Universal Brotherhood

 

It is good for Theosophists to realize how far ahead of her time Russian born and American citizen H. P. Blavatsky was in forming with some others her Theosophical Society in 1875 that was based on forming a “nucleus of a universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color.” Slavery in the US had only ended 10 years before, the vote for women was still almost 50 years away, severe class consciousness was omnipresent in European civilization and especially Britain, India groaned under the yoke of the caste system, and most all ideas of “Brotherhood” were sectarian, or limited to one’s own race and religion. “Universal Brotherhood” is a rather vague term, and here are a few quotes of what Blavatsky meant by the term, and in some respects overall I think, our human race has made some progress in.

 
(The first declared object of our Theosophical Society is) “To form the nucleus of a universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color…. Everyone entering the society is supposed to sympathize with the theory of essential brotherhood; a kinship which exists on the plane of the higher self, not on that of the racial, social, and mental dissimilarities and antipathies. These elements of discord pertain to the physical man and are the result of unequal development under the law of evolution. We believe the human body to be but the shell, cover, or veil of the real entity…. It is the physical body only which has racial type, color, sex, hatreds, ambitions, and loves. So then, when we postulate the idea of universal brotherhood, we wish it understood that it is held in no Utopian sense, though we do not dream of realizing it at once on the ordinary plane of social or national relations. Most assuredly, if this view of the kinship of all mankind could gain universal acceptance, the improved sense of moral responsibility it would engender would cause most social evils and international asperities to disappear; for a true altruism, instead of the present egoism, would be the rule the world over. So we have written down as the first of our declared objects this altruistic asseveration, and have been working practically to bring about a beginning of the better law.” (H.P. Blavatsky, Blavatsky Collected Writings, vol. 12, pp. 302-3)

 
“…. It is not the policy of self-preservation, not the welfare of one or another personality in its finite and physical form that will or can ever secure the desired object and screen the Society from the effects of the social ‘hurricane’ to come [written in 1888]; but only the weakening of the feeling of separateness in the units which compose its chief element. And such a weakening can only be achieved by a process of _inner enlightenment._ It is not violence that can ever insure bread and comfort for all; nor is the kingdom of peace and love, of mutual help and charity and ‘food for all,’ to be conquered by a cold, reasoning, diplomatic policy. It is only by the close brotherly union of men’s inner SELVES, of soul-solidarity, of the growth and development of that feeling which makes one suffer when one thinks of the suffering of others, that the reign of Justice and equality for all can ever be inaugurated. This is the first of the three fundamental objects for which the Theosophical Society was established, and called the ‘Universal Brotherhood of Man,’ without distinction of race, colour or creed.” (Ibid, vol. 10, pp. 74-5)

 
“…. we will go on in that periodical work of ours; we will not allow ourselves to be baffled in our philanthropic attempts until that day when the foundations of a new continent of thought are so firmly built that no amount of opposition and ignorant malice guided by the Brethren of the Shadow will be found to prevail.” ( – K.H., “The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, T.U.P., letter no. 9, p. 51)
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The New Year

 

“…. let no one imagine that it is a mere fancy, the attaching of importance to the birth of the year. The earth passes through its definite phases and man with it: and as a day can be coloured so can a year. The astral life of the earth is young and strong between Christmas and Easter. Those who form their wishes now will have added strength to fulfill them consistently.” – H. P. Blavatsky, BCW, vol. IX, p. 5
“I Plunge ….”

And now we enter the Dark of the year, or truly the Solstitial Light, as the Sun pauses a moment in Time at the southernmost margin of its journey and then “plunges once more, revivified,” into its new cycle. Do you know Browning’s Paracelsus? Here are a few lines from it in harmony with the Season. They are from the first section toward the end, “Paracelsus Aspires.” The great physician, then a young man, is about to leave his native village of Einsiedeln despite the loving protests of friends who want to tie him down. The world and destiny beckon and urge. He says:

Are there not, Festus, are there not, dear Michal,
Two points in the adventure of the diver?
One – when, a beggar, he prepares to plunge;
One – when, a prince, he rises with his pearl?
Festus, I plunge ….

And so, the New Year; and may you plunge!

– W. Emmett Small (“Theosophia,” Winter, 1968-69)

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Natural Magic

 

If you live retired in a rural area and have read some Blavatsky you tend to see some operations of Nature you might not have usually noticed. Where I live there is a small orchard with about half-a-dozen mature apple trees in it. The trees aren’t cared for in trimming or spraying for insects or the like and generally they turn out a good deal of apples, but about 90% of them are mishappen from birds pecking them or insects planting their larvae. Nearby there is an about acre and half field left to go back to Nature for future firewood from all the trees that immediately spring up. I often walk around the field on a path on the outside and if I see a “volunteer” fruit tree sapling or special tree like an oak, I put a ribbon on it so as to not accidently cut it down and to keep an eye on its development. One Fall I was surprised to see on a 4-5 year old apple sappling I’d marked about a dozen large, perfectly-formed and spotless apples (picture above), so many on one small limb it was nearly breaking the limb off. Why this idealized example of Nature’s bounty, when only a short distance away all the apples were mis-shapen and full of bugs? The next year the little sappling only turned out a few apples that were far from perfect.

 
As an aside, it’s not that unusual for an untended fruit tree to turn out so much fruit in a good year that it breaks its limbs off. About ten years ago it was a good year for pears here, and I saw two very old pear trees that produced so much fruit that big limbs broke off from the weight. In another fruit tree aside, about 25 miles from here there is a park at the confluence of two rivers, and it was the site of a trading post 200+ years ago. There is a large circular granite or concrete pad there with a historic marker, that says there was an apple tree at the spot that was nine foot in diameter and would bear 300 bushels of apples a year.

 
From fruit trees to cats, I keep about half-a-dozen feral cats around by feeding them, in order to keep the rats and mice at bay which used to be a problem. They’re wild cats, you can’t try petting them if you value your hand. One of the cats a couple years ago developed a bad eye infection in its left eye. Usually only kittens get eye infections but in this adult cat the infection kept getting worse until the eye turned white and all the hair fell off the left side of its head. ‘Really disgusting and shocking to look at. I was going to shoot it to put it out of its misery, but chickened out, and as it was acting normal, figured I’d let Nature take its course. It was around looking like this for several months, and then one morning I found it dead.

 
About the time Hideous Cat died, a mother cat gave birth to a litter of 4 kittens or so, which I only saw a month or so later when she brought them out for display. One of the kittens – I couldn’t believe it – had a big flap of black skin over the left side of its head and eye, a real ugly birth-defect in seeming mimicry of Hideous Cat (dead eye and no hair on left side) that the mother cat had to look at every day of her kitten’s gestation. The next time I saw the kittens about a month later, the kitten with the birth defect was missing, so it must have died.

 
H. P. Blavatsky in “Isis Unveiled” (vol. I, pp. 384-91) says that animal and human mothers that undergo a shock or passion during pregnancy can by unconsious will and imagination create birthmarks or even birth defects in their infant. This is the case I think with the kitten birth defect above, and an example of the occult workings of Nature. Blavatsky gives many examples of such from science books of her time. One women had an unquenched desire for rasberries while pregnant, for instance, and her infant had a perfect birthmark of a rasberry. Another women had an irrational terror of mice, and almost died of terror while pregnant when a mouse jumped out of her sewing box on her lap. The infant had a perfect birthmark of a mouse on his cheek, and spent his life wearing a bandage over it. While this is an unconscious process, mothers may be able to turn this occult aspect of Nature to their own advantage. Blavatsky writes:
“When psychology and physiology become worthy of the name of sciences, Europeans will be convinced of the weird and formidable potency existing in the human will and imagination, whether exercised consciously or otherwise. And yet, how easy to realize such power in spirit, if we only think of that grand truism in nature that every most insignificant atom in it is moved by spirit, which is one in its essence, for the least particle of it represents the whole; and that matter is but the concrete copy of the abstract idea, after all. In this connection, let us cite a few instances of the imperial power of even the unconscious will, to create according to the imagination or rather the faculty of discerning images in the astral light.

 
“We have but to recall the very familiar phenomenon of stigmata, or birth-marks, where effects are produced by the involuntary agency of the maternal imagination under a state of excitement. The fact that the mother can control the appearance of her unborn child was so well known among the ancients, that it was the custom among wealthy Greeks to place fine statues near the bed, so that she might have a perfect model constantly before her eyes. The cunning trick by which the Hebrew patriarch Jacob caused ring-streaked and speckled calves to be dropped, is an illustration of the law among animals…” (p. 384)
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Conservation Therapy

– Research findings supporting an intuitive approach.

– M. R. J. (1984)
“….when the (the world at large) …. shall discover and really appreciate the truths which underlie this vast problem of sex. It will be like ‘the light that never shone on sea or land,’ and has to come to men through the Theosophical Society. That light will lead on and up to the true spiritual intuition. Then…. ‘the world will have a race of Buddhas and Christs…'” – H.P. Blavatsky, “The Secret Doctrine,” vol. II, p. 415

Conservation Therapy is based on the premise that man can best cause psychological cure or development in himself by a conservation of his sexual energies and the living of a moderate lifestyle in every aspect. It has been the traditional viewpoint throughout history that personal energy is lost in sex expression, but until recently this premise has not been supported by biochemical evidence. Until present times hard physical work was continually necessary just for basic survival. A man soon learned he had to conserve his energies for survival over pleasure. It may be that we have only so much personal resource or “energy” at our command. Possibly it is not mere coincidence that a traditional puritanism in this country coincided with the wealthiest and most creative society the world has known.

