The Kober Press
Catalogue

This work is the first volume of The Gated Garden, a cycle of thirty-two books in which the author shows the way that lets his readers find objective spiritual truth within the light that darkness cannot conquer. In this opening volume the author discloses his own spiritual origin and sources and explains the reason leading to the publication of these books in our time. As the Western mediator of the oldest roots of ancient Eastern wisdom he also gives his readers the criteria to distinguish spurious echoes of that wisdom. 

Of particular significance for Western readers is the chapter "The Night of Easter," which recalls the actual events preceding what would later be accepted as the Resurrection. In this context the book also touches on the Eastern well spring in the teachings of the historical Master of Nazareth.

The concept "Royal Art" in the book's title refers to the Indian Raja Yoga, but here the term is used to denote a spiritual craft that far transcends the practices that are today suggested by that name.

As the portal to The Gated Garden this book is of particular importance in that is sets the tone and outlines the perspective from which all other volumes in the cycle should be viewed and understood.

Contents:
PART ONE: The Light from Himavat and the Words of the Masters. 1. The Luminary's Self-Disclosure to the Seeking Soul. 2. The Harvest. 3. The One whose Being is Infinity. 4. Know Thyself. 5. On the Masters of the Spirit's World. 6. Pitfalls of Vanity.
PART TWO: From the Lands of the Luminaries. 1. The Threshold. 2. The King's Question. 3. The Pillar in the Mountains. 4. The Night of Easter. 5 Communion.

2. THE BOOK ON THE LIVING GOD [Trilogy: Book I]
(Last, revised, and enlarged edition: 1927)

In this central text of the Hortus Conclusus cycle, the author shows the difference between the numerous subjective, man-made images of God--ranging from the fetish of the savage to the intellectual constructs of the philosopher--and the objective spiritual reality that human beings are capable of knowing through experience. The phantom gods that human minds create owe their existence and their power to nothing more than man's own will; they vanish when there are no more believers willing to sustain them. What in this book is called the Living God is something very different. It neither is a "person" moved by human passions, nor an omnipotent, all-knowing potentate who made the cosmos out of nothing in order that it worship him. Man's individuated Living God is, rather, shown as the sublimest self-creation by and of the Spirit. It is a spiritual scintilla that is born, as light from light, within each human soul that has prepared itself to be a fitting vessel.

Contents:
Word of Guidance. "The Tabernacle of God is with Men". The "Mahatmas" of Theosophy. Meta-Physical Experiences. The Inner Journey. The En-Sof. On Seeking God. On Leading an Active Life. On "Holy Men" and "Sinners". The Hidden Side of Nature. The Secret Temple. Karma. War and Peace. The Unity among Religions. The Will to Find Eternal Light. Mankind's Higher Faculties of Knowing. On Death. On the Spirit's Radiant Substance. The Path toward Perfection. On Everlasting Life. The Spirit's Light Dwells in the East. Faith, Talismans, and Images of God. The Inner Force in Words. A Call from Himavat. Giving Thanks. Epilogue. Reminder.

This book was written to provide its readers with the most important facts concerning the non-physical existence in which they must awaken after they have lost the use of their material organism. The book prepares them for realities they may expect to find upon the other shore and clearly spells out what one ought to do, and what must be avoided. In particular, the author warns of the deceptive phantom "heavens," which misdirected human faith--generated during mortal life--has brought into existence in the world beyond. As he makes clear such realms of self-imposed illusions can hold the human consciousness in hidden chains for ages. The author explains that life "beyond" is in reality the very life we live on earth, only it is then experienced by means of different senses. Objectively considered, "death" is only the transition which allows us to resume the spiritual existence we had known before the birth into this mortal life. In this context, the author also touches on the topic of "reincarnation" and discusses under which conditions it may actually occur. As a rule, however, this present life is a unique event, and thus of critical importance for its results will have the most far-reaching consequences for our life to come.

Contents:
Introduction. The Art of Dying. The Temple of Eternity and the World of Spirit. The Only Absolute Reality. What Should One Do?

