H Vk *** .. £ u- a ifi-tfi-tfi-a-a-iB-ifi-a-tfi-if;- >x-*i\Sim\Si- m ■&■&■&■*<■ *■*■*■ Ft SWAMI BHAGAT BRAHMA VIDYA TRANSCENDENT- SCIENCE or The Science of Self Knowledge By SWAMI BRAHMA VIDYA Price $5.00 PUBLISHED BY The Transcendent-Science Society Masonic Temple CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U. S. A. it>* Copyright, 1922 by SWAMI BHAGAT BRAHMA VIDYA SPECIAL NOTICE The illustrations, cover design and contents of this Volume are protected by copyright, and must not be reproduced or copied without written per- mission from the Publishers. Disregard of this warning will subject the offender to the penalty provided by law. THE TRANSCENDENT PRESS CHICAGO AUG -7 1922 ©CI.A681294 4- u The Book of Imperial and Sovereign Wisdom OR Transcendent- Science Including the Supreme Rites and Supernal Mysteries of Transcendent Theurgy, Supernal and Transcen- dent Necromancy, Oriental Sorcery, Celestialism, Also the Rituals of Transcendent Science Cere- monial Conjurations. Embracing the Philosopher's Vade Mecum, wherein is expounded the supernal mysteries of cosmic involution, from the arch- etypal, to the manifest; the sidereal correspondences; embodying within itself Hermetic dissertations on the ( ^hrist Allegory, and the rational and praxis as concern the redemptive processes in Human Regeneration. Being The Approved, Verified, Sympathetic and Natural Grand Oriental Occult Secrets. The book of Nature and the hidden secrets and mys- teries of Life unveiled; being the Forbidden Knowledge of Ancient and Esoteric Savants By that celebrated Orientalist, Brahmin Philosopher Initiate of the Tibetan Brotherhood, Discoverer of Transcendent-Science, Transcendental Occulist, Fel- low of the Latent Light Culture of India, President and Founder of the Transcendent-Science Society, and Ecclesiarch of the First Church of Hindu Spirit- ual Science, Disciple and Initiate of Said Abd-el-liah- man el Aclaros of the Spiritual Mysteries. SWAMI BRAHMA VIDYA PUBLISHED r.Y The Transcendent-Science Society (Press) Masonic Temple CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, I . S. A. c \ Announcement The Rarest and Never Before Published Works By SWAMI BRAHMAVIDYA These masterly series of book instructions, lesson instruction, or courses of instructions, containing nothing but the most practical instructions has been specially prepared for the benefit of the earnest and spiritually minded public at large. Their language is remarkably direct and plain : they are absolutely practical from cover to cover, telling you what to do and how to do, instead of dealing with the theories of things, thus lead- ing you into a full realization of what you should so desire to know or to possess. The profound Mysteries of Indian Occultism, Yoga, and the Oriental Occult Arts are practically a sealed book to the Western coun- tries. At last the Veil of Self -Knowledge has been lifted and those who burn and thirst for the Real and Practical Oriental Teachings of the Great Brotherhoods of the East, along with full and explicit instructions, that any one in a very short time can master, will truly find therein a mine of gold, and all that they have been crying for in vain. The Swami has exhausted the entire field of HINDU, ARABIAN and EGYPTIAN OCCULTISM, MAGIC, PSYCHOL- OGY, PSYCHIATRY, METAPHYSICS, PHILOSOPHY, ALCHEM- ISTRY, PERSONAL MAGNETISM, YOGA and APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, and those who purchase any of these series of books, or specially pre- pared lessons, or courses, will surely have their wants satiated. The works are as follows : HINDU SPIRITUALISM— By the South Indian Brotherhood, specially imported by the Swami for his students. A complete course in Hindu Spiritualism; treating on Levitation, Materialization, Communication, Table-Rapping, Movement of Objects, etc., giving in modern language all of the ancient methods, and sold only in the United States by their Repre- sentative, the Swami Brahmavidya. Course Complete $100.0!) Complete Course in Yoga and Instruction to Unfold Spiritual Con- sciousness, also imported from the S. I. B. Course Complete $25.00 TEN LESSONS IN HINDU MASTER MIND POWERS— In ten sepa- rate works ; containing complete lessons in Applied Psychology, Love, Wealth, Success, Health, Personal Power, Personal Magnetism, etc., by the Swami Brahmavidya. Course Complete $10.00 TEN LESSONS IN GENUINE HINDU MIND READING— Giving all the great secrets of manifestation and prevision. Course Complete $10.00 ADDRESS ALL COMMUNICATIONS TO The Transcendent -Science Society, Inc. Masonic Temple . CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U. S. A. OTHER RARE WORKS by the AUTHOR Complete Course in Personal Magnetism and How to Win , $10.00 Complete Lesson in Indian Clairvoyance $5.00 Complete Lesson in Indian Mental Magic Powers $5.00 Large and Complete Course in Occult Therapeutics or Healing $10.00 Specially Prepared Instruction in Mimeographed Form : "Things Kept Secret from the Foundation of the World" Special Instruction on Levitation, Materialization, Distant Operations, Higher Magic, Adeptship, In- fluence at a Distance, Etc., Condensed and with a Chart of Centers $5.00 Mind Power, or the Book of the Mystery Mind .... $2.00 Private Lessons for Mediums and Psychics, Contain- ing the Great Secret of Crystal Materialization $.100 East Indian Spirit Healing, or How to Heal In- stantly $1.00 Hindu Black and White Magic, or the Book of Charms $1.00 Hindu Mystic Powers, or the Book of Mystery. $1.00 The Reader of Souls, or Private Lessons in Genuine Clairvoyance, Mind Reading and Crystal Gazing, as Taught by the Masters, Enabling the Student to Get Names Quickly $1.00 Visualization 50c The Tradition of Truth .15c Those who are further interested may send 10 cents in coin or stamps, for our Mail or Private Syllabuses or Classes, or Book Lists, and other articles, as specially prepared Incenses for Occult and Ceremonial Magic, Blue or Purple Transparent Hindu Crystals, Magic-Mirrors, Parchment Sheets, etc.. etc. No Books, etc.. are returnable. ADDRESS The Transcendent- Science Society, Inc. Masonic Temple CHICAGO. ILLINOIS, I . S. A. THE COMFORTER He who has ever come face to face With his elder-brother, the soul, Shall no more need to go comfortless, For he has found him an endless grace, To check his tears, and to ease his dole, And to lift and lighten his load and bless. L t5 J He who has turned him and looked within, And seen himself as he yet shall be, Shall never more be reft of the light; Hope shall go with him," and he shall win To the certain faith and peace of the free, That have climbed to heaven out of the night. It will not always be clear, that face That is thine — and God's — but never again Will blackness utterly shroud thee, and fall Across the path where walk apace The stumbling and wayward feet of men, — For the light of thy soul will shine out through all. —Elizabeth Alden Curtis-Holmau. Fellow of The Brahmavidyan Brotherhood and Member of the TRANSCEXDEXT-SCIEXCE SOCIETY NOTE The Author of this work respectfully informs those who are curious in the studies of Art and Nature, espe- cially of Natural and Occult Philosophy, Chemistry, Astrology, etc., etc., that having been indefatigable in his researches into those sublime sciences, of which he has treated at large in this book, that he gives lessons by mail and private instructions and lectures upon any of the above mentioned sciences; in the course of which he will discover many curious and rare experiments. Those who become students will be initiated into the choicest operations of Natural Philosophy, Natural Magic, the Cabala, Chemistry, the Talismanic Art, Her- metic Philosophy, Astrology, Physiognomy, Yoga, Hindu Adeptship, Transcendent-Science, Oriental Magic, etc., etc. Likewise, they will acquire the knowl- edge of the Rites, Mysteries, Ceremonies, and Princi- ples of the ancient Philosophers, Magi, Cabalists, Adepts, etc. The purpose of this School (each circle of which will consist of no greater number than twelve Students at any given time) being to investigate the hidden treasures of Nature; to bring the mind to a contemplation of the Eternal Wisdom to promote the discovery of whatever may conduce to the perfection of Man; the alleviating of the miseries and calamities of this life, both in respect of ourselves and others; the study of morality and religion here, in order to secure to ourselves felicity hereafter; and finally the promul- gation of whatever may conduce to the general happi- TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR ness and welfare of mankind. Those who feel them- selves thoroughly disposed to enter upon such a course of studies, as is above recited, with the same principles of philanthropy with whuh the Author invites the lov- ers of philosophy and wisdom to incorporate them- selves in so select, permanent, and desirable a society, may speak with the Author upon the subject, at any time between the hours of Twelve and Five o'clock, at the Transcendent-Science Society's Office, Room 1022, Masonic Temple, Chicago, Illinois. Letters (postpaid) upon any subject treated of in this Book will be duly answered, with the necessary information. ANNOUNCEMENT In studying these Lessons please remember four points — 1. Not one useless or superfluous sentence is writ- .. Every word is full of meaning, condensed. Think deeply over them. ten. Every word is full of meaning. They are highly 2. They are meant as a practical supplement to the " Spiritual Consciousness," "Bridging the Gulf," "The Arcanum of the Sages." Studied side by side, these lessons will yield a great deal of benefit. You are expected to think hard and long. 3. Let none expect speedy or miraculous results. All spiritual training calls for infinite patience and deep reverence unto the Guru (Teacher). Constant rise and fall accompanies all progress. 4. The Author, being a Yogi free from all mundane affairs, can be communicated with only in extraordi- nary cases, and he will help on the student in the train- ing in all possible ways wherever and whenever neces- sary. Please always enclose stamps, and be brief and clear in your correspondence. All letters pertaining to this should be addressed to "The Swami Bralnna- vidya, President of the Transcendent Science Society, Masonic Temple, Chicago, Illinois, IT. S. A." The Transcendent Science Society Masonic Temple, Chicago, 111., U. S. A. THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE "Bear in mind, my son," said the Hindu Brahmin to the neophyte, "that there is but one God, the sove- reign master and principal of all things, and that every Brahmin should worship him in secret. Learn also that this is a mystery which should never be revealed to the vulgar herd; otherwise great harm may befall you. ' ' Kind student and brother or sister, the above are the words of my Master, taken from the Sacred Books of Tradition; not unlike the words of the Christian Mystic who became the Christ. After attentively lis- tening to the words and the rabble of the true seekers ; of the guides to these divers' fairways which are legion, though some of honesty unimpeachable if poor pilots, others masters of their craft but slaves to greed, I myself have, but without mere assumption herein, suc- ceeded in raising the Veil. "What seek ye?" demands the Adept. Comes a chorus from poor purblind humanity: "TO BRIDGE THE GULF!" This is to say, that whatever attempt I have made herein, is with this only in view. The connection between mysticism and mesmerism will be seen naturally remote to the ordinary patho- logical student, but experiments in dual conscious- 10 *1 Jj L_ THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 11 ness, in the possibilities of suggestion, in the trans- ference of thought, and in the production of a pro- found artificial sleep after a careful study to be only the outer fringe of our ancient Father's (Hindus) secret knoAvledge by which the sanctuary of the' inmost man might be unlocked, and whereby the inte- rior mystic might enter into the realities which tran- scended the superficial truths of the phenomenal world. I speak tentatively and hypothetically, but I base my statements upon investigations other than my own, and upon authorities in occult science who are greater than myself. It is open to anyone who has the necessary quali- fications of aspiration, patience and energy to learn by his individual experience that mystic practice is not hallucination, and that it is not the fraud that the majority of English or Americans presume. Then he must compare what he has learned with the facts of pathological history in natural and arti- ficial catalepsy, and if he can discriminate between disease which has its seat in organic weakness and disruption of mind and body, between the plunging of an unprepared nature into a condition which is out- side nature, and between the sanctified interposition of a pure mind, a purged will, and an exalted aspira- tion and purpose, he will be in a position to under- stand what is essentially identical and what is inci- dentally diverse in the mystic and magnetic trance. His practical acquaintance with psychology and magic may then be applied to an appreciation of the claims of the mystics in respect of their ecstatic absorption, when, if he should bear in mind the reiterated state- 12 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR ment which has been the keynote of this book, he will conclude that these things are not of faith; that is to say, that anyone who is vitally concerned in them should not stop short at the evidence and be content to believe. The mystics will tell him that it is open to him to participate in the bona Dei in terra vivcn- tium, but that if he will share their privileges he must also live their life, I am conscious that I have been unwillingly speak- ing in terms somewhat enigmatical, and it will be well, therefore, if, avoiding all involved details, I can afford to the students a few lines of plain informa- tion on the end that was sought \>y the mystics through their profound process of introspection, and transcendental self -hypnotising for the suspension of sense-correspondences, and the manifestation of the interior light and life. There was neither secret nor mystery about it; it was always openly referred to, precisely defined and described. At the same time, the methods necessarily were of an arcane or, at least, recondite character, because they were concerned with the mystery of spiritual growth, and that great psycho-alchemical reconstruction which has been emphasized in one term of many heights and wonders ■ — the New Birth, or Regeneration. The union of God with the soul is the principle of all mystic life. But this union, the fullness and final consummation of which cannot be experienced till death has been passed through and eternity has been achieved, can be accomplished on this earth in a more or less perfect manner, and the literature of entire mysticism has no other end than to unveil to THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 13 us, by a full and profound analysis of the different, stages of evolution in the spirit of man, the diverse feiiccessive degrees of this divine union. Seven dis- tinct stages of the soul's ascent towards Clod have been recognized by mystics, and they constitute what \J has been emblematically ^callecftlie castle of the inte- rior man. They represent the seven absolute proc- esses of psychic transfiguration. The first link in this arcane sequence is called the state of prayer, which, from the pneumatic standpoint, is the concentration of the intellectual energies upon God as the object of thought, which is commonly assisted by the ceremo- nial appeal made by religion to the senses. It has, however, a higher aspect, comprised in the second evolutionary process, and called the state of mental prayer. Here the illusory phenomena of the visible world are regarded as informed with an inner pneu- matic significance, to divine which is a chief end of mysticism. In order to make progress therein, and so attain the third stage, it is necessary that the aspirant, shaping all practical life in conformity with his theory, should perform no outward act except with a view to its inward meaning, all things which are of time and earth, and man being simply figures and symbols of earth and heaven and God. The postu- "nit, as he advances, will perceive that the inmost thoughts of his own conscious being are only a lim- ited and individual speculation of the speech and word of God, concealed even in its apparent reve'la'-"" t ioii, and itself a veil of the divine truth which must be removed for the contemplation of the truth abso- lute, which is behind it. When he has reached this point the mystic will have entered on the third stage of his illumination. This is the most difficult of all. 14 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR It is termed by mystics the obscure night, and here it is necessary that the aspirant should become stark naked, should empty himself completely, should be stripped of all his faculties, renouncing all his own predilections, his own thoughts, his own will — in a word, his whole self. Aridity, weariness, temptation, desolation, darkness, are characteristic of this epoch, and they have been experienced by all who have ever made any progress in the mysteries of mystical love. The fourth condition is denominated the prayer of quietism. Complete immolation of self and unre- served surrender into the hands of God have repose as their first result. Such quietism, however, is not to be confounded with insensibility, for it leads to the sole real activity, to that which has God for its impulse. The fifth degree in the successive spiritual- ization of the human soul is called the state of union, in which the will of man and the will of God become substantially identified. This is the mystical irriga- tion which fertilizes the garden of the soul. During this portion of his development, the individual, imbued with a sovereign disdain of all things visible, as well as for himself, accomplishes in peace, serenity, and joy of spirit, the will of God, as it is made known to him by the word of God supernaturally speaking Within him. On the extreme further limit of this condition, the mystic enters the sixth state, which is that of ecstatic prayer which is the soul's transport above and outside itself. It constitutes a union with divinity by the instrument of positive love which is a state of sanctification, beatitude, and ineffable tor- rents of delight flowing over the whole being. It, is beyond description, it transcends illustration, and. its felicity is not to be conceived. Loa t c which is a t THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 15 potency of the soul, or of that anima which vivifies our bodies,»has passed into the spirit of the soul, into its superior, divine, and universal form, and this proc- ess completed comprises the seventh and final stage of pneumatic development, which is that of ravish- ment. E enouncing all that is corporeal about it, the soul becomes a pure spirit, capable of being uni ted. in a wholly celestial maimer to the Uncreated Spirit, whom it beholds, loves, serves, and adores above and beyond all created forms. And this is the mystic marriage, the perfect union, the entrance of God and Heaven into the interior man. The history of Hindu supernaturalism informs us that in these seven stages of transcendental adoration the body of the mystic was seen to rise from the ground, and to poise itself mysteriously in space. Ravished by interior visions he became insensible to all that was passing around him, and at the same time his physical senses, which had suspended cor- respondence for the moment with normal exterior environment, were ministered to in a manner which I should term magical; he saw, heard, felt, tasted, but on another plane of being; and occasionally his indescribable ecstacy was manifested in the appari- tion of lights and halos about him, and in the diffu- sion of an unearthly fragrance. If all these phe- nomena are to be accepted as literally true, they sur- pass in degree what has been achieved by psycho- logical experiment at the present day, in England and America, but in respect of their kind and class they are the phenomena of ecstactic magic. 