Bear in mind, that almost every ancient King and priest was an initiate; that from toward the close of the Fourth Race there had been a feud between the Initiates of the Right and those of the Left Path; finally, that the garden of Eden is referred to by other personages than the Jews of the Adamic race, since even Pharaoh is compared to the fairest tree of Eden by this same Ezekiel, who shows "all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, .
.
.
comforted in the nether parts of the earth .
.
.
," for "they also went down into hell with him" (Pharaoh)* unto the nether parts, which are in fact the bottom of the ocean, whose floor gaped wide to devour the lands of the Atlanteans and themselves.
If one bears all this in mind and compares the various accounts, then one will find out that the whole of chapters xxviii.
and xxxi.
of Ezekiel relate neither to Babylon, Assyria, nor yet Egypt, since none of these have been so destroyed, but simply fell into ruins on the surface, not beneath the earth -- but indeed to Atlantis and most of its nations.
And he will see that the "garden of Eden" of the Initiates was no myth, but a locality now submerged.
Light will dawn upon him, and he will appreciate such sentences as these at their true esoteric value: "Thou hast been in Eden; .
.
.
thou wast upon the holy mountain of God" -- for every nation had and many still have holy mountains: some, Himalayan Peaks, others, Parnassus, and Sinai.
They were all places of initiation and the abodes of the chiefs of the communities of ancient and even modern adepts.
And again: "Behold, the Assyrian (why not Atlantean, Initiate?) was a cedar in Lebanon; .
.
.
his height was exalted above all the trees ; .
.
.
.
the cedars in the garden of God could not hide him, .
.
.
so that all the trees of Eden .
.
.
.
envied him" (Ezekiel xxxi.
3-9).
Throughout all Asia Minor, the Initiates were called the "trees of Righteousness," and the cedars of Lebanon, as also were some kings of Israel.
So were the great adepts in India, but only the adepts of the [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * The only Pharaoh whom the Bible shows going down into the Red Sea was the king who pursued the Israelites, and who remained unnamed, for very good reasons, perhaps.
The story was surely made up from the Atlantean legend.
[[Vol.
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left hand.
When Vishnu Purana narrates that "the world was overrun with trees," while the Prachetasas -- who "passed 10,000 years of austerity in the vast ocean" -- were absorbed in their devotions, the allegory relates to the Atlanteans and the adepts of the early Fifth Race -- the Aryans.
Other " trees (adept Sorcerers) spread, and overshadowed the unprotected earth; and the people perished .
.
.
unable to labour for ten thousand years." Then the sages, the Rishis of the Aryan race, called Prachetasas, are shown "coming forth from the deep, " * and destroying by the wind and flame issuing from their mouths, the iniquitous "trees" and the whole vegetable kingdom; until Soma (the moon), the sovereign of the vegetable world, pacifies them by making alliance with the adepts of the Right Path, to whom he offers as bride Marisha, "the offspring of the trees."** This means that which is given in the Stanzas and Commentaries, and what is also given in Part II .
of Vol.
I., "The Sacred Island." It hints at the great struggle between the "Sons of God" and the Sons of the Dark Wisdom -- our forefathers; or the Atlantean and the Aryan Adepts.
The whole History of that period is allegorized in the Ramayana, which is the mystic narrative in epic form of the struggle between Rama -- the first king of the divine dynasty of the early Aryans -- and Ravana, the symbolical personation of the Atlantean (Lanka) race.
The former were the incarnations of the Solar Gods; the latter, of the lunar Devas.
This was the great battle between Good and Evil, between white and black magic, for the supremacy of the divine forces, or of the lower terrestrial or cosmic powers.
If the student would understand better the last statement, let him turn to the Anugita episode of the Mahabharata, chapter v., where the Brahmana tells his wife, "I have perceived by means of the Self the seat abiding in the Self -- (the seat) where dwells the Brahman free from the pairs of opposites and the moon, together with the fire (or the sun), upholding (all) beings (as), the mover of the intellectual principle." The moon is the deity of the mind (Manas) but only on the lower plane.
"Manas is dual -- lunar in the lower, solar in its upper portion," says a commentary.
That is to say, it is attracted in its higher aspect towards Buddhi, and in its [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * Vishnu Purana, Book I., ch.
xv.
** This is pure allegory.
The waters are a symbol of wisdom and of occult learning.
Hermes represented the sacred Science under the symbol of fire ; the Northern Initiates, under that of water.
