THE PHILOSOPHY OF ANCIENT GREECE
THE SCHOOL OF PYTHAGORAS
We have all heard the famous
inscription on the Temple of Delphi, "Know thyself and thou wilt
know the universe and the gods." On the basis of this maxim the
entire theosophical system of the ancient Greeks was based. The
three leading propositions of all the Esoteric Schools are summed
up in the sentence frequently quoted as the gist of the teaching
of Pythagoras: "Evolution is the law of life; number is the law
of the universe; unity is the law of God." The wonderful
character known as Orpheus is no mythical personage, but a
genuine adept of antiquity around whose wonderful career, as in
all similar cases, multitudes of fairy tales have gathered.
The work of Orpheus, like that of all other great spiritual
teachers, did not consist in establishing a sect or party, but in
disseminating truths of universal import which gradually
percolated through many existing systems, constituting an inner
body of doctrine of which simply literalists were always
ignorant. Pythagoras, the Sage of Samos, though his period was
not earlier than 600 B.C., is regarded as quite a legendary
character by many who have not deeply studied the history of that
epoch, and as in the case of so many other great leaders who
worked from a spiritual standpoint, fierce persecution assailed
this renowned Initiate and all who had the hardihood to publicly
espouse his doctrines and remain faithful to his cause. The more
we study history, the more convinced must we become that the
persecuting spirit, which has relentlessly attacked all the
world's great reformers, is excited not by religious conviction
in any case originally, but by scheming demagogues,
whose tyrannical authority, whether in Church or State, is always
threatened by the spread of knowledge, and particularly by a real
understanding of the Mysteries. In the case of Pythagoras and his
followers, this persecution took place in Sicily, from which
island many of the instructed fled to Greece, which furnished
them a safe asylum. It is to Plato that we owe almost all our
information concerning Pythagoras and his teachings; for, like
other great spiritual enlighteners, this noble master gave
instruction orally and never transferred his esoteric
teachings to writing except under cover of symbolical signs,
which only his disciples were able to interpret. It appears that
all masters have adopted the two-fold method of giving moral
instruction freely to multitudes, but confiding the deeper
meaning of their teaching exclusively to those disciples who had
prepared themselves to profit by more interior instruction. No
sensible or thoughtful person can fail to see the wisdom and
complete justice of this course, for no one was excluded from the
deeper teaching who was prepared to receive it, and preparation
consisted in thoroughly digesting and practically applying the
general teaching given openly to the multitudes. All sorts of
curious names have been given to this inner teaching by those who
referred to it metaphorically. In India the curious title of
"Boar's flesh" has been sometimes applied to an inner philosophy
which was concealed from the masses, a similitude which has led
to the ludicrous mistake entertained by some shallow critics that
one of the Buddhas died from gourmandizing on flesh, when it is
well known in the East that those who occupy high spiritual
stations are always vegetarians. In the School of Pythagoras,
great stress was laid on simple diet, as one means for purifying
the body of a candidate seeking admission into the inner circle
of disciples, for if was stoutly contended that no one could
become thoroughly clairvoyant, in the higher acceptance of the
term, who partook of animal food, or who used any stimulants or
narcotics. The Sage of Samos was not an ordinary theurgist or
worker of miracles, serving merely to create transitory
sensational interest, his avowed mission being to assist humanity
in the work of such complete regeneration that strife should
cease upon the earth, both in the inward lives of his disciples
and in the outer world also, so far as their influence extended.
The essence of the Pythagorean Doctrine has come down to us in
the Golden Verses of Lysis, in the commentary of Hierocles, and
especially in the Timaeus of Plato, which contains a perfect
system of cosmogony. All the great writers of ancient Greece
radiate the spirit of Pythagoras, whom they admired so
greatly that they never tire of relating anecdotes depicting the
wisdom and beauty of his teaching and his marvelous power over
all with whom he came in contact. He is quoted as an authority by
the Gnostics of the early Christian Church as well as by the
Neoplatonists of Alexandria. This teaching constitutes a
magnificent whole, and serves greatly to simplify the mysterious
symbolism of India and Egypt, which often requires a clear
Hellenic mind to portray it in intelligible language
consistently with rational and ennobling ideas of human liberty.
