The Invisible Influence
By Alexander Cannon
Chapter XI
The Way to the Abode of Learning and Love
A STORM arose as we departed from the mysterious cave dwelling, whose maker we knew not, and whose previous inhabitants no one could tell.
There was now only the Sage and myself, together with the chief boy and the house boy; apart from some coolies who assisted in the carrying of our baggage.
We had not left more than a quarter of the hour, when we were drenched to the skin. The journey seemed impossible, but we pressed onward; for once we have made up our mind to achieve a certain goal, nothing on this earth can stop us. But in fact, it was our fate which led us on to victory.
Towards the end of two hours (for we could not walk faster than two and a half miles an hour over this rugged ground, with our baggage), we came to the river, which lay some three hundred feet below our eyes. On the other side, quite fifty feet apart, could be seen our friend the Knight Commander, in glowing scarlet robes, on horseback, with his one arm, looking towards us.
He soon gave us instructions as to how we should cross this gulf, by the practising of the levitation and transportation phenomena in which we had, ere this, become adept in its perfect manipulation.
Within the course of a few hours we had made our bodily state fit to allow of this great miraculous transportation phenomenon taking place by pure mental effort; and in another moment of time we were both landed safely on the other side: but our boys and luggage still remained on yonder side. We were then requested to command the boys to return with our luggage to the cave dwelling, five miles distant, and to await our return, some weeks hence. The Knight Commander said, "Now you will require no treasure and no more clothes; for now we can materialize all that is needed for the support of the human frail frame of mankind."
We journeyed for some further seven hours, all on horseback; for two horses were suddenly provided for us, by what appeared to be superhuman means.
It was as the sun was setting in the far West, that we arrived, in beautiful weather (having long since forgotten our terrible journey on the other side of the gulf), at the gate to the most sacred of all Monasteries, the Great Lhama Convent. As we approached, the gates were flung open; the hands which opened them being invisible: we now dismounted, and [147] climbed up the nature-made stairs to the door which led into this beautiful palace of knowledge, where we were to learn the secret of life.
Having gained admission, and been given a warm welcome, we were shown to our rooms, which consisted of stone beds, stone walls, earth floor, no windows, but mere openings in the walls; and in spite of the frost outside, which our eyes could discern, our bodies felt warm and comfortable and we soon fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning we arose at sunrise, as was the custom, just as it was customary to retire at sundown. We were given a good solid meal, and were informed that at dusk, that evening, we should not retire as was usual, but should then meet the Great Lhama. All day long our thoughts were full of ideas as to what we should see and learn; and what our fate would be.
Then came the evening; having dined both well and wisely, we were taken to a grand hall, after wending our way through many subterranean passages, all lit dimly by the light of burning oil and torches, the smell of which was far from pleasant, until one accustomed oneself to it.
As we entered the innermost room of all, the Grand Hall, there at the East end at a beautiful golden standard and throne, stood the Great Lhama himself. A strange feeling crept over us as our eyes discerned him, for [148] there was a bluish emanation of about three inches thickness covering the surface of his body; in fact a visible aura, which mediums always speak of, when they behold a person during the trance state. We could see no one else but the Great God of Learning and Love; although we could hear music in the air, and the sweet chanting of melodious songs. As we approached, the Great Lhama arose from his throne in honour of our visit, and bowed most graciously; after which we were to sit, the Sage on his left hand and I on his right. Then entered a host of monks carrying huge flaming torches ; and they having seated themselves in a large circle, for the room was round, still continued to chant; the Great Lhama prayed, and at that moment eight men entered carrying a huge heavy stone coffin; which stone covering-slab did they remove ; and behold we saw one who appeared to be dead. I was given the privilege of going down from the golden standard and examining the body. There was no pulse, no audible heart-beats; the body was stone cold, and the eyes were as one dead for more than one day. I tested the absence of breath by means of a mirror which did not steam, and the body lay lifeless as in the grave. Then the Great Lhama uttered words in a language which was strange, and behold the eyes of the corpse opened; the body gradually sat up in its tomb, and then assisted by two monks, it walked towards the Great Lhama, bowed, [149] and returned to its coffin, not for one moment taking its eyes off the Greatest of all Sages; and in a few more minutes the body once more lay lifeless.
