From the archive

La Iniciación (GIDEE) — Vol. 1, No. 1 — May 1942

English·1942–1947·trans. The Collective Press (machine-assisted)·28 passages

The text

La Iniciación – Volume 1, No.1 (May 1942)

Chapter 1: Presentation of the Magazine

YEAR 1 - MAY 1942 - No. 1

PRESENTATION OF THE MAGAZINE 'LA INICIACION' (THE INITIATION)

The words and acts of a human being are always the reflection of their individuality. Any collectivity, any society, whatever its nature may be, also has an individuality. The 'GIDEE' (Independent Group of Esoteric Studies), a society of cultural purpose, initiatic in its foundation and eclectic in its form, should have a spokesperson, also initiatic in foundation and eclectic in form. That spokesperson is the Magazine we present today: THE INITIATION.

Chapter 2: Poetry and Spiritual Essays

AWAKENINGTolling of bells that shadows life in prayer.Ringing of bronze that, like a prelude, reaches devout souls.Symphony of metal, mystical concert, gods that speak eternal language.Incidence of sounds that, like birdsong, are lost in the awakening of morning.KrishLife disturbs you, and you take refuge in the temple of illusion.The heart speaks to you, and you kneel on the path of selfishness.Being claims you, and you silence it with prayer.Krish

VIVISECTION OR VENERATION TOWARD ALL MASTERS?

By Dr. JEHEL, S.I.

The title of this article may seem, and is, to a certain point, somewhat brutal. But more lamentable is that, more brutal still, is the sad reality to which it alludes. Day by day, if we dispose ourselves for some moments to pay attention, we verify that many persons from the most diverse schools pretend to have understood the works of certain Masters or to be in contact with them or to be their disciples, in direct form or by following the determined initiatic school that they direct.

In reality, it is observed that a quantity of these same persons dissect the works of the referred Masters with a spirit of acute and often malignant criticism, or, pretentiously, point out errors that the works or attitudes of the said Masters seem to them to contain.

In the first place, from the simply logical point of view, such an attitude is not consequent, since the Master, if he is one, at whatever height one wishes to consider him, is necessarily APT, that is "PREPARED," for his mission and, therefore, "within it" is perfect. In other words, he represents a RELATIVE perfection, a perfection characteristic of a certain state of evolution of a certain function, and all those who still need THAT MASTER are really inferior to Him, if not in ESSENCE, which is not possible, at least and certainly in CONSCIOUSNESS.

Therefore, their criticisms are directed toward an "object," philosophically speaking, that they cannot really analyze and, for that very reason, are vain and light.

Under other more grave aspects, that is, in the MORAL and VITAL aspects of the question; and we know that Morality and Life are to a certain point the same thing, they belong to the same plane; how can such persons think that they may be given to receive the teachings of said Masters? If it concerns Instructor Masters, incarnated and present in physical body, near us, or, something more impossible still, to merit the Presence of the Venerable Masters who manifest from afar, or from the Invisible; how can they believe that this is possible, if they ignore the ESSENTIAL CONDITION, which is to create a BOND between the Master and themselves? And that bond, what can constitute it?... Only Veneration, Respect, Love. But a Love so real, so living, that it is a projection of our own most elevated thoughts and desires, toward the Instructor or the Master; that it is a total respect for the Function that he exercises in relation to us.

If we want to divide the problem to make it clearer, we will have in a very general way, two series of Beings, who help us in our Path of Evolution; the lesser, that is the Instructors, the men who know more or are better than us in many aspects, which does not mean that they are perfect; but it does mean that they have realized something of that which we aspire to realize, that they know something of that which we still ignore...

From what can result, in such Instructors, the true interest in the Disciple? It can only be born when the Instructor verifies that the disciple has the real preoccupation of Knowing in order to Serve, that is, an INTELLECTUAL interest, a SPIRITUAL anxiety to Know more and better, to really understand the Meaning of Life and the Path that leads to true realization, and the Moral interest, that is, the purity of intentions. But the Instructor CANNOT BELIEVE in such real intentions, he verifies that the disciple, who pretends to be idealistic and altruistic, conserves and even "cultivates" hardly the spirit of malevolent criticism, the lack of respect for elevated things or for Those who transmit them and who make for this purpose sacrifices that are evident to every disciple who wants to observe with Love the Instructor.

If we now consider the case, no longer of the Lesser Instructors, but of the VENERABLE MASTERS, of Those who FROM A DISTANCE, "see in our aura all the acts and thoughts that we have had since the last time they looked at us" – let us say thus to simplify the problem – it is easy to realize that, if we can deceive ourselves. They cannot be deceived about the progress that we could have realized or not, and of the poor REALITY of our good intentions. And, in spite of the Goodness that always and necessarily characterizes a Master, They cannot transgress UNIVERSAL LAWS and, therefore cannot make "fixed" in us MORE TRUTH, MORE BEAUTY, MORE ELEVATION, MORE QUALITY, than we ourselves seek, deserve; in other words, more than we ourselves CONDITION ourselves to receive.

For this reason, to walk firmly on the Path of Initiation, this respect is necessary, this VENERATIVE sentiment for the Teachings, for those who explain, comment and transmit them in their elementary part (Instructors), and even more for THOSE WHO LIVE THEM INTEGRALLY, who ARE the very LIVING Teaching in Humanity; THE VENERABLE MASTERS.

Love and Veneration for the Ideals and for the Masters who Represent them, are therefore, the Landmarks of the Path for one who follows the INITIATIC PATH.

Dr. JEHEL, S.I.

Chapter 3: Bibliography and Masonic Studies

BIBLIOGRAPHY

We have received for the Library of the Martinist Order of South America, the following works:

No. 733 – THE STARS AND THE MYSTERY OF LIFE – by Mr. Julio C. Hirian Corda. The author, President and Founder of the Rosicrucian Fraternity of Uruguay (Affiliate of The Rosicrucian Fellowship of California, U.S.A.), treats with care and accuracy the celestial influences in relation to many fundamental themes, such as health, evolution, karma and the stars, amulets and talismans, etc. Very worthy of note is the study he makes on the Age of Aquarius, where his affirmations align with all the Tradition. Dedicated disciple of the beautiful Fraternity founded by Max Heindel, the author evidences his comprehension of the marvelous doctrine of the Rosicrucians. This small volume (80 pages), precedes the work in preparation by the same author, which will be called: ADVANCED LESSONS OF ASTROLOGY.

S/no - Various Messages from the Argentine Cultural Committee, of Buenos Aires, all very beautiful for the diffusion they make of facts and knowledge that create the spirit of PEACE and UNITY OF AMERICA. We highlight the message of Magdalena Moctezuma, Delegate of the Committee in Mexico, and the one that details the propositions of Dr. Ricardo Levene, Member of the Directory of the Argentine Cultural Committee, to the Ministry of Public Instruction of his country, and concomitant with norms of the Brazilian Commission for the teaching of American History and Geography. These Messages are at the disposition of the members in the Library: magazines section.

These Messages are at the disposition of the members in the Library: magazines section.

We will send in exchange, our magazine to all other Magazines and Societies that request it.

COMMENTS ON THE FIRST DEGREE OF MARTINISM(By various Superior Unknown of the Order)

The Teaching of the Martinist Order, desiring to show its anti-dogmatic character and, nevertheless, monotheistic in its essence; desiring also to emphasize, from the beginning, its filiation with the Egyptian and Pythagorean teachings, from which has resulted the Masonry organized by direct influence of the Rosicrucians in 1717, makes, in the first degree, an exposition of the Masonic doctrine, so that the new Martinist learns to render tribute to the Masonic spirit which, without doubt, has been, in the modern era, one of the greatest paths of human thought, toward religious and philosophical tolerance, on a deistic base.

Let us examine, therefore, the so-called SYMBOLIC MASONRY, that is, the most widespread, which, in all Masonic Rites is taught in the first three degrees, with very small differences of presentation, and notable identity of foundation.