That wonderful period which witnessed the life and work of
Pythagoras was also the age of Lao-Tse in China, and of Buddha
Sakya-Muni in India. Pythagoras was a great traveler; he is said
to have crossed the whole of the ancient world before delivering
his message in Greece, to which country he brought the ripe
fruits of a thoroughly matured philosophy. A fascinating account
of this wonderful teacher is given by the gifted French
author, Edouard Schure, who enters with much picturesque detail
into an account of the early years and extended travels of this
brilliant yet calm philosopher, who was the son of noble-minded
parents. His father was a wealthy jeweler of Samos; his mother a
woman of much refinement. It is said that the Pythoness of
Delphi, when consulted by these good people shortly after their
marriage, promised them a son who would be useful to all men
throughout all times. The oracle directed them to Sidon in
Phoenicia, where the child could be born far from the
disturbing influences which then ruled in their native land.
Before his birth Pythagoras was fervently consecrated to Apollo,
the God of Light. When the child was only a year old, acting on
advice received from a priest of Delphi, his mother took him to
an Israelitish temple in a valley of Lebanon where the high
priest gave the infant a special blessing. Parthenis, the mother
of this wondrous babe, is reported to have been a singularly
beautiful and gentle woman, highly intellectual and of a very
gracious temper. As the boy grew toward manhood, his
parents encouraged him in that pursuit of wisdom in which he took
a most keen delight, and so earnest a student was he that when
only eighteen years of age he had studied in classes composed
almost exclusively of thoroughly mature and particularly able
men. But though, when at the age of twenty three, he had enjoyed
conference with Thales and Anazimander at Miletus, and others of
the greatest among philosophers, none of these
distinguished teachers had satisfied his yearning for the
knowledge of perfect truth. Their teachings seemed to him
contradictory, and he was ever searching for a grand synthesis.
We translate freely the following paragraphs from the french of
Edouard Schure describing the hour when this marvelous genius
seemed to attain his first complete glimpse of the great
mission which lay before him: "Through the length of a glorious
night Pythagoras directed his gaze now to the earth, now to the
temple, and now to the starlit skies. Demeter, the Earth-Mother,
that Nature whose secrets he sought to penetrate, was there
outspread beneath him and around. He imbibed her potent
exhalations and felt the invincible attraction uniting him, a
thinking atom, to her bosom, an inseparable portion of herself.
The Sages whom he had consulted had told him that it was from her
that all things spring. From nothing comes nothing. The
soul proceeds from water and from fire, but this subtle emanation
of the primal element issues from them only to revert. Nature,
said they, is sightless and inflexible; resign thyself to her
unchanging laws. The sole merit thou canst have consists in this,
that thou knowest them and art resigned to them. Then he gazed
upon the firmament and sought to decipher the letters of flame
formed by the Constellations in the fathomless depths of space.
These signs, said he, must have a meaning, for if the
infinitesimal, the motion of atoms, has its reason for existence,
surely then also the immeasurably great, the wide-extended stars
whose constellations represent a body of the universe!
