Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales
Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24 – 1DL
Searchable Full Text of A
Textbook of Theosophy by C
A Textbook of Theosophy
by
C
The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar
1912, 1914, 1918,
1925,1937
The
Secret Doctrine by H P Blavatsky
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CONTENTS
Chapter
1 What Theosophy Is
2 From the Absolute to Man
3 The Formation of a Solar System
4 The Evolution of Life
5 The Constitution of Man
6 After Death
7 Reincarnation
8 The Purpose of Life
9 The Planetary Chains
10The Result of Theosophical Study
---------Cardiff Theosophical Society in
Wales---------
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24-1DL
CHAPTER 1
WHAT
THEOSOPHY IS
(Page
1 ) “ There is a school of philosophy still in existence of which modern
culture
has lost sight.” In these words Mr. A. P. Sinnett began his1881 book,
The
Occult World, the first popular exposition of Theosophy, published thirty
years
ago. During the years that have passed since then, many thousands have
learned
wisdom in that school, yet to the majority its teachings are still
unknown,
and they can give only the vaguest of replies to the query, “What is
Theosophy?”
Two
books already exist which answer that question: Mr. Sinnett’s Esoteric
Buddhism
and Mrs. Besant’s The Ancient Wisdom. I have no thought of entering
into
competition with those standard works; what I desire is to present a
statement,
as clear and simple as I can make it, which may be regarded as
introductory
to them.
We
often speak of Theosophy as not in itself a religion, but the truth which
lies
behind all religions alike. That is so; yet, from another point of view, we
may
surely say that it is at once a philosophy, because it puts plainly before
us
an explanation of the scheme (Page 2) of evolution of both the souls and the
bodies
contained, in our solar system. It is a religion in so far as, having
shown
us the course of ordinary evolution, it also puts before us and advises a
method
of shortening that course, so that by conscious effort we may progress
more
directly towards the goal. It is a science, because it treats both these
subjects
as matters not of theological belief but of direct knowledge obtainable
by
study and investigation. It asserts that man has no need to trust to blind
faith,
because he has within him latent powers which, when aroused, enable him
to
see and examine for himself, and it proceeds to prove its case by showing how
those
powers may be awakened. It is itself a result of the awakening of such
powers
by men, for the teachings which it puts before us are founded upon direct
observations
made in the past, and rendered possible only by such development.
As
a philosophy, it explains to us that the solar system is a carefully -
ordered
mechanism, a manifestation of a magnificent life, of which man is but a
small
part. Nevertheless, it takes up that small part which immediately concerns
us,
and treats it exhaustively under three heads – present, past and future.
It
deals with the present by describing what man really is, as seen by means of
developed
faculties. It is customary to speak of man as having a soul.
Theosophy,
as the result of direct investigation, reverses that dictum, and
states
that man is a soul, and has a body – in fact several bodies, which are
his
vehicles and instruments in various worlds. These worlds are (Page 3) not
separate
in space; they are simultaneously present with us, here and now, and
can
be examined; they are the divisions of the material side of Nature –
different
degrees of density in the aggregation of matter, as will presently be
explained
in detail. Man has an existence in several of these, but is normally
conscious
only of the lowest, though sometimes in dreams and trances he has
glimpses
of some of the others. What is called death is the laying aside of the
vehicle
belonging to this lowest world, but the soul or real man in a higher
world
is no more changed or affected by this than the physical man is changed or
affected
when he removes his overcoat. All this is a matter, not of speculation,
but
of observation and experiment.
Theosophy
has much to tell us of the past history of man – of how in the course
of
evolution he has come to what he now is. This also is a matter of
observation,
because of the fact that there exists an indelible record of all
that
has taken place – a sort of memory of Nature – by examining which the
scenes
of earlier evolution may be made to pass before the eyes of the
investigator
as though they were happening at this moment. By thus studying the
past
we learn that man is divine in origin and that he has a long evolution
behind
him – a double evolution, that of the life or soul within, and that of
the
outer form. We learn, too, that the life of man as a soul is of what to us
seems
enormous length, and that what we have been in the habit of calling his
life
is in reality only one day of his real existence. He has already lived
through
many such days, and has many more of them yet before him; and if we wish
to
understand the (Page 4 ) real life and its object, we must consider it in
relation
not only to this one day of it, which begins with birth and ends with
death,
but also to the days which have gone before and those which are yet to
come.
Of
those that are yet to come there is also much to be said, and on this subject
too
a great deal of definite information is available. Such information is
obtainable,
first, from men who have already passed much further along the road
of
evolution than we, and have consequently direct experience of it; and,
secondly,
from inferences drawn from the obvious direction of the steps which we
seem
to have been previously taken. The goal of this particular cycle, is in
sight,
though still far above us but it would seem that, even when that has been
attained,
an infinity of progress still lies before everyone who is willing to
undertake
it.
One
of the most striking advantages of Theosophy is that the light which it
brings
to us at once solves many of our problems, clears away many difficulties,
accounts
for the apparent injustices of life, and in all directions brings order
out
of seeming chaos. Thus while some of its teaching is based upon the
observation
of forces whose direct working is somewhat beyond the ken of the
ordinary
man of the world, if the latter will accept it as a hypothesis he will
very
soon come to see that it must be a correct one, because it, and it alone,
furnishes
a coherent and reasonable explanation of the drama of life which is
being
played before him.
The
existence of Perfected Men, and the possibility of coming into touch with
Them
and being taught by (Page 5) Them, are
prominent among the great new
truths
which Theosophy brings to the Western World. Another of them is the
stupendous
fact that the world is not drifting blindly into anarchy, but that
its
progress is under the control of a perfectly organized Hierarchy, so that
final
failure even for the tiniest of its units is of all impossibilities the
most
impossible. A glimpse of the working of that Hierarchy inevitably engenders
the
desire to co-operate with it, to serve under it, in however humble a
capacity,
and some time in the far-distant future to be worthy to join the outer
fringes
of its ranks.
This
brings us to that aspect of Theosophy which we have called religious. Those
who
come to know and to understand these things are dissatisfied with the slow
aeons
of evolution; they yearn to become more immediately useful, and so they
demand
and obtain knowledge of the shorter but steeper Path. There is no
possibility
of escaping the amount of work that has to be done. It is like
carrying
a load up a mountain; whether one carries it straight up a steep path
or
more gradually by a road of gentle slope, precisely the same number of
foot-pounds
must be exerted. Therefore to do the same work in a small fraction
of
the time means determined effort. It can be done, however, for it has been
done;
and those who have done it agree that it far more than repays the trouble.
The
limitations of the various vehicles are thereby gradually transcended, and
the
liberated man becomes an intelligent co-worker in the mighty plan for the
evolution
of all beings.
In
its capacity as a religion, too, Theosophy gives (Page 6) its followers a
rule
of life, based not on alleged commands delivered at some remote period of
the
past, but on plain common sense as indicated by observed facts. The attitude
of
the student of Theosophy towards the rules which it prescribes resembles
rather
that which we adopt to hygienic regulations than obedience to religious
commandments.
We may say, if we wish, that this thing or that is in accordance
with
the divine Will, for the divine Will is expressed in what we know as the
laws
of nature. Because that Will wisely ordereth all things, to infringe its
laws
means to disturb the smooth working of the scheme, to hold back for a
moment
that fragment or tiny part of evolution, and consequently to bring
discomfort
upon ourselves and others. It is for that reason that the wise man
avoids
infringing them – not to escape the imaginary wrath of some offended
deity.
But
if from a certain point of view we may think of Theosophy as a religion, we
must
note two great points of difference between it and what is ordinarily
called
religion in the West. First, it neither demands belief from its
followers,
nor does it even speak of belief in the sense in which that word is
usually
employed. The student of occult science either knows a thing or suspends
his
judgment about it; there is no place in his scheme for blind faith.
Naturally,
beginners in the study cannot yet know for themselves, so they are
asked
to read the results of the various observations and to deal with them as
probable
hypothesis – provisionally to accept and act upon them, until such time
as
they can prove for themselves.
Secondly,
Theosophy never endeavours to convert (Page 7) any man from whatever
religion
he already holds. On the contrary, it explains his religion to him, and
enables
him to see in it deeper meanings than he has ever known before. It
teaches
him to understand it and live it better than he did, and in many cases
it
gives back to him, on a higher and more intelligent level, the faith in it
which
he had previously all but lost.
Theosophy
has its aspect as a science also; it is in very truth a science of
life,
a science of the soul. It applies to everything the scientific method of
oft-repeated,
painstaking observation, and then tabulates the results and makes
deductions
from them. In this way it has investigated the various planes of
nature,
the conditions of man’s consciousness during life and after what is
commonly
called death. It cannot be too often repeated that its statements on
all
these matters are not vague guesses or tenets of faith, but are based upon
direct
and oft-repeated observation of what happens. Its investigators have
dealt
also to a certain extent with subjects more in the range of ordinary
science,
as may be seen by those who read the recently issued book on Occult
Chemistry.
Thus
we see that Theosophy combines within itself some of the characteristics of
philosophy,
religion and science. What, it might be asked, is its gospel for
this
weary world? What are the main points which emerge from its investigations?
What
are the great facts which it has to lay before humanity?
They
have been well summed up under three main heads.
“There
are three truths which are absolute, and (Page 8) which cannot be lost,
but
yet may remain silent for lack of speech.
“The
soul of man is immortal, and its future is the future of a thing whose
growth
and splendour has no limit.
“The
principle which gives life dwells in us and without us, is undying and
eternally
beneficent, is not heard or seen or smelt, but is perceived by the man
who
desires perception
“Each
man is his own absolute lawgiver; the dispenser of glory or gloom to
himself;
the decreer of his life, his reward, his punishment.
“These
truths, which are as great as is life itself, are as simple as the
simplest
mind of man”.
Put
shortly, and in the language of the man of the street, this means that God
is
good, that man is immortal, and that as we sow so we must reap. There is a
definite
scheme of things; it is under intelligent direction and works under
immutable
laws. Man has his place in this scheme and is living under these laws.
If
he understands them and co-operates with
them, he will advance rapidly and
will
be happy; if he does not understand them – if wittingly or unwittingly, he
breaks
them, he will delay his progress and be miserable. These are not
theories,
but proved facts. Let him who doubts read on, and he will see. (Page
9)
---------Cardiff Theosophical
Society in Wales----------
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales,
UK. CF24-1DL
CHAPTER II
FROM
THE ABSOLUTE TO MAN
Of
the Absolute, the Infinite, the All-embracing, we can at our present stage
know
nothing, except that It is; we can say nothing that is not a limitation,
and
therefore inaccurate.
In
It are innumerable universes; in each universe countless solar systems. Each
solar
system is the expression of a mighty Being, whom we call the Logos, the
Word
of God, the Solar Deity. He is to it all that men mean by God. He permeates
it;
there is nothing in it which is not He; it is the manifestation of Him in
such
matter as we can see. Yet He exists above it and outside it, living a
stupendous
life of His own among His Peers. As is said in Eastern Scripture:
“Having
permeated this whole universe with one fragment of Myself, I remain”.
Of
this higher life of His we can know nothing. But of the fragment of His life
which
energizes His system we may know something in the lower levels of its
manifestation.
We may not see Him, but we may see His power at work. No one who
is
clairvoyant can be atheistic; the evidence is too tremendous.
Out
of Himself He has called this mighty system into being. We who are in it are
evolving
fragments of His life, Sparks of His divine Fire; from Him we all have
come;
into Him we shall all return.
Many
have asked why He as done this; why He (Page 10) has emanated from Himself
all
this system; why He has sent us forth to face the storms of life. We cannot
know,
nor is the question practical; suffice it that we are here, and we must do
our
best. Yet many philosophers have speculated on this point and many
suggestions
have been made. The most beautiful that I know is that of a Gnostic
philosopher:
“God
is Love, but Love itself cannot be perfect unless it has those upon whom it
can
be lavished and by whom it can be returned. Therefore He put forth of
Himself
into matter, and He limited His glory, in order that through this
natural
and slow process of evolution we might come into being; and we in turn
according
to His will are to develop until we reach even His own level, and then
the
very love of God itself will become more perfect, because it will then be
lavished
on those, His own children, who will fully understand and return it,
and
so His great scheme will be realized and His Will be done”.
At
what stupendous elevation His consciousness abides we know not, nor can we
know
its true nature as it shows itself there. But when He puts Himself down
into
such conditions as are within our reach, His manifestation is ever
threefold,
and so all religions have imaged Him as a Trinity. Three, yet
fundamentally
One; Three Persons (for person means a mask) yet one God, showing
Himself
in those Three Aspects. Three to us, looking at Them from below, because
Their
functions are different; one to Him, because He knows Them to be but
facets
of Himself.
All
three of these Aspects are concerned in the evolution of the solar System;
all
Three are also concerned (Page 11) in the evolution of man. This evolution
is
His will; the method of it is His plan.
Next
below this Solar Deity, yet also in some mysterious manner part of Him,
come
His seven Ministers, sometimes called the Planetary Spirits. Using an
analogy
drawn from the physiology of our own body, Their relation to Him is like
that
of the ganglia or the nerve centers of the brain. All evolution which comes
forth
from Him comes through one or other of Them.
Under
Them in turn come vast hosts or order of spiritual beings, whom we call
angels
or devas. We do not yet know all the functions which They fulfill in
different
parts of this wonderful scheme, but we find some of them intimately
connected
with the building of the system and the unfolding of life within it.
Here
in our world there is a great Official who represents the Solar Deity, and
is
in absolute control of all the evolution that takes place upon this planet.
We
may image Him as the true King of this world, and under Him are ministers in
charge
of different departments. One of these departments is concerned with the
evolution
of the different races of humanity, so that for each great race there
is
a Head who founds it, differentiates it from all others, and watches over its
development.
Another department is that of religion and education, and it is
from
this that all the greatest teachers of
history have come – that all
religions
have been sent forth. The great Official at the head of this
department
either comes Himself or sends one of His pupils to found a new
religion
when He decides that one is needed.
Therefore
all religions, at the time of their first (Page 12) presentation to
the
world, have contained a definite statement of the Truth, and in its
fundamentals
this Truth has been always the same. The presentations of it have
varied
because of differences in the races to who it was offered. The condition
of
civilization and the degree of evolution
obtained by various races have made
it
desirable to present this one Truth in divers forms. But the inner Truth is
always
the same, and the source from which it comes is the same, even though the
external
phases may appear to be different and even contradictory. It is foolish
for
men to wrangle over the question of the superiority of one teacher or one
form
of teaching to another, for the teacher is always one sent by the Great
Brotherhood
of Adepts, and in all its important points, in its ethical and moral
principles,
the teaching has always been the same.
There
is in the world a body of Truth which lies at the back of all these
religions,
and represents the facts of nature as far as they are at present
known
to man. In the outer world, because of their ignorance of this, people are
always
disputing and arguing about whether there is a God; whether man survives
death;
whether definite progress is possible for him, and what is his relation
to
the universe. These questions are ever present in the mind of man as soon as
intelligence
is awakened. They are not unanswerable, as is frequently supposed;
the
answers to them are within the reach of anyone who will make proper efforts
to
find them. The truth is obtainable, and the conditions of its attainment are
possible
of achievement by anyone who will make the effort. (Page 13)
In
the earlier stages of the development of humanity, the great Officials of the
Hierarchy
are provided from outside, from other and more highly evolved parts of
the
system, but as soon as men can be trained to the necessary level of power
and
wisdom these offices are held by them. In order to be fit to hold such an
office
a man must raise himself to a very high level, and must become what is
called
an adept – a being of goodness, power and wisdom so great that He towers
above
the rest of humanity, for He has already attained the summit of ordinary
human
evolution; He has achieved what the plan of the Deity marked out for Him
to
achieve during this age or dispensation. But His evolution later on continues
beyond
that level – continues to divinity.
A
large number of men have attained the Adept level – men not of one nation, but
of
all the leading nations of the world – rare souls who with indomitable
courage
have stormed the fortresses of nature, and captured her innermost
secrets,
and so have truly earned the right to be called Adepts. Among Them
there
are many degrees and many lines of activity; but always some of Them
remain
within touch of our earth as members of this Hierarchy which has in
charge
the administration of the affairs of our world and of the spiritual
evolution
of our humanity.
This
august body is often called the Great White Brotherhood, but its members
are
not a community all living together. Each of Them, to a large extent, draws
Himself
apart from the world, and They are in constant communication with one
another
and with Their Head; but Their knowledge of higher forces (Page 14 ) is
so
great that this is achieved without any necessity for meeting in the physical
world.
In many cases They continue to live each in His own country, and Their
power
remains unsuspected among those who live near Them. Any man who will may
attract
their attention, but he can do it only by showing himself worthy of
Their
notice. None need fear that his efforts will pass unnoticed; such
oversight
is impossible, for the man who is devoting himself to service such as
this,
stands out from the rest of humanity like a great flame in a dark night. A
few
of these great Adepts, who are thus working for the good of the world, are
willing
to take on apprentices those who have resolved to devote themselves
utterly
to the services of mankind; such Adepts are called Masters.
One
of these apprentices was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky – a great soul who was
sent
out to offer knowledge to the world some forty years ago [1875]. With
Colonel
Henry Steele Olcott she founded the Theosophical Society for the spread
of
this knowledge which she had to give. Among those who came into contact with
her
in those early days was Mr. A. P. Sinnett, the editor of The Pioneer, and
his
keen intellect at once grasped the magnitude and the importance of the
teaching
which she put before him. Although Madame Blavatsky herself had
previously
written Isis Unveiled, it had attracted but little attention, and it
was
Mr. Sinnett who first made the teaching really available for western readers
in
his two books, The Occult World and Esoteric Buddhism.
It
was through these works that I myself first came to know their author, and
afterwards
Madame Blavatsky (Page 15) herself; from both of them I learned much.
When
I asked Madame Blavatsky how one could learn still more, how one could make
definite
progress along the Path which she pointed out to us, she told me of the
possibility
that other students might be accepted as apprentices by the great
Masters,
even as she herself had been accepted, and that the only way to gain
such
acceptance was to show oneself worthy of it by earnest and altruistic work.
She
told me that to reach that goal a man must be absolutely one-pointed in his
determination;
that no one who tried to serve both God and Mammon could ever
hope
to succeed. One of these Masters Himself has said: “In order to succeed, a
pupil
must leave his own world and come into ours”.
This
means that he must cease to be one of the majority who live for wealth and
power,
and must join the tiny majority who care nothing for such things, but
live
only in order to devote themselves selflessly to the good of the world. She
warned
us clearly that the way was difficult to tread, that we should be
misunderstood
and reviled by those who still lived in the world, and that we had
nothing
to look forward to but the hardest of hard work; and though the result
was
sure, no one could foretell how long it would take to arrive at it. Some of
us
accepted these conditions joyfully, and we have never for a moment regretted
the
decision.
After
some years of work I had the privilege of coming into contact with these
great
Masters of the Wisdom; from Them I learnt many things – among others, how
to
verify for myself at first hand most (Page 16) of the teachings which They
had
given. So that, in this matter, I write of what I know, and what I have seen
for
myself. Certain points are mentioned in the teaching, for the verification
of
which powers are required far beyond anything which I have gained so far. Of
them,
I can only say that they are consistent with what I do know, and in many
cases
are necessary as hypotheses to account for what I have seen. They came to
me
along with the rest of the theosophical system upon the authority of these
mighty
Teachers. Since then I have learned to examine for myself by far the
greater
part of what I was told, and I have found the information given to me to
be
correct in every particular; therefore I am justified in assuming the
probability
that that other part, which as yet I cannot verify, will also prove
to
be correct when I arrive at its level.
To
attain the honour of being accepted as an apprentice of one of the Masters of
the
Wisdom is the object set before himself by every earnest Theosophical
student.
But it means a determined effort. There have always been men who were
willing
to make the necessary effort, and therefore there have always been men
who
knew. The knowledge is so transcendent that when a man grasps it fully he
becomes
more than man, and he passes beyond our ken.
But
there are stages in the acquirement of this knowledge, and we may learn
much,
if we will, from those who themselves are still in process of learning;
for
all human beings stand on one or other of the rungs of the ladder of
evolution.
The primitive stand at its foot; we who are civilized beings have
already
(Page 17) climbed part of the way. But though we can look back and see
rungs
of the ladder below us which we have already passed, we may also look up
and
see many rungs above us to which we have not yet attained. Just as men are
standing
even now on each of the rungs below us, so that we can see the stages
by
which man has mounted, so also are there men standing on each of the rungs
above
us, so that from studying them we may see how man shall mount in the
future.
Precisely because we see men on every step of this ladder, which leads
up
to a glory which as yet we have no words to express, we know that the ascent
to
that glory is possible for us. Those who stand high above us, so high that
They
seem to us as gods in Their marvellous knowledge and power, tell us that
They
stood not long since where we are standing now, and They indicate to us
clearly
the steps which lie between, which we also must tread if we would be as
They.
(Page 18)
---------
CHAPTER III
THE
FORMATION OF A SOLAR SYSTEM
The
beginning of the universe (if ever it had a beginning) is beyond our ken. At
the
earliest point of history that we can reach, the two great opposites of
Spirit
and matter, of life and form, are already in full activity. We find that
the
ordinary conception of matter needs a revision, for what are commonly called
force
and matter are in reality only two varieties of Spirit at different stages
in
evolution, and the real matter or basis of everything lies in the background
unperceived.
A French scientist has recently said: “There is no matter; there is
nothing
but holes in the aether”.
This
also agrees with the celebrated theory of Professor Osborne Reynolds.
Occult
investigation shows this to be the correct view, and in that way explains
what
Oriental sacred books mean when they say that matter is an illusion.
The
ultimate root-matter as seen at our level is what scientists call the aether
of
space. ( This has been described in Occult Chemistry under the name of
koilon)
To every physical sense the space occupied by it appears empty, yet in
reality
this aether is far denser than anything of which we can conceive. Its
density
is defined by Professor Reynolds as being ten thousand (Page 19) times
greater
than that of water, and it means pressure as seven hundred and fifty
thousand
tons to the square inch.