These first three Masonic degrees are called: APPRENTICE, COMPANION and MASTER MASON, and it is of them that we will occupy ourselves in these comments.

THE MASONIC INITIATION(Teachings of Jehel)

When a man (the almost totality of Masonic Rites do not admit women) desires to enter Masonry, and the reports about his honorability are favorable, a day is designated for him to be initiated.

The moment having arrived, he is conducted to a locale below the Temple, called the Chamber of Reflections, a place of gloomy aspect, whose black walls contain paintings of skeletons and legends that recall the vanity of material existence and the certainty of death. He remains there enclosed for a long space of time, occupied in writing the answers to the "TESTAMENT" that he has to make. The questions that are formulated to him are principally: "What duties does Man have toward Divinity, toward Humanity and toward himself?" Certain Rites ask more: that he make the synthesis of the results of the experiences that he would BEQUEATH to Humanity, as PHILOSOPHICAL TESTAMENT, if he had to "die" at that moment, as "could eventually happen to him in the trials."

Let us note, from now on, for it is of utmost importance, that the essential points that Masonry puts, from the first step, before the Candidate for Initiation, are the following:1) – THE PRIVATION OF FREEDOM in the bowels of the Earth.2) – THE IMAGE OF DEATH, certainty and theme of meditation to which every man should surrender.3) – The indication that the only important thing in the life of Man is the EXPERIENCE that he accumulates and that he can, if he seeks it, "BEQUEATH" to others while he lives.4) – The triple indication of DUTIES facing the Divine, the Human and the individual, the magnificent TERNARY key that will be developed in all that follows in the Initiation. Let us also note that by proceeding thus, Masonry affirms, from now on, its Deistic foundation; and on this particular it is fitting to remember that the almost totality of the Rites, according to the old Masonic postulates, DOES NOT ACCEPT candidates who declare themselves atheists. What Masonry conceives is the INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM of worship to that Divinity, never personalized nor defined and only designated under the denomination of SUPREME ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE, term on which we will have to return much later.While the candidate complies with what has been imposed on him in the Chamber of Reflections, the masons above, in the Temple, have initiated their Ceremonial, ritually opening the "works" of the session.In summary, said opening, if it were well done and with very pure intention, would be an INVOCATION and an EVOCATION, an Invocation to the Superior Forces of the Divine Planes and an Evocation of the Astral Manifestation of said forces through their three aspects: Wisdom, Force and Beauty, on which we will also have to return.The masonic brother, called "Terrible Brother," transparent image of the ancient guardians of the internal part of the Pyramids, "prepares" the candidate then to take him to the Temple. For that, he leaves him "neither naked nor clothed and exempt from metals." Practically he removes money, jewelry and should remove all metal in contact with the skin; but this is not done anymore today, because it has been forgotten that in Masonic initiation there is an ASTRAL MAGNETIC INFLUENCE that the candidate should receive and for that, he should not carry metals that would impede the fluidic distribution in his "aura."To symbolize "neither naked nor clothed," they roll up one side of his pants and remove a shoe, and also leave bare the opposite arm and the corresponding part of the chest. One would have to ignore all symbolism not to see there a complete teaching:1) Of magnetic polarization – by the opposition of a foot (BELOW AND TO THE RIGHT) and an arm and chest (ABOVE AND TO THE LEFT).2) That "neither naked nor clothed" shows the special state in which the Candidate should be: "NOT NAKED," because he is incarnated in his body, is covered by his profane convictions, is isolated from Truth by his past of ignorance and prejudices, etc.

; "NOT CLOTHED," because "CLOTHED," from the initiatic point of view, is having the HABIT of the initiated, that is, in the three planes, the TUNIC that distinguishes him and the Body purified by preparations and good habits taken in the physical plane; the moral BREASTPLATE of virtues long cultivated and the force of resistance to the hard trials of Initiation, in the moral or astral plane; the spiritual garment of Knowledge and Spirituality, "covered or CLOTHED WITH LIGHT," as was said among the Rosicrucians, in the spiritual plane.The candidate's eyes are blindfolded so that he understands well not only that he is blind, that he knows nothing, but also so that he understands that it is not BY THE EXTERNAL OR PHYSICAL EYES that Initiation enters, but by the MIND, by MEDITATION, in a word, by the INTERNAL CHANNELS. That Reality is: subjective (internal) in the first step; that of concrete intellectual philosophical speculation. That Reality is: intuitive (internal) in the second step, that of psychic or astral search. That Reality is ILLUMINATIVE (internal) when he has sufficiently dilated his internal Being, so that in him can fit the DIRECT LIGHT OF THE DIVINE PLANE.For all these reasons the candidate is asked to pay attention to the Ceremonies to which he is being subjected, because all the HIGH TEACHING, both in Masonry and in any other Initiatic School, is ALWAYS, more in the SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIES than in the written or oral Instructions, which contain only the theoretical and concrete mental (intellectual) part.They take the candidate to the Door of the Temple, at which he is commanded to knock, insisting, until with terrible noise, that Door opens. It is the image that Truth and Light come only to those who SEEK AND INSIST on this search. Image, also, that when the Door opens, there is something terrible and frightening that "SEPARATES" the Initiated from the profane forever.The trials of physical character continue then; the candidate had already passed the trial of EARTH (enclosed in the Chamber of Reflections); and now they make him jump, always with blindfolded eyes, from small height, while noises like thunder are heard, etc., symbols of the trial of AIR. Then they make him pass through that of WATER; and when making each of them he is explained what the symbols of Air and Water or Ocean can mean, morally and socially, unfortunately there is, in recent decades, a tendency to reduce the interpretative scope of said symbols, giving them only a social and moral signification, but without showing the candidate that they are really the key to understanding the Fluidic Cycles (Water – the Great Waters of the Kabbalah, the kingdom of Maya, etc.) and that of the Divine Heavens, the AIR (LIGHT, etc.) Having finished that part, the candidate is invited to take a SWEET drink that will become bitter "if his intentions are not pure.

" Things are arranged in such a way that the liquid always becomes bitter and the candidate generally shows it by his physiognomy, so that he is admonished for the suspicion of his unhealthy curiosity. If he resists well to that test, it is known that there is in him a man of will and self-control. We say this without taking into account, because Masonry no longer has it, that such BITTER CUP is the similitude of what was done in Egyptian Initiation, to show that what is sweet at the beginning, (EASY LIFE, pleasures, passionate love, etc.) is always bitter at the end and that what is bitter at the beginning (self-control, asceticism, voluntary altruism) generates peace, serenity, happiness, that is the definitive "sweet" state. If we wanted to go further, we could say that such a drink also means the SOMA of the true initiations on Earth, and even more, the NECTAR OF OBLIVION, that we will all be obliged to drink before REINCARNATING...; but let us not anticipate.When the candidate returns from the altar of the Venerable (President of the Lodge) where he had suffered the test of the Cup, he passes through the Purifying Fire, last test of the Elements, evident symbol that only by INTERNAL FIRE (pure desire, effort of improvement) is Initiation achieved, and by the Fire of Sacrifice, Illumination. There are still other "mysteries" hidden behind this symbol, but they are too elevated to comment on them in relation to masonry that has never possessed them.Thus prepared, the candidate is asked for the last time if he still desires to be a mason; this after having heard in the so-called "Chair of Reflections" some comments on the purposes and duties of masons. Questions of moral order are asked him, principally, to realize his comprehension about some human problems.If his declaration is firm, he is taken outside the Temple to make him pass through the test of "threat." In some seconds, during which they remove his blindfold, he sees a coffin in which a mason, with bloodied chest, seems to have been killed by all the others who, covered with masks, hoods or similar things, according to the rites, threaten the Candidate with their swords, warning him that, if he fails in his obligations as a mason, death would reach him even though he hides. Such ceremony, much more than a physical threat, which has no reality, in the sense that masonic society does not "assassinate" its perjured members, which only certain purely political rites have done, like the carbonari, who were not masons properly speaking; much more than as physical threat, originating from men, was made, something that many masons ignore today, to show three threats that ARE ALWAYS SUSPENDED OVER THE HEAD OF THE INITIATED LIKE A TRUE SWORD OF DAMOCLES:1) The bad use of initiatic knowledge, through pride, vanity, egoism, etc., always leads to ruin of physical health and in certain cases even death.

