In consequence of our ignorance of what we really are, not knowing at the time we begin the struggle in this present life whether the real man inside has passed through incarnations full of this necessary experience or not, we must not, because of the fancied importance we give ourselves, neglect the lower knowledge. There are many pitfalls besetting the road. Perchance we feel a certain degree of illumination, or we are able to see or hear in the astral world, and at once the temptation presents itself to claim to ourselves a spiritual greatness not our own. The possession of such astral acuteness is not high spirituality per se, for one might be able, as Buddha declares in the Saddharma-Pundarika, to smell the extraordinary odors arising in ten points of space which are not perceived by ordinary people, or to hear the innumerable and strange voices, sounds, bells, discords and harmonies produced by the whole host of unknown and unseen spirits of the earth, air, water and fire, and still be altogether devoid of spirituality. If we let ourselves then, be carried away by this, it is only a form of pride that precedes a severe fall. Being carried away with it, is at once a proof that we are not master, but are mastered by what is merely a novel experience.
But if we wisely and carefully test all experience, being willing to descend low enough to learn and study so that the instrument may be tuned and perfected, we may avoid the pitfalls, or be able to cross them should they be inevitable, whereas if we are deluded by supposed self-illumination, and run after that to the exclusion of all study, we will perhaps, enjoy a period of excitement and of self-satisfaction, but it will end, and the end will be bitter. As Buddha says: “He who ignores the rotation of mundane existences, has no perception of blessed rest.”
The very fact that a man is in the world and has a continual fight with his passions and inclinations, proves that he is not yet in any condition to leave it. And of even the very far advanced, it was said by those who were near the time of the Upanishads:
“The disciple who by his discrimination has escaped from the triple world, thinks he has reached pure, blessed nirvana; but it is only by knowing all the laws of the lower world, and the universal laws as well, that the immortal, pure, blest nirvana is reached. There is no real nirvana without all-knowingness; try to reach this.”
Correspondence.
London, June 17, 1886.
As No. 5 of “The Biogen Series,” Professor Coues has reprinted Robert Dodsley’s “Œconomy of Human Life,” which he considers is based on Theosophical Ethics. The history of this little treatise is rather curious. It was originally published in 1750 and purported to be by a Brahmin, but the authorship was generally ascribed to Lord Chesterfield. The great celebrity which the book at one time attained, was mainly due to this mistaken opinion. Dodsley, however, did not long persist in his disguise. It went through numerous editions, found many imitators, and has been translated into French, Italian, German and Bengali. The moral maxims contained in this little volume are of a character to admit of their attribution to Lord Chesterfield. Their claim to an especial Eastern origin receives a striking comment from the way in which the law of retribution, the nature of the soul, the eternal paradise of God, and other similar topics are regarded. In the treatment of these subjects, the author follows the theology of the Christian church rather than Brahmanical philosophy. The association of the name Kuthumi with the book, so perplexing to understand, is not a biographical fact, as Prof. Coues explains in his “fore-word” (p. 10). It only remains to state clearly what is implied in the fore-word that the Theosophical Society has no special code of morals, ready made and rigorously defined, for the acceptance of its members on admission. Prof. Coues is deserving of praise for rescuing from oblivion a book, in many ways calculated to do good.
Fraternally,
Mohini M. Chatterji.