Table of Contents:
30. The Reunification of Philosophy, Religion, and Science
31. Philosophy: the Journey Toward the Self
32. Nirvana: the Pinnacle of Religion
33. The Way of the Bodhisattva
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30. The Reunification of Philosophy, Religion, and Science
In the previous article of this series on Manly P. Hall, I overviewed the legendary philosopher's teachings on how philosophy, religion, and science fit together as an interconnected trinity, with the institutions of religion and science opposing each other as thesis-anthesis and philosophy fitting between them as a common synthesizing agent.
As I outlined in that previous article, according to the esoteric tradition, these three institutions were originally derived from one common source: a divine being, one the ancient Hindus called "Vaivasvata Manu”. In the language of Plato, this represents the “archetypal human” - the progenitor of the race and the source pattern from which all humans are derived.
The Manu is created and held within the Mind of God as the archetypal human. He was fashioned in the beginning as the perfect and complete subjective idea for humanity; over the course of a creative cycle, this subjective thought is gradually made objective through the growth and development of the human race.
At the culmination of its evolution, mankind will fashion itself into a mirror image of this subjective thought pattern. This is true not only of the collective, but also of the individual: each human soul is gradually evolving toward the image and likeness of the Manu, who is the common archetype of each.
In this way, the Manu becomes humanity: he incarnates through us, seeding his consciousness into the collective race. Gradually, over the course of our evolution, the Manu awakens into objective existence through us. This is meaning of the biblical phrase: “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.
Going deeper into this process, esoteric philosophy teaches that the Manu incarnates through three extensions of himself: first, he partitions himself into a septenary, just as white light partitions into a spectrum of seven colors. These become the seven Manus, each of which is a specialized projection of the one primordial Manu.
During each of the world’s seven ages, one of these Manus will incarnate, becoming the Father or archetype of a “root race”. The Manu of our current root race, at the time of his incarnation, extended from himself seven Rishi or “Bodhisattvas”, who become the teachers and guides of developing humanity within this root race.
The lineage of these Bodhisattvas dates back to a previous cycle of world history. As Bodhisattvas, they have reincarnated to awaken and enlighten the next cohort of evolving souls here on Earth (which is us).
The first line of duty for the Rishi or Bodhisattvas is to establish a “Mystery School” institution on Earth among the new root race they are working to develop. The initial step for achieving this is to raise up and initiate a small cohort of the most advanced humans within the incoming life wave; these become the first Adepts and Hierophants of the new Mystery School.
This happens with each root race at the beginning of each world age. The Atlanteans, who were the previous root race here on Earth, had their own iteration of the Mystery Schools and their own lineage of adepts and hierophants. When it was time for the new Aryan root race to be born, a new Manu, through his Rishi, incarnated and established a new, updated Mystery School institution.
In their original form, the Aryan Mystery Schools were called the “Institutes of Manu”. Within them, a newly created class of Aryan Adepts disseminated a new set of wisdom teachings - termed the “Doctrine” - to a select body of initiates and disciples. This Doctrine is comprised of the revealed teachings of the Law given to man by the Manu by means of his seven Rishi. It describes the laws of human evolution for the age to come, which the humans of that root race must learn and obey in order to reach the next stage of their evolutionary development.
In their original form, the doctrine of teachings preserved within the Aryan Mystery Schools preserved a unified concept of philosophy, religion, and science.
Gradually over time, however, as mankind fell into an increasingly materialistic and egotistic psychological condition, the Mysteries faded from view and disappeared into the background. As a consequence of this, the primary trinity of institutions it once held within itself broke apart and separated from one another.
As a consequence of this partitioning, religion fell into dogmatism, science into materialism, and philosophy into triviality and insignificance. Disconnected from each other, each lapses into a fallen state; therefore, it is only by recombining them together that their collective revitalization can take place.
The origin of this situation - mankind’s fall into a fragmented and materialistic condition - is one that has deep foundations: the initial seed for it was planted long ago, back during the times of Atlantis and the circumstances that lead to its ultimate collapse.
The themes behind Atlantis’s fall, as depicted by Plato and in religious myths recorded worldwide, have to do with a descent into materiality and selfishness. The Atlantean root race was destroyed before these tendencies could be corrected within human nature, and therefore this accumulated body of “negative karma” lives on to plague us to this day.
This lingering karma remains with us as a challenge and opportunity we must continually face and overcome until we defeat it. In other words, before we can move onto the future, we must transcend old attachments and bad habits that we have carried forward from the past.
In more recent ages - more specifically, during the last 5,000 years - these themes from lost Atlantis have returned to confront us once again, their influence being felt in an increasingly intense and dramatic way.