This
substance is perceptible only to highly developed clairvoyant power. We
must
assume a time (though we have no direct knowledge on this point) when this
substance
filled all space. We must also suppose that some great Being (not the
Deity
of a solar system, but some Being almost infinitely higher than that)
changed
this condition of rest by pouring out His spirit or force into a certain
section
of this matter, a section of the size of a whole universe. The effect of
the
introduction of this force is at that of the blowing of a mighty breath; it
has
formed within this aether an incalculable number of tiny spherical bubbles
(The
bubbles are spoken of in The Secret Doctrine as the holes which Fohat digs
in
space), and these bubbles are the ultimate atoms of which what we call matter
is
composed. They are not the atoms of the chemist, nor even the ultimate atoms
of
the physical world. They stand at a far higher level, and what are usually
called
atoms are composed of vast aggregations of these bubbles, as will be seen
later.
When
the Solar Deity begins to make His system, He finds ready to His hand this
material
– this infinite mass of tiny bubbles which can be built up into various
kinds
of matter as we know it. He commences by defining the limit of His field
of
activity, a vast sphere whose circumference is far larger than the orbit of
the
outermost of His future planets. Within the limit of that sphere He sets up
a
kind of (Page 20) gigantic vortex – a motion which sweeps together all the
bubbles
into a vast central mass, the material of the nebula that is to be.
Into
this vast revolving sphere He sends forth successive impulses of force,
gathering
together the bubbles into ever more and more complex aggregations, and
producing
in this way seven gigantic interpenetrating worlds of matter of
different
degrees of density, all concentric and all occupying the same space.
Acting
through His Third Aspect, He sends forth into this stupendous sphere the
first
of these impulses. It sets up all through the sphere a vast number of tiny
vortices,
each of which draws into itself forty-nine bubbles and arranges them
in
a certain shape. These little groupings of bubbles so formed are the atoms of
the
second of the interpenetrating worlds. The whole number of the bubbles is
not
used in this way, sufficient being left in the dissociated state to act as
atoms
for the first and highest of these worlds. In due time comes the second
impulse,
which seizes upon nearly all these forty nine bubble atoms (leaving
only
enough to provide atoms for the second world), draws them back into itself
and
then, throwing them out again, sets up among them vortices, each of which
holds
within itself 2,401 bubbles (49 2). These form the atoms of the third
world.
Again after a time comes a third impulse, which in the same way seizes
upon
nearly all these 2,401 bubble atoms, draws them back again into their
original
form, and again throws them outward once more as the atoms of the
fourth
world – (Page 21) each atom containing this time 49 3 bubbles. This
process
is repeated until the sixth of these successive impulses has built the
atom
of the seventh or lowest world – that atom containing 49 6 of the original
bubbles.
This
atom of the seventh world is the ultimate atom of the physical world – not
any
of the atoms of which chemists speak, but that ultimate out of which all
their
atoms are made. We have at this stage arrived at that condition of affairs
in
which the vast whirling sphere contains within itself seven types of matter,
all
one in essence, because all built of the same kind of bubbles, but differing
in
their degree of density. All these types are freely intermingled, so that
specimens
of each type would be found in a small portion of the sphere taken at
random
in any part of it, with, however, a general tendency of the heavier atoms
to
gravitate more and more towards the center.
The
seventh impulse sent out from the Third Aspect of the Deity does not, as
before,
draw back the physical atoms which were last made into the original
dissociated
bubbles, but draws them together into certain aggregations, thus
making
a number of different kinds of what may be called proto-elements, and
these
again are joined together into the various forms which are known to
science
as chemical elements. The making of these extends over a period of ages,
and
they are made in a certain definite order by the interaction of several
forces,
as is correctly indicated in Sir William Crookes’ paper on The Genesis
of
the Elements. Indeed the process of their making it is not even (Page 22) now
concluded;
uranium is the latest and heaviest element so far as we know, but
others
still more complicated may perhaps be produced in the future.
As
ages roll on the condensation increased, and presently the stage of a vast
glowing
nebula was reached. As it cooled, still rapidly rotating, it flattened
into
a huge disc and gradually broke up into rings surrounding a central body –
an
arrangement not unlike that which Saturn exhibits at the present day, though
on
a far larger scale. As the time drew near when the planets would be required
for
the purposes of evolution, the Deity set up somewhere in the thickness of
each
ring a subsidiary vortex, into which a great deal of the matter of the ring
was
by degrees collected. The collisions of the gathered fragments caused a
revival
of the heat, and the resulting planet was for a long time a mass of
glowing
gas. Little by little it cooled once more, until it became fit to be the
theatre
of life such as ours. Thus were all the planets formed.
Almost
all the matter of those interpenetrating worlds was by this time
concentrated
into the newly formed planets. Each of them was and is composed of
all
those different kinds of matter. The earth upon which we are now living is
not
merely a great ball of physical matter, built of the atoms of that lowest
world,
but has also attached to it an abundant supply of matter of the sixth,
the
fifth, the fourth and other worlds. It is well known to all students of
science
that particles of matter never actually touch one another, even in the
hardest
of substances. The spaces between (Page 23) them are always far greater
in
proportion than their own size – enormously greater. So there is ample room
for
all the other kinds of atoms of all those other worlds, not only to lie
between
the atoms of the denser matter, but to move quite freely among them and
around
them. Consequently this globe upon which we live is not one world, but
seven
interpenetrating worlds, all occupying the same space, except that the
finer
types of matter extend further from the center than does the denser
matter.
We
have given names to these interpenetrating worlds for convenience in speaking
of
them. No name is needed for the first, as man is not yet in direct connection
with
it; but when it is necessary to mention it, it may be called the divine
world.
The second is described as the monadic, because in it exist those
of
the divine Life which we call the human Monads; but neither of these can be
touched
by the highest clairvoyant investigations at present possible for us.
The
third sphere, whose atoms contain 2,401 bubbles, is called the spiritual
world,
because in it functions the highest Spirit in man as now constituted. The
fourth
is the intuitional world (Previously called in theosophical literature
the
buddhic plane) because from it come the highest intuitions. The fifth is the
mental
world, because of its matter is built the mind of man. The sixth is
called
the emotional or astral world, because the emotions of man cause
undulations
in its matter. (The name astral was given to it by mediaeval
alchemists,
because its matter is starry or shining as (Page 24) compared to
that
of the denser world). The seventh world, composed of the type of matter
which
we see all around us, is called the physical.
The
matter of which all these interpenetrating worlds are built is essentially
the
same matter, but differently arranged and of different degrees of density.
Therefore
the rates at which these various types of matter normally vibrate
differ
also. They may be considered as a vast gamut of undulations consisting of
many
octaves. The physical matter uses a certain number of the lowest of these
octaves,
the astral matter another group of octaves just above that, the mental
matter
a still further group, and so on.
Not
only has each of these worlds its own type of matter; it has also its own
set
of aggregations of that matter – its own substances. In each world we
arrange
these substances in seven classes according to the rate at which their
molecules
vibrate. Usually, but not invariably, the slower oscillation involves
also
a larger molecule – a molecule, that is built up by a special arrangement
of
the smaller molecules of the next higher subdivision. The application of heat
increases
the size of the molecules and also quickens and amplifies their
undulation,
so that they cover more ground, and the object as a whole expands,
until
the point is reached where the aggregation of molecules breaks up, and the
latter
passes from one condition to that next above it. In the matter of the
physical
world the seven subdivisions are represented by seven degrees of
density
of matter, to which, beginning from below upwards, we give the names
solid
liquid, gaseous, etheric, super-etheric, subatomic and atomic.(Page 25)
The
atomic subdivision is one in which all forms are built by the compression
into
certain shapes of the physical atoms, without any previous collection of
these
atoms into blocks or molecules. Typifying the physical ultimate atom for
the
moment by a brick, any form in the atomic subdivision would be made by
gathering
together some of the bricks, and building them into a certain shape.
In
order to make matter for the next lower subdivision, a certain number of the
bricks
(atoms) would be first gathered together and cemented into small blocks
of
say four bricks each, five bricks each, six bricks or seven bricks; and then
these
blocks so made would be used as building-stones. For the next subdivision
several
of the blocks of the second subdivision cemented together in certain
shapes
would form building-stones, and so on to the lowest.
To
transfer any substance from the solid condition to the liquid (that is to
say,
to melt it) is to increase the vibration of its compound molecules until at
last
they are shaken apart into the simpler molecules of which they were built.
This
process can in all cases be repeated again and again until finally any and
every
physical substance can be reduced to the ultimate atoms of the physical
world.
Each
of these worlds has its inhabitants, whose senses are normally capable of
responding
to the undulations of their own world only. A man living (as we are
all
doing) in the physical world sees, hears, feels, by vibrations connected
with
the physical matter around him. He is equally surrounded by the astral and
mental
and other worlds which are interpenetrating his own denser world, but of
them
he is normally (Page 26) unconscious, because his senses cannot respond to
the
oscillations of their matter, just as our physical eyes cannot see by the
vibrations
of ultraviolet light, although scientific experiments show that they
exist
and there are other consciousnesses with differently-formed organs who can
see
by them. A being living in the astral world might be occupying the very same
space
as a being living in the physical world, yet each would be entirely
unconscious
of the other and would in no way impede the free movement of the
other.
The same is true of all the other worlds. We are at this moment
surrounded
by these worlds of finer matter, as close to us as the world we see,
and
their inhabitants are passing through us and about us, but we are entirely
unconscious
of them.
Since
our evolution is centered at present upon this globe which we call the
earth,
it is in connection with it only that we shall be speaking of these
higher
worlds, so in future when I use the term “astral world” I shall mean by
it
the astral part of our own globe only, and not (as heretofore) the astral
part
of the whole solar system. This astral part of our own world is also a
globe,
but of astral matter. It occupies the same place as the globe which we
see,
but its matter (being so much lighter) extends out into space on all sides
of
us further than does the atmosphere of the earth – a great deal further. It
stretches
to a little less than the mean distance of the moon, so that though
the
two physical globes, the earth and the moon, are nearly 240,000 miles apart,
the
astral globes of these two bodies touch one another when the moon is in
perigee,
but not when she is in apogee. I shall apply (Page 27) the term “mental
world”
to the still larger globe of mental matter in the midst of which our
physical
earth exists. When we come to the still higher globes we have spheres
large
enough to touch the corresponding spheres of other planets in the system,
though
their matter also is just as much about us here on the surface of the
solid
earth as that of the others. All these globes of finer matter are a part
of
us, and are all revolving round the sun with their visible part. The student
will
do well to accustom himself to think of our earth as the whole of this mass
of
interpenetrating worlds – not only the comparatively small physical ball in
the
center of it. (Page 28)
---------Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales----------
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24-1DL
CHAPTER IV
THE
EVOLUTION OF LIFE
All
the impulses of life which I have described as building the interpenetrating
worlds
came forth from the Third Aspect of the Deity. Hence in the Christian
scheme
that Aspect is called “the Giver of Life”, the Spirit who brooded over
the
face of the waters of space. In theosophical literature these impulses are
usually
taken as a whole, and called the first outpouring.
When
the worlds had been prepared to this extent, and most of the chemical
elements
already existed, the second outpouring of life took place, and this
came
from the Second Aspect of the Deity. It brought with it the power of
combination.
In all the worlds it found existing what may be thought of as
elements
corresponding to those worlds. It proceeded to combine those elements
into
organisms which it then ensouled, and in this way it built up the seven
kingdoms
of nature. Theosophy recognizes seven kingdoms,
because it regards man
as
separate from the animal kingdom, and it takes into account several stages of
evolution
which are unseen by the physical eye, and gives to them the mediaeval
name
of “elemental kingdoms”.
The
divine Life pours itself into matter from above, and its whole course may be
thought
of in two stages (Page 29 ) – the gradual assumption of grosser and
grosser
matter, and then the gradual casting off again of the vehicles which
have
been assumed. The earliest level upon which its vehicles can be
scientifically
observed is the mental – the fifth counting from the finer to the
grosser,
the first on which there are separated globes. In practical study it is
found
convenient to divide this mental world into two parts, which we call the
higher
and lower according to the degree of density of their matter. The higher
consists
of the three finer subdivisions of mental matter; the lower part of the
other
four.
When
the outpouring reaches the higher mental world it draws together the
ethereal
elements there, combines them into what at the level correspond to
substances,
and of these substances builds forms which it inhabits. We call this
the
first elemental kingdom.
After
a long period of evolution, through different forms at that level, the
wave
of life, which is all the time pressing steadily downwards, learns to
identify
itself so fully with those forms that, instead of occupying them and
withdrawing
from them periodically, it is able to hold them permanently and make
them
part of itself, so that now from that level it can proceed to the temporary
occupation
of forms at a still lower level. When it reaches this stage we call
it
the second elemental kingdom, the ensouling life of which resides upon the
higher
mental levels, while the vehicles through which it manifests are on the
lower.
After
another vast period of similar length, it is found that the downward
pressure
has caused this (Page 30 ) process to repeat itself; once more the life
has
identified itself with its forms, and has taken up its residence upon the
lower
mental levels, so that it is capable of ensouling bodies in the astral
world.
At this stage we call it the third elemental kingdom.
We
speak of all these forms as finer or grosser relatively to one another, but
all
of them are almost infinitely finer than any with which we are acquainted in
the
physical world. Each of these three is a kingdom of nature, as varied in the
manifestations
of its different forms of life as in the animal or vegetable
kingdom
which we know. After a long period spent in ensouling the forms of the
third
of these elemental kingdoms it identifies itself with them in turn, and so
is
able to ensoul the etheric part of the mineral kingdom, and becomes the life
which
vivifies that – for there is a life in the mineral kingdom just as much as
in
the vegetable or the animal, although it is in conditions where it cannot
manifest
so freely. In the course of the mineral evolution the downward pressure
causes
it to identify itself in the same way with the etheric matter of the
physical
world, and from that to ensoul the denser matter of such minerals as
are
perceptible to our senses.
In
the mineral kingdom we include not only what are usually called minerals, but
also
liquids, gases and many etheric substances the existence of which is
unknown
to western science. All the matter of which we know anything is living
matter,
and the life which it contains is always evolving. When it has reached
the
central point of the mineral stage the downward (Page 31) pressure ceases,
and
is replaced by an upward tendency; the outbreathing has ceased and the
indrawing
has begun.
When
mineral evolution is completed, the life has withdrawn itself again into
the
astral world, but bearing with it all the results obtained through its
experiences
in the physical. At this stage it ensouls vegetable forms, and
begins
to show itself much more clearly as what we commonly call life – plant
life
of all kinds; and at a yet later stage of its development it leaves the
vegetable
kingdom and ensouls the animal kingdom. The attainment of this level
is
the sign that it has withdrawn itself still further, and is now working from
the
lower mental world. In order to work in physical matter from that mental
world
it must operate through the intervening astral matter; and that astral
matter
is now no longer part of the garment of the group soul as a whole, but is
the
individual astral body of the animal concerned, as will be later explained.
In
each of these kingdoms it not only passes a period of time which is to our
ideas
almost incredibly long, but it also goes through a definite course of
evolution,
beginning from the lower manifestations of that kingdom and ending
with
the highest. In the vegetable kingdom, for example, the life-force might
commence
its career by occupying grasses or mosses and end it by ensouling
magnificent
forest trees. In the animal kingdom it might commence with the
mosquitoes
or with animalculae, and might end with the finest specimens of the
mammals.
(Page 32)
The
whole process is one of steady evolution from lower forms to higher, from
the
simpler to the more complex. But what is evolving is not primarily the form,
but
the life within it. The forms also evolve and grow better as time passes;
but
this is in order that they may be appropriate vehicles for more and more
advanced
waves of life. When the life has reached the highest level possible in
the
animal kingdom, it may then pass on into the human kingdom, under conditions
which
will presently be explained.
The
outpouring leaves one kingdom and passes to another, so that if we had to
deal
with only one wave of this outpouring we could have in existence only one
kingdom
at a time. But the Deity sends out a constant succession of these waves,
so
that at any given time we find a number of them simultaneously in operation.
We
ourselves represent one such wave; but we find evolving alongside us another
wave
which ensouls the animal kingdom – a wave which came out from the Deity one
stage
later than we did. We find also the vegetable kingdom, which represents a
third
wave, and the mineral kingdom, which represents a fourth; and occultists
know
the existence all round us of three elemental kingdoms, which represent the
fifth,
sixth and seventh waves. All these, however, are successive ripples of
the
same great outpouring from the Second Aspect of the Deity.
We
have here, then, a scheme of evolution in which the divine Life involves
itself
more and more deeply in matter, in order that through that matter it may
receive
vibrations which could not otherwise affect it (Page 33) – impacts from
without,
which by degrees arouse within it rates of undulation corresponding to
their
own, so that it learns to respond to them. Later on it learns of itself to
generate
these rates of undulation, and so becomes a being possessed of
spiritual
powers.
We
may presume that when this outpouring of life originally came forth from the
Deity,
at some level altogether beyond our power of cognition, it may perhaps
have
been homogeneous; but when it first comes within practical cognizance, when
it
is itself in the intuitional world, but is ensouling bodies made of the
matter
of the higher mental world, it is already not one huge world-soul, but
many
souls. Let us suppose a homogeneous outpouring, which may be considered as
one
vast soul at one end of the scale; at the other, when humanity is reached,
we
find that one vast soul broken up into millions of the comparatively little
souls
of individual men. At any stage between these two extremes we find an
intermediate
condition, the immense world-soul already subdivided, but not to
the
utmost limit of possible subdivision.
Each
man is a soul, but not each animal or each plant. Man, as a soul, can
manifest
through only one body at a time in the physical world, whereas one
animal
soul manifests simultaneously through a number of animal bodies, one
plant-soul
through, a number of separate plants. A lion, for example, is not a
permanently
separate entity in the same way as a man is. When the man dies –
that
is, when he as a soul lays aside his physical body – he remains himself
exactly
as he was before, an entity separate from (Page 34) all other entities.
When
the lion dies, that which has been the separate soul of him is poured back
into
the mass from which it came – a mass which is at the same time providing
the
souls for many other lions. To such a mass we give the name of “group-soul”.
To
such a group-soul is attached a considerable number of lion bodies – let us
say
a hundred. Each of those bodies while it lives has its hundredth part of the
group-soul
attached to it, and for the time being this is apparently quite
separate,
so that the lion is as much an individual during his physical life as
the
man; but he is not a permanent individual. When he dies the soul of him
flows
back into the group-soul to which it belongs, and that identical soul-lion
cannot
be separated from the group.
A
useful analogy may help comprehension. Imagine the group-soul to be
represented
by the water in a bucket, and the hundred lion bodies by a hundred
tumblers.
As each tumbler is dipped into the bucket it takes out from it a
tumblerful
of water (the separate soul). That water for the time being takes the
shape
of the vehicle which it fills, and is temporarily separate from the water
which
remains in the bucket, and from the water in the other tumblers.
Now
put into each of the hundred tumblers some kind of coloring matter or some
kind
of flavoring. That will represent the qualities developed by its
experiences
in the separate soul of the lion during its lifetime. Pour back the
water
from the tumbler into the bucket; that represents the death of the lion.
The
coloring matter or the flavoring will be distributed (Page 35) through the
whole
of the water in the bucket, but will be a much fainter coloring, a much
less
pronounced flavor when thus distributed than it was when confined in one
tumbler.
The qualities developed by the experience of one lion attached to that
group-soul
are therefore shared by the entire group-soul but in a much lower
degree.
We
may take out another tumblerful of water from that bucket, but we can never
again
get exactly the same tumblerful after it has once been mingled with the
rest.
Every tumblerful taken from that bucket in the future will contain some
traces
of the coloring or flavoring put into each tumbler whose contents have
been
returned to the bucket. Just so the qualities developed by the experience
of
a single lion will become the common property of all lions who are in the
future
to be born from that group-soul, though in a lesser degree than that in
which
they existed in the individual lion who developed them.
That
is the explanation of inherited instincts; that is why the duckling which
has
been hatched by a hen takes to the water instantly without needing to be
shown,
how to swim; why the chicken just out of its shell will cower at the
shadow
of a hawk; why a bird which has been artificially hatched, and has never
seen
a nest, nevertheless knows how to make one, and makes it according to the
traditions
of its kind.
Lower
down the scale of animal life enormous numbers of bodies are attached to a
single
group-soul – countless millions, for example, in the case of some of the
smaller
insects; but as we rise in the animal kingdom (Page 36) the number of
bodies
attached to a single group-soul becomes smaller and smaller, and
therefore
the differences between individuals become greater.
Thus
the group-souls, gradually break up. Returning to the symbol of the bucket,
as
tumbler after tumbler of water is withdrawn from it, tinted with some sort of
coloring
matter and returned to it, the whole bucketful of water gradually
becomes
richer in color. Suppose that by imperceptible degrees a kind of
vertical
film forms itself across the center of the bucket, and gradually
solidifies
itself into a division, so that we have now a right half and a left
half
to the bucket, and each tumblerful of water which is taken out is returned
always
to the same half from which it came.
Then
presently a difference will be set up, and the liquid in one half of the
bucket
will no longer be the same as that in the other. We have then practically
two
buckets, and when this stage is reached in a group-soul it splits into two,
as
a cell separates by fission. In this way, as the experience grows ever
richer,
the group-souls grow smaller but more numerous, until at the highest
point
we arrive at man with his single individual soul, which no longer returns
into
a group but remains always separate.
One
of the life-waves is vivifying the whole of a kingdom; but not every
group-soul
in that life-wave will pass through the whole of that kingdom from
the
bottom to the top. If in the vegetable kingdom a certain group-soul has
ensouled
forest trees, when it passes on into the animal kingdom it will omit
all
(Page 37) the lower stages – that is, it will never inhabit insects or
reptiles,
but will begin at once at the level of the lower mammals. The insects
and
reptiles will be vivified by group-souls which have for some reason left the
vegetable
kingdom at a much lower level than the forest tree. In the same way
the
group-soul which has reached the highest levels of the animal kingdom, will
not
individualize into primitive savages but into men of somewhat higher type,
the
primitive savage being recruited from group-souls which have left the animal
kingdom
at a lower level.
