dear jasper:

you ask me about the "three qualities sprung from nature," mentioned in the bhagavad-g?ta. they exist potentially (latent) in purush (spirit), and during that time spoken of in the bhagavad-g?ta as the time when he produces all things after having devoured them (which is the same thing as saturn devouring his children), they come forth into activity, and therefore are found implicating all beings, who are said not to be free from their influence.

"being" here must refer to formed beings in all worlds. therefore in these forms the qualities exist [for form is derived from nature=prakriti=cosmic substance.—j. n.], and at the same time implicate the45 spectator (soul) who is in the form. the devas are gods—that is, a sort of spiritual power who are lower than the ishwara in man. they are influenced by the quality of satwa, or truth. they enjoy a period of immense felicity of enormous duration, but which having duration is not an eternity.

it is written: "goodness, badness, and indifference—the qualities thus called—sprung from nature, influence the imperishable soul within the body."

this imperishable soul is thus separated from the body in which the qualities influence it, and also from the qualities which are not it. it is ishwara. the ishwara is thus implicated by the qualities.

the first or highest quality is satwa, which is in its nature pure and pleasant, and implicates ishwara by connection with pleasant things and with knowledge. thus even by dwelling in satwa the soul is implicated.

the second quality is raja and causes action; it implicates the soul because it partakes of avidity and propensity, and causing actions thus implicates the soul.

the third, tamo quality, is of the nature of indifference and is the deluder of all mortals. it is fed by ignorance.

here, then, are two great opposers to the soul, ignorance and action. for action proceeding from raja assisted by satwa does not lead to the highest place; while ignorance causes destruction. yet when one knows that he is ignorant, he has to perform actions in order to destroy that ignorance. how to do that without always revolving in the whirl of action [karma, causing rebirths.—j. n.] is the question.

he must first get rid of the idea that he himself really does anything, knowing that the actions all take place in these three natural qualities, and not in the soul at all. the word "qualities" must be considered46 in a larger sense than that word is generally given.

then he must place all his actions on devotion. that is, sacrifice all his actions to the supreme and not to himself. he must either (leaving out indifference) set himself up as the god to whom he sacrifices, or the other real god—krishna, and all his acts and aspirations are done either for himself or for the all. here comes in the importance of motive. for if he performs great deeds of valor, or of benefit to man, or acquires knowledge so as to assist man, and is moved to that merely because he thinks he will attain salvation, he is only acting for his own benefit and is therefore sacrificing to himself. therefore he must be devoted inwardly to the all; that is, he places all his actions on the supreme, knowing that he is not the doer of the actions, but is the mere witness of them.

as he is in a mortal body, he is affected by doubts which will spring up. when they do arise, it is because he is ignorant about something. he should therefore be able to disperse doubt "by the sword of knowledge." for if he has a ready answer to some doubt, he disperses that much. all doubts come from the lower nature, and never in any case from higher nature. therefore as he becomes more and more devoted he is able to know more and more clearly the knowledge residing in his satwa part. for it says:

"a man who, perfected in devotion (or who persists in its cultivation) finds spiritual knowledge spontaneously in himself in progress of time." also: "the man of doubtful mind enjoys neither this world nor the other (the deva world), nor final beatitude."

the last sentence is to destroy the idea that if there is in us this higher self it will, even if we are indolent and doubtful, triumph over the necessity for47 knowledge, and lead us to final beatitude in common with the whole stream of man.

the three qualities are lower than a state called turya, which is a high state capable of being enjoyed even while in this body. therefore in that state, there exists none of the three qualities, but there the soul sees the three qualities moving in the ocean of being beneath. this experience is not only met with after death, but, as i said, it may be enjoyed in the present life, though of course consciously very seldom. but even consciously there are those high yogees who can and do rise up to nirvana, or spirit, while on the earth. this state is the fourth state, called turya. there is no word in english which will express it. in that state the body is alive though in deep catalepsy. [self-induced by the adept.—j. n.] when the adept returns from it he brings back whatever he can of the vast experiences of that turya state. of course they are far beyond any expression, and their possibilities can be only dimly perceived by us. i cannot give any description thereof because i have not known it, but i perceive the possibilities, and you probably can do the same.

it is well to pursue some kind of practice, and pursue it either in a fixed place, or in a mental place which cannot be seen, or at night. the fact that what is called dharana, dhyana, and samádhi may be performed should be known. (see patanjali's yoga system.)

dharana is selecting a thing, a spot, or an idea, to fix the mind on.

dhyana is contemplation of it.

samadhi is meditating on it.

when attempted, they of course are all one act.

now, then, take what is called the well of the throat or pit of the throat.

