The Equinox (Volume III, Number I)

THE EQUINOX 89. On Sowan’s Path, O Srotapatti, thou art secure. Aye (), on that Marga, where nought but darkness meets the weary pilgrim, where torn by thorns the hands drip blood, the feet are cut by sharp, unyielding flints, and Mara wields his strongest arms—there lies a great reward imme- diately beyond. It is not at all clear to what stage of the Path this refers. In verse 91 it appears to refer to the Dhyana Path, but the Dhyana Path has been described in entirely different terms in verses 71 to 73, and it is certainly a quite bad description of the condition of Srotapatti. I think the tragic note is struck for effect. Damn all these tortures and rewards! Has the Narjol no manhood at all? 90. Calm and unmoved the Pilgrim glideth up the stream that to Nirvana leads. He knoweth that the more his feet will bleed, the whiter will himself be washed. He knoweth well that after seven short and fleeting births Nirvana will be his. Here is again a totally un-Buddhistic description. It appears to me rather a paraphrase of the well-known “Sweeping through the gates of the New Jerusalem, Washed in the Blood of the Lamb.” gt. Such is the Dhyana Path, the haven of the Yogi, the blessed goal that Srotépattis crave. Again the confusion of the attainment of the Student with regard to spiritual experience, and his attainment with re- gard to his grade. There is connection between these, but it is not a close and invariable one. A man might get quite a lot of Samadhi, and still be many lives away from Srotapatti. 128