Equinox I (04).pdf

Equinox I (04).pdf Equinox I (04).pdf

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188 THE EQUINOX they would progress through would be in all cases essentially the same, the differences, if any, being due to the mental limitations of the experimenter, his education and prejudice, and not because the roads were dissimilar. Thus by this law could he with certainty predict that if a certain exercise were undertaken certain stages would be passed through, and what these stages meant relative to the final result, irrespective of the creed, caste, or sect of the practitioner. Further, he had proved beyond doubt or quibble, that the terrific strain caused by the Eastern breathing exercises was no whit greater or less than that resulting from The Acts of Worship in an operation of Ceremonial Magic, that Dhâranâ and the Mantra Yoga were in effect none other than a paraphrase of the Sacred Magic and the Acts of Invocation; and ultimately that the whole system of Eastern Yoga was but a synonym of Western Mysticism. Starting from the root, he had by now crept sufficiently far through the darkness of the black earth to predict a great tree above, and to prophecy concerning a Kingdom of Light and Loveliness; and, as a worm will detect its approach to the earth surface by the warmth of the mould, so did he detect by a sense, new and unknown to him, a world as different from the world he lived in as the world of awakenment differs from the world of dreams. Further, did he grow to understand, that, though as a sustenance to the tree itself one root might not be as important as another, yet that they all drew their strength from the self-same soil, and ultimately united in the one trunk above. Some were rotten with age, some dying, some again but feeders of useless shoots, but more sympathetically, more scientifically, they were all of one kind, the roots of one actual

THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING living tree, dissimilar in shape but similar in substance, and lal working for one definite end. Thus did Frater P. by two years close and unabandoned experiment show, to his own satisfaction, that Yoga was but the Art of uniting the mind to a single idea; and that Gnana- Yoga, Raja-Yoga, Bhakta-Yoga and Hatha-Yoga* were but one class of methods leading to the same Result as attained to by The Holy Qabalah, The Sacred Magic, the Acts of Worship and The Ordeals of Western Ceremonial Magic; which again are but subsections of that One Art, the Art of uniting the mind to a Single Idea. And, that all these, The Union by Knowledge, The Union by Will, The Union by Love, The Union by Courage found their vanishing point in the Supreme Union through Silence; that Union in which understanding fails us, and beyond which we can no more progress than we can beyond the Equilibrium set forth as the Ultimate End by Gustave le Bon. There all knowledge ceases, and we live Bâhva, when he was questioned by Vâshkali, can only expound the nature of this Silecne, as he expounded the nature of Brahman, by remaining silent, as the story relates: And he said, “Teach me, most reverend Sir, the nature of Brahman.” The other however remained silent. But when the question was put for a second or third time he answers, “I teach you indeed, but you do not understand; this Âtman is silent.” P. had not yet attained to this Silence; indeed it was the goal he had set out to accomplish, and though from the ridge * To which may be added Mantra Yoga and Karma Yoga, which correspond with The Invocation and The Acts of Service and represent Union through Speech and Union through Work. 189

THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON THE KING<br />

living tree, dissimilar in shape but similar in substance, and lal<br />

working for one definite end.<br />

Thus did Frater P. by two years close and unabandoned<br />

experiment show, to his own satisfaction, that Yoga was but<br />

the Art of uniting the mind to a single idea; and that Gnana-<br />

Yoga, Raja-Yoga, Bhakta-Yoga and Hatha-Yoga* were but<br />

one class of methods leading to the same Result as attained<br />

to by The Holy Qabalah, The Sacred Magic, the Acts of<br />

Worship and The Ordeals of Western Ceremonial Magic;<br />

which again are but subsections of that One Art, the Art of<br />

uniting the mind to a Single Idea. And, that all these, The<br />

Union by Knowledge, The Union by Will, The Union by<br />

Love, The Union by Courage found their vanishing point in<br />

the Supreme Union through Silence; that Union in which<br />

understanding fails us, and beyond which we can no more<br />

progress than we can beyond the Equilibrium set forth as the<br />

Ultimate End by Gustave le Bon. There all knowledge<br />

ceases, and we live Bâhva, when he was questioned by<br />

Vâshkali, can only expound the nature of this Silecne, as he<br />

expounded the nature of Brahman, by remaining silent, as the<br />

story relates:<br />

And he said, “Teach me, most reverend Sir, the nature of Brahman.” The<br />

other however remained silent. But when the question was put for a second or<br />

third time he answers, “I teach you indeed, but you do not understand; this<br />

Âtman is silent.”<br />

P. had not yet attained to this Silence; indeed it was the<br />

goal he had set out to accomplish, and though from the ridge<br />

* To which may be added Mantra Yoga and Karma Yoga, which correspond<br />

with The Invocation and The Acts of Service and represent Union through<br />

Speech and Union through Work.<br />

189

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