The Philosophical Research Soci*cy, Inc.

3910 Los lleliz Blù, - Lot Angeles, Calif .90027 - 663-2167

MANLY P. Hâ,LL @ HENRY L. DRAKE

President - Founder VicePresident

CONTRIBIEORST BULI^ETIN - Febnrery l!r/O

Dear l?f.encls:
We had a qtrÍet tine at
Head.quarters d.rrring the Christ¡r¿s Season. Early Ln Decenber
Dr. bls wlfe Honal, retr¡rned to Incl.la for an fnd.eflnlte stay.
Fra'mrose Bod.erar¡d
Both were sentimental- over their d.eparture and e:çressed. the hope that they ntgbt
return, at least as visLtors, s@e il.ay ln the frrtr:¡e. Tbe Bod.es have been-tn ihe
I¡dted. States for flfteen J¡ea,rs and. bave a cteep appreciatLon for the cor¡ntry, and.
have d.one all tbey coulô to improve relat{onships between the United. States ard.
Eastern natÍons.
A long tine has paseed since f vÍsiteal t¡h,harashtra State (nr¿fa). It is reaehecl
now by the nain line of the Seer¡nclerabad-Bombay Raf.lroad., flre trlp then r¡as not
exceptional-ly pleasant and. every traveLLer had. to have a native boy to carry hfs
bed.il.ing, which flas not provid.ed. by the train. the 3.ad always refemed. to you as
"sahj.b" and. trfecl to take care of your need.s and. d.esÍ.res, but he nas seld.on com-
pletely successfi¡-l, horever. Leavlng the train at Darrlatabad, one reached. the
vllJ.age of ELLora by any mea,ns possible. It was best, b.orrever, to avoid. walking,
as the six-niLe hÍke t¡as only enjoyed by British l,fllltary personnel. Ellora ças
then onLy a vilJ-age with a few huncLrect inhabftants. fhose ¡rho ca,me were clrawn by
the ro¡nance of the great eaves r¡hich are located Just to tbe southrrest of the
cotmurrity. Þrbending along the scarp of a l-ow HIL, these roek hewn templ-es are
ItLentlffecl by the nr¡mbers one to thlrty-four. Natural-ly such structures were of
reJ.lglous use and ln the ease of EJ-[ora they divld.e into three grouBs: Br.rdtlhlst,
BraÏ¡¡nanical a¡¡d. Jain. It 1s beLieved. that the Brrd.ctbist were the earLlest and. nere
excarated. Ín tbe 6th or ?th Centwy A.D. It seems to me that these d.ates must
sometime be revised. and. that the work r¡as d.one at an earlier d.ate than mod.ern
authoritÍes are ¡riIting to aeeept. 1'he BrahnanÍcal- or llÍnd.u caves are said. to be-
long to the L0bh or l-2th Century, wbile those of the Jains folloned. closely after
the ÏIinclu nork.
lbe excar¡atf on of cbapels or sanctwrLes flas not r¡nusual in anclent tLnres. lfe ffr¡d.
butld.ings ln many parts of the rorld. whfch are exbended by excavation"Lnto the nalls
of eLlffs, or prorièed rlth subterranea,n roons. At ELlora the Brrd.d.hfst eaves belong
to the class of Vihara, that f.s, resf.ctences for monks d.uring the ralny season, or
for retirement fbon l¡or1d.ly attacbments. Eacb of the groups of nllora caves ig
elaborateÏy clecorated with appropriate s¡mbols assoclated. wtth the faltbs of the
bufl-d.ers.
 -2-
'Íhe most renarkable buÍ].cling at Ealora
is not actualþ a cave. TÌ¡e KaiLasanath
tenple is a coru¡rlete flee-standl'ing
structure, extremely compllcated and.
most ornate. The rock has been com-
pletely cut away, both externally and'
internally, and. the tenple nol¡ stand's
Ín a three-sided. d.epression left from
the isolation of the sanctuary. Every
part of t'he bullcLing is still part of the
Iiving rock. fts columns, spans and.
towers may be d.escrlbed. as alJ. of one
plece. Sqnething of the wond'er of thÍs
rock-cut teurple can be gathered. frort
a sketch mad.e by James Fergusson about
1BBO.

