to greet his father whom he has never seen alive, but for whom he has

so earnestly prayed.

What can exceed the pathos of this meeting of father and child drawn together by love across the tremendous gulfs of death and hell? "Oh pitiful!

To see this child, born after me,

Darling that should be gay as a flower,

Walking in tattered coat of old black cloth.
Alas!

Child, when your love of me

Led you to Kamo shrine, praying to the God
That, though but in a dream,

You might behold my face,

The God of Kamo, full of pity, came

To Yama, king of Hell.

King Yama listened, and ordained for me

A moment's respite, but hereafter, never." +

He begins to dance the fateful tale of his death and of the fall of the Taira clan, when suddenly he stamps, shouting, "Who is that? Can it be Yama's messenger? He comes to tell me I have outstayed my time. The Lord of Hell is angry; he asks why I am late."

He must return to fight with demons. He is ashamed his child should see him thus.

"Oh pray for me, pray for me
When I am gone, he said,
And, weeping, weeping,
Dropped the child's hand."

Like the story of Edipus is the story of Kagekiyo, the old, blind warrior in exile. His daughter, wandering about the country in search of him, asks the way of the old blind beggar. He feels that it must be his child, but sends her on. Even when she discovers who he is from the villagers and returns to him, he refuses to keep her with him in his misery. Weeping, she obeys him. The chorus sings:

"I am old: I have forgotten, things unforgettable!

My thoughts are tangled: I am ashamed.

But little longer shall this world

This sorrowful world torment me.

The end is near. Go to your home;

Pray for my soul departed, child, candle to my darkness.

Bridge to salvation!

'I stay,' he said, and she 'I go.'

The sound of this word

Was all he kept of her,

Nor passed between them
Remembrance other."

There is also the splendid poetry of Kakitsubata, where the glorious lady beloved of the poet Narihira appears resplendent as the iris, in the iris swamp where once he thought of her.

• Ibid.

A priest, seeing the flowers, sings in words that are strangely familiar:

"Time does not stop and spring passes,

The light foot summer comes nigh us.

The branching trees and the bright, unmindful grass

Do not forget their time,

They take no thought, yet remember

To show forth their colour in season." 5

This apparition, arrayed like the flower described in Narihira's poem, "in a court dress brought from China," is there to tell us that beauty is eternal. Narihira himself was the incarnation of a Bosatsu's music, and her spirit is the creation of his thought of her among the iris flowers. How exquisitely are entwined here the worlds of thought and manifestation!

Chorio is a drama of initiation. Chorio dreamed that upon the bridge of Kahi he should meet an ancient man who could teach him the "art of fighting." When he awoke he went to Kahi but arrived too late. However, he returned another morning and saw, coming towards him on horseback, an ancient man so majestic that he knelt before him. The old man threw his shoe into the river. Chorio jumped in among the whirlpools and rocks of the rapids. Then a dragon rose up from the dark mists and fought with him for the shoe. Chorio drew his sword and struck a great blow at the dragon. Victorious, he brought back the shoe to the Ancient Worthy, Kosekko, who alighted, saying, "Well done. Well done." And he gave a scroll of writing to Chorio, containing all the secret traditions of warfare. And Kosekko said, "That dragon was Kuannon. She came here to try your heart, and she must be your goddess hereafter."

This meeting must remind one of that meeting described by Ramaswamier in Five Years of Theosophy, when he saw a solitary horseman riding towards him on a road near Sikkim, and recognizing a Mahatma, fell upon his knees in the dust.

The tone of all these plays is religious. The only true end of man is enlightenment. Men may love or fight, but at the last their souls turn wearily to the Buddha, who saves them through his Grace, at the prayer of the righteous. His Law alone endures.

There are now five Nō theatres open to the public in Tokyo, besides which, No are performed at religious celebrations, weddings and festivities. We do not realize what such a theatre means until we compare it with our own theatre of to-day. We have not a single play house in New York or London devoted to the classics or to maintaining a standard of modern drama.

We have exiled not only the kings and master builders, but the dramatists also. When shall we remember the real purpose of the drama, "To purge the soul through pity and through terror"?

Jeunesse.

'Translated in Noh or Accomplishment, by Ernest Fenollosa and Ezra Pound-Macmillan.

T

HE expression, self-control, is so common that it seems hardly necessary to define it. But self-control as understood by Theosophy has a much deeper and more comprehensive meaning than it is generally supposed to have.

What is the self that is to be controlled? And what (or who) is to control it? St. Paul speaks of the two natures fighting against each other, so that when he would do good, evil was present to try and defeat him; and Theosophy speaks of the higher self and the lower self struggling against each other, each seeking to be master. What is this lower self? It is a body of forces or powers that can be used either for the preservation of life or for its destruction. It is like fire and electricity. Electricity when under the control of intelligence, is a splendid servant, but when not controlled it becomes a destructive force. So fire may be a blessing or a curse; it may bring cheer and comfort to our homes, or it may be a raging flame that sweeps away our homes and destroys life. To be a blessing it must be controlled.

Words, deeds, thoughts, emotions must all be controlled if life is to be a blessing. There may be, and often is, control of words but not of thoughts and emotions. When it seems to be an advantage to be silent, men control their words, but bitterness still rules within. Napoleon said if he could keep his anger below his chin, he was all right, but if it rose above, he lost control of others. There is often a control of appetites by prize fighters and athletes because of the greater good that will come to them from this control. But internally they are unchanged; the same desires are there, only held back for a little while during training, as one holds back a fiery horse, and when the race or the fight is over the appetites are indulged as much as ever.

