Theosophy and the Trikaya 4 (Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya, Dharmakaya)

The Trikaya doctrine, (especially the doctrine of the Nirmanakaya) is an important part of Blavatsky’s The Voice of the Silence (see Fragment 2, stanzas 140-146, 177-194 and Fragment 3 stanzas 281-306). , Called the Three Vestures, it is a distinctive part of the Secret Path, the esoteric path, which is similar to the Buddhist Mahayana path, in contrast to the Open Path, the exoteric path, which is similar to the Theravada path. To conclude this series, below are a few sample extracts and notes, from that classic work:

Step out from sunlight into shade, to make more room for others. The tears that water the parched soil of pain and sorrow, bring forth the blossoms and the fruits of Karmic retribution. Out of the furnace of man's life and its black smoke, winged flames arise, flames purified, that soaring onward, 'neath the Karmic eye, weave in the end the fabric glorified of the three vestures of the Path. (2, 140)

The Shangna robe, 'tis true, can purchase light eternal. The Shangna robe alone gives the Nirvâna of destruction; it stops rebirth, but, O Lanoo, it also kills — compassion. No longer can the perfect Buddhas, who don the Dharmakâya glory, help man's salvation. Alas! shall selves be sacrificed to Self; mankind, unto the weal of Units? (2, 142)

Know, O beginner, this is the Open Path, the way to selfish bliss, shunned by the Bodhisattvas of the "Secret Heart," the Buddhas of Compassion.  (2, 143)

To live to benefit mankind is the first step. To practise the six glorious virtues is the second. (2, 144)

To don Nirmânakâya's humble robe is to forego eternal bliss for Self, to help on man's salvation. To reach Nirvâna's bliss, but to renounce it, is the supreme, the final step — the highest on Renunciation's Path. (2, 145)

The "Open Way," no sooner hast thou reached its goal, will lead thee to reject the Bodhisattvic body and make thee enter the thrice glorious state of Dharmakâya (37) which is oblivion of the World and men for ever.  (2, 186) 

 The "Secret Way" leads also to Paranirvânic bliss — but at the close of Kalpas without number; Nirvânas gained and lost from boundless pity and compassion for the world of deluded mortals. (2, 187)

Remember, thou that fightest for man's liberation (20), each failure is success, and each sincere attempt wins its reward in time. The holy germs that sprout and grow unseen in the disciple's soul, their stalks wax strong at each new trial, they bend like reeds but never break, nor can they e'er be lost. But when the hour has struck they blossom forth. (3, 274)

(20). This is an allusion to a well-known belief in the East (as in the West, too, for the matter of that) that every additional Buddha or Saint is a new soldier in the army of those who work for the liberation or salvation of mankind. In Northern Buddhist countries, where the doctrine of Nirmânakâyas — those Bodhisattvas who renounce well-earned Nirvâna or the Dharmakâya vesture (both of which shut them out for ever from the world of men) in order to invisibly assist mankind and lead it finally to Paranirvâna — is taught, every new Bodhisattvaor initiated great Adept is called the "liberator of mankind."

Know, O Naljor, thou of the Secret Path, its pure fresh waters must be used to sweeter make the Ocean's bitter waves — that mighty sea of sorrow formed of the tears of men. (3, 290)

Alas! when once thou hast become like the fix'd star in highest heaven, that bright celestial orb must shine from out the spatial depths for all — save for itself; give light to all, but take from none. (3, 291)

Alas! when once thou hast become like the pure snow in mountain vales, cold and unfeeling to the touch, warm and protective to the seed that sleepeth deep beneath its bosom — 'tis now that snow which must receive the biting frost, the northern blasts, thus shielding from their sharp and cruel tooth the earth that holds the promised harvest, the harvest that will feed the hungry.  (3, 292)

Self-doomed to live through future Kalpas,unthanked and unperceived by man; wedged as a stone with countless other stones which form the "Guardian Wall" (28), such is thy future if the seventh gate thou passest. Built by the hands of many Masters of Compassion, raised by their tortures, by their blood cemented, it shields mankind, since man is man, protecting it from further and far greater misery and sorrow. (3, 293)

 (28). The "Guardian Wall" or the "Wall of Protection." It is taught that the accumulated efforts of long generations of Yogis, Saints and Adepts, especially of the Nirmânakâyas — have created, so to say, a wall of protection around mankind, which wall shields mankind invisibly from still worse evils.

"Yea; on the Ârya Path thou art no more Srotâpatti, thou art a Bodhisattva (33). The stream is cross'd. 'Tis true thou hast a right to Dharmakâya vesture; but Sambhogakâya is greater than a Nirvânî, and greater still is a Nirmânakâya — the Buddha of Compassion (34).  (3, 306)

Now bend thy head and listen well, O Bodhisattva — Compassion speaks and saith: "Can there be bliss when all that lives must suffer? Shalt thou be saved and hear the whole world cry?" (3, 307)

(33). A Bodhisattva is, in the hierarchy, less than a "perfect Buddha." In the exoteric parlance these two are very much confused. Yet the innate and right popular perception, owing to that self-sacrifice, has placed a Bodhisattva higher in its reverence than a Buddha.

