A TEXTBOOK OF THEOSOPHY

 by

C. W. LEADBEATER

1912

CONTENTS

Chapter I. What Theosophy Is II. From the Absolute to Man III. The Formation of a Solar System IV. The Evolution of Life V. The Constitution of Man VI. After Death VII. Reincarnation VIII. The Purpose of Life IX. The Planetary Chains X. The Result of Theosophical Study

Index

Chapter I

WHAT THEOSOPHY IS

"There is a school of philosophy still in existence of which modern culturehas lost sight. " In these words Mr. A. P. Sinnett began his book, _TheOccult World_, the first popular exposition of Theosophy, published thirtyyears ago. [Namely in 1881. ] During the years that have passed since then, many thousands have learned wisdom in that school, yet to the majority itsteachings are still unknown, and they can give only the vaguest of repliesto the query, "What is Theosophy?"

Two books already exist which answer that question: Mr. Sinnett's _EsotericBuddhism_ and Dr. Besant's _The Ancient Wisdom_. I have no thought ofentering into competition with those standard works; what I desire is topresent a statement, as clear and simple as I can make it, which may beregarded as introductory to them. 

We often speak of Theosophy as not in itself a religion, but the truthwhich lies behind all religions alike. That is so; yet, from another pointof view, we may surely say that it is at once a philosophy, a religion anda science. It is a philosophy, because it puts plainly before us anexplanation of the scheme of evolution of both the souls and the bodiescontained in our solar system. It is a religion in so far as, having shownus the course of ordinary evolution, it also puts before us and advises amethod of shortening that course, so that by conscious effort we mayprogress more directly towards the goal. It is a science, because it treatsboth these subjects as matters not of theological belief but of directknowledge obtainable by study and investigation. It asserts that man has noneed to trust to blind faith, because he has within him latent powerswhich, when aroused, enable him to see and examine for himself, and itproceeds to prove its case by showing how those powers may be awakened. Itis itself a result of the awakening of such powers by men, for theteachings which it puts before us are founded upon direct observations madein the past, and rendered possible only by such development. 

As a philosophy, it explains to us that the solar system is acarefully-ordered mechanism, a manifestation of a magnificent life, ofwhich man is but a small part. Nevertheless, it takes up that small partwhich immediately concerns us, and treats it exhaustively under threeheads--present, past and future. 

It deals with the present by describing what man really is, as seen bymeans of developed faculties. It is customary to speak of man as having asoul. Theosophy, as the result of direct investigation, reverses thatdictum, and states that man _is_ a soul, and _has_ a body--in fact severalbodies, which are his vehicles and instruments in various worlds. Theseworlds are not separate in space; they are simultaneously present with us, here and now, and can be examined; they are the divisions of the materialside of Nature--different degrees of density in the aggregation of matter, as will presently be explained in detail. Man has an existence in severalof these, but is normally conscious only of the lowest, though sometimes indreams and trances he has glimpses of some of the others. What is calleddeath 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 affectedby this than the physical man is changed or affected when he removes hisovercoat. All this is a matter, not of speculation, but of observation andexperiment. 

Theosophy has much to tell us of the past history of man--of how in thecourse of evolution he has come to be what he now is. This also is a matterof observation, because of the fact that there exists an indelible recordof all that has taken place--a sort of memory of Nature--by examining whichthe scenes of earlier evolution may be made to pass before the eyes of theinvestigator as though they were happening at this moment. By thus studyingthe past we learn that man is divine in origin and that he has a longevolution 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 soulis of, what to us seems, enormous length, and that what we have been in thehabit 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 yetbefore him; and if we wish to understand the real life and its object, wemust consider it in relation not only to this one day of it, which beginswith birth and ends with death, but also to the days which have gone beforeand those which are yet to come. 

Of those that are yet to come there is also much to be said, and on thissubject, too, a great deal of definite information is available. Suchinformation is obtainable, first, from men who have already passed muchfurther along the road of evolution than we, and have consequently directexperience of it; and, secondly, from inferences drawn from the obviousdirection of the steps which we see to have been previously taken. The goalof this particular cycle is in sight, though still far above us but itwould seem that, even when that has been attained, an infinity of progressstill lies before everyone who is willing to undertake it. 

One of the most striking advantages of Theosophy is that the light which itbrings to us at once solves many of our problems, clears away manydifficulties, accounts for the apparent injustices of life, and in alldirections brings order out of seeming chaos. Thus, while some of itsteaching is based upon the observation of forces whose direct working issomewhat beyond the ken of the ordinary man of the world, if the latterwill accept it as a hypothesis he will very soon come to see that it mustbe a correct one, because it, and it alone, furnishes a coherent andreasonable explanation of the drama of life which is being played beforehim. 

The existence of Perfected Men, and the possibility of coming into touchwith Them and being taught by Them, are prominent among the great newtruths which Theosophy brings to the western world. Another of them is thestupendous fact that the world is not drifting blindly into anarchy, butthat its progress is under the control of a perfectly organized Hierarchy, so that final failure even for the tiniest of its units is of allimpossibilities the most impossible. A glimpse of the working of thatHierarchy inevitably engenders the desire to co-operate with it, to serveunder it, in however humble a capacity, and some time in the far-distantfuture 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 withthe slow æons 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 straightup a steep path or more gradually by a road of gentle slope, precisely thesame number of foot-pounds must be exerted. Therefore to do the same workin 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 farmore than repays the trouble. The limitations of the various vehicles arethereby gradually transcended, and the liberated man becomes an intelligentco-worker in the mighty plan for the evolution of all beings. 

In its capacity as a religion, too, Theosophy gives its followers a rule oflife, based not on alleged commands delivered at some remote period of thepast, but on plain common sense as indicated by observed facts. Theattitude of the student of Theosophy towards the rules which it prescribesresembles rather that which we adopt to hygienic regulations than obedienceto religious commandments. We may say, if we wish, that this thing or thatis in accordance with the divine Will, for the divine Will is expressed inwhat we know as the laws of Nature. Because that Will wisely ordereth allthings, to infringe its laws means to disturb the smooth working of thescheme, to hold back for a moment that fragment or tiny part of evolution, and consequently to bring discomfort upon ourselves and others. It is forthat reason that the wise man avoids infringing them--not to escape theimaginary wrath of some offended deity. 

But if from a certain point of view we may think of Theosophy as areligion, we must note two great points of difference between it and whatis ordinarily called religion in the West. First, it neither demands belieffrom its followers, nor does it even speak of belief in the sense in whichthat 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 schemefor blind faith. Naturally, beginners in the study cannot yet _know_ forthemselves, so they are asked to read the results of the variousobservations and to deal with them as probable hypotheses--provisionally toaccept and act upon them, until such time as they can prove them forthemselves. 

Secondly, Theosophy never endeavours to convert any man from whateverreligion he already holds. On the contrary, it explains his religion tohim, and enables him to see in it deeper meanings than he has ever knownbefore. It teaches him to understand it and live it better than he did, andin 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 aspects as a science also; it is in very truth a scienceof life, a science of the soul. It applies to everything the scientificmethod of oft-repeated, painstaking observation, and then tabulates theresults and makes deductions from them. In this way it has investigated thevarious planes of Nature, the conditions of man's consciousness during lifeand after what is commonly called death. It cannot be too often repeatedthat its statements on all these matters are not vague guesses or tenets offaith, but are based upon direct and oft-repeated _observation_ of whathappens. Its investigators have dealt also to a certain extent withsubjects more in the range of ordinary science, as may be seen by those whoread the book on _Occult Chemistry_. 

Thus we see that Theosophy combines within itself some of thecharacteristics of philosophy, religion and science. What, it might beasked, is its gospel for this weary world? What are the main points whichemerge from its investigations? What are the great facts which it has tolay before humanity?

They have been well summed up under three main heads. 

"There are three truths which are absolute, and which cannot be lost, butyet may remain silent for lack of speech. 

"The soul of man is immortal and its future is the future of a thing whosegrowth and splendour has no limit. 

"The principle which gives life dwells in us and without us, is undying andeternally beneficent, is not heard or seen or smelt, but is perceived bythe man who desires perception. 

"Each man is his own absolute lawgiver, the dispenser of glory or gloom tohimself, the decreer of his life, his reward, his punishment. 

"These truths, which are as great as is life itself, are as simple as thesimplest mind of man. "

Put shortly, and in the language of the man of the street, this means thatGod 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 andworks under immutable laws. Man has his place in this scheme and is livingunder these laws. If he understands them and co-operates with them, he willadvance rapidly and will be happy; if he does not understand them--if, wittingly or unwittingly, he breaks them, he will delay his progress and bemiserable. These are not theories, but proved facts. Let him who doubtsread on, and he will see. 

Chapter II

FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO MAN

Of the Absolute, the Infinite, the All-embracing, we can at our presentstage know nothing, except that It is; we can say nothing that is not alimitation, 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 theLOGOS, the Word of God, the Solar Deity. He is to it all that men mean byGod. He permeates it; there is nothing in it which is not He; it is themanifestation of Him in such matter as we can see. Yet He exists above itand outside it, living a stupendous life of His own among His Peers. As issaid in an Eastern Scripture: "Having permeated this whole universe withone fragment of Myself I remain. "

Of that higher life of His we can know nothing. But of the fragment of Hislife which energises His system we may know something in the lower levelsof 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 init are evolving fragments of His life, Sparks of His divine Fire; from Himwe all have come; into Him we shall all return. 

Many have asked why He has done this; why He has emanated from Himself allthis system; why He has sent us forth to face the storms of life. We cannotknow, nor is the question practical; suffice it that we are here, and wemust do our best. Yet many philosophers have speculated on this point andmany suggestions have been made. The most beautiful that I know is that ofa Gnostic philosopher:

"God is Love, but Love itself cannot be perfect unless it has those uponwhom it can be lavished and by whom it can be returned. Therefore He putforth of Himself into matter, and He limited His glory, in order thatthrough this natural and slow process of evolution we might come intobeing; and we in turn according to His Will are to develop until we reacheven His own level, and then the very love of God itself will become moreperfect, because it will then be lavished on those, His own children, whowill fully understand and return it, and so His great scheme will berealized and His Will, be done. "

At what stupendous elevation His consciousness abides we know not, nor canwe know its true nature as it shows itself there. But when He puts Himselfdown into such conditions as are within our reach, His manifestation isever 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 frombelow, because Their functions are different; one to Him, because He knowsThem to be but facets of Himself. 

All Three of these Aspects are concerned in the evolution of the solarsystem; all Three are also concerned in the evolution of man. Thisevolution is His Will; the method of it is His plan. 

Next below this Solar Deity, yet also in some mysterious manner part ofHim, come His seven Ministers sometimes called the Planetary Spirits. Usingan analogy drawn from the physiology of our own body, Their relation to Himis like that of the ganglia or the nerve centres to the brain. Allevolution which comes forth from Him comes through one or other of Them. 

Under Them in turn come vast hosts or orders of spiritual beings, whom wecall angels or devas. We do not yet know all the functions which theyfulfil in different parts of this wonderful scheme, but we find some ofthem intimately connected with the building of the system and the unfoldingof life within it. 

Here in our world there is a great Official who represents the Solar Deityand is in absolute control of all the evolution that takes place upon thisplanet. We may image Him as the true KING of this world and under Him areministers in charge of different departments. One of these departments isconcerned with the evolution of the different races of humanity so that foreach great race there is a Head who founds it, differentiates it from allothers, and watches over its development. Another department is that ofreligion and education, and it is from this that all the greatest teachersof history have come--that all religions have been sent forth. The greatOfficial at the head of this department either comes Himself or sends oneof His pupils to found a new religion when He decides that one is needed. 

Therefore all religions, at the time of their first presentation to theworld, have contained a definite statement of the Truth, and in itsfundamentals this Truth has been always the same. The presentations of ithave varied because of differences in the races to whom it was offered. Theconditions of civilization and the degree of evolution obtained by variousraces have made it desirable to present this one Truth in divers forms. Butthe inner Truth is always the same, and the source from which it comes isthe same, even though the external phases may appear to be different andeven contradictory. It is foolish for men to wrangle over the question ofthe superiority of one teacher or one form of teaching to another, for theteacher is always one sent by the Great Brotherhood of Adepts, and in allits important points, in its ethical and moral principles, the teaching hasalways been the same. 

There is in the world a body or Truth which lies at the back of all thesereligions, and represents the facts of nature as far as they are at presentknown 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 presentin the mind of man as soon as intelligence is awakened. They are notunanswerable, as is frequently supposed; the answers to them are within thereach of anyone who will make proper efforts to find them. The truth isobtainable, and the conditions of its attainment are possible ofachievement by anyone who will make the effort. 

In the earlier stages of the development of humanity the great Officials ofthe Hierarchy are provided from outside, from other and more highly evolvedparts of the system, but as soon as men can be trained to the necessarylevel of power and wisdom these offices are held by them. In order to befit 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 andwisdom so great that He towers above the rest of humanity, for He hasalready attained the summit of ordinary human evolution; He has achievedthat which the plan of the Deity marked out for Him to achieve during thisage or dispensation. But His evolution later on continues beyond thatlevel--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 withindomitable courage have stormed the fortresses of nature, and captured herinnermost secrets, and so have truly earned the right to be called Adepts. Among Them there are many degrees and many lines of activity; but alwayssome of Them remain within touch of our earth as members of this Hierarchywhich has in charge the administration of the affairs of our world and ofthe spiritual evolution of our humanity. 

This august body is often called the Great White Brotherhood, but itsmembers are not a community all living together. Each of Them, to a largeextent, draws Himself apart from the world, and They are in constantcommunication with one another and with Their Head; but Their knowledge ofhigher forces is so great that this is achieved without any necessity formeeting in the physical world. In many cases They continue to live each inHis own country, and Their power remains unsuspected among those who livenear Them. Any man who will may attract Their attention, but he can do itonly by showing himself worthy of Their notice. None need fear that hisefforts will pass unnoticed; such oversight is impossible, for the man whois devoting himself to service such as this, stands out from the rest ofhumanity 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 asapprentices those who have resolved to devote themselves utterly to theservice of mankind; such Adepts are called Masters. 

One of these apprentices was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky--a great soul whowas sent out to offer knowledge to the world. With Colonel Henry SteelOlcott she founded The Theosophical Society for the spread of thisknowledge which she had to give. Among those who came into contact with herin those early days was Mr. A. P. Sinnett, the editor of _The Pioneer_, andhis keen intellect at once grasped the magnitude and the importance of theteaching which she put before him. Although Madame Blavatsky herself hadpreviously written _Isis Unveiled_, it had attracted but little attention, and it was Mr. Sinnett who first made the teaching really available forwestern readers in his two books, _The Occult World_ and _EsotericBuddhism_. 

It was through these works that I myself first came to know their author, and afterwards Madame Blavatsky herself; from both of them I learned much. When I asked Madame Blavatsky how one could learn still more, how one couldmake definite progress along the Path which she pointed out to us, she toldme of the possibility that other students might be accepted as apprenticesby the great Masters, even as she herself had been accepted, and that theonly way to gain such acceptance was to show oneself worthy of it byearnest and altruistic work. She told me that to reach that goal a man mustbe absolutely one-pointed in his determination; that no one who tried toserve both God and Mammon could ever hope to succeed. One of these MastersHimself had said: "In order to succeed, a pupil must leave his own worldand come into ours. "

This means that he must cease to be one of the majority who live for wealthand power, and must join the tiny minority who care nothing for suchthings, but live only in order to devote themselves selflessly to the goodof 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 theworld, and that we had nothing to look forward to but the hardest of hardwork; and though the result was sure, no one could foretell how long itwould 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 withthese great Masters of the Wisdom; from Them I learnt many things--amongothers, how to verify for myself at first hand most of the teachings whichThey had given. So that, in this matter, I write of what I know, and what Ihave seen for myself. Certain points are mentioned in the teaching, for theverification of which powers are required far beyond anything which I havegained so far. Of them, I can say only that they are consistent with what Ido know, and in many cases are necessary as hypotheses to account for whatI have seen. They came to me, along with the rest of the Theosophicalsystem, upon the authority of these mighty Teachers. Since then I havelearnt 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 everyparticular; therefore I am justified in assuming the probability that thatother part, which as yet I cannot verify, will also prove to be correctwhen I arrive at its level. 

To attain the honour of being accepted as an apprentice of one of theMasters of the Wisdom is the object set before himself by every earnestTheosophical student. But it means a determined effort. There have alwaysbeen men who were willing to make the necessary effort, and therefore therehave always been men who knew. The knowledge is so transcendent that when aman 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 learnmuch if we will, from those who themselves are still in process oflearning; for all human beings stand on one or other of the rungs of theladder of evolution. The primitive stand at its foot; we who are civilizedbeings have already climbed part of the way. But though we can look backand see rungs of the ladder below us which we have already passed, we mayalso 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 wecan see the stages by which man has mounted, so also are there men standingon each of the rungs above us, so that from studying them we may see howman shall mount in the future. Precisely because we see men on every stepof this ladder, which leads up to a glory which as yet we have no words toexpress, we know that the ascent to that glory is possible for us. Thosewho stand high above us, so high that They seem to us as gods in Theirmarvellous knowledge and power, tell us that They stood not long sincewhere we are standing now, and They indicate to us clearly the steps whichlie between, which we also must tread if we would be as They. 

Chapter III

THE FORMATION OF A SOLAR SYSTEM

The beginning of the universe (if ever it had a beginning) is beyond ourken. At the earliest point of history that we can reach, the two greatopposites of spirit and matter, of life and form, are already in fullactivity. We find that the ordinary conception of matter needs a revision, for what are commonly called force and matter are in reality only twovarieties of Spirit at different stages in evolution and the real matter orbasis of everything lies in the background unperceived. A French scientisthas recently said: "There is no matter; there are nothing but holes in theæther. " This also agrees with the celebrated theory of Professor OsborneReynolds. Occult investigation shows this to be the correct view, and inthat way explains what Oriental sacred books mean when they say that matteris an illusion. 

The ultimate root-matter as seen at our level is what scientists call theæther of space. [This has been described in _Occult Chemistry_ under thename of koilon. ] To every physical sense the space occupied by it appearsempty, yet in reality this æther is far denser than anything of which wecan conceive. Its density is defined by Professor Reynolds as being tenthousand times greater than that of water, and its mean pressure as sevenhundred 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 greatBeing (not the Deity of a solar system, but some Being almost infinitelyhigher than that) changed this condition of rest by pouring out His spiritor force into a certain section of this matter, a section of the size of awhole universe. This effect of the introduction of this force is as that ofthe blowing of a mighty breath; it has formed within this æther anincalculable number of tiny spherical bubbles, [The bubbles are spoken ofin _The Secret Doctrine_ as the holes which Fohat digs in space. ] and thesebubbles 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 thephysical world. They stand at a far higher level, and what are usuallycalled atoms are composed of vast aggregations of these bubbles, as will beseen later. 

When the Solar Deity begins to make His system, He finds ready to His handthis material--this infinite mass of tiny bubbles which can be built upinto various kinds of matter as we know it. He commences by defining thelimit of His field of activity, a vast sphere whose circumference is farlarger than the orbit of the outermost of His future planets. Within thelimit of that sphere He sets up a kind of gigantic vortex--a motion whichsweeps together all the bubbles into a vast central mass, the material ofthe nebula that is to be. 

Into this vast revolving sphere He sends forth successive impulses offorce, gathering together the bubbles into ever more and more complexaggregations, and producing in this way seven gigantic interpenetratingworlds of matter of different degrees of density, all concentric and alloccupying the same space. 

Acting through His Third Aspect He sends forth into this stupendous spherethe first of these impulses. It sets up all through the sphere a vastnumber of tiny vortices, each of which draws into itself forty-ninebubbles, and arranges them in a certain shape. These little groupings ofbubbles so formed are the atoms of the second of the interpenetratingworlds. The whole number of the bubbles is not used in this way, sufficientbeing left in the dissociated state to act as atoms for the first andhighest of these worlds. In due time comes the second impulse, which seizesupon nearly all these forty-nine bubble-atoms (leaving only enough toprovide atoms for the second world), draws them back into itself and then, throwing them out again, sets up among them vortices, each of which holdswithin itself 2, 401 bubbles (49^2). These form the atoms of the thirdworld. Again after a time comes a third impulse, which in the same wayseizes upon nearly all these 2, 401 bubble-atoms, draws them back again intotheir original form, and again throws them outward once more as the atomsof the fourth world--each atom containing this time 49^{3} bubbles. Thisprocess is repeated until the sixth of these successive impulses has builtthe atom of the seventh or the lowest world--that atom containing 49^{6} ofthe original bubbles. 

This atom of the seventh world is the ultimate atom of the physicalworld--not any of the atoms of which chemists speak, but that ultimate outof which all their atoms are made. We have at this stage arrived at thatcondition of affairs in which the vast whirling sphere contains withinitself seven types of matter, all one in essence, because all built of thesame kind of bubbles, but differing in their degree of density. All thesetypes are freely intermingled, so that specimens of each type would befound 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 moreand more towards the centre. 

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 theoriginal dissociated bubbles, but draws them together into certainaggregations, thus making a number of different kinds of what may be calledproto-elements, and these again are joined together into the various formswhich are known to science as chemical elements. The making of theseextends over a long period of ages, and they are made in a certain definiteorder by the interaction of several forces, as is correctly indicated inSir William Crookes's paper, _The Genesis of the Elements_. Indeed theprocess of their making is not even now concluded; uranium is the latestand heaviest element so far as we know, but others still more complicatedmay perhaps be produced in the future. 

As ages rolled on the condensation increased, and presently the stage of avast glowing nebula was reached. As it cooled, still rapidly rotating, itflattened into a huge disc and gradually broke up into rings surrounding acentral body--an arrangement not unlike that which Saturn exhibits at thepresent day, though on a far larger scale. As the time drew near when theplanets would be required for the purposes of evolution, the Deity sets upsomewhere in the thickness of each ring a subsidiary vortex into which agreat deal of the matter of the ring was by degrees collected. Thecollisions of the gathered fragments caused a revival of the heat, and theresulting planet was for a long time a mass of glowing gas. Little bylittle it cooled once more, until it became fit to be the theatre of lifesuch as ours. Thus were all the planets formed. 

Almost all the matter of those interpenetrating worlds was by this timeconcentrated into the newly formed planets. Each of them was and iscomposed of all those different kinds of matter. The earth upon which weare now living is not merely a great ball of physical matter, built of theatoms of that lowest world, but has also attached to it an abundant supplyof matter of the sixth, the fifth, the fourth and other worlds. It is wellknown to all students of science that particles of matter never actuallytouch one another, even in the hardest of substances. The spaces betweenthem are always far greater in proportion than their own size--enormouslygreater. So there is ample room for all the other kinds of atoms of allthose other worlds, not only to lie between the atoms of the denser matter, but to move quite freely among them and around them. Consequently, thisglobe upon which we live is not one world, but seven interpenetratingworlds, all occupying the same space, except that the finer types of matterextend further from the centre than does the denser matter. 

