant on either side, the one being his magister, and the other a brother. He shall then say I, N. N., swear by the eternal and living God not to make known the secret which has been communicated to me (here he uplifts two fingers 1) to any human being, but to preserve it in concealment under the natural seal all the days of my life; likewise to keep secret all things connected therewith as far as they maybe made known to me; likewise to discover nothing concerning the position of our brotherhood, neither the abode, name, or surname of our imperator, nor to shew the Stone to anyone; all which I promise to reserve eternally in silence, by peril of my life, as God and His Word may help me.” Afterwards his magister cuts seven tufts of hair from his head and seals them up in seven papers, writing on each the name and surname of the new brother, and giving them to the imperator to keep. The next day the brethren proceed to the residence of the new brother, and eat therein without speaking or saluting one another. When they go away, however, they must say, “Frater Aureæ (vel Roseæ) Crucis Deus sit tecum cum perpetuo silentio Deo promisso et nostræ sanctæ congregationi.” This is done three days in succession.

XLVI. When these three days are passed, they shall give some gifts to the poor, according to their intention and discretion.

XLVII. It is forbidden to tarry in our houses longer than two months together.

XLVIII. After a certain time the brethren shall be on a more familiar footing with the new brother, and shall instruct him as much as possible.

XLIX. No brother need perform more than three projections while he stays in our large house, because there are certain operations which belong to the magisters.

L. The brethren shall be called, in their conversation with each other, by the name they received at their reception.

LI. In presence of strangers they shall be called by their ordinary names.

LII. The new brother shall invariably receive the name of the brother then last deceased; and all the brethren shall be obedient to these rules when they have been accepted by the Order, and have taken the oath of fidelity in the name of the Lord Jesus Christus.

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WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING? To hold your attention on something is concentration. Sustained concentration is meditation.

To think is to exclude or cordon off. If you think of ducks you exclude thoughts about other things like chickens. If you think larger, of birds for instance, you can think of ducks and chickens but are at the moment unaware of cars.

If you keep thinking larger until you include every possible thing in the universe – until the largest thing conceivable – thought ceases because nothing can be excluded. Similarly, if you think of the smallest possible thing and exclude everything altogether thought ceases because there’s nothing to think about.

The sustaining (meditation) of this obliteration of thought brings about the mystic experience often spoken of in literature.

Types of people who reportedly have had this experience are usually yogis, mystics, and some artists and scientists. In other words, people who think about really big stuff for sustained periods.

Or people who toil in sustained service without concern for the thought world at all.

If mystics and saints have achieved this by thinking of God, this is because their definition of God is the largest possible thing including all else. In this sense their faith has proven useful. This largest of things includes all life and consciousness within it and is therefore all life and consciousness.

If your definition of God is of a personified or anthropomorphized being standing apart, this is literally narrower thinking. It does not include everything and thus does not obliterate thought.

The answer to the question, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” is identical to the answer to why you are asking that question in the first place.

To explain: physics is the study of, say, a bat and a ball and their interaction. So physics says that a bat and a ball are things that exist.

Metaphysics is the study of the study of a bat and a ball. So metaphysics says that a bat and ball, and the study of a bat and ball are all things that exist. (Meta means ‘beyond’.)

So, if the universe is a thing that exists, a ‘something’, then so too is the question “Why is there something rather than nothing’ a thing that exists, a something. The question itself is something rather than nothing. So the answer to both will be identical.

Why, then, do we need to know why there is something rather than nothing? This may be an indication that the question itself is the cause of

the universe, or is identical to the universe.

The next progression is to find out what this questioning (this inseparable part of the universe) is exactly. It is firstly a thought, or collection of thoughts, which indicates that it does not empty the ‘cup’ in order for it to receive the above-spoken mystic experience. It is an appeal to reason, which seems necessarily connected to thought. We always try to understand the reason for everything. This is circular, because we now ask why we are asking, and what exactly is asking.

We therefore have a self perpetuating yearning for reason. So if the asking – the reasoning – is itself something rather than nothing, which self perpetuates infinitely; we can then say that the manifested universe is made of reasoning.

Let’s now see what happens if we make a conclusion in a universe of perpetual reasoning…

Statement: If the universe is made of reason, then we can say there is a God because reason necessitates intelligence and will.