I mused to myself as to how this was done. Was the man really dead, or was he in a trance state such as the Fakirs (Fack-ee-ers) of India can produce and have then buried in the earth for as long as nine months, in extreme cases. I had frequently seen the Fakir (which is a name given to a Yoga Sect also by the general public of India although really the Fakir is a Mahomedan and the Yogi is a Hindoo or Brahman or Bramin) control his circulatory system so that the right pulse would be 90, the left pulse 60, and the heart-beat 75 per minute. By an act of will he could make an arm go dead. By a further act of will he could control his breathing until it was not perceptible to ordinary means of investigation; and in this insensible state, he could remain for hours, days, weeks, and even months, buried in the earth: after such a long period he could again awaken. I well remember how the Yogi first practised concentration, by either looking at the tip of his nose or his umbilicus, for hours on end, until he could see nothing else and think of nothing else: in other words he had gained complete command of his power of directing thought. Next he would concentrate on his internal organs, until he could even reverse the act of peristalsis without producing [150] colic in the bowel. Then, he would learn to control his heart-beats until he could just only allow his heart to beat perceptibly at a few beats per minute. Having perfected himself in these masteries of mind over the body, he then learns to "swallow his tongue" so that his tongue falls backwards and completely blocks up the air passages. He has previously, by command, made the wish to his unconscious self, that he shall now remain buried for a long period during which he requires no food and does not develop acidosis; and his body does not materially wither. He has also, just prior to swallowing his tongue, pressed his two fists, half-way between his Adam's apple and his chin, firmly into the throat; by so doing, momentarily at least, his carotid arteries are blocked; and his hands remain in this position until the "resurrection" some months hence. That the blood does not clot, and that for one hundred and one reasons he does not die, is not short of a miracle.
The Great Lhama having meantime read all my thoughts, told me that what I saw was a cataleptic state far greater than any Fakir could produce, and that in fact this man had been "dead" some seven years: that he would not be raised for another seven years. I was further informed that this man was some hundreds of years old and may live for ever; if "living" it could be called.
I asked the Great Lhama what happened to [151] this man's soul or unconscious mind in the meantime: I was then informed that he visited Mother Earth in various parts taking messages from the Great Lhama, and that in fact he was the Great Knight Commander who had taken on another body with only one arm; this being symbolic of the "Order of the Right Hand" in contradistinction to the "Order of the Left Hand," which was the evil order of Black Magic.
Whilst the assembly were still singing or rather chanting melodious music, the like of which I had never heard before, the Great Lhama told me of the evil doing of this "Order of the Left Hand" against which they battled so violently.
He said: "Witness thou that a great and famous judge of the Occident did nearly seven years ago visit a foreign land under an assumed name. There did he get at loggerheads with a man who was in reality a great black magician; when the famous judge was departing, this great servant of the underworld threatened, 'In seven years from this very day shalt thy body be no more: a gun of old order shall fire thee out of existence at my command; and thou shalt die in disgrace, for the world shall not know that it was not really thy hand which took thy life but my invisible hand, from the great underworld: thou wilt see the meaning of this soon!'" And so it came to pass that exactly seven years from that very day did the [152] papers of the Occident blaze forth with the lamentable news that a great judge had committed suicide. This was indeed no suicide; the eminent gentleman being of sound mind and great judgement, and a man who would no more think of taking his life than attempting to jump over the moon. It was indeed the hand of the great black magician, which Occidentals scoff at and imply that it is only a thought of the madman: nevertheless let him be warned who scoffs at these things, lest he also fall a victim to like fate. For fourteen days prior to his death, was this great gentleman awakened by a vision of two eyes, each morning at two of the clock. I was aware of this fact and assured that great man that it was of no import. This judgement was wrong; for those were the eyes of the black magician who had kept his word: he had evoked the Angel of Death, the black rider on the black and fiery steed, who carried a fiery sword. I had forgotten the Great Lhama's warning; which was again telepathized after the event: "Why didst thou not tell him to be hypnotized so that the evil power could be kept at bay and he could be saved from an undue termination of his fleeting earthly life? He was a great man and would have helped thee much in this world, but although his life is now beyond the grave he yet lives to assist thee in thine efforts which are great and will in due time bring to all men, as well as to thyself, a great reward."