Accord.ing to scholars with an archÍtectr:ral orlentation, the l(aílasa tenple nas

commerrced. by cutting d.onn three buge trenches in the soJ.lil rock. the sld.e trenches
were about 90 Jrards ln tength, and. the third. treneh r¡trich connected theÍr Ínner end.s
uas 5O yard.s in lengtfr and lO7 feet high. After the trenches had. been finished, a
huge nrass of rock stood isolated from the hiJ-J. to r*rich it belonged. The
great cot¡¡t
oftir" teruple is-about 276 feet in length, s'lth an aver&ge breadth Theof L5l+ feet. I¡x
the front part of the court is a sϡrlne of the sacred bull Nand'i. walls and- aLl
of the a,raiLable ercterior surfaces are deeorated. w:ith figures of the lILndu pantheon
and. seenes from the Ra,malrana and. l'þ.habharata. Some areas have been plastereð over
arrd. paintecl, but mucñffi prasffig-d.Ísappeared.. ï'lre principal. interÍor part
of the KaiLasa is a haII 5? fèet wid.e and 55 feet deep, supported at each cornerfsbyat
nassive square co}.mns, wtrlch heJ-p to bear the welght of the roof. The sh¡ine
the east ãn¿ of thl-s apartment an¿ ls a pJ-ain roon L5 feet square, from whlch the
original objects of worshlp trave been removed, probably by the Moslems.
Tt¡ese caves are a ¡rond.erful testÍmony to the sktJ-l ard. patience of master artisans
and. ded.icated. priests. Perhaps in no other place in IntLia is 1t possible to trace
so clearly the sequenee of rellgious s¡ndcols antL architectr¡ral forms from Bud.d.hlsm
through itit¿ois* to tbe rellgion of the Jains. A vlsit to Ellora is both rerrard.lng
anct orÍenting, and. even the lncreasing strea¡n of tourists ca,nnot d.ininish the wonders
of this remote place.
l{e occasionalLy refer to that phÍlosophical sect that ca.ne into prominance ln the
2nd. an¿ 3rd. Centr:ries of the CbristÍan era r¡nd.er the na¡oe Neo-S¡bhagoreanLsm. lfhe
principai enponents of this system were Mod.eratus of C'ades, ApolLonius of Tlmna,
Ñf"*aãnos of Ge"asa., Numer¡nus and. PkrÍLoetratus. The basic purpose of the Neo-
qrUfrrgo"ean Soeiety was the restoration of the religlous-ethical teachtngs of $¡bhago-
oi Sa¡nos, who fLor¡rlshetl. in the 5th Centr¡ry B.C. No actr.¡a1 d.escent of the the
original. pfbúagorean Scbool- Ls record.ed ancl the Later revlr¡al is separated' frm
"äs
orlginal by over 600 ¡rears.
ttre principal teachlr¡gs of tbe Neo-g¡bhagoreans strees the lsorshlp of a purely_ spÍrit-
rral ãeity, the practiée of ned.itative and. contenplatfve enercises, ard' personal
asceticÍsm.
 3

The Neo-$rbhagoreans, J-ike most of the

later pagan seets, have been frequently
maligned.. They certalnly believed. that
truth was brought to the world by god.ly
men who revealed. the Laws of hr.¡man regen-
eration to mankincl. fhere were also
benevolent spirits, like the angels and.
arehangels of Christendom, wtro guld.ed. anct
proteeted mortals. Such beliefs, though
present ln aIL religious systems, caused.
the Neo-$rbbagoreans to be aecused. of
møgic and. sorcery, as in the case of
Apollonius of lyana. Fabr¡lous historj-es
were comBil-ed. and. the more noble aspeets
of the original teachings were intentionally
d.Ísregard.ecL. Most of the groups that
ffrnctioned. Ín the transition perfod be-
tween the falL of Greek philosophy and. the
rise of Patrfstic phllosophy, which d.e-
veloped from the teachings of St. Augustine,
were subject to abuse a,nd. persecution. It
is d.ue to thÍs intolerance that esoterie
religÍous d.isciplines rrere lost to Western
civilization for nearly fifteen centuries.
A tragic by-product of religious intolerance was the rise of an orthod.oxy that
required. l.lteral aeceptance of sectarLan tlognas. Men ceased to search beneath
the surface of ttrelr creed.s and. this in turn clepríved. the truth seeker of the
keys to an enlfghtened. riay of life. Both $¡bhagoras and. Apollonius of $rana
vtslted Ind.ia, and it is quÍte possÍb1e that they brought baek to Furope much
Eastern rrisd.om, includ.ing the esoterie d.iscfplines of r¿ed.itation and. contempla-
tion. Had these been aceepted. by lfestern nations, most religious lntolerance
cor¡Ld. har¡e been avoicled..

