1.   'Eat My Flesh and Drink My Blood'

There is a remarkable phrase in the Bible, where it says, 'Eat My flesh and drink My blood', says Christ. What does He mean by saying this? He means in the first place that what a living being loves most is his food, what he loves most he eats. It has been proved in ferocious and dreadful famines, by people eating their own children, that food is dearer than their own child. The word of Christ, therefore, 'Find out, what it is in Me that you love, which may become your nourishment, which may become your food. It is not this, My flesh and blood; this will not be sufficient to satisfy your appetite. There is another part of My being, which is in abundance and can nourish My numberless devotees. Therefore before trying to eat My flesh and blood, try to find out on what plane I really exist and what is My true being'. The lives of all the great saints show that not only their adversaries and opponents but also their near and dear friends have proved to be among their worst enemies. There is a creature which loves its mate so much that it eats it.

Now as to the question: what it is that Christ speaks of as his flesh and blood. His flesh is the knowledge of God and His blood is the love of God; because it is love that has a tendency, so to speak, to excite the circulation, and it is knowledge which has the tendency to strengthen, making man firm of which flesh is the symbol. One thing without the other would be abnormal. For instance flesh without blood, or blood without flesh, both are not normal conditions. What gives normal health to the body and to the soul is flesh and blood both. In the religious custom of the sacrament of bread and wine it is this secret which is symbolically expressed.

2.   Customs of Courtesy

There was a custom in the old, aristocratic times, which is even now observed in the East and somewhat in the Western part of the world, of taking steps backward when leaving someone who was respected. It was not only a custom but it had a psychological point of view. When two people are talking to one another, facing each other, a current of sympathy is established which chiefly runs through the breath and through the glance, and necessarily, one of them is expressive, the other receptive. When their backs are turned that current is broken, and the idea of the people of old was to retain that current, which they thought was valuable, as long as possible.

There was another custom of courtesy of the ancients which still exists in certain places, that in order to show respect to someone they bent their knees. This had a psychological reason: that every influence of love, affection, or sympathy, benediction, or blessing, is poured through the glance, through the breath, and through words, and if the receiver was taller than the bestower, the influence would go into the ground instead of touching the person. Especially the influence of the glance, which surrounds on with sympathy and good wishes, has, mostly, a downward direction, and it is naturally so with the breath also.

In the salutation made by putting one knee on the ground, the knee resting on the ground expresses readiness to receive the command and the knee that is up is ready to go forward to carry it out.

But besides their psychological influences, different manners of courtesy have been the outcome of human progress in the direction of refinement. And yet progress in every direction is like a wave in the sea – it rises and it falls. So it is with manners. This time seems to be the time when the wave is coming back. However, doing a thing is one thing, and understanding it is another thing. Whether one does a certain thing or does not do it, that is another question, but in the understanding of all things lies the purpose of life.

3.   Customs of the Marriage Ceremony

India, the land of mysticism and philosophy, has symbolism in all its customs. Even in the marriage ceremony everything that is done as a custom or rite is symbolical. Both bride and bridegroom wear on their hand a pearl-embroidered heart; they wear saffron-colored garments for the ten days that the wedding ceremony lasts; they are anointed during the wedding ceremony on their heads, shoulders, elbows, and chins, and on their knees and feet. The bridegroom has a sword in his hand during all those ten days. On the last day of the wedding both bride and bridegroom are veiled with a low-flowing veil made of jasmine flowers and trimmed with roses, and after the conclusion of the marriage ceremony they are unveiled.

