William Quan Judge

Dialogue Between Krishna, Lord of Devotion, and Arjuna Prince of India

The Bhagavad-Gita, the Book of Devotion

The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali. An Interpretation by William Q. Judge. Reproduction of 1920 Edition.

The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Seismic disturbance is the physical sign of disturbance in the moral, psychic, and mental fields. Earthquakes, floods, and social upheavals presage a new order of things for the human race — the rule of the strong hand in the shape of bureaucratic despotism, and military intimidation with global reach. Earthquakes are dreadful but they can be avoided when their probable place is known. But social earthquakes and moral pestilence go with man where he goes, and cannot be averted by any alteration of place. So, do your duty where you find yourself and, if from your goodness you are a favourite of gods, you will escape; if not, it is better to die and take another chance at building up your character in a future life. As solid Earth began as a ball of liquid fire, so did man. At the beginning of every new Round, the earth casts off her old skins as the serpent does his skin to be born again. Her Seven Skins stand for the seven geological changes which accompany and correspond to the evolution of the Seven Root-Races of humanity. The human races that succeed each other are separated by large-scale change in the earth’s surface and rapid continental subsidence. Violent minor cataclysms and colossal earthquakes are etched in the annals of most nations. Elevation and subsidence of continents continue as we speak. The Himalayas, the Alps, and the American Cordillera were depositions drifted to the bottom of the seas and then upheaved by Titanic forces to their present elevation. Earth is convulsed each time that it reawakens for a new period of activity, like a field which has to be ploughed and furrowed before fresh seed for its new crop is thrown into it. At last, the form of the gigantic Ape-Man of the former Round has been reproduced in this one by human bestiality and transfigured into the parent form in the modern Anthropoid. The old astrologers and mathematicians predicted natural disasters with far more precision and correctness, than their modern counterparts. Modern buildings may tumble into the street, but much of the ancient monuments remain intact. The “wonders” of our age are the nightmares of the times, where philosophicules pour out modern wisdom as milk, and curdle it like cheese.

Seismic disturbance is the physical sign of disturbance in the moral, psychic, and mental fields.

Earthquakes are the outcome of sins committed by men

Theosophy is that ocean of knowledge which spreads from shore to shore of the evolution of sentient beings; unfathomable in its deepest parts, it gives the greatest minds their fullest scope, yet, shallow enough at its shores, it will not overwhelm the understanding of a child. It is wisdom about God for those who believe that he is all things and in all, and wisdom about nature for the man who accepts the statement found in the Christian Bible that God cannot be measured or discovered, and that darkness is around his pavilion. Although it contains by derivation the name God and thus may seem at first sight to embrace religion alone, it does not neglect science, for it is the science of sciences and therefore has been called the wisdom religion. For no science is complete which leaves out any department of nature, whether visible or invisible, and that religion which, depending solely on an assumed revelation, turns away from things and the laws which govern them is nothing but a delusion, a foe to progress, an obstacle in the way of man’s advancement toward happiness. Embracing both the scientific and the religious, Theosophy is a scientific religion and a religious science. It is not a belief or dogma formulated or invented by man, but is a knowledge of the laws which govern the evolution of the physical, astral, psychical, and intellectual constituents of nature and of man. The religion of the day is but a series of dogmas man-made and with no scientific foundation for promulgated ethics; while our science as yet ignores the unseen, and failing to admit the existence of a complete set of inner faculties of perception in man, it is cut off from the immense and real field of experience which lies within the visible and tangible worlds. But Theosophy knows that the whole is constituted of the visible and the invisible, and perceiving outer things and objects to be but transitory it grasps the facts of nature, both without and within. It is therefore complete in itself and sees no unsolvable mystery anywhere; it throws the word coincidence out of its vocabulary and hails the reign of law in everything and every circumstance.