1922. SWAMI BRAHMAV1DYA. FOREWORD The best methods to be practiced by the student to attain the Imperishable-Consciousness, and to fur- nish the physical and moral means of consummating the word of preparation and arriving by a graduated method at that peculiar ecstatic and supersensuality termed in my doctrine Transcendental-Consciousness or the Divine State is by centralizing the Ego by a Realizable Affirmation and by the practice of Samyama. "The angel of creative fire is the word of God, which word produced the earth and the vegetation that issues therefrom, together with the heat which ripens it. The word of the Creator is itself the Cre- ator and is also His only Son." And again: "Matter being only a deceptive appearance, the sun, the stars and the very elements are genii, while animals are demons and man is a pure spirit deceived by the illusions of forms." In order to become God, the breath must be retained — that is to say, it must be inhaled as long as possible, till the chest is well distended — and in the second place, the divine OM must be repeated inwardly while in this state. Expiration, in the third place, follows very slowly, the breath being mentally directed through the heavens to make contact with the universal ether. Those who would succeed in it; THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 17 this exercise must be blind, deaf, and motionless as a log of wood. The posture is on knees and \ elbows, with the face turned to -the North. One nostril is stopped with a finger, the air is inhaled by the other, which is then closed, the action being accompanied by dwelling in thought on the idea that God is the Creator, that He is in all animals, in the ant even as in the elephant. The mind must be absorbed in these thoughts. OM is at first recited twelve times and afterwards twenty-four times dur- ing each inspiration, and then as rapidly as possible. This regimen must be continued for three months — without fear, without remission, eating and sleeping little. In the fourth month the Devas will manifest; in the fifth you will have acquired all qualities of the Devatas; in the sixth vou will be saved and will have become God. After the practice of this exercise in mystic breathing the student must be ready to pass onward to the following: With the end of one finger close the anus, and then draw the breath from below upwards on the right side; make it circulate three times round the second centre of the body; thence bring it to the navel, which is in the third centre; then to the fourth, which is the middle of the heart; subse- quently to the throat, which is the fifth; and finally to the sixth, which is the root of the nose. There retain the breath: it has become that of the universal soul. Simultaneously with this exercise think therefore of the Great OM, which is the name of the Creator IS TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE. OR and is that universal, pure and indivisible voice which fills all things. This voice is the Creator Himself, Who becomes audible to the contemplative after ten manners. The first sound is like that of a little spar- row; the second is twice the first in volume; the third is like the sound of a cymbal; the fourth is as a murmur of a great shell; the fifth is comparable to the song of* the Indian lyre; the sixth is like the sound of the instrument called tal; the seventh resembles the sound of a bacabou flute; held close to the ear; the eighth is like that of the instrument called Pakaoudj, which is struck with the hand; the ninth isiilike the sound of a little trumpet and the tenth like that of a thunder cloud. At each of these sounds the contemplative passes through different states, and at the" tenth he becomes Gk)d. At the first sound the hairs of his whole body rise erect; at the second, his limbs become torpid; at the third, he feels through all his frame the kind of exhaustion which follows the intercourse of love; at the fourth, his head swims and he is as one intoxicated; at the fifth, the life-force flows back into his brain; at the sixth, this force descends into him and he is nourished thereon ; at the seventh, he becomes the master of vision, can see into the hearts of others, and hears the most distant voices; at the ninth he becomes so ethereal that he can pass wheresoever Jie will and can see without being seen, like the angels; at the tenth, he becomes the universal and indivisible voice. He is the great creator, the eternal being, exempt from all and, having become the perfect peace, he dispenses peace to the world. PREFACE TO THE BOOK OF TRANSCENDENT? SCIENCE. By a Member of the Brotherhood. In dealing with the question of religion, it would seem that the Western world has allowed to be over- looked, or obscured by other issues, the two supremely important elements, beauty and r^apture". The color that the stern Puritan pulpiteers gave to the religious' thought of America has persisted in clouding the glory of the picture. The emphasis was laid too much on the dark side. Fear was the dominant accent. And while our younger generation (the most fearless and tradi- tionless that we have ever bred) has thrown off, with a shrug of half-amused contempt, the dogma of a ma- terial Hell, with all its concomitants of eternal fire, pitchforks and personal devils, there is still a vital lack somewhere in the present-day orthodox presentations' of religion that is making itself more and more insist- ently felt. There is still far too much narrowness and traditional acceptance in the presentation of truth of our ecclesiastics, far too little broad and original think- ing; far too much of the old dogma of fear and differen- tiation, far too little of the new tradition of courage and unity to be heard in our churches. The Hindu sages, and many of the "wise men" of other lands, expect the coming of a new Teacher — a great Master, who shall preach Tolerance and Concord to all men, and who shall give the race a fresh impetus 1!) 20 f RANSCENDEtif -SCIENCE, OR on its long journey toward perfection. His message is, as yet, a sealed book to us, but it seems almost certain that we may look for a fuller revelation of our relation- ship to the mysterious and infinite' Universe of God, and of our own divine and glorious destiny in it, than lias ever yet been vouchsafed us* The race is growing up into the light, and although its "growing pains" have been sharp, and its adolescence forward, signs of maturity are appearing, nevertheless, to the seeing eye. There were few amongst even the most intimate followers of Jesus who understood His teachings. The simple doctrine of the Sermon on the Mount was enough to perplex the materiality of His day, and when He spoke to the people in the speech of the adept, they were thrown into complete mental confusion. And so, because so few of those who heard Him had "ears to hear," much of His message was misconstrued or wholly lost to the age, and must be given anew, let our prayer be to a wiser and more comprehending gen- eration. Since our Master's time, the race has swept on to all the triumphs of civilization. Riches and invention were at their height, and man was almost ready to boast, "In the strength of mine own arm have I gotten me this victory," when suddenly all the treasured ac- cumulation of the earth was swept into vast debacle of "lust, anger and avarice, those three passages to the hell of lower re-birth." The flower of the youth of all nations paid the price in its blood, and the prosperity of the world was left tottering, when the force of the storm had spent its fury. THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 2l But suffering is the great interpreter of life. Out of the blopcl, the murk, the famine and the torment, the light of reason is beginning to dawn with a new radiance. The eyes that have looked on death and dis- solution are open, after that, to new rays, and it is in the spirit of an almost breathless expectancy, that mankind looks forth towards new horizons. Out of the East, the herald of this new day, has come, on a mission to the Western world, the Hiero- phant Swami Bhagat Brahmavidya. He brings a neo- logism, or new doctrine, which is " distinct from ali other systems of religion; yet it is the essence of all. It is based on the constitution of man, and is therefore ancient, eternal and universal. It is not sectarian, not confined to age or country." The son of the proudest of races, to which "caste" has been, itself, a religion* he says: "All mankind are of one caste, and all are equally entitled to embrace the 'Brahmavidya' or Transcendent Science Religion It is the aim of the Teacher Brahmavidya to extinguish caste hatred and animosity, and bind all mankind into one frater- nity — one brotherhood of souls." He is but a young man, this High Priest of ancient mysteries, yet the wisdom of India, that land which has pondered the spiritual destiny of man more profound- ly than any other, is his heritage. He brings to his mis- sion a knowledge of "Things Unseen," and he speaks with the authority of that knowledge. He brings to us, too, that which we have so missed in our own cold and colorless presentations of religion — the mystic beauty and rapture of the unfoldment of the Soul; the supreme romance of its quest for Truth. Itself airl 22 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR God, this modern Trinity of the new age; this Three- In-One of the growing religions consciousness of the people. He utters no threat to arouse the stubborn- ness of the defiant, ho word of condemnation to dismay the frailty of the sinful; he speaks to his brothers of " the indestructible nectar of immortality, of imme- morial righteousness, and of unending bliss" for those who will follow and uphold the Unchangeable law of God. In a paper setting forth the canon of his neologism, which he has called "The Tradition of Truth," the Swami Brahma vidya says: "The race of the flesh- born has lost the faculty possessed by its ancestors of seeing the common soil Whence the tree of each one's religion draws its sustenance One man calls an- other a sinner whose conscience finds no echo in his reaction. Plow shall I teach the flesh-born the gospel of forbearance?" It is this lost faculty which "Brah- ma vidya," or Transcendent-Science, seeks to restore to us, for with the restoration to mankind of Charity and Concord, we cannot but be bound again into "one brotherhood of souls." "The law is to know Thyself and to attain unto the Supreme Imperishable." Brotherhood and the rapturous knowledge of the Divine Self and of "a con- scious immortality," these are the ways of Truth and Light into which the Swami Brahma vidya has been sent, "by the Lord of Wisdom" to lead his fellow-men. "But," he says, "my voice on earth, like His in Heaven is like the piping of soft music on the shores of a murky sea maddened by the howling dogs of the tempest." Must we not, then, in order that our dull ear may catch THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 23 these precious strains, still the tempest of earthly dis- cord that ijages around Us, filling our hearts and minds with disharmony ad confusion, and listen with all the intentuess of our souls to the lifting delights of this "soft music?" ELIZABETH ALDEN CURTIS, Fellow of Brahma vid van Brotherhood. March 31, 1922. CHAPTER I THE FOUNDATION Existence as we know it is Sorrow. This means that to be alive and to exist in the flesh is to live in the Mansion of Sorrow. For such is the Fleshly Abode of the Terrestial. For the Terrestial and the Celestial are not One — nay, never will be. Such is the Two, and not the One. This is to be taken literally; that the life and lives of all men are mapped out, that when they Come on this earthly plane of existence they must partake of this sorrow, and this whether they so desire or not. This is very truthful and no man can deny this old fact. But man nevertheless will and does try to change this, but let us see whether he really does or not. Can this sentence of Fate be reversed? It has been repeatedly said that man, that every man is a condemned criminal, only that he does hot know the date of his execution. Is" this the truth, or is it not? Throughout the ages and also now in the present time, this is and will ever remain_the same. All the great Hindu philosophical systems contain this fact. Also all the religions of mankind practically have started with this fact in view, hence, giving a reward to the earthly pilgrims, or rather offering them a reward of immortality after their pilgrimage here. 2i THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 25 All religions have superabundantly promised this reward, aiifl it is not only now, though greater now that mankind strives to penetrate beyond and behind these promises of the theologians. Men in all coun- tries and elimes have at times suffered even death rather than imbibe such egoistical teachings as are and as were propounded by the so-called learned. So even now we may casually watch and not in an unconcerned way the great streams of humanity that pay homage to that mystic something which men call or term spiritualism. Even Spiritualism has not failed in giving its watered flocks these spme prom- ises, so the present breaking up of all religions is due to the fact that people have asked to see the securities. But there is a something that we may term the Unseen Superior by which this state of Unknowing may be transformed into the Knowing. There is this ineffable something that will keep and maintain us here on earth without being bankrupt. All our knowledge is based upon experience. What we know must rest upon the bedrock of this experience, or else it is not true knowledge. We might as well row as ever state that all the many and varied forms of religions demand faith. In fact, this is their great stamping ground. Why? If they did not resort to this or firstly demand this their system would be ni i bsolute failure. All systems of Religions, though, have agree:! upon this — ihrt it is worthy of man to devote him- self to that Supreme and most Highest, which they term God. In between and above these lines we might say that the primal origin of religions was the 25 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR outgrowth of Evolution and Spirituality, a spiritual- ity of infinite and majestic grandeur that was so conceived. What was this spirituality? It was the aspiration of the living soul as expressed by the finite intellect. We might explain and define the words Miracle, Supernatural and trust that all will reciprocate our definition and thus approbate our finite endeavors. The literal, and in fact any aspect or phase of this word, may be rationally defined. It means that which is an outgrowth of the normal consciousness and has been transmitted or projected from the super-con- scious mind of man. The word supernatural means literally the original state of Unity that man must inevitably re-ascend and re-attain unto. When he attains or re-emerges back into his first state of mind and soul, then we may call such a one Supernatural. But more correctly Natural. The philosophers have merely put and placed the words in the wrong cate- gory and place. Thus illiterate are confounded and puzzled. The word mystery means Ignorance. For the only Mystery extant is Ignorance and Maya, which things are all Illusions. Now we shall approach a more wonderful ami explanatory side of this analysis. What is there in common between Buddha, Mohammed and Christ? What is there in this that is also in common between Mohammedanism, Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism and Christianity? This is the missing link that will sup- ply us the hidden evidence of the Great Superior Unseen. (No point of doctrine, no point of ethics, no theory of a "hereafter" do they share, and yet in the THE SCIENCE OF SELF kMoJVLEDGE 27 history of their lives and in their religions we are able herein to find by our subtle analyzation one iden- tity amid the many diversities.) Buddha was born a Prince, and died a beggar. Mohammed was born a beggar, and died a Prince. Christ remained obscure until many years after his death. Elaborate lives of each of these three men have been written and handed down to posterity by their devotees, and there is one thing (in) common to all three — an omission. Nothing is heard of the Christ between the ages of twelve and thirty, Moham- med disappeared into a cave. Whilst the Buddha left his great and wonderfully rich place, and went for a long while into the desert. Each of them, perfectly silent up to the time of their disappearance, came back and immediately began to preach a New Law. This is so remarkably novel and coincident that it leaves us all to inquire whether the histories of other great teachers contra- dict or affirm. St. Paul, after his adventure on the road to Damascus, goes into the desert of Arabia for