Verily each of these worlds must have its law, for all move
unitedly according to number and in perfect harmony. But who will
decipher this starry alphabet? The priests of Juno had told him
this universe is the abode of the gods which existed before the
earth. 'Thy soul cometh' (said they) 'from thence. Pray to the
gods that it may remount to heaven.' Then we are told that his
meditations were interrupted, first by the chants of the Lesbian
women and the Bacchic airs chanted by the youths, but these
melodious sounds were soon interrupted by piercing mournful cries
issuing from men who were to be sold as slaves and were
being cruelly struck by those who were compelling them to embark
for Asia. Then it was that a painful thrill ran through his
frame, for a mighty problem presented itself before him, as he
contrasted vividly the different estates of the various classes
of human beings who were thus brought before his notice. Whatever
others might say and whatever appearances might indicate, the
young Pythagoras cried out for liberty, liberty from all the
pain, slavery and madness so abundantly spread around him. Who
were right ? he asked. The Sages who taught a doctrine of blind
fatality, the priests who attributed everything to Divine
Providence, or the great mass of humanity who stood between the
two with no well defined philosophy? All voices, he decided,
declared some aspect of truth, but none gave to him the true
solution of the problem. The three worlds, elaborately described
in ancient cosmology, undoubtedly existed, and it was in the law
of their equilibrium that the secret of the Kosmos lay. Having
given utterance to this discovery, he rose to his feet, his
glance fixed on the majestic temple which seemed transfigured
in the moonbeams. In that magnificent temple he believed he saw
an ideal image of the universe. The Cosmos guided and penetrated
by God formed the sacred Quaternion, which is the source of
Nature whose cause is eternal. Concealed in the geometrical lines
of the Delphic Temple, he thought he found the key of the
universe. The base, columns, architrave and triangular pediment
represented to his view the three-fold nature of humanity and the
universe: of the Microcosm and the Macrocosm crowned by divine
unity, itself a trinity. The three worlds natural, human and
divine, sustaining one another anal performing a universal
drama in an ascending and descending movement signified to him
the balance of earth and heaven, of which human liberty holds
control. It was then that he conceived of human purification and
liberation by triple initiation. But he must prove by reason what
his simple intelligence had received from the Absolute. This
needs a human life; this is the task of Hercules. But where could
he find the necessary knowledge to conduct this mighty labor?
Nowhere but in his own soul. It was then that he forsook
all allegiance to existing schools, and began the great task of
working out for himself that wonderfully complete and simple,
though seemingly intricate system, which we have learned to
venerate as Pythagorean philosophy. " Modern natural
philosophy has always been compelled to acknowledge an
imponderable universal agent, and has, therefore, sometimes
quite unconsciously, fallen largely into line with the ideas of
both ancient and modern Theosophists. In the ancient Greek
thought, Cybele-Maia reigns everywhere; for this is the name
given to the soul of the world, that plastic, vibrating substance
through which creative spirit acts. Oceans of ether unite all
worlds, and this mysterious element is galled the great
mediator between invisible and visible, between spirit and
matter, between the interior and exterior of the universe. The
modern Theosophical doctrine of the "astral light" is practically
identical with the doctrine of the Logos and its many
manifestations, as held in ancient Greece as well as all over the
Orient. With these ancient concepts the philosophy of Pythagoras
is very largely in accord; but when he visited the temple of
Delphi and infused new life into the doctrines taught there,
he gave to his disciples a very much loftier idea of the universe
and of humanity than was then popularly known among the
frequenters of that world-famous shrine. Pythagoras visited
Delphi after visiting all the other Grecian temples, and at a
time when its art of divination had somewhat deteriorated. His
mission everywhere was both to restore and to infuse new light.