Group-souls
at any level or at all levels arrange themselves into seven great
types,
according to the Minister of the Deity through whom their life has
poured
forth. These types are clearly distinguishable in all the kingdoms, and
the
successive forms taken by any one of them form a connected series, so that
animals,
vegetables, minerals and the varieties of the elemental creatures may
all
be arranged into seven groups, and the life coming along one of those lines
will
not diverge into any of the others.
No
detailed list has yet been made of the animals, plants or minerals from this
point
of view; but it is certain that the life which is found ensouling a
mineral
of a particular type will never vivify a mineral of any other type than
its
own, though within that type it may vary. When it passes on to the vegetable
and
animal kingdoms it will inhabit vegetables and animals of that type and of
no
other, and when it eventually reaches humanity it will individualize into men
of
that type and of no other.(Page 38)
The
method of individualization is the raising of the soul of a particular
animal
to a level so much higher than that attained by its group-soul that it
can
no longer return to the latter. This cannot be done with any animal, but
only
with those whose brain is developed to a certain level, and the method
usually
adopted to acquire such mental development is to bring the animal into
close
contact with man. Individualization, therefore, is possible only for
domestic
animals, and only for certain kinds even of those. At the head of each
of
the seven types stands one kind of domestic animal – the dog for one, the cat
for
another, the elephant for a third, the monkey for a fourth, and so on. The
wild
animals can all be arranged on seven lines leading up to the domestic
animals;
for example, the fox and the wolf are obviously on the same line with
the
dog, while the lion, the tiger and the leopard equally obviously lead up to
the
domestic cat; so that the group-soul animating a hundred lions mentioned
some
time ago might at a later stage of its evolution have divided into, let us
say,
five group-souls each animating twenty cats.
The
life-wave spends a long period of time in each kingdom; we are now only a
little
past the middle of such an aeon, and consequently the conditions are not
favourable
for the achievement of that individualization which normally comes
only
at the end of a period. Rare instances of such attainment may occasionally
be
observed on the part of some animal much in advance of the average. Close
association
with man is necessary to produce this result. The animal if (Page
39)
kindly treated develops devoted affection for his human friend, and also
unfolds
his intellectual powers in trying to understand that friend and to
anticipate
his wishes. In addition to this, the emotions and the thoughts of man
act
constantly upon those of the animal, and tend to raise him to a higher level
both
emotionally and intellectually. Under favourable circumstances this
development
may proceed so far as to raise the animal altogether out of touch
with
the group to which he belongs, so that his fragment of a group-soul becomes
capable
of responding to the outpouring which comes from the First Aspect of the
Deity.
For
this final outpouring is not like the others, a mighty outrush affecting
thousands
or millions simultaneously; it comes to each one individually as that
one
is ready to receive it. This outpouring has already descended as far as the
intuitional
world; but it comes no farther than that until this upward leap is
made
by the soul of the animal from below; but when that happens this Third
Outpouring
leaps down to meet it, and in the higher mental world is formed an
ego,
a permanent individuality – permanent, that is, until, far later in his
evolution,
the man transcends it and reaches back to the divine unity from which
he
came. To make this ego, the fragment of the group-soul (which has hitherto
played
the part always of ensouling force) becomes in its turn a vehicle, and is
itself
ensouled by that divine Spark which has fallen into it from on high. That
Spark
may be said to have been hovering in the monadic world over the group-soul
(Page
40) through the whole of its previous evolution, unable to effect a
junction
with it until its corresponding fragment in the group-soul had
developed
sufficiently to permit it. It is this breaking away from the rest of
the
group-soul and developing a separate ego which marks the distinction between
the
highest animal and the lowest man. (Page 41)
---------Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales----------
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24-1DL
CHAPTER V
THE
CONSTITUTION OF MAN
Man
is therefore in essence a Spark of the divine Fire, belonging to the monadic
world.
(The President has now decided upon a set of names for the planes, so for
the
future these will be used instead of those previously employed. A table of
them
is given below for reference) To that Spark, dwelling all the time in that
world,
we give the name “Monad”. For the purpose of human evolution Monad
manifests
itself in lower worlds. When it descends one stage and enters the
spiritual
world, it shows itself there as the triple Spirit, having itself three
aspects
(just as in worlds infinitely higher the Deity has His three Aspects.)
Of
those three - one remains always in that world, and we call that the Spirit
in
man. The second aspect manifests itself in the intuitional world, and we
speak
of it as the Intuition in man. The third shows itself in the higher mental
world,
and we call it the Intelligence in man. These three aspects taken
together
constitute the ego which ensouls the fragment from the group-soul. Thus
man
as we know him, though in (Page 42)
New Names Old Names
1Divine World Âdi Plane
2Monadic World Anupâdaka
3Spiritual World Âtmic or Nirvânic Plane
4Intuitional World Buddhic Plane
5Mental World Mental Plane
6Emotional or Astral World Astral Plane
7Physical World Physical Plane
These will supersede the names given in
Vol. -II- of The Inner Life.
reality
a Monad residing in the monadic world, shows himself as an ego in the
higher
mental world, manifesting these three aspects of himself (Spirit,
Intuition
and Intelligence) through that vehicle of higher mental matter which
we
name the casual body.
This
ego is the man during the human stage of evolution; he is the nearest
correspondence,
in fact, to the ordinary unscientific conception of the soul. He
lives
unchanged (except for his growth) from the moment of individualization
until
humanity is transcended and merged into divinity. He is in no way affected
by
what we call birth and death; what we commonly consider as his life is only a
day
in his life. The body which we can see, the body which is born and dies, is
a
garment which he puts on for the purposes of a certain part of his evolution.
Nor
is it the only body which he assumes. Before he, the ego in the higher
mental
world, can take a vehicle belonging to the physical world, he must make a
connection
with it through the lower mental and astral worlds. When he wishes to
descend
he draws around himself a veil of the matter of the lower mental world,
which
we call his mental body. This is the instrument by means of which he
thinks
all his concrete thoughts – abstract thought being a power of the ego
himself
in the higher mental world.
Next
he draws round himself a veil of astral matter, which we call his astral
body;
and that is the instrument of his passions and emotions, and also (in
conjunction
with the lower part of his mental body) (Page 43) the instrument of
all
such thought as is tinged by selfishness and personal feeling. Only after
having
assumed these intermediate vehicles can he come into touch with a baby
physical
body, and be born into the world which we know. He lives through what
we
call his life, gaining certain qualities as the result of its experiences;
and
at its end, when the physical body is worn out, he reverses the process of
descent
and lays aside one by one the temporary vehicles which he has assumed.
The
first to go is the physical body, and when that is dropped, his life is
centered
in the astral world and he lives in his astral body.
The
length of his stay in that world depends upon the amount of passion and
emotion
which he has developed within himself in his physical life. If there is
much
of these the astral body is strongly vitalized, and will persist for a long
time;
if there is but little, the astral body has less vitality, and he will
soon
be able to cast that vehicle aside in turn. When that is done he finds
himself
living in his mental body. The strength of that depends upon the nature
of
the thoughts to which he had habituated himself, and usually his stay at this
level
is a long one. At last it comes to an end, he casts aside the mental body
in
turn, and is once more the ego in his own world.
Owing
to lack of development, he is as yet but partially conscious in that
world;
the vibrations of its matter are too rapid to make any impression upon
him,
just as the ultraviolet rays are too rapid to make any impression upon our
eyes.
After a rest there, he feels the desire to descend to a level where the
undulations
(Page 44) are perceptible to him, in order that he may feel himself
to
be fully alive; so he repeats the process of descent into denser matter, and
assumes
once more a mental, an astral and a physical body. As his previous
bodies
have all disintegrated, each in its turn, these new vehicles are entirely
distinct
from them, and thus it happens that in his physical life he has no
recollection
whatever of other similar lives which have preceded it.
When
functioning in this physical world he remembers by means of his mental
body;
but since that is a new one, assumed only for this birth, it naturally
cannot
contain the memory of previous births in which it had no part. The man
himself,
the ego, does remember them all when in his own world, and occasionally
some
partial recollection of them or influence from them filters through into
his
lower vehicles. He does not usually, in his physical life, remember the
experiences
of earlier lives, but he does manifest in physical life the
qualities
which those experiences have developed in him. Each man is therefore
exactly
what he has made himself during those past lives; if he has in them
developed
good qualities in himself, he possesses the good qualities now; if he
neglected
to train himself, and consequently left himself weak and of evil
disposition,
he finds himself precisely in that condition now. The qualities,
good
or evil, with which he is born are those which he has made for himself.
This
development of the ego is the object of the whole process of
materialization; he assumes those veils of matter precisely
because through
them
he is able (Page 45) to receive vibrations to which he can respond, so that
his
latent faculties may thereby be unfolded. Though man descends from on high
into
these lower worlds, it is only through that descent that a full cognizance
of
the higher worlds is developed in him. Full consciousness in any given world
involves
the power to perceive and respond to all the undulations of that world;
therefore
the ordinary man has not yet perfect consciousness at any level – not
even
in this physical world which he thinks he knows. It is possible for him to
unfold
his percipience in all these worlds, and it is by means of such developed
consciousness
that we observe all these facts which I am now describing.
The
causal body is the permanent vehicle of the ego in the higher mental world.
It
consists of matter of the first, second and third subdivisions of that world.
In
ordinary people it is not yet fully active, only that matter which belongs to
the
third subdivision being vivified. As the ego unfolds his latent
possibilities
through the long course of his evolution, the higher matter is
gradually
brought into action, but it is only in the perfected man whom we call
the
Adept that it is developed to its fullest extent. Such matter can be
discerned
by clairvoyant sight, but only by a seer who knows how to use the
sight
of the ego.
It
is difficult to describe a causal body fully, because the senses belonging to
its
world are altogether different from and higher than ours at this level. Such
memory
of the appearance of a causal body as it is possible for a clairvoyant to
bring
into his physical brain represents it as ovoid, and as surrounding the
(Page
46) physical body of the man, extending to a distance of about eighteen
inches
from the normal surface of that body. In the case of primitive man it
resembles
a bubble, and gives the impression of being empty. It is in reality
filled
with higher mental matter, but as this is not yet brought into activity
it
remains colorless and transparent. As advancement continues it is gradually
stirred
into alertness by vibrations which reach it from the lower bodies. This
comes
but slowly, because the activities of man in the earlier stages of his
evolution
are not of a character to obtain expression in matter so fine as that
of
the higher mental body; but when a man reaches the stage where he is capable
either
of abstract thought or of unselfish emotion the matter of the causal body
is
aroused into response.
When
these rates of undulation are awakened within him they show themselves in
his
causal body as colors, so that instead of being a mere transparent bubble it
gradually
becomes a sphere filled with matter of the most lovely and delicate
hues
– an object beautiful beyond all conception. It is found by experience that
these
colors are significant. The vibration which denotes the power of unselfish
affection
shows itself as a pale rose-color; that which indicates high
intellectual
power is yellow; that which expresses sympathy is green, while blue
betokens
devotional feeling, and a luminous lilac-blue typifies the higher
spirituality.
The same scheme of color significance applies to the bodies which
are
built of denser matter, but as we approach the physical world the hues are
in
every case by comparison grosser – not only less delicate but also less
living.(Page
47)
In
the course of evolution in the lower worlds man often introduces into his
vehicles
qualities which are undesirable and entirely inappropriate for his life
as
an ego – such, for example, as pride, irritability, sensuality. These, like
the
rest, are reducible to vibrations, but they are in all cases vibrations of
the
lower subdivisions of their respective worlds, and therefore they cannot
reproduce
themselves in the casual body, which is built exclusively of the
matter
of the three higher subdivisions of its world. For each section of the
astral
body acts strongly upon the corresponding section of the mental body, but
only
upon the corresponding section; it cannot influence any other part. So the
casual
body can be affected only by the three higher portions of the astral
body;
and the oscillations of those represent only good qualities.
The
practical effect of this is that the man can build into the ego (that is,
into
his true self) nothing but good qualities; the evil qualities which he
develops
are in their nature transitory and must be thrown aside as he advances,
because
he has no longer within him matter which can express them. The
difference
between the causal bodies of the savage and the saint is that the
first
is empty and colorless, while the second is full of brilliant coruscating
tints.
As the man passes beyond even sainthood and becomes a great spiritual
power,
his causal body increases in size, because it has so much more to
express,
and it also begins to pour out from itself in all directions powerful
rays
of living light. In one who has attained Adeptship this body is of enormous
dimensions.
The
mental body is built of matter of the four lower (Page 48) subdivisions of
the
mental world, and expresses the concrete thoughts of the man. Here also we
find
the same color scheme as in the casual body. The hues are somewhat less
delicate,
and we notice one or two additions. For example, a thought of pride
shows
itself as orange, while irritability is manifested by a brilliant scarlet.
We
may see here sometimes the bright brown of avarice, the grey-brown of
selfishness,
and grey-green of deceit. Here also we perceive the possibility of
a
mixture of colors; the affection, the intellect, the devotion may be tinged by
selfishness,
and in that case their distinctive colors are mingled with the
brown
of selfishness, and so we have an impure and muddy appearance. Although
its
particles are always in intensely rapid motion among themselves, this body
has
at the same time a kind of loose organization.
The
size and shape of the mental body are determined by those of the causal
vehicle.
There are in it certain striations which divide it more or less
irregularly
into segments, each of these corresponding to a certain department
of
the physical brain, so that every type of thought should function through its
duly
assigned portion. The mental body is as yet so imperfectly developed in
ordinary
men that there are many in whom a great number of special departments
are
not yet in activity, and any attempt at thought belonging to those
departments
has to travel round through some inappropriate channel which happens
to
be fully open. The result is that thought on those subjects is for those
people
clumsy and uncomprehending. (Page 49) This is why some people have a head
for
mathematics and others are unable to add correctly – why some people
instinctively
understand, appreciate and enjoy music, while others do not know
one
tune from another.
All
the matter of the mental body should be circulating freely, but sometimes a
man
allows his thought upon a certain
subject to set and solidify, and then the
circulation
is impeded, and there is congestion which presently hardens into a
kind
of wart on the mental body. Such a wart appears to us down here as a
prejudice;
and until it is absorbed and free circulation restored, it is
impossible
for man to think truly or to see clearly with regard to that
particular
department of his mind, as the congestion checks the free passage of
undulations
both outward and inward.
When
a man uses any part of his mental body it not only vibrates for the time
more
rapidly, but it also temporarily swells out and increases in size. If there
is
prolonged thought upon a subject this increase becomes permanent, and it is
thus
open to any man to increase the size of his mental body either along
desirable
or undesirable lines.
Good
thoughts produce vibrations of the finer matter of the body, which by its
specific
gravity tends to float in the upper part of the ovoid; whereas bad
thoughts,
such as selfishness and avarice, are always oscillations of the
grosser
matter, which tends to gravitate towards the lower part of the ovoid.
Consequently
the ordinary man, who yields himself not infrequently to selfish
thoughts
to various kinds, usually (Page 50) expands the lower part of his
mental
body, and presents roughly the appearance of an egg with its larger end
downwards.
The man who has repressed those lower thoughts, and devoted himself
to
higher ones, tends to expand the upper part of his mental body and therefore
presents
the appearance of an egg standing on its smaller end. From a study of
the
colors and striations of a man’s mental body the clairvoyant can perceive
his
character and the progress he has made in his present life. From similar
features
of the causal body he can see what progress the ego has made since its
original
formation, when the man left the animal kingdom.
When
a man thinks of any concrete object – a book, a house, a landscape – he
builds
a tiny image of the object in the matter of his mental body. This image
floats
in the upper part of that body, usually in front of the face of the man
and
at about the level of the eyes. It remains there as long as the man is
contemplating
the object, and usually for a little time afterwards, the length
of
time depending upon the intensity and the clearness of the thought. This form
is
quite objective, and can be seen by another person, if that other has
developed
the sight of his own mental body. If a man thinks of another, he
creates
a tiny portrait in just the same way. If his thought is merely
contemplative
and involves no feeling (such as affection or dislike) or desires
(such
as a wish to see the person) the thought does not usually perceptibly
affect
the man of whom he thinks.
If
coupled with the thought of the person there is a (Page 51) feeling, as for
example
of affection, another phenomenon occurs besides the forming of the
image.
The thought of affection takes a definite form, which it builds out of
the
matter of the thinker’s mental body. Because of the emotion involved, it
draws
round it also matter of his astral body, and thus we have an astro-mental
form
which leaps out of the body in which it has been generated, and moves
through
space towards the object of the feeling of affection. If the thought is
sufficiently
strong, distance makes absolutely no difference to it; but the
thought
of an ordinary person is usually weak and diffused, and is therefore not
effective
outside a limited area.
When
this thought-form reaches its object it discharges itself into his astral
and
mental bodies, communicating to them its own rate of vibration. Putting this
in
another way, a thought of love sent from one person to another involves the
actual
transference of a certain amount both of force and of matter from the
sender
to the recipient, and its effect upon the recipient is to arouse the
feeling
of affection in him, and slightly but permanently to increase his power
of
loving. But such a thought also strengthens the power of affection in the
thinker,
and therefore it does good simultaneously to both.
Every
thought builds a form; if the thought be directed to another person it
travels
to him; if it be distinctly selfish it remains in the immediate
neighbourhood
of the thinker; if it belongs to neither of these categories it
floats
for awhile in space and then slowly disintegrates. Every man therefore is
leaving
behind (Page 52) him wherever he goes a trail of thought-forms; as we go
along
the street we are walking all the same amidst a sea of other men’s
thoughts.
If a man leaves his mind blank for a time, these residual thoughts of
others
drifts through it, making in most cases but little impression upon him.
Sometimes
one arrives which attracts his attention, so that his mind seizes upon
it
and makes it its own, strengthens it by the addition of its force, and then
casts
it out again to affect somebody else. A man, therefore, is not responsible
for
a thought which floats into his mind, because it may be not his, but someone
else’s,
but he is responsible if he takes it up, dwells upon it and then sends
it
out strengthened.
Self-centered
thought of any kind hangs about the thinker, and most men surround
their
mental bodies with a shell of such thoughts. Such a shell obscures the
mental
vision and facilitates the formation of prejudice.
Each
thought-form is a temporary entity. It resembles a charged battery,
awaiting
an opportunity to discharge itself. Its tendency is always to reproduce
its
own rate of vibration in the mental body upon which it fastens itself, and
so
to arouse in it a like thought. If the person at whom it is aimed happens to
be
busy, or already engaged in some definite train of thought, the particles of
his
mental body are already swinging at a certain determinate rate, and cannot
for
the moment be affected from without. In that case the thought-form bides its
time,
hanging about its object until he is sufficiently at rest to permit its
entrance;
(Page 53) then it discharges itself upon him, and in the act ceases to
exist.
The
self-centered thought behaves in exactly the same way with regard to its
generator,
and discharges itself upon him when opportunity offers. If it be an
evil
thought he generally regards it as the suggestion of a tempting demon,
whereas
in truth he tempts himself. Usually each definite thought creates a new
thought-form;
but if a thought-form of the same nature is already hovering round
the
thinker, under certain circumstances a new thought on the same subject,
instead
of creating a new form, coalesces with and strengthens the old one, so
that
by long brooding over the same subject a man may sometimes create a
thought-form
of tremendous power. If the thought be a wicked one, such a
thought-form
may become a veritable evil influence, lasting perhaps for many
years,
and having for a time all the appearance and powers of a real living
entity.
All
these which have been described are the ordinary unpremeditated thoughts of
man.
A man can make a thought-form intentionally, and aim it at another with the
object
of helping him. This is one of the lines of activity adopted by those who
desire
to serve humanity. A steady stream of powerful thought directed
intelligently
upon another person may be of the greatest assistance to him. A
strong
thought-form may be a real guardian angel, and protect its object from
impurity,
from irritability or from fear.
An
interesting branch of the subject is the study of the various shapes and
colors
taken by thought-forms (Page 54) of different kinds. The colors indicate
the
nature of the thought, and are in agreement with those which we have already
described
as existing in the bodies. The shapes are of infinite variety, but are
often
in some way typical of the kind of thought which they express.
Every
thought of definite character, such as a thought of affection or hatred,
of
devotion or suspicion, of anger or fear, of pride or jealousy, not only
creates
a form but also radiates an undulation. The fact that each one of these
thoughts
is expressed by a certain color indicates that the thought expresses
itself
as an oscillation of the matter of a certain part of the mental body.
This
rate of oscillation communicates itself to the surrounding mental matter
precisely
in the same way as the vibration of a bell communicates itself to the
surrounding
air.
This
radiation travels out in all directions, and whenever it impinges upon
another
mental body in a passive or receptive condition it communicates to it
something
of its own vibration. This does not convey a definite complete idea,
as
does the thought-form, but it tends to produce a thought of the same
character
as itself. For example, if the thought be devotional its undulations
will
excite devotion, but the object of worship may be different in the case of
each
person upon whose mental body they impinge. The thought-form, on the other
hand,
can reach only one person, but will convey to that person (if receptive)
not
only a general devotional feeling, but also a precise image of the Being for
whom
the adoration was originally felt.(Page 55)
Any
person who habitually thinks pure, good and strong thoughts is utilizing for
that
purpose the higher part of his mental body – a part which is not used at
all
by the ordinary man, and is entirely undeveloped in him. Such an one is
therefore
a power for good in the world, and is being of great use to all those
of
his neighbours who are capable of any sort of response. For the vibration
which
he sends out tends to arouse a new and higher part of their mental bodies,
and
consequently to open before them altogether new fields of thought.
It
may not be exactly the same thought as that sent out, but it is of the same
nature.
The undulations generated by a man thinking of Theosophy do not
necessarily
communicate theosophical ideas to all those around him; but they do
awaken
in them more liberal and higher thought than that to which they have
before
been accustomed. On the other hand, the thought-forms generated under
such
circumstances, though more limited in their action than the radiation, are
also
more precise; they can affect only those who are to some extent open to
them,
but to them they will convey definite Theosophical ideas.
