Tilak of Tibet Reveals Life's Purpose, by Ann Hackett [1944], at sacred-texts.com
Tilak was drawn to a meeting between an individual who had just left an earthly body and an individual who was dwelling just beyond earthly conditions. The individual who was living just beyond the earthly condition had left physical earth life several years before.
Although Tilak stood near, he was not visible to the two individuals as they talked.
The individual that had just left an earthly physical covering was greeted by the other individual: "You have come to dwell with us?"
"I was drawn here. I expected to find those that had been dear to me on earth below; friends that had passed on before I did."
The dweller in the city just beyond earthly conditions shook his head: "No, they will not be here. No one living in our city ever dwelt on the earth—What is the earth like?"
The questioned individual looked about him. The buildings and homes appeared familiar—very familiar.
[paragraph continues] They were possibly more uniform, and seemed to glisten as though constructed of highly polished marble, but resembled the buildings and homes found in the cities of earth: "You surprise me, indeed. I had long believed that when I died I would meet many that I had known; many that died before I did."
"Died!" exclaimed the other individual.
"Yes," said the recent earth dweller, "the dropping of the physical body."
"What a strange place the earth must be, if you have to throw off your body! Here we continue indefinitely. Our bodies change—they get brighter, and then we are able to apprehend more of the things about us."
"I think I will like it all right," said the earth individual.
"Of course you will! But tell me, how did you ever happen to land on the earth?"
"I do not remember," said the recent earth dweller—"My parents told me they had looked forward to my coming."
"Parents!"
"Yes—a mother and a father,"—smiling, "They are very essential to earth life."
"Interesting place, undoubtedly, but strange. I do not believe I would like to live in a place where your body could be snatched from you. Is this taking of body a prearranged plan?"
"It must be," observed the earth individual. "When
mine was taken I did not even know it. I went to bed one night, fell asleep—and here I am!"
"Extraordinary! We do have a condition here we call sleep, but no one to my knowledge ever lost his body in that state."
The earth individual glanced around again: "When I first arrived here I had a review of my life while in the physical body." His face became serious: "There were many things done that should have been left undone, and many things undone that should have been done—too bad we can't do certain things over again."
"If you will walk with me," suggested the dweller in the city just beyond earthly conditions, "I will show you some of our interesting buildings and present you to some of the people that dwell in our city."
As the two men walked toward a wide city square Tilak followed them.
The two individuals stood in the center of the square. The dweller of the city pointed out the prominent buildings: "That building directly in front of us is the Temple of Music. To the left of the Temple is the Auditorium."
The earth individual interrupted him, exclaiming: "It all comes back to me! I lived here before! I lived not far from the Temple of Music!" As he spoke he hurried down an avenue past the Temple of Music. His companion followed him. The recent earth
dweller stopped before a commodious house. It was constructed of many colored blocks. In front of the house was a garden filled with flowers. A window in the adjoining house was raised. A woman appeared at the window. Seeing the earth individual, she said: "I watched your garden while you were away. At times it seemed as though you had been away a long period, and at other times it seemed as though you had but left a short period before—Did you have a pleasant journey?"
"In a way—but I am glad to be back."
"I will be right down," advised the woman, as she closed the purple glass window.
The dweller of the city just beyond earthly conditions said: "Now that you have found friends, I will return to my home—however, I would like to talk with you again about that strange place, the earth."
"Call any time," invited the recent earth dweller. "I am going to continue my studies. I was always interested in particle movement and particle formation."
"I have a friend studying the same thing. You will probably meet him at the Academy."
As the dweller of the city, just beyond earthly conditions, moved away, the woman next door joined the recent earth inhabitant. Her first words were: "Where have you been? I am all curiosity. You will find everything in your home just as you left it."
"I went to the earth," advised the recent earth dweller.
"For research purposes?" queried the woman.
"I guess that was it—but of a different nature, entirely different."
"I remember so well when the Light Bearers called for you. What is the earth, is it one of the bright lights we can see in the heavens?"
The man shook his head, sadly: "No, not too bright. As near as I can tell you, it is below here—for after I died I seemed to ascend."
"A strange thing happened after you left," said the woman—"Several of your neighbors were called away—they went to the earth, too."
"You have never been there?" asked the man.