The first thing that happens is the obvious: another question or appeal to reason: If there is a God then who created God? If someone created

God, then that someone might as well be God; if nobody created God, then we have a precedent: if one thing does not need a creator, then why do other things need it? So, then why is there Something rather than nothing!?

We’ve come full circle, which means we’ll end up concluding again that there is a god and again that there isn’t. What’s happening here is that the questions are splitting and multiplying like cells. Reasoning is perpetuating infinitely or in an endless circle.

There is no answer within the realm of reason.

(Is this itself faulty reasoning? We ought to hope so! Although watching this circular process might be called meta-reasoning.)

Now we have an infinite universe of reasoning, which creates and recreates itself. To discover the answers, we must step outside of reason, or move beyond it. Perhaps this is a definition of meditation. The mystic experience or experience of God, so often spoken about through history, is just that: an experience, not a concept or theory or conclusion.

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THE HOLY CITY OF SHAMBALLA Imagine the physical plane, the emotional plane, and the intellectual plane as three different places – places you could drive your car to. Looking back over your days, consider which place you spend the most time. Which place or two places capture your attention the most? Perhaps there is one or some of these places you hardly ever go, or just go the bare minimum amount of time needed.

Perhaps there some you feel trapped inside.

Imagine that further out, you come across a fourth place that is beyond physical urges, beyond feelings and desires, beyond intellectual thought; a silent place which could be called awareness.

The population is smaller here. And before long, people call you on the phone from the other three places requesting your presence with this or that daily thing, so that you cannot stay long.

Now imagine that on one of your visits, someone in the fourth place tells you that there’s another place again, a fifth place. He points out the direction, which is hard to get to because nobody’s been there, at least nobody you can verify personally.

You start to ponder, in the third place, that perhaps he was lying. Or perhaps he was theorising. Let’s say (for example) that if we left all the known places (that is, types of consciousness) we would necessarily have to be in another yet-unknown place. The alternative is that there is no other place, and it is impossible to leave the other four, in a similar way that there are a finite number of places on a globe.

The stranger in the fourth place brings out a map which has the new theorised place on it (perhaps beyond the globe or inside the sphere?).

He has named the place Shamballa (or ShangriLa, or The Holy Mountain).

To argue about its actual existence is not appropriate since it can be tested, by making the journey. It’s inclusion on the map, even if only expressed as an X or ?, is useful in inspiring the people to embark on the trip to see for themselves.

The vision sparks the expedition.

“But why,” you ask the man in the fourth place, “do you believe in it so much to give it a name?”

“Because,” he says, “water existed long before we humans thirsted for it.”

When we meditate regularly we become aware of the forces of the threefold personality (physical, emotional, and mental attachments), their lack of integration into a single unit, and also (when integration is nearer) the new energy of that sentient factor which remains apart and aware of all the previous—which occultists call The Veil

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the Soul.

Study in occultism clarifies this developing awareness, and meditation (i.e. experience) clarifies the information studied. Service in one’s community is meditation spilling outwards into a larger perception of self, and therefore provides more awareness and clarification again.

Because of the increased consciousness gained through meditating, we can extrapolate forward and see the possibility of Integration – personality integration and later the infusing of personality with Soul. Further, we can then see the possibility and probability – even the logic – of there having been people who have already achieved these things and therefore overcome death1. History shows us a body of Saints, Buddhas, yogis, and so forth. Theosophists gave us the term Masters or Mahatmas. If there is such a body of people, it also stands to reason firstly that they did not just fade away as time passed, and secondly that they would surely cooperate with each other.

If we meditate regularly, then, we cannot help become aware of the surety of a hierarchy2 of holy Masters. From this standpoint, based on experience in deeper realms of consciousness, the absence of such a group appears absurd. Further again to the peak of human attainment, we then reach the ultimate idea and symbol of such: The holy city known as Shamballa.

Shambala is a hidden kingdom mentioned in Buddhist holy texts (and later by theosophical movements) in which all the inhabitants are said to be enlightened, and working from a distance to help Earth’s evolution.

