Magic
and Mystery in Tibet
Alexandra
David Neel 1931
Chapter Seven
Page
186
"...Aum
man padme hum...!" top line
In
this quote the I is missing out of mani said the scribe,
noting that I is the ninth letter of the English alphabet.
I
know said Zed Aliz but its only a small
i
Page
187 /
"Advanced
mystics reach, by the way of this practice, a trance in
which the letters of the formula, as well as the beings and
their acti-vity, all merge into That which for lack
of a better term, Mahayanist Buddhists have called
'Emptiness' Then having realized the 'void,'they become
emancipated from the illusion of the world and, as a
consequence, liberated from re-births which are but the
fruit of that creative delusion. Another of the many
interpretations of
Aum
mani padme hum!
ignores the division in six syllables and takes the formula
according to its meaning: 'a jewel in the lotus' These words
are considered as symbolic.
The
simplest interpretation is: In the lotus (which is the
world) exists the precious jewel of Buddha's
teaching.
Another explanation takes the lotus as the mind. In the
depth of it, by introspective meditation, one is able to
find the jewel of know-ledge, truth, reality, liberation,
nirvana, these various denominations of one same
thing.
Now we come to a meaning related to certain doctrines of the
Mahayanist Buddhists.
According
to them nirvana, the supreme salvation, is not separa-ted
from samsara, the phenomenal
world, but the mystic finds the first in the heart of the
second, just as the 'jewel' may be found in the 'lotus'
Nirvana, the 'jewel' exists when enlightenment exists.
Sam-sara the 'lotus' exists when delusion exists, which
veils nirvana, just as the many petals of the 'lotus'
conceal the 'jewel' nestling amongst
them.
Hum
at the end of the formula, is a mystic expression of
wrath used in coercing fierce deities and subduing demons.
How has it be-come affixed to the 'jewel in the lotus' and
the Indian Aum? -
This again is explained in various
ways.
Hum
is a kind of mystic war cry; uttering it is challenging an
enemy. Who is the enemy? Each one imagines him in his own
way: either as powerful fiends, or as the trinity of bad
propensities that bind us to the round of rebirth, namely
lust hatred and stupidity. More subtle thinkers see him as
the 'I. Hum is also said to be the mind devoid of
objective content, etc., etc.'
Another
syllable is added to conclude the repetition of
Aum mani padme
hum! one hundred and
eight times on the beads of a rosary. It is the
syllable hri! Some understand it as signifying an inner
reality hidden under the appearances, the basic essence of
things. Besides
Aum mani padme hum hri! Other
formulas are also re-peated as Aum vajra sattva!
That is to say, 'Aum most excellent (diamond)
being.' It is understood that the excellent One meant is the
Buddha. The followers of the red cap sects often repeat:
Aum vajra guru padma siddhi hum!
as praise for their founder Padmasambhava
Page
188
"These
words mean Aum, most excellent
powerful Guru Padma, miracle worker,
hum!
Amongst
longer formulas one of the most popular is that called
'Kyabdo.' 14 It is Tibetan without admixture of Sanskrit and
its signi-ficance is plain, yet far from crude. The text
runs as follows:
I
take refuge in all holy refuges. Ye fathers and mothers
(ances-tors who are wandering in the round of rebirths in
the shapes of the six kinds of sentient beings. In order to
attain Buddhahood, the state devoid of fear and sorrow, let
your thoughts be directed to-wards enlightenment.'
"Often
this formula is given to beginners for their first period of
tsams Its words are well known and anyone can
repeat them
They
are held as meritous and efficacious under any
circumstance."
Note
14 'Going to the refuge.'
Page 189
1
x 8 x 9 = 72
7
+ 2 = 9
"Besides
physical results, some of which have been described in a
preceding chapter, Tibetans affirm that through mastery over
breath one may conquer all passion and anger as well as
carnal desires, aquire serenity, prepare the mind for
spiritual energy.
'Breath
is the courser and mind is the rider,' say the Tibetan
mystics. So it is essential that the courser must be well
trained. But breath, in its turn influences bodily and
mental activity. Conse-quenly, two methods have been
devised: the most easy one which quiets the mind by
controlling the breath and the more difficult way which
consists in regulating the breath by controlling the
mind. To the breathing drill
repeated several times each day the recluse often adds the
contemplative meditation practised with kyilkhors.
