Theos-Talk Archives (November 2001 Message tt00305)

Responding to Daniel's request I am now hand typing thr conclusion 
of Hatman's "The Speaking Image of Urur". I is not surprising that 
the Theosophists did not want to print this in "Lucifer", I think 
Steve will know who "Heliodorus" I shall only ad "K."
Conclusion.
The story of the Talking Image is finished. It is the old and 
nevertheless always new story of immortal truth coming from the land 
of light and seeking to manifest its presence by means of such 
instruments as are capable of being illumined by it; but as these 
instruments are human and therefore belonging to the kingdom of 
matter and darkness, the rays of the divine light become distorted in 
them. For ever eternal love seeks to penetrate the petrified crust 
surrounding the human heart and to send its power within 
the "philosophical egg," wherein is hidden the true spiritual gold, 
of which the world knows so little; while the outer shell, like a 
living mirror, reflects the images of terrestrial things, which 
humanity mistakes for realities - thereby creating for themselves a 
world of illusions, from which spring the evils that are afflicting 
mankind. 
Thus far we have nothing to add to our story; but as numerous 
requests have reached the writer, asking for information of what 
ultimately became of Conchita and Pancho, we have made diligent 
inquiry, and are now prepared to render the following account: 
Pancho, in consequence of his experiences, had become fully convinced 
that pure and unadulterated truth cannot be found in anything in this 
mundane sphere; but that there is likewise nothing which does not 
contain a certain spark of truth, of God, or eternal life; and that 
within the human organism this spark may be blown into a flame, whose 
heat causes the heart to glow with divine love and whose light 
illuminates the mind with divine wisdom. He was perfectly sure that 
this could not be accomplished by any external means or ceremonies; 
neither by holding one's breath, nor by believing in certain 
doctrines, nor by learning by heart all the books in the world, 
together with all the sayings of the sages; but that it must be 
accomplished by internal means. So great, however, is the strength of 
ingrown ideas, that Pancho still imagined that it depended on him to 
develop himself. 
We are quite sure that everyone of our intelligent readers will smile 
at the absurdity of Pancho's idea of developing one's own self, 
instead of being contented to be guided and made to grow by the 
spirit. A man may aid nature in developing his muscles or his 
intellect, by employing the superior power with which he is endowed 
by the spirit, and because these things are below him; they are not 
himself, but are merely parts of his organism; but surely no one can 
develop his spirit -himself- any more than he could pull himself out 
of a swamp by taking hold of the hair on the top of his head. The 
inferior cannot control the superior; man cannot educate God. All 
that man can do in the way of aiding the spirit to develop man, is to 
be obedient to divine Law. 
Having left the judge and his family, Pancho went to Vienna, where he 
had no difficulty in finding the house of the stranger. It was 
situated in one of the suburbs of the city, in a secluded spot, 
surrounded by a little park, filled with ornamental trees and 
shrubbery. It was an unostentatious building, but quite remarkable on 
account of the oddity of its architecture. It was built of some stone-
like material, and three stories high, with projecting windows and 
turrets, balconies and verandas, each side differing from the other 
in style; so that, seen from different points of view, it did not 
appear to be the same house; for while its northern side, fronting 
the public street, had a forbidding appearance, looking like the 
stronghold of some Christian knight of the Middle Ages, its southern 
side was very pleasing, resembling a lofty Buddhist temple, 
ornamented with flowers and creeping vines. Seen from the west it had 
a decidedly Egyptian character. There was a large cave-like entrance, 
with massive columns, guarded by a Sphinx of enormous size; but the 
eastern aspect represented an excellent imitation of an ancient 
Grecian temple, with a marble basin and a spring-fountain, surrounded 
by statues. 
When Pancho arrived, the place seemed deserted. He rang the bell at 
the door and rapped; but nobody opened. After waiting for a long time 
and repeatedly knocking in vain, he made up his mind to try the door, 
to see whether it was locked. He pushed, and to his surprise he found 
that the door was only ajar, and that there was nothing to prevent 
him to enter. He therefore entered and ascended the broad marble 
stairs, which led him into an interior hall, where he found several 
doors leading into different apartments. One of these he entered, and 
found himself in a magnificent room, surrounded by a great many 
mirrors of different sizes and forms, that were placed along the 
walls. There were no windows; but the room was brilliantly illumined 
by a kind of electric or magnetic light, coming from an altar in the 
centre of the apartment. This light was reflected in all the mirrors; 
but more especially from one great concave mirror in the middle of 
the front wall, which caught the rays of the light and threw them 
into the little mirrors, where they sparkled like so many diamonds. 