The Ocean of Theosophy

Karma operates only when there is a living being to make it and feel its effects

I am so far off the one who pointed out to me the way that must bring us, if followed, to the light and peace and power of truth. It is not membership of the Theosophical Society, or any other mystical body for that matter, that will bring us near to the Masters, but loving kindness and tender affection for suffering humanity — expressed with pure heart and unselfish mind. Doubt and despair are the bitter fruits of separateness, ruses and wiles of the lower mind to keep us back, among the mediocre of the race. “Doubt, of whatever kind, can be ended by action alone.” Duty (dharma) is the Royal Talisman. Steadfast devotion to duty is the true yoga, and infinetly better than mantrams and postures. Masters are Atma and therefore the very law of Karma itself. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. When not enlightened by the Higher Self, who alone is truly cosmopolitan, impartial, unsectarian, and pre-eminently altruistic, the good intentions of co-operative schemes are doomed to perish in the struggle of existence. They give utopia a bad name, for the personal element has a tendency to delude us as it hides behind various walls and clothes in the faults, real or imaginary, of others. It is not the cowl that makes the monk. Celibacy is not enforced either in the Theosophical Society or its inner circle any more than vegetarianism. Be that as it may, celibacy, vegetarianism, and especially total abstinence from wine and alcoholic beverages, are essential for the acquisition of Occult Knowledge. Even if the ethical scruples for the health and welfare of animals are dismissed, still vegetarianism is suggested to rich and poor for their own health, as well as the health of our planet. Great intellectual powers are no proof of, but are impediments to spiritual insight; witness most of the great men of science. We must rather pity than blame them. Each mind runs along idiosyncratic grooves of prejudice and suspicion, and is therefore unwilling to run in the grooves of another mind — hence friction and wrangle. And so the lives of our fellow men, and companions along the same journey, remain unnoticed and unused because of our dogmatic narrow-mindedness, which can do honour to no one. What is our object and what of the future? Our object is the enlightenment of oneself for the good of others. Our future comes from each moment, here and now. Future is a word for present not yet come. As we live in the moment, so we shift the future up or down for good or ill. If the present is full of doubt or vacillation, so will be the future; if full of confidence, calmness, hope, courage, and intelligence, thus also will be the future. When we begin awakening our spiritual consciousness, the Divine Ray will unveil to our highest perceptions a world entirely different from the world represented to us by our external senses. But before we become a centre of beneficent force, we should make an effort: 1. To overpower the stirring principle within us by detaching our mind from the allurements of the material world. 2. To accumulate as much merit as we can by unselfish thoughts and deeds of kindness, as directed by the power of a soul attuned with that of humanity. What we do now, in this transitional age, it will be like what the Dhyani-Chohans did in the midway point of evolution, when matter was in a critical semi-spiritual fluidic state. They then gave an impulse for new types, which resulted later in the vast varieties of nature. Let each one of us be a centre of light; a picture gallery from which shall be projected on the astral light such scenes, such influences, such thoughts, as may influence many for good, shall thus arouse a new current, which will draw back the great and the good from other spheres from beyond this earth.

