BEYOND THE HIMALAYAS
CHAPTER SIX
At the festival of Yangtang Monastery I met Geshi Malapa of the Gonsaka Monastery and Geshi Tung La of the Takohu Monastery, both charming fellows and well versed in their respective sciences. They could also speak Hindustani, which seemed to be their second language. I was glad, because I could carry on a conversation necessary to understand their instructions to me on each of their respective sciences.
I persuaded Geshi Dar Tsang to come with me. He was pleased that I asked him, for he wanted to see the progress of both Geshi Malapa's and Geshi Tung La's chelas. There was a strong bond among the three of them, and they had a companionable contest to see whose chelas had made the most progress.
So the next day we made our way to Gonsaka. I was given one of the abbot's rooms. He was at Ganden Monastery, going through a revised course in medicine. This course, I was told, included physiology, physics, botany, and science of the mind. It is in no way comparable with our Western curriculum, being much more crude in some ways, yet much more advanced in others.
Geshi Malapa said that he took his name from the great saint Malarepa who lived to a great age and composed over 100,000 verses revealing his secret knowledge. Malarepa was known as the great miracle worker. His best known feat was to fly to the summit of Mount Kailas by means of levitation in order to demonstrate to the people there that the faith and knowledge he possessed were greater than that of the Bon priests who failed to accomplish such a feat. Hence schools and colleges were formed for the purpose of studying and developing these miraculous powers, and for many years lamas taught by him developed great powers and were credited with mighty miracles. Malapa said that the Gonsaka Monastery was once one of these colleges but was now turned into a monastery, "hence I took on the name Malapa, an abbreviation of Malarepa."
It was Malarepa's powers that sustained him when he was cut off by the deep snows and glaciers of Mount Everest during the winter.
"First of all," said Malapa, "my pupils must learn levitation through the practice of special breathing exercises. The body then becomes light; sometimes bodies become so light that they have to be weighed down to prevent their floating away."
I said that I had seen levitation in India but he laughed and declared that was child's play.
"First of all," he said, "I take a raw boy lama over fourteen years but under eighteen years, because the power of the lung-gom-pa is obtained only after a long course of probationary exercises. The breathing must be carefully regulated; the devotee must have perfect control of his mind and body. The body must be completely motionless, also there must be the ability to sink into a deep trance which enables him to use inner forces, thereby reversing the polarity at will.
I said: "I understand from Yoga that, as the free energy in the atmosphere is pumped into the body through certain breathing exercises, the body becomes light, so that at will it can be moved in any direction at speed, medium or slow, according to the desired effect required."
"Yes," he affirmed, "the flying lama, or what we call the lung-gom-pa, is an astounding person. He goes into a trance, and some people believe that the body is inhabited by a spirit, but that is not so.
"After a long period of exercises, gravitation is overcome because the air, being lighter, saturates the body and makes it buoyant, and then the polarity is reversed. By this means the lung-gom-pa moves at great speed over long distances, over mountains and valleys, without fatigue. Fatigue is brought about by the force of gravity when one has to make an effort to move the body because it is attracted to the earth.
"The lung-gom-pa takes a direct line to his destination, and the speed up the mountains and across the valleys is not altered. He goes up the mountains as fast as he goes along the plains, and more than one hundred miles can be covered in a day, and one lung-gom-pa whom I know can cover even a greater distance.
"The fact that there are few of us is borne out by the fact that it takes a long time to accomplish the art - many try but few succeed - because it is perhaps the most difficult of all the occult Sciences."
I remarked that it would be most interesting to witness this marvellous feat.
He said: "You are more than fortunate to witness it, and it is because Geshi Rimpoche, whom we reverence, asked that you should be given the opportunity."
I said: "I have no intention of trying to master this Science, for I have not the time - you see, my work is healing, but the privilege that I may know how it is done, and am allowed to see it, will help me in my own work."
"Then in the morning we will go to our practice ground, which is guarded while we exercise, and there you will be able to witness the lung-gom-pa."
So the next morning we went down to the secluded valley which was behind another range of smaller mountains, where there was a long flat area. Geshi Malapa had only three chelas. He said that three were enough to teach in one lifetime.
I watched the three chelas being instructed how to breathe. They had been practising for the last ten years, Malapa told me.