2) The "perjured" use of the same knowledge brings the moral threat that goes, from the disconsideration of which the perjurer becomes object on the part of his former "brothers," to the fact that the internal being of the perjurer is poisoned by an increasingly vicious tendency, or by such intense remorse that makes him suffer as if he had a true blade in his heart.3) The most secret part of the symbol is the reality of the true threat that is directed against one who goes AGAINST A CURRENT, at the same time human, that is, magnetic; moral, that is astral; and spiritual, that is, universal, which he had promised to help and which, giving him more knowledge, made him more conscious, and therefore, also more responsible. The true initiated know what a return shock is, in all senses, and to what death, physical, moral or spiritual it can lead...Having finished this last test, the neophyte is again dressed as he came from the street and with eyes still blindfolded, he is taken to the Temple, in which, after the Venerable consults and obtains from the two Wardens (advisors to the Venerable) conformity to initiate him, his blindfold is removed and he sees again all the Brothers who show him the Sword, but this time to tell him that such swords will serve to protect him: symbol of the UNION that existed between the INITIATED of all the Temples in antiquity and expression of the union that is still one of the most beautiful characteristics of masons, even when it almost never extends beyond mutual aid in the daily circumstances of life, which is much if it is well realized.Finally, after an oath of silence and fidelity to the doctrine and to the masonic institution, he receives the LIGHT, or as is said masonically, the TRUE LIGHT, which would be the Real Initiation. Later, when studying the degree of Master, we will see what that True Light could be.At the end of the Initiation, they give him an apron and two pairs of white gloves: one for him, so that his hands may be "pure" in his acts, and another to offer to the woman he most esteems, a courtesy somewhat astute in modern masonry, which "esteems" woman so much that it does not admit her.It seems that masonry admits that the mason is the one who should guide his woman outside the Temple, because she is incapable of receiving directly the True Light; procedure well characteristic of a civilization of inequality against which all true initiatic orders have always risen, which in all epochs have admitted women really capable of being initiated.At that moment the Touch, the Sign, the Word, etc., of his degree are communicated to the new Apprentice Mason, on which we will return, and he is taught the March to enter the Temple, which we will also explain later. He is made to "work" for the first time on the Rough Stone, with the Mallet and Chisel – tools of the Apprentice –.

In some rites, the new brother is asked for money for the poor and, as it had been taken from him when entering, he must confess that he has none to give, which is used for him to meditate on the sad condition of one who cannot help others.We now have an Apprentice Mason Brother in the Temple. Let us look, with his eyes, at what he sees in that Temple, into which it cost him so much to penetrate.

Chapter 4: Practical Course of Judicial Astrology

(Teachings of SURYA, S.I.)

It has seemed impossible to me that anyone can really interest themselves with profit in Astrology, if they do not possess the necessary knowledge to understand its scope in the three planes: the human and concrete, the moral and astral, the occult and spiritual.

For this reason, this course will embrace the three parts, giving, it is certain, the most elevated only in emblematic manner, sometimes, so that those who know how to meditate and observe are the only ones who come to possess such truths, practical keys to mysterious powers and possibilities.

I will begin by transcribing the fundamental part of the Teaching of Venerable Master PAPUS on the Astronomy of the Temples of Antiquity, as it is found in the "Archaeometer" of St. Yves d'Alveydre. PAPUS says:

"The first thing that awakens the human spirit is Nature in its diverse manifestations: the rising and setting of the Sun and Moon, the stars shining in the night, and the seasons, storms, rainbow, the growth of vegetables, the reproduction of animals and their utilization by man; all this requires long and serious meditations.

"Let us say immediately that, contrary to certain positivists of the profane world, we maintain that all the instruction of the first terrestrial thinkers was made, not by infantile reasoning, but under the direct impulse of the Invisible Beings of diverse planes. It is direct revelation, which is found at the origin of all science; experience comes only later to deny, first the affirmations of Superior Beings, although it is to have to return later to it. From there comes the proverb: 'A little science separates us from God; much science leads us back to Him.' But let us not anticipate.

"Current science teaches us that we are inhabitants of a planet called Earth; this planet gravitates, with some others, around a star called Sun, which sends heat and life, both to Earth and to the other planets of its system. Said planets are, moving away from the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn (all known to the ancients) Uranus and Neptune, added to the solar system by modern scholars.

"Each of these planets may have, in its turn, minor stars than it and which orbit around it. These stars are called satellites. Earth has one satellite: the Moon. Mars has several, Jupiter also and Saturn is surrounded by a true cloud of satellites and moreover by a true ring. You can find all useful details in elementary books of astronomy.

These stars are called satellites. Earth has one satellite: the Moon. Mars has several, Jupiter also and Saturn is surrounded by a true cloud of satellites and moreover by a true ring. You can find all useful details in elementary books of astronomy.

"Each of the stars that we see in the sky and which are called fixed stars, are a SUN with its retinue of planets. On the contrary, the mobile stars that appear under the terrestrial horizon at certain times of the year, and which circulate in the Sky from one group of stars to another, endowed often with a particular color, are PLANETS.

"It was by studying first these astral circulations, then the duration of Earth's rotation on itself, the duration of Earth's rotation around the Sun and, finally, the time of rotation of the Moon Satellite, around Earth, that it has been possible to establish the basis for time determination and the diverse calendar systems.

"The SUN seems to traverse in the Sky a certain path, indicated by groups of fixed stars. These stars are like celestial frames surrounding the solar path. In a terrestrial year (365 days and a fraction), the Sun passes, according to the exterior aspect, before all those groups of stars, numbering twelve, called SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC, or, simply, ZODIAC. Thus the Sun seems to traverse a zodiacal sign per month.

"Earth rotates on itself in 24 hours. During those 24 hours, half of the terrestrial globe is illuminated by the sun, while the other half is in shadow. The time in which the earth is illuminated is called day, and the time of darkness night. The exact duration of days and nights varies according to terrestrial countries and seasons because Earth is inclined on the ECLIPTIC.

"On the other hand, the Moon orbits around Earth in 4 times seven days and some fraction during those 28 days, the Moon changes FOUR TIMES, in aspect, which gives us: NEW MOON, FIRST CRESCENT, FULL MOON or PLENILUNIUM and LAST QUARTER. The seven days that the Moon needs to pass from one aspect to another form THE WEEK.

"The lunar month is 28 days; the solar month a little more than 30 days. The search for concordance between these two types of months, is what gave birth to the diverse calendar systems of terrestrial peoples; some staying with lunar months only, (red and black skins), others, with solar months only, and still others, with the true time, resulting from the adjustment in concordance of the diverse months."

PAPUS continues:

"No spectacle could impress the human brain more than the appearance of stars and planets on a beautiful summer night. And yet, how few contemporaries are capable of really realizing the marvels that the sky presents to them. Current science shows us how despicable our little Earth is in that immensity of diversely colored suns (there are red, green, blue ones, etc.) around which gravitate multiple planets, charged with humanities. For details, one can see the admirable works of Camille Flammarion on these thrilling themes.

For details, one can see the admirable works of Camille Flammarion on these thrilling themes.

All this is marvelous and, yet, contemporary Science describes only the effigies, the exterior aspects: it makes Anatomy of Nature and forgets its Physiology.

Imagine a scholar who has just discovered a manuscript written in an unknown language and who weighs that manuscript, measures it, analyzes its chemical composition and, finally, counts with utmost care the number of lines and characters that compose it, and you will have an idea of the way in which current science occupies itself with Nature.