A worthy life is a virtuous life of noble and heroic acts

Julia Wharton Lewis Campbell Ver Planck

﻿Do not think too much of me, direct your thoughts to the Eternal Truth. For only he who is free from the heresy of separateness, brought forth by false self-identity and self-importance, can rise above the trappings of personal life and live for others. Never seek knowledge or power for any other purpose than to sacrifice it on the altar of the Great Heart, which is humanity at large. Do not fear nor fail because you feel dark and heavy. After a while, the very rage you feel will break the shrine that covers the mystery. No one can really help you till then. The “moment of choice” between good and evil, between white and black magic, is neither in space nor in time, it is the momentum of all those moments in the battle between unselfish and selfish impulses taking place in those who try to follow the higher purposes of Nature. I am my friends and my enemies, I feel them all. I am the poor, the wicked, the ignorant. Those moments of gloom are the moments when I am influenced by those ignorant ones, who are myself. Duty lies in the act itself. Our duty is to never consider our ability, but to do what needs to be done in whatever way we can, no matter how inadequate the work may appear to others. We are not the only ones to suffer upon the path. Like ourselves Masters have wept, though They do not weep any longer. Sadness comes from an appreciation of the difficulties in our way, and of the unspeakable wickedness of the human heart. The Divine Spirit, which overshadows the soul of every man, is the throne of the Invisible and Unknown God. If you reflect on That, little room will be left for sorrow or delusion. Please don’t be anxious. Insist on Carelessness. Anxiety obscures and deters. Fear and anxiety are a formidable barrier against progress, by perturbation and straining harshly. Anxiety densifies and perturbs our magnetic sphere (aura), thus rendering us less permeable to the efflux of inner life and love. Immediate rebirth is for those who are working with their heart on Master’s work and are free from self interest. Nothing foreign to Master can pollute the pure heart; our faults are not there. The heart reaches Him always, and He replies. He needs not to stoop to see our devotion for devotional love, being of a supernal quality, reaches anywhere. Even in the most menial sorts of labour, the moment a man begins working, his soul enters into a state of harmony and peace. On the plane of social intercourse words are things, but soulless and dead because that convention in which they have their birth has made abortions of them. Let us then choose with care those living messengers called words. When the soul turns its attention to the astral plane, its energy is transferred from the gross material plane to a more subtle plane composed of imponderable matter, and we then have an influx of many confused dreams and strange experiences, whether awake or asleep. Clairvoyants and untrained seers cannot distinguish between psychic and spiritual perceptions. The age is black as hell, hard as iron. Yet noble hearts keep fighting the ancient fight. They seek each other and help each other. We will not fail them. To fail would be nothing, but to stop working for Humanity and the Brotherhood of Man would be awful; we cannot and will not. The student of Occultism must either reach the goal or perish. Those who rush unprepared and before the ripe moment risk insanity. But then that insanity is their safety for the next life, or for their return to sanity. The road to heavens is dark and difficult because we do not live up to our highest ideals. And as we hamstrung by our own weaknesses, it’s no use blaming others for our own shortcomings. Egoism is a sign of shameful cowardice. The egocentric man is insignificant and helpless. All our obstructions are of our own making. All our power is drawn from the storehouse of the past. Let us love and worship humanity, instead of self, and all shall be well. Even selfishness is love, though tainted and misdirected. Let us live for each other, forgetting ourselves in the midst of so many selves who, as formerly and forever, are but our own phantasms of thinking throblets, and all shall be well. Drink the cup of life without a murmur to the last drop, whatever Karma may have in store for you. The lesson in your present life is sweet Patience that nothing can ruffle. Higher Patience is a fine line between pride and humility. Both are extremes and mistakes. How shall we be proud when we are so small? How dare we be humble when we are so great? In both we blaspheme. Regret is productive only of error. Regret is a thought, hence an energy. If we turn its tide upon the past, it plays upon the seeds of that past and vivifies them; it causes them to sprout and grow in the mind and, from thence, expression in action is but a step. Evil is the infernal end of the polarity of spirit-matter. Evil-devil is the dark side of good, yet a mighty motor on the eternal struggle of the two ever-Opposing Forces — Light versus Darkness, Buddhi versus Kama-Manas — dual aspects of the One Manifested Creative Power, which keeps building worlds and thinks through man. Like Ormuzd and Ahriman, good and evil are inseparable and interdependent. We cannot murder Life but we can destroy a vehicle of the divine Principle of Life and impede the course of a soul using that vehicle. We far more injured by this atrocious deed than by any other. It is the man of clay that sins, not the innocent Higher Ego self-imprisoned within us and spectator of our life, who