The
colors of the astral body bear the same meaning as those of the higher
vehicles,
but are several octaves of color below them, and much more nearly
approaching
to such hues as we see in the physical world. It is the vehicle of
passion
and emotion and consequently it may exhibit additional colors,
expressing
man’s less desirable feelings, which cannot show themselves at higher
levels;
for example, a lurid brownish red indicates the presence of sensuality,
while
black (Page 56) clouds show malice and hatred. A curious livid grey
betokens
the presence of fear, and a much darker grey, usually arranged in heavy
rings
around the ovoid, indicates a condition of depression. Irritability is
shown
by the presence of a number of small scarlet flecks in the astral body,
each
representing a small angry impulse. Jealousy is shown by a peculiar
brownish-green,
generally studded with the same scarlet flecks. The astral body
is
in size and shape like those just described, and in the ordinary man its
outline
is usually clearly marked; but in the case of primitive man it is often
exceedingly
irregular, and resembles a rolling cloud composed of all the more
unpleasant
colors.
When
the astral body is comparatively quiet (it is never actually at rest) the
colors
which are to be seen in it indicate those emotions to which the man is
most
in the habit of yielding himself. When the man experiences a rush of any
particular
feeling, the rate of vibration which expresses that feeling dominates
for
a time the entire astral body. If, for example, it be devotion, the whole of
his
astral body is flushed with blue, and while the emotion remains at its
strongest
the normal colors do little more than modify the blue, or appear
faintly
through a veil of it; but presently the vehemence of the sentiment dies
away,
and the normal colors reassert themselves. But because of that spasm of
emotion
the part of the astral body which is normally blue has been increased in
size.
Thus a man who frequently feels high devotion soon comes to have a large
area
of blue permanently existing in his astral body.(Page 57)
When
the rush of devotional feeling comes over him it is usually accompanied by
thoughts
of devotion. Although primarily formed in the mental body, these draw
round
themselves a large amount of astral matter as well, so that their action
is
in both worlds. In both worlds also is the radiation which was previously
described,
so that devotional man is a center of devotion, and will influence
other
people to share both his thoughts and his feelings. The same is true in
the
case of affection, anger, depression – and, indeed, of all other feelings.
The
flood of emotion does not itself greatly affect the mental body, although
for
a time it may render it almost impossible for any activity from that mental
body
to come through into the physical brain. That is not because that body
itself
is affected, but because the astral body, which acts as a bridge between
it
and the physical brain, is vibrating so entirely at one rate as to be
incapable
of conveying any undulation which is not in harmony with that.
The
permanent colors of the astral body reacts upon the mental. They produce in
it
their correspondences, several octaves higher, in the same manner as a
musical
note produces overtones. The mental body in its turn reacts upon the
causal
in the same way, and thus all the good qualities expressed in the lower
vehicles
by degrees establish themselves permanently in the ego. The evil
qualities
cannot do so, as the rates of vibration which express them are
impossible
for the higher mental matter of which the causal body is
constructed.(Page
58)
So
far, we have described vehicles which are the expression of the ego in their
respective
worlds – vehicles which he provides for himself; in the physical
world
we come to a vehicle which is provided for him by nature under laws which
will
be explained later – which , though also in some sense an expression of
him,
is by no means a perfect manifestation. In ordinary life we see only a
small
part of this physical body – only that which is built of the solid and
liquid
subdivisions of physical matter. The body contains matter of all the
seven
subdivisions, and all of them play their part in its life and are of equal
importance
to it.
We
usually speak of the invisible part of the physical body as the etheric
double;
“double” because it exactly reproduces the size and shape of the part of
the
body that we can see, and “etheric” because it is built of that finer kind
of
matter by the vibrations of which light is conveyed to the retina of the eye.
(This
must not be confused with the true aether of space – that of which matter
is
the negation.) This invisible part of the physical body is of great
importance
to us, since it is the vehicle through which flow the streams of
vitality
which keeps the body alive, and without it, as a bridge to convey
undulations
of thought and feeling from the astral to the visible denser
physical
matter, the ego could make no use of the cells of his brain.
The
life of a physical body is one of perpetual change and in order that it
shall
live, it needs constantly to be supplied from three distinct sources. It
must
have food for its digestion, air for its breathing, (Page 59) and vitality
for
its absorption. This vitality is essentially a force, but when clothed in
matter
it appears to us a definite element, which exists in all the worlds of
which
we have spoken. At the moment we are concerned with that manifestation of
it
which we find in the highest subdivision of the physical world. Just as the
blood
circulates through the veins, so does the vitality circulate along the
nerves;
and precisely as any abnormality in the flow of the blood at once
affects
the physical body so does the slightest irregularity in the absorption
or
flow of the vitality affect this higher part of the physical body.
Vitality
is a force which comes originally from the sun. When an ultimate
physical
atom is charged with it, it draws round itself six other atoms and
makes
itself into an etheric element. The original force of vitality is then
subdivided
into seven, each of the atoms carrying a separate charge. The element
thus
made is absorbed into the human body through the etheric part of the
spleen.
It is there split up into its component parts, which at once flow to the
various
parts of the body assigned to them. The spleen is one of the seven
force-centers
in the etheric part of the physical body. In each of our vehicles
seven
such centers should be in activity, and when they are thus active they are
visible
to clairvoyant sight. They appear usually as shallow vortices, for they
are
the points at which the force from the higher bodies enters the lower. In
the
physical body these centers are: (1) at the base of the spine, (2) at the
solar
plexus, (3) at the spleen, (4) over the heart, (5) at the throat, (Page 60
)
(6) between the eyebrows, and (7) at the top of the head. There are other
dormant
centers, but their awakening is undesirable.
The
shape of all the higher bodies as seen by the clairvoyant is ovoid, but the
matter
composing them is not equally distributed throughout the egg. In the
midst
of this ovoid is the physical body. The physical body strongly attracts
astral
matter, and in its turn the astral matter strongly attracts mental
matter.
Therefore by far the greater part of the matter of the astral body is
gathered
within the physical frame; and the same is true of the mental vehicle.
If
we see the astral body of a man in its own world, apart from the physical
body,
we shall still perceive the astral matter aggregated in exactly the shape
of
the physical, although, as the matter is more fluidic in its nature, what we
see
is a body built of dense mist, in the midst of an ovoid of much finer mist.
The
same is true for the mental body. Therefore, if in the astral or the mental
world
we should meet an acquaintance, we should recognize him by his appearance
just
as instantly as in the physical world.
This,
then, is the true constitution of man. In the first place he is a Monad, a
Spark
of the Divine. Of that Monad the ego is a partial expression, formed in
order
that he may enter evolution, and may return to the Monad with joy,
bringing
his sheaves with him in the shape of qualities developed by garnered
experience.
The ego in his turn puts down part of himself for the same purpose
into
lower worlds, and we call that part a personality, because the Latin word
persona
(Page 61) means a mask, and this personality is the mask which the ego
puts
upon himself when he manifests in worlds lower than his own. Just as the
ego
is a small part and an imperfect expression of the Monad, so is the
personality
a small part and an imperfect expression of the ego; so that what we
usually
think of as the man is only in truth a fragment of a fragment.
The
personality wears three bodies or vehicles, the mental, the astral and the
physical.
While the man is what we call alive and awake on the physical earth he
is
limited by his physical body, for he uses the astral and mental bodies only
as
bridges to connect himself with his lowest vehicle. One of the limitations of
the
physical body is that it quickly becomes fatigued and needs periodical rest.
Each
night the man leaves it to sleep, and withdraws into his astral vehicle,
which
does not become fatigued, and therefore needs no sleep. During this sleep
of
the physical body the man is free to move about the astral world; but the
extent
to which he does this depends upon his development. The primitive savage
usually
does not move more than a few miles away from his sleeping physical form
–
often not as much as that; and he has only the vaguest consciousness.
The
educated man is generally able to travel in his astral vehicle wherever he
will,
and has much more consciousness in the astral world, though he has not
often
the faculty of bringing into his waking life any memory of what he has
seen
and done while his physical body was asleep. Sometimes he does remember
some
incident which he has seen, some experience (Page 62) which he has had, and
then
he calls it a vivid dream. More often his recollections are hopelessly
entangled
with vague memories of waking life, and with impressions made from
without
upon the etheric part of his brain. Thus we arrive at the confused and
often
absurd dreams of ordinary life. The developed man becomes as fully
conscious
and active in the astral world as in the physical, and brings through
into
the latter full remembrance of what he has been doing in the former – that
is,
he has a continuous life without any loss of consciousness throughout the
whole
twenty-four hours, and thus throughout the whole of his physical life, and
even
through death itself.(Page 63)
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CHAPTER VI
AFTER
DEATH
Death
is the laying aside of the physical body; but it makes no more difference
to
the ego than does the laying aside of an overcoat to the physical man. Having
put
off his physical body, the ego continues to live in his astral body until
the
force has become exhausted which has been generated by such emotions and
passions
as he has allowed himself to feel during earth life. When that has
happened,
the second death takes place; the astral body also falls away from
him,
and he finds himself living in the mental body and in the lower mental
world.
In that condition he remains until the thought forces generated during
his
physical and astral lives have worn themselves out; then he drops the third
vehicle
in its turn and remains once more an ego in his own world, inhabiting
his
causal body.
There
is, then, no such thing as death as it is ordinarily understood. There is
only
a succession of stages in a continuous life – stages lived in the three
worlds
one after another. The apportionment of time between these three worlds
varies
much as man advances. The primitive man lives almost exclusively in the
physical
world, spending only a few years in the astral at the end of each of
his
physical lives. As he develops, the astral life becomes longer, and as
intellect
(Page 64) unfolds in him, and he becomes able to think, he begins to
spend
a little time in the mental world as well. The ordinary man of civilized
races
remains longer in the mental world than in the physical and astral;
indeed,
the more a man evolves the longer becomes his mental life and the
shorter
his life in the astral world.
The
astral life is the result of all feelings which have in them the element of
self.
If they have been directly selfish, they bring him into conditions of
great
unpleasantness in the astral world; if, though tinged with thoughts of
self,
they have been good and kindly they bring him a comparatively pleasant
though
still limited astral life. Such of his thoughts and feelings as have been
entirely
unselfish produce their result in his life in the mental world;
therefore
that life in the mental world cannot be other than blissful. The
astral
life, which the man has made for himself either miserable or
comparatively
joyous, corresponds to what Christians call purgatory; the lower
mental
life, which is always entirely happy, is what is called heaven.
Man
makes for himself his own purgatory and heaven, and these are not planes,
but
states of consciousness. Hell does not exist; it is only a figment of the
theological
imagination; but a man who lives foolishly may make for himself a
very
unpleasant and long-enduring purgatory. Neither purgatory nor heaven can
ever
be eternal, for a finite cause cannot produce an infinite result. The
variations
in individual cases are so wide that to give actual figures is
somewhat
misleading. If we take the average man of (Page 65) what is called the
lower
middle class, the typical specimen of which would be a small shopkeeper or
shop-assistant,
his average life in the astral world would be perhaps about
forty
years, and the life in the mental world about two hundred. The man of
spirituality
and culture, on the other hand, may have perhaps twenty years of
life
in the astral world and a thousand in the heaven life. One who is specially
developed
may reduce the astral life to a few days or hours and spend fifteen
hundred
years in heaven.
Not
only does the length of these periods vary greatly, but the conditions in
both
worlds also differ widely. The matter of which all these bodies are built
is
not dead matter but living, and that fact has to be taken into consideration.
The
physical body is built up of cells, each of which is a tiny separate life
animated
by the Second Outpouring, which comes forth from the Second Aspect of
the
Deity. These cells are of varying kinds and fulfill various functions, and
all
these facts must be taken into account if the man wishes to understand the
work
of his physical body and to live a healthy life in it.
The
same thing applies to the astral and mental bodies. In the cell life which
permeates
them there is as yet nothing in the way of intelligence, but there is
a
strong instinct always pressing in the direction of what is for its
development.
The life animating the matter of which such bodies are built is
upon
the outward arc of evolution, moving downwards or outwards into matter, so
that
progress for it means to descend into denser forms of matter, and to learn
to
express itself (Page 66) through them. Unfoldment for the man is just the
opposite
of this; he has already sunk deeply into matter and is now rising out
of
that towards his source. There is consequently a constant conflict of
interests
between the man within and the life inhabiting the matter of his
vehicles,
inasmuch as its tendency is downward, while his is upward.
The
matter of the astral body (or rather the life animating its molecules)
desires
for its evolution such undulations as it can get, of as many different
kinds
as possible, and as coarse as possible. The next step in its evolution
will
be to ensoul physical matter and become used to its still slower
oscillations;
and as a step on the way to that, it desires the grossest of the
astral
vibrations. It has not the intelligence definitely to plan for these; but
its
instinct helps it to discover how most easily to procure them.
The
molecules of the astral body are constantly changing, as are those of the
physical
body, but nevertheless the life in the mass of those astral molecules
has
a sense, though a very vague sense, of itself as a whole – as a kind of
temporary
entity. It does not know that it is part of a man’s astral body; it is
quite
capable of understanding what a man is; but it realizes in a blind way
that
under its present conditions it receives many more waves, and much stronger
ones,
than it would receive if floating at large in the atmosphere. It would
then
only occasionally catch, as from a distance, the radiation of man’s
passions
and emotions; now it is in the very heart of them, it can miss none,
and
it gets them at their strongest. Therefore it (Page 67) feels itself in a
good
position, and it makes an effort to retain that position. It finds itself
in
contact with something finer than itself – the matter of the man’s mental
body;
and it comes to feel that if it can contrive to involve that finer
something
in its own undulations, they will be greatly intensified and
prolonged.
Since
astral matter is the vehicle of desire and mental matter is the vehicle of
thought,
this instinct, when translated into our language, means that if the
astral
body can induce us to think that we want what it wants, it is much more
likely
to get it. Thus it exercises a slow steady pressure upon the man – a kind
of
hunger on its side, but for him a temptation to what is coarse and
undesirable.
If he be a passionate man there is a gentle but ceaseless pressure
in
the direction of irritability; if he be a sensual man, an equally steady
pressure
in the direction of impurity.
A
man who does not understand this usually makes one of two mistakes with regard
to
it: either he supposes it to be the prompting of his own nature, and
therefore
regards that nature as inherently evil; or he thinks of the pressure
as
coming from outside – as temptation of an imaginary devil. The truth lies
between
the two. The pressure is natural, not to the man but to the vehicle
which
he is using; its desire is natural and right for it, but harmful to the
man,
and therefore it is necessary that he should resist it. If he does so
resist,
if he declines to yield himself to the feelings suggested to him, the
particles
within him which need those vibrations become apathetic for lack of
nourishment,
and eventually atrophy and fall out (Page 68) from his astral body,
and
are replaced by other particles, whose natural wave rate is more nearly in
accordance
with that which the man habitually permits within his astral body.
This
gives the reason for what are called promptings of the lower nature during
life.
If the man yields himself to them, such promptings grow stronger and
stronger
until at least he feels as though he could not resist them, and
identifies
himself with them – which is exactly what this curious half-life in
the
particles of the astral body wants him to do.
At
the death of the physical body this vague astral consciousness is alarmed. It
realizes
that its existence as a separated mass is menaced, and it takes
instinctive
steps to defend itself and to maintain its position as long as
possible.
The matter of the astral body is far more fluidic than that of the
physical,
and this consciousness seizes upon its particles and disposes them so
as
to resist encroachment. It puts the grossest and densest upon the outside as
a
kind of shell, and arranges the others in concentric layers, so that the body
as
a whole may become as resistant to friction as its constitution permits, and
may
therefore retain its shape as long as possible.
For
the man this produces various unpleasant effects. The physiology of the
astral
body is quite different from that of the physical; the latter acquires
its
information from without by means of certain organs which are specialized as
the
instruments of its senses, but the astral body has no separated senses in
our
meaning of the word. That which for the astral body (Page 69) corresponds to
sight
is the power of its molecules to respond to impacts from without, which
come
to them by means of similar molecules. For example, a man has within his
astral
body matter belonging to all the subdivisions of the astral world, and it
is
because of that that he is capable of “seeing” objects built of the matter of
any
of these subdivisions.
Supposing
an astral object to be made of the matter of the second and third
subdivisions
mixed, a man living in the astral world could perceive that object
only
if on the surface of his astral body there were particles belonging to the
second
and third subdivisions of that world which were capable of receiving and
recording
the vibrations which that object set up. A man who from the
arrangement
of his body by the vague consciousness of which we have spoken, had
on
the outside of that vehicle only the denser matter of the lowest subdivision,
could
no more be conscious of the object which we have mentioned than we are
ourselves
conscious in the physical body of the gases which move about us in the
atmosphere
or of objects built exclusively of etheric matter.
During
physical life the matter of the man’s astral body is in constant motion,
and
its particles pass among one another much as do those of boiling water.
Consequently
at any given moment it is practically certain that particles of all
varieties
will be represented on the surface of his astral body, and that
therefore
when he is using his astral body during sleep he will be able to “see”
by
its means any astral object which approaches him.(Page 70)
After
death, if he has allowed the rearrangement to be made (as from ignorance,
all
ordinary persons do) his condition in this respect will be different. Having
on
the surface of his astral body only the lowest and grossest particles, he can
receive
impressions only from corresponding particles outside; so that instead
of
seeing the whole of the astral world about him, he will see only one-seventh
of
it, and that the densest and most impure. The vibrations of this heavier
matter
are the expressions only of objectionable feelings and emotions, and of
the
least refined class of astral entities. Therefore it emerges that a man in
this
condition can see only the undesirable inhabitants of the astral world, and
can
feel only its most unpleasant and vulgar influences.
He
is surrounded by other men, whose astral bodies are probably of quite
ordinary
character; but since he can see and feel only what is lowest and
coarsest
in them, they appear to him to be monsters of vice with no redeeming
features.
Even his friends seem not at all what they used to be, because he is
now
incapable of appreciating any of their better qualities. Under these
circumstances
it is little wonder that he considers the astral world a hell; yet
the
fault is in no way with the astral world, but with himself – first, for
allowing
himself so much of that ruder type of matter, and secondly, for letting
that
vague astral consciousness dominate him and dispose it in that particular
way.
The
man who has studied these matters declines absolutely to yield to the
pressure
during life or to permit the rearrangement after death, and
consequently
he retains his power of seeing the astral world as a (Page 71)
whole,
and not merely the cruder and baser part of it.
The
astral world has many points in common with the physical; just like the
physical,
it presents different appearances to different people, and even to the
same
person at different periods of his career. It is the home of emotion and of
lower
thoughts; and emotions are much stronger in that world than in this. When
a
person is awake we cannot see that larger part of his emotion at all; its
strength
goes in setting in motion the gross physical matter of the brain. So if
we
see a man show affection here, what we can see is not the whole of his
affection,
but only such part of it as is left after all this other work has
been
done. Emotions therefore bulk far more largely in the astral life than in
the
physical. They in no way exclude higher thought if they are controlled, so
in
the astral world as in the physical a man may devote himself to study and to
helping
his fellows, or he may waste his time and drift about aimlessly.
The
astral world extends nearly to the mean distance of the orbit of the moon;
but
though the whole of this realm is open to any of its inhabitants who have
not
permitted the redistribution of their matter, the great majority remain much
nearer
to the surface of the earth. The matter of the different subdivisions of
that
world interpenetrates with perfect freedom, but there is on the whole a
general
tendency for the denser matter to settle towards the center. The
conditions
are much like those which obtain in a
bucket of water which contains
in
suspension a number of kinds of matter of different degrees of density. Since
the
water is kept in perpetual motion, the different kinds of matter (Page 72)
are
diffused through it; but in spite of that, the densest matter is found in
greatest
quantity nearest to the bottom. So that though we must not at all think
of
the various subdivisions of the astral world as lying above one another as do
the
coats of an onion, it is nevertheless true that the average arrangement of
the
matter of those subdivisions partakes somewhat of that general character.
Astral
matter interpenetrates physical matter precisely as though it were not
there,
but each subdivision of physical matter has a strong attraction for
astral
matter of the corresponding subdivision. Hence it arises that every
physical
body has its astral counterpart. If I have a glass of water standing
upon
a table, the glass and the table, being of physical matter in the solid
state,
are interpenetrated by astral matter of the lowest subdivision. The water
in
the glass, being liquid, is interpenetrated by astral matter of the sixth
subdivision;
whereas the air surrounding both, being
physical matter in the
gaseous
condition, is entirely interpenetrated by astral gaseous matter – that
is,
astral matter of the fifth subdivision.
But
just as air, water, glass and table are alike interpenetrated all the time
by
the finer physical matter which we have called etheric, so are all the astral
counterparts
interpenetrated by the finer astral matter of the higher
subdivisions
which correspond to the etheric. But even the astral solid is less
dense
than the finest of the physical ethers.
The
man who finds himself in the astral world after (Page 73) death, if he has
not
submitted to the rearrangement of the matter of his body, will notice but
little
difference from physical life. He can float about in any direction at
will,
but in actual fact he usually stays in the neighbourhood to which he is
accustomed.
He is still able to perceive his house, his room, his furniture, his
relations,
his friends. The living, when ignorant of the higher worlds, suppose
themselves
to have “lost” those who have laid aside their physical bodies; but
the
dead are never for a moment under the impression that they have lost the
living.
Functioning
as they are in the astral body, the dead can no longer see the
physical
bodies of those whom they have left behind; but they do see their
astral
bodies, and as those are exactly the same in outline as the physical,
they
are perfectly aware of the presence of their friends. They see each one
surrounded
by a faint ovoid of luminous mist, and if they happen to be
observant,
they may notice various other small changes in the surroundings; but
it
is at least quite clear to them that they have not gone away to some distant
heaven
or hell, but still remain in touch with the world which they know,
although
they see it at a somewhat different angle.
The
dead man has the astral body of his living friends obviously before him, so
he
cannot think of him as lost; but while the friend is awake, the dead man will
not
be able to make any impression upon him, for the consciousness of the friend
is
then in the physical world, and his astral body is being used only as a
bridge.
The dead man cannot therefore communicate (Page 74) with his friend, nor
can
he read his friend’s higher thoughts; but he will see by the change in color
in
the astral body any emotion which that friend may feel, and with a little
practice
and observation he may easily learn to read all those thoughts of his
friend
which have in them anything of self or of desire.
