REINCARNATION/PART 2
CHAPTER II.
The
Egyptians, Chaldeans, Druids, Etc.
After considering the
existence of the doctrines of Reincarnation among the primitive peoples, and
its traditional existence among the vanished peoples of the past, we find
ourselves irresistibly borne toward that ancient land of mystery—the home of
the mystics and occultists of the past—the land of Isis—the home of the
builders of the Pyramids—the people of the Sphinx. Whether these people were
the direct descendants of the people of destroyed Atlantis, the home of the
Ancient Wisdom—or whether they were a new people who had rediscovered the old
doctrines—the fact remains that when tracing back any old occult or mystic
doctrine we find ourselves gradually led toward the land of the Sphinx as the
source of that hidden truth. The Sphinx is a fit emblem of that wonderful
race—its sealed lips seem to invite the ultimate questions, and one feels
that there may be a whispered answer wafted from those tightly closed lips
toward the ear that is prepared to hear and receive it. And so, in our search
for the origin of Reincarnation, we find ourselves once more confronting the
Egyptian Sphinx as we have done so often before in our search after Truth.
Notwithstanding its
obvious prehistoric origin, many have claimed that Metempsychosis has its
birthplace in old Egypt, on the banks of the Nile. India disputes this claim,
holding that the Ganges, not the Nile, gave birth to the doctrine. Be that as
it may, we shall treat the Egyptian conception at this place, among the ancient
lands holding the doctrine, for in India it is not a thing of the past, but a
doctrine which has its full flower at the present time, and which flower is
sending forth its subtle odor to all parts of the civilized world. And so we
shall defer our consideration of India's teachings until we reach the present
stage of the history of Reincarnation. Herodotus, many centuries ago, said of
the Egyptians that: "The Egyptians are the first who propounded the
theory that the human soul is imperishable, and that where the body of any one
dies it enters into some other body that may be ready to receive it; and that
when it has gone the round of all created forms on land, in water, and in air,
then it once more enters the human body born for it; and that this cycle of
existence for the soul takes place in three thousand years."
The doctrine of
Reincarnation is discernible though hidden away amidst the mass of esoteric
doctrine back of the exoteric teachings of the Egyptians, which latter were
expounded to the common people, while the truth was reserved for the few who
were ready for it. The inner circles of the Egyptian mystics believed in and
understood the inner truths of Reincarnation, and although they guarded the
esoteric teachings carefully, still fragments fell from the table and were
greedily taken up by the masses, as we may see by an examination of the scraps
of historical records which have been preserved, graven in the stone, and
imprinted on the bricks. Not only did these people accept the doctrine of
Reincarnation, but Egypt was really the home of the highest occult teachings.
The doctrines and teachings regarding several "sheaths" or
"bodies" of man, which are taught by occultists of all times and
races, are believed to have been fully taught in their original purity on the
banks of the Nile, and in the shadow of the Pyramids—yes, even before the days
of the Pyramids. Their forty centuries of history saw many modifications of the
philosophical and religious beliefs, but the fundamental doctrine of
Reincarnation was held to during the entire period of history in Ancient Egypt,
and was not discarded until the decadent descendants of the once mighty race
were overwhelmed by stronger races, whose religions and beliefs superseded the
vestiges of the Ancient Doctrine. The Egyptians held that there was
"Ka," the divine spirit in man; "Ab," the intellect or
will; "Hati," the vitality; "Tet," the astral body;
"Sahu," the etheric double; and "Xa," the physical body
(some authorities forming a slightly different arrangement), which correspond
to the various "bodies of man" as recognized by occultists to-day.
The Ancient Chaldeans
also taught the doctrine of Rebirth. The body of Persian and Chaldean mystics
and occultists, known as "the Magi," who were masters of the Hidden
Wisdom, held to the doctrine of Reincarnation as one of their fundamental
truths. In fact, they managed to educate the masses of their people to a much
higher point than the masses of the Egyptians, and, escaping the idolatrous
tendencies of the Egyptian populace, they manifested a very high degree of pure
philosophical, occult, and religious knowledge. The Magi taught that the soul
was a complex being, and that certain portions of it perished, while certain
other parts survived and passed on through a series of earth and
"other-world" existences, until finally it attained such a degree of
purity that it was relieved of the necessity for further incarnation, and
thenceforth dwelt in the region of ineffable bliss—the region of light eternal.
