{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_12902/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_12902","id":"gutenberg_12902","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12902","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Racism","Theosophy"],"text":"A TEXTBOOK OF THEOSOPHY\n\n\n\n\n      by\n\nC.W. LEADBEATER\n\n\n\n\n1912\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nChapter\n     I. What Theosophy Is\n    II. From the Absolute to Man\n   III. The Formation of a Solar System\n    IV. The Evolution of Life\n     V. The Constitution of Man\n    VI. After Death\n   VII. Reincarnation\n  VIII. The Purpose of Life\n    IX. The Planetary Chains\n     X. The Result of Theosophical Study\n\nIndex\n\n\n\n\nChapter I\n\nWHAT THEOSOPHY IS\n\n\n\"There is a school of philosophy still in existence of which modern culture\nhas lost sight.\" In these words Mr. A.P. Sinnett began his book, _The\nOccult World_, the first popular exposition of Theosophy, published thirty\nyears ago. [Namely in 1881.] During the years that have passed since then,\nmany thousands have learned wisdom in that school, yet to the majority its\nteachings are still unknown, and they can give only the vaguest of replies\nto the query, \"What is Theosophy?\"\n\nTwo books already exist which answer that question: Mr. Sinnett's _Esoteric\nBuddhism_ and Dr. Besant's _The Ancient Wisdom_. I have no thought of\nentering into competition with those standard works; what I desire is to\npresent a statement, as clear and simple as I can make it, which may be\nregarded as introductory to them.\n\nWe often speak of Theosophy as not in itself a religion, but the truth\nwhich lies behind all religions alike. That is so; yet, from another point\nof view, we may surely say that it is at once a philosophy, a religion and\na science. It is a philosophy, because it puts plainly before us an\nexplanation of the scheme of evolution of both the souls and the bodies\ncontained in our solar system. It is a religion in so far as, having shown\nus the course of ordinary evolution, it also puts before us and advises a\nmethod of shortening that course, so that by conscious effort we may\nprogress more directly towards the goal. It is a science, because it treats\nboth these subjects as matters not of theological belief but of direct\nknowledge obtainable by study and investigation. It asserts that man has no\nneed to trust to blind faith, because he has within him latent powers\nwhich, when aroused, enable him to see and examine for himself, and it\nproceeds to prove its case by showing how those powers may be awakened. It\nis itself a result of the awakening of such powers by men, for the\nteachings which it puts before us are founded upon direct observations made\nin the past, and rendered possible only by such development.\n\nAs a philosophy, it explains to us that the solar system is a\ncarefully-ordered mechanism, a manifestation of a magnificent life, of\nwhich man is but a small part. Nevertheless, it takes up that small part\nwhich immediately concerns us, and treats it exhaustively under three\nheads--present, past and future.\n\nIt deals with the present by describing what man really is, as seen by\nmeans of developed faculties. It is customary to speak of man as having a\nsoul. Theosophy, as the result of direct investigation, reverses that\ndictum, and states that man _is_ a soul, and _has_ a body--in fact several\nbodies, which are his vehicles and instruments in various worlds. These\nworlds are not separate in space; they are simultaneously present with us,\nhere and now, and can be examined; they are the divisions of the material\nside of Nature--different degrees of density in the aggregation of matter,\nas will presently be explained in detail. Man has an existence in several\nof these, but is normally conscious only of the lowest, though sometimes in\ndreams and trances he has glimpses of some of the others. What is called\ndeath is the laying aside of the vehicle belonging to this lowest world,\nbut the soul or real man in a higher world is no more changed or affected\nby this than the physical man is changed or affected when he removes his\novercoat. All this is a matter, not of speculation, but of observation and\nexperiment.\n\nTheosophy has much to tell us of the past history of man--of how in the\ncourse of evolution he has come to be what he now is. This also is a matter\nof observation, because of the fact that there exists an indelible record\nof all that has taken place--a sort of memory of Nature--by examining which\nthe scenes of earlier evolution may be made to pass before the eyes of the\ninvestigator as though they were happening at this moment. By thus studying\nthe past we learn that man is divine in origin and that he has a long\nevolution behind him--a double evolution, that of the life or soul within,\nand that of the outer form. We learn, too, that the life of man as a soul\nis of, what to us seems, enormous length, and that what we have been in the\nhabit of calling his life is in reality only one day of his real existence.\nHe has already lived through many such days, and has many more of them yet\nbefore him; and if we wish to understand the real life and its object, we\nmust consider it in relation not only to this one day of it, which begins\nwith birth and ends with death, but also to the days which have gone before\nand those which are yet to come.\n\nOf those that are yet to come there is also much to be said, and on this\nsubject, too, a great deal of definite information is available. Such\ninformation is obtainable, first, from men who have already passed much\nfurther along the road of evolution than we, and have consequently direct\nexperience of it; and, secondly, from inferences drawn from the obvious\ndirection of the steps which we see to have been previously taken. The goal\nof this particular cycle is in sight, though still far above us but it\nwould seem that, even when that has been attained, an infinity of progress\nstill lies before everyone who is willing to undertake it.\n\nOne of the most striking advantages of Theosophy is that the light which it\nbrings to us at once solves many of our problems, clears away many\ndifficulties, accounts for the apparent injustices of life, and in all\ndirections brings order out of seeming chaos. Thus, while some of its\nteaching is based upon the observation of forces whose direct working is\nsomewhat beyond the ken of the ordinary man of the world, if the latter\nwill accept it as a hypothesis he will very soon come to see that it must\nbe a correct one, because it, and it alone, furnishes a coherent and\nreasonable explanation of the drama of life which is being played before\nhim.\n\nThe existence of Perfected Men, and the possibility of coming into touch\nwith Them and being taught by Them, are prominent among the great new\ntruths which Theosophy brings to the western world. Another of them is the\nstupendous fact that the world is not drifting blindly into anarchy, but\nthat its progress is under the control of a perfectly organized Hierarchy,\nso that final failure even for the tiniest of its units is of all\nimpossibilities the most impossible. A glimpse of the working of that\nHierarchy inevitably engenders the desire to co-operate with it, to serve\nunder it, in however humble a capacity, and some time in the far-distant\nfuture to be worthy to join the outer fringes of its ranks.\n\nThis brings us to that aspect of Theosophy which we have called religious.\nThose who come to know and to understand these things are dissatisfied with\nthe slow \u00e6ons of evolution; they yearn to become more immediately useful,\nand so they demand and obtain knowledge of the shorter but steeper Path.\nThere is no possibility of escaping the amount of work that has to be done.\nIt is like carrying a load up a mountain; whether one carries it straight\nup a steep path or more gradually by a road of gentle slope, precisely the\nsame number of foot-pounds must be exerted. Therefore to do the same work\nin a small fraction of the time means determined effort. It can be done,\nhowever, for it has been done; and those who have done it agree that it far\nmore than repays the trouble. The limitations of the various vehicles are\nthereby gradually transcended, and the liberated man becomes an intelligent\nco-worker in the mighty plan for the evolution of all beings.\n\nIn its capacity as a religion, too, Theosophy gives its followers a rule of\nlife, based not on alleged commands delivered at some remote period of the\npast, but on plain common sense as indicated by observed facts. The\nattitude of the student of Theosophy towards the rules which it prescribes\nresembles rather that which we adopt to hygienic regulations than obedience\nto religious commandments. We may say, if we wish, that this thing or that\nis in accordance with the divine Will, for the divine Will is expressed in\nwhat we know as the laws of Nature. Because that Will wisely ordereth all\nthings, to infringe its laws means to disturb the smooth working of the\nscheme, to hold back for a moment that fragment or tiny part of evolution,\nand consequently to bring discomfort upon ourselves and others. It is for\nthat reason that the wise man avoids infringing them--not to escape the\nimaginary wrath of some offended deity.\n\nBut if from a certain point of view we may think of Theosophy as a\nreligion, we must note two great points of difference between it and what\nis ordinarily called religion in the West. First, it neither demands belief\nfrom its followers, nor does it even speak of belief in the sense in which\nthat word is usually employed. The student of occult science either _knows_\na thing or suspends his judgment about it; there is no place in his scheme\nfor blind faith. Naturally, beginners in the study cannot yet _know_ for\nthemselves, so they are asked to read the results of the various\nobservations and to deal with them as probable hypotheses--provisionally to\naccept and act upon them, until such time as they can prove them for\nthemselves.\n\nSecondly, Theosophy never endeavours to convert any man from whatever\nreligion he already holds. On the contrary, it explains his religion to\nhim, and enables him to see in it deeper meanings than he has ever known\nbefore. It teaches him to understand it and live it better than he did, and\nin many cases it gives back to him, on a higher and more intelligent level,\nthe faith in it which he had previously all but lost.\n\nTheosophy has its aspects as a science also; it is in very truth a science\nof life, a science of the soul. It applies to everything the scientific\nmethod of oft-repeated, painstaking observation, and then tabulates the\nresults and makes deductions from them. In this way it has investigated the\nvarious planes of Nature, the conditions of man's consciousness during life\nand after what is commonly called death. It cannot be too often repeated\nthat its statements on all these matters are not vague guesses or tenets of\nfaith, but are based upon direct and oft-repeated _observation_ of what\nhappens. Its investigators have dealt also to a certain extent with\nsubjects more in the range of ordinary science, as may be seen by those who\nread the book on _Occult Chemistry_.\n\nThus we see that Theosophy combines within itself some of the\ncharacteristics of philosophy, religion and science. What, it might be\nasked, is its gospel for this weary world? What are the main points which\nemerge from its investigations? What are the great facts which it has to\nlay before humanity?\n\nThey have been well summed up under three main heads.\n\n\"There are three truths which are absolute, and which cannot be lost, but\nyet may remain silent for lack of speech.\n\n\"The soul of man is immortal and its future is the future of a thing whose\ngrowth and splendour has no limit.\n\n\"The principle which gives life dwells in us and without us, is undying and\neternally beneficent, is not heard or seen or smelt, but is perceived by\nthe man who desires perception.\n\n\"Each man is his own absolute lawgiver, the dispenser of glory or gloom to\nhimself, the decreer of his life, his reward, his punishment.\n\n\"These truths, which are as great as is life itself, are as simple as the\nsimplest mind of man.\"\n\nPut shortly, and in the language of the man of the street, this means that\nGod is good, that man is immortal, and that as we sow so we must reap.\nThere is a definite scheme of things; it is under intelligent direction and\nworks under immutable laws. Man has his place in this scheme and is living\nunder these laws. If he understands them and co-operates with them, he will\nadvance rapidly and will be happy; if he does not understand them--if,\nwittingly or unwittingly, he breaks them, he will delay his progress and be\nmiserable. These are not theories, but proved facts. Let him who doubts\nread on, and he will see.\n\n\n\n\nChapter II\n\nFROM THE ABSOLUTE TO MAN\n\n\nOf the Absolute, the Infinite, the All-embracing, we can at our present\nstage know nothing, except that It is; we can say nothing that is not a\nlimitation, and therefore inaccurate.\n\nIn It are innumerable universes; in each universe countless solar systems.\nEach solar system is the expression of a mighty Being, whom we call the\nLOGOS, the Word of God, the Solar Deity. He is to it all that men mean by\nGod. He permeates it; there is nothing in it which is not He; it is the\nmanifestation of Him in such matter as we can see. Yet He exists above it\nand outside it, living a stupendous life of His own among His Peers. As is\nsaid in an Eastern Scripture: \"Having permeated this whole universe with\none fragment of Myself I remain.\"\n\nOf that higher life of His we can know nothing. But of the fragment of His\nlife which energises His system we may know something in the lower levels\nof its manifestation. We may not see Him, but we may see His power at work.\nNo one who is clairvoyant can be atheistic; the evidence is too tremendous.\n\nOut of Himself He has called this mighty system into being. We who are in\nit are evolving fragments of His life, Sparks of His divine Fire; from Him\nwe all have come; into Him we shall all return.\n\nMany have asked why He has done this; why He has emanated from Himself all\nthis system; why He has sent us forth to face the storms of life. We cannot\nknow, nor is the question practical; suffice it that we are here, and we\nmust do our best. Yet many philosophers have speculated on this point and\nmany suggestions have been made. The most beautiful that I know is that of\na Gnostic philosopher:\n\n\"God is Love, but Love itself cannot be perfect unless it has those upon\nwhom it can be lavished and by whom it can be returned. Therefore He put\nforth of Himself into matter, and He limited His glory, in order that\nthrough this natural and slow process of evolution we might come into\nbeing; and we in turn according to His Will are to develop until we reach\neven His own level, and then the very love of God itself will become more\nperfect, because it will then be lavished on those, His own children, who\nwill fully understand and return it, and so His great scheme will be\nrealized and His Will, be done.\"\n\nAt what stupendous elevation His consciousness abides we know not, nor can\nwe know its true nature as it shows itself there. But when He puts Himself\ndown into such conditions as are within our reach, His manifestation is\never threefold, and so all religions have imaged Him as a Trinity. Three,\nyet fundamentally One; Three Persons (for person means a mask) yet one God,\nshowing Himself in those Three Aspects. Three to us, looking at Them from\nbelow, because Their functions are different; one to Him, because He knows\nThem to be but facets of Himself.\n\nAll Three of these Aspects are concerned in the evolution of the solar\nsystem; all Three are also concerned in the evolution of man. This\nevolution is His Will; the method of it is His plan.\n\nNext below this Solar Deity, yet also in some mysterious manner part of\nHim, come His seven Ministers sometimes called the Planetary Spirits. Using\nan analogy drawn from the physiology of our own body, Their relation to Him\nis like that of the ganglia or the nerve centres to the brain. All\nevolution which comes forth from Him comes through one or other of Them.\n\nUnder Them in turn come vast hosts or orders of spiritual beings, whom we\ncall angels or devas. We do not yet know all the functions which they\nfulfil in different parts of this wonderful scheme, but we find some of\nthem intimately connected with the building of the system and the unfolding\nof life within it.\n\nHere in our world there is a great Official who represents the Solar Deity\nand is in absolute control of all the evolution that takes place upon this\nplanet. We may image Him as the true KING of this world and under Him are\nministers in charge of different departments. One of these departments is\nconcerned with the evolution of the different races of humanity so that for\neach great race there is a Head who founds it, differentiates it from all\nothers, and watches over its development. Another department is that of\nreligion and education, and it is from this that all the greatest teachers\nof history have come--that all religions have been sent forth. The great\nOfficial at the head of this department either comes Himself or sends one\nof His pupils to found a new religion when He decides that one is needed.\n\nTherefore all religions, at the time of their first presentation to the\nworld, have contained a definite statement of the Truth, and in its\nfundamentals this Truth has been always the same. The presentations of it\nhave varied because of differences in the races to whom it was offered. The\nconditions of civilization and the degree of evolution obtained by various\nraces have made it desirable to present this one Truth in divers forms. But\nthe inner Truth is always the same, and the source from which it comes is\nthe same, even though the external phases may appear to be different and\neven contradictory. It is foolish for men to wrangle over the question of\nthe superiority of one teacher or one form of teaching to another, for the\nteacher is always one sent by the Great Brotherhood of Adepts, and in all\nits important points, in its ethical and moral principles, the teaching has\nalways been the same.\n\nThere is in the world a body or Truth which lies at the back of all these\nreligions, and represents the facts of nature as far as they are at present\nknown to man. In the outer world, because of their ignorance of this,\npeople are always disputing and arguing about whether there is a God;\nwhether man survives death; whether definite progress is possible for him,\nand what is his relation to the universe. These questions are ever present\nin the mind of man as soon as intelligence is awakened. They are not\nunanswerable, as is frequently supposed; the answers to them are within the\nreach of anyone who will make proper efforts to find them. The truth is\nobtainable, and the conditions of its attainment are possible of\nachievement by anyone who will make the effort.\n\nIn the earlier stages of the development of humanity the great Officials of\nthe Hierarchy are provided from outside, from other and more highly evolved\nparts of the system, but as soon as men can be trained to the necessary\nlevel of power and wisdom these offices are held by them. In order to be\nfit to hold such an office a man must raise himself to a very high level,\nand must become what is called an Adept--a being of goodness, power and\nwisdom so great that He towers above the rest of humanity, for He has\nalready attained the summit of ordinary human evolution; He has achieved\nthat which the plan of the Deity marked out for Him to achieve during this\nage or dispensation. But His evolution later on continues beyond that\nlevel--continues to divinity.\n\nA large number of men have attained the Adept level--men not of one nation,\nbut of all the leading nations of the world--rare souls who with\nindomitable courage have stormed the fortresses of nature, and captured her\ninnermost secrets, and so have truly earned the right to be called Adepts.\nAmong Them there are many degrees and many lines of activity; but always\nsome of Them remain within touch of our earth as members of this Hierarchy\nwhich has in charge the administration of the affairs of our world and of\nthe spiritual evolution of our humanity.\n\nThis august body is often called the Great White Brotherhood, but its\nmembers are not a community all living together. Each of Them, to a large\nextent, draws Himself apart from the world, and They are in constant\ncommunication with one another and with Their Head; but Their knowledge of\nhigher forces is so great that this is achieved without any necessity for\nmeeting in the physical world. In many cases They continue to live each in\nHis own country, and Their power remains unsuspected among those who live\nnear Them. Any man who will may attract Their attention, but he can do it\nonly by showing himself worthy of Their notice. None need fear that his\nefforts will pass unnoticed; such oversight is impossible, for the man who\nis devoting himself to service such as this, stands out from the rest of\nhumanity like a great flame in a dark night. A few of these great Adepts,\nwho are thus working for the good of the world, are willing to take as\napprentices those who have resolved to devote themselves utterly to the\nservice of mankind; such Adepts are called Masters.\n\nOne of these apprentices was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky--a great soul who\nwas sent out to offer knowledge to the world. With Colonel Henry Steel\nOlcott she founded The Theosophical Society for the spread of this\nknowledge which she had to give. Among those who came into contact with her\nin those early days was Mr. A.P. Sinnett, the editor of _The Pioneer_, and\nhis keen intellect at once grasped the magnitude and the importance of the\nteaching which she put before him. Although Madame Blavatsky herself had\npreviously written _Isis Unveiled_, it had attracted but little attention,\nand it was Mr. Sinnett who first made the teaching really available for\nwestern readers in his two books, _The Occult World_ and _Esoteric\nBuddhism_.\n\nIt was through these works that I myself first came to know their author,\nand afterwards Madame Blavatsky herself; from both of them I learned much.\nWhen I asked Madame Blavatsky how one could learn still more, how one could\nmake definite progress along the Path which she pointed out to us, she told\nme of the possibility that other students might be accepted as apprentices\nby the great Masters, even as she herself had been accepted, and that the\nonly way to gain such acceptance was to show oneself worthy of it by\nearnest and altruistic work. She told me that to reach that goal a man must\nbe absolutely one-pointed in his determination; that no one who tried to\nserve both God and Mammon could ever hope to succeed. One of these Masters\nHimself had said: \"In order to succeed, a pupil must leave his own world\nand come into ours.\"\n\nThis means that he must cease to be one of the majority who live for wealth\nand power, and must join the tiny minority who care nothing for such\nthings, but live only in order to devote themselves selflessly to the good\nof the world. She warned us clearly that the way was difficult to tread,\nthat we should be misunderstood and reviled by those who still lived in the\nworld, and that we had nothing to look forward to but the hardest of hard\nwork; and though the result was sure, no one could foretell how long it\nwould take to arrive at it. Some of us accepted these conditions joyfully,\nand we have never for a moment regretted the decision.\n\nAfter some years of work I had the privilege of coming into contact with\nthese great Masters of the Wisdom; from Them I learnt many things--among\nothers, how to verify for myself at first hand most of the teachings which\nThey had given. So that, in this matter, I write of what I know, and what I\nhave seen for myself. Certain points are mentioned in the teaching, for the\nverification of which powers are required far beyond anything which I have\ngained so far. Of them, I can say only that they are consistent with what I\ndo know, and in many cases are necessary as hypotheses to account for what\nI have seen. They came to me, along with the rest of the Theosophical\nsystem, upon the authority of these mighty Teachers. Since then I have\nlearnt to examine for myself by far the greater part of what I was told,\nand I have found the information given to me to be correct in every\nparticular; therefore I am justified in assuming the probability that that\nother part, which as yet I cannot verify, will also prove to be correct\nwhen I arrive at its level.\n\nTo attain the honour of being accepted as an apprentice of one of the\nMasters of the Wisdom is the object set before himself by every earnest\nTheosophical student. But it means a determined effort. There have always\nbeen men who were willing to make the necessary effort, and therefore there\nhave always been men who knew. The knowledge is so transcendent that when a\nman grasps it fully he becomes more than man and he passes beyond our ken.\n\nBut there are stages in the acquirement of this knowledge, and we may learn\nmuch if we will, from those who themselves are still in process of\nlearning; for all human beings stand on one or other of the rungs of the\nladder of evolution. The primitive stand at its foot; we who are civilized\nbeings have already climbed part of the way. But though we can look back\nand see rungs of the ladder below us which we have already passed, we may\nalso look up and see many rungs above us to which we have not yet attained.\nJust as men are standing even now on each of the rungs below us, so that we\ncan see the stages by which man has mounted, so also are there men standing\non each of the rungs above us, so that from studying them we may see how\nman shall mount in the future. Precisely because we see men on every step\nof this ladder, which leads up to a glory which as yet we have no words to\nexpress, we know that the ascent to that glory is possible for us. Those\nwho stand high above us, so high that They seem to us as gods in Their\nmarvellous knowledge and power, tell us that They stood not long since\nwhere we are standing now, and They indicate to us clearly the steps which\nlie between, which we also must tread if we would be as They.\n\n\n\n\nChapter III\n\nTHE FORMATION OF A SOLAR SYSTEM\n\n\nThe beginning of the universe (if ever it had a beginning) is beyond our\nken. At the earliest point of history that we can reach, the two great\nopposites of spirit and matter, of life and form, are already in full\nactivity. We find that the ordinary conception of matter needs a revision,\nfor what are commonly called force and matter are in reality only two\nvarieties of Spirit at different stages in evolution and the real matter or\nbasis of everything lies in the background unperceived. A French scientist\nhas recently said: \"There is no matter; there are nothing but holes in the\n\u00e6ther.\" This also agrees with the celebrated theory of Professor Osborne\nReynolds. Occult investigation shows this to be the correct view, and in\nthat way explains what Oriental sacred books mean when they say that matter\nis an illusion.\n\nThe ultimate root-matter as seen at our level is what scientists call the\n\u00e6ther of space. [This has been described in _Occult Chemistry_ under the\nname of koilon.] To every physical sense the space occupied by it appears\nempty, yet in reality this \u00e6ther is far denser than anything of which we\ncan conceive. Its density is defined by Professor Reynolds as being ten\nthousand times greater than that of water, and its mean pressure as seven\nhundred and fifty thousand tons to the square inch.\n\nThis substance is perceptible only to highly developed clairvoyant power.\nWe must assume a time (though we have no direct knowledge on this point)\nwhen this substance filled all space. We must also suppose that some great\nBeing (not the Deity of a solar system, but some Being almost infinitely\nhigher than that) changed this condition of rest by pouring out His spirit\nor force into a certain section of this matter, a section of the size of a\nwhole universe. This effect of the introduction of this force is as that of\nthe blowing of a mighty breath; it has formed within this \u00e6ther an\nincalculable number of tiny spherical bubbles, [The bubbles are spoken of\nin _The Secret Doctrine_ as the holes which Fohat digs in space.] and these\nbubbles are the ultimate atoms of which what we call matter is composed.\nThey are not the atoms of the chemist, nor even the ultimate atoms of the\nphysical world. They stand at a far higher level, and what are usually\ncalled atoms are composed of vast aggregations of these bubbles, as will be\nseen later.\n\nWhen the Solar Deity begins to make His system, He finds ready to His hand\nthis material--this infinite mass of tiny bubbles which can be built up\ninto various kinds of matter as we know it. He commences by defining the\nlimit of His field of activity, a vast sphere whose circumference is far\nlarger than the orbit of the outermost of His future planets. Within the\nlimit of that sphere He sets up a kind of gigantic vortex--a motion which\nsweeps together all the bubbles into a vast central mass, the material of\nthe nebula that is to be.\n\nInto this vast revolving sphere He sends forth successive impulses of\nforce, gathering together the bubbles into ever more and more complex\naggregations, and producing in this way seven gigantic interpenetrating\nworlds of matter of different degrees of density, all concentric and all\noccupying the same space.\n\nActing through His Third Aspect He sends forth into this stupendous sphere\nthe first of these impulses. It sets up all through the sphere a vast\nnumber of tiny vortices, each of which draws into itself forty-nine\nbubbles, and arranges them in a certain shape. These little groupings of\nbubbles so formed are the atoms of the second of the interpenetrating\nworlds. The whole number of the bubbles is not used in this way, sufficient\nbeing left in the dissociated state to act as atoms for the first and\nhighest of these worlds. In due time comes the second impulse, which seizes\nupon nearly all these forty-nine bubble-atoms (leaving only enough to\nprovide atoms for the second world), draws them back into itself and then,\nthrowing them out again, sets up among them vortices, each of which holds\nwithin itself 2,401 bubbles (49^2). These form the atoms of the third\nworld. Again after a time comes a third impulse, which in the same way\nseizes upon nearly all these 2,401 bubble-atoms, draws them back again into\ntheir original form, and again throws them outward once more as the atoms\nof the fourth world--each atom containing this time 49^{3} bubbles. This\nprocess is repeated until the sixth of these successive impulses has built\nthe atom of the seventh or the lowest world--that atom containing 49^{6} of\nthe original bubbles.\n\nThis atom of the seventh world is the ultimate atom of the physical\nworld--not any of the atoms of which chemists speak, but that ultimate out\nof which all their atoms are made. We have at this stage arrived at that\ncondition of affairs in which the vast whirling sphere contains within\nitself seven types of matter, all one in essence, because all built of the\nsame kind of bubbles, but differing in their degree of density. All these\ntypes are freely intermingled, so that specimens of each type would be\nfound in a small portion of the sphere taken at random in any part of it,\nwith, however, a general tendency of the heavier atoms to gravitate more\nand more towards the centre.