T. Subba Row

“ How then can matter or Prakriti be called eternal? If matter is merely a manifestation of spirit, why call it by the false name of matter instead of its own name spirit?‡ [14] Now having done with the effect, matter, we come to its cause, the Mula-Prakriti, which is also called Avidya or ignorance, the mother of Karma and the cause of Bundha. So long as this Prakriti is not layed into spirit by dissolving it into Satvaguna, there is no emancipation, Mukti with Prakriti is no Mukti at all. Beyond Prakriti is emancipation. This is the conclusion of the whole of our Aryan Occultism. ”

“ Now we see the first manifestation of Parabrahmam is a Trinity, the highest Trinity that we are capable of understanding. It consists of Mulaprakrti, Ishvara or the Logos, and the conscious energy of the Logos which is its power and light; and here we have the three principles upon which the whole cosmos seems to be based. First, we have matter; secondly, we have force—at any rate, the foundation of all the forces in the cosmos; and thirdly, we have the ego or the one root of Self, of which every other kind of self is but a manifestation or reflection. ”

“ Esoteric Doctrine and Occultism are perfectly useless, since "the highest, or rather only, objects offered us for worship, are our own perishable selves—in an advanced stage of evolution, it is true, but a stage, which is so far from involving our perpetuation, so far from securing to us that 'gift of God which is eternal life'—that the attainment of it is but the prelude to inevitable extinction,—extinction not of mere existence of manifested being but or being itself." ”

“ In the case of every objective consciousness, we know that what we call matter or non-ego is, after all, a mere bundle of attributes. But whether we arrive at our conclusion by logical inference, or whether we derive it from innate consciousness, we always suppose that there is an entity--the real essence of the thing upon which all these attributes are placed—which bears these attributes, as it were, the essence itself being unknown to us.
All Vedantic writers of old have formulated the principle that Parabrahmam is the one essence of everything in the cosmos. ”

“ All of you know that our Society is established upon a cosmopolitan basis. We are not wedded to any particular creed or to any particular system or religious philosophy. We consider ourselves as mere enquirers. Every great system of philosophy is brought before us for the purpose of investigation. At the present time we are not at all agreed upon any particular philosophy which could be preached as the philosophy of our Society. ”

“ We cannot say it comes into existence at any particular time, it seems latent in the one life throughout but at its appearance as an active energy, it is the first germ of consciousness in the whole universe. ”

“ I shall point out what position each of these principles occupies in the evolution of nature, and in passing from the First Cause to the organised human being of the present day, I shall give you the basis of the fourfold classification that I have promised to adopt.
The first principle, or rather the first postulate, which I have to lay down is the existence of what is called Parabrahmam. Of course there is hardly a system of philosophy which has ever denied the existence of the First Cause. Even the so-called atheists have never denied it. ”

“ In fact the function of the adept hierarchy is to provide religious teachers for the stumbling masses of mankind.
But this path is eminently dangerous to those who do not hold the talisman which ensures safety; this talisman is a perfectly unselfish, self-forgetting, self annihilating devotion to the religious good of mankind, a self-abnegation, which is not temporal, but must have no end for ever, and the object of which is the religious enlightenment of the human race. ”

“ Just as I would classify the principles in man, I would classify the principles in the solar system and in the cosmos. There is a certain amount of similarity and the law of correspondence—as it is called by some writers, whatever may be the reason—is the law which obtains in a good many of the phenomena of nature, and very often by knowing what happens in the case of the microcosm we are enabled to infer what takes place in that of the macrocosm. ”

“ Now to turn to the evolution of conscious existence. If it is maintained that the great first cause—Parabrahman—is unconscious, in the sense that it is the negation of all consciousness—it is a great fallacy. If, on the other hand, it is imagined to be conscious in our sense of consciousness—it is equally fallacious. If words are to have any meaning, conscious existence involves three elements—the Knower, the Knowledge and the Known. ”

“ Sinnett comes assuredly from the highest sources of esoteric knowledge known to us in the East—he has deserved, on the contrary, the best thanks, for even the little he has done. His book forms part of a complete system of Esoteric Science and philosophy which is neither Hindu nor Buddhist in its origion, but which is identical with the ancient Wisdom-Religion itself, and which forms the basis or foundation of every system of religion conceived by the human mind since the time when the first Dhyan Chohan appeared on this planet to plant the germ of Esoteric Wisdom. ”

“ Of course if it is so difficult for us to understand these different principles as they exist in nature, it will be still more difficult for us to form any definite idea as to their basis. But at any rate the evolution and the work of differentiation of these principles is a matter which appertains more properly to the science of physics than to the science of spiritual ethics,and the fundamental principles that I have laid down will suffice for our present purpose. ”

