The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 1 of 4: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and PhilosophyBlavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna)
Religion
The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 1 of 4: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy
Blavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna)
Theosophy
The above allegory is at the root of the Occult law, which prescribes
silence upon the knowledge of certain secret and invisible things,
perceptible only to the spiritual mind (the sixth sense), and which cannot
be expressed by “noisy” or uttered speech. This chapter of _Anugîtâ_
explains, says Arjuna Mishra, Prânâyâma, or regulation of the breath in
Yoga practices. This mode, however, without the previous acquisition of,
or at least full understanding of, the two higher senses (of which there
are seven, as will be shown), pertains rather to the lower Yoga. The Hatha
so called was and still is discountenanced by the Arhats. It is injurious
to the health, and alone can never develop into Râja Yoga. This story is
quoted to show how inseparably connected in the metaphysics of old, are
intelligent beings, or rather “intelligences,” with every sense or
function, whether physical or mental. The Occult claim that there are
seven senses in man, and in nature, as there are seven states of
consciousness, is corroborated in the same work, Chapter vii, on
Pratyâhâra (the restraint and regulation of the senses, Prânâyâma being
that of the “vital winds” or breath). The Brâhmana, speaking of the
institution of the seven sacrificial Priests (Hotris), says: “The nose and
the eye, and the tongue, and the skin and the ear as the fifth [or smell,
sight, taste, touch, and hearing], mind and understanding are the seven
sacrificial priests separately stationed,” which “dwelling in a minute
space (still) do not perceive each other,” on this sensuous plane, none of
them except mind. For mind says: “The nose smells not without me, the eye
does not take in colour, etc., etc. I am the eternal chief among all
elements [_i.e._, senses]. Without me, the senses never shine, like an
empty dwelling, or like fires the flames of which are extinct. Without me,
all beings, like fuel half dried and half moist, fail to apprehend
qualities or objects even with the senses exerting themselves.”(165)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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