We have given names to these interpenetrating worlds for convenience inspeaking of them. No name is needed for the first, as man is not yet indirect connection with it; but when it is necessary to mention it, it maybe called the divine world. The second is described as the monadic, becausein it exist those Sparks of the divine Life which we call the human Monads;but neither of these can be touched by the highest clairvoyantinvestigations at present possible for us. The third sphere, whose atomscontain 2, 401 bubbles, is called the spiritual world, because in itfunctions the highest Spirit in man as now constituted. The fourth is theintuitional world, [Previously called in Theosophical literature thebuddhic plane. ] because from it come the highest intuitions. The fifth isthe mental world, because from its matter is built the mind of man. Thesixth is called the emotional or astral world, because the emotions of mancause undulations in its matter. (The name astral was given to it bymediæval alchemists, because its matter is starry or shining as compared tothat of the denser world. ) The seventh world, composed of the type ofmatter which we see all around us, is called the physical. 

The matter of which all these interpenetrating worlds are built isessentially the same matter, but differently arranged and of differentdegrees of density. Therefore the rates at which these various types ofmatter normally vibrate differ also. They may be considered as a vast gamutof undulations consisting of many octaves. The physical matter uses acertain number of the lowest of these octaves, the astral matter anothergroup 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 itsown set of aggregations of that matter--its own substances. In each worldwe arrange these substances in seven classes according to the rate at whichtheir molecules vibrate. Usually, but not invariably, the sloweroscillation involves also a larger molecule--a molecule, that is, built upby a special arrangement of the smaller molecules of the next highersubdivision. The application of heat increases the size of the moleculesand also quickens and amplifies their undulation, so that they cover moreground, and the object, as a whole expands, until the point is reachedwhere the aggregation of molecules breaks up, and the latter passes fromone condition to that next above it. In the matter of the physical worldthe seven subdivisions are represented by seven degrees of density ofmatter, to which, beginning from below upwards, we give the names solid, liquid, gaseous, etheric, superetheric, subatomic and atomic. 

The atomic subdivision is one in which all forms are built by thecompression into certain shapes of the physical atoms, without any previouscollection of these atoms into blocks or molecules. Typifying the physicalultimate atom for the moment by a brick, any form in the atomic subdivisionwould be made by gathering together some of the bricks, and building theminto a certain shape. In order to make matter for the next lowersubdivision, a certain number of the bricks (atoms) would first be gatheredtogether and cemented into small blocks of say four bricks each, fivebricks each, six bricks or seven bricks; and then these blocks so madewould be used as building stones. For the next subdivision several of theblocks of the second subdivision cemented together in certain shapes wouldform building-stones, and so on to the lowest. 

To transfer any substance from the solid condition to the liquid (that isto say, to melt it) is to increase the vibration of its compound moleculesuntil at last they are shaken apart into the simpler molecules of whichthey were built. This process can in all cases be repeated again and againuntil finally any and every physical substance can be reduced to theultimate atoms of the physical world. 

Each of these worlds has its inhabitants, whose senses are normally capableof responding to the undulations of their own world only. A man living (aswe are all doing) in the physical world sees, hears, feels, by vibrationsconnected with the physical matter around him. He is equally surrounded bythe astral and mental and other worlds which are interpenetrating his owndenser world, but of them he is normally unconscious, because his sensescannot respond to the oscillations of their matter, just as our physicaleyes cannot see by the vibrations of ultra-violet light, althoughscientific experiments show that they exist, and there are otherconsciousnesses with differently-formed organs who _can_ see by them. Abeing living in the astral world might be occupying the very same space asa being living in the physical world, yet each would be entirelyunconscious of the other and would in no way impede the free movement ofthe other. The same is true of all other worlds. We are at this momentsurrounded by these worlds of finer matter, as close to us as the world wesee, and their inhabitants are passing through us and about us, but we areentirely unconscious of them. 

Since our evolution is centred at present upon this globe which we call theearth, it is in connection with it only that we shall be speaking of thesehigher worlds, so in future when I use the term "astral world" I shall meanby it the astral part of our own globe only, and not (as heretofore) theastral part of the whole solar system. This astral part of our own world isalso a globe, but of astral matter. It occupies the same place as the globewhich we see, but its matter (being so much lighter) extends out into spaceon all sides of us further than does the atmosphere of the earth--a greatdeal further. It stretches to a little less than the mean distance of themoon, so that though the two physical globes, the earth and the moon, arenearly 240, 000 miles apart, the astral globes of these two bodies touch oneanother when the moon is in perigee, but not when she is in apogee. I shallapply the term "mental world" to the still larger globe of mental matter inthe midst of which our physical earth exists. When we come to the stillhigher globes we have spheres large enough to touch the correspondingspheres of other planets in the system, though their matter also is just asmuch 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 revolvinground the sun with their visible part. The student will do well to accustomhimself to think of our earth as the whole of this mass of interpenetratingworlds--not only the comparatively small physical ball in the centre of it. 

Chapter IV

THE EVOLUTION OF LIFE

All the impulses of life which I have described as building theinterpenetrating worlds come 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. InTheosophical literature these impulses are usually taken as a whole, andcalled the First Outpouring. 

When the worlds had been prepared to this extent, and most of the chemicalelements already existed, the Second Outpouring of life took place, andthis came from the Second Aspect of the Deity. It brought with it the powerof combination. In all the worlds it found existing what may be thought ofas elements corresponding to those worlds. It proceeded to combine thoseelements into organisms which it then ensouled, and in this way it built upthe seven kingdoms of Nature. Theosophy recognizes seven kingdoms, becauseit regards man as separate from the animal kingdom and it takes intoaccount several stages of evolution which are unseen by the physical eye, and gives to them the mediæval name of "elemental kingdoms". 

The divine Life pours itself into matter from above, and its whole coursemay be thought of in two stages--the gradual assumption of grosser andgrosser matter, and then the gradual casting off again of the vehicleswhich have been assumed. The earliest level upon which its vehicles can bescientifically observed is the mental--the fifth counting from the finer tothe grosser, the first on which there are separated globes. In practicalstudy it is found convenient to divide this mental world into two parts, which we call the higher and the lower according to the degree of densityof their matter. The higher consists of the three finer subdivisions ofmental matter; the lower part of the other four. 

When the outpouring reaches the higher mental world it draws together theethereal elements there, combines them into what at that level correspondto substances and of these substances builds forms which it inhabits. Wecall this the first elemental kingdom. 

After a long period of evolution through different forms at that level, thewave of life, which is all the time pressing steadily downwards, learns toidentify itself so fully with those forms that, instead of occupying themand withdrawing from them periodically, it is able to hold them permanentlyand make them part of itself, so that now from that level it can proceed tothe temporary occupation of forms at a still lower level. When it reachesthis stage we call it the second elemental kingdom, the ensouling life ofwhich resides upon the higher mental levels, while the vehicles throughwhich it manifests are on the lower. 

After another vast period of similar length, it is found that the downwardpressure has caused this process to repeat itself; once more the life hasidentified itself with its forms, and has taken up its residence upon thelower mental levels, so that it is capable of ensouling bodies in theastral 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 areacquainted in the physical world. Each of these three is a kingdom ofNature, as varied in the manifestations of its different forms of life asis the animal or vegetable kingdom which we know. After a long period spentin ensouling the forms of the third of these elemental kingdoms itidentifies itself with them in turn, and so is able to ensoul the ethericpart of the mineral kingdom, and becomes the life which vivifies that--forthere is a life in the mineral kingdom just as much as in the vegetable orthe animal, although it is in conditions where it cannot manifest sofreely. In the course of the mineral evolution the downward pressure causesit to identify itself in the same way with the etheric matter of thephysical world, and from that to ensoul the denser matter of such mineralsas are perceptible to our senses. 

In the mineral kingdom we include not only what are usually calledminerals, but also liquids, gases and many etheric substances the existenceof which is unknown to western science. All the matter of which we knowanything is living matter, and the life which it contains is alwaysevolving. When it has reached the central point of the mineral stage thedownward pressure ceases, and is replaced by an upward tendency; theoutbreathing has ceased and the indrawing has begun. 

When mineral evolution is completed, the life has withdrawn itself againinto the astral world, but bearing with it all the results obtained throughits experiences in the physical. At this stage it ensouls vegetable forms, and begins to show itself much more clearly as what we commonly calllife--plant-life of all kinds; and at a yet later stage of its developmentit leaves the vegetable kingdom and ensouls the animal kingdom. Theattainment of this level is the sign that it has withdrawn itself stillfurther, and is now working from the lower mental world. In order to workin physical matter from that mental world it must operate through theintervening astral matter; and that astral matter is now no longer part ofthe garment of the group-soul as a whole, but is the individual astral bodyof the animal concerned, as will be later explained. 

In each of these kingdoms it not only passes a period of time which is toour ideas almost incredibly long, but it also goes through a definitecourse of evolution, beginning from the lower manifestations of thatkingdom and ending with the highest. In the vegetable kingdom, for example, the life-force might commence its career by occupying grasses or mosses andend it by ensouling magnificent forest trees. In the animal kingdom itmight commence with mosquitoes or with animalculæ, and might end with thefinest specimens of the mammalia. 

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 primarilythe form, but the life within it. The forms also evolve and grow better astime passes; but this is in order that they may be appropriate vehicles formore and more advanced waves of life. When the life has reached the highestlevel possible in the animal kingdom, it may then pass on into the humankingdom, under conditions which will presently be explained. 

The outpouring leaves one kingdom and passes to another, so that if we hadto deal with only one wave of this outpouring we could have in existenceonly one kingdom at a time. But the Deity sends out a constant successionof these waves, so that at any given time we find a number of themsimultaneously in operation. We ourselves represent one such wave; but wefind evolving alongside us another wave which ensouls the animal kingdom--awave which came out from the Deity one stage later than we did. We findalso the vegetable kingdom, which represents a third wave, and the mineralkingdom, which represents a fourth; and occultists know of the existenceall round us of three elemental kingdoms, which represent the fifth, sixthand seventh waves. All these, however, are successive ripples of the samegreat outpouring from the Second Aspect of the Deity. 

We have here, then, a scheme of evolution in which the divine Life involvesitself more and more deeply in matter, in order that through that matter itmay receive vibrations which could not otherwise affect it--impacts fromwithout, which by degrees arouse within it rates of undulationcorresponding to their own, so that it learns to respond to them. Later onit learns of itself to generate these rates of undulation, and so becomes abeing possessed of spiritual powers. 

We may presume that when this outpouring of life originally came forth fromthe Deity, at some level altogether beyond our power of cognition, it mayperhaps have been homogeneous; but when it first comes within practicalcognizance, when it is itself in the intuitional world, but is ensoulingbodies made of the matter of the higher mental world, it is already not onehuge 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 theother, when humanity is reached, we find that one vast soul broken up intomillions of the comparatively little souls of individual men. At any stagebetween these two extremes we find an intermediate condition, the immenseworld-soul already subdivided, but not to the utmost limit of possiblesubdivision. 

Each man is a soul, but not each animal or each plant. Man, as a soul, canmanifest through only one body at a time in the physical world, whereas oneanimal soul manifests simultaneously through a number of animal bodies, oneplant soul through a number of separate plants. A lion, for example, is nota permanently separate entity in the same way as a man is. When the mandies--that is, when he as a soul lays aside his physical body--he remainshimself exactly as he was before, an entity separate from all otherentities. When the lion dies, that which has been the separate soul of himis poured back into the mass from which it came--a mass which is at thesame time providing the souls for many other lions. To such a mass we givethe name of "group-soul". 

To such a group-soul is attached a considerable number of lion bodies--letus say a hundred. Each of those bodies while it lives has its hundredthpart of the group-soul attached to it, and for the time being this isapparently quite separate, so that the lion is as much an individual duringhis physical life as the man; but he is not a permanent individual. When hedies the soul of him flows back into the group-soul to which it belongs, and that identical lion-soul cannot be separated again from the group. 

A useful analogy may help comprehension. Imagine the group-soul to berepresented by the water in a bucket, and the hundred lion bodies by ahundred tumblers. As each tumbler is dipped into the bucket it takes outfrom it a tumblerful of water (the separate soul). That water for the timebeing takes the shape of the vehicle which it fills, and is temporarilyseparate from the water which remains in the bucket, and from the water inthe other tumblers. 

Now put into each of the hundred tumblers some kind of colouring matter orsome kind of flavouring. That will represent the qualities developed by itsexperiences in the separate soul of the lion during its lifetime. Pour backthe water from the tumbler into the bucket; that represents the death ofthe lion. The colouring matter or the flavouring will be distributedthrough the whole of the water in the bucket, but will be a much faintercolouring, a much less pronounced flavour when thus distributed than it waswhen confined in one tumbler. The qualities developed by the experience ofone lion attached to that group-soul are therefore shared by the entiregroup-soul, but in a much lower degree. 

We may take out another tumblerful of water from that bucket, but we cannever again get exactly the same tumblerful after it has once been mingledwith the rest. Every tumblerful taken from that bucket in the future willcontain some traces of the colouring or flavouring put into each tumblerwhose contents have been returned to the bucket. Just so the qualitiesdeveloped by the experience of a single lion will become the commonproperty of all lions who are in the future to be born from thatgroup-soul, though in a lesser degree than that in which they existed inthe individual lion who developed them. 

That is the explanation of inherited instincts; that is why the ducklingwhich has been hatched by a hen takes to the water instantly withoutneeding to be shown how to swim; why the chicken just out of its shell willcower at the shadow of a hawk; why a bird which has been artificiallyhatched, and has never seen a nest, nevertheless knows how to make one, andmakes it according to the traditions of its kind. 

Lower down in the scale of animal life enormous numbers of bodies areattached to a single group-soul--countless millions, for example, in thecase of some of the smaller insects; but as we rise in the animal kingdomthe number of bodies attached to a single group-soul becomes smaller andsmaller, and therefore the differences between individuals become greater. 

Thus the group-souls gradually break up. Returning to the symbol of thebucket, as tumbler after tumbler of water is withdrawn from it, tinted withsome sort of colouring matter and returned to it, the whole bucketful ofwater gradually becomes richer in colour. Suppose that by imperceptibledegrees a kind of vertical film forms itself across the centre of thebucket, and gradually solidifies itself into a division, so that we havenow a right half and a left half to the bucket, and each tumblerful ofwater which is taken out is returned always to the same section from whichit came. 

Then presently a difference will be set up, and the liquid in one half ofthe bucket will no longer be the same as that in the other. We have thenpractically two buckets, and when this stage is reached in a group-soul itsplits into two, as a cell separates by fission. In this way, as theexperience grows ever richer, the group-souls grow smaller but morenumerous, until at the highest point we arrive at man with his singleindividual soul, which no longer returns into a group, but remains alwaysseparate. 

One of the life-waves is vivifying the whole of a kingdom; but not everygroup-soul in that life-wave will pass through the whole of that kingdomfrom the bottom to the top. If in the vegetable kingdom a certaingroup-soul has ensouled forest trees, when it passes on into the animalkingdom it will omit all the lower stages--that is, it will never inhabitinsects or reptiles, but will begin at once at the level of the lowermammalia. The insects and reptiles will be vivified by group-souls whichhave for some reason left the vegetable kingdom at a much lower level thanthe forest tree. In the same way the group-soul which has reached thehighest levels of the animal kingdom will not individualize into primitivesavages, but into men of somewhat higher type, the primitive savages beingrecruited from group-souls which have left the animal kingdom at a lowerlevel. 

Group-souls at any level or at all levels arrange themselves into sevengreat types, according to the Minister of the Deity through whom their lifehas poured forth. These types are clearly distinguishable in all thekingdoms, and the successive forms taken by any one of them form aconnected series, so that animals, vegetables, minerals and the varietiesof the elemental creatures may all be arranged into seven great groups, andthe life coming along one of those lines will not diverge into any of theothers. 

No detailed list has yet been made of the animals, plants or minerals fromthis point of view; but it is certain that the life which is foundensouling a mineral of a particular type will never vivify a mineral of anyother type than its own, though within that type it may vary. When itpasses on to the vegetable and animal kingdoms it will inhabit vegetablesand animals of that type and of no other; and when it eventually reacheshumanity it will individualize into men of that type and of no other. 

The method of individualization is the raising of the soul of a particularanimal to a level so much higher than that attained by its group-soul thatit 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 tobring the animal into close contact with man. Individualization, therefore, is possible only for domestic animals, and only for certain kinds even ofthose. At the head of each of the seven types stands one kind of domesticanimal--the dog for one, the cat for another, the elephant for a third, themonkey for a fourth, and so on. The wild animals can all be arranged onseven lines leading up to the domestic animals; for example, the fox andthe wolf are obviously on the same line with the dog, while the lion, thetiger and the leopard equally obviously lead up to the domestic cat; sothat the group-soul animating a hundred lions mentioned some time ago mightat a later stage of its evolution have divided into, let us say, fivegroup-souls each animating twenty cats. 

The life-wave spends a long period of time in each kingdom; we are now onlya little past the middle of such an æon, and consequently the conditionsare not favourable for the achievement of that individualization whichnormally comes only at the end of a period. Rare instances of suchattainment may occasionally be observed on the part of some animal much inadvance of the average. Close association with man is necessary to producethis result. The animal if kindly treated develops devoted affection forhis human friend, and also unfolds his intellectual powers in trying tounderstand that friend and to anticipate his wishes. In addition to this, the emotions and the thoughts of the man act constantly upon those of theanimal, and tend to raise him to a higher level both emotionally andintellectually. Under favourable circumstances this development may proceedso far as to raise the animal altogether out of touch with the group towhich he belongs, so that his fragment of a group-soul becomes capable ofresponding to the outpouring which comes from the First Aspect of theDeity. 

For this final outpouring is not like the others, a mighty outrushaffecting thousands or millions simultaneously; it comes to each oneindividually as that one is ready to receive it. This outpouring hasalready descended as far as the intuitional world; but it comes no fartherthan that until this upward leap is made by the soul of the animal frombelow; but when that happens this Third Outpouring leaps down to meet it, and in the higher mental world is formed an ego, a permanentindividuality--permanent, that is, until, far later in his evolution, theman 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 playedthe part always of ensouling force) becomes in its turn a vehicle, and isitself 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 thegroup-soul through the whole of its previous evolution, unable to effect ajunction with it until its corresponding fragment in the group-soul haddeveloped sufficiently to permit it. It is this breaking away from the restof the group-soul and developing a separate ego which marks the distinctionbetween the highest animal and the lowest man. 

Chapter V

THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN

Man is therefore in essence a Spark of the divine Fire, belonging to themonadic world. [1] To that Spark, dwelling all the time in that world, wegive the name "Monad". For the purposes of human evolution the Monadmanifests itself in lower worlds. When it descends one stage and enters thespiritual world, it shows itself there as the triple Spirit having itselfthree aspects (just as in worlds infinitely higher the Deity has His threeAspects). Of those three one remains always in that world, and we call thatthe Spirit in man. The second aspect manifests itself in the intuitionalworld, and we speak of it as the Intuition in man. The third shows itselfin the higher mental world, and we call it the Intelligence in man. Thesethree aspects taken together constitute the ego which ensouls the fragmentfrom the group-soul. Thus man as we know him, though in reality a Monadresiding in the monadic world, shows himself as an ego in the higher mentalworld, manifesting these three aspects of himself (Spirit, Intuition andIntelligence) through that vehicle of higher mental matter which we namethe causal body. 

Footnote 1: The President has now decided upon a set of names for theplanes, so for the future these will be used instead of those previouslyemployed. A table of them is given below for reference. 

NEW NAMES OLD NAMES1. Divine World Âdi Plane2. Monadic World Anupâdaka Plane3. Spiritual World Âtmic or Nirvânic Plane4. Intuitional World Buddhic Plane5. Mental World Mental Plane6. Emotional or Astral World Astral Plane7. Physical World Physical Plane

These will supersede the names given in Vol. II of _The Inner Life. _

This ego is the man during the human stage of evolution; he is the nearestcorrespondence, in fact, to the ordinary unscientific conception of thesoul. He lives unchanged (except for his growth) from the moment ofindividualization until humanity is transcended and merged into divinity. He is in no way affected by what we call birth and death; what we commonlyconsider 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 thepurposes of a certain part of his evolution. 

Nor is it the only body which he assumes. Before he, the ego in the highermental world, can take a vehicle belonging to the physical world, he mustmake a connection with it through the lower mental and astral worlds. Whenhe wishes to descend he draws around himself a veil of the matter of thelower mental world, which we call his mental body. This is the instrumentby means of which he thinks all his concrete thoughts--abstract thoughtbeing a power of the ego himself in the higher mental world. 

Next he draws round himself a veil of astral matter, which we call hisastral body; and that is the instrument of his passions and emotions, andalso (in conjunction with the lower part of his mental body) theinstrument of all such thought as is tinged by selfishness and personalfeeling. Only after having assumed these intermediate vehicles can he comeinto touch with a baby physical body, and be born into the world which weknow. He lives through what we call his life, gaining certain qualities asthe result of its experiences; and at its end, when the physical body isworn out, he reverses the process of descent and lays aside one by one thetemporary vehicles which he has assumed. The first to go is the physicalbody, and when that is dropped, his life is centred in the astral world andhe lives in his astral body. 

The length of his stay in that world depends upon the amount of passion andemotion which he has developed within himself in his physical life. Ifthere is much of these, the astral body is strongly vitalized, and willpersist for a long time; if there is but little, the astral body has lessvitality, and he will soon be able to cast that vehicle aside in turn. Whenthat is done he finds himself living in his mental body. The strength ofthat depends upon the nature of the thoughts to which he has habituatedhimself, and usually his stay at this level is a long one. At last it comesto an end, and he casts aside the mental body in turn, and is once more theego in his own world. 

Owing to lack of development, he is as yet but partially conscious in thatworld; the vibrations of its matter are too rapid to make any impressionupon him, just as the ultra-violet rays are too rapid to make anyimpression upon our eyes. After a rest there, he feels the desire todescend to a level where the undulations are perceptible to him, in orderthat he may feel himself to be fully alive; so he repeats the process ofdescent into denser matter, and assumes once more a mental, an astral and aphysical body. As his previous bodies have all disintegrated, each in itstarn, these new vehicles are entirely distinct from them, and thus ithappens that in his physical life he has no recollection whatever of othersimilar lives which have preceded it. 

When functioning in this physical world he remembers by means of his mentalbody; but since that is a new one, assumed only for this birth, itnaturally cannot contain the memory of previous births in which it had nopart. The man himself, the ego, does remember them all when in his ownworld, and occasionally some partial recollection of them or influence fromthem filters through into his lower vehicles. He does not usually, in hisphysical life, remember the experiences of earlier lives, but he doesmanifest in physical life the qualities which those experiences havedeveloped in him. Each man is therefore exactly what he has made himselfduring those past lives; if he has in them developed good qualities inhimself, he possesses the good qualities now; if he neglected to trainhimself, and consequently left himself weak and of evil disposition, hefinds 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 ofmaterialization; he assumes those veils of matter precisely because throughthem he is able to receive vibrations to which he can respond, so that hislatent faculties may thereby be unfolded. Though man descends from on highinto these lower worlds, it is only through that descent that a fullcognizance of the higher worlds is developed in him. Full consciousness inany given world involves the power to perceive and respond to all theundulations of that world: therefore the ordinary man has not yet perfectconsciousness at any level--not even in this physical world which he thinkshe knows. It is possible for him to unfold his percipience in all theseworlds, and it is by means of such developed consciousness that we observeall these facts which I am now describing. 

