The New Avatar and The Destiny of the Soul Part 11

Somewhere between the middle of the first and second centuries, an effort at union and reconciliation arose from another quarter. Ammonius Saccas, a Neo-Platonist, endeavored to unite men of different cults and beliefs on the lines of the Great Work, precisely as the Philalethean Society is doing in New York to-day; but his movement was soon engulfed and lost sight of by the tide of Ecclesiasticism, or suppressed by the soldiers of Constantine.

I am not attempting a history, for that would fill volumes. I am only giving a few sidelights of the Great Work.

In the Tenth Century, at Baghdad, a society was formed admitting Jews, Christians, Mohammedans, and atheists, with a similar purpose.

During the time of Martin Luther, John Reuchlin made a similar attempt.

Both Reuchlin and Luther were pupils of Trithemius, the Abbot of St.

Jacob's at Wurzburg, one of whose books I possess, printed in the year 1600, and also another book, "The Theosophical Transactions of the Philadelphian Society," printed in London in 1697. Browning's "Paracelsus"

gives a splendid outline of the philosophy and teachings of Trithemius, and rescues Paracelsus with all who can understand, from the vile slanders of his monkish enemies; and Robert Browning wrote his "Paracelsus" at the age of twenty-three! Can you wonder why so few "understand Browning"?

For more than fifteen hundred years mankind has been involved between the speculations of Philosophy, on the one hand, and the creeds and dogmas of Theology, on the other.

There was also the deliberate destruction of ancient monuments, scrolls, and records, by religious fanatics. Diocletian, in A.D. 296, burned the books of the Egyptians. Caesar burned 700,000 Rolls at Alexandria, and Leo Isaurus 300,000 at Constantinople in the eighth century. Then came the Mohammedans, who destroyed the remainder of the accessible scrolls at Alexandria. Gangs of fanatical Monks, Christian and Pagan, roamed over Europe destroying and defacing everything upon which they could lay their hands, as witnesses against their dogmas and superst.i.tions. Even to-day, in India, it is difficult for Europeans to gain access to genuine ancient records. The records of these barbarities are still fresh in the minds of the guardians of sacred lore.

Even with such a record for thousands of years, Ecclesiasticism is as arrogant and rampant as ever to-day. The wonder is, that there is anything left but barbarism.

Two writers declare that the most ancient and valuable of the records of the Alexandrian Library were kept in secret crypts known only to the highest officials, and preserved still in secret crypts known only to the Illuminati. In Baalbec and all through the East to-day these underground temples are being explored, and even the fragments found excite wonder and admiration. Ignorant Barbarians may be destructive on general principles, but fanatical Ecclesiasticism has ever been destructive of all light, knowledge and civilization, through insane hatred or pure "cussedness"! We need only to regard intelligently what it has done, and is doing for Southern Europe to-day.

Can you wonder that the real science of the Human Soul found little recognition, or that it was denied as possible to man?

As already shown, the Science of to-day has neither recognized nor worked up to it; and the Theology of to-day covers it with fable, mystery, and miracle as of old.

In spite of both these the "Philalethean Society" exists, the "Seekers after G.o.d" were never more numerous than now, and the _Magnum Opus_, the Great Work, was never, in the whole history of man, more in evidence than it is to-day.

"Truth crushed to Earth shall rise again, The Eternal years of G.o.d are hers."

Can it be that there is no great truth back of all these struggles and aspirations of the human soul? That there is no possible realization back of these soulful endeavors?

Is Tantalus, after all, the creator and Father of Man? inspired only by love of disappointment, defeat, and despair, in his children?

_For one, I do not believe it._

To plant these aspirations in the soul of man, and doom them to everlasting disappointment and defeat, would brand the creator of man as an Infinite Liar, instead of a Loving Father.

The earnest student must first learn to recognize, and to discriminate; for the "blind leaders of the blind" are always legions.

This power of discrimination, to which I have referred, goes deeper, and means far more, than most persons ever realize, and this is why so many are continually deceived.

It is the light of understanding, of spiritual intelligence, within the soul of man.

It may be likened to a traveler in a foreign country, and a strange land, suddenly hearing one speaking fluently his own language, his native tongue. It is impossible to deceive him. In this case, however, it is not the mere words, the inflection or p.r.o.nunciation, but the ideas, sentiments, and principles expressed.

"Liberty, Fraternity, Equality," for example; or sympathy, Charity, and loving kindness.

The "sign of the Master" is at once recognized by one already prepared to receive and to understand it. The soul that really desires truth and wisdom above all things, has thereby developed the power to recognize it.

