ae ON RARIOBAR AK AUKER. = COLLECTION aon

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Spiritual = Magazine.

VOL. VI. [PART I-

‘Nos, 1-6, March 1} to August 1i). EDITED: BY MOTI LAL GHOSE.

im: (0 ) meim. Ka

CALOUTTA.

NOTICE THE Osjsect OF THE MAGAZINE,

The main object of the “Hindu Spiritual Magazine” ts to 1ender death --which has a horror for most men—easy to mist with. It contains articles calculated to throw light on, life after death, on manifestations, on Psychic experiences and other cognate subjects of the spiritual world, or bearing on Mesmerism or the Yoga system of the Hiadus.

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CONTEN:

salok

Bu Shishir Kumar Ghose: A Notable Hindu Cacrative Mesmerism.—Part IT Dead Man fulfills his Promise Direct Writing Proves Spiritualism D. Hyslop’s New Medium

Doctor Peebles’ Fireside Musings . Peebles’ Musings toxlish Lady’s Experience ...

Kaioily Seance

iow oll facts About Spiritualism

. I1, 108, 18, 272, 339, Hindu Psychic

Hertible Ghost Possession ...

Its Therapeutic Uses

‘Ts there any Change at Death ?”

Julia's Bureau

Madness or Reality ? T M.-mortal Memories of Babu Shishir Kima Ghose ...

. Stead on Julia’s Bureau ... My Own Experiences “Nw Evidences in Psychical Research” ... ? 233, 313; 392, 192, 264, 3%, Old Recollections Origin of Spiritualism

Fo ON

PA

we 69 6, 90, 259, 447 387 Sr

367

CONTENTS.

Our Spirit Friends: Evidence of their Identity Piinciple of Life ... Private Sittings Psychography is ae Public Demonstration in Honour of Shishir Kumar Ghose l Scme Historical Instances of Supernormal Phenomena -— dil Some Realistic Stories of Indian Yogees ... J 35, Some Syllables of the After Life a 4 Spirit World a Replica of this an AS Story of a Cure by Mesmerism oa l Theory and Practice of Tantra 18, 97, 221, 281, 3€c, Transition of Mr. Edward Wyllie “Unseen” Coronation Wizard of Kath'awad

mee e ss ene

THE Hindu Spiritual Magazine.

Ta yy <

FOUNDED BY

Shishir Kumar Ghose.

m o a a aa aa an a aaa RN e aa ce a ee mammo ee ee ee

VOL. VLJ] MARCH, gru. [Nov 4.

THE ORIGIN OF SPIRITUALISM. Hm

(By SHISHIR KUMAR Gnose)

We do not know why it is, that, theugh spiritual, it proved true, would make the lot of men happy and js bkely to convert sinners into saints, yet it is so very ditticult to be- lieve. The question, “Can it be true?” troubles even those who have witnessed convincing proofs. The mind cannot conceive of eternity and therefore a man cannot find a place for the truth in his heart. “I am to live one hundred million years and more” thinks the puny man who has evidence enough to convince him and he is staggered.

2 THE HINDU SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE.

Practically we see very few men will accept spiritualisnt as I'rof, Challis did. He said, he had no help but to believe it, because the evidence was overwhelming. But the vast majority will accept it in the way Sir A. Wallace did. He said, “the facts beat me.” There are sceptics who are not beaten even by facts. Sometimes sceptics lke English soldiers, will not realize that they have been beaten. Sir A. Wallace would be believed in every other thing but this. fhombroso said that he saw his dead mother twice and embraced her once; his evidence was treated with scorn. No; people will believe anything, any absurdity, but not spiritualism though based upon overwhelming evidence.

Onc amusing fact will explain how unfairly even eminent men treat the subject of spiritualism. Dr. Carpenter is an eminent man who wrote his “Mental Physiology” of 700 pages. He disposed of the tricks of spiritualism in a very casy fashion, He took for discussion all those phenoment which could be explained away, but omitted to take notice of those thousands which have been proved to be true and are not explicable !

