{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_54268/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_54268","id":"gutenberg_54268","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54268","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Theosophy"],"text":"[Illustration: William Judge, July 1895]\n\n\n                               THE OCEAN\n\n                                  OF\n\n                               THEOSOPHY\n\n                                  BY\n\n                           WILLIAM Q. JUDGE\n\n                          TWENTIETH THOUSAND\n\n                   THE UNITED LODGE OF THEOSOPHISTS\n               METROPOLITAN BLDG., BROADWAY AT FIFTH ST.\n                        LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA\n                                 1915\n\n\n\n\n                           COPYRIGHT, 1893,\n\n                                  BY\n                           WILLIAM Q. JUDGE.\n                         All rights reserved.\n\n                           COPYRIGHT, 1915,\n\n                                  BY\n                   THE UNITED LODGE OF THEOSOPHISTS\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nAn attempt is made in the pages of this book to write of Theosophy\nin such a manner as to be understood by the ordinary reader. Bold\nstatements are made in it upon the knowledge of the writer, but at\nthe same time it is distinctly to be understood that he alone is\nresponsible for what is therein written: the Theosophical Society is\nnot involved in nor bound by anything said in the book, nor are any\nof its members any the less good Theosophists because they may not\naccept what he has set down. The tone of settled conviction which may\nbe thought to pervade the chapters is not the result of dogmatism or\nconceit, but flows from knowledge based upon evidence and experience.\n\nMembers of the Theosophical Society will notice that certain theories\nor doctrines have not been gone into. That is because they could not\nbe treated without unduly extending the book and arousing needless\ncontroversy.\n\nThe subject of the Will has received no treatment, inasmuch as that\npower or faculty is hidden, subtle, undiscoverable as to essence,\nand only visible in effect. As it is absolutely colorless and varies\nin moral quality in accordance with the desire behind it, as also it\nacts frequently without our knowledge, and as it operates in all the\nkingdoms below man, there could be nothing gained by attempting to\nenquire into it apart from the Spirit and the desire.\n\nNo originality is claimed for this book. The writer invented none of\nit, discovered none of it, but has simply written that which he has\nbeen taught and which has been proved to him. It therefore is only a\nhanding on of what has been known before.\n\n  WILLIAM Q. JUDGE.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO NEW EDITION.\n\n\nSome twenty-two years ago, the first edition of \u201cThe Ocean of\nTheosophy\u201d was published by its author, Wm. Q. Judge. Since that time\nthousands of books dealing with Theosophy have been published by more\nor less prominent students of Theosophy, but unfortunately for the\npublic, none of these show the knowledge, grasp and range which is\nso evident in the present volume,\u2014and still more unfortunately, the\nmethods pursued by these latter-day writers have served to obscure\nthe fact of the existence of an exposition of Theosophy written by a\nTeacher of that Science of Life.\n\nAs the Author\u2019s Preface shows, the book was written in such a manner\nas to be understood by the ordinary reader; the simplicity of the\nterms used, however, should not mislead the reader into thinking that\nthe work is an elementary one, for behind and within every statement\nthere is a depth of meaning that the careless and superficial fail\nto perceive. It is really a simplified text-book of the fundamental\nteachings of Theosophy, and is found by students of the \u201cSecret\nDoctrine\u201d to be a true abridgment of that great work and a wonderful\naid in its comprehension; it was written with that end in view by the\nonly one competent to do so and is therefore earnestly recommended to\nevery student of Theosophy.\n\nThe passage of years has served to show, not only the value of this\nlittle book, but the status of Mr. Judge as a Teacher. Everything\nhe has written bears impress of his deep knowledge to every real\nstudent of Theosophy. Even the ordinary reader cannot fail to perceive\nthat only \u201cOne Who Knows\u201d could have so applied Theosophy to the\ncircumstances and conditions of every-day human existence.\n\nThere are but few books whose issuance is due to Mr. Judge; these\nfew however, are most valuable aids to the student in living the\nTheosophic life. \u201cLetters That Have Helped Me,\u201d are two small\nvolumes containing letters written to students, with comments by the\ncompiler; \u201cEchoes From the Orient,\u201d is a broad outline of Theosophical\ndoctrines, 64 pages; \u201cThe Bhagavad-Gita\u201d is a rendition, much better\nand clearer than any literal translation extant; \u201cPatanjali\u2019s Yoga\nAphorisms,\u201d is an ancient treatise on the Soul and its powers, from\nwhich modern psychology has much to learn. In addition Mr. Judge\nwrote a great number of articles dealing with the philosophy in its\npractical application to daily life; these can be found in the magazine\n\u201cTheosophy.\u201d\n\nThe earnest student will do well to study conjointly the writings of\nH. P. Blavatsky and Wm. Q. Judge; from them he will learn Theosophy\npure and simple; will recognize the community of knowledge and complete\naccord that existed between them and will more fully appreciate the\nmission and nature of those two Personages.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n  CHAPTER I.\n\n  THEOSOPHY AND THE MASTERS.\n\n  Theosophy generally defined. The existence of highly developed\n  men in the Universe. These men are the Mahatmas,\n  Initiates, Brothers, Adepts. How they work and why they\n  remain now concealed. Their Lodge. They are perfected\n  men from other periods of evolution. They have had various\n  names in history. Apollonius, Moses, Solomon, and others\n  were members of this fraternity. They had one single doctrine.\n  They are possible because man may at last be as they\n  are. They keep the true doctrine and cause it to reappear at\n  the right time.                                       Pages 1 to 13.\n\n\n  CHAPTER II.\n\n  GENERAL PRINCIPLES.\n\n  A view of the general laws governing the Cosmos. The\n  sevenfold division in the system. Real Matter not visible and\n  this always known to the Lodge. Mind the intelligent portion\n  of the Cosmos. In the universal Mind the sevenfold plan of\n  the Cosmos is contained. Evolution proceeds upon the plan\n  in the universal Mind. Periods of Evolution come to an end;\n  this is the Night of Brahma. The Mosaic account of cosmogenesis\n  has dwarfed modern conceptions. The Jews had merely\n  one part of the doctrine taken from the ancient Egyptians.\n  The doctrine accords with the inner meaning of Genesis. The\n  general length of periods of Evolution. Same doctrine as\n  Herbert Spencer\u2019s. The old Hindu chronology gives the details.\n  The story of Solomon\u2019s Temple is that of the evolution\n  of man. The doctrine far older than the Christian one. The\n  real age of the world. Man is over 18,000,000 years old. Evolution\n  is accomplished solely by the Egos within that at last\n  become the users of human forms. Each of the seven principles\n  of man is derived from one of the seven great divisions of\n  the Universe.                                        Pages 14 to 22.\n\n\n  CHAPTER III.\n\n  THE EARTH CHAIN.\n\n  The doctrine respecting the Earth. It is sevenfold also. It\n  is one of a chain of seven corresponding to man. The whole\n  seven are not in a chain separated as to members, but they\n  interpenetrate each other. The Earth chain is the re\u00efncarnation\n  of a former old and now dead chain. This old chain was\n  one of which our moon is the visible representative. Moon\n  now dead and contracting. Venus, Mars, etc., are living\n  members of other similar chains to ours. A mass of Egos for\n  each chain. The number, though incalculable, is definite.\n  Their course of evolution through the seven globes. In each\n  a certain part of our nature is developed. At the fourth globe\n  the process of condensation is begun and reaches its limit.\n                                                       Pages 23 to 28.\n\n\n  CHAPTER IV.\n\n  SEPTENARY CONSTITUTION OF MAN.\n\n  The constitution of man. How the doctrine differs from the\n  ordinary Christian one. The real doctrine known in the first\n  centuries of this era, but purposely withdrawn from a nation\n  not able to bear it. The danger if the doctrine had not been\n  withdrawn. The sevenfold division. The principles classified.\n  The divisions agree with the chain of seven globes. The lower\n  man is a composite being. His higher trinity. The lower\n  four principles transitory and perishable. Death leaves the\n  trinity as the only persistent part of us. What the physical\n  man is, and what the other unseen mortal man is. A second\n  physical man not seen but still mortal. The senses pertain to\n  the unseen man and not to the visible one.           Pages 29 to 34.\n\n\n  CHAPTER V.\n\n  BODY AND ASTRAL BODY.\n\n  The body and life principle. The mystery of life. Sleep\n  and death are due to excess of life not bearable by the organism.\n  The body an illusion. What is the cell. Life is universal.\n  It is not the result of the organism. The Astral Body.\n  What it is made of. Its powers and functions. As a model\n  for the body. It is possessed by all kingdoms of nature. Its\n  power to travel. The real sense organs are in the astral body.\n  The place the astral body has at spiritualistic _s\u00e9ances_. The\n  astral body accounts for telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience,\n  and all such psychical phenomena.                    Pages 35 to 44.\n\n\n  CHAPTER VI.\n\n  KAMA-DESIRE.\n\n  The fourth principle. Kama Rupa. In English, the Passions\n  and Desires. Kama Rupa is not produced by the body\n  but is the cause for body. This is the balance principle of the\n  seven. It is the basis of action and mover of the will. Right\n  desire leads to right act. This principle has a higher and a\n  lower aspect. The principle is in the astral body. At death\n  it coalesces with the astral body and makes of it a shell of the\n  man. It has powers of its own of an automatic nature. This\n  shell is the so-called \u201cspirit\u201d of _s\u00e9ances_. It is a danger to the\n  race. Elementals help this shell at _s\u00e9ances_. No soul or conscience\n  present. Suicides and executed criminals leave very\n  coherent shells. The principle of desire is common to all the\n  organized kingdoms. It is the brute part of man. Man is\n  now a fully developed quaternary with the higher principles\n  partially developed.                                 Pages 45 to 51.\n\n\n  CHAPTER VII.\n\n  MANAS.\n\n  Manas the fifth principle. The first of the real man. This\n  is the thinking principle and is not the product of brain. Brain\n  is only its instrument. How the light of mind was given to\n  mindless men. Perfected men from older systems gave it to\n  us as they got it from their predecessors. Manas is the storehouse\n  of all thoughts. Manas is the seer. If the connection\n  between Manas and brain is broken the person is not able to\n  cognize. The organs of the body cognize nothing. Manas is\n  divided into upper and lower. Its four peculiarities. Buddha,\n  Jesus, and others had Manas fully developed. Atma the Divine\n  Ego. The permanent individuality. This permanent individuality\n  has been through every sort of experience in many bodies.\n  Manas and matter have now a greater facility of action\n  than in former times. Manas is bound by desire, and this\n  makes re\u00efncarnation a necessity.                     Pages 52 to 59.\n\n\n  CHAPTER VIII.\n\n  OF REINCARNATION.\n\n  Why is man as he is, and how did he come. What the Universe\n  is for. Spiritual and physical evolution demand re\u00efncarnation.\n  Re\u00efncarnation on the physical plane is re\u00ebmbodiment\n  or alteration of form. The whole mass of matter of the globe\n  will one day be men in a period far distant. The doctrine ancient.\n  Held by the early Christians. Taught by Jesus. What\n  re\u00efncarnates. Life\u2019s mysteries arise from incomplete incarnation\n  of the higher principles. It is not transmigration to lower\n  forms. Explanation of Manu on this.                  Pages 60 to 69.\n\n\n  CHAPTER IX.\n\n  REINCARNATION CONTINUED.\n\n  Objections urged. Desire cannot alter law. Early arrivals\n  in heaven. Must they wait for us. Recognition of the soul not\n  dependent on objectivity. Heredity not an objection. What\n  heredity does. Divergences in heredity not recognized. History\n  goes against heredity. Re\u00efncarnation not unjust. What\n  is justice. We do not suffer for another\u2019s but for our own\n  deeds. Memory. Why we do not remember other lives. Who\n  does? How to account for increase of population.     Pages 70 to 78.\n\n\n  CHAPTER X.\n\n  ARGUMENTS SUPPORTING REINCARNATION.\n\n  From the nature of the soul. From the laws of mind and\n  soul. From differences in character. From the necessity for\n  discipline and evolution. From differences of capacity and\n  start in life at the cradle. Individual identity proves it. The\n  probable object of life makes it necessary. One life not enough\n  to carry out Nature\u2019s purposes. Mere death confers no advance.\n  A school after death is illogical. The persistence of\n  savagery and decay of nations give support to it. The appearance\n  of geniuses is due to re\u00efncarnation. Inherent ideas\n  common to man show it. Opposition to the doctrine based\n  solely on prejudice.                                 Pages 79 to 88.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XI.\n\n  KARMA.\n\n  Definition of the word. An unfamiliar term. A beneficent\n  law. How present life is affected by past acts of other lives.\n  Each act has a thought at its root. Through Manas they react\n  on each personal life. Why people are born deformed or\n  in bad circumstances. The three classes of Karma and its\n  three fields of operation. National and Racial Karma. Individual\n  un-happiness and happiness. The Master\u2019s words on Karma.\n                                                       Pages 89 to 98.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XII.\n\n  KAMA LOKA.\n\n  The first state after death. Where and what are heaven and\n  hell? Death of the body only the first step of death. A second\n  death after that. Separation of the seven principles into\n  three classes. What is _Kama Loka_? Origin of Christian purgatory.\n  It is an astral sphere with numerous degrees. The\n  _Skandhas_. The astral shell of man in _Kama Loka_. It is devoid\n  of soul, mind, and conscience. It is the \u201cspirit\u201d of the\n  _s\u00e9ance_ rooms. Classification of shells in _Kama Loka_. Black\n  magicians there. Fate of suicides and others. Pre-devachanic\n  unconsciousness.                                    Pages 99 to 108.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XIII.\n\n  DEVACHAN.\n\n  The meaning of the term. A state of _Atma-Buddhi-Manas_.\n  Operation of Karma on Devachan. The necessity for Devachan.\n  It is another sort of thinking with no physical body to\n  clog it. Only two fields for operation of causes\u2014subjective\n  and objective. Devachan is one. No time there for the soul.\n  Length of stay therein. Mathematics of the soul. Average\n  stay therein is 1500 mortal years. Depends on psychic impulses\n  of life. Its use and purpose. On the last thoughts at death\n  the devachanic state is fashioned. Devachan not meaningless.\n  Do we see those left behind? We bring their images before\n  us. Entities in Devachan have a power to help those they\n  love. Mediums cannot go to those in Devachan except in rare\n  cases and when the person is pure. Adepts only can help\n  those in Devachan.                                 Pages 109 to 116.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XIV.\n\n  CYCLES.\n\n  One of the most important doctrines. Corresponding words\n  in the Sanskrit. Few cycles known to the West. They cause\n  the re\u00e4ppearance of former living personages. They affect\n  life and evolution. When did the first moment come. The first\n  rate of vibration determines the subsequent ones. When man\n  leaves the globe the forces die. Convulsions and cataclysms.\n  Re\u00efncarnation and karma intermixed with cyclic law. Civilizations\n  cycle back. The cycle of Avatars. Krishna, Buddha,\n  and others come under cycles. Minor personages and great\n  leaders. Intersection of cycles causes convulsions. The Moon,\n  Sun, and Sidereal cycles. Individual cycles and that of re\u00efncarnation.\n  The motion through the constellations, and the\n  meaning of the story of Jonah. The Zodiacal clock. How the\n  ideas are impressed and preserved by nations. Cause for\n  earthquakes, Cosmic Fire, Glaciation, and Floods. The Brahmanical\n  Cycles.                                            Pages 117 to 126.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XV.\n\n  DIFFERENTIATION OF SPECIES\u2014MISSING LINKS.\n\n  Ultimate origin of man not discoverable. Man not derived\n  from a single pair, nor from the animals. Seven races of men\n  appeared simultaneously on the globe. They are now amalgamated\n  and will differentiate. The Anthropoid Apes. Their\n  origin. They came from man. They are the descendants of\n  offspring from unnatural union in the third and fourth rounds.\n  The Delayed Races. The secret books on the question. Human\n  features of apes accounted for. The lower kingdoms\n  from other planets. Their differentiation by intelligent interference\n  by the Dhyanis. The midway point of evolution.\n  Astral forms of old rounds solidified in physical rounds.\n  Missing links, what they are and why Science cannot discover\n  them. The aim of Nature in all this work.          Pages 127 to 134.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XVI.\n\n  PSYCHIC LAWS, FORCES, AND PHENOMENA.\n\n  No true psychology in the West. It exists in the Orient.\n  Man the mirror of all forces. Gravitation only a half law.\n  Importance of polarity and cohesion. Rendering objects invisible.\n  Imagination all powerful. Mental telegraphy. Reading\n  minds is burglary. Apportation, clairvoyance, clairaudience,\n  and second-sight. Pictures in the Astral Light. Dreams\n  and visions. Apparitions. Real clairvoyance. Inner stimulus\n  makes outer impression. Astral Light the Register of\n  everything.                          Pages 135 to 146.\n\n\n  CHAPTER XVII.\n\n  PSYCHIC PHENOMENA AND SPIRITUALISM.\n\n  Spiritualism wrongly named. Should be called necromancy\n  and the worship of the dead. This cult did not originate in\n  America. The practice long known in India. The facts recorded\n  deserve examination. Theosophists admit the facts but\n  interpret them differently from the \u201cspiritualist.\u201d The examination\n  confined to the question of whether the dead return.\n  The dead do not return thus. The mass of communications\n  are from the astral shell of man. Objections stated to the\n  claims made by mediums. The record justifies the ridicule of\n  science. Materialization and what it is. A mass of electric\n  magnetic matter with a picture upon it from the astral light.\n  Or it is the astral body of the medium extruded from the\n  living body. Analysis of the laws to be known before the\n  phenomena can be understood. The _timbre_ of the \u201cindependent\n  voice.\u201d Importance of the astral realm. The Dangers of\n  mediumship. Attempt to get these powers for money or\n  selfish ends also dangerous. Cyclic law ordains the slackening\n  of the force at this time. The purpose of the Lodge.\n                                                     Pages 147 to 154.\n\n\n\n\nTHE OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\nTheosophy is that ocean of knowledge which spreads from shore to shore\nof the evolution of sentient beings; unfathomable in its deepest\nparts, it gives the greatest minds their fullest scope, yet, shallow\nenough at its shores, it will not overwhelm the understanding of a\nchild. It is wisdom about God for those who believe that he is all\nthings and in all, and wisdom about nature for the man who accepts the\nstatement found in the Christian Bible that God cannot be measured\nor discovered, and that darkness is around his pavilion. Although it\ncontains by derivation the name God and thus may seem at first sight\nto embrace religion alone, it does not neglect science, for it is the\nscience of sciences and therefore has been called the wisdom religion.\nFor no science is complete which leaves out any department of nature,\nwhether visible or invisible, and that religion which, depending solely\non an assumed revelation, turns away from things and the laws which\ngovern them is nothing but a delusion, a foe to progress, an obstacle\nin the way of man\u2019s advancement toward happiness. Embracing both the\nscientific and the religious, Theosophy is a scientific religion and a\nreligious science.\n\nIt is not a belief or dogma formulated or invented by man, but is a\nknowledge of the laws which govern the evolution of the physical,\nastral, psychical, and intellectual constituents of nature and of man.\nThe religion of the day is but a series of dogmas man-made and with no\nscientific foundation for promulgated ethics; while our science as yet\nignores the unseen, and failing to admit the existence of a complete\nset of inner faculties of perception in man, it is cut off from the\nimmense and real field of experience which lies within the visible and\ntangible worlds. But Theosophy knows that the whole is constituted of\nthe visible and the invisible, and perceiving outer things and objects\nto be but transitory it grasps the facts of nature, both without and\nwithin. It is therefore complete in itself and sees no unsolvable\nmystery anywhere; it throws the word coincidence out of its vocabulary\nand hails the reign of law in everything and every circumstance.\n\nThat man possesses an immortal soul is the common belief of humanity;\nto this Theosophy adds that he is a soul; and further that all nature\nis sentient, that the vast array of objects and men are not mere\ncollections of atoms fortuitously thrown together and thus without law\nevolving law, but down to the smallest atom all is soul and spirit\never evolving under the rule of law which is inherent in the whole.\nAnd just as the ancients taught, so does Theosophy; that the course of\nevolution is the drama of the soul and that nature exists for no other\npurpose than the soul\u2019s experience. The Theosophist agrees with Prof.\nHuxley in the assertion that there must be beings in the universe whose\nintelligence is as much beyond ours as ours exceeds that of the black\nbeetle, and who take an active part in the government of the natural\norder of things. Pushing further on by the light of the confidence had\nin his teachers, the Theosophist adds that such intelligences were once\nhuman and came like all of us from other and previous worlds, where\nas varied experience had been gained as is possible on this one. We\nare therefore not appearing for the first time when we come upon this\nplanet, but have pursued a long, an immeasurable course of activity\nand intelligent perception on other systems of globes, some of which\nwere destroyed ages before the solar system condensed. This immense\nreach of the evolutionary system means, then, that this planet on which\nwe now are is the result of the activity and the evolution of some\nother one that died long ago, leaving its energy to be used in the\nbringing into existence of the earth, and that the inhabitants of the\nlatter in their turn came from some older world to proceed here with\nthe destined work in matter. And the brighter planets, such as Venus,\nare the habitation of still more progressed entities, once as low as\nourselves, but now raised up to a pitch of glory incomprehensible for\nour intellects.\n\nThe most intelligent being in the universe, man, has never, then, been\nwithout a friend, but has a line of elder brothers who continually\nwatch over the progress of the less progressed, preserve the knowledge\ngained through aeons of trial and experience, and continually seek\nfor opportunities of drawing the developing intelligence of the race\non this or other globes to consider the great truths concerning the\ndestiny of the soul. These elder brothers also keep the knowledge they\nhave gained of the laws of nature in all departments, and are ready\nwhen cyclic law permits to use it for the benefit of mankind. They have\nalways existed as a body, all knowing each other, no matter in what\npart of the world they may be, and all working for the race in many\ndifferent ways. In some periods they are well known to the people and\nmove among ordinary men whenever the social organization, the virtue,\nand the development of the nations permit it. For if they were to come\nout openly and be heard of everywhere, they would be worshipped as gods\nby some and hunted as devils by others. In those periods when they do\ncome out some of their number are rulers of men, some teachers, a few\ngreat philosophers, while others remain still unknown except to the\nmost advanced of the body.\n\nIt would be subversive of the ends they have in view were they to make\nthemselves public in the present civilization, which is based almost\nwholly on money, fame, glory, and personality. For this age, as one of\nthem has already said, \u201cis an age of transition\u201d, when every system\nof thought, science, religion, government, and society is changing,\nand men\u2019s minds are only preparing for an alteration into that state\nwhich will permit the race to advance to the point suitable for these\nelder brothers to introduce their actual presence to our sight. They\nmay be truly called the bearers of the torch of truth across the ages;\nthey investigate all things and beings; they know what man is in his\ninnermost nature and what his powers and destiny, his state before\nbirth and the states into which he goes after the death of his body;\nthey have stood by the cradle of nations and seen the vast achievements\nof the ancients, watched sadly the decay of those who had no power to\nresist the cyclic law of rise and fall; and while cataclysms seemed\nto show a universal destruction of art, architecture, religion, and\nphilosophy, they have preserved the records of it all in places\nsecure from the ravages of either men or time; they have made minute\nobservations, through trained psychics among their own order, into\nthe unseen realms of nature and of mind, recorded the observations\nand preserved the record; they have mastered the mysteries of sound\nand color through which alone the elemental beings behind the veil of\nmatter can be communicated with, and thus can tell why the rain falls\nand what it falls for, whether the earth is hollow or not, what makes\nthe wind to blow and light to shine, and greater feat than all\u2014one\nwhich implies a knowledge of the very foundations of nature\u2014they know\nwhat the ultimate divisions of time are and what are the meaning and\nthe times of the cycles.\n\nBut, asks the busy man of the nineteenth century who reads the\nnewspapers and believes in \u201cmodern progress,\u201d if these elder brothers\nare all you claim them to be, why have they left no mark on history nor\ngathered men around them? Their own reply, published some time ago by\nMr. A. P. Sinnett, is better than any I could write.\n\n\u201cWe will first discuss, if you please, the one relating to the\npresumed failure of the \u2018Fraternity\u2019 to leave any mark upon the\nhistory of the world. They ought, you think, to have been able, with\ntheir extraordinary advantages, to have gathered into their schools\na considerable portion of the more enlightened minds of every race.\nHow do you know they have made no such mark? Are you acquainted with\ntheir efforts, successes, and failures? Have you any dock upon which\nto arraign them? How could your world collect proofs of the doings of\nmen who have sedulously kept closed every possible door of approach by\nwhich the inquisitive could spy upon them? The precise condition of\ntheir success was that they should never be supervised or obstructed.\nWhat they have done they know; all that those outside their circle\ncould perceive was the results, the causes of which were masked from\nview. To account for these results, many have in different ages\ninvented theories of the interposition of gods, special providences,\nfates, the benign or hostile influences of the stars. There never\nwas a time within or before the so-called historical period when our\npredecessors were not moulding events and \u2018making history,\u2019 the facts\nof which were subsequently and invariably distorted by historians to\nsuit contemporary prejudices. Are you quite sure that the visible\nheroic figures in the successive dramas were not often but their\npuppets? We never pretended to be able to draw nations in the mass\nto this or that crisis in spite of the general drift of the world\u2019s\ncosmic relations. The cycles must run their rounds. Periods of mental\nand moral light and darkness succeed each other as day does night. The\nmajor and minor yugas must be accomplished according to the established\norder of things. And we, borne along the mighty tide, can only modify\nand direct some of its minor currents.\u201d\n\nIt is under cyclic law, during a dark period in the history of mind,\nthat the true philosophy disappears for a time, but the same law\ncauses it to reappear as surely as the sun rises and the human mind is\npresent to see it. But some works can only be performed by the Master,\nwhile other works require the assistance of the companions. It is the\nMaster\u2019s work to preserve the true philosophy, but the help of the\ncompanions is needed to rediscover and promulgate it. Once more the\nelder brothers have indicated where the truth\u2014Theosophy\u2014could be found,\nand the companions all over the world are engaged in bringing it forth\nfor wider currency and propagation.\n\nThe Elder Brothers of Humanity are men who were perfected in former\nperiods of evolution. These periods of manifestation are unknown to\nmodern evolutionists so far as their number are concerned, though\nlong ago understood by not only the older Hindus, but also by those\ngreat minds and men who instituted and carried on the first pure and\nundebased form of the Mysteries of Greece. The periods, when out of\nthe Great Unknown there come forth the visible universes, are eternal\nin their coming and going, alternating with equal periods of silence\nand rest again in the Unknown. The object of these mighty waves is\nthe production of perfect man, the evolution of soul, and they always\nwitness the increase of the number of Elder Brothers; the life of the\nleast of men pictures them in day and night, waking and sleeping, birth\nand death, \u201cfor these two, light and dark, day and night, are the\nworld\u2019s eternal ways.\u201d\n\nIn every age and complete national history these men of power and\ncompassion are given different designations. They have been called\nInitiates, Adepts, Magi, Hierophants, Kings of the East, Wise Men,\nBrothers, and what not. But in the Sanscrit language there is a word\nwhich, being applied to them, at once thoroughly identifies them with\nhumanity. It is Mahatma. This is composed of _Maha_ great, and _Atma_\nsoul; so it means great soul, and as all men are souls the distinction\nof the Mahatma lies in greatness. The term Mahatma has come into\nwide use through the Theosophical Society, as Mme. H. P. Blavatsky\nconstantly referred to them as her Masters who gave her the knowledge\nshe possessed. They were at first known only as the Brothers, but\nafterwards, when many Hindus flocked to the Theosophical movement, the\nname Mahatma was brought into use, inasmuch as it has behind it an\nimmense body of Indian tradition and literature. At different times\nunscrupulous enemies of the Theosophical Society have said that even\nthis name had been invented and that such beings are not known of among\nthe Indians or in their literature. But these assertions are made\nonly to discredit if possible a philosophical movement that threatens\nto completely upset prevailing erroneous theological dogmas. For all\nthrough Hindu literature Mahatmas are often spoken of, and in parts of\nthe north of that country the term is common. In the very old poem the\n_Bhagavad-G\u00eet\u00e2_, revered by all Hindu sects and admitted by the western\ncritics to be noble as well as beautiful, there is a verse reading,\n\u201cSuch a Mahatma is difficult to find.\u201d\n\nBut irrespective of all disputes as to specific names, there is\nsufficient argument and proof to show that a body of men having the\nwonderful knowledge described above has always existed and probably\nexists to-day. The older mysteries continually refer to them. Ancient\nEgypt had them in her great king-Initiates, sons of the sun and\nfriends of great gods. There is a habit of belittling the ideas of the\nancients which is in itself belittling to the people of to-day. Even\nthe Christian who reverently speaks of Abraham as \u201cthe friend of God\u201d,\nwill scornfully laugh at the idea of the claims of Egyptian rulers to\nthe same friendship being other than childish assumption of dignity\nand title. But the truth is, these great Egyptians were Initiates,\nmembers of the one great lodge which includes all others of whatever\ndegree or operation. The later and declining Egyptians, of course, must\nhave imitated their predecessors, but that was when the true doctrine\nwas beginning once more to be obscured upon the rise of dogma and\npriesthood.\n\nThe story of Apollonius of Tyana is about a member of one of the same\nancient orders appearing among men at a descending cycle, and only for\nthe purpose of keeping a witness upon the scene for future generations.\n\nAbraham and Moses of the Jews are two other Initiates, Adepts who had\ntheir work to do with a certain people; and in the history of Abraham\nwe meet with Melchizedek, who was so much beyond Abraham that he had\nthe right to confer upon the latter a dignity, a privilege, or a\nblessing. The same chapter of human history which contains the names\nof Moses and Abraham is illuminated also by that of Solomon. And thus\nthese three make a great Triad of Adepts, the record of whose deeds can\nnot be brushed aside as folly and devoid of basis.\n\nMoses was educated by the Egyptians and in Midian, from both of which\nhe gained much occult knowledge, and any clear-seeing student of\nthe great Universal Masonry can perceive all through his books the\nhand, the plan, and the work of a master. Abraham again knew all the\narts and much of the power in psychical realms that were cultivated\nin his day, or else he could not have consorted with kings nor have\nbeen \u201cthe friend of God\u201d, and the reference to his conversations with\nthe Almighty in respect to the destruction of cities alone shows him\nto have been an Adept who had long ago passed beyond the need of\nceremonial or other adventitious aids. Solomon completes this triad and\nstands out in characters of fire. Around him is clustered such a mass\nof legend and story about his dealings with the elemental powers and of\nhis magic possessions that one must condemn the whole ancient world as\na collection of fools who made lies for amusement if a denial is made\nof his being a great character, a wonderful example of the incarnation\namong men of a powerful Adept. We do not have to accept the name\nSolomon nor the pretense that he reigned over the Jews, but we must\nadmit the fact that somewhere in the misty time to which the Jewish\nrecords refer there lived and moved among the people of the earth one\nwho was an Adept and given that name afterwards. Peripatetics and\nmicroscopic critics may affect to see in the prevalence of universal\ntradition naught but evidence of the gullibility of men and their\npower to imitate, but the true student of human nature and life knows\nthat the universal tradition is true and arises from the facts in the\nhistory of man.\n\nTurning to India, so long forgotten and ignored by the lusty and\negotistical, the fighting and the trading West, we find her full of the\nlore relating to these wonderful men of whom Noah, Abraham, Moses, and\nSolomon are only examples. There the people are fitted by temperament\nand climate to be the preservers of the philosophical, ethical, and\npsychical jewels that would have been forever lost to us had they been\nleft to the ravages of such Goths and Vandals as western nations were\nin the early days of their struggle for education and civilization.\nIf the men who wantonly burned up vast masses of historical and\nethnological treasures found by the minions of the Catholic rulers\nof Spain, in Central and South America, could have known of and put\ntheir hands upon the books and palm-leaf records of India before the\nprotecting shield of England was raised against them, they would\nhave destroyed them all as they did for the Americans, and as their\npredecessors attempted to do for the Alexandrian library. Fortunately\nevents worked otherwise.\n\nAll along the stream of Indian literature we can find the names by\nscores of great adepts who were well known to the people and who all\ntaught the same story\u2014the great epic of the human soul. Their names are\nunfamiliar to western ears, but the records of their thoughts, their\nwork and powers remain. Still more, in the quiet unmoveable East there\nare to-day by the hundred persons who know of their own knowledge that\nthe Great Lodge still exists and has its Mahatmas, Adepts, Initiates,\nBrothers. And yet further, in that land are such a number of experts in\nthe practical application of minor though still very astonishing power\nover nature and her forces, that we have an irresistible mass of human\nevidence to prove the proposition laid down.\n\nAnd if Theosophy\u2014the teaching of this Great Lodge\u2014is as said, both\nscientific and religious, then from the ethical side we have still more\nproof. A mighty Triad acting on and through ethics is that composed of\nBuddha, Confucius, and Jesus. The first, a Hindoo, founds a religion\nwhich to-day embraces many more people than Christianity, teaching\ncenturies before Jesus the ethics which he taught and which had been\ngiven out even centuries before Buddha. Jesus coming to reform his\npeople repeats these ancient ethics, and Confucius does the same thing\nfor ancient and honorable China.