16 The latter are, also, most important and conspicuous in
the magic rites called dubthabs ( method of
success)
Kyilkhors
are diagrams drawn on paper or material, or engraved on
stone, metal or wood. Others are constructed with small
flags, altar lamps, incense sticks and vases containing
various things such as grain, water, etc. The personalities
who are supposed to dwell in the kyilkhor and their
requisites are represented by pyramidal cakes named
torma Kyilkhors
are also drawn with coloured powders on the temple
floor or on boards. I have seen some which measured about
seven
feet in diameter.
The
word kyilkhor means a circle, nevertheless, amongst
the numberless kinds of kyilkhors, there exist
square and quadrangular forms, while those used in black
magic or for the coercion or destruction of malignant
entities are triangular.
The monks who wish to become proficient in this kind of art
spend years studying its rules. One of the four high
colleges which exists in all large monasteries teaches the
art of drawing the kyilkhors that are
parts of the official lamaist magic rites. As for secret
ones connected with mystic training or black magic, each
student must learn them privately from his own
teacher.
The
least mistake in the drawing of a kyilkhor or the
place given to the tormas in its construction, may
have terrible consequences, for the kyilkhor is a
magic instrument which hurts him who handles it unskilfully.
Moreover, no one should construct or draw a
kyilkhor if he has
/
Note15
"That
is to say after having breathed out, one remains for a while
without breathing in. In technical terms this is called: to
stay void."
Page
190
1
x 9 = 9
1
+ 9 = 10
1
+ 0 =1
/
not
been empowered to do so by a proper initiation, and each
variety of kyilkhor requires the corresponding
initiation. That which is the work of a non-initiated cannot
be animated and remains
powerless.
As for the true understanding of the symbolic meaning of the
kyilkhors, and the theories which support their use
in Psychic train-ing, very few are aware of
them.
Needless to say that elaborate and large sized
kyilkhors cannot find room in the tsam
khangs. Their form, there, is very much
simplified.
At the beginning of his spiritual education the novice is
likely to be taught by his teacher the way of constructing a
diagram which is to be used as support (rten) to fix the
attention during meditation.
One of the exercises most generally practised
-
either
with or without a kyilkhor - at that stage of the training,
is the following:
A deity is imagined; it is first contemplated alone, then
from its body springs out other forms sometimes like its
own, sometimes differ-ent. There are often four of them, but
in some meditations they be-come hundreds or even
innumerable.
When
all these personages have appeared quite clearly around the
central figure, they are one after another
reabsorbed
in it. Now the original deity remains again alone and
gradually begins to disappear. The feet vanish first and
then slowly the whole body and finally the head. Only a dot
remains. This may be dark coloured or purely luminous.
Mystic masters interpret
this
as a sign which shows the degree of spiritual progress
attained by their disciples.
Then, the dot moves towards the man who beholds it and sinks
into him. One must note the part of the body in which it
seems to dis-appear. A period of meditation follows that
exercise, which may be done again and again as many times as
desired. One may also
imagine a lotus. It opens slowly and on each petal stands a
Bodhisatatva, one of them being enthroned in the heart of
the flower. After a while, as the lotus begins to fold its
petals again each one emits a ray of light that sinks into
the centre of the flower, and when it closes entirely, light
escapes from its heart and penetrates the man in
meditation. There exist many kinds
of similar practices.
Many
novices do not proceed farther. Thus dryly described, such
visions cannot appear but absurd, yet they constitute a
somewhat fascinating puzzle on account of the multifarious
unexpected aspects they assume after a certain time of
training.
They
provide the recluse with spectacles which rival the most
beau-tiful fairy-plays that can be seen on the stage. Even
those who are aware of their illusive nature may enjoy them,
and as for those who believe in the reality of the divine
players, it is not suprising they are
bewitched. However it is not to
amuse the hermits that these exercises have been invented.
Their true aim is to lead the disciple to
understand
/
Page
191 /
that
the world and all phenomena which we percieve are but
mir-ages born from our
imagination.
'They emanate from the
mind And
into the mind they sink.'
Mirror
images writ the scribe on the
mirror
Page
191
Continue
"In
fact this is the fundamental teaching of Tibetan
mystics.
Padmasambhava
is said to have described the stages of the mystic path in
the following way.
1.
To read a large number of books on the various religions and
philosophies. To listen to many learned doctors
professing
different
doctrines. To experiment oneself with a number of
methods.
2
To choose a doctrine among the many one has studied and
dis-card the other ones, as the eagle carries off only one
sheep from the flock.
3
To remain in lowly condition, humble in one's demeanour, not
seeking to be conspicuous or important in the eyes of the
world, but behind apparent insignificance, to let one's mind
soar high above all worldly power and
glory.
