(This letter was sent by Franz Hartmann from the United States to the
Theosophy Society’s headquarters in Adyar, India, and was subsequently
published in The Theosophist magazine.)
« Om, Amitaya! Measure not with words
The immeasurable; nor think the
string of thought
Into the fathomless. Who asks
doth err;
Who answers errs. Say nought. »
(Light of Asia.)
Allow me to express my sincere gratitude
for the kind answer you gave to my questions about “Devachan” in No 44 of your
journal. As usual I received what I believe to be the correct answer to my
question by mental impression, before I saw it in print; but the misfortune
with me and with others is that in our present state of existence our
intuitional powers are so little developed as to be unreliable, and the
information which we receive through them has to be confirmed by reason, before
it can be accepted by the mind.
To get above the plane of mere
physical perceptions, without getting lost in the labyrinth of a misleading
imagination, has been the main effort of my life.
How to accomplish this is the
all-absorbing question, for a solution of which we must look to Theosophy, the
newly arisen star of the East.
« The ways of Heaven are
dark and intricate.
Puzzled with mazes and perplexed
with error;
Our understanding searches them
in vain. »
(Addison.)
I had once a conversation with
the renowned Jesuit, Pater Wenniger, about spiritual matters, and after proving
to him that his arguments could not be accepted because they were contrary to
reason, he finally said:
-
“If our reason
conflicts with our faith, let us imprison our reason and stick to our faith.”
This silly answer of course ended
the conversation; but it now appears to me that if we substitute the word
“intuition” for “faith,” (which perhaps amounts to the same thing) his answer
may have some truth in it after all and seems to agree with the above poetical
quotations.
In this conflict between reason
and intuition the only way out of the difficult y seems to lay down the rule
that we should not follow the dictates of our reason, if they conflict with our
highest intuitions, and that we should be careful before we accept as intuition
that which is not confirmed by our reason, and which may be after all only a
morbid imagination running wild.
The average American or European
is unable to decide — when his reason and his intuition contradict each other —
which is right.
He may look to physical science,
her answer will be a laugh and a sneer; he may look to Theology and ask for
bread, but he will receive a stone, for Theology cannot give what it does not
possess.
In despair at last he will fly to
the camp of the Spiritualists; but they, ostrich like, will hide their heads in
the sand, fearing that the troublesome questions of the new-comer might disturb
the beatitude of their fool’s paradise.
Under these trying circumstances
there is nothing left for us poor mortals to do, but to look to our great Masters
in the East or to you, their representative, for information and light, and although
we are loath to accept the dictum of any one as infallible, still the teachings
contained in the Theosophy conform not only with our reason, but they are also
identical with our highest intuitions and can therefore be accepted very
probably as the Truth.
The above reasons, I hope, will
serve as an acceptable excuse for my trespassing upon your valuable time, and
perhaps you will permit me to say in conclusion a few more words about “Devachan.”
I need not mention that my remark
about the harps and palm leaves in the Christian heaven was only used as a
metaphor, and that I have no more desire of meeting any long faced saints in
heaven, than I have of enjoying their company on earth; but what I understood
“Devachan” to be, is an entirely subjective state, a dream in which our
imagination performs wonders and creates images, which the poor fool in
Devachan takes for realities.*
According to this, the good
Christian in Devachan would really wave imaginary palm leaves, the Turk would
be surrounded by lovely but imaginary houris; while Guiteau on his arrival in
Devachan would probably shake hands with his imaginary (but to him real)
partner who inspired the murder, and obtain the thanks of the “Lordy” for his
meritorious deed.**
After a while the sixth principle
commences to act, and under its tuition the spirit rises to higher planes of
thought, which of course are creating new subjective realities, until finally
the process culminates in a condition of spirituality, in view of which the
wings of our imagination become paralyzed and the mind of the intrepid mortal
convinced of his inability to fly to such heights, in deep humility returns to
earth.
I do not know, whether this view
is correct or not, and I look to a continuance of the “Fragments” that are
publishing in your journal for further light.
June 16th,
George Town, Colorado
FRANZ HARTMANN, M.D., F.T.S.
Notes of the editor (Blavatsky)
* Let us hope that the three articles
following some new objection to Devachan in the last number will finally settle
the question at rest. We draw our esteemed Brother’s attention to it.
** It is to be feared that Guiteau
will have little chance of getting acquainted with the Devachanic state. He and
his “partner” will meet in Avitchi, if not in a still more disreputable place.
(The Theosophist, September 1883,
vol. 4, p.327)
No comments:
Post a Comment