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d_redant · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:37 am Post subject: Pythagoras and Biosophy

Pythagoras and Biosophy!
By Dr Joshua David Stone

"First honor the immortal Gods, as the law demands; Then reverence thy oath, and then the illustrious heroes; Then venerate the divinities under the earth, due rites performing; Then honor your parents, and all of your kindred. Among others make the most virtuous thy friend!"
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras

Pythagoras was born around 570 BC to Mnesarchus of Samos, a gem engraver, and his wife Pithais. An interesting story was told concerning his parents visit to the "Oracle of Delphi" just prior to Pythagoras birth. Mnesarchus asked a question concerning his coming voyage to Syria. The oracle did not answer his question but instead told them that Pithais would soon give birth to a son that was destined to pass all men in beauty and wisdom and be of great service to mankind.

Pythagoras traveled extensively. He had the benefit of the best possible education in his day. He had an insatiable thirst for knowledge which led Him to travel until the age of 56. During these years He studied under the sages of Egypt, the wise men of Phoenicia, Babylonia, Chaldea, Persia and India.

Interestingly enough, Pythagoras lived at the same time Buddha was teaching His philosophy in India. While He was in Persia He studied the teachings of Zoroaster. It was from His stay among these foreigners that Pythagoras acquired the greater part of His wisdom.

On His return from His travels, Pythagoras established a school in Crotona where He taught the "Pythagorean Life". In this school He taught the many things He had learned and studied in His travels. From the Egyptians He had learned the science of mathematics. From the Chaldeans He had learned the science of astronomy. From the Magi of Persia and the Brahmans of India He learned the science of living.

Pythagoras was both a founder of new sciences and a moral reformer. He was one of the first philosophers in the west to recommend a vegetarian diet. The new religion He taught was called "Biosophy". This is a word coming from the Greek roots bios meaning life, and sophia meaning wisdom. Biosophy, hence means the wisdom or science of living.

Pythagoras made a sharp differentiation between learning, knowledge, and wisdom. Wisdom He saw, as being far superior to the first two. Learning is what we memorize and are taught by our parents, teachers and books. It is second hand information. Knowledge comes from what we know in our experience. Wisdom was the distilled essence of all that we have gained from life’s experience. Pythagoras’ main aim in life was the development of this wisdom of living.

Pythagoras was incredibly multifaceted in His understanding and teaching. Among His most famous contributions was His Pythagorean Theorem, the 47th proposition of Euclid, that says, "the square of the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides."

Besides the mathematical sciences He was the first to teach the principles of scientific astronomy. His teachings that the earth was spherical was bitterly opposed by the church.

Pythagoras was the first Greek to be called by the name of "Philosopher". He was the originator of the diatonic musical scale, on which the music is based to this day. Pythagoras was also a master of medicine and naturopathic healing which was administered in the temples of Aesculapius. He considered geometry, music, and astronomy as essential to coming to a rational understanding of God.

The God of Pythagoras was the "Monad", or one that is everything. He saw God as the supreme mind distributed throughout all parts of the universe. He saw God as the cause of all things, the intelligence of all things and the power within all things.

Pythagoras taught that friendship was the truest and most perfect of all relationships. He taught that both man and the universe were made in the image of God. To understand one of these was to gain knowledge of the other.

He believed that all the planets and stars were actually alive, and were in actuality encasing souls, minds and spirits in the same manner that we are encased in a human physical body. He saw the stars and planets and magnificent deities. All these deities, however were subservient to the one God.

He most definitely also believed in reincarnation and remembered a great many of His own lives and had the ability to tell others their past lives. He saw the purpose of life, to ultimately ascend into the realm of the immortals where, by Divine birthright, we all belong. In this sense, Pythagoras divided the universe into three parts. The supreme world, the superior world and the inferior world. The supreme world was the truest plane of the supreme Deity. The superior world was the home of the immortals. The material world was the home of those who were incarnated into the material universe.

At the age of sixty, Pythagoras married one of His disciples and had seven children. After Pythagoras’ death his wife continued to teach His doctrines. He was said to be six feet tall and to be perfectly formed as that of Apollo. He was still in the prime of his life even though he neared the age of 100. Pythagoras had a persona of majesty and power.