\n\nThe seventh impulse sent out from the Third Aspect of the Deity does not,\nas before, draw back the physical atoms which were last made into the\noriginal dissociated bubbles, but draws them together into certain\naggregations, thus making a number of different kinds of what may be called\nproto-elements, and these again are joined together into the various forms\nwhich are known to science as chemical elements. The making of these\nextends over a long period of ages, and they are made in a certain definite\norder by the interaction of several forces, as is correctly indicated in\nSir William Crookes's paper, _The Genesis of the Elements_. Indeed the\nprocess of their making is not even now concluded; uranium is the latest\nand heaviest element so far as we know, but others still more complicated\nmay perhaps be produced in the future.\n\nAs ages rolled on the condensation increased, and presently the stage of a\nvast glowing nebula was reached. As it cooled, still rapidly rotating, it\nflattened into a huge disc and gradually broke up into rings surrounding a\ncentral body--an arrangement not unlike that which Saturn exhibits at the\npresent day, though on a far larger scale. As the time drew near when the\nplanets would be required for the purposes of evolution, the Deity sets up\nsomewhere in the thickness of each ring a subsidiary vortex into which a\ngreat deal of the matter of the ring was by degrees collected. The\ncollisions of the gathered fragments caused a revival of the heat, and the\nresulting planet was for a long time a mass of glowing gas. Little by\nlittle it cooled once more, until it became fit to be the theatre of life\nsuch as ours. Thus were all the planets formed.\n\nAlmost all the matter of those interpenetrating worlds was by this time\nconcentrated into the newly formed planets. Each of them was and is\ncomposed of all those different kinds of matter. The earth upon which we\nare now living is not merely a great ball of physical matter, built of the\natoms of that lowest world, but has also attached to it an abundant supply\nof matter of the sixth, the fifth, the fourth and other worlds. It is well\nknown to all students of science that particles of matter never actually\ntouch one another, even in the hardest of substances. The spaces between\nthem are always far greater in proportion than their own size--enormously\ngreater. So there is ample room for all the other kinds of atoms of all\nthose other worlds, not only to lie between the atoms of the denser matter,\nbut to move quite freely among them and around them. Consequently, this\nglobe upon which we live is not one world, but seven interpenetrating\nworlds, all occupying the same space, except that the finer types of matter\nextend further from the centre than does the denser matter.\n\nWe have given names to these interpenetrating worlds for convenience in\nspeaking of them. No name is needed for the first, as man is not yet in\ndirect connection with it; but when it is necessary to mention it, it may\nbe called the divine world. The second is described as the monadic, because\nin it exist those Sparks of the divine Life which we call the human Monads;\nbut neither of these can be touched by the highest clairvoyant\ninvestigations at present possible for us. The third sphere, whose atoms\ncontain 2,401 bubbles, is called the spiritual world, because in it\nfunctions the highest Spirit in man as now constituted. The fourth is the\nintuitional world, [Previously called in Theosophical literature the\nbuddhic plane.] because from it come the highest intuitions. The fifth is\nthe mental world, because from its matter is built the mind of man. The\nsixth is called the emotional or astral world, because the emotions of man\ncause undulations in its matter. (The name astral was given to it by\nmedi\u00e6val alchemists, because its matter is starry or shining as compared to\nthat of the denser world.) The seventh world, composed of the type of\nmatter which we see all around us, is called the physical.\n\nThe matter of which all these interpenetrating worlds are built is\nessentially the same matter, but differently arranged and of different\ndegrees of density. Therefore the rates at which these various types of\nmatter normally vibrate differ also. They may be considered as a vast gamut\nof undulations consisting of many octaves. The physical matter uses a\ncertain number of the lowest of these octaves, the astral matter another\ngroup of octaves just above that, the mental matter a still further group,\nand so on.\n\nNot only has each of these worlds its own type of matter; it has also its\nown set of aggregations of that matter--its own substances. In each world\nwe arrange these substances in seven classes according to the rate at which\ntheir molecules vibrate. Usually, but not invariably, the slower\noscillation involves also a larger molecule--a molecule, that is, built up\nby a special arrangement of the smaller molecules of the next higher\nsubdivision. The application of heat increases the size of the molecules\nand also quickens and amplifies their undulation, so that they cover more\nground, and the object, as a whole expands, until the point is reached\nwhere the aggregation of molecules breaks up, and the latter passes from\none condition to that next above it. In the matter of the physical world\nthe seven subdivisions are represented by seven degrees of density of\nmatter, to which, beginning from below upwards, we give the names solid,\nliquid, gaseous, etheric, superetheric, subatomic and atomic.\n\nThe atomic subdivision is one in which all forms are built by the\ncompression into certain shapes of the physical atoms, without any previous\ncollection of these atoms into blocks or molecules. Typifying the physical\nultimate atom for the moment by a brick, any form in the atomic subdivision\nwould be made by gathering together some of the bricks, and building them\ninto a certain shape. In order to make matter for the next lower\nsubdivision, a certain number of the bricks (atoms) would first be gathered\ntogether and cemented into small blocks of say four bricks each, five\nbricks each, six bricks or seven bricks; and then these blocks so made\nwould be used as building stones. For the next subdivision several of the\nblocks of the second subdivision cemented together in certain shapes would\nform building-stones, and so on to the lowest.\n\nTo transfer any substance from the solid condition to the liquid (that is\nto say, to melt it) is to increase the vibration of its compound molecules\nuntil at last they are shaken apart into the simpler molecules of which\nthey were built. This process can in all cases be repeated again and again\nuntil finally any and every physical substance can be reduced to the\nultimate atoms of the physical world.\n\nEach of these worlds has its inhabitants, whose senses are normally capable\nof responding to the undulations of their own world only. A man living (as\nwe are all doing) in the physical world sees, hears, feels, by vibrations\nconnected with the physical matter around him. He is equally surrounded by\nthe astral and mental and other worlds which are interpenetrating his own\ndenser world, but of them he is normally unconscious, because his senses\ncannot respond to the oscillations of their matter, just as our physical\neyes cannot see by the vibrations of ultra-violet light, although\nscientific experiments show that they exist, and there are other\nconsciousnesses with differently-formed organs who _can_ see by them. A\nbeing living in the astral world might be occupying the very same space as\na being living in the physical world, yet each would be entirely\nunconscious of the other and would in no way impede the free movement of\nthe other. The same is true of all other worlds. We are at this moment\nsurrounded by these worlds of finer matter, as close to us as the world we\nsee, and their inhabitants are passing through us and about us, but we are\nentirely unconscious of them.\n\nSince our evolution is centred at present upon this globe which we call the\nearth, it is in connection with it only that we shall be speaking of these\nhigher worlds, so in future when I use the term \"astral world\" I shall mean\nby it the astral part of our own globe only, and not (as heretofore) the\nastral part of the whole solar system. This astral part of our own world is\nalso a globe, but of astral matter. It occupies the same place as the globe\nwhich we see, but its matter (being so much lighter) extends out into space\non all sides of us further than does the atmosphere of the earth--a great\ndeal further. It stretches to a little less than the mean distance of the\nmoon, so that though the two physical globes, the earth and the moon, are\nnearly 240,000 miles apart, the astral globes of these two bodies touch one\nanother when the moon is in perigee, but not when she is in apogee. I shall\napply the term \"mental world\" to the still larger globe of mental matter in\nthe midst of which our physical earth exists. When we come to the still\nhigher globes we have spheres large enough to touch the corresponding\nspheres of other planets in the system, though their matter also is just as\nmuch about us here on the surface of the solid earth as that of the others.\nAll these globes of finer matter are a part of us, and are all revolving\nround the sun with their visible part. The student will do well to accustom\nhimself to think of our earth as the whole of this mass of interpenetrating\nworlds--not only the comparatively small physical ball in the centre of it.\n\n\n\n\nChapter IV\n\nTHE EVOLUTION OF LIFE\n\n\nAll the impulses of life which I have described as building the\ninterpenetrating worlds come forth from the Third Aspect of the Deity.\nHence in the Christian scheme that Aspect is called \"the Giver of Life\",\nthe Spirit who brooded over the face of the waters of space. In\nTheosophical literature these impulses are usually taken as a whole, and\ncalled the First Outpouring.\n\nWhen the worlds had been prepared to this extent, and most of the chemical\nelements already existed, the Second Outpouring of life took place, and\nthis came from the Second Aspect of the Deity. It brought with it the power\nof combination. In all the worlds it found existing what may be thought of\nas elements corresponding to those worlds. It proceeded to combine those\nelements into organisms which it then ensouled, and in this way it built up\nthe seven kingdoms of Nature. Theosophy recognizes seven kingdoms, because\nit regards man as separate from the animal kingdom and it takes into\naccount several stages of evolution which are unseen by the physical eye,\nand gives to them the medi\u00e6val name of \"elemental kingdoms\".\n\nThe divine Life pours itself into matter from above, and its whole course\nmay be thought of in two stages--the gradual assumption of grosser and\ngrosser matter, and then the gradual casting off again of the vehicles\nwhich have been assumed. The earliest level upon which its vehicles can be\nscientifically observed is the mental--the fifth counting from the finer to\nthe grosser, the first on which there are separated globes. In practical\nstudy it is found convenient to divide this mental world into two parts,\nwhich we call the higher and the lower according to the degree of density\nof their matter. The higher consists of the three finer subdivisions of\nmental matter; the lower part of the other four.\n\nWhen the outpouring reaches the higher mental world it draws together the\nethereal elements there, combines them into what at that level correspond\nto substances and of these substances builds forms which it inhabits. We\ncall this the first elemental kingdom.\n\nAfter a long period of evolution through different forms at that level, the\nwave of life, which is all the time pressing steadily downwards, learns to\nidentify itself so fully with those forms that, instead of occupying them\nand withdrawing from them periodically, it is able to hold them permanently\nand make them part of itself, so that now from that level it can proceed to\nthe temporary occupation of forms at a still lower level. When it reaches\nthis stage we call it the second elemental kingdom, the ensouling life of\nwhich resides upon the higher mental levels, while the vehicles through\nwhich it manifests are on the lower.\n\nAfter another vast period of similar length, it is found that the downward\npressure has caused this process to repeat itself; once more the life has\nidentified itself with its forms, and has taken up its residence upon the\nlower mental levels, so that it is capable of ensouling bodies in the\nastral world. At this stage we call it the third elemental kingdom.\n\nWe speak of all these forms as finer or grosser relatively to one another,\nbut all of them are almost infinitely finer than any with which we are\nacquainted in the physical world. Each of these three is a kingdom of\nNature, as varied in the manifestations of its different forms of life as\nis the animal or vegetable kingdom which we know. After a long period spent\nin ensouling the forms of the third of these elemental kingdoms it\nidentifies itself with them in turn, and so is able to ensoul the etheric\npart of the mineral kingdom, and becomes the life which vivifies that--for\nthere is a life in the mineral kingdom just as much as in the vegetable or\nthe animal, although it is in conditions where it cannot manifest so\nfreely. In the course of the mineral evolution the downward pressure causes\nit to identify itself in the same way with the etheric matter of the\nphysical world, and from that to ensoul the denser matter of such minerals\nas are perceptible to our senses.\n\nIn the mineral kingdom we include not only what are usually called\nminerals, but also liquids, gases and many etheric substances the existence\nof which is unknown to western science. All the matter of which we know\nanything is living matter, and the life which it contains is always\nevolving. When it has reached the central point of the mineral stage the\ndownward pressure ceases, and is replaced by an upward tendency; the\noutbreathing has ceased and the indrawing has begun.\n\nWhen mineral evolution is completed, the life has withdrawn itself again\ninto the astral world, but bearing with it all the results obtained through\nits experiences in the physical. At this stage it ensouls vegetable forms,\nand begins to show itself much more clearly as what we commonly call\nlife--plant-life of all kinds; and at a yet later stage of its development\nit leaves the vegetable kingdom and ensouls the animal kingdom. The\nattainment of this level is the sign that it has withdrawn itself still\nfurther, and is now working from the lower mental world. In order to work\nin physical matter from that mental world it must operate through the\nintervening astral matter; and that astral matter is now no longer part of\nthe garment of the group-soul as a whole, but is the individual astral body\nof the animal concerned, as will be later explained.\n\nIn each of these kingdoms it not only passes a period of time which is to\nour ideas almost incredibly long, but it also goes through a definite\ncourse of evolution, beginning from the lower manifestations of that\nkingdom and ending with the highest. In the vegetable kingdom, for example,\nthe life-force might commence its career by occupying grasses or mosses and\nend it by ensouling magnificent forest trees. In the animal kingdom it\nmight commence with mosquitoes or with animalcul\u00e6, and might end with the\nfinest specimens of the mammalia.\n\nThe whole process is one of steady evolution from lower forms to higher,\nfrom the simpler to the more complex. But what is evolving is not primarily\nthe form, but the life within it. The forms also evolve and grow better as\ntime passes; but this is in order that they may be appropriate vehicles for\nmore and more advanced waves of life. When the life has reached the highest\nlevel possible in the animal kingdom, it may then pass on into the human\nkingdom, under conditions which will presently be explained.\n\nThe outpouring leaves one kingdom and passes to another, so that if we had\nto deal with only one wave of this outpouring we could have in existence\nonly one kingdom at a time. But the Deity sends out a constant succession\nof these waves, so that at any given time we find a number of them\nsimultaneously in operation. We ourselves represent one such wave; but we\nfind evolving alongside us another wave which ensouls the animal kingdom--a\nwave which came out from the Deity one stage later than we did. We find\nalso the vegetable kingdom, which represents a third wave, and the mineral\nkingdom, which represents a fourth; and occultists know of the existence\nall round us of three elemental kingdoms, which represent the fifth, sixth\nand seventh waves. All these, however, are successive ripples of the same\ngreat outpouring from the Second Aspect of the Deity.\n\nWe have here, then, a scheme of evolution in which the divine Life involves\nitself more and more deeply in matter, in order that through that matter it\nmay receive vibrations which could not otherwise affect it--impacts from\nwithout, which by degrees arouse within it rates of undulation\ncorresponding to their own, so that it learns to respond to them. Later on\nit learns of itself to generate these rates of undulation, and so becomes a\nbeing possessed of spiritual powers.\n\nWe may presume that when this outpouring of life originally came forth from\nthe Deity, at some level altogether beyond our power of cognition, it may\nperhaps have been homogeneous; but when it first comes within practical\ncognizance, when it is itself in the intuitional world, but is ensouling\nbodies made of the matter of the higher mental world, it is already not one\nhuge world-soul but many souls. Let us suppose a homogeneous outpouring,\nwhich may be considered as one vast soul, at one end of the scale; at the\nother, when humanity is reached, we find that one vast soul broken up into\nmillions of the comparatively little souls of individual men. At any stage\nbetween these two extremes we find an intermediate condition, the immense\nworld-soul already subdivided, but not to the utmost limit of possible\nsubdivision.\n\nEach man is a soul, but not each animal or each plant. Man, as a soul, can\nmanifest through only one body at a time in the physical world, whereas one\nanimal soul manifests simultaneously through a number of animal bodies, one\nplant soul through a number of separate plants. A lion, for example, is not\na permanently separate entity in the same way as a man is. When the man\ndies--that is, when he as a soul lays aside his physical body--he remains\nhimself exactly as he was before, an entity separate from all other\nentities. When the lion dies, that which has been the separate soul of him\nis poured back into the mass from which it came--a mass which is at the\nsame time providing the souls for many other lions. To such a mass we give\nthe name of \"group-soul\".\n\nTo such a group-soul is attached a considerable number of lion bodies--let\nus say a hundred. Each of those bodies while it lives has its hundredth\npart of the group-soul attached to it, and for the time being this is\napparently quite separate, so that the lion is as much an individual during\nhis physical life as the man; but he is not a permanent individual. When he\ndies the soul of him flows back into the group-soul to which it belongs,\nand that identical lion-soul cannot be separated again from the group.\n\nA useful analogy may help comprehension. Imagine the group-soul to be\nrepresented by the water in a bucket, and the hundred lion bodies by a\nhundred tumblers. As each tumbler is dipped into the bucket it takes out\nfrom it a tumblerful of water (the separate soul). That water for the time\nbeing takes the shape of the vehicle which it fills, and is temporarily\nseparate from the water which remains in the bucket, and from the water in\nthe other tumblers.\n\nNow put into each of the hundred tumblers some kind of colouring matter or\nsome kind of flavouring. That will represent the qualities developed by its\nexperiences in the separate soul of the lion during its lifetime. Pour back\nthe water from the tumbler into the bucket; that represents the death of\nthe lion. The colouring matter or the flavouring will be distributed\nthrough the whole of the water in the bucket, but will be a much fainter\ncolouring, a much less pronounced flavour when thus distributed than it was\nwhen confined in one tumbler. The qualities developed by the experience of\none lion attached to that group-soul are therefore shared by the entire\ngroup-soul, but in a much lower degree.\n\nWe may take out another tumblerful of water from that bucket, but we can\nnever again get exactly the same tumblerful after it has once been mingled\nwith the rest. Every tumblerful taken from that bucket in the future will\ncontain some traces of the colouring or flavouring put into each tumbler\nwhose contents have been returned to the bucket. Just so the qualities\ndeveloped by the experience of a single lion will become the common\nproperty of all lions who are in the future to be born from that\ngroup-soul, though in a lesser degree than that in which they existed in\nthe individual lion who developed them.\n\nThat is the explanation of inherited instincts; that is why the duckling\nwhich has been hatched by a hen takes to the water instantly without\nneeding to be shown how to swim; why the chicken just out of its shell will\ncower at the shadow of a hawk; why a bird which has been artificially\nhatched, and has never seen a nest, nevertheless knows how to make one, and\nmakes it according to the traditions of its kind.\n\nLower down in the scale of animal life enormous numbers of bodies are\nattached to a single group-soul--countless millions, for example, in the\ncase of some of the smaller insects; but as we rise in the animal kingdom\nthe number of bodies attached to a single group-soul becomes smaller and\nsmaller, and therefore the differences between individuals become greater.\n\nThus the group-souls gradually break up. Returning to the symbol of the\nbucket, as tumbler after tumbler of water is withdrawn from it, tinted with\nsome sort of colouring matter and returned to it, the whole bucketful of\nwater gradually becomes richer in colour. Suppose that by imperceptible\ndegrees a kind of vertical film forms itself across the centre of the\nbucket, and gradually solidifies itself into a division, so that we have\nnow a right half and a left half to the bucket, and each tumblerful of\nwater which is taken out is returned always to the same section from which\nit came.\n\nThen presently a difference will be set up, and the liquid in one half of\nthe bucket will no longer be the same as that in the other. We have then\npractically two buckets, and when this stage is reached in a group-soul it\nsplits into two, as a cell separates by fission. In this way, as the\nexperience grows ever richer, the group-souls grow smaller but more\nnumerous, until at the highest point we arrive at man with his single\nindividual soul, which no longer returns into a group, but remains always\nseparate.\n\nOne of the life-waves is vivifying the whole of a kingdom; but not every\ngroup-soul in that life-wave will pass through the whole of that kingdom\nfrom the bottom to the top. If in the vegetable kingdom a certain\ngroup-soul has ensouled forest trees, when it passes on into the animal\nkingdom it will omit all the lower stages--that is, it will never inhabit\ninsects or reptiles, but will begin at once at the level of the lower\nmammalia. The insects and reptiles will be vivified by group-souls which\nhave for some reason left the vegetable kingdom at a much lower level than\nthe forest tree. In the same way the group-soul which has reached the\nhighest levels of the animal kingdom will not individualize into primitive\nsavages, but into men of somewhat higher type, the primitive savages being\nrecruited from group-souls which have left the animal kingdom at a lower\nlevel.\n\nGroup-souls at any level or at all levels arrange themselves into seven\ngreat types, according to the Minister of the Deity through whom their life\nhas poured forth. These types are clearly distinguishable in all the\nkingdoms, and the successive forms taken by any one of them form a\nconnected series, so that animals, vegetables, minerals and the varieties\nof the elemental creatures may all be arranged into seven great groups, and\nthe life coming along one of those lines will not diverge into any of the\nothers.\n\nNo detailed list has yet been made of the animals, plants or minerals from\nthis point of view; but it is certain that the life which is found\nensouling a mineral of a particular type will never vivify a mineral of any\nother type than its own, though within that type it may vary. When it\npasses on to the vegetable and animal kingdoms it will inhabit vegetables\nand animals of that type and of no other; and when it eventually reaches\nhumanity it will individualize into men of that type and of no other.\n\nThe method of individualization is the raising of the soul of a particular\nanimal to a level so much higher than that attained by its group-soul that\nit can no longer return to the latter. This cannot be done with _any_\nanimal, but only with those whose brain is developed to a certain level,\nand the method usually adopted to acquire such mental development is to\nbring the animal into close contact with man. Individualization, therefore,\nis possible only for domestic animals, and only for certain kinds even of\nthose. At the head of each of the seven types stands one kind of domestic\nanimal--the dog for one, the cat for another, the elephant for a third, the\nmonkey for a fourth, and so on. The wild animals can all be arranged on\nseven lines leading up to the domestic animals; for example, the fox and\nthe wolf are obviously on the same line with the dog, while the lion, the\ntiger and the leopard equally obviously lead up to the domestic cat; so\nthat the group-soul animating a hundred lions mentioned some time ago might\nat a later stage of its evolution have divided into, let us say, five\ngroup-souls each animating twenty cats.\n\nThe life-wave spends a long period of time in each kingdom; we are now only\na little past the middle of such an \u00e6on, and consequently the conditions\nare not favourable for the achievement of that individualization which\nnormally comes only at the end of a period. Rare instances of such\nattainment may occasionally be observed on the part of some animal much in\nadvance of the average. Close association with man is necessary to produce\nthis result. The animal if kindly treated develops devoted affection for\nhis human friend, and also unfolds his intellectual powers in trying to\nunderstand that friend and to anticipate his wishes. In addition to this,\nthe emotions and the thoughts of the man act constantly upon those of the\nanimal, and tend to raise him to a higher level both emotionally and\nintellectually. Under favourable circumstances this development may proceed\nso far as to raise the animal altogether out of touch with the group to\nwhich he belongs, so that his fragment of a group-soul becomes capable of\nresponding to the outpouring which comes from the First Aspect of the\nDeity.\n\nFor this final outpouring is not like the others, a mighty outrush\naffecting thousands or millions simultaneously; it comes to each one\nindividually as that one is ready to receive it. This outpouring has\nalready descended as far as the intuitional world; but it comes no farther\nthan that until this upward leap is made by the soul of the animal from\nbelow; but when that happens this Third Outpouring leaps down to meet it,\nand in the higher mental world is formed an ego, a permanent\nindividuality--permanent, that is, until, far later in his evolution, the\nman transcends it and reaches back to the divine unity from which he came.\nTo make this ego, the fragment of the group-soul (which has hitherto played\nthe part always of ensouling force) becomes in its turn a vehicle, and is\nitself ensouled by that divine Spark which has fallen into it from on high.\nThat Spark may be said to have been hovering in the monadic world over the\ngroup-soul through the whole of its previous evolution, unable to effect a\njunction with it until its corresponding fragment in the group-soul had\ndeveloped sufficiently to permit it. It is this breaking away from the rest\nof the group-soul and developing a separate ego which marks the distinction\nbetween the highest animal and the lowest man.\n\n\n\n\nChapter V\n\nTHE CONSTITUTION OF MAN\n\n\nMan is therefore in essence a Spark of the divine Fire, belonging to the\nmonadic world.[1] To that Spark, dwelling all the time in that world, we\ngive the name \"Monad\". For the purposes of human evolution the Monad\nmanifests itself in lower worlds. When it descends one stage and enters the\nspiritual world, it shows itself there as the triple Spirit having itself\nthree aspects (just as in worlds infinitely higher the Deity has His three\nAspects). Of those three one remains always in that world, and we call that\nthe Spirit in man. The second aspect manifests itself in the intuitional\nworld, and we speak of it as the Intuition in man. The third shows itself\nin the higher mental world, and we call it the Intelligence in man. These\nthree aspects taken together constitute the ego which ensouls the fragment\nfrom the group-soul. Thus man as we know him, though in reality a Monad\nresiding in the monadic world, shows himself as an ego in the higher mental\nworld, manifesting these three aspects of himself (Spirit, Intuition and\nIntelligence) through that vehicle of higher mental matter which we name\nthe causal body.\n\nFootnote 1: The President has now decided upon a set of names for the\nplanes, so for the future these will be used instead of those previously\nemployed. A table of them is given below for reference.\n\nNEW NAMES                       OLD NAMES\n1. Divine World                 \u00c2di Plane\n2. Monadic World                Anup\u00e2daka Plane\n3. Spiritual World              \u00c2tmic or Nirv\u00e2nic Plane\n4. Intuitional World            Buddhic Plane\n5. Mental World                 Mental Plane\n6. Emotional or Astral World    Astral Plane\n7. Physical World               Physical Plane\n\nThese will supersede the names given in Vol. II of _The Inner Life._\n\nThis ego is the man during the human stage of evolution; he is the nearest\ncorrespondence, in fact, to the ordinary unscientific conception of the\nsoul. He lives unchanged (except for his growth) from the moment of\nindividualization until humanity is transcended and merged into divinity.\nHe is in no way affected by what we call birth and death; what we commonly\nconsider as his life is only a day in his life. The body which we can see,\nthe body which is born and dies, is a garment which he puts on for the\npurposes of a certain part of his evolution.\n\nNor is it the only body which he assumes. Before he, the ego in the higher\nmental world, can take a vehicle belonging to the physical world, he must\nmake a connection with it through the lower mental and astral worlds. When\nhe wishes to descend he draws around himself a veil of the matter of the\nlower mental world, which we call his mental body. This is the instrument\nby means of which he thinks all his concrete thoughts--abstract thought\nbeing a power of the ego himself in the higher mental world.