A fact for which the word of even Sir W. Crookes was re- jected was first proclaimed by an unlettered girl of nine and her discovery has been now accepted by many millions of men all over the world. The discovery was made by Misses Fox in March 1848. What the age of the elder exactly was is not known, her parents declare that she was then nine but she says (Mrs. Jencken) that she was only five. The Misses Fox heard noises in their house at Hydesville, New York, ewhen their parents were out. Somehow or other these girls were led, no doubt by the spirit which was making the noises

THR ORIGIN OF SPIRITUALISM. - 3.

by impressing thera with the idea, to inquire whether the noises were controlled by intelligence. They asked first “who are you making the noise? Strike twice if you understand me” and there were two raps. “Strike four” and there were four. So it was seen that the invisible agent which was making the noise was intelligent. When the parents came, they were informed of the wonderful noises, The parents tried to find out the cause but they could not ; on the otber hand they could not help realising the fact that the invisible agent, which made the noise, had the tntellizence of a man, for it heard what was told and answered questions !

Now, as this happened ina village the matter soon came to the knowledge of the inhabitants. Everyone of them was sceptically inclined and everyone of them was convineed in his mind that he would explode the trick, but everyone of the inquirers was baffled. One more intelligent than ths rest invented a way of talking with this invisible agent. It war suggested to the invisible being that the “yes” should be expressed by three and “no” by one rap, but what this sgnal was everyone now knows. And the spirit declared that ke was a pedlar on eath, had been murdered in the Fouse aud his body buried in the cellar indicating thè exact spot, Where the body Jay. And upon digging the skeleton was acvually found at a depth of six or seven feet at the spot. Further it was found that a pedlar, bering the name given by the spirit, had actually visited the house five years ago and had mysteriously disappeared.

‘hee family removed to the city of Rochester but the noise followed them. Vast crowds were attracted to make enquiries ; though everyone heard the sound and saw th e

4 THE HINDU SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE.

telligence no one could account for the phenomenon except by attributing it to spirits. A committee was appointed bya public meeting to inquire into the matter. It failed, a second one was appointed and a third too with similar reselts. The last committee was composed of men “voilently scepti cal,” and they reported they could not discover the origim of the sounds and further that their “questions, many of them mental, were answered correctly,”

The movement naturally began to spread into every part of America, and in 1851, three years after the announce ment of the phenomenon in the most intelligent city of New York, scientists, judges, merchants, &c., formed them- selves into a committee, Judge Edmonds, the Chief Justice, being one of them, to inquire into the matter, In i854 a second spiritual society was formed. ‘The third Committee was formed with the eminent chemist, Prof. Mapes, for its president, the members being all sceptics and belonging to the highest position in society. This Committee composed of twelve members laboured for four years and all the twelve were converted !

Do you, reader realise, the significance of the fact that twelve intelligent men, some of thein scientists of the highest position, and all sceptics who sat every weck for four years, had to vote at last that it was a fact that men live after death and can communicate with their fellows below ?

The phenomena began to vary ; the spirits began by tap- ping, and at last ended by appearing as human beings w full daylight. And thus spiritualism beat down every sort of scepti- cism, and confounded the highest intelligence and most pro- found scientific knowledge. And many millions of men were, at

THE ORIGIN OF SPIRITUALISM. S

last, convinced that men had a high destiny, and had to agree with the beautiful saying of a spirit who wrote directly with his spirit hand that “And is this world of strife to end in dust ?” No, sir, God is not a silly child.

Now the dispute was over a fact and not over an opinion. The fact was first anne unced by an unlettered girl of nine ; it has been tested in every possible way and she has now many millions of followers. She was a prophet whose success was so rapid and so phenomenal! What is the reason for her success? It was because she announced a fact which it was in the power of everyone to test, and most rigid tests found that it was true, otherwise it would have been nipped in the bud. The very fact of the move- ment having originated with a girl of nine, which has spread so rapidly all over the world, shews that the fact Is a fact.

The most convincing proof of the truth of spiritualism

lies inthe fact of its origin, its rapid growth and its present position.

CURATIVE MESMERISM.—PART IlI :(X}: (L) PRELIMINARY NOTES.