The causal body is the permanent vehicle of the ego in the higher mentalworld. It consists of matter of the first, second and third subdivisions ofthat world. In ordinary people it is not yet fully active, only that matterwhich belongs to the third subdivision being vivified. As the ego unfoldshis latent possibilities through the long course of his evolution, thehigher matter is gradually brought into action, but it is only in theperfected man whom we call the Adept that it is developed to its fullestextent. Such matter can be discerned by clairvoyant sight, but only by aseer who knows how to use the sight of the ego. 

It is difficult to describe a causal body fully, because the sensesbelonging to its world are altogether different from and higher than oursat this level. Such memory of the appearance of a causal body as it ispossible for a clairvoyant to bring into his physical brain represents itas ovoid, and as surrounding the physical body of the man, extending to adistance of about eighteen inches from the normal surface of that body. Inthe case of primitive man it resembles a bubble, and gives the impressionof being empty. It is in reality filled with higher mental matter, but asthis is not yet brought into activity it remains colourless andtransparent. As advancement continues it is gradually stirred intoalertness by vibrations which reach it from the lower bodies. This comesbut slowly, because the activities of man in the earlier stages of hisevolution are not of a character to obtain expression in matter so fine asthat of the higher mental body; but when a man reaches the stage where heis capable either of abstract thought or of unselfish emotion the matter ofthe causal body is aroused into response. 

When these rates of undulation are awakened within him they show themselvesin his causal body as colours, so that instead of being a mere transparentbubble it gradually becomes a sphere filled with matter of the most lovelyand delicate hues--an object beautiful beyond all conception. It is foundby experience that these colours are significant. The vibration whichdenotes the power of unselfish affection shows itself as a palerose-colour; that which indicates high intellectual power is yellow; thatwhich expresses sympathy is green, while blue betokens devotional feeling, and a luminous lilac-blue typifies the higher spirituality. The same schemeof colour-significance applies to the bodies which are built of densermatter, but as we approach the physical world the hues are in every case bycomparison grosser--not only less delicate but also less living. 

In the course of evolution in the lower worlds man often introduces intohis vehicles qualities which are undesirable and entirely inappropriate forhis life as an ego--such, for example, as pride, irritability, sensuality. These, like the rest, are reducible to vibrations, but they are in allcases vibrations of the lower subdivisions of their respective worlds, andtherefore they cannot reproduce themselves in the causal body, which isbuilt exclusively of the matter of the three higher subdivisions of itsworld. For each section of the astral body acts strongly upon thecorresponding section of the mental body, but only upon the correspondingsection; it cannot influence any other part. So the causal body can beaffected only by the three higher portions of the astral body; and theoscillations of those represent only good qualities. 

The practical effect of this is that the man can build into the ego (thatis, into his true self) nothing but good qualities; the evil qualitieswhich he develops are in their nature transitory and must be thrown asideas he advances, because he has no longer within him matter which canexpress them. The difference between the causal bodies of the savage andthe saint is that the first is empty and colourless, while the second isfull of brilliant, coruscating tints. As the man passes beyond evensaint-hood and becomes a great spiritual power, his causal body increasesin size, because it has so much more to express, and it also begins to pourout from itself in all directions powerful rays of living light. In one whohas attained Adeptship this body is of enormous dimensions. 

The mental body is built of matter of the four lower subdivisions of themental world, and expresses the concrete thoughts of the man. Here also wefind the same colour-scheme as in the causal body. The hues are somewhatless delicate, and we notice one or two additions. For example, a thoughtof pride shows itself as orange, while irritability is manifested by abrilliant scarlet. We may see here sometimes the bright brown of avarice, the grey-brown of selfishness, and the grey-green of deceit. Here also weperceive the possibility of a mixture of colours; the affection, theintellect, the devotion may be tinged by selfishness, and in that casetheir distinctive colours are mingled with the brown of selfishness, and sowe have an impure and muddy appearance. Although its particles are alwaysin intensely rapid motion among themselves, this body has at the same timea kind of loose organization. 

The size and shape of the mental body are determined by those of the causalvehicle. There are in it certain striations which divide it more or lessirregularly into segments, each of these corresponding to a certaindepartment of the physical brain, so that every type of thought shouldfunction through its duly assigned portion. The mental body is as yet soimperfectly developed in ordinary men that there are many in whom a greatnumber of special departments are not yet in activity, and any attempt atthought belonging to those departments has to travel round through someinappropriate channel which happens to be fully open. The result is thatthought on those subjects is for those people clumsy and uncomprehending. This is why some people have a head for mathematics and others are unableto add correctly--why some people instinctively understand, appreciate andenjoy music, while others do not know one tune from another. 

All the matter of the mental body should be circulating freely, butsometimes a man allows his thought upon a certain subject to set andsolidify, and then the circulation is impeded, and there is a congestionwhich presently hardens into a kind of wart on the mental body. Such a wartappears to us down here as a prejudice; and until it is absorbed and freecirculation restored, it is impossible for the man to think truly or to seeclearly with regard to that particular department of his mind, as thecongestion 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 thetime more rapidly, but it also temporarily swells out and increases insize. If there is prolonged thought upon a subject this increase becomespermanent, and it is thus open to any man to increase the size of hismental body either along desirable or undesirable lines. 

Good thoughts produce vibrations of the finer matter of the body, which byits specific gravity tends to float in the upper part of the ovoid; whereasbad thoughts, such as selfishness and avarice, are always oscillations ofthe grosser matter, which tends to gravitate towards the lower part of theovoid. Consequently the ordinary man, who yields himself not infrequentlyto selfish thoughts of various kinds, usually expands the lower part of hismental body, and presents roughly the appearance of an egg with its largerend downwards. The man who has repressed those lower thoughts, and devotedhimself to higher ones, tends to expand the upper part of his mental body, and therefore presents the appearance of an egg standing on its smallerend. From a study of the colours and striations of a man's mental body theclairvoyant can perceive his character and the progress he has made in hispresent life. From similar features of the causal body he can see whatprogress the ego has made since its original formation, when the man leftthe animal kingdom. 

When a man thinks of any concrete object--a book, a house, a landscape--hebuilds a tiny image of the object in the matter of his mental body. Thisimage floats in the upper part of that body, usually in front of the faceof the man and at about the level of the eyes. It remains there as long asthe man is contemplating the object, and usually for a little timeafterwards, the length of time depending upon the intensity and theclearness of the thought. This form is quite objective, and can be seen byanother person, if that other has developed the sight of his own mentalbody. If a man thinks of another, he creates a tiny portrait in just thesame way. If his thought is merely contemplative and involves no feeling(such as affection or dislike) or desire (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 feeling, as forexample of affection, another phenomenon occurs besides the forming of theimage. The thought of affection takes a definite form, which it builds outof the matter of the thinker's mental body. Because of the emotioninvolved, it draws round it also matter of his astral body, and thus wehave an astromental form which leaps out of the body in which it has beengenerated, and moves through space towards the object of the feeling ofaffection. If the thought is sufficiently strong, distance makes absolutelyno difference to it; but the thought of an ordinary person is usually weakand diffused, and is therefore not effective outside a limited area. 

When this thought-form reaches its object it discharges itself into hisastral and mental bodies, communicating to them its own rate of vibration. Putting this in another way, a thought of love sent from one person toanother involves the actual transference of a certain amount both of forceand of matter from the sender to the recipient, and its effect upon therecipient is to arouse the feeling of affection in him, and slightly butpermanently to increase his power of loving. But such a thought alsostrengthens the power of affection in the thinker, and therefore it doesgood simultaneously to both. 

Every thought builds a form; if the thought be directed to another personit travels to him; if it be distinctly selfish it remains in the immediateneighbourhood of the thinker; if it belongs to neither of these categoriesit floats for awhile in space and then slowly disintegrates. Every mantherefore is leaving behind him wherever he goes a trail of thought forms;as we go along the street we are walking all the time amidst a sea of othermen's thoughts. If a man leaves his mind blank for a time, these residualthoughts of others drift through it, making in most cases but littleimpression upon him. Sometimes one arrives which attracts his attention, sothat his mind seizes upon it and makes it its own, strengthens it by theaddition 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 hismind, 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 outstrengthened. 

Self-centred thought of any kind hangs about the thinker, and most mensurround their mental bodies with a shell of such thoughts. Such a shellobscures 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 toreproduce its own rate of vibration in the mental body upon which itfastens itself, and so to arouse in it a like thought. If the person atwhom it is aimed happens to be busy or already engaged in some definitetrain of thought, the particles of his mental body are already swinging ata certain determinate rate, and cannot for the moment be affected fromwithout. In that case the thought-form bides its time, hanging about itsobject until he is sufficiently at rest to permit its entrance; then itdischarges itself upon him, and in the act ceases to exist. 

The self-centred thought behaves in exactly the same way with regard to itsgenerator, and discharges itself upon him when opportunity offers. If it bean evil thought, he generally regards it as the suggestion of a temptingdemon, whereas in truth he tempts himself. Usually each definite thoughtcreates a new thought-form; but if a thought-form of the same nature isalready hovering round the thinker, under certain circumstances a newthought on the same subject, instead of creating a new form, coalesces withand strengthens, the old one, so that by long brooding over the samesubject a man may sometimes create a thought-form of tremendous power. Ifthe thought be a wicked one, such a thought-form may become a veritableevil influence, lasting perhaps for many years, and having for a time allthe appearance and powers of a real living entity. 

All these which have been described are the ordinary unpremeditatedthoughts of man. A man can make a thought-form intentionally, and aim it atanother with the object of helping him. This is one of the lines ofactivity adopted by those who desire to serve humanity. A steady stream ofpowerful thought directed intelligently upon another person may be of thegreatest assistance to him. A strong thought-form may be a real guardianangel, and protect its object from impurity, from irritability or fromfear. 

An interesting branch of the subject is the study of the various shapes andcolours taken by thought-forms of different kinds. The colours indicate thenature of the thought, and are in agreement with those which we havealready described as existing in the bodies. The shapes are of infinitevariety, but are often in some way typical of the kind of thought whichthey express. 

Every thought of definite character, such as a thought of affection orhatred, 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 colour indicates thatthe thought expresses itself as an oscillation of the matter of a certainpart of the mental body. This rate of oscillation communicates itself tothe surrounding mental matter precisely in the same way as the vibration ofa bell communicates itself to the surrounding air. 

This radiation travels out in all directions, and whenever it impinges uponanother mental body in a passive or receptive condition it communicates toit something of its own vibration. This does not convey a definite completeidea, as does the thought-form, but it tends to produce a thought of thesame character as itself. For example, if the thought be devotional itsundulations will excite devotion, but the object of the worship may bedifferent 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 willconvey to that person (if receptive) not only a general devotional feeling, but also a precise image of the Being for whom the adoration was originallyfelt. 

Any person who habitually thinks pure, good and strong thoughts isutilizing for that purpose the higher part of his mental body--a part whichis 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 ofgreat use to all those of his neighbours who are capable of any sort ofresponse. For the vibration which he sends out tends to arouse a new andhigher part of their mental bodies, and consequently to open before themaltogether new fields of thought. 

It may not be exactly the same thought as that sent out, but it is of thesame nature. The undulations generated by a man thinking of Theosophy donot necessarily communicate Theosophical ideas to all those around him; butthey do awaken in them more liberal and higher thought than that to whichthey have before been accustomed. On the other hand, the thought-formsgenerated under such circumstances, though more limited in their actionthan the radiation, are also more precise; they can affect only those whoare to some extent open to them, but to them they will convey definiteTheosophical ideas. 

The colours of the astral body bear the same meaning as those of the highervehicles, but are several octaves of colours below them, and much morenearly approaching to such hues as we see in the physical world. It is thevehicle of passion and emotion, and consequently it may exhibit additionalcolours, expressing man's less desirable feelings, which cannot showthemselves at higher levels; for example, a lurid brownish-red indicatesthe presence of sensuality, while black clouds show malice and hatred. Acurious livid grey betokens the presence of fear, and a much darker grey, usually arranged in heavy rings around the ovoid, indicates a condition ofdepression. Irritability is shown by the presence of a number of smallscarlet flecks in the astral body, each representing a small angry impulse. Jealousy is shown by a peculiar brownish-green, generally studded with thesame scarlet flecks. The astral body is in size and shape like those justdescribed, and in the ordinary man its outline is usually clearly marked;but in the case of primitive man it is often exceedingly irregular, andresembles a rolling cloud composed of all the more unpleasant colours. 

When the astral body is comparatively quiet (it is never actually at rest)the colours which are to be seen in it indicate those emotions to which theman is most in the habit of yielding himself. When the man experiences arush of any particular feeling, the rate of vibration which expresses thatfeeling dominates for a time the entire astral body. If, for example, it bedevotion, the whole of his astral body is flushed with, blue, and while theemotion remains at its strongest the normal colours do little more thanmodify the blue, or appear faintly through a veil of it; but presently thevehemence of the sentiment dies away, and the normal colours re-assertthemselves. But because of that spasm of emotion the part of the astralbody which is normally blue has been increased in size. Thus a man whofrequently feels high devotion soon comes to have a large area of the bluepermanently existing in his astral body. 

When the rush of devotional _feeling_ comes over him, it is usuallyaccompanied by _thoughts_ of devotion. Although primarily formed in themental body, these draw round themselves a large amount of astral matter aswell, so that their action is in both worlds. In both worlds also is theradiation which was previously described, so that the devotional man is acentre of devotion, and will influence other people to share both histhoughts 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 activityfrom that mental body to come through into the physical brain. That is notbecause that body itself is affected, but because the astral body, whichacts as a bridge between it and the physical brain, is vibrating soentirely at one rate as to be incapable of conveying any undulation whichis not in harmony with that. 

The permanent colours of the astral body react upon, the mental. Theyproduce in it their correspondences, several octaves higher, in the samemanner as a musical note produces overtones. The mental body in its turnreacts upon the causal in the same way, and thus all the good qualitiesexpressed in the lower vehicles by degrees establish themselves permanentlyin the ego. The evil qualities cannot do so, as the rates of vibrationswhich express them are impossible for the higher mental matter of which thecausal body is constructed. 

So far, we have described vehicles which are the expression of the ego intheir respective worlds--vehicles, which he provides for himself; in thephysical world we come to a vehicle which is provided for him by Natureunder laws which will be later explained--which though also in some sensean expression of him, is by no means a perfect manifestation. In ordinarylife we see only a small part of this physical body--only that which isbuilt of the solid and liquid subdivisions of physical matter. The bodycontains matter of all the seven subdivisions, and all of them play theirpart in its life and are of equal importance, to it. 

We usually speak of the invisible part of the physical body as the ethericdouble; "double" because it exactly reproduces the size and shape of thepart of the body that we can see, and "etheric" because it is built--ofthat finer kind of matter by the vibrations of which light is conveyed tothe retina of the eye. (This must not be confused with the true æther ofspace--that of which matter is the negation. ) This invisible part of thephysical body is of great importance to us, since it is the vehicle throughwhich flow the streams of vitality which keep the body alive, and withoutit, as a bridge to convey undulations of thought and feeling from theastral to the visible denser physical matter, the ego could make no use ofthe cells of his brain. 

The life of a physical body is one of perpetual change and in order that itshall live, it needs constantly to be supplied from three distinct sources. It must have food for its digestion, air for its breathing, and vitalityfor its absorption. This vitality is essentially a force, but when clothedin matter it appears to us as a definite element, which exists in all theworlds of which we have spoken. At the moment we are concerned with thatmanifestation of it which we find in the highest subdivision of thephysical world. Just as the blood circulates through the veins, so does thevitality circulate along the nerves; and precisely as any abnormality inthe flow of the blood at once affects the physical body, so does theslightest irregularity in the absorption or flow of the vitality affectthis higher part of the physical body. 

Vitality is a force which comes originally from the sun. When an ultimatephysical atom is charged with it, it draws round itself six other atoms, and makes itself into an etheric element. The original force of vitality isthen subdivided into seven, each of the atoms carrying a separate charge. The element thus made is absorbed into the human body through the ethericpart of the spleen. It is there split up into its component parts, which atonce low to the various parts of the body assigned to them. The spleen isone of the seven force centres in the etheric part of the physical body. Ineach of our vehicles seven such centres should be in activity, and whenthey are thus active they are visible to clairvoyant sight. They appearusually as shallow vortices, for they are the points at which the forcefrom the higher bodies enters the lower. In the physical body these centresare: (1) at the base of the spine, (2) at the solar plexus, (3) at thespleen, (4) over the heart, (5) at the throat, (6) between the eyebrows, and (7) at the top of the head. There are other dormant centres, but theirawakening is undesirable. 

The shape of all the higher bodies as seen by the clairvoyant is ovoid, butthe matter composing them is not equally distributed throughout the egg. Inthe midst of this ovoid is the physical body. The physical body stronglyattracts astral matter, and in its turn the astral matter strongly attractsmental matter. Therefore by far the greater part of the matter of theastral body is gathered within the physical frame; and the same is true ofthe 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 matteraggregated in exactly the shape of the physical, although, as the matter ismore fluidic in its nature, what we see is a body built of dense mist, inthe midst of an ovoid of much finer mist. The same is true for the mentalbody. Therefore, if in the astral or the mental world we should meet anacquaintance, we should recognise him by his appearance just as instantlyas in the physical world. 

This, then, is the true constitution of man. In the first place he is aMonad, a Spark of the Divine. Of that Monad the ego is a partialexpression, formed in order that he may enter evolution, and may return tothe Monad with joy, bringing his sheaves with him in the shape of qualitiesdeveloped by garnered experience. The ego in his turn puts down part ofhimself for the same purpose into lower worlds, and we call that part apersonality, because the Latin word _persona_ means a mask, and thispersonality is the mask which the ego puts upon himself when he manifestsin worlds lower than his own. Just as the ego is a small part and animperfect expression of the Monad, so is the personality a small part andan imperfect expression of the ego; so that what we usually think of as theman is only in truth a fragment of a fragment. 

The personality wears three bodies or vehicles, the mental, the astral andthe physical. While the man is what we call alive and awake on the physicalearth he is limited by his physical body, for he uses the astral and mentalbodies only as bridges to connect himself with his lowest vehicle. One ofthe limitations of the physical body is that it quickly becomes fatiguedand needs periodical rest. Each night the man leaves it to sleep, andwithdraws into his astral vehicle, which does not become fatigued, andtherefore needs no sleep. During this sleep of the physical body the man isfree to move about in the astral world; but the extent to which he doesthis depends upon his development. The primitive savage usually does notmove more than a few miles away from his sleeping physical form--often notas much as that; and he has only the vaguest consciousness. 

The educated man is generally able to travel in his astral vehicle whereverhe will, and has much more consciousness in the astral world, though he hasnot often the faculty of bringing into his waking life any memory of whathe has seen and done while his physical body was asleep. Sometimes he doesremember some incident which he has seen, some experience which he has had, and then he calls it a vivid dream. More often his recollections arehopelessly entangled with vague memories of waking life, and withimpressions made from without upon the etheric part of his brain. Thus wearrive at the confused and often absurd dreams of ordinary life. Thedeveloped man becomes as fully conscious and active in the astral world asin the physical, and brings through into the latter full remembrance ofwhat he has been doing in the former--that is, he has a continuous lifewithout any loss of consciousness throughout the whole twenty-four hours, and thus throughout the whole of his physical life, and even through deathitself. 

Chapter VI

AFTER DEATH

Death is the laying aside of the physical body; but it makes no moredifference to the ego than does the laying aside of an overcoat to thephysical man. Having put off his physical body, the ego continues to livein his astral body until the force has become exhausted which has beengenerated by such emotions and passions as he has allowed himself to feelduring earth-life. When that has happened, the second death takes place;the astral body also falls away from him, and he finds himself living inthe mental body and in the lower mental world. In that condition he remainsuntil the thought-forces generated during his physical and astral liveshave worn themselves out; then he drops the third vehicle in its turn andremains 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 inthe three worlds one after another. The apportionment of time between thesethree worlds varies much as man advances. The primitive man lives almostexclusively in the physical world, spending only a few years in the astralat the end of each of his physical lives. As he develops, the astral lifebecomes longer, and as intellect: unfolds in him, and he becomes able tothink, he begins to spend a little time in the mental world as well. Theordinary man of civilized races remains longer in the mental world than inthe physical and astral; indeed, the more a man evolves the longer becomeshis mental, life and the shorter his life in the astral world. 

The astral life is the result of all feelings which have in them theelement of self. If they have been directly selfish, they bring him intoconditions of great unpleasantness in the astral world; if, though tingedwith thoughts of self, they have been good and kindly, they bring him acomparatively pleasant though still limited astral life. Such of histhoughts and feelings as have been entirely unselfish produce their resultsin his life in the mental world; therefore that life in the mental, worldcannot be other than blissful. The astral life, which the man has made forhimself either miserable or comparatively joyous, corresponds to whatChristians call purgatory; the lower mental life, which is always entirelyhappy, is what is called heaven. 

Man makes for himself his own purgatory and heaven, and these are notplanes, but states of consciousness. Hell does not exist; it is only afigment of the theological imagination; but a man who lives foolishly maymake for himself a very unpleasant and long enduring purgatory. Neitherpurgatory nor heaven can ever be eternal, for a finite cause cannot producean infinite result. The variations in individual cases are so wide that togive actual figures is somewhat misleading. If we take the average man ofwhat is called the lower middle class, the typical specimen of which wouldbe a small shopkeeper or shop-assistant, his average life in the astralworld would be perhaps about forty years, and the life in the mental worldabout 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 inthe heaven life. One who is specially developed may reduce the astral lifeto a few days or hours and spend fifteen hundred years in heaven. 

Not only does the length of these periods vary greatly, but the conditionsin both worlds also differ widely. The matter of which all these bodies arebuilt is not dead matter but living, and that fact has to be taken intoconsideration. The physical body is built up of cells, each of which is atiny separate life animated by the Second Outpouring, which comes forthfrom the Second Aspect of the Deity. These cells are of varying kinds andfulfil various functions, and all these facts must be taken into account ifthe man wishes to understand the work of his physical body and to live ahealthy life in it. 

The same thing applies to the astral and mental bodies. In the cell-lifewhich 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 isfor its development. The life animating the matter of which such bodies arebuilt is upon the outward arc of evolution, moving downwards or outwardsinto matter, so that progress for it means to descend into denser forms ofmatter, and to learn to express itself through them. Unfoldment for the manis just the opposite of this; he has already sunk deeply into matter and isnow rising out of that towards his source. There is consequently a constantconflict of interests between the man within and the life inhabiting thematter of his vehicles, inasmuch as its tendency is downward, while his isupward. 

