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    "title": "CHAPTER X.",
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    "text": "## CHAPTER X.\n\nNIRVANA.\n\nA COMPLETE assimilation of esoteric teach-\ning up to the point we have now reached will\nenable us to approach the consideration of the\nsubject which exoteric writers on Buddhism\nhave generally treated as the doctrinal starting-\npoint of that religion.\n\nHitherto, for want of any better method of\nseeking out the true meaning of Nirvana, Bud-\ndhist scholars have generally picked the word\nto pieces, and examined its roots and fragments.\nOne might as hopefully seek to ascertain the\nsmell of a flower by dissecting the paper on\nwhich its picture was painted. It is difficult\nfor minds schooled in the intellectual processes\nof physical research — as all our Western nine-\nteenth-century minds are, directly or indirectly\n— to comprehend the first spiritual state above\nthis life, that of Devachan. Such conditions of\nexistence are but partly for the understanding ;\na higher faculty must be employed to realize\nthem ; and all the more is it impossible to force\n\n234 ESOTERIC BUDDHISM.\n\ntheir meaning upon another mind bywords. It\nis by first awakening that higher faculty in his\npupil, and then putting the pupil in a position\nto observe for himself, that the regular occult\nteacher proceeds in such a matter.\n\nNow there are the usual seven states of Dev-\nachan, suited to the different degrees of spirit-\nual enlightenment which the various candidates\nfor that condition may obtain ; there are rupa\nand arupa locas in Devachan, — that is to say,\nstates which take (subjective) consciousness of\nform, and states which transcend these again.\nAnd yet the highest Devachanic state in arupa\nloca is not to be compared to that wonderful\ncondition of pure spirituality which is spoken of\nas Nirvana.\n\nIn the ordinary course of Nature during a\nround, when the spiritual monad has accom-\nplished the tremendous journey from the first\nplanet to the seventh, and has finished for the\ntime being its existence there, — finished all its\nmultifarious existences 'there, with their respec-\ntive periods of Devachan between each, — the\nEgo passes into a spiritual condition different\nfrom the Devachanic state, in which, for pe-\nriods of inconceivable duration, it rests before\nresuming its circuit of the worlds. That condi-\ntion may be regarded as the Devachan of its\nDevachanic states, — a sort of review thereof,—\n\nNIRVANA. 235\n\na superior state to those reviewed, just as the\nDevachanic state belonging to any one exist-\nence on earth is a superior state to that of the\nhalf-developed spiritual aspirations or impulses\nof affection of the earth-life. That period —\nthat intercyclic period of extraordinary exalta-\ntion, as compared to any that have gone before,\nas compared even with the subjective conditions\nof the planets in the ascending arc, so greatly\nsuperior to our own as these are — is spoken\nof in esoteric science as a state of partial Nir-\nvana. Carrying on imagination through im-\nmeasurable vistas of the future, we must next\nconceive ourselves approaching the period which\nwould correspond to the intercyclic period of\nthe seventh round of humanity, in which men\nhave become as gods. The very last most ele-\nvated and glorious of the objective lives having\nbeen completed, the perfected spiritual being\nreaches a condition in which a complete recol-\nlection of all lives lived at any time in the past\nreturns to him. He can look back over the\ncurious masquerade of objective existences, as\nit will seem to him then, over the minutest de-\ntails of any of these earth-lives among the\nnumber through which he has passed, and can\ntake cognizance of them and of all things with\nwhich they were in any way associated ; for in\nregard to this planetary chain he has reached\n\n236 ESOTERIC BUDDHISM.\n\nomniscience. This supreme development of\nindividuality is the great reward which Nature\nreserves not only for those who secure it pre-\nmaturely, so to speak, by the relatively brief\nbut desperate and terrible struggles which lead\nto adeptship, but also for all who by the dis-\ntinct preponderance of good over evil in the\ncharacter of the whole series of their incar-\nnations have passed through the valley of the\nshadow of death in the middle of the fifth\nround, and have worked their way up to it in\nthe sixth and seventh rounds.\n\nThis sublimely blessed state is spoken of in\nesoteric science as the threshold of Nirvana.\n\nIs it worth while to go any further in specu-\nlation as to what follows ? One may be told\nthat no state of individual consciousness, even\nthough but a phase of feeling already identified\nin a large measure with the general conscious-\nness on that level of existence, can be equal in\nspiritual elevation to absolute consciousness in\nwhich all sense of individuality is merged in the\nwhole. We may use such phrases as intellect-\nual counters, but for no ordinary mind — dom-\ninated by its physical brain and brain-born in-\ntellect — can they have a living signification.\n\nAll that words can convey is that Nirvana is\na sublime state of conscious rest in omniscience.\nIt would be ludicrous, alter all that has gone\n\nNIRVANA. 