Within the pure blood of the aorta lies the nous atom,1 and about it cluster the instructor atoms, similar to stars, which it uses to contact the mind of man. At the base of the spine lies our adversary,2 a black atom, with its constellation of atoms. We observe therefore that we have two powers within us, the white and the black atoms, representing good and evil.
The chakra or nerve center at the base of the spine contains all the horrors and filth of our imagination, for it is the historian of all our evil experiences through all time, as we measure it. If we wish to know about the evil of the world, the spheres of darkness and the intelligence of evil, we have only to contact this center of our lower nature. By aspiring to the highest, by meditation and prayer for the attainment of light, the white atom in our hearts takes us over into the realms of intelligence and light. It rests with us whether we seek union with the God of light, or union with evil—darkness and ignorance.
Through Yoga practice, under the observation of a teacher, we are taught to balance the good and evil forces in our body, and it is only then we place our feet upon the Path. One student, when he was able to travel out of his body in full consciousness, found that it took him a year and seven months to observe the evil going on in this world, then his teacher told him, “Your aspirations are for the highest, you wish either to live the life of a recluse or monk or a life of service in order to minister to those who are suffering from privation and hunger. I have shown you the evil in the world, and now that your feet have been placed upon the Path, I shall not see you personally for some time, unless you stray too far to the left or to the right.”
In the development of the body and the discipline of the mind, the student quickly realizes that it is far easier to contact his lower nature than his higher self which stands in the presence of Truth. The greatest trouble in the practice of Yoga comes in controlling the adversary, which tries to absorb and direct the higher creative energy which he has brought into a state of fermentation. When this energy is controlled by the lower self it makes man a beast, when controlled by the higher self it gives him freedom.
The soul imprisoned in the human body is liberated by this process of calcination and fermentation and by this process finds freedom, and man’s whole nature becomes changed, as he perceives the great activity in nature and his part therein.
After witnessing “out of the body” the evil in the world, the student’s first realization on his return to the body is that he does not desire to live! An ordinary healthy moral man can little imagine the slime and horror, the filth, cruelty, and sadism which the innocent often suffer through the mental aggression of men controlled by the black atoms within their bodies! But the lesson to be learned by the student is the process by which he can put fear into the hearts of those evilly disposed minds which are about to commit such cruelty as cannot be written about. One great opportunity that Yoga gives us is the power to heal and help those minds which, through ignorance have come under the sway of black magic.
The heart of humanity in general is good, but there are men and women who have given way to their lower natures, and have become obsessed by their own evil thought creations, which elemental nature has partly ensouled. The “black” atom within us has a wonderful power of vision. It is a prophet of evil, and can show the student the evil that is to come upon this planet, for we must remember that we all possess atoms which are historians, and as such have registered all our evil deeds and tendencies both in this and previous lives. As we have already said, we must balance the evil nature with the good, so that both are neutralized. By this we mean that we balance the power of the “white” atom by that of the “black” atom within us, and by aspiration and prayer, and by seeking the guidance of Truth, we pass through the door of darkness, up the winding stairway and then through the door of Jesus or of Buddha at the top of our heads.
If we concentrate upon the symbol of our heart center, we bring it to the notice of our human brain, likewise with the spade, which is the symbol that represents the seat of the “black” atom within us at the base of the spine. The black magician, using symbols, and by the exercise of will and imagination contacts himself with this lower seat of power, and he thus contacts the lower worlds of evil which this center represents, and which he seeks to dominate.
The engineer atom of the heart can also easily contact our minds with this lower center, for as I said, it is the seat in the body of prophecies of evil, and the more it is contacted the more powerful it becomes, until it is able to enslave the man and link him with evil—with the sub-human, elemental, and still deeper worlds.
After an experience with these forces we thank God for the instruction and then seek knowledge and deliverance through the instructor atoms of our heart center. Many people have had dreams which can be more accurately described as “horrors,” or nightmares. These are a small matter compared with the horrors of uncleanliness and filth with which the lower atoms contact us. But once our fingers have been burnt, one ceases to experiment or seek contact with these states of consciousness, and returns with greater eagerness to the light, the carrier of all life. Any person contacting these forces through the use of the will and imagination or through inquisitiveness, or the leaders of black magic, usually ends in both mental and physical degeneration.
In Yoga one is often confronted with one’s higher self which is a being of great splendor and brightness, whose light may be too brilliant for one’s eyes. One also meets the dark shade of his evil elemental nature, which strange to say generally takes the form of an old woman.