Now, the meaning of this veil of flowers is that a new phase of life begins for them. They are no more the same as before; new responsibilities, new hopes, and a new life they have to begin. The meaning of the sword in the bridegroom's hand is that the bridegroom shall uphold the honor and dignity of his family, of his wife, that he shall stand in arms to defend the honor and dignity that the union of bride and bridegroom has completed. And the heart on the hand denotes that both of them shall let their action be directed by their heart. The anointing means that the hands and feet and head of either shall be ready to serve the other when occasion arises, that they shall not be stiff at any time when their service is called for. Saffron color, in the East, is considered to be the color of all sorts of good luck. It is the imperial sign. Love-letters are written in saffron color. The invitations for the wedding are written in this color, for this color represents light. Light in heaven and gold on earth, both are yellow. Therefore yellow is preferred to all other colors to be the omen on some good occasion in life.

4.   The Horse

The horse has been considered a lucky animal in all ages, for the horse represents energy, strength, activity, and life. The horse was conspicuous in Greek art, as also in the art of the ancient Persians. In the courts of the ancients kings in the East there used to be Chama, fans made of horse-hair; and the horse's head was used as a decorative emblem in the palaces, and before every entertainment something was spoken about the horse first. The comedians of India have that custom still existing: the first item of their program is an imitation of a horse. A story of a horse is always interesting. A sportsman and thinker, who differ so much in their likes, unite in admiration of the horse. The Prophet Muhammad admired the horse as one of the objects worth attaining in life. The most interesting part of the Ramayana is where Lahu, the son of Rama, goes in pursuit of Kalanki the ideal horse. In the sacred book of the Hindus, Mahabharata, it is Krishna who is the charioteer of Arjuna, Hassan and Hussein, the great martyrs of Islam, whose day has been celebrated year after year for ages, are represented with their beautiful horses called Duldul.

The horse is the symbol of the mind. When the mind is under control it is like a horse broken in, when it cannot be controlled it is like a restive horse, when its rein is not well in hand it is like a wild horse roaming about in the wilderness. Then the horse is the symbol of life, representing its energy, activity, and beauty. The horse, with its strength and activity, is harmless, useful, intelligent, has feeling, and is different to the donkey. The horse is the comrade in war, and is the dignity of great warriors. The unity that is established sometimes between the soul of the rider and the spirit of the horse is most wonderful. The horseshoe is considered lucky in all countries, for it reminds one of the horse and conveys the impression of the horse's vigor, activity, life, and beauty.

5.   Oracles Among the Ancient Greeks

In ancient Greece often questions were asked of an oracle, which were answered by a woman, who sometimes gave a plain answer and sometimes one the meaning of which was veiled. It was the same thing that today is called a spiritualistic seance, a mediumistic answer, the interest of which is alive in all ages though in different forms. Among all the occult and mystical interests the interest in the medium has a very great attraction for the average mind. A woman was often chosen for this work, on account of woman's sensitiveness, which always exceeds that of man, and this is the secret of intuition in human nature. Especially a celibate woman was chosen for this purpose, as in her is to be found more susceptibility to intuition. The question was supposed to be asked of a god, a god who was distinguished by a particular attribute, of poetry, of the sun, or any other attribute.

The secret of all this is that the priests, by their hypnotic power and suggestion, wakened in the woman that particular attribute of the Spirit within, Who is the possessor of all knowledge, especially that pertaining to the attribute with which He is identified. God is already in the heart of every person, only, to wake Him and to make Him rise, He should be called upon. He then, so to speak, takes birth from the heart of a sensitive woman, whose innermost can easily be touched. God has many attributes, He has many ears and many tongues to speak with, and through every form He answers whenever one reaches Him. Spiritualists call Him a spirit, but even through the spirit of an individual, dead or living, when God is called upon, God answers. Those who play with spiritualistic seances would give it all up in a moment if they only know that God always answers whenever He is called upon.

6.   The Greek Mysteries (1)

The little that is known of the Greek Mysteries has been very variously interpreted. Some have supposed them to have been a course of agriculture, taught secretly, others a mummery carried on for centuries by the priests. What is known with certainty is the high esteem in which they were held and the strict secrecy which attended them. The word means silence; to be initiated was 'to be made silent.'