The fear of hypotheses has produced an abuse of detail analyses. From the renaissance, all the philosophical, synthetic part of sciences has been set apart, in exile, far from studies called "serious", and all high scientific speculations became hidden, occult things, and constituted what is called today OCCULT SCIENCES.

The anatomical section of the study of stars became a science under the name of Astronomy, while, on the other hand, the physiological section was relegated to scorn under the name of Astrology. The synthetic section or Astrosophy, remained almost unknown.

The same happened with Chemistry and Alchemy, Physics and magic, Theology and theurgy, Natural Sciences and Physiognomy, Numbers and Occult Mathematics.

When you see people pass by on the street, what interests you is not so much their weight, their dress, the color of their skin and their walk, as their moral life, the relations of friendship or hatred that they may have among themselves, their social laws and finally their intellectual life."

However, current science considers the stars as passersby of whom the real life should be ignored, and says they are great material masses that react on one another, according to their volume and distance.

On the contrary, Astrology teaches that the Stars are LIVING BEINGS that have friendships and hatreds and influence each other by the fluids that circulate between them. Astrology shows the sky populated with living beings and intelligent forces, while Astronomy shows us, above our heads, only an immense cemetery of inert masses and blind forces. Awaiting the official union of the two sciences, of serious Astronomy and occult Astrology, I indicate the indispensable elements to know in order to understand the books of ancient and modern astrologers."

"It is necessary to study three orders of objects:1) The planets.2) The signs of the Zodiac and their role as planetary houses.3) The relations of said stars and signs with the life and destiny of beings that live on the planets."

PAPUS continues:

THE PLANETS

"We have seen that the planets orbit around the SUN and that, for science, the order of said Planets is the following:Sun... Mercury... Venus... Earth... Mars... The asteroids of the exploded planet... Jupiter... Saturn... Uranus... Neptune.

Mercury... Venus... Earth... Mars... The asteroids of the exploded planet... Jupiter... Saturn... Uranus... Neptune.

Astrology, to facilitate its calculations, considers Earth as CENTER OF THE SYSTEM and orders the stars in the following manner:NEPTUNE – URANUS – SATURN – JUPITER – MARS – SUN – VENUS – MERCURY and MOON.

The two planets that link our system with the next, NEPTUNE and URANUS, are set aside, in all that refers to ancient Astrology, and operation is done with the SEVEN PLANETS of antiquity, whose list we advise our readers to learn by heart:SATURN – JUPITER – MARS – SUN – VENUS – MERCURY – MOON.

At the same time that this list is learned by heart, it will be very useful, to draw many times the signs coming from the ADAMIC LANGUAGE or WATAN (See the works of Saint Yves d'Alveydre):

♄ SATURN ♀ VENUS♃ JUPITER ☿ MERCURY ♂ MARS ☾ MOON☉ SUN (Continues in the next number).

Chapter 5: Progressive Course of Asana Yoga

(Teaching of ASURI KAPILA, S.I.)

GENERALITIES

The Purpose of the studies that will be published in this Magazine is to make known something of the sublime doctrines of India. We can group these studies under the common denomination of "Methodology of Yoga."

It will be a matter of explaining and exposing in simple and synthetic form within anyone's reach, the essence of the classical doctrine of Yoga, making it comprehensible in our language and demonstrating the possibility of its practice in the Occident.

The mysterious science of Yoga was taught and practiced by the ancient "RISHIS" in that millenary and sacred city of India, on the banks of the sacred river Ganges, called anciently "KAZI or KASHY," today BENARES.

This millenary science has known how to survive in spite of all the vicissitudes that India traversed, which would seem contagioned by the wave of materialism of the old world. In past times, those exalted and venerable Masters of Wisdom had in that most ancient and sacred city their "ASHRAMS" where, gathered with some chosen disciples, they delivered themselves to the high studies of Truth. From there they communicated to the elect the sacred and sublime doctrine of Yoga, which gave to those who received and practiced it conscientiously, the knowledge of Life and the Universe.

Although today the Masters of Wisdom of those sciences, taught by "KAPILA" and "PATANJALI" in the year 700 before our era, (the first author of the SANKHYA philosophy and the second, one of the celebrated founders of Yoga philosophy, contemporary of PANINI, celebrated grammarian and principal authority in questions of Sanskrit grammar), have silently retired beyond the Himalayas, to places more secure and truly inaccessible to the profane, before the wave of great materialism and barbarity that seems to have invaded the world, thus making more difficult than ever the possibility of discovering their dwellings and feeling the perfume of their presences.

But, with all this, it does not mean that the tradition has ceased to be transmitted. There always remain some "CHELAS" (disciples) who still keep alive the fire of that mysterious science as ancient as the world, distributing here and there some crumbs of the Knowledge that they themselves had the high honor and privilege of receiving from the venerable lips of the Master.

With these courses it is tried to demonstrate, that although the individual be fully submerged in material life, full of responsibilities, subject to multiple disappointments, and the "modern" occidental man finds himself in his daily life before terrible dilemmas to secure his daily bread and maintain his family – which is realized at the cost of great sacrifices that oblige him to make terrible mental and physical efforts that almost always end by brutalizing him –, he must remember that he too carries within him part of that divine spark that is a particle of the universal mind, that he is also a child of the Celestial Father, a part of Unity, and that, in spite of all those problems, he too can find the path that leads toward a more spiritual life and know certain truths that will make him perceive that light of the spirit.

And so, applying to daily life those knowledges, he too can be, in a certain way, a yogi, I want to say, do all that is commonly done in the 24 hours of the day with a little more heart, more love and understanding. And developing progressively tolerance and fraternity, that is, applying more and more broadly the "DOCTRINE OF THE HEART" both in the street and in the office, they will be able to make of all their acts a true spiritual cult having as temple the physical body and the mind as ceremonial.

WHAT DOES THE WORD "YOGA" MEAN?

"YOGA" is a Sanskrit word that literally means, translated to our language: to unite, join, weld, and is taken from the root "YUJA," union. The same as when two pieces of metal are welded they become one, so Yoga, applied to man who is a part of the divine essence, makes it possible for him to unite with the universal spirit and thus perceive his spiritual essence.

Naturally, this condition is obtained with the practice of certain physical and mental exercises that form a whole body of doctrine, divided and subdivided into different stages and degrees that will be studied here, in these courses and that will be called: Yogas.

Many "GURUS" have interpreted in different ways the meaning of the word Yoga; but all agree on its true meaning: "Yoga is the union of the human soul with the Universal Soul". The other definitions only express with different words the same idea: "Yoga is the concentration of oneself with the aim of being able to perceive and see how the soul is when the latter is abstracted from matter and mind". Another Master defines Yoga as "the suppression of thoughts". But I want to make a clarification here: that "thought" should not be understood in the vulgar sense of reflection, but should be taken as the way of signifying consciousness that includes sensibility, imagination and dreams, in short, all the hodgepodge of thoughts that continually invade our mind and make it incapable of meditating fixedly on an object. As will be seen, the word YOGA has different applications and definitions according to the planes on which it is applied. Yoga, in the mental plane, is the science that makes it possible to increase the capacity of the human mind to respond to higher vibrations, capture them and thus assimilate the infinite conscious movement that exists and develops around our universe. The mind thus becomes through yoga a true transmitting and receiving station, a lucid antenna, capable of receiving, and also of transmitting messages at any distance. For this reason, yoga is also defined as "the art of projecting thoughts," since transformed into a powerful focus of radioactivity, it becomes apt to vivify them and aid with them present and absent ones, when the latter find themselves in difficulties and dangers, both in the terrestrial sphere and in the invisible planes that surround us.