"No," replied the woman, "I am studying music. Most of those that have been called away were studying at the Academy."
"There are many on earth that study music," advised the man.
Incredulously, the woman asked: "Did they come from here?"
"I do not know, but I feel sure that many of them did not. The earth is full of the strangest people. Everybody rushes about, apparently doing something—yet very little is accomplished. When I was a boy—."
"A boy!"
"Yes, about this height." As he spoke he held his hand three feet from the ground.
"You were that size on the earth!" The woman's eyes opened widely.
"Only for a short time—I grew up, then I was the size I am now."
"What an unusual place the earth is!"
"It is," agreed the man—"But as I was saying—when I was a boy I remember there was much talk and much planning about the bettering of conditions for everybody—yet, when I died, seventy-six years later, I did not see that anything was better for anybody; in fact, I would say that conditions were worse."
"What did you do on earth?" queried the woman.
"Worked in the cattle yards. When I died I owned thousands of cattle."
"Cattle!"
"Cows," explained the man.
"Cows!" repeated the woman.
"Animals that give milk and that are used for food."
"Did you make the cows?"
"No, they started long before I went to earth."
"A strange condition you went into," observed the woman—"What else did you do?"
"Married and had children. In a way, I enjoyed the amusements and sports on the earth—a third of my time I spent in sleep."
"The earth would be no place for me!" exclaimed the woman.
"I do not think so either," agreed the man, "since you have never been there."
"And I do not want to go! " indignantly replied the woman.
A short time afterward, Tilak again visited the city just beyond earthly conditions. The previous earth dweller had accustomed himself to his new surroundings. Tilak watched him as he carefully tended the garden of the woman who lived next door. The woman had been called to earth life. The previous earth dweller, after completing the gardening, went to the Academy. Tilak followed. At the Academy the previous earth dweller met his friend, who said to him: "Do you remember the man you met when you returned to our city?"
"Of course I do!"
"Well, he has been called away. The Light Bearers came for him this morning."
"Where did he go?" questioned the previous earth dweller.
"To the earth," replied his friend.
The former earth inhabitant smiled: "I will meet them both when they return and find out how they liked their visit to physical conditions."
When the man and woman did return from the earth condition the previous earth dweller had forgotten there was such a place as the physical earth.
Tilak read what he had written on the parchment sheets: The physical body is the individual's presentation in earth life. The finer body, the higher counterpart of the physical body, is the individual's presentation in the condition following earthly life. Seldom does the individual realize while living in earthly conditions that he has a finer body, the counterpart of his physical garment. This is due in part to his giving an almost undivided waking attention to his physical body. The individual in the physical body receives promptings that he realizes have not come from his earthly surroundings.
During earth life few individuals formulate, or even attempt to formulate, a definite idea of their life after physical death. When they do formulate such an idea it is hazy as to the after-life location, method of living, and association. An individual functioning in the finer body, in the condition that precedes physical birth and follows physical death, has difficulty in formulating an idea of life in earth conditions.
This state of being is brought to pass by the individual whose self-conscious attention is drawn almost entirely to the conditions the individual is moving through.
Tilak saw an old woman walking up a mountain path. She was leaning heavily upon a staff. Tilak could
see that the woman had left her earthly body. Even after the transition the woman placed dependence upon a staff and tottered as she walked. Seeing Tilak in her path, she said: "I am an old woman. My body is weary." This woman was still living with the body she had left; she was still placing dependence upon the garment that had served her so long.
"You have climbed far up the steep mountainside unaided?"
"Yes, yes," sighed the woman—"Ever since a girl I lived in the valley below. Every day I looked up to the great white-covered mountain peaks. I always wanted to climb the mountain. Last night I fell asleep. When I awoke I felt refreshed and stronger than I had in years. This morning I took the narrow road that led up the mountain. All day long I have walked, with the assistance of my stick."
"A human," said Tilak, "is likened unto a grapevine; each year presents rich fruit. In youth the human vine is heavy laden with luscious fruit. Each year fruit is taken from the vine. The juices of the fruit remain sweet, or turn sour. Year after year fruit is plucked from the vine. Some fruit yields sweetness, and some fruit yields that which is sour, tinged with bitterness. The fruit on the human vine is rich in portent. Thus are the years that stand before us—the unused years. It is in our treatment of these fruitful years whether the essence remains sweet or turns bitter. If we press
gently the hand of another in friendship joy results; but if we attempt to crush those around us life turns sour and leaves a residue of bitterness."