This book has been written to discourage people from participating in magical circles or spiritual seances which evoke forces from sources of which they are ignorant. We do however wish to encourage the seeker to aspire for the truth which is within, in order to illumine his intelligence and bring him into union with this consciousness. Thus he will discover his own “kingdom of heaven.” The inner heart of humanity is good when men can understand each other.
All the great avatars give us the message that the kingdom of heaven is within. This was the early message of the great religions, which brought about union with God, but unfortunately many religions crucified the lightbringers and the message was lost to humanity. Differences of religious opinion have brought terrible suffering and unrest to the world, yet always it is the duty of every man to seek within, and where he places his thoughts, there will he also be, for light loves light, and darkness revels in its own shade.
Above all a man must be worthy and sincere in his efforts to gain the Great Realization, for it is his sincerity and right conduct towards others which helps him to build up contact with the higher planes of nature’s consciousness. His longing and aspiration for Truth begins to change him physically and mentally, and he is easily recognized by the dark forces in nature and man, for they realize his attainments. The higher clairvoyance brings him en rapport with the higher forces in nature. A higher perception gives him the power to recognize people in whom the light exists. He is thus able to perceive the more advanced souls in humanity, and to recognize his teacher when he meets him.
The teacher’s patience is often sorely tried by the student’s lack of understanding, but if he is a real teacher he is able to unlock seats of consciousness within the pupil, and help him to the realization of Truth. Often when the pupil finds that he is gaining knowledge unobserved, he becomes conceited and wishes to become prominent among those with whom he is associated. The more ignorant the student, the more he is apt to radiate his own personality and desire to shine as a being with occult knowledge! An occult student once calmly informed me that his poems were on a par with anything that Shakespeare ever wrote. However, a little time afterwards he changed his mind.
I remember being present with a friend at a meeting of a small group devoted to research in the ancient wisdom. During the meeting my friend turned to me and said, “Is it not too bad to have to sit still and say nothing!” The leader was speaking with apparent authority of the personality of a great teacher whom none of them ever met in the body. Both my friend and myself had been privileged to meet him. Finally, the leader, speaking of this distinguished man, said, “I brushed sleeves with S— in Piccadilly yesterday evening.” This shows the amazing presumption of some so-called leaders, and the credulity of occult students regarding the personality of a great soul! Yet it reminds one of the blind leading the blind, and both fall into the pit.
These great teachers, who are so wise in the greater wisdom, are very childlike in their everyday life, and the chief recollections I have of one great soul are his radiant health, the clearness of his blue eyes, and his boyish demeanor. He was absolutely natural in everything he did, but you could never forget his words, no matter on what subject. There was never any hurry about him, he went about quietly conducting his own affairs, but by observation you learned much from him. There is far too much credulity in occultism, especially among the younger students.
The interesting thing about this great soul was that when I met him “out of the body” I met him in advance of his time! A strange phenomenon you will say! Although he is clean-shaven today, he wears a beard in the future, and I discovered also when with him “out of the body” that I also had a beard, but not cut square like his, and that my hair was becoming gray on my temples. This was arranged to show me the things which will happen at that time, when the Age arrives! So we perceive that in reality there is no such thing as time or space, for everything IS. Our difficulty arises from the fact that this plane of consciousness is the common meeting place of what we have come to call the past and what we call the future.
When we consider the white and black atoms within our bodies, we discover that every man and woman partakes of the nature of one or the other of these atoms. During sleep, our bodies receive a foretaste of death, if the black atom rules we delight in wrongdoing, for the black atoms desire to make our bodies impure. The engineer or builder atom in our heart seeks to raise our standards, and to build up the body, so that it may become a proper temple for the Lord God of Truth within.
Thus we carry about with us atoms of construction and of destruction. When the white atom leaves the heart at death, the forces of destruction take charge of the body to disintegrate it and return it to nature. Therefore when the white atom has left the body, it is dangerous for a sensitive to handle it without bathing or disinfecting his hands. This explains why post mortem dissection of the body is so dangerous, for through its corruption, it contains great danger to a healthy blood stream.
The masters in Israel were very severe with those who touched the body of a dead person. “Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel.”3
The black magician often resorts to the graveyard to raise the astral spirit of some decomposing body. After death, when corruption has begun, the astral fluid becomes defiled and with the higher perception of clairvoyance one can perceive a faint spark or light within the dead body. The magician, if possible, causes this astral form to detach itself from the body, and he then seeks to control it, making it a messenger to do his bidding, just as the “black” hypnotist ushers the astral body out of the sensitive, often forcing it to go long journeys in order to find out things and listen to the conversations of people in distant places.