In that wonderful temple he found Theoclea, a priestess of
Apollo, who belonged to one of the leading hereditary priestly
families. This remarkable girl positively disliked most
things which attracted others, and she was of so deeply spiritual
a nature that she seemed to require none of those accessories to
devotion, or aids to mystic development, which seem usually
necessary. She is reported to have heard spiritual voices in open
daylight, and on exposing herself to the rays of the rising sun,
their mystical vibration developed in her a true ecstasy, during
which she listened to the singing of choirs celestial. Feeling
herself attracted to some higher world than earth, to which she
had not yet found the key, she was at once attracted by that much
deeper teaching, and by the far nobler influence exerted by
Pythagoras than she was able to obtain from the priests of the
Delphic temple, whose instructions and ceremonies by no means
satisfied her inmost spirit. It is said that he and she
recognized each other immediately as kindred souls, who must work
together for the elevation of humanity. Pythagoras at that time
was in his prime; his eloquence was amazing, and his presence so
enchanting that the very atmosphere became lighter, and the
intelligence of those around him awakened to an extent far beyond
the usual. From this time on the work of this mighty Sage made an
impression in Greece far greater than that of any other
teacher, and his school was at once renowned for the extreme
purity of its philosophy and its astounding depth of insight into
the profoundest mysteries of the universe. Pythagoras and
Theoclea worked together for a full year at Delphi in complete
spiritual concert, and before he took his departure he had fully
prepared her to carry on a ministry virtually identical with his
own; thus did he demonstrate the underlying principle of ancient
CoMasonry which always assigns to woman an equal place with man
in the celebration of all mysteries, wisely drawing a
horizontal line between classes of individuals solely on account
of qualification, never an absurd perpendicular line based on sex
differentiation. After leaving Delphi, Pythagoras worked in
Croton, where the famous Pythagorean Institute arose, which was a
college and a model city under the direction of this great
Initiate. Through a wise combination of art and science, that
magical harmony of soul and intellect which Pythagoreans regarded
as the arcanum of philosophy was established. Science
and religion were entirely at one, and it would be well indeed
for many in this modern world, who are vainly endeavoring to
reconcile false notions of religion with partly comprehended
facts of science, to quaff a deep draft of inspiration from the
Pythagorean synthesis. Edouard Schure gives us a fascinating
narrative descriptive of the white dwelling of the Pythagorean
Initiates situated on a hill encircled by olive and cypress
trees. The following is a free translation from the exquisite
french of this delightful author: "On ascending the hill, the
porticos, gardens and gymnasium were distinctly seen. The
Temple of the Muses, with its circular colonnade, light and
elegant, towered above the two wings of the building. The terrace
of the surrounding gardens overlooked the town and its harbor. In
the far distance stretched the gulf, between sharp, rugged
portions of the coast, as though in a frame of agate, while the
Ionian Sea enclosed the horizon with a line of azure. One might
often see women dressed in many-colored costumes making their way
on the left side of the hill down to the sea through an alley of
cypresses. These were on their way to worship in the temple of
Ceres. On the right side men were often seen mounting in white
robes to the temple of Apollo. It was a great attraction to the
keen imagination of youth to realize that the school of Initiates
was under the protection of these divinities, one of whom (Ceres)
held the profound mysteries of Woman and of Earth, while the
other (Apollo) revealed those of Man and of
Heaven." Pythagoras soon sustained a reputation for sternness
in discipline by refusing to admit unworthy novices, for he said
that "not every kind of wood was suitable for the making of a
Mercury." Young men who desired to enter the association must
undergo severe tests. When introduced by their parents or one of
the masters, they were first allowed to enter the gymnasium in
which the youths played games appropriate to their age; but every
newcomer noticed at once that this was a gymnasium of a very
peculiar sort, quite unlike those of the Grecian towns in which
were heard the violent cries of clamorous groups boasting
of their strength, challenging each other and proudly exhibiting
their muscles. Here were only groups of well-behaved and
singularly fine looking young men walking in couples beneath the
porticos or playing rationally in the arena. They always invited
a stranger to join them with kind simplicity, making him feel at
once at home among them and never subjecting him to any annoyance
or humiliation, a lesson which modern colleges in Europe and
America need to mark, learn and inwardly digest until the
disgraceful practice of hazing and similar abominations are once
for all eliminated root and branch from all educational
institutions claiming respectability and seeking the patronage of
an enlightened public. Before we can reasonably hope to
make any real progress in spiritual or ethical directions we must
lay a firm foundation in physical and mental culture. The
gymnasium, according to Pythagorean philosophy, is a valuable
vestibule to the inner temple in which profound instruction is
given pertaining to mind and spirit; but as during a soul's
terrestrial embodiment it needs to operate through a physical
instrument, the part of reason is to provide as perfect an
instrument as possible, and keep that vehicle in excellent
working order. In the system of Pythagoras there is consistently
maintained, from first to last, the idea of perfect equilibrium.