As Tilak was speaking the staff dropped from the woman's hand and slipped over the mountainside, falling in the deep chasm below. The woman stood erect. Her eyes took on a luster.
Tilak's words had stirred something within her, something that in late years had been bitter. Now her sweeter years were pushing aside the sour years. Her very body was undergoing a change.
"I know, I know!" she exclaimed—"In the valley below I left my earthly covering. In ascending the mountain I was trying to carry with me that which belongs to the earth alone. I had looked too long and too often through narrow window, shutting out the beauty that was all around me. I never felt old. Even when bodily limbs responded slowly in performing their functions, within I was young. Too often I listened to the body's prompting, which said, 'You are getting old and feeble.' How could that be, when deep within I could build truer and better than before?"
Gently Tilak said: "The body goes with us but a short way. It can only encompass but a short part of that which we are becoming. The body would accompany us, but the particles move too slowly—then we seek other coverings that can better serve our awakening."
The old woman that had confronted Tilak now appeared as a maid. Her voice was youthful, as she said: "What I could not carry on toward completion through my earthly body, I carried on toward completion through my mind."
"It is so," agreed Tilak—"But few of our higher promptings can find an outlet through our earthly vehicle. Those that do are so partial that they contribute but little to the soul's aspirations. If our earthly body accomplishments have been but few, should we grieve and condemn our destiny? In the greater scales, it is only that which prompted the act that is weighed—weighed together with that which the mind fervently desires to accomplish. The earth, which has but a definite cubic content, cannot reflect the greater magnitude, whose vastness reduces the earth to a grain of sand. When an individual depends upon bodily accomplishment for happiness, he becomes a dependent and a slave to the body."
When the last words left the lips of Tilak the woman vanished. That which had held her slipped away, and she soared to the garden of her strongest leaning.
Tilak entered his Chamber, breathing a prayer: "Mighty are the Laws, and Just."
In the Chamber of the Great Potential Tilak carefully
studied and weighed the sleeping and waking periods in the physical life of an individual.
Between the sleeping and waking states dreams begin. Dreams draw materials for their presentation from the waking and the sleeping states. Although the dream state begins between the sleeping and waking states, the state of dreams does not remain at this point, for there are dreams that are independent of earthly time and place. A dream can be a dramatist, an educator, a mentor, a symbolist, or a prophet. Those dreams that take place between the sleeping and waking states are often confused. In this state apparently unrelated material is often put together forming a strange picture. Such dreams usually take place just after the individual falls asleep, or just before the individual awakens. These dreams depend, in great part, upon the daily physical activities, thoughts and feelings of the individual.
An individual can plan his activities in daily life so that these activities will be more effective. So likewise can the individual plan activities for his sleep state, which activities will appear in the form of dreams. The individual has neglected the power to direct dreams, and accepts dreams as they come. When an individual does direct the sleep state and discovers that dreams follow planned direction, as do planned physical activities, dreams lose their unreality. It is
because the individual has not directed his dreams that they appear unreal and meaningless.
The individual willingly spends many years in preparing for a chosen profession because, by careful preparation, the individual expects satisfying results. If the individual would prepare as willingly and as carefully for the sleep and dream state, the individual would recover unrealized powers. The utilization of the sleep and dream states could reach the point where the individual would spend but little time during his entire earthly life without a self-conscious realization of life's purpose.
During the individual's waking hours the individual contemplates the past and looks forward to the future with expectancy. The individual does the same thing during the earthly state called sleep. During the sleep state the individual's contemplation of the past and expectancy of the future appears in dreams. The individual will dream of conditions past and conditions yet to come. Memory is operative during the sleep state, as it is during the waking physical state. Whether waking or sleeping, life has compensations for the individual self-consciousness.
Tilak stood before the altar in the Chamber of the Great Potential. He was awaiting a visitor. The expected visitor soon stood before Tilak—a beautiful
girl, with luxurious golden hair and soft brown eyes.