suffers and weeps silently at our cruelty. Condemn the sin not the Sinner. Higher, as within us all, the divine spirit looks down in the secure knowledge that, when the lower nature has subsided into its spiritual source, all this struggle and play of force and will, this waxing and waning of forms, this progression of consciousness that throws up clouds and fumes of illusion before the eye of the soul, will have come to an end. But the real test of a man is his motive, which we neither see, nor do his acts always represent it. If acts of valour are motivated by self-interest, they are still virtuous acts, but they will not elevate the actor and will throw his calculations off-kilter. Nature strives to contain spirit, and spirit strives to be free. Despondency, doubt, fear, vanity, pride, self-satisfaction, are traps used by Nature to detain us on earth. The kind of thoughts that appeal to our senses, and which fascinate and transfix us, is another snare set by Nature lest we discover her inmost secret and rule her. Spirituality is no virtue, it is divine impersonality. Spirituality is the rootless root of all things, unborn, exempt from dissolution, eternal, and beyond the condition of spirit. In essence and substance, It is the Whole of this Universe. Death disappoints the Self for it is neither productive of real knowledge nor of service to the living. Death is the sudden lowering of a stage curtain only to be raised again at the beginning of the next act. The living have a greater part in the dead than the dead have in the living. Rise, then, from this despondency. With the sword of Knowledge and with Love, you can “become one with the great tides of being, and reach the peaceful place of safe self-forgetfulness at last.” In dreams we see the truth and taste the joys of heaven. In waking life we gradually distil that dew into our consciousness. Let thy pulses beat to heaven’s own music. Despise the life that only seeks its own. Listen to the words of the Great Teachers. Good company removes the dullness of intellect, infuses truth into speech, bestows great honour, removes sin, purifies the heart, and spreads fame in all directions. Evil company should be shunned because it gives rise to lust, anger, delusion, memory loss, discrimination loss and, at long last, total loss of one’s “Infinite Potency born from the concealed Potentiality.” Spreading like ripples at first, evil company swells vices to large-scale waves in an ocean of misery. Is there any hope for the aspirant who has no heredity of psychical development to call upon, who is not introspective by nature, and with no access to chelas for guidance reach? There is, if he purifies his motive, and cultivates an ardent and unwavering faith and devotion to the Masters who are Truth personified, though They are not yet known to him. They are generous and honest debtors, and always repay. Beyond the Hall of Learning is the Great White Lodge, the magnificent hierarchy of Masters, Gurus, and Chelas all over the world. Every aspirant to chelaship has a Guru, although he many not be aware of it. Guru is chela’s benefactor. If we have reverenced our teacher, we will now revere our unknown Guru. We must place our hand in his hand with all love, and trust, and confidence, for it is to mighty Karma we have appealed, and the Guru is an agent of Karma. Madame Blavatsky sacrificed all that mankind holds dear to bring the glad tidings of Theosophy to the West through the Theosophical Society, which thereby stands to her as a chela to his Guru. She is our next higher link in the Guruparampara chain, of which no link can be missed or by-passed. Those who try to reach The Masters by other means while disregarding or underrating scornfully her high services, violate an occult rule that cannot be broken with impunity. The limitations of self impede progress. Unless the intention is entirely unalloyed, the spiritual will transform itself into the psychic and, by acting on the astral plane, dire results may be produced by it. The highest aspirations for the welfare of humanity will become sullied with selfishness if, in the mind of the philanthropist, there lurks the shadow of a desire for self-benefit, or a tendency to do injustice, even when these exist unconsciously to himself. The powers of evil revenge themselves upon the ignorant man and his friends, and not upon those who are beyond their reach. As long we hope and desire, we shall remain apart from the Self. We are rich in hope, knowing the prize at the end of time, and are not deterred by the clouds, the storms, the miasmas, and the dreadful beasts of prey that line the road. Let us then, at the very outset, wash out of our souls all desire for reward, all hope that we may attain what we sought. We may perhaps have found one spot we may call our own, and possess no other qualification for the task. That spot is enough, it is our wholly unshaken belief in Self and the Masters. That spot is our Higher Ego, symbolised by Homer as the wild fig tree, which Odysseus took hold of it and clung to it like a bat, in order to escape falling into the whirlpool of passions below. Beware of the dreadful lures, the great causes of misery, inflamed by the malignant fever of scepticism. They keep us ensnared in our earthy prison. Compassion is the Divine Law of Universal Sympathy and Sacrifice. Overseen by Spiritual Intelligences above, Compassion is enacted by the Intelligence of Nature and Her dual forces below. Deity is Unerring Karma or Abstract Nature — the Mind and Soul of the Universe.

William Quan Judge

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