Together with The Book on the Living God and The Book on Life Beyond the present volume forms a trilogy, containing the essential facts and insights of the spiritual cosmology the author outlines in his thirty-two volume cycle Hortus Conclusus (The Enclosed Garden). The Book on Human Nature at the outset draws a clear distinction between the timeless, truly "human" individuality of spiritual ancestry that is embodied in each mortal human life, and the material organism of the special animal with which the spiritual being unifies itself to spend its earthly lifetime in a troubled, but inseparable partnership. The book sheds light both on the primal origin of human beings in their timeless spiritual nature and also on the causes leading to that spiritual being's physical incorporation. In this context, the creation narrative of Man preserved in Genesis is shown to be a fragment based upon objective insights into cosmic truth. As the mortal human being encloses the conflicting energies of spiritual and animal desires, needs, and wills, the struggle for predominance between the two opposing forces cannot be avoided. The critical question, both for the human individual and, ultimately, for society at large, is whether the eternal essence in the human mortal gains the upper hand, or whether mortal man remains the thrall of his material instincts, and thereby forfeits all awareness of his spiritual nature. To help the reader form objective concepts concerning mankind's origin, immortal essence, and eternal goal, the present book provides succinct and lucid guidelines.

Contents:
Introduction. The Mystery Enshrouding Male and Female. The Path of the Female. The Path of the Male. Marriage. Children. The Human Being of the Age to Come. Epilogue. A Final Word.

The Book on Happiness will guide the reader to a new and deeper understanding of the final roots of happiness and of the hidden laws of nature that underlie and regulate all forms of life, both in the physical and in the spiritual dimensions of reality. Because these laws consistently affect events in human life, no less than any law of physics, they must be carefully observed if one would lead a happy and productive life. In the present book the author shows that happiness in human life is not a random gift of fortune, which some receive and others seek in vain, but the inevitable consequence of all creative, ethical activity. Spiritually considered, happiness is an experience that every human being is not merely able to create, but morally required to attain. It is an obligation every person has to meet, a debt we owe both to ourselves and to society as such.

Prelude. Creating Happiness as Moral Duty. "I and "You." Wealth and Poverty. Money. Optimism. Conclusion.

This  book confirms, all atheists and skeptics notwithstanding, that faith in God is not the stubborn superstition of untutored or misguided minds, but the experience of an energy that reconnects the spiritual human being with the primordial Ground of Being that sustains all levels of existence.

The God, however, whom enlightened faith has every reason to believe is not the mentally constructed phantom of theology--full of contradictions, fraught with human flaws, unfeeling but omnipotent--who created the ever-expanding universe in a few days, but a reality transcending intellect, philosophy and science, whose power human beings are capable of apprehending through experience. 

Once experienced, all "belief" is made irrelevant, and faith becomes united with its object.  How that ultimate experience is attained in mortal life, the guidelines of  The Path to God  describe in terms that shed authentic light on life's profoundest mystery.
 
Contents:
Fantasy and Faith, Knowing Certainty, Dreaming Souls, Truth and Reality, Yes and No,  The Decisive Battle, Individual Perfection.

The author stresses the distinction between the world of mental notions and the objective spiritual reality that underlies all physical perceptions, The Book on Love is of particular significance as it distinguishes expressions of emotional attachment from the elemental cosmic force sustaining all creation.

Few words are used so readily, and with a wider range of connotations, reaching from an attribute of God to the material realm of physical desire, than is the concept "love." Yet while incessantly abused by thoughtless speech, the substance of the world is not debased; even as the sun is not defiled by shining on a putrid swamp.

What fundamentally distinguishes all forms of human love from the almighty cosmic force which also bears that name, is that the former need an object they attract and would possess, while the latter—the divine, celestial revelation of that power—is wholly free of all attachment, being perfect and sufficient in itself.

It is the latter form of love that animates the Spirit's infinite dimensions, and its reflection must inspire human souls who would experience what all the great historical religions had been founded to convey.

A special chapter in the present book sheds light on the historical life and mission of Jesus of Nazareth, who was the greatest Mediator of that highest form of love embodied in this life, which made him able to accomplish his redemptive sacrifice at Golgotha. titles of the paintings.

Contents:
Introduction. The Greatest of Compassion's Mediators. On Love's Primordial Fire.  Light of Liberation.  On Love's Creative Power.

