The Philosophical Research Society, Inc.

3910 los Fetiz Blid. Los Àngelæ, Catifomia 9/|f|lz7

Mrrr.y P. Har.r. Ë Hsr{Rr L Dmr¡

Pns$o¡rtr-FouNDrn Vrce-hE$oErû

CO¡ilRIBIIIORS' BIIIJ,ETfIV - October 19Ê

Dear Friend.s

In our last Contributors t Bu[etin we pronised. to te1J. you somethlng more about the
island. of Mi¡rajÍna. The na,me is d.erived. fucm two Japanese word.s: miya meanlng a
shrtne; and. línn meanlng an f.s1and.. The real na¡¡e of this unusual sanctr:ary is
rtsukushime, å,nd. it is loeated. on the west sid.e of ltlrcshina Bay. The isLand is
five miles long and. two ar¡d. one-half niles ¡,rid.e. The terrain is rather roeky, and.
the highest point is abcut 1r7O0 feet above the level of the bay. The shrines on
the isl-and. are d.ed.icated. to the three cl"aughters of the nybholcgical hero who n¡l-ed.
cver the land in prehistoric times. The nor:nral population is apprcximately hrOOO,
and. in the course of time, f,heir occupations ha..¡e var:ied. consid.erably. Naturaliy,
varicus Shinto priests serve the shrines, and. there are innkeepers tc meet the need.s
of pilgrims and. sightseers. lfany shopkeepels sell folk art ma.d.e by the Ioca1 inhab-
itants, and. as usual, most of the prcd.uets are not available elser,¡here. In old.er
times there was a law fcrbid.d.ing births and. d.eaths on the island.. This ruling Ìras
d.iffieu-tb to enforce, especially as the poprrlation increase<l; but sick ana d.eãrepit
persons are still taken to the nearby rnairrl-an'l if possible" A number of tame d.eer
roam about tc the d.elÍght of child.ren, and. misehie"¡ious erot,rs attempt to convey the
impresslon that they are the or¿ners of the regiorr. Bven to this time, no d.ogs are
permitted. on the isl-and..
The cl-uster of shrines is typically
Shinto, with emphasis upon simple arehi-
tecture and. natural wood.. The most un-
usual- feature of the Miyajirna Shrine is
that mcre than half of its 8BB feet of
coruid-ors are supported. by pilings d-riven
into the sandy beaeh of the Inland. Sea.
At high ticle the corrÍd"ors appear to be
floatÍng on the water. Unfortuirately, at
the time of cr¡r visit the tid.e was low,
which d.etracted. frcm the picturesqueness
of the setting. The build.ings are und.er
the supervisi-on of a ShÍnto priest wearing
white and purpte rcbes, and this venerable
perscTr contributed. consid.erably to the
general chamn.
Contributors' Bulletin, October L97L, Page 2

The orÍginal build"5"ngs of the ltsukushima are said to have been built d.uring the
reign of the Enpress Regnant Suiko (>SZ-6Z8 A.D. ). At that time, the celebrated.
Prince Shotoku was Crown Prinee and. Regent, and. it is likely that the Ênpress and.
her nephew tcok an active part in the constructÍon of the Miyajina Sanetuary. Since
that tine, the sl¡rines have been rebuil'b and. restored. so often that it is unlikely
that any vestages of the original galleries have survived..
Anong the most treasured. art works of
Japan is the great Torii whlch stand.s
ln the water 528 feet from the main
temple. The first Torij- to occupy the
site was ereeted. by laira-no-Kiyomori
800 years ago, and. the present structus'e
is the eighth rebuilding on the sa¡oe site.
The ToriÍ, which resembles a huge gate-
vay, is fifty-three feet high, and the
top crossbar is seventy-seven feet long.
The huge vertical piJ-J.ars, mad.e from
carnphor trees, are thlrty-three feet irr 'Ìl ;
eircumference at the base. New eamphor
wood.is periodÍcally inserted. in those
areas lrhich are exposed. d.irectly to the
water at high tid.e.