Three mounds of earth were built up into cones, and the chelas would sit cross-legged in Buddha fashion. Gradually they would rise off the ground, reach above the cone-shaped mound, and gradually come down upon the top. This was done several times, and then they stood on their feet - this was the most difficult part. Gradually they rose off the ground, one foot placed before the other; and by a series of rhythmic bounds, their eyes gazing into the distance, they moved as if their feet hardly touched the ground, and at a great pace they bounded about twenty feet in one step. It was a thrilling experience to witness this (few have seen the lung-gom-pa).
I was then given instruction and I felt as if my body was becoming light . . .
As my time was getting limited I moved on to Takohu Monastery, accompanied by Geshi Dar Tsang, and we received a cordial welcome from Geshi Tung La. His science was the art of reading the mind, otherwise known as telepathy.
Telepathy interested me very much, for here was something that I could use with effect in my own healing work, and I lost no time in getting down to real practice.
I developed an amazing power to read Geshi Tung La's mind, perhaps because we were very much in tune with each other, and I was so interested in the work that I fell into it naturally. While he spoke in Tibetan I spoke in Hindustani, to help to form our thoughts. I found it very simple - it came to me without effort.
Geshi Tung La's explanation to me was like this: Thoughts make waves in the ether similar to radio waves. It is common knowledge that there is a multiple number of radio waves in the ether at the same time, and not one interferes with the other. These invisible radio waves become audible when you have an instrument to receive them. They are modified and transformed back into sound.
"Now," said Tung La, "man also has a broadcasting and a receiving set. The pituitary gland is the projecting organ, and the pineal gland is the receiving organ. Thought waves are sent out by one person to another person who, if he be in tune, will receive them. This must be done without effort. At the receiving end you must not try to interpret consciously; you must allow the feeling to come into the mind. This feeling is transformed into thought and you begin to know what is received.
"It is a sort of feeling, not really thinking, for thinking sets in motion the pituitary gland and this distorts the receiving mechanism of the pineal gland."
I found that this was true. When I tried to think what he was saying in Tibetan I could not get it completely, but, when I did not try, the whole formation of his thoughts was "received."
Tung La said: "You are a natural born receiver. Because you are a medium you speak from inspiration; you just speak without thinking!"
I replied: "That is perfectly true. If I thought what I was going to say, I would find myself floundering; but when I just speak as I feel, and feel as I speak, the flow is perfect."
"That is correct," he told me. "You do not need any instruction in telepathy, as you are a born medium for it. There are many like you - but few have found it out."
I was pleased to hear his confirmation that I was a natural medium; I was reading the minds of others all the time, though I did not know it.
As I have already mentioned, I have healed people all over the world, many of whom could not speak a word of my language, nor I of theirs. When they spoke I took no heed of what they were saying but I got a clear picture of their complaint. Intuition, call it what you like, the fact that I knew what was in their minds, proved I could read their thought-feelings. In point of fact, their thoughts and feelings were transferred to me, and I could feel what they felt, according to their thought-feelings.
I could tell if they were sincere or not, I would know if they liked me or not, I knew if they were doubtful or full of fear. All the shades of their thought-feelings were to me quite clear.
Anyway, I witnessed the pupils, over twenty in number, practising sending messages to one another. They were changed about, until he found the best pairs. The accuracy of their projecting and receiving was astounding.
Firstly, the projector would write a letter of the alphabet or a number on a board in front of him, and the other with his back to him would write it down.
Then a word would be written, then a sentence, then the projector would read silently out of a book while the receiver would repeat it, and a recorder standing by would write down as the receiver repeated the words. Very seldom did they make a mistake. I thought it was a wonderful demonstration. The distance between them was increased until a range of mountains separated them. It showed that there is no space, that we are not separated.
"Light and sound are carried by the ether waves," said Geshi Tung La, "so is thought and feeling."
I stayed here ten days and a grand friendship sprang up between us. He would speak in Tibetan, and I in Hindustani. We did this in general conversation also, to keep our practice up.
Several years later, in a seance in London, Geshi Tung La came through and spoke to me. He told me that he was still in his earthly body and was helping me in my work, as he had since learned astral travel from the hermit of Ling-Shi-La (of whom I will speak later).