When
the friend falls asleep the whole position is changed. He is then also
conscious
in the astral world side by side with the dead man, and they can
communicate
in every respect as freely as they could during physical life. The
emotions
felt by the living react strongly upon the dead who love them. If the
former
give way to grief, the latter cannot but suffer severely.
The
conditions of life after death are almost infinite in their variety, but
they
can be calculated without difficulty by any one who will take the trouble
to
understand the astral world and to consider the character of the person
concerned.
That character is not in the slightest degree changed by death; the
man’s
thoughts, emotions and desires are exactly the same as before. He is in
every
way the same man, minus his physical body, and his happiness or misery
depends
upon the extent to which this loss of the physical body affects him.
If
his longings have been such as need a physical body for their gratification,
he
is likely to suffer considerably. Such a craving manifests itself as a
vibration
in the astral body, and while we are still in this world most of its
strength
is employed in setting in motion the heavy physical particles. Desire
is
therefore (Page 75) a far greater force in the astral life than in the
physical,
and if the man has not been in the habit of controlling it, and if in
this
new life it cannot be satisfied, it may cause him great and long-continued
trouble.
Take
as an illustration the extreme case of a drunkard or a sensualist. Here we
have
a lust which has been strong enough during physical life to overpower
reason,
common-sense and all the feelings of decency and of family affection.
After
death the man finds himself in the astral world feeling the appetite
perhaps
a hundred times more strongly, yet absolutely unable to satisfy it
because
he has lost the physical body. Such a life is a very real hell – the
only
hell there is; yet no one is punishing him; he is reaping the perfectly
natural
result of his own action. Gradually as time passes this force of desire
wears
out, but only at the cost of terrible suffering for the man, because to
him
every day seems as a thousand years. He has no measure of time such as we
have
in the physical world. He can measure it only by his sensations. From a
distortion
of this fact has come the blasphemous idea of eternal damnation.
Many
other cases less extreme than this will readily suggest themselves, in
which
a hankering which cannot be fulfilled may prove itself a torture. A more
ordinary
case is that of a man who has no particular vices, such as drink or
sensuality,
but yet has been attached entirely to things of the physical world,
and
has lived a life devoted to business or to aimless social functions. For him
the
astral world is a place of (Page 76) weariness; the only things for which he
craves
are no longer possible for him, for in the astral world there is no
business
to be done, and, though he may have as much companionship as he wishes,
society
is now for him a very different matter, because all the pretences upon
which
it is usually based in this world are no longer possible.
These
cases, however, are only the few, and for most people the state after
death
is much happier than life upon earth. The first feeling of which the dead
man
is usually conscious is one of the most wonderful and delightful freedom. He
has
absolutely nothing to worry about, and no duties rest upon him, except those
which
he chooses to impose upon himself. For all but a very small minority,
physical
life is spent in doing what the man would much rather not do; but he
has
to do it in order to support himself or his wife and family. In the astral
world
no support is necessary; food is no longer needed, shelter is not
required,
since he is entirely unaffected by heat or cold; and each man by the
mere
exercise of his thought clothes himself as he wishes. For the first time
since
early childhood the man is entirely free to spend the whole of his time in
doing
exactly just what he likes.
His
capacity for every kind of enjoyment is greatly enhanced, if only that
enjoyment
does not need a physical body for expression. If he loves the beauties
of
Nature, it is now within his power to travel with great rapidity and without
fatigue
over the whole world, to contemplate all its loveliest spots, and to
explore
its most secret recesses. If he delights in art, (Page 77) all the
world’s
masterpieces are at his disposal. If he loves music, he can go where he
will
to hear it, and it will now mean much more to him than it has ever meant
before;
for though he can no longer hear the physical sounds, he can receive the
whole
effect of the music into himself in far fuller measure than in this lower
world.
If he is a student of science, he not only can visit the great scientific
men
of the world, and catch from them such thoughts and ideas as may be within
his
comprehension, but also he can undertake the researches of his own into the
science
of this higher world, seeing much more of what he is doing than has ever
before
been possible to him. Best of all, he whose great delight in this world
has
been to help his fellow men will still find ample scope for his
philanthropic
efforts.
Men
are no longer hungry, cold, or suffering from disease in this astral world;
but
there are vast numbers who, being ignorant, desire knowledge – who, being
still
in the grip of desire for earthly things, need the explanation which will
turn
their thought to higher levels – who have entangled themselves in a web of
their
own imaginings, and can be set free only by one who understands these new
surroundings
and can help them distinguish the facts of the world from their own
ignorant
misrepresentation of them. All these can be helped by the man of
intelligence
and of kindly heart. Many men arrive in the astral world in utter
ignorance
of its conditions, not realizing at first that they are dead, and when
they
do realize it fearing the fate that may be in store for them, because of
false
(Page 78) and wicked theological teaching. All of these need the cheer and
comfort
which can only be given to them by a man of common sense who possesses
some
knowledge of the facts of nature.
There
is thus no lack of the most profitable occupation for any man whose
interests
during his physical life have been rational; nor is there any lack of
companionship.
Men whose tastes and pursuits are similar drift naturally
together
there just as they do here; and many realms of Nature, which during our
physical
life are concealed by the dense veil of matter, now lie open for the
detailed
study of those who care to examine them.
To
a large extent people make their own surroundings. We have already referred
to
the seven subdivisions of this astral world. Numbering these from the highest
and
least material downwards, we find that they fall naturally into three
classes
– division one, two and three forming one such class, and four, five and
six
another; while the seventh and lowest of all stands alone. As I have said,
although
they all interpenetrate, their substance has a general tendency to
arrange
itself according to its specific gravity, so that most of the matter
belonging
to the higher subdivisions is found at a greater elevation above the
surface
of the earth than the bulk of the matter of the lower portions.
Hence,
although any person inhabiting the astral world can move into any part of
it,
his natural tendency is to float at the level which corresponds with the
specific
gravity of the heaviest matter in his astral (Page 79) body. The man
who
has not permitted the rearrangement of the matter of his astral body after
death
is entirely free of the whole astral world; but the majority, who do
permit
it, are not equally free – not because there is anything to prevent them
from
rising to the highest level or sinking to the lowest, but because they are
able
to sense clearly only a certain part of that world.
I
have described something of the fate of a man who is on the lowest level, shut
in
by a strong shell of coarse matter. Because of the extreme comparative
density
of that matter he is conscious of less outside of his own subdivision
than
a man at any other level. The general specific gravity of his own astral
body
tends to make him float below the surface of the earth. The physical matter
of
the earth is absolutely non-existent to his astral senses, and his natural
attraction
is to that least delicate form of astral matter which is the
counterpart
of that solid earth. A man who has confined himself to that lowest
subdivision
will therefore usually find himself floating in darkness and cut off
to
a great extent from others of the dead, whose lives have been such as to keep
them
on a higher level.
Divisions
four, and six of the astral world (to which most people are attracted)
have
for their background the astral counterpart of the physical world in which
we
live, and all its familiar accessories. Life in the sixth subdivision is
simply
like our ordinary life on this earth minus the physical body and its
necessities
while as it ascends through the fifth and (Page 80) fourth divisions
it
becomes less and less material and is more and more withdrawn from our lower
world
and its interests.
The
first, second and third sections, though occupying the same space, yet give
the
impression of being much further removed from the physical, and
correspondingly
less material. Men who inhabit these levels lose sight of the
earth
and its belongings; they are usually deeply self-absorbed, and to a large
extent
create their own surroundings, though these are sufficiently objective to
be
perceptible to other men of their level, and also to clairvoyant vision.
This
region is the summerland of which we hear in spiritualistic circles – the
world
in which, by the exercise of their thought, the dead call into temporary
existence
their houses and schools and cities. These surroundings, though
fanciful
from our point of view, are to the dead as real as houses, temples or
churches
built of stone are to us, and many people live very contentedly there
for
a number of years in the midst of all these thought creations.
Some
of the scenery thus produced is very beautiful; it includes lovely lakes,
magnificent
mountains, pleasant gardens, decidedly superior to anything in the
physical
world; though on the other hand it also contains much which to the
trained
clairvoyant (who has learned to see things as they are) appears
ridiculous
– as, for example, the endeavors of the unlearned to make a thought
form
of some of the curious symbolic descriptions contained in their various
scriptures.
An ignorant peasant’s thought image of a beast full of (Page 81)
eyes
within, or of a sea of glass mingled with fire, is naturally often
grotesque,
although to its maker it is perfectly satisfactory. This astral world
is
full of thought-created figures and landscapes. Men of all religions image
here
their deities and their respective conceptions of paradise, and enjoy
themselves
greatly among these dream forms until they pass into the mental world
and
come into touch with something nearer to reality.
Every
one after death – any ordinary person, that is, in whose case the
rearrangement
of the matter of the astral body has been made – has to pass
through
all these subdivisions in turn. It does not follow that every one is
conscious
in all of them. The ordinary decent person has in his astral body but
little
of the matter of its lowest portion – by no means enough to construct a
heavy
shell. The redistribution puts on the outside of the body its densest
matter;
in the ordinary man this is usually matter of the sixth subdivision,
mixed
with a little of the seventh, and so he finds himself viewing the
counterpart
of the physical world.
The
ego is steadily withdrawing into himself, and as he withdraws he leaves
behind
him level after level of this astral matter. So the length of the man’s
detention
in any section of the astral world is precisely in proportion to the
amount
of its matter which is found in his astral body, and that in turn depends
upon
the life he has lived, the desires he has indulged, and the class of matter
which
by so doing he has attracted towards him and built into himself. Finding
(Page
82) himself then in the sixth section, still hovering about the places and
persons
with which he was most closely connected while on earth, the average man
as
time passes on finds the earthly surroundings gradually growing dimmer and
becoming
of less and less importance to him, and he tends more and more to mould
his
entourage into agreement with the more persistent of his thoughts. By the
time
that he reaches the third level he finds that this characteristic has
entirely
superseded the vision of the realities of the astral world.
The
second subdivision is a shade less material than the third, for if the
latter
is the summerland of the spiritualists, the former is the material heaven
of
the more ignorant orthodox; while the first or highest level appears to be
the
special home of those who during life have devoted themselves to
materialistic
but intellectual pursuits, following them not for the sake of
benefiting
their fellow men, but either from motives of selfish ambition or
simply
for the sake of intellectual exercise. All these people are perfectly
happy.
Later on they will reach a stage when they can appreciate something much
higher,
and when that stage comes they will find the higher ready for them.
In
this astral life people of the same nation and of the same interests tend to
keep
together, precisely as they do here. The religious people, for example, who
imagine
for themselves a material heaven, do not at all interfere with men of
other
faiths whose ideas of celestial joy are different. There is nothing to
prevent
a Christian from drifting into the heaven of the Hindu (Page 83) or the
Mohammedan,
but he is little likely to do so, because his interests and
attractions
are all in the heaven of his own faith, along with friends who have
shared
that faith with him. This is by no means the true heaven described by any
of
the religions, but only a gross and material misrepresentation of it; the
real
thing will be found when we come to consider the mental world.
The
dead man who has not permitted the rearrangement of the matter of his astral
body
is free of the entire world, and can wander all over it at will, seeing the
whole
of whatever he examines, instead of only a part of it as the others do. He
does
not find it inconveniently crowded, for the astral world is much larger
than
the surface of the physical earth, while its population is somewhat
smaller,
because the average life of humanity in the astral world is shorter
than
the average of the physical.
Not
only the dead, however, are the inhabitants of this astral world, but always
about
one third of the living as well, who have temporarily left their physical
bodies
behind them in sleep. The astral world has also a great number of
non-human
inhabitants, some of them far below the level of man, and some
considerably
above him. The nature spirits form an enormous kingdom, some of
whose
members exist in the astral world, and make a large part of its
population.
This vast kingdom exists in the physical world also, for many of its
orders
wear etheric bodies, and are only just beyond the range of ordinary
physical
sight. Indeed, circumstances not infrequently occur under (Page 84)
which
they can be seen, and in many lonely mountain districts these appearances
are
traditional among the peasants, by whom they are commonly spoken of as
fairies,
good people, pixies or brownies.
They
are protéan, but usually prefer to wear a miniature human form. Since they
are
not yet individualized, they may be thought of almost as etheric and astral
animals;
yet many of them are intellectually quite equal to average humanity.
They
have their nations and types just as we have, and they are often grouped
into
four great classes, and called the spirits of earth, water, fire and air.
Only
the members of the last of these four divisions normally reside in the
astral
world, but their numbers as so prodigious that they are everywhere
present
in it.
Another
great kingdom has its representatives here – the kingdom of the angels
(called
in India the devas). This is a body of beings who stand far higher in
evolution
than man, and only the lowest fringe of their hosts touches the astral
world
– a fringe whose constituent members are perhaps at about the level of
development
of what we should call a distinctly good man.
We
are neither the only nor even the principal inhabitants of our solar system;
there
are other lines of evolution running parallel with our own which do not
pass
through humanity at all, though they must all pass through a level
corresponding
to that of humanity. On one of these other lines of evolution are
the
nature spirits above described, and at a higher level of that line comes
this
great kingdom of the angels.(Page 85 ) At our present level of evolution
they
come into obvious contact with us only very rarely, but as we develop we
shall
be likely to see more of them - especially as the cyclic progress of the
world
is now bringing it more and more under the influence of the Seventh Ray.
This
Seventh Ray has ceremonial for one of its characteristics, and it is
through
ceremonial such as that of the Church or of Free-masonry that we come
most
easily into touch with the angelic kingdom.
When
all the man’s lower emotions have worn themselves out – all emotions, I
mean,
which have in them any thought of self – his life in the astral world is
over,
and the ego passes on into the mental world. This is not in any sense a
movement
in space; it is simply that the steady process of withdrawal has now
passed
beyond even the finest kind of astral matter; so that the man’s
consciousness
is focused in the mental world. His astral body has not entirely
disintegrated,
though it is in process of doing so, and he leaves behind him an
astral
corpse, just as at a previous stage of the withdrawal he left behind him
a
physical corpse. There is a certain difference between the two which should be
noticed,
because of the consequences which ensue from it.
When
the man leaves his physical body his separation from it should be complete,
and
generally is so; but this is not the case with the much finer matter of the
astral
body. In the course of his physical life the ordinary man usually
entangles
himself so much in astral matter (which, from another point of view,
means
that he identifies himself so closely with his lower desires) that the
indrawing
force of the ego cannot entirely separate him from it again.
Consequently,
when he finally breaks away from the astral body and transfers his
activities
to the mental, he loses a little of himself, he leaves some of
himself
behind imprisoned in the matter of the astral body. Page 86)
(
This gives a certain remnant of vitality to the astral corpse, so that it
still
moves freely in the astral world, and may easily be mistaken by the
ignorant
for the man himself – the more so as such fragmentary consciousness as
still
remains to it is part of the man, and therefore it naturally regards
itself
and speaks of itself as the man. It retains his memories but is only a
partial
and unsatisfactory representation of him. Sometimes in spiritualistic
séances
one comes into contact with an entity of this description, and wonders
how
it is that one’s friend has deteriorated so much since his death. To this
fragmentary
entity we give the name “shade”.
At
a later stage even this fragment of consciousness dies out of the astral
body,
but does not return to the ego to whom it originally belonged. Even then
the
astral corpse still remains, but when it is quite without any trace of its
former
life we call it a “shell”. Of itself a shell cannot communicate at a
séance,
or take any action of any sort; but such shells are frequently seized
upon
by sportive nature spirits and used as temporary habitations. A shell so
occupied
can communicate at a séance and masquerade as its original owner, since
some
of his characteristics and certain portions of his memory can be evoked by
the
nature spirit from his astral corpse.
When
a man falls asleep, he withdraws in his astral body, leaving the whole of
the
physical vehicle behind him. When he dies, he draws out with him the etheric
part
of the physical body, and consequently has usually at least a moment of
unconsciousness
(Page 87) while he is freeing himself from it. The etheric
double
is not a vehicle, and cannot be used as such; so when the man is
surrounded
by it, he is for the moment able to function neither in the physical
world
nor the astral. Some men succeed in shaking themselves free of this
etheric
envelope in a few minutes; other rest within it for hours, days or even
weeks.
Nor
is it certain that, when the man is free from this, he will at once become
conscious
of the astral world. For there is in him a good deal of the lowest
kind
of astral matter, so that a shell of this may be made around him. But he
may
be quite unable to use that matter. If he had lived a reasonably decent life
he
is little in the habit of employing it or responding to its vibrations, and
he
cannot instantly acquire this habit. For that reason, he may remain
unconscious
until that matter gradually wears away, and some matter which he is
in
the habit of using comes on the surface. Such an occlusion, however, is
scarcely
ever complete, for even in the most carefully made shell some particles
of
the finer matter occasionally find their way to the surface and give him
fleeting
glimpses of his surroundings.
There
are some men who cling so desperately to their physical vehicles that they
will
not relax their hold upon the etheric double, but strive with all their
might
to retain it. They may be successful in doing so for a considerable time,
but
only at the cost of great discomfort to themselves. They are shut out from
both
worlds, to find themselves surrounded by a dense grey mist, through which
they
see very (Page 88) dimly the things of the physical world, but with all the
color
gone from them. It is a terrible struggle to them to maintain their
position
in this miserable condition, and yet they will not relax their hold
upon
the etheric double, feeling that that is at least some sort of link with
the
only world that they know. Thus they drift about in a condition of
loneliness
and misery until from sheer fatigue their hold fails them, and they
slip
into the comparative happiness of astral life. Sometimes in their
desperation
they grasp blindly at other bodies, and try to enter into them, and
occasionally
they are successful in such an attempt. They may seize upon a baby
body,
ousting the feeble personality for whom it was intended, or sometimes they
grasp
even the body of an animal. All this trouble arises entirely from
ignorance,
and it can never happen to anyone who understands the laws of life
and
death.
When
the astral life is over, the man dies to that world in turn, and awakens in
the
mental world. With him it is not at all what it is to the trained
clairvoyant,
who ranges through it and lives amidst the surroundings which he
finds
there, precisely as he would in the physical or astral worlds. The
ordinary
man has all through his life been encompassing himself with a mass of
thought-forms.
Some which are transitory, to which he pays little attention,
have
fallen away from his long ago, but those which represent the main interests
of
his life are always with him, and grow ever stronger and stronger. If some of
these
have been selfish, their force pours down into astral matter, and he has
exhausted
(Page 89) them during his life in the astral world. But those which
are
entirely unselfish belong purely to his mental body, and so when he finds
himself
in the mental world it is through these special thoughts that he is able
to
appreciate it.
His
mental body is by no means fully developed; only those parts of it are
really
in action to their fullest extent which he has used in this altruistic
manner.
When he awakens again after the second death his first sense is one of
indescribable
bliss and vitality – a feeling of such utter joy in living that he
needs
for the time nothing but just to live. Such bliss is of the essence of
life
in all the higher worlds of the system. Even astral life has possibilities
of
happiness far greater than anything that we can know in the dense body; but
the
heaven life in the mental world is out of all proportions more blissful than
the
astral. In each higher world the same experience is repeated. Merely to live
in
any one them seems the uttermost conceivable bliss; and yet, when the next
one
is reached, it is seen that it far surpasses the last.
Just
as the bliss increases, so does the wisdom and the breadth of view. A man
fusses
about in the physical world and thinks himself so busy and so wise; but
when
he touches even the astral, he realizes at once that he has been all the
time
only a caterpillar crawling about and seeing nothing but his own leaf,
whereas
now he has spread his wings like the butterfly and flown away into the
sunshine
of a wider world. Yet, impossible as it may seem, the same experience
is
repeated when he passes into the (Page 90) mental world, for this life is in
turn
so much fuller and wider and more intense than the astral that once more no
comparison
is possible. And yet beyond all these there is still another life,
that
of the intuitional world, unto which even this is but as moonlight unto
sunlight.
The
man’s position in the mental world differs widely from that in the astral.
There
he was using a body to which he was thoroughly accustomed, a body which he
had
been in the habit of employing every night during sleep. Here he finds
himself
living in a vehicle which he has never used before – a vehicle
furthermore
which is very far from being fully developed – a vehicle which shuts
him
out to a great extent from the world about him, instead of enabling him to
see
it. The lower part of his nature burnt itself away during his purgatorial
life,
and now there remains to him only his higher and more refined thoughts,
the
noble and unselfish aspirations which he poured out during earth life. These
cluster
round him, and make a sort of shell about him, through the medium of
which
he is able to respond to certain types of vibrations in this refined
matter.
These
thoughts which surround him are the powers by which he draws upon the
wealth
of the heaven-world, and he finds it to be a storehouse of infinite
extent,
upon which he is able to draw just according to the power of those
thoughts
and aspirations; for in this world is existing the infinite fullness of
the
Divine Mind, open in all its limitless affluence to every soul, just in
proportion
as that soul has qualified itself to receive. A man who has already
completed
(Page 91) his human evolution, who has fully realized and unfolded the
divinity
whose germ is within him, finds the whole of this glory within his
reach;
but since none of us has yet done that, since we are only gradually
rising
toward that splendid consummation, it follows that none of us as yet can
grasp
that entirety.
But
each draws from it and cognizes so much of it as he has by previous effort
prepared
himself to take. Different individuals bring different capacities; they
tell
us in the East that each man brings his own cup, and some of the cups are
large
and some are small, but small or large every cup is filled to its utmost
capacity;
the sea of bliss holds far more than enough for all.
A
man can look out upon this glory and beauty only through the windows which he
himself
has made. Every one of these thought-forms is such a window, through
which
response may come to him from the forces without. If during his earth life
he
has chiefly regarded physical things, then he has made for himself but few
windows
through which this higher glory can shine in upon him. Yet every man who
is
above the lowest savage must have had some touch of pure unselfish feeling,
even
if it were but once in all his life, and that will be a window for him now.
The
ordinary man is not capable of any great activity in this mental world; his
condition
is chiefly receptive, and his vision of anything outside his own shell
of
thought is of the most limited character. He is surrounded by living forces,
mighty
angelic inhabitants of this glorious world, and many of their (Page 92)
orders
are very sensitive to certain aspirations of man and readily respond to
them.