\n\nThe Theosophist says that all these great names represent members\nof the one single brotherhood, who all have a single doctrine. And\nthe extraordinary characters who now and again appear in western\ncivilization, such as St. Germain, Jacob Boehme, Cagliostro,\nParacelsus, Mesmer, Count St. Martin, and Madame H. P. Blavatsky,\nare agents for the doing of the work of the Great Lodge at the\nproper time. It is true they are generally reviled and classed as\nimpostors\u2014though no one can find out why they are when they generally\nconfer benefits and lay down propositions or make discoveries of\ngreat value to science after they have died. But Jesus himself would\nbe called an impostor to-day if he appeared in some Fifth avenue\ntheatrical church rebuking the professed Christians. Paracelsus was\nthe originator of valuable methods and treatments in medicine now\nuniversally used. Mesmer taught hypnotism under another name. Madame\nBlavatsky brought once more to the attention of the West the most\nimportant system, long known to the Lodge, respecting man, his nature\nand destiny. But all are alike called imposters by a people who have\nno original philosophy of their own and whose mendicant and criminal\nclasses exceed in misery and in number those of any civilization on the\nearth.\n\nIt will not be unusual for nearly all occidental readers to wonder how\nmen could possibly know so much and have such power over the operations\nof natural law as I have ascribed to the Initiates, now so commonly\nspoken of as the Mahatmas. In India, China, and other Oriental lands no\nwonder would arise on these heads, because there, although everything\nof a material civilization is just now in a backward state, they have\nnever lost a belief in the inner nature of man and in the power he may\nexercise if he will. Consequently living examples of such powers and\ncapacities have not been absent from those people. But in the West a\nmaterialistic civilization having arisen through a denial of the soul\nlife and nature consequent upon a reaction from illogical dogmatism,\nthere has not been any investigation of these subjects and, until\nlately, the general public has not believed in the possibility of\nanyone save a supposed God having such power.\n\nA Mahatma endowed with power over space, time, mind, and matter, is\na possibility just because he is a perfected man. Every human being\nhas the germ of all the powers attributed to these great Initiates,\nthe difference lying solely in the fact that we have in general\nnot developed what we possess the germ of, while the Mahatma has\ngone through the training and experience which have caused all the\nunseen human powers to develop in him, and conferred gifts that look\ngod-like to his struggling brother below. Telepathy, mind-reading, and\nhypnotism, all long ago known to Theosophy, show the existence in the\nhuman subject of planes of consciousness, functions, and faculties\nhitherto undreamed of. Mind-reading and the influencing of the mind\nof the hypnotized subject at a distance prove the existence of a mind\nwhich is not wholly dependent upon a brain, and that a medium exists\nthrough which the influencing thought may be sent. It is under this\nlaw that the Initiates can communicate with each other at no matter\nwhat distance. Its _rationale_, not yet admitted by the schools of\nthe hypnotizers, is, that if the two minds vibrate or change into the\nsame state they will think alike, or, in other words, the one who is\nto hear at a distance receives the impression sent by the other. In\nthe same way with all other powers, no matter how extraordinary. They\nare all natural, although now unusual, just as great musical ability\nis natural though not usual or common. If an Initiate can make a solid\nobject move without contact, it is because he understands the two laws\nof attraction and repulsion of which \u201cgravitation\u201d is but the name for\none; if he is able to precipitate out of the viewless air the carbon\nwhich we know is in it, forming the carbon into sentences upon the\npaper, it is through his knowledge of the occult higher chemistry, and\nthe use of a trained and powerful image making faculty which every man\npossesses; if he reads your thoughts with ease, that results from the\nuse of the inner and only real powers of sight, which require no retina\nto see the fine-pictured web which the vibrating brain of man weaves\nabout him. All that the Mahatma may do is natural to the perfected man;\nbut if those powers are not at once revealed to us it is because the\nrace is as yet selfish altogether and still living for the present and\nthe transitory.\n\nI repeat then, that though the true doctrine disappears for a time\nfrom among men it is bound to re\u00e4ppear, because first, it is impacted\nin the imperishable center of man\u2019s nature; and secondly, the Lodge\nforever preserves it, not only in actual objective records, but also in\nthe intelligent and fully self-conscious men who, having successfully\noverpassed the many periods of evolution which preceded the one we\nare now involved in, cannot lose the precious possessions they have\nacquired. And because the elder brothers are the highest product of\nevolution through whom alone, in c\u00f6operation with the whole human\nfamily, the further regular and workmanlike prosecution of the plans of\nthe Great Architect of the Universe could be carried on, I have thought\nit well to advert to them and their Universal Lodge before going to\nother parts of the subject.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\nThe teachings of Theosophy deal for the present chiefly with our earth,\nalthough its purview extends to all the worlds, since no part of the\nmanifested universe is outside the single body of laws which operate\nupon us. Our globe being one of the solar system is certainly connected\nwith Venus, Jupiter, and other planets, but as the great human family\nhas to remain with its material vehicle\u2014the earth\u2014until all the units\nof the race which are ready are perfected, the evolution of that\nfamily is of greater importance to the members of it. Some particulars\nrespecting the other planets may be given later on. First let us take a\ngeneral view of the laws governing all.\n\nThe universe evolves from the unknown, into which no man or mind,\nhowever high, can inquire, on seven planes or in seven ways or methods\nin all worlds, and this sevenfold differentiation causes all the\nworlds of the universe and the beings thereon to have a septenary\nconstitution. As was taught of old, the little worlds and the great\nare copies of the whole, and the minutest insect as well as the most\nhighly developed being are _replicas_ in little or in great of the vast\ninclusive original. Hence sprang the saying, \u201cas above so below\u201d which\nthe Hermetic philosophers used.\n\nThe divisions of the sevenfold universe may be laid down roughly as:\nThe Absolute, Spirit, Mind, Matter, Will, Akasa or \u00c6ther, and Life. In\nplace of \u201cthe Absolute\u201d we can use the word Space. For Space is that\nwhich ever is, and in which all manifestation must take place. The term\nAkasa, taken from the Sanscrit, is used in place of \u00c6ther, because the\nEnglish language has not yet evolved a word to properly designate that\ntenuous state of matter which is now sometimes called Ether by modern\nscientists. As to the Absolute we can do no more than say It Is. None\nof the great teachers of the School ascribe qualities to the Absolute\nalthough all the qualities exist in It. Our knowledge begins with\ndifferentiation, and all manifested objects, beings, or powers are only\ndifferentiations of the Great Unknown. The most that can be said is\nthat the Absolute periodically differentiates itself, and periodically\nwithdraws the differentiated into itself.\n\nThe first differentiation\u2014speaking metaphysically as to time\u2014is Spirit,\nwith which appears Matter and Mind. Akasa is produced from Matter and\nSpirit, Will is the force of Spirit in action and Life is a resultant\nof the action of Akasa, moved by Spirit, upon Matter.\n\nBut the Matter here spoken of is not that which is vulgarly known\nas such. It is the real Matter which is always invisible, and has\nsometimes been called Primordial Matter. In the Brahmanical system it\nis denominated _Mulaprakriti_. The ancient teaching always held, as is\nnow admitted by Science, that we see or perceive only the phenomena but\nnot the essential nature, body or being of matter.\n\nMind is the intelligent part of the Cosmos, and in the collection of\nseven differentiations above roughly sketched, Mind is that in which\nthe plan of the Cosmos is fixed or contained. This plan is brought over\nfrom a prior period of manifestation which added to its ever-increasing\nperfectness, and no limit can be set to its evolutionary possibilities\nin perfectness, because there was never any beginning to the periodical\nmanifestations of the Absolute, there never will be any end, but\nforever the going forth and withdrawing into the Unknown will go on.\n\nWherever a world or system of worlds is evolving there the plan has\nbeen laid down in universal mind, the original force comes from\nspirit, the basis is matter\u2014which is in fact invisible\u2014Life sustains\nall the forms requiring life, and Akasa is the connecting link between\nmatter on one side and spirit-mind on the other.\n\nWhen a world or a system comes to the end of certain great cycles men\nrecord a cataclysm in history or tradition. These traditions abound;\namong the Jews in their flood; with the Babylonians in theirs; in\nEgyptian papyri; in the Hindu cosmology; and none of them as merely\nconfirmatory of the little Jewish tradition, but all pointing to early\nteaching and dim recollection also of the periodical destructions and\nrenovations. The Hebraic story is but a poor fragment torn from the\npavement of the Temple of Truth. Just as there are periodical minor\ncataclysms or partial destructions, so, the doctrine holds, there is\nthe universal evolution and involution. Forever the Great Breath goes\nforth and returns again. As it proceeds outwards, objects, worlds and\nmen appear; as it recedes all disappear into the original source.\n\nThis is the waking and the sleeping of the Great Being; the Day and the\nNight of Brahma; the prototype of our waking days and sleeping nights\nas men, of our disappearance from the scene at the end of one little\nhuman life, and our return again to take up the unfinished work in\nanother life, in a new day.\n\nThe real age of the world has long been involved in doubt for\nWestern investigators, who up to the present have shown a singular\nunwillingness to take instruction from the records of Oriental people\nmuch older than the West. Yet with the Orientals is the truth about\nthe matter. It is admitted that Egyptian civilization flourished many\ncenturies ago, and as there are no living Egyptian schools of ancient\nlearning to offend modern pride, and perhaps because the Jews \u201ccame\nout of Egypt\u201d to fasten the Mosaic misunderstood tradition upon modern\nprogress, the inscriptions cut in rocks and written on papyri obtain\na little more credit to-day than the living thought and record of the\nHindus. For the latter are still among us, and it would never do to\nadmit that a poor and conquered race possesses knowledge respecting\nthe age of man and his world which the western flower of culture,\nwar, and annexation knows nothing of. Ever since the ignorant monks\nand theologians of Asia Minor and Europe succeeded in imposing the\nMosaic account of the genesis of earth and man upon the coming western\nevolution, the most learned even of our scientific men have stood in\nfear of the years that elapsed since Adam, or have been warped in\nthought and perception whenever their eyes turned to any chronology\ndifferent from that of a few tribes of the sons of Jacob. Even the\nnoble, aged, and silent pyramid of Gizeh, guarded by Sphinx and Memnon\nmade of stone, has been degraded by Piazzi Smyth and others into a\nproof that the British inch must prevail and that a \u201cContinental\nSunday\u201d controverts the law of the Most High. Yet in the Mosaic\naccount, where one would expect to find a reference to such a proof as\nthe pyramid, we can discover not a single hint of it and only a record\nof the building by King Solomon of a temple of which there never was a\ntrace.\n\nBut the Theosophist knows why the Hebraic tradition came to be thus\nan apparent drag on the mind of the West; he knows the connection\nbetween Jew and Egyptian; what is and is to be the resurrection of\nthe old pyramid builders of the Nile valley, and where the plans of\nthose ancient master masons have been hidden from the profane eyes\nuntil the cycle should roll round again for their bringing forth. The\nJews preserved merely a part of the learning of Egypt hidden under\nthe letter of the books of Moses, and it is there still to this day\nin what they call the cabalistic or hidden meaning of the scriptures.\nBut the Egyptian souls who helped in planning the pyramid of Gizeh,\nwho took part in the Egyptian government, theology, science, and\ncivilization, departed from their old race, that race died out and the\nformer Egyptians took up their work in the oncoming races of the West,\nespecially in those which are now repeopling the American continents.\nWhen Egypt and India were younger there was a constant intercourse\nbetween them. They both, in the opinion of the Theosophist, thought\nalike, but fate ruled that of the two the Hindus only should preserve\nthe old ideas among a living people. I will therefore take from the\nBrahmanical records of Hindustan their doctrine about the days, nights,\nyears and life of Brahma, who represents the universe and the worlds.\n\nThe doctrine at once upsets the interpretation so long given to the\nMosaic tradition, but fully accords with the evident account in Genesis\nof other and former \u201ccreations\u201d, with the cabalistic construction of\nthe Old Testament verse about the kings of Edom, who there represent\nformer periods of evolution prior to that started with Adam, and also\ncoincides with the belief held by some of the early Christian Fathers\nwho told their brethren about wonderful previous worlds and creations.\n\nThe Day of Brahma is said to last one thousand years, and his night is\nof equal length. In the Christian Bible is a verse saying that one day\nis as a thousand years to the Lord and a thousand years as one day.\nThis has generally been used to magnify the power of Jehovah, but it\nhas a suspicious resemblance to the older doctrine of the length of\nBrahma\u2019s day and night. It would be of more value if construed to be a\nstatement of the periodical coming forth for great days and nights of\nequal length of the universe of manifested worlds.\n\nA day of mortals is reckoned by the sun, and is but twelve hours in\nlength. On Mercury it would be different, and on Saturn or Uranus\nstill more so. But a day of Brahma is made up of what are called\nManvantaras\u2014or period between two men\u2014fourteen in number. These include\nfour billion three hundred and twenty million mortal, or earth, years,\nwhich is one day of Brahma.\n\nWhen this day opens, cosmic evolution, so far as relates to this solar\nsystem, begins and occupies between one and two billions of years in\nevolving the very ethereal first matter before the astral kingdoms of\nmineral, vegetable, animal and men are possible. This second step takes\nsome three hundred millions of years, and then still more material\nprocesses go forward for the production of the tangible kingdoms of\nnature, including man. This covers over one and one-half billions of\nyears. And the number of solar years included in the present \u201chuman\u201d\nperiod is over eighteen millions of years.\n\nThis is exactly what Herbert Spencer designates as the gradual coming\nforth of the known and heterogeneous from the unknown and homogeneous.\nFor the ancient Egyptian and Hindu Theosophists never admitted a\ncreation out of nothing, but ever strenuously insisted upon evolution,\nby gradual stages, of the heterogeneous and differentiated from the\nhomogeneous and undifferentiated. No mind can comprehend the infinite\nand absolute unknown, which has no beginning and shall have no end;\nwhich is both last and first, because, whether differentiated or\nwithdrawn into itself, it ever is. This is the God spoken of in the\nChristian Bible as the one around whose pavilion there is darkness.\n\nThis cosmic and human chronology of the Hindus is laughed at by\nwestern Orientalists, yet they can furnish nothing better and are\ncontinually disagreeing with each other on the same subject. In\nWilson\u2019s translation of _Vishnu Purana_ he calls it all fiction based\non nothing, and childish boasting. But the Free Masons, who remain\ninactive hereupon, ought to know better. They could find in the story\nof the building of Solomon\u2019s Temple from the heterogeneous materials\nbrought from everywhere, and its erection without the noise of a tool\nbeing heard, the agreement with these ideas of their Egyptian and\nHindu brothers. For Solomon\u2019s Temple means man whose frame is built\nup, finished and decorated without the least noise. But the materials\nhad to be found, gathered together and fashioned in other and distant\nplaces. These are in the periods above spoken of, very distant and\nvery silent. Man could not have his bodily temple to live in until all\nthe matter in and about his world had been found by the Master, who\nis the inner man; when found, the plans for working it required to be\ndetailed. They then had to be carried out in different detail until all\nthe parts should be perfectly ready and fit for placing in the final\nstructure. So in the vast stretch of time which began after the first\nalmost intangible matter had been gathered and kneaded, the material\nand vegetable kingdoms had sole possession here with the Master\u2014man\u2014who\nwas hidden from sight within, carrying forward the plans for the\nfoundations of the human temple. All of this requires many, many ages,\nsince we know that nature never leaps. And when the rough work was\ncompleted, when the human temple was erected, many more ages would be\nrequired for all the servants, the priests, and the counsellors to\nlearn their parts properly so that man, the Master, might be able to\nuse the temple for its best and highest purposes.\n\nThe ancient doctrine is far nobler than the Christian religious\none or that of the purely scientific school. The religious gives a\ntheory which conflicts with reason and fact, while science can give\nfor the facts which it observes no reason which is in any way noble\nor elevating. Theosophy alone, inclusive of all systems and every\nexperience, gives the key, the plan, the doctrine, the truth.\n\nThe real age of the world is asserted by Theosophy to be almost\nincalculable, and that of man as he is now formed is over eighteen\nmillions of years. What has become at last man is of vastly greater\nage, for before the present two sexes appeared the human creature\nwas sometimes of one shape and sometimes of another, until the whole\nplan had been fully worked out into our present form, function, and\ncapacity. This is found to be referred to in the ancient books written\nfor the profane where man is said to have been at one time globular\nin shape. This was at a time when the conditions favored such a form\nand of course it was longer ago than eighteen millions of years. And\nwhen this globular form was the rule the sexes as we know them had not\ndifferentiated and hence there was but one sex, or if you like, no sex\nat all.\n\nDuring all these ages before our man came into being, evolution was\ncarrying on the work of perfecting various powers which are now our\npossession. This was accomplished by the Ego or real man going through\nexperience in countless conditions of matter all different one from\nthe other, and the same plan in general was and is pursued as prevails\nin respect to the general evolution of the universe to which I have\nbefore adverted. That is, details were first worked out in spheres of\nbeing very ethereal, metaphysical in fact. Then the next step brought\nthe same details to be worked out on a plane of matter a little more\ndense, until at last it could be done on our present plane of what we\nmiscall gross matter. In these anterior states the senses existed in\ngerm, as it were, or in idea, until the astral plane which is next to\nthis one was arrived at, and then they were concentrated so as to be\nthe actual senses we now use through the agency of the different outer\norgans. These outer organs of sight, touch and hearing, and tasting,\nare often mistaken by the unlearned or the thoughtless for the real\norgans and senses, but he who stops to think must see that the senses\nare interior and that their outer organs are but mediators between\nthe visible universe and the real perceiver within. And all these\nvarious powers and potentialities being well worked out in this slow\nbut sure process, at last man is put upon the scene a sevenfold being\njust as the universe and earth itself are sevenfold. Each of his seven\nprinciples is derived from one of the great first seven divisions, and\neach relates to a planet or scene of evolution, and to a race in which\nthat evolution was carried out. So the first sevenfold differentiation\nis important to be borne in mind, since it is the basis of all that\nfollows; just as the universal evolution is septenary, so the evolution\nof humanity, sevenfold in its constitution, is carried on upon a\nseptenary Earth. This is spoken of in Theosophical literature as the\nSevenfold Planetary Chain, and is intimately connected with Man\u2019s\nspecial evolution.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\nComing now to our Earth the view put forward by Theosophy regarding\nits genesis, its evolution and the evolution of the Human, Animal and\nother Monads, is quite different from modern ideas, and in some things\ncontrary to accepted theories. But the theories of to-day are not\nstable. They change with each century, while the Theosophical one never\nalters because, in the opinion of those Elder Brothers who have caused\nits repromulgation and pointed to its confirmation in ancient books,\nit is but a statement of facts in nature. The modern theory is, on the\ncontrary, always speculative, changeable, and continually altered.\n\nFollowing the general plan outlined in preceding pages, the Earth is\nsevenfold. It is an entity and not a mere lump of gross matter. And\nbeing thus an entity of a septenary nature there must be six other\nglobes which roll with it in space. This company of seven globes has\nbeen called the \u201cEarth Chain\u201d, the \u201cPlanetary Chain\u201d. In _Esoteric\nBuddhism_ this is clearly stated, but there a rather hard and fast\nmaterialistic view of it is given and the reader led to believe that\nthe doctrine speaks of seven distinct globes, all separated from though\nconnected with each other. One is forced to conclude that the author\nmeant to say that the globe Earth is as distinct from the other six as\nVenus is from Mars.\n\nThis is not the doctrine. The earth is one of seven globes, in respect\nto man\u2019s consciousness only, because when he functions on one of the\nseven he perceives it as a distinct globe and does not see the other\nsix. This is in perfect correspondence with man himself who has six\nother constituents of which only the gross body is visible to him\nbecause he is now functioning on the Earth\u2014or the fourth globe\u2014and his\nbody represents the Earth. The whole seven \u201cglobes\u201d constitute one\nsingle mass or great globe and they all interpenetrate each other.\nBut we have to say \u201cglobe\u201d, because the ultimate shape is globular or\nspherical. If one relies too closely on the explanation made by Mr.\nSinnett it might be supposed that the globes did not interpenetrate\neach other but were connected by currents or lines of magnetic force.\nAnd if too close attention is paid to the diagrams used in the _Secret\nDoctrine_ to illustrate the scheme, without paying due regard to the\nexplanations and cautions given by H. P. Blavatsky, the same error\nmay be made. But both she and her Adept teachers say, that the seven\nglobes of our chain are in \u201c_coadunition with each other but not in\nconsubstantiality_\u201d.[1] This is further enforced by cautions not to\nrely on statistics or plane surface diagrams, but to look at the\nmetaphysical and spiritual aspect of the theory as stated in English.\nThus from the very source of Mr. Sinnett\u2019s book we have the statement,\nthat these globes are united in one mass though differing from each\nother in substance, and that this difference of substance is due to\nchange of centre of consciousness.\n\n[1] _Secret Doctrine_, Vol. 1, p. 166, first edition.\n\nThe Earth Chain of seven globes as thus defined is the direct\nre\u00efncarnation of a former chain of seven globes, and that former\nfamily of seven was the moon chain, the moon itself being the visible\nrepresentative of the fourth globe of the old chain. When that former\nvast entity composed of the Moon and six others, all united in one\nmass, reached its limit of life it died just as any being dies. Each\none of the seven sent its energies into space and gave similar life or\nvibration to cosmic dust\u2014matter,\u2014and the total cohesive force of the\nwhole kept the seven energies together. This resulted in the evolving\nof the present Earth Chain of seven centres of energy or evolution\ncombined in one mass. As the Moon was the fourth of the old series it\nis on the same plane of perception as the Earth, and as we are now\nconfined in our consciousness largely to Earth we are able only to see\none of the old seven\u2014to wit: our Moon. When we are functioning on any\nof the other seven we will perceive in our sky the corresponding old\ncorpse which will then be a Moon, and we will not see the present Moon.\nVenus, Mars, Mercury and other visible planets are all fourth-plane\nglobes of distinct planetary masses and for that reason are visible\nto us, their companion six centres of energy and consciousness being\ninvisible. All diagrams on plane surfaces will only becloud the theory\nbecause a diagram necessitates linear divisions.\n\nThe stream or mass of Egos which evolves on the seven globes of our\nchain is limited in number, yet the actual quantity is enormous. For\nthough the universe is limitless and infinite, yet in any particular\nportion of Cosmos in which manifestation and evolution have begun\nthere is a limit to the extent of manifestation and to the number of\nEgos engaged therein. And the whole number of Monads now going through\nevolution on our Earth Chain came over from the old seven planets or\nglobes which I have described. _Esoteric Buddhism_ calls this mass\nof Egos a \u201clife wave\u201d, meaning the stream of Monads. It reached this\nplanetary mass, represented to our consciousness by the central point\nour Earth, and began on Globe A or No. 1, coming like an army or river.\nThe first portion began on Globe A and went through a long evolution\nthere in bodies suited to such a state of matter, and then passed on to\nB, and so on through the whole seven greater states of consciousness\nwhich have been called globes. When the first portion left A others\nstreamed in and pursued the same course, the whole army proceeding\nwith regularity round the septenary route.\n\nThis journey went on for four circlings round the whole, and then the\nwhole stream or army of Egos from the old Moon Chain had arrived, and\nbeing complete, no more entered after the middle of the Fourth Round.\nThe same circling process of these differently arrived classes goes\non for seven complete Rounds of the whole seven planetary centres of\nconsciousness, and when the seven are ended as much perfection as is\npossible in the immense period occupied will have been attained, and\nthen this chain or mass of \u201cglobes\u201d will die in its turn to give birth\nto still another series.\n\nEach one of the globes is used by evolutionary law for the development\nof seven races, and of senses, faculties and powers appropriate to that\nstate of matter: the experience of the whole seven globes being needed\nto make a perfect development. Hence we have the Rounds and Races. The\nRound is a circling of the seven centres of planetary consciousness;\nthe Race the racial development on one of those seven. There are seven\nraces for each globe, but the total of forty-nine races only makes up\nseven great races, the special septennate of races on each globe or\nplanetary centre composing in reality one race of seven constituents or\nspecial peculiarities of function and power.\n\nAnd as no complete race could be evolved in a moment on any globe, the\nslow, orderly processes of nature, which allow no jumps, must proceed\nby appropriate means. Hence sub-races have to be evolved one after the\nother before the perfect root race is formed, and then the root race\nsends off its off-shoots while it is declining and preparing for the\nadvent of the next great race.\n\nAs illustrating this, it is distinctly taught that on the Americas is\nto be evolved the new\u2014sixth\u2014race; and here all the races of the earth\nare now engaged in a great amalgamation from which will result a\nvery highly developed sub-race, after which others will be evolved by\nsimilar processes until the new one is completed.\n\nBetween the end of any great race and the beginning of another there\nis a period of rest, so far as the globe is concerned, for then the\nstream of human Egos leaves it for another one of the chain in order\nto go on with further evolution of powers and faculties there. But\nwhen the last, the seventh, race has appeared and fully perfected\nitself, a great dissolution comes on, similar to that which I briefly\ndescribed as preceding the birth of the earth\u2019s chain, and then the\nworld disappears as a tangible thing, and so far as the human ear is\nconcerned there is silence. This, it is said, is the root of the belief\nso general that the world will come to an end, that there will be a\njudgment-day, or that there have been universal floods or fires.\n\nTaking up evolution on the Earth, it is stated that the stream of\nMonads begins first to work up the mass of matter in what are called\nelemental conditions when all is gaseous or fiery. For the ancient\nand true theory is that no evolution is possible without the Monad as\nvivifying agent. In this first stage there is no animal nor vegetable.\nNext comes the mineral when the whole mass hardens, the Monads being\nall imprisoned within. Then the first Monads emerge into vegetable\nforms which they construct themselves, and no animals yet appear. Next\nthe first class of Monads emerges from the vegetable and produces the\nanimal, then the human astral and shadowy model, and we have minerals,\nvegetables, animals and future men, for the second and later classes\nare still evolving in the lower kingdoms. When the middle of the Fourth\nRound is reached no more Monads emerge into the human stage and will\nnot until a new planetary mass, re\u00efncarnated from ours, is made. This\nis the whole process roughly given, but with many details left out,\nfor in one of the rounds man appears before the animals. But this\ndetail need lead to no confusion.\n\nAnd to state it in another way. The plan comes first in the universal\nmind, after which the astral model or basis is made, and when that\nastral model is completed, the whole process is gone over so as to\ncondense the matter, up to the middle of the Fourth Round. Subsequent\nto that, which is our future, the whole mass is spiritualized with\nfull consciousness and the entire body of globes raised up to a higher\nplane of development. In the process of condensing above referred to\nthere is an alteration in respect to the time of the appearance of man\non the planet. But as to these details the teachers have only said,\n\u201cthat at the Second Round the plan varies, but the variation will not\nbe given to this generation.\u201d Hence it is impossible for me to give it.\nBut there is no vagueness on the point that seven great races have to\nevolve here on this planet, and that the entire collection of races has\nto go seven times round the whole series of seven globes.\n\nHuman beings did not appear here in two sexes first. The first were of\nno sex, then they altered into hermaphrodite, and lastly separated into\nmale and female. And this separation into male and female for human\nbeings was over 18,000,000 years ago. For that reason is it said, in\nthese ancient schools, that our humanity is 18,000,000 years old and a\nlittle over.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\nRespecting the nature of man there are two ideas current in the\nreligious circles of Christendom. One is the teaching and the other\nthe common acceptation of it; the first is not secret, to be sure,\nin the Church, but it is so seldom dwelt upon in the hearing of the\nlaity as to be almost arcane for the ordinary person. Nearly everyone\nsays he has a soul and a body, and there it ends. What the soul is,\nand whether it is the real person or whether it has any powers of its\nown, are not inquired into, the preachers usually confining themselves\nto its salvation or damnation. And by thus talking of it as something\ndifferent from oneself, the people have acquired an underlying notion\nthat they are not souls because the soul may be lost by them. From\nthis has come about a tendency to materialism causing men to pay more\nattention to the body than to the soul, the latter being left to\nthe tender mercies of the priest of the Roman Catholics, and among\ndissenters the care of it is most frequently put off to the dying day.\nBut when the true teaching is known it will be seen that the care of\nthe soul, which is the Self, is a vital matter requiring attention\nevery day, and not to be deferred without grievous injury resulting to\nthe whole man, both soul and body.\n\nThe Christian teaching, supported by St. Paul, since upon him, in fact,\ndogmatic Christianity rests, is that man is composed of body, soul,\nand spirit. This is the threefold constitution of man, believed by the\ntheologians but kept in the background because its examination might\nresult in the readoption of views once orthodox but now heretical.\nFor when we thus place soul between spirit and body, we come very\nclose to the necessity for looking into the question of the soul\u2019s\nresponsibility\u2014since mere body can have no responsibility. And in order\nto make the soul responsible for the acts performed, we must assume\nthat it has powers and functions. From this it is easy to take the\nposition that the soul may be rational or irrational, as the Greeks\nsometimes thought, and then there is but a step to further Theosophical\npropositions. This threefold scheme of the nature of man contains, in\nfact, the Theosophical teaching of his sevenfold constitution, because\nthe four other divisions missing from the category can be found in the\npowers and functions of body and soul, as I shall attempt to show later\non. This conviction that man is a septenary and not merely a duad, was\nheld long ago and very plainly taught to every one with accompanying\ndemonstrations, but like other philosophical tenets it disappeared\nfrom sight, because gradually withdrawn at the time when in the east\nof Europe morals were degenerating and before materialism had gained\nfull sway in company with scepticism, its twin. Upon its withdrawal\nthe present dogma of body, soul, spirit, was left to Christendom. The\nreason for that concealment and its rejuvenescence in this century is\nwell put by Mme. H. P. Blavatsky in the _Secret Doctrine_. In answer to\nthe statement, \u201cwe cannot understand how any danger could arise from\nthe revelation of such a purely philosophical doctrine as the evolution\nof the planetary chain,\u201d she says:\n\n The danger was this: Doctrines such as the Planetary chain or the\n seven races at once give a clue to the sevenfold nature of man, for\n each principle is correlated to a plane, a planet, and a race; and\n the human principles are, on every plane, correlated to the sevenfold\n occult forces\u2014those of the higher planes being of tremendous occult\n power, the abuse of which would cause incalculable evil to humanity. A\n clue which is, perhaps, no clue to the present generation\u2014especially\n the Westerns\u2014protected as they are by their very blindness and\n ignorant materialistic disbelief in the occult; but a clue which\n would, nevertheless, be very real in the early centuries of the\n Christian era, to people fully convinced of the reality of occultism\n and entering a cycle of degradation which made them ripe for abuse of\n occult powers and sorcery of the worst description.\n\nMr. A. P. Sinnett, at one time an official in the Government of India,\nfirst outlined in this century the real nature of man in his book\n_Esoteric Buddhism_, which was made up from information conveyed to him\nby H. P. Blavatsky directly from the Great Lodge of Initiates to which\nreference has been made. And in thus placing the old doctrine before\nwestern civilization he conferred a great benefit on his generation and\nhelped considerably the cause of Theosophy. His classification was:\n\n  (1.) The Body, or _Rupa_.\n\n  (2.) Vitality, or _Prana-Jiva_.\n\n  (3.) Astral Body, or _Linga-Sarira_.\n\n  (4.) Animal Soul, or _Kama-Rupa_.\n\n  (5.) Human Soul, or _Manas_.\n\n  (6.) Spiritual Soul, or _Buddhi_.\n\n  (7.) Spirit, or _Atma_.\n\nThe words in italics being equivalents in the Sanscrit language adopted\nby him for the English terms. This classification stands to this day\nfor all practical purposes, but it is capable of modification and\nextension. For instance, a later arrangement which places Astral body\nsecond instead of third in the category does not substantially alter\nit. It at once gives an idea of what man is, very different from\nthe vague description by the words \u201cbody and soul,\u201d and also boldly\nchallenges the materialistic conception that mind is the product of\nbrain, a portion of the body. No claim is made that these principles\nwere hitherto unknown, for they were all understood in various ways not\nonly by the Hindus but by many Europeans. Yet the compact presentation\nof the sevenfold constitution of man in intimate connection with the\nseptenary constitution of a chain of globes through which the being\nevolves, had not been given out. The French Abb\u00e9, Eliphas Levi,\nwrote about the astral realm and the astral body, but evidently had\nno knowledge of the remainder of the doctrine, and while the Hindus\npossessed the other terms in their language and philosophy, they did\nnot use a septenary classification, but depended chiefly on a fourfold\none and certainly concealed (if they knew of it) the doctrine of a\nchain of seven globes including our earth. Indeed, a learned Hindu,\nSubba Row, now deceased, asserted that they knew of a sevenfold\nclassification, but that it had not been and would not be given out.\n\nConsidering these constituents in another manner, we would say that\nthe lower man is a composite being, but in his real nature is a unity,\nor immortal being, comprising a trinity of Spirit, Discernment, and\nMind which requires four lower mortal instruments or vehicles through\nwhich to work in matter and obtain experience from Nature. This trinity\nis that called _Atma-Buddhi-Manas_ in Sanscrit, difficult terms to\nrender in English. _Atma_ is Spirit, _Buddhi_ is the highest power of\nintellection, that which discerns and judges, and _Manas_ is Mind. This\nthreefold collection is the real man; and beyond doubt the doctrine is\nthe origin of the theological one of the trinity of Father, Son, and\nHoly Ghost. The four lower instruments or vehicles are shown in this\ntable:\n\n  _Atma_,   {The Passions and Desires,\n  _Buddhi_, {Life Principle,\n  _Manas_,  {Astral Body,\n            {Physical Body.