Pythagoras was also a master of the science of numerology. He saw numbers as a living, qualitative reality which must be approached in an experiential manner. Pythagoras was also greatly influenced by Orphism, or the teaching of Orpheus (the Buddha in a past life). (See chapter on Orpheus in this book.) Orpheus was the father of the Greek mystery schools. Orphism taught that the soul is immortal but descends into the realm of matter in a long series of incarnations until it has purified itself and regained its true divine nature. This was very much in line with what Pythagoras taught.

Pythagoras taught His disciples in His "golden verses", that they should honor the gods, above geniuses, and heroes above men. On the subject of the relations between sexes, He taught continence, but not celibacy or avoidance of marriage and parenthood. Pythagoras divided people into three categories. These are as men, Gods, and beings like Himself who stand in an intermediate position between both. One of Pythagoras’ senior disciples was Kleineas, who was none other than our dear friend, Djwhal Khul. One of Djwhal Khul’s disciples in this period of His was none other than C.W. Leadbeater, of Theosophical Society fame.

Pythagoras was very holistic in His approach, for he taught the harmonious development of the body, mind, and soul. Its main goal was the perfection of moral character, which He gave priority to over intellectual training in the sciences. Pythagoras was the first Greek to also admit women into His school as freely as men. This was a breakthrough in the patriarchal Greek culture previous to this time.

In the center of His school at Crotona was a temple which was guarded by a statue of Hermes (Buddha in a past life), Egyptians knew Hermes as Thoth. On the inscription of this statue it read, "Let the profane not enter here."

In the Pythagorean community there were nine different temples to the different arts and sciences. In the Pythagorean system, education science and religion were all perfectly unified. The subjects studied in the Pythagorean school included mathematics, geometry, astronomy, music, medicine, philosophy, politics, and advanced form of ethics.

Music played a very big part in the system of Pythagorean education. It was used by Pythagoras to cure disease and control a person’s desires and emotions. Pythagoras looked at music just like a doctor looks at medicine. He developed an exacting science as to what types of music cured and healed different types of ills.

In terms of sexuality His attitude was that sexual association should never occur for pleasure, but rather only for the procreation of children. He was rather strict on this point much like one of His followers 600 years later by the name of Appolonius of Tyanna. (The incarnation of Jesus after His life in Palestine) The goal of the Pythagorean educational system was purification so one could achieve "assimilation with God".

In Pythagoras’ study of numbers He broke this science down into four basic parts.

Arithmetic = number in itself
Geometry = number in space

Music or harmonics = number in time

Astronomy = number in space and time

There is an interesting story about Pythagoras that was told that demonstrates His remarkable powers. Pythagoras, in His travels, apparently one day came across some fishermen who were drawing up their nets which were filled with fish. Pythagoras told the fishermen that He could tell them the exact number of fish they had caught, which the fishermen thought to be an impossible task, given how many were caught in the nets. The fishermen said that if He was right they would do anything He said. They counted all the fish and Pythagoras was totally accurate in His estimate. He then ordered the fishermen to return the fish to the sea and for some mystical reason none of them died. Pythagoras paid the fishermen for the price of the fish and left for Crotona. Incidents like this caused Pythagoras’ fame to spread. During one of His lectures in Italy it was said that He gained 2000 disciples from that one lecture alone.

On Pythagoras’ advice to youth, He told them to never revile anyone, nor revenge themselves on those who did. He recommended that they should devote themselves diligently to learning. According to historians His words possessed such spiritual power that even wild animals became tame when He spoke with them.

Pythagoras taught a philosophy of moderation in all things, however there was an acetic side to His teachings. His disciples were ordered to abstain from all animal food and wine. They were ordered not to eat too much, and to sleep as little as possible. They were guided to suppress their speech and retain silence as much as possible. They were guided to achieve a contempt for fame and worship of money.

Pythagoras was acknowledged to have been the inventor and legislator of "friendship". He taught a universal love towards all. His disciples’ entire lives were arranged to follow God.

Pythagoras taught that no occurrence happened by chance or by luck, but rather by Divine providence, and especially so to good and pious people. He taught that it was much more holy to be injured than to kill another person. One incurs karma and the other doesn’t. He taught the complete abstinence of all rivalry, competition, and contention among His disciples.

For breakfast Pythagoras would eat chiefly honey. For dinner He used bread made of millet, barley or herbs, raw and boiled. Pythagoras also taught that special emphasis and attention should be given to when one goes to sleep at night and when one wakes up in the morning. At each of these times His disciples were guided to consider their past actions and the future actions they were planning on making. Therefore He advised His disciples to repeat to themselves the following verse as recorded in the book, "The Pythagorean Source Book and Library", by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie:

"Nor suffer sleep to close thine eyes

till thrice thy acts that day thou hast run over.