For the male, the highest concentrations of valuable chemicals in the body are contained in seminal fluid. Why this is so is a bit of a mystery when looked at superficially, since the primary purpose of seminal fluid is to provide a vehicle for spermatazoa. While it has been proven that women absorb some of these valuable chemicals from the male in coitus, it may also be reasonable to assume that if not frequently spent in sex they become available for mental and bodily development. It is curious that in several aspects the chemistry of male reproductive fluid and the brain are more similar than any other tissues.

Modern psychology is more in the class of voodoo or shamanism than of a true science. Actually shamanism may show better results than psychotherapy. The true status of psychology is demonstrated in legal battles where the prosecution’s psychologist declares the defendent sane and the defense’s psychologist declares him insane. The judge or jury then decides which psychologist is correct. If a true psychological system existed, then the man could scientifically be declared sane or insane and both psychologists would agree. That present psychology is impotent to bring about improvement or cure in the mentally afflicted is demonstrated by dozens of its own studies. Basically psychotherapy has been found no more effective than a placebo. Many studies have shown that psychotherapy is even harmful and prevents a person from curing himself as quickly as he may if left entirely alone. (See Martin Gross’s “The Psychological Society.”)

There is no “quick fix” for psychological ills. While insight may occassionally result in rapid change, in most cases bringing inner changes about is a time-consuming process which requires effort as any other accomplishment. Many modern psychological systems recommend ways to “hold the head.” They recommend the adopting of a particular attitude or perception that will automatically put things in a new light and make previous problems disappear. These systems are all variations of the “positive thinking” philosophy. They result in the inhibition of serious problems and the narrowing of perspective to a shallow and overly simplistic outlook, The real problems “go underground,” so to speak, and the person is impoverished from lack of depth. [The great difficulty of change Theosophical Doctrines would assign to the aeons of karma and resultant skandhas our psychological nature is composed of. – Ed.]

A true psychological system is holistic in nature. Every aspect of a person’s life affects his mentality and emotions. Sexual lifestyle is a primary aspect of this holism since it is such a central facet in every-one’s life. Even psychological systems that label themselves “holistic” ignore this fact. Increasing sexual intensity, frequency or variety is lauded, but the concept of what actually constitutes a healthy sexual lifestyle is completely ignored. A hundred diets are prescribed for maximum health but there is no sexual diet recommended. Certain foods are found best for the human organism and we may also suppose that a certain sexual lifestyle is also conductive to greatest psychological and physical health. This proper sexual life-style is not subject to fickle human whim or philosophy but has been designed into our organism by the past millions years of evolution.

If on a basic level the human organism has been designed according to certain psychological principles developed through eons of evolution, it is reasonable to assume a person must live in accordance with these principles to achieve maximum mental health. If a sex role is designed into the body on a basic biochemical and genetic level, can we ignore this foundation and still be a whole and healthy person? [In the Theosophic perspective, genetic design is the result of aeons of karma of the race and equally on the individual level. – Ed.]

A person who is not intellectually or philosophically in tune with this biological determinism may be tortured on an inner level and never learn the source of his torment. It would be irrelevant if he agreed with this programming; the effects would continue nonetheless. An option may be to consider that our intellectual preconceptions may be shallow in comparison to the complexity and wisdom in the design of Nature.

Conservation Therapy contends that psychological cure and any further development will result from the conservation of personal sexual energy coupled with progressive introspection or self-analysis. Nature has placed in our make-up a proper sex life and sex role, and we must live in accordance with this inner design to become fully functioning humans, as well as to provide a basis for any possible further development mentally or spiritually. In essence it is a system originating from intuition and practical observation. While it is supported by recent scientific findings in bio-chemistry and brain functioning, its validity can only be established through application and an attempt at objective evaluation of the effects of sexual lifestyle on mentality.

This paper attempts basically to deal with research findings and introspection is not dealt with. Elaborate theorizing should be avoided in self-analysis and a common sense attitude toward evaluating one’s own attitudes and reaction patterns should be attempted. Self-critical meditational systems such as contained in Richard Rose’s “Albigen Papers” and “Meditation and Visualization Papers” can be especially valuable.
RESEARCH FINDINGS

Men have several times the testosterone levels of women. Testosterone is the primary sex hormone in males, as progesterons is in females, and is responsible for a host of psychological and motivational characteristics. Besides physical characteristics, testosterone is responsible for a host of psychological and motivational characteristics in the male. Testosterone has an invigorating effect on the brain, and neurophysiologist Sachair has likened its effects to that of a psychoactive drug. [1]

High blood testosterone levels have been found to correlate with hightened intelligence in males (as well as females) [2] and have also been found to correlate with greater agression, motivation, energy level and positive mood.[3] Testesterone is produced in the testes and general energy level, mood and motivation have been found to decrease in castrates shortly after castration (due to accident or disease). Energy, mood and motivation increase immediately after testosterone is administered to natural castrates with inactive testes. Energy level has been found to be directly related to amount of administered testosterone. Energy level is high after administration and declines steadily until the next administration when it elevates again. Complete lack of testosterone in the post-pubescent male results in “eunuchoidism,” the victim of which is characterized as apathetic, withdrawn, depressed, lacking initiative and hypoactive.

The affect of testosterons on the brain may be the primary chemical reason why men have historically out-distanced women in every avenue of mental achievement. Even today with the many opportunities available to women, men are still responsible for 98% of all patents issued.[4] While women’s primary sexual hormone, progesterone, has been found related to mood, no relationship between progesterone levels and intelligence has been established. Recently the superior spatial ability of men has been linked to testosterone.[5] Apparently it must be present in adequate amounts during a critical developmental stage to augment the ability.

Low testosterone levels have been found in all severe forms of mental problems in males, including schizophronia, psychosis, and anorexia nervosa. [6] Heightened sexual activity is present in most severe mental problems in males (as well as females.) [7] Kraemer (1967) [8] established that lower than normal sexual frequency in males elevates testosterone levels, and we may suppose it has a positive effect on IQ, mood, and motivation because of the effects of the elevated testosterone. In periodic schizophrenics, episodes have been found to always be presaged by increased sexual activity.[9] A reasonable supposition from this evidence is that increased sexual activity may aggravate severe mental problems.

Levels of prostaglandins in the body have been found to be controlled by testosterons levels. [10] It appears that elevated testosterons levels also cause an elevation in prostaglandin levels. Prostaglandins are found throughout the body, having been found in at least 23 different areas. They are produced locally throughout the body, but by far the highest concentrations are produced and stored in the male seminal vesicles. The seminal vesicles produce 400 times more than any other area of the body. [11] Because of the seminal vesicles, males produce many times the prostaglandins that females do. Prostaglandins produce very strong reactions in living tussue and are perhaps the most powerful biologicaly-active, naturally occurring substance known. Prostaglandins are involved in many body processes including blood pressure levels, pain and inflammation, and neuro-transmission. It is thought that they may control the turn-over rate of serotonin in the brain since both serotonin and prostaglandins produce similar effects.

It is curious that almost no animals produce prostaglandins, while in nearly every other way human and animal biochemistry is identical. Only the rabbit, sheep and a few monkeys produce prostaglandins, and humans many hundreds of times more than these animals. As the prostaglandins are produced in the male’s seminal vesicles, very large amounts are in male reproductive fluid. Men “waste” more prostaglandins in a sex act than women produce in their entire body in a single day. [12, 13]

It is a question just why prostaglandins are present in male reproductive fluid, since they have no reaction with spermatozoa and have been proven to do nothing to insure impregnation in the female. It has been found that females absorb male prostaglandins in the vagina and uterus, [15] and actually have special receptor cells in the uterine wall to receive male prostaglandins. [16] An old wive’s tale holds that women gain strength from men, and on this very basic chemical level this observation seems to be validated. Prostaglandins are one of the most refined of the body’s products and women a absorb these “super-chemicals” from males.

Since seminal fluid has no apparent purpose than as a vehicle for spermatozoa, why does it have such a concentration of valuable body chemicals? An ounce has been found to be basically the concentration of the most valuable chemicals from 60 ounces of blood. No two tissues in the body show greater similarity in their lecithin, colesterin and phosphorous contents than the brain amd the seminal fluid. [17] It has proportionally more fructose, citric acid, spermine and prostaglandins than any other tissue in the body. It is also richer than most any other tissue in zinc, ascorbic acid, inositol, glyceryl, phosphory-choline and free amino acids. It has 33 times the neutral maino acids, 28 times the acidic amino acids and 57 times the basic amino acids as the blood. [18] Women may absorb body chemicals from the male other than prostaglandins to enrich body chemistry and health.

Another possibility for the chemical richness of reproductive fluid is that, through a conservative sexual lifestyle, a man may reabsorb and utilize these valuable body chemicals. Instead of producing reproductive fluid, he may use these same chemicals to invigorate the brain/body. While modern psychology believes sexual inhibition unhealthy mentally and physically, it fails to account for the fact that such giants as Pythagoras, Plato., Aristotle, da Vinci, Spinoza, Bacon, Newton, Kant, Beethoven, Spencer, and Tesla were celibates. The purpose here is not to universally recommend celibacy but to point out the absurdity of the modern position.