Dr. BasgiT commenced his paper on the subject of “Philosophy of Cure” with the following lines. He very rightly said—“Men have worn the Medical, Political, and Religious ruts so deep by centuries of travel, that they can scarcely see out, much less ge? out, and so the poor dear people, who are languishing and dying for some higher truths,

must continue to suffer,”

In former days, even men of high education were not inclined to believe that there may be any scientific basis of the art of mesmerism, much less that it can cure diseases. But this is not the case now. Mesmerism has, after all, drawn the attention of the educated people of the present day, and has succeeded in arresting their most earnest atten- tion. In India, however, it is not a new thing at all. Indians never forgot the wonderful power of their Ass/zs and genuine Bramhins of the old age, whose very sight only coujd cure a dying man.

It is, however, a pity that the medical men of our country {o not seem to take any interest in the matter, though it should occupy their special attention for their own and their

CURATIVE MESMERISM- 7

patients’ benefit, It is nota rare case that they themselves can not sometimes rely on the drugs they use, nay, even some of the highest authorities in the medical world have finally decided that they induce fifty other diseases in the body of a patient by using a poisonous drug to cure a single complaint The following quotation from Dr. Babbit’s remarks on drugs may perhaps make some impression in the thoughtful minds of our readers, specially the medi- cal men,

“All schools of medicine have their noble men, their intuitional souls, who rise above old theories and treat disease with skill. To such I give the right hand of fellowship. But when I think ofthe millions whose joints have been stiffened, blood poisoned, nerves shattered, and their whole systems rack- ed with pains by means of false drugs, I feel like crying aloud and begging our medical men, as well as the people, to open their eyes to higher conceptions, and stop the absurd cry of ‘Humbug! quackery!’ to every new thing. Medical writers admit that jifty-one diseases come from the use of mercury! Who can tell how many more spring from the use of all the narcotics and poisons that are so freely given ! See how truth-loving souls can rebuke their own profession :’

The following are the startling confessions noted by Dr. Babbit,

“Nine times out of ten our miscalled remedies are abso= lutelyginjurious to our patients,” says Dr. Jamieson of Edin- burgh. Prof Barker says, “there is, I am sorry to say, as much quacking in the medical profession as out of it.” Dr. Ramage, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London, says, "How rarely do our medicines do good! How often do we

8 THE HINDU SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE.

make our patients really worse! I fearlessly assert, that in most cascs the suferer would really be safer without a physician than with one” Then again Dr. Titus, Counsellor of the Court at Dresden, says, “Threefourths of mankind are killed by medicines and prescriptions.”

To these we can also add several such startling confessions of many other great men in the medical world, namely, Dr. Rush, Sir Astley Cooper, Prof. Valentine Mott, Dr. Aber- nethy etc. Butthen what these prove? Does it not show that there is something unsatisfactory in the present condition of the healing art? Is it not the fact then that much of the learning of our medical men has been misdirected? And should we not, therefore, look around to find a simple basis for a better superstructure?

Now what this better superstructure can be? There must be something which can exercise a greater power over the system with better effect, and this something is nothing more than the Fine Force which God has so kindly bestowed on us, Dr. Babbit says, “Fineness is Power, Grossness is Weak- ness,” and he illusirates the law of Power and Weakness in the following way.—‘“Take a solid, such as rock, or a piece of ice, lying in stupid inertness. Water being a grade higher is able to wear away the rocks and earth. Steam, which is 1700 times lighter than water, possesses a terrific power and drives the most ponderous machinery. Electricity, far more subtle still, arouses chemical action, and excites the thermal power of steam itself, until it bursts the earth asunder,eas in earthquakes, Sunlight, still more refined, kindles the whole: vegctable and animal world into life and starts the electrical,. thermal and chemical forces into conceivable activities.

CURATIVE MESMERISM. 9

Gravitation, which is vastly more swift and attenuated than electricity and light, wafts all suns and worlds. When we ascend to the spiritual and psychic forces, thence to the human spirit itself, then to angels, archangels, up to the Infinite Spirit, we reach the primate and ultimate of all pusitive power in the universe, Thus does power ever increase as we ascend from solid and coarse matter to spirit and ethereal matter, from the earthly and gross to the pure and celestial.”

