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309 THE OCCULTISM OF SOUTHERN INDIA.

Southern India has always produced the greatest Aryan philosophers. Madavâchârya came from Southern India, and Shankarâchârya was born in Malabar; and at the present day there are high adepts and schools of occultism in Southern India. In the adept hierarchy, there are always seven classes of adepts, corresponding to the seven rays of the Logos. Two of these classes of adepts are so mysterious, and their representatives on earth are so rare, that they are seldom spoken of. Perhaps one or two adepts of these two mystriousmysterious [sic] orders appear every two or three thousand years.

It is probable that Buddha and Shankarâchârya come under this category.

But of the other five classes of adepts, representatives are always to be found on earth.

All five classes are represented in the Himalayan school.

At present, it is unlikely that all five classes are represented in Southern India: though all the adepts of this and every other school must belong to one of these five classes.

It is a doctrine of the Southern Indian school that, though belonging to one of these five classes, and falling into one of these five rays, all of which are represented in the Himâlayan school, adepts in India, for example, need not be correlated to the Tibetan school,—need not dovetail, so to speak, into the Guruparampara chain of the Himâlayan school,—and need not therefore owe allegiance to one of the five Chohans, or chiefs of the five classes of adepts in Tibet.

When a great adept has passed away from incarnated life, his spiritual self may select some suitable person on whom to impress his teachings, who thus becomes his unconscious medium and apostle: this chosen exponent of the adept's wisdom may not recognise the source of his knowledge and power; to recognise their source is almost impossible, since these ideas are instilled into the inmost spirit of the man, the deep, secret place of his nature, from whence arise moral