"Yes," I thought, "there are greater things in Heaven and on earth than man has yet dreamed of."
The proof which I now had was conclusive, for nobody but myself knew that Tung La existed.
I often felt the telepathic influence of Geshi Tung La, just as I would feel the influence of other helpers whom I knew, including Geshi Rimpoche and my friend, but it never dawned upon me that Geshi Tung La could leave his body and work in the astral.
These thoughts came back to me from the words he spoke, before I left. He said: "Love is the greatest magnetic force in the world; it is more powerful than the strongest magnet used to magnetise steel. When a piece of steel is magnetised, all the particles arrange themselves into north and south poles, harmonising the whole of the atoms in that piece of steel, and the steel then becomes a magnet itself. So does Love magnetise the etherons and atoms of the soul and body, turning them into a magnet to attract the Cosmic Rays in great abundance, thereby giving expression to the Love of God."
I said to him: "Yes, Jesus said, 'I have come that you may have Life and even more abundant Life.' "
For some time he sat in silence, and then he said: "You speak of the Master Jesus? We have records of him here; he is still with us."
I sat up when he said this, for I knew that He was still the living Christ.
The deep impressions of Tung La's thoughts were made indelible to me; I can still feel the influence of the Love and affection he had for me.
And here let me tell you a truth. You can speak to each other without uttering a word when you are in tune. Try it sometime, and you will be amazed at the wonderful understanding you get. The result will be greater understanding of one another, a deeper feeling of love. It is said, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." It is because the thoughts which you send out to one another are being received.
May I continue to say here a few more words to you of that which I know to be true?
The harmonising of the atoms is based on the fundamental law upon which the function of Life is based - Love. This is the law of the electro-magnetic principle underlying all creation. This principle is the basic power in creation throughout the Universe, not only on this planet but also in all the created Universe. Although it is not the Ultimate, this electro-magnetic principle is the motion in the Universe, and motion is the force that transforms the atoms of invisible matter into various visible forms, and Nature's subtle conductor is the ether.
In ether the blue-print of creation is formed, and motion causes the transformation of the etherons and atoms into form. This same ether remains the foundation of all forms throughout the whole of the electro-magnetic activity. This same rule applies throughout the whole Universe, because there is but one Creator and one creation: both are one and not separate. The Creator and His creation are one.
Ether is the conductor of Creative Thought, which is the most powerful activity, for by It the Universe is built.
I understood this when I was trained to be master of prana yama. To control the prana is to control phenomena and the dynamic forces in mind and body. Therefore, he who loves wins the love of God, but he who hates reaps what he sows.
Before I left Takohu Monastery my friend Tung La presented me with a small Tibetan prayer-wheel which I still have. It has been with me now for seventeen years, and it is fifteen years since I said that I would write this book.
I have been busy ever since, healing all over the world. The last nine years were spent in South Africa and now, while I am on the ship en route to my old home in Scotland for a vacation, I am influenced to write this book, and another will follow soon.
Those who feel that they are guided by a greater force than their own desires know well that all things come at the right moment and not before or after.
This is not fatalism as some may think, but co-operation, a knowing that the Wisdom, the Intelligence that builds and controls the Universe, that same Power, must be in man, for man is the living expression of the Consciousness and Intelligence of God who guides and manifests all things according to His will, God being Infinite in Nature. "Thy will be done, not mine, O Lord."
Now that I have said these few words to you, I will return to my story . . .
As we were wending our way back, Dar Tsang left us when we came to Yangtang, and we kept on the same path, reaching the Chumbi Valley again, exactly three weeks and three days from the time we left.
I went straight to Geshi Rimpoche and told him all that had happened. He asked: "How did you like Tung La?"
I replied: "He comes next to you and my friend in my heart."
Geshi Rimpoche then said: "I have word from him already; he tells me that you are an adept in telepathy, and his regard for you is very strong."
I said: "So is mine for him."
"I am glad," he assured me.
Then I asked: "But how did you hear so soon?"
"Ah," he answered, "messages pass very quickly in Tibet; what you do now is known a hundred miles away in a very short time."
"I have already found that out," I said.
We talked long into the night about what I did and what I had learned, and, when he was satisfied that the journey was not in vain he said: "I am glad indeed at your successful sojourn, but you know it is not the Real. It is right that you should know the occult Sciences, but you realise that Truth is greater than all these things."