Baron Reichenbach and several other eminent scientists and physicians, by a vast series of experiments, have proved the existence of this fine spiritual emanation from all objects in the universe, and specially from human beings. This fine force is called by different names by different scientists, such as, Odie Force, Magnetic Aura, Magnetic fluid etc., and is the best and the finest of all powers that man can exercise.

Meaical men, however, have chosen the law of Weakness. Dr. Babbit says “Man, the highest of visible objects, connect- ing link between heaven and earth, has been fed with minerals and earthly substances which lie at the bottom of the scale. The brutes themselves rarely sink so low as the mineral kingdom in their selections. He who emits the finest and divinest of elements needs the divinest in return as his own sustenance.” But the medical men argues that “the human system includes mineral elements, and needs minerals to supply their place.” True, it has some mineral elements,

but in a very refined condition. * Kind nature seeing that oe een

* The following is the minute proportion of minerals in a human body, as given in Marshall’s Physiology.—Calcium 1-77th part, Phosphoras

10 THE HINDU SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE,

the earthy matter was very unfit for the stomach, wrought a great transformation of these coarser elements in the form of the vegetable kingdom. ‘rhe finer, stronger elements of the human system, those which vitalize and control all the rest, are beyond all chemical analysis. It is these exquisite elements which weild the nerves, blood and muscles, without which the body is a dead lump of dust which the mightiest chemicals in the world can not control.

After all this, can we not say that it would be better for us, and specially the physicians, to look into these subtle forces, and see if some better understanding of the circulatory system cannot be arrived at, in order that they may achieve more success? “The mechanism of the circulation,” says Dr. Buchanan, “is sufficiently understood, but our mechanical knowledge of the circulation, derived from Harvey and his successors, does not give us the law of the distribution of the blood, The knowledge of the channels and hydraulic apparatus, without that of the forces which preside over the circulation and distribution of the blood, is comparatively a meagre species of knowledge.”

The above abstracts and quotations, will, I hope, have some effect on the minds of our readers, specially the medical men, for whose benefit only the above notes have been introduced.

B. B. BHUTTACHARJEE,

1-87th part, Sulphvr 1-700th°fpart, Sodium 1-rocoth part, Potassium 1-4000th part, Iron 1-10,000th part, Magnesium 1-80,000th rt, Silicon one half-millionth part, and all these are found in she foods we eat, and in a more refined form than in the crude minerals themselves.

HATHA-YOGA. (X): maam + LV.] THERE are different systems of Yoga, but there is a strong identity pervading all these seemingly different aspects of the various systems, Training of the mind, regulation of thoughts, improvement of character, moral, intellectual and spiritual, and profound devotion to God are absolutely needful for those who want to be a Yogee. There is no difference in all these points among the yogers of different sections. Yama (restraints) and Miyamas (observances) are equally needful for the Matha- Yogees as well as for Raja- Yogees. Yama and Niyamas are calculated to be of immense help to those who desire to have mental culture improved or wish to develop in themselves the powers of occultism. The exercise of yama and Niyamas exerts a very powerful influence in buiiding our character and deve loping and rousing up the power of our soul that lies in it in a dormant and potential state. The benefits and advantages derived from them are many, some of which are stated below :— (1) The cultivation of a habit of steady and continuous attention, or of properly directing the mind tu any subject

which is before it, so as fully to eontemplate its elements and relations,

12 THE HINDU SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE,

(2) Careful regulation and control of the succes- sion of our thoughts, This remarkable faculty is very much under the influence of cultivation; and on the power so acquired depends the important habit of regular and connected thinking. It is primarily a voluntary act. In some, the thoughts are allowed to wander at large without any regulation or are devoted only to frivolous or transient objects. ‘This condition of mind is not at all suitable to the practice of yoga. The would-be yoges must at first try to acquire a habit of steady and continuous attention and regulation of the successive thoughts. This important habit gains strength by exercise