The normal sensitive naturally rebels at the strain put upon him, even though he may submit to these things. This has often been the method which certain police officials have used in tracking down crime, so likewise the “black” magician can control and dominate an astral entity from a recently buried body.
The higher self of the body gravitates to its own source, if it be good, but the lower self remains behind, a shadow in a land of shadows, and it becomes the familiar spirit of the magician, for he can bend it to his will.
These spirits or astral forms, reeking with filth and corruption, often present themselves at seances held in the dark, and they are easily attracted to those people who delight in evil, for they bring to them similar conditions. They enjoy entering into the psychic screen of the sensitive, for then they can perceive the things of our world through our human senses. Sometimes an earthbound child entity will ask if he can step into your screen to register the things which you perceive through your five senses. It often affords these innocents great pleasure to step into your atmosphere, for with the earthbound entities what we call night is their day, and what we call day is their night, and that is why nearly all spiritualistic seances are held in the dark.
In Yoga practice, we perfect our bodies so that we can register the vibrations of the astral plane of our earth, and on that plane we can easily converse with those disembodied intelligences known as spirits. Many of them are partly ensouled by nature, and the Yogi will always attract those who have a likeness to his own nature. This is a plane of great pretense, and we seldom meet any intelligence approximate to our own.
The beings of intelligence and light come from those spheres which are on a par with our inner planes, and in Yoga practice we go inwardly into the finer vibrations of nature in order to register and contact these bringers of light and knowledge.
Although spiritualism, so-called, is a bridge over to something still higher, the Yogi is not interested in information from intelligences who are attracted to our own illusion world. The rule is that what you aspire to when you seek to purify your mind and thought you will attract from those spheres of a like kind in nature. Therefore it is possible to contact beings of intelligence who stand in the presence of God.
Communication with earthbound spirits, whose astral fluid has become corrupt, very often causes the communicant also to become corrupt, for as man is the victim of his environment, so close association through curiosity or otherwise, with these astral entities, nearly always brings about physical, mental and moral degeneration.
Where your thought is placed, there you stand, and often people with pure minds and clean hearts are enabled to be of true service to humanity, through meditation on the bringer of light and intelligence, thus procuring response from the finer spheres of nature’s consciousness.
Sometimes a higher elemental being may overshadow a person. Take for instance the case of Joan of Arc. She claimed that St. Michael and St. George appeared to her, and told her that they were angelic beings, and undoubtedly their guidance enabled her to save the throne of France. But the angelic beings of nature’s elements appear as sunlight, whilst earthbound spirits only emit faint radiance.
With the higher clairvoyants, the radiance of the light which emanates from these beings determines their nature and character, and the debased improperly called spiritualistic circles are but the playgrounds of depravity and corruption. There are many so-called mediums in the “racket,” who easily gain information (from questioning their victims) which they pass on to others, who often blackmail the persons whose foibles are thus discovered. The professional racketeer in the spiritualistic game makes a point of gaining any outside information she can regarding any wealthy client, and unwise people who wish to know the outcome of an unfortunate love affair often give details regarding other people which makes blackmail easy. Most people are credulous and seek to know their future, and fortune-tellers reap lucrative harvests in consequence. This of course is dealing with that lower side of spiritualistic research, which has brought the study into disrepute. Every circle gets the reflection of its own composite character.
I have never known any real Yogi to accept money for the use of what the world would call his or her spiritual gifts. The only thing the Yogi may accept is food, clothing, and shelter for his head wherever he may be, and although I have heard of some who have received great sums of money, I have never known them to use it for their personal pleasure, but always for the good of humanity. Be it understood I have been speaking of the practice of the Western Yogis.
I have often thought what a waste of effort it is to find a Yogi spending most of his time earning his daily bread, when we feel that he should have income enough to supply his needs, so that he would have more time to devote to those who were seeking the knowledge which he possesses. We naturally question ourselves as to whether it is something missing in his character which causes him to lack freedom for his higher expression, and this is a question which has often puzzled me. Should you question a Yogi about this, it will be the only time you will see him stirred to the very depths of his being, and the answer to your question will be this. There is a type of knowledge which is denied to the Yogi, although it is sometimes disclosed to him before his death. Then he knows his destiny, and he may even learn the date of his own death which to him is birth into the larger life. The Yogi can see into the lives of others, and read the pressure lines of their destinies while on earth, but regarding himself he cannot see his end until he has passed through his Gethsemane. He makes many sacrifices for the good of others, and people with kindly natures are sympathetic with the Yogi and pity him or any real spiritual teacher, but they little know what the real life means to the Yogi who has become conscious of the Presence, from whence radiates bliss and intelligence, truth and beauty.