Now then, yoga, applied to the metaphysical plane, makes it possible for man to realize the so-called miracles, that all the saints of Sacred Histories carried out, like Buddha, Jesus, etc., and which are really the knowledge and practice of the greatest of sciences: Yoga. The venerable Master Buddha was a perfect YOGIN, as was also Jesus. Another definition of Yoga is the following: forceful means of spiritual liberation that leads to obtaining psychic powers, called in Sanskrit "SIDDHIS" by the development of latent psycho-spiritual faculties. The states of ecstasy provoked by that high state of vibration lead to the clear and correct perception of eternal truths, both of the visible Universe and the invisible, that is, to the union of the divine and superior I, by means of the practice of yoguistic meditation.

The states of ecstasy provoked by that high state of vibration lead to the clear and correct perception of eternal truths, both of the visible Universe and the invisible, that is, to the union of the divine and superior I, by means of the practice of yoguistic meditation.

Then, thanks to this mystical union, man achieves complete dominion over body and mind, frees himself from all the bonds of the material world and develops certain marvelous faculties, latent in all the human species, and which are naturally cause of strange and mysterious phenomena that seem supernatural or miraculous to all those who ignore their productive cause.

PATANJALI defines Yoga with this brief sentence: "Yoga is preventing mental matter 'CHITTA' from taking diverse forms (VRITTIS)". This aphorism of the Master is so brief but so true in its essence because it is the first step of Yoga, without which the disciple could not advance. It means that one must begin with those waves of incongruent thoughts that almost always affect us and that take diverse forms, thus impeding man from being able to control it and channel it toward a serene and perfect meditation.

(Will continue in the next number)

SANSKRIT GLOSSARY OF THE PART PUBLISHED TODAY

i RISHIS: Spiritual Masters, preceptors of Yogaii KAZI or KASHI: The name of ancient Benares.iii ASHRAMS: Sacred places where Masters and their disciples dwell.iv KAPILA: The founder of a system of Yoga.v PATANJALI: Another Master of Yoga, founder of another yoguistic school.vi SANKHYA: Philosophical system pertaining to reasoning.vii PANINI: Celebrated Indian grammarian.viii YOGA: To unite, join, weld.ix YUJA: To unite, union.x GURUS: Masters of Wisdom.xi SIDDHIS: Psychic faculties, spiritual powers.xii CHITTA: Mental matter.xiii VRITTIS: Forms of thought that continually invade our mind.

Editorial Note: In this course will be published each time the GLOSSARY of Sanskrit terms cited in the text of the number.

Our readers will thus have, besides A YOGA COURSE, a true course of SACRED TERMS of oriental teaching that can serve them much in their traditional searches.

"THE ALL is mind, the Universe is 'mental'."

Chapter 6: Scientific and Research Studies

THE EXPRESSION OF HUMAN PERSONALITY IN THE CUTANEOUS FOLDS OF THE HANDS

There is no doubt whatsoever that, between the skin and central nervous system, multiple and intimate functional relations exist. The skin, in effect, can be considered, if we observe its structure, as a true brain, peripheral, logical analogy, moreover, if we remember that it has the same embryological origin, that is, the ectodermic layer.

There is no reason, therefore, to be surprised, if physiological and psychological influences, cutaneous-psychic and psycho-cutaneous put in intimate relation these two organs.

We do not wish in this article, to occupy ourselves with these influences; as an example, of the cutaneous reflexes of emotional origin, of the psycho-pilo-motor, psycho-vaso-motor, psycho-glandular reflexes, of abnormal states of the skin of psychic origin, of psycho-cutaneous electrical reflexes and possibly other psycho-terms, etc.

The treatises and diverse publications on human physiology discuss in detail this important theme, and readers will be able, if they desire, to inform themselves by reading the classic treatises of physiology and especially those of GOMEL.

What on the contrary we wish to clarify, even if summarily, is a question that has been much debated between two classes of investigators: the esotericists, affirming, and the physiologists, denying, the reciprocal influence existing between the skin and human personality and especially between human personality and the cutaneous folds of the hands.

In any treatise of human anatomy or physiology we read, for example, affirmations like the following:

"The center of the palmar region is furrowed in all directions by folds of locomotion, whose number and direction vary much from one to another and in the same subject, from one side to another. It is notorious to all that, when studying these functional folds, -lines of the hand-, some observers, naturally without scientific basis, have believed, in all times, to be able to recognize the character, mental aptitudes and, more than anything, the destiny of the subject under examination."

The investigators of the relations between human personality and cutaneous folds in general and the chiromancers especially, affirm on the contrary, that psychic personality influences the folds of the hands and that, if these are known how to be studied and understood, it is possible to ascend from effect to cause and thus know the character of persons and their destiny, making abstraction of time and space.

To the objections of the former, that the lines of the hands are the result of special occupations, or that they are due to the insertions of connective tissue in the underlying osteo-muscular plane and determined by the play of articulations, the latter oppose, other reasons, affirming that the left hand, which works much less than the right, has a greater number of lines and that newborn children who, naturally, have not yet exercised the articulations of the hands in any occupation have, nevertheless, a great number of lines.

Moreover, in support of the latter, there exist numerous data from the physiologists themselves, who without realizing it, have provided the chiromancers with many proofs of their affirmations. In the first place, the skin of each individual is different from that of another, as demonstrated by innumerable morphological and biological data. In the second place, each individual can be identified by means of fingerprints, which seems to prove that there is a real identity between personality and skin, since no two are alike. On the other hand, the well-known difficulty of healing of cutaneous grafts, is due to individual biological differences existing even among blood relations, as Lexer has demonstrated.

Moreover, embryological investigations seem to affirm that cutaneous folds are already completely developed at the moment when the sweat glands and hair follicles appear constituted, that is, in the eighth month of fetal life.

That the folds are not due to articular movements is demonstrated by the fact that, in case of ankylosis of the metacarpal articulations, they continue to subsist without any evident alteration.

It is clear, then, that many are the facts in support of what the chiromancers affirm, that is, that psychic influences are what determine cutaneous folds. By what paths are these influences established? There is no doubt that it is through the innumerable nervous ramifications of the great sympathetic or of the peripheral motor and sensorial system. The problem is of great interest if we think of the results, and should not be considered as a byzantine question, as the modern physiologists seem to have approached it until today.

On the contrary, to give an anatomical and functional foundation to these coherent and logical affirmations, old as the world, by means of investigations directed in the sense of establishing by what ways these influences are produced, and what is the medium (nervous fluid, psychic current, "aur" of the Hebrews, prana of the Hindus, astral light of the martinists, etc.) that permits these relations, is to leave a state of preconceived ideas, whose nature is clearly anti-scientific, and to open oneself to receive Truth wherever it may be found, for the advancement of physiological knowledge and the unraveling of mysteries that still obscure the varied, infinite and interesting problems and phenomena of life.

Dr. Oreste Bernardi.

DIVAGATING

Krish

At the side of a road, where run the waters released from the sky,A cross remembers, speaks of the past.Punished by time it sustains itself in the root of what it watches,I think backwards, hasten the step, the weight of illusion bends me,Like the indifferent laborer who passes by my side with dry logs,Fruit of a past spring.At the side of a road where run the waters released from the sky...He and I, I think... Will we meet again?Then, our symbol will be the cross.Krish.

Chapter 7: Astrological Research and Experiments

Will we meet again?Then, our symbol will be the cross.Krish.

Chapter 7: Astrological Research and Experiments

ESSAY ON THE RELATIONS BETWEEN CELESTIAL INFLUENCES AND THE LIFE OF METALS, VEGETABLES AND HUMAN BEINGS

From the old Sacred Science, marvelous ASTROSOPHY of the ancient temples, modern Astrology, incomplete inheritance, comes from the Chaldeans, in spite of everything, penetrating each day more into the sectors of human activity. Numerous are the profane magazines that have an astrological section. Also numerous are the magazines of initiatic character that teach or divulge it. And if the ancient emperors and kings did not take a step without consulting their astrologers, it is no less true that TODAY almost all heads of government also have their astrological consultants. If it were not indiscretion, which we cannot commit, we could cite great public men of Europe and the Americas, whose efforts are guided by Astrology. The most refractory to the acceptance of celestial influence are, as always, the most honest men of science who, faithful to their orientation of not accepting anything that is not demonstrable "in vitro," have set aside, most of them, at least, that science which they qualify as a baseless dream.