Access to the lesser mysteries was easy. Tens of thousands were initiated. The temples in which the rites were practiced were under the protection of the state. In them were enacted the lives of the gods in whose name the mysteries were celebrated, and great use was made of music. The mysteries were held to remove the fear of death and to give assurance of the survival of the departed. Those who had been initiated were believed to be happy after death, while others led a dismal life hereafter, clinging to their graves.

The preparatory training for the greater mysteries was very severe. Fasting was undergone, abstinence of all sorts, extremes of heat and cold had to be endured, and the candidates swam through water for days and had to walk through fire. The training often lasted many years. After initiation, in the beginning all was darkness, dread and dismay; then a marvelous light was seen and shining forms came to meet the initiate. The initiate experienced while on earth the state of the soul dissociated from the body. A Greek writer says, 'Here all instruction ceases, one beholds the nature of things.' Apuleius, who had received all the initiations of the mysteries, says, 'I went to the boundary between life and death, I passed through the four elements, I stood on the threshold of Proserpina, at the time of deepest midnight I saw the sun shine in brightest splendor, I saw the greater and the lesser gods and revered them near at hand. The initiate was said to be received, while living on earth, among the immortal gods, and made as one of them.

7.   The Greek Mysteries (2)

This was really a Sufi institution, though not called by this name, for exactly the same thing is to be found today in the schools, of Sufis in India and Persia.

The lesser mysteries were Ilm-i Rabbali, the mystery of gods, in other words the mystery of the different attributes of God. For when the proper name of God is repeated a certain number of times some particular effect is produced by it, resulting in a desirable object. Before Islam the different names of God were considered to be different gods known by different names and identified with different attributes and characteristics. By invoking the names of different gods a person accomplished his object in life, as now Wazifa is practiced by the Sufis. The music which the ancient Greek knowers of mystery had as a means of their spiritual development, the same is used even now in the Chishtiyya schools of Sufis, where the Qawwali meeting, which is call Sama, is held, in which music is played and sung for awakening the emotional nature, which is the secret of revelation.

8.   The Greek Mysteries (3)

The fasting and abstinence, and all these things, were taught in order to develop the will power, which results in self discipline and which is the secret of all mastery; and it is by the power that the kingdom within is attained. Once man has touched his self within, the illusion becomes dissolved. The fear of death is caused by the consciousness of mortality. As long as one is unaware of one's immortal self one has the fear of death. Once the immortality of the soul is realized and the realization is no longer in one's imagination but has become a conviction, then one rises above the fear of death. This knowledge is gained fully when an adept is able to detach his soul from his body. It is this state which is called by Yogis Samadhi and by Sufis Nayat.

Every soul that treads the path of initiation takes his first steps through the darkness; as Ghazali says, 'The spiritual pursuit is like shooting an arrow through the darkness.' No doubt as one approaches the goal the light comes; as the Quran says, 'God is the light of the heavens and of the earth.' Then, once the sight has become keen, there is no further instruction needed. One gets insight into the hidden laws of nature, all things seem to speak to the seer of their character, nature and secret. This realization removes the boundary between life and death. One rises above the elements which have formed this mortal abode – the body and mind – for the soul's experience, when one touches one's true being, the soul. It is the soul-realized man who stands above all matter, and in this way the spirit gets victory over matter. Under all conditions of life which produce obscurity and confusion the soul-realized man sees the light, and to him all men, of lesser or greater degrees of evolution, are nothing but different forms of the Divine Immanence. In this way the man who has probed the depths of the mystery of life becomes God realized. When he no longer has his limited self before his view then only he experiences the state of which Christ has spoken: 'Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.'

9.   The Banshee

There is a very widespread belief that in certain families warning of the impending death of a member of the family is given always in the same way. In some families a certain bird is seen by some member of the family before a death, in others the church bell rings without being tolled, in another one or more flagstones of the pavement of the chapel are seen to be wet while the rest are dry, and the number of wet flagstones tallies with the number of deaths. In Ireland such warnings are particularly frequent, and often occur in the form of what is called the Banshee, a screech heard by members of the family, but inaudible to others.