Here is to be found neither voluptuous indulgence nor harsh
asceticism. The body is not treated as though it were the foe of
the spirit, but it is never allowed to usurp any throne of
mastery. In this matchless school of ancient Greece every
principle of virtue and nobility was inculcated and exemplified
which the foremost educators of to-day are endeavoring to impress
upon the gradually awakening consciousness of colleges and
churches, and it must prove somewhat humiliating to the haughty
heads of Christian seats of learning to find that a
"Pagan" philosopher, several centuries before the Christian era,
had carried out successfully a scheme of discipline which
excluded all objectionable features, such as stupid, and often
brutal, wrestling while it afforded vigorous young athletes ample
opportunity and encouragement to cultivate their muscles to the
utmost within the reasonable bounds of healthy exercise and good
behaviour. On the question of friendly feelings between fellow
students, Pythagoras took uncomprising ground. True
friendship can never exist in company with brutality, nor can
real courage be developed by cultivating envy or catering to
unrighteous pride. Hatred makes us inferior to those we hate,
precisely as terror puts us in the power of what we dread. Heroes
are developed in schools where honest mutual esteem is cultivated
to the utmost, and should it ever be necessary for a hero to
fight he could do so with great courage and ability, but without
a shade of fury. The Pythagorean method was both simple and
conclusive. Fresh arrivals at the college were encouraged to
express their own views freely among their new acquaintances, and
as no restriction was placed upon the expression of their
sentiments, they soon registered themselves as suitable or
unsuitable for admission into the classes. If any new applicant
proved himself intelligently appreciative of the high standard in
vogue among the Initiates, he was cordially welcomed; but if he
evinced a preference for the cruder standard of the
popular gymnasia of the towns, he properly drifted thither. While
a new candidate was expressing his sentiments without restraint,
the teachers were taking note of all he said, and it never took
them long to ascertain whether he showed fitness for admission or
otherwise. Pythagoras himself would often appear unexpectedly in
the presence of the stranger, and study his words and gestures,
in estimating which he was never at fault; he paid particular
attention to gait and laughter, which are always faithful indexes
of character; he had also made so profound a study of the human
face that he read dispositions at a glance. Pythagoras introduced
some of the Egyptian tests into his system, but the severer among
these he wisely modified. After a few months of preliminary
training, the candidate was submitted to an ordeal intended to
test his bravery and prove his spirit. One of these tests
consisted in spending a night in a cave which had the reputation
of being haunted with mysterious elementals who appeared to the
aspirant in gruesome shapes. If his courage withstood this
ordeal, he was accounted worthy to pass on to higher initiations,
but if he shrank in terror from this external test he was
considered too irresolute to be eligible for advancement. Being
accepted for the preliminary degree, it was usually not long
before the candidate was put through moral trials accompanied by
severe tests of intellectual character. Among these the ready
solution of intricate mathematical problems held prominent place.
For example, a teacher would call upon a student without warning
to explain the meaning of a triangle within a circle, or
to answer such a question as, Why is the dodecahedron, contained
within a sphere, the symbol of the universe? When passing these
tests, the student was required to spend twelve consecutive hours
in his cell, during which time he might partake of bread and
water, but no other food was allowed him. To young men of
sybaritic temperament, such discipline might seem excessively
severe, but to those of frugal tastes and sincerely bent on
study, this was only healthy mental exercise. Lichen these twelve
hours were ended the youth was taken into a company of
assembled novices, who were allowed to ridicule him to test his
metal; if he withstood all jibes and sneers complacently, he was
regarded by the teachers as truly an embryonic philosopher, but
if he became angry and resentful, Pythagoras would inform him
that such lack of self-control demonstrated ineligibility for
advancement. It was only in extreme cases of misconduct, how
ever, that this thoroughly equitable master expelled students
from his school, and when he did so he always addressed them
calmly and graciously, explaining to them that it could be of no
use to them to attempt to continue their studies when they were
quite out of harmony with the requirements and discipline of the
college. These tests of temper proved conclusively the degree of
self-control already attained by the young men who wished to
become renowned in future as philosophers. Rejected candidates
would sometimes inveigh bitterly against the college and its
head; among these was the fanatical Cylon, who never forgave the
college for his dismissal, and finally excited the populace to
bring about its downfall. Those who bore everything with firmness
were welcomed into the novitiate and received enthusiastic
congratulations from their new companions. The First Degree
was called Preparation. This lasted from two to five years.