1st. select it.—dharana.

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2d. hold the mind on it.—dhyana.

3d. meditate on it.—samádhi.

this gives firmness of mind.

then select the spot in the head where the shushumna nerve goes. never mind the location; call it the top of the head. then pursue the same course. this will give some insight into spiritual minds. at first it is difficult, but it will grow easy by practice. if done at all, the same hour of each day should be selected, as creating a habit, not only in the body, but also in the mind. always keep the direction of krishna in mind: namely, that it is done for the whole body corporate of humanity, and not for one's self.

as regards the passions: anger seems to be the force of nature; there is more in it, though.

lust (so-called) is the gross symbol of love and desire to create. it is the perversion of the true in love and desire.

vanity, i think, represents in one aspect the illusion—power of nature; maya, that which we mistake for the reality. it is nearest always to us and most insidious, just as nature's illusion is ever present and difficult to overcome.

anger and lust have some of the rajasika quality; but it seems to me that vanity is almost wholly of the tamogunam.

may you cross over to the fearless shore.

z.

as regards the practices of concentration suggested in this letter, they are only stages in a life-long contemplation; they are means to an end, means of a certain order among means of other orders, all necessary, the highest path being that of constant devotion and entire resignation to the law. the above means have a physiological value because the spots suggested for contemplation are, like others, vital centers. excitation of these centers, and of the magnetic49 residue of breath always found in them, strengthens and arouses the faculties of the inner man, the magnetic vehicle of the soul and the link between matter and spirit. this is a form of words necessary for clearness, because in reality matter and spirit are one. we may better imagine an infinite series of force correlations which extend from pure spirit to its grossest vehicle, and we may say that the magnetic inner vehicle, or astral man, stands at the halfway point of the scale. the secret of the circulation of the nervous fluid is hidden in these vital centers, and he who discovers it can use the body at will. moreover, this practice trains the mind to remain in its own principle, without energizing, and without exercising its tangential force, which is so hard to overcome. thought has a self-reproductive power, and when the mind is held steadily to one idea it becomes colored by it, and, as we may say, all the correlates of that thought arise within the mind. hence the mystic obtains knowledge about any object of which he thinks constantly in fixed contemplation. here is the rationale of krishna's words: "think constantly of me; depend on me alone; and thou shalt surely come unto me."

the pure instincts of children often reveal occult truths. i heard a girl of fifteen say recently: "when i was a small child i was always supposin'. i used to sit on the window seat and stare, stare, at the moon, and i was supposin' that, if i only stared long enough, i'd get there and know all about it."

spiritual culture is attained through concentration. it must be continued daily and every moment to be of use. the "elixir of life" (five years of theosophy) gives us some of the reasons for this truth. meditation has been defined as "the cessation of active, external thought." concentration is the entire life-tendency to a given end. for example, a devoted50 mother is one who consults the interests of her children and all branches of their interests in and before all things; not one who sits down to think fixedly about one branch of their interests all the day. life is the great teacher; it is the great manifestation of soul, and soul manifests the supreme. hence all methods are good, and all are but parts of the great aim, which is devotion. "devotion is success in actions," says the bhagavad-g?ta. we must use higher and lower faculties alike, and beyond those of mind are those of the spirit, unknown but discoverable. the psychic powers, as they come, must also be used, for they reveal laws. but their value must not be exaggerated, nor must their danger be ignored. they are more subtle intoxicants than the gross physical energies. he who relies upon them is like a man who gives way to pride and triumph because he has reached the first wayside station on the peaks he has set out to climb. like despondency, like doubt, like fear, like vanity, pride, and self-satisfaction, these powers too are used by nature as traps to detain us. every occurrence, every object, every energy may be used for or against the great end: in each nature strives to contain spirit, and spirit strives to be free. shall the substance paralyze the motion, or shall the motion control the substance? the interrelation of these two is manifestation. the ratio of activity governs spiritual development; when the great force has gained its full momentum, it carries us to the borders of the unknown. it is a force intelligent, self-conscious, and spiritual: its lower forms, or vehicles, or correlates may be evoked by us, but itself comes only of its own volition. we can only prepare a vehicle for it, in which, as behmen says, "the holy ghost may ride in its own chariot."

"the self cannot be known by the vedas, nor by51 the understanding, nor by much learning. he whom the self chooses, by him alone the self can be gained."

