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THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON
THE KING

IV.

ATTAINMENT BY YOGA.

ACCORDING to the Shiva Sanhita there are two doctrines found in the Vedas: the doctrines of "Karma Kânda" (sacrificial works, etc.) and of "Jana Kânda" (science and knowledge). "Karma Kânda" is twofold—good and evil, and according to how we live "there are many enjoyments in heaven," and "in hell there are many sufferings." Having once realized the truth of "Karma Kânda" the Yogi renounces the works of virtue and vice, and engages in "Jnana Kânda" --- knowledge.

In the Shiva Sanhita we read:31

In the proper season, various creatures are born to enjoy the consequences of their karma.32 As though mistake mother-of-pearl is taken for silver, so through the error of one’s own karma man mistakes Brahma for the universe.

Being too much and deeply engaged in the manifested world, the delusion arises about that which is manifested—the subject. There is no other cause (of this delusion). Verily, verily, I tell you the truth.

If the practiser of Yoga wishes to cross the ocean of the world, he should renounce all the fruits of his works, having preformed all the duties of his âshrama.33

"Jnana Kânda" is the application of science to "Karma Kânda," the works of good and evil, that is to say of Duality. {64} Little by little it eats away the former, as strong acid would eat away a piece of steel, and ultimately when the last atom has been destroyed it ceases to exist as a science, or as a method, and becomes the Aim, i.e., Knowledge. This is most beautifully described in the above-mentioned work as follows:

34. That Intelligence which incites the functions into the paths of virtue and vice "am I." All this universe, moveable and immovable, is from me; all things are seen through me; all are absorbed into me;34 because there exists nothing but spirit, and "I am that spirit." There exists nothing else.

35. As in innumerable cups full of water, many reflections of the sun are seen, but the substance is the same; similarly individuals, like cups, are innumerable, but the vivifying spirit like the sun is one.

49. All this universe, moveable or immoveable, has come out of Intelligence. Renouncing everything else, take shelter of it.

50. As space pervades a jar both in and out, similarly within and beyond this ever-changing universe there exists one universal Spirit.

58. Since from knowledge of that Cause of the universe, ignorance is destroyed, therefore the Spirit is Knowledge; and this Knowledge is everlasting.

59. That Spirit from which this manifold universe existing in time takes its origin is one, and unthinkable.

62. Having renounced all false desires and chains, the Sanny?si and Yogi see certainly in their own spirit the universal Spirit.

63. Having seen the Spirit that brings forth happiness in their own spirit, they forget this universe, and enjoy the ineffable bliss of Samâdhi.35

As in the West there are various systems of Magic, so in the East are there various systems of yoga, each of which purports to lead the aspirant from the realm of Mâyâ to that of Truth in Samâdhi. The most important of these are: 


        1. Gana Yoga.    Union by Knowledge.
        2. Raha Yoga.    Union by Will
        3. Bhakta Yoga.  Union by Love.          {65}
        4. Hatha Yoga.   Union by Courage.
        5. Mantra Yoga.  Union though Speech.
        6. Karma Yoga.   Union though Work.36

The two chief of these six methods according to the Bhagavad-Gâta are: Yoga by Sâñkhya (Raja Yoga), and Yoga by Action (Karma Yoga). But the difference between these two is to be found in their form rather than in their substance; for, as Krishna himself says:

Renunciation (Raja Yoga) and Yoga by action (Karma Yoga) both lead to the highest bliss; of the two, Yoga by action is verily better than renunciation by action ... Children, not Sages, speak of the Sâñkhya and the Yoga as different; he who is duly established in one obtaineth the fruits of both. That place which is gained by the Sâñkhyas is reached by the Yogis also. He seeth, who seeth that the Sâñkhya and the Yoga are one.37

Or, in other words, he who understand the equilibrium of action and renunciation (of addition and subtraction) is as he who perceives that in truth the circle is the line, the end the beginning.

To show how extraordinarily closely allied are the methods of Yoga to those of Magic, we will quote the following three verses from the Bhagavid-Gâta, which, with advantage, the reader may compare with the citations already made from the works of Abramelin and Eliphas Levi.

When the mind, bewildered by the Scriptures (Shruti), shall stand immovable, fixed in contemplation (Samâdhi), then shalt thou attain to Yoga.38

Whatsoever thou doest, whatsoever thou eatest, whatsoever thou offerest, {66} whatsoever thou givest, whatsoever thou dost of austerity, O Kaunteya, do thou that as an offering unto Me.

On Me fix thy mind; be devoted to Me; sacrifice to Me; prostrate thyself before Me; harmonized thus in the SELF (Âtman), thou shalt come unto Me, having Me as thy supreme goal.39

These last two verses are taken from "The Yoga of the Kingly Science and the Kingly Secret"; and if put into slightly different language might easily be mistaken for a passage out of "the Book of the Sacred Magic."

Not so, however, the first, which is taken from "The Yoga by the Sâñkhya," and which is reminiscent of the Quietism of Molinos and Madam de Guyon rather than of the operations of a ceremonial magician. And it was just this Quietism that P. as yet had never fully experienced; and he, realizing this, it came about that when once the key of Yoga was proffered him, he preferred to open the door of Renunciation and close that of Action, and to abandon the Western methods by the means of which he had already advanced so far rather than to continue in them. This in itself was the first great Sacrifice which he made upon the path of Renunciation—to abandon all that he had as yet attained to, to cut himself off from the world, and like an Hermit in a desolate land seek salvation by himself, through himself and of Himself. Ultimately, as we shall see, he renounced even this disownment, for which he now sacrificed all, and, by an unification of both, welded the East to the West, the two halves of that perfect whole which had been lying apart since that night wherein the breath of God moved upon the face of the waters and the limbs of a living world struggled from out the Chaos of Ancient Night. {67}

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Index | The Hermit | The Agnostic Position | The Vedanta | Attainment By Yoga | The Yogas | The Constitution of the Human Organism | The Chakkras | The Doctrines of Buddhism | The Noble Eightfold Path | The Writings of Truth

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX

32 Work and the effects of work.; The so-called law of Cause and Effect in the moral and physical worlds.

33 The four âshramas are (1) To live as a Brahmachârin—to spend a portion of one’s life with a Brahman teacher. (2) To live as a Grihastha—to rear a family and carry out the obligatory sacrifices. (3) To live as a Vânaprastha—to withdraw into solitude and meditate. (4) To live as a Sannyâsin—to await the spirit’s release into the Supreme Spirit.

34 At the time of the Pralaya.

35 "Shiva Sanhita," chap. 1.

36 Besides these, there are several lesser known Yogas, for the most part variant of the above such as: Ashtânga, Laya, and Târaka. See "Hatha-Yoga Pradipika," p. iii.

37 The "Bhagavad-Gâta." Fifth Discourse, 2-5.

38 Ibid. Second Discourse, 53.

39 Ibid. Ninth Discourse, 27, 34.

 

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