In spite of such opposition from a certain sector of investigators, Astrology walks, supporting itself, on one side, on TRADITIONAL TRUTHS, not all verified, but which always guide the search; and on the other, on EXPERIMENTAL AND STATISTICAL VERIFICATIONS, that is, in accordance with the method of academic science. We will examine, in this brief article, some of the verifications of experimental character that can be verified with ease.

In the first place, let us take the mineral plane, that which, apparently, has less perceptible LIFE, and, therefore, in which it should be MORE DIFFICULT to recognize traces of an eventual celestial influence.

Initially, it must be recognized that metals, for example, do not lack LIFE, as many people believe. Chemistry has already recognized OFFICIALLY that a metal can be "poisoned" with almost all the poisons that act as such in the animal or human organism. For example, a metal beam, into which a violent poison is "injected" repeatedly, LOSES after a short time its ELASTICITY, its RESISTANCE, in a word, BECOMES SICK.

This seems to demonstrate that any really toxic substance, ACTS, that is has Action on any height of Life, or better said, on BEINGS OF ANY LEVEL OF THE MANIFESTATION OF LIFE; and that, from the mineral plane.

Now then, if we take a solution of silver salts, and divide it into three parts that, therefore will be IDENTICAL from the chemical point of view, we can make the following and curious experience.

Placing in a container one of the three parts of the solution we put a piece of blotting paper in light contact with the solution so that the liquid can rise by capillarity, WE DO THIS AT THE MOMENT OF THE NEW MOON AND IF POSSIBLE WHEN THE MOON RECEIVES BAD ASPECTS FROM SEVERAL OTHER PLANETS. Result: liquid rises, but the traces of silver in the blotting paper are few and weak; the drawings on the blotting paper are vague and pale.

With the second part of the solution we make the same experience, under equal conditions (same quality of blotting paper, same temperature, etc.) but at the moment when the MOON IS IN ITS FIRST CRESCENT QUARTER AND, IF POSSIBLE, WELL ASPECTED. Result: much more traces of silver and more accentuated drawings in the blotting paper.

With the third part we will do the same on FULL MOON DAY, IF POSSIBLE WITH GOOD ASPECTS AND PUTTING THE CONTAINER WHERE IT RECEIVES THE ACTUAL LIGHT OF THE MOON. Result: maximum possible concentration of silver salts in the blotting paper, more accentuated drawings AND OF FORMS THAT WILL ALWAYS BE PRODUCED UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS OF EXPERIENCE.

The conclusions seem to be the following, if we consider that, with salts that are not of silver, the experience is less intense in relation to the Moon:

1) – "THERE IS SOMETHING" that modifies the quantity of silver salts that "acts" in each of the three experiences.

2) – "THAT SOMETHING" seems really to be in proportion to LUNAR FORCE, since it accompanies the growth of lunar phases.

3) – "THAT SOMETHING," in relation to the Moon, manifests better, in the mineral plane, with the metal SILVER.

Now go two axioms of traditional Astrology:

"To each planet corresponds a metal, to the Moon, for ex., Silver."

"When the Moon grows, Life is more intense in all planes of existence, from the mineral to the human astral."

We have to recognize, to be impartial, that the cited experience FITS, exactly to the two axioms, and that it seems really that SILVER CORRESPONDS TO THE MOON AND, FOR THAT VERY REASON, LIVES MORE INTENSELY WHEN THE MOON IS IN ITS FULLNESS OF LIGHT.

Let us take another case, still MINERAL, but already in relation to life or to the human organism. If human blood is taken and the blotting paper experience is made ON A DAY WHEN MARS, FOR EXAMPLE, IS STRONGLY AFFECTED OR IN A ZODIACAL SIGN THAT IS ITS DOMICILE OR EXALTATION, it will be seen that only in those occasions can the drawings and other verifications referring to iron salts be obtained in the blotting paper.

Here the case becomes complicated because this experience would bring as consequence ALL THE FOLLOWING already taught by traditional Astrology:

A) – Really IRON is under the influence of planet MARS.B) – Really MARS is more "influential" in certain ZODIACAL SIGNS.C) – The particles of determined MINERAL conserve their AFFINITY with determined CELESTIAL INFLUENCES, even though they are already located or "ASSIMILATED" in a SUPERIOR LIFE TONIC, such as, for example, in human blood.D) All this would make one think much and, especially, of the "MYSTERIOUS CURES" of Paracelso, who gave medications to a certain portion of blood of a sick person, who, at distance, received the benefit of such treatment. It must be added that Paracelso did everything in relation to celestial influences.E) So that our readers also make their personal observations on Astrology, we are going to supply them with a "datum" that an astrologer of the Martinist Order has "given" us: On May 2nd, the conjunction of SATURN WITH URANUS will be produced, which, according to the teachings of traditional Astrology, must be very nefarious in many senses: passionate crimes, accidents in chemical product factories, possible and probable beginning of chemical warfare (poisonous gases) more intense manifestations of cruelty in war and in all sectors of human struggles. Earthquakes. Grave changes in the attitude of any person or people subjected to pressure. Throat diseases and respiratory ways that will manifest in epidemic form in Ireland, Spain and other regions. Such influence must make itself felt days before already, but must culminate its manifestations around May 1st to 4th, although the consequences can last long, since this conjunction during all 1942 will still be vibrating.

(To be continued)

Léo de Mascheville.

Chapter 8: News Bulletin and Organizational Activities

NEWS BULLETIN

I – We have inaugurated on April 6 the following courses: MONDAY: Krishnamurtian Teaching – Astrology. TUESDAY: Western Cosmogony – Kabbalah. WEDNESDAY: History of Western Esoteric Tradition – Group of Metapsychic Investigations. THURSDAY: Oriental Esotericism – Yoga. SATURDAY: Chiromancy – Magnetic Mental Circle.

(All days from 19:30 to 21:30 such courses function and new inscriptions are received. For information, address the Secretary, daily, from 17 to 19:30, at the GIDEE headquarters; Av. 18 de Julio 1018.)

II – "THE INITIATION" appears for the first time, as one more part of the Old Tradition revived.

III – The "GIDEE" pamphlets have been sent to eighty former members of the old Magnetic Mental Circle and to 120 Magazines and affiliated Societies of the American Continent.

From the "MARTINIST ORDER OF SOUTH AMERICA"

I – The MARTINIST DELEGATE in Buenos Aires was in Montevideo, visiting the Order and has honored with his presence some courses of the GIDEE, accompanied by his secretary and another sister.

From the "MARTINIST ORDER OF SOUTH AMERICA"

I – The MARTINIST DELEGATE in Buenos Aires was in Montevideo, visiting the Order and has honored with his presence some courses of the GIDEE, accompanied by his secretary and another sister.

II – There has been installed, as part of the activity of the Oriental Branch of the Order, the Temple dedicated to the Current of the H.A.B.M.

III – The Corporation "HORACIO DE CARVALHO" of São Paulo, Brazil, informs us that it has inaugurated its new locale, more adequate and central.

IV – A brother of the Order has offered to the Great Council a beautiful statue of the "Victory of Samothrace". Thanks.

V – A series of pictures of beautiful legends for the course halls were offered by dedicated brothers. Thanks.

VI – The Great Council communicates to us having received in March, donations from brothers, for the total value of $420.00. Thanks those Unknown Brothers.

VII – In session number 90 of the R.L. "PAPUS," besides intense and numerous phenomena of various species, the Presences of the Venerable Masters were verified; AMO, MAHARISHI and "THE TIBETHAN," which much encouraged the brothers who dedicate themselves to the service of those Masters.

