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.Oh Parvati! all thisis greatly sinful and a very bad Yoga.(Mahapatakayuktam tat kuyogo'yam udahritah.)"Kalikale sadhakastu prapasho dhanalolupahMahakrityam vidhayaiva praninam badhabhaginahNa gurur napi Rudro va naiva tvam naiva sadhikaMahapranivinashaya samarthah pranavallabheEtat prakashanam devi dosaya parikalpyatehttp://www.sacred-texts.com/tantra/sas/sas04.htm (12 of 22)07/03/2005 16:02:23Chapter Four: Tantra Shastra and VedaSnehena tava deveshi chumbanalinganaistathaSantusyaiva maya devi sarvam etat prakashitamTvapa gopyam prayatnena svayoniriva ParvatiMahapataka-yuktam tat kuyogo'yam udahritah."None of these things are ever to be done by Thee, Oh Daughter of the Mountain (Sarvatha naivakartavyastvaya Parvatanandini).Whoever does so, incurs the sin of destroying Me.I destroy all such, asdoes fire, dry grass.Of a surety such incur the sin of slaying a Brahmana.All such incur the sin ofslaying a Brahmana."Sarvatha naiva kartavya stvaya ParvatanandiniBadhabhak mama deveshi krityamimam samacaretTasya sarvam haramyashu vahnih shuskatrinam yathaAvyartham brahmahatyanca brahmahatyam savindati.When therefore we condemn the sin of evil magic it is necessary to remember both such teaching as iscontained in this quotation, and the practice of those of good life who follow the Shastra.To do so is tobe both fair and accurate.There is nothing, in any event, in the point that the magical contents of theTantra Shastra make it contrary to Veda.Those who bring such a charge must also prefer it against theAtharvaveda.As a matter of fact Magic is common to all early religions.It has been practiced, though condemned, inChristian Europe.It is not necessary to go back to the old witchcraft trials.There are some who protestagainst its recrudescence to-day.It has been well observed that there are two significant facts aboutoccultism, namely its catholicity (it is to be found in all lands and ages) and its amazing power ofrecuperation after it has been supposed to have been disproved as mere "superstition".Even somequarter of a century ago (I am quoting from the same author) there were probably not a score of peoplein London (and those kept their preoccupation to themselves) who had any interest at all in the subjectexcept from a purely antiquarian standpoint.Magic was dismissed by practically all educated men assomething too evidently foolish and nonsensical to deserve attention or inquiry.In recent years theposition has been reversed in the West, and complaint is again made of the revival of witchcraft andoccultism to-day.The reason of this is that modern scientific investigation has established the objectivityof some leading phenomena of occultism.For instance a little more than a century or so ago, it was stillbelieved that a person could inflict physical injury on another by means other than physical.And this iswhat is to be found in that portion of the Tantra Shastras which deal with the Shatkarma.Witchesconfessed to having committed this crime and were punished therefor.At a later date the witchcraft trialshttp://www.sacred-texts.com/tantra/sas/sas04.htm (13 of 22)07/03/2005 16:02:23Chapter Four: Tantra Shastra and Vedawere held to be evidence of the superstition both of the accused and accusers.Yet psychology nowallows the principle that Thought is itself a Force, and that by Thought alone, properly directed, withoutany known physical means the thought of another, and hence his whole condition, can be affected.Byphysical means I mean direct physical means, for occultism may, and does avail itself of physical meansto stimulate and intensify the force and direction of thought.This is the meaning of the magic ritualswhich have been so much ridiculed.Why is black the color of Marana Karma? Because that color incitesand maintains and emphasizes the will to kill.So Hypnotism (Vashikaranam), as an instance of theexercise of the Power of Thought, makes use of gestures, rotatory instruments and so forth.The Magician having a firm faith in his (or her) power (for faith in occultism as in Religion is essential)surrounds himself with every incentive to concentrated, prolonged and (in malevolent magic),malevolent thought.A figure or other object such as part of the clothing, hair, nails and so forth of thevictim represents the person to be attacked by magic.This serves as the 'immediate object' on which themagical thought is expended.The Magician is helped by this and similar aids to a state of fixed andmalignant attention which is rendered intense by action taken on the substituted object.It is not ofcourse the injuries done to this object which are the direct cause of injury to the person attacked, but thethought of the magician of which these injuries are a materialization.There is thus present thecircumstances which a modern psychologist would demand for success in a telepathic experiment.Asthe witchcraft trials show, the victim is first affected in thought and then in body by the malignantthought thus focused upon him.Sometimes no apparent means are employed, as in a case reported to meby a friend of mine as occurring in a Bombay Hotel when a man well-known in India for his"Powers" (Siddhi) drove away, by the power of his thought only, a party of persons sitting at aneighboring table whose presence was greatly distasteful to one of his companions.This, if the effect of'magical power, was an instance of what the Tantras call Ucchatana.In all cases the general principle isthe same, namely the setting in motion and direction of powerful thought by appropriate means.This is the view of those who give what may be called a psychological explanation of these phenomena.These would hold that the magical symbolisms are without inherent force but work according to raceand individual characteristics on the mind which does the rest.Others believe that there is an inherentpower in Symbolism itself, that the "Symbol" is not merely such but an actual expression of, andinstrument by which, certain occult laws are brought into play.In other words the power of"Symbolism" derives not merely from the effect which it may have on particular minds likely to beaffected by it but from itself as a law external to human thought.Some again (and Indian magiciansamongst others) believe in the presence and aid of discarnate personalities (such as the unclean Pishacas)given in the carrying out of occult operations [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]