From the outside this attitude appears utopian, as with the idea of Shangri-La. But this kind of utopianism is not that of hoping irrationally for the best. Shamballa (and the spiritual heights associated with it) is as inevitable and natural as faith in the flower coming from the buried seed. Faith in Shamballa, moreover, is actually faith in evolution. The pragmatic problem with atheism is not the absence of God so much as the absence of belief in evolution – that is, initiatory, sequential evolution towards ‘Christ’ or ‘Buddha’ consciousness. The most advanced ideal in atheism is the ‘well-adjusted’ person with a liberal education and a logical outlook.

The practitioner of occult meditation then, through his or her service activities, becomes a champion of this vision – of the inevitability and glory of Shamballa. This vision, if held fast and stable notwithstanding astral (emotional) blows, becomes a magnetic blueprint for cooperative endeavours, and so also group initiation. When

Buddhist thangka showing Shambhala with Mount Meru & a temple in the centre. The two circular mountain ranges remind us of the description of the Hara and Zeredaza Mountains in the Avesta’s Zamyad Yasht “lying all around” - the Zeredaza being the outer range.

we meditate regularly and take part in such group building, we become aware of the fact of other forces too; especially the influences of astrology and of the Seven Rays.

At the very least, meditation is like the regular squeezing of a sponge, so that all the negative emotions like depression and anxiety are drained out, and the cobwebs of new attachments (which are the causes of anxiety and depression) are cut away. For a vast number of people, psychiatry would be rendered redundant.

Issues of politics, dogma, and justice with regards to church organizations are all issues of the first three places. Important as they are they have no bearing on the issue of the fifth place.

We might say that a religious organization that does not lead us to (at least) the fourth place, but spends its time meddling only in the first three, is not really a religious organization.

These spiritual heights mentioned, as well as God itself, can be denied from where most of us are standing; but the thirst cannot—and the thirst can be acted upon.

1. At death, the three mentioned parts are what we lose; if we are already trained in ‘standing apart’ as the pure awareness (soul), then meditation imitates death already, thus preparing us to be unattached to what we usually fear losing at death, i.e. the worldly identity/sense of self.

2. Since the levels of consciousness are increasingly expansive, it also stands to reason that those at these various levels would cooperate in a hierarchical way. Moreover, the process of Initiation is thus implied as the process of evolution on this Path.

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READERS’ ANECDOTES Since publishing The Veil, now and then people have come to me to share events with me of occult or mysterious nature. One goal of The Veil is to promote such discussion, since too often we doubt our own senses because they’ve presented us with anomalies to current belief as promoted by modern media. I asked some of these people to write their experiences up for a later issue. Some did, and some did not for various reasons. Too often people want to write a commentary explaining what the scientific reason is for their experience, and in doing such research never get around to finishing their article (the subject is either too big or they’d come to doubt themselves). I’d always said, forget the explanation: just tell what happened in plain truth. Anyway, here are a few stories, told to me or written to me. The authors’ names are all omitted. The first three are related to déjà vu. The fascinating thing is that in these accounts the person ‘remembers forward’, perhaps suggesting a link between déjà vu and prediction. [Editor]

1.

When I was about seven years old, I had a pretty mundane dream in which I sat at a wooden dressing table and looked across a hallway into the bedroom directly opposite. A girl sat there in a chair, facing another wooden dresser. A lady, presumably her mum, brushed the girl’s hair.

There was light coming in from a window that I couldn’t see behind them. I could remember the pale quilt cover on the single bed behind them, the pale cream coloured walls in the hallway and the wood of the dresser and chair and the colour of the girl’s hair – chestnut, I called it, because it reminded me of horses of the same colour. I guess it would be auburn. I remembered the style of brush the lady brushed the girl’s hair with. I remembered their voices, but not what they said.

It was a recurring dream. It repeated maybe 4 times over a couple of years. Then, in grade four, I was at the same school I’d been at since grade one and a few new girls arrived. One of them was Sarah. Sarah and I became ‘best’ friends by the time we were in grade five and I stayed at her house, as guest in the spare room opposite her bedroom. I woke up in the morning to get to the end of my bed, looked across the hall and saw the scene from my dream, just the same. I thought, ‘So that’s what that dream was about, meeting Sarah.’ That voice seems very innocent to me now.

I’ve written my dreams down since about that time. I still remember my dreams in extreme detail – whether in colour, or sepia, or seemingly black and white, in interiors and land/ cityscapes, whatever modes of transport, or time -future, past or present, whatever situation my imagination/conglomerated experiences dish up to my mind’s eye at night.