Then in words which were forceful and slow, in an undertone, the Great Lhama now turned to me and said, "Fear not any man; fear not thineself; remember that fear is failure and the forerunner of failure. Be thou therefore without fear, for in the heart of the coward virtue abideth not. Thou hast known me. Pass thou on!"
I then passed out of his midst, having shaken hands, and having bade him, as he did me: fare thee well!
On returning through the long and winding passage of this great subterranean Lhama Convent; for it was more subterranean than above the ground; I at last entered my room and there found the Sage, who had preceded me by only a few minutes.
I first questioned the Sage as to the aura which I discerned encircling the whole body of the Great Lhama.
"Ah!" said the Sage, "everyone has an aura, and it varies in different people. By it, one can tell whether a person is ill or well; whether a woman is pregnant or not; whether a person suffers from epilepsy or hysteria. A man can at once be distinguished from a woman by the aura alone. A Medium or one in an hypnotic trance can see the aura immediately adjacent to the skin, for there are three auras to every person: the Medium rightly or wrongly calls this innermost aura of all, the ectoplasm, as she believes it is a real materialized substance; [154] but a doctor named Kilner who is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, did extensive experiments, which he published in 1911, showing that in the waking state, by the use of different colours, such as yellow, blue, red, and green, auras can be seen, by standing the patient stripped, with a black background; and first looking intently at a colour, say the yellow keeping the eyes focussed carefully and continually for some time on a spot in the middle of the yellow colour, until the complimentary colour blue appears around the yellow and is very vivid and persistent. Then, the experimenter immediately looks at the patient when the aura can be clearly seen. By the use of the different colours three different auras can be made out; and the middle aura is the one that is the best guide to diseased states. Where there is disease the middle aura becomes deficient, and the inner aura actually shows a spotted appearance. In this way gastric ulcer, tuberculosis of the lungs, diseased kidneys and the like can be readily diagnosed without having laid hands upon the patient. The aura of the epileptic is always lopsided to the right; the aura being greater on the right than on the left; and the hysterical subject has an increased aura over the small of the back; whilst the pregnant woman shows a marked increase of aura over the breasts and the lower part of the abdomen. The aura of a man follows the contour of his body; whereas in a full-grown woman, the [155] aura does not follow the contour of the body, but after leaving the head, it more or less becomes like an oblong, until it reaches the knees, when the aura again follows the contour of the body. Kilner used to employ tinted blue-coloured glasses and his work is of great scientific import and worthy of further consideration by all men of science.
"Now I can make you see an aura, and anyone can do likewise by just sitting or standing with a light shining upon the observer's face, from an angle of about thirty degrees in front of, to the side, and above the level of his eyes; and looking straight in front of him, at the subject, some three or four feet away in an ordinary room the darker the wall the better and black being the perfect colour to throw out the aura. One then sees a sort of halo or mist covering the surface of the clothes and face, and it can be noted to vary slightly in each individual. The more the observer can relax the accommodation of the eyes, so as not to look at his subject, but peer into space the clearer will the phenomenon be seen. Now some will argue that this might be due to lack of accommodation of the eye muscles, and to be merely an optical illusion; but against this are many factors, such as seeing the aura greatly increased to the right side in all cases of epilepsy, and greatly increased in the small of the back in all cases of hysteria; and so forth."
"Well," I said, "and how do you account for this aura: what actually is it, in scientific language?"