"the self chooses him as his own. but the man who has not first turned aside from his wickedness, who is not calm and subdued, or whose mind is not at rest, he can never obtain the self, even by knowledge."

the italics are mine; they indicate the value of that stage of contemplation hitherto referred to as that in which the mind has ceased to energize, and when the pure energies of nature go to swell the fountain of spirit.

in regard to the phrase in the above letter that the adept "brings back what he can" from turya, it is to be understood as referring to the fact that all depends upon the co?rdination of the various principles in man. he who has attained perfection or mahatmaship has assumed complete control of the body and informs it at will. but, of course, while in the body he is still, to some extent, as a soul of power, limited by that body or vehicle. that is to say, there are experiences not to be shared by that organ of the soul called by us "the body," and beyond a certain point its brain cannot reflect or recall them. this point varies according to the degree of attainment of individual souls, and while in some it may be a high point of great knowledge and power, still it must be considered as limited compared with those spiritual experiences of the freed soul.

the work upon which all disciples are employed is that of rendering the body more porous, more fluidic, more responsive to all spiritual influences which arise in the inner center, in the soul which is an undivided part of the great soul of all, and less receptive of the outside material influences which are generated by the unthinking world and by those qualities52 which are in nature. abstract thought is said to be "the power of thinking of a thing apart from its qualities;" but these qualities are the phenomenal, the evident, and they make the most impression upon our senses. they bewilder us, and they form a part of that trap which nature sets for us lest we discover her inmost secret and rule her. more than this: our detention as individual components of a race provides time for that and other races to go through evolutionary experience slowly, provides long and repeated chances for every soul to amend, to return, to round the curve of evolution. in this nature is most merciful, and even in the darkness of the eighth sphere to which souls of spiritual wickedness descend, her impulses provide opportunities of return if a single responsive energy is left in the self-condemned soul.

many persons insist upon a perfect moral code tempered by social amenities, forgetting that these vary with climate, nationalities, and dates. virtue is a noble offering to the lord. but insomuch as it is mere bodily uprightness and mere mental uprightness, it is insufficient and stands apart from uprightness of the psychic nature or the virtue of soul. the virtue of the soul is true being; its virtue is, to be free. the body and the mind are not sharers in such experiences, though they may afterward reflect them, and this reflection may inform them with light and power of their own kind. spirituality is not virtue. it is impersonality, in one aspect. it is as possible to be spiritually "wicked" as to be spiritually "good." these attributes are only conferred upon spirituality by reason of its use for or against the great evolutionary law, which must finally prevail because it is the law of the deity, an expression of the nature and being of the unknown, which nature is towards manifestation, self-realization, and re?bsorption. all that clashes53 with this law by striving for separate existence must in the long run fail, and any differentiation which is in itself incapable of re?bsorption is reduced to its original elements, in which shape, so to say, it can be reabsorbed.

spirituality is, then, a condition of being which is beyond expression in language. call it a rate of vibration, far beyond our cognizance. its language is the language of motion, in its incipiency, and its perfection is beyond words and even thought.

"the knowledge of the supreme principle is a divine silence, and the quiescence of all the senses."—(clavis of hermes.)

"likes and dislikes, good and evil, do not in the least affect the knower of brahm, who is bodiless and always existing."—(crest jewel of wisdom.)

"of that nature which is beyond intellect many things are asserted according to intellection, but it is contemplated by a cessation of intellectual energy better than with it."—(porphyrios.)

thought is bounded, and we seek to enter the boundless. the intellect is the first production of nature which energizes for the experience of the soul, as i said. when we recognize this truth we make use of that natural energy called thought for comparison, instruction, and the removal of doubt, and so reach a point where we restrain the outward tendencies of nature, for, when these are resolved into their cause and nature is wholly conquered and restrained, that cause manifests itself both in and beyond nature.

"the incorporeal substances in descending are divided and multiplied about individuals with a diminution of power; but when they ascend by their energies beyond bodies, they become united and exist as a whole by and through exuberance of power."—(porphyrios.)

these hints may suffice for such minds as are already upon the way. others will be closed to them. language only expresses the experiences of a race, and since ours has not reached the upper levels of being we have as yet no words for these things. the east has ever been the home of spiritual research; she has given all the great religions to the world. the sanscrit has thus terms for some of these states and conditions, but even in the east it is well understood that the formless cannot be expressed by form, or the illimitable by the limits of words or signs. the only way to know these states is to be them: we never can really know anything which we are not.

j. n.