237\n\nbefore, to turn to the various discussions which\nhave been carried on by students of exoteric\nBuddhism as to whether Nirvana does or does\nnot mean annihilation. Worldly similes fall\nshort of indicating the feeling with which the\ngraduates of esoteric science regard such a ques-\ntion. Does the last penalty of the law mean\nthe highest honor of the peerage ? Is a wooden\nspoon the emblem of the most illustrious pre-\neminence in learning ? Such questions as these\nbut faintly symbolize the extravagance of the\nquestion whether Nirvana is held by Buddhism\nto be equivalent to annihilation. And in some,\nto us inconceivable, way the state of para-Nir-\nvana is spoken of as immeasurably higher than\nthat of Nirvana. I do not pretend myself to\nattach any meaning to the statement, but it\nmay serve to show to what a very transcenden-\ntal realm of thought the subject belongs.\n\nA great deal of confusion of mind respecting\nNirvana has arisen from statements made con-\ncerning Buddha. He is said to have attained\nNirvana while on earth ; he is also said to have\nforegone Nirvana in order to submit to renewed\nincarnations for the good of humanity. The\ntwo statements are quite reconcilable. As a\ngreat adept, Buddha naturally attained to that\nwhich is the great achievement of adeptship on\nearth, - — the passing of his own Ego-spirit into\n\n238 ESOTERIC BUDDHISM.\n\nthe ineffable condition of Nirvana. Let it not\nbe supposed that for any adept such a passage\nis one that can be lightly undertaken. Only\nstray hints about the nature of this great mys-\ntery have reached me, but putting these to-\ngether I believe I am right in saying that the\nachievement in question is one which only some\nof the high initiates are qualified to attempt,\nwhich exacts a total suspension of animation in\nthe body for periods of time compared to which\nthe longest cataleptic trances known to ordinary\nscience are insignificant, the protection of the\nphysical frame from natural decay during this\nperiod by means which the resources of occult\nscience are strained to accomplish ; and withal\nit is a process involving a double risk to the\ncontinued earthly life of the person who un-\ndertakes it. One of these risks is the doubt\nwhether, when once Nirvana is attained, the\nEgo will be willing to return. That the return\nwill be a terrible effort and sacrifice is certain,\nand will only be prompted by the most devoted\nattachment on the part of the spiritual traveler\nto the idea of duty in its purest abstraction.\nThe second great risk is that, allowing the sense\nof duty to predominate over the temptation to\nstay, — a temptation, be it remembered, that is\nnot weakened by the notion that any conceivable\npenalty can attach to it, — even then it is al-\n\nNIRVANA. 239\n\nways doubtful whether the traveler will be able\nto return. In spite of all this, however, there\nhave been many other adepts besides Buddha\nwho have made the great passage, and for\nwhom, those about them at such times have\nsaid, the return to their prison of ignoble flesh\n— though so noble ex hypothesi compared to\nmost such tenements — has left them paralyzed\nwith depression for weeks. To begin the weary\nround of physical life again, to stoop to earth\nafter having been in Nirvana, is too dreadful\na collapse.\n\nBuddha's renunciation was in some inexpli-\ncable manner greater, again, because he not\nmerely returned from Nirvana for duty's sake,\nto finish the earth-life in which he was engaged\nas Gautama Buddha, but when all the claims\nof duty had been- fully satisfied, and his right\nof passage into Nirvana, for incalculable aeons\nentirely earned under the most enlarged view\nof his earthly mission, he gave up that reward,\nor rather postponed it for an indefinite period,\nto undertake a supererogatory series of incarna-\ntions, for the sake of humanity at large. How\nis humanity being benefited by this renuncia-\ntion ? it may be asked. But the question can\nonly be suggested in reality by that deep-seated\nhabit, we have most of us acquired, of estimat-\ning benefit by a physical standard, and even\n\n240 ESOTERIC BUDDHISM.\n\nin regard to this standard of taking very short\nviews of human affairs. No one will have fol-\nlowed me through the foregoing chapter on the\nProgress of Humanity without perceiving what\nkind of benefit it would be that Buddha would\nwish to confer on men. That which is neces-\nsarily for him the great question in regard to\nhumanity is how to help as many people as pos-\nsible across the great critical period of the fifth\nround.\n\nUntil that time everything is a mere prepa-\nration for the supreme struggle, in the estima-\ntion of an adept, all the more of a Buddha.\nThe material welfare of the existing generation\nis not even as dust in the balance in such a cal-\nculation ; the only thing of importance at pres-\nent is to cultivate those tendencies in mankind\nwhich may launch as many Egos as possible\nupon such a Karmic path that the growth of\ntheir spirituality in future births will be pro-\nmoted. Certainly it is the fixed conviction of\nesoteric teachers — of the adept co-workers with\nBuddha — that the veiy process of cultivating\nsuch spirituality will immensely reduce the sum\nof even transitory human sorrow. And the\nhappiness of mankind, even in any one gener-\nation only, is by no means a matter on which\nesoteric science looks with indifference. So the\nesoteric policy is not to be considered as some-\n\nNIRVANA. 241\n\nthing so hopelessly up in the air that it will\nnever concern any of us who are living now.