Several studies have indicated that the human brain is programmed either male or female in the fetal stage. The brain has two “programs” for sex role during life and the level of the hormone testosterone in the womb determines which of these programs in “kicked in.” Once the program is established, the person has a male or female-programmed brain for life. The critical time is the fourth to seventh month during the development of the hypothalmus. If high levels of testosterone are present in the fetus, then the brain is programmed with a male sex-role. If low levels are present, the brain is programmed famale. [20, 21] This is true regardless of the genetic sex of the child. [The Theosophical teaching is that men and women are gradually evolving more alike, but this is a very long process and would not be decernible in historical times. – ed.]

If testosterone levels are high enough in the womb, a female fetus will even develop male sexual organs, male genitalia with an empty scrotum. Very low levels of testosterone in the genetically male fetus may result in intra-abdominal testes and lack of male sex organ. If pregnant women carrying a female fetus are submitted to high testosterone levels, it has been found the girl will develop into what is tradionally called a “tomboy.” This has been characterized by Money & Erhardt (1971, 1972) as “vigorous energy expenditure in athletics, indifference to the rehearsal of ‘dollplay’ and greater than average selection of male playmates and nonfeminine utilitarian clothing.” It must be pointed out that for a female fetus to be exposed to a high level of testosterone (or a male fetus to low levels) is a rare event. The above studies were run on women who were being administered testosterone for medical reasons. That a homosexual’s brain would be fetally-programmed in an opposite sex-role would not hold water in almost all cases.

While the brain has been proven to be programmed male or female at birth, it has been discovered that there is even a more basic male-female difference. Women have extensive brain connections between the pre-frontal lobes and the cerebellum which man don’t have at all. [22] The pre-frontal lobes are thought to be concerned with empathy and higher intellectual functions while the cerebellum is concerned with instinct, sex and movement. These connections may indicate that women’s empathy and logic are tempered with sexual and instinctual aspects that man’s are not.

Progesterone is the primary sexual hormone in women and is responsible for all the secondary sexual aspects. Levels of progosterone have been found to be cyclic and vary with the monthly menstrual cycle. Highest levels occur at ovulation and this has also been found to be the time of peak feeling of well-being during the monthly cycle. Another time of peak progesterone production is during pregnancy which many women have described as the best period of their lives. It has been found that testosterone inhibits progesterone’s production of feminine bodily characteristics. [23] Lesbians have been found to often have heightened levels of testosterone and this may account for the masculine physical characteristics taken on by many lesbians. [24]

In these times of day-care centers and bottle-feeding, it is significant that it has been found that infants breast-fed and raised by their mothers rather than a nanny or day-care center develod higher IQ’s and better social adaptation than their peers. In the 40’s and 50’s in the Israeli kibbutz movement an extensive experiment was made to dissolve traditional family lifestyle and also establish a community with “sexual equality” in every aspect. Women were equally assigned jobs as men, from mechanics to business managers. Children were raised in day-care centers and boys and girls had communal dormitories. Every effort was made to isolate kibbutz members from outside influence. The system began breaking down on several fronts despite the idealism involved. Women began competing and fighting among themselves to secure jobs near the nursery and thus be near their children. Upon pubescence girls flatly refused to undress in front of the boys and thus segregated dormitories became necessary. Women began refusing to take higher level management jobs. Today traditional roles are followed in nearly every aspect in the kibbutzim. [25] Six studies have been carried out on the movement, and all have come to the same conclusion as to their failure idealistically despite every precaution. According to Margaret Mead, among the hundreds of known cultures, there have been none that have not discrminated different social tasks between men and women. [26]

Women are not biochemically equipped as well as men to cope with the stressful lifestyles found in business management and other high-driving professions. On one level women do not chemically respond to stress in the same manner men do. [27] Under stressful situations men’s adrenaline levels go up drastically while women’s exhibit little change. Adrenaline is the body’s chief fast-energy chemical that enables great energy and alertness over a short period of time.

In studies of women in stressful occupations, disturbing effects on mental and physical health are revealed. In one study of 141 women M.D.’s by Paula Clayton of St. Louis University, it was found that 50% had a history of primary depression. Of 114 women Ph.D.’s, 32% suffered from a history of depression. A study at U.S.C. unfortunately discovered that an unbelievable 1 in 15 female M.D.’s commit suicide. [28] In the last twenty years suicide rates among women have dramatically inereased, [29] and this may correlate with the changing lifestyles among women over this period.

During the premenstrual week women are especially susceptible to the effects of stress. It has been found that approximately 25% of women are severly incapacitated in mode, concentration and general performance during the premenstrual week while 90% are incapacitated to some degree. Numerous studies have found that between 50% to 80% of female crime, [30] mental incarcerations and suicides occur during the premenstrual week. [31] In England the Royal Society for the Preventions of Accidents has issued a pamphlet warning women about driving during this time since this is when 50% of accidents involving females occur.

Progesterons seems to be primarily responsible for mood and performance levels in women and this significantly is at its lowest levels during the premenstrual week. While women are subject to monthly cycles in mood and performance due to progesterone fluctuation, men’s performance and mood is relatively stable due to stable testesterene levels. The above evidence is an incontestable reason why women are not adequately equipped for some jobs – air traffic controllers for instance. This would apply to all occupations dealing with critical and highly stressful circumstances.

It is likely that man is genetically encoded with a particular lifestyle, including sexuality, which is conducive to his greatest mental and physical health. Nature cannot design an organism without including within that design a specific lifestyle that is appropriate to it, a genetic code of conduct or “morality” is inherent in our very structure. Some things are good for us and some things are bad. If they are bad for us then they are antagonistic to our genetically determinded biological and psychological design.

A study over a 10 year period at the Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Clinic found that 77% of young incest victims had abnormal EEG patterns and nearly 30% of these victims suffered epileptic fits. [32] The researcher went so far as to infer that possibly the children with abnormal EEG’s may have seduced their parents because of their abnormal brains! He does not even mention the likely and obvious case that the traunatic incest altered their brain chemistry and even caused psychosis and epilepsy. Modern psychology does not consider that a physical act can have an inherent moral reaction that extends to the biolgical level.

While Nature provides that our brains be encoded male or female, she undoubtedly also extends her design into our sexual lifestyles. Within our biological design is a sexual lifestyle that is conducive to greatest physical and psychological health. Is it mere coincidence that the current outbreak of sexual diseases such as herpes and AIDS occurs in the midst of the sexual revolution? Possibly 30% of people in this country age 20 to 40 have a sexual disease. Biologically we may not be designed for a “sexual revolution,” high sexual frequency or promiscuity. It is a little known fact that refraining from sex will cause herpes symptons to disappear, only for the symptoms to reappear when sexually excited. AIDS in only one of numerous diseases that occur principally among homosexuals. Disease of the colon such as ambiasis, shigellosis and giardiasis are others. [33] Biologically we may not be designed to have seminal fluid in the colon or feces in the urethra.

Male homosexuals have generally been found to have slightly lower but near normal testosterone levels. What is amazing, however, is that it has been found that they convert testosterone to the feminine hormone estrogen. [34] This strange phenomenom could be the result of the mental attitude of the effeminate male homosexual. As is apparent in the placebo affect, mental attitude has the ability to alter body chemistry. The same may hold true for the findings that at least 30% of lesbians have high male hormone testosterone levels. [35, 36] Her aggressive masculine attitude may cause a higher adrenal output of testosterone. The woman with the passive role in the lesbian relationship could not be expected to have higher testosterone levels, since she still maintains a passive feminine attitude. A detrimental effect is also realized in children raised by lesbian mothers. In a study by Beverly Hoeffer (U.C. of San Francisco) it was discovered that on personality tests 40% of such boys scored feminine as to sex role while 50% of such girls scored masculine. [37]

In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association’s 55,000 members voted to no longer regard homosexuality as a disease but as a sane matter of preference. Homosexuality is either something appropriate or antagonistic in Nature’s biochemical and psychological design of the human organism. It is not something that can possibly be voted on or subject to the whim of the populace. If homosexuality is appropriate to our organism, why are there so many diseases associated with it? Anything appropriate to out makeup should have no diseases associated with it. There are, for instance, no diseases associated with a moderate monogarous heterosexual lifestyle.

If we have a genetically encoded morality or code of conduct conducive to greatest physical and mental health – just what is it? We may suppose that animals have a similar instinctive code of conduct that they follow without a hitch since they have no active intelligence to interfere with it. Animals breed only on a seasonal basis while man breeds all year around. There are no oral or other exotic sex acts in the animal kingdom. Our intellect is so dominant that we may be forever out of touch on a purely instinctual level with proper human sexual conduct and sex role. Hans Eysenck, the prestigious English psychiatrist, holds that much of modern mental problems are the result of “the intellectual adoption of attitudes that negate biological determinism.” What may be necessary is an intellectual and unbiased by desire investigation of a naturally determined human morality, and then a living by our discoveries.