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 manydifferent kinds as possible, and as coarse as possible. The next step inits evolution will be to ensoul physical matter and become used to itsstill slower oscillations; and as a step on the way to that, it desires thegrossest of the astral vibrations. It has not the intelligence definitelyto plan for these; but its instinct helps it to discover how most easily toprocure them. 

The molecules of the astral body are constantly changing, as are those ofthe physical body, but nevertheless the life in the mass of those astralmolecules has a sense, though a very vague sense, of itself as a whole--asa kind of temporary entity. It does not know that it is part of a man'sastral body; it is quite incapable of understanding what a man is; but itrealizes in a blind way that under its present conditions it receives manymore waves, and much stronger ones, than it would receive if floating atlarge in the atmosphere. It would then only occasionally catch, as from adistance, the radiation of man's passions and emotions; now it is in thevery heart of them, it can miss none, and it gets them at their strongest. Therefore it feels itself in a good position, and it makes an effort toretain that position. It finds itself in contact with something finer thanitself--the matter of the man's mental body; and it comes to feel that ifit 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 thevehicle of thought, this instinct, when translated into our language, meansthat 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 steadypressure upon the man--a kind of hunger on its side, but for him atemptation to what is coarse and undesirable. If he be a passionate manthere is a gentle but ceaseless pressure in the direction of irritability;if he be a sensual man, an equally steady pressure in the direction ofimpurity. 

A man who does not understand this usually makes one of two mistakes withregard 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 thepressure as coming from outside--as a temptation of an imaginary devil. Thetruth lies between the two. The pressure is natural, not to the man but tothe vehicle which he is using; its desire is natural and right for it, butharmful 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 feelingssuggested to him, the particles within him which need those vibrationsbecome apathetic for lack of nourishment, and eventually atrophy and fallout from his astral body, and are replaced by other particles, whosenatural wave-rate is more nearly in accordance with that which the manhabitually permits within his astral body. 

This gives the reason for what are called promptings of the lower natureduring life. If the man yields himself to them, such promptings growstronger and stronger until at last he feels as though he could not resistthem, and identifies himself with them--which is exactly what this curioushalf-life in the particles of the astral body wants him to do. 

At the death of the physical body this vague astral consciousness isalarmed. It realizes that its existence as a separated mass is menaced, andit takes instinctive steps to defend itself and to maintain its position aslong as possible. The matter of the astral body is far more fluidic thanthat of the physical, and this consciousness seizes upon its particles anddisposes them so as to resist encroachment. It puts the grossest anddensest upon the outside as a kind of shell, and arranges the others inconcentric layers, so that the body as a whole may become as resistant tofriction as its constitution permits, and may therefore retain its shape aslong as possible. 

For the man this produces various unpleasant effects. The physiology of theastral body is quite different from that of the physical; the latteracquires its information from without by means of certain organs which arespecialized as the instruments of its senses, but the astral body has noseparated senses in our meaning of the word. That which for the astral bodycorresponds to sight is the power of its molecules to respond to impactsfrom without, which come to them by means of similar molecules. Forexample, a man has within his astral body matter belonging to all thesubdivisions of the astral world, and it is because of that that he iscapable of "seeing" objects built of the matter of any of thesesubdivisions. 

Supposing an astral object to be made of the matter of the second and thirdsubdivisions mixed, a man living in the astral world could perceive thatobject only if on the surface of his astral body there were particlesbelonging to the second and third subdivisions of that world which werecapable of receiving and recording the vibrations which that object set up. A man who from the arrangement of his body by the vague consciousness ofwhich we have spoken, had on the outside of that vehicle only the densermatter of the lowest subdivision, could no more be conscious of the objectwhich we have mentioned than we are ourselves conscious in the physicalbody of the gases which move about us in the atmosphere or of objects builtexclusively of etheric matter. 

During physical life the matter of the man's astral body is in constantmotion, and its particles pass among one another much as do those ofboiling water. Consequently at any given moment it is practically certainthat particles of all varieties will be represented on the surface of hisastral body, and that therefore when he is using his astral body duringsleep he will be able to "see" by its means any astral object whichapproaches him. 

After death, if he has allowed the rearrangement to be made (as fromignorance, all ordinary persons do) his condition in this respect will bedifferent. Having on the surface of his astral body only the lowest andgrossest particles, he can receive impressions only from correspondingparticles outside; so that instead of seeing the whole of the astral worldabout him, he will see only one-seventh of it, and that the densest andmost impure. The vibrations of this heavier matter are the expressions onlyof objectionable feelings and emotions, and of the least refined class ofastral entities. Therefore it emerges that a man in this condition can seeonly the undesirable inhabitants of the astral world, and can feel only itsmost unpleasant and vulgar influences. 

He is surrounded by other men, whose astral bodies are probably of quiteordinary character; but since he can see and feel only that which is lowestand coarsest in them, they appear to him to be monsters of vice with noredeeming 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 astralworld a hell; yet the fault is in no way with the astral world, but withhimself--first, for allowing within himself so much of that cruder type ofmatter, and, secondly, for letting that vague astral consciousness dominatehim and dispose it in that particular way. 

The man who has studied these matters declines absolutely to yield to thepressure during life or to permit the rearrangement after death, andconsequently he retains his power of seeing the astral world as a whole, and not merely the cruder and baser part of it. 

The astral world has many points in common with the physical; just like thephysical, it presents different appearances to different people, and evento the same person at different periods of his career. It is the home ofemotions and of lower thoughts; and emotions are much stronger in thatworld than in this. When a person is awake we cannot see that larger partof his emotion at all; its strength goes in setting in motion the grossphysical matter of the brain. So if we see a man show affection here, whatwe can see is not the whole of his affection, but only such part of it asis left after all this other work has been done. Emotions therefore bulkfar more largely in the astral life than in the physical. They in no wayexclude higher thought if they are controlled, so in the astral world as inthe 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 themoon; but though the whole of this realm is open to any of its inhabitantswho have not permitted the redistribution of their matter, the greatmajority remain much nearer to the surface of the earth. The matter of thedifferent subdivisions of that world interpenetrates with perfect freedom, but there is on the whole a general tendency for the denser matter tosettle towards the centre. The conditions are much like those which obtainin a bucket of water which contains in suspension a number of kinds ofmatter of different degrees of density. Since the water is kept inperpetual motion, the different kinds of matter are diffused through it;but in spite of that, the densest matter is found in greatest quantitynearest to the bottom. So that though we must not at all think of thevarious subdivisions of the astral world as lying above one another as dothe coats of an onion, it is nevertheless true that the average arrangementof the matter of those subdivisions partakes somewhat of that generalcharacter. 

Astral matter interpenetrates physical matter precisely as though it werenot there, but each subdivision of physical matter has a strong attractionfor astral matter of the corresponding subdivision. Hence it arises thatevery physical body has its astral counterpart. If I have a glass of waterstanding upon a table, the glass and the table, being of physical matter inthe solid state, are interpenetrated by astral matter of the lowestsubdivision. The water in the glass, being liquid, is interpenetrated bywhat we may call astral liquid--that is, by astral matter of the sixthsubdivision; whereas the air surrounding both, being physical matter in thegaseous condition, is entirely interpenetrated by astral gaseousmatter--that is, astral matter of the fifth subdivision. 

But just as air, water, glass and table are alike interpenetrated all thetime by the finer physical matter which we have called etheric, so are allthe astral counterparts interpenetrated by the finer astral matter of thehigher subdivisions which correspond to the etheric. But even the astralsolid is less dense than the finest of the physical ethers. 

The man who finds himself in the astral world after death, if he has notsubmitted to the rearrangement of the matter of his body, will notice butlittle difference from physical life. He can float about in any directionat will, but in actual fact he usually stays in the neighbourhood to whichhe is accustomed. He is still able to perceive his house, his room, hisfurniture, his relations, his friends. The living, when ignorant of thehigher worlds, suppose themselves to have "lost" those who have laid asidetheir physical bodies; but the dead are never for a moment under theimpression that they have lost the living. 

Functioning as they are in the astral body, the dead can no longer see thephysical bodies of those whom they have left behind; but they do see theirastral bodies, and as those are exactly the same in outline as thephysical, they are perfectly aware of the presence of their friends. Theysee each one surrounded by a faint ovoid of luminous mist, and if theyhappen to be observant, they may notice various other small changes intheir surroundings; but it is at least quite clear to them that they havenot gone away to some distant heaven or hell, but still remain in touchwith the world which they know, although they see it at a somewhatdifferent angle. 

The dead man has the astral body of his living friend obviously before him, so he cannot think of him as lost; but while the friend is awake, the deadman will not be able to make any impression upon him, for the consciousnessof the friend is then in the physical world, and his astral body is beingused only as a bridge. The dead man cannot therefore communicate with hisfriend, nor can he read his friend's higher thoughts; but he will see bythe change in colour in the astral body any emotion which that friend mayfeel, and with a little practice and observation he may easily learn toread all those thoughts of his friend which have in them anything of selfor of desire. 

When the friend falls asleep the whole position is changed. He is then alsoconscious in the astral world side by side with the dead man, and they cancommunicate 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 thetrouble to understand the astral world and to consider the character of theperson concerned. That character is not in the slightest degree changed bydeath; the man's thoughts, emotions and desires are exactly the same asbefore. He is in every way the same man, minus his physical body; and hishappiness or misery depends upon the extent to which this loss of thephysical body affects him. 

If his longings have been such as need a physical body for theirgratification, he is likely to suffer considerably. Such a cravingmanifests itself as a vibration in the astral body, and while we are stillin this world most of its strength is employed in setting in motion theheavy physical particles. Desire is therefore a far greater force in theastral life than in the physical, and if the man has not been in the habitof controlling it, and if in this new life it cannot be satisfied, it maycause 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 tooverpower reason, common sense and all the feelings of decency and offamily affection. After death the man finds himself in the astral worldfeeling the appetite perhaps a hundred times more strongly, yet absolutelyunable to satisfy it because he has lost the physical body. Such a life isa very real hell--the only hell there is; yet no one is punishing him; heis reaping the perfectly natural result of his own action. Gradually astime passes this force of desire wears out, but only at the cost ofterrible suffering for the man, because to him every day seems as athousand years. He has no measure of time such as we have in the physicalworld. He can measure it only by his sensations. From a distortion of thisfact has come the blasphemous idea of eternal damnation. 

Many other cases less extreme than this will readily suggest themselves, inwhich a hankering which cannot be fulfilled may prove itself a torture. Amore ordinary case is that of a man who has no particular vices, such asdrink or sensuality, but yet has been attached entirely to things of thephysical world, and has lived a life devoted to business or to aimlesssocial functions. For him the astral world is a place of weariness; theonly thing for which he craves are no longer possible for him, for in theastral world there is no business to be done, and, though he may have asmuch companionship as he wishes, society is now for him a very differentmatter, because all the pretences upon which it is usually based in thisworld are no longer possible. 

These cases, however, are only the few, and for most people the state afterdeath is much happier than life upon earth. The first feeling of which thedead man is usually conscious is one of the most wonderful and delightfulfreedom. He has absolutely nothing to worry about, and no duties rest uponhim, except those which he chooses to impose upon himself. For all but avery small minority, physical life is spent in doing what the man wouldmuch rather not do; but he has to do it in order to support himself or hiswife and family. In the astral world no support is necessary; food is nolonger needed, shelter is not required, since he is entirely unaffected byheat or cold; and each man by the mere exercise of his thought clotheshimself as he wishes. For the first time since early childhood the man isentirely free to spend the whole of his time in doing just exactly what helikes. 

His capacity for every kind of enjoyment is greatly enhanced, if only thatenjoyment does not need a physical body for its expression. If he loves thebeauties of Nature, it is now within his power to travel with greatrapidity and without fatigue over the whole world, to contemplate all itsloveliest spots, and to explore its most secret recesses. If he delights inart, 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 himthan it has ever meant before; for though he can no longer hear thephysical sounds, he can receive the whole effect of the music into himselfin far fuller measure than in this lower world. If he is a student ofscience, he can not only visit the great scientific men of the world, andcatch from them such thoughts and ideas as may be within his comprehension, but also he can undertake researches of his own into the science of thishigher world, seeing much more of what he is doing than has ever beforebeen possible to him. Best of all, he whose great delight in this world hasbeen to help his fellow men will still find ample scope for hisphilanthropic efforts. 

Men are no longer hungry, cold, or suffering from disease in this astralworld; but there are vast numbers who, being ignorant, desireknowledge--who, being still in the grip of desire for earthly things, needthe explanation which will turn their thought to higher levels--who haveentangled themselves in a web of their own imaginings, and can be set freeonly by one who understands these new surroundings and can help them todistinguish the facts of the world from their own ignorantmisrepresentation of them. All these can be helped by the man ofintelligence and of kindly heart. Many men arrive in the astral world inutter ignorance of its conditions, not realizing at first that they aredead, and when they do realize it fearing the fate that may be in store forthem, because of false and wicked theological teaching. All of these needthe cheer and comfort which can only be given to them by a man of commonsense who possesses some knowledge of the facts of Nature. 

There is thus no lack of the most profitable occupation for any man whoseinterests during his physical life have been rational; nor is there anylack of companionship. Men whose tastes and pursuits are similar driftnaturally 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 alreadyreferred to the seven subdivisions of this astral world. Numbering thesefrom the highest and least material downwards, we find that they fallnaturally into three classes--divisions one, two and three forming one suchclass, and four, five and six another; while the seventh and lowest of allstands alone. As I have said, although they all interpenetrate, theirsubstance has a general tendency to arrange itself according to itsspecific gravity, so that most of the matter belonging to the highersubdivisions is found at a greater elevation above the surface of the earththan the bulk of the matter of the lower portions. 

Hence, although any person inhabiting the astral world can move into anypart of it, his natural tendency is to float at the level which correspondswith the specific gravity of the heaviest matter in his astral body. Theman who has not permitted the rearrangement of the matter of his astralbody after death is entirely free of the whole astral world; but themajority, who do permit it, are not equally free--not because there isanything to prevent them from rising to the highest level or sinking to thelowest, but because they are able to sense clearly only a certain part ofthat 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 extremecomparative density of that matter he is conscious of less outside of hisown subdivision than a man at any other level. The general specific gravityof his own astral body tends to make him float below the surface of theearth. The physical matter of the earth is absolutely non-existent to hisastral senses, and his natural attraction is to that least delicate form ofastral matter which is the counterpart of that solid earth. A man who hasconfined himself to that lowest subdivision will therefore usually findhimself floating in darkness and cut off to a great extent from others ofthe dead, whose lives have been such as to keep them on a higher level. 

Divisions four, five and six of the astral world (to which most people areattracted) have for their background the astral counterpart of the physicalworld in which we live, and all its familiar accessories. Life in the sixthsubdivision is simply like our ordinary life on this earth minus thephysical body and its necessities while as it ascends through the fifth andfourth divisions it becomes less and less material and is more and morewithdrawn from our lower world and its interests. 

The first, second and third sections, though occupying the same space, yetgive the impression of being much further removed from the physical, andcorrespondingly less material. Men who inhabit these levels lose sight ofthe earth and its belongings; they are usually deeply self-absorbed, and toa large extent create their own surroundings, though these are sufficientlyobjective to be perceptible to other men of their level, and also toclairvoyant vision. 

This region is the summerland of which we hear in spiritualisticcircles--the world in which, by the exercise of their thought, the deadcall into temporary existence their houses and schools and cities. Thesesurroundings, though fanciful from our point of view, are to the dead asreal as houses, temples or churches built of stone are to us, and manypeople live very contentedly there for a number of years in the midst ofall these thought-creations. 

Some of the scenery thus produced is very beautiful; it includes lovelylakes, magnificent mountains, pleasant flower gardens, decidedly superiorto anything in the physical world; though on the other hand it alsocontains much which to the trained clairvoyant (who has learned to seethings as they are) appears ridiculous--as, for example, the endeavours ofthe unlearned to make a thought-form of some of the curious symbolicdescriptions contained in their various scriptures. An ignorant peasant'sthought-image of a beast full of eyes within, or of a sea of glass mingledwith fire, is naturally often grotesque, although to its maker it isperfectly satisfactory. This astral world is full of thought-createdfigures and landscapes. Men of all religions image here their deities andtheir respective conceptions of paradise, and enjoy themselves greatlyamong these dream-forms until they pass into the mental world and come intotouch with something nearer to reality. 

Every one after death--any ordinary person, that is, in whose case therearrangement of the matter of the astral body has been made--has to passthrough all these subdivisions in turn. It does not follow that every oneis conscious in all of them. The ordinarily decent person has in his astralbody but little of the matter of its lowest portion--by no means enough toconstruct a heavy shell. The redistribution puts on the outside of the bodyits densest matter; in the ordinary man this is usually matter of the sixthsubdivision, mixed with a little of the seventh, and so he finds himselfviewing the counterpart of the physical world. 

The ego is steadily withdrawing into himself, and as he withdraws he leavesbehind him level after level of this astral matter. So the length of theman's detention in any section of the astral world is precisely inproportion 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 hasindulged, and the class of matter which by so doing he has attractedtowards him and built into himself. Finding himself then in the sixthsection, still hovering about the places and persons with which he was mostclosely connected while on earth, the average man, as time passes on, findsthe earthly surroundings gradually growing dimmer and becoming of less andless importance to him, and he tends more and more to mould his entourageinto agreement with the more persistent of his thoughts. By the time thathe reaches the third level he finds that this characteristic has entirelysuperseded the vision of the realities of the astral world. 

The second subdivision is a shade less material than the third, for if thelatter is the summerland of the spiritualists, the former is the materialheaven of the more ignorantly orthodox; while the first or highest levelappears to be the special home of those who during life have devotedthemselves to materialistic but intellectual pursuits, following them notfor the sake of benefiting their fellow men, but either from motives ofselfish ambition or simply for the sake of intellectual exercise. All thesepeople are perfectly happy. Later on they will reach a stage when they canappreciate something much higher, and when that stage comes they will findthe higher ready for them. 

In this astral life people of the same nation and of the same interest tendto keep together, precisely as they do here. The religious people, forexample, who imagine for themselves a material heaven, do not at allinterfere with men of other faiths whose ideas of celestial joy aredifferent. There is nothing to prevent a Christian from drifting into theheaven of the Hindu or the Muhammadan, but he is little likely to do so, because his interests and attractions are all in the heaven of his ownfaith, along with friends who have shared that faith with him. This is byno means the true heaven described by any of the religions, but only agross and material misrepresentation of it; the real thing will be foundwhen we come to consider the mental world. 

The dead man who has not permitted the rearrangement of the matter of hisastral body is free of the entire world, and can wander all over it atwill, seeing the whole of whatever he examines, instead of only a part ofit as the others do. He does not find it inconveniently crowded, for theastral world is much larger than the surface of the physical earth, whileits population is somewhat smaller, because the average life of humanity inthe astral world is shorter than the average in the physical. 

Not only the dead, however, are the inhabitants of this astral world, butalways about one-third of the living as well, who have temporarily lefttheir physical bodies behind them in sleep. The astral world has also agreat number of non-human inhabitants, some of them far below the level ofman, and some considerably above him. The nature-spirits form an enormouskingdom, some of whose members exist in the astral world, and make a largepart of its population. This vast kingdom exists in the physical worldalso, for many of its orders wear etheric bodies and are only just beyondthe range of ordinary physical sight. Indeed, circumstances notinfrequently occur under which they can be seen, and in many lonelymountain districts these appearances are traditional among the peasants, bywhom they are commonly spoken of as fairies, good people, pixies orbrownies. 

They are protean, but usually prefer to wear a miniature human form. Sincethey are not yet individualized, they may be thought of almost as ethericand astral animals; yet many of them are intellectually quite equal toaverage humanity. They have their nations and types just as we have, andthey are often grouped into four great classes, and called the spirits ofearth, water, fire and air. Only the members of the last of these fourdivisions normally confine their manifestation to the astral world, buttheir numbers are so prodigious that they are everywhere present in it. 

Another great kingdom has its representatives here--the kingdom of theangels (called in India the devas). This is a body of beings who stand farhigher in evolution than man, and only the lowest fringe of their hoststouches the astral world--a fringe whose constituent members are perhaps atabout the level of development of what we should call a distinctly goodman. 

We are neither the only nor even the principal inhabitants of our solarsystem; there are other lines of evolution running parallel with our ownwhich do not pass through humanity at all, though they must all passthrough a level corresponding to that of humanity. On one of these otherlines of evolution are the nature-spirits above described, and at a higherlevel of that line comes this great kingdom of the angels. At our presentlevel 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 thecyclic progress of the world is now bringing it more and more under theinfluence of the Seventh Ray. This Seventh Ray has ceremonial for one ofits characteristics, and it is through ceremonial such as that of theChurch or of Freemasonry that we come most easily into touch with theangelic kingdom. 

When all the man's lower emotions have worn themselves out--all emotions, Imean, which have in them any thought of self--his life in the astral worldis over, and the ego passes on into the mental world. This is not in anysense a movement in space; it is simply that the steady process ofwithdrawal has now passed beyond even the finest kind of astral matter; sothat the man's consciousness is focussed in the mental world. His astralbody 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 ofthe withdrawal he left behind him a physical corpse. There is a certaindifference between the two which should be noticed, because of theconsequences which ensue from it. 

When the man leaves his physical body his separation from it should becomplete, and generally is so; but this is not the case with the much finermatter of the astral body. In the course of his physical life the ordinaryman usually entangles himself so much in astral matter (which, from anotherpoint of view, means that he identifies himself so closely with his lowerdesires) that the indrawing force of the ego cannot entirely separate himfrom it again. Consequently, when he finally breaks away from the astralbody and transfers his activities to the mental, he loses a little ofhimself he leaves some of himself behind imprisoned in the matter of theastral body. 

This gives a certain remnant of vitality to the astral, corpse, so that itstill moves freely in the astral world, and may easily be mistaken by theignorant for the man himself--the more so as such fragmentary consciousnessas still remains to it is part of the man, and therefore it naturallyregards itself and speaks of itself as the man. It retains his memories, but is only a partial and unsatisfactory representation of him. Sometimesin spiritualistic séances one comes into contact with an entity of thisdescription, and wonders how it is that one's friend has deteriorated somuch 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 astralbody, but does not return to the ego to whom it originally belonged. Eventhen the astral corpse still remains, but when it is quite without anytrace of its former life we call it a "shell". Of itself a shell cannotcommunicate at a séance, or take any action of any sort; but such shellsare frequently seized upon by sportive nature-spirits and used as temporaryhabitations. A shell so occupied _can_ communicate at a séance andmasquerade as its original owner, since some of his characteristics andcertain portions of his memory can be evoked by the nature-spirit from hisastral corpse. 