(34). This same popular reverence calls "Buddhas of Compassion" those Bodhisattvas who, having reached the rank of an Arhat (i.e., having completed the fourth or seventh Path), refuse to pass into the Nirvânic state or "don the Dharmakâya robe and cross to the other shore," as it would then become beyond their power to assist men even so little as Karma permits. They prefer to remain invisibly (in Spirit, so to speak) in the world, and contribute toward man's salvation by influencing them to follow the Good Law, i.e., lead them on the Path of Righteousness.

The three Buddhic bodies or forms are styled: —

1. Nirmânakâya.
2. Sambhogakâya.
3. Dharmakâya.

The first is that ethereal form which one would assume when leaving his physical he would appear in his astral body — having in addition all the knowledge of an Adept. The Bodhisattva develops it in himself as he proceeds on the Path. Having reached the goal and refused its fruition, he remains on Earth, as an Adept; and when he dies, instead of going into Nirvâna, he remains in that glorious body he has woven for himself, invisible to uninitiated mankind, to watch over and protect it.

Sambhogakâya is the same, but with the additional lustre of "three perfections," one of which is entire obliteration of all earthly concerns.

The Dharmakâya body is that of a complete Buddha, i.e., no body at all, but an ideal breath: Consciousness merged in the Universal Consciousness, or Soul devoid of every attribute. Once a Dharmakâya, an Adept or Buddha leaves behind every possible relation with, or thought for this earth. Thus, to be enabled to help humanity, an Adept who has won the right to Nirvâna, "renounces the Dharmakâya body" in mystic parlance; keeps, of the Sambhogakâya, only the great and complete knowledge, and remains in his Nirmânakâya body. The esoteric school teaches that Gautama Buddha with several of his Arhats is such a Nirmânakâya, higher than whom, on account of the great renunciation and sacrifice to mankind there is none known. 

Part 1 

Divine Heartache 3/3 - Practical Advaita Vedanta

Dealing with Spiritual Sadness

Learn to Accept Life’s Circumstances and Strive to Improve Them

A general complaint that often reaches our ears is that one is not placed in circumstances favourable for progress, and that much as one desires to live and work for the higher life, there are embarrassments that make it completely out of his power to advance, even a single step. How deeply such a person laments his peculiarly harrowing strait, and how vainly he thinks he would attempt and succeed in living the life of the soul, were he better situated. We say to such persons, you are but throwing away the energy of your soul in foolish lamentation, and cheating yourself with fine imagery as an excuse for negligence and want of determined effort. Firstly, you who are acquainted with and believe in the law of Karma, ought to know that favouring circumstances are the result of hard work in a previous incarnation, and not the offspring of the injustice of a blind destiny. Sri Krishna says that only those who have worked up to a certain point in occultism in one life are blessed in the next with surroundings suited to soul-growth. Why, then, complain for not having what you do not deserve? And unless you determine now to create better circumstances for the future, you may go on idly wishing for a change in which you please yourself with the belief that you will thrive; but be sure that nothing is attained without working for it. Surely the beginning must be made somewhere, by controlling circumstances and by working up to a certain degree, and then you can hope for and obtain surroundings calculated to assist your efforts. Then again, you should begin to realize that the circumstances under which you are placed can obtain no mastery over you, unless you deliberately put your neck under the yoke. The surroundings, however manifold, have no inherent power in them to distract your attention from the one star that is the guide of your life unless you voluntarily give them the power. Even a school boy knows that a quantity, however large, if raised to the power zero gives unity as the result. So you should constantly deny to all outside objects the slightest power over you, and then, though their number be infinite, you will see nothing but unity. It is merely your own desire that restrains you from soaring high. The fact is beautifully illustrated in Indian books by the way in which monkey-traps are made in that country. A quantity of gram is placed in an earthen vessel in which there is a small opening, just large enough to let the open palm of the monkey pass in. When he has closed his fist, having a handful of gram, he cannot take it out. If he only lets the gram drop, he can with the greatest ease run away and be free. But no! The attraction of the gram so bewilders his sense that he begins to think himself a captive and is thus caught. Exactly the same is the case with man; there is nothing to bind him to slavery if he can but see through the folly of unchecked Vasna (desire). It is your own weakness that is forming the obstacles for you. There is positively nothing outside of yourself that can in the least hinder your progress.

