"Early Eckankar" (?)
Etznab
or when certain manuscripts were said to be written, Dialogues with
the Master, in 1956, appears to be one of the earliest.
Quoting from Dialogues with the Master (the book) chapter WHO IS THE
MASTER, 5th paragraph on p. 69, Eighth Printing - 1983, [Paul's
Twitchell's Master Rebazar Tarzs apparently speaking]
"At this time you are approaching a complete change in your life. The
date set for this is March 25th. Be prepared for this change. It comes
on a Sunday, and actually this is going to make such an absolute
change in you from that day on, hardly any of your friends will
recognize you. Everything you do and touch will turn to spiritual
gold."
March 25th, 1956 was on a Sunday.
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/index.html?year=1956&country=1
(The next two years where March 25th appeared on a Sunday are 1962 and
1973).
After taking initiation into Ruhani Satsang under Kirpal Singh around
November 1955,
http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org/tours/55/SS55_11.htm
an article by Paul Twitchell - appearing in Ananai-Kyo Magazine - that
following year, in July, 1956, had Paul Twitchell listed as a Ruhani
Satsang member.
Was that article part of the "spiritual gold" referred to in Dialogues
with the Master? That article, btw, was republished in the 1960's with
certain words/terms replaced by certain "Eckankar" words/terms (Ruhani
Satsang replaced by Eckankar, Sat Nam & Radha Soami replaced by
Sugmad).- See chapter 11 from: In My Soul I Am Free, by Brad Steiger.
Examples:
1956 - Ananai-Kyo quotes:
"[...] The name we give to this Deity, in Ruhani Satsang, is SAT NAM.
[....]"
"[...] This is what we love at this stage of our development. Call it
God, Reality or Radha Soami. Anything for the sake of identification.
[....]"
1968 - I.M.S.I.A.F. quotes
"[...] The name we give to this deity in Eckankar is the Sugmad.
[....]" [Sugmad in italics]
"[...] This is what we love at this stage of our development. Call it
God, reality, or the Sugmad - anything for the sake of identification.
[....]" [Sugmad in italics]
Reading the book Dialogues with the Master (1983 Edition), assuming
the manuscript was written in 1956, this "appears to be" speaking
about a part of the early Eckankar history. It appears this way on
account of the "change" set for March 25th and later in the book where
Paul Twitchell visited so many "inner planes" - some of them "for the
first time"!
What I find a bit unusual is how Dialogues with the Master appears to
come before The Tiger's Fang and the experiences recorded therein.
Whether Paul Twitchell rewrote those experiences again I cannot now
say for sure. Example:
In the Introduction section for Dialogues with the Master: [...] He
[Rebazar Tarzs] concluded his series of talks that year by taking me
on the spiritual journey recorded in my book "The Tiger's Fang." (p.7)
Something else a bit unusual was the 1964 article where reportedly
both Kirpal Singh and "Rebazar Tarzu" were mentioned together.
However, the master mentioned in connection with The Tiger's Fang
journey appeared to be Kirpal Singh.
Quoting:
Paul also wrote in his article "The God Eaters," that appeared in the
Psychic Observer, November 1964:
Master Kirpal Singh spoke briefly of these matters when he took me
through the several invisible worlds in 1957. The story of this trip
has been recorded in my book 'The Tiger's Fang.'
http://www.littleknownpubs.com/Dialog_Ch._Two.htm
One might want to consider whether Kirpal Singh received a manuscript
form of The Tiger's Fang and actually (read) saw it, then later
corresponded with Paul Twitchell via letters about the manuscript's
contents. Also whether Kirpal Singh gave any pubic statements about
that manuscript and its contents.
*************************************
That March 25th date (on a Sunday) appears to be a key date in
history. Whether it was 1956 or 1962 I wouldn't hazard a bet at this
time. Partly because the early 1960's were another time Paul
Twitchell's master appeared & reportedly gave information for more
books. Examples: The Key to Eckankar & The Far Country.
Regardless whether 1956 or 1962, Paul Twitchell appears to have
written a record of his spiritual unfoldement and when he first
visited so many inner higher planes. My main questions would be, By
what agency did Paul Twitchell arrive at the Ocean of Love and Mercy
and then receive his commission from no less that God Almighty? Was it
by the agency of Kirpal Singh?, of Rebazar Tarzs?, of dreams?, or were
the stories more along the lines of literary fiction to begin with and
used for mediums to convey certain spiritual teachings? (Teaching like
are found in Path of the Masters, in other books and by other masters,
etc.?)