But a man can take advantage of these only in so far as he has already
prepared
himself to profit by them, for his thoughts and aspirations are only
along
certain lines, and he cannot suddenly form new lines. There are many
directions
which the higher thought may take – some of them personal and some
impersonal.
Among the latter are art, music and philosophy; and a man whose
interest
lay along any one of these lines finds both measureless enjoyment and
unlimited
instruction waiting for him – that is, the amount of enjoyment and
instruction
is limited only by his power of perception.
We
find a large number of people whose only higher thoughts are those connected
with
affection and devotion. If a man loves another deeply or if he feels strong
devotion
to a personal deity, he makes a strong mental image of that friend or
the
deity, and the object of his feeling is often present in his mind.
Inevitably
he takes that mental image into the heaven world with him, because it
is
to that level of matter that it naturally belongs.
Take
first the feeling of affection. The love which forms and retains such an
image
is very powerful force – a force which is strong enough to reach and to
act
upon the ego of his friend in the higher part of the mental world. It is
that
ego that is the real man whom he loves – not the physical body which is so
partial
a representation of him. The ego of the friend, feeling this vibration,
at
once and eagerly responds to it, and pours himself into the thought (Page 93)
form
which has been made for him; so that the man’s friend is truly present with
him
more vividly than ever before. To this result it makes no difference
whatever
whether the friend is what we call living or dead; the appeal is made
not
to the fragment of the friend which is sometimes imprisoned in a physical
body,
but to the man himself on his own true level; and he always responds. A
man
who has a hundred friends can simultaneously and fully respond to the
affection
of every one of them, for no number of representations on a lower
level
can exhaust the infinity of the ego.
Thus
every man in his heaven life has around him all the friends for whose
company
he wishes, and they are for him always at their best, because he himself
makes
for them in the thought-form through which they manifest to him. In our
limited
physical world we are so accustomed to thinking of our friend as only
the
limited manifestation which we know in the physical world, that it is at
first
difficult for us to realize the grandeur of the conception; when we can
realize
it, we shall see how much nearer we are in truth to our friends in the
heaven
life than we ever were on earth. The same is true in the case of
devotion.
The man in the heaven world is two great stages nearer to the object
of
his devotion than he was during physical life, and so his experiences are of
a
far more transcendent character.
In
this mental world, as in the astral, there are seven subdivisions. The first,
second
and third are the habitat of the ego in his causal body, so the mental
body
contains matter of the remaining four only, (Page 94) and it is in those
sections
that his heaven life is passed. Man does not, however, pass from one to
the
other of these, as in the case in the astral world, for there is nothing in
this
life corresponding to the rearrangement. Rather is the man drawn to the
level
which best corresponds to the degree of his development, and on that level
he
spends the whole of his life in the mental body. Each man makes his own
conditions,
so that the number of varieties is infinite.
Speaking
broadly, we may say that the dominant characteristic observed in the
lowest
portion is unselfish family affection. Unselfish it must be, or it would
find
no place here; all selfish tinges, if there were any, worked out their
results
in the astral world. The dominant characteristic of the sixth level may
be
said to be anthropomorphical religious devotion; whilst that of the fifth
section
is devotion expressing itself in active work of some sort. All these –
the
fifth, sixth and seventh subdivisions – are concerned with the working out
of
devotion to personalities (either to one’s family and friends or to a
personal
deity) rather than the wider devotion to humanity for its own sake,
which
finds its expression in the next section. The activities of this fourth
stage
are varied. They can best be arranged in four main divisions: unselfish
pursuit
of spiritual knowledge; high philosophy or scientific thought; literary
or
artistic ability exercised for unselfish purposes; and service for the sake
of
service.
Even
to this glorious heaven life there comes an (Page 95) end, and then the
mental
body in its turn drops away as the others have done, and the man’s life
in
his causal body begins. Here the man needs no windows, for this is his true
home
and all his walls have fallen away. The majority of men have as yet but
very
little consciousness at such a height as this; they rest dreamily
unobservant
and scarcely awake, but such vision as they have is true, however
limited
it may be by their lack of development. Still, every time they return,
these
limitations will be smaller, and they themselves will be greater; so that
this
truest life will be wider and fuller for them.
As
this improvement continues, this casual life grows longer and longer,
assuming
an ever larger proportion as compared to the existence at lower levels.
And
as he grows, the man becomes capable not only of receiving but also of
giving.
Then indeed is his triumph approaching, for he is learning the lesson of
the
Christ, learning the crowning glory of sacrifice, the supreme delight of
pouring
out all his life for the helping of his fellow-men, the devotion of the
self
to the all, of celestial strength to human service, of all those splendid
heavenly
forces to the aid of the struggling sons of earth. That is part of the
life
that lies before us; these are some of the steps which even we who are
still
so near the bottom of the golden ladder may see rising above us, so that
we
may report them to those who have not seen as yet, in order that they too may
open
their eyes to the unimaginable splendor which surrounds them here and now
in
this dull daily life. This is a part of the (Page 96) gospel of Theosophy –
the
certainty of this sublime future for all. It is certain because it is here
already;
because to inherit it we have only to fit ourselves for it. (Page
97)
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206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24-1DL
CHAPTER VII
REINCARNATION
This
life of the ego in his own world, which is so glorious and so fully
satisfying
for the developed man, plays but a very small part in the life of the
ordinary
person, for in his case the ego has not yet reached a sufficient stage
of
development to be awake in his causal body. In obedience to the law of nature
he
has withdrawn into it, but in doing so he has lost the sensation of vivid
life,
and restless desire to feel this once more pushes him in the direction of
another
descent into matter.
This
is the scheme of evolution appointed for man at the present stage – that he
shall
develop by descending into grosser matter, and then ascend to carry back
into
himself the result of the experiences so obtained. His real life,
therefore,
covers millions of years, and what we are in the habit of calling a
life
is only one day of this greater existence. Indeed, it is in reality only a
small
part of one day; for a life of seventy years in the physical world is
often
succeeded by a period of twenty times that length spent in higher spheres.
Every
one of us has a long line of these physical lives behind him, and the
ordinary
man has a fairly long line still in front of him. Each of such lives is
a
day at school. The ego puts upon himself his garment of flesh and goes forth
into
the school of (Page 98) the physical world to learn certain lessons. He
learns
them, or does not learn them, or partially learns them, as the case may
be,
during his school day of earth life; then he lays aside the vesture of the
flesh
and returns home to his own level for rest and refreshment. In the morning
of
each new life he takes up again his lesson at the point where he left it the
night
before. Some lessons he may be able to learn in one day, while others may
take
him many days.
If
he is an apt pupil and learns quickly what is needed, if he obtains an
intelligent
grasp of the rules of the school, and takes the trouble to adapt his
conduct
to them, his school life is comparatively short, and when it is over he
goes
forth fully equipped into the real life of the higher worlds for which all
this
is only a preparation. Other egos are duller boys who do not learn so
quickly;
some of them do not understand the rules of the school, and through
that
ignorance are constantly breaking them; others are wayward, and even when
they
see the rules they cannot at once bring themselves to act in harmony with
them.
All of these have a longer school life, and by their own actions they
delay
their entry upon the real life of the higher worlds.
For
this is a school in which no pupil ever fails; every one must go on to the
end.
He has no choice as to that; but the length of time which he will take in
qualifying
himself for the higher examinations is left entirely to his own
discretion.
The wise pupil, seeing that school life is not a thing in itself,
but
(Page 99) only a preparation for a more glorious and far wider life,
endeavors
to comprehend as fully as possible the rules of his school, and shapes
his
life in accordance with them as closely as he can, so that no time may be
lost
in the learning of whatever lessons are necessary. He co-operates
intelligently
with the Teachers, and sets himself to do the maximum of work
which
is possible for him, in order that as soon as he can he may come of age
and
enter into his kingdom as a glorified ego.
Theosophy
explains to us the laws under which this school life must be lived,
and
in that way gives a great advantage to its students. The first great law is
that
of evolution. Every man has to become a perfect man, to unfold to the
fullest
degree the divine possibilities which lie latent within him, for that
unfoldment
is the object of the entire scheme so far as he is concerned. This
law
of evolution steadily presses him onward to higher and higher achievements.
The
wise man tries to anticipate its demands – to run ahead of the necessary
curriculum,
for in that way he not only avoids all collision with it, but he
obtains
the maximum of assistance from its action. The man who lags behind in
the
race of life finds its steady pressure constantly constraining him – a
pressure
which, if resisted, rapidly becomes painful. Thus the laggard on the
path
of evolution has always the sense of being hunted and driven by fate, while
the
man who intelligently co-operates is left perfectly free to choose the
direction
in which he shall move, so long as it is onward and upward. (Page 100)
The
second great law under which this evolution is taking place is the law of
cause
and effect. There can be no effect without its cause, and every cause must
produce
its effect. They are in fact not two but one, for the effect is really
part
of the cause, and he who sets one in motion
sets the other also. There is
in
Nature no such idea as that of reward or punishment, but only of cause and
effect.
Any one can see this in connection with mechanics or chemistry; the
clairvoyant
sees it equally clearly with regard to the problems of evolution.
The
same law obtains in the higher as in the lower worlds; there, as here, the
angle
of reflection is always equal to the angle of incidence. It is a law of
mechanics
that action and reaction are equal and opposite. In the almost
infinitely
finer matter of the higher worlds the reaction is by no means always
instantaneous;
it may sometimes be spread over long periods of time, but it
returns
inevitably and exactly.
Just
as certain in its working as the mechanical law in the physical world is
the
higher law, according to which the man who sends out a good thought or does
a
good action receives good in return, while the man who sends out an evil
thought
or does an evil action receives evil in return with equal accuracy –
once
more, not in the least as a reward or punishment administered by some
external
will, but simply as the definite and mechanical result of his own
activity.
Man has learnt to appreciate a mechanical result in the physical
world,
because the reaction is usually almost immediate and can be seen by him.
(Page101)
He does not invariably understand the reaction in the higher worlds
because
that takes a wider sweep, and often returns not in this physical life,
but
in some future one.
The
action of this law affords the explanation of a number of the problems of
ordinary
life. It accounts for the different destinies imposed upon people, and
also
for the differences in the people themselves. If one man is clever in a
certain
direction and another is stupid, it is because in a previous life the
clever
man has devoted much effort to practice in that particular direction,
while
the stupid man is trying it for the first time. The genius and the
precocious
child are examples not of the favoritism of some deity but of the
result
produced by previous lives of application. All the varied circumstances
which
surround us are the result of our own actions in the past, precisely as
are
the qualities of which we find ourselves in possession. We are what we have
made
ourselves, and our circumstances are such as we have deserved.
There
is, however, a certain adjustment or apportionment of these effects.
Though
the law is a natural law and mechanical in its operation, there are
nevertheless
certain great Angels who are concerned with its administration.
They
cannot change by one feather weight the amount of the result which follows
upon
any given thought or act, but they can within certain limits expedite or
delay
its action, and decide what form it shall take.
If
this were not done there would be at least a (Page 102) possibility that in
his
earlier stages the man might blunder so seriously that the results of his
blundering
might be more than he could bear. The plan of the Deity is to give
man
a limited amount of freewill; if he uses that small amount well, he earns
the
right to a little more next time; if he used it badly, suffering comes upon
him
as the result of such evil use, and he finds himself restrained by the
result
of his previous actions. As the man learns how to use his free will, more
and
more of it is entrusted to him, so that he can acquire for himself
practically
unbounded freedom in the direction of good, but his power to do
wrong
is strictly restricted. He can progress as rapidly as he will, but he
cannot
wreck his life in his ignorance. In the earlier stages of the savage life
of
primitive man it is natural that there should be on the whole more of evil
than
of good, and if the entire result of his actions came at once upon a man as
yet
so little developed, it might well crush the newly evolved powers which are
still
so feeble.
Besides
this, the effects of his actions are varied in character. While some of
them
produce immediate results, others need much more time for their action, and
so
it comes to pass that as the man develops he has above him a hovering cloud
of
undischarged results, some of them good, some of them bad. Out of this mass
(which
we may regard for the purposes of analogy much as though it were a debt
owing
to the powers of nature) a certain amount falls due in each of his
successive
births; and that amount, so (Page 103) assigned, may be thought of as
the
man’s destiny for that particular life.
All
that it means is that a certain amount of joy and a certain amount of
suffering
are due to him, and will unavoidably happen to him; how he will meet
this
destiny and what use he will make of it, that is left entirely to his own
option.
It is a certain amount of force which has to work itself out. Nothing
can
prevent the action of that force, but its action may always be modified by
the
application of a new force in another direction, just as is the case in
mechanics.
The result of past evil is like any other debt; it may be paid in one
large
check upon the bank of life – by some one supreme catastrophe; or it may
be
paid in a number of smaller notes, in minor troubles and worries; in some
cases
it may even be paid in the small change of a vast number of petty
annoyances.
But one thing is quite certain – that, in some form or other, paid
it
will have to be.
The
conditions of our present life, then, are absolutely the result of our own
action
in the past; and the other side of that statement is that our actions in
this
life are building up conditions for the next one. A man who finds himself
limited
either in powers or in outer circumstances may not always be able to
make
himself or his conditions all that he would wish in this life; but he can
certainly
secure for the next one whatever he chooses.
Man’s
every action ends not with himself, but invariably affects others around
him.
In some cases this effect may be comparatively trivial, while in (Page 104)
others
it may be of the most serious character. The trivial results, whether
good
or bad are simply small debits or credits in our account with Nature; but
the
greater effects, whether good or bad, make a personal account which is to be
settled
with the individual concerned.
A
man who gives a meal to a hungry beggar, or cheers him by a kindly word, will
receive
the result of his good action as part of a kind of general fund of
Nature’s
benefits; but one who by some good action changes the whole current of
another
man’s life will assuredly have to meet that same man again in a future
life,
in order that he who has been benefited may have the opportunity of
repaying
the kindness that has been done to him. One who causes annoyance to
another
will suffer proportionately for it somewhere, somehow, in the future,
though
he may never meet again the man whom he has troubled; but one who does
serious
harm to another, one who wrecks his life or retards his evolution, must
certainly
meet his victim again at some later point in the course of their
lives,
so that he may have the opportunity, by kindly and self-sacrificing
service,
of counterbalancing the wrong which he has done. In short, large debts
must
be paid personally, but small ones go into the general fund.
These
then are the principal factors which determine the next birth of the man.
First
acts the great law of evolution, and its tendency is to press the man into
that
position in which he can most easily develop the qualities which he most
needs.
For the purposes of the general scheme, humanity is divided (Page 105)
into
great races, called root-races, which rule and occupy the world
successively.
The great Aryan or Indo-Caucasian race, which at the present
moment
includes the most advanced ofEearth’s inhabitants, is one of these. That
which
came before it in the order of evolution was the Mongolian race, usually
called
in Theosophical books Atlantean, because the continent from which it
ruled
the world lay where now roll the waters of the Atlantic ocean. Before that
came
the Negroid race, some of whose descendants still exist, though by this
time
much mingled with offshoots of later races. From each of these great
root-races
there are many offshoots which we call sub-races – such, for example,
as
the Romance races or the Teutonic; and each of these sub-races in turn
divides
itself into branch races, such as the French and the Italians, the
English
and the Germans.
These
arrangements are made in order that for each ego there may be a wide
choice
of varying conditions and surroundings. Each race is especially adapted
to
develop within its people one or other of the qualities which are needed in
the
course of evolution. In every nation there exist an almost infinite number
of
diverse conditions, riches and poverty, a wide field of opportunities or a
total
lack of them, facilities for development or conditions under which
development
is difficult or well-nigh impossible. Amidst all these infinite
possibilities
the pressure of the law of evolution tends to guide the man to
precisely
those which best suit his needs at the stage at which he happens to
be.
But
the action of this law is limited by that other (Page 106) law of which we
spoke,
the law of cause and effect. The man’s actions in the past may not have
been
such as to deserve (if we may put it so) the best possible opportunities;
he
may have set in motion in his past certain forces the inevitable result of
which
will be to produce limitations; and these limitations may operate to
prevent
his receiving that best possible of opportunities, and so as the result
of
his own actions in the past he may have to put up with the second-best. So we
may
say that the action of the law of evolution, which if left to itself would
do
the very best possible for every man, is restrained by the man’s own previous
actions.
An
important feature in that limitation – one which may act most powerfully for
good
or for evil – is the influence of the group of egos with which the man has
made
definite links in the past – those with whom he has formed strong ties of
love
or hate, of helping or of injury – those souls whom he must meet again
because
of connections made with them in days of long ago. His relation with
them
is a factor which must be taken into consideration before it can be
determined
where and how he shall be reborn.
The
will of the Deity is man’s evolution. The effort of that nature which is an
expression
of the Deity is to give the man whatever is most suitable for that
evolution;
but this is conditioned by the man’s deserts in the past and by the
links
which he has already formed. It may be assumed that a man descending into
incarnation
could learn the lessons necessary for that life in any one of a
hundred
positions. (Page 107) From half of these or more than half he may be
debarred
by the consequences of some of his many and varied actions in the past.
Among
the few possibilities which remain open to him, the choice of one
possibility
in particular may be determined by the presence in that family or in
that
neighborhood of other egos upon whom he has a claim for services rendered,
or
to whom he in his turn owes a debt of love.(Page 108)
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206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24-1DL
CHAPTER VIII
THE
PURPOSE OF LIFE
To
fulfill our duty in the divine scheme we must try to understand not only that
scheme
as a whole, but the special part that man is intended to play in it. The
divine
outbreathing reaches its deepest immersion in matter in the mineral
kingdom,
but it reaches its ultimate point of differentiation not at the lowest
level
of materiality, but at the entrance into the human kingdom on the upward
arc
of evolution. We have thus to realize three stages in the course of this
evolution:
(a) The downward arc in which the tendency is
toward differentiation and also
toward
greater materiality. In this stage spirit is involving itself in matter,
in
order that it may learn to receive impressions through it.
(b) The earlier part of the upward arc, in
which the tendency is still toward
greater
differentiation, but at the same time toward spiritualization and escape
from
materiality. In this stage the spirit is learning to dominate matter and to
see
it as an expression of itself.
(c) The later part of the upward arc, when
differentiation has been finally
accomplished,
and the tendency is toward unity as well as toward greater
spirituality.
In this stage the spirit, having learnt (Page109) perfectly how to
receive
impressions through matter and how to express itself through it, and
having
awakened its dormant powers, learns to use these powers rightly in the
service
of the Deity.
The
object of the whole previous evolution has been to produce the ego as a
manifestation
of the Monad. Then the ego in its turn evolves by putting itself
down
into a succession of personalities. Men who do not understand this look
upon
the personality as the self, and consequently live for it alone, and try to
regulate
their lives for what appears to be its temporary advantage. The man who
understands
realizes that the only important thing is the life of the ego, and
that
its progress is the object for which the temporary personality must be
used.
Therefore when he has to decide between two possible courses he thinks
not,
as the ordinary man might: “Which will bring the greater pleasure and
profit
to me as a personality?” but “Which will bring greater progress to me as
an
ego?” Experience soon teaches him that nothing can ever be really good for
him,
or for any one, which is not good for all, and so presently he learns to
forget
himself altogether, and to ask only what will be best for humanity as a
whole.
Clearly
then at this stage of evolution whatever tends to unity, whatever tends
to
spirituality, is in accord with the plan of the Deity for us, and is
therefore
right for us, while whatever tends to separateness or to materiality
is
certainly equally wrong for us. There are thoughts and emotions which tend to
unity,
such as love, sympathy, reverence, benevolence; (Page 110) there are
others
which tend to disunion, such as hatred, jealousy, envy, pride, cruelty,
fear.
Obviously the former group are for us the right, the latter group are for
us
the wrong.
In
all these thoughts and feelings which are clearly wrong, we recognize one
dominant
note, the thought of self; while in all those which are clearly right
we
recognize that the thought is turned toward others, and that the personal
self
is forgotten. Wherefore we see that selfishness is the one great wrong, and
that
perfect unselfishness is the crown of all virtue. This gives us at once a
rule
of life. The man who wishes intelligently to co-operate with the Divine
Will
must lay aside all thought of the advantage or pleasure of the personal
self,
and must devote himself exclusively to carrying out that Will by working
for
the welfare and happiness of others.
This
is a high ideal, and difficult of attainment, because there lies behind us
such
a long history of selfishness. Most of us are as yet far from the purely
altruistic
attitude; how are we to go to work to attain it, lacking as we do the
necessary
intensity in so many of the good qualities, and possessing so many
which
are undesirable?
Here
comes into operation the great law of cause and effect to which I have
already
referred. Just as we can confidently appeal to the laws of nature in the
physical
world, so may we also appeal to these laws of the higher world. If we
find
evil qualities within us, they have grown up by slow degrees through
ignorance
and through self-indulgence. Now (Page 111) that the ignorance is
dispelled
by knowledge, now that in consequence we recognize the quality as an
evil,
the method of getting rid of it lies obviously before us.
For
each of these vices there is a contrary virtue; if we find one of them
rearing
its head within us, let us immediately determine deliberately to develop
within
ourselves the contrary virtue. If a man realizes that in the past he has
been
selfish, that means that he has set up within himself the habit of thinking
of
himself first and pleasing himself, of consulting his own convenience or his
pleasure
without due thought of the effect upon others; let him set to work
purposefully
to form the exactly opposite habit, to make a practice before doing
anything
of thinking how it will affect all those around him; let him set
himself
habitually to please others, even though it be at the cost of trouble or
privation
for himself. This also in time will become a habit, and by developing
it
he will have killed out the other.
If
a man finds himself full of suspicion, ready always to assign evil motives to
the
actions of those about him, let him set himself steadily to cultivate trust
in
his fellows, to give them credit always for the highest possible motives. It
may
be said that a man who does this will lay himself open to be deceived, and
that
in many cases his confidence will be misplaced. That is a small matter; it
is
far better for him that he should sometimes be deceived as a result of his
trust
in his fellows than that he should save himself from such deception by
maintaining
a (Page 112) constant attitude of suspicion. Besides, confidence
begets
faithfulness. A man who is trusted will generally prove himself worthy of
the
trust, whereas a man who is suspected is likely presently to justify that
suspicion.
