“… Pythagoras states our doctrine when he says that the Ego (Noûs) is eternal with

the Deity . " HPBlavatsky

“Pythagoras was the most famous of mystical philosophers. He was born on the island of Samos, about 586 BC [dying about a hundred years later]. Apparently, he traveled all over the world and withdrew his philosophy from the various systems of which he had knowledge. Thus, he studied esoteric science with the Brahmins of

India, and astronomy and astrology in Chaldea and in Egypt. Even today it is known in the first of the countries cited by the name of Yavanâchârya ("the Ionian master"). After his return, he settled in Crotona, in Magna Grecia, where he established a school [italic school], to which all the best intelligences of civilized centers would soon turn to. His father, one Mnesarco de Samos, was an educated and noble-born man, Pythagoras was the first to teach the heliocentric system and was the most versed in geometry wise of his century. He also created the word "philosopher, " composed of two terms that mean "lover of wisdom" (philo-sophos). As the greatest mathematician, geometer and astronomer of historical antiquity, as well as the most eminent of metaphysicians and sages, Pythagoras acquired immortal fame. He also taught the doctrine of reincarnation, as it was professed in India, and many other things of Secret Wisdom ”(HPBlavatsky, Theosophical Glossary)

“Pythagoras gained his knowledge in

India (where until today it is mentioned in the ancient manuscripts under the name of Yavâchârya, the "Greek teacher") ( Blavatsky Collected Writings, XI, 229, from now on, the different volumes will be preceded by the initial CW). “On the other hand, we find in a writing by Alejandro Polyhistor that Pythagoras (who lived around 600 BC) was a disciple of Nazaratus the Syrian (Greek writers frequently call Zoroaster the Syrian Nazaratus); Diogenes Laercio affirms that the philosopher of Samos was initiated into the mysteries "by the Chaldean Magi" (CW, III, 451-452)

"Jámblico informs us that Pythagoras" was initiated in the mysteries of Biblos and Tire, in the sacred ceremonies of the Syrians, and in the mysteries of the Phoenicians, since Pythagoras, "he adds, " also spent twenty-two years in the âditya of the temples of Egypt, associated with the magicians of Babylon, and was introduced by them in their venerable knowledge, it is not surprising, then, that he was proficient in magic or theurgy, and, therefore, that he was able to do things that they surpass the merely human power and that they seem to be perfectly incredible for the vulgar ”(Jámblico, Life of Pythagoras )” (CW, XIV, 274n).

What Orpheus says in hidden allegories, Pythagoras learned when he was initiated into the mystery mysteries; and Platà n then received a perfect knowledge of them from the phic and Pythagorean writings (New Platonism, 18) (CW, XIV, 308) the books of Thot (Hermes) both Pyg goras and Plat n derived their knowledge and much of their philosophy (CW, XIV, 39).

That which is known by the Priests of Egypt and the ancient Brahmins, as corroborated by all ancient classics and by historical writers, allows us to believe in what is only traditional in the opinion of the skeptics. Where does the wonderful knowledge of the Egyptian Priests in all the fields of

Science, unless they have obtained it from an even older source? The famous Four headquarters of knowledge in ancient Egypt have more historical certainty than the beginnings of historical England. It was in the great Tebano sanctuary where Pygogoras, after arriving from India, studied the Science of the Hidden Numbers. It was at Memphis where Orpheus popularized his too much Hindu metaphysical abstruse, for the use of Magna Grecia; and, from there, Thales, and a long time later, described, they got everything they knew. It is Sa Sa s who should be granted all the merit of the wonderful legislation and the art of governing the villages, spread by his priests to Lycurgus and Solon, who continued to be subject to admiration for future generations. And if Plat n and Eudoxo had never worshiped at the Sanctuary of Heli polis, it is most likely that the former had never come to astonish future generations with his ethics and the latter with his Wonderful knowledge of mathematics (CW, XIV, 253-254).

