{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_13407/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_13407","id":"gutenberg_13407","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13407","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Hinduism","Yoga, J\u00f1ana"],"text":"A SERIES OF\n\nLessons in Gnani Yoga (The Yoga of Wisdom.)\n\nBY YOGI RAMACHARAKA.\n\n\nTHIS BOOK GIVES THE HIGHEST YOGI TEACHINGS REGARDING THE ABSOLUTE AND\nITS MANIFESTATIONS.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\nLESSON                                   PAGE\n\n   I.  The One                              1\n\n  II.  Omnipresent Life                    27\n\n III.  The Creative Will                   51\n\n  IV.  The Unity of Life                   75\n\n   V.  The One and the Many               101\n\n  VI.  Within the Mind of the One         127\n\n VII.  Cosmic Evolution                   153\nVIII.  The Ascent of Man                  177\n\n  IX.  Metempsychosis                     203\n\n   X.  Spiritual Evolution                229\n\n  XI.  The Law of Karma                   253\n\n XII.  Occult Miscellany                  277\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIRST LESSON\n\n\nTHE ONE.\n\nThe Yogi Philosophy may be divided into several great branches, or\nfields. What is known as \"Hatha Yoga\" deals with the physical body and\nits control; its welfare; its health; its preservation; its laws, etc.\nWhat is known as \"Raja Yoga\" deals with the Mind; its control; its\ndevelopment; its unfoldment, etc. What is known as \"Bhakti Yoga\" deals\nwith the Love of the Absolute--God. What is known as \"Gnani Yoga\" deals\nwith the scientific and intellectual knowing of the great questions\nregarding Life and what lies back of Life--the Riddle of the Universe.\n\nEach branch of Yoga is but a path leading toward the one\nend--unfoldment, development, and growth. He who wishes first to\ndevelop, control and strengthen his physical body so as to render it a\nfit instrument of the Higher Self, follows the path of \"Hatha Yoga.\" He\nwho would develop his will-power and mental faculties, unfolding the\ninner senses, and latent powers, follows the path of \"Raja Yoga.\" He\nwho wishes to develop by \"knowing\"--by studying the fundamental\nprinciples, and the wonderful truths underlying Life, follows the path\nof \"Gnani Yoga.\" And he who wishes to grow into a union with the One\nLife by the influence of Love, he follows the path of \"Bhakti Yoga.\"\n\nBut it must not be supposed that the student must ally himself to only\na single one of these paths to power. In fact, very few do. The\nmajority prefer to gain a rounded knowledge, and acquaint themselves\nwith the principles of the several branches, learning something of\neach, giving preference of course to those branches that appeal to them\nmore strongly, this attraction being the indication of _need_, or\nrequirement, and, therefore, being the hand pointing out the path.\n\nIt is well for every one to know something of \"Hatha Yoga,\" in order\nthat the body may be purified, strengthened, and kept in health in\norder to become a more fitting instrument of the Higher Self. It is\nwell that each one should know something of \"Raja Yoga,\" that he may\nunderstand the training and control of the mind, and the use of the\nWill. It is well that every one should learn the wisdom of \"Gnani\nYoga,\" that he may realize the wonderful truths underlying life--the\nscience of Being. And, most assuredly every one should know something\nof Bhakti Yogi, that he may understand the great teachings regarding\nthe Love underlying all life.\n\nWe have written a work on \"Hatha Yoga,\" and a course on \"Raja Yoga\"\nwhich is now in book form. We have told you something regarding \"Gnani\nYoga\" in our Fourteen Lessons, and also in our Advanced Course. We have\nwritten something regarding \"Bhakti Yoga\" in our Advanced Course, and,\nwe hope, have taught it also all through our other lessons, for we fail\nto see how one can teach or study any of the branches of Yoga without\nbeing filled with a sense of Love and Union with the Source of all\nLife. To know the Giver of Life, is to love him, and the more we know\nof him, the more love will we manifest.\n\nIn this course of lessons, of which this is the first, we shall take up\nthe subject of \"Gnani Yoga\"--the Yoga of Wisdom, and will endeavor to\nmake plain some of its most important and highest teachings. And, we\ntrust that in so doing, we shall be able to awaken in you a still\nhigher realization of your relationship with the One, and a\ncorresponding Love for that in which you live, and move and have your\nbeing. We ask for your loving sympathy and cooperation in our task.\n\nLet us begin by a consideration of what has been called the \"Questions\nof Questions\"--the question: \"What is Reality?\" To understand the\nquestion we have but to take a look around us and view the visible\nworld. We see great masses of something that science has called\n\"matter.\" We see in operation a wonderful something called \"force\" or\n\"energy\" in its countless forms of manifestations. We see things that\nwe call \"forms of life,\" varying in manifestation from the tiny speck\nof slime that we call the Moneron, up to that form that we call Man.\n\nBut study this world of manifestations by means of science and\nresearch--and such study is of greatest value--still we must find\nourselves brought to a point where we cannot progress further. Matter\nmelts into mystery--Force resolves itself into something else--the\nsecret of living-forms subtly elude us--and mind is seen as but the\nmanifestation of something even finer. But in losing these things of\nappearance and manifestation, we find ourselves brought up face to face\nwith a Something Else that we see must underlie all these varying\nforms, shapes and manifestations. And that Something Else, we call\nReality, because it is Real, Permanent, Enduring. And although men may\ndiffer, dispute, wrangle, and quarrel about this Reality, still there\nis one point upon which they must agree, and that is that _Reality is\nOne_--that underlying all forms and manifestations there must be a\n_One_ Reality from which all things flow. And this inquiry into this\nOne Reality is indeed the Question of Questions of the Universe.\n\nThe highest reason of Man--as well as his deepest intuition--has always\nrecognized that this Reality or Underlying Being must be but ONE, of\nwhich all Nature is but varying degrees of manifestation, emanation, or\nexpression. All have recognized that Life is a stream flowing from One\ngreat fount, the nature and name of which is unknown--some have said\nunknowable. Differ as men do about theories regarding the nature of\nthis one, they all agree that it can be but One. It is only when men\nbegin to name and analyze this One, that confusion results.\n\nLet us see what men have thought and said about this One--it _may_ help\nus to understand the nature of the problem.\n\nThe materialist claims that this one is a something called\nMatter--self-existent--eternal--infinite--containing within itself the\npotentiality of Matter, Energy and Mind. Another school, closely allied\nto the materialists, claim that this One is a something called Energy,\nof which Matter and Mind are but modes of motion. The Idealists claim\nthat the One is a something called Mind, and that Matter and Force are\nbut ideas in that One Mind. Theologians claim that this One is a\nsomething called a personal God, to whom they attribute certain\nqualities, characteristics, etc., the same varying with their creeds\nand dogmas. The Naturistic school claims that this One is a something\ncalled Nature, which is constantly manifesting itself in countless\nforms. The occultists, in their varying schools, Oriental and\nOccidental, have taught that the One was a Being whose Life constituted\nthe life of all living forms.\n\nAll philosophies, all science, all religions, inform us that this world\nof shapes, forms and names is but a phenomenal or shadow world--a\nshow-world--back of which rests Reality, called by some name of the\nteacher. But remember this, _all philosophy that counts_ is based upon\nsome form of monism--Oneness--whether the concept be a known or unknown\ngod; an unknown or unknowable principle; a substance; an Energy, or\nSpirit. There is but One--there can be but One--such is the inevitable\nconclusion of the highest human reason, intuition or faith.\n\nAnd, likewise, the same reason informs us that this One Life must\npermeate all apparent forms of life, and that all apparent material\nforms, forces, energies, and principles must be emanations from that\nOne, and, consequently \"of\" it. It may be objected to, that the creeds\nteaching a personal god do not so hold, for they teach that their God\nis the creator of the Universe, which he has set aside from himself as\na workman sets aside his workmanship. But this objection avails naught,\nfor where could such a creator obtain the material for his universe,\nexcept from himself; and where the energy, except from the same source;\nand where the Life, unless from his One Life. So in the end, it is seen\nthat there must be but One--not two, even if we prefer the terms God\n_and_ his Universe, for even in this case the Universe must have\nproceeded from God, and can only live, and move and act, and think, by\nvirtue of his Essence permeating it.\n\nIn passing by the conceptions of the various thinkers, we are struck by\nthe fact that the various schools seem to manifest a one-sidedness in\ntheir theories, seeing only that which fits in with their theories, and\nignoring the rest. The Materialist talks about Infinite and Eternal\nMatter, although the latest scientific investigations have shown us\nMatter fading into Nothingness--the Eternal Atom being split into\ncountless particles called Corpuscles or Electrons, which at the last\nseem to be nothing but a unit of Electricity, tied up in a \"knot in the\nEther\"--although just what the Ether is, Science does not dare to\nguess. And Energy, also seems to be unthinkable except as operating\nthrough matter, and always seems to be acting under the operation of\nLaws--and Laws without a Law giver, and a Law giver without mind or\nsomething higher than Mind, is unthinkable. And Mind, as we know it,\nseems to be bound up with matter and energy in a wonderful combination,\nand is seen to be subject to laws outside of itself, and to be varying,\ninconstant, and changeable, which attributes cannot be conceived of as\nbelonging to the Absolute. Mind as we know it, as well as Matter and\nEnergy, is held by the highest occult teachers to be but an appearance\nand a relativity of something far more fundamental and enduring, and we\nare compelled to fall back upon that old term which wise men have used\nin order to describe that Something Else that lies back of, and under,\nMatter, Energy and Mind--and that word is \"Spirit.\"\n\nWe cannot tell just what is meant by the word \"Spirit,\" for we have\nnothing with which to describe it. But we can think of it as meaning\nthe \"essence\" of Life and Being--the Reality underlying Universal Life.\n\nOf course no name can be given to this One, that will fitly describe\nit. But we have used the term \"The Absolute\" in our previous lessons,\nand consider it advisable to continue its use, although the student may\nsubstitute any other name that appeals to him more strongly. We do not\nuse the word God (except occasionally in order to bring out a shade of\nmeaning) not because we object to it, but because by doing so we would\nrun the risk of identifying The Absolute with some idea of a personal\ngod with certain theological attributes. Nor does the word \"Principle\"\nappeal to us, for it seems to imply a cold, unfeeling, abstract thing,\nwhile we conceive the Absolute Spirit or Being to be a warm, vital,\nliving, acting, feeling Reality. We do not use the word Nature, which\nmany prefer, because of its materialistic meaning to the minds of many,\nalthough the word is very dear to us when referring to the outward\nmanifestation of the Absolute Life.\n\nOf the real nature of The Absolute, of course, we can know practically\nnothing, because it transcends all human experience and Man has nothing\nwith which he can measure the Infinite. Spinoza was right when he said\nthat \"to define God is to deny him,\" for any attempt to define, is, of\ncourse an attempt to limit or make finite the Infinite. To define a\nthing is to identify it with something else--and where is the something\nelse with which to identify the Infinite? The Absolute cannot be\ndescribed in terms of the Relative. It is not Something, although it\ncontains within itself the reality underlying Everything. It cannot be\nsaid to have the qualities of any of its apparently separated parts,\nfor it is the ALL. It is all that really IS.\n\nIt is beyond Matter, Force, or Mind as we know it, and yet these things\nemanate from it, and must be within its nature. For what is in the\nmanifested must be in the manifestor--no stream can rise higher than\nits source--the effect cannot be greater than the cause--you cannot get\nsomething out of nothing.\n\nBut it is hard for the human mind to take hold of That which is beyond\nits experience--many philosophers consider it impossible--and so we\nmust think of the Absolute in the concepts and terms of its highest\nmanifestation. We find Mind higher in the scale than Matter or Energy,\nand so we are justified in using the terms of Mind in speaking of the\nAbsolute, rather than the terms of Matter or Energy--so let us try to\nthink of an Infinite Mind, whose powers and capacities are raised to an\ninfinite degree--a Mind of which Herbert Spencer said that it was \"a\nmode of being as much transcending intelligence and will, as these\ntranscend mere mechanical motion.\"\n\nWhile it is true (as all occultists know) that the best information\nregarding the Absolute come from regions of the Self higher than\nIntellect, yet we are in duty bound to examine the reports of the\nIntellect concerning its information regarding the One. The Intellect\nhas been developed in us for use--for the purpose of examining,\nconsidering, thinking--and it behooves us to employ it. By turning it\nto this purpose, we not only strengthen and unfold it, but we also get\ncertain information that can reach us by no other channel. And\nmoreover, by such use of the Intellect we are able to discover many\nfallacies and errors that have crept into our minds from the opinions\nand dogmas of others--as Kant said: \"The chief, and perhaps the only,\nuse of a philosophy of pure reason is a negative one. It is not an\norganon for extending, but a discipline for limiting! Instead of\ndiscovering truth, its modest function is to guard against error.\" Let\nus then listen to the report of the Intellect, as well as of the higher\nfields of mentation.\n\nOne of the first reports of the Intellect, concerning the Absolute, is\nthat it must have existed forever, and must continue to exist forever.\nThere is no escape from this conclusion, whether one view the matter\nfrom the viewpoint of the materialist, philosopher, occultist, or\ntheologian. The Absolute could not have sprung from Nothing, and there\nwas no other cause outside of itself from which it could have emanated.\nAnd there can be no cause outside of itself which can terminate its\nbeing. And we cannot conceive of Infinite Life, or Absolute Life,\ndying. So the Absolute must be Eternal--such is the report of the\nIntellect.\n\nThis idea of the Eternal is practically unthinkable to the human mind,\nalthough it is forced to believe that it must be a quality of the\nAbsolute. The trouble arises from the fact that the Intellect is\ncompelled to see everything through the veil of Time, and Cause and\nEffect. Now, Cause and Effect, and Time, are merely phenomena or\nappearances of the relative world, and have no place in the Absolute\nand Real. Let us see if we can understand this.\n\nReflection will show you that the only reason that you are unable to\nthink of or picture a Causeless Cause, is because everything that you\nhave experienced in this relative world of the senses has had a\ncause--something from which it sprung. You have seen Cause and Effect\nin full operation all about you, and quite naturally your Intellect has\ntaken it for granted that there can be nothing uncaused--nothing\nwithout a preceding cause. And the Intellect is perfectly right, so far\nas Things are concerned, for all Things are relative and are therefore\ncaused. But back of the caused things must lie THAT which is the Great\nCauser of Things, and which, not being a Thing itself, cannot have been\ncaused--cannot be the effect of a cause. Your minds reel when you try\nto form a mental image of That which has had no cause, because you have\nhad no experience in the sense world of such a thing, and there fail to\nform the image. It is out of your experience, and you cannot form the\nmental picture. But yet your mind is compelled to believe that there\nmust have been an Original One, that can have had no cause. This is a\nhard task for the Intellect, but in time it comes to see just where the\ntrouble lies, and ceases to interpose objections to the voice of the\nhigher regions of the self.\n\nAnd, the Intellect experiences a similar difficulty when it tries to\nthink of an Eternal--a That which is above and outside of Time. We see\nTime in operation everywhere, and take it for granted that Time is a\nreality--an actual thing. But this is a mistake of the senses. There is\nno such thing as Time, in reality. Time exists solely in our minds. It\nis merely a form of perception by which we express our consciousness of\nthe Change in Things.\n\nWe cannot think of Time except in connection with a succession of\nchanges of things in our consciousness--either things of the outer\nworld, or the passing of thought-things through our mind. A day is\nmerely the consciousness of the passing of the sun--an hour or minute\nmerely the subdivision of the day, or else the consciousness of the\nmovement of the hands of the clock--merely the consciousness of the\nmovement of Things--the symbols of changes in Things. In a world\nwithout changes in Things, there would be no such thing as Time. Time\nis but a mental invention. Such is the report of the Intellect.\n\nAnd, besides the conclusions of pure abstract reasoning about Time, we\nmay see many instances of the relativity of Time in our everyday\nexperiences. We all know that when we are interested Time seems to pass\nrapidly, and when we are bored it drags along in a shameful manner. We\nknow that when we are happy, Time develops the speed of a meteor, while\nwhen we are unhappy it crawls like a tortoise. When we are interested\nor happy our attention is largely diverted from the changes occurring\nin things--because we do not notice the Things so closely. And while we\nare miserable or bored, we notice the details in Things, and their\nchanges, until the length of time seems interminable. A tiny insect\nmite may, and does, live a lifetime of birth, growth, marriage,\nreproduction, old age, and death, in a few minutes, and no doubt its\nlife seems as full as does that of the elephant with his hundred years.\nWhy? _Because so many things haze happened!_ When we are conscious of\nmany things happening, we get the impression and sensation of the\nlength of time. The greater the consciousness of things, the greater\nthe sensation of Time. When we are so interested in talking to a loved\none that we forget all that is occurring about us, then the hours fly\nby unheeded, while the same hours seem like days to one in the same\nplace who is not interested or occupied with some task.\n\nMen have nodded, and in the second before awakening they have dreamed\nof events that seemed to have required the passage of years. Many of\nyou have had experiences of this kind, and many such cases have been\nrecorded by science. On the other hand, one may fall asleep and remain\nunconscious, but without dreams, for hours, and upon awakening will\ninsist that he has merely nodded. Time belongs to the relative mind,\nand has no place in the Eternal or Absolute.\n\nNext, the Intellect informs us that it must think of the Absolute as\nInfinite in Space--present everywhere--Omnipresent. It cannot be\nlimited, for there is nothing outside of itself to limit it. There is\nno such place as Nowhere. Every place is in the Everywhere. And\nEverywhere is filled with the All--the Infinite Reality--the Absolute.\n\nAnd, just as was the case with the idea of Time, we find it most\ndifficult--if not indeed impossible--to form an idea of an\nOmnipresent--of That which occupies Infinite Space. This because\neverything that our minds have experienced has had dimensions and\nlimits. The secret lies in the fact that Space, like Time, has no real\nexistence outside of our perception of consciousness of the relative\nposition of Things--material objects. We see this thing here, and that\nthing there. Between them is Nothingness. We take another object, say a\nyard-stick, and measure off this Nothingness between the two objects,\nand we call this measure of Nothingness by the term Distance. And yet\nwe cannot have measured Nothingness--that is impossible. What have we\nreally done? Simply this, determined how many lengths of yard-stick\ncould be laid between the other two objects.\n\nWe call this process measuring Space, but Space is Nothing, and we have\nmerely determined the relative position of objects. To \"measure Space\"\nwe must have three Things or objects, _i.e._, (l) The object from which\nwe start the measure; (2) The object with which we measure; and (3) The\nobject with which we end our measurement. We are unable to conceive of\nInfinite Space, because we lack the third object in the measuring\nprocess--the ending object. We may use ourselves as a starting point,\nand the mental yard-stick is always at hand, but where is the object at\nthe other side of Infinity of Space by which the measurement may be\nended? It is not there, and we cannot think of the end without it.\n\nLet us start with ourselves, and try to imagine a million million\nmiles, and then multiply them by another million million miles, a\nmillion million times. What have we done? Simply extended our mental\nyard-stick a certain number of times to an imaginary point in the\nNothingness that we call Space. So far so good, but the mind\nintuitively recognizes that beyond that imaginary point at the end of\nthe last yard-stick, there is a capacity for an infinite extension of\nyard-sticks--an infinite capacity for such extension. Extension of\nwhat? Space? No! Yard-sticks! Objects! Things! Without material objects\nSpace is unthinkable. It has no existence outside of our consciousness\nof Things. There is no such thing as Real Space. Space is merely an\ninfinite capacity for extending objects. Space itself is merely a name\nfor Nothingness. If you can form an idea of an object swept out of\nexistence, and nothing to take its place, that Nothing would be called\nSpace, the term implying the possibility of placing something there\nwithout displacing anything else.\n\nSize, of course, is but another form of speaking of Distance. And in\nthis connection let us not forget that just as one may think of Space\nbeing infinite in the direction of largeness, so may we think of it as\nbeing infinite in the sense of smallness. No matter how small may be an\nobject thought of, we are still able to think of it as being capable of\nsubdivision, and so on infinitely. There is no limit in this direction\neither. As Jakob has said: \"The conception of the infinitely minute is\nas little capable of being grasped by us, as is that of the infinitely\ngreat. Despite this, the admission of the reality of the infinitude,\nboth in the direction of greatness and of minuteness, is inevitable.\"\n\nAnd, as Radenhausen has said: \"The idea of Space is only an unavoidable\nillusion of our Consciousness, or of our finite nature, and does not\nexist outside of ourselves; the universe is infinitely small and\ninfinitely great.\"\n\nThe telescope has opened to us ideas of magnificent vastness and\ngreatness, and the perfected microscope has opened to us a world of\nmagnificent smallness and minuteness. The latter has shown us that a\ndrop of water is a world of minute living forms who live, eat, fight,\nreproduce, and die. The mind is capable of imagining a universe\noccupying no more space than one million-millionth of the tiniest speck\nvisible under the strongest microscope--and then imagining such a\nuniverse containing millions of suns and worlds similar to our own, and\ninhabited by living forms akin to ours--living, thinking men and women,\nidentical in every respect to ourselves. Indeed, as some philosophers\nhave said, if our Universe were suddenly reduced to such a size--the\nrelative proportions of everything being preserved, of course--then we\nwould not be conscious of any change, and life would go on the same,\nand we would be of the same importance to ourselves and to the Absolute\nas we are this moment. And the same would be true were the Universe\nsuddenly enlarged a million-million times. These changes would make no\ndifference in reality. Compared with each other, the tiniest speck and\nthe largest sun are practically the same size when viewed from the\nAbsolute.\n\nWe have dwelt upon these things so that you would be able to better\nrealize the relativity of Space and Time, and perceive that they are\nmerely symbols of Things used by the mind in dealing with finite\nobjects, and have no place in reality. When this is realized, then the\nidea of Infinity in Time and Space is more readily grasped.\n\nAs Radenhausen says: \"Beyond the range of human reason there is neither\nSpace nor Time; they are arbitrary conceptions of man, at which he has\narrived by the comparison and arrangement of different impressions\nwhich he has received from the outside world. The conception of Space\narises from the sequence of the various forms which fill Space, by\nwhich the external world appears to the individual man. The conception\nof Time arises from the sequence of the various forms which change in\nspace (motion), by which the external world acts on the individual man,\nand so on. But externally to ourselves, the distinction between\nrepletion of Space and mutation of Space does not exist, for each is in\nconstant transmutation, whatever is is filling and changing at the same\ntime--nothing is at a standstill,\" and to quote Ruckert: \"The world has\nneither beginning nor end, in space nor in time. Everywhere is center\nand turning-point, and in a moment is eternity.\"\n\nNext, the Intellect informs us that we must think of the Absolute as\ncontaining within Itself all the Power there is, because there can be\nno other source or reservoir of Power, and there can be no Power\noutside of the All-Power. There can be no Power outside of the Absolute\nto limit, confine, or conflict with It. Any laws of the Universe must\nhave been imposed by It, for there is no other law-giver, and every\nmanifestation of Energy, Force, or Power, perceived or evident in\nNature must be a part of the Power of the Absolute working along lines\nlaid down by it. In the Third Lesson, which will be entitled The\nWill-to-Live, we shall see this Power manifesting along the lines of\nLife as we know it.\n\nNext, the Intellect informs us that it is compelled to think of the\nAbsolute as containing within Itself all possible Knowledge or Wisdom,\nbecause there can be no Knowledge or Wisdom outside of It, and\ntherefore all the Wisdom and Knowledge possible must be within It. We\nsee Mind, Wisdom, and Knowledge manifested by relative forms of Life,\nand such must emanate from the Absolute in accordance with certain laws\nlaid down by It, for otherwise there would be no such wisdom, etc., for\nthere is nowhere outside of the All from whence it could come. The\neffect cannot be greater than the cause. If there is anything unknown\nto the Absolute, then it will never be known to finite minds. So,\ntherefore, ALL KNOWLEDGE that Is, Has Been, or Can Be, must be NOW\nvested in the One--the Absolute.\n\nThis does not mean that the Absolute _thinks_, in any such sense as\ndoes Man. The Absolute must Know, without Thinking. It does not have to\ngather Knowledge by the process of Thinking, as does Man--such an Idea\nwould be ridiculous, for from whence could the Knowledge come outside\nof itself. When man thinks he draws to himself Knowledge from the\nUniversal source by the action of the Mind, but the Absolute has only\nitself to draw on. So we cannot imagine the Absolute compelled to Think\nas we do.\n\nBut, lest we be misunderstood regarding this phase of the subject, we\nmay say here that the highest occult teachings inform us that the\nAbsolute _does_ manifest a quality somewhat akin to what we would call\nconstructive thought, and that such \"thoughts\" manifest into\nobjectivity and manifestation, and become Creation. Created Things,\naccording to the Occult teachings are \"Thoughts of God.\" Do not let\nthis idea disturb you, and cause you to feel that you are nothing,\nbecause you have been called into being by a Thought of the Infinite\nOne. Even a Thought of that One would be intensely real in the relative\nworld--actually Real to all except the Absolute itself--and even the\nAbsolute knows that the _Real_ part of its Creations must be a part of\nitself manifested through its thought, for the Thought of the Infinite\nmust be Real, and a part of Itself, for it cannot be anything else, and\nto call it Nothing is merely to juggle with words. The faintest Thought\nof the Infinite One would be far more real than anything man could\ncreate--as solid as the mountain--as hard as steel--as durable as the\ndiamond--for, verily, even these are emanations of the Mind of the\nInfinite, and are things of but a day, while the higher Thoughts--the\nsoul of Man--contains within itself a spark from the Divine Flame\nitself--the Spirit of the Infinite. But these things will appear in\ntheir own place, as we proceed with this series. We have merely given\nyou a little food for thought at this point, in connection with the\nMind of the Absolute.\n\nSo you see, good friends and students, that the Intellect in its\nhighest efforts, informs us that it finds itself compelled to report\nthat the One--the Absolute--That which it is compelled to admit really\nexists--must be a One possessed of a nature so far transcending human\nexperience that the human mind finds itself without the proper\nconcepts, symbols, and words with which to think of It. But none the\nless, the Intellect finds itself bound by its own laws to postulate the\nexistence of such an One.\n\nIt is the veriest folly to try to think of the One as It is \"in\nItself\"--for we have nothing but human attributes with which to measure\nit, and It so far transcends such measurements that the mental\nyard-sticks run out into infinity and are lost sight of. The highest\nminds of the race inform us that the most exalted efforts of their\nreason compels them to report that the One--in Itself--cannot be spoken\nof as possessing attributes or qualities capable of being expressed in\nhuman words employed to describe the Things of the relative world--and\nall of our words are such. All of our words originate from such ideas,\nand all of our ideas arise from our experience, directly or indirectly.\nSo we are not equipped with words with which to think of or speak of\nthat which transcends experience, although our Intellect informs us\nthat Reality lies back of our experience.\n\nPhilosophy finds itself unable to do anything better than to bring us\nface to face with high paradoxes. Science in its pursuit of Truth finds\nit cunningly avoiding it, and ever escaping its net. And we believe\nthat the Absolute purposely causes this to be, that in the end Man may\nbe compelled to look for the Spirit within himself--the only place\nwhere he can come in touch with it. This, we think, is the answer to\nthe Riddle of the Sphinx--\"Look Within for that which Thou needest.\"\n\nBut while the Spirit may be discerned only by looking within ourselves,\nwe find that once the mind realizes that the Absolute Is, it will be\nable to see countless evidences of its action and presence by observing\nmanifested Life without. All Life is filled with the Life Power and\nWill of the Absolute.\n\nTo us Life is but One--the Universe is a living Unity, throbbing,\nthrilling and pulsating with the Will-to-Live of the Absolute. Back of\nall apparent shapes, forms, names, forces, elements, principles and\nsubstances, there is but One--One Life, present everywhere, and\nmanifesting in an infinitude of shapes, forms, and forces All\nindividual lives are but centers of consciousness in the One Life\nunderlying, depending upon it for degree of unfoldment, expression and\nmanifestation.\n\nThis may sound like Pantheism to some, but it is very different from\nthe Pantheism of the schools and cults. Pantheism is defined as \"the\ndoctrine that God consists in the combined forces and laws manifested\nin the existing Universe,\" or that \"the Universe taken or conceived as\na whole is God.\" These definitions do not fit the conception of the\nAbsolute, of the Yogi Philosophy--they seem to breathe but a refined\nmaterialism. The Absolute is not \"the combined forces and laws\nmanifested in the universe,\" nor \"the universe conceived as a whole.\"\nInstead, the Universe, its forces and laws, even conceived as a whole,\nhave no existence in themselves, but are mere manifestations of the\nAbsolute. Surely this is different from Pantheism.\n\nWe teach that the Absolute is immanent in, and abiding in all forms of\nLife in the Universe, as well as in its forces and laws--all being but\nmanifestations of the Will of the One. And we teach that this One is\nsuperior to all forms of manifestations, and that Its existence and\nbeing does not depend upon the manifestations, which are but effects of\nthe Cause.\n\nThe Pantheistic Universe--God is but a thing of phenomenal appearance,\nbut the Absolute is the very Spirit of Life--a Living, Existing\nReality, and would be so even if every manifestation were withdrawn\nfrom appearance and expression--drawn back into the source from which\nit emanated. The Absolute is more than Mountain or Ocean--Electricity\nor Gravitation--Monad or Man--It is SPIRIT--LIFE--BEING--REALITY--the\nONE THAT IS. Omnipotent, Omnipresent; Omniscient; Eternal; Infinite;\nAbsolute; these are Man's greatest words, and yet they but feebly\nportray a shadow thrown by the One Itself.\n\nThe Absolute is not a far-away Being directing our affairs at long\nrange--not an absentee Deity--but an Immanent Life in and about us\nall--manifesting in us and creating us into individual centers of\nconsciousness, in pursuance with some great law of being.\n\nAnd, more than this, the Absolute instead of being an indifferent and\nunmoved spectator to its own creation, is a thriving, longing, active,\nsuffering, rejoicing, feeling Spirit, partaking of the feelings of its\nmanifestations, rather than callously witnessing them. It lives in\nus--with us--through us. Back of all the pain in the world may be found\na great feeling and suffering love. The pain of the world is not\npunishment or evidence of divine wrath, but the incidents of the\nworking out of some cosmic plan, in which the Absolute is the Actor,\nthrough the forms of Its manifestations.\n\nThe message of the Absolute to some of the Illumined has been, \"All is\nbeing done in the best and only possible way--I am doing the best I\ncan--all is well--and in the end will so appear.\"\n\nThe Absolute is no personal Deity--yet in itself it contains all that\ngoes to make up all personality and all human relations. Father,\nMother, Child, Friend, is in It. All forms of human love and craving\nfor sympathy, understanding and companionship may find refuge in loving\nthe Absolute.\n\nThe Absolute is constantly in evidence in our lives, and yet we have\nbeen seeking it here and there in the outer world, asking it to show\nitself and prove Its existence. Well may it say to us: \"Hast thou been\nso long time with me, and hast thou not known me?\" This is the great\ntragedy of Life, that the Spirit comes to us--Its own--and we know It\nnot. We fail to hear Its words: \"Oh, ye who mourn, I suffer with you\nand through you. Yea, it is I who grieve in you. Your pain is mine--to\nthe last pang. I suffer all pain through you--and yet I rejoice beyond\nyou, for I know that through you, and with you, I shall conquer.\"\n\nAnd this is a faint idea of what we believe the Absolute to be. In the\nfollowing lessons we shall see it in operation in all forms of life,\nand in ourselves. We shall get close to the workings of Its mighty\nWill--close to Its Heart of Love.\n\nCarry with you the Central Thought of the Lesson: CENTRAL THOUGHT.\nThere is but One Life in the Universe. And underlying that One\nLife--Its Real Self--Its Essence--Its Spirit--is The Absolute, living,\nfeeling, suffering, rejoicing, longing, striving, in and through us.\nThe Absolute is all that really Is, and all the visible Universe and\nforms of Life is Its expression, through Its Will. We lack words\nadequate to describe the nature of the Absolute, but we will use two\nwords describing its inmost nature as best we see it. These two words\nare LIFE and LOVE, the one describing the outer, the other the inner\nnature. Let us manifest both Life and Love as a token of our origin and\ninner nature. Peace be with you.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SECOND LESSON\n\n\nOMNIPRESENT LIFE.\n\nIn our First Lesson of this series, we brought out the idea that the\nhuman mind was compelled to report the fact that it could not think of\nThe Absolute except as possessing the quality of\nOmnipresence--Present-Everywhere. And, likewise, the human mind is\ncompelled to think that all there IS must be The Absolute, or _of_ the\nAbsolute. And if a thing is _of_ the Absolute, then the Absolute must\nbe _in_ it, in some way--must be the _essence_ of it. Granting this, we\nmust then think that everything must be filled with the essence of\nLife, for Life must be one of the qualities of the Absolute, or rather\nwhat we call Life must be the outward expression of the essential Being\nof the Absolute. And if this be so, then it would follow that\n_everything in the Universe must be Alive_. The mind cannot escape this\nconclusion. And if the facts do not bear out this conclusion then we\nmust be forced to admit that the entire basic theory of the Absolute\nand its emanations must fall, and be considered as an error. No chain\nis stronger than its weakest link, and if this link be too weak to bear\nthe weight of the facts of the universe, then must the chain be\ndiscarded as imperfect and useless, and another substituted. This fact\nis not generally mentioned by those speaking and writing of All being\nOne, or an emanation of the One, but it must be considered and met. If\nthere is a single thing in the Universe that is\n\"dead\"--non-living--lifeless--then the theory must fall. If a thing is\nnon-living, then the essence of the Absolute cannot be in it--it must\nbe alien and foreign to the Absolute, and in that case the Absolute\ncannot be Absolute for there is something outside of itself. And so it\nbecomes of the greatest importance to examine into the evidences of the\npresence of Life in all things, organic or inorganic. The evidence is\nat hand--let us examine it.\n\nThe ancient occultists of all peoples always taught that the Universe\nwas Alive--that there was Life in everything--that there was nothing\ndead in Nature--that Death meant simply a change in form in the\nmaterial of the dead bodies. They taught that Life, in varying degrees\nof manifestation and expression, was present in everything and object,\neven down to the hardest mineral form, and the atoms composing that\nform.\n\nModern Science is now rapidly advancing to the same position, and each\nmonths investigations and discoveries serve only to emphasize the\nteachings.\n\nBurbank, that wonderful moulder of plant life, has well expressed this\nthought, when he says: \"All my investigations have led me away from the\nidea of a dead material universe tossed about by various forces, to\nthat of a universe which is absolutely all force, life, soul, thought,\nor whatever name we may choose to call it. Every atom, molecule, plant,\nanimal or planet, is only an aggregation of organized unit forces, held\nin place by stronger forces, thus holding them for a time latent,\nthough teeming with inconceivable power. All life on our planet is, so\nto speak, just on the outer fringe of this infinite ocean of force. The\nuniverse is not half dead, but all alive.\"\n\nScience today is gazing upon a living universe. She has not yet\nrealized the full significance of what she has discovered, and her\nhands are raised as if to shade her eyes from the unaccustomed glare\nthat is bursting upon her. From the dark cavern of universal dead\nmatter, she has stepped out into the glare of the noon-day sun of a\nUniverse All-Alive even to its smallest and apparently most inert\nparticle.\n\nBeginning at Man, the highest form of Life known to us, we may pass\nrapidly down the scale of animal life, seeing life in full operation at\neach descending step. Passing from the animal to the vegetable kingdom,\nwe still see Life in full operation, although in lessened degrees of\nexpression. We shall not stop here to review the many manifestations of\nLife among the forms of plant-life, for we shall have occasion to\nmention them in our next lesson, but it must be apparent to all that\nLife is constantly manifesting in the sprouting of seeds; the putting\nforth of stalk, leaves, blossoms, fruit, etc., and in the enormous\nmanifestation of force and energy in such growth and development. One\nmay see the life force in the plant pressing forth for expression and\nmanifestation, from the first sprouting of the seed, until the last\nvital action on the part of the mature plant or tree.\n\nBesides the vital action observable in the growth and development of\nplants, we know, of course, that plants sicken and die, and manifest\nall other attributes of living forms. There is no room for argument\nabout the presence of life in the plant kingdom.\n\nBut there are other forms of life far below the scale of the plants.\nThere is the world of the bacteria, microbes, infusoria--the groups of\ncells with a common life--the single cell creatures, down to the\nMonera, the creatures lower than the single cells--the Things of the\nslime of the ocean bed.\n\nThese tiny Things--living Things--present to the sight merely a tiny\nspeck of jelly, without organs of any kind. And yet they exercise all\nthe functions of life--movement, nutrition, reproduction, sensation,\nand dissolution. Some of these elementary forms are all stomach, that\nis they are all one organ capable of performing all the functions\nnecessary for the life of the animal. The creature has no mouth, but\nwhen it wishes to devour an object it simply envelopes it--wraps itself\naround it like a bit of glue around a gnat, and then absorbs the\nsubstance of its prey through its whole body.\n\nScientists have turned some of these tiny creatures inside out, and yet\nthey have gone on with their life functions undisturbed and untroubled.\nThey have cut them up into still tinier bits, and yet each bit lived on\nas a separate animal, performing all of its functions undisturbed. They\nare all the same all over, and all the way through. They reproduce\nthemselves by growing to a certain size, and then separating into two,\nand so on. The rapidity of the increase is most remarkable.\n\nHaekel says of the Monera: \"The Monera are the simplest permanent\ncytods. Their entire body consists of merely soft, structureless plasm.\nHowever thoroughly we may examine them with the help of the most\ndelicate reagents and the strongest optical instruments, we yet find\nthat all the parts are completely homogeneous. These Monera are\ntherefore, in the strictest sense of the word, 'organisms without\norgans,' or even in a strict philosophical sense they might not even be\ncalled organisms, since they possess no organs and since they are not\ncomposed of various particles. They can only be called organisms in so\nfar as they are capable of exercising the organic phenomena of life, of\nnutrition, reproduction, sensation and movement.\"\n\nVerworn records an interesting instance of life and mind among the\n_Rhizopods_, a very low form of living thing. He relates that the\n_Difflugia ampula_, a creature occupying a tiny shell formed of minute\nparticles of sand, has a long projection of its substance, like a\nfeeler or tendril, with which it searches on the bottom of the sea for\nsandy material with which to build the shell or outer covering for its\noffspring, which are born by division from the parent body. It grasps\nthe particle of sand by the feeler, and passes it into its body by\nenclosing it. Verworn removed the sand from the bottom of the tank,\nreplacing it by very minute particles of highly colored glass. Shortly\nafterward he noticed a collection of these particles of glass in the\nbody of the creature, and a little later he saw a tiny speck of\nprotoplasm emitted from the parent by separation. At the same time he\nnoticed that the bits of glass collected by the mother creature were\npassed out and placed around the body of the new creature, and cemented\ntogether by a substance secreted by the body of the parent, thus\nforming a shell and covering for the offspring. This proceeding showed\nthe presence of a mental something sufficient to cause the creature to\nprepare a shell for the offspring previous to its birth--or rather to\ngather the material for such shell, to be afterward used; to\ndistinguish the proper material; to mould it into shape, and cement it.\nThe scientist reported that a creature always gathered just exactly\nenough sand for its purpose--never too little, and never an excess. And\nthis in a creature that is little more than a tiny drop of glue!\n\nWe may consider the life actions of the Moneron a little further, for\nit is the lowest form of so-called \"living matter\"--the point at which\nliving forms pass off into non-living forms (so-called). This tiny\nspeck of glue--an organism without organs--is endowed with the faculty\ncalled sensation. It draws away from that which is likely to injure it,\nand toward that which it desires--all in response to an elementary\nsensation. It has the instinct of self-preservation and\nself-protection. It seeks and finds its prey, and then eats, digests\nand assimilates it. It is able to move about by \"false-feet,\" or bits\nof its body which it pushes forth at will from any part of its\nsubstance. It reproduces itself, as we have seen, by separation and\nself-division.\n\nThe life of the bacteria and germs--the yeasty forms of life--are\nfamiliar to many of us. And yet there are forms of life still below\nthese. The line between living forms and non-living forms is being set\nback further and further by science. Living creatures are now known\nthat resemble the non-living so closely that the line cannot be\ndefinitely drawn.\n\nLiving creatures are known that are capable of being dried and laid\naway for several years, and then may be revived by the application of\nmoisture. They resemble dust, but are full of life and function.\nCertain forms of bacilli are known to Science that have been subjected\nto degrees of heat and cold that are but terms to any but the\nscientific mind.\n\nLow forms of life called Diatoms or \"living crystals\" are known. They\nare tiny geometrical forms. They are composed of a tiny drop of plasm,\nresembling glue, covered by a thin shell of siliceous or sandy\nmaterial. They are visible only through the microscope, and are so\nsmall that thousands of them might be gathered together on the head of\na pin. They are so like chemical crystals that it requires a shrewd and\ncareful observer to distinguish them. And yet they are alive, and\nperform all the functions of life.\n\nLeaving these creatures, we enter the kingdom of the crystals, in our\nsearch for life. Yes, the crystals manifest life, as strange as this\nstatement may appear to those who have not followed the march of\nScience. The crystals are born, grow, live, and may be killed by\nchemicals or electricity. Science has added a new department called\n\"Plasmology,\" the purpose of which is the study of crystal life. Some\ninvestigators have progressed so far as to claim that they have\ndiscovered signs of rudimentary sex functioning among crystals. At any\nrate, crystals are born and grow like living things. As a recent\nscientific writer has said: \"Crystallization, as we are to learn now,\nis not a mere mechanical grouping of dead atoms. It is a birth.\"\n\nThe crystal forms from the mother liquor, and its body is built up\nsystematically, regularly, and according to a well defined plan or\npattern, just as are the body and bones of the animal form, and the\nwood and bark of the tree. There is life at work in the growth of the\ncrystal. And not only does the crystal grow, but it also reproduces\nitself by separation or splitting-off, just as is the case with the\nlower forms of life, just mentioned.\n\nThe principal point of difference between the growth and development of\nthe crystals and that of the lower forms of life referred to is that\nthe crystal takes its nourishment from the outside, and builds up from\nits outer surface, while the Monera absorbs its nourishment from\nwithin, and grows outwardly from within. If the crystal had a soft\ncenter, and took its nourishment in that way, it would be almost\nidentical with the Diatom, or, if the Diatom grew from the outside, it\nwould be but a crystal. A very fine dividing line.\n\nCrystals, like living forms, may be sterilized and rendered incapable\nof reproduction by chemical process, or electrical discharges. They may\nalso be \"killed\" and future growth prevented in this manner. Surely\nthis looks like \"Life,\" does it not?\n\nTo realize the importance of this idea of life among the crystals, we\nmust remember that our hardest rocks and metals are composed of\ncrystals, and that the dirt and earth upon which we grow and live are\nbut crumbled rock and miniature crystals. Therefore the very dust under\nour feet is alive. _There is nothing dead._ There is no transformation\nof \"dead matter\" into live plant matter, and then into live animal\nmatter. The chemicals are alive, and from chemical to man's body there\nis but a continuous change of shape and form of living matter. Any\nman's body, decomposing, is again resolved into chemicals, and the\nchain begins over again. Merely changes in living forms--that's all, so\nfar as the bodies are concerned.\n\nNature furnishes us with many examples of this presence of life in the\ninorganic world. We have but to look around to see the truth of the\nstatement that All is Alive. There is that which is known as the\n\"fatigue of elasticity\" in metals. Razors get tired, and require a\nrest. Tuning forks lose their powers of vibration, to a degree, and\nhave to be given a vacation. 'Machinery in mills and manufactories\nneeds an occasional day off. Metals are subject to disease and\ninfection, and have been poisoned and restored by antidotes. Window\nglass, especially stained glass, is subject to a disease spreading from\npane to pane.\n\nMen accustomed to handling and using tools and machinery naturally drop\ninto the habit of speaking of these things as if they were alive. They\nseem to recognize the presence of \"feeling\" in tools or machine, and to\nperceive in each a sort of \"character\" or personality, which must be\nrespected, humored, or coaxed in order to get the best results.\n\nPerhaps the most valuable testimony along these lines, and which goes\nvery far toward proving the centuries-old theories of the Yogis\nregarding Omnipresent Life, comes from Prof. J. Chunder Bose, of the\nCalcutta University, a Hindu educated in the English Universities,\nunder the best teachers, and who is now a leading scientific authority\nin the western world, tie has given to the world some very valuable\nscientific information along these lines in his book entitled\n\"_Response in the Living and Non-living_,\" which has caused the widest\ncomment and created the greatest interest among the highest scientific\nauthorities. His experiments along the lines of the gathering of\nevidence of life in the inorganic forms have revolutionized the\ntheories of modern science, and have done much to further the idea that\nlife is present everywhere, and that there is no such thing as dead\nmatter.\n\nHe bases his work upon the theory that the best and only true test for\nthe presence of life in matter is the response of matter to external\nstimulus. Proceeding from this fundamental theory he has proven by\nin-numerable experiments that so-called inorganic matter, minerals,\nmetals, etc., give a response to such stimulus, which response is\nsimilar, if not identical, to the response of the matter composing the\nbodies of plants, animals, men.\n\nHe devised delicate apparatus for the measurement of the response to\nthe outside stimulus, the degree, and other evidence being recorded in\ntraces on a revolving cylinder. The tracings or curves obtained from\ntin and other metals, when compared with those obtained from living\nmuscle, were found to be identical. He used a galvanometer, a very\ndelicate and accurate scientific instrument, in his experiments. This\ninstrument is so finely adjusted that the faintest current will cause a\ndeflection of the registering needle, which is delicately swung on a\ntiny pivot. If the galvanometer be attached to a human nerve, and the\nend of the nerve be irritated, the needle will register.\n\nProf. Bose found that when he attached the galvanometer to bars of\nvarious metals they gave a similar response when struck or twisted. The\ngreater the irritation applied to the metal, the greater the response\nregistered by the instrument. The analogy between the response of the\nmetal and that of the living muscle was startling. For instance, just\nas in the case of the living animal muscle or nerve matter, the\nresponse becomes fatigued, so in the case of the metal the curve\nregistered by the needle became fainter and still fainter, as the bar\nbecame more and more fatigued by the continued irritation. And again,\njust after such fatigue the muscle would become rested, and would again\nrespond actively, so would the metal when given a chance to recuperate.\n\nTetanus due to shocks constantly repeated, was caused and recovered.\nMetals recorded evidences of fatigue. Drugs caused identical effects on\nmetals and animals--some exciting; some depressing; some killing. Some\npoisonous chemicals killed pieces of metal, rendering them immobile and\ntherefore incapable of registering records on the apparatus. In some\ncases antidotes were promptly administered, and saved the life of the\nmetal.\n\nProf. Bose also conducted experiments on plants in the same way. Pieces\nof vegetable matter were found to be capable of stimulation, fatigue,\nexcitement, depression, poison. Mrs. Annie Besant, who witnessed some\nof these experiments in Calcutta, has written as follows regarding the\nexperiments on plant life: \"There is something rather pathetic in\nseeing the way in which the tiny spot of light which records the pulses\nin the plant, travels in ever weaker and weaker curves, when the plant\nis under the influence of poison, then falls into a final despairing\nstraight line, and--stops. One feels as though a murder has been\ncommitted--as indeed it has.