Obstacles are mysterious efforts of nature to help you

There is, however, another truth that has to be so learnt and assimilated as to form a corner-stone of your belief. You have to understand that the aim of nature being identical with your own, all that you, in your ignorance, call sufferings and obstacles, are in reality the mysterious efforts of nature to help you in your work if you can manage them properly. An idea of how Karma is a never-failing aid to evolution can be gleaned from the consideration that resistance always develops the Will-power. The mental height and quiet that has been attained by overcoming obstacles, form a guarantee of our having advanced some distance, and give us the assurance that it is no fungus-growth, destined to live but for a day. Moksha being another name for perfection, requires that you should have experienced all phases of existence; hence you should look upon all circumstances with the gratitude of a pupil. All complaint is a silent rebellion against the law of progress. An occultist's object being to hurry on the work of evolution, if you complain you will, instead of reaping any benefit thereby, retard your progress. Leaving all complaint aside, devote yourself heart and soul in the work of helping the growth of your soul. All disturbance of equilibrium is prejudicial; bearing in mind, therefore, that there is but one pivot in the universe on which equilibrium can be restored, detach yourself with effort from objects of sense, and fix your heart on the Supreme Unity. Equilibrium, however, is of three kinds, on the mental as well as on the physical plane. First, unstable equilibrium, in which if the mind is disturbed ever so little, it turns away the more forcibly from its position of rest. This is the nature of the devout feelings that incidentally fall to the lot of the man of the world and which are next to useless for an occultist. Second, neutral equilibrium, in which there is no active tendency either way, and the mind is occupied either in sublime thoughts or in objects of sense. This is a distinct step no doubt, but you must not rest satisfied with it, but should strive to attain the third — stable equilibrium. At this stage, however busy a man may be in the performance of his material duties, his heart for ever flies from them to attain calmness and peace. So our final advice is, that all duties should be performed conscientiously with the conviction that their avoidance, instead of being a help, is sure to prove an obstacle. At the same time never forget for a moment that the aim for which you work is not what your hands are plying for. Ever take care not to be so attracted by work as to lose sight, even for a short time, of the magic charms which your soul reveals.

Learn to love meditative solitude

Love solitude with all your heart and enjoy it whenever you can afford to fly to it. Imagination is of the greatest help in the elevation of the soul. You will realize its power only when you apply it to a distinct end under the command of your will. Retire to a secluded spot — the bank of a river or a solitary grove if possible — and call up spiritual scenes before your mind's eye, and in thought lose yourself in the supreme self. Dreaming is supposed to be an odd and foolish habit in this matter-of-fact, practical age of ours. Hardly is it guessed that dreaming spiritual dreams is the highest heritage of the human race. Yes, we say, conjure up dreams by Will and then calmly drink in the invigorating amrita that will then flow into your heart. Learn to withdraw into the sanctum sanctorum of your soul, and the bliss of all the three worlds is there. Be meditative, and you will reach the goal of all happiness. The divine flute of Krishna is ever sending forth celestial melodies in the very atmosphere which we breathe, but we can hear it only when the chaotic tumult of worldly thoughts has been laid asleep. Drowned in the solemn profundity of your soul, worship devoutly the sweet influence which then remains upon you, and from this it is, you should know, that you are to derive strength to fight with the terrible foes around you. Look back upon the earlier portion of your life, and there, buried under the ashes of subsequent physical experiences, you will find the glowing embers having a spiritual fire. In childhood the consciousness is not completely materialized, and as we are just then bringing to a close a period of spiritual existence, we continue to be vivified by soul-influence. Then, we do not quite understand nor very much care for the wild chatter of men around, and have no option but to dream happily. What will help you most in spiritual development is the putting forth of all your energies to keep the Mystic Peace of your soul undisturbed, even in the midst of worldly company and in the thick of material affairs. While conversing, to all appearances, with your friends and relatives try with head and heart to live in a world of your own creation. Create in yourself a sort of inward yearning for the soul, a ‘Heartache for the Beloved", to use the language of the Sufis, without whom your very life would be one vast barren desert of horror and pain. How pathetically does the Sufis poet sing:—

" Marà dar manzile jánàn ché anno ayesh chem hardum.
Jaras faryàd midárad ké bar bundaid mahmilha."
"What possible delight could I find in the stages of my journey
to the beloved when every moment arises the sound:
Prepare for thy journey."

Direct your will to the spiritual

Think not that we are talking of vague improbabilities. See in the case of a mesmerist, what human Will, though distracted by a thousand and one material ambitions, can do. What then of the Will, subtle as it is, when it is directed on the highest subtlety, and, moreover, spirit, body and soul are all working in the same direction — which cannot be possible in any other pursuit. Only try constantly to live in the Inner World of Rest and Calm, and your external consciousness will then lose its intensity of colour. True you will move in the world all the same, but its appearances and events will affect you but as dreams — compared to the beauties of the new life you have begun to live. See how the moon which shines with all effulgence by the reflection of the light of the sun, loses its brightness and turns into a pale piece of cloud on the rise of the sun itself; so our external consciousness that shines with a dazzle by the reflection of the spiritual light gets dimmed and pale on the approach of a higher consciousness. Therefore, whether you are travelling lonely and unfriended to a distant country, or are living on the bosom of a dear wife enjoying the sweets of a comfortable home, forget not that you are but a pilgrim journeying to your native land from which you have strayed out. Let us then pray in Matthew Arnold's sad, sweet words :—

"Calm soul of all things! Make it mine
To feel amid the city's jar.
That there abides a piece of thine,
Man did not make, and cannot mar !
The will to neither strive nor cry,
The power to feel with others give !
Calm, calm me more! nor let me die
Before I have begun to live."