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Bibliography:

1. Eberhard Nieschlag, “The Endocrine Function of the Human Testis in Regard to Sexuality,” Sex, Hormones and Behavior, Excerpt Medica, 1979

2. Brambilla and Penatil “Schizophrenia: Endocrinological Review,” Perspectives in Endocrine Psychobiology, John Wiley & Sons, 1974

3. Ibid.,- Bancroft and Shakkebaek, “Androgens and Human Sexual Behavior,” Sex Hormones and Behavior

4. Amaury De Riencourt, Sex and Power in History, David McKay Co., 1974

5. “Spatial Hormones,” Psychology Today, June, 1983

6. Brambilla and Penati, id.; van Praag,, Lader, Rafaelsen and Sachar (ed.), Brain Mechanisms and Abnormal Behavior, Marcel Dekker, Inc, N.Y., 1981

7, Ihsan al-Issa., Gender and Psychopathology, Academic Press, 1982

8. van Praag, et. al., ibid.

9. Friedman and Faquet (ed.), Extraordinary Disorders of Human Behavior, studies by Tsuang (1975), Akhtar and Thompson (1980), Plenum Press, 1982

10. Norman L. Poyser, Prostaglandins in Reproduction, Research Studies Press, N.Y., 1981

11. Bergstrom and Samuelsson, Prostaglandins, Interscience Publishers, 1967

12. Poyser, ibid.

13. Carlson Wade, “Evening Primrose Oil – Magic Medical Breakthrough.” Your Good Health, May, 1983

14. Poyser, ibid.

15. Ibid.

16. Bergstrom and Samuelsson, ibid.

17. Bernard, Science Discovers the Physiological Value of Continence, Health Research, Mokelumne Hill, Cal., 1957

18. Hafez, Human Semen and Fertility Regulation in Men, C.V. Mosby Co., 1976

19. Bernard, ibid.

20/21. Money., “Phylogeny and Ontogeny in Gender Identity Differentiation,” Perspectives in Endocrine Psychbiology, ibid. G. Dorner, “Hormones and Sexual Differentiation of the Brain,” Sex,, Hormones and Behavior, ibid., Dorner and Kawakami, Hormones and Brain Development,
Elsevier/North-Holland Bio-medical Press, Amstrerdam, 1978

22. Mary Long, “Visions of a New Faith,” Science Digest, November, 1981

23. Lipsett, “Steroid Regulation of Gonadotropin Secretion,” The Endocrine Function of the Human Testis, James, Serio and Martini (ed.), Academic Press, 1974

24. Dorner and Kawakami, Hormones and Brain Development, ibid.

25. Ihsan al-Issa, Gender and Psychopathology, ibid.

26. Amaury De Riencourt, Sex and Power in History, ibid.

27. Charles Panati, “Women are Losing Health Advantage,” Science Digest, March,1980

28. “Woman M.D.’s Depression and Suicide,” Science News, June 9. 1979

29. Ihsan al-Issa Ibid.

30. Warburton, Brain, Behavior and Drugs, John Wiley & Sons, 1975

31. Robert Ornstein, The Psychology of Consciousness, Penguin Books, 1972

32. “Incest and ‘Vulnerable’ Children,” Science News, October 13, 1979

33. Jeffrey Hart, “AIDS Panic is Spreading,” Wheeling, WVa. Intelligencer, June 11, 1983

34. Dorner and Kawakami, Hormones and Brain Developent, Ibid.

35/36. Ehrardt and Meyer-Bahlburg., “Psychosexual Development: An Examination of the Role of Prenatal Hormones,” and “Hormones and Sexual Differentiation of the Brain,” Sex, Hormones and Behavior, ibid.

37. “Gay Motherhood: Rewards and Problems,” Science News, September 22, 1979

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Great Tecumseh!

 

(This year [2018] is the 250th Anniversary of Tecumseh’s birth.)

 

I’ve been wanting to write something on the great Native American Leader Tecumseh ever since I read Allan Eckert’s 1000 page “A Sorrow in Our Heart – The Life of Tecumseh”[1] about 15 years ago, but the subject is so big that I just can’t get enough of a handle on it to do it justice in an article. It needs Eckert’s 1000-page book, and still then Tecumseh himself in some aspects is beyond what one can get a “handle” on or understand. I’ll try anyway to get some of the facts down as to who Tecumseh was and what he did and apparently did, and if someone wants to know more he can go to Eckert’s book or some of the 1000 references in his Bibliography.

Tecumseh was born in Ohio and lived from 1768 until dying in battle in Canada in 1814 (he predicted his own death) during the war of 1812. His whole life he had been involved in fighting the Americans in their steady usurping of the Ohio and midwest territory, the Americans as always making and breaking treaties like clockwork with the Indians. He refused to ever make any treaties with American forces (“Do they think we are fools!”) and his constant effort in adulthood was to unify all Indian tribes into one brotherhood and fight as one to drive the Whites from their territory as the only possible solution. From 1801 through 1811 he traveled steadily from New York in the East, Minnesota in the North, the Sioux in West, the Cherokees in the South and a hundred other tribes to try to make a unified front among the Indians.

As a child even he stood out among his fellow Shawnee, taking his frist scalps in battle at 11 yrs., at 12 being given credit for saving a village from starvation in Winter by his hunting abilities, and at 12 and-a-half becoming a full warrior in the tribe heirarchy with a voice at councils. He tried drinking alcohol as an adolescent with other tribe members, until breaking his hip trying a stunt, and thereafter vowed that he’d never again drink anything but water, and didn’t.

Indians were incredibly cruel often in treatment of prisoners as a matter of tradition, as well as sometimes benevolent and adoption into the tribe. They would force prisoners to run the gaunlet between two lines armed with clubs, burning at the stake, and other hardly imaginable deaths. Tecumseh was innately appalled by cruelty and vowed as a teenager to prevent it whenever he was present. This was usually done with reason and oratory, but by using force when necessary. Once he was present as a burning at the stake was commencing and tried to stop it, but the warriors wouldn’t listen. Tecumseh pulled his pistol and shot the prisoner in the head, which ended it. Who is going to argue too far with best warrior in the tribe?

Often battles were won under Tecumseh from military strategy against larger odds. As an example of his abilities he was the inventor or the first “pony express” which became famous for mail delivery many years later in the west. He was fighting more or less on two fronts, one at Cincinatti and Fort Washington on the Ohio River and north about 175 miles on the Maumee River and area where his home village was. To keep tabs on what was happening at each front and warning of developments, he developed a series of posts in between where a messenger could travel at speed and get fresh horses. A message could be passed from Cincinatti to the Maumee River or back in a day. Tecumseh’s camp was hidden on a bluff near Cincinatti, and he would walk the streets of the town in disguise getting information or reading official notices (he could read, speak, and write English as well as several Indian dialects). He also actually went into Fort Washington several times and the guards knew him on sight.

Tecumseh had the ability to make reliable predictions, an ability shared by his father and older brother, who both predicted the time of their own deaths (as Tecumseh did also.) He used this ability by often instructing his one-eyed brother “The Prophet” in predictions that boosted his reputation as a religious leader. “The Prophet” had in his youth been a drunk and generally of ill-repute, but then experienced a vision of some nature, and thereafter swore off alcohol and became a preacher to his people to reject white man’s ways and follow their own. The Prophet’s first big prediction via Tecumseh was that of a full eclipse of the sun about 2 mos. ahead of time, in response to a goad from a US general that he was a fake. Tecumseh apparently used his brother to further his own big plans of Indian unity, but he proved of too weak a character, developed a big head and need of power and ultimately was responsible for ruining Tecumseh’s plan by attacking the whites about a month and half before the date that all the tribes were to wage battle at once. (There was a PBS documentary on Tecumseh some years back that made me ill from its not mentioning points of most importance in Tecumseh’s life, and from making him nearly the equal of his subordinate, and fruity brother.)

Tecumseh had built a town along the Tippecanoe River in Indiana. He followed some white principles of town-building with straight laid-out streets, log cabins, a large wooden meeting place, and huge log hotel that would house up to 300 Natives. This grew to cover 2 miles along the river, and became known as “Prophet’s Town” because his brother was there and Natives traveled to hear and see him. “The Prophet” became bloated and imaginative of his own abilities and told listeners they would become bullet-proof in their eventual battle with the whites (which didn’t work out too well.) Although the town of at least a thousand was peaceful enough and totally within Indian Territory according to treaty, Am. Commander William Henry Harrison showed his real stripes, treaty or not, and mounted a force of 1000 soldiers and camped a half mile from the Town, goading The Prophet to war. Despite Tecumseh’s warnings to never to attack without his direction first, his brother succumbed to Harrison’s trick and attacked – throwing all of Tecumseh’s plans into confusion and starting another Indian war before Tecumseh and the rest of the tribes were ready.

Tecumseh’s unrealized plans were formulated and to take place in the following quite remarkable and uncanny manner:

Tecumseh had been in constant travel and giving speeches in hundreds of villages and councils from 1801 through 1811. His message was always union of all the tribes, and became for the tribes to converge together at one time and make a unified attack to drive the whites out. His final strategy materialized in late 1809 or beginning of 1810. At Tippecanoe he showed his brother a bundle of “sacred slabs”, long pieces of cedar with carvings on them. The carved images were to help remember directions and the unfoldment of a plan of attack nearly 2 years in the future (and using images as a means of remembering has been proven the best way or trick in doing so.) A series of runners were to be sent out at an exact time to reach 50 Indian centers in all directions, with Tecumseh himself handling those to the South. There were also 50 bundles of 21 sticks each. (At least one of these “sacred slabs” still exists at a University.)