\"\n\nIn one of Prof. Bose's public experiments he clearly demonstrated that\na bar of iron was fully as sensitive as the human body, and that it\ncould be irritated and stimulated in the same way, and finally could be\npoisoned and killed. \"Among such phenomena,\" he asks, \"how can we draw\nthe line of demarkation, and say, 'Here the physical ends, and there\nthe physiological begins'? No such barrier exists.\" According to his\ntheory, which agrees with the oldest occult theories, by the way, life\nis present in every object and form of Nature, and all forms respond to\nexternal stimulus, which response is a proof of the presence of life in\nthe form.\n\nProf. Bose's great book is full of the most startling results of\nexperiments. He proves that the metals manifest something like sleep;\ncan be killed; exhibit torpor and sluggishness; get tired or lazy; wake\nup; can be roused into activity; may be stimulated, strengthened,\nweakened; suffer from extreme cold and heat; may be drugged or\nintoxicated, the different metals manifesting a different response to\ncertain drugs, just as different men and animals manifest a varying\ndegree of similar resistance. The response of a piece of steel\nsubjected to the influence of a chemical poison shows a gradual\nfluttering and weakening until it finally dies away, just as animal\nmatter does when similarly poisoned. When revived in time by an\nantidote, the recovery was similarly gradual in both metal and muscle.\nA remarkable fact is noted by the scientist when he tells us that the\nvery poisons that kill the metals are themselves alive and may be\nkilled, drugged, stimulated, etc., showing the same response as in the\ncase of the metals, proving the existence in them of the same life that\nis in the metals and animal matter that they influence.\n\nOf course when these metals are \"killed\" there is merely a killing of\nthe metal as metal--the atoms and principles of which the metal is\ncomposed remaining fully alive and active, just as is the case with the\natom of the human body after the soul passes out--the body is as much\nalive after death as during the life of the person, the activity of the\nparts being along the lines of dissolution instead of construction in\nthat case.\n\nWe hear much of the claims of scientists who announce that they are on\nthe eve of \"_creating_ life\" from non-living matter. This is all\nnonsense--life can come only from life. Life from non-life is an\nabsurdity. And all Life comes from the One Life underlying All. But it\nis true that Science has done, is doing, and will do, something very\nmuch like \"creating life,\" but of course this is merely changing the\nform of Life into other forms--the lesser form into the higher--just as\none produces a plant from a seed, or a fruit from a plant. The Life is\nalways there, and responds to the proper stimulus and conditions.\n\nA number of scientists are working on the problem of generating living\nforms from inorganic matter. The old idea of \"spontaneous generation,\"\nfor many years relegated to the scrap-pile of Science, is again coming\nto the front. Although the theory of Evolution compels its adherents to\naccept the idea that at one time in the past living forms sprung from\nthe non-living (so-called), yet it has been generally believed that the\nconditions which brought about this stage of evolution has forever\npassed. But the indications now all point to the other view that this\nstage of evolution is, and always has been, in operation, and that new\nforms of life are constantly evolving from the inorganic forms.\n\"Creation,\" so-called (although the word is an absurdity from the Yogi\npoint of view), is constantly being performed.\n\nDr. Charlton Bastian, of London, Eng., has long been a prominent\nadvocate of this theory of continuous spontaneous generation. Laughed\ndown and considered defeated by the leading scientific minds of a\ngeneration ago, he still pluckily kept at work, and his recent books\nwere like bombshells in the orthodox scientific camp. He has taken more\nthan five thousand photo-micrographs, all showing most startling facts\nin connection with the origin of living forms from the inorganic. He\nclaims that the microscope reveals the development in a previously\nclear liquid of very minute black spots, which gradually enlarge and\ntransform into bacteria--living forms of a very low order. Prof. Burke,\nof Cambridge, Eng., has demonstrated that he may produce in sterilized\nboullion, subjected to the action of sterilized radium chloride, minute\nliving bodies which manifest growth and subdivision. Science is being\ngradually forced to the conclusion that living forms are still arising\nin the world by natural processes, which is not at all remarkable when\none remembers that natural law is uniform and continuous. These recent\ndiscoveries go to swell the already large list of modern scientific\nideas which correspond with the centuries-old Yogi teachings. When the\nOccult explanation that there is Life in everything, _inorganic as well\nas organic_, and that evolution is constant, is heard, then may we see\nthat these experiments simply prove that the forms of life may be\nchanged and developed--not that Life may be \"created.\"\n\nThe chemical and mineral world furnish us with many instances of the\ngrowth and development of forms closely resembling the forms of the\nvegetable world. What is known as \"metallic vegetation,\" as shown in\nthe \"lead tree,\" gives us an interesting example of this phenomenon.\nThe experiment is performed by placing in a wide-necked bottle a clear\nacidulated solution of acetate of lead. The bottle is corked, a piece\nof copper wire being fastened to the cork, from which wire is suspended\na piece of zinc, the latter hanging as nearly as possible in the center\nof the lead solution. When the bottle is corked the copper wire\nimmediately begins to surround itself with a growth of metallic lead\nresembling fine moss. From this moss spring branches and limbs, which\nin turn manifest a growth similar to foliage, until at last a miniature\nbush or tree is formed. Similar \"metallic vegetation\" may be produced\nby other metallic solutions.\n\nAll of you have noticed how crystals of frost form on window panes in\nshapes of leaves, branches, foliage, flowers, blossoms, etc. Saltpeter\nwhen subjected to the effect of polarized light assumes forms closely\nresembling the forms of the orchid. Nature is full of these\nresemblances.\n\nA German scientist recently performed a remarkable experiment with\ncertain metallic salts. He subjected the salts to the action of a\ngalvanic current, when to his surprise the particles of the salts\ngrouped themselves around the negative pole of the battery, and then\ngrew into a shape closely resembling a miniature mushroom, with tiny\nstem and umbrella top. These metallic mushrooms at first presented a\ntransparent appearance, but gradually developed color, the top of the\numbrella being a bright red, with a faint rose shade on the under\nsurface. The stems showed a pale straw color. This was most\ninteresting, but the important fact of the experiment consists in the\ndiscovery that these mushrooms have fine veins or tubes running along\nthe stems, through which the nourishment, or additional material for\ngrowth, is transported, so that the growth is actually from the inside,\njust as is the case with fungus life. To all intents and purposes,\nthese inorganic metallic growths were low forms of vegetable his.\n\nBut the search for Life does not end with the forms of the mineral\nworld as we know them. Science has separated the material forms into\nsmaller forms, and again still smaller. And if there is Life in the\nform composed of countless particles, then must there be Life in the\nparticles themselves. For Life cannot come from non-Life, and if there\nbe not Life in the particles, the theory of Omnipresent Life must fan.\nSo we must look beyond the form and shape of the mineral--mist separate\nit into its constituent parts, and then examine the parts for\nindications of Life.\n\nScience teaches us that all forms of matter are compiled of minute\nparticles called molecules. A molecule is the smallest particle of\nmatter that is possible, unless the chemical atoms composing the matter\nfly apart and the matter be resolved into its original elements. For\ninstance, let us take the familiar instance of a drop of water. Let us\ndivide and subdivide the drop, until at last we get to the smallest\npossible particle of water. That smallest possible particle would be a\n\"molecule\" of water. We cannot subdivide this molecule without causing\nits atoms of hydrogen and oxygen to fly apart--and then there would be\nno _water_ at all. Well, these molecules manifest a something called\nAttraction for each other. They attract other molecules of the same\nkind, and are likewise attracted. The operation of this law of\nattraction results in the formation of masses of matter, whether those\nmasses be mountains of solid rock, or a drop of water, or a volume of\ngas. All masses of matter are composed of aggregations of molecules,\nheld together by the law of attraction. This law of attraction is\ncalled Cohesion. This Cohesive Attraction is not a mere mechanical\nforce, as many suppose, but is an exhibition of Life action,\nmanifesting in the presence of the molecule of a \"like\" or \"love\" for\nthe similar molecule. And when the Life energies begin to manifest on a\ncertain plane, and proceed to mould the molecules into crystals, so\nthat we may see the actual process under way, we begin to realize very\nclearly that there is \"something at work\" in this building up.\n\nBut wonderful as this may seem to those unfamiliar with the idea, the\nmanifestation of Life among the atoms is still more so. The atom, you\nwill remember, is the chemical unit which, uniting with other atoms,\nmakes up the molecule. For instance, if we take two atoms of the gas\ncalled hydrogen and one atom of the gas called oxygen, and place them\nnear each other, they will at once rush toward each other and form a\npartnership, which is called a molecule of water. And so it is with all\natoms--they are continually forming partnerships, or dissolving them.\nMarriage and divorce is a part of the life of the atoms. These\nevidences of attraction and repulsion among the atoms are receiving\nmuch attention from careful thinkers, and some of the most advanced\nminds of the age see in this phenomena the corroboration of the old\nYogi idea that there is Life and vital action in the smallest particles\nof matter.\n\nThe atoms manifest vital characteristics in their attractions and\nrepulsions. They move along the lines of their attractions and form\nmarriages, and thus combining they form the substances with which we\nare familiar. When they combine, remember, they do not lose their\nindividuality and melt into a permanent substance, but merely unite and\nyet remain distinct. If the combination be destroyed by chemical\naction, electrical discharge, etc., the atoms fly apart, and again live\ntheir own separate lives, until they come in contact with other atoms\nwith which they have affinities, and form a new union or partnership.\nIn many chemical changes the atoms divorce themselves, each forsaking\nits mate or mates, and seeking some newer affinity in the shape of a\nmore congenial atom. The atoms manifest a fickleness and will always\ndesert a lesser attraction for a greater one. This is no mere bit of\nimagery, or scientific poetry. It is a scientific statement of the\naction of atoms along the lines of vital manifestation.\n\nThe great German scientist, Haekel, has said: \"I cannot imagine the\nsimplest chemical and physical processes without attributing the\nmovement of the material particles to unconscious sensation. The idea\nof Chemical Affinity consists in the fact that the various chemical\nelements perceive differences in the qualities of other elements, and\nexperience pleasure or revulsion at contact with them, and execute\ntheir respective movements on this ground.\" He also says: \"We may\nascribe the feeling of pleasure or pain (satisfaction or\ndissatisfaction) to all atoms, and thereby ascribe the elective\naffinities of chemistry to the attraction between living atoms and\nrepulsion between hating atoms.\" He also says that \"the sensations in\nanimal and plant life are connected by a long series of evolutionary\nstages with the simpler forms of sensation that we find in the\ninorganic elements, and that reveal themselves in chemical affinity.\"\nNaegli says: \"If the molecules possess something that is related,\nhowever distantly, to sensation, it must be comfortable for them to be\nable to follow their attractions and repulsions, and uncomfortable for\nthem when they are forced to do otherwise.\"\n\nWe might fill page after page with quotations from eminent thinkers\ngoing to prove the correctness of the old Yogi teachings that Life is\nOmnipresent. Modern Science is rapidly advancing to this position,\nleaving behind her the old idea of \"dead matter.\" Even the new theories\nof the electron--the little particles of electrical energy which are\nnow believed to constitute the base of the atom--does not change this\nidea, for the electrons manifest attraction, and response thereto, and\nform themselves into groups composing the atom. And even if we pass\nbeyond matter into the mystical Ether which Science assumes to be the\nmaterial base of things, we must believe that there is life there too,\nand that as Prof. Dolbear says: \"The Ether has besides the function of\nenergy and motion, other inherent properties, out of which could\nemerge, under proper circumstances, other phenomena, such as life,\nmind, or whatever may be in the substratum,\" and, that as Prof. Cope\nhas hinted, that the basis of Life lies back of the atoms and may be\nfound in the Universal Ether.\n\nSome scientists go even further, and assert that not only is Life\npresent in everything, but that Mind is present where Life is. Verily,\nthe dreams of the Yogi fathers are coming true, and from the ranks of\nthe materialists are coming the material proofs of the spiritual\nteachings. Listen to these words from Dr. Saleeby, in his recent\nvaluable scientific work, \"_Evolution, the Master Key_.\" He says:\n\n\"Life is potential in matter; life-energy is not a thing unique and\ncreated at a particular time in the past. If evolution be true, living\nmatter has been evolved by natural processes from matter which is,\napparently, not alive. But if life is potential in matter, it is a\nthousand times more evident that Mind is potential in Life. The\nevolutionist is impelled to believe that Mind is potential in matter.\n(I adopt that form of words for the moment, but not without future\ncriticism.) The microscopic cell, a minute speck of matter that is to\nbecome man, has in it the promise and the germ of mind. May we not then\ndraw the inference that the elements of mind are present in those\nchemical elements--carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur,\nphosphorus, sodium, potassium, chlorine--that are found in the cell.\nNot only must we do so, but we must go further, since we know that each\nof these elements, and every other, is built up out of one invariable\nunit, the electron, and we must therefore assert that Mind is potential\nin the unit of Matter--the electron itself... It is to assert the\nsublime truth first perceived by Spinoza, that Mind and Matter are the\nwarp and woof of what Goethe called 'the living garment of God.' Both\nare complementary expressions of the Unknowable Reality which underlies\nboth.\"\n\nThere is no such thing as non-vital attraction or repulsion. All\ninclinations for or against another object, or thing, is an evidence of\nLife. Each thing has sufficient life energy to enable it to carry on\nits work. And as each form advances by evolution into a higher form, it\nis able to have more of the Life energy manifest through it. As its\nmaterial machinery is built up, it becomes able to manifest a greater\nand higher degree of Life. It is not that one thing has a low life, or\nanother a high life--this cannot be, for there is but One Life. It is\nlike the current of electricity that is able to run the most delicate\nmachinery or manifest a light in the incandescent lamp. Give it the\norgan or machinery of manifestation, and it manifests--give it a low\nform, and it will manifest a low degree--give it a high form, and it\nwill manifest a high degree. The same steam power runs the clumsy\nengine, or the perfect apparatus which drives the most delicate\nmechanism. And so it is with the One Life--its manifestations may seem\nlow and clumsy, or high and perfect--but it all depends upon the\nmaterial or mental machinery through which it works. There is but One\nLife, manifesting in countless forms and shapes, and degrees. One Life\nunderlying All--in All.\n\nFrom the highest forms of Life down through the animal, vegetable and\nmineral kingdoms, we see Life everywhere present--Death an illusion.\nBack of all visible forms of material life there is still the\nbeginnings of manifested life pressing forward for expression and\nmanifestation. And underneath all is the Spirit of Life--longing,\nstriving, feeling, acting.\n\nIn the mountain and the ocean--the flower and the tree--the sunset--the\ndawn--the suns--the stars--all is Life--manifestations of the One Life.\nEverything is Alive, quick with living force, power, action; thrilling\nwith vitality; throbbing with feeling; filled with activity. All is\nfrom the One Life--and all that is from the One Life is Alive. There is\nno dead substance in the Universe--there can be none--for Life cannot\nDie. All is Alive. And Life is in All.\n\nCarry with you this Central Thought of the Lesson:\n\nCENTRAL THOUGHT: _There is but One Life, and its manifestations\ncomprise all the forms and shapes of the Universe. From Life comes but\nLife--and Life can come only from Life. Therefore we have the right to\nexpect that all manifestations of the One Life should be Alive. And we\nare not mocked in such belief. Not only do the highest Occult Teachings\ninform us that Everything is Alive, but Modern Science has proven to us\nthat Life is present everywhere--even in that which was formerly\nconsidered dead matter. It now sees that even the atom, and what lies\nback of the atom, is charged with Life Energy and Action. Forms and\nshapes may change, and do change--but Life remains eternal and\ninfinite. It cannot Die--for it is LIFE._\n\nPeace be with thee.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THIRD LESSON\n\n\nTHE CREATIVE WILL.\n\nIn our first lesson of this series, we stated that among the other\nqualities and attributes that we were compelled, by the laws of our\nreason, to think that the Absolute possessed, was that of Omnipotence\nor All-Power. In other words we are compelled to think of the One as\nbeing the source and fount of all the Power there is, ever has been, or\never can be in the Universe. Not only, as is generally supposed, that\nthe Power of the One is greater than any other Power,--but more than\nthis, that there can be no other power, and that, therefore, each and\nevery, any and all manifestations or forms of Power, Force or Energy\nmust be a part of the great one Energy which emanates from the One.\n\nThere is no escape from this conclusion, as startling as it may appear\nto the mind unaccustomed to it. If there is any power not from and of\nthe One, from whence comes such power, for there is nothing else\noutside of the One? Who or what exists outside of the One that can\nmanifest even the faintest degree of power of any kind? All power must\ncome from the Absolute, and must in its nature be but one.\n\nModern Science has recognized this truth, and one of its fundamental\nprinciples is the Unity of Energy--the theory that all forms of Energy\nare, at the last, One. Science holds that all forms of Energy are\ninterchangeable, and from this idea comes the theory of the\nConservation of Energy or Correlation of Force.\n\nScience teaches that every manifestation of energy, power, or force,\nfrom the operation of the law of gravitation, up to the highest form of\nmental force is but the operation of the One Energy of the Universe.\n\nJust what this Energy is, in its inner nature, Science does not know.\nIt has many theories, but does not advance any of them as a law. It\nspeaks of the Infinite and Eternal Energy from which all things\nproceed, but pronounces its nature to be unknowable. But some of the\nlatter-day scientists are veering around to the teachings of the\noccultists, and are now hinting that it is something more than a mere\nmechanical energy. They are speaking of it in terms of mind. Wundt, the\nGerman scientist, whose school of thought is called voluntarism,\nconsiders the motive-force of Energy to be something that may be called\nWill. Crusius, as far back as 1744 said: \"Will is the dominating force\nof the world.\" And Schopenhauer based his fascinating but gloomy\nphilosophy and metaphysics upon the underlying principle of an active\nform of energy which he called the Will-to-Live, which he considered to\nbe the Thing-in-Itself, or the Absolute. Balzac, the novelist,\nconsidered a something akin to Will, to be the moving force of the\nUniverse. Bulwer advanced a similar theory, and made mention of it in\nseveral of his novels\n\nThis idea of an active, creative Will, at work in the Universe,\nbuilding up; tearing down; replacing; repairing; changing--always at\nwork--ever active--has been entertained by numerous philosophers and\nthinkers, under different names and styles. Some, like Schopenhauer\nhave thought of this Will as the final thing--that which took the place\nof God--the First Cause. But others have seen in this Will an active\nliving principle emanating from the Absolute or God, and working in\naccordance with the laws impressed by Him upon it. In various forms,\nthis latter idea is seen all through the history of philosophical\nthought. Cudsworth, the English philosopher, evolved the idea of a\nsomething called the \"Plastic Nature,\" which so closely approaches the\nYogi idea of the Creative Will, that we feel justified in quoting a\npassage from his book. He says:\n\n\"It seems not so agreeable to reason that Nature, as a distinct thing\nfrom the Deity, should be quite superseded or made to signify nothing,\nGod Himself doing all things immediately and miraculously; from whence\nit would follow also that they are all done either forcibly and\nviolently, or else artificially only, and none of them by any inward\nprinciple of their own.\n\n\"This opinion is further confuted by that slow and gradual process that\nin the generation of things, which would seem to be but a vain and idle\npomp or a trifling formality if the moving power were omnipotent; as\nalso by those errors and bungles which are committed where the matter\nis inept and contumacious; which argue that the moving power be not\nirresistible, and that Nature is such a thing as is not altogether\nincapable (as well as human art) of being sometimes frustrated and\ndisappointed by the indisposition of matter. Whereas an omnipotent\nmoving power, as it could dispatch its work in a moment, so would it\nalways do it infallibly and irresistibly, no ineptitude and\nstubbornness of matter being ever able to hinder such a one, or make\nhim bungle or fumble in anything.\n\n\"Wherefore, since neither all things are produced fortuitously, or by\nthe unguided mechanism of matter, nor God himself may be reasonably\nthought to do all things immediately and miraculously, it may well be\nconcluded that there is a Plastic Nature under him, which, as an\ninferior and subordinate instrument, doth drudgingly execute that part\nof his providence which consists in the regular and orderly motion of\nmatter; yet so as there is also besides this a higher providence to be\nacknowledged, which, presiding over it, doth often supply the defects\nof it, and sometimes overrules it, forasmuch as the Plastic Nature\ncannot act electively nor with discretion.\"\n\nThe Yogi Philosophy teaches of the existence of a Universal Creative\nWill, emanating from the Absolute--infilled with the power of the\nAbsolute and acting under established natural laws, which performs the\nactive work of creation in the world, similar to that performed by\n\"Cudsworth's Plastic Nature,\" just mentioned. This Creative Will is not\nSchopenhauer's Will-to-Live. It is not a Thing-in-itself, but a vehicle\nor instrument of the Absolute. It is an emanation of the mind of the\nAbsolute--a manifestation in action of its Will--a mental product\nrather than a physical, and, of course, saturated with the life-energy\nof its projector.\n\nThis Creative Will is not a mere blind, mechanical energy or force--it\nis far more than this. We can explain it only by referring you to the\nmanifestation of the Will in yourself. You wish to move your arm, and\nit moves. The immediate force may seem to be a mechanical force, but\nwhat is back of that force--what is the essence of the force? The Will!\nAll manifestations of energy--all the causes of motion--all forces--are\nforms of the action of the Will of the One--the Creative Will--acting\nunder natural laws established by the One, ever moving, acting,\nforcing, urging, driving, leading. We do not mean that every little act\nis a thought of the moment on the part of the Absolute, and a reaching\nout of the Will in obedience to that thought. On the contrary, we mean\nthat the One set the Will into operation as a whole, conceiving of laws\nand limitations in its action, the Will constantly operating in\nobedience to that conception, the results manifesting in what we call\nnatural law; natural forces, etc. Besides this, the Absolute is\nbelieved to manifest its Will specially upon occasions; and moreover\npermits its Will to be applied and used by the individual wills of\nindividual Egos, under the general Law and laws, and plan of the One.\n\nBut you must not suppose that the Will is manifested only in the form\nof mechanical forces, cohesion, chemical attraction, electricity,\ngravitation, etc.\n\nIt does more than this. It is in full operation in all forms of life,\nand living things. It is present everywhere. Back of all forms of\nmovement and action, we find a moving cause--usually a _Pressure_. This\nis true of that which we have been calling mechanical forces, and of\nall forms of that which we call Life Energy. Now, note this, this great\nPressure that you will observe in all Life Action, is the Creative\nWill--the Will Principle of the One--bending toward the carrying out of\nthe Great Plan of Life.\n\nLook where we will, on living forms, and we may begin to recognize the\npresence of a certain creative energy at work--building up; moulding,\ndirecting; tearing down; replacing, etc.--always active in its efforts\nto create, preserve and conserve life. This visible creative energy is\nwhat the Yogi Philosophy calls \"the Creative Will,\" and which forms the\nsubject of this lesson. The Creative Will is that striving, longing,\npressing forward, unfolding, progressing evolutionary effort, that all\nthoughtful people see in operation in all forms of life--throughout all\nNature. From the lowest to the highest forms of life, the Effort,\nEnergy, Pressure, may be recognized in action, creating, preserving,\nnourishing, and improving its forms. It is that Something that we\nrecognize when we speak of \"Nature's Forces\" at work in plant growth\nand animal functioning. If you will but keep the word and\nidea--\"NATURE\"--before you, you will be able to more clearly form the\nmental concept of the Creative Will. The Creative Will is that which\nyou have been calling \"Nature at Work\" in the growth of the plant; the\nsprouting of the seed; the curling and reaching of the tendril; the\nfertilization of the blossoms, etc. You have seen this Will at work, if\nyou have watched growing things.\n\nWe call this energy \"the Creative Will,\" because it is the objective\nmanifestation of the Creative Energy of the Absolute--Its visible Will\nmanifested in the direction of physical life. It is as much Will in\naction, as the Will that causes your arm to move in response to its\npower. It is no mere chance thing, or mechanical law--it is life action\nin operation.\n\nThis Creative Will not only causes movement in completed life, but all\nmovement and action in life independent of the personal will of its\nindividual forms. All the phenomena of the so-called Unconscious belong\nto it. It causes the body to grow; attends to the details of\nnourishment, assimilation, digestion, elimination, and all of the rest.\nIt builds up bodies, organs, and parts, and keeps them in operation and\nfunction.\n\nThe Creative Will is directed to the outward expression of Life--to the\nobjectification of Life. You may call this energy the \"Universal Life\nEnergy\" if you wish, but, to those who know it, it is a Will--an\nactive, living Will, in full operation and power, pressing forward\ntoward the manifestation of objective life.\n\nThe Creative Will seems to be filled with a strong Desire to manifest.\nIt longs to express itself, and to give birth to forms of activity.\nDesire lies under and in all forms of its manifestations. The ever\npresent Desire of the Creative Will causes lower forms to be succeeded\nby higher forms--and is the moving cause of evolution--it is the\nEvolutionary Urge itself, which ever cries to its manifestations, \"Move\non; move upward.\"\n\nIn the Hindu classic, the \"Mahabarata,\" Brahma created the most\nbeautiful female being ever known, and called her Tillotama. He\npresented her in turn to all the gods, in order to witness their wonder\nand admiration. Siva's desire to behold her was so great that it\ndeveloped in him four faces, in succession, as she made the tour of the\nassembly; and Indra's longing was so intense that his body became all\neyes. In this myth may be seen exemplified the effect of Desire and\nWill in the forms of life, function and shape--all following Desire and\nNeed, as in the case of the long neck of the giraffe which enables him\nto reach for the high branches of the trees in his native land; and in\nthe long neck and high legs of the fisher birds, the crane, stork,\nibis, etc.\n\nThe Creative Will finds within itself a desire to create suns, and they\nare formed. It desired planets to revolve around the suns, and they\nwere thrown off in obedience to the law. It desired plant life, and\nplant life appeared, working from higher to lower form. Then came\nanimal life, from nomad to man. Some of the animal forms yielded to the\ndesire to fly, and wings appeared gradually, and we called it\nbird-life. Some felt a desire to burrow in the ground, and lo! came the\nmoles, gophers, etc. It wanted a thinking creature, and Man with his\nwonderful brain was evolved. Evolution is more than a mere survival of\nthe fittest; natural selection, etc. Although it uses these laws as\ntools and instruments, still back of them is that insistent urge--that\never-impelling desire--that ever-active Creative Will. Lamark was\nnearer right than Darwin when he claimed that Desire was back of it\nall, and preceded function and form. Desire wanted form and function,\nand produced them by the activity of the Creative Will.\n\nThis Creative Will acts like a living force--and so it is indeed--but\nit does not act as a reasoning, intellectual Something, in one\nsense--instead it manifests rather the \"feeling,\" wanting, longing,\ninstinctive phase of mind, akin to those \"feelings\" and resulting\nactions that we find within our natures. The Will acts on the\nInstinctive Plane.\n\nEvolution shows us Life constantly pressing forward toward higher and\nstill higher forms of expression. The urge is constantly upward and\nonward. It is true that some species sink out of sight their work in\nthe world having been done, but they are succeeded by other species\nmore in harmony with their environment and the needs of their times.\nSome races of men decay, but others build on their foundations, and\nreach still greater heights.\n\nThe Creative Will is something different from Reason or Intellect. But\nit underlies these. In the lower forms of life, in which mind is in but\nsmall evidence, the Will is in active operation, manifesting in\nInstinct and Automatic Life Action, so called. It does not depend upon\nbrains for manifestation--for these lowly forms of life have no\nbrains--but is in operation through every part of the body of the\nliving thing.\n\nEvidences of the existence of the Creative Will acting independently of\nthe brains of animal and plant life may be had in overwhelming quantity\nif we will but examine the life action in the lower forms of life.\n\nThe testimony of the investigators along the lines of the Evolutionary\nschool of thought, show us that the Life Principle was in active\noperation in lowly animal and plant life millions of years before\nbrains capable of manifesting Thought were produced. Haekel informs us\nthat during more than half of the enormous time that has elapsed since\norganic life first became evident, no animal sufficiently advanced to\nhave a brain was in existence. Brains were evolved according to the law\nof desire or necessity, in accordance with the Great Plan, but they\nwere not needed for carrying on the wonderful work of the creation and\npreservation of the living forms. And they are not today. The tiny\ninfant, and the senseless idiot are not able to think intelligently,\nbut still their life functions go on regularly and according to law, in\nspite of the absence of thinking brains. And the life work of the\nplants, and of the lowly forms of animal life, is carried on likewise.\nThis wonderful thing that we call Instinct is but another name for the\nmanifestation of the Creative Will which flows from the One Life, or\nthe Absolute.\n\nEven as far down the scale of life as the Monera, we may see the\nCreative Will in action. The Monera are but tiny bits of slimy,\njelly-like substances--mere specks of glue without organs of any kind,\nand yet they exercise the organic phenomena of life, such as nutrition,\nreproduction, sensation and movement, all of which are usually\nassociated with an organized structure. These creatures are incapable\nof thought in themselves, and the phenomenon is due to the action of\nthe Will through them. This Instinctive impulse and action is seen\neverywhere, manifesting upon Higher and still higher lines, as higher\nforms of organisms are built up.\n\nScientists have used the term, \"Appetency,\" defining it as, \"the\ninstinctive tendency of living organisms to perform certain actions;\nthe tendency of an unorganized body to seek that which satisfies the\nwants of its organism.\" Now what is this tendency? It cannot be an\neffort of reason, for the low form of life has nothing with which to\nreason. And it is impossible to think of \"purposive tendency\" without\nassuming the existence of mental power of some kind. And where can such\na power be located if not in the form itself? When we consider that the\nWill is acting in and through all forms of Life, from highest to\nlowest--from Moneron to Man--we can at once recognize the source of the\npower and activity. It is the Great Life Principle--the Creative Will,\nmanifesting itself.\n\nWe can perhaps better form an idea of the Creative Will, by reference\nto its outward and visible forms of activity. We cannot see the Will\nitself--the Pressure and the Urge--but we can see its action through\nliving forms. Just as we cannot see a man behind a curtain, and yet may\npractically see him by watching the movements of his form as he presses\nup against the curtain, so may we see the Will by watching it as it\npresses up against the living curtain of the forms of life. There was a\nplay presented on the American stage a few years ago, in which one of\nthe scenes pictured the place of departed spirits according to the\nJapanese belief. The audience could not see the actors representing the\nspirits, but they could see their movements as they pressed up close to\na thin silky curtain stretched across the stage, and their motions as\nthey moved to and fro behind the curtain were plainly recognized. The\ndeception was perfect, and the effect was startling. One almost\nbelieved that he saw the forms of formless creatures. And this is what\nwe may do in viewing the operation of the Creative Will--we may take a\nlook at the moving form of the Will behind the curtain of the forms of\nthe manifestation of life. We may see it pressing and urging here, and\nbending there--building up here, and changing there--always acting,\nalways moving, striving, doing, in response to that insatiable urge and\ncraving, and longing of its inner desire. Let us take a few peeps at\nthe Will moving behind the curtain!\n\nCommencing with the cases of the forming of the crystals, as spoken of\nin our last lesson, we may pass on to plant life. But before doing so,\nit may be well for us to take a parting look at the Will manifesting\ncrystal forms. One of the latest scientific works makes mention of the\nexperiments of a scientist who has been devoting much attention to the\nformation of crystals, and reports that he has noticed that certain\ncrystals of organic compounds, instead of being built up symmetrically,\nas is usual with crystals, were \"enation-morphic,\" that is, opposed to\neach other, in rights and lefts, like hands or gloves, or shoes, etc.\nThese crystals are never found alone, but always form in pairs. Can you\nnot see the Will behind the curtain here?\n\nLet us look for the Will in plant-life. Passing rapidly over the\nwonderful evidences in the cases of the fertilization of plants by\ninsects, the plant shaping its blossom so as to admit the entrance of\nthe particular insect that acts as the carrier of its pollen, think for\na moment how the distribution of the seed is provided for. Fruit trees\nand plants surround the seed with a sweet covering, that it may be\neaten by insect and animal, and the seed distributed. Others have a\nhard covering to protect the seed or nut from the winter frosts, but\nwhich covering rots with the spring rains and allows the germ to\nsprout. Others surround the seed with a fleecy substance, so that the\nwind may carry it here and there and give it a chance to find a home\nwhere it is not so crowded. Another tree has a little pop-gun\narrangement, by means of which it pops its seed to a distance of\nseveral feet.\n\nOther plants have seeds that are covered with a burr or \"sticky\"\nbristles, which enables them to attach themselves to the wool of sheep\nand other animals, and thus be carried about and finally dropped in\nsome spot far away from the parent plant, and thus the scattering of\nthe species be accomplished. Some plants show the most wonderful plans\nand arrangements for this scattering of the seed in new homes where\nthere is a better opportunity for growth and development, the\narrangements for this purpose displaying something very much akin to\nwhat we would call \"ingenuity\" if it were the work of a reasoning mind.\nThere are plants called cockle-burs whose seed-pods are provided with\nstickers in every direction, so that anything brushing against them is\nsure to pick them up. At the end of each sticker is a very tiny hook,\nand these hooks fasten themselves tightly into anything that brushes\nagainst it, animal wool, hair, or clothing, etc. Some of these seeds\nhave been known to have been carried to other quarters of the globe in\nwool, etc., there to find new homes and a wider field.\n\nOther plants, like the thistle, provide their seed with downy wings, by\nwhich the wind carries them afar to other fields. Other seeds have a\nfaculty of tumbling and rolling along the ground to great distances,\nowing to their peculiar shape and formation. The maple provides its\nseed with a peculiar arrangement something like a propeller screw,\nwhich when the wind strikes the trees and looses the seed, whirls the\nlatter through the air to a distance of a hundred yards or more. Other\nseeds are provided with floating apparatus, which enables them to\ntravel many miles by stream or river, or rain washes. Some of these not\nonly float, but actually swim, having spider-like filaments, which\nwriggle like legs, and actually propel the tiny seed along to its new\nhome. A recent writer says of these seeds that \"so curiously lifelike\nare their movements that it is almost impossible to believe that these\ntiny objects, making good progress through the water, are really seeds,\nand not insects.\"\n\nThe leaves of the Venus' Fly-trap fold upon each other and enclose the\ninsect which is attracted by the sweet juice on the leaf, three\nextremely sensitive bristles or hairs giving the plant notice that the\ninsect is touching them. A recent writer gives the following\ndescription of a peculiar plant. He says: \"On the shores of Lake\nNicaragua is to be found an uncanny product of the vegetable kingdom\nknown among the natives by the expressive name of 'the Devil's Noose.'\nDunstan, the naturalist, discovered it long ago while wandering on the\nshores of the lake. Attracted by the cries of pain and terror from his\ndog, he found the animal held by black sticky bands which had chafed\nthe skin to bleeding point. These bands were branches of a\nnewly-discovered carnivorous plant which had been aptly named the 'land\noctopus.' The branches are flexible, black, polished and without\nleaves, and secrete a viscid fluid.\"\n\nYou have seen flowers that closed when you touched them. You remember\nthe Golden Poppy that closes when the sun goes down. Another plant, a\nvariety of orchid, has a long, slender, flat stem, or tube, about\none-eighth of an inch thick, with an opening at the extreme end, and a\nseries of fine tubes where it joins the plant. Ordinarily this tube\nremains coiled up into a spiral, but when the plant needs water (it\nusually grows upon the trunks of trees overhanging swampy places) it\nslowly uncoils the little tube and bends it over until it dips into the\nwater, when it proceeds to suck up the water until it is filled, when\nit slowly coils around and discharges the water directly upon the\nplant, or its roots. Then it repeats the process until the plant is\nsatisfied. When the water is absent from under the plant the tube moves\nthis way and that way until it finds what it wants--just like the trunk\nof an elephant. If one touches the tube or trunk of the plant while it\nis extended for water, it shows a great sensitiveness and rapidly coils\nitself up. Now what causes this life action? The plant has no brains,\nand cannot have reasoned out this process, nor even have acted upon\nthem by reasoning processes. It has nothing to think with to such a\nhigh degree. It is the Will behind the curtain, moving this way and\nthat way, and doing things.\n\nThere was once a French scientist named Duhamel. He planted some beans\nin a cylinder--something like a long tomato can lying on its side. He\nwaited until the beans began to sprout, and send forth roots downward,\nand shoots upward, according to nature's invariable rule. Then he moved\nthe cylinder a little--rolled it over an inch or two. The next day he\nrolled it over a little more. And so on each day, rolling it over a\nlittle each time. Well, after a time Duhamel shook the dirt and growing\nbeans out of the cylinder, and what did he find? This, that the beans\nin their endeavor to grow their roots downward had kept on bending each\nday downward; and in their endeavor to send shoots upward, had kept on\nbending upward a little each day, until at last there had been formed\ntwo complete spirals--the one spiral being the roots ever turning\ndownward, and the other the shoots ever bending upward. How did the\nplant know direction? What was the moving power. The Creative Will\nbehind the curtain again, you see!\n\nPotatoes in dark cellars have sent out roots or sprouts twenty and\nthirty feet to reach light. Plants will send out roots many feet to\nreach water. They know where the water and light are, and where to\nreach them. The tendrils of a plant know where the stake or cord is,\nand they reach out for it and twine themselves around it. Unwind them,\nand the next day they are found again twined around it. Move the stake\nor cord, and the tendril moves after it. The insect-eating plants are\nable to distinguish between nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous food,\naccepting the one and rejecting the other. They recognize that cheese\nhas the same nourishing properties as the insect, and they accept it,\nalthough it is far different in feeling, taste, appearance and every\nother characteristic from their accustomed food.\n\nCase after case might be mentioned and cited to show the operation of\nthe Will in plant-life. But wonderful as are many of these cases, the\nmere action of the Will as shown in the _growing_ of the plant is just\nas wonderful. Just imagine a tiny seed, and see it sprout and draw to\nitself the nourishment from water, air, light and soil, then upward\nuntil it becomes a great tree with bark, limbs, branches, leaves,\nblossoms, fruit and all. Think of this miracle, and consider what must\nbe the power and nature of that Will that causes it.\n\nThe growing plant manifests sufficient strength to crack great stones,\nand lift great slabs of pavement, as may be noticed by examining the\nsidewalks of suburban towns and parks. An English paper prints a report\nof four enormous mushrooms having lifted a huge slab of paving stone in\na crowded street overnight. Think of this exhibition of Energy and\nPower. This wonderful faculty of exerting force and motion and energy\nis fundamental in the Will, for indeed every physical change and growth\nis the result of motion, and motion arises only from force and\npressure. Whose force, energy, power and motion? The Will's!\n\nOn all sides of us we may see this constant and steady urge and\npressure behind living forces, and inorganic forms as well--always a\nmanifestation of Energy and Power. And all this Power is in the\nWill--and the Will is but the manifestation of the All-Power--the\nAbsolute. Remember this.\n\nAnd this power manifests itself not only in the matter of growth and\nordinary movements, but also in some other ways that seem quite\nmysterious to even modern Science. How is it that certain birds are\nable to fly directly against a strong wind, without visible movement of\ntheir wings? How do the buzzards float in the air, and make speed\nwithout a motion of the wing? What is the explanation of the movements\nof certain microscopic creatures who lack organs of movement? Listen to\nthis instance related by the scientist Benet. He states that the\nPolycystids have a most peculiar manner of moving--a sort of sliding\nmotion, to the right or left, upward, backward, sideways, stopping and\nstarting, fast or slow, as it wills. It has no locomotive organs, and\nno movement can be seen to take place in the body from within or\nwithout. It simply slides. How?\n\nPassing on to the higher animal life--how do eggs grow into chickens?\nWhat is the power in the germ of the egg? Can the germ think, and plan,\nand move, and grow into a chicken? Or is the Will at work there? And\nwhat is true in this case, is true of the birth and growth of all\nanimal life--all animal life develops from a single germ cell. How, and\nWhy?\n\nThere is a mental energy resident in the germ cell--of this there can\nbe no doubt. And that mental energy is the Creative Will ever\nmanifesting. Listen to these words from Huxley, the eminent scientist.\nHe says:\n\n\"The student of Nature wonders the more and is astonished the less, the\nmore conversant he becomes with her operations; but of all the\nperennial miracles she offers to his inspection, perhaps the most\nworthy of his admiration is the development of a plant or of an animal\nfrom its embryo. Examine the recently laid egg of some common animal,\nsuch as a salamander or a newt. It is a minute spheroid in which the\nbest microscope will reveal nothing but a structureless sac, enclosing\na glairy fluid, holding granules in suspension. But strange\npossibilities lie dormant in that semi-fluid globule. Let a moderate\nsupply of warmth reach its watery cradle, and the plastic matter\nundergoes changes so rapid, and so purposelike in their succession,\nthat one can only compare them to those operated by a skilled modeller\nupon a formless lump of clay. As with an invisible trowel, the mass is\ndivided and subdivided into smaller and smaller portions, until it is\nreduced to an aggregation of granules not too large to build withal the\nfinest fabrics of the nascent organism. And, then, it is as if a\ndelicate finger traced out the line to be occupied by the spinal\ncolumn, and moulded the contour of the body; pinching up the head at\none end, the tail at the other, and fashioning flank and limb into due\nsalamanderine proportions, in so artistic a way that, after watching\nthe process hour by hour, one is almost involuntarily possessed by the\nnotion that some more subtle aid to vision than the achromatic lens\nwould show the hidden artist, with his plan before him, striving with\nskilful manipulation to perfect his work.\n\n\"As life advances and the young amphibian ranges the waters, the terror\nof his insect contemporaries, not only are the nutritious particles\nsupplied by its prey (by the addition of which to its frame growth\ntakes place) laid down, each in its proper spot, and in due proportion\nto the rest, as to reproduce the form, the color, and the size,\ncharacteristic of the parental stock; but even the wonderful powers of\nreproducing lost parts possessed by these animals are controlled by the\nsame governing tendency. Cut off the legs, the tail, the jaws,\nseparately or all together, and as Spallanzani showed long ago, these\nparts not only grow again, but the new limb is formed on the same type\nas those which were lost. The new jaw, or leg, is a newt's, and never\nby any accident more like that of a frog's.\"\n\nIn this passage from Huxley one may see the actual working of the\nCreative Will of the Universe,--moving behind the curtain--and a very\nthin curtain at that. And this wonderful work is going on all around\nus, all the time. Miracles are being accomplished every second--they\nare so common that we fail to regard them.\n\nAnd in our bodies is the Will at work? Most certainly. What built you\nup from single cell to maturity? Did you do it with your intellect? Has\nnot every bit of it been done without your conscious knowledge? It is\nonly when things go wrong, owing to the violation of some law, that you\nbecome aware of your internal organs. And, yet, stomach and liver, and\nheart and the rest have been performing their work steadily--working\naway day and night, building up, repairing, nourishing, growing you\ninto a man or woman, and keeping you sound and strong. Are you doing\nthis with your reason or with your personal will? No, it is the great\nCreative Will of the Universe, Universe,--the expression of the purpose\nand power of the One, working in and through you. It is the One Life\nmanifesting in you through its Creative Will.\n\nAnd not only is this all. The Creative Will is all around us in every\nforce, energy and principle. The force that we call mental power is the\nprinciple of the Will directed by our individual minds. In this\nstatement we have a hint of the great mystery of Mental Force and\nPower, and the so-called Psychic Phenomena. It also gives us a key to\nMental Healing. This is not the place to go into detail regarding these\nphases--but think over it a bit. This Will Power of the Universe, in\nall of its forms and phases, from Electricity to Thought-power, is\nalways at the disposal of Man, within limits, and subject always to the\nlaws of the Creative Will of the Universe. Those who acquire an\nunderstanding of the laws of any force may use it. And any force may be\nused or misused.\n\nAnd the nearer in understanding and consciousness that we get to the\nOne Life and Power, the greater will be our possible power, for we are\nthus getting closer and closer to the source of All Power. In these\nlessons we hope to be able to tell you how you may come into closer\ntouch with this One Life of which you and all living things are but\nforms, shapes and channels of expression, under the operation of the\nCreative Will.\n\nWe trust that this lesson may have brought to your minds the\nrealization of the Oneness of All--the fact that we are all parts of\nthe one encircling unity, the heart-throbs and pulsations of which are\nto be felt even to the outer edge of the circle of life--in Man, in\nMonad, in Crystal, in Atom. Try to feel that inner essence of Creative\nWill that is within yourselves, and endeavor to realize your complete\ninner unity in it, with all other forms of life. Try to realize, as\nsome recent writer has expressed it, \"that all the living world is but\nmankind in the making, and that we are but part of the All.\" And also\nremember that splendid vistas of future unfoldment spread themselves\nout before the gaze of the awakened soul, until the mind fails to grasp\nthe wondrous sight.\n\nWe will now close this lesson by calling your attention to its\n\n\nCENTRAL THOUGHT.\n\nThere is but One Power in the Universe--One Energy--One Force. And that\nPower, Energy and Force is a manifestation of the One Life. There can\nbe no other Power, for there is none other than the One from whom Power\nmay come. And there can be no manifestation of Power that is not the\nPower of the One, for no other Power can be in existence. The Power of\nthe One is visible in its manifestations to us in the natural laws and\nforces of Nature--which we call the Creative Will. This Creative Will\nis the inner moving power, urge and pressure behind all forms and\nshapes of Life. In atom, and molecule; in monad, in cell, in plant, in\nfish, in animal, in man,--the Life Principle or Creative Will is\nconstantly in action, creating, preserving, and carrying on life in its\nfunctions. We may call this Instinct or Nature, but it is the Creative\nWill in action. This Will is back of all Power, Energy, or Force--be it\nphysical, mechanical or mental force. And all Force that we use,\nconsciously or unconsciously, comes from the One Great Source of Power.\nIf we could but see clearly, we would know that back of us is the Power\nof the Universe, awaiting our intelligent uses, under the control of\nthe Will of the All. There is nothing to be afraid of, for we are\nmanifestations of the One Life, from which all Power proceeds, and the\nReal Self is above the effect, for it is part of the Cause. But over\nand above--under and behind--all forms of Being, Matter, Energy, Force\nand Power, is the ABSOLUTE--ever Calm; ever Peaceful; ever Content. In\nknowing this it becomes us to manifest that spirit of absolute Trust,\nFaith and Confidence in the Goodness and Ultimate Justice of That which\nis the only Reality there is.\n\nPeace be with you.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FOURTH LESSON\n\n\nTHE UNITY OF LIFE.\n\nIn our First Lesson of this series we spoke of the One Reality\nunderlying all Life. This One Reality was stated to be higher than mind\nor matter, the nearest term that can be applied to it being \"Spirit.\"\nWe told you that it was impossible to explain just what \"Spirit\" is,\nfor we have nothing else with which to compare or describe it, and it\ncan be expressed only in its own terms, and not in the terms applicable\nto its emanations or manifestations. But, as we said in our First\nLesson, we may think of \"Spirit\" as meaning the \"essence\" of Life and\nBeing--the Reality underlying Universal Life, and from which the latter\nemanates.