As the student journeys on his path towards union, and as he enters into each higher vibration or division of consciousness, the things of this world, which meant so much in his younger days, become less real. He sees people as children, gaining their experience through suffering, and he seeks to aid them in their attainment of self knowledge, for he learns not only to see the real pleasures in life, also he sees the suffering and the crimes of this world, and the longing in the hearts of his fellows.
The [black] magician seeks to evoke the denizens of the astral world and enslave them by the power of his will and imagination. Out of the body, we often watch the operations of these magicians, and register with our higher senses of perception the odor, filth, and degradation of the lower world. We see the distortions which appear in the bodies and faces of the magician and his associates, which register the abnormality of their make-up.
I once witnessed a friend whom I loved much, gaining his first experience under the tutelage of a master black magician. It would be impossible to describe the change in his appearance. He became like the deformed creation of an animal man, and queer little pads appeared at the tips of his fingers. They were working over the body of a person recently dead in which was a faint gleam of light. This astral substance they were lifting out of the grave and slowly revolving as if on a spit. The bestial odor was frightful, and the atmosphere was that of an hallucination or dream of horror. But children have to learn by experience, and although this friend of mine has done a great deal of work for the good of humanity and is watched by a great soul, I know it will be some years before he again reaches the path which he originally followed.
Many youthful seekers for occult knowledge are instructed by the magician that there is a short way of attaining fame and recognition in the world through necromancy such as we have just described, and thus often contact their lower world whose sounding board is near the base of their spine.
Many of these black magicians themselves, educated and powerful in their influence, seek help to regain the true light which they formerly possessed, for there are many people who have been looked upon as sinister forces in the world, who by sacrifice and good behavior towards others, could regain the Light which they formerly possessed, and great is the joy in heaven when they accomplish this.
Sometimes also apparently sinister instruments which have brought about the downfall of a country have turned out to be instruments of the powers of good, working out the karmic law. Sometimes we find that a man who has the reputation of bringing about great evil, is most kind and humane to those in his immediate environment. And men who have caused suffering and misfortune to millions are often most delightful socially. The political “boss” often says, “Give the majority what it wants, but feather your own nest at the same time.”
The head of the “G-men” in the United States has said that one man in every twenty-five is a criminal. This presents a problem each must solve for himself, for Yoga is a process of reforming oneself. No one is in a position to assist another until he has accomplished the purification of his own life. When each man will think for himself, and bring peace and beauty into his own world of being, he will then be able to bring peace and harmony into the outer world about him.
Anyone who undertakes the practice of Yoga first detaches himself from the world about him; he does not allow himself to be caught up in his emotions or swayed by the mental pressure of dictators, and as he watches what is going on in his world within, he registers for the first time what is really taking place in the world without.
The country that seeks direction from God, receives that direction, and it is only by so seeking that a nation can gain the powers which exist in nature’s consciousness, to bring abundance to the undernourished, and the light of the spirit into the life of man.
If we go deeply into historical evidence, we find that the great lawgivers and statesmen who earnestly aspired for right direction from God, received the benefit of that knowledge and that it brought peace and prosperity to their country.
A great Yogi covering a major political crisis once said, “The leaders of the country are blind; they do not know what to do for the country they represent; the light of direction being unsought is denied them; they work only for the preservation of their party, and the real needs of the people are neglected through lack of devotion to God.”
The real leaders of a country are prophets. They foresee the trend of things which are to be, and seek to forestall them if they are detrimental to the freedom of the individual. President Lincoln foresaw the conditions which were to come to pass in the United States, and sought to preserve the nation from such danger. Man, know thyself, that ye may sense this! As Solon has rightly said, “The best government is the government which does the most for its poorest individuals.”
Today the strong must labor for the weak, and in order to assist the weak, a man must be strong in himself—strong to know and express God, the Lord God of Truth which is within. This is the great mystery teaching of the ages, the science of Yoga. Man must find God through the nature of his own being, and by so doing, he gains the law of nature’s consciousness.