At this ti¡re I uant to especÍally thank the rnany kind. and. thoughtful friencls
who remembered. me thfs Christnas. fhe beautiful card.s they have sent and. the
messages of encouragement enclosed. have been a real source of ccmfort ard. tn-
spiration. I a.n also most appreciatÍve of gifts I have received, ancl wish that
it was posslble to answer every greeting in person. As I cannob, may I take
this opportunity to oçress rq¡ gratitud.e ancl to r¡ish aIL of yor a very happy ancl
neaníngfirl New Year.

Aluays most sincerely,

4-4 r
,I NoN.PRoF'IT oRGANIZATION, FoUNDED IN 1934,.DEDICATED To THE D¡SSEMINATION OF USEFUL KNO\TLEDGE
lN THE FIELDS OF PHILOSOPHY, COMPARATI. RELIGION, irND PSYCHOLOGY
Contrlbutors| BuLletLn - February 1//0
SIECIAÍ, TÛCITICE
FROM OUR BOOK DEPARg¡,fEliT

A number of important and. schoJ-arJ.y vohmes Ln our fieJ.cl.s of interest are now
avalJ.ab1e Ln attractive antl accurate reBrlnts. lþst of those ]i.steð here are
Ínc1ud.ed in l¡h. HaIl'E ].ist of recomend.ed. reading and. have long been rare and.
out of prÍnt. To these have been addetl selected worlcs by outstand.ing nod.ern
authors. fhe Contrlbutors' BulLetln lrl]-l List add.ttfonaL works fn firture issues.
Be sr¡re to read thls page carefuJ-Ly:

TitLes Author Retell-

Drea,m of FollphlS.o Fierze-DavLd. 5.00

Dweller on fi¡o Planets Phylos 8.50
llhe Eartb Ciod.s Gibran, K. 3:%
Ed.ucatLon ard. the Stgnificance of Life I(rlshna¡nurtl 2.50
Eleuels l.Slonas 8.50
Esoteric Astrology ALan Leo 9,rO
ESP I¡î Life and. I¿b touise Rhine (pup"") 1.50
Essays Bacon Z.'t+,
Essays ln Applied. Chrtsttanity Reinholil Nfebr:lr (ptp"t) 2.75
Essays on Falth and. DÍcrals l{m..Ia¡nes (p*pu") z.l+5
Essentials of l,{ystLcism Und.erlrill (paper) 1.50
Essentlal Unfty of AIL Religlons Das Bhagarran (paper ) 2.4'
Ðver¡rrnan and Meclieval MiracJ.e PJ-ays Cawl.ey z.l+j
the Eyid.enee of God. in an ffinncllng thriverse Edited - J. Irþnsma l+.>o
Early Greek PhlJ.osophy John Br.rrnet (paper) 2.2'
Essa¡rs fuergon L.%
Falry Faith fn Celtfc CountrLes, I'lre Evans-ltentz J2.50
Fatth of þfcurus, The Farrington \,95
F1ìrd.c[, Doctor Robert J. B. Craven J2,50
Folk Ar"b of Japan II. ldurrsterberg 7.50
Íhe 3'orerunner K. Gibran 3.9'
Foud.atlons of Tlbetan trf¡stlcÍsna L€$a Govind.a (paper) 3.75
tr'ive Sacred. Festivals of AncÍent Japan CasaI 6.oo
Eragnents of a Faltb Forgotten Mead l-o.00
tr?er¡d . and. Psychoanalysfs (#h) Carl Jung 5.0ô
Fnrits of Silence Fausset l+.50
Future of !bn, The cle Chard.in 6.oo
fhe of Cro
C¡a,me A. Snlth 2.75
C'arclenof the Prophet Gibran l+.oo
ÍÏre C'arlancl of T,etters ffoodroffe 5.00
Gens of the East H. P. Blavatsky 3.O0
God. 1s Ivff Ad"venture Rom Land.au (paper) L.75
God. and. the Unconscfous W. lJhite (paper) 1.75
fhe God. Wittrln tf. F. Iroomis 5.95
God.s and. Heroesof the Greeks nose (paper) 1,h5
lfhe Golden Ass of Apulelus lïansl-. lfm. Ad.llngton 13.00
The Gospel of Budclha Faul Carus 3.50
The Great InÍtlates Schure 8.50
The Great Liberation Slr J. I'Ioodroffe 7.50
I'lre Great hfraüid and. fts Builders RobLnson (paper) L.25

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(aAaress on fÍrst pa,ge). P1ease aAÅ,25ú for harrd.Lfng on orders of Less than $5.00.
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