When a man falls asleep, he withdraws in his astral body, leaving the wholeof the physical vehicle behind him. When he dies, he draws out with him theetheric part of the physical body, and consequently has usually at least amoment of unconsciousness while he is freeing himself from it. The ethericdouble is not a vehicle and cannot be used as such; so when the man issurrounded by it, he is for the moment able to function neither in thephysical world nor the astral. Some men succeed in shaking themselves freeof this etheric envelope in a few moments; others rest within it for hours, days or even weeks. 

Nor is it certain that, when the man is free from this, he will at oncebecome conscious of the astral world. For there is in him a good deal ofthe lowest kind of astral matter, so that a shell of this may be madearound him. But he may be quite unable to use that matter. If he has liveda reasonably decent life he is little in the habit of employing it orresponding to its vibrations, and he cannot instantly acquire this habit. For that reason, he may remain unconscious until that matter graduallywears away, and some matter which he _is_ in the habit of using comes onthe surface. Such an occlusion, however, is scarcely ever complete, foreven in the most carefully made shell some particles of the finer matteroccasionally find their way to the surface, and give him fleeting glimpsesof his surroundings. 

There are some men who cling so desperately to their physical vehicles thatthey will not relax their hold upon the etheric double, but strive with alltheir might to retain it. They may be successful in doing so for aconsiderable time, but only at the cost of great discomfort to themselves. They are shut out from both worlds, and find themselves surrounded by adense grey mist, through which they see very dimly the things of thephysical world, but with all the colour gone from them. It is a terriblestruggle for them to maintain their position in this miserable condition, and yet they will not relax their hold upon the etheric double, feelingthat 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 fromsheer fatigue their hold fails them, and they slip into the comparativehappiness of astral life. Sometimes in their desperation they grasp blindlyat other bodies, and try to enter into them, and occasionally they aresuccessful in such an attempt. They may seize upon a baby body, ousting thefeeble personality for whom it was intended, or sometimes they grasp eventhe body of an animal. All this trouble arises entirely from ignorance, andit 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, andawakens in the mental world. With him it is not at all what it is to thetrained clairvoyant, who ranges through it and lives amidst thesurroundings which he finds there, precisely as he would in the physical orastral worlds. The ordinary man has all through his life been encompassinghimself with a mass of thought-forms. Some which are transitory, to whichhe pays little attention, have fallen away from him long ago, but thosewhich represent the main interests of his life are always with him, andgrow ever stronger and stronger. If some of these have been selfish, theirforce pours down into astral matter, and he has exhausted them during hislife in the astral world. But those which are entirely unselfish belongpurely to his mental body, and so when he finds himself in the mental worldit 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 arereally in action to their fullest extent which he has used in thisaltruistic manner. When he awakens again after the second death, his firstsense is one of indescribable bliss and vitality--a feeling of such utterjoy in living that he needs for the time nothing but just to live. Suchbliss is of the essence of life in all the higher worlds of the system. Even astral life has possibilities of happiness far greater than anythingthat we can know in the dense body; but the heaven-life in the mental worldis out of all proportion more blissful than the astral. In each higherworld the same experience is repeated. Merely to live in any one of themseems the uttermost conceivable bliss; and yet, when the next one isreached, it is seen that it far surpasses the last. 

Just as the bliss increases, so does the wisdom and the breadth of view. Aman fusses about in the physical world and thinks himself so busy and sowise; but when he touches even the astral, he realizes at once that he hasbeen all the time only a caterpillar crawling about and seeing nothing buthis own leaf, whereas now he has spread his wings like the butterfly andflown away into the sunshine of a wider world. Yet, impossible as it mayseem, the same experience is repeated when he passes into the mental world, for this life is in turn so much fuller and wider and more intense than theastral that once more no comparison is possible. And yet beyond all thesethere is still another life, that of the intuitional world, unto which eventhis is but as moonlight unto sunlight. 

The man's position in the mental world differs widely from that in theastral. There he was using a body to which he was thoroughly accustomed, abody 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--avehicle furthermore which is very far from being fully developed--a vehiclewhich shuts him out to a great extent from the world about him, instead ofenabling him to see it. The lower part of his nature burnt itself awayduring his purgatorial life, and now there remain to him only his higherand more refined thoughts, the noble and unselfish aspirations which hepoured out during earth-life. These cluster round him, and make a sort ofshell about him, through the medium of which he is able to respond tocertain types of vibrations in this refined matter. 

These thoughts which surround him are the powers by which he draws upon thewealth of the heaven-world, and he finds it to be a storehouse of infiniteextent, upon which he is able to draw just according to the power of thosethoughts and aspirations; for in this world is existing the infinitefullness of the Divine Mind, open in all its limitless affluence to everysoul, just in proportion as that soul has qualified itself to receive. Aman who has already completed his human evolution, who has fully realizedand unfolded the divinity whose germ is within him, finds the whole of thisglory within his reach; but since none of us has yet done that, since weare only gradually rising towards that splendid consummation, it followsthat none of us as yet can grasp that entirety. 

But each draws from it and cognizes so much of it as he has by previouseffort prepared himself to take. Different individuals bring very differentcapacities; they tell us in the East that each man brings his own cup, andsome of the cups are large and some are small, but small or large every cupis filled to its utmost capacity; the sea of bliss holds far more thanenough for all. 

A man can look out upon all this glory and beauty only through the windowswhich he himself has made. Every one of these thought-forms is such awindow, through which response may come to him from the forces without. Ifduring his earth-life he has chiefly regarded physical things, then he hasmade for himself but few windows through which this higher glory can shinein upon him. Yet every man who is above the lowest savage must have hadsome touch of pure unselfish feeling, even if it were but once in all hislife, 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 hisown shell of thought is of the most limited character. He is surrounded byliving forces, mighty angelic inhabitants of this glorious world, and manyof their orders are very sensitive to certain aspirations of man andreadily respond to them. But a man can take advantage of these only in sofar as he has already prepared himself to profit by them, for his thoughtsand aspirations are only along certain lines, and he cannot suddenly formnew lines. There are many directions which the higher thought maytake--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 theselines finds both measureless enjoyment and unlimited instruction waitingfor him--that is, the amount of enjoyment and instruction is limited onlyby his power of perception. 

We find a large number of people whose only higher thoughts are thoseconnected with affection and devotion. If a man loves another deeply or ifhe feels strong devotion to a personal deity, he makes a strong mentalimage of that friend or of the deity, and the object of his feeling isoften present in his mind. Inevitably he takes that mental image into theheaven-world with him, because it is to that level of matter that itnaturally belongs. 

Take first the case of affection. The love which forms and retains such animage is a very powerful force--a force which is strong enough to reach andto 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 bodywhich is so partial a representation of him. The ego of the friend, feelingthis vibration, at once and eagerly responds to it, and pours himself intothe thought-form, which has been made for him; so that the man's friend istruly present with him more vividly than ever before. To this result itmakes no difference whatever whether the friend is what we call living ordead; the appeal is made not to the fragment of the friend which issometimes imprisoned in a physical body, but to the man himself on his owntrue level; and he always responds. A man who has a hundred friends cansimultaneously and fully respond to the affection of every one of them, forno number of representations on a lower level can exhaust the infinity ofthe ego. 

Thus every man in his heaven-life has around him all the friends for whosecompany he wishes, and they are for him always at their best, because hehimself makes for them the thought-form through which they manifest to him. In our limited physical world we are so accustomed to thinking of ourfriend as only the limited manifestation which we know in the physicalworld, that it is at first difficult for us to realize the grandeur of theconception; when we can realize it, we shall see how much nearer we are intruth to our friends in the heaven-life than we ever were on earth. Thesame is true in the case of devotion. The man in the heaven-world is twogreat stages nearer to the object of his devotion than he was duringphysical life, and so his experiences are of a far more transcendentcharacter. 

In this mental world, as in the astral, there are seven subdivisions. Thefirst, second and third are the habitat of the ego in his causal body, sothe mental body contains matter of the remaining four only, and it is inthose sections that his heaven-life is passed. Man does not, however, passfrom one to the other of these, as is the case in the astral world, forthere is nothing in this life corresponding to the rearrangement. Rather isthe man drawn to the level which best corresponds to the degree of hisdevelopment, and on that level he spends the whole of his life in themental body. Each man makes his own conditions, so that the number ofvarieties is infinite. 

Speaking broadly, we may say that the dominant characteristic observed inthe lowest portion is unselfish family affection. Unselfish it must be, orit would find no place here; all selfish tinges, if there were any, workedout their results in the astral world. The dominant characteristic of thesixth level may be said to be anthropomorphical religious devotion; whilethat of the fifth section is devotion expressing itself in active work ofsome sort. All these--the fifth, sixth and seventh subdivisions--areconcerned with the working out of devotion to personalities (either toone's family and friends or to a personal deity) rather than the widerdevotion to humanity for its own sake, which finds its expression in thenext section. The activities of this fourth stage are varied. They can bestbe arranged in four main divisions: unselfish pursuit of spiritualknowledge; high philosophy or scientific thought; literary or artisticability exercised for unselfish purposes; and service for the sake ofservice. 

Even to this glorious heaven-life there comes an end, and then the mentalbody in its turn drops away as the others have done, and the man's life inhis causal body begins. Here the man needs no windows, for this is his truehome and all his walls have fallen away. The majority of men have as yetbut very little consciousness at such a height as this; they rest dreamilyunobservant and scarcely awake, but such vision as they have is true, however limited it may be by their lack of development. Still, every timethey return, these limitations will be smaller, and they themselves will begreater; so that this truest life will be wider and fuller for them. 

As this improvement continues, this causal life grows, longer and longer, assuming an ever larger proportion as compared to the existence at lowerlevels. And as he grows, the man becomes capable not only of receiving butalso of giving. Then indeed is his triumph approaching, for he is learningthe lesson of the Christ, learning the crowning glory of sacrifice, thesupreme delight of pouring out all his life for the helping of hisfellow-men, the devotion of the self to the all, of celestial strength tohuman service, of all those splendid heavenly forces to the aid of thestruggling 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 bottomof the golden ladder may see rising above us, so that we may report them tothose who have not seen as yet, in order that they too may open their eyesto the unimaginable splendour which surrounds them here and now in thisdull daily life. This is part of the gospel of Theosophy--the certainty ofthis sublime future for all. It is certain because it is here already, because to inherit it we have only to fit ourselves for it. 

Chapter VII

REINCARNATION

This life of the ego in his own world, which is so glorious and so fullysatisfying for the developed man, plays but a very small part in the lifeof the ordinary person, for in his case the ego has not yet reached asufficient stage of development to be awake in his causal body. Inobedience to the law of Nature he has withdrawn into it, but in doing so hehas lost the sensation of vivid life, and his restless desire to feel thisonce more pushes him in the direction of another descent into matter. 

This is the scheme of evolution appointed for man at the presentstage--that he shall develop by descending into grosser matter, and thenascend to carry back into himself the result of the experiences soobtained. His real life, therefore, covers millions of years, and what weare in the habit of calling a life is only one day of this greaterexistence. Indeed, it is in reality only a small part of one day; for alife of seventy years in the physical world is often succeeded by a periodof twenty times that length spent in higher spheres. 

Every one of us has a long line of these physical lives behind him, and theordinary man has a fairly long line still in front of him. Each of suchlives is a day at school. The ego puts upon himself his garment of fleshand goes forth into the school of the physical world to learn certainlessons. He learns them, or does not learn them, or partially learns them, as the case may be, during his schoolday of earth-life; then he lays asidethe vesture of the flesh and returns home to his own level for rest andrefreshment. In the morning of each new life he takes up again his lessonat the point where he left it the night before. Some lessons he may be ableto 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 anintelligent grasp of the rules of the school, and takes the trouble toadapt his conduct to them, his school-life is comparatively short, and whenit is over he goes forth fully equipped into the real life of the higherworlds for which all this is only a preparation. Other egos are duller boyswho do not learn so quickly; some of them do not understand the rules ofthe school, and through that ignorance are constantly breaking them; othersare wayward, and even when they see the rules they cannot at once bringthemselves to act in harmony with them. All of these have a longerschool-life, and by their own actions they delay their entry upon the reallife of the higher worlds. 

For this is a school in which no pupil ever fails; every one must go on tothe end. He has no choice as to that; but the length of time which he willtake in qualifying himself for the higher examinations is left entirely tohis own discretion. The wise pupil, seeing that school-life is not a thingin itself, but only a preparation for a more glorious and far wider life, endeavours to comprehend as fully as possible the rules of his school, andshapes his life in accordance with them as closely as he can, so that notime may be lost in the learning of whatever lessons are necessary. Heco-operates intelligently with the Teachers, and sets himself to do themaximum of work which is possible for him, in order that as soon as he canhe 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 belived, and in that way gives a great advantage to its students. The firstgreat law is that of evolution. Every man has to become a perfect man, tounfold to the fullest degree the divine possibilities which lie latentwithin him, for that unfoldment is the object of the entire scheme so faras he is concerned. This law of evolution steadily presses him onward tohigher and higher achievements. The wise man tries to anticipate itsdemands--to run ahead of the necessary curriculum, for in that way he notonly avoids all collision with it, but he obtains the maximum of assistancefrom its action. The man who lags behind in the race of life finds itssteady pressure constantly constraining him--a pressure which, if resisted, rapidly becomes painful. Thus the laggard on the path of evolution hasalways the sense of being hunted and driven by his fate, while the man whointelligently co-operates is left perfectly free to choose the direction inwhich he shall move, so long as it is onward and upward. 

The second great law under which this evolution is taking place is the lawof cause and effect. There can be no effect without its cause, and everycause must produce its effect. They are in fact not two but one, for theeffect is really part of the cause, and he who sets one in motion sets theother also. There is in Nature no such idea as that of reward orpunishment, but only of cause and effect. Anyone can see this in connectionwith mechanics or chemistry; the clairvoyant sees it equally clearly withregard to the problems of evolution. The same law obtains in the higher asin the lower worlds; there, as here, the angle of reflection is alwaysequal to the angle of incidence. It is a law of mechanics that action andreaction are equal and opposite. In the almost infinitely finer matter ofthe higher worlds the reaction is by no means always instantaneous; it maysometimes be spread over long periods of time, but it returns inevitablyand exactly. 

Just as certain in its working as the mechanical law in the physical worldis the higher law, according to which the man who sends out a good thoughtor does a good action receives good in return, while the man who sends outan evil thought or does an evil action, receives evil in return with equalaccuracy--once more, not in the least a reward or punishment administeredby some external will, but simply as the definite and mechanical result ofhis own activity. Man has learnt to appreciate a mechanical result in thephysical world, because the reaction is usually almost immediate and can beseen by him. He does not invariably understand the reaction in the higherworlds because that takes a wider sweep, and often returns not in thisphysical life, but in some future one. 

The action of this law affords the explanation of a number of the problemsof ordinary life. It accounts for the different destinies imposed uponpeople, and also for the differences in the people themselves. If one manis clever in a certain direction and another is stupid, it is because in aprevious life the clever man has devoted much effort to practise in thatparticular direction, while the stupid man is trying it for the first time. The genius and the precocious child are examples not of the favouritism ofsome deity but of the result produced by previous lives of application. Allthe varied circumstances which surrounded us are the result of our ownactions in the past, precisely as are the qualities of which we findourselves in possession. We are what we have made ourselves, and ourcircumstances 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 arenevertheless certain great Angels who are concerned with itsadministration. They cannot change by one feather-weight the amount of theresult which follows upon any given thought or act, but they can withincertain limits expedite or delay its action, and decide what form it shalltake. 

If this were not done there would be at least a possibility that in hisearlier stages the man might blunder so seriously that the results of hisblundering might be more than he could bear. The plan of the Deity is togive man a limited amount of free-will; if he uses that small amount well, he earns the right to a little more next time; if he uses it badly, suffering comes upon him as the result of such evil use, and he findshimself restrained by the result of his previous actions. As the man learnshow to use his free-will, more and more of it is entrusted to him, so thathe can acquire for himself practically unbounded freedom in the directionof good, but his power to do wrong is strictly restricted. He can progressas rapidly as he will, but he cannot wreck his life in his ignorance. Inthe earlier stages of the savage life of primitive man it is natural thatthere should be on the whole more of evil than of good, and if the entireresult 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. Whilesome of them produce immediate results, others need much more time fortheir action, and so it comes to pass that as the man develops he has abovehim a hovering cloud of undischarged results, some of them good, some ofthem bad. Out of this mass (which we may regard for purposes of analogymuch as though it were a debt owing to the powers of Nature) a certainamount falls due in each of his successive births; and that amount, soassigned, 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 ofsuffering are due to him, and will unavoidably happen to him; how he willmeet this destiny and what use he will make of it, that is left entirely tohis own option. It is a certain amount of force which has to work itselfout. Nothing can prevent the action of that force, but its action mayalways 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 otherdebt; it may be paid in one large cheque upon the bank of life--by some onesupreme catastrophe; or it may be paid in a number of smaller notes, inminor troubles and worries; in some cases it may even be paid in the smallchange of a great number of petty annoyances. But one thing is quitecertain--that, in some form or other, paid it will have to be. 

The conditions of our present life, then, are absolutely the result of ourown action in the past; and the other side of that statement is that ouractions in this life are building up conditions for the next one. A man whofinds himself limited either in powers or in outer circumstances may notalways be able to make himself or his conditions all that he would wish inthis life; but he can certainly secure for the next one whatever hechooses. 

Man's every action ends not with himself, but invariably affects othersaround him. In some cases this effect may be comparatively trivial, whilein 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 withNature; but the greater effects, whether good or bad, make a personalaccount 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 generalfund of Nature's benefits; but one who by some good action changes thewhole current of another man's life will assuredly have to meet that sameman again in a future life, in order that he who has been benefited mayhave the opportunity of repaying the kindness that has been done to him. One who causes annoyance to another will suffer proportionately for itsomewhere, somehow, in the future, though he may never meet again the manwhom he has troubled; but one who does serious harm to another, one whowrecks his life or retards his evolution, must certainly meet his victimagain at some later point in the course of their lives, so that he may havethe opportunity, by kindly and self-sacrificing service, ofcounterbalancing the wrong which he has done. In short, large debts must bepaid personally, but small ones go into the general fund. 

These then are the principal factors which determine the next birth of theman. First acts the great law of evolution, and its tendency is to pressthe man into that position in which he can most easily develop thequalities which he most needs. For the purposes of the general scheme, humanity is divided into great races, called root-races, which rule andoccupy the world successively. The great Aryan or Indo-Caucasian race, which at the present moment includes the most advanced of Earth'sinhabitants, is one of these. That which came before it in the order ofevolution was the Mongolian race, usually called in Theosophical booksAtlantean because the continent from which it ruled the world lay where nowroll the waters of the Atlantic ocean. Before that came the Negroid race, some of whose descendants still exist, though by this time much mingledwith offshoots of later races. From each of these great root-races thereare many offshoots which we call sub-races--such, for example, as the Romanraces or the Teutonic; and each of the sub-races in turn divides itselfinto branch-races, such as the French and the Italians, the English and theGermans. 

These arrangements are made in order that for each ego there may be a widechoice of varying conditions and surroundings. Each race is especiallyadapted to develop within its people one or other of the qualities whichare needed in the course of evolution. In every nation there exist analmost infinite number of diverse conditions, riches and poverty, a widefield of opportunities or a total lack of them, facilities for developmentor conditions under which development is difficult or well-nigh impossible. Amidst all these infinite possibilities the pressure of the law ofevolution tends to guide the man to precisely those which best suit hisneeds at the stage at which he happens to be. 

But the action of this law is limited by that other law of which we spoke, the law of cause and effect. The man's actions in the past may not havebeen such as to deserve (if we may put it so) the best possibleopportunities; he may have set in motion in his past certain forces theinevitable result of which will be to produce limitations; and theselimitations may operate to prevent his receiving that best possible ofopportunities, and so as the result of his own actions in the past he mayhave to put up with the second best. So we may say that the action of thelaw of evolution, which if left to itself would do the very best possiblefor every man, is restrained by the man's own previous actions. 

An important feature in that limitation--one which may act most powerfullyfor good or for evil--is the influence of the group of egos with which theman has made definite links in the past--those with whom he has formedstrong ties of love or hate, of helping or of injury--those souls whom hemust 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 considerationbefore 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 whichis an expression of the Deity is to give the man whatever is most suitablefor that evolution; but this is conditioned by the man's deserts in thepast and by the links which he has already formed. It may be assumed that aman descending into incarnation could learn the lessons necessary for thatlife in any one of a hundred positions. From half of these or more thanhalf he may be debarred by the consequences of some of his many and variedactions in the past. Among the few possibilities which remain open to him, the choice of one possibility in particular may be determined by thepresence in that family or in that neighbourhood of other egos upon whom hehas a claim for services rendered, or to whom he in his turn owes a debt oflove. 

Chapter VIII

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

To fulfil our duty in the divine scheme we must try to understand not onlythat scheme as a whole, but the special part that man is intended to playin it. The divine outbreathing reached its deepest immersion in matter inthe mineral kingdom, but it reaches its ultimate point of differentiationnot at the lowest level of materiality, but at the entrance into the humankingdom on the upward arc of evolution. We have thus to realize threestages in the course of this evolution. 

(a) The downward arc in which the tendency is towards differentiation andalso towards greater materiality. In this stage spirit is involving itselfin 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 stilltowards greater differentiation, but at the same time towardsspiritualization and escape from materiality. In this stage the spirit islearning to dominate matter and to see it as an expression of itself. 

(c) The later part of the upward arc, when differentiation has been finallyaccomplished, and the tendency is towards unity as well as towards greaterspirituality. In this stage the spirit, having learnt perfectly how toreceive impression through matter and how to express itself through it, andhaving awakened its dormant powers, learns to use these powers rightly inthe service of the Deity. 

The object of the whole previous evolution has been to produce the ego as amanifestation of the Monad. Then the ego in its turn evolves by puttingitself down into a succession of personalities. Men who do not understandthis look upon the personality as the self, and consequently live for italone, and try to regulate their lives for what appears to be its temporaryadvantage. The man who understands realizes that the only important thingis the life of the ego, and that its progress is the object for which thetemporary personality must be used. Therefore when he has to decide betweentwo possible courses he thinks not, as the ordinary man might: "Which willbring the greater pleasure and profit to me as a personality?" but "Whichwill bring greater progress to me as an ego?" Experience soon teaches himthat nothing can ever be really good for him, or for anyone, which is notgood for all, and so presently he learns to forget himself altogether, andto ask only what will be best for humanity as a whole. 

Clearly then at this stage of evolution whatever tends to unity, whatevertends to spirituality, is in accord with the plan of the Deity for us, andis therefore right for us, while whatever tends to separateness or tomateriality is equally certainly wrong for us. There are thoughts andemotions which tend to unity, such as love, sympathy, reverence, benevolence; there are others which tend to disunion, such as hatred, jealousy, envy, pride, cruelty, fear. Obviously the former group are for usthe right, the latter group are for us the wrong. 