The girl addressed Tilak: "I am to take physical birth, yet I am perplexed. The man who is to be my father calls to me. The woman who is to become my mother calls not. The woman does not want to become a mother. Why should this be?"
"We will visit your future parents," said Tilak softly. Tilak and the young girl glided quickly to a large city. Noiselessly they entered a rich dwelling. Voices could be heard—a man and a woman were talking. Tilak and the girl drew nearer to the voices.
Standing near the center of a luxuriously furnished room was an attractive woman. The woman was young and vital. Before the woman stood her husband, a man of forty. The man was pleading: "My dear, I do so want a child. I want to hear childish prattle in this great house, I want to feel the touch of baby hands."
"Why should I sacrifice my beauty for your present whim? If I give birth to a child my social activities will be curtailed."
"It is not a whim, darling," continued the man—"I would not for the world ask you to make a sacrifice—a child would bring happiness to you, also."
"We will talk about this later," said the woman—"Tonight I am attending an important social function—Are you coming?"
"No," replied the man—his tone was sad.
Tilak and the girl followed the woman to the social
function. Many handsome men were present. The woman danced often.
Tilak studied the woman's aura. The brown of selfishness became tipped with light red. As the woman danced the red deepened into the red of passion.
The girl standing with Tilak became very quiet. Her aura coalesced with the aura of the dancing woman. Then the young girl's aura became as a cone, whose point touched the woman's womb.
Tilak spoke softly to the girl: "The woman will become your mother."
The woman had been faithful to her husband; she had resisted the temptations that are found in the propinquity of social life. The woman had used means to prevent the birth of a child. Such means are always futile, when under Destiny a woman is to become a mother.
That night the woman conceived.
Nearly nine months later Tilak received another visit from the beautiful young girl. Modestly, the girl said: "Tomorrow I take physical birth."
"And the Law will be fulfilled," Tilak said quietly.
"I want you to be present at my physical birth."
"I will be present, young friend."
The girl bowed in thankfulness. Tilak blessed the girl, saying: "You will bring happiness to those in physical conditions."
A seven pound baby girl was born to the woman.
[paragraph continues] The baby was placed at the woman's breast. The woman glanced down at the tiny mortal on her arm and smiled happily.
Tilak had written on parchment leaves: Many individuals in earth life believe the father and mother are largely responsible for the birth of a child. The same individuals believe that when a child is born it enters earth life for the first time; that it is the first time the incoming individual has had self-consciousness. These individuals also believe it is possible to prevent the birth of a child. Many individuals believe that after the birth of a child heredity and environment play a most important part in the success or failure of the child's life.
The parents that believe they have brought to life, for the first time, a human soul, also believe that at physical death the soul they have brought to life, for the first time, will go somewhere after physical death. If these beliefs were true, physical life would be full of injustice, and would be without purpose. Destiny works to a purpose, and it is ever constant and exact.
If heredity shaped an individual's qualities and abilities, all members of a family would have equal or similar qualities and abilities. In three generations of a family can be found a preacher, a banker, a robber,
a musician, and a waster. If physical environment determined human characteristics and conduct, all individuals living in a good physical environment would have good characteristics and good conduct. Those living in a good environment have characteristics that differ greatly. One individual will be generous and kind, another mean and avaricious, a third vain and foolish, and a fourth a murderer.
What do the parents really do? The parents present a physical particle covering for an individual that, under a just Destiny, is to again move in earthly life. The form, in the mother's womb, the infant form, is not furnished by either mother or father. The form is focused by the incoming individual's finer form—the finer form used before physical birth. The physical particles but cover the focused finer form. After physical birth the particles receive nourishment from other physical particles, called food. The physical particles covering the infant form multiply, and gradually cover the finer form that is joined to the physical covering by a silver ray or cord. The increasing physical particles continue until the physical form corresponds to the focusing finer form of the incoming individual.
What does the incoming individual bring to earth life? Everything but the physical particles that cover the finer form. The first physical particles are all that the parents contribute to the incoming individual.
What has drawn the incoming individual to a given mother and father? The opportunity to again be placed in earthly life where the individual can accomplish most according to the individual's character and tendencies. Often there have been previous associations with the parents and the incoming individual. All physical lives contribute to the individual's understanding, and prepare the individual for greater service.