FOREWORD: THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY - The Labours of Hercules
[3] The intense interest evinced at this time in the subject of the spiritual life is in itself the warrant for such a study as this series of articles purposes. In defiance of the fact that academic and theological religion has no longer its ancient appeal and in spite of the revolt against organised religion, the urge towards spiritual realities has never been so keen as now. The day of empirical experience on a large scale is now with us, and men and women everywhere are refusing any longer to believe and blindly accept, because they are determined to know. Acceptance of imposed dogmas is now giving place to experiment, and a divine self-determination, based on a realised unity with the Life in which we live and move and have our being, is taking the place of credulity and superstition.
The problem of every teacher today is to discover new ways in which to express the old truths, and so present the ancient formulas for spiritual development that they will acquire new and vivid life. In both hemispheres there have been many books written on the subject of the Path of Discipleship, the Path of Holiness, and the Path of Illumination. The restatement of the problems of that universal Path and of its inherent difficulties is not warranted unless the application can be modern and practical. It must indicate the inclusiveness of the goal, once those problems have been surmounted, and must avoid the tiresome reiteration of that basic rule of life, which has been expressed in the two words: “Be good”. Again and again we have been told that we must overcome the lure of the world, the flesh and the devil. There has been built up in the mind of the western aspirant a feeling that the Path is necessarily one of misery, of self-abnegation and of endless distress. His attitude is one of active endurance until such time as he mysteriously and miraculously breaks through into a world of peace and plenty, wherein all troubles come to an end, the flesh [4] ceases to annoy, and the devil comes to an untimely end. And this as the reward of a meek submission to the will of an inscrutable creator.
There is, however, dawning on the human consciousness, a growing realisation of innate divinity and that man is in very truth made in the image of God, and one in nature with his Father in Heaven. The idea of purpose and of plan is being grasped, and the entire attitude of the aspirant towards life is rapidly changing. Surely it should now be possible to gain such a synthetic picture of the progress of the soul from ignorance to wisdom, from material desire to spiritual achievement that the end may be visioned from the beginning and intelligent co-operation with soul purpose take the place of blind endeavour? When this comes about, the pilgrim can proceed upon his way with his face turned towards the light, and irradiated with joy.
The story of the dramatic experiences of that great and ancient Son of God, Hercules or Herakles, will be found to give us just such a synthetic picture. It leaves untouched no phase in the life of the aspirant and yet links him up with cosmic enterprise. Its theme will be found to be so inclusive that all of us, struggling in our present modern life, can make application to ourselves of the tests and trials, the failures and achievements of this heroic Figure, who strove, centuries ago, towards the same goal as we do. Through a reading of his story, fresh interest may be evoked in the mind of the bewildered aspirant, and such a picture painted of universal sequential development and destiny that he will go forward with fresh courage.
We shall trace the story of Hercules and endeavour to show how he, in his twelve labours, played the part of the aspirant upon the Path of Discipleship. On it, he undertook certain tasks, symbolic in nature, and passed through certain episodes and events which portray for all time the nature of the training and attainments which characterise the man who is nearing liberation. He stands for the incarnated, yet not perfected, Son of [5] God, who definitely takes the lower nature in hand and willingly subjects it to the discipline which will eventually produce the emergence of divinity. Out of an erring but sincerely earnest human being, intelligently aware of the work to be accomplished, a World Saviour is formed.
Two great and dramatic stories have been held constantly before the eyes of men down the ages. In the twelve labours of Hercules, that Path of Discipleship is depicted, and his experiences preparatory to the great concluding cycle of Initiation meet with a ready response from every aspiring man. In the life and work of Jesus the Christ, that radiant and perfected Son of God, who “has entered for us within the veil, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps”, we have portrayed the five stages of the Path of Initiation, which are the climaxing episodes for which the twelve labours have prepared the disciple.
The oracle has spoken, and down the ages the word has sounded forth: Man, know thyself. This knowledge is the outstanding attainment upon the Path of Discipleship, and the reward of all the work done by Hercules.