Our mind is, generally, employed in the ordinary engage- ments of life or matters of business including concerns of domestic arrangements, personal comforts and other pursuits , each of these, of course, deserves a certain degree of atten- tion, but this requires to be strictly guided by its real and relative importance. It is entirely unworthy of a sound and well- regulated mind to have the attention solely or chiefly engaged on matters of personal comfort or of trivial importance calculated merely to afford amusement for the passing hour. A would-be yogee should be very careful about all these digres- sions or aberrations. Mental power, the highest resource which a would-be yogee should possess, is altogether lost whea the mind wanders aimlessly from one thought to another, just like a straw drifted by the wind.

There ts another drawback to the mental progress of the student of yoga. Mind at leisure is the fruitful source of the various trivial thoughts, and visions of the imagination built up by the mind itself when it has nothing better to occupy it.

HATHA-YOGA. 43

It is a well-known psychological truth that mind can not ‘remain idle; when it is not occupied with subjects of useful, kind it will find a resource in those which are frivolous or hurtful—in mere visions—in waking dreams or in fictions in which the mind wanders from scene to scene unrestrained by probability and unguided by truth. No habit can be more opposed than this to a healthy condition of the mental powers required to acquire success in the exercise of yoga,

The purpose of these few observations is simply to express the mportance of the regulation of thoughts, by which our mind can always find an occupation of absorbing interest,quite distinct from the ordinary transactions of life or the mere pursuit of frivolous enjoyments, and also totally distinct from that destructive habit by which the mind is allowed to run to waste amid visions and fictions dangerously detrimental to the interest of a would-be yogee. It is for all these purposes that yama and Niyama have been calcu- lated as principal factors of yoga. Like yama, Niyama embodies in it ten qualities such as (1) Tapak or austerity ; (2) Santosha or contentment ; (3) Asttkyam (belief in God and in another world); (4) Danam (charity); (5) Zswara- pujanam (Worship of God); (6) Sidhanta lakya-shrabanan (listening to the settled doctrines); (7) Aree (modesty); (8) Mats (determination); (9) Zupah-Sahishnuta (power of endur- ing the pains arising out of the austerity); (10) Hom (offering oblations to the vaidic gods by throwing ghee into the congecrated fire )

Of these, Tapah has been dealt with to a certain extent in the previous issue. As for the second, vsz., contentment, it is nedless to dilate on this subject. This quality is essential for a

14 THE HINDU SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE.

would-be yogee, Without it, mind loses its balance, hankers after different pursuits, grows restless, and is deprived of sere nity which is one of the principal factors that constitute the mental mechanism thoroughly fit for entering into the domain of yoga. Mind without contentment roves like a hungry wolf or like a famished dog having no rest or satisfaction, Mind with inordinate desires loses its inward peace ; covetous men are never at rest, whilst a heart with contentment lives in continual peace which is an eternal abode of happiness and joy, and which alone serves to keep the mind at perfect equil- librium and cheerfulpess—a condition cssentially necessary for a would-be yovee.

The third point of Niyama cr observance is Astikya or belief in God—a reverential sense of the presence and perfec- tions of the Deity, It calls our attention to that homage of the mind and of the heart which we owe peculiarly to God. It consists ina large measure in the purity and devotedness of the mind.

In human systems of ethics, attention has been chiefly directed to the obligation of social and relative morality, but along with a corresponding integrity of our moral character, belief in God is a necessary condition without which we can not advance even a step towards the domain of yoga. A habitual effort to cultivate a sense of Divine presence and habitual desire to have the whole moral condition regulated by this impression, is indispensably necessary,

Astikay implies sacred respect for the character of God and is vpposed to every kind of profaneness or aught by ‘which one might weaken in himself or others, the reverential feelings due towards the character and even the name of the Almighty.

HATHA-YOGA. 15

This must be extended not towards the outward conduct alone, but to the desires and affections of the heart.