At each Tribe beginning with the “Hunger” moon one stick was to be burned at every full moon. When there was only one stick left, they were to hold watch at night to wait for a meteor sign at night that could not be mistaken. (This Did occur on schedule. During or around the Leonids meteor shower in Nov., 1811 a huge meteor that split into 3 pieces and passed from horizon to horizon was visible across the entire country concerned.) After seeing this “Sign” one was to cut the last stick into 30 pieces, and burn one every night. On the 30th day the earth would rumble with a giant earthquake “with trees falling, pots breaking, rivers leaving their banks, and lakes disappearing and appearing,” and then it was time to converge [2] and attack. This Did occur also. The New Madrid (Missouri) Earthquake did occur just 30 days after the giant meteor. It was the largest earthquake in the history of North America, being or felt for a 1000 miles in every direction and causing the Mississippi to flow backwards, among very much else.

Of all places…… Tecumseh himself was at the very epicenter of this earthquake when it occured! – the small white settlement of New Madrid. He was there seeking his sister Tecumapese. She had left the Shawnees and married a white man in the town. He went to bring her back, and she did come back as the marriage was over. At this time messengers who had been traveling 38 days in search of Tecumseh finally found him and told him of the events of his brother The Prophet having already started a war and ruining his plans.

What can one make of all this? How could Tecumseh make such outrageous predictions of a huge meteor and giant earthquake at particular and specific times, and according to good evidence – they actually came true?!

Eckert explains in his notes [3] that all the many accounts of Tecumseh’s prediction surfaced after they occurred, which might make one believe history was being changed some in order to make a mythology. Some of the accounts were nearly identical in wording, as if repeating a remembered speech. How could people make up such unlikely events if there wasn’t a basis for it? If one hears an outrageous prophecy, it is more human nature to wait and see, and then recount it after the fact if it occured. Who wants to be a fool to endorse something that hasn’t happened yet? The normal attitude would be to wait and see, and then tell the good tale if it proved true.

I’ve got my own theory to explain these predictions, at least Tecumseh’s prediction of the New Madrid Earthquake. Being a Theosophist, and believing there is an occult (hidden) world of cause and effect, and of mind on the physical world, I think the union of men’s minds (the perhaps 100’s of thousands or few millions that Tecumseh’s traveling for 11 years touched and inspired) and the expectation of the specific time of his prediction produced in the last 2 years with the “sacred slabs” and time-sticks – that this working in anticipation of all these minds – produced the earthquake when the expectations culminated at the time predicted and expected. It was perhaps 100s of thousands of minds working in near unison. ‘And then there is the fact that Tecumseh was at the epicenter of the quake. Could Tecumseh have known of such potential Magic – the hidden laws of Nature, and dared and orchestrated it all with knowledge and purpose that he might produce the great effect?

Tecumseh’s whole life seemed overshadowed by the task he had set himself and to the cause of his race. He did not succeed in freeing Am. Indians from the white tsunami gradually engulfing their land of thousands of years, but he did succeed in showing that a Native American was the equal and superior of any white, and thus saved the Spirit of his people.

– M.R.J.

———–

[1] “A Sorrow in Our Heart – The Life of Tecumseh,” Allan W. Eckert, extensive notes and references, Bantam Books, 1993 paperback edition, 1068 pp.
[2] No reliable evidence has ever been found of _where_ this was supposed to be. Perhaps it was Tecumseh’s town of Tippecanoe, but this site was ruined because of the The Prophet’s going to war.
[3] note 569, pp. 933-4

———————-

The Silent and Desolate Land

……That desolate land in which thou didst wander, oh Titan! with thy beautiful and mysterious companion, where silent cities strewed the desert, in which no life stirred, and no voice was heard in the streets, but all was death and desolation; where everything lay still or petrified; where gigantic ruins lay around, and the colossal forms of a by-gone life stared out on thee from stone, with an impress of solemn and eternal beauty, uttering a moan to the first beams of the rising sun, offers a true type of this mournful world. For what, in truth, is this earth but one immense ruin, or heap of ruins – a land of death and desolation -a desert strewn with the fragments of an extinct past?

If we contemplate external nature, we find in its stupendous mountain-chains, its gigantic volcanic peaks shooting up aloof into the sky – its abrupt masses of scarped rock and table-lands – scattered, solitary, gigantic stones, far from their parent mountains – its tremendous clefts, and chasms, and valleys, the evidences and traces of immense convulsions in past ages. The whole earth appears a vast assemblage of sublime ruins.

When we consult more closely the materials which form these ruins, we find with astonishment that they too are composed of other ruins; we find everywhere the marks of an extinct world. A gigantic vegetation of consummate beauty in its forms; broken fragments, too, of a creation of living creatures, colossal in size, wonderful in structure, and aweful in power, surround us everywhere. The dead faces of extinct organisations look out on us from stone on every side with their sad, eternal beauty; and, as every fresh sun dawns upon the world of ruins, a mournful plaint is wailed forth from all past creations to greet his rising, which recalls to them their own former being…

If we turned, continued the Rishi, from external nature to what is called the living world, we look in vain for life. Death meets us at every turn. The terrible Yama is everywhere. The whole animal creation appears upon the scene, merely to pass away by some form of violent death. To the peaceful herds grazing on the hillside, Yama comes in the guise of the tiger; to the innocent bleating sheep, as wolf or hyaena. The snake seizes the frog from his moist bed, and drags him into his hole, or his crevice among the stones, crushing his limbs in the traction. The hawk pierces with his cruel beak the poor sparrow; the sparrow, in turn, transfixes or carries off the grub. Bird preys on bird; fish on fish, as it is written in the Mahabharata: –

The stronger fishes, after their kind, prey
on the weaker fish.
This is ever our means of living, appointed
to us eternally.

But man himself is the most terrible incarnation of Yama. He plunges with a savage joy into the thicket of bamboo or sugar-cane, to attack and slay the boar. He pursues over the plain the timid and graceful antelope; his arrows outstrip his fleetness; and the exhausted creature, that erst bounded in beauty and freedom, falls sobbing to the earth, and expires in torture. He gathers the dumb and patient sheep, and the helpless lambs, from the pastures where they bleated in joy, and consigns them to the slaughter-house.

Behold yon porters passing even now the court gate with baskets on their heads full of the beautiful plumage of the Cingalese cocks gathered from the villages round Lanka, sitting happy together, all unconscious of their coming doom. They are bearing them to the camp to feed the military followers. The festivity of man is the signal of death to the humbler creatures of the earth; he rejoices, or weds, and they die as the materials of joy, victims immolated to his household gods. Even those creatures, upon whose flesh he has not yet learned to feed, he harasses to death by more protracted and painful means.

The horse, that in his youth bore him in the day of battle or the pompous ceremonial, is, when age advances, and his fire abates, consigned to the merciless Vaisha, who trades in hired chariots, and you behold thousands of those wretched creatures, lean, lacerated, and panting, driven by male Durgas (furies) through the city, without respite from sunrise till midnight, till at last they drop and expire in harness, or are rudely taken out and cast aside into some corner to die unseen and unpitied.

And the dog, the honest friend of man; and the cat, self-adorning, playful, capricious, coy, timid, watchful, secretive, house-loving, but ever affectionate when gently treated, the friend and… the playfellow of children, the household Numen, and hieroglyphic of domestic life, – what becomes of these? Who sees their end? Into what by-way solitudes, what holes and corners do they creep, led by a mournful instinct of nature to conceal their agonies and yield up their breath?

Ah! how many tragedies of animal agony daily take place not far from the dwelling of man, and he knows it not, or knowing, lays it not to heart, or laughs in scorn of sympathy for animal suffering! And yet all creatures, Manu teaches, have their life in that awful Spirit in whom man, too, lives, and in them as in man that Spirit liveth –

Sarvabhuteshu chatmanam, sarvabhutani chatmani
Saman pashyan

In all creatures the SPIRIT, and all creatures
in the SPIRIT,
Alike beholding.

And let us look at man himself. Is life to be found in his dwelling? Alas! from the cradle to the cemetery where his body is laid upon the pyre, is not his course one long cry of suffering, and sorrow, and terror – one long reminiscence and fortaste of death? The householder in the prime of manhood, and his blooming, comely matron, who stand on the mid ridge of life, look down on either side upon two valleys of mourning. In one are the cherished memories of beloved parents; she weeping for the beloved father, he for the poor tender mother. In the other, the idolized forms of children snatched prematurely from their arms, and wept alike by both; by her in loud lamentation, by him in stifled sobs and hidden tears. The mother dies giving birth to her babe, or lives to weep ere long over its corpse. Disease haunts man from his birth.

Go into the mighty city of Lanka. In every street there passes you a funeral procession, with its red powder, its lugubrious flowers, its mournful rolling ulalatus, and in its rear the mourning women stand before the door in a circle, beating their breasts. In every house there is a cry and a grief – an old man expiring; a child struggling; a strong man agonized; a woman weeping; a little girl with frightened and tearful face. And, as if the terrible avenger Yama had not imposed on humanity a sufficient measure of suffering and death, man goes forth himself in gold, and plumes, and gay caparisons, to crush the limbs, and dash out the brains, and pierce the heart and bowels of his fellow-man. And on the battle-field are left horrible sights, terrible cries, and fearful smells of death. And in the city the women weep, and break their bangles, and shave their heads, and put on grey unbleached or russet garments, and are thenceforth held to be of evil omen.