\n\nNext he draws round himself a veil of astral matter, which we call his\nastral body; and that is the instrument of his passions and emotions, and\nalso (in conjunction with the lower part of his mental body) the\ninstrument of all such thought as is tinged by selfishness and personal\nfeeling. Only after having assumed these intermediate vehicles can he come\ninto touch with a baby physical body, and be born into the world which we\nknow. He lives through what we call his life, gaining certain qualities as\nthe result of its experiences; and at its end, when the physical body is\nworn out, he reverses the process of descent and lays aside one by one the\ntemporary vehicles which he has assumed. The first to go is the physical\nbody, and when that is dropped, his life is centred in the astral world and\nhe lives in his astral body.\n\nThe length of his stay in that world depends upon the amount of passion and\nemotion which he has developed within himself in his physical life. If\nthere is much of these, the astral body is strongly vitalized, and will\npersist for a long time; if there is but little, the astral body has less\nvitality, and he will soon be able to cast that vehicle aside in turn. When\nthat is done he finds himself living in his mental body. The strength of\nthat depends upon the nature of the thoughts to which he has habituated\nhimself, and usually his stay at this level is a long one. At last it comes\nto an end, and he casts aside the mental body in turn, and is once more the\nego in his own world.\n\nOwing to lack of development, he is as yet but partially conscious in that\nworld; the vibrations of its matter are too rapid to make any impression\nupon him, just as the ultra-violet rays are too rapid to make any\nimpression upon our eyes. After a rest there, he feels the desire to\ndescend to a level where the undulations are perceptible to him, in order\nthat he may feel himself to be fully alive; so he repeats the process of\ndescent into denser matter, and assumes once more a mental, an astral and a\nphysical body. As his previous bodies have all disintegrated, each in its\ntarn, these new vehicles are entirely distinct from them, and thus it\nhappens that in his physical life he has no recollection whatever of other\nsimilar lives which have preceded it.\n\nWhen functioning in this physical world he remembers by means of his mental\nbody; but since that is a new one, assumed only for this birth, it\nnaturally cannot contain the memory of previous births in which it had no\npart. The man himself, the ego, does remember them all when in his own\nworld, and occasionally some partial recollection of them or influence from\nthem filters through into his lower vehicles. He does not usually, in his\nphysical life, remember the experiences of earlier lives, but he does\nmanifest in physical life the qualities which those experiences have\ndeveloped in him. Each man is therefore exactly what he has made himself\nduring those past lives; if he has in them developed good qualities in\nhimself, he possesses the good qualities now; if he neglected to train\nhimself, and consequently left himself weak and of evil disposition, he\nfinds himself precisely in that condition now. The qualities, good or evil,\nwith which he is born are those which he has made for himself.\n\nThis development of the ego is the object of the whole process of\nmaterialization; he assumes those veils of matter precisely because through\nthem he is able to receive vibrations to which he can respond, so that his\nlatent faculties may thereby be unfolded. Though man descends from on high\ninto these lower worlds, it is only through that descent that a full\ncognizance of the higher worlds is developed in him. Full consciousness in\nany given world involves the power to perceive and respond to all the\nundulations of that world: therefore the ordinary man has not yet perfect\nconsciousness at any level--not even in this physical world which he thinks\nhe knows. It is possible for him to unfold his percipience in all these\nworlds, and it is by means of such developed consciousness that we observe\nall these facts which I am now describing.\n\nThe causal body is the permanent vehicle of the ego in the higher mental\nworld. It consists of matter of the first, second and third subdivisions of\nthat world. In ordinary people it is not yet fully active, only that matter\nwhich belongs to the third subdivision being vivified. As the ego unfolds\nhis latent possibilities through the long course of his evolution, the\nhigher matter is gradually brought into action, but it is only in the\nperfected man whom we call the Adept that it is developed to its fullest\nextent. Such matter can be discerned by clairvoyant sight, but only by a\nseer who knows how to use the sight of the ego.\n\nIt is difficult to describe a causal body fully, because the senses\nbelonging to its world are altogether different from and higher than ours\nat this level. Such memory of the appearance of a causal body as it is\npossible for a clairvoyant to bring into his physical brain represents it\nas ovoid, and as surrounding the physical body of the man, extending to a\ndistance of about eighteen inches from the normal surface of that body. In\nthe case of primitive man it resembles a bubble, and gives the impression\nof being empty. It is in reality filled with higher mental matter, but as\nthis is not yet brought into activity it remains colourless and\ntransparent. As advancement continues it is gradually stirred into\nalertness by vibrations which reach it from the lower bodies. This comes\nbut slowly, because the activities of man in the earlier stages of his\nevolution are not of a character to obtain expression in matter so fine as\nthat of the higher mental body; but when a man reaches the stage where he\nis capable either of abstract thought or of unselfish emotion the matter of\nthe causal body is aroused into response.\n\nWhen these rates of undulation are awakened within him they show themselves\nin his causal body as colours, so that instead of being a mere transparent\nbubble it gradually becomes a sphere filled with matter of the most lovely\nand delicate hues--an object beautiful beyond all conception. It is found\nby experience that these colours are significant. The vibration which\ndenotes the power of unselfish affection shows itself as a pale\nrose-colour; that which indicates high intellectual power is yellow; that\nwhich expresses sympathy is green, while blue betokens devotional feeling,\nand a luminous lilac-blue typifies the higher spirituality. The same scheme\nof colour-significance applies to the bodies which are built of denser\nmatter, but as we approach the physical world the hues are in every case by\ncomparison grosser--not only less delicate but also less living.\n\nIn the course of evolution in the lower worlds man often introduces into\nhis vehicles qualities which are undesirable and entirely inappropriate for\nhis life as an ego--such, for example, as pride, irritability, sensuality.\nThese, like the rest, are reducible to vibrations, but they are in all\ncases vibrations of the lower subdivisions of their respective worlds, and\ntherefore they cannot reproduce themselves in the causal body, which is\nbuilt exclusively of the matter of the three higher subdivisions of its\nworld. For each section of the astral body acts strongly upon the\ncorresponding section of the mental body, but only upon the corresponding\nsection; it cannot influence any other part. So the causal body can be\naffected only by the three higher portions of the astral body; and the\noscillations of those represent only good qualities.\n\nThe practical effect of this is that the man can build into the ego (that\nis, into his true self) nothing but good qualities; the evil qualities\nwhich he develops are in their nature transitory and must be thrown aside\nas he advances, because he has no longer within him matter which can\nexpress them. The difference between the causal bodies of the savage and\nthe saint is that the first is empty and colourless, while the second is\nfull of brilliant, coruscating tints. As the man passes beyond even\nsaint-hood and becomes a great spiritual power, his causal body increases\nin size, because it has so much more to express, and it also begins to pour\nout from itself in all directions powerful rays of living light. In one who\nhas attained Adeptship this body is of enormous dimensions.\n\nThe mental body is built of matter of the four lower subdivisions of the\nmental world, and expresses the concrete thoughts of the man. Here also we\nfind the same colour-scheme as in the causal body. The hues are somewhat\nless delicate, and we notice one or two additions. For example, a thought\nof pride shows itself as orange, while irritability is manifested by a\nbrilliant scarlet. We may see here sometimes the bright brown of avarice,\nthe grey-brown of selfishness, and the grey-green of deceit. Here also we\nperceive the possibility of a mixture of colours; the affection, the\nintellect, the devotion may be tinged by selfishness, and in that case\ntheir distinctive colours are mingled with the brown of selfishness, and so\nwe have an impure and muddy appearance. Although its particles are always\nin intensely rapid motion among themselves, this body has at the same time\na kind of loose organization.\n\nThe size and shape of the mental body are determined by those of the causal\nvehicle. There are in it certain striations which divide it more or less\nirregularly into segments, each of these corresponding to a certain\ndepartment of the physical brain, so that every type of thought should\nfunction through its duly assigned portion. The mental body is as yet so\nimperfectly developed in ordinary men that there are many in whom a great\nnumber of special departments are not yet in activity, and any attempt at\nthought belonging to those departments has to travel round through some\ninappropriate channel which happens to be fully open. The result is that\nthought on those subjects is for those people clumsy and uncomprehending.\nThis is why some people have a head for mathematics and others are unable\nto add correctly--why some people instinctively understand, appreciate and\nenjoy music, while others do not know one tune from another.\n\nAll the matter of the mental body should be circulating freely, but\nsometimes a man allows his thought upon a certain subject to set and\nsolidify, and then the circulation is impeded, and there is a congestion\nwhich presently hardens into a kind of wart on the mental body. Such a wart\nappears to us down here as a prejudice; and until it is absorbed and free\ncirculation restored, it is impossible for the man to think truly or to see\nclearly with regard to that particular department of his mind, as the\ncongestion checks the free passage of undulations both outward and inward.\n\nWhen a man uses any part of his mental body it not only vibrates for the\ntime more rapidly, but it also temporarily swells out and increases in\nsize. If there is prolonged thought upon a subject this increase becomes\npermanent, and it is thus open to any man to increase the size of his\nmental body either along desirable or undesirable lines.\n\nGood thoughts produce vibrations of the finer matter of the body, which by\nits specific gravity tends to float in the upper part of the ovoid; whereas\nbad thoughts, such as selfishness and avarice, are always oscillations of\nthe grosser matter, which tends to gravitate towards the lower part of the\novoid. Consequently the ordinary man, who yields himself not infrequently\nto selfish thoughts of various kinds, usually expands the lower part of his\nmental body, and presents roughly the appearance of an egg with its larger\nend downwards. The man who has repressed those lower thoughts, and devoted\nhimself to higher ones, tends to expand the upper part of his mental body,\nand therefore presents the appearance of an egg standing on its smaller\nend. From a study of the colours and striations of a man's mental body the\nclairvoyant can perceive his character and the progress he has made in his\npresent life. From similar features of the causal body he can see what\nprogress the ego has made since its original formation, when the man left\nthe animal kingdom.\n\nWhen a man thinks of any concrete object--a book, a house, a landscape--he\nbuilds a tiny image of the object in the matter of his mental body. This\nimage floats in the upper part of that body, usually in front of the face\nof the man and at about the level of the eyes. It remains there as long as\nthe man is contemplating the object, and usually for a little time\nafterwards, the length of time depending upon the intensity and the\nclearness of the thought. This form is quite objective, and can be seen by\nanother person, if that other has developed the sight of his own mental\nbody. If a man thinks of another, he creates a tiny portrait in just the\nsame way. If his thought is merely contemplative and involves no feeling\n(such as affection or dislike) or desire (such as a wish to see the person)\nthe thought does not usually perceptibly affect the man of whom he thinks.\n\nIf coupled with the thought of the person there is a feeling, as for\nexample of affection, another phenomenon occurs besides the forming of the\nimage. The thought of affection takes a definite form, which it builds out\nof the matter of the thinker's mental body. Because of the emotion\ninvolved, it draws round it also matter of his astral body, and thus we\nhave an astromental form which leaps out of the body in which it has been\ngenerated, and moves through space towards the object of the feeling of\naffection. If the thought is sufficiently strong, distance makes absolutely\nno difference to it; but the thought of an ordinary person is usually weak\nand diffused, and is therefore not effective outside a limited area.\n\nWhen this thought-form reaches its object it discharges itself into his\nastral and mental bodies, communicating to them its own rate of vibration.\nPutting this in another way, a thought of love sent from one person to\nanother involves the actual transference of a certain amount both of force\nand of matter from the sender to the recipient, and its effect upon the\nrecipient is to arouse the feeling of affection in him, and slightly but\npermanently to increase his power of loving. But such a thought also\nstrengthens the power of affection in the thinker, and therefore it does\ngood simultaneously to both.\n\nEvery thought builds a form; if the thought be directed to another person\nit travels to him; if it be distinctly selfish it remains in the immediate\nneighbourhood of the thinker; if it belongs to neither of these categories\nit floats for awhile in space and then slowly disintegrates. Every man\ntherefore is leaving behind him wherever he goes a trail of thought forms;\nas we go along the street we are walking all the time amidst a sea of other\nmen's thoughts. If a man leaves his mind blank for a time, these residual\nthoughts of others drift through it, making in most cases but little\nimpression upon him. Sometimes one arrives which attracts his attention, so\nthat his mind seizes upon it and makes it its own, strengthens it by the\naddition of its force, and then casts it out again to affect somebody else.\nA man therefore, is not responsible for a thought which floats into his\nmind, because it may be not his, but someone else's; but he _is_\nresponsible if he takes it up, dwells upon it and then sends it out\nstrengthened.\n\nSelf-centred thought of any kind hangs about the thinker, and most men\nsurround their mental bodies with a shell of such thoughts. Such a shell\nobscures the mental vision and facilitates the formation of prejudice.\n\nEach thought-form is a temporary entity. It resembles a charged battery,\nawaiting an opportunity to discharge itself. Its tendency is always to\nreproduce its own rate of vibration in the mental body upon which it\nfastens itself, and so to arouse in it a like thought. If the person at\nwhom it is aimed happens to be busy or already engaged in some definite\ntrain of thought, the particles of his mental body are already swinging at\na certain determinate rate, and cannot for the moment be affected from\nwithout. In that case the thought-form bides its time, hanging about its\nobject until he is sufficiently at rest to permit its entrance; then it\ndischarges itself upon him, and in the act ceases to exist.\n\nThe self-centred thought behaves in exactly the same way with regard to its\ngenerator, and discharges itself upon him when opportunity offers. If it be\nan evil thought, he generally regards it as the suggestion of a tempting\ndemon, whereas in truth he tempts himself. Usually each definite thought\ncreates a new thought-form; but if a thought-form of the same nature is\nalready hovering round the thinker, under certain circumstances a new\nthought on the same subject, instead of creating a new form, coalesces with\nand strengthens, the old one, so that by long brooding over the same\nsubject a man may sometimes create a thought-form of tremendous power. If\nthe thought be a wicked one, such a thought-form may become a veritable\nevil influence, lasting perhaps for many years, and having for a time all\nthe appearance and powers of a real living entity.\n\nAll these which have been described are the ordinary unpremeditated\nthoughts of man. A man can make a thought-form intentionally, and aim it at\nanother with the object of helping him. This is one of the lines of\nactivity adopted by those who desire to serve humanity. A steady stream of\npowerful thought directed intelligently upon another person may be of the\ngreatest assistance to him. A strong thought-form may be a real guardian\nangel, and protect its object from impurity, from irritability or from\nfear.\n\nAn interesting branch of the subject is the study of the various shapes and\ncolours taken by thought-forms of different kinds. The colours indicate the\nnature of the thought, and are in agreement with those which we have\nalready described as existing in the bodies. The shapes are of infinite\nvariety, but are often in some way typical of the kind of thought which\nthey express.\n\nEvery thought of definite character, such as a thought of affection or\nhatred, of devotion or suspicion, of anger or fear, of pride or jealousy,\nnot only creates a form but also radiates an undulation. The fact that,\neach one of these thoughts is expressed by a certain colour indicates that\nthe thought expresses itself as an oscillation of the matter of a certain\npart of the mental body. This rate of oscillation communicates itself to\nthe surrounding mental matter precisely in the same way as the vibration of\na bell communicates itself to the surrounding air.\n\nThis radiation travels out in all directions, and whenever it impinges upon\nanother mental body in a passive or receptive condition it communicates to\nit something of its own vibration. This does not convey a definite complete\nidea, as does the thought-form, but it tends to produce a thought of the\nsame character as itself. For example, if the thought be devotional its\nundulations will excite devotion, but the object of the worship may be\ndifferent in the case of each person upon whose mental body they impinge.\nThe thought-form, on the other hand, can reach only one person, but will\nconvey to that person (if receptive) not only a general devotional feeling,\nbut also a precise image of the Being for whom the adoration was originally\nfelt.\n\nAny person who habitually thinks pure, good and strong thoughts is\nutilizing for that purpose the higher part of his mental body--a part which\nis not used at all by the ordinary man, and is entirely undeveloped in him.\nSuch an one is therefore a power for good in the world, and is being of\ngreat use to all those of his neighbours who are capable of any sort of\nresponse. For the vibration which he sends out tends to arouse a new and\nhigher part of their mental bodies, and consequently to open before them\naltogether new fields of thought.\n\nIt may not be exactly the same thought as that sent out, but it is of the\nsame nature. The undulations generated by a man thinking of Theosophy do\nnot necessarily communicate Theosophical ideas to all those around him; but\nthey do awaken in them more liberal and higher thought than that to which\nthey have before been accustomed. On the other hand, the thought-forms\ngenerated under such circumstances, though more limited in their action\nthan the radiation, are also more precise; they can affect only those who\nare to some extent open to them, but to them they will convey definite\nTheosophical ideas.\n\nThe colours of the astral body bear the same meaning as those of the higher\nvehicles, but are several octaves of colours below them, and much more\nnearly approaching to such hues as we see in the physical world. It is the\nvehicle of passion and emotion, and consequently it may exhibit additional\ncolours, expressing man's less desirable feelings, which cannot show\nthemselves at higher levels; for example, a lurid brownish-red indicates\nthe presence of sensuality, while black clouds show malice and hatred. A\ncurious livid grey betokens the presence of fear, and a much darker grey,\nusually arranged in heavy rings around the ovoid, indicates a condition of\ndepression. Irritability is shown by the presence of a number of small\nscarlet flecks in the astral body, each representing a small angry impulse.\nJealousy is shown by a peculiar brownish-green, generally studded with the\nsame scarlet flecks. The astral body is in size and shape like those just\ndescribed, and in the ordinary man its outline is usually clearly marked;\nbut in the case of primitive man it is often exceedingly irregular, and\nresembles a rolling cloud composed of all the more unpleasant colours.\n\nWhen the astral body is comparatively quiet (it is never actually at rest)\nthe colours which are to be seen in it indicate those emotions to which the\nman is most in the habit of yielding himself. When the man experiences a\nrush of any particular feeling, the rate of vibration which expresses that\nfeeling dominates for a time the entire astral body. If, for example, it be\ndevotion, the whole of his astral body is flushed with, blue, and while the\nemotion remains at its strongest the normal colours do little more than\nmodify the blue, or appear faintly through a veil of it; but presently the\nvehemence of the sentiment dies away, and the normal colours re-assert\nthemselves. But because of that spasm of emotion the part of the astral\nbody which is normally blue has been increased in size. Thus a man who\nfrequently feels high devotion soon comes to have a large area of the blue\npermanently existing in his astral body.\n\nWhen the rush of devotional _feeling_ comes over him, it is usually\naccompanied by _thoughts_ of devotion. Although primarily formed in the\nmental body, these draw round themselves a large amount of astral matter as\nwell, so that their action is in both worlds. In both worlds also is the\nradiation which was previously described, so that the devotional man is a\ncentre of devotion, and will influence other people to share both his\nthoughts and his feelings. The same is true in the case of affection,\nanger, depression--and, indeed, of all other feelings.\n\nThe flood of emotion does not itself greatly affect the mental body,\nalthough for a time it may render it almost impossible for any activity\nfrom that mental body to come through into the physical brain. That is not\nbecause that body itself is affected, but because the astral body, which\nacts as a bridge between it and the physical brain, is vibrating so\nentirely at one rate as to be incapable of conveying any undulation which\nis not in harmony with that.\n\nThe permanent colours of the astral body react upon, the mental. They\nproduce in it their correspondences, several octaves higher, in the same\nmanner as a musical note produces overtones. The mental body in its turn\nreacts upon the causal in the same way, and thus all the good qualities\nexpressed in the lower vehicles by degrees establish themselves permanently\nin the ego. The evil qualities cannot do so, as the rates of vibrations\nwhich express them are impossible for the higher mental matter of which the\ncausal body is constructed.\n\nSo far, we have described vehicles which are the expression of the ego in\ntheir respective worlds--vehicles, which he provides for himself; in the\nphysical world we come to a vehicle which is provided for him by Nature\nunder laws which will be later explained--which though also in some sense\nan expression of him, is by no means a perfect manifestation. In ordinary\nlife we see only a small part of this physical body--only that which is\nbuilt of the solid and liquid subdivisions of physical matter. The body\ncontains matter of all the seven subdivisions, and all of them play their\npart in its life and are of equal importance, to it.\n\nWe usually speak of the invisible part of the physical body as the etheric\ndouble; \"double\" because it exactly reproduces the size and shape of the\npart of the body that we can see, and \"etheric\" because it is built--of\nthat finer kind of matter by the vibrations of which light is conveyed to\nthe retina of the eye. (This must not be confused with the true \u00e6ther of\nspace--that of which matter is the negation.) This invisible part of the\nphysical body is of great importance to us, since it is the vehicle through\nwhich flow the streams of vitality which keep the body alive, and without\nit, as a bridge to convey undulations of thought and feeling from the\nastral to the visible denser physical matter, the ego could make no use of\nthe cells of his brain.\n\nThe life of a physical body is one of perpetual change and in order that it\nshall live, it needs constantly to be supplied from three distinct sources.\nIt must have food for its digestion, air for its breathing, and vitality\nfor its absorption. This vitality is essentially a force, but when clothed\nin matter it appears to us as a definite element, which exists in all the\nworlds of which we have spoken. At the moment we are concerned with that\nmanifestation of it which we find in the highest subdivision of the\nphysical world. Just as the blood circulates through the veins, so does the\nvitality circulate along the nerves; and precisely as any abnormality in\nthe flow of the blood at once affects the physical body, so does the\nslightest irregularity in the absorption or flow of the vitality affect\nthis higher part of the physical body.\n\nVitality is a force which comes originally from the sun. When an ultimate\nphysical atom is charged with it, it draws round itself six other atoms,\nand makes itself into an etheric element. The original force of vitality is\nthen subdivided into seven, each of the atoms carrying a separate charge.\nThe element thus made is absorbed into the human body through the etheric\npart of the spleen. It is there split up into its component parts, which at\nonce low to the various parts of the body assigned to them. The spleen is\none of the seven force centres in the etheric part of the physical body. In\neach of our vehicles seven such centres should be in activity, and when\nthey are thus active they are visible to clairvoyant sight. They appear\nusually as shallow vortices, for they are the points at which the force\nfrom the higher bodies enters the lower. In the physical body these centres\nare: (1) at the base of the spine, (2) at the solar plexus, (3) at the\nspleen, (4) over the heart, (5) at the throat, (6) between the eyebrows,\nand (7) at the top of the head. There are other dormant centres, but their\nawakening is undesirable.\n\nThe shape of all the higher bodies as seen by the clairvoyant is ovoid, but\nthe matter composing them is not equally distributed throughout the egg. In\nthe midst of this ovoid is the physical body. The physical body strongly\nattracts astral matter, and in its turn the astral matter strongly attracts\nmental matter. Therefore by far the greater part of the matter of the\nastral body is gathered within the physical frame; and the same is true of\nthe mental vehicle. If we see the astral body of a man in its own world,\napart from the physical body we shall still perceive the astral matter\naggregated in exactly the shape of the physical, although, as the matter is\nmore fluidic in its nature, what we see is a body built of dense mist, in\nthe midst of an ovoid of much finer mist. The same is true for the mental\nbody. Therefore, if in the astral or the mental world we should meet an\nacquaintance, we should recognise him by his appearance just as instantly\nas in the physical world.\n\nThis, then, is the true constitution of man. In the first place he is a\nMonad, a Spark of the Divine. Of that Monad the ego is a partial\nexpression, formed in order that he may enter evolution, and may return to\nthe Monad with joy, bringing his sheaves with him in the shape of qualities\ndeveloped by garnered experience. The ego in his turn puts down part of\nhimself for the same purpose into lower worlds, and we call that part a\npersonality, because the Latin word _persona_ means a mask, and this\npersonality is the mask which the ego puts upon himself when he manifests\nin worlds lower than his own. Just as the ego is a small part and an\nimperfect expression of the Monad, so is the personality a small part and\nan imperfect expression of the ego; so that what we usually think of as the\nman is only in truth a fragment of a fragment.\n\nThe personality wears three bodies or vehicles, the mental, the astral and\nthe physical. While the man is what we call alive and awake on the physical\nearth he is limited by his physical body, for he uses the astral and mental\nbodies only as bridges to connect himself with his lowest vehicle. One of\nthe limitations of the physical body is that it quickly becomes fatigued\nand needs periodical rest. Each night the man leaves it to sleep, and\nwithdraws into his astral vehicle, which does not become fatigued, and\ntherefore needs no sleep. During this sleep of the physical body the man is\nfree to move about in the astral world; but the extent to which he does\nthis depends upon his development. The primitive savage usually does not\nmove more than a few miles away from his sleeping physical form--often not\nas much as that; and he has only the vaguest consciousness.\n\nThe educated man is generally able to travel in his astral vehicle wherever\nhe will, and has much more consciousness in the astral world, though he has\nnot often the faculty of bringing into his waking life any memory of what\nhe has seen and done while his physical body was asleep. Sometimes he does\nremember some incident which he has seen, some experience which he has had,\nand then he calls it a vivid dream. More often his recollections are\nhopelessly entangled with vague memories of waking life, and with\nimpressions made from without upon the etheric part of his brain. Thus we\narrive at the confused and often absurd dreams of ordinary life. The\ndeveloped man becomes as fully conscious and active in the astral world as\nin the physical, and brings through into the latter full remembrance of\nwhat he has been doing in the former--that is, he has a continuous life\nwithout any loss of consciousness throughout the whole twenty-four hours,\nand thus throughout the whole of his physical life, and even through death\nitself.\n\n\n\n\nChapter VI\n\nAFTER DEATH\n\n\nDeath is the laying aside of the physical body; but it makes no more\ndifference to the ego than does the laying aside of an overcoat to the\nphysical man. Having put off his physical body, the ego continues to live\nin his astral body until the force has become exhausted which has been\ngenerated by such emotions and passions as he has allowed himself to feel\nduring earth-life. When that has happened, the second death takes place;\nthe astral body also falls away from him, and he finds himself living in\nthe mental body and in the lower mental world. In that condition he remains\nuntil the thought-forces generated during his physical and astral lives\nhave worn themselves out; then he drops the third vehicle in its turn and\nremains once more an ego in his own world, inhabiting his causal body.