many years, and on his return overturns the Roman Empire. Even in the legends of savages we find the same thread of truth to be universal; somebody who is nobody in particular goes away for a longer or shorter period, and comes back as the "speaker of the (Treat Unseen"; but nobody ever knows what hap- pened to him. Moses we may herein also and alike consider. He led a tranquil and serene life in his environment / 28- TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR until his slaying of the Egyptian. He then fled to and into the land of Midian, and we never have heard irohi the pages of the Book of History that which History is supposed to bequeath to posterity what he did while he was there, but immediately, or rather instantly upon his return, he turns the tables, and tears the entire place upside down. Later, too, he absents himself on Mount Sinai for a few days, and comes back with the Tables of the Law in his hand. So by inference and induction, or by whatever name that we may so desire to state, even if we say this is "coincidence," we can easily perceive that it is above suspicion and is a true and supreme and incon- trOvertiMe fact-M;hat we realize whether we believe or know it to be or hot — from this one coincidence that "A nobody goes away, and comes back a some- body." One writer has said that "There is not the small : est ground for the contention that these wore from the start exceptional men. Mohammed would have hardly driven a camel until he was thirty -five years old if he had possessed any talent or ambition. St. Paul had much original ability; but he is the least t>f the five. "Nor do they seem to have possessed any of the usual materials of power, such as rank, fortune, or influence.'' We have seen also that whether they did some- thing or were merely alone for a long or short period of time, that wherever they went when they disap- peared they came back with a most marvelously something. That they were changed men there is THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 2$ no doubt. What was the nature of this? What was the nature of their power? What happened to them during their absence from their friends and homes and countries and environ- ments f Where will we ever be able to find the Key to this ? Will we, when finding it, use it for a similar and a like purpose? Poor history, like all the things of the material world of Maya, will not afford us much in regard to that which has been hidden now and throughout all the remoter and ancient ages. But we nevertheless shall by " Common-Sense " and by exercising Rational Judgment be able to assimilate what has been printed between the lines on the pages of what history has already recorded. And what is this that history has recorded? And what is this that is between the lines? We shall see! History has remained silent in regard to this, for history does not Know! This is very Honest and square on the part of poor History, but the men them- selves have left accounts in a truthful way, so that from what they have to say we can therein perceive 4 the one thread of Truth that runs throughout: the entire garment that has been spun by all of thorn. Christ for one was silent; some of the others tell us something vague and still others more. Gautama out of all men was the only one that has gone into detail regarding this matter that we are now so intently interested in. He attained unto the supreme secret (sunnnum bonum) for; e of the Visible and Invisible Worlds and mastered it. And the Key he has left to Posterity. 30 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR The others have not done this. Take for instance Moses. He said that he "beheld God"; St. Paul gave us only a casual allusion of what he received and said that he was "caught up into Heaven, and saw and heard things of which it was not lawful to speak"; while Mohammed crudely speaks and says of having been "visited by the Angel Gabriel," who communi- cated things from "God"; and Christ merely said that "I and my Father are One." The thread that runs through the garment is One and may be called by many names, but it neverthe- less must now and forevermore remain the same. This thread is Truth- — they left their homes in the search of this Truth, and upon finding it, came back to give it to the world. Only the way that it was given is remarkable, they gave it and spoke of it exactly in the wa}^ that they as individuals had received it, and according to their own receptivity and knowledge and consciousness. A hungry man can consume more food than one that has no appetite and does not so desire to eat, also a dog can run faster when someone throws stones at him; even so did these men receive according to their consciousness of assimilation. Too much water will drown. So, according to the depths of their minds and their capacity were the waters of the Living Fruit of all- Life poured in. This is the only difference in the lives and teachings of all of them. Their leaving home, their principles of thought and their methods are and were practically the same; in fact, they are One. They are identically the same, excepting in elu- cidation and in method of practice. THE SCIENCE OE SELE KNOWLEDGE Si What did tliese men depart from tlieir homes and their countries foff For what purpose did they dis- engage themselves from humanity? It is self-evident! The First commandment is: Thou shaft Love the' Lord thy (rod with all thy heart and Soul." How could they love this so-called God unless they knew whom this God was and wher'e 1 he was? This shows that the only rational and, if I might say, " Common- Sense " method was to obtain first Self-Knowledge* For by doing this the Supreme-Great- All can be Real- ized, and only by the Knowledge' of the Self, can this be done. We all think that this is 1 reasonable, do you? The methods advised by all religions' of the earth and even of these men themselves have a startling resemblance to one another. T^hey all recommend "virtue" (of various kinds), solitude, absence of ex- citement, moderation in diet, and finally a practice which some call prayer and some others term medi- tation. (The former rout may turn out oh examina- tion to be merely conditions favorable to the last.) Now we shall speak in regard to the Doctrine that is expounded by the Brahmavidyan Brotherhood and the Transcendent Science Society, to enable one to attain this state of Self-Knowledge, and to be Self- illnmined. To attain unto (loci and to be with Him, and to walk within the gates of His abode, and td commune with Him and then finally to abide' within Him forevermore throughout all Eternity, which is 1 without Fnd and Ending and is Aeonian find For- evermore. "Try to Realize (within thyself) that whence arise" these beings, by which they stand sustained, and unto 32 TRAtiSCEtfDENT-S£lENCE } OR Which they return and become h&Ught;— -that indeed is the Absolute. ' ' To those" who seek for Peace, wd wbuid be glad to teli yoli herein and now that that state of J)e3*feet Holiness ahd Perfection can blily be realized aiid at- tained here oh earth by Self -Renunciation. This is the first step oh the Patb that leads to Self-Mastery. Ve'rily, there is only one step and this wd proclaim first to yoii. Many are the Paths that lead to destruc- tion (discord), but there" is only One that ieads to Heaven (God), and that is the Path of Attainment. There 1 are many steps on the Path of Attainment, but verily, the first stejp is Self-Penunciatiom Well may he who contemplates his 1 5wn intrinsic weakness and misery, as opposed to the perfection set before him by God as his aim, cry out with Job: "My soul is Weary of life!" But he must not stop here oi* there 1 , or suffer anything short of that Exam- ple which men might scarce dare hope to follow but for the gracious WordS: "Be ye perfect, even as your Father Which is in Heaven is perfect." And as we gaze on that Fxamplc, we cannot fail to perceive the man Christ set before lis 1 a model of the most abso- lute self-surrender, active and passive, in his cease- less toil for the accomplishment of his Father's busi- ness; and in his long-suffering and patience under every most bitter form of agony, mental and bodily, which consumed him from Bethlehem to Calvary, for man's salvation and his Father's Glory. "I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you," and accordingly, each in our measure, we must strive to offer up our whole being THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 3J in entire self-surrender to (rod, remembering that therein we do but give Hint that which is His. To practice this renunciation will inevitably lift one's mind consciously right Up into the Heaven- world of God, Will make one become One with Him — with Him the Eternal Father. This is the reason why we place this instruction first oil our lists for Attain- ment. When we strive to give consciously all our" heart and soul to ffiitn the Indestructible Supreme* Eternal; we give All to the All, remembering that herein we do but give Him thai Which is His. One most important point in this subject is duly to bear in mind that it is not in great matters only that we are continually to offer ourselves for the Glory of God. The trifles of daily life often tend to promote that as much or more than those rare events wherein He may call some favored servants to mag- nify His Holy Name. He would have Us offer our' j selves a living sacrifice to Him, and in no wise can that be done save by dying daily to self, and thus con- tinually drawing nearer and nearer to Him. God's Glory and forgetfulness of self — such must be the aini of all true spiritual life. ' 'Redeem the time, because the days are evil." And "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me praise His Holy Name." There is a passive surrender to God, which lies chiefly in a loving acceptance of whatever He may Jay upon us. This is the Law that worketh in the flesh, for sorrow is a product of this existence as we know it. All through life the body tends gradually to decay — natural deformity, unforeseen events, as 34 fMtfsCMMNfsciErfcK, OR of accident and disease, the gradual advance of age — all these waste our individual strength, and demand of us a continual sacrifice, whether we will or no. ^As the waters fail from the se'a, and the 1 flood de- cayeth and drieth up, so man lieth down and riseth hot; .1 .. 2 : .;.: the waters weaf the stones. Thou wash- est away the things which grow out of the dust, and Thou destroyest the hope of then." To sUch inevi- table sacrifices we must submit humbly and willingly, asking nothing save that the Glory of the Ineffable God that is within us might be thus by Non-Resist- ance, attained, and that His Divine Glory of all Im- perishability may be so thuswise set forth in our in- firmity, crying out with faithful Job: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him," calmly awaiting the time when we will lay down our mortal frame "as a garment that is moth-eaten." Or that we shall attain unto that Peace here and now by the Realization that is and has been within our Self in the Past, in the Present and shall forevermore be in the unknown Future that awaits us. Yet how maii} T men struggle and rebel against His Hand when it presses on them in bodily suffering % How many at- tain unto him in this mortal life — -thus living forever- more. That is real bliss which has no conditions; in the conditioned there can be no happiness; — the Uncon- ditioned albne is bliss; try to realize the Uncondi- tioned (in thyself)* We have the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God Which raiseth the dead. Thus Natural Death is not more an THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 30 inevitable necessity in passing from time to Eternity than a death to earthly inclinations and passions is for those who would attain to the hidden spiritual life; and so it is that every one who aims at that in- terior life must realize within himself that " sentence of death.' * He would travel the Path to the One like the Yogas, must do this; he who would tread in the footsteps of the Great Hindu Saints must be ready to die their death, which is precious in the Sight of the Supreme Lord of Life. This Death is the Mortifica- tion of the Senses. Such a death to the things that are objective and exterior, so that the resurrection of that which is interior and subjective might come. Such a death to the things of sense is as entirely part of God's design for His redeemed creatures (the low- er after merging into the higher) as physical death became through Adam's sin; and the eon 1 which loves Him evidently must prepare to tread through that shadow, certain that there, too, as in the valley of material death, He the Supreme Father will be our Guide and Strength. Now our bodies become subject to death through various causes — violence, injuries, overwhelming crosses, lack of needful nourishment, or excessive toil or endurance, which exhaust the physical system. So likewise spiritual mortification (which is another word for death) implies suffering of all kinds Willing j ly accepted, and that without any inward consolation from God or man. Nor must it be a mere passive en- durance; the soul should aim at offering itself cease- lessly to God. Thus the three principles on which this spiritual death must be founded are — to endure! all, to receive nothing, and to do all for God. TRAtfsCMDMt-SClEMCE, OR Every true Yoga and every trite Brahmavidyan, even the most easy going, is prepared to grant that suffering is 1 inevitable, but having granted the" gen- eral proposition We forthwith seek in every way to avoid it in detail. We would avert suffering from this or that quarter, resist it from this or that hand. But such is not our rightful course. Strive rather to give yourself up to accept all Crosses, whether they come directly from the Hand of God Himself or indirectly through His creatures. All are alike His instruments, and it is not your part to choose what you will bear or reject. 6hi} r the Son of born Knowledge can do this, only the 1 Re-Born! In the sahle 1 way, if He permits you to be harassed by the power, by temptations, bodily or spiritual, be patient; He uses mairy things to try Us with, and they, too, are 1 His instruments. Moreover, you must resign yourself to the sufferings of which you are the cause to yourself; the secret troubles and distresses which arise from the rebellion of our corrupt lower nature. But this is hot all. After accepting the prin- ciple of ah unreserved submission sohie begin to raise fresh difficulties. One man thinks he can endure any physical suffering, but he cannot accept inward temp- tation; another is prepared to endure this, but he shrinks from bodily pain and weakness; and a third could bear both these forms of trial, but it seems im- possible to sit quiet under the loss of his good name. This, however* is not unqualified submission. You must, like the Hindu Yogis* strive to give yourself up to every possible form of suffering, be it of one kind or another, without any reserve or self- THE SCIENCE OP SElP 'KNOWLEDGE §1 will, leaving all to the Iheifable God, even when "from the sole of the foot unto the head, all is wounds and bruises and sores.' ' Perhaps this step is gained, and yon acknowledge that you have no right to choose what sufferings you will accept or reject, but then human nature tries to assert itself in a fresh direc- tion, and revolts against aii indefinite prolongation of pain. This victory, too, must be Won. You must bring yourself to JDtit away all limits of your endurance to accept crushing bodily pain, seem- ingly inexhaustible temptations, total ruin, irretriev* able calumny. True death to self knows no self^ chosen point at which to stop. You can never say safely, "It is enough." The Yogis know this and al- ways overcome, and you are expected to do likewise — to never turn your back to this fact. And remem> ber that to even try, will result in an absolute loss of your faculties or at least mental aberration. This is an age-old fact and hence it is immutable and eternal, Remember that Lot's wife only looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of Salt. Then Nature tries another refuge— the relief of murmurs and lamentations. But here again you must die to self, by striving to bear your pain silently. Whoever heard a dead man complaint Bemember that God's chastisements are seldom so heavy as we think they will be, or as they deserve to be, and do not cry out eagrly to be delivered from what He lays upon you. Do not be so eager for the compassion of men; you will thereby lose one of the choicest graces of your cross, which is won by silent suffering. \)t> not be so ready to describe your sufferings in vivid 38 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE', OR colors to every listener; do not even give way to un- restrained sighs and groans when alone, they are signs that you are yet far front the real death of self. There is but one last effort which self can make When all these successive battles have been fought and won^that is satisfaction in the consciousness of our great and admirable endurance. This, too, must be overcome^. You must suffer without setting any value upon your sufferings, however great and how- ever patiently borne. To this end, never allow jovoc mind to dwell upon them — -that is mere weakness and self-indulgence, which exaggerate everything. Rather let your thoughts dwell Upon the far greater crosses which have been borne by so many holy souls, and your own will sink into insignificance; and jou will feel ashamed to see bow trifling your cross is in com- parison witb what }^ou deserve. Better still, look out of yourself, and raise your heart to God, and never forget that while resistance cannot avert every pang, and give yoii strength and courage to bear all things profitably. There is another principle of this spiritual death, i. e., to be willing to deceive nothing. No real Yoga will accept gifts, this signifies weakness. Hence, to Give all and receive nothing is the Law of Brahma- vidya. We are apt to feel as though we had a right by reason of our suffering to all spiritual consola- tions. Practically eveiy one who suffers expects sup- port and comfort eitber from God or men. Even the most truly religious are tempted to rest on the belief that sensible support will accompany their trial hour; that they Will be sustained through some tangible fej SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 33 grace, some conviction Of safety, some hidden source of strehgtji, or, if frohl nothing else, at least from the certainty