4
To be indifferent to all. Behaving like the dog or the pig
that eat what chance brings them. Not making any choice
among the things one meets. Abstaining from any effort to
acquire or avoid any-thing Accepting with an equal
indifference whatever comes: riches or poverty, praise or
contempt, giving up the distinction between virtue and vice,
honourable and shameful,
good
and evil. Being neither afflicted, nor repenting whatever
one may have done and, on the other hand, never being elated
nor proud on account of what one has
accomplished.
5
To consider with perfect equanimity and detachment the
con-flicting opinions and the various manifestations of the
activity of beings. To understand that such is the nature of
things, the inevitable mode of action of each entity and to
remain always serene. To look at the world as a man standing
on the highest mountain of the
country
/
The Magic of Mountains said Zed
Aliz
Page192
1
x 9 x 2 = 72
7
+ 2 = 9
/
Looks
at the valleys and the lesser summits spread out below him.
17
6
It is said that the sixth stage cannot be described in
words. It corresponds to the realization of the 'Void' 18
which in Lamaist ter-minology, means the inexpressible
reality.
In spite of these programmes, it is impossible to establish
a regular gradation of the multifarious training exercises
devised by Tibetan mystic anchorites. In practice, these
various exercises are combined."
We
must make up our minds to accept an apparent chaos which is
a natural result of the different individual tendencies and
aptitudes which the gurus, adepts of the 'Short
Path' refuse to crush. 'Liberty' is the motto on the heights
of the 'Land of Snows,'..."
"...
No dogmas are ever imposed. The disciple may believe, deny
or doubt anything according to his own
feelings..."
Page 204
2
x 4 = 8
2
+ 4 = 6
Chapter
8
Page
207
2
+ 7 = 9
2
x 7 = 14
"
The
Sphinx and the Megaliths
John
Ivimy 1974
Page
23
"The
old kingdom before it declined was indeed the Golden Age of
Egyptian history. Its culminating achievement was the
building of the three great pyramids of Giza, of which the
biggest, and the oldest, is the Great Pyramid of Cheops
(Khufu).
No
building that has ever been built or ever will be built can
excite more wonder than the Great Pyramid. No records have
come down from ancient Egypt to tell us authoritatively
when, how, and why the Pyramid was built, nor what is the
meaning of its mysterious Passages and chambers. Such
ancient writings as do still exist are merely legends. In
modern times numerous surveys have been made of its external
and internal dimensions, and hundreds of books and papers
have been written propounding and refuting one theory after
another; but these questions remain without convincing
answers. A recent panoramic study of the many problems posed
by the pyramid note 4 contains a bibliography of over 300
books. Not one of the many diverse theories that it
summarises gives satisfactory answers to all the questions.
Was the Pyramid built, as professional Egyptolo-gists
generally aver, to serve no other purpose than to be a
pharaoh's tomb, or was it also a public work for the relief
of unemployment, or a temple for Isiac rites, or an
astronomical observatory, or a calendar and record of
astronomical and geodetic measurements, or a pro-phecy of
the future destiny of mankind? Or was it all these things
together - a marvellous consummation of men' endeavours to
create what Nature herself delights in creating: one
instrument to serve many
purposes?
Until the truth has been definitely established every
inquirer is free to assess the evidence in accordance with
his natural predilec-tions. In a later chapter, where we
compare certain mathematical features of the Pyramid with
those of Megalithic stone circles in Britain, we shall take
advantage of this freedom to throw in yet one more idea as a
contribution to the discussion.
The
second pyramid in both age and magnitude is that of
Cheops'son Chephren, and the third is attributed to
Chephren's successor Mykerinos. It is believed to have been
in Chephren's reign that there
/
Page
24
was
carved out of the rock of the Giza plateau looking east over
the Nile that massive symbol that guards the pyramids: The
Great Sphinx."
-
The
Fingerprints Of The Gods
Graham
Hancock
Page
310
"Khufu,
Khafre, Menkaure . . .
Cheops, Chephren, Mycerinus. Whether they were referred to
by their Egyptian or their Greek names, the fact remained
that these three pharaohs of the Fourth Dynasty
(2575 -
2467BC) were universally acclaimed as the
builders of the Giza pyramids.
2467
Minos 2575 said
Zed Aliz iz 108
2575 + 2467 =
5042
Page
312
"
Khufu...Khafre...Menkaure... According to all orthodox
/
Page
313
3
x 1 x 3 = 9
3
+ 1 + 3 = 7
/
Egyptologists
the pyramid had been built as tombs - and
only as tombs - for these three pharaohs.