In all these thoughts and feelings which are clearly wrong, we recognizeone dominant note, the thought of self; while in all those which areclearly right we recognize that the thought is turned toward others, andthat the personal self is forgotten. Wherefore we see that selfishness isthe one great wrong, and that perfect unselfishness is the crown of allvirtue. This gives us at once a rule of life. The man who wishesintelligently to co-operate with the Divine Will must lay aside all thoughtof the advantage or pleasure of the personal self, and must devote himselfexclusively to carrying out that Will by working for the welfare andhappiness of others. 

This is a high ideal, and difficult of attainment, because there liesbehind us such a long history of selfishness. Most of us are as yet farfrom 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 havealready referred. Just as we can confidently appeal to the laws of Naturein the physical world, so may we also appeal to these laws of the higherworld. If we find evil qualities within us, they have grown up by slowdegrees through ignorance and through self-indulgence. Now that theignorance is dispelled by knowledge, now that in consequence we recognizethe quality as an evil, the method of getting rid of it lies obviouslybefore us. 

For each of these vices there is a contrary virtue; if we find one of themrearing its head within us, let us immediately determine deliberately todevelop within ourselves the contrary virtue. If a man realizes that in thepast he has been selfish, that means that he has set up within himself thehabit of thinking of himself first and pleasing himself, of consulting hisown convenience or his pleasure without due thought of the effect uponothers; let him set to work purposefully to form the exactly oppositehabit, to make a practice before doing anything of thinking how it willaffect all those around him; let him set himself habitually to pleaseothers, 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 havekilled out the other. 

If a man finds himself full of suspicion, ready always to assign evilmotives to the actions of those about him, let him set himself steadily tocultivate trust in his fellows, to give them credit always for the highestpossible motives. It may be said that a man who does this will lay himselfopen to be deceived, and that in many cases his confidence will bemisplaced. That is a small matter; it is far better for him that he shouldsometimes be deceived as a result of his trust in his fellows than that heshould save himself from such deception by maintaining a constant attitudeof suspicion. Besides, confidence begets faithfulness. A man who is trustedwill generally prove himself worthy of the trust, whereas a man who issuspected is likely presently to justify the suspicion. 

If a man finds in himself the tendency towards avarice, let him go out ofhis way to be especially generous; if he finds himself irritable, let himdefinitely train himself in calmness; if he finds himself devoured bycuriosity, let him deliberately refuse again and again to gratify thatcuriosity; if he is liable to fits of depression, let him persistentlycultivate cheerfulness, even under the most adverse circumstances. 

In every case the existence of an evil quality in the personality means alack of the corresponding good quality in the ego. The shortest way to getrid of that evil and to prevent its reappearance is to fill the gap in theego, and the good quality which is thus developed will show itself as anintegral part of the man's character through all his future lives. An egocannot be evil, but he can be imperfect. The qualities which he developscannot be other than good qualities, and when they are well defined theyshow themselves in each of all his numerous personalities, and consequentlythose personalities can never be guilty of the vices opposite to thesequalities; but where there is a gap in the ego, where there is a qualityundeveloped, there is nothing inherent in the personality to check thegrowth of the opposite vice; and since others in the world about himalready possess that vice, and man is an imitative animal, it is quiteprobable that it will speedily manifest itself in him. This vice, however, belongs to the vehicles only and not to the man inside. In these vehiclesits repetition may set up a momentum which is hard to conquer; but if theego bestirs himself to create in himself the opposite virtue, the vice iscut off at its root, and can no longer exist--neither in this life nor inall the lives that are to come. 

A man who is trying to evolve these qualities in himself will find certainobstacles in his way--obstacles which he must learn to surmount. One ofthese is the critical spirit of the age--the disposition to find fault witha thing, to belittle everything, to look for faults in everything andeveryone. The exact opposite of this is what is needed for progress. He whowishes to move rapidly along the path of evolution must learn to see goodin everything--to see the latent Deity in everything and in everyone. Onlyso can he help those other people--only so can he get the best out of thoseother things. 

Another obstacle is the lack of perseverance. We tend in these days to beimpatient; if we try any plan we expect immediate results from it, and ifwe do not get them, we give up that plan and try something else. That isnot the way to make progress in occultism. The effort which we are makingis to compress into one or two lives the evolution which would naturallytake perhaps a hundred lives. That is not the sort of undertaking in whichimmediate results are to be expected. We attempt to uproot an evil habit, and we find it hard work; why? Because we have indulged in that practicefor, perhaps, twenty thousand years; one cannot shake off the custom oftwenty thousand years in a day or two. We have allowed that habit to gainan enormous momentum, and before we can set up a force in the oppositedirection we have to overcome that momentum. That cannot be done in amoment, but it is absolutely certain that it _will_ be done eventually, ifwe persevere, because the momentum, however strong it may be, is a finitequantity, whereas the power that we can bring to bear against it is theinfinite power of the human will, which can make renewed efforts day afterday, year after year, even life after life if necessary. 

Another great difficulty in our way is the lack of clearness in ourthought. People in the West are little used to clear thought with regard toreligious matters. Everything is vague and nebulous. For occult developmentvagueness and nebulosity will not do. Our conceptions must be clear-cut andour thought-images definite. Other necessary characteristics are calmnessand cheerfulness; these are rare in modern life, but are absoluteessentials for the work which we are here undertaking. 

The process of building a character is as scientific as that of developingone's muscles. Many a man, finding himself with certain muscles flabby andpowerless takes that as his natural condition, and regards their weaknessas a kind of destiny imposed upon him; but anyone who understands a littleof the human body is aware that by continued exercise those muscles can bebrought 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 temperor a tendency to avarice or suspicion or self-indulgence, and when inconsequence of any of these vices he commits some great mistake or doessome 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 thattherefore he cannot help it. 

In this case just as in the other the remedy is in his own hands. Regularexercise of the right kind will develop a certain muscle, and regularmental exercise of the right kind will develop a missing quality in a man'scharacter. The ordinary man does not realize that he can do this, and evenif he sees that he can do it, he does not see why he should, for it meansmuch effort and much self-repression. He knows of no adequate motive forundertaking a task so laborious and painful. 

The motive is supplied by the knowledge of the truth. One who gains anintelligent comprehension of the direction of evolution feels it not onlyhis interest but his privilege and his delight to co-operate with it. Onewho wills the end wills also the means; in order to be able to do good workfor the world he must develop within himself the necessary strength and thenecessary qualities. Therefore he who wishes to reform the world must firstof all reform himself. He must learn to give up altogether the attitude ofinsisting upon rights, and must devote himself utterly to the most earnestperformance of his duties. He must learn to regard every connection withhis fellow-man as an opportunity to help that fellow-man, or in some way todo him good. 

One who studies these subjects intelligently cannot but realize thetremendous 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, desiresand feelings which the man has allowed to grow luxuriantly within himselfin 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 heis responsible. It is his duty to govern his thought, lest it should beallowed to run riot and to do evil to himself, and to others; it is hisduty also to develop his thought-power, because by means of it a vastamount of actual and active good can be done. Thus controlling his thoughtand his action, thus eliminating from himself all evil and unfolding inhimself all good qualities, the man presently raises himself far above thelevel of his fellows, and stands out conspicuously among them as one who isworking on the side of good as against evil, of evolution as againststagnation. 

The Members of the great Hierarchy, in whose hands is the evolution of theworld, are watching always for such men in order that They may train themto help in the great work. Such a man inevitably attracts Their attention, and They begin to use him as an instrument in Their work. If he proveshimself a good and efficient instrument, presently They will offer himdefinite training as an apprentice, that by helping Them in theworld-business which They have to do he may some day become even as Theyare, and join the mighty Brotherhood to which They belong. 

But for an honour 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 ofusing him, but in addition to being good he must be wise and strong. Whatis needed is not merely a good man, but a great spiritual power. Not onlymust the candidate have cast aside all ordinary weaknesses but he must haveacquired strong positive qualities before he can offer himself to Them withany hope that he will be accepted. He must live no longer as a blunderingand selfish personality, but as an intelligent ego who comprehends the partwhich he has to play in the great scheme of the universe. He must haveforgotten himself utterly; he must have resigned all thought of worldlyprofit or pleasure or advancement; he must be willing to sacrificeeverything, and himself first of all, for the sake of the work that has tobe done. He may be _in_ the world, but he must not be _of_ the world. Hemust be careless utterly of its opinion. For the sake of helping man hemust make himself something more than man. Radiant, rejoicing, strong, hemust live but for the sake of others and to be an expression of the love ofGod in the world. A high ideal, yet not too high; possible, because thereare men who have achieved it. 

When a man has succeeded in unfolding his latent possibilities so far thathe attracts the attention of the Masters of the Wisdom, one of Them willprobably receive him as an apprentice upon probation. The period ofprobation is usually seven years, but may be either shortened or lengthenedat the discretion of the Master. At the end of that time, if his work hasbeen satisfactory, he becomes what it commonly called the accepted pupil. This brings him into close relations with his Master, so that thevibrations of the latter constantly play upon him, and he gradually learnsto look at everything as the Master looks at it. After yet anotherinterval, if he proves himself entirely worthy, he may be drawn into astill closer relationship, when he is called the son of the Master. 

These three stages mark his relationship to his own Master only, not to theBrotherhood as a whole. The Brotherhood admits a man to its ranks only whenhe has fitted himself to pass the first of the great Initiations. 

This entry into the Brotherhood of Those who rule the world may be thoughtof as the third of the great critical points in man's evolution. The firstof these is when he becomes man--when he individualizes out of the animalkingdom and obtains a causal body. The second is what is called by theChristian "conversion", by the Hindu "the acquirement of discrimination", and by the Buddhist "the opening of the doors of the mind". That is thepoint at which he realizes the great facts of life, and turns away from thepursuit of selfish ends in order to move intentionally along with the greatcurrent of evolution in obedience to the divine Will. The third point isthe most important of all, for the Initiation which admits him to the ranksof the Brotherhood also insures him against the possibility of failure tofulfil the divine purpose in the time appointed for it. Hence those whohave reached this point are called in the Christian system the "elect", the"saved" or the "safe", and in the Buddhist scheme "those who have enteredon the stream". For those who have reached this point have made themselvesabsolutely certain of reaching a further point also--that of Adeptship, atwhich 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 asthis chain of worlds is concerned. He has reached, even already at themidmost point of the æon of evolution, the stage prescribed for man'sattainment at the end of it. Therefore he is at liberty to spend theremainder of that time either in helping his fellow-men or in even moresplendid work in connection with other and higher evolutions. He who hasnot yet been initiated is still in danger of being left behind by ourpresent wave of evolution, and dropping into the next one--the "æoniancondemnation" of which the Christ spoke, which has been mistranslated"eternal damnation". It is from this fate of possible æonian failure--thatis, failure for this age, or dispensation, or life-wave--that the man whoattains Initiation is "safe". He has "entered upon the stream" which now_must_ bear him on to Adeptship in this present age, though it is stillpossible for him by his actions to hasten or delay his progress along thePath which he is treading. 

That first Initiation corresponds to the matriculation which admits a manto a University, and the attainment of Adeptship to the taking of a degreeat the end of a course. Continuing the simile, there are three intermediateexaminations, which are usually spoken of as the second, third, and fourthInitiations, Adeptship being the fifth. A general idea of the line of thishigher evolution may be obtained by studying the list of what are called inBuddhist books "the fetters" which must be cast off--the qualities of whicha man must rid himself as he treads this Path. These are: the delusion ofseparateness; doubt or uncertainty; superstition; attachment to enjoyment;the possibility of hatred; desire for life, either in this or the higherworlds; pride; agitation or irritability; and ignorance. The man whoreaches the Adept level has exhausted all the possibilities of moraldevelopment, and so the future evolution which still lies before him canonly mean still wider knowledge and still more wonderful spiritual powers. 

Chapter IX

THE PLANETARY CHAINS

The scheme of evolution of which our Earth forms a part is not the only onein our solar system, for ten separate chains of globes exist in that systemwhich are all of them theatres of somewhat similar progress. Each of theseschemes of evolution is taking place upon a chain of globes, and in thecourse of each scheme its chain of globes goes through seven incarnations. The plan, alike of each scheme as a whole and of the successive incarnationof its chain of globes, is to dip step by step more deeply into matter, andthen to rise step by step out of it again. 

Each chain consists of seven globes, and both globes and chains observe therule of descending into matter and then rising out of it again. In order tomake this comprehensible let us take as an example the chain to which ourEarth belongs. At the present time it is in its fourth or most materialincarnation, and therefore three of its globes belong to the physicalworld, two to the astral world, and two to the lower part of the mentalworld. The wave of divine Life passes in succession from globe to globe ofthis chain, beginning with one of the highest, descending gradually to thelowest and then climbing again to the same level as that at which it began. 

Let us for convenience of reference label the seven globes by the earlierletters of the alphabet, and number the incarnations in order. Thus, asthis is the fourth incarnation of our chain, the first globe in thisincarnation will be 4A, the second 4B, the third 4C, the fourth (which isour Earth) 4D, and so on. 

These globes are not all composed of physical matter. 4A contains no matterlower than that of the mental world; it has its counterpart in all theworlds higher than that, but nothing below it. 4B exists in the astralworld; but 4C is a physical globe, visible to our telescopes, and is infact the planet which we know as Mars. Globe 4D is our own Earth, on whichthe life-wave of the chain is at present in action. Globe 4E is the planetwhich we call Mercury--also in the physical world. Globe 4F is in theastral world, corresponding on the ascending arc to globe 4B in thedescent; while globe 4G corresponds to globe 4A in having its lowestmanifestation in the lower part of the mental world. Thus it will be seenthat we have a scheme of globes starting in the lower mental world, dipping through the astral into the physical and then rising into the lowermental through the astral again. 

Just as the succession of the globes in a chain constitutes a descent intomatter and an ascent from it again, so do the successive incarnations of achain. We have described the condition of affairs in the fourthincarnation; looking back at the third, we find that that commences not onthe lower level of the mental world but on the higher. Globes 3A and 3G, then, are both of higher mental matter, while globes 3B and 3F are at thelower mental level. Globes 3C and 3E belong to the astral world, and onlyglobe 3D is visible in the physical world. Although this third incarnationof our chain is long past, the corpse of this physical globe 3D is stillvisible to us in the shape of that dead planet the Moon, whence that thirdincarnation is usually called the lunar chain. 

The fifth incarnation of our chain, which still lies very far in thefuture, will correspond to the third. In that, globes 5A and 5G will bebuilt of higher mental matter, globes 5B and 5F of lower mental, globes 5Cand 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 ofgradually decreasing materiality; 2A, 2G, 6A and 6G are all in theintuitional world; 2B, 2F, 6B and 6F are all in the higher part of themental 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 belongto the spiritual world; 1B, IF, 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 inthe lower part of the mental world. 

Thus it will be seen that not only does the life-wave in passing throughone chain of globes dip down into matter and rise out of it again, but thechain 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 are at the stage where they have planets in thephysical world. These are: (1) that of an unrecognized planet Vulcan, verynear the sun, about which we have very little definite information. It wasseen by the astronomer Herschel, but is now said to have disappeared. We atfirst understood that it was in its third incarnation; but it is nowregarded as possible that it has recently passed from its fifth to itssixth chain, which would account for its alleged disappearance; (2) that ofVenus, which is in its fifth incarnation, and also therefore, has only onevisible globe; (3) that of the Earth, Mars and Mercury, which has threevisible planets because it is in its fourth incarnation; (4) that ofJupiter, (5) that of Saturn, (6) that of Uranus, all in their thirdincarnations; and (7) that of Neptune and the two unnamed planets beyondits orbit, which is in its fourth incarnation, and therefore has threephysical planets as we have. 

In each incarnation of a chain (commonly called a chain-period) the wave ofdivine Life moves seven times round the chain of seven planets, and eachsuch movement is spoken of as a round. The time that the life-wave staysupon each planet is known as a world-period, and in the course of aworld-period there are seven great root-races. As has been previouslyexplained, these are subdivided into sub-races, and those again intobranch-races. For convenience of reference we may state this in tabularform:

7 Branch-Races make 1 Sub-Race7 Sub-Races make 1 Root-Race7 Root-Races make 1 World-Period7 World-Periods make 1 Round7 Rounds make 1 Chain-Period7 Chain-Periods make 1 Scheme of Evolution10 Schemes of Evolution make 1 Our Solar System

It is clear that the fourth root-race of the fourth globe of the fourthround of a fourth chain-period would be the central point of a whole schemeof evolution, and we find ourselves at the present moment only a littlepast that point. The Aryan race, to which we belong, is the fifth root-raceof the fourth globe, so that the actual middle point fell in the time ofthe last great root-race, the Atlantean. Consequently the human race as awhole is very little more than half-way through its evolution, and thosefew souls who are already nearing Adeptship, which is the end and crown ofthis evolution, are very far in advance of their fellows. 

How do they come to be so far in advance? Partly and in some cases becausethey have worked harder, but usually because they are older egos--becausethey were individualized out of the animal kingdom at an earlier date, andso have had more time for the human part of their evolution. 

Any given wave of life sent forth from the Deity usually spends achain-period in each of the great kingdoms of Nature. That which in ourfirst chain was ensouling the first elemental kingdom must have ensouledthe second of those kingdoms in the second chain, in the third of them inthe Moon-chain, and is now in the mineral kingdom in the fourth chain. Inthe future fifth chain it will ensoul the vegetable kingdom, in the sixththe animal, and in the seventh it will attain humanity. 

From this it follows that we ourselves represented the mineral kingdom onthe first chain, the vegetable on the second, and the animal on the lunarchain. There some of us attained our individualization, and so we wereenabled to enter this Earth-chain as men. Others who were a little morebackward did not succeed in attaining it, and so had to be born into thischain as animals for a while before they could reach humanity. 

Not all of mankind, however, entered this chain together. When the lunarchain came to its end the humanity upon it stood at various levels. NotAdeptship, but what is now for us the fourth step on the Path, was the goalappointed for that chain. Those who had attained it (commonly called inTheosophical literature the Lords of the Moon) had, as is usual, sevenchoices before them as to the way in which they would serve. Only one ofthose choices brought them, or rather a few of them, over into thisEarth-chain to act as guides and teachers to the earlier races. Aconsiderable proportion--a vast proportion, indeed--of the Moon-men had notattained that level, and consequently had to reappear in this Earth-chainas humanity. Besides this, a great mass of the animal kingdom of theMoon-chain was surging up to the level of the individualization, and someof its members had already reached it, while many others had not. Theselatter needed further animal incarnations upon the Earth-chain, and for themoment may be put aside. 

There were many classes even among the humanity, and the manner in whichthese distributed themselves over the Earth-chain needs some explanation. It is the general rule that those who have attained the highest possible inany chain on any globe, in any root-race, are not born into the beginningof the next chain, globe or race, respectively. The earlier stages arealways for the backward entities, and only when they have already passedthrough a good deal of evolution and are beginning to approach the level ofthose others who had done better, do the latter descend into incarnationand join them once more. That is to say, almost the earlier half of anyperiod of evolution, whether it be a race, a globe or a chain, seems to bedevoted to bringing the backward people up to nearly the level of those whohave got on better; then these latter also (who, in the meantime, have beenresting in great enjoyment in the mental world) descend into incarnationalong with the others, and they press on together until the end of theperiod. 

Thus the first of the egos from the Moon who entered the Earth-chain wereby no means the most advanced. Indeed they may be described as the leastadvanced of those who had succeeded in attaining humanity--the animal-men. Coming as they did into a chain of new globes, freshly aggregated, they hadto establish the forms in all the different kingdoms of Nature. This needsto be done at the beginning of the first round in a new chain, but neverafter that; for though the life-wave is centred only upon one of the sevenglobes of a chain at any given time, yet life has not entirely departedfrom the other globes. At the present moment, for example, the life-wave ofour chain is centred on this Earth, but on the other two physical globes ofour chain, Mars and Mercury, life still exists. There is still apopulation, human, animal and vegetable, and consequently when thelife-wave goes round again to either of those planets there will be nonecessity 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 thevarious kingdoms will quickly increase and multiply, and make a rapidlyincreasing population instead of a stationary one. 

It was, then, the animal-men, the lowest class of human beings of theMoon-chain, who established the forms in the first round of theEarth-chain. Pressing closely after them were the highest of the lunaranimal kingdom, who were soon ready to occupy the forms which had just beenmade. In the second journey round the seven globes of the Earth-chain, theanimal-men who had been the most backward of the lunar humanity wereleaders of this terrene humanity, the highest of the moon-animals makingits less developed grades. The same thing went on in the third round of theEarth-chain, more and more of the lunar animals attaining individualizationand joining the human rank, until in the middle of that round on this veryglobe D which we call the Earth, a higher class of human beings--the SecondOrder 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 ofthe Moon-men pouring in upon us--all the highest and the best of the lunarhumanity who had only just fallen short of success. Some of those who hadalready, 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 notbeen quite so far advanced have attained Adeptship only comparativelyrecently--that is, within the last few thousand years, and these are theAdepts of the present day. We, who find ourselves in the higher races ofhumanity now, were several stages behind Them, but the opportunity liesbefore us of following in Their steps if we will. 

The evolution of which we have been speaking is that of the Ego himself, ofwhat might be called the soul of man; but at the same time there has beenalso an evolution to the body. The forms built in the first round were verydifferent from any of which we know anything now. Properly speaking, thosewhich 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 weredefinitely physical, but still shapeless and light enough to float about incurrents of wind. 

Only in the third round did they begin to bear any kind of resemblance toman as we know him today. The very methods of reproduction of thoseprimitive forms differed from those of humanity today, and far moreresembled those which we now find only in very much lower types of life. Man in those early days was androgynous, and a definite separation intosexes took place only about the middle of the third round. From that timeonward until now the shape of man has been steadily evolving alongdefinitely human lines, becoming smaller and more compact than it was, learning to stand upright instead of stooping and crawling, and generallydifferentiating itself from the animal forms out of which it had beenevolved. 

One curious break in the regularity of this evolution deserves mention. Onthis globe, in this fourth round, there was a departure from thestraightforward scheme of evolution. This being the middle globe of amiddle round, the midmost point of evolution upon it marked the last momentat which it was possible for members of what had been the lunar animalkingdom to attain individualization. Consequently a sort of strong effortwas made--a special scheme was arranged to give a final chance to as manyas possible. The conditions of the first and second rounds were speciallyreproduced in place of the first and second races--conditions of which inthe earlier rounds these backward egos had not been able fully to takeadvantage. Now, with the additional evolution, which they had undergoneduring the third round, some of them were able to take such advantage, andso they rushed in at the very last moment before the door was shut, andbecame just human. Naturally they will not reach any high level of humandevelopment, but at least when they try again in some future chain it willbe some advantage to them to have had even this slight experience of humanlife. 

Our terrestrial evolution received a most valuable stimulus from theassistance given to us by our sister globe, Venus. Venus is at present inthe fifth incarnation of its chain, and in the seventh round of thatincarnation, so that its inhabitants are a whole chain-period and a half infront of us in evolution. Since, therefore, its people are so much moredeveloped than ours, it was thought desirable that certain Adepts from theVenus evolution should be transferred to our Earth in order to assist inthe specially busy time just before the closing of the door, in the middleof the fourth root-race. 