Communion with God is the highest goal and ultimate object of the genuine yogees. Belief in God and His presence musi be cultivated by the would-be yogees with due care. God is the perennial source of all powers. Our soul receives all powers from Him alone and isa part and percel of that Eternal Principle ; soul is rather a partial reproduction of the Author of the universe. Thus it isan admitted fact that our soul is immortal, it does not perish with our body.

Astikya also implies a belief in the next world. At death, our soul or Jiva leaves this inaterial body and gets a fresh lease of life. This belief in the next world is essential for a student of yoga. So a pogee is a spiritualist per excellence.

Panam or charity ennobles and elevates our own mind and tends to mitigate the sufferings of our fellow-creatures. Besides all these, it has another influence which, though esoteric in its meaning and too deep in its significance, can still be realized if we take a little care to think about it. Charity gladdens the heart of the being that receives it, and is again reflected on the heart of the man that gives it and thus it indicates that there is an organic Whole—a mighty all-pervading One of whom we all of us are but the parts and parcels. There is a concordance and a co-relation between the different parts ; the promotion of the welfare of each unit tends to serve the cause of the grand integral organic Principle of the universe. Practice of charity

gives th students of the Yoga this important and sacred in- struction.

Iswar-pujanam or worship of God is one of the observances enjoined for the would-be yogee in the Hatha-yoga system.

16 THE HINDU SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE.

It has also been mentioned in the Pafanjal yoga sutram, as Jswara pranidhanam. Pranidhan means meditation. A yogee must practise to place before his mind the idea of God in such a way as to exclude every other thing from it; and nothing remains in the thinking principle except the thought of God. ‘his act of the mind is called Zswara pranidhanam or Iswar-pujanam.

The sixth observance mentioned in the Hatha-yoga- Pradipika is sidhanta-bakya-shrabanam or listening to the settled doctrines, This imparts strength and healthy tone to our mind and stimulates the good sentiments that lie dormant in our soul,

Hree or modesty is a protective agent ; it protects us from committing evil or vicious acts, Apprehension of uncanny and uncharitable criticism tends to prevent us from doing any unworthy and unbecoming acts which exert a pernicious influence on our moral charactcr. So the sense of shame or modesty should be cultivated by the students of yoga.

Mati or determination is another factor of .Viyama. Strong and steady determination of mind is the mother of will-power. This is a quality absolutely necessary not only for those who wish to practise yoga, but even an ordinary man of the world requires this quality to attain success in the ordinary pursuits of life.

Tapah-Sahishnuta or power of enduring pains arising out of practising austerities must be developed by those who have a mind to enter into the domain of the Hatha-yoga. ”

Hom or offering oblations to Vaidic gods by throwing ghee into the consecrated fire, is performed by the would-be yogee with a belief that this would please the various Vaidic Deities

HATHA-YOGA. 17

who are supposed to preside over the various elements of nature and whose helps are absolutely necessary to gain mental and physical strength to obtain success in Yoga, and who, though invisible, protect us from evil influences which put obstacles in the path of progress or tend to injure the whole fabric of mental culture already built up by the would-be yagee.

These are the factors of Niyama or observances enjoined in the Hatha-yoga Pradipika, a work of considerable authority relating to Hatha-yoga.

Ashanas or posture would be dealt with in my next article.

Rasık Mouan B:inpy..cHUSAN.

ee ed

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TANTRA,

sX}: [VI] STUDIES IN THE ELEMENTARY THEORY.- -Contd.

Wi have already given in the last issue a preliminary idea o! the essential principles involved in “Faith and Love.” We may now proceed to point out the correlative principles in the Spiritual sphere. Let us first confine ourselves to the two leading iypes of religious conceptions of the masses. ‘The first is the Vedic ritcs ; the second, those represented by the narrower Tantrik doctrine. We take these types, however, not in their ideal form, with which possibly we should have little difference of opinion, but in their practical working, or in tre form in which they are held especially by the rank and file of those who belong respectively to these types, since the strength or weakness of any religious conception is best judged from the form in whichit presents itself to, and influences the common mind,