\n\nIn the Second Lesson we stated that this \"Spirit,\" which we called \"The\nAbsolute,\" expressed itself in the Universal Life, which Universal Life\nmanifested itself in countless forms of life and activity. In the same\nlesson we showed you that the Universe is alive--that there is not a\nsingle dead thing in it--that there can be no such thing as a dead\nobject in the Universe, else the theory and truth of the One underlying\nLife must fall and be rejected. In that lesson we also showed you that\neven in the world of inorganic things there was ever manifest life--in\nevery atom and particle of inorganic matter there is the universal life\nenergy manifesting itself, and in constant activity.\n\nIn the Third Lesson, we went still further into this phase of the\ngeneral subject, and showed you that the Creative Will--that active\nprinciple of the Universal Life--was ever at work, building up new\nforms, shapes and combinations, and then tearing them down for the\npurpose of rebuilding the material into new forms, shapes, and\ncombinations. The Creative Will is ever at work in its threefold\nfunction of creating, preserving and destroying forms--the change,\nhowever, being merely in the shape and form or combination, the real\nsubstance remaining unchanged in its inner aspect, notwithstanding the\ncountless apparent changes in its objective forms. Like the great ocean\nthe depths of which remain calm and undisturbed, and the real nature of\nwhich is unchanged in spite of the waves, and billows of surface\nmanifestation, so does the great ocean of the Universal Life remain\nunchanged and unaltered in spite of the constant play of the Creative\nWill upon the surface. In the same lesson we gave you many examples of\nthe Will in action--of its wondrous workings in the various forms of\nlife and activity--all of which went to show you that the One Power was\nat work everywhere and at all times.\n\nIn our next lesson--the Fifth Lesson--we shall endeavor to make plain\nto you the highest teachings of the Yogi Philosophy regarding the One\nReality and the Many Manifestations--the One and the Many--how the One\napparently becomes Many--that great question and problem which lies at\nthe bottom of the well of truth. In that lesson we shall present for\nyour consideration some fundamental and startling truths, but before we\nreach that point in our teachings, we must fasten upon your mind the\nbasic truth that all the various manifestations of Life that we see on\nall hands in the Universe are but forms of manifestation of One\nUniversal Life which is itself an emanation of the Absolute.\n\nSpeaking generally, we would say to you that the emanation of the\nAbsolute is in the form of a grand manifestation of One Universal Life,\nin which the various apparent separate forms of Life are but centers of\nEnergy or Consciousness, the separation being more apparent than real,\nthere being a bond of unity and connection underlying all the\napparently separated forms. Unless the student gets this idea firmly\nfixed in his mind and consciousness, he will find it difficult to grasp\nthe higher truths of the Yogi Philosophy. That all Life is One, at the\nlast,--that all forms of manifestation of Life are in harmonious Unity,\nunderlying--is one of the great basic truths of the Yogi Teaching, and\nall the students of that philosophy must make this basic truth their\nown before they may progress further. This grasping of the truth is\nmore than a mere matter of intellectual conception, for the intellect\nreports that all forms of Life are separate and distinct from each\nother, and that there can be no unity amidst such diversity. But from\nthe higher parts of the mind comes the message of an underlying Unity,\nin spite of all apparent diversity, and if one will meditate upon this\nidea he will soon begin to realize the truth, and will _feel_ that he,\nhimself, is but a center of consciousness in a great ocean of\nLife--that he and all other centers are connected by countless\nspiritual and mental filaments--and that all emerge from the One. He\nwill find that the illusion of separateness is but \"a working fiction\nof the Universe,\" as one writer has so aptly described it--and that All\nis One, at the last, and underlying all is One.\n\nSome of our students may feel that we are taking too long a path to\nlead up to the great basic truths of our philosophy, but we who have\ntraveled The Path, and know its rocky places and its sharp turns, feel\njustified in insisting that the student be led to the truth gradually\nand surely, instead of attempting to make short cuts across dangerous\nravines and canyons. We must insist upon presenting our teachings in\nour own way--for this way has been tested and found good. We know that\nevery student will come to realize that our plan is a wise one, and\nthat he will thank us for giving him this gradual and easy approach to\nthe wondrous and awful truth which is before us. By this gradual\nprocess, the mind becomes accustomed to the line of thought and the\nunderlying principles, and also gradually discards wornout mental\nsheaths which have served their purposes, and which must be discarded\nbecause they begin to weigh heavily upon the mind as it reaches the\nhigher altitudes of The Path of Attainment. Therefore, we must ask you\nto consider with us, in this lesson, some further teachings regarding\nthe Unity of Life.\n\nAll the schools of the higher Oriental thought, as well as many of the\ngreat philosophical minds of the Western world, have agreed upon the\nconception of the Unity of Life--the Oneness of All Life. The Western\nthinkers, and many of the Eastern philosophers arrived at this\nconclusion by means of their Intellectual powers, greatly heightened\nand stimulated by concentration and meditation, which latter process\nliberated the faculties of the Spiritual Mind so that it passed down\nknowledge to the Intellect, which then seized upon the higher knowledge\nwhich it found within itself, and amplified and theorized upon the\nsame. But among the Eastern Masters there are other sources of\ninformation open, and from these sources come the same report--the\nOneness and Unity of Universal Life. These higher sources of\ninformation to which we have alluded, consist of the knowledge coming\nfrom those Beings who have passed on to higher planes of Life than\nours, and whose awakened spiritual faculties and senses enable them to\nsee things quite plainly which are quite dark to us. And from these\nsources, also, comes the message of the Oneness of Life--of the\nexistence of a wonderful Universal Life including all forms of life as\nwe know it, and many forms and phases unknown to us--many centers in\nthe great Ocean of Life. No matter how high the source of inquiry, the\nanswer is the same--\"All Life is One.\" And this One Life includes\nBeings as much higher than ourselves, as we are higher than the\ncreatures in the slime of the ocean-bed. Included in it are beings who\nwould seem as archangels or gods to us, and they inform that beyond\nthem are still higher and more radiant creatures, and so on to infinity\nof infinities. And yet all are but centers of Being in the One\nLife--all but a part of the great Universal Life, which itself is but\nan emanation of The Absolute.\n\nThe mind of man shrinks back appalled from the contemplation of such\nwonders, and yet there are men who dare to attempt to speak\nauthoritatively of the attributes and qualities of \"God,\" as if He, the\nAbsolute, were but a magnified man. Verily, indeed, \"fools rush in\nwhere angels fear to tread,\" as the poet hath said.\n\nThose who will read our next lesson and thus gain an idea of the\nsublime conception of the Absolute held by the Yogi teachers may\nshudder at the presumption of those mortals who dare to think of the\nAbsolute as possessing \"attributes\" and \"qualities\" like unto the\nmeanest of things in this his emanated Universe. But even these\nspiritual infants are doing well--that is, they are beginning to\n_think_, and when man begins to _think_ and _question_, he begins to\nprogress. It is not the fact of these people's immature ideas that has\ncaused these remarks on our part, but rather their tendency to set up\ntheir puny conceptions as the absolute truth, and then insisting upon\nforcing these views upon the outer world of men, whom they consider\n\"poor ignorant heathen.\" Permit each man to think according to his\nlight--and help him by offering to share with him the best that you\npossess--but do not attempt to force upon him your own views as\nabsolute truth to be swallowed by him under threat of damnation or\neternal punishment. Who are you that dares to speak of punishment and\ndamnation, when the smell of the smoke of the hell of materialism is\nstill upon your robes. When you realize just what spiritual infants you\nstill are--the best of you--you will blush at these things. Hold fast\nto the best that you know--be generous to others who seem to wish to\nshare your knowledge--but give without blame or feeling of\nsuperiority--for those whom you teach today may be your teachers\ntomorrow--there are many surprises of this kind along The Path. Be\nbrave and confident, but when you begin to feel puffed up by your\nacquirement of some new bit of knowledge, let your prayer--_our_\nprayer, for we too are infants--be, \"Lord, be merciful unto me, a\nfool!\"\n\nThe above words are for us, the students of the Yogi Philosophy--the\nteachers of the same--for human nature is the same in spite of names,\nand we must avoid the \"vanity of vanities\"--Spiritual Pride and\nArrogance--that fault which has sent many a soul tumbling headlong from\na high position on The Path, and compelled it to again begin the\njourney, chastened and bruised. The fall of Lucifer has many\ncorrespondences upon the occult plane, and is, indeed, in itself an\nallegorical illustration of just this law. Remember, always, that you\nare but a Centre in the Ocean of Life, and that all others are Centres\nin the same ocean, and that underlying both and all of you is the same\ncalm bed of Life and Knowledge, the property of all. The highest and\nthe lowest are part of the same One Life--each of you has the same life\nblood flowing through your veins--you are connected with every other\nform of life, high or low, with invisible bonds, and none is separate\nfrom another. We are speaking, of course, to the personalities of the\nvarious students who are reading these words. The Real Self of each is\nabove the need of such advice and caution, and those who are able to\nreach the Real Self in consciousness have no need for these words, for\nthey have outlived this stage of error. To many, the consciousness of\nthe One Life--the Universal Life--in which all are centres of\nconsciousness and being--has come gradually as a final step of a long\nseries of thought and reasoning, aided by flashes of truth from the\nhigher regions of the mind. To others it has come as a great\nillumination, or flash of Truth, in which all things are seen in their\nproper relations and positions to each other, and all as phases of\nbeing in the One. The term \"Cosmic Consciousness,\" which has been used\nin the previous series of these lessons, and by other writers, means\nthis sudden flash of \"knowing\" in which all the illusionary dividing\nlines between persons and things are broken down and the Universal Life\nis seen to be actually existent as One Life. To those who have reached\nthis consciousness by either route just mentioned--or by other\nroutes--there is no sense of loss of individuality or power or\nstrength. On the contrary there is always a new sense of increased\npower and strength and knowing--instead of losing Individuality, there\nis a sense of having found it. One feels that he has the whole Universe\nat his back, or within him, rather than that he has lost his identity\nin the great Ocean of Life.\n\nWhile we are speaking of this phase of the subject, we should like to\nask you if you have ever investigated and inquired into the real\nmeaning of the much-used word \"Individuality?\" Have you ever looked up\nits origin and real meaning, as given by the standard authorities? We\nare sure that many of you have no real idea of the actual meaning of\nthe term, as strange as this statement may appear to you at first\nglance. Stop now, and define the word to yourself, as you have been\naccustomed to think of it. Ninety-five people of a hundred will tell\nyou that it means something like \"a strong personality.\" Let us see\nabout this.\n\nWebster defines the word \"Individual\" as follows: \"Not divided, or not\nto be divided; existing as one distinct being or object; single; one.\"\nThe same authority informs us that the word arises from the Latin word\n_individuus_, meaning \"indivisible; not divisible.\" Does not this help\nyou to gain a clearer idea of the Individuality that knows itself to be\na Centre of Consciousness in the One Life, rather than a separate,\npuny, insignificant thing apart from all other centres or forms of\nLife, or the source of Life? We think it will help to clear your mind\nof some of the fog that has not as yet lifted itself.\n\nAnd while we are on the subject of definitions, let us take a little\nlook at the word \"Personality,\" that is generally believed to be a\nsynonym of \"Individuality,\" and is often so used. Webster tells us that\nthe word \"Person\" originated from the Latin word _persona_, meaning \"a\nmask used by actors,\" which word in turn arose from two other words,\n_per_, meaning \"through,\" and _sonare_, meaning \"to sound,\" the two\ncombined words meaning \"to sound through.\" The same authority informs\nus that the archaic meaning of the word was \"a character or part, as in\na play; an assumed character.\" If you will think of Personality as \"a\nmask used by an actor,\" or as \"a part in a play,\" or as something used\nto \"sound through\" or to speak through, by the real Individual behind\nthe mask of Personality, then perhaps you will see a little further\ninto the Mystery of Personality and Individuality.\n\nOh, dear students, be not deceived by the mask of Personality which you\nmay happen to be wearing at this moment, or by the masks which are worn\nby those around you. Realize that back of your mask is the great\nIndividual--the Indivisible--the Universal Life, in which you are a\ncentre of consciousness and activity. This does not wipe out your\nidentity--instead it gives you a greater and grander identity. Instead\nof your sinking into a Nirvana of extinction of consciousness, your\nconsciousness so enlarges as you unfold, that you will in the end feel\nyour identity to be the identity of the Universe. Instead of your\ngaining Nothingness, you gain Allness. All spiritual growth and\nunfoldment gives you a constantly increasing sense of relationship\nwith, and agreement with, the All. You grow into Allness as you unfold.\nBe not deceived by this chatter about Nothingness, and loss of\nIndividuality, in the Oriental thought, although some of the\npresentations of its teachings may so seem to mean at first reading.\nRemember always that Personality is the mask, and Individuality the\nReal One.\n\nYou have often heard persons, claiming to be acquainted with the\nteachings of Theosophy and other expositions of the Oriental Wisdom\nReligion (including our own presentation), asserting that the Oriental\nmind was ever bent upon attaining a final stage of Nothingness or\nExtinction in Nirvana. In addition to what we have said, and to what we\nshall say on this subject, let us quote from the inspired writer of the\n\"_Secret Doctrine_\" (a standard Theosophical work) when she says, in\nthat work on page 286, Vol. I: \"Is this annihilation, as some think?\n... To see in Nirvana annihilation, amounts to saying of a man plunged\nin a sound, dreamless sleep--one that leaves no impression on the\nphysical memory and brain, because the sleeper's Higher Self is in its\noriginal state of absolute consciousness during these hours--that he\ntoo is annihilated. The latter simile answers only to one side of the\nquestion--the most material; since reabsorption is by no means such a\ndreamless sleep, but, on the contrary, absolute existence, an\nunconditional unity, or a state, to describe which human language is\nabsolutely and hopelessly inadequate... Nor is the individuality--nor\neven the essence of the personality, if any be left behind--lost\nbecause re-absorbed.\" As J. Wm. Lloyd says, in connection with the\nabove quotation, \"This seems conclusive proof that Theosophy does not\nregard Nirvana as annihilation, but as an infinite enlargement of\nconsciousness.\" And we would add that this is true not only as regards\nthe Nirvana of the Theosophist, but also of the consciousness of the\nUnity of Life--the Universal Life. This too is not annihilation of\nindividual consciousness, but an \"infinite enlargement of\nconsciousness\" as this Western writer Lloyd has so well expressed it.\n\nThe very consciousness of Life that every man feels within him, comes\nnot from something belonging exclusively to himself as a separate or\npersonal thing. On the contrary, it belongs to his Individuality, not\nto his Personality, and is a phase of his consciousness or \"awareness\"\nof his relation to the One Universal Life which underlies his\nexistence, and in which he is a center of consciousness. Do you grasp\nthis idea? If not, meditate and concentrate upon it, for it is\nimportant. You must learn to _feel_ the Life within you, and to know\nthat it is the Life of the great Ocean of Universal Life upon the bosom\nof which you are borne as a centre of consciousness and energy. In this\nthought there is Power, Strength, Calm, Peace, and Wisdom. Acquire it,\nif you are wise. It is indeed a Gift from the Gods.\n\nIn this lesson we are not attempting to build up your idea of the Unity\nof Life by a series of arguments taken from a world of phenomena in\nwhich separateness and non-Unity is apparent. No such arguments would\nsuffice, for it would be like trying to prove the existence and laws of\ncolor to a man born blind, by arguments taken from his world of\ndarkness. On the contrary we are appealing to that region of the mind\nin which is stored the capacity for intuitively apprehending truth. We\nare endeavoring to speak in tones which will awaken a similar vibration\nin that part of your mentality, and if these vibrations be started into\nbeing, then will you be able to _feel_ and _know_ the truth, and then\nwill your Intellect eagerly seize upon the new idea that it finds\nwithin itself, and will proceed to apply the same to the various\nproblems that have been bothering you in the past.\n\nThis consciousness of Unity must come from the higher regions of the\nmind, for the Intellect alone knows it not,--it is out of its field.\nJust as one may not know that the earth is round by means of his senses\nwhich report quite the contrary, but may and does know this truth by\nabstract reasoning and higher intellectual effort; so may one know the\ntruth that All Life is indeed One, at the last, and underlying, by the\nhigher faculties of the mind, although his senses and ordinary\nintellectual processes fail to so inform him. The senses cannot inform\nman that the earth is round, _because they cannot see it as a whole,\nbut only in part_--while the higher reasoning faculties are able to\nvisualize the earth as a whole, and know it must be round. And the\nIntellect, in its ordinary field can see only separateness, and cannot\nreport Oneness, but the Higher Mind sees Life as a Whole, and knows it\nto be One. And it is the Higher Mind that we are trying to bring into\nthe field of consciousness in the appeal to you in this lesson. We\ntrust that we may be successful--in fact we _know_ that we shall be so,\nin many cases, for we know that the field is ready for the sowing of\nthe seed--and that the call has been heard, and the message passed on\nto us to answer the call--else these words would not have been written.\n\nThe consciousness of the Unity of Life is something that must be\nexperienced before the truth may be realized. It is not necessary for\none to wait until he acquire full Cosmic Consciousness before he may\nrealize, at least partially, the Oneness of All Life, for he may unfold\ngradually into the Cosmic Knowing, experiencing at each stage a fuller\nconception of the underlying Unity of Life, in which he is a centre of\nconsciousness and manifestation. But there must be at least a partial\nunfoldment before one is able to _feel_ the sense of Unity. To those\nwho have not unfolded sufficiently to gain at least a glimmering of the\ntruth, everything appears separate from every other thing, and there is\nno Unity of All. It is as if every leaf on a mighty tree were to\nconsider itself a being separate and distinct from everything else in\nthe world, failing to perceive its connection with the branch or limb,\nand tree, and its unity in being with every other leaf on the tree.\nAfter a bit the unfolding consciousness of the leaf enables it to\nperceive the stem that connects it with the twig. Then it begins to\nrealize certain relationships, and feels its vital connection with the\ntwig and the few other leaves attached to the same twig. Later on, it\nunfolds sufficiently to perceive that certain other leaf-bearing twigs\nare connected with the same branch, and it learns to feel its\nrelationship with all twigs and leaves springing from that branch. Then\nagain, a little later on, it begins to realize that other branches\nspring from the same limb as its branch, and the sense of relationship\nand dawning Unity begins to widen still further. And so it goes on,\nuntil at last, the tiny leaflet realizes that the life of the tree is\nthe life of all of its parts--limbs, branches, twigs, leaves, blossoms,\nfruit, seed, etc., and that it, itself, is but a centre of expression\nin the One Life of the tree. Does the leaf feel less important and real\nfrom this discovery? We should say assuredly not, for it must feel that\nbehind its tiny form and limited strength is the strength and vitality\nof the entire organism of the tree. It must know that the tree is ever\nat work extracting nourishment from the earth, air, and water, and\ntransmitting that nourishment to its every part, including our little\nfriend the leaflet. It knows that the sap will rise in the Spring to\nrenew the manifestations of life, and it knows that although its leafy\nform may wither and die, still the essence of its life--its real\nLife--does not die but remains ever active and strong awaiting its\nchance for future expression and re-embodiment. Of course this figure\nof the leaf and the tree fails us if we attempt to carry it very far,\nbut it will give us at least a partial idea of the relationship between\nthe life of the person, and the One Life.\n\nSome of the Oriental teachers have illustrated this idea to their\nstudents by various familiar examples and figures of speech. Some bid\nthe student hold up his hand, and then point out to him that each\nfinger is apparently separate and distinct if one does not look down to\nwhere it joins the hand. Each finger, if it had consciousness, might\nwell argue that it was a separate individual, having no relationship\nwith any other finger. It might prove this to its own satisfaction, and\nto that of its listeners, by showing that it could move itself without\nstirring the other fingers. And so long as its consciousness was\nconfined to its upper two joints it would remain under the illusion of\nseparateness. But when its consciousness at last permeated the depths\nof its being, it would find that it emerged from the same hand from\nwhich also sprung the other fingers, and that its real life and power\nwas vested in the hand rather than in itself, and that although\napparently separate and independent, it was really but a part of the\nhand. And when its consciousness, through the consciousness of the\nhand, broadened and widened, it would perceive its relationship with,\nand interdependence with, the whole body, and would also recognize the\npower of the brain, and its mighty Will.\n\nAnother favorite illustration of the Eastern teachers is the stream of\nwater flowing over a rocky bed. They point to the stream before it\ncomes to a rocky place, and show the _chela_ (student) that it is One.\nThen they will move a little way down the stream and show him how the\nrocks and stones divide the stream into countless little streams, each\nof which might imagine itself a separate and distinct stream, until\nlater on it again joins the main united stream, and finds that it was\nbut a form of expression of the One.\n\nAnother illustration that is frequently used by the teachers, is that\nwhich bids the student consider himself as a minute cell, or\n\"little-life\" as the Hindus call it, in a body. It may be a cell in the\nblood performing the office of a carrier or messenger, or it may be a\nworking cell in one of the organs of the body; or it may be a thinking\ncell in the brain. At any rate, the cell manifests capacity for\nthought, action and memory--and a number of secondary attributes quite\nwonderful in the way. (See \"_Hatha Yoga_,\" Chapter XVIII.) Each cell\nmight well consider itself as a separate individual--in a certain sense\nit _does_. It has a certain degree of something akin to consciousness,\nenabling it to perform its work correctly and properly, and is called\nupon at times to manifest something like judgment. It may well be\nexcused for thinking of itself as a \"person\" having a separate life.\nThe analogy between its illusions and that of the man when seen by a\nMaster, is very close. But we know that the life of the cell is merely\na centre of expression of the life of the body--that its consciousness\nis merely a part of the consciousness of the mind animating the body.\nThe cell will die and apparently perish, but the _essence_ of it will\nremain in the life of the person whose body it occupied, and nothing\nreally dies or perishes. Would the cell feel any less real if it knew\nthat behind its Personality as a cell, there was the Individuality of\nthe Man--that its Real Self was the Man, not the cell? Of course, even\nthis figure of speech can be carried only so far, and then must stop,\nfor the personality of the man, when it is dissolved, leaves behind it\nan essence which is called Character, which becomes the property of the\nEgo and which accompanies it into after life according to the Law of\nKarma, of which we shall speak in future lessons. But back even of\nthese attributes of Personality, is the Ego which exists in spite of\nPersonality, and lives on and on throughout many Personalities, and yet\nlearning the lessons of each, until at last it rises above Personality\nand enters into higher sphere of Knowing and Being.\n\nStill another favorite illustration of the Hindu teachers is that of\nthe sun beating down upon the ocean and causing a portion of the water\nto rise in the form of vapor. This vapor forms clouds which spread all\nover the earth, and which eventually condense in the form of rain\ndrops, dew, etc. This rain and dew form streams, rivers, etc., and\nsooner or later every drop finds its way back to Mother Ocean which is\nits Real Self. Separate though the dewdrop be, yet it is a part of the\nOcean, no matter how far distant it may be, and the attraction of the\nOcean will surely, and without fail, draw it back to its bosom. And the\ndewdrop, if it could know the truth, would be so much happier and\nstronger, and braver if it could know that it was superior to accident,\ntime and space, and that it could not escape its own good, and that\nnothing could prevent its final triumph and victory when at last \"the\ndewdrop glides into the shining sea.\" How cheerfully it could have met\nits many changes of form. and the incidents of its journey, if it could\nhave gotten rid of the illusion of separateness, and knew that instead\nof being a tiny insignificant dewdrop it was a part of the Mighty\nOcean--in fact that its Real Self was that Ocean itself--and that the\nOcean was continually drawing it toward it, and that the many changes,\nup and down, were in response to that mighty power of attraction which\nwas slowly but irresistibly drawing it back Home to Rest, Peace, and\nPower.\n\nAs valuable as are all these illustrations, examples, and figures of\nspeech, still all must of necessity fall short of the truth in the case\nof the Soul of Man--that wondrous something which has been built up by\nthe Absolute after aeons and aeons of time, and which is destined to\nplay an important part in the great Cosmic Drama which it has pleased\nthe Absolute to think into existence. Drawing its Life from the\nUniversal Life, it has the roots of its being still further back in the\nAbsolute itself, as we shall see in the next lesson. Great and\nwonderful is it all, and our minds are but illy fitted to receive the\ntruth, and must be gradually accustomed to the glare of the Sun. But it\nwill come to all--none can escape his glorious destiny.\n\nThe Oriental writings are full of allusions to the underlying Oneness,\nin fact the entire Oriental philosophies rest upon it. You may find it\neverywhere if you will but look for it. The experience of Cosmic\nConsciousness, which is naught but a sudden or gradual \"awareness\" of\nthe underlying Unity of Life, is evidenced everywhere in the\n_Upanishads_, that wonderful series of teachings in the Hindu classics.\nEvery writer in the collection gives his evidence regarding this\nawareness of Unity and Oneness, and the experiences and mental\ncharacteristics arising from the same. The following quotations will\ngive an idea of the prevalence of this thought:\n\n\"He that beholds all beings in the Self, and the Self in all things, he\nnever turns away from it.\"\n\n\"When to a man who understands, the Self has become all things, what\nsorrow, what trouble, can there be to him who once beheld that unity.\"\n\nThe Hindu father explains to his son that the One Life is in all forms\nand shapes, points out object after object, saying to the boy: \"_Tat\ntuam asi_, Thou art that; That thou art.\"\n\nAnd the Mystics have added their testimony to that of others who have\nexperienced this consciousness. Plotinus said: \"Knowledge has three\ndegrees: opinion, science, and illumination. The last is absolute\nknowledge founded upon the identity of the knowing mind with the known\nobject.\"\n\nAnd Eckhardt, the German mystic, has told his pupils that: \"God is the\nsoul of all things. He is the light that shines in us when the veil is\nrent.\"\n\nAnd Tennyson, in his wonderful verse describing the temporary lifting\nof the veil for him, has described a phase of Cosmic Consciousness in\nthe following words:\n\n     \"For knowledge is the swallow on the lake\n     That sees and stirs the surface-shadow there,\n     But never yet hath dippt into the abysm,\n     The Abysm of all Abysms, beneath, within\n     The blue of sky and sea, the green of earth,\n     And in the million-millionth of a grain\n     Which cleft and cleft again for evermore\n     And ever vanishing, never vanishes. . .\n\n     And more, my son, for more than once when I\n     Sat all alone, revolving in myself\n     That word which is the symbol of myself,\n     The mortal symbol of the Self was loosed,\n     And past into the Nameless, as a cloud\n     Melts into Heaven. I touched my limbs, the limbs\n     Were strange, not mine--and yet no shadow of doubt,\n     But utter clearness, and through loss of Self\n     The gain of such large life as matched with ours\n     Were Sun to spark, unshadowable in words,\n     Themselves but shadows of a shadow-world.\"\n\nAnd not only among the mystics and poets is this universal truth\nexperienced and expressed, but among the great philosophers of all ages\nmay we find this teaching of the Unity of Life originally voiced in the\n_Upanishads_. The Grecian thinkers have expressed the thought; the\nChinese philosophers have added their testimony; the modern\nphilosophers, Spinoza, Berkeley, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Hartman,\nFerrier, Royce, although differing widely in their theories, all have\nexpressed as a fundamental truth the Unity of Life--a One Life\nunderlying. The basic teachings of the Vedas are receiving confirmation\nat the hands of Modern Science, which while calling itself\nRationalistic and inclining to a Materialistic conception of the\nUniverse, still finds itself compelled to say, \"At the last, All is\nOne.\"\n\nAnd in nearly every human soul there is a secret chamber in which the\ntext of this knowledge lies hidden, and in the rare moments in which\nthe chamber door is opened in response to poetry, music, art, deep\nreligious feeling, or those unaccountable waves of uplift that come to\nall, the truth is recognized for the moment and the soul feels at peace\nand is content in the feeling that it is at harmony with the All. The\nsense of Beauty, however expressed, when keenly experienced, has a\ntendency to lift us out of our consciousness of separateness into\nanother plane of mind in which the keynote is Unity. The higher the\nhuman feeling, the nearer is the conscious realization of the\nunderlying Unity.\n\nThis realization of the Unity of Life--the Oneness of Life--the Great\nLife--even when but faintly experienced, renders Life quite a different\nthing to the person. He feels no longer that he is a mere \"part\" of\nsomething that may be destroyed--or that he is a tiny personal\nsomething, separate from and opposed to all the rest of the\nUniverse--but that he is, instead, a Unit of Expression--a Centre of\nConsciousness--in the Great One Life. He realizes that he has the\nPower, and Strength, and Life, and Wisdom of the Whole back of him,\nupon which he may learn to draw as he unfolds. He realizes that he is\nat Home, and that he cannot be thrust out, for there is no outside of\nthe All. He feels within himself the certainty of infinite Life and\nbeing, for his Life is the all Life, and that cannot die. The petty\ncares, and worries, and griefs, and pains of everyday personal life are\nseen for what they are, and they cease to threaten and dominate him as\nof old. He sees the things of personality as merely the costume and\ntrappings of the part in the play of life that he is acting out, and he\nknows that when he discards them he will still be \"I.\"\n\nWhen one really feels the consciousness of the One Life underlying, he\nacquires a confident trust and faith, and a new sense of freedom and\nstrength comes to him, for is he not indeed delivered from the bondage\nof fear that has haunted him in his world of separateness. He feels\nwithin him the spiritual pulse of the Universal Life, and at once he\nthrills with a sense of new-found power and being. He becomes\nreconciled with Life in all its phases, for he knows these things as\nbut temporary phases in the working out of some great Universal plan,\ninstead of things permanent and fixed and beyond remedy. He begins to\nfeel the assurance of Ultimate Justice and God, and the old ideas of\nInjustice and Evil begin to fade from him. He who enters into the\nconsciousness of the Universal Life, indeed enters into a present\nrealization of the Life Everlasting. All fear of being \"lost\" or\n\"eternally damned\" fades away, and one instinctively realizes that he\nis \"saved\" because he is of the One Life and cannot be lost. All the\nfear of being lost arises from the sense of illusion of separateness or\napartness from the One Life. Once the consciousness of Unity is gained,\nfear drops from the soul like a wornout garment.\n\nWhen the idea and consciousness of the Unity takes possession of one,\nhe feels a new sense of cheerfulness and optimism entirely different\nfrom any other feeling that he has ever experienced. He loses that\ndistrust and hardness which seems to cling to so many in this age who\nhave arrived at the Intellectual stage of development, and have been\nunable to progress further. A new sense of peace and harmony comes to\none, and illuminates his entire character and life. The bitterness\nengendered by the illusion of separateness is neutralized by the\nsweetness of the sense of Unity. When one enters into this\nconsciousness he finds that he has the key to many a riddle of life\nthat has heretofore perplexed him. Many dark corners are\nilluminated--many hard sayings are made clear. Paradoxes become\nunderstandable truths, and the pairs of opposites that dwell in all\nadvanced intellectual conceptions, seem to bend around their ends and\nform themselves into a circle.\n\nTo the one who understands the Unity, all Nature seems akin and\nfriendly. There is no sense of antagonism or opposition--everything is\nseen to fit into its place, and work out its appointed task in the\nUniversal plan. All Nature is seen to be friendly, when properly\nunderstood, and Man regains that sense of harmonious environment and\nat-home-ness that he lost when he entered the stage of\nself-consciousness. The lower animal and the children feel this Unity,\nin their poor imperfect way, but Man lost this Paradise when he\ndiscovered Good and Evil. But Paradise Lost becomes Paradise Regained\nwhen Man enters into this new stage of consciousness. But unlike the\nanimal or child, which instinctively feels the Unity, the awakened soul\nof man possesses the Unity consciousness, coupled with intelligent\ncomprehension, and unfolding spiritual power. He has found that which\nhe lost, together with the accumulated interest of the ages. This new\nkingdom of Consciousness is before the race. All must enter into it in\ntime--all will enter into it--many are entering into it now, by gradual\nstages. This dawning sense of Unity is that which is causing the\nspiritual unrest which is now agitating the world, and Which in time\nwill bring the race to a realization of the Fatherhood of God and the\nBrotherhood of Man, and his kinship to Every Living Thing. We are\nentering into this new cycle of human unfoldment, and the greatest\nchanges are before the race. Ye who read these words are in the\nforemost ranks of the new dispensation, else you would not be\ninterested in this subject. You are the leaven which is designed to\nlighten the heavy mass of the world-mind. Play well your parts. You are\nnot alone. Mighty forces and great Intelligences are behind you in the\nwork. Be worthy of them. Peace be with you.\n\nCarry with you the Central Thought of this lesson:\n\nCENTRAL THOUGHT. _There is but One Life--a Universal Life--in the\nworld. This One Life is an emanation from the Absolute. It infills all\nforms, shapes and manifestations of Life, and is the Real Life that\neach imagines to be his personal property. There is but One--and you\nare centres of consciousness and expression in that One. There is a\nUnity and Harmony which becomes apparent to those who enter into the\nconsciousness of the One Life. There is Peace and Calm in the thought.\nThere is Strength and Power in the knowledge. Enter ye into your\nKingdom of Power--possess yourselves of your Birthright of Knowledge.\nIn the very center of your being you will find a holy of holies in\nwhich dwells the Consciousness of the One Life, underlying. Enter into\nthe Silence of the Shrine within_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FIFTH LESSON\n\n\nTHE ONE AND THE MANY.\n\nAs we have stated in previous Lessons, all philosophies which thinkers\nhave considered worthy of respect, find their final expression of Truth\nin the fundamental thought that there is but _One Reality_, underlying\nall the manifold manifestations of shape and form. It is true that the\nphilosophers have differed widely in their conception of that One, but,\nnevertheless, they have all agreed upon the logical necessity of the\nfundamental conception that there is, at least, but One Reality,\nunderlying All.\n\nEven the Materialists have conceded this conclusion, and they speak and\nthink of a something called \"Matter,\" as the One--holding that,\ninherent in Matter, is the potentiality of all Life. The school of\nEnergists, holding that Matter in itself is non-existent, and that it\nis merely a mode of manifestation of a something called \"Energy,\"\nasserts that this something called Energy is One, fundamental, real,\nand self-sufficient.\n\nThe various forms of Western religious thought, which hold to the\nvarious conceptions of a Personal Deity, also hold to a Oneness,\ninasmuch as they teach that in the beginning there was God, only, and\nthat all the Universe has been _created_ by Him. They do not go into\ndetails regarding this creation, and, unlike the Oriental teachers,\nthey fail to distinguish between the conception of the _creation of\nshape and form_, on the one hand; and the _creation of the substance of\nthese shapes and forms_, on the other hand. But, even accepting the\npremises of these people who hold to the Personal Deity conception, it\nwill be seen that the Reason requires the acceptance of one or two\nideas, _viz._, (1) That the Deity created the substance of these shapes\nand forms from _Nothing_; or else (2) that he created them out of _his\nown substance_--out of Himself, in fact. Let us consider, briefly,\nthese two conceptions.\n\nIn the first conception, _i.e._, Creation from Nothing, we are brought\nface to face with an impregnable obstacle, inasmuch as the human reason\npositively refuses to think of Anything coming from Nothing. While it\nis perfectly true that the finite human mind cannot undertake to limit\nthe powers of the Infinite; or to insist that the possibilities of the\nDivine Power must be measured and limited by the finite power of\nMan--still it must hearken to the report of its own highest faculties,\nand say \"I cannot Think it,\" or else blindly accept the teachings of\nother finite minds which are equally unable to \"Think it,\" and which\nhave no superior sources of information. The Infinite Power has endowed\nus with reasoning faculties, and evidently expects us to use them to\ntheir full capacity--else the gift were a mockery. And in the absence\nof information from higher sources than the Reason, we must use the\nReason in thinking of this matter, or else refuse to think of it at\nall.\n\nIn view of the above thought, let us then consider the report of the\nReason, regarding this matter, And then, after having done so, let us\napply the test of this report of the Reason, to the highest teaching of\nthe Yogi Philosophy, and see how the latter stands the test. And, after\nhaving done this, we will apply the test of the Higher Consciousness to\nthe same teachings. Remember this always, that while there is knowledge\nthat transcends Reason--that is knowledge that comes from the Higher\nRegions of the Mind--still even such information of the Spiritual Mind\n_does not run contrary to Reason_, although it goes beyond it. There is\nharmony between the Spiritual Mind and the Highest Reason.\n\nReturning to the consideration of the matter of Creation of Substance\nfrom Nothing, we again assert that _the Reason is unable to think of\nthe creation of Something from Nothing_. It finds the statement\nunthinkable, and contrary to all the laws of thought. It is true that\nthe Reason is compelled to accept as a final truth, many things that it\ncannot _understand_ by reason of its finitude--but this is not one of\nthem. There is no logical necessity for the Reason to accept any such\nconception as this--there is no warrant in the Reason for any such\ntheory, idea or conclusion. Let us stop here, for a moment, and examine\ninto this difference--it may help us to think clearer, hereafter.\n\nWe find it impossible to _understand_ the fact of the Infinite Being\nhaving always existed--and Being without Cause. We find it impossible\nto conceive of the nature of an Eternal, Causeless, and Infinite\nBeing--to conceive the _nature of_, such a Being, remember.\n\nBut, while this is so, still our Reason, by its own laws, compels us to\nthink that there _must be_ such a Being, so long as we think at all.\nFor, if we think at all, we _must_ think of there being a Fundamental\nReality--and we _must_ think of that Reality as being without Cause\n(because there can be no Cause for the First Cause); and we _must_\nthink of that Reality as being Eternal (because It could not have\nsprung into Being from Nothing, and therefore must have always been);\nand we _must_ think of that Reality as Infinite (because there is\nnothing outside of Itself to limit It). Think over this statement for a\nmoment--until you grasp it fully.\n\nBut there is no such necessity, or compulsion, in the case of the\nquestion of Creation from Nothingness. On the contrary, the necessity\nand compulsion is all the other way. Not only is the Reason unable to\n_think of_ Creation from Nothing--not only does all its laws forbid it\nto hold such a conception--but, more than this, it finds within itself\na conception, full-grown and potent, which contradicts this idea. It\nfinds within itself the strong certainty that _Whatever Really Is has\nAlways Been_, and that all transient and finite shapes, forms, and\nmanifestations, _must_ proceed from that which is Real, Infinite,\nCauseless, and Infinite--and moreover _must be composed of the\nsubstance of that Reality_, for there is nothing else Real from which\nthey could have been composed; and their composition from Nothing is\nunthinkable, for Nothing is Nothing, and always will be Nothing.\n\"Nothing\" is merely a name of denial of existence--an absolute denial\nof substantiality of any degree, kind or form--an absolute denial of\nReality. And from such could come only Nothing--from Nothing, Nothing\ncomes.\n\nTherefore, finding within itself the positive report that All, and\nAnything There Is, must be composed of the Substance of the Reality,\nthe Reason is compelled to think that the Universe is composed of the\nSubstance of the One Reality--whether we call that One Reality, by the\nname of The Absolute; or whether we call it God. _We must believe that\nfrom this Absolute-God all things in the Universe have flown out, or\nbeen emanated, rather than created--begotten, rather than \"made.\"_\n\nThis does not mean the Pantheistic idea that the Universe _is_ God--but\nrather that God, while existing separate and apart from His Universe,\nin his Essence, and Being, is nevertheless _in_ His Universe, and His\nUniverse _in_ Him. And this, no matter what conception of God or Deity\nis had--or whether one thinks of The Absolute as Principle. The Truth\nis the same--Truth no matter by what names it is called, or by what\nmisconception it is surrounded. The Truth is that _One is in All, and\nAll is in One_--such is the report of the highest Reason of Man--such\nis the report of the Illumined--such is the Highest Teachings that have\ncome down to the race from the great souls that have trodden The Path\nof Attainment.\n\nAnd now let us submit the Yogi Philosophy to these conceptions, and\nreports of the Reason. And let us discover just what more the Yogi\nPhilosophy has to say concerning the _nature of_ the Substance of the\nDivine, which infills all Life--and how it solves the Riddle of the\nSphinx, concerning the One in All; and All in One. We hope to show you\nthat the Riddle is capable of solution, and that the old Yogi teachers\nhave long ago grasped that for which the human mind has ever sought.\nThis phase of the Teachings is the highest, and it is usually hinted\nat, rather than expressed, in the writings on the subject--owing to\ndanger of confusion and misconception. But in these Lessons we shall\nspeak the Truth plainly, and without fear--for such is the Message\nwhich has been given us to deliver to our students--and we will perform\nthe Right action, leaving the Result, or Fruits of the Action, where it\nbelongs, according to the higher teachings found in the \"_Bhagavad\nGita_,\" and in the Higher Teachings of the Yogi Philosophy.\n\nThe fundamental Truth embedded in the Wisdom-Philosophies of the\nEast--the Higher Yogi Teachings--is the impregnable doctrine of the One\nSelf in the many selves--the many selves in the One Self. This\nfundamental Truth underlies all the Oriental Philosophies which are\nesoteric in their nature.\n\nNotwithstanding the crude and often repulsive conceptions and practices\nof the masses of the people who represent the exoteric, or popular,\nphase of the teachings (and these two phases are to be found in _all_\nregions) still there is always this Inner Doctrine of the One Self, to\nbe found to those who look for it.\n\nNot only is this true among the Hindus; but even among the Mahommedans,\nof all countries, there is an Inner Circle of Mystics, known as the\n_Sufis_, holding to this Truth. And the inner teachings of the\nphilosophies of all ages and races, have held likewise. And the highest\nthought of the philosophers of the Western races, has found refuge in\nthis idea of the Over-soul, or Universal Self. But, it is only among\nthe Yogis that we find an attempt made to explain the real nature of\nthe manifestation of the One in Many--the holding of the Many forms in\nthe One Self.\n\nBefore proceeding to the consideration of _how_ the One becomes as\nMany, as expounded by the Higher Yogi Teachings, it becomes necessary\nto speak of a matter upon which there has been much confusion and\nmisunderstanding, not only on the part of the students of various\nOriental Philosophies, but also upon the part of some of the teachers\nthemselves. We allude to the connection between THE ONE--THE\nABSOLUTE--in Its ESSENCE--and that which has been called the One Life;\nthe Universal Life, etc.\n\nMany writers have spoken of the Universal Life, and The One, as being\nidentical--but such is a grievous error, finding no warrant in the\nHighest Yogi Teachings. It is true that all living forms dwell in, and\nare infilled with the Universal Life--that All Life is One. We have\ntaught this truth, and it is indeed Truth, without qualification. But\nthere is still a Higher Truth--the Highest Truth, in fact--and that is,\nthat even this Universal Life is not the One, but, instead, is in\nitself a manifestation of, and emanation from, THE ONE. There is a\ngreat difference here---see that you perceive and understand it, before\nproceeding further.\n\nTHE ONE--THE ABSOLUTE--according to the Highest Teachings, is Pure\nSpirit, and not Life, Mind, or Being as we understand them in our\nfinite and mortal expressions. But, still all Life, Mind, and Being, as\nwe understand them, spring from, flow from, and emanate from, the\nOne--and more than this, may be spoken of as _reflections_ of the Life,\nMind, and Being of The One, if we may be permitted to apply the names\nof finite manifestations to the Infinite Reality.\n\nSo, the Highest Teaching is that the Universal Life infilling all\nliving things, is not, in itself, the Being and Life of THE ONE--but is\nrather a great fundamental emanation of The One, the manner and nature\nof which will be spoken of as we proceed. Remember this, please.\n\nLeading up to the Supreme Idea of the One in All--All in One--let us\nexamine into the report of the Reason upon the _nature of_ the\nSubstance--the Divine Substance--from which all living forms are\nshaped; and from which all that we know as Finite Mind is likewise\ncomposed. _How can these imperfect and finite forms be composed of a\nDivine and Perfect Substance?_ This is the question that must occur to\nthe minds of those who are capable of deep thought on the subject--and\nit is a question that must be answered. And it can be answered--and\n_is_ answered in the Higher Yogi Philosophy. Let us examine the reports\nof the Reason, a little further--then shall we be ready for the\nTeachings.\n\nOf what can the Substance of the Infinite be composed? Can it be\nMatter? Yes, if you are satisfied with the reasoning of the\nMaterialists, and cannot see further into the Truth! These teach that\nMatter is God, and that God is Matter. But if you be among those who\nreject the Materialistic teachings, you will not be satisfied with this\nanswer. Even if you incline toward a Non-mental Infinite, still if you\nare familiar with the results of modern scientific investigation, and\nknow that Science has seen Matter resolve itself into something like\nElectric Energy, you will know that the Truth must lie behind and\nbeyond Matter.\n\nThen is it Pure Energy? you may ask. Pure Energy? what's that? Can you\nthink of Energy apart from material manifestation? Have you ever known\nof such a thing? Do you not know that even the Electron Theory, which\nis attracting the attention of advanced Modern Science, and which holds\nthat all things are composed of minute particles of Electric Energy,\ncalled Electrons, from which the Atoms are built--do you not know that\neven this theory recognizes the necessity of a \"something like Matter,\nonly infinitely finer,\" which they call the Ether, to enfold the\nElectric Energy as a unit--to give it a _body_, as it were? And can you\nescape from the fact that the most advanced scientific minds find\nconfronting them--_the fact that in all Energy, and governing its\nactions, there 'is manifested \"something like Mind_\"?\n\nAnd does not all this teach thinkers that just as Energy creates from\nitself, that which is called Matter, and then uses it as a vehicle of\nexpression and action--so does this \"Something like Mind\" create from\nitself that which we call Energy, and proceeds to use it, with its\naccompanying phase of Matter, for its expression? Does not all advanced\nresearch show us that in all Matter and Energy there are evidences of\nthe operation of this \"Something like Mind\"? And if this be so, are we\nnot justified as regarding Matter and Energy as mere Effects--and to\nlook to this \"Something like Mind\" as the more fundamental Substance?\nWe think so--and Science is beginning to think so, too. And soon will\nScience be regarding with the most profound respect, the Metaphysical\naxiom that \"All is Mind.\"\n\nYou will see by reference to our \"_Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy,\netc._,\" the general Yogi teachings regarding the Emanation of the One,\nknown respectively as Mind, Energy, and Matter. You will see that the\nYogis teach that Mind, Energy, and Matter comprise a threefold\nemanation of the Absolute. You will also see that it is taught that\nMind was the Parent-Emanation--the Universal Mind; and that the\nUniversal Energy was the Second-Emanation (proceeding from Mind); and\nthat the Universal Matter was the Third Emanation (proceeding from\nEnergy) In the same book you will find that the Teaching is that above\nMatter, Energy, and Mind, is the Essence of the Absolute, which is\ncalled Spirit--the nature of which is non-understandable to the mind of\nMan, the highest conception of which is the highest manifestation of\nitself--Mind. But as we cannot comprehend spirit otherwise, we are\njustified in thinking of it as Something like Infinite Mind--Something\nas much higher than Finite Mind as that is higher than mere energy.\n\nNow, then--we have seen the folly of thinking of the Divine Substance\nas Matter or Energy. And we have come to know it as Spirit, something\nlike Mind, only infinitely higher, but which still may be thought of in\nterms of Infinite Mind, for we can have no higher terms in our thinking\noperations. So we may then assume that this Divine Nature or substance\nis SPIRIT, which we will think of as Infinite Mind, for want of a\nbetter form of conception.\n\nWe have seen the folly of thinking of the Divine Essential Substance as\nthe Body of God. We have likewise seen the folly of thinking of it as\nthe Vital Energy of God. And we have found that we could not escape\nthinking of it as the Spirit, or infinite Mind of God. Beyond this we\ncannot think intelligently.