These august Beings have been called the Lords of the Flame and theChildren of the Fire-mist, and They have produced a wonderful effect uponour evolution. The intellect of which we are so proud is almost entirelydue to Their presence, for in the natural course of events the next round, the fifth, should be that of intellectual advancement, and in this ourpresent fourth round we should be devoting ourselves chiefly to thecultivation of the emotions. We are therefore in reality a long way inadvance of the programme marked out for us; and such advance is entirelydue to the assistance given by these great Lords of the Flame. Most of Themstayed with us only through that critical period of our history; a fewstill remain to hold the highest offices of the Great White Brotherhooduntil the time when men of our own evolution shall have risen to such aheight as to be capable of relieving their august Visitors. 

The evolution lying before us is both of the life and of the form; for infuture rounds, while the egos will be steadily growing in power, wisdom andlove, the physical forms also will be more beautiful and more perfect thanthey have ever yet been. We have in this world at the present time men atwidely differing stages of evolution, and it is clear that there are vasthosts of savages who are far behind the great civilized races of theworld--so far behind that it is quite impossible that they can overtakethem. Later on in the course of our evolution a point will be reached atwhich it is no longer possible for those undeveloped souls to advance sideby side with the others, so that it will be necessary that a divisionshould be made. 

The proceeding is exactly analogous to the sorting out by a schoolmaster ofthe boys in his class. During the school year he has to prepare his boysfor a certain examination, and by perhaps the middle of that school year heknows quite well which of them will pass it. If he should have in his classsome who are hopelessly behind the rest, he might reasonably say to themwhen the middle period was reached:

"It is quite useless for you to continue with your fellows, for the moredifficult lessons which I shall now have to give will be entirelyunintelligible to you. It is impossible that you can learn enough in thetime to pass the examination, so that the effort would only be a uselessstrain for you, and meantime you would be a hindrance to the rest of theclass. It is therefore far better for you to give up striving after theimpossible, and to take up again the work of the lower class which you didnot do perfectly, and then to offer yourselves for this examination alongwith next year's class, for what is now impossible for you will then beeasy. "

This is in effect exactly what is said at a certain stage in our futureevolution, to the most backward egos. They drop out of this year's classand come along with the next one. This is the "æonian condemnation" towhich reference was made a little while ago. It is computed that abouttwo-fifths of humanity will drop out of the class in this way, leaving theremaining three-fifths to go on with far greater rapidity to the gloriousdestinies which lie before them. 

Chapter X

THE RESULT OF THEOSOPHICAL STUDY

"Members of the Theosophical Society study these truths and Theosophistsendeavour to live them. " What manner of man then is the true Theosophist inconsequence of his knowledge? What is the result in his daily life of allthis study?

Finding that there is a Supreme Power who is directing the course ofevolution, and that He is all-wise and all-loving, the Theosophist seesthat everything which exists within this scheme must be intended to furtherits progress. He realizes that the scripture which tells us that all thingsare working together for good, is not indulging in a flight of poetic fancyor voicing a pious hope, but stating a scientific fact. The finalattainment of unspeakable glory is an absolute certainty for every son ofman, whatever may be his present condition; but that is by no means all. Here and at this present moment he is on his way towards the glory; and allthe circumstances surrounding him are intended to help and not to hinderhim, if only they are rightly understood. It is sadly true that in theworld there is much of evil and of sorrow and of suffering; yet from thehigher point of view the Theosophist sees that terrible though this be, itis only temporary and superficial, and is all being utilized as a factor inthe progress. 

When in the days of his ignorance he looked at it from its own level it wasalmost impossible to see this; while he looked from beneath at the underside of life, with his eyes fixed all the time upon some apparent evil, hecould never gain a true grasp of its meaning. Now he raises himself aboveit to the higher levels of thought and consciousness, and looks down uponit with the eye of the spirit and understands it in its entirety, so he cansee that in very truth all is well--not that all will be well at someremote period, but that even now at this moment, in the midst of incessantstriving and apparent evil, the mighty current of evolution is stillflowing, and so all is well because all is moving on in perfect ordertowards 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 apparentlypressing backwards against the great stream of progress; but he also seesthat the onward sweep of the divine law of evolution bears the samerelation to this superficial evil as does the tremendous torrent of Niagarato the fleckings of foam upon its surface. So while he sympathizes deeplywith all who suffer, he yet realizes what will be the end of thatsuffering, and so for him despair or hopelessness is impossible. He appliesthis consideration to his own sorrows and troubles, as well as to those ofthe world, and therefore one great result of his Theosophy is a perfectserenity--even more than that, a perpetual cheerfulness and joy. 

For him there is an utter absence of worry, because in truth there isnothing left to worry about, since he knows that all must be well. Hishigher Science makes him a confirmed optimist, for it shows him thatwhatever of evil there may be in any person or in any movement, it is ofnecessity temporary, because it is opposed to the resistless stream ofevolution; whereas whatever is good in any person or in any movement mustnecessarily be persistent and useful, because it has behind it theomnipotence of that current, and therefore it must abide and it mustprevail. 

Yet it must not for a moment be supposed that because he is so fullyassured of the final triumph of good he remains careless or unmoved by theevils which exist in the world around him. He knows that it is his duty tocombat these to the utmost of his power, because in doing this he isworking upon the side of the great evolutionary force, and is bringingnearer the time of its ultimate victory. None will be more active than hein labouring for the good, even though he is absolutely free from thefeeling of helplessness and hopelessness which so often oppresses those whoare striving to help their fellow-men. 

Another most valuable result of his Theosophical study is the absence offear. Many people are constantly anxious or worried about something orother; they are fearing lest this or that should happen to them, lest thisor that combination may fail, and so all the while they are in a conditionof unrest; and most serious of all for many is the fear of death. For theTheosophist the whole of this feeling is entirely swept away. He realizesthe great truth of reincarnation. He knows that he has often before laidaside physical bodies, and so he sees that death is no more thansleep--that just as sleep comes in between our days of work and gives usrest and refreshment, so between these days of labour here on earth, whichwe call lives, there comes a long night of astral and of heavenly life togive 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 robeof flesh. He knows that it is his duty to preserve the bodily vesture aslong as possible, and gain through it all the experience he can; but whenthe time comes for him to lay it down he will do so thankfully, because heknows that the next stage will be a much pleasanter one than this. Thus hewill have no fear of death, although he realizes that he must live his lifeto the appointed end, because he is here for the purpose of progress, andthat progress is the one truly momentous matter. His whole conception oflife is different; the object is not to earn so much money, not to obtainsuch and such a position; the one important thing is to carry out thedivine plan. He knows that for this he is here, and that everything elsemust 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 thatprogress towards the highest is the divine Will for us, that we cannotescape from that progress, and that whatever comes in our way and whateverhappens to us is meant to help us along that line; that we ourselves areabsolutely the only people who can delay our advance. No longer does hetrouble and fear about himself. He simply goes on and does the duty whichcomes nearest in the best way that he can, confident that if he does thisall will be well for him without his perpetual worrying. He is satisfiedquietly to do his work and to try to help his fellows in the race, knowingthat the great divine Power behind will press him onward slowly andsteadily, and do for him all that can be done, so long as his face is setsteadfastly in the right direction, so long as he does all that hereasonably can. 

Since he knows that we are all part of one great evolution and allliterally the children of one Father, he sees that the universalbrotherhood of humanity is no mere poetical conception, but a definitefact; not a dream of something which is to be in the dim distance ofUtopia, but a condition existing here and now. The certainty of thisall-embracing fraternity gives him a wider outlook upon life and a broadimpersonal point of view from which to regard everything. He realizes thatthe true interests of all are in fact identical, and that no man can evermake real gain for himself at the cost of loss or suffering to some oneelse. This is not to him an article of religious belief, but a scientificfact proved to him by his study. He sees that since humanity is literally awhole, nothing which injures one man can ever be really for the good of anyother, for the harm done influences not only the doer but also those whoare about him. 

He knows that the only true advantage for him is that benefit which heshares with all. He sees that any advance which he is able to make in theway of spiritual progress or development is something secured not forhimself alone but for others. If he gains knowledge or self-control, heassuredly acquires much for himself, yet he takes nothing away from anyoneelse, but on the contrary he helps and strengthens others. Cognizant as heis of the absolute spiritual unity of humanity, he knows that, even in thislower world, no true profit can be made by one man which is not made in thename of and for the sake of humanity; that one man's progress must be alifting of the burden of all the others; that one man's advance inspiritual things means a very slight yet not imperceptible advance tohumanity as a whole; that every one who bears suffering and sorrow nobly inhis struggle towards the light is lifting a little of the heavy load of thesorrow and suffering of his brothers as well. 

Because he recognizes this brotherhood not merely as a hope cherished bydespairing men, but as a definite fact following in scientific series fromall other facts; because he sees this as an absolute certainty, hisattitude towards all those around him changes radically. It becomes aposture ever of helpfulness, ever of the deepest sympathy, for he sees thatnothing which clashes with their higher interests can be the right thingfor him to do, or can be good for him in any way. 

It naturally follows that he becomes filled with the widest possibletolerance and charity. He cannot but be always tolerant, because hisphilosophy shows him that it matters little what a man believes, so long ashe is a good man and true. Charitable also he must be, because his widerknowledge enables him to make allowances for many things which the ordinaryman does not understand. The standard of the Theosophist as to right andwrong is always higher than that of the less instructed man, yet he is fargentler than the latter in his feeling towards the sinner, because hecomprehends more of human nature. He realizes how the sin appeared to thesinner at the moment of its commission, and so he makes more allowancesthan is ever made by the man who is ignorant of all this. 

He goes further than tolerance, charity, sympathy; he feels positive lovetowards mankind, and that leads him to adopt a position of watchfulhelpfulness. He feels that every contact with others is for him anopportunity, and the additional knowledge which his study has brought tohim enables him to give advice or help in almost any case which comesbefore him. Not that he is perpetually thrusting his opinions upon otherpeople. On the contrary, he observes that to do this is one of thecommonest mistakes made by the uninstructed. He knows that argument is afoolish waste of energy, and therefore he declines to argue. If anyonedesires 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 ofthinking. 

In every relation of life this idea of helpfulness comes into play, notonly with regard to his fellowmen but also in connection with the vastanimal kingdom which surrounds him. Units of this kingdom are often broughtinto close relation with man, and this is for him an opportunity of doingsomething for them. The Theosophist recognizes that these are also hisbrothers, even though they may be younger brothers, and that he owes afraternal duty to them also--so to act and so to think that his relationwith 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 commonsense. It puts before him, as far as he can at present know them, the factsabout God and man and the relations between them; then he proceeds to takethese facts into account and to act in relation to them with ordinaryreason and common sense. He regulates his life according to the laws ofevolution which it has taught him, and this gives him a totally differentstandpoint, and a touchstone by which to try everything--his own thoughtsand feelings, and his own actions first of all, and then those things whichcome before him in the world outside himself. 

Always he applies this criterion: Is the thing right or wrong, does it helpevolution or does it hinder it? If a thought or a feeling arises withinhimself, he sees at once by this test whether it is one he ought toencourage. If it be for the greatest good of the greatest number then allis well; if it may hinder or cause harm to any being in its progress, thenit is evil and to be avoided. Exactly the same reason holds good if he iscalled upon to decide with regard to anything outside himself. If from thatpoint of view a thing be a good thing, then he can conscientiously supportit; if not, then it is not for him. 

For him the question of personal interest does not come into the case atall. He thinks simply of the good of evolution as a whole. This gives him adefinite foothold and the clear criterion, and removes from him altogetherthe pain of indecision and hesitation. The Will of the Deity is man'sevolution; 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 andimmemorial tradition. 

Knowing that the true man is the ego and not the body, he sees that it isthe life of the ego only which is really of moment, and that everythingconnected with the body must unhesitatingly be subordinated to those higherinterests. He recognizes that this earth-life is given to him for thepurpose of progress, and that that progress is the one important thing. Thereal purpose of his life is the unfoldment of his powers as an ego, thedevelopment of his character. He knows that there must be evolvement notonly of the physical body but also of the mental nature, of the mind and ofthe spiritual perceptions. He sees that nothing short of absoluteperfection is expected of him in connection with this development; that allpower with regard to it is in his own hands; that he has everlasting timebefore him in which to attain this perfection, but that the sooner it isgained the happier and more useful will he be. 

He recognizes his life as nothing but a day at school, and his physicalbody 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 ofany real importance, and that the man who allows himself to be divertedfrom that purpose by any consideration whatever is acting withinconceivable stupidity. To him the life devoted exclusively to physicalobjects, to the acquisition of wealth or fame, appears the merestchild's-play--a senseless sacrifice of all that is really worth having forthe sake of a few moments' gratification of the lower part of his nature. He "sets his affection on things above and not on things of the earth", notonly because he sees this to be the right course of action, but because herealizes so clearly the valuelessness of these things of earth. He alwaystries to take the higher point of view, for he knows that the lower isutterly unreliable--that the lower desires and feelings gather round himlike a dense fog, and make it impossible for him to see anything clearlyfrom that level. 

Whenever he finds a struggle going on within him he remembers that hehimself is the higher, and that this which is the lower is not the realself, but merely an uncontrolled part of one of its vehicles. He knows thatthough he may fall a thousand times on the way towards his goal, his reasonfor trying to reach it remains just as strong after the thousandth fall asit was in the beginning, so that it would not only be useless but unwiseand wrong to give way to despondency and hopelessness. 

He begins his journey upon the road of progress at once--not only becausehe knows that it is far easier for him now than it will be if he leaves theeffort until later, but chiefly because if he makes the endeavour now andsucceeds in achieving some progress, if he rises thereby to some higherlevel, he is in a position to hold out a helping hand to those who have notyet reached even that step on the ladder which he has gained. In that wayhe takes a part, however humble it may be, in the great divine work ofevolution. 

He knows that he has arrived at his present position only by a slow processof growth, and so he does not expect instantaneous attainment ofperfection. 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 itintelligently in regard to mental and moral development, just as in thephysical world we can employ for our own assistance those laws of Naturethe action of which we have learnt to understand. 

Understanding what death is, he knows that there can be no need to fear itor 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 aboutit. He sees death simply as a promotion from a life which is more than halfphysical to one which is wholly superior, so for himself he unfeignedlywelcomes it; and even when it comes to those whom he loves, he recognizesat once the advantage for them, even though he cannot but feel a pang ofregret that he should be temporarily separated from them so far as thephysical world is concerned. But he knows that the so-called dead are nearhim still, and that he has only to cast off for a time his physical body insleep 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 rulethe whole of it, whether it be visible or invisible to physical sight. Sohe has no feeling of nervousness or strangeness in passing from one part ofit to another, and no feeling of uncertainty as to what he will find on theother side of the veil. He knows that in that higher life there opensbefore him a splendid vista of opportunities both for acquiring freshknowledge and for doing useful work; that life away from this dense bodyhas a vividness and a brilliancy to which all earthly enjoyment is asnothing; and so through his clear knowledge and calm confidence the powerof the endless life shines out upon all those round him. 

Doubt as to his future is for him impossible, for just as by looking backon the savage he realizes that which he was in the past, so by looking tothe 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 risingsteadily before him, yet with human beings upon every step of it, so thathe knows, that those steps are possible for him to climb. It is justbecause of the unchangeableness of the great law of cause and effect thathe finds himself able to climb that ladder, because since the law worksalways in the same way, he can depend upon it and he can use it, just as heuses the laws of Nature in the physical worlds. His knowledge of this lawbrings to him a sense of perspective and shows him that if something comesto him, it comes because he has deserved it as a consequence of actionswhich he has committed, of words which he has spoken, of thought to whichhe has given harbour in previous days or in earlier lives. He comprehendsthat all affliction is of the nature of the payment of a debt, andtherefore when he has to meet with the troubles of life he takes them anduses them as a lesson, because he understands why they have come and isglad of the opportunity which they give him to pay off something of hisobligation. 

Again, and in yet another way, does he take them as an opportunity, for hesees 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 himhe does not aggravate it by foolish repining but sets himself to endure somuch of it as is inevitable, with patience and with fortitude. Not that hesubmits himself to it as a fatalist might, for he takes adversecircumstances as an incentive to such development as may enable him totranscend them, and thus out of long-past evil he brings forth a seed offuture growth. For in the very act of paying the outstanding debt hedevelops qualities of courage and resolution that will stand him in goodstead through all the ages that are to come. 

He is distinguishable from the rest of the world by his perennialcheerfulness, his undaunted courage under difficulties, and his readysympathy and helpfulness; yet he is at the same time emphatically a man whotakes life seriously, who recognizes that there is much for everyone to doin the world, and that there is no time to waste. He knows with uttercertainty that he not only makes his own destiny but also gravely affectsthat of others around him, and thus he perceives how weighty aresponsibility attends the use of his power. 

He knows that thoughts are things and that it is easily possible to dogreat harm or great good by their means. He knows that no man liveth tohimself, for his every thought acts upon others as well; that thevibrations which he sends forth from his mind and from his mental natureare reproducing themselves in the minds and the mental natures of othermen, so that he is a source either of mental health or of mental ill to allwith whom he comes in contact. 

This at once imposes upon him a far higher code of social ethics than thatwhich is known to the outer world, for he knows that he must control notonly his acts and his words, but also his thoughts, since they may produceeffects more serious and more far-reaching than their outward expression inthe physical world. He knows that even when a man is not in the leastthinking of others, he yet inevitably affects them for good or for evil. Inaddition to this unconscious action of his thought upon others he alsoemploys it consciously for good. He sets currents in motion to carry mentalhelp and comfort to many a suffering friend, and in this way he finds awhole new world of usefulness opening before him. 

He ranges himself ever on the side of the higher rather than the lowerthought, the nobler rather than the baser. He deliberately takes theoptimistic rather than the pessimistic view of everything, the helpful, rather than the cynical, because he knows that to be fundamentally the trueview. By looking continually for the good in everything that he mayendeavour 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 smallway a co-worker with the splendid scheme of evolution. He forgets himselfutterly and lives but for the sake of others, realizing himself as a partof that scheme; he also realizes the God within him, and learns to becomeever a truer expression of Him, and thus in fulfilling God's Will, he isnot only blessed himself, but becomes a blessing to all. 

INDEX

Adept, causal body of 45-8 further evolution of 13 is on summit of human evolution 13 level of 13, 119-21 work of 119-20

Adepts, as members of Hierarchy 13 first of Earth 129 from Venus 131-2 Great Brotherhood of 12-4, 117-8, 132 many degrees of 13 men have become 13 some are Masters 14 some remain with mankind 22 some take apprentices 100

Adeptship, older egos nearing 126

Æonian condemnation 119-20, 133

Æther, breath, blown into 19 bubbles in 19-22, 23 density of 19 mean pressure of 19 of space 18 ultimate atoms formed in 19

Age or dispensation 13

Air, nature spirits of 84

_Ancient Wisdom, The_ 1

Androgynous man 130

Angels, approach men through ceremonial 85 guardian 54 hosts of 11 Kingdom of 84 of the law of cause and effect 100

Animals, additional evolution of 131 are our younger brothers 141 distinction between man and 40 domestic 38 heads of types of 38 individualization of 38-40 man's emotions act on 38 man's thoughts act on 38 Moon-, came to Earth chain 128 Moon-, individualize 126, 131 seven types of 37, 38 souls of 33

Animal kingdom 31-2, 37, 141

Animal-men of Moon-chain 127-8

Apprentice upon probation 118

Apprentices, to Masters 14-7 accepted 118 men may become 18, 116-7 qualifications necessary for 116-8 three stages of 118

Aryan root-race 105, 125

Aspects, three, of the Logos 11 three, of man 11, 41

Astral body, after death 68-71, 73-5, 81, 86 cell-life of 65 colours of 56-8 disintegration of 86 effect of thought on 51-2 ego casts off 42, 63 ego takes an 42, 61 entity occupying 66-72 is bridge to mental body 58 man in his, during sleep 62, 71 matter of, is in constant motion 70 never fatigued 62 no separate senses in 69-70 of animal 32 of group-soul 32 permanent colours of 58 reacts on causal body 47 reacts on mental body 47 shape of 56, 61 shell around 68, 70, 78-80, 81 simile of boiling water 69-70 size of 56 temptations caused by 66-8 vibrations of 56-8, 65-7, 75-6

Astral corpse 86 counterparts 72-3, 78-80 entity 66-8 shell 68, 78-81, 86-7 shell, result of 70 vitality of 86-7

Astral globe of Earth 26-7, 71-2 globe of Moon 26-7 globes of Earth-chain 122

Astral matter, arrangement of 71-3 attracts mental matter 60 physical body attracts 60 vibrations of 24

Astral sight 68-9

Astral world, the appearance of 71, 78-83 death in 89 delights of 76-8 descent of ego to 42-3 extent of 26-7, 71 inhabitants of 83 the, is the home of emotions 71 is the home of lower thoughts 71 life period in, after death 43, 64-5, 81 man in, during sleep 62, 70 man's freedom in 73, 76 matter, simile of onion 72 nature spirits in 84 no measurement of time in 75 non-human inhabitants of 84 of Moon 27 scenery of 77, 81 second outpouring enters 30 second outpouring indrawn to 31 sections of 78-83 the sixth plane is named 23, 41 the summerland of 80 withdrawal of ego from 82

Astro-mental forms 51, 57

Atlantean root-race 105, 125

Atomic matter 25

Atoms charged with vitality of interpenetrating worlds 20-1 physical ultimate 25 ultimate 19-22

Attainment is certain for all 132

Besant, Dr. 1 author of _The Ancient Wisdom_ 1

Birth of man, factors determining 104-5

Blavatsky, H. P. 14 author of _Isis Unveiled_ 15 was a founder of the T. S. 14 was an apprentice to a Master 14

Bliss of the higher worlds 89-91

Books, oriental sacred 18

Brain, connection with astral body 59 connection with ego 59 connection with mental body 49 etheric part of 62

Branch-races 104-5, 125

Bridges to ego 59, 61

Brotherhood, the Great, of Adepts 12-4, 116-9, 132 entry into 119 Great White, the 12 Head of 12 Lords of the Flame hold highest office in 132 man may join in 116

Brotherhood of humanity, the universal 138-9

Bubbles in space 19-21 aggregations of 19-22, 23-4 form material of nebula 19

Casual body, the, abstract thoughts arouse 46 appearance of 45-9 bad qualities do not affect 47, 58 colours in 46-8 composition of 45 is the vehicle of ego 42 life in 95-6 mental body reacts upon 58 of Adept 45, 48 of developed man 48 of primitive man 46 of saint 48 of savage 48 only good affects 47, 58 permanent vehicle of ego 45 unselfish emotions arouse 47

Cause and effect, law of 100-7 adjustment of 101 angels connected with 101 cannot be modified 101 exactness of 100-1 explains problems of life 100-1