\n\nThere is, then, no such thing as death as it is ordinarily understood.\nThere is only a succession of stages in a continuous life--stages lived in\nthe three worlds one after another. The apportionment of time between these\nthree worlds varies much as man advances. The primitive man lives almost\nexclusively in the physical world, spending only a few years in the astral\nat the end of each of his physical lives. As he develops, the astral life\nbecomes longer, and as intellect: unfolds in him, and he becomes able to\nthink, he begins to spend a little time in the mental world as well. The\nordinary man of civilized races remains longer in the mental world than in\nthe physical and astral; indeed, the more a man evolves the longer becomes\nhis mental, life and the shorter his life in the astral world.\n\nThe astral life is the result of all feelings which have in them the\nelement of self. If they have been directly selfish, they bring him into\nconditions of great unpleasantness in the astral world; if, though tinged\nwith thoughts of self, they have been good and kindly, they bring him a\ncomparatively pleasant though still limited astral life. Such of his\nthoughts and feelings as have been entirely unselfish produce their results\nin his life in the mental world; therefore that life in the mental, world\ncannot be other than blissful. The astral life, which the man has made for\nhimself either miserable or comparatively joyous, corresponds to what\nChristians call purgatory; the lower mental life, which is always entirely\nhappy, is what is called heaven.\n\nMan makes for himself his own purgatory and heaven, and these are not\nplanes, but states of consciousness. Hell does not exist; it is only a\nfigment of the theological imagination; but a man who lives foolishly may\nmake for himself a very unpleasant and long enduring purgatory. Neither\npurgatory nor heaven can ever be eternal, for a finite cause cannot produce\nan infinite result. The variations in individual cases are so wide that to\ngive actual figures is somewhat misleading. If we take the average man of\nwhat is called the lower middle class, the typical specimen of which would\nbe a small shopkeeper or shop-assistant, his average life in the astral\nworld would be perhaps about forty years, and the life in the mental world\nabout two hundred. The man of spirituality and culture, on the other hand,\nmay have perhaps twenty years of life in the astral world and a thousand in\nthe heaven life. One who is specially developed may reduce the astral life\nto a few days or hours and spend fifteen hundred years in heaven.\n\nNot only does the length of these periods vary greatly, but the conditions\nin both worlds also differ widely. The matter of which all these bodies are\nbuilt is not dead matter but living, and that fact has to be taken into\nconsideration. The physical body is built up of cells, each of which is a\ntiny separate life animated by the Second Outpouring, which comes forth\nfrom the Second Aspect of the Deity. These cells are of varying kinds and\nfulfil various functions, and all these facts must be taken into account if\nthe man wishes to understand the work of his physical body and to live a\nhealthy life in it.\n\nThe same thing applies to the astral and mental bodies. In the cell-life\nwhich permeates them there is as yet nothing in the way of intelligence,\nbut there is a strong instinct always pressing in the direction of what is\nfor its development. The life animating the matter of which such bodies are\nbuilt is upon the outward arc of evolution, moving downwards or outwards\ninto matter, so that progress for it means to descend into denser forms of\nmatter, and to learn to express itself through them. Unfoldment for the man\nis just the opposite of this; he has already sunk deeply into matter and is\nnow rising out of that towards his source. There is consequently a constant\nconflict of interests between the man within and the life inhabiting the\nmatter of his vehicles, inasmuch as its tendency is downward, while his is\nupward.\n\nThe matter of the astral body (or rather the life animating its molecules)\ndesires for its evolution such undulations as it can get, of as many\ndifferent kinds as possible, and as coarse as possible. The next step in\nits evolution will be to ensoul physical matter and become used to its\nstill slower oscillations; and as a step on the way to that, it desires the\ngrossest of the astral vibrations. It has not the intelligence definitely\nto plan for these; but its instinct helps it to discover how most easily to\nprocure them.\n\nThe molecules of the astral body are constantly changing, as are those of\nthe physical body, but nevertheless the life in the mass of those astral\nmolecules has a sense, though a very vague sense, of itself as a whole--as\na kind of temporary entity. It does not know that it is part of a man's\nastral body; it is quite incapable of understanding what a man is; but it\nrealizes in a blind way that under its present conditions it receives many\nmore waves, and much stronger ones, than it would receive if floating at\nlarge in the atmosphere. It would then only occasionally catch, as from a\ndistance, the radiation of man's passions and emotions; now it is in the\nvery heart of them, it can miss none, and it gets them at their strongest.\nTherefore it feels itself in a good position, and it makes an effort to\nretain that position. It finds itself in contact with something finer than\nitself--the matter of the man's mental body; and it comes to feel that if\nit can contrive to involve that finer something in its own undulations,\nthey will be greatly intensified and prolonged.\n\nSince astral matter is the vehicle of desire and mental matter is the\nvehicle of thought, this instinct, when translated into our language, means\nthat if the astral body can induce us to think that _we_ want what _it_\nwants, it is much more likely to get it. Thus it exercises a slow steady\npressure upon the man--a kind of hunger on its side, but for him a\ntemptation to what is coarse and undesirable. If he be a passionate man\nthere is a gentle but ceaseless pressure in the direction of irritability;\nif he be a sensual man, an equally steady pressure in the direction of\nimpurity.\n\nA man who does not understand this usually makes one of two mistakes with\nregard to it: either he supposes it to be the prompting of his own nature,\nand therefore regards that nature as inherently evil, or he thinks of the\npressure as coming from outside--as a temptation of an imaginary devil. The\ntruth lies between the two. The pressure is natural, not to the man but to\nthe vehicle which he is using; its desire is natural and right for it, but\nharmful to the man, and therefore it is necessary that he should resist it.\nIf he does so resist, if he declines to yield himself to the feelings\nsuggested to him, the particles within him which need those vibrations\nbecome apathetic for lack of nourishment, and eventually atrophy and fall\nout from his astral body, and are replaced by other particles, whose\nnatural wave-rate is more nearly in accordance with that which the man\nhabitually permits within his astral body.\n\nThis gives the reason for what are called promptings of the lower nature\nduring life. If the man yields himself to them, such promptings grow\nstronger and stronger until at last he feels as though he could not resist\nthem, and identifies himself with them--which is exactly what this curious\nhalf-life in the particles of the astral body wants him to do.\n\nAt the death of the physical body this vague astral consciousness is\nalarmed. It realizes that its existence as a separated mass is menaced, and\nit takes instinctive steps to defend itself and to maintain its position as\nlong as possible. The matter of the astral body is far more fluidic than\nthat of the physical, and this consciousness seizes upon its particles and\ndisposes them so as to resist encroachment. It puts the grossest and\ndensest upon the outside as a kind of shell, and arranges the others in\nconcentric layers, so that the body as a whole may become as resistant to\nfriction as its constitution permits, and may therefore retain its shape as\nlong as possible.\n\nFor the man this produces various unpleasant effects. The physiology of the\nastral body is quite different from that of the physical; the latter\nacquires its information from without by means of certain organs which are\nspecialized as the instruments of its senses, but the astral body has no\nseparated senses in our meaning of the word. That which for the astral body\ncorresponds to sight is the power of its molecules to respond to impacts\nfrom without, which come to them by means of similar molecules. For\nexample, a man has within his astral body matter belonging to all the\nsubdivisions of the astral world, and it is because of that that he is\ncapable of \"seeing\" objects built of the matter of any of these\nsubdivisions.\n\nSupposing an astral object to be made of the matter of the second and third\nsubdivisions mixed, a man living in the astral world could perceive that\nobject only if on the surface of his astral body there were particles\nbelonging to the second and third subdivisions of that world which were\ncapable of receiving and recording the vibrations which that object set up.\nA man who from the arrangement of his body by the vague consciousness of\nwhich we have spoken, had on the outside of that vehicle only the denser\nmatter of the lowest subdivision, could no more be conscious of the object\nwhich we have mentioned than we are ourselves conscious in the physical\nbody of the gases which move about us in the atmosphere or of objects built\nexclusively of etheric matter.\n\nDuring physical life the matter of the man's astral body is in constant\nmotion, and its particles pass among one another much as do those of\nboiling water. Consequently at any given moment it is practically certain\nthat particles of all varieties will be represented on the surface of his\nastral body, and that therefore when he is using his astral body during\nsleep he will be able to \"see\" by its means any astral object which\napproaches him.\n\nAfter death, if he has allowed the rearrangement to be made (as from\nignorance, all ordinary persons do) his condition in this respect will be\ndifferent. Having on the surface of his astral body only the lowest and\ngrossest particles, he can receive impressions only from corresponding\nparticles outside; so that instead of seeing the whole of the astral world\nabout him, he will see only one-seventh of it, and that the densest and\nmost impure. The vibrations of this heavier matter are the expressions only\nof objectionable feelings and emotions, and of the least refined class of\nastral entities. Therefore it emerges that a man in this condition can see\nonly the undesirable inhabitants of the astral world, and can feel only its\nmost unpleasant and vulgar influences.\n\nHe is surrounded by other men, whose astral bodies are probably of quite\nordinary character; but since he can see and feel only that which is lowest\nand coarsest in them, they appear to him to be monsters of vice with no\nredeeming features. Even his friends seem not at all what they used to be,\nbecause he is now incapable of appreciating any of their better qualities.\nUnder these circumstances it is little wonder that he considers the astral\nworld a hell; yet the fault is in no way with the astral world, but with\nhimself--first, for allowing within himself so much of that cruder type of\nmatter, and, secondly, for letting that vague astral consciousness dominate\nhim and dispose it in that particular way.\n\nThe man who has studied these matters declines absolutely to yield to the\npressure during life or to permit the rearrangement after death, and\nconsequently he retains his power of seeing the astral world as a whole,\nand not merely the cruder and baser part of it.\n\nThe astral world has many points in common with the physical; just like the\nphysical, it presents different appearances to different people, and even\nto the same person at different periods of his career. It is the home of\nemotions and of lower thoughts; and emotions are much stronger in that\nworld than in this. When a person is awake we cannot see that larger part\nof his emotion at all; its strength goes in setting in motion the gross\nphysical matter of the brain. So if we see a man show affection here, what\nwe can see is not the whole of his affection, but only such part of it as\nis left after all this other work has been done. Emotions therefore bulk\nfar more largely in the astral life than in the physical. They in no way\nexclude higher thought if they are controlled, so in the astral world as in\nthe physical a man may devote himself to study and to helping his fellows,\nor he may waste his time and drift about aimlessly.\n\nThe astral world extends nearly to the mean distance of the orbit of the\nmoon; but though the whole of this realm is open to any of its inhabitants\nwho have not permitted the redistribution of their matter, the great\nmajority remain much nearer to the surface of the earth. The matter of the\ndifferent subdivisions of that world interpenetrates with perfect freedom,\nbut there is on the whole a general tendency for the denser matter to\nsettle towards the centre. The conditions are much like those which obtain\nin a bucket of water which contains in suspension a number of kinds of\nmatter of different degrees of density. Since the water is kept in\nperpetual motion, the different kinds of matter are diffused through it;\nbut in spite of that, the densest matter is found in greatest quantity\nnearest to the bottom. So that though we must not at all think of the\nvarious subdivisions of the astral world as lying above one another as do\nthe coats of an onion, it is nevertheless true that the average arrangement\nof the matter of those subdivisions partakes somewhat of that general\ncharacter.\n\nAstral matter interpenetrates physical matter precisely as though it were\nnot there, but each subdivision of physical matter has a strong attraction\nfor astral matter of the corresponding subdivision. Hence it arises that\nevery physical body has its astral counterpart. If I have a glass of water\nstanding upon a table, the glass and the table, being of physical matter in\nthe solid state, are interpenetrated by astral matter of the lowest\nsubdivision. The water in the glass, being liquid, is interpenetrated by\nwhat we may call astral liquid--that is, by astral matter of the sixth\nsubdivision; whereas the air surrounding both, being physical matter in the\ngaseous condition, is entirely interpenetrated by astral gaseous\nmatter--that is, astral matter of the fifth subdivision.\n\nBut just as air, water, glass and table are alike interpenetrated all the\ntime by the finer physical matter which we have called etheric, so are all\nthe astral counterparts interpenetrated by the finer astral matter of the\nhigher subdivisions which correspond to the etheric. But even the astral\nsolid is less dense than the finest of the physical ethers.\n\nThe man who finds himself in the astral world after death, if he has not\nsubmitted to the rearrangement of the matter of his body, will notice but\nlittle difference from physical life. He can float about in any direction\nat will, but in actual fact he usually stays in the neighbourhood to which\nhe is accustomed. He is still able to perceive his house, his room, his\nfurniture, his relations, his friends. The living, when ignorant of the\nhigher worlds, suppose themselves to have \"lost\" those who have laid aside\ntheir physical bodies; but the dead are never for a moment under the\nimpression that they have lost the living.\n\nFunctioning as they are in the astral body, the dead can no longer see the\nphysical bodies of those whom they have left behind; but they do see their\nastral bodies, and as those are exactly the same in outline as the\nphysical, they are perfectly aware of the presence of their friends. They\nsee each one surrounded by a faint ovoid of luminous mist, and if they\nhappen to be observant, they may notice various other small changes in\ntheir surroundings; but it is at least quite clear to them that they have\nnot gone away to some distant heaven or hell, but still remain in touch\nwith the world which they know, although they see it at a somewhat\ndifferent angle.\n\nThe dead man has the astral body of his living friend obviously before him,\nso he cannot think of him as lost; but while the friend is awake, the dead\nman will not be able to make any impression upon him, for the consciousness\nof the friend is then in the physical world, and his astral body is being\nused only as a bridge. The dead man cannot therefore communicate with his\nfriend, nor can he read his friend's higher thoughts; but he will see by\nthe change in colour in the astral body any emotion which that friend may\nfeel, and with a little practice and observation he may easily learn to\nread all those thoughts of his friend which have in them anything of self\nor of desire.\n\nWhen the friend falls asleep the whole position is changed. He is then also\nconscious in the astral world side by side with the dead man, and they can\ncommunicate in every respect as freely as they could during physical life.\nThe emotions felt by the living react strongly upon the dead who love them.\nIf the former give way to grief, the latter cannot but suffer severely.\n\nThe conditions of life after death are almost infinite in their variety,\nbut they can be calculated without difficulty by any one who will take the\ntrouble to understand the astral world and to consider the character of the\nperson concerned. That character is not in the slightest degree changed by\ndeath; the man's thoughts, emotions and desires are exactly the same as\nbefore. He is in every way the same man, minus his physical body; and his\nhappiness or misery depends upon the extent to which this loss of the\nphysical body affects him.\n\nIf his longings have been such as need a physical body for their\ngratification, he is likely to suffer considerably. Such a craving\nmanifests itself as a vibration in the astral body, and while we are still\nin this world most of its strength is employed in setting in motion the\nheavy physical particles. Desire is therefore a far greater force in the\nastral life than in the physical, and if the man has not been in the habit\nof controlling it, and if in this new life it cannot be satisfied, it may\ncause him great and long-continued trouble.\n\nTake as an illustration the extreme case of a drunkard or a sensualist.\nHere we have a lust which has been strong enough during physical life to\noverpower reason, common sense and all the feelings of decency and of\nfamily affection. After death the man finds himself in the astral world\nfeeling the appetite perhaps a hundred times more strongly, yet absolutely\nunable to satisfy it because he has lost the physical body. Such a life is\na very real hell--the only hell there is; yet no one is punishing him; he\nis reaping the perfectly natural result of his own action. Gradually as\ntime passes this force of desire wears out, but only at the cost of\nterrible suffering for the man, because to him every day seems as a\nthousand years. He has no measure of time such as we have in the physical\nworld. He can measure it only by his sensations. From a distortion of this\nfact has come the blasphemous idea of eternal damnation.\n\nMany other cases less extreme than this will readily suggest themselves, in\nwhich a hankering which cannot be fulfilled may prove itself a torture. A\nmore ordinary case is that of a man who has no particular vices, such as\ndrink or sensuality, but yet has been attached entirely to things of the\nphysical world, and has lived a life devoted to business or to aimless\nsocial functions. For him the astral world is a place of weariness; the\nonly thing for which he craves are no longer possible for him, for in the\nastral world there is no business to be done, and, though he may have as\nmuch companionship as he wishes, society is now for him a very different\nmatter, because all the pretences upon which it is usually based in this\nworld are no longer possible.\n\nThese cases, however, are only the few, and for most people the state after\ndeath is much happier than life upon earth. The first feeling of which the\ndead man is usually conscious is one of the most wonderful and delightful\nfreedom. He has absolutely nothing to worry about, and no duties rest upon\nhim, except those which he chooses to impose upon himself. For all but a\nvery small minority, physical life is spent in doing what the man would\nmuch rather not do; but he has to do it in order to support himself or his\nwife and family. In the astral world no support is necessary; food is no\nlonger needed, shelter is not required, since he is entirely unaffected by\nheat or cold; and each man by the mere exercise of his thought clothes\nhimself as he wishes. For the first time since early childhood the man is\nentirely free to spend the whole of his time in doing just exactly what he\nlikes.\n\nHis capacity for every kind of enjoyment is greatly enhanced, if only that\nenjoyment does not need a physical body for its expression. If he loves the\nbeauties of Nature, it is now within his power to travel with great\nrapidity and without fatigue over the whole world, to contemplate all its\nloveliest spots, and to explore its most secret recesses. If he delights in\nart, all the world's masterpieces are at his disposal. If he loves music,\nhe can go where he will to hear it, and it will now mean much more to him\nthan it has ever meant before; for though he can no longer hear the\nphysical sounds, he can receive the whole effect of the music into himself\nin far fuller measure than in this lower world. If he is a student of\nscience, he can not only visit the great scientific men of the world, and\ncatch from them such thoughts and ideas as may be within his comprehension,\nbut also he can undertake researches of his own into the science of this\nhigher world, seeing much more of what he is doing than has ever before\nbeen possible to him. Best of all, he whose great delight in this world has\nbeen to help his fellow men will still find ample scope for his\nphilanthropic efforts.\n\nMen are no longer hungry, cold, or suffering from disease in this astral\nworld; but there are vast numbers who, being ignorant, desire\nknowledge--who, being still in the grip of desire for earthly things, need\nthe explanation which will turn their thought to higher levels--who have\nentangled themselves in a web of their own imaginings, and can be set free\nonly by one who understands these new surroundings and can help them to\ndistinguish the facts of the world from their own ignorant\nmisrepresentation of them. All these can be helped by the man of\nintelligence and of kindly heart. Many men arrive in the astral world in\nutter ignorance of its conditions, not realizing at first that they are\ndead, and when they do realize it fearing the fate that may be in store for\nthem, because of false and wicked theological teaching. All of these need\nthe cheer and comfort which can only be given to them by a man of common\nsense who possesses some knowledge of the facts of Nature.\n\nThere is thus no lack of the most profitable occupation for any man whose\ninterests during his physical life have been rational; nor is there any\nlack of companionship. Men whose tastes and pursuits are similar drift\nnaturally together there just as they do here; and many realms of Nature,\nwhich during our physical life are concealed by the dense veil of matter,\nnow lie open for the detailed study of those who care to examine them.\n\nTo a large extent people make their own surroundings. We have already\nreferred to the seven subdivisions of this astral world. Numbering these\nfrom the highest and least material downwards, we find that they fall\nnaturally into three classes--divisions one, two and three forming one such\nclass, and four, five and six another; while the seventh and lowest of all\nstands alone. As I have said, although they all interpenetrate, their\nsubstance has a general tendency to arrange itself according to its\nspecific gravity, so that most of the matter belonging to the higher\nsubdivisions is found at a greater elevation above the surface of the earth\nthan the bulk of the matter of the lower portions.\n\nHence, although any person inhabiting the astral world can move into any\npart of it, his natural tendency is to float at the level which corresponds\nwith the specific gravity of the heaviest matter in his astral body. The\nman who has not permitted the rearrangement of the matter of his astral\nbody after death is entirely free of the whole astral world; but the\nmajority, who do permit it, are not equally free--not because there is\nanything to prevent them from rising to the highest level or sinking to the\nlowest, but because they are able to sense clearly only a certain part of\nthat world.\n\nI have described something of the fate of a man who is on the lowest level,\nshut in by a strong shell of coarse matter. Because of the extreme\ncomparative density of that matter he is conscious of less outside of his\nown subdivision than a man at any other level. The general specific gravity\nof his own astral body tends to make him float below the surface of the\nearth. The physical matter of the earth is absolutely non-existent to his\nastral senses, and his natural attraction is to that least delicate form of\nastral matter which is the counterpart of that solid earth. A man who has\nconfined himself to that lowest subdivision will therefore usually find\nhimself floating in darkness and cut off to a great extent from others of\nthe dead, whose lives have been such as to keep them on a higher level.\n\nDivisions four, five and six of the astral world (to which most people are\nattracted) have for their background the astral counterpart of the physical\nworld in which we live, and all its familiar accessories. Life in the sixth\nsubdivision is simply like our ordinary life on this earth minus the\nphysical body and its necessities while as it ascends through the fifth and\nfourth divisions it becomes less and less material and is more and more\nwithdrawn from our lower world and its interests.\n\nThe first, second and third sections, though occupying the same space, yet\ngive the impression of being much further removed from the physical, and\ncorrespondingly less material. Men who inhabit these levels lose sight of\nthe earth and its belongings; they are usually deeply self-absorbed, and to\na large extent create their own surroundings, though these are sufficiently\nobjective to be perceptible to other men of their level, and also to\nclairvoyant vision.\n\nThis region is the summerland of which we hear in spiritualistic\ncircles--the world in which, by the exercise of their thought, the dead\ncall into temporary existence their houses and schools and cities. These\nsurroundings, though fanciful from our point of view, are to the dead as\nreal as houses, temples or churches built of stone are to us, and many\npeople live very contentedly there for a number of years in the midst of\nall these thought-creations.\n\nSome of the scenery thus produced is very beautiful; it includes lovely\nlakes, magnificent mountains, pleasant flower gardens, decidedly superior\nto anything in the physical world; though on the other hand it also\ncontains much which to the trained clairvoyant (who has learned to see\nthings as they are) appears ridiculous--as, for example, the endeavours of\nthe unlearned to make a thought-form of some of the curious symbolic\ndescriptions contained in their various scriptures. An ignorant peasant's\nthought-image of a beast full of eyes within, or of a sea of glass mingled\nwith fire, is naturally often grotesque, although to its maker it is\nperfectly satisfactory. This astral world is full of thought-created\nfigures and landscapes. Men of all religions image here their deities and\ntheir respective conceptions of paradise, and enjoy themselves greatly\namong these dream-forms until they pass into the mental world and come into\ntouch with something nearer to reality.\n\nEvery one after death--any ordinary person, that is, in whose case the\nrearrangement of the matter of the astral body has been made--has to pass\nthrough all these subdivisions in turn. It does not follow that every one\nis conscious in all of them. The ordinarily decent person has in his astral\nbody but little of the matter of its lowest portion--by no means enough to\nconstruct a heavy shell. The redistribution puts on the outside of the body\nits densest matter; in the ordinary man this is usually matter of the sixth\nsubdivision, mixed with a little of the seventh, and so he finds himself\nviewing the counterpart of the physical world.\n\nThe ego is steadily withdrawing into himself, and as he withdraws he leaves\nbehind him level after level of this astral matter. So the length of the\nman's detention in any section of the astral world is precisely in\nproportion to the amount of its matter which is found in his astral body,\nand that in turn depends upon the life he has lived, the desires he has\nindulged, and the class of matter which by so doing he has attracted\ntowards him and built into himself. Finding himself then in the sixth\nsection, still hovering about the places and persons with which he was most\nclosely connected while on earth, the average man, as time passes on, finds\nthe earthly surroundings gradually growing dimmer and becoming of less and\nless importance to him, and he tends more and more to mould his entourage\ninto agreement with the more persistent of his thoughts. By the time that\nhe reaches the third level he finds that this characteristic has entirely\nsuperseded the vision of the realities of the astral world.\n\nThe second subdivision is a shade less material than the third, for if the\nlatter is the summerland of the spiritualists, the former is the material\nheaven of the more ignorantly orthodox; while the first or highest level\nappears to be the special home of those who during life have devoted\nthemselves to materialistic but intellectual pursuits, following them not\nfor the sake of benefiting their fellow men, but either from motives of\nselfish ambition or simply for the sake of intellectual exercise. All these\npeople are perfectly happy. Later on they will reach a stage when they can\nappreciate something much higher, and when that stage comes they will find\nthe higher ready for them.\n\nIn this astral life people of the same nation and of the same interest tend\nto keep together, precisely as they do here. The religious people, for\nexample, who imagine for themselves a material heaven, do not at all\ninterfere with men of other faiths whose ideas of celestial joy are\ndifferent. There is nothing to prevent a Christian from drifting into the\nheaven of the Hindu or the Muhammadan, but he is little likely to do so,\nbecause his interests and attractions are all in the heaven of his own\nfaith, along with friends who have shared that faith with him. This is by\nno means the true heaven described by any of the religions, but only a\ngross and material misrepresentation of it; the real thing will be found\nwhen we come to consider the mental world.