If
a man finds in himself the tendency toward avarice, let him go out of his way
to
be especially generous; if he finds himself irritable, let him definitely
train
himself in calmness; if he finds himself devoured by curiosity, let him
deliberately
refuse again and again to gratify that curiosity; if he is liable
to
fits of depression, let him persistently cultivate cheerfulness, even under
the
most adverse circumstances.
In
every case the existence of an evil quality in the personality means a lack
of
the corresponding good quality in the ego. The shortest way to get rid of
that
evil and to prevent its reappearance is to fill the gap in the ego, and the
good
quality which is thus developed will show itself as an integral part of the
man’s
character through all his future lives. An ego cannot be evil, but he can
be
imperfect. The qualities which he develops cannot be other than good
qualities,
and when they are well defined they show themselves in each of all
his
numerous personalities, and consequently those personalities can never be
guilty
of the vices opposite to these qualities; but where there is a gap in the
ego,
where there is a quality undeveloped, there is nothing inherent in the
personality
to check the growth of the opposite vice; and since others in the
world
about him already possess (Page 113) that vice, and man is an imitative
animal,
it is quite probable that it will speedily manifest itself in him. This
vice,
however, belongs to the vehicles only and not to the man inside. In these
vehicles
its repetition may set up a momentum which is hard to conquer; but if
the
ego bestirs himself to create in himself the opposite virtue, the vice is
cut
off at its root, and can no longer exist – neither in this life nor in all
the
lives that are to come.
A
man who is trying to evolve these qualities in himself will find certain
obstacles
in his way – obstacles which he must learn to surmount. One of these
is
the critical spirit of the age – the disposition to find fault with a thing,
to
belittle everything, to look for faults in everything, and in everyone. The
exact
opposite of this is what is needed for progress. He who wishes to move
rapidly
along the path of evolution must learn to see good in everything – to
see
the latent Deity in everything and in every one. Only so can he help those
other
people – only so can he get the best out of those other things.
Another
obstacle is the lack of perseverance. We tend in these days to be
impatient;
if we try any plan we expect immediate results from it, and if we do
not
get them, we give up that plan and try something else. That is not the way
to
make progress in occultism. The effort which we are making is to compress
into
one or two lives the evolution which would naturally take perhaps a hundred
lives.
That is not the sort of undertaking in which immediate results are to be
expected.
We attempt to uproot an (Page114) evil habit, and we find it hard
work;
why? Because we have indulged in that practice for, perhaps, twenty
thousand
years; one cannot shake off the custom of twenty thousand years in a
day
or two. We have allowed that habit to gain an enormous momentum, and before
we
can set up a force in the opposite direction we have to overcome that
momentum.
That cannot be done in a moment, but it is absolutely certain that it
will
be done eventually, if we persevere, because the momentum, however strong
it
may be, is a finite quality, whereas the power that we can bring to bear
against
it is the infinite power of the human will, which can make renewed
efforts
day after day, year after year, even life after life if necessary.
Another
great difficulty in our way is the lack of clearness in our thought.
People
in the West are little used to clear thought with regard to religious
matters.
Everything is vague and nebulous. For occult development vagueness and
nebulosity
will not do. Our conceptions must be clear cut and our thought images
definite.
Other necessary characteristics are calmness and cheerfulness; these
are
rare in modern life, but are absolute essentials for the work which we are
here
undertaking.
The
process of building a character is as scientific as that of developing one’s
muscles.
Many a man, finding himself with certain muscles flabby and powerless
takes
that as his natural condition, and regards their weakness as a kind of
destiny
imposed upon him; but anyone who understands a little of the human body
is
aware that by continued exercise (Page 115) those muscles can be brought into
a
state of health and the whole body eventually put in order. In exactly the
same
way, many a man finds himself possessed of a bad tamper or a tendency to
avarice
or suspicion or self-indulgence, and when in consequence of any of these
vices
he commits some great mistake or does some great harm he offers it as an
excuse
that he is a hasty-tempered man, or that he possesses this or that
quality
by nature – implying that therefore he cannot help it.
In
this case just as in the other the remedy is in his own hands. Regular
exercise
of the right kind will develop a certain muscle, and regular mental
exercise
of the right kind will develop a missing quality in a man’s character.
The
ordinary man does not realize that he can do this, and even if he sees that
he
can do it, he does not see why he should, for it means much effort and much
self-repression.
He knows of no adequate motive for undertaking a task so
laborious
and painful.
The
motive is supplied by the knowledge of the truth. One who gains an
intelligent
comprehension of the direction of evolution feels it not only his
interest
but his privilege and his delight to co-operate with it. One who wills
the
end wills also the means; in order to be able to do good work for the world
he
must develop within himself the necessary strength and the necessary
qualities.
Therefore he who wishes to reform the world must first of all reform
himself.
He must learn to give up altogether the attitude of insisting upon
rights,
and must devote himself utterly (Page 116) to the most earnest
performance
of his duties. He must learn to regard every connection with his
fellowman
as an opportunity to help that fellowman, or in some way to do him
good.
One
who studies these subjects intelligently cannot but realize the tremendous
power
of thought, and the necessity for its efficient control. All action
springs
from thought, for even when it is done (as we say) without thought, it
is
the instinctive expression of the thoughts, desires and feelings which the
man
has allowed to grow luxuriantly within himself in earlier days.
The
wise man, therefore, will watch his thought with the greatest of care, for
in
it he possesses a powerful instrument, for the right use of which he is
responsible.
It is his duty to govern his thought, lest it should be allowed to
run
riot and to do evil to himself and to others; it is his duty also to develop
his
thought power, because by means of it a vast amount of actual and active
good
can be done. Thus controlling his thought and his action, thus eliminating
from
himself all evil and unfolding in himself all good qualities, the man
presently
raises himself far above the level of his fellows, and stands out
conspicuously
among them as one who is working on the side of good as against
evil,
of evolution as against stagnation.
The
members of the great Hierarchy in whose hands is the evolution of the world
are
watching always for such men in order that They may train them to help in
the
greater work. Such a man inevitably attracts Their attention and They begin
to
(Page 117) use him as an instrument in Their work. If he proves himself a
good
and efficient instrument, presently They will offer him definite training
as
an apprentice, that by helping Them in the world-business which They have to
do
he may some day become even as They are, and join the might Brotherhood to
which
They belong.
But
for an honor so great as this mere ordinary goodness will not suffice. True,
a
man must be good first of all, or it would be hopeless to think of using him,
but
in addition to being good he must be wise and strong. What is needed is not
merely
a good man, but a great spiritual power. Not only must the candidate have
cast
aside all ordinary weaknesses but he must have acquired strong positive
qualities
before he can offer himself to Them with any hope that he will be
accepted.
He must live no longer as a blundering and selfish personality, but as
an
intelligent ego who comprehends the part which he has to play in the great
scheme
of the universe. He must have forgotten himself utterly; he must have
resigned
all thought of worldly profit or pleasure or advancement; he must be
willing
to sacrifice everything, and himself first of all, for the sake of the
work
that has to be done. He may be in the world, but he must not be of the
world.
He must be careless utterly of its opinion. For the sake of helping man
he
must make himself something more than man. Radiant, rejoicing, strong, he
must
live but for the sake of others and to be an expression of the love of God
in
the world. A high ideal, yet not too high; possible, because there are men
who
have achieved it.(Page 118)
When
a man has succeeded in unfolding his latent possibilities so far that he
attracts
the attention of the Masters of the Wisdom, one of Them will probably
receive
him as an apprentice upon probation. The period of probation is usually
seven
years, but may be either shortened or lengthened at the discretion of the
Master.
At the end of that time, if his work has been satisfactory, he becomes
what
is commonly called the accepted pupil. This brings him into close relations
with
his Master, so that the vibrations of the latter constantly play upon him,
and
he gradually learns to look at everything as the Master looks at it. After
yet
another interval, if he proves himself entirely worthy, he may be drawn into
a
still closer relationship, when he is called the son of the Master.
These
three stages mark his relationship to his own Master only, not to the
Brotherhood
as a whole. The Brotherhood admits a man to its ranks only when he
has
fitted himself to pass the first of the great Initiations.
This
entry into the Brotherhood of Those who rule the world may be thought of as
the
third of the great critical points in man’s evolution. The first of these is
when
he becomes man – when he individualizes out of the animal kingdom and
obtains
a causal body. The second is what is called by the Christian
“conversion”,
and by the Hindu “the acquirement of discrimination”, and by the
Buddhist
“the opening of the doors of the mind”. That is the point at which he
realizes
the great facts of life, and turns away from the pursuit of selfish
ends
in order to move intentionally (Page 119) along with the great current of
evolution
in obedience to the divine Will. The third point is the most important
of
all, for the Initiation which admits him to the ranks of the Brotherhood also
insures
him against the possibility of failure to fulfill the divine purpose in
the
time appointed for it. Hence those who have reached this point are called in
the
Christian system the “elect”, the “saved” or the “safe,” and in the Buddhist
scheme
“those who have entered on the stream.”For those who have reached this
point
have made themselves absolutely certain of reaching a further point also –
that
of Adeptship, at which they pass into a type of evolution which is
definitely
superhuman.
The
man who has become an Adept has fulfilled the divine Will so far as this
chain
of worlds is concerned. He has reached, even already the midmost point of
the
aeon of evolution, the stage prescribed for man’s attainment at the end of
it.
Therefore he is at liberty to spend the remainder of that time either in
helping
his fellow-men or in even more splendid work in connection with other
and
higher evolutions. He who has not yet been initiated is still in danger of
being
left behind by our present wave of evolution, and dropping into the next
one
– the “aeonian condemnation” of which the Christ spoke, which has been
mistranslated
“eternal damnation”. It is from this fate of possible aeonian
failure
– that is, failure for this age, or dispensation, or life-wave – that
the
man who attains Initiation is “safe”. He
has “entered upon the stream"
which
now must bear him on to Adeptship in this present (Page 120) age, though
it
is still possible for him by his actions to hasten or delay his progress
along
the Path which he is treading.
That
first Initiation corresponds to the matriculation which admits a man to a
University,
and the attainment of Adeptship to the taking of a degree at the end
of
the course. Continuing the simile, there are three intermediate examinations,
which
are usually spoken of as the second, third and fourth Initiations,
Adeptship
being the fifth. A general idea of the line of this higher evolution
may
be obtained by studying the list of what are called in Buddhist books “the
fetters”
which must be cast off – the qualities of which a man must rid himself
as
he treads this Path. These are: the delusion of separateness; doubt or
uncertainty;
superstition; attachment to enjoyment; the possibility of hatred;
desire
for life, either in this or the higher worlds; pride; agitation or
irritability;
and ignorance. The man who reaches the Adept level has exhausted
all
the possibilities of moral development, and so the future evolution which
still
lies before him can only mean still wider knowledge and still more
wonderful
spiritual powers. (Page 121)
---------Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales----------
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24-1DL
CHAPTER IX
THE
PLANETARY CHAINS
The
scheme of evolution of which our Earth forms a part is not the only one in
our
solar system, for ten separate chains of globes exist in that system which
are
all of them theatres of somewhat similar progress. Each of these schemes of
evolution
is taking place upon a chain of globes, and in the course of each
scheme
its chain of globes goes through seven incarnations. The plan, alike of
each
scheme as a whole and of the successive incarnations of its chain of
globes,
is to dip step by step more deeply into matter, and then to rise step by
step
out of it again.
Each
chain consists of seven globes, and both globes and chains observe the rule
of
descending into matter and then rising out of it again. In order to make this
comprehensible
let us take as an example the chain to which our Earth belongs.
At
the present time it is in its fourth or most material incarnation, and
therefore
three of its globes belong to the physical world, two to the astral
world
and two to the lower part of the mental world. The wave of Divine Life
passes
in succession from globe to globe of this chain, beginning with one of
the
highest, descending gradually to the lowest and then climbing again to the
same
level as that at which it began.
Let
us for convenience of reference label the seven (Page 122) globes by the
earlier
letters of the alphabet, and number the incarnations in order. Thus, as
this
is the fourth incarnation of our chain, the first globe in this incarnation
will
be 4A, the second 4B, the third 4C, the fourth (which is our Earth) 4D, and
so
on.
These
globes are not all composed of physical matter. 4A contains no matter
lower
than that of the mental world; it has its counterpart in all the worlds
higher
than that, but nothing below it. 4B exists in the astral world; but 4C is
a
physical globe, visible to our telescope, and is in fact the planet which we
know
as Mars. Globe 4D is our own Earth, on which the life-wave of the chain is
at
present in action. Globe 4E is the planet which we call Mercury – also in the
physical
world. Globe 4F is in the astral world, corresponding on the ascending
arc
to globe 4B in the descent; while globe 4G corresponds to globe 4A in having
its
lowest manifestation in the lower part of the mental world. Thus it will be
seen
that we have a scheme of globes starting in the lower mental world, dipping
through
the astral into the physical and then rising into the lower mental
through
the astral again.
Just
as the succession of the globes in a chain constitutes a descent into
matter
and an ascent from it again, so do the successive incarnations of a
chain.
We have described the condition of affairs in the fourth incarnation;
looking
back at the third, we find that that commences not on the lower level of
the
mental world but on the higher. Globes 3A and 3G, then, are both of higher
mental
matter, while globes (Page123) 3B and 3F are at the lower mental level.
Globes
3C and 3E belong to the astral world, and only globe 3D is visible in the
physical
world. Although this third incarnation of our chain is long past, the
corpse
of this physical globe 3D is still visible to us in the shape of that
dead
planet the Moon, whence that third incarnation is usually called the lunar
chain.
The
fifth incarnation of our chain, which still lies very far in the future,
will
correspond to the third. In that, globes 5A and 5G will be built of higher
mental
matter, globes 5B and 5F of lower mental matter, globes 5C and 5E of
astral
matter, and only globe 5D will be in the physical world. This planet 5D
is
of course not yet in existence.
The
other incarnations of the chain follow the same general rule of gradually
decreasing
materiality; 2A, 2G, 6A and 6G are all in the intuitional world; 2B,
2F,
6B and 6F are all in the higher part of the mental world; 2C, 2E, 6C and 6E
are
in the lower part of the mental world; 2D and 6D are in the astral world. In
the
same way 1A, 1G, 7A and 7G belong to the spiritual world; 1B, 1F, 7B and 7F
are
in the intuitional world; 1C, 1E, 7C and 7E are in the higher part of the
mental
world; 1D and 7D are in the lower part of the mental world.
Thus
it will be seen that not only does the life-wave in passing through one
chain
of globes dip down into matter and rise out of it again, but the chain
itself
in its successive incarnations does exactly the same thing.
There
are ten schemes of evolution at present existing in our solar system, but
only
seven of them (Page 124) are at the stage where they have planets in the
physical
world. These are: (1) that of an unrecognized planet Vulcan, very near
the
sun, about which we have very little definite information. It was seen by
the
astronomer Hersche, but is now said to have disappeared. We at first
understood
that it was in its third incarnation; but it is now regarded as
possible
that it has recently passed from its fifth to its sixth chain, which
would
account for its alleged disappearance; (2) that of Venus, which is in its
fifth
incarnation, and also therefore has only one visible globe; (3) that of
the
Earth, Mars and Mercury, which has three visible planets because it is in
its
fourth incarnation; (4) that of Jupiter, (5) that of Saturn, (6) that of
Uranus,
all in their third incarnations; and (7) that of Neptune and the two
unnamed
planets beyond his orbit, which is in its fourth incarnation, and
therefore
has three physical planets as we have.
In
each incarnation of a chain (commonly called a chain-period) the wave of
Divine
Life moves seven times round the chain of seven planets, and each such
movement
is spoken of as a round. The time that the life-wave stays upon each
planet,
is known as a world-period, and in the course of a world-period there
are
seven great root-races. As has been previously explained, these are
subdivided
into sub-races, and those again into branch races. For convenience of
reference
we may state this in tabular form: (Page 125)
Make
7Branch-Races1- Sub-Race
7Sub-Races1-Root-Race
7Root-Races1-World-Period
7World-Periods1-Round
7Rounds1-Chain-Period
7Chain-Periods1-Scheme of Evolution
10Schemes of EvolutionOur System
Evolution
It
is clear that the fourth root-race of the fourth globe of the fourth round of
a
fourth chain-period would be the central point of a whole scheme of evolution,
and
we find ourselves at the present moment only a little past the point. The
Aryan
race, to which we belong, is the fifth root-race of the fourth globe, so
that
the actual middle point fell in the time of the last great root-race, the
Atlantean.
Consequently the human race as a whole is very little more than
halfway
through its evolution, and those few souls who are already nearing
Adeptship,
which is the end and crown of this evolution, are very far in advance
of
their fellows.
How
do they come to be so far in advance? Partly and in some cases because they
have
worked harder, but usually because they are older egos – because they were
individualized
out of the animal kingdom at an earlier date, and so have had
more
time for the human part of their evolution.
Any
given wave of life sent forth from the Deity usually spends a chain-period
in
each of the great kingdoms of nature. That which in our first chain was
ensouling
the first elemental kingdom must have ensouled in the second of those
kingdoms
in the second chain, the third of them in the Moon-chain, and is now in
the
mineral kingdom in the fourth chain. In the future fifth chain it will
ensoul
the vegetable kingdom, in the sixth the animal, and in the seventh it
will
attain humanity.
From
this it follows that we ourselves represented the mineral kingdom on the
first
chain, the vegetable on the second, and the animal on the lunar chain.
(Page
126) There some of us attained our individualization, and so we were
enabled
to enter this Earth-chain as men. Others who were a little more backward
did
not succeed in attaining it, and so had to be born into this chain as
animals
for a while before they could reach humanity.
Not
all of mankind, however, entered this chain together. When the lunar chain
came
to its end the humanity upon it stood at various levels. Not Adeptship, but
what
is now for us the fourth step on the Path, was the goal appointed for that
chain.
Those who had attained it (commonly called in theosophical literature the
Lords
of the Moon) had, as is usual, seven choices before them as to the way in
which
they would serve. Only one of those choices brought them, or rather a few
of
them, over into this Earth-chain, to act as guides and teachers to the
earlier
races. A considerable proportion – a vast proportion, indeed – of the
Moon-men
had not attained that level, and consequently had to appear in this
Earth-chain
as humanity. Besides this, a great mass of the animal kingdom of the
Moon-chain
was surging up to the level of individualization, and some of its
members
had already reached it, while many others had not. These latter needed
further
animal incarnations upon the Earth-chain, and for the moment may be put
aside.
There
were many classes even among humanity, and the manner in which these
distributed
themselves over the Earth-chain needs some explanation. It is the
general
rule that those who have attained the highest possible in any chain, on
any
globe, in (Page 127) any root-race, are not born into the beginning of the
next
chain, globe or race, respectively. The earlier stages are always for the
backward
entities, and only when they have already passed through a good deal of
evolution
and are beginning to approach the level of those others who had done
better,
do the latter descend into incarnation and join them once more. That is
to
say, almost the earlier half of any period of evolution, whether it be a
race,
a globe or a chain, seems to be devoted to bringing the backward people up
to
nearly the level of those who have got on better; then these latter also
(who,
in the meantime, have been resting in great enjoyment in the mental world)
descend
into incarnation along with the others, and they press on together until
the
end of the period.
Thus
the first of the egos from the Moon who entered the Earth-chain were by no
means
the most advanced. Indeed they may be described as the least advanced of
those
who had succeeded in attaining humanity – the animal-men. Coming as they
did
into a chain of new globes, freshly aggregated, they had to establish the
forms
in all the different kingdoms of Nature. This needs to be done at the
beginning
of the first round in a new chain, but never after that; for though
the
life-wave is centered only upon one of the seven globes of a chain at any
given
time, yet life has not entirely departed from the other globes. At the
present
moment, for example, the life-wave of our chain is centered in this
Earth,
but on the other two physical globes of our chain, Mars and Mercury, life
still
exists. There is still a (Page128) population, human, animal and
vegetable,
and consequently when the life-wave goes round again to either of
those
planets there will be no necessity for the creation of new forms. The old
types
are already there, and all that will happen
will be a sudden marvellous
fecundity,
so that the various kingdoms will quickly increase and multiply, and
make
a rapidly increasing population instead of a stationary one.
It
was, then, the animal-men, the lowest class of human beings of the
Moon-chain,
who established the forms in the first round of the Earth-chain.
Pressing
closely after them were the highest of the lunar animal kingdom, who
were
soon ready to occupy the forms which had just been made. In the second
journey
round the seven globes of the Earth-chain, the animal-men who had been
the
most backward of the lunar humanity were leaders of this terrene humanity,
the
highest of the moon-animals making its less developed grades. The same thing
went
on in the third round of the Earth-chain, more and more of the lunar
animals
attaining individualization and joining the human ranks, until in the
middle
of that round on this very globe D which we call the Earth, a higher
class
of human beings – the Second Order of moon-men – descended into
incarnation
and at once took the lead.
When
we come to the fourth, our present round, we find the First Order of the
moon-men
pouring in upon us – all the highest and the best of the lunar humanity
who
had only just fallen short of success. (Page 129) Some of those who had
already,
even on the Moon, entered upon the Path soon attained its end, became
Adepts
and passed away from the Earth. Some few others who had not been quite so
far
advanced have attained Adeptship only comparatively recently – that is,
within
the last few thousand years, and these are the Adepts of the present day.
We,
who find ourselves in the higher races of humanity now, were several stages
behind
Them, but the opportunity lies before us of following in Their steps if
we
will.
The
evolution of which we have been speaking is that of the ego himself, of what
might
be called the soul of man; but at the same time there has been also an
evolution
of the body. The forms built in the first round were very different
from
any of which we know anything now. Properly speaking, those which were made
on
our physical earth can scarcely be called forms at all, for they were
constructed
of etheric matter only, and resembled vague, drifting and almost
shapeless
clouds. In the second round they were definitely physical, but still
shapeless
and light enough to float about in currents of wind.