The Sage smiled, and continued: "We can obtain the same phenomenon from any inanimate object which is electrified or magnetized: for instance, a magnet will show the same type of glow; being blue as in the human body by the colour methods, but of a yellowish tinge by the reflected light method, owing to the persistence of the yellow rays upon the retina making the aura to be interpreted in terms of yellow, instead of its true blue. It is therefore reasonable to assume that this aura is actual magnetic force emanating from the body and from the magnet, and this has been endorsed by Dr. Joire's psychometer which records at a distance of a few inches the magnetic force of the individual tested. Some might argue that it was a difference in air pressure, due to the nearness of the hand to the instrument which causes the deflection of the pointer; but this can be ignored as the instrument is encased in an air-tight glass case.
"In cases of mental deficiency and gross mental disorder the aura changes from a blue colour to a grey colour. Why? — we don't yet know; but this is an established observation. It is further interesting to note that these aurae can actually deflect the infra-red rays: this has been recently proved by eminent men of science including Lord Charles Hope, Lord Rayleigh, [157] Dr. Fraser-Harris, Mr. Gregory of London University, Dr. William Brown, Mr. Gerald Heard, Mr. Herbert, Dr. Wheeler Robinson and others.
"When one comes to think of all these phenomena which are proved and yet of which the average medical man is ignorant, it makes one realize that human intelligence is frail and finite, whereas life is infinite."
The weeks had passed, and it was now time to make our way back to the river, where we should once more, by the transportation phenomenon, cross the gulf between the great Lhama Convent and the cave dwelling: soon all this was done and once more we rested awhile in our cave dwelling.
Some days later we again left the cave dwelling and made our way, after many days, through the Himalayas; and after many more days of travel we reached the village of Duduan in India. Here there was great excitement, for it had been rumoured that we had come from the Great Gods of Thibet, but it was in fact for us to be entranced; for a great Fakir had come and had dug a great trench so that it extended more than a quarter of a mile: this did he and the other inhabitants of this village fill with wood and material that would burn; and threw on this, coal and a multitude of ashes and it did blaze like a furnace. One had to stand afar off, so great was the heat thereof. All this time the Fakir chanted [158] through the Mohamedan prayers and asked those who would follow him to do the same. As the fire burnt down (many having thrown in their handkerchiefs in order to test the reality of the fire and that it was no illusion of the senses), and the ashes shone red with heat, then did the Fakir proceed to walk barefooted upon the ashes which still shone brightly. He proceeded with footsteps that were slow and resolute, taking some ten minutes to walk on the ashes the whole length of the trench. He then came along and showed us that not one blister was there, nor any soreness or pain in his feet. He implored others to follow him with either bare, or stockinged feet but that all boots should be removed. Only those who really believed and faithfully repeated the prayers after him should follow him! The Commissioner, the Collector, Police Chief and many others did follow him walking on the red-hot ashes; and not one of them either had blisters or holes in their stockings for the heat had had no power upon them, and was unable to even burn one single hole in the stocking: no one even felt the heat who partook in this religious ceremony of the East.
The next day a sensational trial was held concerning the kidnapping and murder of a companion, by some Jews, for sacrificial purposes. Some of the children, most of whom were either Christian or Hindoo, swore to the kidnapping and murder by these Jews. The [159] idea had been suggested to them so imperatively that they believed in the reality.
Imaginative children are often punished for lying when their only fault is self-deception. This is a lesson which every parent and teacher should take to heart.
Many barristers are masters in the art of suggestion, and can make a weak witness contradict himself almost at pleasure: they even use the expression, "I suggest."
It can be seen how psychologically, suggestion can be carried still further. The committal of a much-talked-of crime is very likely to be followed by others similar to it, the outcome of imitation and suggestion; and one sees how, after a murder, weak-minded but innocent people often cause much trouble to the authorities by false confession and self-accusation.
We now made our way to the seaport, that we might once more look forward to seeing the shores of dear old England. Our boat sailed from Bombay three days later.
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