\n\nThe dead man who has not permitted the rearrangement of the matter of his\nastral body is free of the entire world, and can wander all over it at\nwill, seeing the whole of whatever he examines, instead of only a part of\nit as the others do. He does not find it inconveniently crowded, for the\nastral world is much larger than the surface of the physical earth, while\nits population is somewhat smaller, because the average life of humanity in\nthe astral world is shorter than the average in the physical.\n\nNot only the dead, however, are the inhabitants of this astral world, but\nalways about one-third of the living as well, who have temporarily left\ntheir physical bodies behind them in sleep. The astral world has also a\ngreat number of non-human inhabitants, some of them far below the level of\nman, and some considerably above him. The nature-spirits form an enormous\nkingdom, some of whose members exist in the astral world, and make a large\npart of its population. This vast kingdom exists in the physical world\nalso, for many of its orders wear etheric bodies and are only just beyond\nthe range of ordinary physical sight. Indeed, circumstances not\ninfrequently occur under which they can be seen, and in many lonely\nmountain districts these appearances are traditional among the peasants, by\nwhom they are commonly spoken of as fairies, good people, pixies or\nbrownies.\n\nThey are protean, but usually prefer to wear a miniature human form. Since\nthey are not yet individualized, they may be thought of almost as etheric\nand astral animals; yet many of them are intellectually quite equal to\naverage humanity. They have their nations and types just as we have, and\nthey are often grouped into four great classes, and called the spirits of\nearth, water, fire and air. Only the members of the last of these four\ndivisions normally confine their manifestation to the astral world, but\ntheir numbers are so prodigious that they are everywhere present in it.\n\nAnother great kingdom has its representatives here--the kingdom of the\nangels (called in India the devas). This is a body of beings who stand far\nhigher in evolution than man, and only the lowest fringe of their hosts\ntouches the astral world--a fringe whose constituent members are perhaps at\nabout the level of development of what we should call a distinctly good\nman.\n\nWe are neither the only nor even the principal inhabitants of our solar\nsystem; there are other lines of evolution running parallel with our own\nwhich do not pass through humanity at all, though they must all pass\nthrough a level corresponding to that of humanity. On one of these other\nlines of evolution are the nature-spirits above described, and at a higher\nlevel of that line comes this great kingdom of the angels. At our present\nlevel of evolution they come into obvious contact with us only very rarely,\nbut as we develop we shall be likely to see more of them--especially as the\ncyclic progress of the world is now bringing it more and more under the\ninfluence of the Seventh Ray. This Seventh Ray has ceremonial for one of\nits characteristics, and it is through ceremonial such as that of the\nChurch or of Freemasonry that we come most easily into touch with the\nangelic kingdom.\n\nWhen all the man's lower emotions have worn themselves out--all emotions, I\nmean, which have in them any thought of self--his life in the astral world\nis over, and the ego passes on into the mental world. This is not in any\nsense a movement in space; it is simply that the steady process of\nwithdrawal has now passed beyond even the finest kind of astral matter; so\nthat the man's consciousness is focussed in the mental world. His astral\nbody has not entirely disintegrated, though it is in process of doing so,\nand he leaves behind him an astral corpse, just as at a previous stage of\nthe withdrawal he left behind him a physical corpse. There is a certain\ndifference between the two which should be noticed, because of the\nconsequences which ensue from it.\n\nWhen the man leaves his physical body his separation from it should be\ncomplete, and generally is so; but this is not the case with the much finer\nmatter of the astral body. In the course of his physical life the ordinary\nman usually entangles himself so much in astral matter (which, from another\npoint of view, means that he identifies himself so closely with his lower\ndesires) that the indrawing force of the ego cannot entirely separate him\nfrom it again. Consequently, when he finally breaks away from the astral\nbody and transfers his activities to the mental, he loses a little of\nhimself he leaves some of himself behind imprisoned in the matter of the\nastral body.\n\nThis gives a certain remnant of vitality to the astral, corpse, so that it\nstill moves freely in the astral world, and may easily be mistaken by the\nignorant for the man himself--the more so as such fragmentary consciousness\nas still remains to it is part of the man, and therefore it naturally\nregards itself and speaks of itself as the man. It retains his memories,\nbut is only a partial and unsatisfactory representation of him. Sometimes\nin spiritualistic s\u00e9ances one comes into contact with an entity of this\ndescription, and wonders how it is that one's friend has deteriorated so\nmuch since his death. To this fragmentary entity we give the name \"shade\".\n\nAt a later stage even this fragment of consciousness dies out of the astral\nbody, but does not return to the ego to whom it originally belonged. Even\nthen the astral corpse still remains, but when it is quite without any\ntrace of its former life we call it a \"shell\". Of itself a shell cannot\ncommunicate at a s\u00e9ance, or take any action of any sort; but such shells\nare frequently seized upon by sportive nature-spirits and used as temporary\nhabitations. A shell so occupied _can_ communicate at a s\u00e9ance and\nmasquerade as its original owner, since some of his characteristics and\ncertain portions of his memory can be evoked by the nature-spirit from his\nastral corpse.\n\nWhen a man falls asleep, he withdraws in his astral body, leaving the whole\nof the physical vehicle behind him. When he dies, he draws out with him the\netheric part of the physical body, and consequently has usually at least a\nmoment of unconsciousness while he is freeing himself from it. The etheric\ndouble is not a vehicle and cannot be used as such; so when the man is\nsurrounded by it, he is for the moment able to function neither in the\nphysical world nor the astral. Some men succeed in shaking themselves free\nof this etheric envelope in a few moments; others rest within it for hours,\ndays or even weeks.\n\nNor is it certain that, when the man is free from this, he will at once\nbecome conscious of the astral world. For there is in him a good deal of\nthe lowest kind of astral matter, so that a shell of this may be made\naround him. But he may be quite unable to use that matter. If he has lived\na reasonably decent life he is little in the habit of employing it or\nresponding to its vibrations, and he cannot instantly acquire this habit.\nFor that reason, he may remain unconscious until that matter gradually\nwears away, and some matter which he _is_ in the habit of using comes on\nthe surface. Such an occlusion, however, is scarcely ever complete, for\neven in the most carefully made shell some particles of the finer matter\noccasionally find their way to the surface, and give him fleeting glimpses\nof his surroundings.\n\nThere are some men who cling so desperately to their physical vehicles that\nthey will not relax their hold upon the etheric double, but strive with all\ntheir might to retain it. They may be successful in doing so for a\nconsiderable time, but only at the cost of great discomfort to themselves.\nThey are shut out from both worlds, and find themselves surrounded by a\ndense grey mist, through which they see very dimly the things of the\nphysical world, but with all the colour gone from them. It is a terrible\nstruggle for them to maintain their position in this miserable condition,\nand yet they will not relax their hold upon the etheric double, feeling\nthat that is at least some sort of link with the only world that they know.\nThus they drift about in a condition of loneliness and misery until from\nsheer fatigue their hold fails them, and they slip into the comparative\nhappiness of astral life. Sometimes in their desperation they grasp blindly\nat other bodies, and try to enter into them, and occasionally they are\nsuccessful in such an attempt. They may seize upon a baby body, ousting the\nfeeble personality for whom it was intended, or sometimes they grasp even\nthe body of an animal. All this trouble arises entirely from ignorance, and\nit can never happen to anyone who understands the laws of life and death.\n\nWhen the astral life is over, the man dies to that world in turn, and\nawakens in the mental world. With him it is not at all what it is to the\ntrained clairvoyant, who ranges through it and lives amidst the\nsurroundings which he finds there, precisely as he would in the physical or\nastral worlds. The ordinary man has all through his life been encompassing\nhimself with a mass of thought-forms. Some which are transitory, to which\nhe pays little attention, have fallen away from him long ago, but those\nwhich represent the main interests of his life are always with him, and\ngrow ever stronger and stronger. If some of these have been selfish, their\nforce pours down into astral matter, and he has exhausted them during his\nlife in the astral world. But those which are entirely unselfish belong\npurely to his mental body, and so when he finds himself in the mental world\nit is through these special thoughts that he is able to appreciate it.\n\nHis mental body is by no means fully developed; only those parts of it are\nreally in action to their fullest extent which he has used in this\naltruistic manner. When he awakens again after the second death, his first\nsense is one of indescribable bliss and vitality--a feeling of such utter\njoy in living that he needs for the time nothing but just to live. Such\nbliss is of the essence of life in all the higher worlds of the system.\nEven astral life has possibilities of happiness far greater than anything\nthat we can know in the dense body; but the heaven-life in the mental world\nis out of all proportion more blissful than the astral. In each higher\nworld the same experience is repeated. Merely to live in any one of them\nseems the uttermost conceivable bliss; and yet, when the next one is\nreached, it is seen that it far surpasses the last.\n\nJust as the bliss increases, so does the wisdom and the breadth of view. A\nman fusses about in the physical world and thinks himself so busy and so\nwise; but when he touches even the astral, he realizes at once that he has\nbeen all the time only a caterpillar crawling about and seeing nothing but\nhis own leaf, whereas now he has spread his wings like the butterfly and\nflown away into the sunshine of a wider world. Yet, impossible as it may\nseem, the same experience is repeated when he passes into the mental world,\nfor this life is in turn so much fuller and wider and more intense than the\nastral that once more no comparison is possible. And yet beyond all these\nthere is still another life, that of the intuitional world, unto which even\nthis is but as moonlight unto sunlight.\n\nThe man's position in the mental world differs widely from that in the\nastral. There he was using a body to which he was thoroughly accustomed, a\nbody which he had been in the habit of employing every night during sleep.\nHere he finds himself living in a vehicle which he has never used before--a\nvehicle furthermore which is very far from being fully developed--a vehicle\nwhich shuts him out to a great extent from the world about him, instead of\nenabling him to see it. The lower part of his nature burnt itself away\nduring his purgatorial life, and now there remain to him only his higher\nand more refined thoughts, the noble and unselfish aspirations which he\npoured out during earth-life. These cluster round him, and make a sort of\nshell about him, through the medium of which he is able to respond to\ncertain types of vibrations in this refined matter.\n\nThese thoughts which surround him are the powers by which he draws upon the\nwealth of the heaven-world, and he finds it to be a storehouse of infinite\nextent, upon which he is able to draw just according to the power of those\nthoughts and aspirations; for in this world is existing the infinite\nfullness of the Divine Mind, open in all its limitless affluence to every\nsoul, just in proportion as that soul has qualified itself to receive. A\nman who has already completed his human evolution, who has fully realized\nand unfolded the divinity whose germ is within him, finds the whole of this\nglory within his reach; but since none of us has yet done that, since we\nare only gradually rising towards that splendid consummation, it follows\nthat none of us as yet can grasp that entirety.\n\nBut each draws from it and cognizes so much of it as he has by previous\neffort prepared himself to take. Different individuals bring very different\ncapacities; they tell us in the East that each man brings his own cup, and\nsome of the cups are large and some are small, but small or large every cup\nis filled to its utmost capacity; the sea of bliss holds far more than\nenough for all.\n\nA man can look out upon all this glory and beauty only through the windows\nwhich he himself has made. Every one of these thought-forms is such a\nwindow, through which response may come to him from the forces without. If\nduring his earth-life he has chiefly regarded physical things, then he has\nmade for himself but few windows through which this higher glory can shine\nin upon him. Yet every man who is above the lowest savage must have had\nsome touch of pure unselfish feeling, even if it were but once in all his\nlife, and that will be a window for him now.\n\nThe ordinary man is not capable of any great activity in this mental world;\nhis condition is chiefly receptive, and his vision of anything outside his\nown shell of thought is of the most limited character. He is surrounded by\nliving forces, mighty angelic inhabitants of this glorious world, and many\nof their orders are very sensitive to certain aspirations of man and\nreadily respond to them. But a man can take advantage of these only in so\nfar as he has already prepared himself to profit by them, for his thoughts\nand aspirations are only along certain lines, and he cannot suddenly form\nnew lines. There are many directions which the higher thought may\ntake--some of them personal and some impersonal. Among the latter are art,\nmusic and philosophy; and a man whose interest lay along any one of these\nlines finds both measureless enjoyment and unlimited instruction waiting\nfor him--that is, the amount of enjoyment and instruction is limited only\nby his power of perception.\n\nWe find a large number of people whose only higher thoughts are those\nconnected with affection and devotion. If a man loves another deeply or if\nhe feels strong devotion to a personal deity, he makes a strong mental\nimage of that friend or of the deity, and the object of his feeling is\noften present in his mind. Inevitably he takes that mental image into the\nheaven-world with him, because it is to that level of matter that it\nnaturally belongs.\n\nTake first the case of affection. The love which forms and retains such an\nimage is a very powerful force--a force which is strong enough to reach and\nto act upon the ego of his friend in the higher part of the mental world.\nIt is that ego that is the real man whom he loves--not the physical body\nwhich is so partial a representation of him. The ego of the friend, feeling\nthis vibration, at once and eagerly responds to it, and pours himself into\nthe thought-form, which has been made for him; so that the man's friend is\ntruly present with him more vividly than ever before. To this result it\nmakes no difference whatever whether the friend is what we call living or\ndead; the appeal is made not to the fragment of the friend which is\nsometimes imprisoned in a physical body, but to the man himself on his own\ntrue level; and he always responds. A man who has a hundred friends can\nsimultaneously and fully respond to the affection of every one of them, for\nno number of representations on a lower level can exhaust the infinity of\nthe ego.\n\nThus every man in his heaven-life has around him all the friends for whose\ncompany he wishes, and they are for him always at their best, because he\nhimself makes for them the thought-form through which they manifest to him.\nIn our limited physical world we are so accustomed to thinking of our\nfriend as only the limited manifestation which we know in the physical\nworld, that it is at first difficult for us to realize the grandeur of the\nconception; when we can realize it, we shall see how much nearer we are in\ntruth to our friends in the heaven-life than we ever were on earth. The\nsame is true in the case of devotion. The man in the heaven-world is two\ngreat stages nearer to the object of his devotion than he was during\nphysical life, and so his experiences are of a far more transcendent\ncharacter.\n\nIn this mental world, as in the astral, there are seven subdivisions. The\nfirst, second and third are the habitat of the ego in his causal body, so\nthe mental body contains matter of the remaining four only, and it is in\nthose sections that his heaven-life is passed. Man does not, however, pass\nfrom one to the other of these, as is the case in the astral world, for\nthere is nothing in this life corresponding to the rearrangement. Rather is\nthe man drawn to the level which best corresponds to the degree of his\ndevelopment, and on that level he spends the whole of his life in the\nmental body. Each man makes his own conditions, so that the number of\nvarieties is infinite.\n\nSpeaking broadly, we may say that the dominant characteristic observed in\nthe lowest portion is unselfish family affection. Unselfish it must be, or\nit would find no place here; all selfish tinges, if there were any, worked\nout their results in the astral world. The dominant characteristic of the\nsixth level may be said to be anthropomorphical religious devotion; while\nthat of the fifth section is devotion expressing itself in active work of\nsome sort. All these--the fifth, sixth and seventh subdivisions--are\nconcerned with the working out of devotion to personalities (either to\none's family and friends or to a personal deity) rather than the wider\ndevotion to humanity for its own sake, which finds its expression in the\nnext section. The activities of this fourth stage are varied. They can best\nbe arranged in four main divisions: unselfish pursuit of spiritual\nknowledge; high philosophy or scientific thought; literary or artistic\nability exercised for unselfish purposes; and service for the sake of\nservice.\n\nEven to this glorious heaven-life there comes an end, and then the mental\nbody in its turn drops away as the others have done, and the man's life in\nhis causal body begins. Here the man needs no windows, for this is his true\nhome and all his walls have fallen away. The majority of men have as yet\nbut very little consciousness at such a height as this; they rest dreamily\nunobservant and scarcely awake, but such vision as they have is true,\nhowever limited it may be by their lack of development. Still, every time\nthey return, these limitations will be smaller, and they themselves will be\ngreater; so that this truest life will be wider and fuller for them.\n\nAs this improvement continues, this causal life grows, longer and longer,\nassuming an ever larger proportion as compared to the existence at lower\nlevels. And as he grows, the man becomes capable not only of receiving but\nalso of giving. Then indeed is his triumph approaching, for he is learning\nthe lesson of the Christ, learning the crowning glory of sacrifice, the\nsupreme delight of pouring out all his life for the helping of his\nfellow-men, the devotion of the self to the all, of celestial strength to\nhuman service, of all those splendid heavenly forces to the aid of the\nstruggling sons of earth. That is part of the life that lies before us;\nthese are some of the steps which even we who are still so near the bottom\nof the golden ladder may see rising above us, so that we may report them to\nthose who have not seen as yet, in order that they too may open their eyes\nto the unimaginable splendour which surrounds them here and now in this\ndull daily life. This is part of the gospel of Theosophy--the certainty of\nthis sublime future for all. It is certain because it is here already,\nbecause to inherit it we have only to fit ourselves for it.\n\n\n\n\nChapter VII\n\nREINCARNATION\n\n\nThis life of the ego in his own world, which is so glorious and so fully\nsatisfying for the developed man, plays but a very small part in the life\nof the ordinary person, for in his case the ego has not yet reached a\nsufficient stage of development to be awake in his causal body. In\nobedience to the law of Nature he has withdrawn into it, but in doing so he\nhas lost the sensation of vivid life, and his restless desire to feel this\nonce more pushes him in the direction of another descent into matter.\n\nThis is the scheme of evolution appointed for man at the present\nstage--that he shall develop by descending into grosser matter, and then\nascend to carry back into himself the result of the experiences so\nobtained. His real life, therefore, covers millions of years, and what we\nare in the habit of calling a life is only one day of this greater\nexistence. Indeed, it is in reality only a small part of one day; for a\nlife of seventy years in the physical world is often succeeded by a period\nof twenty times that length spent in higher spheres.\n\nEvery one of us has a long line of these physical lives behind him, and the\nordinary man has a fairly long line still in front of him. Each of such\nlives is a day at school. The ego puts upon himself his garment of flesh\nand goes forth into the school of the physical world to learn certain\nlessons. He learns them, or does not learn them, or partially learns them,\nas the case may be, during his schoolday of earth-life; then he lays aside\nthe vesture of the flesh and returns home to his own level for rest and\nrefreshment. In the morning of each new life he takes up again his lesson\nat the point where he left it the night before. Some lessons he may be able\nto learn in one day, while others may take him many days.\n\nIf he is an apt pupil and learns quickly what is needed, if he obtains an\nintelligent grasp of the rules of the school, and takes the trouble to\nadapt his conduct to them, his school-life is comparatively short, and when\nit is over he goes forth fully equipped into the real life of the higher\nworlds for which all this is only a preparation. Other egos are duller boys\nwho do not learn so quickly; some of them do not understand the rules of\nthe school, and through that ignorance are constantly breaking them; others\nare wayward, and even when they see the rules they cannot at once bring\nthemselves to act in harmony with them. All of these have a longer\nschool-life, and by their own actions they delay their entry upon the real\nlife of the higher worlds.\n\nFor this is a school in which no pupil ever fails; every one must go on to\nthe end. He has no choice as to that; but the length of time which he will\ntake in qualifying himself for the higher examinations is left entirely to\nhis own discretion. The wise pupil, seeing that school-life is not a thing\nin itself, but only a preparation for a more glorious and far wider life,\nendeavours to comprehend as fully as possible the rules of his school, and\nshapes his life in accordance with them as closely as he can, so that no\ntime may be lost in the learning of whatever lessons are necessary. He\nco-operates intelligently with the Teachers, and sets himself to do the\nmaximum of work which is possible for him, in order that as soon as he can\nhe may come of age and enter into his kingdom as a glorified ego.\n\nTheosophy explains to us the laws under which this school-life must be\nlived, and in that way gives a great advantage to its students. The first\ngreat law is that of evolution. Every man has to become a perfect man, to\nunfold to the fullest degree the divine possibilities which lie latent\nwithin him, for that unfoldment is the object of the entire scheme so far\nas he is concerned. This law of evolution steadily presses him onward to\nhigher and higher achievements. The wise man tries to anticipate its\ndemands--to run ahead of the necessary curriculum, for in that way he not\nonly avoids all collision with it, but he obtains the maximum of assistance\nfrom its action. The man who lags behind in the race of life finds its\nsteady pressure constantly constraining him--a pressure which, if resisted,\nrapidly becomes painful. Thus the laggard on the path of evolution has\nalways the sense of being hunted and driven by his fate, while the man who\nintelligently co-operates is left perfectly free to choose the direction in\nwhich he shall move, so long as it is onward and upward.\n\nThe second great law under which this evolution is taking place is the law\nof cause and effect. There can be no effect without its cause, and every\ncause must produce its effect. They are in fact not two but one, for the\neffect is really part of the cause, and he who sets one in motion sets the\nother also. There is in Nature no such idea as that of reward or\npunishment, but only of cause and effect. Anyone can see this in connection\nwith mechanics or chemistry; the clairvoyant sees it equally clearly with\nregard to the problems of evolution. The same law obtains in the higher as\nin the lower worlds; there, as here, the angle of reflection is always\nequal to the angle of incidence. It is a law of mechanics that action and\nreaction are equal and opposite. In the almost infinitely finer matter of\nthe higher worlds the reaction is by no means always instantaneous; it may\nsometimes be spread over long periods of time, but it returns inevitably\nand exactly.\n\nJust as certain in its working as the mechanical law in the physical world\nis the higher law, according to which the man who sends out a good thought\nor does a good action receives good in return, while the man who sends out\nan evil thought or does an evil action, receives evil in return with equal\naccuracy--once more, not in the least a reward or punishment administered\nby some external will, but simply as the definite and mechanical result of\nhis own activity. Man has learnt to appreciate a mechanical result in the\nphysical world, because the reaction is usually almost immediate and can be\nseen by him. He does not invariably understand the reaction in the higher\nworlds because that takes a wider sweep, and often returns not in this\nphysical life, but in some future one.\n\nThe action of this law affords the explanation of a number of the problems\nof ordinary life. It accounts for the different destinies imposed upon\npeople, and also for the differences in the people themselves. If one man\nis clever in a certain direction and another is stupid, it is because in a\nprevious life the clever man has devoted much effort to practise in that\nparticular direction, while the stupid man is trying it for the first time.\nThe genius and the precocious child are examples not of the favouritism of\nsome deity but of the result produced by previous lives of application. All\nthe varied circumstances which surrounded us are the result of our own\nactions in the past, precisely as are the qualities of which we find\nourselves in possession. We are what we have made ourselves, and our\ncircumstances are such as we have deserved.\n\nThere is, however, a certain adjustment or apportionment of these effects.\nThough the law is a natural law and mechanical in its operation, there are\nnevertheless certain great Angels who are concerned with its\nadministration. They cannot change by one feather-weight the amount of the\nresult which follows upon any given thought or act, but they can within\ncertain limits expedite or delay its action, and decide what form it shall\ntake.\n\nIf this were not done there would be at least a possibility that in his\nearlier stages the man might blunder so seriously that the results of his\nblundering might be more than he could bear. The plan of the Deity is to\ngive man a limited amount of free-will; if he uses that small amount well,\nhe earns the right to a little more next time; if he uses it badly,\nsuffering comes upon him as the result of such evil use, and he finds\nhimself restrained by the result of his previous actions. As the man learns\nhow to use his free-will, more and more of it is entrusted to him, so that\nhe can acquire for himself practically unbounded freedom in the direction\nof good, but his power to do wrong is strictly restricted. He can progress\nas rapidly as he will, but he cannot wreck his life in his ignorance. In\nthe earlier stages of the savage life of primitive man it is natural that\nthere should be on the whole more of evil than of good, and if the entire\nresult of his actions came at once upon a man as yet so little developed,\nit might well crush the newly evolved powers which are still so feeble.\n\nBesides this, the effects of his actions are varied in character. While\nsome of them produce immediate results, others need much more time for\ntheir action, and so it comes to pass that as the man develops he has above\nhim a hovering cloud of undischarged results, some of them good, some of\nthem bad. Out of this mass (which we may regard for purposes of analogy\nmuch as though it were a debt owing to the powers of Nature) a certain\namount falls due in each of his successive births; and that amount, so\nassigned, may be thought of as the man's destiny for that particular life.\n\nAll that it means is that a certain amount of joy and a certain amount of\nsuffering are due to him, and will unavoidably happen to him; how he will\nmeet this destiny and what use he will make of it, that is left entirely to\nhis own option. It is a certain amount of force which has to work itself\nout. Nothing can prevent the action of that force, but its action may\nalways be modified by the application of a new force in another direction,\njust as is the case in mechanics. The result of past evil is like any other\ndebt; it may be paid in one large cheque upon the bank of life--by some one\nsupreme catastrophe; or it may be paid in a number of smaller notes, in\nminor troubles and worries; in some cases it may even be paid in the small\nchange of a great number of petty annoyances. But one thing is quite\ncertain--that, in some form or other, paid it will have to be.\n\nThe conditions of our present life, then, are absolutely the result of our\nown action in the past; and the other side of that statement is that our\nactions in this life are building up conditions for the next one. A man who\nfinds himself limited either in powers or in outer circumstances may not\nalways be able to make himself or his conditions all that he would wish in\nthis life; but he can certainly secure for the next one whatever he\nchooses.\n\nMan's every action ends not with himself, but invariably affects others\naround him. In some cases this effect may be comparatively trivial, while\nin others it may be of the most serious character. The trivial results,\nwhether good or bad, are simply small debits or credits in our account with\nNature; but the greater effects, whether good or bad, make a personal\naccount which is to be settled with the individual concerned.