\n\nBut do you not see that all this exercise of the Reason has brought us\nto the point where we must think that this Divine Substance, which the\nAbsolute-God uses in the manifestation of Universal Life; the Universe;\nand all the forms, and shapes, and manifestations of life and things in\nthe Universe--this Divine Substance which must be _in_ All Things--and\n_in which_ All Things must rest, even as the bubble rests on the\nOcean--that this can be nothing less than Spirit, and that this Spirit\ncan be thought of only as Infinite Mind?\n\nAnd, if this be so, then indeed must _All be Mind, and Mind be\nAll_--meaning, of course, the Infinite Mind, not the finite\nmanifestation that we _call_ Mind.\n\nThen, if this reasoning has been correct, then must we think that All\nLife--all the Universe--Everything except the Absolute itself--_must be\nheld in the Infinite Mind of the Absolute_!\n\nAnd, so, by the exercise of our Reason--by listening to, and examining\nits reports, we have been brought face to face--eye to eye--heart to\nheart--with the Teaching of the Illumined Ones, which has come down to\nus as the Highest Teaching of the Yogi Philosophy! For this, indeed, is\nthe highest conception of Truth in the Yogi Teachings--this, that ALL\nMANIFESTATIONS AND EMANATIONS OF THE ABSOLUTE ARE MENTAL CREATIONS OF\nTHE ABSOLUTE--THOUGHT-FORMS HELD IN THE INFINITE MIND--THE INFINITE\nSPIRIT IN THEM--AND THEY IN THE INFINITE SPIRIT. _And that the only\nReal Thing about Man is THE SPIRIT involved in the Thought-Form, the\nrest is mere Personality, which changes and ceases to be. The Spirit in\nthe Soul of Man, is the SOUL OF THE SOUL, which is never born; never\nchangeth; never dieth--this is The Real Self of _Man, in which, indeed,\nhe is \"One with the Father.\"_\n\nThis is the point where the Reasoning Mind of Man has come to a sense\nof Agreement with the Highest Yogi Teachings. Let us now pass on to the\nTeachings themselves--let us listen to The Message of Truth.\n\nIn this consideration of the Highest Yogi Philosophy, and its teaching,\nwe would again say to our students, that which we said to them in _\"The\nAdvanced Course\"_--that we do not attempt to teach the \"why\" of the\nManifestation of The Absolute, but rest content with delivering the\nMessage of the Yogi Sages, which deals with the \"how.\" As we stated in\nthe lessons referred to, we incline to that school of the Higher\nTeachings, which holds that the \"Why\" of the Infinite Manifestation\nmust, of necessity, rest with the Infinite alone, and that the finite\nmind cannot hope to answer the question. We hold that in all the\nUniversal Mind, or in any of its Mind Manifestations, there is to be\nfound no answer to this question! Wrapped in the Essence of the\nAbsolute Spirit, alone, is this Final Answer!\n\nThe Sages, and Masters, from their high spiritual points of\nobservation, possess many truths regarding the \"how\" side of the\nquestion that would appear almost like Infinite Wisdom itself, compared\nwith our puny knowledge. But even these great souls report that they do\nnot possess the answer to the Final Question--the \"Why\" of the Infinite\nManifestation. And so we may be excused from attempting to answer\nit--and without shame or sense of shortcoming do we still say, to this\nquestion, \"We do not know!\"\n\nIn order that the Final Question may be fully understood let us\nconsider it for a moment. We find the Question arising from the\nfollowing condition:\n\nThe human Reason is compelled to admit that there is an Infinite,\nEternal, Causeless REALITY underlying all forms of manifestation in the\nphenomenal world. It is likewise compelled to admit that this REALITY\nmust comprise All that Really Is--and that there can be nothing Real\noutside of Itself. Arising from this is the Truth, that all forms of\nphenomenal manifestation, must emanate _from_ the One Reality, for\nthere is nothing else Real from which they could emanate. And the\ntwin-Truth that these forms of manifestation, must also be _in_ the\nBeing of the One Reality, for there is nowhere outside of the All\nwherein they might find a place. So this One Reality is seen to be\n\"That from which All Things flow\"; and \"That in which All Things live,\nand move and have their being.\"\n\nTherefore All Things _emanate from_, and are _contained in_ the One\nReality. We shall consider \"just how\" later on, but the question which\nconfronts us, and which has been called the \"Final Question\"--and that\nwhich we pronounce unanswerable--is this: \"Why has the Infinite\nmanifested and emanated Finite forms of being?\" You will see the nature\nof the question when you stop to consider: (1) The Infinite cannot have\nDesire, for that is a Finite quality; (2) It cannot lack anything, for\nthat would take away from its Infinity; (3) and even if it did lack\nanything, from whence could it expect to acquire it; for there is\nnothing outside of itself--if It lacks anything, it must continue to\nalways lack it, for there is no outside source from which It could\nobtain anything which it does not already possess. And Desire would be,\nof course, a _wanting_ for something which it lacked--so It could not\nDesire unless it Lacked--and it would know that Desire would be\nhopeless, even if indeed it did Lack.\n\nSo you see that if we regard the Infinite Reality as Perfect, we must\ndrop all ideas of It Desiring or Lacking--and of it Growing or\nImproving--or of it obtaining more Power, or Knowledge. These ideas are\nridiculous, for an Absolute, Infinite Reality, must possess\nAll-Knowledge; All-Power; All-Presence, else it is not Absolute and\nInfinite. And, if It does not possess these attributes of Being, then\nIt can never hope to acquire them, for there is Nowhere from whence\nthey could be acquired--there is no Source outside of the All-Source. A\nFinite Thing, may lack, and desire, and improve and develop, for there\nis the Universal Source from which it may draw. But the Infinite has no\nUniversal Source, for it is Its own Source. Do you see the nature of\nthe Final Question? If not we will again state it--it is this:\n\n\"Why should the Infinite Reality, which possesses all that may be\npossessed, and which in itself is the only Source of Things--WHY should\nIt Desire to manifest a Universe from and within Itself?\"\n\nA little consideration will show you that there is no intelligent\nanswer to the \"Why,\" either in your own minds, or in the writings and\nteachings of the greatest minds. The matter is important, to those who\nare confronted every day with some of the many attempts to answer this\nFinal Question--it is well that our students inform them regarding the\nfutility of such questioning. And with this end in view, we shall\nherein give a few of the wise \"guesses\" at the answer, and our reasons\nfor considering them inadequate. We ask the student to consider\ncarefully these remarks, for by so doing he will post himself, and will\nbe saved much tedious and perplexing wandering along the dangerous\nplaces in the Swamp of Metaphysics, following the will-o'-the-wisp of\nFinite Mind masquerading as the Infinite Wisdom! Beware of the False\nLights! They lead to the quagmire and quicksands of thought!\n\nLet us now consider some of these \"guesses\" at the answer to the Final\nQuestion. Some thinkers have held that the Absolute was bound by a\nDivine Necessity to manifest itself as Many. The answer to this is that\nthe Absolute could not be _bound_ by anything, inner or outer, else it\nwould not be Absolute and Infinite, but would be Relative and Finite.\nAnother set of thinkers have held that the Absolute found within itself\na Desire to Manifest as Many. From whence could come such an\naction-causing Desire? The Absolute could lack nothing, and there would\nbe nothing for it to desire to gain, other than that which It already\npossessed. One does not desire things one already has, but only what he\nlacks.\n\nAnother school would tell us that the Infinite wished to _Express_\nitself in the phenomenal world. Why? Such a phenomenal world could only\nbe reflection of Its power, witnessed only by Itself, and could contain\nnothing that was not already contained in the All. To what end would\nsuch a wish tend? What would be accomplished or gained? The Infinite\nAll could not become anything more than It already was--so why the wish\nfor expression? Some say that the whole phenomenal world is but _Maya_,\nor Illusion, and does not exist at all. Then who else than the Infinite\ncaused the Illusion, and why the necessity? This answer only removes\nthe question back one point, and does not really answer it. Some would\nsay that the Universe is the \"dream of the Infinite.\" Can we conceive\nthe Infinite Being as exercising the finite faculty of \"dreaming\"--is\nnot this childish?\n\nOthers would have us believe that the Absolute is indulging in a \"game\"\nor \"play,\" when he makes Universes, and those inhabiting them. Can\nanyone really believe this of The Absolute--playing like a child, with\nmen and women, worlds and suns, as Its blocks and tin-soldiers? Why\nshould the Infinite \"play\"?--does It need amusement and \"fun\" like a\nchild? Poor Man, with his attempts to read the Riddle of the Infinite!\n\nWe know of teachers who gravely instruct their pupils in the idea that\nthe Absolute and Infinite One manifests Universes and Universal Life,\nand all that flows from them, because It wishes to \"gain experience\"\nthrough objective existence. This idea, in many forms has been so\nfrequently advanced that it is worth while to consider its absurdity.\nIn the first place, what \"experience\" could be gained by the Absolute\nand Infinite One? What could It expect to gain and learn, that it did\nnot already know and possess? One can gain experience only from others,\nand outside things--not from oneself entirely separated from the\noutside world of things. And there would be no \"outside\" for the\nInfinite. These people would have us believe that The Absolute emanated\na Universe from Itself--which could contain nothing except that which\nwas obtained from Itself--and then proceeded to gain experience from\nit. Having no \"outside\" from which it could obtain experiences and\nsentences and sensations, it proceeded to make (from Itself) an\nimitation one--that is what this answer amounts to. Can you accept it?\n\nThe whole trouble in all of these answers, or attempted answers, is\nthat the answerer first conceives of the Absolute-Infinite Being, as a\nRelative-Finite Man, and then proceeds to explain what this Big Man\nwould do. This is but an exaggerated form of anthropomorphism--the\nconception of God as a Man raised to great proportions. It is but an\nextension of the idea which gave birth to the savage conceptions of\nDeity as a cruel chief or mighty warrior, with human passions, hates,\nand revenge; love, passions, and desires.\n\nArising from the same cause, and akin to the theories advanced above\nare similar ones, which hold that the Absolute cannot dwell alone, but\nmust forever bring forth souls from Itself--this was the idea of\n_Plotinus_, the Greek philosopher. Others have thought that the\nInfinite was possessed of such a consuming love, that It manifested\nobjects upon which it could bestow Its affections. Others have thought\nthat It was lonesome, and desired companionship. Some have spoken of\nthe Absolute as \"sacrificing\" itself, in becoming Many, instead of\nremaining One. Others have taught that the Infinite somehow has become\nentangled in Its Manifestations, and had lost the knowledge of Its\nOneness--hence their teachings of \"I Am God.\" Others, holding to a\nsimilar idea, tell us that the Infinite is deliberately \"masquerading\"\nas the Many, in order to fool and mystify Itself--a show of Itself; by\nItself, and for Itself! Is not this Speculative Metaphysics run wild?\nCan one in calm thought so regard the Infinite and Absolute\nBeing--All-Wise--Causeless--All-Powerful--All-Present--All-Possessing--\nLacking Nothing--Perfect One--as acting and performing thus, and from\nthese motives? Is not this as childish as the childishness of the\nsavage, and barbarians, in their Mumbo-Jumbo conceptions? Let us leave\nthis phase of the subject.\n\nThe Higher Yogi Teachings hold to no such ideas or theories. It holds\nthat the Answer to the Secret is vested in the Infinite alone, and that\nfinite \"guesses\" regarding the \"Why\" are futile and pitiful. It holds\nthat while one should use the Reason to the full, still there are\nphases of Being that can be considered only in Love, Faith, and\nConfidence in THAT from which All Things flow, and in which we live and\nmove and have our being. It recognizes that the things of the Spirit,\nare known by the Mind. It explores the regions of the Universal Mind to\nits utmost limits, fearlessly--but it pauses before the Closed Door of\nThe Spirit, reverently and lovingly.\n\nBut, remember this--that while the Higher Yogi Teachings contain no\n\"guess,\" or speculative theory, regarding the \"Why\" of the Divine\nManifestation, still they do not deny the existence of a \"Why\". In\nfact, they expressly hold that the Absolute Manifestation of the Many\nis in pursuance of some wondrous Divine Plan, and that the Unfoldment\nof the Plan proceeds along well-established and orderly lines, and\naccording to Law. They trust in the Wisdom and Love of the Absolute\nBeing, and manifest a perfect Confidence, Trust and Peaceful Patience\nin the Ultimate Justice, and Final Victory of the Divine Plan. No doubt\ndisturbs this idea--it pays no attention to the apparent contradictions\nin the finite phenomenal world, but sees that all things are proceeding\ntoward some far-away goal, and that \"All is Well with the Universe\".\n\nBut they do not think for a moment, or teach in the slightest degree,\nthat all this Unfoldment, and Plan of the Universe, has for its object\nany advantage, benefit or gain to the Absolute--such a thought would be\n_folly_, for the Absolute is already Perfect, and Its Perfection cannot\nbe added to, or taken away from. But they do positively teach that\nthere is a great beneficial purpose in all the Plan, accruing in the\nend to the developed souls that have evolved through the workings of\nthe plan. These souls do not possess the qualities of the\nInfinite--they are Finite, and thus are capable of receiving benefits;\nof growing, developing, unfolding, attaining. And, therefore, the Yogis\nteach that this building up of Great Souls seems to be the idea of the\nInfinite, so far as may be gained from an observation of the Workings\nof the Plan. The Absolute cannot _need these_ Great Souls for Its own\npleasure, and therefore their building-up must be for their own\nadvantage, happiness and benefit.\n\nThe Yogis teach, on this subject, that there can be only ONE Real\nPerfect Being--Perfect without experience--Perfect from the\nBeginning--but only ONE! In other words, they teach that there can be\nno such thing as Absolute Perfection, outside of the Absolute\nItself--and that not even the Absolute Being can create another\nAbsolute Being, for in that case there would be no Absolute Being at\nall, but only _two Relative Beings_.\n\nThink over this for a moment, and you will see its truth. The ABSOLUTE\nmust always be \"the One without a Second\", as the Yogis express\nit--there cannot be _two_ Perfect ones. And so, all Finite Beings,\nbeing Finite, must work their way up toward the plane of Perfection by\nThe Path of Life, with all of its lessons, tasks, cares, pains, and\nstrivings. This is the only way open to them--and even the Absolute\ncannot have it otherwise, and still be the Absolute. There is a fine\npoint here--the Absolute is All-Powerful, but even that All-Power is\nnot sufficient to enable It to destroy Its Absolute Being. And so, you\nwho have wondered, perhaps you may now understand our words in the\nFirst Lesson of this series, in which we said that the message of the\nAbsolute to some of the Illumined has been: \"All is being done in the\nbest and only possible way--I am doing the best I can--all is well--and\nin the end will so appear.\"\n\nAnd, as we also said in that First Lesson: \"The Absolute, instead of\nbeing an indifferent and unmoved spectator to its own creation, is a\nstriving, longing, active, suffering, rejoicing, feeling Spirit,\npartaking of the feelings of Its manifestations, rather than callously\nwitnessing them. It lives in us--with us--through us. Back of all the\npain in the world, may be found a great feeling and suffering love.\"\nAnd in this thought there is comfort to the doubting soul--peace to the\ntroubled mind.\n\nIn the Sixth Lesson, we shall proceed to deliver to you the further\nMessage of Truth, concerning \"how\" the One Absolute manifests Its\nMental Images as Universe; Universal Life; and Forms and Shapes; and\nIndividualities, and Personalities. We had hoped to include the whole\nMessage in this Fifth Lesson, but now find that we have merely laid the\nsteps by which the student may reach the Essential Truth.\n\nBut, lest the student may be left in an uncertain state of mind,\nawaiting the conclusion of the consideration of the subject--and lest\nhe may think that we intend teaching him that the Universe, and all in\nit, including himself are \"Dreams,\" because we have said that All\nThings are Thought-Forms in the Mind of the Absolute--lest this\nmisunderstanding may arise, we wish to add a few parting words to what\nwe have said.\n\nWe wish to impress upon the mind of the student that though all Things\nare but Thought-Forms in the Mind of the Absolute Being, and that while\nit is true that the entire Universe of Universes is simply a\nThought-Form held in the Mind of the Absolute--still this fact does not\nmean that all Things are \"illusions\" or \"dreams.\" Remember this, now\nand forever, O Student--that that which is held in the Absolute Mind as\na Thought-Form IS, and is all there IS, outside of the Absolute Itself.\nWhen the Absolute forms a Thought-Form, It forms it out of Its own\nmental substance--when the Absolute \"holds anything in Its Mind,\" It\nholds it in Itself--for the Absolute is ALL-MIND.\n\nThe Absolute is not a material Being, from which Material Beings are\ncreated. It is a Spiritual Being--a Being whose Substance is akin to\nthat which we call \"Mind,\" only raised to Infinity and Absolute\nPerfection and Power. And this is the only way it can \"create\"--by\ncreating a Thought-Form in Its Mental, or Spiritual Substance. The\nfaintest \"Thought\" of the Absolute is more real and durable than\nanything that man can create--in fact, man can \"create\" nothing, for\nall the hard and real material he uses in his \"creations,\" such as\nsteel, diamonds, granite, are but some of the minor Forms, \"thought\"\ninto being by the Absolute.\n\nAnd also remember this, that the Absolute cannot \"think\" of anything,\nwithout putting Itself in that thing, as its Essence. Just as a man's\nMental Images are not only _in_ his mind, _but his mind is in them,\nalso_.\n\nWhy, you doubting and timorous ones, does not even the finite\n\"thinking\" of Man manifest itself in physical and material changes of\nform and shape?--does not a man's every thought actually \"create\"\nphysical forms and shapes, in his brain-cells and physical tissue? You\nwho are reading these words--yea, _while_ you are reading these\nwords--are \"creating\" changes of form and shape in your brain-cells,\nand physical organism. Your mind is constantly at work, also, in\nbuilding up your physical body, along the lines of the Instinctive Mind\n(see previous series of lessons)--you are mentally creating in a\nminiature universe, every moment of your life. And yet, the idea of the\nAbsolute \"creating\" a Universe by pure Thought, in Its own Mind, and\nthereafter causing the work of the Universe to proceed according to\nLaw, by simply \"Willing\" it so, causes you to wonder, and perhaps to\ndoubt.\n\nO, ye of little faith, you would deny to the Absolute even the power\nyou possess yourself. You plan things in your mind every day, and then\nproceed to cause them to appear in material manifestation, and yet you\ndoubt the ability of the Absolute to do likewise. Why even the poets,\nor writers of fiction, create characters in their minds--and these seem\nso real, that even you imagine them to be actual entities, and you weep\nover their pains, and smile at their joys--and yet all this is on the\nfinite plane. Why, even the \"imaginations\" of your petty finite,\nundeveloped minds, have sufficient power to make your physical bodies\nsick, or well, or even to cause you to \"die,\" from some imagined\nailment. And yet you doubt the power of the Absolute, to \"think\" things\ninto being! You tiny students in the great Kindergarten of Life--you\nmust learn better lessons from your little blocks and games. And you\n_will_--this is the Law.\n\nAnd you who are filled with the sense of your smallness, and\n\"unreality\"--know you that so long as you are \"held in the Mind of\nGod,\" then so long are you \"remembered\" by Him. And so long as you are\nremembered by Him, no real harm can befall you, and your Reality is\nsecond only to His own. Even though you pass out of your mortal\nframe--doth he remember you in His Mind, and keeping you there, he\nholds you safe and unharmed. The greatest satisfaction that can come to\none, is to be able to fully realize that he, or she, is held firmly IN\nTHE MIND OF THE INFINITE BEING. To such comes the knowledge that in\nTHAT LIFE there can be NO DEATH.\n\nPeace be with you in this Realization. May you make it your own!\n\n\n\n\nTHE SIXTH LESSON\n\n\nWITHIN THE MIND OF THE ONE.\n\nIn our last lesson we gave you the Inner Teachings of the Yogi\nPhilosophy, relating to the real nature of the Universe, and all that\nis therein contained. We trust that you have pondered well and\ncarefully the statements contained in that lesson, for in them is to be\nfound the essence of the highest Yogi teachings. While we have\nendeavored to present these high truths to you in the simplest possible\nform, yet unless your minds have been trained to grasp the thought, you\nmay have trouble in fully assimilating the essence of the teachings.\nBut, be not discouraged, for your mind will gradually unfold like the\nflower, and the Sun of Truth will reach into its inmost recesses. Do\nnot be troubled if your comprehension seems dull, or your progress\nslow, for all things will come to you in time. You cannot escape the\nTruth, nor can the Truth escape you. And it will not come to you one\nmoment sooner than you are ready to receive it, nor will it be delayed\none moment in its coming, when you are ready for it. Such is the Law,\nand none can escape it, nor alter it, nor modify it. All is Well, and\nAll is Under the Law--nothing ever \"happens.\"\n\nTo many, the thought that the Universe and all that is therein\ncontained, are simply \"Thought Forms\" in the Infinite Mind--Mental\nCreations of the Absolute, may seem startling, and a sense of unreality\nmay pervade one. This is inevitable, but the reaction will come. To\nsome who have grasped this mighty truth there has come a feeling that\n\"All is Nothing,\" which idea is embodied in their teachings and\nwritings. But this is merely the Negative Phase of the Truth--there is\na Positive Phase which comes as one advances.\n\nThe Negative Phase shows us that all that we have considered as real\nand permanent--the foundations of the Universe itself--is but a mental\nimage in the mind of the Absolute, and therefore lacks the fundamental\nreality that we had previously associated with it. And realizing this,\nwe are at first apt to feel that, indeed \"all is nothing,\" and to fall\ninto a state of apathy, and lack of desire to play our part in the\nworld. But, then, happily the reaction sets in, sooner or later, and we\nbegin to see the Positive Phase of the Truth. This Positive Phase shows\nus that while all the forms, shapes, and phenomena of the Universe are\nbut parts of a great show-world, still the _essence of_ all must be\nReality, itself, else there would not be even the \"appearance\" of a\nUniverse. Before a thing can be a Mental Image, there must be a Mind to\nhold that Mental Image, and a BEING to possess that Mind. And, the very\nessence of that BEING must pervade and be immanent in every Image in\nthat Mind. Just as _You_ are really in your Mental Images, as well as\nthey in You, so must the Absolute be _in_ Its Mental Images, or\nCreations, or Thought Forms, as truly as they are in the Mind of the\nAbsolute. Do you see this plainly? Think well over it--ponder it\nwell--for in it lies the Truth.\n\nAnd so, this Positive Phase of the Truth, is far from depressing--it is\nthe most stimulating conception one can hold, if he but grasps it in\nits entirety and fulness.  Even if it be true that all these shapes,\nand forms, and appearances, and phenomena, and personalities, be but\nillusion as compared to the inner Reality--what of it? Are you not then\nassured that the Spirit within Yourself is the Spirit of the\nAbsolute--that the Reality within You is the Reality of the\nAbsolute--that you ARE, because the Absolute IS, and cannot be\notherwise? Does not the Peace, and Calm, and Security, and Bliss that\ncomes to you with this Realization, far more than counterbalance the\npetty nothings that you have discarded? We think that there can be but\none answer to this, when you have fully Realized the Truth.\n\nWhat gives you the greatest Satisfaction and Content in Life? Let us\nsee. Well, there is the Satisfaction of Immortality. The human mind\ninstinctively craves this. Well, what that even the highest finite\nconceptions of Future Life have given you, can compare with the\nassurance of Actual Being, in and of the Absolute? What are your petty\nconceptions of \"heavens,\" \"paradises,\" \"happy-hunting-grounds,\" \"divine\nregions of the blessed,\" and the other ideas of the various religious\nsects, when compared with the conceptions of your Infinite and Eternal\nExistence in Spirit--your relation with The One--that conception of\nInfinite Wisdom, Being, and Bliss? When you grasp this truth, you will\nsee that you are \"in Eternity right Now,\" and are Immortal even this\nmoment, as you have always been.\n\nNow, what we have said above is not intended to deny the\n\"heaven-worlds,\" or planes. On the contrary, you will find much in the\nteachings regarding these, which the Yogis enter into with much detail.\nBut, we mean that back of all the \"heavens\" and \"celestial planes,\"\nthere is a still higher state of being being--the \"Absolute Being.\"\nEven the \"heavens,\" and \"heaven-worlds,\" and regions of the _Devas_, or\nArchangels, are but relative states--there is a state higher than even\nthese exalted relative states, and that is the State of the Conscious\nUnity and Identity with the One. When one enters into that State, he\nbecomes more than Man--more than gods--he is then \"in the bosom of the\nFather.\"\n\nAnd now, before proceeding to a consideration of the phenomenal\nmanifestation of the Absolute--the evolving of the Universe in the\nInfinite Mind--we will again call your attention to the fact that\nunderlies all the Universe of forms, shapes and appearances, and that\nis, as we stated in our last lesson:\n\n_All Manifestations and Emanations of the Absolute are Mental Creations\nof the Absolute--Thought-Forms held in the Infinite Mind--the Infinite\nSpirit in them--and they in the Infinite Spirit. And, the only Real\nThing about Man is the Spirit involved in the Thought-Form--the rest is\nmere Personality, which changes and ceases to be. The Spirit in the\nSoul of Man, is the Soul of the Soul, which is never born; never\nchangeth; never dieth--this is The Real Self of Man, in which, indeed,\nhe is \"One with the Father_.\"\n\nAnd, now let us consider the Yogi Teachings regarding the creation of\nthe Universe, and the evolution of the living forms thereon. We shall\nendeavor to give you the story as plainly as may be, holding fast to\nthe main thought, and avoiding the side-paths of details, etc., so far\nas is possible.\n\nIn the first place, we must imagine ourselves back to the beginning of\na \"Day of Brahm,\"--the first dawn of that Day, which is breaking from\nthe darkness of a \"Night of Brahm.\" Before we proceed further, we must\ntell you something about these \"Days and Nights of Brahm,\" of which you\nhave seen much mention in the Oriental writings.\n\nThe Yogi Teachings contain much regarding the \"Days and Nights of\nBrahm;\" the \"In-breathing and Out-breathing of the Creative Principle;\"\nthe periods of \"_Manvantara_,\" and the periods of \"_Pralaya_.\" This\nthought runs through all the Oriental thought, although in different\nforms, and with various interpretations. The thought refers to the\noccult truth that there is in Cosmic Nature alternate periods of\nActivity and Inactivity--Days and Nights--In-breathings and\nOut-breathings--Wakefulness and Sleep. This fundamental law manifests\nin all Nature, from Universes to Atoms. Let us see it now in its\napplication to Universes.\n\nAt this point we would call the attention of the student that in many\nof the presentations of the Hindu Teachings the writers speak as if the\nAbsolute, _Itself_, were subject to this law of Rhythm, and had Its\nPeriods of Rest and Work, like Its manifestations. This is incorrect.\nThe highest teachings do not so hold, although at first glance it would\nso appear. The teaching really is that while the Creative Principle\nmanifests this rhythm, still even this principle, great though it be,\nis a manifestation of the Absolute, and not the Absolute itself. The\nhighest Hindu teachings are firm and unmistakable about this point.\n\nAnd, another point, in which there is much mistaken teaching. In the\nperiods of Creative Inactivity in a Universe it must not be supposed\nthat there is no Activity anywhere. On the contrary, there is never a\ncessation of Activity on the part of the Absolute. While it is Creative\nNight in one Universe, or System of Universes, there is intense\nactivity of Mid-Day in others. When we say \"The Universe\" we mean the\nUniverse of Solar Systems--millions of such systems--that compose the\nparticular universe of which we have any knowledge. The highest\nteachings tell us that this Universe is but one of a System of\nUniverses, millions in number--and that this System is but one, in a\nhigher System, and so on and on, to infinity. As one Hindu Sage hath\nsaid: \"Well do we know that the Absolute is constantly creating\nUniverses in Its Infinite Mind--and constantly destroying them--and,\nthough millions upon millions of aeons intervene between creation and\ndestruction, yet doth it seem less than the twinkle of an eye to The\nAbsolute One.\"\n\nAnd so the \"Day and Night of Brahm\" means only the statement of the\nalternating periods of Activity and Inactivity in some one particular\nUniverse, amidst the Infinite Universality. You will find a mention of\nthese periods of Activity and Inactivity in the \"_Bhagavad Gita_,\" the\ngreat Hindu epic. The following quotations, and page references, relate\nto the edition published by the Yogi Publication Society, which was\ncompiled and adapted by the writer of these lessons. In that edition of\nthe \"_Bhagavad Gita_,\" on page 77, you will find these words attributed\nto _Krishna_, the Absolute One in human incarnation:\n\n\"The worlds and universes--yea, even the world of Brahm, a single day\nof which is like unto a thousand _Yugas_ (four billion years of the\nearth), and his night as much--these worlds must come and go... The\nDays of Brahm are succeeded by the Nights of Brahm. In these Brahmic\nDays all things emerge from invisibility, and become visible. And, on\nthe coming of the Brahmic Night, all visible things again melt into\ninvisibility. The Universe having once existed, melteth away; and lo!\nis again re-created.\"\n\nAnd, in the same edition, on page 80, we find these words, attributed\nto the same speaker:\n\n\"At the end of a _Kalpa_--a Day of Brahm--a period of Creative\nActivity--I withdraw into my nature, all things and beings. And, at the\nbeginning of another _Kalpa_, I emanate all things and beings, and\nre-perform my creative act.\"\n\nWe may say here, in passing, that Modern Science now holds to the\ntheory of periods of Rhythmic Change; of Rise and Fall; of Evolution\nand Dissolution.\n\nIt holds that, beginning at some time in the past aeons of time, there\nwas the beginning of an upward or evolutionary movement, which is now\nunder way; and that, according to the law of Nature, there must come a\ntime when the highest point will be reached, and then will come the\nbeginning of the downward path, which in time must come to an end,\nbeing succeeded by a long period of inactivity, which will then be\nfollowed by the beginning of a new period of Creative Activity and\nEvolution--\"a Day of Brahm.\"\n\nThis thought of this law of Rhythm, in its Universal form, has been\nentertained by the thinkers of all times and races. Herbert Spencer\nexpressly held to it in his \"First Principles,\" expressing it in many\nways akin to this: \"Evolution must come to a close in complete\nequilibrium or rest;\" and again, \"It is not inferable from the general\nprogress towards equilibrium, that a state of universal quiescence or\ndeath will be reached; but that if a process of reasoning ends in that\nconclusion, a further process of reasoning points to renewals of\nactivity and life;\" and again, \"Rhythm in the totality of\nchanges--alternate eras of evolution and dissolution.\" The Ancient\nWestern Philosophers also indulged in this idea. Heraclitus taught that\nthe universe manifested itself in cycles, and the Stoics taught that\n\"the world moves in an endless cycle, through the same stages.\" The\nfollowers of Pythagoras went even further, and claimed that \"the\nsucceeding worlds resemble each other, down to the minutest detail,\"\nthis latter idea, however--the idea of the \"Eternal Recurrence\"--while\nheld by a number of thinkers, is not held by the Yogi teachers, who\nteach infinite progression--an Evolution of Evolution, as it were. The\nYogi teachings, in this last mentioned particular, are resembled more\nby the line of Lotze's thinking, as expressed in this sentence from his\n_Micro-cosmos:_ \"The series of Cosmic Periods, ... each link of which\nis bound together with every other; ... the successive order of these\nsections shall compose the unity of an onward-advancing melody.\" And,\nso through the pages of Heraclitus, the Stoics, the Pythagoreans,\nEmpedocles, Virgil, down to the present time, in Nietzsche, and his\nfollowers, we find this thought of Universal Rhythm--that fundamental\nconception of the ancient Yogi Philosophy.\n\nAnd, now, returning to the main path of our thought--let us stand here\nat the beginning of the dawn of a Day of Brahm. It is verily a\nbeginning, for there is nothing to be seen--there is nothing but Space.\nNo trace of Matter, Force or Mind, as we know these terms. In that\nportion of Infinite Space--that is, of course, in that \"portion\" of the\nInfinite Mind of the Absolute One, for even Space is a \"conception\" of\nthat Mind, there is \"Nothing.\" This is \"the darkest moment, just before\nthe dawn.\"\n\nThen comes the breaking of the dawn of the Brahmic Day. The Absolute\nbegins the \"creation\" of a Universe. And, how does It create? There can\nbe no creation of something out of nothing. And except the Absolute\nItself there is but Nothing.\n\nTherefore The Absolute must create the Universe out of Its own\n\"substance,\" if we can use the word \"substance\" in this connection.\n\"Substance\" means, literally, \"that which stands under,\" being derived\nfrom the two Latin words, _sub_, meaning \"under,\" and _stare_, meaning\n\"to stand.\" The English word \"understand\" means, literally, \"to stand\nunder\"--the two words really meaning the same. This is more than a\ncoincidence.\n\nSo the Absolute must create the Universe from its own substance, we\nhave seen. Well, what is this \"substance\" of the Absolute? Is it\nMatter? No! for Matter we know to be, in itself, merely a manifestation\nof Force, or Energy. Then, is it Force or Energy? No! because Force and\nEnergy, in itself, cannot possess Mind, and we must think of the\nAbsolute as possessing Mind, for it manifests Mind, and what is\nmanifested must be in the Manifestor, or Manifesting Agent. Then this\n\"substance\" must be Mind? Well, yes, in a way--and yet not Mind as we\nknow it, finite and imperfect. But something like Mind, only Infinite\nin degree and nature--something sufficiently greater than Mind as we\nknow it, to admit of it being the Cause of Mind. But, we are compelled\nto think of it as \"Infinite Mind,\" for our finite Minds can hold no\nhigher conception. So we are content to say that this \"substance\" from\nwhich the Absolute must create the Universe is a something that we will\ncall Infinite Mind. Fix this in your mind, please, as the first step in\nour conception.\n\nBut, how can the Infinite Mind be used to create finite minds, shapes,\nforms, and things, without it being lessened in quantity--how can you\ntake something from something, and still have the original something\nleft? An impossibility! And, we cannot think of the Absolute as\n\"dividing Itself up\" into two or more portions--for if such were the\ncase, there would be two or more Absolutes, or else None. There cannot\nbe two Absolutes, for if the Absolute were to divide itself so there\nwould be no Absolute, but only two Relatives--two Finites instead of\nOne Infinite. Do you see the absurdity?\n\nThen how can this work of Creation be accomplished, in view of these\ndifficulties which are apparent even to our finite minds? You may\nthresh this question over and over again in your minds--men have done\nso in all times--and you will not find the answer except in the\nfundamental Idea of the Yogi Teachings. And this Fundamental Idea is\nthat the creation is purely a Mental Creation, and the Universe is the\nMental Image, or Thought-Form, in the Mind of the Absolute--in the\nInfinite Mind, itself. No other \"creation\" is possible. And so this,\nsay the Yogi Masters, this is the Secret of Universal Creation. The\nUniverse is _of_, and _in_, the Infinite Mind, and this is the only way\nit could be so. So, fix in your mind this second step in our\nconception.\n\nBut then, you ask us, from whence comes Force, Matter, and Finite Mind?\nWell asked, good student--your answer shall be forthcoming. Here it is.\n\nFinite Mind; Force or Energy; and Matter; in themselves have no\nexistence. They are merely Mental Images, or Thought-Forms in the\nInfinite Mind of the Absolute. Their whole existence and appearance\ndepends upon their Mental Conception and Retention in the Infinite\nMind. In It they have their birth, rise, growth, decline and death.\n\nThen what is Real about ME, you may ask--surely I have a vivid\nconsciousness of Reality--is this merely an illusion, or shadow? No,\nnot so! that sense of Reality which you possess and which every\ncreature or thing possesses--that sense of \"I Am\"--is the perception by\nthe Mental Image of the Reality of its Essence--and that Essence is the\nSpirit. And that Spirit is the SUBSTANCE OF THE ABSOLUTE embodied in\nIts conception, the Mental Image. It is the perception by the Finite,\nof its Infinite Essence. Or, the perception by the Relative of its\nAbsolute Essence. Or, the perception by You, or I, or any other man or\nwoman, of the Real Self, which underlies all the sham self or\nPersonality. It is the reflection of the Sun, in the dew-drop, and\nthousands of dew-drops--seemingly thousands of Suns, and yet but One.\nAnd yet, that reflection of the Sun in the dewdrop is more than a\n\"reflection,\" for it is the substance of the Sun itself--and yet the\nSun shines on high, one and undivided, yet manifesting in millions of\ndew-drops. It is only by figures of speech that we can speak of the\nUnspeakable Reality.\n\nTo make it perhaps plainer to some of you, let us remind you that even\nin your finite Mental Images there is evident many forms of life. You\nmay think of a moving army of thousands of men. And yet the only \"I\" in\nthese men is your own \"I.\" These characters in your mind move and live\nand have their being, and yet there is nothing in them except \"You!\"\nThe characters of Shakespeare, Dickens, Thackeray, Balzac, and the\nrest, were such strong Mental Images that not only their creators were\ncarried away by their power, and apparent ability, but even you who\nread of them, many years after, perhaps, feel the apparent reality, and\nweep, or smile, or grow angry over their actions. And, yet there was no\nHamlet, outside of Shakespeare's mind; no Micawber outside of Dickens;\nno Pere Goriot outside of Balzac.\n\nThese illustrations are but finite examples of the Infinite, but still\nthey will give you an idea of the truth that we are trying to unfold in\nyour mind. But you must not imagine that You and I, and all others, and\nthings, are but mere \"imaginations,\" like _our_ created\ncharacters--that would be a most unhappy belief. The mental creations\nheld by You and I, and other finite minds, are but _finite creations of\nfinite minds_, while WE, ourselves, are the finite creations of an\nINFINITE MIND. While our, and Dickens', and Balzac's, and Shakespeare's\ncreations live and move and have their being, they have no other \"I\"\nthan our Finite Minds, while we, the characters in the Divine Drama,\nStory, or Epic, have for our \"I\"--our Real Self--the ABSOLUTE REALITY.\nThey have merely a background of our finite personalities, and minds,\nbefore which they may desport themselves. until, alas! the very\nbackground fades away to dust, and both background and shadows\ndisappear. But, we have behind our personalities the Eternal Background\nof Reality, which changeth not, neither doth it Disappear. Shadows on a\nscreen though our Personalities may be, yet the Screen is Real and\nEternal. Take away the finite screen and the shadows disappear--but our\nScreen remains forever.\n\nWe _are_ Mental Images in the Infinite Mind--the Infinite Mind holds us\nsafe--we cannot be lost--we cannot be hurt--we can never disappear,\nunless we be absorbed in the Infinite Mind itself, and then we STILL\nARE! The Infinite Mind never forgets--it never can overlook us--it is\naware of our presence, and being, always. We are safe--we are\nsecure--we ARE! Just as we could not be created from Nothing--so we\ncannot be converted into Nothing. We are in the All--and there is no\noutside.\n\nAt the dawn of the Brahmic Day, The Absolute begins the creation of a\nnew Universe, or the recreation of one, just as you may care to state\nit. The highest Yogi Teachings inform us that the information relating\nto this event (which is, of course, beyond the personal knowledge of\nman as we know him) has been passed down to the race from teachers, who\nhave received it from still higher teachers, and so on, and on and on,\nhigher and higher, until it is believed to have originated with some of\nthose wonderfully developed souls which have visited the earth from\nhigher planes of Being, of which there are many. In these lessons we\nare making no claims of this sort, but pass on the teachings to you,\nbelieving that their truth will appeal to those who are ready for them,\nwithout any attempt to attribute to them an authority such as just\nmentioned. Our reference to this high source of the teachings was made\nbecause of its general acceptance in the Eastern countries, and by\noccultists generally.\n\nThe Yogi teachings inform us that, in the Beginning, The Absolute\nformed a Mental Image, or Thought-Form, of an Universal Mind--that is,\nof an Universal Principle of Mind. And here the distinction is made\nbetween this Universal Mind Principle, or Universal Mind-Stuff, as some\nhave called it, and the Infinite Mind itself. The Infinite Mind is\nsomething infinitely above this creation of the Universal Mind\nPrinciple, the latter being as much an \"emanation\" as is Matter. Let\nthere be no mistake about this. The Infinite Mind is Spirit--the\nUniversal Mind Principle is \"Mind-Stuff\" of which all Finite Mind is a\npart. This Universal Mind Principle was the first conception of The\nAbsolute, in the process of the creation of the Universe. It was the\n\"Stuff\" from which all Finite Mind forms, and is formed. It is the\nUniversal Mental Energy. Know it as such--but do not confound it with\nSpirit, which we have called Infinite Mind, because we had no other\nterm. There is a subtle difference here, which is most important to a\ncareful understanding of the subject.\n\nThe Yogi teachings inform us that from this Mental Principle there was\ndeveloped the Universal Principle of Force or Energy. And that from\nthis Universal Force Principle there developed the Universal Principle\nof Matter. The Sanscrit terms for these Three Principles are as\nfollows: _Chitta_, or the Universal Mind Substance, or Principle;\n_Prana_, or the Universal Energy Principle; and _Akasa_, or the\nUniversal Principle of Matter. We have spoken of these Three\nPrinciples, or Three Great Manifestations, in our \"Advanced Course\" of\nlessons, which followed our \"Fourteen Lessons,\" several years ago, but\nit becomes necessary for us to refer to them again at this place in\nconnection with the present presentation of the subject. As was stated\nin the lessons just mentioned, these Three Manifestations, or\nPrinciples, are really one, and shade into each other. This matter has\nbeen fully touched upon in the concluding lessons of the aforesaid\n\"Advanced Course,\" to which we must refer you for further details, in\norder to avoid repetition here. You will find a wonderful\ncorrespondence between these centuries-old Yogi teachings, and the\nlatest conceptions of Modern Science.\n\nWell, to return to the main path once more, the Teachings inform us\nthat The Absolute \"thought\" into being--that is, held the Mental Image,\nor Thought-Form, of--_Chitta_, or Universal Mind Principle. This\n_Chitta_ was finite, of course, and was bound and governed by the Laws\nof Finite Mind, imposed upon it by the Will of The Absolute. Everything\nthat is Finite is governed by Laws imposed by the great LAW which we\ncall The Absolute. Then began the Great INVOLUTION which was necessary\nbefore Evolution was possible. The word \"Involve,\" you know, means \"to\nwrap up; to cover; to hide; etc.;\" and the word \"Evolve\" means \"to\nunwrap; to unfold; to un-roll; etc.\" Before a thing can be \"evolved,\"\nor \"unfolded,\" it must first have been \"involved\" or \"folded-in, or\nwrapped up, etc.\" Everything must be \"involved\" before it can be\n\"evolved;\" remember this, please--it is true on all planes, mental,\nphysical, and spiritual. A thing must be \"put in\" before it may be\n\"taken out.\" This truth, if remembered and applied to metaphysical\nproblems, will throw the clearest light upon the darkest problems. Make\nit your own.\n\nTherefore before the process of Evolution from the gross forms of\nMatter up to the higher, and then on to the Mental, from higher to\nhigher, and then on the Spiritual plane--that Evolution which we see\nbeing performed before our sight today--before that Evolution became\npossible there was a necessary Involution, or \"wrapping-up.\" The Spirit\nof the Absolute first \"involved\" itself in its Mental Image;\nThought-Form, or Creation, of the Mind Principle, just as you may\n\"involve\" yourself in an earnest thought in deep meditation. Did you\nnever \"lose yourself\" in thought, or \"forget yourself\" in an idea? Have\nyou not spoken of yourself as having been \"wrapped in thought?\" Well,\nthen you can see something of what is here meant, at least so far as\nthe process of \"involution\" is concerned. You involve yourself in your\nmeditations--the Absolute involves Itself in Its Mental Creations--but,\nremember the one is Finite, and the other Infinite, and the results are\ncorrespondingly weak or strong.\n\nObeying the laws imposed upon it, the Mental Principle then involved\nitself in the Energy Principle, or _Prana_, and the Universal Energy\nsprang into existence. Then, in obedience to the same Laws, the _Prana_\ninvolved itself in the _Akasa_, or Universal Matter Principle. Of\ncourse each \"involving\" practically \"created\" the \"wrapper,\" \"sheath\"\nof the lower Principle. Do you see this? Each, therefore, depends upon\nthe Principle higher than itself, which becomes its \"Parent Principle,\"\nas the Yogis express it. And in this process of Involution the extreme\nform of Matter was reached before the process of Evolution became\npossible. The extreme form of gross Matter is not known to us today, on\nthis planet, for we have passed beyond it. But the teachings inform us\nthat such forms were as much grosser that the grossest Matter that we\nknow today, as the latter is gross in comparison with the most ethereal\nvapors known to Modern Science. The human mind cannot grasp this\nextreme of the scale, any more than it can the extreme high degree of\nmanifestation.\n\nAt this point we must call your attention to certain occult teachings,\nwidely disseminated, which the highest Yogi teachers discountenance,\nand contradict. We allude to the teaching that in the process of\nInvolution there was a \"degeneration\" or \"devolution\" from higher to\nlower forms of life, until the gross state of Matter was reached. Such\na teaching is horrible, when considered in detail. It would mean that\nThe Absolute deliberately created high forms of life, arch-angels, and\nhigher than these--gods in fact--and then caused them to \"devolve\"\nuntil the lowest state was reached. This would mean the exact opposite\nof Evolution, and would mean a \"going down\" in accordance with the\nDivine Will, just as Evolution is a \"going up\" in accordance with the\nDivine Will.\n\nThis is contrary to man's best instincts, and the advanced Yogi\nteachings inform us that it is but an illusion or error that men have\ncreated by endeavoring to solve spiritual mysteries by purely\nintellectual processes. The true teaching is that the process of\nInvolution was accomplished by a Principle involving itself in the\nlower Principle created within itself, and so on until the lowest plane\nwas reached. Note the difference--\"Principles as Principles\" did this,\nand not as Individual Forms of Life or Being. There was no more a\n\"devolution\" in this process than there was in The Absolute involving\nitself in the Mental Image of the Mind Principle. There was no\n\"devolution\" or \"going down\"--only an \"involution\" or \"wrapping up,\" of\nPrinciple, within Principle--the Individual Life not having as yet\nappeared, and not being possible of appearance until the Evolutionary\nprocess began.\n\nWe trust that we have made this point clear to you, for it is an\nimportant matter. If the Absolute first made higher beings, and then\ncaused them to \"devolute\" into lower and lower forms, then the whole\nprocess would be a cruel, purposeless thing, worthy only of some of the\nbase conceptions of Deity conceived of by men in their ignorance. No!\nthe whole effort of the Divine Will seems to be in the direction of\n\"raising up\" Individual Egos to higher and still higher forms. And in\norder to produce such Egos the process of \"Involution\" of Principles\nseems to have been caused, and the subsequent wonderful Evolutionary\nprocess instituted. What that \"Reason\" is, is Unknowable, as we have\nsaid over and over again. We cannot pry into the Infinite Mind of the\nAbsolute, but we may form certain conclusions by observing and studying\nthe Laws of the Universe, which seem to be moving in certain\ndirections. From the manifested Will of the Divine One, we may at least\nhazard an idea as to its purposes. And these purposes seem to be always\nin an \"upward\" lifting and evolution. Even the coming of the \"Night of\nBrahm\" is no exception to this statement, as we shall see in future\nlessons.\n\nFrom the starting of the process of Involution from the Mental\nPrinciple, down to the extreme downward point of the grossest\nManifestation of Matter, there were many stages. From the highest\ndegree of the Finite Mind, down to lower and still lower degrees; then\non to the plane of Force and Energy, from higher to lower degrees of\nPrinciple within Principle; then on to the plane of Matter, the\nInvolutionary urge proceeded to work. When the plane of Matter was\nreached, it, of course, showed its highest degree of manifested\nMatter--the most subtle form of Ether, or _Akasa_. Then down, down,\ndown, went the degrees of Matter, until the grossest possible form was\nreached, and then there was a moment's pause, before the Evolutionary\nprocess, or upward-movement, began. The impulse of the Original Will,\nor Thought, had exhausted its downward urge, and now began the upward\nurge or tendency. But here was manifested a new feature.\n\nThis new feature was \"The Tendency toward Individualization.\" During\nthe downward trend the movement was _en masse_, that is, by Principle\nas _Principle_, without any \"splitting up\" into portions, or centers.\nBut with the first upward movement there was evidenced a tendency\ntoward creating Centers of Energy, or Units of activity, which then\nmanifested itself, as the evolutionary movement continued, from\nelectrons to atoms; from atoms to man. The gross matter was used as\nmaterial for the formation of finer and more complex forms; and these\nin turn combined, and formed higher, and so on, and on. And the forms\nof Energy operated in the same way. And the manifestations of centers\nof Mind or consciousness in the same way. But all in connection.\nMatter, Energy and Mind formed a Trinity of Principles, and worked in\nconnection. And the work was always in the direction of causing higher\nand higher \"forms\" to arise--higher and higher Units--higher and higher\nCenters. But in every form, center or unit, there was manifested the\nThree Principles, Mind, Energy, and Matter. And within each was the\never present Spirit. For Spirit _must_ be in All--just as All must be\nin Spirit.\n\nAnd, so this Evolutionary process has continued ever since, and must\ncontinue for aeons yet. The Absolute is raising itself up into Itself\nhigher and higher Egos, and is providing them with higher and higher\nsheaths in which to manifest. And, as we shall see in these lessons, as\nwe progress, this evolution is not only along the physical lines, but\nalso along the mental. And it concerns itself not only with \"bodies,\"\nbut with \"souls,\" which also evolve, from time to time, and bodies are\ngiven these souls in order that they may work out their evolution. And\nthe whole end and aim of it all seems to be that Egos may reach the\nstage where they are conscious of the Real Self--of the Spirit within\nthem, and its relation to the Spirit of the Absolute, and then go on\nand on and on, to planes of life and being, and activities of which\neven the most advanced of the race may only dream.\n\nAs some of the Ancient Yogi Teachers have said: \"Men are evolving into\nsuper-men; and super-men into gods; and gods into super-gods; and\nsuper-gods into Something still higher; until from the lowest bit of\nmatter enclosing life, unto the highest being--yea, even unto The\nAbsolute--there is an Infinite Ladder of Being--and yet the One Spirit\npervades all; is in all, as the all is in It.\"\n\nThe Creative Will, of which we have spoken in these lessons, is in full\noperation all through Life. The Natural Laws are laws of Life imposed\nby The Absolute in his Mental Image. They are the Natural Laws of this\nUniverse, just as other Universes have other Laws. But The Absolute\nItself has no Laws affecting It--It, in Itself _is_ LAW.\n\nAnd these Laws of Life, and Nature, along its varying planes, Material,\nof Energy; and Mental; are also, in the Divine Mind, else they would\nnot be at all, even in appearance. And when they are transcended, or\napparently defied by some man of advanced development, it is only\nbecause such a man is able to rise above the plane upon which such laws\nare operative. But even this transcending is, in itself, in accordance\nwith some higher law.