Ever since the advent of the
Theosophical Society in India, the occurrence of “Occult Phenomena” has been a
thorn in the flesh of those who do not know how to discriminate properly.
Letters have been dropped
unexpectedly from the vacant air on apparently trivial occasions, invisible
bells have been heard to ring, writings and pictures have been produced from no
visible material, jewelry has been received from “no where,” rings and other
things have been duplicated and some persons have even received comparatively
large amounts of money for the avowed purpose of reimbursing them, for expenses
voluntarily incurred, which, although made with the best motives, were the
least to say unnecessary.
On the other hand, many an “honest
inquirer” has come to Head-quarters for the purpose of “investigating,” and
made the most frantic efforts to obtain a “test,” without any other result than
that of being thoroughly disappointed.
Some have vainly asked for advice
from the “Masters,” and their assistance in what seemed to them most important personal
affairs; but which on closer examination were found to be such as had best be
left to the consideration of the applicants themselves.
Others threatened seriously that
they would indeed refuse to believe in the existence of the “Masters,” unless
the said “Masters” would come and comply with their conditions; and others
again have gone away, having their vanity deeply wounded, and their sense of self-importance
stung to the quick by the apparent negligence of the Mahatmas to take any notice
of them or grant their requests, and it is but natural that such should
denounce the “Occult Phenomena” and cry their ruffled temper to sleep by
yelling “humbug,” because only in this way can they express their indignation
for having been disappointed and put their self-conceit to rest.
Some look at the “Occult
Phenomena” in the same manner as the Spiritualist upon the message from the “dear
departed one,” as a necessary “test,” and believe that without these phenomena
Theosophy could not exist. They therefore extol the “Phenomena” to the skies
and wonder why the Mahatmas do not come and perform a public exhibition in
their astral bodies, or convince the hardened sceptic by some knockdown
argument.
Others, who are perhaps of a more
gushing and sentimental nature, and are taking a more exalted view of the
sanctity of every thing that they expect to come from what they call the “Spiritual
World,” denounce the “Phenomena” as frivolous and unnecessary; they say that our
“holy cause” is materially injured by such trivial performances which do not at
all agree with their ideas of what the nature of such a communication ought to
be.
All these show a want of proper discrimination.
- "There is only one step
from the sublime to the ridiculous," says a proverb.
If we notice a phenomenon, which
is not within our every day experience, we are liable to look at it as a “miracle”
and invest it with an air of solemnity and importance, which it does not
actually deserve, and which was never claimed for it by its authors.
Man in his present conditioned state
is now just as much in the “Spiritual World” as he ever will be, and that what
may be subjective to one, may be objective to another, "hence the natural
distinction made by his mind – the analyst of his physical sensations and
spiritual perceptions – between an actuality and a fiction," which mind,
being trained by a false education to look at every thing coming from the so
called “spiritual world” with the greatest awe and respect and as something “supernatural”
and strange, forgets entirely to apply to such things the same manner of
reasoning, which it applies to the common occurrences of his every day life, and which is the only advisable
one.
The Mahatmas have often enough
assured us that they are not Gods; neither are they anything supernatural. They
claim to be only human beings (see Sinnett's book “Occult World”) and we must look upon them as such, although they
are far more advanced on the road to perfection than we are, and they therefore
know a great many things, which are still unknown to our philosophy.
Being men, they have evidently
the right to write letters to whomsoever they please and about whatever subject
they may choose, and if they have means to do so, without making use of the ordinary
methods used for that purpose, and if they can transmit those letter
independently of the Mail Service, it would be obviously foolish to offer any captions
criticisms on their methods. They may of course write to whom they please and
whenever they please and write in what manner and on what subject they may find
necessary, useful or convenient.
The only thing that is astonishing
to new investigators is the manner in which those letters are written and the
(to them incomprehensible) way in which they come, and the recipients of such
letters therefore consider it sometimes useful to make public the fact of
having received such letters, without deeming it necessary to reveal their
contents in full, and the astonished new investigator consequently often fails
to see the connection between the apparently insignificant character of what little
has been shown to him, and the imaginary
solemnity and importance with which he invests the supposed “miracles.”