\n\nA man who gives a meal to a hungry beggar, or cheers him by a kindly word,\nwill receive the result of his good action as part of a kind of general\nfund of Nature's benefits; but one who by some good action changes the\nwhole current of another man's life will assuredly have to meet that same\nman again in a future life, in order that he who has been benefited may\nhave the opportunity of repaying the kindness that has been done to him.\nOne who causes annoyance to another will suffer proportionately for it\nsomewhere, somehow, in the future, though he may never meet again the man\nwhom he has troubled; but one who does serious harm to another, one who\nwrecks his life or retards his evolution, must certainly meet his victim\nagain at some later point in the course of their lives, so that he may have\nthe opportunity, by kindly and self-sacrificing service, of\ncounterbalancing the wrong which he has done. In short, large debts must be\npaid personally, but small ones go into the general fund.\n\nThese then are the principal factors which determine the next birth of the\nman. First acts the great law of evolution, and its tendency is to press\nthe man into that position in which he can most easily develop the\nqualities which he most needs. For the purposes of the general scheme,\nhumanity is divided into great races, called root-races, which rule and\noccupy the world successively. The great Aryan or Indo-Caucasian race,\nwhich at the present moment includes the most advanced of Earth's\ninhabitants, is one of these. That which came before it in the order of\nevolution was the Mongolian race, usually called in Theosophical books\nAtlantean because the continent from which it ruled the world lay where now\nroll the waters of the Atlantic ocean. Before that came the Negroid race,\nsome of whose descendants still exist, though by this time much mingled\nwith offshoots of later races. From each of these great root-races there\nare many offshoots which we call sub-races--such, for example, as the Roman\nraces or the Teutonic; and each of the sub-races in turn divides itself\ninto branch-races, such as the French and the Italians, the English and the\nGermans.\n\nThese arrangements are made in order that for each ego there may be a wide\nchoice of varying conditions and surroundings. Each race is especially\nadapted to develop within its people one or other of the qualities which\nare needed in the course of evolution. In every nation there exist an\nalmost infinite number of diverse conditions, riches and poverty, a wide\nfield of opportunities or a total lack of them, facilities for development\nor conditions under which development is difficult or well-nigh impossible.\nAmidst all these infinite possibilities the pressure of the law of\nevolution tends to guide the man to precisely those which best suit his\nneeds at the stage at which he happens to be.\n\nBut the action of this law is limited by that other law of which we spoke,\nthe law of cause and effect. The man's actions in the past may not have\nbeen such as to deserve (if we may put it so) the best possible\nopportunities; he may have set in motion in his past certain forces the\ninevitable result of which will be to produce limitations; and these\nlimitations may operate to prevent his receiving that best possible of\nopportunities, and so as the result of his own actions in the past he may\nhave to put up with the second best. So we may say that the action of the\nlaw of evolution, which if left to itself would do the very best possible\nfor every man, is restrained by the man's own previous actions.\n\nAn important feature in that limitation--one which may act most powerfully\nfor good or for evil--is the influence of the group of egos with which the\nman has made definite links in the past--those with whom he has formed\nstrong ties of love or hate, of helping or of injury--those souls whom he\nmust meet again because of connections made with them in days of long ago.\nHis relation with them is a factor which must be taken into consideration\nbefore it can be determined where and how he shall be reborn.\n\nThe Will of the Deity is man's evolution. The effort of that nature which\nis an expression of the Deity is to give the man whatever is most suitable\nfor that evolution; but this is conditioned by the man's deserts in the\npast and by the links which he has already formed. It may be assumed that a\nman descending into incarnation could learn the lessons necessary for that\nlife in any one of a hundred positions. From half of these or more than\nhalf he may be debarred by the consequences of some of his many and varied\nactions in the past. Among the few possibilities which remain open to him,\nthe choice of one possibility in particular may be determined by the\npresence in that family or in that neighbourhood of other egos upon whom he\nhas a claim for services rendered, or to whom he in his turn owes a debt of\nlove.\n\n\n\n\nChapter VIII\n\nTHE PURPOSE OF LIFE\n\n\nTo fulfil our duty in the divine scheme we must try to understand not only\nthat scheme as a whole, but the special part that man is intended to play\nin it. The divine outbreathing reached its deepest immersion in matter in\nthe mineral kingdom, but it reaches its ultimate point of differentiation\nnot at the lowest level of materiality, but at the entrance into the human\nkingdom on the upward arc of evolution. We have thus to realize three\nstages in the course of this evolution.\n\n(a) The downward arc in which the tendency is towards differentiation and\nalso towards greater materiality. In this stage spirit is involving itself\nin matter, in order that it may learn to receive impressions through it.\n\n(b) The earlier part of the upward arc, in which the tendency is still\ntowards greater differentiation, but at the same time towards\nspiritualization and escape from materiality. In this stage the spirit is\nlearning to dominate matter and to see it as an expression of itself.\n\n(c) The later part of the upward arc, when differentiation has been finally\naccomplished, and the tendency is towards unity as well as towards greater\nspirituality. In this stage the spirit, having learnt perfectly how to\nreceive impression through matter and how to express itself through it, and\nhaving awakened its dormant powers, learns to use these powers rightly in\nthe service of the Deity.\n\nThe object of the whole previous evolution has been to produce the ego as a\nmanifestation of the Monad. Then the ego in its turn evolves by putting\nitself down into a succession of personalities. Men who do not understand\nthis look upon the personality as the self, and consequently live for it\nalone, and try to regulate their lives for what appears to be its temporary\nadvantage. The man who understands realizes that the only important thing\nis the life of the ego, and that its progress is the object for which the\ntemporary personality must be used. Therefore when he has to decide between\ntwo possible courses he thinks not, as the ordinary man might: \"Which will\nbring the greater pleasure and profit to me as a personality?\" but \"Which\nwill bring greater progress to me as an ego?\" Experience soon teaches him\nthat nothing can ever be really good for him, or for anyone, which is not\ngood for all, and so presently he learns to forget himself altogether, and\nto ask only what will be best for humanity as a whole.\n\nClearly then at this stage of evolution whatever tends to unity, whatever\ntends to spirituality, is in accord with the plan of the Deity for us, and\nis therefore right for us, while whatever tends to separateness or to\nmateriality is equally certainly wrong for us. There are thoughts and\nemotions which tend to unity, such as love, sympathy, reverence,\nbenevolence; there are others which tend to disunion, such as hatred,\njealousy, envy, pride, cruelty, fear. Obviously the former group are for us\nthe right, the latter group are for us the wrong.\n\nIn all these thoughts and feelings which are clearly wrong, we recognize\none dominant note, the thought of self; while in all those which are\nclearly right we recognize that the thought is turned toward others, and\nthat the personal self is forgotten. Wherefore we see that selfishness is\nthe one great wrong, and that perfect unselfishness is the crown of all\nvirtue. This gives us at once a rule of life. The man who wishes\nintelligently to co-operate with the Divine Will must lay aside all thought\nof the advantage or pleasure of the personal self, and must devote himself\nexclusively to carrying out that Will by working for the welfare and\nhappiness of others.\n\nThis is a high ideal, and difficult of attainment, because there lies\nbehind us such a long history of selfishness. Most of us are as yet far\nfrom the purely altruistic attitude; how are we to go to work to attain it,\nlacking as we do the necessary intensity in so many of the good qualities,\nand possessing so many which are undesirable?\n\nHere comes into operation the great law of cause and effect to which I have\nalready referred. Just as we can confidently appeal to the laws of Nature\nin the physical world, so may we also appeal to these laws of the higher\nworld. If we find evil qualities within us, they have grown up by slow\ndegrees through ignorance and through self-indulgence. Now that the\nignorance is dispelled by knowledge, now that in consequence we recognize\nthe quality as an evil, the method of getting rid of it lies obviously\nbefore us.\n\nFor each of these vices there is a contrary virtue; if we find one of them\nrearing its head within us, let us immediately determine deliberately to\ndevelop within ourselves the contrary virtue. If a man realizes that in the\npast he has been selfish, that means that he has set up within himself the\nhabit of thinking of himself first and pleasing himself, of consulting his\nown convenience or his pleasure without due thought of the effect upon\nothers; let him set to work purposefully to form the exactly opposite\nhabit, to make a practice before doing anything of thinking how it will\naffect all those around him; let him set himself habitually to please\nothers, even though it be at the cost of trouble or privation for himself.\nThis also in time will become a habit, and by developing it he will have\nkilled out the other.\n\nIf a man finds himself full of suspicion, ready always to assign evil\nmotives to the actions of those about him, let him set himself steadily to\ncultivate trust in his fellows, to give them credit always for the highest\npossible motives. It may be said that a man who does this will lay himself\nopen to be deceived, and that in many cases his confidence will be\nmisplaced. That is a small matter; it is far better for him that he should\nsometimes be deceived as a result of his trust in his fellows than that he\nshould save himself from such deception by maintaining a constant attitude\nof suspicion. Besides, confidence begets faithfulness. A man who is trusted\nwill generally prove himself worthy of the trust, whereas a man who is\nsuspected is likely presently to justify the suspicion.\n\nIf a man finds in himself the tendency towards avarice, let him go out of\nhis way to be especially generous; if he finds himself irritable, let him\ndefinitely train himself in calmness; if he finds himself devoured by\ncuriosity, let him deliberately refuse again and again to gratify that\ncuriosity; if he is liable to fits of depression, let him persistently\ncultivate cheerfulness, even under the most adverse circumstances.\n\nIn every case the existence of an evil quality in the personality means a\nlack of the corresponding good quality in the ego. The shortest way to get\nrid of that evil and to prevent its reappearance is to fill the gap in the\nego, and the good quality which is thus developed will show itself as an\nintegral part of the man's character through all his future lives. An ego\ncannot be evil, but he can be imperfect. The qualities which he develops\ncannot be other than good qualities, and when they are well defined they\nshow themselves in each of all his numerous personalities, and consequently\nthose personalities can never be guilty of the vices opposite to these\nqualities; but where there is a gap in the ego, where there is a quality\nundeveloped, there is nothing inherent in the personality to check the\ngrowth of the opposite vice; and since others in the world about him\nalready possess that vice, and man is an imitative animal, it is quite\nprobable that it will speedily manifest itself in him. This vice, however,\nbelongs to the vehicles only and not to the man inside. In these vehicles\nits repetition may set up a momentum which is hard to conquer; but if the\nego bestirs himself to create in himself the opposite virtue, the vice is\ncut off at its root, and can no longer exist--neither in this life nor in\nall the lives that are to come.\n\nA man who is trying to evolve these qualities in himself will find certain\nobstacles in his way--obstacles which he must learn to surmount. One of\nthese is the critical spirit of the age--the disposition to find fault with\na thing, to belittle everything, to look for faults in everything and\neveryone. The exact opposite of this is what is needed for progress. He who\nwishes to move rapidly along the path of evolution must learn to see good\nin everything--to see the latent Deity in everything and in everyone. Only\nso can he help those other people--only so can he get the best out of those\nother things.\n\nAnother obstacle is the lack of perseverance. We tend in these days to be\nimpatient; if we try any plan we expect immediate results from it, and if\nwe do not get them, we give up that plan and try something else. That is\nnot the way to make progress in occultism. The effort which we are making\nis to compress into one or two lives the evolution which would naturally\ntake perhaps a hundred lives. That is not the sort of undertaking in which\nimmediate results are to be expected. We attempt to uproot an evil habit,\nand we find it hard work; why? Because we have indulged in that practice\nfor, perhaps, twenty thousand years; one cannot shake off the custom of\ntwenty thousand years in a day or two. We have allowed that habit to gain\nan enormous momentum, and before we can set up a force in the opposite\ndirection we have to overcome that momentum. That cannot be done in a\nmoment, but it is absolutely certain that it _will_ be done eventually, if\nwe persevere, because the momentum, however strong it may be, is a finite\nquantity, whereas the power that we can bring to bear against it is the\ninfinite power of the human will, which can make renewed efforts day after\nday, year after year, even life after life if necessary.\n\nAnother great difficulty in our way is the lack of clearness in our\nthought. People in the West are little used to clear thought with regard to\nreligious matters. Everything is vague and nebulous. For occult development\nvagueness and nebulosity will not do. Our conceptions must be clear-cut and\nour thought-images definite. Other necessary characteristics are calmness\nand cheerfulness; these are rare in modern life, but are absolute\nessentials for the work which we are here undertaking.\n\nThe process of building a character is as scientific as that of developing\none's muscles. Many a man, finding himself with certain muscles flabby and\npowerless takes that as his natural condition, and regards their weakness\nas a kind of destiny imposed upon him; but anyone who understands a little\nof the human body is aware that by continued exercise those muscles can be\nbrought into a state of health and the whole body eventually put in order.\nIn exactly the same way, many a man finds himself possessed of a bad temper\nor a tendency to avarice or suspicion or self-indulgence, and when in\nconsequence of any of these vices he commits some great mistake or does\nsome great harm he offers it as an excuse that he is a hasty-tempered man,\nor that he possesses this or that quality by nature--implying that\ntherefore he cannot help it.\n\nIn this case just as in the other the remedy is in his own hands. Regular\nexercise of the right kind will develop a certain muscle, and regular\nmental exercise of the right kind will develop a missing quality in a man's\ncharacter. The ordinary man does not realize that he can do this, and even\nif he sees that he can do it, he does not see why he should, for it means\nmuch effort and much self-repression. He knows of no adequate motive for\nundertaking a task so laborious and painful.\n\nThe motive is supplied by the knowledge of the truth. One who gains an\nintelligent comprehension of the direction of evolution feels it not only\nhis interest but his privilege and his delight to co-operate with it. One\nwho wills the end wills also the means; in order to be able to do good work\nfor the world he must develop within himself the necessary strength and the\nnecessary qualities. Therefore he who wishes to reform the world must first\nof all reform himself. He must learn to give up altogether the attitude of\ninsisting upon rights, and must devote himself utterly to the most earnest\nperformance of his duties. He must learn to regard every connection with\nhis fellow-man as an opportunity to help that fellow-man, or in some way to\ndo him good.\n\nOne who studies these subjects intelligently cannot but realize the\ntremendous power of thought, and the necessity for its efficient control.\nAll action springs from thought, for even when it is done (as we say)\nwithout thought, it is the instinctive expression of the thoughts, desires\nand feelings which the man has allowed to grow luxuriantly within himself\nin earlier days.\n\nThe wise man, therefore, will watch his thought with the greatest of care,\nfor in it he possesses a powerful instrument, for the right use of which he\nis responsible. It is his duty to govern his thought, lest it should be\nallowed to run riot and to do evil to himself, and to others; it is his\nduty also to develop his thought-power, because by means of it a vast\namount of actual and active good can be done. Thus controlling his thought\nand his action, thus eliminating from himself all evil and unfolding in\nhimself all good qualities, the man presently raises himself far above the\nlevel of his fellows, and stands out conspicuously among them as one who is\nworking on the side of good as against evil, of evolution as against\nstagnation.\n\nThe Members of the great Hierarchy, in whose hands is the evolution of the\nworld, are watching always for such men in order that They may train them\nto help in the great work. Such a man inevitably attracts Their attention,\nand They begin to use him as an instrument in Their work. If he proves\nhimself a good and efficient instrument, presently They will offer him\ndefinite training as an apprentice, that by helping Them in the\nworld-business which They have to do he may some day become even as They\nare, and join the mighty Brotherhood to which They belong.\n\nBut for an honour so great as this mere ordinary goodness will not suffice.\nTrue, a man must be good first of all, or it would be hopeless to think of\nusing him, but in addition to being good he must be wise and strong. What\nis needed is not merely a good man, but a great spiritual power. Not only\nmust the candidate have cast aside all ordinary weaknesses but he must have\nacquired strong positive qualities before he can offer himself to Them with\nany hope that he will be accepted. He must live no longer as a blundering\nand selfish personality, but as an intelligent ego who comprehends the part\nwhich he has to play in the great scheme of the universe. He must have\nforgotten himself utterly; he must have resigned all thought of worldly\nprofit or pleasure or advancement; he must be willing to sacrifice\neverything, and himself first of all, for the sake of the work that has to\nbe done. He may be _in_ the world, but he must not be _of_ the world. He\nmust be careless utterly of its opinion. For the sake of helping man he\nmust make himself something more than man. Radiant, rejoicing, strong, he\nmust live but for the sake of others and to be an expression of the love of\nGod in the world. A high ideal, yet not too high; possible, because there\nare men who have achieved it.\n\nWhen a man has succeeded in unfolding his latent possibilities so far that\nhe attracts the attention of the Masters of the Wisdom, one of Them will\nprobably receive him as an apprentice upon probation. The period of\nprobation is usually seven years, but may be either shortened or lengthened\nat the discretion of the Master. At the end of that time, if his work has\nbeen satisfactory, he becomes what it commonly called the accepted pupil.\nThis brings him into close relations with his Master, so that the\nvibrations of the latter constantly play upon him, and he gradually learns\nto look at everything as the Master looks at it. After yet another\ninterval, if he proves himself entirely worthy, he may be drawn into a\nstill closer relationship, when he is called the son of the Master.\n\nThese three stages mark his relationship to his own Master only, not to the\nBrotherhood as a whole. The Brotherhood admits a man to its ranks only when\nhe has fitted himself to pass the first of the great Initiations.\n\nThis entry into the Brotherhood of Those who rule the world may be thought\nof as the third of the great critical points in man's evolution. The first\nof these is when he becomes man--when he individualizes out of the animal\nkingdom and obtains a causal body. The second is what is called by the\nChristian \"conversion\", by the Hindu \"the acquirement of discrimination\",\nand by the Buddhist \"the opening of the doors of the mind\". That is the\npoint at which he realizes the great facts of life, and turns away from the\npursuit of selfish ends in order to move intentionally along with the great\ncurrent of evolution in obedience to the divine Will. The third point is\nthe most important of all, for the Initiation which admits him to the ranks\nof the Brotherhood also insures him against the possibility of failure to\nfulfil the divine purpose in the time appointed for it. Hence those who\nhave reached this point are called in the Christian system the \"elect\", the\n\"saved\" or the \"safe\", and in the Buddhist scheme \"those who have entered\non the stream\". For those who have reached this point have made themselves\nabsolutely certain of reaching a further point also--that of Adeptship, at\nwhich they pass into a type of evolution which is definitely Superhuman.\n\nThe man who has become an Adept has fulfilled the divine Will so far as\nthis chain of worlds is concerned. He has reached, even already at the\nmidmost point of the \u00e6on of evolution, the stage prescribed for man's\nattainment at the end of it. Therefore he is at liberty to spend the\nremainder of that time either in helping his fellow-men or in even more\nsplendid work in connection with other and higher evolutions. He who has\nnot yet been initiated is still in danger of being left behind by our\npresent wave of evolution, and dropping into the next one--the \"\u00e6onian\ncondemnation\" of which the Christ spoke, which has been mistranslated\n\"eternal damnation\". It is from this fate of possible \u00e6onian failure--that\nis, failure for this age, or dispensation, or life-wave--that the man who\nattains Initiation is \"safe\". He has \"entered upon the stream\" which now\n_must_ bear him on to Adeptship in this present age, though it is still\npossible for him by his actions to hasten or delay his progress along the\nPath which he is treading.\n\nThat first Initiation corresponds to the matriculation which admits a man\nto a University, and the attainment of Adeptship to the taking of a degree\nat the end of a course. Continuing the simile, there are three intermediate\nexaminations, which are usually spoken of as the second, third, and fourth\nInitiations, Adeptship being the fifth. A general idea of the line of this\nhigher evolution may be obtained by studying the list of what are called in\nBuddhist books \"the fetters\" which must be cast off--the qualities of which\na man must rid himself as he treads this Path. These are: the delusion of\nseparateness; doubt or uncertainty; superstition; attachment to enjoyment;\nthe possibility of hatred; desire for life, either in this or the higher\nworlds; pride; agitation or irritability; and ignorance. The man who\nreaches the Adept level has exhausted all the possibilities of moral\ndevelopment, and so the future evolution which still lies before him can\nonly mean still wider knowledge and still more wonderful spiritual powers.\n\n\n\n\nChapter IX\n\nTHE PLANETARY CHAINS\n\n\nThe scheme of evolution of which our Earth forms a part is not the only one\nin our solar system, for ten separate chains of globes exist in that system\nwhich are all of them theatres of somewhat similar progress. Each of these\nschemes of evolution is taking place upon a chain of globes, and in the\ncourse of each scheme its chain of globes goes through seven incarnations.\nThe plan, alike of each scheme as a whole and of the successive incarnation\nof its chain of globes, is to dip step by step more deeply into matter, and\nthen to rise step by step out of it again.\n\nEach chain consists of seven globes, and both globes and chains observe the\nrule of descending into matter and then rising out of it again. In order to\nmake this comprehensible let us take as an example the chain to which our\nEarth belongs. At the present time it is in its fourth or most material\nincarnation, and therefore three of its globes belong to the physical\nworld, two to the astral world, and two to the lower part of the mental\nworld. The wave of divine Life passes in succession from globe to globe of\nthis chain, beginning with one of the highest, descending gradually to the\nlowest and then climbing again to the same level as that at which it began.\n\nLet us for convenience of reference label the seven globes by the earlier\nletters of the alphabet, and number the incarnations in order. Thus, as\nthis is the fourth incarnation of our chain, the first globe in this\nincarnation will be 4A, the second 4B, the third 4C, the fourth (which is\nour Earth) 4D, and so on.\n\nThese globes are not all composed of physical matter. 4A contains no matter\nlower than that of the mental world; it has its counterpart in all the\nworlds higher than that, but nothing below it. 4B exists in the astral\nworld; but 4C is a physical globe, visible to our telescopes, and is in\nfact the planet which we know as Mars. Globe 4D is our own Earth, on which\nthe life-wave of the chain is at present in action. Globe 4E is the planet\nwhich we call Mercury--also in the physical world. Globe 4F is in the\nastral world, corresponding on the ascending arc to globe 4B in the\ndescent; while globe 4G corresponds to globe 4A in having its lowest\nmanifestation in the lower part of the mental world. Thus it will be seen\nthat we have a scheme of globes starting in the lower mental world,\ndipping through the astral into the physical and then rising into the lower\nmental through the astral again.\n\nJust as the succession of the globes in a chain constitutes a descent into\nmatter and an ascent from it again, so do the successive incarnations of a\nchain. We have described the condition of affairs in the fourth\nincarnation; looking back at the third, we find that that commences not on\nthe lower level of the mental world but on the higher. Globes 3A and 3G,\nthen, are both of higher mental matter, while globes 3B and 3F are at the\nlower mental level. Globes 3C and 3E belong to the astral world, and only\nglobe 3D is visible in the physical world. Although this third incarnation\nof our chain is long past, the corpse of this physical globe 3D is still\nvisible to us in the shape of that dead planet the Moon, whence that third\nincarnation is usually called the lunar chain.\n\nThe fifth incarnation of our chain, which still lies very far in the\nfuture, will correspond to the third. In that, globes 5A and 5G will be\nbuilt of higher mental matter, globes 5B and 5F of lower mental, globes 5C\nand 5E of astral matter, and only globe 5D will be in the physical world.\nThis planet 5D is of course not yet in existence.\n\nThe other incarnations of the chain follow the same general rule of\ngradually decreasing materiality; 2A, 2G, 6A and 6G are all in the\nintuitional world; 2B, 2F, 6B and 6F are all in the higher part of the\nmental world; 2C, 2E, 6C and 6E are in the lower part of the mental world;\n2D and 6D are in the astral world. In the same way 1A, 1G, 7A and 7G belong\nto the spiritual world; 1B, IF, 7B and 7F are in the intuitional world; 1C,\n1E, 7C and 7E are in the higher part of the mental world; 1D-and 7D are in\nthe lower part of the mental world.\n\nThus it will be seen that not only does the life-wave in passing through\none chain of globes dip down into matter and rise out of it again, but the\nchain itself in its successive incarnations does exactly the same thing.\n\nThere are ten schemes of evolution at present existing in our solar system,\nbut only seven of them are at the stage where they have planets in the\nphysical world. These are: (1) that of an unrecognized planet Vulcan, very\nnear the sun, about which we have very little definite information. It was\nseen by the astronomer Herschel, but is now said to have disappeared. We at\nfirst understood that it was in its third incarnation; but it is now\nregarded as possible that it has recently passed from its fifth to its\nsixth chain, which would account for its alleged disappearance; (2) that of\nVenus, which is in its fifth incarnation, and also therefore, has only one\nvisible globe; (3) that of the Earth, Mars and Mercury, which has three\nvisible planets because it is in its fourth incarnation; (4) that of\nJupiter, (5) that of Saturn, (6) that of Uranus, all in their third\nincarnations; and (7) that of Neptune and the two unnamed planets beyond\nits orbit, which is in its fourth incarnation, and therefore has three\nphysical planets as we have.\n\nIn each incarnation of a chain (commonly called a chain-period) the wave of\ndivine Life moves seven times round the chain of seven planets, and each\nsuch movement is spoken of as a round. The time that the life-wave stays\nupon each planet is known as a world-period, and in the course of a\nworld-period there are seven great root-races. As has been previously\nexplained, these are subdivided into sub-races, and those again into\nbranch-races. For convenience of reference we may state this in tabular\nform:\n\n7 Branch-Races           make   1  Sub-Race\n7 Sub-Races              make   1  Root-Race\n7 Root-Races             make   1  World-Period\n7 World-Periods          make   1  Round\n7 Rounds                 make   1  Chain-Period\n7 Chain-Periods          make   1  Scheme of Evolution\n10 Schemes of Evolution  make   1  Our Solar System\n\nIt is clear that the fourth root-race of the fourth globe of the fourth\nround of a fourth chain-period would be the central point of a whole scheme\nof evolution, and we find ourselves at the present moment only a little\npast that point. The Aryan race, to which we belong, is the fifth root-race\nof the fourth globe, so that the actual middle point fell in the time of\nthe last great root-race, the Atlantean. Consequently the human race as a\nwhole is very little more than half-way through its evolution, and those\nfew souls who are already nearing Adeptship, which is the end and crown of\nthis evolution, are very far in advance of their fellows.\n\nHow do they come to be so far in advance? Partly and in some cases because\nthey have worked harder, but usually because they are older egos--because\nthey were individualized out of the animal kingdom at an earlier date, and\nso have had more time for the human part of their evolution.