This book considers the experience of grief, bereavement, and despair from the perspective of our timeless life, from which all physical ordeals and pains appear in a profoundly different light. While not denying the reality of suffering and anguish in the sphere of mortal life, the book explains why grief and sorrow have no basis for existence in the dimension of the Spirit's light. That is to say, all grief is strictly limited to physical mortality, is subject to the law of time, and an inevitable consequence of life in earthly form. All grief, however, can be borne and overcome by seeing it in its true nature: as a defect inherent in our mortal life. Thus, it even can be turned to our benefit; for it may reawaken and intensify our inner life.

Contents:
On grief and Finding Solace. Lessons One can Learn from Grief. On Follies to Avoid. On the Comforting Virtue of Work. On Solace in Bereavement.

The Book of Dialogues presents a selection of conversations between the author and his spiritual mentors on a number of topics that should be clearly understood if one would find objective spiritual life and knowledge, nor merely concepts and beliefs.
 
The book is of particular significance in that it sheds revealing light both on the author's own development from early childhood on, and thereby also on the trials and ordeals which those need to endure who then become authentic masters, competent as spiritual mediators to speak of and convey the substance of eternal light.
 
In the context of these dialogues, the reader will make the connection that the author is the Western representative and voice of the perennial source from which all true and real insights into spiritual dimensions have been granted mankind since the dawn of time, long before the rise of temporal religious creeds.
Fragments of this oldest tradition of Eastern wisdom have reached the West at various times in history, but never before has that knowledge been coherently made public as it is now in the writings of this author. This book explains what brought these works about.

Contents:
Testimony.  Knowledge and Reality in Action. Light and Darkness. The Spirit's Might. The Jewel of the Heart. Transformation.  The Dialogue on the Innermost East. The Dialogue on the Parting of a Master.  The Flower Garden.  The Deviant Pupils. Night of Trial.  Individuality and Person. The Realm of the Soul. On finding Oneself. On the Elder Brothers of Mankind.  Mysteries of Magic.

This work retraces the original contents of the Fourth Gospel, before its text was mutilated by the early editors who made it fit the mold of the synoptic gospels in order to support the progress of the mission. The book discusses the historical events reflected in this Gospel, as they were witnessed by contemporaries, before interpretation gave the actual events another meaning. It describes the human personality of Jesus of Nazareth, his life and death, his public and private teaching, and, most importantly, it gives the real background on his spiritual mission. The book provides a portrait of the Galilean Master as his friends and adversaries knew him, before his life and person were deified, so as to serve as objects for the worship of the new religion. In separating history from legend, the book shows many ancient dogmas in a higher light: as symbols of enlightened wisdom which point the way to spiritual realities beyond the purview of dogmatic speculation.

Introduction. The Master's Image. The Luminary's Mortal Life. The Aftermath. The Missive. The Authentic Doctrine. The Paraclete. Conclusion.

Promise. Experience and Phenomenon. On Knowing and Conveying Knowledge. The Art of Reading. On Letters. Personality Cult. Compulsive Criticizing. Who Was Jakob Böhme? The Gift of Healing. Dangers of Mysticism. Twenty-two didactic texts in verse.

Whom I Consider My Reader. Essential Distinctions. Needless Self-Torment. Unavoidable Difficulties. Dynamic Faith. The Greatest Obstacle. The Reader and His Companions. Inner Life and Outer World. How My Books Ought to Be Used.

In the present book, as in The Book on Love and in The Wisdom of St John, the author states that the spiritual work accomplished at Golgotha was a cosmic event that profoundly changed the spiritual aura of the planet.  Ever since that day all human beings of “good will,” in search of timeless light and liberation, no matter what their faith might be, including also “non-believers,” are offered the gift of being able to attain the highest spiritual goal that human beings can pursue in life on earth.  Symbolically, the conquest of Golgotha has been has been described as the defeat of the “prince of this world.”

 The author also explains that Jesus of Nazareth, while born in Galilee, was neither a teacher of the Jewish Law, which he merely cited on occasion, nor the founder of a faith that used his name and sayings to create a new religion that worshiped his as “God,” but that his wisdom and authority derived from a higher source, of whose existence only myths and rumors have reflected knowledge until now.