that all trials come from Him, the Inde- structible, Supreme Eternal Lord of the Universe. But true 1 death to self requires us to be ready to suf- fer without any consolation. This sounds hard, but are we who bear the cross to iook for our own solace under it? God will Comfort us as He sees fit, but it is" our part to be willing to go without consolation, and, if He pleases, even to bear our trials without any mitigation. Be content to suffer without receiving 1 comfort from }^our fellowmen. I do not mean that you must never seek or accept srnf consolation from 1 them, but that if it pleases God to try you with sore distress in which there is no alleviation, you should freely accept your position, especially as regards your 1 fellow-creatures, who for the most part are incapable of giving any real comfort, either because they set to work the wrong way, not really understanding your grief, or because that grief is too deeply seated to be* reached by their weak hand. In truth, the hidden sorrows of the soul cannot be soothed by any save Him who lays theni oh lis, and there are few who have* not felt at times that human comfort was more hin- dering than helping. Whether this be so or not, we must accept the privation meekly, if God chooses that our course of sorrow be lonely. "The wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, and his foun- tain shall be dried up; He shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant vessels." Even if He gives us earthly" comforts, their very best can do but little for those on whom God's Hand is pressing. It is still harder to resign youi'self to do without any immediate consolation from God, and yet it may 40 TRANSCENDENT-SCtENCE, OR be that He will have it so. What are we that He should deign io visit us? Or how dare we, knowing what we are, look for such grace at His Hand? Sure- ly, the consciousness of our own unworthiness ought to make us jpatient under^ privation of His consola- tions. How dare such as I ahi ask Him to stoop to my misery? ' 'Behold He taketh away, who can hin- der Him? Whd will say unto Him, What doest Thou? . . . Thou art hot a man as 1 am that I should answer Thee." Further you must give yourself up to do without one ray of light and your thickest darkness, believing that such often is the path of faith ("I have made my bed in the darkness"), and that the soul may walk therein with greater security than in the broad light of day, because earthly shadows do not interfere, but God carries out His own work undis- turbed. Be sure that whatever comfort you might receive by such extraneous light would be worthless, as compared to the real gain of the darkness of God so appoint for you. Nay, even amid the sharpest agonies of soul, you L must be ready to do without the sensible consolations of grace, willingly renouncing them as taking off the bloom of a pure, unresedved sacrifice of self, and bind- ing down the soul to imperfect surrender of will. Do you strive even to prefer your unalleviated pain, training yourself to be very watchful against a self- indulgent desire for any mitigation. If strange per- plexities of conscience come upon you, resign your- - self to be left without inward assurance as to your spiritual condition, and learn to stand full of awe before God, without any cowardly impatience to escape at once from fear into the soothing rest of His THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 4i Love. This is a point in the hidden life too often neglected. We ought to cling to Clod in His terrors as well as" in His loving kindness, delighting to pay Him the homage of holy fear ii addition to that of perfect love. Further, amid the 1 searching pains and desolations which at times sweep away all sensible comfort, re- sign yourself to do without the secret strength which arises from the thought that you are God's. Christ says, "Whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it;" and you must learn to We the total loss of self, because thereby you will find a new and far more blessed self in God, although how yoii cannot itnder^ stand either the loss or the recovery. But you do know that to find God is worth all other 1 loss. Finally, if you have thought to find comfort iii the remembrance that God sees you, offer up this con- solation, too, reminding yourself that you are un- worthy of Sis glance or attention, you who are naught and less than naught. This will put the last stroke to your self-sacrifice. But be sure you will lose nothing by thus laying your soul before God in all simplicity, asking ho consolation from any source whatever. He sees your ready offering. He fathoms the depths of your renunciation, and you are more acceptable to Him thus, than when overflowing with spiritual delights. Surely you heed ask no more than that He should be satisfied, and accept your service as* faithful. We have seen how much courage you need to suf- fer, still more to suffer without consolation; but there is one step liar lei' still, — to do all this for God's sake 42 TRANSCEtiDENf-SCIENCE, OR bnty. Great suffering induces a sort of torpor, as though suffering justified lis in remaining passive. But he who Would give himself' wholly to God must rise out of himself, and give 1 the last deathblow to nature by still doing 4 everything for God — -consuming and pouring himself out for Him Who is our Maker and Author^ giving hack, as it were, the 1 gift He gave. Such ah unquestioning submission, Avhich asks lio pal- liation, yet strives to serve* God to the last breath, is indeed the 1 fulfilment of St. PaiiPs precept, and he who attains to it will £i not tntst in himself, but in God, Which raiseth the dead." The Subjects for Contemplation and Meditation are thus; (1) The origin and constitution of the tJhiverse. (2) The nature of Knowledge' and its instruments (such as mind, etc.) (3) The discrimination of the soul and its immor- tality; (4) The future state of the Soil! and its wanderings. (5) The Cause of bur embodied existence. (6) The OaUse of pleasure and pain. (7) Moral Law (Karma). (8) Bondage and Liberation. (9) Personal God and the Absolute, or Impersonal God. One aim inspires the whole body of Brah- mavidya's L)arsahas and that is Liberation — Mukti". One aim inspires the whole body of Brahma vidya's t)arsanas, and that is, Liberation — Mukti. THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 43 As tlie waters of the ocean have only one taste, which is ,salt, so the Darsanas have only one aim, which is Liberation. Man wants to be liberated, to be free — free from the imperfections of his own nature — physical, in- tellectual, moral and spiritual. This aspiration is seated deep down in the very nature of our spiritual consciousness, and finds eloquent expression in the songs of the Upanishads and in the aphorisms of the Darsanas. To attain to Freedom and Soul-Emancipa- tion, means to be holy and wise and perfect, as God is perfect, wise and holy. Different philosophers have interpreted freedom in different ways; for instance, Kapila says that freedom means the realization of the independence of the spirit from the material prin- ciple in which it finds itself tangled. This state of perfection means complete freedom from the vicis- situdes of terrestial existence, but this may be taken in two ways: First, that the soul may be completely extinguished, just as the flame of a candle is extin- guished; or that the soul may return to God from Whom it arose. In the Brahmavidyan Doctrine of Transcendent- Science, this is not to be interpreted as partial or total extinction of the Self, that the Maya is to be swallowed up into the Reality — the Supreme All — the Supreme One. This is substantiated by Brahmavidya in many ways, which you, the reader, will perceive in due time as you read on; and also that the Brah- mavidyan Doctrine on Nirvana docs not imply, does not state, and does not mean the extinction of the im- mortal spirit that resides in the heart of man, but of 44 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR the MAYA— this — of the lower ego which is the seal of all selfishness and imperfection. The Buddha im- plied the same, but even today few can seem to realize that that was what he implied and meant. That this is so seems probable from what he said on one oc- casion when he took some dry leaves into the hollow of his hand, and asked his disciple Ananda to tell him whether there were any other leaves besides these, to which Ananda replied; "The leaves of autumn are falling on all sides, and there are more of them than can be numbered." Then the Buddha said: "In like manner I have given you a handful of truths, but besides these there are many thousands of other truths, more than can be numbered." What is this one idea that has been followed out throughout the ages—- from Time immemorial'? All philosophical speculation can be traced in the Rig Veda, which is the oldest of all the Vedas; there we iind such passages as the following: "The poets and prophets discover Cod in their hearts. Beyond light and darkness, there He shine- in His wonderful Majesty." The entire Vedic literature is filled with refer- ences to the existence of God, and man's need to realize Him. The Upanishads, of which at the pres- ent time there are only 108 in number, are full of the loftiest poetry with regard to the immortality of the soul, the Creator of this universe, and the final libera- tion of man through the knowledge of "the Cod who the Science oP SelF knowledge 45 dwells iii the cavity of the heart. ' ' All the philosoph- ical speculations of the world can be traced to the Upanishads, which are an inexhaustible storehouse of scientific and philosophic ideas. Chapter 11. swami brahma vidya's neologism on *he supreme life es- sences: "agasa." "All manifestation of Force or Energy, whether of Prana or of Akasa, depends upon an amanuensis ; and this vehiculum is Agasa. "=^Swami Brahmavidya. Complete Renunciation is realizable and attained by Postures which bring the sum total of faculties of the psychic and physical body into a perfect state of tranquillity. Then comes the Breathing processes. Breathing is only one of the many processes through which We get to the real control of the psychic prana. Akasa which is omnipresent, all penetrating exist- ence, and of which all things that have form are evolved. Akasa is the infinite omnipresent material of the universe, and it is this prana which is infinite, omnipresent manifesting power of this akasa. Every- thing that is evolved out of this infinite prana is agasa — the powers that proceed out from our mental, psychic and physical organisms. By control of this prana along with inhalation and inhibition of this agasa, for both must go together, as they are insep- arable, comes these following powers: The powers are in three orders, and then agan sub-divided into three more. The First Order is as follows: (1) He beholds God face to face, without dying, and converses familiarly with the seven genii Avho 4(i THE SCIENCE OP SELE KNOWLEDGE 47 command the entire celestial army. (2) He is above all afflictions and all fears. (3) He reigns with all heaven and is served With all hell. (4) He disposes with and of his own health and life and can equally influence that of others. (5) He can neither be sur- prised by misfortune, nor overwhelmed by disasters, nor conquered by his enehlies. (o) Ho knows the reason of the jpast, present, and future. (7) H^ possesses the secret of the resurrection of the dead and the key to immortality. (8) To find the philo- sophical stone. (9) To enjoy the universal medicine. (10) To be acquainted with the laws of perpetual motion and in a position to demonstrate the quadra- ture of the circle. (11) ^o change into gold not only all metals, but also the earth itself, and even the re- fuse of the earth. (12) To subdue the most ferocious animals and be able to pronounce the words which paralyze and charm serpents. (13) To possess the Ars Notoria which gives the universal science. (14) To speak learnedly on all subjects, without prepara- tion and without study. (15) To know at first sight the deep things of the souls of men and the mysteries of the hearts of women. (16) To force nature to make him free at his pleasure. (17) To foresee all future events which do not depend on a superior will, or an all undiscernible cause. (18) To give at once and to all the most efficacious consolations and the most wholesome counsels. (19) To triumph over adver- sities. (20) To have the secret of wealth, to be always its master, and never its slave. To know how to enjoy even poverty and never become abject or miserable. (21) And finally we add, that the adept who can un- derstand these listed twenty-one named and men- tioned powers, or these throe septenaries can rule the 48 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, or elements, still the tempests, cure the diseased by a mere touch, and raise the dead. The powers of the Yogi's are as follows: (1) The power of shrinking to the size of the smallest atom; (2) The power of becoming extremely light; (3) the power of. becoming extremely heavy; (4) the power of unlimited extension of the sense or- .gans; (5) the power of irresistible will; (6) the power of obtaining unlimited dominion over anything and everything; (7) the power of control of the powers of Nature; (8) the power of transporting oneself any- where at will. Another, and our last list of powers that We will name herein, will be as follows: (1) They know the thoughts of others. (2) Their sight, piercing as that of the celestials, be- holds without mist all that happens in the earth. (3) They know the past and future. (4) They perceive the uninterrupted succession of the Kalpas or ages of the world. (5) Their hearing is so fine that they perceive and can interpret all the harmonies of the three worlds and the ten divisions of the universe. (6) They are not subject to bodily conditions, and can assume an} r appearance at will. (7) They distinguish the shadowings of lucky or un- lucky words, whether they are near or far away. THE SCIENCE Op SEEP KhlOWLPDGP 49 (8) They possess the knowledge of all forms, and knowing that foi*m is Void, they can assume every sort of form; and knowing that vacancy is form, they can annihilate and render nought ail forms. (9) They possess a knowledge of all laws. (10) They possess the perfect science of contempla- tion. Now we will forget this minute digression and re- sume our study. We see that this prana is the Life- Force, and exists in all human forms. And again it is the finest and most peerless life essence of all crea- tures. The action of this prana is Thought. Then this thought can manifest on three planes; as viz: the subconscious (instinctive); the conscious (of rea- soning, judging, thinking, affirming and denying, etc,, etc.) ; and lastly the superior plane, the superconscious which transcends the others and also transcends rea- son. It is the plane of the God-Man Incarnate. When the mind attains to this supremely higher state of superconsciousness then alone has that mind attained unto a knowledge and mastery of Self and all Knowl- edge. In the Supreme Vedas, the question is as thus: "What is that, knowing which we shall know every- thing V 1 Thus, all books, all teachings, and all philo- sophies that have ever been written on are extant to- day have existed only to affirm what has been exper- ienced ad will be experienced by those who are aide to perceive for themselves this Great Immutable Truth. Also to prove that this — only to prove THAT by knowing which everything is known. 'S '50 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR Man cannot have sufficient time while here on earth some say, to attain unto all knowledge! Again, some say, is there such a way open unto all men, here and even now, to attain unto this great sovereign ar- canum? I will say that there is, and that the way is so plain, that none can halt if they but try, even the lamed and the withered. For behind this and all par- ticular ideas stands a generalized, an abstract prin- ciple; grasp it, and you will have obtained the All. For all forces have been generalized into this prana, and when one grasps this prana and this agasa, he Will have attained and grasped all the forces of the universe (whether mental, psychic or physical). When one controls his own body or mind,' he will simultaneously have controlled all bodies or minds in the universe. For this prana is the generalized mani- festation of Force. Again the student might or will ask, I" How can this prana be controlled? How can th^se currents of thought be stilled and conquered?" Or, "How can we attain unto the superconscious state, which I term Transcenosis?" In the Oriental literature it is termed Samadhi. The phenomena that may be produced while the- adept's mind is superconscious is called Transcendental, and therefore is denominated the phenomena of Transcendentalization. Because the mind is merged into superconsciousness through total abstraction, and again, through the suspension of the thinking principle. Now I will proceed to answer your question. We must first take up the more grosser manifestations of mind and its powers or manifestations and master them before we can the more subtle. The basement or first floor must be con- THE SCIENCE OP SELF KNOWLEDGE 51 structed first. Then we will come to the second or third floors. We will go step by step, until *we attain the supreme state of consciousness. When the mind acts directly from a control of this prana, it does so through a medium, and this medium is termed "Agasa." The most subtle manifestation of this prana is this agasa. Therefore to control this prana and be able to manifest this agasa, we must set up new vibrations in our mental or psychological or- ganisms. After the vibration is once set up, it is like a newly or fresh built fire, all aglow; thus, by con- stantly keeping it so, we can easily transmit or pro- ject it. (1) The Process that is to be considered firstly, may be termed — Will unfoldment. This signifies a form of concentrative willing, or aspirational praying or some might term it auto-suggestion. (2) The next in order is: Imagination and Vis- ualization. (3) And lastly, but not least, or leastly, as the Rus- sians say, is Faith. Which means an uncontaminated belief and conscious certitude in oneself. We will take up the processes step by step, until we conclude our subject. Now for instance, we are out on some railroad crossing or in the shops, and see some great and powerful type of locomotive, standing still on the tracks. That would give us a wonderful and parallel conception