\nBut there are seasons of good and bad harvest\nfor wheat and barley, and so also for the de-\nsired growth of spirituality amongst men ; and\nin Europe, at all events, going by the experi-\nence of former great races, at periods of devel-\nopment corresponding to that of our own now,\nthe great present uprush of intelligence in the\ndirection of physical and material progress is\nnot likely to bring on a season of good harvests\nfor progress of the other kind. For the mo-\nment the best chance of doing good in coun-\ntries where the uprush referred to is most\nmarked is held to lie in the possibility that\nthe importance of spirituality may come to be\nperceived by intellect, even in advance of be-\ning felt, if the attention of that keen though\nunsympathetic tribunal can but be secured.\nAny success in that direction to which these\nexplanations may conduce will justify the views\nof those — but a minority™ among the esoteric\nguardians of humanity who have conceived that\nit is worth while to have them made.\n\nSo Nirvana is truly the keynote of esoteric\nBuddhism, as of the hitherto rather misdirected\nstudies of external scholars. The great end of\nthe whole stupendous evolution of humanity is\nto cultivate human souls so that they shall be\n\n242 ESOTERIC BUDDHISM.\n\nultimately fit for that as yet inconceivable Con-\ndition. The great triumph of the present race\nof planetary spirits who have reached that con-\ndition themselves will be to draw thither as\nmany more Egos as possible. We are far as\nyet from the era at which we may be in serious\ndanger of disqualifying ourselves definitively\nfor such progress, but it is not too soon even\nnow to begin the great process of qualification ;\nall the more as the Karma, which will prop-\nagate itself through successive lives in that\ndirection, will carry its own reward with it, so\nthat an enlightened pursuit of our highest in-\nterests in the very remote future will coincide\nwith the pursuit of our immediate welfare in\nthe next Devachanic period, and the next re-\nbirth.\n\nWill it be argued that if the cultivation of\nspirituality is the great purpose to be followed,\nit matters little whether men pursue it along\none religious pathway or another ? This is the\nmistake which, as explained in a former chap-\nter, Buddha as Sankaracharya set himself es-\npecially to combat, — namely, the early Hindu\nbelief that moksha can be attained by bhakti\nirrespective of gnyanam ; that is, that salva-\ntion is obtainable by devout practices irrespec-\ntive of knowledge of eternal truth. The sort\nof salvation we are talking about now is not\n\nNIRVANA. 243\n\nescape from a penalty, to be achieved by cajol-\ning a celestial potentate ; it is a positive and\nnot a negative achievement, — the ascent into\nregions of spiritual elevation so exalted that\nthe candidate aiming at them is claiming that\nwhich we ordinarily describe as omniscience.\nSorely it is plain, from the way Nature habit-\nually works, that under no circumstances will\na time ever come when a person, merely by\nreason of having been good, will suddenly be-\ncome wise. The supreme goodness and ivisdom\nof the sixth-round man, who, once becoming\nthat, will assimilate by degrees the attributes\nof divinity itself, can only be grown by degrees\nthemselves ; and goodness alone, associated as\nwe so often find it with the most grotesque re-\nligious beliefs, cannot conduct a man to more\nthan Devachanic periods of devout but unin-\ntelligent rapture, and in the end, if similar con-\nditions are reproduced through many existences,\nto some painless extinction of individuality at\nthe great crisis.\n\nIt is by a steady pursuit of and desire for\nreal spiritual truth, not by an idle, however\nwell-meaning acquiescence in the fashionable\ndogmas of the nearest church, that men launch\ntheir souls into the subjective state, prepared\nto imbibe real knowledge from the latent om-\nniscience of their own sixth principles, and to\n\n244 ESOTERIC BUDDHISM.\n\nre-incarnate in due time with impulses in the\nsame direction. Nothing can produce more\ndisastrous effects on human progress as regards\nthe destiny of individuals than the very preva-\nlent notion that one religion, followed out in a\npious spirit, is as good as another, and that if\nsuch and such doctrines are perhaps absurd\nwhen you look into them, the great majority of\ngood people will never think of their absurdity,\nbut will* recite them in a blamelessly devoted\nattitude of mind. One religion is by no means\nas good as another, even if all were productive\nof equally blameless lives. But I prefer to\navoid all criticism of specific faiths, leaving this\nvolume a simple and inoffensive statement of\nthe real inner doctrines of the one great re-\nligion of the world which — presenting as it\ndoes in its external aspects a bloodless and in-\nnocent record — has thus been really produc-\ntive of blameless lives throughout its whole\nexistence. Moreover, it would not be by a ser-\nvile acceptance even of its doctrines that the\ndevelopment of true spirituality is to be culti-\nvated. It is by the disposition to seek truth, to\ntest and examine all which presents itself as\nclaiming belief, that the great result is to be\nbrought about. In the East, such a resolution\nin the highest degree leads to chelaship, to the\npursuit of truth, knowledge, by the develop.\n\nNIRVANA. 245\n\nment of inner faculties by means of which it\nmay be cognized with certainty. In the West,\nthe realm of intellect, as the world is mapped\nout at present, truth unfortunately can only be\npursued and hunted out with the help of many\nwords and much wrangling and disputation.\nBut at all events it may be hunted, and, if it is\nnot finally captured, the chase on the part of\nthe hunters will have engendered instincts that\nwill propagate themselves and lead to results\nhereafter.",
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