 The book also offers criteria to distinguish genuine and spurious teaching on spiritual reality, and emphasizes that intellectual proficiency should not be mistaken for conscious spiritual life.

Introduction, The Mystery of Golgotha. The Most Pernicious of Our Foes. Love and Hatred. The Soul and Its Growth. Spiritual Guidance. Occultists’ Exercises. Mediumism and Artistic Creation. At the Wellspring of Life. Membership in “The White Lodge.”  Follies of Imagination.

Preface. The Work of Man. Myth and Reality. Myth and Cult. Cult as Form of Magic. On Magic and on Timeless Knowledge. The Light Within. Conclusions to Be Drawn.

In this book the author speaks to readers who are asking whether human life on earth indeed has any meaning; and if so, what that meaning is, and how one could pursue a meaningful existence. For those who would not waste their lives in aimless theories, the present work will offer solid grounds on which to build a life that is not only spiritually secure and physically productive, but also intellectually enlightened: because its guiding principles are rooted in the recognition of eternal law. As in his Book on Happiness, the author states that lasting joy is not a gift of chance awarded from without, but rather the creation of an active soul, so too the reader's life is bound to have no meaning unless such meaning is created by determined human will.

While there are many goals one can pursue to give one's life subjective meaning, the author shows that none surpasses that of which the ancient sages wrote as being mankind's "highest good": the conscious rediscovery of our timeless spiritual nature, through which not only our present life, but also our state in life beyond will be affected most profoundly. To help the reader recognize and reach that highest of all human goals remains the foremost aim of all the author's writings. It also is the purpose of the present work. And here he deals with, in particular, the mystery of evil manifest in human nature; the need to find a new approach to asking final questions; the dangers of experimenting with "occult" phenomena; the difference between subjective verities and absolute, objective Truth; and also of the subtle ways in which the Spirit's world is often apprehended unawares, and in the midst of ordinary daily life.

Of special interest should prove the chapter on the benefits of silence, given that this discipline seems nowadays to many a forgotten art. Stressing that our present life is but the preparation for the life to come, whose state will be determined largely by our conduct here and now, the book concludes with this advice: "If you would lend abiding purpose to your life on earth, be sure that everything you undertake is always done in such a way that it will likewise further values of a higher kind. For, in the end, your present life will have true meaning only if it continues to be fruitful, and if its harvest shall be yours to reap for all eternity."

A Call to the Lost. The Iniquity of the Fathers. The Highest Good. The "Evil" Individual. Summons from the World of Light. The Benefits of Silence. Truth and Verities. Conclusion.

A Guiding Word. To Those That Have Tired of Sleeping. The Masters Who Build the Cathedral of Man. Theosophy and Pseudotheosophy. Matter, Soul, and Spirit. Essentials to Be Understood. The Mysteries of Artistic Creation. The Kabbalah. The Light of Truth in Christianity. The Secret of the Ancient Lodges. Proper Worship.

---

The Call of the Spirit. The Two Paths. On Seeking and Finding. Eternal Light. The Colors of Eternal Light. About the Highest Goal. The Ways of the Ancients. The Blessings Within Work. The Powers of Love. The Master of Nazareth.

---

This book employs the concept "Resurrection" to signify the human being's spiritual awakening amidst the phantoms and decay of physical existence. Thus considered, "Resurrection" means the rising from the leaden sleep of minds who dream they are awake. "Resurrection" here is not the arbitrary gift reserved by an imagined higher power for believers, but every human being's spiritually given obligation and potential.. How this obligation is fulfilled, the author shows in all his books from different perspectives. The present book would make the reader comprehend that people can be physically awake while being spiritually fast asleep, and that this state is typical for the majority. It follows that the concepts "knowledge," "God," "eternal life," and others touching final things, which spiritually sleeping minds debate, are in reality no more than intellectual fabrications. The objective truth that underlies these concepts can be apprehended only when the individual has been spiritually "resurrected." As the attainment of this all-surpassing goal requires competent advice, knowledgeable guidance, and effective help, the book sheds light on what is to be known and done, and what should be avoided.