\n\nThese four lower material constituents are transitory and subject to\ndisintegration in themselves as well as to separation from each other.\nWhen the hour arrives for their separation to begin, the combination\ncan no longer be kept up, the physical body dies, the atoms of which\neach of the four is composed begin to separate from each other, and\nthe whole collection being disjointed is no longer fit for one\nas an instrument for the real man. This is what is called \u201cdeath\u201d\namong us mortals, but it is not death for the real man because he is\ndeathless, persistent, immortal. He is therefore called the Triad,\nor indestructible trinity, while they are known as the Quaternary or\nmortal four.\n\nThis quaternary or lower man is a product of cosmic or physical laws\nand substance. It has been evolved during a lapse of ages, like any\nother physical thing, from cosmic substance, and is therefore subject\nto physical, physiological, and psychical laws which govern the race\nof man as a whole. Hence its period of possible continuance can be\ncalculated just as the limit of tensile strain among the metals used\nin bridge building can be deduced by the engineer. Any one collection\nin the form of man made up of these constituents is therefore limited\nin duration by the laws of the evolutionary period in which it exists.\nJust now, that is generally seventy to one hundred years, but its\npossible duration is longer. Thus there are in history instances where\nordinary persons have lived to be two hundred years of age; and by a\nknowledge of the occult laws of nature the possible limit of duration\nmay be extended nearly to four hundred years.\n\n               { Brain,\n               { Nerves,\n  The visible  { Blood,\n  physical     { Bones,\n  man is:      { Lymph,\n               { Muscles,\n               { Organs of Sensation and Action,\n               {   and Skin,\n\n  The unseen   { Astral Body,\n  physical     { Passions and Desires,\n  man is:      { Life Principle, (called _prana_ or _jiva_.)\n\nIt will be seen that the physical part of our nature is thus extended\nto a second department which, though invisible to the physical eye, is\nnevertheless material and subject to decay. Because people in general\nhave been in the habit of admitting to be real only what they can see\nwith the physical eye, they have at last come to suppose that the\nunseen is neither real nor material. But they forget that even on the\nearth plane noxious gases are invisible though real and powerfully\nmaterial, and that water may exist in the air held suspended and\ninvisible until conditions alter and cause its precipitation.\n\nLet us recapitulate before going into details. The _Real Man_ is\nthe trinity of _Atma-Buddhi-Manas_, or Spirit and Mind, and he uses\ncertain agents and instruments to get in touch with nature in order\nto know himself. These instruments and agents are found in the lower\nFour\u2014or the Quaternary\u2014each principle in which category is of itself an\ninstrument for the particular experience belonging to its own field,\nthe body being the lowest, least important, and most transitory of the\nwhole series. For when we arrive at the body on the way down from the\nHigher Mind, it can be shown that all of its organs are in themselves\nsenseless and useless when deprived of the man within. Sight, hearing,\ntouch, taste, and smelling do not pertain to the body but to the second\nunseen physical man, the real organs for the exercise of those powers\nbeing in the Astral Body, and those in the physical body being but the\nmechanical outer instruments for making the co\u00f6rdination between nature\nand the real organs inside.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n\nThe body, as a mass of flesh, bones, muscles, nerves, brain matter,\nbile, mucous, blood, and skin is an object of exclusive care for too\nmany people, who make it their god because they have come to identify\nthemselves with it, meaning it only when they say \u201cI.\u201d Left to itself\nit is devoid of sense, and acts in such a case solely by reflex and\nautomatic action. This we see in sleep, for then the body assumes\nattitudes and makes motions which the waking man does not permit. It is\nlike mother earth in that it is made up of an infinitesimal number of\n\u201clives\u201d. Each of these lives is a sensitive point. Not only are there\nmicrobes, bacilli, and bacteria, but these are composed of others, and\nthose others of still more minute lives. These lives are not the cells\nof the body, but make up the cells, keeping ever within the limits\nassigned by evolution to the cell. They are forever whirling and moving\ntogether throughout the whole body, being in certain apparently void\nspaces as well as where flesh, membrane, bones, and blood are seen.\nThey extend, too, beyond the actual outer limits of the body to a\nmeasurable distance.\n\nOne of the mysteries of physical life is hidden among these \u201clives\u201d.\nTheir action, forced forward by the Life energy\u2014called _Prana_ or\n_Jiva_\u2014will explain active existence and physical death. They are\ndivided into two classes, one the destroyers, the other the preservers,\nand these two war upon each other from birth until the destroyers\nwin. In this struggle the Life Energy itself ends the contest because\nit is life that kills. This may seem heterodox, but in Theosophical\nphilosophy it is held to be the fact. For, it is said, the infant\nlives because the combination of healthy organs is able to absorb\nthe life all around it in space, and is put to sleep each day by the\noverpowering strength of the stream of life, since the preservers\namong the cells of the youthful body are not yet mastered by the other\nclass. These processes of going to sleep and waking again are simply\nand solely the restoring of the equilibrium in sleep and the action\nproduced by disturbing it when awake. It may be compared with the\narc-electric light wherein the brilliant arc of light at the point\nof resistance is the symbol of the waking active man. So in sleep we\nare again absorbing and not resisting the Life Energy; when we wake\nwe are throwing it off. But as it exists around us like an ocean in\nwhich we swim, our power to throw it off is necessarily limited. Just\nwhen we wake we are in equilibrium as to our organs and life; when we\nfall asleep we are yet more full of life than in the morning; it has\nexhausted us; it finally kills the body. Such a contest could not be\nwaged forever, since the whole solar system\u2019s weight of life is pitted\nagainst the power to resist focussed in one small human frame.\n\nThe body is considered by the Masters of Wisdom to be the most\ntransitory, impermanent, and illusionary of the whole series of\nconstituents in man. Not for a moment is it the same. Ever changing, in\nmotion in every part, it is in fact never complete or finished though\ntangible. The ancients clearly perceived this, for they elaborated a\ndoctrine called Naimittika Pralaya, or the continual change in material\nthings, the continual destruction. This is known now to science in the\ndoctrine that the body undergoes a complete alteration and renovation\nevery seven years. At the end of the first seven years it is not the\nsame body it was in the beginning. At the end of our days it has\nchanged seven times, perhaps more. And yet it presents the same general\nappearance from maturity until death; and it is a human form from birth\nto maturity. This is a mystery science explains not; it is a question\npertaining to the cell and to the means whereby the general human shape\nis preserved.\n\nThe \u201ccell\u201d is an illusion. It is merely a word. It has no existence\nas a material thing, for any cell is composed of other cells. What,\nthen, is a cell? It is the ideal form within which the actual physical\natoms\u2014made up of the \u201clives\u201d\u2014arrange themselves. As it is admitted that\nthe physical molecules are forever rushing away from the body, they\nmust be leaving the cells each moment. Hence there is no physical cell,\nbut the privative limits of one, the ideal walls and general shape. The\nmolecules assume position within the ideal shape according to the laws\nof nature, and leave it again almost at once to give place to other\natoms. And as it is thus with the body, so is it with the earth and\nwith the solar system. Thus also is it, though in slower measure, with\nall material objects. They are all in constant motion and change. This\nis modern and also ancient wisdom. This is the physical explanation of\nclairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy, and mind-reading. It helps to\nshow us what a deluding and unsatisfactory thing our body is.\n\nAlthough, strictly speaking, the second constituent of man is the\nAstral Body\u2014called in Sanscrit _Linga Sarira_\u2014we will consider Life\nEnergy\u2014or _Prana_ and _Jiva_ in Sanscrit\u2014together, because to our\nobservation the phenomenon of life is more plainly exhibited in\nconnection with the body.\n\nLife is not the result of the operation of the organs, nor is it gone\nwhen the body dissolves. It is a universally pervasive principle. It\nis the ocean in which the earth floats; it permeates the globe and\nevery being and object on it. It works unceasingly on and around us,\npulsating against and through us forever. When we occupy a body we\nmerely use a more specialized instrument than any other for dealing\nwith both _Prana_ and _Jiva_. Strictly speaking, _Prana_ is breath; and\nas breath is necessary for continuance of life in the human machine,\nthat is the better word. _Jiva_ means \u201clife\u201d, and also is applied to\nthe living soul, for the life in general is derived from the Supreme\nLife itself. _Jiva_ is therefore capable of general application,\nwhereas _Prana_ is more particular. It cannot be said that one has a\ndefinite amount of this Life Energy which will fly back to its source\nshould the body be burned, but rather that it works with whatever be\nthe mass of matter in it. We, as it were, secrete or use it as we\nlive. For whether we are alive or dead, life-energy is still there; in\nlife among our organs sustaining them, in death among the innumerable\ncreatures that arise from our destruction. We can no more do away with\nthis life than we can erase the air in which the bird floats, and like\nthe air it fills all the spaces on the planet, so that nowhere can\nwe lose the benefit of it nor escape its final crushing power. But\nin working upon the physical body this life\u2014_Prana_\u2014needs a vehicle,\nmeans, or guide, and this vehicle is the astral body.\n\nThere are many names for the Astral Body. Here are a few: _Linga\nSarira_, Sanscrit, meaning design body, and the best one of all;\nethereal double; phantom; wraith; apparition; doppelg\u00e4nger; personal\nman; perisprit; irrational soul; animal soul; _Bhuta_; elementary;\nspook; devil; demon. Some of these apply only to the astral body when\ndevoid of the corpus after death. _Bhuta_, devil, and elementary are\nnearly synonymous; the first Sanscrit, the other English. With the\nHindus the _Bhuta_ is the Astral Body when it is by death released from\nthe body and the mind; and being thus separated from conscience, is a\ndevil in their estimation. They are not far wrong, if we abolish the\nold notion that a devil is an angel fallen from heaven, for this bodily\ndevil is something which rises from the earth.\n\nIt may be objected that the term Astral Body is not the right one\nfor this purpose. The objection is one which arises from the nature\nand genesis of the English language, for as that has grown up in a\nstruggle with nature and among a commercial people it has not as yet\ncoined the words needed for designating the great range of faculties\nand organs of the unseen man. And as its philosophers have not admitted\nthe existence of these inner organs, the right terms do not exist in\nthe language. So in looking for words to describe the inner body the\nonly ones found in English were the \u201castral body\u201d. This term comes near\nto the real fact, since the substance of this form is derived from\ncosmic matter or star matter, roughly speaking. But the old Sanscrit\nword describes it exactly\u2014_Linga Sarira_, the design body\u2014because it\nis the design or model for the physical body. This is better than\n\u201cethereal body\u201d, as the latter might be said to be subsequent to the\nphysical, whereas in fact the astral body precedes the material one.\n\nThe astral body is made of matter of very fine texture as compared\nwith the visible body, and has a great tensile strength, so that it\nchanges but little during a lifetime, while the physical alters every\nmoment. And not only has it this immense strength, but at the same time\npossesses an elasticity permitting its extension to a considerable\ndistance. It is flexible, plastic, extensible, and strong. The matter\nof which it is composed is electrical and magnetic in its essence, and\nis just what the whole world was composed of in the dim past when the\nprocesses of evolution had not yet arrived at the point of producing\nthe material body for man. But it is not raw or crude matter. Having\nbeen through a vast period of evolution and undergone purifying\nprocesses of an incalculable number, its nature has been refined to a\ndegree far beyond the gross physical elements we see and touch with the\nphysical eye and hand.\n\nThe astral body is the guiding model for the physical one, and all the\nother kingdoms have the same astral model. Vegetables, minerals, and\nanimals have the ethereal double, and this theory is the only one\nwhich will answer the question how it is that the seed produces its own\nkind and all sentient beings bring forth their like. Biologists can\nonly say that the facts are as we know them, but can give no reason\nwhy the acorn will never grow anything but an oak except that no man\never knew it to be otherwise. But in the old schools of the past the\ntrue doctrine was known, and it has been once again brought out in the\nWest through the efforts of H. P. Blavatsky and those who have found\ninspiration in her works.\n\nThis doctrine is, that in early times of the evolution of this globe\nthe various kingdoms of nature are outlined in plan or ideal form\nfirst, and then the astral matter begins to work on this plan with the\naid of the Life principle, until after long ages the astral human form\nis evolved and perfected. This is, then, the first form that the human\nrace had, and corresponds in a way with the allegory of man\u2019s state in\nthe garden of Eden. After another long period, during which the cycle\nof further descent into matter is rolling forward, the astral form at\nlast clothes itself with a \u201ccoat of skin\u201d, and the present physical\nform is on the scene. This is the explanation of the verse of the book\nof Genesis which describes the giving of coats of skin to Adam and\nEve. It is the final fall into matter, for from that point on the man\nwithin strives to raise the whole mass of physical substance up to a\nhigher level, and to inform it all with a larger measure of spiritual\ninfluence, so that it may be ready to go still further on during the\nnext great period of evolution after the present one is ended. So at\nthe present time the model for the growing child in the womb is the\nastral body already perfect in shape before the child is born. It is\non this the molecules arrange themselves until the child is complete,\nand the presence of the ethereal design-body will explain how the form\ngrows into shape, how the eyes push themselves out from within to the\nsurface of the face, and many other mysterious matters in embryology\nwhich are passed over by medical men with a description but with no\nexplanation. This will also explain, as nothing else can, the cases\nof marking of the child in the womb sometimes denied by physicians\nbut well-known by those who care to watch, to be a fact of frequent\noccurrence. The growing physical form is subject to the astral model;\nit is connected with the imagination of the mother by physical and\npsychical organs; the mother makes a strong picture from horror, fear,\nor otherwise, and the astral model is then similarly affected. In the\ncase of marking by being born legless, the ideas and strong imagination\nof the mother act so as to cut off or shrivel up the astral leg, and\nthe result is that the molecules, having no model of leg to work on,\nmake no physical leg whatever; and similarly in all such cases. But\nwhere we find a man who still feels the leg which the surgeon has cut\noff, or perceives the fingers that were amputated, then the astral\nmember has not been interfered with, and hence the man feels as if it\nwere still on his person. For knife or acid will not injure the astral\nmodel, but in the first stages of its growth ideas and imagination have\nthe power of acid and sharpened steel.\n\nIn the ordinary man who has not been trained in practical occultism or\nwho has not the faculty by birth, the astral body cannot go more than\na few feet from the physical one. It is a part of that physical, it\nsustains it and is incorporated in it just as the fibres of the mango\nare all through that fruit. But there are those who, by reason of\npractices pursued in former lives on the earth, have a power born with\nthem of unconsciously sending out the astral body. These are mediums,\nsome seers, and many hysterical, cataleptic, and scrofulous people.\nThose who have trained themselves by a long course of excessively hard\ndiscipline which reaches to the moral and mental nature and quite\nbeyond the power of the average man of the day, can use the astral\nform at will, for they have gotten completely over the delusion that\nthe physical body is a permanent part of them, and, besides, they have\nlearned the chemical and electrical laws governing in this matter. In\ntheir case they act with knowledge and consciously; in the other cases\nthe act is done without power to prevent it, or to bring it about at\nwill, or to avoid the risks attendant on such use of potencies in\nnature of a high character.\n\nThe astral body has in it the real organs of the outer sense organs.\nIn it are the sight, hearing, power to smell, and the sense of touch.\nIt has a complete system of nerves and arteries of its own for the\nconveyance of the astral fluid which is to that body as our blood is\nto the physical. It is the real personal man. There are located the\nsubconscious perception and the latent memory, which the hypnotizers\nof the day are dealing with and being baffled by. So when the body\ndies the astral man is released, and as at death the immortal man\u2014the\nTriad\u2014flies away to another state, the astral becomes a shell of\nthe once living man and requires time to dissipate. It retains all\nthe memories of the life lived by the man, and thus reflexly and\nautomatically can repeat what the dead man knew, said, thought, and\nsaw. It remains near the deserted physical body nearly all the time\nuntil that is completely dissipated, for it has to go through its own\nprocess of dying. It may become visible under certain conditions. It is\nthe spook of the spiritualistic _s\u00e9ance_ rooms, and is there made to\nmasquerade as the real spirit of this or that individual. Attracted by\nthe thoughts of the medium and the sitters, it vaguely flutters where\nthey are, and then is galvanized into a factitious life by a whole host\nof elemental forces and by the active astral body of the medium who is\nholding the _s\u00e9ance_ or of any other medium in the audience. From it\n(as from a photograph) are then reflected into the medium\u2019s brain all\nthe boasted evidences which spiritualists claim go to prove identity\nof deceased friend or relative. These evidences are accepted as proof\nthat the spirit of the deceased is present, because neither mediums nor\nsitters are acquainted with the laws governing their own nature, nor\nwith the constitution, power, and function of astral matter and astral\nman.\n\nThe Theosophical philosophy does not deny the facts proven in\nspiritualistic _s\u00e9ances_, but it gives an explanation of them wholly\nopposed to that of the spiritualists. And surely the utter absence of\nany logical scientific explanation by these so-called spirits of the\nphenomena they are said to produce supports the contention that they\nhave no knowledge to impart. They can merely cause certain phenomena;\nthe examination of those and deductions therefrom can only be properly\ncarried on by a trained brain guided by a living trinity of spirit,\nsoul, and mind. And here another class of spiritualistic phenomena\nrequires brief notice. That is the appearance of what is called a\n\u201cmaterialized spirit\u201d.\n\nThree explanations are offered: _First_, that the astral body of\nthe living medium detaches itself from its corpus and assumes the\nappearance of the so-called spirit; for one of the properties of the\nastral matter is capacity to reflect an image existing unseen in ether.\n_Second_, the actual astral shell of the deceased\u2014wholly devoid of his\nor her spirit and conscience\u2014becomes visible and tangible when the\ncondition of air and ether is such as to so alter the vibration of the\nmolecules of the astral shell that it may become visible. The phenomena\nof density and apparent weight are explained by other laws. _Third_,\nan unseen mass of electrical and magnetic matter is collected, and\nupon it is reflected out of the astral light a picture of any desired\nperson either dead or living. This is taken to be the \u201cspirit\u201d of such\npersons, but it is not, and has been justly called by H. P. Blavatsky\na \u201cpsychological fraud\u201d, because it pretends to be what it is not. And,\nstrange to say, this very explanation of materializations has been\ngiven by a \u201cspirit\u201d at a regular _s\u00e9ance_, but has never been accepted\nby the spiritualists just because it upsets their notion of the return\nof the spirits of deceased persons.\n\nFinally, the astral body will explain nearly all the strange psychical\nthings happening in daily life and in dealings with genuine mediums;\nit shows what an apparition may be and the possibility of such being\nseen, and thus prevents the scientific doubter from violating good\nsense by asserting you did not see what you know you have seen; it\nremoves superstition by showing the real nature of these phenomena, and\ndestroys the unreasonable fear of the unknown which makes a man afraid\nto see a \u201cghost\u201d. By it also we can explain the apportation of objects\nwithout physical contact, for the astral hand may be extruded and made\nto take hold of an object, drawing it in toward the body. When this is\nshown to be possible, then travelers will not be laughed at who tell of\nseeing the Hindu yogee make coffee cups fly through the air and distant\nobjects approach apparently of their own accord untouched by him or any\none else. All the instances of clairvoyance and clairaudience are to be\nexplained also by the astral body and astral light. The astral\u2014which\nare the real\u2014organs do the seeing and the hearing, and as all material\nobjects are constantly in motion among their own atoms the astral sight\nand hearing are not impeded, but work at a distance as great as the\nextension of the astral light or matter around and about the earth.\nThus it was that the great seer Swedenborg saw houses burning in the\ncity of Stockholm when he was at another city many miles off, and by\nthe same means any clairvoyant of the day sees and hears at a distance.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n\nThe author of _Esoteric Buddhism_\u2014which book ought to be consulted by\nall students of Theosophy, since it was made from suggestions given by\nsome of the Adepts themselves\u2014gave the name _Kama rupa_ to the fourth\nprinciple of man\u2019s constitution. The reason was that the word _Kama_ in\nthe Sanscrit language means \u201cdesire\u201d, and as the idea intended to be\nconveyed was that the fourth principle was the \u201cbody or mass of desires\nand passions\u201d, Mr. Sinnett added the Sanscrit word for body or form,\nwhich is _Rupa_, thus making the compound word _Kamarupa_. I shall call\nit by the English equivalent\u2014passions and desires\u2014because those terms\nexactly express its nature. And I do this also in order to make the\nsharp issue which actually exists between the psychology and mental\nphilosophy of the west and those of the east. The west divides man into\nintellect, will, and feeling, but it is not understood whether the\npassions and desires constitute a principle in themselves or are due\nentirely to the body. Indeed, most people consider them as being the\nresult of the influence of the flesh, for they are designated often by\nthe terms \u201cdesires of the flesh\u201d and \u201cfleshly appetites\u201d. The ancients,\nhowever, and the Theosophists know them to be a principle in themselves\nand not merely the impulses from the body. There is no help to be had\nin this matter from the western psychology, now in its infancy and\nwholly devoid of knowledge about the inner, which is the psychical,\nnature of man, and from this point there is the greatest divergence\nbetween it and Theosophy.\n\nThe passions and desires are not produced by the body, but, on the\ncontrary, the body is caused to be by the former. It is desire and\npassion which caused us to be born, and will bring us to birth again\nand again in this body or in some other. It is by passion and desire we\nare made to evolve through the mansions of death called lives on earth.\nIt was by the arising of desire in the unknown first cause, the one\nabsolute existence, that the whole collection of worlds was manifested,\nand by means of the influence of desire in the now manifested world is\nthe latter kept in existence.\n\nThis fourth principle is the balance principle of the whole seven. It\nstands in the middle, and from it the ways go up or down. It is the\nbasis of action and the mover of the will. As the old Hermetists say:\n\u201cBehind will stands desire.\u201d For whether we wish to do well or ill we\nhave to first arouse within us the desire for either course. The good\nman who at last becomes even a sage had at one time in his many lives\nto arouse the desire for the company of holy men and to keep his desire\nfor progress alive in order to continue on his way. Even a Buddha or a\nJesus had first to make a vow, which is a desire, in some life, that\nhe would save the world or some part of it, and to persevere with\nthe desire alive in his heart through countless lives. And equally\nso, on the other hand, the bad man life after life took unto himself\nlow, selfish, wicked desires, thus debasing instead of purifying this\nprinciple. On the material and scientific side of occultism,\u2014the use of\nthe inner hidden powers of our nature\u2014if this principle of desire be\nnot strong, the master power of imagination cannot do its work, because\nthough it makes a mould or matrix the will cannot act unless it is\nmoved, directed, and kept up to pitch by desire.\n\nThe desires and passions, therefore, have two aspects, the one being\nlow and the other high. The low is that shown by the constant placing\nof the consciousness entirely below in the body and the astral body;\nthe high comes from the influence of and aspiration to the trinity\nabove, of Mind, Buddhi, and Spirit. This fourth principle is like the\nsign Libra in the path of the Sun through the Zodiac; when the Sun (who\nis the real man) reaches that sign he trembles in the balance. Should\nhe go back the worlds would be destroyed; he goes onward, and the whole\nhuman race is lifted up to perfection.\n\nDuring life the emplacement of the desires and passions is, as obtains\nwith the astral body, throughout the entire lower man, and like that\nethereal counterpart of our physical person it may be added to or\ndiminished, made weak or increased in strength, debased or purified.\n\nAt death it informs the astral body, which then becomes a mere shell;\nfor when a man dies his astral body and principle of passion and desire\nleave the physical in company and coalesce. It is then that the term\n_Kamarupa_ may be applied, as _Kamarupa_ is really made of astral body\nand _Kama_ in conjunction, and this joining of the two makes a shape or\nform which though ordinarily invisible is material and may be brought\ninto visibility. Although it is empty of mind and conscience, it has\npowers of its own that can be exercised whenever the conditions permit.\nThese conditions are furnished by the medium of the spiritualists,\nand in every _s\u00e9ance_ room the astral shells of deceased persons are\nalways present to delude the sitters, whose powers of discrimination\nhave been destroyed by wonderment. It is the \u201cdevil\u201d of the Hindus, and\na worse enemy the poor medium could not have. For the astral spook\u2014or\n_Kamarupa_\u2014is but the mass of the desires and passions abandoned by the\nreal person who has fled to \u201cheaven\u201d and has no concern with the people\nleft behind, least of all with _s\u00e9ances_ and mediums. Hence, being\ndevoid of the nobler soul, these desires and passions work only on the\nvery lowest part of the medium\u2019s nature and stir up no good elements,\nbut always the lower leanings of the being. Therefore it is that even\nthe spiritualists themselves admit that in the ranks of the mediums\nthere is much fraud, and mediums have often confessed, \u201cthe spirits did\ntempt me and I committed fraud at their wish.\u201d\n\nThis _Kamarupa_ spook is also the enemy of our civilization, which\npermits us to execute men for crimes committed and thus throw out into\nthe ether the mass of passion and desire free from the weight of the\nbody and liable at any moment to be attracted to any sensitive person.\nBeing thus attracted, the deplorable images of crimes committed and\nalso the picture of the execution and all the accompanying curses and\nwishes for revenge are implanted in living persons, who, not seeing the\nevil, are unable to throw it off. Thus crimes and new ideas of crimes\nare wilfully propagated every day by those countries where capital\npunishment prevails.\n\nThe astral shells together with the still living astral body of the\nmedium, helped by certain forces of nature which the Theosophists\ncall \u201celementals\u201d, produce nearly all the phenomena of non-fraudulent\nspiritualism. The medium\u2019s astral body having the power of extension\nand extrusion forms the framework for what are called \u201cmaterialized\nspirits\u201d, makes objects move without physical contact, gives reports\nfrom deceased relatives, none of them anything more than recollections\nand pictures from the astral light, and in all this using and being\nused by the shells of suicides, executed murderers, and all such spooks\nas are naturally near to this plane of life. The number of cases in\nwhich any communication comes from an actual spirit out of the body\nis so small as to be countable almost on one hand. But the spirits of\nliving men sometimes, while their bodies are asleep, come to _s\u00e9ances_\nand take part therein. But they cannot recollect it, do not know how\nthey do it, and are not distinguished by mediums from the mass of\nastral corpses. The fact that such things can be done by the inner\nman and not be recollected proves nothing against these theories, for\nthe child can see without knowing how the eye acts, and the savage who\nhas no knowledge of the complex machinery working in his body still\ncarries on the process of digestion perfectly. And that the latter is\nunconscious with him is exactly in line with the theory, for these\nacts and doings of the inner man are the unconscious actions of the\nsubconscious mind. These words \u201cconscious\u201d and \u201csubconscious\u201d are of\ncourse used relatively, the unconsciousness being that of the brain\nonly. And hypnotic experiments have conclusively proved all these\ntheories, as on one day not far away will be fully admitted. Besides\nthis, the astral shells of suicides and executed criminals are the\nmost coherent, longest lived, and nearest to us of all the shades of\nhades, and hence must, out of the necessity of the case, be the real\n\u201ccontrols\u201d of the _s\u00e9ance_ room.\n\nPassion and desire together with astral model-body are common to men\nand animals, as also to the vegetable kingdom, though in the last but\nfaintly developed. And at one period in evolution no further material\nprinciples had been developed, and all the three higher, of Mind, Soul,\nand Spirit, were but latent. Up to this point man and animal were\nequal, for the brute in us is made of the passions and the astral body.\nThe development of the germs of Mind made man because it constituted\nthe great differentiation. The God within begins with _Manas_ or mind,\nand it is the struggle between this God and the brute below which\nTheosophy speaks of and warns about. The lower principle is called bad\nbecause by comparison with the higher it is so, but still it is the\nbasis of action. We cannot rise unless self first asserts itself in\nthe desire to do better. In this aspect it is called _rajas_ or the\nactive and bad quality, as distinguished from _tamas_, or the quality\nof darkness and indifference. Rising is not possible unless _rajas_\nis present to give the impulse, and by the use of this principle of\npassion all the higher qualities are brought to at last so refine and\nelevate our desires that they may be continually placed upon truth\nand spirit. By this Theosophy does not teach that the passions are to\nbe pandered to or satiated, for a more pernicious doctrine was never\ntaught, but the injunction is to make use of the activity given by the\nfourth principle so as to ever rise and not to fall under the dominion\nof the dark quality that ends with annihilation, after having begun in\nselfishness and indifference.\n\nHaving thus gone over the field and shown what are the lower\nprinciples, we find Theosophy teaching that at the present point of\nman\u2019s evolution he is a fully developed quaternary with the higher\nprinciples partly developed. Hence it is taught that to-day man\nshows himself to be moved by passion and desire. This is proved by a\nglance at the civilizations of the earth, for they are all moved by\nthis principle, and in countries like France, England, and America\na glorification of it is exhibited in the attention to display, to\nsensuous art, to struggle for power and place, and in all the habits\nand modes of living where the gratification of the senses is sometimes\nesteemed the highest good. But as Mind is being evolved more and more\nas we proceed in our course along the line of the race development,\nthere can be perceived underneath in all countries the beginning of\nthe transition from the animal possessed of the germ of real mind to\nthe man of mind complete. This day is therefore known to the Masters,\nwho have given out some of the old truths, as the \u201ctransition period\u201d.\nProud science and prouder religion do not admit this, but think we are\nas we always will be. But believing in his teacher, the theosophist\nsees all around him the evidence that the race mind is changing by\nenlargement, that the old days of dogmatism are gone and the \u201cage of\ninquiry\u201d has come, that the inquiries will grow louder year by year\nand the answers be required to satisfy the mind as it grows more and\nmore, until at last, all dogmatism being ended, the race will be ready\nto face all problems, each man for himself, all working for the good\nof the whole, and that the end will be the perfecting of those who\nstruggle to overcome the brute. For these reasons the old doctrines are\ngiven out again, and Theosophy asks every one to reflect whether to\ngive way to the animal below or look up to and be governed by the God\nwithin.\n\nA fuller treatment of the fourth principle of our constitution would\ncompel us to consider all such questions as those presented by the\nwonder workers of the east, by spiritualistic phenomena, hypnotism,\napparitions, insanity, and the like, but they must be reserved for\nseparate handling.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n\nIn our analysis of man\u2019s nature we have so far considered only the\nperishable elements which make up the lower man, and have arrived at\nthe fourth principle or plane\u2014that of desire\u2014without having touched\nupon the question of Mind. But even so far as we have gone it must be\nevident that there is a wide difference between the ordinary ideas\nabout Mind and those found in Theosophy. Ordinarily the Mind is\nthought to be immaterial, or to be merely the name for the action of\nthe brain in evolving thought, a process wholly unknown other than by\ninference, or that if there be no brain there can be no mind. A good\ndeal of attention has been paid to cataloguing some mental functions\nand attributes, but the terms are altogether absent from the language\nto describe actual metaphysical and spiritual facts about man. This\nconfusion and poverty of words for these uses are due almost entirely,\nfirst, to dogmatic religion, which has asserted and enforced for many\ncenturies dogmas and doctrines which reason could not accept, and\nsecondly to the natural war which grew up between science and religion\njust as soon as the fetters placed by religion upon science were\nremoved and the latter was permitted to deal with facts in nature. The\nreaction against religion naturally prevented science from taking any\nbut a materialistic view of man and nature. So from neither of these\ntwo have we yet gained the words needed for describing the fifth,\nsixth, and seventh principles, those which make up the Trinity, the\nreal man, the immortal pilgrim.\n\nThe fifth principle is _Manas_, in the classification adopted by Mr.\nSinnett, and is usually translated Mind. Other names have been given\nto it, but it is the knower, the perceiver, the thinker. The sixth is\n_Buddhi_, or spiritual discernment; the seventh is _Atma_, or Spirit,\nthe ray from the Absolute Being. The English language will suffice to\ndescribe in part what _Manas_ is, but not _Buddhi_, nor _Atma_, and\nwill leave many things relating to _Manas_ undescribed.\n\nThe course of evolution developed the lower principles and produced\nat last the form of man with a brain of better and deeper capacity\nthan that of any other animal. But this man in form was not man in\nmind, and needed the fifth principle, the thinking, perceiving one, to\ndifferentiate him from the animal kingdom and to confer the power of\nbecoming self-conscious. The monad was imprisoned in these forms, and\nthat monad is composed of _Atma_ and _Buddhi_; for without the presence\nof the monad evolution could not go forward. Going back for a moment to\nthe time when the races were devoid of mind, the question arises, \u201cwho\ngave the mind, where did it come from, and what is it?\u201d It is the link\nbetween the Spirit of God above and the personal below; it was given\nto the mindless monads by others who had gone all through this process\nages upon ages before in other worlds and systems of worlds, and it\ntherefore came from other evolutionary periods which were carried out\nand completed long before the solar system had begun. This is the\ntheory, strange and unacceptable to-day, but which must be stated if we\nare to tell the truth about theosophy; and this is only handing on what\nothers have said before.