I said: "Yes, I do know that and it becomes clearer each day to me," and then I asked: "What about the hermits in the mountains, have they found the Truth?"
"No, my son," he replied, "you cannot find the Truth in the mountain or by the sea, nor by eating carrots, nor by concentrating on your umbilicus all day. Neither will you find it by running away from the world, because you are the world. There is no isolation, that is created only in man's mind, it is the great illusion. It is for this purpose that I have brought you here to make you see the false, then you will know what is the Real and the True. If you do not understand the false yourself, I cannot make you understand. You have been dabbling for years in the occult, that is why I want you to know the Real and the True thoroughly, so that you can be free."
"You will never understand, my son," he continued, "through a belief by mere meditation or suggestions; nor through the occult powers, nor in the future, nor in the past, can it be found, for the past is a memory and the future is hope mingled with fear. All these are of the mind, and Truth is beyond mind."
"Well," I said, "how do we arrive at the Truth?"
He answered: "I can only tell you the ways you cannot arrive at the Truth, and when you have found all the ways by which you cannot arrive at the Truth, you will find the Truth: then it will be yours, and not another's which is but an imitation."
He added: "You will not find it by mere analysis, for this is only digging up the past, and the Truth that sets you free is not of the past. When you see that the process of mere analysis is a false process you will discard it; it will drop from you like all the other false processes."
"What is in your mind," he continued, "is dead; it is not a living thing, but on the other hand Truth is that which is living from moment to moment. It must be discovered, not merely believed in, not to be quoted or formulated in the mind.
"To be alive, that is Truth; to know that you are Life and living every moment of It, that is Truth. To know this, your mind must be alert, aware, with your heart full of Love, free from all that is false; that is Truth."
"Most people," he went on, "do not want to be alive; they want to be put to sleep to escape the world, they do not want to face up to things; like children they want to hide behind their mother's apron strings, to shelter from the storm - and what is the storm? Is it not our relationship with one another? We must be conscious of that relationship every moment. But if I treat you like a piece of furniture there is no relationship between us. There is only true relationship when we understand ourselves; only then can there be freedom, and in freedom only is Truth revealed."
"If you love me and hate another can you," he asked, "claim to know the Truth? If you are kind to me and unkind to another, can you say that you are a kind person? Is it not the height of contradiction?"
I told him: "I have never seen it like this before."
"No, my son," he said, "that is because you did not understand yourself, your thoughts, your motives, your feelings, your cravings and from where and how they arose.
"When you get rid of all the things of the self, then only is the Truth known. It is only these false things that are preventing the Truth from flourishing in you. If your action is the contradiction of the Truth, how can you claim the Truth?"
"Then," he went on, "if you are influenced by your experience, by what is in your mind, you cannot give expression to that which is beyond your mind; you will be giving expression only to what is in your mind. What is in your mind is not the Truth. If your actions come merely from your experience, then the Truth is not in you. But if your actions arise from loving your neighbour as yourself, you will give expression to the Truth."
"Do you think that I am chastising you, my son?" he asked, gently . . . "Far from it, because my love for you is greater than for myself. You can now see that if the Truth you know is built upon what you have seen, heard, or read, then it will be superficial. In discovering the Truth you must search your mind to see what is false, and anything that you hold in your mind about the Truth is not the Truth. You become only a mere gramophone changing the records. You must become the musician and the music at the same time, not merely listening to another. Therefore, my son," he said, "you must understand the creations of the mind in reaction to others, to things external. You must see the falseness of these creations, for they are but ashes, not the Living Truth which cannot be destroyed, perverted, because It is not put together by the mind."
After he said this he remained silent - and I was silent too . . . Yes, my mind had undergone a change in that short space of time. What I had learned had passed into the background and Reality came to the fore. It was a queer feeling, similar to the one I had before, but it was stronger, a silence that was deeper; in a flash everything that I had read or heard of the Truth seemed to dissolve away. In that deep silence I knew, I did not know what it was, but I knew with a greater depth than ever before that I was the Truth, I was the Living Truth Now, and nothing could destroy It, nor could anything destroy me, nothing could pervert the Truth. It was my own, not another's, Truth.