THE "FRATERNAL BOND"

The Fraternal Bond, that is, the exchange and collaboration with all those who struggle in the Path of Service, registers the following activities:

I – We have attended a beautiful conference, organized by the Theosophical Society of Uruguay, held at the Athenaeum. The lecturer, Dr. Carlos Stoppel, distinguished Argentine lawyer and theosophist, has treated with talent and originality to demonstrate the MYSTICAL SENSE of that "TOWARD UNITY" that is manifested currently in the field of Law, of Natural Sciences, of Scholastic Philosophy and, in general manner, in all sectors of knowledge. It has been a very instructive and well-documented conference. In it, the lecturer has paid discreet and beautiful homage to his Master Jinarajadasa.

II – Letters and pamphlets of the Martinist Order were sent to 150 Magazines and Societies spiritualists of 20 American countries.

III – We have received, in reciprocity, until now, correspondence and publications from the following co-sister Societies:

Theosophical Society (Point Loma) California (U.S.A.) – Rosicrucian Fraternity for South America (Chile) – Rosa Cruz Fraternity Center (Asunción) Paraguay – Rosicrucian Fraternity of Uruguay (Montevideo) – Theosophical Society of Uruguay (Montevideo) – American Astrological Almanac (Santiago) Chile – Argentine Cultural Committee (Buenos Aires). To all Thanks.

WHAT ALTRUISM CAN INSPIRE

To all Thanks.

WHAT ALTRUISM CAN INSPIRE

In one of the courses of the "GIDEE," one of the Instructors made, one night, a beautiful exposition on personal suffering and what one should be able to feel about the suffering of others. Present was Miss Margarita de Escalá, our literary collaborator, who asked permission to recite the following poetry which we publish at the request of several disciples of the "GIDEE":To pray!... To pray!...To ask God for graces and rewards.For you, for me, for ours.And the others?There will always be sufferings in life.And if I know that.How to want delights among thorns,for both of us?What right do we have to more happinessYou, ours and I?I look around... what a wasteland!...Infinite souls that do not know love.And if God wants there to be unfortunate ones.How dare I tell God:Turn Lord, your anger to another side,And let me be saved!...?(By María Carmen Danieri de Arena).

Chapter 9: Notes on My Journey to the Countries of the Orient

THE MAHARISHI

By MAYA, S.I.

We returned from the mountain after having spent some days in it, and today seated under the banyan tree, I make some reflections very familiar perhaps for you. India, I tell myself, is an immense book of Wisdom, with as many pages to read as beings who must arrive there. To everyone who comes here, their corresponding chapter will fall: neither more nor less. Like life, it must offer us what we deserve, that is, what we have earned with our own effort. In India is found the complete scale; the lowest and most abject, on one side, and the highest and most noble, on the other; terrible ugliness and stupidity face to face with the most perfect beauty and clear intelligence.

To India one must arrive prepared so that it can give us something, only something, of that immensely great and beautiful that it contains. To those who arrive before time, it blinds them, or shows them only vulgarity, since this is within reach of anyone. But to those who give themselves to life with all the force of intelligence, and with all the ardor of their heart, without calculation or prejudice, intrepid, generous and at the same time saturated with humility, to these, India opens its arms, transporting them lovingly to its so hidden heart.

Then, what is found in this place infinitely surpasses all that was dreamed. And, arriving there, thinking is already too much, for there will be no words later that can express the inexpressible. The word will no longer serve; for only the soul, entirely free, is capable of perceiving and transmitting the eternal peace felt. And only will our lips be able to affirm afterward the reality of truly sublime existences arrived at their plenitude.

The word will no longer serve; for only the soul, entirely free, is capable of perceiving and transmitting the eternal peace felt. And only will our lips be able to affirm afterward the reality of truly sublime existences arrived at their plenitude.

This is what I can affirm on returning from the sacred mountain of Arunachala. And next to this friend banyan so many times centenary, under the fresh shade that seems to communicate new energies to us, I close my eyes and try to string together something that can give us some idea of this my journey to said mountain that, for me, has been like a beautiful dream, I will make a account similar to when I was a child and that, to represent a man, traced only two circles, three points, four straight lines, thus...

And you, now, with your rich imagination and your good will, will try to discover the man, that is, the soul enclosed in those poor traces of mine.

From Madras, we left in the morning arriving at Villupuram at 2 PM, crossing these extensive Hindu lands fertile or sterile, according to whether or not the divine grace of the monsoons had touched them. Sandy kilometers and then a true oasis, in which herds of goats and herds of buffalo rest placidly under the shade of palm trees, looking toward the sky, perhaps with certain fear, for what can come to them from it is nothing but heavy coconuts, that agile and playful monkeys can, from the high coconut palms, throw at them. Then, rice plantations and other cereals and next to the trees, multicolored turbans and white cloths; they are the field workers who contemplate with hopes the worked earth. Huts constructed with clod and palm leaves remind us of our countryside; in many of them, people rest, at their doors, in form very similar to ours, replacing the mate with green betel leaves.

Then we arrived at Tiruvannamalai, at 6 PM, and there we were awaited by a French lady, woman of indecipherable age and who wore her yogini dress. For many years she has lived in Tibet, and the simple yet elegant white dress with a broad orange scarf, hides a body that must have suffered much to deserve to wear it. Several years of the most rigid discipline have prepared her to support with sufficient indifference cold, heat, hunger, thirst. Her husband is a great Bengali doctor and who seems to accompany her in her asceticism. She has a daughter who is educated in London and she, born in Paris, has traveled the entire world speaking very many languages and always seeking that which she finally managed to find. Today she is rather poor, but her heart has achieved again the lost purity, and confidence in herself leads her to life in heroic and victorious form of which only one who, like her, has glimpsed is capable...

Today she is rather poor, but her heart has achieved again the lost purity, and confidence in herself leads her to life in heroic and victorious form of which only one who, like her, has glimpsed is capable...

We took two carts, she and I in one, my companions in another, for this is the only means of locomotion that exists to arrive at the mountain. Oh, mountain of Arunachala! No one can climb to its summit nor penetrate its entrails. Marvelous things are told and assured about it; it is said to be inhabited by great yoghis toward one part and by fantastic beings in the other. It seems, externally, to have caves that, upon entering, transform later into enchanted palaces, that would give a new Sheherazade more than a thousand themes to treat. Mountain of Arunachala of tempting beauty! But to every traveler who pretends to reach its summit, winds and stones will impede him. It is night, and in the silence of the road, only the trac-trac of our carts is heard. We arrive at the foot of the mountain and enter by a wide path that leads to the "Ashram."

What is an "Ashram"? It is a house sanctified by an exceptional man living in it. He is called Sri Ramana Maharishi. He was, from childhood, different from others; matters that did not make others think always preoccupied him; his eyes and ears saw and heard beyond the family circle and his soul felt itself insistently called from very far. His family belonged to the high Brahminical class; but it was impotent to stifle the sentiments of love and humanity that nested in all his being. He studied; but, impatient at not finding in texts the answer to his thousand "whys?", he flees from his house and goes to the famous Temple of Madura to implore what no book could give him. There he felt a voice that told him: "Follow me and you will find it" And he followed. Very long is the story to tell. He passed hunger, scorn and outrages without end... Much time passed, years, before arriving. At last, one day, there he was... There the divine light of COMPREHENSION illuminated his mind and made his heart overflow with love.

Very long is the story to tell. He passed hunger, scorn and outrages without end... Much time passed, years, before arriving. At last, one day, there he was... There the divine light of COMPREHENSION illuminated his mind and made his heart overflow with love.