(Matthew Arnold, Lines Written in Kensington Gardens. Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems (London: B. Fellowes, 1852)

Part 1 

Divine Heartache 2/3 - Practical Advaita Vedanta

Dealing with Spiritual Sadness

First Basic Delusion: Identification of yourself with the physical body

The first great basic delusion you have to get over is the identification of yourself with the physical body. The form of language in vogue in this material age of ours has much to answer for in this egregious error that has taken root in us. Even in childhood our susceptible nature is broken upon the wheel of this crushing blunder when we hear all around us sounds of “I go”, “I come", and so on, when it is merely the physical envelope that is seen to perform the act. The ascetics of India are the only people who always speak of “Sarira" as distinct from themselves and thus take care not to mislead people into an erroneous belief. Consider within yourself, without being deluded by the false notions floating around you, and begin to think of this body as nothing better than the house you have to dwell in for a time, and then you will never yield to its temptations. Wherein, dear friend, does the mass of flesh you are not ashamed to call yourself, differ from the tree in your garden ? Does not the axe cut it, the fire burn it ? Does it not wither and die even more rapidly ? What better than the air and water that supply nourishment to the tree is the food you eat with so much relish ? Ah! sad fate! amazing fall! you who are a God, yet revelling in the delight of flesh and blood! And lo ! you are enamoured of this fantastically shaped puppet, and spend your invaluable life in decorating and clothing it in strange garbs, so that other puppets may bend before it. Answer candidly if this mere puppet-show is worth your life's devotion. Serve the body only if it helps you in serving your God; otherwise it were far better for you that it should perish and be scattered in pieces, than serve the purpose of creating a host of delusions to enslave you. Work for it never so faithfully, it will inevitably betray you some day; so take warning while yet there is time. Sink into nothingness all concerns about its comforts, and, awakening to the true object for which you are born, devote every moment of your time in advancing towards the centre of Light that is beckoning you from afar.

Conquer the passions and begin to love the Unseen Principle

When you have in some degree realized the insignificance of the gross body, you will begin to doubt if the idea of self, which springs up almost entirely from the sensations derived from the body, is really your true Self. How can the world, in relation to which alone the false self exists, have any more reality or permanency than a dream, when there is absolutely no proof of the objective existence of matter apart from the cognizing mind? Analyze thus constantly the phantom to which you have given the name of self and reflect upon its illusory character. Try also with consistent attempts to conquer the prominent weaknesses of your nature by developing thought in the direction that will kill each particular passion. Are you home-sick ? Then will you tell us, dear brother, what is it that attracts you ? Is it the fond caresses and sweet speech of your relatives ? Know you not that all your connection with the persons you regard as your own, arises from the body, and that even while you are enjoying their embraces, if the machine stops, they are the first to turn you out of doors ? Cease then to love any forms of clay. You will not thereby be deprived of the only fire that makes life divine. Begin to love the Unseen Principle, set all your affections on him, and you will then bask beneath the Sun of Love from which at present only a few stray rays now and then pierce through the darkness of your heart. Be home-sick as passionately as you can, but let it be the true home that you long for and not a pile of bricks. Again, are you sensitive to the injustice and vile slanders of people around you ? Then ask yourself why you suffer. Is it not wholly due to your own actions, and would you not have suffered as certainly and as bitterly if the person against whom you are irritated had never existed ? Why then indulge angry feelings against the unfortunate person who has merely formed the instrument of the Law? Pity rather the poor mortal who has thus added to the heavy burden of his sin. Pray heartily for the erring brother that the iron will of Karma, which never stops, may not grind him utterly to dust. This you can do only by having a firm faith in Karma. This, on serious thought, all weakness will be found to arise in some error; use head and heart to drive it out.

The vacuum of the heart, the painful blankness

Your first efforts in this direction, however, are likely to prove discouraging. Not only will you be unable to observe any signs of development, or to feel any nearer the spiritual Light, but on the other hand you will find yourself sinking under such a deadweight as will make you stagger, and doubt if it will ever be in your power to lift it up. Your incipient efforts have now detached you from objects of sense only in so far that you cannot take anything like your original delight in friends, relatives or amusements; but they have not yet supplied you with the true ambrosia that cannot only fill their place, but absorb your whole being into itself; you begin to feel a sort of indescribable vacuum in your heart — we say indescribable, because nothing akin to that painful blankness is felt even in the saddest moments of worldly life. Particularly will this terrible monster of hollowness oppress you when you wake up from sleep; because on the dream-plane you will find yourself attracted to and made happy in your former delights; but as soon as you open your eyes, you find yourself, with a suddenness that takes your breath away, transplanted into a land of nameless horror, where there is nothing that can give you a moment's pleasure. The very fountain from which you now and then received refreshing draughts of the elixir seems to be dried up for ever, and for some time you walk upon the earth a disconsolate being under a grim shade, without one ray of hope or joy to cheer you. Here it is that the poor souls that are not firm-footed, stumble. But you, noble aspirant — you who would fain enter the sanctuary of truth — Despair not ! Doubt not! Falter not! beloved of the sages — for here it is that glorious saints are waiting with cups of infinite bliss for you, will you but take one more step undismayed.