Oh tragic man! whence is all this death in thy life? Alas! it is because an inward moral death reigns throughout all, that it must have this outward manifestation also. Men’s souls are dead when they are born: this life is the autopsy, and the disease is made manifest to all. One died mad of pride: one phrenetic with anger; one leprous with sensuality; one had the fever of ambition; one suffered from the insatiable craving of greed; one from the malignant venom of revenge; one from the jaundice of jealousy; one from the eating cancer of envy; one from a surfeit of self-love; one from the paralysis of apathy. Many were the diseases, but death into this world the common result of all.

Yes, death is triumphant here – death, physical and moral. The dead bring forth the dead; the dead bear the dead to the funeral pyre; the dead walk about the streets and greet each other, and bargain, and buy and sell, and marry, and build – and know not all the time that they are but ghosts and phantasms! That land of silence and shadows; of desolation and ruins, of sorrow and death, in which thy soul walked in the vision, oh Titan! is the WORLD in which thy dead body now walks waking. Renounce and annihilate it, oh king! by asceticism and divine gnosis, and thus return to real life.

[From The Dream of Ravan, Concord Grove Press, – first published in The Dublin University Magazine in 1853-54.)

=================

On Brotherhood

(In response to a Letter)

Mr. Kunz’s references to Brotherhood, brief as they are, prove that he has as yet failed to grasp the very first implication of the ideal of Universal Brotherhood as it is understood and taught in Theosophy . . . .”brotherhood (which means love and trust and good will)” he says. But he is really thinking of friendship – a much lesser and easier concept than that of Universal Brotherhood. It was not this sort of “Brotherhood” which I learned from Blavatsky’s Theosophy. This was not the Brotherhood taught by Jesus.

To all my brothers I will give the utmost love and good will of which my nature is capable; but trust? Ah, my poor Fritz! how profound is your incomprehension! Uncounted thousands of my brothers are men without decency, or honor, or courage, or comeliness. Many of them are traitors, and liars, and pimps; some are renegade priests, forsworn lovers, prostituted politicians, hypocritical teachers of religion.

A very few of my brothers, by the sheer power and grace of their lordly natures have raised the intractable, rebellious stuff of human life to a plane of such universal comprehension and all-embracing compassion as to leave me with bowed head, lost in humility and wonder. But the vast majority of my brothers are deeply soiled with the stain of Earth; they are mostly very irresolute, these brothers of mine, and inconceivably stupid: but one and all they are my brothers, and never (O, Humanity!) shall I repudiate the relationship. For deep in the soul of the race there slumbers the great, the unappeasable Ideal.

Engulfed in the hells of matter, deep in Nature’s hypnotic trance, mankind cannot all forget its stupendous, its tragic, its glorious task. It was written that this strange creature, man, should commingle his subtle spiritual powers with the grosser energies of Nature, and thus learn to know himself in incarnate form, and in this form conquer, organize and direct Nature’s blind energies and become her priest. Let no man fear that his life is fated to be without significance on this planet. This is a matter which is entirely in his own hands. By intelligent effort, the subtle can overpower and organize the gross; the hypnotized sleeper can awake and assist his long-buried spiritual and intellectual powers, and be free.

It was to hasten this process that the 19th century Theosophical Movement was launched: it was for this that H.P. Blavatsky devoted her large gifts and her immense energies….

– Wm. C. Clark.
– Canadian Theosophist, Feb 15, 1940

————————–

Ben Franklin’s Spiritual Discipline

 

(Taken from “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin”)

 

It was about this time [in his mid-twenties] I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wish’d to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had imagined. While my care was employ’d in guarding against one fault, I was often surprised by another; habit took the advantage of inattention; inclination was sometimes too strong for reason. I concluded, at length, that the mere speculative conviction that it was our interest to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to prevent our slipping; and that the contrary habits must be broken, and good ones acquired and established, before we can have any dependence on a steady, uniform rectitude of conduct. For this purpose I therefore contrived the following method.

In the various enumerations of the moral virtues I had met with in my reading, I found the catalogue more or less numerous, as different writers included more or fewer ideas under the same name. Temperance, for example, was by some confined to eating and drinking, while by others it was extended to mean the moderating every other pleasure, appetite, inclination, or passion, bodily or mental, even to our avarice and ambition. I propos’d to myself, for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, with fewer ideas annex’d to each, than a few names with more ideas; and I included under thirteen names of virtues all that at that time occurr’d to me as necessary or desirable, and annexed to each a short precept, which fully express’d the extent I gave to its meaning.

These names of virtues, with their precepts, were:

1. Temperance – Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. Silence – Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. Order – Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. Resolution – Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. Frugality – Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. Industry – Lose no time; be always employ’d in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. Sincerity – Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly; and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. Justice – Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. Moderation – Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10. Cleanliness – Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

11. Tranquillity – Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12. Chastity.

13. Humility – Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

 

My intention being to acquire the _habitude_ of all these virtues, I judg’d it would be well not to distract my attention by attempting the whole at once, but to fix it on one of them at a time; and, when I should be master of that, then to proceed to another, and so on, till I should have gone thro’ the thirteen; and, as the previous acquisition of some might facilitate the acquisition of certain others, I arrang’d them with that view, as they stand above. Temperance first, as it tends to procure that coolness and clearness of head, which is so necessary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, and guard maintained against the unremitting attraction of ancient habits, and the force of perpetual temptations. This being acquir’d and establish’d, Silence would be more easy; and my desire being to gain knowledge at the same time that I improv’d in virtue, and considering that in conversation it was obtain’d rather by the use of the ears than of the tongue, and therefore wishing to break a habit I was getting into of prattling, punning, and joking, which only made me acceptable to trifling company, I gave _Silence_ the second place. This and the next, _Order_, I expected would allow me more time for attending to my project and my studies. _Resolution_, once become habitual, would keep me firm in my endeavours to obtain all the subsequent virtues; _Frugality_ and Industry freeing me from my remaining debt, and producing affluence and independence, would make more easy the practice of Sincerity and Justice, etc., etc. Conceiving then, that, agreeably to the advice of Pythagoras in his Golden Verses, daily examination would be necessary, I contrived the following method for conducting that examination.

I made a little book, in which I allotted a page for each of the virtues. I rul’d each page with red ink, so as to have seven columns, one for each day of the week, marking each column with a letter for the day. I cross’d these columns with thirteen red lines, marking the beginning of each line with the first letter of one of the virtues, on which line, and in its proper column, I might mark, by a little black spot, every fault I found upon examination to have been committed respecting that virtue upon that day…..

I determined to give a week’s strict attention to each of the virtues successively. Thus, in the first week, my great guard was to avoid every the least offense against _Temperance_, leaving the other virtues to their ordinary chance, only marking every evening the faults of the day. Thus, if in the first week I could keep my first line, marked T, clear of spots, I suppos’d the habit of that virtue so much strengthen’d, and its opposite weaken’d, that I might venture extending my attention to include the next, and for the following week keep both lines clear of spots. Proceeding thus to the last, I could go thro’ a course complete in thirteen weeks, and four courses in a year. And like him who, having a garden to weed, does not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his strength, but works on one of the beds at a time, and, having accomplish’d the first, proceeds to a second, so I should have, I hoped, the encouraging pleasure of seeing on my pages the progress I made in virtue, by clearing successively my lines of their spots, till in the end, by a number of courses, I should be happy in viewing a clean book, after a thirteen weeks’ daily examination…..

And conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, I thought it right and necessary to solicit his assistance for obtaining it; to this end I formed the following little prayer, which was prefix’d to my tables of examination, for daily use.

“O powerful Goodness! bountiful Father! merciful Guide! Increase in me that wisdom which discovers my truest interest. Strengthen my resolutions to perform what that wisdom dictates. Accept my kind offices to thy other children as the only return in my power for thy continual favours to me.”

I used also sometimes a little prayer which I took from Thomson’s Poems, viz.:

“Father of light and life, thou Good Supreme!
O teach me what is good; teach me Thyself!
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice,
From every low pursuit; and fill my soul
With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure;
Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!”

The precept of _Order_ requiring that every part of my business should have its allotted time, one page in my little book contain’d the following scheme of employment for the twenty-four hours of a natural day….

[Franklin had here a chart for the hours of his day: He rose at about 4:30 and the Question he pondered was “What good shall I do this day?” Hours 4:30 until 7:30 consisted of “Rise, wash, and address Powerful Goodness! Contrive day’s business, and take the resolution of the day; prosecute the present study and breakfast.” He worked 7:30 until 12:00 and from 12 until 1:00 he would “Read, or look over my accounts and dine.” He worked again from 1:00 until 5:30, and from 5:30 until 9:30 he would “Put things in their places (at work), Supper, Music or diversion, or conversation, Examination of the day with the Question “What good have I done today?” From 9:30 until 4:30 he would sleep.]

I enter’d upon the execution of this plan for self-examination, and continu’d it with occasional intermissions for some time. I was surpris’d to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish. To avoid the trouble of renewing now and then my little book, which, by scraping out the marks on the paper of old faults to make room for new ones in a new course, became full of holes, I transferr’d my tables and precepts to the ivory leaves of a memorandum book, on which the lines were drawn with red ink, that made a durable stain, and on those lines I mark’d my faults with a black-lead pencil, which marks I could easily wipe out with a wet sponge. After a while I went thro’ one course only in a year, and afterward only one in several years, till at length I omitted them entirely, being employ’d in voyages and business abroad, with a multiplicity of affairs that interfered; but I always carried my little book with me.