“Pythagoras' symbols require arduous study. These symbols are numerous and, to even understand the general essence of the abstruse doctrines of their symbology, years of study are necessary. His main figures are the Square (

Tetraktys), the equilateral triangle, the point within the circle, the cube, the triple triangle and, finally, the forty-seventh proposition of the Elements of Euclid, which was enunciated by Pythagoras. But, with this exception, he did not give rise to any of the above symbols, as some believe. These were well known millennia before their time, in India, where they were brought by the sage Samio, not as a speculation, but as a proven science ... ”(CW, XIV, 95).

“He cultivated philosophy, whose sphere of action is to free the implanted mind within us, from the impediments and chains with which it is confined, without whose liberation no one can learn anything with foundation or truth, or realize the defective functioning of the senses ... this is why he uses both mathematical disciplines and speculations that occupy an intermediate position between the physical and incorporeal realms ( The Pythagorean Sourcebook, etc., pages 132-135). ”

"Buddhist doctrines can never be better understood than when studying Pythagorean philosophy - its faithful reflection - because they come from this source (ancient philosophies), in the same way as Brahmanic religions and early Christianity ... The true understanding of The whole doctrine of the seemingly intricate Buddhist system can only be achieved if one proceeds strictly according to the Pythagorean and Platonic method: from the universal to the particular. Its key lies in the refined and mystical doctrines of spiritual influence and divine life. Buddha says: “He who does not know and experience my Law, and dies in that situation, must return to

the Earth, until a perfect Samâna (ascetic) becomes. To reach that state, you must destroy within yourself the trinity of Maya. He must extinguish his passions, unite and identify with the Law (the teachings of the Secret Doctrine), and understand the religion of annihilation (Isis without Veil, I, 289). ” No, it is not in the dead letter of Buddhist literature where scholars can ever hope to find the true resolution of their metaphysical subtleties. Of all antiquity, only the Pythagoreans understood them perfectly, and it is in the incomprehensible (for the common Orientalists and for the materialists) abstractions of Buddhism where Pythagoras based the main doctrines of his philosophy ”(CW, XIV, 419)

“The cosmological theory of numbers, which Pythagoras learned from the Egyptian Hierophants, is the only one able to reconcile matter and spirit, and have each one demonstrate the other mathematically. Esoteric combinations of the sacred numbers of the universe solve the big problem and explain the theory of irradiation and the cycle of emanations. The lower orders come from the spiritually superior and evolve in progressive ascension until, at the maximum point of conversion, they are reabsorbed into the Infinite ”(Isis, I, 67).

“True Magic, in the thesis of Jámblico, is in turn identical to Pythagoras' gnosis, the science of things that are; and to the divine ecstasy of the Filaleteos, 'lovers of

the Truth '”(CW, XI, 220).

"Pythagoras is owed the term philosophy and philosopher - lovers of science or wisdom ... as well as that of gnosis, 'or knowledge of things that are', or of the essence hidden beneath the outward appearance. Under that name, so noble and concrete in its definition, all the masters of antiquity designated the compendium of human and divine knowledge ”(CW, XI, 220)

“According to Porfirio in his Life of Pythagoras (Gutthrie pages 126-127 vide infra ), when Pythagoras arrived in Italy and stopped in Crotone, he attracted a large audience around him, and among the things he told them, 'les He taught that the soul is immortal and that after death it migrates to other animated bodies. After certain specific periods, he said, the same event happens again, since nothing is completely new; all animated beings are brothers, and taught them that they should all be considered as members of a single family. Pythagoras was the first to introduce these teachings in Greece (

Reincarnation and Universal Fraternity). Pythagoras taught that only the (sublimated) mind sees and listens, while the rest is blind and deaf. The purified mind must be applied to the discovery of beneficial things, which can be achieved through certain arts, which gradually induce it to contemplate the eternal and incorporeal things that never change. This method of perception must be initiated from the consideration of the smallest things, so that no change shakes the mind and it is distracted by lack of continuity in the subject.