\n\nThe manner in which this light of mind was given to the Mindless Men\ncan be understood from the illustration of one candle lighting many.\nGiven one lighted candle and numerous unlighted ones, it follows that\nfrom one light the others may also be set aflame. So in the case of\n_Manas_. It is the candle of flame. The mindless men having four\nelementary principles of Body, Astral Body, Life and Desire, are the\nunlighted candles that cannot light themselves. The Sons of Wisdom,\nwho are the Elder Brothers of every family of men on any globe, have\nthe light, derived by them from others who reach back, and yet farther\nback, in endless procession with no beginning nor end. They set fire to\nthe combined lower principles and the Monad, thus lighting up _Manas_\nin the new men and preparing another great race for final initiation.\nThis lighting up of the fire of _Manas_ is symbolized in all great\nreligions and Freemasonry. In the east one priest appears holding\na candle lighted at the altar, and thousands of others light their\ncandles from this one. The Parsees also have their sacred fire which is\nlighted from some other sacred flame.\n\n_Manas_, or the Thinker, is the re\u00efncarnating being, the immortal who\ncarries the results and values of all the different lives lived on\nearth or elsewhere. Its nature becomes dual as soon as it is attached\nto a body. For the human brain is a superior organism and _Manas_ uses\nit to reason from premises to conclusions. This also differentiates\nman from animal, for the animal acts from automatic and so-called\ninstinctual impulses, whereas the man can use reason. This is the lower\naspect of the Thinker or _Manas_, and not, as some have supposed, the\nhighest and best gift belonging to man. Its other, and in theosophy\nhigher, aspect is the intuitional, which knows, and does not depend on\nreason. The lower, and purely intellectual, is nearest to the principle\nof Desire, and is thus distinguished from its other side which has\naffinity for the spiritual principles above. If the Thinker, then,\nbecomes wholly intellectual, the entire nature begins to tend downward;\nfor intellect alone is cold, heartless, selfish, because it is not\nlighted up by the two other principles of _Buddhi_ and _Atma_.\n\nIn _Manas_ the thoughts of all lives are stored. That is to say: in\nany one life, the sum total of thoughts underlying all the acts of the\nlife-time will be of one character in general, but may be placed in\none or more classes. That is, the business man of to-day is a single\ntype; his entire life thoughts represent but one single thread of\nthought. The artist is another. The man who has engaged in business,\nbut also thought much upon fame and power which he never attained,\nis still another. The great mass of self-sacrificing, courageous,\nand strong poor people who have but little time to think, constitute\nanother distinct class. In all these the total quantity of life\nthoughts makes up the stream or thread of a life\u2019s meditation\u2014\u201cthat\nupon which the heart was set\u201d\u2014and is stored in _Manas_, to be\nbrought out again at any time in whatever life the brain and bodily\nenvironments are similar to those used in engendering that class of\nthoughts.\n\nIt is _Manas_ which sees the objects presented to it by the bodily\norgans and the actual organs within. When the open eye receives a\npicture on the retina, the whole scene is turned into vibrations in the\noptic nerves which disappear into the brain, where _Manas_ is enabled\nto perceive them as idea. And so with every other organ or sense. If\nthe connection between _Manas_ and the brain be broken, intelligence\nwill not be manifested unless _Manas_ has by training found out how\nto project the astral body from the physical and thereby keep up\ncommunication with fellowmen. That the organs and senses do not cognize\nobjects, hypnotism, mesmerism, and spiritualism have now proved. For,\nas we see in mesmeric and hypnotic experiments, the object seen or\nfelt, and from which all the effects of solid objects may be sensed, is\noften only an idea existing in the operator\u2019s brain. In the same way\n_Manas_, using the astral body, has only to impress an idea upon the\nother person to make the latter see the idea and translate it into a\nvisible body from which the usual effects of density and weight seem\nto follow. And in hypnotism there are many experiments, all of which\ngo to show that so called matter is not _per se_ solid or dense; that\nsight does not always depend on the eye and rays of light proceeding\nfrom an object; that the intangible for one normal brain and organs may\nbe perfectly tangible for another; and that physical effects in the\nbody may be produced from an idea solely. The well-known experiments of\nproducing a blister by a simple piece of paper, or preventing a real\nblistering plaster from making a blister, by force of the idea conveyed\nto a subject, either that there was to be or not to be a blister,\nconclusively prove the power of effecting an impulse on matter by the\nuse of that which is called _Manas_. But all these phenomena are the\nexhibition of the powers of lower _Manas_ acting in the astral Body and\nthe fourth principle\u2014Desire, using the physical body as the field for\nthe exhibition of the forces.\n\nIt is this lower _Manas_ which retains all the impressions of a\nlife-time and sometimes strangely exhibits them in trances or dreams,\ndelirium, induced states, here and there in normal conditions, and very\noften at the time of physical death. But it is so occupied with the\nbrain, with memory and with sensation, that it usually presents but few\nrecollections out of the mass of events that years have brought before\nit. It interferes with the action of Higher _Manas_ because just at\nthe present point of evolution, Desire and all corresponding powers,\nfaculties, and senses are the most highly developed, thus obscuring,\nas it were, the white light of the spiritual side of _Manas_. It is\ntinted by each object presented to it, whether it be a thought-object\nor a material one. That is to say, Lower _Manas_ operating through\nthe brain is at once altered into the shape and other characteristics\nof any object, mental or otherwise. This causes it to have four\npeculiarities. _First_, to naturally fly off from any point, object,\nor subject; _second_, to fly to some pleasant idea; _third_, to fly\nto an unpleasant idea; _fourth_, to remain passive and considering\nnaught. The first is due to memory and the natural motion of _Manas_;\nthe second and third are due to memory alone; the fourth signifies\nsleep when not abnormal, and when abnormal is going toward insanity.\nThese mental characteristics all belonging to Lower _Manas_, are those\nwhich the Higher _Manas_, aided by _Buddhi_ and _Atma_, has to fight\nand conquer. Higher _Manas_, if able to act, becomes what we sometimes\ncall Genius; if completely master, then one may become a god. But\nmemory continually presents pictures to Lower _Manas_, and the result\nis that the Higher is obscured. Sometimes, however, along the pathway\nof life we do see here and there men who are geniuses or great seers\nand prophets. In these the Higher powers of _Manas_ are active and the\nperson illuminated. Such were the great Sages of the past, men like\nBuddha, Jesus, Confucius, Zoroaster, and others. Poets, too, such as\nTennyson, Longfellow, and others, are men in whom Higher _Manas_ now\nand then sheds a bright ray on the man below, to be soon obscured,\nhowever, by the effect of dogmatic religious education which has given\nmemory certain pictures that always prevent _Manas_ from gaining full\nactivity.\n\nIn this higher Trinity, we have the God above each one; this is _Atma_,\nand may be called the Higher Self.\n\nNext is the spiritual part of the soul called _Buddhi_; when thoroughly\nunited with _Manas_ this may be called the Divine Ego.\n\nThe inner Ego, who re\u00efncarnates, taking on body after body, storing up\nthe impressions of life after life, gaining experience and adding it\nto the divine Ego, suffering and enjoying through an immense period of\nyears, is the fifth principle\u2014_Manas_\u2014not united to _Buddhi_. This is\nthe permanent individuality which gives to every man the feeling of\nbeing himself and not some other; that which through all the changes\nof the days and nights from youth to the end of life makes us feel\none identity through all the period; it bridges the gap made by sleep;\nin like manner it bridges the gap made by the sleep of death. It is\nthis, and not our brain, that lifts us above the animal. The depth and\nvariety of the brain convolutions in man are caused by the presence of\n_Manas_, and are not the cause of mind. And when we either wholly or\nnow and then become consciously united with _Buddhi_, the Spiritual\nSoul, we behold God, as it were. This is what the ancients all desired\nto see, but what the moderns do not believe in, the latter preferring\nrather to throw away their own right to be great in nature, and to\nworship an imaginary god made up solely of their own fancies and not\nvery different from weak human nature.\n\nThis permanent individuality in the present race has therefore been\nthrough every sort of experience, for Theosophy insists on its\npermanence and in the necessity for its continuing to take part in\nevolution. It has a duty to perform, consisting in raising up to a\nhigher state all the matter concerned in the chain of globes to which\nthe earth belongs. We have all lived and taken part in civilization\nafter civilization, race after race, on earth, and will so continue\nthroughout all the rounds and races until the seventh is complete.\nAt the same time it should be remembered that the matter of this\nglobe and that connected with it has also been through every kind of\nform, with possibly some exceptions in very low planes of mineral\nformation. But in general all the matter visible, or held in space\nstill unprecipitated, has been moulded at one time or another into\nforms of all varieties, many of these being such as we now have no\nidea of. The processes of evolution, therefore, in some departments,\nnow go forward with greater rapidity than in former ages because both\n_Manas_ and matter have acquired facility of action. Especially is this\nso in regard to man, who is the farthest ahead of all things or beings\nin this evolution. He is now incarnated and projected into life more\nquickly than in earlier periods when it consumed many years to obtain\na \u201ccoat of skin\u201d. This coming into life over and over again cannot be\navoided by the ordinary man because Lower _Manas_ is still bound by\nDesire, which is the preponderating principle at the present period.\nBeing so influenced by Desire, _Manas_ is continually deluded while in\nthe body, and being thus deluded is unable to prevent the action upon\nit of the forces set up in the life time. These forces are generated\nby _Manas_, that is, by the thinking of the life time. Each thought\nmakes a physical as well as mental link with the desire in which it is\nrooted. All life is filled with such thoughts, and when the period of\nrest after death is ended _Manas_ is bound by innumerable electrical\nmagnetic threads to earth by reason of the thoughts of the last life,\nand therefore by desire, for it was desire that caused so many thoughts\nand ignorance of the true nature of things. An understanding of this\ndoctrine of man being really a thinker and made of thought will make\nclear all the rest in relation to incarnation and re\u00efncarnation. The\nbody of the inner man is made of thought, and this being so it must\nfollow that if the thoughts have more affinity for earth-life than for\nlife elsewhere a return to life here is inevitable.\n\nAt the present day _Manas_ is not fully active in the race, as Desire\nstill is uppermost. In the next cycle of the human period _Manas_ will\nbe fully active and developed in the entire race. Hence the people of\nthe earth have not yet come to the point of making a conscious choice\nas to the path they will take; but when in the cycle referred to,\n_Manas_ is active, all will then be compelled to consciously make the\nchoice to right or left, the one leading to complete and conscious\nunion with _Atma_, the other to the annihilation of those beings who\nprefer that path.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n\nHow man has come to be the complex being that he is and why, are\nquestions that neither Science nor Religion makes conclusive answer\nto. This immortal thinker having such vast powers and possibilities,\nall his because of his intimate connection with every secret part of\nNature from which he has been built up, stands at the top of an immense\nand silent evolution. He asks why Nature exists, what the drama of\nlife has for its aim, how that aim may be attained. But Science and\nReligion both fail to give a reasonable reply. Science does not pretend\nto be able to give the solution, saying that the examination of things\nas they are is enough of a task; religion offers an explanation both\nillogical and unmeaning and acceptable but to the bigot, as it requires\nus to consider the whole of Nature as a mystery and to seek for the\nmeaning and purpose of life with all its sorrow in the pleasure of a\nGod who cannot be found out. The educated and enquiring mind knows that\ndogmatic religion can only give an answer invented by man while it\npretends to be from God.\n\nWhat then is the universe for, and for what final purpose is man the\nimmortal thinker here in evolution? It is all for the experience\nand emancipation of the soul, for the purpose of raising the entire\nmass of manifested matter up to the stature, nature, and dignity of\nconscious god-hood. The great aim is to reach self-consciousness; not\nthrough a race or a tribe or some favored nation, but by and through\nthe perfecting, after transformation, of the whole mass of matter as\nwell as what we now call soul. Nothing is or is to be left out. The\naim for present man is his initiation into complete knowledge, and\nfor the other kingdoms below him that they may be raised up gradually\nfrom stage to stage to be in time initiated also. This is evolution\ncarried to its highest power; it is a magnificent prospect; it makes of\nman a god, and gives to every part of nature the possibility of being\none day the same; there is strength and nobility in it, for by this no\nman is dwarfed and belittled, for no one is so originally sinful that\nhe cannot rise above all sin. Treated from the materialistic position\nof Science, evolution takes in but half of life; while the religious\nconception of it is a mixture of nonsense and fear. Present religions\nkeep the element of fear, and at the same time imagine that an Almighty\nbeing can think of no other earth but this and has to govern this one\nvery imperfectly. But the old theosophical view makes the universe a\nvast, complete, and perfect whole.\n\nNow the moment we postulate a double evolution, physical and spiritual,\nwe have at the same time to admit that it can only be carried on by\nre\u00efncarnation. This is, in fact, demonstrated by science. It is shown\nthat the matter of the earth and of all things physical upon it was at\none time either gaseous or molten; that it cooled; that it altered;\nthat from its alterations and evolutions at last were produced all\nthe great variety of things and beings. This, on the physical plane,\nis transformation or change from one form to another. The total mass\nof matter is about the same as in the beginning of this globe, with\na very minute allowance for some star dust. Hence it must have been\nchanged over and over again, and thus been physically reformed and\nre\u00ebmbodied. Of course, to be strictly accurate, we cannot use the\nword re\u00efncarnation, because \u201cincarnate\u201d refers to flesh. Let us say\n\u201cre\u00ebmbodied\u201d, and then we see that both for matter and for man there\nhas been a constant change of form and this is, broadly speaking,\n\u201cre\u00efncarnation\u201d. As to the whole mass of matter, the doctrine is that\nit will all be raised to man\u2019s estate when man has gone further on\nhimself. There is no residuum left after man\u2019s final salvation which in\na mysterious way is to be disposed of or done away with in some remote\ndustheap of nature. The true doctrine allows for nothing like that, and\nat the same time is not afraid to give the true disposition of what\nwould seem to be a residuum. It is all worked up into other states,\nfor as the philosophy declares there is no inorganic matter whatever\nbut that every atom is alive and has the germ of self-consciousness,\nit must follow that one day it will all have been changed. Thus what\nis now called human flesh is so much matter that one day was wholly\nmineral, later on vegetable, and now refined into human atoms. At a\npoint of time very far from now the present vegetable matter will have\nbeen raised to the animal stage and what we now use as our organic or\nfleshy matter will have changed by transformation through evolution\ninto self-conscious thinkers, and so on up the whole scale until the\ntime shall come when what is now known as mineral matter will have\npassed on to the human stage and out into that of thinker. Then at\nthe coming on of another great period of evolution the mineral matter\nof that time will be some which is now passing through its lower\ntransformations on other planets and in other systems of worlds. This\nis perhaps a \u201cfanciful\u201d scheme for the men of the present day, who are\nso accustomed to being called bad, sinful, weak, and utterly foolish\nfrom their birth that they fear to believe the truth about themselves,\nbut for the disciples of the ancient theosophists it is not impossible\nor fanciful, but is logical and vast. And no doubt it will one day be\nadmitted by everyone when the mind of the western race has broken away\nfrom Mosaic chronology and Mosaic ideas of men and nature. Therefore\nas to re\u00efncarnation and metempsychosis we say that they are first to\nbe applied to the whole cosmos and not alone to man. But as man is\nthe most interesting object to himself, we will consider in detail its\napplication to him.\n\nThis is the most ancient of doctrines and is believed in now by more\nhuman minds than the number of those who do not hold it. The millions\nin the East almost all accept it; it was taught by the Greeks; a large\nnumber of the Chinese now believe it as their forefathers did before\nthem; the Jews thought it was true, and it has not disappeared from\ntheir religion; and Jesus, who is called the founder of Christianity,\nalso believed and taught it. In the early Christian church it was known\nand taught, and the very best of the fathers of the church believed and\npromulgated it.\n\nChristians should remember that Jesus was a Jew who thought his mission\nwas to Jews, for he says in St. Matthew, \u201cI am not sent but unto\nthe lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u201d He must have well known the\ndoctrines held by them. They all believed in re\u00efncarnation. For them\nMoses, Adam, Noah, Seth, and others had returned to earth, and at the\ntime of Jesus it was currently believed that the old prophet Elias was\nyet to return. So we find, first, that Jesus never denied the doctrine,\nand on various occasions assented to it, as when he said that John the\nBaptist was actually the Elias of old whom the people were expecting.\nAll this can be seen by consulting St. Matthew in chapters XVII, XI,\nand others.\n\nIn these it is very clear that Jesus is shown as approving the doctrine\nof re\u00efncarnation. And following Jesus we find St. Paul, in Romans IX,\nspeaking of Esau and Jacob being actually in existence before they\nwere born, and later such great Christian fathers as Origen, Synesius,\nand others believing and teaching the theory. In Proverbs VIII, 22,\nwe have Solomon saying that when the earth was made he was present,\nand that, long before he could have been born as Solomon, his delights\nwere in the habitable parts of the earth with the sons of men. St.\nJohn the Revelator says in Revs. III, 12, he was told in a vision which\nrefers to the voice of God or the voice of one speaking for God, that\nwhosoever should overcome would not be under the necessity of \u201cgoing\nout\u201d any more, that is, would not need to be re\u00efncarnated. For five\nhundred years after Jesus the doctrine was taught in the church until\nthe council of Constantinople. Then a condemnation was passed upon\na phase of the question which has been regarded by many as against\nre\u00efncarnation, but if that condemnation goes against the words of\nJesus it is of no effect. It does go against him, and thus the church\nis in the position of saying in effect that Jesus did not know enough\nto curse, as it did, a doctrine known and taught in his day and which\nwas brought to his notice prominently and never condemned but in fact\napproved by him. Christianity is a Jewish religion, and this doctrine\nof re\u00efncarnation belongs to it historically by succession from the\nJews, and also by reason of its having been taught by Jesus and the\nearly fathers of the church. If there be any truthful or logical way\nfor the Christian church to get out of this position\u2014excluding, of\ncourse, dogmas of the church\u2014the theosophist would like to be shown\nit. Indeed, the theosophist holds that whenever a professed Christian\ndenies the theory he thereby sets up his judgment against that of\nJesus, who must have known more about the matter than those who follow\nhim. It is the anathema hurled by the church council and the absence of\nthe doctrine from the teaching now that have damaged Christianity and\nmade of all the Christian nations people who pretend to be followers of\nJesus and the law of love, but who really as nations are followers of\nthe Mosaic law of retaliation. For alone in re\u00efncarnation is the answer\nto all the problems of life, and in it and Karma is the force that will\nmake men pursue in fact the ethics they have in theory. It is the aim\nof the old philosophy to restore this doctrine to whatsoever religion\nhas lost it; and hence we call it the \u201clost chord of Christianity.\u201d\n\nBut who or what is it that re\u00efncarnates? It is not the body, for that\ndies and disintegrates; and but few of us would like to be chained\nforever to such bodies as we now have, admitted to be infected with\ndisease except in the case of the savage. It is not the astral body,\nfor, as shown, that also has its term and must go to pieces after\nthe physical has gone. Nor is it the passions and desires. They,\nto be sure, have a very long term, because they have the power to\nreproduce themselves in each life so long as we do not eradicate\nthem. And re\u00efncarnation provides for that, since we are given by it\nmany opportunities of slowly, one by one, killing off the desires and\npassions which mar the heavenly picture of the spiritual man.\n\nIt has been shown how the passional part of us coalesces with the\nastral after death and makes a seeming being that has a short life\nto live while it is disintegrating. When the separation is complete\nbetween the body that has died, the astral body, and the passions\nand desires\u2014life having begun to busy itself with other forms\u2014the\nHigher Triad, _Manas_, _Buddhi_, and _Atma_, who are the real man,\nimmediately go into another state, and when that state, which is called\n_Devachan_, or heaven, is over, they are attracted back to earth for\nre\u00efncarnation. They are the immortal part of us; they, in fact, and no\nother are we. This should be firmly grasped by the mind, for upon its\nclear understanding depends the comprehension of the entire doctrine.\nWhat stands in the way of the modern western man\u2019s seeing this clearly\nis the long training we have all had in materialistic science and\nmaterializing religion, both of which have made the mere physical\nbody too prominent. The one has taught of matter alone and the other\nhas preached the resurrection of the body, a doctrine against common\nsense, fact, logic, and testimony. But there is no doubt that the\ntheory of the bodily resurrection has arisen from the corruption of\nthe older and true teaching. Resurrection is founded on what Job says\nabout seeing his redeemer in his flesh, and on St. Paul\u2019s remark that\nthe body was raised incorruptible. But Job was an Egyptian who spoke of\nseeing his teacher or initiator, who was the redeemer, and Jesus and\nPaul referred to the spiritual body only.\n\nAlthough re\u00efncarnation is the law of nature, the complete trinity of\n_Atma-Buddhi-Manas_ does not yet fully incarnate in this race. They use\nand occupy the body by means of the entrance of _Manas_, the lowest of\nthe three, and the other two shine upon it from above, constituting the\nGod in Heaven. This was symbolized in the old Jewish teaching about the\nHeavenly Man who stands with his head in heaven and his feet in hell.\nThat is, the head _Atma_ and _Buddhi_ are yet in heaven, and the feet,\n_Manas_, walk in hell, which is the body and physical life. For that\nreason man is not yet fully conscious, and re\u00efncarnations are needed\nto at last complete the incarnation of the whole trinity in the body.\nWhen that has been accomplished the race will have become as gods, and\nthe godlike trinity being in full possession the entire mass of matter\nwill be perfected and raised up for the next step. This is the real\nmeaning of \u201cthe word made flesh\u201d. It was so grand a thing in the case\nof any single person, such as Jesus or Buddha, as to be looked upon\nas a divine incarnation. And out of this, too, comes the idea of the\ncrucifixion, for _Manas_ is thus crucified for the purpose of raising\nup the thief to paradise.\n\nIt is because the trinity is not yet incarnate in the race that life\nhas so many mysteries, some of which are showing themselves from day to\nday in all the various experiments made on and in man.\n\nThe physician knows not what life is nor why the body moves as it\ndoes, because the spiritual portion is yet enshrouded in the clouds of\nheaven; the scientist is wandering in the dark, confounded and confused\nby all that hypnotism and other strange things bring before him,\nbecause the conscious man is out of sight on the very top of the divine\nmountain, thus compelling the learned to speak of the \u201csubconscious\nmind\u201d, the \u201clatent personality\u201d, and the like; and the priest can give\nus no light at all because he denies man\u2019s god-like nature, reduces\nall to the level of original sin, and puts upon our conception of God\nthe black mark of inability to control or manage the creation without\ninvention of expedients to cure supposed errors. But this old truth\nsolves the riddle and paints God and Nature in harmonious colors.\n\nRe\u00efncarnation does not mean that we go into animal forms after death,\nas is believed by some Eastern peoples. \u201cOnce a man always a man\u201d is\nthe saying in the Great Lodge. But it would not be too much punishment\nfor some men were it possible to condemn them to rebirth in brute\nbodies; however nature does not go by sentiment but by law, and we,\nnot being able to see all, cannot say that the brutal man is brute all\nthrough his nature. And evolution having brought _Manas_ the Thinker\nand Immortal Person on to this plane, cannot send him back to the brute\nwhich has not _Manas_.\n\nBy looking into two explanations for the literal acceptation by some\npeople in the East of those laws of Manu which seem to teach the\ntransmigrating into brutes, insects, and so on, we can see how the true\nstudent of this doctrine will not fall into the same error.\n\nThe first is, that the various verses and books teaching such\ntransmigration have to do with the actual method of re\u00efncarnation, that\nis, with the explanation of the actual physical processes which have to\nbe undergone by the Ego in passing from the unembodied to the embodied\nstate, and also with the roads, ways, or means of descent from the\ninvisible to the visible plane. This has not yet been plainly explained\nin Theosophical books, because on the one hand it is a delicate matter,\nand on the other the details would not as yet be received even by\nTheosophists with credence, although one day they will be. And as these\ndetails are not of the greatest importance they are not now expounded.\nBut as we know that no human body is formed without the union of the\nsexes, and that the germs for such production are locked up in the\nsexes and must come from food which is taken into the body, it is\nobvious that foods have something to do with the re\u00efncarnating of the\nEgo. Now if the road to re\u00efncarnation leads through certain food and\nnone other, it may be possible that if the Ego gets entangled in food\nwhich will not lead to the germ of physical reproduction, a punishment\nis indicated where Manu says that such and such practices will lead to\ntransmigration, which is then a \u201chindrance\u201d. I throw this out so far\nfor the benefit of certain theosophists who read these and whose own\ntheories on this subject are now rather vague and in some instances\nbased on quite other hypotheses.\n\nThe second explanation is, that inasmuch as nature intends us to use\nthe matter which comes into our body and astral body for the purpose,\namong others, of benefiting the matter by the impress it gets from\nassociation with the human Ego, if we use it so as to give it only a\nbrutal impression it must fly back to the animal kingdom to be absorbed\nthere instead of being refined and kept on the human plane. And as all\nthe matter which the human Ego gathered to it retains the stamp or\nphotographic impression of the human being, the matter transmigrates\nto the lower level when given an animal impress by the Ego. This\nactual fact in the great chemical laboratory of nature could easily be\nmisconstrued by the ignorant. But the present-day students know that\nonce _Manas_ the Thinker has arrived on the scene he does not return\nto baser forms; first, because he does not wish to, and second, because\nhe cannot. For just as the blood in the body is prevented by valves\nfrom rushing back and engorging the heart, so in this greater system of\nuniversal circulation the door is shut behind the Thinker and prevents\nhis retrocession. Re\u00efncarnation as a doctrine applying to the real man\ndoes not teach transmigration into kingdoms of nature below the human.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n\nIn the West, where the object of life is commercial, financial, social,\nor scientific success, that is, personal profit, aggrandizement,\nand power, the real life of man receives but little attention, and\nwe, unlike the Orientals, give scant prominence to the doctrine of\npre\u00ebxistence and re\u00efncarnation. That the church denies it is enough for\nmany, with whom no argument is of any use. Relying on the church, they\ndo not wish to disturb the serenity of their faith in dogmas that may\nbe illogical; and as they have been taught that the church can bind\nthem in hell, a blind fear of the anathema hurled at re\u00efncarnation in\nthe Constantinople council about 500 A. D., would alone debar them\nfrom accepting the accursed theory. And the church in arguing on the\ndoctrine urges the objection that if men are convinced that they will\nlive many lives, the temptation to accept the present and do evil\nwithout check will be too strong. Absurd as this seems, it is put\nforward by learned Jesuits, who say men will rather have the present\nchance than wait for others. If there were no retribution at all this\nwould be a good objection, but as Nature has also a Nemesis for every\nevil doer, and as each, under the law of Karma\u2014which is that of cause\nand effect and perfect justice\u2014must receive the exact consequences\nhimself in every life for what good or bad deeds and thoughts he did\nand had in other lives, the basis for moral conduct is secure. It is\nsafe under this system, since no man can by any possibility, or favor,\nor edict, or belief escape the consequences, and each one who grasps\nthis doctrine will be moved by conscience and the whole power of\nnature to do well in order that he may receive good and become happy.\n\nIt is maintained that the idea of rebirth is uncongenial and unpleasant\nbecause on the one hand it is cold, allowing no sentiment to interfere,\nprohibiting us from renouncing at will a life which we have found to\nbe sorrowful; and on the other, that there appears to be no chance\nunder it for us to see our loved ones who have passed away before us.\nBut whether we like it or not Nature\u2019s laws go forward unerringly,\nand sentiment or feeling can in no way avert the consequence that\nmust follow a cause. If we eat bad food bad results must come. The\nglutton would have Nature permit him to gorge himself without the\nindigestion which will come, but Nature\u2019s laws are not to be thus put\naside. Now, the objection to re\u00efncarnation that we will not see our\nloved ones in heaven as promised in dogmatic religion, presupposes\na complete stoppage of the evolution and development of those who\nleave earth before ourselves, and also assumes that recognition is\ndependent on physical appearance. But as we progress in this life\nso also must we progress upon leaving it, and it would be unfair to\ncompel the others to await our arrival in order that we may recognize\nthem. And if one reflects on the natural consequences of arising to\nheaven where all trammels are cast off, it must be apparent that those\nwho have been there, say, twenty of mortal years before us must,\nin the nature of things mental and spiritual, have made a progress\nequal to many hundreds of years here under varied and very favorable\ncircumstances. How then could we, arriving later and still imperfect,\nbe able to recognize those who had been perfecting themselves in heaven\nwith such advantages? And as we know that the body is left behind\nto disintegrate, so, it is evident, recognition cannot depend, in\nthe spiritual and mental life, on physical appearance. For not only\nis this thus plain, but since we are aware that an unhandsome or\ndeformed body often enshrines a glorious mind and pure soul, and that a\nbeautifully formed exterior\u2014such as in the case of the Borgias\u2014may hide\nan incarnate devil in character, the physical form gives no guarantee\nof recognition in that world where the body is absent. And the mother\nwho has lost a child who had grown to maturity must know that she loved\nthe child when a baby as much as afterwards when the great alteration\nto later life had completely swept away the form and features of early\nyouth. The Theosophists see that this objection can have no existence\nin the face of the eternal and pure life of the soul. And Theosophy\nalso teaches that those who are like unto each other and love each\nother will be re\u00efncarnated together whenever the conditions permit.\nWhenever one of us has gone farther on the road to perfection, he\nwill always be moved to help and comfort those who belong to the same\nfamily. But when one has become gross and selfish and wicked, no one\nwould want his companionship in any life. Recognition depends on the\ninner sight and not on outward appearance; hence there is no force in\nthis objection. And the other phase of it relating to loss of parent,\nchild, or relative is based on the erroneous notion that as the parents\ngive the child its body so also is given its soul. But soul is immortal\nand parentless; hence this objection is without a root.\n\nSome urge that Heredity invalidates Re\u00efncarnation. We urge it as proof.\nHeredity in giving us a body in any family provides the appropriate\nenvironment for the Ego. The Ego only goes into the family which either\ncompletely answers to its whole nature, or which gives an opportunity\nfor the working out of its evolution, and which is also connected with\nit by reason of past incarnations or causes mutually set up. Thus the\nevil child may come to the presently good family because parents and\nchild are indissolubly connected by past actions. It is a chance for\nredemption to the child and the occasion of punishment to the parents.\nThis points to bodily heredity as a natural rule governing the bodies\nwe must inhabit, just as the houses in a city will show the mind of\nthe builders. And as we as well as our parents were the makers and\ninfluencers of bodies, took part in and are responsible for states of\nsociety in which the development of physical body and brain was either\nretarded or helped on, debased or the contrary, so we are in this life\nresponsible for the civilization in which we now appear. But when we\nlook at the characters in human bodies, great inherent differences are\nseen. This is due to the soul inside, who is suffering or enjoying in\nthe family, nation, and race his own thoughts and acts which in the\npast lives have made it inevitable he should incarnate with.\n\nHeredity provides the tenement and also imposes those limitations of\ncapacity of brain or body which are often a punishment and sometimes\na help, but it does not affect the real Ego. The transmission of\ntraits is a physical matter, and nothing more than the coming out into\na nation of the consequences of the prior lives of all Egos who are\nto be in that race. The limitations imposed on the Ego by any family\nheredity are exact consequences of that Ego\u2019s prior lives. The fact\nthat such physical traits and mental peculiarities are transmitted\ndoes not confute re\u00efncarnation, since we know that the guiding mind\nand real character of each are not the result of a body and brain but\nare peculiar to the Ego in its essential life. Transmission of trait\nand tendency by means of parent and body is exactly the mode selected\nby nature for providing the incarnating Ego with the proper tenement\nin which to carry on its work. Another mode would be impossible and\nsubversive of order.\n\nAgain, those who dwell on the objection from heredity forget that they\nare accentuating similarities and overlooking divergencies. For while\ninvestigations on the line of heredity have recorded many transmitted\ntraits, they have not done so in respect to divergencies from heredity\nvastly greater in number. Every mother knows that the children of a\nfamily are as different in character as the fingers on one hand\u2014they\nare all from the same parents, but all vary in character and capacity.\n\nBut heredity as the great rule and as a complete explanation is\nabsolutely overthrown by history, which shows no constant transmission\nof learning, power, and capacity. For instance, in the case of the\nancient Egyptians long gone and their line of transmission shattered,\nwe have no transmission to their descendants. If physical heredity\nsettles the question of character, how has the great Egyptian character\nbeen lost? The same question holds in respect to other ancient and\nextinct nations. And taking an individual illustration we have the\ngreat musician Bach, whose direct descendants showed a decrease in\nmusical ability leading to its final disappearance from the family\nstock. But Theosophy teaches that in both of these instances\u2014as in all\nlike them\u2014the real capacity and ability have only disappeared from\na family and national body, but are retained in the Egos who once\nexhibited them, being now incarnated in some other nation and family of\nthe present time.