The times., 1899-11-13
THEosoPH1cAL CRITICISM.
A Projection of Consciousness Rather
Than Astral Bodies.


President James Albert Clark addressed
the Theosophical Society last night, his
subject being Errors Wrought by Teach
ing Projection of Astral Bodies The lee
turer said at the outset that he would be
criticised by superficial and unsc.entiiC
members of the cult, because in much of
the literature which has circulated in the
name of the society such irrational con-
clusions has crept in because OF a lack OF
understanding on the part Of the earlier
translatOrs of the finer shades of mean ng
OF Sanscrit words. What is taught in the
books OF the sages of the East is trans
mitting OF thought, a projection OF state
of consciousness. in short. he said just
what Prof. Sir William Crookes teaches in
buttressing his system of teiegraphy, and
to which eminent scientists have given
sanction.
This practice, Mr.. Clark said has been
known for centuries in the East by the
magii and the great initiates, and was
strikingly brought to the notice of the Eu-
ropean mind during the nesting in India.
Since then continued tests have corrobor-
ated the ancient teaching and the recent
translations from the SansCrit give such
detailed elaboration as to place the an
cient science at one with the researches
in the psychological realm of science Of
our day
The loosely used phrase astral body, -
said the speaker, has to cover every kind
of phantasmal or spiritual appearance of
the human form, and the well directei
jest that theosophists are the on'y peeps e
who can be in two places at the same time
would be we'll merited If such teachings
were allowed to continue.
g,f( lFrgr1
ber' aimed TO make book that would
sell and by panderng to the eternal
gullible he succeeded at the risk of build
ing the greatest marvel on astral bodies
yet conceived in the fertile imagination
of any novelist of our day"
From diagrams prepared by the lecturer
the lines of force as stated by Faraday
in the study of magnetism were exhibited
to illustrate the lecture, as was also the
table OF vibrations compiled by Sir VIII
liam Crookes for his inaugural address as
President OF the Society OF Psychical Re
search. The aim of these object lessons
was TO SHOW that forecasts but requires
a medium upon which 10 act.
In the case in point" said Mr.. Clark,
man is the actor, for man comes from
the Sanscrit word manas TO think.
Therefore, II is the thinker who is pro-
jecting his thought upon the medium
'akasa' which IS the Sanscrlt word for
| matter Our science in the Occident starts
at spirit matter The science of the Orient
is exactly similar starting from Atma-
Aksa. 1t is Atma the force or spirit,
which is acting on the medium akasa-
which is matter The teachers who so un 2
| scientifically postuIate the projection OF
| astral bodies have uuwittingly confounded
the force which acts with the medium
upon which that force acts. When such
irrational reading is eliminated from
the theosophical cult, then theosophy may
claim right to such a definition as was
given by Prof Max Muller of thecsophy,
as that system of thought so well known
to the Christian fathers expressing the
highest knowledge OF the Infinite TO whl,h
the human mind can reach. but this same
Max Muller declares that such system
doss not necessarily include table-rap-
| ping, uniEtalligible hypothesis weld and
nncauny traditions aud fables.