According to the at the astrological prophecies of the ancient Hindu Brahmins, for the past 5,000+ years the world has entered into a sub-cycle known as the “Kali Yuga”. During this period, the human soul’s unresolved tendencies toward materiality and egotism - first developed during Atlantean times - have been fated to be brought out and tested in a direct and concentrated manner.
Manly P. Hall and others have given the date of 3100 BC for the starting point of this sub-cycle. Ever since this time, the human soul has become increasingly captivated by matter, egotism, physical sensation, the persona, and the rational intellect - these being the key areas of the human psyche that the goddess Kali is working to draw out and test.
The underlying trend during this sub-cycle is one where the human psyche has shifted into a phase where it prioritizes the individual over the collective and the material over the spiritual. As a consequence of these motions, the overall social order has become destabilized and weakened, with the current world situation arising as the culmination of this process.
Factoring in the long arch of human evolution, one realizes that this whole phase of human experience has not been an arbitrary one: from the standpoint of our own long-term growth, it has been entirely necessary; a phase we were fated to go through, one intended to develop and strengthen certain “soul powers” within us that had previously been kept latent.
Think of it this way: the old caste system of antiquity was beneficial in terms of social harmony and psychological cohesion, but it was detrimental to the development of the human soul’s capacity for individuality and self-autonomy.
Since evolution seeks to develop all latent powers and potentials within the human soul, if the old social order and its caste system worked to retard individuality and personal expression, then it was evolutionarily necessary for the scales to be tipped in the other direction, so that one’s latent capacities for individuality can be developed and expressed.
The development of these inner soul powers must take place by a combination of experience and education, and the 5,000+ years that has elapsed since the onset of the Kali Yuga has given us just that: an experiential environment tailor-made to bring out, stimulate, and test these latent capacities.
Today, five millennia after the Kali Yuga first began, we are perhaps nearing its end point. Views on this subject differ, but one prominent Hindu tradition places its duration as being just over 5,000 years. If true, this implies its culmination will be taking place at some point near present day.
With global society currently at a nadir point in terms of its obsession with materiality, egotism, and self-aggrandizement, and with the social order collapsing all around us, perhaps this old prophecy about the Kali Yuga is true.
Could we at present be collectively going through a great confrontation with our own accumulated negative karma from the past, with the goddess Kali serving as a stimulating agent to bring it back up and test us with it? If so, it makes since that this would be taking place in a particularly acute way today, as we approach the final phase her sub-cycle.
Looking toward the future, as we consider what’s next after the Kali Yuga comes to an end, one key factor that clearly must be addressed is the partitioning and separation philosophy, religion, and science.
We stand at the brink of a formal move into world government. For this shift to be successfully completed, formerly separated nations must come together under one system of law, culture, government, and economics. If this is to happen, this motion must be supported by a corresponding integration of religion, science, and philosophy, with these three institutions uniting once again as an interconnected triad or trinity.
To accomplish this, the first step must be to resurrect and restore Philosophy to its proper dignity: it is the synthesizing agent necessary for bringing about the union of religion and science. Therefore, philosophy must be reinstated as an initial step.
By means of philosophy, both religion and science are freed to shed their attachments to dogma and orthodoxy and to open themselves up to the constructive influence of their counterpart, with science grounding religion in the laws and processes of Nature, and religion giving meaning and purpose to science, providing it with a soul.
It is therefore not hyperbole to say that mankind’s future destiny awaits the integration of philosophy, religion, and science. The coming end of the Kali Yuga is directing us toward this synthesis, and the next great leap forward in human progress will not take place until it is accomplished.
First must come the restoration of philosophy; then, by means of philosophy, religion and science will be reformed and harmonized together.
With these three institutions working in cooperation with each other, we gather the wisdom, intelligence, and strength necessary to bring about a collective transformation of global society and a successful transition into a new age of world government.
Back in the late 1920s, Manly P. Hall was emphasizing these forward-thinking ideas, noting in his book “Lectures on Ancient Philosophy” that “humanity has grown to be so strong that it is now dangerous to allow its parts to remain disunited.” For this reason, he concludes that “for this age we must have a doctrine of synthesis, a code actuated and dominated by the spirit of unification.”
Continuing, he writes that “the philosophy of this age must reveal interdependence, … (blending) the diverse interests of men into a common purpose.”
Therefore, “we have need of a common denominator, a fundamental premise upon which all will be agreed; for if we are to establish (world government) it must be erected upon the foundation of mutual understanding.”
Hall declares that “world civilization requires a new gospel of identity,” something that can only come through the reintegration of philosophy, religion, and science. Only when this triad of institutions is reunited can we develop a worldview suitable to support the birth of a World Nation.