\n\nSuffering comes to nearly all men, and a great many live lives\nof sorrow from the cradle to the grave, so it is objected that\nre\u00efncarnation is unjust because we suffer for the wrong done by some\nother person in another life. This objection is based on the false\nnotion that the person in the other life was some one else. But in\nevery life it is the same person. When we come again we do not take up\nthe body of some one else, nor another\u2019s deeds, but are like an actor\nwho plays many parts, the same actor inside though the costumes and the\nlines recited differ in each new play. Shakespeare was right in saying\nthat life is a play, for the great life of the soul is a drama, and\neach new life and rebirth another act in which we assume another part\nand put on a new dress, but all through it we are the self-same person.\nSo instead of its being unjust, it is perfect justice, and in no other\nmanner could justice be preserved.\n\nBut, it is said, if we re\u00efncarnate how is it that we do not remember\nthe other life; and further, as we cannot remember the deeds for which\nwe suffer is it not unjust for that reason? Those who ask this always\nignore the fact that they also have enjoyment and reward in life and\nare content to accept them without question. For if it is unjust to\nbe punished for deeds we do not remember, then it is also inequitable\nto be rewarded for other acts which have been forgotten. Mere entry\ninto life is no fit foundation for any reward or punishment. Reward\nand punishment must be the just desert for prior conduct. Nature\u2019s\nlaw of justice is not imperfect, and it is only the imperfection of\nhuman justice that requires the offender to know and remember in this\nlife a deed to which a penalty is annexed. In the prior life the doer\nwas then quite aware of what he did, and nature affixes consequences\nto his acts, being thus just. We well know that she will make the\neffect follow the cause whatever we wish and whether we remember or\nforget what we did. If a baby is hurt in its first years by the nurse\nso as to lay the ground for a crippling disease in after life, as is\noften the case, the crippling disease will come although the child\nneither brought on the present cause nor remembered aught about it.\nBut re\u00efncarnation, with its companion doctrine of Karma, rightly\nunderstood, shows how perfectly just the whole scheme of nature is.\n\nMemory of a prior life is not needed to prove that we passed through\nthat existence, nor is the fact of not remembering a good objection.\nWe forget the greater part of the occurrences of the years and days of\nthis life, but no one would say for that reason we did not go through\nthese years. They were lived, and we retain but little of the details\nin the brain, but the entire effect of them on the character is kept\nand made a part of ourselves. The whole mass of detail of a life is\npreserved in the inner man to be one day fully brought back to the\nconscious memory in some other life when we are perfected. And even\nnow, imperfect as we are and little as we know, the experiments in\nhypnotism show that all the smallest details are registered in what\nis for the present known as the subconscious mind. The theosophical\ndoctrine is that not a single one of these happenings is forgotten in\nfact, and at the end of life when the eyes are closed and those about\nsay we are dead every thought and circumstance of life flash vividly\ninto and across the mind.\n\nMany persons do, however, remember that they have lived before. Poets\nhave sung of this, children know it well, until the constant living in\nan atmosphere of unbelief drives the recollection from their minds for\nthe present, but all are subject to the limitations imposed upon the\nEgo by the new brain in each life. This is why we are not able to keep\nthe pictures of the past, whether of this life or the preceding ones.\nThe brain is the instrument for the memory of the soul, and, being new\nin each life with but a certain capacity, the Ego is only able to use\nit for the new life up to its capacity. That capacity will be fully\navailed of or the contrary, just according to the Ego\u2019s own desire\nand prior conduct, because such past living will have increased or\ndiminished its power to overcome the forces of material existence.\n\nBy living according to the dictates of the soul the brain may at last\nbe made porous to the soul\u2019s recollections; if the contrary sort of a\nlife is led, then more and more will clouds obscure that reminiscence.\nBut as the brain had no part in the life last lived, it is in general\nunable to remember. And this is a wise law, for we should be very\nmiserable if the deeds and scenes of our former lives were not hidden\nfrom our view until by discipline we become able to bear a knowledge of\nthem.\n\nAnother objection brought up is that under the doctrine of\nre\u00efncarnation it is not possible to account for the increase of\nthe world\u2019s population. This assumes that we know surely that its\npopulation has increased and are keeping informed of its fluctuations.\nBut it is not certain that the inhabitants of the globe have increased,\nand, further, vast numbers of people are annually destroyed of whom we\nknow nothing. In China year after year many thousands have been carried\noff by flood. Statistics of famine have not been made. We do not know\nby how many thousands the deaths in Africa exceed the births in any\nyear. The objection is based on imperfect tables which only have to do\nwith western lands. It also assumes that there are fewer Egos out of\nincarnation and waiting to come in than the number of those inhabiting\nbodies, and this is incorrect. Annie Besant has put this well in her\n\u201cRe\u00efncarnation\u201d by saying that the inhabited globe resembles a hall in\na town which is filled from the much greater population of the town\noutside; the number in the hall may vary, but there is a constant\nsource of supply from the town. It is true that so far as concerns this\nglobe the number of Egos belonging to it is definite; but no one knows\nwhat that quantity is nor what is the total capacity of the earth for\nsustaining them. The statisticians of the day are chiefly in the West,\nand their tables embrace but a small section of the history of man.\nThey cannot say how many persons were incarnated on the earth at any\nprior date when the globe was full in all parts, hence the quantity of\negos willing or waiting to be reborn is unknown to the men of to-day.\nThe Masters of theosophical knowledge say that the total number of\nsuch egos is vast, and for that reason the supply of those for the\noccupation of bodies to be born over and above the number that die is\nsufficient. Then too it must be borne in mind that each ego for itself\nvaries the length of stay in the _post-mortem_ states. They do not\nre\u00efncarnate at the same interval, but come out of the state after death\nat different rates, and whenever there occurs a great number of deaths\nby war, pestilence, or famine, there is at once a rush of souls to\nincarnation, either in the same place or in some other place or race.\nThe earth is so small a globe in the vast assemblage of inhabitable\nplanets there is a sufficient supply of Egos for incarnation here. But\nwith due respect to those who put this objection, I do not see that it\nhas the slightest force or any relation to the truth of the doctrine of\nre\u00efncarnation.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n\nUnless we deny the immortality of man and the existence of soul,\nthere are no sound arguments against the doctrine of pre\u00ebxistence\nand re-birth save such as rest on the dictum of the church that each\nsoul is a new creation. This dictum can be supported only by blind\ndogmatism, for given a soul we must sooner or later arrive at the\ntheory of re-birth, because even if each soul is new on this earth\nit must keep on living somewhere after passing away, and in view of\nthe known order of nature will have other bodies in other planets or\nspheres. Theosophy applies to the self\u2014the thinker\u2014the same laws which\nare seen everywhere in operation throughout nature, and those are all\nvarieties of the great law that effects follow causes and no effect\nis without a cause. The soul\u2019s immortality\u2014believed in by the mass of\nhumanity\u2014demands embodiment here or elsewhere, and to be embodied means\nre\u00efncarnation. If we come to this earth for but a few years and then go\nto some other, the soul must be embodied there as well as here, and if\nwe have travelled from some other world we must have had there too our\nproper vesture. The powers of mind and the laws governing its motion,\nits attachment, and its detachment as given in theosophical philosophy\nshow that its re\u00ebmbodiment must be here, where it moved and worked,\nuntil such time as the mind is able to overcome the forces which chain\nit to this globe. To permit the involved entity to transfer itself to\nanother scene of action before it had overcome all the causes drawing\nit here and without its having worked out its responsibilities to other\nentities in the same stream of evolution would be unjust and contrary\nto the powerful occult laws and forces which continually operate upon\nit. The early Christian Fathers saw this, and taught that the soul had\nfallen into matter and was obliged by the law of its nature to toil\nupward again to the place from which it came. They used an old Greek\nhymn which ran:\n\n    Eternal Mind, thy seedling spark,\n      Through this thin vase of clay,\n    Athwart the waves of chaos dark\n      Emits a timorous ray.\n    This mind enfolding soul is sown,\n      Incarnate germ in earth:\n    In pity, blessed Lord, then own\n      What claims in Thee its birth.\n    Far forth from Thee, thou central fire,\n      To earth\u2019s sad bondage cast,\n    Let not the trembling spark expire;\n      Absorb thine own at last!\n\nEach human being has a definite character different from every other\nhuman being, and masses of beings aggregated into nations show as\nwholes that the national force and distinguishing peculiarities go to\nmake up a definite and separate national character. These differences,\nboth individual and national, are due to essential character and not to\neducation. Even the doctrine of the survival of the fittest should show\nthis, for the fitness cannot come from nothing but must at last show\nitself from the coming to the surface of the actual inner character.\nAnd as both individuals and nations among those who are ahead in the\nstruggle with nature exhibit an immense force in their character,\nwe must find a place and time where the force was evolved. These,\nTheosophy says, are this earth and the whole period during which the\nhuman race has been on the planet.\n\nSo, then, while heredity has something to do with the difference in\ncharacter as to force and morale, swaying the soul and mind a little\nand furnishing also the appropriate place for receiving reward and\npunishment, it is not the cause for the essential nature shown by every\none.\n\nBut all these differences, such as those shown by babes from birth, by\nadults as character comes forth more and more, and by nations in their\nhistory, are due to long experience gained during many lives on earth,\nare the outcome of the soul\u2019s own evolution. A survey of one short\nhuman life gives no ground for the production of his inner nature. It\nis needful that each soul should have all possible experience, and\none life cannot give this even under the best conditions. It would be\nfolly for the Almighty to put us here for such a short time, only to\nremove us just when we had begun to see the object of life and the\npossibilities in it. The mere selfish desire of a person to escape the\ntrials and discipline of life is not enough to set nature\u2019s laws aside,\nso the soul must be reborn until it has ceased to set in motion the\ncause of rebirth, after having developed character up to its possible\nlimit as indicated by all the varieties of human nature, when every\nexperience has been passed through, and not until all of truth that can\nbe known has been acquired. The vast disparity among men in respect\nto capacity compels us, if we wish to ascribe justice to Nature or to\nGod, to admit re\u00efncarnation and to trace the origin of the disparity\nback to the past lives of the Ego. For people are as much hindered and\nhandicapped, abused and made the victims of seeming injustice because\nof limited capacity, as they are by reason of circumstances of birth or\neducation. We see the uneducated rising above circumstances of family\nand training, and often those born in good families have very small\ncapacity; but the troubles of nations and families arise from want of\ncapacity more than from any other cause. And if we consider savage\nraces only, there the seeming injustice is enormous. For many savages\nhave good actual brain capacity but still are savage. This is because\nthe Ego in that body is still savage and undeveloped, for in contrast\nto the savage there are many civilized men with small actual brain\nforce who are not savage in nature because the indwelling Ego has had\nlong experience in civilization during other lives, and being a more\ndeveloped soul has power to use the brain instrument to its highest\nlimit.\n\nEach man feels and knows that he has an individuality of his own, a\npersonal identity which bridges over not only the gaps made by sleep\nbut also those sometimes supervening on temporary lesions in the brain.\nThis identity never breaks from beginning to end of life in the normal\nperson, and only the persistence and eternal character of the soul will\naccount for it.\n\nSo, ever since we began to remember, we know that our personal identity\nhas not failed us, no matter how bad may be our memory. This disposes\nof the argument that identity depends on recollection, for the reason\nthat if it did depend alone on recollection we should each day have\nto begin over again, as we cannot remember the events of the past in\ndetail, and some minds remember but little yet feel their personal\nidentity. And as it is often seen that some who remember the least\ninsist as strongly as the others on their personal identity, that\npersistence of feeling must come from the old and immortal soul.\n\nViewing life and its probable object, with all the varied experience\npossible for man, one must be forced to the conclusion that a single\nlife is not enough for carrying out all that is intended by Nature, to\nsay nothing of what man himself desires to do. The scale of variety\nin experience is enormous. There is a vast range of powers latent in\nman which we see may be developed if opportunity be given. Knowledge\ninfinite in scope and diversity lies before us, and especially in these\ndays when special investigation is the rule. We perceive that we have\nhigh aspirations with no time to reach up to their measure, while the\ngreat troop of passions and desires, selfish motives and ambitions, war\nwith us and among themselves, pursuing us even to the door of death.\nAll these have to be tried, conquered, used, subdued. One life is not\nenough for all this. To say that we have but one life here with such\npossibilities put before us and impossible of development is to make\nthe universe and life a huge and cruel joke perpetrated by a powerful\nGod who is thus accused, by those who believe in a special creation of\nsouls, of triumphing and playing with puny man just because that man is\nsmall and the creature of the Almighty. A human life at most is seventy\nyears; statistics reduce this to about forty; and out of that little\nremainder a large part is spent in sleep and another part in childhood.\nThus in one life it is perfectly impossible to attain to the merest\nfraction of what Nature evidently has in view. We see many truths\nvaguely which a life gives us no time to grasp, and especially is this\nso when men have to make such a struggle to live at all. Our faculties\nare small or dwarfed or weak; one life gives no opportunity to alter\nthis; we perceive other powers latent in us that cannot possibly be\nbrought out in such a small space of time; and we have much more than a\nsuspicion that the extent of the field of truth is vastly greater than\nthe narrow circle we are confined to. It is not reasonable to suppose\nthat either God or nature projects us into a body simply to fill us\nwith bitterness because we can have no other opportunity here, but\nrather we must conclude that a series of incarnations has led to the\npresent condition, and that the process of coming here again and again\nmust go on for the purpose of affording us the opportunity needed.\n\nThe mere fact of dying is not of itself enough to bring about\ndevelopment of faculties or the elimination of wrong tendency and\ninclination. If we assume that upon entering heaven we at once acquire\nall knowledge and purity, then that state after death is reduced to a\ndead level and life itself with all its discipline is shorn of every\nmeaning. Some of the churches teach of a school of discipline after\ndeath where it is impudently stated that the Apostles themselves, well\nknown to be ignorant men, are to be the teachers. This is absurd and\ndevoid of any basis or reason in the natural order. Besides, if there\nis to be such subsequent discipline, why were we projected into life\nat all? And why after the suffering and the error committed are we\ntaken from the place where we did our acts? The only solution left is\nin re\u00efncarnation. We come back to earth because on it and with the\nbeings upon it our deeds were performed; because it is the only proper\nplace where punishment and reward can be justly meted out; because\nhere is the only natural spot in which to continue the struggle toward\nperfection, toward the development of the faculties we have and the\ndestruction of the wickedness in us. Justice to ourselves and to all\nother beings demands it, for we cannot live for ourselves, and it\nwould be unjust to permit some of us to escape, leaving those who were\nparticipants with us to remain or to be plunged into a hell of eternal\nduration.\n\nThe persistence of savagery, the rise and decay of nations and\ncivilizations, the total extinction of nations, all demand an\nexplanation found nowhere but in re\u00efncarnation. Savagery remains\nbecause there are still Egos whose experience is so limited that they\nare still savage; they will come up into higher races when ready. Races\ndie out because the Egos have had enough of the experience that sort\nof race gives. So we find the red Indian, the Hottentot, the Easter\nIslanders, and others as examples of races deserted by high Egos and as\nthey are dying away other souls who have had no higher life in the past\nenter into the bodies of the race to go on using them for the purpose\nof gaining such experience as the race body will give. A race could\nnot possibly arise and then suddenly go out. We see that such is not\nthe case, but science has no explanation; it simply says that this is\nthe fact, that nations decay. But in this explanation no account is\ntaken of the inner man nor of the recondite subtle and occult laws that\nunite to make a race. Theosophy shows that the energy drawn together\nhas to expend itself gradually, and therefore the reproduction of\nbodies of the character of that race will go on, though the Egos are\nnot compelled to inhabit bodies of that sort any longer than while\nthey are of the same development as the race. Hence a time comes when\nthe whole mass of Egos which built up the race leaves it for another\nphysical environment more like themselves. The economy of Nature will\nnot permit the physical race to suddenly fade away, and so in the real\norder of evolution other and less progressed Egos come in and use the\nforms provided, keeping up the production of new bodies but less and\nless in number each century. These lower Egos are not able to keep up\nto the limit of the capacity of the congeries of energies left by the\nother Egos, and so while the new set gains as much experience as is\npossible the race in time dies out after passing through its decay.\nThis is the explanation of what we may call descending savagery, and\nno other theory will meet the facts. It has been sometimes thought by\nethnologists that the more civilized races kill off the others, but\nthe fact is that in consequence of the great difference between the\nEgos inhabiting the old race body and the energy of that body itself,\nthe females begin to be sterile, and thus slowly but surely the number\nof deaths exceeds the births. China itself is in process of decay,\nshe being now in the almost stationary stage just before the rush\ndownward. Great civilizations like those of Egypt and Babylon have gone\nbecause the souls who made them have long ago re\u00efncarnated in the great\nconquering nations of Europe and the present American continents. As\nnations and races they have been totally re\u00efncarnated and born again\nfor greater and higher purposes than ever. Of all the old races the\nAryan Indian alone yet remains as the preserver of the old doctrines.\nIt will one day rise again to its old heights of glory.\n\nThe appearance of geniuses and great minds in families destitute of\nthese qualities, as well as the extinction from a family of the genius\nshown by some ancestor, can only be met by the law of rebirth. Napoleon\nthe First came in a family wholly unlike him in power and force.\nNothing in his heredity will explain his character. He said himself,\nas told in the Memoirs of Prince Talleyrand, that he was Charlemagne.\nOnly by assuming for him a long series of lives giving the right line\nof evolution or cause for his mind and nature and force to be brought\nout, can we have the slightest idea why he or any other great genius\nappeared at all. Mozart when an infant could compose orchestral score.\nThis was not due to heredity, for such a score is not natural, but\nis forced, mechanical, and wholly conventional, yet he understood it\nwithout schooling. How? Because he was a musician re\u00efncarnated, with\na musical brain furnished by his family and thus not impeded in his\nendeavors to show forth his musical knowledge. But stronger yet is the\ncase of Blind Tom, a negro whose family could not by any possibility\nhave a knowledge of the piano, a modern instrument, so as to transmit\nthat knowledge to the atoms of his body, yet he had great musical power\nand knew the present mechanical musical scale on the piano. There are\nhundreds of examples like these among the many prodigies who have\nappeared to the world\u2019s astonishment. In India there are many histories\nof sages born with complete knowledge of philosophy and the like,\nand doubtless in all nations the same can be met with. This bringing\nback of knowledge also explains instinct, for that is no more than\nrecollection divisible into physical and mental memory. It is seen in\nthe child and the animal, and is no more than the result of previous\nexperience. And whether we look at the new-born babe flinging out its\narms for self-protection, or the animal with very strong instinctual\npower, or the bee building a cell on the rules of geometry, it is all\nthe effect of re\u00efncarnation acting either in the mind or physical\ncell, for under what was first laid down no atom is devoid of life,\nconsciousness, and intelligence of its own.\n\nIn the case of the musician Bach we have proof that heredity counts for\nnothing if the Ego is not advanced, for his genius was not borne down\nhis family line; it gradually faded out, finally leaving the family\nstream entirely. So, too, the coming of idiots or vicious children to\nparents who are good, pure, or highly intellectual is explained in the\nsame way. They are cases where heredity is set at nought by a wholly\nbad or deficient Ego.\n\nAnd lastly, the fact that certain inherent ideas are common to the\nwhole race is explained by the sages as due to recollection of such\nideas, which were implanted in the human mind at the very beginning of\nits evolutionary career on this planet by those brothers and sages who\nlearned their lessons and were perfected in former ages long before the\ndevelopment of this globe began. No explanation for inherent ideas is\noffered by science that will do more than say, \u201cthey exist.\u201d These were\nactually taught to the mass of Egos who are engaged in this earth\u2019s\nevolution; they were imprinted or burned into their natures, and always\nrecollected; they follow the Ego through the long pilgrimage.\n\nIt has been often thought that the opposition to re\u00efncarnation has been\nsolely based on prejudice, when not due to a dogma which can only stand\nwhen the mind is bound down and prevented from using its own powers.\nIt is a doctrine the most noble of all, and with its companion one\nof Karma, next to be considered, it alone gives the basis for ethics.\nThere is no doubt in my mind that the founder of Christianity took it\nfor granted and that its present absence from that religion is the\nreason for the contradiction between the professed ethics of Christian\nnations and their actual practices which are so contrary to the morals\ngiven out by Jesus.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n\nKarma is an unfamiliar word for Western ears. It is the name adopted by\nTheosophists of the nineteenth century for one of the most important\nof the laws of nature. Ceaseless in its operation, it bears alike upon\nplanets, systems of planets, races, nations, families, and individuals.\nIt is the twin doctrine to re\u00efncarnation. So inextricably interlaced\nare these two laws that it is almost impossible to properly consider\none apart from the other. No spot or being in the universe is exempt\nfrom the operation of Karma, but all are under its sway, punished\nfor error by it yet beneficently led on, through discipline, rest,\nand reward, to the distant heights of perfection. It is a law so\ncomprehensive in its sweep, embracing at once our physical and our\nmoral being, that it is only by paraphrase and copious explanation one\ncan convey its meaning in English. For that reason the Sanscrit term\n_Karma_ was adopted to designate it.\n\nApplied to man\u2019s moral life it is the law of ethical causation,\njustice, reward and punishment; the cause for birth and rebirth, yet\nequally the means for escape from incarnation. Viewed from another\npoint it is merely effect flowing from cause, action and reaction,\nexact result for every thought and act. It is act and the result of\nact; for the word\u2019s literal meaning is action. Theosophy views the\nUniverse as an intelligent whole, hence every motion in the Universe\nis an action of that whole leading to results, which themselves become\ncauses for further results. Viewing it thus broadly, the ancient Hindus\nsaid that every being up to Brahma was under the rule of Karma.\n\nIt is not a being but a law, the universal law of harmony which\nunerringly restores all disturbance to equilibrium. In this the\ntheory conflicts with the ordinary conception about God, built up\nfrom the Jewish system, which assumes that the Almighty as a thinking\nentity, extraneous to the Cosmos, builds up, finds his construction\ninharmonious, out of proportion, errant, and disturbed, and then has to\npull down, destroy, or punish that which he created. This has either\ncaused thousands to live in fear of God, in compliance with his assumed\ncommands, with the selfish object of obtaining reward and securing\nescape from his wrath, or has plunged them into darkness which comes\nfrom a denial of all spiritual life. But as there is plainly, indeed\npainfully, evident to every human being a constant destruction going\non in and around us, a continual war not only among men but everywhere\nthrough the whole solar system, causing sorrow in all directions,\nreason requires a solution of the riddle. The poor, who see no refuge\nor hope, cry aloud to a God who makes no reply, and then envy springs\nup in them when they consider the comforts and opportunities of the\nrich. They see the rich profligates, the wealthy fools, enjoying\nthemselves unpunished. Turning to the teacher of religion, they meet\nthe reply to their questioning of the justice which will permit such\nmisery to those who did nothing requiring them to be born with no\nmeans, no opportunities for education, no capacity to overcome social,\nracial, or circumstantial obstacles, \u201cIt is the will of God.\u201d Parents\nproduce beloved offspring who are cut off by death at an untimely hour,\njust when all promised well. They too have no answer to the question\n\u201cWhy am I thus afflicted?\u201d but the same unreasonable reference to\nan inaccessible God whose arbitrary will causes their misery. Thus\nin every walk of life, loss, injury, persecution, deprivation of\nopportunity, nature\u2019s own forces working to destroy the happiness\nof man, death, reverses, disappointment continually beset good and\nevil men alike. But nowhere is there any answer or relief save in\nthe ancient truths that each man is the maker and fashioner of his\nown destiny, the only one who sets in motion the causes for his own\nhappiness and misery. In one life he sows and in the next he reaps.\nThus on and forever, the law of Karma leads him.\n\nKarma is a beneficent law wholly merciful, relentlessly just, for true\nmercy is not favor but impartial justice.\n\n            \u201cMy brothers! each man\u2019s life\n            The outcome of his former living is;\n    The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and woes,\n             The bygone right breeds bliss....\n             This is the doctrine of Karma.\u201d\n\nHow is the present life affected by that bygone right and wrong act,\nand is it always by way of punishment? Is Karma only fate under another\nname, an already fixed and formulated destiny from which no escape is\npossible, and which therefore might make us careless of act or thought\nthat cannot affect destiny? It is not fatalism. Everything done in a\nformer body has consequences which in the new birth the Ego must enjoy\nor suffer, for, as St. Paul said: \u201cBrethren, be not deceived. God is\nnot mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap.\u201d For\nthe effect is in the cause, and Karma produces the manifestation of it\nin the body, brain, and mind furnished by re\u00efncarnation. And as a cause\nset up by one man has a distinct relation to him as a centre from which\nit came, so each one experiences the results of his own acts. We may\nsometimes seem to receive effects solely from the acts of others, but\nthis is the result of our own acts and thoughts in this or some prior\nlife. We perform our acts in company with others always, and the acts\nwith their underlying thoughts have relation always to other persons\nand to ourselves.\n\nNo act is performed without a thought at its root either at the time\nof performance or as leading to it. These thoughts are lodged in that\npart of man which we have called _Manas_\u2014the mind, and there remain as\nsubtle but powerful links with magnetic threads that enmesh the solar\nsystem, and through which various effects are brought out. The theory\nput forward in earlier pages that the whole system to which this globe\nbelongs is alive, conscious on every plane, though only in man showing\nself-consciousness, comes into play here to explain how the thought\nunder the act in this life may cause result in this or the next birth.\nThe marvellous modern experiments in hypnotism show that the slightest\nimpression, no matter how far back in the history of the person, may\nbe waked up to life, thus proving it is not lost but only latent. Take\nfor instance the case of a child born humpbacked and very short, the\nhead sunk between the shoulders, the arms long and legs curtailed. Why\nis this? His karma for thoughts and acts in a prior life. He reviled,\npersecuted, or otherwise injured a deformed person so persistently or\nviolently as to imprint in his own immortal mind the deformed picture\nof his victim. For in proportion to the intensity of his thought will\nbe the intensity and depth of the picture. It is exactly similar to\nthe exposure of the sensitive photographic plate, whereby, just as\nthe exposure is long or short, the impression in the plate is weak or\ndeep. So this thinker and actor\u2014the Ego\u2014coming again to rebirth carries\nwith him this picture, and if the family to which he is attracted for\nbirth has similar physical tendencies in its stream, the mental picture\ncauses the newly-forming astral body to assume a deformed shape by\nelectrical and magnetic osmosis through the mother of the child. And\nas all beings on earth are indissolubly joined together, the misshapen\nchild is the karma of the parents also, an exact consequence for\nsimilar acts and thoughts on their part in other lives. Here is an\nexactitude of justice which no other theory will furnish.\n\nBut as we often see a deformed human being\u2014continuing the instance\nmerely for the purpose of illustration\u2014having a happy disposition, an\nexcellent intellect, sound judgment, and every good moral quality, this\nvery instance leads us to the conclusion that karma must be of several\ndifferent kinds in every individual case, and also evidently operates\nin more than one department of our being, with the possibility of being\npleasant in effect for one portion of our nature and unpleasant for\nanother.\n\nKarma is of three sorts:\n\n_First_\u2014that which has not begun to produce any effect in our lives\nowing to the operation on us of some other karmic causes. This is\nunder a law well known to physicists, that two opposing forces tend\nto neutrality, and that one force may be strong enough to temporarily\nprevent the operation of another one. This law works on the unseen\nmental and karmic planes or spheres of being just as it does on the\nmaterial ones. The force of a certain set of bodily, mental, and\npsychical faculties with their tendencies may wholly inhibit the\noperation on us of causes with which we are connected, because the\nwhole nature of each person is used in the carrying out of this law.\nHence the weak and mediocre furnish a weak focus for karma, and in them\nthe general result of a lifetime is limited, although they may feel it\nall to be very heavy. But that person who has a wide and deep-reaching\ncharacter and much force will feel the operation of a greater quantity\nof karma than the weaker person.\n\n_Second_\u2014that karma which we are now making or storing up by our\nthoughts and acts, and which will operate in the future when the\nappropriate body, mind, and environment are taken up by the incarnating\nEgo in some other life, or whenever obstructive karma is removed.\n\nThis bears both on the present life and the next one. For one may in\nthis life come to a point where, all previous causes being worked out,\nnew karma, or that which is unexpended, must begin to operate.\n\nUnder this are those cases where men have sudden reverses of fortune\nor changes for the better either in circumstances or character. A very\nimportant bearing of this is on our present conduct. While old karma\nmust work out and cannot be stopped, it is wise for the man to so think\nand act now under present circumstances, no matter what they are, that\nhe shall produce no bad or prejudicial causes for the next rebirth or\nfor later years in this life. Rebellion is useless, for the law works\non whether we weep or rejoice. The great French engineer, de Lesseps,\nis a good example of this class of karma. Raised to a high pitch of\nglory and achievement for many years of his life, he suddenly falls\ncovered with shame through the Panama canal scandal. Whether he was\ninnocent or guilty, he has the shame of the connection of his name with\na national enterprise all besmirched with bribery and corruption that\ninvolved high officials. This was the operation of old karmic causes on\nhim the very moment those which had governed his previous years were\nexhausted. Napoleon I is another, for he rose to a very great fame,\nthen suddenly fell and died in exile and disgrace. Many other cases\nwill occur to every thoughtful reader.\n\n_Third_\u2014that karma which has begun to produce results. It is the\noperating now in this life on us of causes set up in previous lives in\ncompany with other Egos. And it is in operation because, being most\nadapted to the family stock, the individual body, astral body, and race\ntendencies of the present incarnation, it exhibits itself plainly,\nwhile other unexpended karma awaits its regular turn.\n\nThese three classes of karma govern men, animals, worlds, and periods\nof evolution. Every effect flows from a cause precedent, and as all\nbeings are constantly being reborn they are continually experiencing\nthe effects of their thoughts and acts (which are themselves causes) of\na prior incarnation. And thus each one answers, as St. Matthew says,\nfor every word and thought; none can escape either by prayer, or favor,\nor force, or any other intermediary.\n\nNow as karmic causes are divisible into three classes, they must have\nvarious fields in which to work. They operate upon man in his mental\nand intellectual nature, in his psychical or soul nature, and in his\nbody and circumstances. The spiritual nature of man is never affected\nor operated upon by karma.\n\nOne species of karma may act on the three specified planes of our\nnature at the same time to the same degree, or there may be a mixture\nof the causes, some on one plane and some on another. Take a deformed\nperson who has a fine mind and a deficiency in his soul nature. Here\npunitive or unpleasant karma is operating on his body while in his\nmental and intellectual nature good karma is being experienced, but\npsychically the karma, or cause, being of an indifferent sort the\nresult is indifferent. In another person other combinations appear.\nHe has a fine body and favorable circumstances, but the character is\nmorose, peevish, irritable, revengeful, morbid, and disagreeable to\nhimself and others. Here good physical karma is at work with very bad\nmental, intellectual, and psychical karma. Cases will occur to readers\nof persons born in high station having every opportunity and power, yet\nbeing imbecile or suddenly becoming insane.\n\nAnd just as all these phases of the law of karma have sway over the\nindividual man, so they similarly operate upon races, nations, and\nfamilies. Each race has its karma as a whole. If it be good that race\ngoes forward. If bad it goes out\u2014annihilated as a race\u2014though the\nsouls concerned take up their karma in other races and bodies. Nations\ncannot escape their national karma, and any nation that has acted in\na wicked manner must suffer some day, be it soon or late. The karma of\nthe nineteenth century in the West is the karma of Israel, for even the\nmerest tyro can see that the Mosaic influence is the strongest in the\nEuropean and American nations. The old Aztec and other ancient American\npeoples died out because their own karma\u2014the result of their own life\nas nations in the far past\u2014fell upon and destroyed them. With nations\nthis heavy operation of karma is always through famine, war, convulsion\nof nature, and the sterility of the women of the nation. The latter\ncause comes near the end and sweeps the whole remnant away. And the\nindividual in race or nation is warned by this great doctrine that if\nhe falls into indifference of thought and act, thus moulding himself\ninto the general average karma of his race or nation, that national and\nrace karma will at last carry him off in the general destiny. This is\nwhy teachers of old cried, \u201cCome ye out and be ye separate.