\n\nAnd so, we see that All, high and low--good and bad--simple or\ncomplex--all are contained Within the Mind of the One. Gods, angels,\nadepts, sages, heavens, planes,--all, everything--is within the\nUniverse, and the Universe is Within the Mind of the One. And all is\nproceeding in accordance with Law. And all is moving upward and onward,\nalong the lines of Evolution. All is Well. We are held firmly in The\nMind of the One.\n\nAnd, just as the tendency was from the general Principle toward the\nparticular Individual Soul, so is there a Reconciliation later on, for\nthe Individual soul, as it develops and unfolds, loses its sense of\nSeparateness, and begins to feel its identity with the One Spirit, and\nmoves along the lines of unfoldment, until it becomes in Conscious\nUnion with God. Spiritual Evolution does not mean the \"growth of the\nSpirit,\" for the Spirit cannot grow--it is already Perfect. The term\nmeans the unfoldment of the Individual Mind, until it can recognize the\nSpirit Within. Let us close this lesson with the\n\nCENTRAL THOUGHT.\n\nThere is but ONE. That ONE is Spirit. In the Infinite Mind of that ONE\nSPIRIT there arose the Mental Image or Thought-Form of this Universe.\nBeginning with the Thought of the Principle in Mind; and passing on to\nthe Principle of Energy; and then on to the Principle of Matter;\nproceeded the Involutionary Process of Creation. Then, upward began the\nEvolutionary Process, and Individual Centers or Units were formed. And\nthe tendency, and evolutionary urge is ever in the direction of\n\"unfolding\" within the Ego of the Realization of the Indwelling Spirit.\nAs we throw off sheath after sheath, we approach nearer and nearer to\nthe SPIRIT within us, which is the One Spirit pervading all things.\nThis is the Meaning of Life--the Secret of Evolution. All the Universe\nis contained Within the Mind of The One. There is Nothing outside of\nthat Infinite Mind. There is no Outside, for the One is All in All;\nSpace, Time, and Laws, being but Mental Images in that Mind, as are\nlikewise all shapes and forms, and phenomena. And as the Ego unfolds\ninto a realization of Itself--Its Real Self--so does its Wisdom and\nPower expand. It thus enters into a greater and greater degree of its\nInheritance. Within the Mind of the One, is All there is. And I, and\nThou, and All Things are HERE within that Infinite Mind. We are always\n\"held in Mind\" by The Absolute--are always safe here. There is nothing\nto harm us, in Reality, for our Real Self is the Real Self of the\nInfinite Mind. All is Within the Mind of the One. Even the tiniest atom\nis under the Law, and protected by the Law. And the LAW is All there\nIs. And in that Law we may rest Content and Unafraid. May this\nRealization be YOURS.\n\nPEACE BE WITH YOU ALL.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SEVENTH LESSON\n\n\nCOSMIC EVOLUTION.\n\nWe have now reached a most interesting point in this course of lessons,\nand a period of fascinating study lies before us from now until the\nclose of the course. We have acquainted ourselves with the fundamental\nprinciples, and will now proceed to witness these principles in active\noperation. We have studied the Yogi Teachings concerning the Truth\nunderlying all things, and shall now pass on to a consideration of the\nprocess of Cosmic Evolution; the Cyclic Laws; the Law of Spiritual\nEvolution, or Reincarnation; the Law of Spiritual Cause and Effect, or\n_Karma_; etc. In this lesson we begin the story of the upward progress\nof the Universe, and its forms, shapes, and forces, from the point of\nthe \"moment's pause\" following the ceasing of the process of\nInvolution--the point at which Cosmic Evolution begins. Our progress is\nnow steadily upward, so far as the evolution of Individual Centres is\nconcerned. We shall see the principles returning to the Principle--the\ncentres returning to the great Centre from which they emanated during\nthe process of Involution. We shall study the long, gradual, but steady\nascent of Man, in his journey toward god-hood. We shall see the\nBuilding of an Universe, and the Growth of the Soul.\n\nIn our last lesson we have seen that at the dawn of a Brahmic Day, the\nAbsolute begins the creation of a new Universe. The Teachings inform us\nthat in the beginning, the Absolute forms a Mental Image, or\nThought-Form of an Universal Mind Principle, or Universal Mind-Stuff,\nas some of the teachers express it. Then this Universal Mind Principle\ncreates within itself the Universal Energy Principle. Then this\nUniversal Energy Principle creates within itself the Universal Matter\nPrinciple. Thus, Energy is a product of Mind; and Matter a product of\nEnergy.\n\nThe Teachings then further inform us that from the rare, tenuous,\nsubtle form of Matter in which the Universal Matter Principle first\nappeared, there was produced forms of Matter less rare; and so by easy\nstages, and degrees, there appeared grosser and still grosser forms of\nmatter, until finally there could be no further involution into grosser\nforms, and the Involutionary Process ceased. Then ensued the \"moment's\npause\" of which the Yogi teachers tell us. At that point Matter existed\nas much grosser that the grossest form of Matter now known to us, as\nthe latter is when compared to the most subtle vapors known to science.\nIt is impossible to describe these lower forms of matter, for they have\nages since disappeared from view, and we would have no words with which\nto describe them. We can understand the situation only by comparisons\nsimilar to the above.\n\nSucceeding the moment's pause, there began the Evolutionary Process, or\nCosmic Evolution, which has gone on ever since, and which will go on\nfor ages to come. From the grossest forms of Matter there evolved forms\na little more refined, and so on and on. From the simple elementarv\nforms, evolved more complex and intricate forms. And from these forms\ncombinations began to be formed. And the urge was ever upward.\n\nBut remember this, that all of this Evolutionary Process is but a\nReturning Home. It is the Ascent after the Descent. It is not a\nCreation but an Unfoldment. The Descent was made by principles as\nprinciples--the Ascent is being made by Individualized Centres evolved\nfrom the principles. Matter manifests finer and finer forms, and\nexhibits a greater and greater subservience to Energy or Force. And\nEnergy or Force shows a greater and greater degree of \"mind\" in it.\nBut, remember this, that there is Mind in even the grossest form of\nMatter. This must be so, for what springs from a thing must contain the\nelements of its cause.\n\nAnd the Cosmic Evolution continues, and must continue for aeons of\ntime. Higher and higher forms of Mind are being manifested, and still\nhigher and higher forms will appear in the scale, as the process\ncontinues. The evolution is not only along material lines, but has\npassed on to the mental planes, and is now operating along the\nspiritual lines as well. And the end, and aim seems to be that each\nEgo, after the experiences of many lives, may unfold and develop to a\npoint where it may become conscious of its Real Self, and realize its\nidentity with the One Life, and the Spirit.\n\nAt this point we may be confronted with the objection of the student of\nmaterial science, who will ask why we begin our consideration of Cosmic\nEvolution at a point in which matter has reached the limit of its\nlowest vibrations, manifesting in the grossest possible form of matter.\nThese students may point to the fact that Science begins its\nconsideration of evolution with the _nebulae_, or faint cloudlike,\nvaporous matter, from which the planets were formed. But there is only\nan apparent contradiction here. The _nebulae_ were part of the Process\nof Involution, and Science is right when it holds that the gross forms\nwere produced from the finer. But the process of change from finer to\ngrosser was _Involution_, not Evolution. Do you see the difference?\nEvolution begins at the point when the stage of Unfoldment commenced.\nWhen the gross forms begin to yield to the new upward urge, and unfold\ninto finer forms--then begins Evolution.\n\nWe shall pass over the period of Evolution in which Matter was evolving\ninto finer and still finer forms, until at last it reached a degree of\nvibration capable of supporting that which we call \"life.\" Of course\nthere is \"life\" in all matter--even in the atom, as we have shown in\nprevious lessons. But when we speak of \"life,\" as we now do, we mean\nwhat are generally called \"living forms.\" The Yogi Teachings inform us\nthat the lowest forms of what we call \"life\" were evolved from forms of\nhigh crystal life, which indeed they very much resemble. We have spoken\nof this resemblance, in the previous lessons of this series. And, so we\nshall begin at the point where \"living forms\" began.\n\nSpeaking now of our own planet, the Earth, we find matter emerging from\nthe molten state in which it manifested for ages. Gradually cooling and\nstratifying, the Earth contained none of those forms that we call\nliving forms. The temperature of the Earth in that period is estimated\nat about 15,000 times hotter than boiling water, which would, of\ncourse, render impossible the existence of any of the present known\nforms of life. But the Yogi Teachings inform us that even in the molten\nmass there were elementary forms that were to become the ancestral\nforms of the later living forms. These elementary forms were composed\nof a vaporous, peculiar form of matter, of minute size,--little more\nthan the atoms, in fact, and yet, just a little more advanced. From\nthese elementary forms, there gradually evolved, as the Earth cooled\nand solidified, other forms, and so on until at last the first \"living\nform\" manifested.\n\nAs the globe cooled at the poles, there was gradually created a\ntropical climate, in which the temperature was sufficiently cool to\nsupport certain rudimentary forms of life. In the rocks in the far\nnorthern latitudes, there are found abundant traces of fossils, which\ngoes to prove the correctness of the Yogi Teachings of the origin of\nlife at the north pole, from which the living forms gradually spread\nsouth toward the equator, as the Earth's surface cooled.\n\nThe elementary evolving life forms were of a very simple structure, and\nwere but a degree above the crystals. They were composed of identically\nthe same substance as the crystals, _the only difference being that\nthey displayed a greater degree of mind_. For that matter, even the\nhighest physical form known to us today is composed of simple chemical\nmaterials. And these chemical materials are obtained, either directly\nor indirectly, from the air, water, or earth. The principal materials\ncomposing the physical bodies of plants, animals, and man, are oxygen,\ncarbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, with a still smaller proportion of sulphur\nand phosphorus, and traces of a few other elements. The material part\nof all living things is alike--the difference lies in the degree of\nMind controlling the matter in which it is embodied.\n\nOf these physical materials, carbon is the most important to the living\nforms. It seems to possess properties capable of drawing to it the\nother elements, and forcing them into service. From carbon proceeds\nwhat is called \"protoplasm,\" the material of which the cells of animal\nand vegetable life is composed. From protoplasm the almost infinite\nvarieties of living forms have been built up by the process of\nEvolution, working gradually and by easy stages. Every living form is\nmade up, or composed, of a multitude of single cells, and their\ncombinations. And every form originates in a single cell which rapidly\nmultiplies and reproduces itself until the form of the amoeba; the\nplant; the animal; the man, is completed. All living forms are but a\nsingle cell multiplied. And every cell is composed of protoplasm.\nTherefore we must look for the beginning of life in the grade of matter\ncalled protoplasm. In this both modern Science and the Yogi Teachings\nagree fully.\n\nIn investigating protoplasm we are made to realize the wonderful\nqualities of its principal constituent--Carbon. Carbon is the wonder\nworker of the elements. Manifesting in various forms, as the diamond,\ngraphite, coal, protoplasm--is it not entitled to respect? The Yogi\nTeachings inform vis that in Carbon we have that form of matter which\nwas evolved as the physical basis of life. If any of you doubt that\ninorganic matter may be transformed into living forms, let us refer you\nto the plant life, in which you may see the plants building up cells\nevery day from the inorganic, chemical or mineral substances, in the\nearth, air, and water. Nature performs every day the miracle of\ntransforming chemicals and minerals into living plant cells. And when\nanimal or man eats these plant cells, so produced, they become\ntransformed into animal cells of which the body is built up. What it\ntook Nature ages to do in the beginning, is now performed in a few\nhours, or minutes.\n\nThe Yogi Teachings, again on all-fours with modern Science, inform us\nthat living forms had their beginning in water. In the slimy bed of the\npolar seas the simple cell-forms appeared, having their origin in the\ntransitional stages before mentioned. The first living forms were a\nlowly form of plant life, consisting of a single cell. From these forms\nwere evolved forms composed of groups of cells, and so proceeded the\nwork of evolution, from the lower form to the higher, ever in an upward\npath.\n\nAs we have said, the single cell is the physical centre, or parent, of\nevery living form. It contains what is known as the _nucleus_, or\nkernel, which seems to be more highly organized than the rest of the\nmaterial of the cell--it may be considered as the \"brain\" of the cell,\nif you wish to use your imagination a little. The single cell\nreproduces itself by growth and division, or separation. Each cell\nmanifests the functions of life, whether it be a single-celled\ncreature, or a cell which with billions of others, goes to make up a\nhigher form. It feels, feeds, grows, and reproduces itself. In the\nsingle-celled creature, the one cell performs all of the functions, of\ncourse. But as the forms become more complex, the many cells composing\na form perform certain functions which are allotted to it, the division\nof labor resulting in a higher manifestation. This is true not only in\nthe case of animal forms, but also in the case of plant forms. The\ncells in the bone, muscle, nerve-tissue and blood of the animal differ\naccording to their offices; and the same is true in the cells in the\nsap, stem, root, leaf, seed and flower of the plant.\n\nAs we have said, the cells multiply by division, after a period of\ngrowth. The cell grows by material taken into its substance, as food.\nWhen sufficient food has been partaken, and enough new material\naccumulated to cause the cell to attain a certain size, then it\ndivides, or separates into two cells, the division being equal, and the\npoint of cleavage being at the kernel or nucleus. As the two parts\nseparate, the protoplasm _of_ each groups itself around its nucleus,\nand two living forms exist where there was but one a moment before. And\nthen each of the two cells proceed to grow rapidly, and then separate,\nand so on to the end, each cell multiplying into millions, as time\npasses.\n\nAscending in the scale, we next find the living forms composed of\ncell-groups. These cell-groups are formed by single cells dividing, and\nthen subdividing, but instead of passing on their way they group\nthemselves in clusters, or masses. There are millions of forms of these\ncell-group creatures, among which we find the sponges, polyps, etc.\n\nIn the early forms of life it is difficult to distinguish between the\nanimal and the plant forms, in fact the early forms partake of the\nqualities of both. But as we advance in the scale a little there is\nseen a decided \"branching out,\" and one large branch is formed of the\nevolving plant forms, and the other of the evolving animal forms. The\nplant-branch begins with the sea-weeds, and passes on to the fungi,\nlichens, mosses, ferns, pines and palm-ferns, grasses, etc., then to\nthe trees, shrubs and herbs. The animal-branch begins with the\n_monera_, or single-cell forms, which are little more than a drop of\nsticky, glue-like protoplasm. Then it passes on to the _amoebae_, which\nbegins to show a slight difference in its parts. Then on the\n_foraminifera_, which secretes a shell of lime from the water. Then on\na step higher to the _polycystina_, which secretes a shell, or skeleton\nof flint-like material from the water. Then come the sponges. Then the\ncoral-animals, anemones and jelly-fish. Then come the sea-lilies,\nstar-fish, etc. Then the various families of worms. Then the crabs,\nspiders, centipedes, insects. Then come the mollusca, which include the\noysters, clams and other shell-fish; snails, cuttle-fish, sea-squirts,\netc. All of the above families of animal-forms are what are known as\n\"invertebrates,\" that is, without a backbone.\n\nThen we come to the \"vertebrates,\" or animals having a backbone. First\nwe see the fish family with its thousands of forms. Then come the\namphibia, which include the toads, frogs, etc. Then come the reptiles,\nwhich include the serpents, lizards, crocodiles, turtles, etc. Then\ncome the great family of birds, with its wonderful variety of forms,\nsizes, and characteristics. Then come the mammals, the name of which\ncomes from the Latin word meaning \"the breast,\" the characteristic of\nwhich group comes from the fact that they nourish their young by milk,\nor similar fluid, secreted by the mother. The mammals are the highest\nform of the vertebrates.\n\nFirst among the mammals we find the aplacentals, or those which bring\nforth immature young, which are grouped into two divisions, _i.e_., (1)\nthe _monotremes_, or one-vented animals, in which group belong the\nduck-bills, spiny ant-eaters, etc.; and (2) the _marsupials_, or\npouched animals, in which group belong the kangaroo, opossum, etc.\n\nThe next highest form among the mammals are known as the _placentals_,\nor those which bring forth mature young. In this class are found the\nant-eaters, sloth, manatee, the whale and porpoise, the horse, cow,\nsheep, and other hoofed animals; the elephant, seal, the dog, wolf,\nlion, tiger, and all flesh eating animals; the hares, rats, mice, and\nail other gnawing animals; the bats, moles, and other insect-feeders;\nthen come the great family of apes, from the small monkeys up to the\norang-outang, chimpanzee, and other forms nearly approaching man. And\nthen comes the highest, Man, from the Kaffir, Bush-man, Cave-man, and\nDigger Indian, up through the many stages until the highest forms of\nour own race are reached.\n\nFrom the Monera to Man is a long path, containing many stages, but it\nis a path including all the intermediate forms. The Yogi Teachings hold\nto the theory of evolution, as maintained by modern Science, but it\ngoes still further, for it holds not only that the physical forms are\nsubject to the evolutionary process, but that also the \"souls\" embodied\nin these forms are subject to the evolutionary process. In other words\nthe Yogi Teachings hold that there is a twin-process of evolution under\nway, the main object of which is to develop \"souls,\" but which also\nfinds it necessary to evolve higher and higher forms of physical bodies\nfor these constantly advancing souls to occupy.\n\nLet us take a hasty glance at the ascending forms of animal life, as\nthey rise in the evolutionary scale. By so doing we can witness the\ngrowth of the soul, within them, as manifested by the higher and higher\nphysical forms which are used as channels of expression by the souls\nwithin. Let us first study soul-evolution from the outer viewpoint,\nbefore we proceed to examine it from the inner. By so doing we will\nhave a fuller idea of the process than if we ignored the outer and\nproceed at once to the inner. Despise not the outer form, for it has\nalways been, and is now, the Temple of the Soul, which the latter is\nremodelling and rebuilding in order to accommodate its constantly\nincreasing needs and demands.\n\nLet us begin with the _Protozoa_, or one-celled forms--the lowest form\nof animal life. The lowest form of this lowest class is that remarkable\ncreature that we have mentioned in previous lessons--the _Moneron_.\nThis creature lives in water, the natural element in which organic life\nis believed to have had its beginning. It is a very tiny, shapeless,\ncolorless, slimy, sticky mass--something like a tiny drop of\nglue--alike all over and in its mass, and without organs or parts of\nany kind. Some have claimed that below the field of the microscope\nthere may be something like elementary organs in the Moneron, but so\nfar as the human eye may discover there is no evidence of anything of\nthe kind. It has no organs or parts with which to perform particular\nfunctions, as is the case with the higher forms of life. These\nfunctions, as you know, may be classed into three groups, _i.e._,\nnutrition, reproduction, and relation--that is, the function of\nfeeding, the function of reproducing its kind, and the function of\nreceiving and responding to the impressions of the outside world. All\nof these three classes of functions the Moneron performs--but _with any\npart of its body, or with all of it_.\n\nEvery part, or the whole, of the Moneron absorbs food and oxygen--it is\nall mouth and lungs. Every part, or the whole, digests the food--it is\nall stomach. Every part, or the whole, performs the reproductive\nfunction--it is all reproductive organism. Every part of it senses the\nimpressions from outside, and responds to it--it is all organs of\nsense, and organs of motion. It envelops its prey as a drop of glue\nsurrounds a particle of sand, and then absorbs the substance of the\nprey into its own substance. It moves by prolonging any part of itself\noutward in a sort of tail-like appendage, which it uses as a \"foot,\" or\n\"finger\" with which to propel itself; draw itself to, or push itself\naway from an object. This prolongation is called a _pseudopod_, or\n\"false-foot.\" When it gets through using the \"false-foot\" for the\nparticular purpose, it simply draws back into itself that portion which\nhad been protruded for the purpose.\n\nIt performs the functions of digestion, assimilation, elimination,\netc., perfectly, just as the higher forms of life--but it has no organs\nfor the functions, and performs them severally, and collectively with\nany, or all parts of its body. What the higher animals perform with\nintricate organs and parts--heart, stomach, lungs, liver, kidneys,\netc., etc.--this tiny creature performs _without organs_, and with its\nentire body, or any part thereof. The function of reproduction is\nstartlingly simple in the case of the Moneron. It simply divides itself\nin two parts, and that is all there is to it. There is no male or\nfemale sex in its case--it combines both within itself. The\nreproductive process is even far more simple than the \"budding\" of\nplants. You may turn one of these wonderful creatures inside out, and\nstill it goes on the even tenor of its way, in no manner disturbed or\naffected. It is simply a \"living drop of glue,\" which eats, digests,\nreceives impressions and responds thereto, and reproduces itself. This\ntiny glue-drop performs virtually the same life functions as do the\nhigher complex forms of living things. Which is the greater\n\"miracle\"--the Moneron or Man?\n\nA slight step upward from the Moneron brings us to the _Amoeba_. The\nname of this new creature is derived from the Greek word meaning\n\"change,\" and has been bestowed because the creature is constantly\nchanging its shape. This continual change of shape is caused by a\ncontinuous prolongation and drawing-in of its pseudopods, or\n\"false-feet,\" which also gives the creature the appearance of a\n\"many-fingered\" organism. This creature shows the first step toward\n\"parts,\" for it has something like a membrane or \"skin\" at its surface,\nand a \"nucleus\" at its centre, and also an expanding and contracting\ncavity within its substance, which it uses for holding, digesting and\ndistributing its food, and also for storing and distributing its\noxygen--an elementary combination of stomach and lungs! So you see that\nthe amoeba has taken a step upward from the moneron, and is beginning\nto appreciate the convenience of parts and organs. It is interesting to\nnote, in this connection, that while the ordinary cells of the higher\nanimal body resemble the _monera_ in many ways, still the white\ncorpuscles in the blood of man and the animals bear a startling\nresemblance to the _amoebae_ so far as regards size, general structure,\nand movements, and are in fact known to Science as \"amoeboids.\" The\nwhite corpuscles change their shape, take in food in an intelligent\nmanner, and live a comparatively independent life, their movements\nshowing independent \"thought\" and \"will.\"\n\nSome of the amoebae (the diatoms, for instance) secrete solid matter\nfrom the water, and build therefrom shells or houses, which serve to\nprotect them from their enemies. These shells are full of tiny holes,\nthrough which the pseudopods are extended in their search for food, and\nfor purposes of movement. Some of these shells are composed of secreted\nlime, and others of a flinty substance, the \"selection\" of these\nsubstances from the ether mineral particles in the water, evidencing a\ndegree cf \"thought,\" and mind, even in these lowly creatures. The\nskeletons of these tiny creatures form vast deposits of chalk and\nsimilar substances.\n\nNext higher in the scale are the _Infusoria_. These creatures differ\nfrom the amoebae inasmuch as instead of pseudopods, they have developed\ntiny vibrating filaments, or thread-like appendages, which are used for\ndrawing in their prey and for moving about. These filaments are\npermanent, and are not temporary like the pseudopods of the monera or\namoebae--they are the _first signs of permanent hands and feet_. These\ncreatures have also discovered the possibilities of organs and parts,\nto a still greater degree than have their cousins the amoebae, and have\nevolved something like a mouth-opening (very rudimentary) and also a\nshort gullet through which they pass their food and oxygen--_they have\ndeveloped the first signs of a throat, wind-pipe and food-passage_.\n\nNext come the family of Sponges, the soft skeletons of which form the\nuseful article of everyday use. There are many forms who weave a home\nof far more delicacy and beauty than their more familiar and homely\nbrothers. The sponge creature itself is a slimy, soft creature, which\nfills in the spaces in its spongy skeleton. It is fastened to one spot,\nand gathers in its food from the water around it (and oxygen as well),\nby means of numerous whip-like filaments called _cilia_, which flash\nthrough the water driving in the food and oxygen to the inner positions\nof its body. The water thus drawn in, as well as the refuse from the\nfood, is then driven out in the same manner. It is interesting to note\nthat in the organisms of the higher animals, including man, there are\nnumerous _cilia_ performing offices in connection with nutrition, etc.\nWhen Nature perfects an instrument, it is very apt to retain it, even\nin the higher forms, although in the latter its importance may be\ndwarfed by higher ones.\n\nThe next step in the ascending scale of life-forms is occupied by the\n_polyps_, which are found in water, fastened to floating matter. The\npolyps fasten themselves to this floating matter, with their mouths\ndownward, from the latter dangling certain tentacles, or thin, long\narms. These tentacles contain small thread-like coils in contact with a\npoisonous fluid, and enclosed in a cell. When the tentacles come in\ncontact with the prey of the creature, or with anything that is sensed\nas a possible enemy, they contract around the object and the little\ncells burst and the tiny thread-like coils are released and twist\nthemselves like a loop around the object, poisoning it with the\nsecreted fluid. Some of the polyps secrete flint-like tubes, which they\ninhabit, and from the ends of which they emerge like flowers. From\nthese parent polyps emerge clusters of young, resembling buds. These\nbud-like young afterwards become what are known as jelly-fishes, etc.,\nwhich in turn reproduce themselves--but here is a wonder--the\njelly-fish lay eggs, which when hatched produce stationary polyps like\ntheir grandparent, and not moving creatures like their parents. The\njelly-fishes have a comparatively complex organism. They have an\nintricate system of canal-like passages with which to convey their food\nand oxygen to the various parts. They also have something like muscles,\nwhich contract and enable the creature to \"swim.\" They also possess a\n\"nervous system,\" and, most wonderful of all, they have _rudimentary\neyes and ears_. Their tentacles, like those of the parent-polyp,\nsecrete the poisonous fluid which is discharged into prey or enemy.\n\nAkin to the polyps are the sea-anemones, with their beautiful colors,\nand still more complex structure and organism, the tentacles of which\nresemble the petals of a flower. Varying slightly from these are the\ncoral-creatures, which form in colonies and the skeletons of which form\nthe coral trees and branches, and other forms, with which we are\nfamiliar.\n\nPassing on to the next highest family of life-forms, we see the\nspiny-bodied sea-creatures, such as the sea-urchin, star-fish, etc.,\nwhich possess a thick, hard skin, covered by spines or prickly\nprojections. These creatures abound in numerous species. The star-fish\nhas rays projecting from a common centre, which gives it its name,\nwhile the sea-urchin resembles a ball. The sea-lilies, with their stems\nand flowers (so-called) belong to this family, as do also the\nsea-cucumbers, whose name is obtained from their shape and general\nappearance, but which are animals possessing a comparatively complex\norganism, one of the features of which is a stomach which may be\ndiscarded at will and replaced by a new one. These creatures have a\nwell defined nervous system, and have eyes, and some of them even\nrudimentary eyelids.\n\nAscending the scale of life-forms, we next observe the great family of\nthe _Annulosa_, or jointed creatures, which comprises the various\nfamilies of the worm, the crab, the spider, the ant, etc. In this great\nfamily are grouped nearly four-fifths of the known life-forms. Their\nbodies are well formed and they have nervous systems running along the\nbody and consisting of two thin threads, knotted at different points\ninto ganglia or masses of nerve cells similar to those possessed by the\nhigher animals. They possess eyes and other sense organs, in some cases\nhighly developed. They possess organs, corresponding to the heart, and\nhave a well-developed digestive apparatus. Note this advance in the\nnutritive organism: the _moneron_ takes its food at any point of its\nbody; the _amoeba_ takes its food by means of its \"false-feet,\" and\ndrives it through its body by a rhythmic movement of its substance; the\n_polyp_ distributes its food to its various parts by means of the water\nwhich it absorbs with the food; the _sea-urchin and star-fish_\ndistribute their food by canals in their bodies which open directly\ninto the water; in the higher forms of the _annulosa_, the food is\ndistributed by a fluid resembling blood, which carries the nourishment\nto every part and organ, and which carries away the waste matter, the\nblood being propelled through the body by a rudimentary heart. The\noxygen is distributed by each of these forms in a corresponding way,\nthe higher forms having rudimentary lungs and respiratory organs. Step\nby step the life-forms are perfected, and the organs necessary to\nperform certain definite functions are evolved from rudimentary to\nperfected forms.\n\nThe families of worms are the humblest members of the great family of\nthe Annulosa. Next come the creatures called Rotifers, which are very\nminute. Then come the Crustacea, so called from their crustlike shell.\nThis group includes the crabs, lobsters, etc., and closely resembles\nthe insects. In fact, some of the best authorities believe that the\ninsects and the crustacea spring from the same parent form, and some of\nthe Yogi authorities hold to this belief, while others do not attempt\nto pass upon it, deeming it immaterial, inasmuch as all life-forms have\na common origin. The western scientists pay great attention to outward\ndetails, while the Oriental mind is apt to pass over these details as\nof slight importance, preferring to seek the cause back of the outward\nform. On one point both the Yogi teachers and the scientists absolutely\nagree, and that is that the family of insect life had its origin in\nsome aquatic creature. Both hold that the wings of the insect have been\nevolved from organs primarily used for breathing purposes by the\nancestor when it took short aerial flights, the need for means of\nflight afterwards acting to develop these rudimentary organs into\nperfected wings. There need be no more wonder expressed at this change\nthan in the case of the transformation of the insect from grub to\nchrysalis, and then to insect. In fact this process is a reproduction\nof the stages through which the life-form passed during the long ages\nbetween sea-creature and land-insect.\n\nWe need not take up much of your time in speaking of the wonderful\ncomplex organism of some of the insect family, which are next on the\nscale above the crustacea. The wonders of spider-life--the almost human\nlife of the ants--the spirit of the beehive--and all the rest of the\nwonders of insect life are familiar to all of our readers. A study of\nsome good book on the life of the higher forms of the insect family\nwill prove of value to anyone, for it will open his or her eyes to the\nwonderful manifestation of life and mind among these creatures.\nRemember the remark of Darwin, that the brain of the ant, although not\nmuch larger than a pin point, \"is one of the most marvelous atoms of\nmatter in the world, perhaps more so than the brain of man.\"\n\nClosely allied to the crustacea is the sub-family of the _mollusca_,\nwhich includes the oyster, clams, and similar creatures; also the\nsnails, cuttle-fish, slugs, nautilus, sea-squirts, etc., etc. Some are\nprotected by a hard shell, while others have a gristly outer skin,\nserving as an armor, while others still are naked. Those having shells\nsecrete the material for their construction from the water. Some of\nthem are fixed to rocks, etc., while others roam at will. Strange as it\nmay appear at first sight, some of the higher forms of the mollusca\nshow signs of a rudimentary vertebra, and science has hazarded the\nopinion that the sea-squirts and similar creatures were descended from\nsome ancestor from whom also descended the vertebrate animals, of which\nman is the highest form known today on this planet. We shall mention\nthis connection in our next lesson, where we will take up the story of\n\"The Ascent of Man\" from the lowly vertebrate forms.\n\nAnd now, in closing this lesson, we must remind the reader that we are\n_not_ teaching Evolution as it is conceived by modern science. We are\nviewing it from the opposite viewpoint of the Yogi Teaching. Modern\nScience teaches that Mind is a by-product of the evolving material\nforms--while the Yogi Teachings hold that there was Mind _involved_ in\nthe lowest form, and that that Mind constantly pressing forward for\nunfoldment _compelled_ the gradual evolution, or unfoldment of the\nslowly advancing degrees of organization and function. Science teaches\nthat \"function precedes organization,\" that is, that a form performs\ncertain functions, imperfectly and crudely, before it evolves the\norgans suitable for the functioning. For instance the lower forms\ndigested food before they evolved stomachs--the latter coming to meet\nthe need. But the Yogi Teachings go further and claim that \"desire\nprecedes function,\" that is, that the lowly life form \"desires\" to have\ndigestive apparatus, in order to proceed in the evolutionary scale,\nbefore it begins the functioning that brings about the more complex\norganism. There is ever the \"urge\" of the Mind which craves unfoldment,\nand which the creature feels as a dim desire, which grows stronger and\nstronger as time goes on. Some yield more readily to the urge, and such\nbecome the parents of possible higher forms. \"Many are called, but few\nare chosen,\" and so matters move along slowly from generation to\ngeneration, a few forms serving to carry on the evolutionary urge to\ntheir descendants. But is always the Evolutionary Urge of the\nimprisoned Mind striving to cast aside its sheaths and to have more\nperfect machinery with which, and through which, to manifest and\nexpress itself? This is the difference between the \"Evolution\" of\nModern Science and the \"Unfoldment\" of the Yogi Teachings. The one is\nall material, with mind as a mere by-product, while the other is all\nMind, with matter as a tool and instrument of expression and\nmanifestation.\n\nAs we have said in this lesson--and as we shall point out to you in\ndetail in future lessons--accompanying this evolution of bodies there\nis an evolution of \"souls\" producing the former. This evolution of\nsouls is a basic principle of the Yogi Teachings, but it is first\nnecessary that you acquaint yourselves with the evolution of bodies and\nforms, before you may fully grasp the higher teachings.\n\nOur next lesson will be entitled \"The Ascent of Man,\" in which the rise\nof man--that is, his body--from the lowly forms of the vertebrates is\nshown. In the same lesson we shall begin our consideration of the\n\"evolution of souls.\" We trust that the students are carefully studying\nthe details of each lesson, for every lesson has its part in the grand\nwhole of the Teachings.\n\n\n\n\nTHE EIGHTH LESSON\n\n\nTHE ASCENT OF MAN.\n\nIn our last lesson we led you by successive steps from the beginnings\nof Life in living forms up to the creatures closely resembling the\nfamily of vertebrates--the highest family of living forms on this\nplanet. In this present lesson we take up the story of the \"Ascent of\nMan\" from the lowly vertebrate forms.\n\nThe large sub-family of forms called \"The Vertebrates\" are\ndistinguished from the Invertebrates by reason of the former possessing\nan _internal_ bony skeleton, the most important feature of which is the\nvertebra or spinal column. The vertebrates, be it remembered, possess\npractically the same organs as the lower forms of life, but differ from\nthem most materially by the possession of the _internal_ skeleton, the\nlower forms having an _external_ or outside _skeleton_, which latter is\nmerely a hardening of the skin.\n\nThe flexibility of the vertebra creates a wonderful strength of\nstructure, combined with an ease of movement peculiar to the\nvertebrates, and which renders them the natural forms of life capable\nof rapid development and evolution. By means of this strength, and\nease, these forms are enabled to move rapidly in pursuit of their prey,\nand away from their pursuers, and also to resist outside pressure or\nattack. They are protected in a way similar to the invertebrates having\nshells, and yet have the additional advantage of easy movement.\nDiffering in shape and appearance as do the numerous members of the\nsub-family of vertebrates, still their structure is easily seen to\nspring from a single form--all are modifications of some common\npattern, the differences arising from the necessities of the life of\nthe animal, as manifested through the desire and necessities of the\nspecies.\n\nScience shows the direct relationship between the Vertebrates, and the\nInvertebrates by means of several connecting-links, the most noticeable\nof which is the Lancelot, a creature resembling the fish-form, and yet\nalso closely resembling the lower (invertebrate) forms of life. This\ncreature has no head, and but one eye. It is semi-transparent, and\npossesses _cilia_ for forcing in the water containing its food. It has\nsomething like gills, and a gullet like the lower forms. It has no\nheart, the blood being circulated by means of contracting vessels or\nparts. Strictly speaking, it has no back-bone, or vertebra, but still\nScience has been compelled to class it among the vertebrates because is\nhas a gristly cartilage where the back-bone is found in the higher\nforms. This gristle may be called an \"elementary spine.\" It has a\nnervous system consisting of a single cord which spreads into a\nbroadened end near the creature's mouth, and which may therefore be\nregarded as \"something like a brain.\" This creature is really a\ndeveloped form of Invertebrate, shaped like a Vertebrate, and showing\nsigns of a rudimentary spine and nervous system of the latter. It is a\n\"connecting-link.\"\n\nThe lowest forms of the true Vertebrates are the great families of\nFishes. These Fish families include fishes of high and low degree, some\nof the higher forms being as different from the lowest as they (the\nhighest) are different from the Reptile family. It is not necessary to\ngo into detail regarding the nature of the fish families, for every\nstudent is more or less familiar with them.\n\nSome peculiar forms of fish show a shading into the Reptile family, in\nfact they seem to belong nearly as much to the latter as to their own\ngeneral family. Some species of fish known as the _Dipnoi_ or\n\"double-breathers,\" have a remarkable dual system of breathing. That\nis, they have gills for breathing while in the water, and also have a\nprimitive or elementary \"lung\" in the shape of an air-bladder, or\n\"sound,\" which they use for breathing on land. The Mud-fish of South\nAmerica, and also other forms in Australia and other places, have a\nmodification of fins which are practically \"limbs,\" which they actually\nuse for traveling on land from pond to pond. Some of these fish have\nbeen known to travel enormous distances in search of new pools of\nwater, or new streams, having been driven from their original homes by\ndroughts, or perhaps by instincts similar to the migrating instinct of\nbirds. Eels are _fish_ (although many commonly forget this fact) and\nmany of their species are able to leave the water and travel on land\nfrom pond to pond, their breathing being performed by a peculiar\nmodification of the gills. The climbing perch of India are able to live\nout of water, and have modified gills for breathing purposes, and\nmodified fins for climbing and walking. So you see that without leaving\nthe fish family proper, we have examples of land living creatures which\nare akin to \"connecting links.\"\n\nBut there are real \"connecting-links\"' between the Fish and the\nReptiles. Passing over the many queer forms which serve as links\nbetween the two families, we have but to consider our common frog's\nhistory for a striking example. The Tadpole has gills, has no limbs,\nuses its tail like a fish's fin, eats plants, etc. Passing through\nseveral interesting stages the Tadpole reaches a stage in which it is a\nfrog with a tail--then it sheds its tail and is a full fledged Frog,\nwith four legs; web-feet; no tail; and feeding on animals. The Frog is\namphibious, that is, able to live on land or in water--and yet it is\ncompelled to come to the surface of the water for air to supply its\nlungs. Some of the amphibious animals possess both lungs and gills,\neven when matured; but the higher vertebrates living in the water\nbreathe through lungs which are evolved from the air-bladder of fishes,\nwhich in turn have been evolved from the primitive gullet of the lower\nforms. There are fishes known which are warm-blooded. Students will\nkindly remember that the Whale is not a fish, but an aquatic animal--a\nmammal, in fact, bringing forth its young alive, and suckling it from\nits breasts.\n\nSo we readily see that it is but a step, and a short step at that,\nbetween the land-traveling and climbing fishes and the lower forms of\nReptiles. The Frog shows us the process of evolution between the two\nfamilies, its life history reproducing the gradual evolution which may\nhave required ages to perfect in the case of the species. You will\nremember that the embryo stages of all creatures reproduce the various\nstages of evolution through which the species has passed--this is true\nin Man as well as in the Frog.\n\nWe need not tarry long in considering the Reptile family of living\nforms. In its varieties of serpents, lizards, crocodiles, turtles,\netc., we have studied and observed its forms. We see the limbless\nsnakes; the lizards with active limbs; the huge, clumsy, slow\ncrocodiles and alligators--the armor-bearing turtles and tortoises--all\nbelonging to the one great family of Reptiles, and nearly all of them\nbeing degenerate descendants of the mighty Reptile forms of the\ngeological Age of Reptiles, in which flourished the mighty forms of the\ngiant reptiles--the monsters of land and water. Amidst the dense\nvegetation of that pre-historic age, surrounded by the most favorable\nconditions, these mighty creatures flourished and lived, their\nfossilized skeleton forms evidencing to us how far their descendants\nhave fallen, owing to less favorable conditions, and the development of\nother life-forms more in harmony with their changed environment.\n\nNext comes the great family of Birds. The Birds ascended from the\nReptiles. This is the Eastern Teaching, and this is the teaching of\nWestern Science It was formerly taught in the text-books that the line\nof ascent was along the family of winged reptiles which existed in the\nAge of Reptiles, in the early days of the Earth. But the later writers\non the subject, in the Western world, have contradicted this. It is now\ntaught that these ancient winged-reptiles were featherless, and more\nclosely resembled the Bat family than birds. (You will remember that a\nBat is neither a reptile nor a bird--it is a mammal, bringing forth its\nyoung alive, and suckling them at its breast. The Bat is more like a\nmouse, and its wings are simply membrane stretched between its fingers,\nits feet, and its tail.)\n\nThe line of ascent from Reptile to Bird was along the forms of the\nReptiles that walked on land. There are close anatomical and\nphysiological relations and correspondences between the two families\n(Reptiles and Birds) which we need not refer to here. And, of course,\nmany modifications have occurred since the \"branching-out.\" The scales\nof the reptiles, and the feathers of the birds, are known to be but\nmodifications of the original outer skin, as are also the hair, claws,\nhoofs, nails, etc., of all animals. Even teeth arose in this way,\nstrange as it may now seem--they are all secreted from the skin. What a\nwonderful field for thought--this gradual evolution from the filmy\nouter covering of the lowest living forms to the beautiful feathers,\nbeaks, and claws of the bird!\n\nThe evolving of wings meant much to the ascending forms of life. The\nReptiles were compelled to live in a narrow circle of territory, while\nthe Birds were able to travel over the earth in wide flights. And\ntravel always develops the faculties of observation, memory, etc., and\ncultivates the senses of seeing, hearing, etc. And the creature is\ncompelled to exercise its evolving \"thinking\" faculties to a greater\nextent. And so the Birds were compelled by necessity of their travels\nto develop a greater degree of thinking organism. The result is that\namong birds we find many instances of intelligent thought, which cannot\nbe dismissed as \"mere instinct.\" Naturalists place the Crow at the head\nof the family of Birds, in point of intelligence, and those who have\nwatched these creatures and studied the mental processes, will agree\nthat this is a just decision. It has been proven that Crows are capable\nof counting up to several figures, and in other ways they display a\nwonderful degree of almost human sagacity.\n\nNext above the Bird family comes the highest form of all--the Mammals.\nBut before we begin our consideration of these high forms, let us take\na hasty glance at the \"connecting-links\" between the Birds and the\nMammals. The lowest forms of the Mammals resemble Birds in many ways.\nSome of them are toothless, and many of them have the same primitive\nintestinal arrangements possessed by the birds, from which arises their\nname, _Monotremes_. These _Monotremes_ may be called half-bird and\nhalf-mammal. One of the most characteristic of their family is the\n_Ornithorhynchus_, or Duck-bill, which the early naturalists first\nthought was a fraud of the taxidermists, or bird-stuffers, and then,\nwhen finally convinced, deemed it a \"freak-of-nature.\" But it is not a\nfreak creature, but a \"connecting-link\" between the two great families\nof creatures. This animal presents a startling appearance to the\nobserver who witnesses it for the first time. It resembles a beaver,\nhaving a soft furry coat, but also has a horny, flat bill like a duck,\nits feet being webbed, but also furnished with claws projecting over\nthe edge of the web-foot. It lays eggs in an underground nest--two eggs\nat a time, which are like the eggs of birds, inasmuch as they contain\nnot only the protoplasm from which the embryo is formed, but also the\n\"yolk.\" on which the embryo feeds until hatched. After the young\nDuck-bill is hatched, it feeds from teatless glands in the mother's\nbody, the milk being furnished by the mother by a peculiar process.\nConsider this _miracle_--_an animal which lays eggs and then when her\nyoung are hatched nourishes them with milk_. The milk-glands in the\nmother are elementary \"breasts.\"\n\nThe above-mentioned animal is found in Australia, the land of many\nstrange forms and \"connecting-links,\" which have survived there while\nin other parts of the globe they have vanished gradually from\nexistence, crowded out by the more perfectly evolved forms. Darwin has\ncalled these surviving forms \"living fossils.\" In that same land is\nalso found the _Echidna_ or spiny ant-eater, which lays an egg and then\nhatches it in her pouch, after which she nourishes it on milk, in a\nmanner similar to that of the Duck-bill. This animal, like the\nDuck-bill, is a Monotreme.\n\nScientists are divided in theories as to whether the Monotremes are\nactually descended directly from the Reptiles or Birds, or whether\nthere was a common ancestor from which Reptiles and Birds and Mammals\nbranched off. But this is not important, for the relationship between\nReptiles, Birds and Mammals is clearly proven. And the Monotremes are\ncertainly one of the surviving forms of the intermediate stages.\n\nThe next higher step in the ascent of Mammal life above the Monotreme\nis occupied by the Marsupials, or _milk-giving, pouched animals_, of\nwhich family the opossum and kangaroo are well known members. The\ncharacteristic feature of this family of creatures is the possession of\nan external pouch in the female, in which the young are kept and\nnourished until they can take care of themselves as the young of other\nanimals are able to do. The young of the Marsupials are brought forth,\nor born, in an imperfect condition, and undeveloped in size and\nstrength. There are fossil remains of Marsupials showing that in past\nages creatures of this kind existed which were as large as elephants.\n\nIn the more common form of Mammals the young are brought forth fully\nformed, they having received \"nourishment, before birth, from the\nmother's body, through the _placenta_, the appendage which connects the\nfetus with the parent. The Placental Mammals were the best equipped of\nall the life-forms for survival and development, for the reason that\nthe young were nourished during their critical period, and the care\nthat the mammal must of necessity give to her young operated in the\ndirection of affording a special protection far superior to that of the\nother forms. This and other causes acted to place the Placentals in the\n\"Royal line\" from which Man was evolved.\n\nThe following families of Placental Mammals are recognized by Science,\neach having its own structural peculiarities:\n\nThe _Edentata_, or Toothless creatures, among which are the sloths,\nant-eaters, armadillos, etc. These animals seem to be closer to the\nMonotremes than they are to the Marsupials;\n\nThe _Sirenia_, so called by reason of their fanciful resemblance to the\nsirens of mythology, among which are the sea-cows, manatees, dugongs,\netc., which are fish-like in structure and appearance, the fore-limbs\nbeing shaped like paddles, or fins, and the hind-limbs being absent or\nrudimentary;\n\nThe _Cetacea_, or Whale Family, including whales, Porpoises, dolphins,\netc., which are quite fish-like in appearance and structure, their\nforms being adapted for life in the sea, although they are, of course,\nMammals, bringing forth matured young which are suckled at the breast;\n\nThe _Ungulata_, or Hoofed Animals, which comprise many varied forms,\nsuch as the horse, the tapir, the rhinoceros, the swine, the\nhippopotamus, the camel, the deer, the sheep, the cow, etc., etc.;\n\nThe _Hyracoidea_, which is a small family, the principal member of\nwhich is the coney, or rock rabbit, which has teeth resembling those of\nthe hoofed animals, in some ways, and those of the gnawing animals in\nthe others.\n\nThe _Proboscidea_, or Trunked Animals, which family is represented in\nthis age only by the families of elephants, which have a peculiar\nappendage called a \"trunk,\" which they use as an additional limb;\n\nThe _Carnivora_, or Flesh-eaters, represented by numerous and various\nforms, such as the seal, the bear, the weasel, the wolf, the dog, the\nlion, the tiger, the leopard, etc. The wolf and similar forms belong to\nthe sub-family of dogs; while the lion, tiger, etc., belong to the\nsub-family of cats;\n\nThe _Rodentia_, or Gnawers, comprising the rat, the hare, the beaver,\nthe squirrel, the mouse, etc., etc.;\n\nThe _Insectivora_, or Insect Feeders, comprising the mole, the shrew,\nthe hedgehog, etc.;\n\nThe _Chiroptera_, or Finger-Winged Animals, comprising the great family\nof Bats, etc., which are very highly developed animals;\n\nThe _Lemuroidea_, or Lemurs, the name of which is derived from the\nLatin word meaning a \"ghost,\" by reason of the Lemur's habits of\nroaming about at night. The Lemur is a nocturnal animal, somewhat\nresembling the Monkey in general appearance, but with a long, bushy\ntail and sharp muzzle like a fox. It is akin to a small fox having\nhands and feet like a monkey, the feet being used to grasp like a hand,\nas is the case with the true Monkey family. These creatures are classed\nby some naturalists among the Monkeys by reason of being \"four-handed,\"\nwhile others are disposed to consider as still more important their\nmarked relationship with, and affinity to, the marsupials, gnawers and\ninsect-feeders. On the whole, these creatures are strangely organized\nand come very near to being a \"connecting-link\" between other forms.