I still get déjà vu, but this experience stands out, because of the length of time between the initial dream and its manifestation in reality.

2.

From “Telepathy” by Alice A. Bailey.

Years ago I lived in East Timor, working as a volunteer for the United Nations. The place was rural and I spent months without internet, television, or mobile phone. That put me in a strangely calm and present state of consciousness generally.

I ate in the same little restaurant every night, mostly by myself. On one such night a strange, abstract feeling washed over me. It felt like déjà vu but rather than feeling like I’d experienced this before, I could actually predict what was going to happen a few seconds before it did. I knew a certain person would walk past the window just before he did. I knew someone in the next table would say something just before she did. I knew what the voice on the radio was about to say, and so forth. This only lasted about one minute, or less. But it did not feel like predicting the future; it felt like remembering. I knew what would happen as if it already had happened. Like re-watching a movie.

Because of the briefness of it, and the lack of proof, I’ve rarely spoken of the event.

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3.

For years I had a kind of waking daydream, where I’d be in a car arriving at a crossroads, and passing through.

This was such a brief recurring vision, and so mundane, lacking any specific emotion or apparent significance, that I barely thought about it.

Finally, when moving to the east coast of Australia, I actually came to the same crossroads as in my visions. Déjà vu hit me strongly, and I realized I was in the exact place of the visions, right down to every detail. I drove on, and that was that! It was not a momentous event in itself, and so I wonder why that of all events would have been foreseen in my subconscious.

4.

When my father died, I went in alone to view the body and say goodbye to him. Although I long since left the Church, I felt the aesthetic urge – a largely Catholic urge, I suppose – to anoint the body with oil. I got some Virgin Olive Oil and anointed his temples, and made a cross on his forehead.

Then I said a few words of goodbye to him.

At that moment, I saw a kind of smoke or mist flow out from his mouth and nostrils. It felt as if his spirit left at that moment, in response to my goodbye.

5.

Good friends of mine, a married couple and their children, bought a house, which had been previously lived in for years. After some time, paintings began falling off the walls sporadically, and they saw “shadows” moving across the corner between the walls and ceiling from time to time.

There was also an incident where a window of very thick glass shattered from no apparent cause.

Eventually, the wife began to have nightmares that were always set in the same house. However, in the dreams she was not the same person. The wife is a young, dark-skinned Asian; but in these dreams she was a white woman in a wheelchair, senior in age. She also remembers that her eyesight was bad in the dreams. Nothing specific happened in the dreams; they were just moments spent in intense, negative emotion. The wife woke up from them feeling very upset and baffled.

The husband called me and asked if I was able to help in some way. Knowing a man in Melbourne who was a medium of some sort, and who was experienced in such things, I called him. I trusted him because we went to school together as children in the same town, and he was a close friend with all my family. He also fit none of the stereotypes that one thinks of when one hears the word ‘medium’. His professional life was spent in creating local businesses in a developing country to help villagers empower themselves. He asked for a photo of the wife with the nightmares, plus her name, and the address

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of the house. These I provided with permission.

From a distance he went there in his imagination and, in effect, exorcised the place. But the old woman of the dream was not the sole problem.

In occult theory, it is taught that an intense event such as one of extreme violence or suicide, or even a place of regular negative events, such as the room of someone who had strong depression, hatred or addiction – such places leave behind an ‘imprint’ or impression on the etheric1 plane similar to some image being left on a photographic plate. This impression might be a replaying of the event or circumstances. And those who are sensitive will see or feel these events (in visions or dreams) and emotions left behind. Sometimes, however, the deceased people themselves become tied to the place, since the trauma of what had happened keeps them from moving on.

They remain in a state of attachment in the same way we might find it difficult to stop thinking about a hurtful event, or let go a certain desire or hatred. Upon dying, these people’s ghosts are kept from moving on because of just this attachment. They become poltergeist, stuck in a prison of negative emotion, tied to the place of first experiencing that emotion.

Another factor is that if there is a place which has collected low quality vibration, the people who move there begin to feel it too, and add to it. They might become similarly depressed or obsessed or violent. The location is thus made even worse, like a feedback loop. What can happen then, is that other entities (and people) of corresponding quality (emotional state or hangups) will upon passing become attracted to that location like to a vortex. The location thus becomes a hive of negativity.