Novices were called Listeners; during lessons they were
subject to the rule of complete silence. They were not permitted
to offer objections or to enter into discussions, for they must
absorb the teaching before they could be prepared to discuss it
intelligently. The Second Degree was called Purification. During
this process of study the novice was welcomed into the house of
Pythagoras and numbered among his disciples; real initiation now
began. A rational exposition of occult doctrine was now given,
which consisted especially in a study of the Science of Numbers,
the esoteric meaning of which was concealed from the people at
large, and only communicated to students who had proven their
worth. A great distinction was made between sacred and secular
mathematics; the latter alone are known to European savants, but
the knowledge of the former has always been carefully preserved
in the East. The number One necessarily is all-including, as
perfect white contains all colors; but as we cannot conceive of
the Absolute Unmanifest with our finite intellects, all
expressions of Divinity must be dual, consequently the Dyad
reveals the Monad. Here we find another link between the
Pythagorean and the Jewish conception of Divinity, as set forth
in the opening chapters of the Pentateuch. Man and Woman hold
equal rank in all ancient philosophies, but the feminine is
always regarded as interior, while the masculine is external;
therefore it often happens that short-sighted or unreflecting
students imagine that the masculine is more sacred than the
feminine, according to the teaching of ancient and
Oriental philosophies. During the traiping of the Initiate in the
Second Degree, the student was instructed in a doctrine very
similar to much of the teaching with which we are familiar
through the epistles of S. Paul, who was undoubtedly familiar
with Greek philosophy as well as with Hebrew and Roman law. In
the scheme of Pythagoras the number 7 (compound of square and
triangle) signifies the union of Man and Divinity. It is the
figure of all great Initiates, who understand that there are 7
degrees in involution and evolution. The number 10 represented
completeness; it is called the perfect number in the highest
sense, for it represents all principles of divinity evolved and
reunited in a new unity. We have all heard of the 9 Muses
personifying the sciences, grouped 3 by 3, presiding over the
triple ternary evolved in 9 worlds, which together with Hestia,
Guardian of the Primordial Fire, constitute the sacred
Decad. The Third Degree was called Perfection, as among the
Essenes. In this degree psychology and cosmogony were the leading
studies. While the lessons in the earlier degrees were given in
daylight, often in the full blaze of the outdoor sun, these
deeper teachings were usually given during the night season in
the open air by the seaside, or sometimes in the crypts of the
temple which were gently illuminated by lamps of naphtha. It was
at these times that clairvoyance asserted itself, and the inner
faculties of the students began to enable them to
personally verify by their own experience that which the teachers
taught. It cannot be doubted by any who have studied deeply the
records of ancient esoteric teaching that the old astronomical
glyph, which everywhere presents itself, was chiefly a veil
thrown over the secret teaching, which related far more to the
evolution of the human soul than to the movements of the literal
planets. Ancient astrology was something very different from the
misguided substitute with which in these days we are often made
disagreeably familiar. In sacred astrology there are no
"malific" planets or "evil" aspects, though it is very clearly
taught that one star does indeed differ greatly from another; but
as members of one family may be persons of widely different
temperament, occupation and appearance, and yet all be good and
useful, so in a family of worlds like our solar system the
different planets may be spoken of as brothers and sisters, the
sun being the parent of them all. We can only understand the
famous saying quoted by present-day astrologers of the better
type, "The wise man rules his stars, the fool obeys them," when
we contemplate the significance of the personal pronoun in the
sentence, for no man, however wise, can regulate the motions of
the stars, but we can learn to regulate their correspondences
within his own nature. Pythagorean astrology is founded upon the
acknowledgment of universally diffused intelligence, which is now
coming to be largely recognized by Western as well as Eastern
philosophers, and indeed the whole scientific world of to-day is
coming very near to an acceptance of that ancient
esoteric teaching which alone accounts intelligently for the