Yet there were some obvious difficulties with such
assertions. For example, the spacious burial chamber of the
Khafre Pyramid was empty when it was opened in 1818 by the
European explorer Giovanni Belzoni. Indeed more than empty,
the chamber was starkly, austerely bare. The polished
granite sarcophagus which lay embedded in its floor had also
been found empty, with its lid broken into two pieces
nearby. How was this to be
explained?"
An
eloquent expression of its emptyness said Zed
Aliz.
There
is no way that that coffin lid would keep a determind body,
thought the scribe writ the scribe, putting the e at the
end.
Then
added, absence, makes the art go
yonder.
Page
313
3 x 1 x 3 = 9
3
+ 1 + 3 = 9
"...
Much the same thing seems to have happened at the smaller
Third Pyramid,"
"Here
the first European to break in had been a British colonel,
Howard Vyse, who had entered the burial chamber in 1837.He
found an empty basalt
sarcophagus,"
Since
it was a matter of record that the sarcophagus had been
found empty by Vyse, it was once again assumed that the body
of the pharaoh must have been removed by tomb
robbers.
A
similar assumption had been made about the body of Khufu,
which was also missing."
Page
314
"...
Khufu is believed to have died in
2528BC."
The
cupboard was bare
The
mystery of the missing mummy of Khufu begins with the
records of Caliph Al- Ma'mun, a Muslim governor of Cairo in
the ninth
century A.D. He had engaged a team of quarriers to tunnel
their way into the pyramid's northern face, urging them on
with promises that they would discover treasure. Through a
series of lucky accidents..."
"
By a further lucky accident..."
"...There
was a problem, however. The opening was blocked by a series
of plugs of solid granite, clearly contemporaneous with the
construction of the monument"
"They
therefore tunnelled into the slightly softer limestone
surrounding them and, after several weeks of backbreaking
toil, rejoined the ascending
/
Page
316
3
x 1 x 6 = 18
1
+ 8 = 9 /
corridor
higher up - having bypassed a
formidable obstacle never before breached
The
implications were obvious. Since no previous
treasure-seekers had penetrated this far, the interior of
the pyramid must still be virgin territory. The diggers must
have licked their lips with anticipation at the immense
quantities of gold and jewels they could now expect to find.
Similarly - though perhaps for different reasons, Ma'mun
must have been impatient
To
be the first into any chambers that lay ahead. It was
reported that his primary motive in initiating this
investigation had not been an ambition to increase his vast
personal wealth but a desire to gain access to a storehouse
of ancient wisdom and technology which he believed to lie
buried within the monument. In this repository, according to
age old tradition, the pyramid builders had placed'
instruments of iron and arms which rust not, and glass which
might be bended and not broken, and strange spells..." note
9
What
enters through a glass darkly said Alizzed not glowering.
Light
said the scribe delighted. And then, acting the part said,
and you are you all light in the
head?
Thus
writ the far yonder scribe.
Page
316
3
x 1 x 6 = 18
1
+ 8 = 9
"But
they found nothing,"
Page
317
"The
erroneously named Queen's Chamber' (which lay at the end a
long horizontal passageway that branched off from from the
ascending corridor) turned out to be completely empty - just
a severe, geometrical room. Note
10
More
disappointing still, the King's Chamber (which the Arabs
reached after climbing the imposing Grand Gallery) also
offered little of interest. Its only furniture was a granite
coffer just big enough to contain the body of a man. Later
identified, on no very good grounds, as a 'sarcophagus',
this undecorated stone box was approached with trepidation
by Ma'mun and his team , who found it to be lidless and as
empty as everything else in the pyramid. Note
11
Why, how and when exactly had the Great Pyramid been emptied
of its contents? Had it been 500 years after Khufu's death,
as the Egyptologists suggested? Or was it more likely, as
the evidence was beginning to suggest, that the
inner chambers of the pyramid had been empty all
along, from the very beginning, that is, from the day that
the monument had been sealed? Nobody, after all, had reached
the upper part of the ascending corridor before Ma'mun and
his men."
Page
319
3
x 1 x 9 = 27
2
+ 7 = 9
"At
the very least, therefore, when Ma'mun and his men battered
their way into the Kings Chamber around the year AD 820,
one
would have expected some of the bigger and heavier pieces
from the original burial to be still in place - like the
statues and shrines that bulked so large in Tutankhamen's
much later and presumably inferior
tomb.
But
nothing was found inside Khufu's
Pyramid,"
"...just
the bare floors and walls and the gaping mouths of empty
sarcophagi.
Page
320
"The
other remarkable feature of Khufu's Pyramid
was the absence of inscrip-tions or decorations anywhere
within its immense network of galleries, corridors,
passageways and chambers, and the same was true of Khafre's
and Menkaure's
Pyramids.