How slip? What deeds? What duty left undone?"

On Rising:

"As soon as ere thou wakest, in order lay

the actions to be done that following day."

Pythagoras taught, above all else, to speak the truth. He said that above all else that this deifies man. Pythagoras was also the first to call heaven the "cosmos". He called it this because it is perfect and adorned with infinite beauty and living Beings.

Pythagoras saw man as the microcosm and a compendium of the universe within himself. He taught that there were eight parts of knowledge. These are: sense, imagination, art, opinion, deliberation, science, wisdom, and mind. Art, prudence, science and mind we share with the Gods. Sense and imagination, He taught, that we share with animals. Opinion alone is a human characteristic.

Pythagoras was so admired that His disciples looked on all His sayings as oracles of God. One time He criticized some behavior of a disciple and the disciple took it too hard and actually committed suicide. Pythagoras was deeply moved and saddened by this experience and vowed to be extremely careful in His constructive criticisms because of the hypersensitivity of some of His disciples.

Pythagoras saw the soul of man as being divided into three parts. These are intelligence, reason, and passion. He saw intelligence and passion to be found in animals. He taught, however, that reason was only found in man. Pythagoras taught that man’s most important privilege was to be able to persuade his soul to be either good or bad. Men were seen as happy when they had a good soul. He also taught that of all solid figures, the sphere was the most beautiful, and of all plane figures the circle most beautiful.

The Pythagorean Mystery School at Crotona
One of the most fascinating aspects of Pythagoras’ life and teachings was His mystery school at Crotona. Admission to His school was dependent on the applicant’s desire to learn. Pythagoras would not let a person into the school until He tested them interviewed them in a very in depth manner. He would ask about their relationship to their parents and family. He would examine their laughter, speech and silence. He asked how they spent their leisure time and what brought them grief and joy. He examined their form, their gait and studied their physical structure and mannerisms to rate the invisible tendencies of the soul.

If the student could pass this first test then, they were neglected for three years. He would secretly, however, watch their disposition, studiousness, stability, and soul or egotistical tendencies. After this the student was then ordered to remain silent for the next five years so as to learn control of speech and the ability to listen.

During this probationary period their property was put into a community trust. If they passed this next test then they became what was called an "esoteric" and was allowed to share in Pythagoras’ doctrines. Prior to this they participated in His words through hearing alone, and were also not allowed to see Him. If the student, at this point was rejected, they were given double the wealth they brought in with them and had to leave the community.

The first group was called the "akousmatikoi or auditors", who spent the three years on probation prior to the five years of silence. The more advanced group that went through the five years of silence were called the "mathmatikoi or students".

According to Dr. Raymond Bernard in his book of Pythagoras, "The Immortal Sage", the daily program of the school at Crotona began with a ritual of observing the rising of the sun. They would all wear white robes and offer a hymn to Apollo, the sun god. After the morning walk the students bathed, performed athletics and went to the temple. At the temples they formed groups around the different masters and various classes.

Their lunch consisted of bread, honey and olives. In the afternoon they went to the gymnasium and after this worked on their studies. At sunset, prayer was offered again and hymns were sung to the Gods of the Cosmos.

The Pythagorean school was divided in several degrees or initiations. As the students developed they would pass from initiation to initiation. The key word for the first degree was preparation. The key word of the second degree was purification. The key note of the third degree was perfection.

It was in this third degree that the students gathered together to study the teachings of Pythagoras, Himself. It was said that Pythagoras would on occasion teach all night. Part of the disciples’ work was to also work in the communal gardens.

The disciples of Pythagoras were trained first to know and master themselves. The ultimate goal being to achieve self mastery so as to be able to intelligently and spiritually help to rule and serve others. Pythagoras’ aim was to prepare future leaders for the new civilization.

Pythagoras’ Death
Pythagoras was said to have died at the ripe old age of 104. Upon his death His school at Crotona was passed on to His successor Aristaeus. Aristaeus carried on the school, educated Pythagoras’ children, and married His wife, Theano.

Pythagoras was said to have taught in His school for over 39 years. This is rather an interesting synchronicity, for Buddha taught for exactly 40 years after His illumination under the Bodhi Tree. When Aristaeus grew old, he turned the school over to Pythagoras’ son, Mnesarchus, Mnesarchus was then followed by Bulagoras, in whose time the school and Crotona were plundered.

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