This explains the truth that life is a revelation in all forms and is not restricted to any particular form. The death of an individual is apparently the death of one person having its effect to some extent upon that individual's surroundings and on those concerned with him, yet inwardly the influence of the death of one individual reaches the whole circumference of the universe. No object, no being, is left untouched by it; only this manifests to those who are subject to be more affected by the death of someone they are related to. To them the warning of death takes some form that might be perceptible to them, and told by them to their relations and descendants, that particular form then becomes a special alarm clock of death for that particular family, and it continues for a considerable time, until someone is born in that family who ignores it absolutely by his disbelief.

One learns by this that life is revealing by nature; it is man who becomes blinded by nature. There is no creature in this world so absorbed in the outer life in the world as man; so man, with greater capability of knowing, knows least of all creatures. There are birds who give warning of death. Dogs, cats, and horses perceive the coming death of their friend or neighbor or of their master. If man is open to the knowledge that life reveals continually, his body and mind with his intuitive centers and perceptive faculties can know the secret and the meaning of life most.

10.   The Psychology of the Shadow

Among the Hindus there has been an old belief, which is now taken to be a superstition, even in India. Every Brahman avoided or in other words took great care to keep himself, his shrine of worship, his food, woman during maternity period and the new-born child away from the shadow of a Shudra or outcast.

Now, the times being different, naturally that belief is seemingly meaningless; but in point of fact there was an occult meaning hidden behind it. Shadow is caused by the wall of a person standing against the sun, the sun which is life-giving to plants and human beings, to animals and to all, and the direct rays of which give all things new life. Places which are hidden from the sun, flat or mountainous, become the center of all diseases. The personality that stands in the light of any person, causing thereby hindrance in the life of that person, is an example of this.

The difference between the true teacher and the false – both of whom have always existed in the world – had been distinct. The false one stood in the light of his pupil; the true one showed him the way by standing on the side.

The psychology of the shadow is very complex. The shadow of an unholy person falling upon food will certainly take away the living substance from it; if it fell upon a person in a negative state, a woman sitting aside, or a child, it would produce exhaustion and lifelessness, also in souls who are going through a process of recuperation or growth. Very often a tree standing above a plant, keeping from it the light, hinders the growth of the plant; so is the shadow of the unholy. It can for the moment darken the soul of those passive and receptive of spirit. No doubt the power of darkness and illusion itself, as shadow, has no existence in reality. However, it is evident; so is the influence of immature souls.

The spiritual souls have a contrary influence to this. Their presence is a stimulus to intelligence; their influence is comfort giving and inspiring. The phenomenon of a spiritual personality is that in his presence the memory becomes keen, the waves of inspiration rise, the clouds of depression clear away, hope springs from the depth of the heart and the soul within begins to feel living, love manifests through thought and feeling, and all that was once dead lives again.

This shows that personality is a mystery. It gives life and causes death; it raises one to heaven, and throws another back to the depths of earth. The influence of personality may change one's life, environment, and all affairs. Its influence can turn the wheel of life to the right or wrong side, turning thereby the trend of all the affairs of life.

Very often most innocent, good and pure-minded souls, owing to the lack of positiveness in their natures, become the victims of undesirable personalities, personalities that stand in their lives, obscuring the light for which they crave; and this may continue for a long period of time. Once a person is accustomed to being in the shade, then he is afraid to come out in the sunlight though inwardly he may be drawn to it.

The denser a person is, the grosser is his shadow. In other words, the more material a person is, the heavier is his influence.

The whole idea of life is to live freely; to look through space freely, having nothing to hide or conceal; allowing the light of truth to shine from within and the light of the sun without; light all around, no shadow of any kind hindering the light, which is the soul of every being.

 

checked 6-nov-2015