Persevere and the clouds will break

There would be greater reason to doubt the law of expansion by heat (because certain organic substances contract by heat, owing to the moisture they contain), than for you to doubt the final expansion of your soul because of the apparent contraction you may be experiencing. Know you not it is but the driving out of the rheum and the filthy moisture of your heart. Regard this shade, then, as the soft twilight heralding the rise of the sun of Ananda (spiritual bliss). Pursue your determined course with undaunted courage and the clouds will break. The weight under whose pressure you had all but succumbed, will then be lifted up, and your heart will spring back into the free air with an elasticity unknown before. Once more the life-imparting stream of your soul begins to flow, but it is more continuous, and its waters more tranquil and pellucid. Once more you are blessed with “angelic visits", but not “few and far between " as before. Remember, that sadness is by no means the unmitigated evil it is supposed to be, and that there is a limit to the pain caused by it. When that limit is passed you enter quite unexpectedly into a region of unthought-of beauty, just as a ray of light is refracted or broken until the critical angle is reached, after which refraction gives place to the perfect reflection called “total reflection".

Sadness has two stages: the painful and the serene

Bear in mind that sadness has two stages. First, the painful, which is almost the only one known to the ordinary material man; and second, the serene, into which the first gradually merges in the case of comparatively pure persons even as calm follows storm. In fact, on surviving the first terrible blow of despondency, you will learn the novel lesson that sadness is not after all the fabled vulture devouring the heart of Prometheus to eternity. You will no longer dread it and fly impatiently from it, but will try to use it as a ladder to ascend to the clear sky. You will recognise it as the shadow of the Light that shines beyond. It is only in the Cimmerian darkness of all-absorbing material occupation that there is neither light nor shadow. Sometimes when the serenity of your soul will be marred by some worldly engrossment, sadness will prove a welcome guest — nay, you will yearn to fly to it for refuge, so that it may infuse into you the calm of a life the busy world knows nothing about, and for which your heart pines. You would much rather have your soul drowned in the sweetness of melancholy, than lost in the noisy hubbub and meaningless laughter of what is called social life.

Brother I do not hastily turn round and say: Would you then deprive man of his sole delight, the capacity for laughter? No, indeed !We are only suggesting the replacing of mimicry by reality — by that centre from which radiate beams of cheerfulness not only lighting up the gloom of men, but piercing to the very heart of the earth. Laugh, then, the laugh of the Spirit, if you can, otherwise keep silent. “Silence is golden", is an old saying, but if we may be permitted the liberty of altering it a little we should say, " Silence is the philosopher's stone". Ordinarily it is golden, because it is of the greatest use to us even in our ordinary dealings with men, but when directed towards the contemplation of the Supreme, it becomes a true philosopher's stone. All objects which then come within its influence instantly borrow its charm, and reflect a beauty so exquisite that we feel as if everything around us had suddenly changed into something brighter and nobler. Silence, therefore, is essential for the neophyte. When, however, it proves oppressive — as it will sometimes — then talk if you will, but talk, as far as may be, only on subjects allied to what you have made the aim of your life. When the mind is fatigued by continuous meditation, or when it is rambling, books on spiritual subjects are of great help, but much depends on your selection of such books and how you read them. Your object in study should not be, as is usual with men, a confused mixture of obtaining a tremendous amount of information, and of finding a sort of sedative amusement for the intellect. You should have a well-defined purpose in view — and need we say what that should be ? Surely none other than to achieve that which you have made your life-effort — Soul-elevation. You must, therefore, read little and think more, in order to " feed the flame of thought". Give up all desire of turning into a gourmand, devouring a heap of sundry books. Oh I how gladly would we part with a whole library of books for one such invaluable gem as the Bhagavad-Gita, Light on the Path, The ldyll of the White Lotus, or Sowing and Reaping (Chatterji, Mohini. The Theosophist, May-Sept. 1886). With one such book in your hand, ponder well till you find yourself absorbed into the Spirit of Truth. " Read to live, and do not live to read." 

Gyanbhikshachari.  Divine Heartache. The Theosophist. Volume 8, No. 9. June 1887, pp. 549-57).

Part 3

Divine Heartache – Practical Advaita Vedanta 1/ 3

Dealing with Spiritual Sadness

Gyanbhikshachari.  Divine Heartache. The Theosophist. Volume 8, No. 9. June 1887, pp. 547-58).

“Those who through heart and mind know Him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal."
-Svetasvatara Upanishad, IV. 20.