But then terrible trials awaited him in a dark and deep cave at whose door we were in the Temple of Arunachala, where, at night, harmful animals of the place took refuge. There as the Bible says, was fulfilled that about man being able to live with beasts, and such became his sanctity that the entire people managed to notice it and came to him in mass. Many and many he cured with his mere look; and such were the miracles carried out by him that the priests of the Temple, without his knowing it, exploited him, charging people who wanted to see him... And so it was that he had to flee. And so it was that the Ashram was born. Today the Master is seen, in it, as poor as in the cave of the Temple. His disciples, not always understanding, want to offer him comforts that for him are superfluous; and, so as not to refuse everything has accepted a divan, on which his nude and sculptural body rests, wearing only a very small white triangle. A great staff always accompanies him and a kind of very original teapot full of fresh water, made from a large fruit like a melon; I gave him a mate with bombilla to accompany.

And seated on a tiger skin, his reception for all is equal: a smile full of innocence like that of a child upon awakening. That tiger skin, on which he sits, a friend tells me, has its story: "All the region feared a tiger that roamed around there, but that tiger so feared by everyone, came to the feet of the Master to sleep. And one day it came to sleep; but did not get up anymore. The animal had felt sick and wanted to come to the feet of the only man who had loved it. That is its skin" Also his cow Laksmi comes to say good day to him, bows and licks his feet. A hall, about twelve meters by five, painted in soft colors, with wide doors and windows always open is inhabited by Sri Maharishi. There he sleeps, thinks, speaks, writes, reads and meditates; there he receives all who desire to see him or ask something.

We removed our footwear when we entered and sat like everyone on the floor. A man of perfect physical beauty who seems a Nazarene, with long and slightly wavy hair and great eyes of deep look, covered by light white cloth, enters, smiles and speaks to the Master. Who is he?, I asked – he is a Hindu lawyer of the most elevated social class, celebrated for his fortune and intelligence and who has abandoned everything, absolutely everything, to help the Master; today he is his disciple and secretary and, as he knows many languages, can answer the innumerable correspondence that arrives daily. He has made a vow of silence, speaking for five years only with the Maharishi.

He has made a vow of silence, speaking for five years only with the Maharishi.

A soft bell sounds and we are taken to eat. A square room, with stone floor, is the dining room. We sit on the floor. We are about twenty, besides the Maharishi. We three, the only occidentals. In front of each one is placed the green and brilliant colored plate, for it is a banana leaf. A lady dressed in white sari and a man serve: she, the already peeled fruit; he, water and curdled milk; he, with a great wooden spoon, goes transporting from a copper pot, to each plate, a little mountain of white rice, placing to the left a homemade bread, similar to our tasty fried cakes. Diogenes would have found himself very well here, for there were no utensils; we learned to eat rice forming little mouthfuls with the hands. We performed quite well; but always some detail escaped, such as, not using the left hand for anything, which provoked laughter in the Hindu companions. That reminded me of when, in our old ranches, "a townsman fell."

Having finished the act, we folded our "great plate" in four, like a handkerchief, and went, like everyone, to throw it in the garbage and, on return, at a basin, we awaited our turn and washed our hands. It was already nine at night and it began to rain. The French lady arrives accompanied by her "bearer," that is her servant, and invites me to follow her, for she will take me near her country house, for women cannot spend the night in the Ashram. I greet the Maharishi and say goodbye to my companions, with a "see you tomorrow!"

The night was very dark and windy; a true tempest was unleashed with lightning and thunder; and, as in my childhood, in the open field, each tree seemed a phantom to me; I was afraid, but of course, I did not confess it. My companion seemed to divine what was passing through me and said: "Avez-vous peur, peut-être?" – "Oh non madame, je suis très courageuse!" I know these tempest nights in the open field, because I was born in it. All these noises that are felt are absolutely familiar to me, etc., etc." But to you I confess that I did not have as much courage as I affirmed. We illuminated ourselves with a small kerosene lantern.

At last we arrived. A little room of material with a board bed, and a table, and nothing more awaited me. The lady, perhaps remembering her past, said to her "bearer": "Put blankets and pillows for the lady, for she is not accustomed, like us, to so much hardness." We said goodbye: "Close the door and leave the windows open, so air passes," she told me. But I closed well doors and windows when she left, for I did not want to have visits from snakes, monkeys, squirrels or other creatures. Two screaming crickets that during all night, with their song, accompanied me were enough for me. In the sense of comfort I was a princess compared to my companions; for they in the Ashram, only the hard floor had for mattress. Thus one lives around here, absolutely naturally.

Two screaming crickets that during all night, with their song, accompanied me were enough for me. In the sense of comfort I was a princess compared to my companions; for they in the Ashram, only the hard floor had for mattress. Thus one lives around here, absolutely naturally.

At four-thirty in the morning, steps and murmurs were felt; and opening, later, the window somewhat, I saw about a block away, by the main road, lights of torches; and then, in the diffuse light of dawn, I made out an enormous crowd that filed in direction of the mountain. Later they told me that, being a day of religious feast, people were accustomed to go on pilgrimage toward it; and as the sun, in India is so strong, and the distances made on foot extremely long, thousands of persons set out before dawn, illuminating themselves with torches and lanterns.

In the new day, the weather had changed and all nature intoned songs of praise. We went to the Ashram and the Master was in meditation. We entered the hall, or rather said, we slipped, for so great was the silence that this imposed even greater silence; more than two hours passed and then a choir of men intoned Vedic hymns. I never felt anything equal. I could not compare these songs with anything known; not even the choirs I heard in the Sistine Chapel of Rome, could communicate to my soul something similar; one would say that in pronouncing the sacred syllable, they threw a true bridge between man and God.

The pilgrimage of which I spoke to you lasted all day, and the people who passed by the road entered the Ashram and came to greet Him who, although it is true not many understand Him, presage instead, in him something very great and adore him. The greeting was thus: they arrived at the threshold and threw themselves on the floor, face down, with arms extended and hands joined by their palms: Hundreds and hundreds of persons filed in this form. The women with their showy saris and their arms and legs adorned with bracelets; the men and boys with very light white cloths, with loose hair or holding under great turbans of varied colors; and the older girls with white and pleated skirts and loose blouses, and at the birth of the braid a great bouquet of flowers. The Master does not desire these demonstrations; but so many are the grateful people that he cannot prevent it.

With great sorrow, the day to leave came to us; and that afternoon, a lady dressed in light blue embroidered sari and two young ladies wearing green and lilac saris, respectively, and flowers in their hair, and all three of extraordinary beauty, made us listen to songs of this land, accompanied by the sweetest chords of a vina. The monkeys entered and left; equally the small and restless squirrels; and some of these, still fearful moved away from anyone, walked with tranquility over the legs of the Master.

The monkeys entered and left; equally the small and restless squirrels; and some of these, still fearful moved away from anyone, walked with tranquility over the legs of the Master.

The two carts would come to look for us at sunset. We said goodbye. I thanked the Maharishi for his hospitality, telling him that, if I had spoken little with Him, instead, the silence of his Ashram had been very eloquent for me. He smiled in the most benevolent form and in his look, one sees the depth of his teachings: Love and Silence. Like Gandhi, he demonstrates that no sacred book dictates castes in the form in which priests present them, and that woman must and has to be man's true companion. He, a young man tells us, loves silence, that is "maunam." And he says: "Silence is not inertia or negation of activity or thoughts; silence is something very positive, it is something creative and more: it is the supreme immutable peace like the rock that supports on it all movement. Silence helps us find our true SELF; and whoever has realized his self, is not inactive; great men I know who are more active when greater is their silence." On saying goodbye he told us:

"Will you visit the Temple of Madura?" – "No, we answered, for we already lost the opportunity to do so, which was on our arrival to India."

"- Pity! will you not visit it?..." he answered us. We departed.

MAYA, S.I.

Editorial Note: When saying that "thus the Ashram was born," our collaborator makes a rapid summary, for her article is the impression of a visit and not a biography of the Master. In an article of the next number we will give some interesting comments on this Venerable Personality.