With my friends it did not go this far. But,the medium did notice that something else was there before the old woman (who we began to assume died in the house). He saw an astral cord reaching from the woman down into the ground, as if the site itself had some negativity attached to it before the house was even built. The medium called on more experienced associates of his for advice, and the ‘cord’ was cut. The origin of the cord was not looked into, since at that time something came up which called the medium away from helping.

Since then, shadows were still seen, but the nightmares ceased instantly. Years later, even the shadows have ceased.

One of the daughters saw an apparition too, but one that was cheerful.

1. The etheric plane is a subtler vibratory state of the physical world, one of energy or ‘chi’. Our nervous system of “charkas” (which you might see on the wall of an acupuncturist) is our equivalent organ.

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DEFINITIONS OF MEDITATION

By Levin Diatschenko 1. Meditation is sustained concentration.

is remembering Self (or that state of sentience beyond thought, feeling, and appearance), as opposed to the usual forgetting of it due to getting pulled into the current of thought, feeling, and doing.

2. Meditation is actively not thinking about yourself for a designated amount of time each day.

3. Meditation is being, as distinct from doing, feeling, or thinking.

4. Meditation is deliberate thinking or/ and feeling, as opposed to automatic thinking and/or feeling.

10.

I nasmuch as meditation is transcending the worldly identity, it is a preview or simulation of death.

5. Meditation is abstracting or withdrawing from your own identity, to witness what/who you are beneath.

11.

Meditation is ‘taking stock’ of all the things (physical, emotional, and intellectual) that you’ve picked up automatically and unconsciously over the last twenty-four hours.

6. Meditation is the inward psychological) reflection correspondence) of good works.

(or (or

12.

Meditation is the equivalent of squeezing a sponge to get the dirty water out, in order to refresh yourself.

7. Meditation is deduction with regards to who and what you are, from the surface back to the centre, symbolically speaking.

13.

Meditation is the practice of turning to face the existential void or silence, and listening or watching, as apposed to avoiding it.

8. Meditation is resisting distraction from the ultimate question (of the meaning of life, self, the universe, and everything).

14.

It is forgetting yourself in total absorption of that void.

9. In the same way that we awake from sleep and struggle to remember dreams (because of external senses becoming active again); meditation

15. Meditation is ‘getting out of the way’ or ceasing to interfere (via tumultuous deeds, feelings, and thoughts) with the natural running of your body – and on a larger level, the Earth.

Sai Baba of Shirdi wandered the jungles of Shirdi engaged in long periods of meditation.

16.

Meditation is the practice of experiencing the present (or some part of the present, such as breathing), as opposed to dwelling in thoughts and feelings of the past and future.

17. Meditation is like Bilbo Baggins’s ring: at first it was a novel little thing that was useful to him in his travels… later it turned out to be the most powerful thing in the world.

A STORY FROM GRECIAN MYTHOLOGY Taken with permission from the book, The Golden Thread by Natalie N. Banks.

Published by the Lucis Press LTD., London and Lucis Publishing Company, NY in 1963. The term ‘golden thread’ refers to the unbroken preservation of the Ancient Wisdom throughout the ages and across the globe notwithstanding the events of history. It’s taught that the Adepts of Humanity have made sure the truth survived in some way esoterically in every culture and time – hence the similarities of myths and scriptures across the world.

Ariadne gave a ball of golden thread to Theseus to be unwound as he travelled through the torturously winding paths of the gloomy labyrinth of Crete into which he had been sent by the king, ostensibly as a sacrifice, but in reality to slay the Minotaur which dwelt at its centre.

It was only by means of this gleaming thread held firmly throughout his terrifying journey that Theseus was able to return safely out of the dark and tangled maze—after slaying the Minotaur.

The King . . . . . .

Ariadne . . . . . . .

Theseus . . . . . . .

The Minotaur . . . .

.Spirit. .Soul. . Personality. .Ignorance, Greed and Selfishness.

Labyrinth (its centre) . .The darkest stage of the descent.

The Golden Thread . . .The Teachings of the Ageless Wisdom.

20 The Veil

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