There is also control of the desire to harm another, because of the fear of evil consequences that may follow if the injury is done.

All this is far below self-control as defined by Theosophy; in fact, this is sheer selfishness, a desire for happiness, prosperity, and success, regardless of their effects on others. Thus the lower self seems to be separated from others and looks on others as enemies if they interfere with, or limit its happiness. Its interest centres in having what it desires for itself alone. Theosophy teaches that separateness is the great heresy, that universal brotherhood is a fact in nature, that we are members one of another, and that we can only attain to good as we seek to impart it to others. This takes us back to thoughts and motives, which are more important than words or deeds. Thoughts are often hidden by words and deeds. So the control of self is the control of thoughts and motives, and this is never attained without strong desire and long continued effort of will. When we come to see that we are not separate, but parts of one whole, one with all things and all beings, and, as St. John says.

that "we dwell in God and God in us," we shall desire to live true lives. We shall then desire to think thoughts of kindness and love, for by so doing we may reach true self-control. On the other hand, selfish thoughts produce hatred, strife, divisions and unhappiness to ourselves and others. But thought and service for others, with the forgetting of self, will bring happiness and joy, for the words of Jesus are still true:-"He that would save his life shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for my sake and the gospel's shall save it."

We see then the importance of real self-control; our own welfare and that of others demands it. It is necessary for true success in life. We cannot enjoy perfect physical health unless we control the emotions; anger, envy, and jealousy are foes of health of body and mind. No matter how great and wise a man may be, if he yields to fits of anger at critical moments, life for himself and others will be spoiled. "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." In occultism no progress can be made without it; so from the beginning of our studies we are urged to cultivate it "raise the self by the self," and strive to bring the lower self into subjection to the higher. We must still the lower voices before we can hear the higher. We must find the place of peace before we can really grow. How may we win self-control? There are some ways easier than others, and we may each find some help in the struggle.

The old phrenologists used to teach that the faculties work in groups; some are leaders, some helpers and some followers. Fear is a strong faculty and if the self-reliant faculties are not strong, fear will rule them and some others. Out of fear comes doubt, despondency, jealousy and other inharmonious conditions. Fear is cowardice, so if we can conquer fear, its opposite-courage-will manifest and destroy a good many other things that hinder growth and progress. So it is a surer way to conquer the leader than to try to destroy the things that are born of fear.

To conquer fear there must be self-knowledge. If you know your weakness, remind yourself of the strong opposites that are yours if you cultivate them-hopefulness, self-reliance, and conscience. Fear is often the result of ignorance, as a child in a dark room is afraid, but when a light is made in the room his fears are overcome. The principles of Theosophy will help greatly in overcoming fear and its brood of evils.

Another evil leader is sensuality, the indulgence of the animal senses for the sake of pleasure. The indulgence of animal appetites brings a number of attending evils, and man becomes a slave to eating, drinking and pleasure. To conquer this we must study the effects of wrong eating, overeating and over-excitement of any kind. This knowledge with the use of reason will greatly assist the development of will power, so that in time we shall have no difficulty in deciding what and when we want to eat and drink and enjoy. I have already referred to prize fighters and athletes as examples, and the training of these may be studied with profit.

Perhaps the most difficult thing to conquer is vanity. The grosser forms we may recognize in ourselves and begin to correct them, but we are often blind to the higher forms and so do not attempt to conquer them. Vanity is the perverted, or excessive action of what the phrenologist calls "love of approbation." When rightly used and controlled, it tends to make our intercourse with each other pleasant; it helps to civilize and harmonize men, and to restrain selfishness. It can be educated to move in proper channels, and unless it is so educated it produces some of the worst evils in life, such as insincerity, pretence, extravagance, and all kinds of shams. It even affects our religion, so that that which above all things should be sincere is at last used to win praise. When vanity is strong, men seek to win golden opinions instead of seeking to be right and true. They cease to value that which is intrinsic and seek for that which will buy things. Vanity leads to falseness, boasting, flattery, extravagance, and dishonesty. It makes men insincere in thought and conviction, for it weakens the conscience so that we do not see clearly what is right and honourable. Few of us are strong enough to stand alone, so opinions that are unpopular are held by few, but when they begin to be popular, multitudes endorse them. When anti-slavery sentiments were unpopular few confessed to holding them, but when the cause became victorious, almost everyone confessed his belief in them.

It is most important that we seek to control this faculty so that we may live and act truthfully, sincerely, and lovingly, and thus win reality of character, when our yea will be yea, and our nay, nay, for Jesus says whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. How to do this is a most important question. We must first see and feel our weakness and imperfection, and earnestly aspire after the perfect. Selfknowledge comes by self-examination, and by study of the highest examples and ideals.

Following this course, little by little the spiritual will may be awakened, but it is a long, hard battle; requiring patience and faith. The greatest help may be found in daily meditation, self-study and prayer.

If we can master these three qualities—fear, sensuality, and vanity— we shall have largely won self-control. Let us never forget that selfish thoughts fill the mind with darkness and hatred, causing strife and divisions, with unhappiness to ourselves and others. On the other hand, thought and service for others, with the forgetting of self, bring happiness and lasting joy.

Self-control for our own sake, and for the sake of others is necessary, for it is obedience to, and the expression of, a great law of life, and this obedience will lead us out of darkness into light, out of bondage and misery into liberty, health, peace and happiness.

JOHN SCHOFIELD.