The Nature of Discipleship
It might be of value here if we considered briefly the nature of discipleship. It is a word in constant use among aspirants in Christian lands, as in the oriental religions. Discipleship could be defined as the final stage of the path of evolution, and as that period in a man's experience in which he is definitely self conscious. It is the stage in which he knowingly pledges himself to impose the will of the soul (which is essentially the will of God) upon the lower nature. Upon this path he submits himself to a forcing process, so that the flower of the soul can unfold more quickly. The inevitability of human perfection underlies his willingness to make the attempt to tread the path. This perfection can be attained in two ways. It can be the result of slow and steady evolutionary growth, carried forward under nature's laws, cycle after cycle, until gradually the hidden God can be seen in man and in the universe. Or, it can be the result [6] of systematised application and discipline on the part of the aspirant, producing a more rapid unfoldment of the power and life of the soul.
In one analysis of discipleship, it has been defined as “a psychic resolvent, which eats away all dross and leaves only the pure gold behind”. It is a process of refining, of sublimation and of transmutation, carried steadily forward until at length the Mount of Transfiguration and of Illumination is attained. The hidden mysteries and the forces, latent in human beings, need to be discovered and require to be utilised in a divine manner and in line with divine purpose, intelligently apprehended. When they have thus been utilised, the disciple finds himself en rapport with the universal and similar divine energies and powers, underlying the operations of the natural world. Thus he becomes a worker under the plan of evolution and a co-operator with that great “cloud of witnesses”, who through the power of their onlooking, and the result of their attainment, constitute the Thrones, Principalities and Powers through the medium of which the one Life guides all creation onward to a glorious consummation.
Such is the goal towards which Hercules worked, and such is the goal before humanity as a whole, whose ultimate group achievement will be brought about by the many individual perfections.
Astrological Connotations
A secondary object of this study is to present an aspect of astrology which will differ from that usually expressed. We shall trace the story of Hercules as he passed through the twelve signs of the zodiac. In each sign he expressed its characteristics, and in each sign, he achieved some fresh knowledge of himself, and through that knowledge demonstrated the power of the sign and acquired the gifts which the sign conferred. In each of the signs we shall find him surmounting his natural tendencies, controlling and governing his destiny, and demonstrating the fact that the stars incline, but do not control.
[7] The form of astrology which will, I believe, in time supersede the ordinary kind, dealing with horoscopes, is that synthetic presentation of cosmic happenings which have their reflection in our planetary life, in the life of humanity as a whole, and in the life of the individual, who is ever the microcosm of the macrocosm. This type of astrology confines its attention primarily to the unfolding of the plan of the ages; this, history reveals in a small way as far as humanity is concerned, and a larger study of the times and seasons may bring to us a wider understanding of God's purposes. There is an immense past behind humanity; aeons and aeons have come and gone; the wheel of existence turns continuously, and ever the scroll of life unrolls, and we are carried forward on the impetus of a returning force towards a newer aspect of the goal, and a wider vision and realisation. Concentration upon the personal horoscope and the intense interest evinced by individuals in their own petty affairs may be natural and normal, but it is nevertheless myopic. The consciousness that we are integral parts of a greater Whole, and that knowledge of the divine sumtotal can alone reveal the vaster purpose. These are the ideas that must eventually supersede our personal concentrations. Our small life histories must disappear in the larger picture. Hercules astrologically enacted the life history of every aspirant, and demonstrated the part which the unit must play in the eternal Enterprise.
A great eastern Teacher has expressed in connection with the zodiac and astrology this suggestive thought: “That astrology is a science and a coming science is true.
"That astrology in its highest aspect and its true interpretation will eventually enable man to focus his understanding and to function rightly is equally true. That in the revelations that astrology will make in time to come will be found the secret of the true co-ordination between soul and form is also correct. But that astrology has not yet been discovered. Too much is overlooked and too little known to make astrology the exact science that many claim it to be. The claim will be fulfilled at some future date, but the time is not yet.
[8] “Astrology as now practised is doomed to break down, owing to the rapidity with which souls are controlling their personalities. The casting of the horoscope of the soul will not be based on our three dimensional knowledge, for the laws of time and space have no hold over the soul”. (Esoteric Astrology).