No more perfect or more sad example of hypocricy exists than in the case of those bogus thousands who swell the rank of the Guru. Guruism offers to the masses a réligious agency, but that is mechanical and purely external. As a rule, a cheap religion is a desideratum of the human heart ; and an assurance of salvation (Mukti) at the smallest pos-

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TANTRA. 1g:

sible cost of leisure hours in the morning and evening forms.> the tempting bait held out to a conscience-stricken world: by the so-called Guru. Thousands, therefore. who have

never been taught to use their faculties of mind in “working

out their own salvation,” thousands who will not exercise- themselves religiously, and who yet cannot be without the

exercises of religion, entrust themselves in idle faith to the

Vedic or Tantrik rites. It is not because the Guru, in these

days, is often a hypocrite; and the system of his teachings. inadequate as a representation of the matters spiritual.

But it is because the system ministers falsely to the deepest

need of man and pracgically reduces the end of the Guruism

to selfishness. This Is nota matter to make light of. We

wish we were caricatuling instead of representing things as

they are, But we carry with us all who intimately know

the spiritual condition of the ‘Tantra in asserting that, in

some cases, the Tantriks have nothing more to show for

their tenets than man/ras and forms of devotion. In fact,

the means are mistaken for the end, and the opening-ap of

the possibility of spiritual growth becomes the signal to step

growing, The mechanical way in which the Tantrik doctrine

is taught, leaves the mind without stimulus, and so, far from

ministering to spiritual growth the mere process of devotion

ministers to exactly the opposite.

If a man neglects himself for a few years, he will change into a worse man and a lower man. It is, however, not necessary*here to pause for proof that there isa retrograde principle in the being of every man. We aie kept from dying by a mere temporary endowment which g'ves our life an ephemeral dominion over the elements. As soon as

4

20 TBE HINDU SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE.

this temporary endowment is withdrawn, our nature is revealed. The very things which appeared to minister to our growth will then turn against us. Similarly, our ‘spiritual life is subject to the mind’s atmosphere which is the daily trial, circumstance and temptaticn of the world; and itis the spiritual life alone which gives the mind power to utilize temptation and trial, and without it they turn against the mind,

There is an affectation that the ‘lantrik doctrine lies beyond the sphere of the comprehension which serves men in ordinary things. This is an exception It lies as near the natural as the spiritual, The spiriual eye must die and lose its power by purely natural iaw if the mind choose to walk in darkness rather than in light. The mind. in its highest sense, is a vast capacity for the realisation of Divine Energy. Its highest faculty is i talent—the most splendid and sacred talent we posses:-—yet it is subject to the natural conditions and laws. ‘Ihe minds of some ‘men are already honey-combed, through and through, with the eternal consequences of neglect, so that taking the rational view of the case just woz, itis sii ply inconceivable that there is any escape just nom, [ts ane means nothing more than the vradual emergence of the higher being from the lower, and nothing less; it involves the development ‘of the capacity for the spiritual appre ition of Divine Energy. We are not to hope for anything mysterious ; it is a definite opening along certain lines wiich are definitely marked by Divine Energy.

Let it be remembered that the “present” is the fulfil- ment of the “past”? and in like manner, man is tHe

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TANTRA. 21

final unfoldment and fulfilment of his previous existences, It is therefore for us to develop among the ruins of the “ast? a “present” being; and as our con- ception of spiritual being must be taken from natural being, our ideals of the spiritual lives along which the present nature is to run must be borrowed from the known lines of the past. This being the case, we may at once take it for a settled fact that a man must find that the first step in spiritual life is to feel his helplessness. As he enters into the spiritual kingdom the first condition is to possess the child-spirit viz, the profoundest helplessness ø/us the most artless feeling of dependence. It is not out of place here to remind that the natural life owes all to environments, and similarly does the spiritual life.