Those who see these phenomena every
day, look upon them as they do upon other common occurrences. They are not any more
awestruck, when they get a letter from a Mahatma than they are in receiving one
from another friend or teacher, and they cease to be astonished about them. And
if we would apply the same standard to the occurrences of every day, with which
we judge these so called “supernatural phenomena,” its absurdity would at once
become evident.
If I am here in India and have a
friend in New York, who would occasionally write me a letter, l would certainly
be glad to get a letter from him, partly on account of the information which it
would contain, and partly on account of its being a symbol of the continuance
of the relations existing between my friend and myself. I would not look upon that
letter every time as being a “phenomenon” or go into extasis about having the
possibility demonstrated to me that letters can be written and that they call
be sent from America to India.
But if some ignoramus who had
never heard of such things as letters and mails, were present, the mere fact of
the arrival of such a letter might appear almost incredible to him, and if to
convince him that the letter did come from New York, I would show him some very
unimportant sentence in the said letter, without letting him see the more important
and perhaps confidential contents of the same, he would undoubtedly be
surprised that such (to him) abnormal and extraordinary “feat” as the sending
of a letter from New York to India would imply, should have
been performed to accomplish such a small result.
This comparison may appear ridiculous;
but it is certainly true, and the ignorance of the above hypothetical ignoramus
does not appear more pitiful to us, than our ignorance about occult matters
must appear to those who are in full possession of occult knowledge, and the
same line of reasoning may also be applied to the other phases of occult phenomena,
which are only “Occult,” because the majority of mankind have not sufficiently
progressed to understand the processes by which they are produced.
Those persons who know neither
the contents of letters, said to have been received from the Mahatmas, nor the process
by which they have been written or “precipitated,” have no right to complain about
a “waste of powers,” etc., about which they know absolutely nothing, and which may
exist only in their imagination.
They talk about our relation to
the Mahatmas not as it really exists, but only as they suppose it to be, and the
sooner they accustom themselves to look upon our revered Masters as teachers
and friends and wise men, instead of looking at them with the same feeling of
awe and superstition and fear with which the Fiji-islander looks upon his
Deity; the sooner will they find that the so-called “Occult Phenomena” are
neither intended to convert incredulous sceptics, nor are they produced for the
purpose of astonishing the public; but are principally methods of communication
or instruction.
To appreciate a thing properly
and according to its true value, we must neither depreciate its importance, nor
over-estimate the same.
As to those persons who have been
disappointed in their expectations of obtaining letters or presents from the
Masters, they – unless superior reasons existed for the non-compliance with
their demands – have probably only to blame themselves for not having made
themselves sufficiently prominent (in a spiritual meaning of the term) to
attract the Masters' attention or to deserve their consideration.
No amount of “tests” could
possibly convince them, because spiritual things can only be grasped by our
rising above the sphere of materiality, and material natures can do that only
to such a limited extent as their limited powers will permit. They may perhaps
be surprised and startled by some (to them) inexplicable fact; but soon new
doubts will arise, new “tests” will be asked for, and the “honest investigator”
will only be perplexed and dissatisfied.
To arrive at the truth or to
become worthy of the attention of the Mahatmas, we must rise up to their
sphere, instead of attempting the impossible task of dragging them down to our
level. They cannot put that into us,
which we have not the power to assimilate; they cannot grant any personal favors, because the fact of their doing
so would imply an injustice and he incompatible with the high standard of
morality necessary to constitute a Mahatma.
There is a general misunderstanding
on the part of new beginners, who “want to become Chelas” and force themselves
upon the attention of the Masters, instead of developing their intellectual
faculties and waiting until Chelaship descends to them.
High Spiritual development is
impossible without intellectual development, and a high degree of intellectual
expansion is necessarily followed by it corresponding development of spirituality.
To live in a cave or jungle, to stand on one leg or to stare at the end of
one's nose may develop a state of useless sensitiveness or insanity, but to
develop spiritual powers the intellectual faculties must be strengthened first,
because upon them as a basis rest and from thence grow as a necessary result
the Occult powers of the spiritual man.
AN AMERICAN BUDDHIST.
(The Theosophist, April 1884, vol.
5, p.165-166)
For more details about the phenomena produced by Masters
Kuthumi and Morya with Franz Hartmann, read also:
No comments:
Post a Comment