Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism

The Yogi Philosophy teaches that in the world of forms, or relativity, all Matter, or forms of Akasa, is in perpetual motion— there is no rest in the world of Matter. The apparent rest of material objects is only relative and not a fact. Heat and Light are merely forms of motion, a manifestation of Energy. Suns and worlds rush through space—their particles are constantly changing and moving—chemical composition and decomposition is constant and unceasing—building up and breaking down are invariable incidents of cell-life; atom-life; and molecular being. There is no rest in Nature at any point. Work is constantly being done, and something is always being produced (in the sense of new combinations being formed, for there is no creation of something from nothing).

All existence, conscious or unconscious, is an emanation of one Being.

Bhakti Yoga is divided into two great branches or stages. The first is known as Gauni Bhakti, and the second, and higher, is called Para Bhakti. The first, Gauni Bhakti, is the preliminary stage, and consists of the science of the love and worship of God by means of the mental conception of God as a personal being—a “personal God.” The second, or higher stage, Para Bhakti, consists of the worship and love of an impersonal God— the Absolute. Of course the same God is loved and worshiped in both cases, but the mental development of the follower of Gauni Bhakti does not admit of his forming a mental concept of an impersonal God, and he, doing the best he can, forms a mental image of a personal God. There are many sub-stages to both of these main stages, the conception of God depending upon the mental and spiritual development of the man. We will go over the question briefly in order that the student may distinguish the great difference between the two great stages of Bhakti Yoga, and at the same time may recognize that both ideas are of the same stock, the difference being a matter of mental and spiritual growth.

The third step for the student is the mastery of the mental conception that The Absolute must be possessed of the three attributes, (1) Omnipotence; (2) Omniscience; (3) Omnipresence.

contains within its pages the greatest amount of high spiritual teaching ever combined into so small a space.

As good old Walt Whitman has said: “My words will itch in your ears till you understand them.” This Cosmic Knowing is the full flower which will “bloom in the silence that follows the storm,” as the writer, or transcriber, of “Light on the Path” has so beautifully expressed it. It is that which comes as the result of “Illumination.”

In the calm, restful period that follows the storm, great things await the soul. So, remember this, O soul, when you find yourself in the midst of the great storm of spiritual unrest, which is sweeping away all the old landmarks—which is tearing away all that you have been leaning against to support yourself—which causes you to imagine that all is being swept away from you, leaving you alone without comfort, or support. For in that moment of spiritual distress when all is being taken away from you, there is coming to you that peace which passeth all understanding, which will never leave you, and which is well worth the stress of a thousand storms. The time of mere blind belief is passing from you—the time of knowing is at hand.

Look for the flower to bloom in the silence that follows the storm; not till then.

The twenty-first precept bids you “look for the flower to bloom in the silence that follows the storm”—and which blooms only then. The rainbow of Spiritual Consciousness appears only after the fierce storm which has swept you from your feet. It is the divine token of the peace which is coming to you.

Right here, let us call your attention to a well established principle of occult training, and yet one that is seldom mentioned in teachings on the subject. We refer to the fact that a bad habit of thought or action is more easily eradicated by supplanting it with a good habit—one that is directly opposed to the habit of which one desires to get rid. To tear out a bad habit by the roots, requires almost superhuman strength of will, but to crowd it out by nursing a good habit in its place, is far more easier and seems to be nature’s plan.