In none of these amazing monuments had a single word been
written in praise of the pharaohs whose bodies they were
supposed to house. This was exceptional. No
other proven burial place of any Egyptian monarch had ever
been found undecorated The fashion throughout Egyptian
history had been for the tombs of the pharaohs to be
extensively decorated, beautifully painted from top
to bottom (as in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor, for
example) and densely inscribed with the ritual spells and
invocations required to assist the deceased on his journey
towards eternal life ( as in the fifth dynasty pyramids at
Saqqara, just twenty miles to the south of Giza) note
19
Why
had Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure done things so
differently?
Had
they not built their monuments to serve as tombs at all, but
for another and more subtle purpose? Or was it possible, as
certain Arab and esoteric traditions maintained, that the
Giza pyramids had been erected long before the architects of
some earlier and more advanced
civilization"
Look
said Zed Aliz throwing a
5 a
6 and eight. Yonder scribe writ 5
+ 6 + 8 = 19 1 + 9 = 10
and I + 0 = 1 although 1 x
9 iz
still 9
Page
322
"...hieroglyphic
evidence,"
"...appeared
to indicate that Khufu could not have built the great
pyramid."
"hieroglyphs,
which appeared on a rectangular limestone stela which now
stood in the Cairo Museum. Note
25
The
inventory stela, as it was called, had been discovered at
Giza in the nineteenth century by the French archaeologist
Auguste Mariette. It was something of a bombshell because
its text clearly indicated that both the Great Sphinx and
the Great Pyramid (as well as several other structures on
the plateau) were already in existence long before
Khufu came to the throne. The inscription also referred to
Isis as the'Mistress of the Pyramid', implying that the
monument had been dedicated to the goddess of magic and not
to Khufu at all. Finally there was a strong suggestion that
Khufu's pyramid might have been one of the three subsidary
structures alongside the Great Pyramid's eastern flank. Note
26
Alizzed
once again transcribed the name of the beloved Isis into
magikalalphabetical numbers
I
S I S
9
1 9
1 9
x
1 x 9 x 1 9 +
1 + 9 + 1 = 20 2 + 0 =
2
9
x 9
81
8
+
1 9
Page
323
3
x 2 x 3 = 18
1 + 8 = 9
"Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure...Cheops, Chephren, Mycerinus.
Whether you called them by their Egyptian or their Greek
names, there was no doubt that the
three
famous pharaohs of the Fourth dynasty had
been commemorated by the most splendid, the most honourable,
the most beautiful and the most enormous monuments ever seen
anywhere in the world"
Moreover,
it was clear that these pharaohs must indeed have been
closely associated with the monu-ments, not only because of
the folklore passed on by Herodotus (which surely had some
basis in fact) but because inscriptions and references to
Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure had been found in modern
quantities, outside the
three
major
pyramids at several different parts of the Giza metropolis.
Such finds had been made consistently in and around the
six subsidiary pyramids,
three of which
/
Page
324 /
lay
to the east of the Great Pyramid and the other
three to the south of the Menkaure
Pyramid
The
scribe writ three
times three times three iz
27 2 + 7 =
9
And
three
pyramids
x three pyramids is 9
And
three
pyramids + three pyramids +
3 pyramids iz
9
three
major pyramids x six subsidiary pyramids
is 18 and 1 + 8 =
9
and
three
pyramids + six subsidary
pyramids iz 9
Number
of letters in the
words
Cheops
6 Khufu
5
Chephren
8 Khafre
6
Mykerinos
9 Menkaure 8
6
+ 8 + 9
= 23 2
+ 3 =
5
5 + 6 + 8 =
19
1+ 9 =
1 Zero
6
x 8 x 9
=
432 5
x 6 x 8 =
240 2 + 4 +
0
= 6 Zero
Cheops
6
+ Khufu
5 = 11 1
+ 1 = 2
Chephren
8 +
Khafre 6 = 14 1
+ 4 = 5
Mykerinos
9 +
Menkaure
8 = 17 1
+ 7 = 8
Cheops
6
x Khufu
5 = 30 3
+ 0 =
3
3
Chephren
8 x
Khafre
6 = 48 4
+ 8 =12 1 + 2 =
3
Mykerinos
9 x Menkaure
8 = 72 7
+ 2 =
9
9
6
x
8 x 9 x 5 x 6 x 8
9 x 3 x 3
48 x
9
81
432 x
5
8 + 1
2160 x
6
9
12960
x
8
103680
103680
432 =
240
103680
360 =
288
103680
180 =
576
103680
72 = 1440
103680
9 = 11520
|