Preface,  Resurrection,  The Knowledge of Sages,  Effects of Law and Chance,  Wasted Labors.  Mardi Gras of the Occult, . Inner Voices,  The Magic Effect of Fear,  The Limits of Omnipotence,  The New Life,  Festive Joy,  The Virtue of Laughter,  Self-Conquest

Excerpts:
- Mardi Gras of the Occult
- Inner Voices

Among the thirty-two works that form B(tm) Yin R‰'s cycle Hortus Conclusus (The Enclosed Garden), this volume occupies a special place, in that the author's text is here accompanied by twenty of the artist's spiritual perspectives, paintings that depict the nature and dynamic structure of eternal life. In his comments on this book, B(tm) Yin R‰â remarks that false ideas about the life in spiritual dimensions, patterned too directly on mortal physical experience, prevent the human soul from ever apprehending timeless life in earthly form. It therefore is essential to remove the mental barriers that tradition has created and to replace them with authentic presentations of nonphysical existence.

The paintings that illuminate the present book, in which events of spiritual reality are in effect transformed into a physically accessible experience, are, together with this artist's other spiritual perspectives, unique creations in the history of art. For until now, artistic images of spiritual worlds were, of necessity, derived from either intuition or imagination, not from fully conscious and objective insights into their reality.

The subject of this book is the ascent of an awakened human spirit, under the protection of its inner guide, to a dimension in the Spirit`s world where ultimate perfection is attained, and where the human spirit then is able to survey and understand its own eternal journey, from its origins, its self-willed fall from highest light, and its eventual, long and burdensome return to where it had begun its quest.

The titles of the paintings illustrating the cosmology of these events: Emanation,"In Principio erat Verbum," "Lux in Tenebris", "Te Deum Laudamus," Space and Time, Primal Generation, Seeds of Future Worlds, Emerging Worlds, Birth of the External Cosmos, Labyrinth, Desire for External Form, Astral Luminescence, Sodom, Inferno, De Profundis, Revelation, Illumination, Fulfillment, Victory, and Himavat.

The Timeless Sanctity of Marriage. On Love. On Life Together. On Joy and Sorrow. On Temptation and Danger. The Demands of Daily Life. The Will Toward Unity. The Heredity of Happiness. Eternal Bonds.

In this book the author clarifies the fundamental difference between addressing an imagined "God" in order to receive desired benefits, and the spiritual transformation of one's inner life that is the precondition to establish contact with the eternal powers that are able, in reality, to offer help to human beings in distress. The book explains the underlying principles of real prayer, and how the art of conscious prayer functions in the Spirit's world. While effective prayer, not merely prattling litanies, is an essential source of strength and insight in this present life, its highest goal is to awaken the awareness of the human mortal's timeless life.

The present book deals with a topic nowhere else discussed in the extensive literature on attributes of spiritual life; i.e., the intricate relationship between the Spirit's all-pervading, all-sustaining radiant substance, and the tangible and concrete forms in which this substance manifests its presence in material life. The author shows that, in the Spirit's highest realms, form and content are an integral identity; that nothing spiritual is ever found devoid of form, and that all elements of form, even in this physical domain, are ultimately based upon, and thus reflect, the Spirit's infinite creative powers. It is for that reason that human souls who would discover and experience the reality of spiritual life need to develop an awareness of the close connection between external form and inner content in their earthly lives. Imposing form on all one's physical existence; one's work and play; one's public and domestic life; one's impulses and feelings, including joy and grief, is thus of critical importance if one would be prepared to find the Spirit's realm within.To form oneself is, finally, the highest task in life; for only what has reached its perfect form can hope to enter in the Spirit's absolute perfection.

The Question. Outer World and Inner Life. At Home and at Work. Forming One's Joy. Forming One's Grief. The Art of Living.

In connection with these texts ought to be read the small brochure:
"The Use of Mantras" (1928).

A Call to the Soul. I Who Am. Reflection. Love. Action. Struggle. Peace. Energy. Life. Light. Trust. Enlightenment. Vow.