It is for this reason that Pythagoras uses both mathematical disciplines and speculations, which occupy an intermediate position between the physical and incorporeal realms, by virtue of which, similar to the bodies, they have a triple dimension and, nevertheless, participate of the impassivity of the incorporeal. (He used these disciplines) as a degree of preparation for the contemplation of really existing things, through an artistic principle, diverting the eyes of the mind from corporeal things - whose form and state never remain in the same condition - even a desire for true (spiritual) food. Therefore, through these mathematical sciences, Pythagoras made men truly happy, through this artistic introduction of truly existing things ”(Guthrie, pages 132-133). The foregoing are just fragments of what Porfirio says about the philosophy of Pythagoras. Vide Guthrie).

The Pythagorean Fraternity

As for the origin of the Institute (Pythagorean), tradition tells us only that

the LXII Olympiad (530 BC), or a little later, Pythagoras went to Crotone with numerous disciples who accompanied him from Samos, and began to speak in public of so that soon the sympathy of the listeners was won, who came in great numbers to listen to his inspired words; He taught them truths that had never been heard in those regions and from the mouth of a man like him. He was received with great deference by both the people and the aristocratic party that then held the reins of the government, and such was the enthusiasm aroused by his teachings that his fans erected a magnificent building in me White marble called homakoeion, or public auditorium -, in which he could conveniently proclaim his doctrines and allowed them to live under his guidance His authority grew from so that soon it showed a true moral influence in the city, which quickly spread abroad, to the neighboring districts of Magna Grecia, Sicilia, Sybaris, Taranto, Rhegio, Catania, Himera and Agrigento .

From the Greek colonies and from the Italian tribes of Lucani, Peucetil, Mesapii and even from the Roman villages, they went to the disciples of both sexes, and were taken as teacher by the most important legislators People from these places, Zauleco, Carondas, Numa, and others. Through his intermediation, order, freedom, customs and laws could be restored ( The Pythagorean Sodality of Crotona, by Alberto Granola, Spirit of the Sun Publications, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1997, pages 4 -5, extracts).

Porfirio recounts that more than two thousand citizens with their wives and families met in the Homakoeion, lived in a community of property and regulated their lives by the laws that the film gave them sofo, whom they revered as a God.

That was how it formed

the Fraternity, to which every good man or woman had access; And this philosophical family of the Master was given the same rules that he had seen in the schools of the East and Egypt, in which, as already mentioned, he acquired the knowledge of the mysteries.

The institute became at the same time an education college, a scientific academy and a small model city, under the direction of a great initiate. And it was through theory accompanied by practice, and by the union of science and art, that science of science and that harmony of soul and intellect with the universe were gradually achieved, which the Pythagoreans considered that they were the arcana of philosophy and religion. (Ibid. P. 8)

"Actually, his goal was to lift his disciples in spirit and action, either by inspiring them with general culture and knowledge, or by making them practice the most rigorous discipline of the mind and passions ..." (Ibid. P. 12)

“… The wise man of Samos set out to reform men from the inside, and thereby necessarily modify the external conditions of individual and social life. Once he wanted to build religion based on an inner feeling and not on external practices of worship, which, not having a conscience with which they corresponded, became mere superstitions and empty dogmatic formalisms, it was completely natural for the new intuition to awaken in the midst of the reactionary and conservative elements of Crotona's society and

the Italian and, above all, the anger of the ignorant aristocracy, which was excluded by its intellectual and moral deficiency, in the same way as the priests, who were deprived of influence over most - and the best - of youth. The slanders that they knew how to spread with art that seems to be their privilege, found credit, as always, in the vulgar, and were soon encouraged by others who were equally threatened by their particular interests ”(Ibid. 13-14).

“On the other hand, it is duly documented that a certain extremely ignorant aristocrat named Cylon, who, due to his ignorance and ineptitude, was unable to obtain admission to

the internal Fraternity, full of rage and malice, began to stir up the discontented ... achieving a decree of proscription by which Pythagoras was expelled. This, after obtaining asylum in Caulonia and Locris, was finally received in Metaponto, where he died shortly after. A fierce persecution against the Pythagoreans was then established: some were killed and others banished, becoming fugitives in the neighboring regions.