\nOne of the Lemurs is what is known as the _colugo_, or \"flying lemur,\"\nwhich resembles a squirrel in many particulars, and yet has a\nmembranous web extending from its hands, which enables it to make\nflying leaps over great distances. This last named variety seems to\nfurnish a link between the insect-feeders and the Primates;\n\nThe _Primates_, which is a large family comprising the various forms of\nmonkeys, baboons, man-apes, such as the gibbon, gorilla, chimpanzee,\norang-outang, etc., all of which have big jaws, small brains, and a\nstooping posture. This family also includes MAN, with his big brain and\nerect posture, and his many races depending upon shape of skull, color\nof skin, character of hair, etc.\n\nIn considering the Ascent of Man (physical) from the lowly forms of the\nMonera, etc., up to his present high position, the student is struck\nwith the continuity of the ascent, development and unfoldment. While\nthere are many \"missing-links,\" owing to the disappearance of the forms\nwhich formed the connection, still there is sufficient proof left in\nthe existing forms to satisfy the fair-minded inquirer. The facts of\nembryology alone are sufficient proof of the ascent of Man from the\nlowly forms. Each and every man today has passed through all the forms\nof the ascent within a few months, from single cell to the new-born,\nfully formed infant.\n\nEmbryology teaches us that the eggs from which all animal forms evolve\nare all practically alike so far as one can ascertain by microscopic\nexamination, no matter how diverse may be the forms which will evolve\nfrom them, and this resemblance is maintained even when the embryo of\nthe higher forms begins to manifest traces of its future form. Von\nBaer, the German scientist, was the first to note this remarkable and\nsuggestive fact. He stated it in the following words: \"In my possession\nare two little embryos, preserved in alcohol, whose names I have\nomitted to attach, and at present I am unable to state to what class\nthey belong. They may be lizards, or small birds, or very young\nmammals, so complete is the similarity in the mode of the formation of\nthe head and trunk in these animals. The extremities, however, are\nstill absent in these embryos. But even if they had existed in the\nearliest stage of their development, we should learn nothing, for the\nfeet of lizards and mammals, the wings and feet of birds, no less than\nthe hands and feet of man, all arise from the same fundamental form.\"\n\nAs has been said by Prof. Clodd, \"the embryos of all living creatures\nepitomize during development the series of changes through which the\nancestral forms passed if their ascent from the simple to the complex;\nthe higher structures passing through the same stages as the lower\nstructures up to the point when they are marked off from them, yet\nnever becoming in detail the form which they represent for the time\nbeing. For example, the embryo of man has at the outset gill-like slits\non each side of the neck, like a fish. These give place to a membrane\nlike that which supersedes gills in the development of birds and\nreptiles; the heart is at first a simple pulsating chamber like that in\nworms; the backbone is prolonged into a movable tail; the great toe is\nextended, or opposable, like our thumbs, and like the toes of apes; the\nbody three months before birth is covered all over with hair except on\nthe palms and soles. At birth the head is relatively larger, and the\narms and legs relatively longer than in the adult; the nose is\nbridgeless; both features, with others which need not be detailed,\nbeing distinctly ape-like. Thus does the egg from which man springs, a\nstructure only one hundred and twenty-fifth of an inch in size,\ncompress into a few weeks the results of millions of years, and set\nbefore us the history of his development from fish-like and reptilian\nforms, and of his more immediate descent from a hairy, tailed\nquadruped. That which is individual or peculiar to him, the physical\nand mental character inherited, is left to the slower development which\nfollows birth.\"\n\nThis, then, in brief is the Western theory of Evolution--the Physical\nAscent of Man. We have given it as fully as might be in the small space\nat our disposal in these lessons on the Yogi Philosophy. Why? Because\nwe wish to prove to the Western mind, in the Western way, that Western\nScience corroborates the Ancient Yogi Teachings of the Unfoldment of\nLiving Forms, from Monad to Man. The Eastern teachers scorn to \"prove\"\nanything to their pupils, who sit at the feet of teachers and accept as\ntruth that which is taught them, and which has been handed down from\nthe dim ages long past. But this method will never do for the Western\nstudent--he must have it \"proven\" to him by physical facts and\ninstances, not by keen, subtle, intellectual reasoning alone. The\nEastern student wishes to be \"told\"--the Western student wishes to be\n\"shown.\" Herein lies the racial differences of method of imparting\nknowledge. And so we have recognized this fact and have heaped up proof\nafter proof from the pages of Western Science, in order to prove to you\nthe reasonableness, from the Western point of view, of the doctrine of\nPhysical Unfoldment as taught for ages past by the Yogi _gurus_ to\ntheir _chelas_. You have now the Eastern Teachings on the subject,\ntogether with the testimony of Western Science to the reasonableness of\nthe idea.\n\nBut, alas! Western Science, while performing a marvelous work in piling\nup fact after fact to support its newly-discovered theory of Evolution,\nin a way utterly unknown to the Oriental thinker who seeks after\nprinciples by mental concentration--_within_ rather than without--while\nactually proving by physical facts the _mental_ conceptions of the\nOriental Teachings, still misses the vital point of the\nsubject-thought. In its materialistic tendencies it has failed to\nrecognize _the mental cause of the physical unfoldment_. It is true\nthat Lamark, the real Western discoverer of Evolution, taught that\nDesire and Mental Craving, was the real force behind Evolution, but his\nideas were jeered at by his contemporaries, and are not regarded\nseriously by the majority of Evolutionists even today. And yet he was\nnearer to the truth than Darwin or any other Western Evolutionist. And\ntime will show that Science has overlooked his genius, which alone\nthrows the true light upon the subject.\n\nIn order to see just this difference between the Darwinian school and\nthe Yogi Teachings let us examine into what causes the Western\nEvolutionists give for the fact of Evolution itself. We shall do this\nbriefly.\n\nThe Darwinians start out to explain the causes of the \"Origin of\nSpecies,\" with the statement that \"no two individuals of the same\nspecies are exactly alike; each tends to vary.\" This is a self-evident\nfact, and is very properly used as a starting point for Variation. The\nnext step is then stated as \"variations are transmitted, and therefore\ntend to become permanent,\" which also is self-evident, and tends to\nprove the reasonableness of the gradual evolution of species. The next\nstep in the argument is \"as man produces new species and forms, by\nbreeding, culture, etc., so has Nature in a longer time produced the\nsame effect, in the same way.\" This also is reasonable, although it\ntends to personify Nature, and to give it a _mind_ before the\nevolutionists admit \"mind\" was evolved.\n\nIt will be as well to quote Darwin himself on this point. He says; \"As\nman can produce, and certainly has produced, a great result by his\nmethodical and unconscious means of selection, what may not natural\nselection effect? Man can act only on external and visible characters,\nwhile Nature, if I may be allowed to personify the natural preservation\nor survival of the fittest, cares nothing for appearances except in so\nfar as they are useful to any being. She can act on every internal\norgan, on every shade of constitutional difference, on the whole\nmachinery of life. Man selects only for his own good; Nature only for\nthe good of the being which she tends. Every selected character is\nfully exercised by her, as is implied by the fact of their selection.\nMan keeps the natives of many climates in the same country; he seldom\nexercises each selected character in some peculiar and fitting manner;\nhe feeds a long-beaked and a short-beaked pigeon on the same food; he\ndoes not exercise a long-backed or long-legged quadruped in any\npeculiar manner; he exposes sheep with long hair and short wool in the\nsame climate. He does not allow the most vigorous males to struggle for\nthe females. He does not rigidly destroy all inferior animals, but\nprotects during each varying season, so far as lies in his power, all\nhis productions. He often begins his selection by some half-monstrous\nform, or at least by some modification prominent enough to catch the\neye or to be plainly useful to him. Under Nature the slightest\ndifferences of structure or constitution may- well turn the nicely\nbalanced scale in the struggle for life, and so be preserved. How\nfleeting are the wishes and efforts of man! how short his time! and\nconsequently how poor will be his results, compared with those\naccumulated by nature during whole geological periods! Can we wonder,\nthen, that Nature's productions should be far 'truer' in character than\nman's productions; that they should be infinitely better adapted to the\nmost complex conditions of life, and should plainly bear the stamp of\nfar higher workmanship?\"\n\nDarwin's theory of survival of the fittest is begun by the statement of\nthe fact that the number of organisms that survive are very small\ncompared with the number that are born. To quote his own words, \"There\nis no exception to the rule that every organic being naturally\nincreases at so high a rate that, if not destroyed, the earth would\nsoon be covered by the progeny of a single pair. Even slow-breeding man\nhas doubled in twenty-five years, and at this rate in less than a\nthousand years there would literally not be standing room for the\nprogeny.\" It has been computed that if the offspring of the elephant,\nwhich is believed to be the slowest breeding animal known, were to\nsurvive, there would be about 20,000,000 elephants on the earth in 750\nyears. The roe of a single cod contains eight or nine millions of eggs,\nand if each egg were to hatch, and the fish survive, the sea would\nshortly become a solid mass of codfish. The house fly is said to have\n20,000,000 descendants in a season, counting several generations of\nprogeny, from its several broods. And some scientist has computed that\nthe _aphis_, or plant-louse, breeds so rapidly, and in such enormous\nquantity, that the tenth generation of one set of parents would be so\nlarge that it would contain more ponderable animal matter than would\nthe population of China, which is estimated at 500,000,000! And this\nwithout counting the progeny preceding the tenth generation!\n\nThe result of the above conditions is very plain. There must ensue a\nStruggle for Existence, which necessitates the Survival of the Fittest.\nThe weak are crushed out by the strong; the swift out-distance the\nslow. The individual forms or species best adapted to their environment\nand best equipped for the struggle, be the equipment physical or\nmental, survive those less well equipped or less well adapted to\nenvironment. Animals evolving variations in structure that give them\neven a slight advantage over others not so favored, naturally have a\nbetter chance to survive. And this, briefly, is what Evolutionists call\n\"The Survival of the Fittest.\"\n\nAs appertaining to the Struggle for Existence, color and mimicry are\nimportant factors. Grant Allen, in his work on Darwin, says concerning\nthis, and also as illustrating \"Natural Selection\": \"In the desert with\nits monotonous sandy coloring, a black insect or a white insect, still\nmore a red insect or a blue insect, would be immediately detected and\ndevoured by its natural enemies, the birds and the lizards. But any\ngreyish or yellowish insects would be less likely to attract attention\nat first sight, and would be overlooked as long as there were any more\nconspicuous individuals of their own kind about for the birds and\nlizards to feed on. Hence, in a very short time the desert would be\ndepopulated of all but the greyest and yellowest insects; and among\nthese the birds would pick out those which differed most markedly in\nhue and shade from the sand around them. But those which happened to\nvary most in the direction of a sandy or spotty color would be more\nlikely to survive, and to become the parents of future generations.\nThus, in the course of long ages, all the insects which inhabit deserts\nhave become sand-colored, because the less sandy were perpetually\npicked out for destruction by their ever-watchful foes, while the most\nsandy escaped, and multiplied and replenished the earth with their own\nlikes.\"\n\nProf. Clodd, remarking upon this fact, adds: \"Thus, then, is explained\nthe tawny color of the larger animals that inhabit the desert; the\nstripes upon the tiger, which parallel with the vertical stems of\nbamboo, conceal him as he stealthily nears his prey; the brilliant\ngreen of tropical birds; the leaf-like form and colors of certain\ninsects; the dried, twig-like form of many caterpillars; the bark-like\nappearance of tree-frogs; the harmony of the ptarmigan's summer plumage\nwith the lichen-colored stones upon which it sits; the dusky color of\ncreatures that haunt the night; the bluish transparency of animals\nwhich live on the surface of the sea; the gravel-like color of\nflat-fish that live at the bottom; and the gorgeous tints of those that\nswim among the coral reefs.\"\n\nAll this does not run contrary to the Yogi Philosophy, although the\nlatter would regard these things as but the secondary cause for the\nvariation and survival of species, etc. The Oriental teachings are that\nit is the _desire_ of the animal that _causes_ it to assume the colors\nand shapes in accordance with its environment, the desire of course\noperating along sub-conscious lines of physical manifestation. The\nmental influence, which is the real cause of the phenomena, and which\nis taught as such by the Yogis, is almost lost sight of by the Western\nEvolutionists, who are apt to regard Mind as a \"by-product\" of matter.\nOn the contrary, _the Yogis regard Matter as the product of Mind_. But\nthere is no conflict here as far as regards the law of the Survival of\nthe Fittest. The insects that _most desired_ to become sand-colored\nbecame so, and were thus protected, while their less \"desireful\"\nbrethren were exterminated. The Western scientist explains the outward\nphenomena, but does not look for the _cause_ behind it, which is taught\nby the Oriental sages.\n\nThe doctrine of \"Sexual Selection\" is another of the leading tenets of\nthe Darwinists. Briefly, it may be expressed as the theory that in the\nrivalry and struggle of the males for the females the strongest males\nwin the day, and thus transmit their particular qualities to their\noffspring. Along the same lines is that of the attraction exerted by\nbright colors in the plumage of the males of birds, etc., which give\nthem an advantage in the eyes of the females, and thus, naturally, the\nbright colors are perpetuated.\n\nThis, then, is the brief outline of the Story of Man's Physical\nEvolution, as stated by Western Science, and compared with the Yogi\nTeachings. The student should compare the two ideas, that he may\nharmonize and reconcile them. It must be remembered, however, that\nDarwin did _not_ teach that Man descended from the monkeys, or apes, as\nwe know them now. The teaching of Western Evolution is that the apes,\nand higher forms of monkey life descended from some common ancestral\nform, which same ancestor was also the ancestor of Man. In other words,\nMan and Apes are the different branches that emerged from the common\ntrunk ages ago. Other forms doubtless emerged from the same trunk, and\nperished because less adapted to their environments. The Apes were best\nadapted to their own environments, and Man was best adapted to his. The\nweaker branches failed.\n\nOne must remember that the most savage races known to us today are\npractically as far different from the highest American, European or\nHindu types of Man as from the highest Apes. Indeed, it would seem far\neasier for a high Ape to evolve into a Kaffir, Hottentot, or Digger\nIndian, than for the latter to evolve into an Emerson, Shakespeare, or\nHindu Sage. As Huxley has shown, the brain-structure of Man compared\nwith that of the Chimpanzee shows differences but slight when compared\nwith the difference between that of the Chimpanzee and that of the\nLemur. The same authority informs us that in the important feature of\nthe deeper brain furrows, and intricate convolutions, the chasm between\nthe highest civilized man and the lowest savage is far greater than\nbetween the lowest savage and the highest man-like ape. Darwin,\ndescribing the Fuegians, who are among the very lowest forms of\nsavages, says: \"Their very signs and expressions are less intelligible\nto us than those of the domesticated animal. They are men who do not\npossess the instinct of those animals, nor yet appear to boast of human\nreason, or at least of arts consequent upon that reason.\"\n\nProfessor Clodd, in describing the \"primitive man,\" says: \"Doubtless he\nwas lower than the lowest of the savages of today--a powerful, cunning\nbiped, with keen sense organs always sharper, in virtue of constant\nexercise, in the savage than in the civilized man (who supplements them\nby science), strong instincts, uncontrolled and fitful emotions, small\nfaculty of wonder, and nascent reasoning power; unable to forecast\ntomorrow, or to comprehend yesterday, living from hand to mouth on the\nwild products of Nature, clothed in skin and bark, or daubed with clay,\nand finding shelter in trees and caves; ignorant of the simplest arts,\nsave to chip a stone missile, and perhaps to produce fire; strong in\nhis needs of life and vague sense of right to it and to what he could\nget, but slowly impelled by common perils and passions to form ties,\nloose and haphazard at the outset, with his kind, the power of\ncombination with them depending on sounds, signs and gestures.\"\n\nSuch was the ancestral man. Those who are interested in him are\nreferred to the two wonderful tales of the cave-man written in the form\nof stories by two great modern novelists. The books referred to are (1)\n\"_The Story of Ab_,\" by Stanley Waterloo, and (2) \"_Before Adam_,\" by\nJack London. They may be obtained from any bookseller. Both are works\nof fiction, with the scientific facts cleverly interwoven into them.\n\nAnd now in conclusion before we pass on the subject of \"Spiritual\nEvolution,\" which will form the subject of our next lesson, we would\nagain call your attention to the vital difference between the Western\nand the Eastern Teachings. The Western holds to a mechanical theory of\nlife, which works without the necessity of antecedent Mind, the latter\nappearing as a \"product\" at a certain stage. The Eastern holds _that\nMind is back of, under, and antecedent to all the work of\nEvolution_--the _cause_, not the effect or product. The Western claims\nthat Mind was produced by the struggle of Matter to produce higher\nforms of itself. _The Eastern claims that the whole process of\nEvolution is caused by Mind striving, struggling and pressing forward\ntoward expressing itself more fully--to liberate itself from the\nconfining and retarding Matter--the struggle resulting in an Unfoldment\nwhich causes sheath after sheath of the confining material bonds to be\nthrown off and discarded, in the effort to release the confined Spirit\nwhich is behind even the Mind. The Yogi Teachings are that the\nEvolutionary Urge is the pressure of the confined Spirit striving to\nfree itself from the fetters and bonds which sorely oppress it_.\n\nThe struggle and pain of Evolution is the parturition-pangs of the\nSpiritual deliverance from the womb of Matter. Like all birth it is\nattended by pain and suffering, but the end justifies it all. And as\nthe human mother forgets her past suffering in the joy of witnessing\nthe face, and form, and life, of her loved child, so will the soul\nforget the pain of the Spiritual birth by reason of the beauty and\nnobility of that which will be born to and from it.\n\nLet us study well the story of Physical Evolution, but let us not lose\nourselves in it, for it is but the preliminary to the story of the\nUnfoldment of the Soul.\n\nLet us not despise the tale of the Body of Man--for it is the story of\nthe Temple of the Spirit which has been built up from the most humble\nbeginnings, until it has reached the present high stage. And yet even\nthis is but the beginning, for the work will go on, and on, and on, in\nthe spirit of those beautiful lines of Holmes:\n\n     \"Build thee more stately mansions, oh, my soul!\n     As the swift seasons roll!\n     Leave thy low-vaulted past!\n     Let each new temple, nobler than the last,\n     Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,\n     Till thou at last _art free_,\n     Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE NINTH LESSON\n\n\nMETEMPSYCHOSIS.\n\nAs we have said in our last lesson, while the Yogi Teachings throw an\nimportant light upon the Western theory of Evolution, still there is a\nvital difference between the Western scientific teachings on the\nsubject and the Eastern theories and teachings. The Western idea is\nthat the process is a mechanical, material one, and that \"mind\" is a\n\"by-product\" of Matter in its evolution. But the Eastern Teachings hold\nthat Mind is under, back of, and antecedent to all the work of\nEvolution, and that Matter is a \"by-product\" of Mind, rather than the\nreverse.\n\nThe Eastern Teachings hold that Evolution is caused by Mind striving,\nstruggling, and pressing forward toward fuller and fuller expression,\nusing Matter as a material, and yet always struggling to free itself\nfrom the confining and retarding influence of the latter. The struggle\nresults in an Unfoldment, causing sheath after sheath of the confining\nmaterial bonds to be thrown off and discarded, as the Spirit presses\nupon the Mind, and the Mind moulds and shapes the Matter. Evolution is\nbut the process of birth of the Individualized Spirit, from the web of\nMatter in which it has been confined. And the pains and struggles are\nbut incidents of the spiritual parturition.\n\nIn this and following lessons we shall consider the \"Spiritual\nEvolution, of the race--that is the Unfoldment of Individualized\nSpirit--just as we did the subject Physical Evolution in the last two\nlessons.\n\nWe have seen that preceding Spiritual Evolution, there was a Spiritual\nInvolution. The Yogi Philosophy holds that in the Beginning, the\nAbsolute meditated upon the subject of Creation, and formed a Mental\nImage, or Thought-Form, of an Universal Mind--that is, of an Universal\nPrinciple of Mind. This Universal Principle of Mind is the Great Ocean\nof \"Mind-Stuff\" from which all the phenomenal Universe is evolved. From\nthis Universal Principle of Mind, proceeded the Universal Principle of\nForce or Energy. And from the latter, proceeded the Universal Principle\nof Matter.\n\nThe Universal Principle of Mind was bound by Laws imposed upon it by\nthe mental-conception of the Absolute--the Cosmic Laws of Nature. And\nthese laws were the compelling causes of the Great Involution. For\nbefore Evolution was possible, Involution was necessary. We have\nexplained that the word \"involve\" means \"to wrap up; to cover; to hide,\netc.\" Before a thing can be \"evolved,\" that is \"unfolded,\" it must\nfirst be \"involved,\" that is \"wrapped up.\" A thing must be _put in_,\nbefore it may be _taken out_.\n\nFollowing the laws of Involution imposed upon it, the Universal Mental\nPrinciple involved itself in the Universal Energy Principle; and then\nin obedience to the same laws, the latter involved itself in the\nUniversal Material Principle. Each stage of Involution, or\n_wrapping-up_, created for itself (out of the higher principle which in\nbeing involved) the wrapper or sheath which is to be used to wrap-up\nthe higher principle. And the higher forms of the Material Principle\nformed sheaths of lower forms, until forms of Matter were produced far\nmore gross than any known to us now, for they have disappeared in the\nEvolutionary ascent. Down, down, down went the process of Involution,\nuntil the lowest point was reached. Then ensued a moment's pause,\npreceding the beginning of the Evolutionary Unfoldment.\n\nThen began the Great Evolution. But, as we have told you, the Upward\nmovement was distinguished by the \"Tendency toward Individualization.\"\nThat is, while the Involuntary Process was accomplished by Principles\nas Principles, the Upward Movement was begun by a tendency toward\n\"splitting up,\" and the creation of \"individual forms,\" and the effort\nto perfect them and build upon them higher and still higher succeeding\nforms, until a stage was reached in which the Temple of the Spirit was\nworthy of being occupied by Man, the self-conscious expression of the\nSpirit. For the coming of Man was the first step of a higher form of\nEvolution--the Spiritual Evolution. Up to this time there had been\nsimply an Evolution of Bodies, but now there came the Evolution of\nSouls.\n\nAnd this Evolution of Souls becomes possible only by the process of\nMetempsychosis (pronounced _me-temp-si-ko-sis_) which is more commonly\nknown as Reincarnation, or Re-embodiment.\n\nIt becomes necessary at this point to call your attention to the\ngeneral subject of Metempsychosis, for the reason that the public mind\nis most confused regarding this important subject. It has the most\nvague ideas regarding the true teachings, and has somehow acquired the\nimpression that the teachings are that human souls are re-born into the\nbodies of dogs, and other animals. The wildest ideas on this subject\nare held by some people. And, not only is this so, but even a number of\nthose who hold to the doctrine of Reincarnation, in some of its forms,\nhold that their individual souls were once the individual souls of\nanimals, from which state they have evolved to the present condition.\nThis last is a perversion of the highest Yogi Teachings, and we trust\nto make same plain in these lessons. But, first we must take a look at\nthe general subject of Metempsychosis, that we may see the important\npart it has played in the field of human thought and belief.\n\nWhile to many the idea of Metempsychosis may seem new and unfamiliar,\nstill it is one of the oldest conceptions of the race, and in ages past\nwas the accepted belief of the whole of the civilized race of man of\nthe period. And even today, it is accepted as Truth by the majority of\nthe race\n\nThe almost universal acceptance of the idea by the East with its\nteeming life, counterbalances its comparative non-reception by the\nWestern people of the day. From the early days of written or legendary\nhistory, Metempsychosis has been the accepted belief of many of the\nmost intelligent of the race. It is found underlying the magnificent\ncivilization of ancient Egypt, and from thence it traveled to the\nWestern world being held as the highest truth by such teachers as\nPythagoras, Empedocles, Plato, Virgil and Ovid. Plato's Dialogues are\nfull of this teaching. The Hindus have always held to it. The Persians,\ninspired by their learned Magi, accepted it implicitly. The ancient\nDruids, and Priests of Gaul, as well as the ancient inhabitants of\nGermany, held to it. Traces of it may be found in the remains of the\nAztec, Peruvian and Mexican civilizations.\n\nThe Eleusinian Mysteries of Greece, the Roman Mysteries, and the Inner\nDoctrines of the Cabbala of the Hebrews all taught the Truths of\nMetempsychosis. The early Christian Fathers; the Gnostic and\nManichaeans and other sects of the Early Christian people, all held to\nthe doctrine. The modern German philosophers have treated it with the\ngreatest respect, if indeed they did not at least partially accept it.\nMany modern writers have considered it gravely, and with respect. The\nfollowing quotations will give an idea of \"how the wind is blowing\" in\nthe West:\n\n\"Of all the theories respecting the origin of the soul, Metempsychosis\nseems to me the most plausible and therefore the one most likely to\nthrow light on the question of a life to come.\"--_Frederick H. Hedge._\n\n\"It would be curious if we should find science and philosophy taking up\nagain the old theory of metempsychosis, remodelling' it to suit our\npresent modes of religious and scientific thought, and launching it\nagain on the wide ocean of human belief. But stranger things have\nhappened in the history of human opinions.\"--_James Freeman Clarke_.\n\n\"If we could legitimately determine any question of belief by the\nnumber of its adherents, the ---- would apply to metempsychosis more\nfitly than to any other. I think it is quite as likely to be revived\nand to come to the front as any rival theory.\"--_Prof. Wm. Knight_.\n\n\"It seems to me, a firm and well-grounded faith in the doctrine of\nChristian metempsychosis might help to regenerate the world. For it\nwould be a faith not hedged around with many of the difficulties and\nobjections which beset other forms of doctrine, and it offers distinct\nand pungent motives for trying to lead a more Christian life, and for\nloving and helping our brother-man.\"--_Prof. Francis Bowen_.\n\n\"The doctrine of Metempsychosis may almost claim to be a natural or\ninnate belief in the human mind, if we may judge from its wide\ndiffusion among the nations of the earth, and its prevalence throughout\nthe historical ages.\"--_Prof. Francis Bowen_.\n\n\"When Christianity first swept over Europe, the inner thought of its\nleaders was deeply tinctured with this truth. The Church tried\nineffectually to eradicate it, but in various sects it kept sprouting\nforth beyond the time of Erigina and Bonaventura, its mediaeval\nadvocates. Every great intuitional soul, as Paracelsus, Boehme, and\nSwedenborg, has adhered to it. The Italian luminaries, Giordano Bruno\nand Campanella. embraced it. The best of German philosophy is enriched\nby it. In Schopenhauer, Lessing, Hegel, Leibnitz, Herder, and Fichte,\nthe younger, it is earnestly advocated. The anthropological systems of\nKant and Schelling furnish points of contact with it. The younger\nHelmont, in _De Revolutione Animarum_, adduces in two hundred problems\nall the arguments which may be urged in favor of the return of souls\ninto human bodies according to Jewish ideas. Of English thinkers, the\nCambridge Platonists defended it with much learning and acuteness, most\nconspicuously Henry More; and in Cudsworth and Hume it ranks as the\nmost rational theory of immortality. Glanvil's _Lux Orientalis_ devotes\na curious treatise to it. It captivated the minds of Fourier and\nLeroux. Andre Pezzani's book on _The Plurality of the Soul's Lives_\nworks out the system on the Roman Catholic idea of expiation.\"--E.D.\nWALKER, in \"_Re-Incarnation, a Study of Forgotten Truth_.\"\n\nAnd in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century, and this the early\npart of the Twentieth Century, the general public has been made\nfamiliar with the idea of Metempsychosis, under the name of\nRe-incarnation, by means of the great volume of literature issued by\nThe Theosophical Society and its allied following. No longer is the\nthought a novelty to the Western thinker, and many have found within\nthemselves a corroborative sense of its truth. In fact, to many the\nmere mention of the idea has been sufficient to awaken faint shadowy\nmemories of past lives, and, to such, many heretofore unaccountable\ntraits of character, tastes, inclinations, sympathies, dislikes, etc.,\nhave been explained.\n\nThe Western world has been made familiar with the idea of the re-birth\nof souls into new bodies, under the term of \"Re-incarnation,\" which\nmeans \"a re-entry into flesh,\" the word \"incarnate\" being derived from\nthe words \"_in_,\" and \"_carnis_,\" meaning flesh--the English word\nmeaning \"to clothe with flesh,\" etc. The word Metempsychosis, which we\nuse in this lesson, is concerned rather with the \"passage of the soul\"\nfrom one tenement to another, the \"fleshly\" idea being merely\nincidental.\n\nThe doctrine of Metempsychosis, or Re-incarnation, together with its\naccompanying doctrine, Karma, or Spiritual Cause and Effect, is one of\nthe great foundation stones of the Yogi Philosophy, as indeed it is of\nthe entire system of systems of Oriental Philosophy and Thought. Unless\none understands Metempsychosis he will never be able to understand the\nEastern Teachings, for he will be without the Key. You who have read\nthe _Bhagavad Gita_, that wonderful Hindu Epic, will remember how the\nthread of Re-Birth runs through it all. You remember the words of\n_Krishna_ to _Arjuna_: \"As the soul, wearing this material body,\nexperienceth the stages of infancy, youth, manhood, and old age, even\nso shall it, in due time, pass on to another body, and in other\nincarnations shall it again live, and move and play its part.\" \"These\nbodies, which act as enveloping coverings for the souls occupying them,\nare but finite things--things of the moment--and not the Real Man at\nall. They perish as all finite things perish--let them perish.\" \"As a\nman throweth away his old garments, replacing them with new and\nbrighter ones, even so the Dweller of the body, having quitted its old\nmortal frame, entereth into others which are new and freshly prepared\nfor it. Weapons pierce not the Real Man, nor doth the fire burn him;\nthe water affecteth him not, nor the wind drieth him nor bloweth him\naway. For he is impregnable and impervious to these things of the world\nof change--he is eternal, permanent, unchangeable, and\nunalterable--Real.\"\n\nThis view of life gives to the one who holds to it, an entirely\ndifferent mental attitude. He no longer identifies himself with the\nparticular body that he may be occupying, nor with any other body for\nthat matter. He learns to regard his body just as he would a garment\nwhich he is wearing, useful to him for certain purposes, but which will\nin time be discarded and thrown aside for a better one, and one better\nadapted to his new requirements and needs. So firmly is this idea\nembedded in the consciousness of the Hindus, that they will often say\n\"My body is tired,\" or \"My body is hungry,\" or \"My body is full of\nenergy,\" rather than that \"I am\" this or that thing. And this\nconsciousness, once attained, gives to one a sense of strength,\nsecurity and power unknown to him who regards his body as himself. The\nfirst step for the student who wishes to grasp the idea of\nMetempsychosis, and who wishes to awaken in his consciousness a\ncertainty of its truth, is to familiarize himself with the idea of his\n\"I\" being a thing independent and a part from his body, although using\nthe latter as an abiding place and a useful shelter and instrument for\nthe time being.\n\nMany writers on the subject of Metempsychosis have devoted much time,\nlabor and argument to prove the reasonableness of the doctrine upon\npurely speculative, philosophical, or metaphysical grounds. And while\nwe believe that such efforts are praiseworthy for the reason that many\npersons must be first convinced in that way, still we feel that one\nmust really _feel_ the truth of the doctrine from something within his\nown consciousness, before he will really _believe_ it to be truth. One\nmay convince himself of the logical necessity of the doctrine of\nMetempsychosis, but at the same time he may drop the matter with a\nshrug of the shoulders and a \"still, who knows?\" But when one begins to\nfeel within himself the awakening consciousness of a \"something in the\npast,\" not to speak of the flashes of memory, and feeling of former\nacquaintance with the subject, then, and then only, does he begin to\n_believe_.\n\nMany people have had \"peculiar experiences\" that are accountable only\nupon the hypothesis of Metempsychosis. Who has not experienced the\nconsciousness of having _felt the thing before_--_having thought it\nsome time in the dim past? Who has not witnessed new scenes that appear\nold, very old? Who has not met persons for the first time, whose\npresence awakened memories of a past lying far back in the misty ages\nof long ago? Who has not been seized at times with the consciousness of\na mighty \"oldness\" of soul? Who has not heard music, often entirely new\ncompositions, which somehow awakens memories of similar strains,\nscenes, places, faces, voices, lands, associations and events, sounding\ndimly on the strings of memory as the breezes of the harmony floats\nover them? Who has not gazed at some old painting, or piece of\nstatuary, with the sense of having seen it all before? Who has not\nlived through events, which brought with them a certainty of being\nmerely a repetition of some shadowy occurrences away back in lives\nlived long ago? Who has not felt the influence of the mountain, the\nsea, the desert, coming to them when they are far from such\nscenes--coming so vividly as to cause the actual scene of the present\nto fade into comparative unreality. Who has not had these\nexperiences--we ask_?\n\nWriters, poets, and others who carry messages to the world, have\ntestified to these things--and nearly every man or woman who hears the\nmessage recognizes it as something having correspondence in his or her\nown life. Sir Walter Scott tells us in his diary: \"I cannot, I am sure,\ntell if it is worth marking down, that yesterday, at dinner time, I was\nstrangely haunted by what I would call the sense of preexistence, viz.,\na confused idea that nothing that passed was said for the first time;\nthat the same topics had been discussed and the same persons had stated\nthe same opinions on them. The sensation was so strong as to resemble\nwhat is called the mirage in the desert and a calenture on board ship.\"\nThe same writer, in one of his novels, \"Guy Mannering,\" makes one of\nhis characters say: \"Why is it that some scenes awaken thoughts which\nbelong as it were, to dreams of early and shadowy recollections, such\nas old Brahmin moonshine would have ascribed to a state of previous\nexistence. How often do we find ourselves in society which we have\nnever before met, and yet feel impressed with a mysterious and\nill-defined consciousness that neither the scene nor the speakers nor\nthe subject are entirely new; nay, feel as if we could anticipate that\npart of the conversation which has not yet taken place.\"\n\nBulwer speaks of \"that strange kind of inner and spiritual memory which\nso often recalls to us places and persons we have never seen before,\nand which Platonists would resolve to be the unquenched consciousness\nof a former life.\" And again, he says: \"How strange is it that at times\na feeling comes over us as we gaze upon certain places, which\nassociates the scene either with some dim remembered and dreamlike\nimages of the Past, or with a prophetic and fearful omen of the Future.\nEvery one has known a similar strange and indistinct feeling at certain\ntimes and places, and with a similar inability to trace the cause.\" Poe\nhas written these words on the subject: \"We walk about, amid the\ndestinies of our world existence, accompanied by dim but ever present\nmemories of a Destiny more vast--very distant in the bygone time and\ninfinitely awful. We live out a youth peculiarly haunted by such\ndreams, yet never mistaking them for dreams. As memories we know them.\nDuring our youth the distinctness is too clear to deceive us even for a\nmoment. But the doubt of manhood dispels these feelings as illusions.\"\n\nHome relates an interesting incident in his life, which had a marked\neffect upon his beliefs, thereafter. He relates that upon an occasion\nwhen he visited a strange house in London he was shown into a room to\nwait. He says: \"On looking around, to my astonishment everything\nappeared perfectly familiar to me. I seemed to recognize every object.\nI said to myself, 'What is this? I have never been here before, and yet\nI have seen all this, and if so, then there must be a very peculiar\nknot in that shutter.'\" He proceeded to examine the shutter, and much\nto his amazement the knot was there.\n\nWe have recently heard of a similar case, told by an old lady who\nformerly lived in the far West of the United States. She states that\nupon one occasion a party was wandering on the desert in her part of\nthe country, and found themselves out of water. As that part of the\ndesert was unfamiliar even to the guides, the prospect for water looked\nvery poor indeed. After a fruitless search of several hours, one of the\nparty, a perfect stranger to that part of the country, suddenly pressed\nhis hand to his head, and acted in a dazed manner, crying out \"I know\nthat a water-hole is over to the right--this way,\" and away he started\nwith the party after him. After a half-hour's journey they reached an\nold hidden water-hole that was unknown even to the oldest man in the\nparty. The stranger said that he did not understand the matter, but\nthat he had somehow experienced a sensation of _having been there\nbefore_, and knowing just where the water-hole was located. An old\nIndian who was questioned about the matter, afterward, stated that the\nplace had been well known to his people who formerly travelled much on\nthat part of the desert; and that they had legends relating to the\n\"hidden water-hole,\" running back for many generations. In this case,\nit was remarked that the water-hole was situated in such a peculiar and\nunusual manner, as to render it almost undiscoverable even to people\nfamiliar with the characteristics of that part of the country. The old\nlady who related the story, had it direct from the lips of one of the\nparty, who regarded it as \"something queer,\" but who had never even\nheard of Metempsychosis.\n\nA correspondent of an English magazine writes as follows: \"A gentleman\nof high intellectual attainments, now deceased, once told me that he\nhad dreamed of being in a strange city, so vividly that he remembered\nthe streets, houses and public buildings as distinctly as those of any\nplace he ever visited. A few weeks later he was induced to visit a\npanorama in Leicester Square, when he was startled by seeing the city\nof which he had dreamed. The likeness was perfect, except that one\nadditional church appeared in the picture. He was so struck by the\ncircumstance that he spoke to the exhibitor, assuming for the purpose\nthe air of a traveller acquainted with the place, when he was informed\nthat the church was a recent erection.\" The fact of the addition of the\nchurch, seems to place the incident within the rule of awakened\nmemories of scenes known in a past life, for clairvoyance, astral\ntravel, etc., would show the scene as it was at the time of the dream,\nnot as it had been years before.\n\nCharles Dickens mentions a remarkable impression in his work \"Pictures\nfrom Italy.\" \"In the foreground was a group of silent peasant girls,\nleaning over the parapet of the little bridge, looking now up at the\nsky, now down into the water; in the distance a deep dell; the shadow\nof an approaching night on everything. If I had been murdered there in\nsome former life I could not have seemed to remember the place more\nthoroughly, or with more emphatic chilling of the blood; and the real\nremembrance of it acquired in that minute is so strengthened by the\nimaginary recollection that I hardly think I could forget it.\"\n\nWe have recently met two people in America who had very vivid memories\nof incidents in their past life. One of these, a lady, has a perfect\nhorror of large bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes, or the Ocean,\nalthough she was born and has lived the greater part of her life\ninland, far removed from any great body of water, She has a distinct\nrecollection of falling from a large canoe-shape vessel, of peculiar\nlines, and drowning. She was quite overcome upon her first visit to the\nField Museum in Chicago, where there were exhibited a number of models\nof queer vessels used by primitive people. She pointed out one similar\nin shape, and lines, to the one she remembers as having fallen from in\nsome past life.\n\nThe second case mentioned is that of a married couple who met each\nother in a country foreign to both, on their travels. They fell in love\nwith each other, and both have felt that their marriage was a reunion\nrather than a new attachment. The husband one day shortly after their\nmarriage told his wife in a rather shamed-faced way that he had\noccasional flashes of memory of having held in his arms, in the dim\npast, a woman whose face he could not recall, but who wore a strange\nnecklace, he describing the details of the latter. The wife said\nnothing, but after her husband had left for his office, she went to the\nattic and unpacked an old trunk containing some odds and ends, relics,\nheirlooms, etc., and drew from it an old necklace of peculiar pattern\nthat her grandfather had brought back from India, where he had lived in\nhis younger days, and which had been in the family ever since. She laid\nthe necklace on the table, so that her husband would see it upon his\nreturn. The moment his eyes fell upon it, he turned white as death, and\ngasped \"My God! _that's the necklace!_\"\n\nA writer in a Western journal gives the following story of a Southern\nwoman. \"When I was in Heidelberg, Germany, attending a convention of\nMystics, in company with some friends I paid my first visit to the\nruined Heidelberg Castle. As I approached it I was impressed with the\nexistence of a peculiar room in an inaccessible portion of the\nbuilding. A paper and pencil were provided me, and I drew a diagram of\nthe room even to its peculiar floor. My diagram and description were\nperfect, when we afterwards visited the room. In some way, not yet\nclear to me, I have been connected with that apartment. Still another\nimpression came to me with regard to a book, which I was made to feel\nwas in the old library of the Heidelberg University. I not only knew\nwhat the book was, but even felt that a certain name of an old German\nprofessor would be found written in it. Communicating this feeling to\none of the Mystics at the convention, a search was made for the volume,\nbut it was not found. Still the impression clung to me, and another\neffort was made to find the book; this time we were rewarded for our\npains. Sure enough, there on the margin of one of the leaves was the\nvery name I had been given in such a strange manner. Other things at\nthe same time went to convince me that I was in possession of the soul\nof a person who had known Heidelberg two or three centuries ago.\"\n\nA contributor to an old magazine relates, among other instances, the\nfollowing regarding a friend who remembers having died in India during\nthe youth of some former life. He states: \"He sees the bronzed\nattendants gathered about his cradle in their white dresses: they are\nfanning him. And as they gaze he passes into unconsciousness. Much of\nhis description concerned points of which he knew nothing from any\nother source, but all was true to the life, and enabled me to fix on\nIndia as the scene which he recalled.\"\n\nWhile comparatively few among the Western races are able to remember\nmore than fragments of their past lives, in India it is quite common\nfor a man well developed spiritually to clearly remember the incidents\nand details of former incarnations, and the evidence of the awakening\nof such power causes little more than passing interest among his\npeople. There is, as we shall see later, a movement toward conscious\nMetempsychosis, and many of the race are just moving on to that plane.\nIn India the highly developed individuals grow into a clear\nrecollection of their past lives when they reach the age of puberty,\nand when their brains are developed sufficiently to grasp the knowledge\nlocked up in the depths of the soul. In the meantime the individual's\nmemory of the past is locked away in the recesses of his mind, just as\nare many facts and incidents of his present life so locked away, to be\nremembered only when some one mentions the subject, or some\ncircumstance serves to supply the associative link to the apparently\nforgotten matter.\n\nRegarding the faculty of memory in our present lives, we would quote\nthe following from the pen of Prof. William Knight, printed in the\nFortnightly Review. He says: \"Memory of the details of the past is\nabsolutely impossible. The power of the conservative faculty, though\nrelatively great, is extremely limited. We forget the larger portion of\nexperience soon after we have passed through it, and we should be able\nto recall the particulars of our past years, filling all the missing\nlinks of consciousness since we entered on the present life, before we\nwere in a position to remember our ante-natal experience. Birth must\nnecessarily be preceded by crossing the river of oblivion, while the\ncapacity for fresh acquisition survives, and the garnered wealth of old\nexperience determines the amount and character of the new.\"\n\nAnother startling evidence of the proof of Metempsychosis is afforded\nus in the cases of \"infant prodigies,\" etc., which defy any other\nexplanation. Take the cases of the manifestation of musical talent in\ncertain children at an early age, for instance. Take the case of Mozart\nwho at the age of four was able to not only perform difficult pieces on\nthe piano, but actually composed original works of merit. Not only did\nhe manifest the highest faculty of sound and note, but also an\ninstinctive ability to compose and arrange music, which ability was\nsuperior to that of many men who had devoted years of their life to\nstudy and practice. The laws of harmony--the science of commingling\ntones, was to him not the work of years, but a faculty born in him.\nThere are many similar cases of record.\n\nHeredity does not explain these instances of genius, for in many of the\nrecorded cases, none of the ancestors manifested any talent or ability.\nFrom whom did Shakespeare inherit his genius? From whom did Plato\nderive his wonderful thought? From what ancestor did Abraham Lincoln\ninherit his character--coming from a line of plain, poor, hard-working\npeople, and possessing all of the physical attributes and\ncharacteristics of his ancestry, he, nevertheless, manifested a mind\nwhich placed him among the foremost of his race. Does not\nMetempsychosis give us the only possible key? Is it not reasonable to\nsuppose that the abilities displayed by the infant genius, and the\ntalent of the men who spring from obscure origin, have their root in\nthe experiences of a previous life?\n\nThen take the cases of children at school. Children of even the same\nfamily manifest different degrees of receptivity to certain studies.\nSome \"take to\" one thing, and some to another. Some find arithmetic so\neasy that they almost absorb it intuitively, while grammar is a hard\ntask for them; while their brothers and sisters find the exact reverse\nto be true. How many have found that when they would take up some new\nstudy, it is almost like recalling something already learned. Do you\nstudent, who are now reading these lines take your own case. Does not\nall this Teaching seem to you like the repetition of some lesson\nlearned long ago? Is it not like remembering something already learned,\nrather than the learning of some new truth? Were you not attracted to\nthese studies, in the first place, by a feeling that you had known it\nall before, somewhere, somehow? Does not your mind leap ahead of the\nlesson, and see what is coming next, long before you have turned the\npages? These inward evidences of the fact of pre-existence are so\nstrong that they outweigh the most skillful appeal to the intellect.\n\nThis intuitive knowledge of the truth of Metempsychosis explains why\nthe belief in it is sweeping over the Western world at such a rapid\nrate. The mere mention of the idea, to many people who have never\nbefore heard of it, is sufficient to cause them to recognize its truth.\nAnd though they may not understand the laws of its operation, yet deep\ndown in their consciousness they find a something that convinces them\nof its truth. In spite of the objections that are urged against the\nteaching, it is making steady headway and progress.\n\nThe progress of the belief in Metempsychosis however has been greatly\nretarded by the many theories and dogmas attached to it by some of the\nteachers. Not to speak of the degrading ideas of re-birth into the\nbodies of animals, etc., which have polluted the spring of Truth, there\nare to be found many other features of teaching and theory which repel\npeople, and cause them to try to kill out of the minds the glimmer of\nTruth that they find there. The human soul instinctively revolts\nagainst the teaching that it is bound to the wheel or re-birth,\n_willy-nilly_, compulsorily, without choice--compelled to live in body\nafter body until great cycles are past. The soul, perhaps already sick\nof earth-life, and longing to pass on to higher planes of existence,\nfights against such teaching. And it does well to so fight, for the\ntruth is nearer to its hearts desire. There is no soul longing that\ndoes not carry with it the prophecy of its own fulfillment, and so it\nis in this case. It is true that the soul of one filled with earthly\ndesires, and craving for material things, will by the very force of\nthose desires be drawn back to earthly re-birth in a body best suited\nfor the gratification of the longings, desires and cravings that it\nfinds within itself. But it is likewise true that the earth-sick soul\nis not compiled to return unless its own desires bring it back. Desire\nis the key note of Metempsychosis, although up to a certain stage it\nmay operate unconsciously. The sum of the desires of a soul regulate\nits re-birth. Those who have become sickened of all that earth has for\nthem at this stage of its evolution, may, and do, rest in states of\nexistence far removed from earth scenes, until the race progresses far\nenough to afford the resting soul the opportunities and environments\nthat it so earnestly craves.\n\nAnd more than this, when Man reaches a certain stage, the process of\nMetempsychosis no longer remains unconscious, but he enters into a\nconscious knowing, willing passage from one life to another. And when\nthat stage is reached a full memory of the past lives is unfolded, and\nlife to such a soul becomes as the life of a day, succeeded by a night,\nand then the awakening into another day with full knowledge and\nrecollection of the events of the day before. We are in merely the\nbabyhood of the race now, and the fuller life of the conscious soul\nlies before us. Yea, even now it is being entered into by the few of\nthe race that have progressed sufficiently far on the Path. And you,\nstudent, who feel within you that craving for conscious re-birth and\nfuture spiritual evolution, and the distaste for, and horror of, a\nfurther blind, unconscious re-plunge into the earth-life--know you,\nthat this longing on your part is but an indication of what lies before\nyou. It is the strange, subtle, awakening of the nature within you,\nwhich betokens the higher state. Just as the young person feels within\nhis or her body strange emotions, longings and stirrings, which betoken\nthe passage from the child state into that of manhood or womanhood, so\ndo these spiritual longings, desires and cravings betoken the passage\nfrom unconscious re-birth into conscious knowing Metempsychosis, when\nyou have passed from the scene of your present labors.