of the Hindu adept who has attained unto a mastery of his mind, yet still not at that moment exercising his powers. Now again, suppose that that locomotive was en route to some far distant city, and Si TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR was speedily running, carrying or rather pulling forty to one hundred loaded cars of merchandise and equipage; that would represent in our mind, the won- derful power of that locomotive when put to test or in action. So it is with the Hindu adept's conscious- ness of power, it is so great that when he speaks to •those who are well versed on Occult subjects, he causes their mental faculties to be momentarily locked and his personal magnetism becomes so strong (his agasa) that he controls all whom listen to him. You will now remember that wherever there has occurred any feats of this kindj any speaker receiving great approbation, any speaker controlling some great crowd of people, or the production of any occult pre- nomena, or the like, ti was perpetuated through this prana. And this was done, whether they knew the principles of the same or not. It was done conscious- ly or unconsciously. For all clocks run on the same principle and are wound the same way. They merely set up a certain kind of vibration, and maintained the same for such and such a length of time, until they attained their desired results, thus it momentarily be- came so intensified and concentrated, that it was transmitted and projected out from the adept's or medium's consciousness into that of their audience. The highest vibration is Transcenosis, and the phen- omenon! that is directed then from the adept's mind whom has attained this superconscious state, I term Transcendentalization. In India it is termed by the adepts and Yogis "Samadhi." To keep from confusing the student's mind, I will not use any Sanscrit or Hindustani, thereby eliminat- THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 53 ing any error or mishapprehension, that perchance might arise on your part. The principles that we will take up, and v\hich are the basis of my Neologism: " Brahma vidya" or "Transcendent-Science" are as follows: (1) Strict moral living. (2) Easy postures, that can be maintained for any indefinite length of time, to assist in tranquillizing the mind. (3) Simple and non-exhausting breathing exer- cises along with exercises to make the mind intro- spective or reflexive. (4) Concentration, or prolonged interest on the subject of thought. (5) And last. Meditation, which is the only pre- cursory process that precedes and proceeds the others, and yet is the highest, that is to attain Samadhi, or what I care to term in my Neologism: "Transcenosis." Other principles that have a great deal to do with our subject matter, are as viz: (1) Periodicity; practicing the exercises or proc- esses, every day at the same time. This establishes the act, and makes it permanent within our conscious- ness — in other words it will become a habit with us to practice at that same time on the next day. For instance people, who retire to bed at any certain time at night and awaken without alarm clocks in the morning, it is done through applying this principle. Of course there are many people who do not, and $4 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR never have heard about this law, so they exercise this principle unconsciously. But nevertheless it is 'the same, and they attain the same results. (2) Correspondence; or unfoldment of ideas and thoughts by reading, listening, or thinking along cer- tain lines of thought, that are in harmony, or are parallel with what you are seeking. For instance, if 1 want to find out who is the owner of the voice that had called me on the telephone, and I had forgotten to ask, I would merely try to associate my mind with the time and place (and so forth) ; thus in a short time the answer would come from out of my store-house of memory. (3) Substitution; or applying certain new exer- cises or processes to work an opposite or contrary effect. For instance, some } r oung man would come to me, who smoked cigarettes, and had a great desire to quit, I would tell him to try chewing tobacco, or to smoke; cigars. Thus, anticipating that this newer habit would become repulsive to him, and he would quit all. (4) Repetition; or constantly and diligently re- peating the exercises and processes until the result is attaind. The hail is not driven in with One blow but with many. (5) These two must go together — Prayer, or auto- suggestion; which I define herein to signify, "One speaking earnestly to oneself." And Visualization or Seeing inwardly in the Mental Space that what you desire, and simultaneusly Realizing that it is Done. THE SCIENCE OE SELE KNOWLEDGE 55 (6) Realization; or being able to Realize that what you ask shall be given. That all things are possible. That all conies from Within. Realization comes from Solitude. Also Abstraction, but I will treat of that later. To Understand the truths that process or rather emanate from above and to Realize' or to be able to do so, in regard to these 1 mysterious influences of the Celestial realm which proceeds downwards upon the Intellectual, and then on to Terrestial, calls for a di- rect perception of the same. For only the Eternal can preach the Eternal. To arrive at this stage of Knowledge one must first strive to associate his or her mind with the Eternal and Imperishable. By and through the Law of Realization, inspiration is awak- ened and established. Again, by and through the exercise or operation of the powers of Prayer, which means auto-suggestion, or an earnest communion with oneself such as self-thought, the supreme realization of the. spiritual self, and innermost desire of life are reached and; (manifested, withholding all doubt, then alone will the student consciousness open up to him, ..and. connect him with the inward or latent su- preme, possibilities of his own soul. Through this Rationale of Prayer, the mind is exalted, and that manifests that perfection of the permanent inner- body. This thought must be held constantly before your mind and receptive consciousness, thus enabling you to have this conception always before you to dwell upon until it becomes by repetition a habit, and not only a habit — but a dominant impression and ac- tual realization in your daily life. Thus by my meth- ods of Prayer (auto-suggestion) the haw of Substi- tion becomes an established verity; seeing that any habit that continually occurs, since it is permanently 56 Transcendent-science, or fixed in one's consciousness, and thus perpetually tries or does reassert itself, I can by my own science cast it out, by applying these principles, which I term Substition. I can break it in to and then eliminate it entirely, by implanting in his mind special and per- sistent suggestions, or let him try the same, and by doing the same, any deficiency of character, mental or physical, will thus be overcome or be broken by my or his earnest persistent efforts in the right di- rection. This inspiration, Realization or Psychic Conscious- ness established, however, breaks and crushes asunder forever dominance of embarrassment and hesitation caused by sense impressions of the self which thinks, reasons, judges, and gives nay's and yea's, for this is merely the conscious self. Thus the great importance to be attached to the other and more spiritual phases of consciousness, the superconsciousness; hence also, the supreme importance of immediate awakening and enthronement of this higher self (inspiration) — which is Realization, and the self-control of this higher con- sciousness, the perfection of which is reached and ef- fected by gaining control (supreme self-control) through the law of Realization. (7) Last, but in no sense least, my next principle in Transcendent-Science is Consciousness without thought. "Consciousness without Thought" is the Supreme Goal of all men. It is attained by exercises and processes which inhibit the thought currents and accelerate entire or Total- Abstraction, or I might say that it is an entire and complete suspension of the Thinking Principle. I will treat on all of these as we proceed with our subject. THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 57 There is something that I would like very much to state here and now, before we advance further into the Vales of Occult Lore, I do not desire that you will think me* pretentious, or even less a bigot, for I am merely stating my own convictions, which I know to be sincere and worthy of your attention and interest. I have read many, many, many books on the Occult / Arts and on Psyehism itself along with magic; and I have found out that all of them are merely repetitions of one another. JEven Levi, Aggrippa, Paracelsus, etc., etc., I might name at least three hundred more, and I would have to amrm my same statements. They all seem to try to cover up what they see or know to be facts, that is if they really knew the same, for I for one doubt if any of them knew, for they surely would not have placed so much emphasis on Pantacles, chains, cups, etc., such things that are so superstitious and known even by all students of Occultism to be mere tomfoolery, hardly stirring up even the imagina- tion, and then if they succeed, it is only a diseased one, which opens one's mind to hallucinations. I say, again, that I am the first one to give to you, the Truth of these teachings, and especially, those parts which one cannot obtain from books. Of course I realize that some will have to rend between the lines, while others will still need teachers, if they can afford; but in the main, I have not left one article that is important out. So you may trust that my sole endeavor and aim, in writing this book, is to preach to you what I have alone known and knew to be the Truth. Also what I have associated my own mind with. Because T know the Eternal and thus I am fully able to preach the same. If any one may doubt 58 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR this, let him practice, what I have herein written, and he will then be able to affirm or to deny whether I have stated the truth, or whether I am Possessed. 'The Christ stated that his disciples would be known not by their babblings, but by their works. Show me some Christian that is able to do the works of his Founder! Show me who has let their mind attain to such heights that their Founder has? It is mere fool- ishness and childness to talk about what Christ did, any lunatic can babble about what Napoleon did, but only the silent ones can do the same. So let us cease talking about our religions and get to work, and do something ourselves. If the hypocritical ministers who exist today would practice a little of this doctrine, or even their own they would understand it was not originated for doubters and fools, but for those who understood Common-Sense. If they would do so, the Churches would not be so vacant, and again they Would cease to argue about the supreme goodness of their creed or belief or religion, thinking that theirs is far more holy than their brothers'. If they did this, that is if they all did this, the entire race of mankind would understand and Realize the Truth of all Reli- gions — which aims after evolving out of the Flesh the Divinity that is potentially within all men, and thus enter into the Resurrection Life of God, of which our souls and hearts beareth witness in Heaven. In the material world Man is held liable to punishment for his Evil deeds (actions) but in the nether world of Spirit, for his thoughts. That defines the old saying: "That man is not judged by his thoughts, but by his actions." But when we proceed further, we hear, "Charity without works is dead." So we can herein and from this perceive that we can neither talk about THE SCIENCE OE SELF KNOWLEDGE 50 these great Occult Powers, or on the other hand op- erate them without showing the same truths to our associates and brothers. So to know and to act and to keep silent, is to evolve this Great Christ Principle (this Christ Consciousness) that many illiterate re- ligionists speak so much about. Remembei' this, that our brother's face serves as a mirror for us to dress ours in. If our brother's opinions are not like ours, do not say that he is an apostate or reprobate, but carefully watch his thoughts, that is his train of thoughts and ideas, and then also his works. For most probably We have forgotten to first take out the beam in own eyes which prejudices our own sight, then after that we will be able to see whether there is a moat in our dear brother's. Please also remember that Prejudice has to be driven oiit first before you can attain even to Common Sense. This applies to the same in all forms, whether' they ai 4 e Racial, Political or Religious. Now we will come back to the center of th° main road and resume our study. The ignorant populace in the times of the advent of Jesus, said that He blasphemed God when he on one occasion stated that "I and my Father are One." It is the same hi the Hindu Religious, and in fact in all religions of the earth; the disciple tries to attain to a Realization of God. When the mind attains to this Realization, then all will say the same, "I and my Father are One.' 1 Therefore, again it is just the same with the Yogi's of India, they declare that God dwells within them, and when they attain unto him and become merged into Samadhi, they say, identically the same words that the man Jesus did. Only the ignorant and 66 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR wicked fail to understand what he 1 emphasized when he conversed at night with Mcodemus. The TTnre- generated cannot understand tne conversation of the Regenerate | likewise the Darkness cannot comprehend the Light. It says that in the Christian Bible, and it is the sanie in the Sacred Vedas. The sum total of all my teachings are as thils — : to evolve Spiritual Consciousness and to Emancipate the Soul from its prison house of Maya. To enable all to Realize the Abode of all Good, and to enter into it forevermore. For there only is to be found Eternal Bliss and Un- ending Peace. CHAPTER III SWAMI BRAHMA VlDYA'S DOCTRINE: WHICH IS A NEOLOGISM OF THE UNFOLD- MENT OF MAGIC POWERS: NORMAL CONSCIOUSNESS. "When the Lower will merges into the Higher it attains the Supreme Powers of OmniconsciousneSs.''— Swami Brahma- vidya. You will remember that in the first part of this work I told you about the lives of all the great spirit- ual teachers; such as Buddha, Christ and Moham- med; also you will remember that Ave have, according to history, an account of what they did, and how they elevated themselves above the herds, or base and vul- gar humanity. Probably, you have as you have been following my words and admonitions, forgot that I stated there was an u Omission H in all of their lives and histories. This " Omission" was this, that they secluded themselves, or rather isolated themselves, and became great men by what? By "Exercise." I mean that they practiced a certain process to accomplish a cer- tain result. Now the Processes that they practiced are practically the same; but I shall speak of none of them. Everyone knows that Buddha meditated under a tree, that Christ fasted and prayed, and that fii 62 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR Mohammed did nearly the same. Neither will I speak of the Yogis, whose processes are none the less dif- ferent. But I will speak of my own process that is quite simple and does not consume one-tenth as much time or thought. Some might say as we go along that the process is nearly a parallel one with the teachings of the Yoga Philosophies; but as you or they will read still further, you will see that they are original. For all this has been revealed to me by Practice and Intuition alone, and not by merely quot- ing the works of Patanjali or Sancharya. Let every- one study and practice these instructions once for themselves and they will see the same Truth that I have felt and tasted and seen. Now we will proceed with our instructions. This Prana and Agasa, as } r ou have been told by me in the previous chapter, represents the Great Mag- ical Agent; simply because it is the Life Energy and Life Essence. Prana permeates matter. Prana shows forth in motion. Motion is an effect. As this Prana is a Force it acts upon and through the nerves upon the muscles, bones, sinews, and gives to the human body motion, or rather it permits the bod.y to mani- fest such. Then it acts upon the brain and nerve sub- stances and gives forth mind. Then upon the mind it produces Thought. So }^ou can perceive now that mind is only an instrument, and Thought is a mere Illusion which must be suspended before the Soul- Consciousness can be attained. Prana plays upon the mind as the pianist plays on a piano, and the re- sult, which is only transient, or which is permanent so long as the player plays, results only in the high- est manifestations of Prana in you, which is Thought. THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 63 Thought is a Force. For it is a manifestation of Prana. When the mind attains unto complete "Con- sciousness-Without-Thought, ' ' then it can control this Prana and its manifestation of Thought. Mere Consciousness is transient and mortal, strive to attain Consciousness-Without-Thought and evolve the Supreme Changeless. There is no preter- natural in my doctrine of "Transcendent-Science"; I speak onfy in regard to those things which I have proven and determined as substantial facts and Laws that will forevermore remain irrevocable and Su- preme. There are in nature gross and subtle mani- festations (objective and subjective), and the gross are and can be perceived with the physical senses, but the subtle cannot. Thus the subtle are the causes, and the rtoss the effects. & j The sole aim of my teachings are to manifest with- in each of my students who sincerely practice my in- structions, the Goal that has been predestined from the very beginning — Liberation and absolute Eman- cipation of the soul. And this method I desire to term "Transcendent-Science" or "Brahmavidya." Remember that the highest phase of my teachings are the outcome of my meditations and practices that I have applied in my own life in the past few years, and that they are scientific only to those who will practice and exercise their minds to find out the truths for themselves, that are contained herein. When the mind of any of my students attains Com- plete "Consciousness-without-Thought" by practic- ing the specific instructions that I will give in this work, it is said to enter into the state which