Being Realistic about Spiritual Progress

THERE has sprung up of late a certain class of Theosophists — whose number we hope is not large — who complain that though they have been Fellows of the Theosophical Society for several years, leading a moral life, studying the theosophical literature, and moreover, strict vegetarians, yet they see in themselves hardly any perceptible signs of spiritual progress, nor have they been able to attract the attention of the masters, much as they wished it. To such we say: All that you have been doing is well and good, and is sure to form a firm ground-work for future advancement; but we only regret you could not see for yourself the impossibility of negative virtues and mere intellectual culture, even when rightly directed, forming the direct instrument of the soul's elevation. An intellectual grasp of the broad truths of occult science is indeed indispensable as a first step, in so far as they acquaint you, however vaguely it may be, with what should be the aim of your precious life, and how you are to work in order to attain the end. But no one in the Theosophical Society, so far as we know, postulated the absurdity that a life of vegetarianism, coupled with the study of a few books would, like the magical slippers, transport you to the desired goal. If then you have been disappointed in the realization of hopes which you never cared to work for, you have nobody to blame but yourself; and unless you choose now to go beyond the vain acquisition of a surface acquaintance with uncommon technical names and metaphysical ideas — so “to look big and talk away" — the approach to the land of Mystic Rest must for ever remain barred against your advance.

Gyan Marga (or Jnana Yoga) and Bhakti Marga are complementary

Much of the difficulty seems to have arisen from the misunderstanding of the term Gyan — which, in Sanscrit works on occultism, has been called the sole instrument of Mukti (libration – ed.)— as signifying knowledge acquired on the intellectual plane and that only. From a similar misconception has also originated the deplorable ill-feeling that may be observed even to this day between the respective followers of Gyan-marga and Bhakti-marga. The Gyan, referred to as forming the means of Moksha, is not the mere intellectual understanding of scientific and philosophic truths, but signifies the intuitive perception of the real, as distinguished from the unreal world of phenomena. Now it is difficult to see how one can attain this perception without having a quantum sufficit of what is called Bhakti, without being permeated, as it were, with a rapt devotion towards the God within — without paying “the profound obeisance of the soul to the dim star that burns within". It is known to all how powerful are the attractions of sense objects, and any amount of simple will-power will not be enough of itself to counteract the inherent tendencies of a myriad-fold existence, unless the will itself is strengthened and vivified by some higher impulse from the soul. No one has urged the necessity of Gyan more forcibly than the sage Sankara, and yet his enumeration of the means of liberation are Shraddha, Bhakti, Dhyan, and Yoga (Faith, Devotion, Meditation, Spiritual Practice-see Vivekachudmani 46/48-ed.). On the other hand, Bhakti, unless properly directed, and controlled by right discrimination, cannot acquire the momentum necessary to push one beyond the attraction of the world of sense, and to carry one to the Supreme goal; as it will be evident on a little consideration that such a refined and spiritual force cannot flow with the same vigour when applied to material conceptions, as when directed to the pure Spirit alone. To us, therefore, Bhakti and Gyan in their true sense appear to be, if not two names for the identical subjective elevation that becomes the lot of spiritual persons, at any rate the two aspects of the same state, the one being the inseparable complement of the other.

Cultivation of the heart and the head complementary

It will thus be seen that spiritual development requires for its basis the cultivation of the heart rather than that of the head, although the latter cannot, as we have said, be dispensed with altogether. In the dreary journey of every man's life there come moments when, withdrawing from the lurid glare of the outside world, he sinks into the inmost depths of his soul, and here resting upon the bosom of Infinity, hears a voice speaking to him in soft and silent whispers: — “Child of the earth! the life thou livest is all a dream. Wake up to find thyself transformed into an angel ! " And blessed is he that not only hears with a sense of passing delight, but has also the heart and strength to obey. But how is he to obey? During moments of exaltation we do indeed feel how delusive is the world in which we live, and how shadowy are our highest aspirations, our deepest sorrows and joys; but how are we to awake from our dream? The flow of the spirit descends upon us even as the “dew of heaven", unsolicited and unnoticed; how then, finite as we are, can we command it, and transforming its fitful gushes into a steady, constant current, cause it to break down the barriers of illusion and bear us to the reality beyond? Is there no end to this dream, no means of obtaining more frequent draughts of this Soma-juice? Surely there must be, since so many have safely crossed this ocean of delusion. Shall we try to suggest a mean ? Thought, meditation, Vichara — herein lies the secret of success. Does not the thrice-great Hermes say that “without philosophy there is no lofty religion", and does not the Holy Sankara entreat you thus:-

‘Kasyatwam vá kuba áyata Tattwam chintaya adidam bhrata."

“O, brother! meditate upon the truth as to whose you are and whence you come." (Bhaja Govindam, 8)
Here is the path for you to follow. Develop thought — ponder day and night over the unreality of all your surroundings and of yourself, and try with unceasing effort to realize that underneath this array of phantoms there is all essence, unknown and unheeded in the tumult of everyday life, but nevertheless, the only Reality from whence has sprung all that has the appearance of beauty, of love and of joy.