\n\nIn our next lesson we shall consider the history of the race as its\nsouls passed on from the savage tribes to the man of to-day. It is the\nhistory of the race--the history of the individual--your own history,\nstudent--the record of that through which you have passed to become\nthat which you now are. And as you have climbed step after step up the\narduous path, so will you, hereafter climb still higher paths, but no\nlonger in unconsciousness, but with your spiritual eyes wide open to\nthe Rays of Truth pouring forth from the great Central Sun--the\nAbsolute.\n\nConcluding this lesson, we would quote two selections from the American\npoet, Whitman, whose strange genius was undoubtedly the result of vague\nmemories springing from a previous life, and which burst into\nutterances often not more than half understood by the mind that gave\nthem birth. Whitman says:\n\n     \"Facing West from California's shores,\n     Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,\n     A, a child, very old, over waves, toward the house of\n       maternity, the land of migrations, look afar,\n     Look off the shores of my Western sea, the circle\n       almost circled:\n     For starting Westward from Hindustan, from the\n       vales of Kashmere,\n     From Asia, from the north, from God, the sage, and\n       the hero,\n     From the south, from the flowery peninsulas and\n       spice islands,\n     Long having wandered since, round the earth having\n       wandered,\n     Now I face home again, very pleased and joyous.\n     (But where is what I started for so long ago?\n     And why is it yet unfound?)\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n     \"I know I am deathless.\n\n     I know that this orbit of mine cannot be swept by a\n       carpenter's compass;\n     And whether I come to my own to-day, or in ten\n       thousand or ten million years,\n\n     I can cheerfully take it now or with equal cheerfulness\n       can wait.\"\n\n      *       *       *       *       *\n\n     \"As to you, Life, I reckon you are the leavings of\n       many deaths.\n     No doubt I have died myself ten thousand times before.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n     \"Births have brought us richness and variety, and\n       other births have brought us richness and variety.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nAnd this quotation from the American poet N.P. Willis:\n\n     \"But what a mystery this erring mind?\n     It wakes within a frame of various powers\n     A stranger in a new and wondrous world.\n     It brings an instinct from some other sphere,\n     For its fine senses are familiar all,\n     And with the unconscious habit of a dream\n     It calls and they obey. The priceless sight\n     Springs to its curious organ, and the ear\n     Learns strangely to detect the articulate air\n     In its unseen divisions, and the tongue\n     Gets its miraculous lesson with the rest,\n     And in the midst of an obedient throng\n     Of well trained ministers, the mind goes forth\n     To search the secrets of its new found home.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE TENTH LESSON\n\n\nSPIRITUAL EVOLUTION.\n\nOne of the things that repel many persons who have had their attention\ndirected to the subject of Metempsychosis for the first time, is the\nidea that they have evolved _as a soul_ from individual lowly forms,\nfor instance that they have at one time been an individual plant, and\nthen an individual animal form, and then an individual higher animal\nform, and so on until now they are the particular individual human form\ncontemplating the subject. This idea, which has been taught by many\nteachers, is repellent to the average mind, for obvious reasons, and\nnaturally so, for it has no foundation in truth.\n\nWhile this lesson is principally concerned with the subject of the\nSpiritual Evolution of the human soul, since it became a human soul,\nstill it may be as well to mention the previous phase of evolution,\nbriefly, in order to prevent misconception, and to dispel previously\nacquired error.\n\nThe atom, although it possesses life and a certain degree of mind, and\nacts as an individual temporarily, has no permanent individuality that\nreincarnates. When the atom is evolved it becomes a centre of energy in\nthe great atomic principle, and when it is finally dissolved it\nresolves itself back into its original state, and its life as an\nindividual atom ceases, although the experience it has gained becomes\nthe property of the entire principle. It is as if a body of water were\nto be resolved into millions of tiny dew-drops for a time, and each\ndew-drop was then to acquire certain outside material in solution. In\nthat case, each dew-drop when it again returned to the body of water,\nwould carry with it its foreign material, which would become the\nproperty of the whole. And subsequently formed dew-drops would carry in\ntheir substance a particle of the foreign matter brought back home by\nthe previous generation of dewdrops, and would thus be a little\ndifferent from their predecessors. And this process, continuing for\nmany generations of dew-drops, would ultimately cause the greatest\nchanges in the composition of the successive generations.\n\nThis, in short, is the story of the change and improving forms of life.\nFrom the atoms into the elements; from the lower elements into those\nforming protoplasm; from the protoplasm to the lower forms of animal\nlife; from these lower forms on to higher forms--this is the story. But\nit is all a counterpart of the dew-drop and the body of water, _until\nthe human soul is evolved_.\n\nThe plants and the lower forms of animal life are not permanent\nindividual souls, but each family is a _group-soul_ corresponding to\nthe body of water from which the dew-drop arose. From these family\ngroup-souls gradually break off minor groups, representing species, and\nso on into sub-species. At last when the forms reach the plane of man,\nthe group-soul breaks itself up into _permanent individual souls_, and\ntrue Metempsychosis begins. That is, _each individual human soul\nbecomes a permanent individual entity_, destined to evolve and perfect\nitself along the lines of spiritual evolution.\n\nAnd from this point begins our story of Spiritual Evolution.\n\nThe story of Man, the Individual, begins amidst humble surroundings.\nPrimitive man, but little above the level of the lower animals in point\nof intelligence, has nevertheless that distinguishing mark of\nIndividuality--\"Self-Consciousness,\" which is the demarkation between\nBeast and Man. And even the lowest of the lowest races had at least a\n\"trace\" of this Self-Consciousness, which made of them individuals, and\ncaused the fragment of the race-soul to separate itself from the\ngeneral principle animating the race, and to fasten its \"I\" conscious\nupon itself, rather than upon the underlying race-soul, along\ninstinctive lines. Do you know just what this Self-Consciousness is,\nand how it differs from the Physical Consciousness of the lower\nanimals? Perhaps we had better pause a moment to consider it at this\nplace.\n\nThe lower animals are of course conscious of the bodies, and their\nwants, feelings, emotions, desires, etc., and their actions are in\nresponse to the animating impulses coming from this plane of\nconsciousness. But it stops there. They \"know,\" but they do not \"know\nthat they know\"; that is, they have not yet arrived at a state in which\nthey can think of themselves as \"I,\" and to reason upon their thoughts\nand mental operations. It is like the consciousness of a very young\nchild, which feels and knows its sensations and wants, but is unable to\nthink of itself as \"I,\" and to turn the mental gaze inward. In another\nbook of these series we have used the illustration of the horse which\nhas been left standing out in the cold sleet and rain, and which\nundoubtedly feels and knows the unpleasant sensations arising\ntherefrom, and longs to get away from the unpleasant environment. But,\nstill, he is unable to analyze his mental states and wonder whether his\nmaster will come out to him soon, or think how cruel it is to keep him\nout of his warm comfortable stable; or wonder whether he will be taken\nout in the cold rain again tomorrow; or feel envious of other horses\nwho are indoors; or wonder why he is kept out cold nights, etc., etc.\nIn short, the horse is unable to think as would a reasoning man under\njust the same circumstances. He is aware of the discomfort, just as\nwould be the man; and he would run away home, if he were able, just as\nwould the man. But he is not able to pity himself, nor to think about\nhis personality, as would a man--he is not able to wonder whether life\nis worth the living, etc., as would a man. He \"knows\" but is not able\nto reflect upon the \"knowing.\"\n\nIn the above illustration, the principal point is that the horse does\nnot \"know himself\" as an entity, while even the most primitive man is\nable to so recognize himself as an \"I.\" If the horse were able to think\nin words, he would think \"feel,\" \"cold,\" \"hurt,\" etc., but he would be\nunable to think \"_I_ feel; _I_ am cold; _I_ am hurt,\" etc. The thought\n\"I\" would be missing.\n\nIt is true that the \"I\" consciousness of the primitive man was slight,\nand was but a degree above the Physical Consciousness of the higher\napes, but nevertheless it had sprung into being, never again to be\nlost. The primitive man was like a child a few years old--he was able\nto say \"I,\" and to think \"I.\" _He had become an individual soul._\n\nAnd this individual soul inhabited and animated a body but little\nremoved from that of an ape. But this new consciousness began to mould\nthat rude body and the ascent was begun. Each generation showed a\nphysical improvement over that of the preceding one, according to the\nlines of physical evolution, and as the developing soul demanded more\nperfect and developed bodies the bodies were evolved to meet the\ndemand, for the mental demand has ever been the cause of the physical\nform.\n\nThe soul of the primitive man reincarnated almost immediately after the\ndeath of the physical body, because the experiences gained were mostly\nalong the lines of the physical, the mental planes being scarcely\nbrought into play, while the higher and spiritual faculties were almost\nentirely obscured from sight. Life after life the soul of the primitive\nman lived out in rapid succession. But in each new embodiment there was\na slight advance over that of the previous one. Experience, or rather\nthe result of experiences, were carried over, and profited by. New\nlessons were learned and unlearned, improved upon or discarded. And the\nrace grew and unfolded.\n\nAfter a time the number of advancing souls which had outstripped their\nfellows in progress became sufficiently large for sub-races to be\nformed, and so the branching off process began. In this way the various\nraces and types were formed, and the progress of Mankind gained\nheadway. At this point we may as well consider the history of the Races\nof Mankind, that we may see how the great tide-wave of Soul has ever\npressed onward, marking higher and still higher stages of progress, and\nalso how the various minor waves of the great wave pushed in and then\nreceded, only to be followed by still higher waves. The story is most\ninteresting.\n\nThe Yogi Teachings inform us that the Grand Cycle of Man's Life on the\nEarth is composed of Seven Cycles, of which we are now living in the\nthird-seventh part of the Fifth Cycle. These Cycles may be spoken of as\nthe Great Earth Periods, separated from each other by some great\nnatural cataclysm which destroyed the works of the previous races of\nmen, and which started afresh the progress called \"civilization,\"\nwhich, as all students know, manifests a rise and fall like unto that\nof the tides.\n\nMan in the First Cycle emerged from a gross animal-like state into a\ncondition somewhat advanced. It was a slow progress, but nevertheless a\ndistinct series of advances were made by the more progressive souls who\npassed over on to the Second Cycle, embodying themselves as the ruling\nraces in the same, their less progressive brothers incarnating in the\nlower tribes of the Second Cycle. It must be remembered that the souls\nwhich do not advance during a Cycle reincarnate in the next Cycle among\nthe lower races. So that even in this Fifth Cycle we have remnants of\nthe previous cycles, the lives of the members of which give us an idea\nof what life in the earlier cycles must have been.\n\nThe Yogi Teachings give us but little information regarding the people\nof the First and Second Cycles, because of the low state of these ages.\nThe tale, if told, would be the story of the Cave-dweller, and\nStone-age people; the Fire-peoples, and all the rest of savage,\nbarbarian crew; there was but little trace of anything like that which\nwe call \"civilization,\" although in the latter periods of the Second\nCycle the foundations for the coming civilizations were firmly laid.\n\nAfter the cataclysm which destroyed the works of Man of the Second\nCycle, and left the survivors scattered or disorganized, awaiting the\ntouch of the organizing urge which followed shortly afterward, there\ndawned the first period of the Third Cycle. The scene of the life of\nthe Third Cycle was laid in what is known to Occultists as Lemuria.\nLemuria was a mighty continent situated in what is now known as the\nPacific Ocean, and parts of the Indian Ocean. It included Australia,\nAustralasia, and other portions of the Pacific islands, which are in\nfact surviving portions of the great continent of Lemuria, its highest\npoints, the lower portion having sunk beneath the seas ages and ages\nago.\n\nLife in Lemuria is described as being principally concerned with the\nphysical senses, and sensual enjoyment, only a few developed souls\nhaving broken through the fetters of materiality and reached the\nbeginnings of the mental and spiritual planes of life. Some few indeed\nmade great progress and were saved from the general wreck, in order to\nbecome the leaven which would lighten the mass of mankind during the\nnext Cycle. These developed souls were the teachers of the new races,\nand were looked upon by the latter as gods and supernatural beings, and\nlegends and traditions concerning them are still existent among the\nancient peoples of our present day. Many of the myths of the ancient\npeoples arose in this way.\n\nThe Yogi traditions hold that just prior to the great cataclysm which\ndestroyed the races of the Second Cycle, there was a body of the Chosen\nOnes which migrated from Lemuria to certain islands of the sea which\nare now part of the main land of India. These people formed the nucleus\nof the Occult Teachings of the Lemurians, and developed into the Fount\nof Truth which has been flowing ever since throughout the successive\nperiods and cycles.\n\nWhen Lemuria passed away, there arose from the depths of the ocean the\ncontinent which was to be the scene of the life and civilization of the\nFourth Cycle--the continent of Atlantis. Atlantis was situated in a\nportion of what is now known as the Atlantic Ocean, beginning at what\nis now known as the Caribbean Sea and extending over to the region of\nwhat is now known as Africa. What are now known as Cuba and the West\nIndies were among the highest points of the continent, and now stand\nlike monuments to its departed greatness.\n\nThe civilization of Atlantis was remarkable, and its people attained\nheights which seem almost incredible to even those who are familiar\nwith the highest achievements of man in our own times. The Chosen Ones\npreserved from the cataclysm which destroyed Lemuria, and who lived to\na remarkably old age, had stored up within their minds the wisdom and\nlearning of the races that had been destroyed, and they thus gave the\nAtlanteans an enormous starting-advantage. They soon attained great\nadvancement along all the lines of human endeavor. They perfected\nmechanical inventions and appliances, reaching far ahead of even our\npresent attainments. In the field of electricity especially they\nreached the stages that our present races will reach in about two or\nthree hundred years from now. Along the lines of Occult Attainment\ntheir progress was far beyond the dreams of the average man of our own\nrace, and in fact from this arose one of the causes of their downfall,\nfor they prostituted the power to base and selfish uses, and Black\nMagic.\n\nAnd, so the decline of Atlantis began. But the end did not come at\nonce, or suddenly, but gradually. The continent, and its surrounding\nislands gradually sank beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, the\nprocess occupying over 10,000 years. The Greeks and Romans of our own\nCycle had traditions regarding the sinking of the continent, but their\nknowledge referred only to the disappearance of the small\nremainder--certain islands--the continent itself having disappeared\nthousands of years before their time. It is recorded that the Egyptian\npriests had traditions that the continent itself had disappeared nine\nthousand years before their time. As was the case with the Chosen Ones\nof Lemuria, so was it with the Elect of Atlantis, who were taken away\nfrom the doomed land some time prior to its destruction. The few\nadvanced people left their homes and migrated to portions of what are\nnow South America and Central America, but which were then islands of\nthe sea. These people have left their traces of their civilization and\nworks, which our antiquaries are discovering to-day.\n\nWhen the Fifth Cycle dawned (our own cycle, remember) these brave and\nadvanced souls acted as the race-teachers and became as \"gods\" to those\nwho came afterward. The races were very prolific, and multiplied very\nrapidly under the most favorable conditions. The souls of the\nAtlanteans were pressing forward for embodiment, and human forms were\nborn to supply the demand. And now begins the history of our own\nCycle--the Fifth Cycle.\n\nBut before we begin a consideration of the Fifth Cycle, let us consider\nfor a moment a few points about the laws operating to cause these great\nchanges.\n\nIn the first place, each Cycle has a different theatre for its work and\naction. The continent of Lemuria was not in existence during the Second\nCycle, and arose from the ocean bed only when its appointed time came.\nAnd, likewise the continent of Atlantis reposed beneath the waves while\nthe Lemurian races manifested during the Third Cycle, rising by means\nof a convulsion of the earth's surface to play its part during its own\nperiod--the Fourth Cycle--only to sink again beneath the waves to make\nway for the birth of the Fifth Cycle with its races. By means of these\ncataclysms the races of each Cycle were wiped out when the time came,\nthe few Elect or Chosen ones, that is those who have manifested the\nright to live on, being carried away to some favorable environment\nwhere they became as leaven to the mass--as \"gods\" to the new races\nthat quickly appear.\n\nIt must be remembered, however, that these Chosen Ones are not the only\nones saved from the destruction that overtakes the majority of the\nrace. On the contrary a few survivors are preserved, although driven\naway from their former homes, and reduced to \"first principles of\nliving\" in order to become the parents of the new races. The new races\nspringing from the fittest of these survivors quickly form sub-races,\nbeing composed of the better adapted souls seeking reincarnation, while\nthe less fit sink into barbarism, and show evidences of decay, although\na remnant drags on for thousands of years, being composed of the souls\nof those who have not advanced sufficiently to take a part in the life\nof the new races. These \"left-overs\" are in evidence in our own times\nin the cases of the Australian savages, and some of the African tribes,\nas well as among the Digger Indians and others of similar grade of\nintelligence.\n\nIn order to understand the advance of each race it must be remembered\nthat the more advanced souls, after passing out of the body, have a\nmuch longer period of rest in the higher planes, and consequently do\nnot present themselves for reincarnation until a period quite late when\ncompared with the hasty reincarnation of the less advanced souls who\nare hurried back to rebirth by reason of the strong earthly attachments\nand desires. In this way it happens that the earlier races of each\nCycle are more primitive folk than those who follow them as the years\nroll by. The soul of an earth-bound person reincarnates in a few years,\nand sometimes in a few days, while the soul of an advanced man may\nrepose and rest on the higher planes for centuries--nay, even for\nthousands of years, until the earth has reached a stage in which the\nappropriate environment may be afforded it.\n\nObservers, unconnected with Occultism, have noted certain laws which\nseem to regulate the rise and fall of nations--the procession of ruling\nraces. They do not understand the law of Metempsychosis that alone\ngives the key to the problem, but nevertheless they have not failed to\nrecord the existence of the laws themselves. In order to show that\nthese laws are recognized by persons who are not at all influenced by\nthe Occult Teachings, we take the liberty of quoting from Draper's\n\"History of the Intellectual Development of Europe.\"\n\nDr. Draper writes as follows: \"We are, as we often say, the creatures\nof circumstances. In that expression there is a higher philosophy than\nmight at first appear. From this more accurate point of view we should\ntherefore consider the course of these events, recognizing the\nprinciple that the affairs of men pass forward in a determinate way,\nexpanding and unfolding themselves. And hence we see that the things of\nwhich we have spoken as if they were matters of choice, were in reality\nforced upon their apparent authors by the necessity of the times. But\nin truth they should be considered as the presentation of a certain\nphase of life which nations in their onward course sooner or later\nassume. To the individual, how well we know that a sober moderation of\naction, an appropriate gravity of demeanor, belonging to the mature\nperiod of life, change from the wanton willfulness of youth, which may\nbe ushered in, or its beginnings marked by many accidental incidents;\nin one perhaps by domestic bereavements, in another by the loss of\nfortune, in a third by ill-health. We are correct enough in imputing to\nsuch trials the change of character; but we never deceive ourselves by\nsupposing that it would have failed to take place had these incidents\nnot occurred. There runs an irresistible destiny in the midst of these\nvicissitudes. There are analogies between the life of a nation, and\nthat of an individual, who, though he may be in one respect the maker\nof his own fortunes, for happiness or for misery, for good or for evil,\nthough he remains here or goes there as his inclinations prompt, though\nhe does this or abstains from that as he chooses, is nevertheless held\nfast by an inexorable fate--a fate which brought him into the world\ninvoluntarily, so far as he was concerned, which presses him forward\nthrough a definite career, the stages of which are absolutely\ninvariable,--infancy, childhood, youth, maturity, old age, with all\ntheir characteristic actions and passions,--and which removes him from\nthe scene at the appointed time, in most cases against his will. So\nalso is it with nations; the voluntary is only the outward semblance,\ncovering but hardly hiding the predetermined. Over the events of life\nwe may have control, but none whatever over the law of its progress.\nThere is a geometry that applies to nations an equation of their curve\nof advance. That no mortal man can touch.\"\n\nThis remarkable passage, just quoted, shows how the close observers of\nhistory note the rise and fall of the tides of human race progress,\nalthough ignorant of the real underlying causing energy or force. A\nstudy of the Occult Teachings alone gives one the hidden secret of\nhuman actions and throws the bright light of Truth upon the dark\ncorners of phenomena.\n\nAt the beginning of the Fifth Cycle (which is the present one), there\nwere not only the beginnings of the new races which always spring up at\nthe beginning of each new cycle and which are the foundations for the\ncoming races which take advantage of the fresh conditions and\nopportunities for growth and development--but there were also the\ndescendants of the Elect Saved from the destruction of Atlantis by\nhaving been led away and colonized far from the scene of danger. The\nnew races were the descendant of the scattered survivors of the\nAtlantean peoples, that is, the common run of people of the time. But\nthe Elect few were very superior people, and imparted to their\ndescendants their knowledge and wisdom. So that we see at the beginning\nof the Fifth Cycle hordes of new, primitive people in certain lands,\nand in other places advanced nations like the ancestors of the Ancient\nEgyptians, Persians, Chaldeans, Hindus, etc.\n\nThese advanced races were old souls--advanced souls--the progressed and\ndeveloped souls of Ancient Lemuria and Atlantis, who lived their lives\nand who are now either on higher planes of life, or else are among us\nto-day taking a leading part in the world's affairs, striving mightily\nto save the present races from the misfortunes which overtook their\npredecessors.\n\nThe descendants of the people were the Assyrians and Babylonians. In\ndue time the primitive new races developed and the great Roman,\nGrecian, and Carthaginian peoples appeared. Then came the rise of other\npeoples and nations down to the present time. Each race or nation has\nits rise, its height of attainment, and its decline. When a nation\nbegins to decline it is because its more advanced souls have passed on,\nand only the less progressive souls are left. The history of all\nnations show the truth of the Occult the term. Men are forsaking old\nideals, creeds and dogmas, and are running hither and thither seeking\nsomething they feel to be necessary, but of the nature of which they\nknow nothing. They are feeling the hunger for Peace--the thirst for\nKnowledge--and they are seeking satisfaction in all directions.\n\nThis is not only the inevitable working of the Law of Evolution, but is\nalso a manifestation of the power and love of the great souls that have\npassed on to higher planes of existence, and who have become as angels\nand arch-angels. These beings are filled with the love of the race, and\nare setting into motion influences that are being manifest in many\ndirections, the tendency of which are to bring the race to a\nrealization of its higher power, faculties, and destiny.\n\nAs we have said in other places, one of the greatest difficulties in\nthe way of the seeker after Truth in his consideration of the question\nof Spiritual Evolution is the feeling that rebirth is being forced upon\nhim, without any say on his part, and against his desires. But this is\nfar from being correct. It is true that the whole process is according\nto the Great Law, but that Law operates through the force of Desire and\nAttraction. The soul is attracted toward rebirth by reason of its\ndesire or rather the essence of its desires. It is reborn only because\nit has within itself the desire for further experience, and opportunity\nfor unfoldment. And it is reborn into certain environments solely\nbecause it has within itself unsatisfied desires for those\nenvironments, etc. The process is just as regular and scientific as is\nthe attraction of one atom of matter for another.\n\nEach soul has within itself certain elements of desire and attraction,\nand it attracts to itself certain conditions and experiences, and is in\nturn attracted by these things. This is the law of life, in the body\nand out of it. And there is no injustice in the law it is the essence\nof justice itself, for it gives to each just what is required to fill\nthe indwelling desires, or else the conditions and experiences designed\nto burn out the desires which are holding one back, and the destruction\nof which will make possible future advancement.\n\nFor instance, if one is bound by the inordinate desire for material\nwealth, the Law of Karma will attract him to a rebirth in conditions in\nwhich he will be surrounded by wealth and luxury until he becomes\nsickened with them and will find his heart filled with the desire to\nflee from them and toward higher and more satisfying things. Of course\nthe Law of Karma acts in other ways, as we shall see in our next\nlesson--it deals with one's debts and obligations, also. The Law of\nKarma is closely connected with Metempsychosis, and one must be\nconsidered in connection with the other, always.\n\nNot only is it true that man's rebirths are in strict accordance with\nthe law of Attraction and Desire, but it is also true that after he\nattains a certain stage of spiritual unfoldment he enters into the\nconscious stage of rebirth, and thereafter he is reborn consciously and\nwith full foreknowledge. Many are now entering into this stage of\ndevelopment, and have a partial consciousness of their past lives,\nwhich also implies that they have had at least a partial consciousness\nof approaching rebirth, for the two phases of consciousness run\ntogether.\n\nThose individuals of a race who have outstripped their fellows in\nspiritual unfoldment, are still bound by the Karma of the particular\nrace to which they belong, up to a certain point. And as the entire\nrace, or at least a large proportion of it, must move forward as a\nwhole, such individuals must needs wait also. But they are not\ncompelled to suffer a tiresome round of continued rebirths amid\nenvironments and conditions which they have outgrown. On the contrary,\nthe advanced individual soul is allowed to wait until the race reaches\nits own stage of advancement, when it again joins in the upward\nmovement, in full consciousness, however. In the interim he may pass\nhis well earned rest either on some of the higher planes of rest, or\nelse in conscious temporary sojourn in other material spheres helping\nin the great work as a Teacher and worker for Good and Spiritual\nEvolution among those who need such help. In fact there are in the\nworld to-day, individual souls which have reached similar stages on\nother planets, and who are spending their rest period here amidst the\ncomparatively lower Earth conditions, striving to lift up the Earth\nsouls to greater heights.\n\nSo long as people allow themselves to become attached to material\nobjects, so long will they be reborn in conditions in which these\nobjects bind them fast. It is only when the soul frees itself from\nthese entangling obstructions that it is born in conditions of freedom.\nSome outgrow these material attachments by right thinking and\nreasoning, while others seem to be compelled to live them out, and thus\noutlive them, before they are free. At last when the soul realizes that\nthese things are merely incidents of the lower personality, and have\nnaught to do with the real individuality, then, and then only, do they\nfall from it like a wornout cloak, and are left behind while it bounds\nforward on The Path fresh from the lighter weight being carried.\n\nThe Yogi Philosophy teaches that Man will live forever, ascending from\nhigher to higher planes, and then on and on and on. Death is but the\nphysical symbol of a period of Soul Rest, similar to sleep of the tired\nbody, and is just as much to be welcomed and greeted with thanks. Life\nis continuous, and its object is development, unfoldment and growth. We\nare in Eternity now as much as we ever shall be. Our souls may exist\nout of the body as well as in it, although bodily incarnation is\nnecessary at this stage of our development. As we progress on to higher\nplanes of life, we shall incarnate in bodies far more ethereal than\nthose now used by us, just as in the past we used bodies almost\nincredibly grosser and coarser than those we call our own to-day. Life\nis far more than a thing of three-score and ten years--it is really a\nsuccession of such lives, on an ascending scale, that which we call our\npersonal self to-day being merely the essence of the experiences of\ncountless lives in the past.\n\nThe Soul is working steadily upward, from higher to higher, from gross\nto finer forms and manifestations. And it will steadily work for ages\nto come, always progressing, always advancing, always unfolding. The\nUniverse contains many worlds for the Soul to inhabit, and then after\nit has passed on to other Universes, there will still be Infinitude\nbefore it. The destiny of the Soul of Man is of wondrous promise and\npossibilities--the mind to-day cannot begin to even dream of what is\nbefore the Soul. Those who have already advanced many steps beyond\nyou--those Elder Brethren--are constantly extending to you aid in many\ndirections. They are extending to you the Unseen Hand, which lifts you\nover many a hard place and dangerous crossing--but you recognize it not\nexcept in a vague way. There are now in existence, on planes infinitely\nhigher than your own, intelligences of transcendent glory and\nmagnificence--but they were once Men even as you are to-day. They have\nso far progressed upon the Path that they have become as angels and\narchangels when compared with you. And, blessed thought, even as these\nexalted ones were once even as you, so shall you, in due course of\nSpiritual Evolution, become even as these mighty ones.\n\nThe Yogi Philosophy teaches that You who are reading these lines have\nlived many lives previous to the present one. You have lived in the\nlower forms, and have worked your way arduously along the Path until\nnow you are reaching the stage of Spiritual Consciousness in which the\npast and future will begin to appear plain to you for the first time.\nYou have lived as the cave-man--the cliff-dweller--the savage--the\nbarbarian. You have been the warrior--the priest--the Medieval scholar\nand occultist--the prince--the pauper. You have lived in Lemuria--in\nAtlantis--in India--in Persia--in Egypt--in ancient Rome and\nGreece--and are now playing your part in the Western civilization,\nassociating with many with whom you have had relations in your past\nlives.\n\nIn closing this lesson, let us quote from a previous writing from the\nsame pen that writes this lesson:\n\n\"Toward what goal is all this Spiritual Evolution tending? What does it\nall mean? From the low planes of life to the highest--all are on The\nPath. To what state or place does The Path lead? Let us attempt to\nanswer by asking you to imagine a series of millions of circles, one\nwithin the other. Each circle means a stage of Life. The outer circles\nare filled with life in its lowest and most material stages--each\ncircle nearer the Centre holds higher and higher forms--until Men (or\nwhat were once Men) become as gods. Still on, and on, and on. does the\nform of life grow higher, until the human mind cannot grasp the idea.\nBut what is the Centre? The MIND of the entire Spiritual Body--the\nABSOLUTE! And we are traveling toward that Centre!\"\n\nAnd again from the same source:\n\n\"But beyond your plane, and beyond mine, are plane after plane,\nconnected with our earth, the splendors of which man cannot conceive.\nAnd there are likewise many planes around the other planets of our\nchain--and there are millions of other worlds--and there are chains of\nuniverses just as there are chains of planets--and then greater groups\nof these chains--and so on greater and grander beyond the power of man\nto imagine--on and on and on and on--higher and higher--to\ninconceivable heights. An infinity of infinities of worlds are before\nus. Our world and our planetary system and our system of suns, and our\nsystem of solar systems, are but as grains of sand on the beach of the\nmighty ocean. But then you cry, 'But what am I--poor mortal thing--lost\namong all this inconceivable greatness?' The answer comes that You are\nthat most precious thing--a living soul. And if you were destroyed the\nwhole system of universes would crumble, for you are as necessary as\nthe greatest part of it--it cannot do without you--you cannot be lost\nor destroyed--you are a part of it all, and are eternal. 'But,' you\nask, 'beyond all of this of which you have told me, what is there--what\nis the Centre of it All?' Your Teacher's face takes on a rapt\nexpression--a light not of earth beams forth from his countenance.\n'_THE ABSOLUTE_!' he replies.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ELEVENTH LESSON.\n\n\nTHE LAW OF KARMA.\n\n\"Karma\" is a Sanscrit term for that great Law known to Western thinkers\nas Spiritual Cause and Effect, or Causation. It relates to the\ncomplicated affinities for either good or evil that have been acquired\nby the soul throughout its many incarnations. These affinities manifest\nas characteristics enduring from one incarnation to another, being\nadded to here, softened or altered there, but always pressing forward\nfor expression and manifestation. And, so, it follows that what each\none of us is in this life depends upon is what we have been and how we\nhave acted in our past lives.\n\nThroughout the operations of the Law of Karma the manifestation of\nPerfect Justice is apparent. We are not punished _for_ our sins, as the\ncurrent beliefs have it, but instead we are punished _by_ our sins. We\nare not rewarded _for_ our good acts, but we received our reward\n_through and by_ characteristics, qualities, affinities, etc., acquired\nby reason of our having performed these good acts in previous lives. We\nare our own judges and executioners. In our present lives we are\nstoring up good or bad Karma which will stick to us closely, and which\nwill demand expression and manifestation in lives to come. When we\nfasten around ourselves the evil of bad Karma, we have taken to shelter\na monster which will gnaw into our very vitals until we shake him off\nby developing opposite qualities. And when we draw to ourselves the\ngood Karma of Duty well performed, kindness well expressed, and Good\nDeeds freely performed without hope of reward, then do we weave for\nourselves the beautiful garments which we are destined to wear upon the\noccasion of our future lives.\n\nThe Yogi Teachings relating to the Law of Karma do not teach us that\nSin is an offense against the Power which brought us into being, so\nmuch as it is an offense against ourselves. We cannot injure the\nAbsolute, nor harm It in any way. But we may harm each other, and in so\ndoing harm ourselves. The Yogis teach that Sin is largely a matter of\nignorance and misunderstanding of our true nature, and that the lesson\nmust be well learned until we are able to see the folly and error of\nour former course, and thus are able to remedy our past errors and to\navoid their recurrence. By Karma the effects arising from our sins\ncling to us, until we become sick and weary of them, and seek their\ncause in our hearts. When we have discovered the evil cause of these\neffects, we learn to hate it and tear it from us as a foul thing, and\nare thence evermore relieved of it.\n\nThe Yogis view the sinning soul as the parent does the child who will\npersist in playing with forbidden things. The parent cautions the child\nagainst playing with the stove, but still the child persists in its\ndisobedience, and sooner or later receives a burn for its meddling. The\nburn is not a _punishment_ for the disobedience (although it may seem\nso to it) but comes in obedience to a natural law which is invariable.\nTo child finds out that stoves and burns are connected, and begins to\nsee some sense and reason in the admonitions of the parent. The love of\nthe parent sought to save the child the pain of the burn, and yet the\nchild-nature persisted in experimenting, and was taught the lesson. But\nthe lesson once thoroughly learned, it is not necessary to forbid the\nchild the stove, for it has learned the danger for itself and\nthereafter avoids it.\n\nAnd thus it is with the human soul passing on from one life to another.\nIt learns new lessons, gathers new experiences, and learns to recognize\nthe pain that invariably comes from Wrong Action, and the Happiness\nthat invariably comes from Right Action. As it progresses it learns how\nhurtful certain courses of action are, and like the burnt child it\navoids them thereafter.\n\nIf we will but stop to consider for a moment the relative degrees of\ntemptation to us and to others, we may see the operations of past Karma\nin former lives. Why is it that this thing is \"no temptation\" to you,\nwhile it is the greatest temptation to another. Why is it that certain\nthings do not seem to have any attraction for him, and yet they attract\nyou so much that you have to use all of your will power to resist them?\nIt is because of the Karma in your past lives. The things that do not\nnow tempt you, have been outlived in some former life, and you have\nprofited by your own experiences, or those of others, or else through\nsome teaching given you by one who had been attracted to you by your\nunfolding consciousness of Truth.\n\nWe are profiting to-day by the lessons of our past lives. If we have\nlearned them well we are receiving the benefit, while if we have turned\nour backs on the words of wisdom offered us, or have refused to learn\nthe lesson perfectly, we are compelled to sit on the same old\nschool-benches and hear the same old lesson repeated until it is fairly\ndriven into our consciousness. We wonder why it is that other persons\ncan perform certain evil acts that seem so repulsive to us, and are apt\nto pride ourselves upon our superior virtue. But those who know,\nrealize that their unfortunate brethren have not paid sufficient\nattention to the lesson of the past, and are having it repeated to them\nin a more drastic form this time. They know that the virtuous ones are\nsimply reaping the benefit of their own application in the past, but\nthat their lesson is not over, and that unless they advance and hold\nfast to that which they have attained, as well, they will be\noutstripped by many of those whose failure they are now viewing with\nwonder and scorn.\n\nIt is hard for us to fully realize that we are what we are because of\nour past experiences. It is difficult for us to value the experiences\nthat we are now going through, because we do not fully appreciate the\nvalue of bitter experiences once lived out and outlived. Let us look\nback over the experiences of this present life, for instance. How many\nbitter episodes are there which we wish had never happened, and how we\nwish we could tear them out of our consciousness. But we do not realize\nthat from these same bitter experiences came knowledge and wisdom that\nwe would not part with under any circumstances. And yet if we were to\ntear away from us the cause of these benefits, we would tear away the\nbenefits also, and would find ourselves back just where we were before\nthe experience happened to us. What we would like to do is to hold on\nto the benefits that came from the experience---the knowledge and\nwisdom that were picked from the tree of pain. But we cannot separate\nthe effect from the cause in this way, and must learn to look back upon\nthese bitter experiences as the causes from which our present\nknowledge, wisdom and attainment proceeded. Then may we cease to hate\nthese things, and to see that good may come from evil, under the\nworkings of the Law.\n\nAnd when we are able to do this, we shall be able to regard the painful\nexperiences of our present day as the inevitable outcome of causes away\nback in our past, but which will work surely toward increased\nknowledge, wisdom and attainment, if we will but see the Good\nunderlying the working of the Law. When we fall in with the working of\nthe Law of Karma we recognize its pain not as an injustice or\npunishment, but as the beneficent operation of a Law which, although\napparently working Evil, has for its end and aim Ultimate Good.\n\nMany object to the teachings of the Law of Karma by saying that the\nexperiences of each life not being remembered, must be useless and\nwithout value. This is a very foolish position to take concerning the\nmatter. These experiences although not fully remembered, are not lost\nto us at all--they are made a part of the material of which our minds\nare composed. They exist in the form of feelings, characteristics,\ninclinations, likes and dislikes, affinities, attractions, repulsions,\netc., etc., and are as much in evidence as are the experiences of\nyesterday which are fresh in our memory. Look back over your present\nlife, and try to remember the experiences of the past years. You will\nfind that you remember but few of the events of your life. The pressing\nand constant experiences of each of the days that you have lived have\nbeen, for the most part, forgotten. Though these experiences may have\nseemed very vivid and real to you when they occurred, still they have\nfaded into nothingness now, and they are to all intents and purposes\n_lost_ to you. But _are_ they lost? Not at all. You are what you are\nbecause of the results of these experiences. Your character has been\nmoulded and shaped, little by little, by these apparently forgotten\npains, pleasures, sorrows and happinesses. This trial strengthened you\nalong certain lines; that one changed your point of view and made you\nsee things with a broader sweep of vision. This grief caused you to\nfeel the pain of others; that disappointment spurred you on to new\nendeavors. And each and every one of them left a permanent mark upon\nyour personality--upon your character. All men are what they are by\nreason of what they have lived through and out. And though these\nhappenings, scenes, circumstances, occurrences, experiences, have faded\nfrom the memory, their effects are indelibly imprinted upon the fabric\nof the character, and the man of to-day is different from what he would\nhave been had the happening or experience not entered into his life.\n\nAnd this same rule applies to the characteristics brought over from\npast incarnations. You have not the memory of the experiences, but you\nhave the fruit in the shape of \"characteristics,\" tastes, inclinations,\netc. You have a tendency toward certain things, and a distaste for\nothers. Certain things attract, while others repel you. All of these\nthings are the result of your experiences in former incarnations. Your\nvery taste and inclination toward occult studies which has caused you\nto read these lessons is your legacy from some former life in which\nsome one spoke a word or two to you regarding the subject, and\nattracted your interest and desire. You learned some little about the\nsubject then--perhaps much--and developed a desire for more knowledge\nalong these lines, which manifesting in your present life has brought\nyou in contact with further instruction. The same inclination will lead\nto further advancement in this life, and still greater opportunities in\nfuture incarnations. Nearly every one who reads these lines has felt\nthat much of this occult instruction imparted is but a \"re-learning\" of\nsomething previously known, although many of the things taught have\nnever been heard before in this life. You pick up a book and read\nsomething, and know at once that it is so, because in some vague way\nyou have a consciousness of having studied and worked out the problem\nin some past period of your lives. All this is the working of the Law\nof Karma, which caused you to attract that for which you have an\naffinity, and which also causes others to be attracted to you.\n\nMany are the reunions of people who have been related to each other in\nprevious lives. The old loves, and old hates work out their Karmic\nresults in our lives. We are bound to those whom we have loved, and\nalso to those whom we may have injured. The story must be worked out to\nthe end, although a knowledge of the Law undoubtedly relieves one of\nmany entangling attachments and Karmic relationships, by pointing out\nthe nature of the relation, and enabling one to free himself mentally\nfrom the bond, which process tends to dissolve much of the Karmic\nentanglements.\n\nLife is a great school for the learning of lessons. It has many grades,\nmany classes, many scales of progress. And the lessons must be learned\nwhether we will or no. If we refuse or neglect to learn the lesson we\nare sent back to accomplish the task, again and again, until the lesson\nis finally learned. Nothing once learned is ever forgotten entirely.\nThere is an indelible imprint of the lesson in our character, which\nmanifests as predispositions, tastes, inclinations, etc. All that goes\nto make up that which we call \"Character\" is the workings of the Law of\nKarma. There is no such thing as Chance. Nothing ever \"happens.\" All is\nregulated by the Law of Cause and Effect or Karma. As a man sows so\nshall he reap, in a literal sense. You are what you are to-day, by\nreason of what you were in your last life. And in your next life you\nwill be what you are making of yourself to-day. You are your own judge,\nand executioner--your own bestower of rewards. But the Love of the\nAbsolute is ever working to lead you upward to the Light, and to open\nyour soul to that knowledge that, in the words of the Yogis, \"burns up\nKarma,\" and enables you to throw off the burden of Cause and Effect\nthat you have been carrying around with you, and which has weighted you\ndown.\n\nIn the Fourteen Lessons we quoted from Mr. Berry Benson, a writer in\nthe _Century Magazine_ for May, 1894. The quotation fits so beautifully\ninto this place, that we venture to reproduce it here once more, with\nyour permission. It reads as follows:\n\n\"A little boy went to school. He was very little. All that he knew he\nhad drawn in with his mother's milk. His teacher (who was God) placed\nhim in the lowest class, and gave him these lessons to learn: Thou\nshalt not kill. Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing. Thou shalt\nnot steal. So the man did not kill; but he was cruel, and he stole. At\nthe end of the day (when his beard was gray--when the night was come)\nhis teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned not to kill, but the\nother lessons thou hast not learned. Come back tomorrow.\n\n\"On the morrow he came back a little boy. And his teacher (who was God)\nput him in a class a little higher, and gave him these lessons to\nlearn: Thou shalt do no hurt to any living thing. Thou shalt not steal.\nThou shalt not cheat. So the man did no hurt to any living thing; but\nhe stole and cheated. And at the end of the day (when his beard was\ngray--when the night was come) his teacher (who was God) said: Thou\nhast learned to be merciful. But the other lessons thou hast not\nlearned. Come back tomorrow.\n\n\"Again, on the morrow, he came back, a little boy. And his teacher (who\nwas God) put him in a class yet a little higher, and gave him these\nlessons to learn: Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not cheat. Thou\nshalt not covet. So the man did not steal; but he cheated and he\ncoveted. And at the end of the day (when his beard was gray--when the\nnight was come) his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned not\nto steal. But the other lessons thou hast not learned. Come back, my\nchild, tomorrow.\n\n\"This is what I have read in the faces of men and women, in the book of\nthe world, and in the scroll of the heavens, which is writ with stars.\"\n\nUnder the operation of the Law of Karma every man is master of his own\ndestiny--he rewards himself--he punishes himself--he builds, tears down\nand develops his character, always, however, under the brooding\ninfluence of the Absolute which is Love Infinite and which is\nconstantly exerting the upward spiritual urge, which is drawing the\nsoul toward its ultimate haven of rest. Man must, and does, work out\nhis own salvation and destiny, but the upward urge is always\nthere--never tiring--never despairing--knowing always that Ultimate\nVictory belongs to the soul.\n\nUnder the Law of Karma every action, yea, every thought as well, has\nits Karmic effect upon the future incarnations of the soul. And, not\nexactly in the nature of punishment or rewards, in the general\nacceptation of the term, but as the invariable operation of the Law of\nCause and Effect. The thoughts of a person are like seeds which seek to\npress forward into growth, bud, blossom and fruit. Some spring into\ngrowth in this life, while others are carried over into future lives.\nThe actions of this life may represent only the partial growth of the\nthought seed, and future lives may be necessary for its full blossoming\nand fruition. Of course, the individual who understands the Truth, and\nwho has mentally divorced himself from the fruits of his actions--who\nhas robbed material Desire of its vital force by seeing it as it is,\nand not as a part of his Real Self--his seed-thoughts do not spring\ninto blossom and fruit in future lives, for he has killed their germ.\nThe Yogis express this thought by the illustration of the baked-seeds.\nThey show their pupils that while ordinary seeds sprout, blossom and\nbear fruit, still if one bakes the seeds their vitality is gone, and\nwhile they may serve the purposes of a nourishing meal still they can\nnever cause sprout, blossom or fruit. Then the pupil is instructed in\nthe nature of Desire, and shown how desires invariably spring into\nplant, blossom and fruit, the life of the person being the soil in\nwhich they flourish. But Desires understood, and set off from the Real\nMan, are akin to baked-seeds--they have been subjected to the heat of\nspiritual wisdom and are thus robbed of their vitality, and are unable\nto bear fruit. In this way the understood and mastered Desire bears no\nKarmic fruit of future action.\n\nThe Yogis teach that there are two great principles at work in the\nmatter of Karmic Law affecting the conditions of rebirth. The first\nprinciple is that whereby the prevailing desires, aspirations, likes,\nand dislikes, loves and hates, attractions and repulsions, etc., press\nthe soul into conditions in which these characteristics may have a\nfavorable and congenial soil for development. The second principle is\nthat which may be spoken of as the urge of the unfolding Spirit, which\nis always urging forward toward fuller expression, and the breaking\ndown of confining sheaths, and which thus exerts a pressure upon the\nsoul awaiting reincarnation which causes it to seek higher environments\nand conditions than its desires and aspiration, as well as its general\ncharacteristics, would demand. These two apparently conflicting (and\nyet actually harmonious) principles acting and reacting upon each\nother, determine the conditions of rebirth, and have a very material\neffect upon the Karmic Law. One's life is largely a conflict between\nthese two forces, the one tending to hold the soul to the present\nconditions resulting from past lives, and the other ever at work\nseeking to uplift and elevate it to greater heights.\n\nThe desires and characteristics brought over from the past lives, of\ncourse, seek fuller expression and manifestation upon the lines of the\npast lives. These tendencies simply wish to be let alone and to grow\naccording to their own laws of development and manifestation. But the\nunfolding Spirit, knowing that the soul's best interests are along the\nlines of spiritual unfoldment and growth, brings a steady pressure to\nbear, life after life, upon the soul, causing it to gradually kill out\nthe lower desires and characteristics, and to develop qualities which\ntend to lead it upward instead of allowing it to remain on its present\nlevel, there to bring to blossom and fruit many low thoughts and\ndesires. Absolute Justice reigns over the operations of the Law of\nKarma, but back of that and superior even to its might is found the\nInfinite Love of the absolute which tends to Redeem the race. It is\nthat love that is back of all the upward tendencies of the soul, and\nwhich we all feel within our inner selves in our best moments. The\nlight of the Spirit (Love) is ever there.