I term 64 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR 1 i Transcenosis, " and when it exercises the powers of the superconscious-self in that same state the powers are denominated as "Transcendental," and the phe- nomena termed "Transcendentalization." Thus we will, as we go on, speak of the phenomena of Trans- cendentalization. Again, you will remember that in this same chap- ter I told you about the "Omission" in the lives of Buddha, Christ and Mohammed. Now I will con- clude this explanation, so that we can resume the object of our analysis and exposition. When these men re-appeared on the stage of common humanity, they all practically declared the same thing. That is, they all said that they either saw or felt God — this was their common experience, or rather it was in common with each. These men whom had disap- peared as a "Nobody," had returned as a "Some- body," and had merely spoken of their novel and un- precedented experiences. Thus we see that they have all experienced certain truths, and declared the same aloud to the world. Again, this goes to show to you that the Univer- sal Foundation of Knowledge is direct experience, and it is this upon which all these manifold religious sys- tems, dogmas, schisms, philosophies, etc., have been constructed. Although it is an undeniable fact that the expo- nents of these religions of modern times do not prac- tice the principles of their own teachings and evolve the same as their founders i did; and that they have not had the pleasure of seeing or feeling God as their THE SCIENCE OP SEEP KNOWLEDGE 65 founders also did; likewise of seeing their own immor- tality, their future, and eternity, and that their preachings chill the hearts of those who listen to them as iced water running on the back of a man whose body is already cold will do; yet the same is possible for all men. The Path is open today the same as it was then. This is the Law of Uniformity in Nature which is and forever will be that is irrevocable. For what once has happened can always happen. So do not say that because the hypocritical ministers who call themselves "reverends" and Doctors of Divinity, lack a real knowledge of what they so presumptuous- ly preach, and such great psychic and spiritual pow- ers that their founders possessed, that the same is ob- solete. It might be obsolete, but that is only because 1 they are unable to manifest them, hence they have be- come obsolete and unmanifested, but never impossible of repetition. The Science which is termed u Brahma vidya" or "Transcendent- Science/' teaches that religion i> not only based upon these great Founders' experiences and statements, these peerless men of ancient times — but that no individual will ever be religious until he has attained unto these same perceptions himself. Not by teaching, not by philosophizing, not by dog- matizing, not by schismitizing, not by reading, not by hearing, nor by talking wisely and learnedly; nay, never, by any of these vain processes, by doing, by practice, and by exercising. I can talk and argue with you ten thousand aeons, and then throughout an entire chiliad, but you will never he able to perceive and experience what I and thousands of others on the same and identical Path have until you have prac- 66 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR ticed. It is not by our verbosity that we are to be known, but we will be recognized by and through our "Works" — actions, deeds, etc., etc. Remember this and practice, and you will be wonderfully helped on the "Road to Self -Mastery. " This is my sole aim in expounding to you my experience and teachings. To evolve the G-oal of all Souls, to manifest that poten- tial Divinity which is within all beings. All is within, there is nothing without. As we will proceed step by step, and not by mile leaps, and by using simple aphorisms, I may rest assured that all, even the deaf, dumb and blind will know of what I declare. So do not worry whether you will be able to master these simple instructions, which now in the very beginning perchance seek, or appear to you like some great mountain or rocky barrier. It is that way in the in- choation or commencement of all things that are worth your full interest and attention. Now we will resume our talk on this Prana. This Prana manifests as Thought; that is, when it is trans- mitted or projected upon the brain, then it is evolved — Thought. So do not think that you manufacture Thought. You merely express the sound when the instrument, the brain, is struck. The condition of the brain determines the sound of the instrument. Life, which becomes manifest by this Frana, sets into power the vibrations of this instrument of the Mind which is the Brain. For the brain is merely a conglomera- tion of gray dead matter, and is without motion, until this Prana manifests upon it. Therefore, this brain depends upon an infusion of this Prana before it can operate. Again, when the brain is infused with this Prana, it develops what I call Consciousness, which THE SCIENCE OF SEEP KMotV LEDGE 67 stamps all beings as distinct Individualities, separate one to anothel*. Please remember that this is not the ease in l^ranseenosis, or Superconsciousness, that is when Consciousness- Without-Thought is attained. The changeless oi 1 immortal aspect of mortal mind is the super-conscious, and not the sub-conscious, as so many western psychologists would have you to be- lieve. I have told you that the mind manifests upon three planes of Consciousness, as Super-conscious, Conscious and Sub-conscious. But there is in reality only One Mind; these manifestations are to be taken as meaning aspects or attributes that are predicable of Mind itself. The Threshold of All-Knowledge is in Super-consciousness, because when the mind attains unto that it is said to attain silpersensual and Intui- tive perception, and this instantaneously. Omnipo- tence, Omnipresence and Omniscience are attributes of this phase of Consciousness. When this state of super-consciousness or Trans- cenosis is attained, it communes with the Soul direct- ly, and the Soul in return imparts its Supreme Knowl- edge, thus the mind of the super-conscious adept at- tains omniscience, etc. Hence, the saying, when the preachers speak in their sermons of Christ, that his face shown as the sun. It was merely a spiritual transfiguration, and the countenance became bright with celestial truths, because the mind had become illumined, and the super-conscious state manifested itself externally upon the body. Now we have approached the exercises that will in time, and according to our diligence, evolve the Summum Bonuni of all-Existence. And yet more, to 68 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR unfold all Spiritual Knowledge and Power that is predicated of your Soul. There is only One Soul. And that is God. Remember that you are a part of Him. So when you practice, you will maintain a revered tranquillity of consciousness, to merit the fullest results, and the approbation of your own con- science, which is the immortal disciplinary in every individual. Please, practice to commence with, per- fect silencing of all thoughts, especially those that are in discord with your own higher nature. As I have stated, we will have to begin with the gross manifestations of this Prana to reach in the end the more subtle. Hence we should practice sitting in some posture that can be maintained throughout the entire practice of these exercises without any move- ment of the body taking place, or retarding your prog- ress. The posture that is the most easiest for you to attain for at least fifteen minutes (to start with) will be found out the best to practice. After you have chosen a very comfortable position, sitting so that the spinal column is perfectly erect and straight, with the chest thrown out and upward, and the chin held in, you will start with the following exercise: With the thumbs of both hands placed aperture of the ears, and the forefingers of each hand over the eyes (do not press hard upon the eyelids, but merely close them firmly, thus excluding all external vision), then close the right nostril with the middle finger of the right hand, simultaneously inhaling through the left nostril, after a full inhalation, close the left nos- tril with the middle finger of the left hand, inhibit the inhalation for at least four seconds, with both of the THE SCIENCE OP SELF KNOWLEDGE 69 nostril passages closed tightly, then removing the middle finger of the left hand from the left side of the nostril, exhale slowly through the right nostril. The inhalation is to be in twelve seconds, the inhibi- tion in four seconds and the exhalation in eight sec- onds. There must not be any haste or jerkiness whil^ you are practicing this exercise, and there must not be any noise like a locomotive puffing out steam; it must all be done quietly. You may imagine this Pra- na being drawn in slowly out of the atmosphere like a fine silvery vapor; in fact, 3^011 should try to visual- ize the same, this will greatly accelerate your unfold- ment. After you have kept this exercise up for at least two weeks, you will be ready to start in with the more advanced ones. Remember that the best time to practice is as viz: early in the morning, about ten minutes before sunrise, and at ten o'clock a. m., then the next time at about four o'clock p. m., and the last or fourth at midnight, or thereabouts. By practicing this breathing process, we in time are able to master these gross manifestations of the Prana, and to per- fect, simultaneously our concentration. Again, this purifies the nerves, all this must be done, before the student can attain psychic powers or finally Libera- tion. The next and best method, for this, and which is a part of the first exercise, is to close up the eyes, ears, nose and mouth, by placing the thumbs in the ears, forefingers over each eye, the second fingers of 70 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR each hand over each side of the nostrils and the third fingers over the lips, thus closing all the artifices. The student must then lift a finger from one nostril, and very slowly inhale, closing the nostril again as the lungs are full, and inhibiting the full or complete breath for a short time, expelling or exhaling it by the other nostril in a slow and even stream. Thus, if you inhale through the right nostril you must exhale through the left, and vice versa. Remember that you must never change this exercise, that is, you must never practice inhaling through the right nostril, but always inhale through the left, and exhale through the right. While inhaling repeat mentally the sacred word of the Hindus, which is "OM" over and over in your mind. This will tend to purify it. Always, then, especially in practicing this exercise, just before and immediately after practicing this exercise, drink in the air for at least five minutes. This is done by SAvallowing the breath immediately after a full in- halation. If this is done properly it will produce a vacuum in the mouth and nasal passages, resulting in a buzzing, humming noise in the ears, which might not seem very pleasant the first two or three times. The things that you will first notice will be these espeeialty: the breath will be sweet, the coating will vanish from the tongue, the appetite will be good, the voice will be wonderful and clear, no Yogi ever had a harsh voice, nor a weak body. But on the contrary, all who practice these instructions will note a won- derful change in their animal economy; such as won- derful physical and mental vitality. Great powers of concentration will unfold, and along with that greater powers of personal magnetism. Again, you will find THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 71 out that you will in a veiy short time after you have got on to the knack of these practices, that you will even be able to practice them on the street cars, in your office while working and also on the street when you are walking home, etc. Remember that all great reforms are gradual. All lasting improvements are slowly accomplished. Where there is abrupt zeal there is too often abrupt backsliding. The key-worl to Transcendent-Science is Patience and Gentleness. Never be in a hurry. Never sit down and wait for things to manifest themselves, but exercise what pow- ers that you alread}^ possess and this alone will mani- fest through your active faith, by applying and put- ting into action what implements that you at that time possess. Also remember that ali good will soon come to you if you will only continue these practices. If you like meat and drink coffee and use tobacco, or the like, continue to do so if the desire to do so is still present in you. For when your mind gradually at- tains to self -illumination and rapture, these desires that are not for } T our highest good will be trausmut°d into ones of a far more radical but better kind, and thus the old and dangerous ones will graduallv leave. So do not practice self-mortification, penances, self- torture nor any sudden and harsh uprooting of your habits, but use Wisdom and Understanding in all things. Remember that it takes years of mind-action to build up those perverse habits, and to set up certain vibrations within you; so they are not to be entirely crushed in a day, or the entire structure itself will be shaken to its foundations. This is why we always start with the physical body in these exercises, because we must assuredly 72 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR start with the more gross manifestations of this Prana to be able to reach the far more subtle, the mind and its phenomena. That is one of the reasons in my science that I place so much stress on the Breathing apparatus, or what we term the respiratory appara- tus. After the body is mastered then we can start with the manifestations of the mind, but not the mind itself. Please take one floor at a time. The Soul it- self will be quick to notice these new conditions that you have set up physically, and thus by these newer vibrations you will take .on higher thoughts of the Divine Plan of the Ineffable. Now Nerve currents are next in order in our dis- quisition, for they are the emanations of powers from nerve centers, which store up the nervous and prana energy in the human body. I shall only take up the most important nerve centers in the body, and thus by giving the entire principles of breathing and con- centration, you will be enabled to unfold these cen- ters. The spinal column is the center, around "which all revolves, and the various nerve centers have their specific values (powers) according to their location. Each one has a distinct attribute and power, that dis- tinguishes it from the rest. So I cannot herein speak of the entire group as a whole, but must take them each up separately. As I have told you, the nerve cen- ters are one of the greatest things to be taken up in our study, in the nomenclature of the Hindus they are termed "Lotuses," but I will not use any Hindu terms, so as to completely avoid any error or confu- sion on your part. These "Lotuses" in the English THE SCIENCE OF SELF KMOlVLFDGE ?3 language represent the various plexuses or ganglionic centers, the nerve groups, Where vitality and sensa- tion are more strongly congregated than at other por- tions of the human body. So instead of using the Hindu word "Lotus," I will throughout this work on this subject use the English equivalent, which is " Plexus.' * We will in turn consider the fourteen centers that are recognized by Yoga, such centers that have a great and special mission in the human frame to help man onward to perfection and unfoldment. Now, of the fourteen there are nine such centers that we will speak of as we go on. These are the most suited to your practices, and again are the best to practice, to attain some such practical result. This poAver of Prana emits to them vitality, which in turn flows through the centers of these plexuses. So you can see from this that the great and sole aim of these physical-psychical methods are used with an aim of liberating and unfolding these centers, and more es- pecially of freeing the passage within the spinal cord. I shall speak of this passage in the spinal cord later on, and then give you full instructions to open it up, so that this great Prana may ascend upwards to the Brain. When it reaches the Brain, then you will be able to know and to do all things. You will remember that I told you that the verte- bral column forms the center, and at the top of this is a nerve center which the Hindus term the "nectar rayed moon." This center continually, or rather con- tinuously, emits in two streams of this Prana, which pass each other in parallel lines, each going the op- 74 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR posite direction, as upwards and downwards. I mean one of these passes on the left side of the spinal col- umn and goes downwards, and the other is ejected by exhalation and goes upwards and out through the right nasal passage. The left side of the spinal col- umn along with the left nostril is called, in the lan- guage of the Yogi, the "Ida," while the other, on the right side, is called the "Pingali." The spinal cord itself is termed the "Shushumna," and has two passages, parallel one to the other, as 1 have told you. At the bottom of the spinal cord there is a center termed the "Sun," and from this passes the inhalation, after the full inhibition or retention of breath in the lungs and the other air cavities, when it is to be ejected up the right side and out into the atmosphere again— the right side being the "Pingali." J hope this is iioav plain in your mind. Another way to clarify the same statement is as thus: This center which is termed the "Sun," and which rests or is at the direct bottom of the spinal column, is the vehicle that passes the inhaled psychic-prana through this passage, on the right side of the column, which car- ries the emanations or rays of this "sun" upwards, so that the nerve force, which is prana manifest, so that it can pass down the one side and up the other side, in a continuous stream of psychic and physical energy. Our subject has only in reality to consider the Two Great Nerve Centers, the one at the top of the spinal column and which is at the base of the brain, and the other one at the base of the spinal column, which Eng- lish speaking people term the sacral plexus. This -The science OP SELF* KNOWLEDGE 75 Prana colnes in contact with the internal nervous latent forces in the body, in this channel in the spinal column, and this force that is to emerge