Only
in the third round did they begin to bear any kind of resemblance to man as
we
know him today. The very methods of reproduction of those primitive forms
differed
from those of humanity today, and far more resembled those which we now
find
only in very much lower types of life. Man in those early days was
androgynous,
and a definite separation into the sexes took place only about the
middle
of (Page 130) the third round. From that time onward until now the shape
of
man has been steadily evolving along definitely human lines, becoming smaller
and
more compact than it was, learning to stand upright instead of stooping and
crawling,
and generally differentiating itself from the animal forms out of
which
it had been evolved.
One
curious break in the regularity of this evolution deserves mention. On this
globe,
in this fourth round, there was a departure from the straightforward
scheme
of evolution. This being the middle globe of a middle round, the midmost
point
of evolution upon it marked the last movement at which it was possible for
members
of what had been the lunar animal kingdom to attain individualization.
Consequently
a sort of strong effort was made – a special scheme was arranged to
give
a final chance to as many as possible. The conditions of the first and
second
rounds were specially reproduced in place of the first and second races –
conditions
of which in the earlier rounds these backward egos had not been able
fully
to take advantage. Now, with the additional evolution which they had
undergone
during the third round, some of them were able to take such advantage,
and
so they rushed in at the very last moment before the door was shut, and
became
just human. Naturally they will not reach any high level of human
development,
but at least when they try again in some future chain it will be
some
advantage to them to have had even this slight experience of human life.
Our
terrestrial evolution received a most valuable (Page 131) stimulus from the
assistance
given to us by our sister globe, Venus. Venus is at present in the
fifth
incarnation of its chain, and in the seventh round of that incarnation, so
that
its inhabitants are a whole chain and a half in front of us in evolution.
Since,
therefore, its people are so much more developed than ours, it was
thought
desirable that certain Adepts from the Venus evolution should be
transferred
to our Earth in order to assist in the specially busy time just
before
the closing of the door, in the middle of the fourth root-race.
These
august Beings have been called the Lords of the Flame and the Children of
the
Fire-mist, and They have produced a wonderful effect upon our evolution. The
intellect
of which we are so proud is almost entirely due to Their presence, for
in
the natural course of events the next round, the fifth, should be that of
intellectual
advancement, and in this our present fourth round we should be
devoting
ourselves chiefly to the cultivation of the emotions. We are therefore
in
reality a long way in advance of the program marked out for us; and such
advance
is entirely due to the assistance given by these great Lords of the
Flame.
Most of Them stayed with us only through that critical period of our
history;
a few still remain to hold the highest offices of the Great White
Brotherhood
until the time when men of our own evolution shall have risen to
such
a height as to be capable of relieving their august Visitors.
The
evolution lying before us in both of the life (Page 132) and of the form;
for
in future rounds, while the egos will be steadily growing in power, wisdom
and
love, the physical forms also will be more beautiful and more perfect than
they
have ever yet been. We have in this world at the present time men at widely
differing
stages of evolution, and it is clear that there are vast hosts of
savages
who are far behind the great civilized races of the world – so far
behind
that it is quite impossible that they can overtake them. Later on in the
course
of our evolution a point will be reached at which it is no longer
possible
for those undeveloped souls to advance side by side with the others, so
that
it will be necessary that a division should be made.
The
proceeding is exactly analogous to the sorting out by a schoolmaster of the
boys
in his class. During the school year he has to prepare his boys for a
certain
examination, and by perhaps the middle of that school year he knows
quite
well which of them will pass it. If he should have in his class some who
are
hopelessly behind the rest, he might reasonably say to them when the middle
period
was reached:
“It
is quite useless for you to continue with your fellows, for the more
difficult
lessons which I shall now have to give will be entirely unintelligible
to
you. It is impossible that you can learn enough in the time to pass the
examination,
so that the effort would only be a useless strain for you, and
meantime
you would be a hindrance to the rest of the class. It is therefore far
better
for you to give up striving after the impossible, and to take up again
(Page
133) the work of the lower class which you did not do perfectly, and then
to
offer yourselves for this examination along with next year’s class, for what
is
now impossible for you will then be easy”.
This
is in effect exactly what is said at a certain stage in our future
evolution,
to the most backward egos. They drop out of this year’s class and
come
along with the next one. This is the “aeonian condemnation” to which
reference
was made a little while ago. It is computed that about two fifths of
humanity
will drop out of the class in this way, leaving the remaining three
fifths
to go on with far greater rapidity to the glorious destinies which lie
before
them. (Page 134)
---------Cardiff Theosophical Society in Wales----------
206 Newport Road, Cardiff, Wales, UK. CF24-1DL
CHAPTER X
THE
RESULT OF THEOSOPHICAL STUDY
“Members
of the Theosophical Society study these truths and Theosophists
endeavor
to live them”. What manner of men then is the true Theosophist in
consequence
of his knowledge? What is the result in his daily life of all this
study?
Finding
that there is a Supreme Power who is directing the course of evolution,
and
that He is all-wise and all-loving, the Theosophist sees that everything
which
exists within this scheme must be intended to further its progress. He
realizes
that the scripture which tells us that all things are working together
for
good, is not indulging in a flight of poetic fancy or voicing a pious hope,
but
stating a scientific fact. The final attainment of unspeakable glory is an
absolute
certainty for every son of man, whatever may be his present condition;
but
that is by no means all. Here and at this present moment he is on his way
toward
the glory; and all the circumstances surrounding him are intended to help
and
not to hinder him, if only they are rightly understood. It is sadly true
that
in the world there is much of evil and of sorrow and of suffering; yet from
the
higher point of view the Theosophist sees that, terrible though this be, it
is
only temporary and superficial, and is all being utilized as a factor in the
progress.(Page
135)
When
in the days of his ignorance he looked at it from its own level it was
almost
impossible to see this; while he looked from beneath at the under side of
life,
with his eyes fixed all the time upon some apparent evil, he could never
gain
a true grasp of its meaning. Now he raises himself above it to the higher
levels
of thought and consciousness, and looks down upon it with the eye of the
spirit
and understands it in its entirety, so he can see that in very truth all
is
well – not that all will be well at some remote period, but that even now at
this
moment, in the midst of incessant striving and apparent evil, the mighty
current
of evolution is still flowing, and so all is well because all is moving
on
in perfect order toward the final goal.
Raising
his consciousness thus above the storm and stress of worldly life, he
recognizes
what used to seem to be evil, and notes how it is apparently pressing
backwards
against the great stream of progress; but he also sees that the onward
sweep
of the divine law of evolution bears the same relation to this superficial
evil
as does the tremendous torrent of Niagara to the fleckings of foam upon its
surface.
So while he sympathizes deeply with all who suffer, he yet realizes
what
will be the end of that suffering, and so for him despair or hopelessness
is
impossible. He applies this consideration to his own sorrows and troubles, as
well
as to those of the world, and therefore one great result of his Theosophy
is
a perfect serenity – even more than that, a perpetual cheerfulness and joy.
For
him there is an utter absence of worry, because (Page 136) in truth there is
nothing
left to worry about, since he knows that all must be well. His higher
Science
makes him a confirmed optimist, for it shows him that whatever of evil
there
may be in any person or in any movement, it is of necessity temporary,
because
it is opposed to the resistless stream of evolution; whereas whatever is
good
in any person or in any movement must necessarily be persistent and useful,
because
it has behind it the omnipotence of that current, and therefore it must
abide
and it must prevail.
Yet
it must not for a moment be supposed that because he is so fully assured of
the
final triumph of good he remains careless or unmoved by the evils which
exist
in the world around him. He knows that it is his duty to combat these to
the
utmost of his power, because in doing this he is working upon the side of
the
great evolutionary force, and is bringing nearer the time of its ultimate
victory.
None will be more active than he in labouring for the good, even though
he
is absolutely free from the feeling of helplessness and hopelessness which so
often
oppresses those who are striving to help their fellowmen.
Another
most valuable result of his theosophical study is the absence of fear.
Many
people are constantly anxious or worried about something or other; they are
fearing
lest this or that should happen to them, lest this or that combination
may
fail, and so all the while they are in a condition of unrest; and most
serious
of all for many is the fear of death. For the Theosophist the whole of
this
feeling is entirely (Page 137) swept away. He realizes that great truth of
reincarnation.
He knows that he has often before laid aside physical bodies, and
so
he sees that death is no more than sleep – that just as sleep comes in
between
our days of work and gives us rest and refreshment, so between these
days
of labor here on earth, which we call lives, there comes a long night of
astral
and heavenly life to give us rest and refreshment and to help us on our
way.
To
the Theosophist death is simply the laying aside for a time of this robe of
flesh.
He knows that it is his duty to preserve the bodily vesture as long as
possible,
and gain through it all the experience he can; but when the time comes
for
him to lay it down he will do so thankfully, because he knows that the next
stage
will be a much pleasanter one than this. Thus he will have no fear of
death,
although he realizes that he must live his life to the appointed end,
because
he is here for the purpose of progress, and that progress is the one
truly
momentous matter. His whole conception of life is different; the object is
not
to earn so much money, not to obtain such and such a position; the one
important
thing is to carry out the Divine Plan. He knows that for this he is
here,
and that everything else must give way to it.
Utterly
free also is he from any religious fears or worries or troubles. All
such
things are swept aside for him, because he sees clearly that progress
toward
the highest is the Divine Will for us, that we cannot escape from that
progress,
and that whatever comes in our way and whatever happens to us is (Page
138)
meant to help us along that line; that we ourselves are absolutely the only
people
who can delay our advance. No longer does he trouble and fear about
himself.
He simply goes on and does the duty which comes nearest in the best way
that
he can, confident that if he does this all will be well for him without his
perpetual
worrying. He is satisfied quietly to do his work and to try to help
his
fellows in the race, knowing that the great divine Power behind will press
him
onward slowly and steadily, and do for him all that can be done, so long as
his
face is set steadfastly in the right direction, so long as he does all he
reasonably
can.
Since
he knows that we are all part of one great evolution and all literally the
children
of one father, he sees that the universal brotherhood of humanity is no
mere
poetical conception, but a definite fact; not a dream of something which is
to
be in the dim distance of Utopia, but a condition existing here and now. The
certainty
of this all-embracing fraternity gives him a wider outlook upon life
and
a broad impersonal point of view from which to regard everything. He
realizes
that the true interests of all are in fact identical, and that no man
can
ever make real gain for himself at the cost of loss or suffering to some one
else.
This is not to him an article of religious belief, but a scientific fact
proved
to him by his study. He sees that since humanity is literally a whole,
nothing
which injures one man can ever be really for the good of any other, for
the
harm done influences not only the doer but also those who are about
him.(Page
139)
He
knows that the only true advantage for him is that benefit which he shares
with
all. He sees that any advance which he is able to make in the way of
spiritual
progress or development is something secured not for himself alone but
for
others. If he gains knowledge or self-control, he assuredly acquires much
for
himself, yet he takes nothing away from any one else, but on the contrary he
helps
and strengthen others. Cognizant as he is of the absolute spiritual unity
of
humanity, he knows that, even in this lower world, no true profit can be made
by
one man which is not made in the name of and for the sake of humanity; that
one
man’s progress must be a lifting of the burden of all others; that one man’s
advance
in spiritual things means a very slight yet not imperceptible advance to
humanity
as a whole; that every one who bears suffering and sorrow nobly in his
struggle
toward the light is lifting a little of the heavy load of the sorrow
and
suffering of his brothers as well.
Because
he recognizes this brotherhood not merely as a hope cherished by
despairing
men, but as a definite fact following in scientific series from all
other
facts; because he sees this as an absolute certainty, his attitude towards
all
those around him changes radically. It becomes a posture ever of
helpfulness,
ever of the deepest sympathy, for he sees that nothing which
clashes
with their higher interests can be the right thing for him to do, or can
be
good for him in any way.
It
naturally follows that he becomes filled with the widest possible tolerance
and
charity. He cannot but (Page 140) be always tolerant, because his philosophy
shows
him that it matters little what man believes, so long as he is a good man
and
true. Charitable also he must be, because his wider knowledge enables him to
make
allowances for many things which the ordinary man does not understand. The
standard
of the Theosophist as to right and wrong is always higher than that of
the
less instructed man, yet he is far gentler than the latter in his feeling
towards
the sinner, because he comprehends more of human nature. He realizes how
the
sin appeared to the sinner at the moment of its commission, and so he makes
more
allowance than is ever made by the man who is ignorant of all this.
He
goes further than tolerance, charity, sympathy; he feels positive love
towards
mankind, and that leads him to adopt a position
of watchful
helpfulness.
He feels that every contact with others is for him an opportunity,
and
the additional knowledge which his study has brought to him enables him to
give
advice or help in almost any case which comes before him. Not that he is
perpetually
thrusting his opinions upon other people. On the contrary, he
observes
that to do this is one of the commonest mistakes made by the
uninstructed.
He knows that argument is foolish waste of energy, and therefore
he
declines to argue. If anyone desires from him explanation or advice he is
more
than willing to give it, yet he has no sort of wish to convert anyone else
to
his own way of thinking.
In
every relation of life this idea of helpfulness comes into play, not only
with
regard to his fellowmen (Page 141) but also in connection with the vast
animal
kingdom which surrounds him. Units of this kingdom are often brought into
close
relation with man, and this is for him an opportunity of doing something
for
them. The Theosophist recognizes that these are also his brothers, even
though
they may be younger brothers, and that he owes a fraternal duty to them
also
– so to act and so to think that his relation with them shall be always for
their
good and never for their harm.
Pre-eminently
and above all, this Theosophy is to him a doctrine of common
sense.
It puts before him, as far as he can at present know them, the facts
about
God and man and the relations between them; then he proceeds to take these
facts
into account and to act in relation to them with ordinary reason and
common
sense. He regulates his life according to the laws of evolution which it
has
taught him, and this gives him a totally different standpoint, and a
touchstone
by which to try everything – his own thoughts and feelings, and his
own
actions first of all, and then those things which come before him in the
world
outside himself.
Always
he applies this criterion: Is the thing right or wrong, does it help
evolution
or does it hinder it? If a thought or a feeling arises within himself,
he
sees at once by this test whether it is one he ought to encourage. If it be
for
the greatest good of the greatest number then all is well; if it may hinder
or
cause harm to any being in its progress, then it is evil and to be avoided.
Exactly
the same reason holds good if he is called upon to decide (Page 142)
with
regard to anything outside himself. If from that point of view a thing be a
good
thing, then he can consciously support it; if not, then it is not for him.
For
him the question of personal interest does not come into the case at all. He
thinks
simply of the good of evolution as a whole. This gives him a definite
foothold
and clear criterion, and removes from him altogether the pain of
indecision
and hesitation. The Will of the Deity is man’s evolution; whatever
therefore
helps on that evolution must be good; whatever stands in the way of it
and
delays it, that thing must be wrong, even though it may have on its side all
the
weight of public opinion and immemorial tradition.
Knowing
that the true man is the ego and not the body, he sees that it is the
life
of the ego only which is really of moment, and that everything connected
with
the body must unhesitatingly be subordinated to those higher interests. He
recognizes
that this earth life is given to him for the purpose of progress, and
that
that progress is the one important thing. The real purpose of his life is
the
unfoldment of his powers as an ego, the development of his character. He
knows
that there must be evolvement not only of the physical body but also of
the
mental nature, of the mind, and of the spiritual perceptions. He sees that
nothing
short of absolute perfection is expected of him in connection with this
development;
that all power with regard to it is in his own hands; that he has
everlasting
time before him in which to attain (Page 143) this perfection, but
the
sooner it is gained the happier and more useful will he be.
He
recognizes his life as nothing but a day at school, and his physical body as
a
temporary vesture assumed for the purpose of learning through it. He knows at
once
that this purpose of learning lessons is the only one of any real
importance,
and that the man who allows himself to be diverted from that purpose
by
any consideration whatever is acting with inconceivable stupidity. To him the
life
devoted exclusively to physical objects, to the acquisition of wealth or
fame,
appears the merest child’s play – a senseless sacrifice of all that is
really
worth having for the sake of a few moment’s gratification of the lower
part
of his nature. He “sets his affection on things above and not on things of
the
earth”, not only because he sees this to be the right course of action, but
because
he realizes so clearly the valuelessness of these things of earth. He
always
tries to take the higher point of view, for he knows that the lower is
utterly
unreliable – that the lower desires and feelings gather round him like a
dense
fog, and make it impossible for him to see anything clearly from that
level.
Whenever
he finds a struggle going on within him he remembers that he himself is
the
higher, and that this which is the lower is not the real self, but merely an
uncontrolled
part of one of its vehicles. He knows that though he may fall a
thousand
times on the way toward his goal, his reason for trying to reach it
remains
just as strong after the thousandth fall (Page 144) as it was in the
beginning,
so that it would not only be useless but unwise and wrong to give way
to
despondency and hopelessness.
He
begins his journey upon the road of progress at once – not only because he
knows
that it is far easier for him now than it will be if he leaves the effort
until
later, but chiefly because if he makes the endeavor now and succeeds in
achieving
some progress, if he rises thereby to some higher level, he is in a
position
to hold out a helping hand to those who have not yet reached even that
step
on the ladder which he has gained. In that way he takes part, however
humble
it may be, in the great divine work of evolution.
He
knows that he has arrived at his present position only by a slow process of
growth,
and so he does not expect instantaneous attainments of perfection. He
sees
how inevitable is the great law of cause and effect, and that when he once
grasps
the working of that law he can use it intelligently, in regard to mental
and
moral development, just as in the physical world we can employ for our own
assistance
those laws of nature the action of which we have learnt to
understand.
Understanding
what death is, he knows that there can be no need to fear it or to
mourn
over it, whether it comes to himself or to those whom he loves. It has
come
to them all often before, so there is nothing unfamiliar about it. He sees
death
simply as a promotion from a life which is more than half physical to one
which
is wholly superior, so for himself he unfeignedly welcomes it; and even
when
it comes (Page 145) to those whom he loves, he recognizes at once the
advantage
for them, even though he cannot but feel a pang of regret that he
should
be temporarily separated from them so far as the physical world is
concerned.
But he knows that the so-called dead are near him still, and that he
has
only to cast off for a time his physical body in sleep in order to stand
side
by side with them as before.
He
sees clearly that the world is one, and that the same divine laws rule the
whole
of it, whether it be visible or invisible to physical sight. So he has no
feeling
of nervousness or strangeness in passing from one part of it to another,
and
no feeling of uncertainty as to what he will find on the other side of the
veil.
He knows that in that higher life there opens before him a splendid vista
of
opportunities both for acquiring fresh knowledge and for doing useful work;
that
life away from this dense body has a vividness and a brilliancy to which
all
earthly enjoyment is as nothing; and so through his clear knowledge and calm
confidence
the power of the endless life shines out upon all those around him.
Doubt
as to his future is for him impossible, for just as by looking back on the
savage
he realizes that which he was in the past, so by looking to the greatest
and
wisest of mankind he knows what he will be in the future. He sees an
unbroken
chain of development, a ladder of perfection rising steadily before
him,
yet with human beings upon every step of it, so that he knows that those
steps
are possible for him to climb. It is just because of the unchangeableness
of
the great law of cause and effect that (Page 146) he finds himself able to
climb
that ladder, because, since the law works always in the same way, he can
depend
upon it and he can use it, just as he uses the laws of Nature in the
physical
worlds. His knowledge of this law brings to him a sense of perspective,
and
shows him that if something comes to him, it comes because he has deserved
it
as a consequence of action which he has committed, of words which he has
spoken,
of thought to which he has given harbor in previous days or in earlier
lives.
He comprehends that all affliction is of the nature of the payment of a
debt,
and therefore when he has to meet with the troubles of life he takes them
and
uses them as a lesson, because he understands why they have come and is glad
of
the opportunity which they give him to pay off something of his obligations.
Again,
and yet another way, does he take them as an opportunity, for he sees
that
there is another side to them if he meets them in the right way. He spends
no
time in bearing prospective burdens. When trouble comes to him he does not
aggravate
it by foolish repining but sets himself to endure so much of it as is
inevitable,
with patience and fortitude. Not that he submits himself to it as a
fatalist
might, for he takes adverse circumstances as an incentive to such
development
as may enable him to transcend them, and thus out of long-past evil
he
brings forth a seed of future growth. For in the very act of paying the
outstanding
debt he develops qualities of courage and resolution that will stand
him
in good stead through all the ages that are to come.
He
is distinguishable from the rest of the world (Page 147) by his perennial
cheerfulness,
his undaunted courage under difficulties, and his ready sympathy
and
helpfulness; yet he is at the same time emphatically a man who takes life
seriously,
who recognizes that there is much for everyone to do in the world,
and
that there is no time to waste. He knows with utter certainty that he not
only
makes his own destiny but also gravely affects that of others around him,
and
thus he perceives how weighty a responsibility attends the use of his power.
He
knows that thoughts are things and that it is easily possible to do great
harm
or great good by their means. He knows that no man liveth to himself, for
his
every thought acts upon others as well; that the vibrations which he sends
forth
from his mind and from his mental nature are reproducing themselves in the
minds
and the mental natures of other men, so that he is a source either of
mental
health or of mental ill to all with whom he comes in contact.
This
at once imposes upon him a far higher code of social ethics than that which
is
known to the outer world, for he knows that he must control not only his acts
and
his words, but also his thoughts, since they may produce effects more
serious
and more far-reaching than their outward expression in the physical
world.
He knows that even when a man is not in the least thinking of others, he
yet
inevitably affects them for good or evil. In addition to this unconscious
action
of his thought upon others he also employs it consciously for good. He
sets
currents in motion to carry mental help and comfort to many a (Page 148)
friend,
and in this way he finds a whole new world of usefulness opening before
him.
He
ranges himself ever on the side of the higher rather than the lower thought,
the
nobler rather than the baser. He deliberately takes the optimistic rather
than
the pessimistic view of everything, the helpful rather than the cynical,
because
he knows that to be fundamentally the true view. By looking continually
for
the good in everything that he may endeavour to strengthen it, by striving
always
to help and never to hinder, he becomes ever of greater use to his
fellow-men,
and is thus in his small way a co-worker with the splendid scheme of
evolution.
He forgets himself utterly and lives but for the sake of others,
realizing
himself as a part of that scheme; he also realizes the God within him,
and
learns to become ever a truer expression of Him, and thus in fulfilling
God’s
will he is not only blessed himself, but becomes a blessing to all.
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