Foreword. Thirty chapters in epistolary form, containing eighteen texts in verse. The letters deal with the following subjects: 1. On What the Soul Possesses. 2. On Needless Fears. 3. On Necessary Confidence. 4. About My Way of Writing. 5. On Discussing Myself. 6. What Ought to Be Accomplished. 7. About the Temple of Eternity. 8. About My Spiritual Nature. 9. How Spiritual Help Is Brought About. 10. How God Is Far from World Affairs. 11. How God Can Yet Grant Help to Individuals. 12. On the Energies of the Soul. 13. On New Editions of My Works. 14. On Polytheism and the Veneration of Saints. 15. How Life Is Lived in the Spirit. 16. On the Gentle Ways of True Awakening.17. On Mystics and Jacob Böhme. 18. What God Is in Reality. 19. On Essence and Being. 20. On Questions I Would Not Be Asked. 21. About the Number Twelve and the Bell of the Tower. 22. On the Scales That Must Fall from One's Eyes. 23. Why No Two Individuals Are Equal Before God. 24. On Professing One's Faith Before Men. 25. On Masters Who Have Fallen. 26. On Radiant Stones and Substances. 27. On Disdaining Needless Grief. 28. On the Nature and Powers of Blessing. 29. On How Eternal Things Do Not Know Time. 30. On Giving Oneself and on Silence. Conclusion.

---

The Dialogue at the Gate. On How Eternal Things Are Simple. On Changing One's Perspective and on the Concept of Degrees. On Forms of Consciousness and Help in Need. The Consciousness of the Departed. What Helpers from the Spirit Have to Risk. On Parodies of the Eternal Self. Again on Truth and on Reality. On Temporal and Timeless Space. On the Religious Wisdom of the East. On the Mystery That Dwells in the East. The Formal Aspect of Religions. On Faith and Acquiescence. Mistaken Images of God. On the Purpose of All Guidance. On What I Merely Must Transmit. To Whom I Have Nothing to Say. On the Life of the Eternal Soul. On the Delays Caused by Curiosity. About Man's Temporal and His Eternal Soul. On What Continues After Death. On the Eternal Soul and the Temporal Psyche. Conclusions That One Ought to Draw. Grave Misjudgments of the Psyche. On the Dilemma of Pastoral Care. On How Eternal Things Are Wholly Natural. Conclusion and Farewell. List of Works Comprising the Cycle Hortus Conclusus.

---

Preface. Secret Knowledge and Arcane Science. Useful Planetary Energies. The Enigma of Dreams. Arts of Divination. Hypnosis. The Enigma of the Future.

Why This Book Was Written. Why I Had to Study Painting. About My Spiritual Perspectives. My Portrait of Jesus. Profession and Calling.

The Realm of Art
(First published in 1921, this book appeared in a revised and enlarged edition in 1933)

Preface to the New Edition. Art as a Factor of Life. Is Art a Luxury? On Art "Analysis." Artistic Perception. On "Beauty" in Art. Art and Nature. Sculptural Perception. Artist and Layman. Artist, Public, and Jury. The Work and Its Technique. The Work and Its Style. The Metaphysical Component in the Work of Art. Art and World View. On "Modern" Art. Expressionism. Pointless Quarrels. On the "Limits" of Painting. Primitive Art and Archaism. Art and Virtuosity. The Art of Dilettantes. The Art of Raphael.

---

Seven numbered chapters on many different topics, and thus without specific titles.

God as an Object of Assumption as Compared to His Reality. Living Light and Regions Closed to Thought. The Atrophy of Spiritual Perception. The Loss of God Through "Fear of the Lord." "What Is Truth?" Comments on the Texts of the Hortus Conclusus and the Related Works.

What the Title Signifies. Concerning the Topic. Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Appendix: Numbered Catalog of the 268 Individual Texts Comprising the Cycle Hortus Conclusus.

Two volumes of a posthumous collection of essays, reviews, and poems, published in various newspapers and journals beteen 1913 and 1937.

The articles and shorter pieces collected in this volume provide a brief but comprehensive introduction to the author's writings, his background, and perspective. In particular, it offers a synopsis of his forty published works, together with short commentaries on their contents. This book has been compiled to let the interested reader gain a clearer picture of the painter and writer Bô Yin Râ whose unprecedented expositions in the fields of metaphysics, religion, and philosophy are difficult to classify and have to be examined by themselves, within their proper context.

Excerpts: 
- "Concerning my name"
- "About my books"