\u201d\n\nWith re\u00efncarnation the doctrine of karma explains the misery and\nsuffering of the world, and no room is left to accuse Nature of\ninjustice.\n\nThe misery of any nation or race is the direct result of the thoughts\nand acts of the Egos who make up the race or nation. In the dim past\nthey did wickedly and now suffer. They violated the laws of harmony.\nThe immutable rule is that harmony must be restored if violated.\nSo these Egos suffer in making compensation and establishing the\nequilibrium of the occult cosmos. The whole mass of Egos must go on\nincarnating and re\u00efncarnating in the nation or race until they have\nall worked out to the end the causes set up. Though the nation may\nfor a time disappear as a physical thing, the Egos that made it do\nnot leave the world, but come out as the makers of some new nation\nin which they must go on with the task and take either punishment or\nreward as accords with their karma. Of this law the old Egyptians are\nan illustration. They certainly rose to a high point of development,\nand as certainly they were extinguished as a nation. But the souls\u2014the\nold Egos\u2014live on and are now fulfilling their self-made destiny as some\nother nation now in our period. They may be the new American nation,\nor the Jews fated to wander up and down in the world and suffer much\nat the hands of others. This process is perfectly just. Take, for\ninstance, the United States and the Red Indians. The latter have been\nmost shamefully treated by the nation. The Indian Egos will be reborn\nin the new and conquering people, and as members of that great family\nwill be the means themselves of bringing on the due results for such\nacts as were done against them when they had red bodies. Thus it has\nhappened before, and so it will come about again.\n\nIndividual unhappiness in any life is thus explained:\n\n(_a_) It is punishment for evil done in past lives; or (_b_) it is\ndiscipline taken up by the Ego for the purpose of eliminating defects\nor acquiring fortitude and sympathy. When defects are eliminated it is\nlike removing the obstruction in an irrigating canal which then lets\nthe water flow on. Happiness is explained in the same way: the result\nof prior lives of goodness.\n\nThe scientific and self-compelling basis for right ethics is found\nin these and in no other doctrines. For if right ethics are to be\npractised merely for themselves, men will not see why, and have never\nbeen able to see why, for that reason they should do right. If ethics\nare to be followed from fear, man is degraded and will surely evade; if\nthe favor of the Almighty, not based on law or justice, be the reason,\nthen we will have just what prevails to-day\u2014a code given by Jesus to\nthe west professed by nations and not practised save by the few who\nwould in any case be virtuous.\n\nOn this subject the Adepts have written the following to be found in\nthe _Secret Doctrine_:\n\n Nor would the ways of karma be inscrutable were men to work in union\n and harmony instead of disunion and strife. For our ignorance of\n those ways\u2014which one portion of mankind calls the ways of Providence\n dark and intricate, while another sees in them the action of blind\n fatalism, and a third simple chance with neither gods nor devils to\n guide them\u2014would surely disappear if we would but attribute all these\n to their correct cause. With right knowledge, or at any rate with a\n confident conviction that our neighbors will no more work harm to\n us than we would think of harming them, two-thirds of the world\u2019s\n evil would vanish into thin air. Were no man to hurt his brother,\n Karma-Nemesis would have neither cause to work for nor weapons to act\n through.... We cut these numerous windings in our destinies daily\n with our own hands, while we imagine that we are pursuing a track on\n the royal high road of respectability and duty, and then complain of\n those ways being so intricate and so dark. We stand bewildered before\n the mystery of our own making and the riddles of life that _we will\n not_ solve, and then accuse the great Sphinx of devouring us. But\n verily there is not an accident in our lives, not a misshapen day or a\n misfortune, that could not be traced back to our own doings in this or\n another life.... Knowledge of karma gives the conviction that if\u2014\n\n        \u2018virtue in distress and vice in triumph\n    Make atheists of Mankind\u2019,\n\n it is only because that mankind has ever shut its eyes to the great\n truth that man is himself his own saviour as his own destroyer; that\n he need not accuse heaven and the gods, fates and providence, of the\n apparent injustice that reigns in the midst of humanity. But let him\n rather remember and repeat this bit of Grecian wisdom which warns man\n to forbear accusing _That_ which\n\n    \u2018Just though mysterious, leads us on unerring\n    Through ways unmarked from guilt to punishment\u2019\n\n \u2014which are now the ways and the high road on which move onward the\n great European nations. The western Aryans had every nation and tribe\n like their eastern brethren of the fifth race, their Golden and their\n Iron ages, their period of comparative irresponsibility, or the Satya\n age of purity, while now several of them have reached their Iron age,\n the _Kali Yuga_, an age _black with horrors_. This state will last ...\n until we begin acting from within instead of ever following impulses\n from without.... Until then the only palliative is union and harmony\u2014a\n Brotherhood in _actu_ and _altruism_ not simply in name.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n\nLet us now consider the states of man after the death of the body and\nbefore birth, having looked over the whole field of the evolution\nof things and beings in a general way. This brings up at once the\nquestions: Is there any heaven or hell, and what are they? Are they\nstates or places? Is there a spot in space where they may be found\nand to which we go or from where we come? We must also go back to the\nsubject of the fourth principle of the constitution of man, that called\nKama in Sanscrit and desire or passion in English. Bearing in mind what\nwas said about that principle, and also the teaching in respect to\nthe astral body and the Astral Light, it will be easier to understand\nwhat is taught about the two states _ante_ and _post mortem_. In\nchronological order we go into kama loka\u2014or the plane of desire\u2014first\non the demise of the body, and then the higher principles, the real\nman, fall into the state of _Devachan_. After dealing with kama loka it\nwill be more easy to study the question of _Devachan_.\n\nThe breath leaves the body and we say the man is dead, but that is only\nthe beginning of death; it proceeds on other planes. When the frame is\ncold and eyes closed, all the forces of the body and mind rush through\nthe brain, and by a series of pictures the whole life just ended is\nimprinted indelibly on the inner man not only in a general outline\nbut down to the smallest detail of even the most minute and fleeting\nimpression. At this moment, though every indication leads the physician\nto pronounce for death and though to all intents and purposes the\nperson is dead to this life, the real man is busy in the brain, and\nnot until his work there is ended is the person gone. When this solemn\nwork is over the astral body detaches itself from the physical, and,\nlife energy having departed, the remaining five principles are in the\nplane of kama loka.\n\nThe natural separation of the principles brought about by death divides\nthe total man into three parts:\n\n_First_, the visible body with all its elements left to further\ndisintegration on the earth plane, where all that it is composed of is\nin time resolved into the different physical departments of nature.\n\n_Second_, the _kama rupa_ made up of the astral body and the passions\nand desires, which also begins at once to go to pieces on the astral\nplane.\n\n_Third_, the real man, the upper triad of _Atma-Buddhi-Manas_,\ndeathless but now out of earth conditions, devoid of body, begins\nin _devachan_ to function solely as mind clothed in a very ethereal\nvesture which it will shake off when the time comes for it to return to\nearth.\n\n_Kama loka_\u2014or the place of desire\u2014is the astral region penetrating and\nsurrounding the earth. As a place it is on and in and about the earth.\nIts extent is to a measurable distance from the earth, but the ordinary\nlaws obtaining here do not obtain there, and entities therein are not\nunder the same conditions as to space and time as we are. As a state it\nis metaphysical, though that metaphysic relates to the astral plane.\nIt is called the plane of desire because it relates to the fourth\nprinciple, and in it the ruling force is desire devoid of and divorced\nfrom intelligence. It is an astral sphere intermediate between earthly\nand heavenly life. Beyond any doubt it is the origin of the Christian\ntheory of purgatory, where the soul undergoes penance for evil done\nand from which it can be released by prayer and other ceremonies or\nofferings. The fact underlying this superstition is that the soul may\nbe detained in _kama loka_ by the enormous force of some unsatisfied\ndesire, and cannot get rid of the astral and kamic clothing until that\ndesire is satisfied by some one on earth or by the soul itself. But\nif the person was pure minded and of high aspirations, the separation\nof the principles on that plane is soon completed, permitting the\nhigher triad to go into _Devachan_. Being the purely astral sphere,\nit partakes of the nature of the astral matter which is essentially\nearthly and devilish, and in it all the forces work undirected by soul\nor conscience. It is the slag-pit, as it were, of the great furnace of\nlife, where nature provides for the sloughing off of elements which\nhave no place in _Devachan_, and for that reason it must have many\ndegrees, every one of which was noted by the ancients. These degrees\nare known in Sanscrit as _lokas_ or places in a metaphysical sense.\nHuman life is very varied as to character and other potentialities, and\nfor each of these the appropriate place after death is provided, thus\nmaking _kama loka_ an infinitely varied sphere. In life some of the\ndifferences among men are modified and some inhibited by a similarity\nof body and heredity, but in _kama loka_ all the hidden desires and\npassions are let loose in consequence of the absence of body, and for\nthat reason the state is vastly more diversified than the life plane.\nNot only is it necessary to provide for the natural varieties and\ndifferences, but also for those caused by the manner of death, about\nwhich something shall be said. And all these various divisions are\nbut the natural result of the life thoughts and last thoughts of the\npersons who die on earth. It is beyond the scope of this work to go\ninto a description of all these degrees, inasmuch as volumes would be\nneeded to describe them, and then but few would understand.\n\nTo deal with _kama loka_ compels us to deal also with the fourth\nprinciple in the classification of man\u2019s constitution, and arouses\na conflict with modern ideas and education on the subject of the\ndesires and passions. It is generally supposed that the desires and\npassions are inherent tendencies in the individual, and they have\nan altogether unreal and misty appearance for the ordinary student.\nBut in this system of philosophy they are not merely inherent in the\nindividual nor are they due to the body _per se_. While the man is\nliving in the world the desires and passions\u2014the principle _kama_\u2014have\nno separate life apart from the astral and inner man, being, so to\nsay, diffused throughout his being. But as they coalesce with the\nastral body after death and thus form an entity with its own term of\nlife, though without soul, very important questions arise. During\nmortal life the desires and passions are guided by the mind and soul;\nafter death they work without guidance from the former master; while\nwe live we are responsible for them and their effects, and when we\nhave left this life we are still responsible, although they go on\nworking and making effects on others while they last as the sort of\nentity I have described, and without our direct guidance. In this is\nseen the continuance of responsibility. They are a portion of the\n_skandhas_\u2014well known in eastern philosophy\u2014which are the aggregates\nthat make up the man. The body includes one set of the _skandhas_, the\nastral man another, the _kama_ principle is another set, and still\nothers pertain to other parts. In _kama_ are the really active and\nimportant ones which control rebirths and lead to all the varieties of\nlife and circumstance upon each rebirth. They are being made from day\nto day under the law that every thought combines instantly with one of\nthe elemental forces of nature, becoming to that extent an entity which\nwill endure in accordance with the strength of the thought as it leaves\nthe brain, and all of these are inseparably connected with the being\nwho evolved them. There is no way of escaping; all we can do is to have\nthoughts of good quality, for the highest of the Masters themselves are\nnot exempt from this law, but they \u201cpeople their current in space\u201d\nwith entities powerful for good alone.\n\nNow in _kama loka_ this mass of desire and thought exists very\ndefinitely until the conclusion of its disintegration, and then the\nremainder consists of the essence of these _skandhas_, connected, of\ncourse, with the being that evolved and had them. They can no more be\ndone away with than we can blot out the universe. Hence they are said\nto remain until the being comes out of _devachan_, and then at once by\nthe law of attraction they are drawn to the being, who from them as\ngerm or basis builds up a new set of _skandhas_ for the new life. _Kama\nloka_ therefore is distinguished from the earth plane by reason of the\nexistence therein, uncontrolled and unguided, of the mass of passions\nand desires; but at the same time earth-life is also a _kama loka_,\nsince it is largely governed by the principle _kama_, and will be so\nuntil at a far distant time in the course of evolution the races of\nmen shall have developed the fifth and sixth principles, thus throwing\n_kama_ into its own sphere and freeing earth-life from its influence.\n\nThe astral man in _kama loka_ is a mere shell devoid of soul and mind,\nwithout conscience and also unable to act unless vivified by forces\noutside of itself. It has that which seems like an animal or automatic\nconsciousness due wholly to the very recent association with the human\nEgo. For under the principle laid down in another chapter, every atom\ngoing to make up the man has a memory of its own which is capable\nof lasting a length of time in proportion to the force given it. In\nthe case of a very material and gross or selfish person the force\nlasts longer than in any other, and hence in that case the automatic\nconsciousness will be more definite and bewildering to one who without\nknowledge dabbles with necromancy. Its purely astral portion contains\nand carries the record of all that ever passed before the person when\nliving, for one of the qualities of the astral substance is to absorb\nall scenes and pictures and the impressions of all thoughts, to keep\nthem, and to throw them forth by reflection when the conditions permit.\nThis astral shell, cast off by every man at death, would be a menace to\nall men were it not in every case, except one which shall be mentioned,\ndevoid of all the higher principles which are the directors. But those\nguiding constituents being disjoined from the shell, it wavers and\nfloats about from place to place without any will of its own, but\ngoverned wholly by attractions in the astral and magnetic fields.\n\nIt is possible for the real man\u2014called the spirit by some\u2014to\ncommunicate with us immediately after death for a few brief moments,\nbut, those passed, the soul has no more to do with earth until\nre\u00efncarnated. What can and do influence the sensitive and the medium\nfrom out of this sphere are the shells I have described. Soulless and\nconscienceless, these in no sense are the spirits of our deceased ones.\nThey are the clothing thrown off by the inner man, the brutal earthly\nportion discarded in the flight to _devachan_, and so have always\nbeen considered by the ancients as devils\u2014our personal devils\u2014because\nessentially astral, earthly, and passional. It would be strange indeed\nif this shell, after being for so long the vehicle of the real man on\nearth, did not retain an automatic memory and consciousness. We see the\ndecapitated body of the frog or the cock moving and acting for a time\nwith a seeming intelligence, and why is it not possible for the finer\nand more subtle astral form to act and move with a far greater amount\nof seeming mental direction?\n\nExisting in the sphere of _kama loka_, as, indeed, also in all parts of\nthe globe and the solar system, are the elementals or nature forces.\nThey are innumerable, and their divisions are almost infinite, as they\nare, in a sense, the nerves of nature. Each class has its own work just\nas has every natural element or thing. As fire burns and as water\nruns down and not up under their general law, so the elementals act\nunder law, but being higher in the scale than gross fire or water their\naction seems guided by mind. Some of them have a special relation to\nmental operations and to the action of the astral organs, whether these\nbe joined to a body or not. When a medium forms the channel, and also\nfrom other natural co\u00f6rdination, these elementals make an artificial\nconnection with the shell of a deceased person, aided by the nervous\nfluid of the medium and others near, and then the shell is galvanized\ninto an artificial life. Through the medium connection is made with\nthe physical and psychical forces of all present. The old impressions\non the astral body give up their images to the mind of the medium, the\nold passions are set on fire. Various messages and reports are then\nobtained from it, but not one of them is original, not one is from the\nspirit. By their strangeness, and in consequence of the ignorance of\nthose who dabble in it, this is mistaken for the work of spirit, but\nit is all from the living when it is not the mere picking out from the\nastral light of the images of what has been in the past. In certain\ncases to be noted there is an intelligence at work that is wholly and\nintensely bad, to which every medium is subject, and which will explain\nwhy so many of them have succumbed to evil, as they have confessed.\n\nA rough classification of these shells that visit mediums would be as\nfollows:\n\n(1) Those of the recently deceased whose place of burial is not far\naway. This class will be quite coherent in accordance with the life and\nthought of the former owner. An unmaterial, good, and spiritualized\nperson leaves a shell that will soon disintegrate. A gross, mean,\nselfish, material person\u2019s shell will be heavy, consistent, and long\nlived: and so on with all varieties.\n\n(2) Those of persons who had died far away from the place where the\nmedium is. Lapse of time permits such to escape from the vicinity of\ntheir old bodies, and at the same time brings on a greater degree of\ndisintegration which corresponds on the astral plane to putrefaction on\nthe physical. These are vague, shadowy, incoherent; respond but briefly\nto the psychic stimulus, and are whirled off by any magnetic current.\nThey are galvanized for a moment by the astral currents of the medium\nand of those persons present who were related to the deceased.\n\n(3) Purely shadowy remains which can hardly be given a place. There\nis no English to describe them, though they are facts in this sphere.\nThey might be said to be the mere mould or impress left in the astral\nsubstance by the once coherent shell long since disintegrated. They\nare therefore so near being fictitious as to almost deserve the\ndesignation. As such shadowy photographs they are enlarged, decorated,\nand given an imaginary life by the thoughts, desires, hopes, and\nimaginings of medium and sitters at the _s\u00e9ance_.\n\n(4) Definite, coherent entities, human souls bereft of the spiritual\ntie, now tending down to the worst state of all, _avitchi_, where\nannihilation of the personality is the end. They are known as black\nmagicians. Having centred the consciousness in the principle of _kama_,\npreserved intellect, divorced themselves from spirit, they are the\nonly damned beings we know. In life they had human bodies and reached\ntheir awful state by persistent lives of evil for its own sake; some\nof such already doomed to become what I have described, are among us\non earth to-day. These are not ordinary shells, for they have centred\nall their force in _kama_, thrown out every spark of good thought or\naspiration, and have a complete mastery of the astral sphere. I put\nthem in the classification of shells because they are such in the\nsense that they are doomed to disintegration consciously as the others\nare to the same end mechanically only. They may and do last for many\ncenturies, gratifying their lusts through any sensitive they can lay\nhold of where bad thought gives them an opening. They preside at nearly\nall _s\u00e9ances_, assuming high names and taking the direction so as to\nkeep the control and continue the delusion of the medium, thus enabling\nthemselves to have a convenient channel for their own evil purposes.\nIndeed, with the shells of suicides, of those poor wretches who die at\nthe hand of the law, of drunkards and gluttons, these black magicians\nliving in the astral world hold the field of physical mediumship and\nare liable to invade the sphere of any medium no matter how good.\nThe door once open, it is open to all. This class of shell has lost\nhigher _manas_, but in the struggle not only after death but as well\nin life the lower portion of _manas_ which should have been raised up\nto godlike excellence was torn away from its lord and now gives this\nentity intelligence which is devoid of spirit but has power to suffer\nas it will when its final day shall come.\n\nIn the state of _Kama Loka_ suicides and those who are suddenly shot\nout of life by accident or murder, legal or illegal, pass a term\nalmost equal to the length life would have been but for the sudden\ntermination. These are not really dead. To bring on a normal death, a\nfactor not recognized by medical science must be present. That is, the\nprinciples of the being as described in other chapters have their own\nterm of cohesion, at the natural end of which they separate from each\nother under their own laws. This involves the great subject of the\ncohesive forces of the human subject, requiring a book in itself. I\nmust be content therefore with the assertion that this law of cohesion\nobtains among the human principles. Before that natural end the\nprinciples are unable to separate. Obviously the normal destruction\nof the cohesive force cannot be brought about by mechanical processes\nexcept in respect to the physical body. Hence a suicide, or person\nkilled by accident or murdered by man or by order of human law, has\nnot come to the natural termination of the cohesion among the other\nconstituents, and is hurled into the _kama loka_ state only partly\ndead. There the remaining principles have to wait until the actual\nnatural life term is reached, whether it be one month or sixty years.\n\nBut the degrees of _kama loka_ provide for the many varieties of the\nlast-mentioned shells. Some pass the period in great suffering, others\nin a dreamy sort of sleep, each according to the moral responsibility.\nBut executed criminals are in general thrown out of life full of hate\nand revenge, smarting under a penalty they do not admit the justice of.\nThey are ever rehearsing in _kama loka_ their crime, their trial, their\nexecution, and their revenge. And whenever they can gain touch with a\nsensitive living person, medium or not, they attempt to inject thoughts\nof murder and other crime into the brain of such unfortunate. And that\nthey succeed in such attempts the deeper students of Theosophy full\nwell know.\n\nWe have now approached _devachan_. After a certain time in _kama loka_\nthe being falls into a state of unconsciousness which precedes the\nchange into the next state. It is like the birth into life, preluded\nby a term of darkness and heavy sleep. It then wakes to the joys of\n_devachan_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n\nHaving shown that just beyond the threshold of human life there is a\nplace of separation wherein the better part of man is divided from\nhis lower and brute elements, we come to consider what is the state\nafter death of the real being, the immortal who travels from life to\nlife. Struggling out of the body the entire man goes into _kama loka_,\nto purgatory, where he again struggles and loosens himself from the\nlower _skandhas_; this period of birth over, the higher principles,\n_Atma-Buddhi-Manas_, begin to think in a manner different from that\nwhich the body and brain permitted in life. This is the state of\n_Devachan_, a Sanscrit word meaning literally \u201cthe place of the gods,\u201d\nwhere the soul enjoys felicity; but as the gods have no such bodies\nas ours, the Self in _devachan_ is devoid of a mortal body. In the\nancient books it is said that this state lasts \u201cfor years of infinite\nnumber\u201d, or \u201cfor a period proportionate to the merit of the being\u201d;\nand when the mental forces peculiar to the state are exhausted, \u201cthe\nbeing is drawn down again to be reborn in the world of mortals\u201d.\n_Devachan_ is therefore an interlude between births in the world. The\nlaw of karma which forces us all to enter the world, being ceaseless in\nits operation and also universal in scope, acts also on the being in\n_devachan_, for only by the force or operation of Karma are we taken\nout of _devachan_. It is something like the pressure of atmosphere\nwhich, being continuous and uniform, will push out or crush that\nwhich is subjected to it unless there be a compensating quantity of\natmosphere to counteract the pressure. In the present case the karma of\nthe being is the atmosphere always pressing the being on or out from\nstate to state; the counteracting quantity of atmosphere is the force\nof the being\u2019s own life-thoughts and aspirations which prevent his\ncoming out of _devachan_ until that force is exhausted, but which being\nspent has no more power to hold back the decree of our self-made mortal\ndestiny.\n\nThe necessity for this state after death is one of the necessities of\nevolution growing out of the nature of mind and soul. The very nature\nof _manas_ requires a devachanic state as soon as the body is lost, and\nit is simply the effect of loosening the bonds placed upon the mind by\nits physical and astral encasement. In life we can but to a fractional\nextent act out the thoughts we have each moment; and still less can we\nexhaust the psychic energies engendered by each day\u2019s aspirations and\ndreams. The energy thus engendered is not lost or annihilated, but is\nstored in _Manas_, but the body, brain, and astral body permit no full\ndevelopment of the force. Hence, held latent until death, it bursts\nthen from the weakened bonds and plunges _Manas_, the thinker, into\nthe expansion, use, and development of the thought-force set up in\nlife. The impossibility of escaping this necessary state lies in man\u2019s\nignorance of his own powers and faculties. From this ignorance delusion\narises, and _Manas_ not being wholly free is carried by its own force\ninto the thinking of _devachan_. But while ignorance is the cause for\ngoing into this state the whole process is remedial, restful, and\nbeneficial. For if the average man returned at once to another body in\nthe same civilization he had just quitted, his soul would be completely\ntired out and deprived of the needed opportunity for the development of\nthe higher part of his nature.\n\nNow the Ego being minus mortal body and _kama_, clothes itself in\n_devachan_ with a vesture which cannot be called body but may be styled\nmeans or vehicle, and in that it functions in the devachanic state\nentirely on the plane of mind and soul. Everything is as real then to\nthe being as this world seems to be to us. It simply now has gotten the\nopportunity to make its own world for itself unhampered by the clogs of\nphysical life. Its state may be compared to that of the poet or artist\nwho, rapt in ecstacy of composition or arrangement of color, cares not\nfor and knows not of either time or objects of the world.\n\nWe are making causes every moment, and but two fields exist for the\nmanifestation in effect of those causes. These are, the objective as\nthis world is called, and the subjective which is both here and after\nwe have left this life. The objective field relates to earth life and\nthe grosser part of man, to his bodily acts and his brain thoughts, as\nalso sometimes to his astral body. The subjective has to do with his\nhigher and spiritual parts. In the objective field the psychic impulses\ncannot work out, nor can the high leanings and aspirations of his soul;\nhence these must be the basis, cause, substratum, and support for the\nstate of _devachan_. What then is the time, measured by mortal years,\nthat one will stay in _devachan_?\n\nThis question while dealing with what earth-men call time does not,\nof course, touch the real meaning of time itself, that is, of what\nmay be in fact for this solar system the ultimate order, precedence,\nsuccession, and length of moments. It is a question which may be\nanswered in respect to our time, but not certainly in respect to the\ntime on the planet Mercury, for instance, where time is not the same\nas ours, nor, indeed, in respect to time as conceived by the soul. As\nto the latter any man can see that after many years have slipped away\nhe has no direct perception of the time just passed, but is able only\nto pick out some of the incidents which marked its passage, and as to\nsome poignant or happy instants or hours he seems to feel them as but\nof yesterday. And thus it is for the being in _devachan_. No time is\nthere. The soul has all the benefit of what goes on within itself\nin that state, but it indulges in no speculations as to the lapse of\nmoments; all is made up of events, while all the time the solar orb\nis marking off the years for us on the earth plane. This cannot be\nregarded as an impossibility if we will remember how, as is well known\nin life, events, pictures, thoughts, argument, introspective feeling\nwill all sweep over us in perfect detail in an instant, or, as is known\nof those who have been drowning, the events of a whole life time pass\nin a flash before the eye of the mind. But the Ego remains as said in\n_devachan_ for a time exactly proportioned to the psychic impulses\ngenerated during life. Now this being a matter which deals with the\nmathematics of the soul, no one but a Master can tell what the time\nwould be for the average man of this century in every land. Hence we\nhave to depend on the Masters of wisdom for that average, as it must be\nbased upon a calculation. They have said, as is well put by Mr. A. P.\nSinnett in his _Esoteric Buddhism_, that the period is fifteen hundred\nyears in general. From a reading of his book, which was made up from\nletters from the Masters, it is to be inferred he desires it to be\nunderstood that the devachanic period is in each and every case fifteen\ncenturies; but to do away with that misapprehension his informants\nwrote at a later date that that is the average period and not a fixed\none. Such must be the truth, for as we see that men differ in respect\nto the periods of time they remain in any state of mind in life due to\nthe varying intensities of their thoughts, so it must be in _devachan_\nwhere thought has a greater force though always due to the being who\nhad the thoughts.\n\nWhat the Master did say on this is as follows: \u201cThe \u2018dream of\n_devachan_\u2019 lasts until karma is satisfied in that direction. In\n_devachan_ there is a gradual exhaustion of force. The stay in\n_devachan_ is proportionate to the unexhausted psychic impulses\noriginated in earth life. Those whose actions were preponderatingly\nmaterial will be sooner brought back into rebirth by the force of\n_Tanha_.\u201d _Tanha_ is the thirst for life. He therefore who has not\nin life originated many psychic impulses will have but little basis\nor force in his essential nature to keep his higher principles in\n_devachan_. About all he will have are those originated in childhood\nbefore he began to fix his thoughts on materialistic thinking. The\nthirst for life expressed by the word _Tanha_ is the pulling or\nmagnetic force lodged in the _skandhas_ inherent in all beings. In\nsuch a case as this the average rule does not apply, since the whole\neffect either way is due to a balancing of forces and is the outcome\nof action and reaction. And this sort of materialistic thinker may\nemerge out of _devachan_ into another body here in a month, allowing\nfor the unexpended psychic forces originated in early life. But as\nevery one of such persons varies as to class, intensity and quantity\nof thought and psychic impulse, each may vary in respect to the time\nof stay in _devachan_. Desperately materialistic thinkers will remain\nin the devachanic condition stupefied or asleep, as it were, as they\nhave no forces in them appropriate to that state save in a very vague\nfashion, and for them it can be very truly said that there is no state\nafter death so far as mind is concerned; they are torpid for a while,\nand then they live again on earth. This general average of the stay in\n_devachan_ gives us the length of a very important human cycle, the\nCycle of Re\u00efncarnation. For under that law national development will be\nfound to repeat itself, and the times that are past will be found to\ncome again.\n\nThe last series of powerful and deeply imprinted thoughts are those\nwhich give color and trend to the whole life in _devachan_. The last\nmoment will color each subsequent moment. On those the soul and mind\nfix themselves and weave of them a whole set of events and experiences,\nexpanding them to their highest limit, carrying out all that was not\npossible in life. Thus expanding and weaving these thoughts the entity\nhas its youth and growth and growing old, that is, the uprush of the\nforce, its expansion, and its dying down to final exhaustion. If the\nperson has led a colorless life the _devachan_ will be colorless; if a\nrich life, then it will be rich in variety and effect. Existence there\nis not a dream save in a conventional sense, for it is a stage of the\nlife of man, and when we are there this present life is a dream. It is\nnot in any sense monotonous. We are too prone to measure all possible\nstates of life and places for experience by our present earthly one and\nto imagine it to be reality. But the life of the soul is endless and\nnot to be stopped for one instant. Leaving our physical body is but a\ntransition to another place or plane for living in. But as the ethereal\ngarments of _devachan_ are more lasting than those we wear here, the\nspiritual, moral, and psychic causes use more time in expanding and\nexhausting in that state than they do on earth. If the molecules that\nform the physical body were not subject to the general chemical laws\nthat govern physical earth, then we should live as long in these bodies\nas we do in the devachanic state. But such a life of endless strain and\nsuffering would be enough to blast the soul compelled to undergo it.\nPleasure would then be pain, and surfeit would end but in an immortal\ninsanity. Nature, always kind, leads us soon again into heaven for a\nrest, for the flowering of the best and highest in our natures.\n\n_Devachan_ is then neither meaningless nor useless. \u201cIn it we are\nrested; that part of us which could not bloom under the chilling\nskies of earth-life bursts forth into flower and goes back with us\nto earth-life stronger and more a part of our nature than before.\nWhy should we repine that Nature kindly aids us in the interminable\nstruggle, why keep the mind revolving about the present petty\npersonality and its good and evil fortunes?\u201d[2]\n\n  [2] Letter from Mahatma K. H. See _Path_, p. 192, Vol. 5.\n\nBut it is sometimes asked, what of those we have left behind: do we see\nthem there? We do not see them there in fact, but we make to ourselves\ntheir images as full, complete, and objective as in life, and devoid of\nall that we then thought was a blemish. We live with them and see them\ngrow great and good instead of mean or bad. The mother who has left a\ndrunken son behind finds him before her in _devachan_ a sober, good\nman, and likewise through all possible cases, parent, child, husband,\nand wife have their loved ones there perfect and full of knowledge.\nThis is for the benefit of the soul. You may call it a delusion if\nyou will, but the illusion is necessary to happiness just as it often\nis in life. And as it is the mind that makes the illusion, it is no\ncheat. Certainly the idea of a heaven built over the verge of hell\nwhere you must know, if any brains or memory are left to you under the\nmodern orthodox scheme, that your erring friends and relatives are\nsuffering eternal torture, will bear no comparison with the doctrine\nof _devachan_. But entities in _devachan_ are not wholly devoid of\npower to help those left on earth. Love, the master of life, if real,\npure, and deep, will sometimes cause the happy Ego in _devachan_ to\naffect those left on earth for their good, not only in the moral field\nbut also in that of material circumstance. This is possible under a\nlaw of the occult universe which cannot be explained now with profit,\nbut the fact may be stated. It has been given out before this by H. P.\nBlavatsky, without, however, much attention being drawn to it.\n\nThe last question to consider is whether we here can reach those in\n_devachan_ or do they come here. We cannot reach them nor affect them\nunless we are Adepts. The claim of mediums to hold communion with the\nspirits of the dead is baseless, and still less valid is the claim of\nability to help those who have gone to _devachan_. The Mahatma, a being\nwho has developed all his powers and is free from illusion, can go\ninto the devachanic state and then communicate with the Egos there.