Shakti and Shâkta : essays and addresses on the Shâkta Tantrashâstra

THE PANCHATATTVA

doctrines on the contrary, such as those of the Italian nuns Spighi and Buonamici recorded by Bishop Scipio de Ricci “ L’uomo e nato libero y nessuno lo puo legare nello spirito :"' “man is born free and none can chain his free Spirit” and the consequence of this teaching is of a demoniac character. As the writer Edward Sellon “(Annotations on the writings of the Hindus”) thought that he had found in the last cited case an instance of ‘“TAntrik doctrine” in the convents of Italy in the Eighteenth century, I will give some details which refute his view, the more particularly that they are contained in a very rare work, namely the first edition of De Potter’s “ Vie de Scipion de Ricci Eveque de pistoie et Prato” published at Brussels in 1825, and largely withdrawn at the instance of the Papal Court. The second edition isI believe much expurgated. Receiving report of abuses in the Dominican convent of St. Catherine de Prato, the Bishop of Pistoia and Prato made an inquisition into the conduct of the nuns and in particular as to the teaching and practice of their leaders the Sister Buonamici formerly Prioress and afterwards novice-mistress and the Sister Spighi assistant novice-mistress. De Potter’s work contains the original interrogatories, in Italian (I. 381) in the writing of ‘Abbe Laurent Palli’ Vicar-Episcopal at Prato taken in 1781 and kept in the archives of the Ricci family. The Teaching of the two Sisters I summarise as follows, “God” (I. 413, 418) “is a first principle (Primo principio) who is a collectivity (in Sanskrit Samashti) of allmen and things (wn complesso di tutti le cose anzi di tutto il genere umano). The universal Master or God is Nature (i é il maestro, ohe e Iddio ceve la natura. As God is the totality of the universe and is nothing but Nature we all participate in the Divine Essence (Questo Dio non e altro che la Natura. Noi medesimi per questa ragione participiamo in qualche maniera dell’esser divino). Man’s soul is a mortal thing consisting of Memory, Intelligence and Will. It dies with the body disappearing as might a mist. Man is free and 367