There are several ways of reaching l¡llyaJima, the most comfortable being by motorcar
from Hiroshina--a trip requlring approximatel¡r one hour. Your car can be placed. on
a ferryboat, and. the trip from the mainland. requÍres about fifteen rrinutes. ft is
a consÍderable convenÍence tc have transportation on the island., although the d.is-
tances are not great. fn ad.d.Ítion to the nain ferryboat, there is a coJ-orful d.ragon
ship with an elaborate fÍgurehead, wh-ich is favorecl by chilclren and. natives from
remote country d.istrlets. The Miyaji¡CIa Hotel Ís convenient for those who wish to
stay for a few d.ays and.--wond.erful to report--it has sem:i-I{estern accomod.ations I
Last JuJ-y while I was in Munich, I visited. the Tinakophec and. had. the prlvil-ege cf
seeing the celebrated. self-portrait of Albrecht Durer, which he painted. in l-500.
The great artist has been accused. of basing his ccneept upon a picture of Christ,
but more careful ccnsid.eration would. incl-'.ne us to reject this accusation. Actual-ly,
the city of itTurenberg cast its Iot with Lutheranism in 1525. Durer was convínced.
that he had. a special d.estiny in the world. of art. It was his moral d.uty to create
a kotestant Christian interpretaticn of the ministry of Christ and. the early Apost1es.
Moved by this inner religious compulsion, Durer attempted. what proved. to be the im-
possible. There was sÍmply no ground. upon whieh to build. a new school- of sacred
themes or techniques. The geníus of the artist, however, survived. this. nrystical
crisis, and. Durer continued. to publish works that transcend.ed. al1 sectarian barriers.
In his later years he prod.uced. several val.uabl.e books re-lating to the proportions
of the human body and. optics for the use of the draftsrnan and. painter.
Úurer was born in 1471, and. this year a speeial ned.a1 was struck in Ger.nany to cele-
brate the 5O0th anniversary of his work. lfe are includ.ing herewith a picture of the
obverse of this med.al, ¡¡ith a polrerful likeness of Durer. 0n the reverse are hfs
heraltlic arrns and. fa.mous A.D. monogran. I am remind.ed. of an anecd.ote which is per-
haps worth preserving. The hperor Charles V once asked. Michelangelo whet he thoirght
Contributors' BulletÍ-n, October I97L, Paee 3

of Albrecht Durer. WÍth the noble frar¡l<ness of a uan of

genius who knows how to appreciate superÍor talents,
Michelangelo instantly rèp1ied, "I esteem him so high-
ly, that I would., if I were not Michelangelo, nuch
rather be .Albrecht Durer than even the T:mperor
Charles V."
In spite of the J.ongshoremen's strike, we.have re-
eej-ved. two very fine llkiyo-e triptychs fJ.orm in from
Japan. They witl be sho!'rn in our October exhibit at
headquarters. One triptych 1s by Toyakuni and. is an okL
Japanese va,mpire nyth. The pietures form a scene in a l(abuki
story, calLed. "fa,namononaye" in which a va.mpire fox runs ancl hLd.es in the lmperial
palace. Here, he takes on the appearance of a court lady, but the d.isgu-lse Ís pene-
trated. by lfbe¡rasunari, who sees the true face of the fox Ln a ¡rtrror. The secor.ô
print by Kunlyoshl is exceedingly clra,natic. Ihe aetion takes pl-aee in a cleep cave
where a god.d.ess appears in a circLe of llght and. saves General l(iro witta frm a
tragie cteath. lfood-block prints of thfs quality are now excgedingly d.ifficult to
find., and. we are happy to be abl.e to inclucle these fine exanples Ín our Oetober
showing.

I{e have recently added to our research librar-y Tibetm Painted SetoLLs by Giuseppe
fucci, publlshed. by I,a Libreria DeILo Stato, Rone, L9\9. This Ís one of the most
important and" rare works cLealing wlth fibetan religious tankas and. is illustrated wltr
nearS-y JOO plates. The set. is compLete in t¡ro fol-io voJ-rmes of text and. a portfoJ.io
of plates. So far as we know, the nearest arrai-IabJ.e eopy has been the one in the
reference library of the Brturd.age collection of oriental art in the De Young Museum
in San Francisco. Professor lucei not on1.y d.escribes a Large group of oLd. libetan
pafntings, but he id.entÍfies most of the cleÍties and explains the ccncepts und.erlylng
this type of Tantric art. He also nakes a comprehensíve stud.y of Tibetan history and.
provid.es lnformation on nq¡bhs, legend.s, and fables not to be for¡nd elsewhere i¡ rhglish.
Those ccncerned. with Tibetan religion wÍLL find this new set extrenely heJ.pftù and
infornrative.
We have had. an unusually busy surmrer, and. by the time you receive this letter, our
faII aetlvities will be in fulI swing. You wiJ.l be hearing from us again early in
December. In the meantime, lre are eontinualþ m:inctful- of your ma,ny kl-nclnesses and.
generous he1p.