The teaching also held that just before entering into the state of bliss, the
soul was able to review its previous incarnations, seeing distinctly the
connection between them, and thus gaining a store of the wisdom of experience,
which would aid it in its future work as a helper of future races which would
appear on the face of the earth. The Magi taught that as all living things—nay,
all things having existence, organic or inorganic—were but varying
manifestations of the One Life and Being, therefore the highest knowledge
implied a feeling of conscious brotherhood and relationship toward and with
all.
Even among the
Chinese there was an esoteric teaching concerning Reincarnation, beneath the
outer teaching of ages past. It may be discerned in the teachings of the early
philosophers and seers of the race, notably in the work of Lao-Tze, the great
Chinese sage and teacher. Lao-Tze, whose great work, the
"Tao-Teh-King," is a classic, taught Reincarnation to his inner
circle of students and adherents, at least so many authorities claim. He
taught that there existed a fundamental principle called "Tao,"
which is held to have been identical with the "primordial reason," a
manifestation of which was the "Teh," or the creative activity of the
universe. From the union and action of the "Tao" and the
"Teh" proceeded the universe, including the human soul, which he
taught was composed of several parts, among them being the "huen," or
spiritual principle; and the "phi," or semi-material vital principle,
which together animate the body. Lao-Tze said: "To be ignorant that the
true self is immortal, is to remain in a grievous state of error, and to
experience many calamities by reason thereof. Know ye, that there is a part of
man which is subtle and spiritual, and which is the heaven-bound portion of
himself; that which has to do with flesh, bones, and body, belongs to the
earth; earthly to earth—heavenly to heaven. Such is the Law." Some have
held that Lao-Tze taught the immediate return of the "huen" to the
"tao" after death, but from the writings of his early followers it
may be seen that he really taught that the "huen" persisted in
individual existence, throughout repeated incarnations, returning to the
"tao" only when it had completed its round of experience-life. For
instance, in the Si Haei, it is said that: "The vital essence is dispersed
after death together with the body, bones and flesh; but the soul, or knowing
principle of the self, is preserved and does not perish. There is no immediate
absorption of the individuality into the Tao, for individuality persists, and
manifests itself according to the Law." And Chuang-Tze said: "Death
is but the commencement of a new life." It was also taught by the early
Taoists, that the deeds, good and evil, of the present life would bear fruit in
future existences; in addition to the orthodox heavens and hells, in which the
Chinese believed, and of which they had a great variety adapted to the
requirements of the various grades of saints and sinners, the minute details of
which places being described with that attention to minor details and
particulars peculiar to the Chinese mind. The teachings of a later date, that
the soul of the ancestor abided in the hall of the ancestors, etc., were a
corruption of the ancient teaching. Other Chinese teachers taught that the soul
consists of three parts, the first being the "kuei," which had its
seat in the belly, and which perished with the body; the second being the
"ling," which had its seat in the heart or chest, and which persisted
for some time after death, but which eventually disintegrated; and the third,
or "huen," which had its seat in the brain, and which survived the
disintegration of its companions, and then passed on to other existences.
As strange as it may
appear to many readers unfamiliar with the subject, the ancient Druids,
particularly those dwelling in ancient Gaul, were familiar with the doctrine of
Reincarnation, and believed in its tenets. These people, generally regarded as
ancient barbarians, really possessed a philosophy of a high order, which merged
into a mystic form of religion. Many of the Romans, upon their conquest of
Gallia, were surprised at the degree and character of the philosophical
knowledge possessed by the Druids, and many of them have left written records
of the same, notably in the case of Aristotle, Cæsar, Lucan, and Valerius
Maximus. The Christian teachers who succeeded them also bore witness to these
facts, as may be seen by reference to the works of St. Clement, St. Cyril, and
other of the early Christian Fathers. These ancient "barbarians"
entertained some of the highest spiritual conceptions of life and
immortality—the mind and the soul. Reynaud has written of them, basing his
statements upon a careful study of the ancient beliefs of this race: "If
Judea represents in the world, with a tenacity of its own the idea of a
personal and absolute God; if Greece and Rome represent the idea of society,
Gaul represents, just as particularly, the idea of immortality. Nothing
characterized it better, as all the ancients admit. That mysterious folk was
looked upon as the privileged possessor of the secrets of death, and its
unwavering instinctive faith in the persistence of life never ceased to be
a cause of astonishment, and sometimes of fear, in the eyes of the
heathen." The Gauls possessed an occult philosophy, and a mystic religion,
which were destroyed by the influences of the Roman Conquest.
