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Parzival, whose desires have as yet given no indication of their presence, has by this time arrived at the wall of the garden. What he beholds is but subsidiary to his main Purpose to retrieve the Holy Spear, yet he, too, stands amazed.
This may be deemed as Parzival's introduction to “The Hall of Learning” as it is called by Madame Blavatsky in “The Voice of the Silence.” Let us turn aside for a moment in order to obtain a clearer idea of just what that term implies. We read in Chapter I, Verses 22-29 as follows:
22.
Three Halls, O weary Pilgrim, lead to the end of toils.
Three halls, O conqueror of
Mara, will bring thee through
three states into the fourth,
and thence into the Seven Worlds,
the Worlds of Rest Eternal.
23. If thou would'st
learn their names, then hearken, and
remember. The name of the first
hall is IGNORANCE—Avidya. It
is the Hall in which thou saw'st
the light, in which thou
livest and shalt die.
Ignorance corresponds to Malkuth and Nepesh (the animal soul), Learning to Tiphareth and Ruach (the Mind), and Wisdom to Binah and Neshamah (the aspiration or Divine Mind).—Fra. O.M.
24.
The name of Hall the second is the Hall of LEARNING. In
it thy soul will find the blossoms
of life, but under every
flower is a serpent coiled.
25. The name of
the third Hall is WISDOM, beyond which
stretch the shoreless waters
of AKSHARA, the indestructible
Fount of Omniscence.
(Akshara is the same as the Great Sea of the Qabalah. It is also the CUP of the GRAIL, as WISDOM is the SPEAR.)
26.
If thou wouldst cross the first Hall safely, let not thy
mind mistake the fires of lust
that burn therein for the sun-
light of life.
27. If thou would'st
cross the second safely, stop not the
fragrance of its stupefying
blossoms inhale. * * *
28. The WISE ONES
tarry not in the pleasure grounds of the
senses.
29. The WISE ONES
heed not the sweet-tongued voices of
illusion.
Enough has been quoted to show the extraordinary correspondences between the “Garden Scene” of the Drama of Parzival with both the Eastern Teachings and those of the Holy Qabalah. But this Drama is not subject to Time or Circumstance.
We left Parzival in a state of wonder upon the wall of Klingsor's Garden. We next find the “Flower Maidens” bemoaning the loss of their lovers —their pleasures—slain by Parzival upon his approach to the Castle and entry to the Garden.
Thye Flower Maidens are easily solaced, however, by the hope that here is a freash pleasure, stronger and more potent than those lost to them. One that will more than take the place of all the others.
In this hope they are deceived for—as in real life—pleasures in time lose their hold (especially if abused) and though we may seek a stronger and more intense form of amusement, our power to enjoy may become dulled and lost to us.
The case in point is somewhat different, however, for the Flower Maidens find that the power to enjoy does not lie with them, for Parzival—with his One Purpose—is not to be turned aside for the sake of lesser pleasures.
Why should he, when by waiting he may gain All instead of a mere partial rapture? Has he not already experienced the Higher form of Ecstasy? The question now arises whether he had realised that this Higher Ecstasy with its Purity and STILLNESS is more to be esteemed than the APPARENT ACTIVITY of the lesser order.
In the Higher forms of Ecstasy characterized by this quality of STILLNESS, the ACTIVITY is in reality SO INTENSE that it appears to CEASE. But the resultant Rapture is in that case more refined and consequently more Powerful than in the Peace which passeth all understanding. Kundry may be said to have so far sought Rest below the Vibration of the RED RAY, while Parzival has found it beyond that of the ULTRA-VIOLET.
And so, when later, Kundry uses all her charms to tempt Parzival, she fails. Her embrace awakens the vibration of the RED RAY in the heart of Parzival and in this he recognizes, sympathetically, the cause of the wound of Amfortas and wherein the latter had failed. For Amfortas had been content to accept LESS than was his DUE, a vibration lower than the one to which his being was capable of responding.
Once the string of the Instrument or of the Bow has been slackened, its power is reduced; once the WILL has become the `will' it needs re-tuning to the Divine or Higher Vibration, but it cannot thus re-tune itself once self-will has usurped the place of SELF-WILL.
In that case the Holy Spear of Will and Wisdom has been replaced by the Sword of Reason. This Sword is both useful and necessary until man has obtained possession of the Holy Spear or become conscious of his true Purpose, (Just as Reason is necessary until we attain to Wisdom and Understanding whereby the Truth is directly perceived without the necessity of inference and deduction) but once the higher faculties have been acquired and the Higher Will recognized as the true guiding Power of our lives, our Purpose must be kept pure and unsullied.
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