It is now very difficult to say what was the real ancient Aryan doctrine.  If an inquirer were to attempt to answer it by an analysis and comparison of all the various systems of esotericism prevailing in India, he will soon be lost in a maze of obscurity and uncertainty.  No comparison between our real Brahmanical and the Tibetan esoteric doctrines will be possible unless one ascertains the teachings of that so-called “Aryan doctrine,” and fully comprehends the whole range of the ancient Aryan philosophy.  Kapila’s “Sankhya,” Patanjali’s “Yog philosophy,” the different systems of “Saktaya” philosophy, the various Agamas and Tantras are but branches of it.  There is a doctrine, though, which is their real foundation, and which is sufficient to explain the secrets of these various systems of philosophy and harmonize their teachings.  It probably existed long before the Vedas were compiled, and it was studied by our ancient Rishis in connection with the Hindu scriptures.  It is attributed to one mysterious personage called Maha.*.....

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* The very title of the present chief of the esoteric Himalayan
Brotherhood.—­Ed. Theos.
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The Upanishads and such portions of the Vedas as are not chiefly devoted to the public ceremonials of the ancient Aryans are hardly intelligible without some knowledge of that doctrine.  Even the real significance of the grand ceremonials referred to in the Vedas will not be perfectly apprehended without its light being throw upon them.  The Vedas were perhaps compiled mainly for the use of the priests assisting at public ceremonies, but the grandest conclusions of our real secret doctrine are therein mentioned.  I am informed by persons competent to judge of the matter, that the Vedas have a distinct dual meaning—­one expressed by the literal sense of the words, the other indicated by the metre and the swara (intonation), which are, as it were the life of the Vedas.  Learned Pundits and philologists of course deny that swara has anything to do with philosophy or ancient esoteric doctrines; but the mysterious connection between swara and light is one of its most profound secrets.

Now, it is extremely difficult to show whether the Tibetans derived their doctrine from the ancient Rishis of India, or the ancient Brahrnans learned their occult science from the adepts of Tibet; or, again, whether the adepts of both countries professed originally the same doctrine and derived it from a common source.* If you were to go to the Sramana Balagula, and question some of the Jain Pundits there about the authorship of the Vedas and the origin of the Brahmanical esoteric doctrine, they would probably tell you that the Vedas were composed by Rakshasas** or Daityas, and that the Brahmans had derived their secret knowledge from them.***

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* See Appendix, Note I.

** A kind of demons-devil.