Full of surprise Pancho approached that mirror and saw therein his 
own image reflected, although magnified into superhuman dimensions. 
While his attention was directed intensely toward that mirror, and 
while he was wondering about this strange phenomenon, his 
consciousness became suddenly centred in that image, and then it 
seemed to him as if he himself were that image, looking out of the 
mirror, and he beheld his figure reflected from all the little 
mirrors along the walls. He curiously watched this multiplication of 
his own self, and he saw that his image was assuming various forms, 
according to the nature of the mirrors; for some of these mirrors 
were plain, others concave or convex; some many sided, others partly 
straight or bent, so as to make his face appear in many ridiculous 
shapes. There were Panchos with broad faces, and mouths grinning from 
ear to ear, and others whose heads were spindle like and narrow with 
little eyes and noses of fearful length. 
While watching this curious play, he noticed to his surprise that 
each of the images in the mirrors began to act as if it had a life 
and a consciousness of its own and imagined itself to be Pancho 
himself, and while they were thus acting and doing many things which 
he himself would not have done, some of the mirrors became blurred 
and opaque so that he could no longer recognize his own image in 
them; and what was still more curious, was the fact that Pancho felt 
as if his own life was in these little mirrors, and whenever his 
image in one or another of them became less clear of extinguished, it 
was as if a part of his own life had been extinguished with it; a 
circumstance which caused Pancho to grieve; but whenever his image in 
any of these mirrors became more bright and more natural, he then 
felt an inexpressible joy, as if his own life had been strenghtened 
and rendered happier thereby. Then Pancho knew that what he had seen 
was a representation of the creation of Man, for God had likewise 
created man in His own likeness, to be His own image and like Him in 
all respects; but the self-will and the perverted imagination of man 
continually causes the divine image to become weakened, blurred, 
distorted, and even effaced in him. 
While Pancho was meditating about this subject, he suddenly heard the 
well-known voice of the master of the house addressing him and 
bidding him welcome. The appearance of the stranger, however, had 
greatly changed; for he now saw him before him in a pure white robe, 
embroidered with red silk and ornamented with gold; while upon his 
breast hung a golden cross, beset with a star of rubies, in the 
centre of which shone a diamond. The stranger himself seemed taller 
in stature, his face was radiant with joy, and a light of a peculiar 
nature, evidently coming from his interior, illumined and emanated 
from his form. 
"Are you then," exclaimed Pancho, "one of the Mysterious Brotherhood, 
for which I have been seeking so long without being able to find it?" 
"The Mysterious Brotherhood," answered the stranger, whose name was 
Heliodorus, "has been with you always; but you could not find it, 
because you sought for it in externalities, instead of within your 
own inner world. Foolish indeed is he who seeks for the things of the 
spirit anywhere except within the realm of the spirit or for God 
outside of that which is divine." 
"I am surprised," said Pancho, "to hear you speak in that manner; for 
surely you, being a Mysterious Brother, do not believe in anything 
divine of supernatual?" 
To this Heliodorus replied: - 
"The clinging to the supernatural is the only salvation for man. God 
is the All and cannot be found outside of Nature; but Nature is not 
God. Wisdom is the living mirror, wherein God beholds His own self. 
To Nature belongs limitation and time and the love of self; but God 
is eternal. Divine justice and truth, love and wisdom belong to the 
spirit; neither could Nature produce anything, if it were not by the 
power of God." 
"If I understand you correctly," said Pancho, "God is a divine 
principle, existing within the centre of our own being and which we 
must seek to develop by our own power. How can man develop God within 
himself and cause Him to grow!" 
"This is a feat," replied Heliodorus," which no man has ever 
accomplished, nor will any one ever accomplish it; because it would 
require a God to produce a God, and man is not a God-maker. You may 
as well ask, How can a corpse cause itself to be alive? How can a 
tree cause itself to grow, or, how can we cause the sun to shine when 
it is night? All that the corpse can do is to remain quiet, all that 
we can do to aid the growth of a tree, is to surround it with 
favourable conditions; all that we can do when it is night, is to 
open our eyes and wait for the coming of the new day." Upon this 
Pancho asked: - 
"Is it then absolutely impossible that man can do anything to render 
himself wise?" 
"All that he can do for that purpose," answered Heliodorus, "is to 
avoid that which renders him foolish. None can give to himself the 
true understanding. All he can do, is to wait patiently until divine 
wisdom decends upon him by its own grace; for eternal truth is free 
and self-existent and not in the keeping of man." 