The philosophy of the
Druids bore a remarkable resemblance to the Inner Doctrine of the Egyptians,
and their successors, the Grecian Mystics. Traces of Hermeticism and
Pythagoreanism are clearly discernible, although the connecting link that bound
them together has been lost to history. Legends among the Druids connected
their order with the ancient Aryan creeds and teachings, and there seems to
have been a very close connection between these priests and those of Ancient
Greece, for there are tales of offerings being sent to the temples of Greece
from the priests of Gaul. And it is also related that on the island of Delphos
there was once a Druidic tomb in the shape of a monument, believed to have been
erected over the remains of Druid priestesses. Herodotus and others speak of a
secret alliance between the priests of Greece and those of the Druids.
Some of the ancient legends hold that Pythagoras was the instructor of the
Druidic priests, and that Pythagoras himself was in close communication with
the Brahmins of India, and the Hermetists of Egypt. Other legends have it that
the Druids received their first instruction from Zamolais, who had been a slave
and student of Pythagoras. At any rate, the correspondence between the two
schools of philosophy is remarkable.
Much of the Druidic
teachings has been lost, and it is difficult to piece together the fragments.
But enough is known to indicate the above mentioned relationship to the
Pythagorean school, and of the firm hold of the doctrine of Reincarnation upon
the Druids. The preserved fragments show that the Druids taught that there was
in man an immaterial, spiritual part, called "Awen," which proceeded
from an Universal Spiritual Principle of Life. They taught that this
"Awen" had animated the lower forms of life, mineral, vegetable and
animal, before incarnating as man. In those conditions it was entangled and
imprisoned in the state of "abysmal circling," called
"Anufu," from which it finally escaped and entered into the
"circle of freedom," called "Abred," or human incarnation
and beyond. This state of "Abred" includes life in the various human
races on this and other planets, until finally there is a further liberation of
the "Awen," which then passes on to the "Circle of Bliss,"
or "Gwynfid," where it abides for æons in a state of ecstatic being.
But, beyond even this transcendent state, there is another, which is called the
"Circle of the Infinite," or "Ceugant," which is identical
with the "Union with God" of the Persians and Greek Mystics, or the
"Nirvana" of the Hindus. Rather an advanced form of philosophy for
"barbarians," is it not? Particularly when contrasted with the crude
mythology of the Roman conquerors!
The Gauls were so
advanced in the practical phases of occultism that they gave every condemned
criminal a respite of five years, after sentence of death, before execution, in
order that he might prepare himself for a future state by meditation,
instruction and other preparation; and also to prevent ushering an unprepared
and guilty soul into the plane of the departed—the advantages of which plan is
apparent to every student of occultism who accepts the teaching regarding the
astral planes.
The reader will
understand, of course, that the degree of advancement in spiritual and
philosophical matters evidenced by the Gauls was due not to the fact that these
people were generally so far advanced beyond their neighbors, but rather to the
fact that they had been instructed by the Druid priests among them. Tradition
has it that the original Druidic priests came to Gaul and other countries from
some far-off land, probably from Egypt or Greece. We have spoken of the
connection between their teachings and that of the Pythagoreans, and there was
undoubtedly a strong bond of relationship between these priests and the occultists
of other lands. The Druidic priests were well versed in astronomy and
astrology, and the planets had an important part in the teachings.
A portion of their ritual is said to have correspondences with the early
Jewish rites and worship. Their favorite symbol—the mistletoe—was used as
indicating re-birth, the mistletoe being the new life springing forth from the
old one, typified by the oak. The Druids traveled into Ancient Britain and
Ireland, and many traces of their religious rites may still be found there, not
only in the shape of the stone places-of-worship, but also in many curious
local customs among the peasantry. Many a bit of English folk-lore—many an odd
Irish fancy concerning fairies and the like; symbols of good-luck; banshees and
"the little-folk"—came honestly to these people from the days of the
Druids. And from the same source came the many whispered tales among both races
regarding the birth of children who seemed to have remembrances of former lives
on earth, which memory faded away as they grew older. Among these people there
is always an undercurrent of mystic ideas about souls "coming back"
in some mysterious way not fully understood. It is the inheritance from the
Druids.
NEXT CHAPTER
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