\n\nOur relationship to others in past lives has its effect upon the\nworking of the Law of Karma. If in the past we have formed attachments\nfor other individuals, either through love or hate; either by kindness\nor cruelty; these attachments manifest in our present life, for these\npersons are bound to us, and we to them, by the bonds of Karma, until\nthe attachment is worn out. Such people will in the present life have\ncertain relationships to us, the object of which is the working out of\nthe problems in which we are mutually concerned, the adjustment of\nrelationship, the \"squaring up\" of accounts, the development of both.\nWe are apt to be placed in a position to receive hurts from those whom\nwe have hurt in past lives, and this not through the idea of revenge,\nbut by the inexorable working out of the Law of Compensation in Karmic\nadjustments. And when we are helped, comforted and receive favors from\nthose who we helped in past lives, it is not merely a reward, but the\noperation of the same law of Justice. The person who hurts us in this\nway may have no desire to do so, and may even be distressed because he\nis used as an instrument in this way, but the Karmic Law places him in\na position where he unwittingly and without desire acts so that you\nreceive pain through him. Have you not felt yourselves hurting another,\nalthough you had no desire and intention of so doing, and, in fact,\nwere sorely distressed because you could not prevent the pain? This Is\nthe operation of Karma. Have you not found yourself placed where you\nunexpectedly were made the bestower of favors upon some almost unknown\npersons? This is Karma. The Wheel turns slowly, but it makes the\ncomplete circle.\n\nKarma is the companion law to Metempsychosis. The two are inextricably\nconnected, and their operations are closely interwoven. Constant and\nunvarying in operation, Karma manifests upon and in worlds, planets,\nraces, nations, families and persons Everywhere in space is the great\nlaw in operation in some form. The so-called mechanical operations\ncalled Causation are as much a phase of Karma as is the highest phases\nmanifest on the higher planes of life, far beyond our own. And through\nit all is ever the urge toward perfection--the upward movement of all\nlife. The Yogi teachings regard the Universe as a mighty whole, and the\nLaw of Karma as the one great law operating and manifesting through\nthat whole.\n\nHow different is the workings of this mighty Law from the many ideas\nadvanced by man to account for the happenings of life. Mere Chance is\nno explanation, for the careful thinker must inevitably come to the\nconclusion that in an Universe governed by law, there can be no room\nfor Chance. And to suppose that all rewards and punishments are\nbestowed by a personal deity, in answer to prayers, supplications, good\nbehavior, offerings, etc., is to fall back into the childhood stage of\nthe race thought. The Yogis teach that the sorrow, suffering and\naffliction witnessed on all sides of us, as well as the joy, happiness\nand blessings also in evidence, are not caused by the will or whim of\nsome capricious deity to reward his friends and punish his enemies--but\nby the working of an invariable Law which metes out to each his measure\nof good and ill according to his Karmic attachments and relationships.\n\nThose who are suffering, and who see no cause for their pain, are apt\nto complain and rebel when they see others of no apparent merit\nenjoying the good things of life which have been denied their\napparently more worthy brethren. The churches have no answer except \"It\nis God's will,\" and that \"the Divine motive must not be questioned.\"\nThese answers seem like mockery, particularly when the idea of Divine\nJustice is associated with the teaching. There is no other answer\ncompatible with Divine Justice other than the Law of Karma, which makes\neach person responsible for his or her happiness or misery. And there\nis nothing so stimulating to one as to know that he has within himself\nthe means to create for himself newer and better conditions of life and\nenvironment. We are what we are to-day by reason of what we were in our\nyesterdays. We will be in our tomorrows that which we have started into\noperation to-day. As we sow in this life, so shall we reap in the\nnext--we are now reaping that which we have sown in the past. St. Paul\nvoiced a world truth when he said: \"Brethren, be not deceived. God is\nnot mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.\"\n\nThe teachers divide the operation of Karma into three general classes,\nas follows:\n (1) The Karmic manifestations which are now under way in our lives,\nproducing results which are the effects of causes set into motion in\nour past lives. This is the most common form, and best known phase of\nKarmic manifestation.\n\n(2) The Karma which we are now acquiring and storing up by reason of\nour actions, deeds, thoughts and mental and spiritual relationships.\nThis stored up Karma will spring into operation in future lives, when\nthe body and environments appropriate for its manifestation presents\nitself or is secured; or else when other Karma tending to restrict its\noperations is removed. But one does not necessarily have to wait until\na future life in order to set into operation and manifestation the\nKarma of the present life. For there come times in which there being no\nobstructing Karma brought over from a past life, the present life Karma\nmay begin to manifest.\n\n(3) The Karma brought over from past incarnations, which is not able to\nmanifest at the present time owing to the opposition presented by other\nKarma of an opposite nature, serves to hold the first in check. It is a\nwell known physical law, which likewise manifests on the mental plane,\nthat two opposing forces result in neutralization, that is, both of the\nforces are held in check. Of course, though, a more powerful Karma may\nmanage to operate, while a weaker is held in check by it.\n\nNot only have individuals their own Karma, but families, races, nations\nand worlds have their collective Karma. In the cases of races, if the\nrace Karma generated in the past be favorable on the whole, the race\nflourishes and its influence widens. If on the contrary its collective\nKarma be bad, the race gradually disappears from the face of the earth,\nthe souls constituting it separating according to their Karmic\nattractions, some going to this race and some to another. Nations are\nbound by their Karma, as any student of history may perceive if he\nstudies closely the tides of national progress or decline.\n\nThe Karma of a nation is made up of the collective Karma of the\nindividuals composing it, so far as their thoughts and acts have to do\nwith the national spirit and acts. Nations as nations cease to exist,\nbut the souls of the individuals composing them still live on and make\ntheir influence felt in new races, scenes and environments. The ancient\nEgyptians, Persians, Medes, Chaldeans, Romans, Grecians and many other\nancient races have disappeared, but their reincarnating souls are with\nus to-day. The modern revival of Occultism is caused by an influx of\nthe souls of these old peoples pouring in on the Western worlds.\n\nThe following quotation from _The Secret Doctrine_, that remarkable\npiece of occult literature, will be interesting at this point:\n\n     \"Nor would the ways of Karma be inscrutable were men to work\n     in union and harmony instead of disunion and strife. For our\n     ignorance of those ways--which one portion of mankind calls\n     the ways of Providence, dark and intricate, while another\n     sees in them the action of blind fatalism, and a third simple\n     Chance with neither gods nor devils to guide them--would\n     surely disappear if we would but attribute all these to their\n     correct cause. With right knowledge, or at any rate with a\n     confident conviction that our neighbors will no more work\n     harm to us than we would think of harming them, two-thirds of\n     the world's evil would vanish into thin air. Were no man to\n     hurt his brother, Karma-Nemesis would have neither cause to\n     work for, nor weapons to act through ... We cut these\n     numerous windings in our destinies daily with our own hands,\n     while we imagine that we are pursuing a track on the royal\n     road of respectability and duty, and then complain of those\n     ways being so intricate and so dark. We stand bewildered\n     before the mystery of our own making and the riddles of life\n     that we will not solve, and then accuse the great Sphinx of\n     devouring us. But verily there is not an accident in our\n     lives, not a misshapen day or a misfortune, that could not be\n     traced back to our own doings in this or another life ...\n     Knowledge of Karma gives the conviction that if--\n\n          'Virtue in distress and vice in triumph\n          Makes atheists of Mankind,'\n\n     it is only because that mankind has ever shut its eyes to the\n     great truth that man is himself his own savior as his own\n     destroyer; that he need not accuse heaven, and the gods,\n     fates and providence, of the apparent injustice that reigns\n     in the midst of humanity. But let him rather remember that\n     bit of Grecian wisdom which warns man to forbear accusing\n     THAT which 'Just though mysterious, leads us on unerring\n     Through ways unmarked from guilt to punishment'--which are\n     now the ways and the high road on which move onward the great\n     European nations. The Western Aryans have every nation and\n     tribe like their eastern brethren of the fifth race, their\n     Golden and their Iron ages, their period of comparative\n     irresponsibility, or the Satya age of purity, while now\n     several of them have reached their Iron Age, the _Kali Yuga_,\n     an age black with horrors. This state will last ... until we\n     begin acting from within instead of ever following impulses\n     from without. Until then the only palliative is union and\n     harmony--a Brotherhood in _actu_ and _altruism_ not simply in\n     name.\"\n\nEdwin Arnold, in his wonderful poem, \"The Light of Asia,\" which tells\nthe story of the Buddha, explains the doctrine of Karma from the\nBuddhist standpoint. We feel that our students should become acquainted\nwith this view, so beautifully expressed, and so we herewith quote the\npassages referred to:\n\n     \"Karma--all that total of a soul\n       Which is the things it did, the thoughts it had,\n     The 'self' it wove with woof of viewless time\n       Crossed on the warp invisible of acts.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n     \"What hath been bringeth what shall be, and is,\n       Worse--better--last for first and first for last;\n     The angels in the heavens of gladness reap\n       Fruits of a holy past.\n\n     \"The devils in the underworlds wear out\n       Deeds that were wicked in an age gone by.\n     Nothing endures: fair virtues waste with time,\n       Foul sins grow purged thereby.\n\n     \"Who toiled a slave may come anew a prince\n       For gentle worthiness and merit won;\n     Who ruled a king may wander earth in rags\n       For things done and undone.\n\n     \"Before beginning, and without an end,\n       As space eternal and as surety sure,\n     Is fixed a Power divine which moves to good,\n       Only its laws endure.\n\n     \"It will not be contemned of any one:\n       Who thwarts it loses, and who serves it gains;\n     The hidden good it pays with peace and bliss,\n       The hidden ill with pains.\n\n     \"It seeth everywhere and marketh all:\n       Do right--it recompenseth! Do one wrong--\n     The equal retribution must be made,\n       Though DHARMA tarry long.\n\n     \"It knows not wrath nor pardon; utter-true\n       Its measures mete, its faultless balance weighs;\n     Times are as naught, to-morrow it will judge,\n       Or after many days.\n\n     \"By this the slayer's knife did stab himself;\n       The unjust judge hath lost his own defender;\n     The false tongue dooms its lie; the creeping thief\n       And spoiler rob, to render.\n\n     \"Such is the law which moves to righteousness,\n       Which none at last can turn aside or stay;\n     The heart of it is love, the end of it\n       Is peace and consummation sweet. Obey!\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n     \"The books say well, my brothers! each man's life\n       The outcome of his former living is;\n     The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrow and woes,\n       The bygone right breeds bliss.\n\n     \"That which ye sow ye reap. See yonder fields!\n       The sesamum was sesamum, the corn\n     Was corn. The silence and the darkness knew;\n       So is a man's fate born.\n\n     \"He cometh, reaper of the things he sowed,\n       Sesamum, corn, so much cast in past birth;\n     And so much weed and poison-stuff, which mar\n       Him and the aching earth.\n\n     \"If he shall labor rightly, rooting these,\n       And planting wholesome seedlings where they grew,\n     Fruitful and fair and clean the ground shall be,\n       And rich the harvest due.\n\n     \"If he who liveth, learning whence woe springs,\n       Endureth patiently, striving to pay\n     His utmost debt for ancient evils done\n       In love and truth always;\n\n     If making none to lack, he thoroughly purge\n       The lie and lust of self forth from his blood;\n     Suffering all meekly, rendering for offence\n       Nothing but grace and good:\n\n     \"If he shall day by day dwell merciful,\n       Holy and just and kind and true; and rend\n     Desire from where it clings with bleeding roots,\n       Till love of life have end:\n\n     \"He--dying--leaveth as the sum of him\n       A life-count closed, whose ills are dead and quit,\n     Whose good is quick and mighty, far and near,\n       So that fruits follow it.\n\n     \"No need hath such to live as ye name life;\n       That which began in him when he began\n     Is finished: he hath wrought the purpose through\n       Of what did make him man.\n\n     \"Never shall yearnings torture him, nor sins\n       Stain him, nor ache of earthly joys and woes\n     Invade his safe eternal peace; nor deaths\n       And lives recur. He goes\n\n     \"Unto NIRVANA. He is one with Life\n       Yet lives not. He is blest, ceasing to be.\n     OM, MANI PADME OM! the dewdrop slips\n       Into the shining sea!\n\n     \"This is the doctrine of the Karma. Learn!\n       Only when all the dross of sin is quit,\n     Only when life dies like a white flame spent.\n       Death dies along with it.\"\n\nAnd so, friends, this is a brief account of the operations of the Law\nof Karma. The subject is one of such wide scope that the brief space at\nour disposal enables us to do little more than to call your attention\nto the existence of the Law, and some of its general workings. We\nadvise our students to acquaint themselves thoroughly with what has\nbeen written on this subject by ourselves and others. In our first\nseries of lessons--the _\"Fourteen Lessons\"_--the chapter or lesson on\nSpiritual Cause and Effect was devoted to the subject of Karma. We\nadvise our students to re-study it. We also suggest that Mr. Sinnett's\noccult story entitled _\"Karma\"_ gives its readers an excellent idea of\nthe actual working of Karma in the everyday lives of people of our own\ntimes. We recommend the book to the consideration of our students. It\nis published at a popular price, and is well worth the consideration of\nevery one interested in this wonderful subject of Reincarnation and\nKarma.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TWELFTH LESSON.\n\n\nOCCULT MISCELLANY.\n\nIn this, the last lesson of this series, we wish to call your attention\nto a variety of subjects, coming under the general head of the Yogi\nPhilosophy, and yet apparently separated from one another. And so we\nhave entitled this lesson \"Occult Miscellany,\" inasmuch as it is made\nup of bits of information upon a variety of subjects all connected with\nthe general teaching of the series. The lesson will consist of answers\nto a number of questions, asked by various students of the courses in\nYogi Philosophy coming from our pen. While these answers, of necessity,\nmust be brief, still we will endeavor to condense considerable\ninformation into each, so that read as a whole the lesson will give to\nour students a variety of information upon several important subjects.\n\nQUESTION 1: _\"Are there any Brotherhoods of Advanced Occultists in\nexistence, in harmony with the Yogi Teachings? And if so, what\ninformation can you give regarding them?\"_\n\nANSWER: Yes, there are a number of Occult Brotherhoods, of varying\ndegrees of advancement, scattered through the various countries of the\nearth. These Brotherhoods agree in principle with the Yogi Teachings,\nalthough the methods of interpretation may vary somewhat. There is but\none TRUTH, which becomes apparent to all deep students of Occultism,\nand therefore all true Occultists have a glimpse of that Truth, and\nupon this glimpse is founded their philosophies and teachings. These\nOccult Brotherhoods vary in their nature. In some, the members are\ngrouped together in retired portions of the earth, dwelling in the\ncommunity life. In others the headquarters are in the large cities of\nthe earth, their membership being composed of residents of those\ncities, with outlying branches. Others have no meeting places, their\nwork being managed from headquarters, their members being scattered all\nover the face of the earth, the communication being kept up by personal\ncorrespondence and privately printed and circulated literature.\nAdmission to these true Occult Brotherhoods is difficult. They seek\ntheir members, not the members them. No amount of money, or influence,\nor energy can gain entrance to these societies. They seek to impart\ninformation and instruction only to those who are prepared to receive\nit--to those who have reached that stage of spiritual unfoldment that\nwill enable them to grasp and assimilate the teachings of the Inner\nCircles. While this is true, it is also true that these Societies or\nBrotherhoods are engaged in disseminating Occult Knowledge, suited to\nthe minds of the public, through various channels, and cloaked in\nvarious disguises of name, authority and style. Their idea is to\ngradually open the mind of the public to the great truths underlying\nand back of all of these various fragmentary teachings. And they\nrecognize the fact that one mind may be reached in a certain way, and\nanother mind in a second way, and so on. And, accordingly, they wrap\ntheir teachings in covers likely to attract the attention of various\npeople, and to cause them to investigate the contents. But, under and\nback of all of these various teachings, is the great fundamental TRUTH.\nIt has often been asked of us how one might distinguish the real\nBrotherhoods from the spurious ones which have assumed the name and\ngeneral style of the true societies, for the purpose of exploiting the\npublic, and making money from their interest in the great occult\ntruths. Answering this, we would say that the true Occult Brotherhoods\nand Societies _never sell their knowledge_. It is given free as water\nto those who seek for it, and is never sold for money. The true adept\nwould as soon think of selling his soul as selling Spiritual Knowledge\nfor gain. While money plays its proper place in the world, and the\nlaborer is worthy of his hire; and while the Masters recognize the\npropriety of the sale of books on Occultism (providing the price is\nreasonable and not in excess of the general market price of books) and\nwhile they also recognize the propriety of having people pay their part\nof the expenses of maintaining organizations, magazines, lecturers,\ninstructors, etc., still the idea stops there--it does not extend to\nthe selling of the Inner Secrets of Occultism for silver or gold.\nTherefore if you are solicited to become a member of any so-called\nBrotherhood or Occult Society for a consideration of money, you will\nknow at once that the organization is not a true Occult Society, for it\nhas violated one of the cardinal principles at the start. Remember the\nold occult maxim: \"When the Pupil is ready, the Master appears\"--and so\nit is with the Brotherhoods and Societies--if it is necessary for your\ngrowth, development, and attainment, to be connected with one of these\norganizations then, when the time comes--when you are ready--you will\nreceive your call, and then will know for a certainty that those who\ncall are the true messengers of Truth.\n\nQUESTION II: \"_Are there any exalted human beings called Masters, or\nAdepts, or are the tales regarding them mere fables, etc?_\"\n\nANSWER: Of a truth there are certain highly developed, advanced and\nexalted souls in the flesh, known as Masters and Adepts, although many\nof the tales told concerning them are myths, or pure fiction\noriginating in the minds of some modern sensational writers. And,\nmoreover, these souls are members of the Great Lodge, an organization\ncomposed of these almost super-human beings--these great souls that\nhave advanced so very far on THE PATH. Before beginning to speak of\nthem, let us answer a question often asked by Western people, and that\nis, \"Why do not these people appear to the world, and show their\npowers?\" Each of you may answer that question from your own\nexperiences. Have you ever been foolish enough to open your soul to the\ncrowd, and have it reveal the sacred Truth that rests there? Have you\never attempted to impart the highest teachings known to you, to persons\nwho had not attained sufficient spiritual development to even\nunderstand the meaning of your words? Have you ever committed the folly\nof throwing spiritual pearls to material swine? If you have had these\nexperiences, you may begin to faintly imagine the reasons of these\nillumined souls for keeping away from the crowd--for dwelling away from\nthe multitude. No one who has not suffered the pain of having the\nvulgar crowd revile the highest spiritual truths to him, can begin to\nunderstand the feelings of the spiritually illumined individuals. It is\nnot that they feel that they are better or more exalted than the\nhumblest man--for these feelings of the personality have long since\nleft them. It is because they see the folly of attempting to present\nthe highest truths to a public which is not prepared to understand even\nthe elementary teachings. It is a feeling akin to that of the master of\nthe highest musical conceptions attempting to produce his wonderful\ncompositions before a crowd fit only for the \"rag-time\" and slangy\nsongs of the day.\n\nThen again, these Masters have no desire to \"work miracles\" which would\nonly cause the public to become still more superstitious than they now\nare. When one glances back over the field of religions, and sees how\nthe miraculous acts of some of the great leaders have been prostituted\nand used as a foundation for the grossest credulity and basest\nsuperstition, he may understand the wisdom of the masters in this\nrespect. There is another reason for the non-appearance of the Masters,\nand that is that there is no occasion for it. The laws of Spiritual\nEvolution are as regular, constant and fixed as are the laws of\nPhysical Evolution, and any attempt to unduly force matters only\nresults in confusion, and the abortive results soon fade away. The\nworld is not ready for the appearance of the Masters. Their appearance\nat this time would not be in accordance with The Plan.\n\nThe Masters or Adepts are human beings who have passed from lower to\nhigher planes of consciousness, thus gaining wisdom, power and\nqualities that seem almost miraculous to the man of the ordinary\nconsciousness. A Hindu writer speaking of them has said: \"To him who\nhath traveled far along The Path, sorrow ceases to trouble; fetters\ncease to bind; obstacles cease to hinder. Such an one is free. For him\nthere is no more fever or sorrow. For him there are no more unconscious\nre-births. His old Karma is exhausted, and he creates no new Karma. His\nheart is freed from the desire for future life. No new longings arise\nwithin his soul. He is like a lamp which burneth from the oil of the\nSpirit, and not from the oil of the outer world.\" Lillie in his work on\nBuddhism, tells his readers: \"Six supernatural faculties were expected\nof the ascetic before he could claim the grade of _Arhat_. They are\nconstantly alluded to in the _Sutras_ as the six supernatural\nfaculties, usually without further specification.... In this transitory\nbody the intelligence of Man is enchained. The ascetic finding himself\nthus confused, directs his mind to the creation of _Manas_. He\nrepresents to himself, in thought, another body created from this\nmaterial body,--a body with a form, members and organs. This body in\nrelation to the material body is like a sword and the scabbard, or a\nserpent issuing from a basket in which it is confined. The ascetic\nthen, purified and perfected, begins to practice supernatural\nfaculties. He finds himself able to pass through material obstacles,\nwalls, ramparts, etc.; he is able to throw his phantasmal appearance\ninto many places at once. He acquires the power of hearing the sounds\nof the unseen world as distinctly as those of the phenomenal\nworld--more distinctly in point of fact. Also by the power of _Manas_\nhe is able to read the most secret thoughts of others, and to tell\ntheir characters.\"\n\nThese great Masters are above all petty sectarian distinctions. They\nmay have ascended to their exalted position along the paths of the many\nreligions, or they may have walked the path of no-denomination, sect,\nor body. They may have mounted to their heights by philosophical\nreasoning alone, or else by scientific investigation. They are called\nby many names, according to the viewpoint of the speaker, but at the\nlast they are of but one religion; one philosophy; one belief--TRUTH.\n\nThe state of Adeptship is reached only after a long and arduous\napprenticeship extending over many lives. Those who have reached the\npinnacle were once even as You who read these lines. And some of\nyou--yes, perhaps even You who are now reading these words may have\ntaken the first steps along the narrow path which will lead you to\nheights equally as exalted as those occupied by even the highest of\nthese great beings of whom we are speaking. Unconsciously to yourself,\nthe urge of the Spirit has set your feet firmly upon The Path, and will\npush you forward to the end. In order to understand the occult custom\nthat finds its full fruit in the seclusion of the Masters, one needs to\nbe acquainted with the universal habit among true occultists of\nrefraining from public or vulgar displays of occult power. While the\ninferior occultists often exhibit some of the minor manifestations to\nthe public, it is a fact that the true advanced occultists scrupulously\nrefrain from so doing. In fact, among the highest teachers, it is a\ncondition imposed upon the pupil that he shall refrain from exhibitions\nof his developing powers among the uninitiated public. \"The Neophyte is\nbound over to the most inviolable secrecy as to everything connected\nwith his entrance and further progress in the schools. In Asia, in the\nsame way, the _chela_, or pupil of occultism, no sooner becomes a\n_chela_ than he ceases to be a witness on behalf of the reality of\noccult knowledge,\" says Sinnett in his great work on \"Esoteric\nBuddhism,\" And he then adds: \"I have been astonished to find, since my\nown connection with the subject, how numerous such _chelas_ are. But it\nis impossible to imagine any human act more improbable than the\nunauthorized revelation by any such _chela_, to persons in the outer\nworld, that he is one; and so the great esoteric school of philosophy\nguards its seclusion.\"\n\nQUESTION III: \"_Does the Yogi Philosophy teach that there is a place\ncorresponding to the 'Heavens' of the various religions? Is there any\nbasis for the belief that there is a place resembling 'Heaven'?_\"\n\nANSWER: Yes, the Yogi Philosophy _does_ teach that there is a real\nbasis for the popular religious beliefs in \"Heaven,\" and that there are\nstates of being, the knowledge of which has filtered through to the\nmasses in the more or less distorted theories regarding \"heavens.\"\n\nBut the Yogis do not teach that these \"heavens\" are _places_ at all.\nThe teaching is that they are _planes of existence_. It is difficult to\nexplain just what is meant by this word \"plane.\" The nearest approach\nto it in English is the term or word \"State.\" A portion of space may be\noccupied by several planes at the same time, just as a room may be\nfilled with the rays of the sun, those of a lamp. X-rays, magnetic and\nelectric vibrations and waves, etc., each interpenetrating each other\nand yet not affecting or interfering with each other.\n\nOn the lower planes of the Astral World there are to be found the\nearth-bound souls which have passed out from their former bodies, but\nwhich are attracted to the earthly scenes by strong attractions, which\nserve to weight them down and to prevent them from ascending to the\nhigher planes. On the higher planes are souls that are less bound by\nearthly attractions, and who, accordingly, are relieved of the weight\nresulting therefrom. These planes rise in an ascending scale, each\nplane being higher and more spiritual than the one lower than itself.\nAnd dwelling on each plane are the souls fitted to occupy it, by reason\nof their degree of spiritual development, or evolution. When the soul\nfirst leaves the body it falls into a sleep-like stage, from which it\nawakens to find itself on the plane for which it is fitted, by reason\nof its development, attractions, character, etc. The particular plane\noccupied by each soul is determined by the progress and attainment it\nhas made in its past lives. The souls on the higher planes may, and\noften do, visit the planes lower in the scale than their own, but those\non the lower planes may not visit those higher than their own. Quoting\nfrom our own writings on this subject, published several years ago, we\nrepeat: This prohibition regarding the visiting of higher planes is not\nan arbitrary rule, but a law of nature. If the student will pardon the\ncommonplace comparison, he may get an understanding of it, by imagining\na large screen, or series of screens, such as used for sorting coal\ninto sizes. The large coal is caught by the first screen; the next size\nby the second; and so on until the tiny coal is reached. Now, the large\ncoal cannot get into the receptacle of the smaller sizes, but the small\nsizes may easily pass through the screen and join the larger sizes, if\nforce be imparted to them. Just so in the Astral World, the soul with\nthe greatest amount of materiality, and gross nature, is stopped by the\nspiritual screen of a certain plane, and cannot pass on to the higher\nones, while other souls have cast off some of the confining and\nretarding material sheaths, and readily pass on to higher and finer\nplanes. And it may be readily seen that those souls which dwell on the\nhigher planes are able to re-visit the lower and grosser planes, while\nthe souls on the grosser cannot penetrate the higher boundries of their\nplane, being stopped by the spiritual screen. The comparison is a crude\none, but it almost exactly pictures the existing conditions on the\nspiritual world.\n\nSouls on the upper planes, may, and often do, journey to the lower\nplanes for the purpose of \"visiting\" the souls of friends who may be\ndwelling there, and thus affording them comfort and consolation. In\nfact, the teaching is that in many cases a highly developed soul visits\nsouls on the lower planes in whom it is interested, and actually\nimparts spiritual teaching and instruction to those souls, so that they\nmay be re-born into much better conditions than would have been the\ncase otherwise. All of the planes have Spiritual Instructors from very\nhigh planes, who sacrifice their well-earned rest and happiness on\ntheir own planes in order that they may work for the less-developed\nsouls on the lower planes.\n\nAs we have said, the soul awakens on the plane to which it is suited.\nIt finds itself in the company of congenial souls, in whose company it\nis enabled to pursue those things which were dear to its heart when\nalive. It may be able to make considerable advancement during its\nsojourn in \"heaven,\" which will result to its benefit when it is reborn\non earth. There are countless sub-planes, adapted to the infinite\nrequirements of the advancing souls in every degree of development, and\neach soul finds an opportunity to develop and enjoy to the fullest the\nhighest of which it is capable, and to also perfect itself and to\nprepare itself for future development, so that it may be re-born under\nthe very best possible conditions and circumstances in the next earth\nlife. But, alas, even in this higher world, all souls do not live up to\nthe best that is in them, and instead of making the best of their\nopportunities for development, and growing spiritually, they allow the\nattractions of their material natures to draw them downward, and too\noften spend much of their time on the planes beneath them, not to help\nand assist, but to live the less spiritual lives of their friends on\nthe lower planes. In such cases the soul does not reap the benefit of\nthe sojourn in the \"after-life,\" but is born again according to the\nattractions of its lower, instead of its higher nature, and is\ncompelled to learn its lesson over again.\n\nThe Yogi teachings inform us that the lower planes of the Astral World\nare inhabited by souls of a very gross and degraded type, undeveloped\nand animal-like. These low souls live out the tendencies and\ncharacteristics of their former earth lives, and reincarnate rapidly in\norder to pursue their material attractions. Of course, there is slowly\nworking even in these undeveloped souls an upward tendency, but it is\nso slow as to be almost imperceptible. In time these undeveloped souls\ngrow sick and tired of their materiality, and then comes the chance for\na slight advance. Of course these undeveloped souls have no access to\nthe higher planes of the Astral world, but are confined to their own\ndegraded plane and to the sub-planes which separate the Astral World\nfrom the material world. They cling as closely as possible to the\nearthly scenes, and are separated from the material world by only a\nthin screen (if we may use the word). They suffer the tantalizing\ncondition of being within sight and hearing of their old material\nscenes and environments, and yet unable to manifest on them. These\nsouls form the low class of \"spirits\" of which we hear so much in\ncertain circles. They hang around their old scenes of debauchery and\nsense gratification, and often are able to influence the minds of\nliving persons along the same line and plane of development. For\ninstance, these creatures hover around low saloons and places of\nill-repute, influencing the sodden brains of living persons to\nparticipate in the illicit gratifications of the lower sensual nature.\n\nSouls on the higher planes are not bound by these earthly and material\nattractions, and take advantage of their opportunities to improve\nthemselves and develop spiritually. It is a rule of the Astral World\nthat the higher the plane occupied by a soul, the longer the sojourn\nthere between incarnations. A soul on the lowest planes may reincarnate\nin a very short time, while on the higher planes hundreds and even\nthousands of years may elapse before the soul is called upon to\nexperience re-birth. But re-birth comes to all who have not passed on\nto other spheres of life. Sooner or later the soul feels that inward\nurge toward re-birth and further experience, and becomes drowsy and\nfalls into a state resembling sleep, when it is caught up in the\ncurrent that is sweeping on toward re-birth, and is gradually carried\non to re-birth in conditions chosen by its desires and characteristics,\nin connection with the operation of the laws of Karma. From the\nsoul-slumber it passes through what may be called a \"death\" on the\nAstral plane, when it is re-born on the earth plane. But, remember\nthis, the soul, when it is re-born on earth, does not fully awaken from\nits Astral sleep. In infancy and in early childhood the soul is but\nslowly awakening, gradually from year to year, the brain being built to\naccommodate this growth. The rare instances of precocious children, and\ninfant genius are cases in which the awakening has been more rapid than\nordinary. On the other hand, cases are known where the soul does not\nawaken as rapidly as the average, and the result is that the person\ndoes not show signs of full intellectual activity until nearly middle\nage. Cases are known when men seemed to \"wake up\" when they were forty\nyears of age, or even later in life, and would then take on a freshened\nactivity and energy, surprising those who had known them before.\n\nOn some of the planes of the Astral world the souls dwelling there do\nnot seem to realize that they are \"dead,\" but act and live as if they\nwere in the flesh.\n\nThey have a knowledge of the planes beneath them, just as we on earth\nknow of conditions beneath us (spiritually), but they seem to be in\nalmost absolute ignorance of the planes above them, just as many of us\non earth cannot comprehend the existence of beings more highly\ndeveloped spiritually than ourselves. This, of course, is only true of\nthe souls who have not been made acquainted with the meaning and nature\nof life on the Astral Plane. Those who have acquired this information\nand knowledge readily understand their condition and profit thereby. It\nwill be seen from this that it is of the greatest importance for\npersons to become acquainted with the great laws of Occultism in their\npresent earth life, for the reason that when they pass out of the body\nand enter some one of the Astral Planes they will not be in ignorance\nof the condition, but will readily grasp the meaning and nature of\ntheir surroundings and take advantage of the same in order to develop\nthemselves more rapidly.\n\nIt will be seen from what has been written by us here and elsewhere\nthat there are planes after planes on the Astral side of life. All that\nhas been dreamt of Heaven, Purgatory or Hell has its correspondence\nthere, although not in the literal sense in which these things have\nbeen taught. For instance, a wicked man dying immersed in his desires\nand longings of his lower nature, and believing that he will be\npunished in a future life for sins committed on earth--such a one is\nvery apt to awaken on the lower planes or sub-planes, in conditions\ncorresponding with his former fears. He finds the fire and brimstone\nawaiting him, although these things are merely figments of his own\nimagination, and having no existence in reality. Murderers may roam for\nages (apparently) pursued by the bleeding corpses of their victims,\nuntil such a horror of the crime arises in the mind that at last\nsinking from exhaustion into the soul-sleep, their souls pass into\nre-birth with such a horror of bloodshed and crime as to make them\nentirely different beings in the new life. And, yet the \"hell\" that\nthey went through existed only in their imaginations. They were their\nown Devil and Hell. Just as a man in earth life may suffer from\n_delirium tremens_, so some of these souls on the Astral plane suffer\nagonies from their delirium arising from their former crimes, and the\nbelief in the punishment therefor which has been inculcated in them\nthrough earth teachings. And these mental agonies, although terrible,\nreally are for their benefit, for by reason of them the soul becomes so\nsickened with the thought and idea of crime that when it is finally\nre-born it manifests a marked repulsion to it, and flies to the\nopposite. In this connection we would say that the teaching is that\nalthough the depraved soul apparently experiences ages of this torment,\nyet, in reality, there is but the passage of but a short time, the\nillusion arising from the self-hypnotization of the soul, just as\narises the illusion of the punishment itself.\n\nIn the same way the soul often experiences a \"heaven\" in accordance\nwith its hopes, beliefs and longings of earth-life. The \"heaven\" that\nit has longed for and believed in during its earth-life is very apt to\nbe at least partially reproduced on the Astral plane, and the pious\nsoul of any and all religious denominations finds itself in a \"heaven\"\ncorresponding to that in which it believed during its earth-life. The\nMohammedan finds his paradise; the Christian finds his; the Indian\nfinds his--but the impression is merely an illusion created by the\nMental Pictures of the soul. But the illusion tends to give pleasure to\nthe soul, and to satisfy certain longings which in time fade away,\nleaving the soul free to reach out after higher conceptions and ideals.\nWe cannot devote more space to this subject at this time, and must\ncontent ourselves with the above statements and explanations. The\nprincipal point that we desire to impress upon your minds is the fact\nthat the \"heaven-world\" is not a place or state of permanent rest and\nabode for the disembodied soul, but is merely a place or temporary\nsojourn between incarnations, and thus serves as a place of rest\nwherein the soul may gather together its forces, energies, desires and\nattractions preparatory to re-birth. In this answer we have merely\nlimited ourselves to a general statement of the states and conditions\nof the Astral World, or rather of certain planes of that world. The\nsubject itself requires far more extensive treatment.\n\nQUESTION IV: \"_Is Nirvana a state of the total extinction of\nconsciousness; and is it a place, state or condition?_\"\n\nANSWER: The teaching concerning _Nirvana_, the final goal of the soul,\nhas been much misunderstood, and much error has crept into the teaching\neven among some very worthy teachers. To conceive of _Nirvana_ as a\nstate of extinction of consciousness would be to fall into the error of\nthe pessimistic school of philosophy which thinks of life and\nconsciousness as a curse, and regards the return into a total\nunconsciousness as the thing to be most desired. The true teaching is\nthat _Nirvana_ is a state of the fullest consciousness--a state in\nwhich the soul is relieved of all the illusion of separateness and\nrelativity, and enters into a state of Universal Consciousness, or\nAbsolute Awareness, in which it is conscious of Infinity, and\nEternity--of all places and things and time. _Nirvana_ instead of being\na state of Nothingness, is a state of \"Everythingness.\" As the soul\nadvances along the Path it becomes more and more aware of its\nconnection with, relation to, and identity with the Whole. As it grows,\nthe Self enlarges and transcends its former limited bounds. It begins\nto realize that it is more than the tiny separated atom that it had\nbelieved itself to be, and it learns to identify itself in a constantly\nincreasing scale with the Universal Life. It feels a sense of Oneness\nin a fuller degree, and it sets its feet firmly upon the Path toward\n_Nirvana_. After many weary lives on this and other planets--in this\nand other Universes--after it has long since left behind it the scale\nof humanity, and has advanced into god-like states, its consciousness\nbecomes fuller and fuller, and time and space are transcended in a\nwonderful manner. And at last the goal is attained--the battle is\nwon--and the soul blossoms into a state of Universal Consciousness, in\nwhich Time and Place disappear and in which every place is Here; every\nperiod of Time is Now; and everything is \"I.\" This is _Nirvana_.\n\nQUESTION V: \"_What is that which Occultists call 'an Astral Shell,' or\nsimilar name? Is it an entity, or force, or being?_\"\n\nANSWER: When the soul passes out from the body at the moment of death\nit carries with it the \"Astral Body\" as well as the higher mental and\nspiritual principles (see the first three lessons in the \"Fourteen\nLessons\"). The Astral Body is the counterpart of the material or\nphysical body, although it is composed of matter of a much finer and\nethereal nature than is the physical body. It is invisible to the\nordinary eye, but may be seen clairvoyantly. The Astral Body rises from\nthe physical body like a faint, luminous vapor, and for a time is\nconnected with the dying physical body by a thin, vapory cord or\nthread, which finally breaks entirely and the separation becomes\ncomplete. The Astral Body is some time afterward discarded by the soul\nas it passes on to the higher planes, as we have described a few pages\nfurther back, and the abandoned Astral Body becomes an \"Astral Shell,\"\nand is subject to a slow disintegration, just as is the physical body.\nIt is no more the soul than is the physical body--it is merely a cast\noff garment of fine matter. It will be seen readily that it is not an\nentity, force or being--it is only cast off matter--a sloughed skin. It\nhas no life or intelligence, but floats around on the lower Astral\nPlane until it finally disintegrates. It has an attraction toward its\nlate physical associate--the physical body--and often returns to the\nplace where the latter is buried, where it is sometimes seen by persons\nwhose astral sight is temporarily awakened, when it is mistaken for a\n\"ghost\" or \"spirit\" of the person. These Astral Shells are often seen\nfloating around over graveyards, battlefields, etc. And sometimes these\nshells coming in contact with the psychic magnetism of a medium become\n\"galvanized\" into life, and manifest signs of intelligence, which,\nhowever, really comes from the mind of the medium. At some seances\nthese re-vitalized shells manifest and materialize, and talk in a\nvague, meaningless manner, the shell receiving its vitality from the\nbody and mind of the medium instead of speaking from any consciousness\nof its own. This statement is not to be taken as any denial of true\n\"spirit return,\" but is merely an explanation of certain forms of\nso-called \"spiritualistic phenomena\" which is well understood by\nadvanced \"spiritualists,\" although many seekers after psychic phenomena\nare in ignorance of it.\n\nQUESTION VI: _What is meant by \"the Days and Nights of Brahm\"; the\n\"Cycles\"; the \"Chain of Worlds\", etc., etc.?_\n\nANSWER: In Lesson Sixth, of the present series, you will find a brief\nmention of the \"Days and Nights of Brahm\"--those vast periods of the\nIn-breathing and Out-breathing of the Creative Principle which is\npersonified in the Hindu conception of _Brahma_. You will see mentioned\nthere that universal philosophical conception of the Universal Rhythm,\nwhich manifests in a succession of periods of Universal Activity and\nInactivity.\n\nThe Yogi Teachings are that all Time is manifested in Cycles. Man calls\nthe most common form of Cyclic Time by the name of \"a Day,\" which is\nthe period of time necessary for the earth's revolution on its axis.\nEach Day is a reproduction of all previous Days, although the incidents\nof each day differ from those of the other--all Days are but periods of\nTime marked off by the revolution of the earth on its axis. And each\nNight is but the negative side of a Day, the positive side of which is\ncalled \"day.\" There is really no such thing as a Day, that which we\ncall a \"Day\" being simply a record of certain physical changes in the\nearth's position relating to its own axis.\n\nThe second phase of Cyclic Time is called by man by the name \"a Month,\"\nby which is meant certain changes in the relative positions of the moon\nand the earth. The true month consists of twenty-eight lunar days. In\nthis Cycle (the Month) there is also a light-time or \"day,\" and a\ndark-time or \"night,\" the former being the fourteen days of the moon's\nvisibility, and the second being the fourteen days of the moon's\ninvisibility.\n\nThe third phase of Cyclic Time is that which we call \"a Year,\" by which\nis meant the time occupied by the earth in its revolution around the\nsun. You will notice that the year has its positive and negative\nperiods, also, known as Summer and Winter.\n\nBut the Yogis take up the story where the astronomers drop it, at the\nYear. Beyond the Year there are other and greater phases of Cyclic\nTime. The Yogis know many cycles of thousands of years in which there\nare marked periods of Activity and Inactivity. We cannot go into detail\nregarding these various cycles, but may mention another division common\nto the Yogi teachings, beginning with the Great Year. The Great Year is\ncomposed of 360 earth years. Twelve thousand Great Years constitute\nwhat is known as a Great Cycle, which is seen to consist of 4,320,000\nearth years. Seventy-one Great Cycles compose what is called a\n_Manwantara_, at the end of which the earth becomes submerged under the\nwaters, until not a vestige of land is left uncovered. This state lasts\nfor a period equal to 71 Great Cycles. A _Kalpa_ is composed of 14\nManwantaras. The largest and grandest Cycle manifested is known as the\n_Maya-Praylaya_, consisting of 36,000 _Kalpas_ when the Absolute\nwithdraws into Itself its entire manifestations, and dwells alone in\nits awful Infinity and Oneness, this period being succeeded by a period\nequally long--the two being known as the Days and Nights of Brahm.\n\nYou will notice that each of these great Cycles has its \"Day\" period\nand its \"Night\" period--its Period of Activity. and its Period of\nInactivity. From Day to Maya-Praylaya, it is a succession of Nights and\nDays--Creative Activity and Creative Cessation.\n\nThe \"Chain of Worlds,\" is that great group of planets in our own solar\nsystem, seven in number, over which the Procession of Life passes, in\nCycles. From globe to globe the great wave of soul life passes in\nCyclic Rhythm. After a race has passed a certain number of incarnations\nupon one planet, it passes on to another, and learns new lessons, and\nthen on and on until finally it has learned all of the lessons possible\non this Universe, when it passes on to another Universe, and so on,\nfrom higher to higher until the human mind is unable to even think of\nthe grandeur of the destiny awaiting each human soul on THE PATH. The\nvarious works published by the Theosophical organizations go into\ndetail regarding these matters, which require the space of many volumes\nto adequately express, but we think that we have at last indicated the\ngeneral nature of the question, pointing out to the student the nature\nof the subject, and indicating lines for further study and\ninvestigation.\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\n\nAnd now, dear students, we have reached the end of this series of\nlessons. You have followed us closely for the past four years, many of\nyou having been with us as students from the start. We feel many ties\nof spiritual relationship binding you to us, and the parting, although\nbut temporary, gives a little pang to us--a little pull upon our heart\nstrings. We have tried to give to you a plain, practical and simple\nexposition of the great truths of this world-old philosophy--have\nendeavored to express in plain simple terms the greatest truths known\nto man on earth to-day, _the Yogi Philosophy_. And many have written us\nthat our work has not been in vain, and that we have been the means of\nopening up new worlds of thought to them, and have aided them in\ncasting off the old material sheaths that had bound them for so long,\nand the discarding of which enabled them to unfold the beautiful\nblossom of Spirituality. Be this as it may, we have been able merely to\ngive you the most elementary instruction in this world-philosophy, and\nare painfully conscious of the small portion of the field that we have\ntilled, when compared with the infinite expanse of Truth still\nuntouched. But such are the limitations of Man--he can speak only of\nthat which lies immediately before him, leaving for others the rest of\nthe work which is remote from his place of abode. There are planes upon\nplanes of this Truth which every soul among you will some day make his\nor her own. It is yours, and you will be impelled to reach forth and\ntake that which is intended for you. Be not in too much haste--be of\ngreat patience--and all will come to you, for it is your own.\n\n\n\"MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY.\"\n\nWe have here to make an announcement that will please our readers,\njudging from the many letters that we have received during the several\nyears of our work. We will now enter upon a new phase of our work of\npresenting the great truths underlying life, as taught by the great\nminds of centuries ago, and carefully transmitted from master to\nstudent from that time unto our own. We have concluded our presentation\nof the mystic teachings underlying the Hindu Philosophies, and shall\nnow pass on to a consideration and presentation of the great Mystic\nPrinciples underlying that great and glorious creed of the Western\nworld--the religion, teachings, and philosophy of JESUS THE CHRIST.\nThese teachings, too, as we should remember, are essentially Eastern in\ntheir origin, and source, although their effects are more pronounced in\nthe Western world. Underlying the teaching and philosophy of the Christ\nare to be found the same esoteric principles that underlie the other\ngreat systems of philosophies of the East. Covered up though the Truth\nbe by the additions of the Western churches and sects, still it remains\nthere burning brightly as ever, and plainly visible to one who will\nbrush aside the rubbish surrounding the Sacred Flame and who will seek\nbeneath the forms and non-essentials for the Mystic Truths underlying\nChristianity.\n\nWe realize the importance of the work before us, but we shrink not from\nthe task, for we know that when the bright Light of the Spirit, which\nis found as the centre of the Christian philosophy, is uncovered, there\nwill be great rejoicing from the many who while believing in and\nrealizing the value of the Eastern Teachings, still rightly hold their\nlove, devotion and admiration for Him who was in very Truth the Son of\nGod, and whose mission was to raise the World spiritually from the\nmaterial quagmire into which it was stumbling.\n\nAnd now, dear pupils, we must close this series of lessons on the Yogi\nPhilosophy. We must rest ere we so soon engage upon our new and great\nwork. We must each take a little rest, ere we meet again on The Path of\nAttainment. Each of these temporary partings are milestones upon our\nJourney of Spiritual Life. Let each find us farther advanced.\n\nAnd now we send you our wishes of Peace. May The Peace be with you all,\nnow and forever, even unto NIRVANA, which is PEACE itself.\n\n\n\nThe _Complete Works of_\n\nYOGI RAMACHARAKA\n\nSCIENCE OF BREATH\n\nFOURTEEN LESSONS--YOGI PHILOSOPHY\n\nADVANCED COURSE IN YOGI PHILOSOPHY\n\nRAJA YOGA\n\nGNANI YOGA\n\nPHILOSOPHIES AND RELIGIONS OF INDIA\n\nHATHA YOGA\n\nPSYCHIC HEALING\n\nMYSTIC CHRISTIANITY\n\nLIFE BEYOND DEATH\n\nBHAGAVAD GITA\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF THE UPANISHADS\n\nPRACTICAL WATER CURE","title":"A Series of Lessons in Gnani Yoga: The Yoga of Wisdom","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":75772}