Always most sincerely,

,( //-4
Contributo:.s' Bulletin - October 1971
SFECIAT TiO{TICE *trR.OM OUR BOOK DEPARTMEI{T

A number of important and. schola::Iy volumes in our fièlcts of interest are now available
Ín attractive and. aceurate reprint,s. Mosü cf those listed. here arè inelucLed. in ¡,tr. HaIl's
list of reeornmended. read.ing and. have long been rare and. out of print. To these have been
ad.ded. selected. works by outstand.Íng mod.err: authors. The ContrÍbutors' Bulletin wil-L list
add.itional worlis Ín future lssues.
TitLe Author Price
The Secret Tradition Ín Alcheny A.E. Ifaite $ 13.50
The Science of Becomlng Oneself H. Sa¡rard.arian 6.oo
The Science of the Aura S.G.J. Ousley (p) .75
Tibetan Yoga & Secret Doctrine E\rans-I{entz (P ) L.75
Toïard a Contemporary Psychology of Intuition lvlalcom Ifestcoüt 7.95
6.oo
Iïc Essays on Analybical Psychology #7 C.G. Jnng l¡.¡o
I\rc lcgend.s--Oed.ipus & lbesus And.re Gid.e -y5
llhe Tibetan Book of the Great LÍberation Euans-I{entz 2.50
TeachJ.ngs of Tibeta^n Toga (Trans ) e,arna Chane 5.O0
Thought Forms Besa¡rt-Leadbeater (p) 3.1t5
A Texbbook of Theosoptqr C.W. Leadbeater L,75
Trans cend.ental Astrolory A.G.S. Norris B.5o
Tibet I s Great logi MiJ-arepa (ed.) rvan-Wentz (p) 2.25
The Theory & Þactice of the !þndal.a G. lltrccÍ (P) 2'5o
The I'r¡rba Ptrflosophorum A.E. IË,itC 8.50
laoist Yoga, Alcheny & Irnnrortality Charles Lr¡k (P) 2.y5
The Teachers of Gr¡rd.Jieff Raphael lêFert 5.O0
Toward.s .Aquarlus Vera tÍ. ReÍd 3.95
A Treatise on Cosmic FÍre Alice BaÍIey ]:6.5o
A Treatlse on Ï{hite l{agic Allce Bailey 10.00
Thls Universe of Space P.N. Mill-uan 1.50
Tou Are Not the Target T,aura ltu:cley (P) 2.00
!'he - Unknowaþle Gurd jieff l'Þ,rgaret And.ersen 5.50
varleties of Religiõus ÞrperÍence - rvilrÍa¡n Ja.mes Iril l.ia.m Janes 2.45
Ved.anta for Mod.ern Man (r¿) c. rshervrood
Vocational Guiclanee by Astrologlr 3.75
Charles luntz 5.oo
Voiee of the Sllence Blavatsky 2.00
The lfand.erer K; Gibran 4.9>
The !{ay of Al1 l{omen Esther Hard.lng 7.00
The l{ay cf the Sufi Ind.ríes Snah (f) 2.u5
The lfay to Chrlst Jakob Böhne 5.oo
the I{äy of the l{hlte C1.oud Tqna covind.a (p) *_!-ïþtæ 2.95
ï{e Japanese rujiya Hotel (p) 12.50
l{estern Psychotherapy & Hindu Sadhana Hans Jaeobs 5.oo
Tbe lfiL]. to Power Fred.erich Nietzsche (p) 2.95
The World of Tec[ Serios JuJ.e Eisenberg M.D. 6.so
lfritings of Wii1iam James Ifl]-liam Ja,mes 4.9>
The lforks of Thomas Vaughan, Alchenist & Wstic 15. oo
The lfay of Zen A].an lfatts r.95
Woodblock Þint Þimer TonrikÍehiro Tokuriki 4.25
ï{onderful l{or1tl of Netsr¡ke Ralmiontl Bushell 3.75
I{trat is the Moon (Hait<u) Ruby l¡rt1e 1.00
lfllliam Janes on Psychical Research (ea) c. ¡nuphv (p) L95
These books nay be ord.ered. directly fron the phlloscphical Research Soci et]¡¡
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