Meditation and controlling the thoughts

Begin, then, by checking all thoughts that relate to the illusory life. Depend no more on the mercy of such noble and elevating thoughts as may chance at intervals to sweep over your heart. No appreciable change will be observed if you leave yourself to the help of such fortuitous advents of spiritual impulse. Look around and see how untiringly men have to work to obtain such trifles as have aroused their fancy. Think you then, that such a glorious result as freedom from the clutches of Death and Misery — supposed to be the inevitable companions of human life — can be attained without hard labour ? Ah no! All your energies, active and dormant, will have to put forth their utmost strength before you can reach the end of your journey.  
Strive then, by concentrating the whole force of your soul, to shut the door of your mind to all stray thoughts, allowing none to enter but those calculated to reveal to you the unreality of sense-life and the Peace of the Inner World. You have to address your own soul in the words of the Prince of Denmark (Hamlet, Shakespeare – ed.):—

" Yea, from the table of my memory
I'II wipe away all fond trivial records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter."

We have often felt that to a person turning towards the life of occultism, the springing up of evil thoughts is less injurious than that of idle and indifferent ones. Because as to evil thoughts he is always on his guard, and having determined to fight and conquer them, they help in developing his will-power. Indifferent thoughts, however, serve merely to distract his attention and waste his energy without imparting the slightest benefit. Avoid therefore carefully, all “fruitless thinking, thinking of possibilities, and contradictory thinking".

Part 2

Theosophy and the Trikaya 3 (Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya, Dharmakaya)

Blavatsky devotes a significant amount of space to an esoteric explanation of the mystical Buddhsit doctrine of the Trikaya, mainly in The Voice of the Silence,  the Mystery of the Buddha section from The Secret Doctrine Vol. 3, and The Theosophical Glossary. She presents it from a perrenialist perspective, explaining that the doctrine of the Trinity is an esoteric one, and can be found in many spiritual traditions (see Isis Unveiled 2, ch. 5) and the Trikaya is related to this doctrine. Moreover, following Ernest J. Eitel (Handbook of Chinese Buddhism p. 180), she posits a holistic concept of the Trikaya, showing how it is inter-related with other Buddhist ternary concepts. Blavatsky aims to give a distinctive explanation of the Nirmanakaya concept, trying to clarify the different explanations that exist in the various Buddhist schools. Below is a chart adapted from a chart by Eitel (p. 180) and some passages mainly from The Theosophical Glossary :

The three bodies are (1) the Nirmânakâya (Tul-pa’i-Ku in Tibetan), in which the Bodhisattva after entering by the six Pâramitâs [generosity, virtue, patience, vigor, meditation & wisdom] the Path to Nirvâna, appears to men in order to teach them; (2) Sambhogakâya (Dzog-pa’i-Ku), the body of bliss impervious to all physical sensations, received by one who has fulfilled the three conditions of moral perfection; and (3) Dharmakâya (in Tibetan, Cho-Ku), the Nirvânic body (Blavatsky, H. P. The Mystery of Buddha. The Secret Doctrine, Volume 3, London, Theosophical Publishing House, 1897, p. 379; (Collected Writings, Vol. 14, pp. 388-399) 392).

Triratna	Dharma	Sangha	Buddha
Three statues	Amitâbha	Avalokiteshvara	Maitreya Buddha
	Dhyani Buddha	Dhyani Bodhisattva	Manuchi Buddha
Trikaya	Dharmakaya	Sambhogakaya	Nirmanakaya
	Essential Bodhi	Reflected Bodhi	Practical Bodhi
	4th Buddhakchetra	3rd Buddhakchetra	2nd & 1st Buddhakchetra
Trailokya	Arupadhatu	Rupadhatu	Kamadhatu

Trikâya (Sk) Lit., three bodies, or forms. This is a most abstruse teaching which, however, once understood, explains the mystery of every triad or trinity, and is a true key to every three-fold metaphysical symbol. In its most simple and comprehensive form it is found in the human Entity in its triple division into spirit, soul, and body, and in the universe, regarded pantheistically, as a unity composed of a Deific, purely spiritual Principle, Supernal Beings—its direct rays — and Humanity. The origin of this is found in the teachings of the pre historic Wisdom Religion, or Esoteric Philosophy. The grand Pantheistic ideal, of the unknown and unknowable Essence being transformed first into subjective, and then into objective matter, is at the root of all these triads and triplets. Thus we find in philosophical Northern Buddhism (1) Âdi-Buddha (or Primordial Universal Wisdom) ; ( 2) the Dhyâni-Buddhas (or Bodhisattvas); (3) the Mânushi (Human) Buddhas. In European conceptions we find the same: God, Angels and Humanity symbolized theologically by the God-Man. The Brahmanical Trimûrti and also the three-fold body of Shiva, in Shaivism, have both been conceived on the same basis, if not altogether running on the lines of Esoteric teachings. Hence, no wonder if one finds this conception of the triple body—or the vestures of Nirmânakâya, Sambhogakâya and Dharmakâya, the grandest of the doctrines of Esoteric Philosophy— accepted in a more or less disfigured form by every religious sect, and explained quite incorrectly by the Orientalists. 