My scheme of Order gave me the most trouble; and I found that, tho’ it might be practicable where a man’s business was such as to leave him the disposition of his time, that of a journeyman printer, for instance, it was not possible to be exactly observed by a master, who must mix with the world, and often receive people of business at their own hours. _Order_, too, with regard to places for things, papers, etc., I found extremely difficult to acquire. I had not been early accustomed to it, and, having an exceeding good memory, I was not so sensible of the inconvenience attending want of method. This article, therefore, cost me so much painful attention, and my faults in it vexed me so much, and I made so little progress in amendment, and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the attempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that respect….

In truth, I found myself incorrigible with respect to Order; and now I am grown old, and my memory bad, I feel very sensibly the want of it. But, on the whole, tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it; as those who aim at perfect writing by imitating the engraved copies, tho’ they never reach the wish’d-for excellence of those copies, their hand is mended by the endeavour, and is tolerable while it continues fair and legible.

It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor ow’d the constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th year, in which this is written. What reverses may attend the remainder is in the hand of Providence; but, if they arrive, the reflection on past happiness enjoy’d ought to help his bearing them with more resignation. To Temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what is still left to him of a good constitution; to Industry and Frugality, the early easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his fortune, with all that knowledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen, and obtained for him some degree of reputation among the learned; to Sincerity and Justice, the confidence of his country, and the honorable employs it conferred upon him; and to the joint influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able to acquire them, all that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness in conversation, which makes his company still sought for, and agreeable even to his younger acquaintance. I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit.

It will be remark’d that, tho’ my scheme was not wholly without religion, there was in it no mark of any of the distinguishing tenets of any particular sect. I had purposely avoided them; for, being fully persuaded of the utility and excellency of my method, and that it might be serviceable to people in all religions, and intending some time or other to publish it, I would not have anything in it that should prejudice anyone, of any sect, against it. I purposed writing a little comment on each virtue, in which I would have shown the advantages of possessing it, and the mischiefs attending its opposite vice; and I should have called my book The Art of Virtue, because it would have shown the means and manner of obtaining virtue, which would have distinguished it from the mere exhortation to be good, that does not instruct and indicate the means, but is like the apostle’s man of verbal charity, who only without showing to the naked and hungry how or where they might get clothes or victuals, exhorted them to be fed and clothed…. But it so happened that my intention of writing and publishing this comment was never fulfilled….

My list of virtues contain’d at first but twelve; but a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud; that my pride show’d itself frequently in conversation; that I was not content with being in the right when discussing any point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent, of which he convinc’d me by mentioning several instances; I determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added _Humility_ to my list, giving an extensive meaning to the word.

I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the _reality_ of this virtue, but I had a good deal with regard to the _appearance_ of it. I made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to the sentiments of others, and all positive assertion of my own. I even forbid myself, agreeably to the old laws of our Junto, the use of every word or expression in the language that imported a fix’d opinion, such as _certainly, undoubtedly_, etc., and I adopted, instead of them, _I conceive, I apprehend_, or _I imagine_ a thing to be so or so; or it _so appears to me at present_. When another asserted something that I thought an error, I deny’d myself the pleasure of contradicting him abruptly, and of showing immediately some absurdity in his proposition; and in answering I began by observing that in certain cases or circumstances his opinion would be right, but in the present case there _appear’d_ or _seem’d_ to me some difference, etc. I soon found the advantage of this change in my manner; the conversations I engag’d in went on more pleasantly. The modest way in which I propos’d my opinions procur’d them a readier reception and less contradiction; I had less mortification when I was found to be in the wrong, and I more easily prevail’d with others to give up their mistakes and join with me when I happened to be in the right….

In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as _pride_. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.

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Ambition vs. Attainment

– G. G. LeGros

“Oh, not the men of pomp and guile,
The crafty and the bold,
The haughty men who never smile,
And men who live for gold;
But broken men with hands that bleed
And souls by anguish rent . . . . ”

On the first page of Light on the Path we read the number one rule for disciples – “Kill out ambition.” The Adept-author explains that “Ambition is the first curse: the great tempter of the man who is rising above his fellows. It is the simplest form of looking for reward. Men of intelligence and power are led away from their higher possibilities by it continually. Yet it is a necessary teacher. Its results turn to dust and ashes in the mouth; like death and estrangement it shows the man at last that to work for self is to work for disappointment.”

Ambition may even persist in the life of the occultist “…who fancies he has removed his interest from self, but who has in reality only enlarged the limits of experience and desire, and transferred his interest to the things which concern his larger span of life.” We see this everywhere – “astral projection,” “psychic powers,” “third-eye clairvoyance,” “hypnotic control over others, ” etc. Ambition is a hydra-headed thing.

In another book – Fragments of Life and Thought – the same Adept points out that “…not until the man has triumphed again and again in one incarnation after another, not until success has become tedious to him, and the high places of the earth all seem low and poor to him, is he beginning to be ready to go beyond it. And only so can it be killed out. “Man must go on struggling for earthly prizes until he reaches the point “…where the excelling of his fellows becomes suddenly and forever contemptible in his eyes, beneath the dignity and greatness of his soul, and then he will kill out ambition and cast it from him as a weed of earth. He will perceive that the strength which he has developed must be used, not in order to excel, but in the endeavor to attain.”

Attainment is different from Ambition because the latter fires one with a passion to out-distance all others striving for the same goal. The ambitious man is by necessity personal, jealous, envious, and ruthless – in other words, a menace to the world because he sows discord. To realize his aims he will stop at nothing save that which imperils his own preservation. And sometimes he will risk even that, like Shakespeare’s soldier “… seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon’s mouth.”

Attainment, on the other hand, is a reaching out from self to SELF, from the finite to the Infinite, from the conditioned to the Unconditioned. The man who attains finds no rivals at his side, no single prize waiting at the end of the race. He moves in Eternity, where there is room for all.

Ambition is the effort of man to add to himself some coveted fragment of Earth, hoping thereby to exalt and increase his stature before others; but Attainment is the giving of oneself to the Whole.

A good example is the poet who wins first prize in an important contest. At the reception which follows, he receives honor and praise, and for a little hour feels as a god among men. But he also looks upon the faces of other poets who had competed and lost. They regard him as a thief, a usurper of the prize they sought, and which, in their opinion, they deserve.

He also thinks of next year’s contest, and wonders if he will win again, or only receive honorable mention, or no mention at all. Instead of rejoicing in his triumph, he finds himself under a cloud of apprehension. Victory is not the splendid thing he had envisioned.

Looking back, he sees that writing the poem was Attainment; but competing and winning the prize was Ambition. In the joy of creating something beautiful, he reached out of himself into the starry spaces where the Gods of Glory sing, and where, for a moment, he was one with their song.

But winning the prize and humbling his rivals, was an earthly thing that compressed his soul, and imprisoned him in a little world made by the littleness of men, where Ambition is king, demanding its terrible price.

The poet should sing as a bird sings – not for reward, but to Attain, to reach out from self to Infinity. The poet can be taken as a symbol of all men because everyone strives to express what he is – what is in him – either to win something from the world that may be added unto himself, or to give something of himself to the world. Each man is, by nature, either a taker or a giver.

The taker, following the path of Ambition, loses with every step because he violates the Supreme Order of the Universe, which is Duty, Service, and Cooperation. The giver, following the path of Attainment, wins with every step because he acts in keeping with the Harmony of the Whole, thereby enriching himself, because he is the Universe.

Attainment is the foundation of the Ultimate Discipline of Life. “Work as those work who are ambitious.” Make the utmost of the life that is yours; but seek no personal victories which, once realized, crush those around you. Regard men not as rivals, but as fellow pilgrims walking beside you on the Eternal Highway. Help them to attain with you, to become whole with you, and all the treasures of the Universe will be yours!

(from “Messiah”)

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More Jung and Theosophy

 

“Higher Spirituality in Jung”

 

Editor, The Canadian Theosophist:

 

In your number of May 15th, 1935, there is an arrticle called “The Psychology of The New Age,” signed W.F.S., and in it a passing mention of Jung’s psychology. It seems to me that the author cannot have studied Jung’s latest works, or he would never have concluded his paragraph with such a depreciatory statement. Not only has the existence of “higher spiritual and mental realms” occurred to Jung but his psychology actually leads to parallels with the highest Chinese Yoga, as shown in his commentary on “The Secret of The Golden Flower.” His concept of the “unconscious” seems to me parallel with the “anima mundi” spoken of by H.P.B. in “The Secret Doctrine” as follows, –

 

She says, (S.D. II, 511), “Akasa – the astral light, – can be defined in a few words; it is the universal Soul, the Matrix of the universe, the Mysterium Magnum, from which all that exists is born by seperation or differentiation . . . . as the finite, in the Infinite, as regards manifestation, this light must have its shadowy side… which its actions draw upon humanity and which men attract and force to activity. Hence, while it is the universal Cause in its unmanifested, unity and infinity, the Astral Light becomes with regard to Mankind, simply the effects of the causes produced by men . . . that determines the unavoidable action and reaction of the great magic agent. It is mankind which has become the ‘Serpent of Genesis’ and thus causes daily and hourly the Fall and sin of the ‘Celestial Virgin’ – which thus becomes the Mother of gods and devils at one and the same time: for she is the ever-loving beneficent deity to all those who stir her Soul and heart, instead of attracting to themselves her shadowy manifested essence . . . .which kills and destroys . . . . .The Astral Light may be God and Devil at once – ‘Demon est Deus inverses’. . . . . the `Holy Ghost’ and `Satan’ at one and the same time …The manifested effects of the two who are one, guided and attracted by ourselves is the Karma of humanity.”