Under these conditions, life in

the Fraternity was extremely short, not having lasted more than forty years; However, the effectiveness of the Pythagorean teachings lasted many centuries. His flame was never extinguished and, just in case, it was rigorously preserved and transmitted from generation to generation by the elect, to whom the sacred content was entrusted, by degrees; in such a way that the foundations of esoteric doctrine were maintained, and in all successive periods it was known to a greater or lesser degree. ”(Ibid. pp. 14-15)

“There were two types of adherents in

the Fraternity: those who were admitted to a degree of initiation (genuine or familiar disciples) and those who were novices (or neophytes) or simply listeners ( acustici or pythagoristae); the first, divided into several classes ... and the direct disciples of the Master, were given secret or esoteric teachings; the others could barely appear in the exoteric lectures of essentially moral character ”(Ibid. p. 16)“ As regards the teachings… they were double and, to be admitted in the closed or secret part, it was necessary to have checked, during several years, that the candidate was ready to receive and, therefore, had skills. He who could not give such a guarantee could continue to be taught in common or exoteric schools in a teaching devoid of all symbolism but essentially moral in nature ”(Ibid. P. 24).

The Pythagorean Succession

According

the Life of Pythagoras written by Jámblico: “The recognized successor of Pythagoras was Aristeu, the son of the crotoniense Damoflón, which was contemporary of Pythagoras, and lived seven generations before Plato. Being especially gifted in the Pythagorean doctrines, he continued his school, instructing the "children of Pythagoras" and marrying his wife Theano (it should not be forgotten that Pythagoras, being a high initiate, not if he married or had children. Esoteric Pythagoras were called genuine or family disciples, hence the talk of “children” or “wife.” See: Laercio). It is said that Pythagoras taught in his school for 39 years and lived a century. When he got older, Aristeu gave the school to the son (disciple) of Pythagoras called Mnesarco. This was followed by Bulagoras, at which time Crotone was sacked. After the war, Gartydas the Crotonian, who had been absent from travel, returned and took the direction of the school for himself; but, due to the sadness caused by the calamity in which his country was, he died prematurely ... Later, Aresas Lucano, who had been saved by certain foreigners, took charge of the school, and Diodoro Aspendio came to him, who was hardly received because of the then small number of true Pythagoreans (genuine).

Clinias and Filolau were in Heraclea; Theorides and Euryto in Mataponto; and in Taranto was Arquitas. It is also said that Epicarm was one of the foreign listeners, not belonging to the school; however, having arrived in Syracuse; He avoided philosophizing in public due to the tyranny of Hiero. Still, he wrote the Pythagorean views in verse and published the Pythagorean precepts hidden in his comedies. It is likely that most Pythagoreans have been anonymous and have remained unknown ”( Pythagorean Sourcebook, Op. Cit. P. 120)

“Among the Pythagoreans of the primitive school or of the first generations, having belonged to the disciples or relatives (that is, to the esoteric group) or to the aucustici (exoteric listeners), Jámblico mentions 280” (Ibid, pp 121-122). Diogenes Laercio reports on six: Empédocles, Epicarmo, Arquitas, Alcmeón, Hipaso and Filolau.

Those who came from this school, not only the oldest Pythagorean, but also those who, during the old age of Pygogoras, were a nj You see, like Filolau and Euryto, Carondas and Zaleuco, Brysson and Arquitas the Elder, Aristeu, Lysis and Emp cles, Zalmoxys and Epim nides, Mino and Leucipo, Alcmaeon e Hippaso, and Tym ridas, constituted, in that time, a multitude of wise, incomparably excellent. They all adopted this teaching mode (the Pythagorean symbols), in their conversations, comments and annotations. Likewise, his writings and all the books they published, most of which have reached our days (that is, since the days of the Jewish, about 250-330 AD), they were not composed in popular or vulgar terms, or in the usual way of the other writers in order to be immediately understood: they were presented in a way that was not easy for readers to understand, since the authors adopted the law of the Pyrenean reserve, in an arcane way, in which the divine mysteries were hidden from the uninitiated, obscuring their writings and mutual conversations. ( Life of Pythagoras, by J mblico, Pythagorean Sourcebook, op. Cit. P. 83)