\nSuch is one of their functions, and that is the only school of the\nApostles after death. They deal with certain entities in _devachan_\nfor the purpose of getting them out of the state so as to return to\nearth for the benefit of the race. The Egos they thus deal with are\nthose whose nature is great and deep but who are not wise enough to be\nable to overcome the natural illusions of _devachan_. Sometimes also\nthe hypersensitive and pure medium goes into this state and then holds\ncommunication with the Egos there, but it is rare, and certainly will\nnot take place with the general run of mediums who trade for money. But\nthe soul never descends here to the medium. And the gulf between the\nconsciousness of _devachan_ and that of earth is so deep and wide that\nit is but seldom the medium can remember upon returning to recollection\nhere what or whom it met or saw or heard in _devachan_. This gulf is\nsimilar to that which separates _devachan_ from rebirth; it is one in\nwhich all memory of what preceded it is blotted out.\n\nThe whole period allotted by the soul\u2019s forces being ended in\n_devachan_, the magnetic threads which bind it to earth begin to assert\ntheir power. The Self wakes from the dream, it is borne swiftly off to\na new body, and then, just before birth, it sees for a moment all the\ncauses that led it to _devachan_ and back to the life it is about to\nbegin, and knowing it to be all just, to be the result of its own past\nlife, it repines not but takes up the cross again\u2014and another soul has\ncome back to earth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n\nThe doctrine of Cycles is one of the most important in the whole\ntheosophical system, though the least known and of all the one most\ninfrequently referred to. Western investigators have for some centuries\nsuspected that events move in cycles, and a few of the writers in the\nfield of European literature have dealt with the subject, but all in\na very incomplete fashion. This incompleteness and want of accurate\nknowledge have been due to the lack of belief in spiritual things and\nthe desire to square everything with materialistic science. Nor do\nI pretend to give the cyclic law in full, for it is one that is not\ngiven out in detail by the Masters of Wisdom. But enough has been\ndivulged, and enough was for a long time known to the Ancients to add\nconsiderably to our knowledge.\n\nA cycle is a ring or turning, as the derivation of the word indicates.\nThe corresponding words in the Sanscrit are _Yuga_, _Kalpa_,\n_Manvantara_, but of these _yuga_ comes nearest to cycle, as it is\nlesser in duration than the others. The beginning of a cycle must be\na moment, that added to other moments makes a day, and those added\ntogether constitute months, years, decades, and centuries. Beyond\nthis the West hardly goes. It recognizes the moon cycle and the great\nsidereal one, but looks at both and upon the others merely as periods\nof time. If we are to consider them as but lengths of time there is\nno profit except to the dry student or to the astronomer. And in\nthis way to-day they are regarded by European and American thinkers,\nwho say cycles exist but have no very great bearing on human life\nand certainly no bearing on the actual recurrence of events or the\nre\u00e4ppearance on the stage of life of persons who once lived in the\nworld. The theosophical theory is distinctly otherwise, as it must be\nif it carries out the doctrine of re\u00efncarnation to which in preceding\npages a good deal of attention has been given. Not only are the cycles\nnamed actual physical facts in respect to time, but they and other\nperiods have a very great effect on human life and the evolution of\nthe globe with all the forms of life thereon. Starting with the moment\nand proceeding through a day, this theory erects the cycle into a\ncomprehensive ring, which includes all in its limits. The moment being\nthe basis, the question to be settled in respect to the great cycles\nis, When did the first moment come? This cannot be answered, but it\ncan be said that the truth is held by the ancient theosophists to be\nthat at the first moments of the solidification of this globe the mass\nof matter involved attained a certain and definite rate of vibration\nwhich will hold through all variations in any part of it until its hour\nfor dissolution comes. These rates of vibration are what determine the\ndifferent cycles, and, contrary to the ideas of western science, the\ndoctrine is that the solar system and the globe we are now on will\ncome to an end when the force behind the whole mass of seen and unseen\nmatter has reached its limit of duration under cyclic law. Here our\ndoctrine is again different from both the religious and scientific one.\nWe do not admit that the ending of the force is the withdrawal by a God\nof his protection, nor the sudden propulsion by him of another force\nagainst the globe, but that the force at work and determining the great\ncycle is that of man himself considered as a spiritual being; when he\nis done using the globe he leaves it, and then with him goes out the\nforce holding all together; the consequence is dissolution by fire or\nwater or what not, these phenomena being simply effects and not causes.\nThe ordinary scientific speculations on this head are that the earth\nmay fall into the sun, or that a comet of density may destroy the\nglobe, or that we may collide with a greater planet known or unknown.\nThese dreams are idle for the present.\n\nRe\u00efncarnation being the great law of life and progress, it is\ninterwoven with that of the cycles and karma. These three work\ntogether, and in practice it is almost impossible to disentangle\nre\u00efncarnation from cyclic law. Individuals and nations in definite\nstreams return in regularly recurring periods to the earth, and thus\nbring back to the globe the arts, the civilization, the very persons\nwho once were on it at work. And as the units in nation and race are\nconnected together by invisible strong threads, large bodies of such\nunits moving slowly but surely all together reunite at different times\nand emerge again and again together into new race and new civilization\nas the cycles roll their appointed rounds. Therefore the souls who\nmade the most ancient civilizations will come back and bring the old\ncivilization with them in idea and essence, which being added to what\nothers have done for the development of the human race in its character\nand knowledge will produce a new and higher state of civilization. This\nnewer and better development will not be due to books, to records, to\narts or mechanics, because all those are periodically destroyed so far\nas physical evidence goes, but the soul ever retaining in _Manas_ the\nknowledge it once gained and always pushing to completer development\nthe higher principles and powers, the essence of progress remains and\nwill as surely come out as the sun shines. And along this road are the\npoints when the small and large cycles of Avatars bring out for man\u2019s\nbenefit the great characters who mould the race from time to time.\n\nThe Cycle of Avatars includes several smaller ones. The greater are\nthose marked by the appearance of Rama and Krishna among the Hindus,\nof Menes among the Egyptians, of Zoroaster among the Persians, and\nof Buddha to the Hindus and other nations of the East. Buddha is\nthe last of the great Avatars and is in a larger cycle than is Jesus\nof the Jews, for the teachings of the latter are the same as those\nof Buddha and tinctured with what Buddha had taught to those who\ninstructed Jesus. Another great Avatar is yet to come, corresponding\nto Buddha and Krishna combined. Krishna and Rama were of the\nmilitary, civil, religious, and occult order; Buddha of the ethical,\nreligious, and mystical, in which he was followed by Jesus; Mohammed\nwas a minor intermediate one for a certain part of the race, and\nwas civil, military, and religious. In these cycles we can include\nmixed characters who have had great influence on nations, such as\nKing Arthur, Pharaoh, Moses, Charlemagne re\u00efncarnated as Napoleon\nBuonaparte, Clovis of France reborn as Emperor Frederic III of Germany,\nand Washington the first President of the United States of America\nwhere the root for the new race is being formed.\n\nAt the intersection of the great cycles dynamic effects follow and\nalter the surface of the planet by reason of the shifting of the poles\nof the globe or other convulsion. This is not a theory generally\nacceptable, but we hold it to be true. Man is a great dynamo, making,\nstoring, and throwing out energy, and when masses of men composing a\nrace thus make and distribute energy, there is a resulting dynamic\neffect on the material of the globe which will be powerful enough\nto be distinct and cataclysmic. That there have been vast and awful\ndisturbances in the strata of the world is admitted on every hand\nand now needs no proof; these have been due to earthquakes and ice\nformation so far as concerns geology; but in respect to animal forms\nthe cyclic law is that certain animal forms now extinct and also\ncertain human ones not known but sometimes suspected will return again\nin their own cycle; and certain human languages now known as dead will\nbe in use once more at their appointed cyclic hour.\n\n\u201cThe Metonic cycle is that of the Moon. It is a period of about\nnineteen years, which being completed the new and the full moons return\non the same days of the month.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe cycle of the Sun is a period of twenty eight years, which having\nelapsed the Dominical or Sunday letters return to their former place\nand proceed in the former order according to the Julian calendar.\u201d\n\nThe great Sidereal year is the period taken by the equinoctial points\nto make in their precession a complete revolution of the heavens. It\nis composed of 25,868 solar years almost. It is said that the last\nsidereal year ended about 9,868 years ago, at which time there must\nhave been on this earth a violent convulsion or series of such, as well\nas distributions of nations. The completion of this grand period brings\nthe earth into newer spaces of the cosmos, not in respect to its own\norbit, but by reason of the actual progress of the sun in an orbit of\nits own that cannot be measured by any observer of the present day, but\nwhich is guessed at by some and located in one of the constellations.\n\nAffecting man especially are the spiritual, psychic, and moral cycles,\nand out of these grow the national, racial, and individual cycles. Race\nand national cycles are both historical. The individual cycles are\nof re\u00efncarnation, of sensation, and of impression. The length of the\nindividual re\u00efncarnation cycle for the general mass of men is fifteen\nhundred years, and this in its turn gives us a large historical cycle\nrelated closely to the progress of civilization. For as the masses of\npersons return from _devachan_, it must follow that the Roman, the\nGreek, the old Aryan, and other Ages will be seen again and can to\na very great extent be plainly traced. But man is also affected by\nastronomical cycles because he is an integral part of the whole, and\nthese cycles mark the periods when mankind as a whole will undergo a\nchange. In the sacred books of all nations these are often mentioned,\nand are in the Bible of the Christians, as, for instance, in the story\nof Jonah in the belly of the whale. This is an absurdity when read\nas history, but not so as an astronomical cycle. \u201cJonah\u201d is in the\nconstellations, and when that astronomical point which represents man\nreaches a point in the Zodiac which is directly opposite the belly of\nCetus or the whale on the other side of the circle, by what is known\nas the process of opposition, then Jonah is said to be in the centre\nof the fish and is \u201cthrown out\u201d at the expiration of the period when\nthat man-point has passed so far along in the Zodiac as to be out\nof opposition to the whale. Similarly as the same point moves thus\nthrough the Zodiac it is brought by opposition into the different\nconstellations that are exactly opposite from century to century while\nit moves along. During these progresses changes take place among men\nand on earth exactly signified by the constellations when those are\nread according to the right rules of symbology. It is not claimed\nthat the conjunction causes the effect, but that ages ago the Masters\nof Wisdom worked out all the problems in respect to man and found in\nthe heavens the means for knowing the exact dates when events are\nsure to recur, and then by imprinting in the minds of older nations\nthe symbology of the Zodiac were able to preserve the record and the\nprophecy. Thus in the same way that a watchmaker can tell the hour by\nthe arrival of the hands or the works of the watch at certain fixed\npoints, the Sages can tell the hour for events by the Zodiacal clock.\nThis is not of course believed to-day, but it will be well understood\nin future centuries, and as the nations of the earth have all similar\nsymbols in general for the Zodiac, and as also the records of races\nlong dead have the same, it is not likely that the vandal-spirit of\nthe western nineteenth century will be able to efface this valuable\nheritage of our evolution. In Egypt the Denderah Zodiac tells the same\ntale as that one left to us by the old civilization of the American\ncontinent, and all of these are from the same source; they are the\nwork of the Sages who come at the beginning of the great human cycle\nand give to man when he begins his toilsome ascent up the road of\ndevelopment those great symbols and ideas of an astronomical character\nwhich will last through all the cycles.\n\nIn regard to great cataclysms occurring at the beginning and ending\nof the great cycles, the main laws governing the effects are those of\nKarma and Re\u00ebmbodiment, or Re\u00efncarnation, proceeding under cyclic rule.\nNot only is man ruled by these laws, but every atom of matter as well,\nand the mass of matter is constantly undergoing a change at the same\ntime with man. It must therefore exhibit alterations corresponding to\nthose through which the thinker is going. On the physical plane effects\nare brought out through the electrical and other fluids acting with\nthe gases on the solids of the globe. At the change of a great cycle\nthey reach what may be termed the exploding point and cause violent\nconvulsions of the following classes: (_a_) Earthquakes, (_b_) Floods,\n(_c_) Fire, (_d_) Ice.\n\nEarthquakes may be brought on according to this philosophy by two\ngeneral causes; _first_, subsidence or elevation under the earth-crust\ndue to heat and steam, _second_, electrical and magnetic changes which\naffect water and earth at the same time. These last have the power\nto instantaneously make the earth fluidic without melting it, thus\ncausing immense and violent displacements in large or small waves. And\nthis effect is sometimes seen now in earthquake districts when similar\nelectrical causes are at work in a smaller measure.\n\nFloods of general extent are caused by displacement of water from the\nsubsidence or elevation of land, and by those combined with electrical\nchange which induces a copious discharge of moisture. The latter is\nnot a mere emptying of a cloud, but a sudden turning of vast bodies of\nfluids and solids into water.\n\nUniversal fires come on from electrical and magnetic changes in the\natmosphere by which the moisture is withdrawn from the air and the\nlatter turned into a fiery mass; and, secondly, by the sudden expansion\nof the solar magnetic centre into seven such centres, thus burning the\nglobe.\n\nIce cataclysms come on not only from the sudden alteration of the poles\nbut also from lowered temperature due to the alteration of the warm\nfluid currents in the sea and the hot magnetic currents in the earth,\nthe first being known to science, the latter not. The lower stratum of\nmoisture is suddenly frozen, and vast tracts of land covered in a night\nwith many feet of ice. This can easily happen to the British Isles if\nthe warm currents of the ocean are diverted from its shores.\n\nBoth Egyptians and Greeks had their cycles, but in our opinion derived\nthem from the Indian Sages. The Chinese always were a nation of\nastronomers, and have recorded observations reaching far back of the\nChristian era, but as they belong to an old race which is doomed to\nextinction\u2014strange as the assertion may appear\u2014their conclusions will\nnot be correct for the Aryan races. On the coming of the Christian era\na heavy pall of darkness fell on the minds of men in the West, and\nIndia was for many centuries isolated so as to preserve these great\nideas during the mental night of Europe. This isolation was brought\nabout deliberately as a necessary precaution taken by that great\nLodge to which I adverted in Chapter I, because its Adepts, knowing\nthe cyclic laws perfectly, wished to preserve philosophy for future\ngenerations. As it would be mere pedantry and speculation to discuss\nthe unknown Saros and Naros and other cycles of the Egyptians, I will\ngive the Brahmanical ones, since they tally almost exactly with the\ncorrect periods.\n\nA period or exhibition of universal manifestation is called a\nBrahmanda, that is a complete life of Brahma, and Brahma\u2019s life is\nmade of his days and years, which, being cosmical are each of immense\nduration. His day is as man\u2019s 24 odd hours long, his year 360 odd days,\nthe number of his years is 100.\n\nTaking now this globe\u2014since we are concerned with no other\u2014its\ngovernment and evolution proceed under _Manu_ or _man_, and from\nthis is the term _Manvantara_ or \u201cbetween two _Manus_.\u201d The course\nof evolution is divided into four _Yugas_ for every race in its own\ntime and way. These _Yugas_ do not affect all mankind at one and the\nsame time, as some races are in one of the _Yugas_ while others are\nin a different cycle. The Red Indian, for instance, is in the end of\nhis stone age, while the Aryans are in quite a different state. These\nfour _Yugas_ are: _Krita_, or _Satya_, the golden; _Treta_; _Dvapara_;\nand _Kali_ or the black. The present age for the West and India is\n_Kali Yuga_, especially in respect to moral and spiritual development.\nThe first of these is slow in comparison with the rest, and the\npresent\u2014_Kali_\u2014is very rapid, its motion being accelerated precisely\nlike certain astronomical periods known to-day in regard to the Moon,\nbut not fully worked out.\n\n\n                                TABLE.\n  \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n                                                          MORTAL YEARS.\n  \u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\n  360 (odd) mortal days make                                          1\n  _Krita Yuga_   has                                          1,728,000\n  _Treta Yuga_    \u201c                                           1,296,000\n  _Dvapara Yuga_  \u201c                                             864,000\n  _Kali Yuga_     \u201c                                             432,000\n  _Maha Yuga_, or the four preceding, has                     4,320,000\n  71 _Maha Yugas_ form the reign of one _Manu_, or          306,720,000\n  14 _Manus_ are                                          4,294,080,000\n  Add the dawns or twilights between each _Manu_             25,920,000\n  These reigns and dawns make 1000 _Maha Yugas_,\n      a _Kalpa_, or Day of _Brahma_                       4,320,000,000\n  _Brahma\u2019s_ Night equals his Day and Day and\n      Night together make                                 8,640,000,000\n  360 of these Days make _Brahma\u2019s_ Year              3,110,400,000,000\n  100 of these Years make _Brahma\u2019s_ Life           311,040,000,000,000\n\n\nThe first 5000 years of _Kali Yuga_ will end between the years 1897 and\n1898. This _Yuga_ began about 3102 years before the Christian era, at\nthe time of Krishna\u2019s death. As 1897-98 are not far off, the scientific\nmen of to-day will have an opportunity of seeing whether the close\nof the five thousand year cycle will be preceded or followed by any\nconvulsions or great changes political, scientific, or physical, or all\nof these combined. Cyclic changes are now proceeding as year after year\nthe souls from prior civilizations are being incarnated in this period\nwhen liberty of thought and action are not so restricted in the West as\nthey have been in the past by dogmatic religious prejudice and bigotry.\nAnd at the present time we are in a cycle of transition, when, as a\ntransition period should indicate, everything in philosophy, religion,\nand society is changing. In a transition period the full and complete\nfigures and rules respecting cycles are not given out to a generation\nwhich elevates money above all thoughts and scoffs at the spiritual\nview of man and nature.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n\nBetween Science and Theosophy there is a wide gulf, for the present\nunbridged, on the question of the origin of man and the differentiation\nof species. The teachers of religion in the West offer on this\nsubject a theory, dogmatically buttressed by an assumed revelation,\nas impossible as the one put forward by scientific men. And yet the\nreligious expounders are nearer than science to the truth. Under the\nreligious superstition about Adam and Eve is hidden the truth, and in\nthe tales of Cain, Seth, and Noah is vaguely shadowed the real story of\nthe other races of men, Adam being but the representative of one single\nrace. The people who received Cain and gave him a wife were some of\nthose human races which had appeared simultaneously with the one headed\nby Adam.\n\nThe ultimate origin or beginning of man is not to be discovered,\nalthough we may know when and from where the men of this globe came.\nMan never was not. If not on this globe, then on some others, he ever\nwas, and will ever be in existence somewhere in the Cosmos. Ever\nperfecting and reaching up to the image of the Heavenly Man, he is\nalways becoming. But as the human mind cannot go back to any beginning,\nwe shall start with this globe. Upon this earth and upon the whole\nchain of globes of which it is a part seven races of men appeared\nsimultaneously, coming over to it from other globes of an older chain.\nAnd in respect to this earth\u2014the fourth of this chain\u2014these seven\nraces came simultaneously from another globe of this chain. This\nappearance of seven races together happens in the first and in part of\nthe second round of the globes. In the second round the seven masses\nof beings are amalgamated, and their destiny after that is to slowly\ndifferentiate during the succeeding rounds until at the seventh round\nthe seven first great races will be once more distinct, as perfect\ntypes of the human race as this period of evolution will allow. At the\npresent time the seven races are mixed together, and representatives of\nall are in the many so-called races of men as classified by our present\nscience. The object of this amalgamation and subsequent differentiation\nis to give to every race the benefit of the progress and power of the\nwhole derived from prior progress in other planets and systems. For\nNature never does her work in a hasty or undue fashion, but, by the\nsure method of mixture, precipitation, and separation, brings about the\ngreatest perfection. And this method was one known to the Alchemists,\nthough not fully understood in all its bearings even by them.\n\nHence man did not spring from a single pair. Neither did he come\nfrom any tribe or family of monkey. It is hopeless to look to either\nreligion or science for a solution of the question, for science\nis confused on her own admission, and religion is tangled with a\nrevelation that in its books controverts the theory put forward by\nthe priest. Adam is called the first man, but the record in which the\nstory is found shows that other races of men must have existed on the\nearth before Cain could have founded a city. The Bible, then, does not\nsupport the single pair theory. If we take up one of the hypotheses of\nScience and admit for the moment that man and monkey differentiated\nfrom one ancestor, we have then to decide where the first ancestor\ncame from. The first postulate of the Lodge on this subject is that\nseven races of men appeared simultaneously on the earth, and the first\nnegative assumption is that man did not spring from a single pair or\nfrom the animal kingdom.\n\nThe varieties of character and capacity which subsequently appear in\nman\u2019s history are the forthcoming of the variations which were induced\nin the Egos in other and long anterior periods of evolution upon other\nchains of globes. These variations were so deeply impacted as to be\nequivalent to inherent characteristics. For the races of this globe the\nprior period of evolution was passed on the chain of globes of which\nour moon is the visible representative.\n\nThe burning question of the anthropoid apes as related to man is\nsettled by the Masters of Wisdom, who say that instead of those being\nour progenitors they were produced by man himself. In one of the early\nperiods of the globe the men of that time begot from large females\nof the animal kingdom the anthropoids, and in anthropoid bodies were\ncaught a certain number of Egos destined one day to be men. The\nremainder of the descendants of the true anthropoid are the descendants\nof those illegitimate children of men, and will die away gradually,\ntheir Egos entering human bodies. Those half-ape and half-man bodies\ncould not be ensouled by strictly animal Egos, and for that reason they\nare known to the Secret Doctrine as the \u201cDelayed Race\u201d, the only one\nnot included in the fiat of Nature that no more Egos from the lower\nkingdoms will come into the human kingdom until the next _Manvantara_.\nBut to all kingdoms below man except the anthropoids, the door is now\nclosed for entry into the human stage, and the Egos in the subordinate\nforms must all wait their turn in the succeeding great Cycle. And as\nthe delayed Egos of the Anthropoid family will emerge into the man\nstage later on, they will thus be rewarded for the long wait in that\ndegraded race. All the other monkeys are products in the ordinary\nmanner of the evolutionary processes.\n\nOn this subject I cannot do better than quote the words of one of those\nMasters of Wisdom, giving the esoteric anthropology from the secret\nvolumes, thus:\n\n The anatomical resemblance between Man and the higher Ape, so\n frequently cited by the Darwinists as pointing to some former ancestor\n common to both, presents an interesting problem the proper solution of\n which is to be sought for in the esoteric explanation of the genesis\n of the pithecoid stocks. We have given it so far as was useful by\n stating that the bestiality of the primeval mindless races resulted\n in the production of huge man-like monsters\u2014the offspring of human\n and animal parents. As time rolled on and the still semi-astral forms\n consolidated into the physical, the descendants of these creatures\n were modified by external conditions until the breed, dwindling in\n size, culminated in the lower Apes of the Miocene period. With these\n the later Atlanteans renewed the sin of the \u201cMindless\u201d\u2014this time with\n full responsibility. The resultants of their crime were the species\n now known as the Anthropoid.... Let us remember the esoteric teaching\n which tells us of Man having had in the Third Round a gigantic\n Ape-like form on the astral plane. And similarly at the close of the\n Third Race in this Round. Thus it accounts for the human features\n of the Apes, especially of the later Anthropoids,\u2014apart from the\n fact that these latter preserved by heredity a resemblance to their\n Atlanto-Lemurian sires.\n\nThe same teachers furthermore assert that the mammalian types were\nproduced in the fourth round, subsequent to the appearance of the\nhuman types. For this reason there was no barrier against fertility,\nbecause the root-types of those mammals were not far enough removed\nto raise the natural barrier. The unnatural union in the third race,\nwhen man had not yet had the light of _Manas_ given to him, was not a\ncrime against Nature, since, no mind being present save in the merest\ngerm, no responsibility could attach. But in the fourth round, the\nlight of _Manas_ being present, the renewal of the act by the new\nrace was a crime, because it was done with a full knowledge of the\nconsequences and against the warning of conscience. The karmic effect\nof this, including as it does all races, has yet to be fully felt and\nunderstood\u2014at a much later day than now.\n\nAs man came to this globe from another planet, though of course then a\nbeing of very great power before being completely enmeshed in matter,\nso the lower kingdoms came likewise in germ and type from other\nplanets, and carry on their evolution step by step upward by the aid\nof man, who is, in all periods of manifestation, at the front of the\nwave of life. The Egos in these lower kingdoms could not finish their\nevolution in the preceding globe-chain before its dissolution, and\ncoming to this they go forward age after age, gradually approaching\nnearer the man stage. One day they too will become men and act as the\nadvance guard and guide for other lower kingdoms of this or other\nglobes. And in the coming from the former planet there are always\nbrought with the first and highest class of beings some forms of animal\nlife, some fruits and other products, as models or types for use here.\nIt will not be profitable to go into this here with particularity,\nfor being too far ahead of the time it would evoke only ridicule from\nsome and stupidity from others. But the general forms of the various\nkingdoms being so brought over, we have next to consider how the\ndifferentiation of animal and other lower species began and was carried\non.\n\nThis is the point where intelligent aid and interference from a mind\nor mass of minds is absolutely necessary. Such aid and interference\nwas and is the fact, for Nature unaided cannot do the work right. But\nI do not mean that God or angel interferes and aids. It is Man who\ndoes this. Not the man of the day, weak and ignorant as he is, but\ngreat souls, high and holy men of immense power, knowledge, and wisdom.\nJust such as every man would now know he could become, if it were not\nthat religion on one hand and science on the other have painted such\na picture of our weakness, inherent evil and purely material origin\nthat nearly all men think they are puppets of God or cruel fate without\nhope, or remain with a degrading and selfish aim in view both here and\nafter. Various names have been given to these beings now removed from\nour plane. They are the _Dhyanis_, the Creators, the Guides, the Great\nSpirits, and so on by many titles. In theosophical literature they are\ncalled the _Dhyanis_.\n\nBy methods known to themselves and to the Great Lodge they work on the\nforms so brought over, and by adding here, taking away there, and often\naltering, they gradually transform by such alteration and addition\nthe kingdoms of nature as well as the gradually forming gross body of\nman. This process is carried on chiefly in the purely astral period\npreceding the gross physical stage, as the impulses thus given will\nsurely carry themselves forward through the succeeding times. When\nthe midway point of evolution is reached the species emerge on to the\npresent stage and not showing the connection to the eye of man nor to\nour instruments. The investigations of the day have traced certain\nspecies down to a point where, as is confessed, it is not known to what\nroot they go back. Taking oxen on one side and horses on the other,\nwe see that both are hoofed, but one has a split hoof and the other\nbut one toe. These bring us back, when we reach the oldest ancestor\nof each, to the midway point, and there science has to stop. At this\nspot the wisdom of the Masters comes in to show that back of this is\nthe astral region of ancient evolution, where were the root-types in\nwhich the Dhyanis began the evolution by alteration and addition which\nresulted in the differentiation afterwards on this gross plane into the\nvarious families, species, and genera.\n\nA vast period of time, about 300,000,000 years, was passed by earth\nand man and all the kingdoms of nature in an astral stage. Then there\nwas no gross matter such as we now know. This was in the early rounds\nwhen Nature was proceeding slowly with the work of perfecting the\ntypes on the astral plane, which is matter, though very fine in its\ntexture. At the end of that stretch of years the process of hardening\nbegan, the form of man being the first to become solid, and then some\nof the astral prototypes of the preceding rounds were involved in\nthe solidification, though really belonging to a former period when\neverything was astral. When those fossils are discovered it is argued\nthat they must be those of creatures which co\u00ebxisted with the gross\nphysical body of man.\n\nWhile that argument is proper enough under the other theories of\nScience, it becomes only an assumption if the existence of the astral\nperiod be admitted. It would be beyond the scope of this work to go\nfurther into particulars. But it may incidentally be said that neither\nthe bee nor the wheat could have had their original differentiation in\nthis chain of globes, but must have been produced and finished in some\nother from which they were brought over into this. Why this should be\nso I am willing to leave for the present to conjecture.\n\nTo the whole theory it may be objected that Science has not been able\nto find the missing links between the root-types of the astral period\nand the present fossils or living species. In the year 1893 at Moscow\nProfessor Virchow said in a lecture that the missing link was as far\noff as ever, as much of a dream as ever, and that no real evidence was\nat hand to show man as coming from the animals. This is quite true,\nand neither class of missing link will be discovered by Science under\nher present methods. For all of them exist in the astral plane and\ntherefore are invisible to the physical eye. They can only be seen by\nthe inner astral senses, which must first be trained to do their work\nproperly, and until Science admits the existence of the astral and\ninner senses she will never try to develop them. Always, then, Science\nwill be without the instruments for discovering the astral links left\non the astral plane in the long course of differentiation. The fossils\nspoken of above, which were, so to say, solidified out of date, form an\nexception to the impossibility of finding any missing links, but they\nare blind alleys to Science because she admits none of the necessary\nfacts.\n\nThe object of all this differentiation, amalgamation, and separation is\nwell stated by another of the Masters, thus:\n\n Nature consciously prefers that matter should be indestructible in\n organic rather than inorganic forms, and works slowly but incessantly\n towards the realization of this object\u2014the evolution of conscious life\n out of inert material.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n\nThe field of psychic forces, phenomena, and dynamics is a vast one.\nSuch phenomena are seen and the forces exhibited every day in all\nlands, but until a few years ago very little attention was given to\nthem by scientific persons, while a great deal of ridicule was heaped\nupon those who related the occurrences or averred belief in the\npsychic nature. A cult sprang up in the United States some forty years\nago calling itself quite wrongly \u201cspiritualism\u201d, but having a great\nopportunity it neglected it and fell into mere wonder-seeking without\nthe slightest shadow of a philosophy. It has accomplished but little\nin the way of progress except a record of many undigested facts which\nfor four decades failed to attract the serious attention of people in\ngeneral. While it has had its uses, and includes in its ranks many good\nminds, the great dangers and damages coming to the human instruments\ninvolved and to those who sought them more than offset the good done in\nthe opinion of those disciples of the Lodge who would have man progress\nevenly and without ruin along his path of evolution. But other Western\ninvestigators of the accepted schools have not done much better, and\nthe result is that there is no Western Psychology worthy of the name.\n\nThis lack of an adequate system of Psychology is a natural consequence\nof the materialistic bias of science and the paralyzing influence of\ndogmatic religion; the one ridiculing effort and blocking the way,\nthe other forbidding investigation. The Roman Catholic branch of the\nChristian Church is in some respects an exception, however. It has\nalways admitted the existence of the psychic world\u2014for it is the\nrealm of devils and angels, but as angels manifest when they choose\nand devils are to be shunned, no one is permitted by that Church to\nmeddle in such matters except an authorized priest. So far as that\nChurch\u2019s prohibiting the pernicious practice of necromancy indulged\nin by \u201cspiritualists\u201d it was right, but not in its other prohibitions\nand restrictions. Real psychology is an Oriental product to-day. Very\ntrue the system was known in the West when a very ancient civilization\nflourished in America, and in certain parts of Europe anterior to the\nChristian era, but for the present day psychology in its true phase\nbelongs to the Orient.\n\nAre there psychic forces, laws, and powers? If there are, then there\nmust be the phenomena. And if all that has been outlined in preceding\nchapters is true, then in man are the same powers and forces which are\nto be found anywhere in Nature. He is held by the Masters of Wisdom to\nbe the highest product of the whole system of evolution, and mirrors in\nhimself every power, however wonderful or terrible, of Nature; by the\nvery fact of being such a mirror he is man.\n\nThis has long been recognized in the East, where the writer has seen\nexhibitions of such powers which would upset the theories of many a\nWestern man of science. And in the West the same phenomena have been\nrepeated for the writer, so that he knows of his own knowledge that\nevery man of every race has the same powers potentially. The genuine\npsychic\u2014or, as they are often called, magical\u2014phenomena done by the\nEastern faquir or yogee are all performed by the use of natural forces\nand processes not even dreamed of as yet by the West. Levitation of the\nbody in apparent defiance of gravitation is a thing to be done with\nease when the process is completely mastered. It contravenes no law.\nGravitation is only half of a law. The Oriental sage admits gravity,\nif one wishes to adopt the term; but the real term is attraction,\nthe other half of the law being expressed by the word repulsion, and\nboth being governed by the great laws of electrical force. Weight and\nstability depend on polarity, and when the polarity of an object is\naltered in respect to the earth immediately underneath it, then the\nobject may rise. But as mere objects are devoid of the consciousness\nfound in man, they cannot rise without certain other aids. The human\nbody, however, will rise in the air unsupported, like a bird, when its\npolarity is thus changed. This change is brought about consciously by\na certain system of breathing known to the Oriental; it may be induced\nalso by aid from certain natural forces spoken of later, in the cases\nof those who without knowing the law perform the phenomena, as with the\nsaints of the Roman Catholic Church.