From here I could go on. I knew then that from that very moment I could go further, without effort or struggle. Previously the Truth was much to me a mental concept, and I could not face this fact because I did not want to let go of what I thought was true. But now I could face any fact, no matter what it was, good, bad or indifferent. I knew it could not alter the Truth - the Living Truth - that I knew myself to Be, and I knew that the Love that created me, created all. This was the Power given to man in heaven and on earth.
My thinking merged into the Silence from which arises Creative Thought, and as my confused thoughts dissolved away into nothingness I realised that which was not a mental concept. I had reached the Silence in which there was Perfect Love - beyond the human conception of Love.
This was not a dead silence as if I had been put to sleep, or a silence that I had created myself; it was a silence when all confused thought, even thinking, ceased, and in that quiet, when the external no longer bound me, I found the creativeness, that is Eternal and Ever-present, and I knew I was one with It. It was mine Now and forever, and nobody could take It away from me. Love was the creative Power within all creation, because God is Love and all are One with Him, because there is none other than He . . .
It was Geshi Rimpoche who broke the silence. "Let us go out and see the sun set, my son," he said.
I replied that I would like to do so; a sunset has never ceased to give me a thrill.
"It is a different sunset every night," I remarked.
"Yes," he answered, "I have looked at the sun setting and rising for many years now, and no two have ever been the same. It is the variety of the One Life, my son. You and I are of the same Life; the only difference is variety. When we understand variety we will know that 'One' alone is behind it all."
Nothing uplifted me more than the words of Geshi Rimpoche; they had the effect of transforming my whole nature. It was not an intellectual knowing, but a deeper understanding and transformation that was taking place. I had found the source and I was content, content now to go on. There was now no more searching or struggling; my searching and struggling to know what Truth was, had come to an end.
It was a moving onwards now that was necessary, and all that I would hear, see and feel, I knew would help me as it never did before; for while I thought before what was real, I now knew that it was not the Real - the "Uncreated" alone was Real and creative, and not the created. This I knew, and what came after, although astounding, to say the very least, did not trouble me even if I did not know the "Why," for now I knew the cause behind all things, great or small, and I was one with it: it could not be otherwise, God being Infinite in Nature, and therefore there was no finite Being separate from the Infinite, for that would be impossible.
Afterwards, we had supper which had been specially prepared for my taste (chicken and roast potatoes) that previous similar meal that I have mentioned, had sunk into my subconscious because the relish in eating it when I was extremely hungry and having it in the open air, had given me physical satisfaction.
Then I said to Geshi Rimpoche: "I would like to hear first-hand from you about the people of Tibet, their habits and so forth - anything that you kindly tell me will be of great personal interest, because my stay is necessarily short and my impressions of so vast a country must tend to be superficial."
"Yes, my son, you get my thoughts; I wanted to tell you something of the people and their habits, so that as you go along you will be better prepared to acquire the knowledge you would not otherwise get. But aren't you tired?" he asked.
"No," I replied, "an hour of this information from you would be very satisfying."
Then he said: "You have already found, I am sure, that the Tibetan people are a happy type."
"Yes," I agreed, "they are always laughing, especially the women I have met."
"Oh yes," he said, "they would be laughing, probably because they would like you for a husband, because of your being different from their own people."
I said: "I found that so. When we met about a dozen girls as we came into Yatung they started talking and laughing among themselves, and I asked my interpreter what they were saying. He told me that they were saying among themselves, 'nice husband.' One would say 'Mine', and another would say 'Mine', and they would all laugh heartily."
"Yes," he went on, "some of our people practise polyandry, but this is fast dying out. Polyandry, as you know, means that the wife has more than one husband. If she marries the eldest son she accepts the younger sons in the family as well, and nobody knows who is the father of the children; the younger sons are called uncles. But if she marries the youngest son he becomes her only husband."
"But," I remarked, "there seem to be many more women than men."
"Yes," he agreed, "but that does not prevent them practising polyandry. Polygamy is practised too: some of the richer class have more than one wife, but this is also dying out."
"The infant mortality," he continued, "in Tibet is very high. Many of the mothers and babes die of the severe cold. In the outlying parts of Tibet when a lama doctor is not at hand the husband or neighbour becomes midwife. Sanitary arrangements are very crude, and a baby is lucky to get a bath - the baby is generally rubbed over with yak butter."