Cause and effect, is universal 100 simile of debts and 102-7

Cell-life of astral body 65 of mental body 65 of physical body 65

Centres of force 60

Ceremonial, angels approach men through 85

Chain, a, consists of seven rounds 124 life-wave of a 121, 123-5 lunar, the 123, 126-7 periods 125

Chains of globes 121 descent of, into matter 121-4 incarnation of 121-5

Character and simile of muscles 114 how, is formed 111-5

Chemical elements 21, 28

Children of the Fire-mist 131 (also see Lords of Flame)

Christ, the, learning the lesson of 96 spoke of the "æonian condemnation" 119, 133

Church, the angels approach men through 85

Clairvoyant sight 46 character seen by 50 force-centres seen by 60

Colours of astral body 56-8 of causal body 46-8 of mental body 48 of thoughts 54

Consciousness, development of 45-6 of developed man 62-3 states of 64

Corpse, astral 86 physical 86 the Moon is a 123

Counterparts, astral 73-4 of globes 122

Crookes, Sir William 22

Dead, the, can be helped 77-9 can continue studies 77 can help their fellowmen 77 communicate with living 74 cravings of the 75-7 first feeling of 76 friends of, in mental world 93-4 have no measurement of time 75 in astral world 73-89 in mental world 89-95 in the three sections of astral world 74-5, 78-83 most of, are happy 76 period in astral world, 64-5, 82 period in mental world 64 relation of, to Earth 73-4 some seize other bodies 88 thought-creations of 80 what they see 73

Death, a second 63, 89 artists after 77 average men after 64-5 character not changed by 74 conditions of life after 74 cultured men after 65 etheric double at 87 happiness after 74, 76 in astral world 68, 89 lovers of music after 77 misery after 75 philanthropists after 77 primitive men after 63 sensualists after 75-6 spiritual men after 65 students of science after 77 what is 3, 63, 137, 144

Deity (see Solar Deity)

Demons, tempting 53, 67

Departments of the world 11

Devas, hosts of 11 (also see Angels)

Discrimination 118

Divine Life 29 ensouls matter 29-40 responds to vibrations 33

Divine world, extent of 26-7 first plane named 23, 41 "Door, shutting the" 131

Dreams 62

Earth, Adepts from Venus come to 131 astral globe of 26-7 -chain 121 first men of the 125-30 nature spirits of the 85 purpose of life on 142

Earth-chain, the 121 animal-men build early forms on 127-8 explained 121-4 incarnation of 122-5 Moon-animals come to 128

Education, department of 11-2

Ego, the, assumes bodies 42, 61 bridges of to physical body 58, 61 connection of, with brain 59 desire of, for vivid life 97 drops lower bodies 43 ensouls fragment of group-soul 42 fills mental images of himself 93 gains qualities 43 habitat of 94 is a part expression of Monad 61 is the manifestation of the triple Spirit in man 42 life of, in causal body 95-7 life of, in lower bodies 63-4 lives for millions of years 97 loses part of his life sometimes 86 object of descent of 45, 98 only good affects 47-8, 58, 112 origin of 39, 109 passes to mental world 85 remembers past lives 44 sheaves of 61 sight of 45 the, simile of day at school and 98 succession of personalities of 109 withdraws from astral plane 82

Elemental kingdoms, the three 29-30 seven types of each of 37

Elemental creatures 37

Elements, chemical 21, 28 proto- 21

Emotions affect life after death 64, 67-8 of the living react on the dead 74 selfish and unselfish 110 should be developed in fourth round 131 the home of the 71

Emotional world (see astral world)

Entity, astral body 66-8

Etheric, bodies of early humanity 129 bodies of nature spirits 84 matter 25

Etheric double, the 59 at death 87-8 force-centres in 60 is a bridge 59 is not a vehicle 87-8 some dead cling to 88 vitality flows through 59

Evil, is transitory 48, 58, 135-6 is utilized for progress 135 man's powers of, are restricted 102 simile of Niagara Falls, and 135

Evolution, additional, for animals 131 advanced state of 131 animal 31-40 break in regularity of 130 central point of 125, 130 early stages of, for backward entities 127 examining scenes of early 3 is the Will of the Deity 11, 142 ladder of 17 man restrains law of 105 mineral 30-1 object of human 99 of human forms 129-30 of life 28-40 other schemes of 121, 123 pressure of 99, 105 resistless stream of 136 scheme of, a 32, 122-5 summit of human 13 super-human 13, 119 Theosophy explains laws of 99 three stages of 108-9 vegetable 30-1

Eye-brows, force-centre between 60

Failure is impossible 5

Fairies (see Nature-spirits)

'Fetters' to be cast off 120

Fire-mist, Children of the 131

Fire, nature-spirits of 84 Sparks of divine 10, 41, 61

Flame, Lords of the 131

Fohat 19

Forces, the higher, Adepts' knowledge of 14

Force-centres 60

Founder of each race 11

Founders of the Theosophical Society 14

Fragment of life of the Logos 9 of group-soul 39, 42 of the Monad 61

Freemasonry, angels approach men through 85

Free-will 99

Free-will, limitation of unbounded 102-3

_Genesis of Elements, The_ 22

Globe, astral, of Earth 27 astral of, Moon 27 mental 27

Globes, chains of 121 seven, of Earth-chain 122-3 'God is Love' 10 Word of 9 (see also Solar Deity)

Group of egos 106

Group-soul, fragment, from, is ensouled 39-42 of domestic animals 38-40 numbers of bodies attached to one 34-7 Spark hovers over 40

Group-souls 36-9 seven types of 37 simile of bucket of water and 34-6

Guardian angel 54

Head, force-centre in 60 of each race 11 of human evolution 11 of religion and education 11-2 of the White Brotherhood 14

Heart, force-centre in 60

Heaven, is a state of consciousness 64 simile of capacity of cups and 91-2 varying capacities of men in 91-2

Hell, non-existence of 64, 71, 74, 75

Hierarchy, The 5 controls the world 5, 13 Head of 14 man can join 13 Members of, watch for helpers 116-7 Human evolution, beginning of 32-8 division of races of 104-5 the central point in 118-9 the half-way point of 125 the summit of 13

Humanity, bodies of early 128-9 early, was androgynous 130 races of 11 receives help from Venus 131 service of, by thought 53-4 spiritual unity of 139

Immortal, the soul of man 8

Incarnations of Earth-chain 122-5

Individuality, a permanent 39

Individualization, is the first critical point of man's life 118 of animals 37-40 of Moon-animals 126-7, 130-1

Indo-Caucasian root-race 105

Inhabitants of finer worlds 26

Initiations, the great 118, 119-20 simile of university degrees 120

Instincts, of animals 35 of cell-life 65

Intellect is a fifth round development 131

Intelligence in man 42

Intuition in man 23, 42

Intuitional world, the 23, 42 extent of 27 Monad manifests in 42 second outpouring in 33 third outpouring descends to 39-40

_Isis Unveiled_ 15

Jupiter, the planet 124

King of the World, The 11

Kingdom, animal 30-1, 37-9 first elemental 29 mineral 30-3, 40 of angels 84-5 of nature-spirits 84-5 second elemental 30 seven types of each 38 third elemental 30 vegetable 30-1, 38

Kingdoms of nature ensouled by life-waves 38, 126 the elemental 29-30 the seven, of nature 28, 38-9

Koilon 18

Ladder of evolution, the 17, 145 golden 96 rungs of 17

Law, the, of evolution 99, 104-5 of cause and effect 100-7

Laws, the immutable 8

Liberated man 5-6

Life, cell- 65-6 conditions of, after death 74 divine 23, 29, 121 man's continuous 63 the purpose of 98-9, 108-20

Life-waves, the 28-40 constant-successions of 32 ensoul the kingdoms of nature 33, 37 of chains 121-2, 123-5 two stages of 29

Life-wave, the, now centred on Earth 128 period of, in each kingdom 38-9

Logos, the (see Solar Deity)

Lords of the Flame, assistance given by 132 come to Earth 131 some still remain on Earth 132 of the Moon 126

'Love, God is' 10

Lunar-chain (see Moon-chain)

Man, after death 63-96 can kill out vices 110-5 conflict of interest between, and his vehicles 66 constitution of 41-62 distinction between animals and 40 during sleep 61-2, 70, 74 early, was androgynous 130 evolves through different races 104-5 exists in other worlds 2-3, 42-3 factors determining birth of 104-5 free will of 99-100, 102 has latent powers 2 has many lives 2-4, 42 has powers of evil restricted 102 has several bodies 2-3, 42 is always affecting others 138-9, 147 is a Monad 42 is a soul 2-3 is a Spark of divine Fire 41 is divine in origin 3 is his own law-giver 8 is immortal 8 is influenced by his astral body-entity 68 is not changed by death 74 is separate from animal kingdom 28 is the outcome of his past 44-5 learns to use his powers in service 108-9 liberated 5-6 makes his own destiny 147 may be apprenticed to a Master 14-5, 117 past history of 2-3 physical body of, is evolved from animal forms 130 reaps result of his action 100-1 represents mineral kingdom of first chain 126 the Triple Spirit in 41 the triumph of 96 three aspects of 11, 41-2 why, does not remember past lives 44 (also see primitive man and savages)

Mars, the planet 122, 124 life exists on 128

Master, son of a 118 the 13-7 are Adepts Who take apprentices 14 take apprentices 14-7, 117-8 the great knowledge of 14 "Their world" 15

Matter, all, is living 30, 65 astral 15, 26, 31, 43, 51, 66-7 atomic 25 different densities of 20, 25 etheric 25, 59 formation of root- 18-9 intermingling of 21 mental 23, 27, 29, 33, 42 molecules of 24-5 power of attraction of 60 root- 81

Matter, seven types of 21, 24 starry 24 sub-atomic 25 sub-divisions of 24-5 super-etheric 25 the senses respond to vibrations in 26 ultimate 18-21 vibrations of 24-6, 33, 44-7 whirling sphere of, a 19-21

Memory of nature 3 of past lives 44

Men, backward, drop out 132-3 bodies of first Earth-chain 129-30 first, of Earth-chain 126-7 Moon- 126-9

Mental, globe 26-7 globes of Earth-chain 122 images of friends 93-4 shell 53, 91 warts 49 (also see mental world)

Mental body, the, after death 90-1 bridge from, to physical body 58 cell-life of 65 composition of 48 connection of brain with 49 description of 48-9, 60-1 effect of prejudice upon 49 effect of thoughts upon 48-51 expresses concrete thoughts 48 reacts on causal body 58 shell 53, 91 sight of 50-1 striations in 49-50 the astral body reacts upon 58 the dead are unused to 90-1 the ego casts aside his 43-4, 63 the ego takes a 42-3 the memory of 44-5 thoughts shown as colours in 48-50 vibrations of 50, 53-4 warts on 49

Mental matter, globe of 26-7 the causal body is built of 45 the mind is built of 23 vibrations of 24

Mental world, average life in, after death 64-5 bliss of 90 effect of higher thought in 92-3 ego formed in higher 39 extent of 27 formation of 20-3 friends of dead in 93-4 higher 29-30, 33, 39-42 levels of 94 lower 29-30 man in, after death 63-4, 89-95 the fifth plane named 24-41 the Monad manifests in higher 42 the second outpouring descends to 29-30 wealth of 91

Mercury, the planet 122, 124 life exists on 128

Mind, the divine 91 the, of man 23 (also see mental body)

Mineral, the kingdom 30-1, 37, 108, 126 man represents, of first chain 126 seven types of 37 the first out-pouring ensouls 30

Ministers in charge of departments 11 the seven, of Solar Deity 11

Monad, the, descent of 41

Monad, origin of 41, 61

Monads, the home of human, 23, 41

Monadic world, the, extent of 27 man belongs to 41 the second plane named 23, 41-2

Mongolian root-race 105

Moon, the, astral globe of 27, 71 human goal on 126 individualization on 125 is a corpse 123 Lords of the 126

Moon-animals 126-7 individualize on Earth 128-9

Moon-chain, animal-men of 127-8 human goal on 126 men of 126 men come to Earth-chain 126-9 was the third incarnation of our chain 123

Moon-men 126-9 distribution of, on Earth-chain 126-9 first order of 129 second order of 129 some entered the Path 129

Motive, the, for self-effort 115

Nature, memory of 3 planes of 7 seven kingdoms of 28

Nature-spirits, are not individualized 84 are sometimes seen by men 84 four classes of 84 many wear etheric bodies 84 the kingdom of 84 where they exist 83-4

Nebula, cooling of 22 planets formed from 22 rings of 22 subsidiary vortices of 22 vortex of 20

Negroid, the, race 105

Neptune, the planet 124

Nerves, vitality flows along 59

_Occult Chemistry_ 7

_Occult World, The_ 1, 15

Occultism, how to progress in 113-7

Official, pupils of great 11 representing Solar Deity 11

Officials of the Hierarchy 13

Olcott, Colonel H. S. 14 a founder of T. S. 14

Oriental sacred books 18

Origin, divine, of man 3, 10, 39-40

Outpouring, the first 20-8 the second 28-39, 65 the third 39-40

Path, the, conditions of 15 fetters to be cast off on 119-20 fourth step on 126 Moon-men entered 129 simile of mountain 5 steeper 5, 119-20

Peers of Logos 9

Perfect men 5

Perseverance necessary for progress 113

Personality 61 the purpose of the 109

Philosophy, Theosophy is a 1

Physical body, attracts astral matter 60 cells of the 65-6 during sleep man leaves his 62, 70 early evolution of the 129-30 ego, drops his 43, 63

Physical body, ego takes a 43, 61 etheric part of 59-60 future perfection of the 132 of first round 129-30 of man is evolved from animal forms 130 requirements of the 59-60

Physical matter, subdivisions of 25 vibrations of 24, 33

Physical world, the, descent of ego to 42-3 formation of 21-3, 23-6 second outpouring enters 30-1 seven sub-divisions of 25

_Pioneer, The_, Mr. A. P. Sinnett, editor of 15

Planes of nature, the 7 formation of 20-1 investigation of 7 naming of 41

Planets, formation of 22 future 20 life on other 128

Planetary chains 121-33

Planetary Spirits, the seven 11 simile of ganglia and 11

Powers latent in man 2 are for use in service 109 observation of history by 3 observation of other worlds by 2-3

Prejudices shown in mental body, 49

Primitive man, causal body of 46-8 during sleep 62 life of, after death 64 result of action of 102 types of 37

Principle, undying, in man 8

Probation, apprentice upon 118 period of 118

Promptings of lower nature 66-8

Proto-elements 21

Pupils, accepted, of Master 118 of Great Officials 11 of Masters 14-7, 116-8 (see also apprentices)

Purgatory is a state of consciousness 64-5

Quotations from, a French Scientist 18 a Gnostic Philosopher 10 a Master 15 an Eastern Scripture 9 _The Occult World_ 1

Race, Founder of each 11 Head of each 11 of life 99

Races, branch- 105, 125 man evolves through different 105 object of 105 of humanity 14 root- 105, 125-6 sub- 105, 125

Ray, the seventh 85

Record, indelible 3

Reincarnation 42-4, 97-107 desire of ego for 97 simile of days at school and 98-9 Theosophy explains 99

Religion, Adepts, Teachers of 12 department of 12 Founders of new 11

Religions, have one source 12 start with basic truths 12 the sending forth of 11

Reproduction, early methods of 130

Reynolds, Prof. O. 18-9

Right and wrong, the test of 142

Roman races, the 105

Root-matter 18

Root-races 105, 125

Round, a 125 first, differs from others 128

Rounds, conditions, of early reproduced in fourth round 130-1 human forms on first three 128-30

Saturn, rings of, simile of 22

Savages, causal bodies of 46-7, 48-9 during sleep 62 types of 37

'Saved, The' 119

Scheme of evolution, a 32, 121-2 central point of 125

School, of philosophy, there is a 1 of life, none fail in the 98

Séances 87

_Secret Doctrine, The_ 19

Seers can use sight of the ego 46

Senses, the, of astral body 68-9 respond to vibrations of matter 26

Service, man learns to use his powers in 109 the joy of 96

Seven, 'bubbles' combine in powers of 20-1, 23 choices of Lords of the Moon 127-8 degrees of density of matter 24-5 force-centres in man's bodies 60 globes of a chain 121-2 impulses of force 19-20 incarnations of chains 121 interpenetrating worlds 20, 22 kingdoms of nature 28 life-waves 33 Ministers of Solar Deity 11 Planetary Spirits 11 sub-divisions of matter 24-5 sub-divisions of vitality 60 types of animals 37-9 types of elemental creatures 37-8 types of group-souls 37-8 types of matter 21, 24 types of men 43 types of minerals 37 types of vegetables 37

Sexes, separation of 130

Shade, the 86

Sheaves of the ego 61

Shell, of astral body 68, 78-80, 81, 86-7 of thoughts 53, 91

Sight, astral 68-9 clairvoyant 46 mental 51 of ego 46

Simile of, boiling water 69-70 brick 25 bucket of water 34-5 charged battery 53 cups of varying capacities 91-2 days at school 97-8, 143 dense fog 143 developing muscles 114 flame in a dark night 14 ganglia 11 matter diffused in water 72 Niagara Falls 135 onion 72 overtones of musical notes 58 path up mountain 5 payment of a debt 102-4 rungs of a ladder 17 Saturn's rings 22 shutting a door 131 sorting out school-boys 132 university degrees 120 vibrations of a bell 55 warts 49

Sinnett, Mr. A. P. 1, 15 author of _The Occult World_ 1, 15 author of _Esoteric Buddhism_ 1, 15 editor of _The Pioneer_ 15

Sleep 61-2, 70, 87 man during 61-2, 70 the dead are met during 74

Solar Deity, the, a Being higher than 19 builds His system 9-10, 19 field of activity of 19 first Aspect of 39 fragment of Life of 9-10 future planets of 19 impulses of force of 20-1, 28 is a Trinity 11 Official representing 11 Peers of 9 Plan of 11, 13 second Aspect of 28, 32, 65 Self-limitation of 10 seven Ministers of 11 seven Planetary Spirits 11 the King of the World represents 11 third Aspect of 20-1, 28 threefold manifestation of 10

Solar plexus, force-centre, the 60

Solar System, evolutionary table of 125 formation of 18-27 inhabitants of the 85 Logos of a 9 origin of 19 ten chains of 121-3

Solar systems, countless 9

Son of Master 118

Soul, the group 33-9, 42 man is a 2, 33 of an animal 33-4 of domestic animals 37-40 of grasses 31 of insects 37 of lions 33-4 of man 8, 33, 55 of reptiles 42 of trees 31 plant- 33 World- 33

Space, between atoms 23 Fohat digs holes in 19 the æther of 18-9 worlds not separate in 2

Sparks, of divine Fire 39-40, 61 of divine Life 23, 29

Spine, force-centre at base of 60

Spirit, and matter 18 in man 23, 41 the triple, in man 41-2

Spiritual world, the extent of 26-7 is the name of third plane 23, 41 Monads descend to 41

Spleen, the, vitality flows through 60

Stream, those who have entered the 119

Sub-atomic matter 25

Sub-races of humanity 105, 125

Summerland, the, of astral world 80

Sun, vitality comes from the 60

Super-etheric matter 25

Table of evolution of Solar System 125

Teachers, authority of 16 of earlier races 126 of religion 11-2

Tempting demons 53, 67

Test, the, of right and wrong 142

Teutonic sub-race 105

Theosophy, demands no belief 6 explains reincarnation 99 explains religions 7 first popular exposition of 1 is a philosophy 1 is a religion 1, 5-7 is a science 1, 7 never converts 7 solves problems of life 4 statements of, based on observation 6 tells of past history 3 the gospel of 96 the great facts of 8 what, does for us 134-148

Theosophist, the, cheerfully faces trouble 146 conception of life of 137 does not try to convert 140 has no fear of death 137 knows the power of thought 147 relation of, to animals 141 sees purpose of life 142 test of right and wrong of 141

Thought, abstract 46 all actions spring from 116 concrete 48, 50 coupled with feeling 51 -forces after death 63 is a powerful instrument 116 necessity for clear 114 necessity for control of 116 prolonged 50 shell of 53

Thoughts, are things 147 as a power for good 55 build forms 52 distance no hindrance to 52 effect of, after death 63-4, 80 humanity helped by 54-5 meaning of colours of 46, 54-7 meaning of shapes of 54 on Theosophy 55-60 others affected by 50-51 self-centred 53-4 selfish and unselfish 110 transmission of 52

Thought-forms 50-4 are temporary entities 53 as guardian angels 54 as tempting demons 53 astro-mental 51, 57 duration of 53-4 effect on others of 51-2 move through space 51

Thought images (see Thought-forms)

Three, Aspects of the Logos 10-1 aspects of man 41 critical points in man's evolution 117-9 elemental kingdoms 28-9 great truths 8 in One 10 outpourings 28-39 Persons 10 stages of apprenticeship 118 stages of evolution 108-9

Throat, the force-centre in 60

Time, no measure of, in astral world 75

Trinity of Solar Logos 10

Triple Spirit in man 41-2

Triumph, the, of man 96

Trust begets trust 111

Truth, one in diverse forms 12 the, is obtainable 12

Truths, basic, of religions 12-3 the three great 8

Types of, animals 37-8 elemental creatures 37 group-souls 37 life 37 matter 21 men 37-9 minerals 37 reptiles 37 vegetables 38

Ultimate atoms 19 physical atoms 25 root-matter 18

Ultra-violet light 26-44

Unity, the, of humanity 138-9 what tends to 109

Universe, the, beginning of 18

Universes, innumerable 9

Universal brotherhood of humanity, the 138

Uranium 22

Uranus, the planet 124

Vegetable, the, kingdom 30-1, 37-8 seven types of 37

Vehicles, man's conflict of interest with his 66-9

Venus, the planet 124 Adepts from, come to Earth 131 stage of evolution of 131

Vibrations, of astral body 56-7, 65-6, 75-6 of mental body 44 of thought-forms 53, 55

Vibrations, in matter 24, 33, 59 causal body affected by 47-9 ego responds to 45 life learns to generate 33 octaves of 24 the senses respond to 25-6

Vices, belong to the vehicles 112 how to kill out 110-5

Vitality, circulates along the nerves 59 of astral corpse 86 sub-division of 59-60 what it is 59

Vortices, force-centres appear as 60 in matter 20 in nebular 19-22

Vulcan, the planet, was seen by Herschel 124

Warts on mental body 49

Water, nature-spirits of 84

Waves, life- (see life-waves)

Wealth of the heaven world 91

Whirling sphere of matter 19-21 vortex in 20

Will, the divine 6, 11 evolution is 11, 120 fulfilment of 118

Wisdom, Masters of the (see Masters)

Word of God, the 9

World, departments of the 11 King of this 11 -period 124

Worlds, bliss of the higher 89-90 inhabitants of finer 25-6 man exists in several 2-3 of different densities 3 seven interpenetrating 20, 23-4