Hall writes that this new “gospel of identity" must be based on the simple "recognition of the fact that all forms are but manifestations of one indivisible agent. According to this concept there are no longer (separate individuals) …, but rather one (Spirit) that cannot be divided.”
With this realization, we come to appreciate that, “the sense of diversity is an illusion of form and not a reality of Spirit.” As we move to identify with Spirit over body, “No longer do we see a world of separate evolving lives, but rather one ideating whole: a single expression (of consciousness) moving from itself outward to the inclusion of all.”
This is the type of interconnected, boundary-breaking worldview that is necessary if the true democracy of Plato is ever to be established in this world.
Without the gospel of mutual identity that philosophy provides, true democracy is not possible. Elaborating, Hall tells us that “never will we have true equality until we realize that equality is based upon identity.” This identity must be based on the fact that behind all of the many different individual selves that populate this world, there is only one Universal Self.
By means of the Universal Self, each of us, friend and foe alike, is connected: it therefore represents a single common source of shared identity, one that each of us possess within ourselves and share equally with our brothers and sisters around us. Simply put, there are many selves, but only one Self. It is upon the appreciation of this fact that true democracy is established.
Elaborating, Hall declares that “democracy is not the condescending, patronizing attitude of the politician, nor is it the system whereby a hundred million folk of uncertain mind are empowered to elect one from their number as their leader. Democracy is the realization of the unity of life and this realization shatters forever the competitive standard of civilization which is based upon the erroneous assumption that one part of life can survive without or at the expense of another.”
The World Nation we are moving into must be a Philosophic Democracy: one based on a simple belief in the Unity of God and the Brotherhood of Man.
When Plato originally set forth the ideals of democracy, he envisioned it as part a larger entity - the Philosophic Empire. Here, the leaders of the nation would be elected based on their mastery of the arts and sciences of philosophy. This kind of system requires an educated populace, so in order for it to work a collective university system must be implemented, one dedicated to bringing philosophic education to the masses.
As Plato originally envisioned, the World Nation of tomorrow must emphasize the union of education and democracy: a global citizenry must be educated, and its leaders must be drawn from the wisest and most accomplished of its philosophers, these comprising what Plato termed the Philosophic Elect.
In sum, the World Nation of the future “must have its true foundation in the unity of learning,” as Manly Hall tells us. This requires the creation of a global educational institution, one specializing in philosophic instruction.
Such an entity would look and function similarly to the College of the Six Days Work, envisioned by Francis Bacon two thousand years after Plato.
The blueprint has already been set down: it’s up to us now to follow and implement it.
31. Philosophy: the Journey Toward the Self
Over the course of the Axial Age (~600BC - 400AD), the entire paradigm of pagan civilization fell into ruin. This happened everywhere, India included: over time, the Brahmanic Mystery tradition native to the region fell into decline, with the philosophical sect of Buddhism rising over time to take its place.
According to Nagarjuna, the founder of the Mahayana School, Gautama Buddha had originally been an initiate of the old Brahmanic Mysteries. Unbeknownst to most, he had established within Buddhism at the time of its founding a secret, esoteric doctrine, one taught to and preserved exclusively within the highest strata of his congregation.
Coming into activity during the 2nd century AD, right as the old Brahmanic Mysteries were dying out, Nagarjuna finally revealed the existence of this secret, esoteric doctrine of Buddhism. He took on the duty of formally incorporating it into the outer body of Buddhist teachings. What resulted was the rise of the Mahayana School of Buddhism, which came into prominence in North Asia, notably Tibet, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan.
Describing how Buddhism transformed as a result of Nagarjuna’s influence, Hall writes that “the severity and austerity of the older Buddhist school was rapidly and skillfully modified.” In place of it, “a new symbolism arose which inevitably transformed Buddhism from a philosophy to a philosophic religion.”
As part of this transformation, Hall explains that through Nagarjuna “there was a powerful motion toward the formation of a positive theology.” By this he means that a formal system of spiritual cosmology was incorporated into the Buddhist doctrine, one featuring an elaborate spiritual hierarchy of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats.
These new features were accompanied by a highly mystical approach to meditation, one emphasizing prayer, mantras, mudras, and mandalas. Here, one’s prayers were targeted at reaching out and contacting different elements and beings within this spiritual hierarchy.
As part of this process, the traditional Buddhist approach to meditation was expanded to incorporate an elaborate system of prayer and ritualism. It was believed that, by targeting one’s prayers toward certain Bodhisattvas or Buddhas, once could call upon them to assist oneself during particularly challenging periods in one’s life journey. Also by means of this process, one could ensure oneself a more favorable afterlife experience and rebirth situation.