behaviour of all forms of existence observable under the
microscope. The celestial history of Psyche formed the climax of
the instruction given by Pythagoras to his disciples. What is the
human soul ? he asked. "A portion of the mighty soul of the
world, a spark of Divine Spirit, an immortal Monad. Still,
through its possible future opens out into the
unfathomable splendors of Divine consciousness, its mysterious
dawn dates back to the origin of organized matter. To become what
it is in present-day humanity, it must have passed through all
the reigns of nature, the whole scale of beings gradually
developing through a series of innumerable existences. The spirit
which fashions the worlds and condenses cosmic matter into
enormous masses manifests itself with varying intensity and an
ever greater concentration in the successive reigns of nature. A
blind and confused force in the mineral, individualized in the
plant, polarized in the sensation-and instincts of animals, it
stretches towards the conscious monad in this slow elaboration;
and the elementary monad is visible in the most inferior of
animals. The animal and spiritual element accordingly exists
in every kingdom, though only in infinitesimal quantities in the
lower kingdoms. The souls which exist in the state of germs in
the lower kingdoms stay there without moving away for immense
periods of time, and it is only after great cosmic revolutions
that, in changing planets, they pass to a higher reign. All they
can do during a planet's period of life is to mount a few
degrees. Where does the Monad begin? As well ask at what hour a
nebula was formed or a sun shone for the first time. Anyhow, what
constitutes the essence of any man must have evolved for millions
of years through a chain of lower planets and kingdoms,
keeping through all these existences an individual principle
which follows it everywhere. This obscure but indestructible
individuality constitutes the Divine seal of the Monad in which
God wills to manifest Himself through consciousness. The
higher one ascends in the series of organisms, the more the
Monad develops the principles latent in it. Polarized force
becomes capable of sensation capacity of sensation becomes
instinct, and instinct becomes intelligence. In proportion as the
flickering flame of consciousness is lit, this soul becomes more
independent of the body, more capable of existing freely. The
fluid, non-polarized soul of minerals and vegetables is bound to
the elements of earth. That of animals, strongly attracted by
terrestrial fire, stays there for some time after living in
the body, and then returns to the surface of the globe to
reincarnate in its species without ever having the possibility of
leaving the lower layers of the air. These are peopled with
elementals or animal souls which play their part in atmospheric
life and have a great occult influence over man. The human soul
alone comes from the sky and returns there after death. At what
period of its long cosmic existence has the elementary become the
human soul ? Through what incandescent crucible, what
ethereal flame has it passed? The transformation has been
possible in an interplanetary period only by the meeting of human
souls already fully formed which have developed in the elementary
soul, its spiritual principle, and have impressed their Divine
prototype like a seal of fire in its plastic substance." (Quoted
from J. Rothwell's Translation.) According to the esoteric
traditions of India and Egypt, we began our human existence on
other planets where matter is far less dense than here. Human
bodies were then almost vaporous, and it was quite easy for the
soul to accomplish incarnation. Here we note a close resemblance
between the teaching of Pythagoras and that profound Oriental
doctrine which we have summarized in the section of this volume
dealing especially with Hindu doctrine and tradition. We must
refer our readers to the fine work of Edouard Schure, from which
we have already quoted freely, for further dissertation on this
exhaustless theme, and pass on to a mere mention of the
teaching of the Fourth Degree, called Epiphany, meaning vision
from above. The initiation of intelligence must be followed by
that of will, the most difficult of all. The disciple must become
deeply imbued with truth in his inmost being, and must put the
high teachings into practice in daily life. To attain this ideal,
one must unite three kinds of perfection, called respectively
realization of truth in intellect; virtue in soul; purity in
body. The astral body participates in all the acts of the
physical; it does indeed give effect to them. A doctrine of
regeneration, which Pythagoras expounded very clearly, teaches
how a second nature must replace the first, and finally the
intellect must reach wisdom beyond mere knowledge till it can
