Page 89 (part 5)

It has worshipped "great sages" and given hospitality to terrestrial wisdom: but once that "another forest shone forth" upon it, it is Intelligence (Buddhi, the 7th sense, but 6th principle) which is transformed into the tree -- that tree whose fruit is emancipation -- which finally destroys the very roots of the Aswattha tree, the symbol of life and of its illusive joys and pleasures. And therefore, those who attain to that state of emancipation have, in the words of the above-cited sage, "no fear afterwards." In this state "the end cannot be perceived because it extends on all sides." "There always dwell seven females there," he goes on to say, carrying out the imagery. These females, who, according to Arjuna Misra, are the Mahat, Ahamkara and five Tanmatras, have always their faces turned downwards, as they are obstacles in the way of spiritual ascension. " . . . . In that same (Brahman, the 'Self') the Seven perfect Sages, together with their chiefs, abide and again emerge from the same. Glory, brilliance and greatness, enlightenment, victory, perfection and power -- these seven rays follow after this same Sun (Kshetragna, the Higher Self). . . . Those whose wishes are reduced (unselfish). . . . whose sins (passions) are burnt up by restraint, merging the Self in the Self,t**devote themselves to Brahman. Those people who understand the forest of Knowledge (Brahman, or S ELF) praise tranquillity. And aspiring to that forest, they are (re-) born so as not to lose courage. [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * As Mahat (universal intelligence) is first born, or manifests, as Vishnu, and then, when it falls into matter and develops self-consciousness, it becomes Egoism, Selfishness, so Manas is of a dual nature. It is respectively under the sun and moon, for as Sankaracharya says "The moon is the mind, and the sun the understanding." The sun and moon are the deities of our planetary Macrocosmos, and therefore Sankara adds that "the mind and the understanding are the respective deities of the (human) organs" ( vide Brihadaranyaka, pp. 521, et seq .) This is perhaps why Arjuna Misra says that the moon and the Fire (the self, the sun) constitute the universe. ** "The body in the Soul," as Arjuna Misra is credited with saying, or rather the "Soul in the Spirit," and on a still higher plane of development: "the S ELF or Atman in the Universal Self." [[Vol. 2, Page]] 640 THE SECRET DOCTRINE. Such indeed, is this holy forest . . . . and understanding it, they (the Sages) act accordingly, being directed by the K SHETRAGNA. . . . " No translator among the Western Orientalists has yet perceived in the foregoing allegory anything higher than mysteries connected with sacrificial ritualism, penance, or ascetic ceremonies, and Hatha Yoga. But he who understands symbolical imagery, and hears the voice of S ELF WITHIN S ELF, will see in this something far higher than mere ritualism, however often he may err in minor details of the philosophy. And here, we must be allowed a last remark. No true theosophist, from the most ignorant up to the most learned, ought to claim infallibility for anything he may say or write upon occult matters. The chief point is to admit that, in many a way, in the classification of either cosmic or human principles, in addition to mistakes in the order of evolution, and especially on metaphysical questions, those of us who pretend to teach others more ignorant than ourselves -- are all liable to err. Thus mistakes have been made in "Isis Unveiled," in "Esoteric Buddhism," in "Man," in "Magic: White and Black," etc., etc.; and more than one mistake is likely to be found in the present work. This cannot be helped. For a large or even a small work on such abstruse subjects to be entirely exempt from error and blunder, it would have to be written from its first to its last page by a great adept, if not by an Avatar. Then only should we say, "This is verily a work without sin or blemish in it!" But, so long as the artist is imperfect, how can his work be perfect? "Endless is the search for truth!" Let us love it and aspire to it for its own sake, and not for the glory or benefit a minute portion of its revelation may confer on us. For who of us can presume to have the whole truth at his fingers' ends, even upon one minor teaching of Occultism? Our chief point in the present subject, however, was to show that the Septenary doctrine, or division of the constitution of man, was a very ancient one, and was not invented by us. This has been successfully done, for we are supported in this, consciously and unconsciously, by a number of ancient, mediaeval, and modern writers. What the former said, was well said; what the latter repeated, was generally distorted. An instance: Read the "Pythagorean Fragments," and compare the Septenary man as given by the Rev. G. Oliver, the learned mason, in his "Pythagorean Triangle" (ch. on " Science of Numbers, " p. 179). He speaks as follows: -- "The Theosophic Philosophy counted SEVEN properties (or principles), in Man, viz.: -- (1.) The divine golden Man; (2.) The inward holy body from fire and light, like pure silver; [[Vol. 2, Page]] 641 HYPNOTISM IS -- SATANISM. (3.) The elemental man; (4.) The mercurial paradisiacal man; (5.) The martial Soul-like man; (6.) The passionate man of desires; (7.) The Solar man; a witness to and inspector of the wonders of the Universe. They had also seven fountain Spirits, or Powers of Nature." Compare this jumbled account and distribution of Western theosophic philosophy with the latest theosophic explanations by the Eastern School of Theosophy, and then decide which is the more correct. Verily: -- "Wisdom hath builded her house, She hath hewn out her seven pillars. " -- ( Prov. ix, 1 . ) As to the charge that our School has not adopted the Seven-fold classification of the Brahmins, but has confused it, it is quite unjust. To begin with, the "School" is one thing, its exponents ( to Europeans ) quite another. The latter have first to learn the A B C of practical Eastern Occultism, before they can be made to understand correctly the tremendously abstruse classification based on the seven distinct states of Pragna (consciousness); and, above all, to realize thoroughly what Pragna is, in the Eastern metaphysics.