Etznab
Quoting:
http://www.littleknownpubs.com/Dialog_Ch._Two.htm
CORRECTION: The word matters should read masters. I quoted from the
old Dialogue in the Age of Criticism version, whereas the new book The
Whole Truth, p. 132, along with other versions of the Psychic Observer
article I've seen) reads masters as well.
Michael Turner
This is precisely why I have long wished someone would publish the
original manuscript of Dialogues. I think it would be fascinating, and
illminating to read Paul's original journals from his inner
explorations in the 50's with Kirpal Singh.
godzilla
> what agency did Paul Twitchell arrive at the Ocean of Love and Mercy
> and then receive his commission from no less that God Almighty? Was it
> by the agency of Kirpal Singh?, of Rebazar Tarzs?, of dreams?, or were
I guess the only thing we can be certain of, is that is was not by the
agency/means of Eckankar (in the organizational sense), for it was not
founded yet.
Another interesting - kind of related note - is that you never will
read Paul discussing his initiations (ie: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc).
Seems he didn't do the stair-step initiations. It's reasonable that
he would have had at least one initiation, somewhere, sometime, from
somebody. But never discusses any of it, AFAIK.
BTW - u can still find very old editions of Paul's works, 2nd hand via
Amazon and such. You might have to check often, availability fluxes.
Wish Paulji would have told a few things, and in a plain way, ie:
- I got initiated by Xxxxx Xxxxx, on XX Xxx, 19XX, at City, Country.
- Here is his photo, with me sitting next to him: {insert photo here}
- His master was XXXXXXX XXXXXX -- here is a photo of that guy....
Etznab
Haven't spent enough time comparing the two texts Dialogues with the
Master & The Tiger's Fang. I plan on doing so someday. Dialogues with
the Master - the book version - contains various Eckankar terms
apparently not present in The Tiger's Fang. Why?
Part of the answer could be that Dialogues with the Master was
copyright 1970, about 1 year (1969) after Paul Twitchell started using
the term "Mahanta" more.
Has anybody checked The Tiger's Fang (copyright 1967), The Key to
Eckankar.(copyright 1968), or In My Soul I Am Free (copyright 1968)
for the term "Mahanta"?
The thing about Dialogues with the Master (manuscript "reportedly"
written about 1956) is the word "Mahanta" and how many times it was
used. One quote, on page 238, reads [This is the last paragraph of the
book, btw, where Rebazar Tarzs says to Paul Twitchell]:
"Remember all that has been told you. You are the next in line for
the spiritual mantle, to become the Mahanta, the living ECK Master.
"This is all!"
Was Dialogues with the Master (the book) a case of Eckankar terms
(including "Mahanta") added after the fact? After the manuscript was
written?
*********
Another term mentioned in Dialogues with the Master (the book) was
Hukikat Lok (p.111), but I'm not sure that word was mentioned in The
Tiger's Fang. In fact, a chapter about The Cosmic Worlds found in
Dialogues with the Master, along with a chapter from The Far Country,
called The Far Country (Chap. 1), don't appear to mention the word
Hukikat either.
Those were two chapters (very similar) where Rebazar Tarzs explained
the planes in detail. There is another (which I will mention - and
give a link to - shortly).
Btw, sections in Path of the Masters (Julian Johnson) and the Far
Country (Paul Twitchell) most similar to that quote from Dialogues
with the Master on p. 111 can be found here (by searching the two
links for keyword: stripped).
OK. The other Eckankar chapter similar to The Cosmic Worlds (DWTM) and
The Far Country (TFC) appeared in the 1966 Eckankar book: Introduction
to Eckankar. The chapter was called: The Invisible Realm of Spirit. It
told about various material-spiritual planes as well. In fact, I
attempted to illustrate all three (similar) chapters. The links can be
found here (upper left).
http://www.mirrorh.com/itecpwPage2.html
It will take considerable time to thoroughly study and compare the
Eckankar books Dialogues with the Master and The Tiger's Fang. Each
are books illustrating a "journey" through various planes by Paul
Twitchell with his said master, Rebazar Tarzs.
Yes. It probably would be helpful to read the manuscripts for
Dialogues with the Master - and The Tiger's Fang, too. Without the
manuscripts, I believe, it makes researching the written history in
those two books a lot more difficult and time consuming.
Etznab
Etznab
An illustration of the quote from p. 111 of Dialogues with the Master
(Eighth Printing - 1983) reads:
[....]
"When the disciple enters the region of Atma Lok, the Fifth Plane
world, he is stripped of all materiality and beholds himself as pure
spirit. This is Self-Realization.
"Then he advances to the Hukikat Lok, the Ninth Plane where he
beholds the most sublime manifestation of the Supreme One, merging
himself with the great deity and comes to know God. This is God-
Realization!" [....]