upwards is termed by the Hindu, the Kundalini force — "coiled up,*' like a snake. The principal nerve centers, which the Hindus term "Nadis," are like a great mass of thin threads, interwoven but supported hy the vertebral column, and allegorically represent in the Hindu Philosophies on Yoga, the sun, mooil and fire. Within the center of the spinal column is a hollow place, and it is in this hollow that the Divinity that is potential in man abides. This center is also the seat of vitality and life. Now, at the very bottom or base of this spinal col- umn in the region of the sacral plexus, is situated an- other great center (remember that when I use the word center, that its meaning is synonymous with plexus) wherein dwells the supreme wife of the God (female power) the goddess Kundalini, which repre- sents creative force. The center in the head, which the Yogis term the Sakasrar, or thousand petaled Lo- tus, is Male. So when the two unite they become one. Unity in Duality. Now this "Lotus" that is sit- uated in the region of the sacral plexus, is what the Hindu terms the Adhar Lotus, and likewise herein is the abode of this goddess Kundalini. The vessel or nerve called Ida is on the left side, coiling around the Shushumna, or spinal cord, and goes to the right nos- tril; whilst the nerve Pingali, is on the right side, and coiling around the same Shushumna, or spinal column, fh TRANSCEtfDMT-SCIENCE, OR in like manner it enters the left nostril. This Shus- humna, or spinal column, has six stages of develop- ment. As I have told you this, or rather one of the chief - est centers in the body of man is that wherein abides the Kundalini force. This force, which in simple Eng- lish means "coiled up." It is the potential but sleep- ing power of the Supreme Life, which is in all things, therefore, it is the power of "Wisdom," and is the mother of the three qualities: illumination or light, darkness and activity. It embraces the three chan- nels or nerve centers, or in fact the entire spinal col- umn, and the nerves on either side, the spinal column, Shushumna, and the Ida, or the left, and the Pingali, or the right. Which the Hindus term the fire, the sun and the moon. Now when these three merge and commingle each together they create a compound sub- stance known as vija, which is exceedingly active and potent, and this passes through the entire body as a subtle force, giving motion, life and sensation, but mostly energy. These combinations are seated and are to be all found in the fundamental plexus or cen- ter, the base upon which must rest all the life within the body of man (at base of spinal column, or sacral plexus). The energy which encompasses and sur- rounds this center is called by the Hindus the seed of love. The Avhole combination is called the Muladhar Lotus, or the Basic One. In our next chapter Ave will speak of these many ^psychic-centers in the human body, also the many postures that are to be practiced. Now we will speak of the Psycho-physical, along with the supersensual THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 77 or transcorporal aspect of the Intelligence that is in man, so to speak. Intelligence abides or dwells in the material oody, and does so permanently according to the Law of Karma. It is bound there, though by man's ceaseless and vain desires. "For what we sow, the same we shall reap." So by constantly we must reap. To sow, and not to reap in this life, surely will create another body for us after the phenomena of death takes place physically. This is an old truth. To overcome all, and even Transcendent Immortality itself along with the Bliss of residing in Heaven for an eternity, calls for an entire cessation of "Sow- ing" so that we will not have anything to reap. To cease sowing is the Key to Reintegration that I would like to give you here and now, before we proceed further with our work. Indeed, verily this is the only Key to "Transcendent Existence," or Reintegration into the Bosom Divine of Omnisciousness. Every man has his Karma, which is either Good or Bad, and this goes to make up his character, traits, temperaments, etc., to a certain degree. Whatever happens to man during his earthly existence is the result of his Karma, and also all his or her desires which come into this existence with him or her, bring- to him or to her like joy or sorrow, according to his or her past Karma, which is Intelligence. Thus we can easily account for the reason why some have such a good time here on earth, and others just the con- trary. The aim of these teachings in the main, are to show to all, not to only you who are my personal students, but to the entire world at large, how to live now and here in such a manner that you will not produce any more Karma. To kill and crush, and -f8 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR to. annihilate all desires, for it is Desire alone which produces Karma, and is the primal cause of future reincarnations. The flesh doth make the spirit itself travail. I wrote the preceding sentence before I knew it, so you may see that our own spirit must' know, and does warn us of these age old facts. We shall be meted what we have meted. Thus all desire and passion which doth so hinder our spiritual progress on the ladder of Life, must in their very essence and substance 'be destroyed. Destroyed by what means, you might ask me? Destroyed through the acts of Non-Sowing, Substitution, and Transmuta- tion! ' '■'• ■<■ ' ■ >■?< This is the answer that the Christ gave to Nico- demus. But still it probably is so simple that he would never, even if he were living in the flesh today, be able to receive it. For it says: "Let him that is able to receive it, receive it." None can receive, until they understand. To practice Humility, Kindness, Goodness, Char- ity, Altruism, and the cardinal virtues, will awaken a love of the Divine within you. To merely talk about the Doctrine of Goodness, and to act contrary, is unf warranted. You must first act these instructions out, in order to be what they themselves represent. Con- sciousness of jDOwer is for all men, also for babies if they are able to aspire unto the supreme noblest in the divinely celestial plan of our Omnipotent-Creator. Remember that true knowledge will lead you to Unity, whilst ignorance, Avhich is darkness itself, leads to diversity. Sri Ramakrishna says, "If you fill an earthen vessel with water and set it apart upon a shelf, the water in it will dry up in a few days; but if von pipe e the same vessel immersed in water, it will remain THE SCIENCE OP SELF KNOWLEDGE 79 filled as long as it is kept there. Even so is the case of your love for the Lord God. Fill and enrich your bosom with the love of Grod for a time and then em- ploy yourself in other affairs, forgetting- Him all the while, and then you are sure to. find within a short time that your heart has become poor and vacant and devoid of that precious love. But if. you keep, your heart immersed alwa} T s in the. ocean of Divine love, your heart is sure to remain ever full to overflowing with the water of the love Divine. ' ' CHAPTER IV SWAMI BRAHMA VIDYA'S EXPOSITION OK POSTURES TO UNFOLD TRANSCENDED TAL OCCULT POWERS "That which is heheld as the self -existent is an outcome of the maintenance of self-disciple through various postures^ which transform the will streams of Consciousness.'' — Swami Brahmavidya. I will now consider some of the postures that 1 know will help and greatly assist you in your unf old- ment. The aim of these postures that I will give yoii herein, are solely given to you to assist you to com- pletely suspend all thought and to become merged iri spirit, thus attaining unto all-power; This Chitta, or mind stuff, is an entirely uncon j trolled function in the ordinary man, and thus he has* no power over his thoughts; they are Unharnessed and run wild; thus by his being thus wise lacking in the essential knowledge to direct certain powers against this form of mental abberation, and to command what- ever thoughts that arise in his consciousness, and manifest, or become manifest by his mental activities, they master him, and he becomes their servant, because he is subservient to his own desires and passions. This entire or sum-total universe of worlds upon, and worlds within worlds, all that is within and with- out and beyond our finite comprehension, is the prod- ucts of the Divine intelligibility, which is the Sub- stantial and Primal cause or all-things. Likewise' 80 SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 81 this intelligence is. illimitable; Unlimited by time or space, for it pervades all things, yet does not mingle with any; it is the supreme eternal, and cannot be destroyed 5 — it is impervious to all. Now this universe is the World without and is only j a, reflection of the God (Brahma) world which is with- in. Therefore this is Maya, Which the Hindus claim is the Mother of t the Universe. This universe is crea- ted out of this Maya (illusion); which appears 1'ke it is a Reality, like a Man beholding himself in a mirror, may become momentarily confused and think that the reflection in the glass is him himself. Thus we are all fooled. For this Maya (illusion) is only the result of the imagination and the unreal, and when we de- stroy these thought structures of the brain, that which has appeared so real and solid and substantial will be found to be as a mere vapor. •^~~~ Again it is like the statement in the Bible, th^ y things that are seen are temporal, the things unseen are eternal. This, is the sum-total of the Yoga phil- / osophy. For the Hindu teachings are identicallv th^ I same with the Christians. Even the allegorv of Adam and Eve, and of Noah's ark. are in our Vedas. In fact when you read the Hindu Vedas, you will per- haps think that you have made a mistake and were reading the Bible. Even the Trinity is a part of the Hindu Scriptures. The oldest Scriptures in existence are the Vedas. Nothing existing or unexisting, manifested, or unmanifested, is Real and Perfect excent Spirit. Spirit is the Will in and of all things. From tins Spirit all things proceed and emanate. The abode of this Spirit is in man, when man enters in a knowl- edge of this, he will have truly "Entereth into the secret place of the Most High." When he attains unto this Spirit, he will become Eternal Truth Itself, 82 TRANSCEtiDEtif-SClEbfCE, OU and possess all of Truth's attributed. Then he will like the Christ ]be able to state that '-'I and my Father 1 are one." Also he will understand that it is not he 1 that doeth the works, hut the father (This Divine" and Omnipresent Spirit of God which is potentially within man) that doeth all things through the Son^ which is man. I would like to recommend to all of yoif, my stu- dents, that immediately before you practice any or these postures, and immediately after you conclude the 1 exercises, that you will drink the air'. If yoxi main^ tain this for a few weeks, you will find that you wilt do so by second nature, and that you 1 are wonderfully* able to manifest perfect health. If you have lung' trouble, this will eventually cure you entirely. To drink the air, you must close the mouth, f)ress the teeth firmly together, then press the tongue against the roof of the mouth, and then after a full inhalation of air into the nasal cavity, and with a finger of each hand over 1 the drums of the ears, you will swallow the J air, like 1 swallowing saliva, in the mouth, or food. This is ac- complished by closing the glottis and gulping in the inhaled air. Mentally picture, simultaneously as you* do this, that you are drinking and taking into your*, human system the vital Psychic prana, and that it is passing on down the Ida (nerves on the left side of the body and spinal column) to the Kundalini, which is in the Sacral Plexus, which separates the Ida from the' Pingali, or the nerves that are on the right side of th^ body and the spinal column. To make a practice of this daily will cure all diseases and completely purify the sensorium and the physical body. And by contin- uing it for at least one year, mastery of the elements can be attained by the student. The first Posture (Asanas) that We will consider 1 will be the Siddhasana. The practitioner who has sub- dued his passions, having placed one heel at the anal THE SCIENCE OF S£LP KNOWLEDGE 83 ^- • -""--■ -■ — — — ! aperture, should keep the other heel on the root of the generative organ; afterwards should fix his chin upon the chestfand, being quiet and straight, gaze at the spot between the two eyes. This is called Siddh-asana and leads to einancipation. Remember that in any posture the body must be made to maintain full tranquillity, never to fluctuate, or to waver, and the breath exor- cises must be practiced along with the posture. This posture, if maintained for any great length of time, will free the inind from its trammels of sin and in- iquity that enchain the soul — thus obscuring its vision. Our next posture is the Padmasana. Place the right foot on the left thigh and similarly the left one on the right thigh; also cross the hands behind the back and firmly catch hold of the great toes of feet so crossed. Place the chin on the chest and fix the gaze on the tip of the nose. This posture is termed the Padmasana (or Lotus posture) and destroys all dis- eases. This posture is mostly used for the attainment of perpetual life and harmony. The Posture Muktasan? — place the left heel at the root of the organ of generation and the right heel above that, place the head and the neck straight with the body. This will give you (Siddhi) perfection. The next posture is the Vajrasana or (Adamant Posture). Make the thighs tight like adamant and ^lace the legs by the two sides of the anus. This is called the Vajrasana. It gives all psychic powers to the student Who faithfully practices it. I will give you two good Mudras to practice. The lirst is the Khechari Mudra, by practicing faithfully Will give the student the benefits of neither fainting, nor hunger, nor thirst, nor laziness. There comes neither disease nor decay nor death. The body becomes di- vine. The body car. not be burned with fire, nor dried 84 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, Olt up by the air, nor Wetted by water, nor bitten by snakes. The body becomes beautiful; transceriosis, or super- consciousness is attained, and the tongue touching the holes obtains various juices (it drinks nectar). Various juices (powers) being produced, day by day, the man experience's new sensations' ; first, he ex^ periences a saltish taste, then alkaline, then bitter, then astringent, then he feels the taste of butter, thefl of ghee, then of milk, then of curd, then of Whey, theil of honey, then of palm juice, and lastly arises the taste* of nectar. (This means that the thoughts ascend high- er and higher spiritually, thus the mind passes through these many allegorical conditions, which are repre^ sented herein by as many different tastes.) To sit in this posture you must take up the oht- (posture of TJgrasana) hj fixing the gaze upwards be- tween the eyebrows, and rolling the tongue backwards in the cavity of the mouth until it can be fixed in the 1 little hallow under the epiglottis, simultaneously prac- ticing the breathing exercise that I have given to you, as this is necessary in all of these Postures and Mil-, dras. The other one is as follows : Brahmavidya-i^osture, or the Flying up. (Stand erect and with the feet firmly on the floor or ground, and look up in the skv. Thv4 will calm the mind functions and thus greatlv assist you in your anticipated unfoldment. Another novel way that I am going to help you hi this work is by giving to you certain methods of con- templation. Any of these methods will accomplish tb'» desired result if you will practice them faithfully and assiduously. Everything- comes to him who practices- — who exercises. -The athlete does not win the race by THE SCIENCE OE SELE KNOWLEDGE 85 x£T-i^ :i_^ : ! , , standing still, but by running 1 (practicing) . The great- est leaders of tlie world became such through Exer- cise. • I will now tell you where these plexuses are located, where they are to be found, and what powers they possess latently. When 3^011 awaken these powers that are dormant and sleeping in you through contempla- tion, then they will confer upon you the powers that they possess. But first We must speak of them, or else they will never confer on us our legal inheritance. These plexuses are nerve centers which the Hindus term "Lotuses," and are the seats of vitality and sen- sation. I will speak of those which are the most im- portant in regard to this, our exposition and study. This vitality flows in and out each of these centers, but some are more important than others. YoU w r ill remember that I told you previously that one of the most chief est centers was the sacral plexus, the Hindus call this dwelling place of the Kundalini force, which again means the "coiled up," or the sleep- ing and dormant pcwer that is within man; and again is the Supreme Life of the Divine in man, as in things that exist. This is centered in sacral plexus, which is at the base of the spinal column. When you daily contemplate on this center, you will obtain freedom from all disease. You Will attain Omniscience, mas- tership in all sciences, attain all your desires, and pos- sess the key to all ps}^chic powers. The next center is called by the Hindus, the Swad- kisthan Lotus; by contemplating this Lotus the stu- dent will become greatly beloved. The next one is the Manipur Lotus, which is of a golden color and is situated near the navel. By con- templating this (enter you will be able to attain per- fect happiness, and can destroy all discord and disease 86 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, Ott The fourth one is the Anahat, and is in the center of the heart; of a blood red color, possessing twelve petals (petals signifies powers and attributes, etc.) Now, within the center of this center dwells the flame called the Van-linga, b}^ the contemplation of which the student can see, clairvoyantly, objects of both the terrestial and celestial universe. Also Omniscience will be conferred upon him. He will be clairvoyant and clairaudient, will be able to see the Rishi is" (adepts) and to move in the atmosphere; to travel at will to any remote part of the earth by the exercise of his own volition. Truly, this is one of the supreme 5 centers in man. The next important center is situated in the throat, and is known to the Hindu adept and Yogi as the Vis 1 * huddha Lotus. It has sixteen petals. It is also the seat of the