"What!" exclaimed Pancho. "Would you catar to idleness by relying 
upon inspirations, instead of using your own efforts?" 
"There will be no occasion for idleness," answered Heliodorus, "you 
will find that it requires all your strength to keep your earthly 
self subdued, so that you may become capable to receive the true 
inspiration. The rosebud cannot attract itself the light of the sun, 
but opens its leaves while under its influence. Man cannot drag 
wisdom down to the comprehension of his finite understanding; but in 
proportion as he is wise, he may rise up to the eternal fountain of 
truth." 
"This theory," said Pancho, "is far too simple and easy of 
comprehension to be accepted by science, which teaches that we can 
accomplish nothing except by the exercise of our own will." 
To this Heliodorus answered: - 
"Grass is for the cow and intellectual knowledge for the reasoning 
intellect; but the secrets of God are for the spirit of God. Not the 
ability of man; but the divine spirit searches the depths of 
Divinity. The attempt of the Intellect to become the equal of God was 
the cause of Lucifer's fall." 
During this discourse Pancho had closed his eyes, being dazzled by 
the light that issued from the stranger, and which increased in 
intensity as he spoke. When he opened them again he found himself in 
a plain but neatly-furnished room. The light and the mirrors were 
gone, and before him stood Heliodorus, dressed in plain clothes, and 
looking as Pancho had seen him at the time of the accident, without 
anything wonderful or extraordinary about him. 
"I am glad," said Heliodorus, "that you have come. I found you in a 
state of deep meditation, and did not want to disturb your dreams." 
"A fool indeed," answered Pancho, "would be he who would mistake such 
a vision for a dream. No! It was to me a perfect reality. I have seen 
the celestial light and been to your place of meeting." 
"Our place of meeting," replied Heliodorus, "is at the little coffee-
tavern round the corner. I go there occasionally to play a game of 
chess. But now," he added, "do not trouble yourself about mysterious 
brotherhoods; but having returned to external life, accept the 
external comforts which I can offer you." 
Heliodorus was an open and upright man; one in whose finite heart 
dwelt a great deal of infinite love. He was of strong spiritual, 
intellectual, and physical power; a natural mystic, and therefore 
treating with contempt all mysticism, sophistry and pious or 
scientific pretence. His place in society was neither too elevated, 
so as to force him to come out of his modest seclusion, nor too low, 
so as to render it necessary to give all his thoughts and attention 
to gaining his daily bread. He was considered wealthy; but his wealth 
was no burden to him; because he did not cling to it with his heart. 
His kindness and honesty enabled him to go to bed every evening with 
a clear conscience, which rested upon his heart like a plaster made 
of roses and myrrh, such as was described in Carambas's Book of 
Mysteries, and he often made the moon on the sky of his imagination 
stand still, and immersed his carnal reason in a bath of holy thought 
at the centre of his soul, in the light of the sun of wisdom, and 
whenever the thought of a "rhinoceros" tried to enter his mind, he 
had the power to promptly eject it. 
Due to his superior power of grasping high and exalted ideas, and to 
concentrate his thoughts upon one thing, together with his deep 
learning in natural science, he had made many useful discoveries and 
inventions, and, unexplainable as it may be from the standpoint of 
exact science, he often showed a foresight, that bordered on the 
miraculous. He often knew of things that happened at a great 
distance, and of which he could have received no information in the 
ordinary way; and if the belief in Clairvoyants, Alchemists, 
Rosicrucians and the like, had not been exploded in this enlightened 
age by the representatives of rational science, there would have been 
many people who would have believed him to be addicted to magic arts. 
As it was, popular ignorance and disbelief in regard to everything 
that belongs to the spiritual side of nature enabled him to live 
unmolested by the doctors, the clergy, and the police. 
The two friends went to an adjointing room, which was a chemical 
laboratory, and Pancho was surprised to find it to be the exact 
counterpart of the room which he had seen in his visions at Venice. 
There were the same bottles of curious shapes, instruments, books and 
paintings, and over the fireplace there hung that identical painting, 
dark from age, and representing the Archangel Michael in the battle 
with the dragon of selfishness; such as he had seen in his dream. 
Pancho expressed his surprise at this coincidence. 
"Coincidences often take place," said Heliodorus, "but they do not 
occur without a cause. It seems to me, that the coincidence in this 
case was caused by a momentary amalgamation of your outer and inner 
states of consciousness; which enabled your mind to remember some of 
your interior experiences while your external form was asleep." 
"Are we then conscious when we sleep?" asked Pancho. 
Continuation in next mail,

Brigitte