Nature is always noiseless, All her greatest gifts are given in secret. Spiritual character grows out of a strong will, and is merely the product of anxious work, self-command and self-denial. Spiritual growth is a process maintained and secured by a spontaneous and mysterious inward prin- ciple—spontaneous in its origin, mysterious in its operation, and obscure in its destination. True mystery casts no shadows around. Thus “Love and Faith” in the spiritual sphere is. mysterious ‘in its origin. We can only form an idea of its. manifestations while we analyse the characteristics of the ad- vanced Tantrik, His body becomes spiritualised matter formedi of mol&ules grown out of his thought. The circulation of his. blood becomes uniform, and his nerves seem to be in subjec- tion to his mind. He is able to direct energy to any part of the body that he Hes praise and blame he grows

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by degrees indifferent. His “Love” and “Faith” encompasses him asa shield, and no harm can befall him. His mission is to enlighten the world around him by radiating pure thought upon the ether by which he is surrounded, because, he is conscious of the fact that some human mind in ‘need of comfort will draw to itseif this thought by power of the attraction of like to like. Even by his thought he ‘can shield others from harm since he has the faith that is born of knowledge. He is then without desires of the senses „and attachments. He loves Divine Energy alone, and sees that every human being is potentially divine,

From these manifestations we may sefely infer that the ‘Tantrik acquires, in the first instance, a knowledge of the force of mind in conflict with matter and then with the spiritual sphere. ‘lie former is commonly known as “Love” and the latter “Faith”, It is the force of thought that can produce any psychic phenomena; and the Tantrik who has „acquired this force finds himself at once in the companion- ship of Divine Energy. The divine peace which passeth all understanding dwells within him, and he within it.

Now, the various processes of acquiring this force ol thought are worth a serious consideration, The first step in each form of prayer to the Divine Energy consists of a desire or a mental current, and since all desires work on the plan of electric current we know that there is a power latent in the mental current. The first attempt should be to understand the value of secrecy which represents jnsulation in respect of the mind’s battery. When a man is engaged in a certain form of worship, no matter how trivial, he must practise the evolution of magnetism from repressed

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF TANTRA. 23

desire of imparting to an enquirer any piece of information asto what he does. This secret of his is a unit of mental magnetism stored up in his brain battery; and this secret so held, begets a force to it from without. The more secrets he stores up in his mind, the greater repression or insulation he would be exercising, and, in consequence, the greater his command over his impulses. Silence does not mean for him unsociableness—by no means. It is the habit of steadfast thought. What is not understood isa mystery ; and what contains a mystery is a power.

The next point is that he must seek always to avoid flattery. He must check his desire for approbation at every turn, After each conscious repression of such desire-force he can actually feel the power in his very nerves; and at the same time he will notice a difference in the attitude of others towards him—a greater desire on their part to seek him out, to talk, and to be with him. All people are naturally inclined to seek approbation in some form in a greater or less degree. As a rule, those who seek it most eagerly get the least, and the reason is not far to seek. They do not retain and conserve the force which attracts that form of mental current. It is the force in desire for approbation that drives people against their judgment to seek the treacherous paths of flattery.

Ae soon asa man is able tə recognize that there isa magnetic value of secrecy and the suppression of vanity we would impress upon him the fact that all temptation is then a blessing in disguise. If he yields to temptation, this will neutralize at once the attractive condition and weaken the mental current,

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Now, the Tantrik doctrine teaches us a variety of method of conserving the force of thought or energy. The elementary one is this—first, the Tantrik concentrates his mind on a desire so that he may get the benefit of its full force. He then exercises the art of “Pranayam” viz, he begins very slowly tu inhale a long full breath to the extreme capacity of his lungs; as he draws in this breath he repeats mentally to himself a mantra (generally the first letter of the Prana or Aum, jand while doing so, he impresses upon himself that he consciously appropriates the full force of the desire; next, he holds the full breath for double the period he took to draw it in, and repeats mentally the second letter, and similarly impresses upon himself that he has been able to absorb the force; and lastly, he exhales the breath slowly and evenly for the same period and repeats mentally the third letter, feeling himself impressed with an idea that he then possesses a perfect balance and poise with which to control the magnetic force he has been storing, In a word, each set of “Pranayam” helps us to fix the idea of appropriation, absorption and poise. It must at the same time be remembered that there is a very close relation between the six chakra (stages) of the corporeal structure and the emotional nature of man. This will be fully explain- ed later on, The Tantrik continues this process