“ Even admitting that the moon was a symbol of Isis, how does it follow from it that Isis was considered by the Egyptian as "the occult power of increase and decrease, good and evil?", The description itself conveys no definite idea, and there is no evidence to show that the Egyptians attached any such significance to the moon in their writings. Even supposing that the chain of inference is so far sound and that this influence called Isis rejoices and afflicts the soul, how is it shown thereby that Isis is not the Cosmic soul or the 6th principle of the Universe? ”

“ Let me at the outset, however, explain, that I am not here seeking to defend the Theosophist or yourself, you are quite able to defend yourself, and I am in no way empowdered or competent to express your views or those of the Himalayan Brotherhood whose representative you are, as to the nature of the First Cause—nor do I desire to enter into any controversy with any man; I desire to live in peace and brotherly love with all men; I have my own views, which satisfy my head and heart, in which I firmly believe, and which I hope all other men will respect in me ”

“ Without a guide, a teacher and enlightener, mankind developed tendencies which if left unchecked would lead to a still lower level of existence. Confusion and discord reigned supreme. Even the very elements could not bear the presence of man. Loud were the complaints made by the whole of nature against the moral and spiritual chaos that prevailed. It was found that if left to himself man would be unable to liberate his soul from the trammels of matter and attain to salvation. ”

“ Hindus were degraded for the same reason that life and spirit have gone out of Christianity. The increase of wealth-bred sensuality, quenched spiritual aspiration and intuition, plugged the ears that once listened and shut the eyes that once saw the teachers. ”

“ It is, no doubt, expected that, after carefully inquiring into the doctrines of every such existing system, the Society will be able to "reconstruct religion on a scientific, and science on a religious, basis, and elaborate a perfect system of thought and rule of life;" just as a body of jurists may construct a perfectly scientific system of jurisprudence after investigating and comparing the various codes of law which are in force in all the civilized countries of this world. ”

“ Just as a tree leaves its seed to develop into a similar tree, even if it should perish completely, so does every great religion seem to leave its life and energy in one or more great adepts destined to preserve its wisdom and revive its growth at some future time when the cycle of evolution tends in the course of its revolution, to bring about the desired result. ”

“ But no one, I venture to affirm, who is acquainted with Eastern adepts and the powers possessed by them, will be willing to admit that an adept like Vyasa would ever be under the necessity of learning spiritual truths from an angel or a Deva. The only infallible source of inspiration with respect to the highest spiritual truths, recognized and respected by an Eastern adept, is the eternal and infinite monad—his own Atma, in fact. He may make use of the assistance of the elementals and the semi-intelligent powers of nature whenever he is pleased to do so. ”

“ And what is pure, absolute spirit but the "void" of the ancient Greek philosophers? Well, says Lucretius, "there can be no third thing besides body and void; for if it be to the smallest extent tangible—it is body; if not,—it is void." And let it not be urged, on the strength of this quotation, that because we quote the words of a great "Atheist," a materialist, as an authority, we are therefore a materialist and an atheist (in the usual sense of both terms) ourself. ”

“ Isis occupies in the cosmos or macrocosm the same position which the soul that has fallen into the clutches of matter occupies in the microcosm. Isis is the mother of the Logos manifested in the Cosmos, as the soul is the Virgin mother of the regenerated spirit; Isis is mother of Adonais, while the incarnated soul is the mother of Christ: but the former alone is entitled to be called the Cosmic Virgin, and not the latter. In our humble opinion the Cosmic Virgin is not the Virgin manifested in the Cosmos, but the Virgin mother of the Cosmos. ”

“ This concentration of thought, Chagrata or one pointedness as the Hindus called it, is something to us almost unknown,—our minds are like kaleidoscopes of thoughts in constant motion: and to shut our mental eyes to everything else, while dwelling on one thought only, has become to most of us almost as impossible as to apprehend one musical note without harmonies. ”

“ Whatever may be the merits or demerits of the system in question, it is very hard to see how any system can be condemned as "unscientific" merely because of its mathematical precision. If everything in the universe is subject to a rigorous chain of causation, then, it cannot be denied that all natural facts are capable of being represented "with the mathematical precision of a clockwork arrangement," although the official science of the day may not acquire the capacity of so representing them. ”

“ THE SWAMI OF ALMORA TO HIS OPPONENTS.
"we do not wage war of words, but simply speak and seek truth."
We are sorry to see that we have been the cause of something like irritation to you by our last letter, which perhaps was not suitable to the modesty of a hermit. Therefore, we beg your pardon, if there was in it anything oftensive to you, and, at the same time, beg liberty to speak the truth. We are always friendly to every one, but particularly to the foreigners, who have come to India for knowledge. ”

“ The Arya says, "By personal we understand the attribute of being an individual—the essence of personality is consciousness—the knowledge of the fact that I am." But this, if the writer will pardon my so saying, is really not a tenable position. Persona, or a mask, refers only to the mask of flesh and blood and bones and the associated powers that conceal, the spirit, soul or whatever it please? men to call that portion of the human entity which survives the dissolutions of the physical body. ”