The latter is the production of Nara , the "Spirit of God," or rather Paramatman , the "Supreme Soul," says Kulluka Bhatta, Narayana, meaning "he who abides in the deep" or plunged in the Waters of Wisdom -- "water being the body of Nara" ( Vayu ).
Hence arises the statement that for 10,000 years they remained in austerity "in the vast Ocean"; and are shown emerging from it.
Ea, the God of Wisdom, is the "Sublime Fish," and Dagon or Oannes is the Chaldean man-fish, who emerges from the waters to teach wisdom.
[[Vol.
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lower descends into, and listens to the voice of its animal soul full of selfish and sensual desires; and herein is contained the mystery of an adept's as of a profane man's life, as also that of the post-mortem separation of the divine from the animal man.
The Ramayana -- every line of which has to be read esoterically -- discloses in magnificent symbolism and allegory the tribulations of both man and soul.
"Within the body, in the midst of all these life-winds (?
Ontological opposition between two primal principles (light/darkness, truth/lie, spirit/matter) as the fundamental structure of reality.
The passage explicitly frames the central conflict as 'the great battle between Good and Evil, between white and black magic, for the supremacy of the divine forces, or of the lower terrestrial or cosmic powers,' presenting an ontological opposition between two primal forces.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The entire passage is dedicated to revealing the esoteric, hidden meanings beneath the surface of biblical and Vedic texts, explicitly stating that 'every line' of the Ramayana 'has to be read esoterically' and that Ezekiel's chapters relate to Atlantis rather than Babylon.
The doctrine that the divine or a spiritual principle takes on a specific, bounded material or bodily form — descending from an unconditioned state into individual, corporeal existence — as a discrete act rather than a diffuse pervading presence. The Christian Word made flesh, the Hindu avatara, the Egyptian pharaoh as living Horus, the Vajrayana tulku. Distinct from divine_immanence (the general claim that the divine pervades all of creation diffusely, not a specific embodiment-event) and separation_from_source (the felt exile FROM origin, the opposite motion) in describing a specific, individuated descent INTO a particular body or form.
The passage states that the Aryans 'were the incarnations of the Solar Gods' and the Atlanteans 'of the lunar Devas,' describing specific divine principles taking on bounded material or bodily form as discrete acts.
The ritual admission of an individual into esoteric knowledge or a sacred order through a formal rite of passage — testing, ordeal, or ceremony — marking a definite before/after threshold in the initiate's status and access. Distinct from hidden_sayings (the doctrine being concealed, not the rite of admission to it) and esoteric_lineage (the historical chain of transmission across generations, not a single individual's admission).
The passage identifies 'holy mountains' as 'places of initiation and the abodes of the chiefs of the communities of ancient and even modern adepts,' and frames the entire discussion around the status and knowledge of initiates.
A magical or spiritual orientation that turns occult power toward self-aggrandizement, domination, or personal ends divorced from — or actively opposed to — service of the divine, contrasted with the Right-hand Path's use of the same powers in reverent service and selfless healing. Distinct from psychic_attack (one specific malevolent technique this orientation may employ, not the standing orientation itself) and forbidden_knowledge (a transgression-against-divine-prohibition narrative, not an ongoing praxis-orientation).
The passage repeatedly references 'Initiates of the Left Path,' 'adepts of the left hand,' 'Sons of the Dark Wisdom,' and 'black magic' as a standing orientation opposed to the Right-hand Path.
A magical or spiritual orientation that directs occult power toward reverent service of the divine and the welfare of others, in disciplined subordination to a moral code — the positive complement to the Left-hand Path's self-aggrandizement, and the orientation an initiatory order upholds in barring seduction, extortion, and the sale of initiation for gain. Distinct from left_hand_path (the opposing orientation this concept mirrors) and theurgy (a specific ritual technique of divine engagement, not the standing ethical orientation of the practitioner).
The passage repeatedly references 'Initiates of the Right,' 'adepts of the Right Path,' 'Sons of God,' and 'white magic' as the positive orientation of occult practice in reverent service.
Organized, persisting groups — fraternities, orders, lodges — that maintain esoteric knowledge or practices as an institution distinct from public religion or mainstream society, holding 'the keys' collectively rather than through any one master-disciple pair. Distinct from esoteric_lineage (a genealogical chain of individual transmission, not an institution) and hidden_sayings (the concealment of a teaching's meaning, independent of whether any organized body holds it).
The passage describes organized communities of adepts and initiates ('communities of ancient and even modern adepts,' 'Initiates of the Right and those of the Left Path') that maintain esoteric knowledge as institutions distinct from public religion.