Destruction and Dispersion of

the Pythagorean Fraternity

According to Aristgenes de Taranto, Pythagoras arrived in Croton near 529 BC. His college or community of philosophers grew rapidly and prosperously. for some years; but he was attacked by the plebs instigated by one Cylà © n, who, as it appears, had been refused admission in

the school. Existing stories are confusing; However, it seems that this attack occurred around 500 BC, there are no precise data. Diogenes Laercio gives several versions. Jámblico, in his Life of Pythagoras, says that "Pythagoras taught in his School for 39 years and lived a century." After the death of Pythagoras, the school continued in the extreme south of Italy (known in ancient times as Magna Grecia), preserving perhaps its influence until the middle of the 5th century BC, when the destruction of the city of Metaponto probably occurred, many perished of the Pythagoreans who had taken refuge in that city. “Those Pythagoreans who remained alive seem to have emigrated to Greece, where they established centers in Flios and Thebes. Equécrates left for Flios, Xenófilo towards Athens, and the names of Lysis and Filolau are associated with Thebes, being there where Filolau taught Simmias and Cebes, who appeared as characters in Plato's Phaedo . Filolau, who was born around 470 BC, was in fact the first Pythagorean who wrote down the teachings of the School ”( Pythagorean Sourcebook, p. 38). “Some fragments of Filolau's works are preserved (see op. Cit. Pp. 167-176). The only Pythagorean (of which there is evidence) that remained in southern Italy was Arquitas de Taranto, elected supreme magistrate of Taranto seven times. From this author some fragments were preserved (see op. Cit. Pp. 177-201). Arquitas was a student of Filolau and a friend of Plato, who visited him in 388 BC ”(Ibid. P. 177).

“Plato received Pythagorean thinking mainly through Filolau and Arquitas de Taranto. According to Diogenes Laercio, Plato "wrote to Dion, who was in Sicily, to buy three Pythagorean books from Filolau for the price of one hundred mines" (Laercio, op. Cit. P. 77). And by Laercio (Ibid. P. 78) and by Plato himself in his epistle VII ( The Works of Plato, translated into English by Thomas Taylor, Vol. V, pp. 598-627), we know that he made three trips to Sicily already

Magna Grecia, where she had direct contact with the esoteric Pythagorean tradition, which greatly influenced her philosophy. Thus, "perhaps it was appropriate to face Plato as the most important Pythagorean thinker in the history of the West" ( Pythagorean Sourcebook, op. Cit. P. 38).

“Several of his disciples (from Plato) are of a fully Pythagorean character such as: the Laws, or Parmenides and the Timaeus. 'And it was the practice of Pythagoras and his followers, among which Plato attributed the most outstanding level, hiding the divine mysteries under the veil of symbols and numbers, or concealing his wisdom in the face of the arrogant boasts of the sophists ... And it was usual among the Pythagoreans, and in Plato, to form a harmonic union of many materials about a subject, partly imitating nature, partly because of elegance and grace (which implies) ”( The Cratylus, Phaedo, Parmenides, Timaeus and Critias of Plato, English translation of Thomas Taylor, London, 1793; facsimile reprint of Wizards Bookshelf, Minneapolis, 1976. Introduction to Parmenides, by Thomas Taylor, p. 165).

In introducing Plato's Timaeus, Thomas Taylor (Ibid. P. 249) says; “The book of Timaeus, with respect to nature, is composed in the Pythagorean way; and Plato, deriving his materials from there, composed the account of the following dialogue ... And only Plato, of all physiologists, preserved the Pythagorean way in speculation about

nature". Finally, in his Introduction to the Laws, Thomas Taylor himself tells us that “Plato's genius, in composing these laws, is truly admirable…” since “in this work, philanthropy seems to have merged in the happiest way Socratic with the Pythagorean intellectual elevation ”(The Works of Plato, op. cit. Vol. II, pp. 3 and 4).

J. Ramón Sordo

-> seen in revistabiosofia.com