\n\nAny given wave of life sent forth from the Deity usually spends a\nchain-period in each of the great kingdoms of Nature. That which in our\nfirst chain was ensouling the first elemental kingdom must have ensouled\nthe second of those kingdoms in the second chain, in the third of them in\nthe Moon-chain, and is now in the mineral kingdom in the fourth chain. In\nthe future fifth chain it will ensoul the vegetable kingdom, in the sixth\nthe animal, and in the seventh it will attain humanity.\n\nFrom this it follows that we ourselves represented the mineral kingdom on\nthe first chain, the vegetable on the second, and the animal on the lunar\nchain. There some of us attained our individualization, and so we were\nenabled to enter this Earth-chain as men. Others who were a little more\nbackward did not succeed in attaining it, and so had to be born into this\nchain as animals for a while before they could reach humanity.\n\nNot all of mankind, however, entered this chain together. When the lunar\nchain came to its end the humanity upon it stood at various levels. Not\nAdeptship, but what is now for us the fourth step on the Path, was the goal\nappointed for that chain. Those who had attained it (commonly called in\nTheosophical literature the Lords of the Moon) had, as is usual, seven\nchoices before them as to the way in which they would serve. Only one of\nthose choices brought them, or rather a few of them, over into this\nEarth-chain to act as guides and teachers to the earlier races. A\nconsiderable proportion--a vast proportion, indeed--of the Moon-men had not\nattained that level, and consequently had to reappear in this Earth-chain\nas humanity. Besides this, a great mass of the animal kingdom of the\nMoon-chain was surging up to the level of the individualization, and some\nof its members had already reached it, while many others had not. These\nlatter needed further animal incarnations upon the Earth-chain, and for the\nmoment may be put aside.\n\nThere were many classes even among the humanity, and the manner in which\nthese distributed themselves over the Earth-chain needs some explanation.\nIt is the general rule that those who have attained the highest possible in\nany chain on any globe, in any root-race, are not born into the beginning\nof the next chain, globe or race, respectively. The earlier stages are\nalways for the backward entities, and only when they have already passed\nthrough a good deal of evolution and are beginning to approach the level of\nthose others who had done better, do the latter descend into incarnation\nand join them once more. That is to say, almost the earlier half of any\nperiod of evolution, whether it be a race, a globe or a chain, seems to be\ndevoted to bringing the backward people up to nearly the level of those who\nhave got on better; then these latter also (who, in the meantime, have been\nresting in great enjoyment in the mental world) descend into incarnation\nalong with the others, and they press on together until the end of the\nperiod.\n\nThus the first of the egos from the Moon who entered the Earth-chain were\nby no means the most advanced. Indeed they may be described as the least\nadvanced of those who had succeeded in attaining humanity--the animal-men.\nComing as they did into a chain of new globes, freshly aggregated, they had\nto establish the forms in all the different kingdoms of Nature. This needs\nto be done at the beginning of the first round in a new chain, but never\nafter that; for though the life-wave is centred only upon one of the seven\nglobes of a chain at any given time, yet life has not entirely departed\nfrom the other globes. At the present moment, for example, the life-wave of\nour chain is centred on this Earth, but on the other two physical globes of\nour chain, Mars and Mercury, life still exists. There is still a\npopulation, human, animal and vegetable, and consequently when the\nlife-wave goes round again to either of those planets there will be no\nnecessity for the creation of new forms. The old types are already there,\nand all that will happen will be a sudden marvellous fecundity, so that the\nvarious kingdoms will quickly increase and multiply, and make a rapidly\nincreasing population instead of a stationary one.\n\nIt was, then, the animal-men, the lowest class of human beings of the\nMoon-chain, who established the forms in the first round of the\nEarth-chain. Pressing closely after them were the highest of the lunar\nanimal kingdom, who were soon ready to occupy the forms which had just been\nmade. In the second journey round the seven globes of the Earth-chain, the\nanimal-men who had been the most backward of the lunar humanity were\nleaders of this terrene humanity, the highest of the moon-animals making\nits less developed grades. The same thing went on in the third round of the\nEarth-chain, more and more of the lunar animals attaining individualization\nand joining the human rank, until in the middle of that round on this very\nglobe D which we call the Earth, a higher class of human beings--the Second\nOrder of Moon-men--descended into incarnation and at once took the lead.\n\nWhen we come to the fourth, our present round, we find the First Order of\nthe Moon-men pouring in upon us--all the highest and the best of the lunar\nhumanity who had only just fallen short of success. Some of those who had\nalready, even on the Moon, entered upon the Path soon attained its end,\nbecame Adepts and passed away from the Earth. Some few others who had not\nbeen quite so far advanced have attained Adeptship only comparatively\nrecently--that is, within the last few thousand years, and these are the\nAdepts of the present day. We, who find ourselves in the higher races of\nhumanity now, were several stages behind Them, but the opportunity lies\nbefore us of following in Their steps if we will.\n\nThe evolution of which we have been speaking is that of the Ego himself, of\nwhat might be called the soul of man; but at the same time there has been\nalso an evolution to the body. The forms built in the first round were very\ndifferent from any of which we know anything now. Properly speaking, those\nwhich were made on our physical earth can scarcely be called forms at all,\nfor they were constructed of etheric matter only, and resembled vague,\ndrifting and almost shapeless clouds. In the second round they were\ndefinitely physical, but still shapeless and light enough to float about in\ncurrents of wind.\n\nOnly in the third round did they begin to bear any kind of resemblance to\nman as we know him today. The very methods of reproduction of those\nprimitive forms differed from those of humanity today, and far more\nresembled those which we now find only in very much lower types of life.\nMan in those early days was androgynous, and a definite separation into\nsexes took place only about the middle of the third round. From that time\nonward until now the shape of man has been steadily evolving along\ndefinitely human lines, becoming smaller and more compact than it was,\nlearning to stand upright instead of stooping and crawling, and generally\ndifferentiating itself from the animal forms out of which it had been\nevolved.\n\nOne curious break in the regularity of this evolution deserves mention. On\nthis globe, in this fourth round, there was a departure from the\nstraightforward scheme of evolution. This being the middle globe of a\nmiddle round, the midmost point of evolution upon it marked the last moment\nat which it was possible for members of what had been the lunar animal\nkingdom to attain individualization. Consequently a sort of strong effort\nwas made--a special scheme was arranged to give a final chance to as many\nas possible. The conditions of the first and second rounds were specially\nreproduced in place of the first and second races--conditions of which in\nthe earlier rounds these backward egos had not been able fully to take\nadvantage. Now, with the additional evolution, which they had undergone\nduring the third round, some of them were able to take such advantage, and\nso they rushed in at the very last moment before the door was shut, and\nbecame just human. Naturally they will not reach any high level of human\ndevelopment, but at least when they try again in some future chain it will\nbe some advantage to them to have had even this slight experience of human\nlife.\n\nOur terrestrial evolution received a most valuable stimulus from the\nassistance given to us by our sister globe, Venus. Venus is at present in\nthe fifth incarnation of its chain, and in the seventh round of that\nincarnation, so that its inhabitants are a whole chain-period and a half in\nfront of us in evolution. Since, therefore, its people are so much more\ndeveloped than ours, it was thought desirable that certain Adepts from the\nVenus evolution should be transferred to our Earth in order to assist in\nthe specially busy time just before the closing of the door, in the middle\nof the fourth root-race.\n\nThese august Beings have been called the Lords of the Flame and the\nChildren of the Fire-mist, and They have produced a wonderful effect upon\nour evolution. The intellect of which we are so proud is almost entirely\ndue to Their presence, for in the natural course of events the next round,\nthe fifth, should be that of intellectual advancement, and in this our\npresent fourth round we should be devoting ourselves chiefly to the\ncultivation of the emotions. We are therefore in reality a long way in\nadvance of the programme marked out for us; and such advance is entirely\ndue to the assistance given by these great Lords of the Flame. Most of Them\nstayed with us only through that critical period of our history; a few\nstill remain to hold the highest offices of the Great White Brotherhood\nuntil the time when men of our own evolution shall have risen to such a\nheight as to be capable of relieving their august Visitors.\n\nThe evolution lying before us is both of the life and of the form; for in\nfuture rounds, while the egos will be steadily growing in power, wisdom and\nlove, the physical forms also will be more beautiful and more perfect than\nthey have ever yet been. We have in this world at the present time men at\nwidely differing stages of evolution, and it is clear that there are vast\nhosts of savages who are far behind the great civilized races of the\nworld--so far behind that it is quite impossible that they can overtake\nthem. Later on in the course of our evolution a point will be reached at\nwhich it is no longer possible for those undeveloped souls to advance side\nby side with the others, so that it will be necessary that a division\nshould be made.\n\nThe proceeding is exactly analogous to the sorting out by a schoolmaster of\nthe boys in his class. During the school year he has to prepare his boys\nfor a certain examination, and by perhaps the middle of that school year he\nknows quite well which of them will pass it. If he should have in his class\nsome who are hopelessly behind the rest, he might reasonably say to them\nwhen the middle period was reached:\n\n\"It is quite useless for you to continue with your fellows, for the more\ndifficult lessons which I shall now have to give will be entirely\nunintelligible to you. It is impossible that you can learn enough in the\ntime to pass the examination, so that the effort would only be a useless\nstrain for you, and meantime you would be a hindrance to the rest of the\nclass. It is therefore far better for you to give up striving after the\nimpossible, and to take up again the work of the lower class which you did\nnot do perfectly, and then to offer yourselves for this examination along\nwith next year's class, for what is now impossible for you will then be\neasy.\"\n\nThis is in effect exactly what is said at a certain stage in our future\nevolution, to the most backward egos. They drop out of this year's class\nand come along with the next one. This is the \"\u00e6onian condemnation\" to\nwhich reference was made a little while ago. It is computed that about\ntwo-fifths of humanity will drop out of the class in this way, leaving the\nremaining three-fifths to go on with far greater rapidity to the glorious\ndestinies which lie before them.\n\n\n\n\nChapter X\n\nTHE RESULT OF THEOSOPHICAL STUDY\n\n\n\"Members of the Theosophical Society study these truths and Theosophists\nendeavour to live them.\" What manner of man then is the true Theosophist in\nconsequence of his knowledge? What is the result in his daily life of all\nthis study?\n\nFinding that there is a Supreme Power who is directing the course of\nevolution, and that He is all-wise and all-loving, the Theosophist sees\nthat everything which exists within this scheme must be intended to further\nits progress. He realizes that the scripture which tells us that all things\nare working together for good, is not indulging in a flight of poetic fancy\nor voicing a pious hope, but stating a scientific fact. The final\nattainment of unspeakable glory is an absolute certainty for every son of\nman, whatever may be his present condition; but that is by no means all.\nHere and at this present moment he is on his way towards the glory; and all\nthe circumstances surrounding him are intended to help and not to hinder\nhim, if only they are rightly understood. It is sadly true that in the\nworld there is much of evil and of sorrow and of suffering; yet from the\nhigher point of view the Theosophist sees that terrible though this be, it\nis only temporary and superficial, and is all being utilized as a factor in\nthe progress.\n\nWhen in the days of his ignorance he looked at it from its own level it was\nalmost impossible to see this; while he looked from beneath at the under\nside of life, with his eyes fixed all the time upon some apparent evil, he\ncould never gain a true grasp of its meaning. Now he raises himself above\nit to the higher levels of thought and consciousness, and looks down upon\nit with the eye of the spirit and understands it in its entirety, so he can\nsee that in very truth all is well--not that all will be well at some\nremote period, but that even now at this moment, in the midst of incessant\nstriving and apparent evil, the mighty current of evolution is still\nflowing, and so all is well because all is moving on in perfect order\ntowards the final goal.\n\nRaising his consciousness thus above the storm and stress of worldly life,\nhe recognizes what used to seem to be evil, and notes how it is apparently\npressing backwards against the great stream of progress; but he also sees\nthat the onward sweep of the divine law of evolution bears the same\nrelation to this superficial evil as does the tremendous torrent of Niagara\nto the fleckings of foam upon its surface. So while he sympathizes deeply\nwith all who suffer, he yet realizes what will be the end of that\nsuffering, and so for him despair or hopelessness is impossible. He applies\nthis consideration to his own sorrows and troubles, as well as to those of\nthe world, and therefore one great result of his Theosophy is a perfect\nserenity--even more than that, a perpetual cheerfulness and joy.\n\nFor him there is an utter absence of worry, because in truth there is\nnothing left to worry about, since he knows that all must be well. His\nhigher Science makes him a confirmed optimist, for it shows him that\nwhatever of evil there may be in any person or in any movement, it is of\nnecessity temporary, because it is opposed to the resistless stream of\nevolution; whereas whatever is good in any person or in any movement must\nnecessarily be persistent and useful, because it has behind it the\nomnipotence of that current, and therefore it must abide and it must\nprevail.\n\nYet it must not for a moment be supposed that because he is so fully\nassured of the final triumph of good he remains careless or unmoved by the\nevils which exist in the world around him. He knows that it is his duty to\ncombat these to the utmost of his power, because in doing this he is\nworking upon the side of the great evolutionary force, and is bringing\nnearer the time of its ultimate victory. None will be more active than he\nin labouring for the good, even though he is absolutely free from the\nfeeling of helplessness and hopelessness which so often oppresses those who\nare striving to help their fellow-men.\n\nAnother most valuable result of his Theosophical study is the absence of\nfear. Many people are constantly anxious or worried about something or\nother; they are fearing lest this or that should happen to them, lest this\nor that combination may fail, and so all the while they are in a condition\nof unrest; and most serious of all for many is the fear of death. For the\nTheosophist the whole of this feeling is entirely swept away. He realizes\nthe great truth of reincarnation. He knows that he has often before laid\naside physical bodies, and so he sees that death is no more than\nsleep--that just as sleep comes in between our days of work and gives us\nrest and refreshment, so between these days of labour here on earth, which\nwe call lives, there comes a long night of astral and of heavenly life to\ngive us rest and refreshment and to help us on our way.\n\nTo the Theosophist death is simply the laying aside for a time of this robe\nof flesh. He knows that it is his duty to preserve the bodily vesture as\nlong as possible, and gain through it all the experience he can; but when\nthe time comes for him to lay it down he will do so thankfully, because he\nknows that the next stage will be a much pleasanter one than this. Thus he\nwill have no fear of death, although he realizes that he must live his life\nto the appointed end, because he is here for the purpose of progress, and\nthat progress is the one truly momentous matter. His whole conception of\nlife is different; the object is not to earn so much money, not to obtain\nsuch and such a position; the one important thing is to carry out the\ndivine plan. He knows that for this he is here, and that everything else\nmust give way to it.\n\nUtterly free also is he from any religious fears or worries or troubles.\nAll such things are swept aside for him, because he sees clearly that\nprogress towards the highest is the divine Will for us, that we cannot\nescape from that progress, and that whatever comes in our way and whatever\nhappens to us is meant to help us along that line; that we ourselves are\nabsolutely the only people who can delay our advance. No longer does he\ntrouble and fear about himself. He simply goes on and does the duty which\ncomes nearest in the best way that he can, confident that if he does this\nall will be well for him without his perpetual worrying. He is satisfied\nquietly to do his work and to try to help his fellows in the race, knowing\nthat the great divine Power behind will press him onward slowly and\nsteadily, and do for him all that can be done, so long as his face is set\nsteadfastly in the right direction, so long as he does all that he\nreasonably can.\n\nSince he knows that we are all part of one great evolution and all\nliterally the children of one Father, he sees that the universal\nbrotherhood of humanity is no mere poetical conception, but a definite\nfact; not a dream of something which is to be in the dim distance of\nUtopia, but a condition existing here and now. The certainty of this\nall-embracing fraternity gives him a wider outlook upon life and a broad\nimpersonal point of view from which to regard everything. He realizes that\nthe true interests of all are in fact identical, and that no man can ever\nmake real gain for himself at the cost of loss or suffering to some one\nelse. This is not to him an article of religious belief, but a scientific\nfact proved to him by his study. He sees that since humanity is literally a\nwhole, nothing which injures one man can ever be really for the good of any\nother, for the harm done influences not only the doer but also those who\nare about him.\n\nHe knows that the only true advantage for him is that benefit which he\nshares with all. He sees that any advance which he is able to make in the\nway of spiritual progress or development is something secured not for\nhimself alone but for others. If he gains knowledge or self-control, he\nassuredly acquires much for himself, yet he takes nothing away from anyone\nelse, but on the contrary he helps and strengthens others. Cognizant as he\nis of the absolute spiritual unity of humanity, he knows that, even in this\nlower world, no true profit can be made by one man which is not made in the\nname of and for the sake of humanity; that one man's progress must be a\nlifting of the burden of all the others; that one man's advance in\nspiritual things means a very slight yet not imperceptible advance to\nhumanity as a whole; that every one who bears suffering and sorrow nobly in\nhis struggle towards the light is lifting a little of the heavy load of the\nsorrow and suffering of his brothers as well.\n\nBecause he recognizes this brotherhood not merely as a hope cherished by\ndespairing men, but as a definite fact following in scientific series from\nall other facts; because he sees this as an absolute certainty, his\nattitude towards all those around him changes radically. It becomes a\nposture ever of helpfulness, ever of the deepest sympathy, for he sees that\nnothing which clashes with their higher interests can be the right thing\nfor him to do, or can be good for him in any way.\n\nIt naturally follows that he becomes filled with the widest possible\ntolerance and charity. He cannot but be always tolerant, because his\nphilosophy shows him that it matters little what a man believes, so long as\nhe is a good man and true. Charitable also he must be, because his wider\nknowledge enables him to make allowances for many things which the ordinary\nman does not understand. The standard of the Theosophist as to right and\nwrong is always higher than that of the less instructed man, yet he is far\ngentler than the latter in his feeling towards the sinner, because he\ncomprehends more of human nature. He realizes how the sin appeared to the\nsinner at the moment of its commission, and so he makes more allowances\nthan is ever made by the man who is ignorant of all this.\n\nHe goes further than tolerance, charity, sympathy; he feels positive love\ntowards mankind, and that leads him to adopt a position of watchful\nhelpfulness. He feels that every contact with others is for him an\nopportunity, and the additional knowledge which his study has brought to\nhim enables him to give advice or help in almost any case which comes\nbefore him. Not that he is perpetually thrusting his opinions upon other\npeople. On the contrary, he observes that to do this is one of the\ncommonest mistakes made by the uninstructed. He knows that argument is a\nfoolish waste of energy, and therefore he declines to argue. If anyone\ndesires from him explanation or advice he is more than willing to give it,\nyet he has no sort of wish to convert anyone else to his own way of\nthinking.\n\nIn every relation of life this idea of helpfulness comes into play, not\nonly with regard to his fellowmen but also in connection with the vast\nanimal kingdom which surrounds him. Units of this kingdom are often brought\ninto close relation with man, and this is for him an opportunity of doing\nsomething for them. The Theosophist recognizes that these are also his\nbrothers, even though they may be younger brothers, and that he owes a\nfraternal duty to them also--so to act and so to think that his relation\nwith them shall be always for their good and never for their harm.\n\nPre-eminently and above all, this Theosophy is to him a doctrine of common\nsense. It puts before him, as far as he can at present know them, the facts\nabout God and man and the relations between them; then he proceeds to take\nthese facts into account and to act in relation to them with ordinary\nreason and common sense. He regulates his life according to the laws of\nevolution which it has taught him, and this gives him a totally different\nstandpoint, and a touchstone by which to try everything--his own thoughts\nand feelings, and his own actions first of all, and then those things which\ncome before him in the world outside himself.\n\nAlways he applies this criterion: Is the thing right or wrong, does it help\nevolution or does it hinder it? If a thought or a feeling arises within\nhimself, he sees at once by this test whether it is one he ought to\nencourage. If it be for the greatest good of the greatest number then all\nis well; if it may hinder or cause harm to any being in its progress, then\nit is evil and to be avoided. Exactly the same reason holds good if he is\ncalled upon to decide with regard to anything outside himself. If from that\npoint of view a thing be a good thing, then he can conscientiously support\nit; if not, then it is not for him.\n\nFor him the question of personal interest does not come into the case at\nall. He thinks simply of the good of evolution as a whole. This gives him a\ndefinite foothold and the clear criterion, and removes from him altogether\nthe pain of indecision and hesitation. The Will of the Deity is man's\nevolution; whatever therefore helps on that evolution must be good;\nwhatever stands in the way of it and delays it, that thing must be wrong,\neven though it may have on its side all the weight of public opinion and\nimmemorial tradition.\n\nKnowing that the true man is the ego and not the body, he sees that it is\nthe life of the ego only which is really of moment, and that everything\nconnected with the body must unhesitatingly be subordinated to those higher\ninterests. He recognizes that this earth-life is given to him for the\npurpose of progress, and that that progress is the one important thing. The\nreal purpose of his life is the unfoldment of his powers as an ego, the\ndevelopment of his character. He knows that there must be evolvement not\nonly of the physical body but also of the mental nature, of the mind and of\nthe spiritual perceptions. He sees that nothing short of absolute\nperfection is expected of him in connection with this development; that all\npower with regard to it is in his own hands; that he has everlasting time\nbefore him in which to attain this perfection, but that the sooner it is\ngained the happier and more useful will he be.\n\nHe recognizes his life as nothing but a day at school, and his physical\nbody as a temporary vesture assumed for the purpose of learning through it.\nHe knows at once that this purpose of learning lessons is the only one of\nany real importance, and that the man who allows himself to be diverted\nfrom that purpose by any consideration whatever is acting with\ninconceivable stupidity. To him the life devoted exclusively to physical\nobjects, to the acquisition of wealth or fame, appears the merest\nchild's-play--a senseless sacrifice of all that is really worth having for\nthe sake of a few moments' gratification of the lower part of his nature.\nHe \"sets his affection on things above and not on things of the earth\", not\nonly because he sees this to be the right course of action, but because he\nrealizes so clearly the valuelessness of these things of earth. He always\ntries to take the higher point of view, for he knows that the lower is\nutterly unreliable--that the lower desires and feelings gather round him\nlike a dense fog, and make it impossible for him to see anything clearly\nfrom that level.\n\nWhenever he finds a struggle going on within him he remembers that he\nhimself is the higher, and that this which is the lower is not the real\nself, but merely an uncontrolled part of one of its vehicles. He knows that\nthough he may fall a thousand times on the way towards his goal, his reason\nfor trying to reach it remains just as strong after the thousandth fall as\nit was in the beginning, so that it would not only be useless but unwise\nand wrong to give way to despondency and hopelessness.\n\nHe begins his journey upon the road of progress at once--not only because\nhe knows that it is far easier for him now than it will be if he leaves the\neffort until later, but chiefly because if he makes the endeavour now and\nsucceeds in achieving some progress, if he rises thereby to some higher\nlevel, he is in a position to hold out a helping hand to those who have not\nyet reached even that step on the ladder which he has gained. In that way\nhe takes a part, however humble it may be, in the great divine work of\nevolution.\n\nHe knows that he has arrived at his present position only by a slow process\nof growth, and so he does not expect instantaneous attainment of\nperfection. He sees how inevitable is the great law of cause and effect,\nand that when he once grasps the working of that law he can use it\nintelligently in regard to mental and moral development, just as in the\nphysical world we can employ for our own assistance those laws of Nature\nthe action of which we have learnt to understand.\n\nUnderstanding what death is, he knows that there can be no need to fear it\nor to mourn over it, whether it comes to himself or to those whom he loves.\nIt has come to them all often before, so there is nothing unfamiliar about\nit. He sees death simply as a promotion from a life which is more than half\nphysical to one which is wholly superior, so for himself he unfeignedly\nwelcomes it; and even when it comes to those whom he loves, he recognizes\nat once the advantage for them, even though he cannot but feel a pang of\nregret that he should be temporarily separated from them so far as the\nphysical world is concerned. But he knows that the so-called dead are near\nhim still, and that he has only to cast off for a time his physical body in\nsleep in order to stand side by side with them as before.\n\nHe sees clearly that the world is one, and that the same divine laws rule\nthe whole of it, whether it be visible or invisible to physical sight. So\nhe has no feeling of nervousness or strangeness in passing from one part of\nit to another, and no feeling of uncertainty as to what he will find on the\nother side of the veil. He knows that in that higher life there opens\nbefore him a splendid vista of opportunities both for acquiring fresh\nknowledge and for doing useful work; that life away from this dense body\nhas a vividness and a brilliancy to which all earthly enjoyment is as\nnothing; and so through his clear knowledge and calm confidence the power\nof the endless life shines out upon all those round him.\n\nDoubt as to his future is for him impossible, for just as by looking back\non the savage he realizes that which he was in the past, so by looking to\nthe greatest and wisest of mankind he knows what he will be in the future.\nHe sees an unbroken chain of development, a ladder of perfection rising\nsteadily before him, yet with human beings upon every step of it, so that\nhe knows, that those steps are possible for him to climb. It is just\nbecause of the unchangeableness of the great law of cause and effect that\nhe finds himself able to climb that ladder, because since the law works\nalways in the same way, he can depend upon it and he can use it, just as he\nuses the laws of Nature in the physical worlds. His knowledge of this law\nbrings to him a sense of perspective and shows him that if something comes\nto him, it comes because he has deserved it as a consequence of actions\nwhich he has committed, of words which he has spoken, of thought to which\nhe has given harbour in previous days or in earlier lives. He comprehends\nthat all affliction is of the nature of the payment of a debt, and\ntherefore when he has to meet with the troubles of life he takes them and\nuses them as a lesson, because he understands why they have come and is\nglad of the opportunity which they give him to pay off something of his\nobligation.\n\nAgain, and in yet another way, does he take them as an opportunity, for he\nsees that there is another side to them if he meets them in the right way.