Theos-Talk Archives (January 2011 Message tt00203)

There was an interest from a member about the Occult History of Java written
by CWL. I found that Geoffrey Hodson had written about his experience of
visiting Java, which is interesting. I am quoting from his Occult Diary
which is currently out of print.

MKR

------

Early 1930s

A RETURN VISIT TO BOROBUDUR

During a lecture tour of Java in 1933. a visit was made to the great
Buddhist shrine known as the Borobudur. The presence was realized of the
great presiding Deva - a very lofty being - and two poems were written as a
result. These were published in The Theosophist during 1934.

Return visits have recently been made to the shrine during which we were
again received and an attempt made to obtain a description of the Deva, as
also to receive of His wisdom.

As He presents Himself to the writer. graciously descending to his level,
this great Deva is distinctly masculine and markedly Indo-Aryan in
appearance. He is probably a Deva of Wisdom, for the golden light of Buddhi
shines all about Him, glowing through the successive spheres of soft rose,
soft green, and dazzling white, of which His aura chiefly consists. An
emanation of white fire shot through with gold surrounds the inner form,
then a great sphere of yellow is followed by the other colourings, the whole
displaying in quality of colouring and in luminosity the glory of a sunset
sky. White rays, like searchlight beams, play out from the central fonn, in
the heart of which they seem to arise. Some of these shine upwards, others
laterally over Java and the sea beyond, the others deep down into the earth,
widening as they leave the central form.

All life, for many miles, especially devic life, is quickened by this light
and power of the Deva of Borobudur. He is, I think, the Head of the devic
life of the island, as also of the surrounding seas, a veritable Deva King.
Ever and anon a silver star flashes forth above His head, whilst great
forces, white and gold, flame-like and petal-shaped, play about His feet as
if He stood within a great lotus formed of fire.

Within the central aura is a thought-fonn of the Lord Buddha, seated in
meditative pose. It is a vehicle, at the lower mental level, for the life of
the Lord, upon Whom the Deva appears to meditate perpetually. Contact with
the consciousness of this Great One gives rise to the following thoughts, as
if He preached for all aspirants a brief sermon on enlightenment and the
Path:

"Although for men the attainment of enlightenment seems far away, in realms
beyond time's imprisonment, enlightenment for all is here and now, within
them as a living fact, a power of accomplishment. "Thus, within your
archetypal self, as in these stupas which you see, there sits a Buddha,
fully formed though partially concealed. The secret of your own
enlightenment is the presence within you of this Buddha-tobe.

As you must gaze within the stupa's form, piercing with your eyes its
covering, so with the eyes of thought and will gaze inward and perceive that
embodied wisdom which is yourself, the Buddha which you are in timelessness
and will make manifest in realms of time. Keep your soul's gaze fixed upon
this archetypal Buddha. Dwell daily, hourly in its presence, until thought
and will combine to bring to birth within your outer self the Buddha of
which your inner Self consists. Then let imagination soar into your
Buddhahood.

Picture yourself as living now the Buddha life, moving amongst men as did
the Lord. Do this with will and thought unchanging, until in very fact these
two bring forth in you the living Buddha.

''Thus shall time cease to imprison you. Thus shall future be blended, with
present, yourself at the centre, conscious of both as the eternal now. Past
I counsel you to forget, annihilate entirely, wipe from the tablets of your
mind, as scaffolding which having served the builder's need is taken down
and disappears. Past is dead for you. Present and future will similarly
disappear as you learn to live intensely in that fullness which is the
eternal now.

"Dark is the world; darker it may yet become. Grave dangers threaten human
life, human progress, human peace. The opposing forces gather for a conflict
which well may be the greatest and the last of the planetary battles waged
on earth. Should light conquer, should brotherhood and peace prevail, as
almost certainly they will, then the opponents of the Law, organized as
enemies of man, will meet with that defeat which will put an end to mass
hatred, mass brutality, and mass enmity to Light. Thereafter the great Law
shall prevail.

"Could you but see as We see Who, standing above the conflict, represent the
Law, how every unifying thought and deed of every man, however humble if
sincere, plays its important part - nay, I would say tremendous part - in
bringing victory to the side of Light and Law, your work would be more
inspired, your wills more ardent, your faith more fiery, and your lives more
full of power. Go forth therefore with added force, with greater zeal,
constant in self-discipline, losing self in service, planning, thinking,
working in the cause of Light and Law and in the name of Those Who are the
Light and have become the Law. On all your work the blessing, the peace, the
beauty, and the power of Borobudur .. "

On another occasion He said:

"You will help in clearing away the mists of ignorance and superstition with
which Java is enwrapped, by awakening the minds of the better classes to a
realization of the harm which the practice of blood sacrifice is doing to
the national soul and through that to the health and well-being of the
people; also in instructing them concerning the facts. The educational
authorities and the members of the Theosophical Lodges are the most
promising agents for such work. United, well-organized and well informed
groups of esotericists could help greatly by means of regular and constant
activity along the lines suggested. and in the daily radiation of Power and
Light over the island"


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