These new aspects that Nagarjuna brought into Buddhism were highly mystical and devotional. This was an element that was lacking in the original body of Buddhist teachings, which were more agnostic and ascetic.
In the esoteric doctrine that Nagarjuna revealed, it was taught that man could not only experience the negation of physical experience, as the original Buddhist teachings emphasized, but beyond that could, “by releasing his own divine potential and permitting this to flow outward through his parts and members, (become) a living witness to, or revelation of, the sovereign sprit of life.” Through this process, “it is possible to elevate the mundane state so that man, while alive, may ascend above the human state and become a demi-god.”
In essence, Nagarjuna, had shifted the orientation of Buddhism toward an emphasis on the same types of mystical concepts and practices the Mystery Schools had once emphasized. Namely: “the release of divine powers and the elevation of human consciousness into a state of identity with Truth.”
Through Nagarjuna, the “heavenly theurgy, the most secret and sacred mystery of the blessed gods,” was brought into Buddhism.
This “heavenly theurgy” was once a part of the inner doctrines of the Mystery Schools, where, “by means of four initiations, (the hierophants taught their disciples) how to function consciously in the four worlds of Nature. In the fourth (and highest) initiation, they taught (the initiate) how to use the little area of consciousness, which he calls his mind, as a vehicle by which he can function consciously within the mental body of the Grand Man. In other words, he is taught how to wander around in the mind of God. This may seem a very peculiar idea, and yet, the system of accomplishing this has been taught by the Egyptians, Chinese, Hindus, Chaldeans, and the Early Christians for thousands of years.”
Describing what this experience is like, Hall asks us to “image yourself a tiny germ of mental plasma, wandering around amid the vaulted arches and spans of universal thought, thinking with the mind of the Eternal Thinker, unhampered by physical brain fallacies.”
Going deeper into the mystical initiations practiced in the Mystery Schools, Hall writes that within their higher degrees initiates were trained to “cultivate supernatural powers through meditation and severe philosophical disciplines.”
“Always those sages initiated in the secret sciences were accredited with possessing supernatural powers. Through purification, dedication, and the renunciation of all personal ambitions and emotions, the divine gifts of foreknowledge and the conscious ability to explore the invisible structure of the universe could be legitimately cultivated.”
“All human beings have within themselves the potential of clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience. These superior faculties are as natural as the five senses with which we are familiar, but due to environmental circumstances, they are seldom developed.”
Hall describes psychic clairvoyance as the ability to perceive a “fourth dimension” behind and within the normal three-dimensions our physical sense perceptions cognize.
In psychological terms, this fourth dimension reveals a “depth dimension” to reality, one that surrounds and interpenetrates the three-dimensions of space that we know and accept.
In the esoteric disciplines of the Mysteries, initiates were taught to awaken and mature this fourth dimension of perception. By means of it, the mystic in meditation is able to travel “towards the source of (themselves)” - a journey which “must go along a fourth dimensional line, the dot retiring into the center of itself.”
Over the long span of human evolution, it is the fate of all humans to eventually have these innate psychic “superpowers” awakened. And it is the ultimate mission of philosophy to catalyze this process and guide it toward its evolutionary fulfillment.
The methods and disciplines of esoteric philosophy - which originate from the old Mystery teachings - are designed to catalyze and enhance this spiritual awakening process within man. The degree to which one is successful in this quest “is determined entirely by merit”. In this way, philosophy "forces the problem of salvation upon the individual himself.”
Through positive achievement, the individual must learn to “save” himself. This he does “by obedience to the laws of the Brotherhood, by the practice of the virtues, and by internal meditation upon the mystery of liberation.”
Overall, Manly Hall describes philosophy as a “journey”, one that traverses “through all the layers and levels of our personality equation toward that mysterious center of ourselves. … Through the gradual discipline of our living (and the) dedication of ourselves, … we slowly, reverently, and magnificently approach the secret shrine within. This secret shrine is the living altar of our ever living spirit.”
In this passage, Hall is giving us the key to philosophy: it is ultimately about the search for the Self. When one finally comes into communion with this Higher Self, one encounters the “supreme achievement” of religion.
This mystical approach to religion cannot be achieved without philosophy, for philosophy provides the structure and discipline required for this experience to attained by the psyche. For this reason, in the future, the churches of religion must simultaneously function as schools of philosophy. They must inform man of his true divinity and teach him how to elevate into higher state of consciousness.
The leaders and governors of the forthcoming World Nation must be graduates of this School: trained in the disciplines of philosophy, experienced in the depths of religion, and experts in the methods of science. This new leadership class will form the body of what Plato called the Philosophic Elect, and together they will work to bring about a new golden age for man.