This is the discrimination referred to. It is not what someone else tells you, or what another claims. It is what _you_ discern and recognize, and the teaching and the life are in perfect harmony, like chords in music; and they strike a harmonic chord in you, that may be first a surprise, and soon a great joy and a bright light.

It is not a question of authority, and of credentials, but of intrinsic reality. You must know how to a.s.say and test the gold yourself. This is where the "Alchemy of the Great Work" comes in, and here lies the beginning of Adepts.h.i.+p, the preparation for the "Great Work." I can demonstrate this from a score of old books, some of them going back many centuries.

It has also been symbolized and picturegraphed 'til the imagination ran riot, and ingenuity and fancy became lost, like ideas in a fantasy of words.

I know of but one place, one Inst.i.tution, in modern times, where these essential truths of the Great Work have been preserved as a consistent whole, and that is in the symbolism of Free Masonry, but the craft long ago lost the real interpretation, though many to-day are on the lines that lead to it.

The whole symbolism and ritual of the Blue Lodge in Masonry is, from beginning to end, _a symbol of the journey of the human soul on this earth_, from darkness to light; from sin to righteousness; from ignorance to wisdom and understanding.

In other words, it is an exact _theorem_ and solution of the _Magnum Opus_; a symbol of the philosophy and accomplishment of the GREAT WORK.

The science and the theology of the present day have been briefly contrasted. Neither of them pretends to give us any real science of the human soul.

Science says frankly she "does not know." Theology bids us believe and obey; trust and hope. Philosophy speculates and reasons, while amusing itself with the kaleidoscope of "postulates" and "categories."

Science must deal with facts, demonstrate their actuality, and cla.s.sify them; that is, find their natural order and sequence.

In psychology, the facts are _within_ the realm of consciousness, and therefore their demonstration is a matter of individual experience. This is why psychology differs from all other sciences.

No one can transfer his individual experiences directly to another. He can describe how he gained them, and give the result and conclusions, and here is where those who know nothing of the real problem, are often both incredulous and contemptuous. The only answer to these is, "they are joined to their idols, let them alone." "They would not believe though one arose from the dead," and yet we are told again and again that the "School of Natural Science" is the "school of personal experience."

It may be well to reflect a moment, and ask ourselves, how it is that we really know anything? Is it not through personal experience? Real knowledge comes, and can come, in no other way.

No teacher of the real science of psychology can ever transmit or transfer his knowledge to another. All he can do is to describe the methods, and steps, by which he acquired it, and a.s.sist the student in acquiring it for himself in the same way, or under the same processes and laws.

We have only to reflect on the ordinary experiences of life, to realize that this is a universal principle and rule. In the deeper science of the soul, and the higher life, instead of this law being relaxed, it becomes all the more binding.

Do not the principles that adhere in atom, molecule and ma.s.s, still hold in worlds and solar systems? Is not this precisely what is meant by "The Reign of Law"? If man were built upon some other scheme or plan than the rest of nature, how could he apprehend or adjust himself to Nature? The very _concept_ of miracle is _lawlessness_, and mystery is but another name for _ignorance_.

Knowledge means experience and apprehension of Law.

Neither can the laws of Nature and the laws of G.o.d be at cross-purposes, for that would make harmony impossible and inconceivable.

The confusion and discord are all in us, and the Great Work means adjustment, harmony, and then Knowledge.

It is the journey of the human soul on the Royal Highway to Light, Liberation, and Eternal Day.

For many centuries those who have achieved this Wisdom, this "Great Work,"

have been trying to make it accessible to mankind, and to place it in such form that the ethical, scientific, and philosophical principles involved, and upon which it is based, should not again be lost. Every such effort has. .h.i.therto failed.

The scientific spirit of the present age, in a very broad way, seemed to offer a new and a more advantageous opportunity; for the whole process is one of strict science.

The Psychology of the present day has become involved in phenomena and automatism, and is in no sense _constructive_. It is one thing to build theories, and quite a different thing to systematize demonstrated facts, through the recognition of co-ordinate relations, and underlying law.

The work is open and accessible to all who manifest real interest, an open mind, and who have the intelligence and discrimination to recognize the character of the work. It has never, in the history of man, been open in any other way, on any other terms, or to any other individuals.

Those who can fill these requirements const.i.tute to-day a larger number than have before existed at any one time, for perhaps many centuries.

The "School of Natural Science" is in evidence. The "Great Work" is carefully outlined.

There is no bar to one's making a beginning on the path, except indifference, incredulity, preoccupation, or prejudice; and these need not be in the least disturbed, for they will be kindly and courteously pa.s.sed by.