Sacred Texts Study Group

Below is a list of Theosophical texts cited in the commentary of Fragment I:

Anon. Bestride the Bird of Life, if thou would’st know
Anon. Self knowledge. Lucifer Vol. 1, 1887, p. 89
Anon, The Dream of Ravan
J.Mr./P.S.H., Kuṇḍalinī. Theosophical Encyclopedia
Barker, A. T., ed.,Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnet,
Blavatsky, H. P., “Com…[Read more]

The name of the third Hall is Wisdom, beyond which stretch the shoreless waters of AKṢARA, the indestructible Fount of Omniscience.19

If thou would’st cross the first Hall safely, let not thy mind mistake the fires of lust that burn therein for the Sunlight of life.

If thou would’st cross the second safely, stop not the fragrance of its stupe…[Read more]

Three Halls, O weary pilgrim, lead to the end of toils. Three Halls, O conqueror of Māra, will bring thee through three states14 into the fourth,15 and thence into the seven worlds,16 the worlds of Rest Eternal.

If thou would’st learn their names, then hearken, and remember. {6}

The name of the first Hall is IGNORANCE—Avidyā.

It is the Hall…[Read more]

We have reached the end of the first fragment of the The Voice of the Silence. Thank you fellow lanoos, for participating in this ambitious undertaking. It was certainly a big learning experience for me. I was genuinely surprised to discover the rich supply of amazing texts related to these teachings. I will be taking a short break before adding…[Read more]

100-Om Tat Sat

Om Tat Sat is a mantra in Sanskrit found in verse 17.23 of the Bhagavad Gita. It means “Om, that is Truth”, “Om, it is Reality”, “Om it is good”. It is the threefold designation of the Hindu metaphysical concept called Brahman.

It is more perfectly illustrated by considering life as a grand musical movement that is brought to a…[Read more]

Next section:

Bestride the Bird of Life, if thou would’st know

Give up thy life, if thou would’st live.

99-Behold! thou hast become the light, thou hast become the Sound, thou art thy Master and thy God. Thou art THYSELF the object of thy search: the VOICE unbroken, that resounds throughout eternities, exempt from change, from sin exempt, the seven sounds in one, the
VOICE OF THE SILENCE

46(b)-47(a). The sound proceeding from Pranava which is…[Read more]

98-And now, rest ‘neath the Bodhi tree, which is perfection of all knowledge, for, know, thou art the Master of SAMÂDHI — the state of faultless vision.

He went to sit under a banyan tree (Pippala), or tree of Bodhi. The god Indra brought him a straw seat. He sat here, resolved not to move till the transformation he was about to undergo should be…[Read more]

94-And of these modes of Truth: —
Hast thou not passed through knowledge of all misery — Truth the first?

The Chinese term for the Four Noble Truths is sìshèngdì. The Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, “Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion”:
Now this, bhikkhus, is the noble truth of suffering: birth is suffering, aging is suffering, illness is suffer…[Read more]

We are rapidly approaching the end of the first fragment. This eighth and final section (stanzas 93-100) deals with the Four Noble Truths and the Five Hindrances.

93-Thou art acquainted with the five impediments, O blessed one. Thou art their conqueror, the Master of the sixth, deliverer of the four modes of Truth (43). The light that falls upon…[Read more]

The seventh section (stanzas 82-92) is completed. A kind of sevenfold Raja Yoga system is outlined, similar to the Eightfold yoga system, beginning with the Pratyahara stage, where a process of merging the five inner senses is explained. The next three stages correspond to the to three Sanyama practices. Upon achieving accomplishment in Samadhi,…[Read more]

90- And now thy Self is lost in SELF, thyself unto THYSELF, merged in THAT SELF from which thou first didst radiate.

‘The “Master” in the Sanctuary of our souls is “the Higher Self” – the divine spirit whose consciousness is based upon and derived solely (at any rate during the mortal life of the man in whom it is captive) from the Mind, which we…[Read more]

89- And this, O Yogi of success, is what men call Dhyâna (41), the right precursor of Samâdhi (42).
(41). Dhyâna is the last stage before the final on this Earth unless one becomes a full mahatma. As said already in this state the Râja Yogi is yet spiritually conscious of Self, and the working of his higher principles. One step more, and he wil…[Read more]

88- When thou hast passed into the seventh, O happy one, thou shalt perceive no more the sacred three (38), for thou shalt have become that three thyself. Thyself and mind, like twins upon a line, the star which is thy goal, burns overhead (39). The three that dwell in glory and in bliss ineffable, now in the world of Mâyâ have lost their names. T…[Read more]

85- And in the fifth, O slayer of thy thoughts, all these again have to be killed beyond reanimation (36).
(36). This means that in the sixth stage of development which, in the occult system is Dhâranâ, every sense as an individual faculty has to be “killed” (or paralyzed) on this plane, passing into and merging with the Seventh sense, the most s…[Read more]

That makes sense to me. Everything that comes into the world (manifestation) must run its cycle. Knowing that everything naturally has a beginning, middle and end and then a new beginning suggests the need for detachment from form of any kind.

Amazingly helpful. Thank you. It brought to mind this additional passage of the Voice

” Silence thy thoughts and fix thy whole attention on thy Master whom yet thou dost not see, but whom thou feelest.” Like twilight.

gk

Saith the Great Law:—“In order to become the knower of ALL SELF,9 thou hast first of self to be the knower.” To reach the knowledge of that self, thou hast to give up Self to Non-Self, Being to Non-Being, and then thou canst repose between the wings of the GREAT BIRD. Aye, sweet is rest between the wings of that which is not born, nor dies, but i…[Read more]

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras list the Ashtanga or eight-branch system of Yoga, which is progressive:
· Yama – the five restraints or the “don’ts”
o Ahimsa – Non-violence
o Satya – Truthfulness
o Brahmacharya – Control of the senses and celibacy
o Asteya – Non-stealing
o Aparigraha – Non-covetousness and…[Read more]