Five Years of Theosophy Part 32

Rye dried ........................4117.64 "

Rice dried .......................5036 "

Milk dried .......................1750 "

Peas dried .......................1666.6 "

White haricots dried ..... .......1627.67 "

Horse beans dried ................1272.72 "

Cabbage dried ....................1891.89 "

Carrots dried ....................2916.66 "

Jerusalem artichokes .............4375 "

Turnips dried ....................3181.81 "

Bread ............................5401.2 "

Locust beans .....................6110 "

Figs .............................7172.13 "

Cow's milk fresh .................1346.2 "

Abstemiousness begets suspension of breath. From the suspension of breath originates tranquillity of mind, which engenders supersensuous knowledge. From supersensuous knowledge originates ecstasy which is the Samadhi of the ancient Hindu sages.

Instead of walking and running, which lengthen the respiration, the devotees of Om should practice the two tranquil postures termed the padmasana and siddhasana, described in my mystic tract called "The Yoga Philosophy." According to Siva the normal length of expiration is 9 inches. He says that one can subdue his l.u.s.t and desire by shortening his expiration to 8.25 inches, whether by the inaudible p.r.o.nunciation of Om or by the suspension of breath (Pranayama); that one can enjoy ecstasy by diminis.h.i.+ng the length of his expiration to 7.50 inches.

One acquires the power of writing poetry by reducing his expiration to 6.75 inches.

When one can reduce his expiration to 6 inches long he acquires the power of foretelling future events. When one reduces the length of his expiration to 5.25 inches he is blessed with the divine eye. He sees what is occurring in the distant worlds.

When the inaudible p.r.o.nunciation of Om reduces the length of the expiration to 4.50 inches it enables its votary to travel to aerial regions. When the length of expiration becomes 3.75 inches, the votary of Om travels in the twinkling of an eye through the whole world.

When by the inaudible muttering of Om a man reduces his expiration to 3 inches, he acquires ashta Siddhis or consummations (or superhuman powers). When the expiration is reduced to 2.25 inches, the votary of Om can acquire the nine precious jewels of the world (Nava nidhi). Such a man can attract the wealth of the world to him.*

-------- * Supposing he had any care or use for it--Ed. Theos.

When the expiration becomes 1.50 inches long from the above practice, he sees the celestial sphere where the Supreme Soul resides. When the inaudible p.r.o.nunciation of Om reduces the length of expiration to .75 inch, the votary becomes deified and casts no shadow.

"Om Amitaya! measure not with words The immeasurable; nor sink the string of thought Into the Fathomless! Who asks doth err; Who answers errs. Say nought!"

"Om mani padma hum. Om the jewel in the lotus."

By the muttering of the above formula the Great Buddha freed himself from selfishness, false faith, doubt, hatred, l.u.s.t, self-praise, error, pride, and attained to Nirvana.

"And how man hath no fate except past deeds, No h.e.l.l but what he makes, no Heaven too high For those to reach whose pa.s.sions sleeps subdued."

According to Siva a man acquires Nirvana when his breathing becomes internal and does not come out of the nostrils. When the breathing becomes internal--that is, when it is contained within the nostrils, the Yogi is free from fainting, hunger, thirst, languor, disease and death.

He becomes a divine being, he feels not when he is brought into contact with fire; no air can dry him, no water can putrefy him, no poisonous serpent can inflict a mortal wound. His body exhales fragrant odours, and can bear the abstinence from air, food, and drink.

When the breathing becomes internal, the Yogi is incapable of committing any sin in deed, thought, and speech, and thereby inherits the Kingdom of Heaven, which is open to sinless souls.

--N.C. Paul

Glossary

Ab-e-Hyat, Water of Life, supposed to give eternal youth.

Abhava, negation or non-being of individual objects; the substance, the abstract objectivity.

Adam Kadmon, the bi-s.e.xual Sephira of the Kabalists.

Adept, one who, through the development of his spirit, has attained to transcendental knowledge and powers.

Adhibhautika, arising from external objects.

Adhidaivika, arising from the G.o.ds, or accidents.

Adhikamasansas, extra months.

Adhishthanum, basis a principle in which some other principle inheres.

Adhyatmika, arising out of the inner-self.

Advaiti, a follower of the school of Philosophy established by Sankaracharya.

Ahankara, personality; egoism; self ident.i.ty; the fifth principle.

Ahriman, the Evil Principle of the Universe; so called by the Zoroastrians.

Ahum, the first three principles of septenary human const.i.tution; the gross living body of man according to the Avesta.

A'kasa, the subtle supersensuous matter which pervades all s.p.a.ce.

Amulam Mulam (lit. "the rootless root"); Prakriti; the material of the universe.

Anahatachakram, the heart, the seat of life.

A'nanda, bliss.

A'nanda-maya-kosha, the blissful; the fifth sheath of the soul in the Vedantic system; the sixth principle.

Anastasis, the continued existence of the soul.

Anima Mundi, the soul of the world.

Annamaya Kosha, the gross body; the first sheath of the divine monad (Vedantic).

Antahkarana, the internal instrument, the soul, formed by the thinking principle and egoism.

Anumiti, inference.

Aparoksha, direct perception.

Apavarya, emanc.i.p.ation from repeated births.

Apporrheta, secret discourses in Egyptian and Grecian mysteries.

Arahats (lit."the worthy ones"), the initiated holy men of the Buddhist and Jain faiths.

Aranyakas, holy sages dwelling in forests.

Ardhanariswara, (lit. "the bis.e.xual Lord"); the unpolarized state of cosmic energy; the bi-s.e.xual Sephira, Adam Kadmon.

Arka, sun.

Aryavarta, the ancient name of Northern India where the Brahmanical invaders first settled.

A'sana, the third stage of Hatha Yoga; the posture for meditation.

Asat, the unreal, Prakriti.

A'shab and Laughan, ceremonies for casting out evil spirits, so called among the Kolarian tribes.

Ashta Siddhis, the eight consummations of Hatha Yoga.

Asoka (King), a celebrated conqueror, monarch of a large portion of India, who is called "the Constantine of Buddhism,"

temp. circa 250 B.C.

Astral Light, subtle form of existence forming the basis of our material universe.

Asuramaya, an Atlantean astronomer, well known in Sanskrit writings.

Asuras, a cla.s.s of elementals considered maleficent; demons.

Aswini, the divine charioteers mystically they correspond to Hermes, who is looked upon as his equal. They represent the internal organ by which knowledge is conveyed from the soul to the body.

Atharva Veda, one of the four most ancient and revered books of the ancient Brahmans.

Atlantis, the continent that was submerged in the Southern and Pacific Oceans.

Atmabodha (lit. "self-knowledge"), the t.i.tle of a Vedantic treatise by Sankaracharya.

Atman, &c Atma.

A'tma, the spirit; the divine monad; the seventh principle of the septenary human const.i.tution.

A'ttavada, the sin of personality (Pali).