 

“The Astral Light stands in the same relation to Akasa and Anima Mundi as Satan stands to the Deity – they are one and the same thing seen from two aspects.” – (S.D., I, 197)

 

She says again: – “Alaya is literally the ‘Soul of the World’ or Anima Mundi, the ‘Over Soul’ of Emerson . . . . not only the Dhyani-Buddhas are one with Alaya in Soul and Essence, but even the man strong in the Yoga (mystic meditation), is able to merge his soul with it.” (S.D., I, 48)

 

On page 59 she speaks, of “the prototypes impressed in the Astral Light – the lowest plane and world of Anima Mundi” which is dual and bisexual. (I, 196)

 

The Logoi of all countries and religions are correlative. . . with the female Soul of the World, or the “Great Deep”; the deity, from which these two in one have their being, is ever concealed and called the “Hidden One”. . . it can act only through the Dual Force emanating from the Eternal Essence. (S.D., I, 353)

 

Svabhavat is the mystic essence, the plastic root of physical Nature – “Numbers” when manifested; the Number, in its unity of Substance, on the highest plane. The name is of Buddhist use and a synonym for the four-fold Anima Mundi, the Kabalistic “Archetypal world.” (S.D., I, 98)

 

Now the above is what Jung means by his concept of the “unconscious.”

 

In “Psychological Types,” p. 271, he says: “The great problems of life. . . are always related to the primordial images of the collective unconscious. These images are really balancing or compensating factors which correspond with the problems life presents in actuality ….. Every great experience in life, every profound conflict, evokes the treasured wealth of these images, and brings them to inner perception; as such, they become accessible to consciousness only in the presence of that degree of self-awareness and power of understanding which enables a man also to think what he experiences instead of just living it blindly. In the latter case he actually lives the myth and the symbol without knowing it.”

 

With regard to mythological associations Jung says . . . “Those motives and images . . . can spring anew in every age and clime, without historical tradition or migration. I term these contents the collective unconscious, just as conscious contents are engaged in a definite activity, the unconscious contents – so experience teaches us – are similarly active.” (p. 616) “I am myself so profoundly convinced of this homogeneity of the human psyche that I have actually embraced it in the concept of the collective unconscious as a universal and homogeneous subtratum whose homogeneity extends even into a world-wide identity or similarity of myths and fairy tales, so that a negro of the southern states of America dreams in the motives of Grecian mytholoy, and a Swiss grocer’s apprentice repeats in his psychosis the vistion of an Egyptian Gnostic.” (p. 264)

 

Speaking of popular myth and legend, H.P.B. says, in the Secret Doctrine (II, 293): “The imagination of the masses . . . could never have conceived and fabricated ex nihilo so many monstrous figures, such a wealth of extraordinary tales, had it not had to serve it as a central nucleus, those floating reminiscences, obscure and vague, which unite the broken links of the chain of time to form with them the mysterious dream foundation of our collective consciousness.”

 

Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious is bound up with the problem of the pairs of opposites. In “Two Essays” (page 115) he says: “Through tension beween the opposites, the collective unconscious brings forth images which as symbols make possible an irrational union of the opposites”, (meaning that it cannot be done by brain reasoning). Our immediate life is only a world of images. All conscious imagination and action have grown out of these unconscious prototypes, and remain bound up with them.”

 

In “Psychological Types”, p. 577, Jung says: – Active phantasy, which brings the symbol to birth, “belongs to the highest form of psychic activity. For here, in a converging stream, flow the conscious and unconsciouss personality of the subject into a common and reconciling product. A phantasy thus framed may be the supreme expression of the unity of an individual; it may even create the individual by the consummate expression of its unity.”

 

(p. 144): Under normal conditions…. energy must be artificially added to the unconscious symbol, in order to. . .bring it to consciousness – this occurs. . . through a differentiation of the Self from the opposites… “this points to the separability of an individual nucleus”. This detachment causes the energy to sink into the unconscious, where it automatically takes possession of the waiting phantasy material, which it activaltes and urges towards consciousness.” The expression for the symbol “living form” is happily chosen, “because the phantasy material thus animated contains images of the psychological development of the individual in its successive states, thus providing a sort of model or representative of the further way between the opposites….. this function of mediation between the opposites I have termed the transcendent function. (p. 149). The positive something which results is the “symbolic determinant of the Will” …..

 

“The primordial image to which I refer is revealed in that growth of oriental thought which centres around the Brahman-Atman teaching in India, and in China found its philosophical representative in Lao Tze. (p. 151) …… Tao is….. a middle road between the opposites, freed from them and yet uniting them in itself. The purpose of life is to travel this middle path and never to deviate towards the opposites.” Such a wisdom presents what is the highest attainable to spiritual superiority. (p. 153): “For its achievement the highest moral effort, the greatest self-denial and sacrifice, the most intense religious earnestness and saintliness, are needed.” (p. 244): “The East has for thousands of years been familiar with this process, and has founded thereon a psychological doctrine of salvation which brings the way of deliverance within the compass of human intention – thus both the Indian and the Chinese religions, as also Buddhism which combines the spheres of both, possess the idea of a redeeming middle path of magical efficacy which is attainable through a conscious attitude.”

 

Jung quotes the Kaushitaki Upanishad, 1-4, “like one who faring fast in a chariot looketh down upon the chariot wheels, so upon day and night, upon good and evil deeds and upon all the opposites doth he look down; but he, freed from good and evil deeds, as knower of Brahman, entereth into Brahman.”

 

On p. 266 Jung says of Tao: “Tao is an irrational union of the opposites, therefore a symbol which is and is not”…. “The spirit of the valley is immortal; it is called the deep feminine. The gateway of the deep feminine is called root of heaven and earth”…. – “Too withdraw oneself is the celestial way”…. (quoting Lao Tze): “Therefore is he (the complete one) inaccessible to intimacy, inaccessible to estrangement, inaccessible to profit, inaccessible to injury, inaccessible to honor, inaccessible to disgrace.” Being one with Tao resembles the spiritual condition of a child. This is the psychological attitude which is an esesntial condition of the inheritance of the Christian Kingdom of Heaven – …. The basic image and symbol whence proceeds the redeeming effect. (p 267): “Hence as a microcosm, uniting in himself the world opposites, man corresponds with the irrational symbol which reconciles psychological antithesis – . This root-image of man – accords with the symbol `living forms’.” The opposites are two mutually contending tendencies, both striving to drag man into extreme attitudes and entangle him in the world.

 

Wu Wei, another Chinese concept, means “not doing and not doing nothing.” In this connection Jung quotes a Japanese philosopher, NakaeToju – “Ri is the world soul, Ki the world matter, which are two aspects of the same thing. The individual also embraces the opposites.” There is a universal Self and an individual Self which is a divine essence which Toju calls Ryochi. It is the universal Self in use (as Jung also says elsewhere: “The individual Self is a …. representative of something universally present in all living are creatures.”) Ryochi is the True Self – not the false self which is an “acquired personality arising from perverted beliefs.” Ryochi is called “alone being,” or “alone knowing.” It is the self regulating function, this mediator of the pairs of opposites Ri and Ki; it is the “ancient Wise One
who dwelleth in thy heart” – “in every heart there dwelIeth a Sage; only man will not steadfastly believe it; therefore hath the whole remained buried.”

 

In the “Secret of the Golden Flower” (p. 83) Jung says, “My professional experiences have shown me that in my technique I had been unconsciously led along the secret way which for centuries has been the preoccupation of the best minds of the East.” The Chinese text shows striking parallels with the course of psychic development in European people. With them it is also a question of the way in which one may become what the Hindu terms Nirdvandva, free of the opposites – but the way is narrow as a knife’s edge. He says: “This detachment is the therapeutic effect par excellence for which I labor with my students and patients.” But he points out that this technique is only appropriate at a certain stage of development, and in the second half of life it must not be entered upon too soon. The instruction is only intended for him whose “light of consciousness is capable of freeing him from the powers of life, in order to enter into the ultimate undivided unity, into the ‘centre of emptiness’ where ‘dwells the god of utmost emptiness and life,’ as the Chinese text says. This ‘centre’ reminds one of what was said by a (Theosophical) Master: “Desire only in your efforts to reach nearest the centre of life. (which is the same in the universe and in yourself). It is your divinity, it is the divinity we all share, which has within it, in its heart, a supreme and awful power.”

 

Jung says: “This something, though strange to us, is yet so near it is altogether ourselves and yet unrecognizable, a virtual middle point. I have called this middle point the Self.” In another place he says: “The psyche may be regarded as a mathematical point, and at the same time as a universe of fixed stars.”

 

He says: “Obviously the veil of Maya cannot be lifted by a mere decision of reason, but demands the most thorough-going and wearisome preparation consisting in the right payment of all debts to life… till then, there are real and relatively real figures of the unconscious.”

 

Of Westerners Jung says: “We would like to climb the heights of a philosophical religion, but are, in fact, incapable of it. The best we can do is to grow up to it.”

 

I think that the parallels given above prove that the “existence of higher spiritual and mental realms” has occurred to Jung!

 

– Maude Bernard

(From Canadian Theosophist, Aug., 15, 1935)

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