We will therefore in this study deal with an astrology which will be non-mathematical and which will have no relation to the casting of horoscopes. It will concern itself with the twelve types of energy by means of which consciousness of the divine Reality is brought about through the medium of form. In no distant heaven and in no subjective state did Hercules arrive at this knowledge. In the physical body, handicapped and limited by the tendencies conferred on him by the sign in which he performed the labour, he attained understanding of his own essential divinity. Through the overcoming of form and the subjugation of matter, a picture is given us of an unfolding divine self-realisation. In the study therefore of Hercules the disciple, and of Christ, the World Saviour, we have an entire pictorial presentation of the final stages of unfoldment which lie ahead of all of us. The five great Initiations as portrayed for us in the history of Jesus the Christ are not dealt with here, but form the subject of another book. (From Bethlehem to Calvary)
As we study the story of Hercules and go with him through his twelve labours, passing around the great zodiac of the heavens, we will approach it from two angles: that of the individual aspirant and that of humanity as a whole. It is now possible to regard the human family as having reached, practically en masse, the stage of the aspirant, the stage of the intelligent seeker, the stage of the man who, having developed his mind and co-ordinated his abilities, mental, emotional and physical, has exhausted the interests of the phenomenal world, and is looking for a way out into a wider realm of awareness, and into a more sure sphere of undertakings. This stage has always been [9] expressed by the advanced individuals down the ages, but never before has the human race itself been in this condition. Herein lies the wonder of past achievement, and herein lies the hour of present opportunity.
The World Disciple Today
The tests to which Hercules willingly subjected himself and the labours into which he sometimes thoughtlessly rushed are those which are possible to many thousands now. It will become apparent also how curiously applicable to modern conditions are the various details of the dramatic and oft-times amusing story of his efforts upon the path of ascension. Each one of us is an embryo Hercules, and each one of us faces the identical labours; each of us has the same goal to achieve and the same circle of the zodiac to encompass. The work to be done has for its prime objective the elimination of all fear and the control of the natural forces of the human nature. These Hercules has to face in every possible combination before he climbs the mount of initiation in Capricorn and becomes the server of humanity.
Competition and selfish objectives have to be completely changed and eliminated, and we shall find Hercules learning the lesson that to grasp anything for the separated self is no part of the mission of a son of God. He has to find himself as an individual, only to discover that individualism must be sacrificed intelligently to the good of the group. He discovers likewise that personal greed has no place in the life of the aspirant who is seeking liberation from the ever recurring cycle of existence and the constant crucifixion upon the cross of matter. The characteristics of the man immersed in form life and under the rule of matter are fear, individualism, competition and greed. These have to give place to spiritual confidence, co-operation, group awareness and selflessness. This is the lesson that Hercules brings to us, and this is the demonstration of the [10] life of God which is being wrought out in the creative process, and which flowers forth more beautifully each time that the life of God makes its sweep around the zodiac which, the astronomers tell us, takes approximately twenty-five thousand years to accomplish.
This is the story of the cosmic Christ, crucified upon the Fixed Cross of the heavens; this is the story of the historical Christ, given us in the gospel story and enacted two thousand years ago in Palestine; this is the story of the individual Christ, crucified upon the cross of matter, and incarnated in each human being, God, incarnate in matter. This is the story of our solar system, the story of our planet, the story of the human being. Thus as we look at the starry heavens above, we have eternally pictured for us this great drama, which the story of Hercules elucidates in detail for the aspirant.
Key Thoughts
Four key thoughts can be given here which express the underlying purpose of the creative process and the objective of both the Cosmic Christ and of the individual aspirant. They give us the clue to the working out of the plan. Taken together they embody the entire story of the relationship of spirit and matter, of life and form, and of soul and body.
First: “Nature expresses invisible energies through visible forms”. Back of the objective world of phenomena, human or solar, small or great, organic or inorganic, lies a subjective world of forces which is responsible for the outer form. Behind the outer material shell is to be found a vast empire of BEING, and it is into this world of living energies that both religion and science are now penetrating. Everything outer and tangible is a symbol of inner creative forces and it is this idea that underlies all symbology. A symbol is an outer and visible form of an inner and spiritual reality.
It is with this interplay of the outer form and the inner life [11] that Hercules wrestles. He knew himself to be the form, the symbol, for the dominance of the lower material nature made its presence felt with the facility of age-long expression. At the same time he knew that his problem was to express spiritual being and energy. He had to know in fact and in experience that he was God, immanent in nature; that he was the Self in close relation to the Not-Self; he had to experiment with the law of cause and effect, and this from the standpoint of the initiator of the causes in order to produce intelligent effects. Through the twelve signs of the zodiac he passed, struggling to work subjectively and trying to reject the lure and the pull of the outer tangible form.