\n\nA third great law which enters into many of the phenomena of the East\nand West is that of Cohesion. The power of Cohesion is a distinct power\nof itself, and not a result as is supposed. This law and its action\nmust be known if certain phenomena are to be brought about, as, for\ninstance, what the writer has seen, the passing of one solid iron ring\nthrough another, or a stone through a solid wall. Hence another force\nis used which can only be called dispersion. Cohesion is the dominating\nforce, for, the moment the dispersing force is withdrawn, the cohesive\nforce restores the particles to their original position.\n\nFollowing this out the Adept in such great dynamics is able to disperse\nthe atoms of an object\u2014excluding always the human body\u2014to such a\ndistance from each other as to render the object invisible, and then\ncan send them along a current formed in the ether to any distance on\nthe earth. At the desired point the dispersing force is withdrawn, when\nimmediately cohesion re\u00e4sserts itself and the object re\u00e4ppears intact.\nThis may sound like fiction, but being known to the Lodge and its\ndisciples as an actual fact, it is equally certain that Science will\nsooner or later admit the proposition.\n\nBut the lay mind infected by the materialism of the day wonders how all\nthese manipulations are possible, seeing that no instruments are spoken\nof. The instruments are in the body and brain of man. In the view of\nthe Lodge \u201cthe human brain is an exhaustless generator of force\u201d, and\na complete knowledge of the inner chemical and dynamic laws of Nature,\ntogether with a trained mind, give the possessor the power to operate\nthe laws to which I have referred. This will be man\u2019s possession in\nthe future, and would be his to-day were it not for blind dogmatism,\nselfishness, and materialistic unbelief. Not even the Christian lives\nup to his Master\u2019s very true statement that if one had faith he could\nremove a mountain. A knowledge of the law when added to faith gives\npower over matter, mind, space, and time.\n\nUsing the same powers, the trained Adept can produce before the eye,\nobjective to the touch, material which was not visible before, and\nin any desired shape. This would be called creation by the vulgar,\nbut it is simply evolution in your very presence. Matter is held\nsuspended in the air about us. Every particle of matter, visible or\nstill unprecipitated, has been through all possible forms, and what\nthe Adept does is to select any desired form, existing, as they all\ndo, in the Astral Light and then by effort of the Will and Imagination\nto clothe the form with the matter by precipitation. The object so\nmade will fade away unless certain other processes are resorted to\nwhich need not be here described, but if these processes are used the\nobject will remain permanently. And if it is desired to make visible a\nmessage on paper or other surface, the same laws and powers are used.\nThe distinct\u2014photographically and sharply definite\u2014image of every line\nof every letter or picture is formed in the mind, and then out of the\nair is drawn the pigment to fall within the limits laid down by the\nbrain, \u201cthe exhaustless generator of force and form\u201d. All these things\nthe writer has seen done in the way described, and not by any hired or\nirresponsible medium, and he knows whereof he speaks.\n\nThis, then, naturally leads to the proposition that the human Will\nis all powerful and the Imagination is a most useful faculty with a\ndynamic force. The Imagination is the picture-making power of the human\nmind. In the ordinary average human person it has not enough training\nor force to be more than a sort of dream, but it may be trained.\nWhen trained it is the Constructor in the Human Workshop. Arrived at\nthat stage it makes a matrix in the Astral substance through which\neffects objectively will flow. It is the greatest power, after Will,\nin the human assemblage of complicated instruments. The modern Western\ndefinition of Imagination is incomplete and wide of the mark. It is\nchiefly used to designate fancy or misconception and at all times\nstands for unreality. It is impossible to get another term as good\nbecause one of the powers of the trained Imagination is that of making\nan image. The word is derived from those signifying the formation or\nreflection of an image. This faculty used, or rather suffered to act,\nin an unregulated mode has given the West no other idea than that\ncovered by \u201cfancy\u201d. So far as that goes it is right but it may be\npushed to a greater limit, which, when reached causes the Imagination\nto evolve in the Astral substance an actual image or form which may be\nthen used in the same way as an iron moulder uses a mould of sand for\nthe molten iron. It is therefore the King faculty, inasmuch as the Will\ncannot do its work if the Imagination be at all weak or untrained. For\ninstance, if the person desiring to precipitate from the air wavers in\nthe least with the image made in the Astral substance, the pigment\nwill fall upon the paper in a correspondingly wavering and diffused\nmanner.\n\nTo communicate with another mind at any distance the Adept attunes all\nthe molecules of the brain and all the thoughts of the mind so as to\nvibrate in unison with the mind to be affected, and that other mind and\nbrain have also to be either voluntarily thrown into the same unison\nor fall into it voluntarily. So though the Adept be at Bombay and his\nfriend in New York, the distance is no obstacle, as the inner senses\nare not dependent on an ear, but may feel and see the thoughts and\nimages in the mind of the other person.\n\nAnd when it is desired to look into the mind and catch the thoughts\nof another and the pictures all around him of all he has thought and\nlooked at, the Adept\u2019s inner sight and hearing are directed to the mind\nto be seen, when at once all is visible. But, as said before, only a\nrogue would do this, and the Adepts do not do it except in strictly\nauthorized cases. The modern man sees no misdemeanor in looking into\nthe secrets of another by means of this power, but the Adepts say\nit is an invasion of the rights of the other person. No man has the\nright, even when he has the power in his hand, to enter into the mind\nof another and pick out its secrets. This is the law of the Lodge to\nall who seek, and if one sees that he is about to discover the secrets\nof another he must at once withdraw and proceed no further. If he\nproceeds his power is taken from him in the case of a disciple; in the\ncase of any other person he must take the consequence of this sort of\nburglary. For Nature has her laws and her policemen, and if we commit\nfelonies in the Astral world the great Law and the guardians of it, for\nwhich no bribery is possible, will execute the penalty, no matter how\nlong we wait, even if it be for ten thousand years. Here is another\nsafeguard for ethics and morals. But until men admit the system of\nphilosophy put forward in this book, they will not deem it wrong to\ncommit felonies in fields where their weak human law has no effect, but\nat the same time by thus refusing the philosophy they will put off the\nday when all may have these great powers for the use of all.\n\nAmong phenomena useful to notice are those consisting of the moving of\nobjects without physical contact. This may be done, and in more than\none way. The first is to extrude from the physical body the Astral\nhand and arm, and with those grasp the object to be moved. This may\nbe accomplished at a distance of as much as ten feet from the person.\nI do not go into argument on this, only referring to the properties\nof the Astral substance and members. This will serve to some extent\nto explain several of the phenomena of mediums. In nearly all cases\nof such apportation the feat is accomplished by thus using the unseen\nbut material Astral hand. The second method is to use the elementals\nof which I have spoken. They have the power when directed by the inner\nman to carry objects by changing the polarity, and then we see, as with\nthe fakirs of India and some mediums in America, small objects moving\napparently unsupported. These elemental entities are used when things\nare brought from longer distances than the length to which the Astral\nmembers may be stretched. It is no argument against this that mediums\ndo not know they do so. They rarely if ever know anything about how\nthey accomplish any feat, and their ignorance of the law is no proof of\nits non-existence. Those students who have seen the forces work from\nthe inside will need no argument on this.\n\nClairvoyance, clairaudience, and second-sight are all related very\nclosely. Every exercise of any one of them draws in at the same time\nboth of the others. They are but variations of one power. Sound is\none of the distinguishing characteristics of the Astral sphere, and\nas light goes with sound, sight obtains simultaneously with hearing.\nTo see an image with the Astral senses means that at the same time\nthere is a sound, and to hear the latter infers the presence of a\nrelated image in Astral substance. It is perfectly well known to the\ntrue student of occultism that every sound produces instantaneously\nan image, and this, so long known in the Orient, has lately been\ndemonstrated in the West in the production to the eye of sound pictures\non a stretched tympanum. This part of the subject can be gone into\nvery much further with the aid of occultism, but as it is a dangerous\none in the present state of society I refrain at this point. In the\nAstral Light are pictures of all things whatsoever that happened to any\nperson, and as well also pictures of those events to come the causes\nfor which are sufficiently well marked and made. If the causes are yet\nindefinite, so will be the images of the future. But for the mass of\nevents for several years to come all the producing and efficient causes\nare always laid down with enough definiteness to permit the seer to see\nthem in advance as if present. By means of these pictures, seen with\nthe inner senses, all clairvoyants exercise their strange faculty. Yet\nit is a faculty common to all men, though in the majority but slightly\ndeveloped; but occultism asserts that were it not for the germ of this\npower slightly active in every one no man could convey to another any\nidea whatsoever.\n\nIn clairvoyance the pictures in the Astral Light pass before the inner\nvision and are reflected into the physical eye from within. They then\nappear objectively to the seer. If they are of past events or those to\ncome, the picture only is seen; if of events actually then occurring,\nthe scene is perceived through the Astral Light by the inner sense.\nThe distinguishing difference between ordinary and clairvoyant vision\nis, then, that in clairvoyance with waking sight the vibration is\ncommunicated to the brain first, from which it is transmitted to the\nphysical eye, where it sets up an image upon the retina, just as the\nrevolving cylinder of the phonograph causes the mouthpiece to vibrate\nexactly as the voice had vibrated when thrown into the receiver. In\nordinary eye vision the vibrations are given to the eye first and\nthen transmitted to the brain. Images and sounds are both caused\nby vibrations, and hence any sound once made is preserved in the\nAstral Light from whence the inner sense can take it and from within\ntransmit it to the brain, from which it reaches the physical ear. So\nin clairaudience at a distance the hearer does not hear with the ear,\nbut with the centre of hearing in the Astral body. Second-sight is\na combination of clairaudience and clairvoyance or not, just as the\nparticular case is, and the frequency with which future events are seen\nby the second-sight seer adds an element of prophecy.\n\nThe highest order of clairvoyance\u2014that of spiritual vision\u2014is very\nrare. The usual clairvoyant deals only with the ordinary aspects and\nstrata of the Astral matter. Spiritual sight comes only to those who\nare pure, devoted, and firm. It may be attained by special development\nof the particular organ in the body through which alone such sight\nis possible, and only after discipline, long training, and the\nhighest altruism. All other clairvoyance is transitory, inadequate,\nand fragmentary, dealing, as it does, only with matter and illusion.\nIts fragmentary and inadequate character results from the fact that\nhardly any clairvoyant has the power to see into more than one of the\nlower grades of Astral substance at any one time. The pure-minded and\nthe brave can deal with the future and the present far better than\nany clairvoyant. But as the existence of these two powers proves the\npresence in us of the inner senses and of the necessary medium\u2014the\nAstral Light, they have, as such human faculties, an important bearing\nupon the claims made by the so-called \u201cspirits\u201d of the _s\u00e9ance_ room.\n\nDreams are sometimes the result of brain action automatically\nproceeding, and are also produced by the transmission into the brain\nby the real inner person of those scenes or ideas high or low which\nthat real person has seen while the body slept. They are then strained\ninto the brain as if floating on the soul as it sinks into the body.\nThese dreams may be of use, but generally the resumption of bodily\nactivity destroys the meaning, perverts the image, and reduces all\nto confusion. But the great fact of all dreaming is that some one\nperceives and feels therein, and this is one of the arguments for the\ninner person\u2019s existence. In sleep the inner man communes with higher\nintelligences, and sometimes succeeds in impressing the brain with what\nis gained, either a high idea or a prophetic vision, or else fails in\nconsequence of the resistance of brain fibre. The karma of the person\nalso determines the meaning of a dream, for a king may dream that which\nrelates to his kingdom, while the same thing dreamed by a citizen\nrelates to nothing of temporal consequence. But, as said by Job: \u201cIn\ndreams and visions of the night man is instructed.\u201d\n\nApparitions and doubles are of two general classes. The one, astral\nshells or images from the astral world, either actually visible to the\neye or the result of vibration within thrown out to the eye and thus\nmaking the person think he sees an objective form without. The other,\nthe astral body of living persons and carrying full consciousness or\nonly partially so endowed. Laborious attempts by Psychical Research\nSocieties to prove apparitions without knowing these laws really\nprove nothing, for out of twenty admitted cases nineteen may be\nthe objectivization of the image impressed on the brain. But that\napparitions have been seen there is no doubt. Apparitions of those just\ndead may be either pictures made objective as described, or the Astral\nBody\u2014called _Kama Rupa_ at this stage\u2014of the deceased. And as the\ndying thoughts and forces released from the body are very strong, we\nhave more accounts of such apparitions than of any other class.\n\nThe Adept may send out his apparition, which, however, is called by\nanother name, as it consists of his conscious and trained astral body\nendowed with all his intelligence and not wholly detached from his\nphysical frame.\n\nTheosophy does not deny nor ignore the physical laws discovered\nby science. It admits all such as are proven, but it asserts the\nexistence of others which modify the action of those we ordinarily\nknow. Behind all the visible phenomena is the occult cosmos with its\nideal machinery; that occult cosmos can only be fully understood by\nmeans of the inner senses which pertain to it; those senses will not be\neasily developed if their existence is denied. Brain and mind acting\ntogether have the power to evolve forms, first as astral ones in astral\nsubstance, and later as visible ones by accretions of the matter on\nthis plane. Objectivity depends largely on perception, and perception\nmay be affected by inner stimuli. Hence a witness may either see an\nobject which actually exists as such without, or may be made to see one\nby internal stimulus. This gives us three modes of sight: (_a_) with\nthe eye by means of light from an object, (_b_) with the inner senses\nby means of the Astral Light, and (_c_) by stimulus from within which\ncauses the eye to report to the brain, thus throwing the inner image\nwithout. The phenomena of the other senses may be tabulated in the same\nmanner.\n\nThe Astral substance being the register of all thoughts, sounds,\npictures, and other vibrations, and the inner man being a complete\nperson able to act with or without co\u00f6rdination with the physical, all\nthe phenomena of hypnotism, clairvoyance, clairaudience, mediumship,\nand the rest of those which are not consciously performed may be\nexplained. In the Astral substance are all sounds and pictures, and\nin the Astral man remain impressions of every event, however remote\nor insignificant; these acting together produce the phenomena which\nseem so strange to those who deny or are unaware of the postulates of\noccultism.\n\nBut to explain the phenomena performed by Adepts, Fakirs, Yogees,\nand all trained occultists, one has to understand the occult laws of\nchemistry, of mind, of force, and of matter. These it is obviously not\nthe province of such a work as this to treat in detail.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n\nIn the history of psychical phenomena the records of so-called\n\u201cspiritualism\u201d in Europe, America, and elsewhere hold an important\nplace. Advisedly I say that no term was ever more misapplied than\nthat of \u201cspiritualism\u201d to the cult in Europe and America just\nmentioned, inasmuch as there is nothing of the spirit about it. The\ndoctrines given in preceding chapters are those of true spiritualism;\nthe misnamed practices of modern mediums and so-called spiritists\nconstitute the Worship of the Dead, old-fashioned necromancy, in fact,\nwhich was always prohibited by spiritual teachers. They are a gross\nmaterializing of the spiritual idea, and deal with matter more than\nwith its opposite. This cult is supposed by some to have originated\nabout forty years ago in America at Rochester, N. Y., under the\nmediumship of the Fox sisters, but it was known in Salem during the\nwitchcraft excitement, and in Europe one hundred years ago the same\npractices were pursued, similar phenomena seen, mediums developed, and\n_s\u00e9ances_ held. For centuries it has been well known in India where\nit is properly designated \u201c_bhuta_ worship\u201d, meaning the attempt to\ncommunicate with the devil or Astral remnants of deceased persons. This\nshould be its name here also, for by it the gross and devilish, or\nearthly, parts of man are excited, appealed to, and communicated with.\nBut the facts of the long record of forty years in America demand a\nbrief examination. These facts all studious Theosophists must admit.\nThe theosophical explanation and deductions, however, are totally\ndifferent from those of the average spiritualist. A philosophy has not\nbeen evolved in the ranks or literature of spiritualism; nothing but\ntheosophy will give the true explanation, point out defects, reveal\ndangers, and suggest remedies.\n\nAs it is plain that clairvoyance, clairaudience, thought-transference,\nprophecy, dream and vision, levitation, apparitional appearance, are\nall powers that have been known for ages, the questions most pressing\nin respect to spiritualism are those relating to communication with\nthe souls of those who have left this earth and are now disembodied,\nand with unclassified spirits who have not been embodied here but\nbelong to other spheres. Perhaps also the question of materialization\nof forms at _s\u00e9ances_ deserves some attention. Communication includes\ntrance-speaking, slate and other writing, independent voices in the\nair, speaking through the physical vocal organs of the medium, and\nprecipitation of written messages out of the air. Do the mediums\ncommunicate with the spirits of the dead? Do our departed friends\nperceive the state of life they have left, and do they sometimes return\nto speak to and with us?\n\nThe answers are intimated in foregoing chapters. Our departed do not\nsee us here. They are relieved from the terrible pang such a sight\nwould inflict. Once in a while a pure-minded, unpaid medium may ascend\nin trance to the state in which a deceased soul is, and may remember\nsome bits of what was there heard; but this is rare. Now and then in\nthe course of decades some high human spirit may for a moment return\nand by unmistakable means communicate with mortals. At the moment of\ndeath the soul may speak to some friend on earth before the door is\nfinally shut. But the mass of communications alleged as made day after\nday through mediums are from the astral unintelligent remains of men,\nor in many cases entirely the production of, invention, compilation,\ndiscovery, and collocation by the loosely attached Astral body of the\nliving medium.\n\nCertain objections arise to the theory that the spirits of the dead\ncommunicate. Some are:\n\nI. At no time have these spirits given the laws governing any of\nthe phenomena, except in a few instances, not accepted by the cult,\nwhere the theosophical theory was advanced. As it would destroy such\nstructures as those erected by A. J. Davis, these particular spirits\nfell into discredit.\n\nII. The spirits disagree among themselves, one stating the after-life\nto be very different from the description by another. These\ndisagreements vary with the medium and the supposed theories of the\ndeceased during life. One spirit admits re\u00efncarnation and others deny\nit.\n\nIII. The spirits have discovered nothing in respect to history,\nanthropology, or other important matters, seeming to have less ability\nin that line than living men; and although they often claim to be men\nwho lived in older civilizations, they show ignorance thereupon or\nmerely repeat recently published discoveries.\n\nIV. In these forty years no _rationale_ of phenomena nor of development\nof mediumship has been obtained from the spirits. Great philosophers\nare reported as speaking through mediums, but utter only drivel and\nmerest commonplaces.\n\nV. The mediums come to physical and moral grief, are accused of fraud,\nare shown guilty of trickery, but the spirit guides and controls do not\ninterfere to either prevent or save.\n\nVI. It is admitted that the guides and controls deceive and incite to\nfraud.\n\nVII. It is plainly to be seen through all that is reported of the\nspirits that their assertions and philosophy, if any, vary with the\nmedium and the most advanced thought of living spiritualists.\n\nFrom all this and much more that could be adduced, the man of\nmaterialistic science is fortified in his ridicule, but the theosophist\nhas to conclude that the entities, if there be any communicating, are\nnot human spirits, and that the explanations are to be found in some\nother theories.\n\nMaterialization of a form out of the air, independent of the medium\u2019s\nphysical body, is a fact. But it is not a spirit. As was very well\nsaid by one of the \u201cspirits\u201d not favored by spiritualism, one way to\nproduce this phenomenon is by the accretion of electrical and magnetic\nparticles into one mass upon which matter is aggregated and an image\nreflected out of the Astral sphere. This is the whole of it; as much\na fraud as a collection of muslin and masks. How this is accomplished\nis another matter. The spirits are not able to tell, but an attempt\nhas been made to indicate the methods and instruments in former\nchapters. The second method is by the use of the Astral body of the\nliving medium. In this case the Astral form exudes from the side of\nthe medium, gradually collects upon itself particles extracted from\nthe air and the bodies of the sitters present until at last it becomes\nvisible. Sometimes it will resemble the medium; at others it bears a\ndifferent appearance. In almost every instance dimness of light is\nrequisite because a high light would disturb the Astral substance in\na violent manner and render the projection difficult. Some so-called\nmaterializations are hollow mockeries, as they are but flat plates of\nelectrical and magnetic substance on which pictures from the Astral\nLight are reflected. These seem to be the faces of the dead, but they\nare simply pictured illusions.\n\nIf one is to understand the psychic phenomena found in the history of\n\u201cspiritualism\u201d it is necessary to know and admit the following:\n\nI. The complete heredity of man astrally, spiritually, and psychically,\nas a being who knows, reasons, feels, and acts through the body, the\nAstral body, and the soul.\n\nII. The nature of the mind, its operation, its powers; the nature and\npower of imagination; the duration and effect of impressions. Most\nimportant in this is the persistence of the slightest impression as\nwell as the deepest; that every impression produces a picture in the\nindividual aura; and that by means of this a connection is established\nbetween the auras of friends and relatives old, new, near, distant, and\nremote in degree: this would give a wide range of possible sight to a\nclairvoyant.\n\nIII. The nature, extent, function, and power of man\u2019s inner Astral\norgans and faculties included in the terms Astral body and _Kama_.\nThat these are not hindered from action by trance or sleep, but are\nincreased in the medium when entranced; at the same time their action\nis not free, but governed by the mass chord of thought among the\nsitters, or by a predominating will, or by the presiding devil behind\nthe scenes; if a sceptical scientific investigator be present, his\nmental attitude may totally inhibit the action of the medium\u2019s powers\nby what we might call a freezing process which no English terms will\nadequately describe.\n\nIV. The fate of the real man after death, his state, power, activity\nthere, and his relation, if any, to those left behind him here.\n\nV. That the intermediary between mind and body\u2014the Astral body\u2014is\nthrown off at death and left in the Astral light to fade away; and that\nthe real man goes to _Devachan_.\n\nVI. The existence, nature, power, and function of the Astral light\nand its place as a register in Nature. That it contains, retains, and\nreflects pictures of each and every thing that happened to anyone, and\nalso every thought; that it permeates the globe and the atmosphere\naround it; that the transmission of vibration through it is practically\ninstantaneous, since the rate is much quicker than that of electricity\nas now known.\n\nVII. The existence in the Astral light of beings not using bodies\nlike ours, but not human in their nature, having powers, faculties,\nand a sort of consciousness of their own; these include the elemental\nforces or nature sprites divided into many degrees, and which have to\ndo with every operation of Nature and every motion of the mind of man.\nThat these elementals act at _s\u00e9ances_ automatically in their various\ndepartments, one class presenting pictures, another producing sounds,\nand others depolarizing objects for the purposes of apportation.\nActing with them in this Astral sphere are the soulless men who live\nin it. To these are to be ascribed the phenomenon, among others, of\nthe \u201cindependent voice\u201d, always sounding like a voice in a barrel just\nbecause it is made in a vacuum which is absolutely necessary for an\nentity so far removed from spirit. The peculiar _timbre_ of this sort\nof voice has not been noticed by the spiritualists as important, but it\nis extremely significant in the view of occultism.\n\nVIII. The existence and operation of occult laws and forces in nature\nwhich may be used to produce phenomenal results on this plane; that\nthese laws and forces may be put into operation by the subconscious man\nand by the elementals either consciously or unconsciously, and that\nmany of these occult operations are automatic in the same way as is the\nfreezing of water under intense cold or the melting of ice under heat.\n\nIX. That the Astral body of the medium, partaking of the nature of\nthe Astral substance, may be extended from the physical body, may\nact outside of the latter, and may also extrude at times any portion\nof itself such as hand, arm, or leg and thereby move objects, indite\nletters, produce touches on the body, and so on _ad infinitum_. And\nthat the Astral body of any person may be made to feel sensation,\nwhich, being transmitted to the brain, causes the person to think he is\ntouched on the outside or has heard a sound.\n\nMediumship is full of dangers because the Astral part of the man is\nnow only normal in action when joined to the body; in distant years it\nwill normally act without a body as it has in the far past. To become a\nmedium means that you have to become disorganized physiologically and\nin the nervous system, because through the latter is the connection\nbetween the two worlds. The moment the door is opened all the unknown\nforces rush in, and as the grosser part of nature is nearest to us it\nis that part which affects us most; the lower nature is also first\naffected and inflamed because the forces used are from that part of us.\nWe are then at the mercy of the vile thoughts of all men, and subject\nto the influence of the shells in _Kama Loka_. If to this be added the\ntaking of money for the practice of mediumship, an additional danger\nis at hand, for the things of the spirit and those relating to the\nAstral world must not be sold. This is the great disease of American\nspiritualism which has debased and degraded its whole history; until\nit is eliminated no good will come from the practice; those who wish\nto hear truth from the other world must devote themselves to truth and\nleave all considerations of money out of sight.\n\nTo attempt to acquire the use of the psychic powers for mere curiosity\nor for selfish ends is also dangerous for the same reasons as in the\ncase of mediumship. As the civilization of the present day is selfish\nto the last degree and built on the personal element, the rules for\nthe development of these powers in the right way have not been given\nout, but the Masters of Wisdom have said that philosophy and ethics\nmust first be learned and practised before any development of the\nother department is to be indulged in; and their condemnation of\nthe wholesale development of mediums is supported by the history of\nspiritualism, which is one long story of the ruin of mediums in every\ndirection.\n\nEqually improper is the manner of the scientific schools which\nwithout a thought for the true nature of man indulge in experiments\nin hypnotism in which the subjects are injured for life, put into\ndisgraceful attitudes, and made to do things for the satisfaction of\nthe investigators which would never be done by men and women in their\nnormal state. The Lodge of the Masters does not care for Science unless\nit aims to better man\u2019s state morally as well as physically, and no\naid will be given to Science until she looks at man and life from the\nmoral and spiritual side. For this reason those who know all about the\npsychical world, its denizens and laws, are proceeding with a reform in\nmorals and philosophy before any great attention will be accorded to\nthe strange and seductive phenomena possible for the inner powers of\nman.\n\nAnd at the present time the cycle has almost run its course for this\ncentury. Now, as a century ago, the forces are slackening; for that\nreason the phenomena of spiritualism are lessening in number and\nvolume; the Lodge hopes by the time the next tide begins to rise that\nthe West will have gained some right knowledge of the true philosophy\nof Man and Nature, and be then ready to bear the lifting of the veil a\nlittle more. To help on the progress of the race in this direction is\nthe object of this book, and with that it is submitted to its readers\nin every part of the world.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\n                   The United Lodge of Theosophists\n\n                             DECLARATION.\n\n\nThe policy of this Lodge is independent devotion to the cause\nof Theosophy, without professing attachment to any Theosophical\norganization. It is loyal to the great Founders of the Theosophical\nMovement, but does not concern itself with dissensions or differences\nof individual opinion.\n\nThe work it has on hand and the end it keeps in view are too absorbing\nand too lofty to leave it the time or inclination to take part in side\nissues. That work and that end is the dissemination of the Fundamental\nPrinciples of the philosophy of Theosophy, and the exemplification in\npractice of those principles, through a truer realization of the SELF;\na profounder conviction of Universal Brotherhood.\n\nIt holds that the unassailable _Basis for Union_ among Theosophists,\nwherever and however situated, is \u201c_similarity of aim, purpose and\nteaching_,\u201d and therefore has neither Constitution, By-Laws nor\nOfficers, the sole bond between its associates being that _basis_. And\nit aims to disseminate this idea among Theosophists in the furtherance\nof Unity.\n\nIt regards as Theosophists all who are engaged in the true service\nof Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, condition or\norganization, and\n\nIt welcomes to its association all those who are in accord with its\ndeclared purposes and who desire to fit themselves, by study and\notherwise, to be the better able to help and teach others.\n\n \u201c_The true Theosophist belongs to no cult or sect, yet belongs to each\n and all._\u201d\n\n Being in sympathy with the purposes of this Lodge, as set forth in\n its \u201cDeclaration\u201d, I hereby record my desire to be enrolled as an\n Associate; it being understood that such association calls for no\n obligation on my part other than that which I, myself, determine.\n\nThe foregoing is the Form signed by Associates of The United Lodge of\nTheosophists.\n\nInquiries are invited from all persons to whom this Movement may\nappeal. Cards for signature will be sent upon request, and every\npossible assistance furnished Associates in their studies and in\nefforts to form local Lodges. There are no dues of any kind, and no\nformalities to be complied with.\n\nCorrespondence should be addressed to\n\n  GENERAL REGISTRAR, _United Lodge of Theosophists_,\n  Los Angeles, California.\n\n Metropolitan Building, Broadway at Fifth St.\n\n\n\n\n                               THEOSOPHY\n\nA Magazine Devoted to The Theosophical Movement, The Brotherhood\nof Humanity, The Study of Occult Science and Philosophy, and Aryan\nLiterature.\n\n\n\u201cTHEOSOPHY\u201d is published by The United Lodge of Theosophists. Like the\nAssociation of Free and Independent Theosophists which has sponsored\nit, this monthly magazine is devoted to the promulgation of Theosophy\nas it was given by Those who brought it. Theosophy is reprinting in\nevery issue the wonderful magazine articles of H. P. Blavatsky, and\nWm. Q. Judge, first printed in _Lucifer_, _The Theosophist_ and _The\nPath_ by these writers, many years ago. Old workers for Theosophy\nhave for the most part quite forgotten these articles, which are of\ninestimable value to the sincere student. To most Theosophists of later\nyears they are quite unknown. Other articles concerning the history of\nthe Theosophical Movement and related subjects appear monthly; but the\nwriters for and editors of the magazine remain anonymous, as it is the\ndesire of the publishers of \u201cTHEOSOPHY\u201d that its readers should judge\nthe value of its original matter from the inherent quality perceived in\nthe articles themselves, and not from the names signed to them.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nSubscription price, $2.00 yearly. Single copies 25 cents. Sample copy\n(back number) will be sent for a limited time upon receipt of ten cents\nin stamps.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n  \u2014\u2014_ADDRESS_\u2014\u2014\n\n               METROPOLITAN BLDG.\n  THEOSOPHY\n               LOS ANGELES, CALIF.\n\nStudents interested in obtaining a clear and correct understanding of\nthe actual Teachings known under the name of THEOSOPHY should have the\nfollowing books. They can be ordered of any local bookseller, or orders\nmay be sent direct to The United Lodge of Theosophists. The prices\ngiven include postage.\n\n  OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY                               $.75\n\n A succinct presentation of the Teachings, by W. Q. Judge.\n\n\n  KEY TO THEOSOPHY                                 2.00\n\n A complete outline of the philosophy in the form of questions and\n answers, by H. P. Blavatsky.\n\n\n  CONVERSATIONS ON THEOSOPHY                        .10\n\n A brief but clear statement of principles, in question and answer; pp.\n 16. In quantities for propaganda, 50 copies for $1.00.\n\n\n  ISIS UNVEILED (2 Volumes)                        6.50\n\n A Master Key to Science and Theology, the work that \u201cbroke the moulds\n of men\u2019s minds\u201d. By H. P. Blavatsky.\n\n\n  THE SECRET DOCTRINE (2 Volumes and Index)       12.50\n\n The Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy containing \u201call that\n can be given out in this century\u201d. By H. P. Blavatsky.\n\n\n  \u201cTHEOSOPHY\u201d (Per Volume)                         4.00\n\n Back Volumes, bound in half leather, 576 pages each, filled with\n reprints of invaluable writings of H. P. B. and W. Q. J. hitherto out\n of print, and containing also many excellent original articles.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThose who find the Teachings of Theosophy expressive of their highest\nideals and conformable to reason and experience, and who are desirous\nof entering the _PATH_, are urged to read, ponder and assimilate to the\nutmost possible extent:\n\n  THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE                         $.75\n\n Chosen Fragments from the Book of Golden Precepts. By H. P. Blavatsky.\n\n\n  THE BHAGAVAD-GITA                                 .75\n\n The Book of Devotion, rendered by W. Q. Judge.\n\n\n  LIGHT ON THE PATH                                 .75\n\n Rules for Disciples, with Comments, and the Treatise on Karma, written\n down by M. C.\n\n\n LETTERS THAT HAVE HELPED ME\n\n  Volume 1                                          .50\n  Volume 2                                          .75\n\n Letters written by \u201cZ. L. Z.\u201d, \u201cGreatest of the Exiles\u201d, to Jasper\n Niemand and others. By W. Q. Judge.\n\n\n  YOGA APHORISMS OF PATANJALI                       .75\n\n Rendered into English, with an Introduction and Notes. By W. Q. Judge.\n\n\n  THEOSOPHY AND THE MOVEMENT                        .25\n\n Extracts from the writings of H. P. B. and W. Q. J., including the\n Epitome of Theosophy.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nOrders should be addressed and all remittances made payable to The\nUnited Lodge of Theosophists, Metropolitan Building, Broadway at Fifth\nSt., Los Angeles, California.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin hyphenation, spelling, accents and punctuation remain unchanged.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_.","title":"The Ocean of Theosophy","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":54042}