vowel sounds, and is used a great deal hi the practice of the Mudras along with the Mantras. To the student who dwells upon this for a great length of time, he will understand the allegorical meaning of the Sacred Scriptures. And if he becomes angry and fixes his mind on this center, the Yogis say that he 4 can make the worlds tremble (by fixing the nrnd pupils of the eyes, which must be closed. Then with the middle finger of each hand you will be able to in- hibit or retard- and to exhale the nrana. When vo\i Tft& SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 89 inhale through the left nostril, which is the Ida (and you must always inhale through this side and never through the right), holding the breath for twelve sec- onds, with both sides of the nostrils closed, then ex- hale in four or eight seconds slowly through the right nostril, which is the Pingali. Now I will tell you how that you will be able to unfold these centers. Imagine that the prana that you are inhaling is psychic, and that it appears and is a stream of silvery vapor, and that you are drawing it Up through the left nostril, and then down through these Lotus "centers" on the left side of your body, then at last it is hitting against this kundalini and freeing it, this Kundalini which is lo- cated at the sacral plexus; and that as you are about to inhale that this powerful force along with the Kun- dalini is about to pass through this sacral plexus cen- ter during your full inhibition, and while you slowly exhale it is merging upwards through these other lo- tuses that are on the right side, and striking against the brain (the thousand-petalled lotus) and that they all are unfolding'. Then conclude the exhalation. This will, as you see, when directed by the imagina- tion, correctly assist your will to unfold these centers, as the prana goes or travels down one side and up the other, thus coming in contact and mingling with all the Lotuses (centers) in the body. After a few days of constant practice you v, ill have visions, perceive writings in fire, sounds at a distance, movements, etc., but later on the Divine Center (At- man) will be penetrated and you will then be able to perceive the " One-without-a-second, " minuter than the minute. So practice at sunrise, at noon, at sunset, and at midnight. Remember that we will be what we will only by Exercise — Practice. Let Practice be your watchword. We will never become great men by our 'vain talk, but by work, which means "Practice." CHAPTER V.. TRANSCENDENTALIZATION AND THE THINK BODY: "TRANSCENOSIS." "The highest phase of Transcendent-Science is superconscibus- ness, or Transcenosis ; when the Soul sees itself as the Bliss- ful One— Supernally Self-Existent." — Swami Brahmavidya. It will be noteworthy here to state that those of .you who have diligently practiced the foregoing les- sons will now be able to advance with me into the very heart of this great apple of wisdom. For I have given yon the processes that lead to mental mastery, thus putting into your hands the great magical key for the restoration of full authority. In the "Book of the Law" of the Brahma vidyan Brotherhood I have stated this : " It is the water which causes mud, and it is the water that removes it. It is your will that makes you commit sin, and it is by your will alone that you can be purified." When you take up the study thoroughly (this chap- ter) you will have many a curious and uncanny ex- perience. You will commence to wonder whether such a wretched being as yourself is worthy of transcend- ing his lower nature and being transported into the realms of angelic inspiration. But when you attain unto this plane of superconsciousness, which is "Nor- mal Consciousness" of all men; hence in the end all mankind will sooner or later evolve this goal, which is theirs through predestination.. Then you will be ad- dressed by the gods in their own words of heavenly rapture, and thus your mind will be illumined with 90 THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 91 the wisdom of heaven, and you will speak to mortal men of strange and weird things which the ignorant and worldly wise presumptuously term hallucinations or miracles. Your presence in this higher sphere will be signified by spirit lights, because when the soul aspires to these realms of Transcendental Existence, its presence is announced by Light, which dissipates all-darkness. Thus when you reappear on the stage of this world of life (Maya) you will sneak in a now tongue, as all things have become new. You will be able to inform the pretentious preachers and the vile hypo- crites and the self -titled scientists concerning the con- dition of these "hells" and these "heavens" of which they preach, and how the astral is placed in the transit- spheres of the Celestial Spaces, thus having trans- versed these great and incomprehensible vast wastes, you will be enabled to weep while thy laugh, and to pray while they preach. Knowledge is a great thing. Knowledge such as I am going to give you herein is the only gold of the refiner that can ever be able to elevate the miserable dwellers of this planet earth, and thus save the race of men from their evil influence, their promptings to wrong and mischief breathed through the atmosphere, and the failures which humanity makes through abortive effort. So long as ever Occultist demand a carnal will which represents in our systems of allegory, the in- strument of destruction; the more poorer, more neces- sitous and less responsible beings will make capital out of the demands of their superiors who teach and in- struct them in these sciences. Believe me, when I state that the universe moves en masse. Therefore let those who preach point out the way by practice. Creation's road is Onward (Evolution), not downward (Involu- tion). Man must sooner or later learn to recognize and acknowledge the existence of other worlds above, be- neath and around him besides his own; when he does, his supernal knowledge will warn him that there are TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR legions of beings who rise or fall with him. Mean- time the purification even of one human soul is triumph enough for a lifetime, for as again, I will say, it is in the realms of evil and mischievous depths of thy own heart that the hells of humanity are found. Elevate the one class of beings, and your work will create a heart throb throughout the whole dark realms of being. The Divine Spirit is the Ineffable Will within man, and as it is potential it is the elemental will, which cor- responds to the electric and magnetic forces which are generated in the two opposite Poles — for instance, the Artie and Anartic circles. The will occupies these regions which form the brain and feet of the living earth (man) ; and sustain vast realms of elementary beings (intelligibility) who correspond to the prevail- ing influence and quality of its locale. This is why we Think to Be. The will derives its peculiar magnetic temperament from the region of consciousness that it inhabits, and then reacts upon this region by filling it with the immense activity of its own magnetic nature. This is wiry life is represented in Hindu Symbology by a circle. When this will progresses according to the Divine Law, which is this same will in man, and which is also this will in all things that are, when this will becomes diffused with some realization of possession, the con- scious entity so-named man will be transfigured as a spirit and enter into those realms of transcendent bliss which banishes forevermore all hallucinations and fanaticism. This is in the main why resemblances in the spirit- ual kingdom are not those of the plrysieal form, but mental similitudes. Every tutelary will rules over realms of being imbued with special mental or moral qualities, as well as certain regions of space, and all great leading minds in the spirit or astral spheres form TtiE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 93 the nucleus of circles whose harmony of thought or purpose creates a similitude of appearance. On earth the wheal: and tares are grown together, and all classes of minds, morals and estate are heterogeneously gath- ered together into a vortex of life called " society," or grouped together in nationalities. In the spiritual kingdom, Death, the harvest angel, separates the wheat from the tares and ranges the spe- cialties which mark human character on earth or con- ditions of progress in eternity, each in their special department of life; each is garnered up in the place and association to which he belongs. Therefore any adept in the mysteries of vital agasa can gravitate as a spiritual disembodied entity to those celestial spheres of transcendent thought which are devoted to the oc- cult in creation, and to which belongs the esoteric properties of clandestine force, the magnetism of life in the universe, the all pervading element whose grand reservoir and generating center upon this planet, and Can thus direct whatsoever he may so desire thus this clandestine operation of his will which has become coalesced and combined with the Divine. Will is One, but legionary in manifestation and as in aspects, but the will when it becomes merged within itself — the Divine center (Atman) ; it enters into these transcendent realms of elemental life, and thus par- takes of its essence. Artists, poets, sculptors, mu- sicians, inventors, all classes of mind whose aggregate makes up the order and harmony of creation, gravitate to special spheres on their first initiation and entrance to the realms of spiritual existence; until they have ranged through all departments of the universe and mastered all its separate elements, you see them grouped into circles, presided over by tutelary wills of their own order, and attracted to realms of thought where their peculiar characteristics find the grander holds of culture ahi expression which spirit (will) life 94 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, 6R affords to the graduates from earth life. So man can become not. only a tutelary angel of the elemental spheres but also of the human. This Will, when it is projected out from the equi- librium, whirls through space with a force which would suffice to throw off from the earth's surface every par- ticle of matter into unmeasured space, yet gravitation (this equilibrium) suffices to attach to all living forms to that surface, enabling them to move upon it with- out the slightest sense of insecurity. Thus the Will in man is the glorious light, which resides in his fore- head; the invisible magnet of power, and the potential fires of life and gravitation, are all but so many phases of this one mighty realm of will force, generated by the prana in the brain regions of the Polar North and dis- tributed in endless lines of radiation through the sys- tem of the earth (physical body) and its freight of ani- mate and inanimate kingdoms. Looking upon the transcendent order of being throughout which this supernally stupendous realm of occult force is the great life essence or principle, you behold the kingdom of Will and its legions of magnetic elementaries, whose station is in the North, whose sphere is the realm of peerless force, and whose legion- aries correspond to the magnetic and electric life which courses through every fibre of this planet. It is a very dangerous thing for the Neophyte to invoke certain forces without being able to direct them. This is why the Spiritistic invocations are so danger- ous to the mediums. Also this explains the cause and reason wiry mediums who converse and audience the presence of spirits are drained of their own vitality. For it also weakens them physically. They make themselves negative, thus they are receptive to all ex- ternal intelligences, or influences. Spirits cannot re- new intercourse with earth without borrowing from* THE SCIENCE OF SEEE KNOWLEDGE 95 you the life element by which they approach yoti and make themselves palpable to your senses. They must divest you of your own physical and brain strength before they can reclothe their sublimated forms in ma- terial pabulum. But as you practice these instructions herein which I have given you will be able to do so without being- bereft of power and vitality. For again, as you grow and unfold in to spiritual light and celestial knowledge, you will better understand the Hindu methods of Com- munion. This earth is full of occult forces; trees, plants, herbs, stones, minerals, vapors, gases and fluids are all teeming with this magnetism. To comprehend these forces, draw them forth and apply them, was the art of the ancient Hindu adept, as likewise in my Brotherhood, and will be the next phase of Transcen- dent-Science that I shall give to Western humanity. 1 trust that they will achieve the same results that we have in the coming centuries. Again there are many things that will unfold to us if we will start in to practice. We must first seek to find. Seeking only comes after we have set the cause into motion. For effects which are, or rather repre- sent the things sought for, are products that come from the great within. So seek what you desire, and believe that you will find the same in your quest after the same, and you will. We become perfect in all arts through practice. Practice and exercise are wonderful implements in the hands of the adept. They are really very plastic in- deed. The outline is made out of the idea, the form manifests through idealization, and thus all are real- ized by materialization. Think of the power that lies latent in the mind, think of the ideas that await your grasp, then think to 96 : TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR what extent you may solve all things through a real- ization of them. Occult phenomena results from the exercise of a power which is perfectly superior to, and generally less understood than the ordinary forces of nature. They are attained by the Will in man. They are the result of a development which exalts the human will above the normal limits. To "Know Thyself" is to know the nature of the Will that is sleeping an.d dor- mant within yourself. The force that manifests this Will is Vibration. It is that subtle force which is around us and about us and in which we move and have our being — this is the supreme medium or channel or amanuensis through which the Divine Intelligibility expresses His omnipotent and omnipresent and om- niscient pow T er. It is by this "Vibration*' that the Will in man expresses itself in the world without. Now this Vibration has a two-fold nature: Attract tive and Repulsive. This is the basis of the Law termed "Attraction and Repulsion. ' ' One attracts and the other repels. When one thoroughly understands this, it constitutes a knowledge of life. Thus the vi- brations of a magnetic personality emit attractive qual- ities, and the non-magnetic man a repelling one. This is the Key to Vibration in a few words. Involution is the Cause of all things, and thev be- come manifest through Evolution. Therefore, Ideas 1 before- they become acts are manifested through the potency of this rhythmical vibration of involution which becomes Evolution. All force, all life, is rela- tive. All depends upon the Supreme Cause. For in- stance, the more power that we spend, the' more energy that we project, the more powerful the result of our efforts. Now Vibration is created by Thought, and Thought by the Prana hitting against the brain, aiid coordinate THE SCIENCE OF SELF KNOWLEDGE 97 ing with the mind makes us have individuality, as for instance, each individual says: "I Think." And also Unlike attracts, whilst Like repels. This Vibration also manifests in Dual Philosophy. In all completeness there is duality. Conception is dual. Existence is the seen and the unseen. Time embraces the past and future. Eternity reaches backward and forward. immortality is material and ethereal. Sensation comprises pain and pleasure. Virtue is negative and positive. Wisdom is inspired and acquired. Love is primary and reciprocal. *Truth is the incomprehensible and understood. Light is original and reflected. The Godhead is Divinity and humanity. Nature's Forres are centrifugal and centripetal. Our lives are dual. The outer existence is a crea- tion of Nature, while man's inner one is a creation of his own by the individual thought in its action with the Divine Spirit. The Essences of Nature are dual. One is a crea- tion of matter, and is temporal, while the other is a creation of thought, and is eternal. The outer life is guided by Nature's laws, while the -98 TRANSCENDENT-SCIENCE, OR Inner Soul-Life is self-sustaining, and guided by its own conscience. The Great Absolute God is also dual. Father and Mother, Male and Female, in all attributes and power. God, in the manifestation of two opposites in force, created the two heavens, i. e., the upper, or light, and the lower, or dark; signifying the equivalents of heat J and cold, day and night, expansion and contraction, summer and winter; in short, the all embracing cosmic relations. The idea of One Power operating in a two-fold way or by opposites, will be found to be only a key to the text, but to cosmic unfoldment. TABLE OF PRINCIPLES AND ACTIONS Spiritual by Involution Nature Through Evolution Supreme Principle ) ^ _. Spirit Divine j J Matter j Universal One Life The Real The Manifestation Spirit Soul Love Wisdom Truth Knowledge e Form Shape Will Thought Mind Matter Intuition Reason Subjective Objective Positive Negative Rest Motion The Fixed The Chanj f^eable Esoteric Exoteric Noumenal Phenomenal Divine Human Light Darkness Female Male Eternity Time Philosophy Science Religion Politics Silence N< >ise j '. : '.J 90 100 TRANSCEttDEMT-SClENCE The human mind is dual, and the Human Will mas- culine and feminine. There is a positive and active intellectual department and a negative, and receptive one. The union of the two constitutes the mind, while the more harmonious and perfect interblending of the two gives the mighty power of the Will. There is a tradition that the man Jesus was asked when the kingdom of God should come, and he an- swered, "When the two become as one." This Vibra- tion brings into manifestation the Great Prana, which 1 is the great Universal Force, the Key to all dominion, the secret of all powers. To know how to master this agent and to direct its currents is to become a Master in the Great Hindu Brotherhood, and the depository even of the Mysteries of God. This is the True and Only Arcanum of the Rishiis, the A. U. M. of the Brah- mins and of the Things Kept Secret from the Founda- tion of the World. (Finis) ■ «m-< ....-**■