The second key thought can be expressed in the words: “The conception of a concealed Deity lies at the heart of all religions”. This is the mystic realisation and the object of the search that humanity has carried on down the ages. The exponents of the world religions have embodied in their teaching one aspect of the search, accepting the fact of God as a basic premise, and with their heart's love and devotion and worship proving the reality of his Existence. The testimony of the mystics of all time and races is so vast that it now in itself constitutes a body of proven facts and cannot be gainsaid.
The scientific investigators have sought through a knowledge of the form to find truth, and have brought us to a position of wide knowledge and at the same time to a paralleling conception of our profound ignorance. We have learned much of the outer garment of God through physics, chemistry, biology and other sciences, but we have struggled into a realm where all appears to be hypothesis and inference. All that we surely know is that all forms are aspects of energy; that there is an interplay and an impact of energies upon our planet; that the planet is itself an energy unit composed of a multitude of energy units, and that man himself is likewise a composite bundle of forces and moving in a world of force. This is where [12] science so wonderfully has led us, and this is where the astrologer, the occultist, the idealist and the mystic also meet and testify to a concealed Deity, to a living Being, to a Universal Mind, and to a central Energy.
In the unfolding drama of the heavens, in the conclusions of the scientific enquirer, in the mathematical computations of the astrologers, and in the testimony of the mystic, however, we can see a steadily emerging manifestation of this concealed divinity. Little by little, through the study of history, of philosophy and of comparative religion, we see the plan of that Deity becoming significantly apparent. In the passage of the sun through the twelve signs of the zodiac, we can see the marvellous organisation of the plan, the focusing of the energies and the growth of the tendency towards divinity. Now, at last, in the twentieth century, objective and subjective have become so closely blended and merged that it is almost impossible to say where one begins and another ends. The veil that hides the concealed Deity is wearing thin, and the work of those who have achieved knowledge, the programme of the Christ and of his Church, the plans of the hidden band of world workers, the Rishis and the occult Hierarchy of our planet, is now focussed upon leading humanity on to the Path of Discipleship, and training many of the more advanced so that they can become the knowers and initiates of the new age. Thus men will pass out of the Hall of Learning into the Hall of Wisdom, from the realm of the unreal to the Real, and from the outer darkness of phenomenal existence into the light that shines always in the kingdom of spirit.
The third key thought gives us a clue to the method. Down the ages the words have sounded forth: “I am he . . . who awakens the silent beholder”. It has become apparent to seekers in all fields that within all forms there is an urge to intelligent expression, and a certain livingness which we call consciousness, and which in the human family takes the form of a self-awareness.
[13] This self-awareness when truly developed, enables a man to discover that the concealed Deity in the universe is identical in nature, though vastly greater in degree and consciousness, with the concealed Deity within himself. Man then can become consciously the Onlooker, the Beholder, the Perceiver. He is no longer identified with the matter aspect, but is the One who uses it as a medium of expression.
When this stage is reached, the great labours start, and the warfare is consciously in progress. The man is torn in two directions. Habit entices him to identify himself with form. The new understanding impels him to identify himself with the soul. A reorientation then takes place, and a new and self-directed effort is initiated, which is portrayed for us in the story of Hercules, the Sun-God. The moment that the intellectual altitude has been achieved, the “silent Beholder” awakens into activity. Hercules starts upon his labours. The human being, hitherto swept along on the urge of the evolutionary tide, and governed by desire for experience and for material possession, comes under the control of the divine Indweller. He emerges as the aspirant, reverses himself, and begins to work through the twelve signs of the zodiac, only now working from Aries to Pisces via Taurus (anti-clockwise), instead of working in the ordinary human retrogressive fashion, from Aries to Taurus via Pisces (clockwise).
Finally, the changing focus of the life and the steady application to the twelve labours in the twelve signs enables the disciple to become the triumphant victor. Then he can comprehend the significance of the fourth key thought and can exclaim in unison with the Cosmic Deity: “Listen to this great secret. Although I am above birth and rebirth, or Law, being the Lord of all there is, for all emanateth from me, still do I will to appear in my own universe and am therefore born by my Power and Thought and Will”. (The Bhagavad Gita, as compiled and adapted by YOGI RAMACHARAKA).