distinguish good from evil in every department of existence, and
behold a revelation of God in the smallest of creatures, as well
as in universal immensities. On reaching this altitude, man
becomes an adept, and enters into conscious possession of new
faculties and powers; the inner senses of the soul expand and the
physical senses are dominated by radiant will. Bodily magnetism,
penetrated by the potency of the astral soul, electrified by
will, acquires force apparently miraculous. Among the accepted
Initiates, many healed the sick by their simple presence, though
others resorted to the laying on of hands. Clairvoyance, like
that of Apollonius of Tyana in one age and of Swedenborg in
another, was frequently exhibited; indeed, all the wonders
recorded of saints and seers throughout the literature of the
ages seem to have been demonstrated in the school of this mighty
master whose name to-day is being pronounced with ever increasing
reverence. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity, so
much misunderstood, because so deeply veiled in mystery, was
rendered far more intelligible by Pythagoras six hundred years
before the beginning of the Christian era than by those
controversial Fathers of the Church who rejected the Divine
Feminine, and therefore made quite unintelligible the original
doctrine of the procession of the Logos. Father, Mother and Child
we can understand; but Father, Son and Holy Spirit is
an unintelligible phrase until we know that the Holy Spirit
originally stood for the Divine Feminine. The Pythagorean Trinity
is described as Spirit, Soul, and Heart of the Living Universe.
The life of Pythagoras was extremely beautiful, and in the truest
sense both spiritual and natural. When sixty years of age he
married one of his pupils, a maiden of great beauty and singular
intelligence. This noble woman, Theano, entered so thoroughly
into her husband's thought and life that after he had passed from
earth she became the centre of the Pythagorean Order. Two sons
and one daughter were the result of this union, and the
whole family offered a high model for all other families to
follow. On all political questions Pythagoras was as highly
enlightened as in the transcendent domain of directly spiritual
philosophy, for he was a reformer in the widest and highest
acceptance of the term. The system of government which he
advocated united the best elements of democracy and aristocracy,
and it will be well indeed if those who are wrestling with modern
legislative problems investigate more deeply the wise
teachings of those true Initiates of old, who, while loving the
whole people devotedly, and desiring in every way to promote the
common interest, wisely realized that only the most intelligent
and in every way enlightened among the people were competent to
represent the multitudes as governors or
legislators. Cylon, the inveterate persecutor of the
Pythagorean school, from which he had been expelled, was a fair
sample of the unscrupulous modern demagogue. Tradition asserts
that one evening, when forty of the principal members of the
Order had assembled, this outrageous man, who was then a tribune,
surrounded the house with an enraged crowd and set fire to the
buildings. Thirty-eight of the disciples, together with
Pythagoras himself, were either burned to death or massacred by
their assailants, but the Order did not die; it was only
dispersed, and continued for two hundred and fifty years to exert
a benign, regenerating influence wherever it was established.
Many of the predictions of Pythagoras were literally fulfilled,
and this fact in itself inclined many to investigate the sublime
doctrines of an Order which had had for its founder a sage and
seer of such wonderful graces and lucidity. Truly has it been
said that Pythagoras was an Adept and Initiate of the
highest type; he enjoyed a direct spiritual vision, and had found
the key to the occult sciences and to the spiritual world. He
drew supplies of knowledge from the primal fount of truth, and
united with a wondrous intellect a high moral nature, which
commanded the respect and love of all capable of appreciating
real nobility. The philosophic edifice he reared was never
destroyed. Plato took from Pythagoras his entire system of
metaphysics. The closing words of Edouard Schure's
magnificent french treatise may be translated thus: "The school
of Alexandria occupied the upper stories of the edifice, while
modern science has possessed itself of the ground floor and
strengthened its foundations. Many philosophical schools and
mystical or religious sects have dwelt within its
numerous chambers. No philosophy, however, has yet embraced it in
its
harmonious entirety." back to top
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