the Equinox - The Hermetic Library
the Equinox - The Hermetic Library the Equinox - The Hermetic Library
192 THE EQUINOX He realised that there were in this world she-mules as well as she-asses, and that though the former would never foal in spite of all the stallions of Moultan, the latter seldom failed to do so after having been for a few minutes in the presence of a Margate jackass. Discarding Chastity (Brahmachârya)—a good purgative for the prurient—he wrote in its place the word “Health.” Do not worry about this code and that law, about the jibber of this crank or the jabber of that faddist. To hell with ethical pigs and prigs alike. Do what you like; but in the name of your own Higher Self wilfully do no injury to your own body or mind by over indulgence or under indulgence. Discover your normal appetite; satisfy it. Do not become a glutton, and do not become a nut-cracking skindlewig. Soon after his arrival in Ceylon, and at the time that he was working with Frater I. A., the greatness of the Buddha, as we have already seen, attracted him, and he turned his attention to the dogmatic literature of Buddhism only to find that behind its unsworded Cromwellian colossus,* with all his rigid virtues, his stern reasoning, his uncharitableness, judicialism and impertiality, slunk a pack of pig-headed dolts, stubborn, asinine and mulish; slavish, menial and to the top of the hill before Hebron and saying: “My good boy, if you ever intend on becoming strong, the first thing you must do is to buy a pair of my four pound dumb-bells and my sixpenny book on physical culture. * The Buddha (it is true) did not encourage bloodshed, in spite of his having died from an overfeed of pork, but as Mr. A. Crowley has said, many of his present-day followers are quite capable of killing their own brothers for five rupees. The Western theory that Buddhists are lambs and models of virtue is due to the fact that certain Western vices are not so congenial to the Asiatic as they are to the European; and not because Buddhists are incapable of enjoying themselves.
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING gutless; puritanic, pharisaical and “suburban” as any seventeenth century presbyter, as biliously narrow-minded as any of the present day Bethelites, Baptists, and Bible-beer brewers.* The dogmatism of literal Buddhism appalled him. The Five Precepts, which are the Yama and Niyama of Buddhism, he at once saw, in spite of Nagasena and prig Milinda, must be broken by every Arahat each time he inhaled a breath of air. They were as absurd as they were valueless. But behind all this tantalizing frou-frou, this lingerie de cocotte, beautifully designed to cover the narded limbs of foolish virgins, sits the Buddha in silent meditation; so that P. soon discovered that by stripping his body of all these tawdry trappings, this feminine under-wear, and by utterly discarding the copy-book precepts of Baptistical Buddhists, the Four Noble Truths were none other than the complete Yoga, and that in The Three Characteristics† the summit of philosophy (The Ruach) had been reached. The terrific strain of Âsana and Prânâyâma, the two chief exercises of Hathavidya, P., by months of trial proved to be * Buddhism as a schism from the Brahmanical religion may in many respects be compared with Lutheranism as a schism from the Catholic Church. Both Buddha and Luther set aside the authority of miracles, and appealed to the reason of the middle classes of their day. The Vedas were the outcome of aristocratic thought; and so in truth was the Christianity of Constantine and the Popes, that full-blooded Christianity which so soon swallowed the mystical Christ and the anaemic communism of the canaille which followed him. Conventional Buddhism is pre-eminently the “nice” religion of the bourgeoisie; it neither panders to the superstition of the masses nor palliates the gallantries of the aristocracy; it is essentially middle-class; and this no doubt is the chief reason why it has met with a kindly reception by this nation of shop-walkers. † Anikka, Change; Dukka, Sorrow; Anatta, Absence of an Ego. 193
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- Page 265 and 266: REVIEWS DARE TO BE WISE. By JOHN MC
THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING<br />
gutless; puritanic, pharisaical and “suburban” as any seventeenth<br />
century presbyter, as biliously narrow-minded as<br />
any of <strong>the</strong> present day Be<strong>the</strong>lites, Baptists, and Bible-beer<br />
brewers.*<br />
<strong>The</strong> dogmatism of literal Buddhism appalled him. <strong>The</strong><br />
Five Precepts, which are <strong>the</strong> Yama and Niyama of Buddhism,<br />
he at once saw, in spite of Nagasena and prig Milinda, must be<br />
broken by every Arahat each time he inhaled a breath of air.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y were as absurd as <strong>the</strong>y were valueless. But behind all<br />
this tantalizing frou-frou, this lingerie de cocotte, beautifully<br />
designed to cover <strong>the</strong> narded limbs of foolish virgins, sits <strong>the</strong><br />
Buddha in silent meditation; so that P. soon discovered that<br />
by stripping his body of all <strong>the</strong>se tawdry trappings, this<br />
feminine under-wear, and by utterly discarding <strong>the</strong> copy-book<br />
precepts of Baptistical Buddhists, <strong>the</strong> Four Noble Truths<br />
were none o<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> complete Yoga, and that in <strong>The</strong><br />
Three Characteristics† <strong>the</strong> summit of philosophy (<strong>The</strong> Ruach)<br />
had been reached.<br />
<strong>The</strong> terrific strain of Âsana and Prânâyâma, <strong>the</strong> two chief<br />
exercises of Hathavidya, P., by months of trial proved to be<br />
* Buddhism as a schism from <strong>the</strong> Brahmanical religion may in many respects<br />
be compared with Lu<strong>the</strong>ranism as a schism from <strong>the</strong> Catholic Church. Both<br />
Buddha and Lu<strong>the</strong>r set aside <strong>the</strong> authority of miracles, and appealed to <strong>the</strong><br />
reason of <strong>the</strong> middle classes of <strong>the</strong>ir day. <strong>The</strong> Vedas were <strong>the</strong> outcome of<br />
aristocratic thought; and so in truth was <strong>the</strong> Christianity of Constantine and <strong>the</strong><br />
Popes, that full-blooded Christianity which so soon swallowed <strong>the</strong> mystical<br />
Christ and <strong>the</strong> anaemic communism of <strong>the</strong> canaille which followed him. Conventional<br />
Buddhism is pre-eminently <strong>the</strong> “nice” religion of <strong>the</strong> bourgeoisie; it<br />
nei<strong>the</strong>r panders to <strong>the</strong> superstition of <strong>the</strong> masses nor palliates <strong>the</strong> gallantries<br />
of <strong>the</strong> aristocracy; it is essentially middle-class; and this no doubt is <strong>the</strong> chief<br />
reason why it has met with a kindly reception by this nation of shop-walkers.<br />
† Anikka, Change; Dukka, Sorrow; Anatta, Absence of an Ego.<br />
193
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