I remarked: "I suppose you have done a bit of midwifery in your time?"
"Oh yes, many times. In fact I got quite expert at it in my district," and he continued: "You can appreciate what hardships the mothers go through having children, for it is difficult enough to get fuel for cooking, let alone for heating water for a bath. Those who live near the woodline are more fortunate in being able to get wood, but they are more snowbound in the winter. So there is compensation both ways. Very seldom does a mother stay more than a day or so in bed."
I remarked: "I see a lot of girls hang about the monastery."
"Yes," answered Geshi Rimpoche, "although the lamas take a vow of celibacy some do not keep to the role. In fact the abbots do not seem to care, and many of the children you see do not know who their father is. But Tibetans are passionately fond of children and, when a girl marries and has a child beforehand, the husband takes the child as his own; it bears his name and henceforth is known as his child."
I said: "That is very generous."
"Well," he commented, "the people here do not look upon sex as you do in the West; they are happier as a result."
"Are there any divorces or anything like that?" I asked.
"Oh no," he said, "the lamas see to that," and he added: "It is very desirable that a male child is born into the family, especially when an estate is concerned. There is one man I know who married three sisters in the one family before he got a male child."
"Does he still keep the three wives?"
"Oh yes," he replied, "that is the rule."
"And they do not fight?"
"No, when people are brought up in this way they take it as a matter of course."
"It would not do for women in the West," I remarked.
"No," he said, "but one does not know what the other is doing in the West, while they do know here, and it is that which makes all the difference."
"Quite a thought!" I said.
"There are cases where the father and the son have married the same woman, when the woman was not the son's mother."
"Oh," I exclaimed, "that is strange."
"Yes," he said, "but it does not often happen."
"In polyandrous marriages," he continued, "the wife exercises great control over her household, for women have much influence in Tibet, both in the home and in business. They are exceedingly charming to meet, and very pleasing in their manner. They have an easy freedom that is not found in other parts of the world. Unlike the wives and daughters of other Asiatics, they always join visitors at tea and in fact are capable in looking after the husband's affairs. There are a great number of women traders in the towns and villages, and they are every bit as good as the man and many much better."
"In the West," I said, "they are getting that way too."
"The peasant women," he went on, "labour in the fields, attending to the ploughing and to the work on the land just as efficiently as the men. In fact the women are equal in every respect to their male folk."
"Men and women," he continued, "very seldom display jealousy when husbands or wives display interest in another, and it is considered no disgrace for a girl to have a child before marriage."
I said, "How do they manage to arrange these polyandrous marriages?"
"Well," he replied, "the husband that is in the room with the wife leaves his boots outside the door." We both laughed at this.
I said: "That is a good arrangement anyhow, but I do not think it would do in the West. Neither polygamy nor polyandry would be tolerated. In fact, it is against the law to have two wives or two husbands."
"Yes," he replied, "I know that, for I have travelled in many countries in my younger days. You see my father was a Maharajah and I was sent to an English school in India. It was then that I met the Yogi who gave me an insight into the mysteries of Life. He advised me to see the world and understand it. I was a capable student and became an abbot, that is, a teacher in a Tibetan monastery. I have learned most of the occult Sciences including Tumo."
"Yes, I heard that you were Master of Tumo as well."
"Yes," he said, "The powers of man are hidden from the unenlightened, and it is by the wisdom of the Creator that only those who have the understanding can use them."
"Yes," I told him, "I am grateful for the opportunity of being taught by the masters of the various occult Sciences, and all this is due to your great interest in me."
When I said this he looked upon me as a father would look upon a son he loved.
Time passed quickly and it was almost midnight.
"Now," he said "you must retire. I will tell you more about the Tibetan people tomorrow, but you will see much for yourself on your way to Ok Valley. You know your friend is waiting for you there, and you must leave Lingmatang soon."
"I have grown to like Lingmatang; I feel it is my home," I said.
"It is," he said, "it is your home any time you want to come; the door will always be open to you."
This was grand to hear from such a great sage as Geshi Rimpoche, for it was sincere. I felt happy and turned in for the remainder of the hours left for rest, looking forward to what the dawn would bring.
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