Thus, in its general application, the three-fold body symbolizes Buddha’s statue, his teachings and his stûpas ; in the priestly conceptions it applies to the Buddhist profession of faith called the Triratna, which is the formula of taking “refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha”. Popular fancy makes Buddha ubiquitous, placing him thereby on a par with an anthropomorphic god, and lowering him to the level of a tribal deity; and, as a result, it falls into flat contradictions, as in Tibet and China. Thus the exoteric doctrine seems to teach that while in his Nirmâ kâya body (which passed through 100,000 kotis of transformations on earth), he, Buddha, is at the same time a Lochana (a heavenly Dhyâni-Bodhisattva), in his Sambhogakâya “robe of absolute completeness”, and in Dhyâna, or a state which must cut him off from the world and all its connections; and finally and lastly he is, besides being a Nirmânakâya and a Sambhogakâya, also a Dharmakâya “of absolute purity”, a Vairotchana or Dhyâni-Buddha in full Nirvâna! (See Eitel’s Sanskrit-Chinese Dictionary.) This is the jumble of contradictions, impossible to reconcile, which is given out by missionaries and certain Orientalists as the philosophical dogmas of Northern Buddhism. If not an intentional confusion of a philosophy dreaded by the upholders of a religion based on inextricable contradictions and guarded
“mysteries”, then it is the product of ignorance. As the Trailokya, the Trikâya, and the Triratna are the three aspects of the same conceptions, and have to be, so to say, blended in one, the subject is further explained under each of these terms. (See also in this relation the term “ Trisharana”.)

Dharmakâya (Sk). Lit., “the glorified spiritual body” called the “Vesture of Bliss”. The third, or highest of the Trikâya (Three Bodies), the attribute developed by every “Buddha”, i.e., every initiate who has crossed or reached the end of what is called the “fourth Path” (in esotericism the sixth “portal” prior to his entry on the seventh). The highest of the Trikâya, it is the fourth of the Buddhakchêtra, or Buddhic planes of consciousness, represented figuratively in Buddhist asceticism as a robe or vesture of luminous Spirituality.
In popular Northern Buddhism these vestures or robes are:
(1) Nirmanakâya  (2) Sambhogakâya (3) and Dharmakâya the last being the highest and most sublimated of all, as it places the ascetic on the threshold of Nirvâna. (See, however, the Voice of the Silence, page 96, Glossary, for the true esoteric meaning.)

 Sambhogakâya (Sk.). One of the three “Vestures” of glory, or bodies, obtained by ascetics on the “Path”. Some sects hold it as the second, while others as the third of the Buddhahshêtras; or forms of Buddha. Lit., the “Body of Compensation” (See Voice of the Silence, Glossary iii). Of such Buddhakshêtras there are seven, those of Nirmanakâya, Sambhogakáya and Dharmakâya, belonging to the Trikâya, or three-fold quality.

Nirmânakâya (Sk.). Something entirely different in esoteric philosophy from the popular meaning attached to it, and from the fancies of the Orientalists. Some call the Nirmânakâya body “Nirvana with remains” (Schlagintweit, etc.) on the supposition, probably, that it is a kind of Nirvânic condition during which consciousness and form are retained. Others say that it is one of the Trikâya (three bodies), with the “power of assuming any form of appearance in order to propagate Buddhism” (Eitel’s idea); again, that “it is the incarnate avatâra of a deity” (ibid.), and so on. Occultism, on the other hand, says:that Nirmânakâya, although meaning literally a transformed “body”, is a state. The form is that of the adept or yogi who enters, or chooses, that post mortem condition in preference to the Dharmakâya or absolute Nirvânic state. He does this because the latter kâya separates him for ever from the world of form, conferring upon him a state of selfish bliss, in which no other living being can participate, the adept being thus precluded from the possibility of helping humanity, or even devas.

As a Nirmânakâya, however, the man leaves behind him only his physical body, and retains every other “principle” save the Kamic—for he has crushed this out for ever from his nature, during life, and it can never resurrect in his post mortem state. Thus, instead of going into selfish bliss, he chooses a life of self-sacrifice, an existence which ends only with the life-cycle, in order to be enabled to help mankind in an invisible yet most effective manner. (See The Voice of the Silence, third treatise, “The Seven Portals”.) Thus a Nirmânakâya is not, as popularly believed, the body “in which a Buddha or a Bodhisattva appears on earth”, but verily one, who whether a Chutuktu or a Khubilkhan, an adept or a yogi during life, has since become a member of that invisible Host which ever protects and watches over Humanity within Karmic limits. Mistaken often for a “Spirit”, a Deva, God himself, &c., a Nirmânakâya is ever a protecting, compassionate, verily a guardian angel, to him who becomes worthy of his help. Whatever objection may be brought forward against this doctrine; however much it is denied, because, forsooth, it has never been hitherto made public in Europe and therefore since it is unknown to Orientalists, it must needs be “a myth of modern invention”—no one will be bold enough to say that this idea of helping suffering mankind at the price of one’s own almost interminable self-sacrifice, is not one of the grandest and noblest that was ever evolved from human brain.

Part 4