\nHe spends no time in bearing prospective burdens. When trouble comes to him\nhe does not aggravate it by foolish repining but sets himself to endure so\nmuch of it as is inevitable, with patience and with fortitude. Not that he\nsubmits himself to it as a fatalist might, for he takes adverse\ncircumstances as an incentive to such development as may enable him to\ntranscend them, and thus out of long-past evil he brings forth a seed of\nfuture growth. For in the very act of paying the outstanding debt he\ndevelops qualities of courage and resolution that will stand him in good\nstead through all the ages that are to come.\n\nHe is distinguishable from the rest of the world by his perennial\ncheerfulness, his undaunted courage under difficulties, and his ready\nsympathy and helpfulness; yet he is at the same time emphatically a man who\ntakes life seriously, who recognizes that there is much for everyone to do\nin the world, and that there is no time to waste. He knows with utter\ncertainty that he not only makes his own destiny but also gravely affects\nthat of others around him, and thus he perceives how weighty a\nresponsibility attends the use of his power.\n\nHe knows that thoughts are things and that it is easily possible to do\ngreat harm or great good by their means. He knows that no man liveth to\nhimself, for his every thought acts upon others as well; that the\nvibrations which he sends forth from his mind and from his mental nature\nare reproducing themselves in the minds and the mental natures of other\nmen, so that he is a source either of mental health or of mental ill to all\nwith whom he comes in contact.\n\nThis at once imposes upon him a far higher code of social ethics than that\nwhich is known to the outer world, for he knows that he must control not\nonly his acts and his words, but also his thoughts, since they may produce\neffects more serious and more far-reaching than their outward expression in\nthe physical world. He knows that even when a man is not in the least\nthinking of others, he yet inevitably affects them for good or for evil. In\naddition to this unconscious action of his thought upon others he also\nemploys it consciously for good. He sets currents in motion to carry mental\nhelp and comfort to many a suffering friend, and in this way he finds a\nwhole new world of usefulness opening before him.\n\nHe ranges himself ever on the side of the higher rather than the lower\nthought, the nobler rather than the baser. He deliberately takes the\noptimistic rather than the pessimistic view of everything, the helpful,\nrather than the cynical, because he knows that to be fundamentally the true\nview. By looking continually for the good in everything that he may\nendeavour to strengthen it, by striving always to help and never to hinder,\nhe becomes ever of greater use to his fellow-men, and is thus in his small\nway a co-worker with the splendid scheme of evolution. He forgets himself\nutterly and lives but for the sake of others, realizing himself as a part\nof that scheme; he also realizes the God within him, and learns to become\never a truer expression of Him, and thus in fulfilling God's Will, he is\nnot only blessed himself, but becomes a blessing to all.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\nAdept, causal body of 45-8\n  further evolution of 13\n  is on summit of human evolution 13\n  level of 13, 119-21\n  work of 119-20\n\nAdepts, as members of Hierarchy 13\n  first of Earth 129\n  from Venus 131-2\n  Great Brotherhood of 12-4, 117-8, 132\n  many degrees of 13\n  men have become 13\n  some are Masters 14\n  some remain with mankind 22\n  some take apprentices 100\n\nAdeptship, older egos nearing 126\n\n\u00c6onian condemnation 119-20, 133\n\n\u00c6ther, breath, blown into 19\n  bubbles in 19-22, 23\n  density of 19\n  mean pressure of 19\n  of space 18\n  ultimate atoms formed in 19\n\nAge or dispensation 13\n\nAir, nature spirits of 84\n\n_Ancient Wisdom, The_ 1\n\nAndrogynous man 130\n\nAngels, approach men through ceremonial 85\n  guardian 54\n  hosts of 11\n  Kingdom of 84\n  of the law of cause and effect 100\n\nAnimals, additional evolution of 131\n  are our younger brothers 141\n  distinction between man and 40\n  domestic 38\n  heads of types of 38\n  individualization of 38-40\n  man's emotions act on 38\n  man's thoughts act on 38\n  Moon-, came to Earth chain 128\n  Moon-, individualize 126, 131\n  seven types of 37, 38\n  souls of 33\n\nAnimal kingdom 31-2, 37, 141\n\nAnimal-men of Moon-chain 127-8\n\nApprentice upon probation 118\n\nApprentices, to Masters 14-7\n  accepted 118\n  men may become 18, 116-7\n  qualifications necessary for 116-8\n  three stages of 118\n\nAryan root-race 105, 125\n\nAspects, three, of the Logos 11\n  three, of man 11, 41\n\nAstral body, after death 68-71, 73-5, 81, 86\n  cell-life of 65\n  colours of 56-8\n  disintegration of 86\n  effect of thought on 51-2\n  ego casts off 42, 63\n  ego takes an 42, 61\n  entity occupying 66-72\n  is bridge to mental body 58\n  man in his, during sleep 62, 71\n  matter of, is in constant motion 70\n  never fatigued 62\n  no separate senses in 69-70\n  of animal 32\n  of group-soul 32\n  permanent colours of 58\n  reacts on causal body 47\n  reacts on mental body 47\n  shape of 56, 61\n  shell around 68, 70, 78-80, 81\n  simile of boiling water 69-70\n  size of 56\n  temptations caused by 66-8\n  vibrations of 56-8, 65-7, 75-6\n\nAstral corpse 86\n  counterparts 72-3, 78-80\n  entity 66-8\n  shell 68, 78-81, 86-7\n  shell, result of 70\n  vitality of 86-7\n\nAstral globe of Earth 26-7, 71-2\n  globe of Moon 26-7\n  globes of Earth-chain 122\n\nAstral matter, arrangement of 71-3\n  attracts mental matter 60\n  physical body attracts 60\n  vibrations of 24\n\nAstral sight 68-9\n\nAstral world, the appearance of 71, 78-83\n  death in 89\n  delights of 76-8\n  descent of ego to 42-3\n  extent of 26-7, 71\n  inhabitants of 83\n  the, is the home of emotions 71\n  is the home of lower thoughts 71\n  life period in, after death 43, 64-5, 81\n  man in, during sleep 62, 70\n  man's freedom in 73, 76\n  matter, simile of onion 72\n  nature spirits in 84\n  no measurement of time in 75\n  non-human inhabitants of 84\n  of Moon 27\n  scenery of 77, 81\n  second outpouring enters 30\n  second outpouring indrawn to 31\n  sections of 78-83\n  the sixth plane is named 23, 41\n  the summerland of 80\n  withdrawal of ego from 82\n\nAstro-mental forms 51, 57\n\nAtlantean root-race 105, 125\n\nAtomic matter 25\n\nAtoms charged with vitality of interpenetrating worlds 20-1\n  physical ultimate 25\n  ultimate 19-22\n\nAttainment is certain for all 132\n\nBesant, Dr. 1\n  author of _The Ancient Wisdom_ 1\n\nBirth of man, factors determining 104-5\n\nBlavatsky, H.P. 14\n  author of _Isis Unveiled_ 15\n  was a founder of the T.S. 14\n  was an apprentice to a Master 14\n\nBliss of the higher worlds 89-91\n\nBooks, oriental sacred 18\n\nBrain, connection with astral body 59\n  connection with ego 59\n  connection with mental body 49\n  etheric part of 62\n\nBranch-races 104-5, 125\n\nBridges to ego 59, 61\n\nBrotherhood, the Great, of Adepts 12-4, 116-9, 132\n  entry into 119\n  Great White, the 12\n  Head of 12\n  Lords of the Flame hold highest office in 132\n  man may join in 116\n\nBrotherhood of humanity, the universal 138-9\n\nBubbles in space 19-21\n  aggregations of 19-22, 23-4\n  form material of nebula 19\n\nCasual body, the, abstract thoughts arouse 46\n  appearance of 45-9\n  bad qualities do not affect 47, 58\n  colours in 46-8\n  composition of 45\n  is the vehicle of ego 42\n  life in 95-6\n  mental body reacts upon 58\n  of Adept 45, 48\n  of developed man 48\n  of primitive man 46\n  of saint 48\n  of savage 48\n  only good affects 47, 58\n  permanent vehicle of ego 45\n  unselfish emotions arouse 47\n\nCause and effect, law of 100-7\n  adjustment of 101\n  angels connected with 101\n  cannot be modified 101\n  exactness of 100-1\n  explains problems of life 100-1\n\nCause and effect, is universal 100\n  simile of debts and 102-7\n\nCell-life of astral body 65\n  of mental body 65\n  of physical body 65\n\nCentres of force 60\n\nCeremonial, angels approach men through 85\n\nChain, a, consists of seven rounds 124\n  life-wave of a 121, 123-5\n  lunar, the 123, 126-7\n  periods 125\n\nChains of globes 121\n  descent of, into matter 121-4\n  incarnation of 121-5\n\nCharacter and simile of muscles 114\n  how, is formed 111-5\n\nChemical elements 21, 28\n\nChildren of the Fire-mist 131\n  (also see Lords of Flame)\n\nChrist, the, learning the lesson of 96\n  spoke of the \"\u00e6onian condemnation\" 119, 133\n\nChurch, the angels approach men through 85\n\nClairvoyant sight 46\n  character seen by 50\n  force-centres seen by 60\n\nColours of astral body 56-8\n  of causal body 46-8\n  of mental body 48\n  of thoughts 54\n\nConsciousness, development of 45-6\n  of developed man 62-3\n  states of 64\n\nCorpse, astral 86\n  physical 86\n  the Moon is a 123\n\nCounterparts, astral 73-4\n  of globes 122\n\nCrookes, Sir William 22\n\nDead, the, can be helped 77-9\n  can continue studies 77\n  can help their fellowmen 77\n  communicate with living 74\n  cravings of the 75-7\n  first feeling of 76\n  friends of, in mental world 93-4\n  have no measurement of time 75\n  in astral world 73-89\n  in mental world 89-95\n  in the three sections of astral world 74-5, 78-83\n  most of, are happy 76\n  period in astral world, 64-5, 82\n  period in mental world 64\n  relation of, to Earth 73-4\n  some seize other bodies 88\n  thought-creations of 80\n  what they see 73\n\nDeath, a second 63, 89\n  artists after 77\n  average men after 64-5\n  character not changed by 74\n  conditions of life after 74\n  cultured men after 65\n  etheric double at 87\n  happiness after 74, 76\n  in astral world 68, 89\n  lovers of music after 77\n  misery after 75\n  philanthropists after 77\n  primitive men after 63\n  sensualists after 75-6\n  spiritual men after 65\n  students of science after 77\n  what is 3, 63, 137, 144\n\nDeity (see Solar Deity)\n\nDemons, tempting 53, 67\n\nDepartments of the world 11\n\nDevas, hosts of 11\n (also see Angels)\n\nDiscrimination 118\n\nDivine Life 29\n  ensouls matter 29-40\n  responds to vibrations 33\n\nDivine world, extent of 26-7\n  first plane named 23, 41\n  \"Door, shutting the\" 131\n\nDreams 62\n\nEarth, Adepts from Venus come to 131\n  astral globe of 26-7\n  -chain 121\n  first men of the 125-30\n  nature spirits of the 85\n  purpose of life on 142\n\nEarth-chain, the 121\n  animal-men build early\n  forms on 127-8\n  explained 121-4\n  incarnation of 122-5\n  Moon-animals come to 128\n\nEducation, department of 11-2\n\nEgo, the, assumes bodies 42, 61\n  bridges of to physical body 58, 61\n  connection of, with brain 59\n  desire of, for vivid life 97\n  drops lower bodies 43\n  ensouls fragment of group-soul 42\n  fills mental images of himself 93\n  gains qualities 43\n  habitat of 94\n  is a part expression of Monad 61\n  is the manifestation of the triple Spirit in man 42\n  life of, in causal body 95-7\n  life of, in lower bodies 63-4\n  lives for millions of years 97\n  loses part of his life sometimes 86\n  object of descent of 45, 98\n  only good affects 47-8, 58, 112\n  origin of 39, 109\n  passes to mental world 85\n  remembers past lives 44\n  sheaves of 61\n  sight of 45\n  the, simile of day at school and 98\n  succession of personalities of 109\n  withdraws from astral plane 82\n\nElemental kingdoms, the three 29-30\n  seven types of each of 37\n\nElemental creatures 37\n\nElements, chemical 21, 28\n  proto- 21\n\nEmotions affect life after death 64, 67-8\n  of the living react on the dead 74\n  selfish and unselfish 110\n  should be developed in\n  fourth round 131\n  the home of the 71\n\nEmotional world (see astral world)\n\nEntity, astral body 66-8\n\nEtheric, bodies of early humanity 129\n  bodies of nature spirits 84\n  matter 25\n\nEtheric double, the 59\n  at death 87-8\n  force-centres in 60\n  is a bridge 59\n  is not a vehicle 87-8\n  some dead cling to 88\n  vitality flows through 59\n\nEvil, is transitory 48, 58, 135-6\n  is utilized for progress 135\n  man's powers of, are\n  restricted 102\n  simile of Niagara Falls, and 135\n\nEvolution, additional, for animals 131\n  advanced state of 131\n  animal 31-40\n  break in regularity of 130\n  central point of 125, 130\n  early stages of, for backward entities 127\n  examining scenes of early 3\n  is the Will of the Deity 11, 142\n  ladder of 17\n  man restrains law of 105\n  mineral 30-1\n  object of human 99\n  of human forms 129-30\n  of life 28-40\n  other schemes of 121, 123\n  pressure of 99, 105\n  resistless stream of 136\n  scheme of, a 32, 122-5\n  summit of human 13\n  super-human 13, 119\n  Theosophy explains laws of 99\n  three stages of 108-9\n  vegetable 30-1\n\nEye-brows, force-centre between 60\n\nFailure is impossible 5\n\nFairies (see Nature-spirits)\n\n'Fetters' to be cast off 120\n\nFire-mist, Children of the 131\n\nFire, nature-spirits of 84\n  Sparks of divine 10, 41, 61\n\nFlame, Lords of the 131\n\nFohat 19\n\nForces, the higher, Adepts' knowledge of 14\n\nForce-centres 60\n\nFounder of each race 11\n\nFounders of the Theosophical Society 14\n\nFragment of life of the Logos 9\n  of group-soul 39, 42\n  of the Monad 61\n\nFreemasonry, angels approach men through 85\n\nFree-will 99\n\nFree-will, limitation of unbounded 102-3\n\n_Genesis of Elements, The_ 22\n\nGlobe, astral, of Earth 27\n  astral of, Moon 27\n  mental 27\n\nGlobes, chains of 121\n  seven, of Earth-chain 122-3\n  'God is Love' 10\n  Word of 9\n  (see also Solar Deity)\n\nGroup of egos 106\n\nGroup-soul, fragment, from, is ensouled 39-42\n  of domestic animals 38-40\n  numbers of bodies attached to one 34-7\n  Spark hovers over 40\n\nGroup-souls 36-9\n  seven types of 37\n  simile of bucket of water and 34-6\n\nGuardian angel 54\n\nHead, force-centre in 60\n  of each race 11\n  of human evolution 11\n  of religion and education 11-2\n  of the White Brotherhood 14\n\nHeart, force-centre in 60\n\nHeaven, is a state of consciousness 64\n  simile of capacity of cups and 91-2\n  varying capacities of men in 91-2\n\nHell, non-existence of 64, 71, 74, 75\n\nHierarchy, The 5\n  controls the world 5, 13\n  Head of 14\n  man can join 13\n  Members of, watch for helpers 116-7\n  Human evolution, beginning of 32-8\n  division of races of 104-5\n  the central point in 118-9\n  the half-way point of 125\n  the summit of 13\n\nHumanity, bodies of early 128-9\n  early, was androgynous 130\n  races of 11\n  receives help from Venus 131\n  service of, by thought 53-4\n  spiritual unity of 139\n\nImmortal, the soul of man 8\n\nIncarnations of Earth-chain 122-5\n\nIndividuality, a permanent 39\n\nIndividualization, is the first critical point of man's life 118\n  of animals 37-40\n  of Moon-animals 126-7, 130-1\n\nIndo-Caucasian root-race 105\n\nInhabitants of finer worlds 26\n\nInitiations, the great 118, 119-20\n  simile of university degrees 120\n\nInstincts, of animals 35\n  of cell-life 65\n\nIntellect is a fifth round development 131\n\nIntelligence in man 42\n\nIntuition in man 23, 42\n\nIntuitional world, the 23, 42\n  extent of 27\n  Monad manifests in 42\n  second outpouring in 33\n  third outpouring descends to 39-40\n\n_Isis Unveiled_ 15\n\nJupiter, the planet 124\n\nKing of the World, The 11\n\nKingdom, animal 30-1, 37-9\n  first elemental 29\n  mineral 30-3, 40\n  of angels 84-5\n  of nature-spirits 84-5\n  second elemental 30\n  seven types of each 38\n  third elemental 30\n  vegetable 30-1, 38\n\nKingdoms of nature ensouled by life-waves 38, 126\n  the elemental 29-30\n  the seven, of nature 28, 38-9\n\nKoilon 18\n\nLadder of evolution, the 17, 145\n  golden 96\n  rungs of 17\n\nLaw, the, of evolution 99, 104-5\n  of cause and effect 100-7\n\nLaws, the immutable 8\n\nLiberated man 5-6\n\nLife, cell- 65-6\n  conditions of, after death 74\n  divine 23, 29, 121\n  man's continuous 63\n  the purpose of 98-9, 108-20\n\nLife-waves, the 28-40\n  constant-successions of 32\n  ensoul the kingdoms of nature 33, 37\n  of chains 121-2, 123-5\n  two stages of 29\n\nLife-wave, the, now centred on Earth 128\n  period of, in each kingdom 38-9\n\nLogos, the (see Solar Deity)\n\nLords of the Flame, assistance given by 132\n  come to Earth 131\n  some still remain on Earth 132\n  of the Moon 126\n\n'Love, God is' 10\n\nLunar-chain (see Moon-chain)\n\nMan, after death 63-96\n  can kill out vices 110-5\n  conflict of interest between, and his vehicles 66\n  constitution of 41-62\n  distinction between animals and 40\n  during sleep 61-2, 70, 74\n  early, was androgynous 130\n  evolves through different races 104-5\n  exists in other worlds 2-3, 42-3\n  factors determining birth of 104-5\n  free will of 99-100, 102\n  has latent powers 2\n  has many lives 2-4, 42\n  has powers of evil restricted 102\n  has several bodies 2-3, 42\n  is always affecting others 138-9, 147\n  is a Monad 42\n  is a soul 2-3\n  is a Spark of divine Fire 41\n  is divine in origin 3\n  is his own law-giver 8\n  is immortal 8\n  is influenced by his astral body-entity 68\n  is not changed by death 74\n  is separate from animal kingdom 28\n  is the outcome of his past 44-5\n  learns to use his powers in service 108-9\n  liberated 5-6\n  makes his own destiny 147\n  may be apprenticed to a Master 14-5, 117\n  past history of 2-3\n  physical body of, is evolved from animal forms 130\n  reaps result of his action 100-1\n  represents mineral kingdom of first chain 126\n  the Triple Spirit in 41\n  the triumph of 96\n  three aspects of 11, 41-2\n  why, does not remember past lives 44\n  (also see primitive man and savages)\n\nMars, the planet 122, 124\n  life exists on 128\n\nMaster, son of a 118\n  the 13-7\n  are Adepts Who take apprentices 14\n  take apprentices 14-7, 117-8\n  the great knowledge of 14\n  \"Their world\" 15\n\nMatter, all, is living 30, 65\n  astral 15, 26, 31, 43, 51, 66-7\n  atomic 25\n  different densities of 20, 25\n  etheric 25, 59\n  formation of root- 18-9\n  intermingling of 21\n  mental 23, 27, 29, 33, 42\n  molecules of 24-5\n  power of attraction of 60\n  root- 81\n\nMatter, seven types of 21, 24\n  starry 24\n  sub-atomic 25\n  sub-divisions of 24-5\n  super-etheric 25\n  the senses respond to vibrations in 26\n  ultimate 18-21\n  vibrations of 24-6, 33, 44-7\n  whirling sphere of, a 19-21\n\nMemory of nature 3\n  of past lives 44\n\nMen, backward, drop out 132-3\n  bodies of first Earth-chain 129-30\n  first, of Earth-chain 126-7\n  Moon- 126-9\n\nMental, globe 26-7\n  globes of Earth-chain 122\n  images of friends 93-4\n  shell 53, 91\n  warts 49\n  (also see mental world)\n\nMental body, the, after death 90-1\n  bridge from, to physical body 58\n  cell-life of 65\n  composition of 48\n  connection of brain with 49\n  description of 48-9, 60-1\n  effect of prejudice upon 49\n  effect of thoughts upon 48-51\n  expresses concrete thoughts 48\n  reacts on causal body 58\n  shell 53, 91\n  sight of 50-1\n  striations in 49-50\n  the astral body reacts upon 58\n  the dead are unused to 90-1\n  the ego casts aside his 43-4, 63\n  the ego takes a 42-3\n  the memory of 44-5\n  thoughts shown as colours in 48-50\n  vibrations of 50, 53-4\n  warts on 49\n\nMental matter, globe of 26-7\n  the causal body is built of 45\n  the mind is built of 23\n  vibrations of 24\n\nMental world, average life in, after death 64-5\n  bliss of 90\n  effect of higher thought in 92-3\n  ego formed in higher 39\n  extent of 27\n  formation of 20-3\n  friends of dead in 93-4\n  higher 29-30, 33, 39-42\n  levels of 94\n  lower 29-30\n  man in, after death 63-4, 89-95\n  the fifth plane named 24-41\n  the Monad manifests in higher 42\n  the second outpouring descends to 29-30\n  wealth of 91\n\nMercury, the planet 122, 124\n  life exists on 128\n\nMind, the divine 91\n  the, of man 23\n  (also see mental body)\n\nMineral, the kingdom 30-1, 37, 108, 126\n  man represents, of first chain 126\n  seven types of 37\n  the first out-pouring ensouls 30\n\nMinisters in charge of departments 11\n  the seven, of Solar Deity 11\n\nMonad, the, descent of 41\n\nMonad, origin of 41, 61\n\nMonads, the home of human, 23, 41\n\nMonadic world, the, extent of 27\n  man belongs to 41\n  the second plane named 23, 41-2\n\nMongolian root-race 105\n\nMoon, the, astral globe of 27, 71\n  human goal on 126\n  individualization on 125\n  is a corpse 123\n  Lords of the 126\n\nMoon-animals 126-7\n  individualize on Earth 128-9\n\nMoon-chain, animal-men of 127-8\n  human goal on 126\n  men of 126\n  men come to Earth-chain 126-9\n  was the third incarnation of our chain 123\n\nMoon-men 126-9\n  distribution of, on Earth-chain 126-9\n  first order of 129\n  second order of 129\n  some entered the Path 129\n\nMotive, the, for self-effort 115\n\nNature, memory of 3\n  planes of 7\n  seven kingdoms of 28\n\nNature-spirits, are not individualized 84\n  are sometimes seen by men 84\n  four classes of 84\n  many wear etheric bodies 84\n  the kingdom of 84\n  where they exist 83-4\n\nNebula, cooling of 22\n  planets formed from 22\n  rings of 22\n  subsidiary vortices of 22\n  vortex of 20\n\nNegroid, the, race 105\n\nNeptune, the planet 124\n\nNerves, vitality flows along 59\n\n_Occult Chemistry_ 7\n\n_Occult World, The_ 1, 15\n\nOccultism, how to progress in 113-7\n\nOfficial, pupils of great 11\n  representing Solar Deity 11\n\nOfficials of the Hierarchy 13\n\nOlcott, Colonel H.S. 14\n  a founder of T.S. 14\n\nOriental sacred books 18\n\nOrigin, divine, of man 3, 10, 39-40\n\nOutpouring, the first 20-8\n  the second 28-39, 65\n  the third 39-40\n\nPath, the, conditions of 15\n  fetters to be cast off on 119-20\n  fourth step on 126\n  Moon-men entered 129\n  simile of mountain 5\n  steeper 5, 119-20\n\nPeers of Logos 9\n\nPerfect men 5\n\nPerseverance necessary for progress 113\n\nPersonality 61\n  the purpose of the 109\n\nPhilosophy, Theosophy is a 1\n\nPhysical body, attracts astral matter 60\n  cells of the 65-6\n  during sleep man leaves his 62, 70\n  early evolution of the 129-30\n  ego, drops his 43, 63\n\nPhysical body, ego takes a 43, 61\n  etheric part of 59-60\n  future perfection of the 132\n  of first round 129-30\n  of man is evolved from animal forms 130\n  requirements of the 59-60\n\nPhysical matter, subdivisions of 25\n  vibrations of 24, 33\n\nPhysical world, the, descent of ego to 42-3\n  formation of 21-3, 23-6\n  second outpouring enters 30-1\n  seven sub-divisions of 25\n\n_Pioneer, The_, Mr. A.P. Sinnett, editor of 15\n\nPlanes of nature, the 7\n  formation of 20-1\n  investigation of 7\n  naming of 41\n\nPlanets, formation of 22\n  future 20\n  life on other 128\n\nPlanetary chains 121-33\n\nPlanetary Spirits, the seven 11\n  simile of ganglia and 11\n\nPowers latent in man 2\n  are for use in service 109\n  observation of history by 3\n  observation of other worlds by 2-3\n\nPrejudices shown in mental body, 49\n\nPrimitive man, causal body of 46-8\n  during sleep 62\n  life of, after death 64\n  result of action of 102\n  types of 37\n\nPrinciple, undying, in man 8\n\nProbation, apprentice upon 118\n  period of 118\n\nPromptings of lower nature 66-8\n\nProto-elements 21\n\nPupils, accepted, of Master 118\n  of Great Officials 11\n  of Masters 14-7, 116-8\n  (see also apprentices)\n\nPurgatory is a state of consciousness 64-5\n\nQuotations from, a French Scientist 18\n  a Gnostic Philosopher 10\n  a Master 15\n  an Eastern Scripture 9\n  _The Occult World_ 1\n\nRace, Founder of each 11\n  Head of each 11\n  of life 99\n\nRaces, branch- 105, 125\n  man evolves through different 105\n  object of 105\n  of humanity 14\n  root- 105, 125-6\n  sub- 105, 125\n\nRay, the seventh 85\n\nRecord, indelible 3\n\nReincarnation 42-4, 97-107\n  desire of ego for 97\n  simile of days at school and 98-9\n  Theosophy explains 99\n\nReligion, Adepts, Teachers of 12\n  department of 12\n  Founders of new 11\n\nReligions, have one source 12\n  start with basic truths 12\n  the sending forth of 11\n\nReproduction, early methods of 130\n\nReynolds, Prof. O. 18-9\n\nRight and wrong, the test of 142\n\nRoman races, the 105\n\nRoot-matter 18\n\nRoot-races 105, 125\n\nRound, a 125\n  first, differs from others 128\n\nRounds, conditions, of early reproduced in fourth round 130-1\n  human forms on first three 128-30\n\nSaturn, rings of, simile of 22\n\nSavages, causal bodies of 46-7, 48-9\n  during sleep 62\n  types of 37\n\n'Saved, The' 119\n\nScheme of evolution, a 32, 121-2\n  central point of 125\n\nSchool, of philosophy, there is a 1\n  of life, none fail in the 98\n\nS\u00e9ances 87\n\n_Secret Doctrine, The_ 19\n\nSeers can use sight of the ego 46\n\nSenses, the, of astral body 68-9\n  respond to vibrations of matter 26\n\nService, man learns to use his powers in 109\n  the joy of 96\n\nSeven, 'bubbles' combine in powers of 20-1, 23\n  choices of Lords of the Moon 127-8\n  degrees of density of matter 24-5\n  force-centres in man's bodies 60\n  globes of a chain 121-2\n  impulses of force 19-20\n  incarnations of chains 121\n  interpenetrating worlds 20, 22\n  kingdoms of nature 28\n  life-waves 33\n  Ministers of Solar Deity 11\n  Planetary Spirits 11\n  sub-divisions of matter 24-5\n  sub-divisions of vitality 60\n  types of animals 37-9\n  types of elemental creatures 37-8\n  types of group-souls 37-8\n  types of matter 21, 24\n  types of men 43\n  types of minerals 37\n  types of vegetables 37\n\nSexes, separation of 130\n\nShade, the 86\n\nSheaves of the ego 61\n\nShell, of astral body 68, 78-80, 81, 86-7\n  of thoughts 53, 91\n\nSight, astral 68-9\n  clairvoyant 46\n  mental 51\n  of ego 46\n\nSimile of, boiling water 69-70\n  brick 25\n  bucket of water 34-5\n  charged battery 53\n  cups of varying capacities 91-2\n  days at school 97-8, 143\n  dense fog 143\n  developing muscles 114\n  flame in a dark night 14\n  ganglia 11\n  matter diffused in water 72\n  Niagara Falls 135\n  onion 72\n  overtones of musical notes 58\n  path up mountain 5\n  payment of a debt 102-4\n  rungs of a ladder 17\n  Saturn's rings 22\n  shutting a door 131\n  sorting out school-boys 132\n  university degrees 120\n  vibrations of a bell 55\n  warts 49\n\nSinnett, Mr. A.P. 1, 15\n  author of _The Occult World_ 1, 15\n  author of _Esoteric Buddhism_ 1, 15\n  editor of _The Pioneer_ 15\n\nSleep 61-2, 70, 87\n  man during 61-2, 70\n  the dead are met during 74\n\nSolar Deity, the, a Being higher than 19\n  builds His system 9-10, 19\n  field of activity of 19\n  first Aspect of 39\n  fragment of Life of 9-10\n  future planets of 19\n  impulses of force of 20-1, 28\n  is a Trinity 11\n  Official representing 11\n  Peers of 9\n  Plan of 11, 13\n  second Aspect of 28, 32, 65\n  Self-limitation of 10\n  seven Ministers of 11\n  seven Planetary Spirits 11\n  the King of the World represents 11\n  third Aspect of 20-1, 28\n  threefold manifestation of 10\n\nSolar plexus, force-centre, the 60\n\nSolar System, evolutionary table of 125\n  formation of 18-27\n  inhabitants of the 85\n  Logos of a 9\n  origin of 19\n  ten chains of 121-3\n\nSolar systems, countless 9\n\nSon of Master 118\n\nSoul, the group 33-9, 42\n  man is a 2, 33\n  of an animal 33-4\n  of domestic animals 37-40\n  of grasses 31\n  of insects 37\n  of lions 33-4\n  of man 8, 33, 55\n  of reptiles 42\n  of trees 31\n  plant- 33\n  World- 33\n\nSpace, between atoms 23\n  Fohat digs holes in 19\n  the \u00e6ther of 18-9\n  worlds not separate in 2\n\nSparks, of divine Fire 39-40, 61\n  of divine Life 23, 29\n\nSpine, force-centre at base of 60\n\nSpirit, and matter 18\n  in man 23, 41\n  the triple, in man 41-2\n\nSpiritual world, the extent of 26-7\n  is the name of third plane 23, 41\n  Monads descend to 41\n\nSpleen, the, vitality flows through 60\n\nStream, those who have entered the 119\n\nSub-atomic matter 25\n\nSub-races of humanity 105, 125\n\nSummerland, the, of astral world 80\n\nSun, vitality comes from the 60\n\nSuper-etheric matter 25\n\nTable of evolution of Solar System 125\n\nTeachers, authority of 16\n  of earlier races 126\n  of religion 11-2\n\nTempting demons 53, 67\n\nTest, the, of right and wrong 142\n\nTeutonic sub-race 105\n\nTheosophy, demands no belief 6\n  explains reincarnation 99\n  explains religions 7\n  first popular exposition of 1\n  is a philosophy 1\n  is a religion 1, 5-7\n  is a science 1, 7\n  never converts 7\n  solves problems of life 4\n  statements of, based on observation 6\n  tells of past history 3\n  the gospel of 96\n  the great facts of 8\n  what, does for us 134-148\n\nTheosophist, the, cheerfully faces trouble 146\n  conception of life of 137\n  does not try to convert 140\n  has no fear of death 137\n  knows the power of thought 147\n  relation of, to animals 141\n  sees purpose of life 142\n  test of right and wrong of 141\n\nThought, abstract 46\n  all actions spring from 116\n  concrete 48, 50\n  coupled with feeling 51\n  -forces after death 63\n  is a powerful instrument 116\n  necessity for clear 114\n  necessity for control of 116\n  prolonged 50\n  shell of 53\n\nThoughts, are things 147\n  as a power for good 55\n  build forms 52\n  distance no hindrance to 52\n  effect of, after death 63-4, 80\n  humanity helped by 54-5\n  meaning of colours of 46, 54-7\n  meaning of shapes of 54\n  on Theosophy 55-60\n  others affected by 50-51\n  self-centred 53-4\n  selfish and unselfish 110\n  transmission of 52\n\nThought-forms 50-4\n  are temporary entities 53\n  as guardian angels 54\n  as tempting demons 53\n  astro-mental 51, 57\n  duration of 53-4\n  effect on others of 51-2\n  move through space 51\n\nThought images (see Thought-forms)\n\nThree, Aspects of the Logos 10-1\n  aspects of man 41\n  critical points in man's evolution 117-9\n  elemental kingdoms 28-9\n  great truths 8\n  in One 10\n  outpourings 28-39\n  Persons 10\n  stages of apprenticeship 118\n  stages of evolution 108-9\n\nThroat, the force-centre in 60\n\nTime, no measure of, in astral world 75\n\nTrinity of Solar Logos 10\n\nTriple Spirit in man 41-2\n\nTriumph, the, of man 96\n\nTrust begets trust 111\n\nTruth, one in diverse forms 12\n  the, is obtainable 12\n\nTruths, basic, of religions 12-3\n  the three great 8\n\nTypes of, animals 37-8\n  elemental creatures 37\n  group-souls 37\n  life 37\n  matter 21\n  men 37-9\n  minerals 37\n  reptiles 37\n  vegetables 38\n\nUltimate atoms 19\n  physical atoms 25\n  root-matter 18\n\nUltra-violet light 26-44\n\nUnity, the, of humanity 138-9\n  what tends to 109\n\nUniverse, the, beginning of 18\n\nUniverses, innumerable 9\n\nUniversal brotherhood of humanity, the 138\n\nUranium 22\n\nUranus, the planet 124\n\nVegetable, the, kingdom 30-1, 37-8\n  seven types of 37\n\nVehicles, man's conflict of interest with his 66-9\n\nVenus, the planet 124\n  Adepts from, come to Earth 131\n  stage of evolution of 131\n\nVibrations, of astral body 56-7, 65-6, 75-6\n  of mental body 44\n  of thought-forms 53, 55\n\nVibrations, in matter 24, 33, 59\n  causal body affected by 47-9\n  ego responds to 45\n  life learns to generate 33\n  octaves of 24\n  the senses respond to 25-6\n\nVices, belong to the vehicles 112\n  how to kill out 110-5\n\nVitality, circulates along the nerves 59\n  of astral corpse 86\n  sub-division of 59-60\n  what it is 59\n\nVortices, force-centres appear as 60\n  in matter 20\n  in nebular 19-22\n\nVulcan, the planet, was seen by Herschel 124\n\nWarts on mental body 49\n\nWater, nature-spirits of 84\n\nWaves, life- (see life-waves)\n\nWealth of the heaven world 91\n\nWhirling sphere of matter 19-21\n  vortex in 20\n\nWill, the divine 6, 11\n  evolution is 11, 120\n  fulfilment of 118\n\nWisdom, Masters of the (see Masters)\n\nWord of God, the 9\n\nWorld, departments of the 11\n  King of this 11\n  -period 124\n\nWorlds, bliss of the higher 89-90\n  inhabitants of finer 25-6\n  man exists in several 2-3\n  of different densities 3\n  seven interpenetrating 20, 23-4","title":"A Textbook of Theosophy","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":44716}